Tapped Out for College Students by Kelley Pryor Amrien & Becki Stevens



Title: TAPPED OUT FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS: STRESS RELIEF USING EFT
Author: Kelley Pryor Amrein & Becki Stevens
Publisher: Creative Spirit Books
Pages: 236
Genre: Nonfiction/Self-Help/Stress-Relief

Book Blurb:
You’re in college and college is stressful. Your stress impacts every facet of life, from classes to grades to work commitments. Even your physical health can be affected. Studies show that college students like you now face more stress than ever, leaving you with less time for relaxation and self-care. When you’re already overburdened, the idea of finding a way to relieve stress sounds like one more way to add extra stress to your life. But, what if you can relieve the stress of college in minutes? What if homework didn’t have to be so hard, and you did have time for school and fun? Tapped Out For College Students: Stress Relief Using EFT, is a guidebook that empowers college students like you, allowing you to reduce your level of stress and opening the door to success in college and in life.

In Tapped Out, college students are introduced to our unique BESD (Because, Emotions, Sensations, and Distress) system, which easily guides them through the tapping process. Once you’ve defined your personal BESD related to a specific issue, you can easily translate this into a tapping session. The book is full of tapping scripts relating to the most common stress-inducing issues you face in college. Students can tap through the scripts as they are written, or they can personalize them, using the responses they develop using the BESD system. 

The Table of Contents is the perfect starting place, allowing students to pinpoint their issue and flip to the appropriate section of the book. Some of the topics covered in the book include time management, homework, exams, relationships, money, health, and preparing for the real world following college.
Students no longer have to be stressed throughout their college career. With Tapped Out as a companion, college students can face the college landscape calmly. This unique book, intended to be used as and when needed, empowers students to control their reactions and respond to each situation successfully. College is stressful. Tapped Out for College Students can help.

