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Happy New Year 2013: two new titles to usher in the year

Post date: Jan 02, 2013 11:54:17 AM

We would like to extend to all of our friends and followers our very best wishes for the New Year, and success in all of your endeavours. For our part, we are pleased to be starting into the new year in the spirit and stride that we intend to continue: by bringing you the best in independently published literature - fiction, non-fiction, poetry and prose.

Already we are off to a flying start with the publication of two new titles, by authors who are making their book publishing debut but who each have a wealth of experience, literary and storytelling talent behind them. Their books are available to buy now from our ever-expanding online catalogue as well as in certain bookshops (ask about it if it's not in stock).

A Stunning Debut

The Echo of a Troubled Soul is work of contemporary fiction by Nigerian born, Irish-based author Joy C. Agwu. It is a story that remains uplifting and humorous even as it deals with themes of tragedy, loss and soul-searching adventures. It brings together four individuals (Tom, Jane, Nora, Larry) from apparently disparate and unconnected backgrounds, whose lives and destinies are nevertheless intertwined. As the full story reveals itself, we see how they begin to unlock the door to their future happiness, from the moment they take it upon themselves, for entirely unselfish reasons, to shoulder each others burdens.

Tom is a man "consumed with grief, life no longer means anything to him. Like a dead man walking he goes in search of comfort and companionship and, unfortunately, finds them in alcohol. However this turns out to be the wrong step in the right direction."

Themes of family and community are explored. At one point Jane remarks upon "a constant question in my heart and the question still remains - what is a family?":

As far as I know, no one has satisfied me with an answer to that question. When I was at university in Lagos, a boy in my department said a family involves a wider network that includes parents, brothers and sisters, uncles, aunts and grandparents, while others say that a family is a social construction, consisting of parents and their offspring. During our youth service, Nora, remember we interviewed some of those boys that live on the streets of Lagos and Abuja, and they had a different view of a family? They said that your family is made up of the people around you, the ones that are happy with you, and are willing to accept you; that it does not mean that your family is your parents and your siblings, because your parents may not be there for you in times of trouble, but your friends may be; so I think it is people that care for you that make up your family.'

The Echo of a Troubled Soul is a story with an overriding theme of redemption on the road to recovery; a state which is ultimately achieved when we accept our fate. Because in the end "we are like writing pencils in the eyes of the almighty, and he can clean us up whenever it pleases him."

The Echo of a Troubled Soul by Joy C. Agwu is published by The Manuscript Publisher. ISBN 978-0-9571157-6-7.

It is available to buy in all good bookshops as well as online. Recommended Retail Price €7.99 plus P&P.

A Roadmap for Our Life that is Ahead

Charting Your Life's Roadmap in an Uncertain World: Choose Happiness Daily by Nuala Duignan is a book that will interest anyone who believes that New Year is the ideal time to "reflect on your achievements, celebrate your wins and consider your goals for the coming year and beyond." But it is not just a book for this time of year. Really it is one of those books that is intended to serve as a companion on our life's journey: for each and every time that we find ourselves at one of those junctions that require a change in general direction, in terms of our goals, aspirations, ambitions, and so on.

Nuala Duignan is a qualified Life Coach whose expertise in this area is drawn as much from her own background and experiences, as from her professional training in this field. Born and raised on a farm in Co. Roscommon, she had a varied career (running her own catering business, working in construction and hospitals, both general and psychiatric) before she took up Life Coaching. She says that it was her experience in the medical field that motivated her to pursue Life Coaching as a career. She now uses her accumulated work experiences and coaching skills to help move individuals, from where they are currently to where they want to reach.

In Charting Your Life's Roadmap ... she talks about the self-inhibiting factors that prevent us from achieving our true potential for happiness in our lives. She says that 'our attitude' is essentially our 'window on the world' and it is also within our self-control. She talks about how to build self-esteem, how to overcome worry patterns, conquer our fears and move from negative to positive thinking.

Many of us are unhappy in our lives because we find ourselves doing jobs we don't particularly care for; part of a 'doing culture' rather than an 'act of being'. Nuala talks about 'the work that we were born to do'. This means Finding Your Passion in life and making that your overriding objective. She gives practical insight and advice on matters such as redundancy, self-employment, entrepreneurship, time management, customer care, coping with workplace stresses, etc.

The book is interspersed with testimonials from people that Nuala has worked with in her capacity as a Life Coach. It also contains words of advice in the form of quotations from famous people and historical figures - Martin Luther King, Michael Caine, Theodore Roosevelt, Judy Garland, Henry Ford, George Elliot to name but a few.

Charting Your Life's Roadmap in an Uncertain World: Choose Happiness Daily by Nuala Duignan is published by The Manuscript Publisher. ISBN: 978-0-9571157-7-4.

It is available to buy in all good bookshops as well as online. Recommended Retail Price €12.99 plus P&P.

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The Manuscript Publisher offers professional and affordable services to authors and writers interested in getting their work published through printed and non-printed means. Talk to us today about how we can help you with your publishing project. You can even Get a Quote online. Our services cover the entire spectrum of the publishing process including manuscript preparation, print management, e-book conversion, sales and marketing support.