This month has been a crazy one. As you can see I am running behind on my monthly blog posting.
I figure I better explain myself. Plumbing is busy and my wife gave birth to our fifth child a little girl on the first of the month. So ya it has been crazy.
Instead of trying to do two posts right together I will just inform you of some news on the second book.
This is the big announcement I am almost finished. This summer I will get it edited and ready for readers by October.
In October I am going to try to hit Amazon best seller on October 1st and for this I will need your help.
I am going to do something a little different this year. I am going to give book two away for free. That's right for free. I can not get it officially published tell 2013 so I am going to give it away on read only discs to all that want a copy. The only requirement is that you buy book 1 Christmas Notes through my Amazon store http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1589828410 for the hardback, and http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Notes-Clint-G-Cox/dp/1589828410/ref=tmm_pap_title_popover. for the soft cover.
Don't worry I am the cheapest new book seller for my book. You have to make sure that I am the seller in order for me to send you the free book. For all you kindle users if you email me a receipt of your kindle purchase with your home address to coxclint@gmail.com I"ll send the second book out to you.
SO the things you need to remember
#1 October 1st is launch day to become a Amazon best seller. If yo would like me to remind you send me an email now to coxclint@gmail.com Put in your heading Amazon best seller.
#2 On October 1st go to the Christmas Notes Amazon book page "above" and then find me as a seller on ether the hardback or the soft cover book. I should be the lowest New Book seller and buy the book.
When I get your order I'll ship both books out to you.
If you buy the kindle addition then you will have to email me the receipt the same day you buy the book with your address and I'll email you a copy of book two. You should be able to put it on your kindle.coxclint@gmail.com
#3 Both books will be shipped to you shortly after your purchase.
I am giving you two books for the price of one. Book two is truly a treasurer for all you who have read book one you know what I mean. I think book two is even better then book one if you can get better then book one. Christmas Notes has received all 5 star reviews, and has been a hit with the critics. It will be heard to beat book one but I think I have done it.
I realize you may already have book 1 Christmas Notes. That is why I am selling it that day of October 1st so cheep. And my hope is that you will give it away for a gift and then keep the second book to add to your collection.
Please help me on October 1st to become a best selling author. Remember email me now if you would like a reminder. coxclint@gmail.com
Thank you all for your help.
Copy write 4-26-2012 by Clint G Cox
Christmas Notes, Clint G Cox An unedited journey of a plumbers path to publication. Yes, unedited, deal with it! Bonus features; Holiday Helps, 2X4 Writing Tips.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Happiness, You can work for it all your life and never get it.
Just in case you are wondering- book two is coming along great, but slow. I have a young family that needs a lot of my time. My wife is about to pop with our last child of five so I have had to take over some of the things that normally would not have to do because of her state of comfort. I do these things very willingly and with great satisfaction that I am needed. You can find out more about book two on the Book Two tab above.
I am choosing to write to you on another note from my book Christmas Notes. The note I choose this month is Happiness.
I work hard for a living and I do not mind hard work because of the rewards I receive upon arriving home. There lies my happiness.
Working in the field of plumbing I get to meet all walks of life of people. I have met a lot of people that despite having looked and worked for happiness for most of their lives they admittedly disclose they where unable to find it. One person left his family and went searching all the way across the ocean for happiness. He was so sure it was to be found in the arms of a french women. He never realized that happiness had been all around him before he left. It didn't take long for him to figure it out but it was just long enough to destroy ever getting it back. He is still hunting for happiness today, and he is far from finding it.
Another person in his early adulthood went on a crusade all the way to Wall Street thinking that the first million would bring him happiness. He got his first mill and happiness never came, so he figured it must be in the next million. Again, happiness never came, so on and on he went to the multimillion. Now he is just a wealthy old man living his life alone with all his toys he purchased to imitate happiness with no one to spend his money on.
So you see, happiness is not found hidden in a romantic country. Happiness is not found in money and toys. You do not have to travel far or even work very hard to be surrounded with happiness. All it takes most of the time is a pause, a new focus, and some of your time to the ones that love you.
That is happiness and its yours anytime you want it.
May happiness be yours.
Copy write 3/17/2012 Written by Clint G Cox
I am choosing to write to you on another note from my book Christmas Notes. The note I choose this month is Happiness.
I work hard for a living and I do not mind hard work because of the rewards I receive upon arriving home. There lies my happiness.
Working in the field of plumbing I get to meet all walks of life of people. I have met a lot of people that despite having looked and worked for happiness for most of their lives they admittedly disclose they where unable to find it. One person left his family and went searching all the way across the ocean for happiness. He was so sure it was to be found in the arms of a french women. He never realized that happiness had been all around him before he left. It didn't take long for him to figure it out but it was just long enough to destroy ever getting it back. He is still hunting for happiness today, and he is far from finding it.
