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A New World of Hope - Prt. 1

Podcast – A New World of Hope . . .

"Books are filled with ideas, and it's ideas that shape our lives."

Sometimes, a book captures your imagination, motivates you to act, and fulfills a desire hidden deep within your soul.

Let me introduce you to an author and his most recent novel that I just finished reading. But before I do, allow me to set the stage for how unforeseen pivotal moments can unexpectedly touch your life for the better.

In hindsight, one of those moments was an invitation to join a local writer's group after my early retirement from GIA in 2014. It was during that experience I met and came to know Don Hanley, Ph.D.

A former Catholic Priest who left the ministry to marry. Don earned a doctorate in psychology and has worked as a psychotherapist, graduate school professor, and counseling supervisor. His writings include professional articles and booklets, three novels, and he is currently working on a fourth. Don lives in northern San Diego County.

During my more than three years attending this writer's group, Don Hanley shared chapters of books he was working on in our group. Our very informal group's job was to listen to each other's writings and provide honest, constructive feedback to help improve the prose.

I witnessed Don receive scrap pages with scribbled notes that our group submitted to him. In turn, this feedback helped him transform his drafts into printed books. At the time, I didn't think much of it. Then, my life got busy, and I could not attend these group meetings.

However, I only partially lost touch with Don Hanley. Every Christmas, he would rewrite the lyrics to a familiar tune he would sing; we would video record that song and publish it to YouTube for his out-of-state family and friends as his special holiday gift.

Well, COVID disrupted everyone's life. And during our COVID lockdown, I lost touch with Dr. Don, as I called him. Then, about two weeks ago, I received a call from Don wishing me a Happy Birthday and an invitation to lunch.

"Absolutely! Funny, I've been thinking about you. I tried calling a few times, left a message on your voicemail, and was wondering if you were okay?"

So, we met for lunch. To my surprise, Don had just finished another novel, A New World of Hope. He signed a copy as a gift, asked me to read it, and got back to him with a review.

Here's my review posted on Amazon:

Don Hanley unquestionably struck gold with his latest novel, A New World of Hope. I challenge you to get this book, read it, then share it with others. It's about what's possible in your future.

This "Back to the Future" story of a history professor from 2141 who goes back in time and captures the hearts and imagination of a (2018) world filled with nay-sayers, political knuckleheads, and misdirected folks. You will not be able to put this book down. I promise!

The characters are people you know, would love to know, or have known at one time. The story exposes situations that will surprise and delight you. And quite frankly, knowing Don as I do, a quiet, peaceful man at times, he will astonish you!

Please don't take my word for it; find out for yourself. Get the book A New World of Hope, and pass it on. You will find it on Amazon.com. Congratulations, Dr. Don Hanley.

My listening friends, I can't say enough about how this novel moved me. If you're a Kindle reader, you can download it right now for a great price.

Yes, books are filled with ideas that shape our lives and inspire our world to change. Be proactive in that change. Check out Don Hanley's book, A New World of Hope. 

If you haven't heard, this podcast is now available on Amazon Music! Just say, "Alexa play - On the Fly podcast by Patrick Ball. Also, if you would like to be a guest on my podcast or have a question, email patrickball2011@gmail.com.

I'm Patrick Ball; thanks for listening. See you in the next episode.

Podcast - Part 2

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