What do Chihuahuas, cheesecake and heavy metal have in common? All three are subjects of delicious new books I’m promoting.
When Esri Allbritten queried me way back in 2010 about CHIHUAHUA OF THE BASKERVILLES (St. Martin’s Minotaur Books; July 2011), I knew with a title like that the book promised to be hilarious, and it surely lives up to its promise. Mystery Scene Magazine concurred: “With a title like this, can a mystery be anything but hilarious? Fortunately, Chihuahua of the Baskervilles lives up to its comedic promise.”
Esri Allbritten is a smart, savvy young writer. Not only has she written an engaging mixture of parody and suspense, but Esri also has marketing acumen as well. She hired me to saturate Colorado media—her homestate—and the payoff was huge: A profile story in The Denver Post, and a great review in The Boulder Daily Camera: “To curl up with a book about a ghost Chihuahua named Petey is to thank heaven you ever learned to read in the first place…. In the quirky, humorous little mystery…. Allbritten offers plenty of reading pleasures in this off-the-wall tale. Readers will love and root for the little dog, Petey and all the others."
Other local publications have featured stories or reviews as well, and I was able to schedule many book signing events throughout Colorado.
SAY CHEESECAKE
If you’re a New Yorker, then you must have heard of, if not tasted, the sumptuously delicious Junior’s Cheesecake. Junior’s is a family-run restaurant that opened more than 60 years ago and has become a New York institution.
Now, Alan Rosen, third generation of the Rosen family, offers 75 delicious desserts in JUNIOR’S DESSESRT COOKBOOK: Over 75 Recipes for Cheesecakes, Pies, Cookies, Cakes and More (Taunton Press; October 2011).
So if you don’t live in New York and want to know what all the fuss is about, pre-order a copy online. The recipe for their original cheesecake, rated #1 by The Wall Street Journal, The Today Show, New York Magazine and Iron Chef, is featured in this latest Junior’s cookbook.
I recently sampled the original cheesecake when I was at the Times Square Junior’s, and I can attest that it’s reputation is well deserved. Creamy, scrumptious, it’s a diet breaker you won’t be sorry you tried.
PLAY IT AGAIN, JEREMY
When heavy metal rock star Jeremy Wagner first queried me in December 2010, I said to myself, heavy metal? I’m a Mozart kinda gal, so I initially passed.
But persistence paid off, and Jeremy was anything if not persistent. I finally decided to read his manuscript one winter weekend which had been gathering dust on my bookshelf, and I couldn’t put it down.
It’s a riveting page turner, part DaVinci Code, part horror, with a guitarist protagonist inspired by two guitar greats and a heavy-metal twist. Katherine Turman, co-author of LOUDER THAN HELL: An Unflinching Oral History of Hevy Metal, is right on the money with her appraisal: “THE ARMAGEDDON CHORD is like THE DA VINCI CODE with a heavy-metal soundtrack!”
THE ARMAGEDDON CHORD begins in an ancient Egyptian pyramid, where a sinister archeologist discovers an evil song written in hieroglyphics. The protagonist, an unwitting guitarist, soon finds himself caught between the forces of divine good and monumental evil.
But you’ll have to read the book if you want to find out the rest. If you read thrillers and horror novels, and if you’re captivated by historical events and the fate of the world in the wrong hands, then you must absolutely get your hands on a copy of THE ARMAGEDDON CHORD.And if you’re a heavy-metal fan, it goes without saying that THE ARMAGEDDON CHORD is a must-read.
“Summer’s here, and the living is easy.” I can hear the slow rhythm of the famous Gershwin song from Porgy & Bess as I write this blog. Yes, summer is here, and the living is easy, but I’ve been busy attending ThrillerFest, book parties, writing for GalleyCat.com, and writing reviews for BookPage.com.
And taking a few vacation days here and there and enjoying the summer weather. So that’s why you haven’t heard from me in a while.
