Still Stepping: A Family Portrait is a twenty-two year, long-form portrait of a family as it cruises along, gets clobbered by a treacherous childhood illness, and then moves forward. Amidst the quotidian of life, my photographs and the family's words-from letters, an essay, a documentary and interviews-provide an intimate window into a world turned upside down then righted by two shaken but determined parents.The book follows the family as it figures out how to care for a severely disabled child, and rights itself to the new reality by the will and persistence (and humor) of the four family members.The narrative is presented in two parts. The first begins with the untroubled days of early childhood. It follows the Morgan-Orton family as they seek a diagnosis for nine-year-old Parker's increasingly disturbing behavior and learn the worst of news-that it is Childhood Onset Schizophrenia (COS). It continues with the period of adaptation and moving forward; shaken but determined, the family finds a new rhythm. The second part, the Postscript, presents the children in their twenties with all four offering unvarnished reflections on their lives and concerns for the future.

Stepping in the Now is focused to be a YA contemporary that revolves around the life of Prayaag—a sixteen year old boy who’s walking on the path of pursuing his parents’ dream of becoming a doctor, but secretly he wishes to be a writer and that means crushing and stomping over his parents’ dream; Jeeval—a sixteen year old girl who’s lost both of her parents at a very young age, as a result of which she’s emotionally closed herself off completely until she meets Prayaag at the same coaching centre; Samtha—a lady they meet in a basement slam sort of place who’s stepped out of a horrible marriage—she’d to do because of parental pressure—and that has left her devastated and unable to trust anybody; Abhinav—Jeeval’s brother and a medical repeater at the same coaching centre, who’s also dealing with his past demons along with his sexuality and the current pressure of cracking the entrance test that leads him on to a very dangerous path (drugs); Sameer—Jeeval and Abhinav’s cousin who owns a freaking bookstore so Prayaag envies him downright (I mean, who wouldn’t?); and a stranger they come across with or rather with his diary—Arjav—who dreamt about watching every possible corner of the world. The trio of Jeeval, Abhinav and Sameer enter Prayaag’s life like a hurricane, stirring him from top to bottom, and make him question all the things he’s been doing wrong—Arjav’s diary acts as a very good catalyst. And so, Prayaag mixes with them like hot chocolate does with warm milk; changing its colour and making it taste better. That diary contains nothing more than four pages in which the stranger—Arjav, had written about transcending each and every factor that was holding him back from following his heart, living the life he’d always imagined. That diary creates a chaotic mess inside Prayaag’s head. He is constantly juggling himself between his and his parents’ dreams. In between all this chaos, they discover a place of solace, SOUL’s, an extension of coffee corner—where they all always sit to spend some time together. SOUL’s is every writer’s dream-come-true—where people could take the centre stage and share their words with people who are greedy and needy for them. That’s where they meet Samtha for the first time. She touches Prayaag’s life in a different and stupefying way. The way they both are walking on the path of medical science yet have a secret desire of becoming a writer develops an instant connection between them. Samtha is a frequent performer at SOUL’s and Prayaag never once misses any of her performance, even if that means bunking his classes. She isn’t just a random performer for him; she’s his friend, philosopher and guide, who helps him in clearing a lot of his mess. As time passes by, Jeeval, Prayaag, Abhinav, Sameer, and Samtha grow to be inseparable part of each other’s lives—with an addition of Bilal, Abhinav’s secret companion. Through series of events like—chatting with Samtha on life and philosophy; meeting his childhood best-friend who is a fashion designing student—something she wanted to do all her life; a book launch at Sameer’s bookstore—where a young bestselling author of an inspirational novel shines his thoughts on how taking two steps forward on your account, to make yourself happy, and a step back-dragged by others is still one step forward; meeting Arjav and knowing his story—Prayaag finally gets the courage to write his story, take a step toward his dreams, believe in them and make others (his parents) believe in them too. The story takes a turn when they are on a road trip. Jeeval has issues celebrating her birthday as the day on which the accident that killed her father clash with that day. But trying to shoot it out and to leave all the scars behind, they go on a road trip to meet Arjav. Through his diary they manage to find Arjav, who now stays in Udaipur. On their trip back home, their car meets with an accident as a result of which Prayaag has a near-death experience and an acute memory loss…that leads to some blank spaces on his memory but not enough to make him forget his passion and his love and his I-could-do-anything-for-them-and-that-is-mutual-too friends. Stepping in the Now isn’t just about Prayaag following dreams. It’s also about: Jeeval: who carries her I-don’t-care-about-anyone-but-me façade yet deep down she feels deeply—not just for Prayaag—for everyone around her; who falls for a boy who tries to push her away consistently, but she sticks to her ground and make that boy realize—push-away-s don’t work when the fire is burning with equal intensity on both the sides. Abhinav: who is constantly fighting with himself ever since his parents died four years ago, and even before that by keeping a major part of him a secret. Being a medical repeater he has more pressure on him. Getting involved with drugs, he is almost on the path of ending his life, but with the help of his friends-slash-family he finds a new and brighter path for himself. Samtha: a lady who’s stepped out of a horrible marriage and is trying her best to find an anchor within herself; who thought life’s just a means to wait for death, finally realizes that a flower has to wilt after blooming but that shouldn’t bring a pause to the beautiful phase of blooming. The story ends with Prayaag writing his story and continuing his journey with Jeeval, Abhinav giving himself another chance…giving his life another chance, and Samtha—who initially stopped believing in love and relationships—ending up with Sameer.

