(NewsUSA) - The Bucharest Dossier by William Maz

“The Bourne Identity” meets John le Carre’s “The Spy Who Came In from the Cold.”

Bill Hefflin is a man apart—apart from life, apart from his homeland, apart from love. And he is about to learn that in the world of cold war espionage, life is cheap.

At the start of the 1989 uprising in Romania, CIA analyst Hefflin—a disillusioned Romanian expat—arrives in Bucharest at the insistence of his KGB asset, code-named Boris. As Hefflin becomes embroiled in an uprising that turns into a brutal revolution, nothing is as it seems, including the search for his childhood love, which has taken on mythical proportions.

With the bloody events unfolding at blinding speed, Hefflin realizes the revolution is manipulated by outside forces, including his own CIA and Boris—the puppeteer who seems to be pulling all the strings of Hefflin’s life. Purchase at https://bit.ly/4aBv0yz.

Looking for Legends by Scott and Tarantino

Would you rather have dreams, or memories?

Whether you're an armchair traveler, an occasional tourist, a seasoned globetrotter, a daring adventurer, or an intrepid explorer, there's something for everyone in Looking for Legends.

Part travelogue and part good old-fashioned action story, this witty commentary recreates the magic and excitement of adventure. The married authors span the globe over 25 years and discover that travel is more than the journey and the sights. It's about the people, the incredible individuals they befriend along the way--the towering legends who lived life out loud.

Complete with original, hand-drawn maps and more than 150 images, Looking for Legends delivers you to destinations from your wildest dreams: walk through the desert sands; dance the tango; drink ouzo on Stavros Beach; discover a mountain higher than Everest; unlock the secrets of the Rosetta Stone, and much more. Purchase at https://bit.ly/3TpRtXS.

Klara’s Truth by Susan Weissbach Friedman

May 2014. Dr. Klara Lieberman—49, single, an archaeology professor and a contained person living a contained life—receives a letter from her estranged mother, Bessie, that will dramatically change her life. Her father—who has been absent from her life for 43 years—is dead. Has been for many years.  But now the Polish government is giving financial reparations for land it stole from its Jewish citizens during WWII, and Bessie wants the money. Klara wants answers about her father – so she flies to Warsaw.

Klara begins to piece together her father’s, and her own, story. She also connects with extended family, begins a romantic relationship, and discovers her calling: repairing the hundreds of pre-War Jewish cemeteries in Poland. Along the way, she makes peace with her past and builds purposefully toward a bigger future. Purchase at https://bit.ly/3rT0tuY.

The Guide - Survival, Warfighting, Peacemaking by Gregory Munck

Life with a drug-addicted father meant sleeping with one eye open, nervously anticipating but not knowing what chaotic event would happen next. Whether it was having a shotgun placed against his head or snorting cocaine at 13 with his dad, the unpredictable and unwanted were Greg Munck’s normal. Just when his anxiety and anger were starting to rumble, the Marines and a long boat ride to Kuwait to fight in the Gulf War changed the trajectory—and eternity—of a 20-year-old warfighter gifted by God to lead men.

Simple, emotional, and visceral, this story is about earth’s brokenness, God’s presence, and the true significance that resonates in the soul of every man. To do great things is embedded in the heart of every man, but the process demands courage, perseverance, and faith. Discover the bravery to win your own biggest emotional and spiritual battles. Purchase at https://bit.ly/3PxUDb2.

BookBites is presented by BookTrib.com.

(NewsUSA) - Can an ordinary life be extraordinary? It depends on the lens through which one views it. In the case of Marc Gellman, that lens is Shiva Eyes and the life is the one he describes in his powerful and unforgettable memoir, Seven Days of SHIVA.

This love story is a full portrait of a marriage that will make you smile, laugh, and cry. Looking through a husband’s Shiva Eyes, readers will experience the couple’s wondrous life as he searches deep into his soul to find the answer: Can a forty-year marriage still have been magical, romantic, and filled with life, even with a thirty-year struggle with breast cancer?

Don’t let the title mislead you . . . The story is a romantic celebration of life and the next romantic love story – a New York City tale about a boy from Brooklyn and a girl from The Bronx.

Seized with grief at the loss of his beloved and vibrant wife Barbara, Marc does the only thing he finds he can do: He starts telling stories. This unique memoir is much more than a tribute to a departed love. Their story shows how a cancer journey seamlessly entwines through a four-decades-long love story.

