Tea with McNair

“Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children."

- Walt Disney

 

  :: what's brewing? ::  

TEA WITH McNAIR is dedicated to Recapturing Your Creative Spirit—making a complete 180 turn around in life.  Shun the ordinary. You can choose to live a consciously creative life, again. Grab a copy my latest book, HATCH! — the first book in my "trilogy" on creativity. (Book No.2 arrives ... soonly.)

Get a FREE PDF of the complette, fully-illustrated first chapter, opening material, and endorsements from HATCH! here: HATCH-SAMPLE. 

[Click book cover (left) to enlarge and enjoy the fine print.] Purchase signed/personalized copies cheaper than Amazon, for friends and co-workers HERE.  Our endless pre-Christmas sale is on NOW! Buy two copies and get a tthird copy HALF OFF. Or ... buy 10 copies for your team/staff: get FREE Skype Q&A w/ me (McNair.)

WATCH my full, TED Talk "Recapturing Your Creative Spirit" TEDx Denver. Also, catch my three-minute introductory video, "How a Trombone Can Change Your Life"  HERE. 

Book No.2 (not the title) in the HATCH Trilogy is in the works and should arrive ... soonly. Pre-publication sale (with big discounts) coming shortlish.

 

CAFABC88-D233-3991-5E30-DED0BF1FFD92

1.03.01

• join me in Orlando next week!

$250 OFF REGISTRATION!

Join me NEXT WEEK in Orlando @ "the thing" conference & get $250 OFF registration by using code: "McNAIR" Conference is Fri-Sun ... on Thursday spend a day in Magic Kingdom for my "An Imagineer's Behind-the-Dreams Tour." Look for "VVIP" package on registration page. 

TWO  NEW KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS

At the conference I will be premiering TWO new keynote presentations!!!! If you live in Central Florida you are not required to stay at The Grove Resort, but it is a great (brand new) place, beautiful, all-suite (with kitchens) resort ... and their own, on-site water park! Website for details and registration: http://thethinglive.com/

SPEND A DAY IN MAGIC KINGDOM w/ ME and ...!

Next Thuursday, 17 May, (the day before "the thing" conference begins) there's an optional "An Imagineer's Behind the Dreams Tour" in the Magic Kingdom ... with me, Terry Weaver and some surprise guests! (Cuurrent WDW "CM's")

• friday, 30 march 2018 a.d.

From "B.C." by Johnny Hart (1958-2007)

 

• don't wait a week, start now

_{Happy Christmas! So enjoy the day, and tomorrow, but let's not wait a week for launching that new project; staring in on that long-avoided, much-dreamt about, work of art, book or ... you know the one.}

_{Just get out to the garage (don't know what that is? Ask your mom ... or her mom) and get on it.}

_{It doesn't matter how long you've been thinking, noodling, even already start3d on it—a whole ago—NOW is the time to begin finishing.} 

_{It may take some time, but that's one of the few things in life we have plenty of if we use it well. And don't think you don't have the right tools, facilities, or other resources to get started on a completing (your project title here.)}

_{Some pretty big organizations, groundbreaking developments, and world-changing creations began in a garage. (One of the biggest events didn't even have a garage. Mosty likely, given the terrain the little town, it was just a hole in the side of a rocky hill where they sheltered a couple cows and few horses and donkeys belonging to travelers. Tradition says it was a stable. Whatever it was, it wasn't much. Certainly not the sort of place you would make a pretty painting of for a greeting card.}  

_{Garage, stable, cave ... it's not the place but what took place there. Add some scruffy shepherds, a few sheep, a fleet of camels and a half-dozen star gazing Persians (and their dozen or more servants, cooks, and camel wranglers) and you have the makings of a history-interrupting event.}

_{So, get to the garage ... right after watching this inspirational (non-religious) video.} 

• doing you

As a part of last June's "the thing" conference in  Orlando, we all took in a performance of CIRQUE DU SOLEIL at Downtown Disney (a.k.a. Disney Spwings). After the show a friend caught me clowning about in the lobby. Then, Terry Weaver, major domo of "the thing" turned it into a little poster with my "If you don't do you ..." quote. This is a quick, first poke to get you thinking about being with us for "thing too" in 2018.

This is a quick, first poke to get you thinking about being with us for "thing too" in Spring 2018.

It is a gathering of creators and entrepreneurs conspiring to image, plan, and inspire together. Our first "thing" (June 2o16) attracted a stunning array of folks from the world of the arts, media, finance, law, communications, ministry, authors, personal and corporate coaches, and even those who run their own big conferences and conventions.