“The perfect book for the times in which we live . . . page after page of engaging stories, profound insights, and practical tips on how you can stand up and take responsibility for making something meaningful happen.” —Jim Kouzes, coauthor of the bestselling The Leadership Challenge All too often, the challenges we face seem overwhelming. Where do we start? What if we fail? But bestselling author John Izzo argues that almost every problem, from personal difficulties and business challenges to social issues, can be solved if all of us look to ourselves to create change rather than looking to others. And with the research to prove it, Izzo shows that by seeing ourselves as the locus of control rather than the victims of change, we are happier, less stressed, and more powerful. Izzo shows how taking responsibility changes our careers, our companies, our lives, and our communities. This book is filled with stories that illustrate the incredible power of stepping up: a homeless man who started a recycling revolution, a middle-aged Italian shopkeeper who fought back against the Mafia, two teenagers who ignited an antibullying movement, an executive who turned a dying division into a profit center, and a few employees who created a multibillion dollar product for Starbucks, and many more. This second edition includes a new chapter on the Stepping Up Continuum, a model that looks at six ways to know if you are stepping up or stepping back, as well as fresh stories and a self-assessment tool for helping leaders create a culture for stepping up in their organizations. We have the power within ourselves to move mountains—we just have to decide that we are the ones to do it.

"Cecilia Ramsey is a woman with social-climbing aspirations. She wants to get into the right social set, while her husband, Herbert, longs for the good old days when Cecelia was "herself." Cecelia, with the aid of her two friends, hopes soon to be president of the local Women's Club. When a local Theatrical Benefit takes places, Cecilia is given three visiting Thespians to entertain over the weekend, however she fails to tell her husband that they will be expecting company. When he returns from a business trip and several flames (old and new) are fanned, pandemonium breaks out!"--Publisher's description

In his bestselling book The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die, John Izzo tackled the secrets to lifelong happiness. Now he gives readers the key to a great career, a great workplace, better relationships, and a better world. Stepping Up argues that almost every problem, from personal difficulties and business challenges to social issues, can be solved if all of us look to ourselves to create change rather than looking to others. By seeing ourselves as agents of change we feel happier, less stressed, and more powerful. Izzo offers seven compelling principles that enable anyone, anywhere, anytime to effectively bring about positive change. And the book is filled with stories that will inspire you: a middle-aged Italian shopkeeper who fought back against the Mafia, two teenagers who took a stand and ignited an antibullying movement, an executive who turned a dying division into a profit center, and many more. We all have the power to change the world—John Izzo shows us how.

"New York Times"-bestselling author Mosley delivers two speculative tales where truth forever changes the way life, death, good, and evil are understood.

Offers advice on reaching your full potential through self-love, self-acceptance, and self-realization.