Paul Aertker's Blog, page 4

Gearing up for a book launch, a huge launch in fact

Children's author Paul Aertker speaks to students at Peabody Montessori Elementary School before reading a portion from his new book, “Brainwashed,” on Thursday.  (Photo: Tia Owens-Powers/towens@thetowntalk.com ) 

This is the screenshot of my newly new website. We're gearing up for a book launch, a huge launch in fact, for book 2 in the Crime Travelers series. 
While still promoting the book, I am trying to emphasis my mission of teaching kids about the rest of the world. Please let me know what you think. Thanks. Paul 
Website here.

OLD WORDS AND PHRASES REMIND US OF THE WAY WE WORD

OLD WORDS AND PHRASES REMIND US OF THE WAY WE WORD
By:  Richard Lederer 

this is a re-posting of an email I received. 

About a month ago in this space, I illuminated old expressions that have become obsolete because of the inexorable march of technology. These phrases included don’t touch that dial, carbon copy, you sound like a broken record and hung out to dry. A bevy of readers have asked me to shine light on more faded words and expressions, and I am happy to oblige:


Back in the olden days we had a lot of moxie. We’d put on our best bib and tucker and straighten up and fly right. Hubba-hubba! We’d cut a rug in some juke joint and then go necking and petting and smooching and spooning and billing and cooing and pitching woo in hot rods and jalopies in some passion pit or lovers’ lane. Heavens to Betsy! Gee whillikers! Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat! Holy moley! We were in like Flynn and living the life of Riley, and even a regular guy couldn’t accuse us of being a knucklehead, a nincompoop or a pill. Not for all the tea in China!


Back in the olden days, life used to be swell, but when’s the last time anything was swell? Swell has gone the way of beehives, pageboys and the D.A.; of spats, knickers, fedoras, poodle skirts, saddle shoes and pedal pushers. Oh, my aching back. Kilroy was here, but he isn’t anymore.


Like Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle and Kurt Vonnegut’s Billy Pilgrim, we have become unstuck in time. We wake up from what surely has been just a short nap, and before we can say, “I’ll be a monkey’s uncle!” or “This is a fine kettle of fish!” we discover that the words we grew up with, the words that seemed omnipresent as oxygen, have vanished with scarcely a notice from our tongues and our pens and our keyboards.


Poof, poof, poof go the words of our youth, the words we’ve left behind. We blink, and they’re gone, evanesced from the landscape and wordscape of our perception, like Mickey Mouse wristwatches, hula hoops, skate keys, candy cigarettes, little wax bottles of colored sugar water and an organ grinder’s monkey.


Where have all those phrases gone? Long time passing. Where have all those phrases gone? Long time ago: Pshaw. The milkman did it. Think about the starving kids in China. Bigger than a bread box. Banned in Boston. The very idea! It’s your nickel. Don’t forget to pull the chain. Knee high to a grasshopper. Turn-of-the-century. Iron curtain. Domino theory. Fail safe. Civil defense. Fiddlesticks! You look like the wreck of the Hesperus. Cooties. Going like sixty. I’ll see you in the funny papers. Don’t take any wooden nickels. Heavens to Murgatroyd! And awa-a-ay we go!


Oh, my stars and garters! It turns out there are more of these lost words and expressions than Carter had liver pills.


This can be disturbing stuff, this winking out of the words of our youth, these words that lodge in our heart’s deep core. But just as one never steps into the same river twice, one cannot step into the same language twice. Even as one enters, words are swept downstream into the past, forevermaking a different river.


We of a certain age have been blessed to live in changeful times. For a child each new word is like a shiny toy, a toy that has no age. We at the other end of the chronological arc have the advantage of remembering there are words that once did not exist and there were words that once strutted their hour upon the earthly stage and now are heard no more, except in our collective memory. It’s one of the greatest advantages of aging. We can have archaic and eat it, too.

Daylight Saving Time is a Waste of Time

Benjamin Franklin came up with the concept for daylight saving time. In the 18th century.

The idea was that a later sunset would cause us to use less fuel in oil lamps. It was a great initiative then, but methinks we are using an outdated idea. Like oil lamps.

