Off to Arizona!

Peg and I will be at DUCK & DECANTER, at 1651 E. Camelback Road in Phoenix tomorrow night, (Thursday, May 1) beginning at 6 p.m., and at ANTIGONE BOOKS, at 411 N. 4th Avenue in Tucson on Friday, May 2, beginning at 7 p.m. Hope you can join us.

Meanwhile, we'll be racing between Phoenix TV stations tomorrow morning, as our fabulous publicist, Kim Corbin, has lined up interviews for us at both KAZT-TV (we'll be "live" on "The Pat McMahon Show" around 8:45 a.m.) and Channel 3 (we'll be taping a segment for "Your Life A to Z"). DOES ANYONE HAPPEN TO KNOW the call letters for Channel 3? Or, for that matter, the channel number for KAZT? I should be googling 'em both, I know, but I've gotta go pack a bag before today's flight, and in order to do that, I definitely need to decide what to wear!

Okay, so off I go. Then off WE go. And THEN (hopefully) off YOU'll go, to attend one event or another. And if not you, then hopefully, every last friend of yours in the greater Phoenix and Tucson areas! Did you email them about going? No? Well, as I SO like to say, "tick-tock, y'all!"

Love Love Love
Sheila

This just in: "50/40" getting some good placement

...from my sister Theresa in Denver, who had just received her copy of the book from amazon.com:

"P.S. ... PLUS, I saw your book on a table as I entered Barnes & Noble yesterday. Right there, right as you come in! : ) "

And a few days ago, from my brother Pat, in Minneapolis:

"I bought your book. Congrats. They had five copies in the self-help section at my local B&N. The book was on the end of the shelf with the cover facing out, so was easy to find. I'll send it down to get signed one of these days..."

Thanks, Sibs! Glad to hear "50/40" is getting some good placement. Here at our B&N, I found it (with help!) on the very bottom shelf, with only the spine facing outward. Ah, but my crafty coauthor has taken to rearranging bookshelves wherever she finds it, to make sure that ours is the cover facing outward. Let others show their (book's) spine!

Love Love Love
Sheila

Arizona Here We Come!

In less than a week, we will be heading out on our Arizona tour. We are excited!

My dear friends the Mettlers, founders and owners of the famous Duck and Decanter shop in Phoenix, have very generously offered to host a book event there for us on May 1. Here is their flyer:
Please, please, tell any and all Phoenix area friends about this event!

Note bene - they can just come for a signed book if they don't want to pony up the bucks for the wine and horsdoevres. Just come on down!

YOU are cordially invited to promote this baby!

MEGA-THANKS to All Commenters

Or shall I call you "commentators"?

"What commentators?" you may well ask, as this blog has received so few comments. Well, mostly I'm talking about the 13 good souls who allowed the "50/40" excerpt at BoomerCafe.com to climb so high on the site's Most Discussed list. These (lucky number) 13 include our publicist Kim Corbin; my dear friend Diane Arnold; my sister Kathleen Imes; an old (okay, middle-aged) classmate of mine, Angela Beauchman Palmer, with whom I went to school from first grade through senior year; Gina Pera, a former editor of mine (and, for a long time now, a very good friend) who happens to be closing in on the publication of her own book (Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.?); Lindy Gold, one of my dearest Albuquerque friends, who handles marketing for Classical KHFM; Reina Romero, a mom from my kids' school; and Stephanie Freeman, one of my friends from San Diego days (and today!). We also received comments from some of the BoomerCafe folks themselves, including Cindy La Ferle, David Henderson, and last but not least, "BoomerCafe Guys." Thanks, everybody!

Wait! You count only 11, you say? Yes, well, Peg and I make 13. I guess I can thank us, too! Why not?

Now.... WHO wants to leave a comment right here at the "50 Ways" blog? Come on... don't be shy!

Love, Love, Love,
Sheila

Look--- we made "me*"!

