Podcasts about foreword reviews

Lindsay is joined by author Samuel Marquis to discuss his book, “Captain Kidd: A True Story of Treasure and Betrayal,” which will be released on May 13, 2025, by Diversion Books. Captain Kidd has captivated imaginations for over 300 years and inspired many stories about pirates, but was he a criminal? Just how many ships did he plunder, how many men did he force to walk the plank, and how many throats did he slit? Or is the truth more inconvenient, that he was a buccaneer's worst nightmare, a revered pirate hunter turned fall guy for scheming politicians?  In “Captain Kidd,” Marquis reveals the real story. Kidd was an English-American privateer and a leading New York husband and father, dubbed “trusty and well-beloved” by the King of England himself and described by historians as a “worthy, honest-hearted, steadfast, much-enduring sailor” who was the “victim of a deliberate travesty of justice.” With honors far more esteemed than the menacing Blackbeard or any other sea rover at the turn of the 17th century, how can Kidd be considered both a gentleman and pirate, both hero and villain? The ninth-great-grandson of legendary privateer Captain William Kidd, Samuel Marquis, M.S., P.G., is a professional hydrogeologist, expert witness, and bestselling, award-winning author of 12 American nonfiction-history, historical fiction, and suspense books, covering primarily the period from colonial America through WWII. His American history and historical fiction books have been #1 Denver Post and Amazon bestsellers, and have received multiple national book awards in both fiction and nonfiction categories, including the Kirkus Reviews and Foreword Reviews Book of the Year, American Book Fest and USA Best Book, Readers' Favorite, and the Colorado Book Awards. His historical titles have also garnered glowing reviews from #1 bestseller James Patterson, maritime historians, U.S. military veterans, Kirkus Reviews, and Foreword Reviews (5 Stars). His pirate book, “Blackbeard: The Birth of America,” has been an Amazon #1 Bestseller in U.S. Colonial Period History. The Marquis lives with his wife in Louisville, Colorado, where they raised their three children. Become a member on Buy Me A Coffee for as little as $1/month to support the show.  You can write to us at: Ye Olde Crime Podcast, PO Box 341, Wyoming, MN 55092. Join the conversation over at the Cultiv8 Discord and join the Olde Crimers Cubby to chat with us and other listeners of the show. Leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, Spotify, Podcast Addict, Audible, or Goodpods! Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Threads, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A graduate of the College of William and Mary and the University of Richmond, Kris Spisak wrote her first three books—Get a Grip on Your Grammar, The Novel Editing Workbook, and The Family Story Workbook—to help writers of all kinds sharpen their storytelling and empower their communications. Her award-winning debut novel, The Baba Yaga Mask, was inspired by her family's experience in the post-WWII Ukrainian diaspora and has been called “A complex, poetic tale” by Kirkus Reviews and “edu-tainment at its best” by the Historical Novel Society. Her fifth book, Becoming Baba Yaga: Trickster, Feminist, and Witch of the Woods, has been described as “A delicious read” by Atlas Obscura and a “nuanced work of feminist literary criticism,” by Foreword Reviews.https://kris-spisak.com/https://www.instagram.com/kris.spisak/https://www.facebook.com/KSWriting

Victoria Sutherland created Foreword Reviews Magazine in 1998. Since its inception, Foreword Reviews has never strayed from its mission to help booksellers and librarians discover great books from indie presses. Authors may not know that librarians need a trade review to order books, which is what Foreword Reviews is. They include 100–125 reviews per bi-monthly issue. Anyone listening to this podcast will receive a 15% discount for any Foreword service using discount code “WOTF" at www.ForewordReviews.com.

Victoria Sutherland created Foreword Reviews Magazine in 1998. Since its inception, Foreword Reviews has never strayed from its mission to help booksellers and librarians discover great books from indie presses. Authors may not know that librarians need a trade review to order books, which is what Foreword Reviews is. They include 100–125 reviews per bi-monthly issue. Anyone listening to this podcast will receive a 15% discount for any Foreword service using discount code “WOTF" at www.ForewordReviews.com.

In this episode of Better Buildings for Humans, Joe Menchefski sits down with Frances Anderton, former host of KCRW's Design and Architecture and author of Common Ground: Multifamily Housing in Los Angeles. Frances shares her journey from growing up in England's architecturally rich city of Bath to her impactful work in Los Angeles, where she champions housing that balances personal and communal spaces. Frances and Joe dive into the history and future of multifamily housing in LA, discussing the role of density, design, and the “social condenser” of courtyard living in creating vibrant communities. They also explore challenges like zoning and community resistance to higher density, revealing how thoughtful design can benefit the environment and social cohesion. Tune in to discover Frances's vision for human-centered, environmentally sensitive housing that prioritizes connection and well-being. About Frances Anderton Frances Anderton is the author of Common Ground: Multifamily Housing in Los Angeles, published by Angel City Press, and winner of a Gold award for best Regional Nonfiction from Foreword Reviews. She has co-produced short films for the nonprofit housing developers Community Corporation of Santa Monica and Venice Community Housing. She is currently researching “Awesome and Affordable” housing as a Fellow of Friends of Residential Treasures: Los Angeles (FORT: LA). She writes a regular newsletter on design and architecture for KCRW public radio station, for which she previously hosted the show DnA: Design and Architecture, and produced the current affairs shows Which Way, LA? and To The Point. She also supports the creation of programming at Helms Bakery District. Honors include the Esther McCoy Award, from the Architectural Guild of USC School of Architecture, for her work educating the public about architecture and urbanism.. She serves on the boards of AIA/LA, Community Corp, and Palm Springs Modernism Week. CONTACT: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frances-anderton-19b8187/ https://francesanderton.com/ https://www.instagram.com/dna_designandarchitecture/ https://www.instagram.com/common_ground_mfh_in_la/ Where To Find Us: https://bbfhpod.advancedglazings.com/ www.advancedglazings.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/better-buildings-for-humans-podcast www.linkedin.com/in/advanced-glazings-ltd-848b4625 https://twitter.com/bbfhpod https://twitter.com/Solera_Daylight https://www.instagram.com/bbfhpod/ https://www.instagram.com/advancedglazingsltd https://www.facebook.com/AdvancedGlazingsltd

Deborah Kasdan joins Let's Talk Memoir for a conversation about her older sister's schizophrenia diagnosis, the decision to commit a child, family dynamics and epigenetics, what it is to be marginalized and hidden away, writing expressively, thematic and chronological decisions, digging further and digging deeper, the conflict alive inside us, landing on a book cover, finishing her sister's story, guilt about our loved ones and giving them a voice in our work, and her memoir Roll Back the World.   Also mentioned in this episode: -sibling reaction to our memoirs -experimenting and trying again -writing the scenes that press themselves upon us   Books mentioned in this episode: -Is There No Place for Me by Susan Sheehan -The Eden Express by Mark Vonnegut -The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn R. Saks -The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok -The Soloist by Steve Lopez   Chosen as one of Kirkus Reviews' Best Indie books of 2023, and a Foreword Reviews finalist, Deborah Kasdan's memoir shows the impact of serious mental illness on her late sister Rachel, as well as on herself and their entire family. It also reveals the healing power of writing. Kasdan had a 35-year career writing about business and technology before retiring from corporate work and uncovering her creative side. Kasdan grew up in the Midwest and now lives in Norwalk, Connecticut with her husband. In addition to writing and making family history come alive, her times of greatest joy occur when she is reading, swimming or visiting with her four grandchildren. Connect with Deborah: Website: www.deborahkasdan.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debkasdan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debkasdan X: https://x.com/debkasdan   – Ronit's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer's Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts' 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories. She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com   Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Newsletter sign-up: https://ronitplank.com/#signup   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll's Fingers

Planet Poet-Words in Space – NEW PODCAST!  LISTEN to my WIOX show (originally aired August 13th, 2024) featuring Bruce McPherson, the founding Director of the award-winning McPherson & Co.- a Literary and Arts Publishing Company, who will present and read from his compelling and award-winning catalog of books.  Pamela Manché Pearce, Planet Poet's intrepid Poet-at-Large, joins us later in the program. Visit: Sharonisraelpoet.com.  Visit McPherson & Co  Visit: Pamela Manche Pearce Here's some information about Bruce McPherson and McPherson & Co. In 1974, Bruce McPherson founded McPherson & Company, an independent literary and arts publishing house in Providence, Rhode Island.  He relocated the press three years later to Kingston, N.Y. in the Hudson Valley.  McPherson & Company has been a full-time project since 1984, and has issued roughly 150 editions of more than 100 titles by authors from around the country and around the world. The press specializes in four areas: contemporary fiction (mostly American authors), great “lost” literary works from the Twentieth Century (our Recovered Classics series), non-fiction books dealing with contemporary art, film, aesthetics, and related cultural issues (often presented under the Documentext imprint), and, finally, translations of distinguished works by authors of Italian, Spanish, French, and German fiction and non-fiction.   McPherson & Co. was named ForeWord Reviews' 2010 Independent Publisher of the Year. The press has won numerous other awards including Community of Literary Magazines and Presses Lord Nose Award 2017; NATIONAL BOOK AWARD for Fiction 2010: Lord of Misrule; the Bronze IPPY (Independent Publisher Book Awards) Visionary Fiction Prize 2023: Headless World; the Bronze IPPY Literary Fiction Prize 2017: Renato After Alba; Ohioana Prize Finalist 2016: This Earth You'll Come Back To; And, for the novel Sea of Hooks  - the Gold IPPY Literary Fiction Prize 2015 and the PEN CENTER USA Fiction Award 2014.  Sea of Hooks was also CHAUTAUQUA Prize Finalist 2014 and was listed as one of the top 10 books of the year in New York Magazine and Publishers Weekly).    

A native of Joliet, Ill., John Ferak covered the stunning discovery of Scott Shanahan's remains inside his Defiance, Iowa home. Ferak later chronicled the awful tragedy in rural Murdock, also for the Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska's largest news organization. Ferak has appeared on Investigation Discovery's "Cold Blood" and also on HLN News.His first book, BLOODY LIES: A CSI SCANDAL IN THE HEARTLAND, has been chosen as one of seven finalists for the 2014 true-crime book of the year at Foreword Reviews. His second book, about the Iowa murder of Scott Shanahan, has been an #Amazon bestseller since its release on #Kindle Jan. 15, 2015. It came out in paperback in April.Ferak has appeared on Omaha's KETV, Omaha's Tom Becka Radio Show, Omaha's KFAB 1110-AM and Chicagoland's WJOL with host Scott Slocum. Ferak is a repeat special guest of Darkness Radio's True-Crime Tuesday: Twin Cities' Newstalk 1130 AM with host Dave Schrader, The Generation Why Podcast, and True-Crime Uncensored: America's most popular true-crime radio show, hosted by the legendary Burl Barer of Los Angeles.These days, Ferak is an award-winning investigative team member for Gannett Wisconsin Media, based at The Post-Crescent in Appleton, Wis. He also has worked as a reporter or editor at the South Bend Tribune in Indiana, The Daily Herald based in Arlington Heights Ill., and the Green Bay Press-Gazette.Although Ferak takes his writing and journalism seriously, he enjoys spending his free time with his wife, Andrea, and their three children. Ferak roots for the Green Bay Packers and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He is a devoted follower of Major League Baseball and the Chicago White Sox. He is also known to enjoy a can or two of his favorite canned beer, Pabst Blue Ribbon, “The people's beer,” as he likes to call it.Photo by Sharon CekadaThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/1198501/advertisement

“Because I think like so many of us need to unlearn things. And also the process of saying Yes to material and opening the top of your head is, it is a gift, I think, to learn to come to creativity in that way.”In “Episode 60, Permission to be Creative with Nina Hart (part 2 of 2),” host Beth Barany, creativity coach and teacher, and science fiction and fantasy novelist, talks to writer, performer, and fellow creativity coach and creative entrepreneur, Nina Hart, where they discuss giving yourself permission to practice being creative in your own way, including a fun writing prompt dealing with jello.ABOUT NINA HARTNina Hart is the founder of "Writing from the Top of Your Head" workshops. She offers writing workshops and 1:1 first draft book coaching, and is a certified KaizenMuse Creativity Coach and Gateless Method writing facilitator. Her first collection of surreal short fictions called “Somewhere in a Town You Never Knew Existed Somewhere” was a finalist in Foreword Reviews' IndieFab Book of the Year Awards.Nina spends her time as a right-brained, highly sensitive, creative entrepreneur. She is passionate about helping writers find their voice and reclaim the hooligan kid spirit that most people have buried under an “adult” veneer. Nina considers herself to be an improvisational writer – she was a blocked writer until she rediscovered the curious part of herself who could play, experiment, and explore. She offers online workshops, writing retreats, and 1:1 coaching. She plans to offer a facilitator training in the upcoming yearConnect with Ninahttps://www.facebook.com/writingfromthetopofyourhead/https://www.instagram.com/writingfromthetop/https://www.linkedin.com/in/writingfromthetop/Sign up for Nina's newsletter to join FREE creativity chats + prompts monthly via Zoom. You'll also get other freebies like "16 Writing Prompts to Slay Perfectionism" ebook. https://nina.podia.com/creativitychatspromptsNina's Site: www.writingfromthetopofyourhead.comABOUT THE HOW TO WRITE THE FUTURE PODCASTThe How To Write The Future podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive futures and successfully bring those stories out into the marketplace. Hosted by Beth Barany, science fiction novelist and creativity coach for writers. We cover tips for fiction writers and get curious about the future of humanity.RESOURCESFree World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth BaranySHOW NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDadec. 2023 BETH BARANY https://bethbarany.com/--CONNECTContact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580Email: beth@bethbarany.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethbarany/CREDITSEDITED WITH DESCRIPT: https://www.descript.com?lmref=_w1WCAMUSIC: Uppbeat.ioDISTRIBUTED BY BUZZSPROUT: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1994465

"So, I decided I would go back to beginner's mind. I would stop taking classes. I would throw out all of the rules. The hooligan got to come into play at that time, my inner teenager or troublemaker."In “Episode 59, Bring Playfulness to your Writing with Nina Hart, Part 1,” host Beth Barany, creativity coach and teacher, and science fiction and fantasy novelist, talks to writer, performer, and fellow creativity coach and creative entrepreneur, Nina Hart, where they discuss how Nina decided to go back to the beginners mind with her writing and how she empowered herself to be her wild creative self.ABOUT NINA HARTNina Hart is the founder of "Writing from the Top of Your Head" workshops. She offers writing workshops and 1:1 first draft book coaching, and is a certified KaizenMuse Creativity Coach and Gateless Method writing facilitator. Her first collection of surreal short fictions called “Somewhere in a Town You Never Knew Existed Somewhere” was a finalist in Foreword Reviews' IndieFab Book of the Year Awards.Nina spends her time as a right-brained, highly sensitive, creative entrepreneur. She is passionate about helping writers find their voice and reclaim the hooligan kid spirit that most people have buried under an “adult” veneer. Nina considers herself to be an improvisational writer – she was a blocked writer until she rediscovered the curious part of herself who could play, experiment, and explore. She offers online workshops, writing retreats, and 1:1 coaching. She plans to offer a facilitator training in the upcoming yearConnect with Ninahttps://www.facebook.com/writingfromthetopofyourhead/https://www.instagram.com/writingfromthetop/https://www.linkedin.com/in/writingfromthetop/Sign up for Nina's newsletter to join FREE creativity chats + prompts monthly via Zoom. You'll also get other freebies like "16 Writing Prompts to Slay Perfectionism" ebook. https://nina.podia.com/creativitychatspromptsNina's Site: www.writingfromthetopofyourhead.comABOUT THE HOW TO WRITE THE FUTURE PODCASTThe How To Write The Future podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive futures and successfully bring those stories out into the marketplace.  We cover tips for fiction writers and get curious about the future of humanity.RESOURCESPaulo Freire: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_FreireFree World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth BaranySHOW NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDadec. 2023 BETH BARANY https://bethbarany--CONNECTContact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580Email: beth@bethbarany.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethbarany/CREDITSEDITED WITH DESCRIPT: https://www.descript.com?lmref=_w1WCAMUSIC: Uppbeat.ioDISTRIBUTED BY BUZZSPROUT: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1994465

