Bøger udgivet af Luminare Press

Based upon true events, Blood In Your Boots: Navy SEAL Stories from the Silver Strand (1957-1967) tells the story of young Lieutenant Commander John M. "Maxie" Stephenson Jr., USNR. Maxie served as a member of Underwater Demolition Team Twelve and Navy SEAL Team One from 1957 to 1967. Maxie and his teammates' lives as Frogmen and Navy SEALs were a foil of grit, antics and humor, parties, exploits, and even an escape from a Mexican jail under gunfire.Readers will meet many colorful characters from a little-known period of US Naval history. With their legendary training and history of successful operations, the Navy SEALs have become modern-day American heroes. However, little is known publicly about the early days of the Navy SEAL teams. When were the teams formed? Who were some of the original Navy SEALS? How did they become the formidable fighting unit they are today? This book tells that story.

***NEW EDITION ***We wine writers tend to be obsessive souls. How else can a person stay fascinated throughout a career with just one drink? Compare us to food writers: Over their lives, they'll encounter thousands of ingredients and ways of combining and cooking them. Wine, by contrast, is just fermented grapes. But it engages our primary senses-smell, taste, feel-in a way that is both hedonistic and cerebral. That's why I've spent the past several years traipsing around the world, visiting wineries, tasting their offerings, and searching for the world's best cheap wines. The narrative is as familiar as Arthur's quest for the grail and as naive as Dr. Seuss's plaintive search for the affirmative in Are You My Mother?With her signature conversational style, Natalie MacLean takes you on a whirlwind journey through the world of wine, searching for great taste at a low cost. By turns confessional-with guilty admissions from a penny-pincher who loves simple pleasures-and spirited, Unquenchable is informed by MacLean's decade-long career as an award-winning wine writer.In this engaging and enlightening book, MacLean recounts her adventures with the most passionate personalities in some of the most gorgeous, off-beat places in the world-from the crazed vintner who explains his philosophy while speeding down the Autobahn to the Sicilian winemakers you don't want to disappoint with your tasting notes. Yet there's plenty to take away from her inspired recommendations for food pairing to lists of favorite value wines and vintners, plus plenty of pointers that will enhance your own drinking pleasure.

Tilda Norberg's Dancing in the Parking Lot tells the story of a life on the creative edges of church and society. In these pages, the author reveals experiences that shaped her: her Alabama roots with "Granny," a mountain midwife; lessons from her mother, "The Rebel"; and perhaps most significantly, the sudden death of Norberg's devoted parents in an Easter Day plane crash when she was just sixteen years old. ¿In her adult life, Norberg shepherded an East Harlem street gang; became a feminist; climbed mountains; fought for ordination; and birthed a ministry. In these pages, you are invited to step into the life of a modern mystic, social activist, feminist pioneer, church reformer, and revered counselor.

Hearing the news of a baby's cleft lip and palate can feel overwhelming for a parent. Amy Mendillo, health writer and cleft parent, has been there. Now, she has produced the most comprehensive guide ever written for parents of children born with clefts. Based on extensive interviews with fellow parents and cleft-team pros-plus exhaustive research from medical literature-I've Just Seen a Face contains essential medical information, emotional insights, and insiders' tips to help parents with countless decisions, big and small, during the intense first year of treatment and beyond. It is also full of relatable stories that will help parents feel more supported and less alone. This book contains: ¿Basics on the condition and its treatment, explained in everyday language Guidance on preparing for surgery and recovery-and handling feelings along the way Honest discussions of issues like bonding with a baby, taking photos, and responding to strangers in public Step-by-step instructions on how to feed a cleft-affected baby, plus loads of inside tips and tricks Key lessons on speaking up for a baby in the delivery room, exam room, recovery room, and beyond A warm and lively read, I've Just Seen a Face looks at the practical and emotional needs of families during a challenging time and offers information, insights, and reassurance.

Jesus Is a Baller: Reflections on the Fundamentals of Basketball is a book that sits at the intersection of basketball and faith. Using the fundamentals of the game as a metaphor for a walk with Christ, this non-fiction work reads like a devotional. The main points are reinforced through personal stories, with an emphasis on honesty through vulnerability. It is a perfect read for someone who wants to take a fresh look at Christianity through the gaze of sports.

