Mike O’Mary is author of “The Note,”(Available for free today) a book about the power of appreciation that was named Best Gift Book in the Living Now Book Awards, and “Wise Men and Other Stories,” a collection of holiday-related essays. Mike is also series editor of anthologies of creative nonfiction published by Dream of Things, including “Be There Now,” an anthology of travel stories from around the world, and “Saying Goodbye,” a collection of true stories about how we say goodbye to the people, places, and things in our lives. Enjoy!
Saying Goodbye
Mike O’Mary
Genre: Health, Fitness & Dieting | Parenting & Relationships
Saying Goodbye is a collection of true stories about saying goodbye to the people, places, and things in our lives. The stories are universal. They are incredibly powerful and moving. And they are surprisingly uplifting and cathartic.
These stories show that there is sadness in goodbyes, but there is also irony and humor. We cry about the sad stories, we laugh at the funny ones, and along the way, we learn valuable lessons about how we say goodbye — sometimes under the most difficult of circumstances. We learn because the contributors are unflinchingly open and honest when it comes to sharing very personal stories about how they and their loved ones say goodbye. Taken together, these stories serve as amazing examples of how to say goodbye with grace, dignity, and good humor.
Saying Goodbye is the first anthology in a new series from Dream of Things intended to fill the gap between popular anthologies of stories that are “short and sweet” and the Best American Essays series, which are longer form. Dream of Things anthologies are collections of quality stories between 500 and 2,500 words. Instead of short and sweet, these stories are short and deep.
Click here to get this book for $0.99
(also available from Amazon. CO.UK DE FR IT ES CA )
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Be There Now: travel stories from around the world
Mike O’Mary
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs | Travel
Be There Now is a collection of true travel stories featuring twenty-two contributors who share adventures and escapades from around the world.
The stories include the tale of an amateurish kidnapping in Nicaragua that could have been told by Woody Allen, and a David Sedaris-esque tale of two ships passing in a Paris art supply store. Existential stories from a man lost on the flooded Amazon River at night, and from a woman who encounters a grizzly–in the same area where her father and stepmother were killed by a bear. Insightful stories about a woman’s spiritual journey in Peru (complete with hallucinogens!), and about a female journalist’s friendship with an Iraqi translator in Syria. And stories about endangered species in exotic locales, including helping a sea turtle lay its eggs on a Costa Rican beach, and taking a blind man to visit the mountain gorillas in Rwanda.
Be There Now is travel writing at its most authentic–real people sharing real stories of awe and insight, fear and laughter, humility and humanity as they explore the world around us and seek footholds on their own inner journeys. In a world that often demands that we “be here now,” it is nice to take a break, daydream, and “be there now” with thoughtful people who take us with them on journeys that lead to inspiration, insight, humor, and deeper meaning.
Click here to get this book for $0.99
(also available from Amazon. CO.UK DE FR IT ES CA )
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Wise Men and Other Stories
Mike O’Mary
Genre: Humor & Entertainment | Religion & Spirituality
Wise Men and Other Stories is a collection of holiday-related essays that blends humor and poignancy in the tradition of Robert Fulghum, Dave Barry, Bill Bryson and other great American humorists.
This collection began with “Wise Men,” an essay about the author’s experience as a “wise man” in the St. Elizabeth Elementary Christmas play, and the lessons learned when he was asked to help another wise man who couldn’t remember his lines. That essay was published in newspapers across the nation and broadcast on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” program, and so began a tradition of holiday essays from Mike O’Mary.
Over the years, the essays in this collection were read as part of “Morning Edition” on Northern Illinois Public Radio, and published in the Sunday magazines of the Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, Baltimore Sun, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Detroit Free Press and elsewhere. Along the way, O’Mary developed a cult following for his holiday stories.
Click here to get this book for $0.99
(also available from Amazon. CO.UK DE FR IT ES CA )
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The Note
Mike O’Mary
Genre: Religion & Spirituality | Self-Help
FREE for a limited time
Best Gift Book of 2011 in the Living Now Book Awards
The Note was winner of a Gold Medal as the Best Gift Book in the 2011 Living Now Book Awards. The Living Now Book Awards celebrate the innovation and creativity of newly published books that help readers attain healthier, more fulfilling, and productive lives. The goal is to recognize books that help readers help themselves to learn about enriching their lives in wholesome, Earth-friendly ways. The Note was recognized as the best book in the Gift/Specialty/Keepsake category. “It’s a very special book,” said Jim Barnes, Managing Editor & Awards Director at Independent Publisher, which sponsors the awards.
A Book About the Power of Appreciation
The Note is a book about the power of appreciation and how a simple note of appreciation can change a person’s life. This is the book and the story that inspired the Note Project, a global movement to make the world a better place by encouraging people to write notes of appreciation, and by supporting literacy projects around the world.
The first half of the book focuses on the story behind a note of appreciation that the author received from his youngest sister. Separated from his siblings due to their parents’ divorce, the author never knew what his brothers and sisters thought of his annual visits and of his attempts to do something special on those visits — until one day many years later when he received a note from his youngest sister thanking him for one of those visits and the special memories they gave her. The story behind the note will break your heart, but by the time you finish reading, your heart will be mended and filled with warmth.
The second half of the book explores the importance of appreciation, why people don’t do it (and why they should!), and provides very practical step-by-step advice on how to write a heartfelt note of appreciation — all based on the author’s experience from teaching workshops on writing notes of appreciation. The book also includes helpful examples of short but meaningful notes of appreciation to help readers with their own notes, and to inspire people to make appreciation a part of their lives.
The powerful and ultimately uplifting message of The Note is that a simple note of appreciation can change a person’s life. Equally important, writing a note of appreciation can change your life. The positive feelings you create by sharing appreciation will ripple outwards to your family and friends, and to their family and friends, and so on, like ever-expanding ripples across the global pond.
Click here to get this book for FREE
(also available from Amazon. DE FR IT ES )
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