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Book Excerpt:
What is Emotional Freedom Techniques or EFT
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is a do-it-yourself healing tool that alleviates stress, reduces physical pain and increases your potential for success. It is a non-invasive energy therapy using gen- tle finger tapping on specific meridian points beneath the surface of the skin. The meridians come from Chinese medicine. They create pathways through which Qi (chee), or energy, flows to all parts of the human body. The meridians form the basis of the practice of acupuncture. This idea of energy flowing in the body is, then, certainly not a new one, and it is this theory that EFT works from. In fact, EFT is often termed acupuncture without the needles.
So, how does EFT actually work? EFT’s magic rests in its ability to smooth out disruptions in your energy system. EFT was developed in the 1990s by a Stanford University-trained engineer named Gary Craig. Gary Craig was a student of the forefather of EFT, Roger Callahan, who had previously developed a system of meridian tapping called TFT or Thought Field Therapy. Gary Craig took TFT, a process which used tapping on specific meridian points depending on the emotion you were feeling, and simplified it. He designed the system to stimulate the major meridian points in an unchanging sequence. It does not matter what emotion you are feeling because the tapping remains the same whether you are experiencing anger, fear, sadness or pain. By tapping on the points identified in EFT, you are able to access all the major energy circuits and find relief.
The underpinning of Gary Craig’s work is his discovery statement, which says, “The cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body’s energy system.” Using EFT, we tap on the negative emotions from a specific event, for instance the overwhelming stress we feel due to an upcoming examination. Tapping on the stress, the negative emotion, allows the emotion to be released and the energy disruption is then straightened out. This release of the negative allows the flow of positive energy back into your life. With the brain no longer feeling overloaded you are then able to retrieve the information needed to ace the exam.
Here comes the science part of this explanation. Part of the human brain is ancient and has been in operation, working to keep our species alive, for thousands of years. The limbic brain is the oldest, most primitive part of the brain and a part of the limbic brain is a small, almond shaped area called the amygdala. The amygdala is the part of the brain triggered when you are in danger, the relay station that sends out the message for your fight or flight response to kick in. When this response is activated, it signals the body of danger and the hormones adrenaline and cortisol are released. In ancient times, when this part of our brain developed, it was essen- tial for our survival. The release of adrenaline and cortisol fueled our ancestors who were able to flee rather than being eaten by a tiger for lunch. Good for them then, and for us; we’re still here, after all.
You might wonder how this relates to your exam. After all, you are not running from a beast. Interestingly, however, this primitive portion of your brain, the amygdala, cannot detect real “tiger” danger from imagined “stress” danger. Your body senses exam stress as a danger and releases the same fight or flight hormones our ancestors needed to stay alive. Keep in mind that our ancestors did not have stress on a daily or even hourly basis like we do. The brain reacts to this modern-day stress just as it did to the tiger stress; it causes adrenaline and cortisol to be released.
Cortisol has been deemed public enemy number one. When cortisol floods our bodies, we have to physically move to get rid of it. But when there is no tiger to fight or flee from, when the danger is, instead, exam stress, all the stress hormones in our bodies have nowhere to go. The cortisol hangs out and wreaks havoc on our minds and bodies, weakening our immune system, causing damage on a cellular level, leaving us vulnerable to infection. Tapping on the meridian points calms the fight or flight response, allowing our bodies to relax and cortisol levels to drop.
Dr. Dawson Church has done several studies on how tapping affects our bodies. In one randomized controlled study conducted by Dr. Church and his peers, cortisol levels and psychological symptoms of eighty-three patients were tested before and after treatment. The patients were divided into three groups. One group received no therapy but only an hour of rest. Another group received one hour of conventional talk therapy. The third group had a one-hour session of EFT tapping. Subsequent testing revealed that the symptoms in the EFT group decreased more than within the other groups and cortisol levels also dropped significantly. The group which received talk therapy had a reduction in cortisol of 14% while the group receiving EFT had an average reduction in cortisol of 24%.
Another interesting study was released in Energy Psychology Jour- nal in 2013. In this study, a group of college students was divided into two groups to work on various emotional responses using either mindfulness techniques or EFT. The purpose of this work was to determine whether EFT worked or was, instead, simply a placebo effect. The research found that the students using EFT experienced a greater increase in positive emotions and a greater decrease in negative emotions.The students did not experience any significant change in emotions using mindfulness techniques. The conclusion of the researchers was that EFT is not a placebo and can be effective for students experiencing emotional conditions.
EFT has been shown to be effective time and again in scientific studies. It is not a placebo but is an effective energy psychology technique that calms your amygdala, causing a reduction of the stress hormones in your body. Reducing stress may result in relief from physical pain and emotional suffering because stress is often an underlying part of any problems you are facing.
As you tap on the meridian points used in EFT, you will be saying negative statements. You may feel that saying something nega- tive only reinforces its negative power. Actually, that is not true. Imagine that you fail your most important exam of the year. Of course, this has an impact on your GPA and you know you and your parents will not be pleased. So, you decide not to tell your parents about this grade and hope that it all goes away. After all, you are an adult and no one is going to send a note to your folks tattling on you.
Your plan works fine until, somehow, the truth comes out. Maybe you never recovered from that grade. Perhaps it had further reach- ing repercussions than you had anticipated. Whatever the reason, your parents find out. Now what do you do? Perhaps you are relieved. After all, a secret is a big burden to carry. That is how it is with stress and negative emotions we hold inside. They don’t go away until we face them. There is a sense of relief when the secret, or the emotions, are finally revealed.
Tapping is a little like revealing the secret. You cannot feel truly good inside until you face the negative emotions holding you back. Once you recognize and acknowledge the negative it can finally go away.
We follow the expression of our negative emotions with a state- ment of acceptance. This statement could be as simple as “I accept myself.” The acceptance statement is important because, in order to heal you have to accept, or be okay with yourself, right where you are at the moment. This can be a difficult statement for some people to make. If you are having a tough time saying “I accept myself,” use a different statement, one that may be less triggering, such as “I am okay” or “I am open to accepting myself ” or “I accept the situation and am open to change.”
EFT works energetically by releasing the disruptions in your ener- gy system to quickly and easily reduce stress, ease pain, and return you to a calm state. EFT is an energy therapy and, as such, allows your system to heal naturally and easily. It’s time to learn how you can use this technique in your life.
How to Use EFT to Tap It Out!
EF T is easy to master. It doesn’t require any special tools, just your fingers and your words. With a little practice, you’ll be tapping away emotions like stress, anger, sadness and fear as well as physi- cal sensations, like pain or butterflies in your stomach, in no time. This part of the book is designed to give you an introduction into the mechanics of tapping. Here, we’ll show you where you tap, called the tapping points. We’ll talk about how you measure your tapping success. And we will tell you what to say by providing sample tapping scripts. When you are ready, you can add your own words. This is easy and we will take you through the process step- by-step. Soon you will be tapping it out, on your own, like a pro, whenever and wherever.
The BESD: Because, Emotions, Sensations, and Distress
There are four quick steps to follow before you tap; 1) Discover the Because, the situation that has triggered a response or emotion; 2) Identify the Emotion associated with the Because; 3) Notice any physical Sensations associated with the Emotion(s) you’ve identi- fied; 4) Assess your current level of Distress.
Before you begin a tapping session, it’s helpful if you can take a couple of minutes to sit quietly and evaluate what’s going on. Relax and take a deep breath. Ask yourself what’s troubling you right now. It is possible that you will be in a public place and your circumstances may not lend themselves to this part. And some- times the situation and the associated emotions are easy to figure out and you can start tapping immediately. This is especially true once you’ve tapped a few times. But if you aren’t quite sure what’s bothering you, try to find a place to be still and tune into yourself.
Maybe the first thing that comes to mind is the fight you had with your significant other or your roommate. Or maybe you have a test coming up and you have no idea how you’re going to get all the studying done that you know you need to do. You’ve identi- fied what’s bugging you. We call this the because, the situation that triggers an emotional response. Once you know the because, you can find the emotion that relates. Let’s break this out further.
As an example, we will use the upcoming exam as the because. This examination is big; it counts for fifty percent of your grade. It is the one covering a million chapters and pages of notes. Yikes. The test is the because, but what is the emotion you feel when you think about that test? Maybe the emotion is fear. Maybe it’s stress or ten- sion and a resulting sense of overwhelm. All of this is important information to have before you begin to tap.
Let’s talk a minute about the physical sensations that might accom- pany the emotional reaction to your because situation. Maybe you don’t associate your pounding headache or sore shoulder muscles with your emotions, but guess what, they are definitely related. Mel Pohl, MD, FASAM, has found that emotional pain contrib- utes to the chronic pain his patients experience. He believes that approximately 20 percent of chronic pain is sensory but 80 percent of the pain is actually emotional.13 So pay close attention to any physical sensations that arise before or during your tapping. Also, notice if any physical issues get better after EFT. You might recog- nize that your shoulders feel looser or that nasty headache is gone. Yep. EFT can take care of that and more.
We’re almost ready to tap, but before we get started let’s assess the level of distress you feel associated with the exam and the corresponding emotion. Because stress is a common emotional re- sponse to test-taking, let’s use stress in this example. To assess your level of distress, once again take a moment to tune in to your body and ask yourself how bad the stress is on a scale of 0 to 10. Zero equals no stress, which is the goal you would like to achieve through tapping. Ten equals intense stress, as intense as it can get. This scale is called the Subjective Units of Distress or SUD in EFT. In this book, we will simply refer to it as Distress.
No two people respond to something in the same way. Plus, you may feel like your stress is a 5 one moment and it bumps up to an 8 in the next. Additionally, you may feel something is an 8 while someone else may feel it is a 3. EF T empowers you to take control of your emotional response to any situation. It’s okay. Be honest, acknowledge your feelings, and tap them out. Your goal with tap- ping is to reduce your distress level to a point that it’s no big deal.
I Have So Much Homework
Homework and studying can become overwhelming, especially when something is due in every class. Below we’ve designed a general script that you can use to release the stress you’re feeling around homework. If you want, add in the class that is worrying you or the specific homework or exam that you are concerned about. Being more specific is always best.
Take a deep breath in and a long breath out. Tune into how you are feeling about all the work you have to do for your classes. Focus on the emotions and body sensations that you feel. Rate the distress level and begin tapping.
1.  Because: I have so much homework and I don’t know how I’m going to get it all done (add in specific class or home- work)
2.  Emotions: Stress, feeling overwhelmed
3.  Sensation: Tension in my neck, headache
4.  Distress: 0-10 ______
KC: Even though I am stressed and overwhelmed because I have so much work to do, I accept myself.
KC: Even though I am so stressed because I have so much work to do and I have no idea how I’m going to get it all done...it’s overwhelming, I accept myself.
KC: Even though I have so much work to do, I am so stressed out...my neck and head hurt, I accept myself.
EB: I have so much work to do
SE: I don’t think I’ll get it all done and I’m so stressed
UE: All this work (specify class or homework)
UN: I just can’t keep up, it’s overwhelming
CP: I’m never going to get it done on time
CB: All this homework and studying makes my neck and
head hurt
UA: How do other people get it all done?
TH: All this work...(specify class or homework)
EB: How in the world will this apply in real life?
SE: I’m so stressed, I just can’t do it all
UE: So much homework
UN: What if I fail?
CP: What if I do it all wrong?
CB: What if I work so hard and still get a bad grade?
UA: This sucks! My neck is so tight and I have a headache from all this stress...
TH: I’m never going to get through all this homework...
Take a deep breath in and a long breath out. Tune into the feeling and reassess your distress level. Let’s try getting more specific and tune into where you feel the stress in your body. Again, add in your specific class, homework, exam or project.
EB: All this work...(specify class or homework)
SE: I feel the stress in my body
UE: I feel tension my neck
UN: All this stress and tension give me a headache
CP: I’m never going to get all this work done
CB: All this homework and studying for (specify class or homework)
UA: I just want to relax or hang out with my friends
TH: All this stress, I feel the tension in my body
EB: I feel tension in my neck and it’s causing a headache
SE: All this work to do; I’ll never get it done
UE: This sucks so much!
UN: My body is really feeling this stress
CP: I’m never going to get this work done (specify class or homework)
CB: And I won’t get to hang out with my friends with all this work to do
UA: Sometimes I just hate college and all the work I have to do
TH: All this homework, I feel the stress in my neck and head
Take a deep breath and assess your level of distress. If it is higher than a 2 keep tapping through the script above.

