Author: Ellen Zielinski Whitfield

You’ve finished your book, it’s off to the printers and you’re ready to start telling the world about it. What’s the first thing you do? Tell everyone you know! And what better place to do so than on social media. Social media has made large audiences accessible to everyone with access to a computer or smartphone, and it’s a great way to connect with your current and potential audiences.

Of course you want to tell all your friends and family about your new book, but you also want to make sure you’re reaching people you don’t know! The first step in doing this is creating an author’s page on Facebook, not just using your personal account. Just as you wouldn’t send an important work related email from your personal email address, you don’t want to deliver important book related messages to your audiences from your personal Facebook page.

Let’s start with the differences between a page and a profile:

• A profile is meant for someone’s personal use. To share pictures, news stories, and goofy memes with their friends and family. It’s totally ok and encouraged to share book updates with your friends and family as well, but it wouldn’t and shouldn’t be the sole use of your page.
• A page is meant to be used by businesses, brands, and public figures. And directing your friends and family there too is a way to keep your book promotions organized and keep your personal page more personal.

Having a published work means that you are now in the public realm, and it’s time to start cultivating your brand.

Functionally, there are advantages to having an author page over using a personal profile:

• You can have a built in “shop now” button for your book’s buy links.
• You can invite people to like and follow the page.
• You can access analytics to learn how to better optimize your page’s set up and posts.
• You can give access to more than one person to run the page.
• You can run ads to grow your brand.
• An author page will let you have unlimited likes/follows, whereas your personal profile is limited to the number of friends you have–and Facebook actually caps that amount at 5,000 friends.
• Your author page makes it socially acceptable for a stranger to connect with you online without feeling creepy. When someone enjoys your books and goes to Facebook, they probably won’t be able to find your personal profile, and even if the reader does, you may not be comfortable adding a stranger as a friend (and they may feel impertinent adding you as a friend!).
• By using an author page, you can allow your personal acquaintance to “opt in” for content about your book by encouraging them to like that page where you plan to share info about your book–that way non-bookish friends don’t feel spammed by your new book content. This is just being polite!

Having an author page creates a sense of professionalism for your career as an author. Although it might not feel like a career yet because you know you wrote the book in bursts between meetings, brief respites before the kids get home from soccer practice, and in your head on long commutes, being an author is work and should be treated as such! And along with the professionalism comes a boundary between your personal life and your life as an author. It may not seem important to have that distinction, but as your career progresses you’ll be glad that you drew that line early on.

But, as with anything with promotion, it’s only what you make it. Just having a fan page in and of itself doesn’t do much. Like just having a book trailer, a twitter account, or a website doesn’t do much. Those things have to be “worked” and incorporated into a comprehensive promotional strategy to have earned meaning.

Teaches Theatre Professionals Resiliency to Avoid Burnout

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Actor training programs frequently focus on performance skills, but not the underlying mental attitudes that can sustain healthy and long-lasting careers in theatre, film, and television. This summer, Actor for Life: How to Have An Amazing Career Without All the Drama by acting professor Connie de Veer and master coach and teacher Jan Elfline offers fresh, accessible insights and exercises for actors to create lives that support their acting work.

After seeing far too many actors burn out after only a few years of acting experience, de Veer realized the sheer exhaustion facing her former students was something that had to be addressed. Their talent and learned technique was not enough for the stage to be truly made theirs—they needed a new way of thinking that would allow them to handle the rejection, the grueling hours, and other aspects of acting outside of the pure craft.

Instead of providing lessons on acting technique or know-how on the business of “the biz,” Actor for Life spreads the positive philosophy that how we think is a powerful engine that either supports or undermines an actor’s success. Emphasizing the need to nourish the mental and emotional needs of actors, de Veer and Elfline teach readers how to develop resilience, motivation, and courage.

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Working actors, acting teachers, students of acting, workshop leaders, and even non-actors can appreciate the clear tutelage and practical advice of this book. “All the world’s a stage,” after all.

“de Veer and Elfline offer good advice for real actors and people in all creative arts.” —Blake Hammond, Broadway Actor

“This is a welcomed addition to any bookshelf for a budding young professional in the creative arts.” —Scott Lafeber, Professor, Head of Musical Theatre, Emerson College

“I absolutely loved it. This will have a permanent place on my bedside table.” —Ronald Román, MFA, Actor, American Shakespeare Center

 

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About the Book:

Actor for Life: How to Have An Amazing Career Without All the Drama
Connie DeVeer and Jan Elfline | June 2018 | Smith & Kraus | Format ISBN TBD: | Price: TBD
Non-fiction, Self Help

Find inspiring interviews with these ten award-winning:

• professionals:Deborah Barylski (casting director, Arrested Development)
• Duane Boutté (Brother to Brother)
• Gary Cole (Veep)
• Suzzanne Douglas (The Parent Hood)
• Sean Hayes (Will & Grace)
• Judith Ivey (Devil’s Advocate)
• Paul Kampf (Paul Kampf Studios)
• Linda Lowy (casting director, Friday Night Lights, Grey’s Anatomy)
• Julia Murney (Wicked)
• Jeff Perry (Scandal)

Connie de Veer, M.F.A., is a Professor of Acting at Illinois State University, where she regularly directs and serves as the voice, text, and dialect coach for School of Theatre and Dance productions. Connie has developed a unique and varied skill-set, driven by her love of people and their growth. de Veer is certified as a teacher of the Alexander Technique, and is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach. She received a Robert R. McCormick Foundation award to integrate civic engagement into theatre and theatre training., as well as a Coleman Foundation Faculty Entrepreneurship Fellowship. Her mission is to empower others to create opportunities to share their voices with the world. Visit www.conniedeveer.com for more.

