The Unbred by Oscar Valdez – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Oscar Valdez will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Entrepreneurship is considered one of the most ancient professions in human history. So, why then, is entrepreneurship so difficult to break into for minorities? What are the social and economical roadblocks and what can you do to tear them down and make a mark for yourself as a true corporate misfit?

As a managing partner of seven separate multi-million-dollar businesses operating in twenty-three States, I’ve discovered there’s no single formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur – but there are certain rules, especially for minorities, that must be abided by to avoid operational blunders. Any book can tell you it all comes down to planning and having the right mindset, but these gross oversimplifications are precisely why many fail to grasp the true keys to success.

Throughout these nine chapters you’ll learn all aspects of the minority entrepreneur’s journey, from starting a venture to ensuring its success. You’ll break down the balance between structure and flexibility necessary to grow and flourish as a minority entrepreneur. You’ll decode the complexities of the rules and uncover what obstacles stand before you – and how to rise above them, steadfast and unbred.

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Entrepreneurship is considered one of the most ancient professions in human history. The first thing man did to survive was find a way to fulfill his daily necessities. Those necessities varied from one individual to another. There was always something someone had that someone else desired or wanted—hence, trading was invented, and eventually, entrepreneurship became one of the most decorated professions with the potential of providing the sort of lifestyle people wanted.

Over the years, entrepreneurial methodologies have evolved, and as we step into the twenty-first century, entrepreneurship has become much more technologically oriented, allowing for more sophistication. This profession is something that’s been debated for years in terms of how to become a successful entrepreneur and what are the do’s and don’ts.

Being a successful entrepreneur is widely considered a privilege and something hard to achieve. But most business analysts fail to realize that, for a certain portion of the population, it isn’t easy, despite following every rule in the book. In modern times, where socialization has become the key aspect of entrepreneurship, there are people for whom this profession and the laws governing it haven’t been very kind. In most countries, people belonging to minority groups aren’t presented with equal opportunities compared to those in the majority.

For a minority entrepreneur, like someone who comes from Mexico or Guatemala, or any other Spanish country, the banking systems are very different in terms of providing ease of doing business and aiding them with sufficient capital to start their venture. They’re not as complying as you would expect them to be, and thus, minorities don’t get loans easily from American banks.

Why? Primarily because immigrants don’t have United States credit histories that prove to the banks that they can pay back the loans they’re requesting. There’s also the additional barrier of the cultural differences between countries, with many not offering financing at all, so the system of such loans can be easily overwhelming for new minority business owners in America.

This often leads to businesses of minority entrepreneurs starting with hard-earned and long-saved personal funds instead. And after a while without sufficient capital to sustain their company, under-capitalization becomes the reason for businesses closing. So, when a Latino business owner opens their business, typically it’s because they’ve saved the money themselves throughout their life, doing whatever they did. They use that to fund their venture, but their businesses often crumble due to initial failures because they don’t have a backup investment to keep their company afloat.

About the Author:Born in Guatemala and raised in Los Angeles, Oscar dreamed of becoming a successful business owner. To become a successful entrepreneur seemed unattainable and a far-out dream. Oscar worked his way up the corporate ladder of successful companies gaining several awards along the way. He started several businesses only to witness those businesses fail.

At the age of 43, Oscar suffered multiple health scares, causing him to retire. With newfound time on his hands, he joined childhood friends to start a business venture. His past business failures were a lesson in finding a successful entrepreneurial path. This new venture resulted in a multi-million-dollar conglomerate, which continues to grow every year.

Oscar still lives in Los Angeles with his family and in his spare time he works towards helping the less fortunate through philanthropy and education.

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Outsider by Monica Buchanan – Spotlight and Giveaway

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Monica Buchanan grew up in Jamaica. She revisits her lived experiences of abuse and neglect in early childhood and her younger adult years. Buchanan takes the reader on a palatable path that allows for reflection on one’s own life. She writes about her survival journey, while looking through descriptive lens, she carefully details how exposure to early childhood abuse and neglect within her family helped form patterns, influenced choices, and shaped decisions in her adulthood.

