When the secrecy of a nuclear weapon agreement is thrown into doubt, a disgraced intelligence operative is recruited to find out if the deal is still safe…
Ali Sinclair, wrongly convicted and on the run from a Mexican prison, is enlisted to infiltrate her old friend’s inner circle and find the evidence.
The only people on her side are an ex-Cold War spook and the former Royal Marine that was sent to find her. Together they discover that the stakes are much higher than anyone knew, and the fate of the world is at risk…
But when you live in the shadows who can you trust?
L J Morris is an author with a lifelong love of books and storytelling that he developed as a child. He spent most of the 80s and 90s serving in the Royal Navy as a Weapons Engineer and now lives in Cumbria, with his family. He currently works within the defence industry and continues to write at every opportunity.
His short stories have appeared in several anthologies including Volumes 1 & 2 of Best-selling author Matt Hilton’s anthology series ‘ACTION: Pulse Pounding Tales’.
Other anthologies he has appeared in include ‘Happily Never After’, ‘Wish You Weren’t Here’, and ‘Liminal Time, Liminal Space’ where one reader described his tale ‘True Colours’ as “Riveting and powerful”
His first novel ‘Desperate Ground’ was published in May 2018 and attracted good reviews.
Book Title: The Art of Taking It Easy by Dr. Brian King Category: Adult Non-Fiction (18+) Genre: Literary/Self-Help/Humor Publisher: Apollo Publishers Release date: October 2019 Content Rating: PG-13+
Book Description:
Psychologist and Comedian King explores the science behind stress in this witty, informed guide. The author uses a bevy of running jokes and punch lines to enliven technical explanations for how and why people experience stress. His metaphors of coming across a bear in the wild as well as being stuck in traffic are also used to great effect to explain a variety of stress responses, such as perceiving a threat and feelings of powerlessness. Reframing thoughts plays a large role in King’s advice: Stress is simply a reaction to a perception of threat being able to
consciously redirect choices made by other areas of the brain is the key to living a less stressful existence. He also provides breathing exercises, plants for painting physical health and useful advice for setting attainable goals. King’s enjoyable guide to living with less will be of help to any anxious reader.
DR. BRIAN KING trained as a neuroscientist and psychologist and for the past decade has traveled the world as a comedian and public speaker. By day he conducts seminars, attended by thousands of people each year around the US and internationally, on positive psychology, the health benefits of humor, and stress management. By night he practices what he teaches in comedy clubs, and is the founder and producer of the highly reviewed Wharf Room comedy show in San Francisco. Dr. Brian holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas, a master’s degree from the University of New Orleans, and a PhD in neuroscience from Bowling Green State University. Hailing from New York and living in dozens of cities throughout the US as the child of a military family, today spends his life on the road with his partner, Sarah, and their young daughter.
Dr. Brian King is the author of the recently released book The Art of Taking It Easy (Apollo Publishers). He trained as a neuroscientist and psychologist and for the past decade has traveled the world as a comedian and public speaker. By day he conducts seminars, presented nationwide and attended by thousands of people each year, on positive psychology, the health benefits of humor, and stress management. By night he practices what he teaches in comedy clubs. Dr. Brian began performing stand-up comedy in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2009, and has performed hundreds of shows around the world. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas, a master’s degree from the University of New Orleans, and a PhD from Bowling Green State University, and, in addition to The Art of Taking It Easy, is the author of The Laughing Cure. Dr. Brian hails from New York City and today spends his life on the road, traveling regularly with his partner, Sarah, and their young daughter.
What do you think makes your approach to handling stress unique? Can you share a story?
I would not say that my approach is unique. As we all live our individual lives, we all accumulate a unique set of experiences which in turn influence our behaviors, and yet other people with their own set of unique experiences express similar behaviors. Our paths may be different, but we are all going to the same set of destinations. Lots of people manage stress well, and I am one of them. Early in my life I could tell that I handled things better than a lot of my peers; I would remain calm in many situations where my friends would be anxious, sad, or angry, but it wasn’t until graduate school when I started to realize that I had a higher than average tolerance for stress.
I went to graduate school in New Orleans, Louisiana, a city that I have loved since I first set foot within its borders. I lived in the French Quarter, an awesome vibrant neighborhood that attracts tons of tourists, and with good reason—it’s a beautiful part of the city. But it was also plagued with a high crime rate. One day, my roommate and I were walking home from the grocery store and on our block a guy popped out from behind a car pointing a gun at us. In broad daylight on the sidewalk of a city street, we were being robbed.
