Life on the Grocery Line a Powerful Call for Unity and Compassion
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“She just broke … right in front of us,” said Adam Kaat, referring to a grocery store customer who simply buckled under the weight of COVID restrictions. It was just one of many memorable customer encounters Kaat had while working as a cashier at a high-end supermarket in Denver in 2020.
Kaat dealt with the uncertainty of the pandemic, the paranoia, and the angry customers and empty shelves by blogging about his experiences. His blog resonated. Soon, he had amassed 15,000 followers and built a community among those who shared his profoundly human — and humane — perspectives.
“It (the pandemic) taught me that we really need each other — even strangers — more than we think,” Kaat said in a recent interview. “I felt like I went from a cashier to a therapist overnight. People were spilling their hearts out to me.” Kaat drew upon his blog, as well as stories shared with him in his online community, to build the narrative for his new book, Life on the Grocery Line: A Frontline Experience in a Global Pandemic. This riveting, firsthand account is told through the eyes of a character named Daniel, who watches from the frontlines as the frenzied panic caused by COVID surges like a tidal wave across his home state of Colorado. Now, he’s suddenly being called a hero just for showing up at his job, and he isn’t sure how to feel about that.
Daniel sees fear in the eyes of some customers and hostility in others, as he does his best to hold his head high and just keep making it from one shift to the next. And along the way, he learns more than he ever expected to about humanity’s response to fear, observing most prominently the way in which some people look down on the very workers they deem “essential.”
At its core, Life on the Grocery Line is about a test of the human spirit — a 21st century manifestation of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and The Sea.
Author Adam Jonathan Kaat worked in a grocery store as a cashier and then as a prepared foods supervisor from January 2020 until May 2021. After college, he bounced around through the corporate world until leaving it all behind in the Fall of 2019 to write his first novel. By January 2020, he had taken a job as a cashier to earn money while preserving mental energy for his creative pursuits. He got much more than he bargained for when COVID hit. He began to blog about his experiences as a frontline worker, and 15,000 Facebook followers later, Life on the Grocery Line was born.
For more information and to read Kaat’s blog, please visit www.lifeonthegroceryline.com; or connect with the author on Instagram (@kaatadam), Facebook (@lifeonthegroceryline) or Twitter (lifeonthegroce1).
Life on the Grocery Line: A Frontline Experience in a Global Pandemic Publisher: Inspired Forever Publishing ISBN-10: 1948903326 ISBN-13: 978-1948903325 Available from Amazon.com
Trish Stevens Craig Warren Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone
What If ‘The Force’ Were Real? This Doctor Believed It Was Dr. Pieter Noomen’s Website Explains Mystical Connection to Oneness.
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George Lucas called it “The Force” in his Star Wars movies, Taoists call it “The Way,” and the late Dr. Pieter Noomen called it “Oneness.” It’s a belief that everything and everyone is interconnected. Dr. Noomen’s website, www.wordsforall.org, is filled with writings on the subject, and his words may offer healing for a divided world struggling to find truth and meaning.
Dr. Noomen wrote of having transformative visits on the spiritual level, and his website brings to light the universal and eternal “facts of life” that were communicated to him.
“I can only say that the information came from a presence on my innermost spiritual level that I was in communication with for some time,” he said. “The words seem the result of my spirit merging with the spirit of life.”
While Dr. Noomen’s personal revelations may seem to have a religious tone, he does not use the word God. Instead, he relays his journeys on the spiritual plane with a freedom that invites readers to uncover and explore their own accessibility to Oneness without labels or specific constructs. What others will experience, he said, will be as unique and as personal as the individuals themselves.
Visitors on www.wordsforall.org can explore Dr. Noomen’s comprehensive collection of vivid experiences and wisdom drawn from the communications he shared with that “spiritual presence.” He grew to believe that, either directly or indirectly, all life stems from one common source, and when we can reconnect with that source, we reach the highest level of existence. And perhaps more importantly, he believed that being in direct contact with the ALL of existence is possible for anyone and everyone.
Born in the Netherlands, Pieter Noomen, completed doctoral studies in theology and pastoral psychology at the Free University of Amsterdam and became senior minister of three Protestant churches. Later, he worked as a psychotherapist and as a staff member of a Los Angeles metropolitan church, working in mental health fields like suicide prevention and hospice.