Check it out! From page 33 of the May/June issue of me* magazine, a publication of the National Association of Baby Boomer Women, it's a sweet little review pairing us with no less a bestselling author than Richard Carlson, Ph.D., he of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff fame. Yahoo! Thanks me*!

(*Oh yeah, about that asterisk... The mag's lower-case title, according to its cover, stands for both "My Entertainment" and "My Empowerment." And also, of course, "me" in the traditional, "gonna-take-some-time-for-me" sense.)

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

Check out what appeared in the March 24th issue of The Sun. Can you believe this? Please know that the headline was their idea, not ours. And no, that offer of "$2400.00 a month forever!" has nothing to do with our book.

But this is some mighty nice exposure, just the same. Our thanks to everyone involved -- especially our publicist, Kim Corbin.

What do these reviews say, you wonder? Yeah, they're pretty hard to read as little, tiny jpegs, aren't they? Well, let me fetch my spectacles and see if I can make the articles more readable, below.

Love, Love, Love!
Sheila


The me* article:
50 Ways to Leave Your 40s -- Living It Up in Life's Second Half
By Sheila Key and Peggy Spencer, M.D.

"50 Ways to Leave Your 40s" is one of those books you can pick up from time to time and sift through it like a treasure box, finding a different gem each time.

Divided into four sections---Body, Mind, Soul and Heart---the authors use inspiring and funny real life examples that encourage boomers to enjoy the ride and the wisdom that comes with age. Each chapter includes an essay, as well as activities to encourage living life to its fullest. The entertaining writing style and intriguing sidebars make this an irresistible tonic for midlife blues.

(Parenthetically, the review of the Richard Carlson effort reads...
Handbook for the Spirit
Edited by Richard Carlson, Ph.D., and Benjamin Shield, Ph.D.
Written with the premise that a spiritual foundation is the basis on which all the elements of our lives rest, "Handbook for the Spirit" is a collection of admired spiritual leaders of our time, writing about their relationship to the Divine. The book includes a wonderfully diverse collection of original writings from 25 visionaries, including Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, Rev. Michael Beckwith, Shakti Gawain and Wayne Dyer, Ph.D. Each shares what it is like to have a personal relationship with God, how this relationship developed and how it manifests in his or her life, relationships and career.")

The article in The Sun:
New book reveals how you can...
STAY YOUNG FOREVER!
By Gina Barlow

LIFE only gets better after 50 -- so why not celebrate it?

That's the inspiration behind 50 Ways to Leave Your 40s: Living It Up in Life's Second Half (New World Library), a new book full of ideas, inspiration and advice for staying fit, focused and full of fun into midlife and beyond.

Writer Sheila Key and University of New Mexico physician Peggy Spencer, M.D., aim at turning the senior years into a celebration.

Here are just a few of their tips:

JUST KEEP BREATHING -- Exhaling with a deep, audible sigh relaxes your whole body -- and the more you practice thinking about your breathing, the less stress you'll experience.

PLEASE MAKE A NOTE OF IT -- Boost your memory by carrying a pen and paper with you everywhere! The more you write down, the better your brain retains memories.

GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY -- Don't avoid mundane work, celebrate it. Whether it's planting a tree or building your own business, let your labor bring your dreams to life.

ACT AGELESS -- Stop thinking about how someone your age should act., and just get active. Think of sports-medicine professor Thomas P. Martin, who celebrated his 50th birthday with several 50-second stretches, followed by 50 jumping jacks, 50 push-ups and 50 sit-ups, then biked 50 miles from the shore of Hawaii to the summit of Mauna Kea -- the highest point in the 50th state!

MAKE THE CALL -- Time heal all wounds. If there's someone who was once close to you but who split away years ago, mend the rift. If you can't write a letter or make a call, then just concentrate on "beaming that sentiment out there," letting the universe know that you forgive and seek forgiveness.

(The photo and caption are meant to tie in with the article. The caption reads, "PLANTING a garden is a great way to use your hands and enjoy the results.)

