Monday, July 16, 2012

2nd Customer Review

Quite an interesting weekend, one of those first-time author experiences. Received a rejection letter from Destiny Image. As I was warding off those feelings of rejection, I checked my amazon.com listing and there was, to my amazement, another five star review. Before we jump from rejection to happy, in Your Little Light Shines,  I shared that you remember things in the state you learned them. Whenever you are feeling depressed or rejected, you will more easily recall other situations that made you feel depressed or rejected. The reason why you should not dwell on a hurtful memory is because it grows into thoughts of all your other collective hurtful memories and it becomes overwhelming. You think about the rejection letter from Destiny Image and all of a sudden you remember something negative your ex did to you. So you have got to manage what you think about.

Now we can jump to happy. One of the things that flabbergasts me is when someone (a perfect stranger) gets something from the book and writes a review. This review, from "real health hope blogger" who lives in Kentucky, said, "This is the book I'd been looking for and thought I might have to try to put together myself. I intend to use it in teaching very smart "church raised" recovering drug addicts. It is EXACTLY the book we need for just such a time as this. It "shines THE light" through Scripture and removes the "tatoos" from the reader's soul."

I am humbled.

I love the tattoo analogy. Once something is imprinted or tattooed in our memory, it takes as much effort to remove that memory as it does physical effort to remove a tattoo.

Thank you Real Health Hope Blogger for taking time to write the review and giving me words of encouragement.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

They have known for years

There is nothing I love better than a good, lively discussion about scripture. There is always something new to discover. Much of my interest in the Old Testament is because it's foundational to the New Testament. You have to have a good solid foundation first, before you start to build.

In order to better understand the New Testament, we have to understand and respect that Jesus was a Jew. He was born a Jew. He was raised a Jew. He worshipped God as a Jew. All of his apostles and disciples were Jews. All of the writers of the bible were Jews. They were taught as Jews. They thought as Jews.

The books in my library about the Talmud are valuable resources. When I began to collect volumes of the English translation of The Talmud The Steinsaltz Edition (published by Random House), I did not know anything about Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. In the process of writing my book, I found out that Time magazine, in 1988, hailed him as a "once-in-a-millennium scholar."

Because intelligence is the attribute that is most attractive to me, I just knew that I could learn something from Rabbi Adin Steinseltz who, born in 1937, is currently living in Jerusalem. His website is http://www.steinsaltz.org.

I ordered his book, The Thirteen Petalled Rose. I was just astonished that some of the information I labored to present in Your Little Light Shines just rolled off of his tongue in a manner like, doesn't everyone know this? He begins his book with "The physical world in which we live, the objectively observed universe around us, is only a part of an inconceivably vast systems of worlds. Most of these worlds are spiritual in their essence; they are of a different order from our known world. Which does not necessarily mean that they exist somewhere else, but means rather that they exist in different dimensions of being." Fasten you seat belt.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

What I discovered, "they" already knew

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last blog. I've reached the age where I attend more funerals than weddings and this month I had some involvement with two homegoing services. My good friend lost her ex-husband. They had been married for forty-nine years and five years ago they divorced. Even though they had done pre-need planning for their funeral services years ago and made arrangements to be buried together in the same crypt, it was difficult to see how her opinions and wishes were relegated to the "legal" next of kin. It was also difficult to watch the current girlfriend on the scene. We live, we die, we leave stuff behind.

It reminds me of a quote from Dr. Maya Angelou, "I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I've learned that I still have a lot to learn. I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

When Dr. Angelou called me, she suggested that I read The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav. I ordered several of his books. In the introduction of The Dancing Wu Li Masters, I found another source of inspiration. Zukav said, "When I wrote The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics, I had never written a book and I had never studied physics." Me either, me either. His comments encouraged me over and over and over again. He said that he just knew this book would sell and all he needed to do was his part—to continue writing. That's got to be a source of inspiration for all new authors.