By chronicling familial stories, the roles of parents, siblings, and community, she employs a story-telling and meaning-making approach, that is both painful and entertaining. Even though as a young child I was told I was the problem, I knew intuitively that I did not cause all my problems. I now know that what happened to me within the context of familial (and other) relationships had a name–emotional abuse and neglect.

Growing up I wished there were more people and resources that could help me make sense of my life as I struggled with low self-esteem, insecurities, felt lost, craved attention, and an overall sense of not belonging–I felt like an outsider and desperately wanted to be on the inside.

Buchanan reaffirms that: childhood experiences of abuse and neglect does not mean one has a commutable life sentence of pain and suffering. It does not matter where you are on your healing journey, you can set that stuff aside and reclaim your life. This book is for anyone who grew up in a toxic, abusive, and unhealthy home environment where they felt like they did not belong within the family unit. It is also a book about making changes, forgiveness, and letting go.

 

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Emotional Abuse and Neglect
Experience has taught us that we have only one enduring
weapon in our struggle against mental illness: the emotional
discovery and emotional acceptance of the truth in the
individual and unique history of our childhood.
Alice Miller

 

Impact of Early Childhood Emotional Abuse and Neglect

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. I do not know when or where I first heard this saying, but these days my life is lemons. Not the ripe, luscious, bright yellow lemons we often notice in the grocery store from afar, but sour, bitter, bad tasting ones—a whole lot of them—and there is no sugar to sweeten the lemonade I am making, so I just must swallow the bad tasting, intolerable concoction. I took the childhood garbage I ingested into adulthood. When and where did I learn to swallow this stuff and keep it down? I did not learn it as an adult; I learnt this behavior as a small, innocent, and unsuspecting child.

For many of us, the traumas and dramas of our early childhood experiences have turned us into survivors. MerriamWebster says a survivor is “A person who continues to live after an accident, illness, war, etc.” A more specific definition is “Someone who can keep living or succeeding despite a lot of problems.” The second definition certainly applies to me (and most other survivors of childhood abuse and neglect). Those earlier events have altered our psychological and emotional state in adulthood. We grow up to be adult-children who are not fully “alive” but rather, we endure an existence where we appear to be living a full life but are just getting by; we are surviving.

About the Author:

MONICA BUCHANAN has a PhD in psychology, as well as a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies. Buchanan is semi-retired, after a long and rewarding career in counseling, psychotherapy, and coaching, she now follows her passion and live a purposeful lifestyle. She continues to be enthusiastic and committed to development of strength-based community resources for adults and youths from marginalized and under-served communities, thus she remains an active volunteer. She focuses on mindfulness and relaxation and loves to read, write, garden, and take long meditative walks.

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The Un-Diet Diet by Dr. Douglas Pooley – Spotlight and Giveaway

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The UN-Diet Diet is a health reclamation strategy. It is designed to give the participant simple and effective tools to aid in improving overall health, effectively deal with weight management issues, and to serve as a guide for empowered aging. The program is aimed at those over the age of 55 with existing health compromise. It examines the true genesis of both health and disease through the lens of our evolutionary footprint, drilling down to the essence of what it means to be alive. It is here within the principles which create and maintain life, that we also find the keys to health and longevity.

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One unassailable truth is certain: If you buy into the above negative beliefs about getting older, the likelihood of finding satisfaction in life going forward is slim.

However, if you are genuinely committed to feeling better, the ideas I am about to present in the Un-Diet Diet, may open your mind to a different approach for reclaiming and maintaining health…one that just may potentially help save your life. Proceeding through the book, you are going to be shown a strategy for repair, health maintenance, and creative ageing that is in perfect step with our evolutionary footprint. It is here through man’s continuous adaptation over time that we uncover the roots of health and longevity potential.

The pandemic in 2020 has changed the world forever. It was particularly vicious for those over fifty-five, killing many and leaving even more seriously health compromised. The need for new direction when it comes to the fostering a healthy lifestyle has never been more imperative. I believe that for us to continue to successfully thrive we must reconnect with our inherent health potentials which have continuously adapted and evolved over hundreds of thousands of years.

