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book reviews |
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Multi-volume, non-fiction author Vicki Hannah Lein introduces us to her humorous solution for dealing with frustration, “From Frustration to Funny in Ten seconds Flat!”: "Ever since I lost my central vision almost twenty years ago, I’ve had to become an expert at finding the funny instead of succumbing to heartsickness and frustration. I’m a lot funnier now than I was twenty years ago--just ask me--and life is much more joyous and rich now. You don’t have to go blind to find the funny faster, but it helps." - Vicki Life does not frustrate us. We frustrate ourselves by telling ourselves a story that invites us to feel victimized. We tell ourselves we are entitled to have whatever we want when we want it--a story guaranteed to make us miserable and insufferable. This book covers what to do to un-frustrate yourself and find the funny inside!  I loved this book! I smiled and chuckled on so many pages it was a real pleasure to read. Vicki has many funny stories to share about losing your temper (thus giving your power to others). Then she comes along with sage advice about how to regain control over yourself and your life. With lots more good stories! Simple with a down-home feel, everyone should read this book and almost everyone will benefit from it. 4.9 stars from me!  You can buy this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Frustration-Funny-Ten-Seconds-Flat https://www.goodreads.com/from-frustration-to-funny-in-ten-seconds-flat https://www.lulu.com/shop/vicki-lein/from-frustration-to-funny-in-10-seconds-flat/paperback You can follow the author: https://twitter.com/vickihannahlein https://www.linkedin.com/in/vicki-hannah-lein https://www.facebook.com/vickihannahlein http://www.findthefunnyfaster.com https://radicalkindnesswarrior.com I reviewed another book by Vicki, “Woman With a Voice”: https://www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/woman-with-a-voice I reviewed Vicki’s book “From Frustration to Funny in 10 Seconds Flat”: https://www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/from-frustration-to-funny Copyright @ 2023 Mark L. Schultz except for the author’s introduction
72 Comments
Vicki Lein
1/16/2023 11:23:57 am
Mark, I'm very excited about starting this process! I'm dictating this message, so there may be some errors, but none of them are my fault! I've had to do many workarounds since I lost my vision in 1994.
Vicki Lein
1/16/2023 11:31:00 am
The reason I wrote a book about how to find a funny faster is that I have to practice it every day. For example, sometimes my computer will read to me and sometimes it won't. I have to figure out very quickly how to find a way to work around the challenge, and I can't do that if I'm pounding my fist on my head.
Mark
1/16/2023 11:34:43 am
I don't know of anyone using this format for interviews. 1/16/2023 01:13:34 pm
I was always a good student. School was safe for me, and I was an auditory learner. I can memorize quickly and I was almost always the first one finished with a test. When I lost my vision in 1994, I was forced to slow way, way down. I had to wait for people to pick me up. I had to wait for people to read stuff to me. I have learned the hard way how to be patient. I fought this learning tooth and toenail as they say, but I am happy to report that now patience is hard.
Mark
1/16/2023 01:16:21 pm
Being an auditory learner was a big help in school and when you started to lose your sight. 1/16/2023 02:10:00 pm
I have never made a living from my writing. I don't think I've even broken even from my writing. I write to make sense of myself and my world. I send it out to the world to keep the flow going. It's my way of showing up in my life as myself, and sharing that with the world, hoping someone might benefit from it. If only one person, besides myself, benefits from my writing, then I have done what I need to do. 1/16/2023 02:50:47 pm
Vicki and I have been friends since we met while each doing a workshop many years ago. I haven't read her book... yet... but we had a delightful conversation this morning on the phone about her hopefully doing a workshop in my town next month. She is just as this book says... funny! A delightful person. I have stories galore about our connections... that could be another book!!
Mark
1/16/2023 04:50:04 pm
Thanks for sharing about Vicki. I am discovering the same thing! She is fun to be around.
Vicki Lein
1/16/2023 02:57:17 pm
Every once in awhile, if you keep showing up, you will meet someone who becomes a friend for life. Cleone is such a person. She dressed my husband and me in clown several years ago, and I can still feel the sweet shyness that inhabited me when I became Bali Hi. Cleone is a treasure in many, many people's lives.
