February 2008 Archives

Preliminary photos from Mega Book Marketing in the flickr badge below. 'll be updating the photo set throughout the weekend.

www.flickr.com Wendy Kurtz's Mega Book Marketing 2008 photoset

Mark Victor Hansen's 2008 Mega Book Marketing is off and running. With a powerful opening keynote by Mark himself, the conference is already in high gear.

Initial photos are up. I need to play with the settings on my camera to adjust for the lighting in the room.

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We've gotten some great mentions in the media this week as we continue to solicit stories for Chicken Soup for the UCF Knight's Soul, the latest in the series co-created by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen.

St. Petersburg Times

Orlando Sentinel

UCF News & Information

Submit your story!

If you or someone you know is affiliated with UCF (parent, student, faculty, staff, donor, etc.), submit a story and you (or they) too might become a published author. The list of contributing authors already includes some of UCF's most prominent alumni. You don't even have to be a writer. We have editors lined up that can help you.

For submission guidelines, visit the UCF alumni site.

Last week, Patricia Cornwell donated $1M to establish a new academy to teach CSI techniques.

What an amazing woman.

I've shadowed homicide detectives and CSIs, going to crime scenes, the morgue, even a victim's home to interview his family. Fortunately, the ones I've spent so much time with are truly top-notch professionals. Sadly, as in any profession, there are those that strive for excellence and those that just want to get by. I've seen firsthand the frustration when someone does something that screws up a case. Unfortunately, it happens more often than gets reported. Sometimes it happens because someone is careless or just plain lazy, but other times it really is just a matter of inadequate training.

It's refreshing to see someone of Ms. Cornwell's experience and success step up to help improve a situation instead of just sitting back complaining. So why is she getting grief for it?!?

In her open letter in today's USA Today (page E3), she says "My grant is meant as a gift to help those who devote their lives to safeguarding ours, and who do so in a world that poses difficulties, the likes of which none of us has ever seen." She's right. These dedicated people (homicide detectives, CSIs, etc.) must deal with things on a daily basis that the rest of us cannot begin to imagine, nor would we want to.

People seem to forget that shows like CSI (which I admit I do enjoy watching) are written purely for entertainment. Our world is changing at a faster pace than ever before. As crime continues to escalate and criminals become "smarter," training must keep pace. Patricia Cornwell is doing something to make sure it does. Her donation will help start the Crime Scene Academy at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice, set to open this fall.

Kudos to Patricia Cornwell. And, from someone who recognizes and appreciates the sacrifice and selflessness of law enforcement for our safety and survival, THANK YOU!

I love Valentine's Day. Not just the flowers and romance part (OK, they ARE nice parts), but because Valentine's Day is a day designed to celebrate love. Even when I was single, I enjoyed the day. I sent flowers to my parents, cookies to my brother. I sent Valentine's day cards to my friends. I bought co-workers boxes of candy. I wore red, even though it's not one of my "better colors" according to some book written back in the '80s.

My client Casey Wohl, author of Girls Getaway Guide to Orlando: Leave Your Baggage at Home, has the same mindset. In fact, she's posted a great list of tips for having a fabulous Valentine's day, even if you're single.

Today, I'm no longer single. I'm happily married. In fact, 10 years ago today, Valentine's day took on an extra special meaning for me. That's the day my husband and I got married. We didn't intentionally plan to get married on Valentine's day, our church was booked on the date we first considered. So we bumped it up a week; still booked; OK, try the week before that...voila'; it was available. Valentine's day just happened to land on a Saturday. Caught up in the excitement of getting married, it slipped by both of us until meeting with the florist who said "your roses are going to be much more expensive that day."

As my husband joked when we realized the magnitude of the situation (the church coordinator actually had couples ask her to see if we'd switch dates with them), at least he'll never forget our anniversary! So, here we are at the Ritz-Carlton celebrating with a few days of R&R (ok, and just a few emails) and looking forward to what life has in store for us over the next ten years and beyond. Whatever it is, it will continue to be a wonderful journey.

Happy Valentine's Day!

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