We even had a highly successful candle maker! It really was one of the most surprisingly diverse groups of people I've seen in one place interacting and inspiring, learning and laughing, doodling and dreaming.    

We will have exact dates for "the thing" 2018 ... soon. There will be BIG discounts for early registration (both on conference registration and room rates.) We will be at a sensational resort adjacent to Walt Disney World! For now, circle late spring 2018!

As soon dates are set, you'll see them here, as well as on my Facebook pages, and Twitter: @McNairWilson.

[ Group photo: "the thing" pre-conference, 

my "Behind the Dreams Tour" in the Magic Kingdom.

We began the day with lunch at Sanaa, Animal Kingdom Lodge with 

wild animals roaming free just outside the windows

next to our tables. GREAT FOOD!]

• SAK theatre is turning 40 (years)

Hard to believe, but the little idea that wouldn't go away, SAK Theatre will be 40 years old, August 17th ... this year—2017. The original troupe will be performing at their birthplace—the Minnesota Renaissance Festival—for the opening weekend, 19 & 20 August.

"Be there, or be somewhere else!"

Photo: Original SAK Theatre street gang at Minn. Ren Fest, 1977. L to R from top: Bob Lockman (R.I.P 1954-2011), C. McNair Wilson, Terry Olson, Bernelle Hansen, G. Herbert Hansen, Katie Blackburn. All will be there, except our dear Bob who got a higher gig in 2011.

Come and help us celebrate by grabbing some of the SAK@40 commemorative gear. I have created three different designs and each is available on a dizzying array of items from a bazzillion shirts and hoodies, to mugs, hats, buttons, stickers, blankets, catheters ... you'll see. Even if you cannot be with us for opening weekend of the Minn Ren Fest, grab some SAK@40 stuff and wear it that weekend ... "wear-ever" your are. Here's the link to the online shop: McNair's Adventurers Outfitters

And here are the images.

Our now-legendary motto: 

"The Audience Like It, So We Did it Again ...."

and

"... Forty Years of Eating Turkey Legs and Wearing Colorful Tights."

 

And then a re-do of an old SAK design from the 1980's, now in color, with a new caption:

SAK Theatre: The Silliest Show In The Known Universe! 1977-2017

Hope to see you in Minnesota!

• you participation is essential

The full story in next post, below.

• you can help finish my new book!

I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE to complete my new book.

Earlier this, month I solicited your input for ideas on creativity you’d like addressed. This is Book No.2 in the series begun with HATCH! All your ideas were copied into my notes and many will be addressed in the new book. (Some are better suited for for the subject future books and blog posts.) Because I’ve chosen, again, to self-publish, there is no publisher’s “advance” to subsidize my writing time. I AM NOT ASKING FOR DONATIONS. I am suggesting and requesting different ways you can underwrite my living expenses for the next several weeks (through Sept.) while I finish the manuscript. Here are ways you can help me create this new book:

• Purchase autographed copies of HATCH! directly from my online bookstore. Each copy will be signed and personalized to whomever you provide the (first) name for each book. HATCH! is virtually the same price as Amazon’s UNSIGNED copies. Buy THREE, get 3rd book HALF OFF! Buy TEN (for your staff, team, book club) and get a FREE, Skype, Q&A with me! If your first copy of HATCH! was a gift, consider paying it forward. If you enjoyed HATCH!, I suspect you’ve thought of friends and colleagues who would benefit from their own copy. (There, you can also buy "eHATCH!" in various eReader formats, and signed copies of two of my previous—now out-of-print—books.)

—> Online BOOKSHOP link: www.cMcNAirWilson.selz.com

• Hire me to deliver a keynote at your upcoming corporate, professional association, or denominational gathering. My daily rate includes a keynote and one or two workshops (no extra peso.) I’m yours for the day. (Additional days are less than 50% of first-day fee.)

• Bring me in-house for my six-hour workshop: “The CURIOSITY TOUR” on creative team building, brainstorming (that is highly productive and fun), and recapturing the creative spirit of every participant. 

—> Direct eMAIL: [email protected]

These can be for events in the near term or over next 2-3 years ... and beyond. Let’s talk and schedule something soon to avoid the rush when the new book arrives this Autumn! I promise you can afford me: I have worked with giant corporations, huge conventions, and tiny churches and colleges.*

• Host “The CURIOSITY TOUR” in your area for your staff, clients, and area businesses. If you are a church or non-profit, you can host this valuable, inspiring, inner-active, all-day event for churches and faith-based groups in your area.                                        

• Non-profits here in Colorado Springs or Denver, book me to speak in chapel (at your standard fee + lunch!) When I lived in SoCal and World Vision was 15 min away, they brought me in every year for many years for chapel and consulting. (Ditto with Azusa-Pacific University.)

