As soon as I saw the tagline, ‘The true story of America’s first recorded mass shooting,’ I had to read it.
September 6, 1949.
Non fiction. Historical fiction. Camden, New Jersey. Twelve minutes. Thirteen dead. A missing gate.
Howard Unruh. He had been bullied his entire life. He was a war veteran.
Ellen J Green used all the available tools of research that were available, putting them into an easy to read and follow story. I like the way it was written.
Murder in the Neighborhood shows has far reaching a tragedy like this is and the fallout for those left standing.
Mass shootings seems to me to be a uniquely American phenomenon. There is no blanket solution to the problem, no easy way to predict who will do what when, but judging by current events…
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Murder In The Neighborhood by Ellen J Green.
4 Stars
Murder in the Neighborhood—the story of the first mass shooting in the US
Ellen J. Green
Genre: True Crime
Publisher: Thread Books, Hachette UK
Date of Publication: 4/28/2022
ISBN13: 9781909770706
Number of pages: 324
Word Count: 85k
Cover Artist: Thread books
Book Description:
On 6 September 1949, twenty-eight-year-old Howard Barton Unruh shot thirteen people in less than twelve minutes on his block in East Camden, New Jersey. The shocking true story of the first recorded mass shooting in America has never been told, until now.
The sky was cloudless that morning when twelve-year-old Raymond Havens left his home on River Road. His grandmother had sent him to get a haircut at the barbershop across the street—where he was about to witness his neighbor and friend Howard open fire on the customers inside.
Told through the eyes of young Raymond, who had visited Howard regularly to listen to his war stories, and the mother trying to piece together the disturbing inner workings of her son’s mind, Murder in the Neighborhood uncovers the chilling true story of Howard Unruh, the quiet loner who meticulously plotted his revenge on the neighbors who shunned him and became one of America’s first mass killers.
That September
morning started much like any other. Camden, New Jersey, the sparkling little
sister of Philadelphia, connected by the high arches of the Delaware River
Bridge, was waking up to heat nearing the mid-seventies—by nine o’clock the
humidity was sitting high above the city, waiting to descend.
Cramer Hill, a
small section of Camden, bound by the Delaware River to the west, the Pavonia
Train Yard to the east, State Street to the south and 36th Street to the
north—a grid of streets twenty-four blocks long, and about five or six blocks
wide contained within—was about to draw the focus of the world but nobody knew
it, not that morning at nine o’clock.
River Road cut a
swath through Cramer Hill where open-bay trucks rumbled through all day long,
overloaded with tomatoes headed for the Campbell’s soup factory a few miles
away. The clearly visible cargo was only held in place by wire mesh caging
along the sides. The loud engine sounds called to children to get out of the
street, to stand and watch, waiting for a tomato to break loose and fall into
their small hands. They were often rewarded when a bump in the road threw a few
of the greenish-red fruits into the street.
The smells of
the river wafting in, the sounds of the boats, the hint of tomatoes cooking at
Campbell’s, the smoke from the stacks of Eavenson and Sons soap factory a mile
away—it was all there. But mostly it was the shoemaker’s pungent aroma of
tannery oils, the lingering, savory fragrance from Latela’s Italian
luncheonette on the corner, the endless din of Engel’s bar across the street,
and the music that poured out of its doors after the sun went down that filled
every home.
Five businesses
shared one side of the small block—a cacophonic mix of a pharmacy, a
barbershop, a cobbler, a tailor and a café. The other side only had two: a
grocery and a bar. Most of the owners lived there, nestled in their small
apartments above their establishments. They all knew each other well enough on
that small stretch of River Road. Enough to pull a chair out onto the sidewalk
on summer nights for a chat. Enough to get a drink at Engel’s now and again.
Enough to keep an eye on things and on each other. But not one of them saw it
coming. Not the Pilarchiks, the Hoovers, the Hamiltons, the Zegrinos or the
Cohens. They’d safely shared that space together for years, but not one of them
was spared.
About
the Author:
Ellen J. Green is the Amazon
Charts bestselling author of the Ava Saunders novels (Absolution and Twist of
Faith) and The Book of James. She attended Temple University in Philadelphia,
where she earned her degrees in psychology, and has worked in the psychiatric
ward of a maximum-security correctional facility for fifteen years. She also
holds an MFA degree in creative writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Born and raised in Upstate New York, Ms. Green now lives in southern New Jersey
with her two children.