Surrounded by family and friends for seven days of sitting Shiva, Marc recounts his fairytale love story, from their teenage meeting in the 1960s Rockaway summer scene, to being early marrieds in New York City, to suburban parenting, and to life as an urban couple relishing their empty nest. Once it appears, Barbara's courageous, grueling, determined, hope-filled fight against a brutal disease is unflinchingly depicted.

With candor and humor, laughter and tears, the author shares the tales of a life both wildly charmed and excruciatingly challenging. Theirs is a life of parties and singing and celebration, and a life of hard work raising three lively children while managing two demanding careers. It’s a life of playful adventures and hijinks, of making the most of every silly moment in even the most serious of times. A life of standing up to every challenge together and dancing close whenever they can.

Observing the singular, remarkable romance of Marc and Barbara through Shiva Eyes, the author uncovers a depth to their love he’d never fully grasped, and a strength in his wife that he’d never fully understood. And about everything that the cancer couldn’t touch: their nonstop silliness and playful puppy love that endured through the hills and valleys of their life together. Entwined into their marriage, cancer took a place in their love story without overtaking it.

Don’t be surprised if you see some of yourselves in the characters and their journey. Come along to discover a happy-ever-after born of laughter, devotion, faith, and above all, a teenage puppy love that only grew with each passing year.

Learn more at marcgellman.com and purchase at https://bit.ly/4cfY1RG.

(NewsUSA) - Leaning on Air by Cheryl Grey Bostrom

They last spoke as teens . . .

But a surprise encounter 12 years later reunites ornithologist Celia Burke with veterinary surgeon Burnaby Hayes, and they enter the most unusual romance of her life.

After a decade of marriage, tragedy strikes while Celia hunts for the nest of a research hawk. She’s certain Burnaby won’t understand her anguish or forgive the choice that initiated it.

She flees to kindness at a remote farm, where a wild prairie and an alluring neighbor convince her to begin anew. But when unexplained accidents, cryptic sketches, and a mute little boy make her doubt her decision, only a red-tailed hawk and the endangered lives of those she loves can compel her to examine her past―and reconsider her future.

A soaring tale of wonder, loss, redemption, and restoration from the award-winning author of Sugar Birds. Purchase at https://bit.ly/3UqIM1B.

Curing Death by Mark Rosenberg M.D.

Dr. Mike Royce has a problem. His patients keep dying. His skills as an ER doctor are unmatched, but he can’t save them all. With every death, his sense of failure grows.

With the help of a brilliant nurse—his sometime lover—Royce embarks on a controversial research project to challenge the inevitability of death. When he discovers a never-before observed energy in the body, he feels he has stumbled upon the soul itself. And he makes a tantalizing connection between the egress of this soul energy and imminent, certain death.

To forestall death, Royce must find a way to stop that soul-energy from leaving the body, before his own mysteriously erratic, increasingly unstable mind betrays him. "All in the backdrop of the continual traumas of a hospital emergency room headed by the unstoppable Dr. Mike Royce – you can’t put it down." Purchase at https://bit.ly/3uOHgvY.

The Queen of Steeplechase Park by David Ciminello

The absolutely, positively, practically, almost-true story of infamous burlesque queen and magic meatball maker Belladonna Marie Donato. Pregnant at 15 after gleefully losing her virginity to pansexual neighborhood strongman Francis Anthony Mozzarelli, she is robbed of her baby by a pack of nefarious nuns, and her embittered papa has her sterilized without her consent (legal in 1935).

With the help of Francis and her top-secret meatball recipe, a Bella embarks on a riotous quest through Depression-era Coney Island sideshows, the world of peek-a-boo striptease routines, a queer mob marriage, and tasty collection of wisdom-filled recipes to find her lost child, herself, and maybe true love. It all leads Bella back to the scene of her Original Sin, where she faces matters of life and death, questions of forgiveness, and a mess only the healing properties of great Italian cooking can fix. Purchase at https://bit.ly/4bWlfvE.

The New Testament, Second Edition: A 21st Century Translation by Michael Straus

A translation that brings some fresh turns of phrase to the New Testament's varied texts. Not designed to supplant prior translations but to shed light on obscure passages; capture the humanity of Jesus' personality as presented in the Gospels; intelligibly convey doctrine and experience as related in Acts and the Epistles; and reflect the atemporal nature of the Book of Revelation.

