Pratap Divyesh's Blog, page 31
September 1, 2017
Bestseller secrets unveiled: James Altucher and Mike Fishbein
James Altucher is an American hedge fund manager, entrepreneur, bestselling author, and podcaster. He has founded or cofounded more than 20 companies, including Reset Inc. and StockPickr and Mike Fishbein is an inbound marketer and bestselling author. He writes about content marketing and personal development.
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Sometimes You Have to Get Lucky
Never been to Berlin. Did not speak more than a few words of German beyond the phrase made famous by John F. Kennedy: Ich bin ein Berliner. Didn’t know much, really, about escapes at the Berlin Wall in the 1960s, or the chain of events that led to its fall in 1988. So how did I end up spending more than two years digging under the Wall — that is, researching a book titled The Tunnels?
Since the early 1980s, I had written many books whose subjects were clearly chosen by design, sometimes years in the making or at least months marinating. But this one was different. I don’t know whether to be proud or embarrassed that it came about by pure chance, thanks to my daughter, and a sunny day.
Although I am, sadly, old enough to recall growing up in the 1950s and 1960s with Berlin as an almost daily hot topic in the news, I was never obsessed with the Wall. My generation, after all, had racial segregation, nuclear war, Vietnam, and Nixon to contend with here at home. This began to change for me just in the past decade. The German film, an Oscar winner, The Lives of Others, explored the horrors of living in East Berlin behind the Wall, focusing on the Stasi-enabled police state. It became one of my favorite movies of recent years. Then I co-produced an acclaimed film documentary, Following the Ninth, exploring the political and cultural impact of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. One of its five segments featured an appealing young woman who grew up in the shadow of the Wall.
So I might have been slightly primed, but while looking for a new book idea this never crossed my mind. What I needed was an intimate encounter. That came after my daughter, who had just gotten her Ph.D. in London, unexpectedly moved to Berlin with her husband and their three-year-old son. They happened to take a flat in the old East Berlin, near Alexanderplatz, about a mile from one of the most famous Wall neighborhoods along Bernauer Strasse. On our first ever visit to Berlin, however, my wife and I had trouble encountering any remnants or legacy of the Wall — the barrier was torn down so quickly and completely, and there is no major museum to visit.
On our final day, however, we decided to stroll to the most extensive Wall memorial site which runs for several blocks along Bernauer, even though it was barely mentioned in our guide book and very poorly described. Fortunately it was a bright, sunny, day in May and it did not rain — or my life might be quite different today.
Exploring that site, which includes patches of the Wall and the “death strip” that discouraged escapes, we agreed it was one of the most moving, tasteful, and overwhelming historical sites we had ever experienced. And I was most struck by the stories of attempted escapes by East Germans under the Wall, some successful, others ending in tragedy. What was most incredible about the tunnels was that, almost unique in history, they were dug not from imprisonment to freedom but in the opposite direction. — from west to east. Students in West Berlin excavated the caverns to spring friends, lovers, and family members, even strangers, from the East. Almost on the spot I decided to explore all types escapes, over a wider period, for a possible book, when I returned to New York.
When I did that, however, I found that chronicling the many attempted flights from the East would be daunting, especially from 4000 miles away, and with no German language skills to conduct interviews or read a single document. But I discovered something else: there was an amazing, long forgotten American media angle to this subject. And I had been a media writer for many years, along with serving as editor of Editor & Publisher for many years not long ago.
It seems that NBC had aired a film covering the digging of one particular tunnel in 1962 which sparked controversy but ended up winning three Emmys and now considered a landmark in television history. (I may have even watched it when I was in my early teens.) What few know today is that the Kennedy White House and State Department tried to bully NBC into canceling the show, for reasons still murky. They did succeed in causing a postponement. That got my attention, as well as offering an exciting American focus for my narrative.
Researching further, I found that NBC wasn’t alone in funding and attempting to film a dig under the Wall. CBS tried to do it a few weeks earlier, and the correspondent was none other than the legendary Daniel Schorr. His program never did make it on the air, killed by his boss under pressure from the Kennedy team. But why? State Department and CIA documents and cables had just been declassified — another lucky break for me — and they were riveting.