Forever King: Surviving the Loss of My Unborn Child by Diana Sims



Title: FOREVER KING: SURVIVING THE LOSS OF MY UNBORN CHILD
Author: Diana Sims
Publisher: Forever King Publishing
Pages: 78
Genre: Inspirational/Self-Help

Sims life has been one of a survivor… a survivor of grief and distraught after having lost a child. Today, she is using the journey, to help other women, who have had similar experience of losing a child, whether through early pregnancy, miscarriage or stillbirth, to have hope.

Watch the book trailer at YouTube.

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Book Excerpt:
It all started on Thursday, July 3, 2014. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a beautiful summer day, clear skies, and a nice, very much appreciated breeze from the close by Santa Monica Pier. As I traveled on foot to my 36-week checkup and ultrasound, the nurse assigned to me that day gave me a biophysical profile (ultrasound and non-stress test combined) that was sent via live-feed to my doctor to view. My baby King opened his hand and closed his hand as if he was saying, “Hello.” The doctor was astonished. She said that babies at 36 weeks’ gestation usually didn’t have those motor skills yet. She said everything looked great and made my appointment for the following week. Little did I know that King was really saying, “Goodbye,” and that would be the last time I saw him alive. I walked back to the office and stayed until the end of my modified shift. I gave hugs to everyone since I was starting maternity leave the next day. On Friday, the 4th of July, 2014, hubby and the boys went to Bakersfield for the 4th of July festivities. I stayed home since I was so close to my due date. Instead of watching fireworks, I rested most of the day and then attempted to do some online shopping with a ToysRUs® gift card I had received from my coworkers. I found a cute outfit that had a crown and the wording “King” on it, and I said this would be so cute since my husband had named our son King. For some reason, their system was having issues and would not complete the order. So, I mustered up some energy and took my pregnant self to Target to get some baby clothes for King. As I was walking around in the store, I felt King getting heavy and felt that he was finally turned over and engaged since he was still breech during the ultrasound the previous day. On my way home, I grabbed some food, arrived home safely, and left the clothes in my trunk so Cory and the boys could bring them up the next day when they got home. It was so hot, I had the central air on full-blast trying to cope with the heat since I was heavily pregnant. Neighbors far off were having fun with their families setting off fireworks. Cory and our two boys Isaiah and Solomon were still in Bakersfield having a ball with the family. Cory and the boys were scheduled to come home from Bakersfield on the afternoon of July 5, 2014. Instead, he said he had an urge to come home in the early hours of July 5, 2014 since he knew King Josiah “KJ” was due soon. He kissed me, letting me know he was there, and I fell back to sleep.

