Business & Investing

Growing Season: a novel (Book 1)by Melanie Lageschulte

“… a relatable heroine whom readers will want to follow to her next adventure.” – (BookLife/Publishers Weekly) Melinda Foster is already at a crossroads when the “for rent” sign beckons her down a dusty gravel lane. Facing forty and downsized from her successful career at a Twin Cities ad agency, Melinda is struggling to find her way forward when a phone call brings her home to rural Iowa. It’s not long before Melinda is living in a faded farmhouse, caring for a barn full of animals, and working at her family’s hardware store in the community of Prosper, whose motto is “The Great Little Town That Didn’t.” And just like the vast garden she tends under the summer sun, Melinda soon begins to thrive. Filled with memorable characters, from a big-hearted farm dog to the weather-obsessed owner of the local co-op, “Growing Season” celebrates the challenges and joys of rural life. First in a series! Don’t miss the heartwarming sequel, “Harvest Season.”

TED Talks Storytelling: 23 Storytelling Techniques from the Best TED Talksby Akash Karia

“Every speaker can put these ideas into practice immediately — and they should!”
~ Dr. Richard C. Harris, Certified World Class Speaking Coach

“An insightful read”
~Dennis Waller, Top 500 Reviewer

“Superb communication advice”
~ Larry Nocella
MASTER THE ONE THING ALL GREAT TED TALKS HAVE IN COMMON

What is the secret to delivering a great TED talk?

What is the magic ingredient that makes a TED talk captivating?

And more importantly, how can you use those secrets to make your presentations more powerful, dynamic and engaging?

To try to answer these questions, I studied over 200 of the best TED talks. I broke each TED talk down in terms of structure, message and delivery.

Here’s what I discovered. After studying over 200 TED talks, the one commonality among all the great TED talks is that they contain stories.

UTILIZE ADVANCED STORYTELLING TECHNIQUES TO INJECT LIFE INTO YOUR PRESENTATIONS

Essentially, the best speakers on the TED stage were the ones who had mastered the art of storytelling. They had mastered how to craft and present their stories in a way that allowed them to share their message with the world without seeming like they were lecturing their audience.

Lessons From a Third Grade Dropoutby Rick Rigsby

* USA Today and Wall Street Journal best seller*

Be inspired by the book behind the graduation speech by Dr. Rick Rigsby’s– now with 100+ million views on Facebook and YouTube. 

After his wife died, Rick Rigsby was ready to give up. The bare minimum was good enough. Rigsby was content to go through the motions, living out his life as a shell of himself. But then he remembered the lessons his father taught him years before – something insanely simple, yet incredibly profound.

These lessons weren’t in advanced mathematics or the secrets of the stock market. They were quite straightforward, in fact, for Rigsby’s father never made it through third grade. But if this uneducated man’s instructions were powerful enough to produce a Ph.D. and a judge – imagine what they can do for you.

Join Rigsby as he dusts off time-tested beliefs and finds brilliantly simple answers to modern society’s questions. In a magnificent testament to the “Greatest Generation” which gave so much and asked so little in return, Lessons from a Third Grade Dropout will challenge you while reigniting your passion to lead a truly fulfilling life.

After all, it’s never too late to learn a little bit more about life – just ask the third-grade dropout.

Potlatch: A Comedyby Bruce Hartman

“Bruce Hartman does to contemporary fiction what Douglas Adams did to Science Fiction and Terry Pratchett did to Fantasy… Hartman is a master of satire and with Potlatch he really raises the bar” – Amazon reviewer Donnie Burgess

Have you ever wondered why life seems so complicated, so exhausting, so fattening, and yet so pointless and idiotic? It’s all part of the Potlatch.

To Alice Coggins, the 24-year-old daughter of a South Philadelphia scam artist, everything looks like a racket: endless serflike internships, student loans that can never be repaid, high-minded charities run by swindlers for the benefit of rich donors. Things only get worse when she meets Andrew Ogleby, a scion of blue-bloods who is engaged to a bulimic pet-food heiress he can’t bring himself to marry.

As their Cinderella romance unfolds, Alice and Andrew must battle their families, the mob, and most of all the ubiquitous “Potlatch”: a vast conspiracy of conspicuous waste directed by the powers that be to keep the populace — and especially the young people — from even thinking about doing anything useful.

“Get ready for a hilarious ride in Potlatch… One of the most amusing reads ever to be published.” — Lisa McCombs for Readers’ Favorite Book Reviews.

Autonomous Futureby Victor Illian

It’s the year 2035. Autonomous cars have become commonplace and have had unexpected impacts on modern culture. As we learned to trust self-driving cars with our lives, trust in corporations has grown.

Like most software developers, Lucas Trent works hard to produce effective, efficient software. But he dreams of doing more. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has advanced to a point of impending evolution and Lucas needs to be a part of it.