Here’s a brief update of what I’ve been up to:
I’ve been promoting a riveting book by a Spy of the Deep. That’s right. Craig Reed is a former U.S. Navy diver and fast-attack submariner who served aboard two submarines involved in secret Cold War Operations. His new book, RED NOVEMBER: Inside the Secret U.S. Soviet Submarine War, is the first book to reveal just how close we came to nuclear war with the Russians way back in 1962. Reed provides a thrilling insider’s account of the secret underwater struggle between the U.S. and the USSR, and reveals previously classified details about the most dangerous, daring and decorated missions of the Cold War.
Reed is one of the true unsung heroes of the Cold War and he has the scars to prove it. RED NOVEMBER is a must-read for Tom Clancy fans as it is the REAL HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER. In the words of NYTimes Bestselling author James Rollins, “If Tom Clancy had turned The Hunt for Red October into a nonfiction thriller, W. Craig Reed’s RED NOVEMBER might be the result.”
To catch Reed discussing the Spy Ring Scandal on WCVB-TV, the ABC affiliate in Boston, click here.
I’ll be handling a campaign for an important investment book this fall that advises those who’ve had their investments torpedoed and are reluctant to jump back into the market: RECLAIM YOUR NEST EGG: Take Control of Your Financial Future (Bloomberg Press; October 2010) by Ken Kamen, who is a regular guest on CNBC, Fox, PBS and other national news stations. Stay tuned…
There’s no dearth of books about spiritual topics this season. I just finished reading Gary Zukav’s latest book, SPIRITUAL PARTNERSHIP: The Journey To Authentic Power (HarperOne; April 27, 2010), an important book for getting in touch with your inner voice, living an authentic life, becoming a multi-sensory human being, and having relationships that are not only fulfilling, but that will also help you grow spiritually.
Since I’ve read Zukav’s latest book, I’ve been sent several spiritual books and novels to promote this winter. Is it a coincidence? I don’t think so. One is a compelling novel about near-death experiences that reads like nonfiction, and the other is a spiritual thriller that explores mystical themes. More to come on both books…
Alas, as it is summer and my birthday is approaching, I plan to enjoy some lazy days at the beach and pool. I just read two books coming out this fall that I highly recommend: PICTURES OF YOU by Caroline Leavitt (Algonquin; November 2010) and Laura Lippman’s latest page-turner, I’D KNOW YOU ANYWHERE (William Morrow, September 2010) that I’ll be reviewing for BookPage. So stay tuned….
Oh, and I almost forgot: Pick up the July issue of BookPage or visit their website (www.bookpage.com) and read my latest review of LEAVING THE WORLD by Douglas Kennedy (Atria; June 2010), who Time Magazine hailed as "The most famous American writer you've never heard of."
When I first began promoting books as an independent book publicist, several prospective clients who were looking for bargain-basement deals said to me, “You only make a few phone calls a day and that’s it.”
Would that it were that easy. A few phone calls is quite the understatement when there are literally hundreds of media outlets to contact in a comprehensive campaign. Way back in the early Nineties, however, when that comment was made, we publicists relied on the phone and voicemail as e-mail was a burgeoning form of communication and most of the media preferred that you contact them via the old-fashioned way.
Slowly that changed. You would call a media contact and some voicemail messages indicated that the editor or producer would prefer you to contact them via e-mail. Nowadays, if you call a media contact their voicemail message often says, “If you are a book publicist, please don’t leave a voice-mail message. E-mail me a press release or pitch.”
What do you do then, when you’ve sent hundreds of e-mails and not one contact has responded? Ah, that’s the challenge of being a publicist. Because most likely, unless you are promoting the latest celebrity or political confessional, one e-mail is not enough to ensure your author receives media coverage. Nor are two e-mails. Sometimes three e-mails are not enough.
Do I send the same e-mail if the first, second or third has not received a response? Of course not. I am constantly reinventing my pitches and rewriting press releases, looking for a new hook that will elicit a response.
Recently, I had to stoop to more subtle means when I had not heard back from producers who had consistently booked my clients throughout the years. So I put in the subject line: Are you still producing for the Morning Show? That did elicit a very quick response. And a positive one at that. “When is your author coming to town? We’d love to have him on our show.”
