On Monday, I got a call from a television producer friend who just began pre-production for a SAR documentary. So much for saving the best for last, that’s actually my favorite announcement, and it’ll be fun to contribute and see the finished product, possibly sometime this fall.

On Tuesday, we had a short rescue mission. It actually came Wednesday morning at 1:00 a.m. A motorcycler somewhere above Cedar Hills called in with possible head injuries. Due to a kink in the notification system, we got paged 20 minutes later than we should have been, and we had scarcely begun sending out search teams to comb the foothills when a team member watched the rider roll slowly out of a canyon on his own. I would have arrived home by 2:00 had a few of us not hung around talking for another hour.

On Wednesday night, I gave the keynote address for the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce Great Kids Awards ceremony, where a pair of 7th graders from every junior high in the valley was recognized for being generally awesome people. They received some awesome prizes, and you can watch my presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH5xf1RLiCg

Thursday night was our monthly team training and business meeting. It went quickly and it was nice to see everyone. I replaced my 200′ rope and prussiks since my old ones were showing some wear.

Lindsey and Rob had their baby with them, who has better attendance than some of our team members, so when I got home, I photoshopped this picture of her, making her an official member of BSAR (baby search and rescue).

On Friday, I finished working out the details between the Mountain Rescue Association Education Committee’s Webinar Training Subcommittee (which I founded and chair) and PMI (awesome climbing rope manufacturer) for monthly training that we’ll create for members of the MRA. The rest of you can watch them on our websites afterward.

Saturday brought our monthly team training, which was swiftwater rescue this month, despite low river flow levels so far this year. I covered the foot entrapment station where groups practiced retrieving people from the river by capturing them with throw bags (and ropes) from the river banks. You can see some footage of our training on this news story: http://www.kutv.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_11048.shtml

And on Sunday, not to be outdone by the other days of the week, NPR’s All Things Considered played an interview they recorded with me on Thursday afternoon.  Listen to it here: http://www.npr.org/2014/05/04/309075885/calling-off-the-search-the-emotional-toll-of-search-and-rescue

Now let’s see if this week can somehow top last!!!!

The Art of Heart is the new title for book three (originally announced as “A Fall from Heaven”) and follows The Perfect Gift, picking up the story one year later.

This is definitely the best book of the series. It’s engaging, insightful, and has plenty of adventure, romance, breathtakingly beautiful and impressive moments, and of course all the plot twists typical of this series. It’s also over 100 pages longer than the first two.

From my perspective, what I’ll remember is how darn long it took to write! I’ve had the basic storyline written out in my head for years, and much of the detail written down well, for years, just not as many, but it still took writing day and night for months to let everything finally settle into place.

It was interesting to notice how the plot took on a life of its own, and how events often turned out differently than planned – and how that always turned out better than my outline. It was also interesting to notice how the characters would say things, as I typed out the dialog, that I had never thought of before, and how they came up with some pretty good ideas!

Now that I’ve finished, I’m trying to put the same dedication into getting all caught up on grading my students’ papers. They turned in a major paper on Tuesday and I’ve been recording an average of 8 minutes of commentary on each one which I email them so they can take it into consideration for the next revision. It’s a good system, but time consuming, taking an average of half an hour per paper, which adds up fast!

As I get all caught up there, I need to learn how to play again. I’ve been planning to go watch The Bourne Legacy for over a week now, but every time it’s time to go, I keep deciding to stay and keep working. Until late tonight when I finally broke away. It was good! And as it ended with the shot of the Philippines ocean, I couldn’t help but think how nice it would be to away on my endless round the world trip already. If someone offered my $120k for my house right now, I’d take it and leave the country by January.

Anyway. Bed time. I need my rest so I can get up and grade all day again tomorrow.

Last year, my first Christmas book, Courage, Love and the Meaning of Christmas, reached as high as #412 in books on Amazon.com, which is the top one-fifth of one percent of all books. Not bad! Its sequel also reached the top 1% of books.

Well this year in 2012, I’m hoping not just for a repeat, but to do even better, partly because I’m writing furiously to finish the third and final book in the series. I’ve been working on it off and on for three years now, and for the past many weeks, that means often writing from dawn till well after dark.

I’m hoping to finish this week. It’s coming along well, but there’s still plenty of work left, so we’ll see. I’ll announce it on ChristmasNovels.com and Facebook.com/ChristmasNovels when it comes out, and I’ll eventually let you know here how it goes!

I’ve watched beginnings and endings for a very long time. I wrote an entire book about them – they made an unavoidable subtheme in the account of my first spontaneous trip to Taiwan and China as I moved from place to place, with people and places continually appearing in my life before falling away behind the steady march of time like watching railroad ties fade away from a train’s caboose.

