Welcome to Issue 94 of the SUPERIOR BOOK PRODUCTIONS newsletter!
Happy October, Everyone!
This is one of my favorite times of the year because Halloween is just around the corner. The entire month of October I indulge in reading scary and Gothic related books. As many of you know, I have a PhD in nineteenth-century British literature and wrote my dissertation on Gothic novels, which eventually became my book The Gothic Wanderer: From Transgression to Redemption.
So, I’m pleased to announce at this spooky time of year the upcoming publication of my next book, Vampire Grooms and Spectre Brides: The Marriage of French and British Gothic Literature, 1789-1897. It will discuss how a wide range of French and British novels, including Ivanhoe, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Count of Monte Cristo, Dracula, and many lesser known works influenced each other. The release date is early 2023. The artwork for the cover is by Inna Vjuzhanina, a Ukrainian artist I am thrilled to support during such a Gothic time for her country. You can check out more of her amazing work at www.InnaVjuzhanina.com.
Happy Halloween to all of you. May it be filled with vampires, haunted houses, witches’ brews, or if you prefer, just lots of Halloween candy!
And be sure to check out all the great titles below. As always, we have a wide array of newly published books we had a hand in editing and bringing to print that are perfect for reading under the covers on a cold night, and I promise not one of them is scary, but they are all thoughtful, inspiring, or entertaining.
Tyler Tichelaar
This Month’s Great Book Quote:
This month’s quote is Jane Austen’s famous passage from Northanger Abbey (1818) about reading Gothic novels. Not surprisingly, I have read every one mentioned. For more Gothic literature, check out my blog at www.GothicWanderer.com.
“Dear creature! How much I am obliged to you; and when you have finished Udolpho, we will read the Italian together; and I have made out a list of ten or twelve more of the same kind for you.”
“Have you, indeed! How glad I am! What are they all?”
“I will read you their names directly; here they are, in my pocketbook. Castle of Wolfenbach, Clermont, Mysterious Warnings, Necromancer of the Black Forest, Midnight Bell, Orphan of the Rhine, and Horrid Mysteries. Those will last us some time.”
“Yes, pretty well; but are they all horrid, are you sure they are all horrid?”
“Yes, quite sure; for a particular friend of mine, a Miss Andrews, a sweet girl, one of the sweetest creatures in the world, has read every one of them.”
Grace DeLynne’s new book The True Power of Girls is a dynamic work written for girls from seven to ninety-nine. Grace is herself ten years old, and she decided to write this book to share the important lessons she’s already learned in her short life and to inspire others to own their power. She states early in the book, “I believe girls are powerful, and this book will help you learn to find your true power and love yourself and others more.
This book will also help you embrace your emotions and use your voice to live in your true power as a girl. By the time you finish reading The True Power of Girls, you will be inspired to discover your uniqueness, be more confident, and follow your dreams.”
At the heart of The True Power of Girls is Grace’s message of the importance of choosing our words carefully, using empowering language, and being positive. It is also about the importance of learning how to control our emotions so they don’t control us.
To read more, visit The True Power of Girls.
Quay Ball’s new book Your Beautiful Exchange: How God Turns Your Brokenness Into Joy is a powerful look at how even the most horrific situations have lessons to teach us and can bring us closer to God. Quay’s tremendous faith shows through on every page of this book, and after you read what she experienced, you will also feel hope that a better life is possible.
Quay’s story is one of two terrible tragedies, either of which could have made a person lose all hope. She and her husband were heavily involved in doing God’s work, providing various forms of ministry. Then she discovered that her husband was watching porn, frequenting strip clubs, and even hiring prostitutes, and running up their debt by doing so. Heartbroken, Quay immediately packed up her children and left. Not long after, she, her children, and grandfather were in a terrible car accident in which her two-year-old daughter was killed. Quay also sustained numerous injuries and had a long road to recovery—both physically and emotionally.
Thankfully, Quay had a strong faith in God. In these pages, she shares her story of how God turned her tears into joy.
To read more, visit Your Beautiful Exchange.
Heather Vines’ new novel Switch is about making difficult life choices, and sometimes making the wrong choices and then having to make those choices right.
The story opens on a train in Montana. We are introduced to Jack, a young man traveling home to visit his mother after several years absence. Jack made some mistakes in his youth and he has paid for them the hard way. He only half-understands how his visit home will be one of forgiveness, but also new possibilities.