Book Title: Natural Beauties: Homemade Wellness Tips from Head to Toe by Marita & Mimina Meza Category: Adult Non-Fiction (18+), 117 pages Genre: Non-Fiction, Beauty, How To Publisher: Mascot Release Date: May 3, 2022 Content Rating: PG.
Book Description:
Natural Beauties: Homemade Wellness Tips from Head to Toe, teaches readers how to make natural beauty products at home that are easy and fun. From face
creams and masks to post-conditioner hair sprays, this book aims to help readers look and feel youthful and invigorated every day.
Originally
from Venezuela, Marita and Mimina Meza have had lifelong careers in the beauty industry. Along the way, they learned many insider tips and tricks for taking care of themselves and looking healthy using natural products. Marita and Mimina believe nature provides everything you need for a beauty regiment that will keep you looking younger while staying healthy. Instead of searching for beauty products that don’t contain harmful chemicals, they believe it’s easier and less expensive to make your own products at home.
Join us for this tour from June 13 to July 1, 2022!
Book Details:
Book Title: Cinderella Didn’t Live Happily Ever After: The Hidden Messages in Fairy Tales by Anne E. Beall Category: Adult Non-Fiction (18+), 126 pages Genre: Feminist, Fairy Tales, Literary Criticism Publisher: Independent Publishing Release date:November 17, 2018 Content Rating: PG + M. Some fairy tales are a bit gruesome but there is no bad language or explicit sex.
Book Description:
Did
Cinderella live happily ever after? You might think so until you look more closely at the hidden messages in beloved fairy tales. In this book, fairy tales are analyzed in terms of the underlying messages about marriage, agency, power, suffering, and good versus evil, with a focus on how male and female characters differ in each of these areas. The analysis is a data-driven approach that provides clear evidence for the hidden messages in these beloved tales. The end conclusion is not whether fairy tales are good or bad but rather what messages they deliver about life, even if unintentionally.
A leader in the field of market research and one of the few female CEOs in the industry, Anne E. Beall is the author of 10 books in business, gender studies, and mindfulness, including Cinderella Didn’t Live Happily Ever After: The Hidden Messages in Fairy Tales and The Psychology of Gender. Her book Heartfelt Connections was named one of the top 100 Notable Indie books in 2016 by Shelf Unbound, and she has published nearly a dozen business articles in noted journals. Her books have been featured in People Magazine, Toronto Sun, Hers Magazine, and Ms. Career Girl, and she has been interviewed by NBC, NPR, and WGN. Having received her PhD in social psychology from Yale University, Anne resides in Evanston, Illinois and is the founder of the market consultancy company Beall Research.
I no longer have any little ones in my home, but I am always looking for ways to stay healthier for myself. I appreciate you dropping in and sharing this simple suggestion, Kalifa.
Nutrition Hack:
Using fruits to replace sugar
Hello! My name is Kalifa, I’m a registered dietitian,
certified breastfeeding specialist and the author of Eating These Foods Makes
Me… I have a passion for everything nutrition, food and a healthy lifestyle. One
thing I’m constantly noticing in my career is the re-occurring issue I notice
many of my clients struggling with and that’s the adverse health outcomes
having excess sugar in their diet is causing them to experience.
In our westernized diet, sugar is one of the top
nutrients we tend to inadvertently consume in excess amounts, and it can be
very challenging to cut down. The problem is too much sugar in our diet
promotes the onset of many health-related issues and chronic diseases such as
diabetes and obesity. So today I’ll share 3 quick and easy tips on how you can
swap out the refined sugar and use fruit instead.
1st off, the sugar found in our foods and
drinks comes in various forms. Fruits
contain natural sugars, which are a mix of sucrose, fructose and glucose, but primarily
fructose. I often suggest using fruits whenever possible to achieve the
sweetness you desire as a healthy nutrition hack. For example, berries
(raspberries, blackberries and strawberries) are quite low in sugar compared to
other fruits and sometimes just a handful added to your cereal, yogurt or
pancakes is all you need to satisfy a sweet craving as opposed to sprinkling on
the sugar, honey or syrup.
For those of you who love pastries and baking, you can
actually use banana, papaya or even apple sauce as a sugar swap. Put any of
these fruits in a blender and pulse until a smooth consistency, and there you
have it, if a recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar, you can use ½ cup of the
puree. Figs and dates are also great
sugar swaps and provide the added benefits of fibre and minerals such as
potassium, calcium and iron.