• Visit my new online shop (Cafe Press): “McNair’s Adventurers’ Outfitters” and grab a fun t-shirt, mug, comfy messenger bag... There are nine different original graphic images (with scores of products for each design.) The profit margins are slim on Cafe Press since they make each item when ordered—but every little bit helps support my writing and illustrating process—today, tomorrow, and ...

—> McNair's Adventurers Outfitters Shop link: McNair's Adventurers Outfitters

BASIC FACTS: I need to generate the equivalent of selling 100-150 copies of HATCH! (through my online store) before the end of July, then the same each month in August and September, to cover my living expenses while finishing the new book. Again, I am not asking for donations. 

With more than 2,500 Facebook “friends”,  and another several hundred followers between my ‘public’ FB page, HATCH! FB page, and Twitter, I believe this is all possible. 

As excited as I was about HATCH! … I am far more over-the-moon about the new book. It addresses, head-on, the myth that only a few people are ‘creative’ and makes the case that each human life is born with a factory-installed creative spirit. Based on my TEDTalk, Recapturing Your Creative Spirit, the new book will restore readers’ default settings for creativity. Imagine if you could tap your REFRESH key and be awake to the possibilities of being totally you?

---> Please consider being my “patron” in this adventure of discovery and inspiration.

---> Feel free to add links to this blog in your own social media outlets. 

One More Thing, if you live in Colorado Springs, I am, as always, available for dinner, most nights a week!

__________________

* If you are college educator, chaplain, or administrator and you’re thinking, “I wish I could get McNair on my campus, but I have no resources.” Contact me and I’ll show you how to get several campus entities excited and working together to bring me in for a few days or a week. I have visited hundreds of colleges presenting my creativity workshops, speaking in chapel, and performing my two one-man plays. Many campuses were small church-affiliated schools. You can make this happen on your campus. 

DIrect email: [email protected]

• mr. twain assists us in deciding what we should be

The process of collecting wonderful and inspiring quotes for Book No. 2 (NOT the title) in the HATCH! Creativity Trilogy is a never ending treasure hunt. Here's one just added to the Cabinet of Curiosities & Possibilities. I'm trying to use great quotes mostly from widely known people. Knowing the person, even a just a bit, helps the reader put the quote into context. Mark Twain's great thoughts are so multitudinous and varied, it might almost be possible to use quotes just from old Sam Clemens.

Alas, there are many others we need to hear from on this grand adventure of discovering an "actively creative life.

Please, if you have a favorite quote on Creativity and inspiration, leave them here—in the comments area, below. DO NOT assume I've seen them all. I certainly have not.

• what is "the thing" and why you should be there

My friend Terry Weaver inspires me. He's been talking with me, brainstorming, and dreaming about creating an event for a wide array of doers and dreamers to assenble and inspire each other.

It's happening 1 - 4 June in Orlando. I'll be there and hope you will too.

 

Event website: www.theTHING.Live 

(On the site, click on "Trailer", video on right)

Head over to the website. Watch the video. Visit the website of the event location (Reunion Resort, just off the Walt Disney World property.) When you register, use the code "McNair" to get $200 off of your registration fee. I will be doing my "Behind the Dreams Tour" of the MAGIC KINGDOM for all who sign on for the VIP Package. (It includes lunch in a private dining room at Animal Kingdom Lodge and a other invalauble resources and goodies!)

theThing.live website also provides links to room reservations at Reunion Resort and an access site to discounted tickets to Disney theme parks. (If you register for the VIP Package, your admission to the Magic Kingdom (for my "Behind the Dreams Tour) is included.

I will be there for the entire event!

• there's adventure ahead

Perfect: the word Adventure* is in the subtitle of my new book (so far). It is based on my TEDTalk Recapturing Your CreativeSpirit! (Link to that TEDTalk, above.) This presentation was developed as the "answer to the un-asked question" in my twice-a-month brainstorinmg class at Disney University (at Disney Studios, for execs and media moguls.)

The new book tackles the tedious cliche: "But I'm not creative." This only came up in the Disney U classes at the Studio, almost NEVER in the same class at Disney Imagineering.)

Don't get me started ... I need the time to finish writing & designing the book ... filled with creative adventures.

This is the book I have wanted to write for thirty years. There are hints to it all through HATCH!—the first book in my "trilogy" on creativity. (Find the link to get signed & personalized copies of HATCH! directly from me, above.) I have ideas, outlines and a few chapters in development for three or four more books in the HATCH Creativity "Trilogy."

