Cool Book Of The Day

Pitch reporters with our up-to-date media databases:

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Those who are:
• Family members of those who are ill and bereaved individuals
• Healers: healthcare professionals, caregivers, volunteers, spiritual care providers, member of the clergy, social workers, etc.
• Individuals interested in overcoming their fears around death and the afterlife.
• Those interested in learning more about how to combine holistic approaches with end-of-life and grief care.
• Anyone interested in growing spiritually – spiritual seekers.

Q: What is the book about?
A: The Last Adventure of Life is an inspirational resource book that weaves together some of the best stories, poetry, scripture, prayers, and guided meditations that I have found to help those facing death or grief in their lives. It also includes chapters on grief and healing resources. This book also serves as an overview of hospice from a spiritual perspective; some have even said that it is one of the best introductions to hospice that they have ever read.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I am uniquely qualified to write this book because I grew up in Japan and am bilingual and bicultural. I was gifted with a broad, multi-cultural perspective and a curiosity about life that has made me delve into all kinds of material related to heath and healing through my professional and personal life.

After serving as a United Church of Christ minister for a decade, I served as a hospice spiritual and bereavement care provider for eleven years, so I developed a deep appreciation for hospice and how it can change your life. I have found that doing hospice counseling work for over a decade has given me an expanded view of life – not unlike a person who has had a near death experience. My work shares some of this material in a smorgasbord fashion.

As a healer, I am also passionate about wellness and have developed a body-mind-spirit perspective. Therefore, the last chapter of the book has a great deal of information on many of the complementary and integrative therapies such as: Aromatherapy, acupressure, acupuncture, massage, music, guided meditations, hypnotherapy, shamanism, and the like.

The material is presented in such a way as to be particularly helpful to those who are preparing to die or who are grieving. However, a person working toward their physical healing and wholeness could also benefit from reading my book.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: The Last Adventure of Life is a very comprehensive book. It covers a great deal of territory compared to most books on this topic. For example, it honors and shares material from many faith traditions and spiritual perspectives.

Most books covering hospice or these topics are either medically or religiously based. However, I share from a very broad spiritual base, so many faith perspectives are shared firsthand. Also, since there is a lengthy chapter introducing some complementary therapies at the end of the book, this also makes my book unique in its scope.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: The Celtic philosophy is that you need to die before you die so that when you die, you don’t need to die! In this vein, my book is actually meant to be a guide for someone who is ready to bring death back into their life.

Ideally, this book needs to be read by someone who is not directly facing death, but would like to deal with their fears and questions around it. Here is what Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, an expert in conscious aging had to say about my work: “Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross once had a patient who said to her ‘I want to live through my dying.”

Anyone who shares that sentiment will find The Last Adventure of Life a way to expand their consciousness and to prepare for that moment.”

Here is a list of Chapter titles from the book and some frequently asked questions that my book could help answer:

1. TRUTH: Letting Go Is Liberating
2. BEAUTY: The Divine Presence Within All Living Things
3. LOVE: The Only Real Power
4. JOY: Tuning in to Humor and Gratitude
5. TRUST: Healing into Wholeness
6. REFLECT: Life Review and Dealing with Unfinished Business
7. AWARENESS: Cultivating the Art of Meditation
8. HOPE: Reflections on the Afterlife and the Interconnectedness of All
9. SPIRITUAL PATH: Receiving Strength from Our Faith Traditions
10. GRACE: The Transforming Power of Grief
11. RESOURCES FOR HEALING

The book also has an annotated bibliography with 110 books in it (including books for caregivers), and many other resources like magazines and journals, music, videos, DVDs, and websites. Many of the websites can be found as links on my website as well: www.thelastadventureoflife.com, or www.changewithcourage.com. Also, I have developed some “gift baskets for the soul” related to some of the integrative therapies I suggest in the last chapter. You can see more about my Soul Baskets at www.soulbaskets.com.