Many of the things I discovered in my journey, Gary Zukav knew over thirty years ago when he wrote his book in 1979. And so I pass along Dr. Angelou's recommendation. You can learn more from Gary Zukav  at www.seatofthesoul.com.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Now you see it; now you don't

Your Little Light Shines, a quantum physics look at the bible helps you to change your perspective and perhaps your behavior because from a quantum physics point of view, it helps you recall that what you think you have been looking at all along, you really may not have seen.

Over the holiday weekend, after a press release was sent out, the website received a large number of views from reddit.com. Because I was not familiar with reddit.com, my curiosity caused me to investigate. The full name of the website was reddit.com/r/atheism. Of course, you can imagine my concern when after the release, the website to promote a Christian book received all these visits from atheists. I first saw it as a world-wide, organized effort. There were views from England, Switzerland, Brazil, Australia, Canada, Spain, etc. But the views only lasted for a few seconds. I thought I was being surrounded by spiritual forces and called my friend for prayer. Later that restless night, I got up to really investigate reddit.

Apparently, it is a very popular social news website where after someone submits content (the press release), the other users vote the submission up or down. The votes determine the submission's (the press release) position on the reddit site's pages. Submissions with the most "up" votes are posted on the front page. There are thousands of sub-reddits including world news, videos, science, movies, and alas, atheism. There is even a Christian reddit.

So what I first saw as one thing, with additional information, I could look at it in a different light and finally get a good night's sleep.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

1st Customer Review

Your Little Light Shines, a quantum physics look at the bible received its 1st customer review May 27, 2012 on amazon.com and what a review it was!

Whoever you are Joan C. Fullmore, many, many heartfelt thanks!!!

"A must read for fearless Christians," Joan also said, "I was very impressed with this book and its in-depth grasp of language and transliteration and connectivity between quantum physics and various so called 'new age' practices and how they intersect with Biblical teachings. If you only read pages 121-133, this book will change forever the way you approach praise and worship.

BRAVO! to Ms. Williamson and the dedication to research and language she undertook to write this book. I will never read the semi-colon and especially the colon the same!!!"

Joan, I am humbled by your comments. Thank you very much for taking your time to write this review and share it with others. Your words are also a source of encouragement and a bright "light" on this book publishing journey.


Friday, May 25, 2012

My Maya Angelou Angel

When trying to publish your book, you really have to be aware of the add-on costs of e-book/on-demand publishers. They lure you with the promise of publishing your book for a certain package deal, $900, $1,600, $3,500, or more. They list everything that you will get in the particular package, for example, editorial support. The editorial support consists of a cursory review with comments "purposed" to make you feel that you may not have done a good job and perhaps you do need more help. Then they recommend a more comprehensive editorial review for an additional $3,500. The add-ons can increase the total publishing costs to well over $10,000.

It just so happened that Dr. Maya Angelou's call to me came shortly before the e-book/on-demand publisher's editorial review. It was like the good angel was whispering in one ear and the bad angel was whispering in the other. If it had not been for Dr. Angelou's comments, this is the point that I would have faltered on the project because I did not have the $10,000. The battle in my mind had begun. The bad angel was really talking, "Dr. Angelou said that your book was fetching, she didn't say that it was well-written." The e-book/on-demand publisher wanted to know what qualified me to write the book. The bad angel asked, "Yeah, what really does qualify you?" At one point, I had to scream to myself that whether the book was well-written or not (from an editorial perspective), there was something about the book, that first of all, caused Dr. Angelou to pick the book up to read and to continue to read it; to put it down and pick it back up again and again; and, most importantly, to personally call me to tell me that she found the book to be fetching! This "phenomenal" woman is a world renowned accomplished author. Imagine the many books she has read in her life. Imagine the many people who have sent her their manuscripts.