The corporate superpower, Korelucent, provides most of the technology hardware and software in both government and public sectors. The corporation also builds the leading edge AI Lucas is eager to be involved in.

When given an offer he can’t refuse, this sportbike racing developer joins Korelucent and finds a new technology far too advanced for any one corporation. He also discovers a hidden agenda so big he can’t trust anyone. Enlisting the help of his Marine brother, a team forms endeavoring to stay one step ahead of Mark Holt, CEO of Korelucent.

As Korelucent’s new technology comes online, entire countries fall under the corporation’s power. Will Lucas and team be fast enough to stop the growing company before its control becomes too great?

Schooled!by Matthew Rockwood

A part of James Hartman fit perfectly into his career as an attorney at a law firm in New York City. He was good at what he did and enjoyed the perks of the professional career his privileged upbringing had reared him to strive for all his life. But another part of James believed his talents should be used for more than just personal gain – that he should be doing something with his life that would, in some small way, help change the world for the better. And James needed more time than his high-powered career allowed to save his deteriorating marriage and to live a more meaningful life outside of his profession.

So James left the law to teach in an inner-city public high school as part of the New York City Teaching Fellows Program. His hope was to offer opportunity to his inner-city students and to help turn around a failing public high school. What he found during his three year odyssey teaching in the New York City public school system was a reality of dysfunction, violence, racism, and corruption far different and infinitely more tragic than he could have ever imagined.

Stones of Dracontias: The Bloodstone Dragonby N.D. Jones

A life without love, forbidden or not, is a life unlived…

For generations the worlds of man and dragon have lived peacefully side-by-side. Harmonious and yet wholly separate, there is much unknown between them–but that is all about to change. For love knows no color nor creed, and where there is passion, heat, and desire, it will spark.
So begins the story of Kya the Bloodstone Dragon and Armstrong Knight, the unwitting victims of love’s impervious pull. For when a dragon-shifter walks amongst the humans, the wheels of fate begin to turn and what was once separate worlds collide in the throes of young love. Their bonds will be tested by fate and the greedy, cruel hearts of wicked men. When their very lives, and the secret they share, are threatened, Kya and Armstrong must defy the odds and do what they can to protect the human and dragon worlds. In the chaos, a love story unfolds between two unlikely heroes and the lengths we all go to for the ones we love.

Rugged Daddyby Rye Hart

Icy as the Montana mountains…Cameron is cold, remote and guarded.And it's getting hard to ignore the rumors.But when I see how he cares for his little girl…
I start to wonder if giving him a baby is really such a crazy idea.

He's the sexiest man to step foot into Whitefish, Montana.
And there's something he desperately wants from me…

The surrogate agency thinks we'd make a great match.
My best friend might think I'm crazy.But I know a good man when I see one. I just hope whatever he's running from is locked away for good. **This collection begins with a 65,000+ word full-length standalone mountain man's surrogate romance: Rugged Daddy, followed by an exclusive 30,000+ word mountain man romance: Mountain Man's Nanny. For your reading pleasure, this collection also contains the following mountain men romance books: Big Daddy, Cabin Fever, and Saving Mel. – Rye Hart (USA Today Bestselling Author)**

Sword of Fireby J.A. Culican

"An unforgettable tale brimming with suspense, action and dragons."– Through the Ashes will thrill fans of The Gender Game, Divergent & The Hunger Games. Defenseless. Alone. Betrayed.

Bells is a poor fae who works on a farm outside the protections of the dragon city. When her family is attacked by trolls, she goes to the one person she knows can help her. But will he?

Peace. Death. Enough. The dragons brought peace to the city and the surrounding area when they rose. Jaekob believes there is no reason for further dragon involvement. They've' lost enough lives to this cause. They've done their fair share and owe the world nothing more.

But when the dark elves infect his city with a virus unlike anything he's ever seen, he knows they need a solution. Now.

The sword of peace. Myth? Reality?

They're about to find out.

Jadedby Ali Parker

Love is a Lie.

As a photographer for the New York Post, Kari Martin was used to seeing heartache and scandal up close. But one night at the club… her whole world changed.

Heartbroken and willing to call off her wedding, she decides a change is in order and moves from NYC to a small town in Maine, where the average age of the residents there is sixty (or thereabouts). She works to fit in perfectly, and tries like hell not to let anyone find out just how very jaded she’s recently become over the lie called love.

Jake Isaac left Texas quite a few years ago; his heart torn from his chest, and his mind set on being a bachelor forever. Maine would welcome him, give him land to explore and a community to belong to. Getting a job as the coach of the local junior high and serving on the fire department kept him busy — and labeled him a hometown hero — but the truth of his damaged heart was forever hidden.

No one would ever know just how jaded he was about love. That is… until he meets Kari.