art and culture

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 […]

Art & Culture: Chakras for Beginners by Karen Nguyen

May 9, 2022 News Editor 0

If you have ever done yoga, it is likely you have heard about your chakras and not totally understood what was being discussed. The reader can come to Karen Nguyen’s Chakras for Beginners with only the most basic understanding of chakras, what is meant by “aligning” them and what can be done for (let’s just call it) ultimate chakra health. Nguyen takes the guesswork away. The subtitle of the book is: “A Complete Guide to […]

Non-Fiction: InnovateHERs: Why Purpose-Driven Entrepreneurial Women Rise to the Top

April 22, 2022 admin 0

Drawing on current research about how entrepreneurial traits and skills lead to success, InnovateHERs: Why Purpose-Driven Entrepreneurial Women Rise to the Top shares the stories of how 29 of today’s top performing women leaders in the for-profit, nonprofit and public sectors leveraged their entrepreneurial mindset to “do good” and “do well” in their careers. Authors Barbara “Bobbi” Kurshan, senior innovation advisor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, and Kathy Hurley, former executive […]

Art & Culture: The Wellness Universe Guide to Complete Self-Care: 25 Tools for Goddesses by Anna Pereira

February 7, 2022 admin 0

Google has seen over one billion searches a day related to wellness. Self-care for mental and emotional wellness as a daily practice is needed now more than ever. Helping those we love and ourselves with self-care practices is essential. “It’s been a tough couple of years. Mentally, emotionally, and spiritually eroding,” says Anna Pereira, author of The Wellness Universe Guide to Complete Self-Care, 25 Tools for Goddesses. “Self-love, self-compassion, and self-care is a priority. We […]