AuthorJim Flynn is a humorist, writer and novelist. He is available for speaking engagements. To contact email: sincerejimmy942@gmail.com Archives
November 2023
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 Where are we headed?
I’ve always loved libraries, but you have to wonder what their role will be in the future. I do know that technology, especially the iPhone, is changing peoples’ behavior. Attention spans are going down, are people going to read books anymore? The fastest growing medium in publishing is audio books. You don’t need a library, just download a book to your phone and listen. Cultural historians say that the novel was the art form of the 19th century, in the twentieth century it was the movie. What’s it going to be for the 21st century? How about interactive multi-media as viewed on a Virtual Reality headset, like the Apple Vision Pro? That technology is in its infancy, it will be more accepted when the headset is scaled down from the current size of a scuba diving mask to a pair of eyeglasses. What movies and libraries have in common is: you have to get out of your house and go there. Will this sense of community be lost forever when you can put on your virtual reality specs and watch anything? I hope not. Here's one forecast: "2050 Forecast: Libraries Offer 'Experience Rooms' for Vintage Smell of Books, Audiobooks Now Narrated by Robot Morgan Freemans, and E-books? They're Projected Straight to Your Retinas... No Glasses Required! Meanwhile, be on the lookout for The Circle of Awareness. Coming Soon.
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I did a 10 minute video presentation the other day and decided to record it. I've learned when making a presentation to a group to be funny and brief. I hope you enjoy this.
If you need a speaker for a group, or would like to set up a Zoom call for for your club, let me know. Please feel free to forward this to anyone who might be interested. Click here to watch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjUdKNHovXQ
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Was the Tower of Babel a Cell Tower?9/9/2023  In the above photo ancient Sumerian women appear to be using cellphones. I'm guessing the model number was iPhone 0000001. Was the Tower of Babel a Cell Tower?
Are those FitBits on their wrists? In my upcoming book I state that the secrets of The Circle of Awareness were brought to Earth by ancient aliens, but shortly after I make that statement, I admit that I'm lying. The fact that people lie all the time is a recurring theme in my books. If anyone can explain the photo, shoot me an email. I'll share it with the world.
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Just before I start typing8/31/2023  The hardest part about writing is getting your fingers moving on the keyboard, so I've developed a ritual. I listen to the guy above, Sped Spedding, play Rock and Rock by Led Zeppelin. Sped plays lead, rhythm, and bass parts.
I don't know anything about Mr. Spedding, except he can really play, and seems to enjoy himself. I suspect that he is not watching daily analysis of the Federal Reserve indicators of interest rates, although maybe he uses the lava lamp to predict market action. Once Sped is done, it's time for me to start writing. It's like jumping in the pool. Once you're wet, swimming the laps is easy. Today I watched at 6:45 am. My start time varies with intrusions from real life, some days I start at 4:30 pm. I watch this YouTube video every day, and it never gets old. .Thank you Sped Spedding.
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Promise Big8/26/2023  In Confessions of An Advertising Man, author David Ogilvy says the most important thing to do in advertising is to promise big.
Jimmy Sizemore doesn’t promise a ten-cent trip to Mars in the upcoming Circle of Awareness, but he does mention that buying the book will be the greatest value of any purchase the reader has ever made. Probably. I’ve gotten the draft back from my Beta Reader. She is local, so I get to discuss the book with her face-to-face. She mentioned that the last chapter needs more work, and I agree. I’m working. She also looked at me and asked, “Where do you come up with these ideas?” I’m not sure it was a compliment. To answer her I quoted from Jimmy Sizemore at the beginning of the book, “I’m not a normal person.” I’m working, I’m working. I’ll let you know when the book I going to be launched.
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Closed for Remodelation8/20/2023  My second draft of The Circle of Awareness is with the Beta Reader. I won’t get it back until this Friday. I have learned that during this time I should leave the draft alone, because if I make any changes on my computer, I create a mess that doesn’t match up with the hard copy the Beta Reader has.
A beta reader is a test reader of an unreleased work of writing, who gives feedback to the author from the point of view of an average reader. So The Circle of Awareness is Closed for Remodelation until I get it back. I’m fortunate that this particular Beta Reader also does proofreading. I hardly ever make any mitsakes, so proofreading my writing is an easy job! Until Friday I’m just working on the fourth in the JR Johnson series. The book was finished, but I wasn’t happy with it, so I hired a developmental editor to look at it. She made some great suggestions, but I had to start at page one and write the thing over. I think the end result will be worth it. People have asked me what writers I read for inspiration. It might be a surprise, but if I want to read a clear-headed writer who knew how to focus on the story and drive forward: Agatha Christie. Her stuff is dated, and she was clearly a prejudiced Englishwoman; she looked down on foreigners, Americans were boorish and crude, followed closely by the Irish and French. Belgian Hercule Poirot is the exception. But old Agatha could really tell a story. I just listened to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Last week I gave a couple of talks. At the end listeners came up and bought some books. I coerced them into letting me autograph each copy, whether they wanted me to or not. I can always tell right at the beginning if a talk is going to go well, based on the percentage of listeners who laugh at my opening true story about meeting Bill Gates. Last week almost everybody laughed, but I’ve had times when I bombed. It’s quite an experience when you tell your best joke, and the entire audience sits there in silence with their arms crossed. It’s okay; I always blame them. It couldn’t be me! The Circle of Awareness will be ready for September release.
