Book cover

Well, what can I tell you? time has passed this year fster than I care to remember/ It seemed like just yesterday I was anxiously anticipating my son't high school graduation and then POOF! The whole summer was gone...I was in New York city for two and a half days picking up the Ben Franklin Award & a bronze IPPY award...the following weekend I was back in New England for two weeks and then found myself in Chicago for a speaker's seminar put on by Speakermatch.com. Then it was in Corpus Christi for the 1st annual Corpus Beat Book Festival followed two weeks later back in Corpus for my birthday with my kids.

  Several events later and many miles traveled, I found myself at the mall last week looking for some Texas baby shower gifts and watched as several Christmas trees were moved into place. Santa's big chair is already in place...It wasn't even halloween yet! I've taken a long time to get to ask you a favor. My friend Gene Vasconi has a children's book for sale and I'd like you to take a look at it. Gene's a quality guy and his book is really innovative. It creates a great learning experience for kids. Here's how he discribes it...

"A wonderful children's book for ages 4-8. Part of the Bo the Cloud Friendship course. Teaches valuable lessons in the making and keeping of friendships plus self esteem.

Bo encounters Nugget, a rainbow bird who has multi-colored feathers.

Together they embark on an adventure to help Nugget find his purpose and meet some enchanting characters. Contains a complete soundtrack of the story and music on CD or cassette."  It's only $9.95. you can see for yourself at http://www.bothecloud.com/  

  One of the topics I speak about in my Texas Mantra speech is change. One of the most profound things I ever heard in college came from (one of what I thought at the time was) one my most ineffective professors. The moment he spoke the words, I knew I had just heard something that was going to stick with me for the rest of my life. He said, "Everybody wants improvement but no one wants change." For me that is one of life's absolutes. If you just think about it for a moment, you know that's right. What's more, you can't have one without the other.

  Life is all about change. It's how we learn, it's how we grow. Change is one of life's constants. The changes I've endured since I last made an entry into this blog have been life changing for me. The unexpected success of Texas In Her Own Words has completely changed my business model; I dare say for the good. From the beginning I knew public speaking and selling books in the 'back of the room' (BOR) was going to be a cornerstone of my marketing plan. What has surprised me is how well that has been accepted and how much it has impacted the success curve of the book.  

  It came as a surprise when after a speaking gig at a civic club in town someone came up and asked me how much I would charge to give a "talk" to their organization. After the deer left my headlights, I started asking questions about the group, it's size, the purpose of the talk, etc.  I set a fee and got the gig without so much as a blink from the other party. At that precise moment in time, my business model changed from the author selling books in the back of the room to the speaker selling books in the back of the room. and as Robert Frost said in his poem, "...and for me that has made all the difference."  Lots more to come. Talk to you soon.  T

Texas Independence Day, March 2nd, is always a special day for me. It always begins by going to the memorial ceremony at the Texas State Cemetery. There state dignitaries, Texas Revolutionary Era reeactors, interested visitors and downright patriotic citizens show up for the speeches and musket fire. It is a time to honor the men & women who created Texas and those who have continued to make Texas what it is. It's always a moving ceremony and well worth your time. Mark it on your calendar for next year.

Saturday was the Texas parade put on by the Celebrate Texas organization. this is a great group of people who stage several events in the hopes of keeping the memory and spirit alive. They are to be commended in the face of so much apathy. Texas Independence Day used to be a big deal in Texas years ago. As more and more people have moved to Texas from other places, the real possibility of the dilution and the watering down of the Texas spirit and Texas traditions is a reality. Celebrate Texas tries to keep Texas in the front of our minds. Marsha Johnson, Harvey Ford and Roger Moore and a host of others work on this throughout the year. These are special people to me. Thank you for all you do to remind us of what a special place this is we call home.

These events have become traditions for me. Every Texas Independence Day you'll find me in the thick of the various Texas celebrations. I may not have been born here but I could not be any prouder of the heritage that is Texas.

L8R. Check back soon. There's lots going on...

Hi just a quick update on the World Wellness speech. I can say this. It's done. I was looking forward to the speech with a great deal of anticipation. I bet I did about 5 or 6 rewrites until I got it right where I wanted it.  I didn't want to leave anything to chance so I asked Lolis Baab of News Talk 1370 to introduce me. She is the host of a radio broadcast called 'In the Ladies room with Lolis.' They were broadcasting from the event. She had asked me to appear on her radio show shortly after the conclusion of my speech.