Tell On You by Freda Hansburg


Title: TELL ON YOU 
Author: Freda Hansburg 
Publisher: Micro Publishing Media 
Pages: 248 
Genre: Thriller

Tell on You is a psychological suspense novel that best fits within the Gone Girl-inspired niche genre of “grip lit.”   Jeremy Barrett’s obsessive love equals that of Jay Gatsby for Daisy Buchanan, as life imitates art in his private school English class. But his angst-driven infatuation brings dire consequences as he is drawn into the machinations of his disturbed 16-year-old student Nikki Jordan, whose bad intentions rival those of her teacher.  A fast-paced, drama-filled tale, Tell on You reminds readers about the wildness and trauma of adolescence—and the self-defeating behaviors to which adults resort in times of stress. From gaslighting to vicious bullying, poisonous family privilege to the loss of a parent—Freda Hansburg draws on her experience as a clinical psychologist to explore the depths of each dark situation in Tell on You.

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Book Excerpt:



“OWW!!”  EIGHT-YEAR OLD Brandon Jordan screeched as his sister Nikki twisted his arm in an Indian burn.  “Nikki, stop!”
            His cries brought Mom crashing into Nikki’s room.  “Nikki, I won’t have you bullying your brother again.  Let him go this instant.”
            “But I caught him in here messing with my stuff!” Nikki gave Brandon’s arm a final wrench before releasing him.  Pouting, he scurried from her room. 
            “I don’t care what he did.  I told you, keep your hands to yourself.”  Her mother turned away, judgment delivered. 
Probably in a hurry to get back to her vodka and reality TV.  “At least when Dad was here, somebody stuck up for me,” Nikki called after her.
Mom’s angry face reappeared.  “Stuck up for you?”  A bitter laugh.  “Stuck it to you, and all of us, is more like it.”
“Wasn’t me he left,” Nikki said.
“Really?  When’s the last time he even phoned you?”  Her mother walked off with that parting shot.
“Like you’d know, bitch.”  Nikki said it under her breath, but not under enough.
“Who do you think you’re talking to?”  Mom stormed back into the room, got right up in Nikki’s face, breath boozy.  “You’re grounded for the next three days, kiddo.  Give me your car keys, right now.”
“Maa!” Nikki protested.  “How will I get to school?” 
Her mother held out her hand for the keys.  “Get up an hour early and I’ll drop you on the way to work.”
“No way!”  Nikki fished the keys from her bag and dropped them into her mother’s open palm.
“Then walk.”  Her mom headed out of the room, turning back for one last jab.  “Or call your father.”
This time Nikki closed the bedroom door before cursing her out.  Walking to school sucked, and tomorrow’s weather forecast called for cold.  Call your father.  Very funny.  Dad lived in Austin now.  But it gave her an idea.
Nikki picked up her phone to make the call, rehearsing the pitch in her mind.  I’m so lonely, Mr. B.  I’m taking care of my brother again because my mom went out.  And she forgot we were supposed to take my car in for a new battery.  And I was wishing…I know I shouldn’t ask you…but if you met me and gave me a ride to school tomorrow, I’d get to see you.  You wouldn’t have to take me right to school, just drop me nearby. 
She’d sell it to him.  And after that, she’d see about getting even with her mother and
brother.  Maybe steal Brandon’s Game Boy batteries and hide them.  And see how much
distilled white vinegar she could add to Mom’s vodka bottle before the bitch actually
 noticed.  Nobody, but nobody, got to score the winning point against Nikki Jordan.



Call to War by Andi O'Connor



Title: CALL TO WAR
Author: Andi O’Connor
Publisher: Purple Sun Press
Pages: 258
Genre: Fantasy

Darrak's adventure concludes with this thrilling finale of The Dragonath Chronicles!  

Following the betrayal of two of his trusted companions and a devastating battle in Mystandia, Darrak's talents are desperately needed by the citizens of both Earth and Dragonath. Torn with the decision of where his loyalty should remain, he finally decides to confide in Andillrian. Together, they craft a plan they hope will save Darrak's home planet, but their optimism is short-lived.

The Hellborn's army has begun the march to war.

With less than two weeks of preparation remaining, their weaknesses become unavoidably apparent. Planning for defeat suddenly becomes as important as planning for victory. Darrak's insecurities continue until the moment the first arrows begin to fly. He can only hope that help from a few unlikely sources will be enough.

For if they fail, Dragonath will fall.

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Chapter One:

