Showing results by narrator "Eric Michael Summerer" in All Categories

Outline Your Novel will help any writer take their story from concept to a finished draft. Outline Your Novel teaches you how structure works and how to use that structure to make and follow an outline.

In early 2003, a young Wall Street investment banker named Bo Parfet set out to accomplish something very few had done before - climbing the highest mountain on every continent. He was not a professional climber, but what began as a casual interest would soon become a lifelong passion and in just over four years, Bo would overcome the odds and conquer all of the mountains - Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, Denali, Vinson Massif, Elbrus, Carstenz Pyramid, Kosciusko, and Everest - with courage, unbridled passion, and determination.

As a teenager, Samantha Johnson wrote a song that went viral in all the wrong ways. A pop song about her love of mozzarella sticks. She hoped for adoration, but instead became a joke for an entire generation. She absolutely does not want to be in the limelight ever again.

Sera Donner has lost everything, perhaps even her own humanity. She's been denied her chance for vengeance against the praetor and her brother, and her own horrific crimes have chased her far from home. Descending into an abyss of isolation and doubt, she fears that Heaven has abandoned her. But Yahweh still has plans for the fledgling believer. Plans that will thrust her to the forefront of an ancient prophecy overlooked for more than two millennia.

Lash by bloody lash, the she-devil from Dallas would get her revenge. 

Haunted by memories of a high school shooting, not even the bottle can wash away the gnawing guilt and creeping feelings of inadequacy that batter Rick's conscience daily. His life has been a mess of broken marriages, writer's block, terrible choices, and the morbid pity of others. When he meets Harriet at a writer's conference, the record doesn't scratch as he falls back. Only, this time, he may not get up.

Stephen McAllister was a grunt, a dog handler in Vietnam, tasked not only with fighting what was by then an unwinnable war but with rehabilitating a scout dog named Big Mike whose trauma ran even deeper than his own. McAllister's voice has an abundance of heart and humor, but the laughter has a catch in its throat. For all the ingenuity and camaraderie, a dark and suspenseful melody plays behind the adventures of McAllister and his unforgettable constellation of young characters, American and Vietnamese.

Experience the Green Rush through the eyes of Jackson D. Tilley - the sober 20-something who climbed the ladder at a small vape company while it grew into the nation’s leading cannabis distributor.  

Tom Whills is a first-generation Star Wars fan and proud of it. So when he and his best friend, Danny, build a time machine, Tom's one wish is for a glimpse of the original production. But in 1975, Tom's infiltration of an early ILM production meeting sets the entire history of Star Wars on a disastrous course. In five episodes, the Journal of Tom Whills tells the story of a Star Wars production gone off the rails as time-traveling fans try desperately to get their beloved film back on track. 

Lucan's human life was ripped from him by a demon known as a Darkland Beast, but he was saved by the Archangel Rafael to join the immortal Knights of White, as a protector of humanity. For 200 years, Lucan served honorably but one fateful night, he did the unforgivable, the one thing he can never be saved from. Lucan vowed servitude to the leader of the Darkland Beasts, and the underworld in the process, and he did it to save a woman, a firestarter who the demon leader intended to use to destroy the Knights. 

It's become an article of faith that American entrepreneurship is in trouble. The problems are many: lack of capital, too few entrepreneurial immigrants, excessive regulation, an aging population, slowing population growth, and rising student debt. But while experts across the country debate the causes and propose solutions, Scott Shane explains that the data just do not fit. Dismantling each of the most widely accepted theories in turn, he persuasively demonstrates that - while an evolving market is changing the nature of most startups - entrepreneurship is actually alive and well.

Struggling to start your story or lost in the middle? You need a story pitch. Building on the lessons taught in The Five Day Novel, Scott King dives in on how to start the pre-writing process for your novel with a special tool called a story pitch! A standard pitch is meant for marketing and selling, but a story pitch is a powerful tool meant to be used when pre-writing and writing. It can help you jumpstart your novel, screenplay, comic, or whatever type of story you are trying to tell and it can be used as a corrective measure if you get off track during the writing process.

In 1963, the world followed the first American Mount Everest Expedition, and watched as "Big Jim" Whittaker became the first American to stand on top of the world. He returned home a hero. My Old Man and the Mountain is Leif Whittaker's engaging and humorous story of what it was like to "grow up Whittaker" - the youngest son of Jim Whittaker and Dianne Roberts, in an extended family of accomplished climbers. He shares glimpses of his upbringing and how the pressure to climb started early on.

Known as the age of democracy, the 19th century witnessed the extension of the franchise and the rise of party politics. As Daniel Carpenter shows, however, democracy in America emerged not merely through elections and parties, but through the transformation of an ancient political tool: the petition. A statement of grievance accompanied by a list of signatures, the petition afforded women and men excluded from formal politics the chance to make their voices heard and to reshape the landscape of political possibility.

The United Earth Fleet has established its home base on the terraformed island of Kauai, where humankind is starting over. But when an act of sabotage threatens their existence, Captain Bartholomew Quasar and his intrepid crew must return to space to hunt down the saboteur. Unbeknownst to them, rifts have opened between parallel worlds, and our heroes are flung into a dangerous reality where they encounter alternate versions of themselves as well as new friends and foes along the way.

Centuries have passed since evil Emperor Zhan attacked Earth and sent humankind packing in a mass exodus. Now the human race is scattered throughout the galaxy, and United World Space Command is no more. Captain Bartholomew Quasar and the crew of the Effervescent Magnitude have one purpose: to reunite the descendants of Earth's diaspora and save their planet from the monstrous machines Zhan left behind to ensure Earth's ultimate demise.

Pursued by vengeful Goobalob toll collectors, savage Arachnoid bounty hunters, and formidable Amazonians, Captain Bartholomew Quasar must do whatever he can to keep the crew of the Effervescent Magnitude out of harm's way. All in a day's work - except time is not on his side. Torn from the present to relive his past, he vows to keep mistakes from occurring the second time around. But is he doomed to repeat history? Or can he erase his regrets?  

A brilliant scientist on the planet Devanta has created a small universe contiguous to ours - and a utopian city on one of the planets. The question becomes, though, an utopia for whom? And why is a shady entertainment mogul subsidizing the scientist? More critical than that, does this new universe require the destruction of a portion - or all - of our universe in order to grow and stabilize?

Breaking Barriers shows how to redesign high schools so that all students can move on to college and successful careers. In a negation of the American dream, a child's zip code is currently a far better predictor of success than hard work, intelligence, or resilience. This book tells the story of a school model that focuses on equity and works to prove that all young people can achieve academic excellence given the right support. P-TECH combines public high schools and community colleges in partnership with employers, providing both opportunity and support for all students.  

Vaughan Roberts and his two companions had been trapped on a crime-ridden, chaotic planet until they bamboozled the population with a gigantic hoax - which brought them to the attention of the Interstellar Patrol, who were looking for a few good con men, capable of ingenious improvisation and adept at playing dirty tricks on the bad guys.