Ascot Media Group (Press Release) – Boston, MA, May 29, 2011 – “I’m living a life less ordinary, that’s for certain,” says Maureen Hancock in the introduction to her new book, The Medium Next Door: Adventures of a Real-Life Ghost-Whisperer (HCI Books – May/June – $14.95).
By the time her kids come home from school, she may have already assisted the dying, comforted the grieving, solved a mystery, appeared on a radio show, performed a ghost-busting, and located a missing dog—all in time to greet her children with hugs, homework and a hot meal.
In The Medium Next Door, Hancock shares her life story, the unfolding personal struggles encountered as a medium, and the heartfelt passion behind her calling to assist the dying. A victim of two near-death experiences; the first from lead poisoning as a baby and a fractured skull from a car accident later in life, Maureen Hancock now talks to dead people. Whether or not these incidents account for her psychic gifts, she’ll never know for sure, but now she is known as “Medium Mom” as well as “Comedian Medium.”
In addition to telling her story, at the end of each chapter, the author offers insights as well as practical exercises for readers to consider about dreams, intuition, grieving and other introspections. It has been an important part of her mission to use her gifts to help others, like she does through her holistic healing center, Pathways to Healing and the cancer foundation she launched, Manifest a Miracle.
Hancock’s life is so fascinating that a TV show about her is in development from ABC by the producers of the hugely popular Ghost Whisperer TV series.
Learn more about Maureen Hancock, a woman who delivers “postcards from heaven,” and messages of hope from the other side.
About the Author
Maureen Hancock (MA) is a nationally renowned spirit medium, teacher, lecturer, and holistic healer. An associate member of the Licensed Private Detective Association of Massachusetts, Maureen is cofounder of the non-profit organizations Seeds of Hope (www.seedsofhope.com) and Mission for the Missing (www.missionforthemissing.com). She has appeared on Fox’s Wedlock or Deadlock and has been featured in numerous articles and can be heard on radio stations around the country. She lives in a small town south of Boston, Massachusetts, with her husband, two children, and chocolate lab, Ally. Visit the author at www.maureenhancock.com.
Available online or at bookstores or to order directly from the publisher, contact:
Ascot Media Group (Press Release) — Houston, TX, May 29, 2011 – F. Paul Wilson, NY Times best-selling author of Fatal Error says it best: “Hank Schwaeble has done it again. Diabolical more than lives up to its title – a twisty turny, demonic rollercoaster ride to hell.”
Diabolical (Berkley/Jove, a division of Penguin Publishing—July 2011) by Hank Schwaeble is the second in the series of pulse-pounding thrillers that are rapidly capturing the attention of readers of the horror/thriller genre. Diabolical puts combat veteran Jake Hatcher back into the dark and deadly world of the Carnates, the beautiful and merciless women he has crossed paths with in the past, only this time a chilling twist makes it personal and forces him to make the toughest decision of his life!
Jake had been lying low in Southern California but he wasn’t surprised when he was asked to jump back into the battle between salvation and damnation to stop those who are hell bent on raising the forces of darkness – only this time it’s the ’why and by whom’ that’s unnerving him.
Vivian Fall is a former nun who believes that a Hellion has escaped the infernal regions and returned to earth on an unholy mission to unleash the forces of damnation on an unsuspecting world. Convinced that Hatcher is the only man with the experience to track down such a demon, she approaches him with an offer he can’t refuse – all the while knowing that Hatcher will be the only man who can get close to it because the Hellion just happens to be his own brother!
Hank Schwaeble is a thriller writer and practicing attorney in Houston, Texas. He has won two Bram Stoker awards for previous books and a World Fantasy Award nomination, and is fast-becoming a talent to reckon with in the world of thriller/horror fiction. For more information on this incredibly creative writer, please visit his website at: www.hankschwaeble.com.
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TIP SHEET:
DIABOLICAL
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Jove (June 28, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0515149616
ISBN-13: 978-0515149616
David Liss, Edgar Award-winning author of The Devil’s Company: “With Diabolical, Hank Schwaeble proves he is the real deal and one of the best new horror writers out there. This is a fast-paced, clever, scary, gripping, page-turning monster of a novel.”
Dave Zeltserman, Shamus Award-winning author of The Caretaker of Lorne Field: “I loved Damnable by Hank Schwaeble… maybe one of my favorite horror thriller reads, at least until reading Schwaeble’s follow-up, Diabolical. Everything I loved so much about Damnable is here with the same highly compulsive vibe and a pace fast enough to burn your fingers as you’re turning the pages…What can I say, Diabolical is a HELL of a ride!”
