It’s finally here: the long-awaited adaptation for teens of The Slight Edge, now published by The Success Foundation under the title Success for Teens: Real Teens Talk about Using the Slight Edge.

There’s so much new material in here, it’s essentially a brand new book. Here’s a peek inside the process of how Success for Teens came to be:

First, there was The Slight Edge, which is based on Jeff Olson’s training. To create that book, I spent time with Jeff on the phone in the fall of 2004, transcribed CDs of his training, and expanded on his basic message. John Fogg had done some work with the material years earlier, and I also built on some of the pieces John had brought to the table. Jeff went over everything I’d written (as did editors at Momentum Media, the book’s publisher), and eventually that collaboration became this enormously popular book, published in 2005. And then …

Last November, at the request of the Success Foundation, I sat down with The Slight Edge manuscript and began completely “reimagining” it as raw material for a new book for teens. I adapted some passages, threw others out, wrote brand new stuff, rearranged the ideas and codified a new set of core principles (I blogged a bit about this process here) … and eventually turned over a manuscript to Success Foundation staff —

which in turn became raw material for the immensely talented Al Desetta, who further adapted Jeff’s and my stuff to make it more teen-accessible and brought together the dozens of stories, vignettes and examples from the lives of real teens (along with the help of Keith Hefner and staff at Youth Communication in New York) that bring the text alive and really make the book what it is. And there you go: a new book.

You can follow this link to read more about the book (and the Success Foundation), and find out how to buy copies (singly or in bulk).

Note: The Success Foundation is also making the book available at no cost to qualifying organizations; to see if your group qualifies, follow the instructions at the bottom of the linked page.

Earlier this year I was interviewed by humorist, author and columnist Lisa Earle-McLeod. Author of the book Forget Perfect — Finding Grace When You Can’t Even Find Clean Underwear, Lisa is hysterical and quite delightful. (Check out her site and her “Perfect Minute” video essays.)

Lisa also writes for The Huffington Post, rated #1 by Technorati on its “Top 100 Blogs” — making it the single most influential English-language blog in the world.

Recently Lisa reported on our conversation in a wonderful Huffington Post review of The Go-Giver.

Pinch me: am I dreaming?

I wrote Lisa to thank her, and included the URL for my wedding pictures. She wrote back:

“I love wedding pictures; weddings themselves are a bit of a pain, unless you’re just a drunken guest of course, but the pictures are great, and these are particularly beautiful.

“I must say, for a geeky writer, it looks like you caught yourself one heck of a good lookin’ woman.”

And you know, she’s quite right. I did, didn’t I?

(Okay: so the Huffington Post didn’t officially say I have a beautiful wife. But I’m pretty sure it meant to.)

It’s official: the wedding pictures are up for viewing on their own web site.

Here are my bride and me, in the church…

… and on our way …

… into the sunset.

The entire album is worth viewing — our intrepid team of photographers, led by the redoubtable John Fitzpatrick, are excellent at what they do!

And yes, the sky really did look like that.

Yesterday I bought a spare phone charger. At the register, I held out my debit card uncertainly at the card-swiping gizmo. The man behind the register saw my confusion and said, “Strip down. Facing me.”

I paused, then repeated his words back to him. The woman at the next register burst out laughing.

I mean, if I were entering the Army, okay. But to purchase a phone charger? That seemed austere. Strip down, facing me.

Words. Honestly, they’re pretty malleable.

I have a friend who grew up hearing “Silent Night” and thinking that “Round John Virgin” was a character in the story.

When I was little, I had a friend who used to wet her bed every night. My mom told me she had “a bladder problem.” I had no idea what a “bladder” was. I thought she said my friend had “a splatter problem.” And that made perfect sense to me.

When my son Nick was little, he had a problem pronouncing the words “airplane” and “airport.” He said, “ahhplane” and “ahhport.” This went on for a few years.

Then one day, we drove to the Charlottesville Ahhport to pick up my dad, who was coming for a visit. We collected the maestro, and as we began driving home, Nick said something about how exciting it was to “come get Grandpa at the ahhport.” Then he turned to my dad and explained in perfect English, “I can’t say airport.”

“No?” said my dad. “What do you say?”

“I say, ahhport,” Nick replied.

Last month, when I saw the Japanese edition of The Go-Giver, I didn’t see how anyone else could possibly equal that amazing production, let alone top it.

Then, a few days ago, the Korean edition arrived.

Oh, my.

Since nobody in our house reads Korean, I can’t tell what’s actually being said in the ten (!) full pages of text that come between the title page and the table of contents, but they include the phrases “sustainable competitive advantage” and “My joy in giving is greater than your joy in receiving.”

Can anyone read Korean? If you can, I’ll loan you my copy in exchange for elucidation!

The illustrations are beyond great: they’re completely adorable. Here is the cover, featuring Pindar, Joe and Claire:

(Click to enlarge image)

and a picture of Joe, Pindar, Ernesto and Nicole:

and one of Joe — you guessed it — serving coffee. (Notice Gus, Meerschaum in hand.)

They’ve made the key a critical element in the book: I suspect each Law is now called a “key” — but again, until I find someone who reads Korean, I’m in the dark.

With my way lit by some wonderfully illuminating drawings.

Today the September/October issue of Networking Times hits the stands, and with it a piece I wrote in which I talk about the value of not talking so much.

“I remember my eighteenth birthday. I was young and in love, and the road ahead was positively shimmering with possibilities. I was unstoppable, and nothing was impossible.

“Then post-eighteen life began unfolding. Strivings, successes, failures, catastrophes. Fortunes rose and fell, marriages and friendships blossomed and crumbled. Some public triumphs, some personal tragedies, more roadblocks and dead ends and cul-de-sacs than I’d ever dream the universe could supply.

“This summer, I turned fifty-four. (That’s three times eighteen.) I am young and in love; the road ahead positively shimmers with possibilities, and nothing seems impossible. It’s good to be back…”

Click here to read the entire editorial (and find out how the heck I segue from “turning fifty-four” to the “secret of empty spaces”…)