When Things Get Crazy, You May Forget Something Really Important

Today, mid-morning, one of our daughters called us from Dallas. Both my husband and I picked up our telephones. She was calling to wish him "Happy Birthday"!

I had forgotten it was his birthday. Life was racing along so fast. I didn't add his birthday to the list of items by my computer. I was hurrying to handle as many e-mails as I could before we left for our tennis league. I also was rushing to print out some greeting cards to fulfill an order.

I had forgotten the most important thing I needed to remember for the day. Have you ever done that?

When I arrived at the desk at the tennis center, I was surprised to hear someone wish the tennis director, "Happy Birthday"! I was happy to learn the two share a birthday. Both are Pisces.

Busy has not gotten any better, so I don't know what I should do to make up for my forgetfulness. I found a photo from years ago of him holding our youngest daughter.

Things are crazier now than they were then, I think. Guess that's why I forgot something really important!

Happy Birthday from the Passenger to Paradise who needs to improve her memory!

Branding for All Ages on President's Day

Recently, I told my young art students about the Gilbert Stuart George Washington painting. We've talked about how contemporary artist Peter Max has used the Stuart image in a series of paintings he has done of Washington. Everyone sees the Stuart image used for the one dollar bill. I've been thinking about how that's an example of branding that's carried over through the ages. No one was concerned with branding during Washington's lifetime, but his image became a brand anyway.

Now branding is everywhere. I love the gecko for Geico and wonder who managed to come up with that. I also wonder about those old-fashioned bathtubs that are the symbol for the drug Cialis. Amazing use of the imagination!

Then we have the simple Nike brand image. Looking down at the tennis shoes I'm wearing, I see K-Swiss branding all over them. I recognize Adidas brands on many pieces of my tennis and other athletic clothing. And who will ever forget the birds on the bats of the Cardinals baseball team?

As authors, we have the issue of branding that is growing and becoming more important every year. We are branding our book series. My publisher created the Passenger to Paradise brand image for my books. I plan to make luggage tags to promote my brand at upcoming book signings and elsewhere.

I would love to hear what ideas you use for branding your books. How do you brand yourself?

A Snapshot in Time

A couple of years ago I was talking with a fellow writer at a conference about my coffee table book, Hotels to Remember. Although a great deal of work went into creating this book which features my original paintings for each of the hotels, my photographs taken at the hotel sites, and my writing, the book was outdated from almost the moment it came out. This was depressing to me.

"Don't worry," the other writer said. "Your book is a snapshot in time."

Since that time, I've thought a lot about what he said. Hotels are renovated and updated constantly. Names change as new owners purchase properties. Even the oldest and most historic hotels change as one chain replaces another. Any book written about wonderful and historic hotels has to be a "snapshot in time."

Last fall, my publisher decided to consider the possibilities of that title. She elected to create A Snapshot in Time as the title for a new series of books which is actually a smaller version of Hotels to Remember, focusing on each individual hotel. Each new title has a slick beautiful hard cover. Each hotel has its own book.

So far, there are three books. The Jefferson Hotel was the first. The Homestead and Hilltop House followed soon after.

I love these little books because people will have the opportunity to collect them as a memory of a visit to a special property. And it's good to know they are A Snapshot in Time.

I'm glad another writer took the time to share his thoughts with me. Without that, I might still be sulking about the way hotels change all too fast!

A Snapshot in Time