Category: New Book Discussion

I will discussing the book, Close Enounters of the Heavenly Kind: Through Bumper Stickers. I will shae my feeling on why it got started, and my feelings as I wrote it.

Posted on

Life is Tough and Then you Die

Life is Tough and Then you Die

How’s that for a lead in title? People seem to be living with those thoughts in mind right now with the way the economy is. Life really is tough, but if you remain strong and positive, things will work out fine.

The heading is one of the chapter titles from my book, Close Encounters of the Heavenly Kind: Life Beyond Bumper Stickers.

It is chapter 4 from the book. I am letting you see it now to somehow reach out to help those that are battling with their emotions of disappointments, lost jobs, lost health insurance, and lost hopes.

I will sharing a follow-up chapter tomorrow called, Life is Short Pray Hard. Hopefully it will be a good closer to follow chapter four. That may be all of the chapters I will be sharing with you on this site, but you can get many more excerpts of Close Encounters of the Heavenly Kid: Life beyond Bumper Stickers, by signing up for my free newsletter.

You can see that icon on the right side bar. Notice that when you do sign-up you also have free access to my eBook called, The Top 25 Ways to Survive in a Troubled World. Once you subscribe it is yours for the taking.

That is not all. When you subscribe you are automatically are placed in drawings for top selling books that have the author’s autograph in them with personal notes. Can’t go wrong there:

Chapter 4

Life Is Tough and Then You Die

Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:5

God didn’t promise us a rose garden—besides there are thorns in a rose garden. He allows us to go through the storms. He wants us to learn from them and grow.
We question if God is still there for us when we have a crisis. Things pile up and we wonder, Where are you, God? He allows things to happen that are very hard to understand. Why would He let bad things happen to us?
The psalmist wondered the same thing. In the psalms, crying and wailing come out with a vengeance. Psalms can be also joyful and uplifting, but some of them are not joyful, and they teach us that it is OK to question God. It is OK to voice your true feelings to Him. He knows how to handle your feelings—even your anger.
Despair and anger are combined in Psalm 89:46–47:

How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire? …
For what futility you have created all men!

In our world today there is much despair and anger. There are gang wars, school shootings, sex abuse, battered wives, seniors getting scammed, racists and terrorists.
All of these could cause even the strongest Christian to act on that anger. You have choices. You could seek justice like a vigilante. You could forget it and let it build up inside you, or you could turn it over to God, who is the only Supreme Court Justice in heaven. He will judge those who have wronged others.
We should never stop being angry or sad about what happens in the world, but we need to turn it over to God, and let Him bring you peace in your life.
Too many people have decided that acceptance of wrong is much easier than trying to fight it. Some live in their own little world and go on as if nothing were happening around them.
I saw this in action when I was in the military. Uncle Sam had me stationed in Korea, and we were traveling through Seoul, Korea. I saw an old woman sitting and leaning against a wall. She was begging for help because she was ill and starving. No one stopped. They just kept on walking by.
All military personnel had been instructed that under no circumstances were we to get out of our vehicles—just keep going. This was because if you tried to help someone they could claim you were the one that caused the problem and then get a big settlement from the government. There were rumors of Korean parents throwing their children in front of army trucks to collect a settlement. We retraced out route on the way back to camp. By then, the woman had fallen over and was dead.
I was very angry. I felt helpless. I wasn’t allowed to help the woman, and she died because of that.
I didn’t know if I could make any difference in life. Could one person out of the billions of people on this earth make a difference?
My mother once remarked that she didn’t know why she should get out of bed anymore. She has macular degeneration (partial blindness) and has to use a walker. Her two main loves (besides my brother and me, of course!) were reading and working in the garden. Now she cannot do either of them. I could understand completely what she meant, but it hurt me deeply that she felt that way. I again felt that same helplessness because I wasn’t able to help her.
Why keep going on? The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The weak fall by the wayside. You spend your whole life trying to have a good retirement, and the cost of living eats up all of your income. Evil seems to win—and good seems far away.
The prisoners in the holocaust had all the reasons to be depressed and to commit suicide. They didn’t do that because they kept clinging to their faith in God.
Is that the secret? By just turning our hurts, frustrations and failures over to God, we can have peace? Of course we can. God is the key. If there is no God, anything goes, but everything is meaningless.
If you stay the course, and always let God hold your hand, everything will have meaning, things will come into focus, and everything will fall into place.
As of this writing, my mother is still alive. She is 91 and lives in an assisted living home. She has trouble understanding why she has to be the way she is as far as her health. The world is coming to the stage where 100-year-old people are more common than ever. But many of them are clinging to life assisted by a machine, or they do not have a quality of life that they prefer.
We have developed many new drugs to help people live longer, but we haven’t invented ways to make them happy. We spend millions to help the poor in our country and other countries, but the number of starving children in Oregon alone is growing at an alarming rate.
We allow sexual freedom in our country go to the point that there is an AIDS epidemic. School drop-out rates are at an all-time high. Pornography can be found for free on the internet. We thought that we sent racism away in the 70s, but it is still staining our society today.
It is no wonder that we feel depression, despair and apathy. This world is not a rose garden anymore. The thorns are tearing at our skin, and leaving scars that won’t go away.
Let me make something very clear: God will take the world as you see it today and make it into the world He wants. I’ve read the end of the book—and we win. The end is all set, and it is up to us to believe it.
So—can you make an impact on the world? You are just one grain of sand on the beach. Can you make a difference? God thinks you can. He made you with a purpose in mind. Yes, I said you. As you read this book, God has a plan for you. God just needs you to ask Him what it is. You can make a difference for others in this tough world.
I used the Psalms as an example of despair and anger. Now let the psalmist soothe you and let you know God is there for you and will carry your burdens for you.

