It Is Not About Love

All living human beings on this planet naturally seek happiness, wellbeing, and health for themselves and for their loved ones. We all have equal rights to enjoy our lives in a decent, peaceful, and joyful manner; plus, to have access to tools and methods for self-realization. Our lives are an expression of what we can accomplish through our efforts and commitments and sometimes we just need external support and guidance to establish the right path. There are ways to conduct our lives that are purely enslaving and unconscious, which bring diseases and dissatisfaction, and ways to conduct our lives that are subtle in nature, which bring effortless success and prosperity. What we choose can become our prison or our liberation. This book attempts to guide humans in the right direction.

Karen’s Spiritual Pilgrim Journey

This book describes my days on a pilgrimage to Haifa, Israel before the pandemic hit the world, and my feelings and thoughts on each day of the magnificence, serenity, and deeply felt love in each and everything I did with the assigned group of each day. Even today I shed tears when reflecting on my time and being in the presence of such grandeur and beauty. The Baháʼí Faith is just waiting for receptive souls to reach out and grasp hold of the reigns of this glorious pathway to gain virtue and practice daily good deeds. I sit and wonder at how I have been blessed with this wondrous ‘Prescription for Living’ (Rabbani, 1950) in my days of material living. I offer to the readers a glimpse of my journey with the thought that maybe you also are searching, seeking, wondering, ‘where can I find the place I belong?’ The Baháʼí Faith may be that place for you.

Keeper of the Red Cross, the Divine Masculine, and the Holy Grail

Keeper of the Red Cross, the Divine Masculine, and the Holy Grail unveils previously obscured connections linking a modern-day knight, the Knights Templar, and the House of David. Building on clues from William F. Mann’s The Labyrinth of the Grail, the book artfully presents precise information that enlightened the author and uncovered truths about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and John the Divine.

The overarching purpose is to anchor the Divine Masculine in the earthly realm, aligning with the long-established Divine Feminine brought forth by Jesus and Mary Magdalene two millennia ago. Additional insights reveal the completion of Jesus’ role throughout the Piscean Age and the transition of this role in the dawning Age of Aquarius.

Keyboard of the Winds

Embark on an enthralling global adventure with this book, showcasing mountaineering in some of the world’s most magnificent and demanding terrains. Encounter an eclectic group of mountaineers as they tackle treacherous climbs along perilous paths, where every ascent is fraught with uncertainty. The author masterfully paints a vivid picture of these harrowing experiences, holding you captive in a world of exhilarating suspense. Delight in the exhilaration of traversing majestic mountains, from the Rockies and Cascades to the Alaska Range, Alps, and Himalayas, each described with breathtaking beauty and awe-inspiring scenery.

More than a tale of mountaineering, Keyboard of the Winds is a historical odyssey set in America, spanning the broad vistas of the 20th Century. Witness the lives of the characters as they evolve through realistic, sometimes humorous, and poignant moments, encapsulating life in America and Europe during the transformative decades of the 1960s and 1970s. This book not only captures the spirit of late Twentieth Century life but also the enduring human spirit of adventure and discovery.

Knysna Forest

Sparky, a 19-year old, quick-witted thrill-seeker, went hiking in the majestic Knysna forest in South Africa upon returning from the United Kingdom. After a series of bad decisions, driven by stubbornness, he tumbles off a cliff with no turning back.

Wounded, lost, low on supplies, and without any knowledge of survival, he is plagued by nature’s lethal attacks until he is too weak to carry on. As dusk and dehydration ominously takes its toll, he is faced with fears he never anticipated.

As death approaches mercilessly again and again, he must fight above willpower to stay alive. With every calculated risk, less calculated, hope, survival, and divine intervention, becomes a distant dream.

Knysna Forest is an epic, true miracle race-against-time survival-story that will leave adventurers astounded in anticipation.

“If you are reading this, it means that you are experiencing the result of a miracle, because how is it possible that I survived death, more than once?”

Landing on a Star in Umbria

This is a true love story of a Dutch-Indonesian immigrant woman, married to an American man of Italian descent, and how they followed their unimaginable dream of buying a vacation home in Italy. Although many books have been written about similar experiences, this uniquely different story tells the heartwarming tale of the perils and the wonderful people they encountered during their search to find the perfect home in Morcella; a meticulously well-maintained medieval Borgo built in 975AD, in Italy’s beautiful green belt region of Umbria.

