Books & Writing

A Colorful Announcement!
The Niki Owl Coloring Book

Did you know that many adults are diving back into coloring books these days? It’s a great way to build the IMAGINATION, which is a key component of any successful business.

Even one of my SEO clients, skin care expert Marion Simms, wrote about this in one of her recent posts, “Adult coloring books are all the craze right now. They can relieve stress and anxiety as well as reconnect you with your inner child.”

So as a build-up to my next book Genesis, which celebrates 20 years of Niki Owl, and because people have been asking me for this for some time, I created a coloring book for you.

Presenting the “Niki Owl Leap of Faith Coloring Book”
for the kid in YOU…

Embark on an inspirational coloring adventure with Niki Owl. Featuring quotes and illustration prompts, you’ll soon re-discover the magic and joy of unbridled imagination.

The illustrations in this book originally appeared in my first book, “Niki Owl, Leap of Faith” and showcase some of the lovely sights you’ll encounter in the beautiful city of Vancouver, Canada, so if you’ve been there you’ll know what they are! And if you haven’t been yet, perhaps this will inspire you to visit. You’ll also find some exclusive illustrations that didn’t go into the final version of “Niki Owl, Leap of Faith”.

The Niki Owl coloring book officially comes out on September 14, but YOU CAN PRE-ORDER YOURS TODAY, and it will ship via Amazon as soon as it becomes available!

You also have the option to place bulk orders (great for schools, organizations, and large families!). Please email me directly if you’d like to place a large order directly through yours truly.

Here’s a preview of what’s inside…

And another one…

Will you help me color this world with more joy and inspiration? 

This is my greatest passion and why I do what I do for you and in turn what you do for the world.

I really appreciate your support, and it would mean the world to me if you also share this with anyone you feel could use some more inspiration in their life.

Also, a percentage of sales proceeds will go to help families on the Caribbean island of Dominica, recently affected by tropical storm Erika. (TWEET THIS)

As a special thank you, if you purchase two or more copies of this coloring book, I will send you a signed copy on the house. Just email me a copy of your receipt as proof of purchase and I’ll get our publishing owls to magic up your personal copy!

Pre-order your Niki Owl coloring book here…

And let’s put some more color into our world together!

Thank you SO much,
Karin

How to Write a Book in 3 Days

I’m excited to tell you about my next book.

In a recent session with my coach, she asked how I was getting on with the Genius book I’m writing, which is an exploration of what Genius really is and how we apply our personal blend of Genius to improve the world we live in.

The more I write and interview people about Genius, the more I explore the evolution of my Genius and how I share this with the world.

A constant for me is Niki Owl, who “came to life” in 1995, which means this year is a VERY SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY for us.

What better way to celebrate than to write a book about it?! 

I told my coach I was feeling inspired to write about the birth and real story of Niki Owl, as a celebration of how his presence impacts me and the world. The fact that my coach is called Nicky is no surprise, and this is in the book too.

Nicky asked how long it would take me to write the book. This was on a Friday morning.

“I think I can do it in three days,” I replied intuitively.

“Okay, then we’ll have our next session on Tuesday morning, and you’ll have finished the book by then, right?”

“Yep.”

And I did.

Here is the manuscript for Genesis:

Niki Owl Genesis © 2015 Karin Pinter
I’m excited to share the published version with you soon!

The best part? It flowed so EASILY. Even with a 3 hour visit to the Audi dealership that Saturday morning, and watching Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday. I diligently wrote, typed, remembered, looked through my archives of illustrations and creations, and shared my page-by-page progress with the awesome team at my favourite coffee shop… I’d say it took 20 hours in total to write. Committed, focused, inspired.

Most people are in autopilot telling themselves adopted stories that writing a book is hard (seriously, who told you that?). When you really think about it, nothing is hard when you’re fully inspired, focused and committed. Writing Genesis is a powerful reminder of this.

The Transformative Power of a Good Story

A client recently came to me with his concerns about letting go of stress in negative situations. For the sake of privacy, we’ll call him Arthur.

Arthur’s default was to go into anger and flip out when things aren’t going his way, which of course never really helped resolve anything in the moment. He was looking to feel more at ease even when things are going ape shape around him.

Can you relate to Arthur?

Here’s the situation he came to me with:
Arthur had taken his car to the mechanic with some problems, but he also wanted to fix miscellaneous things as well. The mechanic fixed those bits but did nothing about the main problem. This caused setbacks for Arthur at work (he’s in the tech industry and he was working on time sensitive projects). The mechanic ended up charging him for the small things and still needed to address the big problem.

Arthur felt angry. Frustrated. Out of control. Upset. He reprimanded the mechanic. Arthur just wanted to get his car and leave at whatever cost, and didn’t know how to deal with it.

How would you prefer to feel instead?

Arthur’s desired outcome was to be more professional, and step away without stressing after the fact. He wanted to let it go. Feel more calm, fulfilled, and as though it was not a big deal.

We ran a simple exercise to help him shift from a state of anger into his desired state of being. I wrote this into a short story, which further deepened the long-term impact of this change for Arthur to strengthen his new way of being in such situations.

You can read it here.

How differently you would like to feel about something? Tell me in your comments below or via email and we can write a new story for you together.

There’s real power behind a good story,

Karin

 

Owl’s Well That Ends With a Hoot

So Niki Owl and I went to school… more specifically, to Lockwood Elementary School in LA to read excerpts from “Leap of Faith” to the kids in honour of Dr Seuss Day.

It was a hoot.

Considering this was my first official reading of my book to kids (for whom I had originally written the book), I have to admit I was a little unsure of what would happen, but I swooped right in and suffice to say, owl’s well that ends with a hoot!

