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The Twisted Saga of Jack and Aria: First Date Leads to Second Chances

Jack Current had a plan. Just not a good one. And ending up in the river with the woman who may or may not be his soulmate certainly wasn’t part of it.

In First Date, the darkly humorous follow-up to Mark E. Scott’s debut novel, Drunk Log, readers witness the immediate aftermath of Jack’s failed attempt at ending his life and follow him as he spends the next 8 hours getting a free ambulance ride to the hospital, being watched by the deputy who tased him, avoiding a psyche exam and maybe falling in love with the bartender responsible for his second chance at life, love and redemption.

It all began on a dark and snowy night, when Jack executed his plan to take his own life without knowing Aria was right behind him. Instead of dying, they find themselves shivering on a riverbank, having survived a fall from a suspension bridge into the currents and debris of the Ohio River. Lucky enough to slam into an anchored barge, they emerge from the water stunned, bruised and still somewhat drunk. Now, they must work their way through the muck of the riverside to solid ground. Fully intent on ending it all just minutes before, Jack finds himself clinging to Aria for dear life — a life he feels just might be worth living after all.

First Date is a story of individuals haunted by suicide, remorse and unanswered questions: questions whose answers are not to be found in the bottom of a bottle. Secrets are revealed and souls are bared, but answers are still elusive. For now, they only have each other, a dollar store notebook and a teddy bear.

First Date is the second installment in Scott’s three-part, Day in the Life series, in which the unexpected, twisted saga of Jack and Aria unfolds over a combined period of 24 hours. Book One, Drunk Log, was released in 2022 and traces the first eight hours of Jack’s unsteady march toward his intended demise.

 

About the Author

Born in the small manufacturing town of Galion, Ohio, author Mark E. Scott lived in various burgs in Ohio and Michigan before joining the Navy and spending four years traveling the world aboard the USS Mount Whitney. Upon returning home to southwest Ohio, he enrolled at Miami University and completed a degree in Education, only to become a banker soon thereafter. Scott now lives happily in a condo in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati. In his free time, he enjoys writing, finding new and creative ways of tricking his children into answering their phones, and anything related to travel and outdoors, of late including tumbling down snow covered mountains while dragging otherwise perfectly good skis behind him.

For more information, please visit www.markescottauthor.com, or connect with him on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/markescottauthor) and Instagram (markescottauthor).

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/First-Date-Life-Mark-Scott/dp/164540840X/

 

First Date

Publisher: Speaking In Volumes, LLC

ISBN: 978-1645408406 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1645408390 (e-book)

Available from Amazon.com, BN.com and Goodreads###

Reviews, photos, links to previous interviews and Q&As are available upon request.

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Outrageous Tales of the Human Experience Provide Perfect Escape

Outrageous Tales of the Human Experience Provide Perfect Escape

(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

From a high-speed chase to winning the lottery to marrying a psychopath, TC Blackwell holds nothing back in Hypothetically The Craziest Sh%T I’ve Ever Done!?!, her bumpy ride down a memory lane pockmarked by unexpected — and often extraordinary — circumstances.

“Imagine if you compiled every story that made your friends say, ‘No way,’ or, ‘I’d have to see it to believe it,’” Blackwell said.

Hypothetically is for anyone with embarrassing stories locked away in a dark closet who just wants to laugh at someone else’s misfortune for a change, she added.

“This laugh out loud memoir is for everyone who wished life came with an instruction manual. If you come across one, will you share it?” Blackwell joked.

Stranger than fiction but seemingly too outrageous to be real, Hypothetically immerses readers in Blackwell’s entertaining (if sometimes highly stressful) life. Along the way, she offers words of wisdom to help others dodge similar unfortunate circumstances. Ultimately, her tales serve as potent reminders that everyone has skeletons in their closets.

“Are you too self-conscious to share your past humiliations? Even … hypothetically?” Blackwell asked. “If so, this book is for you!”

About the Author

TC Blackwell specializes in crafting funny adventures with a heaping dose of romance. She holds a B.A. in Criminal Justice and shares an incredibly unique passion for helping young adults bridge the literacy gap.

