First Chapter Review: Affiliate Marketing for Beginners by Audrey K. Andado

 

I received a digital copy of this business book from Pump Up Your Book for this author's virtual book tour. 

BLURB: Embark on a journey of transformation with Affiliate Marketing for Beginners, where financial freedom is within reach for anyone willing to take the leap. Meet Audrey K. Andado, a seasoned expert in finance, entrepreneurship, and digital marketing, dedicated to empowering individuals through affiliate marketing.

The story begins with a relatable tale of financial struggle, only to discover the game-changing potential of affiliate marketing. Audrey's passion for helping others achieve financial freedom shines through, backed by years of experience in online ventures.

This book's purpose is crystal clear: demystify affiliate marketing and provide a step-by-step roadmap for beginners. Expect a stress-free guide, carefully curated to simplify complex concepts and foster a community of confident entrepreneurs.

Covering niche selection, content creation, traffic generation, and monetization, this book offers actionable insights and real-world examples. However, it steers clear of advanced strategies and technical jargon, ensuring accessibility for all.

Ethical marketing takes center stage, emphasizing transparency and trust-building with your audience. Motivational messages peppered throughout inspire action, inviting readers to unlock their potential and take control of their financial future.

Embark on this transformative voyage. Unlock your potential, transform your life, and take control of your financial future with Affiliate Marketing for Beginners. It's not just a book; it's your first step towards a thriving online business. Embrace the call to action, engage with the lessons, and ignite your affiliate marketing journey today.  

COVER: This is such a fun, colorful, and eye-catching cover. It reflects different aspects of the subject matter and how they fit together like the pieces of a puzzle. How clever!

FIRST CHAPTER: After an introduction that starts out with a personal story, an introduction to the author, and what this book will and won't cover, the engaging first chapter brings you through a lot of information, including: the history of affiliate marketing, what caused it to grow, and what the future looks like, before giving a brief overview that shares the benefits of affiliate marketing and discusses legalities, ethical marketing, and different marketing paths.

KEEP READING: Considering this is a topic of great interest to me, my answer is a resounding yes. Andado has a background in finance, entrepreneurship, and marketing, which makes her the perfect candidate to write Affiliate Marketing for Beginners. She speaks conversationally, but with a confident knowledge of her topic.

I love the selected format, which features an opening paragraph followed by numbered sections with headings to let the reader know what each section is about. This also allows you to easily scroll back and find what you want to read again. The Table of Contents also makes finding what you need easy. I skipped ahead to the end to check out the numerous additional resources created, which is always a great bonus. 

I'm looking forward to diving into this one more soon!

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0D3TKYNB6
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (May 9, 2024)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8325251443
• 
  

I received a digital copy of this book from the author through Pump Up Your Book. This first chapter review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Book Review & Giveaway: Resparking Creativity by Fatemah Mirza & Sumayyah Rafiq

 

Ready to transition to a marketing director? Perhaps you're not sure and need a better idea of what to expect. Fatemah Mirza and Sumayyah Rafiq share strategies to help reduce rejections and improve your odds of success in Resparking Creativity: A Marketing Professional's Career Guide Towards Becoming a Director. 

After a brief introduction, Mirza and Rafiq discuss post-pandemic requirements for marketing directors. From AI tools to influencer marketing to salary data and more, they outline what marketing looks like in a post-pandemic world. Then the reader is invited to take a short quiz that provides direction on how to work through the rest of the book. 

Broken down into four remaining sections, the reader is encouraged to start with the area where they scored the lowest and then complete the whole book. These sections are:

• Becoming a Director,
• Rebranding Yourself,
• Interviewing & Relationship Building Skills, and
• Salary Negotiation.

As the reader works through Resparking Creativity, they find helpful links, charts and tables, thought-provoking discussion questions, and resume examples. What they will also find are numerous opportunities to learn more about services offered by Mirza's company, CareerTurners, where Rafiq is also affiliated. While I'm not a fan of that approach, it is the norm these days with guides offering free content. 