The kids were so focused during the book reading, and so quick to ask intelligent questions between chapters. Clean, unfiltered minds, which is what the messages in the book intend to support them with as they grow into healthy adults.

They loved hearing about how Niki teaches a scared little owl how to overcome his fear of flying, especially those who were afraid of flying themselves… and they enjoyed hearing about the nature in Vancouver. They even had an owl of their own, who was happy to meet his new friend Niki…

Niki Owl Lockwood Elementary School

I love how curious kids can be – you just never know what they’re going to ask!

One of my favourite questions during the improvised Q&A was this one from their teacher, Mr Castillo, “We talk about how we all like to draw and be creative, but maybe we’re not very good at it. What would you say to someone who thinks they’re not good at doing something?”

Well, I had two swift answers;

One is a quote from Art Williams’ speech, “Just do it” (and you keep doing it till you get good at it…).

And the other was, “Stop thinking that you can’t do something, and start telling yourself that you can.”

In the book, Niki Owl remembers his dad telling him these words, “I can, I want to, and I will.” So I encourage you to do the same, and use this to inspire action in whatever you may be looking to get better at.

After some other great questions, the kids jumped up for their autographs and I probably drew about 50 owls, both large and small and even on some kids’ hands as fake tattoos {note to self, add to merchandising…}.

Since Niki Owl is my ‘baby,’ I’m happy to see him take flight in such a refreshing way, and be received with open arms and wide-eyed gazes from so many kids eager to learn new things. I showed up with a bunch of gifts, and walked away with a full heart.

I’ll be really honest… At the root of my concerns with this book has been, “Will it support children in their personal development and inspire them to stay true to their dreams and desires?” and now I know from the sparks in their eyes and the hugs I received, that yes, yes it is a good start. So thank you.

It’s all about the love and creativity we put out into the world. It comes back to us in amazing and mysterious ways.

So put yours out there, and post your comments below to let me know how you’re doing…

Karin

PS What inspiration have you found from reading Leap of Faith?

(re)Solution

{includes a free story for you}

Just as I believe that we all can resolve to give our lives new meaning anywhere and anytime, I also believe in the collective energy that we all can benefit from on specific dates, like New Year. We gather to give ourselves the opportunity to effect obvious change in our lives, and to somehow hold one another accountable for these resolutions. They could be calls for help, simple affirmations or just seeking another check-in buddy for the sake of new perspectives.

I find it sad when certain people already give themselves a way out of New Year’s resolutions by stating, in the same sentence as the resolution itself, how they probably won’t make it and give up after 2 weeks.

Wow. Attitude check.

Last night, over dinner with friends, we didn’t talk about New Year’s Resolutions. Instead, we highlighted our best or favourite achievements of 2012. And before I could even say mine, someone I had already spoken to about it said, “Karin published her book!”

Oh ya, I did. And it feels so good!

The things is, I let go of making New Year’s resolutions a long time ago, mostly because I didn’t quite resonate with them. I seem to have a built-in mechanism that puts things into motion already in December, so that by the time January comes around things are already manifesting and working out in new and better ways. Sometimes it takes a little longer, sometimes it happens practically overnight. Either way, I’ve learned to trust the process.

Letting go of making New Year’s Resolutions did not, however, stop me from writing a story about it some time ago, which I have now refreshed a little and offer to you as a freebie to download. It is the story of Resolution’s New Year, written as a Greek tragedy of sorts, with a twist and a play on words, which is what I love to do.

Download your free copy of Resolution’s New Year

In fact, thinking of the word “resolution” this morning, I looked at one of its other definitions that some people seem to have forgotten…

When you separate the word, you get “re-solution.” A means of finding new solutions to an old issue or nagging feeling. Re-solve it, from a new angle. Maybe take a smaller step than the one so many others are taking because certain group consciousness has guided them towards making massive change that may be too steep for them to manage. Re-group your thoughts around this concept to make the most effective change for you.

I spent my weekend honing in on my core desired feelings via Danielle LaPorte’s The Desire Map. I highly recommend it if you’re not on board already. This will completely overhaul your sense of goal-setting, and bring you right back to the source of your desires, which is what allows us to make real impacting change going forward.

Resolutions, much like goals, can seem daunting at times. So this will help get you out of overwhelm and into heartfelt decision-making.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on what it means to you to make promises to yourself in the comments below. How do you keep your faith and see things through?

Wishing you the best days of your lives from here on,

Karin

A Tale of Two Seasons

Tree I

The wind ushered past their mingled bodies – pushing them closer together, further apart; twisting the branches they clung to so delicately. This time, none fell. These were the first winds of autumn, and all but one had chameleoned into a pale gold.

The wind struck again. Three fell silently, landing several meters away, where they dangled for a moment before being swallowed by a hungry bush.

Only one survived. Even through winter.

Spring returned, and while new ones grew, the sole survivor told tales of that devastating autumn.

Then, one day, after the tree had regained its beautiful green overcoat, and all its new occupants were aware of the dangers to come, the one that had survived it all came to its timely end, falling calmly onto a bed of flowers.

Tree II

I guess my feathers are just as delicate as the leaves on that tree. They seem to hold better in strong winds though.

Every morning this past autumn, I watched the tree opposite mine lose its leaves. There was only one diehard.

I went away during winter – a little too cold for my likes in this region this time of year.

When I returned late spring, the tree was a happy shade of green again. Except for the diehard leaf, which had aged. It seemed to have been waiting for something. For what, I wouldn’t know; I’m an owl, not a leaf.

It fell from the tree this morning. Made me a little sad. Makes me wonder when I’ll fall off my tree.

Copyright © 2002 by Karin Pinter