Showing posts with label non-fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label non-fiction. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Shaken by Kerry Connelly (Book Tour & Giveaway)



Kerry Connelly is an English born Australian author.


A naturally gifted writer, Kerry found her way back to the love of writing after having worked in radio, retail management and casual journalism.

Her first title 'Observation City' was published in February 2013 and is a relatable and humourous book on life and human behaviour.
(View reviews and book links for more information.)

Having had anxieties since childhood, Kerry has always been a firm believer in the importance, understanding and support of those with vairying forms of mental illness.

Her upcoming title 'Shaken: A story of emotional abuse and depression' is inspired by her own story with the topics and serves not only as an inspiring read, but as a self help book of sorts for those who may find themselves in the midst and confusion of an emotionally abusive situation, or the loneliness of depression.

Enjoying dual roles as an author and education assistant, another of Kerry's passions lies in the teaching, compassion, understanding and support of early education primary school students.
Being an avid reader and also having studied film and television in her career, Kerry is a big movie buff, a lover of classics, musicals and dramas especially. She also loves to enjoy a well crafted television show and reading non-fiction and memoirs.


Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest | Linkedin



10 Things You Didn't Know About Shaken:


    1 Shaken has been awarded the 5 star readers favourite seal of approval. Readers Favorite also has reviewed books for authors such as Nicholas sparks and James Patterson.

          2 Shaken is inspired by personal experience
               
          3 Shaken includes multiple sections of self-help material about both emotional abuse and depression

4 The author Kerry Connelly also designed the cover for Shaken

5 The help on offer in shaken has already been useful to many members in the author’s g+ and GR communities

6 The naked model on the cover of Shaken IS actually the author

7 Shaken is a Good Reads featured book. Good Reads is the #1 social readers site with over 13 million people connected world wide

8 Shaken took over a year to write and produce

9 Pulitzer Prize nominee Mark Christensen of the 11th commandment lends his support to shaken

               
           10 Shaken also tells of an encounter with a psychic that came true


Genre: Self-Help, Non-Fiction, Medical Non-Fiction

Publisher: Self-Published at CreateSpace
Release Date: November 2013

Buy - TBA

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)


Book Description:

Inspired by her own experiences, Kerry Connelly bravely takes us on a journey into the loneliness and despair of depression while in the midst of an emotionally abusive relationship.

Having had anxieties since childhood, nothing was to prepare her for the violent convulsions and hours of un-controllable sobbing that had started to take over her life, as the stress and trauma of psychological abuse manifested itself in the form of major depressive disorder, sever panic disorder and anxiety with ocd.

Shaken is the story of one woman’s journey with deteriorating mental health while under the control of an emotional abuser. It serves to acknowledge that any form of psychological abuse at any severity is unacceptable and shows just how quickly the trauma of such can give birth to a variety of mental health issues.

Separated by sections of comprehensive reference and checklist material to inform readers about the signs of emotional abuse and depression, as well as sections of advice and help for friends as well as sufferers, Shaken digs deep into the heart of a woman who hopes to dispel the ignorance and lack of understanding regarding both issues by using her own experiences as an example.

A stark, honest and well written read from the pen of an emotional abuse survivor.


Excerpt:

‘Prologue.


The relationship I endured took a toll on my pre-existing disorder. I had suffered with attacks of anxiety since I was a child, which along with bouts of depression, accompanied me into adulthood.

A bad bout of anxiety would see me locked in the bathroom, frightened and alone while I sat there shivering making my peace to God. Attacks that were so severe and intense, I was sure I was about to die.

How sick they made me feel. The negative thoughts would try to penetrate my exhausted and troubled mind and sweat would seep from every pour of my tired and trembling body. If not for what I call ‘my logical brain’ and my desire to overcome these battles, I’m sure that the battles I was going to face in the decade known as my twenties, would have eventually seen me committed to the cuckoo’s nest.

I had started to see a psychologist in my twenties. It was a few years before I met the man who was to become my emotional abuser. He would have dire effects upon my mental health.

During my time with him, I was happy to realise that my anxiety hadn’t flared up, in what I realised was about to be a year. It was such a relief to be functioning without fear or trepidation. I felt I was slowly getting better.

Little did I know however, that the absence of anxiety would be replaced with the presence of something that medical professionals call Panic Attacks. Attacks that elevated my pre-existing and dormant disorder to a full-fledged diagnosis of severe depression, panic and anxiety disorder with slight OCD. (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.)

It was a diagnosis which saw my return back to medication after just over ten years without it.

I was prescribed a 100 mg dose of a strong anti-depressant/anxiety and mood stabilising drug. That rapidly rose to an astonishingly medically prescribed 300 mg dose within a month and a half. It was 250 mg more than the average recommended dose for both male and females alike.















