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November 02I DON'T HAVE LEPROSY I'M JUST GRIEVING by Regina Collier
I DON'T HAVE LEPROSY, I'M JUST GRIEVING
"How are you?" Is that not the dumbest thing you could ask someone who is grieving?

Yes, it is, but society has no clue, and I bet you didn't either until it was just pointed out.

After being thrown into the horrendous depths of grief following the passing of her soulmate, Regina discovered just how out of touch the world is when confronted with grief. Many of her interactions with others further complicated her head space and caused her more pain.

Throughout this book, along with personal raw and blunt reflections on her grief journey, you will gain insight into the things that give comfort and those that hinder a grieving person, what to do and say and, more importantly, what not to do and say when someone you care about finds themselves immersed in grief. We all mean well and don't like seeing those we love in pain, but the loss of their loved one is life-changing, and grief should never be rushed, and it certainly can't be fixed or cured.

After working in the community sector for two decades, Regina draws from that past education and the life lessons of recent years that she was not ready to face head on but had no choice but to do so. She gives a never-before-seen crude insight into what she calls her Grief Brain, and the complexities and conflicting thoughts of someone experiencing the most unimaginable pain of their life.
TOPICS OF CONVERSATION
How writing became a way for Regina to process her grief, express her frustrations, and reclaim her voice.
The special bond she shared with Dean and what made their relationship a “soulmate experience.”
How losing a partner changes your sense of identity and the person you thought you were.
Why well-meaning words can make grief harder, and what grieving people really need from others.
The people who stood by Regina, those who didn't, and the extraordinary comfort she found in her dog, Brutus.
The loneliness of being a “business-hours widow” and why friends shouldn't stop reaching out.
Learning to live with loss, creating new family traditions, and gradually finding the courage to embrace life again.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Regina Collier devoted decades of her life both personally and professionally as a women’s advocate and public speaker, rebuilding the lives of others.
2022 changed all of this when she was crippled by the devasting loss of her partner. Inspired by her unwanted pain, Regina hopes to provide insight and understanding into the complex thoughts and feelings that grievers have, and the madness that was and is her Grief Brain.
She lives a mostly solitude-filled life these days in Western Australia, spending more time with her critters than people as she continues to reconstruct her own life.
Learn more about Regina Collier and her work at https://reginacollierauthor.com
CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebarnyard
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61594242111445
GRAB A COPY OF THE BOOK HERE
34 min
October 26The Nine Essential Questions for Organizational Transformation by Aaron Streeton
The Nine Essential Questions for Organizational Transformation
Transformation fails when leaders rush to answers. This book slows the process down—on purpose.
The Nine Essential Questions for Organizational Transformation invites leaders into a deeper conversation about who they are, what they're building, and how their choices ripple across people, processes, and culture. Each question unlocks a different dimension of organizational life, helping teams see patterns, confront assumptions, and align around a shared future. Practical, human, and refreshingly honest, this is a guide for leaders who want to build organizations that are resilient, coherent, and worthy of the people inside them.
TOPICS OF CONVERSATION
What The Nine Essential Questions for Organizational Transformation is about, and the inspiration behind it
Why most transformations fail, and why new technology alone never fixes it
Letting your organization grow organically versus designing it on purpose
How to find out what’s actually happening inside a company, not what people say is happening
Why change doesn’t stick, and what it takes to hold a new way of working in place
What makes people stay in a job nobody wants
How to tell a senior leader something they don’t want to hear
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aaron Streeton is a Canadian operations strategist, author, and transformation leader who helps organizations turn complexity into clarity and measurable results. Since 2005, he has advised leaders on operating models, leadership development, organizational behaviour, and integrated management systems.