My speech was delivered in the main ballroom of the Austin Convention Center. It would have been intimidating if I had let it. The ballroom was cavernous, huge...really big. Unless you put at least 300 people in it, it still would have looked empty.  My crowd, I'm told was between 50 & 100. I've got to take their word for it. Although we encouraged people to move toward the front, they mostly chose to spread out.  So the room still had that empty look to it. hey, i'm happy for the folks who came out.To be honest, it was the largest room I have ever worked and I have worked other ballrooms before.

   The crowd was friendly and appeared to be into the speech. If I had one criticism of myself was that I relied on my notes too much. What's weird is that I wrote the speech and I am completely familiar with the material. I figure it is a lesson learned and something to build on. That will never happen again. Hey, if you're not learning and getting better each time out, why are you doing it? I do want to thank, Jud Schwartz, the event organizer and Tonya Hofmann with Your Local City for giving me this opportunity to practice my craft another time.  It is a craft. One that is always a work in progress. I'll check back soon. Thanks for reading my blog. In the meantime, take care of your precious selves. 

This is going to be fairly short post because I am so busy right now. I'm getting ready for Saturday. Why Saturday? I merely want to tell you I will be speaking at the Austin World Wellness Fair this Saturday, February 24th at the Austin Convention Center.  It's being sponsored by www.YourLocalCity.com a virtual chamber of commerce owned and operated in Austin by Tonya & Michael Hofmann. They're doing great things for small businesses by helping them compete on an equal footing with the 'big boys.' They're passionate about their work and helping small businesses grow.

  At the World Wellness Fair, there are going to be dozens upon dozens of booths, displays and speakers to address virtually every aspect of life on this planet. The event is going on both Saturday and Sunday.  I'll be speaking in the main ballroom on Saturday at 2 o'clock. I'd like to invite you to come on out and listen to my inspirational speech, Texas Mantra: No is NOT an Option!  I'll be talking about the Texas attitude and what you can take from it to improve your life. If you'd like more information  just check out www.worldwellness.org. Click on the Austin link and that's it. I'll look forward to seeing you there.  Check back soon!

This is going to be fairly short post because I am so busy right now. I'm getting ready for Saturday. Why Saturday? I merely want to tell you I will be speaking at the Austin World Wellness Fair this Saturday, February 24th at the Austin Convention Center.  It's being sponsored by www.YourLocalCity.com a virtual chamber of commerce owned and operated in Austin by Tonya & Michael Hofmann. They're doing great things for small businesses by helping them compete on an equal footing with the 'big boys.' They're passionate about their work and helping small businesses grow.

  At the World Wellness Fair, there are going to be dozens upon dozens of booths, displays and speakers to address virtually every aspect of life on this planet. The event is going on both Saturday and Sunday.  I'll be speaking in the main ballroom on Saturday at 2 o'clock. I'd like to invite you to come on out and listen to my inspirational speech, Texas Mantra: No is NOT an Option!  I'll be talking about the Texas attitude and what you can take from it to improve your life. If you'd like more information  just check out www.worldwellness.org. Click on the Austin link and that's it. I'll look forward to seeing you there.  Check back soon!

   I need you to stay on me!  Yeah! Life has gone so fast this past year, there is no way I could keep you up to snuff with everything that's going on. Here is the ‘Cliff Notes’ version. First, Texas In Her Own Words, has been phenomenal. I now call it ‘The Little Book That Could.’ As you already know, it took off right out of the blocks. The Alamo called and asked to put it in their gift shop, from that point on…doors flew open everywhere.

  From the beginning, I knew that for us to really move books, we were going to have to get out and do a bunch of public speaking and that’s exactly what I’ve done. I don’t have a firm count on the number of speeches I’ve given in the past year but it has been a bunch.

  Along the way, I kept thinking about what direction all this activity was taking me.  The success of the book did have one serious drawback, with me being on the road so much (and that’s another story) the book’s success has killed my writing business. So over the holidays I had to do some serious thinking. What to do about writing another book? Can I salvage my copywriting business? How do I maximize my speaking possibilities? All this and more was constantly running through my mind.

  I kept asking myself the same question my former business coach asked me several times. Are you a writer who speaks or a speaker who writes. Either answer would carry profound effects.  As I reflected over my 30+ years in radio, I knew in my heart, I am a speaker who writes.

   The gut check was over and the planning began in earnest. Almost immediately, more speaking opportunities came my way. So I have moved the focus of Tejas Communications into the public speaking realm.

  Now having said that, I’ll tell you, I have also begun work on the next book. The working title is Texas 50 Over 50. I’ll let you think about what that might be for awhile.

  Now, why do I need to have you stay on me?  I need to you read my blog and if I don’t update it at least once a week…get on me. Email me and tell me to get on the stick and make contact with you. OK, fair enough?  Tweed@TejasCommunications.com   

Texas Forever! 

  T