Our author of the upcoming "The Inspired Life" talks about her "inspiration" to study inspiration!
Susyn Reeve
“It’s the meaning that I ascribe to the circumstances of my life that result in whether I experience myself as victorious in my life, or whether I feel victimized by life. When things aren’t working the way I think they should … I really need to remember that I get to choose the meaning that I give to the circumstance.”
Toni Reece: Welcome to the Get Inspired! Project. I’m Toni Reece, and today I am with Susyn Reeve. Susyn, welcome to the Get Inspired! Project.
Susyn Reeve: I’m thrilled to be here with you today, Toni.
Toni: Thank you. Susyn, take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Susyn: Certainly, in terms of this Project, when I was a teenager I wrote in my journal, “What would the world be like if everybody loved themselves?” That question has been my inspiration in work that I’ve done with corporate clients, in the individual coaching that I do, and in my new book that’s coming out in September called The Inspired Life.
Toni: Thank you for that. Let’s go into the first question. What does inspiration mean to you?
Susyn: When I think about the word inspiration, I think about being ‘in spirited,’ living from the inside out, and what I mean by that is that my thoughts and my actions are generated and aligned with my purpose. For me, that very much has been influenced by the Gandhi quote, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
In my personal life and in my professional life, I’m deeply inspired by working with people to have their self-esteem blossom, and personally I’m deeply committed to expanding and deepening my capacity to give and receive love.
Toni: How do you put that into practice? Can you give us an example?
Susyn: Sure. First of all, I’m very clear that in order to live a life from the inside out that I need regular, consistent practice. I have a personal toolkit of sorts, and in that is it’s really important for me to spend some time meditating. It’s crucial that I spend time in nature.
After years of using a mantra of ‘thoughts create,’ when I’m knocked off center and feel disconnected from the essence of who I am, from the greater field of life, more often than not, sooner rather than later, that mantra pops into my mind, and it’s a reminder to start paying attention to what thoughts am I thinking that are generating the feelings that I’m having? Then, make up new thoughts that support what I desire.
Toni: I like that. Is there a specific example that you’ve applied that to as you were going through your career or your life that you could share?
Susyn: Sure. It came up with my new book, The Inspired Life. I was stuck. I could call it writer’s block, but I had just spent weeks writing about living an uninspired life, and so I was very focused on fear, anxiety, worry, expectations and judgments. I started judging myself as to whether or not I could really complete this project in the deadline that I had. I would sit down to write every day, and I’d just read over what I’d already written. I wasn’t making any progress.
Then I heard those words in my head, ‘thoughts create,’ and I thought, “Okay, what are thoughts that will help you get this manuscript completed?”
I started writing down a list of thoughts: I follow through on commitments. I get things done. I’ve already written one book; I can do this. I can ask for help if I need it.
That action of writing down possibilities that were in alignment with the result that I desired really changed my energy. I would say that I wrote the bulk of the book in a month.
Toni: Wow – by using that tool and changing your thought process, it really did get you into action, didn’t it?
Susyn: Exactly. What’s really important in this is that I spent probably 45 minutes writing new thoughts that day, because it wasn’t enough simply to have the thought. I had to feel those thoughts in my body. So at the end of that journal page after I wrote for 45 minutes, in bold letters I wrote, “Yes I can!” I could really feel every cell of my body dancing to that tune.
Toni: What has your greatest life lesson been to date?
Susyn: It’s been that humans – certainly, I am, and all humans are – meaning-making machines. It’s the meaning that I ascribe to the circumstances of my life that result in whether I experience myself as victorious in my life, or whether I feel victimized by life.
When things aren’t working the way I think they should, or I’m feeling as though the task before me is bigger than I am, I really need to remember that I get to choose the meaning that I give to the circumstance.
Toni: I love that. What would you like your legacy to be?
Susyn: I’m smiling as I say this. If I had something written on my tombstone, I’d like it to say that I was the world’s greatest lover; I’m continually discovering and expanding my capacity to give and receive love in all arenas of my life.
Toni: Susyn, it’s been a pleasure to have you on the Get Inspired! Project.