Lastly, the hot summer weather is just around the
corner so you and your little ones might be craving a sweet treat to cool down,
why not get the kiddos involved by making their own 3 ingredient fruit sorbet
ice-cream. You can take almost any fruit you
want and transform them into a delicious and refreshing treat. Raspberry,
Pineapple, Peach and Honey Melon are our favourites! Simply peel and cut up
your fresh fruit into cubes then freeze them. If you’re using smaller fruits
like berries skip this step and freeze them whole! Once frozen, add your fruit
and a small amount of lemonade, orange juice or apple juice to your ice-crushing
blender or small food processor. Feel free to add some ripened banana to make
it taste a little sweeter. Keep in mind this sorbet is best eaten immediately
because unlike traditional store-bought sorbets, which contain high amounts of
added sugar which acts as interference for freezing resulting in a
softer/scoopable texture even at freezing temperatures, this homemade one has
way less sugar therefore if stored in the freezer it will harden.
Remember, there are always ways to improve our nutrition by simply being open-minded to trying different alternatives!
Thanks so much for sharing, Kalifa. I hope others found this as helpful as I did.
Is
your kid a picky eater? Do you want your child to enjoy eating a variety of
foods? Reading can be a proactive way to introduce your little one to the
amazing world of nutrition! In this book, readers will explore healthy foods
and learn how key nutrients benefit the body. These pages repeat positive
affirmations that will empower and build your child’s mindfulness about the
foods they eat.
It is never too early
to instill life-long healthy eating habits. Happy reading! Or should I say,
happy eating!
EXCERPT
Eating these foods makes me… Strong.
These foods give us protein which builds our muscles and bones to make us strong!
Fun Learning Activities to Promote Healthy Nutrition
1. Using paper and crayons or coloured pencils, draw a
rainbow, and then draw a fruit or vegetable that is the same colour as each
colour of the rainbow. You can even use this book for ideas. Remember to eat a
rainbow of fruits and vegetables (at least 5 servings) each day! How many have
you eaten today?
2. Do you like to play any sports or games? Do you like to
walk to the park? Help your parents choose and prepare an energizing snack
before the next game or walk to the park.
3. Eat your water? That sounds silly! Did you know that some
fruits and veggies such as celery are mostly made up of water and can also help
to keep you hydrated? Can you think of any others? Now try adding those slices
of fruit or even cucumber to your water bottle to give it some pizazz.
4. Try introducing interactive sensory play for preschoolers
(age 3 and older). Gather a variety of beans, nuts, or seeds on a tray or in a
bowl with a spoon. Under adult supervision, let the preschooler feel, grab, and
scoop the legumes, nuts, and seeds. See if the toddler can separate them based
on different colours, sizes, and textures while the adult names each food and
talks about how these foods make us strong from the proteins and smart from the
healthy omega fats.
These foods give us protein which builds our muscles and bones to make us strong!
AUTHOR Bio and Links
Kalifa Rodriguez is a registered dietitian and certified breastfeeding specialist. She currently works as a clinical nutritionist in Montreal, Canada. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in nutritional biochemistry, she went on to complete a master’s degree in human nutrition and dietetics at McGill University. Kalifa is passionate about promoting healthy lifestyle choices through nutrition, exercise, and mindfulness. She also hopes to leave a positive impact in the community through her work by giving nutrition education sessions to community groups and organizations. Kalifa and her husband are parents to their delightful toddler, who is the inspiration for this book.
Book Details: Book Title: Unseen Arms: A Story about Cancer, Crisis, and Being Carried by Faithby Evelyn & Wayne Hausknecht Category: Adult Non-Fiction (18+), 168 pages Genre: Medical Memoir Publisher:Mascot Books Publication Date: May 3, 2022. Content Rating: PG-13 + M:Mature as it is a medical journal/novel.
Book Description:
Patient and Caregiver: the main characters in a drama that started in 2007 and is still unfolding for Evelyn and Wayne Hausknecht. In 2007, Evelyn was diagnosed with an aggressive, recurrent type of non-Hodgkin’s T-cell lymphoma. Although in Unseen Arms Evelyn and Wayne are as medically accurate as their memories and blog allow, the greatest purpose here is
to tell the story from a patient’s and caregiver’s perspectives.