Also on the train is Maggie and her young daughter, Phoebe. Like Jack, Maggie has made some mistakes in her past, but someone else’s mistakes have led her to this moment of running away from her present life to begin a new one.
Phoebe, being only five, hasn’t quite learned yet not to speak to strangers. Her efforts to be friendly with Jack lead to her and her mom sharing a table in the dining car with him and getting to know each other a bit. Jack is forthright about his past and what he has been through, but while he notices the bruise on Maggie’s wrist, he finds she is not as willing to share her own story.
To read more, visit Switch.
John Webster’s Mastering Your Fate: Self-Leadership Secrets to Achieve Unlimited Wealth, Time Freedom, and Peace of Mind is a dynamic new book that gets to the very heart of how we can take back control of our lives, make the best decisions for ourselves, and have the time and freedom to pursue our dreams and what makes us happiest.
The book’s title was inspired by William Ernest Henley’s famous poem “Invictus,” and specifically its concluding lines, “I am the master of my fate:/I am the captain of my soul.” Webster reveals to us how to reach the point where we can make the same declaration about our lives. Drawing upon the well-known Chinese proverb, “Give someone a fish, feed them for a day. Teach them how to fish, feed them for life,” he walks us through the steps needed so we can master fishing for ourselves. He also clarifies the book’s purpose and title by stating, “mastering your fate is having control over the choices you make so they don’t have control over you and being responsible for your own life.”
To read more, visit Mastering Your Fate.
Ivannia Martinez’s new book Surviving in a Man’s World: A Career Woman’s Toolkit to Thrive and Achieve Greatness offers what Martinez calls a survival toolkit for women who want to succeed in the workplace, which even in the 2020s remains largely male-dominated.
The book opens with a compelling scene from one of Martinez’s own workplace adventures. Her company had just been restructured. She had a new boss who was new to the company while she was a seasoned employee, yet she had to reapply for her job, and her new boss was simply hoping she would quit. Martinez shares what she learned from this experience and other examples of how she learned not to be the prey to a predator boss or male coworkers.
Martinez backs up her personal stories with research on the workplace and its gender issues. Despite all the discrimination that remains, Martinez believes women can succeed if they put in the effort. She states:
“I had to put 150 percent more effort in than my male counterparts just to be noticed, 200 percent to be selected, and 250 percent to be kept in the same job.”
To read more, visit Surviving in a Man’s World.
Fin Tales: Saving Cadillac, America’s Luxury Icon is an inside look into how Cadillac went from being almost forgotten by the American public to regaining its previously legendary and popular status in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Author John Smith, who was promoted to the general manager position at Cadillac in 1997, tells the story as he and his team experienced it, providing a look into the automobile industry and particularly this iconic brand in a way no one else could.
In taking on this assignment, Smith knew Cadillac was in trouble. Its sales were less than half what they had been in the 1970s. Cadillac had once been so deeply embedded in the American psyche that it was featured in more than 200 songs, sung by artists like Aretha Franklin, The Stray Cats, Bruce Springsteen, and Don Henley. By the late 1990s, GM was struggling to keep its seven vehicle brands fresh and compelling, and wasn’t investing enough in Cadillac to maintain the air of exclusivity that made it desirable to high-end customers. People were turning to Mercedes, BMW, and other luxury cars instead. Smith set about to change all that, and he details every step of the turnaround in Fin Tales.
To read more, visit Fin Tales.
Amanda Mottola’s new book Learning as a Lifelong Journey: Being Your Leader, Overcoming Your Fears, Succeeding in Your Career is a personal development book that draws on the experiences of its author as well as other sources to provide life lessons we can all benefit from.
Amanda has had her share of struggles to overcome and learn from in her life, beginning with being born in Paraguay during a dictatorship shortly before a military coup. Her birth mother had her while a teenager and gave her up, leading to her being adopted by American parents who raised her in the United States. Amanda grew up loved and cared for, but constantly questioning her identity and trying to fit in. In time, she went in search of her roots and reconnected with her biological family, a story she shares in these pages.
While we all may not have such intriguing stories, Amanda’s ultimate goal is to show us that no matter what experiences we have or obstacles we may face, and regardless of our past, race, language, religion, or gender, we can take charge of our lives, becoming our own leaders and succeeding in our lives and careers.
To read more, visit Learning as a Lifelong Journey.