That was more than enough to shut the bad angel's mouth even though I had one final phone conversation with the "editor" for the e-book/on-demand publisher. He questioned whether the call really came from Dr. Angelou because he said there are so many on-line scams. He wanted to know how she even got a copy of the book. (I sent it to her.) I detected some aggression in his voice. What I was really witnessing was "intent." Now, in the process of trying to publish the book, I take a moment to think about "intent" before I make a decision to use a certain vendor or supplier. Doing business on-line can be quite treacherous. The intent of the editor was to sell me the more expensive editorial package. Dr. Angelou's intent was angelically pure. She called to compliment and to encourage—a perfect stranger. Can you imagine a life like that(?)—where you are able to help so many others and the intent of your heart is so pure. wow!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

My Maya Angelou Dance

When God passed out rhythm, I was at the end of the line. Even in my pre-teen years, enough people laughed at my attempts to dance that I hung up my dancing shoes. I attend a pentecostal church where when the "spirit" hits, some folks break out into a dance. I always look at them in amazement as I have to make an effort to even clap to the beat of the music. So after Dr. Maya Angelou called me on November 16, 2011 to tell me she thought my book "Your Little Light Shines" was fetching, I was so excited—amazed—filled with wonder, something inside of me exploded and caused me to start twirling in my living room. I was stomping as I was turning with such speed. Then suddenly, I would switch directions. My arms were waving in the air. I kept moving, almost uncontrollably. And I was shouting, too! I stomped so much that later I could "feel" my knee joints. I shouted so much that my voice became a little hoarse. I call that wonderful experience my very first praise dance.

When you're writing your (first) book, amidst the challenges, frustrations, and rejections, there will be moments of celebration; moments when your spirit soars; moments when you dance and shout. Capture those moments in your memory, imprint them on your mind because you will need to recall them—often. Whatever you focus your thoughts on, you will attract more of the same. When the moments of frustration and rejections come, and they most assuredly will, you will have a natural response to them. Okay. Those are the times when you need to make a conscious effort to recall your moments of joy. Even though I may not feel like dancing at the time, I am quick to recall that Jack Canfield and his co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series received rejections from over 100 publishers (some sources say 123, 134, 144) before they found a small publisher to take on the project. When those moments come, if you need some help to refocus your thoughts, read the book description on the above Chicken Soup link. It will encourage you. Just keep going!!!

Monday, May 21, 2012

Thank you, Dr. Maya Angelou

Thank you, Dr. Maya Angelou

Writing your first book is quite an adventure. I'm going to use this blog to share my experiences as a first-time writer, in hopes that (in case you want to write a book or you know someone who does) it will help with some of your "challenges" as you begin your journey.

My first advice is to never give up. You never know when your miracle will happen. My book, Your Little Light Shines, a quantum physics look at the bible, took a number of years to write.

Because my background is marketing/advertising/graphic design, I printed 100 advanced copies using my own (commercial) printer (I'll share tips about that later). My intent was to send copies to everyone I quoted in the book, as a courtesy and I also did not want to violate any copyright laws.

Imagine my amazement and astonishment when on November 16, 2011, my telephone rang and the caller id showed Maya Angelou. Because I answered the phone and the call was "live", the only way I could make my friends believe that she really did call was to take a picture of the caller id on my phone. I think I had to make myself believe it also because the experience was so surreal. If you want to know more about the experience right now, you can go to my website, www.yourlittlelightshines.com and it will link to amazon.com where you can peek at the book's forward. Dr. Maya Angelou said she found my book to be FETCHING! After Dr. Angelou's call, I danced and shouted and danced some more.

When I think about Dr. Angelou, I cannot describe what an amazing woman she is. Dr. Angelou did not know me at all—not at all, yet she took time from her very busy schedule to reach down, grab me by my hand and lift me up with her words (in "that voice") of encouragement and advice. Yes, this is the same I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, On the Pulse of Morning, Phenomenal Woman herself www.mayaangelou.com. What kind of person does that? What kind of soul does that? Because that experience doesn't happen very often (to me), I call it a miracle and I think of Dr. Angelou as an angel. I've written her to let her know that without her words of encouragement, I would have faltered on this project. How do you thank someone for being an anchor in a storm? Thank you, Dr. Maya Angelou!