Today marked a new ending for me. Today was the last day of class for another semester. My work has only begun with the five-inch pile of papers stacked on my dining room table, but the faces of my students that I recall smiling, laughing, listening and speaking won’t return.

As always, this has been an enjoyable semester. We not only had a good time, but I’ve seen an impressive amount of progress in my student’s writing. We successfully accomplished our objectives. I had to get on their case once about putting in more effort and following the steps I had taught, but they rose to the occasion and impressed me with high-quality writing immediately after.

At the beginning of the semester, the majority of the students admitted to not liking writing much. I asked why and got the expected answers: it’s hard, it’s time consuming, grading is often ambiguous, and it often seems boring and pointless.

When I asked this week whether those attitudes have changed, I got the expected answers: they believe in the writing process. They know how to do a better job in less time and with less effort now, how to make writing more interesting by adding some creativity and tailoring it to an audience, and how to evaluate their writing and know they did a good job. While some students reported working harder in my class than any other, they didn’t seem to mind so much.

“Well,” I said as my last class of the afternoon wound down, “Thanks for showing up all semester. Thanks for participating and working hard and being brilliant. Good luck on finals!” Several students shook my hand on the way out and thanked me for a good semester.

I turned off the projector, packed up my things, stepped outside, and quickly zipped up my jacket in the cool twenty-something degree afternoon. The sun had already fallen half way beyond the western horizon. I stared at it as I walked, following its path toward my car, soaking in its rich, warm colors through bare tree branches whose leaves deserted them weeks ago. The glowing fluorescent-red orb sank behind Lake Mountain and today disappeared forever.

In the spirit of “Shop Locally” and “Buy Made in America,” this is a list assembled by authors and connected fans with suggested “safe” clean reads. Some are Christmas related while others just make good gifts.

Enjoy!

Hot off the University of Life Press, two brand new books by Dr. Phillip Buster arrive just in time for the Republican primaries and next year’s elections! These books clarify and confirm what you always suspected…and as you may have guessed, there is not a single word between the book covers, making these books the perfect gag gift or coffee table book for your favorite political junkie or adversary!

The book comes in two forms:

Everything Democrats know about Government
Available from:
1. Amazon.com @ http://amzn.to/democratbook – like it and leave a funny review!
2. Direct from the printer
3. Amazon Kindle @ http://amzn.to/democratkindle
4. BUY 5 GET 1 FREE from UofLIFE.com:

Everything Republicans know about Government
Available from:
1. Amazon.com @ http://amzn.to/republicanbook – like it and leave your funny review!
2. Direct from the printer
3. Amazon Kindle @ http://amzn.to/republicankindle
4. BUY 5 GET 1 FREE from UofLIFE.com:

Each version clearly and concisely explains Democrat or Republican logic & values regarding:

– The Economy
– Social Issues
– Foreign Policy
– Energy Policy
– Environmental Policy
– Ethics

A comprehensive historical timeline reveals significant contributions each party has made to America’s past and present greatness.

From the back cover:

“Brilliant!” – Fox News

“Says it all. An ideal political reference guide.” – The Washington Post

“Dr. Buster’s impeccable reasoning and direct style result in perfect clarity and outstanding readability.” – The Wall Street Journal

[Everything Republicans know…has reviews from The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, and USA Today]

At last – complex politics made simple! Written for novice Democrats or Republicans who want to better understand their political rivals, this insightful and succinct overview accurately summarizes the logic, wisdom and values behind Democratic viewpoints on:
– The Ecomony
– Social Issues
– Foreign Policy
– Energy Policy
– Environmental Issues
– Ethics

A comprehensive historical timeline outlines major Democratic contributions to America’s past and current greatness.

About the Author

One such stuff is the revision of my book An American in China: Starting Over. A travel guide to the adventurous life. I wrote it years ago about my spontaneous trip to Taiwan and the unexpected “vacation” in Mainland China that followed. Back then, I was sorting out many deep feelings stirred by that tumultuous experience, and the process of writing helped figure it out.

I had done some revision on the book and it sat for several years until I decided to hurry up and finish it and get the new edition out. So I did. I spent half the day today designing the new cover. It’s now on Amazon Kindle and the book will be available in a day or two.

If anybody wants one of the original version (I have about a dozen left), you can have one for five bucks. Just let me know.

I also added 75 Search and Rescue Stories: an insider’s view of survival, death, and volunteer heroes who tip the balance when things fall apart on Kindle. I sell the vast majority of books on Kindle these days.

I hope to finish up two more books this year. One is 80% finished and the other is about 30%.

Part of my plan is this: if I can double my book sales, then I’ll sell everything and move to Guatemala, Thailand or Nepal. Might as well. I hope to accomplish this by next summer – if not sooner, but it’ll take that long to get everything in order. So unless some other opportunity knocks, it’s back out into the world for me. I probably should have gone years ago. Better late than never!