The translation seeks to be at once enjoyable, novelistic and at times poetic, avoiding the overly literal, freely adopting the colloquial, and taking grammatical license where the writer employed imagery not subject to standard linguistic limitations.

 As a whole it approaches Scripture as the viva vox evangelii, with ongoing linguistic presence through credal, liturgical, sermonic and other forms of expression. Purchase at https://bit.ly/3TlFOdH.

(NewsUSA) - If ever there was a story about a self-made man whose wealth can be measured more by the contents of his heart than by the contents of his bank account, this is it.

Everybody has heard of GoDaddy, but how many people know the real-life story of the highly successful, philanthropic, and colorful man behind the company? For the first time, GoDaddy and PXG founder Bob Parsons, in a highly confessional account, shares the story of his life, from his humble upbringing to his meteoric rise as one of early tech’s pioneers.

FIRE IN THE HOLE! The Untold Story of My Traumatic Life and Explosive Success (Forefront Books) is an unflinching yet inspirational account of his path to success, from a hardscrabble childhood to his combat service as a U.S. Marine during the Vietnam War – and beyond.

A descendant of coal miners, Parsons grew up in the 1950s in a blue-collar, working-class neighborhood in East Baltimore. Money was tight, given his parents shared a mutual fondness for gambling and were not particularly good at it. In his book, Parsons talks about the financial struggles his family faced, as well as the emotional neglect he experienced as a boy.

He writes: “We were just getting by when Pop’s business failed … my dad racked up so much debt from gambling and credit cards that everything came tumbling down. In the end, he practically gave the business away. And, when he did, we went from not having much to having nothing. I mean absolutely nothing.”

An admittedly so-so student, he recalls the struggles he faced in learning, as well as the corporal punishment dished out by Catholic school nuns. But his early experiences reveal an innate resiliency that got him through a harrowing tour of duty in Vietnam, his early years at his first company, Parsons Technology, as well as his bold business decisions that would eventually make him one of the wealthiest people in the world. With a net worth of $3.6 billion, Parsons is No. 314 on the Forbes 400 2023 list of the richest people in America.

He's an everyman who has made it. He’s authentic. And his reflections on life, business, and giving back are heartbreaking, heartwarming, humorous, and inspiring.

In the book, Parsons:

• Shares how he survived his grueling tour of duty in Vietnam with the U.S. Marines infantry.
• Reveals the struggles he has faced throughout his lifetime because of PTSD, as well as the efforts he has made to treat it, including novel therapeutic uses of psychedelics.
• Offers the lessons he has learned during his career, from the launch of his first business, Parsons Technology, to the creation of his present-day business empire, which includes YAM Worldwide and Parsons Xtreme Golf (PXG).

Since 2012, Parsons and his wife, Renee, have donated nearly $300 million to more than 96 charities and organizations worldwide. Having suffered from PTSD, he works to find new and effective treatments for himself and others. FIRE IN THE HOLE! encourages readers to dream big and imagine all that’s possible – even if the cards seem stacked against them.

Learn more at bobparsons.com and purchase the book at https://bit.ly/3TyNb0x.

(NewsUSA) - Writers of the Future Volume 40 by L. Ron Hubbard

Spine-tingling. Breathtaking. Mind-blowing.

Experience these powerful new voices—vivid, visceral, and visionary—as they explore uncharted worlds and reveal unlimited possibilities. Twelve captivating short stories from the best new science fiction and fantasy writers of the year, selected by Writers of the Future Contest judges. Each story has a full-color illustration. Three bonus stories and art and writing tips.

“This is where the next stars are born.” —Hugh Howey

“These are the people who are going to be creating trends.” —Brandon Sanderson

“One of the best anthologies of the year.” —Tangent

“Some of the most excellent speculative fiction that you can find anywhere. They’re cutting-edge. They’re new.” —Nnedi Okorafor

“See the best of the best culled for you, curated and selected in a single volume every year.” —Robert J. Sawyer

“The stories are wonderful.” —Orson Scott Card

Purchase at https://bit.ly/3varkUQ.

Volk by D. Werkmeister

FBI agent Terri Watson is working on the biggest case of her career. But as she tracks the flow of dirty money around the world and aims to take down a powerful Russian money launderer, her work collides with a series of horrific murders. Something is out there, stalking the streets of Philadelphia. When Terri comes face to face with the beast, she discovers an explosive secret—one that powerful men will kill to keep hidden.

Her investigation reveals there is more to this predator than meets the eye. Much more.