More than two centuries later, this biannual perfunctory act still makes us feel groggy for a week, disrupts already tenuous sleep patterns and in some cases, increases traffic accidents.

"Spring forward" is meant to give us an extra hour at the end of the day. Daylight saving changes the clock and not the sun.

The time change does not "add" an extra hour of daylight or sunlight to the day. See below what the American Indians have to say the extra hour.

The "fall back" clock movement is equally unrewarding. People are not gaining an extra hour. In fact, Americans spend an inordinate amount of time changing their clocks.


Daylight Wasting Time

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 311 million Americans. The average household has a minimum of four timepieces that require manual resetting.

The Census Bureau shows 111 million households, meaning there are approximately 445 million clocks that have to be manually changed. If it takes 10 seconds to change the time on each clock, then Americans spend, collectively, each spring and fall 1.2 million hours changing clocks.

At a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, that's $18 million.

Russians ahead of Americans?

Recently, Russia canceled daylight saving time for all nine of its time zones because the President decided the potential "stress and illnesses" on biological clocks was too great. Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Saskatchewan and the U.S. Virgin Islands do not waste time changing clocks either.

A bill to keep Colorado on permanent daylight saving unanimously passed the agriculture committee last year, but according to the ski industry, which "mounted a full-court press to kill the measure, saying it would affect them in the mornings during their peak winter season."

Equally, it would have affected the afternoons during the peak winter season by "adding" an hour of skiing.

The Navaho adage sums it up best, "Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket."

8 Writing Tips from Kurt Vonnegut

8 Writing Tips from Kurt Vonnegut



Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.Start as close to the end as possible.Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them-in order that the reader may see what they are made of.Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

Cracking The Secret Code to Mountain Biking In Arizona

American Indians consider the Red Rock Country of Northern Arizona sacred. For others, it's a meditation Mecca. To mountain bikers, it's a hypnotic and dangerous Wonderland full of killer trails, otherworldly plants, and strange animals."If it doesn't prick, stick, or sting you, then you're not in the desert," a local mountain biker told me.Northern Arizona is a Mars-like landscape scored with ancient canyons, arches, hoodoos, and enormous slide rocks. Like the Sinagua (without water) Indians, the animals in this high desert are designed to live on little liquid while the plants seem to sprout out of a Dr. Seuss book. This is traveling by bike in Arizona. But don't be deceived by the strangeness of everything, lest it distract you.
Darwin would have loved this placeThe undeniable law here is Darwinian. Flora and fauna struggle to survive and the unfit are eliminated, especially the mountain bikers.Most mountain bike trails in Northern Arizona are single track, which makes for fast free riding. However, a fine red dust powders the desert floor, adding an element of scary to the trail. When you include the fact that cacti of all kinds border most trails, your single-track mountain bike ride quickly moves into the dangerous category.At the base of the Mogollon Rim, in the heart of Red Rock Country lies the Secret Mountain Wilderness. The mountain bike trails here follow multi-colored strata deep into box canyons. The rock formations and weird plants have a strange way of luring you further than you should ever go.On the way to Devil's Oven, the Spanish dagger agave plants guard the trail like conquistadors, as if they were protecting a secret. Fall into a cluster of agave and it's certain death, not from poison, but blood loss.This metaphysical playground draws nearly 4 million people each year and several hundred thousand mountain bikers. It's also home to some sinister varmints: scorpion, black widow, tarantula, and, of course, the rattlesnake.The main outpost for mountain bike riding in Northern Arizona is Sedona, a tourist town sitting halfway between Phoenix and the Grand Canyon. The village is better known for its new-age vortexes and high-priced real estate than its biking trails.
Arizona's Mountain Biking HeavenYet the Red Rock Country around Sedona has 48 mountain biking trails, covering over 400 miles. Utility easements and jeep trails offer a wide swath of unlimited riding. (FYI, cars parked on Forest Service land must display a pass). There are toilets at some trailheads and gas, food, and lodging in Sedona.

On the trails, just remember that if it doesn't prick, stick, or sting you...
Thanks to Will Geurts at Sedona Destination Adventures for the picture and for keeping us alive on those trails! Visit him here at Sedona Destination Adventures  and check out their beautiful gallery of unbelievable pictures.