From a book review by author Jules Harrell in the Mountain Rescue Association quarterly publication Meridian:

From Amazon.com:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring and fascinating, July 30, 2011 by Baird

This book is well worth twice the price charged, especially given that part of the proceeds are donated to SAR. Divided into quick, engrossing chapters that each tell the story of a SAR operation, it’s immensely readable. Some stories will make you laugh, some will leave you in awe. Shaun Roundy has a fast-paced, light-hearted writing style that never bogs down. Everyone in Utah County should read this before heading to the mountains or the lake; maybe then we’d have fewer people getting ledged out on a cliff in a t-shirt with no gear every month.

I have never required the assistance of SAR, but my brother did, and some these stories seriously brought tears of gratitude to my eyes. Anyone considering volunteering for SAR or something similar (working at a mountain resort, national park, or similar) should definitely read this first to get a feel for what they might be facing and to understand the mindset required.

If you stumbled across this book and are wondering whether to buy it: I promise you will not regret the purchase. It’s a book I’ll proudly display on my shelf for years to come. The selfless sacrifice SAR volunteers undertake is nothing short of inspiring, and this book is an easy and fun way to learn more about SAR and support it at the same time.
5.0 out of 5 stars AWESOME book, one of a kind!, July 18, 2011 by P. Burns

Once I started reading this book, it seemed like an injustice to put it down!
Waiting inside were the tales of desperate victims, anxious heroes and the land they challenged which threatened to steal their lives! The heartfelt stories of love, loss, hope and failure kept me enthralled as I experienced the thrill of success, the tearful suffering of the hopeless and the exhilaration of the search.
This is a heart pounding, tear jerking, hooraah eliciting collection of stories of amazing volunteers whose quest is simply to help those in need.

Others tell me that they thoroughly enjoy it and fellow rescuers say they appreciate the reminder of rescue memories and that they identify with the ideas I express. I’d love to hear what you think! Order yours now from 75 Search and Rescue Stories

It may not seem long to you, but after working day and night for months…it does to me! The first month went very well, cranking out content quickly. The second month, it took real effort to make myself work on it, but once I got momentum, the words usually flowed nicely. Then the final revisions, editing, photo layout, and such was less taxing on the brain and came along just fine.

Some stories are short and sweet. Others are long and gripping. Some make you want to celebrate against-all-odds victories, and with the ones that end in tragedy, I usually do a pretty good job of putting on a positive spin (sometimes surprising myself how well they came out).

It occurred to me last week that I’ve written three major books in the past year. Not bad!

Now it’s time to try to sell this book and I have a question for you: what would it take to get your interest enough to buy it, or your support enough to help spread the word?

For example, it’s a good cause. Our volunteer SAR team responds to all types of emergencies in all types of weather at all types of day or night for people we have never met who desperately need us on the worst day of their lives. Part of the sales proceeds supports our team. Our entire team quietly goes about its job with no thought of reward and without making much fuss about the incredible work we perform on a regular basis. That doesn’t mean that a little recognition and support doesn’t mean a lot to us. It does. And to be perfectly honest, I could certainly use your help right now. (It’s hard to ask for help! Is this what our victims feel when they call 911? Even so, I’m asking.)

Anyway, whether “help” means ordering a copy, or a supportive facebook post, or a blog entry with a link to http://uoflife.com/75-search-and-rescue-stories, or a call to your favorite uncle who runs an influential magazine who may want to run a story about SAR, I thank you in advance for your support. To those who have already done so, I owe you a big hug. You are true friends and I’m grateful.

It was rewarding to put the print out down after reading a story and see the rapt attention on everyone’s faces. I probably should have expected it since friends and neighbors often quiz me to find out the latest adventure, and since I’ve now written out the very best stories in far greater detail than I’ve ever told them verbally.

One challenge is remembering that all the details I take for granted (because I was there) are still fascinating to others (who weren’t). I tell my university students the same thing, and it just takes a bit more attention to make sure I fit them all in.

The really tough part, though, is that about 1/4 of the stories include some sort of tragedy, and it’s not very fun to relive and remember them in sufficient detail to write them down. But that’s the way it goes. The exciting rescues are the technically, physically, and emotionally challenging ones, and those are also the ones that make the most engaging stories.

I’m so near finishing, I can’t stop now. I just have a few stories to revise and a lot more photos to add and lay out. I’ve already begun setting up a bit of the marketing, including a Facebook page where I’ll share some stories and photos on a regular basis – check it out at Search and Rescue Stories and don’t forget to “like” it so you won’t miss a single exciting post! (Also, I greatly appreciate you liking it because it helps me get a short Facebook URL and helps spread the word which really, really helps!)

I still have to jump through an administrative hoop or two before this is official, but I’ll keep ya posted on when it’s ready to preorder!