The Heroic Herald

Stories of child and animal heroes in a news article format pique student interest and build confidence in reading skills. The multisensory approach involves reading along while listening to the included CD, then independently reading and completing compr

Conquer writer’s block, love what you write, and finish what you start with this motivational self-care book for writers. Imagine having your own personal mentor—someone encouraging yet honest, who could help you set and achieve your goals, turn your moments of doubt and fear into sources of strength, and discover what you’re truly capable of when you’re at your best. Life coach and publishing industry veteran Kendra Levin is that mentor. And in The Hero Is You, she can help you do the best writing of your life—and live your best life while doing it. With wisdom drawn from her years as a life coach for writers and behind-the-scenes stories from a panoply of bestselling authors, Levin shows you how to become the hero in the narrative of your own process. Offering a fresh approach to Joseph Campbell’s storytelling archetype, the Hero’s Journey, The Hero Is You includes more than thirty exercises designed to help you reinvent your creative process from the inside out. This book will show you how to: Identify your biggest challenges and render them powerlessStart a project that you love—and stick with itDesign a structure for writing regularly

The Last Herald-Mage Trilogy—three groundbreaking, Lambda Award-winning novels that established Mercedes Lackey as a fantasy tour-de-force and her Kingdom of Valdemar as a place millions of readers return to again and again. This Lambda Award-winning trilogy tells the story of Vanyel, persecuted and abused son of a Valdemaran noble, who finds acceptance at Haven when he is Chosen by the Companion Yfandes. Companions like Yfandes are magical horse-like beings with the power to communicate and bond with their Chosen, and trigger the potential for psychic abilities—and magic. But Vanyel discovers other things about himself at Haven as well…. He discovers love in an unexpected place, and loses it, and nearly his own life. With Yfandes and his aunt, Herald Savil, he will travel to the home of the mysterious Hawkbrothers in search of healing and training, and will grow from a troubled and heartbroken Trainee to become the most powerful Herald-Mage in the history of Valdemar—and the one hope for Valdemar against an implacable foe bent on eradicating magic from the Kingdom entirely

Part legal scholar, part warrior, Justice Aaron Evron is the Arbiter of Niph. In service to Themis, the blind Goddess of Law and Order, as her herald and champion on the planet, Aaron is charged with administering even-handed justice to king and commoner alike, to ensure that anarchy and chaos do not come to rule Niph. All men ultimately answer to Justice Evron for their crimes. It is a task that he performs with deadly efficiency and a virtual lack of compassion. But such power and responsibility come with a terrible price. Aaron must fight a near constant battle against a debilitating Blackness of the mind inflicted upon him by the Demon Alaset, who has a design to manipulate the Arbiter into serving him. This conflict threatens to take his sanity and destroy everything that he loves, including his relationship with the one woman that he treasures above all others, and the only one able to provide him with a measure of peace and happiness. When mysterious twin infants are given into his care and protection by a magician thought long dead after Niph is invaded by the warlike Rill, Aaron will begin a perilous journey that will force him to choose between saving Niph, or the woman that he is forever and tragically fated to love. But only if Alaset does not defeat him first.

Stories are everywhere around us, from the ads on TV or music video clips to the more sophisticated stories told by books or movies. Everything comes wrapped in a story, and the means employed to weave the narrative thread are just as important as the story itself. In this context, there is a need to understand the role storytelling plays in contemporary society, which has changed drastically in recent decades. Modern global society is no longer exclusively dominated by the time-tested narrative media such as literature or films because new media such as videogames or social platforms have changed the way we understand, create, and replicate stories. The Handbook of Research on Contemporary Storytelling Methods Across New Media and Disciplines is a comprehensive reference book that provides the relevant theoretical framework that concerns storytelling in modern society, as well as the newest and most varied analyses and case studies in the field. The chapters of this extensive volume follow the construction and interpretation of stories across a plethora of contemporary media and disciplines. By bringing together radical forms of storytelling in traditional disciplines and methods of telling stories across newer media, this book intersects themes that include interactive storytelling and narrative theory across advertisements, social media, and knowledge-sharing platforms, among others. It is targeted towards professionals, researchers, and students working or studying in the fields of narratology, literature, media studies, marketing and communication, anthropology, religion, or film studies. Moreover, for interested executives and entrepreneurs or prospective influencers, the chapters dedicated to marketing and social media may also provide insights into both the theoretical and the practical aspects of harnessing the power of storytelling in order to create a cohesive and impactful online image.

Newport, Rhode Island, was the summer playground of the Gilded Age for the Astors, Belmonts and Vanderbilts. They built lavish villas designed by the best Beaux Arts-style architects of the time, including Richard Morris Hunt, Charles McKim and Robert Swain Peabody. America's elite delighted in referring to these grand retreats as "summer cottages," where they would play tennis and polo and sail their yachts along the shores of the Ocean State. The coachman had an important role as the discreet outdoor butler for Gilded Age gentlemen--not only was he in charge of the horses, but he also acted as a travel advisor and connoisseur of entertainment venues. From the driver's seat, author and guide Edward Morris provides a diverse collection of biographical sketches that reveal the outrageous and opulent lives of some of America's leading entrepreneurs.