An example from Dr. Noomen’s Wisdoms of the Week from his website:
“In many parts on our planet, the beginning of a new year is celebrated. The heart of it could and should be not so much the public displays, fireworks, speeches of leaders, etc., but the reflection in our personal minds on the merits of last year and what to look forward to. Even that can be superficial. What really can gladden our hearts is that regardless of circumstances, we are not just the center of our little world, but of the whole world, as only we can make real changes for the better! If we all would do that…. wow!”
Trish Stevens Gloria Gonzalez Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 281.333.3507 Main [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com
Penguin Who Dreams of Flying Lifts Children’s Spirit of Adventure
“A Penguin’s Quest is an uncommon, spirited picture book in which an unconventional penguin’s daring decisions inspire her friends.” – Foreword Reviews
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Young readers can take a journey with Ingrid the penguin as she ventures from her home in Antarctica in search of a mythic place where it’s said a penguin can learn to fly in the enthralling children’s tale, A Penguin’s Quest.
Ingrid’s story begins as she heeds advice from some seriously lost NYC pigeons and sets out determined to accomplish something that no other penguin has ever done. A globe-trotting, epic journey ensues, with a cast of colorful characters that includes sea captains, Penn Station rats, a trip inside the NYC pigeon underworld and a ski instructor named Klaus. The mystery of Ingrid’s destination holds the answers as this intrepid penguin is on the verge of a discovery that could rock the penguin world.
Brought to life by author (and world-renowned photographer) Scott McDermott, with illustrations by Christine Anderson, this engaging adventure about pursuing a dream, no matter how improbable it may seem, unfolds like a short, animated film and culminates in a wonderful end. Written for children with a reading age level of grades 2-3, A Penguin’s Quest is a perfect early reader chapter book in a picture book format.
Author Scott McDermott grew up in Switzerland, backpacked through the American West, and trekked the Himalayas before spending the last 25 years as a commercial photographer and filmmaker in New York City. He has photographed many of the most influential figures in Hollywood, the music industry, business and government, along with directing a feature film and many commercials. McDermott recently started writing children’s fiction, inspired by the stories he made up to tell his own children. He is also learning to play bass guitar, primarily to back up his son on guitar.
Illustrator Christine Anderson is a Senior level Illustrator and Surface Pattern Designer based in Scottsdale, Arizona. She received a BFA in Graphic Design/Illustration from Drake University and has worked in commercial design for over 20 years. Though she had a successful career as a muralist and furniture designer, as well as being commissioned by corporations such as Learnin’ Tree, American Express, Hobby Lobby, Trader Joe’s, Michaels’s, QT Fabrics and Boston International, Anderson longed for her drawing board. She decided to refocus and get back to her true love, illustrating, with children’s books being part of her journey.
Or find them on Instagram (@Apenguinsquest_book; @scottmcdermott_; @christineandersondraws; or @Notablekidspublishing), Twitter (@ScottMcdermott_) or Facebook (scott.mcdermott.33).
A Penguin’s Quest Publisher: Notable Kids Publishing Publication Date: February 2, 2022 ISBN-10: 1733354859 ISBN-13: 978-1733354851 Available from Amazon.com and BN.com
How to Get the Quality Health Care You Deserve: Insider Tips Straight From a Medical Professional
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Everyone needs health care at some point in their lives. Understanding the risks and benefits of procedures, making sense of medical bills, and interacting with insurance companies are all lessons we have to learn on the fly — and often when we’re already shouldering the stress of battling an illness ourselves or helping a loved one.
After 28 years in the health care field, Dr. David Wilcox has seen enough to realize that proactive patient education can actually have a life or death impact.
“Entering the American healthcare system, one has to have a basic knowledge of it to be safe,” he said during a recent interview. “Medical errors are the third leading cause of death. Not a lot of people know that.”
In his new book, How to Avoid Being a Victim of the American Healthcare System: A Patient’s Handbook for Survival, Dr. Wilcox offers information, facts and tips that can help patients and family members navigate through the morass.
“I have seen some alarming situations that nursing school never prepared me for,” Dr. Wilcox said. “Not being prepared and knowledgeable means you will have little control over the health care you receive.”
His goal in writing this book was to level the playing field, enabling consumers of health care to understand how to avoid getting caught in the systemic net.
