Parenting an Addict: Mother Tells Her Gripping Story of Unwavering Love
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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.
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
Locked in the Endless Loop of Foster Care, One Desperate Boy Struggles to Break Free
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Silas Dillon enjoys a full life now. At 40 years old, he’s a married father of four, foster father of six and minister to his church’s devoted flock. The joyful background noises of his houseful of children is a stark contrast to his lonesome beginning, when his birth mother, in the throes of heroin withdrawal, abandoned him the day after he was born.
Silas Dillon of Cary County is the sobering story of Silas Dillon, who ping-ponged between eight foster homes and two attempts at re-placement with his birth mother by the time he was 14 years old.
Told with gripping authenticity by author Cliff Schrage, Silas Dillon of Cary County begins with Silas’ birth on a frigid winter night in the fictional suburb of Cary Island in the New York Bay. His life becomes a series of glimpses into different realities — some harsh and grossly neglectful; some unapologetically abusive; and some well-intentioned but unprepared. Each one serves as a gross reminder of the fractured, overwhelmed foster care system. Silas is repeatedly transplanted from house to house, but none of them becomes a home. And occasionally, his mother does just enough to satisfy a lenient judge, and he’s returned to her world of drug abuse and prostitution
Damaged, fragile and without hope, he draws the attention of conscientious young social worker Molly Fresh, and this sets the stage for Silas to one day find the nurturing family and promising future that every child deserves.
Silas Dillon of Cary County is a candid look inside a typical foster care system that outwardly champions for the best interest of the children, but in reality, caters to the see-sawing whims of biological parents. Readers will witness Silas’ growing loneliness, alienation, anger and self-destructive nature, as he struggles to cope through his youth and early adulthood. Silas Dillon represents hundreds of thousands of young ones locked in a broken system. Will he be one of the lucky few who break free?
Author Cliff Schrage is a two-time published novelist — A Fruitful Field and Silas Dillon of Cary County — and published poet: Broken Prose, Spoken Poems. He has worked as a chaplain, and he taught high school English for 33 years. He is the father of eight children — two biological and six adopted (foreign and domestic) — and has endured the trauma of losing a child to a terminal illness. He has been married to his wife, Sherry, for more than 40 years.
Silas Dillon of Cary County Publisher: Morgan James Publishing ISBN-10: 1683502833 ISBN-13: 978-1683502838 Available from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and MorganJamesPublishing.com
Trish Stevens Sophie Carter Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone 800.854.2207 Fax
Cook Delicious, Healthy Food That Actually Makes You Feel Better With The Recipes In My Pinewood Kitchen
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Mee McCormick understands only too well the importance of healthy food, having watched her single mother suffer with a host of debilitating auto-immune diseases, some of which she inherited, that led her to make the decision in her mid-twenties to change her own fate. Today, chef and author Mee McCormick is an expert who healed herself of Crohn’s disease, gut issues, and other immune system challenges with whole food recipes when doctors couldn’t help her.
Offering microbiome-friendly meals with a Southern spin, My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure, is a follow-up cookbook to her wildly successful, life-enhancing My Kitchen Cure. Mee is living proof that you can change your fate by what’s on your plate and her recipes will help heal your gut and fight a host of autoimmune diseases. With over 130 mouthwatering, whole foods recipes that can be customized for Keto, Paleo, or vegans, it truly is an “all-inclusive” eating plan for everyone in the family.
From smoothies, soups and salads, to dinners and desserts, every recipe in the book is gluten-free and gut-friendly. Mee has since forged the way for a new kind of hospitality: a fully-inclusive table where everyone can eat delicious Southern comfort classics without sacrificing taste, regardless of even the most severe food allergies or dietary restrictions – all while stressing the importance of intestinal health and how to improve your own gut microbiome. Her book shows us which foods are nutritional powerhouses and which ones we must avoid, and how to eat real food every day without breaking the bank.
Mee McCormick is a rising Southern culinary and wellness innovator, restaurateur, author, TV cooking personality, farmer, rancher, wife and mother. She splits her time between Nashville and nearby Nunnelly, Tennessee; a tiny, unincorporated community in Hickman County; home to her biodynamic farm and restaurant Pinewood Kitchen & Mercantile – that is unique in that every meal is created with the intention to serve everyone with the same deliciousness, regardless of dietary restrictions. In fact, some members of the community drive hours to get a taste of her farm-to-table cuisine and her mouthwatering Pinewood’s Grain-Free Fried Chicken!
Mee authored her first cookbook My Kitchen Cure, which led to wild success and a book deal with HCI for her second cookbook, My Pinewood Kitchen, published in April 2020. She frequently appears on Today in Nashville, and she participates in nationally-recognized food festivals and events, spreading the same level of care and hospitality to audiences everywhere that she has become known for throughout the state of Tennessee. Visit: www.meemccormick.com or www.pinewoodkitchenandmercantile.com.
