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Sunday Snippet: Acne: Just Another Four-Letter Word by Aarti Patel

Today’s Sunday Snippet is from the health, self-help, educational, inspirational book Acne: Just Another Four-Letter Word by Aarti Patel. It was published by D2 Books and is currently available as a Paperback, ISBN 978-0996775915, published on 07.19.18 and an eBook, ASIN B07FPMBDBX, published on 07.18.18. Acne: Just Another Four-Letter Word by Aarti Patel is suitable for all readers but it is aimed at people aged 12 and above.

 

Synopsis from Acne: Just Another Four-Letter Word by Aarti Patel

Reclaim your life from acne.

Are you tired of wasting money and time on creams, pills, supplements, and diets that don’t improve your acne? Maybe you’ve been dreaming of the day when a miracle product will appear that’ll actually work. In the meantime, you’ve been frustrated by the ongoing battle with your skin and having to revolve your life around breakouts.

What the skincare and medical industries don’t tell you is that the mind is a powerful tool that can help you defend your skin against acne, as well as boost your confidence and self-image. Why spend another second changing your whole routine around for acne when you can mentally and practically walk away from it, starting now?

Acne: Just Another Four-Letter Word is a book that will show you how to do just that. You’ll learn how acne is not only a physical symptom, but also a bully that you can stand up to using a unique mind-body approach. Step by step, Dr. Patel explains how to separate your identity from acne, strengthen both your skin and social boundaries, and take back control of your life. Your full-time job shouldn’t have to be tending to this four-letter word. Start writing your goodbye letter to acne today.

Chapter 1: Meet the Real Face of Acne

Message: Every person who deals with acne knows something important about this skin condition that no one ever talks about. The mind and body are both involved. We want acne to be just a physical symptom so badly, but anyone who’s had chronic persistent breakouts knows that we not only “have acne,” we also live it and think about it all the time. First thing in the morning. Before bedtime. Out in social situations, and even when we’re interacting with those we know well at home. All of a sudden, acne is not a simple physical symptom. It’s a word that carries a lot of weight in our lives. It becomes our way of life. Our full-time job then becomes finding a fix for acne.

It’s a desperate mission, and I know this from experience. I’m a naturopathic doctor now who works with patients dealing with acne and other chronic health issues. Once upon a time though, I was a teenager and eventually an adult who was always trying to run from the red and irritated bumps on my face. Wherever I turned, there they were.

When I was a year into college and couldn’t take it anymore, I asked my mom to take me to the dermatologist. A specific combination of pharmaceutical treatments helped out my situation, and the prescribed topical medication cleared up my acne during my late teens and early twenties. This was a good time for my skin, but the medicine rose in cost each year and I was also starting to wonder: Where did the acne go? It may seem a strange thought from someone who was so desperate to kick acne’s butt, but I felt suspicious about chemicals that could immediately wipe away my body’s symptoms. I had always been interested in health, and this magical disappearing act of acne didn’t seem healthy or natural.

Once insurance stopped covering the prescriptions and I started living life without them, I was met with a horrifying sight in the mirror. Underneath the surface, my skin had retaliated and the acne was worse than ever. Rather than clustering around my cheeks with an occasional bump on my chin, the new colonies of acne set up their homes everywhere. Even on my forehead. I was in my mid-twenties at the time, and it was not a period of my life when I wanted to deal with acne again. I missed my “perfect” skin, the kind I had enjoyed before I hit my teenage years. The kind that pharmaceutical drugs had made superficially possible.

My new life’s purpose became fixing my skin. Like many people dealing with acne, I tried drugstore acne products, natural treatments, and homemade concoctions. I stopped eating foods that allegedly made acne worse, and I scoured the web for highly reviewed skin care lines. Often when you’re determined to solve a problem, your options should become clearer, but the more I searched, the more hopeless I felt. “I’m doing all the right things,” I thought, “but it’s not making any difference!” In fact, my skin was getting worse over time as my frustration grew.

Still, I kept on researching about acne, day after day. Eventually I turned toward a career in naturopathic medicine because I knew acne was affecting my health on more than just a superficial level. I wanted to find out what was going on at the root of my symptoms, and one day I hoped to help other people who were going through what I was going through. But first I had to help myself. The question was: What was I really going through? What does anyone go through when acne takes hold of their life?

We are led to believe that the biggest challenges we’re facing involve things like hormones, clogged pores, and bacteria. Other common words we hear related to skin changes include: sebum, comedones, comedogenic, cysts, sebaceous glands, T-zone, inflammation, hair follicles, and the list goes on. Why is it important or helpful to know about all this scientific stuff? To a large extent, it isn’t. People who are struggling with non-stop acne don’t need to fixate on the nitty-gritty microscopic view of their pimples any more than someone with digestive upset needs to think about their mucosal lining and rugae. If you don’t know what all these words mean, they’re not important. The point is, knowing the terminology and the physical aspects of the bumps doesn’t open doors to healing and resolving acne symptoms.

Medical experts, estheticians, nutritionists, and even T.V. commercials will tell you the opposite. They will imply that the more you know about your skin physically, the closer you are to stopping your acne for good. But they haven’t found a cure using all their knowledge! With all the modern science and technology available today, if the experts had found a real solution to acne, we would have heard about it by now. Sometimes, pharmaceuticals and expensive skin care products can temporarily clear or alleviate symptoms while you’re using (and paying for) them consistently. However, from my own experience and talking to patients about theirs, relying on any substance, whether chemical or natural, can become unsettling. We can get sick of being dependent on a crutch, annoyed at the time and cost involved in our regimens, and superstitious that if we quit the products, we’re sure to be at the mercy of acne forever.