Susyn: Thanks so much, Toni. I’m inspired by talking with you.
Toni: Thank you. Take care.
Susyn: Thanks. You too.
www.self-esteem-experts.com
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Solstice Inspiration from Susyn Reeve
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011
World of Writing Interview
-- Conscious Living Events --
Candle Night Summer/Winter Solstice--June 22, 2011
Turn off the lights, and take it slow, for two hours from 8 to 10 p.m., on the evening of June 22. Candle Night encourages people to turn off the lights and to spend some quality time in the candlelight.
Info: http://www.candle-night.org/en
-- World of Writing --
Most of our readers are already aware that we offer occasional mini-World-of-Writing segments on this blog. Today we have a special guest line up for you - I think you'll enjoy what she has to say about the world of writing :)
I’d like to start with a shout out to Kat Sanborn, Editorial Associate with Cleis Press and Viva Editions (VivaEditions.com) for sending a query our way for today’s featured guest.
Author Susyn Reeve joins us today – she is a self-esteem expert, life coach and Inter-Faith Minister. Her published books include: Choose Peace & Happiness, With Forgiveness – Are You Ready, The Gift of the Acorn, and the upcoming Inspired Life. She is here to talk about here experiences in the genre of non-fiction book writing. Find today’s featured guest at: www.withforgiveness.com or at: www.self-esteem-experts.com
Q: Who inspired you to pursue a career in writing?
I have been an avid reader all my life, I can see in my mind's eye my treasured copy of Little Women that I received as a birthday gift as a child. I have always loved how reading expanded my experience of the world - opening doors to relationships and cultures that were outside of my daily experience. In addition, I have kept a journal since I received a diary as a birthday gift when I was seven. So rather than one particular person inspiring me - it has been a combination of books and the writing of my experiences that has most influenced me to pursue writing.
Q: How does writing help you make a difference in the world?
Writing has expanded my reach. Particularly given the Internet, it is possible to reach people throughout the world. I have been blessed to be invited into people's lives through my work as a coach and Inter-Faith Minister. Through working with tens of thousands of people throughout my career I have learned what makes a difference between people who have healthy vibrant self-esteem and those who feel victimized by the circumstances of their lives. My writing allows me to share what I have learned and offer hope and guidance to people, throughout the world, who desire to feast on the precious gift of life.
Q: Can you tell us what editors typically look for in a query letter or project proposal?
I have never written a query letter and am quite familiar with project proposals. It is crucial to have a clearly articulated description of your proposed project, including a synopsis, table of contents, sample chapters and through your bio a clear reason why you are the qualified to write your book - all of this relates to the content. I have found that it is sometimes even more important to demonstrate that there is a market for your project and that you have access to that market. Being able to identify your competition, and how your book is unique combined with a clear marketing plan is mandatory information for editors.
Q: What do you do when you are not writing?
I have a website that I add content to (www.Self-Esteem-Experts.com) and a Transformational Coaching practice. I work with clients in corporate settings to develop and embody Leadership skills; and privately with individuals and groups, partnering and guiding people to deepen and expand their capacity to give and receive love through cultivating a loving relationship with themselves. Many of my clients are therapists, coaches and clergy. I am a teacher of teachers.
Q: What gave you the idea (inspiration) for this book?
My new book, The Inspired Life: Unleashing Your Mind's Capacity for Joy (due out in September 2011 - Viva Editions) is inspired by my personal experience and what I have learned from my clients - happiness, living an inspired, life is an inside job. I am personally deeply committed to - being the change I wish to see in the world - contributing to the world by nourishing peace and love in my life. I want my grandchildren and their children's children to live in a world were cooperation, community, kindness, compassion and love are consciously cultivated. As a teen I wrote in my journal, What would the world be like if everyone loved themselves? This question has informed my life and has been a source or inspiration for me to offer a map for living an inspired life in my new book.
Q: What is the important role that writers play in today’s world?
