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Archive for October, 2020

Impractical Jokers Star Survives Shark Attack at New Virtual Theme Park

Impractical Jokers Star Survives Shark Attack at New Virtual Theme Park

(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing.)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

James “Murr” Murray, one of the stars of TV’s Impractical Jokers, told his social media followers in a new post that he recently visited Sea Monster Cove, a spectacular, five-star aquarium-themed resort as a guest of friend and fellow bestselling author Steve Alten, when things “got out of hand.”
“I was in the Devonian Aquarium watching a 10-foot prehistoric shark circle by when this massive 30-foot Dunkleosteus comes out of nowhere and rips the thing in half! Thank God the tank wasn’t made out of double-paned glass like the one in JAWS 3D.” The incident was recorded and posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1vbrZNyoK8.

Visitors can expect the unexpected at www.SeaMonsterCove.com, a revolutionary new multimedia entertainment concept. The site will serve as the central hub for several prehistoric shark and sea creature ventures, including a remote learning platform and museum, and will soon add a video game where members piloting submersibles can track and capture apex marine predators inhabiting a 380-million-year-old prehistoric aquifer located 2.1 miles beneath the Pacific Ocean. The website will feature an original episodic TV series called Where Sea Monsters Roam, written by Steve Alten, the website’s creator. If you saw the blockbuster movie, The MEG, starring Jason Statham, then you may be familiar with the author’s work. Of his soon-to-be 20 published thrillers, eight are part of his best-selling MEG series and three more are from a Loch Ness trilogy (Alten is currently working on book 3, The LOCH: Heaven’s Lake which can only be purchased by pre-ordering signed hardbacks at www.SteveAlten.com). The LOCH movie as well as MEG 2: The TRENCH are expected to go into production in 2021.
All of the action and virtual visits at SeaMonsterCove.com take place on Maug, a remote (and very real) island in the Western Pacific. Maug’s volcano erupted 5 million years ago; today all that remains are three uninhabited islets that had been the volcano’s rim and a flooded magma chamber that serves as its lagoon. Why place a virtual island resort here? That’s where Alten’s research and storytelling take over. Eight years ago, French marine biologist Dr. Maxime Rostand discovered superheated mineral water rising up through Maug’s lagoon. Through a series of events, including an emergency C-section which saved two pups of a deceased pregnant prehistoric Mako shark, Rostand discovers the source of the hot mineral water to be a primordial aquifer located 2 miles beneath the sea floor — its inhabitants dating back 380 million years.

Having established the backstory about how these toothy creatures managed to escape extinction (the “home videos” of the two surviving pups growing up is MUST-SEE), it’s time to meet and interact with the critters. Imagine the greatest aquarium-themed park ever conceived, holding the most terrifying prehistoric sharks and sea monsters that ever lived. It’s not hard to do. At Sea Monster Cove, the special effects are motion picture-worthy, and the wildlife doesn’t just swim around in benign circles; in fact, they seem quite aware that you are watching them, and they clearly do not like it, especially when you enter their domain to do a little “cage diving.” In each of these heart-pounding, 360-degree experiences, the user controls the viewing angle, attempting to track the attacks as they happen (there are day and night versions available). The action is nonstop and the creatures so real that it is easy to lose yourself in a two-hour reprieve from reality.

The adventure is retold and advanced in Alten’s original TV series, Where Sea Monsters Roam, the episodes of which will be posted at SeaMonsterCove.com. Most unique: what happens in the series also happens during your aquarium visits. As an example, if Snowflake, the park’s 63-foot, 25-ton prehistoric albino Mako drags a crane into her tank in the opening episode, don’t be surprised to see it lying on the bottom of her tank in your next visit!

One of the most popular features may just turn out to be CELEBRITY CAMEOS — the first one featuring James “Murr” Murray. The Impractical Jokers star’s new novel, DON’T MOVE (Blackstone Publishing), co-written by Darren Wearmouth, recently made its debut.

Steve Alten, the founder and director of the nonprofit Adopt-an-Author teen reading program, considered by many educators to be the most effective tool to get reluctant readers to read, said DON’T MOVE will be added to the AAA program. “It’s a fun, action-packed read; teens will definitely love it.”
For more on the program, go to www.AdoptAnAuthor.com.

Visit www.seamonstercove.com to begin your adventure!

