How to A.C.T.: A Guide to Salvation Through Jesus Christ
James A. Brandt’s How to A.C.T.: A Guide to Salvation Through Jesus Christ is a direct, personal guide to Christian salvation built around three memorable actions: Accept, Confess, and Testify or Teach. Brandt expands a sermon he first delivered in Okinawa into a practical spiritual roadmap, moving from humanity’s need for salvation to accepting Christ, repenting of sin, sharing one’s testimony, and joining a supportive Christian community. The structure makes the book easy to follow, especially for readers who are exploring Christianity or trying to reconnect with their faith.
What gives the book its warmth is Brandt’s willingness to place his own life inside the message. He writes about his military career, fatherhood, personal failures, spiritual turning points, and the relationships that helped shape his faith. These moments keep the book grounded in lived experience. Brandt isn’t speaking from a distant platform. He’s talking as someone who has wrestled with temptation, approval, responsibility, and change, then found greater peace by centering his life on Christ.
Scripture is the book’s foundation, with Brandt drawing extensively from the New King James Version to explain sin, grace, forgiveness, rebirth, evangelism, and Christian fellowship. Each chapter develops a clear idea, supports it with biblical passages, and closes by reinforcing the lesson. The later chapters are especially practical, encouraging readers to share their faith with humility, live in a way that reflects their beliefs, serve others, and recognize that testimony is expressed through conduct as much as conversation.
How to A.C.T. reads like an extended conversation with a sincere believer who wants others to experience the hope that transformed him. Its message is urgent, compassionate, and deeply personal, offering readers a simple framework they can remember long after they’ve finished the final page. How to A.C.T. turns salvation from an abstract promise into a personal decision, a changed life, and a faith worth sharing.
Pages: 97 | ASIN : B0H3HL6YHH
Steel & Ballast
Steel and Ballast is a sweeping romantic drama set inside the polished, highly competitive world of international shipping and maritime finance. At its center is Daphne Kontis, an accomplished investor-relations executive whose relationship with Sindre Mørkland draws her into the orbit of a wealthy Norwegian shipping dynasty. Their romance begins through professional recognition and physical attraction, but it quickly grows into a struggle involving family tradition, corporate succession, pregnancy, and control over the future. The book treats love as something deeply connected to status and legacy, so even its most intimate moments carry the pressure of boardrooms, bloodlines, and public perception.
One of the book’s strongest qualities is its unusual professional setting. The shipping industry isn’t simply decorative background. Discussions of LNG carriers, public listings, freight markets, investor confidence, and crisis communications shape the story and give Daphne’s authority a convincing foundation. Her observation that “Investors don’t buy ships; they buy narratives of endurance, leverage, and discipline” captures both her professional philosophy and the novel’s larger interest in storytelling as a form of power. Daphne understands that facts alone don’t move markets or families. Whoever controls the narrative can influence how those facts are remembered, valued, and passed down.
Daphne is the novel’s driving force. She’s intelligent, glamorous, sensual, disciplined, and intensely aware of how others try to define her. Her greatest strength as a character is that her professional identity remains central even when her personal life becomes turbulent. She doesn’t stop being an executive when she becomes a lover or an expectant mother. Instead, she approaches each role with the same instinct for preparation and long-term strategy. Sindre is written as her emotional and intellectual counterpart, though his attachment to inherited power repeatedly tests their connection. Their chemistry is heightened by the sense that each recognizes something rare in the other, even when pride and control keep them from building a stable life together.
The prose is lush, dramatic, and openly fascinated by wealth, beauty, authority, and restraint. Rooms, clothing, gestures, and silences receive nearly as much attention as dialogue, creating a world where presentation is never accidental. The book’s repeated declarations of Daphne’s exceptional qualities give the story the feeling of a modern legend, while the extended romantic scenes emphasize the almost mythic intensity of her bond with Sindre. At times, this heightened style makes the emotions feel deliberately larger than life, but that intensity suits a story in which private choices can redirect companies and dynasties. The later introduction of Daniel Mercer also expands the emotional stakes by offering Daphne a relationship shaped by a different kind of power and recognition.