As soon as the manuscript is finished (and before editing, design, and other production is under way) we will launch a pre-publication sale with a good discount off of the cover price! (Once again the new book will be self published and the advanced sale will be for pre-production, opriunting, and all the other expenses to get finished books into your hands ... and Amazon warehouses.) Sand by.

ADVENTURE lies ahead! 

(Pith helmets* optional, and encouraged!)

~ mCnAIR

*YES, that is an actual fortune I got in my fortune cookie with my Panda Express dinner ... recently.

PITH HELMETS: eBay has classic ones at a decent price. You'll want to be wearing one when you read the new book ... maybe sooner. Here's your PITH

 

 

 

• "jungle book" redux is realistic, not "live"

I liked Disney's "new" JUNGLE BOOK, but how do they call it a "live action" remake when ALL the animals were CGI and the movie was filmed on giant "blue screen" sets in warehouses in Downtown Los Angeles. Here's a link to a "Making of JUNGLE BOOK" featurette. (If you have not YET seen this film, save the link, go to Netflix and watch the movie, then return to the "Making of ..." :  http://thevirtualassist.net/the-making-of-the-jungle-book/

  

The kid was great. Loved his version of "Bear Necessities" when he's ... NO SPOILERS, but he sings with grand, joyful abandon. If you've ever watched a kid, playing alone in the backyard who doesn't know anyone's watching ... you'll recognize the spirited imagination. 

We all did it ... once upon a childhood.

This new Jungle Book  is well worth watching. Then go back and watch the near-flawless original of Disney's animated adaption of the Rudyard Kipling classic.

FOR PARENTS: the new, version has some very intense moments that may make it unsuitable for younger kids. Watch the origianl with the little ones.  But be prepared to be singnig "Bear Necessities" ... the REST OF YOUR LIFE.ersion

"Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold. But l transformed by the renewing of your mind. But let God remold your minds from within ..." - St. Paul, Romans 12:2, J.B.Phillips New Testament.

• it doesn't have to be magic

Even though all of Disney's theme parks that resemble the original Disneyland are called the "Magic Kingdom" there's no real magic in any of them. If that bursts the bubble in which you keep Santa, the Easter Bunny, and Al Franken, I'm sorry. (There are twelve Disney parks world wide. Six, including Disneyland, CA, are labeled Magic Kingdom.)

During my years at Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) we designed a wide range of completely new Disney theme parks as well as new "lands" and attractions for existing parks and resorts. One of my favorite mottos for our design work was."

"It doesn't have to be MAGIC, it just has to appear MAGICAL."

A great example is the transparent dancing ghosts in the large dining room of the Haunted Mansion that appear to be cavorting, unstoppably, through solid furniture. The way this illusion is accomplished—all day and all night since the mid 1960's—is so technically simple, you could do it at home. (You likely have and didn't know it.) The "secret" is readily available online so I will not ruin it, here, for many who want to continue  to enjoy this wonderful ... magical ... experience.

All that to say, that of(t)en* the best solution—even to tough, difficult problems—is the easiest. At minimum it will be a simpler answer than we fear. To often we want the solution to be difficult so that when we crack the code there is a bigger sense of accomplishment.

Don't be so hard on yourself. Solving any problem,. completing any task should be reward enough in the mere accomplishment. I am frequently delighted when I use a simple solution to a problem or project.

BIG CLUE :: No matter the obstacle, begin by asking what some of the easy solutions might be. When they are insufficient, move up a step or two, don't escalate. Don't make the solution more difficult, time consuming, or expensive than is necessary to get the job done. Remember: Not MAGIC, but MAGICAL.

___________________________________________

*In the word "often" the "t" is silent. Really. Lot's of folks give it a "hard "t" thinking it sounds more intelligent. It's wrong. The correct pronunciation is "ofen." When in doubt, use an online dictionary with an audible pronunciation feature. Try it here: DICTIONARY.com

• a peek inside mr. coppola's "godfather notebook"

In my new book (Book No.2 in my HATCH! creativity trilogy) I am creating a chapter on the value of keeping a personal "sketchbook." Not a diary or daily journal, rather a tool for capturing impressions, thoughts, images, movie tickets, and other bits of life that would otherwise be lost if not for ONE place to keep them.

This will be a follow up on the popularity of the "The Doodle Factor" chapter in HATCH!, where I encouraged and taught (whomever was willing) how to add simple, playful images to ANY note taking to increase retention of key information. The number of folks who have shared their new-found love for doodling/drawing has been very rewarding indeed—especially since this chapter and the "book-within-the-book" of "McNair's Fearless Field Guide To Doodling & Visual Thinking" was an eleventh hour addition to HATCH! (It was a request of my good buddy MaxPaul Franklin.)