Correspondence, correspondence, correspondence, ret-set-set!

Remember that old camp song? What was the "real" word? Sarasponda Sarasponda Sarasponda Ret Set Set --- something like that.

Anyway, I'm babbling. That would be because I spent this whole week printing and folding and stuffing and stamping and, on occasion, REprinting and REstuffing -- oh yes, and driving back over to the office supply store for yet more ink cartridges. If I knew how to spell that big, in-whooshing sound, I'd put that next, because my Canon PIXMA iP1600 SUCKS! And not just in terms of ink. I spent much of this week also getting error messages, pressing "cancel print job," and rebooting the computer. Long (and I do mean long) story short, I have just, minutes ago, "dropped" what must surely rank among history's most expensive 200-piece mailings. May it go forth in all directions and do some real good in this world!

Okay, so... watch your mailbox! Because you may just be among the two hundred! And if not, just wait. I'm now tweaking the thing for online-posting purposes---"the thing" being a fun little birth announcement about 50 Ways to Leave Your 40s---and will post it here just as soon as it's ready. Stay tuned.

TTFN (ta-tah for now),
Sheila

Climbing the Charts at BoomerCafe!

An excerpt from 50/40 ("Okay, Have a Crisis Already!") is still the Featured Post at BoomerCafe.com and, at last count, had climbed to #2 on the site's "Most Discussed" list, with 15 comments to its credit. What's more, in one of those comments, the BoomerCafe Guys themselves wrote:

We apologize that the Most Popular function of our site has not functioned until today. Had it been earlier, this story would rank among the most popular.

Golly! I know I speak for Peg as well as myself when I say, "Thanks to EVERYBODY who is helping to make 50 Ways to Leave Your 40s a success!"

Join us, won't you?
Go to BoomerCafe.com and leave a comment of your own! (Cool thing: no need to register as one of their members or whatever. Just fill out the comment form, click submit, and that's it!)

Famous Fifty's

Thought you might enjoy news of how some folks are "taking" this 40's to 50's transition. We'll add links to this post as we hear more stories.

Jamie Lee Curtis

Ellen Degeneres

Carolyn Kennedy

This Book-Launch Party was a "Gift from the Gods"

...Because I won it! Remember my new business card, with the book cover on it? I blogged about it back in late Feb... Well, the very first one of those cards that I "deployed" went into a fishbowl at ONE UP RESTAURANT & LOUNGE (301 Central SW, 2nd floor, in downtown Albuquerque), on 2/28 ---coincidentally the day amazon.com started shipping the book----and darn if someone from One Up didn't eventually pluck my card out again, thereby winning me a Happy Hour for 15 Fab Folks. Hooray!
Of course, my esteemed coauthor, Dr. Peggy Spencer, was there --- as were at least a couple o' margaritas!

"This one goes out to the one I love!" Looks like I'm pointing at the book, but in fact I'm pointing at Richard Towne, my mate of 28 years. (Notched that mark just last week, we did!) As manager of legendary Albuquerque public radio station KUNM, RT was plenty ready to celebrate, as on the very day of our anniversary, he completed a gruelling 3-year project to sign on FOUR brand-new stations, to carry KUNM's signal strongly into Secorro, Española, Las Vegas (NM), and Taos! Congrats to us both!
Mike & Kathy Lord, our dearest friends in town -- the ones we never hardly see, because they don't actually live in town -- had to shove off early, back toward their lovely A-frame in the Sandias, and a dear & diabetic dog. So great to see them! Kathy's in the book, by the way -- she kicks off "Way 36: (En)Lighten Up, Dude!"

The local TV news showed up, which was mighty impressive, I must admit -- at least until we realized they were only there to collect opinions from the party next to ours, about crime in the downtown area. Ho-hum!


Paul Ingles opened right up to the chapter he helped me with: "Way 23: Shake It Up Baby, Now!"

"Mmm, decisions, decisions!" Peggy and Mary B pore over the menu. Appetizers a'plenty were part of the prize.




