Review Tales
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The Art of Dominating the Winner’s Circle for the College-Minded Student By Dr. Anika Thrower
The Art of Dominating the Winner’s Circle for the College-Minded Student
By Dr. Anika Thrower
Genre: Self-help
Book Description
Laced with positive affirmations The Art of Dominating the Winner’s Circle for the College-Minded Student is sure to ignite the desire to grab moments of truth on the journey to higher education. After an introduction about how the books autonym the author discusses how our formative years shapes our lives.
All people come from backgrounds that could lead to a life of poor choices or better choices. Since everyone has a story the author shares a gleams into hers. Within she discusses how she as a child had a front room seat and witnessed some of the poor choices of influential people in her life. She decided to make a go at better choices for herself with the intent to make impact on self, family and the community. This started with attending college.
She asserts it was the journey through college that saved her life.
Having climbed the academic ranks herself and becoming a PhD she now teaches college students. She shows youth and young adults how to: set goals, seek mentorship, prioritize and draw closer to positivity. Within the book, she shares her own personal affirmations and 60 real-life scenarios (she calls life-hacks) of youth and young adults to be solved. The scenarios are broken down into those experienced by high school and college students. The book prompts the reader to solve each scenario alone or with others. Planted in the back of the book is food for thought on how to work through each scenario. As bonuses, she introduces some of her favorite affirmations from famous people and discusses the importance of proper nutrition during college years to promote mental agility.
Also known as The Self-Preservationist, Dr. Thrower rolls out the roadmap as she shows youth and young adults how to not only take ownership but dominate the academic journey.
About the Author
A Pittsburgh Pennsylvania native, Dr. Thrower has worked within various populations around the country. Currently, she serves as a health-based professor at Springfield College. There she teaches both graduate and undergraduate coursework. As a health advocate, for nearly a decade she has served at the Nutrition Manager in the first Women, Infants and Children’s (WIC) Program within the state of Connecticut at the Cornell Scott Hill Health Center. The program she oversees is known as one of the first WIC programs in the United States. Outside of that work she is an author, public speaker and health-based writer. She has served as a contributing writer for the African American Point of View for nearly a decade. As part of her civil work, she served as both a council member and voted in as the co-chair on the City of New Haven’s Food Policy Council. There she was instrumental in assisting with City of New Haven’s first Food Action Plan.
Dr. Thrower obtained her undergraduate degree in nutrition from Norfolk State University. Later she was awarded both a masters and doctorate degree in public health from Walden University. Because of her exemplary research, Walden University presented her with the prestigious Presidential Alumni Research Dissemination Award.
In her leisure time she enjoys coffee, early mornings and reading.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dranikathrower
Twitter: @dranikathrower
Website: www.huesofhealth.com
Amazon Ebook: http://a.co/jaLTwA1
Paperback: http://www.huesofhealth.com
How Blog Posts and Articles Can Promote Your Book By Angela Page
How blog posts and articles can promote your book!
Want to increase readership and book sales, write an article or blog post?
Writing material related to a non-fiction is a no-brainer. Chances are you’re an expert and can easily expand or provoke further discussion on your book’s topic through a blog post or article. But fiction writers have a challenge and need to be creative. Here are some of the areas to explore:
- Your book’s central theme(s).
- The main location(s) described.
- Expand on historical references and the era.
- Your inspiration for writing the book such as an event or other trigger.
- Backstory of one of your main characters and if based on a real person.
- Any unusual practice or method you used to write the book.
- Bonus material in form of background stories or information.
I was fortunate my last book “Suddenly Single Sylvia” about a newly divorced mature woman turned dating coach included a dating guide for boomers. It was a natural extension to write articles on dating and relationships. My first novel, “Matched in Heaven,” was inspired by the death and my loss of three partners over two decades. So far I have yet to bring myself to write about the real grief, hardship and coping skills. But it may be of help to others who have lived through similar circumstances.
It’s also important to engage the readers of the article by posing a discussion topic and encouraging them to respond with comments, shares, tweets or forwards of the post or article. My article, “How to cope if you’ve been dumped, ghosted and love-bombed.” prompted one woman to admit to being a love-bomber with a long personal story on the magazine’s site. Other articles on dating were forwarded and shared on Twitter and Facebook with comments. In essence, my dating articles expanded existing chapters and themes providing bonus material. It’s hard to tell if this article drove book sales but it gave me indication and validation that my book’s theme resonated with the target audience.
The first step is to develop pitch topics related to your book. Then query blogs and online magazines and include a link to your book and/or website. Once you have a published article or blog post, and then ensure it’s cross-posted across social media. Then hopefully watch book/kindle sales soar!