Jan Elfline’s interests are at an improbable intersection: engineering, art, and human behavior. Her doctoral research, funded by the J Paul Getty Trust, focused on how to cultivate creativity and innovation. Elfline taught studio art at the university level for over a decade, then in 1993 she left academia to open a training business. She takes what she knows about the creative process into boardrooms, research laboratories, and onto the floors of manufacturing facilities. Find out more at www.janelfline.com.

 

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An Interview with Connie De Veer

Why did you write Actor for Life?
When I talk with former students, 1 – 5 years after graduation, it’s apparent to me how discouraged and exhausted they feel. Most drop out of the business; many lose steam; and the vast majority feel like failures. I realized that I’m a coach, my good friend Jan is a coach… and we can help them!

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?
That self-agency is a learnable skill. That they can learn to be the “captains of their own careers,” as casting director Deborah Barylski says. Actors need not be helpless victims, waiting for someone else to give them a job, letting others define success for them and their chances of achieving it. It can be a joyous journey, and one that they create.

What do you see as the biggest obstacles actors face in their career, and how do you address that in the book?
Self-limiting beliefs. It all begins in our minds. We offer clear, even fun, strategies to re-craft readers’ habitual thoughts into ones that are energizing and yield productive results.

What are the top emotional qualities you think can indicate success an actor?
The actors we interviewed for the book share several qualities, including courage, persistence, and a love for what they do. They experience rejection, but they don’t stay stuck. They have gratitude for their gifts and the community with whom they get to share their gifts. And they think of themselves as servants, in service of telling the stories of the human condition with truth and commitment.

How can your philosophies help even non-actors?
As we say in the book, if you show up to your job, present yourself, put yourself “out there” into the world, you’re acting. You’re taking action for what you want and what you believe in. Actors just do that usually in a more public arena. It takes courage, authenticity, and vision for all of us —butchers, bakers, candlestick makers—to be actors for life. The philosophies in our book help anyone who has ever grappled with self-doubt, toxic relationships, lack of motivation, or self-defeating habits.

 

www.JKSCommunications.com
237 Old Hickory Blvd., Suite 201, Nashville, TN 37221
Ellen Whitfield
(616) 258-5537
ellen@jkscommunications.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Seattle, WA—On April 1, 2018, Camel Press will release Three Strikes, You’re Dead ($15.95, 288 pages, ISBN: 978-1-60381-727-1) by Elena Hartwell, the third book in the Eddie Shoes Mystery series, set in Washington State. Private investigator Eddie Shoes heads to a resort outside Leavenworth, Washington, for a mother-daughter getaway weekend. Eddie’s mother, Chava, wants to celebrate her new job at a casino by footing the bill for the two of them, and who is Eddie to say no?

On the first morning, Eddie goes on an easy solo hike, and a few hours later, stumbles upon a makeshift campsite and a gravely injured man. A forest fire breaks out and she struggles to save him before the flames overcome them both. The man hands her a valuable rosary and tells her his daughter is missing and begs for her help. He dies before he can tell her more information. Is Eddie now working for a dead man?

Barely escaping the fire, Eddie wakes in the hospital to find both her parents have arrived on the scene. Will Eddie’s card-counting mother and mob-connected father help or hinder the investigation? The police search in vain for a body. How will Eddie find the missing girl with only Eddie’s memory of the man’s face and a photo of his daughter to go on?

Says Hartwell, “In book three, I wanted to explore the other side of Eddie’s family history. Readers often ask about her father, Eduardo, so I decided to give him a little more time in the spotlight. This story also expands on my interest in the experiences of people who come to this country to build new lives, both legally and illegally. Of course, I couldn’t leave Chava out, so she’s in there too. A triangle is always more interesting than a duo. I hope readers enjoy the twists in the plot and seeing the relationships evolve as much as I did.”

 

 

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Praise for the Eddie Shoes Mysteries:

Two Heads Are Deader Than One: 5 Stars: “A delightful heroine in a story that promises pleasant romance and a hint of danger with a twist of an ending. This will keep one from ever putting this book down!”
—InD’tale Magazine

Two Heads Are Deader Than One: “Elena Hartwell has conjured up a plausible protagonist and done a good job of plunking her into a setting and plot that nicely suit her.” —Reviewing the Evidence

One Dead, Two to Go: “Hartwell has created quite a winner in the unique and clever Eddie Shoes, and this first case features not only a twisting, turning, fast-paced plot, but also a number of nuanced, quirky relationships.”
—RT Book Reviews

One Dead, Two to Go: “Avid Alphabet series connoisseurs should flock to this kick-off series.”
—InD’tale Magazine

Elena Hartwell’s writing career began in the theater, where she also worked as a director, designer, producer, and educator. Productions of her scripts have been performed around the U.S. and abroad. She lives in North Bend, Washington, with her husband. For more information go to www.elenahartwell.com.

Three Strikes, You’re Dead is currently available for presale in both eBook and 5×8 trade paperback on Amazon.com and BN.com. After April 1st, it will also be for sale on the European Amazons, Amazon Japan, and at select independent bookstores. Wholesale customers should contact Epicenter Press/Aftershocks Media (orders@epicenterpress.com), Ingram, or Baker & Taylor. Other electronic versions are available from Smashwords.

About Camel Press—Based in Kenmore, Washington, Camel Press is an imprint of Epicenter Press, Inc. We publish genre fiction: romance, mystery/suspense, science fiction, and fantasy—the books that grab you and hold you in their grip long into the night.