And now I see that a whole middle section of photos went missing, while I futzed to get the text in there (almost) properly, up to this point. So let me call this Part One and ask you to scroll on!

"Come Lounge by the Pool (Tables)!"

That's ONE UP's tag line, though I'm terribly tempted to change it to
"Come (Book) LAUNCH by the Pool (Tables)!"
Hey! There was even a band. Didn't get their name, sorry to say. Tell you what: Let's just call them THE EXTREMELY LOUD BAND. Or, wait! How about "Middle-Aged Deaf"? By today's post-punk standards, that'd work as a band name.
(Say, what do you suppose Richard and the waitress are cooking up?)





Turned out two of my friends -- Maria and Kathi -- already knew each other from before.


"Your shoes are divine!"
(By the way, this is as close as I got to snapping a picture of Kathi's partner, Leann.)


SO COOL that the guests were READING!!! That's Kenna, along with Paul, and Mary B.

The final guests to arrive -- bringing us up to a perfect 15 -- were Molly and her daughters Ciera and Paloma. They enjoyed a game or two of Eight Ball...

HEY! I recognize that pool hall tush!

"The party's oooooh-ver
It's time to goooooo." Thanks, everyone, for helping to make my BIG WISH come true (and Peg's, too!) That's Mary B's friend Paul Suozzi holding the very artifact!!!

Didn't think to snap a picture of HEATH SHEPARD, the manager of One Up, but I'd like to ackn0wledge him, thank him for a swell time, and vouch for his combination restaurant/nightclub/pool hall ---- stop by, if you happen to be driving our little stretch of old Route 66!

Love, Love, Love (a.k.a. Way 47)
Sheila

TCM Review

"TCM Reviews for Book, Ebook, Audio Book, and Braille Reviews in Every Genre"

50 Ways to Leave Your 40s
Sheila Key and Peggy Spencer, M.D.
New World Library
ISBN: 978-1-57731-545-2
Non-Fiction, Personal Growth
Reviewed by Dr. Tami Brady

It wasn’t so very long ago, when 50 was deemed the beginning of the end. Soon you’d retire and then wait to die. Fortunately, times are changing. Better health care options mean that we are not only living longer but our so called golden years can now be spent doing what we want to do.

50 Ways to Leave Your 40s is essentially about celebrating a new phase of life and making the most of it. Perhaps, this is something we should do at every stage of life. Just take a moment to celebrate and look to the gifts that each age brings. Still, for many, 50 is the start of a whole new way of thinking and being. They’ve spent there entire lives focused on making money, getting ahead, succeeding in their careers, and taking care of family. Suddenly, all of those things seem to take on a different hue. It becomes more important to take care of oneself and have a little fun. Sometimes, it can be a very difficult transition. 50 Ways to Leave Your 40s provides the reader with 50 ways to celebrate, enjoy, and explore this new existence.

Radical Radio!

Sheila has done a TON of radio interviews all around the country. We'll post links to them here, in case you would like to listen in!

The Morning Drive - AM 800

Conversation with Vicki St. Clair - KKNW Seattle 1150 AM

The Maria Sanchez Show - KVTA

Kajama Website

Kajama website has three exerpts from the book. Click the links below to read them.

Okay, Have a Crisis Already!

Make the Call

Touch and Glow

Boomer Cafe

Boomer Cafe website has an exerpt from the book.

Living it Up in Life’s Second Half

Book Review

From Boomerful: Beauty and Being for the Best Years of Life:

50 Ways to Leave Your 40s

A book review by New Product Editor Mary Kellenberger

----------------

50 Ways to Leave Your 40s

by Sheila Key & Peggy Spencer, MD
Publisher, New World Library

My first thought when picking up this tidy little book was "what a great title!" Maybe this help-make-getting-older-not-quite-so-depressing collection of advice will be better than most of the articles I've read in those check-out counter magazines whose cover titles scream "Help! I'm old and I can't get up ... or get down ... or this is how we can help you get up and get down." I'm not saying they offer bad advice. Mostly, it's good advice, poorly packaged.