Mark
1/16/2023 04:52:25 pm
That is a delightful story! Thanks for sharing that! What a fun experience. Cleone is a lovely person; I have known her for several years and promoted a number of books that she and Bob published.
Mark
1/16/2023 04:59:37 pm
Your situation mirrors that of so many authors and writers, most of them do not break even. But the more books they write, the chance of that happening becomes better all the time. Especially if they self-publish because they keep control of their intellectual property rights. Sure, it is hard to do the first time or two, but everything is hard the first time. Remember learning to ride a bike?
Vicki Hannah Lein
1/16/2023 06:00:04 pm
Everything about my writing is unconventional. I can't read my writing, so my computer reads it to me. I don't really know what I write until my computer reads it to me. Writing helps me connect to myself and others. I don't care if my writing is "good" because writing to please other people messes me up. I try to capture the event as honestly as possible.
Mark
1/16/2023 06:07:35 pm
That might be the best answer I have ever had to that question. 1/16/2023 06:44:52 pm
Cleone recommended you and I am so grateful! I love this cross-pollinating experience. 1/16/2023 06:53:48 pm
I have to surrender to homophones. When my computer reads back to me, my Macintosh computer, I can't tell the difference between BRAKE & BREAK. You found a bunch of them in this book in one reading and you graciously, let me know so I could have them fixed. As an imperfectly, recovering perfectionist, I have to breathe and release when I know I am sending material out into the world with mistakes.
Mark
1/16/2023 07:10:10 pm
I am grateful to Cleone for the recommendation also. 1/17/2023 07:56:02 am
My beloved friend, Deb Gauldin, designed the cover. She will make a comment soon. The book "The Four Agreements" has an agreement: always do your best, no more no less. I chant that to myself to give myself permission to be kind to myself. The book also encourages us to never take anything personally, I have to work on that all the time.
Mark
1/17/2023 08:10:58 am
I look forward to meeting your friend, Deb. Does she offer her services to all? Does she have a website? If she is on Twitter, I would like to follow her and add her to my list of cover makers. 1/17/2023 11:34:23 am
I will connect you to Deb. As far as I know, my book cover is the only one she has done. I am working on several books right now. I revised my radical kindness warrior book, and it will be out in about a month. I have a GoFundMe project called grandmother advocating for a kinder world. The idea in the book is very simple: when you see cruelty, you always take action, never add aggression, and keep yourself safe. 1/17/2023 02:18:52 pm
I'm also working on a book called Loving in Harmony. I want to have a funny subtitle, something like even if you think you're tone deaf. If anybody has any ideas, I am very interested to hear them. The book is about my relationship with my husband, Murray. We've been together almost 28 years now, and we have the kind of relationship. I always dreamed about having, but never saw in reality. When we get into a fight, we know how to get out of one, and learn from it. We practice every day, being present, kind, and affectionate. We take care of problems as they come up, instead of letting them simmer and get septic. Murray is very funny, funnier than I am I am happy to report, and we have created. A work of art.
Mark
1/17/2023 02:33:56 pm
Thanks, Vicki, I would be happy to make her acquaintance. 1/17/2023 03:33:53 pm
I would love to have a conversation with couples, asking the question: "How do you get into a fight and how do you get out of it and learn something?" 1/17/2023 03:06:22 pm
I teach writing the way I counsel people – by focusing on what is working. For example, I will find a sentence or a paragraph or an image in someone's writing, and say, "wow! I can really feel what you were talking about here. Do you remember how you felt when you wrote this sentence? If you can find that sentence in your body, you can always write from this spot, and your writing will be read. Interesting, and communicate who you are to the world. When I'm counseling people, I help them find in their body, the place where they make choices that work for them. When you set that boundary, how are you feeling? Where is that in your body? All you have to do, ha ha, is remember where that place is and find it when you want to speak your truth."
