Tag Archives: award-winning authors

Simple Theme Week

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This week’s theme on All Things Fulfilling is going to be the beauty of simplicity. So, in that vein, blogs will be short, sweet and to the point. Yet I still aim to inspire, entertain, educate or

Inform!

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Inform

As they say at http://www.YouAreNeverAloneFoundation.org

“I Matter…You Matter…Each Person Matters.” ~

 You Are Never Alone Foundation

This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, award- winningauthor of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul.

Little Things Remembered

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Last fall after I did a book signing in my hometown of Towson, Maryland. My life-long friend, Chris, handed me a handwritten missive that was so meaningful. To get a hand-penned letter in this digital age is something special to begin with. The letter contained her memories of our times spent together as children. I couldn’t believe the little things that she remembered, many were the very same memories I’d retained all those decades since my childhood.

However, there was one event that I didn’t recall at all. Here is what she said:

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“A surprise birthday party I gave YOU?” I questioned Chris after reading her words in the letter. “I don’t remember it!” My sister doesn’t either.

“What!!” said Chris, in amazement. “You’ve got to be kidding! You went to all kinds of extremes to lure me over to your parent’s house that day so you could surprise me!”

“Nope, I have no recollection at all,” I said. Obviously, the surprise birthday meant a lot more to her than it did to me.

people remembering how you made them feelThe point of this blog today is that we never know if an event or person in our lives will take up residence in our hearts and never leave us. S0, try hard to be nice to others because you never know the impact a friendship might have on your life.

This blog is brought to you  by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For more information on Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul, visit http://www.allthingsfulfilling.com/about-the-book/.

 

 

 

The Warmth of “Heart Bread”

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“God be thanked for books; they make us heirs of the spiritual life of past ages.” ~ William Ellery Channing

On Saturday I had a book signing at Come and See Christian Books and Gifts in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. People drifted in and out throughout the day to shop and to speak with me about my award-winning publication Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.

During quiet times, I took the opportunity to browse and become more acquainted with what was in store. In the children’s section I came across a book called “Making Heart-bread.” I thought it was particularly meaningful, and the concept of the tale holds value for both children and adults. It is based on a true story of what helped heal emotional scars of children who were traumatized during the World War II era.

Heart BreadBriefly, a grandmother teaches children the difference between making bread to fill the “tummy” and bread that fills the soul. Making heart-bread she says is very important because it “never runs out.” The recipe has ingredients which nourish us most in times of need. The ingredients are revealed throughout the storyline.

After having read Making Heart-bread I have feelings of warmth inside me knowing I have been given all the fundamentals of heart-bread throughout my lifetime. Heart-bread is that which is made from memories of love and spirituality.

heart-shaped-potholders-1This blog is brought to you by award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For information on her two publications Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul , please visit https://allthingsfulfilling.com/about-the-book/

See you on Monday on All Things Fulfilling.

 

Insights Into the Soul

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Love unlocks doors and opens windows that were not there before. ~ Mignon McLaughlin

“There’s so much to see,” I said to my husband as we took a pace that was much too quick for both of us through the Denver Botanic Gardens. We wanted to see it all. “As much as I am enjoying the Chuhily exhibit, the structural elements and hardscapes that are incorporated into this garden are amazing. You can really see it this time of the year, without all the flowers. There is a real art to having something of interest in the garden year round  when flowers are practically non-existent or ‘bare bones.’ They’ve done an amazing job.”

“I agree,” said Terry. His father was a landscaper, and both of us have an interest and eye for design in the garden. My dad was a custom home builder so I’ve always loved architecture. I find doors and windows incorporated into any kind of structures interesting.

Today on All Things Fulfilling, travel with me through some of my favorite doors and windows that I came across in the Denver Botanic Gardens. I captured these visual images over a very fulfilling trip during the Thanksgiving weekend.

