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Barbara Brabec’s Blog
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Monthly Musings About Life

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July 2026 Blog Post

Writing and Publishing a Book
+ A Story About Ginger’s Memory

Happy 250th Birthday, America! I feel blessed to be alive and healthy in this exciting year of national celebration. As I write this post, I’m remembering that 50 years ago, I published an award-winning three-issue magazine series titled Craftspirit ’76—A Special Salute to the American Revolution Bicentennial Celebration (just one short story in my upcoming book). After waiting more than 20 years to finally be able to devote most of my time to writing Call of the Heart, I find it remarkable that I am going to publish it during this Semiquincentennial year.

Ideally, this book should have been published in July, but life rarely, if ever, conforms to the plans we make. After working on it bit by bit since 2018, I was finally able to devote serious time to it beginning last year. But I’m not sure how long it will take to finish it for publication on Amazon. Most of the challenging writing will be done by August, but there is so much more to turning a manuscript into a self-published book, which is the main topic of this post.

The Many Hats an Author Must Wear

I find it hard to believe now, but I wrote, edited, and formatted The Drummer Drives in four months. Later, I published an article, “Four Months on a Tank of Gas,” that tells how this book was written. If you’re thinking about writing a memoir, this article offers a keen perspective on the many hats I had to wear as author, editor, proofreader, book designer, and publisher, with comments from an author who discussed this topic with me as he was writing his memoir. I had no social life or demanding website problems then, just worked 12 hours a day until the book was done. Ditto for my second memoir about my mother’s life. But my life is different now, and while I still have the stamina to write for 12 hours, my lifestyle and normal life interruptions limit my daily writing hours to somewhere between four and eight hours a day. Anyone with a job might be lucky to grab two hours a day for writing. 

See also this excellent article on the Steve Laube Agency website: “A Writer’s Many Hats: A Baker’s Dozen of a Writer’s Many Hats,” by Bob Hostetler.

Tech Problems Authors Must Contend With

In thinking about all the tech problems and computer delays I’ve had since I began the serious writing of this book, I realized that things causing them did not exist in 2010 and 2017 when I published my first two memoirs. But we lived in an entirely different world then, with no artificial intelligence and technology that simply made things easier for us instead of so dangerous that it makes us fearful every time we click a link in an email or website we’re browsing for the first time. Now we need a program that will block our access to a site with malware on it. I shared these thoughts with Liora James, whom I introduced you to in June, and she shared her perspective on this topic.

“Your comparison to 2010 and 2017 is incredibly insightful,” she wrote. “You’re absolutely right: writers today are forced to wear far more technical hats than they once did. Years ago, the process was more linear—write, edit, format, publish. Now, authors are navigating platforms, algorithms, metadata, cyber risks, software conflicts, visibility systems, mailing structures, and endless digital maintenance before the book ever reaches readers. It’s no wonder the process feels heavier now than it once did.”

My Experience with a Trojan Virus

My writing was going well until mid-May. I was in the middle of a chapter in Part Four when my computer was attacked by a Trojan. Suddenly, the whole monitor filled with flashing boxes that said I must click the links in them to save my computer. “You can’t shut down; you must contact Microsoft for help.”

Really? I saved my document, and since I couldn’t shut down normally, I unplugged the computer. Then I called Al Karman, who said I could’ve hit the power button on my desktop computer to shut it down. To make this long, three-day story short, my premium MalwareBytes program quickly found and quarantined 33 PUP programs, and my other cleaner programs got rid of a lot of residue. But it took MalwareBytes three days to identify and block the website in India that Al Karman said is notorious for this kind of attack.

I did nothing to cause this; I was simply a victim of a random attack by some bot roaming the web looking for a computer owner who would panic and click the first link urging the user to contact Microsoft for help. One click in any boxed message would have given this hacker access to everything on my computer. Thankfully, all content on my computer is backed up daily on Carbonite, a program I’ve used for years, and one that Kim Komando says is the best backup program available today.

