I am a 68-year-old married man, and have been writing books for the last ten years or so. I have published with Lulu.com in the past, but now am striking out on my own with Coffee at JJ's, a humorous look at several "geezers" who spend their mornings trading stories and insults while drinking coffee at their local donut shop. The book is from Wolf House Press. I live in Monterey Park, California and plan to retire from my job with a law firm in downtown Los Angeles by the end of 2011.
<p>Is it time for leaders to think more deeply and more effectively?<br /><br />Tired of people throwing the term 'thought leadership' around and using it to label unexceptional people and mediocre content, Mindy Gibbins-Klein sets out to define and introduce a new paradigm and a new standard of idea generation and sharing.<br /><br />Thoughtful leaders exhibit exceptional thinking as well as consideration for others. It is the thoughtful leader who will introduce a new era - a more thoughtful era.<br /><br />This brave book inspires, encourages and teaches Real thought leaders a new way of thinking and behaving.<br /><br />- Reach beyond content marketing and thought leadership<br />- Achieve greater levels of thinking<br />- Discover hidden depths within yourself<br />- Become a true Thoughtful Leader</p>
Being a grey-haired man in my late sixties, I was invited one day to join a group of men that I saw whenever I went to JJ's Donut Shop for a cup of coffee. The men, about a dozen retirees from different backgrounds and walks of life, usually sat just outside the shop talking and lauging among themselves. I decided to join them, and I soon I found myself writing down some of the funnier things they said or did. The result is "Coffee at JJ's," a tribute to the joys of growing old and having good friends to share both good times and bad.
<p><span style="font-size:13px;"><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;"></span></span></span> </p><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:12px;"></span> <p style="line-height:13pt;text-indent:0in;margin:0in 0in 12pt;" class="MsoBodyText"><strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;">Novelist Stephen King</span></strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:10pt;"></span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:8pt;">[never]</span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:10pt;"></span><strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;">read this book and</span></strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;"></span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:8pt;">[never]</span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;"> <strong>said, “I loved every page of it.”</strong></span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;">J.K. Rowling gave copies to all her friends of </span></strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:8pt;">[another book, not]</span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;"> <strong>Coffee<span> at JJ’s</span>.</strong></span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;">Crime author Joseph Wambaugh said, “I laughed out loud several times</span></strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;"></span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:8pt;">[but not]</span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;"> <strong>at Coffee at JJ’s.”</strong></span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;">John Grisham wrote, “You should not miss this one!”</span></strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;"></span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:8pt;">[about a different book]</span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"></span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;">Coffee<span> at JJ’s is</span> </span></strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:8pt;">[not]</span><strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;"> on the New York Times Bestseller list.</span></strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;"></span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;">“This is a brilliant work from a master writer. I love this guy.”</span></strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;"></span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:8pt;">[writes the author]</span><strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:14pt;"></span></strong></p> <p><strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;">Pulitzer Prize winner Frank McCourt, author of Angela’s Ashes,</span></strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;"></span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:8pt;">[never]</span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;"> <strong>said, “I expect great things from Mr. Cordova.”</strong></span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;">The International Humor Writers Guild </span></strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:8pt;">[does not exist, couldn’t have]</span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;"> <strong>reviewed Coffee<span> at JJ’s,</span> and</strong> </span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:8pt;">[never]</span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;"> <strong>gave it Five Stars.</strong></span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;">The Librarians Guild of America admires great writers: Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck and </span></strong><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:8pt;">[they’ve never heard of]</span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:12pt;"> <strong>Charles Cordova.</strong></span></p>