In this eighth offering by L. Wade Powers, readers will be tantalized by a kaleidoscope of stories, essays, and poems, including the titular "The Gristmill Mistress," a tale of a scandalous affair between an apprentice mill worker and the married son of a Virginia town founder during the 1800s.In "The Game is On," a one-act play set at a poker elimination tournament, the stakes are higher than the players can possibly imagine, and in "Cat-a-Rack" role playing can be fun, educational, and dangerous, especially when the setting is a dungeon. Let the charming professor and beautiful librarian show you how the game is played."Dance Like the Greeks" is a travel memoir set on Evia, where dancing is the key to a long and happy life. Opa! Do you believe in dragons? You will, you will.These and many more delights in The Gristmill Mistress are your ticket to a flight of fancy: tales of imagination and everyday relationships, accounts of daring doings, and predictable failures.

"The stories of The Player are filled with memorable characters, individuals swimming against the undertow of life, slouching toward an uncertain tomorrow in search of the great unknowable something hiding out in the mysterious land where love is found, lost, and all too often misplaced. I am glad to have met them."-Ross West, whose stories have appeared recently in Wisconsin Review, The Satirist, Entropy, Litro, and Pangyrus"Russ Desaulnier's fourth collection of short stories may impossibly be his best. The Player is fourteen well-crafted tales driven by a wide breadth of culture and a deep well of sentiment for his characters."-Dan Armstrong, author of the novels Quicksand and Blake College"The characters of the stories in The Player are undaunted by the challenges of following dreams-the promise of a career in Japan, glory as a torero in Mexican bullrings, an offer to be a carefree gentleman and live in an Irish castle, etc. The characters take us from California to Mexico and Spain, to Japan and Greece, all with the go-for-it optimism of youth."-Rafael Zepeda, Cal State Long Beach professor of English, author of the novel Desperados, and Horse Medicine & Other Stories"The Player is a well-written collection of stories, just the book to read while sipping coffee after a chilly morning walk. You can't go wrong."-Arthur Wild, author of the short story collections What Old Men Think About and A Confusion of Stories

Dreamcatcher is a woman's immigrant journey in America during the nineties-one that opens her to a new world where a larger-than-life call awaits.Shila's stable life in India crumbles the day her husband, Asim, declares he's going to America. She follows Asim to the faraway foreign land, assured by her father's words: "This man has ambition. He'll rise to the top."Frustrated by her husband's career ambitions, Shila learns to bring up their daughter in a new culture with little help. Asim spends most of his time traveling for work, busy in his own dreams. Years later, the crisis peaks when Asim returns to India and their daughter will soon go to college, three thousand miles away, leaving an empty nest.Asim gives Shila an ultimatum. She must choose between returning with him to India, or staying in America alone. Should she answer the desires of her heart, putting her secure marriage of twenty years at stake?

Dare to Say No is an exposé on the topic of subjugation or people-pleasing which is rampant in our society. People often say "yes" when they really mean "no". This dysfunctional way of thinking and behaving impairs a life robbing one of their potential. Among other symptoms, anger and anxiety rule. Numerous actual case studies explain and illustrate this phenomenon. More importantly, step-by-step information provides how this debilitating way of living may be overcome.