So, I was delighted from nearly the first page of "50 Ways to Leave Your 40s"! In fact, this book is just fun-filled great advice! In line with its delightful title that immediately tuned Paul Simon into my brain, Sheila Key and Dr. Peggy Spencer kept the beat going with music/memory-evoking chapter titles such as "Take a Load Off Fanny" and "Break on Through to the Other Side". Great music with the right advice to go along with these wonderful songs in my head. The Band and Jim Morrison probably never saw it coming!

I must admit, though, that I haven't finished the book yet. There are lots of wonderful sidebars in each chapter:

* "Cool Moves" - lots of simple exercise moves to tone, strengthen and even alleviate pain.

* "Things to Try at Least Once" - just what it says and I love what I've seen, so far.

* "Doc in the Box" - good advice on subjects from stinky feet to bad breath - head to toe coverage, so to speak.

* "Scribbles & Doodles" - to get us on the road to the healing and joyful habit of journaling.

This is truly a primer on how to feel good about living longer and better. But, it's also more than that. It's a great, laugh-out-loud (and at yourself) read. I may always keep it near as a refresher on living right and right now.

Chicago Tribune Mention

Published in last Sunday's Chicago Tribune Q section, under "5 Things We Learned From..."

50 Ways to Leave Your 40s:
Living It Up in Life’s Second Half

By Sheila Key and Peggy Spencer, MD (New
World Library, $14.95 paper)

Five million people turn 50 each year—
more than 12,500 every day—and must
come to grips with that milestone.
Whether it marks the start of the decline
or the beginning of a new life is up to the
birthday boy or girl, say the authors, who challenge readers
to consider aging in new ways.


1
Our metabolisms slow as we age. Use your 50th birthday to
prompt you to increase exercise, which, in addition to
myriad other benefits, boosts metabolism.


2
It is natural to acquire more stuff throughout our lives,
but crucial to know when to empty the closet. Purge! “How
gratifying to move into life’s second half without a ton of
dead weight from the first.”


3
Sometimes it’s better to act your shoe size, not your age.


4
“Musical memory is stored in the brain differently than
other types of data.” So sing. It strengthens the brain in
ways other forms of stimuli cannot.


5
While we can grow rigid with age, it is important to “be
open-minded, openhearted, physically unblocked, and
earnestly open to serving the common good.”

—Chris McNamara

Review on Longevity: About.Com

The Bottom Line

50 Ways to Leave Your 40s provides a seemingly endless list of ideas and things to do that can make 50 and beyond more exciting. If you are looking for a way to shake things up, this book will have it.

Pros

• Tons of ideas, tips and advice
• Fun style

Cons

• Some ideas are trite or impractical [author's comment: sometimes trite and impractical are FUN!]

Guide Review - Book Review: 50 Ways to Leave Your 40s, by Sheila Key and Peggy Spencer

From rethinking aging to offering advice about eating, 50 Ways to Leave Your 40s provides tons of ideas and tips for making the second 50 years of life better than the first. As you read through each section, you'll notice that some of the advice is familiar, though some of it does bridge new territory (often drawing on New Age approaches).

As each section ("Way") begins, there is often a story or cultural reference presented to ground the section. Examples of "Ways" include: "Just Keep Breathing," "Spurn Your Bra," "Go With the Flow," "Act Ageless," and "Touch and Glow." Each section seeks to inspire the reader to rethink aging and take action.

The book incorporates a good deal of New Age and alternative approaches -- which may be a turn off or a turn on, depending on the reader. The style of the book, too, may be a love-it-or-hate-it characteristic. It is quick and a bit choppy and at times, making it hard to follow, but it is also funny, fast-paced and surprising.

For the reader looking for a quick read and lots of ideas, this book is great. If only a couple of the ideas jump off the page and into the reader's life, this book would be worth it.

link to webpage with this review