Theresa Nash
May 31, 2016 | 1st pages, Crime, Literary
Prologue
Why was there hardly anyone else on Il Molo? The pier extended out from the concrete walkway that wound down from the eastern edge of the village. The pier’s elongated rectangular shape jutted out fifty meters from Varigotti’s beach, the last village before the tunnel on the Via Aurelia leading to Noli and Spotorno.
About halfway down its length the pier angled forty degrees to the right. It rose up roughly three meters above the Mediterranean and measured about two meters in width. The floor was grey concrete and the pier was bordered with a knee high barrier sixty centimeters in width and covered with reddish square terracotta tiles. The barrier was perfectly suitable for sitting on and gazing out to sea or at the passersby.
Martha walked toward the end of the Molo, unsuccessfully trying to avoid the water being whipped by the wind onto the pier. She had wandered out alone tonight because she was restless. She and her husband were leaving in three days and Martha wanted to look at the sea from the vantage point of the Molo. She wanted to smell the salty air carried by the strong winds and feel the occasional cold droplets of sea water that splashed onto her skin as the waves bashed against the boulders. She shivered a bit. Her light sweater and shorts were not enough protection against the chilly night air.
They had been coming here for almost ten years together and he even longer. This was the ideal place for a summer vacation – the sea, the beach, the people, and of course the Ligurian cuisine. This past year had been complicated and there were some decisions she had to make about the future. Her husband seemed to have not noticed that she had become a bit distant. Or was she just imagining it? Was he too wrapped up in his own world? In his own career? In his own enjoyment?
In the middle of her thoughts, Martha turned around quickly. She just now heard the faint steps behind her. The Molo was empty except for her and the two men coming toward her. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at the tall men who now stood before her. One was dark and the other one was blond, but both were well tanned. Martha greeted them, “Oh, you all scared me. What brings you out here tonight?
Colm Gillis
Mar 9, 2015 | 1st pages, Historical
This book is an investigation into socio-political theory and practice. Inspired by the humiliating circumstances of Ireland’s public disgrace that has unfolded from 2008 down to the present day, it does not purport to provide an exposition of this crisis, whose ramications will probably be felt long into the future. Rather, it probes historical circumstances that seeded the birth of modern states.
Notwithstanding the indirect nature of its applicability to the current situation, such an analysis is crucial for an
understanding of how states function in the present day.
Before 2008, I had little interest in politics, occupying no more than the role of a passive spectator of the ambitious and furthermore was a believer in the fundamentals of progress, most famously encapsulated in Ireland’s case
by the sobriquet of the ‘Celtic Tiger.’ Money papered over the cracks that opened as a result of the rapid liberalization of Ireland in the lasl quarter of the last century, with major social problems noticeably increasing during the
Celtic Tiger years.
Undoubtedly, many were aware of this, but as a nation we ignored it and traded security, not to mind dignity and culture, for luxury, an easy bargain to grab when a country is not in the throes of an existential crisis. Social problems are much the same now as they were before the crash and when the golden web was unspun the fragile structure was not so much revealed. Its shoddiness merely became more apparent.
Mar 3, 2021 | Interviews
This week, we’re talking with Fred Amir about his book, Rapid Recovery from Back and Neck Pain: A Proven Nine-Step Recovery Plan
Tell us something unexpected about yourself!
I make delicious homemade ice cream. My wife tells me it tastes great! LOL.
Why do you write?
My life question is, “What can I learn from this situation and help others with it?” Whatever challenge I face I try to learn from it and share what helped me. So I write to help and heal people with personal experiences and discoveries.
Where did you get the inspiration for your current book?
My inspiration came from decisively overcoming a serious, devastating health challenge.
I was disabled for 25 months with back, neck, shoulder, knee, and foot pain as well as pain and numbness in my legs, arms, and hands. As a father of two toddlers, it was a very difficult period of my life. I was frustrated with the ineffective medical treatments that at times made my condition worse. I had a lot of questions about back pain for which doctors had no answers. So I did a lot of research.