Frequently asked Questions:
• What is a near death experience? How have they transformed people’s lives?
• How can I start the “conversation” with our loved one who is sick and perhaps dying? Or with my loved ones who I must leave behind?
• What are some of the signs that death is approaching? How can I assist my loved one at this time?
• How can I talk with my children – and other young people – about death?
• What is meditation and how can it help someone before and at the time of death?
• What are some alternatives, besides more medication, to cope with the pain?
• What is hospice? How does it work?
• Where can I learn more about families directing their own family member’s funeral in a natural, personalized way?
• How can I cope with the grief I am experiencing since the death of my loved one(s)?

Pitch reporters with our up-to-date media databases:

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: I wrote Before It Had A Name with people like me in mind who fight depression, obsessive compulsive disorder or any other “mental and emotional” disorder. I’d lived in shame for so many years and it’s time to drag the demon out of the darkness.

Q: What is the book about?
A: I had been a child training my brain to be accepted in a ‘normal’ world when a condition with no name became “Her”. I turned the condition into an individual who I co-exist with. I created two systems that have not only saved my sanity but helped me find joy in the dark world of chemical imbalance and bi-polar shame. Brain Coffins for the daily mental clutter and Brain Brakes for a softer landing after the extreme highs.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I feel I am the best person to write this book because I not only suffer like millions of others with this demon but I have learned to do it all without medication.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: This book is different because there is no confusing medical terminology. It is the story of my life and how I managed to survive six divorces, a son’s death and this demon to find real joy in life.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: The thing I’d like people to know about this book is it is the life story of a girl who lived with more that her share of tragedy but came out the victor of this demon… Praising God everyday for it!

For more information, visit http://www.beforeithadaname.com

Pitch reporters with our up-to-date media databases:

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: 14 years old and up.

Q: What is the book about?
A: Swish: Maria in the Mourning is a non-fiction narrative which chronicles a mother’s process of mourning after losing her only child, the beautiful and charismatic Maria to a heroin overdose at 23.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: As a playwright I have produced six plays, and produced 3 plays for children. I have published poetry and won awards for my writing; in addition to teaching writing for twenty-five years, I have a B.A. in Literature and Theater (magna cum laude) and a M.A.T. in Secondary English Education both from Manhattanville College. After losing my only child to heroin, I needed to write a book that would appeal to everyone.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: Swish transcends the subject of addiction and captures the essence of a life lost, and every range of emotion that parenting, relationships, loving, losing and moving on can explore. Not a biography, the experience is told from the mother’s point of view, then shifts to the voice of Maria through her letters and journal entries during her addiction.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: This book has a performance version: Swish: Maria in the Mourning: The Monologues, which has received stellar reviews as a theatrical success, and after three performances, continues to journey to many more stages.

Pam
Swish: Maria in the Mourning
Outskirts Press

Pitch reporters with our up-to-date media databases:

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Women of all ages; helping professionals; and anyone interested in stories about relationships, dysfunctional families, and how an individual’s upbringing can inform who they become.

Q: What is the book about?
A: A story about how a person can connect to others in a meaningful and satisfying way, despite a tortured past and a tangled family history. In this tale, Amber Cushing, abused by her mother’s boyfriend, strives to overcome this history; propelled along on a path characterized by a whirlwind of wrong choices, she continues seeking answers and solutions, struggling to find love and acceptance.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: Some of the issues presented in this book came about because of my career as a social worker, helping abused children and young people overcome their tragic histories.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: I injected my own personal experiences into the story, transforming what might ordinarily be a simple chronicle of abuse into a tale of hope and redemption.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: Some of the peripheral characters in this tale are repeated in some of my other books, such as Miles to Go. My first published novel, An Accidental Life, introduces the character of Savannah Chacon, a former teen parent, who has transcended that history to become a promising college student; incidentally, she shares the boarding house where Amber Cushing lands, like a wounded bird.

Below are links to my home page and a couple of blogs; a link to Author’s Den, which features books and a blog; the link to My Space; and finally, a link to my GoodReads Author profile.

http://laurelrainsnowcreations.com/default.aspx

http://laurelrainsnowcreations.blogspot.com/

http://www.zimbio.com/member/laurelrainsnow

http://www.authorsden.com/laurelrainsnow

http://www.myspace.com/laurelrainsnow

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1185466.Laurel_Rain_Snow

And here is a link to an interview for COOL BOOK OF THE DAY.

http://www.coolbookoftheday.com/miles-to-go/