As usual, some great things have been happening this month at WordServe Literary!

On the final post of each month you’ll find a list of Water Cooler contributors’ recently released books along with a recap of WordServe client news.

New Releases

Congratulations to author Martha Bolton and BroadStreet Publishing on the new release, Forgettable Jokes for Older Folks: Jokes You Wish You Could Remember about Things You Thought you’d Never Forget.

Laugh all the way to your next birthday … and beyond!

We all age, but why grumble about it? If you’re still here, have some fun and enjoy life. The best way you can do that is through laughter.

From well-known comedy writer Martha Bolton comes a refreshing book of jokes for older folks. Topics for laughter include senior foibles, doctor visits, grandchildren antics, travel, politics, pets, technology troubles, good ol’ days, and love.

Give yourself a laugh…

Every morning’s typical breakfast routine, planning the day ahead and thinking just a bit about tomorrow.

Dear David & Anna,

Everyone approaches things differently, I suppose. Some people try planning every detail as much as possible. Others go at it knowing almost nothing. Getting ready to solo walk 40 days across a country, I wanted a balance somewhere between the two. Your guidebook was the perfect planner.

It may be true that anticipation of an experience like pilgrimage is one of the very best parts. As part of my anticipation, I searched all the popular guidebooks and chose yours as my companion before, and during, the walk. It seemed it had everything a person could need.

Adventurers and authors, David and Anna Dintaman Landis

Reading through the sections in the weeks before departure, your descriptive narratives, elevation charts, beautiful photos, and historical sidebars only increased my excitement. If the trip…

Dear Maite,

It was a lovely Saturday for walking. The poplar trees stood reaching for the azure sky, golden and majestic, full of glory, leaves rustling gently in an easy western breeze. The late November weather was cool, but not cold, much as it would’ve been back home, and walking into Nájera my mind transported momentarily 4,000 miles west.

My imagination could practically smell the barbecue grills firing up for Saturday afternoon tailgates and SEC football games. It would be a good day to stop short, I reckoned, and enjoy a Saturday afternoon relaxing in your sweet Spanish town.

As I walked hesitantly inside Puerta de Nájera just a few minutes after noon, the furnishings practically said “welcome home.” You carried a mop and bucket working feverishly just behind the stairs and I noticed one young German pilgrim nursing his heavily bandaged wounds on a couch in a quaint sitting area…

Dear Coach Roberts,

Before writing you this morning I spent time reflecting on your years as head coach here at Arkansas State. I was on academic staff much of your tenure and recall it as a new, refreshing, even glorious eight years. Something definitely felt different with you in charge. Something surely changed.

Then a little quick research into your win-loss record at A-State honestly shocked me. I forgot, by the numbers, you never had a winning season. There was a conference championship, a remarkable program “turnaround,” in fact,  attendance numbers grew, you were a conference coach of the year, and we won at home much more than we lost, but we never had an outright winning season. That can’t be right, but the record speaks for itself. Or does it?

What I recall more about your ASU coaching career than wins and losses is the dynamic you brought to…

Dear Kathy,

For the longest, I scoffed at notions of Camino Magic. I was wrong. You’re a slice of Camino Magic if I’ve ever seen one.

Happy birthday, my pilgrim friend. I wish you the happiest of days.

At the heart of everything I’ve learned about life are two simple things: (1) Everyone needs a cheerleader; and (2) we’re all at our very best when we’re cheering for others. It’s my good fortune to share both experiences with you.

As much as I’ve tried, words may never adequately describe my initial desire to walk the Way of St. James, or to convey the experience itself. If it’s not possible, that’s okay. Perhaps the best stories are the ones that remain forever in the privacy of our hearts.

Dana and I, meeting our friend Kathy McLeskey in Santiago de Compostela last November. We’d been social media friends for a year, but…

Dear Helen,

It may surprise you, but I’ve reflected on what you wrote so many times. It was just a simple social media post, yet one of the most endearing things anyone’s ever said to me.

Snow in the elevations at O Cebreiro.

Day 39. I’d walked almost exactly 800 kilometers. Up and over a mountain range. Through cold, rainy wind and lots of mud. One night of delusional fever. There was an eight-hour blizzard. And my lower left shin was visually hemorrhaging blood now. But only one day of hobbling remained.

A friend of a friend sent a message suggesting maybe it would be best to call the whole thing off. Come back and finish another time. Nothing is worth that kind of pain, she said. “You gave it a great effort,” I read her final suggestive words as my blood pressure spiked.

Oh my Lord, someone’s recommending…