In his own words, Dr. Wilcox’s book explores “what to do if you have to go to a hospital, how to handle an insurance company’s claim denial, how to find an alternative to high-priced prescriptions and why the current pay-for-fee system is inadequate. You will also discover the direction the healthcare system needs to move in, to holistically care for you, the patient … information that the health care entities would prefer you didn’t know.”
Dr. David Wilcox is an Amazon international bestselling author and health care professional who believes proactive patient education enables those accessing the healthcare system to be better partners in their health care. He also believes that everyone has the right to access the American Healthcare System safely. A Doctorate-prepared nurse who also holds a Master’s in Health Administration and is Board Certified in Nursing Informatics, Dr. Wilcox has nearly three decades of health care experience as a bedside nurse, hospital administrator and in health care information technology, which has helped him to develop his unique perspective on the American Healthcare System. For more information, please visit https://drdavidwilcox.com/.
How to Avoid Being a Victim of the American Healthcare System: A Patient’s Handbook for Survival Publisher: Here for You Publishing ISBN-10: 0578878364 ISBN-13: 978-0578878362 Available now at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578878364
Trish Stevens Alex Spencer Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone
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How does a nation, and a world, respond to one of the greatest public health crises of our times? And at what cost?
With the logic of a lawyer and the scientific expertise of an immunologist, Hugh McTavish, J.D., Ph.D., walks readers through the COVID-19 pandemic and the policy decisions that were made to keep the virus in check in his eye-opening book, COVID Lockdown Insanity. Dr. McTavish’s fact-filled exploration reaches beyond the simple metrics of case and death counts and reveals the unsettling consequences of society’s responses to this disease. His careful examination of the scientific evidence related to COVID-19 transmission and his analyses of both the human and economic costs of the lockdown strategy illuminate the dysfunctionality of the government’s policy response. In the end, he lights a path toward making more enlightened decisions that offer hope of real solutions.
In the book, Dr. McTavish dissects the data that shows:
The COVID lockdowns threw 63 million Americans into major depression.
All evidence suggests that the lockdown response to COVID failed to decrease COVID deaths at all.
Even if the lockdowns prevented 200,000 COVID deaths, which they probably did not, the lockdowns caused more loss of life in increased suicides, drug overdose deaths, cancer deaths and heart disease deaths than they saved in prevented COVID deaths.
For every 1 COVID death prevented, the lockdowns caused these harms: 1/3 of a death of despair (suicide or drug overdose); 316 people thrown into major depression; 127 people out of work; 350 students out of school; 1,640 people denied the right to live their lives as they wish.
Mask wearing has “little or no effect” on COVID cases or deaths.
Hand washing and hand sanitizer use is the best intervention and could dramatically reduce COVID deaths, but this was underemphasized.
Asymptomatic people very rarely spread COVID.
Children do not spread COVID, and closing schools had no effect on COVID spread at all, and we knew that by the summer of 2020, and CDC staff wrote a paper saying so in January 2021.
In conclusion, Dr. McTavish says, “Lockdowns have no advantage at all. If you think life is better than death, a long life is better than a shorter life, happiness is better than depression, more money is better than less, education is better than ignorance, child abuse and domestic abuse are bad things, and more personal freedom is better than less, then you agree the lockdowns were a mistake.”
Hugh McTavish is a Ph.D. biochemist and immunologist and a patent attorney. He has authored 18 refereed scientific journal articles and is the inventor of 21 U.S. patents. He has also written two prior books on public policy and nature. He has started two pharmaceutical companies off his own inventions. He lives near St. Paul, Minnesota.
For more information, please visit HughMcTavish.com and COVID-Sanity.org, or follow him on Twitter (@covid-sanity).
COVID Lockdown Insanity: The COVID Deaths It Prevented, the Depression and Suicides it Caused, What We Should Have Done, and What It Shows We Could Do Now to Address Real Crises Publisher: West Fork Press ISBN-10: 1737327112 ISBN-13: 978-1737327110 Available from Amazon.com
Trish Stevens Ben Marshall Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone
All the World’s a Stage for Precocious Ballerina Lilly Nilly
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Enter the mind of spunky and precocious 6-year-old Lilly Nilly in the delightful new children’s book, Pardon My French – It’s the Language of Ballet: The Adventures of Lilly Nilly, from author/illustrator and former NYC-based dancer and choreographer Nancy Paris.