DARRAK STARED INTO THE FIRE, SHIVERING DESPITE the intense heat radiating from the flames. Three days had passed since he'd read the entry in Mionee's journal revealing the spell to save Earth. And he had yet to tell anyone.
He'd memorized the spell that first day, bewildered that he'd been handed the very thing he'd spent weeks tormenting over. Despite everything happening here on Dragonath, he'd never lost sight of saving his home planet. He'd spent almost every waking moment obsessing over finding a way to nullify the effects of Mionee's spell.
Then suddenly, the very woman who'd caused his people so much suffering, and who had ordered the murders of his parents, provided him with all of the answers he'd needed. In an instant, she'd lifted a tremendous weight from his shoulders. He could go home. He could save his people. He could help those on Earth repair the damage that had been done to their planet.
But he hadn't. He'd stayed on Dragonath, training to fight a war by day and mulling over his predicament at night. He couldn't leave. The people here needed him as much as those on Earth. Only he stood a chance of defeating the Hellborn, and even then, he'd need the help of every single person in Krémarra.
If he left, people all over Dragonath would be forced into slavery or killed. But if he stayed, he'd send billions of people and animals on Earth to extinction. His home would be a barren planet devoid of any life.
Running his fingers through his shoulder-length hair, he groaned, suppressing the scream lingering on the edge of his tongue. For three days, he'd kept knowledge of the spell a secret. Détaldin had pointed Darrak to the last page of the journal, obviously knowing it contained the spell. But Darrak hadn't told anyone, and he knew the warrior had remained silent. It was his responsibility to inform the others, not Détaldin's.
The stress of his deceit had begun to take its toll. He barely slept, averaging less than two hours a night. He scarcely ate, and the tiny amount of food he did manage to consume was hardly sufficient for a child less than half his size. Between his intense training and lack of calories, he'd lost so much weight over the past few days that his companions had to notice soon. It wouldn't be much longer until one of them confronted him.
Until he'd have to own up to his deception.
Just the thought of telling his dearest friends that he'd kept a key piece of information hidden from them made him want to cry. Putting an end to Earth's annihilation was partly what they'd fought for. They deserved to know their efforts hadn't been in vain. They had the right to know the spell had been found.
But he couldn't bring himself to tell them.
Why?
The question had been nagging at his conscience for days, admonishing him with its candor. He knew the answer. He feared admitting to his friends that he'd been considering abandoning them, leaving them to fight the impending war on their own. They had stood by him, following him unquestioningly even when he couldn't give them any concrete reasons for doing so. They protected him, repeatedly putting his life above their own.
And he was contemplating repaying them by doing something they'd vowed never to do to him—desert them in their darkest hour. That wasn't something any decent person would do, let alone someone who claimed to be a dear friend.
Darrak lowered his gaze to his hands and stared at his bony fingers with disinterest. He recalled how angry and confused he'd been when Ipzaag and Anarra had abandoned him. They'd been completely unwilling to accept Andillrian's account of the dragons' history or welcome Wystra into the company.
Anarra's betrayal particularly stung. She'd been the first person outside of his parents that he'd ever felt comfortable opening up to. She'd seemingly cared enough to persist with her questions and break through the walls he'd built around himself. He'd felt an unexplainable connection to her. A sudden connection. At the time, he thought it was love, but he'd been mistaken. Still, they'd shared something special. Something he’d believed would never be broken. Something he'd been looking forward to cherishing for the rest of his life.
And then in a matter of seconds, it had vanished.
The pain of losing that connection was almost as bad as the pain he’d experienced when he realized his parents were dead. No, he thought, ashamed that the comparison had even popped into his mind. That wasn't quite accurate. Nothing could ever equate to the deaths of his parents.
All the same, Anarra's betrayal had left him with an overwhelming sense of loneliness. It reaffirmed part of why he had always been reluctant to befriend anyone. He'd trusted Anarra when she told him that she’d always be there for him. But he shouldn't have. Instead, he should have followed the instincts that had served him well for the first nineteen years of his life.
And now, he pondered becoming the very thing he despised. He sat on the edge of his bed, having practically convinced himself to turn his back on those he loved.
I can't leave.
The thought popped into his mind so forcefully it took him by surprise. Letting Earth fall victim to Mionee's spell was an unforgivable act. But with his parents dead, he didn't have anyone on his home planet that he cherished. Hardly anyone there knew of him, and no one was aware of his power to save them. If he turned his back on Earth, he wouldn’t betray anyone’s trust in him.
Here, that wasn't the case. Here, everyone in Krémarra knew him and expected him to lead them to victory. Here, he had friends he cared deeply for: Wystra, Iornwen, Selantia, Rorend, Thraklauz.
Andillrian.
Just thinking her name caused his heart to flutter. He honestly had no idea why. After the failure of his relationship with Anarra, he was reluctant to call any emotion love. But something definitely existed between him and Andillrian. Whatever it was, he couldn't tell her he'd decided to return to Earth. He couldn't leave her and the others here to die knowing all his words of loyalty had been utter lies.
His gaze shot up in surprise when a knock sounded at the door adjoining his room to Andillrian's.
“Come in,” he said, staring straight ahead into the fire. He was taken aback at how weary his voice sounded. The tone was almost hollow, as if he'd been drained of his soul.
The familiar squeak of the door opening resounded from behind him. Keeping his gaze fixed on the dancing flames, he listened to the sound of Andillrian's footsteps as she made her way across the stone floor. Expecting her to sit next to him like she usually did, he met her gaze in confusion when she stopped before him. Even though she was only about five feet tall, she seemed to tower over him.
“You aren't eating,” she stated pragmatically.
“You certainly don't mince your words, do you?”
“You aren't sleeping either,” she continued, ignoring his statement. “I hear you pacing around your room at all hours of the night. You can't go on like this, Darrak. You're killing yourself.”
Darrak's heart began to race, and he tried to control his breathing. This was the moment he'd been dreading. “I knew it wouldn't be much longer until you said something,” he admitted.
“Of course I said something. I noticed almost immediately and thought perhaps you'd come and talk to me. But I couldn't stay silent any longer. I'm surprised you haven't yet collapsed during your training, and I wasn't about to wait for you to do so.”
Andillrian held up her hand, and for the first time he noticed she held a yal fruit, a small, yellow fruit similar to an apple, but with a distinct bitterness that he had yet to learn to enjoy.
“Eat,” she ordered, dropping the fruit into his open palms.
Holding it up to his lips, he reluctantly took a bite. His lips puckered as the sour juice rushed into his dry mouth. Closing his eyes, he chewed, wishing away the horrid taste. It usually took two or three bites until he became accustomed to the bitterness of the fruit, but somehow, he knew this instance would take longer.
