![]() ![]() Who or What inspired you to write this book? However, I will say that one can see it as a blend of Butcher’s “ Dresden Files,” Tregillis’s “ Bitter Seeds,” and spy novel. ![]() It’s hard to say since I haven’t seen anything quite like " The Gray Tower Trilogy". What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? " Dark Rift" is dedicated to her-she loved the first book. I stopped writing for a couple of months after losing my mother. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? The war between Wizards and Nazi Warlock Vampires has just gotten deadlier. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? From there, " The Tower’s Alchemist" (Book 1) was born.įantasy, although some may also categorize it as Urban Fantasy or Historical Fantasy. As a lover of history and of fantasy literature, I jumped at the chance. ![]() Where did the idea come from for the book?įrom my husband giving me a writing challenge-produce an urban fantasy story set in WWII with a female wizard as the protagonist. it’s the 2nd book of " The Gray Tower Trilogy". "DARK RIFT", published four days ago, on 19th November. Warm welcome to you Alesha, and on with the questions: ![]() I’m delighted that fellow indie author Alesha Escobar has dropped by to talk about her work, and the inspiration behind her writing. ![]()
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![]() ![]() ![]() Under Pressure is a must-hear for those who are experiencing stress on the job due to increased demands at work and at home, as well as employers who wish to understand those who report to them and who are looking for new ways to engage employees. Drawn from the best of reporting, this audio in the Essentials series addresses: What is causing unprecedented levels of stress on the job Why employee loyalty is a casualty of the new workplace What perks companies offer and what employees want How the 40-hour work week is being redefined The challenge to turn off the switch and take a break from technology The art of motivating employees Why fostering a culture of companionate love in the workplace matters This audio features reporting on the research and thought leadership of Iwan Barankay, Sigal Barsade, Matthew Bidwell, Peter Cappelli, Adam Cobb, Stewart Friedman, Adam Grant, Wayne Guay, Carolyn Marvin, Olivia Mandy O'Neill, JP Pawliw-Fry, Nancy Rothbard, Deborah Small, and Hendrie Weisinger, among others. ![]() ![]() Under Pressure: Managing Stress and Engagement on the Job examines the issues facing employees and the employers for whom they work. A Essentials The new perks and policies employers are leveraging to reengage their workforce Job stress is not new, but as reports, global competition, downsizing, and the state of being constantly tethered to the office by technology have created disturbing trends among workers, from decreased engagement to lower productivity and lower life satisfaction. 5/5: On the surface Under Pressure is an interesting, heist novel set amidst a Venetian background, but just under the surface is an emotional and passionate romance between two thieves, wary of risking their hearts a second time. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Yale and Vassar did not merge, though Yale extended an offer to do so, and Vassar became a coeducational college in 1969, remaining independent. Barnard College still exists as a separate legal entity, but is closely affiliated with Columbia. Radcliffe College no longer exists as a separate institution admitting students, dissolving in 1999 after a slow integration with Harvard beginning formally in 1963 with joint diplomas. Of the seven colleges, four still function as independent, private women's colleges. A cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus is also called the Pleiades or Seven Sisters. ![]() ![]() The title "Seven Sisters" also alludes to the Pleiades, seven daughters of the Titan Atlas and the nymph Pleione in Greek myth. The name "Seven Sisters" came into use officially with the 1926 Seven College Conference, which was aimed at organizing common fund-raising for the colleges. The colleges were founded to promote education for women that would be at an equal level to the education offered to men. Like the Ivy League (originally men's colleges), to which they were considered a parallel, the Seven Sisters have had a reputation of being top-notch and elite. Founded in the mid to late 19th century, these seven women's colleges in the Northeast of the United States have been called the Seven Sisters. ![]() ![]() ![]() There is a transgender student who comes out in the book. Johnson commented, “The book includes kids of all sorts of identities to reflect the world that is around us. Published by Macmillan imprint First Second Books in 2019, “The Breakaways” follows a middle school soccer team’s C roster, consisting of the students who prefer anything to football. District spokesman Terry Abbott said two librarians, two teachers and an administrator reviewed the book and recommended it be banned, claiming it was “not age appropriate nor was it appropriate for its intended educational use,” despite the book being aimed at 8-14 year olds. Johnson’s graphic novel “The Breakaways” has been banned in Spring Branch (Houston) ISD’s elementary school libraries, after a parent complained that it included a transgender character. ![]() ![]() Unfortunately for Megan, the Baker twins aren't about to bend their busy social schedules for basic algebra. And if Megan can tutor the girls and get them into Duke, their grandmother will pay off Megan's college loans in full. ![]() Their grandmother is set on the girls attending Duke University despite their combined GPA of roughly 0.2. Sort of.As it turns out, Megan's suddenly ex-boss is old friends with the grandmother of seventeen-year-old identical twins Rose and Sage Baker-the infamous Baker heiresses of Palm Beach, Florida, best known for their massive fortunes and their pension for drunkenly flashing the paparazzi. When she flails at a disastrous editorial meeting at her trashy tabloid job, Megan is called into the editor-in-chief's office certain that she's going to be fired. Recent Yale graduate Megan Smith comes to Manhattan with big plans for a career in journalism and even bigger student loan debt: $75,000, to be exact. ![]() ![]() The befouled environment, giving rise to outbreaks of sickness and cholera, became so acute that even the ravages and costs of the American Civil War did not distract city leaders from taking action.