She is a fitness guru and lives in Minnesota. In theory she is working on her next novel. In reality she is possibly at the local gym or watching a comedy movie.

For more information, please visit www.tcblackwell.com, or connect with the author on Instagram (t.c.blackwell), Facebook (tcblackwellauthor) and Twitter (@tcblackwell1).

Hypothetically The Craziest Sh%t I’ve Ever Done!?!
Publisher: Black Gravity Press
ISBN-13: ‎ 979-8697391525
Available from Amazon.com, BN.com and many other online retailers

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

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Dazzle Dad With a Heaping Helping of Deliciously Clever Food Puns

Dazzle Dad With a Heaping Helping of Deliciously Clever Food Puns

(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

“Saba creates and photographs food that is both whimsical and downright playful.”
— Bon Appétit

This Father’s Day, give your favorite father figures the gift of food and laughter with Don’t Worry Be Ha-PEA: 101 Deliciously Clever Food Puns from cookbook author and social media sensation Marie Saba.

Don’t Worry, Be Ha-PEA is a perfect gift or coffee-table book for anyone who appreciates good food and clever wordplay. Saba’s compilation of family-friendly, quirky and creative food puns will have dads everywhere testing their knowledge of pop culture (think Celine Dijon and Robert Brownie, Jr.), tourist attractions (St. Peter’s Basilica), cartoon characters (Elmer Fudge) and much more. Saba’s tasty visual puzzles are as intriguing as they are appetizing and beautifully photographed.

Entertaining and light-hearted, Saba’s puns aim to inspire creative thinking, connection and laughter that will leave readers craving more.

“Don’t Worry, Be Ha-PEA reminds us all that we can find humor in the most unlikely of places — the back of the pantry or the bottom of the veggie drawer,” Saba said. “It’s just the book we need right now.”

About the Author
Marie Saba is a former lawyer, cookbook author and freelance content creator. Her playful creations have been featured in numerous media, including Bon Appetit and Food & Wine, as well as on The Rachel Ray Show and Martha Stewart Show. Marie lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, John, and their two children, Jack and Elaine.

Marie was recently named by Country Living Magazine as one of the top 100 creative people in the country.

For more information, visit https://mariesaba.com/, or follow her on Instagram: @MarieSaba; TikTok: @MariesKitchenTikTok; and YouTube: Marie’s Kitchen.

Don’t Worry Be Ha-PEA: 101 Deliciously Clever Food Puns
Publisher: Familius Publishing / Distributed by Hatchet
ISBN-10: ‎ 1641704640
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1641704649
Available from Amazon.com, Target.com, BN.com, Booksamillion.com and bookstores nationwide

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

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One Man’s Path to Redemption Leads Through Local Watering Holes

One Man’s Path to Redemption Leads Through Local Watering Holes

(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

Jack Current isn’t just hoping to drown his sorrows during his evening pub crawl through downtown Cincinnati’s Over the Rhine neighborhood; he’s hoping to actually drown — in the Ohio River. But not until he has poured his heart onto paper in the dollar store notebook he’s got with him. Aptly referred to as The Drunk Log, Jack’s notebook contains the secret to his pain, and a bartender with a sixth sense will sneak a peek, just in time.

Author Mark E. Scott’s compelling story of one man’s last hurrah, Drunk Log, invites readers to follow a relatable protagonist who, in the midst of buckling under oppressive guilt, embarks on one last bar crawl before he plans to end his own life.

In his notebook, Jack documents the evening, ruminates on his existence and remembers his 7-year-old nephew, who died exactly a year earlier. It is a loss for which Jack feels responsible — a lapse in judgement for which there is no forgiveness. Jack’s plan is to jump off the scenic suspension bridge spanning the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Covington, Kentucky.