I have carried a sketchbook everyday, around the world, since I was about 12 years old. In the front page of everyone is the phrase: "Anything Worth Remembering, Is Worth Writing Down."

Francis Coppola was in his early 30's when he read Mario Puzo's novel, The Godfather and begin thinking about and planning to bring that epic story to the big screen. In the video below he shows the notebook he created with notes on every page of the novel. In the tradition of a theatre stage manager's "prompt book" this became what Coppola called his "road map." (I have created just such a book for every play and musical I have directed. I think I've saved most of them.)

His adaption of this epic American tale really exists as much, or more, in this notebook as in the screenplay that Coppola and Puzo eventually wrote. In this fascinating, very personal video, we see the actual massive notebook and many of his copious, hand-written notes and observations that became critical in preparing the screenplay and strategizing the entire production design. This is a rare, intimate peek inside the creative mind of one of our greatest contemporary directors in imagining and creating what is now a  classic film. (The Godfather received the OSCAR for Best Motion Picture of 1973. Coppola did not get Best Director. However, The Godfather: Part II did receive 6 Oscars including: Best Motion Picture, and Best Director and Best Screenplay—the later two to Coppola, in 1975.)

Given the rich content that is packed into this little 10 minute video ... it more than makes the case for the power of keeping, using, a personal, or "project-based" notebook.

Well worth watching.

SIDE NOTE :: Mr. Coppola refers to sitting in a little North Beach (San Francisco) eatery, Cafe Trieste, to work on his Godfather notebook. After his success, Coppola purchased the iconic Centennial building in North Beach in which he keeps his "City office" and on the ground floor has his old world Italian restaurant, Cafe Zoetrope. You will recall I like to write in cafes, coffee joints, and wine bars. Funnily enough, I spent many hours working on HATCH! in both Cafe Trieste and Cafe Zoetrope. And, Yes, I met and chatted with Coppola on several occasions. He is an easy person to approach and always curious ..."How's the book coming?" At his request, I drew a cartoon on one of their menus. It is framed and hanging on the wall of the Cafe to this day. (A friend saw it just a couple months ago.) 

• what have you been passionate about lately?

"To play the wrong note is insignificant; 

    To play without passion is inexcusable.”

~ Ludwig von Beethoven

[Skip ahead to 13:30 for beginning of performance. Crank the sound up to "11"— if you are at work, no earbuds or head phones: share this with the world. Listen to the entire symphony. Part 2 and 3 will lift you to the heavens, when the chorus joins in.]

QUIZ : : What bit of trivia do the announcers share about conductor Gustavo Dudamel (Doo' dah mell) that gives him a connection to my TEDTalk, "Recapturing Your Creative Spirit" (There is a link above in the "What's Brewing" intro material.) That presentation (my talk, not Beethoven's 9th Symphony), is the foundation for my new book that I am working on NOW ... daily.

• free Q+A with me & your team

"When is the best time to do a seminar with my staff (team, department ...) on creativity?"

This question arrives via email, face-to-face at conferences ... a LOT. The answer is always, "I'm available next week. In fact, I was available LAST week."

NOW you can have me interact with your group ... FREE, and LIVE. Here's how.

Buy ten copies of HATCH! for your staff, department, project team, or... and get a FREE 45 min. Q&A with me. Buy the books all at one time, shipped to the same address, at $5 off the cover price (as seen on Amazon) and I will do a 45 min open session with your group LIVE via Skype.

This will work BEST if you give your team/group a full month to read, digest, and discuss HATCH! so the questions can be geared to your current projects or other group-specific concerns.

I can always tell by the first few question whether they’ve read the book. I want to take you deeper. This can even be me helping you work through a current project. Your choice. Once you receive the books give the group notice that, in a month (no less) they will have a chance to interact with "the author" LIVE. Then, email me—when everyone has read the book—to set up a time that works for all of us.

• Consider having one or two sessions with your group in advance of our live Q&A to discuss their reactions to HATCH! and scratch out a rough outline of the best use of our time together during the Skype session.

Yes, I know you could buy 10 copies of HATCH! on this site by getting 3 sets of 3 books—@ $50 set—plus one more book at $20 for a total of $170. But that would NOT include the FREE Skype session.

Questions? Email me :: [email protected]

YES! I will sign all ten copies and inscribe them to each member of the team. Please submit (first) names with your order. (First names make it more personal.)

Link to my online store: www.cmcnairwilson.selz.com

---> For INTERNATIONAL orders (including Canada) please email me for shipping rate.

