Marc Estes

Over the past few months, many of you have asked questions regarding the publisher of my new book. Relevant books out of Orlando, Florida is the publisher. Go check out their site, they have some cool stuff.  www.relevantmediagroup.com

For all those that are following the progress of my new book, here is the latest.

 

Relevant will be finalizing the layout and design of What Now as of this week. I have had the opportunity to get a sneak preview and it looks hot! They have done a great job in making the book look very ‘edgy’ and inviting at the same time. They have been quite creative in show casing the entry stories in a different font and design without breaking up the consistency of the content. In addition, the self-discsovery assessments are done quite tastefully and seem very easy to use. The desingn team at Relevant get an A+ from me! I look forward to getting your opinion on the book!

 

I will make sure to get a sample chapter posted soon for your reveiw, along with the table of contents.

Once again, I wanted to give you a cool cut from my new book coming out soon, “What Now.” There is a cool section of my new book where I am addressing the area of personal make up. I am wanting the reader to understand that every person is made differently on purpose, and that we should be excited about how we are made and not disappointed. The following section has been edited down greatly, but I thought you might want to read the ‘raw’ version, straight from the horses mouth. My editor’s Cara and Tia, are two of the greatest and coolest editors on the planet, and did a great job. I just thought you might enjoy Marc’s long-winded approach to the story. Enjoy:

 

Your personal makeup influences everything you do! The way you think is filtered through your personal makeup. The decisions you make, the type of friends you hang out with, the mate you are attracted to, the type of career and position you pursue, all pass through the filter of your personal makeup.

 

The fact is we are all very different and unique in our own way, but our uniqueness is always to be appreciated and honored. Some people tend to be more task-focused, while others lean toward being people-focused. But either way, people have the same capacity to achieve greatness. Many are extroverts, many others are introverts. Male or female, young or old, short or tall—the dynamics of our personal makeup is unique to each of us. And those dynamics directly affect your perspective in life and your modus operandi.

Read more…

I thought it would be cool to let you have some clips from my new book, “WHAT NOW” that will not make it to the final book. In the chapter entitled, “Miracle Grow,” there was a cool story regarding the phenomenon of monster pumpkins to hit America.  The story below was a lead in to a section in the chapter.  Have fun while you read.  It won’t be in the book:A quirky phenomenon is taking root in rural America (actually, rural-everywhere) and it’s so exciting to horticulturists it has them buzzing around the farm every summer and fall like bees. Farmers armed with genetically juiced-up pumpkin seeds (dare we read engineered?), a months-long deluge of filtered water and a little blue fertilizer called “Miracle Gro®” are growing pumpkins the size of Honda Civics, all in the name of gamesmanship.  They plan for years in advance to win pumpkin growing contests as if they were raising thoroughbreds.  Pumpkin pedigrees matter.  From the time the female plant is pollinated, the baby pumpkin has a name. “Mighty Max.” “Gourdzilla.” “Big Bertha.” “Fertile Myrtle.”  They’re born for greatness and their name has to show it.

During the pumpkin’s youth, the farmer will “bond” with the fruit (I’m not making this up) by gently talking or singing to it, all the while reinforcing the pumpkin with words of affirmation because (duh), as everyone knows, pumpkins clearly need positive reinforcement to grow.  “You’re a good pumpkin, Hugo. If anyone can tip the scales, you can…remember, you come from a long line of champion pumpkins.”  As one pumpkin-doting website gingerly admonishes, “Don’t ever threaten your pumpkin or mention your doubts and disappointments within hearing range of the plant.  The mere mention of your disappointment of its growth rate can cause the growth to completely stop for a period of time.”  I digress.Come October, one of these behemoth beauties will win the coveted International Weighoff blue ribbon, everyone will celebrate—is that a banjo I hear in the background?—and begin making plans for next year.

In the past, these colossal gourds were widely heralded for tipping the scales at 1,000 pounds, but that number continues to grow. To date, the world record pumpkin is recorded to have reached 1,469 pounds (in 2005), but like spirited Olympians, with time, future contenders will top that number as well.  Their secret? Miracle Gro®.  This potent plant food is rich in chemicals and nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium young pumpkins need to bulk up.  It’s like a pumpkin steroid (but without all the stigma, shame, or embarrassing side-effects).  Although it’s completely legal and sold everywhere, Miracle Gro® has done for pumpkinry what BALCO did for baseball.

Everything that God has ever created was destined for growth—physical, that is.  But you and me, we’re different than the rest of creation.  We are created to grow both physically and spiritually.  It’s a vibrant, full and abundant miracle growth. Jesus himself said, “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.”  Unlike champion pumpkins, we don’t need added earthly substances to grow; we only need a hunger for what God has for us.  In fact, the absence of such amendments doesn’t make our spiritual growth any less miraculous but rather more so.  Our blueprint for spiritual growth is as alive as our blueprint for physical growth in our DNA but we have to feed our spirit properly.  Yes, God wants us to have healthy, growing natural bodies, but more importantly, He’s passionate about us growing our spiritual man.  God wants each of us to make spiritual growth, health and maturity one of the highest priorities of our life.