Public Speaking

Before a year goes by between posts, it’s probably useful to mention what I’m up to.

My goal was to have Darwood & Smitty (long set on the shelf) revised by the end of this month and sent to agents. Because I’m working on a massive marketing project, that may not happen. But it’s still the goal to have it done soon and we’ll see if I can land a publisher by year’s end.

Meanwhile, I’m doing more public speaking — some talks at Whole Foods as well as a monthly seminar on nutrition and healthy weight loss. I’m looking to expand on this especially with a whole-day seminar on business trends, home business opportunities, and marketing systems.

More details on my site.

Healthy Dark Chocolate

I guess it’s about time for an update here, and I’ll do it on my latest favorite topic: healthy chocolate. Which means dark chocolate, since the dairy in milk chocolate basically diminishes the health value of the cocoa in chocolate.

But then, so does the sugar in most of the chocolate out there. So these days, I’m into finding the healthiest chocolates I can and reviewing them on my new website:

Healthy Dark Chocolate Reviews

The best two I’ve come across so far? Gnosis Chocolate and TRU Chocolate. Gnosis is sold through retail, and we carry it in our health center. TRU Chocolate is sold through network marketing, and is the only MLM chocolate worth the extra price. The others aren’t organic and they’re loaded with sugar.

Like the idea of eating chocolate without guilt? Of actually having something that tastes like candy but is as healthy as … vegetables? (Go ahead and challenge me on that one.) Check out the review site to learn more.

Noah and the Ark

How silly of me to forget — but then, I’m so bad about the blogging habit. (Or good about it, since I don’t have the habit?) My brother’s latest book is out, and if you have kids and like the Bible, then it’s definitely one to check out:

Visit www.BibleRhymes.com

Watch Out for the Bird Flu

The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning people that the bird flu is on the move again, and that we’d better all watch out. You know what? This is another instance of big business gone stupid. Here is the picture that goes with the article, distributed by the Associated Press: 

Do you see the condition these chicks are in? This is modern factory farming, and THIS is where Asian bird flu spreads among birds, and rarely onto their human overlords. These birds are pooping on each other because they’re stacked one above another in their tiny pens when they become hens.

There is an excellent book called The Great Bird Flu Hoax by Dr. Mercola. I highly recommend getting yourself a copy. It takes you through the MONEY of this whole scam and will give you the insiders view  on it for the day when they start pushing vaccinations.

Ron Paul One Day Earnings

Well, this seems like a worthwhile addition before heading to bed. Especially because I goofed before. I thought Ron Paul had already set the one-day earnings record when he raised $4.2 million in a day in November. But apparently John Kerry earned $5.7 million in a single day back in 2004.

So here it is: in the end, Ron Paul beat that one day record. At the end of the day here, he raised just about $6 million. You can see a snapshot I took at 11:59 p.m. EST. They’ll probably provide a refined number, but it certainly raises the bar.

The Ron Paul March

I didn’t realize when I wrote the post earlier that this was one of THOSE days for Ron Paul’s campaign — in the 3 hours since I wrote the last post (meaning an hour ago), they had raised another million. Looks like they’ll break their record today and score into the $4 millions again for a one-day total.

 

Now, an hour after I took that screen shot, they’re up another $344,000. This is the excitement generated by someone who’s ready to stand against the establishment, which gives me hope about the chord Darwood & Smitty may strike.

Ron Paul and “Darwood and Smitty”

Well this has just been interesting to watch. In case you haven’t noticed, Ron Paul — formerly considered a fringe Republican candidate — came out of the proverbial woodwork on November 5 with a record-breaking $4.2 million raised in a single day! So far in the 4th quarter of 2007, he’s earned over $15 million — one of the top earners of either party!

That total comes from more than 100,000 donors averaging just $150 each in donations. And $3.5 million of it has been raised in just the last week, which I’ve noticed by checking in each day. He’s raised $1 million in just the last couple hours.

What’s cool about Ron Paul is how he largely fits the personality and principles of the president featured in my manuscript, Darwood & Smitty — although Ron is not so tall and powerful looking as my character. Probably the major likeness is the fact that both are ready to stand on principle against special interests, which is a key topic in my book.

The book still needs final draft revisions, but hopefully will be in agent hands in the next two months.

You can check out Ron Paul’s political positions on his website: Visit Ron Paul

Done. Done. Done.

Phew.

I’ve just written the words “THE END” after 63,000 words of Darwood and Smitty. The first draft is complete. My goal has been to start pitching it to agents by the end of January. As I’ve scoured the first draft several times, there is mostly just clean-up work and term consistencies to address throughout the draft. I think I’ll be about on target to get it into some hands by then, and we’ll see just what happens from there.

Time to go celebrate by going to bed? Nope, wait — maybe an episode of Scrubs to celebrate. That’s got to be what successful people do.

Nearly Done — the First Go

I guess it’s worth noting that I’m nearly finished with the first draft of Darwood and Smitty. The goal: to have a final draft finished along with a proposal by late January, at which point I’ll start pitching it to agents.

What? You’re an agent? Well then, get in touch. I’ll send you a $5 Starbucks card (this is really ironic, but you wouldn’t know it until you read the book) so that I can treat you to a cup of joe and we can chat over the most unique marketing plan you’ve ever heard for a novel.

 Not an agent? Well, I still like you. And I might still buy you a cup of coffee some day if you’re a member of my mailing list. That means signing up over here.

 Cheers!

The World has Changed.

Like many bloggers, I’ve slipped into a long absense. Last I wrote, our holistic center hadn’t even launched. Now we’ve been in business for several months, and we’re to the point that I’m not scrambling to get things done every moment of every day. Have finally gotten things in place and working pretty smoothly.

Um, so that’s what I mean about the world changing. I mean, everything was different at least for our family 6 months ago. Now, the kids are in school 5 days a week for the first time; wife and I are running a business together; and I no longer tell people I’m a writer.

Hopefully I can tell them I’m an author before long though. Well … that’s been the case for years, as I’ve published several titles, including my most recent, The Quantum Challenge. But these books tend to be for friends, family, clients — not published and distributed on a large scale. But I’m thinking of expanding The Quantum Challenge and doing something more with it. And Darwood and Smitty are in action again, and I’m wondering if I can wrap that up by the end of the year.

Suppose that’s the news for now. Oh, and as for funny posts about the pharmaceutical industry … well, I could have several of those for you, because they just don’t quit with their morbid hilarity. (Did you know that ol’ Merck is getting sued for rotting people’s jaws? Yes sir.) But this is just too much time spent on a blog when I should be helping with the kids or helping Darwood and Smitty to save the world.