Nancy Crochiere discusses the first pages of her debut novel, Graceland, the importance of goals for each of her three point-of-view characters, the power of a “goal by request,” and how to work in backstory when a story that is so reliant on the secrets about the past is flying forward from the first scene. Crochiere's first pages can be found here.Help local bookstores and our authors by buying this book on Bookshop.Click here for the audio/video version of this interview.The above link will be available for 48 hours. Missed it? The podcast version is always available, both here and on your favorite podcast platform.For thirteen years, Nancy Crochiere chronicled the ups and downs of family life—including her obsession with George Clooney—in her humorous newspaper column, “The Mother Load,” which ran in The Daily News of Newburyport, and North Andover's Eagle-Tribune. In 2014, she published a collection of those columns that was a finalist for Foreword Reviews' Book of the Year in humor and the Independent Publishers of New England 2014 Book Award. A graduate of Middlebury College, Nancy earned a master's degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Minnesota and is an alumna of GrubStreet's Novel Incubator program. She worked for many years as a development editor for various educational publishers and wrote essays for The Boston Globe, Writer's Digest, and WBUR's Cognoscenti blog. Once her daughters finished college, Nancy decided to pursue her lifelong dream of writing fiction. The result is Graceland, her first novel.Thank you for reading The 7am Novelist. This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Nancy Crochiere wrote a humor column about family life for Massachusetts newspapers for thirteen years. Her collection of those columns, titled The Mother Load, was a finalist for Foreword Reviews' Book of the Year in humor and the Independent Publishers of New England 2014 Book Award. A graduate of Middlebury College, she earned a master's degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Minnesota, is an alumna of GrubStreet's Novel Incubator program, and worked as a development editor for various educational publishers. Her essays have appeared in The Boston Globe, Writer's Digest, and WBUR's Cognoscenti blog. She began her fiction career when her daughters were young by penning creative notes to excuse their tardiness at school. With her girls now grown, she lives north of Boston with her husband, a lawyer and marathoner, and a few house plants that could use more attention. Graceland is her first novel. You can find out more on her website here: https://www.nancycrochiere.com/ And for more about our host Lisa Kessler visit http://Lisa-Kessler.com Book Lights - shining a light on good books!  

"With poise and restraint, Rilla Askew's historical novel 'Prize for the Fire' tells the brilliant, multifaceted story of an intelligent, virtuous, and indomitable woman." -- Foreword Reviews

Tony Diaz spotlights the upcoming event “Encuentro: The Native American Roots of Texas Mexican Food.” Several food scholars explore the culinary scene with chefs and writers, and sometimes, both! Victoria Elizondo is chef owner of Cochinita Co. in Houston where she insists that fresh and preferably local ingredients are key to her vibrant and flavorful Mexican food. At her restaurant in the Greater East End, Cochinita co., she usually has sever al dishes featuring the ancient food that is native to Texas for thousands of years: nopalitos. When she was 12, Elizondo left her native Nuevo Leon, south of the Texas Mexican border, with her mother to move to the United States, where she became a DACA recipient. Following in her mother's footsteps, she got her first job at 16 as a restaurant hostess. During her career she has worked at top Houston restaurants like State of Grace, Pax Americana and Xochi. In 2016 she started her own business venture, Cochinita Co., initially a food truck concept that pivoted to a pop up and catering model, now a small restaurant that is receiving high honors. The Houston Chronicle named Cochinita Co. one of the top 25 Best Restaurants of 2022. This year, Elizondo is nominated for the prestigious national Emerging Chef James Beard Award. Chef Joseph Gomez, is honoring his roots through his new food truck Con Todo, focusing on comida frontera (Spanish for “border town food”). The Rio Grande Valley native debuted the truck in 2021 at Celis Brewery's new beer garden in North Austin. Gomez who's worked at Austin restaurants such as Be More Pacific, Tha i Kun, She's Not Here, and Easy Tiger sees the truck as showcasing the foods and stories of the Rio Grande Valley and his family. It's through the menu that he wants to jump start “a long conversation about Mexican food in south Texas,” and what it truly is. Eater named Con Todo one of America's 15 best new restaurants of 2022. Lilliana Patricia Saldaña is an Associate Professor of Mexican American Studies (MAS) at UTSA and is co-director of the UTSA MAS Teachers' Academy. Her activist scholarship draws from Chicana/x studies, decolonial and anti-colonial studies, Indigenous epistemologies, and Chicana/Latina feminisms to investigate teacher identity and consciousness, and decolonial practices in schools and community spaces. She's published in nationally recognized journals, including Latinos & Education, Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, and Association of Mexican American Educators Journal, and has published in various edited volumes. When she's not teaching or researching, she's learning about Mexican and Indigenous foodways, facilitating gastronomy workshops, and tending to her kitchen garden. Adán Medrano is a Chef, Food Writer and Filmmaker. Author of “Truly Texas Mexican: A Native Culinary Heritage In Recipes” – Book Of The Year Finalist by Foreword Reviews. His most recent book, Don't Count the Tortillas – The Art of Texas Mexican Cooking, is reviewed and listed by “Spruce Eats” in “The 8 Best Mexican cookbooks to read in 2021.” Both history/cookbooks are academically peer-reviewed and published by Texas Tech University Press. Adán Medrano is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. His professional work in restaurant kitchens includes fine dining at “Restaurant Ten Bogaerde” in Belgium, and volunteering as the Chef of Houston's Casa Juan Diego, a shelter for homeless persons. Adán is also an award-winning filmmaker and holds a Master of Arts degree in Radio, Television and Film from the University of Texas at Austin. In 1976 he founded the San Antonio CineFestival, the first and now longest-running Latino film festival in the USA. His recent documentary feature film, Truly Texas Mexican, won “Best Documentary” at the New York Independent Cinema Awards.

Nancy Crochiere wrote a humor column about family life for Massachusetts newspapers for thirteen years. Her collection of those columns, titled The Mother Load, was a finalist for Foreword Reviews' Book of the Year in humor and the Independent Publishers of New England 2014 Book Award. A graduate of Middlebury College, she earned a master's degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Minnesota, is an alumna of GrubStreet's Novel Incubator program, and worked as a development editor for various educational publishers. Her essays have appeared in The Boston Globe, Writer's Digest, and WBUR's Cognoscenti blog. She began her fiction career when her daughters were young by penning creative notes to excuse their tardiness at school. With her girls now grown, she lives north of Boston with her husband, a lawyer and marathoner, and a few house plants that could use more attention. Graceland is her first novel. “Graceland is a sparkling, warm-hearted, witty debut. I so enjoyed joining these three generations of women on their action-packed road trip to Memphis!” — Liane Moriarty, #1 New York Times bestselling author Learn more at nancycrochiere.com

Double the Lies from award-winning author Patricia Raybon is featured in the February issue of Woman's World Magazine, and was lauded by Publishers Weekly as a “fast-moving mystery” whose “mix of history and intrigue will captivate readers.” The novel is “stirring, fast-paced and powerful,” says Foreword Reviews, It follows All That Is Secret, the 2022 Christy Award-winning debut of the Annalee Spain Mystery series from Tyndale House.Order your copy today . . .  and leave a comment on this weeks featured article for a chance to WIN one of 5 copies: https://incourage.me/?p=229873--The (in)courage podcast is brought to you by DaySpring, makers of your favorite cards, books, and gifts. Visit them today at DaySpring.com.Connect with (in)courage: Facebook & Instagram for daily empowerment Website for the (in) library, meet contributors, article archive Email us at incourage@dayspring.com Leave a podcast review on Apple!

Chatting With Sherri welcomes back award-nominated author; Greg Hickey! Our Dried Voices-In 2153, cancer was cured. In 2189, AIDS. And in 2235, the last members of the human race traveled to a far distant planet called Pearl to begin the next chapter of humanity. That novel was published in 2014 and was a finalist for Foreword Reviews' INDIES Science Fiction Book of the Year Award. The Friar's Lantern-An eccentric scientist tells you he can read your mind and offers to prove it in a high-stakes wager. A respected college professor exacts impassioned, heat-of-the-moment revenge on his wife's killer—a week after her death—and you're on the jury. Take a Turing test with a twist, discover how your future choices might influence the past, and try your luck at Three Card Monte. And while you weigh chance, superstition, destiny, intuition and logic in making your decisions, ask yourself: are you responsible for your actions at all? Choose wisely—if you can.  Greg Hickey was born in Evanston, Illinois in 1985. After graduating from Pomona College in 2008, he played and coached baseball in Sweden and South Africa. He is now a forensic scientist, endurance athlete and award-winning writer. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Lindsay.

"With poise and restraint, Rilla Askew's historical novel 'Prize for the Fire' tells the brilliant, multifaceted story of an intelligent, virtuous, and indomitable woman." -- Foreword Reviews

New York Times Bestselling author and ghostwriter Daniel Paisner on how he landed his first ghostwriting job, how the ghostwriting process works, working with celebrities like Serena Williams and Whoopi Goldberg and what it takes to unearth the real story of a person's life. Also, how his ghostwriting work helps him with his own creative work including his latest book Balloon Dog. *ABOUT DANIEL PAISNERDaniel Paisner is a journalist, author, and podcaster. He is the winner of two NAACP Image Awards for his work with Shark Tank panellist and serial entrepreneur Daymond John. His novel A Single Happened Thing was named an Indies Finalist for Best Book of the Year by the editors of Foreword Reviews. Paisner hosts As Told To, a podcast that features interviews with fellow authors about their ghostwriting experiences. His most recent novel is Balloon Dog, published by Koehler Books.*LINKS:Twitter: @DanielPasiner.Website: danielpaisner.com*For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.comFor free silent writing sessions, join free Writers' Hours: writershour.com*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS' SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you're enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

A native of Joliet, Ill., John Ferak covered the stunning discovery of Scott Shanahan's remains inside his Defiance, Iowa home. Ferak later chronicled the awful tragedy in rural Murdock, also for the Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska's largest news organization. Ferak has appeared on Investigation Discovery's "Cold Blood" and also on HLN News. His first book, BLOODY LIES: A CSI SCANDAL IN THE HEARTLAND, has been chosen as one of seven finalists for the 2014 true-crime book of the year at Foreword Reviews. His second book, about the Iowa murder of Scott Shanahan, has been an #Amazon bestseller since its release on #Kindle Jan. 15, 2015. It came out in paperback in April. Ferak has appeared on Omaha's KETV, Omaha's Tom Becka Radio Show, Omaha's KFAB 1110-AM and Chicagoland's WJOL with host Scott Slocum. Ferak is a repeat special guest of Darkness Radio's True-Crime Tuesday: Twin Cities' Newstalk 1130 AM with host Dave Schrader, The Generation Why Podcast, and True-Crime Uncensored: America's most popular true-crime radio show, hosted by the legendary Burl Barer of Los Angeles. These days, Ferak is an award-winning investigative team member for Gannett Wisconsin Media, based at The Post-Crescent in Appleton, Wis. He also has worked as a reporter or editor at the South Bend Tribune in Indiana, The Daily Herald based in Arlington Heights Ill., and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Although Ferak takes his writing and journalism seriously, he enjoys spending his free time with his wife, Andrea, and their three children. Ferak roots for the Green Bay Packers and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He is a devoted follower of Major League Baseball and the Chicago White Sox. He is also known to enjoy a can or two of his favorite canned beer, Pabst Blue Ribbon, “The people's beer,” as he likes to call it.Photo by Sharon Cekada

A native of Joliet, Ill., John Ferak covered the stunning discovery of Scott Shanahan's remains inside his Defiance, Iowa home. Ferak later chronicled the awful tragedy in rural Murdock, also for the Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska's largest news organization. Ferak has appeared on Investigation Discovery's "Cold Blood" and also on HLN News. His first book, BLOODY LIES: A CSI SCANDAL IN THE HEARTLAND, has been chosen as one of seven finalists for the 2014 true-crime book of the year at Foreword Reviews. His second book, about the Iowa murder of Scott Shanahan, has been an #Amazon bestseller since its release on #Kindle Jan. 15, 2015. It came out in paperback in April. Ferak has appeared on Omaha's KETV, Omaha's Tom Becka Radio Show, Omaha's KFAB 1110-AM and Chicagoland's WJOL with host Scott Slocum. Ferak is a repeat special guest of Darkness Radio's True-Crime Tuesday: Twin Cities' Newstalk 1130 AM with host Dave Schrader, The Generation Why Podcast, and True-Crime Uncensored: America's most popular true-crime radio show, hosted by the legendary Burl Barer of Los Angeles. These days, Ferak is an award-winning investigative team member for Gannett Wisconsin Media, based at The Post-Crescent in Appleton, Wis. He also has worked as a reporter or editor at the South Bend Tribune in Indiana, The Daily Herald based in Arlington Heights Ill., and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Although Ferak takes his writing and journalism seriously, he enjoys spending his free time with his wife, Andrea, and their three children. Ferak roots for the Green Bay Packers and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He is a devoted follower of Major League Baseball and the Chicago White Sox. He is also known to enjoy a can or two of his favorite canned beer, Pabst Blue Ribbon, “The people's beer,” as he likes to call it.Photo by Sharon Cekada

Robert Kerbeck is the founder of the Malibu Writers Circle and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. His true crime memoir about his career as a corporate spy, RUSE: Lying the American Dream from Hollywood to Wall Street, has received praise from Frank Abagnale (Catch Me If You Can), ex-CIA Agent Valerie Plame (Fair Game), and Bradley Hope (Billion Dollar Whale). Foreword Reviews said “Kerbeck's juicy memoir tells riveting tales [with] the thrill of a spy novel,” while the NY Journal of Books wrote, “Kerbeck's astounding story is fraught with tension.” RUSE is currently in development for a TV series with Silver Lining Entertainment (Showtime's Your Honor). Kerbeck's previous book MALIBU BURNING: The Real Story Behind LA's Most Devastating Wildfire, won a 2021 SoCal Journalism Award, the 2020 IPPY Award, and 2020 Best of LA Award. His writing has appeared in numerous publications including the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Magazine, Shondaland, and Lithub's Crime Reads. Find more about Robert here: https://www.robertkerbeck.com/ Get Monday.com here: https://mondaycom.grsm.io/ltusupj0ift4 More about starting to know: https://startingtoknow.com/ More about Ishu Singh: https://ishusingh.com/  

Sergio Troncoso graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and has two graduate degrees from Yale. He is a Fulbright scholar, president of the Texas Institute of Letters and teaches at the Yale Writers' Workshop. He is the author of Nobody's Pilgrims, a novel about three teenagers escaping the United States-Mexico border and pursued by evil which Ben Fountain called a “superb novel.” Nobody's Pilgrims won the 2022 Gold Medal for Best Novel - Adventure or Drama in English at the International Latino Book Awards. Book Reviews: Publishers Weekly called his first book, “The Last Tortilla and Other Stories”, “Richly satisfying.” “A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant's Son”, his latest book, is a collection of linked short stories on immigration which Junot Díaz called “a masterwork.” “From This Wicked Patch of Dust”, which Kirkus Reviews named one of the best books of 2012 in a starred review. The novel also won the Southwest Book Award. “Crossing Borders: Personal Essays”, it won the Bronze Award for Essays from Foreword Reviews. “The Nature of Truth”, hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “impressively lucid.” Books: Nobody's Pilgrims Get the book on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3mLcV9S ASIN: 1947627414 Nepantla Familias: An Anthology of Mexican American Literature on Families in between Worlds Get the book on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3aZ45CE ASIN: 1947627333 A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant's Son Get the book on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3HoyWEY ASIN: 1623499631 About the Show The Writers Corner has been a water cooler for authors since July 2018. The show is broadcast live so readers are able to engage with the authors in real time. The weekly talk show is 30 minutes long and give you some insight into the author's journey and/or details about the book you would otherwise not have known. It is a family friendly show and authors range from New York Times Best Selling Authors to debut authors. About the Show Hosts Bridgetti Lim Banda Bridgetti is an Author, Talk Show Host, on Camera Confidence Coach and Executive Producer who offers Livestreaming as a Service (LaaS). She helps business owners host live events, e.g. town halls, talk shows, brand awareness campaigns and fireside chats. Mary Elizabeth Jackson Mary Elizabeth Jackson is a special needs and disabilities advocate, ghost writer and award-winning author. Her latest release is Cheers from Heaven with Thornton Cline. #WritersCorner #BLiveMedia #WritersNetwork #WritingCommunity #WritersLife #TheConversation #Ad #SergioTroncoso --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/blivemedia/message

Bill welcomes bestselling novelist and writing coach Colleen M Story to the show. Colleen is a novelist, freelance writer, writing coach, and speaker with over 20 years in the creative writing industry. Her latest release, The Beached Ones, and her previous novel, Loreena's Gift, was a Foreword Reviews' INDIES Book of the Year Awards winner, among others. Colleen has written three books to help writers succeed. Your Writing Matters was a bronze medal winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards (2022). Writer Get Noticed! was a gold-medal winner in the Reader's Favorite Book Awards and a first-place winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards (2019). Overwhelmed Writer Rescue was named Book by Book Publicity's Best Writing/Publishing Book in 2018. A lifelong musician, Colleen plays the French horn in her local symphony and pit orchestras. When not writing, she's reading, practicing yoga, listening to music, exploring the beautiful Northwest, and making up more challenging games for her smart German Shepherd to play.