I do, whenever possible, follow up three or four unanswered e-mails with phone calls on the oft chance that a real live voice will pick up the phone, and that I can engage in an old-fashioned conversation. And when that happens, more often that not, I land an article or a TV or radio interview.
But chatty conversations with the media have gone by the wayside just as relying solely on newspaper coverage for our content has.
And just like in the past when producers complained about the amount of voicemail messages they received and how they could not possibly listen to all of them (one harried producer of a well-known national morning show who was deluged with hundreds of voicemails a day once called to say “please keep your pitches to 30 seconds” when I was a rookie), the media now complains about the amount of e-mails they receive daily, which far exceed the number of voice mails they ever received.
One producer said at a luncheon that she receives more than 200 e-mails a day. And remember, she is not glued to her computer all day. She has meetings to attend to, books to sift through, shows to produce. By the end of the week, she has received more than 1,000 e-mails from book publicists all jockeying like for the very few interview spots that exist. It’s understandable that she can’t respond to all of the e-mails she receives. Just those few books by high-profile authors or books about subjects such as finding “Mr. Right” that she and her executive producers feel will pull the highest ratings.
So what is the day in the life of a book publicist like? Sometimes I compare it to existing in the void of a black hole. I am out there in cyberspace wondering if anyone is even reading my e-mails, much less responding to them. But I persist. Because that’s what a good publicist does. I pitch and pitch again until I have finally caught the attention of a producer or reviewer.
And when I do, the adrenaline rush kicks in and makes all the effort worth it. For me and for my client.
When you are a book publicist, the choices to read are boundless. I’m looking at a pile of books that just arrived, and am wondering which book to pick first. If I spend the weekend reading a particular book, will the author hire me? If not, have I wasted my time?
The book that piques my interest the most, I must confess, is somewhat sensational and salacious, but definitely media driven: SEX LOVE AND MONEY: Revenge and Ruin in the World of High-Stakes Divorce by Gerald Nissenbaum, J.D. and John Sedgwick (Hudson Street Press/The Penguin Group).
Salacious because there is a lot of talk about sex. Sensational because the characters involved are some of the wealthiest people in the country (their names have been changed) but their actions are crass and selfish and expose the basest traits in human behavior.
Some of the stories read like fiction and the book is hard to put down. As Nissenbaum says in his book, the stories “contain the truths that make fiction jealous.”
“Sure,” Nissenbaum says, “These are divorce cases, but really they’re life studies. Divorce reveals the full range of human behavior, from the good to the very, very bad….Divorce rarely involves murder, but my cases have plenty of theft, battery, tax evasion, kidnapping, drug taking, verbal and physical and sexual abuse, willful destruction of property, and illicit sex of every sort, from the adulterous to the utterly perverse. Because divorce cases entail the love and betrayal that go into every marital meltdown, these stories have enough emotion for a century of soap operas—jealously, rage, lust, passion, vengeance, mourning, spite, revulsion.”
The stories are surely riveting. What is it about the basest side of human nature that holds us in its grip, that seduces us into reading about the actions and motives of people behaving badly and shamelessly? Suffice it to say that we humans revel in the scurrilous behavior of others. Witness the national media obsession with Tiger Woods, whose actions are really only accountable to his wife and children—the family that he betrayed--and to a lesser extent, those admirers who feel let down by a public figure they looked up to and held to a higher standard.
Do we embrace others’ sins against their lovers and spouses because we are relieved it hasn’t happened to us (at least not yet)? Or are we empathizing with the betrayed or betrayer because it has? Either way, the public outing of those who have betrayed their lovers still engages us and holds us captive.
But these very public displays of adultery and betrayal, whether we are watching a confession on TV or reading about them on the written page, even though they can be as addictive as a thriller, ultimately do not enrich our lives. Which is why, this weekend, I am returning to a gem of a book I found in my mother’s collection after she passed away, and that has sat on my shelf unread for many years: JOHN BURROUGHS TALKS: His Reminiscences and Comments As Reported by Clifton Johnson.