A small key opens big doors – Turkish Proverb

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Commitment opens the doors of imagination, allows vision, and gives us the right stuff to turn our dreams into reality. ~ James Womack

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Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.~ Joseph Campbell

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There are things known and things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception – Aldous Huxley

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 All the windows of my heart I open to this day ~ John Greenleaf Whittier

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 Let there be many windows to your soul, that all the glory of the world may beautify it ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

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“Happiness sneaks in through a door we didn’t know we left open.” ~ Unknown

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 When one door is closed, don’t you know another is open. ~ Bob Marley

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How can I know anything about the past or the future, when the light of the Beloved shines now. ~ Rumi

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Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.  ~Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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The heart of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. ~ Audrey Hepburn

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For more insight into the soul of what makes this woman’s heart tick, check out Sue Batton Leonard’s award-winning memoir “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.” http://amzn.to/1vDFUMt

See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling.

Life is Comedy and Mystery

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“Life is really simple but we insist on making it complicated.” ~ Confucius

fanny flaggDeath is no laughing matter, until it comes to Fannie Flagg’s humor. Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven is a funny story about Elner Shimfissle living in the town of Elmwood, Missouri. This story is about small town America at it’s best. Elmwood is a place where everyone knows everyone. People stick together and help each other out.

When high spirited Elner, one of Elmwood’s most beloved community members, passes away after being stung by wasps, she inspires a whole town to consider some of the absurdities and truths about life.

As stated by the Rocky Mountain News  “Elner emerges quite the character…a woman who uses the mind and heart she’s been given… ”

Fannie Flagg, one of America’s most talented humorists, takes us through a rollicking story that will warm your heart and keep you laughing. The characters are so charming, you will love this “feel good” story.

fanny flagg cant wait to get to heavenPick up this comedy-mystery at your library or at your favorite neighborhood bookstore.Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven will remind you not to take life too seriously and to have some fun with those who make your life fulfilling while you are living on this planet called Earth.

This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For more information on the memoir Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, please visit this link.http://amzn.to/141aW6S

 

 

Need for Mountains of Creativity

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Entrepreneurship, inspiration, and putting faith in one’s own creativity are all the things that excite me about the world of independent publishing. It is a field that has brought vast changes (with an eye on sustainability) by doing things differently than in the past.
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Some time ago on All Things Fulfilling, I posted a blog about a TedX talk which I think bears repeating. I believe the speaker, Chuck Scranton, had some wonderful things to say about the future of education, how to engage students in classrooms and what today’s children need so that they are prepared with skills that go beyond what students of the past have been taught. It is all about encouraging creativity and active learning.

Parents and educators, this issue is very important. So please listen in to The Immovable Mountain. https://allthingsfulfilling.com/tag/that-immovable-mountain/.

Is there something more you can do to help support your child’s mind, interests and creativity? Our country’s future depends on new industry, creative thinkers and “pioneers” working in ways that are different than the same old-same old ways of doing things. The new generation will need to work in ways that will lead America forward to new eras of discovery.

Interested in reading about more ways you can foster your child’s creativity? Here is also a good article. http://bit.ly/10dKjtG.

Today and everyday is a great day for brainstorming! Don’t forget to write down your ideas!

This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For information on her book Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, please visit this link.http://amzn.to/1te9k2F

Connections to First Chapter

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“In the first chapter of Genesis it is written that God placed mankind in the Garden of Eden. God knew from the very beginning that this perfect environment would be the key source for mankind’s healing and health.” ~ Dr. David Stewart author of Healing: God’s Forgotten Gift http://bit.ly/1rTR4LR.

An hour or two  in the National Botanic Gardens in Washington, DC is enough to uplift anyone’s spirit. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing horticultural wonders from all over the world inside and outside this beautiful structure last weekend.

Many of the plants I saw have healing properties that have been known for centuries. Others are yet to be discovered. http://www.deborahkingcenter.com/blog/2014/02/25/the-healing-powers-of-plants/

For instance, digitalis is a plant that for centuries has been used for heart ailments. However, today it is synthetically produced for many reasons. One is the ease of regulation of dosage. http://science.jrank.org/pages/2088/Digitalis.html.

Why has our world relied on so many synthetically produced drugs when much of what we need to heal is already at our dispose? I must ask. Some medicinal plants are not indigenous to areas where large populations of people roam. So, I suppose harvesting them to use in the healing arts industry may be too costly.

I ponder that in other cases a choice between harvesting beautiful plants  for pharmaceuticals and risking that they will become endangered, and no longer available for visual enjoyment and soulful pleasures may be a consideration.

