Saturday, May 14, 2022

Contrast Brings Clarity

 




Does one size really fit all? As lovely as that might sound, people come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. It is therefore virtually impossible to design a clothing item that can truly fit all people. In reality, the ‘one size fits all’ ideal is actually designed to fit sizes within a specific range.

Much like clothing items, traditional education centers around a ‘one size fits all’ methodology. As a result, a single-core teaching model is used for all students, regardless of their individual learning style. And this applies to teaching styles as well as to student evaluations. So, as a parent, what do you do when your child does not fit into that one core teaching model?

In Contrast Brings Clarity, Teressa answers that very question. Her courageous response completely changed the course of her life — and that of her son. While she struggled to build a suitable educational experience for him, Teressa overcame countless obstacles and, in due course, answered the homeschooling call. Eventually, side by side, mother and son embarked on the adventure of a lifetime.

Along her incredible journey, Teressa learned numerous strategies that helped her son succeed academically — and she would like to share those strategies with you.






Friday, May 13, 2022

Twisted Shores

 


Twisted Shores:

Book 1 of The Twisted Boeman Series


Alongside the quiet tides of Sydney, Nova Scotia, Bill Shapely is about to come face-to-face with a reckoning of his own reality. An Entity, this Boeman, bathed in the essence of pure evil, is about to make landfall in Bill's hometown, bringing a wave of havoc and terror across the forsaken city. One-by-one, Bill watches as this shadowy Entity slowly takes control of the city's inhabitants, seizing them under his distorted dominance, transforming them into twisted abominations, compelled to obey the Entity's malevolent commands, all while helpless to watch, trapped within the depths of their own consciousness.

Bill (and few friends made along the way) must escape the devastating wake of the Entity's terror, fighting for every inch of their lives in this jam-packed thriller, with action and horror running from cover-to-cover. Can Bill survive the Entity's wrath, or will he be consumed by darkness, forever forced to obey the Entity's twisted commands?

Twisted Shores is the first entry into The Twisted Boeman Series, and the debut novel of A. Ryan MacGibbon. Look out for Twisted in Time, the next entry in the series, and one that twists our understanding of time itself, and the horrors within.




Click here to get Twisted Shores on Amazon / Kindle 


 


Thursday, May 12, 2022

The Rackon

 


The Rackon 


Two space-faring women take on special assignments with a tendency to brush with cosmic horrors. One is a coward and genius, the other stoic and mad. With only a man of metal joining them aboard a massive cargo ship - the Rackon - will they survive the terrors of space?



 



Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Walk

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WALK:

How to Turn the Most Boring Thing in the World into Something Extraordinary 



An absurdist adventure travelogue and self-help book for jaded cynics, WALK chronicles the antics of a movement fanatic who walks 1000 km after total hip replacement surgery. 

Phase 1: denial
Phase 2: training to fall by skating on asphalt
Phase 3: learning to pee
Phase 4: walking 1000 kilometers

Left with no other options, the dancer/martial artist/adrenaline freak forces herself to walk and walk and walk and gradually discovers the virtues of slowing down. Along the way, the reluctant walker learns to see the world in super macro, think like Sherlock, and invents puzzle games while pacing.

She shares tales of bionic women, an 80 year old marathon runner, a crazy race horse and a missing pink sphinx and explores the nature of perseverance. Speed is not the goal. Seeing is. WALK shows how to turn the most boring thing in the world into something extraordinary.

* * * * *

Rosa Mei: "This book started off as an idea after talking to my friend Dario about walking. We were both recovering from joint surgery and comparing war stories. I was complaining about how much I needed to walk to get better, how I always thought it was the most boring thing in the world to do. Dario, a professional ballet dancer, was adamantly on the other side of the fence. "I LOVE IT! It's my favorite thing in the world to do."

I thought he was joking, but he was 100% serious. I told him that since I started walking so, so much, my opinion of this mundane activity had taken a 180 degree turn. I laughed, "Man, I should write a book about that!!"

"Yes, you should!!" he said, and I did.

Originally my plan was to just spit it out and have it done at the same time I finished walking 1000 km, but that would only give me about 2 weeks to finish. In the end it took me three.