Book links:
Written by Angela Page
The Problem of Finding a Book Cover by S. N. Lemoing
The problem of finding a book cover
As an indie author, I have to do a lot of things by myself, and finding a good cover is one of our worst nightmares – unless you’re skilled at graphic design. For those of us who aren’t, we have some solutions: pre-made covers which can be affordable or attempting photomontage.
As I write about strong female characters, I have been dealing with even more hard choices each time I have to create a cover for my novels.
First, I was browsing through a lot of pre-made covers in many genres: fantasy, thriller, drama, chick-lit, etc. There are some very beautiful works, some are as worthy as covers created by huge publishing houses.
However, it’s clear they’re all in need of a feminist helping hand.
The women represented on them are all overly feminine, wearing gowns and high heels. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that, but not all women are like this, and these different women should be represented too.
Moreover, all the models look fragile, strike unnatural poses like holding their bare shoulder while looking away. They all seem to be in waiting, probably for Prince Charming or a bad boy who will harass them.
And this is when they’re not naked, offering themselves to the male gaze – or simply dead bodies.
It’s striking how male characters are not illustrated the same way, just as in the movies, on TV, or in any media that we know. Have you ever seen a cover or a film poster showing a man holding his shoulder with a sad patient look, longing for the girl of his dreams? We’re still waiting.
The thing is, for my first novel, I was looking for female warriors with realistic and practical outfits, but I only found two women, hypersexualized, wearing the same stuff we can see on The Hawkeye Initiative.
Then, I was looking for a determined Mexican woman who’s also a police officer, but could only find two Latina characters (yes, because there is also a lack of ethnic diversity): one who was sexy and passive, lying on a bed, and another one who was crying.
For another novel, I was looking for a confident plus size girl, but as the models on the pictures are all tall and thin, and mainly white, nothing matched. Or the few bigger women that could be found looked passive and/or hypersexualized too, which wasn’t the subject of my story at all.
Representation matters, and we need more diverse pictures and illustrations. We need women who aren’t scared, women with confident stares, women who can actually wear clothes and look powerful thanks to independent and self-assured positions. And also different body types.
We need different male models too, because as you scroll the pages, all you can see are bodybuilders, flexing muscles, and it shouldn’t be a standard either.
There should be no standard.
Here are my links:
WordPress: https://snlemoing.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/snlemoing
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RomanFantasy1
Tumblr: https://powerfulthenovel.tumblr.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/snlemoing_author/
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/14129639.S_N_Lemoing
iAuthor: http://www.iauthor.uk.com/powerful-tome-1-the-realm-of-harcilor:23800
Babelio: https://www.babelio.com/auteur/S-N-Lemoing/355262
Livraddict: http://www.livraddict.com/biblio/auteur/s-n-lemoing.html
Booknode: https://booknode.com/auteur/s-n-lemoing
SensCritique: https://www.senscritique.com/contact/S_N_Lemoing/2284804
Happy Mother’s Day
Happy Mother’s Day!
Early celebrations of Mother’s Day originated from Canada’s neighboring country, the United States. Carnations are a popular Mother’s Day symbol in both Canada and the United States. Some people may choose to wear a carnation as a brooch on Mother’s Day. However, other flowers are also given to mothers or mother figures to symbolize one’s love and appreciation for them.
You May Have Depression and Not Know It by Sharon DeVinney, Ph.D.
You May Have Depression and Not Know It
For people who are unfamiliar with mental illness, the term “depression” usually applies to someone else. The stigma about mental illness causes people to be uncomfortable identifying with this concept. They may not even think about it, but amazingly, they could have it but not know it.
What is depression? It is a change in the biochemistry of the brain caused by stress. It is consistently estimated that 20-25% of people become clinically depressed at some point in their life. That’s one out of every four or five people. Think about how many people that is!
I worked as an outpatient psychotherapist at a large mental health center for almost 20 years. It was not an infrequent occurrence to have people arrive for treatment after having waited for their depression symptoms to get bad enough to seriously impact their functioning. They would present with issues including insomnia, relationship problems, job-related difficulties, or physical symptoms that had no medical explanation.
Once I identified that a client was depressed, I would say to them:
“Many people walk around with a moderate level of depression without knowing it. They drag themselves out of bed and go to work, because that’s what they need to do. They are able to ‘fake it’ and do okay through the day, but it takes an enormous amount of energy to do this. By the time they get home, they are exhausted from using all their energy to fake it through the day, and they collapse and don’t get done what they want to get done in the evening. Things pile up. Because they aren’t getting things done, they beat themselves up. They may or may not be able to sleep at night, but regardless they are exhausted. They may do things they would normally enjoy to try to cheer themselves up, but they have difficulty enjoying anything. They start to feel like things will never get better, and if it goes on long enough they don’t even remember that this isn’t the way life is supposed to be. It feels normal to them.”