Volk is a supernatural werewolf thriller. If you like fast-paced novels with a twist, then you will love this book, written by a former Marine and retired FBI Special Agent. Says one Amazon reviewer, “Extremely realistic portrayals of detective work, wiretapping methodology, and weapons handling contrast nicely with the supernatural elements.” Purchase at https://bit.ly/3v1WdLn.

Dear God, Why Is It So Hard to Forgive by Imani

Is love ever too good to be true? That is a question Lydia struggles to answer in this romantic novel. She seemingly meets the perfect man and tries to make it work. However, haunted by the pain of past and present betrayals, she worries that her struggles will drive him away.

Is there such a thing as too much baggage? Can she use her faith to untangle the webs of pain and forge a path of forgiveness with those who have hurt her before her pain and anger rob her of her future? Find out in this recently released Book 2 in the “Dear God” series. Purchase at https://bit.ly/3TtPW2W.

Wolf’s Head Bay Book II: The Race for Home by Jeffery Allen Boyd

“Auction?” Richard repeated incredulously. “You mean a—an actual modern-day slave auction—in this country?”

The frightened yet determined group of teens led by Jeremy make a harrowing escape by helicopter, taking with them incriminating evidence exposing both the Colonel and the human trafficking global Network. With Jeremy at the controls, they are pursued by the black Scorpion. Owing to his limited piloting skills they are quickly forced down into the remote northern Michigan wilderness.

In Book II, the group is alone and isolated. Unable to communicate with the outside world and on the run not only from Spear, the lethal enforcer within the trafficking Network and the Colonel’s trained assassin, but also from deadly government operatives, what will save them? Jeremy’s resourcefulness and dogged determination, or younger brother Travis’ faith . . . and will it be enough? Purchase at https://bit.ly/4aoshbc.

BookBites is presented by BookTrib.com.

(NewsUSA) - Educators everywhere should scrap their current lesson plans and make the new book Be a Scribe! by 16-year-old Michael Hoffen and co-authors Dr. Christian Casey and Dr. Jen Thum part of every ancient history curriculum in every elementary school around the country. 

Whether for the classroom or frankly any room, Be a Scribe! might be the most unique, fascinating, entertaining, informative and educative book you’ll read this year. 

Young Hoffen, while in middle school, was introduced to the joys of translating ancient texts and never looked back. During the pandemic, he embarked on this ambitious project to bring ancient Egypt back to life. 

This book is an extraordinary translation of a papyrus dating from ancient Egypt’s Middle Kingdom era some 4,000 years ago. The text, known as The Instruction of Khety, tells the story of a teenager in ancient Egypt, Pepi, who wonders what career path he should choose -- an important matter still contemplated today by millions of teenagers 40 centuries later. 

The book already has been getting very high-profile coverage. National Gallery Victoria (Melbourne), in anticipation of their blockbuster exhibition Pharaoh!, has chosen the book to be represented in their bookstore. This exhibition will comprise of the largest loans the British Museum has ever undertaken. 

Also the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will carry the book in the main book store and in their Uris store next to their educational center. 

In the text, Pepi’s father, Khety, takes him on a long journey up the Nile to enroll him in a school far away from home, where Pepi will learn to read and write. Along the way, Khety explains 18 other terrible jobs Pepi could end up having to work at if he is not hired as a scribe. 

Khety’s marvelous descriptions of the many other jobs are blunt and humorous: the smith or sculptor with “fingers like crocodiles;” jewelers and carpenters with arms ruined; the barber exhausted “in order to fill his stomach, like a bee working to eat;” the trader, who is bitten by fleas and mosquitoes; the sandal maker, who has the taste of leather in his mouth all day; the gardener, who only rests when he dies; and the weaver, who gives bread to the doorkeeper “just to let him see daylight.” 

Sail up the Nile with an ancient Egyptian father and son and discover what daily life was like along the way. Experience the wonderful world of ancient Egypt with the help of countless artifacts and paintings in this beautifully oversized hardcover edition. Delight in 4,000-year-old humor and immerse yourself in the choices facing a teenage boy in Egypt.  

The book also provides some ancient words of wisdom from the father, everything from staying out of trouble, minding your manners, and following orders. It also provides a great introduction to hieroglyphs, which many associate with the pictures and paintings but actually represent the sounds of the Egyptian language. 

