New Friend and Author - Ed Ugel!

Money for Nothing: One Man's Journey Through the Dark Side of Lottery Millions--an intriguing title for an intriguing book just out by Edward Ugel. So you like to gamble? Maybe just buy lottery tickets? Reading this non-fiction, astonishing book may be the best thing you've ever done for yourself. Ugel tells all in his story about his years as both a gambler, and a salesman, and then as an employee of a company that offered upfront cash to lottery winners in exchange for their prize money.

You've all seen the commercial for some company that offers cash that is due to you. All of the people cry out from wherever they are that it's their money and they want it now.  If that company, called The Firm, in this book, is one that caters only to lottery winners, however, there are oftentimes millions of dollars involved--and even though the winner may have won big, they may be as poor as ever!

One of the key issues is whether the particular lottery allows a lump sum as opposed to long-term payments. Selection of a lump sum has not always been available. Additionally, when you see the picture of the winner getting a large check with a large sum identified on it, the amount is always the amount before taxes!

Horror story after horror story for lottery winners are shared in this book--all names changed, of course.

Ugel has tried hard to write in an upbeat fashion in telling his story. His chapter titles are catchy. He ridicules some of his own actions and invites the reader to smile and commiserate with his choices. But he's not really telling about a fun-filled life. The book, in my opinion, is very much an expose' of this type of financial company, albeit though they are acting legally. Additionally, Ugel's epilogue, written in a time schedule/diary fashion reveals exactly what the addicted gambler goes through each time he gives in to this vice.

Ugel has been a gambler since the age of 19, working at jobs to earn enough money so he could go gamble. When he was called to a bar by a friend, where a potential supervisor was drinking and smoking, Ugel thought he had finally found the place where he belonged. Indeed, while his boss was there at the The Firm with him, he quickly moved into big money and promotions, each time his boss moved up. But no matter how far up he went, he at last began to hate working with the man and quit, even though he was offered almost twice his present salary to stay. Ugel struggled through the following time, until he was called and asked to return. His former boss had quit and he was being offered his job. This had been what he had always wanted. He believed he could do the job and was soon back at The Firm.

Ugel did all right until his former boss opened his own business as a major competitor and quickly started winning potential customers away from The Firm. Ugel was finally relieved to be fired, for even though he was a super salesman, he realized that he had treated his job, and allowed his subordinates to also treat their jobs, as if each "lead" was merely a "gamble" and since there was always the potential for high commissions without working too hard, he realized that though being a better "gambler" than his former boss, he was not even close to being the kind of manager that his boss had been. As he said, "a gambler is a gambler is a gambler" (p. 212). He and his staff were quite willing to gamble both with their own money...and with the lottery winners' money!

Many of us have our own addictions. If gambling is yours...read this book! If gambling is not your particular vice, read it...and insert your own predilection. For underneath the humor, Ugel has written a story that just may help you rethink what you are doing, to yourself, to your family, and on your job! Thank you, Edward Ugel, for sharing your life in such an open way and making us realize that Money for Nothing may be more trouble than anyone could imagine!

                                                            

Glenda,

I'm so grateful that you took the time to read Money for Nothing and write such a wonderful review. Your interest and comments mean a lot to me. I can't thank you enough.

Ed

Tags: Ed Ugel, Money for Nothing, lottery, gambling, addiction, memoir

An Interview with Author Shadrach Linscomb

I was pleased to have the opportunity to learn a little more about Shadrach Linscomb, author of Player Related plus two other novels, a novel I recently reviewed. Check out his ambitions in writing for the future!                               

1)      Where are you from?                                                        

I was born and raised in San Francisco, California. Even though, San Francisco is known as a popular tourist city in the United States, I spent my childhood between two marginalized communities, Bayview Hunter's Point and Lakeview (Ingleside District). Bayview Hunter's Point is known throughout the Bay Area and some parts of California as being a tough area of San Francisco and the neighborhood, Lakeview is similar, but on a much smaller scale. My earlier days were in Bayview Hunter's Point and I spent my late teen years in Lakeview (Ingleside District).

2)      What inspired you to write your novels?

When I was about eight year of age I was told by school staff that I was severely speech impaired. So I started writing short stories and poems to share with friends and family. Writings became my outlet and my way of communicating. Later in my early college days, the works of Langston Hughes, Ernest Gaines, Alice Walker, and Walter Mosley inspired me to continue my writing and display my work to a larger audience. 

3)      What made you think you could write novels?

Getting positive support from teachers and friends was helpful, but reading different authors' styles of writing really convinced me that I too can write a novel.

4)      Do you plan to write more novels?