Another person in his early adulthood went on a crusade all the way to Wall Street thinking that the first million would bring him happiness. He got his first mill and happiness never came, so he figured it must be in the next million. Again, happiness never came, so on and on he went to the multimillion. Now he is just a wealthy old man living his life alone with all his toys he purchased to imitate happiness with no one to spend his money on.
So you see, happiness is not found hidden in a romantic country. Happiness is not found in money and toys. You do not have to travel far or even work very hard to be surrounded with happiness. All it takes most of the time is a pause, a new focus, and some of your time to the ones that love you.
That is happiness and its yours anytime you want it.
May happiness be yours.
Copy write 3/17/2012 Written by Clint G Cox
Friday, February 17, 2012
You have Hope but someone tells you to just flush it!
I had an interesting service call the other day from a panic-stricken woman. She had dropped her new necklace she had just received for her anniversary in the toilet. When she could not see the necklace because of other deposits in the toilet she flushed it thinking the necklace would stay and the rest of the stuff would go on down the drain. It didn't work like that though, and the necklace was flushed as well. Worried about what her husband would say when he found out she was calling me for help, hoping that I could somehow retrieve the necklace and save the day. Imagine her surprise when over the phone I instructed her,
"That's an easy fix, go to your toilet, open the lid, place your hand on the handle, now flush your toilet about 10 times."
"What," she gasp. I had a hard time through my laughter explaining that while I was a good plumber, I can't work a miracle. By flushing the necklace once she had sent it down the pipe past arms reach (not that I would have stuck my arm down her pipe) and to retrieve it now would mean ripping up sheet rock or busting up cement to cut open the pipes to find it which in the long run would cost her much more then the necklace and her pride of having to tell her husband.
She then told me that she had so hoped I could give her a miracle. I then told her I just did by helping her avoid a future problem. If she had not flushed the necklace all the way out of her pipes it could get hung up and clog her pipes down the road. That was not what she was hoping for. I told her she could not complain because I gave her the advice for free.
Hope is like this situation. When we place our hope expecting a miracle because we think we deserve it, we are likely to be disappointed. Time and time again we place our hope in someone or something expecting a miracles and time and time again we have to just flush it down the drain no matter how much the thing we hoped for meant to us. I am not saying we should not hope in people and things, but I am saying that we should not get so upset at having to flush those results of our bad choosing.
Hope can drive a person to action, give them courage to accomplish a task that seems impossible. Hope helps us to endure a hopeless situation or the loss of a love one. Hope can change us and those we love. But most of all hope inspires faith. Once hope has transformed into faith it has the power to move mountains.
There is one who you should always place your hope in, and that is your Father in Heaven. One whom always rewards hope with miracles. True these miracles may not come in the manner we are seeking but they come none the less. To hope in God is to be happy and full of life, to give up on him causes anger and sucks the life out of us.
May we all hope through God for more love, happiness, piece, joy, and for better tomorrows then we have had today.
God Bless
Clint G Cox Copy write 2/16/12
"That's an easy fix, go to your toilet, open the lid, place your hand on the handle, now flush your toilet about 10 times."
"What," she gasp. I had a hard time through my laughter explaining that while I was a good plumber, I can't work a miracle. By flushing the necklace once she had sent it down the pipe past arms reach (not that I would have stuck my arm down her pipe) and to retrieve it now would mean ripping up sheet rock or busting up cement to cut open the pipes to find it which in the long run would cost her much more then the necklace and her pride of having to tell her husband.
She then told me that she had so hoped I could give her a miracle. I then told her I just did by helping her avoid a future problem. If she had not flushed the necklace all the way out of her pipes it could get hung up and clog her pipes down the road. That was not what she was hoping for. I told her she could not complain because I gave her the advice for free.
Hope is like this situation. When we place our hope expecting a miracle because we think we deserve it, we are likely to be disappointed. Time and time again we place our hope in someone or something expecting a miracles and time and time again we have to just flush it down the drain no matter how much the thing we hoped for meant to us. I am not saying we should not hope in people and things, but I am saying that we should not get so upset at having to flush those results of our bad choosing.
Hope can drive a person to action, give them courage to accomplish a task that seems impossible. Hope helps us to endure a hopeless situation or the loss of a love one. Hope can change us and those we love. But most of all hope inspires faith. Once hope has transformed into faith it has the power to move mountains.
There is one who you should always place your hope in, and that is your Father in Heaven. One whom always rewards hope with miracles. True these miracles may not come in the manner we are seeking but they come none the less. To hope in God is to be happy and full of life, to give up on him causes anger and sucks the life out of us.
May we all hope through God for more love, happiness, piece, joy, and for better tomorrows then we have had today.
