Client Successes in 2022

The only thing better than working with authors is celebrating their wins. I’m thrilled to say that there were plenty of client successes in 2022 to cheer about.

Sam Simon, who describes himself as being engaged in his fourth age of life, started his legal career as a founding member of Nader’s Raiders, a high-profile public interest and advocacy group spearheaded by Ralph Nader. Wanting to chronicle those early years and encourage a new generation to opt for public interest rather than corporate law, he spearheaded the writing and publication of a collection of essays from Nader’s first Public Interest Research Group. The book, which was completed a few months ago and is now being shopped, provides a fascinating look not only at those early years but also at the notable careers the consumer law pioneers’ would go on to lead. In the meantime, Sam continues to perform his one-man play, The Actual Dance, a play he authored after his wife was diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer, and to promote the memoir by the same title that he published last year.

David Rosell’s third book, In the Know, has just been released. While David’s first two books, Failure Is Not an Option and Keep Climbing, coupled financial advice and lessons with personal stories from the 65 months he spent living in 65 different countries, In the Know uses client stories to illustrate how and why various people have sold their unneeded life insurance policies, and how those proceeds (to say nothing of the savings inherent in longer having to pay increasingly expensive premiums) have often proven to be life-changing.

Jeff Swaney is closing in on the complete first draft of his memoir None of the Answers. Talk about a rollercoaster ride for both author and reader! Jeff describes his book as “an entertaining, brutally honest, positive life perspective [that shows] how to love life in every season–embracing its challenges and coming out on top. Packed with off-the-wall stories.” I’ll just say that while we all live a number of different lives, Jeff must be part feline since he seems to have run through the better part of his nine lives. His wild adventures and accompanying philosophical musings make for quite a page-turner.

Gnan Thakore, a pulmonologist in Dayton who specializes in critical care and internal medicine, finished his book about the benefits, philosophy, and practice of yoga. I’ll share the beginning of his book’s introduction and let his words speak for themselves:

Time stops when you stand still, it expands when you witness, and it rewinds when you meditate. The magic of self-awareness is easy to grasp, which explains why millions have adopted this practice through yoga. Yet the demographic that can most benefit from yoga is our youth, which in this age of a thousand social media “friends” suffer from more depression than ever before.

We teach our children to succeed by providing them with skills. But do we teach our kids to be happy? Do we show them how to achieve peace? Yoga can help us do both.

I did not specifically instruct my sons in yoga mainly because I was unfamiliar with its benefits. I wish I’d had a book like this to read and that I could have encouraged them to read. Now, when I finally have the necessary knowledge, my sons are grown and gone.

With yoga, however, it is never too late. I am presented with an opportunity to explain yoga to my nephew, Rohan. This busy teen is interested in knowing more about yoga, but reviewing all the literature is unimaginable. He must complete his homework till late at night, study all day, run track, play tennis, and then study some more before he can retire, thankfully, into the blanket of night. Yet, I know that yoga will enhance Rohan’s health as well as his ability to focus and deal with his emotions.

Gnan turned to fiction as a way to share a ton of information in an interesting, accessible way. Once he had completed his first draft, he enlisted a number of young adult readers to review his manuscript and then incorporated their critiques into his second draft. The resulting fun, educational read may very well find a home in one of the publishing houses specializing in mind, body, and spirit books. That’s assuming that Gnan doesn’t pull the trigger and publish the novel himself. Stay tuned!

Jeff Hutcheson is about to cross the finish line for Going Blue, novel #2 in his Lost Key Mystery series. No risk of second book syndrome here. This one, which brings back all the characters from Going Barefoot but is told from marine biologist Keri’s point of view, could be even better than the first. Bailey, the fun-loving Gulf Coast realtor with a gift for other-worldly guidance, is still in the picture, of course, since Keri is her best friend. But that best friend isn’t doing so well emotionally, mourning the disapparence of her fiance, Tony, which several years later remains unexplained. Then an ancient coin, which winds up being linked to Tony, turns up, along with a new villain, and the adventure takes off from there.

Silvia Lareo-Vazquez finished her fictionalized memoir last year. Cubanhood, which despite certain embellishments is based on Silvia’s family and heritage, provides an intimate, behind-the-veil look at her experience growing up with her colorfully eccentric Cuban mother. The blend of vivid, funny, and often cringe-worthy stories is punctuated by wonderful dialogue that reflects the accents of the adults around her. I can just hear Silvia’s mother saying, “Chew don’t talk to de mother like dat!” and “Chew know dat I love chew berry much, Mariposa!” The author is currently seeking an agent for her book.

Derek Reed is getting ready to publish The Imperfect Storm: Navigating the Financial Seas, a book that blends stories about his father’s swordfishing adventures with financial insights and guidance. The book also provides a wonderfully personal look at Derek and his values through anecdotes about his youth as well as his professional life, and ends with a shocking and ultimately heartening personal discovery he made just a few years ago. Talk about a little sugar making the medicine go down!

Michael McGee is almost done with an overhaul of his manuscript titled Heal the Hurt. I’m not sure whether I’m prouder of the fact that he was willing to go back to the drawing board when it came to his book’s content or of how this new draft is turning out. In my mind, it’s a tie, since without the former, this impressive new draft that seamlessly weaves together self-help with research and his own personal quest to heal hurt, would never have materialized. We’ll start the process of seeking an agent in the next few months.

Finally, the remarkable Barbara Hinske has outdone herself once again. This year’s accomplishments include the publication of:

• Workout Wishes & Valentine Kisses. The fifth novella in the multiple-author Wishing Tree Series anthology, stars two personal trainers and childhood friends who make a no-dating pact after they’ve each experienced a disastrous foray into online dating. That pact, as it turns out, proves hard for the colleagues to keep.
• Sweets & Treats. Book 2 in Barb’s Paws & Pastries series features a main character who has left a marriage to establish a new life and a new profession as a baker in a new town. Her cheating husband, however, doesn’t exactly want to let her go.
• No Matter How Far. In this Rosemont series Christmas novella, the eighth book in the series, a handmade ornament discovered in the attic of a newly purchased home triggers a quest that leads to far more than finding the original owner. Barb just finished the ninth book in the Rosemont series, which will be published later this year.

Keeping up? I know. It’s crazy, but Barb published two other books in 2022:

• Wishes of Home. The twelfth book in the multiple-author follow-up Wishing Tree Series anthology brings back the original novella’s two personal-trainer main characters. They found love and a whole new relationship together in the first book, but can they hang onto it? As the book description says, “Settle into the heartwarming community of Linden Falls as Pam tries to keep all the plates spinning and prevent what she most desires from crashing to pieces.”

• Over Every Hurdle. Finally, Book 3 of the Guiding Emily series continues to feature Emily, who in Book 1 loses her sight during her honeymoon, as she navigates life with her new ward, a new romance, and workplace drama. Just a few months after Book 3’s release in October, Barb finished the manuscript for the series’ Book 4, which will be published later this year. When you’re on a roll, why put things off?

I’m honored to have played a part in all these successes. Here’s to the client successes in 2022 and all those the new year will bring.