Since returning from our COVID19 abbreviated adventure in Israel I have been spending some of our lockdown time to organize photos and complete my first book. I never imagined the task of writing, editing, formatting, and creating a cover for publication would be so daunting. All of these things must fit into the parameters set forth by the publisher. The cover is featured above as my featured image. In the weeks to come I will be completing the publishing process.
In the book, which is based on the blog, I lay out in detail the immigration process and everything that went into our move to a developing country. My goal was to educate and entertain in a fact filled book for anyone considering the expat lifestyle. Everything in our life over the past two years has been an adventure and my goal was to give readers honest straightforward information for what to expect as they explore retirement options.
For Jen and I, we wanted eternal summer on the beach with a relaxed lifestyle. We wanted a location that would not break our budget and we found all of that in Panama. I found tons of information on the internet for would be expatriates. I will however warn you right up front that many of the websites, blogs, and companies promoting living outside a person’s home country are not all on the up and up. Many only want to attract the attention of investors, home buyers, and others with money to spend. A savvy researcher must glean information from those sites that will support one’s own agenda. Perhaps you have considered retiring, moving overseas, and even reinventing your life as an expatriate. I hope that you will read 2 Retire In Panama?.
In the next few weeks I will begin promoting the book. I will send the blog followers and all the others reading it on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram a link to buy the electronic version or the print copy of the book. I hope to be putting a clickable link in the blog to purchase, review, and comment on the book.
I want to thank all of you for the continued support and encouragement. The writing has been a passion of mine for quite some time. My friends following the process who have read excerpts think that I have a winner; and it has been a pleasure preparing to share it.
Above all, I must thank the great God from whom all inspiration and encouragement has come.
No work is ever complete before it passes through many hands to help with the fine tuning.
I must start by thanking my patient and understanding wife without whom we would never have had any of these adventures. She also encouraged me, proofread for content, and was my first check for mistakes. She was instrumental in helping with the formatting and she never once told me that I could not do it.
The adventure partners are numerous and a group that will continue to grow. Thank-you to Ty and Lyn Gilbert who are always ready for an adventure. Thank-you also to John and Barbie Yoder who showed us an awesome adventure in Costa Rica. And a special thank-you to all the people who have visited and participated on the many other adventures that went into the writing of the book (you all know who you are).
Thank-you Lynda Allison for being that special person who mentored me, answered all the questions and was my guiding force to get the book to a publishable form.
The cover is about the most frustrating and yet important parts of a published work. I toiled over cover art and asked for help from friends and family who came up with the idea for my cover. An exhaustive search of photo sites helped me to discover photographer, Valentin Antonucci. The cover photo is his work and the book would not be the same without him. Check out his other works @NeonStdios and @antonuccival on Twitter.
Last but certainly not least…Thank-you to Vicky Ireland for the many hours spent editing and organizing the manuscript. Without her I never could have finished it. The book is immensely better with her input and finishing touches.
Once the worldwide borders and that of Panama begin opening up, and we are all allowed to move about more freely I will be blogging more frequently. Everybody here is ready to embark on more adventures. In the meantime, please scroll down to like and share. Oh…and pick up a good book. As always if you are not yet subscribed, it would be a great time to do it (the subscribe link is on the right margin). Many of my blogger friends have taken the COVID lockdown as an opportunity to rant about it. I did not feel the need.
Blessings,
Greg
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