I’d like to avoid extremes and mention that acne treatments and products can be somewhat helpful toward bringing about clearer skin and alleviating self consciousness about breakouts. The skin care lines, cosmetics, and treatments we try can serve as a bridge toward getting us from point A—of uncontrollable acne—to point B, where acne is improved and not a huge focus in our lives. The problem becomes though, most people are not satisfied with using products as just a practical tool, and rather they are on the hunt for a permanent cure that doesn’t exist out there in our world.

Because products seldom solve the problem, the main message that experts have for their patients or clients often boils down to the following: It’s somehow your fault for failing to keep the bad bacteria away and not maintaining perfectly balanced hormones. If only you had a gluten- and dairy-free diet and stayed away from all processed and inflammatory foods. By the way, you’re allergic to everything in your diet. If only you meditated regularly. If only you quit coffee and sugar for good. It’s too bad you’re not good at reducing your stress level down to 0. And unfortunately, your filtered water is not pure enough. Most likely your home environment is too toxic for your skin to be healthy. Finally, fruit is bad for your skin. I’m not suggesting that any of this is true, but my patients have come in to their first appointments upset that their health care providers had been giving them all of these messages. No joke.

Do you buy all of that?

I tried to follow recommendations like these when my acne was severe, and nothing clicked. Worse yet, the changes weren’t sustainable for the long-term. Even if your food sensitivity test shows that you’re allergic to everything under the sun, how long can you tolerate abstaining from all those foods in your diet? If you’re constantly vigilant of toxins in your environment, what’s to prevent you from going overboard and becoming hypersensitive and even anxious around all stimuli and molecules in the air? I personally couldn’t maintain such a flawless and clean lifestyle and during my short bouts trying these methods, my skin didn’t clear up or seem happier. In moderation, healthier habits did help me feel good overall. But my skin’s response was not remarkable.

I’ve had patients who, prior to seeing me, overhauled their whole lives “correctly” as recommended by various health providers. Not only were these individuals still getting acne, but the lifestyle changes were also creating more stress than patients had felt when they were only dealing with breakouts. And with more lifestyle stress comes more skin stress. In certain cases, patients reported that their acne had only gotten worse with drastic changes to their life, even with those changes being supposedly healthier.

Much of the time the main triggers behind chronic acne are not physical ones like hormones, bacteria, sebum, or clogged pores. Yes, these are all part of the string of events leading up to a pimple or a breakout. But first, something has to start this chain reaction. In other words, the physical features are the effects, not the root causes of acne.

By treating acne like it’s only a physical phenomenon, we’re ignoring a simple but important fact—the body and mind exist together. Acne is shaped by our thoughts, our emotions, and also by social influences all around us. The high expectations and pressures that we face, ideals we’re trying to live up to, and the drive to be perfect in this world all affect our skin. When we open up the door and head out into the world, the first thing people see and interact with is our face. Our skin is the boundary between us and the world. It’s not just physical in nature, it’s environmental and social as well.

We need a new playbook for acne, one that doesn’t revolve around restrictive and stressful lifestyle changes. We also need a more creative approach that doesn’t turn “solving the acne problem” into a way of life or a full-time job. People may try and convince you that this rigid mindset is the only way to get rid of our breakouts, but I haven’t seen it work well yet. Do you really want to focus on acne all the time?

The truth is, acne is just another four-letter word. And when you boil it down, this vulgar little word is also just a bully.

What do I mean by this?….

Acne has a mean and nasty little personality, and it’s trying to steal your energy and attention for itself by pushing you around.

Let me start by sharing a metaphor. Imagine that you are walking down the street and someone shoves you down to the ground. They start calling you names and disrespecting you. You get up and try to walk away, but this person follows you and keeps criticizing everything about you. They are not giving up. What would you do next? Would you invite them into a fancy restaurant and try to make them happy by ordering a five-course meal? Would you start paying them compliments and getting on their good side in the hopes that they leave you alone? Would you invite them to your home and rearrange everything there to accommodate your new guest? If you do all of that, it seems like this menacing person will stick around for good.

Acne is like that unwanted guest, and when we start flattering acne by changing our lives around for it, it actually gets comfortable and plans to stick around. This four-letter word is a relentless bully that is trying to run your life and tell you what to do. It curses you out on a daily basis and proclaims that you’re weak against it, unable to do anything to make it go away. It gets in the way of things that you want, such as social interaction, putting yourself out there using your talents, and standing out as the unique person you are. It is trying to convince you that pimples are the most important thing in your life and that you should spend all your time getting to know them and solve them. It tells you that you are wrong and that you need to fix who you are. Wrong in what way? Just wrong. This little obscene word is being mean to you.

The mainstream health and skin care culture tells us to keep feeding the beast of acne by spending all our time and resources on appeasing it. Why are they giving us the runaround? Because they don’t have the answers. The less people know about something, the more answers they provide about it. Have you noticed that? During my personal and professional experience treating acne, I haven’t found one single answer either. I don’t believe one exists for this symptom. But I have tried a different approach to handling this bully that gives skin a real chance to be healthy and clear. I’ve seen it work for myself and for patients who are open to doing one thing:

Standing up for themselves.

It’s time to take back our lives. When we work around the clock for acne, we’re playing into its hands by becoming invisible. It wants to overshadow you so that you fixate on it constantly. Eventually, all you see are the breakouts when you look in the mirror. You catalog where they are, how long they’ve been there, what products you’ve tried on them, and even how the pimples feel on a day to day basis. You might care less how you’re doing than how your bumps are doing. Over time, it becomes more and more difficult to see yourself clearly for who you are. You wake up to acne, you go to bed with acne. Is this what you want?

Unfortunately, the acne solutions out there today are encouraging us to live in this manner. They add fuel to the fire of an already stressful lifestyle and mindset that stem from having acne. The skin care regimens, diets, and expert recommendations put acne at the center of your life and have you revolve around it. You spin around, and around, and around. And you arrive at the same spot. It’s a tiring process that never acknowledges just how much acne is pushing you around. The acne solutions out there just shove you around even more.

