Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Smile More Stress Less by Geoffrey Saign

 


Life has been extra challenging as of late. We're all looking for ways to cope. This book may help you do it. Take a look inside Smile More Stress Less by Geoffrey Saign for an example of some tips he has to help you. Also enjoy some of his further reflections on his life and having less stress in it. Be sure to follow the tour and leave your thoughts and questions along the way. Best of luck entering the giveaway!



Want one easy method to end anxiety, stress, sadness, loneliness, fear, & anger? While maximizing happiness, inner peace, and self-awareness?

One quick way to cut through all negative emotions? And have fun doing it?

~Savvy & easy workbook exercises ensure success!~

In just minutes a day this playful yet smart approach can:

*End inner and outer conflicts
*End anxiety, worry, fear, anger, boredom, and self-doubt
*Increase healthy relationships with everyone in your life
*End illusions in your life and maximize clarity
*Rewire your brain to live with deep intelligence
*Become your own AAA+ rated super-counselor
*Help you discover the Power of HERE
*Allow your natural joy to blossom

This hands-on, A+B = C approach will supercharge your brain function, improve your emotional intelligence, and change your life!

~Finalist Forward INDIES Self-Help Book of the Year 2020~ (Winner TBA 6/17/2021)

Read an excerpt:
You Can End Daily Stress With Playfulness & Humor

One way to change rote, stressful thought patterns is to use playful exaggeration. It is a simple, repetitive method that will produce immediate and significant results, and we will use it often in this book in different ways and situations.

Let’s try it with dirty dishes. You see dirty dishes in the sink. Thoughts enter your mind about how irresponsible the person was in leaving them there. You feel annoyed and irritated. You notice this Self-Created Stress reaction inside yourself, and you interrupt it. You say out loud or think:

Oh no! My hands will never recover from this!
This is going to ruin my whole life!
It’s the end of the world as I know it!

Smile as you do this. Smiling brings about a strong positive emotion, and strong emotion helps change the brain by wiring a new neural pattern that’s even stronger.

Every time we change our thought pattern or interrupt old thought responses, we are changing our brain—teaching it—and allowing a new neural pattern to develop. We are telling the brain, This old pattern of thought is no longer useful or acceptable. The brain always listens. EVERY SINGLE EFFORT IS WORTHWHILE. This cannot be overstated.

Book Links



If my life was made into a movie…

You never know how life is going to turn out, or how it might zig or zag when you think you’re following a straight line. Thus what is most important is following your heart, following your passions, and being true to those. Stress and other psychological problems can derail all of that. Thus you want a clear, calm mind to pursue your dreams. I’m saying all of this because I’ve been writing for 40 years. I’ve had near misses with some of the biggest agents trying to sell my books. I’ve had movie producers interested, but they walked away. And now, when I’m largely stress-free daily, the happiest I’ve ever been in my life (due to what I discovered in my book Smile More Stress Less) I have 3 movie deals, with a 4th coming. What’s even better, is that I can enjoy it calmly, without stress, craziness, anxiety, fear, anger, worry, loneliness, disappointment, and all the other emotions that can rob you of just living happily.


If my life was made into a movie, it would be the underdog who never gave up, suffered some huge setbacks with health and life, but still came out on top. I like happy endings, else why bother suffering through anything in life? My books all have that. I might put the hero/heroine through terrible trauma, but in the end they learn, they grow, and they have joy and happiness in their life. That’s my life. I hope it is yours too!


Geoffrey Saign began reducing stress by practicing mindfulness at the age of fifteen. For fifty years he studied many modalities for mind-body calming and awareness, including Qigong, tai chi, kung fu, meditation, biofeedback, positive psychology, and many others. He co-designed and taught a cutting-edge, research-based self-awareness class to young adults for ten years. In 2020 the author experienced a major breakthrough in mind-brain-body awareness, which led to him Living with intelligence HERE, and the resulting book, Smile More Stress Less.