My special guest tonight is Robert Kerbeck, who's here to discuss his book detailing how he started becoming a wealthy corporate spy.  Get his book Ruse: Lying the American Dream from Hollywood to Wall Street on Amazon.     “Kerbeck's juicy memoir tells riveting tales [with] the thrill of a spy novel. . . Kerbeck bares all of his wild business secrets within the world of corporate espionage” —Foreword Reviews.  "Robert Kerbeck has mastered the art of social engineering, or what he calls 'rusing,' and taken it to a whole new level." —Frank Abagnale, author of Catch Me If You Can  B-list actor, A-list corporate spy  In the world of high finance, multibillion-dollar Wall Street banks greedily guard their secrets. Enter Robert Kerbeck, a working actor who made his real money lying on the phone, charming people into revealing their employers' most valuable information. In this exhilarating memoir that will appeal to fans of The Wolf of Wall Street and Catch Me If You Can, unsuspecting receptionists, assistants, and bigshot executives all fall victim to “the Ruse.”  After college, Kerbeck rushed to New York to try to make it as an actor. But to support himself, he'd need a survival job, and before he knew it, while his pals were waiting tables, he began his apprenticeship as a corporate spy.  As his acting career started to take off, he found himself hobnobbing with Hollywood luminaries: drinking with Paul Newman, taking J. Lo to a Dodgers game, touring E.R. sets with George Clooney. He even worked with O.J. Simpson the week before he became America's most notorious double murderer.  Before long, however, his once-promising acting career slowed while the corporate espionage business took off. The ruse job was supposed to have been temporary, but Kerbeck became one of the world's best practitioners of this deceptive—and illegal—trade. His income jumped from tens to hundreds of thousands to millions a year.  Until the inevitable crash….  Kerbeck shares the lies he told, the celebrities he screwed (and those who screwed him), the cons he ran, and the money he made—and lost—along the way.      It's super easy to access our archives!   Here's how:   iPhone Users: Access Mysterious Radio from Apple Podcasts and become a subscriber there, or if you want access to even more exclusive content, join us on Patreon.   Android Users: Enjoy over 800 exclusive member-only posts to include ad-free episodes, case files, and more when you join us on Patreon.    Please copy and Paste our link in a text message to all your family members and friends! We'll love you forever! (Check out Mysterious Radio!)

"A thoughtful self-help resource with guidance for finding meaning in the face of life-changing illnesses. [This book's] work is profound and insightful." -- Foreword Reviews (starred review)

A little improv… What is creativity?  Go.  (frozen pause) Ummm. It's green? Yes, and…It crawls. Yes, and… it morphs like a caterpillar into a butterfly. Yes, and… it can be venomous, like a snake. On this week's podcast, guest Nina Hart challenges our notions about what is art and who gets to do it. She tells us about her journey to heal what she calls her “heartbroken artist.” Nina shares how she finally freed herself from criticism, judgment and creative blocks that silenced and shamed her. She offers all of us a portal into our own spontaneous impulses, our sparks of creativity.  Nina teaches us what she calls “writing from the top of your head.” She introduces us to a writing prompt she calls “small and crappy,” a medicine for the perfectionism that inhibits us.  She also challenges each of you to participate in a small and crappy writing exercise. Give it a try and send us your results. We will make art of it. Everything, including aging, is art, according to Nina Hart. And there's a plot twist we could all use. Take a listen.   Sign up for FREE monthly creativity chats + prompts & exciting newsletters on creativity Sign up for a 30-minute complimentary creativity consult Check out Nina Hart's website writingfromthetopofyourhead.com   Nina Hart is a writer, performer, and creativity coach trained in the Kaizen-Muse method. She is also a certified Gateless Method writing teacher – “a method of teaching the art and craft of writing using creative brain science, ancient non-dual teachings and highly-effective craft tools…allowing writers to access the creative genius inside.” Her first collection of surreal short fictions called “Somewhere in a Town You Never Knew Existed Somewhere” was selected as a Short Stories category finalist in Foreword Reviews' IndieFab Book of the Year Awards. She is the founder of a unique method of teaching writing called “Writing from the Top of your Head,” which combines group Creativity Coaching with creative writing. Her workshops have also been inspired by the work of Paulo Freire and his philosophy of education for liberation, and the work of Brene Brown. Nina was an original member of the experimental dance troupe Contraband, in San Francisco and, playing a purple electric bass, has recorded and performed with numerous bands.

"A thoughtful self-help resource with guidance for finding meaning in the face of life-changing illnesses. [This book's] work is profound and insightful, imparting genuine hope without false promises." -- Foreword Reviews (starred review)

Allie is joined by creativity and writing coach Nina Hart of Writing from the Top of Your Head in this week's episode. Nina and Allie discuss what creativity is, how to overcome your creative blocks, and move forward in our creativity. About Nina Hart:Nina Hart is a writer, performer, and creativity coach trained in the Kaizen-Muse method. She is also a certified Gateless Method writing teacher – "a method of teaching the art and craft of writing using creative brain science, ancient non-dual teachings, and highly-effective craft tools…allowing writers to access the creative genius inside." Her first collection of surreal short fiction called "Somewhere in a Town You Never Knew Existed Somewhere" was selected as a Short Stories (Adult Fiction) category finalist in Foreword Reviews' prestigious 2014 IndieFab Book of the Year Awards. She is the founder of a unique method of teaching writing called "Writing from the Top of your Head," which combines group Creativity Coaching with creative writing. Her workshops have also been inspired by the work of Paulo Freire and his philosophy of education for liberation and the work of Brene Brown. Nina was an original member of the experimental dance troupe Contraband, in San Francisco and, playing a purple electric bass has recorded and performed with numerous bands. (writingfromthetopofyourhead.com)Connect with my Guest!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writingfromthetop/Website: https://www.writingfromthetopofyourhead.com/Follow the Wandering Creatives Podcast: Instagram: @wandering_creative_Twitter: @wandering_podWebsite: www.couttscreations.com/podcastsSponsor the Pod: https://couttscreations.com/podcast-sponsorship-opportunities/ Be a Guest or a Featured Maker: couttscreationsllc@gmail.comBe sure to like, subscribe, rate, and review!Do you have questions or comments?   You can text or call us on our hotline: 252.419.6004, and we will include them on a future episode of the Podcast! CALL US AT: 252-419-6004 and leave a message!Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/CouttsCreations)

Lori Erickson, an award-winning travel writer, shares intense experiences around the world, and discusses deep, meaningful travel, often of great beauty.-- We talk of  spiritual journeys, not only for religious reasons. Lori's trip to Lourdes showed her how people rely on faith. and she reflects on the beauty of a Maori area in New Zealand. Lea remembers an evening ceremony in a  Kauori forest in New Zealand, and climbing a hill of Buddhas in Borabudur in Java. -- We discuss spiritual experiences at the  Dead Sea, sunset at Sedona Arizona, and memories of Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu, Walden Pond, Ephesus Turkey, and Crestone Colorado.-- At Assisi, with its beautiful church paintings and lovely piazza, Lea  attended a jazz concert , and explains how to her, music is a form of spirituality. Lea also mentions the Sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi Greece, where the Oracle sat in ancient times.-- Lori remembers the Western Wall in Jerusalem, and the expressions of public devotion.-- We end with our most memorable spiritual travels. Lea reads from her travel book, Places I Remember about  solar eclipse. Lori talks about Bear Butte, Idaho, where she often returns._____Lori Erickson lives in Iowa City, Iowa, with her husband, and  is one of America's top travel writers specializing in spiritual journeys. She's the author of Near the Exit: Travels with the Not-So-Grim Reaper (which won a Silver Indies Award for 2019 Religion Book of the Year from Foreword Reviews) and Holy Rover: Journeys in Search of Mystery, Miracles, and God. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, National Geographic Traveler, and Better Homes & Gardens.  Her latest book is The Soul of the Family Tree: Ancestors, Stories, and the Spirits We Inherit. ______Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written many travel books, including Places I Remember, and has contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter, Travelea on Instagram, and  blogs about travel at forbes.com  Contact her at placesirememberlealane.com.______Follow  Places I Remember with Lea Lane wherever you listen to podcasts. New travel episodes every Tuesday. And please review it on Apple! 

Publisher and media professor Karl Beckstrand is the bestselling and award-winning author/illustrator of 22 multicultural/multilingual books and more than 60 ebook titles (reviews by Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus, School Library Journal, The Horn Book's blog, ForeWord Reviews). Raised in San Jose, CA (he knows the secret to peeling avocados), he has a B.A. in journalism from BYU, an M.A. in international relations from APU, and a broadcast/film certificate from Film A. Academy. Since 2004 he has run Premio Publishing. His survival western, To Swallow the Earth, won a 2016 International Book Award. Beckstrand has presented to Taiwan's Global Leadership for Youth, city and state governments, festivals, and schools. His nationally lauded Y.A. stories, ebook mysteries, nonfiction, Spanish/bilingual/ESL, wordless, career, and STEM books feature ethnically diverse characters—and usually end with a twist. His work has appeared in: Amazon, Baker & Taylor, Barnes & Noble, Costco, Deseret Book, Follett, Apple/iBooks, Ingram, Papercrafts Magazine, Target.com, The U.S. Congressional Record, Walmart.com, FB, Twitter, https://KarlBeckstrand.com https://PremioBooks.com CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL BOOKS Karl Beckstrand, M.A. - Publisher/Presenter - Multicultural ... https://www.linkedin.com › karlbeckstrand --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mostlyjuststories/support

A native of Joliet, Ill., John Ferak covered the stunning discovery of Scott Shanahan's remains inside his Defiance, Iowa home. Ferak later chronicled the awful tragedy in rural Murdock, also for the Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska's largest news organization. Ferak has appeared on Investigation Discovery's "Cold Blood" and also on HLN News. His first book, BLOODY LIES: A CSI SCANDAL IN THE HEARTLAND, has been chosen as one of seven finalists for the 2014 true-crime book of the year at Foreword Reviews. His second book, about the Iowa murder of Scott Shanahan, has been an #Amazon bestseller since its release on #Kindle Jan. 15, 2015. It came out in paperback in April. Ferak has appeared on Omaha's KETV, Omaha's Tom Becka Radio Show, Omaha's KFAB 1110-AM and Chicagoland's WJOL with host Scott Slocum. Ferak is a repeat special guest of Darkness Radio's True-Crime Tuesday: Twin Cities' Newstalk 1130 AM with host Dave Schrader, The Generation Why Podcast, and True-Crime Uncensored: America's most popular true-crime radio show, hosted by the legendary Burl Barer of Los Angeles. These days, Ferak is an award-winning investigative team member for Gannett Wisconsin Media, based at The Post-Crescent in Appleton, Wis. He also has worked as a reporter or editor at the South Bend Tribune in Indiana, The Daily Herald based in Arlington Heights Ill., and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Although Ferak takes his writing and journalism seriously, he enjoys spending his free time with his wife, Andrea, and their three children. Ferak roots for the Green Bay Packers and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He is a devoted follower of Major League Baseball and the Chicago White Sox. He is also known to enjoy a can or two of his favorite canned beer, Pabst Blue Ribbon, “The people's beer,” as he likes to call it.Photo by Sharon Cekada

A native of Joliet, Ill., John Ferak covered the stunning discovery of Scott Shanahan's remains inside his Defiance, Iowa home. Ferak later chronicled the awful tragedy in rural Murdock, also for the Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska's largest news organization. Ferak has appeared on Investigation Discovery's "Cold Blood" and also on HLN News.His first book, BLOODY LIES: A CSI SCANDAL IN THE HEARTLAND, has been chosen as one of seven finalists for the 2014 true-crime book of the year at Foreword Reviews. His second book, about the Iowa murder of Scott Shanahan, has been an #Amazon bestseller since its release on #Kindle Jan. 15, 2015. It came out in paperback in April.Ferak has appeared on Omaha's KETV, Omaha's Tom Becka Radio Show, Omaha's KFAB 1110-AM and Chicagoland's WJOL with host Scott Slocum. Ferak is a repeat special guest of Darkness Radio's True-Crime Tuesday: Twin Cities' Newstalk 1130 AM with host Dave Schrader, The Generation Why Podcast, and True-Crime Uncensored: America's most popular true-crime radio show, hosted by the legendary Burl Barer of Los Angeles.These days, Ferak is an award-winning investigative team member for Gannett Wisconsin Media, based at The Post-Crescent in Appleton, Wis. He also has worked as a reporter or editor at the South Bend Tribune in Indiana, The Daily Herald based in Arlington Heights Ill., and the Green Bay Press-Gazette.Although Ferak takes his writing and journalism seriously, he enjoys spending his free time with his wife, Andrea, and their three children. Ferak roots for the Green Bay Packers and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He is a devoted follower of Major League Baseball and the Chicago White Sox. He is also known to enjoy a can or two of his favorite canned beer, Pabst Blue Ribbon, “The people's beer,” as he likes to call it.Photo by Sharon Cekada

Victor is an economic growth expert. His ideas have shaped the economic lives of millions of people worldwide. His work has helped over 300 communities, cities, states, companies, and even entire countries in creating greater economic prosperity.His economic development clients have included the World Bank, Ford Foundation, Inter-American Development Bank, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. He has also worked with corporate clients seeking to grow entrepreneurial innovation, including Accenture, IBM, and Microsoft.He is founder and CEO of Victor & Company, an economic growth consultancy.He is founder and CEO of Right to Start, a campaign fighting to rebuild the economy by making entrepreneurial opportunities available to all. Previously, he was Vice President of Entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation, the world's leading philanthropy supporting entrepreneurs with an endowment of $2 billion. At Kauffman, he led initiatives that impacted over 200,000 entrepreneurs, including efforts in catalyzing capital formation, transforming economic development practices, launching a national policy roadmap, and breaking barriers for underserved entrepreneurs.Victor has created two leading conferences on unleashing innovation and entrepreneurship: Global Innovation Summit and ESHIP Summit. The Global Innovation Summit became Silicon Valley's leading conference on building innovative economies, with over 1,000 delegates from 50 nations. The ESHIP Summit, during Victor's term at the Kauffman Foundation, became the nation's leading conference on building entrepreneurial communities, with over 1,200 attendees from all 50 states and over 100 mayors and key staff.Victor was co-founder and CEO of the startup Liquidity, a Silicon Valley venture-backed firm making safe drinking water filtration based on nanotech manufacturing. He led the company through product launch, early revenues, and winning the TechCrunch Disrupt startup competition. He was CEO and co-founder of T2 Venture Creation, a venture firm that built startup companies and designed ecosystems that fostered entrepreneurial innovation in dozens of countries and cities. He was President and Chief Operating Officer of Larta Institute, an organization commercializing technology from key government agencies, such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. He was chief strategy officer of Veatros, a video startup where he led the company's acquisition by a public company. Victor practiced corporate and technology law with the firms of Mayer, Brown & Platt and Irell & Manella.He has been a contributing columnist to Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, and Entrepreneur, and his opinions have been cited in The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, among others.National Public Radio named his graduation address to Austin Community College one of “the best commencement speeches ever.” Victor pioneered the use of the metaphor “rainforest” in a business context. He applied it to show how communities can replicate the historical innovation dynamics of Silicon Valley. His co-authored book, The Rainforest, was awarded Book of the Year, Gold Medal, by ForeWord Reviews for “a big idea that defines a way of thinking.”Victor received his bachelor's degree (with honors) from Harvard University, where he studied Government, plus additional studies in Computer Science. He received his law degree from the University of Chicago.Victor joins me today to share the differences and benefits of high tech startups and small businesses. We discuss the importance of company culture and how to foster the values of the corporation with the employees. Victor tells us about the aspects that make one economic ecosystem better than another. We talk about the...