And then one day, a miracle happened. Yes, a miracle! The answer to all my questions came in the mail. What was that answer? It was an innovative treatment program from New York University. I was able to supercharge it with techniques used by Olympic athletes for peak performance to design my Nine-Step Rapid Recovery Plan.
My recovery began immediately. Unbelievably, I completely recovered shortly after. But not just from my most debilitating pain; my allergies, heart murmur, and gastritis also went away. And there was more. During an eye exam, the ophthalmologist told me that my eyes were fine and no longer needed my reading glasses of 14 years! So this was a total, extraordinary transformation of my health all through taking one simple approach. I was in disbelief at how quickly the quality of my life improved while simultaneously alarmed that this information was not already widespread knowledge by those in pain and those in field professionally treating the symptoms.
I wanted to share this miraculous, attainable recovery with everyone. I started to teach my Rapid Recovery Plan to others and they too recovered. I then felt compelled to write Rapid Recovery from Back and Neck Pain: A Nine-Step Recovery Plan and reach others with this empowering and life-changing information.
Today, more than 20 years since its publication, readers around the world have read my story and have rapidly recovered. It is the most wonderful feeling to get an email from a reader who can finally play with their children, hike mountains after being in a wheelchair for years, run only weeks after having cancelled a back surgery, go back to work and go out with family and friends. You can read their amazing success stories at www.fredamir.com/testimonials.
What do you enjoy the most about your genre?
This genre gives people tools to feel they can be and are, in fact, in control of their pain. They can conquer it. They can work towards complete healing; mentally, physically and emotionally.
How would you describe your writing process?
Since my books are based on my personal life and health challenges, they are part biographical and part medical research.
I organize the information based on my life story and provide the medical research as needed to support the strategies and the results so that the reader walks with me through my own journey. So instead of a book focused on statistics and conceptualized facts, the feedback I’ve overwhelmingly received is that readers see my journey as a reflection of theirs. More importantly, my readers love it. In the words of one Amazon reviewer, “And that is my review for Rapid Recovery from Back and Neck Pain. ‘Standing and applauding the author for a great job.”
What do you think authors have to gain from participating in social media?
With social media, authors have the unique opportunity to engage with readers, to learn from others, and most importantly, to build community. Especially, when in chronic pain, it can often be exhausting for the immediate people in one’s life to remember to feel hope when they face shouldering more daily responsibility while simultaneously trying to help their loved one find a solution to their constant pain. It places great stress on the individual in chronic pain, and those supporting that person.
However, with social media, the opportunity to connect with people from around the world provides relief, hope and a connection that may otherwise not be possible because of the physical limitations of chronic pain. And the knowledge that one is not alone in processing their disability, and that those supporting that individual have others who know what their responsibilities can be like emotionally, can be a beautiful place to open the first doors in the healing process for a person who sometimes feel they no longer have hope.
As an author, it’s a gift to witness, to listen, to be a part of validating people’s lived experiences, and to sometimes have the honor of sharing some insights which might further support their process.
What advice would you have for other writers?
Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, consider how your writing can make a positive impact on people's lives. Stories and experiences that give hope.
How do you select your books’ titles and covers?
AS for the title, I aim to make my titles clear, simple and accessible. I want readers to know that through following a simple, deliberate method, their healing is attainable and the results consistently achievable because of a calculated method.
And for the cover, I want readers to be able to imagine themselves in that space, inspired and empowered, healed and ready to take on the whole world… and to finally be able to show the love they’ve been so deeply mourning being unable to physically, mentally and emotionally express with those they most love in the world.
What's your next step?
I have written three books on health so far and plan to write three more. My next book is on how to quickly and easily overcome stress and have fun doing it. It will be published this Spring and is based on more than 25 years of coaching my clients on how to conquer stress, tension, worry, anxiety, and depression in five simple steps. I have seen amazing results and want to share these proven strategies with a wider audience.
How do you react to seeing a new review for your book?
I appreciate learning what others think of my books. Readers’ feedback is very helpful.
FOLLOW FRED ON TWITTER!
30th Century: Escape