Mark
1/17/2023 03:41:45 pm
You certainly are a writer. A good one at that. 1/17/2023 04:45:53 pm
About 40 years ago, after having a long dialogue, with my inner critic, I decided, since I could never please that inner critic, that from that day forward, I would have fun every day. That's why I can find the fun in most situations. I love public speaking because I am not afraid of what people will think of me. I wrote a song called, "I'm Not Everyone's Cup of Tea and Neither Are You". I wish I had known this many, many years ago. Some people are gonna like what I do, and some people aren't. My job is to show up as my full self, and to play with myself in the moment. That is fun, fun, fun! Yes, I've been asked to talk about my Radical Kindness Warrior book and I did a whole workshop on playful resilience, which featured the three steps I talk about in From Frustration to Funny. I did a workshop in Bali, Indonesia, based on the book I wrote called Courage to Lead. I have done workshops for teachers based on my book discipline with the brain in mind. I have done workshops on the joy of writing, based on a book I wrote.
Mark
1/17/2023 05:00:50 pm
You are right about the inner critic. I call it the inner liar. We all have one. I advise people to ignore the SOB. 1/17/2023 05:49:03 pm
I have never entered any writing contest. I have won awards for my teaching and my emotional intelligence counseling program, but I'm not sure I even like the idea of writing contests. I have had people read my writing and weep. I've had people listen to my songs and laugh and cry and feel more hopeful about possibilities in their own lives. When I won the distinguished Oregon educator award, I thought I would be able to get any job an education I wanted from then on. Not so. Two years later, my job was cut. Awards are great. As long as we know what they are and what they aren't. They are subjective and I don't necessarily mean you are going to have more opportunities because you have one award. Al Pacino won an Oscar for best actor and then was unemployed for two years. We just have to do what we do the best we can, and let the rest of it go.
Mark
1/18/2023 09:47:17 am
For a lot of authors, some writing contests are about peer recognition, for other authors a writing contest is about learning to improve their writing skill. Some contests offer constructive criticism. 1/18/2023 12:23:48 pm
I agree. If contests are working, keep it up. I just don't want someone's opinion to get wrapped in their ego and try to sink my ship. This has happened to me before. I'm going to have you help me with my next book because I would trust your feedback.
Mark
1/18/2023 12:28:44 pm
I look forward to working with you on your next book. 1/18/2023 03:16:22 pm
Yes, I tried all that years ago. I sent off manuscripts to publishers, one at a time, because I was told you had to do it that way. I would wait months and months and get a rejection letter, often a very kind and encouraging rejection letter, but when 99% of manuscripts that are sent to publishers, don't get published, I decided I didn't want to wait for somebody else to get the value of my writing. That's when I decided to self-publish. My first publisher was Xlibris, which cost a lot of money. I'm glad I did it, but I would not do it again. Instead, I've gone to Lulu and I've been very happy with their services. I'm taking a section out of the first book I wrote with Xlibris, Loving and Harmony: Even if You Don't Have Perfect Pitch, and I'm going to publish that as a book through Lulu. I'm willing to spend X amount of time doing this, but I'm not willing to spend X plus one. I just have to decide when I get diminishing returns for my effort.
Mark
1/18/2023 03:19:34 pm
Your experience with querying a manuscript mirrors that of so many other authors. The traditional publishing industry has contracted quite severely, there are only 5 big publishers left. Publishers of all sizes have gone bankrupt or been swallowed up by a competitor. Their profit margins are so slim now, they can't afford to take chances on anything less than a sure bet. Thanks Mark and Vicki for this fresh and insightful conversation! Reading it I laughed and sighed in resonance. Getting from frustration to funny quickly is an important life skill I wish we all had learned as toddlers. Vicki's bright intelligence, wit and compassion and deep service to humanity shine through in every one of her books and varied creative projects.
Mark
1/18/2023 03:23:26 pm
Thank you, Lea, for dropping in. We are glad you are enjoying our conversation. You described Vicki quite well; she is like a breath of fresh air. 1/18/2023 03:11:44 pm
Thanks so much for your comment! It feels great to be seen and appreciated. 1/18/2023 06:38:37 pm
I'm working on a new book and I'd love some feedback on the title. What do you think of Loving in Harmony Without Perfect Pitch?
Murray N Lein
1/18/2023 05:52:13 pm
Vicki has been committed to growth, and taking on the process of getting "unstuck" for herself and others long before we met. We keep going and try to make the process fun. I try to be funny, but can't tell a joke to save my life. We have so much fun seeing the coyote kind of humor, that is, when life is trying to teach you something by giving you a spiritual hot-foot. 1/18/2023 05:57:28 pm
Murray is the funniest man I've ever known. He is just naturally funny, finding the humor wherever he goes. It's ironic that when he tries to tell a joke, it flops. It always flops. But that doesn't stop him from trying again, bless his heart!