About the Author:

Dr. Pooley has been in practice over 43 years, and during that time worked with over 20,000 individuals in close to 500,000 clinical encounters. He is married to his soulmate Patti Mugford-Pooley and lives in Lighthouse Cove in Canada. He has served his profession and community in various roles, and lectured nationally and internationally on professionalism as well as the importance of natural approaches to health and wellness. Doug is a former bodybuilding champion and continues to explore new frontiers in health and successful aging.

He is currently in his early seventies going on seventeen.

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Stay Alive by Dr. Min Deng – Spotlight and Giveaway

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In her brave and compassionate non-fiction book “Stay Alive,” Min Deng explores the depths of depression and the ominous specter of suicide. She sheds light on the hidden struggles experienced by those suffering from this silent illness by drawing on personal experiences shaped by childhood mental and emotional abuse.

These pages are filled with moving stories about people battling their own demons, struggling with thoughts of self-destruction, or dealing with the grief of a loved one’s tragic death. Min Deng bravely breaks down the stigmas associated with mental health by exposing the invisible chains that bind.

This succinct yet potent book illuminates the complexities of depression with heartfelt honesty and unwavering empathy, urging readers to understand the silent battles fought behind seemingly unremarkable lives. It serves as a powerful reminder of compassion’s transformative power and that saving lives and healing broken souls requires love, understanding, and empathy.

“Stay Alive” urges us all to work toward cultivating mental health rather than ignoring it. It teaches us that by illuminating the darkness, we can aid in dampening depression’s hold and giving those who are suffering hope.

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Taylor came out as trans to their parents on the Saturday following Thanksgiving in 2019 when they’d just turned fifteen. They wished to take testosterone blockers and estrogen right away, before their next birthday to maximize the chances that their transition would be smooth and successful. Their parents were in complete shock and disbelief.

In one of the angry exchanges my husband and I witnessed between Taylor and their dad when we visited them a few weeks later over Christmas, waving a kitchen knife defiantly in Hector’s face, Taylor screamed in rage and condescension, “You want a son?! Well, I’ll make sure you won’t have one!” The bitterness and resentment in Taylor’s thundering voice scared me.

In the hallway on the fifth floor of the psych ward, I finally released Taylor from my embrace. It was time for me to say goodbye and exit the ward.

“Stay alive, Taylor. Get well! Call me once you get your phone back. Stay alive!” I walked away hurriedly and asked the front desk to buzz me out. Once I stepped out of the hospital, I cried uncontrollably on the sidewalk, crouching next to the brick edge of a flower bed, having a complete mental breakdown on the street in Manhattan, keenly aware of the curious looks of passersby. But I didn’t care.

It would likely be the last time I’d ever see Taylor. The eighteen-year-old teenager whom I’ve known for their entire life, whom I’ve loved as my own child. The five- year-old who clung onto me in terror, their sweaty small hand tightly holding onto mine as their father screamed at them in rage, waving his big hand to threaten to slap them on that hot, humid summer morning in Cozumel Mexico in 2009. I was no longer able to be the mental health advocate I wanted to be for Taylor, to help them get the psychic care they desperately needed.

My heart shattered in pieces; I felt utterly helpless and hopeless.

About the Author: Dr. Min Deng was born and raised in Wuhan, China on September 11th, 1973. She earned a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2008.

As a developmental psychologist, she is interested in parenting, child development, parent-child relationship, marital relationship, domestic abuse, suicide prevention, gender and sexual identity, etc. This book on raising awareness about suicide and its risks is her first of a series on mental health she plans to write.

She is the founder and CEO of Mental Health CPR (MHCPR), a non-profit organization that serves to improve quality of life by increasing the accessibility to mental health resources. MHCPR does this through education, advocacy, and the creation of mental health
resources available to all.

She lives with her husband and their beloved dog Coco in Charleston, South Carolina. In her spare time, she loves walking on the beach, learning to surf, hiking, traveling, listening to audio books, and fashion.

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Voices of Cancer by Lynda Wolters – Spotlight and Giveaway

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“I don’t know what to say” and “I don’t know what to do” are common responses to a life-threatening diagnosis. Voices of Cancer is here to help.

Every cancer story is different, but there is one commonality: both patients and the people supporting them often struggle to properly articulate their wants and needs through particularly challenging and in many cases, uncharted territory. Lynda Wolters knows firsthand: she was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal mantle cell lymphoma in August of 2016.