By the ending, Steel and Ballast has developed from a luxury romance into a story about sovereignty, motherhood, and the ownership of legacy. Daphne’s final position is both emotionally costly and strategically formidable. She protects her son and herself by stepping beyond the structure that once judged whether she belonged, while Sindre moves forward with the public company and dynasty they once imagined shaping together. The closing statement that “power is never defeated by opposition. It is met only by equal force” neatly expresses the book’s worldview. This is a bold, intensely stylized novel about a woman who understands that influence doesn’t always require acceptance, visibility, or a seat at someone else’s table.
Authentic and Vulnerable
Marketing Fastrack is part memoir and part workshop detailing your successful transition from grief-coach training to marketing consultancy. Why was this an important book for you to write?
So often, it is hard for a new business owner to see clearly how to get started. They compare themselves to established businesses with established marketing systems. But that was not how those businesses began! So I wanted to reveal a quick way to launch a new business, product, or service, using a short book. My intention is to help entrepreneurs and experts launch their business quickly and affordably within 90 days.
Why did you decide to write a concise, highly focused book instead of a comprehensive marketing manual?
I have written a comprehensive marketing and branding manual, Turn Words Into Wealth: 7 Ways to Make 7 Figures as a Thought Leader. So if people would like to take a deeper dive, they can read that comprehensive book. The gift hardcover book is available here: https://turnwordsintowealth.com/
Readers discover that Fastrack was the name of your late husband’s racing yacht. Why was it important to share that story?
I wanted readers to know that the title of the book, Marketing Fastrack, was personally meaningful to me. My late husband loved racing our sailboat, Fastrack. It also modeled one of the core ideas in my book: that being authentic and vulnerable is a way to build connection and trust with ideal clients.
If someone could implement only one idea from Marketing Fastrack, which would you hope they choose?
If they only implement one idea, I would love readers to embrace the idea of a 90-day test to see if they have product-market fit. So many people make the costly mistake of spending a lot of time and money hoping that people will buy what they plan on selling. Hope is not a wise business plan. Instead of hoping, launch quickly with a minimal version and see if people are willing to buy what you’re selling. If they do, optimize. If they don’t, go back to the drawing board.
Author Links: GoodReads | YouTube | Same Page Publishing | Turn Words Into Wealth | Website | Amazon
Someone half as good as you just charged twice as much, and got the client. If you’re a successful expert or entrepreneur, that’s not bad luck. It’s bad marketing.
Marketing Fastrack reveals a simple, fast way for your marketing to become remarkable. This short book generated $250,000 of new business in 90 days, and inside you get everything you need to model it: the real emails, the real follow-up sequence, and the real application forms.
No fluff. No theory. Just the clear roadmap, so you can follow it.
In this book, you’ll discover how to:
Prove your next offer will sell, in 90 days, for less than 3 months’ rent
Become famous in your niche, so you’re the expert everyone quotes
Turn a one-hour conversation into a short book that attracts opportunities
Avoid the 3 marketing mistakes sabotaging your success
Leverage your time to reach thousands of ideal prospects
Get your Greenlight Gameplan tailored to your business and the Age of AI
Follow the exact sequence that turned a short book into $250,000
I learned this the hard way, so you don’t have to. Now I help clients craft full-length, high-authority books. I still use this short-book method whenever a client needs fast results. In this book, I’ll show you exactly how to model it, step by step, so you skip the years of trial and error I went through.
If you want more income, more influence, and more invitations to speak, this is your shortcut. Bonus gift inside, so look for it. I’ve helped clients land their own TV shows, add six figures in six months, and raise millions for their startups.
Bad marketing isn’t free. It’s paid for in lost clients, lost income, and lost opportunities.
Winner of the Pinnacle Book Achievement Gold Award.