Drunk Log is a darkly humorous, deeply introspective exploration into one man’s attempt to find peace in the face of unrelenting pain. Told with a fast clip, the entire book covers about 8 hours and deftly avoids becoming an ominous dirge through relatable — and flawed — characters, unexpectedly funny situations, a budding romance and the wobbly balancing act of a man who must remain sober enough to write in his journal and finish what he started, but drunk enough to jump off a bridge.

Readers follow Jack as he begins the evening at his local watering hole, where a gregarious bartender named Aria, with whom he shares a mutual attraction, takes a surreptitious peek at Jack’s journal. Sensing Jack is headed to the same doom that claimed her sister, Aria decides to intervene.

Tracking him down in the middle of a winter storm, Aria finds Jack on the freezing, snowy bridge. Can they emerge from their individual cocoons of loss and suffering, save each other and rewrite their stories?

Drunk Log is the first installment in Scott’s three-part, Day in the Life series, in which the unexpected, twisted saga of Jack and Aria unfolds over a combined period of 24 hours.

Born in the small manufacturing town of Galion, Ohio, author Mark E. Scott lived in various burgs in Ohio and Michigan before joining the Navy and spending four years traveling the world aboard the USS Mount Whitney. Upon returning home to southwest Ohio, he enrolled at Miami University and completed a degree in Education, only to become a banker soon thereafter. Scott now lives happily in a condo in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati. In his free time, he enjoys writing, finding new and creative ways of tricking his children into answering their phones, and anything related to travel and outdoors, of late including tumbling down snow covered mountains while dragging otherwise perfectly good skis behind him.

For more information, please visit www.markescottauthor.com, or connect with him on Instagram (markescottauthor), Facebook (@markescottauthor) or Twitter (@MarkEScott3).

Drunk Log
Publisher: Speaking In Volumes, LLC
ISBN: 978-1645405559
EISBN: 978-1645405542
Available from Amazon.com

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

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True Tale Of Not-So-Ordinary Upbringing Will Inspire Others To Live Life Courageously

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

(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

True Tale Of Not-So-Ordinary Upbringing Will Inspire Others
To Live Life Courageously

Meet Michaela: She’s the girl next door, except that “next door” happens to be a rickety 27-foot Fifth-Wheel Trailer with no electricity or running water parked in the Sierra Nevada mountains. It all went south — or north, technically — in the summer of 1992 following an economic collapse that left her family on the brink of broke.

Teetering on Disaster from Michaela Renee Johnson is the often humorous, always brutally honest, true story of a family of five that must give up any reality they’ve ever known to carve out a new one they’ve never imagined. Caught in the middle is pre-teen Michaela, and for her, the timing couldn’t be worse. As she navigates her way through adolescence — shaving her legs for the first time in the frigid water of an irrigation ditch — she gains profound wisdom about her family, the world around her and her own ability to thrive in the face of life’s inconveniences.

But the effects of her unorthodox upbringing don’t end at adulthood, and Teetering takes readers along as a grown Michaela stumbles upon a few “Mr. Right Nows,” gets divorced in her twenties, and ends up right back where she started: a small mountain town in the middle of nowhere.

Teetering on Disaster is a candid, authentic tale that will make readers laugh out loud and cry — sometimes at the same time.

Award-winning author Michaela Renee Johnson is a licensed psychotherapist and small business owner who hosts the weekly podcast, Be You Find Happy, which features real conversations about life and happiness. She lives in Northern California with her husband and son. Her homestead includes fish, chickens, ducks, a Golden Retriever (Dennis), an Australian Shepherd (Walter) and a rescue cat named Stilly.

She enjoys traveling and has visited 19 countries; she loves the ocean and everything in it. She rarely finds herself without an activity, whether it be hiking, yoga, tinkering in the gar-den, golfing, reading or spending time outside. She loves poetic quotes and all things meta-physical. To learn more about the author, visit www.michaelarenee.com or connect with her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/usjohnsons/.

