Sunflower

It is done. Howard and I today submitted our three chapters for Round 3 of the Next Top Spiritual Author contest. What started as an idea for a book and a catchy title – Feel Great Naked – has blossomed into an exciting writing adventure for both of us.

There will be no more public voting or viewing.

For the next three weeks, judges including authors, marketers and the publisher will be reading all the submissions of the top 25 finalists. At the end of that period, the 4 finalists will be announced for Round 4. We’re not sure what they will require next, but in the end, one finalist will receive a publishing contract with Hampton Roads and $50,000 for marketing. We are holding the vision for extraordinary success!

A panel of judges will then review all submissions and about four weeks later four finalists will be selected from the top 25. From the final four, one winner will be selected who will receive a publishing contract with Hampton Roads and $50,000 for marketing.

As I review my highlights and low-lights of the past 2o years for our memoir called Feel Great Naked – One Couple’s Quest for Heaven on Earth, this wonderful poem about the journey of self-discovery comes to mind.

Autobiography in Five Chapters

by Portia Nelson

Chapter One:

I walk down the street.
There’s a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I’m lost.
I’m helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter Two:

I walk down the same street.
There’s a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I’m in this same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter Three:

I walk down the same street.
There’s a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I fall in.
It’s a habit.
But my eyes are open.
It is my fault and I get out immediately.

Chapter Four:

I walk down the same street.
There’s a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
.
.
.

Chapter Five:

I try walking down a different street.

~~~~~~~~~
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That’s the top 1% of all the authors that entered the contest. Woohoo!!  We’ve been floating on cloud nine all day long.

Of the 3,000 authors who joined the online contest, 250 authors made it to Round 2, including Howard and I with our book “Feel Great Naked – One Couple’s Quest for Heaven on Earth.” For Round 2 we had to write a book proposal and a sample chapter. http://bit.ly/feelgn

All 250 book proposals were reviewed by a panel of judges and voted on by the public. The winning entries had to receive final approval by the publisher Hampton Roads.

The announcement of the winners was made during a conference call today.  I was on a client coaching call so didn’t hear it live. Howard was so excited when they called out my name first that he couldn’t focus enough to capture the names of our friends who had also made it. Here’s the official list:  http://www.nexttopauthor.com/round3_authors.cfm

Congratulations are coming in from all over the world, one radio host wants to interview us. Our local paper wants to have an update.

Now in Round 3, we have two (or three?)  weeks to write two chapters!  Must be juicy, emotional, compelling, a complete page-turner, and with broad appeal!

Can we do it? We shall see.
Four authors will advance to Round 4.

Thank you so much for voting for us!!

We greatly appreciate this opportunity to go for our dream of being authors.

Winner of Round 2 Coaching Draw

I created a second draw for six months of free coaching for people who voted for us in Round 2 of the Next Top Spiritual Author contest and who wanted to be included in the draw.

All the names were put into a shiny gift bag and my daughter Lani made the draw.

Here’s the video I made of Howard’s happy announcement of our win and the coaching draw.

I am delighted to announce that the winner of six months of free coaching  is Shirley Bueckert. Congratulations Shirley!

I contacted Shirley and she said “The universe is giving me an awesome gift and I am ready to receive.”

The excitement continues.

~~~~~~~~~
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See link here to Langley Advance News article: Walnut Grove Authors make it to Round 2

anthurium CC photo credit: delphaber

Mom told me how delighted she was to receive a beautiful exotic plant this morning from a Chinese lady at the gym. The plant, an anthurium with its dark green heavy leaves and red heart-shaped flowers, was a fitting match to the heart-centered woman who is my Mom. I asked her how she came to meet the Chinese lady.

Mom met her a few years ago when the lady came to the community fitness center where both my parents work out. Mom saw her walk over to the treadmill, push a few buttons, step off, wander around the exercise equipment with a perplexed look on her face and then head for the exit door. Mom bolted after her, stopped her at the door and asked “Shall I explain the machines to you?”

