Wide Open Fear

Writers of great horror don’t hold back when it comes to subject matter: nothing is off limits. Their stories go to places that make readers shudder, sweat, squirm. In these columns, Lisa L. Hannett – the award-winning author behind Bluegrass Symphony, Lament for the Afterlife, and Song For Dark Seasons — turns her attention to the topics of writing, horror, and her adopted country of Australia. Drawn from her popular Southern Dark column, Wide Open Fear collects Hannett’s advice on selecting new monsters for horror literature, capturing the Australian gothic, embracing the I in horror, avoiding the overuse of literary techniques across the breadth of your career, and more. Whether you’re an aspiring author looking advice, an established horror scribbler looking to hone your technique, or simply a fan Hannett’s work seeking a glimpse behind the scenes, Wide Open Fear offers insights into the practice and philosophy of an extraordinary writer of horror and weird fiction.

In this New York Times bestseller, Isaac Lidsky draws on his experience of achieving immense success, joy, and fulfillment while losing his sight to a blinding disease to show us that it isn’t external circumstances, but how we perceive and respond to them, that governs our reality. Fear has a tendency to give us tunnel vision—we fill the unknown with our worst imaginings and cling to what’s familiar. But when confronted with new challenges, we need to think more broadly and adapt. When Isaac Lidsky learned that he was beginning to go blind at age thirteen, eventually losing his sight entirely by the time he was twenty-five, he initially thought that blindness would mean an end to his early success and his hopes for the future. Paradoxically, losing his sight gave him the vision to take responsibility for his reality and thrive. Lidsky graduated from Harvard College at age nineteen, served as a Supreme Court law clerk, fathered four children, and turned a failing construction subcontractor into a highly profitable business. Whether we’re blind or not, our vision is limited by our past experiences, biases, and emotions. Lidsky shows us how we can overcome paralyzing fears, avoid falling prey to our own assumptions and faulty leaps of logic, silence our inner critic, harness our strength, and live with open hearts and minds. In sharing his hard-won insights, Lidsky shows us how we too can confront life's trials with initiative, humor, and grace.

BRILLIANTLY EXPLORING TODAY'S CUTTING-EDGE BRAIN RESEARCH, MIND WIDE OPEN IS AN UNPRECEDENTED JOURNEY INTO THE ESSENCE OF HUMAN PERSONALITY, ALLOWING READERS TO UNDERSTAND THEMSELVES AND THE PEOPLE IN THEIR LIVES AS NEVER BEFORE. Using a mix of experiential reportage, personal storytelling, and fresh scientific discovery, Steven Johnson describes how the brain works -- its chemicals, structures, and subroutines -- and how these systems connect to the day-to-day realities of individual lives. For a hundred years, he says, many of us have assumed that the most powerful route to self-knowledge took the form of lying on a couch, talking about our childhoods. The possibility entertained in this book is that you can follow another path, in which learning about the brain's mechanics can widen one's self-awareness as powerfully as any therapy or meditation or drug. In Mind Wide Open, Johnson embarks on this path as his own test subject, participating in a battery of attention tests, learning to control video games by altering his brain waves, scanning his own brain with a $2 million fMRI machine, all in search of a modern answer to the oldest of questions: who am I? Along the way, Johnson explores how we "read" other people, how the brain processes frightening events (and how we might rid ourselves of the scars those memories leave), what the neurochemistry is behind love and sex, what it means that our brains are teeming with powerful chemicals closely related to recreational drugs, why music moves us to tears, and where our breakthrough ideas come from. Johnson's clear, engaging explanation of the physical functions of the brain reveals not only the broad strokes of our aptitudes and fears, our skills and weaknesses and desires, but also the momentary brain phenomena that a whole human life comprises. Why, when hearing a tale of woe, do we sometimes smile inappropriately, even if we don't want to? Why are some of us so bad at remembering phone numbers but brilliant at recognizing faces? Why does depression make us feel stupid? To read Mind Wide Open is to rethink family histories, individual fates, and the very nature of the self, and to see that brain science is now personally transformative -- a valuable tool for better relationships and better living.