Voices of Cancer offers a candid look into the world of a cancer patient, informed by Lynda’s own story and conversations had with dozens of patients weighing in on their needs, wants, and dislikes as they navigate the complex world of diagnosis, treatment, and beyond. With comprehensive and accessible insight from people who’ve been there, Voices of Cancer helps educate, dispel fears, and start positive conversations about what a cancer diagnosis truly means, while shining a light on how best to support a loved one on their own terms.

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Voices on Thoughtless Words

There is no perfect thing to say to someone with a devastating disease, but honest conversation and true statements are better than fluffy words that are best suited for use as a slogan. It’s okay to let the patient know you don’t know what to say. It’s okay to let them know you are afraid of offending them or making them feel sad with your words or your personal fear of what they are going through. And it’s okay to just sit with them, cry with them, listen to them vent, or just share space.

Some of my most comforting times were when people just shared space with me. Every time I was hospitalized, my dear friend Michelle would bring all her “gadgets”—cell phone, laptop, etc.—and work from my hospital room. Sometimes staying an hour or more, often not speaking but just sitting with me and working on her laptop, she shared space and her love.

About the Author:

Lynda was born and raised in a tiny farming community of 400 in northern Idaho. She worked on the family farm, with her first job being picking rocks out of the fields and ultimately graduating up the ladder to driving a grain truck and combine during harvest. Following high school, Lynda continued her education in Las Vegas before she moved back home to Idaho to raise her three sons.

Lynda still resides in Idaho with her husband and their peekapoo, Max.

Lynda has worked in the legal field for 30+ years and enjoys ballroom and swing dancing, horseback riding, kayaking, and river rafting. She has a heart for people and enjoys regularly volunteering. She spends the bulk of her spare time reading and writing.

Lynda was diagnosed with terminal stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL) in August 2016. She touts herself as being a thriving warrior of the disease.

Lynda has completed two books of nonfiction: Voices of Cancer, released in October 2019, and Voices of LGBTQ+, released in August 2020.

The Placeholder, Lynda’s debut novel, was released in November 2022.

Lynda has published the following articles: Navigating the Workplace with Chemo Brain, February 23, 2020, Elephants and Tea. and When Masks Weren’t Popular, March 24, 2020, Patient Power. She has spoken on several podcasts, been a guest on a local talk show regarding Voices of Cancer, and given interviews for other outlets and print.

Jane Brody wrote up Voices of Cancer in the New York Times, her article entitled What to Say to Someone with Cancer, on January 13, 2020, with a follow-up on January 20, 2020, entitled, When Life Throws You a Curveball, Embrace the New Normal.

The Chinese translation rights of Voices of Cancer have been purchased by a grant to offer the book to medical students in Tawain.

Lynda donates Voices of Cancer books and a portion of its proceeds to Epic Experience, a nonprofit camp for adult survivors and thrivers of cancer located in Colorado.

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An Eye for the Highest and Best by Dr. Nancy-Angel Doetzel- Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Dr. Nancy-Angel Doetzel will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Living in this world of such disruption and uncertainty can result in us facing despair. How can we attune to the rainbow after a storm, and create hope and happiness? How do we develop an eye for the Highest and Best, when faced with what appears to be the worst? What steps should we take to reconnect with our ability to be resilient?

In this book, Dr. Doetzel shares some important insights gained from her own experiences of teaching university, battling cancer, being a journalist, travelling worldwide, dealing with grief, and facing the global pandemic. Along the way, she introduces her readers to fresh ways of viewing their lives, by applying an Appreciative Inquiry lens that inspires the practice of a more conscious way of living, resulting in discovering serenity.

Readers may start to re-examine their own challenges, while discovering their own gems that warrant gratitude. The reflective questions and stories suggest ways of removing blocks to happiness and constructing healthier relationships.

The book is also an ideal tool for educators to apply to teaching Appreciative Inquiry as a qualitative research methodology.

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While attending a church service in a Mexican Cathedral, Angel’s phone had fallen out of her purse. Reaching for it later, intending to make a call, she suddenly notices it was missing. Frantically, she rushed to the hotel front desk to inquire how she could contact the Cathedral. When she arrived, the hotel clerk was holding her golden cell phone, while still looking for an identification on it.