Today's interview is with Colleen M. Story. Colleen inspires writers to overcome modern-day challenges and find creative fulfillment in their work. Her book, Writer Get Noticed!, was a gold-medal winner in the Reader's Favorite Book Awards and a first-place winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards. Overwhelmed Writer Rescue  was named Book by Book Publicity's Best Writing/Publishing Book in 2018 and was an Amazon bestseller. Her novel, Loreena's Gift, was a Foreword Reviews' INDIES Book of the Year Awards winner, among others. Her latest book Your Writing Matters helps you discover the hidden benefits writing may have in your life, whether writing is part of your life's purpose, and when it's best to leave writing behind.With over 20 years as a freelance writer in the health and wellness industry, Colleen has authored thousands of articles for publications like “Healthline” and “Women's Health;” worked with high-profile clients like Gerber Baby Products and Kellogg's; and ghostwritten books on back pain, nutrition, and cancer recovery. She frequently serves as a workshop leader and motivational speaker, where she helps attendees remove mental and emotional blocks and tap into their unique creative powers. Her first course, “How to Finish the Creative Projects You Start,” is available on Teachable. Find more at these sites:Writing and Wellness | Writer CEO | Teachable | Author Website | Twitter | LinkedIn | Goodreads

Charles J. Simon, BSEE, MSCS, and A.I expert, joins the program today. Charles is a nationally-recognized entrepreneur, author, software developer, and manager. His latest book, 'Will Computers Revolt? Preparing for the future of Artificial Intelligence'...' is a fascinating and informed look at the conjoined futures of humanity and artificial intelligence.' --Foreword Reviews. Mr. Simon has many years of computer experience in industry including pioneering work in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Aided Design. http://futureai.guru/founder.aspxYou'll be feeling very sleepy in the second part of the show, when Bob Martel, a clinical hypnotist, author, speaker and a performance coach to businesspeople, athletes, and to people wanting to move their life forward, joins us. He brings his 30 years of influence and persuasion experience, as a writer, and his 14 years as a board-certified hypnotist to the fore, as he helps people discover and become their best self. He is focused on SLEEP as a key factor in living to our potential in our awakened state each day. Bob is a US Navy Submarine veteran and patriot! Go to www.iamsleepingnow.com – to grab the free resources that go with the book – and for advance notice of the book – coming out in 2 weeks!

We start our second season of featured interviews with the creator behind the adaptation of Jim Henson's Lost screenplay Tale Of Sand for Archaia Entertainment and an artist for Marvel Comics X-Men, Nova, Spider-Man, Hawkeye and the creator owned image title Stillwater! Ramón K Pérez is an established cartoonist, illustrator, and designer with over two decades experience in the creative field. He is a multiple Eisner and Harvey award winning artist and has also garnered such accolades as The Honour Book and Official Selection 2008 Silver Birch Non-Fiction Awards, ForeWord Reviews' 2010 Book of the Year Award, and The Shuster Award for best graphic novel 2012, amongst numerous nominations, for his collaborative works in children's literature, digital media, and comics. Ramon is also the Managing Director of the prominent Royal Academy of Illustration & Design (RAID) an artist co-working community and powerhouse creative agency known as The RAID Studio. Their repertoire of clients include Warner Bro's. Canada, Hasbro, CBC, Corus, and Showcase, amongst many more.

Laura Van Prooyen's collections of poetry are Frances of the Wider Field (Lily Poetry Review Books 2021), Our House Was on Fire, nominated by Philip Levine, awarded the McGovern Prize (Ashland Poetry Press 2015), and Inkblot and Altar (Pecan Grove Press 2006). She is also co-author, with Gretchen Bernabei, of Text Structures from Poetry—a book of writing lessons for grades 4-12 (Corwin Literacy 2020). Laura has over 20 years experience teaching poetry and writing in a variety of academic settings including: Dominican University, Henry Ford Academy: The Alameda School for Art + Design, Chicago Public Schools, Del Valle High School, and University of Illinois at Chicago. She also facilitated therapeutic writing sessions for soldiers with PTSD in an Intensive Outpatient Program for three years at Brook Army Medical Center. Having been raised in a tight-knit Dutch community just outside of Chicago, Van Prooyen now lives in San Antonio, TX. She earned a B.A. at Purdue University, an M.A. at The University of Illinois at Chicago, and an M.F.A. in Poetry at Warren Wilson College. Laura serves as the Managing Editor of The Cortland Review and teaches in the Low-Residency Creative Writing MFA Program at Miami University in Ohio. She is launching Next Page Press, with the first title to be released late 2021.https://lauravanprooyen.com/ Host, Kelly Fordon, latest book is a short story collection called I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020). Her novel-in-stories, Garden for the Blind, (WSUP, 2015) is a 2016 Michigan Notable Book, a 2016 Foreword Reviews' INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist in the short story category. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House, (Kattywompus Press, 2019) was chosen as an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist for poetry and was adapted into a play by Robin Martin, which was produced in Michigan in 2019, and published in The Kenyon Review Online. She is also the author of three poetry chapbooks. On the Street Where We Live won the 2012 Standing Rock Chapbook Award and the latest one, The Witness, won the 2016 Eric Hoffer Award for the Chapbook and was shortlisted for the Grand Prize. Her work has been published widely in literary journals and has received a Best of the Net Award, as well as Pushcart Prize nominations in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. She teaches at Springfed Arts and The InsideOut Literary Arts Project in Detroit, as well as online, where she also runs a monthly poetry and fiction blog. www.kellyfordon.com

During a wide-ranging talk about such diverse topics as the effect of language on how we view war to a discussion on finding mentors within books themselves to what it means to nurture your creative spirit and grow your talent, Katey reveals herself to be a disciplined, intelligent writer and teacher who thinks deeply about how language and the written word can shape our lives. Katey is the award-winning author of Flashes of War (stories) and Still Come Home (novel), both published by Loyola University Maryland’s Apprentice House Press. Honors for her work include the Linda Flowers Literary Award, Indie Fab Book of the Year from Foreword Reviews, a Gold Medal from the Military Writers Society of America, four Pushcart nominations, and writing fellowships in eight states. Still Come Home was named 2020 Indie Fiction Book of the Year by the Chicago Writers Association. .She lives in Celo, North Carolina, and is the founder of Maximum Impact, a transformative mentoring service for creative writers that has been recognized by both CNBC and the What Works Network. To learn more about Katey and her mentoring program, click here.  

In this episode, you will learn: • Brian’s brief bio • Why Brian shifted from teaching to investing in real estate • About Brian’s book • Brian’s lines of horizontal income • What Brian’s diet looks like • Brian’s life happiness index score and giving back ratio • Brian’s biggest goals in the next twelve months • Some of the past and future greatest hits in Brian’s life • The most useful thing that Brian learned from his parents • Plus, so much more! Brian Murray acquired his first investment property in 2007. Without raising any outside capital, Brian bootstrapped his way from newbie investor to founder and CEO of Washington Street Properties, a commercial real estate investment and property management company that has been ranked on the Inc. 500|5000 list of the nation's fastest-growing private companies for five years. In 2015, Brian was recognized with a Gold Stevie Award for Executive of the Year in the Real Estate Industry. Brian Murray is also the Key Principal and Asset Manager for Open Door Capital, a real estate investment firm founded by Brandon Turner that helps clients achieve superior risk-adjusted returns through the acquisition of value-add manufactured housing communities nationwide. The Open Door Capital Fund includes a diversified portfolio of manufactured housing communities and is financed by accredited investors seeking a combination of strong cash flow and equity growth. Brian Murray is author of the bestselling and award-winning book Crushing It in Apartments and Commercial Real Estate, which has sold more than 70,000 copies and garnered positive reviews from Publishers Weekly, Foreword Reviews, and BlueInk Review. In addition to his endeavors in writing and real estate, Brian Murray has worked as a teacher, technology executive, management consultant, and engineer. His media appearances include interviews on CNN, PBS, and CBS MarketWatch. Brian has been quoted by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and dozens of other major newspapers around the world. He holds degrees from Syracuse University, Johns Hopkins University, and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.

Our guest this week is Lori Jackson, a well-known travel writer who after the death of her brother goes in search of information about the Grim Reaper.Lori Erickson is one of America's top travel writers specializing in spiritual journeys and is an Episcopal deacon. She's the author of the memoir Holy Rover: Journeys in Search of Mystery, Miracles, and God, which was a finalist for the 2017 Travel Book of the YearINDIES Award from Foreword Reviews. She lives in Iowa City, Iowa, with her husband.For more information on the interview and book: http://bit.ly/380c91Z

Thomas Sanders is a photographer who shoots for a wide variety of clients, from Esquire magazine to senior living communities. A professor of photography at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Sanders is also the author of two photography books, "The Last Good War: The Faces and Voices of WWII” was published by Welcome Books in 2010.As the winner of the 2010 Foreword Reviews' Book of the Year Award for Editor's Choice Nonfiction as well as a selection of The History Book Club and The Military Book Club, this collection of portraits was called “meticulously rendered and brilliantly lit” by the Chicago Tribune. In 2020, Sanders published his second book, “Vietnam War Portraits: The Faces and Voices.”Topics of Discussion:Overview on my journey of doing films and photo shoots for senior living companiesHow to represent seniors in marketing: Some companies want realistic residents and some want seniors that are younger than their resident age demographicPhotos and films for baby boomers are going to become more modern and hip, how do boomers want to be perceived?How to pick senior stock photos?A few tips on how employees can take good social media photos of residentsThomas' Links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-sanders-b372b1139/SLP Senior Living Photography: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-sanders-b372b1139/Senior Stock Photos: https://seniorstockphotos.com/

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Sharon Harrigan. Sharon is the author of the new novel Half, which has received accolades from places like Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, Foreword Reviews, and the New York Journal of Books. She earned her a B.A. from Barnard College and an MFA in Creative Writing from Pacific University. She is also the author of the memoir Playing with Dynamite and she teaches at WriterHouse in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she lives with her family.   In this episode Sharon and I discuss: What it means to come of age and how her novel Half addresses that. Why it is important to assess what type of point of view to use for a project. How to use voice as a bridge between the writer and the reader.   Plus, her #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: diymfa.com/344

Sergio Troncoso is the author of “A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant’s Son”, a collection of linked short stories on immigration which Junot Díaz called “a masterwork.” Troncoso also wrote “From This Wicked Patch of Dust”, which Kirkus Reviews named one of the best books of 2012 in a starred review. The novel also won the Southwest Book Award. Other books by Troncoso include “Crossing Borders: Personal Essays”, it won the Bronze Award for Essays from Foreword Reviews. He is also the author of “The Nature of Truth”, hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “impressively lucid.” Publishers Weekly called his first book, “The Last Tortilla and Other Stories”, “Richly satisfying.” Sergio is currently vice president of the Texas Institute of Letters. He served as a judge for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the New Letters Prize for Essays. His work recently appeared in New Letters, The Yale Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, and the Texas Monthly. Sergio’s website is SergioTroncoso.com. Connect with Sergio Troncoso: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sergiotroncoso6 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergiotroncoso/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SergioTroncoso Instagram: https://twitter.com/SergioTroncoso

In this episode, Ameé speaks with Melissa Orlov is a marriage consultant, a top expert in how ADHD affects relationships, and an award-winning author. She is the author of The ADHD Effect on Marriage, which was awarded "Best Psychological Book of 2010" by ForeWord Reviews. Her latest book, The Couple's Guide to Thriving with ADHD, with Nancie Kohlenberger won three book awards, including best psychology book of 2014.Melissa has been writing and speaking about the topic since 2007, researching it since 2005. She teaches couples, therapists, counselors, and coaches about how ADHD impacts relationships and offers private counseling to couples who wish to improve their ADHD-impacted relationships. Her very popular couples seminar (by phone) has helped many struggling couples turn their relationships around. Melissa blogs for Psychology Today, at this site, and guest writes for many others. In this episode, you will hear:What is ADHD & how is it diagnosed in adultsThe surprising ways ADHD affects marriages and relationshipsRebuilding a relationship after ADHD has eroded itThe couple's seminar that is available for helpResources:https://www.adhdmarriage.com/The ADHD Effect on MarriageThe Couple's Guide to Thriving with ADHD

A shooting at a Chicago beach leaves several dead and dozens injured. In the year before the attack, four individuals emerge as possible suspects. An apathetic computer programmer.  An ex-college athlete with a history of head injuries. An Army veteran turned Chicago cop.   A despondent high school student. One of them is the shooter. Discover who and why in Parabellum, the newest thriller from Greg Hickey. Greg Hickey is a former international professional baseball player and current forensic scientist, endurance athlete, author and screenwriter. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Lindsay. His debut novel, Our Dried Voices, was a finalist for Foreword Reviews' INDIES Science Fiction Book of the Year. He lives in Chicago with his wife Lindsay.  Theme music for Madame Perry's Salon composed and performed by Denton Perry. Authors! Need to promote your book but can't afford a publicist? Get Sell Your Books Today right now!  As a seasoned entertainment publicist I know exactly what insider info you need to get your books to the world!

