Book Promo ~ Journey Through Fire and Ice

This is No Fairy Tale:
Newlyweds Face Happiness and Heartache During Alaskan Adventure

Journey Through Fire and Ice: Shattered Dreams Above the Arctic Circle is Deanne’s unforgettable memoir that gives new life to vivid memories that at one time she had hoped would fade.

It all began in the summer of 1964, when, at the age of 23, Deanne accompanied Tiger to the Inuit village of Kivalina, Alaska, a barrier island 23 miles above the Arctic Circle. Tiger was conducting a study of the natives, but Deanne, a naïve city girl, was completely unprepared for what she was about to experience.

In Kivalina, she lived on the edge of two worlds — the one she left behind and the one where she reluctantly participated in all aspects of the women’s lives. Skinning seals, cleaning and drying fish, and cutting beluga and caribou to store became her way of life. Plumbing, running water and electricity were not available. Loneliness was a constant companion until a few women befriended her.

During a span of six days, Deanne and Tiger narrowly escaped death during a camping trip, and Tiger suffered severe burns from a fire in their house. He spent three months in the hospital receiving treatment for seared lungs and horrific burns on his face and hands. His lungs never recovered from this ordeal.

When he was finally released from the hospital, he returned to the village with Deanne to complete the study. The life-threatening and harrowing experiences in Alaska transformed Deanne into a woman of strength who learned how to embrace challenge.

Over 50 years later, she remembers that young girl who left on an unknown journey that will live in her heart forever.

Author Deanne Burch was born and raised in Canada and attended the University of Toronto, obtaining B.A. degrees in liberal arts and social work. After the Alaska journey, she and her husband eventually settled in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, where they lived until his death.

Deanne spent 30 years as a professional international photographer who taught and lectured in the U.S. and Canada. She published several articles in photography magazines and journals. Since retiring in 2014, she devoted herself to writing short stories and children’s stories. Journey Through Fire and Ice: Shattered Dreams Above the Arctic Circle was published in March 2021.

For more information, please visit www.Deanneburch.com, or follow her on Facebook at @DeanneBurchAuthor.

CUSTOMER REVIEW:
Heart Warming Real Life Adventure: What an amazing tale of confidence building in a completely unfamiliar culture in the Arctic on an island among native people of the north as a newly wed! The author speaks to the reader as if she were relating her adventures and feelings face to face. ~ PAgardener67

Journey Through Fire and Ice: Shattered Dreams Above the Arctic Circle

Publisher: Authority Publishing
ISBN-10: ‏1949642593
ISBN-13: ‎978-1949642599

Available from
Amazon.com
Barnes&Noble

Book Promo ~ Inside Amazon: My Story

Gisela Hausmann’s experiences as a small publisher,
a top reviewer, an indie author, and a warehouse associate

Her story begins in 1997 when she decides to self-publish a book. As Hausmann takes a closer look at Jeff Bezos’ new online bookstore the mass media expert begins to suspect that Jeff Bezos has loftier goals than selling books.

Having the opportunity to take advantage of Amazon’s fantastic PR tools for self-published authors in the late nineties Hausmann becomes a fan. She sees Bezos as “the new Gutenberg” and the “most powerful defender of the First Amendment.”

But tragedy strikes and Hausmann must switch gears. She embarks on a career in the transportation industry, first at Fedex and then at a NVOCC and freight forwarder. A few years later she begins writing books again, on the side.

She earns an excellent reputation as an author of “naked,” no-fluff, no-nonsense non-fiction books and some of her books get featured in major publications. But eventually, the Kindle self-publishing platform loses its appeal for Hausmann. Fake review writers, scammers, questionable “book marketers,” and authors who are mostly motivated by the idea to publish books as a “means of building a passive income” have done their damage.

By 2019, Hausmann is irritated with U.S. politics and the economy; she still remembers living through the Great Recession all too well. Hence, when by chance, she finds out that Amazon opened a warehouse in her hometown she decides to apply for a job. She wants to work her way up at her favorite company.

Though, in the months to come, Hausmann cannot discover any “Amazon Day-1 thinking” at the warehouse she stays optimistic and tries her best to embody Amazon’s leadership principles.

Then, the Covid crisis strikes.

Inside Amazon is compelling because, for the longest time, Hausmann keeps rooting for the company. She does not look at what is going on at the warehouse through the eyes of a labor activist but as a transportation and marketing professional and actively searches for applications of Jeff Bezos’ “Day 1”-philosophy and the company’s leadership principles.

Alas, at the warehouse where she works for 468 days, the transportation professional sees only one of Jeff Bezos’ leadership principles in action – uninspiring (instead of clever) “frugality.”