Dario said he felt like Bastian, the 10-year-old boy in The Never-Ending Story, who follows a young warrior Atreyu on his quest to find a cure to heal the child empress of Fantasia. The process of writing this book in many ways paralleled my journey of walking 1000 km in 80 days after total hip replacement surgery. I could have not anticipated the twists and turns along the way. So, thanks, Dario, and here's to whims transforming into epic sagas. His story is now chapter 32 of the book. He talks about walking the Camino de Santiago on a whim (of course).

While I was walking, I thought a lot about The Little Prince, Sherlock Holmes, the nature of seeing and creativity, the war in the Ukraine, living in exile, and felt real gratitude for what I have, my family and friends who have always supported me along the way. After I passed 1000 km... I kept walking and now have finished the first draft of a book I have been working on for 19 years... 19 years. To be continued."






Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Heal Thyself

 



Here are three stories of broken men. Cuckoldry, childhood abuse, murdered parents. Ben, Nick, and Jason have all been dealt bad hands at one point, leading to present lives they would change if they could. When they are offered a chance to use the past to fix their futures, they grasp it. Who wouldn't do that? Would you partake of that last offered cup, no matter whose hand held it? 

These are stories of the dark costs of these choices. Isn't it true that nothing in life is free? At least, not the things we truly desire. Just ask Ben, a meek graphic designer caring for his brain damaged wife, who escapes into a past that grants him the power he lacks in the present, or Nick, a popular children's TV host who believes his own dark hungers can be stamped out before they begin, or Jason, whose life as a middle-aged hardware store clerk .would be so much better if only his parents had never been murdered ...

Whether it be Liverpool, Glasgow, or Las Vegas, dark forces keep watchful eyes on those that can be tempted, ready to offer those in need of a chance to fix things, to make things right. Some people might ask the cost of a chance like that. Others, like Ben, Nick, and Jason, don't.




Note: this is a VERY dark book, as other reviewers have noted. It is NC17 adult horror, NOT PG13, and the content has been described as "disturbing" and "hard to read" because of that.

 



Neighborhood Watch

 


Neighborhood Watch


Kirkus Reviews calls Kevin Kenealy's psychological thriller Neighborhood Watch a book filled with "Superb characters [that] headline this chilling, slow-burn crime tale."

When the Caseys move into affluent Ridgeport, Ill. in search of a better life for their newborn Scott, they are surprised to find a book entitled, Ridgeport Welcomes You: Procedures and Guidelines for Happy Living. The book is full of rules and ordinances that citizens must abide by in order to live in their happy neighborhood. Although mom Loretta Casey is hesitant to live by Ridgeport’s strict rules, all that changes when she meets her neighbor Sue Ellen Norris.

Sue Ellen serves on the Neighborhood Watch Committee, overseeing the safety of the town, and Loretta becomes engrossed in Sue Ellen’s addictive personality. But as Loretta’s son Scott and Sue Ellen’s son Matt grow, they discover that Ridgeport is not as perfect as their moms make it out to be. As Scott and Matt form their band of friends, their journeys into the neighborhood woods prove to be much more than just a place of refuge.


Monday, May 9, 2022

Tempest: Epic of Faölan Book 1

 



Enter Jarlith. Overlooking the sea, Jarlith spots an armada of foreign ships approaching the coast of his village. As soon as Jarlith sees the red sails on the ships, he knows who they are—the enemy. At that exact moment, the tempest begins. Lightning crackles, splitting the stormy skies overhead, as a deadly mix of rain and fire begin falling. Out on the rough seas, waves beat against the approaching enemy ships, but Jarlith understands that no natural force will stop the invading armada. It will be up to Jarlith to save his people. Realizing this compels Jarlith to enlist with the Jakurian guard and unite with an estranged kingdom across the lands of Faölan. Together, they will have a fighting chance of liberating the capital city of Jakuri from this invasion.

Hallis is a forest dweller, and feels a connection to all life around him. But when his best friend, Sapphire, is kidnapped by the invaders, he is forced to leave the solitary life he knew amongst his elfish folk, and venture forth to rescue her. The journey is rife with battles, tricksters, centaurs, giants, and other monsters that Hallis has never before encountered. Soon he is swept up with a roving band of centaurs who are relentless in their aim to re-establish solidarity between tribes and unify all of the species throughout Faölan.

The two stories intertwine and conclude in an epic tale of friendship, betrayal, and romance as Jarlith and Hallis come together to liberate the capital. This stand-alone novel is an action-packed fantasy, full of new creatures, magical abilities, warfare, and intrigue that will leave you wanting more and eager to dive into Book Two of the Epic of Faölan series.