My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure/130+ Crazy Delicious, Gluten-Free Recipes to Reduce Inflammation and Make Your Gut Happy By Mee McCormick HCI BOOKS / $26.95 ISBN: 9780757323522 Available wherever books are sold
Trish Stevens Sophie Carter Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone 800.854.2207 Fax
Short On Inspiration While Dining In? My Pinewood Kitchen Dishes Out Some Quarantine Cuisine Tips
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With COVID-19 keeping us at home more and shopping less, home chefs need to get creative while cooking tasty, healthy meals for their entire family. Chef and author Mee McCormick is an expert: she healed herself of Crohn’s disease, gut issues, and other immune system challenges with whole food recipes when doctors couldn’t help her.
The mom/rancher/restaurateur can share tips for “quarantine cuisine” when you’re hankering for variety in your meals but you’re short on ingredients and inspiration. Perfect for social distancing, many of her recipes are made with items you probably already have in your pantry (for example, her Black Bean Chicken Chili and Immune-Boosting Chicken & Quinoa Soup); she can teach home cooks how to repurpose items to reduce food waste (cilantro pickles, anyone?), and reveal the healthiest foods you need in your pandemic pantry.
My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure offers more than 100 gluten-free, whole foods recipes that can be customized for Keto, Paleo, or vegans, making it a truly “all-inclusive” eating plan for the entire family. From smoothies, soups and salads, to dinners and desserts, every recipe is gluten-free and gut-friendly. • Curb Your COVID Anxiety with healthy chocolate with Mee’s Chocolate Avocado Mousse & Five-Ingredient Fudge Cups • Soups for Social Distancing – Black Bean Chicken Chili and Immune-Boosting Chicken & Quinoa Soup (nutritious, delicious, and they use what you likely have in your home already!) • Plenty of plant-based offerings • Reduce Waste: Learn how to make cilantro pickles from cucumbers, sweet potato chips from sweet potatoes, a falafel burger from canned chickpeas, and how to make your own healthier ketchup and mayonnaise if you run out • 10 Gut-Friendly Foods for your Pandemic Pantry
Mee McCormick is a rising Southern culinary and wellness innovator, restaurateur, author, TV cooking personality, farmer, rancher, wife and mother. She splits her time between Nashville and nearby Nunnelly, Tennessee; a tiny, unincorporated community in Hickman County, which is also home to her biodynamic farm and restaurant Pinewood Kitchen & Mercantile.
Mee authored her first cookbook My Kitchen Cure, which led to wild success and a book deal with HCI for her second cookbook My Pinewood Kitchen, published on April 14, 2020. She frequently appears on Today in Nashville, and she participates in nationally-recognized food festivals and events, spreading the same level of care and hospitality to audiences everywhere that she has become known for throughout the state of Tennessee. Visit: www.meemccormick.com or www.pinewoodkitchenandmercantile.com.
My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure/130+ Crazy Delicious, Gluten-Free Recipes to Reduce Inflammation and Make Your Gut Happy By Mee McCormick HCI BOOKS Released: April 2020/ $26.95 ISBN: 9780757323522 Available wherever books are sold
Trish Stevens Allison Janse Health Communications Inc. The Life Issues Publisher 1700 NW 2nd Ave Boca Raton, FL 33432 800.851.9100 [email protected] www.hcibooks.com
Mary Beth Smith
Park Cities Publishing
214-725-2823 [email protected]
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Blood in the Desert: Only The Unwavering Power Of Love And Faith Can Overcome Persecution
Dallas, TX ― Religious persecution was an all-too cruel reality for early Christians in 294 A.D. The Roman Empire searched relentlessly for believers, torturing and killing some and selling others into slavery. It was a dark time for Miriam, an orphaned young woman now enslaved by a brutal Roman officer named Quintus. Miriam would endure unthinkable emotional and physical torture before being forced to bear the officer’s child, a heartache made worse when the baby, Philip, is born blind. In a fit of rage, the ruthless Quintus drives mother and child apart, casting them on perilous, separate paths.
C. Douglas Gordon’s debut novel, Blood in the Desert, follows Miriam and Philip as they each drift aimlessly toward their fate. In this portrait of the enduring supernatural power of love and faith in perilous times, the mysterious wolf Lupa appears, leading Miriam to her new destiny, while Philip is taken in by nomadic traders. Their dramatic journeys through the treacherous devotions of early Christendom illuminate the risks and rewards of faith in the years before Emperor Constantine found a powerful ally in Yesua and changed the course of history. Until then, all the things modern Christians take for granted — institutions, buildings, meeting spaces and even the gathered texts that make up the New Testament — were nonexistent for hundreds of years following the death and resurrection of Christ.
Dallas businessman C. Douglas Gordon has translated his organizational and management skills to the task of bringing detail-oriented research to his novels. Inspired by his older brother’s deep faith, Doug honors his memory by exploring the roots of Christianity from its earliest appearances in history and through its years of torment and challenge.
Doug’s series, You Left in Me the Faith, seeks to shed light on the formative period that gave birth to the Church as we know it today. Years of effort have produced an exciting first novel, Blood in the Desert. Doug creates fictional characters whose lives interact with and are impacted by real historical events and figures of the day. Readers can’t help but be amazed that Christianity survived at all. The second novel in the series, The Twelve Coins, is currently in progress.
