Showing results by narrator "Amanda Ronconi" in All Categories

Our media environment is in crisis. Polarization is rampant. Polluted information floods social media. Even our best efforts to help clean up can backfire, sending toxins roaring across the landscape. In You Are Here, Whitney Phillips and Ryan Milner offer strategies for navigating increasingly treacherous information flows. Using ecological metaphors, they emphasize how our individual me is entwined within a much larger we, and how everyone fits within an ever-shifting network map.

I’m usually the first person on my block to decorate for Christmas. This year? Humbug. My six-year-old son, Aidan, just had a meltdown after learning some hard truths from a drunk Santa impersonator, and I can no longer deny we both need help. Change is hard for Aidan, and right now he’s dealing with several big ones, including A) his father abandoning us, B) our move to Asheville, and C) the Santa snafu.

Moms can feel as if they are sprinting through life, crashing onto the pillow at day's end only to start again the next morning. In Breathe, Mama, Breathe, psychotherapist Shonda Moralis outlines the benefits of daily meditation and shows moms how to do it - in just five minutes.

A must-read for anyone who cares why so many celebs are sporting "bumps", or whether they are really "just like us", this guide - nay, rulebook - lays down the law on what you need to know to play Hollywood in a simple and concise manner.

Cassidy Kincaide runs Trifles & Folly in modern-day Charleston, an antiques and curios shop with a dangerous secret. Cassidy can read the history of objects by touching them and along with her business partners Teag, who has Weaver magic, and Sorren, a 600-year-old vampire, they get rid of cursed objects and keep Charleston and the world safe from supernatural threats.

When former army medic Tony Dozier is accused of killing a member of the hate group that disrupted his wife's funeral, the prosecution charges premeditated murder and the defense claims temporary insanity. Former marine Death Bogart and auctioneer Wren Morgan think there's more to the story. They're both led to the long-abandoned Hadleigh House. As Wren uncovers the century-old tale of a World War I soldier and his angel, Death finds a set of truths that will change...or end...their lives.

When firefighter Randy Bogart perishes in the arson fire at an abandoned brewery known as the Brewmaster's Widow, Death Bogart and his girlfriend Wren Morgan travel to St. Louis, Missouri, to find closure. They discover that Randy left his badge behind at the firehouse before going to the brewery. But the coroner finds another badge on Randy's body, leaving Death and Wren with more questions than answers.

Macy Moore skedaddled from her hometown of Beauty, Georgia, to Florida in order to make her own way in the world. Successful and happy, she couldn't be more proud of her corporate executive job, her just-perfect boyfriend, and her beachside condo. But it all falls apart when she reads the first email of the day. She's demoted to the lowest rung on the corporate ladder...and dumped! She goes from being "someone" to a being "nobody", all on the eve of returning home to emcee her high school reunion.

Cassidy Kincaide runs Trifles and Folly in modern-day Charleston, an antiques and curios shop with a dangerous secret. Cassidy can read the history of objects by touching them and together with Teag, a hacker and weaver witch, and Sorren, a 600-year-old vampire, they get rid of cursed objects and keep Charleston and the world safe from supernatural threats.

While at a casino to celebrate her birthday, Jess Clarke proposes a pact to her reserved sister, Liz, and their childhood friend Chloe: the three women will say yes to any adventure that comes their way. Jess is mourning her recent divorce, so the other two reluctantly agree. Twelve hours later, they awaken to the shocking consequences of their behavior.

It's a big fat hairy deal when I lose yet another bet to my best friend, Rena. Not only do I end up attending Bigfoot meetings with her kooky Aunt Phyllis, I find myself traveling with a band of reality TV, Sasquatch-hunting nut-jobs! Not to mention a suspiciously shady film crew. As if those little nuggets weren't enough to send me on the express train to Crazytown...I stupidly swore off men! Clearly, all this would mess up any gal's social life, but the worst part of the story? The minute I send my libido on vacation, I meet Mitch.

As the owner of Great Lakes Investigations, she's seen just about everything there is to see. Murder, embezzlement, infidelity; you name it, she's been there and got the investigative t-shirt.

Jerica Poole uncovered the disturbing truth about Jeopardy Belle, but the teenager's ghost is far from at peace. Supernatural sightings at the old house increase along with Jerica's terror. As the former nurse ponders her future, she has to work to help other ghosts at Summerleigh...and save herself.

Every big romance deserves a second chance. But Evan and Jessica Cho Graham are looking at the last chance: more specifically, The Last Chance Motel in Dove Pond, NC, where Jessica has escaped to start a happily independent life, separate from her smart, sexy, but driven husband. Evan has been wildly successful in every endeavor, except keeping the heart of the one woman he loves more than anything. If he’s going to repair this mess, he’s going to need all the help he can get - even if it's from the crankiest handyman in B&B history.

In a book that inspired the Amazon original series starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Malcolm McDowell, oboist Blair Tindall recounts her decades-long professional career as a classical musician, from the recitals and Broadway orchestra performances to the secret life of musicians who survive hand to mouth in the backbiting New York classical music scene, trading sexual favors for plum jobs and assignments in orchestras across the city.

Moving is a major life change - time-consuming, expensive, often overwhelming, and sometimes scary. But it doesn’t have to be! Instead of looking it as a burdensome chore, consider it a new adventure. Ali Wenzke and her husband moved 10 times in 11 years, living in seven states across the US. She created her popular blog, The Art of Happy Moving, to help others build a happier life before, during, and after a move. The Art of Happy Moving builds on her blog, offering step-by-step guidance, much-needed comfort, practical information, and welcome advice.

Maggie's life isn't simple anymore, but it's better than the lonely landscape it used to be. She's now working with the vampire who just so happens to be her boyfriend's estranged father. A terrified kid comes to Maggie's office and tells her his family might be the ones supplying a new drug in town—a drug that affects magicals and a-magicals alike. Before she knows it, Maggie is drawn into a world where the stakes are higher than can imagine, and the perpetrators are more than willing to kill a lone PI who is sticking her nose into their business.

Running a tourist trap for humans in the Bermuda Triangle had sounded like a fine plan - until it wasn’t. With the Sea Hags gunning for our island and ruining our questionably successful business, I did what any desperate Mermaid would do. I called for backup. Of course, getting help from the Otherworld Defense Agency is risky as they don’t usually deal with ocean creatures. Whatever. Desperate times call for crappy measures. Chances are they’ll send freaking Pirates. I hate Pirates.

Novelists Jonathan Moss and Sage Merriweather should be a perfect match. They share not only the same publisher but also a deep friendship full of mutual respect and encouragement. But when an ill-fated attempt at taking their relationship to the next level fails in spectacular fashion, it appears as though that once-treasured bond is doomed for good. One year later, however, the duo gets a chance to salvage their relationship when Jonathan invites Sage on a do-over road trip from Phoenix to Tacoma.

When trauma enters the lives of the unsuspecting, it steals from their very soul. It not only robs them of peace and joy, it can take years and decades from their lives while they desperately try to fill the hole in their heart, pretending that their soul isn't leaking out of it. No one is ever prepared for trauma, and no one is ever left unchanged by traumatic events.