Immediate disclaimer: this post contains absolutely zero scooter, motorcycle, RV or travel content! Instead……………

About two years ago, I began to feel very strongly that, while most people figure out some things about life over the course of their years, they typically fail to write them down — and so they take that very valuable information with them to their graves, and leave those who come behind them to figure out all the hard stuff by themselves. For some reason, which to this day I still cannot explain, I began to feel called to write some things down about life, and thus (hopefully) do better for my kids and grandkids.

So in response, I developed an outline of the things I thought it important to know about life, and then I started writing about them. Things like: Why are we here? What are we supposed to be doing with this life, anyway? And what are some useful things to know that will help us along our way, help us to be happier and healthier and live life more fully? You know, things I wish someone had told me back when I was 20, or 30, or even 40, things that would have made life a lot easier for me, to do and to understand.

As I wrote each chapter, I re-read it and re-read it, editing it as I went along (much as I do this blog!), and then I would forward each chapter along to my aunt Sharon, a retired teacher of English and language arts (among other things, including English as a second language). She would very kindly and helpfully read each chapter and offer valuable suggestions about the style of the writing, or the structure of the book as it developed, or the clarity of the points I was making. I will always be grateful to her for this invaluable service and kindness. And thus, slowly, the ideas took on form and a book began to emerge.

This process took me about six months or so, after which I began trying to get it published. I researched both publishers and literary agents, and sent the book to scads of each, without success. Nobody wants to take a chance publishing some unknown schmoe on the off chance his or her book will become a success — but if you are already a public figure, I think, you can publish your book anywhere. So, me being an unknown schmoe, a disappointing eighteen months followed, in which I received either rejection after rejection, or else simply silence for each submission I undertook. Finally, late in 2024, I decided that if this book was ever going to see the light of day, I was going to have to publish it myself.

And so, because much of the book is spiritual or religious in nature, I went looking for a religious self-publishing company and found one in Zondervan. I liked their approach to self-publishing (at least, as they presented it online), so I sent in my manuscript and my money, and waited for them to send me my book. All good, right? HOWEVER………all self-publishing companies, as you might expect, have robust legal departments to protect them from culpability should one of their self-published books contain “objectionable” material. In short, you cannot defame someone in your book, or libel them, or foment revolution, or advocate violence (just a few examples), and expect ANY self-publishing company to publish you; if any content in your book would put the publishing company in legal jeopardy, the book will be rejected.

But as you know from the content of this blog, I am not one to write such things. Thus, I concluded, I had nothing to fear. Little did I know, however, that as it turns out, Zondervan’s content reviewers go a step further. Since Zondervan considers itself the premier Christian publishing house in America, selling mainly to mainstream and fundamentalist Christians, they also review your content for material they consider objectionable or controversial from a religious perspective — and that’s where I ran afoul of Zondervan. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, since my book includes some very divergent perspectives on many Bible passages, not to mention the chapter titled “Confronting Christianity”. So, long story short, Zondervan rejected my manuscript and sent it over to one of their affiliated self-publishing houses, Authorhouse. And now I am a happy Authorhouse self-published author!

One of the very cool things to come out of this experience was that my daughter Allison agreed to create the cover art. I had some very clear ideas about what I wanted the cover to look like, and (unless I paid several thousand more dollars for bespoke Authorhouse artists to create it) those ideas could never have been realized through the public-domain photographs which they typically use. But Allison hit it perfectly! Check it out:

Of course, you’d have to read the book to understand all the iconography in this image, but trust me — it’s perfect!

One of the things you get when you pay for self-publishing is guidance around the promotion of your book — and one of the promotional methods they encourage is the creation of a blog. Since I already have a blog, you now know why this post has nothing to do with scooters, or RVs, or travel — and why it’s titled “Shameless Self-Promotion”! Here’s the cover blurb describing the book:

This book straddles the nexus between spirituality, Christianity and self-help to provide meaning and guidance along the Path from birth to death. Structured as a conversation at the telescope during a night under the stars, this book addresses questions like: Why are we here? What is the point of life? How do we handle relationships, sexuality, health issues, Christianity, grief and all the challenges life provides? What are some strategies to make it all easier?

Beginning with an overarching exploration of the purpose of life, the book takes the reader on an increasingly practical journey through the implications associated with this purpose – finding one’s calling, understanding and following one’s path (the Contract we make with the Divine), and recognizing and avoiding the obstacles. More concrete advice follows: how to make a relationship work; re-defining a crisis; managing conflict; helpful spiritual practices to make things easier. Healing, relationships, sexuality, parenting, death and bereavement, and a critical examination of both Reiki and Christianity round out a book whose purpose it is to help people make sense – and success – of life.

If you would like to invest $22 (Authorhouse set the price, not me!), or $4 for the e-book, in learning what I think is important to know about life, here’s how you can do so: https://www.authorhouse.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/865238-i-hope-this-helps. And I won’t be at all offended if you are not interested in doing so, as I fully realize that A) not everybody has $22 to throw around, and B) you may very well not be at a point in your life where information like this calls to you. Believe me, I appreciate that you even read my blog! But I would be ever so grateful if you would consider buying this book.

Thanks for reading this post, and fear not! I registered the scooter already for the coming season, and I have big plans for both the trip to Madawaska (finally!) and a proper tour and description of Acadia National Park (also finally!). Not to mention the usual RV and golf trips that have historically populated this blog! So, very soon I hope to be back to the content to which you are accustomed! See you next time!