Trish Stevens
Sam Davidson
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 2394
Friendswood, TX 77549
[email protected]
www.ascotmedia.com
281.333.3507 Phone

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The Future of Us: What the Dreams of Children Mean for Twenty-First-Century America

The Future of Us: What the Dreams of Children Mean for Twenty-First-Century America

(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing.)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

His approach is always subtle; his banter is casual and absent any pressure to respond. But when renowned pediatrician and children’s advocate Dr. Irwin Redlener casually asks his young patients, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” the lights invariably come on, eye contact occurs, and the child emerges from deep inside a protective shell. “Children are essentially dreamers … undaunted by adversity or reality-based barriers to success,” Dr. Redlener writes in The Future of Us: What the Dreams of Children Mean for Twenty-First-Century America (with updated information on helping children through the COVID-19 crisis).

Inadequate education, barriers to health care and crushing poverty make it overwhelmingly difficult for many children to realize their dreams. Finding ways to alter these trajectories is serious, grown-up business, Dr. Redlener emphasizes, and it’s time for us to act.

In The Future of Us, Dr. Redlener draws upon his four decades of professional experiences to examine our nation’s health care safety nets and special programs that are designed to protect and nurture our most vulnerable kids, but that too often fail to do so.

The book follows Dr. Redlener’s long, colorful career, from his work as a pediatrician in the Arkansas delta, to treating child abuse in a Miami hospital, to helping children in the aftermaths of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. He has served on the board of USA for Africa, cofounded the Children’s Health Fund with Paul Simon (and persuaded Joan Baez to play a benefit concert) and dined with Fidel Castro. He once sat across the table from Michael Jackson, and he has traveled with presidential candidates. But his most powerful source of motivation remains the children who face terrible adversities yet dream of becoming paleontologists, artists and marine biologists. Their stories are his springboard for discussing larger policy issues that hinder us from effectively eradicating childhood poverty and overcoming barriers to accessible health care. Persistent deprivation and the avoidable problems that accompany poverty ensnare millions of children and impact the health, prosperity and creativity of the adults they become. Dr. Redlener argues that we must drastically change our approach to meeting the needs of children ― for their sake and to ensure America’s resiliency and influence in an increasingly complex world.

It is Dr. Redlener’s hope that readers will emerge optimistic about our future, with a deeper understanding of how investing in children today will increase our chances of a successful tomorrow. Fighting for our nation’s children is far from a lost cause, and nothing could be more important.

Author Irwin Redlener, M.D., is a pediatrician and founding director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, which works to understand and improve the nation’s capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. In 2020, Dr. Redlener created the Pandemic Resource and Response Initiative at Columbia. He is a public health analyst for NBC and MSNBC, and recently partnered with Cher in CherCares, a new program that assists communities struggling with COVID-19.

Dr. Redlener is also President Emeritus and Co-Founder of the Children’s Health Fund, a philanthropic initiative that he created with singer/songwriter Paul Simon and Karen Redlener to develop health care programs in 25 of the nation’s most medically underserved urban and rural communities. He currently serves as a special advisor on emergency preparedness to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, and regularly communicates with leadership in U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, as well as Homeland Security. He has been a public health advisor to democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden.

He is also the author of Americans at Risk: Why We Are Not Prepared for Megadisasters and What We Can Do Now. For more information, please visit www.irwinredlener.org.

The Future of Us: What the Dreams of Children Mean for Twenty-First-Century America
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Release Date: October 13, 2020
ISBN-10: 0231177577
ISBN-13: 978-0231177573
Available from Amazon.com

Trish Stevens
Judy Frost
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 2394
Friendswood, TX 77549
[email protected]
www.ascotmedia.com
281.333.3507 Phone

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Parenting an Addict: Mother Tells Her Gripping Story of Unwavering Love

Parenting an Addict: Mother Tells Her Gripping Story of Unwavering Love

(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing.)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Like a drowning woman, Christine Naman grappled for a lifeline and choked on her harsh reality: it was time to let go of denial. The tin foil, spoons and lighters she found in her daughter’s vanity weren’t the makings of a science experiment; they were drug paraphernalia. Christine’s only solace was that she hadn’t found any needles. Three days later she did.

About Natalie is Christine’s raw, compelling story of her valiant fight to help her daughter overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. It is a gripping, cautionary tale of how, in spite of a loving family and a comfortable life, a child can end up on the wrong path, meet the wrong people and get lost in the unthinkable.