Mark
1/18/2023 06:47:35 pm
I like the new title better than the other title. It is a little bit snappier. 1/18/2023 06:55:56 pm
My favorite writer right now is Fredrik Backman. tom Hanks is starring now in A Man Called Otto besed on a Backman book. The first book I remember reading that isnpired me was Black Beauty. It was not assigned. A girl was the hero, I had horses myself, and standing up to cruelty was one of the themes.
Mark
1/18/2023 07:37:46 pm
I have not read anything by Backman. Nor have I read Black Beauty. Though I have heard good things about it, starting with my sisters when we were still in school. 1/18/2023 07:46:51 pm
In my book, Woman, with a Voice, I wrote about when my daughter almost died when she was 20 years old. She had sudden, cardiac death and would have died if she had made it to the bathroom in her community college library. It was just luck, luck luck that the EMTs got to her within five minutes and resuscitated her. I wrote a poem, called before and after, and when someone reads it aloud, I can't read it aloud, because I can't see it to read, I always cry. Am I right about all the mothers who weren't as lucky as I was, all the mothers, following the coffin down the road. In the poem I called her my sunshine girl. Her company is called sunshine productions. How about that?
Mark
1/19/2023 08:49:35 am
What a powerful and scary event, to almost lose your daughter. We parents expect our children to outlive us. The EMTs were very close to get there so soon! 1/19/2023 12:02:38 pm
The question I would ask someone who's read one of my books would be: did it help you? If so, what specifically helped you think of something differently or behave differently that made your life better?
Mark
1/19/2023 12:13:29 pm
That is a great question to ask those readers. I thought you would say something like that. You are very invested in improving your life and helping others do the same. 1/19/2023 04:04:34 pm
As it turns out, we are not thinking animals who feel, we are feeling animals who think sometimes. Emotions are what connect us to other people, and they override rationality, which is why people can tell big, scary lies and con other people into going along with them.
Mark
1/19/2023 04:16:32 pm
You are so right. We like to think we are rational creatures, but our emotions overwhelm at times and short circuits our capacity to think. Consider the Fight or Flight syndrome, it has saved our lives for many years without the need to stop and analyze the threat. 1/19/2023 05:37:30 pm
I used to think over writing was good writing. I used to think I needed to go over every sentence, meticulously, searching for passive voice, and blah blah blah. The subtext of this kind of writing is: aren't I smart? Aren't I a great writer? I don't need you as a reader because my writing is complete without you. I had an interesting experience in graduate school that taught me this lesson publicly. What I learned, was to trust my free writing, to trust the space in writing that gives it life and oxygen. When I write, I just write and write and write and write and write. Then I let it sit for a while and come back to it and see if it needs more filling out. Sometimes I repeat concepts, and I'm never sure if the repetition helps or is boring. I think it is a fine line and I'm sure sometimes I write too little and sometimes I write too much. Bless my heart!
Mark
1/19/2023 05:47:25 pm
Bless your heart, indeed. You make a good case for as little editing as possible, but many will seek to polish and embellish as much as they see fit. 1/19/2023 06:42:20 pm
Julia Cameron, in her book, "The Artist's Way" recommends writing morning pages every day. You sit down and write three pages long hand and you just write, write, write and you don't worry about anything. You let it flow and see what happens. Often when I write morning pages, some line will stand out. Once I have a first line for an essay or a poem, then I write write write and it's fun fun fun. With this essay, that's cooking in me, the one about the gift of being invisible and misunderstood, I'm letting it cook. It has not yet asked me to write it. I will know when that moment comes, and I will have fun writing out the first draft. Then I will go back over it and see where there's too much and where there's not enough. Then I will give it to my husband to proofread and get comments from him. Then I will look it over again and probably publish it on Facebook.
Mark
1/19/2023 06:52:01 pm
A lot of authors recommend daily writing. Some swear by it and some swear at it. I am not a writer, but daily writing makes sense to me. I admit to being a creature of habit, I like a regular routine. Maybe I am getting old. I know I am the same age as a lot of old people. 1/20/2023 10:11:33 am
A book published in Lulu can be updated at any time for free. That is a whole lot better that when I published with Xlibris, which cost me a lot and took a long time to make corrections.
