Today, I have a commercial fiction novel in our book blitz spotlight!  Check out The Walk-On, learn about author Richard Podkowski, and enter for a chance to win a prize in the book tour giveaway at the end of this post!

Commercial Fiction

Date Published: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

In the twilight of his NFL career as a middle linebacker for the Chicago Storm, Mike “the Steelman” Stalowski masks his physical pain and mental anguish with alcohol and painkillers. The fan favorite has a rebel image and a notorious reputation, and he plays a violent gridiron game fueled by inner rage. 

While estranged from his wife and living in the fishbowl environment of professional sports, he unexpectedly meets the fresh-out-of-college Kim Richardson. She sees through Mike’s star persona to who he really is—a kind guy from the Southeast Side of Chicago who has never forgotten his humble blue-collar roots. The lives of the star-crossed, seemingly mismatched couple collide during a whirlwind romance that culminates in a tragic series of events.

The Walk-On is a timeless tale of love and loss that explores the consequences of personal decisions and the rewards of faith, redemption, and hope.

Early Reviews

“An interesting read where star linebacker Mike Stalowski confronts the inevitable challenges every NFL player faces as they transition to their post-football life. His experiences may seem exaggerated, but they are still very real.”

Gary Fencik, Chicago Bears, Super Bowl XX Champion

“Despite his NFL fame and bad-boy attitude and antics, I empathized with the humble guy from a blue-collar background fighting painful emotional and physical demons. . .Ultimately, The Walk-On is an incredible story of love and loss, with faith and mentorship fostering hope for the future.”

Bill Rancic, Author of the New York Times bestseller, You’re Hired

“Just like the protagonist’s very fast sports car, The Walk-On will leave you, from the very first paragraph, just a little breathless as you navigate all the sharp turns that come fast and furious at the reader. . .”

Jean Becker, Author of the New York Times bestseller, The Man I Knew: The Amazing Story of George H. W. Bush's Post-Presidency

“The Walk-On is a fascinating story of self-sabotage and redemption. A page-turner!!!!” 

Mary Pat Kelly, Bestselling author of Galway Bay, Of Irish Blood, and Irish Above All

About the Author

Richard Podkowski, a native of Chicago’s South Side, began writing fiction while studying criminal justice at Loyola University Chicago.

As a United States Secret Service special agent, Richard protected U.S. presidents and foreign dignitaries and investigated major domestic and international financial crimes. After retiring from the Secret Service in 2003 as a supervisory special agent, he became a management member of a Fortune 100 company's global security group. For the last several years, Richard has been a private sector strategic security consultant.

Inspired by professional athletes who lived in a fishbowl under constant media scrutiny and made life-altering mistakes, Richard wrote The Walk-On. Other projects include a holiday rom-com manuscript and a crime story. In his free time, Richard enjoys riding his road bike, working out, and making Christmas ornaments. He currently resides with his family in Los Angeles.

Connect with the Author

Website

Facebook

Blog: Pod’s Pen

Goodreads

Instagram

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Today, I have a psychotherapeutic, metaphorical fairy tale in our book blitz spotlight!  Check out Apocalyptin and learn about author Anna Parkman!

Psychotherapeutic Metaphorical Fairy Tale, Fiction

First in the world psychotherapeutic metaphorical fairy tale for adults effectively working with the subconscious and healing childhood traumas. Apocalyptin is a metaphorical fairy-tale fascinating story that contains powerful psychological tools and powerful NLP techniques to help heal childhood traumas through a non-confrontational approach. Reframing is a powerful method that emploied in the story. By reading the story of Odi and Dina, readers can parallel their familiar issues to those within the story to help reframe their painful memories and transform distractive emotional and behavioral patterns. This is a very unusual but effective option to work through resentment and other negative emotions associated with experienced psychological trauma.

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Odi is a teenager from a dysfunctional family who lives in constant stress associated with the poor welfare of his family and the cruelty of the surrounding reality, filled with enemies and moral and physical blows. His life is dark, miserable, and hopeless, until one day a magic flashlight appears that allows him to see the inner children of his offenders and traumatic episodes that happened in their childhoods.

At the same, magical heroes suddenly appear, and he goes on a mystical journey. This expands his mind-set and allows him to change his perception and get out of resentment. Having gone through the transformation of his consciousness, he helps his close friend Dina survive the frustration associated with the traumatic events taking place in her family. She gets out of resentment and revenge plans, focusing attention on building a prosperous and happy future. All the childhood stories described are based on true events.