No, it is time for a new journey. I am in the process of creating text books and reading comprehensive books. My plan is to write text books that assist professionals in the field of social work and a reading comprehensive book for teens in an urban environment. I look at it as trying to combine fiction and non-fiction together to make a powerful educational tool. I will use my ability and passion to write stories to help better understand complex issues in the fields of social work and education. I believe that literature can play an important role in helping us understand our world better.

5)      Are you doing anything other promoting your book right now?

Yes, I am extremely busy. Currently, I'm a doctoral student in a school of education, full-time County Social Worker, and novelist at night.

6)      When did you consider yourself a writer?

Well, I considered myself a writer ever since I was a little boy.  I also believe that storytelling plays an important role in our society, as human life is full of events that could be told as a story.

7)      Do you strive for a specific writing style?

When I start to write I really do not have a specific writing style in mind. Once the protagonist is delivered from intangible status to paper, he or she takes over.

THE BOOK PLAYER RELATED IS

                                                             Available online at:

                               http://www.viewhousepublishing.com/bookstore.html

Tags: Shadrach Linscomb, Viewhouse Publishing, Player Related, Fiction

Player Related - Shadrach Linscomb

By Shadrach Linscomb                                                    

View House Publishing Co.

ISBN: 978-0-9663420-6-2

171 Pages 

Click to buy: http://www.viewhousepublishing.com/bookstore.html

USA Book News Finalist Shadrach Linscomb's newest novel, Player Related, just might be this year's winner! I sat stunned at the surprise ending, not expecting or wanting the book to end as it did. But that ending is part of what makes this a most memorable book!

Jake Robinson was a player. He "stood six feet tall, and weighed a hundred and ninety-five pounds. He was a handsome man, but not drop-dead-gorgeous, who was soft-spoken and had a way of making a woman feel comfortable around him." (p. 2) So comfortable, in fact, that the women, most times, were the ones that initiated sex with Jake. In fact, Jake had a routine pretty well established--Faye on Thursday, Tanya on Friday-well, you get the idea...  Seven women loved him. And readers will enjoy being voyeurs as Jake spends his nights with a college student, a married woman, a single mother with a son, and his other ladies.

But Jake was getting older. Sex was no longer the driving force in his relationships and he was having second thoughts about what he was doing with his life. Oftentimes, he would decide to end a relationship and would begin a conversation with good intentions; however, when the lovely lady for that evening sang her siren song, he stopped to listen and followed.

There was another person who loved Jake too. Devon Miller was Tanya's son, and during their relationship Jake and Devon had become close, had enjoyed doing things together. Tanya felt that a decision needed to be made; that she could not go on seeing Jake, without giving consideration to what that relationship meant to Devon.  Little by little, Jake realized that he needed to make a firm commitment to them, or break it off so that Tanya might find another man who would be willing to be Devon's father.

Jake had only one male friend, Terry Jones; that is, until his wife called Jake and asked him to come visit her one night...

Player Related is a fun, sexy book.  But there is a different side of Jake's life where his thoughts were in turmoil and confusion. We all recognize it--when and how do we turn from a player's life and move on to accept and develop a long-term loving relationship and family? I found this underlying dialogue the most revealing about who Jake Robinson really was.  And I liked that Jake--a man committed to his job working with young teenagers and a man who was trying to reject the life of brief sexual encounters that were being daily thrown down in front of him.

Linscomb has written a book that could be the "story of my life" for many, many of today's young people.  It is real, open and, if accepted in the way it is written, tells the well-known story that many face on their own.  How do we be somebody other than a "player" in a society where sex is available anywhere and at any time? The book is well written and seems to be directly from the journal that Jake kept. The female characters, especially, are liberated, aggressive, and selfish...or sensitive, caring, and loving--you hate some of them and love the others.  Reading Jake's thoughts about them lends a realism for his audience that includes flashbacks of sexual abuse as a child.

I thoroughly enjoyed Player Related. Anybody who wants to read about sexual pressures and values facing young adults will certainly consider this a must-read!  

Tags: Player Related, Shadrach Linscomb, fiction, Derrick Bryant, book review

Historically Significant WWII Documentation

Frogmen:  First Battles 

William Schofield and P. J. Carisella

Branden Books

ISBN: 0-8283-2088-8

192 Pages

 

 

Significant historical war information, reading almost like an exciting novel, has been written by William Schofield and P. J. Carisella . A “taste” of Frogmen: First Battles is immediately provided in the Foreword:

 

At the peak of World War II...a small band of daredevil Italian Navymen roved the Mediterranean Sea and raised devastating havoc...These were the “frogmen,” the pilots of human-torpedoes and self-exploding Eboats...a new type of warrior. (p. 5)

 

Loaded with fascinating pictures and explicit details, this book moves from a quick announcement by Prince Valerio Borghese of the Italian Royal Navy in Chapter 1 that New York was the target for these men. He was dining with the Commander-in-Chief of Germany’s untersee fleet. Borghese was the leader behind the activities of the Tenth Light Flotilla.