Burroughs was a naturalist who preferred the country to the city. He lived during the Civil War and the later part of the 19th century into the early 20th century. His reflections bring us back to a time when people walked through meadows and woods to town, or to return home from a train trip to the city. When Burroughs describes his rural surroundings, or the different birdsongs he spends his time listening to, my spirit and soul soars to those woods, meadows and mountains he so loving describes.
But the more things change, the more they remain the same. If you think that our newspapers have traveled down the dirty path that was once as pristine as the woods and meadows Burroughs describes, think again. Burroughs may have indeed been amazed by the progress of today's media--the different forums-- but not by the content of much of it.
As Burroughs said in March of 1896, “In fact, the newspapers in general don’t measure up to their opportunities. They have been losing influence for years back—particularly the papers published in the big cities. Some of them sold themselves to the devil long ago. There are certain ones so bad I wouldn’t have them in my house….You get paper enough to make a bedquilt, and the reading is mostly trash…Yes, the majority of the newspapers, in what they print and in typography, fall far short of good taste.”
Which is why I consider myself blessed to have to make such difficult decisions everyday: What shall I read next? If I don't want to read about the latest celebrity or political scandal, there are so many wonderful books being published every day to choose from. I have a personal list of books I hope to get to as well as the many compelling, satisfying and often riveting books such as SEX LOVE AND MONEY that are sent to me by prospective clients: books that entertain and books that enrich me; books that educate and inform; and books that enhance--and sometimes change-- my life and make lasting impressions. I have enough choices to satiate every longing, desire and need to fill eternity—and then some.
Just as spouses who are often the last to discover that their partners are cheating, authors are often the last to know when a publisher decides to delay or move up the pub date of their books.
Recently, a client of mine called me, distraught that his book’s pub date had been moved up two months. He had done his homework and made sure he hired me more than three months before his book was due to hit the bookshelves. Now, without his knowledge, his publisher had decided to release his book two months early, which put a kink in the publicity plans. This author wondered aloud if he had made a mistake in hiring me, and asked if it was not too late to maximize publicity.
In the best of all possible worlds, a publicist wants to be able to pitch the long lead national monthly magazines as well as the national morning and evening magazine shows at least three months prior to pub date. Many publications prefer to tie in a review, profile or Q&A to a book’s pub date. This rule is not set in stone, but it is more often than not reliable. indeed, many national network programs book their author interviews or evening segment stories three to four month’s in advance.
Rules, however, are made to be broken, and a good publicist can find ways around those rules. My schedule would have to be stepped up. Instead of writing the press materials at my leisure—because I thought I had several months to do so—I got to work immediately. They were ready within days of the author’s phone call.
Next, I urged the author not to wait for his publisher to print advance reading copies, but to print his manuscript and have it spiral-bound. his book is on a timely subject—strategies for small businesses to survive in a tough economy—and I wanted to get his book out to as many shows as possible while the topic is hot. As I explained to the author, a publicist never knows if a show such as 20/20 is doing a story on small businesses. I would hate to turn on my TV several months from now and watch a segment on how small businesses are coping and know that my author missed a media opportunity because his publisher was unable to print galleys fast enough to meet the earlier than scheduled pub date.
What can authors do to stay abreast of their publishers’ decision making and not learn about sudden changes of plans after the fact? Authors have to be vigilant. This doesn’t mean that you pester your publisher everyday. But you should be receiving fairly regular communications from your editor and in-house publicist. A good agent is usually on top of things. But, for those authors who don’t have agents, sending regular e-mails to ascertain when advance reading copies are due, when covers are ready, and checking Amazon to make sure your publisher has featured your book on Amazon three months before pub date so you will not lose out on pre-orders, is essential.
In my author’s case, he did all of the above. Sometimes, despite all of your efforts, you are still the last to know. In an ideal world, everything runs smoothly. You have hired a publicist six months before your book comes out. You have written about a topic that makes breaking news as soon as your book hits the shelves. You do the talk show circuit. And you hit the bestseller list.
