Wilderness Watercolor Landscapes


Book Description

Practice the Art of Watercolor with this Beginner’s Guide to Picturesque Mountains, Lakes, Sunrises and More From a striking Desert Sunset Silhouette to a majestic Icelandic Waterfall to an eye-catching Magical Snowy Forest, watercolor artist Kolbie Blume’s wilderness scenes are the perfect introduction to watercolor painting. Kolbie’s step-by-step instructions make it easy to paint stunning landscapes featuring all of the key elements of wilderness painting and teach you beginner-friendly techniques for colorful skies, mountains, trees, wildflowers, oceans, lakes, and more. Each chapter teaches progressively more advanced elements, allowing you to build upon your skills as you work through the projects. And the final chapter combines all of the elements in breathtaking scenes—like a Glassy Milky Way and an Aurora Glacier Lagoon—that you’ll be proud to hang on your wall or gift to a friend or family member. With all the tips, tricks, and techniques you need to master the basics of watercolor painting and instructions on how to paint every element of nature, this collection of wilderness landscapes is the go-to guide for both beginner painters and more experienced artists looking for new subjects to paint.




The Raven and the Writing Desk


Book Description

As all the readers of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland will know, when Alice sat down (uninvited) at the mad tea party, the Hatter opened his eyes very wide and asked, "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" The riddle is famous because when Alice in turn asked, "What's the answer?" the Hatter replied that he hadn't the faintest idea. It has provoked ingenious possible answers from many great minds, but in this utterly engaging "Enquiry," Francis Huxley has undertaken the first investigation in depth. - Jacket flap.




Copywriting Made Simple


Book Description

Copywriting is writing with purpose. It’s about using words to reach people and change what they think, feel and do. This easy-to-read guide will teach you all the essentials of copywriting, from understanding products, readers and benefits to closing the sale. It’s packed with real-life examples that will show you exactly how the ideas and techniques will work in the real world. And with dozens of useful illustrations and diagrams, Copywriting Made Simple shows you the ideas that other books just talk about. Plus there's a whole chapter of handy tips on writing ads, websites, broadcast media, direct mail, social media and print. Copywriting Made Simple is the perfect introduction to copywriting today. No wonder it hit the #1 spot in Marketing & Sales at Amazon UK, Canada and Australia, and is featured on the BA Advertising course at the University for the Creative Arts. What you’ll learn… Understand the product and its benefits • Pinpoint how the product helps people. • Turn features into benefits and seek out USPs. • Identify tangible and intangible benefits. Get to know your reader • Uncover your reader’s inner fears and desires. • Use empathy to get inside the reader’s feelings. • Decide how your copy will change how they think, feel or act. • Capture your aims in the brief. Engage the reader in your message • Talk to the reader and make your copy more like a conversation. • Use the same words that the reader uses. • Bring the product to life with rich, sensory language. • Make your copy active, positive and specific. Craft compelling copy • Learn eight proven formulas for enticing headlines. • Choose a rock-solid structure. • Create powerful calls to action. Use 20 proven strategies for creative copy • Show the product in a new light. • Use humour, wordplay, metaphors and contrasts. • Turn weakness into strength. Make persuasion and psychology work for you • Learn the six proven principles of persuasion. • Overcome the reader’s objections. • Exploit cognitive biases to nudge the reader into action. What industry experts say… 'Where was this book when I started copywriting? A must for every newbie copywriter (and a few old copy dogs too).' Kate Toon, Co-host of the Hot Copy Podcast 'Impressively thorough without ever losing its rhythm. Deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the copywriting classics.' Ryan Wallman, author of Delusions of Brandeur ‘Tom’s put a lifetime of learning into this book.’ Dave Trott, Creative legend, agency founder and author of Creative Mischief, One and One Make Three and Predatory Thinking ‘From insights gleaned from NLP and psychology to real-world examples of great, effective copy - this is educational, entertaining and energetic. Prepare to dig deep, enjoy and see your results skyrocket!’ Katherine Wildman, Host, The Writing Desk ‘Tom has written the best all-round introduction to copywriting available today.’ Leif Kendall, Director of ProCopywriters, copywriter and author of Brilliant Freelancer ‘I didn’t think you could teach copywriting. Turns out, @tomcopy can. What a terrific book.’ Doug Kessler, Creative Director & Co-founder of Velocity




Stunning Watercolor Seascapes


Book Description

Breathtaking Watercolor Seascapes for the Beginner Painter From ocean sunsets and enchanting woodland lakes to snow-speckled rivers and quiet villages reflected in a serene sea, this outstanding collection of paintings from Kolbie Blume teaches painters of all skill levels to master a range of brilliant waterscapes. Projects like Mountain of a Wave, Through the Fjord, Village by the Sea, Secret Falls and more build your confidence in painting water in all its wild and varied states. The chapters progress in difficulty, with skills building upon each other, helping you to develop and strengthen your abilities as you paint your way through the book. Providing you with all the tips and tricks you need to master the art of painting waterscapes, Kolbie’s approachable step-by-step instructions and helpful hints will guide you from burgeoning beginner to pro painter.




Edward IV and the Wars of the Roses


Book Description

This fascinating account of an unsung English monarch and military leader is “a pleasing and well-informed appraisal of the first Yorkist king” (Dr. Michael Jones, author of Bosworth 1485: Psychology of a Battle). Indisputably the most effective general of the Wars of the Roses in fifteenth-century England, King Edward IV died in his bed, undefeated in battle. Yet he has never been accorded the martial reputation of other English warrior kings such as Henry V. It has been suggested that perhaps he lacked the personal discipline expected of a truly great army commander. But, as the author shows in this perceptive and highly readable new study, Edward was a formidable military leader whose strengths and subtleties have never been fully recognized—perhaps because he fought most of his battles against his own people in a civil war. This reassessment of Edward’s military skill—and of the Wars of the Roses in which he played such a vital part—provides fascinating insight into Edward the man as well as the politician and battlefield commander. Based on contemporary sources and the latest scholarly research, Edward IV and the Wars of the Roses stands as “a valuable and thought-provoking addition to the canon, which ought to become required reading for anyone interested in the reign of the first Yorkist monarch” (The Ricardian).




