Bartonsville, PA – There’s more to Johnny Appleseed than meets the eye and Dr. Stewart Bitkoff’s new release, The Appleseed Journal, unveils the true story of this American hero, who very few may know was a spiritual man, and further that he went missing in 1843.
Johnny Appleseed is famously portrayed for his impact on growing the apple industry and expansion of his operation throughout the frontier. After a further look at Appleseed and his contributions, we discover that he was quite a spiritual man who ministered throughout his life’s journey. The Appleseed Journal is based on actual events and delves deep into the era when Appleseed went missing on the way to a convention at the Church of New Jerusalem in Philadelphia. It’s uncertain what happened along the way, but what is certain … he never arrived.
“Johnny Appleseed had a spiritual calling and provided apple seedling, a life staple along the frontier, as part of his work,” says Dr. Bitkoff. “It’s rumored that Appleseed planted a message in Hudson Valley, New York so that it could be harvested by spiritual travelers in our time.”
Author of six published books on spirituality, Stewart Bitkoff, holds a doctorate in education and has served as a faculty member for multiple college and universities throughout the US. Dr. Bitkoff is a spiritual traveler and advocate for Sufi mysticism. Additionally, he specializes in therapeutic recreation, psychiatric rehabilitation and mental health treatment. Dr. Bitkoff is a regular contributor to online media outlets such as: Philadelphia Spirituality Examiner, Wisdom Magazine, New Age Journal, and Mystic Living Today.
For more information, visit: www.stewartbitkoff.com.
The Appleseed Journal By Stewart Bitkoff Publisher: Abandoned Ladder Available at Amazon.com ISBN-10: 0991577515 ISBN-13: 978-09915775414
Memphis, TN – Well Seasoned: Savoring Life’s Lessons (Inspire on Purpose) perfectly chronicles the seasons of life through the inspiring prose and the lens of photographer and writer, Rebecca Webb Wilson. When Rebecca’s parents gave her a gift of a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye years earlier, they had no idea it would lead to a lifetime of travel and a yearning to capture the perfection of nature and diverse cultures of people in faraway lands.
For Rebecca, it all began as a young woman when she used her camera to photograph hawks along the expressway in her hometown of Memphis. While her first job as a flight attendant for PanAm cultivated a love of travel, it was her innate gratitude for the unexpected joys revealed in nature’s seasons that fostered her love of photography. Sprinkled with thoughtful quotes and tidbits of poetry, Well Seasoned is about the people that touch our lives, for a moment or forever, and pairs nature’s seasons with the seasons of life allowing readers to view the aging process differently and discover their own ‘Aha’ moments within its pages.
The author’s unconventional and uplifting philosophy, paired with vibrant, full-color images of places, nature and people, easily transports readers to magical locations around the globe, sharing her journey as she climbs Mount Kilimanjaro and the Swiss Alps part of the Haute Route, or taking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Encouraged to reflect on our own memories, we Rethink, Remember, Renew.
Rebecca attended law school at the University of Memphis and served several years as an Assistant United States Attorney. She founded a youth leadership program in Memphis called Bridge Builders, which to date has had 21,000 participants from surrounding public, private, and parochial schools. Named one of Memphis Woman Magazine’s ‘50 Women Who Make a Difference,’ she also received the Legends Award from the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis in 2010.
A graduate of Vanderbilt University, Rebecca serves as a member of its Board of Trust and also serves on the board of directors of Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation. She lives in Memphis with her husband and they share their time between two sons, two daughters, and nine grandchildren. For more information on this accomplished photographer, author and dedicated humanitarian, visit: www.hawkeyenature.com.
Well Seasoned: Savoring Life’s Lessons Publisher: Inspire on Purpose ISBN # 978-0-9898008-6-0
New York, NY – It’s a genre worth exploring again. The Dollhouse Mirror (Plum White Press) invites us to stop and wander over each page, and linger in that moment between dream and reality. Within that world, readers find many of the things they thought were only fantasy are more real than they imagined. Kirkus Reviews recently said “beauty and terror frequently intersect throughout his poems, often with clever and engaging results….[these are] Compact poems replete with stunning and visually arresting images….”
