| Sorry for the delay | | Posted by Michael on Tuesday, March 2, 2010 at 4:01pm | Hi friends. I've had some challenging and exciting news in our lives recently that has caused me to get behind on my blog and updates. All is well and I will be back online very soon so please keep checking.
Thanks for your continued interest. The book is in the final production stages and should be at the printer very soon!
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 News & Book Updates
| | | | | Future Amos McCool Stories | | Posted by Michael on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 11:49am |  | A few friends have asked me about other Amos McCool stories in the works. So far I have five completed stories and many other ideas brewing. Each story has been edited once and the family discussion questions are also complete. Here is a brief description of each:
1. The New Bicycle – Amos learns the value of hard work and saving his money so he can buy his dream bicycle. Afterwards, Amos has to make an unexpected, important choice whether to help a friend in need.
Read the whole post with comments ... News & Book Updates | | | | | Final Proofread and Then Off to Print! | | Posted by Michael on Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 2:36pm |  | Hi friends! Thank you so much for following the progress these last 8 months as The Adventures of Amos McCool comes to life. This week WinePress will be sending me the final proofread of the book. We should be at print very soon! Check out all the many steps that transpired to make it happen:
- The first manuscript was written almost 2 years ago. I contacted Robert Sutherland (message therapist and personal friend) who reviewed the book twice and provided many great ideas to bring out key points I wanted to emphasize.
- Two families read the book with their children and gave me great input. Thanks Johnstons and Frets! (special thanks to Tommy and Ashley)
- The first manuscript was sent to WinePress Publishing in May 2009. Thanks Athena for your encouragement.
- llustrations were done to bring Amos to life and the front cover art was completed. Thanks Ron! www.cartoonworks.net
- The back cover, publicity, and other web text was drafted and edited. Thanks for your prompt replies Abigail.
- www.amosmccool.com website was created and enhanced many times - Thanks Josh! http://merriamcreative.com/site/. Check out the "preview the book" feature. Pretty slick!
- We have had 5 manuscript edits since we started. Many times there were small changes I just had to make!
- The book was typeset so that the text and each illustration fit just right.
- Preorders for the book began in late November 2009. Thank you to those of you who have already pruchased a copy. https://www.winepressbooks.com/product.asp?pid=2669&search=9&select=browser&ss=1
- Much work was done to make sure the page count and price was as low as possible. The final page count will be 32 pages (standard kid's book size).
- The front cover art and text was enhanced and edited by the designers at WinePress.
- The final proofread happens this week! Thanks Adam for all the many steps you've taken.
- We should begin to wrap the project up very quickly now. I hope to have the book in print in February 2010!
Thank you once again for your support, input, ideas, and prayers. I'm excited about sharing this first story with parents and kids. I'm hopeful it will be a great resource to encouarge kids to dream and jump start family discussion. Please stay posted for future book updates, my first local radio interview (3/27), and future book signings. God bless.
Read the whole post with comments ... News & Book Updates | | | | | Grace Through Faith | | Posted by Michael on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 2:13pm |  | I was recently asked to speak to the students and faculty of a Christian college. My talk will be to a crowd of over 500 people. I’m excited about the opportunity to share Biblical financial advice to young college students. However, as the days went by I began to get nervous, worried, stressed, and “bent out of shape” thinking about the task. The more I thought about it, the more I worried. What if I messed up? What if my mind goes blank? What if I can not relate to college students? What if I faint and wake up in a hospital three days later??? (kidding) These questions floated through my head. I simply did not feel at peace. I felt under spiritual attack too. I felt the enemy telling me I was unprepared, untrained, and out of my league. Unfortunately I listened to him for a couple days.
I talked to Amy and shared my fears with her. She reminded me of my purpose and role. I was to stand and share from my heart all the great and wonderful things God has done for me. He changed my life and His word has given us such wisdom. It’s not about me and my abilities – it’s ALL about God and His word. I needed that. Also, she reminded me that I have been given much in my 15 years of employment at Crown Financial Ministries. This is another time to give back a portion of the wisdom I’ve received over the years. It’s an opportunity to share God’s (not my) wisdom from His instruction book. Amy’s talk really helped me to get my mind back where it belonged.
Read the whole post with comments ... Faith | | | | | The Beauty We Miss | | Posted by Michael on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at 2:16pm |  | It was a cold January morning in 2007. A man with a violin enters a Washington metro train station at rush hour. For almost 45 minutes he plays beautiful music as nearly 1,100 people hurriedly pass by. 6 people stopped to listen for any length of time and only 20 people tipped him a sum total of $32. When he finished, there was no applause or recognition - only silence. No one knew but the violinist was Joshua Bell, child prodigy and one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played music from Bach which is considered to be one of the most difficult and intricate pieces ever written. There’s more. He played on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. It was just a couple days earlier that Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where seats averaged $100 each.
This true story was actually a well organized experiment by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment on people’s perception and priorities. To see the full story, visit this link http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html
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