Are you ready to leave the stressful safety of this hamster wheel and face the four-letter bully itself? The goal of this book is to help you do just that. No more running, no more hiding, not just from pimples, but from any influence in life that is feeding acne. By glaring right back at acne and making it clear that you’re not going to put up with it, you unleash your innate potential for health and healing. The natural intelligence that your body already has for health is more powerful than any product, supplement, diet, and even pharmaceutical out there. And unlike acne treatments that are marketed as quick fixes, your body’s own potential to promote clear skin costs no money and creates long-lasting change.

***

This post was submitted by the author Aarti Patel

If you enjoyed reading this blog post from the book Acne: Just Another Four-Letter Word by Aarti Patel, please buy your own copy of the book using my amazon affiliate links.

If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1

The post Sunday Snippet: Acne: Just Another Four-Letter Word by Aarti Patel appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...

3 Ways the Best Faculty of Business and Management in Uganda can Impact your Career

Todays’ blog post is a guest post by Debesh Kumar Jha where he shares with us 3 Ways the Best Faculty of Business and Management in Uganda can Impact your Career. Debesh Kumar Jha is a digital marketing enthusiastic with knowledge of almost all niches. Apart from writing, Debesh Kumar Jha loves to spend time alone binge watching tech series and talks. Happy reading!

Introduction:

It is a well-known fact that studies in business and management have continually been some of the most preferred. The reasons, of course, are many, the primary ones being multiple career prospects and a blend of power and ambition, which people find difficult to resist at some level. At a more human level, business and management studies frame the twists and turns of human evolution. This is an area of study and work where competition isn’t enough – competition must be flanked with collaboration. What we’re really talking of is an environment that keeps professionals on their toes, with changing demands and challenging negotiations and this all can be solved by searching for the best faculty of business and management. When we do get down to the basics of business and management education though, we see that it is a highly nuanced space. There are academic degrees, there are those that are highly specialised, then there are ones that are super specialised, and finally, those courses that focus on professional development and upskilling. Come to think about it, it is complex and that is why one of the first things to do is to carefully consider which college you want to study in. Getting a good college education also has other subtleties, a major one being the kind of faculty that teaches you. While business and management studies are fairly common and fairly popular in Uganda, it would be audacious to think every college comes with top-notch faculty. But then, the question is, what makes a faculty of business and management sound enough for students to aspire towards and craft their lives around? The following might just give you some answers.

1 – Faculty of Business and Management Creates first-hand inspiration

Whether it is a bachelor degree in business administration or a master’s, whether it is a diploma in business studies or a simple certification, what students seek in the depth of their experience is a way to be inspired. The first examples are typically professors who themselves have broken out of their comfort zones and seen the world of business for what it is. This includes working with different industries and going through challenging experiences that led them to innovate in the first place. People who in their core revere the subject of business and management, and somehow pass that feeling on to their students as well. – Works with inclusivity Inclusivity is a big one when it comes to a carefully chosen faculty of business and management. The reason is simpler than you’d think. Today’s business world may represent a bunch of paradoxes and complexities, but what has come to take stronger ground than ever before, is the subject of inclusivity. In simple terms, inclusivity is about making a person feel like they belong in a class or a workforce. You must be connecting the dots already. Greater inclusivity in college lays down the right example for students. It builds trust in them and creates room for confidence and self-esteem. All of which are extremely important when you think of entering the highly competitive business context. – Respects diversity Like inclusivity, diversity is an important subject in the current global business milieu. Gallup describes diversity as “the full spectrum of human demographic differences”. More simply put, respect for diversity looks at honouring different race, creed, gender and sexuality, without making them feel discriminated against. Similar to inclusivity, diversity is first inculcated through education and the best faculty of business and management in Uganda ensures this is the case.

2 – Promotes research

While faculty research has been a long-debated subject, it’s been said again and again that such research helps in more ways than one. A major element of faculty research is thought-leadership. As the business context evolves, so does its inherent meanings and implications. Thought leadership ensures students know industry news and standards and can predict what kind of changes are taking place. Though leadership also sets the tone for training to become more relevant and inspiring. The other aspect that faculty research takes care of is creating relevant industry connections. These connections typically impact student careers in subsequent years.

3 – Commitment for Your Career

Business and management degrees in Uganda are providing wonderful opportunity for pursuing subjects which makes you passionate about it. The subjects are also such that it will be appreciated in the workplace too. There is an added fact to this that if you are getting yourself a business or management course in Uganda, you are not only spending time in studying about business and management but you are also spending time in the preparation for the workplace. This will help you in demonstrating your ambition to the next level and help you in showcasing a self-starting, self-motivated nature of your own.

CONCLUSION:

If you think you are prepared to take the first step towards your career you must know and search about the best faculty of business and management in Uganda.

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What do you think about today’s guest post on the 3 Ways the Best Faculty of Business and Management in Uganda can Impact your Career? Please leave a comment below

If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1

The post 3 Ways the Best Faculty of Business and Management in Uganda can Impact your Career appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...

Robert Thor: Insider recount of the biggest ponzi scheme in history | Podcast Interview

Robert Thor is today’s guest on The Segilola Salami Show podcast. Robert talks about how he unwittingly became embroiled with NSync and Backstreet Boys creator Lou Pearlman, developer of one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history. I assure you, you need to click play now to listen to this most intriguing conversation with Robert Thor.

If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider supporting it








About Robert Thor

Born into a loving family in the heart of the Bronx, New York, then moving to the Gulf Coast of Florida, Robert led a happy and nearly charmed life. His deeply religious upbringing gave him the strength to weather any storm, including some frightening brushes with death.

