Before: Linda’s husband can’t get his arms around her.
In 2002, I was
invisible. I wore bright orange outfits with huge white stripes and spots and
still people didn't see me. I stood in a perpetual shadow. Obesity affected
every area of my life in a profoundly negative way. But even though I knew
about weight loss surgery, I was not willing to 'die trying.' -- a quote from me
in the proposal for the book.
I was invited to
co-author this book with my surgeon Robert Sewell, MD (www.mastercenters.com).
This title is the "everything you need to know"? guide to the adjustable gastric
band (AGB or "the band"), a safe and effective weight loss surgery. It is aimed
at the more than nine million people in this country with severe weight
problems, along with their family members and friends. The book is also designed
to serve as a credible source of information and support for those who already
have the band.
Chock-full of
stories of individual patients, from before AGB surgery to several years after
their band surgery it also includes helpful information from other experts such
as psychologists, dieticians, and exercise therapists will illustrate the
special challenges, the triumphs, the financial benefits, and the medical "miracles"? (such as remission of diabetes) for band patients.
Note: I've lost 150 pounds since my band surgery in 2004 and went from a size 32 to a
size 12. I saved enough money on medical co-pays, special clothes,
orthopedic shoe inserts and groceries to buy the Chevy Tahoe you see in my
size 18 photo taken in October 2005.
Before: Linda with her great aunt in 2003.
After: Linda with her new Tahoe in October of 2005.
Linda's husband gets his arms around her easily now.
After: Linda’s new look in 2006.
Linda at a book signing in 2009
Linda talking about the process of developing the book Weight Loss Surgery with the Adjustable Gastric Band (seven minutes and thirty-four seconds).
Upgrade Your Own
PC is aimed at the intermediate to advanced PC users who want to do it
themselves. Especially for those who want a cut-to- the-chase approach rather
than details you don't have to know to upgrade (such as serial port pin-outs or
the type of metal components are made from). The second edition is
"upgraded" with over a hundred new photos/illustrations -- just under
300 in all. It includes Windows 98, USB, the Pentium II, the new Celeron
processor and more. For the second edition, IDG changed the binding to one a
larger format that will lay flat (so the book is easier to use) and redesigned
the cover.
Named the best
general computer book of the year for 1998 by the Computer Press Association.
It was important
to me that this book should be more than a restatement of the obvious. By
obvious, I mean what every other book on making money on the Internet says,
such as -- the kinds of businesses that work on the Internet, how to put up a
web page, what to do to get advertisers, how to take credit cards, and so on.
What's new and compelling about this book is it's the first to identify the
appeal of the Internet to our psychological make-up as humans -- in much the
same way that researchers have already identified how people respond to other
mediums such as television or radio. From that springboard, I explain the basic
principles that work for business in cyberspace. Over 30 widely varied case
studies include detailed information about how to succeed in business on the
net.
This was the
second book I did for McGraw-Hill and part of the Entrepreneurial PC Series of
how-to computer-based business books. This book lives on (despite a hideous
lilac cover). It's even been translated into Chinese and includes a diskette of
software utilities. (McGraw-Hill paper 300p illus ISBN 0-07-911901-8 1995)
Awarded
best general computer book of 1994 from the Computer Press Association
Mailing List
Services On Your Home-Based PC (McGraw-Hill, 1994) was my first book for
McGraw-Hill. To everyone's surprise, it won the title of Best Non-Fiction
Computer Book. Part of McGraw-Hill's Entrepreneurial PC Series of how-to
computer-based business books, there was a shortage of writers interested in
this book project. I was willing to take on this project because I thought I
could prove myself. McGraw-Hill decided I could handle it because of my
computer background and because I was doing all the domestic and international
mailing for a non-profit organization. And to everyone's surprise the book won
a national award. (McGraw-Hill paper 240p illus ISBN 0-8306-4474-1 1994)
Books 
- in paperback or 
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