Like Rachel, stepmoms and moms can turn their cries into song by finding their voices and healing the past with spiritual tools, speaking their truth, reconnecting to nature, releasing trauma from the body, and trusting their inner voice. Rachel ends her silence and shares her truth as a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, and being a stepmom. I Sang Anyway is a return to nature and the discovery of self-love. This memoir is her story with spiritual advice woven throughout the text. If you are feeling lost and desperate to figure out how to cope with life because nothing else has worked, this book is for you. You will gain spiritual wisdom and ideas for how to trust yourself for what to say and do in tense family situations.

After a lifetime of failed relationships, non-binary history professor Sam Bell is committed to a new (non)romantic strategy: Thirst Only. It's the actual drinking where things get too complicated, where Sam inevitably gets hurt. Sam is good at being thirsty, though, especially when it's karaoke night at The Moonlight Cafe, otherwise known as Moonie's to its largely queer regulars. Moonie's is fun. Comfortable. Safe. Except for tonight, when one by one, all of Sam's friends abandon them. Disappointed, they prepare to leave. Until their #1 karaoke crush catches their eye... For Lily Fischer, karaoke at Moonie's is the only time she can step outside of her quiet shell. When there's a mic in her hand, she's no longer merely a receptionist harboring big dreams. At Moonie's, Lily can pretend to be someone else: someone bold, who takes what she wants. And tonight, what Lily wants is the way Sam looks at her across the room as she sings her signature opening song, like they see her exactly as she wants to be seen. Like Moonie's Lily is real. As the night progresses, both Sam's and Lily's personal boundaries are tested, and the real world outside of Moonie's looms. But maybe sometimes, the real world should be a little more like karaoke. It's not always about knowing all the right words or having the perfect voice. Maybe all Sam and Lily need is a little courage to pick up the mic, and sing anyway.

This is an adult collection of short stories that entertains with wit, shocks with frankness, and engages both intellect and emotion. Richly varied, it ranges from extended stories to intense pieces of flash fiction.

The Avelinos is a true story about a "Small Town High Time " Musician. Avelino Avalos played the guitar and sang in different bands in Safford, Arizona for over four decades. He raised his eleven children in South Eastern Arizona. Daughters memories about her dad included him gathering his instruments together getting them ready for playing, by tuning his smoke green Anniversary Gretchen Electric Guitar. Avelino played a variety of music, Flamenco, Country, Corridos, Rancheras and Rock. His bands included "The Lucky Four" Charlie Hemphill (Bass Guitar), his brother Bill on (Lead Guitar), Brooks Nutell on (Drums). "The Lucky Four had no problems getting gigs, putting a variety of music together as an excellent form of entertainment" as told by Hemphill. "The Mixers", another band included Doughnut Delgado Jr.,Frank Shelton,Charlie Hemphill,George Reyes,and Tom Guerena. "The Mixers" traveled to Buffalo, New York to audition on "The Johnny Carson Show" in the early 1960s, reaching for a spotlight on National TV. However, that dream was short lived when one of the band members got cold feet and thus the band opted not to play for the audition. Avelino had been practicing for a funeral he was to attend,on that very night May 20, 1985 he passed away at 59. His music was silenced for the first time in our entire life. Jimmy Delgado Sr. and Bobby Merino Sr. dads best friends were in shock when their music companion suddenly died. Music was Avelino he left a legacy behind and his daughter Frances Diane has given others the opportunity to learn about the extraordinary man who never left his love of music behind. "For every photo there is a story", as told by Frances Frances Avalos. "Music was everything for dad its how he lived we could not separate that from him if mother would have tried it never would have happened it would have been unsuccessful for her, he lived with music he died that way. In behalf of our Avalos family we wish to dedicated my book "The Avelinos to him. May his love of music and his memories continue to be told. We wish to thank Dennis Landberg KJZZ Radio Station for the opportunity to air our story, and special thanks to Paul Atkinson (Producer/Reporter).

