I recently attended a wonderful seminar, Author’s AATM Success Group, in San Diego, given by Wendy Lipton-Dibner and Rick Frishman. Wendy’s husband, Dr. Hal Dibner, a therapist, was also in attendance. The purpose of the seminar was to create a second edition in the Expert Series published by Morgan James. Each book features a series of chapters, each written by a seminar attendee, who is an expert in their field. The intention of the book is to help the experts promote their businesses or start new ones.
Fourteen people who were passionate about creating something worthwhile and helpful to others sat together in a room for 12 hours a day figuring out what to write and how to write it. We even ate lunch and dinner together as Wendy led us on what can only be called an odyssey to discover not only what we wanted to write about, but actually how to structure the new business we wanted to promote and/or create. Her skill was amazing as she took 14 different business ideas and transformed them into heart-centered stories that could be written in 2,200 words. Most impressively, she showed me how to view, what I hope, is a work of art as a self-help tool. Rick arrived on Saturday and pushed the proceedings up a notch.
I was the sole member of this collaborative team who had come to write a chapter to bring attention to the novel I recently completed and had been fortunate to find a publisher for. The Book of Zev is a novel that on a thematic level is about how understanding your relationship with a higher power, who in the book is called “God,” can help you find a purpose which then leads to peace of mind. I was impressed with how Wendy helped me shape this idea so that my chapter is a distillation of this theme. I will then apply that theme as I write, answering the question, “How can you find peace of mind through an understanding of what ‘God’ and ‘faith’ mean to you?”
On Sunday, the last day, we reviewed each member’s business idea on a thematic level. What was amazing to me was how they all somehow fit together, including mine. All I can say is thanks to Wendy, Rick and Hal!