He swallowed, cringing when the fruit slid down his throat. He looked up expectantly at Andillrian, hoping that since she had seen him take a bite she'd be satisfied, but her stern expression didn't budge. It was like she'd taken on the role of his mother waiting for him to eat his peas, prepared to stand over him for the rest of the night until he'd finished the task.
Slumping his shoulders forward in defeat, Darrak braced himself and took another bite. Andillrian continued to stand over him while he begrudgingly ate the rest of the yal fruit. It seemed like hours until he finally had nothing but the core remaining. Doing his best to suppress a burp, he wrapped the remains of the fruit in a hanky and placed it on his bedside table.
His stomach felt like it was seconds away from bursting, and he had to force himself to ignore the pains beginning to ravage his abdomen. He didn't want Andillrian to see how much discomfort eating one small piece of fruit had caused him. It stood as proof that he'd been more reckless with his health than he wanted to admit, particularly to Andillrian.  He didn't want her to know exactly how delicate his situation had become in just three short days. She worried enough about him as it was. He didn't need to add to her concern.
“That seemed to prove more of a chore than it should have been,” Andillrian said, still not budging from her spot. “I've seen you eat those before. You may not be fond of them, but it's never taken you that long to finish. Your stomach can't even handle that tiny amount of food, can it? Were you planning on starving yourself to death?”
“No, I...I don't know. I just...I've had a great deal on my mind lately. It's taken away my desire to eat. I've developed an aversion. Even the thought of food makes me queasy.” He looked up at her. Her rich brown eyes overflowed with a combination of sternness and compassion. “I know that's not really an excuse,” he admitted, suddenly feeling like the most selfish prick in the universe.
The harshness in her tone didn't abate. “No,” she said, “it isn't.”
Not knowing what to say, he averted his gaze and stared at his hands in silence. No words seemed appropriate. An apology didn't make up for how self-centered he'd been acting. Nothing could take away the pain he'd caused both himself and Andillrian. Talking with her had brought everything to light and made his dilemma over leaving seem so straightforward.
Instead of wallowing in self-pity and mulling over the situation himself, he should have discussed it with her and worked to come to a logical solution. In doing so, he would've saved both of them a great deal of emotional grief, and he wouldn't have put himself in such a physically fragile position. Rather than taking the sensible course of action, he'd allowed everything to become more convoluted and stressful than it needed to be.
“I brought you another for later,” Andillrian said, breaking the silence. She tossed him a slightly larger yal fruit; he caught it, unable to keep his lips from creeping into a slight smile. “I'll sit here again and watch you eat if I have to.”
A small laugh escaped his lips. “I know you will. And I appreciate it more than you'll ever know.”
Finally letting down her guard, she sat next to him on the bed, like she'd done every night since their arrival in Krémarra. Their shoulders were less than an inch apart, and her warmth seeped through his thin linen tunic to his skin beneath. The faint vanilla scent of her hair wafted through the air. Breathing in deeply, he relished the simple yet glorious sensation with every part of his being.
He wanted to put his arm around her and hold her close, clinging on to the moment for all eternity. But instead, he sat rigidly next to her, continuing to stare at his hands resting in his lap.
“What's on your mind?”
The seriousness of Andillrian's question jerked him away from his thoughts, reminding him that until this mess was sorted he couldn't allow himself to indulge in even the simplest of pleasures. People on both planets were dying. He needed to save them.
Not answering, he reached beneath his pillow and slid out the worn leather notebook. “This belonged to Mionee,” he said in answer to Andillrian's quizzical look. “Détaldin gave it to me shortly after he arrived with Katriel. It's Mionee's personal journal and contains some extremely interesting and rather heartbreaking information. Some of what she's experienced, particularly at the hands of King Denthald, are the most horrific accounts of abuse and rape I've ever read about. Though, I don't think her experience under the Hellborn will fare any better.”
The compassion in Andillrian's voice touched his heart. “I've always known you to be an extremely empathetic person, Darrak. I can only imagine the graphic details of Mionee's entries. It's natural for something like that to affect you so deeply.
“I've spoken with Détaldin a number of times over the past few days. Despite all of the atrocities Mionee has committed, he loves her. He sees the honesty in her repentance. He saw the good in her when no one else did. Truthfully, it's appalling and rather unfortunate that most of the people throughout Dragonath will never come to see her as anything but the villain she once was.
“Mionee not only recognized her mistakes but admitted to them—not just to others but to herself. She rose above the despicable path she'd set for herself and transformed into a better person than most who will continue to judge her long after she's dead. Like Détaldin you're a truly wonderful man to recognize the person Mionee has become and sympathize with the terrors she's faced. But you can't allow the recounts of her torture to rule your life. Use it. Learn from it just like Mionee did. Use it to make our world a better place.”
Darrak shook his head. “No. You don't understand. Although what you say is true, that's not what's been consuming my mind.”
Opening the leather notebook to the last page, he handed it to Andillrian. Cocking her head in an unspoken question, she took it and began to read. Long, gut-wrenching moments passed before she closed the journal. Looking up, she met his gaze, a sense of understanding finally evident in her large eyes.
“You don't know where to go,” she said, compassion evident in her voice.
She reached for his hand but pulled it back quickly. Her eyes widened in horror.
“You don't know who to save.”
“I want to save everyone!”
He grabbed the journal from her and clutched it against his chest. Standing abruptly, he started pacing before her.
“I want to save both planets and the billions of people suffering! I want to help those on Earth rebuild their communities, and I want to do the same for those here on Dragonath. I want to make sure neither world endures the same kind of carnage again. I want to make sure Halla or any magic is never again used for such corrupt motives!”
Tears of frustration began to run down his gaunt cheeks. “How can I? How can I be on both planets at once? I can't! I can't turn my back on my people! But I also can't turn my back on my new home and those I love!”
Andillrian pulled him toward her before wrapping her arms around him and holding him tightly. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, sobbing uncontrollably. Stroking his hair, she gently rocked him back and forth. “It'll be all right, Darrak,” she whispered into his ear. “I'm here for you. We'll find a way to save both planets. I promise.”
After what seemed an eternity, his sobs slowed to short, pathetic whimpers. Grasping his shoulders, Andillrian pushed him away slightly and lifted his chin, forcing him to meet her gaze. She had such a look of determination in her eyes he couldn't help but believe her words.
“You won't need to turn your back on anyone.”