Recently, while having an in-depth conversation with a lung doctor when Evelyn was in the hospital with pneumonia, Evelyn was thanked by the doctor for what she and Wayne were doing. She was in awe of his excitement for the book. The doctor saw the need for future patients to learn from experienced patients. Evelyn and Wayne were peer volunteers for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for years. The goal of that program was the same: an experienced caregiver and patient walk beside a person entering the transplant program to make their path smoother. Even though each diagnosis and circumstance is different, every patient has the same questions, fears, and needs. The greatest need is for someone understanding to talk to. When Evelyn was diagnosed, it was easy to find medical information, but caregiver and patient perspectives were limited.
Evelyn and Wayne had three purposes for writing this book. One was to give God the Glory for His faithfulness during this process. The second was to give hope to the patients and caregivers of today and the future. The third was to give some limited insights into the stem cell transplant process. The medical part of this process is rapidly changing, but the patients and caregivers still have the same needs.
Evelyn and Wayne Hausknecht have spent most of their careers in education. Evelyn has taught different subjects and ages in public and Christian schools. Wayne, a wood engineer, helped build the largest sawmill in Brazil and has managed mills in Michigan and North Carolina. They both enjoy motorcycle riding and rode their Harley Davidson Road King to Glacier National Park in 2006. Recently, they traded their motorcycle for a Model A truck and now enjoy going to car shows. They have two married children and six grandchildren and reside in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Marines Don’t Cry by Daniel Garcia and Jacqueline C. Garcia
GENRE: Memoir, Non-fiction
BLURB
Have
you ever been lost — really lost?
Danny and Jackie answer
this question in Marines Don’t Cry with stories of death to life, deep sorrow
to joy, darkness to light, and freedom in Christ.
Danny recounts his
early life in Spanish Harlem and describes conversion from a life of drugs and
“the fast lane” to one consumed with knowing and serving God. This makes his
journey of walking more than 52 million steps on six continents for children
and world peace such an incredible story.
Marines Don’t Cry is
about the transformational power of God’s love: how Danny found his calling and
is delivering the message of Christ at all costs.
EXCERPT
Chapter 7: “You Must Choose Now”
One night in my living room, under the influence of several
drugs and alcohol, I experienced something bizarre and frightening. Something
happened to me, and I knew that something was terribly wrong. In a moment, I
felt my spirit leaving my body; a wrenching separation and tearing from deep
within. Life literally came out of my body. My feet lifted from the floor. I
levitated upwards and felt myself being pulled out of this world. It was an
out-of-body experience. I did not feel physical pain, but I knew I was dying.
All my life, I had been in control and never let fear consume me. Now, I was
terrified.
I panicked.
My thoughts raced. I knew that if I died, I would go to hell
because of all the bad things I had done in my life. I learned in Catholic
school that if I died in the state of mortal sin, I was destined for hell, a
place of eternal fire and torment. Eternity flashed before me, and I heard an
audible voice through time, space, and spirit say:
“Which way do you choose? Life or death? You must choose
now.”
The voice enveloped my thoughts. In a flash, the Lord gave
me a choice of life or death, and it was a choice of both physical and
spiritual proportions. Although I had not been in church for over twenty-five
years, I knew I was lost, had no hope, and was going to hell. I was completely
petrified, and for the first time in my entire life, I was truly afraid and
frightened beyond my understanding.
With a desperate cry, I screamed, “Jesus, save me!”
As soon as I said the name “Jesus,” my spirit immediately
jumped back into my body. I experienced the terrible fear of God. To this point
in my life, I paid no attention to the teachings that the Catholic church
instilled in me. I had turned away from Him and disobeyed His laws.
By calling on the name of Jesus Christ, I chose life. I was
saved spiritually; the moment of my salvation from death and beginning the
transformation to a new life. This was a miracle. I was thirty-three years
old—the same age as Jesus when he started his public ministry.
AUTHOR Bio and Links
About the
authors of Marines Don’t Cry
Daniel Garcia
Danny Garcia, The Walking Man, was born and raised in New York’s Spanish Harlem. He served as a United States Marine, law enforcement officer, and ordained minister. Since 1996, he has prayed and walked over 52,000, 000 steps on six continents for children and world peace. During his journeys, Garcia met with dignitaries all over the world, ministering to the famous and to the poorest of the poor. Danny made presentations to Kings/royals, Presidents, and other world leaders, to include four Presidents of the USA, several Prime Ministers of other countries, the Pope, Mother Teresa, Ambassadors and various eminent personalities and multilateral organizations. Garcia began his journey as a personal commitment to peace and children and continued walking and raising funds for multiple charitable organizations.