About Natalie takes readers deep inside Christine’s emotional and mental turmoil as she grows into her new, unfortunate role as the parent of an addict. She steps on syringes left on the floor and wrestles one from the family dog’s mouth. She lives the nightmare of finding an unresponsive child on the floor and uses Narcan to revive her. She struggles and wins, struggles and loses, cries and rages.

She chases away a drug dealer and stays up all night waiting for her missing child to come home. She rejoices during periods of recovery and hope and is devastated during relapses. When her daughter suffers, Christine suffers right along with her. But through it all, never once, does Christine ever contemplate giving up.

At its core, About Natalie is a story of fighting for — and right alongside — the ones we love, no matter how difficult the circumstances. It’s a story of keeping the faith, battling hard and helping a child get back on the right track. It is the story of struggling, living through it all and coming out on the other, better, side.

Christine has watched a perfectly healthy daughter thrive and then succumb to the pull of substances. She has suffered the feelings of isolation, pain and humiliation that being the parent of an addict often brings. She hopes that by sharing her family’s difficult story she can bring understanding and knowledge to those who do not know the problem firsthand as well as provide comfort to those who know the nightmare of addiction all too well.

Bestselling author Christine Pisera Naman is a wife to a beautiful man named Peter and a mother to three fantastic kids named Jason, Natalie and Trevor. In her free time, she enjoys crocheting, which she does poorly; painting, again poorly; and volunteering at her local hospital, which she hopes she does well. She is the author of the Faces of Hope series of books that are now housed in the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City. Her other works include Caterpillar Kisses, Christmas Lights, The Novena and The Believers. About Natalie is her heart poured onto paper.

For the About Natalie Addiction Comfort Community, please visit www.aboutnatalieaddictioncomfort.com.

About Natalie
Publisher: HCI Books
Release Date: May 2021
ISBN-13: 978-0-7573-2385-0 (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7573-2386-7 (ePub)
Available from Amazon.com

Trish Stevens
Melanie Howe
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 2394
Friendswood, TX 77549
[email protected]
www.ascotmedia.com
281.333.3507 Phone

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Turn Trauma into Your Fuel to Thrive

Turn Trauma into Your Fuel to Thrive

(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing.)

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Trauma doesn’t discriminate. It can happen to anyone, anytime. And in all likelihood, COVID-19 has traumatized each and every one of us to some degree. Everybody hits a low point once in a while, and ultimately, the quality of our lives depends on our ability to process heartbreaks and catastrophes successfully. So how do we do that?

In Post-Traumatic Thriving: The Art, Science, & Stories of Resilience, world-renown expert on disasters and trauma Dr. Randall Bell interweaves science and academic research with stories of people who have not just survived, but have used their trauma as their fuel to thrive. Dr. Bell sits down with survivors of the Holocaust; murder-victim’s families; crime victims; suicide survivors; and those who’ve experienced homelessness, disasters, addictions, depression, death, divorce, disabilities, defeats and disease to explore the rare mindset of the post-traumatic thriver.

Through this unprecedented research, Dr. Bell shares with readers stories of remarkable resilience, including the following:

• A deaf man with a glass eye invented the electric guitar and became a household name, remarkably wealthy and most importantly, happy.
• A convicted murderer took responsibility for the damage he caused, graduated with honors from college, became a minister and turned around the hearts of the most hardened criminals.
• A girl born with cerebral palsy landed the world’s first starring role on national television and spoke at the White House three times.
• A woman hid in a basement for years and lost her entire family in the Holocaust. She eventually found true love and paints stunning artwork.
• The sister of a murder victim helped millions of women in toxic domestic relationships.
• A woman’s car crash resulted in an addiction to prescription drugs, a divorce, a loss of her children and a cot in a homeless shelter. She has rebuilt it all back and more.
• A man set to go to the Olympics had his hopes dashed by Jimmy Carter and went on to build a worldwide business empire.

Ultimately, Dr. Bell documents the science of happiness, as well as the individual styles and common thread that all post-traumatic thrivers have to emerge with a fulfilling life. When trauma hits, your most significant decision will be to dive, survive or thrive. If you choose to thrive, this book is for you.

As an economist, Dr. Randall Bell has consulted on more disasters on earth than anyone in history and is widely considered the world’s top authority in the field of post-traumatic thriving. His clients include the Federal Government, State Governments, International Tribunals, major corporations and homeowners. Dr. Bell believes that “the problem is not the problem — the problem is how we react to the problem.”

Often called the “Master of Disaster,” Dr. Bell is squarely focused on authentic recovery and resilience. His research has been profiled on major television shows and featured in numerous magazines and the international media. More information can be found at www.posttraumaticthriving.com.

