Aim Point LLC

Hello, Authors!

I wanted to share that our friend and fellow author, Rob Adams, has successfully published his extraordinary tribute to his childhood baseball card collection and the players they portray: Cardboard Heroes: Favorite Baseball Cards From My Childhood Collection. Many of you may remember Rob from our writing retreats.

Here's the link to purchase his book on Amazon -- it's available in Kindle, paperback, and hardcover versions: https://www.amazon.com/Cardboard-Heroes-Favorite-Childhood-Collection/dp/B0FW89BQDV

His official book launch was held yesterday (Sunday, November 2) over Zoom. It was a huge success -- Rob's engaging personality and his wonderful sense of humor showed through. Here's the recording of the event held over Zoom: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3dewe4iqzjpa3hpmsjg1w/Rob-Adams-Book-Launch-11-2-2025.mp4?rlkey=u9fl60jtzcdrrrrjvzwqhz87w&dl=0

Whether you're an avid baseball fan or not, you're sure to enjoy this book. Here's a review of his book from a renowned baseball publisher recently posted on Amazon:

“Cardboard Heroes isn’t just about baseball cards – it’s about sweet memories, passing time, and learning to appreciate the things that matter most. This book is a joy to read for anyone who’s ever opened a wax pack, traded cards on the playground, or scribbled a mustache on the opposing team’s pitcher. Reading Cardboard Heroes feels like sitting down with an old friend and sorting through a shoebox full of memories. It’s a funny, nostalgic, and even an analytic ride through the history of the game and the hobby that speaks to all of us who grew up with cardboard heroes in our pockets…or pinned to our bicycle spokes.”

You, too, can become the published author of a book you are very proud to call your own. Almost all the wonderful authors I coach are first-timers with extraordinary stories to tell, JUST LIKE YOU! I would love for you to join us at our upcoming writing retreat on December 6-7. It's all done virtually, so there's no travel involved.

For those of you who haven't had a chance to sign up for the retreat yet, there's still room left -- just let me know you're interested. Whether you've attended a retreat before or you're new to this experience, this is a wonderful gift to give yourself as you fulfill the promise you made to write the book that lives within you and yearns to come out! Even if we haven't talked for a while, now is the perfect time to make this commitment ... and it's fun, too! Come join the ranks of all the wonderful authors who have published their extraordinary books through this program.

I look forward to talking with you again soon.

Cardboard Heroes: Favorite Baseball Cards From My Childhood Collection This book is an homage to a golden era of baseball card collecting when they were acquired one card or one wax pack at a time, handled, mangled, and worn out. As a young baseball fan, there was nothing more exciting than opening a new pack of baseball cards and slowly revealing who was included. ...

In 1994, the status of g**s and le****ns in the military was complicated. The year prior, the Joint Chiefs of Staff had done a thorough review and delivered a recommendation to President Clinton that homos*xuality was incompatible with military life. Yet, society’s perspective was changing, and the rules associated with discharge from the military because of homos*xual behavior changed along with that.

The result was the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, whereby commanders couldn’t ask about the s*xual orientation of a military member and the military individual was not required to tell their supervisors about their s*xual orientation. Despite this change, the policy still stated that an airman “having s*xual relations or displaying romantic overtures with members of the same s*x or telling anyone about their s*xual orientation is considered homos*xual conduct and is a basis for involuntary discharge.”

Being discharged in this manner was devastating emotionally. The stigma resulting from an involuntary discharge could also remain with a person well beyond military service and affect his or her ability to gain follow-on employment as a civilian. In my opinion, “don’t ask, don’t tell” was highly unfair, since it committed gay and le***an military members to keeping their personal lives secret for fear of being found out.

Despite the continued negative repercussions, it was better than the previous policy, which required the Air Force Office of Special Investigations to actively search for homos*xuals in the military, intending to discover and discharge them. A couple of times early in my career, I remember squadron friends just disappearing. One day we were joking around at work and the next they were gone from the squadron and the Air Force. No forwarding address or phone number. No explanation given, although we knew what probably had happened because of the way things were handled. It was terrible. To this day, I feel bad for them. I didn’t even have time to say goodbye or offer words of support, it all happened so quickly.

As an officer, and especially as a squadron commander, I was responsible for upholding the regulations, policies, and orders of those officers senior to me. I could not pick which ones I would enforce and which I would ignore — uneven implementation of rules was one of the surest ways to lose credibility and undermine discipline. This meant I had to enforce the official policy regarding discharge of service members who were gay or le***an. End of discussion.

