Diana's Blog: Quirky Words and Book Reviews

August 16, 2008
HOW TO BE A BUSINESS SUPERHERO is one of those rare books with a schtick that actually works. I flip open the book to the chapter on my favorite superhero -- Wonder Woman. Of course she's my favorite. For starters, we share the first same name. And she's sexy and bold and a role model. Then there's the chapter on Catwoman -- I've even interviewed one of the actresses who played Catwoman -- Eartha Kitt. Meow. I'll share that story another day. But then I find myself skipping around the whole book, and compelled, I open up the very beginning of the book and immerse myself. Sean Wise begins with ten golden rules, including Do No Evil, Swear An Oath, MO, identity, and so on. I'm not sure what my costume would look like, but certainly there would be a high percentage of Lycra involved.
Wonder Woman's lesson is to Stay Focused. Ironic, because earlier in the day, I felt ill at ease when I fell off that focus a bit. And falling is painful. Being in the moment -- that's the best way to be fearless and guilt-free. Wise writes to Have A Mission. Wonder Woman's is Fight for Peace. Mine must be Inspire. It's so central to my mission, it is on the flip side of my business card. But Wise asks for a few more words than just one. So I reflect back over my year with HeartSpark -- which encourages each participant to uncover the patterns that work best. I don't have mine memorized -- probably because it is so long. But I remember well how it took form. One day, business author Jeff DeGraff, whom I'd interviewed, offers up that I am an Impresario. That brings a smile. It feels right. So,it becomes the key word -- and then I jazz up the pattern statement with all the other aspects that I enjoy. It becomes "I am a confident impresario of spiritual connections, living a limitless magic life with openhearted faith and intuition, inspiring others through my stories, support, patience and dreams."
This is what I love most to do -- to connect people at that passionate core.

Labels: books, Catwoman, Eartha Kitt, Heartspark, HOW TO BE A BUSINESS SUPERHERO, mission, Sean Wise, Wonder Woman

August 11, 2008
He ushers me into the office of his legal firm, which is in a building dating close to nineteen-hundred, old by Portland standards. The town I grew up in back east predates the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Nevertheless, I immediately feel at home. I have interviewed Phil Margolin half a dozen times, and he actually called me to do the interview instead of the usual, where I would set up an interview through his New York publicist.
There are boxes of his new book EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE around the dark-wooded room, and I settle into a chair so big, I slide forward so my feet can rest on the floor. I tend to sit on the edge of chairs anyway.
The interview is scheduled for a half hour. We will talk past that. Always do. Phil is wearing his wedding band on his right ring finger, I notice, and I recall his words at the beginning of the book. His wife Darlene had passed, and it had been a difficult year for him to say the least.
This book, EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE, I feel is his best book yet. Phil says he prefers GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. We won't argue.
I love his characters in this book. His earliest books, he admits -- when I comment that his characters have more depth these days -- were purely plot-driven. He loves puzzles, loves to create intricate webs of intrigue.
Phil is self-taught, developing his skill for writing characters along the way. He says that when his editor -- about a decade ago, or more -- asked him to write from a female point of view, he was deeply concerned. How was he -- a criminal defense attorney, soft-spoken (around me, anyway), but very male -- going to take on a female POV? Suddenly it occurred to him that his wife Darlene embodied all the characteristics he needed for this character -- and he decided to write as if he were Darlene.
He tells me this because I say I love the character Dana Cutler. She is a detective who is hired by an attorney with "powerful political connections" -- read, The President -- and she ends up tracking a high school girl who has political aspirations.
Dana is tough as nails. She can ride, she can shoot, she can blow holes in bad men before they know she's even there.
Dana was kidnapped during an assignment a few years back, and brutally sexually-abused. She is a mess for awhile afterward, does the necessary hospitalizations, and after that -- she doesn't hold back. I read Dana, and my mind floats. I wonder why some women get tough as a result of being terrorized, and why other girls, like me, grow up to become a journalist or a nurse or a therapist who, at first, step out into the world apologetic, and forgiving everyone except herself.
When I was eleven, I was firing a rifle at targets for a summer class, and passed the rigor of each set of requirements rapidly,getting award after award -- turns out I was a darn good shot. At this point, I'd been a rape target for more than half my life. But those were paper targets, with a black dot at their heart. Not a perp. Could I ever be -- could I have ever been -- angry enough to fire a deadly bullet? Doubt it.
My weapon is the written word. Maybe Phil's is, too, and that's why EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE is, IMHO, his best -- feeling the loss of his dear wife, he poured his heart into his writing.