The Very Last Interview


Book Description

In the spirit of his highly acclaimed and influential book Reality Hunger, David Shields has composed a mordantly funny, relentlessly self-questioning self-portrait based on questions that interviewers have asked him over forty years. David Shields decided to gather every interview he’s ever given, going back nearly forty years. If it was on the radio or TV or a podcast, he transcribed it. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but he knew he wasn’t interested in any of his own answers. The questions interested him—approximately 2,700, which he condensed and collated to form twenty-two chapters focused on such subjects as Process, Childhood, Failure, Capitalism, Suicide, and Comedy. Then, according to Shields, “the real work began: rewriting and editing and remixing the questions and finding a through-line.” The result is a lacerating self-demolition in which the author—in this case, a late-middle-aged white man—is strangely, thrillingly absent. As Chuck Klosterman says, “The Very Last Interview is David Shields doing what he has done dazzlingly for the past twenty-five years: interrogating his own intellectual experience by changing the meaning of what seems both obviously straightforward and obviously wrong.” Shields’s new book is a sequel of sorts to his seminal Reality Hunger: A Manifesto, which Literary Hub recently named one of the most important books of the last decade. According to Kenneth Goldsmith, “Just when you think Shields couldn’t rethink and reinvent literature any further, he does it again. The Very Last Interview confirms Shields as the most dangerously important American writer since Burroughs.”




The Wedding Dress


Book Description

Hidden away for years in a trunk welded shut, one wedding dress ties four brides together across time in their hour of decision. As Charlotte unravels the mystery of the dress and its prior owners, her own heart begins to reveal its truth. Charlotte owns a chic Birmingham bridal boutique. Dressing brides for their big day is her gift—and her passion. But with her own wedding day approaching, why can’t she find the perfect dress—or feel certain she should marry Tim? Then Charlotte purchases a vintage dress in a battered trunk at an estate sale. It looks brand-new, shimmering with pearls and satin, hand-stitched and timeless in its design. But where did it come from? Who wore it? Charlotte’s search for the gown’s history—and its new bride—begins as a distraction from her sputtering love life. But it takes on a life of its own as she comes to know the women who have worn the dress. Emily from 1912. Mary Grace from 1939. Hillary from 1968. Each with something unique to share. For woven within the threads of the beautiful hundred-year-old gown is the truth about Charlotte’s heritage, the power of courage and faith, and the beauty of finding true love. From?New York Times?bestseller and award-winning author Rachel Hauck comes a timeless tale of truth love and hearts desires. Multiple POV and timelines A clean and wholesome no spice romance with religious undertones Perfect for book clubs - featuring reading group discussion questions An excellent gift for birthdays, Christmas and holidays, or other occasions




Thomas Jefferson's Writing Desk


Book Description

With the Declaration of Independence, the 13 colonies in America declared their independence from Great Britain. Virginian Thomas Jefferson, later the third president of the United States, was chosen to write it. But did he write every word? Did anyone help him? What are the differences between his first draft and the document signed by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776? Readers will discover the answers to these questions and find out more about the desk Jefferson designed and at which he wrote this important document.




Elizabeth I (Penguin Monarchs)


Book Description

'The experience of insecurity, it turned out, would shape one of the most remarkable monarchs in England's history' In the popular imagination, as in her portraits, Elizabeth I is the image of monarchical power. But this image is as much armour as a reflection of the truth. In this illuminating account of England's iconic queen, Helen Castor reveals her reign as shaped by a profound and enduring insecurity that was a matter of both practical politics and personal psychology.




Into the Wilderness


Book Description

Deborah Lee Luskin's critically acclaimed love story, Into the Wilderness, follows Rose Mayer after she has just buried her second husband and wonders what she's going to do with the rest of her life. The year is 1964, and Rose is no longer a young woman. Reluctantly, she visits her son at his summer place in Vermont, where there are neither sidewalks, Democrats nor other Jews. There is, however, the Marlboro Music Festival. It's there that she meets Percy Mendell, a born and bred Vermonter who has never married, never voted for a Democrat, and never left the state.Both Rose and Percy confront habits of a lifetime, habits that interfere with their undeniable attraction to one another. Rose confronts her religious ignorance and spiritual beliefs, while Percy is forced to question his life-long political faith. All this takes place in the small Vermont town of Orton, (pop. 290). Into the Wilderness is a tale of the outsider infiltrating a new community and how all parties negotiate their differences. It's also a tale of rural Vermont at mid-century, a time when the major technological advance was the Interstate highway, a road-building project that changed rural America as much as the information highway is changing the world today.Readers routinely say, "I didn't want it to end but I couldn't put it down." Into The Wilderness has been hailed as "a fiercely intelligent love story" and "a perfectly gratifying read.""Into the Wilderness is a poignant description of a specific placebut it is also a timeless story of human fulfillment," says Frank Bryan of UVM. "Luskin's heroine Rose Mayer is an honest to God miracle. Rarely has a fictional creation come to seem so perfectly real to me, and never have I cheered out loud as a character in a novel worked her way through the last stages of grief," adds author Philip Baruth.Deborah Lee Luskin often writes about Vermont, where she has lived since 1984. She is a commentator for Vermont Public Radio, a free-lance journalist, and a Visiting Scholar for the Vermont Humanities. Into The Wilderness is her first published novel.