Trouble and distress have come upon me,
but your commands are my delight.
Psalm 119:143

Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you.
He will never let the righteous fall.
Psalm 55:22

Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge;
no one cares for my life. I cry to you, O LORD; I say,
“You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need: rescue me
from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.”
Psalm 142:4–6
(Think of the Korean woman dying on the street.)

When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your love, O LORD, supported me.
When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.
Psalm 94:18–19
(This should be our prayer any time we are depressed or sad.
We can read it to God and let Him comfort us.)

Further adventures
There are times when you feel so low that you are not sure you can make it through the day. Use this time to pray. Sit quietly with God and share your deepest feelings. Do not hide anything. (God knows even your inner thoughts.) Let Him know that you need to lean on Him completely right now, and He will pick you up and carry you the rest of the way.

Something to ponder
Isn’t it funny that God knows our every move, but we go on like He is not watching us?

Posted on

We Live in a Depressing World with Few Ways to Cope

We Live in a Depressing World with Few Ways to Cope

Now how is that for a positive start? My heading probably scared off more people than it attracted. However our reality check shows that this is not far from the truth.

I have written a book that tells my story about trying to cope. I was at the end of my rope is it was unraveling. Close Encounters of the Heavenly Kind: Life beyond Bumper Stickers is a journey I took from deep depression back to a life of joy and happiness. It wasn’t an overnight journey and there were many road blocks along the way, but I gradually took one step after another and conquered the mental demons that were attacking me.

It wasn’t done alone. God was with me each step of the way. Close Encounters of the Heavenly Kind: Life beyond Bumper Stickers starts with my life in the muck and mire to where I enjoy each day with excitement.

It can be your story too. The whole book is directed towards those who have also been in the trenches like I have. It is a guide for those who are seeking a way to get out of the quicksand, and move on to better things.

I am now going to give you a small outline of what the book is about. I am putting a couple chapter titles that are in each part of the book. Notice the progressions from dooms day, to happiness. That is the format. I slowly progress your thoughts from “I hate this world,” to “Thank you God for another day.”

Part I- Fighting through the trials and tribulations of life

• Stop the world and let me off. I am tired of going round and round.
• Everything can go wrong probably will.

