Go Light Talk
By: Lars Olson
From the fictional town of Cedar Valley, where characters from Quiet Echo continue to respond to real-world events.
Around here, “go light” has stuck. Nobody explains it anymore. We just say it like we’ve been saying it all our lives—and the best part is watching visitors try to keep up.
Yesterday morning, a fellow from out of town stopped at the hardware store asking for the recycling center.
“Sure,” I told him. “Go down Main to the first go light and turn left.”
He nodded, half-listening, wrote it on his notepad, then looked up. “The first what?”
“Go light,” I said again, just as steady.
He blinked, smiled politely, and walked out. Ten minutes later, he drove back by, window rolled down, laughing and pointing at the intersection like he’d just solved a riddle.
Later that day, I was at the bakery when Mrs. Reynolds told me about her cousin visiting from Boise. He’d been trying to find the church for a wedding rehearsal.
“I told him to turn right at the go light,” she said, grinning. “He called me from the parking lot at the feed store asking which one was the go light.”
“What’d you tell him?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “I told him he’d figure it out eventually—and he did, two lights later. Said it was the most encouraging direction he’d ever been given.”
That evening, down at the café, a few of us were sitting around swapping stories about it. Old Fred Nichols leaned back in his chair and said, “My daughter came home from college talking about ‘traffic signals.’ I told her, “we don’t have signals here, we have go lights.” And I let her read George Kahn’s Go Light story in Cedar Valley News. She laughed so hard “it hurt” she said.
It’s a small thing, really, this go-light talk—but somehow it’s turned into a kind of secret handshake. Folks hear it and smile before they even know why. Maybe it’s because we all like being reminded to keep moving. Maybe it’s because it feels good to belong to a town that finds its humor right there at the intersection.
This editorial is part of the fictional Cedar Valley News series. While the people and town are fictional, the national events they reflect on are real.
It’s free, live, and fresh! Quiet Echo—A Cedar Valley News Podcast is live on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/4nV8XsE, Spotify: https://bit.ly/4hdNHfX, YouTube: https://bit.ly/48Zfu1g , and Podcastle: https://bit.ly/4pYRstE. Every day, you can hear Cedar Valley’s editorials read aloud by the voices you’ve come to know—warm, steady, and rooted in the values we share. Step into the rhythm of our town, one short reflection at a time. Wherever you listen, you’ll feel right at home. Presented by the Readers and Writers Book Club: https://bit.ly/3KLTyg4
Author Campaign Method (ACM) for Authorpreneurs
This is Publication Consultants’ motivation for constantly striving to assist authors sell and market their books. Author Campaign Method (ACM) of sales and marketing is Publication Consultants’ plan to accomplish this so that our authors’ books have a reasonable opportunity for success. We know the difference between motion and direction. ACM is direction! ACM is the process for authorpreneurs who are serious about bringing their books to market. ACM is a boon for them.
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Cortex is for serious authors and will probably not be of interest to hobbyists. We recorded our Cortex training and information meeting. If you’re a serious author, and did not attend the meeting, and would like to review the training information, kindly let us know. Authors are required to have a Facebook author page to use Cortex.
Correction:
We take the quote by Marcella Smith, Small Press Business Manager, Barnes & Noble seriously: “The author is essential to the success of the book, giving energy behind the book to make it something that a customer will come in and ask for. That is what makes the difference in a book that sells, that develops legs, and has a life of its own. Otherwise the book goes on the shelf and stays there for three months. Then it gets returned.”
This is Publication Consultants’ motivation for constantly striving to assist authors sell and market their books. ACM is Publication Consultants’ plan to accomplish this so that our authors’ books have a reasonable opportunity for success. We know the difference between motion and direction. ACM is direction! ACM is the process for authors who are serious about bringing their books to market. ACM is a boon for serious authors, but a burden for hobbyist. We don’t recommend ACM for hobbyists.
We’re the only publisher we know of that provides authors with book signing opportunities. Book signing are appropriate for hobbyist and essential for serious authors. To schedule a book signing kindly go to our website, <
An Author Page on Amazon Author Central is a serious author ACM requirement and desirable for the hobbyist. Author Central is a free resource designed to help authors become more active participants in the promotion of their books. In Author Central you can manage an Author Page, update information about your books, and view Customer Reviews and sales information for your bibliography. If you don’t already have an Author Page on 
We hear authors complain about all the personal stuff on Facebook. Most of these complaints are because the author doesn’t understand the difference difference between a Facebook profile and a Facebook page. Simply put, a profile is for personal things for friends and family; a page is for business. If your book is just a hobby, then it’s fine to have only a Facebook profile and make your posts for friends and family; however, if you’re serious about your writing, and it’s a business with you, or you want it to be business, then you need a Facebook page as an author. It’s simple to tell if it’s a page or a profile. A profile shows how many friends and a page shows how many likes. Here’s a link <> to a straight forward description on how to set up your author Facebook page.
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