After identifying her cell phone, the clerk told her the story of the person who had turned it in. The lady had picked up the phone in the Cathedral, under a bench. She then noticed a hotel key in the phone case slot, which matched her own hotel key. So, when she returned to the hotel after mass, she gave the cell phone to the front desk attendant.

Angel believed having her cell phone returned by someone staying at the same hotel and attending a common church service, was a miracle in action, and she was tempted to share the story with the police officer, after he checked for her phone.

About the Author:

Dr. Nancy-Angel Doetzel has been teaching in the Sociology Faculty of Mount Royal University since 2006, and as a seasonal sessional instructor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Calgary since 2005.

An award-winning scholar, journalist, and musician, she won a Distinguished Dissertation Award for her doctorate dissertation, leading to the publication of her two books: Cultivating Spirituality in Education: Synergizing Heart and Mind and Old Heart Child’s Eyes: A Diary of Miracles.

In 2017, her students at Mount Royal University honoured her with a Teaching Excellence Award. In 2018 her students also acknowledged her for promoting wellbeing and good health within the classroom, and for being a good mentor. She received her MA, HBA, HBSW, and BA degrees from Lakehead University.

She received her PhD from the University of Calgary in 2004. She studied Intuitive Medicine in Vancouver and received a professional certification (I.C.A.D.C) from the Canadian Council of Professional Certification. She also was awarded a Broadcasting Radio and Television diploma from Confederation College. She encourages her students to examine the world through different lenses, exercising altruism, promoting social justice, and learning to be a good sociologist.

Her Mount Royal University blog is titled, Debunking Deceptive Myths. In addition to her recently published books, she has also authored and published eight scholarly articles in her field.

In February 2020, the Calgary Herald, rated one of her books (a pre-amble to this one) as a local best seller. She is currently conducting research about complementary medicine and continuing to teach at Mount Royal University.

Aside from teaching and conducting research, Dr. Doetzel has hosted a radio show “From the Heart,” airing on AM 1140 High River, for the past 10 years. She has recorded four albums of her own original songs.

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Happiness Mountain by Amal Indi – Spotlight and Giveaway

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Happiness is the most important experience that we as human beings seek throughout our entire lives. Yet there is no one clear definition of happiness in the world today.

How, then, can we expect to be happy to our fullest if we do not know what happiness is?

Everyone has happy moments in life. Suppose you are awake sixteen hours a day after eight hours of sleep—how much time are you truly happy in these sixteen hours?
If you are happy only 20 percent of your day, you will not feel truly happy in life.
If you are happy 50 percent of your day, you will feel like you have an OK life.
If you are happy 60 percent or above, you are living a happy life.
If you are happy 80 percent and above, you’re living a phenomenally happy life.
What if you could change the times that you are not happy to happy moments?

If you want to get better at something, you must study and become proficient in that subject. You do not know what you are missing if you do not learn. The same principle applies to happiness. If you want to be happier, study what happiness is. If happiness is important to you, master it.

By knowing happiness, you can consciously live a happier life. You can minimize the external factors impacting your happiness. You can get happiness under your control.

Irrespective of where you are in life today, by reading this book and following the happiness definition, philosophy, and methodology, you or anyone can live a happier life.

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The Happiness Philosophy

We as human beings find happiness in different ways: money, family, travel, meditation, exercise, material things, alcohol, pets, work, etc. We look for happiness from various activities while living busy lives with work, family, and other responsibilities. We all have times when we are unhappy and suffering while doing daily activities. We tend to look at happiness and daily activities as distinct moments of life.

Daily life is a collection of experiences from when you wake up to when you go to bed. By changing the philosophy of happiness to make every experience a happy experience, you can genuinely live a happier life. If you make every experience happy, naturally your whole day will be happy. If you focus on happiness daily, your entire life will be happy. You do not need to wait for something to happen or some future activity to be happy. You set the intention to be happy in the present moment, in every experience.

To live in this new happiness philosophy, you need a good understanding of happiness. Happiness Mountain’s happiness definition, philosophy, and methodology will help you with that. Why is a methodology critical? A methodology can be followed by anyone, and they will gain results. You do not have to reinvent a methodology for happiness. Instead, follow the Happiness Mountain methodology with ease. Irrespective of where you are in life today, by reading this book and following the happiness methodology, you or anyone can live a happier life.