Ascot Media Group (Press Release) — New York, NY, May 28, 2011– Part of the attraction and benefit of the IWWG is that it appeals to any woman who wishes to express herself through writing regardless of age, background or education. Whether a first-time attendee or a conference veteran, women come away from the conference unanimously agreeing that the spirit of camaraderie is genuine and productive – and that one week of ‘magic’ carries a writer through her entire year!
This international conference was founded in 1976 by Hannelore Hahn, a Holocaust survivor who found her voice in the writing of her memoir, and it grew out of three movements that came into being during the 70’s – the Human Potential Movement, The New Age, and the Women’s Movement. The IWWG is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization with consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It supports the Afghan Women’s Writing Project and offers ‘Writers Inside,’ where members can correspond with female inmates and/or teach writing workshops in prisons.
The IWWG celebrates the feeling of being alive in the company of kindred spirits and is a network for the personal and professional empowerment and growth of women through writing– establishing a remarkable record of achievement in the publishing world. There are forty separate workshops on the art of writing, marketing and publishing, transformation of self, and the arts, body and health, just to name a few, that are held each day and given by directors who come from various parts of the globe, bringing even more unique perspectives into each classroom.
For any woman wishing to grow through creative expression – this is THE place to be – whether she chooses the weekend conference or stays the whole seven days – she will never forget the magic of this time well spent. Testimonials of past attendees say it all and some of these are listed below. For more information on this remarkable conference, please go to the website at: www.iwwg.org or for a full listing of the individual workshops being offered, please visit: http://iwwg.org/node/92#1.
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Additional Information:
Collette Williams, RI: “After my first New York “Magic Conference,” each day that unfolds, I find that I’m the happiest I’ve ever been and well along my spiritual/writing/creative journey. I plan to attend every subsequent IWWG meeting…”
Marianne Junger, Switzerland: “I have found such an inspiring, encouraging, empowering, nurturing, transformative, supportivespiritual community. This has allowed me to open up and to let myself fall into the darkest places of myself and of my past, to explore it and to share it with others. It has been a wonderfully liberating and energizing experience, a deep journey through tears, laughter, pain, and love. I have rediscovered what my true calling, my full potential and power truly are—which is quite unfamiliar and scary…feels so very good and right deep down. I have received more appreciation, recognition, support, and encouragement as a writer and a woman than anywhere ever before…“
Patricia Lapidus, CT: “Thank you for keeping this forum for all of us who write and grow so much better within the warmth of the Guild. Writing keeps me healthy and happy. With my work I make a contribution to other people, encouraging and appreciating them. I believe in the transformative power of cooperation and mutual effort, so well exemplified by the Guild, which I have seen at work during the summer conference. We are not exaggerating when we speak of magic…I found my first publisher through the Network journal!”
Brooke Guthrie, CT: “…so happy to announce that exactly one month to the day of the IWWG’s Big Apple Conference, I have an agent. The conference was instrumental in helping me refine my pitch, my proposal, and helped set a plan of action.”
Ruth Lerman, MI: “I credit the Guild for my writing and publishing successes…My IWWG Kitchen Table group has become my dearest friends, deepest confidantes and dedicated readers of my nascent writings…have truly found IWWG to be “a network for the personal and professional empowerment of women through writing.”
Christine Dietrich Cragg, CA: “Even with my very short involvement, I am able to feel what a powerful and amazing organization it is…my second “Voices” conference and first anniversary being a Guild member though, in some ways, I feel that I have been a part of the group forever. That is testament to the incredible love and unconditional support that is the backbone—the Voice of the Guild. Thank you for allowing so many women to join you on what began as your journey. I am proud to be an IWWG member, sad that I did not learn of it earlier in my life, and grateful that I am a part of it now. For me, attending this annual conference is now a given.”
Ascot Media Group (Press Release) – Dallas, TX, May 29, 2011 – Dave Cunningham, author of Travel Within: The 7 Steps to Wisdom and Inner Peace says it all with: “Terror on the Border is a gripping story. The last 120 pages will take you on a breathless ride.”
With stories of Mexican drug cartels and the devastation they wreak taking center stage in daily news reports, the realism in Ernie Hunt’s latest novel, Terror on the Border (Unrivaled Books), will have readers gripped by fear and unable to put the book down!
Ernie Hunt knows how to capture the attention of readers. Fans of his pulse-pounding, epic adventures will be thrilled to learn that Jack Cassidy, the fearless ex-sniper from previous novels, is back – and he wants justice! Now married to Juanita Delgado, herself a victim of human trafficking, readers share his heart-stopping journey as the pair set out to heroically fight a malicious cartel led by egotistical Hernan Cortez and his evil enforcer Manuela, in an attempt to help the poor citizens of San Miguel, Mexico, a town ravaged by violence inflicted by the Los Lobos gang.