Hoffen is the youngest-ever recipient of the annual Emerson Prize, awarded by the Concord Review for outstanding promise in history. Be A Scribe! is Michael’s first book in a series intended for young readers.  

His co-authors on this project are two Egyptologists: Dr. Christian Casey,  who now works as a researcher at Freie Universität Berlin, and Dr. Jen Thum, a curator at the Harvard Art Museums.  

Prepare yourselves to go “on a journey through the hopes, fears, struggles and skills of the ancient people who lived in the shadows of the pyramids.” 

Learn more at www.beascribe.com and purchase the book at https://bit.ly/3wlclaP.

(NewsUSA) - Coded to Kill by Marschall Runge, M.D.

Is medicine’s greatest breakthrough also the world’s most efficient killing machine?

After a decade of development, Drexel Hospital’s cutting-edge Electronic Health Records system is about to become the national standard and revolutionize health care. Housing the real-time medical records of every American, the EHR system will enable doctors to access records with a keystroke and issue life-or-death medical orders with a finger swipe.

No one wants the EHR to succeed more than Hugh Torrence, a former NSA honcho who sees the system as a tool for unimaginable and unaccountable power. The only thing standing in his way is a loose-knit group of Drexel employees with conflicting agendas and questionable loyalties.

While they search for answers, the suspicious patient deaths keep mounting as the target on their back grows larger. Purchase at https://bit.ly/3TC7Dyz.

The Dream Collector: Book I “Sabrine and Sigmund Freud”  by R.w. Meek

The Dream Collector thrusts readers into the dynamic ambiance of late 19th-century Paris where science and art entwine. Against the backdrop of the emerging Impressionist and Post-Impressionist movements, the story centers on Julie Forette, a self-educated woman from Marseilles. Her journey leads her to the notorious Salpêtrière, a sprawling hospital and asylum governed by the esteemed neurologist Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot.

Amidst the chaos of over five thousand disabled, demented, and abandoned women, Julie forges a friendship with the young intern Sigmund Freud. Together, they explore the conscious-altering power of cocaine, hypnotism, and dream interpretation, embarking on an urgent quest to find a cure for the star hysteric, Sabrine Weiss, before Dr. Charcot resorts to radical measures.

As the narrative unfolds, Julie's entanglements extend beyond the asylum, intertwining with major artists like Cezanne, Gauguin, and Monet, making Belle Époque Paris come alive in an unforgettable way. Purchase at https://geni.us/bS4c.

Langston Mangston's Cool-Le-Made Adventure by Chandler G. Hayes

Join Langston-Mangston, his parents, and his imaginary best friend, the pink elephant Zonky, as they embark on fun family discussions about personal finance. Covering basic concepts that cultivate early awareness about how money affects our daily lives, Langston Mangston's Cool-Le-Made Adventure is a lively guide to success for young readers ages six to 12.

Encouraging parents to embrace their child's interest in family finances with mindfulness and care, children are empowered to develop and communicate new ideas, set goals, ask for help, overcome obstacles, and build confidence. The author, with two school-age children, motivates other children to be courageous when considering and planning new tasks and projects – a perfect book for entertainment, engagement and learning. Purchase at https://bit.ly/3TxhGVF.

At the Edge of the Ice by Carolyn Armstrong

The perfect book for middle-graders to celebrate Earth Day later this month, At The Edge Of The Ice is a heartfelt eco-adventure about the complexities of how habitats are affected by climate change and how small steps can make a big difference.

Sydney Cabella talks to animals, but they never talk back -- until one day, they do.

When an intuitive eleven-year-old Sydney, her brainiac twin sister Sierra, and her photojournalist parents explore the Arctic ecosystem near the North Pole, Sydney accidentally hits her head. When she wakes up, the impossible happens: she and the animals can talk to each other.

The first animal who speaks up, a ringed seal named Ringo , tells Sydney that loss of habitat and global warming have pushed this ecosystem to the brink of collapse. With just 72 hours, the twins must put their squabbles aside to decipher Ringo’s clues and help. Purchase at https://bit.ly/3VvHkvq.

(NewsUSA) - As Artificial Intelligence advances across the globe with inexorable speed, untold predictions of promise and peril amass. All in all, it’s a perfect time for Amazon bestselling author William Jefferson’s new book, 2102: Pretense, the Play, which catapults present-day technology angst into a stunning future-cast of tomorrow.

In today’s culture, dominated more and more by distant, discarnate, mediated connectivity, 2102: Pretense, the Play takes readers on a journey where wily artificial intelligence challenges the wisdom of the ages.