Suddenly my amorphous “Berlin Wall Escape” book had come into clear focus. I might be able to explore this deeply — with a sharp American angle — by organizing it around those two tunnels and those two controversial network projects. But how could I accomplish that from so far away, and as a non-German speaker? Would I be able to make substantial use of the Stasi archives and other sources in that country? Were any of the key tunnelers and escapees still alive and willing to talk?
Another lucky break: My daughter, like her dad, does not speak any Deutsch — but her husband, Stephane Henaut, is half-German and, of course, fluent. So over many months he was able to help set up meetings with the key tunnelers and escapees (another bit of luck: most were still alive and living in or near Berlin), accompany me on interviews to serve as interpreter, then translate the tapes at home. Just as important: he was able to provide translations of hundreds of pages of Stasi documents and chapters from German language books.
And that former East Berlin woman featured in my Beethoven documentary? Turns out she’s now living in Los Angeles — and she translated hundreds of other pages of Stasi docs and pages from books, conducted a couple of key interviews with Germans from afar, and provided almost daily fact-checking.
There’s the expression, it’s better to be lucky than good. I hope both may apply to The Tunnels. Now I’m again searching for another book idea but, who knows, it may, once again, come to me when I’m not looking.
Greg Mitchell’s THE TUNNELS: Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill will be published by Crown on October 18.
This post is contributed as Guest post by Greg Mitchell
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August 31, 2017
Adam’s Cross: BooK One of the Witchfinder Series
Look into the darkness of the human psyche, which lies behind Adam’s eyes. Adam as a child believes he is the perpetrator behind a number of mysterious deaths. Is Adam a child serial killer?
Surviving a chaotic childhood, he enters adulthood as a successful musician with a sublime talent, which mesmerises his audiences. Fearing the axe of his past is about to drop he begins to confront the traumatic shadows of his childhood, only to discover a far more sinister secret.
May be read as a standalone.
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The Sheltering Stars
This tale, which follows the Unicorn Gate, is the 2nd book in Iona’s Lumenor series, featuring the adventures of Toby Malone and Daisy Evans.
Five important magical artefacts are about to be revealed to the Order of Lumen at the same time as Maxwell Delano’s heir, Hugo Shade, comes out of hiding. Toby Malone and Daisy Evans return to help their old friend Gabriel prevent the five Treasures of Lumenor from falling into the wrong hands. The survival of both the Greenway ancestral line and the intended destiny of Lumenor itself, are threatened by black light from Shade’s renewed connection to the Dark Star.
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The Unicorn Gate
When Toby Malone and Daisy Evans seek shelter in a doorway during a hailstorm, they do not expect to be thrown through a Unicorn Gate into another dimension. Now, they are destined to join Gabriel Greenway, a guardian from the ancient Order of Lumen, on a quest to retrieve a bright jewel stolen from the frame of the great golden harp whose magic sustains the world of Lumenor. Pursued and threatened by Maxwell Delano’s organisation which draws energy from an evil Dark Star, Toby, Daisy and Gabriel must embark on a dangerous quest to find the jewel before its power can be corrupted into shadow on the Eve of Threshold, the last night of the year. Will the harp sing again in bright harmony with the Order of Lumen or will Threshold Morn mean chaos and discord under a Dark Star?
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Basaclanca
Shakespeare once wrote that ‘all the world’s a stage’, but if it included active volcanoes then boy, was he dumb. The inhabitants of our present day Earth are blissfully tolerant of other people’s religions, inequalities, sexisms, racisms, sizes; even active volcanoes. We are indubitably-super-duper- to one another and live in a blissful haze, thank god. Alternative universes however are devoid of such loveliness and are brimming with isms – shocking I grant you. There are just too few politically correct people and no telling what’s going to happen next; the odd swear word here, the occasional wolf whistle there… it’s mad I tell you!
Well, over there became over here for inventors of an alternative universe crossing machine. They wanted to make a live movie, saving money on film production by incorporating backdrops and characters from alternative worlds with calamitous results. They based their storyline upon seven heroes battling to save a princess from a nasty witch (the witch is real and unaware of her starring role).