I love a good whydunnit! Greg Hickey's novel, Parabellum, is structured differently from the average mystery novel. This book starts with a horrific, terrifying event and then jumps back in time by a year. It follows four individuals, the ex-athlete, the programmer, the veteran, and the student, and examines their lives and what may have cause any one of them to take their pain out on the group of innocent people from the event at the start of the book. After Greg reads Chapter 1 of the book to us, I ask him about this structure and what inspired him to write the book this way. We also talk about the themes in the book, including the responsibility of society to take care of its members. Also in our interview, Greg mentions the free novella available at his website called The Theory of Anything. You can learn more about the book and get your free copy here. Today's show is supported by my patrons at Patreon. Thank you! When you become a patron for as little as $1 a month you receive a short mystery story each and every month. And the rewards for those who love mystery stories go up from there! Learn more and become a part of my community of readers at www.Patreon.com/alexandraamor This week's mystery author Greg Hickey is a former international professional baseball player and current forensic scientist, endurance athlete and author. He is the author of three novels, including the recently published crime novel Parabellum. His debut novel, Our Dried Voices, was a finalist for Foreword Reviews' INDIES Science Fiction Book of the Year Award. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Lindsay. Learn more about Greg and all his books at GregHickeyWrites.com Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher, Android, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, and Spotify. Excerpt from Parabellum The ex-college athlete remembered her first concussion the way she remembered her first so-called memory of getting stuck in the unsodded mud patch between her family’s new home and the neighbor’s when she was one and a half. It was not a truly a memory, she knew, so much as an amalgamation of other memory fragments and the accounts of others and conjured imaginings all wrapped around a kernel of true recollection, like how your cells begin to die the minute you are born and are constantly shed away or eaten by your own macrophages and replaced by others, so that in the course of a lifetime you are a completely different physical entity from the one you were at the start. Except for your brain. Neurons don’t get replaced. They hang on as long as they can, and when enough of them die, so do you. So that’s you, in the you-est sense. Your brain and its memories are the canvas of you-ness upon which you shellac fresh coats of cells and ideas to maintain an appearance of life and identity. She was nine, playing in the fifth soccer game of her life and tracking the ball as it arced through the crisp blue autumn sky, one of the miraculous times a stubby little leg had lifted the ball more than a foot off the ground. She was chasing the ball, and a girl on the opposing team was running to meet it. When she woke up, she was staring again into the clear sky, and her father later told her she had bumped heads with the other young girl and had been knocked unconscious. Her parents took her to the hospital for routine tests. After the doctor told her she had only suffered a mild concussion and, aside from a slight headache and some sleepiness that could last a few days, she would be fine, her mother handed her a silver chain with a star-shaped pendant. Years later, after the most recent in her long line of head traumas, her mother had fingered the star as it rested below her collar bones and said, “Remember, no matter what happens, you won’t always be a soccer player, but you can always be a star.”

This Week, Tony is joined by Gail Ryder to talk about The Fifth Beatle. by Vivek J. Tiwary (Author), Andrew C. Robinson (Illustrator), Kyle Baker (Illustrator) THE FIFTH BEATLE is an award-winning, #1 New York Times best selling graphic novel and forthcoming TV event series recounting the untold true story of Brian Epstein– the brilliant visionary who discovered the Beatles in a cellar in Liverpool, nurtured, protected, and guided them to international stardom, but died painfully lonely at the age of 32. It’s a human story about the struggle to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds—Brian was homosexual when it was a felony to be so, Jewish at a time of anti-Semitism, and from Liverpool when it was just a dingy port town. It’s a story about staggering ambition yielding staggering success, through a desire to change the world by messages of love and peace. A story about being an outsider and trying desperately to belong. A story about speed, triumph, and tragedy. A story whose themes resonate deeply across generations, sexes, and sexual preferences. A story full of dreams and music… The greatest music of all time. Winner of the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award, Best Reality-Based Work Winner of two Harvey Awards, including Best Original Graphic Album Lambda Literary Award Finalist, Best LGBT Graphic Novel Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Library and Archives Permanent Collection American Library Services Association Great Graphic Novel for Teens Winner of National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award (Art by Andrew C. Robinson) Winner of Foreword Reviews’ 2013 IndieFab Award, Graphic Novel of The Year This week, Comics in motion has an excellent offer exclusively for our listeners. TKO Comics is revolutionizing the comics industry. They have creator owned series from heavy hitters like Garth Ennis, Jeff Lemire, Joshua Dysart, Roxane Gay and many more. If you go to tkopresents.com/discount/MOTION20and use the promo Code MOTION20 at checkout, you will receive a 20 percent discount exclusively for Comics in Motion Listeners. That’s tkopresents.com/discount/MOTION20and use the promo Code MOTION20. Happy reading For a daily dose of positivity, please follow Yoko Ono on Twitter. If you want to talk with Tony about comics or to suggest any future shows, please connect with him on Twitter @Tricycleboombox. You can read his reviews of multiple Independent and DC comics at DC Comics News or at Fantastic Universes,You can find him online and send him an email at https://www.arfarina.com/. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/comics-in-motion-podcast/support

Bill welcomes author Sharon Harrigan to the show. Sharon is the author of the new novel Half. In a starred review Booklist said, “Fans of Jeffrey Eugenides, Andre Dubus III, and Jane Smiley will adore Harrigan’s suspenseful, lyrical, and consuming exploration of two difficult lives, intertwined. . . Raw and powerful, Half will stay with you.” Publisher’s Weekly wrote, “Harrigan’s bold stylistic choices and memorable voice lend the novel a sense of mystery and magic, well suited to the themes of childhood fears and adult disillusionment. Riveting and inventive, this is a cut above the average coming of age tale.” Foreword Reviews called Half “gripping” and New York Journal of Books called the point of view “astonishingly effective.” Sharon is also the author of the memoir Playing with Dynamite. She teaches writing at WriterHouse in Charlottesville, where she lives with her family. Don't miss it!

Kirsten Imani Kasai is the author of The House of Erzulie (Shade Mountain Press, 2018), Ice Song (2009), and Tattoo (Random House, 2011). According to Foreword Reviews, “Kirsten makes the macabre beautiful.” She teaches creative writing and literature at San Diego State University and Southern New Hampshire University.The House of ErzulieShade Mountain Press, 2018A World Without Books was created to help writers connect with readers during the pandemic. This Micro-Podcast provides authors a platform to share stories about writing, discuss current projects, and consider life without books. Listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you podcast.Without Books®, a division of Heritage Future, is an author-centric book initiative. Our resources support authors. We also provide access to millions of books.

Kirsten Imani Kasai is the author of The House of Erzulie (Shade Mountain Press, 2018), Ice Song (2009), and Tattoo (Random House, 2011). According to Foreword Reviews, “Kirsten makes the macabre beautiful.” She teaches creative writing and literature at San Diego State University and Southern New Hampshire University.* * *The House of ErzulieShade Mountain Press, 2018

Victoria Sutherland, founder/publisher of Foreword Reviews magazine and a new member of the IBPA Board of Directors, looks at indie publishing, virtual trade shows, reviewing, libraries, and diversity.Topics CoveredCoping with COVIDHow the pandemic may change publishingThe future of trade shows (hint: it’s going virtual)Can the face-to-face meeting be replicated online?The continuing importance of book reviewsFee-based reviews for indie publishersAre author-publishers still stigmatized?Improving standards of indie publishersWhy traditional publishers aren’t going awayHow are libraries holding up?The increased emphasis on digital at librariesIs digital-only viable?The importance of mastering social mediaA commitment to diversity: in the content and in the staffingLinksForeword Reviews magazinewww.forewordreviews.comIBPA’s COVID-19 Resource Centerhttps://www.ibpa-online.org/page/ibpa-covid-19-resource-centerThe IBPA Industry Standards Checklisthttps://www.ibpa-online.org/page/standardschecklistParticipantsVictoria Sutherland co-founded Foreword Reviews 22 years ago with two other women who went on to explore their own writing talents. Since 1998, we've been celebrating indie presses only in our magazine, online, through our awards program, and at international rights events. I have a BA in communications from Michigan State University, and publishing certifications from Stanford, Yale, and NYU. Besides reading, in my spare time I like to rehab older buildings/homes and re-finish furniture. We live across the street from a national park in northwestern Michigan where I spend a lot of time running in the woods. Our lives changed dramatically for the better with the recent birth of our first grandchild, Rosemary Pauline.Peter Goodman (host) is publisher of Stone Bridge Press in Berkeley, California. He began his publishing career in Tokyo, Japan, in 1976. A longtime member of IBPA, he has served on the IBPA board and as IBPA board chair.For more information, go to IBPA at https://www.ibpa-online.org/.

Colleen M. Story inspires writers to overcome modern-day challenges and find creative fulfillment in their work. Her first non-fiction book, Overwhelmed Writer Rescue, was named Book by Book Publicity’s Best Writing/Publishing Book in 2018, and her novel, Loreena’s Gift, was a Foreword Reviews' INDIES Book of the Year Awards winner, among others. Her latest release, Writer Get Noticed!, was a gold-medal winner in the 2019 Reader’s Favorite Book Awards for writing and publishing, and a recent 1st-place winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards. With over 20 years in the creative industry, Colleen is the founder of Writing and Wellness (writingandwellness.com) and Writer CEO (writerceo.com). Please see her author website (colleenmstory.com) or follow her on Twitter (@colleen_m_story).  Topics of Conversation: About Writer Get Noticed! What is an Author Platform? Using your Strengths to Develop your Niche The Three-Brain Decision Making system On Writing and Wellness Have you been writing for years, but feel like no one notices? Have you publishedyour stories, only to gain a handful of readers? Do your marketing efforts feel like shouting into a void? Veteran writer and motivational coach Colleen M. Story helps you break the spell of invisibility to reveal the author platform that will finally draw readers your way. There are more books out there than ever before, and readers have many other things vying for their attention. A writer can feel like a needle in a haystack, and throwing money at the problem rarely helps. What does work is creating a platform that stands out, but in a sea of a million platforms, how is one to do that? Writer Get Noticed! takes a new approach, dispelling the notion that fixing your writing flaws and expanding your social media reach will get you the readers you deserve. Instead, discover a myriad of strengths you didn't know you had, then use them to find your author theme, power up your platform, and create a new author business blueprint, all while gaining insight into what sets you apart as a writer and creative artist.   CONNECT WITH COLLEEN M. STORY! Writing and Wellness (http://writingandwellness.com/) Writer CEO (https://writerceo.com/) Author Site (http://colleenmstory.com/) LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleen-m-story-81408034/) Twitter (@colleen_m_story) Read our review of Writer Get Noticed!

Where is all of the literary love for Queens? It’s right here at LIC Reading Series. Join them each week for stories, readings, and discussions with acclaimed writers, recorded with a live audience in the cozy carriage house of a classic pub in Long Island City, Queens, New York, and hosted by founder Catherine LaSota. This week, the podcast features the reading and panel discussion from the LIC Reading Series event on February 14, 201, with Jason Diamond, Kelly Luce, and Sara Majka. Check out the panel discussion on Thursday! About the Readers: Jason Diamond is a writer and editor living in Brooklyn. His first book was Searching for John Hughes. Kelly Luce is the author of the short-story collection Three Scenarios in Which Hana Sasaki Grows a Tail, which won Foreword Reviews’s 2013 Editor’s Choice Prize for Fiction. A native of Illinois, she holds a degree in cognitive science from Northwestern University and an MFA from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a fellow at Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and a contributing editor for Electric Literature. She lives in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains. Sara Majka‘s stories have appeared in A Public Space, PEN America, The Gettysburg Review, and Guernica. A former fiction fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, she lives in Queens, New York. * This event was made possible in part by the Queens Council on the Arts, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am extremely open about this, but it's not like I yell "I AM KOREAN" at the top of every episode, but I am Korean. I was adopted too, and I don't know much about Korean culture, history, or anything else. Which is why I'm glad books such as Banned Book Club exist, so I can read about some history by way of comics. This time, I'm doing something a little different; I'm interviewing Ryan Estrada, one half of the writing team for Banned Book Club! Here's what the publisher, Iron Circus Comics, has to say about Banned Book Club: The gripping true story of a South Korean woman's student days under an authoritarian regime in the early 1980s, and how she defied state censorship through the rebellion of reading. If you want more interviews with Ryan, and including Kim Hyun Sook, here's two cool interviews, one from Foreword Reviews and one from Rich in Color. The song you heard in the episode is "Noonside" by Yaeji. As always, you can find me on Twitter @ImpassionateK, and my co-hosts Helen (@WanderinDreamr) and Apryll (@manjiorin) on Twitter at those places in the parenthesis. You can find both of their writing at The Organization of Anti-Social Geniuses, more of Helen's writing at Narrative Investigations, and my writing at the Fandom Post. And you can find my review of Banned Book Club on the Fandom Post. Listen Show notes: There are no show notes; I just interviewed Ryan about Banned Book Club. Next time is Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart and I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up, actually.

I am extremely open about this, but it’s not like I yell “I AM KOREAN” at the top of every episode, but I am Korean. I was adopted too, and I don’t know much about Korean culture, history, or anything else. Which is why I’m glad books such as Banned Book Club exist, so I can read about some history by way of comics. This time, I’m doing something a little different; I’m interviewing Ryan Estrada, one half of the writing team for Banned Book Club! Here’s what the publisher, Iron Circus Comics, has to say about Banned Book Club: The gripping true story of a South Korean woman’s student days under an authoritarian regime in the early 1980s, and how she defied state censorship through the rebellion of reading. If you want more interviews with Ryan, and including Kim Hyun Sook, here’s two cool interviews, one from Foreword Reviews and one from Rich in Color. The song you heard in the episode is “Noonside” by Yaeji. As always, you can find me on Twitter @ImpassionateK, and my co-hosts Helen (@WanderinDreamr) and Apryll (@manjiorin) on Twitter at those places in the parenthesis. You can find both of their writing at The Organization of Anti-Social Geniuses, more of Helen’s writing at Narrative Investigations, and my writing at the Fandom Post. And you can find my review of Banned Book Club on the Fandom Post. Listen Show notes: There are no show notes; I just interviewed Ryan about Banned Book Club. Next time is Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart and I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up, actually.

Sergio Troncoso is the author of The Last Tortilla and Other Stories, Crossing Borders: Personal Essays, The Nature of Truth and From This Wicked Patch of Dust. He co-edited Our Lost Border: Essays on Life Amid the Narco-Violence. Among the numerous awards he has won are the Premio Aztlan Literary Prize, Southwest Book Award, Bronze Award for Essays from ForeWord Reviews, International Latino Book Award, and Bronze Award for Multicultural Fiction from ForeWord Reviews. For many years, he has taught at the Yale Writers’ Workshop in New Haven, Connecticut and the Hudson Valley Writers’ Center in Sleepy Hollow, New York. For show notes and more log onto brooklynwritersproject.com

Topics include: The role of a managing editor. The mission of Foreword Reviews. How the decision to review a book is made: quality, pub date, topic, availability (and even cover design). The importance of reviews to publishers. Things that publishers do wrong that makes it hard for them to get their book reviewed. (Hint: check your pub date!) Trends in indie publishing. Paid (Clarion) vs. unpaid reviews: what’s the difference? Other Foreword activities: rights fairs and trade shows, including ALA, Bologna, China. Foreword themes this year: LGBTQ, Cooking, Crafting, University Press, Diversity, Climate Change. ##Links Foreword Reviews https://www.forewordreviews.com/ A Publishers Weekly article on the pros and cons of paid reviews https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/pw-select/article/64718-the-indie-author-s-guide-to-paid-reviews.html Participants Michelle Anne Schingler is the managing editor at Foreword Reviews. Her responsibilities include previewing thousands of books each quarter for the magazine's audience of librarians and booksellers. She came to Foreword after her master's work at the University of Georgia and Harvard Divinity School, as well as a period working in public libraries. She likes books that surprise her by making her laugh out loud, that make her feel new and widening feelings, and that brim with quirkiness, and she still cannot resist the magic of a free book. Peter Goodman (host) is publisher of Stone Bridge Press in Berkeley, California. He began his publishing career in Tokyo, Japan, in 1976. A longtime member of IBPA, he has served on the IBPA board and as IBPA board chair.