Onward,

McNair

 

 www.cmcnairwilson.selz.co

• new book on the way, meanwhile ...

"Can't count how many times I've gone back to HATCH! for myself and then there's the times I've talked about it with others exhorting them to create and use their God-given giftedness. Book #2, the "adventure" continues, count me in for a pre-sale and recommendations to others. Thanks for your encouragement to not settle for beige-ianity, keep up the good work!"

~ Jim Tice, HATCH! reader

As I am writng, imagining, editing, tossing out what doesn't fit the objective [1.] of "Book No.2 (NOT the title)" I hope you will spread the word about HATCH! to any who have not yet read it. Tell them they can (and so can you) purchase signed copies directly from me (and I will write the name of the person ordering it or to who it will be a gift.) PLUS, they are $5 off the Amazon price. (Buy 2 copies, get a 3rd copy HALF OFF.)

Thanks for any assistance you can be to support my Summer of writing. The new book is about understanding, accepting, and relaunching your own creative spirit. It's based on my TEDTalk, "Recapturing Your Creative Spirit" (also NOT the new book's title.) My TEDTalk is linked above in the Blog's intro, "What's Brewing?")

The title of the new book will be announced when we launch the pre-sale special ... when the writing is complete and the production process begins.

Onword!

 [1.] OBJECTIVE - before you start ANY word project—book, speech, seminar, sermon, essay—ask yourself, "Why am I delivering this?" The answer to that question is what ACTION you want  your reader or listener to take as a result of this message. If no action is required you are JUST MAKING ANNOUNCEMENTS! Setting a clear objective will assist you in determining what goes in this piece and what does NOT belong ... it doesn't fit and support your objective.    

• pre-pre-sale of my new book

THANKS TO ALL who have emailed, texted, etc. to say you're eager to support my NEW BOOK by participating in the "Pre-Sale." However, that will not launch until I've completed my FIRST DRAFT (when I KNOW there's a book!) The pre-sale will not happen, probably, until end of Summer ... sooner, if I can. I work on it DAILY.

Meanwhile, you can support the "BOOK No.2 (NOT the title) Project" NOW buy purchasing copies of "HATCH!" or three (buy 2, get 3rd book HALF OFF) for friends, co-workers, grads headed to college who could use a creative boost, or grads entering the work force. Everyone knows someone who could use a creative shot, poke, encouragement, but hasn't read "HATCH!"—yet.

At the very least I'd ask you to encourage friends to grab "HATCH!" for Summer reading:
• Post a short review on YOUR Facebook page ...AGAIN
• Post the "HATCH!" cover or snapshot of your copy of "HATCH!" with all your colorful highlights and marginal note in you BLOG. (see photo, at right, from reader )

• Send a good word to your Twitter-nation (copy & paste or scribble your own thoughts): " NEED A CREATIVE BOOST? Grab a copy of "HACTH!" by former Disney Imagineer McNair Wilson https://cmcnairwilson.selz.com "
THANKS FOR ANY ASSIST YOU CAN BE - I'LL KEEP WRITING. If you liked HATCH! ....the new book is better! (IMHO) It's a PIP!!!

Signed copies directly from me at $5 off Amazon price: https://cmcnairwilson.selz.com

• a word about our future, from the past.

 

OPENING DAY of DISNEYLAND [ 17 July 1955 ] Disney Imagineers designed TOMORROWLAND to reflect how they imagined (guessed) the world might look in 1985. Orange you glad they were wrong?

Ten years and five months later, in the Sunday comics (26 December 1965) the strip Our New Age suggest the future might look like this ...

One of the subjects I am "playing with" in my new book [Book №2 (NOT the title)] is how each of us "feels" about the future and our place in it. More specifically, how are your preparing for a future you imagine, are excited about, or fear—even a little.

What are you doing to create your own future, no matter what the rest of us are up to? Collaboration, alliances, communities, associations, partnerships are all great ways to bolster you place in the Tomorrowland we will all live in. (Except the cave-dwellers of the Montana Canned Food Nation.)

In 1962, when President Kennedy met Dr. Athelstan Spilhaus, creator and "author" of Our New Age, he told the University of Minnesota futurist, "“The only science I ever learned was from your comic strip in the Boston Globe.” (Fortunately Al Gore didn't have a cartoon strip back then.)

The Smithsonian did an article about the strip and the lightyears-ahead-of-the-rest-of-us doctor on their website—Smithsonian.com—way back in 2012. Here's the link: http://bit.ly/1TPudhW

Meanwhile, our question for today:

• Are you excited about or a little fearful of the future? And...

