In honor of my book, Family Portrait, Changes Vol. 1 which is releasing next week, I’d like to celebrate the great books and authors that I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing on Plain Talk.
Serenity and Beauty by Rita Mosiman.
Rita Mosiman, performing solo artist, vocal coach and accompanist, has been winner of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions in Arizona, guest solo artist at Whitworth College, Spokane, Washington, the University of New Mexico, and the University of Arizona Symphony.
In addition to solo recitals in which she often specialized in music of Spain, where she resided for 12 years, she has had lead roles in numerous operas and zarzuelas. Rita has been a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, for over twenty five years, and is listed in Marquis Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who of American Women.
As a musician, Rita knows that the beauty and pathos of life imbue one’s art and one’s art imbues all facets of life. She has spent most of her professional life inspiring others though music. To this she now adds the arts of writing and photography.
Rita’s artistic photographs are feelings. She wants to be there in that place again; she wants to share with others, not only that place, but what it feels like. ”A sunset isn’t simply a sunset. It has its meaning.”
The photographs in Serenity and Beauty were taken over a number of years, most when hiking. Many were taken with disposable cameras. Rita prefers a small camera that fits easily in her backpack.
When not singing, playing the piano or writing, Rita can often be found hiking in New Mexico’s beautiful mountains.
Check out my interview with Rita Mosiman here.
This book makes an excellent gift for the poets and nature lovers in your life. Purchase your copy here.
The House of Pearl by Robert Max Bovill and Susan B. Flanagan.
When pop star Elia Pearl returns home after twenty years, she finds new love and comes to terms with a family history that is full of ghosts and betrayals. The home is a 120 year-old old Victorian built on the Sausalito waterfront, and is as storied as the city of San Francisco across the bay.
Elia meets the dashing yacht Captain, Paul Hamilton and they begin a passionate affair, fueled in part by the devilish spirits in the house and Elia’s need for love. Through the course of their romance, Elia unfolds the tragic tale of the house to Paul, trying to unravel the mysteries and put the fitful spirits to rest, once and for all.
Elia recounts the tale of the House of Pearl, she tells a story of love and betrayal, all beginning over 100 hundred years ago when the fabled Sea Captain, Edwin “The Pearl” Harrison married a lovely Japanese girl, Oshima, who traveled alone to San Francisco to meet up with her husband. On the journey, she has a lustful affair with a handsome lieutenant. Upon returning to her husband, she finds her happy married life short-lived and meets with a terrible death.
Check out my interview with Robert Bovill and Susan Flanagan here.
Purchase your copy of The House of Pearl here.
Incarnate by Lawrence Weill.
What should a woman do if she believes she is the mother of the second coming of Christ? This is the problem Lara Joyner faces when she comes to believe, through her visions, through the look on his face, through her cards, and through the thousands of hidden signs she sees in nature, that her son is Christ incarnate.
Incarnate is driven by this woman’s character and readers struggle between wanting to sympathize and knowing she is deeply troubled. In the end, we discover how her delusion turns many worlds upside down, as well as how faith overpowers reason. The story follows Lara and her two sons as she pushes Dale to perform miracles and save humanity. Although obviously unable to do so, he goes through the motions to protect his little brother Louis. Told alternately from Lara’s perspective (in the present tense) and from the other principles in the story, the plot follows the trials brought on by Lara’s spiraling madness, her husband’s desperate search for his family, and the children’s bewilderment and fear.
Check out my interview with Lawrence Weill here.
Purchase a copy of Incarnate here.
Harmattan by Gavin Weston
Haoua is a young girl growing up in a remote village in the Republic of Niger. Spirited, independent and intelligent, she has benefited from a stable home life and a loving and attentive mother and enjoys working and playing with her siblings and friends.
Haoua worships her elder brother, Abdelkrim, a serving soldier who sends money home to support the family. But, on his last home visit, Abdelkrim quarrels with their father accusing him of gambling away the money he sends and being the cause of their mother’s worsening health. It also emerges that their father plans to take a second wife.
Despite this Haoua finds contentment in her schoolwork, her dreams of becoming a teacher and in writing assiduously to the family in Ireland who act as her aid sponsors.
But for Haoua, there are new storm clouds on the horizon: as civil strife mounts in Niger, she begins to fear for Abdelkrim’s safety; Her mother’s illness is much more serious and further advanced than anyone had recognised, and her father’s plans are turning out to be far more threatening than she could have ever imagined.
Approaching her twelfth birthday, Haoua feels alone and vulnerable for the very first time in her life.
Check out my interview with Gavin Weston here.
Purchase a copy of Harmattan here.
Win Your Boss’s Respect by Gholamreza Nazari
This book provides a set of lessons for those who want to foster their working relationships. The seven lessons are vital for all employees who are engaged with employee-boss relationships. In sharing these experiences, you will be able to avoid false steps and costly mistakes. The insights are simply ways of strengthening and enriching your experience of job relationship, both with current bosses, and in new interactions to come.
The book aims to impart a message that is motivational, upbeat, and pragmatic. By absorbing the lessons this book conveys, and putting them into frequent practices, you can protect yourself against destructive and painful working relationships. It’s also expected that the insights will help in your career advancement, and they will give you an edge over the competition when you are being considered for rewards and promotions.
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