Post-Traumatic Thriving: The Art, Science, & Stories of Resilience
Publisher: Core IQ Press
Release Date: January 1, 2021
ISBN 978-0-9967931-7-9
Available from Amazon.com and all bookstores

Trish Stevens
Teresa Hinojosa
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 2394
Friendswood, TX 77549
832.569.5773 Direct
281.333.3507 Phone
[email protected]
www.ascotmedia.com

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Identity of Al Capone’s Boss Unearthed When Young Man Stumbles Upon Well-Kept Family Secret

Identity of Al Capone’s Boss Unearthed When Young Man Stumbles Upon Well-Kept Family Secret

(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing.)

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Joseph never suspected that he was the descendant of a Mob boss. And not just any Mob boss. Al Capone’s boss, Johnny Torrio, to be exact.

Joseph is just an average kid from an Italian middle-class family — one in which high morals and family values are instilled at every opportunity. But as he ages into his teens, he becomes inexplicably drawn to lives of the rich and famous. Fueled by a viewing of The Godfather, Joseph’s fascination with the Mob and the American Dream is ignited. Is wealth the barometer for success or the root of all evil? In his search for the truth about his great-uncle, Joseph discovers that the thin blue line between good and evil often becomes blurred.

The Poison of Money from Joe Torrence takes readers, for the first time ever, behind the scenes and into the personal life of real-life Chicago Mob boss Johnny Torrio, the most obscure figure in the history of the Mafia. But this is no conventional Mafia tale.

Instead, Torrence uses the protagonist, young Joseph, to paint a thought-provoking picture of the internal struggle many of us face between the pursuit of riches and what we’ve been taught all our lives about the evil and venom of money.

When Joseph stumbles upon a long-hidden newspaper clipping headlined “The Mafia at War” in his father’s nightstand, he uncovers a shocking reality: His great-uncle was one of the most powerful men of the 20th century, Chicago Crime Boss, Johnny Torrio. He was also Al Capone’s mentor. This life-altering revelation spurs Joseph’s quest to learn the unvarnished truth about his family.

Joseph’s search for answers unlocks the door to let you inside the Torrio family. Johnny Torrio’s only blood sister, Marietta Torrio, a woman of virtue, is finally introduced to the world. Separated as toddlers, the road to the reunion of these two siblings from two completely different worlds is rocky to say the least. Does Torrio’s “occupation” bestow unimaginable curses upon the family? Who is blocking this reunion?

Joseph’s fact-finding mission becomes an epic family journey that spans decades and crosses continents. There will be eye-opening revelations when he rattles the family tree, but for him, there is no turning back.

Author Joe Torrence is an accomplished businessman who some may say inherited the business acumen and street savvy of his great-uncle, Johnny Torrio. Except that there is one major difference between the two men. The author took the straight road, as he also inherited and readily embraced the morals, honesty and integrity of his grandmother, Marietta Torrio, Johnny Torrio’s only blood sister. Coincidentally, the author, like Torrio, prefers to remain in the shadows … at least for now.

For more information, please visit www.thepoisonofmoney.com.

The Poison of Money
Publisher: American European Entertainment Inc.
Release Date: October 6, 2020
ISBN-10: 1777095603
ISBN-13: 978-1777095604
Available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Indigo

Trish Stevens
Dana Cook
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 2394
Friendswood, TX 77549
[email protected]
www.ascotmedia.com
281.333.3507 Phone

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Know Your Identity in Christ and Become the Champion You Were Meant to Be

Know Your Identity in Christ and Become the Champion You Were Meant to Be

(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

If you’ve ever looked in the mirror and wondered who you were staring at and why you’re on this earth, you are not alone. What if you looked at your reflection and saw a champion? And what if you could display the qualities of a champion wherever you went, and everyone in the world would stop and listen?

Linda A. Olson, an international bestselling author, tells you how in her newest release, Love Your Story: Let God Define Your Story To Be The Champion You Were Meant To Be.

“Loving your story is what allows you to rise above your circumstances regardless of how painful they are,” Olson writes. “You need to know you are made for something more. You were created to be a champion.”

Olson bounced back from profoundly difficult circumstances in her youth. It wasn’t an overnight transformation; it took weeks, months and years of dedication for her to discover the tools she needed to overcome the obstacles standing in her path.