Today I’d like to share some images from the medicinal horticultural section of the National Botanical Gardens. Additional photos will be shared over the next few weeks of flowers from a spectrum of colors, as well as some wonderful architecture and art from our National Portrait Gallery.

Stay tuned to this site – I have all kinds of more fulfilling things to share with you of things I discovered in Washington, DC over the weekend.

This blog brought to you by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For information on her memoir, Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, please visit this link. http://amzn.to/1xTvPwQ

What a gorgeous building and grounds at the National Botanical Gardens

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Plenty inside the National Botanical Gardens to keep this avid gardener interested and uplifted!

Below: Aromatherapy – pots of spices from around the world – I indulged myself frequently at the “smelling pots”

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To read an article on the manufacturing of digitalis, a drug that so many heart patients rely on visit this link.http://science.jrank.org/pages/2088/Digitalis.html.

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Water is a magical substance. The health of all life is irrevocably connected with water. Find yourself around it, immerse yourself in it, and drink it with gratitude. ~ Unknown

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For a great resource about healing plants, please visit this site http://m.steamboattoday.com/news/2014/sep/14/local-herbalist-releases-first-ebook-series/

All Photos were taken by Sue Batton Leonard inside the National Botanic Gardens. Please read copyright statement on this site on the right hand side of the page.

Influential People

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“A leader is someone who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.” ~ John C. Maxwell

Have you ever known that someone was influential to your life story yet, you have never met them before?

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These two people pictured impacted my life, I do know that. Without the lessons they taught others in the medical field, I probably would not be here today.Here is a book which features top early medical research doctors from the past. The woman pictured in the blog today, Helen Taussig, is among them http://www.amazon.com/Doctors-Illustrated-History-Medical-Pioneers/dp/1579127789

Sometimes there are certain facts that are absorbed through the growing-up process that we recognize that without a doubt, has significance to our outcome in life. Such is the case of my life story.

Taussig_HelenAs far as I understand it, The work of these two “pioneering” physicians had an  important impact on my life due to their contributions to medical research and development.

I am eternally grateful for their leadership in the medical world. They helped save my life and the lives of many others.

Helen-Taussig-2This blog brought to you by the EVVY award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard and her memoir “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.”

EVVY Book Awards: A Big Year

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“I feel that the greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to do more.” ~ Jonas Salk

2014 CIPA awardsThis is a big year for the EVVY Book Awards presented by the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. It is a special event because it is the 20th year of the contest, and it has grown more prestigious than ever. After all, CIPA is one of the largest and most active independent publishing associations in the country.

The word of the contest is spreading and last year submissions came from all over the country, and for that matter as far away as Dubai! You no longer have to be a CIPA member to enter and win! However, there are great benefits to being a CIPA member including their educational opportunities to learn more about what it takes to becoming an award-winning author! Their monthly educational presentations cover all facets of the publishing process including selling in the marketplace.

Here is a link that will provide you with all you need to know about submitting your publication to the 20th annual CIPA EVVY book awards!  http://www.cipacatalog.com/pages/CIPA-EVVY-Awards.

Some key deadline dates to mark on your calendar:

  • February  1, 2014 submissions begin
  • May 17, 2014 Last day to receive entries
  • July 26, 2014 Finalists announced
  • August 23, 2014 Awards Ceremony – The big night!

You can’t win if you don’t submit! Here’s your chance to become an award-winning author of an award-winning book!

Hope to see YOU at the EVVY awards in August. Good luck to all who submit.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling.

Gold Standards in Independent Publishing

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Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution. ~ William A Foster

Award-winning authors with award winning books! Today we continue highlighting authors who took away 2013 EVVY prizes from the Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) last month.

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Each of the aforementioned authors, as well as those who received second, third and merit awards from CIPA are setting high standards for all independent publishers. The Colorado Independent Publishers Association is working hard to ensure that top quality authors are reaping the rewards. The organization is putting into place high standards for judging criteria for book contests. Thank you, CIPA, for leading the way with your EVVY awards.

To read the full list of the 2013 EVVY award-wining books, please visit http://bit.ly/16BLVPn.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. A company specializing in e-commerce & e-marketing for independent publishers. Please return tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling, where independent thoughts, words and views are all part of the business.