"Goswami and Onisor... drive a golden chariot across the millennial bridge, exciting 20th century radical materialism for the Illuminated "New Land" of a post-material, consciousness-based existence." -Prof. Lisa Miller, Columbia UniversityThe essence of consciousness-we call them Archetypes-Truth, Love, Beauty, Justice, Wholeness etc-dissolves in us when we explore them to fruition. We embody them and transform just like water becomes salty.The spiritual wisdom traditions of the old and quantum science of today are telling us one and the same thing: true education is transformation embodying the archetypes.For that, we first need to change our worldview from the one that has mesmerized our education based on the primacy of matter (matter is the ground of all being) to one that quantum physics is insisting on: CONSCIOUSNESS IS THE GROUND OF ALL BEING.The second part of the transformative process consists of exploring and embodying the archetypes: soul-making.Together, the two parts constitute the mythical Hero's Journey, carried out in the quantum style, using quantum principles that have made it accessible to virtually everyone motivated to undertake the journey.The job of higher education is to give finishing touches on soul-making that begins in our childhood. This is what is lacking today in all levels of education.Are you interested in developing your soul? If yes, you need to undertake the Hero's Journey.This book:Describes the steps of the Hero's Journey, and how to accomplish them in a quantum science guided detailed manner;Teaches you how to augment and transpersonalize your Power with Goodness and Love;Guides you how to not side-step your journey with only partial success;Shows you what kind of happiness and intelligence awaits you once you complete your journey.The Hero's Journey Quantum Style will help society to:Encourage the real Hero in his/her archetypal Journey;Not to interfere with children's natural development of the beginning of soul-making via instilling a wrong belief system on the negative side, while providing love and care on the positive side;How to get rid of the various divides that polarize our society nowadays: lower/higher education, creativity/conditioning, male/female, science/spirituality, intellect/ heart.You are invited to this Journey!

Near explosions, bullets whizzing overhead, vehicles skidding out of control!All of these and more in short story compositions of twenty-six different experiences in the author's personal life where he found himself "walking through the valley of the shadow of death." (Psalm 23:4)Amidst the trials, he could trace the hand of God upon his life for protection. Through each incident, he was able to claim, as the psalmist David did thousands of years ago, "...I will fear no evil, for You are with me."It is my heartfelt desire and prayer that each person reading this will "fear no evil" as they trust in God to be with them whether it be the beginning, the middle, or the end of this 'valley' journey.

In this personal narrative, Nina Reid describes the foggy, winding path that would eventually lead to her calling as a pediatric occupational therapist.After surviving the pitfalls of living in a small town amid family dynamics that undermine her confidence, Nina ventures out as an au pair in Paris during her junior year of college abroad. Far from the rich cultural experience she imagined, she encounters condescension and coldness from the family who employs her, but is ultimately buoyed by her newfound American friends who have her back.What follows after Nina's life in Paris is a series of romantic disasters, ill-chosen graduate degrees, and several dead-end jobs in and around Chicago, humorously recounted along with their accompanying dysfunctional interoffice dynamics, farcical leadership styles, and lackluster growth opportunities. An epiphany finally prompts her to embark on a major transition to a purposeful profession, which in itself is a leap of faith.The author imbues these scenes with seemingly divergent images of Oprah car giveaways, Sartre carrying groceries, the Chicago skyline, craft beers, laxatives, and bubble wrap. Alternately comical and melancholy, hopeful and world-weary, this narrative reminds the reader that it is never too late to overcome our fears to follow our passions and to laugh along the way.

Charlotte is enjoying her summer when she discovers that her best friend, Micaela, has recently gotten braces. Longing for the day when she, too, can straighten her teeth, Charlotte makes it her mission to convince her mama that she should also get a set of braces. She passes her time with summer camp, attending swim meets, and spending time with friends. She wiggles her lingering loose teeth every day, waiting for the day they finally fall out. When Charlotte loses the remainder of her primary teeth, she's excited for an evaluation from her orthodontist. She keeps her fingers crossed and thinks positive thoughts. As summer draws to a close, Charlotte wonders if fate will grant her wish and send her back to school with braces.

FBI agents Annie Caden and John McNeil are thrust into life-and-death challenges when they concoct a plan to hunt for Americans held hostage in war-torn Iraq. John is reassigned from Baghdad to a British base in Basra and embedded with US Army Green Berets. Annie has the unenviable mission of fighting the real battle-keeping the project alive.Donovan, a National Security Agency (NSA) Analyst becomes an integral part of the team searching for the hostages. British intelligence and back-channel meetings along with frequent rocket attacks add to the complicated navigation and intrigue of wartime hostage events.The American hostages are held in the most abysmal conditions and their chances of rescue are dwindling along with their weight and health.Just Kill the Hostages is a fictionalized account of a world known only to insiders with raised-level government clearance. The characters are inspired by real-world operators in dangerous environments; unpolished realities of how government work gets done in a war zone form a story you will not soon forget.