Writers are artists who use words as their medium. We paint word pictures that have the power to open readers to new worlds and ideas. I find in my non-fiction writing that while I present information, it is through the stories that I share, from my personal experience or the experience of my clients, that allows readers to see that they are not alone - as well as offer a new perspective in meaning they give to their experiences. Words are real things, they are the expression of our thoughts, and in the beginning there was the Word... and it through our thoughts expressed as words that life is created.
*Don't forget to enter the contest that Dave and Lillian have going on this week: http://consciousdiscussions.blogspot.com/2011/06/summer-begins.html
World of Writing Interview
-- Conscious Living Events --
Candle Night Summer/Winter Solstice--June 22, 2011
Turn off the lights, and take it slow, for two hours from 8 to 10 p.m., on the evening of June 22. Candle Night encourages people to turn off the lights and to spend some quality time in the candlelight.
Info: http://www.candle-night.org/en
-- World of Writing --
Most of our readers are already aware that we offer occasional mini-World-of-Writing segments on this blog. Today we have a special guest line up for you - I think you'll enjoy what she has to say about the world of writing :)
I’d like to start with a shout out to Kat Sanborn, Editorial Associate with Cleis Press and Viva Editions (VivaEditions.com) for sending a query our way for today’s featured guest.
Author Susyn Reeve joins us today – she is a self-esteem expert, life coach and Inter-Faith Minister. Her published books include: Choose Peace & Happiness, With Forgiveness – Are You Ready, The Gift of the Acorn, and the upcoming Inspired Life. She is here to talk about here experiences in the genre of non-fiction book writing. Find today’s featured guest at: www.withforgiveness.com or at: www.self-esteem-experts.com
Q: Who inspired you to pursue a career in writing?
I have been an avid reader all my life, I can see in my mind's eye my treasured copy of Little Women that I received as a birthday gift as a child. I have always loved how reading expanded my experience of the world - opening doors to relationships and cultures that were outside of my daily experience. In addition, I have kept a journal since I received a diary as a birthday gift when I was seven. So rather than one particular person inspiring me - it has been a combination of books and the writing of my experiences that has most influenced me to pursue writing.
Q: How does writing help you make a difference in the world?
Writing has expanded my reach. Particularly given the Internet, it is possible to reach people throughout the world. I have been blessed to be invited into people's lives through my work as a coach and Inter-Faith Minister. Through working with tens of thousands of people throughout my career I have learned what makes a difference between people who have healthy vibrant self-esteem and those who feel victimized by the circumstances of their lives. My writing allows me to share what I have learned and offer hope and guidance to people, throughout the world, who desire to feast on the precious gift of life.
Q: Can you tell us what editors typically look for in a query letter or project proposal?
I have never written a query letter and am quite familiar with project proposals. It is crucial to have a clearly articulated description of your proposed project, including a synopsis, table of contents, sample chapters and through your bio a clear reason why you are the qualified to write your book - all of this relates to the content. I have found that it is sometimes even more important to demonstrate that there is a market for your project and that you have access to that market. Being able to identify your competition, and how your book is unique combined with a clear marketing plan is mandatory information for editors.
Q: What do you do when you are not writing?
I have a website that I add content to (www.Self-Esteem-Experts.com) and a Transformational Coaching practice. I work with clients in corporate settings to develop and embody Leadership skills; and privately with individuals and groups, partnering and guiding people to deepen and expand their capacity to give and receive love through cultivating a loving relationship with themselves. Many of my clients are therapists, coaches and clergy. I am a teacher of teachers.
Q: What gave you the idea (inspiration) for this book?
My new book, The Inspired Life: Unleashing Your Mind's Capacity for Joy (due out in September 2011 - Viva Editions) is inspired by my personal experience and what I have learned from my clients - happiness, living an inspired, life is an inside job. I am personally deeply committed to - being the change I wish to see in the world - contributing to the world by nourishing peace and love in my life. I want my grandchildren and their children's children to live in a world were cooperation, community, kindness, compassion and love are consciously cultivated. As a teen I wrote in my journal, What would the world be like if everyone loved themselves? This question has informed my life and has been a source or inspiration for me to offer a map for living an inspired life in my new book.
Q: What is the important role that writers play in today’s world?