I’m Aurora Winter, MBA, founder of Same Page Publishing, creator of the Spoken Author method, and host of Strategic Basics. Formerly a TV writer-producer, I’m the author of ten books, including Turn Words Into Wealth: 7 Ways to Make 7 Figures as a Thought Leader, updated for the Age of AI. My work has been featured in Success, Elle, ABC-TV, CBS-TV, and hundreds of podcasts. I’ve reached millions with my marketing messages, and now I help my clients do the same.
Let your reputation walk into the room before you do.
Get Marketing Fastrack today.
Complex Relationships
The Sawmillers Daughter follows a woman from her childhood in a Depression-era timber settlement through marriage, motherhood, bereavement, and the creation of a sawmilling legacy. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I have family that has been generational Sawmillers, the setting of the Eastern Dorrigo Plateau is a real location and once was a thriving community, and that’s where I drew my inspiration for my story. I also listened to people’s stories about what life was like back in the day in those locations, so I guess the history of the place also inspired me.
Maggie’s relationship with her mother, Dotty, is one of the novel’s most emotionally complex threads. Was it important to you that readers understand Dotty without necessarily forgiving her?
Absolutely, I believe that with all complex relationships, it might be easy to forgive, but it’s important to never forget, but it was also important to me that Maggie’s life wasn’t defined by her mother or their relationship and that she could forge her own path without that determent.
The novel moves across several decades at a brisk pace. What challenges did you face in balancing the sweep of history with the intimate moments of Maggie’s personal life?
I guess, like everyone’s life, the older you get, the faster life goes as we get so busy with work, children, family life, that it passes by so quickly. I also wanted to be able to show significant historical events that create a timeline, but also life milestones that become significant in a person’s life. For example, I can still remember the day Princess Diana died, I remember where I was and what I was doing, and to me, even that is a historical event.
If Maggie could meet the young girl she was at the beginning of the novel, what do you think she would tell her?
Never give up on your dreams and to always believe in yourself, and that she is stronger than she thinks.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website | Amazon
As the Great Depression and World War shaped her world, Mags transformed ambition into action, mastering the Canadian saw and dreaming of building her own timber enterprise. Along the way, she confronted bitter rivalries, devastating losses, and family secrets that threatened everything she had worked for.
The Sawmillers Daughter is a sweeping saga of grit, loyalty, and determination. It tells the story of a woman who carved a place for herself in a man’s world, built a lasting legacy in Australia’s timber industry, and ensured that her family—and their mill—would endure for generations to come.
Real-Life Inspiration
Alice and Agapogo is centered around a brave and stubborn girl whose escape from a witch takes her into a mysterious underworld on an adventure involving ancient Miners, prophecies, and betrayal. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
This is the second book in Alice’s adventures. At the end of the first novel, the witch forces Alice into the Underworld.
From a writer’s point of view, that opened an entirely new world. Legends about mysterious underground civilizations appear in mythology, folklore, and classic fantasy literature. I wanted to bring to life my own Underworld with its own history, forgotten people, and ancient secrets.
But the setting itself was not the most important part of the story. The real question was: what would Alice do if she had only two choices? Stay in a safe place and wait for whatever fate had prepared for her, or leave that safety and walk straight toward danger.
Alice is scared, but she never gives up. When she realizes that even the witches fear the Dragon, her decision is: “Then I’ll find the Dragon.” That determination in the face of fear became the driving force behind the entire novel.
Alice’s relationship with Bella and Lola gives the story much of its emotional warmth. Were the dogs inspired by real-life companions?
Yes, there was a real-life inspiration, with an amazing girl and two huge dogs who absolutely adored her.
I decided to write a few stories about her adventures with her dogs. That became my first book, “Alice, Cricket and Two Dogs”.
In the second book, the three of them are still inseparable.
Agapogo is both protector and friend. How did you imagine this remarkable creature?
I spent a lot of time in British Columbia near beautiful Okanagan Lake, where the legend of Ogopogo is part of what gives the lake its unique character. When you stand on the shore and look out over its waters, it is easy to imagine that a mysterious ancient creature lives somewhere in the depths.
