December book sales doubled November’s record and I finally earned more as an author than as a university writing teacher (yay!). I expected sales to drop off after the Christmas season (14% of all 2010 book sales came in December, for example), but so far that’s not the case and January looks much better than last month so far. I’m hoping this trend continues! I would love to write full time and crank out three or four titles per year!

Last month I set up a system for readers of the Courage, Love and the Meaning of Christmas series to be notified as soon as book 3 (A Fall from Heaven) is ready – just send an email to heaven @ shaunroundy .com).

Ever since, as readers have signed up, they’ve also been sharing a lot of nice things about their experience with the series so far. Knowing how eagerly (and sometimes impatiently) they’re waiting for the rest of the story greatly increases the priority of getting that last book finished – though I’m still working out a few key revelations that will ensure that it’s the best of the three.

Since people rarely post to public places like Amazon reviews, I’ll share a few of the comments here (anonymously – I hope they won’t mind!).

This Christmas my favorite reads were by far your series with Spencer and Ski. I would definitely like to be notified when A Fall From Heaven is released in Kindle version. Please add me to list of people waiting patiently (or should I say impatiently) for the sequel!
“Fabulous writing…”

“PS I love your other books. You are an amazing writer!” Continue Reading »

I’m nearly finished grading for the semester. Only half a dozen or so late papers left. Yay! I have so much I can’t wait to get working on and finish up. Anyway, the class “final” was a two-ish page paper explaining what each student learned this semester. Research shows that such reflection cements their learning even better.

For several reasons, this has been my favorite paper to grade: they’re short, they’re well written, they’re enthusiastic and personal, they report significant learning and progress in writing abilities (which is evident in their final research papers), and for the most part, they’re highly complimentary of the course and the instructor.

Now comes the part that explains this blog post’s title. Convention dictates that you shouldn’t brag. It says you shouldn’t think too highly of yourself, and if you happen to think you’re a fairly quality person, then you’d better hide it so no one mistakes that for pride. Continue Reading »

Every day is a new beginning. Every morning, the sun rises over the eastern horizon and chases the day across the sky. As it goes, the current moment swallows the future, chews it quickly, and spits it out as the past. Every second is a new beginning and ending all wrapped up together in one narrow slice of forever. Every steady tick of the clock opens and closes doors and windows, taking the infinite “possible” and transforming it to immutable “history.”

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. Continue Reading »

More and more, I’m getting excited about the possibility of leaving the country indefinitely. As I’ve investigated various options, here’s my current ideal plan:

1. Cruise ship from Florida to Spain. The best rates go for about $700 right before and after spring semester finals. If my students really come along, we could spend part of the 7-9 days studying creative writing (which some want to learn) and we could write and publish a book about our trip so anyone can follow us later.

2. Once in Spain, we might as well take a $40 ferry to Morocco and spend a day or two, just to add another continent to the itinerary.

3. Maybe catch Barcelona for a couple days, just to check out Sagrada Familia cathedral and the bizarrely awesome Parque Guel. Plus hike up to a dilapidated Roman castle above any old town.

4. For sure stop in Paris for a while. And maybe Germany where I have three friends and relatives I could stay with…though probably not if we’re a large group. If students really come along and “hire” me as their tour guide, I’ll spend as long as they want anywhere they want to go!

5. Make our way to Moscow and catch the Transiberian railroad all the way over to Irkutsk. While living in Beijing way back when, Transiberian tickets went for $113 and I really, really wanted to go. But I was quickly running out of money saved up from working in Taiwan and had a return ticket home through Hong Kong. Now is my chance!

6. It’s also my chance to spend a few days riding horses in Mongolia and staying in yurts (gors), another activity I missed in Beijing and promised to return for someday. Continue Reading »

It has been a very slow year for technical rescues in Utah County. I think today’s was only the fourth! We usually have at least 3x that.

