GAB TALKS

Michael Dow updates us on his ambitious publishing program.

2024 Independent Press Award:

The Nurse Florence® book series provides quality medical information for children.
Dow says by introducing young kids to correct terminology and science concepts, we can increase our children’s health literacy level and even prepare them for courses and jobs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

Barbara Lane speaks with the GAB TALKS about 11 sisters who navigated through a childhood filled with abuse, neglect, and separation in the foster care system.

Bapis shares her five plus years collaboration with Valter, on this beautifully illustrated coffee-table book, wonderful historical context and prose, and includes over 50 recipes.

“Emerging From the Dark: Stroke...The Untold Stories,” by Terence Ang, is a collection of illustrated stories of people in all stages of stroke recovery. Ang, who himself has experienced a stroke, highlights post-stroke life in an interesting, unique, and powerful way. A stroke survivor himself, Ang’s right hand no longer functions like it used to, and using it is painful and agonizing. This is his second published book, and it is filled with illustrations that he drew himself. However, Ang has shown tremendous courage, grit, and determination in rebuilding his life. 

What can you gain after losing so much?

INTERVIEW

PLEASE NOTE: The author has aphasia, a disorder that affects speech as a result of stroke. We have outlined his audio and video responses immediately after Gabby's question, but his full written response is included at

Terence: Hi Gabby, thanks for having me. 

Gabby: Terence, thank you so much for joining us today!  Before we talk about your book, "Emerging from the Dark: Stroke…The Untold Stories," can you please share with our listeners your story, beginning with that fateful day in August 2020?

Terence (Audio/Video): 

- That day in August was a turning point in my life

- I had a stroke

- And ended up in the hospital for the first time in my life

- I couldn’t talk and nobody could understand me

- It was a dark time

- I felt hopeless

- But I was determined to redefine my life

- And I ended up writing about my journey

- To prove that stroke was just a chapter in my story

- And not the entire book

Gabby: Your debut book, “A Cry in the Dark” was launched in June 2022. It eloquently detailed your journey from victim to survivor. You were subsequently asked by the WORLD STROKE ORGANIZATION to speak at the 14th World Stroke Congress 2022 in Singapore.  What inspired you to write and illustrate Emerging from the Dark: Stroke…The Untold Stories?

Terence (Audio/Video): 

- I was angry and frustrated in the first year of my stroke

- So I channelled my feelings into writing “A Cry in the Dark”

- Many stroke survivors reached out to me after that

- Which inspired me to write the next book

- And share the stories of other stroke survivors

- I wanted to pay tribute to the strength and courage of

- those who have walked the same Journey

Gabby: “Emerging from the Dark: Stroke…The Untold Stories” is incredibly inspirational. The narratives you've included from both survivors and caregivers are filled with hope, determination and resilience. However, some of the narratives and illustrations are also dark and disconcerting.  Why was it important to share this side of recovery?

Terence (Audio/Video):

Gabby: What is the biggest misconception about strokes?

Terence (Audio/Video):

- Many people think that stroke only happens to older people

- I used to think that too,

- Being relatively young and healthy

- But, the truth is, 

- stroke can happen to anyone, at any time.

- Even teenagers and young adults can also get it.

- So it’s important to learn more about the condition

See the full transcript of the audio/video portion here:

as well as Terence Ang's full written responses.

To learn more, please visit https://www.gratefulsteps.sg/ or www.theGABTALKS.com

Cybercrime is a sad, ever-developing reality of our digital lives. Cybercriminals are ruthless and know how to use persuasion and manipulation to get what they want. We are all in danger of falling victim to their tricks, which can lead to serious consequences for our business, our family and ourselves. This book aims to prepare you to defend yourself against the tactics cybercriminals use, and gives you advice on what you can do if you, or your business, does fall victim to cybercrime. With a focus on cyber fraud and cyber extortion, this book explores cybercrime from attack methods to impact, with the use of real-world case studies alongside practical suggestions on preventative measures, warning signs of cybercrime and next steps if you find yourself a victim.
About the Author
Todd Wade is a chief information security officer. He has over 20 years of experience working with cybersecurity and technology. He has led the information security departments for multiple financial services and technology organisations. He is passionate about championing cyber risk governance and empowering organisations to protect themselves against cybercriminals. He is a graduate EMBA from the Trium Global program (an alliance of HEC Paris, NYU Stern School of Business and London School of Economics) and holds a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). He has worked with leading information security organizations like the Information Security Forum and Chartered Institute of Information Security. He is also an advisor to several cybersecurity start-ups including Cyber Risk Management Group and Scapien.

“A resilient coming-of-age story … The author includes emotional, compelling scenes with every character, as each one has been dealt a vastly different hand of cards. … It feels very down-to-earth and includes necessary comical moments throughout. I did not know much about the events or places in this book before, but after finishing it and doing a little extra curiosity research, I’m thankful to have learned something new in such an engaging way.” —Audrey Davis, IBR

Winner of the 2023 Independent Press Award for Literary Fiction
The Girl in the Water is the story of a multiethnic group of young friends, coming of age in Estonia and Ukraine in the last days of the Soviet Union. Their lives are shaped by an Afghan war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the collapse and legacy of a suffocating society.

The novel examines life and choice in the aftermath of trauma and has garnered praise as both a lifelike family drama and a literary statement in the tradition of the Russian classics.

Scenes of shortwave listening and roaming the hinterlands provide a backdrop to the young characters' search for themselves within a failing civilization that sees non-cooperation and unhappiness as a disease.

At the centre of this multilayered story of family, society, and nature is a Soviet girl, Nadia, who, one day on a remote beach, looks up from her book to see that her friend is drowning.

Nadia is an abstract thinker growing up in an era of endgames. She is a bookworm, an architect of reckless pranks, a day-and-night wanderer, a compulsive witness, and a note-taker. All around her she sees people quietly gambling with life and soul for little apparent gain. As her illusions unravel, she asks herself, what is to be done?

The Girl in the Water is a tragicomedy. It is an intricate study of beauty and futility in everyday life and a call for compassion and humour in a cruel world.

Why is the right to life so important? Stephen P. Fish, author of A Call to Reform, reframes the conversation to focus on the why.

Lee is a poet and arts lover. Known as the SCAPES poet, her published collections open up different kinds of “landscapes,” of the mind, heart, and senses. She revels in topics about the human condition—longing and love, dreams and secrets, notions of home.