Mark
1/20/2023 10:20:59 am
The more I hear about Xllibris the more I realize I would not use them nor recommend them to anyone. 1/20/2023 11:52:50 am
I paid over one thousand dollars to launch "Woman With a Voice" and got zero results. For my revised Radical Kindness Warrior book, I have paid for three months of social media marketing, costing about seven hundred.
Mark
1/20/2023 12:04:23 pm
Promotion and marketing are expensive. With so many books crowding the market, it's impossible to gain the attention of readers without promotion and marketing. A million new books are published every year. Some authors will rerelease an old book every year or two with a new cover and maybe a slight rewrite. 1/20/2023 01:08:40 pm
Cleone has worked with you for years and recommended you. I trust her so I trust you.
Mark
1/20/2023 01:43:00 pm
Cleone is a mighty fine person and I consider it an honor to have worked with her for many years. 1/20/2023 05:10:43 pm
I am a Mac person. I use Pages, which used to work very well for me, but the "improvements" have made it much harder for me. Ha, ha!
Mark
1/20/2023 05:18:40 pm
I agree with you most improvements are usually less and solve problems I didn't know existed. I wish they would leave well enough alone. 1/20/2023 06:44:44 pm
I create a file in my computer, and then each chapter is a separate document. That way I can keep track of what I'm doing and not try to work in a document that's so big it's unwieldy.
Mark
1/20/2023 06:54:32 pm
That is a good idea. I think many writers do the same. 1/20/2023 08:32:31 pm
I'm a hybrid! I often plan out chapters and then inside the chapters are right from the seat of my pants. Sometimes as with my essay that I am cooking "The Gift of Being Invisible and Misunderstood", I am planning on stories I will tell. Then I will decide on the logical order of the stories.
Mark
1/21/2023 10:01:44 am
I had a hunch you are a hybrid. As a happy and liberated person, you are free to make choices that suit you best at any moment. Some choices need to be made daily, such as morning writing. 1/21/2023 11:20:15 am
I've never gotten any results from any of the marketing I've done. I'm doing this with you this week because this was some thing I hadn't tried and it sounded like fun. It has been fun and I don't know if it's gonna make any difference. I'm feeling a little discouraged today.
Mark
1/21/2023 12:18:37 pm
Marketing and promoting are the hardest things for authors, it seems. You can never append "the end" to promoting because it has to be an ongoing process. With more than a million new books published each year it is an uphill effort all the time to get your books noticed. As you found out, promises are easy and words are cheap. No one can promise sales, unless they buy copies of your book. There are a lot of scammers out there willing to lighten your wallet. 1/21/2023 01:56:47 pm
The book I'm currently working on, is titled "Loving in Harmony Without Perfect Pitch". That's the working title for now. That gets me thinking about harmony, and why I love harmony so much. I love the Everly Brothers, the Beatles, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Indigo Girls – I love them, because I love harmony. What is harmony? When two or more people are singing a different note, and then the notes blend together in such a way as to create something bigger and better and different than each note separately. To me that's what a good relationship is like.
Mark
1/23/2023 01:03:07 pm
Singing in harmony is amazing. I love listening to group singing, barbershop quartets are very appealing to me. You are so right, the sum is greater than the individual parts.
Mark
1/23/2023 01:04:21 pm
Singing in harmony is amazing. I love listening to group singing, barbershop quartets are very appealing to me. You are so right, the sum is greater than the individual parts.
Mark
1/23/2023 01:04:30 pm
Singing in harmony is amazing. I love listening to group singing, barbershop quartets are very appealing to me. You are so right, the sum is greater than the individual parts. 1/23/2023 02:48:15 pm
Images will surprise me, one of my favorite things. If I am deeply in the groove, my writing takes me where it wants to go.
Mark
1/23/2023 03:06:40 pm
I love that story! Great way to illustrate your points. 1/23/2023 03:40:48 pm
Thank you, Mark. You have more than delivered on your promises. You gave me exposure, and the chance for people to find me. Until next time! Leave a Reply. |
Who am I?An avid reader, typobuster, and the Hyper-Speller. I am a husband, father, and grandfather. Archives
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