To put it very simply, Dawna Markova is a teacher. A Ph.D. educator, she travels the world working with schools, Fortune 500 companies, and individuals. While coaching people on systems thinking and how to revolutionize the way children are taught, she also teaches people the most important lesson anyone can ever learn -- how to listen to one's own heart and how to live with heart and mind wide open to all life's possibilities. Wide Open is the gift of Dawna's wisdom, wrapped up in gorgeous photos. In thirty luminous lessons and passages, Markova encourages us to learn from our wounds, find our gifts, celebrate our values, and live our dreams -- to live on purpose and with passion. Twenty years ago, Dawna Markova discovered these eternal truths when she faced a life-threatening illness and began a journey of rediscovery. This book follows her path to finding deeper meaning in life. "In a similar way to A Gift from the Sea, the readers of this book are invited to accompany me on a journey to come to know more intimately the value and purpose of their lives."

“Gross is a top-notch thriller writer.” —Chicago Sun-Times “Andrew Gross knows how to make your skin crawl. Eyes Wide Open should be read with the door shut and the lights on; a truly terrifying descent into evil.” —Nelson DeMille New York Times bestselling author Andrew Gross solidifies his position as one of today’s very best suspense authors with Eyes Wide Open. Joining his previous bestsellers The Blue Zone, The Dark Tide, Don’t Look Twice, and Reckless, Eyes Wide Open is another brilliant example of the contemporary thriller done absolutely right. In this relentlessly exciting page-turner, a man must investigate a shattering personal tragedy that is somehow connected with a charismatic cult leader from the ‘60s. James Patterson, Harlan Coben, David Baldacci, John Grisham, Jonathan Kellerman, Jeffery Deaver, Lisa Gardner, Nelson DeMille, Tess Gerritsen—Andrew Gross stands tall in their elite company.

A textbook that lays down the foundational principles for understanding social neuroscience Humans, like many other animals, are a highly social species. But how do our biological systems implement social behaviors, and how do these processes shape the brain and biology? Spanning multiple disciplines, Introduction to Social Neuroscience seeks to engage students and scholars alike in exploring the effects of the brain’s perceived connections with others. This wide-ranging textbook provides a quintessential foundation for comprehending the psychological, neural, hormonal, cellular, and genomic mechanisms underlying such varied social processes as loneliness, empathy, theory-of-mind, trust, and cooperation. Stephanie and John Cacioppo posit that our brain is our main social organ. They show how the same objective relationship can be perceived as friendly or threatening depending on the mental states of the individuals involved in that relationship. They present exercises and evidence-based findings readers can put into practice to better understand the neural roots of the social brain and the cognitive and health implications of a dysfunctional social brain. This textbook’s distinctive features include the integration of human and animal studies, clinical cases from medicine, multilevel analyses of topics from genes to societies, and a variety of methodologies. Unveiling new facets to the study of the social brain’s anatomy and function, Introduction to Social Neuroscience widens the scientific lens on human interaction in society. The first textbook on social neuroscience intended for advanced undergraduates and graduate students Chapters address the psychological, neural, hormonal, cellular, and genomic mechanisms underlying the brain’s perceived connections with others Materials integrate human and animal studies, clinical cases, multilevel analyses, and multiple disciplines

"The System Guide - Human Design Vol. I" is an all-in-one book dedicated to the Human Design System. Adopting a building-block approach, the guide dives deep into the System's concepts, thoroughly covering every topic and System component over its 400 colored pages. As readers progress, each concept naturally builds upon the previous, supplemented by meticulously crafted illustrations and diagrams that breakdown both the inherent mechanics of the System and the interactive dynamics of its myriad components. Introduced in 1987 by its founder, Ra Uru Hu, the Human Design System offers a unique framework that enables individuals to navigate life more effectively. It was synthesized by melding the knowledge of modern quantum physics and astronomy with the ancient wisdom of the Hindu Chakras, the Kabbalah, the Chinese I Ching, and Western astrology. "The System Guide" streamlines Ra Uru Hu's teachings for today's learners, employing contemporary language, a minimalist aesthetic, and a pedagogically friendly structure in order to improve information retention. Embark on a journey of cosmic self-discovery with the Human Design System Guide. Learn to discern your inherent abilities and inner energies from external, societal conditioning. Lay the groundwork for a life filled with purpose and fulfillment by harnessing the transformative power of self-awareness and acquiring the insights to celebrate your uniqueness. Deepen your understanding of yourself, fostering greater empathy as you uncover and grasp the energies that influence the behaviors of those around you and their impact on your Human Design.