Danny is
married to the former Jacqueline Charsagua of El Paso, TX, and they work side
by side to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
For more information, visit Danny’s website, www.globalwalk.cc.
Jackie
Charsagua Garcia
Jackie Charsagua Garcia is married to Daniel Garcia. She graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO, in 1985 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. Jackie holds a Bachelor of Science in Management and a Master of Science in Human Resources Management. While in the US Air Force, Jackie specialized in communications, acquisition, systems engineering, and information technology.
After a rewarding and fulfilling Air Force career, she retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the summer of 2006, having spent more than 21 years on active duty. Since 2006, she has supported and advised on all aspects of her husband’s walks and charitable initiatives within the United States and abroad. She joined Danny during his Africa Walk in 2007 and ministered in South Africa, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Southern Sudan. During this time, her faith and reliance on God grew tremendously under the mentorship of Danny Garcia. The Global Walk experience gave Jackie an opportunity to serve God abroad, and her vision is to spread the hope, love, and the grace of Jesus Christ through her writing. She is a native of El Paso, TX, mother of one amazing daughter, and a breast cancer survivor.
Book Title: They Called Him Marvin, A History of Love, War and Family by Roger Stark Category: Adult Fiction (18+), 333 pages Genre: Historical Romance, WW2 history, True Love Story Publisher: Silver Star Publishing Release Date: September 2021 Content Rating: PG-13: No sex scenes, six mild profanities, depictions of war scenes.
Book Description:
They were just kids, barely not teenagers, madly in love, desperate to be a family, but a war and a B29 got in there way.
Three
hundred ten days before Pearl Harbor, buck private Dean Sherman
innocently went to church with a new friend in Salt Lake City. From that
moment, the unsuspecting soldier travelled a remarkable, heroic path,
falling in love, graduating from demanding training to become a B29
pilot, conceiving a son and entering the China, Burma and India theater
of the WW2.
He chronicled his story with letters home to his
bride Connie that he met on that fateful Sunday, blind to the fact that
fifteen hundred seventy five days after their meeting, a Japanese
swordsman would end his life.
His crew, a gaggle of Corporals
that dubbed themselves the Corporalies, four officers and a tech
Sargent, adventured their way across the globe. Flying the “Aluminum
Trail” also called the Hump through the Himalayas, site of the most
dangerous flying in the world. Landing in China to refuel and then fly
on to to places like Manchuria, Rangoon or even the most southern parts
of Japan to drop 500 pounders.
Each mission had it’s challenges,
minus fifty degree weather in Mukden, or Japanese fighters firing away
at them, a close encounter of the wrong kind, nearly missing a collision
with another B29 while flying in clouds, seeing friends downed and lost
because of “mechanicals,” the constant threat of running out of fuel
and their greatest fear, engine fire.
Transferred to the Mariana
Islands, he and his crew were shot down over Nagoya, Japan as part of
Mission 174, captured and declared war criminals.
Connie’s
letters reveal life for a brand new mother whose husband is declared
MIA. The agony for both of them, he in a Japanese prison, declared a war
criminal, and she just not knowing why his letters stopped coming.
I
am, by my own admission, a reluctant writer. But there are stories that
demand to to be told. When we hear them, we must pick up our pen, lest
we forget and the stories be lost. Six years ago, in a quiet
conversation with my friend Marvin, I learned the tragic story of his
father, a WW2 B-29 Airplane Commander, shot down over Nagoya, Japan just
months before the end of the war. The telling of the story that evening
by this half orphan was so moving and full of emotion, it compelled me
to ask if I could write the story. The result being They Called Him Marvin.
My
life has been profoundly touched in so many ways by being part of
documenting this sacred story. I pray that we never forget, as a people,
the depth of sacrifice that was made by ordinary people like Marvin and
his father and mother on our behalf.
I love book covers and I love the cover for Shelter From Our Secrets, Silence & Shame. I am delighted to have Rebecca Brown visiting fundinmental to share her own thoughts on the cover.
Topic: Discuss your cover — how it
came to be, what it represents, what you love or don’t love about it,
etc. Anything you’d like to share about it.
I’m excited to be part of this Fundinmental blog tour, and I love
that I can take this opportunity to talk about my book’s cover. I know
that we shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, but I wanted my book’s cover to
catch people’s attention and hopefully draw them to it and start reading.