In a less than ideal world, a good publicist who thinks out of the box can often do damage control and get you more media coverage than you ever anticipated.
You haven’t heard from me in a while. That’s because business has come back with a vengeance.
I want to take this holiday season to give thanks to the many wonderful authors who sustained me during this difficult recession. I especially want to thank the following:
Christina Sunley, whose mesmerizing and haunting debut novel, The Tricking of Freya, transported me to the ethereal beauty of Iceland. This novel about a young woman obsessed with uncovering a simmering family secret is a classic story in the tradition of Jhumpa Lahiri about the cultural conflicts that arise in immigrant families—in this case, an immigrant family from Iceland. It is a powerful exploration of kinship, loss and redemption that gave me many uplifting moments of reading pleasure. I want to express my gratitude to Christina for not only writing such a remarkable novel, but for giving me the opportunity to promote it.
Michael Stanley, the writing team of Stanley Trollip and Michael Sears, who co-authored The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu, a thriller set in Botswana. This novel, a great read, educated me about the current conflict in Zimbabwe and the repercussions of the war in Rhodesia fought 30 years ago. What makes Michael Stanley’s novels so special is their authenticity. Trollip and Sears both live in Africa and have traveled widely throughout the continent. Their depictions of the environment and peoples of Botswana draw on decades of personal experience, combined with countless hours of research.
Dale Koppel, whose hilarious book about online dating, The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Online Dating, was a publicist’s dream come true. the media loved this book. It was the first-self published book I have handled and I successfully toured Dale in seven cities. With such a timely, trendy subject, my pitch didn’t have to go much further than the title. I successfully booked top TV programs in 7 cities. The media not only loved Dale’s book, they loved Dale and her story as well. After 20 years of what she thought was a happy marriage, her husband left her for a man. Not wasting much time on mourning the end of her marriage, Dale jumped right into online dating, and after three years, met the man of her dreams. Filled with insight, advice and a compelling personal story, Dale’s book is a must-read for anyone who is considering or involved in online dating.
Lisa Weasel, Ph.D. author of FOOD FRAY: Inside the Controversy Over Genetically Modified Food. Dr. Weasel brings readers into the center of the debate over genetically modified food, capturing the real-life experiences of the scientists, farmers, policymakers and grassroots activists on the front line of this controversy. Dr. Weasel weaves solid scientific knowledge into her gripping narrative about the real story behind the headlines and the hype. Seminal and cutting-edge, Food Fray enlightens and informs, allowing readers to make up their own minds about one of the most important health issues facing us today. Lisa H. Weasel, PhD is a renowned scientist who received a grant from the National Science Foundation to study the issue of genetically modified foods. Food Fray won The 2009 GreenBook Festival Award in the science category.
SIMPLY IN SEASON: Recipes that Celebrate Fresh, Local Food in the Spirit of More-with-Less by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman Wert (Herald Press) joins the locavore and slow food movement.
Simply In Season advocates eating food that is fresh and nutritious and using ingredients that are in sync with the seasons. Whether the produce you eat comes from a farmers market or your own garden, fresh local foods are good for the earth we share, and ultimately good for our health.
Does it really matter if we eat mass-produced food or organic, locally grown produce?
It matters a great deal, according to the authors. Each food purchase we make is like a vote for the way we want food to be produced—and for the world in which we want to live. Simply In Season does not offer all the answers, but it does offer a starting point encouraging us to feed both body and spirit with nutritious food. Woven through the recipe pages of each season are writing, tidbits of information to reflect upon while the onions sauté, the soup simmers or the bread bakes.
Kyra Davis, author of Lust, Loathing and a Little Lip Gloss. I never tire of Kyra Davis’ mystery series featuring the sassy Sophie Katz, who, like her creator, is half Jewish and half black.
The inimitable Sophie Katz is back together with her sexy private eye boyfriend she almost knocked off in Sex, Murder and a Double Latte, the debut novel that put Kyra Davis on the map and introduced millions of readers to the bi-racial, sassy Sophie Katz who can’t keep herself out of ghastly—or in the case of her new book—ghostly trouble.
