It’s Wednesday afternoon and I’ve already worked 45 hours this week. Why? Because I’ve got stuff to do.

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.

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Despite this post title, I only have good news. First that I don’t have any real bad news and second that I’m passing on a couple good jokes about bad news that I just came across:

Doctor: I have some bad news and some very bad news.
Patient: Well, might as well give me the bad news first.
Doctor: The lab called with your test results. They said you have 24 hours to live.
Patient: 24 HOURS! That’s terrible! WHAT could be WORSE? What’s the very bad news?
Doctor: I’ve been trying to reach you since yesterday.

Doctor: I have some bad news and some very bad news.
Patient: Well, I guess I’ll take the very bad news first.
Doctor: The very bad news is that you have cancer, and there’s nothing we can do to help you. The bad news is that you also have Alzheimer’s.
Patient: Well, at least I don’t have cancer.

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!

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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.”

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I’ve been thinking lately…and frankly, not a whole lot else other than sleeping as the Cold from Heck has knocked me out for a few more days.

Near the top of my thinking list has been what to do with my life. I’m leaving teaching (again – since politics won’t allow me to use my new textbook in my classes, I simply can’t afford to stay at that job) and have a few options before me. I have one programming job lined up immediately, and another I can probably pick up within a few months at most. The pay is good, the companies are good, and I may enjoy it, but…is programming what I’m meant for?

This morning I was noticing that deep urge to be great. To make life a meaningful adventure. To make a difference. I googled the topic, watched a short video, read an article, and followed a link to the book displayed above – Do Hard Things. The title alone inspires me. It makes me excited to do hard things. I ordered the book.

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After class today, I ran an errand on the motorcycle. Two little girls sitting outside Sonic smiled and waved to me. I picked up some groceries and another 2-year old kept her eyes glued to the bike as I rode away. Children inherently know, it seems, that motorcycles are exciting.

<– Here’s a recent photo of Stacey & I on the road to Squaw Peak. We agree with the children.

During a class discussion today, we briefly discussed the fact that critical thinkers view problems as “exciting challenges” rather than just hassles and headaches.

If only we inherently knew THAT.

Update: I took 7 year old Sarah for a motorcycle ride up the canyon for her birthday. “This is the BEST day of my life!” she gushed. She meant it, too.

Oh, look, nearly another month gone by without a blog post. Here’s a quick overview of what’s going on.

1. Teaching. I got another class 2 weeks ago when another instructor got a better job and quit mid-semester. Overall, the new students seem sharp and hard working. This is now the norm – UVU has come a long way!!! Adding all those 4 year degrees I think has had a very good impact on the school. Right now I have a 3″ pile of papers, of which I’ve graded just over 1″. As long as I chip away a little every day, it gets done. Good papers are EASY to grade! A pleasure, I can almost say (and sometimes say quite sincerely). Bad or rather undeveloped papers take 5-10 times longer since I have to pay much closer attention. That’s why I try to be as helpful and motivating as I can. Well, that’s one reason. I ran into a student from last semester this week who told me that not only is his opinion of English greatly improved due to my class, but he now enjoys *learning* from his education rather than just checking things (assignments, courses) off. Imagine that! It make me think I should maybe keep on teaching, but…

2. I may end up getting a job with Adobe this year. Omniture, actually, which Adobe bought. Advanced web analytics stuff. Designing systems companies to track how effective their web pages are. That would triple my income, which I desperately need.

3. My “final” revision of my textbook arrives this week, and I’ll see if I can get it approved for use. If so, I’ll get marketing it to other instructors, too. If that works, then I may be able to afford to teach after all. We’ll see how it goes.

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Dave M just forwarded me an article about publishing on Amazon Kindle which inspired me to drop all my book prices there.

I’ve been making more from ebooks than regular books for a few months now and it makes sense. After all, I don’t have to pay for the printing, I don’t have to deal with shipping, I get a higher % of the retail revenue, and people obviously like their Kindles. Another book “expert” talks a lot about charging the same amount for e or paper so as to not devalue your work, but that sounds like old-school thinking to me.

So I changed. My vampire book now goes for $2.99, and my Christmas books (which, in all honesty, are barely Christmasy enough to call them Christmas books) go for $4.11 for the first one and $6.45 for the sequel. Maybe I’ll drop those later. We’ll see how it goes.

If you don’t have a Kindle – click one of these – choose from the $139 wifi version for uploading books on your home network, or the $189 wifi + free 3G version which gives you free internet anywhere it gets service. Pretty cool!