Thursday, October 17, 2013

Anti-Theist by Chris Mallard (@VBTCafe Tour & #Giveaway)


Anti-Theist
by Christopher Mallard

Author Bio

The majority of my adult life was spent working in the oilfields of west Texas. In my spare time I taught myself how to work on computers and eventually turned it into a small business which I work from home. What does any of this have to do with religion? Nothing. Where are my degrees in theology, biology, astronomy and philosophy? I don’t have any. I am your common average Joe and that’s exactly the type of reader I’m trying to reach. Does it take a degree in theology to open the bible and see the stories told within as being immoral and violent? Can the common man not see how the religions of the world have done and are still doing immeasurable harm to society?

Author Links




Genre: Religion, Philosophy
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Release Date: 5/15/2013
Purchase On Amazon

Synopsis:

This book is the first in a series essentially arguing about the lack of abject morality of religion and its dangers. It’s broken down so each chapter is a topic on its own covering a variety subjects.


Excerpt #1

From Chapter 3 – Disproving God

It’s God’s lack of action, not his actions that disprove his existence. If prayer really worked there would be groups of theists (nuns, priests, imams, whatever) going from bed to bed in every hospital healing the sick. Of course there are religious people in hospitals going along praying for people but a doctor washing his hand before seeing his patients will do more for their survival rates than the prayers offered by their holy men. The evil God monster of Abraham is an all-powerful God and can do absolutely anything except give any type of viable proof of his existence.
Often times a theist will counter with the old ‘God works in mysterious ways’ or stammer on about how he’s not there for us to boss around and do our bidding in vain attempts to get him to prove himself to us but in reality it’s just a bunch of crap. Studies have shown that when sick people are prayed for by fervent believers they are more likely to be healed. Other, more scientific studies have shown that when you allow religious nutbags to carry out their own studies they tend to be skewed towards their religious beliefs. I’m absolutely confident that a prayer method of healing can never stand up to the simple rigors of repeatability.
It is absolutely amazing the wealth of proof to disprove God you can come up with when turning a keen eye upon the absence of God's presence. The millions of children who starve to death, are beaten to death or who are being raped throughout the world is each and every one a testament to the non-existence of a personal God, especially if those children and/ or their parents believe in one of the Abrahamic death cults. And to counter with the idea that God is calling those children who die such horrible deaths to heaven to be with him because he for whatever reason has suddenly decided heaven needs more children is disgusting and vile. If your God is able to ‘see all’ and watch these children die slow agonizing deaths over months or years due to starvation, malnutrition, rape and outright murder and do nothing or to be able to watch children be repeatedly raped by gangs of men and not smite the men on the spot then your God is either not real or quite malevolent. If you the reader were ever attacked by an adult as a child and an invisible hand didn’t swoop in to protect you then you know exactly what I mean. Many victims have often asked, ‘Where was god when x happened to me?’”

















Thursday, May 23, 2013

Chatting with Henry Sienkiewicz - Untangled Book Tour & Giveaway




Untangled: Contemplation And Entanglement
by Henry J. Sienkiewicz


BK: Have you always known you wanted to write, or did it just happen one day?

HS: First, I want to thank you for the chance to have a conversation with your readers. I still struggle to think of myself as a writer. I’m very much an observational, heterogeneous integrator. As an observer, I try to ensure that I’m aware of what is going on around me, and where the seams are in the fabric of what I’m observing. As a heterogeneous writer, I try to pull inspiration from highly, highly diverse sources. But, at the end, I try to integrate all of them into a comprehensive work.


BK: Untangled is meant to be thought-provoking. What sparked the idea to write such a book?

HS: On many levels Untangled was a reaction to many of the things that we all deal with on a daily basis. It was a reaction to the confusion caused by the stuff happening around us, or in my words our daily entanglements.


BK: Tell us a bit more about the 3 pillars of Contemplation.

HS: You are hitting the heart of the book. The literature of contemplation is wonderfully rich, from the mystics to the philosophers to simply people with perspectives. In my own quest to understand, I wanted to find some common pillars. Those pillars are silence, stillness, and solitude.

Silence is our embrace of a space that allows us not to just filter the noises out of daily life but to remove the noise. We have white noise surrounding us almost all of the time. We allow ourselves to be constantly distracted by the ticking of a clock in the background, the hum of the computer, the “bing” of an e-mail, or the siren’s call of an instant message? To paraphrase the Swiss philosopher Max Picard, silence is the mostly unrecognized source of our own beings.
Stillness is an intentional slowing down. Stillness slows us so we see details. Stillness slows us down so we can see the nuances. Stillness slows us down so we can see the depth of the world around us.
Solitude means being able to find the space to think by yourself. Solitude means finding yourself. Solitude means finding your own trail among the entanglements.

All three are necessary in life. All three are needed so that we can engage in life rather than being merely entertained by it.



BK: How complex is Untangled really? Can anyone use this book?

HS: I wrote Untangled to be approachable for anyone who is struggling with the complexity of daily life. I’ve been absolutely astonished at initial reactions. The immediate reaction when I describe the book is a story about how much the other person relates to it.

The readers’ reactions have been even better. I’m had many people tell me that they don’t normally sit down and read philosophy. In this case they did. For many, they read and have gone back to re-read it. I constructed the chapters to be easily understandable within a narrative that everyone could relate to and it appears that I achieved my goal. Most of the readers found it a wonderful read, that gave them a way to think differently.