Resparking Creativity offers a ton of great advice, so if you're considering a career move to a marketing director position or working in that direction, check it out. 

Excerpt

The process of advocating for yourself is not inherently aggressive. It simply creates an equal playing field and a two-way communication channel where you and the company achieve a mutually beneficial agreement. Ultimately, there are more reasons to try to negotiate your salary than not. I want you to have the tools necessary to negotiate for the maximum raise you can possibly get in any negotiation. 

Let me show you what I mean. I helped one of my clients, let’s call him John, negotiate a $6,000 addition to his annual salary. This $6,000 raise, with a 3% additional annual raise per year, had the potential to translate into almost $400,000 more over the course of a standard 35-year career! And that was a modest 3% raise. Imagine how much you can benefit by learning how to advocate for yourself more directly!

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C73VXSHL
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 9, 2023
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 6007 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 245 pages

I received a free digital copy from the authors. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Website: http://www.careertuners.com

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/careertipsfromct

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Fatemah-Mirza/author/B0C781LXCS

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Sumayyah-Rafiq-Haider/author/B0C781ZBXN

Amazon Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C73VXSHL

The authors will award a $10 Amazon gift card 

to a randomly drawn winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Hope Santa Brings This Year/Bookish Wishes

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.    

Oh, I love when we get to this time of year. I am not sure Santa will bring me books. He knows I have enough unread books already, but I truly hope he reads the list I sent him. 

Top Ten Books I Hope Santa Brings This Year/Bookish Wishes 

Like I mentioned last week, I've been wanting to read this since it came out.

A new take on Anne? I am up for that.

This is my favorite era to read about, and I find this Little Women tie in makes it even better. 

It has been so long since I read a book by C.W. Gortner, but he is one of my favorite authors of historical fiction. 

These last two I want to read just for fun.

Another great Little Women tie-in. 

Ever since I received The Midcentury Christmas, I have wanted this book.

Does this one need an explanation?

The Sound of Music is one of my favorite films.

I also have one bookish wish: to have more reading time in 2023 than I did in 2022.

So, what's on your list? Do we share any of the same titles? Does Santa usually leave books under your tree?

Book Blast & Giveaway: Avalon by Vanessa Morgan

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Vanessa Morgan will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Avalon is now also available in French!

Some cats need nine lives to make a difference. Avalon only needed one.

From Amazon bestselling author Vanessa Morgan, Avalon is the heartwarming and once-in-a-lifetime love story of a girl and her neurotic Turkish Van cat.

With humor, the author details how Avalon made other creatures cringe in distress whenever he was around, how he threw her dates out by means of special techniques, and how he rendered it almost impossible for her to leave the house. Avalon was so incorrigible that even the landlord ordered to get rid of him. But beneath Avalon's demonic boisterousness, Vanessa recognized her own flaws and insecurities, and she understood that abandoning Avalon would be the worst she could do to him. Thanks to her unswerving loyalty, Avalon transformed into a tender feline and even landed a major role in a horror movie. In turn, Avalon made it his mission to be there for his human companion.

Avalon is a memoir for anyone who has ever been obsessively in love with a pet.

Read an Excerpt

Around three o’clock that night, Avalon was fed up with the strange man in his bed. He plonked his rear down on Gilles’ pillow, complaining fretfully in his ear while tapping him on the face.

After nearly an hour of incessant wailing and poking, more drastic measures were required. The new solution: pushing Gilles out of bed.

Avalon succeeded.

Climbing back under the covers wasn’t an option. Unable to sleep, Gilles got up. "I guess I didn't pass the test."

"Give Avalon some time. Maybe he was just irked because you took his side of the bed."

But Gilles had already understood that this wasn't going to be a one-time event.

For several minutes, Gilles and Avalon sized each other up. Then Gilles said, "I’d better leave the two of you alone now. It’s clearly what the little guy wants."

I swear I could see Avalon smirking when Gilles put on his jacket and left.