Pop-Out Girl by Irene Woodbury



Title: POP-OUT GIRL
Author: Irene Woodbury
Publisher: SynergEbooks
Pages: 188
Genre: Commercial Fiction

When Zane Hollister returns home to Las Vegas after two years in prison and discovers his showgirl-lover is with another guy, he goes ballistic. After stalking and taunting the couple for months, his toxic jealousy takes a darker turn. To wipe out Colton, Zane masterminds a devilish zip line accident and a terrifying car crash. When those fail, he resorts to kidnapping Jen and forcing her to marry him. And it gets even worse when Zane shoots Colton’s boss, Matt, by mistake as he aims for Colton in a horrific drive-by shooting.
        
With Matt lingering in a coma, Jen’s cocktail-waitress mother, Brandi, absorbs a seismic shock of her own. After hearing Matt’s name on the local news, she realizes he’s her first love of decades past—and Jen’s real father.
        
Will Matt emerge from his coma to reunite with Brandi and Jen? Do the cops nab Zane, who’s hiding out in Hawaii? And can Jen and Colton’s love survive Zane’s lethal jealousy?
           
There’s a happy ending for some, but not for all, in Pop-Out Girl.

ORDER YOUR COPY:

Amazon | Smashwords


Book Excerpt:
Jen was a romantic who loved weddings. From the time she was a little girl, she had daydreamed about her own, conjuring up elaborate fantasies about the dress, cake, and flowers. And so when she got an invitation to attend her friend, Carly’s, festive nuptials in Reno, she immediately RSVP’d that she’d be there.
         Getting out of Las Vegas for a fun-filled, relaxing weekend was just what Jen needed. She was still on a leave of absence from her job as a pop-out girl, a gig she loved that entailed emerging from a six-foot, multi-tiered cake and then singing, dancing, and stripping down to a teensy bikini for hordes of admiring guests at special events.
         Curvy, blond Jen was a huge hit, one of the most popular girls at Stripper Grams. But after a scary car crash, she had gone on leave and was now filling her days with dance classes, lunches with friends, and singing lessons. None of that got her through the weekends, though, which were long and lonely without Colton, her boyfriend who was out in San Francisco recovering from injuries sustained in that same freakish accident. Carly’s invitation couldn’t have come at a better time.
         Jen’s very cool, cocktail-waitress mother, Brandi, ran all over town with her to find the perfect dress. They finally chose a dove-gray silk and lace gown that would work well for a winter wedding. Jen was going to make the seven-hour drive to Reno with her friend, Brianna, another pop-out girl and one of Carly’s six bridesmaids.
         On a cold, dreary Friday morning in January 2017, an excited Jen waited to be picked up at eight. At least that’s what she’d told her mom, who was still at work, earlier. She had packed a suitcase and was flitting around the house, doing last-minute chores.
         At the stroke of seven, the doorbell rang. For an instant, Jen wondered why Brianna would arrive an hour early, but she was pumped to go so she flung open the door. To her horror, it wasn’t Brianna. There on the doorstep stood Zane Hollister, her toxically jealous ex-boyfriend who’d been making her life hell since he got out of prison six months earlier.
         Jen’s heart dropped. She gasped in fright and tried to close the door, but Zane quickly shoved his arm out and blocked her. She stared up at him, six feet of dark, brooding menace in black jeans and a worn biker jacket, hovering over her. His neck-length dark hair was a bit ragged and disheveled, his brown eyes glassy and bloodshot. He was obviously high on pills, maybe uppers, maybe downers, maybe a combination of both.
         “Hey beautiful, what’s up?” he purred in a slightly slurry, faux-light voice as he barged into the house, closing the door behind him.

I Can Find You by Joss Landry



Title: I CAN FIND YOU (Emma Willis Series #2)
Author: Joss Landry
Publisher: Book Beatles Publishing LTD.
Pages: 372
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal

Emma just turned fifteen. Her powers have spiraled to include unusual magic, and she gladly relies on Hank and Christina’s friendship to mark the way. Thomas Carson’s feelings for Emma have changed, her aunt Franka tells her—a young man her aunt describes as a young buck whose testosterone plays a big role in his life.

New friends around Emma surprise her. They appear to be like nothing she could have imagined, and their goals stir more disturbance than their presence until she bumps into the scourge of her existence: entities who wish to control what humans do and say. She learns they are powerful, vindictive and will stop at nothing to obtain what they want. Will Emma be able to protect the people she loves?

ORDER YOUR COPY:

Amazon


Book Excerpt:

Emma’s long hair stuck to her temples and her back in clumps and tangles. A dense fog enveloped her, and though she wore an old style black cloak, the cold mist penetrated her garment and chilled her to the bone.
After walking in this strange land for what seemed like hours instead of the mere minutes she suspected to be the dream’s timespan, Emma still ignored why she roamed about the alien land—a strange dream Emma doubted she would fight to remember upon waking—her attempts to wake up ineffective. 
A carriage strode by, the big wheel close enough to scrape the side of her leg. A disheveled young man sat hunched at the helm of a horse-drawn cart. He nudged the reins of two black Percherons slowly traveling up a cobblestone road. Shabby clothes, unkempt tousled dark hair, his head followed the cadence of the horses’ slow gait, like one of those toys in perpetual motion, and the word mendicant crossed Emma’s mind.
 She caught a brief impression of his thoughts as he rode passed her, warning her, of what? A sense of danger and doom filled her mind, but his words briefly captured dissolved in the fog and disappeared useless to her now.  
An echo surprised her in the distance. Too loud to be a woodpecker, the sound became sharper like the wrap of knuckles on a sturdy piece of wood.
Emma opened her eyes startled by her mom’s words through her bedroom door. She stared at the light coming through the window revealing the late hour. She glanced at the clock and clutched her heart from the thump in her chest kicking her out of bed. “I’m up, Mom.” Gathering her thoughts along with her clothes, she wondered where the word mendicant came from. 
She tripped over a corner of the sheet still caught between her legs and bounced her shoulder against the door frame. Late again, twice in one week to Mr. Wright’s class. Her social studies’ teacher warned them. He would not tolerate tardies. 
“Sorry, Mom. Hope you’re finished with the bathroom. Can’t figure why I overslept this time,” she said more to reassure her mother from worrying that she’d fought all night with frightening dreams.
“I’ll use the one downstairs, sweetie. Are you going to be all right to get to school?”
Sensing her mother’s question to be rhetorical, the light in those big brown eyes flashing the desperation she would be late herself if she drove Emma to school, Emma nodded with a toothpaste filled smile. She gargled to rinse making her eyes water from the burn of mouthwash and toothpaste. “Go, Mom. Don’t worry about me. I’ll hop a bus.” Of course, since her mom now owned the flower shop, she needed to be there earlier than in the olden days when she worked as a mere employee.
With twenty minutes to spare before she needed to be butt in chair, a little math equation ran through her thoughts. Seven minutes to get to school by car. Dad left for work, and Mom is headed in the opposite direction. 