God Bless
Clint G Cox Copy write 2/16/12
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Family! With out it your life will drain away.
The third note of the fifteen Christmas Notes from my book, I would like to write about this month is "Family".
I once went to a home in a nearby town to work on a tub drain. The home owner was complaining about how the tub would not hold water very long because of a slow leak around the bottom drain. As always, when I am on the job I struck up a polite conversation with the man. This was unlike any conversation I had had with other customers. The man only gave short half-hearted answers to my questions. I could tell he did not trust me and was irritated that I was in his home, which was strange considering he called me. Furthermore, I could tell I was not the only one he had treated like this. Turns out this man had left home when he was a teenager to get away from his over-protective parents. He never married, "There was no way I was going to let some female run my life for me," was the reason he gave me. And I assumed that when he asked me, "How many brats do you have at home?" that meant he did not like children either. Having a family was of no importance and of no use to him. As I sat there trying to find something of interest and positive that I could talk with him about for the remainder of my work, again and again he would say something to kill the conversation. Finally I gave up and he, seeing he had satisfyingly dampened the mood, went into the other room while I worked on the tub.
Focusing on the job at hand I was there to do I could not help but think that this mans life was a lot like the drain I was fixing. While this man had found great success and accumulated great wealth during his life, some how living in this big house all buy himself with no one to share it with seemed the opposite of happiness to me. He had let everything I cherish in my life go down the drain, and now because he had opened the drain so many times to let those important things out he had ruined his drain and now there was no hope of holding happiness for him, it just leaked out as fast as it came in.
I can not imagine a life without the parents I have had, my wife, and our children. Basically, that equals a life without love and happiness for me. I would be the first to admit that having a family is not easy and life does not go smooth just because you have a family. In fact in most cases families are where we are first introduced to sickness, pain, disappointments, anger, mistrust, and death. But on the other hand it is in the family that we are also introduced to those qualities that hopefully out weigh the bad. Some of these being peace, joy, happiness, love, respect, faith, healing, success, trust, and life. These positive traits are what this man had never really truly experienced, and because of his lack of family he will most likely die never having really lived life at all. Some times like in the situation of Max in my book Christmas Notes we have to be reminded of what a family brings in to our lives. It will be interesting to see the reaction of readers as they reed book two when they learn of how max is faced with loosing everything he holds dear......... his family.
Thank you for fallowing me an this blog.
May we all enjoy are families this new year.
Copy write January 4th 2012 by Clint G Cox
I once went to a home in a nearby town to work on a tub drain. The home owner was complaining about how the tub would not hold water very long because of a slow leak around the bottom drain. As always, when I am on the job I struck up a polite conversation with the man. This was unlike any conversation I had had with other customers. The man only gave short half-hearted answers to my questions. I could tell he did not trust me and was irritated that I was in his home, which was strange considering he called me. Furthermore, I could tell I was not the only one he had treated like this. Turns out this man had left home when he was a teenager to get away from his over-protective parents. He never married, "There was no way I was going to let some female run my life for me," was the reason he gave me. And I assumed that when he asked me, "How many brats do you have at home?" that meant he did not like children either. Having a family was of no importance and of no use to him. As I sat there trying to find something of interest and positive that I could talk with him about for the remainder of my work, again and again he would say something to kill the conversation. Finally I gave up and he, seeing he had satisfyingly dampened the mood, went into the other room while I worked on the tub.
Focusing on the job at hand I was there to do I could not help but think that this mans life was a lot like the drain I was fixing. While this man had found great success and accumulated great wealth during his life, some how living in this big house all buy himself with no one to share it with seemed the opposite of happiness to me. He had let everything I cherish in my life go down the drain, and now because he had opened the drain so many times to let those important things out he had ruined his drain and now there was no hope of holding happiness for him, it just leaked out as fast as it came in.
I can not imagine a life without the parents I have had, my wife, and our children. Basically, that equals a life without love and happiness for me. I would be the first to admit that having a family is not easy and life does not go smooth just because you have a family. In fact in most cases families are where we are first introduced to sickness, pain, disappointments, anger, mistrust, and death. But on the other hand it is in the family that we are also introduced to those qualities that hopefully out weigh the bad. Some of these being peace, joy, happiness, love, respect, faith, healing, success, trust, and life. These positive traits are what this man had never really truly experienced, and because of his lack of family he will most likely die never having really lived life at all. Some times like in the situation of Max in my book Christmas Notes we have to be reminded of what a family brings in to our lives. It will be interesting to see the reaction of readers as they reed book two when they learn of how max is faced with loosing everything he holds dear......... his family.
Thank you for fallowing me an this blog.
May we all enjoy are families this new year.