Leaving Patriarchy Behind

Can we fight, and win, against an ideology that has been established and practiced for decades? In Leaving Patriarchy Behind, Leticia recounts her father’s disappointment at the birth of each daughter: “After each birth, Papa would turn to Mama and ask, ‘Mama, es un niño?’ But, out of 18 babies, Mama only had four boys.” With some challenging years behind her, Leticia considers the culture that informed her parents’ principles, those she knew she could not accept as her own. She realized from childhood that she was not one to follow the disparate rules set for boys and girls.

In these short vignettes, Leticia Aguilar recalls her life as a child in Mexico in the 1960s and as an adult in America in the ‘70s and beyond. Looking back, she reflects on her struggles as a girl, then a young woman, and the men who told her what she could and could not do. Instead, Leticia turned away from Mexican patriarchy, even as she was criticized and warned of her shortcomings in being independent. In a small mountain community in California where Leticia raised her family, she joined a variety of local organizations where she provided young women with a career, education, and family resources. Leticia’s memoir inspires others to rise above misogyny and racism.

Letters to My Daughter

He feared escaping the daily terror of drug dealing and violence would overwhelm him, as it had so many other young men of color growing up in the housing projects. His life, and their lives, seemed destined to become more cruel statistics of the ghetto’s unforgiving reality.

Life of the Party Girl

Life of the Party Girl is a raw and inspiring debut memoir of a top wedding planner reflecting on the moments that define us as human beings, both the traumatic and fantastic.

The author and subject, Megan Estrada, isn’t your typical wedding planner. She is tattooed, assertive, stylish, and doesn’t take no for an answer. She is reflective and decisive, in bringing a fresh and unique perspective to the special events industry. Estrada is a trailblazer in the event industry and harnesses her past experiences to create momentous occasions.

Before Megan Estrada became a nationally recognized wedding and event planner, she spent forty-years navigating a life of unexpected circumstances, one that was dictated by a twisted series of trauma and celebration. From enduring a school shooting, an unsuccessful suicide attempt, and a difficult marriage, to landing a record deal, becoming a mother of two, and leading the special events industry through the Covid-19 pandemic, Life of the Party Girl follows Estrada’s journey to self-worth and self-discovery.

Life on Ice

Ever wonder what life is like on a touring ice-skating show? How many people travel with the show, how do you pack two fifty-pound suitcases with a year’s worth of clothes, shoes, and supplies? Do you pay your own hotel and transportation? Speaking of pay, what do they pay? How do you cook in a hotel room? And who is hooking up with whom? This semi autobiography is a humorous look into the world of a traveling show about how to live this type of life on the road. It is a coming-of-age story where quirky characters become family, fall into and out of bed—I mean love—go on adventures, and grow up.

Live and Be Counted

In a poignant and hopeful memoir, Alfons Sperber’s courage, strength and unwavering faith shine through as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit during one of the darkest periods in history. Alfons has rarely spoken about his harrowing experiences during World War II – until now.

When the author’s 11-year old son, Eli, is assigned an immigration project for school, his Papa reaches deep into his past to unearth long-buried memories. Alfons begins to share his personal story with his great-grandson recounting how he came to America in 1948 – a journey that started at a parade in Vienna, Austria in 1938 when he too was just 11 years old.

As they talk regularly over Zoom, Alfons’ memories resurface with increasing clarity, and the depth of his story grows with each conversation as he describes his narrow escapes from the clutches of the Nazis through Vienna, France and Switzerland. In opening up about his past, Papa expresses fear that soon there will be no survivors left to share their experiences, and that the horrors of the Holocaust and stolen childhoods may be reduced to a mere footnote in history. Live and Be Counted stands as a testament to the power of strength and courage, faith and optimism, and above all, the love of family.

Me, Myself & I Remember Decatur (and Beyond)

This fun, engaging memoir is about a clever, strong-willed, mischievous, creative gutsy gal who was always out of the box. She proclaims she never saw that silly box! She has always questioned societal norms and injustices, insisting life should make more sense. This resulted in interesting, amusing experiences with fascinating people from diverse walks of life and cultures. For seventy-seven years when the world said ‘No’ she persevered with a resounding ‘YES!’

She has retained a childlike wonder and delight for life that is bold and entertaining. She has tried to make her planet kinder, especially for the downtrodden. Difficult setbacks only made her more determined to enjoy life to the fullest with meaningful lifelong relationships. Often, she’s had to pick herself up and dust herself off! Shunning bitterness, clinging to faith, she has showed the world real love. An encourager gifted at teaching, she has quick wit and is great fun.