Are you making this mistake with your money?

This is another money topic that I wanted to share with all of you. Take it for what it's worth. Hope it helps.
I've been reading (and listening to) Tony Robbins's new book, Money: Master the Game. I am a huge fan of Tony Robbins and I strongly recommend this new book simply because he boils down what you need to do NOW with your money so that you have some LATER in life. 
And so we can all have some fun, too. :)
Three of the biggest take-aways from the book:
1. Save money. You'll need it later. Not saving any money? Start now.

2. The most important money decision is asset allocation. 
What does this mean? Where are you putting your money? Is it safe? Diversified? Risk averse? Maybe like some you're out of whack.
In Tony speak: "DIversify or Die." :) 
There are several very good chapters on this topic and even actual examples from some of the biggest money managers in the world whose allocations you can copy for free. FOR FREE. There is also a link to Stronghold Financial where you can have any savings/investments/retirement account analyzed, again for free.
3. You are probably paying WAY TOO much in fees. 
Say that again: WAYTOOMUCHINFEES
Mostly from hidden mutual fund fees. In your 401K, IRA, 529s, Etc

Tony will scare you into action as he tells several stories to illustrate his point. One from John Bogle (founder of Vanguard) spells it out perfectly. 
It goes like this:

With a $10K investment at age 20 with annual growth of 7% you would have $574K at age 80. But, if you paid 2.5% in fees you'd end up with $140K.

There are tons of examples like this. The basic solution: asset allocation using index funds from Vanguard. (I'm a huge fan of these).

Enough from me.Here's a Market Watch article on Tony and the book.
I welcome your comments below or feel free to contact me at paul@crimetravelers.com 
I study money math a lot. The antagonist in my kid book series, Crime Travelers, is the CEO of the Good Company (Yes, they're not good! :)

PLUG YOUR KIDS INTO A STORY

We're all wired for story—especially kids.From my own classroom experience, I know that if children are allowed to choose their own books or are offered books that appeal to them, then they'll read more. If they read more, then they’ll be better students. Period.The impact of reading is huge—it’s the foundation of all other subjects. History, science, coding. Students who read 20 minutes a day during their school careers score in the 90th percentile on standardized tests.At school, however, it seems that we focus too much on reading "great" books or choosing from a list that purportedly gets students into college. In doing so, we’re turning some kids off to reading altogether. It’s become a job for them, a chore—something they have to do.Reading is supposed to be a pleasure. To keep kids engaged during this critical time, we need to light up their imaginations and send them on virtual adventures. As soon as children open page one, the right book should be taking them on vacation.Kids will never read Shakespeare or be drawn to nonfiction books later in life unless they learn to love reading first. Children (like all of us) are wired for story. This holiday season, plug your kids into a book they'll love.Paul Aertker is the author of Crime Travelers, a middle school series that reads “like the Bourne Identity, but for kids.” Available at Amazon and independent bookstores worldwide.

Let's inspire more kids to read more!

This is my first Facebook ad.

It was crazy easy to set up and not really very expensive. If you're in the business of selling books (that includes writers who have a "marketing team"), then I'm thinking this might be great opportunity.

But not just for selling books.

For me, my books--the Crime Travelers series--are geared toward 4th - 8th grades. "Like the Bourne Identity but for kids."

If I target my ads to moms and dads who are looking to keep their middle school child reading, then I'm doing more than just selling books. I'm actually helping people find things (books in this case) for their kids.

This is all part of my new "Brainwashed author inspires kids to read" campaign, where I focus more on kids reading in general as opposed to just selling books.

How about you? Have you run any ads on Facebook? On Twitter?

