Body of Work: Finding the Thread That Ties Your Story Together

By Pamela Slim

Body of Work reads like a memoir but is more than any memoir you have ever read. It is a life story that shows in detail how to transform from where you’ve been, to where you might be and the rationale behind it.

Aside from being a pleasant read, Body of Work is also an instruction manual about looking at your life experiences, and how they make you the person you are today; how to transform yourself creating the life you want by examining your life experiences, what you have learned along the way and how to transform in to the future you.

If you are feeling stuck in life, wondering what to do, Body of Work is the perfect book to help you understand where you are and possibly metamorphose into a better you.

Body of Work, is also an excellent manual on how to write a memoir for anyone considering writing a memoir or keeping a journal.

This reviewer awards five out of five stars to Body of Work by Pamela Slim with a must read recommendation.

Reviewer

Robert Medak

Freelance Writer, Blogger, Editor, Proofreader, Reviewer, and Marketer

She Wore Emerald Then: Reflections on Mothers and Motherhood

By Magdalena Ball and Carolyn Howard-Johnson

She Wore Emerald Then is a collection of poems by Magdalena Ball and Carolyn Howard-Johnson.

The free verse (Written without rhyme or conventional patterns of poetry) poetry in She Wore Emerald Then is well written and entertaining for readers of any age, not just poetry readers that celebrates Mothers and Motherhood.

She Wore Emerald Then is a book that everyone should read and experience the writing and what the poems say to them. Poetry is about evoking emotion, not written to attempt understanding what was in the author’s mind at the time of penning.

She Wore Emerald Then is a recommended reading and awarded five out of five stars.

Purchase a copy of She Wore Emerald Then and enjoy a celebration Mothers and Motherhood from two gifted writers.

Reviewed by

Robert Medak

Freelance Writer, Editor, Reviewer

The Power of Storytelling

By Ty Bennett

Although The Power of Storytelling is geared toward presentation storytelling, Would be, and experienced writers should read this book because some of the techniques lend themselves to authoring books.

Books are a different type of presentation than those on stage. Everyone should be a good storyteller in social circumstances, in business, and of course in books.

Mr. Bennett offers how excellent storytelling is a requirement in presenting speeches, audio and visual presentations, and more techniques to become a better storyteller in any situation.

The Power of Storytelling is approximately one-hundred and sixty pages filled with all of the information on becoming a better storyteller.

Being a good storyteller is important to business people who must explain what they do when networking. Businesspeople should be comfortable with the elevator pitch, and authors must be good storytellers for their readers.

The Power of Storytelling is a recommended read for anyone who wishes to be a better storyteller for all occasions.

Like to tell stories and be better in situations where a good story is needed, get a copy.

Mr. Bennett’s The Power of Storytelling receives five stars.

Reviewed by

Robert Medak

Freelance Writer, Blogger, Editor, Proofreader, and Reviewer learning Marketing

Follow the author: http://xeeme.com/RobertMedak

Thrown under the Bus: The rise and fall of an American worker

By Teresa Zerilli-Edelglass

Thrown under the Bus is the cathartic tale of a woman who put herself through college and entered what she thought would be a career in a government job with what most people known by the acronym MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority), or buses and subways.

Thrown under the Bus takes place in the state of New York, and in the boroughs of New York City, at a time when most of the jobs were held by older white men whose opinion of women is that they should be at home in the kitchen.

There was blatant cronyism. Many male managers did whatever they could to get women to leave, and promotions to supervisory capacity filled by men; regardless of any qualified female candidates.

Being female in this work environment meant harassment, unrealistic expectations, and doing the work of people who should be doing the work because it was their job; not a subordinate who was doing their pay level job.

Working for a government agency isn’t all roses. In Thrown under the Bus, the harassment caused a women unbelievable stress, demotions, and all manner of means to get her to walk away from a career she put herself through college and desired above anything. Yet she persevered as along as humanly possible until such time as the work place became intolerable causing psychological problems.