Leaving your childhood home to build a new life is a rite of passage. But what happens when you have to go back?Self-reliant artist Penelope "Nellie" Simpson has made a place for herself in the New Mexico art scene. But when her father becomes ill, she is forced to leave the life she's built and return to her hometown of Port Edgerton, New York.Penelope is torn between her New Mexico life and the one she has found for herself back home when she falls in love with her high school friend, Peter Vandegelder. Things become further complicated when startling revelations of the town's history begin unfolding around them. And, as if things weren't tangled enough, a stranger shows up in town whose dreams and aspirations may change the very nature of Port Edgerton.

"It was hard to imagine that Richard Leebrick, who leaned in my doorway at The Denali literary magazine forty-three years ago, was the author of that voluminous, explosive, genius manuscript tossed onto my desk the week before. Like Leonard Cohen and Dylan Thomas had a baby who played the saxophone. We happily published those first poems and sketches, and it was the beginning of a long and beautiful collaborative friendship. Over the years, I have read his poems, movie scripts, plays and a fairytale for adults (complete with musical CD). All of them are imbued with Richard's unique and mystical, romantically spiritual voice. First and foremost, dear reader, Richard Leebrick is a poet. One whose loves, losses, joys, recoveries, transformations, and humanity dig in and find their home in your soul. And they don't let go. There's nothing 'half' about The Half-life of Desire. I invite you to fall in." -Sarita Baker Brown

In a sea of leadership and coaching books that are written by coaches in professional and collegiate sports, A Coaching Life offers the perspective of two high school coaches writing specifically for the millions of people out there leading youth and high school programs today. Just as they did in their first book, The Best-Laid Plans of a High School Basketball CEO, Randy Montgomery, a newly retired, 600-win, Ohio Hall-of-Fame coach, and Matt Kramer, a 200-win coach who has recently developed 6 high-level Division 1 college basketball players, present an array of tried and true leadership and coaching ideas throughout the course of the text. However, the aspect of A Coaching Life that makes it a compelling read for a wider audience is the stories woven into the fabric of those shared leadership ideas, showing how sometimes they lead to sell-out crowds, euphoric championship celebrations, and the coach receiving the key to the city; other times, candidly admitting that those same ideas ended in empty bleachers, sleepless nights, and the athletic director collecting the coach's keys to the gym. In both cases, and every case in between, A Coaching Life offers an authentic narrative that will reveal the true value of a career in leading young people.

The Border and Other Crossings is a collection of short stories that shows life lived to the full, with passion and sensitivity, and illuminates the simple events of the not quite, ordinary life that each of us leads. The narrators of these stories affirm that life is best understood backwards, that recreated moments reveal the borders of the heart and define the passages we've made.-Bill Plain, Editor

On the Inside is a non-profit organization that has come together with women serving time at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, Oregon and our worldwide civilian community to create a book that documents our journeys. In these pages, we contemplate, express ourselves, and offer our reflections to you, the reader.On the Inside provides environments to find healing through creative expression. We talk about a wide range of topics and dive deep into ourselves. We teach these workshops inside of women's prison facilities and virtually for women everywhere!

This book is not for everyone.It's for those rare and precious souls who are humble enough to admit their ignorance, curious enough to keep asking questions, and honest enough to accept the answers-no matter how inconvenient those answers might be.It's for those mature enough to abandon all childish notions of morality, those who find no comfort in conformity with the herd, and those who dare to challenge the gatekeepers and powers that be. It's for those who have the courage to define their own values and the integrity to live accordingly.Why Are You Here? is a deep dive into the question we all answer, for better or worse, with everything we do or fail to do each and every day. But this is no feel-good book. You will find no promises, easy answers, or chicken-soup-for-the-soul platitudes here. What you will find is more like castor oil for the soul. While sobering and humbling, may you find these pages to be therapeutic, liberating, and empowering-and use them to transform life from something that merely happens to you into something that happens because of you.