Instantly, Avalon leapt onto me, and compensated for the evening before. He entered a kiss-induced trance. This cat was all about exclusivity, and when granted that exclusivity, his love was immense.

"Are you really that happy that Gilles is gone?"

In reply, Avalon looked at me with swoony eyes and purred loudly, then swatted out his paw to urge me to continue to pet him, which I did.

A phone call interrupted our tender moment. It was Gilles.

"There won't be any train to Brussels for hours," he said. "Is it okay if I come back to your place for a while?"

"Of course." His return would offend Avalon, but I couldn’t possibly leave Gilles outside in the rain for several hours.

As soon as Gilles appeared at the front door, Avalon’s pupils widened to a pitch black.

Let's see who's the boss here, he seemed to be thinking.

Being a cat of action, Avalon went through his usual attention-seeking routine: making a selection of irritating noises, scratching the wallpaper, and pushing objects to the ground.

When that didn't work, Avalon opened Gilles' overnight bag and threw out a piece of clothing. His eyes so dark and evil they could be gateways to hell, Avalon stared at his adversary and waited for a reaction. He then pulled out a box of gel wax. Again, he looked up at Gilles to make sure he understood that all this bungling was meant to get a message across. A third object followed, then a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, until there was nothing.

Hell-bent on winning the game, Avalon took Gilles' coat in his mouth and towed it toward the front door. There, he used his right paw to tap the keys hanging from the wooden doorframe.

Avalon’s message couldn’t be any clearer: there was room for only one man in my life. A feline one.

About the Author:

Vanessa Morgan is the editor of the movie reference guides When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies with Killer Animals, Strange Blood: 71 Essays on Offbeat and Underrated Vampire Movies, and Evil Seeds: The Ultimate Movie Guide to Villainous Children. She also has had one cat book (Avalon) and four supernatural thrillers (Drowned Sorrow, The Strangers Outside, A Good Man, and Clowders) published. Three of her stories have been turned into movies. She has written for myriad Belgian magazines and newspapers and introduces movie screenings at several European film festivals. She is also a programmer for the Offscreen Film Festival in Belgium. When she's not working on her latest book, you can find her reading, watching movies, eating out, or photographing felines for her blog Traveling Cats.

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The French version of the book can be purchased at Amazon for only $0.99.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: Intentional by David Amerland

 

Intentional by David Amerland is a fascinating resource that empowers you to live life intentionally. It brings together all those pieces of our brain that can hold us back so that we can understand motivation, direct our actions, and live life with meaning. 

Though at the start of 2020, I committed myself to living intentionally, I've found it hard to create a life filled with clarity and purpose. I still can't keep a journal going past March. I still don't reach many of my goals. I still don't exercise three times a week. Why is that?

Intentional helps the reader understand why we often don't hit the mark, but rather than give this topic a brush stroke, Amerland digs deep into the science of our brains; our identities, different types of motivations and how to discover our real desires, and how our values and beliefs impact what we do. 

I can't say this is an easy read. It's not a self-help, step-by-step guide. I'm sure I have to go back and re-read some chapters to fully set a plan into action. What will be helpful in that is the summary at the end of each chapter that shares points to remember, followed by questions that the reader answers, and ending in the author providing a top tip. 

No journey to improve is instantaneous. It requires purposeful planning. Intentional can help you get there.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ New Line Books (June 23, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 218 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1844811697
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1844811694

I received a paperback copy from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

You can purchase Intentional: How to Live, Love, Work and Play Meaningfully at Amazon and Bookshop.org.

Book Review: The Case for Christmas by Lee Strobel

 

When journalist Lee Strobel is sent to interview a family who lost all they owned in a fire, little does he know this encounter will forever change the course of his life. 

The Case for Christmas by Lee Strobel opens with his visit with Perfecta Delgado and her two granddaughters. While reporting for the Chicago Tribune on some of the city's neediest families, Strobel is touched by the feeling of hope of peace displayed by this family who had lost everything in a fire. 