It became the starting point for Agapogo, and I changed the name slightly as a nod to the legend. But in the novel, Agapogo is far more than an underwater serpent.
Alice manages to uncover his secret, and that discovery becomes one of the key moments in the story.
What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be available?
I am currently working on a dark fantasy novel for adults. Its working title is Angel.
At the same time, I am also writing the third book in Alice’s adventures. At the end of the second book, Alice returns to an ordinary school, and her family moves to another city. But can a girl who has survived such extraordinary trials simply settle down and live the life of an ordinary schoolgirl? The working title of Alice 3 is On the Trail of the Miners.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | X (Twitter) | Website | Amazon
But the Underworld is far larger and far more dangerous than Alice could have imagined.
Beneath the forests and lakes stretches a vast subterranean realm of enormous caves, dark tunnels, underground waterways, and abandoned cities built long ago by the mysterious Miners — a vanished people whose secrets were never meant to be uncovered.
The Sanctuary soon proves anything but safe. When Alice discovers that the witches have already spread their traps into the hidden world below, she makes a desperate but necessary choice. Alone with her dogs, she journeys deeper into the Underworld, hoping to find the Dragon feared by the witches themselves.
Instead, she encounters something unexpected — Agapogo, an ancient underwater Serpent.
While searching for the Dragon, Alice learns that the vanished Miners called Dragons Tael Morh. The name is strangely familiar… and when she finally remembers why, nothing will ever be the same for Agapogo.
Deep in the Underworld, Alice awakens the impossible—and finds the key to defeating the witches.
Finding Order in Disorder
Finding Order in Disorder is Ishaa Vinod Chopra’s candid account of living with bipolar disorder while moving through fractured family relationships, immigration, an abusive marriage, repeated hospitalizations, divorce, education, and artistic discovery. The memoir follows her from childhood in India through periods in Canada and Germany, showing how instability, rejection, trauma, and mental illness became intertwined. Chopra writes with unusual openness about manic episodes, medication, institutional treatment, domestic violence, and the difficult work of separating a person’s character from symptoms of an illness.
The book’s most compelling quality is its emotional directness. Chopra doesn’t shape her experiences into a tidy recovery story. Instead, she revisits painful decisions, acknowledges her own mistakes, and allows conflicting feelings about her parents, former partners, doctors, and caregivers to remain visible. Interviews, remembered conversations, personal reflections, and drawings created during episodes give the memoir the feeling of a life being examined from several angles. Her voice is earnest and conversational, and even when she moves into advice or philosophy, the ideas remain rooted in experiences she’s actually lived.
Dance provides the book with its strongest unifying thread. Kathak, Latin dance, painting, yoga, teaching, and performance become ways for Chopra to regulate emotion, preserve identity, and reconnect with herself when illness threatens to define her. Her work with children offers another source of meaning, particularly as she considers how early experiences shape adult well-being. The later chapters become increasingly reflective and practical, addressing sleep, medication, counselling, self-respect, relationships, stigma, and patient autonomy. This shift gives the memoir the character of both a personal testimony and a compassionate conversation with readers facing similar challenges.
This book will resonate most with people living with bipolar disorder, survivors of domestic abuse, and families trying to understand the complicated realities of caregiving. It should also appeal to mental health professionals, educators, and readers interested in how art can support recovery and self-expression. Chopra’s story asks readers to look beyond a diagnosis and see a whole person who can be vulnerable, impulsive, loving, creative, difficult, hopeful, and resilient at the same time. It’s a deeply personal invitation to approach mental illness with greater patience, curiosity, and humanity.
Pages: 190 | ASIN : B0BYZJDZ68
I’ve Made Plans
Mia J. Hanks’s I’ve Made Plans chronicles the author’s life after leaving a twenty-nine-year marriage marked by coercive control, emotional abuse, and covert narcissism. Beginning with the finalization of her divorce, Hanks shifts the focus from the dissolution of the marriage to the demanding work of creating a life beyond it. Her account follows a series of practical and emotional turning points, including confronting intimidation, rebuilding self-worth, establishing boundaries, managing isolation, and rediscovering personal freedom. When she leaves the courtroom with the realization that “My future now belonged to me,” the statement becomes the foundation for everything that follows.
