“151 Things that happen or Don’t happen when you turn 50” by Levi Frazier Jr. Goal Mine Publishing, P.O. Box 2041043 Memphis, 38124 © 2004 Price: $12.95 Online: $18.50 (includes postage and tax) CD: $15 Information: 901-502-1151.    http://www.151things.com

Levi Frazier Jr. is in the midst of orchestrating the second go-round of a book he self-published four years ago.

In 2004 and through his own creation – Goal Mind Publishing – Frazier delivered “151 Things that happen or Don’t happen when you turn 50.” It was featured in a few bookstores, such as the old Deliberate Literate, the Tennessee Baptist Bookstore and Davis-Kidd.

“I had one book signing but didn’t really push it as I should have because life intervenes,” said Frazier, a local playwright and instructor at Southwest Tennessee Community College.

This week, Davis-Kidd and the Tennessee Regular Baptist Book Store on Bellevue again started making “151 Things…” available. It’s the result of Frazier’s decision “to go back to the drawing board, confer with a few other people and go full steam ahead.”

Readers who want a dose of humor will find a gift book that spoofs growing older, which baby boomers fear more than the plague. An online advertisement says it “pokes fun at boomers and all of those with whom they come in contact, such as children, grandchildren, siblings, and those dreaded ex-husbands and wives.”

Frazier, 57, said the book is dedicated to his fellow baby boomers. “We all thought we would live forever; that nothing would happen to us; we would be forever young. Does that ring a bell?”

He wrote the book “in search of something to lift my spirits” after having a disappointing experience with a person he teamed with to produce a children’s book.

“I started to write about 50 things that happen when you turn 50. It ended up being 100 things and then 150 things. Then a friend of mine said, ‘Levi, why don’t you make it 151 things. I said ahh, that has a nice ring to it.”

Frazier figures the upcoming holiday season is just the time for the book’s second go-round. This time he is committed to go the extra mile.

Self-publishers, he said, must have a handle on marketing.

“If you don’t market it or get out there, you will just have a lot of books on your hand. Marketing might not be difficult, but you have to take the time and do it.”

• “Love handles turn into steering wheels.”
• “Over the hill is more desirable than being under it.”
• “Your handy man is someone who only works on faucets, doors, and disposals.”
• “You’d pay to have someone take the rap…off the air.”
• “When you give your husband a roll-in-the-sack, it comes from Starbucks.”