 

 

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An Interview with Elena Hartwell

You started out your writing career as a playwright. How did you decide to start writing mysteries?
I have been a lifelong reader. From the Narnia Series to science fiction, historical fiction, and non-fiction, I’ve loved reading a wide variety of genres and styles. Fairly early on, however, my granny introduced me to mysteries. She loved the classics, like Tony Hillerman and Agatha Christie. As I got older, I began to read more and more mysteries, so while I still branch out, they are my go-to reading. I began working in the theater during my undergraduate years. I have been a director, designer, educator, and technician. Marrying my writing with theater made sense, so I spent twenty years working as a playwright. But deep down, I always wanted to write a novel. Plays are ephemeral, they last for a very short period of time. Novels last as long as the binding holds. I wrote my first novel about ten years ago. It wasn’t very good, but I learned a lot. I wrote another and another, until my fourth book was published and the Eddie Shoes Mystery Series was born.

How has your training in theater played into your fiction writing?
I’ve come to understand story structure pretty well through all my years of both writing and directing–and occasionally acting–for the theater. Nothing teaches a writer more about how to write tight, dramatic scenes as trying to hold an audience’s attention. For the most part, you get two hours onstage to tell your story, so every word and every moment has to count. Theater taught me how to handle exposition (background information) and how to write dialogue. It also taught me a lot about how to create complex characters. What it didn’t teach me was how to write descriptions! I had to learn that the hard way. According to an editor I worked with on my first novel, that first book had “fantastic atmosphere, but no details.” She couldn’t tell what anything looked like, just the mood it created. I’ve gotten much better at including a few specifics.

How has Eddie developed as a character since the first book, and how do you think she might continue to grow in the future?
One of the things I love most about Eddie is her independence. But one of the things I’ve enjoyed most about her evolution, is her newfound connection with and reliance on other people. She was an only child, with a teenage, single mother, no other close family, and few close friends. She moved away from her hometown of Spokane, Washington, and became a private investigator. She was just starting to rely on her mentor when he committed suicide (before the first novel). She fled to Bellingham, Washington, and started back from square one. Over the course of the novels, however, she’s let a few people into her life, including her mother. And now she has a dog, so her life is almost complete. Keep an eye out for future Eddie Shoes’ books, however, her lovelife might be what she explores next.

How does setting the story in Bellingham, WA, influence the plot and characters?
Bellingham is a wonderful town just south of Vancouver, Canada. I like it as a location to set the series for a number of reasons. From Bellingham, a character can hop on a train, catch a bus, or a sneak on a ferry. They could run for the border or head to Idaho, Montana, or lots of other places to hide. Interstate 5 stretches from the Canadian border to Mexico, so it’s a straight shot out of the country. It’s a college town, so there’s a very active younger population, which is also somewhat transient. There are funky neighborhoods, and a beautiful historic section with brick buildings and cobbled streets. It’s less than 100,000 people, so it has a small-town vibe, without it being out of the realm of possibility that a murder could take place. Weather has a big impact. It rains a lot of the year, so that has to be taken into account for stakeouts and following suspects around. It’s a laid-back community, without gang violence or “bad” neighborhoods, but there are drug problems just like everywhere else. While crime isn’t rampant, there are domestic squabbles, robberies, and justification for criminal activity in my plots. I am aware of the Cabot Cove dilemma, so I move Eddie around sometimes and have the murders take place in other locations. I can’t quite justify killing more than one person a year.

What authors have inspired your writing?
Sue Grafton was probably the writer who inspired me the most in terms of writing mysteries. She was the first female author I found and followed on my own. I love Kinsey Millhone. She’s funny and capable and practical, and also feels real. While I love books like the Jack Reacher novels, I don’t think about meeting that character in real life, Kinsey always felt like someone I could sit down and have a drink with. That’s what I love about Eddie. She feels real to me. She makes mistakes, but her heart is always in the right place. In terms of career, I love Dennis Lehane. I think writing a contemporary series and a historical series and several standalones is ideal. Being able to write different protagonists and time periods appeals to me. Lastly, I think the Hobbit is the perfect book. J. R. R. Tolkien’s ability to create a mythological world that integrated battles from world war one has stayed with me since childhood. As I’ve gotten older and began to understand how he merged his real world experiences into his epic novel, showed me how much impact a fiction author can have on humanity understanding itself. It let me see that even when a novel is “light” or designed to “entertain,” it can still have an underlying ethical component. While Eddie is a fun read, I like to think there’s something to be gained by spending time with her. When I used to teach at the college level, I sometimes told my students, what I hope for, is that you leave my class as better people, if you learn something about theater along the way, that’s the icing. I hope when people read Eddie they enjoy the experience, but that’s the icing on the cake. If they think about themselves or other people in a slightly different way, that’s the cake.

Talking Points

• Creating a mother/daughter crime duo
• Transitioning from writing plays to writing books
• Using Bellingham, WA, as a setting for The Eddie Shoes Mystery series
• Straddling the line between traditional mysteries and cozies

 

www.JKSCommunications.com
237 Old Hickory Blvd., Suite 201, Nashville, TN 37221
Ellen Whitfield
(616) 258-5537
ellen@jkscommunications.com

The Maxwell Series by S.B. Alexander
We are thrilled that the last installment of this amazing series has arrived! “Dare to Breathe” will bring two lovers together for good….or see them separated once and for all. Romance readers love how Lacey is the first woman to play baseball on the college level, and her complicated trauma history plays into her relationship with steamy Kade Maxwell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dream Keeper’s Daughter by Emily Colin

Need a little fantasy in your romance? Emily Colin’s “The Dream Keeper’s Daughter” is a poignant tale of a woman who has moved on after her lover’s disappearance eight years ago. A strange series of events leads her to wonder if he is alive somewhere, but she quickly realizes it’s the “when” not the “where” that’s the problem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Aphrodite’s Tears” by Hannah Fielding
Aphrodite’s Tears: In ancient Greece, one of the twelve labors of Hercules was to bring back a golden apple from the Garden of Hesperides. To archaeologist Oriel Anderson, joining a team of Greek divers on the island of Helios seems like the golden apple of her dreams.