Part II- Try it you’ll like it.
• A lot of kneeling will get you in good standing.
• Don’t cross your fingers; fold you hands.

Part III- Keep marching on the right path.

• Are you standing on Whale fishing for minnows?
• Don’t wait for six strong men to finally take you to church.

Part IV- The next step

• God promises a save landing not a calm passage.
• If you are going the wrong way, God allows U turns.

Part V- I feel God holding my hand.

• A small stumble could lead to a big fall.
• Suffering from tooth decay? Brush up on the Bible.

Part VI- Congratulations you made it!

• Be fishers of men, you catch them and he will clean them.
• If we evolved from monkeys and apes, why are there still monkeys and apes?

Conclusion- It’s been a long journey.

You can read actual excerpts from these chapters by subscribing to my free newsletter. You just go to the right side bar and click on the icon that says; Sign up for my free newsletter and get instant access to the free eBook: The Top 25 Ways to Survive in a Troubled World.

What you read is true. You will get a free eBook juts for signing up for the free newsletter. The newsletter has gotten many great endorsements. It has sports, travel stories, excerpts from Close Encounters of the Heavenly Kind: Life beyond Bumper Stickers, and resources on how to cope in a not so friendly world.

But wait! There is more. (Sounds like an infomercial!) There really is more. By subscribing you also are automatically placed in a drawing for books that are top sellers and have the author’s autograph and personal notes them.

Some of the books that will be given away are:

1. The Shack, by William Paul Young. It has been # 1 on the New York Times best selling list for 60 weeks straight. I met Paul and had a nice conversation with him. If you win this draw, I will also add my conversation I had with him for free. He autographed the book and made personal comments.
2. Three Cups of Tea, by David Relin. It has been # 1 in its category for 155 weeks straight. I also met David. I will also share some of the things he said with the person that wins this book.

There are many others that are excellent books that will be giving away the coming weeks. The only way to get one is to subscribe to that great newsletter I told you about.

You will not get hives if you subscribe!! As a matter of fact I guarantee you will like it or you can opt out by going to the bottom of the newsletter and click on opt out.

OUT!

Posted on

Walk Away with a Free Book Called, The Shack, That is Autographed!

Have a chance to win the book called, The Shack that is  autographed! This is the hottest book on the planet right now!

 

(This is a long post, but you will be glad that you read to the end.)

 

I had the privilege of sitting with the author William Paul Young recently. What I heard and learned while I listened to him was amazing. Paul should write a book just about his own life. Who is William Paul Young? Don’t feel too bad if you don’t know his name, but you sure should know his book called, The Shack!

(BTW….. You can order a copy of The Shack, through Amazon.com for only $8.24 by going to the right side bar and selecting the The Shack, book  in the I recommend, icon. You can’t get much cheaper than that.)

 

The story behind the story is that Paul just wanted to write a story for his children. He wrote his book and just published 15 copies at Office Depot to give to his friends and family. How basic is that? You are published out of Office Depot?

 

Some of his friends that received the book liked what he wrote so they sent his book to several friends through email. The friends also liked the book, and they sent it to many of their friends. Within a month, Paul was getting thousands of emails from people wanting him to publish the book for real this time.

 

He contacted 26 publishers and they all turned him down. Their excuse was that if a niche (topic area) wasn’t popular right now, they wouldn’t publish it. If the niche was too popular right now, they wouldn’t publish it.

 

They had a printer put their book together.

 

They didn’t know how many books to print so they had the printer print 10,000. The printer sent 11,000 and charged them for the extra 1,000. Within another month they were close to selling those books. They had another 20,000 printed. The printer sent 22,000 and charged for the extra 2,000.

 

It happened again. They sold out within a month. This time they ordered 30,000 books. The printer sent 33,000 and charged for the extra 3,000.

 

They decided that they didn’t like giving that much money to a printer who was trying to make an extra buck off of them. They started their own publishing company called, Windblown Media.

 

The growth kept escalating. They couldn’t keep up with the orders.