Writers are artists who use words as their medium. We paint word pictures that have the power to open readers to new worlds and ideas. I find in my non-fiction writing that while I present information, it is through the stories that I share, from my personal experience or the experience of my clients, that allows readers to see that they are not alone - as well as offer a new perspective in meaning they give to their experiences. Words are real things, they are the expression of our thoughts, and in the beginning there was the Word... and it through our thoughts expressed as words that life is created.
*Don't forget to enter the contest that Dave and Lillian have going on this week: http://consciousdiscussions.blogspot.com/2011/06/summer-begins.html
Monday, June 20, 2011
Making mistakes can be the best learning experiences
Are you convinced that only perfect people get promoted, or that a mistake is the end of your climb up the corporate ladder? Think again. According to New York Times writer Alina Tugend, author of Better by Mistake: The Unexpected Benefits of Being Wrong, mistakes are actually useful, and our quest to avoid them at all costs might be more damning than positive. She learned this when she made an error in one of her ShortCuts columns for the Times. She felt badly about it, but her editor was understanding, and a correction ran in the paper.
However, that wasn’t the end of the story. The idea that mistakes are always “bad” gnawed at Tugend, prompting a followup column and her book, where she writes, “[W]e don’t want to make the same mistakes over and over. But that is different from thinking that we not only can but must do everything perfectly, and if we don’t, we are failures.”
I’ve fallen into this mindset myself numerous times; with one particularly egregious mistake, I compounded it by not telling anyone about it (even though it was bound to be discovered), sure that it would immediately doom me to never work again. Instead, when I finally did reveal it, yes, I was reprimanded, but I also learned and negotiated new ways of working to combat the root causes and new working procedures. Ultimately, as much as I do regret that error, I’m also glad I was able to discover that one mistake, honestly approached and examined, can actually make me a better worker because I am determined not to do it again.
Tugend says she “learned to really internalize – not just give lip service to – the idea that none of us are perfect and we’re all going to make mistakes, especially if we move out of our comfort zone. We should be proud of ourselves for taking risks, rather than berating ourselves for mistakes.”
She also points out that those who fear mistakes to the point that they avoid situations where they might ever risk making them do themselves (and, presumably, their companies, by extension) a disservice. “Super-perfectionists – and I’m not talking about high achievers, but people who can’t bear to make a mistake – often don’t know how to prioritize and so fear negative feedback that they don’t learn from their goof-ups. Even constructive criticism is considered so damning that ultra-perfectionists will do anything to avoid it.”
Lilit Marcus, founder of the website Save the Assistants and now editor of Crushable, says that many of her mistakes wound up on Save the Assistants (thereby helping other people to learn from them). An email snafu taught her a lesson she’s put to good use. “When I was an assistant I was going back and forth with another admin at a different company about setting up a meeting for our bosses,” says Marcus. “When we finally nailed down a time, I sent a confirmation email to her and cc’d her boss, figuring it couldn’t hurt to make sure they both had a copy of the email. The assistant called me about five seconds later to chew me out, the gist of which was ‘It’s my job to manage his schedule, not yours.’ I understood why she was mad, and after that I made sure to include as few people as possible on emails in order to keep things streamlined.”
At 24, working her first job at an import/export company, Brenda Knight, now Associate Publisher at Cleis Press, wound up accepting a price for a huge order of candlesticks that was a nickel per item too low, which would have cost the company a significant amount of money. “I’d read Dale Carnegie’s book about the art of influencing people and he said if you’re really in trouble, to ask for help. I was talking to the person from India and said, ‘I really need your help, I really need you to add the price of a nickel back.’ He said he couldn’t do it and I just said ‘I need you to think about it.’” Yes, he found a way to make the change, and save Knight’s job. Her takeaway? “I learned that people’s essential nature is inherently good; they want to help. Instead of making excuses and lying, just ask for help, and people will always respond.”