Teetering on Disaster
Publisher: MJ Innovations
Release Date: January 2019
ISBN-13: 978-0578430805
ISBN-10: 0578430800
Available from Amazon.com

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A Runtamuffin Tale: Where Everyone Learns To Get Along And Respect Our Differences

Monica Foster
Senior Publicist
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 2394
Friendswood, TX 77549
Direct: 713.446.8815
Phone: 281.333.3507
Fax: 832.569.5539
[email protected]
www.ascotmedia.com

(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

A Runtamuffin Tale: Where Everyone Learns To Get Along And Respect Our Differences

West Palm Beach, FL ― Life’s a real zoo at Legacy Farms, where 14 chickens, a couple of dogs and an assortment of horses with diverse temperaments learn to share their days on the sprawling homestead.

Based on the true life adventures of author Melissa Taylor’s charming chickens, A Runtamuffin Tale is a delightful new children’s book that follows the life of Runtamuffin — or Runti — a tiny chicken with a big personality. Runti becomes the first chicken brave enough to form a bond with one of the farm’s largest inhabitants — a beautiful horse named Mariett.

All the animals on the farm soon learn that differences in size and outward appearances don’t mean a thing in this colorful tale that subtly interweaves valuable life lessons on sharing, believing in yourself, love, friendship, anti-bullying and mutual respect.

The 57-page book, wonderfully illustrated by Marc Beauregard, targets children ages 6 to 12 and would make a treasured addition to any family’s home or elementary school library.

Author Melissa Taylor was born and raised in the small town of Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Melissa’s mom filled her childhood home with animals, which cultivated Melissa’s love and desire to surround herself with all types of four- and two-legged creatures. She currently lives, owns and runs a farm with her husband in South Florida with 14 chickens, 34 horses, 5 dogs and a cockatiel.

For more information about Melissa and her children’s book, please visit:
www.runtavision.com.

A Runtamuffin Tale
Release date: 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9989887-0-2
Hardcover and digital download available from www.runtavision.com.

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New Children’s Book Says “Aloha” To A Blizzard … In Hawaii!

It's Snowing In Hawaii by [Guardia, Mike]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety)

Inspired by his two young daughters, Mike Guardia penned a delightful children’s story just in time for the holidays. It’s Snowing in Hawaii is a whimsical, beautifully illustrated book that has appeal to kids who love colorful pictures to bring the story alive, and to parents everywhere who want to give their children something different and more meaningful this holiday season.

A Captain in the US Army Reserve, Mike Guardia is the renowned author of several military history books, including Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…and Always and Shadow Commander. He makes a great guest. Please read the following press release and consider interviewing Mike during this holiday season to reach everyone out there looking for something different for their children, or let me know if I may forward a copy of his new children’s book for a review. If you wish to run this story, let us know and we’ll be happy to send you a jpg of the author and book cover for your use. Thank you!

Trish Stevens
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 2394
Friendswood, TX 77549
(281) 333-3507 Phone
(832) 569-5539 Fax
[email protected]
www.ascotmedia.com

New Children’s Book Says “Aloha” To A Blizzard … In Hawaii!

Houston, TX – That’s right kids, it’s snowing in Honolulu. Get ready to say “Aloha” to the first snowstorm Hawaii’s ever had. Written in verse and beautifully illustrated, It’s Snowing in Hawaii takes the reader on a magical journey through the snow-filled beaches of Honolulu. With Hawaiian flannel shirts, bearskin hula skirts, and figure skating on Pearl Harbor, young readers will enjoy the silly rhymes of a Hawaiian snow day.

Mike Guardia is the renowned author of several history books, including Hal Moore and Shadow Commander. However, being the father of two young girls has inspired him to write It’s Snowing in Hawaii – his first children’s book. He currently lives in Texas. Follow him online at www.mikeguardia.com.

Melanie Stephens is a distinguished artist and children’s book illustrator. A proud mother of three, she currently resides in Virginia.

For more, please visit: https://www.amazon.com/Its-Snowing-Hawaii-Mike-Guardia/dp/1939688159/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1480802657&sr=1-10

It’s Snowing in Hawaii
Willow Clubhouse Books
Available at Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and Amazon.com
$17.95 Hardcover
$2.99 Kindle
ISBN-13: 978-1-939688-15-6

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