Going to the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) only exacerbated her problems, and the EEOC representatives sided with her employer. Suing a government entity only caused more problems.

If a hostile work environment was not enough to endure, try having the MTA deny benefits because you have no union representation.

This saga went on for over a decade.

Every congressperson should receive a copy of Thrown under the Bus, and the master at arms should make them read it.

Thrown under the Bus receives five stars out of a possible five stars with a must read recommendation.

Reviewer

Robert Medak

Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, Reviewer, and Blogger

http://rjmedak.wordpress.com

Talon, Flight for Life: Book 3 in the Talon Series

By Gigi Sedlmayer

Talon, Flight for Life is the third book in the Talon series featuring Matica, and her birds (Condors) Tamo, Tima, and their offspring Talon saved from poachers by Matica and her father, Crayn before Talon was born.

Matica cared for Talon as an egg and they have become best friends along with his parents who have a special bond with Matica.

In Talon, Flight for Life Matica and Crayn go on a long trek in preparation for a trip from Peru to Australia; also pick up medicine at the hospital in Cajamarca.

On the trip from her home and back, Matica saw many animals, rain forests, cities with homes and a hotel.

On the way back home, something happens to Matica’s father, Crayn and they must stay on a large bolder overnight.

Without giving anything away, Matica’s birds perform something that surprises Crayn, as the trio of Tamo, Tima, and Talon act with almost human thought and presence of mind that no one believes possible.

To find out more, you will have to read Talon, Flight for Life and see the miraculous trio of birds in action for yourself.

The Talon series is for readers of all ages. Even for parents to read to their children. Talon, Flight for Life is about the bond between parent and child, and the courage that is within each of us and found when the situation arises and one must control themselves in a time of chaos.

Talon, Flight for Life is a five out of five stars read.

Reviewed by

Robert Medak

Freelance Writer/Blogger/Editor/Proofreader/Reviewer

http://rjmedak.wordpress.com

Solomon's Justice: A PTSD Short Story

By Phyllis Zimbler Miller

The main character of Solomon's Justice is Judge Robert Solomon. Many soldiers, after being in a battle zone where life expectancy is an unknown, they see things that no one should ever see, deal with it, and live with it for the rest of their life. Each individual must handle it the best they can.

Psychological trauma can happen to anyone, from private citizen to soldier. Many soldiers come home changed, and unable to let things go as they try to reenter a normal society.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) called battle fatigue, combat fatigue, combat neurosis, and shell shock in WWI and WWII.

PTSD described by one dictionary as, “An anxiety disorder associated with serious traumatic events and characterized by such symptoms as survivor guilt, reliving the trauma in dreams, numbness, and lack of involvement with reality, or recurrent thoughts and images.”

Solomon's Justice is a short story about a soldier suffering from PTSD in front of Robert Solomon Judge on trial for committing a crime, and how the judge deals out a special brand of justice to the ex-soldier before him in court.

Solomon's Justice is a quick but gripping tale that is a must read for everyone, because it gives a bit of insight into what many people go through who have been diagnosed with PTSD.

This reviewer awards five stars out of a possible five stars to Solomon's Justice

Reviewer

Robert Medak

https://xeeme.com/robertmedak

A Full-Grown Man

By Bill Hunt

The protagonist Ben, is in love with the beautiful Anna, but more than age difference makes their love impossible. Ben’s plans for his future with Anna must take a backseat due to circumstances beyond his control.

Ben must drop out of high school and take over Bennefield Farm at the age of18, losing as much if not more than he gained; the way Ben saw things.

A Full-Grown Man reads like a memoir, which also contains some history of living in southern Louisiana, in the town of Gold Dust. The timeframe as told by Ben of A Full-Grown Man is from the 50s thru the70s.

In each of our lives, there are many paths to becoming who we are and finding our one true love. A Full-Grown Man is the tale of Ben’s search for the love he knows is his. The search takes Ben many years, people touching his life, and many ancestors controlling his life.