• What are you doing to prepare for life in your Tomorrowland?

( Notice, in the strip below about air pressure and the possibility of harnessing it for flaoting/flying vehicles, that the artist places a tiny sketch—in the upper left hand corner—before the strips masthead, of a ... do you see it?)

 

• book no.2 (not the title) progress report

Can you keep a secret? I need to know that I can trust you to tell only your closet 1,000 friends? I am working FERVENTLY, feverishly, and fast on "Book No.2 (NOT the title)" in my HATCH! Creativity series—"A FOUR Book Trilogy." 

Latest development: Looks like I have found a way to use the word "Adventure" into the SUB-title. (It actually works quite well with the theme and mood of the book. It portends a particularly fun section inside. It is also a paean, an homage, to one of my three favorite projects I worked on directly while I was at Disney Imagineering: the now legendary and, alas, defunct (destroyed) Adventurers Club. So, "mums the word"[1]  Shhhhhh! I am bent on trying to finish "Book No.2" in time for a pre-Christmas release. This is assuming I will again, as with HATCH!, be self-publishing this next entry in my creativity series. As such, we are planning a pre-sale of the book (to help pay for the not-insignificant costs of production.)

This will be a direct pre-sale, through my online book store—www.CMcNairWilson.selz.com—not a "Kickstarter" campaign. (But I am thinking about some special incentives for those who order first. PLUS, you can be certain the pre-publishing price will be reduced from the cover price (a.k.a. the Amazon price.) In fact you can still get signed and inscribed (to any friend you name, including you) copies of HATCH! for $5 off the current Amazon price. And when you purchase two copies you can get a third book HALF OFF! Just hop over to www.cMcNairWilson.selz.com.  HATCH! is the perfect gift for a grad headed to college or into the workforce to have a head start on the competition in brainstorming and playful teamwork.

I have been working on this new writing "adventure" since before HATCH! was release in September 2012. The new book is the one book I have wanted to write for more than twenty years! I just could not figure out how to put into words that would be as inspiring, playful, and ... adventurous as the message. The OBJECTIVE of this book, the why I wrote it,  is to inspire the reader to understand their own original, "factory installed:, creative spirit. I tried like heck not to deal with that subject in HATCH!, knowing I was going to do this next book. But throughout reader comments on Amazon, and in your emails, blog posts, and even snail mail letters (keep 'em comin') you said HATCH! inspired your own creativity.

The basis for the new book is my TEDTalk, Recapturing Your Creative Spirit. (Follow the link at the top of this blog to see the online video—75 minutes!) It is my most f-f-f-frequently requested presentation as a keynote address at large corporate conventions. (I have even delivered it at several not-so-huuuuuuuge events.) I always tailor the content to the group I am with. That's great fun.

Customizing it for Salvation Army (Monday in upstate New York), Farmers Insurance lawyers (Wednesday in Las Vegas), and a writers conference (Thursday in Colorado Springs) is my adventure. That was an actual (though not typical) week I had last year. So, it occurred to me, as I was playing with the content, visual layout, and title/sub-title of this new book,

"I try to make my life an adventure. How do I encourage others to that as well?"

BAM! Suddenly "adventure" became a key solution, for now, to the conundrum of crafting a playful, yet clear and communicative sub-title for the book. In non-fiction, typically, the sub-title is a way to tell the reader what the contents and purpose of the book are. Several author friends have shared that when they were wrestling with their publisher over the book title that the author wanted, the resolution was allowing the editor to have more input on the subtitle. On HATCH!, we had, as reader will recall, rejections from EIGHTEEN publishers! [2] One editor, at one of the top publishers (in New York City), loved HATCH!, but hated the original title.

When I submitted the manuscript, HATCH! was titled, Donuts On the Moon (the title of chapter six in HATCH!) She said "I don't get ... and neither will anyone." But she did say, "the subtitle helps, a lot." The subtitle on "Donuts ..." was and had always been, Brainstorming Secrets of a Theme Park Designer. But that is a description , not a title.

The working title for this new book was a long time in coming. For now I love it. AND ... it has a title just as goofy and a little mysterious as Donuts On the Moon. But I believe I have found a way to tell the story from whence the title emerges, right up front. For the longest time I felt pressured (by friends, fellow authors, fans of HATCH!) to come up with a one-word title for Book No.2. Everyone meant well, I'm sure, but I finally decided, and began telling everyone, "I don't have a title, yet. I am waiting for the right one to emerge from the writing." Almost everyone asked, "Will it be another ONE-WORD title. Pressure ...pressure. Some of my favorite books have weird, mysterious, what-the-heck-is-that-about titles. Like, Gordon MacKenzie's Orbiting the Giant Hairball. And a playful, though helpful subtitle: A Corporate fools Guide to Surviving with Grace. (BTW, grace is my favorite word.) So, not pushing myself to nail down the title to an unfinished book and allowing the possibility that the title might be more than one word, allowed me to settle into the writing of the book and wait for the title to show up in tis own good time. 