Labels: books, bullseye, EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE, good shot, Heartspark, Phil Margolin, rifle, targets, writing

August 5, 2008
Usually I read on the treadmill. Today, I read in the sun in my backyard. The temperature in Portland Oregon was in the mid-90's at 5pm. I love how the temperature keeps rising, sometimes into the evening. I had until 5:45pm to read Marc Allen's new book THE GREATEST SECRET OF ALL, because I wanted to head out for a dance class then. Personal, powerful, bright easy writing.
Marc tells of being a complete screw-up until the day he turned thirty, and opened his business, New World Library with Shakti Gawain. She has this open, easy, wise way about her. I interviewed her a dozen years ago in a quirky Portland hotel.
What struck me as I read -- yes, making your dreams come true is possible. How do you do that, when you have to plow through trauma? For the past year I have been excavating the patterns that developed from beliefs about myself -- that began as thoughts when I was a small child -- through a magical process called EMDR -- eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. I pushed myself back through the rapes, and instead of floating away or imagining that was normal or deciding something untrue,like 'that was what I deserved'...my body released the pain, I screamed and cried, and the beliefs changed. At the same time, I was lucky enough to win a spot in a positive program called HeartSpark, by Susan Clark. We told our stories when we first met, and through an amazing and heartfelt process learned our own personal patterns that work for us. Mine is magic. In a word. This is my full pattern: "I am a confident impresario of spiritual connections, living a limitless magic life with openhearted faith and intuition, inspiring others through my stories, support, patience and dreams."
Marc's book is the third big piece. You have to have a dream. A plan. This multi-millionaire who takes Mondays off and doesn't do email at home, who started penniless at age thirty, created it all on that thirtieth birthday. He wrote an ideal scene of what he would want his life to be in five years -- and then he wrote pages of goals and affirmations from that vision. And to free up that fearful part of the brain, Marc always used these words with each goal: "in an easy and relaxed manner, in a healthy and positive way." There was a one-page plan for every goal, and the final way to manifest your dreams, Marc says, is to simply take action.
I'll go back through the book again, this time doing each step he suggests. I've got my vision board in the living room, too, because the mind creates reality from images, it attracts what you say you want, recognizes it, energizes it. It's fun to focus on the magic. For example, the time I finished reading THE GREATEST SECRET OF ALL...? 5:44pm. Perfect timing. Magical! And I was early enough for my class to find my favorite spot in the front row, and danced my heart out.

Labels: books, dance, EMDR, Heartspark, Marc Allen, New World Library, Shakti Gawain, Susan Clark

It's my birthday today....the waning hours...and birthdays are perfect days to begin anew. So. Today, I pledge to blog every day, with the intention of focusing on one of the many books that cross my path as an author interviewer and book reviewer. Put through my personal filter -- not my intellectual one. I recognized early in my life that books saved me. Later I "happened" into interviewing authors. As you know, there are no accidents. I consider these experiences rich gifts that I am fortunate enough to share. To make this promise of a daily blog requires a great deal of courage on my part. Vulnerability. I begin with a book tomorrow. For now, I want to reflect on the difference a day makes.
This birthday morning, I decided to accept Steff's invitation to join her in her yoga class outdoors on Bull Mt at six o'clock. I journaled for about ten-minutes -- I journal every morning no matter what time I get up. Then I drove toward the rising sun, and unexpected blue skies -- cloudy skies had been forecast -- the thumbnail of the moon still apparent amidst thin white clouds. And Steff and her husband Tony were the only ones there. It was a beautiful experience. While my favorite movement is dance -- hiphop, step, Groove, anything! -- and I lift weights -- this was a delightful departure from my routine. Sunrise yoga -- I was actually flexible, and I liked it! Then I picked up my son and he made me birthday breakfast at home -- omelette with broccoli and cheese. Victoria's Secret and Black and White had gifted me big coupons, so I dashed to the mall for 45-minutes, buying a couple of bras, got a free string-thong at VS, then at B&W bought a killer dress, sweater, earrings for $101. Time for a nearly three-hour lunch at Meriweather's on Vaughn with Karen -- we've been doing birthday lunches for nineteen years now -- her birthday is in January; mine is in July. A perfect way to ensure we stay connected. Off to drinks with another friend -- sparkling water for me (since I don't drink.) Then to a networking party at Heartspark -- responsible this past year for emphasizing the positive patterns in my life. And finally dinner at McCormick's with my buddy and boss Bob -- crab legs, the best! Thank you, my friends -- and all you who wrote on my wall, posted messages and emailed Happy Birthday greetings. I am SO blessed! That is what life is, after all -- sharing our open hearts with the people we know, and risking vulnerability to be as close as we can bear. Loss is a certainty, so is change. But guaranteed, new friends wash in on the next tide, sunnier than the last.
I almost don't want to go to bed...but I'm going to tease this fabulous birthday out until the clock strikes midnight and a new day dawns. I've spent the year, not just emphasizing positive patterns, but also excavating old limiting patterns. I feel free. Joyous. Natural. And I dance and write and sing the magic!
See you tomorrow -- thanks for a magnificent day!

Labels: birthday, friendship, Heartspark, joyous, yoga