Across two decades, Streeton has led global transformation programs generating more than $1 billion in value across manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and corporate environments. His work connects strategy to execution, culture to capability, and leadership to performance.
The Nine Essential Questions for Organizational Transformation distills the patterns, failures, breakthroughs, and human truths he has seen in high-stakes change, offering leaders a practical framework for alignment, behaviour, and operating model design.
Based in Calgary, Alberta, Streeton leads Tengu Consulting and advises executives, boards, and transformation teams seeking organizations that perform under pressure.
CONNECT WITH AARON STREETON!
Website:  The Nine Essential Questions | Transform with Confidence – Learn More — Making the Complex, Simple
Website:  Aaron Streeton – thenineessentialquestions.ca
LinkedIn:  linkedin.com/in/aaron-streeton
30 min
October 19A PERFECT SATURDAY...almost - by Dave Jones, PsyD
A PERFECT SATURDAY... almost
What does the perfect Saturday look like to an active kid? Follow along as one such youngster engages in a multitude of plans for one bright springtime adventure, and see what (and what almost) gets done!
See how your own perfect day compares to his in this dawn-to-dusk joy ride!
At a Glance: A children’s picture book about a boy whose carefully imagined Saturday repeatedly falls short of perfection. Through everyday activities and small mishaps, the story explores disappointment, flexibility, gratitude, and finding happiness when plans go awry.
You can grab your copy of A Perfect Saturday… almost on Amazon
TOPICS OF CONVERSATION
Why Dave Jones wrote A Perfect Saturday.., almost. His daughter and her best friend challenged him to write a book in one week, and he wrote it on a cruise.
A boy with no name. Dave left the boy unnamed so young readers can step into the story, though he admits a lot of the boy is him.
Every page sketched first. Dave sketched every page before illustrator Rheanna started, and he shares what to look for in the pictures.
Praise the effort or the result? Dave explains why “practice makes perfect” isn’t quite true, and how parents can praise effort while guiding the next try.
No lesson spelled out. Dave lets each reader find their own meaning, and he hopes kids close the book thinking about tomorrow.
What’s next, and Dave’s advice. Dave previews his upcoming chapter book, September Monday, and encourages listeners to read to their kids.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dave Jones, PsyD, is a retired educator with more than 40 years of experience working with children and families in both regular and special education. He holds advanced training in special education and a earned PsyD. His career has included teaching recognition, health advocacy awards, work in adapted physical education, and innovative educational projects. Outside of writing and education, Jones enjoys canoeing, fishing, wood turning, motorcycle riding, racquetball, gardening, and spending time with his grandchildren.
A Perfect Saturday.., almost has an interactive spirit that reflects Jones' longstanding interest in education and child development. A retired teacher with more than four decades of experience working with regular and special education students and their families, Jones has been recognized for his innovative and multifaceted approach to teaching.
Jones holds a master's degree in special education and a Doctorate in Psychology. His career has earned him the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching from the nationally recognized G.A. Academy, along with numerous awards from the American Heart Association, including top leadership and lifetime achievement honors.
He also developed a school garden that received recognition as the "best school garden in Chicagoland" from the Chicago Botanic Garden, with additional recognition from Newsweek magazine. Jones helped develop Illinois State recognized standards for adapted physical education and previously co-authored 10 Demandments of Creativity: Parents Edition with Professor Denis Berkson.
30 min
October 13FRIDAY GUY by Yuri Gascon
FRIDAY GUY
"There is no bigger shame than the one you would put me through by being who you are. Your life is nothing, a meaningless mockery of existence for I'd rather have a son who is a drug dealer, a murderer, a thief than one like you." These are the words that Alexander heard from his own mother when he was just 8 years old.

Marked by guilt, shame and fear, Alexander went on living not as a protagonist but as a sideline character in his own life.

This is a story of survival and endurance but also of heartache and despicable evil.