In this very literary work following Jefferson’s acclaimed Presence, the Play, the new book is set in Onglander, where crimes are tried on stage and the accused must act while donning masks. The better the act, the greater the prospect of acquittal; to refuse, to be real and transparent, brings swift condemnation.

2102: Pretense, the Play is equally terrifying and thrilling, but it’s also a heartwarming tale of unswerving determination, resilience, and hope. In an age of brimming technological advancement, 2102 pays homage to those locked out, cast aside, cowering and unseen.

Richly spirited, the heroine of the novel could possibly be Joan of Arc, mystically incarnate in 2102. Yet no one really knows for sure.

Alias or not, the riveting character goes by the name of Margin, and she travels into the future with Lesser Light, the moon also incarnate, and Shadow the same. Their mission is to seek out the marginalized, those who abide in the shadows and lesser light.

They set their sights on 2102, to see what’s happened to the future, now marginalized. The trio, though, needs an official record of what takes place in the future, so they choose a poet named Quillingsworth to be their scribe. Quillingsworth lives in Poet’s Lodge—a current-day setting that’s most enchanting. Quill and his blue-headed parrot, Loreto, join the trio, forming a quartet called the Eventide Ensemble.

William Jefferson is on the board of the Marshall McLuhan Initiative (MMI) in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and is an active member and supporter of the Media Ecology Association, as well as the Institute of General Semantics. The author of several books, Jefferson is the creator of the mystical Isle of Estillyen, beyond of the Storied Sea, introduced in his debut novel, Messages from Estillyen (www.estillyen.com).

Jefferson is no stranger to the literary world, with his latest work following Presence, the Play, a novel in which we, as readers, are treated to an allegorical tale woven across multiple levels: Christian theology, media critique, the hero’s journey, poetic reimagining of classic works, and sheer entertainment. All wrapped in an exploration of the concept of presence and its many manifestations, both divine and mundane. The meticulously crafted storyline evokes the imaginative prose of J.R.R. Tolkien, the spirited perception of C. S. Lewis, and the dramatic flair of Dante’s Divine Comedy.

Back in 1966, the cover of TIME magazine posed a most provocative question in asking, “Is God Dead?” Today, in light of the explosive use of AI, many might ask, “Is Wisdom Dead?” to which this author replies, “Not yet, but AI may be digging wisdom’s grave.”

Writes Jefferson in 2102: Pretense, the Play: “The present world is a theater, the conditions of men are roles: wealth and poverty, ruler and ruled. . . . When this day is cast aside, and that terrible night comes, or rather day, night indeed for sinners, but day for the righteous, when the play is ended, when the masks are removed . . . then the truly rich and the truly poor are revealed.”

Learn more at the author’s website, https://estillyen.com, and purchase the book at https://bit.ly/4avK1S7.

(NewsUSA) - Thirty years ago, the advent of the internet changed the world. For the first time in human history, the collected knowledge of all mankind was freely available to every man, woman, and child on the planet with the click of a few buttons.

Fifteen years ago, the world changed again with the widespread availability and adoption of smartphones that put the full power of the internet in the palm of our hands whenever we want and wherever we are.

As monumental as these advancements were, they were just the warmup for the change that’s coming next. In just a few years, we won’t think of “going on the internet” to look up information and find entertainment. Instead, we’ll already be in the internet, living, working, and playing in an endless virtual world that will turn everything we think we know about the internet on its head.

Welcome to the Metaverse.

In Once Upon Tomorrow, author and visionary tech CEO Shurick Agapitov dives deep into this new age of the internet by unpacking exactly what the Metaverse is and what it will become. It’s not about pixels and computer chips; it’s a total paradigm shift that will revolutionize how people interact, share stories, create and implement ideas, conduct business, and literally live their lives.

“Rather than just visiting a website,” Agapitov says, “you’ll be immersed in a platform of three-dimension gaming, shopping, events and socialization. You’ll be ‘visiting’ virtual destinations that take you directly to the source of your interests.”

The Metaverse will be the biggest change any of us have ever seen, and Agapitov is here to take readers by the hand and welcome them into this wild, wonderful new universe of opportunity, estimated at about $30 trillion before the end of the decade.