Novelist and blogger Justine Musk of Tribal Writer recently wrote, “Mistakes force the brain to slow down, to evaluate things, to pay sharp attention and truly think its way forward (instead of shifting into automatic pilot). When you’re pushing the edges of your abilities, you lay down new neural pathways that pave the way to greater learning and deeper accomplishment.” I’ve found that when I make a mistake, whether a small one or a larger one, it’s a sign that something in my life is amiss; I’m working too quickly so I don’t notice a typo, or I’m so overscheduled that I completely forget something. Of course nobody wants to make mistakes, but recognizing that we all do, and figuring out how they can be learning moments, is useful to workers and managers dealing with employees who’ve messed up.
Concludes Tugend, “Mistakes have gotten a bad rap. I believe everyone should work hard, hope to achieve high standards and be conscientious, but we’re all human and we all will make mistakes. If we rush to ignore them, we can’t learn from them. If we spend all our time trying to avoid them, we don’t take risks. The most successful people in the world are not those who never screw up, but those who know how to bounce back after mistakes and failure.”
However, that wasn’t the end of the story. The idea that mistakes are always “bad” gnawed at Tugend, prompting a followup column and her book, where she writes, “[W]e don’t want to make the same mistakes over and over. But that is different from thinking that we not only can but must do everything perfectly, and if we don’t, we are failures.”
I’ve fallen into this mindset myself numerous times; with one particularly egregious mistake, I compounded it by not telling anyone about it (even though it was bound to be discovered), sure that it would immediately doom me to never work again. Instead, when I finally did reveal it, yes, I was reprimanded, but I also learned and negotiated new ways of working to combat the root causes and new working procedures. Ultimately, as much as I do regret that error, I’m also glad I was able to discover that one mistake, honestly approached and examined, can actually make me a better worker because I am determined not to do it again.
Tugend says she “learned to really internalize – not just give lip service to – the idea that none of us are perfect and we’re all going to make mistakes, especially if we move out of our comfort zone. We should be proud of ourselves for taking risks, rather than berating ourselves for mistakes.”
She also points out that those who fear mistakes to the point that they avoid situations where they might ever risk making them do themselves (and, presumably, their companies, by extension) a disservice. “Super-perfectionists – and I’m not talking about high achievers, but people who can’t bear to make a mistake – often don’t know how to prioritize and so fear negative feedback that they don’t learn from their goof-ups. Even constructive criticism is considered so damning that ultra-perfectionists will do anything to avoid it.”
Lilit Marcus, founder of the website Save the Assistants and now editor of Crushable, says that many of her mistakes wound up on Save the Assistants (thereby helping other people to learn from them). An email snafu taught her a lesson she’s put to good use. “When I was an assistant I was going back and forth with another admin at a different company about setting up a meeting for our bosses,” says Marcus. “When we finally nailed down a time, I sent a confirmation email to her and cc’d her boss, figuring it couldn’t hurt to make sure they both had a copy of the email. The assistant called me about five seconds later to chew me out, the gist of which was ‘It’s my job to manage his schedule, not yours.’ I understood why she was mad, and after that I made sure to include as few people as possible on emails in order to keep things streamlined.”
At 24, working her first job at an import/export company, Brenda Knight, now Associate Publisher at Cleis Press, wound up accepting a price for a huge order of candlesticks that was a nickel per item too low, which would have cost the company a significant amount of money. “I’d read Dale Carnegie’s book about the art of influencing people and he said if you’re really in trouble, to ask for help. I was talking to the person from India and said, ‘I really need your help, I really need you to add the price of a nickel back.’ He said he couldn’t do it and I just said ‘I need you to think about it.’” Yes, he found a way to make the change, and save Knight’s job. Her takeaway? “I learned that people’s essential nature is inherently good; they want to help. Instead of making excuses and lying, just ask for help, and people will always respond.”
Novelist and blogger Justine Musk of Tribal Writer recently wrote, “Mistakes force the brain to slow down, to evaluate things, to pay sharp attention and truly think its way forward (instead of shifting into automatic pilot). When you’re pushing the edges of your abilities, you lay down new neural pathways that pave the way to greater learning and deeper accomplishment.” I’ve found that when I make a mistake, whether a small one or a larger one, it’s a sign that something in my life is amiss; I’m working too quickly so I don’t notice a typo, or I’m so overscheduled that I completely forget something. Of course nobody wants to make mistakes, but recognizing that we all do, and figuring out how they can be learning moments, is useful to workers and managers dealing with employees who’ve messed up.