In Lust, Loathing and a Little Lip Gloss, Sophie Katz can’t keep herself out of ghastly—or in the case of her new book—ghostly trouble. Her sexy sleuth of a boyfriend Anatoly plays second fiddle to a beautiful San Francisco Victorian with hard wood floors, crown moldings, and two car-parking for under a mil. In today’s housing market, the house of her dreams for a price that’s too good-to-be true is just too hard to give up, no matter how much the man of her dreams protests—and no matter how many ghosts from Sophie’s past turn up. And plenty do.
Lust, Loathing and a Little Lip Gloss is Kyra Davis’ best book yet. Sophie’s humorous insights on trendy and newsworthy issues such as the housing crisis—“Ghosts don’t have to deal with mortgage payments. Perhaps heaven is free quality housing”—reflects an acerbic wit combined with a perfectly paced mystery.
A blend of Mary Higgins Clark meets Bridget Jones, Lust, Loathing and a Little Lip Gloss is the novel that Sophie Katz fans have been waiting for, and the perfect introduction for new readers as well. It has everything a mystery fan could ask for: sex, murder, romance, a haunted house and suspense spiced up with lots of humor.
Sometimes a client offers a gift in the form of life-lesson. The 86-year- young Eugenia Lovett West is an inspiration to all of us who think it’s too late to pursue our dreams.
At the age of 81, Ms. West launched a mystery series featuring an attractive, feisty, stylish 40-something protagonist sleuth. Overkill, the second book in the Emma Streat series, which arrives in bookstores on the heels of the H1N1 virus, couldn’t be more timely. A mystery about a lethal global network that sells stolen viruses, the ramifications could be catastrophic to the entire planet if the thieves are not stopped.
Ms. West, who began writing murder mysteries after her husband of almost 60 years passed away, found writing an antidote to grief. “This is a great and productive time of life,” says the 86-year-young West.
In 2004, Ms. West entered a self-published mystery in a contest sponsored by St. Martin’s Press. She did not win the contest, but months later, Ms. West opened her e-mail to discover a message from a St. Martin’s editor offering her a two-book deal. Ms. West practically levitated out of her chair. “For a wannabe writer, it doesn’t get much better than that,” says Ms. West.
The first mystery in the series, Without Warning, featuring Emma Streat, was hailed by the late Dominick Dunne as “a fast-paced page-turner.” And Rebecca Sinkler, former editor of The New York Times Book Review, said “This snappy, fast-paced work will you reading late in the night. A delight.”
Emma Streat returns in Overkill due out this December, to discover that her beloved young niece Vanessa has made a rash decision to run off with a Don Juan and quit her opera career just as she is on the brink of international stardom. Determined to stop Vanessa from making a mistake, Emma arrives in Venice to discover Vanessa’s accompanist dead in his hotel room and her niece seriously ill on the brink of death. When Vanessa is diagnosed with the first case of Avian flu in the United States, Emma is soon on the trail of a dangerous international network that sells stolen viruses. She once again solicits the help of the same sexy British Bondish-like spy who seduced her in Without Warning, the first mystery in the series.
“I really like and admire my main character, Emma Streat, as she works through catastrophes, and I plan to keep her in my life with a third book,” says West.
“After a hard day, there is nothing like sitting down with an escape read that takes us out of our surroundings,” adds West. “This is what I try to create in my novels.”
On my birthday, Ms. West sent me a note that read, “The best is yet to come.” I think of her words often. Thank you, Eugenia, for showing me and all who know your story that you can lead a fulfilling life and overcome life’s challenges at any age.