Lilly Nilly is a wickedly smart, determined young dance student whose self-appointed mission is to figure out what the heck ballet –– and coincidentally life –– are all about. She sees the world in a unique way, wears her curiosity on her sleeve, and approaches life with a joie de vivre that kids and adults alike will find entertaining and inspiring. In her musings, Lilly asks burning questions like, “Why can’t you hang upside down on a ballet barre if it looks just like an ordinary bar?” Or, “If you’re going to travel in a carpool, should you wear a bathing suit?”
“Young readers will find Lilly’s stories funny and very relatable, especially if they are ballet students themselves,” Paris said. “Adults will find her sharp wit and strong-willed spirit a charming reminder of just how empowering a joyful approach to life can be.”
Pardon My French – It’s the Language of Ballet is complete with illustrations that only Lilly Nilly could have drawn — with a little help from Paris, of course, who used her own experiences as a professional dancer and teacher to inform her narrative. Her mission, Paris said, is to encourage all readers to trust their instincts, seek their own answers, and be kind to all.
“I want people to know that although it was written as a children’s book, I always had an adult audience in mind,” Paris added. “And — it’s funny!”
Author Nancy Paris is an alumna of The Juilliard School and has performed professionally across the U.S. and Canada. As a dancemaker, she has choreographed industrials and private events in New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Palm Springs and Puerto Rico. Most of the incidents in her stories are based on personal experience, with the names changed to protect the innocent.
Paris lives in Manhattan with her husband, Charles Yurick, and loves writing and drawing because she can do it sitting down! Pardon My French is the first of at least three books in The Adventures of Lilly Nilly series.
For more information, please visit www.lillynilly.com, or connect with Paris on Facebook at @adventures.of.lilly.nilly.
Pardon My French – It’s the Language of Ballet: The Adventures of Lilly Nilly ISBN-10: 0578316889 ISBN-13: 978-0578316888 Available from Amazon.com
Navy Veteran and Retired Doctor Shares Powerful Message of Perseverance
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By all accounts, Dr. Tiffanie Tate Moore shouldn’t be where she is today. Born and raised in Compton, she has survived being shot in the back during a drive-by shooting, serving in the U.S. Navy during the Global War on Terrorism, pericarditis and a respiratory code.
After a hand injury forced her to retire from her beloved job as an OB/GYN in 2019, Dr. Moore faced yet another challenge.
“Who was I without my profession?” she queried. “After spending more than half of my life working toward and achieving my goal of becoming a physician, I went through a depression.”
Dr. Moore immersed herself in her children, her church and her sorority. Her injuries coupled with six surgeries in two years left her with mobility limitations and chronic pain. And yet, she continues to walk in half-marathons despite tremendous physical discomfort.
The ability to overcome seemingly insurmountable hurdles seems to be woven into Dr. Moore’s DNA. But she says she draws her strength and resilience from a much more powerful force.
“God is still speaking to us in this day and age; we just need to open our spiritual eye and ear to see and hear Him,” Dr. Moore says.
In addition to leaning on her faith, Dr. Moore began writing as an outlet for her emotions. Her new book, FloweTry: A Collection of 108 Poetic Flows on Life, Love, and Liturgical Issues, candidly and poignantly dives into the topics of our times, including COVID, politics, Black history and police brutality. She also speaks of love and community, and includes an entire section of verses intended to encourage readers to take a closer walk with Christ.
Dr. Tiffanie Tate Moore is a first-time author from Compton, California. She is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in cellular and developmental biology, with a Black studies minor. After earning her medical doctorate degree from Meharry Medical College and completing her OB/GYN Internship at Naval Medical Center San Diego, she went on to serve as a General Medical Officer for the Sea Bees. She served during Operation Enduring Freedom and the Global War on Terrorism. Dr. Moore completed her obstetrics and gynecology residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and practiced for 20 years before sustaining a hand injury that led to her medical retirement. Her life experiences, including those she’s shared with her friends, have overflowed into FloweTry.
FloweTry: A Collection of 108 Poetic Flows on Life, Love, and Liturgical Issues Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing ISBN-10: 1638746060 ISBN-13: 978-1638746065 Available from Amazon.com and BN.com
Trish Stevens Haley Winters Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone
