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My Journey to Peace with PTSD with Lady Cerelli

What do abusers see when they look at a victim walking across the street that tells them they can abuse the individual? Why do people commit suicide? Why do people have road rage? What does childhood abuse look like in adulthood? How does a PTSD victim describe what is going on inside of them? What is the human element that would turn a trauma into a life experience? My name is Lady and I have been diagnosed PTSD. I had a flashback in 2003 of a violent military rape that I had suppressed for over 40 years. I was also sexually abused as a child. Counseling for over 40 years, I never dreamed I would have to walk the same path I led my clients on. If I could have had something in my hand to act as a lifeline, it would have gone a long way toward giving me hope. My strength, my therapist and my friends were what helped me to go back to the original pain and connect the dots in my life to the present. To have a lifeline for others is the reason I wrote about the pain of my dysfunctional life. “My Journey to Peace with PTSD” describes how anger quietly sets in at any age and creates a trauma victim who becomes a candidate for PTSD; road rage; failed and successful suicides; how and why some people become abuse victims and why others become abusers; and more. As a PTSD victim, the one element that affected me the most was the feeling of isolation, which can be as terrifying as the trauma. The Foreword to the book is written by Ruth Crawford, LCSW, VAMC, with additional praises from other health care professionals.

My Journey to Peace with PTSD  - Listen to interview on Inside Scoop Live

Lady Cerelli
Peace Publishers (2007)
ISBN 9780979888304
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (10/07) 

Specific Gravity with J. Mathew Neal, MD

Synopsis: Specific Gravity is a fun, interesting medical mystery with a variety of puzzles for the protagonists to solve. It is also the story of a man’s redemption from his past misdoings, and how he finds happiness with someone that is more than a match for him.

The book is also a philosophical reflection on the impact that medical errors make in the medical field–something that we all need to think long and hard on. With the right tools and education, hospitals have made great strides in minimizing this important problem.

Listen to interview on Inside Scoop Live

The Secret Cave with Lisa Marie Lanno

The Secret Cave

Lisa Marie Lanno
iUniverse (2006)
ISBN 9780595405855
 

Synopsis: A summer vacation on a lake, two families and the adventure of a lifetime!

Two curious cousins exploring the deep woods see a strange site in the distance while at the top of a tree. They decide to investigate. Come along on a journey into a world of secrets and a 300-year-old mystery.

Join Joe, Ronnie and their sisters as they unravel a puzzle full of clues, hidden caves, an old diary, possible treasure and much more. Along with the excitement is all the danger that an expedition like this can bring. What could be lurking in the caves? Will they solve the riddles, follow the clues and find treasure? Or will they get into trouble, lost, hurt, or worse?

All the secrets will be revealed to you. Enjoy a “Stop and Think” section at the end of each chapter to spark your own imagination with “What do you think?” questions. A helpful vocabulary section is added so you’ll understand everything. Read, imagine, learn and enjoy!

Listen to interview on Inside Scoop Live

Fitness Kills: A Nora Franke Mystery with Helen Barer

Nora Franke is a New York food writer stuck in a rut. Hoping to get rid of a broken heart (and the extra pounds that came with it), she accepts a job as a menu consultant at an elite fitness ranch in Baja. With any luck she’ll shed the weight, make some friends, and maybe even find a way to get over her ex-lover.But Nora soon finds that there’s more than just yoga classes, morning hikes, and liquid fasts among the flowers and herbs—someone’s put murder on the menu, and unless she can solve the mystery of who’s behind the death of two of the guests, Nora may just be the next victim.

 Listen to interview on Inside Scoop Live

Fragments of Reality: Daily Entries of Lived Life” for Asian Markets!

Inkstone Press and author Peter Cajander have agreed to print a new edition of Fragments of Reality: Daily Entries of Lived Life for Asian markets. The new edition will be released in August this year. Fragments of Reality covers issues such as the subjective nature of reality, relationships, business, feelings and emotions, and meditation. The book shows the reader how to live the busiest external life possible but still maintain internal harmony and peace at all times, even in the busiest metropolis of the world.

“For most people, life is a constant rush, either we create it ourselves or it is imposed by the world around us. ‘Fragments’ creates the subtle pause needed to open up to our natural state of being, showing us how to live authentically and experience the beauty of who we are, in every moment,” explains Cajander. “I’m very excited to work with Inkstone Press in the Asian markets. Currently there is a huge demand for the message my book is addressing. The new edition of Fragments of Reality gives me the possibility to reach a larger reader base mainly in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Malaysia.”