Robert’’s new book NJustice chronicles his idyllic family life and nearly rags to riches story, all of which came tumbling down when he unwittingly became embroiled with NSync and Backstreet Boys creator Lou Pearlman, developer of one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history. Enduring deception, pain and loss, Robert persevered through love and forgiveness. For the last decade, this elder care professional has been helping the less fortunate in places like Cuba and Nicaragua.

Robert has this to say to the listeners of this podcast show:

“You’ve got to have faith in life because life sometimes serves us some pretty serious curve balls — and only that faith can get you through.”

“Whether it’s life threatening physical issues or catastrophic business and reputation events, the willingness to persevere will always help bring you through.”

“Love is not what you say, it’s what you do.”

“If you don’t forgive, that lack of forgiveness will ultimately destroy your heart.”

“When the lights go out, we learn that wealth and celebrity aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.”

“When dealing with the justice system, be careful who you trust.”

 

About The Segilola Salami Show

The Segilola Salami show is hosted by Segilola Salami who is also an author, freelance writer and blogger. Please click here to see the full list of books written by Segilola Salami.

The show is set in a virtual cafe and is about books and publishing. The aim of the show is to be both educative and informative but in an entertaining way. Guests from all works of life come on the show to talk about the books they have read or written and how books motivated or inspired them. Listeners of the show get to discover new authors and new books as well as learn something new.

The show is published weekly on Tuesdays at 9 am GMT London. Please click here to subscribe to be notified when a new episode is released.

If you would like to appear as a guest on the next episode of the podcast, please click here to book your slot.
Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) by clicking here!

If you are an author, blogger or book lover, please subscribe to my authors and bloggers mailing list to find out about new self-published books that need reviews. I send out monthly newsletters with details of authors and their books that need honest feedback.

The podcast jingle used in this episode was provided by Chris Lament.

Please download a FREE copy of Yetunde: An Ode To My Mother by Segilola Salami on Amazon

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I would love to know your thoughts on today’s episode “Robert Thor: Insider recount of the biggest ponzi scheme in history”. Please leave a comment below.

If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1

The post Robert Thor: Insider recount of the biggest ponzi scheme in history | Podcast Interview appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb... RSS feed&utm_medium=Online&utm_campaign=grief course

Sunday Snippet: The Friar’s Lantern by Greg Hickey

Today’s Sunday Snippet is from the literary, interactive, science fiction novel The Friar’s Lantern by Greg Hickey. It was self-published by the author and is currently available as an Ebook (ASIN: B07RS59R1W, date published 05.04.19) and a Paperback (ISBN: 978-1733093705, date published 06.04.19). The ideal reader is aged 13+ and the book does contain some swear words.

 

Synopsis of The Friar’s Lantern by Greg Hickey

You are the protagonist in this stimulating choosable-path adventure!

You may win $1,000,000.

You will judge a man of murder.

An eccentric scientist tells you he can read your mind and offers to prove it in a high-stakes wager. A respected college professor exacts impassioned, heat-of-the-moment revenge on his wife’s killer – a week after her death – and you’re on the jury.

Take a Turing test with a twist, discover how your future choices might influence the past, and try your luck at Three Card Monte. And while you weigh chance, superstition, destiny, intuition and logic in making your decisions, ask yourself: are you responsible for your actions at all?

So choose wisely – if you can.

Chapter 1

The sign on the door reads “Lauterbur State University Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research Laboratory.” The broken-down building skulks in the shadow of the university’s football stadium at the far north end of this once-prestigious institution whose name has fallen markedly since its late-Cold War Era heyday as a bastion of scientific and technological research. To the east of these two structures, three cars populate a 10,000-space parking lot, little islands of painted steel in a stark, asphalt ocean grid-marked by mottled and faded white lines. The stadium, Ozymandian on the bitumen shore, is beset to the north by woodlands, and here the hard blacktop, the steel girders and thick slabs of concrete devolve into dirt and dead yellow leaves and broken branches overhung by untrimmed trees and dotted with tangled bushes. The little laboratory remains as a mere afterthought, its wearied face shrouded by the sallow, emaciated branches of a willow tree, devoid of leaves even now in mid- May, the tree dead or dying as its limbs sag down in despair to scratch the top of the building.

The laboratory itself is squat and squalid like a red brick bomb shelter, the bricks a departure both from the cement and steel of the stadium that towers above it on one side and the black loam of the wilderness that drags it down from the other. These days, the woodlands’ influence has taken hold, smudging the lab’s once-crimson bricks a hazy brownish-gray and softening its edges with dirt and erosion. Ivy creeps up the lower right side of the front wall, its leaves splotched with black marks of death, like a zombie hand reaching up from the grave to pry the laboratory away from the force field of the stadium that looms above. Yet, all in all, the lab is well-built; the bricks are solid and hold their form, and the few windows are smeared with dust but remain uncracked.

You draw open the frosted glass door and step into a long hallway that veers to the right around a corner fifty feet ahead, and you realize the laboratory is much larger than it looks from the outside. Decades of footprints mopped and waxed into the adsorbent floor have stained the otherwise clean beige tile a murky gray. The walls are sea foam green, drably bright like those of an old hospital room, and you can just make out the flaked scabs of the previous coat of paint under this fresh exterior.

You wander down the hall and around the corner and come to three doors. The ones ahead and to your right are closed, but the door on your left opens into a 12’ by 12’ anteroom with a desk facing the door and two metal-framed chairs backed with shabby burgundy acrylic. A mid-thirties woman types incessantly on a computer at the desk, her hair tied back at the edges of a smooth face and oval glasses above a trim torso, a white lab coat pulled over her navy business suit. She looks up at you with the scarcest quizzical expression as you enter, the very image of clinical professionalism, all save for the hair’s breadth excess of cleavage beneath her lab coat and blouse which conjures up a scene from a cheap p*rnography.