Geoffrey Saign will be awarding a $30 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Monday, April 12, 2021

What if Katniss Everdeen had been a Christian? Thoughts by D.K. Doulos, author of WoE Is Us

On Tour with Prism Book Tours


Welcome to the book tour for the Christian dystopian novel Woe Is Us by D.K. Doulos! Today, he takes a look at Katniss Everdeen, the beloved heroine from The Hunger Games, and speculates as to what she would have done in this dystopian society if she were a Christian. Check out his new book as well and then follow the tour for even more.


WoE Is Us
By D.K. Doulos
Christian Dystopian, YA, Sci-Fi
Paperback & ebook, 267 Pages
March 30, 2021 by Ambassador International

Lyrian Wallace was only ten years old when the Malevolence struck on October 10, 2056. She thought the next decade had numbed her to the grief, the death, the bots, and the daily struggle for survival. She lost her parents when they became Sleepers, but like everyone else, she had pieced together a new family. Lyrian was almost content when the Alliance began taking them . . .

The world always took things away from her. She could only live for today and never dared to hope for any heaven. But when her circumstances change, Lyrian must choose how she might live for both this life and the next.


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What if Katniss Everdeen had been a Christian?

What if the “girl on fire” had been on fire for Jesus? Maybe it seems like a crazy idea, but dystopian stories like the Hunger Games typically take place in a broken future version of our Earth, and Panem seems no different. Jesus is important to over a billion people on the planet today, and people often turn to God even more in difficult times. The Hunger Games themselves seem a shadow of the barbaric spectacles of the ancient Roman colosseum where Christians were often among the victims tragically killed for sport and fed to wild beasts. A Christian Katniss shouldn’t be that far-fetched.

So, how would Katniss’s story have been different if she were a follower of Christ?

Undoubtedly, she still would have felt the self-sacrificing urge to protect her sister from being selected to the Games. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13 NASB). Stepping forward in place of Prim was very Christ-like of Katniss.

Katniss was a fighter, but this instinct might have been blunted by her zeal to imitate Christ. Depending on her Christian beliefs, she might have ranged from opposing premeditated murder to strict pacifism. As such, she likely would have prepared for the Games quite differently, focusing primarily on evasive, survival, and defensive skills. The camouflaging techniques that Peeta used would have been perfect.

Beyond her preparation and approach to the violence of the Games, I think the biggest change for Katniss would be her ability to cope with her circumstances. Because of her faith in Jesus and hope for eternal life, she could find peace despite her bleak situation.

Could Katniss have still won the Hunger Games? Even if she were unwilling to kill the other tributes? While exceedingly difficult, it would be possible. The arena itself was designed to foster death. To win the Hunger Games, Katniss would have had to outlast the other tributes. Perhaps, she would have still made it home as a victor, but if not, she would have achieved her ultimate victory in Christ.


About the Author


D.K. Doulos has written stories most of his life and is thankful he can use his talent in service to God. When he's not writing, he enjoys going camping, impersonating a grill master, and watching college football. Between epic cross-country family road trips, he lives in Texas with his wife and four children. Find out more about D.K. on his website (www.dkdoulos.com).


Tour Schedule


Tour Giveaway


One winner will receive (US only):
- A leather satchel (sized to carry a tablet, iPad, or Kindle) that’s similar to the one carried by the book’s main character
- Bluebonnet scratch-made soap, inspired by the book’s Texas setting
- Fredericksburg Juicy Peach scented wax melts, inspired by the book’s Texas setting
- A $25 Amazon gift card

Ends April 21, 2021

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Friday, April 2, 2021

Read an exclusive excerpt from Mom and Dad's Martinis by Jacelyn Cane

 


Childhood isn't always easy. We can learn a lot by reflecting on our own childhoods and by listening to the stories of others. Read an exclusive excerpt from the memoir Mom and Dad's Martinis by Jacelyn Cane and then follow the tour for even more. Best of luck entering the giveaway!