The memoir’s greatest strength is its use of specific, everyday experiences to illustrate the lasting effects of abuse. A compromised storage unit, a bag of circus peanuts, a solo road trip, a broken thermometer, and an airplane journey all become meaningful markers of recovery. These episodes show how control can shape seemingly ordinary decisions and how reclaiming those decisions can restore confidence. Hanks writes in a candid, accessible voice that gives the book the intimacy of a personal conversation while maintaining a clear sense of purpose. Her willingness to examine her own people-pleasing, fear, guilt, and complicity in maintaining appearances adds depth to the narrative.
Each chapter is organized around a lesson, such as “Self-care is not selfish,” “Boundaries are necessary,” or “Freedom is priceless,” and many conclude with a journal prompt. This structure makes the book both a memoir and a reflective guide for readers navigating divorce, trauma, or major personal change. The later glossary, diagnostic criteria, list of covert narcissistic traits, and support resources extend its practical value. Some ideas recur across chapters, but the repetition reflects the gradual nature of recovery and reinforces the central themes of self-trust, autonomy, and deliberate healing.
I’ve Made Plans is ultimately a grounded account of reconstruction. Hanks presents healing as a collection of choices rather than a single transformative moment, and the construction of her new home provides an effective final metaphor for rebuilding her identity. Her concluding reflection, “I already love this life not because it is perfect, but because it is mine,” captures the memoir’s emotional center. Honest, encouraging, and thoughtfully structured, the book offers survivors a recognizable portrait of life after abuse while showing how freedom can be strengthened through boundaries, faith, self-care, and purposeful action.
Pages: 92 | ASIN : B0GX31KVYT
Departure From Innocence
William Wilson’s Departure From Innocence is a philosophical coming-of-age novel that follows Bradley Zimbroski from early childhood into marriage and fatherhood. Bradley’s life unfolds through formative incidents involving family, sexuality, competition, grief, addiction, work, and love. Small experiences, such as receiving a shark jaw for his birthday or becoming lost in a parking lot, carry symbolic weight and gradually shape his understanding of adulthood. The result is literary fiction with the broad scope of a life story and the intimate focus of a family drama.
The novel’s most distinctive feature is the way it blends Bradley’s personal journey with extended reflections on human behavior. Wilson frequently steps back from the immediate action to consider subjects such as parenting, social expectations, masculinity, risk, marriage, and the stories people tell themselves. This gives the book elements of psychological fiction and philosophical fiction, while Bradley’s changing perspective keeps those larger ideas connected to one recognizable life. His departure from innocence happens gradually, through accumulated knowledge, disappointment, desire, and consequence.
Bradley is a complicated protagonist whose ambition and sensitivity exist alongside impulsiveness, resentment, and a recurring need to escape discomfort. His struggles with alcohol become especially important as he moves through college, police work, his relationship with Trinity, and the birth of their daughter, Maple. Some of the book’s most affecting passages examine how destructive habits can return disguised as rewards or harmless relief. Bradley’s lowest moments, including his suicide attempt and later collapse, give this psychological family drama a raw emotional current, while his relationships provide the reasons he keeps reaching for a more stable life.
Departure From Innocence is ultimately a reflective literary novel about the difficult work of becoming accountable for one’s choices. Its episodic structure creates the feeling of looking through a long collection of memories, with each chapter adding another piece to Bradley’s identity. Readers drawn to coming-of-age fiction, addiction and recovery fiction, philosophical novels, and multigenerational family stories will find plenty to consider here. Wilson closes Bradley’s journey on a grounded note, presenting recovery as a daily decision to remain present, accept responsibility, and keep moving forward.
Pages: 171