From the burning carnality of love to the mystical attraction of nature, this exquisite collection of poems leaves a lasting impression that will catch at you at the most unexpected moments. Being transported into a semi-dream world while reading the poetry, away from the distractions of everyday life, it becomes a place to let imagination flow.
Frank Watson was born in Venice, California and now lives in New York City. He enjoys literature, art, calligraphy, history, jazz, international culture, and travel. Other publications include Seas to Mulberries, The dVerse Anthology (editor), One Hundred Leaves (translator and editor), Fragments (translator and editor), and Poetry Nook (editor). His work has appeared in various literary journals, anthologies, e-zines, and literary blogs.
Watson has more than 60,000 followers on Twitter (@FollowBlueFlute) and his site, www.poetrynook.com, contains a database of over 230,000 classic poems, and features his work as a poet, translator and editor, offering an incisive, lyrical and penetrating glimpse into ourselves and our world through the genre of poetry and micropoetry.
For more information, see http://www.poetrynook.com/user/frankwatson
The Dollhouse Mirror Plum White Press Available from the author’s website http://www.poetrynook.com/store and online at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P30L9TS?btkr=1 $6.99 ISBN-13: 978-1939832122
Lawrenceville, GA, – “Mr. Scott I spent almost 45 minutes to an hour online looking up how to kill myself … I almost ended my life. When you came and you gave that speech, I was crying inside. Because I knew then and still know now that my life has meaning. I am important and I do deserve to live.”
For nearly 200 days a year, Manny Scott is on the road talking to educators, teens and young adults, illuminating their value and their potential. With Your Next Chapter: How to Turn the Page and Create the Life of Your Dreams, Manny Scott gives us all access to a powerful and transformative process, one that enabled him to overcome the incredible odds stacked against him.
Your Next Chapter is real, easy to read, and extremely practical, but not simplistic. It touches on topics relevant to all, including how the poor stay poor and the rich get richer; how to eliminate and replace self-sabotaging beliefs; how everything in life is a wing or a weight; what the difference is between being “in love” and being “in lust,” and so much more.
This book is for those who have a feeling in their hearts that they were made for something greater, and who are determined to take hold of more—more hope, more happiness, more peace, more purpose, more success, more money, and more love.
Manny Scott’s story is told in part in the 2007 hit movie, Freedom Writers; he has energized over a million leaders, educators, volunteers, and students. From inner-city youth to business executives, Manny has learned to speak, and command, the language of his audiences with relevant, riveting, and compelling messages, moving them from cheers, to laughter, to tears, and go-forward determination.
By age 14, Manny had missed 60-90 days of school every year and had dropped out. Before he was 17, he had lived in 26 places, and his best friend was brutally murdered. Sensing that the end of his life was near, Manny sat down on a park bench one day and considered how he would make others feel the depth of despair and anger roiling in his soul. Then a complete stranger sat down beside Manny and connected with him, encouraged him, and inspired him to write a different story—to create a new life.
In 2007, Manny Scott founded Ink International, Inc, an educational consulting team that is preventing thousands of suicides, raising student achievement, and improving teacher effectiveness. He is now happily married, a doting father of three, a pilot, a Ph.D. student, and one of the nation’s most sought after speakers.
For more information, visit: www.mannyscott.com
Your Next Chapter: How To Turn The Page And Create The Life Of Your Dreams Available at Amazon and the author’s website: http://www.mannyscott.com/products/your-nextchapter $19.99
Stop Sleepwalking Through Daily Life by Putting Your Nightly Dreams into Action
New York, NY – If you’ve ever woken up wondering, “What was that about?” The Complete A to Z Dictionary of Dreams: Be Your Own Dream Expert (HCI Books –$18.95) with over 12,000 definitions will explain everything and enable you to become your own dream expert. By exploring your dreams in a deeper way, you’ll reach a profound understanding of what you really want in life – and work out how to achieve it. Whether you dream about flying above canyons, your teeth dropping out, missing the bus, or standing naked in a crowded room, psychologist and author Ian Wallace will help you understand what your unconscious is trying to tell you and how you can use your dreams to help you live a richer and more fulfilling life. By exploring your dreams in this practical way, you’ll reach a deeper understanding of what you really want in life – and work out how to achieve it.