TOPICS OF CONVERSATION
Why Yuri Gascon wrote Friday Guy. About five years ago, he finally faced his past. Two years ago, he started writing down pieces of his life, without planning to write a book. He calls the result a brutally honest memoir and wrote it so that people living with any kind of trauma know they aren’t alone.
The fifteen minutes that changed his life. At eight, after his mother blamed him for the abuse he suffered, he looked in the mirror and decided he had to become someone else. He explains why he has never seen himself as a victim.
His twenty-year marriage to Darla. He married Darla for love and was secretly seeing men for years. He says he never reconciled the two. Today they talk almost daily and spend Christmas together.
Faith and conversion therapy. Yuri was raised Catholic and joined a conservative church. Determined not to be gay, he went through conversion therapy willingly. He still believes in God, but not in religion as control.
His second marriage, to Vincent, and his darkest day. In 2024, his marriage to Vincent fell apart, and he came close to ending his life. He shares, for the first time, what a friend said on the phone call that pulled him back.
The title and the poems. The title comes from a moment with Salvador, the man he fell in love with. Every poem in the book was written after he met Salvador, whose name means “savior” in Spanish.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yuri Gascon is a Spanish writer and citizen of the world. He speaks 4 languages: Czech, English, Greek & Spanish.
He’s lived in Europe and the Americas and currently resides in Barcelona, Spain.
Yuri has a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and a master’s degree in Communication.
Friday Guy is his first book, and it is entirely based on his own life. It took him several years to be able to put into words all the experiences, emotions and learnings from trauma. For a while, he thought he had lost creativity and passion for writing. Finding love was the way to reclaim them.
You can learn more about the author and his work at:
Website: https://yurigascon.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ygascon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yuri_sens8

If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 in the U.S. or Canada to reach a suicide crisis line, any time.
31 min
October 01PISMO BEACH SNIPER by Topper Jones
PISMO BEACH SNIPER
When sniper fire erupts at the Central Coast Surf Trials at Pismo Beach, private investigator Thad Hanlon is thrust into every parent’s worst nightmare. His eleven-year-old son and two teammates are shot while surfing—one critically injured—plunging the contest into chaos and terrorizing the tight-knit Five Cities beach community.