 Yet the dream becomes a nightmare when she meets the devilish owner of the island, Damian Theodorakis. In shocked recognition, she is flooded with the memory of a romantic night in a stranger’s arms, six summers ago. A very different man stands before her now, and Oriel senses that the sardonic Greek autocrat is hell-bent on playing a cat and mouse game with her.

 Will Oriel find the hidden treasures she seeks? Or will Damian’s tragic past catch up with them, threatening to engulf them both?

 

 

Love and Laughter: Sexy (Meaningful) Fun for Everyone by Beth Liebling
Love and Laughter: Sexy (Meaningful) Fun for Everyone:
This Valentine’s Day make sure you and your partner are communicating openly and honestly about…sex! As Beth says, “Intimacy can be the foundation to successful marriage. Sex, when you combine that with emotional intimacy, can heal and seal a relationship, especially a marriage.” Check out this book for an exploration of this popular Houston radio show host’s expertise on how to talk about love, what kind of sex everyone’s having (and how to have it too), and what being sex-positive and empowered can bring to your life.

 

 

 

 

Apart by C.J. Pastore
Apart: Spice up your V-Day with C.J. Pastore’s Captive of a Commoner series. In the second book in the series, “Apart,” Alicia is learning to navigate her success in the fashion world when she is attacked by a drug lord out for vengeance against her lover, Chase. While he is serving overseas, both Chase and Alicia grapple with danger and longing for each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walland by Andrea Thome

Walland: Can broken hearts risk love again? India’s life has always gone according to plan. But when she decides to call off her high-profile wedding and take time off from her network television job, everything turns upside down. A tranquil resort in the moody Smoky Mountains of Tennessee was supposed to be a place she could hide out and lick her wounds. Instead she finds herself questioning everything she ever thought she wanted. Wyatt is a man with scars that run deep. He’s built a careful life for himself, and he has no intention of letting anyone get close to him . . . again. But what happens when two people who are running away from love run right into one another? Will the intense chemistry they feel be enough to overpower their fears? Or will their time together in the Smoky Mountains end with broken hearts?

 

 

 

Seeds of Intention by Andrea Thome

Seeds of Intention: Garrett Oliver has just settled into his job as heir apparent to one of the most renowned master gardeners in the countryHe’s found a home and a renewed purpose at a famed resort in the secluded Smoky Mountains. The stars seem to be aligning for Garrett as he plans a future with his college sweetheart and envisions a simple life with her in the mountains of East Tennessee.

Willow Armstrong, fresh off a painful breakup, is coming home to Knoxville to care for her ailing father. She finds herself in the right place at the right time, landing a dream job alongside Garrett—as his boss. As they are thrown together by their work, an undeniable magnetism grows between them, despite the fact that Garrett is ready to start a future with someone else.

 

 

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK, NEW YORK– Inspired by the local shops in her New York neighborhood, Tracey Ceurvels began cooking with exotic ingredients and writing about her experiments on her trendsetting blog, “The NYC Kitchen,” in 2010. Since then Tracey has tested hundreds of beautiful recipes, and shared the warmth of her friendly home kitchen with each reader. A food and travel journalist with pieces published in The Boston Globe, The New York Times, and Relish, and with copywriting experience at magazines such as Vogue and Condé Nast Traveler, Tracey’s well-earned writing chops pair perfectly with her easygoing personality and lush recipes to make a collection of recipes home cooks and adventurous chefs alike can enjoy.

Inside NYC neighborhood stores, stimulated by scent, color, and flavor, our imaginations flourish…

In The NYC Kitchen Cookbook, Tracey shares her tasty adventures with foodie fans nationwide and explains how to use the flavorful ingredients found in NYC to make simple yet sensational meals for any occasion. Families especially can enjoy Tracey’s dedication to cooking with her young daughter (featured prominently on her website and in photos in the cookbook too), and the warm bond they share over their culinary creations.

The NYC Kitchen Cookbook draws inspiration from food stores and markets that make NYC one of the most diverse and appetizing destinations of the world. Unique ingredients and the NYC shops they’re sourced from are the stars of Tracey’s recipes. But even if NYC shops are miles away, ingredients can also be found in markets nationwide and online, making The NYC Kitchen Cookbook a convenient and diverse recipe guide for every day of the week, and for home cooks nationwide.

NYC-inspired recipes shared in full color include:
• Sweet Potato and Carrot Dip with Nigella Seeds
• Grilled Halloumi with Peppadew Peppers, Olives and Pine Nuts
• Clam, Saffron and Chorizo Stew
• Tomato, Purslane, and Sumac Salad
• Agrodolce Chicken
• Hummus-Crusted Chicken
• Baked Cod with Olives and Lillet
• Arctic Char with Berbere
• Earl Grey Tea Panna Cotta
• Banana Bourbon Cardamom Bread

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tracey Ceurvels is a food and travel journalist and the creator of popular cooking and lifestyle blog The NYC Kitchen. She has been published in the Boston Globe, the New York Times, the New York Daily News, Relish, and Time Out, among other places. Tracey resides in Brooklyn, New York, with her daughter, Sabrina. Visit her at http://newyorkcity.kitchen.