I took the photograph myself in May 2021 when I was out in my
kayak on Lake Huron, where I am lucky to live and work as a mental health
clinician. I need to find ways to burn off and let go of the difficult
stories that I collect in my day. One of my favourite ways to release the
stress is to paddle into the sunset and feel the tension release from my
body. I begin my book with this prologue:
I am floating.
On the water
calm
clear
soft
quiet.
Dusk,
the sun is setting.
The sky will hold light
for another half an hour
or so.
The beauty is often just after the sun sinks into the water, then the colours are
spectacular.
Or just softer.
It’s been a long day;
hard
heavy
yet healing.
I have no words left in me.
I cannot talk
or listen anymore.
I need quiet
peace
calm
presence.
I have found the shelter that I seek today
on the open water.
My kayak is my shelter this day.
I will paddle until I physically feel the release in my
body.
I will watch the sun set until I find the peace in my soul.
I hope to sleep tonight.
Rebuild my resilience.
I will wake and do it all again.
I may need to seek shelter differently tomorrow
Or not.
Knowing that I must still seek shelter sometimes,
makes it safe for me to continue in this work that I love.
Later in the book, I share a chapter which digs further into why
this particular photograph means so much to me.
Chapter Fourteen: Spring 2021
I couldn’t wait to get my little yellow kayak
in the water. It had been three years since I moved to the shores of the Great
Lake Huron. We live in a home that has a story of its own (more on this to
come), and it was built to look out at the beautiful water, which is a gift we
cherish every day. The sunsets have been called among the most beautiful in the
world, and the water itself changes from day to day: from calm, like glass, to
rough and choppy. We’ve referred to it as both Lake Atlantic and the Pond
Lake, all within twenty-four hours. The soft sand and miles of beach are what
draw people from afar, but what makes it the most magnificent sight always is
its colour. The water looks almost tropical. It can resemble a Caribbean
turquoise blue, so soft that it takes your breath away. Looking at the colour
of this beautiful water is a moment of awe that I treasure every day.
We’ve had a warm, mild spring, and this year
feeling confined to the house, working from home, unable to see people in
person, I have been trying to spend even more time outdoors in nature and, as
often as possible, down at the water.
On May 17, our temperature rose to twenty
degrees Celsius (68 F), and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. After dinner, I pulled
my little yellow kayak out from under the deck where it had been stored all
winter. I hosed it off to get rid of any spiders and dirt that had been hiding
there all winter, and within half an hour had it in the water.
Due to the State of Emergency and lockdown in
our area, there was virtually no one in the cottages that dot the shoreline of
our secluded little bay. I was able to paddle in silence for an hour. The sun
was high in the blue sky when I started, and once I went as far as I needed to,
I let my paddles rest, pulled out my phone, and took a couple of photos to
celebrate the moment. I floated and rested and let the warmth of the sun sink
deep into my skin, and I meditated silently for a few minutes, noticing the
slightest movement of the calm water swaying my boat.
It was both a moment of
happiness and awe that I was so grateful for.
Then I turned my little yellow Pelican kayak
in the direction I had come and started to paddle slowly and rhythmically back
home. My cup of happiness was full.
The next morning, I woke up to the sound of
my dog beside my bed telling me the sun was up. I went downstairs with her, my
other dog, and two cats, and while I let all the animals out into the back
yard, I poured myself a cup of coffee and cued up a guided mindfulness
meditation. I let the small herd back inside and then made my way to my comfy
chair in my office to practice ten minutes of mindfulness. The meditation I
listened to this day was on Headspace.com, one of my favourite mindfulness
apps. I easily slipped away with the narrator’s voice as she guided me through
a visualization about balance, using the visual of a blue sky as a focal point.
This image of a blue sky is often one used in
guided mindfulness meditations, and it’s a lovely image to think about. We can
visualize the blue sky as something we always have access to; it’s the clear,
calm, uncluttered mind, but it can be buried beneath our busy, racing thoughts,
or the clouds. If we visualize clearing away the thoughts/clouds by
intentionally focussing on our breath for a few minutes, the clouds gently float
away to reveal the beautiful, calm, blue sky that is always somewhere in the
background of our minds. The meditation suggested visualizing a photograph of a
beautiful blue sky to help enhance this visualization, so I instantly
visualized the beautiful blue sky I had experienced just the evening before
when I was out in my kayak.