The shooter disappears, torching his hideout, leaving only questions in his wake. Random attack—or the first move in a deadly game? Why target young surfers? And is the marksman finished…or just getting started?
Urged by desperate parents, Hanlon and his sharp-witted partner, Bri de la Guerra, race to protect the kids as they train for the upcoming West Coast Championships. But as the detective duo close in on the sniper, they uncover a chilling truth: the surf team isn’t his ultimate target—and the nightmare is far from over. This gripping thriller will keep you turning pages late into the night.
TOPICS OF CONVERSATION
How a high school newspaper printed his love poem without permission, and the byline that hooked him on writing
The working title "Kawabanga" and the eight-week novel class that turned a title into a book
Why the Pacific is a trusted companion to Thad Hanlon, not just a setting, and how the Central Coast shapes the mood
A sniper opens fire on kids at a surf competition: how real-world violence, including an active shooter on a campus Topper helped shut down, informed the opening
Compete or keep the kids safe? What the parents, the detectives, and Zale's gang-leader godfather Armando Puentes each bring to the decision
Humor as a release valve in a thriller, plus the Nail Joke from Topper's dad that ties into the case
The midpoint twist that surprised even the author, and a first look at book four, Shell Beach Protocol
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Writing as Topper Jones, award-winning author Christopher G. Jones crafts fast-paced detective fiction blending a dash of romance, relentless action, and unforgettable characters. His Thad Hanlon & Bri de la Guerra Mystery Series has earned the Literary Titan Gold Book Award and Five-Star reviews from both Reader Views and Readers’ Favorite. The second book in the series—Oceano Beach Bedlam—was named by Utah Humanities as one of three Finalists in General Fiction for the 2026 Utah Book Awards.
A former consultant and university professor, Topper brings a sharp eye for detail to his intricate plots and compelling characters. He is a member of The Private Eye Writers of America and the International Thriller Writers, and an affiliate member of the Mystery Writers of America.
Topper now lives in the southwestern desert to be near family, but whenever the surf is up, he’ll make the 450-mile trek back to his native California coast for a little “water therapy.”
CONNECT WITH TOPPER JONES!
Author Website: https://topperjones.com/
X: https://x.com/TopperJonesAuth
Instagram: www.instagram.com/topperjones_author/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TopperJonesAuthor
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-g-jones-a566253/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@topperjonesauthor
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/topper-jones
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/168057569-topper-jones
27 min
September 29 LIGHT REALIZED by Jared Richey
LIGHT REALIZED
What if the “Light within you” isn’t a cliché—but a real invitation? You've heard, "Walk by the Spirit," and felt both drawn to it and unsure what it really means. This book helps answer the honest question: How?
Many people move through life with an underlying ache: anxiety humming beneath the surface, fear steering decisions, and the sense that life is happening to them instead of through them. Even when things look “fine” on the outside, something inside still whispers, There has to be more than this. They believe in God (or something beyond themselves), yet still feel stuck in survival mode—bracing for hard conversations, dreading Mondays, and riding the emotional roller coaster of circumstances.
Light Realized: Living the Realization—A Guide to Living from the Light Within is a heart-forward, practical guide for anyone longing to live with greater peace, clarity, and wholeness. With honesty, humility, and grounded insight, Jared Richey invites you beyond spiritual ideas that stay in your head and into a lived experience that reaches your everyday moments—how you wake up, how you speak to yourself, how you handle pressure, and how you show up in relationships.
TOPICS OF CONVERSATION
Why the book exists. An unexpected turn in 2019 sent him searching for why peace vanishes the moment something goes wrong.
Written for believers and skeptics both. Why advice like "just pray about it" is true but leaves out what to actually do.
Telling the heart from the head. How to know real discernment from wanting something badly enough to manufacture the feeling.
Fear, attraction, and what he is not saying. Nobody thinks an illness into existence, and he speaks from his own family to make the point.
Near-death experiences and the question of hell. Why he takes the accounts seriously without building a faith on them, and how fifty years changed his picture of hell.
His father's last night. The hospice room, the circle he kept trying to draw, and the name Richey had never heard him say.
What's next. A companion workbook in progress: twelve principles, one a month.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jared Richey is the author of Light Realized: Living the Realization — A Guide to Living from the Light Within. Drawing from years of personal reflection, spiritual study, leadership, and a growing practice of stillness and presence, Jared writes about what it means to move beyond simply believing spiritual truths and begin living them.
His work explores the intersection of Christian faith, contemplative awareness, and everyday spiritual transformation, with an emphasis on discovering the presence of God not as something distant, but as a reality that can be experienced within ordinary life.
In addition to writing, Jared is in his 29th year in education. Those experiences have shaped his interest in growth, relationships, identity, purpose, and the ways people respond to both success and adversity.
Through Light Realized, Jared invites readers to examine their inner lives, release limiting patterns of thought, and consider what might change if love, presence, and spiritual truth became something we lived rather than merely understood.
CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR
Website: https://lightrealizedpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1C7ErpqzJP/?mibextid=wwXIfr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jaredrichey
GRAB A COPY OF LIGHT REALIZED HERE
31 min
September 29MY HUSBAND IS GOING TO KILL ME by Bonnie Traymore
MY HUSBAND IS GOING TO KILL ME
The perfect wife. The perfect motive. The perfect murder?

Monica Decker has the kind of life people envy: a successful career as a radiologist, two beautiful children, a handsome husband, and a lovely home in Silicon Valley. But behind closed doors, her marriage is anything but perfect.

Andrew has always had a temper. Lately it’s getting worse. The slamming doors, the sudden outbursts, the way something dark flickers behind his eyes. Monica tells herself she’s overreacting. That it is just stress. That she and the kids are safe. Until she meets Ben.