Ben, at the age of approximately 18, must learn to deal with the angst of youth, becoming a responsible landowner; responsible for the well-being of others as well as others working the land. Because of others in his life controlling him for longer than he knew, Ben had no choice.

Over time, Ben learns much about how people around him have been devious behind his back, and stories about the people living in Gold Dust, Louisiana. The many untold stories Ben knew for most of his life growing up, and living in Gold Dust.

A Full-Grown Man is a story everyone can relate to about being in love for the first time, in their teen years.  

A Full-Grown Man is a five star book that everyone will find an excellent read.

Reviewed by Robert Medak, Allbooks Review Int. www.allbooksreviewint.com

A Secure Heart

By Charity Parkerson

A Secure Heart is a story with something for everyone. It contains everything from battles to romance, with characters with flaws just like average people looking for love in their life; and as in real life, you never know when or how you’ll meet the one.  

Black Ops personnel, a security company, an artist, and more are within the pages of A Secure Heart. You’ll have to read A Secure Heart to get it all.

A Secure Heart is an engaging read for anyone who picks up a copy, which I recommend.

A Secure Heart is not for young children because it contains some sex scenes. While not explicit, for younger readers, parents should review first.

This reviewer found A Secure Heart by Charity Parkerson well written and a good read. It kept this reviewer entertained with the story and characters with empathy while wondering what was going to happen next. Reading about the character’s backstory was an interesting addition that gives the reader a reason why the characters act the way they do.

A Secure Heart is recommended as a must read,  and is awarded five stars out of a possible five stars.

Reviewed By

Robert Medak

Freelance Writer, Blogger, Editor, Proofreader, Reviewer, Marketer

http://rjmedak.wordpress.com

http://xeeme.com/RobertMedak

Writing Is A Business

By Karen Rose Smith 

Writing Is A Business isn’t just another book about writing. Karen is an author with over 20-years in the writing business.

Make no mistake; writing is indeed a business as Karen expertly explains in her book Writing Is A Business.

Writing Is A Business is the perfect gift for anyone considering a writing career, and for today’s authors because of changes to the way book publishing is changing, and authors must keep up with the business of writing.

Anyone calling themselves a writer needs a copy of Writing Is A Business in their reference library. Writing has always been a business, because of changes in publishing, writers are required to learn the business side of writing and publishing. Writing Is A Business will help writers with the basics, and then writers must learn what they need from there to help their career in writing.

Writers need research for their stories; they also need Writing Is A Business to research the business side of their careers.

This reviewer found the information in Writing Is A Business useful and recommend writers grab a copy and learn about the other hats they must wear in today’s book publishing environment.

Writing Is A Business receives five stars out of a possible five stars.

Robert Medak

Freelance Writer, Blogger, Editor, Proofreader, Reviewer, Marketer

My Social Media Sites http://xeeme.com/RobertMedak

A Dragon’s Path to Ascension

By J. C. Harker 

Follow the trials of Tharia in A Dragon’s Path to Ascension.

Tharia must hide from those that would harm her. While traveling she must avoid letting anyone see that she is different. This difference could cause her death at the hands of anyone who notices her flesh as others of her type.

She has seen what people are capable of when people notice beings like her. After seeing what happened to one of her kind, she is on a mission of survival, and ascension to a higher form.

Her mission is to travel to her mother without detection. If she can make it, she might survive.

Her trip is fraught with increasing danger and betrayal. Readers will have to read A Dragon’s Path to Ascension if they wish to find out if Tharia makes it to her mother.

Who is the woman Kaima? What does she have to do with Tharia?

When Tharia and Kaima meet, will there be sparks?

Reading, A Dragon’s Path to Ascension is the only way to find the answers to these questions.

A Dragon’s Path to Ascension is a book the can be read in a single sitting. The pace is one that by the end, readers will want more from author, J. C. Harker.

A Dragon’s Path to Ascension is a story for all ages.