I remember seeing the gun, and I remember the man instructing us to give him our wallets. My roommate handed his over right away, but I chose not to. Instead, I remained perfectly calm and attempted to negotiate with my mugger. I reasoned with him that he could have my cash, I didn’t have much on me anyway, but that I needed to keep my wallet. My wallet had my ID, my credit cards, and other things that were going to be a major hassle to replace, so I insisted that he could have my money if he agreed to let me keep my wallet. I said, “Those are my terms.”
The mugger and I went back and forth on this, him asking for my wallet and me calmly stating my terms. Meanwhile, my roommate is looking at me like I am out of my mind, but I felt like I could convince this guy to see it my way and he eventually did. I gave him my money, as per our agreement, and he let me keep my wallet. Then I asked if my roommate could have his wallet back too and he agreed.
The mugger left and my roommate and I went into our apartment and put our groceries away. I realized that he was much more shaken up than I was and maybe my ability to remain calm in the face of a stressful event was a bit unusual. A few months later, he left the French Quarter for an apartment in the suburbs.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
As a habit, I express my gratitude every day. In my seminars on happiness and stress management, I encourage my audiences to do the same. It’s a common practice and it is very helpful in changing the way we look at the world. Even Oprah does it, and she seems pretty happy to me.
There are so many people in my life that have helped me get to where I am, and because of how I live most of them probably already know how grateful I am. However, there is one person who has changed my life in the most significant way possible who has yet to realize how much she has affected me: my two-year-old daughter, Alyssa.
Having children changes your life, that is common knowledge. But this little girl came into my world when I was at a very unhealthy point. Without knowing it, I had been suffering from sleep apnea for years and it was starting to take its toll. With fatherhood approaching, my partner, Sarah, convinced me to see a doctor and within the year I was on CPAP treatment and on the way to recovery. Having children does make people healthier, but having her may have quite literally extended the length of my life.
My new book, The Art of Taking It Easy, is dedicated to my daughter, but it was also inspired by her. If for some reason I don’t get to see her grow up, I wanted her to know how important she is to me and at the same time I wanted to give her a manual that could help her, and perhaps thousands of other people, live a better life. To this day she inspires me to live a better life.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I think my success is from bringing good things into the world. Granted not everything I have tried has worked out or been all that great, but the few successes I have enjoyed are those that have made a positive impact on others. As a comedian, I make people laugh and in the process I make them a little bit happier. That may not sound like much, but humor and laughter have a measurable impact on our health. As a public speaker, I share knowledge and insight with my audiences about how to manage stress and live a happier life, and in the process try to make them laugh. As a writer, I can only hope to do the same.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me before I started leading my company” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Is there a dance move that combines the robot with the running man? I could see that being a thing.
Honestly, I always feel like I am the last person at the party. I remember when Twitter started and a few of my comedian friends were taking to the platform while I didn’t see the point. I thought it was weird when people started posting to my Facebook instead of sending me an email. Later when Instagram came out, I said, “but I can already post photos to Facebook…” I don’t have a good track record with being able to recognize good ideas.
But if I have any influence at all, I hope that I can help convince people of the need to take life less seriously and, you know, take it easy. There are so many people in the world that are struggling with stress-related issues who could use a change in perspective. Reevaluate your thought processes, your reactions, and your interactions with other people. The world can be a crazy place, and there will always be conflict. So why not chill out and try not to be part of the problem?
How can our readers follow you on social media and where can they find your new book?
I am on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and whatever comes next at @drbrianking, and The Art of Taking It Easy is available on www.apollopublishers.com and Amazon, and in Barnes & Noble and independent bookstores around the country.
I would like to thank iRead Book Tours for the opportunity to share this book.
If you’re still searching for the perfect Halloween read, check out this collection of chilling tales! Murder in Montague Falls will have you reading long into the night!
Murder in Montague Falls
Publication Date: August 29, 2019
Genre: Anthology/ Noir/ Dark Fiction
WHITE HOT THRILLS! PITCH BLACK DEEDS!
3 TALES OF TEENS TACKLING THEIR DARKEST RITES OF PASSAGE
Acclaimed storytellers Russ Colchamiro, Sawney Hatton, and Patrick Thomas each present an original novella brimming with enough danger, intrigue, and murder to get readers’ blood pounding and hearts racing.
In Colchamiro’s RED INK, a paperboy with an overactive imagination witnesses a brutal killing on his route—or has he taken his fantasy spy games a step too far?
In Hatton’s THE DEVIL’S DELINQUENTS, a trio of teenage misfits in pursuit of success, power, and revenge practice amateurish occult rituals… with deadly consequences.
In Thomas’s A MANY SPLENDID THING, a sultry high school teacher enrolls one of her students to get rid of her husband. But will the young man really graduate to murder?
Natalie exits her room with the ritual kit, locking the door behind her.