Steven Raichlen, one of the country’s leading grillmeister, hit the ground running this year with the 10th Anniversary Edition of The Barbecue! Bible, which made him a household name. The Barbecue! Bible was followed with Barbecue USA, then How to Grill, and 6 more grilling books, but whose counting? This prolific cookbook author and grilling guru hosted Primal Grill, his own 13-part grilling series on PBS this summer and he hired me to promote it. What a mouth-watering experience it was to watch the master perfecting his art as he grilled mouthwatering Veal Chops Marinated with Catalan Vinaigrette, Smoke-Roasted Leg of Lamb Provencale, Butterflied Korean Short Ribs, Cedar-planked Wild Salmon with a Juniper and Wild Berry Glaze, Beef Brisket with Coffee Rub and Red-Eye Barbecue Sauce, Hellfire T-bone Steaks with Tarragon Butter, Basil-Grilled Tuna Steaks with Arugula Salad, Chicken Grilled Under Bricks, Grilled Zucchini and Yellow Squash with Greek Spices, Coconut-Grilled Pineapple, and so many more delicious dishes. One episode is enough to make you want to fire up your grill.
Lake Isle Press: Less is more applies to this publisher of the most exquisite cookbooks. Lake Isle publishes two or three cookbooks per season, which are exquisitely rendered. All of the cookbooks I have promoted feature beautiful full-color photographs with delicious recipes. This season I am delighted to be promoting SEAFOOD ALLA SICILIANA: Recipes & Stories From A Living Tradition by Toni Lydecker, which gives new meaning to Italian food. The seafood recipes featured in Seafood Alla Siciliana are simple to prepare and delicious to eat. It’s a seafood lovers dream come true.
This past spring I promoted Easy Gluten-Free Baking by Elizabeth Barbone, also published by Lake Isle. If you’ve ever tasted gluten-free baked goods, many have a strange flavor and texture. The good news is that the recipes in Easy Gluten-Free Baking are light, moist and tasty. I sampled the chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cupcakes, and I would have never known these baked good were gluten-free.
Dr. Scott Paton reminds us in his book, HEALTH BEYOND MEDICINE: A Chiropractic Miracle, of a simple truth: That if we make a habit of getting the proper nutrition, proper sleep, maintaining a positive mental attitude, daily exercise and incorporating chiropractic adjustments into our lives, we will live a healthier life, experience less illness, and age well.
In Health Beyond Medicine, Dr. Paton explains how a holistic, integrative approach to health care is essential in preventing illness. “The time for a more health oriented approach to maintain a balanced system is not after illness occurs, but long before your system has reached the point of extreme crises,” says Dr. Paton.
Dr. Paton’s holistic approach to medicine is one that we should all incorporate for the New Year.
To end the year, I launched a campaign for an exciting but disturbing thriller: Rogue Threat by A. J. Tata (Variance Publishers). A. J. Tata is a retired Brigadier General who commanded all of the troops in Afghanistan. New York Times bestselling author Brad Thor hailed A. J. Tata as “THE NEW TOM CLANCY.”
Rogue Threat is a thriller about how terrorists might be able to use high-tech weaponry and nanotechnology to all too easily launch a flurry of violent attacks throughout America’s heartland and bring the nation to the brink of chaos.
New York Times bestselling author James Rollins hails Rogue Threat as “Topical, frightening, possible and riveting.”
Variance Publishing is the new kid on the block. The company was launched in 2008 and already they have acquired several bestselling authors including Steven Savile. Stay tuned for Silver, his riveting thriller coming out in 2010 about a religious cult calling itself The Disciples of Judas who have planned a terrorist plot to bring down the Catholic Church. “Move over Dan Brown,” says Stel Pavlou, International Bestselling author of Decipher.
Bill Diffenderffer, the former CEO of Skybus Airlines and a business expert who is a major player in the global travel industry, wrote A Bank of Last Resort, a cautionary tale about the peril’s of a government takeover of the banking industry.
A Bank of Last Resort could have been written from today’s headlines. As a new President takes office in Washington, the country is reeling from an economy that is approaching depths not seen since the Great Depression. The financial industry is in big trouble and the new administration is insisting that all of the ten largest banks participate in the Federal Bailout program. What unfolds is an epic political and financial battle pitting the protagonist against the President’s Machiavellian adviser, the powers of an intrusive and controlling government against the ideals of free-market capitalism, the Leviathan against the American way of life.
Happy New Year to all of my authors who made 2009 a successful year filled with great reading. Stay tuned for more great books to come in 2010.