The NYC Kitchen Cookbook: 150 Recipes Inspired by the Specialty Food Shops, Spice Stores, and Markets of New York City
Tracey Ceurvels
August 15, 2017
ISBN 978-1-5107-2112-8
$24.99
Cookbook
Skyhorse Publishing

In an interview, Tracey Ceurvels can discuss:
“[Cooking at home] helps feed my love of adventure. Visiting different parts of the city and discovering the variety of food and ingredients satiates my sense of wanderlust. Secondly, I enjoy meeting people who love what they do, especially when it comes to food. I’ve met beer brewers, winemakers, chocolatiers, butchers, and cheese mongers. Their passion for what they do is contagious, and honestly, I’d rather buy an artisanal produce made with love and care than a mass-produced one at the supermarket—that’s my philosophy.” From the Introduction, The NYC Kitchen Cookbook

• Family cooking with her 9-year old daughter Sabrina
• Shopping—how to find the spices and other special ingredients home cooks need no matter where you live
• Interviews with NYC shop owners   (Sahadi’s, Kalustyans, Titan Foods, et al)
• Tracey’s favorite NYC stores and what to buy in each
• Top 10 ingredients to keep on hand for quick global meals
• Easy weeknight dinners
• Homemade pizza/brunch at home/homemade snack food

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An Interview with Tracey Ceurvels

How did you begin NYC Kitchen?
I started the NYC Kitchen for a few reasons. Before I had my daughter in 2008, I was a freelance writer, reviewing restaurants, going out a lot at night to events, and traveling around for stories I was writing. I’ve always had a sense of wanderlust and when she was born, that stopped for a while, yet my love of food didn’t. Instead, my adventures changed: to navigating being a mother. At times I felt stuck and confused, not knowing when I’d get to satiate my love of adventure again. And dinner? I was no longer dining out at all the hot spots, but ordering takeout or worse, eating bland food I’d put together without much thought because there was hardly time to think about what to make for dinner.

Soon I realized I could feed my adventurous spirit in a different way and that’s when I started my web site, around 2010. I used it as place to share my recipes and discoveries, and as a place to keep the articles I wrote in one place; it was part blog/part portfolio.

I started venturing around NYC to all the wonderful food shops, going to places like Chinatown, where I lived when Sabrina was a baby, for greens, noodles, ginger, and other items, to Di Palo’s for Italian food like buffalo mozzarella, Parmesan, and prosciutto, to Brighton Beach to check out the Russian markets, to Astoria to stock up on Greek goodies, and so on. My daughter and I would pick up vegetables at the farmer’s markets, spices at the Indian store, her favorite cheese at the cheese monger, fresh pasta at an Italian shop. Cooking for me became a fun adventure and it became fun to cook globally-inspired meals. Now that she’s 9, she’s become my dinner and travel companion. I get to satiate my sense of wanderlust—and because she’s always with me, inspire her to do the same. With The NYC Kitchen, I hope to inspire others to satiate their sense of adventure through food, too.

How has cooking daily with your daughter impacted family life?
There is no doubt that life is busy when you have a child. There are after school activities, homework, playdates, laundry, dishes, and more. When she’s at school, it’s the only time I have to write, pitch articles, and work on my web site, so during school hours you will always find me on the computer working. Weeknight dinners, even for someone like me who enjoys cooking, can seem like another chore to check off the list. But I’ve made it an enjoyable activity by creating easy meals that I can whip up in 30 minutes or less. Fortunately, Sabrina likes a lot of different foods: Thai, Japanese, Indian, Chinese, etc. She likes spices and dishes that are full of flavor, so if I have ingredients like noodles, eggs, garlic, onions, a few key spices, greens and some protein I can usually whip something up that we both like.

What is your favorite thing to cook and why?
Making quick dinners during the week is a necessity, but sometimes I love making meals that require more time and effort, dishes that need to simmer: dishes like bouillabaisse, beef stews, roasts, whole chickens, and tagines. These types of dishes are relegated to the weekends, which is why I named a chapter in my book, “Relax on the Weekend: Feasts.” Even though we live in a fast-paced world, I love the art of taking time out of a weekend day to make a meal. I put on some music, light candles, open up a bottle of wine, and enjoy the process of chopping vegetables, combining spices, and smelling the scents from whatever is simmering in the oven. Sometimes, while I’m cooking, I’ll glance over at my daughter who’s playing, painting or reading and it all feels very satisfying in a humble way. During the week dinnertime looks a lot different, but on the weekends it’s nice to turn to dishes that require more thought.

For at-home cooks who are just starting out, what is square 1?
My philosophy with food and cooking is all about satiating my sense wanderlust, so I believe that having an interest in trying new things is helpful—this is something that continually inspires me in the kitchen, and I hop eto inspire other home cooks to do the same. On my web site, I offer a PDF, “The Edible Adventure List—10 ingredients to keep stocked for easy global dinners.” This list, which includes some of my favorite ingredients, is a good start to feeling inspired in the kitchen. I believe that it starts with the ingredients—fresh herbs, spices, sauces, and more—and keeping a few key items stocked at all times.

Also, organization is important especially if you’re naturally a go-with-the-flow person like I am. On Sundays, I think of a few meals I’d like to make during the week and I write down what I need for each dish. Before doing this, I’d wander around a few stores, unsure what to make, then I’d come home having forgotten something and I’d feel frustrated. For this reason, I created a menu planner, which is actually something that goes against my nature, but has helped me immensely. As a mom, I’m always juggling a million to-do’s; being able to write down what you need to buy makes cooking dinner a lot less stressful. That being said, I often challenge myself to make a meal out of what I have stocked, and that kind of experimentation can be a lot of fun. But for new home cooks my main advice is to be organized and be willing to try new things. There will be times when something you made from adding a new ingredient into your repertoire will turn into a new favorite meal you’ll want to make again and again.