ABOUT THE BOOKS Drop of Wizard's Blood is Douglas Arvidson's latest novel. Book III in The Eye of the Stallion Series A whispering: Dag-gar is dead. The air is cold on his skin and there is the sound of wind howling across a desert and there is darkness; though his eyes are open, all is darkness. He tries to call out but there is no voice inside him; there is nothing inside him. He listens… Brothers of the Fire Star When the Japanese army invades the island of Guam at the outset of World War II, two boys of different races and from different cultures escape in a small sailboat. Now they must learn to live together and master the secrets of the ancient Pacific navigators if they are to survive Brothers of the Fire Star has won four literary awards in Young Adult Fiction, Adventure Fiction, and Historical Fiction and is being used in school literature and reading programs. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Douglas Arvidson grew up on a farm in Massachusetts. After serving in the military, he completed a Master's degree, worked as a journalist, and spent twenty-five years overseas where his short stories and essays were published in literary magazines. In 1997 he won an international short story competition in Paris and later four novels were published by Crossquarter Publishing Group of Sante Fe, winning multiple literary awards including top honors in the 2017 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards and a 2013 Book-of-the-Year Finalist Award from ForeWord Reviews. He has twice been an International Literacy Association Visiting Author. He is now working on a multi-volume family saga set in New England. Website: douglasarvidson.com Facebook: Douglas Arvidson, Author Twitter: @douglasarvidson Blog: douglasarvidson.blogspot.com LinkedIn: Douglas Arvidson

Hello Couragemakers! I can't tell you how excited I am to share this week's episode with you!  ​ This week I'm talking with Nina Hart about all things creativity and I seriously could have chatted to Nina all day. Before our conversation Nina shared how finding kindred spirits is like finding a fellow lightening rod and I certainly feel like I've found a fellow lightening rod and I'm pretty sure you will too.  Nina is an Asheville, NC based writer, performer, and creativity coach trained in the Kaizen-Muse method and also a certified Gateless Method writing teacher. Her first collection of surreal short fictions called “Somewhere in a Town You Never Knew Existed Somewhere” was selected as a Short Stories (Adult Fiction) category finalist in Foreword Reviews' prestigious 2014 IndieFab Book of the Year Awards. Nina was also an original member of the experimental dance troupe Contraband, in San Francisco and, playing a purple electric bass, has recorded and performed with numerous bands.  Nina spends her time as a right-brained, highly sensitive, creative entrepreneur. She is passionate about helping artists and writers find their voice and reclaim the hooligan kid spirit that most people have buried under an “adult” veneer. Nina considers herself to be an improvisational writer – she was a blocked writer until she rediscovered the curious part of herself who could play, experiment, and explore. Nina is the founder of a unique method of teaching writing called “Writing from the Top of your Head,” which combines group Creativity Coaching with creative writing. She offers online Writing from the Top of Your Head workshops, both live and self-study, as well intensive retreats and 1:1 coaching.   During our conversation, we dive into Nina's story and how she always knew she was an artist, how safety plays a huge role in creativity and the art of throwing yourself back on yourself – Nina has a wonderful definition of how this works. We talk about real and not-shiny creativity, how vulnerability can be a strength and how life is so much richer when you say yes to your creativity. We also have a very vulnerable conversation about the loneliness that often comes with not fitting in and being an artist and how important it is that you keep going and give the world what only you have to give. The theme of this episode is really rediscovering and reclaiming your creativity rather than finding something that wasn't there before and my hope with this episode is that it will help you reclaim and rediscover some things that really make you feel like yourself and make you feel alive. I found this episode seriously healing and it's a great reminder that you're not alone, and as creative, unconventional and multi-passionate women, we need to keep together and help keep each other's fires lit. ​I know you're going to absolutely love this episode, so settle in and prepare to be inspired.    About Nina   Nina Hart is an Asheville, NC based writer, performer, and creativity coach trained in the Kaizen-Muse method. She is also a certified Gateless Method writing teacher. Her first collection of surreal short fictions called “Somewhere in a Town You Never Knew Existed Somewhere” was selected as a Short Stories (Adult Fiction) category finalist in Foreword Reviews' prestigious 2014 IndieFab Book of the Year Awards. Nina was also an original member of the experimental dance troupe Contraband, in San Francisco and, playing a purple electric bass, has recorded and performed with numerous bands. Nina spends her time as a right-brained, highly sensitive, creative entrepreneur. She is passionate about helping artists and writers find their voice and reclaim the hooligan kid spirit that most people have buried under an “adult” veneer. Nina considers herself to be an improvisational writer – she was a blocked writer until she rediscovered the curious part of herself who could play, experiment, and explore.Nina is the founder of a unique method of teaching writing called “Writing from the Top of your Head,” which combines group Creativity Coaching with creative writing. She offers online Writing from the Top of Your Head workshops, both live and self-study, as well intensive retreats and 1:1 coaching.  To sign up for a chat, or for more information visit www.writingfromthetopofyourhead.com Website | Facebook | Instagram |   Things We Talked About   How life is so much richer when you say yes to your creativity How we can feel connected to our aliveness Rediscovering and reclaiming your creativity rather than finding something that wasn't there before The cult of criticism and the heartbroken artist The loneliness that can come with not fitting in   Resources Mentioned   Kaizen Muse  Theatre of the Oppressed   About Meg & That Hummingbird Life     I'm Meg and I'm the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I'm an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate. I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum. When I'm not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday pep talks to fellow couragemakers (join the party here!) or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multi-passionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It's made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!    

His bestselling, award-winning book In Every Moment We Are Still Alive is just beautiful, already an Indie Next Pick for February. Based, on tragic events and loss in the writer's life, In Every Moment We Are Still Alive, is a powerful and engrossing novel. https://www.theguardian.com/bo oks/2017/jun/08/in-every-momen t-we-are-still-alive-by-tom- malmquist-review WE ARE STILL ALIVE By Tom Malmquist Translated by Henning Koch (A Man Called Ove) Indie Next List for February 2018 An “Indies Introduce” Selection Winner of Sweden’s Dagens Nyheter Culture Prize Shortlisted for the Nordic Council Literary Award The European bestseller published in the United States for the first time “It is bound to invite comparison to Karl Ove Knausgaard’s My Struggle… Perhaps more so than Knausgaard, Malmquist demonstrates that he can relay life in an intense, heightened state. The result is exhilarating.” –Financial Times “Beautiful… arresting… A deeply personal account… As more books are published, we increasingly seek out those writers who promise to give us something more than fiction. We want books made out of lives… The value of Malmquist’s book is precisely that it retains a trace of true human presence – carefully preserved by the author.”—The Guardian “By turns raw, unsettled, and touching, Malmquist’s book is an extended meditation on what it means to love and to mourn. A deeply emotional and affecting novel.” –Kirkus Reviews “A unique form… infused with deep urgency. A great stylist, Malmquist’s immersive prose perfectly limns the demands of living within the chiaroscuro of deep grief.” –Foreword Reviews, starred review “[A] heady debut novel… moving… (a) beautiful, raw meditation on earth-shattering personal loss.” –Publishers Weekly “Kafkaesque… remarkably credible.” –Booklist A prize-winning debut novel chosen as an Indie Next List selection as well as an Indies Introduce pick, Tom Malmquist’s IN EVERY MOMENT WE ARE STILL ALIVE (Melville House; January 30, 2018; Hardcover; $25.99) is a story of loss, love, and family based on true events from the author’s life. This autobiographical novel tells the true and gripping story of a man whose world come crashing down overnight: When Tom’s heavily pregnant partner is rushed to the hospital, doctors are able to save the baby, but are helpless to save her. And in one cruel, fleeting moment Tom gains a daughter but loses his soul mate. Written in starkly beautiful prose that conveys the momentum of a man desperate to pull through, Malmquist writes how he, drowning in the grief of loss, finds hope and resilience in the greatest gift of all: his prematurely born newborn daughter. Both tragic and redemptive, IN EVERY MOMENT WE ARE STILL ALIVE is an utterly human story: that of surviving a loved one. A study in the process of grief, Malmquist’s writing portrays the human suffering felt in day-to-day life, in remembering past memories, and in fantasizing about the future. Translated from Swedish by Henning Koch (A Man Called Ove), IN EVERY MOMENT WE ARE STILL ALIVE has been called “one of the most powerful books about grief every written,” by the judges of the Nordic Council Literary Award. A bestseller in Europe for many months, Melville House is proud to bring this powerful novel to the United States for the first time. The first novelist to every win Sweden’s prestigious Dagens Nyheter Culture Prize, Malmquist shares the story of the year that changed his life. Heartbreaking and inspiring, raw yet tender, this towering tour de force is a magnificent debut. About the author: Tom Malmquist is a poet and sportswriter. He has written two highly acclaimed poetry collections. IN EVERY MOMENT WE ARE STILL ALIVE is his first novel. He lives in Sweden.

Jennie Wood is a writer and musician born and raised in North Carolina and currently resides in Boston, MA. She is the author of the YA novel, A Boy Like Me, which is a Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist, an INDIEFAB Book of the Year finalist, and one of Foreword Reviews’ 10 Best Indie YA novels for 2014. A frequent contributor to the acclaimed anthology series FUBAR by Jeff McComsey Jennie is perhaps best known as the creator and writer of the critically acclaimed, award-winning Flutter, a graphic novel series published by 215 Ink. The trilogy has received numerous accolades from The Advocate, Bleeding Cool and the Virginia Library Association. In this episode, Adrian and Jennie discuss the real-life inspirations behind the conclusion of the Flutter series and how much of the story reflects American society in the wake of Trump's presidency. The conversation tackles subjects such as sexism, racism and the continuing need for indie comics to be a voice of positive change in uncertain times. Plus, Jennie gives listeners insight into how musicians like Courtney Love, Lorde and Veruca Salt inform the world of Flutter.

Jennie Wood is a writer and musician born and raised in North Carolina and currently resides in Boston, MA. She is the author of the YA novel, A Boy Like Me, which is a Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist, an INDIEFAB Book of the Year finalist, and one of Foreword Reviews’ 10 Best Indie YA novels for 2014. A frequent contributor to the acclaimed anthology series FUBAR by Jeff McComsey Jennie is perhaps best known as the creator and writer of the critically acclaimed, award-winning Flutter, a graphic novel series published by 215 Ink. The trilogy has received numerous accolades from The Advocate, Bleeding Cool and the Virginia Library Association. In this episode, Adrian and Jennie discuss the real-life inspirations behind the conclusion of the Flutter series and how much of the story reflects American society in the wake of Trump's presidency. The conversation tackles subjects such as sexism, racism and the continuing need for indie comics to be a voice of positive change in uncertain times. Plus, Jennie gives listeners insight into how musicians like Courtney Love, Lorde and Veruca Salt inform the world of Flutter.

How To Talk To Angels with Lucinda GabrielLucinda M. Gabriel is a bestselling author of the French version of “How To Talk To Angels”. She is a Civil Engineer by profession and decided to follow her soul's calling to write, teach and inspire. Now a bestselling author, speaker and respected Medium, she is also a certified Reiki Master. She studied Angel Therapy™ with the best-selling author, Doreen Virtue as well as Advanced Mediumship with the renowned Medium, Lisa Williams. https://www.lucindagabriel-en.com Enlightened Parenting with Meryl Davids LandauMeryl Davids Landau is the author of the new book Enlightened Parenting: A Mom Reflects on Living Spiritually With Kids. She also wrote the spiritual women’s novel Downward Dog, Upward Fog, which was named a fiction book of the year finalist by Foreword Reviews. Her award-winning articles have appeared in Parents, Glamour, O: The Oprah Magazine, Redbook, Self, Prevention, Reader’s Digest, Huffington Post and other national publications. http://www.MerylDavidsLandau.com

On this episode of AGP, we welcome comic creator Jennie Wood to the show! Jennie Wood is the creator and writer of Flutter, a graphic novel series published by 215 Ink. Featured in The New York Times, Boston Globe, and on Law & Order: SVU, Flutter is one of the best LGBT graphic novels of 2013 and 2015, according to The Advocate. Bleeding Cool lists Flutter as one of the 15 best indie comics of 2014. Flutter, Volume Two: Donâ??t Let Me Die Nervous has been named a 2015 Graphic Novel Diversity Award Honor Book by the Virginia Library Association. Comic Legend Gail Simone calls Flutter â??a truly thrilling graphic novel.â?? Jennie is also the author of the YA novel, A Boy Like Me, which is a Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist, an INDIEFAB Book of the Year finalist, and one of Foreword Reviewsâ?? 10 Best Indie YA novels for 2014. She is an ongoing contributor to the award-winning, New York Times best-selling FUBAR comic anthologies. Jennieâ??s most recent work, Charada, can be found in Singularity: Rise of the Posthumans, the first anthology in a series introducing a new breed of superheroes.

Nonstop Metropolis, the culminating volume in a trilogy of atlases, conveys innumerable unbound experiences of New York City through twenty-six imaginative maps and informative essays. Bringing together the insights of dozens of experts—from linguists to music historians, ethnographers, urbanists, and environmental journalists—amplified by cartographers, artists, and photographers, it explores all five boroughs of New York City and parts of nearby New Jersey. We are invited to travel through Manhattan’s playgrounds, from polyglot Queens to many-faceted Brooklyn, and from the resilient Bronx to the mystical kung fu hip-hop mecca of Staten Island. The contributors to this exquisitely designed and gorgeously illustrated volume celebrate New York City’s unique vitality, its incubation of the avant-garde, and its literary history, but they also critique its racial and economic inequality, environmental impact, and erasure of its past. Nonstop Metropolis allows us to excavate New York’s buried layers, to scrutinize its political heft, and to discover the unexpected in one of the most iconic cities in the world. It is both a challenge and homage to how New Yorkers think of their city, and how the world sees this capital of capitalism, culture, immigration, and more. Contributors: Sheerly Avni, Gaiutra Bahadur, Marshall Berman, Joe Boyd, Will Butler, Garnette Cadogan, Thomas J. Campanella, Daniel Aldana Cohen, Teju Cole, Joel Dinerstein, Paul La Farge, Francisco Goldman, Margo Jefferson, Lucy R. Lippard, Barry Lopez, Valeria Luiselli, Suketu Mehta, Emily Raboteau, Molly Roy, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, Luc Sante, Heather Smith, Jonathan Tarleton, Astra Taylor, Alexandra T. Vazquez, Christina Zanfagna Interviews with: Valerie Capers, Peter Coyote, Grandmaster Caz, Grand Wizzard Theodore, Melle Mel, RZA ABOUT THE AUTHORS Rebecca Solnit is a prolific writer, and the author of many books including Savage Dreams, Storming the Gates of Paradise, and the best-selling atlases Infinite City and Unfathomable City, all from UC Press. She received the Corlis Benefideo Award for Imaginative Cartography from the North American Cartographic Information Society for her work on the previous atlases. Joshua Jelly-Schapiro is a geographer and writer whose work has appeared in The New York Review of Books, New York, Harper's, and the Believer, among many other publications. He is the author of Island People: The Caribbean and the World. http://joshuajellyschapiro.com/ Reviews "In orienting oneself in this atlas...one is invited to fathom the many New Yorks hidden from history’s eye...thoroughly terrific."—Maria Popova Brain Pickings "The editors have assembled a remarkable team of artists, geographers and thinkers...The maps themselves are things of beauty...This is a work that, like its predecessors, isn’t in the business of rosy nostalgia...Nonstop Metropolis is a document of its time, of our time." - Sadie Stein—New York Times "Rebecca Solnit and Joshua Jelly-Schapiro's collection achieves the trifold purpose that all good cartography does — it's beautiful, it inspires real thought about civic planning, and, most of all, it's functional."—The Village Voice "...the New York installment [of the Atlas Trilogy] is eccentric and inspiring, a nimble work of social history told through colorful maps and corresponding essays. Together, Solnit, Jelly-Schapiro and a host of contributors — writers, artists, cartographers and data-crunchers — have come up with dozens of exciting new ways to think about the five boroughs." —San Francisco Chronicle "Nonstop Metropolis is an engaging and enlightening read for anyone who loves New York City, creative scholarship, and top-notch graphic design." —Foreword Reviews "The sum of it all is, like New York itself, overwhelming, alluring and dazzlingly diverse."—Jewish Daily Forward "...the book...contains many beautiful and not-so-beautiful images that document New York’s past and the present, and make tangible the social and cultural diversity of this extraordinary place." —Times Literary Supplement "26 maps of New York that prioritize bachata over Broadway, pho over pizza." —Wired.com One of Publishers Weekly's 20 Big Indie Books of 2016—Publishers Weekly“I am thrilled to have another book-object in this series, as I devoured the San Francisco volume when I was there, and the New Orleans one likewise. Now finally here is one about the town where I live. The format, with the maps, networks, and accompanying stories and histories, is a lovely, nonlinear way of mirroring the almost infinite layers that make up a city. We all have our own mental maps of our cities and the ones we visit—maps that are, like the ones here, historical, musical, temporal, personal, economic, and geographical. The maps in Nonstop Metropolis are a good approximation of how we New Yorkers experience and perceive the city we live in.”—David Byrne “Put your map apps and your GPS away, because none of those high-tech innovations will lead you to the immense satisfaction that this hard-to-put-down book is full of. The unique, clever, and artistic maps give you the who, what, when, and, most importantly, where of loads of unusual and little-known New York City histories. As a New York City native I finally have all the maps I need to the treasures and secrets of my hometown.”—Fab 5 Freddy “A new way to think about the cultural and political life of cities.”—Randy Kennedy, New York Times “Solnit, well known for her writing on politics, art and feminism, has turned her attention to New York City’s complexities in Nonstop Metropolis, the third of her trilogy of atlases and accompanying exhibitions.”—Alex Rayner, The Guardian Selected praise for Infinite City and Unfathomable City “A thought-inducing collection of maps that will challenge your view of what atlases can be.”—Kevin Winter, San Francisco/Sacramento/Portland Book Review “A deeply illuminating assemblage of maps and essays.”—Lynell George, Chicago Tribune “Inventive and affectionate.”—Lise Funderburg, New York Times Book Review “Brilliantly disorients our native sense of place.”—Jonathon Keats, San Francisco Magazine “With Unfathomable City, Solnit and Snedeker have produced an idiosyncratic, luminous tribute to the greatest human creation defined by its audience participants: the city itself.”—Daniel Brook, New York Times