The actors in this movie have serious issues of their own. If their combined intelligence were to equate to the brightness of a lightbulb in a dark room, you wouldn’t see the bulb unless you were viewing it through the Hubble telescope (the right way around and in the same room of course, any other way would be plain daft).
So why is this book called Basaclanca I hear you ask? That would be telling now wouldn’t it? Don’t read this if you have ever been offended. ‘Oh taste and see’ is my mantra, to quote someone much cleverer than I; and ‘if your eye doth offend ye, spit it out’, to quote someone less so from our story.
This book is full of contradictions, clichés and random humour. It contains artificial intelligence technology too for your enjoyment. It will nudge you politely whenever you miss superior humour, ans zap you with approximately 40000 volts if you do not laugh at all (untried on humans as yet but for a fully grown white Rhino it’s 38904 volts*). We can still use the word rectum can’t we? I do hope so. If that isn’t proof of artificial intelligence then I don’t know what is.
Basaclanca, where the expression ‘political correctness’ hasn’t squirted out of anybody yet – but they are trying.
*N.A.S.A. confirmed, probably.
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PSYCHO CANDY
Candy is in trouble!
She has been signed up to play a game, not just of life and death but of life and spiritual death. Having had her soul taken by the Rubiconeteka, Eight Goddesses and gods, all with different political opinions and split into factions they share one common need – to feed. Failed contestants of their “games” have the very core of their being feasted upon for eternity.
Of course it can only get worse – Candy is the lead suspect in the killing of her two best friends who were with her that night and after being captured by police she becomes top suspect in the largest spate of serial killings to have ever hit the city. Her actions are noticed by Homicide Detective Sargent Malone, whose interest in Candy grows from necessity to obsession and when she is found temporarily insane and sent to a mental facility, all she can do is keep playing. Being of Epic proportion the book is split into two parts, ‘PSYCHO CANDY’ and then ‘THE L.A DOCUMENT AND THE RIDERS FROM HELL.’ which tells the second part of Candy’s story and the group of supernatural motley crew she joins with to fight the Rubiconeteka. The abilities of her new friends are complimented only by their horrific flaws which at times serve as an advantage yet also begin to highlight truths to Candy about her role in their midst – or has her use of psychedelic drugs and powerful anesthetics simply made her paranoid?
A book which starts you out thinking you’ve stumbled upon an obvious plot from the near beginning, Psycho candy is so full of twists and turns; and as her friends appear, so do their particular roles become fundamental in telling the actual truth surrounding Candy’s story until its astonishing explosive conclusion. Both highly thoughtful and bloodily violent, Psycho Candy is a terrifying read you don’t want to miss.
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August 30, 2017
Out of Difficulties Grow Miracles – A Christian Journal
Out of difficulties, we find miracles. Our struggles build strength. An inspirational journal perfect for Sunday School, Bible Study, or just to write your thoughts.
This is a Writing Journal. It contains 100 lightly lined COLLEGE RULE pages for writing poetry, notes, lists, or ideas for your next book. More College Rule Journals will be added in 2017.
100 lightly lined pages allow for perfect absorbency with ink, gel pens, or pencil
Perfect for making lists, creating poetry, or writing down your life reflections
Each journal contains an inspirational message
High-quality — Matte cover for a professional finish
Perfect size at 7″x10″ — Larger than most
Perfect for gift-giving
RMJ Journals
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Across the Ocean
A young cage fighter is diagnosed with a strange genetic disorder that requires a bone marrow transplant. It happened so quickly that the matter is now one of life and death; he has twenty-four weeks to live. Martin needs a relative for a donor, but his parents died in a car crash and he has no siblings or other close relatives. A mixed-raced man he casually met at Nandos, who later became a friend, volunteers to go for the test and is found to be a match. Though it is possible that someone from the general public can be a match, Leroy feels there is more to his relationship with Martin than just friendship. He begins his journey to unveil the power of DNA testing in light of today’s medical science, tracing back to two hundred years ago and the slave trade. The result is shocking the whole world, showing that the stranger who crosses your path can possibly be related to you!
This story is based on partly true events.
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De Mysteriis
The nephew of mysterious recluse finds himself, at his death, caught up in an occult film project that brings to life again an ancient goddess.
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