From acclaimed musician Alicia Keys comes a revealing songbook of collected poems and lyrics that document her growth as a person, a woman, and an artist. “All my life, I’ve written these words with no thought or intention of sharing them. Not even with my confidants. These are my most delicate thoughts. The ones that I wrote down just so I could understand what in the world these things I was thinking meant...” When she burst onto the music scene with her multi-million bestselling, Grammy® Award-winning first album, Songs in A Minor, Alicia Keys became a superstar. Two decades later, her career has expanded into producing, acting, and passionate activism—winning her worldwide acclaim, numerous awards, and a spot on Time’s list of “The 100 Most Influential People.” Though Alicia has been very vocal through her career, there were always “delicate thoughts” that she never before imagined she’d share with anyone else—until now. In Tears for Water, Alicia Keys opens the journals and notebooks that she has kept throughout her life and reveals her heart to her fans in return for all the love they have shown to her and her music. Hello morning now I see you cause I am awake What was once so sweet and secure has turned out to be fake Girl, you can’t be scared gotta stand up tall and let ’em see what shines in you Push aside the part lying in your heart like the ocean is deep, dark and blue —from Golden Child

Salt Water Tears delivers 11 stories from Bram Stoker Award winning author Brian A. Hopkins. These stories share a common theme, the oceans that cover seven-tenths of our world, but each is as unique and emotionally-charged as you've come to expect from this talented, seasoned, if not-heard-from-often-enough author. Submerge yourself in the worlds of this gifted storyteller, and you'll not want to come up for air. "...his stories carry things often forgotten or left behind in both horror and science fiction -- poetry, emotion, and heart ... If you haven't met Brian A. Hopkins, this could be the introduction you need." --from a review by William D. Gagliani "...another excellent collection of Brian's work ... I found it impossible to put this book down ... Fabulous!" --Lesley Mazey, The Eternal Night "Over the course of the last year or so we've sold more trade paperbacks by Brian Hopkins than we have any other writer ... [Brian] seems to be the kind of writer that appeals to our patrons. I like to think that that kind of writer is literate, emphatic, unusual and lyrical ... Better check this Hopkins guy out." --Mark Ziesing, Bookseller and Publisher "Hopkins displays a fascination with damaged protagonists ... that is almost as strong as the fascination with the ocean and cetaceans ... that is the titular focus of this book. From the distant play of orcas in 'North' to the rotting dolphin corpses center stage in 'Wrinkles at Twilight,' this theme of the pelagic mysteries weaves a fascinating metaphor for the decidedly land-based life led by most of Hopkins' readership ... These are not emotionally satisfying, morally secure stories -- they are challenging, sometimes difficult, and always at least a bit slantwise of the reader's expectation and experience." --Jay Lake, from a review in Tangent "The sea is the birthplace of all life. It has inspired some of the greatest minds in literature: Homer, Melville, Conrad, Hemingway ... and Brian A. Hopkins ... Hopkins dives deep into the mysteries of inner space and returns with a chest full of literary gems. Submerge yourself in his word. You may never wish to come ashore again." --Garrett Peck, from a review in Cemetery Dance "Brian Hopkins writes of the ocean as if he were a part of it. His empathy with whales -- in particular -- is phenomenal, and the subtle blend of intense research and intuitive talent is -- at times -- unnerving. Unforgettable fiction." --David Niall Wilson, Author of This is My Blood "When I examine my obsession with Fitzgerald and Tolstoy, for Dickens and Dostoevsky, I realize that what keeps me coming back to Gatsby and Anna and the rest is the music I hear when I am with them. That, and my absolute conviction that there is nothing there that I would have had them do differently. So it is with BAH's work. He doesn't simply write; he composes. Long after the reading is done, the melody lingers on." --Janet Berliner, Bram Stoker Award Winning Author of Rite of the Dragon

In 2009, a documentary movie called The Cove focused the spotlight of world attention on the tiny coastal village of Taiji, Japan. Lauded as the birthplace of Japanese whaling, present day Taiji hosts a secretive industry of marine mammal exploitation. This diminutive town is a prinicpal provider of captive whales and dolphins to the worlds marine parks and is responsible for the cruel slaughter of thousands of dolphins annually. Salt Water Tears is written around author Len Varleys first-person, eyewitness journal account of events in and around Taiji in the winter of 2010. It is a story that seeks to balance activism and marine conservation with Japanese traditional culture and introduces the reader to an enigmatic and highly intelligent sea dweller, the dolphin. Beyond this a far deeper universal notion resonates: the need for mankind to reconnect and re-harmonise with the natural environment while addressing the pressing dual issues of conservation and sustainabilitybefore it is too late. Weaving an intriguing tale of past and present, author Len Varley tables a deeper understanding of the once deeply spiritual Japanese whaling tradition. He observes its degeneration into present-day commercialism and greed, marred by stark acts of animal cruelty. Varley delivers a compelling expos of the Taiji dolphin drive hunts, powerfully presented against the mysterious backdrop of Japans deep spirituality and superstition, the haunting beauty of its landscape, and the gentle humility and warmth of its people. A must read book for any activist who wants the real story behind the Japanese dolphin slaughter in Taiji. Len's account is both heartbreaking and heart-warming in equal measure. Pete Bethune - Earthrace Conservation Organisation

All my life, I've written these words with no thought or intention of sharing them. Not even with my confidants. These are my most delicate thoughts. The ones that I wrote down just so I could understand what in the world these things I was thinking meant. It wasn't until going through my journals and notebooks that I realized how ready I am to share these secret thoughts. Some of them are painful; some of them are just observations, some silly, some that have affected me so deeply and with such frustration that the only way to express the confusion was to write it down.

Frozen Tears unfolds the events that led to Germany's military invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 and explores Germany's advance on Leningrad and the blockade that was established against the city. This story examines the lives of the city's inhabitants who suffered from the consequences of the siege that finally ended in 1944. By this time more than one million Leningraders had lost their lives. The lives of public figures are often used by historians to tell the events of the past. The decisions they made and the actions that were taken are discussed and analyzed. However, the experiences of commoners--men, women, and children not mentioned in textbooks--often illustrate better the events of the past. In Frozen Tears, Albert Pleysier has taken the contents of diaries, letters, essays, and interviews written or given by persons who lived in Leningrad during the siege and placed them in their historical setting. The result is a very personal history of the siege of Leningrad.