Ian Wallace pairs these definitions with his completely original Dream Connection Process, which is being shared here for the first time. Through this process, developed by Ian, the dreamer can connect the imagery and symbolism that they create in their dreams to situations and opportunities in waking life, using this awareness to make a valuable difference in their lives.
The Complete A to Z Dictionary of Dreams: Be Your Own Dream Expert also contains background information on dreams and dreaming, answering questions such as: •
• What is a dream? • Why do we dream? • How do I remember my dreams? • What do my dreams mean? • What are symbols and where do they come from?
In this comprehensive and easy to use guide, Ian Wallace articulates the complex psychological principles of dreaming in a very straightforward and engaging manner. He puts the power of the dream firmly in the hands of the dreamer so that they can understand the imagery that they create in their dreams and connect it to situations and opportunities in waking life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ian Wallace graduated with a degree in psychology, and has analyzed over 170,000 dreams for his clients during his professional career. Wallace is the originator of the Dream Connection Process, a unique and powerful method that enables anyone to connect the imagery and symbolism that they create in their dreams to situations and opportunities in waking life where they can use this awareness to make a healthy difference. Wallace regularly appears on television, on radio and in print, where he is consistently applauded for his accuracy and his authority in analyzing dreams.
Available wherever books are sold or to order directly from the publisher, contact: (800) 441-5569 or www.hcibooks.com – ISBN: 9780757318351 – February 2015
A New Curtain Opens, by Richard P. Matthews, is a compelling story that reminds us we need to “Abandon our search of the cosmic heavens for a Divine power, shut down our chattering minds and swollen egos, and listen to the silence within us – for in that silence we will find the ‘Great I am’.” People need to focus on this connection as all animals are doing. When it comes to enlightenment, animals naturally have it. They are already connected and protected and trying to help us connect. Yet we still continue our slaughter of them and their natural habitats, mainly to feed human greed!
In A New Curtain Opens, the story begins with humans on the verge of self-destruction in a situation that’s going from bad to worse on our planet. We are introduced to a kind and caring old gentleman, Hoss Proxetter, who becomes the most unlikely superhero Hayah – whose only super power is a shield of love that boomerangs hateful acts of violence back on the perpetrators. Hayah is tasked, along with the animals, to show the human race what the earth can become if only 1% of the people connect with the ‘Great I Am’ within themselves.
While this timely book acts as a reminder that the biodiversity of life on our planet is disappearing faster than at any time in human history, it also offers a refreshingly simple path to enlightenment in a character-driven adventure that gently leads us to a place where we can choose life and healing for ourselves and our planet.
Richard P. Matthews did his graduate work in theatre at Northwestern University and the University of Utah. He is a spiritual teacher who has devoted his life to bringing others to their Spiritual Centers and the ‘Great I Am’ within. An ordained Elder in the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church, Richard has been meditating since he was sixteen and practicing yoga since he was twenty-one. He travels throughout the US and Europe with the Living Bible Stories®, doing storytelling and meditation workshops, and starting new meditation groups. He is the Director of Revitalizing Ministries.
Richard is published in Swedish and English and is the author of Stories for Your Spirit and many published articles. A New Curtain Opens is the first of five novels in a series about Hayah. For more, please visit the website: www.RevitalizingMinistries.com.
A New Curtain Opens Available from www.RevitalizingMinistries.com, Kindle, Amazon and Create Space $19.84 Paper $9.84 Kindle ISBN-13: 9780979810640
Michael Herndon Ascot Media Group Post Office Box 133032 The Woodlands, TX 77393 Office: (281) 333-3507 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com
New York, NY, – “Knowing what you’re dying to do tells you what you are living for.” – Steve Mazan
Background for dying to do Letterman: turning someday into today (HCI Books– $14.95). A very special book which grew out of his award-winning documentary film by the same name, here is everything you need to know about Steve, the book, and the film:
Steve Mazan was a funny kid with a big dream. From the time he was 12 years old, he wanted to become a comedian for one reason, and one reason only: to perform stand-up comedy on David Letterman’s show. Like all eager comics, he hustled for work in small clubs across the country, taking any gig he could earn. The pay was crummy, the progress miniscule, and some of the jobs ridiculous (like performing comedy at a minor league baseball game without a working microphone!) But Steve continued hoping that “someday” his dream might come true.