About Gisela Hausmann

Gisela Hausmann is a 29 yr. self-publishing industry veteran, an email evangelist and a top reviewer.

Her work has been featured in regional, national, and international publications including Success magazine (print) and Entrepreneur, on Bloomberg, The Innovation Show – a show for Square Pegs in Round Holes, “The Brutal Truth about Sales & Selling”-podcast, and Austria’s Der Standard and Das Wirtschaftsblatt. Gisela is a graduate of the University of Vienna, Austria.

A unique mixture of wild risk-taker and careful planner, she globe-trotted almost 100,000 kilometers on three continents, including to the locations of her favorite books: Doctor Zhivago’s Russia, Heinrich Harrer’s Tibet, and Genghis Khan’s Mongolia.

Her motto:
“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”-Napoleon Hill

ASIN : B094H7YNHL

Publisher : Educ-Easy Books (May 8, 2021)

Publication date : May 8, 2021

Available on AMAZON KINDLE

Book Promo: SKY by William Dale West

Sky: Immensely Compelling and Highly
Emotional Story of Love, Faith and Hope

Early in the decade of 2000, the Department of Human Services of Ellsworth, Maine, Child Protective Division, along with other municipalities, came under scrutiny for their questionable policies and immoderate tactics. Discover how a toothache led to a two-year nightmare for this quiet and law-abiding family. (Well… kinda quiet and law-abiding) SKY is a multi-emotion provoking love story about a mismatched couple and their struggle to save their marriage amidst their valiant battle for custody of their child against this powerful but once highly criticized state agency. An essential read for any parent who has picked up a drink or a drug. Interspersed with actual documents from the case, including brief news clippings, highly-personal letters and court decisions, Mr. West offers in chronological exposé, a passionate exploration and stark contrast to the realities of substance abuse and parenting, with mental illness and morals and with his occasional awareness of a presence of God. Written with wry humor, seemingly at times to mask his own heartbreak, West lays out his perspective with blunt, piercing honesty while allowing the reader to be the ultimate judge.

About the Author

William West is a laid-back, easy-going, family-oriented gentleman from the carefree times of the sixties, coping with Asperger’s Syndrome in today’s fast-paced, often nonsensical world of confusion. He resides in Bucksport, Maine, a ritzy little town, located halfway up the Maine Coast. He has two adult daughters from a previous marriage to Janet. In 1996, after their daughters had come of age, Bill and Janet divorced after twenty-two years. In 1998, at the age of forty-six, and after twenty-plus tiresome years of tediously painting wealthy people’s million dollar homes for a meager living, Bill attended Hesser Community College in Nashua, New Hampshire.  There, he took many courses in psychology and sociology in hopes of perhaps becoming a substance abuse counselor. However, he found himself receiving far better grades in the many writing courses they offered; achieving nearly all A’s and making the President’s Lists and Dean’s Lists on numerous occasions. Through the college curriculum, he began an internship at Keystone Rehab in Nashua. After about a week into his internship, and during his less than half-hearted attempt at becoming a substance abuse counselor, he met and fell in love with an inpatient of the rehab; a former NYC erotic dancer with anger issues named Rinska. The next five years of their lives play out in Bill’s emotion-packed love story about a family’s struggle with Child Protective Services to regain custody of their little girl caught up in a system of corruption, entitled SKY : CHILD, INTERRUPTED.

Customer Review

Emotional, with clever wit and sarcasm and an original and refreshing style of narration  by Jill Wagner

OH MY GOD! I love this book! This is an amazingly beautiful and thought-provoking book and everything it’s hyped up to be and much, much more! I was so moved by reading this true and endearing family story. The nightmare this family went through in battling this particularly cold and heartless Child Protective Services for custody of their little daughter has stayed with me since I finished the book. It made me cry, it made me laugh and it made me get angry, sometimes all at the same time.

Although a very serious topic, the author manages in keeping the reader amused with clever wit and sarcasm and with a very appealing and refreshing style of humor and narration. The story is so enticing and intriguing to the point where you’ll almost want to skip ahead to see what happens next. But what happens next is rarely what you might expect.

I totally fell in love with the characters. Bill, the father of SKY is sweet, lovable and totally wimpy, but I particularly loved Rinska. Rinska is Sky’s mom. She’s a streetwise, former NYC erotic dancer who takes crap from no one, especially these power-hungry caseworkers that the family has to deal with. It’s not likely they’ve ever met the likes of her, which makes her even more captivating to the reader.