Belonging. You need to feel it in all aspects of your life, including the workplace. Many business leaders recognize this truth and embrace the significant benefits that result from workplace belonging. These benefits include increased psychological safety, trust, and innovation. Yet, most of these leaders struggle with how to build belonging at work. Some even believe the idea of belonging at work - let alone feeling it - is too elusive to achieve. In Imagine Belonging, Rhodes Perry equips inclusive leaders with a powerful framework to overcome these challenges. The book invites you to participate in this critical conversation, and motivates you to eradicate the pain of exclusion that far too many of us experience on the job. Perry draws upon his distinguished career as a nationally recognized DEI thought leader to help you understand complex issues like power, privilege, targeted universalism, and belonging at a deeper level. He offers practical cases studies, proven strategies, and rich stories empowering you to overcome the common barriers that often stymie your organization's DEI goals. His writing encourages you to positively influence your workplace culture by embracing inclusive leadership practices, cooperative team building methods, and fresh approaches on how to equitably structure your organization. Imagine Belonging helps you recognize the relative power and privilege you hold to transform yourself, your team, and your workplace. Whether your organization is just beginning its diversity, equity and inclusion journey, or is further along in the process, Imagine Belonging will inspire you to transform your vision of belonging at work into a reality....and reap the rewards that result from establishing an equitable organization.

Ever since Charlotte Taylor was a little girl she's wanted fame and fortune. She sings with the voice of an angel and is soon plucked out of obscurity and launched into the limelight as the overnight sensation &‘Lola'. Charlotte attends wild celebrity parties and moves in circles with the rich and famous, but the people living the life of celebrity aren't all she imagined them to be and neither is her life. Struggling to find the real Charlotte again she battles against the crazy life she's thrust into, desperately trying to swim to the surface. Blake Hudson is a self-made man. Successful in his own right, he's busy making his own mark on the world. Self-assured, strong and determined, he's not looking for a permanent relationship. But when he meets the sweet and charming Charlotte, he's captivated. But the world of celebrity and business collide and commitments, half-truths and unintentional deception don't make for smooth sailing. Hilarious consequences ensue through this romantic comedy, but can Lola and Blake overcome the challenges that life and fame throw their way to find their own happy-ever-after, or will Lola just have to Walk on By?

Is That A Treble Clef In Your Pocket-- Or Are You Just Glad To See Me? Maggie Gallagher spends her nights with lots of men. Of course, they're all dead composers, but why nitpick? Her love life is just like the musical compositions she researches--undiscovered. It's time for Maggie to let loose and go wild. In a dive bar on Bourbon Street, Maggie makes a real find in the house band's keyboard player. He's hot. Sexy. Flirtatious. Soulful. And she could swear he's playing an unknown piece she's been researching, which is impossible, unless he's dead. . . Centuries before he was a badass vampire with a rock-star wardrobe and Big Easy charm, Ren was Renauldo D'Antoni, a composer on the verge of great success until he was betrayed. No one could ever know that, but tonight, the shy strawberry blonde with the big eyes and obviously borrowed outfit actually seemed to recognize his long-lost composition. Now, she wants to know about the composition, and Ren wants to know her. . .intimately. But what starts as attraction--and distraction--just might lead to the biggest discovery of their lives. . .

Her name is synonymous with the West. Her celebrity has spread to the East Coast and California, traveling down the new-laid railroads and along the telegraph wire. But breathless tales of Calamity Jane bear little resemblance to the truth. As she senses death coming closer, the legendary hellcat longs to set the record straight—to reveal her life story at last, unclouded by legend, every sin and failing laid bare. Only then can she hope to rest in peace. In a Deadwood saloon, she finds a writer willing to hear her out, and recount the truth to a public hungry for more tales of Calamity Jane… So begins Libbie Hawker’s expansive biographical novel, an intimate portrait of one of the best-known yet least-understood women of the American frontier. The international bestselling author of The Ragged Edge of Night takes the reader on a heart-rending journey through a landscape lost to time, as seen through the eyes of one outcast woman. Calamity is a haunting meditation on hardship, unrequited love, and the stark, affecting beauty of the American West. Editorial note: In pursuit of a narrative voice faithful to the central character, this text employs deliberate misuse of grammar and occasional misspellings. These are the author’s intentional stylistic choices and should not be interpreted as a lack of editing. Readers are encouraged to use the “Look Inside” feature before purchasing.

The master key to unlock your financial, mental, and emotional jail cell is within this hard-hitting book. Bestselling author and TrulyRichClub founder Bo Sanchez will tell you why and how you can get out of your prison of fear that has kept you stagnant in your finances, career, business, and even other parts of your life. First, he clarifies a core misunderstanding about God–that “He doesn’t run a fruit store but a seed store.” Diving deeper, Bo explains this beautiful mystery he calls “irrational generosity,”which creates multiplied miracles in your financial life as well as in other dimensions. Through Limitless, Bo will teach you how to get out of your comfort zone, enter your courage zone, and with God, cocreate your abundant destiny–not for your own empire but for His kingdom.