Shelly is an amazing little girl who rode an alligator, drove a blimp, and refused to give up her fight against cancer. Her boundless energy and love for people endeared her to everyone who met her. Strangers had pictures taken with her, wanted to buy her ice cream, and gave her gifts. She would give hugs and draw smiles to everyone she met. You will come to love Shelly as many people have following the authors blog.

Confessions of a Serial Songwriter is an amusing and poignant memoir about songwriter Shelly Peiken's journey from young girl falling under the spell of magical songs to working professional songwriter writing hits of her own. It's about growing up, the creative process – the highs and the lows, the conflicts that arise between motherhood and career success, the divas and schemers, but also the talented and remarkable people she's found along the way. It's filled with stories and step-by-step advice about the songwriting process, especially collaboration. And it's about the challenge of staying relevant in a rapidly changing and youth-driven world. As Shelly so eloquently states in Confessions of a Serial Songwriter: “If I had to come up with one X factor that I could cite as a characteristic most hit songs have in common (and this excludes hit songs that are put forth by an already well-oiled machine...that is, a recording artist who has so much notoriety and momentum that just about anything he or she releases, as long as it's 'pretty good ' will have a decent shot at succeeding), I would say it would be: A universal sentiment in a unique frame.” Peiken has tapped the universal sentiment again and again; her songs have been recorded by such artists as Christina Aguilera, Natalie Cole, Selena Gomez, Celine Dion, the Pretenders, and others. In Confessions of a Serial Songwriter, she pulls the curtain back on the music business from the perspective of a behind-the-scenes hit creator and shares invaluable insight into the craft of songwriting.

Kate stared at the rickety wooden bridge. There were boards loose on its narrow walkway. There was no railing to hold on to. She was afraid to cross this bridge even in daylight. But she had to cross it now. She had to get to the train station in time to stop the midnight express. When a heavy storm destroyed the bridge over Honey Creek, near Kate Shelley's home in Moingona, Iowa, fifteen-year-old Kate bravely rushed out into the storm, saving the lives of two men and preventing hundreds of other lives from being lost. This is the true story of a young girl's resourcefulness and courage in the face of great danger.

Reimagining Gospel : An Introduction -- "A Balm In Gilead" : "Tuning Up" and the Gospel Imagination -- The Moment That Changed Everything : Gospel Music and the Incarnation of Time -- "The Evidence of Things Not Seen" : Gospel Vamps and the Incarnation of Text -- The Pursuit of Intensity : A Formal Theory of the Gospel Vamp.

The Downward Spiral: Beginnings and Endings tells a story about numerous characters and their lives and how they cope with the ups and downs of the world they live in. One scene in particular is pivotal and brings them together on a snowy day in Schaumburg Illinois. Life will change forever for some in this tale. Music plays a large part along with the day to day life that people live and their jobs they report to and how they communicate with others and how they deal with loss. It focuses on a mother and a husband and then a son. Then it becomes just a mother and son. They go through life with problems like everyone and you see how they deal with them and how they get through the difficult times. The arguments they have and the love that they find and lose. You see how a boy grows up into a teenager and see his likes and dislikes and what he seems to want in life. A mother who deals with things not always going her way and just adjusting to it and hoping things turn out for the best. We learn about other characters who have smaller roles in this tale but they are as well very important and you fell for them and what they have in relationships and their careers and their families. They are out doing the most normal tasks and talking with friends and communicating with their pets. They are dealing with the snow and the winter in the Midwest. A world can be cruel and it can tear things apart if you’re not careful. They have no idea what is to come but they are real people with problems and issues and some are in love and some are in the process of fixing their mistakes and they will be in the same place on a cool snowy February Saturday. Beginnings and Endings, this is true in many senses as this novel goes on. Lives and relationships and love and events they all are part of this cycle. Some of these things end and some of these begin. This world is filled with sadness and darkness and then at the same time it is filled with some happiness and the characters are set to these feelings and that day. A boy and his mother wait outside and wonder what just happened and you have no real answer for him. What do you say? That wasn’t what you expected to see and you didn’t expect to hear screams. Her husband, his father picks them up and they drive off with a new sense of life and a feeling of sadness has taken over them.