Concludes Tugend, “Mistakes have gotten a bad rap. I believe everyone should work hard, hope to achieve high standards and be conscientious, but we’re all human and we all will make mistakes. If we rush to ignore them, we can’t learn from them. If we spend all our time trying to avoid them, we don’t take risks. The most successful people in the world are not those who never screw up, but those who know how to bounce back after mistakes and failure.”
Monday, June 13, 2011
The world's "better than greatest" dad?
If these adjectives don't describe your dad, ask Arthur Plotnik Word lovers will be equally delighted by this rhapsody of rhetoric
More · Buy
Better Than Great
A Plenitudinous Compendium of Wallopingly Fresh Superlatives
by Arthur Plotnik
Better Than Great is the essential guide for describing the extraordinary—the must-have reference for anyone wishing to rise above tired superlatives. Arthur Plotnik, the wunderkind of word-wonks is, without mincing, proffering a well knit wellspring of worthy and wondrous words to rescue our worn-down usage. Plotnik is both hella AND hecka up to the task of rescuing the language of praise, offering readers the chance to never be at a loss for words!
Booklist gave Better Than Great a starred review: "Original, assiduously researched, and zestfully written, this work of reviviscent wordy fun is to be read as well as consulted, and what gonzo joy awaits language lovers as Plotnik serves up high-fivable hot sauce for the brain."
More · Buy
Wordcatcher
An Odyssey into the World of Weird and Wonderful Words
by Phil Cousineau
The world's preeminent mythology scholar explores the mystery and meaning of marvelous words
Author Phil Cousineau explores the obscure territory of word origins with great erudition and endearing curiosity. The English poet W. H. Auden was once asked to teach a poetry class for 20 students. Two hundred applied to study with him. When asked how he chose his students, he said he picked the ones who actually loved words. So too, with this book—it takes a special wordcatcher to create a treasure chest of remarkable words and their origins, and any word lover will relish the stories that Cousineau has discovered.
Know any dads of tweens or teens? And for the dad who's got everything
The Available Parent
Radical Optimism for Raising Teens and Tweens
by John Duffy
Embrace Fearless Parenting
When hugs and family fun have been replaced by silence, slamming doors and an ever-changing array of moods, you need new tools. Top teen expert Dr. John Duffy has encountered all of this and more in his family counseling practice and offers excellent advice, clear strategies and teen-tested solutions in The Available Parent.
Dr. Duffy can help you shift the dynamic in your relationship with your teenager. Using the techniques in The Available Parent, you can begin to enjoy a healthy, satisfying, new kind of relationship with your teenager—one based on a foundation of radical optimism, rather than fear-based control. Dr. Duffy's step-by-step guide is an innovative approach to taking care of teens and tweens. You'll see that it's the available parent that fosters an extraordinary teenager.
More · Buy
Random Obsessions
Trivia You Can't Live Without
by Nick Belardes
A People's History of the Peculiar
Did you know Thomas Jefferson’s grandson was an ax murderer? How about an ailment so surreal it’s named after Alice in Wonderland? Historian Nick Belardes explains the unexplained, from the permanently puzzling Mothman conspiracy to secret Star Wars Jedi religious cults and the charmingly eccentric reason why British aerospace engineers sent teddy bears floating out into space.
Truly trivia you can’t live without, Random Obsessions is filled with facts, lists, definitions, and astonishing information guaranteed to provide you with the best cocktail conversation for many years to come. Your guide, Nick Belardes, has devoted his life to poking around the peculiar and perplexing, and the result is a trivia book that is anything but trivial. These real-world facts are outlandish enough to sharpen your brain and occupy your mind for hours of reading.