Peter Cajander is a philosophical thinker, author, business executive, and entrepreneur who has founded high tech companies in the software, internet, and semiconductor fields. He lives a fast-paced Western-style life, with interests ranging from quantum physics to business strategy, and from jazz to modern art. Cajander has an extensive international experience of living and working in multicultural environments and countries around the world. Currently he resides in Spain.

Read review of Fragments of Reality
Read interview with Peter Cajander

How to Best Avoid Dying

Owen Egerton
Dalton Publishing (2007) 
ISBN 9780974070377
Reviewed by Cherie Fisher of Reader Views (7/07) www.readerviews.com

Owen Egerton has compiled a book of small stories in “How Best to Avoid Dying.”  I have to say that I had mixed feelings as I read through some of the stories.  It is very difficult to describe my feelings about them as they had the strangest affect on me.  I was very disturbed by many of them, but something about them compelled me to read on.  I don’t think a book has ever had quite that affect on me before.  The author is an excellent writer and definitely knows how to draw a reader in.   

I often wondered as I was reading “How Best to Avoid Dying” what motivates an author to come up with this brand of writing.  Egerton often employed dark humor to get his point across in the stories.  He seemed to be poking fun at mankind in an insightful way by writing about human eccentricities.  What compels a person to write a book like this?  I guess the even bigger question is, what compelled me to not to put it down until I was done?  

“How Best to Avoid Dying” primarily explores the painful side of life, and facing up to the realization that we all will die.  The book starts with a seemingly innocent spelling bee where the children are eliminated for spelling errors by being dropped through a trap door to meet an awful fate.  The strange stories include the author’s biblical interpretation of the story of Lazarus to the bizarre summer camp counselor story of the Martyrs of Mountain Peak.  Then there was “The Fecalist” — I will leave the description of this story to your imagination. 

Overall, “How Best to Avoid Dying” was very well written and I would recommend it to people who enjoy bizarre stories like the Stephen King and Dean Koontz crowd.  I think you will feel like I did at the end of the book – I am still trying to figure out what makes this author tick and think it would be great fun to sit and have an in-depth conversation with him on the meaning of life. 

Listen to interview on Inside Scoop Live
Read interview with author

Sentinel of the Seas: Life and Death at the Most Dangerous Lighthouse Ever Built

Author: Dennis M. Powers
Citadel (2007)
ISBN 0806528427
Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (5/07) www.readerviews.com
“Sentinel of the Seas” reads like a novel.  Dennis Powers has written another classic masterpiece which chronicles man battling the sea.  As in his earlier works “Treasure Ship” and “The Raging Sea,” Powers has thoroughly researched his work. He spent five years in preparation, searching archives, original journals, dairies, ship logs, Lighthouse Board Reports, and doing personal interviews of survivors, and their families. The lighthouse was built on St. George Reef which is one of the most hazardous reefs off the West Coast.

Powers recounts the history, engineering and construction of the lighthouse.  He also explains the various lighting and sound warning devices used over the history of the lighthouse. Powers masterfully weaves into the record heroic stories of the men and women who designed, built, and maintained the St. George Reef Lighthouse from it’s completion in 1892 until it’s abandonment in 1975, and renewal in 2002.

“Sentinel of the Seas” heralds the career of Alexander Ballantyne, who supervised the project, as well as the careers of George Roux, and Fred Permenter the lighthouse keepers. Powers details the work of the “wickies,” lighthouse life, the history and the development of other U. S. lighthouses. He shows a deep appreciation for the courage the lighthouse keepers demonstrated in the midst of crashing waves, tumultuous storms, and hurricane force winds which they faced on a recurring basis.

Turnover among the personal was significant.  Powers explained it this way: “This station was one of the least sought-after assignments in the service.  Potential wickies had already heard what duty would be like on Dragon Rocks.  It had earned its reputation.”  I personally enjoyed the insight into the contrast between routine work and boredom of the assignment with hazardous way of life of the lighthouse keepers.  Powers uses descriptive phrases that made me feel “the enveloping curtains of cold mists” or hear the “barks of the seals, cries of the seagulls, and the crashing surf.”

This is great adventure reading, brilliantly written. I highly recommend “Sentinel of the Seas” to everyone who loves epic adventure stories of the adventure of the sea, shipwreck, and nautical history.