Her father, swathed in a cornucopia-pattern quilt, sits in his wheelchair in the den, positioned near enough the window so that he can be in the daylight. Maybe he enjoys it, but one cannot tell for certain since his face registers no enjoyment, nor any other emotion.
Natalie kneels down before him, flips up the quilt, and undoes the bottom three buttons of his shirt, exposing his stomach. Between her fingertips, she wields the double-edged blade for a safety razor. She carefully nicks the skin above his father’s belly button. She looks up at him, detects no reaction.
She makes intersecting six-inch-long slices into his stomach, then carves a large circle around the lines, working around the seeping blood. Upon finishing, she evaluates her work and nods.
“I’m going to bring you back, daddy,” Natalie says to him, kissing his knuckles. “I promise.”
Splendid Thing
Rosa went from smiling to bawling in less time than it took to blink. I pulled her in and held her against my bare chest. She pounded my ribs with her closed fists.
“Why won’t you understand! There is no other way! If we don’t kill him soon, you’ll come to school one day and find that he killed me. How are you going to feel then? Especially if he figures out that you’re my lover! You would follow me to the Pearly Gates.”
“Rosa, this talk of killing is crazy.”
She pushed herself back and slapped me hard across the face. “You think I’m crazy?”
Have you ever heard of a book having its own soundtrack? Well this one does!
About the Authors
RUSS COLCHAMIRO is the author of the rollicking space adventure, Crossline, the zany sci-fi backpacking series Finders Keepers, Genius de Milo, and Astropalooza, editor of the sci-fi mystery anthology, Love, Murder & Mayhem, and contributing author for his newest project, Murder in Montague Falls, a noir novella collection, all with Crazy 8 Press.
Russ has contributed to several other anthologies including Tales of the Crimson Keep, Pangaea, They Keep Killing Glenn, Altered States of the Union, Thrilling Adventure Yarns, Brave New Girls vols. 3&4, Camelot 13, TV Gods 2, and Footprints in the Stars.
He is now finalizing the first in an ongoing SFF mystery series featuring his hard-boiled private eye Angela Hardwicke and has several other SFF, crime fiction, and children’s book projects in the works.
Russ lives in New Jersey with his wife, their twin ninjas, and their crazy dog, Simon.
For more on Russ’s works, visitWebsite, and follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @AuthorDudeRuss.
SAWNEY HATTON is an author, editor, and screenwriter who has long loved playing in the dark. His published works include the Dark Comedy novel Dead Size, the YA Noir novella Uglyville, and the Dark Fiction short story collection Everyone Is a Moon. He also edited the Sci-Fi Horror anthology What Has Two Heads, Ten Eyes, and Terrifying Table Manners?
Other incarnations of Sawney have produced marketing videos, attended chili cook-offs, and played the banjo and sousaphone (not at the same time). As of this writing, he is still very much alive.
For more semi-unseemly insights into Sawney, visit his website at Website or find him on Twitter and Facebook.
PATRICK THOMAS is the award-winning author of the beloved Murphy’s Lore series and the darkly hilarious Dear Cthulhu advice empire.
His 40+ books include Fairy with a Gun, By Darkness Cursed, Lore & Dysorder, Dead to Rites, Startenders, As the Gears Turn, Cthulhu Explains It All, and Exile and Entrance. His is the co-author of the Mystic Investigators series, The Santa Heist, and the Jack Gardner mysteries.
Patrick is the co-editor of Camelot 13 (with John French), New Blood (with Diane Raetz), and Hear Them Roar (with CJ Henderson), co-created The Wildsidhe Chronicles YA series and is the creator of the Agents of the Abyss series.
He has had more than 150 short stories published in magazines and anthologies, with his work for YA and children including the Ughabooz books, the Undead Kid Diaries, the Joy Reaper books, and the Babe B. Bear Mysteries as Patrick T. Fibbs.
This is a collection of three novellas based in the small town of Montague Falls. The first story is about Issac, a paperboy that has a creative imagination. He discovers a body on a resident’s floor and when the police don’t believe him he investigates on his own.
You then have three teenagers, Derry, Cal and Nat. They practice a satanic ritual to get back on those that bully them and have unexpected results.
And finally we have Jethro and Mrs. Carmine. Jethro is in love with his hot teacher and Mrs. Carmine seems to love him too but there is a little problem called a husband in the middle of them.
This is a great collection of short stories that had me engrossed and rushing to see what was going to happen next. It was dark and creepy and the perfect read for Halloween. I liked all the stories so well that I will be looking into all of the authors other works. Make sure to get a copy for yourself.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
Giveaway Time!!!
For your chance to win a print copy (US Only) of Murder in Montague Falls click the link below!
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