Still, I could provide different levels of attention to specific regulations without being disobedient. Of the many priorities I had to focus on as a commander, discharging g**s and le****ns was at the absolute bottom of my priority list. And it never, ever moved up.

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The passage above is an excerpt from Chapter 14 of my book “Aim Point: An Air Force Pilot’s Lessons for Navigating Life.” That chapter focuses on an extremely challenging situation I was confronted with when I was the deployed commander of a squadron flying combat support missions out of Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates. My 250-member unit was flying round-the-clock air refueling missions supporting Operation Southern Watch, the enforcement of the Southern No-Fly Zone over Iraq. The issue in question involved an officer in my squadron who was accused of making repeated, unwanted advances toward an airman. Not only was there an officer/enlisted element to the complaint that was filed, but both individuals were women.

Recently, I was reminded of this experience when I ran across an ABC News article that focused on a DoD program intended to help veterans who received less-than-honorable discharges for “homos*xual conduct” upgrade those discharges to honorable status.

Here’s the link to the article: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/pentagon-states-begin-new-push-lgbt-veterans-kicked/story?id=105854392

I’m very pleased this effort is underway. While it will not undo damage that has already been inflicted, it will still be a huge help to those who have been negatively affected by this policy. Perhaps the greatest benefit will be the overdue recognition and well-deserved appreciation these veterans will receive for their service. These men and women volunteered to serve their country with all that entails. It’s time for us to recognize them and thank them for all the sacrifices they have made and all they have done to keep us safe.

… And for those who may be wondering, the story I began telling above has a happy ending I describe it in much greater detail in my book. Both individuals were treated with respect and dignity. The situation was resolved and did not repeat itself, and no punitive action was taken.

Pentagon, states begin new push to help LGBTQ veterans kicked out of military The Biden administration and several states are mounting new efforts to help LGBTQ veterans kicked out of the military before Congress ended the gay ban in 2011.

Hello, published authors and future published authors!

Mark your calendars! We have a big book launch event coming up!
First-time author Jan Hochstetler is launching her engaging and inspiring book (Always More to Learn: Joy, Faith and Resilience as a Career Educator) on Monday, June 3rd.

Her book launch will be held at the iconic Prairie Lights Books bookstore located at 15 S. Dubuque St in Iowa City across from the University of Iowa. The event will start at 7:00 PM Central Time and will feature Jan discussing her book and answering questions.

If you live in Iowa City or nearby, I highly recommend going to this remarkable event. You can purchase her book at Prairie Lights Books, of course (and Jan will be there to sign your book!). If you can’t make it on Monday, you can order her book from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Always-More-Learn-Resilience-Educator/dp/B0D1244N1C. It’s available in hardcover, paperback, and eBook formats.

A remarkably talented new author, I got to know Jan during one of my writing retreats and as part of my author-coaching program. I had the honor of working with her as she created her insightful and engaging book. Here is just one review of Always More to Learn:

“Always More to Learn is the inspiring story of Jan Hochstetler, a career educator who went from disillusioned school teacher to beloved principal of a faith-based elementary school facing long odds as it struggled to establish itself in an underserved community. While teachers and school administrators will especially connect with the classroom and leadership challenges Jan faced, her highly engaging and down-to-earth writing style will also resonate with parents and religious leaders. A humble woman of deep faith and conviction, Jan has so many lessons for all of us in her uplifting, compelling book. I enjoyed Always More to Learn immensely.”

Don’t miss this extraordinary event celebrating a talented new author and her exceptional book! Jan is highlighted in this post -- feel free to send her a note congratulating her on her book launch or asking any questions you might have about her journey through the writing and publishing process.

As we approach the Summer Season and enjoy the opportunity to appreciate our friends and family, it's also a wonderful time to begin writing your own inspiring story. Our next writing retreat for first-time authors will be held on July 20-21. It’s all done virtually, so no travel is necessary.

For those of you who haven't had a chance to sign up for the retreat yet, there's still room left. This is a wonderful gift to give yourself as you fulfill the promise you made (to yourself) to write the book that lives within you and yearns to come out! Now is the perfect time to make this commitment ... and it's fun, too!

If you're new to our retreats and you're feeling inspired to buy this unique and invigorating experience for yourself or someone you love, you can sign up right now using this link: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=Q3G86GEXNY9CN

The cost remains a very affordable $197 for newcomers -- this includes a bonus one-hour coaching session with me where I provide uplifting and encouraging feedback on what you wrote over the weekend.

Now is the perfect time for you to move forward on your lifelong goal of publishing a book you will be very proud to call your own -- even if you haven't thought about it for quite a while. Just send me a quick email and we can get our conversation started.