It did!

SO ... now I must get back to the real work of writing the book I have been yammering on and on about for more than a thousand words! Pray for FOCUS!!!! I will not sacrifice quality for speed of completion. I don't think I will have to. I will be posting excerpts here on the old "Tea Blog" throughout the Summer and the usual alerts with links on my three Facebook sites, Twitter (@McNairWilson) and smoke signals for friends here in Colorado.

I posted a preview of this new book as a two-page spread from my sketchbook ... way back in August of 2013 HERE. 

   I  Need  Your  Assistance   

In the middle of all this I need to pack and MOVE. I'd like to stay here in Colorado (Springs area) if possible. I would LOVE to find a house-sitting opportunity or two, to save some money while I write & edit over the next few months. Hint, hint. If someone has (or knows of) a "prophet's quarters" above a garage, or guest house at the back of their mansion, or small cabin in the far corner of a camp or retreat center ... I'm quiet, clean, and fun to have around the campfire or dinner table, now-and-then. My needs are simple: bedroom, office (could just be the big table in the dining room or kitchen), bathroom, and a closet for my togs.

If these accommodations are temporary, I'd bring a couple of boxes of resource books and art supplies and throw my furniture into storage. The key is saving money while not traveling & speaking for 3 to 6 months.

I am also creating a new images, based on HATCH! for t-shirts, mugs, and messenger bags that will be AVAILABLE SOON when I re-launch my CafePress.com store: McNair's Curiosity Shop.

Meanwhile, grab a few autographed copies of HATCH! from my online store ... www.cMcNairWilson.selz.com ... where you can also order the electronic version ("eHATCH!") available for all formats. Please let me know, A.S.A.P., if you have or know of possibilities for Summer quarters of a not-yet-world-famous author. Spread the word.

 Thanks, as always, to all who have shared this blog and my books (all my out-of-print books are available, cheap, on Amazon), and those who have posted reader reviews! ( Or are about to as soon as you finish reading this.) Go now ... HERE.

Footnotes:

[1] mum's the word - "Seal up your lips and give no words but mum." Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 2, Act 1, Scene 2

[2] Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time received TWENTY-FOUR rejections when she first submitted it in the early 1960's. It is still in print and in scores of languages. Then, in 1999, Time magazine selected Wrinkle as one of the three best children's books of the 20th Century! (Along with Charlottes Web and The Chronicles of Narnia.)

• go into the arts ...

“Go into the arts … I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable.    

Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake.

Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem.

Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.”

—Kurt Vonnegut* from A Man Without a Country, (2005)

In ALL my seminars and workshsops, no matter the attendees, we give everyone 6-10 sheets of blank, unlined (photo copy) paper and a 3-5 small felt pens and say, "This is the only way you may (and can) take noyes today. No iPads, laptops, smart phones, nothing else ... unless you have brought your own SKETCHBOOK. (No journals with lined pages, please.)"

I've done this with college professors, medical doctors, law enforcement, educators, ministry professionals ... everyone. 92.1452% of them love it—eventially.

As a result, every week I recieve messages accross the electronic media-sphere: "McNair! Look what I did!" Everything from transformed employee breakroom bulletin boards, to church bulletin inserts that are BLANK and ushers hand out colorful felt pens (20 for $1 at Dollar Tree), and staff meetings where art supplies are distributed to all.

As a result of those many, many reactions I add the additional chapter, The Doodle Factor,  to my book HATCH!—at the last minute. (Literally as we were about to go to press. The second half of that chapter is my Fearless Field Guide To Doodling ... Many have said that that chapter was worth the price of the book ... "and I love the entire book, McNair." (This chapter, and the doodle guid is included in the ebook version, eHATCH! )

There is not enough "art" being expressed in our daily lives and there will never be too much art in our world. You can a art, creative expresion, color, play, dance, music, (every staff meet ddmust start with music). President Lincoln all his cabinet meetings with a joke or short story to lighten the mood and pull minds away from the anxieties of the day.

"Go into the arts!" Send me a note, a photo of what happens. I'll post them to inspire others. 

•   •   •   •   •

*On a personal note, if you have never read a Kurt Vonnegut novel or short story, get thee to the library, used book shop and grab any of his works and read a few pages.