ABOUT AUTHOR NICOLE J. PERSUN   Nicole J. Persun's professional writing career began when she was sixteen, after Booktrope—an independent publisher in Seattle—accepted her first novel, a young adult epic fantasy. A Kingdom's Possession later went on to be a finalist for Foreword Reviews' 2011 Book of the Year Award as well as an Amazon Bestseller.   Nicole's second novel, an adult epic fantasy titled Dead of Knight, recently won First Place in Foreword Magazine's 2013 Book of the Year Award competition, and has also seen Amazon's Bestseller rankings.    Aside from fantasy novels, Nicole enjoys writing short stories and flash fiction in all genres; her poetry has been published in a handful of literary magazines; and she just completed a work of creative nonfiction about her father, Terry Persun, who is also a writer.  www.nicolejpersun.com

To Swallow the Earth - An Adventure 108 years in the making! (Suspense) A man and a woman, each searching for missing family members, clash amid a Nevada silver rush scheme that leaves both unsure who to trust—and scrambling to stay alive. What if you came home after a journey and your family was gone? What if someone else was living in your house, running things—and trying to kill you? Could a beautiful woman be behind it? Wade Forester must stay in the shadows because, it seems, everyone has reason to shoot him. His father has disappeared, and his sister won’t speak to anyone. Beautiful Patricia Laughlin is searching for her family as well. Few people gain her confidence, though powerful landowner Bridger Calhoun just might be the man to do it. After a clash throws them to opposite sides, Wade must decide if risking his life to help Patricia is worth the trouble, and Patricia must learn which killer to trust with her life. “To Swallow the Earth earns the Literary Classics Seal of Approval. MIDVALE, Utah, Feb. 21, 2016 – Award-winning author Karl Beckstrand is from San Jose, California — and is only in his forties. His grandfather grew up ranching, hunting and fishing around the Sierra Nevada Mountains a hundred years ago and used that setting for a western thriller set in the Nevada silver rush. It’s now a young adult suspense novel: “To Swallow the Earth” – and a finalist for the Laramie Award. “My grandfather grew up exploring the Sierra Nevadas on horseback, so he knew the country well,” Beckstrand said. “My challenge was to develop his characters while preserving the plot’s action, suspense and earthy vernacular.” One reviewer said he’d buy the film rights if he had production money. He liked the true-to-life people in unpredictable circumstances. Amazon Author pageKarl Beckstrand is the award-winning author of fifteen juvenile books and more than 40 ebook titles (reviews by Kirkus, The Horn Book blog, School Library Journal, ForeWord Reviews). Raised in San Jose, California, he received a B.A. in journalism from BYU, an M.A. in international relations from APU, and a certificate from Film A. Academy. Two publishers produced his early multicultural children's books; since 2004 he has run Premio Publishing & Gozo Books. An engaging speaker, consultant, and workshop facilitator, Beckstrand has experience in high tech, public policy, film, radio, and TV broadcasting--including scripts, speeches, and Web content. He teaches media at a state college and contrasts traditional publishing with digital book publishing. His YA fiction, ebook mysteries, nonfiction/biographies, Spanish & bilingual books for kids (with pronunciation guide), short stories, wordless books, and picture book app feature diverse characters of color and usually end with a twist. He has lived abroad, been a Spanish/English interpreter, and enjoys volleyball and kayaking (usually not at the same time). Beckstrand has presented for SUECON (education conference), Taiwan's Global Leadership for Youth, California's Capital Book Festival, Utah Educational Library Media Association, Salt Lake City Book Festival, PCI Webinars, Utah Humanities Council, Murray City Writer's Workshop, Utah Housing Coalition, Midvale City Reading Program, Utah Office of Education, professional groups, and schools. His racially diverse work has appeared in: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Border's Books, Costco, Deseret Book, The Children's Miracle Network, The Congressional Record of the U.S. House of Representatives, Papercrafts Magazine, LDS Film Festival, various broadcasts, and PremioBooks.com. Find: "Karl Beckstrand" on FB, Twitter, KarlBeckstrand.com

First, a cheek up from the neck up: State: manic, season? Dream. I shake and twitch. My nose rune, IO am freezing., The temperature is 85 degrees Fahrenheit with the heater and fire on. I feel high, in haste, pressured with a sense of urgency and optimistic, stress, stress, stress, and extremely irritable, unrealistic in general, not worthy, manic, depressed, mixed up, confused, sleeping very little, but feeling extremely energetic. I wrote and talk so rapidly that others can't keep up. My thoughts, beliefs and ideas race, as do the voices in my head. Everything, mainly my thoughts jump quickly from one idea to the next. Ugh, necessary urgency, manic, manic, manic. Bipolar, schizophrenia, schizoaffective, Storms swirl sadistically creatively. I know they are not good enough I have do better. in my head, my room and my life. I'm scared of my own death, chain smoking, drinking water, water and more water. I am at distracted by all of the noise in this silent office here at midnight. I can't concentrate,. I feel fragmented and disconnected to myself. I feel worthless unapologetic. Impulsive. It'll pass. It'll pass. I know. It will. I write this recklessly. My thoughts skip a beat,. I'm a recluse. I know for a fact that my delusions and hallucinations have returned. I speak into the cell phone, voice texting this piece. Editing too much. Overdoing it. Writing, more and more. Not enough…. Time passes. I come upon my 40th year. Time passes so quickly these days. The prognosis of my schizophrenia spectrum disorder progresses as my cognitive abilities decline.  Life is an intimate and somewhat private stage. The Internet is a public and global stage that is written in ink, not pencil. There is a curtain that always remains open.Time passes. Time goes ... where? “I've always loved the night, when everyone else is asleep and the world is all mine. It's quiet and dark—the perfect time for creativity.” —Jonathan Harnisch, Porcelain Utopia. I forget the rest. I just don't care anymore. But, the sad part is I actually do. Love me, hate me, hurt me, or kill me. But I keep fighting. In a recent review in Foreword Reviews—known as “THE indie books magazine”—of one of my novels, perhaps my legacy, Jonathan Harnisch: An Alibiography, Alex Franks, in an excellent critique, writes: “Mental illness is romanticized at points in the text, as well, which may leave some familiar with the realities with an unsavory taste. That's not to say the work isn't well written—it's carefully plotted with well-rendered characters, presented in a narrative that would appropriately be deemed ‘schizophrenic.'” To romanticize, we must deal with an event in an idealized or unrealistic fashion; make something seem better or more appealing than it really is. I must have been having a good day when writing those “romanticized” parts. But, Jesus, sometimes I know of no other way to cope, I suppose.  The illness sucks. Schizophrenia sucks. And right now I think I suck. I'm sick. I am very sick. I was simply taking a nap in the house, and my so-to-speak real life is fully delusional. At any rate, all the negative things, as my psychiatrist reminds me daily, are hallucinations or delusions. I am turning into my own book in many respects, and I still do not accept my mental health condition overall, not being able to tell what is real and what is not real, while my thinking, behavior, and mood are also altered. I think that in itself presents a large problem—most of my problems.  I will be around. I hope I will be working, not sleeping. I don't know. As the day continues, I will try my best for you because I trust you, and I think you know that I would like your thoughts on things at some point. I understand many of the things I ask others to do are simply unrealistic or out of your jurisdiction, maybe. I just don't know how to wing it, while at the same time we must never mind typos. I don't know what I'm saying. I have no clue, though life is just impossible. I have to have a plan. I can't make one. I have nothing. If you have a full hour until one o'clock, feel free to leave messages of any kind. I just have nothing to say. Blah, blah, blah...  Too many problems to discuss, and they change—with additions and deletions. For example, this morning. And then not later in the morning. And then now, which means it has changed three times already. I believe I am not real and that nothing is real, not even that thought. All I do is hurt people. I am often ashamed of myself, mostly when I am around other people in any way at all. And I think I'm brilliant, and I talk too much, and I don't talk at all. I'm a complete waste, a failure, a miserable miscreant, and then it changes back-and-forth, back-and-forth, back-and-forth. You can see I'm trying to communicate, and I just can't. Anyway I am safe. I am not suicidal. As usual, I'm sure many are concerned, though nobody is here or there. I don't care. This has already taken me 40 minutes to write. It sounds scary, and sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn't. Everything is in black and white right now. I just don't care about a thing. I have no idea what is going on, if anything at all. I lie, I cheat, I steal, and I use people. I'm a goodhearted person, I am smart, I am a creative, I am successful, I am wealthy, and I have my good times. Simply, in three words: "I don't know." But somehow I seem to get through it. The sad part is that I can't help it. The curtain opens again. “Oh no, not him again. Not Jonathan. Not Harnisch,” a chorus of voices chants in lyrical beats and a rhythmic tempo in my head. It's perfect. It suits me fine and fittingly so. I am hidden. Hidden beneath my meticulously cluttered desk covered in piles of books sits a frozen, mysterious, mosaic-eyed man in a tattered brown-and-yellow plaid suit. His thick salt-and-pepper hair is shaggy and mussed, his face unshaven, and his demeanor disheveled. His name is Jonathan Harnisch. Oh, that is me again. I can't get away from myself. Already up all night and day, and onto something else, something new. Something.  I invite you to take what you want and leave the rest of this essay, as with any of my work for that matter. I must apologize in advance, for I am having a bit of an episode and feel bitter, groggy, and, I might add, narcissistic—deriving from no self-esteem, perhaps. I am once again out of bed and inspired. I think. We'll see if it comes across. That seems strange to me. My introduction. As my father would say, bizarre and odd, and perhaps it makes him look bad since he is a public figure. I am sorry, Pops. This is about me and perhaps about my readers.  I have no idea how this is coming out. Just write. If I lose a thought, I'll grab hold of something else and run with that. God bless my scattered thoughts. I am leaving them in this writing without revision. And now, the Great John Nash. I mean, Jonathan. Yes, that guy. The same person as last time. Different but the same. Strange. To begin with my first unavoidable non sequitur, since I can't seem to think straight without sleep. 72 hours now. People are strange. No I didn't say that. Someone else did, I think. “How was that for an introduction?” I ask myself, but I hear no response. I often do. But I have always believed that anyone, yes, anyone suffering from any type of mental illness is one badass mother f'*er. Nothing is more terrifying than battling with your own mind every single day.  So, get ready for this. It may not be for the faint of heart. While promoting one of my novels, I was known to say, regarding the comparison of my work to Alasdair Gray's 1982, Janine—a challenging book about power and powerlessness, men and women, masters and servants, small countries and big countries—that this sexploration of the politics of pornography has lost none of its power to shock. This is a searing portrait of male need and inadequacy, as explored via the lonely sexual fantasies of the character in all my work and most of my real life.  I am not here to promote my work. I have simply been starting to believe and see my entire life as entirely and seamlessly in sequence with the story of my otherwise fictionalized autobiography. How pretentious of me, a Dostoevsky would likely say in criticism. One of my literary heroes. But in line with the stream of fragmented thought I'm know for… I am a failed husband, lover, and businessman. Yet there is hope that I can use the literary playground of my wildly eccentric mind and reality as an author and all-around artist, dreamer, man on a mission, and human being just like you that also suffers—like all of us, in one way or another—to some degree. The author (oui, c'est moi, l'auteur, the third person) laughs as he writes this, but hey, we're all for sale in some way. But actually, I'm all over the place. I'm in my head, my imagination, and my moment—comfortable here (comfortable nowhere).  Have I already lost you? Awesome! Keep reading. I do what I do, as they say, and I change. All the time, often taking delight in the touchy topic of madness, for example, in this brand new, raw, brutally honest, and extremely palpable psychiatric thriller that is part fiction and part truth and is featured in Publishers Weekly and Writer's Digest, among other literary publications—by controversial mental health advocate, Jonathan Harnisch (Jonathan Harnisch: An Alibiography (2014); Second Alibi: The Banality of Life (2014); Sex, Drugs, and Schizophrenia (2014); Living Colorful Beauty (2015)). Ah, another reality begins slipping in. I am aware, I think. Maybe? Possibly. Maybe it's me, maybe it's the mental illness, and maybe it's nothing. Random rules! Ah, an oxymoron! I love it. Another illogical non sequitur? How many? I think I have already lost track. I'm still finding myself. What is the sad part? That is what I wonder. Whether by the end there is some sort of whimper or bang that resonates? Bordering on brilliant, I love this. Mania. Sleep deprivation. Stuff. Myself. I admit it, I won't defend myself. I don't. Usually. I'd rather find reality, as it slips away otherwise, every day.  Lost. My lost thought. Lost? Yes. I talk to myself. Even in my writing, my jibber jabber. The voice in my head is telling me now. I take dictation, as fragmented as it is: “You're nothing but a waling cliché.” I won't argue with that. I think the voices often tell me the truth. I love my alter egos and my double self—not a multiple personality, I must emphasize. Recognized as such, in my Alibi. Ben, Georgie, Tom, Claudia, Heidi, Kelly, and so forth, my friends... (Fragment. Should I reconsider or break the rules of grammar? I choose the latter. I finished school. I write how I want these days, indeed. I am Jonathan Harnisch, the fragmented stream-of-thought, delusional, self-stigmatizing, at times self-loathing, four-times #1 Amazon bestselling author and #1 writer of hot new releases under the subject of schizophrenia. He introduces his ("Yours?" asks Dr. C, in my throbbing, labyrinthine head), yes, my, debut novel. Perhaps my pièce de résistance, Jonathan Harnisch: An Alibiography is now being taught at the university level for its inspiration and vivid feelings of a disturbed reality, which is sometimes disquieting and at other times harsh. And with real emotions! It is culture-bearing, brazen, and bordering on brilliant—bam! Here she is, for 10 bucks (US), with all royalties donated to charity through the Jonathan Harnisch Foundation. Boom!  Lover in the Nobody, where Ben Schreiber (voila, c'est moi, c'est Jonathan!) has Tourette's syndrome that causes him to display uncontrollable tics and hops, stuttering and swearing inappropriately. Bullied throughout his school years, he can never form firm friendships, especially with women. He's simply incapable of happiness. In his late twenties, he plunges into a downward spiral of drug and alcohol abuse that culminates in an attempted bank robbery using a cell phone as a fake bomb. He is arrested and placed under psychiatric evaluation, where his psychiatrist, Dr. C, quickly sees that Ben's affliction is more than just Tourette's. Ben is not alone. Inside his head lives Georgie Gust, Ben's alter ego. Georgie is obsessed with his manipulative and extremely sexual next-door neighbor Claudia Nesbitt and shares a sadomasochistic relationship with her that is supported only in his obsession. Claudia has no love for Georgie, and while Ben desperately searches for someone, Claudia Nesbitt, the perfect woman, is able to provide him with the unconditional love that he never received as a boy. He finds it easier to retreat into his mind and to share George's sick obsession with the cruel and abusive Claudia than to deal with his real issues. Dr. C senses that Ben is suffering from some type of post-traumatic stress that occurred early in his childhood and that he is using Georgie as an escape whenever bad memories start to surface. It is up to Dr. C to help Ben face the buried terrors of his childhood so that he can finally let go of Georgie and reduce him to the literary character that writer Ben wants him to be. Alas, if you don't have this book in your library or classroom, what do you have? Get your copy now! P.S. I never said I was "normal." I suffer and move on. I laugh and cry. I write it all out and never give up. Sending light and love, from me, Mr. J. I'm lost. I don't know what to do with my life. I don't know what I'm doing anymore. I don't know what I want to see. My world used to be worth living for, and now it's hard enough just to be me. Those who have experienced psychosis are stigmatized in our society, and those with schizophrenia are highly attuned to stigma. I live with both, and my life is spent living in my own way within the comorbid schizophrenia spectrum—with medical support, psychiatric and therapeutic help, and the work I do on my own to battle the symptoms and episodes I experience frequently as my illness falls deeper and deeper into a state of decline. I still have my good days and my bad days. It is interesting for me to look back at these written accounts of the bouts I have had with myself and with schizophrenia—and how I seem to always get through them. To me, that shows resilience. I am proud of that. I am not a motivational speaker. That is not my job. Please understand. I am a deeply troubled and disturbed person. I only write when I am sleep-deprived or symptomatic. I never get writer's block. I never get to sleep. I. I. I… Me. Me. Me… I write and publish what I want and what I feel, no matter what mood or state of mind I am in, but I always do my best to keep things positive. I miss the mark frequently. I love those who speak from their core—truth—whatever it is they feel, expressing every last feeling. I want to thank everyone who continues to stick around with me online. I have no friends in real life and no family. I engage in deep philosophical conversations with store clerks, where turnaround is quick. I see them once or twice at the Quick Fix on Maple Street and then never again. I am a wandering, wondering prophet of sorts. I am an oddball and a weirdo—an eccentric, intricate, lyrically minded creation. A nutcase. I feel at my best writing out my shame, my narcissism, and my delinquency—my insanity. My delusion. My life. I built something, and they came. No, I get to the core. I lose. I am mad. I am real. I am the real deal. Shameless and raw, brazen and careless. Genius. My moods change frequently, and I currently don't know how I feel. I settle for nothing less than the bitter and savagely violent brutal truth. Beyond that, there I am… nothing. There is nothing. I look in the mirror and see a complete stranger. I apologize for my exuberance. No, wait; I don't apologize for going blotto yesterday—for my exuberance. I revel in it. I encourage you to take what you want and leave the rest. Considering my diagnoses with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and so forth, blah, a rare blood disease, dyslexia, and cancer, I am doing okay. I keep the hope and move forward, always. Tonight I haven't slept, again, so here I am back as usual when symptomatic and sleep-deprived to use writing therapy as my tool—my lifeline. I often consider writing in itself as my life.  I think all in all it comes down to the fact that other people in my life have all the say in my life and that they have full control of my life, although as I write I realize that this is likely my illness speaking; it is my mind playing tricks on me. I do not have control of my own life, and frankly I do not want control of my life because my mind with schizophrenia feels all too often to determine everything. I won't settle for anything less than the brutal truth. I'm not excusing myself from this either. I am a troubled man. I am not good. I burn bridges. I can't make my mind up about anything. I can love, but I cannot fall in love. I don't know how to trust. I make more mistakes than I should. I am always sorry, but I never change. I am afraid of letting anyone else in my life get too close to me. If you want to come into my life, the door is open. If you want to get out of my life, the door is open. I have just one request. Don't stand in the door and block the traffic. Sometimes I see no other way than to let other people go. I remove them and erase them completely from my life because I believe they are toxic to me. If I can, I let them go I remove them completely from my life and do my best not to feel guilty about it. I frequently feel I have no other choice but to them go because they take and take and leave me feeling empty. I let them go when I can because in the ocean of life when all I am trying to do is stay afloat, they are the anchor that drowns me. Unfortunately and perhaps sadly enough when I blame other people, I blame myself. I let go of myself. That is one of the brutal truths about me. I will only settle for the brutal truth. I must also admit in confession that sometimes I look into the mirror. I see a complete stranger. You don't want to be me. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder often characterized by abnormal social behavior and a failure to recognize what is real. Common symptoms include false beliefs, unclear or confused thinking, auditory hallucinations, reduced social engagement and emotional expression, and lack of motivation. Sometimes I see no other way than to let other people go. I remove them and erase them completely from my life because I believe they are toxic to me. If I can, I let them go. I remove them completely from my life and do my best not to feel guilty about it. Frequently, I feel I have no other choice but to them go because they take and take and leave me feeling empty. I let them go when I can because in the ocean of life, when all I am trying to do is stay afloat, they are the anchors that drown me. Unfortunately, and perhaps sadly, when I blame other people, I blame myself. I let go of myself. That is one of the brutal truths about me. I will only settle for the brutal truth. I must also admit in confession that sometimes I look into the mirror. I see a complete stranger. The saying comes to mind: “People will hate you, rate you, shake you and break you. But how strong you stand is what makes you.” This comes into my mind, penetrating my mind. I must stand. I must keep going. There is light at the end of the tunnel. It's the damn hallways in between that get in the way. The hallways keep me awake, as I try to find the door and try to keep hope and faith. I have it. I have this. I will never give up. Never, ever. Never say never. “Never!” I kick ass. When given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kindness. People may not tell you how they feel about you, but they will always show you. Pay attention. Spread kindness. Be nice to those around you. If you can't think of anything nice to say, you're not thinking hard enough. Smile at others and start a piggy bank for a cause, keeping your spare change in the piggy bank. When it is full, donate it to a charity of your choice. A sincere smile is a very kind and meaningful way to make a positive difference in someone's day. Without using words, a smile says to a person, "Hi, I hope you have a nice day." Help a child learn. When you look back at your childhood, you can probably name several key people who taught you some of the most important things you know today. You too can be an influential force in a child's life by spending time helping him or her to learn. Though it is a common courtesy to say "Bless you!" when someone sneezes, people rarely do so unless it is someone they know. The next time you hear or see someone sneeze, offer those kind words regardless of whether or not you know the person. And if you have a tissue on hand, offer that, too!  Beyond anything else, the hardest part is self-compassion. You need that to do anything for others. That seems to be the hard part, but is the first step. Again, by default, when given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kindness. It will make a huge difference if you can pull it off, one of those easier-said-than-done ideas. I speak from experience.  Thank you for reading these thoughts, some of which I have read about from various sources online and in books about kindness. I behave in this way when I can, often going to homeless parks and giving away food from a restaurant whenever I can leave the house. I have been doing so for years and years, and I even wrote a chapter about this in Alibiography, my debut novel—the chapter entitled "Benevolent Georgie." Enjoy your morning, day, or evening, depending wherever you are in your neck of the woods. There is more to come.  I find my closure quite amusing. At the same time, in all seriousness, one final thought: that other people who don't understand the first thing about me and my delusional reality should stop expecting “normal” from me. We all know it is never going to happen. I hope this leaves you with a little laugh, all the while gaining a glimpse into my madness in order to understand or possibly simply consider your own. In closing, maybe the sad part is that I seem not to care anymore; the good part is I actually do. Love me or hate me: I continue delivering this discourse as the unconventional mental health advocate that I believe I am, with quotes galore, schizoaffective disorder, Tourette's syndrome with Autistic spectrum disorders, and PTSD. And all the rest not otherwise specified. I'm still the same bad-ass author and Hollywood sage with more to come. Until next time, or to quote Jerry Springer of all people, "Till next time, take care of yourselves and each other." I am and will always be Jonathan Harnisch. That is enough for now. The curtain draws shut. You can also find Jonathan on Facebook and Twitter. Author Jonathan Harnisch has written semi-fictional and semi-autobiographical bestselling novels, Jonathan Harnisch: An Alibiography and Second Alibi: The Banality of Life, which are available on Amazon and through most major booksellers. He is also a noted, and sometimes controversial, author, mental-health advocate, fine artist, blogger, podcast host, patent holder, hedge-fund manager, musician, and film and TV writer and producer. Google him for more information.