PUYB Virtual Book Club Chats with George Finney



GEORGE FINNEY, ESQ., has worked in Cybersecurity for over 15 years and is the author of No More Magic Wands: Transformative Cybersecurity Change for Everyone. He is currently the Chief Information Security Officer for Southern Methodist University where he has also taught on the subject of Corporate Cybersecurity and Information Assurance. Mr. Finney is an attorney and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional as well as a Certified Information Security Systems Professional and has spoken on Cybersecurity topics across the country.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS


About the Book:

Once upon a time there was a company that made magic wands, but when they were hacked all the magic in the world couldn’t prevent their data from being stolen. If that company had a chance for a clean start, what would they have done differently? The unlikely hero isn’t a security guy. She’s a business elf who makes it her mission to change the way her company does business from the top down.

Most books on Cybersecurity are written for highly technical professionals, focus on specific compliance regulations, or are intended for reference. No More Magic Wands is different...it takes complex security concepts and puts them into practice in easy to read, relateable stories.

No More Magic Wands is available at AMAZON


Before you started writing your book, what kind of research did you do to prepare yourself?

I started writing the book while I was teaching an undergraduate class on cybersecurity.  It was a great way to generate ideas, because I was looking at all of the things that I had come across in my career with new eyes so that I could teach it.  At the same time, I started researching how the most successful books on management and leadership go about delivering their material.

Did you pursue publishers or did you opt to self-pub?

I met with a few agents and publishers as I was finishing the book.  They were all very supported and I guess I’m still interested in traditional publishing.  But I wanted to make the book as good as I possibly could, and I realized that I was holding back a little since I knew the traditional publishing route would involve a lot of editing and changes.

If self-published, did you hire someone to format the ebook version for you or did you do it yourself?  Can you tell us what that was like?

I actually worked with several editors, and I was able to learn enough from that process and online resources to do it on my own.  There are a lot of very technical steps that you have to follow.  One challenge for me was that I use both Mac and PC, and going back and fourth between them, I realized that the different versions of Word have some different features, like embedding fonts, that drove me crazy.  I’ll definitely hire this out next time.

If self-published, how did you determine the price?

I wanted to make the book as affordable as possible.  I’m not out to make a ton of money, I really just want to get the book in to people’s hands.  I’ve run several free promotions and I’ve gotten over a thousand downloads on Amazon, so I think I’m doing pretty well.

Did you purposefully choose a distinct month to release your book?  Why?

I wanted to release it in the early Fall, since October is National Cyber Security Preparedness Month.

How did you choose your cover?

I actually designed the cover myself using some iStock photo animations and by creating my own font.  I was inspired by the TV show, Mr. Robot, a little.  The cover is a generic magician with just some hands, a moustache, and a tophat.  But it also looks a lot like the mask and tophat they use in the show.

Did you write your book, then revise or revise as you went?

I do a little of both.  I write by the seat of my pants, which often means I’ll be editing on the fly as I change things or take things in different directions.  But I also was very methodical about editing once I was done…I think I spent about half as much time editing the book as it took me to write.

Did you come up with special swag for your book and how are you using it to help get the word out about your book? 

I’ve done some giveaways with the book, and I realized that with the whole Harry Potter thing, there are a ton of magic wand props you can buy.  I’ve given away a few along with the book.

Did you consider making or hiring someone to make a book trailer for your book?  If so, what’s the link?

I’ve thought about it, but just haven’t had the time!

What’s your opinion on giving your book away to sell other copies of your book?

This is my primary marketing strategy!  With digital copies of your book, it doesn’t cost you anything to give copies away.  And when I’ve run free promotions on Amazon, there is always a bump in sales afterwards as people get the word out.  But giving away print copies is also crucial.  I’ve been able to get copies in the hands of influential people at conferences or at lunch meetings.  Whatever I can do to keep the conversation going is important to the success of the book.

What are three of the most important things you believe an author should do before their book is released?

Get feedback – you need other people to help your writing get better.  You need a small focus group or a writers group to make sure you’re not writing something that makes sense and resonates with your audience.

Edit – if you don’t have at least 4 or 5 different drafts of just edited versions after you’re finished, you’re doing something wrong.  One of my biggest breakthroughs happened in the editing process, and it took a ton of work to make all the changes, but it really made the book so much better.

Talk about it! – don’t keep you life’s work a secret!  Bounce ideas off of people.  Get to know what your audience thinks.  Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas…nobody will be as passionate about your work as you.

What are three of the most important things you believe an author should do after their book is released?

Keep talking about it!  Keep writing!  Find your next project!

What kind of pre-promotion did you do before the book came out? 

I’ve set up a blog and facebook page.  I signed up for several professional review services like Kirkus, which have all been wonderful.  There is so much support out there for writers who have finished a book, lots of folks want to help you, it’s been a great process.

Do you have a long term plan with your book?

Part of writing the book has energized me about my career and I want to keep that momentum going.  I’m working on a new book through my blog.

What would you like to say to your readers and fans about your book?

I love hearing from my readers.  Look up my blog and let me know what you think, www.strongestelement.com.