The Entrepreneur in France, 1756-1816

The Entrepreneur in France, 1756-1816 offers historians and students a compelling examination of the rise of the entrepreneur in France during a transformative era. This study explores how leaders of enterprise accumulated capital, refined management skills, and shaped the foundations of modern economic practices. With a focus on the insights of the influential Physiocrats and the contributions of A. J. R. Turgot, who served as both intendant and minister, this work reveals how economic thought and policy responded to and influenced the burgeoning spirit of entrepreneurship.

Harmony

This book offers both an introduction to the theory of Western music, focusing on the period from 1650 to 1900, and a scientific exploration of the acoustical principles behind its production.

Readers will be guided through fundamental concepts such as chords, tonality, modulation, and chromaticism, with particular emphasis on the role of harmonics in musical sound. By the end of the book, they will have gained a valuable set of tools to deepen their understanding of music theory and composition, enabling them to create meaningful and innovative music for the listeners of tomorrow.

Film Festival Junkie

As an astute reporter of the film festival scene, Laszlo Kriston sheds light on the making and unmaking of Harvey Weinstein (he first heard rumors about him back in 2004); charts the rise of the festival goodie bags and the Oscar gift bags; looks back at the day during the Toronto Film Festival when the attack on the Twin Towers unfolded; chronicles the biggest scandals of Cannes when films were roundly booed; narrates the closure of the Cannes Film Festival during the 1968 student riots; looks back on the Mubarak years that served as a backdrop to the Cairo Film Festival; chronicles the biggest biddings wars—for distribution rights—that studios engaged in; examines the closing day blues (a common festival malady); muses about a pee stain on Nick Nolte’s pajamas (his garment for the interview); and reveals how Bill Murray traumatized a young Scarlett Johansson on the set of Lost in Translation.

Film festivals are vanity fairs and highly competitive, ego-driven showbiz events, and Laszlo Kriston chronicles them with a healthy dose of humor – it’s an often hilarious, tongue-in-cheek book.

The Wild Imaginings of Telma: Book 1

On the day the little elephant was born, the sun shone brightly, and birds sang in the trees. She was born on an elephant reserve, where many other elephants lived and were cared for by staff and volunteers from all over the world.

For a time, she stayed close to her mother, looking, listening, and taking in the world for the first time. Her mother, Uzuri, whose name means ‘beauty’ in Swahili, gently nudged her baby, encouraging her to stand. She tried but was unable.

She tipped over because she was born missing the lower half of her right leg and was small even for a newborn elephant. The staff at the reserve grew concerned and stepped in to help care for her. She did not have a name yet.

As the days passed, she was determined to survive. She ate as if she wanted to grow big and strong, always finishing her milk and searching for more. No matter how many times she fell, she never gave up trying to stand.

One day, a staff member at the reserve looked at her and said, ‘I will name you Telma.’ In Greek, Telma means ‘the will to overcome any obstacle,’ a name she would live up to. She was learning to walk, but she dreamed of running.

The Man Who Watered His Lawn

The Man Who Watered His Lawn gently but powerfully fuses the raw emotions of a teenage love story into a blended tragedy of grief, sorrow, violence, philosophy and healing.

It is a true story that is raw, caring and emotive, allowing the reader to enter the epicenter of the experience. The Man Who Watered His Lawn is a rare glimpse into the mind of a teenager riddled with confusion well into adulthood but with a message of hope and beauty.

The life we lived until then was magnificent. We learned that joy, like the joy of the intellect, is to feel itself alive and the aim of love is to love, no more and no less. We were building our young lives one memory at a time, one joyous experience built onto another. Each experience filling our senses as pleasurably as happening upon a mountain meadow covered in dew at the dawn of a new day.

It explores in heartbreaking reality the complex world of trauma and sorrow and contains the full atmosphere of human emotions, including the interconnected but misunderstood revelation of post-traumatic growth.

It’s within the confines of our internal garden that healing begins. The seeds of healing sprout into flowers and bring meaning to our lives, but it’s only in expressing this meaning through love and gratitude and in healing our hurts that give power to them. This power informs our purpose, which gradually allows the waters of happiness to flow gently into the arid cracks of sorrows desert.

Johnny Yesno

There are certain people in life who cannot be denied success, regardless of the conditions of their birth or the circumstances of their upbringing. They just seem to rise to the top of whatever they are doing, somehow defying the odds and using their innate skills as a pathway to success. They also have the ability to utilize the fortuitous circumstances that they find themselves in to their advantage. All in all, such people just seem destined to rise to the top.