 

 

 

www.JKSCommunications.com
237 Old Hickory Blvd., Suite 201, Nashville, TN 37221
Ellen Whitfield
(616) 258-5537
ellen@jkscommunications.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Written by Lauren Wilson Ÿ Photography by Yunhee Kim

Season after season, The Walking Dead has been enthralling fans, drawing millions of viewers, and consistently breaking viewership records. Approaching its eighth season, the pop culture phenomenon has been the number one show on cable for five consecutive years and is the most-watched series in cable television history.

From people foraging to fuel up for survival to buying allegiance with cookies, there’s no doubt that food plays an integral role in the series. With the dying need for these recipes, Insight Editions is pleased to announce the publication of The Walking Dead: The Official Cookbook and Survival Guide ($29.99; October 10, 2017), offering unique recipes and survival tips inspired by AMC’s hit series.

The Walking Dead: The Official Cookbook and Survival Guide details the skills and recipes anyone would need to survive (while trying to avoid being eaten!) during an unexpected walker apocalypse. The cookbook features more than sixty mouthwatering recipes for breakfast, dinner, drinks, and even dessert, including iconic meals inspired by those featured on the show, such as Carl’s Chocolate Pudding, Carol Peletier’s Cookies, and Daryl Dixon’s Deer Stew.

The Walking Dead: The Official Cookbook and Survival Guide also contains vital information on foraging, hunting wild game, and cooking outdoors to help make the transition into any emergency scenario slightly less terrifying.

About the Contributors:
Lauren Wilson is a professional chef and cookbook author. She graduated with honors from Toronto’s George Brown Chef School in 2008. Since then, she has worked in various capacities in the food world, from fine dining to cheese-mongering, online sales, catering, teaching cooking classes, and writing for print and online media. She is the author of The Art of Eating Through the Zombie Apocalypse (BenBella Books, 2014), an illustrated cookbook and culinary survival guide. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Yunhee Kim is a New York based photographer specializing in food, still life, and interior. Her clients are Food Network, Martha Stewart Ominmedia, Parents, West Elm, and most recently Siggi’s Yogurt.

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About Insight Editions:
Celebrated for its unwavering dedication to quality, Insight Editions is a publisher of innovative books and collectibles that push the boundaries of creativity, design, and production. Through its acclaimed film, television, and gaming program, Insight strives to produce unique books and products that provide new ways to engage with fan-favorite characters and stories. Under this program, Insight has published books covering the worlds of Star Wars, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Destiny, Assassin’s Creed, Halo, Diablo, World of Warcraft, and the Harry Potter films, among many others. Insight’s award-winning art, photography, and sports titles celebrate the artistry and history of a wide -range of subjects that include the Rolling Stones, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Johnny Cash, the San Francisco Giants, and the Dallas Cowboys. Other divisions include a line of deluxe stationery products, as well as a children’s imprint, Insight Kids. For more information, visit www.insighteditions.com.

About AMC:
AMC is home to some of the most popular and acclaimed programs on television. AMC was the first basic cable network to ever win the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Drama Series with “Mad Men” in 2008, which then went on to win the coveted award four years in a row, before “Breaking Bad” won it in 2013 and 2014. The network’s series “The Walking Dead” is the highest-rated series in cable history and the number one show on television among adults 18-49 for the last five years. AMC’s other current original drama series include “Better Call Saul,” “TURN: Washington’s Spies,” “Halt and Catch Fire,” “Humans,” “Fear the Walking Dead,” “Into the Badlands,” “The Night Manager,” “Preacher,” “The Son,” “Loaded” and the forthcoming “The Terror,” “Lodge

49,” “Dietland” and “McMafia.” AMC also explores authentic worlds and discussion with original shows like “Talking Dead,” “Talking With Chris Hardwick,” “The Making of The Mob,” “Comic Book Men,” “Ride with Norman Reedus” and “The American West.” AMC is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc. and its sister networks include IFC, SundanceTV, BBC America and WE tv. AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile.

*PLEASE NOTE: No humans were harmed in the making of this cookbook.

 

 

www.JKSCommunications.com
237 Old Hickory Blvd., Suite 201, Nashville, TN 37221
Ellen Whitfield
(616) 258-5537
ellen@jkscommunications.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE DALAI LAMA , JANE GOODALL, MIKHAIL GORBACHEV, BUZZ ALDRIN, JANE FONDA AND DOZENS MORE

LOS ANGELES, CA– The World is Just a Book Away is an anthology that represents a 15-year journey by USC professor James Owens to capture the stories of how books and reading inspired some of the world’s most prominent people. Owens’s earliest memory is of reading The Encyclopedia of World Travel with his mother. The many books they shared opened his eyes to the wonders of the world. The legacy of literacy and love of books his mother left behind after her tragic death by suicide when he was just 9 years old provided the guiding hope in his life that ultimately led to The World is Just a Book Away.

Recognizing the life-changing nature of reading, Owens set out in 2002 to create this unique and deeply moving book. At first glance, the 60 people in this anthology may not seem to have much in common—yet they all share their personal love of books and reading in The World is Just a Book Away. This book provides readers with unique insight into the personal stories of 5 Nobel Peace Prize laureates, actors, royalty, world leaders, scientists, humanitarians, and many more, including:

His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Liam Neeson
Natasha Richardson
Vanessa Redgrave
Senator Edward M. Kennedy
Eunice Kennedy Shriver
Yo-Yo Ma
Jude Law
Miep Gies
Jane Goodall
President Mikhail Gorbachev
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Susan Sarandon
Martin Scorsese
Lisa Ling
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu
Jane Fonda
Her Majesty Queen Noor Al Hussein of Jordan
Ted Turner
Buzz Aldrin

James J. Owens is a professor of management communication at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. James is Founder and CEO of the international children’s charity The World is Just a Book Away (WIJABA), which promotes literacy by developing libraries and educational programs. Since its inception in 2008, WIJABA has built 90 libraries, touching the lives of more than 70,000 children in 3 countries. James collected and edited the 60 essays in this book over the course of 15 years. His profit from this book will benefit the charity. James is also a writer, a corporate leadership coach, and a motivational speaker. He lives with his son Alexander in Santa Monica, CA. For more information please visit www.wijaba.org.

