The malapropism used in the headline is courtesy of my brother, Terry, who uses hundreds of such phrases to keep himself entertained and throw his siblings and friends off their boring centers. Thanks, Terry.

I am using this March blog to say good bye, if only for a few columns. Today I will send off my final draft of “Empty Abundance” to the editors, hopefully for the final time. It’s been almost a year and a half in the making, and I’m happy and a little lost at the same time.

My “handlers,” aka Foundation Chief, Bill Leamon and ghost writer extraordinaire, Michael Levin, have decided (I think wisely) that the next few blogs here will contain excerpts from the book to whet your appetite while we get to the business of finishing and publishing it. I hope you don’t mind the naked ambition of our doing so, but remember, all you need do is ignore these posts if you do mind.

We have also created a website for the book at www.emptyabundance.org, where you can find my first mini-book, “Everything I Needed To Know I Learned in Vistage.” This little ditty is about 20 pages of lessons I learned as a member of this peer group and was the basis of my December blog. It was intended solely as a gift for my mates but seems to have caught the interest of Vistage Chairs around the country to use among their group members and prospects. It would be good to have you check out the new website and purchase the mini-book since all proceeds go to the Foundation, as well.

My son, Kevin, created the website for me to build book interest by beginning my social media career. He too is entering the world of entrepreneurship through his new firm www.borderlinewebdesign.com. Yes, he’s the final of our three children to be swayed from a life of corporate servitude. His firm is targeting the niche of 54 million small businesses, more than half who have no website and another half who have “brochure-like” websites who need a site to promote their business for less than $5,000. Pretty cool concept, but I digress, to bring you yet another promotional announcement.

All these measures are part of the “big plot” – fulfilling my lifelong dream of finding the thousands (I think, millions) of Tim McCarthys in the USA. They are people who enjoy a nice lifestyle but long for something more. We are people who’ve found the middle ground between enjoying the abundance the American lifestyle offers while at the same time finding significance in service to others.

The first few requests I’ve had for interviews about the book say this is going to be a busy year, but if it’s as productive as I hope, it will be well worth the wear and tear.

Peace,

Tim McCarthy