Brummet's Conscious Blog

 -- Quote of the Day -- "The first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves." ~ Walter Anderson -- Conscious Event -- Happy National Grandparents Day , everyone! This is a great excuse to do something special for those elderly persons in our lives :) -- Conscious Discussions Radio --  We are pleased to present to you today as our very special guest: Guy McPherson - and we'll be discussing sustainable living topics from living off the grid, alternatives like rain barrels and straw bale home construction, to writing and Guy's experiences in using poetry to help troubled youth. Join us for this fascinating discussion live at 10 AM (pacific) or access the archived episode at your convenience: Sustainable Living & Volunteering With Youth If you are interested in other Conscious Discussions Talk Radio episodes that have aired in the past, you can access the entire list on our site: www.brummet.ca - or look for recently aired ep...

-- Book Review --  I am so excited to share a book review that was recently written for our 3rd book by Jill Jepson of Writing the Whirlwind Newsletter ( www.writingthewhirlwind.net ) Purple Snowflake Marketing: How to Make Your Book Stand Out in the Crowd - by Dave and Lillian Brummet   Hope for authors abounds in this superb guide to promoting your book. The numbers are grim. Over 150,000 books make it to the marketplace every year. More than a million volumes vie for attention on bookstore shelves and websites. Publishers promote only a small number of the books they produce. After years of work, authors too often find their work vanishing into obscurity a few weeks after publication--unless they take matters into their own hands.  The problem is that most writers lack the skill, confidence, and know-how to promote themselves. Many dread the work of self-promotion--some are downright phobic about it. Others plunge into their own marketing with mo...

-- Interviews with the Brummets! -- I am so excited to announce that we are taking part of Brandi Drury's April-June '10 Blog Tour . Starting today and throughout April and May we are guest blogging or being interviewed by more than a dozen blogs, as well as a live chat room and a radio show. Keep an eye on this blog for announcements for these appearances. So our blog tour starts with an interview between Dave, myself and Kiki Howell - owner of the Authors By Authors Blog - which was posted today! Check it out, and the comments by readers too, at: http://authorsbyauthors.blogspot.com Kelly Moran 's interview with me (Lillian) was posted today... This particular interview is not part of the above tour, and Kelly is offering something very special for her readers - the interview runs at the top spot on this blog for 3 days, after which 3 winners are chosen at random from those who commented on the interview and she will be giving away 3 copies of my e-book: Towards Unders...

**This last week we have had some technical issues that have kept us off line for nearly 4.5 days. Dave & I do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. This morning finds me rushing around dealing with 80 or more emails that have been waiting for us to be back Online. We do hope that in the meantime you were able to enjoy the previous posts here on the blog & follow up on the numerous resources that we've offered over the last week alone. -- Quote of the Day -- “… Publicity has changed so much in the last 4 years. It used to be that when you put a book out there the publisher had the funds to help make it successful. …Things have gotten dicey since October of last year (2008)… only 8-10 books historically had to be successful in order for a publisher to make money, but this is no longer the case. The people I work with are very enthusiastic about making their message available to others. …Typically the author needs to find an agent, the agent gets the publishe...

-- Eco Events this Week -- April 19-26 – 20th annual EarthFair traditionally held in Balboa Park, the largest free environmental fair that attracts 70,000 people or more. April 20-25th - Paris-France Intermat 2009 at the Paris-Nord Exhibition Center: www.intermat.fr April 23rd – between 10 – 2 p.m. (pacific) there will be an Earth Fair held at the Gorton Quad building (center of campus) located at the center of the San Diego City College – this event is sponsored by the City College Environmental Stewardship Committee… & will have lots of activities from art and photography contests, garden demonstrations, tours, yoga and meditation workshops, dancers, live music and more. -- Win a Copy of Trash Talk !! -- Castilla, owner of SMS Book Reviews Blog , will post a review of the Brummet's book Trash Talk on Earth Day, April 22nd. The blog will also host a contest for their readers for Trash Talk as well - Dave & I wish all the contestants luck in the contest & are thrille...

-- Quote of the Day -- Re: Writing Technique... “ I found it really easy to make a list. …I think it is also important to find a writer’s group… somebody who will encourage and yet critique you. ...I think it is very important to set aside a definite time …where you write a stream of consciousness and let it take its shape, and then come back later and put it in order. … I carry a notebook everywhere I go to write down ideas, quotes.” ~ Sheryl VanWeelden 04/17/08 This quote was taken from an interview with Sheryl and her co-writing daughter, Sherry - which aired on the Conscious Discussions talk radio show on April 17, 2008 To access any live or archived broadcast, simply click on the hyper-linked show title, or click on the link on the right hand side of this page. -- Eco - News -- According to the Zero Waste San Diego Group " Carry a plastic bag in Delhi and you could be imprisoned for 5 years ". This serious move is in an effort to stop the flow of plastics in the envir...

-- Quote of the Day -- "Not everything that counts can be counted. And not everything that can be counted counts." Albert Einstein -- Wood Alternatives -- Some of you may remember that on Nov 20th I interviewed John Vere on the topic of wood stoves, burning responsibly, how to cure the wood, how to purchase wood from suppliers, and how to reduce contributions to global warming. During that interview we also discussed some amazing innovations for reusing things like fruit pits (cherry, apricot, etc) and other waste products (grain hulls, etc) to create pellets - an alternative burning resource for woodstove owners. I would like to mention today that there has also been a new innovation for wood alternatives, not for burning but for construction! Waste wood and recycled plastic fibers along with a few other patented additives – are now being used to create a product that has the appearance and workability of wood but is stronger, water proof, warp-free, and also mold, pest and ...