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As James Owens began the labyrinthine process of contacting and coordinating the 60 contributors, he recognized the profound need for children the world over to have access to books and educational programs. After visiting the world’s worst mudflow disaster in Indonesia in 2008 and realizing that none of the schools had a library, Owens founded The World is Just a Book Away (WIJABA) the charity, which will receive his profits from the book.

In just 9 years, WIJABA has reached 70,000+ children through 90 libraries worldwide with mobile libraries serving 100 additional schools. WIJABA has also created an environmental education program in partnership with Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, which is being introduced at more than 350 schools in Indonesia and Mexico. WIJABA currently builds libraries in Indonesia, Mexico and the U.S., to ensure that children have access to reading materials and programs that complement their education and inspire their dreams.

“WIJABA libraries play a vital role in children’s lives. Books impart knowledge, build understanding, and set imaginations free. They are among the great joys of life.” —Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace laureate

“This resource that I had taken for granted was not available to other children and that made me want to get involved and help change that reality.” –Cybella Maffitt, a teen funding 3 libraries by selling baked goods, lemonade, and handmade jewelry

“I feel honored and humbled that the 60 people in this book who have inspired the world in so many different ways have entrusted me with their stories. My most heartfelt aspiration is that The World is Just a Book Away will inspire you to explore books you might have never considered, embarking upon journeys into new worlds and magical realms of knowledge, imagination, endless possibilities, and hope.” —James Owens, Founder and Editor, The World is Just a Book Away

The World Is Just A Book Away
James J. Owens
November 1st, 2017
USC Libraries Press
ISBN: 978-0-9991348-0-1
$29.99
Nonfiction

 

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In an interview, James Owens can discuss:

• Why this book is so special in its unique constellation of prominent people involved
• The impact access to books can have on children’s educations and opportunities
• Why James decided to found WIJABA the charity and partner with USC Libraries on this book
• What WIJABA does internationally and in Los Angeles
• The story of how books inspired and comforted him during this darkest and loneliest moments
• Why he would spend 15 years creating a book and giving the profit to WIJABA
• The story behind this book—about how reading and books inspired prominent people—that will ultimately buy books for children who have none
• The unique and inspirational stories of how reading and books have affected the lives of each contributor to The World is Just a Book Away
• The process of getting 60 prominent people to contribute to The World is Just a Book Away and the remarkable, unlikely results of that work
• The inspirational stories of people from all walks of life who have raised or donated money to buy books and build libraries for children who have none.

An Interview with James Owens:

What do you hope readers will take away from the experience of reading The World is Just a Book Away?
How do you hope it will make readers feel, what do you hope it will inspire them to do?
The World is Just a Book Away offers readers insight into the unique and unexpected ways that books inspire and even directly change the lives and work of all these remarkable people. I hope that The World is Just a Book Away will inspire people to read books and explore ideas and places they might have never considered.  I also hope this book creates a deeper appreciation of just how important reading is to our lives, creativity, work, and intellectual curiosity.

Each contributor to this book shared something special about reading and books. What are some of your favorite discoveries?
I feel incredibly blessed that each of the participants, whose lives have impacted the world in so many ways, entrusted me with their stories. It is very difficult for me to single out stories from this book as my favorite because each is unique and inspirational in its own way.

It was deeply moving for me to learn about how books about Dr. Doolittle and Tarzan contributed to Jane Goodall’s determination to go to Africa, learn more about animals, and become one of the world’s leading voices on the importance of conservation. Simon Wiesenthal found a book that led him to seek justice for the rest of his life. Miep Gies’s bravery saved Anne Frank’s diary, which has become one of the most widely read books in the world. Queen Noor’s submission is a wonderful reminder to consider what we all share. Senator Kennedy describes the seminal role that his brother’s book, Profiles in Courage, played in his life, which is a touching reminder that words live on and have great influences long after the deaths of the people who wrote them.

So many children today still do not have adequate access to books. How does building libraries through WIJABA change their lives? How will the publication of this book support the work of the WIJABA organization?
The publication of The World is Just a Book Away is the culmination of a 15-year-long journey for me. My profit from the book will be donated to WIJABA to help advance our work. I also hope that the book itself will increase awareness about the importance of children’s literacy and inspire people to consider supporting WIJABA’s efforts to provide underprivileged children around the world with access to books, libraries and educational programs. To learn more about opportunities that can forever change the lives of children please visit our website (www.wijaba.org).

As a child, what did you find most inspiring and hopeful about books after the death of your mother? How did that set you on your journey toward this book?
I can’t imagine my life without books. My earliest memory is of reading a book about travel with my mother. Her love of books and reading sustained me after her death when I was 9 years old and continues to sustain me now. No matter how sad I was or how alone I felt, I could always escape into the magical world of books, which sparked my imagination and inspired many of my dreams and adventures.

Reading was also always a source of hope in my life. My own experience with books shaped my desire to share the stories of how books and reading inspired others.  This love of books also ultimately inspired me to launch the international children’s literacy charity, WIJABA, to promote literacy by providing books, libraries, and educational programs to children as a ray of hope in lives all too often shrouded in darkness.