Ĭhesbrough's solution was an unprecedented tunnel five feet in diameter lined with brick and dug sixty feet beneath Lake Michigan. As a result, Chicago began to choke on its own sewage collecting near the shore. ![]() The Tunnel under the Lake recounts the gripping story of how the young city of Chicago, under the leadership of an audacious engineer named Ellis Chesbrough, constructed a two-mile tunnel below Lake Michigan in search of clean water.ĭespite Chicago's location beside the world's largest source of fresh water, its low elevation at the end of Lake Michigan provided no natural method of carrying away waste. ![]() ![]() It is about inhabiting a role you can’t quite play-the more I think about and read about Rebecca, the more I think this woman was right. ![]() To say that Rebecca was about a house seemed like the kind of stretch it would be to say Hamlet is about a marriage, and yet it is. As someone who has worked as a bookseller, I have gotten good at describing books I’ve read, and those I haven’t, to customers in four to nine words (which is as long as a person is willing to spend hearing about a book they probably aren’t going to read). ![]() ![]() She told her that the book was about a lot of things, but that it was really about a house. She is real and she is also a figment of your imagination.Īs I carried a copy of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca into a coffee shop recently, a woman stopped me to say it was one of her “favourites.” We spoke about it in a way that caught the attention of another woman in line, and the second woman explained the plot to the third. She is in Boston or San Francisco or Atlanta or L.A., but she is perhaps most indigenous to New York City. Her bag is from a shop you’ve heard about but haven’t gotten to yet or can’t afford. ![]() She is wearing what you ought to have chosen that morning: something much more cool or much more practical or much more elegant than you. On the train, or on line at the coffee shop where, though you are late, you have stopped for coffee. You see her sometimes on the way to work. ![]() ![]() ![]() Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. ![]() Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. But it comes with a consequence: Marina wouldn’t be able to return to the ocean. Meanwhile, Marina uncovers information about her past, and for the first time in her life, she must stand on her own two feet and take the lead on her own adventure.Īs Meredith senses her human side slipping away, a forbidden way to change back entices her. As she searches for a way to return to normal before the next full moon, she makes waves among the school of mermaids. When she returns at sunset to find it missing, she is left stranded and alone.įor the first time in her life, Meredith doesn’t have all the answers. After hiding her tail on the beach that morning, she takes her first timid steps on land. Marina is allowed to experience one day per moon cycle among the humans. ![]() Despite the evidence in front of her, she insists that becoming a mythical creature isn’t scientifically possible. When the translucent skirt that straight-A-student Meredith finds hidden on the beach gets wet, it transforms her legs into a mermaid tail. Meredith and Marina’s lives have been flipped upside down. ![]() ![]() The book is published by Breadpig, which donates all of the publisher profits from this book to Room to Read for promoting literacy in the developing world. It was lovingly assembled from high-resolution original scans of the comics (the mouseover text is discreetly included), and features a lot of doodles, notes, and puzzles in the margins. ![]() The artist selected personal and fan favorites from his first 600 comics. ![]() ![]() Is the first book from the immensely popular webcomic with a passionate readership (just Google xkcd meetup). As it stands, it’s merely relevant to relevant xkcds. On second thought, this would only truly be a relevant xkcd to relevant xkcds if it were embedded as an iframe on. This book creates laughs from science jokes on one page to relationship humor on another. If you click enough times, this is actually a relevant xkcd to relevant xkcds to relevant xkcds ad infinitum. , xkcd: volume 0 is the first book from the immensely popular. While it's practically required reading in the geek community,įans are as varied as the comic's subject matter. This book creates laughs from science jokes on one page to relationship humor on another. While its practically required reading in the geek community. ![]() As a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. Randall Munroe describes xkcd as a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. ![]() ![]() His technique is unparalleled like the smiler with the knife, he finally slips it to the reader with exquisite smoothness.” “McEwan’s latest, and possibly finest … his trademarks are in full force, combining stomach-pit dread and almost unbearable pathos. ![]() ![]() “McEwan’s exploration of his characters’ lives and secret emotions is a virtuoso display of fictional subtlety and intelligence.” “He is the maestro at creating suspense the particular, sickening, see-sawing kind that demands a kind of physical courage from the reader to continue reading.” “Taut with narrative excitements and suspense … a novel of rich diversity that triumphantly integrates imagination and intelligence, rationality and emotional alertness.” ![]() ”A page turned, with a plot so engrossing that it seems reckless to pick the book up in the evening if you plan to get any sleep that night … Enduring Love is also blessed with the psychological richness of the finest literary novel.” There’s no blurb on the back, instead there are the following quotes: ![]() |