“Because of my brokenness, it took me a long time to grasp my value and discover the gifts and abilities I had been given,” she explains. “After a lengthy journey to healing, I discovered you don’t have to wait for someone to tell you who you are and what you have to offer. God has already defined your story; it’s a matter of embracing it and being the champion you were called to be.”

Olson’s Love Your Story gives you everything you need—tools, strategies and practical tips—to harness the potential of your greatest power: knowing your identity in Christ.

You will discover:

  1. How to grasp the true gift of reflection, the mirror to see your true self
  2. A simple pathway to your true identity, who you are in Christ
  3. How true champions are created
  4. Strengths you didn’t even know you had
  5. The favor on your life
  6. Practical tools to rise above every challenge and soar

Love Your Story is a must read for anyone who wants to truly understand what it means to be a champion in God’s eyes and how true champions are created. Tucked inside the book are value-added resources, including a coupon toward Wealth Through Stories LIVE, a two-day Story Retreat for those who are serious about finding the wealth in their story. Love Your Story, and the world will listen.

Linda Olson is the go-to story expert who helps authors, speakers and entrepreneurs impact millions with their stories. She is a TEDx speaker, multiple bestselling author and founder of Wealth Through Stories. Her mission is “To Impact a Million People a Year Through Story.” Linda and her husband, Rick, reside in sunny California. They enjoy their two married daughters and their spouses and five adorable grandchildren, who are the best part of their story.

For more information, please visit wealththroughstories.com.

Love Your Story: Let God Define Your Story To Be The Champion You Were Meant To Be
Release Date: August 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-9819014-4-2
Available from Amazon.com

Trish Stevens
Claire Downing
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 2394
Friendswood, TX 77549
[email protected]
ascotmedia.com
281.333.3507 Phone
800.854.2207 Fax

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Gifted Storyteller’s Journey with Parkinson’s and Other Challenges of a Long Life

Gifted Storyteller’s Journey with Parkinson’s and Other Challenges of a Long Life

(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

When Parkinson’s disease descended like a dense fog on master storyteller John J. Clayton, he was forced to pivot his perspective, change his expectations and write from a place he calls “… both alive and not alive. Like a kind of ghost …”

Parkinson’s Blues: Stories of My Life begins with the arrival of the dark unexpected. In a Monty Python skit, someone in a drab living room complains about being nagged by ques-tions. “I didn’t expect the Spanish Inquisition,” he complains. Suddenly Michael Palin, in red 16th century costume, bursts into the room. “Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition!” he shrieks.

Who expects the onset of Parkinson’s? Or cancer? Or stroke? Or the loss of a child? The terrible surprise—the life we didn’t expect—isn’t limited to Parkinson’s. It’s the existential condition of everyone’s life. In fourteen sketches, John J. Clayton links the experience of PD with the experience of childhood sickness, family battles, the struggle to make a good life out of a painful life. The sketches express the hope that we can grow spiritually in the midst of the terrible.

Through 14 eloquent stories — all of which underscore that Clayton’s gift and spirit remain fully intact — Clayton links the onset of Parkinson’s disease with other unexpected, and challenging experiences.

Parkinson’s Blues explores the anticipated pain and unexpected comedy of Parkinson’s in a manner that is deep, graceful and dignified.

Author John J. Clayton has published nine volumes of fiction, both novels and short stories. His collection of interwoven short stories, Minyan, was published in September 2016; his collection Many Seconds into the Future in 2014. Mitzvah Man, his fourth novel, arrived in 2011.

Clayton’s stories have appeared in AGNI, Virginia Quarterly Review, TriQuarterly, Sewanee Review, over twenty times in Commentary, in Notre Dame Review, Missouri Review and The Journal. Two personal essays have been recently published in Jewish Review of Books. His stories have won prizes in O.Henry Prize Stories, Best American Short Stories, and the Pushcart Prize anthology. His Radiance, a collection of stories, was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award.

Clayton grew up in New York City; received his B.A. at Columbia, his M.A. at NYU and his Ph.D. at Indiana. For much of his career he taught modern literature and fiction writing as professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has also written two books of literary criticism: Saul Bellow: In Defense of Man and Gestures of Healing, a psychological study of the modern novel.

For more information, please visit www.johnjclayton.com.

Parkinson’s Blues
Publisher: Paragon House
Release Date: September 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-155778943351895
Available from Amazon.com and Amherst Books

Trish Stevens
Karen Anderson
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 2394
Friendswood, TX 77549
[email protected]
www.ascotmedia.com
281.333.3507 Phone
800.854.2207 Fax

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