The Chinese lady didn’t speak much English and my Mom has a thick Dutch accent and is hard of hearing, but somehow with gestures and pointing, Mom coaxed her back into the fitness room. Mom introduced her to the other regulars in the club and eventually they found out her name was Lily. Lily was almost 70 years old, slim like a model and in good shape for her age. Mom showed her how to operate the treadmill and how to change the weights on weight lifting equipment. Lily was a quick learner. When it came time for the core exercise class, Mom encouraged Lily to join her. I still get teary-eyed when I think about my 80 year old Mom showing her 70 year old friend how to use the exercise equipment.

Mom and Lily still look for each other every morning, share smiles, a hello and encouragement. Sometimes if a translation is needed, they ask another Chinese member of the club to help out. Lily has become a good friend. She came to the hospital when my Mom was sick. She remembers Mom on every birthday with a gift.

I was touched by Mom’s story about how one person can make a difference. Who knows what would have happened if Lily had just gone home that day she first came to the gym. Dejected perhaps at the enormity of having to figure out all those machines in a strange room in a foreign country surrounded by strangers, mostly young jocks. But it didn’t happen that way because my Mom stepped up to help. And while Lily still doesn’t speak much English, she thanks my Mom to this day. When you speak the language of the heart there are no barriers.

Happy Birthday Mom!

~~~~~~~~~
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Miriam and Howard

In the last few weeks, we’ve been catapulted right out of our comfort zones. Howard and I have had more fights and more tears than we’ve had in a long time. We’ve also had more laughs, more joining, and more passionate life energy than usual as we joined forces to write our story for a contest.

It started at the beginning of April when we entered the online Next Top Spiritual Author Contest with our idea for a book. Along with 2,800 other authors, we had to prove that we could market ourselves by attracting votes. And we did.

Now in Round 2 of the contest, we have shifted the focus of our book from a self-help spiritual guide to an intensely personal story of our quest to create a joyful relationship.

We are proud to present the revised sub-title, book proposal and sample chapter for our book:

Feel Great Naked – One Couple’s Quest for Heaven on Earth.

In Chapter 1, called “Setting the Trap/Desperado,” you will meet Mr. Lone Wolf and Ms. Fiercely Independent. One voter commented that reading this chapter was “like getting to sneak a peek into your personal private diaries. How delicious!”

We are asking for your support to help us win this contest. The prize – a publishing contract with Hampton Roads and $50,000.

Please vote here (until June 28, 2010):
http://www.nexttopauthor.com/profile.cfm?aid=2754

Voting is simple.

If you voted for us before, go to NTSA #2754, and log in with your email address, password and vote.

If this is your first time voting, go to NTSA #2754, register with your email and password; they’ll send you a confirmation email, click on the link in the confirmation email which takes you back to our voting page, and vote.

Grand Prize if You Vote for Us

All voters in Round 2 can enter our new draw for six months of free coaching with me valued at over $3,000.

To enter the draw watch for the pop-up window that comes up after you vote that says “thank-you.” Click on the link below it and enter your name and email address.

We love comments!

Please leave your comment at the bottom of our author page.

We argued over every phrase. He wrote something. I corrected it. He corrected it. Our friends with editing skills corrected it. He wrote some more. I added something. He corrected it. On and on. My inspiration was fading.

This morning when he insisted that we had to stop all these edits and just get our book proposal uploaded to the contest website, I lost it.  “It’s not good enough yet!” I said.

Howard was getting irritated with me. “What do you want?” he shouted.

I shouted back.  “Joy first!”

A grin spread over his face as he caught the absurdity of those beautiful words spoken with utter frustration.

He slammed his fist onto my desk and shouted,

And we both burst out laughing.

Barely able to talk now from laughing so hard, he shouted “Are we having fun yet?”

Here we were so derailed by our search for perfection and our sense of urgency that we forgot why we were doing this in the first place.

It was time to get back on track.
I told him I wanted a time-out to meditate and soothe my stressful thoughts.

“OK. OK. OK.” I said to myself as I headed to my meditation chair.
Soothing. Soothing. Soothing my stressful thoughts.

We are where we are and it’s OK. At least we are in this together and we have the ability to laugh at ourselves. Round 2 is five weeks long. There is really no urgency about this. One or two days more won’t be a big deal. Everything is right on schedule.

Then a brilliant idea. Why not write about this for my blog while the experience was still fresh. The insights kept coming.

Silly me. I forgot about the joy that I am and what I really want.

Nothing is so important that it is worth dragging me down like this. At times, I’d been letting this book proposal project suck the life force out of me. And when I do that, I’ve unplugged from my connection to Source. I’ve tuned out the only voice that matters – the voice of my Divine Self.

So I decided to meditate and calm my mind and create my day anew.

A short while later,  as I was sitting relaxed in my meditation chair, Howard came into my office and kissed me on my neck. “I love you,” he said.

The world was looking brighter already.

~~~~~~~~~
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Louise L. Hay

My passion for learning to create on purpose, with the power of thought, led me to study with Louise L. Hay, author of the book, “You Can Heal Your Life.” Louise led me to practice positive affirmations and visualizations with delightful results. I attracted my dream job, my dream home, and the man of my dreams!

It’s been almost 20 years since I created those incredible results and to this day, I still do positive affirmations, although not as consistently. When I do practice turning my negative thoughts around, the results seem almost magical. Health improves. Clients come. Money flows.

Sometimes it’s good to have a little encouragement to keep practicing what we know. Don’t you agree?

That’s why I’m delighted to share this new book by Louise L. Hay with you. I hope it inspires you as it has inspired me.

Experience Your Good Now!

In her book, Experience Your Good Now!, Louise L. Hay discusses the power and importance of affirmations and shows you how to apply them right now to create your best life!

Within these pages, Louise discusses specific topics and concerns (health, fearful emotions, addictions, prosperity issues, love and intimacy, and more) and presents exercises that show you how to make beneficial changes to virtually every area of your life. On the enclosed CD, Louise offers you helpful information about affirmations that you can also use to your benefit.

In celebration of the release of Experience Your Good Now!, I have partnered with Hay House to help spread the word about their fabulous prize giveaway – a spot on the I CAN DO IT! CARIBBEAN CRUISE in January 2011. For your chance to be part of this unique cruise, enter to win at experienceyourgoodnow dot com

When you purchase Experience Your Good Now! and register at the link above, you will also have access to 6 more bonus gifts from Hay House as well as over 100 gifts, products and services from other sponsors, including me.

Yes you can experience your good now. Positive affirmations are powerful medicine.

All the names were put into a shiny gift bag and today I made the draw with the help of Ethan, a young neighbor.

I am delighted to announce that the winner is Myra Harmer!

Congratulations Myra!

Here is the YouTube video of the draw:

I notified Myra of her win a short while ago and she contacted me right away to let me know of a wonderful synchronicity.  Myra said that at the precise time I was sending her an email about winning the draw, she was in the shower and “feeling great naked” - the name of our book!

Myra also said that she grew up only 20 miles from Hampton Roads, the publisher who is offering the grand prize in the Next Top Spiritual Author contest!

I love when outside events link up with our thoughts and feelings.

~~~~~~~~~
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We entered the contest over a week after the voting had already begun, so we had to move our butts and our fingers (on the keyboard) to create the video, write the book pitch and get the votes needed to advance. Most of all, we were conscious of keeping our energy up.

We are deeply grateful to those of you who voted for us! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

What’s Next?

Of the 3,000 plus contestants in the first round, 250 authors are advancing to round 2.

Round 2 of the Next Top Spiritual Author contest begins on Monday, May 24 and runs for 5 weeks. In preparation for this, we will be writing a book proposal and a chapter which will be posted online.

Round 2 will again involve public voting as well as an assessment of each book proposal by a panel of experts and a significant vote from Hampton Roads Publishing.

25 Authors will advance to Round 3.

The excitement continues.

~~~~~~~~~
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