Buy the Book

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About the Author

Anna Parkman is well known life coach, health coach and writer, who is using in her work combination of psychological and NLP tools. The uniqueness of her methods is noted in numerous articles in various respected publications. Anna is a frequent guest on the covers of magazines. Articles about her and her unique book Apocalyptin can be found in the most prestigious publications. She also has million followers in Instagram. Parkman’s list of psychological specialties is extensive. These areas include, but are not limited to: cognitive behavioral therapy, gestalt therapy, psychoanalysis, body-oriented therapy, art therapy,fairy tale therapy, children physiology, family phycology, shema therapy, Systemic and family constellations, psychosomatics, conflictology, emotionally focused therapy, personality disorders, sexology. Also Anna is a master practitioner of NLP.(Nuero linguistic programming). Even though this list is quite long, Parkman notes that “this list will be replenished all the time as I study endlessly and in my plans to study many more modalities of psychology.” Her passion for psychology is palpable.Utilizing the skills she learned and the areas she studied, she currently retains positions as a key opinion leader, lifecoach, and author.

She explains how her methods and continued experience allow her to be most effective in carrying out her current positions: “It is my deep conviction that it is correct to use an integral approach in psychology. It is highly professional to navigate in various types of psychology and combine the most effective tools and materials. This makes the work of a psychologist very effective and gives opportunity for powerful transformations.”Now Anna is a mother of 3 children.Masterfully combines motherhood, marriage and career living in Miami Florida. Now she is a USA and internationally recognized psychologist. Anna also is Mrs.Florida Globe 2021-22.

About the Book

Website

This morning, I am featuring books by Michael Butler in an author blitz!  Learn about the author & check out his books!  

Super Tech Kids

Children's Fiction, Short Stories, Middle Grade

Published: May 5, 2021

Supporting Your Children’s Talents: Encourage Your Kids to Take Ownership of Their Creativity & Spread the Message Easily – 14 Inspiring Blizzy Code Stories Your Child Is Going to Love

Children display natural abilities at a very young age. Whether they’re playing basketball, reading books, or coloring – you can notice their talent through their daily activities. However, recognizing their gifts alone is not enough.

Contrary to popular belief, this is actually the best time to be alive. Technology is the future, and the future is now. With it, it brought unlimited possibilities and a chance for kids to reach their full potential. Thanks to technology, kids can now take ownership of their creativity and easily pass the message of what they’re doing.

Blizzy Code is a perfect example of why we need technology and with this book, you and your kids will discover why!

Throughout its contents, you’ll get introduced to Blizzy Code and the amazing things it can do for you. Filled with exciting stories that your kids are going to love, this book will inspire them to reach their goals!

Thanks to these Blizzy Code stories, your children will realize the importance of inventions and how to turn them into something big by delivering the message properly. All this with the help of a single platform – Blizzy Code!

If you feel like you have gifted children, support their talent by spreading the word. Instead of breaking the bank to have someone else do it, you can deliver the message yourself! Blizzy Code introduces a brand-new approach of reaching the right audience and connections to promote your kid, your business or even merely for just garnering information.

Upon deciding to read this book, you’ll make the first step toward supporting your kids’ creativity. And, you surely wouldn’t mind catching some quality time together while reading these amazing stories and scoring some extra parent points!

 Amazon

Fiction

Blizzy Codes

Published: May 13, 2021

About the Book

Blizzy Codes? What Is This New Technology the World Is Buzzing about?

In today's world, information sharing is something that we just learned we are not good at… we are not good at getting the right information to the right people…

One man had a dream – a dream to share the information and messages with the people who need it most, and that dream became a reality. He made the Blizzy Code - a secondary communication system with the ability to provide life-saving information without interruption…

Blizzy codes - perhaps one of the best parts of Jordan's life so far. Everyone could tell how proud he was of this technology as it was eventually going to affect people's lives for the better.

That's all Jordan ever wanted to do, though; to touch lives and help the people around him. This is why he designed this technology to get anyone everything they could ever think of without having to sweat for it. Yes, that was it!