 

In the midst of every war, individualswho love their own country, must stop and salute the brave, patriotic, soldiers who willingly go into battle to support their respective countries.  Even those who were part of the Tenth Light Flotilla and who wondered about the decision to support the German efforts, nevertheless overcame personal questions and risked their lives over and over.

 

Indeed, those who were recruited and accepted assignment to this group were perhaps required to act on their own more than any other soldier fighting in WWII. For these men set out alone or with a partner to take on...Battleships! Cruisers! Destroyers! Merchant Ships! Aircraft! They invaded Gibraltar, Suda Bay, Africa, et. al., but nobody knew they were there until the frogmen were gone!

 

Weapons and tactics planned for Italy’s Tenth Light were started during WWI when they faced the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They wanted to invent and deploy a new weapon capable of breaking through harbor defenses. The war ended and instead of proceeding on with this important project, nothing was done during the 17 years of peace. It took Mussolini’s desire to invade Ethiopia in 1935 to nudge Prince Borghese to move forward in developing new, unforeseen weapons. From this new effort, the story of the invention, testing, training, and use of these weapons are thoroughly documented. Two men could soon approach and attack a target without ever showing themselves above the surface of the water. And then during WWII, the Tenth Light Flotilla ultimately succeeded in destroying all of Britain’s battleships!

 

However, instead of proceeding to move further in this direction, military authorities moved in a different direction.  This bit of historical news certainly forces readers to wonder what might have actually happened in this War if Italy had been permitted to further use these brave warriors against Britain and the United States!

 

Frogmen: First Battles is well written and documented coverage of a part of our WWII history.  If you are interested in history and, in particular, weapons and details on specific actions against the enemy, this book is for you!  You may have realized that this group never did attack New York...but I found it chilling just how close they were to that particular maneuver! 

 

Like I said at the beginning, this book reads almost as a novel.  If I were describing it as fiction, I would call it an exciting adventure story...But this was real and what I found most thrilling was the individual, personal stories about the warriors who risked their lives routinely on behalf of their country. 

 

A final wonderful touch to this book was a personal interview with Sergio Denti, the only remaining frogman, who was 80 at the time this book was published. Mr. Denti was not recognized with the Medal of Honor until 1993!  I enjoy these special little touches that are often added by publisher Adolph Caso (also Colonel, USAR Retired) to enhance books he publishes. He has many times illustrated his commitment and love for his heritage! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to all interested readers!

 

G. A. Bixler For IP Book Reviewers

 

Tags: Frogmen, WWII, William Schofield, P. J. Carisella, Adolph Caso, <AHREF="HTTP: rel="tag" target="_blank" Italy? tag technorati.com>Italy, Italian Royal Navy, Mussolini, Tenth Light Flotilla, Britain

Award Winner!

Vanishing Act 

By Todd Daniel McCormick

Llumina Press

ISBN:  978-1-59526-909-6

253 Pages

 

 

American Writer’s Award winner Todd Daniel McCormick (2007) has written a “reality” thriller/adventure! And what better way to read about today’s reality is through a novel as timely and up-to-date as America’s top news stories and television programs! Vanishing Act just may be a future best seller...if you want to be one of the first readers...add this one to your “must-read” list!

 

Main character Nick O’Shea has been up for any type of adventure in his past; however, he’s now met a wonderful woman, Sandy, and is thinking about marriage and a family. Nick lives on his boat, Tequila Sunrise, and is always ready for his next assignment as a bounty hunter for rich-and-famous fugitives who’ve committed white-collar crimes—“extremely wealthy clients who get themselves into very delicate legal difficulties... eccentric and capable of making themselves scarce.” (p. 29) When his boss calls and assigns his latest “skip,” he also admits that if the man is never found, that his bonding agency may go under. For the missing man is James Preston, Billionaire and CEO who has looted his own company’s pension fund!

 

Consider what options a billionaire has in creating diversions to prevent apprehension! The chase is on, with Nick taking the lead, surrounded by the FBI, local officials, computer experts, family and friends! Nick has been considering retirement as part of the future and he calls upon contacts everywhere to help him with this, his last and most dangerous assignment! Disguises, deceptions, false leads all fail as Nick follows the faint trail left by Preston.  The action on high seas, in the midst of Hurricane “James,” which leaves Nick unconscious holding on for his life at the top of his mast, is just a sample of the adventure! Even when they meet face-to-face, Preston taunts, “This is a game, pure and simple...I’ve perpetrated the ultimate crime, and now I get to watch the carnage that will follow.” (p. 236)

 

But when Preston turns his actions toward Sandy, Nick quickly moves to high gear.

