Part memoir, part motivational guide, this is Ilana’s open and honest journey, from an angry confused child, knowing something was wrong, but not knowing what, to the ‘real’ her.
About Cerebral Palsy: ‘A Story’ Finding the Calm After the Storm
Born the second of premature twins, Ilana knew she was different from a young age, but for all the wrong reasons. Part memoir, part motivational guide, this is Ilana’s open and honest journey, from an angry confused child, knowing something was wrong, but not knowing what, to the ‘real’ her – a courageous woman using her experiences and lessons to create inspiring messages about mental and physical health, positivity, resilience and change.
“Living with cerebral palsy is enormously difficult. But what if you never knew you had it? This is the incredible story of Ilana Estelle. Born the second of premature twins, an hour apart, from a young age Ilana knew she was different, but for all the wrong reasons. A child of the 60s, Ilana experienced first-hand the way that disability was, so often brushed under the carpet, not spoken about. Her constant physical and mental struggles made her feel isolated, alone, frustrated, and misunderstood… and it took 46 years for her to find out why. Part memoir, part motivational guide, Cerebral Palsy: a story ‘Finding the Calm After The Storm’ is Ilana’s open and honest journey from an angry, confused child, knowing something was wrong, not knowing what was wrong, what her disability was, or that there was a diagnosis, to the ‘real’ her – a courageous woman using her experiences and lessons to create inspiring messages about mental and physical health, positivity, resilience and change.”
“This no-nonsense debut memoir recalls Corrigan’s two-time battle with cancer and takes a pragmatic approach toward guiding other patients. Candid, sagacious writing on illness and adaptation.” –Kirkus Reviews
About Again: Surviving Cancer Twice with Love and Lists
A breast cancer diagnosis at forty-nine forces Christine Shields Corrigan, a wife, mom, and meticulous list-maker, to confront her deepest fears of illness, death, and loss of control as she struggles to face cancer again. From the discovery of a “junky” cyst, to chemotherapy and surgery, sleepless nights filled with rosaries and “what ifs,” and shifting family dynamics, her adult experience mirrors her teen bout with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, with one exception—she no longer has parents keeping her in the dark.
With the ghosts of cancer past hovering around her, Chris falls into the same overprotective traps her taciturn Irish-Catholic parents created, striving to keep her family’s life “normal,” when it is anything but, and soldiering through on her own, until a neighbor’s unexpected advice and gift move her to accept others’ help. With fierce honesty, poignant reflection, and good humor, Chris shares a journey filled with sorrow, grace, forgiveness, and resilience, as she winds her way through cancer for the second time. Again offers practical guidance and hope to individuals that they have the strength to forge a path beyond a diagnosis.
Christine Shields Corrigan is a two-time cancer survivor, wife, mom, and author of Again: Surviving Cancer Twice with Love and Lists . In addition to Again , Chris has published a number of lyrical and practical essays where she gives voice to the beautiful ordinary. Her work about family, illness, writing, and resilient survivorship has appeared in anthologies, magazines, and other publications including, The Brevity Blog, Grown & Flown, Horn Pond Review, The Potato Soup Journal and Anthology, Purple Clover, Ravishly.com, Wildfire Magazine, and the Writer’s Circle 2 Anthology.
Chris’ essay, “Not Back to But Forward,” about how her cancer experiences helped her cope with COVID-19 is included in (Her)oics: Women’s Lived Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic (edited by Joanell Serra and Amy Roost), an anthology that draws together the stories of 52 women across the US during the Covid-19 pandemic (March 2021). A graduate of Manhattan College and Fordham University School of Law, Chris built a successful career as a labor and employment law attorney and as a legal writer and editor. After surviving cancer in midlife, Chris became a freelance writer. She also teaches creative nonfiction writing for an adult education program, provides writing workshops for cancer support groups, and is the chair of the programming committee of the Morristown Festival of Books. She lives in New Jersey with her family.
Pennies from Heaven teaches children that they are never too young to do great things for God.
About Pennies from Heaven
Based on the true-life events that led Koedi Nealy to start changing lives one penny at a time at the age of seven, “Pennies from Heaven” teaches children that they are never too young to do great things for God. Koedi’s journey culminated in forming a non-profit that currently serves the homeless population in Houston, Texas, helping the most overlooked and undervalued people in the community.
A native of Houston, Texas, Koedi Nealy is a senior at Cypress Christian School. She received her local minister’s license at the age of sixteen and is an active member of her school and community, holding leadership roles in various sports, drama, praise and worship groups, Thespian Society, and National Honor Society. She is the founder and president of Graced Ministry. She has not let dyslexia define or deter her as she advocates for others with learning differences through the NILD programing year.
Her journey takes her deep into the heart of the Away in pursuit of freedom for herself, her friends, and her community. Can she unravel the conspiracy before it’s too late?