“I’m here for the study,” you say in answer to her expectant gaze. “The MRI…” you pull a folded handwritten note from your pocket, “…about predicting human behavior?”

She lifts a paper-stuffed clipboard from the desk and stands to extend it in your direction. “Fill this out, please.”

You retreat to one of the chairs to complete the paperwork, the usual collection of disclaimers, consents and opt-out clauses required for legitimate universities to conduct research on voluntary participants. A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan will be performed to examine activity in your brain in response to certain stimuli. fMRI scans rely on the interaction of strong magnetic fields with the chemical properties of your body. No radiation will be used, and there are minimal hazards, although possible side effects include headaches, nausea, dizziness, chest pain, back pain, fever, weakness and/or seizures. You read the last sentence twice to confirm seizures aren’t considered a serious hazard. However, you may end the scan at any time during the procedure.

You glance up at the receptionist but she ignores you, her flat stare wedded to her computer monitor, her fingers cli-cli-clicking rapidly across the keyboard. No help there. You re-examine the slab of disclaimers, and a touch of doubt creeps into your thoughts. But people have MRIs every day, you remind yourself. This isn’t radical new technology anymore. Yet you feel your throat tighten nonetheless.

If you choose to sign the consent form and participate in the study, turn to page 11.

If you choose not to sign the consent form, turn to page 18.

***

This post was submitted by the author Greg Hickey

If you enjoyed reading this snippet from The Friar’s Lantern by Greg Hickey, please buy your own copy of the book using my Amazon affiliate links.

If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1

The post Sunday Snippet: The Friar’s Lantern by Greg Hickey appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...

Character Interview: The Sage (The Witch’s Ambitions Trilogy #3) by Kayla Krantz

Today’s character interview is from the YA Fantasy The Sage (The Witch’s Ambitions Trilogy #3) by Kayla Krantz. Whilst it is aimed at readers aged 14+, it does contain some swear words. The Sage (The Witch’s Ambitions Trilogy #3) by Kayla Krantz was published by Into the Darkness Publishing on the 15th of August 2019. It is currently available as a Kindle Ebook, ASIN: B07S4GTVD7 and a paperback, ISBN: 978-1732423084.

 

Synopsis of The Sage (The Witch’s Ambitions Trilogy #3) by Kayla Krantz

After joining the Elemental Coven, young witch Lilith’s eyes were opened to the truth that the Council has always been desperate to keep hidden. With only two Covens still standing, Lilith’s world is in real danger of collapsing and so is the Elemental Coven. After a mysterious illness begins to infect the Coven, witches are dying and not even coven leader Willow’s power of resurgence is enough to save them.

After the Battle of the Grove destroys Lilith’s good leg, and her ability to walk, she faces an internal war about her future that consumes her, dragging her further and further into the darkness. Willow is desperate to help Lilith find the light because Lilith isn’t just her sister, she is the Elemental Coven’s last hope of survival. As the Sage’s ex-apprentice, Lilith is the only witch capable of taking down the ancient ruler.

As the war destroys the last of the covens, Lilith knows there is only one way to end the chaos for good—a final showdown against the Sage that only one of them will walk away from.

Name of character to be interviewed: Lilith
Why was this character chosen for this interview?:

This character was chosen for the interview because she is the main character of the book. With this in mind, she has both the most to gain and the most to lose from the conclusion of the book. She’s been through a lot, and this book will see a lot of doors close and open.

Question 1: Do you think you’ll ever see your mother, Ivy, again?

Answer: It’s hard to say. Honestly, I don’t care if I do. She’s proven time and time again that she only cares for herself. In a war, that kind of mentality is dangerous. Parents should look out for their children, not the other way around.

Question 2: How’s it feel to be reunited with Clio again?

Answer: It feels wonderful. Words can’t express how good it is to see him again. He’s changed though, not quite the man I remember, and only time will tell if this change is for the better or worse.

Question 3: What do you think the Council is planning next?

Answer: Hard to say for sure. I think it’s safe to say that they will target what’s left of the Land of Five. I don’t know when, and I don’t know how, but the destruction of Alchemy still bothers me. If all the Healers are gone, we could be in danger if the Council found us…or if a sickness were to break out.

Question 4: Will your injuries from Grail heal?

Answer: If you’re asking if I’m going to be able to walk again?

It’s a tricky situation all around. Ambrossi thinks there’s a chance my wound will heal.

I think he’s a liar. He never has been able to tell me the truth when it’s difficult.

Question 5: What do you think the future holds for you?

Answer: My story isn’t over yet. There will be plenty more trials to overcome before I make it out of the tunnel. I’ll lose people who I care about deeply, but that will be what urges me to finish this battle. One way or another, I know this will end with a fight between me and The Sage. When it happens, only one of us will walk away.

***

If you enjoyed reading this character interview from YA Fantasy The Sage (The Witch’s Ambitions Trilogy #3) by Kayla Krantz, please buy your own copy of the book via my Amazon affiliate links

If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1

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38% of women say their book choices have been criticised for being too trashy

London’s first crime writing festival Capital Crime has recently released new research which revealed that the British public is made to feel embarrassed of their book choices by the literary industry, who is perceived as being ‘snobby’. 36% of people have been made to feel embarrassed by their book choices with an alarming 38% of women saying they have been criticised for their book choices being too commercial or trashy. With higher literacy rates being linked to better mental and physical health, and increased prosperity and longevity, the results of this survey are a cause for concern.

As an author myself and a woman, I felt this research needed to be shared.

Brits made to feel embarrassed about their book choices by “snobby” literary industry

Capital Crime, the first international and inclusive crime and thriller in London, has today released new research which has revealed that avid readers in the UK, feel the literary industry is snobby and makes them feel bad for their “trashy” reading choices.