About the Author:

With over 20 years of experience working for financial institutions as a Solutions Architect, Amal set out on a mission to find true happiness. After researching happiness for many years, he is ready to share a definition, philosophy, and methodology for happiness so that anyone can follow and find true happiness with inner peace, joy, and fulfillment. He has written an incredible book called “Happiness Mountain – Make every experience a happy experience”. Amal is also a father of two kids and lives in beautiful Vancouver, Canada. Amal’s mission is to heal the world and allow everyone to enjoy true happiness.

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LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: Searching for Home by Margaret G. Hanna

Thanks for joining us on our 16th anniversary scavenger hunt! There are two ways to enter to win and it’s easy to play– first read the blurb below, then answer the question on the first Rafflecopter. You might win a $100 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC (along with other prizes). Follow and visit authors’ social media pages on the second Rafflecopter and you’re entered to win another $100 Amazon/BN GC (along with other prizes)!

In 1912, Mary Louisa Appleton is 27 years old and a domestic servant in Cornwall, England. She sees no future there, so she accepts employment with a family returning to Alberta, Canada. It is the land of unlimited opportunity, or so she has heard.

Once in Canada, Mary faces the dilemma of all immigrants – where does she belong?

She is conflicted: her body is in Canada but her heart is in England. She longs to return to England but wars, marriage, children, the Dirty Thirties, and economic circumstances conspire to keep her in Canada.

Then she faces a crisis, and she has to decide. Is “home” where her heart is, or where she resides?

Searching for Home is the story of the author’s maternal grandmother as she struggles to find her place in Canada.

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LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: The Thong Principle – Saying What You Mean and Meaning What You Say by Donalee Moulton

Thanks for joining us on our 16th anniversary scavenger hunt! There are two ways to enter to win and it’s easy to play– first read the blurb below, then answer the question on the first Rafflecopter. You might win a $100 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC (along with other prizes). Follow and visit authors’ social media pages on the second Rafflecopter and you’re entered to win another $100 Amazon/BN GC (along with other prizes)!

The Thong Principle has little to do with beachwear and everything to do with effective communication. It’s about ensuring messages are successful for the sender – and the receiver.

The book delves into the elements that comprise successful communications – conciseness, clarity, concreteness, and much more. It also puts those elements into context. Communications that miss the mark confuse and annoy. They fail to deliver their message. They damage our credibility and erode goodwill.

The Thong Principle overflows with real-world examples to help us understand why we fail to get our messages across as intended.

Then it explains how we can anticipate, identify, and correct errors and oversights. This is both at the highest level – including building and maintaining trust – and down in the weeds where even one word makes a difference.

The Thong Principle will draw you in and keep you reading with examples, exercises, and information that resonates.

It’s also funny. Laughter and learning are wonderful partners.

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LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: Travellers With Two Hats by Renee Duke

Thanks for joining us on our 16th anniversary scavenger hunt! There are two ways to enter to win and it’s easy to play– first read the blurb below, then answer the question on the first Rafflecopter. You might win a $100 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC (along with other prizes). Follow and visit authors’ social media pages on the second Rafflecopter and you’re entered to win another $100 Amazon/BN GC (along with other prizes)!

Back in seventeenth century, a Grand Tour of Europe was a rite of passage for the offspring of the rich. By the 1960s and 70s, it was fast becoming one for those of lesser means too. Being of lesser means, the peasantry couldn’t tour it quite as grandly, but it was definitely the ‘in’ thing to do, and is still a popular way for young people to assert their independence and kickstart a lifelong love of travel.

Climates—both natural and political—have changed a lot since the author and her best friend made their trip, but copious notes were taken, and the resulting travel memoir reflects their impressions of that part of the world at the time they were roaming around it.

Both now freely admit they were a spoiled, naïve, pair, and ill-equipped to handle even the physical rigours of such a venture, let alone all the annoying travel disruptions, communication difficulties, unexpected expenses, and various other problems that arose.

Still, they managed. Albeit not always (make that, seldom) with forbearance and aplomb.

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