Strobel's second visit to the Delgado's home brings even more surprises and leads him on a journey to discover the identity of the Child in the Manger. 

Part of Strobel's Case for... Series that began with The Case for Christ, this former atheist shares his story of how his encounter with the Delgado family led him to investigate the identity of Jesus through interviews with well-known scholars and theologians across the world. 

This is a book that came recommended to me by my former pastor. I don't read nonfiction as much these days, but this book was on sale and it is less than 115 pages, so I figured the Advent season would be the perfect time to read it. 

Going into it, I wasn't sure what to expect, though I knew Strobel converted to Christianity as a result of his investigation. What unfolds within these pages is an engaging and thought-provoking discussion on the evidence that points to the identity of Jesus. In the end, the reader is encouraged to weigh the facts and decide for themselves.

I found Strobel's approach fascinating. Strobel came armed with his investigative skills and a heavy dose of skepticism. You really need to be committed to uncovering the truth if you will travel to the extent he did and prepare in the way he did to meet these scholars and theologians. Interspersed among the narrative and interviews are sidebars with other pertinent information Strobel learned or tidbits of history and how it played into his investigation. As one would expect, you can't have this discussion without citing some Scripture as well. 

As a Christian, I didn't need to be convinced about the identity of God's greatest gift to the world, but The Case for Christmas still captivated me. I am glad I took time to read it. I would love to read more of Strobel's books.

Publisher : Zondervan; Reprint edition (September 8, 2014)

Language: : English

Mass Market Paperback : 112 pages

ISBN-10 : 0310340594

ISBN-13 : 978-0310340591

I purchased a copy of this book. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - Nov 9

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.

Welcome back to Monday. I hope you had a nice weekend. We had a small gathering to celebrate the Lil' Princess' 17th birthday. I cannot believe all my kids are now drivers and that next year all my kids will be out of high school. When did I get so old? LOL! 

Here's how things are going in my reading world. 

I posted a review of this business book earlier. You can read it here.

I an reading this one now.

Next up in order of when the reviews are scheduled are the following:

I've been considering what my first book of 2021 will be. I guess that depends partially upon how many of these I finish by then. 

Hope you will share what you're reading. Let me know if there is anything I should be adding to my wish list.

Bargain E-Book: YOUTUBE Channel Success Secrets For Beginners 2020

In case you want to become a learn more about creating a YOUTUBE channel, there is a book for that.

DON'T STRUGGLE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO START A YOUTUBE CHANNEL, INCREASE VIEWS, SUBSCRIBERS AND MAKE PASSIVE INCOME FROM WHAT YOU LOVE DOING. THIS BOOK IS PREPARED TO GET YOU STARTED WITH ALL THE NECESSARY INFORMATION THAT WILL HELP YOU AVOID PITFALLS MOST UNINFORMED BEGINNERS TO YOUTUBE ENCOUNTER


YouTube has grown into the most prominent online video sharing platform. And with every passing day, users are creating niche on the platform – from consumers to Youtubers who have turned the platform into a money-making business. What other thing is better than uploading your videos online, and then sit at home only to start making money. It is no brainer that YouTube has created jobs for a large number of people who have carved a space for themselves in the YouTube space. YouTube is more than a platform for making money while uploading videos. A lot of people take to the platform to learn and teach others what they know.

This book arose from the writer’s thirst to guide people - especially beginners – to identify their niche on YouTube, giving them everything they need from start to the end. If you are a beginner willing to learn core concepts of YouTube, this book is for you. Beginners and professionals will benefit immensely from this book, as the writer explained the new way of marketing their brands on YouTube, and further grow their business. Tips about forming a YouTube video idea for beginners as well as professionals are well mapped out in this book.

Anthony took his time analyzing everything about the YouTube search optimization technique and how to use it to grow the YouTube channel.

Do you need a book telling you exactly how to grow your YouTube channel, and giving you why and how each trick works? Then this is the book for you. You only have to take a little time to read and digest the essential tips and tricks in this book.