This book is about one of these people named Johnny Yesno. While the name Johnny Yesno may not be identifiable among movie buffs, his life is nonetheless worthy of wider recognition. Johnny Yesno went on to star in several movies, most notably the Walt Disney classic King of the Grizzlies; hosted a popular radio program on CBC Radio entitled Our Native Land; and, among other distinctions, was awarded the Order of Canada in 1976.

The Taking of the M.V. Acamar

In 1964, Andrew Morrison joined a crew sent to Greece to retrieve the latest addition to his father’s shipping company, the motor vessel Acamar.

While transiting the Gulf of Aden, the ship was hijacked by attackers seeking to recover weapons hidden in one of the cargo holds. The entire crew was murdered, except for Morrison, who managed to escape on a liferaft, hoping to drift towards his island home thousands of miles away in the Indian Ocean.

Will a miracle save his life once again, or will fate decide otherwise?

Mackenzie's Deer Trouble!

Where are displaced animals supposed to live? Because their natural habitats are disappearing, they are sharing our yards and parks more every day.

For the last several years, we have encountered wild animals in our yard on almost a daily basis. That made it necessary to learn how to interact with these animals. We have had individual deer, does with fawns, and little groups of five or six deer in our yard looking for food and water. They come all year long, no matter the season.

The deer are adorable, look harmless, and do not seem to fear humans. You can take photographs of them and enjoy watching their little ones at play. They seem to tolerate our presence if we do not get too close to them or try to touch them.

But, for the safety of our children, they need to understand the difference between a wild animal and a pet.

Meet Leon and Maggie Cobb

Most of us, as children, perceive our parents as perfect. Ah, the confusing age of innocence! Do you remember, as a child, thinking of your parents as though they were born as adults – parents, fully formed – and never considering that they, too, were once children? Now, as the shoe is on the other foot, how often do we reflect on our lives from childhood to adulthood? Can you recall the mistakes you made as you grew up, collecting them as “life’s lessons,” shaped by experiences that molded and defined who you are today? Some of those experiences may have been painful, even traumatic.

But such is life’s grand design. In hindsight, our parents – just as we – never were, aren’t, and never will be perfect, nor should we set such unrealistic expectations for ourselves. It is more than enough to be kind and loving. After all, no one escapes life’s moral challenges, whether they lead to good or bad outcomes. ‘Perfect’ – a word so overrated!

Now, as you reflect on your own life, you may find yourself wondering what unspeakable deeds your parents may have hidden, and who they truly are. For many, it may be too late to ask; for others, it may be fear or respect that keeps those questions unasked.

Meet Leon and Maggie Cobb in this tell-all story!

Shift

Sean is a modern-day hero in the year 2087 – but in his own time, few would recognize it. Most of his work takes place in the past. As a time-traveling agent, he corrects historical wrongs. However, when his latest mission fails to take hold, he and his team are tasked with uncovering why. What they discover goes far beyond fixing the company’s accounting books. They begin to unravel a shift of power that threatens their present.

How far back in time will Sean have to go to set things right? The rules of time travel are designed to protect the agents themselves, but when the past holds what Sean cherishes most, what rules will he break to protect it?

Collecting Coconuts

“Great and terrible can mean the very same things. Yet, I now understand both.”
–Keiba

Some people pray for rain. Others pray for it to go away.

Anne Lu’akanitz, Hawaiian and Jewish by blood, finds herself amidst both prayers in the Hurricane.

Will she find her family? Her friends? The science and plants she dearly loves amidst the island? Some people seek research. Some breathe it.

Haki Lindsgren, Swedish and American by blood, seeks both in the high tops of Aconcagua Mountain ranges amidst a snowstorm. He has a research partner, but where is she?

Will he find her? Will he finish his research? Or die trying?

How do they both fare?

“The trees quit dripping long enough to hear the silence.”
– Anne.

The Portal

This is the story of Robert Pearson’s perilous encounters with a time portal. Robert begins his journeys as a twelve-year-old boy in 1955. During a blizzard, he discovers the portal as a means of escape. The catch is that while the portal saves Robert’s life in different time periods, it also always places him in jeopardy in another.

Whenever Robert enters a new time period, it feels as though he’s lived there all his life; in most of them, he holds a position of authority. It seems that every place the portal transports Robert to is a potential trap. At times, Robert communicates with the portal, which is some kind of entity composed of both energy and matter, fluttering in and out of reality. While the portal never forces Robert to enter, it always leaves him with the same choice: flee or die.

In the hospital, Robert tells everyone about his experiences, but no one believes him. However, the portal has dealt Robert an “Ace” that he doesn’t yet realize he holds.