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Part II-It ain't easy8/14/2023  Part II
But’s It’s Fun, and Interesting After more testing, you guys came through. The original title The Theory of Reality was changed, then changed again. The cover design changed a couple times. The Theory of Reality was judged to look too much like the Theory of Relativity, which would be death in sales. Casual browsers on Amazon would be frightened off. Have you bought a book about the special theory of relativity lately? Then we tested The Theory of Separation. Many of you said it sounds like a book about marital issues, and the word Theory continued to scare people off. Sounded too scientific and technical. The final decision on the title: The Circle of Awareness. Some have asked: what does that mean? You will understand when you finish the book. That’s where you’ll be, in The Circle of Awareness. As Jimmy Sizemore says in the text, “It will change your life. Probably.” A survey of all the popular Self-Help books showed that the majority have the author’s picture on the cover. Since this book is by Jimmy Sizemore, as told to Jim Flynn, artist Shaun Hutchinson had to generate a portrait of Jimmy Sizemore. As many of you guys know, Jimmy lives in Hawaii. The Circle of Awareness will be ready for September launch. Work continues on the fourth JR Johnson book. I have to go to the feed store now.
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It ain't easy being me8/13/2023  That's an old Rodney Dangerfield line.
But’s It’s Fun, and Interesting After more testing, you guys came through. The original title The Theory of Reality was changed, then changed again. The cover design changed a couple times. The Theory of Reality was judged to look too much like the Theory of Relativity, which would be death in sales. Casual browsers on Amazon would be frightened off. Have you bought a book about the special theory of relativity lately? Then we tested The Theory of Separation. Many of you said it sounds like a book about marital issues, and the word Theory continued to scare people off. Sounded too scientific and technical. The final decision on the title: The Circle of Awareness. Some have asked: what does that mean? You will understand when you finish the book. That’s where you’ll be, in The Circle of Awareness. As Jimmy Sizemore says in the text, “It will change your life. Probably.” A survey of all the popular Self-Help books showed that the majority have the author’s picture on the cover. Since this book is by Jimmy Sizemore, as told to Jim Flynn, artist Shaun Hutchinson had to generate a portrait of Jimmy Sizemore. As many of you guys know, Jimmy lives in Hawaii. The Circle of Awareness will be ready for September launch. Work continues on the fourth JR Johnson book. I have to go to the feed store now.
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New Book Title!8/6/2023 I already had to change the title, after a little test marketing last week.
After seeing the original title, you told me The Theory of Reality looked like: The Theory of Relativity. This would be death for book sales, as potential readers scanned Amazon, it would scare people away who thought it was a heavy-duty physics book. And some of you told me it looked like: The Theory of Realty. The subject is not Einstein or real estate, although both get passing mentions in the book. The new improved title: The Theory of Separation. It is a better title. It more accurately describes what the book is about. What does it mean? What is separated? You’ll have to read the book. As you may remember, the premise of the book is that Jimmy Sizemore, of Be Sincere Even When You Don’t Mean It, gets a call from his agent, who is desperate for a hit book. Artificial Intelligence is beginning to threaten the traditional publishing industry, and Jimmy is asked to write a Self-Help book from his unique perspective. Jimmy has never read a Self-Help book, so he researches the field. In The Theory of Separation, Mr. Sizemore gives his own view on the history of Self-Help before revealing his Theory, which he feels is just what the world needs right now. The book is in the form: by Jimmy Sizemore, as told to Jim Flynn. Self-Help books are really about the author selling themselves as the reader’s answer. So, most of these books, from Dale Carnegie to Tony Robbins, have the author’s picture right smack dab on the front cover. Artist Shaun Hutchinson is working on a portrait of Jimmy Sizemore to put on the cover. We’re shooting for a September release.
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A Heaping Helping of Self Help7/30/2023 The book is coming along fine. I've been working with an artist on the cover. This is the first pass. I discuss below some changes we're considering.  The title has changed:
New title: The Theory of REALity: The Funniest, Most Outrageous Self-Help Book of All Time When my potential innocent victims, er readers, are browsing for a book on Amazon, I have maybe six seconds to get their attention, or they go on to the next book. So the cover has to grab their eye. I’m working on the new cover with the great Shaun Hutchinson. Shaun lives in the north of England and is one of the two employees of Space Impossible. The other employee is my son Eric, who lives in Texas. Space Impossible makes computer games. I enjoy working on the covers, because I ask Shaun to do something, and he does the actual work. A rough draft of the cover is included. When I saw the cover, I thought three things:
The structure of The Theory of REALity is: Jimmy Sizemore gets a call from his agent, who is desperate for a hit title, and wants Jimmy to write a Self-Help book. Jimmy reluctantly agrees, but has never read a Self-Help book, so he begins to research the genre. Fact is stranger than fiction. A small sampling of things he discovers:
There is a lot of material for Jimmy to review with us before he reveals his Theory of REALity, which he says is the basis for all human interaction and will make all other Self-Help books obsolete. We’re shooting for a September publication date. Work continues of the fourth JR Johnson book. |
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