About The Away
Sonia Peterson can’t help but be excited for the bright future ahead as she nears the end of her last year of high school. But she quickly discovers that things are not what they seem in the quiet community of Glendale. After her neighbor’s suicide and a slew of disappearances, Sonia’s friend Devon divulges one of the town’s best-kept secrets: at eighteen, residents are required to receive a serum that takes away their immoral impulses and imperfections, or they are exiled to a place called the Away. At first, Sonia can’t believe what she’s heard, but when her turn for the appointment comes, all of her worst fears are confirmed. Now, she must decide who she can trust and discover who is really at the core of the plot to rob Glendale’s residents of their elemental human nature. Her journey takes her deep into the heart of the Away in pursuit of freedom for herself, her friends, and her community. Can she unravel the conspiracy before it’s too late?
Cassandra DeJesus is a first-time author. The Away came to her in a dream so strongly that she felt she had to write it. Cassandra’s highest education is a high school diploma with some college credits. Cassandra has worked in many different fields but has never found her true calling. It was at Bay Shore High School where she met her high school sweetheart and now husband, John DeJesus. They have two beautiful children together. Today, Cassandra continues to remain a stay-at-home mother for her two children. You can connect with her on her website, Instagram and Facebook.
Disclosure: This is a spotlight tour, I did not receive compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.
Traveling through hope, a great cause, disenchantment, hopelessness, discovery, and rebirth, the novel also recounts the travel of a generation as they move through time. As you read the pages of this book, you will discover a man perhaps not unlike yourself, seeking knowledge, peace, and faith.
About To Every Page a Turning: One’s Life Journey
Each man who journeys through life must travel through its season and ultimate lessons. For some, the journey is brief, and their life’s light is fleeting. They are like rockets that flare to the heavens, glowing brightly only to go black in the next instant. Still others travel what seem to be an abbreviated journey, missing some of life’s seasons, never knowing the agony or the ecstasy of what they have missed. But some live each season, taste each tear, relish each sunrise, and brace themselves against each burst of wind. They have traveled life’s highways and finally joined the many pieces of themselves into the whole person they were born to be.
When a man is clearing old files out from his garage, he comes across a folder containing an old manuscript he wrote twenty years previously as part of his recovery therapy. It had served as a catharsis for him to help transition old painful issues from his past. He was still a young man when he wrote the words, and as a senior in his seventies, he begins to reflect on his life s journey. As he reads the old papers, many memories come flooding back. He begins to find that our lives are like pages turning from one place in our lives to another, each unique, holding treasures and pains of its own, and each a window to growth, learning, and acceptance of who we are and who we were born to be.
In this novel, the journey begins in the innocence of America in the 1950s. Traveling through hope, a great cause, disenchantment, hopelessness, discovery, and rebirth, the novel also recounts the travel of a generation as they move through time. As you read the pages of this book, you will discover a man perhaps not unlike yourself, seeking knowledge, peace, and faith. Perhaps you, like he, have traveled through the paradigm shift of the twentieth century both in awe and fear of what lies ahead.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and B&N.
About the Author
Carl Buccellato was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1942, and is of Italian-American descent. As a young man, he was eager to get out into the world and explore the boundaries of his hometown. Although he had a love for fishing at Coney Island Pier and singing Do Wop on the corners with friends, he knew there was much more of the world to see on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge. One of his first jobs as a teenager in New York City was working for Western Union as a messenger. It didn’t take Carl long to own the streets of the Big Apple. As he went from building to building on his bicycle delivering his envelopes, little did he know what his fate would become years later.
With a lot of hard work, perseverance, and God’s grace, a day would come when Carl would become the CEO of a publicly traded company and ink a multimillion-dollar deal in the board room of AIG, then the largest insurance company in America. In his early years, he earned a BA and MBA, married, and started a family. Today, Carl has four children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren carrying on the family legacy.
Through the years, he started several companies and has served on several Boards of Directors, including private and public companies, as well as serving on the Board of Trustees of St. Thomas University. Carl’s career has taken him literally all over the world. In the 80s and 90s he was a regular monthly contributor to a BBC broadcast in England. In 1986, Inc. Magazine featured his firm as the 12th fastest growing independent company in America. In 1984, Carl was invited to become a member of the Presidential Council of 100. This group of business leaders advised the President of the United States on several sectors of the economy and business issues. Carl served three different presidents during his time on the council: presidents Reagan, Bush, and Clinton. Throughout his career and travels, Carl has met a broad array of different people. Some, down on their luck, some at the pinnacle of their careers and personal lives. Many of the people and their stories left a mark on Carl’s heart and mind. It is from some of these encounters that Carl has drawn inspiration for a few of the fictitious characters in this novel.
Today, Carl resides in Coral Springs, Florida, with his wife Mary Ellen. She is an award-winning multimedia artist and speaker. Together, Carl and Mary Ellen love traveling the globe and looking for new inspiration for their gifts and talents given to them by their loving God.
Disclosure: This is a spotlight tour, I did not receive compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.