These results are particularly significant in light of the UK’s drive to increase its literacy rates. With higher literacy rates being linked to better mental and physical health, and increased prosperity and longevity, the results of this survey are cause for concern. People are being made to feel guilty for a hobby that is improving their education and mental health. Capital Crime believes no-one should be made to feel embarrassed or ashamed for reading. This was a driving force behind the festival.

Adam Hamdy, author, screenwriter and one of the organisers of the Capital Crime Festival, who conducted the research, explained: “These statistics were shocking. Reading is one of Britain’s most loved hobbies and the literary industry is making people feel bad for their book choices! It’s wrong. We at Capital Crime want to celebrate the joy of reading. Whatever you want to read. There should be no judgement or hierarchy in the type of books or authors you like reading. Just the act of reading is a joy. That’s what the Capital Crime Festival is all about. It is inclusive – for everyone who enjoys crime and thriller novels and pop-culture.”

David Headley, agent and bookseller and one of the organisers of Capital Crime, continued, “We believe everyone should enjoy reading without the fear of shame or judgement over their book choices. Whether it be by the Literary Industry – who are being perceived to only promote certain authors and shun commercial fiction. Or those unwelcome comments people make about your reading choice on your commute. We should all be doing everything we can to encourage people to read. We want people to use a book to switch off and become engrossed in another world – without being judged for their choice of title or author. Reading is not only relaxing but also has clear and scientifically proven benefits for people’s mental and physical health.”

This research comes ahead of the upcoming Capital Crime Festival which is due to take place this September 26th -28th at the Connaught Rooms in London. Capital Crime is a celebration of books, films and TV and the line-up is an unrivalled mix of world-class talent, rising stars and newcomers. Capital Crime is a must for fans of all things crime and thriller. Guests of the festival include Kate Atkinson, Robert Harris, David Baldacci, Ian Rankin, Ann Cleeves, Robert Glenister, Leye Adenle, Simon Mayo, Denise Mina, Anthony Horowitz, Abir Mukherjee and many other prestigious authors.

Other interesting findings from the Capital Crime survey include:

· 72% of people who read a few times a week believe there is snobbery in how the publishing industry picks and promotes certain books.

· 69% of people think that books that are shortlisted for lots of awards and are hyped by the publishing industry or media often disappoint.

· 47% of people rarely pick a book just because it has been shortlisted for an award.

· 60% of people think that literary festivals are a great way for authors and people from the industry to come together, but they’re not really aimed at the general reader.

· 74% of people contended that they would be more likely to go to a literary festival that prioritised making sure they were entertained and had fun.

· 88% of people think that literary festivals should include more commercial fiction authors in their programmes.

Tickets for the festival are now on sale and you can check out the confirmed line-up of guests by clicking here.

***

If you do attend the festival, you’ll be sure to find me somewhere about as I would be chatting with some of the guests for my podcast The Segilola Salami Show.

If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1

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Ruth Premo-Berkowitz: The joys of growing up in a large family + Giveaway

Ruth Premo-Berkowitz is today’s guest on The Segilola Salami Show podcast. As the 13th child of her father, Ruth shares with us what it was like growing up in a large family and how it inspired her to write her children’s book The Barber’s Daughter and the Little Window: Book One. We also chatted about the joys of motherhood and parenting. I assure you, you need to click play now to listen to this most intriguing conversation with Ruth Premo-Berkowitz. There’s also a giveaway, so scroll down this page for more info.

If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider supporting it

 

About Ruth Premo-Berkowitz

My name is Ruth Premo-Berkowitz and from the USA, born into a family of 13th children, but I didnot know that I had brothers and sister in the city. What is fun about my children’s story is that is based on a true story of myself growing up on a farm setting and moving to what I thought was a very big city. The City was very small but to me a new world to explore. I was so sad that my father didnot move to our new home. Lots of Adventures/w Ruthie and Rachel a Fairy Princess.

 

Giveaway by Ruth Premo-Berkowitz

Ruth Premo-Berkowitz is offering listeners of The Segilola Salami Show podcast the chance to win one of several prizes as a thank you for taking the time to listen to her today. You can only enter the giveaway on Segilola Salami’s blog. Click here to go to the blog page for this giveaway if you are reading this on another website.

The prizes are:

1st prize: $50.00 USA dollars Amazon Giftcard

2nd prize: Copy of first children’s book – “The Barber’s Daughter and the Little Window, Book 1.” (which is a series of books) hardcover, signed.

3rd. prize: Copy of the 2nd book “The Barber’s Daughter and the Pink Frog Pond” which includes the coloring book within it.

Ruth Berkowitz $50 Amazon giveaway

 

About The Segilola Salami Show

The Segilola Salami show is an audio podcast talk show hosted by the female Nigerian-British podcaster Segilola Salami who is also an author, freelance writer and blogger. Please click here to see the full list of Yoruba children’s books written by Segilola Salami.

The show is set in a virtual cafe and is a podcast on books and publishing. The aim of the show is to be both educative and informative but in an entertaining way. Guests from all works of life come on the show to talk about the books they have read or written and how books motivated or inspired them. Listeners of the show get to discover new authors and new books as well as learn something new. Also, as the show is set in a virtual cafe, it is a fun podcast to listen to at work, while running or even when driving.

The show is published weekly on Tuesdays at 9 am GMT London. Please click here to review the different ways to listen to or subscribe to this podcast to be notified when a new episode is released.

The Segilola Salami Show is a great podcast show for writers and authors. If you would like to appear as a guest on this podcast, please click here for more info and to book your slot.
Please leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) by clicking here!

If you are an author, blogger or book lover, please subscribe to my authors and bloggers mailing list to find out about new self-published books that need reviews. I send out monthly newsletters with details of authors and their books that need honest feedback.