Copy write January 4th 2012 by Clint G Cox
Monday, December 5, 2011
Thanks, a habbit that is long forgotton
"Thanks", is another one of the notes that Seanna gives in my book, Christmas Notes. This note was given in the attitude of gratitude for the friendship, help and other loving gifts Seanna had received in her stay at the orphanage.
I get a lot of plumbing service calls to more mature(seniors) people's homes. For two reasons; One they often live in older homes with plumbing that is out of date and starting to fail. Two, the word has spread quickly that I often plan to spend a little extra time after the bill has been paid to just visit, or to see if they need anything else none plumbing done for them. I do this because I often benefit from our conversations more then then they do.
I have walked away having heard some of the best heroic World War II stories that have never been written. I have listened to the courage and grit of those that past through the Great Depreciation. If I had to sum up the lives of some of these great people that the world will soon be leaving behind, I could give them one word "Thanks" or "Gratitude". They are some of the most grateful people on earth. Its no wonder I don't mind spending some extra time with them. It is easy and very satisfying to spend time with someone that knows life's hardships yet is so full of thanks that they almost glow.
I would like to talk to you about one such person I was able to visit with just a few days ago. Melody has Lew Garregs Disease. If you are unfamiliar with that disease I can tell you I hope you never have to be. It is a illness that slowly shuts down your nervous system. When I say slowly, I mean every day you notice something else that does not work just right on your body and often times the mind is left intact and normal which causes lots of frustration for the participant. Melody was diagnosed with Lew Garregs about six months a go at the time I visited with her. As I waited for her to come from the bedroom to the living room to visit with her I couldn't but help notice her struggle. It was only just a few months ago she was as energetic as any teenager with her vibrant positive attitude going around and doing good for people. I wondered if her attitude had been dampened by what had taken place with her body. As she struggled to sit down I helped her move the walker out of her way. She then spoke to me with a very quiet but raspy voice. Turns out the voice was the being attacked by the illness and it took a lot of effort to talk. As I sat there straining to hear her, the very first thing to come out of her mouth after was, "I am so grateful", I could not believe it. She hoarsely rattled of about ten different things she was grateful for before she paused because of the strain. The rest of the conversation was filled with the same grateful tone.
The message I walked away with from that visit is a simple but profound. "Be thankful for what you have, give thanks for it, because someday it may no longer be there."
If only people could follow this principle! I am convinced it would save one from becoming prideful and therefore saving marriages, families, communities, and yes even countries.
Copy write Dec 5th 2011. Clint G Cox, Author of Christmas Notes.
I get a lot of plumbing service calls to more mature(seniors) people's homes. For two reasons; One they often live in older homes with plumbing that is out of date and starting to fail. Two, the word has spread quickly that I often plan to spend a little extra time after the bill has been paid to just visit, or to see if they need anything else none plumbing done for them. I do this because I often benefit from our conversations more then then they do.
I have walked away having heard some of the best heroic World War II stories that have never been written. I have listened to the courage and grit of those that past through the Great Depreciation. If I had to sum up the lives of some of these great people that the world will soon be leaving behind, I could give them one word "Thanks" or "Gratitude". They are some of the most grateful people on earth. Its no wonder I don't mind spending some extra time with them. It is easy and very satisfying to spend time with someone that knows life's hardships yet is so full of thanks that they almost glow.
I would like to talk to you about one such person I was able to visit with just a few days ago. Melody has Lew Garregs Disease. If you are unfamiliar with that disease I can tell you I hope you never have to be. It is a illness that slowly shuts down your nervous system. When I say slowly, I mean every day you notice something else that does not work just right on your body and often times the mind is left intact and normal which causes lots of frustration for the participant. Melody was diagnosed with Lew Garregs about six months a go at the time I visited with her. As I waited for her to come from the bedroom to the living room to visit with her I couldn't but help notice her struggle. It was only just a few months ago she was as energetic as any teenager with her vibrant positive attitude going around and doing good for people. I wondered if her attitude had been dampened by what had taken place with her body. As she struggled to sit down I helped her move the walker out of her way. She then spoke to me with a very quiet but raspy voice. Turns out the voice was the being attacked by the illness and it took a lot of effort to talk. As I sat there straining to hear her, the very first thing to come out of her mouth after was, "I am so grateful", I could not believe it. She hoarsely rattled of about ten different things she was grateful for before she paused because of the strain. The rest of the conversation was filled with the same grateful tone.
The message I walked away with from that visit is a simple but profound. "Be thankful for what you have, give thanks for it, because someday it may no longer be there."
If only people could follow this principle! I am convinced it would save one from becoming prideful and therefore saving marriages, families, communities, and yes even countries.
Copy write Dec 5th 2011. Clint G Cox, Author of Christmas Notes.
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