Trouble looms when Juanita’s cousin Orlando, an American Border Patrol Officer, is kidnapped by the notorious Lobos while he is on duty. He and Juanita, who was also taken hostage, manage to escape the torture chamber where they were being held for ransom by Cortez who hoped to make their rich uncle pay for their release. After their daring escape, they reunite with Jack and two private detectives from Dallas as they try to warn their uncle of the impending danger from Cortez. The action escalates in bloody confrontations near the border and the unexpected twists and turns of this thrilling novel grab the reader’s attention and hold it all the way to the explosive ending!
Ernie Hunt’s gripping novel might be fiction, but unfortunately narcotics and human trafficking are only too real. The story pinpoints real-life drug cartels – and one in particular that is born of Mexican Army Special Forces deserters whose members include corrupt former federal, state and local police officers. Sadly, the human slave trade in Mexico is a $20 billion a year enterprise, second only to drug trafficking that is estimated to bring drug cartels around $64 billion a year from sales to users in the United States.
Ernie Hunt has lived a very diverse life in places like California, Texas, Missouri, New York and even Paris, France. He is the author of five dynamic novels whose stories embrace a similar goal – to promote a common sense of human decency amongst practitioners of all faiths worldwide.
For more information on this very creative writer, please visit his website at www.eehunt.com.
Ascot Media Group (Press Release) – Champaign, IL, May 28, 2011 – Women are always able to identify with another woman when it comes to the pain inflicted by a philandering husband. This appears to be one reason we have become a nation hooked on other people’s reality, but there comes a time when we want to understand more about ourselves – who we really are and what we are all about. AmericanSuite is a hilarious new novel, along the lines of Sex and the City and Bridget Jones’s Diary, that is written in adown-to-earth, real style and captures the craziness of real life in America today.
American Suite (Jorge Pinto Books, Inc.) by Diana Sheets encompasses the diaries of three intelligent and sophisticated women from an affluent, Protestant family whose views often clash and whose diary entries frequently contradict one another. The story centers on Arisa, a thirty-something single woman who ditches her long-time partner and her career in Manhattan for a new life as a writer in the Flatlands – at the same time severing all ties to her widowed mother and married sister.
Falling in love with the first male Flatlander she meets causes her more heartache when she finds out he already has a family. Going back to New York for Christmas becomes an even bigger mistake what with family problems and finding out her old partner has a new love, so Arisa returns to the Flatlands before fleeing to Schlectenberg where she falls in love with a screenwriter and Hollywood director. The relationship ends when she discovers he has filmed their debauched relationship as material for his new movie, Legs Wide Open! She again returns to the Flatlands, together with the director’s Doberman, to write about her sordid affair in her memoirs. Life gets even nuttier, and consequently more hilarious, as the Doberman relieves a Peeping Tom of his “family jewels” and Arisa falls in love yet again – this time with an ex-con!
The mother of Arisa and Sophie is Rosalyn, whom God has challenged by making her Christian. Her poignant story is of loss – her husband of forty-four years and later a new partner, and of anger when she is discarded by her children. Inconsolable, she converts to Judaism and writes her memoir, The Hadassah Chronicles.
Sophie also has her own set of problems – her husband loses his job and she can’t stop herself lusting after her son’s tutor! When her three sons embrace conflicting religions, sailing becomes the one thing that unites the family – that is, until their boat gets damaged during a race. Sophie’s family, Arisa, and the ex-con boyfriend decide to celebrate a multicultural December holiday in New York with Rosalyn that turns out to be a huge disaster – and Sophie’s diary ends with her embarking on her own memoir, Sophie’s Seven Simple Steps to the Perfect Life.
This hilarious adventure comedy concludes with the Peeping Tom breaking into Arisa’s house, seeking revenge for the loss of his virility. Shots are fired, television viewers are urged to stay tuned for the latest breaking news, and there you have it – a glimpse of today’s real American family – not perfect, but thriving despite its dysfunction!
American Suite is a zany, moving tale that celebrates the strength and resilience of these three strong women and delights in the complexity of life’s journey. It is a novel guaranteed to make us re-think our ideas about romance, family and identity, forcing us to seek the truth about ourselves.
American Suite has received rave reviews and has all the makings of a box-office smash hit. Please visit http://www.literarygulag.com for more information on Dr. Diana Sheets.