Some other crucial information you will get when you purchase this book include:

- The Ultimate Equipment Checklist On Becoming a Successful YouTuber
- Secrets to Making Good Content on YouTube
- Secrets to YouTube Algorithm most YouTubers Ignore
- YouTube Tools to Help You Get Viewers
- Steps to Making Your Video
- Tips to make YouTube Videos go Viral Most YouTubers are not using
- Setting up a YouTube channel for success: Things to take note of
- YouTube Video Ideas and Crucial Things You Need to Know
- and lots more



File Size: 4880 KB
Print Length: 67 pages
Publication Date: May 27, 2020
Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B0899JN1V9
Purchase here!

Shelf control - Feb 5

Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves sponsored by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up!

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. Here's how to jump on board:

• Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
• Add your link in the comments!
• Link back to Bookshelf Fantasies in your own post.
• Check out other posts, and…

Just in case you thought I went into hiding this week, I figured I better post this meme. I swear, life gets away from me sometimes.

BLURB:

Elvis, Paul Newman, Judy Garland and JFK, Jr. can teach you about wills. Shakespeare and Jane Austen have tips about signatures and changes to your magnificent will or trust. This book also includes excerpts from other books by Pauline G. Dembicki.

DATE BOUGHT: Yesterday

WHY I BOUGHT IT: Sometimes you buy a book for no real reason except curiosity. This is one of those books. It's not something you have to read from front page to back. You can skip around and read what you want.

Would this book interest you?

Coming Soon: The Ladies’ Secret Society: History of the Courageous Women of Iran by Manda Zand Ervin

The Islamic Revolution of 1979 was an unmitigated disaster for the women of Iran. That fact is well known. What is less well-known and what Manda Zand Ervin brings to light in her remarkable book, is the long history of struggle against clerical domination in which the women of Iran have been engaged for centuries.

Rooted in the proud history of ancient Persia where once Mother-Gods were worshipped, the Ladies' Secret Society, founded in the early decades of the 20th Century, was at once the inheritor of this proud history and the progenitor of the women of today who are enduring 25-year prison sentences for the defiant, yet innocent, act of removing their hijabs in public.

Ervin tells the stories and records the accomplishments of generations of individual women activists who have risked everything to educate their daughters even when held in thrall to the harem system of the Qajar era.

These women refused to be victims. They fought like lionesses for every scrap of freedom gained from the time of the Arab conquest to the era of the Shah, only to see all their hard-won rights destroyed with the coming of Khomeini s Islamic Revolution.

Yet, despite the extreme cruelty of the clergy and the imminent danger they face, the women of Iran are undeterred. Ervin pays loving tribute to them all as she relates the stories of their remarkable achievements in the face of overwhelming oppression.

Thanks to Manda Zand Ervin and her extraordinary book, we know their names and we will not forget their courageous lives.


Paperback: 340 pages
Publisher: New English Review Press (January 27, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1943003335
ISBN-13: 978-1943003334

Pre-order here!

Manda Zand Ervin is the founder and president of the Alliance of Iranian Women, an organization that brings the voices of Iranian women living under the Khomeinist regime to the West.
Born in Iran, and educated in the United States, Ervin was the managing director of the department of statistics and international affairs at the Customs Administration of Iran prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In 1980, Zand Ervin came to the United States as a political refugee and became a US citizen three years later.

As a women’s rights activist and leading expert on Iranian affairs, she is frequently consulted by Members of Congress, and she has testified at Congressional briefings, the Helsinki Commission, and the United Nations.
In February 2008, Zand Ervin was appointed as the United States’ Delegate to the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women. She was also the featured speaker at the G8 Summit in Rome, on Violence Against Women in 2009. In 2012, she received the EMET Speaker of the Truth award.

Zand Ervin speaks on TV and radio programs, nationally and internationally, including CNN, FOX, BBC, Radio France, VOA, and cable television stations that broadcast into Iran from California. She also speaks at universities and conferences on the history of American/Iranian relations, European/Middle Eastern history, and human rights.