While it would be helpful to have a slight grounding in philosophy, I don’t think that it is absolutely necessary. The book can stand on its own or the reader can use the references and citations as a starting point, and as a way that they can explore their own trails. Additionally, the book trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A3Trh5BlEw) provides a great introduction to the topic.



BK: What do you hope readers will take away from your book?

HS: I want to concurrently provoke and inspire. I want the reader to put the book down, think about it, and pick it back up in order to reread a passage that caused them to pause. I want the reader to use some, not necessarily all of it to make their lives better.



BK: What do you like to do when you're not writing, or contemplating?

HS: I truly enjoy the arts. I sit on the Board of Governors for the Arts Club of Washington (www.artsclubofwashington.org), the oldest non-profit arts organization in Washington DC.


BK: What is one thing readers would be most surprised to know about you?

HS: In both books, I would like to think that I’ve opened myself up a great deal to the readers. However, one thing that most readers would be surprised how little I’ve been able to travel in the last decade or so. When I was in the airline industry I was able to travel a great deal more. The last ten years have been focused on the first book, starting a software company, and then going into federal service. I’m looking forward to a time when I will be able to travel more.

BK: Using your first name as an acronym, describe your book.

HS: Can I use the French version of my name? H: Holistic E: Engaging N: Nuanced R: Respectful of the reader I: Insightful


BK: What's next for Henry Sienkiewicz?

HS: As I indicated, I’ve been a bit overwhelmed by sheer amount of positive reaction to Untangled (www.untangledthebook.com). I’m starting to pull together the notes for two more books. The third book is geared towards general management principles. The fourth book is still in the very early stages, but pulls some of the ideas that have surfaced in both Centerlined and Untangled. Your readers can follow me on Twitter at @hjsienkiewicz.

I just want to close by, again, thanking you for the time to have this conversation. Untangled is available in the major ebook formats, on the major on-line bookstores, and on the book’s own website – www.untangledthebook.com.




Henry J. Sienkiewicz has served in multiple positions within the United States Federal Senior Executive Service since 2008. His previous commercial experience was as the founder and chief executive officer for Open Travel Software, an award-winning software developer focused on the global travel community, and in the chief information officer role at three technology companies.  He or his companies have been the recipient of multiple awards for innovations or achievement in the technology industry.  He retired as a United States Army Reserve lieutenant colonel in July 2008.
Henry holds a bachelor of arts from the University of Notre Dame and a master of science from Johns Hopkins University. He is also a graduate of the United States Army Command and General Staff College.
In 2006, he completed and published his first book, Centerlined, which dealt with interpersonal and organizational dynamics.
Henry resides in Alexandria, Virginia.
Website Book Site | Facebook | Twitter

Genre:  Practical Philosophy/Self-help
Publisher:  DogEar Publishing 
Release Date: April 2013

In a  social media-centric, Twitter-driven world we live, the complexity created by the entanglements has caused an overload Called a Walden for the Internet Age, Untangled draws from the rich traditions of both Eastern and Western philosophy to tease apart the hyper-connected web of the modern world and challenges the reader to recognize and embrace contemplation as a way cope. 

Through a highly approachable framework and the imagery of a journey through the heartland of Taiwan, Untangled provides the reader with the background of entanglement and contemplation, and identifies and discusses the three pillars of contemplation - silence, stillness and solitude.  The book closes with a series of actions that allow anyone to untangled through active contemplation in daily life. 


Excerpt:

UNTANGLED

A Big Ball of Twine


We learn the rope of life by untying its knots.
—Jean Toomer
As we reached the first stopping point, we opened our packs and found chaos. The ropes that we had neatly packed were completely jumbled. The gear we had carefully stowed had been shifted around; it was an unrecognizable mess.
The jostling and shifting from the simple movement of the journey caused our coils of rope to transform from a neat roll to an entangled mess. We thought that we had taken care to pack them; the journey ensured that we had a mess to deal with.


Our mental backpacks are similar. Sometimes, regardless of the care we have taken, our world becomes a completely entangled mess in ways that we had not expected. Our journey ensures that we have a mess to deal with.
Many writers have used the terms connected and hyperconnected to describe our current state. I think that the term entanglement is more reflective of the state of our condition.
Connection implies that there has been an encounter but does not imply that the relationship is persistent. As will be discussed later, entanglement means two or more “things” have formed some type of permanent bond. This permanent bond is why I think that the term entanglement is more expressive of our actual condition.
Entanglement has many layers and many textures. It may be accidental or intentional. Entanglement may be in ways that may or may not be are attractive. Entanglement may or may not have relevancy to our lives. Entanglement may or may not have real meaning.
Entanglement may be the vines that catch your feet. Or it may be the limbs that brush your arms. Or it could be the rope that safely holds you onto the mountain.
Contemplation lets us mentally sort through the mess of entanglement that we all carry with us and allows us to repack meaningfully.





Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...