More often than not, the depressed client could completely relate to this description. For the first time in a long time they became hopeful that things could get better. After appropriate treatment, they would often come back and say “Sharon, I can’t believe how much better I feel. I must have been depressed for years without knowing it. I should have sought help a long time ago.”
Unfortunately, for many of these people the next focus of treatment became working through their grief over the years they wasted due to living with depression unnecessarily.
The symptoms of clinical depression include sadness or irritability, lack of interest in activities, sleep or appetite increases or decreases, weight changes, low energy, feelings of restlessness, difficulty concentrating or making decisions, increased feelings of guilt or worthlessness, and feelings of hopelessness. Suicidal thoughts may be present if depression is particularly severe.
If you or anyone you know is experiencing some of these symptoms, please get help. Talk to your primary care physician, and ask for a referral for a psychotherapist.
Next month: Effective Treatments for Depression
Written by Sharon DeVinney, Ph.D.
Link to our blog:
https://despairtodeliverance.com/
Link to Amazon to buy our book:
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=despair+to+deliverance
Mannethorn’s Key (The Key of Life Book 1) by Simon Lindley (Book Review #438)
This book is 375 pages and is filled with humor, mythical creatures and a vision that sets you straight into a very magical world. I really enjoyed the concept of how the storyline took its stand. The characters were very interesting filled with enough backstory. While it did take time to finish the book, it certainly did not reduce any pleasure from me reading it.
The literary standard was very well written. The pace was steady and I adored the cover design. The narrative was superb and the depth of the characters could not have been any better. It was very clear that the author had thoroughly done his research and knew how he wanted to sway the reader’s vision.
I recommend this book to people that like to read science fiction and fantasy stories.
Written by Jeyran Main
If you would like a book review click here
(Un) Graceful Cat (Un) Series by B. A. Gabrielle (Book Review #437)
As I enjoyed the innocent storyline of the book, I could not ignore the lack of depth and character development it possessed. The plot and the pace were enjoyable to read yet swayed towards many various avenues that made you lose focus.
What did stand out for me was the differentiation between the good and bad. The author portrayed a very interesting dialogue between the characters and I believe this would very much suit young adult novel fans.
Altogether, this novel is sweet to read and excellent for the young minds. The author has potential in creating good literary work, and I look forward to reading more from her.
Written by Jeyran Main
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Need help getting your book published? Contact Me.
Plunge In to the Worlds of Temi Black
Plunge Into the Worlds of Temi Black
What would you do if you found that your whole life had been leading up to this moment…
John is simply a visitor in the mountains, who comes for his annual fishing trip. He crosses paths with Temi, a local resident, on three occasions: twice when she is a small child, and once when she is in her teens. But these meetings occur for John all within a space of days!
John and Temi now meet up in the modern day. They begin to discover how their timelines are co
nnected, and how their destinies might unfold.
Between Two Worlds is a fantasy realism story about a hybrid breed of people who have the ability to change shape into mountain lions. They can also travel in time, but they are governed by a unique set of limitations.
The people of the mountain lion clan live in the Blue Mountains of Oregon. They reside in the foothills of Picpic Mountain, meaning “cat” in the Cayuse language. Their power is rooted in the heart of this mountain, and it diminishes when they travel too far away.
Members of the mountain lion clan believe that their brief travels though time are spiritual in nature. Temi exhibits exceptional power by traveling without warning as a child. Her mother panics and moves Temi away from the mountains, only to return several years later.
There are unique “rules” to these people, such as what happens when a member of the lion clan breeds with a human, how it works when one jumps forward, or backward, in time, how the young come in to their powers, what happens when they stay away from the mountains, and even what happens when they die.
Between Two Worlds also has some great cliffhangers, and while wrapping up the story, leave you wanting to know more…
-Jodi Hockinson, author, Between Two Worlds, Book I in the Lion Clan Series – available on Amazon – free on Kindle Unlimited, and free as your first book on Audible.com. Watch the video to learn more at www.betweentwoworldsfantasynovel.com
If you would like a book review click here
The Souls Expression by Amy Alston (Book Review #436)
Dr. Hershaw is a very interesting character. He assists Katherine in finding herself as well as helping her navigate through the trying time she deems to face. The author displays a very classic style of language in her writing while she remains true to the time frame of things. As the doctor helps Katherine, we also witness a relationship brewing between them. I enjoyed the fact that Dr. Hershaw had a more modern frame of mind, ahead of his time.
The pace of the story was well designed keeping the reader interested. I found the sexual content to be too much but essential for me and would like to make sure the reader is aware that the story does contain graphic adult content.
I found the cover to be extremely attractive and recommend this book to people that like to read women’s fiction, romance, and historical fiction.
Written by Jeyran Main
If you would like a book review click here
If you would like your book edited click here
Need help getting your book published? Contact Me.
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