A Dragon’s Path to Ascension is 5 stars out of a possible 5 stars.

Reviewer

Robert Medak

Freelance Writer/Blogger/Editor/Proofreader/Reviewer/Marketer

Find me on the Web at http://xeeme.com/RobertMedak

Not in the Wind, Earthquake, or Fire

By Philip Sharp

This review is from a pre-pub copy of Not in the Wind, Earthquake, or Fire. The story is a memoir of a soldier’s stay in Iraq written in a journal his wife gave him.

How would you react to being in the middle of a war zone, where you can’t trust the people living around you? What are the living conditions, and what kind of a mindset would you have in such a place?

Not in the Wind, Earthquake, or Fire is a book that will give you a first-hand look through the eyes of a soldier in a war zone with IEDs, and infiltration of fighters who don't what non-Muslims in their country  living at all.

Not in the Wind, Earthquake, or Fire also contains photographs of troupes in camp trying to make as normal a live as possible in unusual conditions.

If readers are at all interested in finding out more about where U.S. dollars are going and how our troupes are coping, reading Not in the Wind, Earthquake, or Fire will give you some idea.

This reviewer found the story engaging and worth reading for many reasons, and awards four out of five stars recommendation.

Robert Medak

Writer/Editor/Reviewer/Marketer

An Affinity For Shadows

Author Liz R. Newman

This reviewer received a pre-pub manuscript of An Affinity For Shadows for review. This reviewer found the manuscript in need of some editing.

An Affinity For Shadows is the story of two friends, Kate and Tabitha from different backgrounds who were roommates in college that became friends despite their backgrounds.

Kate became a Television journalist while Tabitha went her own way after college. Kate, centered on her career lost touch with Tabitha after sharing an apartment with her. Kate was serious about her career while Tabitha was more of a party girl.

The 9/11 attack happened while Kate was working on her on air show. She and her friend Gibbs went to tape a spot for her show. Gibbs had a heart attack and passed on the spot while holding the camera on his shoulder. Later she meets an enigmatic man, Sal (who is the Marques Sal Oliveri), who is unknown to Kate and thinks little of him at the time.

Because of Gibbs death and Deenie who was sleeping with the boss, Kate was having a hard time dealing with life in general, and love in particular. Kate wondered if she was even capable of loving after being asked to be the Maid of Honor at Tabitha’s wedding even though they haven’t seen each other in over four years.

Because of a rare medical condition and a man in Kate’s life, things didn’t go very well for either Kate or Tabitha. The Tabloids caught Kate in disarray slipping on ice and snow as she ran out of the Church during the ceremony.

Now was the beginning of Kate’s PTSD and her questioning her life, and if the love of a good man would ever be a part of it.

Kate works on a new show while she also takes a vacation in Italy until Tabitha shows up in need of her friend Kate. Here she meets Sal again and things change for Kate in ways she could never have dreamed of.

What transpires next is only for those that read the book. It is engrossing, funny, and tragic with some interesting exchanges between Kate and Tabitha, especially while they are both in Italy.

This reviewer can only award three out of five stars for this manuscript, but with judicious editing, would award a solid four and a half stars out of five to An Affinity For Shadows by Liz R. Newman.

Reviewer for AllBook Reviews
Robert J Medak
Writer, blogger, editor, reviewer

Jihad Genocide: The Last Jihad

By Ted Habib

Jihad Genocide is a story about a call to alert the powers that be in the United States and other countries about the impending Jihad and a possible date of December 31st where multiple teams of Jihadists are set to employee suicide bombers to unleash a biological agent to kill more people at one time than the September 11, 2001 attack on the twin towers in New York.

The main character in Jihad Genocide is Samuel Josef a Muslim who converted to Christianity while living in India and about his siblings who are part of the Jihadists believers that are sending money for and work at learning about what they can do to bring Islam to the world as the only allowable religion and to the utter elimination of all nonbelievers.