How did you inspire and persuade so many prominent people in so many walks of life to join you in creating this book? After working on the book, do you see bigger connections between reading, imagination, and the ability to accomplish great things in the world?
The World is Just a Book Away feels like a miracle to me. I have always loved getting to know people through their stories, and I am extremely persistent. At the same time, creating this book has taught me that having a vision that speaks to people’s hearts will draw them to a cause. This project has also reinforced my fundamental belief that anything is possible, even the seemingly impossible.

For me, this book truly highlights the connection between reading and books to imagining possibilities and creating possibilities in one’s own life and the world.

 

www.JKSCommunications.com
237 Old Hickory Blvd., Suite 201, Nashville, TN 37221
Ellen Whitfield
(616) 258-5537
ellen@jkscommunications.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Debbie Wooldridge helps businesses learn to work with the majority generation

SAN DIEGO, CA – By 2025, 75% of the workforce will be part of the Millennial generation born between 1980 and 2000. Few companies are accommodating the different work styles of this massive power behind American business, but Debbie Wooldridge, founding president and CEO of ttcInnovations, had an idea for helping businesses improve their performances. She created The Millennial Project, an interactive, two-day workshop that provides companies with the tools and strategic roadmaps needed to alter workforce processes and increase productivity in regard to their Millennial employees, who have a different working profile from generations prior. Her previous book, Unleashing the Intrapreneur, focused on supporting Millennials in creating livable career goals and working effectively to achieve them.

In her new book, A Manager’s Guide to Unleashing the Intrapreneur, Wooldridge builds upon her expertise, providing engaging learning experiences to companies by zeroing in on the majority demographic in American companies today—and certainly in the years to come—Millennials. Debbie’s company partners with learning and development organizations in the financial sector to help them scale at a moment’s need through staffing solutions, large-scale project support, and innovative approaches to evolving for the emerging workforce.  ttcInnovations has helped businesses enhance on-the-job performance, improve their customers’ satisfaction, deliver significant business results, and achieve their goals.

Debbie Wooldridge is the founding president and CEO of DW Training and Development, Inc., dba ttcInnovations, which provides businesses with engaging learning solutions that adopt a host of performance support options. Debbie’s company has also created The Millennial Project. Debbie currently lives in Carlsbad, California, with her husband and is a mother to twin Millennials.

 

 

 

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About the Book

In an interview, Debbie Wooldridge can address topics such as:

• The importance of treating Millennial employees differently from generations past
• Why changes must be made by many companies to accommodate Millennials
• The difference between intrapreneurs and employees
• Debbie’s own experiences as both a business owner and mother to Millennials and her observations about this generation’s work styles
• The most important changes most firms can make to work with Millennials
• The most desirable perk any company can offer a Millennial employee
• he importance of personalized professional development plans for Millennial employees
• How companies can attract and engage Millennial employees
• Why Millennials don’t place the same value on a paycheck as previous generations
• What Millennials look for in a manager

A Manager’s Guide to Unleashing the Intrapreneur
Debbie Wooldridge | October 26, 2017 | ttcI Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9981075-1-6 | Price: $14.95 Paperback
Business (Non-Fiction)

 

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An Interview with Debbie Wooldridge

Why are we still talking about Millennials? They have been in the workplace for a long time now—why is still an issue?
Until just now, Millennials were but one part of the equation of the workforce. Millennials now make up about 35% of employees. So, while this is more than a third, and is now the largest generation in the workforce, we haven’t seen anything yet! By 2025, Millennials (born between 1980 and 2004) are expected to comprise a whopping 75% of the workforce. Millennials are taking over, and the survival of a company will depend on the ability to attract and retain top Millennial talent.

Why do we need to make any changes? Shouldn’t Millennials be able to just jump into the company like every other generation?

Well, previous generations have approached work from their own perspective, shaped by the world they were born into—Millennials are doing the same. Traditionalists grew up during the

Great Depression so it’s no wonder that they worked hard for job security. Baby Boomers, however, grew up in a time of idealism—a TV and car for every family—their focus in the workplace was to climb the corporate ladder—family time wasn’t a priority. Gen Xers grew up in a time of change politically and socially—they do not want to repeat their Boomer parents’ workaholic lifestyles. And Millennials grew up in the digital era; their core values include being globally minded and optimistic. They have an expanded view on work/life balance including time for community service and self-development. Companies have grown and changed as the world and the employees have grown and changed—it’s time to do so yet again for this newest generation.

Has being the mother of your own Millennial children in the workforce helped you shape your platform?

Definitely! My perspective of Millennials is very much biased by being a parent. I’ve watched this generation evolve and have such a respect and admiration for how open and honest this generation is! They are very comfortable forming and expressing opinions. This is so different from previous generations – my generation (end of Boomer, beginning of Xers) was so much of a valued worker-bee mentality – doing what is asked of us and then going home at the end of the day. This generation is ready and eager are taking the workforce by storm! It’s an exciting time!

What is the top change that most firms need to make to better accommodate the changing work attitudes of their Millennial employees?

Millennials desire to be autonomous, be creative, and live meaningful lives. But because most current company landscapes impede this, Millennials are truly looking for companies that support their priorities. They are looking for companies that welcome and provide them intrapreneurial opportunities to help the company move forward. Millennials will dedicate futures to companies that stake their confidence in and allocate resources to them. The future of corporate America belongs to the individuals and the companies that embrace the idea of the intrapreneur.

What is the number 1 priority of most Millennial workers when they job-hunt?
According to a recent study from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, opportunities to learn and  develop new skills is the number one perk Millennials seek when evaluating prospective employers. This generation is clamoring to advance professionally, and they don’t want to wait for the slow climb up the corporate ladder—they want to take a rocket ship.

 

www.JKSCommunications.com
2819 Vaulx Lane, Nashville, TN 37204
Angelle Barbazon
(615) 928-2462
angelle@jkscommunications.com