Jacelyn Cane's mom and dad liked their martinis dry: straight gin on the rocks with a dab of vermouth and a hint of water - and they liked them often. They also liked to party; they danced, socialized, and drank - they were good at all three. Sometimes this behaviour led to humorous situations - antics in the pool, at the club, the cottage or in the car, for example. Other times, however, the experiences were not so funny - family fights and times of neglect, trauma, and abuse. By weaving together a series of episodes that take the reader to light and dark places, author Jacelyn Cane tells a poignant cautionary tale for anyone affected by alcoholism and/or family struggles. The author is using a pseudonym and most of the names in the book have been changed to protect people's identities. "Mom and Dad's Martinis: A Memoir" is a great read for anyone who has experienced a childhood mixed with joy as well as sorrow. It is a story of love, acceptance, forgiveness, and hope.

Read an exclusive excerpt:
After their honeymoon in the Bahamas, my parents moved into a two-bedroom apartment at Yonge and Sheppard in Toronto. The neighbourhood was much quieter and quite a distance away from where either of my parents had grown up. My mother’s cooking agreed with my dad so much that he gained fifty pounds in their first year of marriage. Eighteen months after their wedding, my brother Duncan was born. Parenthood didn’t stop Mom and Dad from having the odd party. In fact, the landlord asked them to stop entertaining because of all the noise. My dad argued with him, but eventually agreed to curtail the partying.

My parents did decide to have a party one Sunday afternoon to celebrate my brother’s first birthday though. Mom and Dad invited both sets of grandparents, and great-grandparents, along with aunts and uncles, to drop in for a piece of cake. Harmless enough, or so they thought.

It was raining, and all their guests’ galoshes were lined up outside the apartment. Inside, my grandfather was telling his famous corny jokes. “Why shouldn’t you write with a broken pencil?” he asked, his voice booming from the depths of his rotund frame. “Because it’s pointless. Get it?” Everyone howled with laughter just because Grandpa got such a kick out of himself. “Here’s another one: ‘What’s a golf club’s favourite type of music?”

“I don’t know, Dad,” said my mother.

“Why, swing of course!” My grandfather gave a loud belly laugh. Everyone roared.

Shortly after, Dad took out his ukulele. He was a virtuoso - even back then. Together they sang “All of Me,” “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” and “Happy Days Are Here Again.” They finished with a rousing round of “Happy Birthday” for my brother. There was nothing quiet about their singing.

The landlord, Mr. Perkins, heard the ruckus. He stuck his thumbs in the straps of his overalls. Those low-lifes. Down he went to his workroom, grabbed some tools, and returned to the hallway outside my parents’ apartment. With great determination, he meticulously drove a nail or two through the inner sole of every boot, until all the rubbers were nailed to the floor.

Eventually the music died down, and it came time for the relatives to go home. My grandmother, attempted to slip into her boot. “Gracious, me …” She floundered and fell over, as her stylish blue “pancake” hat slid off her head.

My great-grandmother tried to put on her galoshes. She shrieked and lurched forward, bringing my great uncle down with her.

“Oh, mother, I’m so sorry!” Uncle Donald said, as he rolled off his mother, stood up and tripped over a great aunt whose feet were caught in her nailed-down rubbers.

My parents watched helplessly as family members tumbled on top of each other, landing in a heap.

“Here, give me your hand,” said my mother. With her baby son in one arm, she tried to help aunts and uncles up with the other. My father managed to lift my great-grandmother up off the ground relatively unscathed.

“That jerk nailed everything to the floor,” said Dad. He darted into the apartment, came out with a hammer and frantically dislodged the nails. Initially, my parents were embarrassed by this incident. Soon, however, they laughed, and the tale went into the canon of classic Cane stories.


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Jacelyn Cane was born and raised in Toronto. She lives with her husband, and near her three children and step-daughter. She is a retired elementary school teacher who also worked in social justice education with the United Church of Canada. She has worked in theatre and as a reporter. She was educated in Toronto, earning a B.A. in Political Science and an M.A. in Canadian History from York University. Later, she earned a B. Ed. at the University of Toronto. She is passionately involved in numerous social justice issues such as climate crisis concerns and Indigenous rights. She loves meditating, writing, reading, music, laughing, and being around nature. She is motivated by a deep sense of spirituality. Her number one love, however, is being with family and friends.

Website: http://jacelyncane.com



Jacelyn Cane will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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