Is Jihad a Holy War, or is it something more diabolical. As mentioned in Jihad Genocide Samuel Josef explains in detail how his siblings work at corrupting the U.S. judicial system through intimidation and death threats if rulings go against them or the people who are working with them in their struggle to destroy the very thing that allows them the freedom to do so, while using fraud, money laundering, and scams to send money to train the next generation of Jihadists (which some call terrorists).

This is a book that all at the seat of government should read and act upon.
Jihad Genocide receives four out of five stars, but with some judicious editing could receive a higher rating. This is a must read wake-up call to free societies around the world.

Disclaimer: This reviewer was compensated for his review, which in no way relates to the rating of this book. All reviews by this author are unbiased and do not dephttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifend on any type of remuneration whether it be a complimentary copy or other form of compensation to the reviewer.

Robert J Medak
Robert J Medak Writing & More
http://www.stormywriter.com

Facebook Fame

By Laura Roeder

In reading Facebook Fame, this reviewer found a wealth of information about creating a Facebook page that will aid the novice as well as the more advanced user in creating a fantastic presence for their business enterprise.

This reviewer will be using Facebook Fame as his reference in updating his Facebook page and establishing a more formed concept in building a following.

Gaining a following will not be overnight, but with subtle changes over time as the Facebook page owner takes the steps they feel comfortable with, over time followers will happen.

If you are like this reviewer that has a product or service to offer, people are the lifeblood of your enterprise. Without clients, you have no enterprise.

By reading Facebook Fame, you or your tech can implement the edits to improve your page, or even a personal page should you desire it.

Facebook Fame is rife with examples and diagrams to follow Laura as she teaches you how to improve your Facebook presence even though you might now be a tech geek. Just follow the steps in Facebook Fame and you will improve your page without having to pay some tech loads of money.

This reviewer cannot impress how well he feels in recommending Facebook Fame as a must read for those wanting to create a Facebook presence.

Facebook Fame receives five out of five stars from this reviewer.

Robert Medak
Freelance Writer/Editor/Reviewer
Robert J Medak Writing & More

The Fried Twinkie Manifesto

By Ryan Moehring

The Fried Twinkie Manifesto is a series of vignettes that have humor, some language that may not be suitable for all, and well written with believable characters and situations.

The Fried Twinkie Manifesto may have an interesting name, but well worth the read and a book that you will not have to sit up for hours to complete since the stories are ones read in a short time, so don’t worry about finishing a chapter before bedtime.

The Fried Twinkie Manifesto is a book for adults because of the content of some of the stories within the covers. This reviewer enjoyed reading The Fried Twinkie Manifesto. As a reviewer, I recommend The Fried Twinkie Manifesto as a book to pick up. Readers will enjoy a wonderful time reading about different situations and people. You will have a fun time with the stories and situations, like the exchange student living in Mexico.

Pick up a copy of The Fried Twinkie Manifesto and enjoy yourself.

This reviewer awards four and one-half out of five stars to The Fried Twinkie Manifesto.

Is She Naturally Thin or Disciplined?

Insider Secrets of the Sexy and Slim!
By Sally Shields

Is She Naturally Thin or Disciplined? Contains the story of real women giving their insights on maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and weight in age groups from 20’s through the 60’s.”

Within the pages of “Is She Naturally Thin or Disciplined? You can read how women have found what works for them in maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle so they are productive in their pursuits in various professions.

You will learn about the contributors’ food choices, exercise choices, and how they manage an ideal weight. The contributors range in age from early 20s to 60s. Each has found a plan that works for them.

The gist of the contributors’ plans, are good food, plenty of water, and exercise.

If you are tired of battling with the yo-yo weight problem, Is She Naturally Thin or Disciplined? May just be the book for you.

This reviewer is of the opinion that this book is not just for women, but is for anyone wanting to shed the extra pounds and keep them off.

Is She Naturally Thin or Disciplined? Receives five stars of out of five with a must read recommendation.

Robert Medak
Freelance Writer/Editor/Reviewer