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Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Virtual Book Tour: Distant Secrets by Richard L. Cole #blogtour #autobiography #excerpt #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours



Autobiography

Date Published: February 14, 2023

Publisher: MindStir Media

 

Do you ever wonder who you really are? Richard Cole was front page news a few weeks after his birth in 1944, but this was something he never knew. He did know he was adopted and he did wonder who he really was. But, as a young adult, he wondered much more about finding success, a simple goal that seemed so elusive.

He was 19 when he married his high school sweetheart and took off, full speed, into the adult world. Harsh reality and his failure to focus on long-term goals made his desire to succeed just an unlikely dream.

He finally took control of his life and made the climb up to a nice middle-class life. Along with his wife, two really cute kids, and a new suburban home, they were the picture of a perfect little family. Then the dream evaporated and Richard's life began a downward spiral that ended with him alone and subsisting on food stamps and unemployment checks. But Richard had met someone on his way down, someone who stuck with him during the bad times. She gave him a reason to keep trying, and hope that things would get better.

This lighthearted autobiography takes you along on Richard's quest to find success in life and shares his discovery of the distant secrets that surrounded who he really was.

 

"Find yourself getting stuck in a zigzag of life's twists and turns, unsure of where you'll land? Richard Cole certainly has and Distant Secrets maps out his journey through hardships and gains and everything in between. He opens up to share his intimate world of experiences and the "moments of stunning mental clarity" that have guided him along the way."

-J.J. Hebert, USA Today best-selling author




EXCERPT

PREFACE

 

“I’m not a well-known politician, an influential investment banker, or a sports legend. I’m not even a movie star who thinks he has all the answers to the world’s problems. I’m just a normal person. My family and friends would probably say “abnormal,” but I’m sticking with normal since I’m the one writing.

Being in my seventies, I find myself reflecting on my life much more than when I was younger. My memories play back like so many highlight scenes from old favorite movies. Each scene pops up accompanied by mental comments such as “Oh, I had forgotten about that” or “I can’t believe I was that stupid.” Sometimes I get a “Way to go, Richard, you were the man!” and there are always a few “I wonder what would have happened if…?” thoughts.

Those old memory highlights came in handy when my high school class of 1962 was preparing for one of our reunions. The organizers gave us a homework assignment to provide some information about our lives since high school that could be posted on the reunion website.

I started writing, but I just couldn’t get the ideas flowing, thankfully, it turned out to be easier than I first thought. All I had to do was relax and let the old memories play back in my head while I took notes.

As I wrote about myself, I made it a point to be very honest, although I’m not sure that’s expected when you’re trying to look good for your old school friends.

I included representative highlights of the good and the not-so-good, and it wasn’t long before it was finished. There it was, my entire life’s story reduced down to a page and a half.

 It was more than a little depressing. My entire life only filled a page and a half. That little punch to my ego felt better after I thought about all the interesting and unusual things that didn’t make the final cut for that short article. I realized there was more than a page and a half to my life.

That one act of writing down a summary of my life led me to an unexpected and pleasing realization. While I have not conquered the world like every high school kid thinks they will, and I don’t believe anyone will be making a movie about my “incredible” life, I have had a good, full life punctuated with many interesting and unusual experiences.

That realization, and having friends telling me I should write a book, got me thinking about it. I had never written a book, and since I had suffered a condition that made it difficult to read, I found the idea both challenging and appealing. Then it started; a little but highly annoying voice in my head joined in to pester me. “Write a book, write a book, write a book.”

That is why I wrote this book. The next question is, why should you read it? Well, I think you will find it interesting, entertaining and worth the price, but I can’t guarantee that. However, I can guarantee that every story and every event I describe in this book is presented just the way it happened. I promised myself I would keep it factual.

Oh, I should also let you know I have not used the real names of many people mentioned in this book. But, if they want to tell you it was them, that’s fine with me.


About the Author

Richard Cole held a wide variety of short-term jobs until his late thirties. He finally settling down with Motorola as a computer systems analyst and later a data center manager. During that period, he turned his wild bird feeding hobby into a little business and went on to opened his first Bird Watcher Supply Company store in 1988.

Richard’s wife, Nancy, operated the retail store and Richard continued his corporate job, helped at the store part-time and worked to perfect his special blends of wild bird feeds. He left the corporate world in 1990 to open their second retail store.

The Bird Watcher stores grew to five locations and Cole’s Wild Bird Products was formed to produce and distribute their bird feeds which now attracts a national following. Richard and Nancy sold their retail stores when Richard turned seventy. Cole’s Wild Bird Products is still owned and operated by the Cole family.

 

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