 

Interestingly, amidst the fast pace of the chase, McCormick quite successfully interweaves the romance between Nick and Sandy, as well as his personal life with family and friends. One of the reasons is that the primary setting on the seas allows this beautiful merge. The characters have been well developed to fit into the setting and lifestyles of what some call “the rich and the famous.”

 

The headline from the news release by the publisher says, “Prize Winning Novel Enters the Mind of the Corporate Criminal.” We’ve all seen the reality in the news! Take a break from reality and enjoy this award-winning fiction novel...just for the enjoyment and pleasure I’m sure you’ll have!

 

G. A. Bixler

For IP Book Reviewers

 

Tags: white collar crime, Todd McCormick, Vanishing Act, corporate crime, high seas, reality adventure, fiction, action

A Book About me! Actually, About Baby Boomers

Generation Ageless

By J. Walker Smith and Ann Clurman

Generation Ageless: How Baby Boomers Are Changing the Way We Live Today...And They're Just Getting Started, by J. Walker Smith and Ann Clurman, is a book you must read. Why? Because people will be talking about it! And those in the know know to read this book!

Baby Boomers--you may have heard the phrase, this catchword many times; but did you know there are 78 million of them? After reading this book, I believe there are even more-for surely there are those, like me, who were born on the "cusp--9 months before 1946!" and see themselves more like boomers than any other group!

Yankelovich, Inc. began studying consumer values and lifestyles in 1958.  As I started reading Generation Ageless, I did not realize how the activities by a company, about which I knew nothing, could be writing about--me! It was at first exhilarating--then it got downright eerie! Yankelovich chose to begin studying Americans through the gathering and analysis of data by generations.  Certainly, they could not have projected at that time that the generation born during the years 1946 to 1964 would become the largest group of any during the last century! Due to the number of individuals, it is also perhaps one of the most influential groups of people in the past and for the foreseeable future.

Generation Ageless is extensive and covers many issues. In some ways, it is like reading a biography of 78 million people, in one book! In another way, it is pure demographics about Baby Boomers. At the same time, every marketing agent should be studying this as a textbook!  Put all together, it is one of the most interesting and informative books I have ever read! It is an interesting read with both narrative and charts; however, with excellent writing, the authors have made what could be very dry into something that comes across in a personal fashion and includes information for anybody of any age.

Before reading this book, some of us may have begun thinking about planning for retirement or considering what we might want to do "with the rest of our lives." Even if we didn't feel like our lives were over, we might have felt that society was seeing us that way.  Well, after reading Generation Ageless, we will find that we are all thinking the same thing--we are too young to retire...we want to continue doing the things we are now doing and we want to continue them for as long as we want to! So, we now have the key words to explain that! We are not going to ever get old; we are merely middle age-less! "How cool is that?" as one commercial declares.

Baby Boomers want to matter; they want to have a presence and an influence. "Or to put it in the way that best reflects the edge they give to it, it's a matter of immortality and morality." (p. xiv).

The book uses the terminology that has been coined in the past: the Matures, Baby Boomers, Xers, and Echo Boomers. I found it especially heartening that the Baby Boomers group has expressed many of my own thoughts, as I've grown older. We look back with some regret to that accomplished by the Matures. We worry about the Xers and Echo Boomers. But no matter what, Baby Boomers are going to stay in the game. And because there are so many, what Baby Boomers will continue to do for themselves will directly benefit others.

Baby Boomers, in turn, have been divided into the Straight Arrows, Due Diligents,  Maximizers, Sideliners, Diss/Contenteds, and Re-Activists, with the driving force being the Maximizers.  Readers may see themselves as having started out as one type of individual but changing, due to personal experiences, later in life. As the book says, "maximizers are the most enthusiastic Boomer segment. They want more of everything and they want more out of everything." (p. 188) While the book indicated that maximizers had something in common with every other segment, I thought perhaps another way of saying this was that we all had some part of us that were maximizers...at one time or another in our lives!

This book is fun to read! It is encouraging; it is disheartening...but it is about us! If we have an enemy, then the enemy is us. But if we also believe that our future will be bright, we also know that the Baby Boomers will be there, shining and basking in the light provided by that generation! 

You'll be placing this book on a nearby bookshelf. It is a great resource of information. It gives you much to ponder. And it's fun to read and talk about!  I highly recommend Generation Ageless.

Tags: Baby Boomers, Generation Ageless, J. Walker Smith, Ann Clurman, Yankelovich, Inc., marketing, demographics, lifestyle, middle-ageless