Monday, September 6, 2010

Be Yourself

The older I get, the more set in my ways I become, but I know there is always room for improvement and I continue to try to better myself. But bettering ones self doesn't mean changing who you are. I love me. I will never stop trying to increase the good things about myself, and you shouldn't either.
I found some neat little quotes on being yourself.

"If I am not for myself, who will be?"

Pirke Avoth

"The tragedy is that so many people look for self-confidence and self-respect everywhere except within themselves, and so they fail in their search."

Dr Nathaniel Branden

"Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you?"

Fanny Brice

"It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else's eyes."

Sally Field

"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself."

Harvey Fienstein

"The way you treat yourself sets the standard for others."

Dr Sonya Friedman

Suggested Reading

This week I had the privilege of reading The Thorn Book One: The Chronicles of Gan by Daron D. Fraley. It was a joy to read. I love reading stories set around the birth of Christ and Daron has done this beautifully by setting the anticipation of his birth on another world, which is very cool!

The Book

Three tribes are at war on the planet Gan, unaware that the sign of Christ's birth on an unknown world - Earth - is about to appear in the heavens.
During a bloody skirmish with Gideonite troops, Jonathan of Daniel spares Pekah, a young enemy soldier, gaining his trust forever. These two distant brothers from estranged tribes covenant with each other to end the war being waged by a self-proclaimed emperor, and soon discover the intentions of a far more dangerous foe named Rezon - a sinister general bent on ruling those he can bring into subjection and destroying all others.
In the end, Pekah's selfless bravery is the means by which all the tribes are united. But there are dissenters, and Rezon escapes a well-deserved fate. When the promised heavenly signs appear, will there be peace at last, or will the malefactors once again threaten the safety of them all?

Daron was kind enough to answer a few questions for me about his book.

Me: How did you come up with the story?

Daron: I have always had a love for science, and love to see the incredible pictures on the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day website ( http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html ). That has been a favorite of mine for years, and I have enjoyed being able to stare out into space through the medium of those pictures, and wonder about the awesome expanse of God's creations. In addition to this wonderful website, the idea to do a story about another world came from three things . . . first, the Parable of the Kingdoms in the 88th section of the Doctrine and Covenants verses 51-61, second, the 33rd verse of Moses chapter one where the Lord says, "And worlds without number have I created . . . and by the Son I created them . . .", third, the testimony of Elder Neal A. Maxwell in the movie Special Witnesses of Christ where he says: "How many planets are there in the universe with people on them? We don’t know, but we are not alone in the universe! God is not the God of only one planet! I testify that Jesus is truly the Lord of the universe, “that by [Christ], and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God" D&C 76:24"
— Neal A. Maxwell

Me: Elder Maxwell was one of my favorite apostles because of his knowledge of astronomy and the universe. How many books will be in the series?

Daron: There will be three books in the series, the next one titled "Heaven's Garden."

Me: Can you tell us a little about the next book?
Daron: The next book will continue with the stories of Pekah and Abigail, Jonathan and Rachel, Eli, Rezon, and a few new characters. I hate to tell much more than that, otherwise I may give some things away about the first book which I don't want to do for those who have not read it yet. :) But rest assured, the quest to put down the traitors who want to destroy the government is not yet over.

You can purchase The Thorn at Deseret Book, Amazon.com, and other book stores. The Thron is also available in ebook format on Smaswords.com. Daron also has a giveaway going on Goodreads for the month of September.
http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/5462-the-thorn

Here is are links to the entries on Smashwords, the second of which is a free ebook that contains "Angel's Song", a companion short story to The Thorn:




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