In this photo (click to zoom in), I’m the top left bright green dot. A girl fell 30′ and tumbled another 60′, and luckily stopped on a steep scree slope just down and right from me. You might call that a miracle.

She had serious injuries (but is expected to be okay) and no one knew exactly where she was. Her boyfriend, who had earlier hiked down the trail, got worried and borrowed a cell phone to call 911. The people who lent him the phone hiked up and, when the wind was blowing toward them, heard her screams. She had probably been there for an hour or two before they found her and tried to keep her warm while waiting for SAR and North Fork Fire to arrive. She was found high on the mountainside and far from any trails. Another miracle.

We set up 6 lowering stations to bring her down, including one I built with five pitons set in tiny cracks in the cliff just above her with water flowing over them. The operation went smoothly (of course), and a waiting Life Flight helicopter flew her away.

Maybe you’re thinking that none of these events are really miracles. It was just people doing small things. Like lending a cell phone. The bystanders who found the girl were hiking in the area anyway. SAR and NFF have rescued dozens of people along that stretch of mountain, and we consider it simple and easy. But that’s how most miracles come about, with just people, usually doing just small things.

If you were thinking these are no miracles, try looking at it from another angle, like the girl’s, who lay in pain for hours and who now recovers safely in a warm, soft hospital bed rather than dying on cold, hard rocks.

Now look around. Who do you see who needs a miracle? What small thing can you contribute? What are you waiting for?

This thinking about leaving the country indefinitely is having a good and unexpected effect on me – it’s teaching me to let go of everything and I’m finding it very liberating. If there’s something that’s just not working out the way I wanted, it’s okay. I may be gone by next summer anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Just let it go and move on. I like this. I should have done this years ago. Stop holding onto things that don’t cut it. Move on and find things that do.

The point is no longer to collect things that may be useful, the question is now how to get rid of everything so I don’t have to find a place to store it. I wonder if I could reduce everything I need to a single backpack. I’ll need a small computer and a camera, a few clothes that don’t take up much space, and that’s about it, right? That plus my favorite water bottle and a passport. A Kindle so I can study the languages I’ll need and read the classics I haven’t had time for for too long. Sunglasses and sunscreen, running shoes, credit card. Continue Reading »

All the feedback I’ve received so far from readers of 75 Search and Rescue Stories has been great. Here are a few excerpts from ones available online:

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

At long last, 75 Search and Rescue Stories is ready to order!

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! Continue Reading »

I’ve spent most of my free moments for the past 6 weeks (and there have been a lot of them!) writing my next book: 75 Search and Rescue Stories. I cranked the first draft out in a month of days and nights, and read a few chapters to new search and rescue members and others to get some feedback. The two common responses were: 1. give a few more details and 2. that’s AWESOME!!!

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!

Do Hard Things

If you ask me to list my all-time favorite call outs, the list will include two types of missions: fun and hard.

Fun calls include zipping across the lake on a PWC on a bluebird summer afternoon and pulling an attractive girl from the water moments before she sinks below the waves where her boat sank. She would catch her breath, discover a brand new perspective on life, and we would become fast friends on the ride back to the marina with her arms wrapped tightly around my waist. We would go on a picnic that weekend, fall madly in love, and live happily ever after.

Nothing remotely like this has ever happened, of course, but I won’t complain if it ever does.

Hard calls are not always fun. Their rewards come at the expense of fatigue, endurance, and technical challenges. They may include rushing up tall, steep mountains in dark, inclement weather, carrying a heavy pack filled with ropes, hardware, medical and survival gear on my back. They may include severely wounded victims who we must quickly transport through challenging terrain, knowing they will die if we don’t. They may include ————.

I didn’t always like hard things. I wanted everything easy and comfortable – who doesn’t? But then something happened. I did hard things because I could not avoid them, and I learned. I changed my mind. I discovered the deep, exciting, satisfying appeal of the word “challenge.” Continue Reading »