art and culture

Art & Culture: Embolden Women by Rakshan Syed

November 15, 2022 admin 0

No matter he societal and universal challenges that come with women’s rights, Rakshan Syed has taken the bold step to question the perception surrounding this concept. Embolden Women: Unapologetically Me is meant to be an element of breakthrough for women to break the barriers of society and move on the path to freedom heedless of the unnecessary shackles of societal pressures and dramas. Author Syed says that the book’s primary objective is to teach women […]

Art & Culture: Overcoming Writer’s Block by Marcy Pusey

November 11, 2022 admin 0

Overcoming Writer’s Block: The Writer’s Guide to Beating the Blank Page offers creative insights with strategies developed by a therapist and expert writer. Chapters cover the true meaning of writer’s block, and why it haunts so many writers; how to break down the brain science behind creative blockages; the different kind of blocks writers encounter; imposter syndrome plus powerful strategies to reignite inspiration. Author Marcy Pusey writes that she “wanted to expand my reach to […]

Jack Kerouac Foundation Will Be Multi-Discipline Home For the Arts

November 10, 2022 admin 0

The Jack Kerouac Foundation is offering the public a glimpse of its vision for the building, a former Catholic church, it hopes to develop into The Jack Kerouac Center, a performance venue, museum, educational center, and bookstore/café. In advance of its capital fundraising phase, the foundation has posted site plans, drone-shot images, renderings by SCB Architects, and other materials at jackkerouaccenter.com. The site also offers visitors a link to make donations and explains the history […]

Art & Culture: 100 Ways to Win NaNoWriMo by Gail Hulnick

October 30, 2022 admin 0

Florida-based novelist and podcaster Gail Hulnick has won National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) twice. That’s something to brag about: it’s a tough field. Hulnick recently released a guide aimed at helping other writers to participate successfully. 100 Ways to Win NaNoWriMo is a collection of tips and techniques to help writers win the mental game. It helps them prepare for the challenge, pace themselves through the month, deal with distractions, conquer the inevitable self-doubt, and carry […]

Art & Culture: Who Hears Here? by Guthrie Ramsey Jr.

October 12, 2022 admin 0

Who Hears Here? On Black Music, Pasts and Present (University of California Press) documents author Dr. Guthrie Ramsey’s engagement with the joys of music making and the undeniable place Black music holds in global cultures. Ramsey is a multi-hyphenate musicologist who is one of the foremost authorities on the history of African American music. Written over 25 years, these writings carry resonances of the conversations Ramsey has had in bars and hotel rooms during professional […]

Non-Fiction: Tragic Childhood: A Recipe for Celebrated Comedy by Jack Branley

October 12, 2022 Linda L. Richards 0

Have you ever noticed that good comedians — really excellent ones — often had terrible childhoods? Or, at least, some aspect of their background is filled with tragedy and pain. Tragic Childhood by entrepreneur and motivational speaker Jack Branley centers around this premise. The book even begins with a quote from iconic proto-comedian Charlie Chaplin. “To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain and play with it.” Chaplin had the air of […]

Non-Fiction: All for the Love of Horses by Patti Dammier

July 24, 2022 admin 0

Author Patricia Dammier says it was always her vision to be able to look outside and see her beloved horses. In All for the Love of Horses, she shares her story about all the wonderful animals and people that enriched more than 35 years of traveling through Europe before returning to her farm in the United States. Dammier offers a reflective review of the cheerful and funny stories through a historical lens. The stories recount the […]

Art & Culture: Aroma Household Magic by Marian Fletcher

July 24, 2022 Linda L. Richards 0

I’ve been an essential oil enthusiast for many years, reasoning that, whether or not you believe in the benefits of aromatherapy, there is no downside. Even if what the things we believe about essential oils aren’t true, worst case scenario your world smells better. How can that be a bad thing? Marian Fletcher, author of Aroma Household Magic, takes a way more scientific and pro-active approach. An alternative healing therapist, Fletcher knows this space thoroughly. […]

Fiction: Captain Cooked by S.P. Grogan

June 21, 2022 admin 0

S.P. Grogan’s Captain Cooked tells the story of a young videographer, Madison Merlot Dayne, who is the field producer on her chef father’s traveling and popular television cooking show, “Insatiable Delights.” When she arrives on the Big Island of Hawai’i, she stumbles across the poisoning of a famous Hawaiian singer, and then finds herself in danger while trying to solve the murder as well as tasting the delicacies of the islands. Captain Cooked interweaves 22 […]

Stealing Our Attention Back

May 9, 2022 News Editor 0

In the beautifully conceived and executed “How Books Help Us Stop Living in the Shallows” in Thrive, Arianna Huffington takes the time to tell us how the electronic age is rewiring our brains: and not in a good way. Huffington writes that our “new way of taking in information is driving our inability to focus and reflect deeply because it’s also altering the underlying architecture in our brains.“ Asa result, as a culture, we’re reading […]