I opened my phone and turned to the photo I
had taken just twelve hours earlier, out on the water on my kayak, with the
beautiful blue sky in the background.
I knew instantly that I this photograph held so much meaning, which is why I chose it for my book cover.
As
a mental health clinician, Rebecca Brown has been a safe place for many to seek
shelter from their secrets, silence and shame. Inspired to finally slow down,
stop running from herself and share her own story, she found ways to seek and
savour her own shelter.
Rebecca’s personal
journey takes us through sadness, tragedy, self-sabotage, the impossible
pursuit of perfection, distorted thinking and eating, engaging with her shadow
self, divorce, and numbing with alcohol, all in an attempt to avoid the story
needing to be shared.
Dispelling the limiting
beliefs we hold about ourselves can unlock our limitless potential to reach
goals we never dared to dream. From the Boston Marathon to working with horses,
Rebecca sets out to prove to herself that anything is possible when you don’t
listen to the negative stories you tell yourself.
Everyone has a story.
We become who we are because of what has happened to us, and because of the
stories we tell ourselves. But do our stories continue to serve us well, or
keep us stuck? Are our stories fact or fiction? Is it time to rewrite the
versions we have been telling ourselves?
Shelter provides
strategies to help reframe the thinking patterns we have developed, and offers
tools to recognize when we are suffering from our own thoughts, feelings and
actions. Resilience-building techniques are woven through the pages, and
encouragement for the lifelong journey of collecting moments of awe and
happiness.
Seeking and reading
Shelter is a gift of self-compassion and self-discovery. Rebecca’s hope is that
it will be read with a highlighter in hand, pages folded down, re-read,
recommended to a friend, and used as a guide to start sharing our own stories
with those we love.
We may not have written
our beginnings, but we have the ability to write every word from this point
forward and just imagine where our stories can take us when we are free of
secrets, silence and shame.
EXCERPT
I give my talk.
The room erupts in applause.
A dozen people line up to thank me or say a few words at the
end of my session.
One man in particular stands out.
He is well over six feet tall and wearing a full Texas
sheriff uniform.
He has greying hair and is likely close to the end of his
career.
He pumps my hand as he shakes it, almost leaving it numb.
He thanks me for my talk. “Great stuff,” he says.
And then he hands me his business card.
But it’s not quite a business card.
It’s a photo card, like a baseball card, or a kid’s hockey
card, with the player’s name, position, and smiling face as they stand posed to
take a shot in their team uniform.
Only this is of a man on a black horse.
More precisely, it’s this man, a Texas sheriff on his
beautiful black police horse.
“I thought you’d like to have this,” he says. “My horse is
Canadian, like you.” And then he says something that has stayed with me,
because he couldn’t be more right: “Everyone in this business should have a
good horse!”
He meant the business of trauma.
I couldn’t have agreed more.
I still have his “business card.”
Two years later, I went back to Texas to teach a three-day
workshop on resilience to youth detention workers. I tried to look up my Texas
sheriff, but he had retired. I hope he’s finding more time to enjoy his good
horse. I’ve shared the story of our brief encounter and his photo card with
many police officers over the years. And every one of them agrees: horses can
heal humans. I’ve found shelter with horses. Sometimes in the saddle, but
mostly not. My story will get there. Eventually.
I finished my keynote address and spent the rest of the day
at the conference on Youth in the Justice System. People stopped me in the
halls of the hotel, telling me how much they enjoyed my talk. Later that
evening, I went for a run.
And then I drank a bottle of wine and went to bed.
AUTHOR Bio and Links
REBECCA BROWN is a clinical social worker with over 35 years in practice ranging from medical social work, childhood trauma, vicarious trauma for first responders, international psychological first aid, and Equine Assisted Therapy. She is honoured to hold a faculty appointment with the Department of Family Medicine at Western University in London, Ontario. She teaches extensively on the topics of trauma and resilience and has delivered keynote presentations throughout North America. She shares her life and career with her husband, a family physician and trailblazer in the field of Lifestyle Medicine. Together they live and work on the shores of the Great Lake Huron, where they seek and share shelter with their six adult children, four grandchildren, extended family and friends, two dogs, two cats and one horse.