Then he received news that would change his life forever. Steve was diagnosed with incurable liver cancer, and learned he might only have five years to live. That was in 2005. Fighting through the fear and refusing to let depression swallow him whole, Steve chose to make the most out of his remaining time…he would dedicate what was left of his life to living his dream: performing on The Late Show for his idol, David Letterman.
This life-affirming, funny documentary chronicles Steve’s moving five year journey. Verite footage mixed with intimate diary cam and home movies shot by Steve gives dying to do Letterman a raw, incredibly real edge as it looks at cancer and comedy in a brand new light.
Beginning with Steve’s decision to “live his dream or die trying,” friends and family members pull together to launch a grass-roots campaign called “Dying to do Letterman.” They hope to grab Dave’s attention. Steve entertains audiences everywhere and enlists their help in reaching out to Letterman. Thousands of Steve’s comedy fans email The Late Show with the request, “book Mazan!” It looks like everything is going great…until Steve gets an email himself.
Letterman’s executive producer informs Steve that the show ‘gets these requests’ all the time, and while they’re sorry he’s sick, it would be ‘impossible’ to make this dream happen. He’s at a devastating crossroads. But, ever the fighter, he decides he’ll just have to ‘live longer’ and get on the show the old fashioned way: being funny in as many clubs as possible. Keeping audiences laughing in clubs everywhere, Steve works hard to become the best comedian he can, all the while using humor to help him deal with his disease. He even creates his own top ten list: The Top Ten Benefits of Catching Cancer.
Over the next four years, Steve battles his health, self-doubt, and bankruptcy as he chases his “impossible” dream.
Through it all, Steve’s new age wife, Denise, struggles to support the quest as best she can, all the while subjecting him to a slew of alternative healing treatments in the hopes he’ll live just a little longer. More than simply ensuring he survives to appear on Letterman, she aims to keep Steve healthy enough to father children—a life experience he’s just not ready to undertake.
Along the way, Steve obtains hysterically honest advice from comics who have appeared on Letterman like Kevin Nealon, Ray Romano, Brian Regan, and many others. In a surprising, action-packed sequence, Steve takes his new comedy material to Iraq where, while performing for the troops, the base is bombed and he has a close call with death. Steve exclaims, “Being so close to that explosion showed me…it’s not just cancer that can kill you!” Steve even manages to forge a shaky relationship with the comedy booker at Letterman’s show, but as the years roll by he begins to wonder if he’s wasted his precious time on a silly childhood fantasy.
Just when all seems lost, Steve gets a big call: The Late Show may be interested in booking him. But when a horrible misunderstanding strikes, has Steve blown his one and only shot at his dream? As the film comes to a close, Steve finds himself alone in a hotel room in New York City, waiting for a phone call from the show: will his dream finally come true?
Hilarious and heart-breaking, Steve risks everything to prove dreams matter.
dying to do Letterman is a roller-coaster ride of laugher, tears, and reversals of fortune that boldly says, “If you stop chasing your dreams, you’re already dead.” And, now, it’s a book!
Steve Mazan. Man? Myth? Legend? Some people say he’s none of these. Steve is, however, one of the hottest comedians and speakers in the country and a veteran of the US Navy. Critics have described his act as ‘brilliant,’ ‘goofy,’ and ‘exceptionally clever.’ That reputation has landed him on the most coveted stages and numerous television shows, including The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Steve’s journey to try and get on the Letterman show has been made into an award-winning documentary that’s been called ‘inspiring’ and ‘side-splittingly funny.’ A former writer for Ellen Degeneres, Steve has also appeared on Last Comic Standing, Byron Allen, and The Bob & Tom Show. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Denise, and his dogs, Wrigley and Kuma, and currently travels the country to film festivals where his documentary is racking up critic awards and audience acclaim. For more information on the movie Dying to Do Letterman, and about Steve and his latest book, visit www.stevemazan.com and www.dyingtodoletterman.com.
Available online or at bookstores or to order directly from the publisher, contact: www.hcibooks.com or (800) 441-5569. dying to do Letterman: turning someday into today Steve Mazan ISBN: 978-0-7573-1627-2 $14.95 – October/November 2011