Like the book's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/theladiessecretsociety/

WWII Non-fiction: Code Girls by Liza Mundy

Recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than ten thousand women served as codebreakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of code-breaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. A strict vow of secrecy nearly erased their efforts from history; now, through dazzling research and interviews with surviving code girls, bestselling author Liza Mundy brings to life this riveting and vital story of American courage, service, and scientific accomplishment.

Praise for Code Girls

"Mundy is a fine storyteller.... A sleek, compelling narrative.... The book is a winner. Her descriptions of codes and ciphers, how they worked and how they were broken, are remarkably clear and accessible. A well-researched, compellingly written, crucial addition to the literature of American involvement in World War II."―Kirkus (starred review)

"Similar to Nathalia Holt's The Rise of the Rocket Girls and Margot Lee Shetterly's Hidden Figures, this is indispensable and fascinating history. Highly recommended for all readers."―Library Journal (starred review)

"Mundy's fascinating book suggests that [the Code Girls'] influence did play a role in defining modern Washington and challenging gender roles--changes that still matter 75 years later."―Washingtonian

"Code Girls ... finally gives due to the courageous women who worked in the wartime intelligence community."―Smithsonian.com

Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Hachette Books; 2nd prt. edition (October 10, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316352535
ISBN-13: 978-0316352536


Purchase from:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Indiebound
iBooks

First Chapter Review: The Can’t-idates: Running For President When Nobody Knows Your Name by Craig Tomashoff

Title: The Can’t-idates: Running For President When Nobody Knows Your Name
Author: Craig Tomashoff
Publisher: Bobtimystic Books
Pages: 302
Genre: Nonfiction

BLURB: I’m not a political person by nature. Most of the time, it seems the political world plays out more like a lame ‘70s sitcom with all its predictable characters and routine storylines. However, last spring, I got tired of hearing friends and family complain about the lack of exciting, innovative candidates for president. Everyone seemed ready to vote for "None Of the Above." So, I decided to take a 10,000-mile road trip across America in May 2015 to meet several of the more than 1600 "real people" who are legit candidates for the presidency. Including a couple in New England.

The Can’t-idates is about dreamers -- not all of whom are tin-foil hat crazy -- who just want to fill a hole in their lives by running for president. And as I drove to meet them all, I realized a lot about not just my life but also about the country. If we could all take time to believe in what our parents always told us -- "Someday you can grow up to be president" -- maybe we wouldn't be in the shape we're in.

For More Information

• The Can’t-idates: Running For President When Nobody Knows Your Name is available at Amazon.
• Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.

Book Excerpt:

As much as we love our children, the cold, hard fact is that we frequently lie to them in order to give them hope, which, in this world, is often in short supply. As far as I’m concerned, that’s totally ne. Adults recognize the harshness of a world that seems determined to discourage the next generation, so we manufacture comforting fiction to soften the blow and keep them in line (at least somewhat). How else do you explain countless fantastical tales throughout history, from stories of Greek gods to the annual appearance of Santa Claus to certain beliefs about what will cause hair to grow on your palms?

Most of these stories are innocent and well intentioned. They tend to achieve the desired effect of keeping our kids believing in the unbelievable and living the good lives we want them to live. There is, however, one complete and total lie we have spun for years that may be doing far more harm than good. It has wreaked havoc on our entire democratic system. We tell America’s future leaders that if they work and study hard, any of them, no matter where they came from, can one day be President of the United States.

Presidential candidates want you to believe in this fiction because it humanizes them. They spend huge chunks of their day trying to portray themselves as men and women “from Main Street and not from Wall Street,” each one attempting to out-ordinary the next by sharing everything from stories of immigrant parents to childhood newspaper routes to their favorite barbecue recipes.