Feeling increasingly isolated in her marriage, Monica joins a support group for spouses of workaholics, where she meets a sympathetic stranger who seems to be everything Andrew isn’t. Ben sees what Monica won’t admit to herself…her husband may be dangerous.
Ben’s influence deepens, and Monica's thoughts drift to darker places, imagining what life might look like without Andrew in it—and how far she might be willing to go to make that happen. As Monica is pulled deeper into a web of fear, manipulation, and obsession, the line between protector and predator begins to blur.
But who is Ben, and what does he really want? And who is the more dangerous one?
Is it Andrew? Is it Ben? Or is it both of them?

A fast-paced domestic thriller of psychological suspense and emotional manipulation—perfect for fans of Freida McFadden and Jeneva Rose.
TOPICS OF CONVERSATION
About the Book and the Inspiration Behind the Story
Why Domestic Thrillers Keep Pulling Her In
Two Sides of One Marriage and How Memory Shapes the Truth
Child Custody and Why Leaving Isn't Simple
Online Relationships, Emotional Affairs, and AI Romance
The Characters Who Steal the Show: Kathleen and Charlotte
What's Next: Killer Secrets and The Hitchhiker's Baby

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bonnie Traymore writes twisty, award-winning, Amazon bestselling domestic and psychological thrillers that expose the dark truths beneath seemingly perfect lives. Her novels explore jealousy, infidelity, murder, and the impact of psychological disorders.
You can learn more about Bonnie Traymore and her all work at bonnietraymore.com.

CONNECT WITH BONNIE TRAYMORE
Website: www.bonnietraymore.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bonnietraymore/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bonnietraymore/
Get your copy of My Husband is Going to Kill Me
25 min
September 24THE TREE by Mr. Kind
THE TREE
In the heart of a scorching desert stands a lonely oak tree—and a very stuck rhinoceros! With his magical horn wedged tight, the rhinoceros snorts and struggles, shaking the branches and ruining Bird’s much-needed nap.

After two days of commotion, the grumpy bird finally agrees to help. It embarks on a wild journey through dark castles, brave knights, a beautiful princess, and a terrifying monster that becomes… a tiny chicken?

Armed with a clever solution, the bird returns to free his new friend. Together they discover that even the biggest problems are easier when you have a little help—and a good nap!

A whimsical tale of friendship, patience, and unexpected adventures from the Mr. Kind Stories series.
TOPICS OF CONVERSATION
About The Tree and the inspiration behind the story
The college assignment that launched an entire series
Why birds and rhinoceroses belong together
The ivory horn of magic and what it means to the rhinoceros
Working with ChildBook.AI and the process behind the illustrations
What's next for Mr. Kind?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mr. Kind uses a unique lyrical rhyme style paired with vibrant, imaginative artwork to create stories meant to last for generations. His books blend wonder, gentle life lessons, and memorable characters that inspire both young readers and the adults who share the stories with them.
Mr. Kind lives with his wife and his son in Nosara, Costa Rica.
CONNECT WITH MR. KIND!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mr_kind_stories/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mrkindstories/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mr.kindstories9280
Mr. Kind Stories: https://mrkindstories.com/
YouthWide: https://youthwide.com/
33 min
September 15ME, MOM & THE MONSTER, by Corinne Brown
ME, MOM & THE MONSTER
"The results of your predictive testing are here, and they show that you did inherit the gene for Huntington's disease."

