Secret Smiles

After thirteen years of marriage, I thought my life was over. I received a lot of advice from many people, making it hard to know what to do. However, there was one piece of advice that stood out to me and set the tone for my healing journey. The advice was simple yet powerful: there are no shortcuts in this process. Making a huge change like this requires time and effort. As someone who was always in a hurry, this advice was simple yet terrifying. I realized that giving myself time to heal properly was exactly what I needed to do. This was only the beginning of the end. It is starting all over again. Finally finding my footing through the uphill battles and silent cries, I can confidently say that it can be done. This book of poems represents just a portion of my journey. I hope it will help others who are on a similar road.

He's fighting his demons. She's fighting her past. Their only chance is to fight together. Life changes in the blink of an eye. I have everything a man could ever want: fame, women, money, power. I could have any woman I want, so why is my new manager the one I want the most? And why is she the only one who keeps saying no? Can I seduce her for longer than one night, or will the monsters I keep trying to push away finally consume me and win? Secret Smiles is the first book in the Love in Sienna Series. A series of interconnected stand-alones. If you like sexy rock stars, emotional rollercoasters and second chance romances, then you'll love this contemporary romance by Laura John. Pick up Secret Smiles to start your rollercoaster ride today! *Trigger Warning* This book discusses some tougher subjects that might bother some readers.

The National Book Award–winning story collection from the author of The Orphan Master’s Son offers something rare in fiction: a new way of looking at the world. “MASTERFUL.”—The Washington Post “ENTRANCING.”—O: The Oprah Magazine “PERCEPTIVE AND BRAVE.”—The New York Times Throughout these six stories, Pulitzer Prize winner Adam Johnson delves deep into love and loss, natural disasters, the influence of technology, and how the political shapes the personal, giving voice to the perspectives we don’t often hear. In “Nirvana,” a programmer whose wife has a rare disease finds solace in a digital simulacrum of the president of the United States. In “Hurricanes Anonymous,” a young man searches for the mother of his son in a Louisiana devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. “George Orwell Was a Friend of Mine” follows a former warden of a Stasi prison in East Germany who vehemently denies his past, even as pieces of it are delivered in packages to his door. And in the unforgettable title story, Johnson returns to his signature subject, North Korea, depicting two defectors from Pyongyang who are trying to adapt to their new lives in Seoul, while one cannot forget the woman he left behind. WINNER OF THE STORY PRIZE • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Miami Herald • San Francisco Chronicle • USA Today AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • NPR • Marie Claire • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • BuzzFeed • The Daily Beast • Los Angeles Magazine • The Independent • BookPage • Kirkus Reviews “Remarkable . . . Adam Johnson is one of America’s greatest living writers.”—The Huffington Post “Haunting, harrowing . . . Johnson’s writing is as rich in compassion as it is in invention, and that rare combination makes Fortune Smiles worth treasuring.”—USA Today “Fortune Smiles [blends] exotic scenarios, morally compromised characters, high-wire action, rigorously limber prose, dense thickets of emotion, and, most critically, our current techno-moment.”—The Boston Globe “Johnson’s boundary-pushing stories make for exhilarating reading.”—San Francisco Chronicle

An irresistible photographic story featuring wild squirrels in homemade miniature domestic settings -- taking a bath, doing laundry, and barbecuing -- will surprise and amuse readers and animal lovers of all ages! Adorable squirrels as you've never seen them! You may think you know what squirrels do all day...but Mr. Peanuts is no ordinary squirrel. Instead of climbing tress, he plays the piano. ("Moonlight Sonutta" is his favorite.) Instead of scurrying through the woods, he reads books (such as A Tail of Two Cities). But everything is more fun with company, so Mr. Peanuts writes a letter to Cousin Squirrel and invites him for a visit! Featuring candid photographs of wild squirrels in handcrafted, homemade miniature settings, this irresistible book is sure to delight readers young and old!

The most successful portraits take us well beyond the surface of how someone looks and show us the inner essence of who someone is. They reveal character, soul, and depth. They uncover hidden hopes and profound truths, revealing that authentic and deeply human light that shines within. And while technical expertise is undoubtedly important, it’s not the light, camera, or pose that creates a great portrait. It’s you, and it’s the connection you create with the subject that makes all the difference. In Authentic Portraits, photographer Chris Orwig teaches you that the secret to creating meaningful portraits is simple: curiosity, empathy, kindness, and soul…plus a bit of technique. While Chris spends significant time on the fundamentals of “getting the shot”—working with natural light, nailing focus, dialing in the correct exposure, effectively posing and directing the subject, intentionally composing the frame—he also passionately discusses the need for personal development, creative collaboration, and connection with the subject. Because who you are directly and deeply affects what you create, and it is only through cultivating your own inner light that you will be able to bring it out in your subjects. Filled with instruction, insight, and inspiration, Authentic Portraits is an honest and personal book about creating better frames. It’s also about becoming your best self. Take the journey, and you’ll learn to find your vision and voice, bring intention to your photography and your life, embrace mystery, and understand the importance of gratitude and empathy. Along the way, you will teach the camera to see in a way that replicates how you feel, and you’ll find you have all you need to create work of lasting significance.