However, claiming they truly feel the plight of average Americans is like hearing them say they’re connoisseurs of Mexican cuisine because they’ve sampled the late night menu at Taco Bell. It’s pretty hollow reasoning and produces nothing but a lot of hot air. I’m reasonably certain this was not quite what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they set this whole democracy thing in motion. In fact, they took great pains to keep the requirements for leading this nation as minimal as possible. It’s more complicated to get a Costco membership card than it is to make a run at the presidency. Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution specifically states: “No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.”

And that’s it. Turn 21 and you can drink. Turn 25 and you get a better rate on your auto insurance. Turn 35 and you can be the Commander in Chief. It all seems so simple. Which is maybe why we constantly remind our kids that someday it could be them. It really does seem that almost no one is ruled out of this race. At least that’s how it feels if you spend three minutes viewing any cable news outlet once the election cycle starts spinning. I could swear that at one point, the only person not running for the Republican presidential nomination was that crazy old guy you see arguing with cashiers at the grocery store. And even he would have led if he weren’t so busy watching Clint Eastwood movies and telling the neighborhood kids to get off his lawn. 

COVER: Cute cover. Patriotic and fun. 

FIRST CHAPTER: After an introduction into how disenchanted the author--and probably the rest of us--have become with the presidential nomination process, author Craig Tomashoff talks about his meeting with Doug Shreffler, a fellow citizen who was trying his own run for president.

KEEP READING: Probably. I like political stuff, even if I have to admit to being frustrated by the whole election cycle. Tomashoff shines the light on regular people who have aspired to become the president of this great country of ours. He shares their unique stories, their motivations, and their ideas. 

Craig Tomashoff is a freelance writer/producer based in Los Angeles. His blogs appear regularly at Huffington Post.com. Most recently, he was a producer for The Queen Latifah Show. Prior to that, he served as Executive Editor of TV Guide, and has also worked as Associate Bureau Chief for People. In addition, he has written for the Hollywood Reporter, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and Emmy Magazine. Prior to The Can’t-idates, he was the author of You Live, You Learn: The Alanis Morissette Story and co-wrote I’m Screaming As Fast As I Can: My Life In B-Movies with Linnea Quigley. He has also worked as a television writer/producer for such series as VH1’s Behind the Music, The Martin Short Show and The Late Show With Craig Kilborn.

His latest book is The Can’t-idates: Running For President When Nobody Knows Your Name.

For More Information

• Visit Craig Tomashoff’s website.
• Connect with Holly on Facebook and Twitter.

I received a copy of this book from the author. This first chapter review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Book Spotlight: Am I Going to be Okay? by Debra Whittam

Title: Am I Going To Be Okay? Weathering the Storms of Mental Illness, Addiction and Grief

Author: Debra Whittam

Publisher: Turning Point International

Pages: 253

Genre: Memoir/Women’s Psychology/Applied Psychology

Am I Going To Be Okay? is an American story with a universal message. Ms. Whittam traces her history in the form of stories about her all too human, and sometimes unhinged family; she throws a rope to the little girl living there, and in adulthood, is able to pull her out to safety, bit by bit.

Her history is peopled with folks from a different time, a time before therapy was acceptable, 12 steps unimaginable and harsh
words, backhands and even harsher silences can be spun to appear almost normal. She writes of a mother who would not or could not initiate love nor give it without condition, and a father, damn near heroic at times, abusive at others, a survivor with his head down and his sleeves rolled up.

Ms. Whittam approaches her past with the clear-eyed tough but sensitive objectivity necessary to untangle the shame from the source. She speaks of the people that affected her life so deeply with an
understanding of their time and place in American culture; a family not far removed from immigrant roots when men carried their own water, emoted misplaced anger, and with fresh socks and food found on the trail, were confident, unflinching and at that same time tragical- ly failing to the little ones they ignored.

Like many of us, details notwithstanding, Whittam responded by numbing, running and gunning. Alcohol gave her hope, soothed a crushed soul for a time and wrecked her on a train, until finally she had the courage to accept it wasn’t working for her anymore. It was time to stop drinking and take inventory and accountability. It was time to accept, forgive and move forward. She healed where she was broken.