More · Buy
Viva Editions, an imprint of Cleis Press, 2246 Sixth St., Berkeley, CA 94710
More · Buy
Better Than Great
A Plenitudinous Compendium of Wallopingly Fresh Superlatives
by Arthur Plotnik
Better Than Great is the essential guide for describing the extraordinary—the must-have reference for anyone wishing to rise above tired superlatives. Arthur Plotnik, the wunderkind of word-wonks is, without mincing, proffering a well knit wellspring of worthy and wondrous words to rescue our worn-down usage. Plotnik is both hella AND hecka up to the task of rescuing the language of praise, offering readers the chance to never be at a loss for words!
Booklist gave Better Than Great a starred review: "Original, assiduously researched, and zestfully written, this work of reviviscent wordy fun is to be read as well as consulted, and what gonzo joy awaits language lovers as Plotnik serves up high-fivable hot sauce for the brain."
More · Buy
Wordcatcher
An Odyssey into the World of Weird and Wonderful Words
by Phil Cousineau
The world's preeminent mythology scholar explores the mystery and meaning of marvelous words
Author Phil Cousineau explores the obscure territory of word origins with great erudition and endearing curiosity. The English poet W. H. Auden was once asked to teach a poetry class for 20 students. Two hundred applied to study with him. When asked how he chose his students, he said he picked the ones who actually loved words. So too, with this book—it takes a special wordcatcher to create a treasure chest of remarkable words and their origins, and any word lover will relish the stories that Cousineau has discovered.
Know any dads of tweens or teens? And for the dad who's got everything
The Available Parent
Radical Optimism for Raising Teens and Tweens
by John Duffy
Embrace Fearless Parenting
When hugs and family fun have been replaced by silence, slamming doors and an ever-changing array of moods, you need new tools. Top teen expert Dr. John Duffy has encountered all of this and more in his family counseling practice and offers excellent advice, clear strategies and teen-tested solutions in The Available Parent.
Dr. Duffy can help you shift the dynamic in your relationship with your teenager. Using the techniques in The Available Parent, you can begin to enjoy a healthy, satisfying, new kind of relationship with your teenager—one based on a foundation of radical optimism, rather than fear-based control. Dr. Duffy's step-by-step guide is an innovative approach to taking care of teens and tweens. You'll see that it's the available parent that fosters an extraordinary teenager.
More · Buy
Random Obsessions
Trivia You Can't Live Without
by Nick Belardes
A People's History of the Peculiar
Did you know Thomas Jefferson’s grandson was an ax murderer? How about an ailment so surreal it’s named after Alice in Wonderland? Historian Nick Belardes explains the unexplained, from the permanently puzzling Mothman conspiracy to secret Star Wars Jedi religious cults and the charmingly eccentric reason why British aerospace engineers sent teddy bears floating out into space.
Truly trivia you can’t live without, Random Obsessions is filled with facts, lists, definitions, and astonishing information guaranteed to provide you with the best cocktail conversation for many years to come. Your guide, Nick Belardes, has devoted his life to poking around the peculiar and perplexing, and the result is a trivia book that is anything but trivial. These real-world facts are outlandish enough to sharpen your brain and occupy your mind for hours of reading.
More · Buy
Viva Editions, an imprint of Cleis Press, 2246 Sixth St., Berkeley, CA 94710
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
High praise for Plotnik's book of praise!
Better than Great: A Cure for Buzzwords and Marketing Speak
by ADAM SHERK on JUNE 1, 2011
Twice in the past year I’ve covered the most overused PR buzzwords and marketing speak and press release buzzword abuse. It is fun to point out the biggest offenders but even well-intentioned marketing communicators can find it difficult to avoid them.
Ready to stop being a “leading provider” of “unique,” “innovative” and “award winning” overused terms but need a solution? (Doh! “Solution” is an overused term too. But not in this context, so I get a pass.)
Enter Better than Great, Arthur Plotnik’s new book containing nearly 6,000 alternate terms for praise and acclaim. Arthur mentioned that he was working on it in the comments of my first buzzwords post and now that it’s been released I’m happy to say he achieved his aim and then some.
Better than Great covers a wide range of fresh superlatives in a number of categories, pulling from rare gems and vintage gold all the way through current phrases influenced by hip-hop.