Agapitov, who grew up in Russian and whose own video gaming industry company Xsolla has been valued at $3 billion, envisions a future where every consumer-facing industry, from fashion to healthcare to entertainment, is transformed. If you’re an entrepreneur and you’re kicking yourself because you didn’t grab the opportunities that existed during the rise of e-commerce and the mobile internet, there’s good news for you too. The opportunities that exist today in the Metaverse are even greater.

The author delineates how:

• In the Metaverse, we will immerse ourselves in a growing global community that will change forever how we work, play, shop, and explore, and engage brands, and how we interact and literally live our lives.
• While large companies such as Nike, Adidas and Gucci are already creating their digital footprints across the Metaverse, as technology continues to become a commodity and its price declines, anyone can get into the game. Anyone has the chance to create his or her own mega brand.
• The opportunity to own “real estate” in the Metaverse is like buying land on a nearly empty beach today, developing it, and watching a massive community build around you.

Once Upon Tomorrow is available for purchase on Amazon and other popular retail outlets where books are sold. Learn more at www.onceupontomorrow.com.

(NewsUSA) - Baby X by Kira Peikoff

With a vivid imagining of the future, Gattaca meets Black Mirror in Kira Peikoff’s Baby X. In the near future, where advanced technology can create egg or sperm from any person’s cells, celebrities face the alarming potential of meeting biological children they never conceived. Famous singer Trace Thorne is tired of being targeted by the Vault, a black-market site devoted to stealing DNA. He hires bio-security guard Ember Ryan to ensure his biological safety.  

Working for Thorne, Ember’s focus becomes split when she begins to fall for him. But then she and Thorne are confronted by a pregnant woman, Quinn, who claims Thorne is the father of her baby, and all bets are off.   

Brilliantly plotted and terrifyingly prescient, Baby X is an unpredictable and relentless speculative thriller perfect for fans of Blake Crouch and John Marrs. Purchase at https://bit.ly/3qoHg3y.

Dialogues with the Wise Woman by Richard Todd Devens

Scammed by an evil Las Vegas con artist, pianist George Sister descends into a deep depression; and even after three years, his pain, guilt, self-loathing, rage, and desire for revenge remain. Through an acquaintance, he contacts Mildred Markowitz, a psychologist and philosopher of genius.

This is more than a novel. It is a psychological and philosophical treatise that tackles many important issues: What is evil? Can good and bad be determined? Is revenge ever justified? What is the best way to deal with the current violent crime epidemic? Can all criminals be rehabilitated? What is self-esteem, and how does one acquire it? How can we determine the most ethical course of action? What is happiness?

A no-holds-barred search for truth that encourages readers to utilize their own rational judgment, perfect read for intelligent skeptics everywhere. Purchase at https://bit.ly/3Ikyzwl.

Murder in the Tea Leaves by Laura Childs

In this latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series, when tea maven Theodosia Browning reads the tea leaves on the set of the movie, things go from spooky to worse. Lights are dimmed, the camera rolls, and red-hot sparks fly as the film’s director is murdered in a tricky electrical accident.

 Or was it an accident? Nobody admits to seeing a thing. And when Theodosia’s friend becomes the prime suspect, Theodosia begins her own shadow investigation. But who among this Hollywood cast and crew had murder on their mind?

 Between hosting a Breakfast at Tiffany’s Tea, a Poetry Tea, and trying to launch her own chocolate line, Theodosia hunts down clues in the seemingly haunted Brittlebank Manor. And just when she’s ready to pounce, a Charleston Film Board member is also murdered, throwing everything into disarray. Includes delicious recipes and tea time tips! Purchase at https://bit.ly/48wsoAy.

The Disgrace of Sant’ Ambrogio by Michael Turturici

August 1944 – Florence, Italy. "Everybody out," a German lieutenant yells as the citizens in the river district are forced out of their homes. "They're going to blow our bridges," an old man shouts. That night, as the bridges are destroyed, smoke and flame light the air as a revered Renaissance painting is stolen by the known Gestapo collaborator, Father Danilo Lombardi.

September 1978 - Vatican City. A young American priest from Boston is summoned to the Vatican on a fateful journey. The disgrace of Sant' Ambrogio sends Father John Conley on a pilgrimage, from the catacombs of the Vatican to the summits of the Alps, the Monastery of Saint Benedict, and through the gates of East Berlin. Confronted by a blizzard, angry secret police, and unrequited love, he must remain faithful on his mission to redeem the Church of Sant' Ambrogio. Purchase at https://bit.ly/47Byi3j.