Buy it on
Amazon

Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…And Always; The Story Of One Of America’s Greatest Heroes

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Ia Drang and the start of the Vietnam War. Hal Moore captured our attention when his exploits in the Ia Drang battle were recounted in his memoir We Were Soldiers Once…and Young, and commanded our respect in the memorable Mel Gibson movie, “We Were Soldiers.” Now, his life is covered in full by celebrated author Mike Guardia in Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…and Always (Casemate Publishers).

Drastically outnumbered and nearly overrun, Hal Moore led his men to a surprising victory that claimed the lives of more than 1,200 enemy soldiers. The Battle of Ia Drang pioneered the use of “air mobile infantry”—delivering troops into battle via helicopter—which became a staple of U.S. operations for the remainder of the war.

One of the greatest battlefield commanders of the 20th century, little has been known about Hal Moore’s life and career beyond the Ia Drang battle…until now.  In this book, readers will learn of his service in Occupied Japan, his life-and-death struggles in the hilltop battles of the Korean War, and how he helped rebuild the post-Vietnam Army.

Following his tour in Vietnam, he assumed command of the 7th Infantry Division, forward-stationed in South Korea, and in 1971 he took command of the Army Training Center at Fort Ord, California. In this capacity, he oversaw the US Army’s transition from a conscript-based to an all-volunteer force. He retired as a Lieutenant General in 1977.

At this writing, Hal Moore is 93 years-old and living quietly in Auburn, Alabama. He graciously allowed the author to conduct several interviews and granted full access to his collection of letters, documents, and never-before-published photographs.

Mike Guardia is a Captain in the US Army Reserve.  He served six years on active duty as an Armor Officer. He holds a BA and MA in American History from the University of Houston. As an author, his previous works include Shadow Commander and American Guerrilla. He currently lives and works in Houston, TX. A portion of the book’s proceeds will go to benefit the USO.

For more, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/Hal-Moore-The-Biography-1406627382912279/timeline/

Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…and Always
Casemate Publishers
Available at: http://www.casematepublishers.com/index.php/hal-moore-hb.html#.ViUu-h2zZ9A and at Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and Amazon.com
Available in all major digital tablet platforms
$32.95 Hardcover
ISBN-13:  978-1612002071

ARMY Magazine: “This book brings the saga of one of the Army’s premier combat commanders to a new generation of military leaders. We are in Hal Moore’s debt for his distinguished service under the most challenging conditions. We are in Guardia’s debt for making Moore’s story accessible to the American public.”

Brian Sobel, author of The Fighting Pattons: “…Hal Moore is an American treasure and military hero…story is captured from his earliest days at West Point, through Korea, to the seminal moment of his Army life during the famed 1965 Battle of Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam. The battle has become the stuff of legend and Guardia captures the story in vivid detail…”

Midwest Book Review: “…an in depth biography of one of the America’s most admired soldiers…Vintage black and white photography peppers this fascinating, thoroughly researched saga of Moore’s life and career in the service, highly recommended…”

Statesman Journal: “Guardia’s honest recollections of [Moore’s] experiences in Viet Nam (both during the war and in 1993 when he returned to visit the men that three decades before were considered the enemy) are eye-openers.”

Joint Forces Journal: “…truly an outstanding biography as the author, one of America’s finest military historians, was allowed unrestricted access to Moore’s collected letters, documents, and never before published photographs…[Author] tells how Moore exemplifies the leadership qualities needed in all military leaders both in battle and in peacetime…well-documented study of an exceptional soldier and innovative problem solver…contains sufficient depth to fully understand Moore’s personality, character and motivation…should be essential reading for every sergeant and officer in the military, and every executive in business.”

Connecticut Guardian: “… easy and fast read … but Guardia manages to reach the heart of what made Moore a successful military leader.”

Joplin Independent: “The strategies, the nature of the enemy, whether or not real lasting success followed military or personal battles, always can be questioned…Moore, through the focused eyes of author/tank unit commander Mike Guardia has a major impact on how we as a nation and as individuals see things militarily or otherwise.”

Tip of the Spear, Special Forces Association: “…well researched….logical, straight forward, and enjoyable to read.”

~ VVA Veteran: “…a concise, admiring biography of retired Army Lt. Gen. Harold “Hal” Moore…Told in Moore’s strong first-person voice, this readable narrative goes over the basics of the November 1965 actions at Landing Zones X-Ray and Albany, the fiercest components of the 34-day Battle of the Ia Drang Valley…Guardia leans heavily on the two books in his account of Moore’s life, along with interviews he conducted with [Moore], with members of his family, and with veterans who served with him.”

Pure Politics.com: “….collectively captures the heroism that Moore performed on fighting for freedom abroad. This work comes from hours of interview from the subject and his personal archive. Guardia has done a service in sharing the life of a forgotten hero.”