The podcast jingle used in this episode was provided by Chris Lament.

Please download a copy of Yetunde: An Ode To My Mother by Segilola Salami on Amazon

***

I would love to know your thoughts on today’s episode “Ruth Premo-Berkowitz: The joys of growing up in a large family”. Please leave a comment below.

If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1

The post Ruth Premo-Berkowitz: The joys of growing up in a large family + Giveaway appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...

Character Interview: THE BALLAD OF PERSEPHONE by Abdur R Mohammed

Today’s Character Interview is from the Science Fiction, Action-Adventure, Historical novel THE BALLAD OF PERSEPHONE by Abdur R Mohammed. Whilst aimed at readers 16+, it has no adult themes. There are possibly two innocent swear words and one explicit/violent scene. THE BALLAD OF PERSEPHONE was self-published by the author on the 27th of August 2019 and is an currently available as a paperback, ISBN-13: 978-173247536-6 and eBook, ISBN-13: 978-173247537-3.

 

Synopsis of THE BALLAD OF PERSEPHONE by Abdur R Mohammed

HUMANITY’S REPRIEVE IS AT AN END!

The ancients from the stars shall return.

A global plague ends with the miraculous birth of Princess Persephone of House Enlil – sole heir to the Hyperborian Empire. An innocent encounter reveals a plot clothed in divine purpose, threatening stability within the realms of humanity. At risk is a powerful relic from the stars which ushers in the return of the Anunnaki. Fates converge on a dystopian precipice. Persephone’s naivete is stripped away, drawing battle lines between ancient houses. She cradles humanity’s destruction within, with her family’s mantra on bloody lips, “Man cannot rule man.”

The wheels of fate tumble towards a precipice of dystopia in an age before the “deluge.” A time where the myths of today are born and the path to prophecy is paved.

Name of character to be interviewed: Osiris of ENki
Why was this character chosen for this interview?:

Osiris is chosen because he is a key figure in Persephone’s journey, albeit he has his own journey. He can paint a brief picture of the main protagonist the way others won’t be able to.

Question 1: Where were you last night? Were you preparing for this interview or doing something else?

Answer: That’s three questions, but since you asked…I was in Corinth – Southern Illyria, playing cards with menacing pirates. I was doing a marvelous job of losing ill-gotten coin until, Persephone decided to cheat and got us chased out of the tavern. They had phenomenal ‘Fish & Chips’ by the way…could rival ‘Renny’s’ in Portsmouth, U.K. After I dropped the wench at her aunt Octavia’s, I got on a shuttle straight here. Slept until an hour ago.

Question 2: Do you spend a lot of time with Persephone?

Answer: Of late, no. She’s a year younger than me. We grew up together in the Royal-Palace in Hyperboria. Spent most of our childhood with Koray, our best friend. We got older and drifted apart, up until she followed me into a brothel in Aryavan. Since then I can’t shake her.

Question 3: Are you intimated by her? She being the sole heir to Hyperboria.

Answer: Please, Persephone is a Royal brat…the kind who thinks everyone loves her and can’t wait to shower her with praise. I suppose she buys into Prince Vali’s propaganda of pushing divinity on her. Hey, whose interview is this anyway? You want to know about her…ask her.

Question 4: What are your plans for the future?

Answer: I seem to have none…nothing specific anyway. Right now, I’ve been summoned to the Royal-Palace by my brother Thoth – he’s the ‘Keeper-of-Secrets’. I take things as they come and try to have a good time along the way.

Question 5: Summarize what you hope for the future.

Answer: We are blessed with extremely long life. Planning anything past ‘The Awakening’ is futile at best – that’s nearly 3000-years off. All the same, I have to do my part to insure when ‘The Forefathers’ return, the world is balanced as they expect it, and deal with any pitfalls that will secure a devastating judgment before then.

***

If you enjoyed reading today’s character interview from the Science Fiction, Action-Adventure, Historical novel THE BALLAD OF PERSEPHONE by Abdur R Mohammed, please buy your own copy of the book using my Amazon affiliate links below

If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1

The post Character Interview: THE BALLAD OF PERSEPHONE by Abdur R Mohammed appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...

RECIPE: How to make marmalade at home using regular oranges

A few months ago, I bought a dwarf citrus fruit tree, of some kind, for my garden. Unfortunately, when the fruits ripened, they were not sweet to taste. Me being me, I really hate wastage and could not bear to throw away so much fruit. Also, as a mother, I know that my daughter watches all my actions and telling her that we threw away fruits because they were not sweet did not sound like a good enough excuse to me. After a good few days thinking of a solution, it hit me. We can actually make our own marmalade and when we did, it was delicious! So permit me to share with you my recipe on how to make marmalade at home using regular oranges or similar eg tangerines, satsumas.

 

RECIPE: How to make marmalade at home using regular oranges
INGREDIENTS

Oranges (or similar eg tangerines)

Tap water

Granulated Sugar

Glass bottle(s)

 

PREP TIME: 5 – 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 75 minutes

After a quick Google search, I got to me know that calamondin citrus (which is the plant I bought) normally tastes sour.

https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/calamondin-citrus-vid.mp4

 