Remember: If you ever get this kind of hacker attack, don’t panic. Save whatever you’re working on, shut down, and call your computer support person.

A Story About Ginger’s Memory

Fact: Dogs remember people, places, and experiences
based on the associations they have with them.

If you look for articles about what a dog remembers, you’ll find many that say they have an extremely short memory and don’t remember what happened yesterday or last year. Others say that dogs can remember people they loved for years, even unto death, and we’ve seen evidence about dogs lying on the graves of their masters.

I know for a fact that Ginger had an amazing memory. During the first year, we saw her cringe when anyone, including us for a while, raised their arm, because she feared they would hit her, as her previous owner had. Three months after we rescued her and took her back to where she was born, neighbors who knew the man who adopted her as a pup said she was badly beaten and abused by him the winter before we rescued her.

Without a terrific memory, she could not have learned and remembered so many words, phrases, and commands throughout her life with us. (The book will include a list of them.) If she didn’t remember places she’d been, why did she start to panic the second time we took her to a new vet? Or get excited when we drove a road she’d traveled with us years earlier? She remembered every street and road she had ever been on because she remembered the people, places, and incidents associated with them.

I first became aware that she had a terrific memory when we were leaving on a two-week vacation. Just before getting into the car, she’d chased a rabbit into a bush by the fence. She hated to leave her prey in the bush to get in the car, and as we drove away, I saw her looking longingly at the bush.

When we returned home two weeks later, she jumped out of the car and immediately went to the bush where she had chased the rabbit, certain it must still be there. I found this an interesting example of how dogs think in terms of time. Two weeks had passed, but in Ginger’s mind, it must have seemed like only yesterday.

In a couple of towns we lived in, there was a drive-through dry cleaners and a bank that always gave a doggie bone to anyone who drove through with their pets. Ginger was ecstatic the first time this happened, and because she had a steel-trap memory, she always recognized these places each time we returned and was drooling for her treat by the time we stopped.

Once, when we were driving through a toll booth and had to get change, we were amused to see that Ginger expected a bone there, too. She obviously associated food with the window rolling down and seeing a hand outstretched.

P. S. Visit the HOME page for Timely Quotes and a link to 15 categories of life-related topics discussed on this website.

Archived Brabec Bulletins
Publication of the Brabec Bulletin ceased in
June 2025, after 25 years of publication.
Year 2021-2022 <=>  Year 2023  <=>  Year 2024 <=> Year 2025

Brabec Bulletin Tidbits on Life are archived here.

See below for
Musings and new Blog posts About Life
published in 2026
Earlier Musings About Life posts and
other faith-building articles are archived here.

June 2026: A Behind-the-scenes look at Barbara’s book helpers. This post introduces readers to the two book strategists who are helping Barbara bring new visibility to her earlier memoirs while also introducing Call of the Heart to a wider audience of readers on Goodreads and Amazon

May 2026: Special Announcement. Needing more time for her new book in progress, Barbara decides to take a three-month hiatus from writing new website content and use her blog page differently. This premier blog post includes an introduction to her book, Call of the Heart: A Rescue Dog's Dream. 

April 2026: What It Means to Be “Born Again.” In walking with Christ for more than three decades, I’ve learned that some Christians don’t understand what it means to be born again. If you’ve wondered about this, you’re not alone.

March 2026: Thoughts on the Reality of Loss and Death. There’s something about turning 40 that wakes us up and makes us look at life through different eyes. Few people want to think about the eventual end of their lives, but sooner or later, we all must accept that we won’t live forever.

February 2026: My Encounter with the Living God. God has a plan for your life that will astonish you once you give Him the reins and trust Him to work all things together for your good.

January 2026: My $2,000 Guardian Angel Miracle. Every day, God sends His angels to guard His people on earth. I’ve journaled many instances when I believed I had angelic help. Here’s the story of one of them. 

Copyright © 2026 by Barbara Brabec. All Rights Reserved.