'Brainwashed' author inspires kids to read

Leigh Guidry lguidry@thetowntalk.com (318) 487-64458:16 p.m. CDT October 23, 2014

(Photo: Tia Owens-Powers/towens@thetowntalk.com ) Students at Peabody Montessori Elementary School traveled with children's author Paul Aertker to London and France without leaving the school auditorium thanks to his way with words."Reading to me is being able to travel without going anywhere," said Aertker, an Alexandria native. "So we can all go on vacation together as soon as we open page one."He shared passages of his book "Brainwashed" to students in fourth through sixth grades on Thursday. It is the first in a series called Crime Travelers by Aertker, who now lives in Denver, Colo.The mystery novel is about a boy who leads a group of international teenagers to Paris on a secret mission to stop a company from brainwashing children.Aertker, a 1983 graduate of Holy Savior Menard Central High School, also is a former teacher and avid traveler. He used those experiences to emphasize the importance of reading.
Children's author Paul Aertker speaks to students at Peabody Montessori Elementary School before reading a portion from his new book, “Brainwashed,” on Thursday. (Photo: Tia Owens-Powers/towens@thetowntalk.com )
He gave the students an example of the power of words by describing his experience as a teenager camping out in London to see the royal wedding between Prince Charles and Princess Diana.He included details from street decorations to guards to Diana's wave from her window as she passed, and every student was silent with eyes locked on Aertker. He asked if they could see what he saw, and they said yes."You can take a couple of nouns and a couple of verbs and make pictures," he said.Fellow Menard grad and Peabody Montessori Assistant Principal Kelly Fields invited Aertker to talk with students. She hopes books like his keep kids interested in reading."The way he has written it to appeal to this age group is extremely important," Fields said. "With boys this age myself, I know this is the age they usually drop off (from reading). This is the perfect opportunity for kids to be inspired."Aertker said he writes for this age group because he relates to it."I act like a child," he said with a laugh. "My emotional level doesn't really go past age 11. For me to write for this age group is easy because I can get there pretty quick."The students had read a few chapters of the book before the author's visit. They will finish reading "Brainwashed" and complete writing assignments about it."We want them not only to read and analyze the genre but also connect the literature with reading," Fields said. "It's so important to get them to love reading."Aertker's book is available on Amazon.
Crime Travelers website here.

Full article here:
http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news...[image error]

'Brainwashed' author inspires kids to read

Leigh Guidry lguidry@thetowntalk.com (318) 487-64458:16 p.m. CDT October 23, 2014

(Photo: Tia Owens-Powers/towens@thetowntalk.com ) Students at Peabody Montessori Elementary School traveled with children's author Paul Aertker to London and France without leaving the school auditorium thanks to his way with words."Reading to me is being able to travel without going anywhere," said Aertker, an Alexandria native. "So we can all go on vacation together as soon as we open page one."He shared passages of his book "Brainwashed" to students in fourth through sixth grades on Thursday. It is the first in a series called Crime Travelers by Aertker, who now lives in Denver, Colo.The mystery novel is about a boy who leads a group of international teenagers to Paris on a secret mission to stop a company from brainwashing children.Aertker, a 1983 graduate of Holy Savior Menard Central High School, also is a former teacher and avid traveler. He used those experiences to emphasize the importance of reading.
Children's author Paul Aertker speaks to students at Peabody Montessori Elementary School before reading a portion from his new book, “Brainwashed,” on Thursday. (Photo: Tia Owens-Powers/towens@thetowntalk.com )
He gave the students an example of the power of words by describing his experience as a teenager camping out in London to see the royal wedding between Prince Charles and Princess Diana.He included details from street decorations to guards to Diana's wave from her window as she passed, and every student was silent with eyes locked on Aertker. He asked if they could see what he saw, and they said yes."You can take a couple of nouns and a couple of verbs and make pictures," he said.Fellow Menard grad and Peabody Montessori Assistant Principal Kelly Fields invited Aertker to talk with students. She hopes books like his keep kids interested in reading."The way he has written it to appeal to this age group is extremely important," Fields said. "With boys this age myself, I know this is the age they usually drop off (from reading). This is the perfect opportunity for kids to be inspired."Aertker said he writes for this age group because he relates to it."I act like a child," he said with a laugh. "My emotional level doesn't really go past age 11. For me to write for this age group is easy because I can get there pretty quick."The students had read a few chapters of the book before the author's visit. They will finish reading "Brainwashed" and complete writing assignments about it."We want them not only to read and analyze the genre but also connect the literature with reading," Fields said. "It's so important to get them to love reading."Aertker's book is available on Amazon.
Crime Travelers website here.

Full article here:
http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news...