Those words, delivered by the neurologist to 57-year-old Mae Brown, forever changed her life and the lives of her family. Me, Mom & the Monster is a soul-stirring memoir that follows the path of this farming wife, businesswoman, mother and grandmother who lived a life with a monster of a disease. Interwoven with Mae's story is that of her third child, Corinne, whose life is intrinsically connected to her mother's diagnosis. Told from alternating voices of Corinne and her mother, this is a candid account of the harrowing effects of living with a fatal, genetic disease. Me, Mom & the Monster captures the authenticity and vulnerability of a mother and daughter who find themselves entwined in a long dance with a neurodegenerative disease.
TOPICS OF CONVERSATION
Why she didn't want to write this book
What writing it let out
The readers who've found themselves in it
The Devil's Dance, and the silence around Huntington's
The losses, and which one was hardest
Her mother's decision to go into long-term care
Living at risk, and choosing not to be tested
All royalties go to the Huntington Society of Canada
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Corinne Brown was 10-years old when she told her teacher that when she grew up, she was going to be an author. A few decades may have passed since then, but the author’s dream was realized in June of 2026 with the publication of her debut book, Me, Mom & the Monster,
Our Dance Through Huntington’s Disease.
Corinne, a native Newfoundlander, grew up surrounded by books, newspapers and magazines. Her environment must have had some impact since she graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland with a Bachelor of Arts and then went on to pursue a Journalism diploma at Mount Royal University.
Although her initial intention was to write fiction, Corinne says the story of Me, Mom & the Monster needed to be told first. She says sharing the intimate story of being part of a Huntington’s disease family opened the space for other ideas.
When she isn’t creating characters, and envisioning scenes and scenarios, she finds comfort in being outside. She lives in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada where she is continuously adding to her To Be Read stack and where she is currently writing her second book.
CONNECT WITH CORINNE BROWN
Website: corinnebrown.ca
Instagram: @corinneiswritingabook
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61590646317904
Pick up your copy of Me, Mom & the Monster
31 min
September 09CELESTIAL CHILDREN by Diana Fedorak
CELESTIAL CHILDREN
While Alina recovers from the upheaval in Alpheios, her every thought is consumed with worry for all those she holds dear. Particularly for her brother Gordo, who is now missing. To complicate matters further, the powers of her young son, Mandin, are manifesting in unexpected ways.

Fearing the worst, Alina searches for her brother only to discover that an advanced species, known as the kronosapiens, emerge with carnage as their agenda. Everyone Alina loves is in danger. The local factions can’t agree on a plan of action. And the threat is rising.

As the kronosapiens pursue dominance over humans, can Alina find a way to protect those closest to her? Or will the rise of this new species eradicate the entire human colony … including her own family?
TOPICS OF CONVERSATION:
What Celestial Children is about — the capstone of the Children of Alpheios trilogy. A young mother fights to protect her family in a society where genetic engineering is the norm and a corporation owns reproduction. Dystopian, biopunk, and Diana describes it as Gattaca-like.
What we owe our families — the question underneath all three books. Biological family versus found family, and Diana says the answers aren't easy.
A planet built to kill you — gamma storms, temperature extremes, a few livable pockets. Diana drew the map by hand, worked out the biomes, then designed a human who could survive there.
Two societies, one minority — most people in the city are engineered with traits selected before birth. The Origins refuse all of it and live underground. Diana uses them to look at how a society treats the people it decides don't count.
A new species, and a deliberate flip — the kronosapiens can harden their skin, fling rocks with their minds, and put a shock through you. The females hunt. The males feed the young.
Two mothers, same instinct — Alina and Kora both have children in danger and go about it very differently. Diana compares them to Ripley and the aliens.
The corporation that runs everything — Genodyne brought humans to the planet, its founder was chancellor for most of his life, and it holds a monopoly on medicine, pharmaceuticals, and reproduction. It also poisoned its own customers, and now it's handing out the cure for free.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DIANA FEDORAK is a speculative fiction writer from Las Vegas, Nevada. In a prior life, she retired as a Colonel from the United States Air Force. She enjoys writing complex characters in high-stakes science fiction and fantasy worlds.
Diana's debut novel, Children of Alpheios, was released in early 2023 and swept the Firebird Book Awards for Dystopian, Science Fiction, and Speculative Fiction. Her sequel, Origins Progeny, was selected as an Editor's Pick by Booklife's Publisher Weekly. When she's not writing, she spends time in her own universe with her husband, children, and their German Shepard.

CONNECT WITH DIANA FEDORAK!
Website: www.dianafedorak.com
Facebook: dianafedorakauthor
Instagram @diana_fedorak_author
25 min

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