Ascot Media Group (Press Release) — Houston, TX, May 28, 2011 — I Had Every Excuse to Fail, But I Chose None (Sky Productions) by Sebastian K. Young is a life-changing, informational and relationship model that is told through encouraging and insightful stories. Both motivational and inspiring, it tells the story of Sebastian Young, a successful entrepreneur who was raised by his grandparents in rural Beaumont, Texas after his mother was murdered. Determined to achieve a certain success, in spite of his journey that was filled with trials and pitfalls, he did not allow it to discourage him from his chosen path. This authentic and moving biography is filled with equal shares of hilarious stories, encouraging statements, and enlightening situations that will help readers discover their own hidden potential.
Young’s story articulates the life of a young boy who had no father in his life and whose mother was brutally murdered, and who could have used this as an excuse for failure, but instead his grit and determination helped him become a nationally recognized businessman. As a youth, he was haunted by the death of his mother – he would hear voices at night, see her murder in his dreams, and often resented the days as a teenager that he was unable to hug her. In 2005, he received a call from Detective A. Perez, the lead detective on the case who wanted to try to close the cold case prior to his retirement, despite the ruined evidence. That call changed Young’s life after learning that his mother’s murderer was never convicted. He knew he would have to find a way to forgive. Thanks to his faith, he was eventually able to forgive the man who callously murdered his mother.
When his grandparents passed on, seven hours apart, he became even more determined to turn his pain into motivation and in I Had Every Excuse To Fail, readers will discover his landmark strategies that will help them propel personal and professional partnerships, as well as build their business with considerable success. Separated into three sections; Growing Up, Lessons Learned and Forward Thinking, the book systematically progresses through the various trials Young experienced in adolescence, the witty, relationship-based tales of his grandfather, and the business savvy, chess game life he lives today.
A man who passionately believes you can never stop learning at any age, Young appreciated the wealth of knowledge and wisdom his grandparents imparted to him. In spite of some tough punishment, he learned a great deal from them about life, relationships, and the choices we make – and each played a part in helping him become a determined leader, mentor and parent. While he lives the life of a successful entrepreneur, he never loses sight of what is important. Family comes first with Young and he has made some tough sacrifices to ensure his daughters receive all they ever want or need in life.
Aside from being an extremely successful entrepreneur and now author, Sebastian Young has also hosted events with Charlie Wilson, Steve Harvey, DL Hughley, Mo’ Nique, Fantasia, Kem, and Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Cedric the Entertainer, and Mike Epps. Please visit www.skybash.com for more information on this remarkable new talent.
Born William Johnathan Drayton in Long Island, NY, Flavor Flav is now acknowledged as the greatest hype man ever – inventing the role as a member of the ground-breaking rap group Public Enemy.
Known for his unique persona and flamboyant style, Flav has created slangs, sayings and styles that make him one of the most-sampled voices in music, as well as one of the most well-known celebrities in America. His television series have shattered records for viewers of reality television, especially Flavor of Love, a spinoff of The Bachelor. While he spent most of the 1990’s addicted to crack cocaine, he has since cleaned up his life.
Flav signed with publishing mogul Farrah Gray to promote Flavor Flav: Icon that takes readers on a journey into the truth behind his larger-than-life image – revealing all and sparing no one. Flav exposes the tensions within Public Enemy, his bitterness over his treatment by Def Jam Records, his struggles with addiction and the many visits to both rehab and jail, before re-inventing himself in reality television as VH1’s most eligible – and most watched – bachelor.
Flav holds back nothing in sharing his experiences with other hip hop royalty – from Jam Master J to LL Cool J to Run DMC, and lashes out at critics who lambast him as little more than a ‘clown.’
Told with the gritty, compassionate and often-hilarious style that has made him a legend, his memoir is a thrill ride from the heights of stardom to the depths of despair and back again. Fans get to share not only Flav’s unique perspective on music and reality TV, but will learn more about the man himself; an accomplished musician proficient in fifteen instruments, an experienced chef, an avid bowler, and a deeply spiritual human being.
This media magnet attracts fans from around the world in every age group– from his older Public Enemy following in the late 80’s to early 90’s, to his millions of younger fans who know him from his appearances on The Surreal Life, Strange Love and Flavor of Love. In fact, the 2006 season two finale of Flavor of Love grossed 7.5 million viewers – the highest ever in the existence of the VH1 network!
This father of seven openly admits ‘I’ve been down some pretty dark holes – but somehow I always found the strength to climb back out of them.’ In his book, Flav shares not only his struggles but the lessons he learned that changed his life and set him on a new path. Adorned with his signature clock, glasses, hats, and gold-rimmed teeth, Flavor Flav is one of the most recognized faces in America today.