Fred Minnick captures whiskey in words and photos for Whisky Magazine, Whisky Advocate, and many freelance opportunities. He also writes for Parade, Scientific American, Covey Rise and others. Minnick’s latest release is Bourbon Curious: A Simple Tasting Guide for the Savvy Drinker, which hits bookshelves this month. Previously he wrote the critically acclaimed book “Whiskey Women”, which won ForeWord Reviews ’14 “Book of the Year” in Women’s Studies, while his Iraq War memoir “Camera Boy” became a Wall Street Journal bestseller. Minnick is a two time Pink Lady International Food Photographer of the Year finalist and is the Bourbon Authority for the Kentucky Derby Museum. He judges the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and the World Whisky Awards.

A native of Joliet, Ill., John Ferak covered the stunning discovery of Scott Shanahan's remains inside his Defiance, Iowa home. Ferak later chronicled the awful tragedy in rural Murdock, also for the Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska's largest news organization. Ferak has appeared on Investigation Discovery's "Cold Blood" and also on HLN News.His first book, BLOODY LIES: A CSI SCANDAL IN THE HEARTLAND, has been chosen as one of seven finalists for the 2014 true-crime book of the year at Foreword Reviews. His second book, about the Iowa murder of Scott Shanahan, has been an #Amazon bestseller since its release on #Kindle Jan. 15, 2015. It came out in paperback in April.Ferak has appeared on Omaha's KETV, Omaha's Tom Becka Radio Show, Omaha's KFAB 1110-AM and Chicagoland's WJOL with host Scott Slocum. Ferak is a repeat special guest of Darkness Radio's True-Crime Tuesday: Twin Cities' Newstalk 1130 AM with host Dave Schrader, The Generation Why Podcast, and True-Crime Uncensored: America's most popular true-crime radio show, hosted by the legendary Burl Barer of Los Angeles. These days, Ferak is an award-winning investigative team member for Gannett Wisconsin Media, based at The Post-Crescent in Appleton, Wis. He also has worked as a reporter or editor at the South Bend Tribune in Indiana, The Daily Herald based in Arlington Heights Ill., and the Green Bay Press-Gazette.Although Ferak takes his writing and journalism seriously, he enjoys spending his free time with his wife, Andrea, and their three children. Ferak roots for the Green Bay Packers and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He is a devoted follower of Major League Baseball and the Chicago White Sox. He is also known to enjoy a can or two of his favorite canned beer, Pabst Blue Ribbon, “The people's beer,” as he likes to call it.Photo by Sharon CekadaThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/1198501/advertisement

Devi Ward continues her conversation with the very knowledgeable and fabulous, Patricia Johnson and Mark Michaels about creating a new paradigm for relationships. Including:* The 10 biggest myths about relationships* Unconscious Monogamy* Love as a profound interest* And SO much more!!Mark A. Michaels and Patricia Johnson are a devoted married couple. They have been creative collaborators – teaching and writing about sexuality and Tantra together – since 1999. Michaels and Johnson are the authors of Partners in Passion (Cleis 2014), Great Sex Made Simple, Tantra for Erotic Empowerment, and The Essence of Tantric Sexuality. Their books have garnered numerous awards: Independent Publishing (IPPY), ForeWord Reviews, and USA Book News Best Books, among others. They are also the creators of the meditation CD set Ananda Nidra: Blissful Sleep. To support the pleasure-positive community in New York, they co-founded Pleasure Salon in 2007.www.MichaelsandJohnson.com Connect with Patricia and Mark:Twitter: @TantraPM or @PtrsInPassionFacebook: http://Facebook.com/PartnersinPassionGuide

Mark A. Michaels and Patricia Johnson are a devoted married couple. They have been creative collaborators – teaching and writing about sexuality and Tantra together – since 1999. Michaels and Johnson are the authors of Partners in Passion (Cleis 2014), Great Sex Made Simple, Tantra for Erotic Empowerment, and The Essence of Tantric Sexuality. Their books have garnered numerous awards: Independent Publishing (IPPY), ForeWord Reviews, and USA Book News Best Books, among others. They are also the creators of the meditation CD set Ananda Nidra: Blissful Sleep. To support the pleasure-positive community in New York, they co-founded Pleasure Salon in 2007. www.MichaelsandJohnson.com

Listen Here: Elaine Ambrose, who through her books, blogs, and speaking engagements, encourages women over fifty to discover the happiness that comes from having a consistent laughter routine. Her new book, Midlife Cabernet, recently won a national humor award as well as a four-star rating from ForeWord Reviews, a prominent national reviewer. Elaine podcasts with […] The post Podcast: The Midlife Laughter Challenge appeared first on JenningsWire.

How can you market your small business when you're just getting started?  What are some lean strategies for marketing your small business?  Jeff and Gary are joined by Sherré DeMao of SLD Unlimited Marketing/PR Inc. to discuss some strategies from her book, "50 Marketing Secrets of Growth Companies in Down Economic Times". Sherré DeMao is founder and Chief Marketeer of SLD Unlimited Marketing /PR, Inc., an award-winning strategic consulting, marketing branding and public relations firm. She is passionate about helping entrepreneurs prosper in life and in business, and has dedicated her 27-year career to this purpose. Her book entitled, Me, Myself & Inc.: A Synergized World, An Energized Business, Living Your Ultimate Life, was named a Top Business Shelf Pick by Midwest Book Review. Her latest book, 50 Marketing Secrets of Growth Companies in Down Economic Times, has received national acclaim as a Top Business Shelf Pick, a 5-Star Read by Armchair Interviews and a book "business marketers will refer to time and time again" by ForeWord Reviews. Gary Muller is the Business Programs Department Head of Catawba Valley Community College, as well as a member of the National Association of Community Colleges for Entrepreneurship (NACCE). Jeff Neuville is the Director of the Small Business Center at Catawba Valley Community College, as well as involved in Business Assist NC.

My esteemed guest this evening is award-winning journalist, author and celebrity ghost writer, Holly Robinson. Holly and I will be discussing the craft of writing, her published novels and her latest book, The Wishing Hill, which is already receiving glowing reviews and will be published by New American Library/Penguin on July 2, 2013. Holly's marvelous work appears regularly in national venues such as Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Huffington Post, Ladies' Home Journal, More, Open Salon, and Parents.  She also works as a ghost writer on celebrity memoirs, education texts, and health books. Her first book, The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter: A Memoir, was named a Target Breakout Book. Her first novel, Sleeping Tigers, was named a 2011 Book of the Year Finalist by ForeWord Reviews and was more recently listed as a Semifinalist 2012 Best Indie Book by Kindle Book Review.  –Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You says ofThe Wishing Hill, “Who and what make us who we really are? In Robinson's luminous novel of buried secrets, she explores how the past can jumpstart the future, how motherhood can be more than genetics, and why finding yourself sometimes depends on discovering the truth in others.” The Wishing Hill can be preordered at this link: http://tinyurl.com/mnwlou8