It is in the telling of this story that Whittam teaches us the difference between just surviving and surviving well, the importance of shared introspection and a careful eye on the wake we leave
behind in our actions. Her story is a guide to surviving abuse and addiction. It is also about witnessing and dealing with the shrinking faculties of aging parents in the unavoidable circle of life. Finally, she offers a realistic sense of hope, forgiveness and a life we can shake hands with. 

For More Information

• Am I Going To Be Okay?
  Weathering the Storms of Mental Illness, Addiction and Grief is available
  at Amazon.
• Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
• Discuss this book at PUYB
  Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.

Book Excerpt:

In my therapist’s office, during my first year of recovery from alcoholism, I saw one of her graduate school psychology books on her bookshelf. It was sitting alongside many of her self-help books which I had borrowed during the past year. I read several hoping to find a cure from my irrepressible anxiety that I had previously drunk away. I imagined the wordy text was far from my ability to comprehend as I was at that time only able to retain small bits of information. I asked my therapist if I could borrow that college text titled “Human Growth and Development.” I read it from cover to
cover within a short amount of time and surprisingly, was able to digest and retain it. I had to quit doubting my ability. Being hard on myself was no longer the answer. I wanted more.

That following summer I enrolled in a graduate course of the same name. I wanted to see if I could retain enough material to pass a higher level learning class. I loved it and I got an A.

No longer living in a world governed by my need to numb myself through copious amounts of alcohol, I started doing what I wanted to do with my life. Encountering the self-doubt I had always carried within me became the guidepost by which I continued to prove my “what ifs” unnecessary in

order to keep myself safe.

My intention in writing this book is to reach out to all who struggle with being frozen in fear of “what if.” This book may trigger emotions that have been shoved down so far they might not have a clear story to them yet. It might trigger memories of resentments, regrets or painful unhealed episodes of your life. These moments may have happened long, long ago or may have been more recent. We go back into the past to find answers. The idea is not to stay there long, but to find healing through understanding the ‘why’ of it. Then begin our process of learning to self-sooth and love ourselves. Nothing is going to happen that you can’t handle. Nothing.

Isolated within my world of fear, I wouldn’t attempt anything outside of that small world. I had no foundation to stand on as a spring-board toward finding out who I really was, so I joined a 12-Step group. The beauty of being in a community of recovery, from whatever we might be working on, brings connection. at is what I needed so badly.

I hope, within these pages, you are able to find a spark that ignites your longing for more. I urge you to find your own path of being okay by whatever non-mood altering way that makes sense to you; even, or especially, if it is unfamiliar to you. In writing this book, I intended to show how we can all go through our fears and do “it” anyway, whatever “it” is.

Letting go of fear suggests we “just breathe” and be ourselves. Thee “how” of being okay is within these pages and within yourself. Stop listening to the repeated echoes of old messages in your head, messages like “You’ve done it again,” “You aren’t good enough,” “You should just give up.” These messages cause you to doubt yourself. Instead, listen to the other voice inside which says, “You can do this,” “There is a way.” Don’t ignore it. Don’t push it away. Don’t argue with it. That voice is there, even if you can’t hear it and I am here to help you find it. I look forward to hearing you say,
“I AM going to be okay.”

About the Author

Debra Whittam is a licensed, practicing mental health therapist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who specializes in addiction, anxiety and depression, grief and loss. Whittam is passionate about her work in all areas of her specialties, especially addiction. Working in a detox unit for over three years before beginning her own private practice, Whittam realized, while counseling patients in the life and death arena of the detox unit, how much the loss of a beloved through death or a relationship impacted those struggling with addiction.

In this memoir, Whittam skillfully infuses her memories, stories and professional insights to remind us that the most important relationship we will ever have is with ourselves. She splits her time
between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York and Paris, France.

Am I Going To Be Okay? Weathering the Storms of Mental Illness, Addiction and
Grief is her first book.

For
More Information

• Visit Debra Whittam’s website.
• Connect with Debra on Facebook and Twitter.