THE YELLOW HONEYSUCKLE IS THE SWEETEST is a salute by the author to a lifetime of outdoor experiences in eastern North Carolina and beyond. It encompasses 14 true short stories about family, friendships, and the emotions involved in hunting, fishing, and other outdoor-related topics. It is not a how-to book, nor just a compilation of hunting and fishing stories; it describes how simple family and personal interactions, with the outdoor sports and unmatched natural beauty as a backdrop, can result in treasured memories like perhaps no other pursuits.
If you hunt and fish, or grew up enjoying histories of family traditions and friendships revolving around the outdoors – whether it be in North Carolina, or elsewhere – THE YELLOW HONEYSUCKLE IS THE SWEETEST is for you.
Book Details
Genre: Sports, (as in Hunting and Fishing), Nature, Family, Memoir
Published by: Indie
Publication Date: February 3, 2022
Number of Pages: 257
ISBN: 979-8-9855598-1-1
Purchase Links:Amazon | Goodreads
Bill Fentress is a retired banker and current Finance Officer in eastern North Carolina. A current resident of New Bern, NC, Bill grew up in Pamlico County, North Carolina, where many of his hunting and fishing experiences in The Yellow Honeysuckle is the Sweetest take place. He has enjoyed nature’s beauty and God’s gifts of family and the outdoors throughout his lifetime, in North Carolina and elsewhere.
The Light in the Darkness: Musings on Living With Cancer by Jo St Leon
GENRE: BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Inspiration &
Personal Growth
BLURB
The
Light in the Darkness is a must-have companion for anyone living with a serious
illness, or caring for a loved one with such an illness.
With this collection of reflections and personal essays, Jo St Leon shares her
experiences, her darkest moments and her greatest joys. She tells of the
journey from fear and denial to acceptance and a determination to live her best
life. She shares her deepest thoughts and feelings, always with her
characteristic blend of wry humour and wisdom.
The Light in the Darkness is the book Jo wishes she could have found when she
first received her cancer diagnosis.
Tell us about your cover
My
cover is a particular source of joy to me. It expresses exactly how I feel
after living with a cancer diagnosis for six years. I marvel that the Tellwell
designer seemed to read my mind.
My
initial requests concerning the cover were very vague. I have no talent for
design, and although I had an idea of how I would like it to look, I had no
faith that this idea was a good one. I thought that if I gave the very
sketchiest of information, the designer would come up with something that
looked good. Worst case scenario: I had one revision as part of my publishing
package, so I could tweak it, or even perhaps reject it altogether.
My
requests were something like: mostly dark, with pops of light. What came back
was good beyond my wildest dreams. I don’t know if the cover artist read the
book, but s/he encapsulated the whole of the content with this one image. No
revisions necessary. I sent back a joyous ‘Oh, yes!’ straight away.
So
what is it that I love so much? First, it’s the way that the darkness is a
landscape. There are so many shades of dark—near-black, grey, darkening,
lightening—the hidden depths are extraordinary, and beautiful. There are
mountains and valleys, peaks and troughs. This is very much how receiving a
cancer diagnosis felt to me. I didn’t fall into the depths of despair, as I
might have expected to do, and my world didn’t turn black. Rather, there was this
inner world that didn’t have the vividness of the outer world, but was there
for me to explore. The book is really a telling of that exploration.
Then
there is the light, and the figure gazing into it. It’s almost a religious
image, although it’s not a religious book. But the suggestion of walking
towards this transfixing light is irresistible, and very much how it felt as I
neared the end of the writing. When the book told me it was finished, and there
was nothing I could usefully add, it felt a bit like emerging from a chrysalis.
For me, and I think for many people, receiving a serious diagnosis prompts much
soul-searching. It’s a search for meaning, a need to understand and integrate one’s
shadow self, and a determination to live with authenticity for however many
weeks, months or years remain.
I
think the cover suggests all this and more, although I don’t think anyone idly
picking up the book in a bookshop would instantly say all that I’ve just said. This
is where I think the cover is so clever—it suggests mystery and majesty. It
invites readers in to find out more.
The
lettering on the cover is the work of a very dear calligrapher friend, Gemma
Black, who donated her services for what she believed to be an important cause.
In recognition of her generosity, I am donating $1 from each book sale to
Cancer Research.
AUTHOR Bio and Links
Jo St Leon is a musician and writer living in Hobart, Tasmania. Receiving a cancer diagnosis in 2016 prompted her to transition from being a full-time musician who loved to write to being a full-time writer who loves to sometimes play the viola. She shares her house with two very pampered felines. She loves reading, cooking, swimming and yoga.
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