Although the people saw this new technology as something spectacular, truthfully, no one understood its philosophy yet. Today was the day Jordan was going to teach the world about the essence of Blizzy codes, flaunting this new technology to the whole of New York, to the world…

With Blizzy Codes, the creator of real-life messaging technology of the same name, Michael Butler gives an in-depth explanation of what the technology does and the philosophy behind his life's work through an intricately designed fiction story.

The characters may be fictional, but the events are not. So get ready to follow Jordan as he tries to bring his technology to life and find out what is this new technology the world is buzzing about!

Amazon

POLICE

Fiction, Crime Fiction, Urban Fiction, Political Fiction

Published: October 1, 2021

About the Book

From the prolific, up-and-coming author, Michael Butler, comes "Black Redemption" — a story of circumstance, fate, choice, and redemption. Author showcased at the 2021 Juneteenth celebration, "Black Redemption" celebrates the resilience of the African American and Jewish spirit. Yet, despite the odds stacked against them, protagonists Trey, Maxwell, and Isaac lived, learned, and redeemed themselves despite unfortunate circumstances, despite adverse fates, despite poor choices.

Trey and Isaac are best friends with contrasting upbringings. Isaac's family builds on religiousness, peace, understanding, unity, anti-racism, and imparting the proper virtues and moral standards to their children. On the other hand, Trey's family is separated by disputes, negligence, and disunity. Yet, instead of feeling disheartened, Trey is overwhelmed with hope — a hope that things can and will get better so long as there is personal accountability. This is our world. Let's make it a better place, and we have the power to make a change by doing the next right thing. Problems become even more apparent to Trey when he reunites with his brother Maxwell under extraordinary circumstances years after leaving his tumultuous home. Yet, by taking control of their fortunes, can these young men overcome African American Racism and Antisemitism in the United States and prove that they could rise above Gun Violence and change the status quo despite the odds? *** "Black Redemption" by Michael Butler is a compelling suspense drama that serves as a commentary on the saga of our nation as it battles racism and Gun Violence against the African American and Jewish population. And that, through compassion, tolerance, and the proper gun interventions, all violence against all people can be reduced. "Black Redemption" took Ten years and countless hours of dedication to write, backed by remarkable research and development, and presented to New York City as a new initiative in an immersive virtual reality format. Today, it has seen sweeping reviews from readers and featured in the Caribbean Chamber of Commerce and many other Publications.

Black Redemption: An African American Political Thought and Action Novel on Black and Jewish Suffering and African American Racism, Antisemitism and Gun Violence Intervention in the United States

Amazon

About the Author

Michael Butler is an author, inventor, and technology expert born and raised in Brooklyn.

In today's world, where information and communication are everything, Michael recognized a giant flaw in the communication system – it fails to deliver the correct information to the right people at the right time.

Driven by his passion for technology and helping other people, Michael designed a revolutionary rapid messaging system – Blizzy Code, a secondary communication system with the ability to provide life-saving information without interruption.

His books are an ingenious mixture of intricately designed fiction stories and real-life technology and philosophy behind Blizzy Code.

Through his books, Michael aims to bring the concept of the Blizzy Code to the masses, especially to the younger population – to explain what this new technology does and how it can be utilized. I also trademarked Followers are the new Currency™

This morning, I have a supernatural /time travel novel in our book blitz spotlight!  Check out A Golden Thread: Yesterday's Tomorrow and learn about author R E Norton!

Fiction

Publication Date: August 2, 2021

Publisher: MindStir Media

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A Golden Thread is a human odyssey of redemption, discovery, and revelation. From the beginning, the protagonist, Jonathan, near to rock bottom in his life. He is estranged from his wife and son. He will do anything to reunite his family. As he struggles to cope with his shame and regret, an inexplicable phenomenon has him in its grip; he is slipping back in time at increasing intervals. Along with this experience, there are the vivid nightmares that bring him back to relive recent past lives. Just when it seems there is no way for this situation to get more extraordinary, Jonathan learns the phenomenon is connected to even bigger things than he could have ever imagined, and he, having no memory of his part, is a key part of an epic struggle between two forces that in the end will determine the fate of humanity.

Buy the Book

Amazon

About the Author

Richard Norton grew up in Portland, Maine. He has spent 28 years in social work providing supports to individuals with Intellectual Disabilities. Richard is an artist, musician, and writer. He currently lives in Windham with his wife and son.