 

That was less than two years ago. They have now sold over 6.2 million books! (As of this writing.) The book has been the # 1 selling book on the New York Times top ten list for over 40 weeks straight! It has been written in 43 languages. (That must cover everything but Pig Latin.) It is the # 1 best seller in China, Mongolia, Britain, Canada, Australia, and many other countries.

 

It is also the # 1 book in the prisons. Why is that?  The prisoners relate to the villain in the book and seek forgiveness. This book helps them to feel forgiveness. There is a tremendous revival in the prisons. This book has sold more books to prisoners than most books have sold in a lifetime to the regular public.

 

You can see how much money is flying into Paul’s hands. Let’s say he gets 50% royalties from the book. (I know this is very high, but remember he is part owner in the publishing company.) So most hardback books sell for $25-29 dollars. Let’s just go with the low figure of $26.00. Paul gets half which would be $13.00. Now multiply that by 6.2 million books! That is over 63 million dollars just for Paul.

 

Why am I telling you all these details about how much money Paul is making? Because just two years ago he lived in a 900 sq. ft. home with his wife, six kids and only one bathroom!!! He didn’t know if he was going to get the bills paid at the end of the month. He worked three jobs, and one of his sons also worked just to pay the bills.

 

Isn’t that a great story??? Well, I haven’t even gone into Paul’s past yet, and there is a lot more to tell you about how the book got started. That will come in the next few posts on this site. I will give you some key words like I do for Google to entice you, and I bet you will come running back looking for the next post: sex abuse, non-caring father, an affair with another woman, suicide.

 

Now try NOT to come back for THE REST OF THE STORY!!

 

I had an talk with Paul, and I will have quotes I received from him that I was able to write down. I also have a side story about talking to Paul about my own book, Close Encounters of the Heavenly Kind: Life Beyond Bumper Stickers.

 

I suggest you bookmark this site and also sign-up for the RSS feed so that you know when I have posted.

 

You may want to read the newsletter I write that will have other stories like this plus excerpts from my own book, Close Encounters of the Heavenly Kind: Life Beyond Bumper Stickers, (that Paul Young is reading.)  I will explain that to you later in my next post.  

To be able to read the newsletter go over to the icon in the right side bar and click on, “Sign up for my free newsletter.” Then put in your email address. You will then receive about two newsletters a month. This will also give you a chance to win one of the free autographed books. Each book has a different personal note, and his autograph.

 

NOW!!! Here is the way you can win a free book called The Shack, and is personally autographed by William Paul Young, the author.

  1. Everyone one who has already subscribed is eligible to win a free autographed book.
  2. Everyone who subscribes between now and the drawing date for the books will be eligible.
  3. Everyone who refers another person to subscribe will have their name put in the hat again. If you refer 20 people you will have 21 chances to win a book.
  4. The drawing date will be selected later. I will announce the date about a week ahead of time. So get out there and find those friends to subscribe. Be sure to tell them that they will have a chance to win a big name authors book and autograph.
  5. I have one easy way to know that you referred people, and who they are. Send me the emails addresses of all the people that you had subscribe, to doug@dougbolton.com. I will then check in my subscription roster, and if they there, you will receive more chances for the drawing. 
  6. There are only ten books to give away. Each will have a different inspiring statement and an autograph from William Paul Young. That isn’t very many, so subscribe and get your friends to subscribe quickly.
  7. Again, it is easy to subscribe. Just go over to the right side bar and click on, “Sign up for my free newsletter.” Then put in your email address, and you are set.    

 Now go for it!! Subscribe yourself, and go out there to find a ton of other people!! Be sure to let them know that they have a chance at winning a top selling book. You should get a lot of people if you tell them about the book, The Shack, that is autographed, and that they could own one.

 

* I want to thank Randy Engermanson for his help and advice. He has to be the top marketing guru on this planet. Got to his site at: http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog, and see some pretty amazing thoughts; ideas on marketing; how to write fiction, and some just plain hilarious commentary. You will be glad you did.

 

Doug Bolton

 

OUT!!!