To show the book in action while proving that point that portions of press releases do sometimes get picked up in media and blog coverage I’ll quote directly from the release that Associate Publisher Brenda Knight sent to me:
“Better than Great is the must-have reference for anyone seeking to rise above tired superlatives when the quality of acclaim matters….Critics, copywriters, journalists, poets, speakers, sales reps, bloggers, Twitterers – word-slingers from the whole digital and literary spectrum – should find it to be a concussively brilliant, euphoriant, supernal, larky, trill, spikeable, epiphanic, über-cool, soul-juddering experience, an upful of endorphining jubilee to make the heart warble.”
While we probably need to call out the use of “must-have” that paragraph sure is jam-packed with non-overused terms.
Now admittedly the best antidote for marketing speak in press releases is to explain things simply in clear, direct terms and let the media professionals take it from there. So blending in some of Arthur’s fresh superlatives won’t always be the right approach.
But there are plenty of forms of marketing communications that could use of an injection of less-worn adjectives and even press releases can benefit from some of Arthur’s offerings in the right situation.
So for writers of all shapes and sizes Better than Great is indeed just that.
Note: The book is just $10 on Amazon right now. I’ll avoid the link so this post doesn’t get misinterpreted as a play for affiliate revenue, but go check it out.
Related posts:
The Most Overused Buzzwords and Marketing Speak in Press Releases
PRFilter Shows Press Release Buzzword Abuse Still Prevalent
My Top Posts of 2010 on SEO, PR and Social Media for News and Sports
Social Media News Releases Get 3x More Media Coverage
Wordcatcher: An Odyssey into the World of Weird and Wonderful Words
by ADAM SHERK on JUNE 1, 2011
Twice in the past year I’ve covered the most overused PR buzzwords and marketing speak and press release buzzword abuse. It is fun to point out the biggest offenders but even well-intentioned marketing communicators can find it difficult to avoid them.
Ready to stop being a “leading provider” of “unique,” “innovative” and “award winning” overused terms but need a solution? (Doh! “Solution” is an overused term too. But not in this context, so I get a pass.)
Enter Better than Great, Arthur Plotnik’s new book containing nearly 6,000 alternate terms for praise and acclaim. Arthur mentioned that he was working on it in the comments of my first buzzwords post and now that it’s been released I’m happy to say he achieved his aim and then some.
Better than Great covers a wide range of fresh superlatives in a number of categories, pulling from rare gems and vintage gold all the way through current phrases influenced by hip-hop.
To show the book in action while proving that point that portions of press releases do sometimes get picked up in media and blog coverage I’ll quote directly from the release that Associate Publisher Brenda Knight sent to me:
“Better than Great is the must-have reference for anyone seeking to rise above tired superlatives when the quality of acclaim matters….Critics, copywriters, journalists, poets, speakers, sales reps, bloggers, Twitterers – word-slingers from the whole digital and literary spectrum – should find it to be a concussively brilliant, euphoriant, supernal, larky, trill, spikeable, epiphanic, über-cool, soul-juddering experience, an upful of endorphining jubilee to make the heart warble.”
While we probably need to call out the use of “must-have” that paragraph sure is jam-packed with non-overused terms.
Now admittedly the best antidote for marketing speak in press releases is to explain things simply in clear, direct terms and let the media professionals take it from there. So blending in some of Arthur’s fresh superlatives won’t always be the right approach.
But there are plenty of forms of marketing communications that could use of an injection of less-worn adjectives and even press releases can benefit from some of Arthur’s offerings in the right situation.
So for writers of all shapes and sizes Better than Great is indeed just that.
Note: The book is just $10 on Amazon right now. I’ll avoid the link so this post doesn’t get misinterpreted as a play for affiliate revenue, but go check it out.
Related posts:
The Most Overused Buzzwords and Marketing Speak in Press Releases
PRFilter Shows Press Release Buzzword Abuse Still Prevalent
My Top Posts of 2010 on SEO, PR and Social Media for News and Sports
Social Media News Releases Get 3x More Media Coverage
Wordcatcher: An Odyssey into the World of Weird and Wonderful Words
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)