METHOD

After watching lots of videos and reading lots of recipes on how to make marmalade, I noticed that people spent a lot of time chopping the peel. As a parent, time is a priceless commodity to me, so I popped the peel from a bowl of calamondin citrus oranges and blitzed them once in my smoothie maker. The peel got to the top of the 500ml mark of the smoothie maker bowl and I added enough tap water to reach the 500 ml mark.
I transferred the blitzed peel and water into my large stainless steel pot and set it to boil on high (gas mark 7)
Whilst the peel was boiling, I set to de-seeding the actual fruit. I also removed the pith. It took me about 30 minutes to do this and by this time, most of the water in the pot had reduced
I touched a couple of peel and found that they were not as tender as I needed it, so I added another 500 mls of tap water and continued to boil it
After a further 5  – 10 minutes, I checked the peel again and found that it was soft enough
I reduced the heat of the fire to low (gas mark 2) and added the calamondin citrus fruit. In some recipes, the fruit was not added to the pot directly, instead it was put in a muslin. After the cooking process, the left over shaft was taken out with the muslin. I decided to include the fruit in my recipe because, like I said, I hate wastage. Also, I believe it’s all extra fibre, which can only be a good thing
I initially wanted to add in about 500g of granulated sugar but after pouring roughly half into the pot, I tasted the solution and found it was sweet enough for my tastes. I asked my daughter to taste it also and she agreed that it was sweet enough
I stirred the granulated sugar mixture gradually until it dissolved completely. I had read that it was important to do this on low heat to ensure that the sugar dissolved completely. Once the marmalade was ready, it would be taste very gritty if the sugar did not dissolve completely
I left the solution to cook for another 30 minutes with the occasional stirring
You know the marmalade is about to get ready once the solution takes on a deep yellow/orange colour and starts to bubble. The mixture also looks like it is about to caramelise and thickens a bit
Like I mentioned before, I hate wastage, so I had kept the bottle from the last bottle of honey we used. Using a cooking spoon, I poured the hot marmalade into a glass bottle (about 400g) and set it on my counter top to cool down

Going through the process of making marmalade for the first time made me realise when jam is called jelly in the US. The process of making both is very similar. The main difference is that jelly in the UK is smooth and does not have any cooked fruit in it, although you can add fruit pieces in it before it sets.

The proof of the taste is in the eating (someone or the other said). My daughter tasted the freshly made orange marmalade with a slice of bread and gave it her seal of approval. As a parent, that is all that matters to me.

One of the things I like about cooking is that you can always amend a standard recipe to fit in with your own needs and tastes. Whilst this recipe does not use the regular Seville oranges, it goes to show that you can also use everyday oranges to make your own marmalade at home. I imagine myself making an orange marmalade cake with this recipe hmmm yum yum

If you would like to try this RECIPE: How to make marmalade at home using regular oranges, please purchase the ingredients using my Amazon affiliate links below

If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1

The post RECIPE: How to make marmalade at home using regular oranges appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...

Molly Larkin: Achieving emotional, spiritual and physical balance | Podcast Interview

Molly Larkin is today’s guest on The Segilola Salami Show podcast. Molly talks about how she helps people achieve emotional, spiritual and physical balance. She also shares how her passion for health and healing led her to become a certified spiritual healing practitioner and licensed tutor for NFSH-The Healing Trust, England’s oldest and largest spiritual healing organisation. I assure you, you need to click play now to listen to this most intriguing conversation with Molly Larkin.

If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider supporting it








About Molly Larkin

Molly Larkin has been a life-long spiritual seeker and has studied with indigenous elders from

around the world for over 30 years. She is the co-author of The Wind Is My Mother, the Life and

Teachings of A Native American Shaman and the author of The Fountain of Youth Is Just A

Breath Away; Breathing Exercises for Relaxation, Health and Vitality.

Her passion for health and healing led her to become a certified spiritual healing practitioner

and licensed tutor for NFSH-The Healing Trust, England’s oldest and largest spiritual healing

organization. In her private healing practice, Molly works with people, pets and horses, both in

person and long distance, helping them achieve emotional, spiritual and physical balance.

 

What native American traditions do you recommend we incorporate into our society?

1 Ceremony for Soldiers coming home from war; they’ve seen death and need to be cleansed of that negative energy.

2 Respect for elders; they have so much to teach us on the wisdom learned from a full life. All our elders should be honored and well-taken care of. Not left alone in nursing facilities.

3 Teaching children not to make fun of those who are different. Bullying would never be tolerated in an indigenous society.

4 The chief was always the poorest man in the tribe, because he gave away what he had to ensure all his people had what they needed. So not giving so many special privileges to our leaders would be a good place to start. We could solve a lot problems here in the United States if Congress had to use the same medical plan and retirement funding that the rest of our citizens do. Then we’d get something that worked!

5 Gratitude: Practice gratitude every day and more blessings come. While the poorest ethnic group in every nation, indigenous people are the most generous. They understand that giving is the secret to a good life. They even have a saying, “it’s hard for us to say ‘thank you’ without something in our hand.”

 

About The Segilola Salami Show

The Segilola Salami show is hosted by Segilola Salami who is also an author, freelance writer and blogger. Please click here to see the full list of books written by Segilola Salami.

The show is set in a virtual cafe and is about books and publishing. The aim of the show is to be both educative and informative but in an entertaining way. Guests from all works of life come on the show to talk about the books they have read or written and how books motivated or inspired them. Listeners of the show get to discover new authors and new books as well as learn something new.

The show is published weekly on Tuesdays at 9 am GMT London. Please click here to subscribe to be notified when a new episode is released.

If you would like to appear as a guest on the next episode of the podcast, please click here to book your slot.
Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) by clicking here!

If you are an author, blogger or book lover, please subscribe to my authors and bloggers mailing list to find out about new self-published books that need reviews. I send out monthly newsletters with details of authors and their books that need honest feedback.

The podcast jingle used in this episode was provided by Chris Lament.

Please download a FREE copy of Yetunde: An Ode To My Mother by Segilola Salami on Amazon

***

I would love to know your thoughts on today’s episode “Molly Larkin: Achieving emotional, spiritual and physical balance”. Please leave a comment below.

If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1

The post Molly Larkin: Achieving emotional, spiritual and physical balance | Podcast Interview appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb... RSS feed&utm_medium=Online&utm_campaign=grief course