The Interview Award-winning Screenwriter Nitara Osbourne Writer, director, and producer Nitara Osbourne is known for her contributions to the film industry (Her film Running On Empty Dreams is in worldwide distribution) But did you know that she also commits huge chunks of her time helping others achieve their dreams in the industry? Read this interview to find out even more about this fascinating role model.
because I had the liberty of making up so many fun stories. Once I got to college, I soon realized that Journalism isn't creating fun and exciting stories, but rather it's about reporting the news. There's nothing exciting about that in my opinion. However, I suppose some reporters do make up content for a good story. It's just not the same thing, though, nor does it sound ethical. It was December 1997 when I was sitting in the movie theater in New Orleans, Louisiana watching the film Scream 2 that I realized I wanted to be a screenwriter. Yes, a horror film inspired me. The irony is that I'm not a horror film writer. I'm a dramatic screenwriter, but somehow that film, that night, would change my life forever.
WHAT WAS GROWING UP LIKE FOR YOU?
I grew up in a few different places. I lived in Maryland (right outside of D.C.), Panama, Venezuela, and Costa Rica from the time I was a baby to about the age of 7 years old. After returning back to the United States, I remember one of the first films that my family and I watched together in the theater. It was the film Gremlins. Funny, scary, and charming all rolled into one. I suppose my love for film started with that film.
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF... WHERE ARE YOU FROM, WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER, ETC.
I was born in Washington, D.C., but I grew up around the world because my parents were American diplomats who worked in the foreign service. My dad was an Economist in the Foreign Agriculture Service, and one of his assignments brought our family to Cairo, Egypt. What I wanted to do when I grew up was to become a Sports Medicine physician because I loved sports, helping people, and thought that it would be a rewarding career all around. However, by my senior year of high school, I knew that I wanted to be a writer. I had a ton of fun writing for my high school newspaper
My parents had my little brother just before we returned to the United States from Costa Rica. Once we were back in the States and started "growing up" together, my brother and I were pretty close. We rode bikes together, spent time watching movies with our Mom and Dad, we loved missing school due to snow days, and enjoyed every single Christmas holiday. We were a pretty close family and still are. After 7th grade, I moved to Cairo, Egypt due to my Dad's job. We ended up staying over there until I graduated from high school. Spending my teen years over there was interesting. I went to Cairo American College, which was a school that ranged from Kindergarten through 12th grade. It felt and looked like a college campus, but with all the fun and life experiences of high school. I ran Track & Field and played Basketball. Participating in those sports defined who I am today. I learned discipline, goal-setting, and learned how to work hard. I made the traveling teams for these sports, which allowed me to travel to Greece, Austria, and England.
WHO INFLUENCED YOUR LIFE WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP?
My parents influenced my life the most because they instilled in me an ethical compass that I've carried around with me my entire life. It constantly points me in the right direction. They taught me how to treat others, how to apologize when I'm wrong, how to go after what I want, and through their example, how to love.
WHAT WERE YOUR AMBITIONS? There was a point when I dreamed about running Track in the Olympics. However, by the time I graduated high school and went to college, my main interest was all about writing. The desire to run was no longer there. Writing became an allencompassing desire, and it only increased in intensity when I narrowed my writing down to screenwriting. After I completed my first featurelength film as a writer, director, and producer, I then desired to help others achieve their screenwriting goals. This is why I went back to college to get my Master's degree in order to teach Screenwriting at the college level.
DID YOU EVER FEEL YOU WEREN'T GOING TO MAKE IT? HOW DID YOU GET OVER THAT? Now that I am a working screenwriter/filmmaker and college professor, I'm proud of having reached the goals that I've worked so hard to achieve. However, as a screenwriter and even as an educator, I constantly feel like what I'm doing is never enough. I feel that I have to constantly prove myself in both professions, so I feel like I'm in a perpetual cycle of "making it." I'm not sure what "making it" means any longer. It seems to have a different definition depending on who is asked. Anyway, I continue to work through obstacles the best that I can by creating new plans to reach the same goals that I've always had. What keeps me going is my love for writing and teaching and my belief in my abilities to do both to the best of my ability.
HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH SETBACKS?
Sometimes not so well. Lol. Sometimes there are tears and frustration. I'm human. Disappointment tends to set in very quickly after a huge rejection. If I experience a rejection within my field of Education, I think about how I can teach students in my own way or I might reach out to former students to see how I can help move them forward. This is the reason my blog was launched back in February of this year. Even though I was rejected from a teaching position that I just "knew" I was going to get, I turned my disappointment into teaching others through my blog.
If I get a rejection as a writer, I immediately begin to evaluate where I am on my career path and look at the other projects that I'm currently pursuing. I never have just ONE PROJECT that I'm actively pursuing at any given time for this very reason. I have to be able to accept rejection on one opportunity, and then be able to turn around immediately to place all of my time and energy into a project that I have complete control over so that I can feel empowered. This is how I move forward, and this is how I avoid being sucked into a black hole of despair that I can't pull myself out of. Empowerment is the cure, the solution.
NAME 3 ACHIEVEMENTS YOU'RE MOST PROUD OF. 1. Raising my son into a respectable person, who is now 18 and just completed his freshman year of college. 2. Writing, Directing, and Producing my feature film and winning 3 Telly Awards for it. 3. Getting my Master's degree in Education and teaching Screenwriting at the college level just 4 months after earning that degree.
WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT REASON THAT YOU ACHIEVED THEM AND WHY? 1. With my son, the reason he is who he is because his father and I led by example as he was growing up. He saw strong work ethic and goal setting with us. 2. With my feature length film, the reason that I achieved completing it is because of my belief in the project, belief in myself, and the awesome team of people that surrounded me. 3. With earning my Master's degree, the reason that I accomplished this achievement is because of my willingness to learn and the desire to help others to help themselves.
WHAT MOTIVATES YOU NOW? To see my goals come to fruition. It's exciting to see the words that I write come to life in the form of a film project.
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE FUTURE?
I want to have several feature films and web series' produced that millions of loyal online viewers and fans enjoy and are positively impacted by. I want to own all rights to all of my work and have complete creative control of these projects.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEBODY IF THEY WERE STRUGGLING TO ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS?
Write your goals down, create and write down a plan to achieve them, execute the plan, if the plan fails, create another plan, and keep moving
DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING COMING UP THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO PROMOTE?
towards your goal without changing your goal in the process. entrepreneur. A new blog post is released EVERY Tuesday!
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The Interview
What were your ambitions?
Welsh champion boxer Charlene Jones
Ever since I stepped into a boxing gym my ambition was just to do well and make something of myself
Did you ever feel you weren't going to make it? How did you get over that? I haven't made it YET
How do you deal with setbacks now? Very positive now I just bury them and focus on the next goal.
Name 3 achievements you're most proud of. Becoming the international boxer that I am today. Boxing in Commonwealth games for my country And becoming the person that I am today.
Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where you are from, what you wanted to do when you were younger etc. Hi my names Charlene Jones and I live in Pembrokeshire south West Wales, when I was younger I always wanted to be a police woman.
What was growing up like for you? I had a good upbringing and very good childhood my parents always did their absolute best no matter what.
Who influenced your life when you were growing up? I would say my dad influenced me whilst growing up.
What do you think was the most important reason that you achieved them and why? I wanted to be successful and become better.
What motivates you now? The setbacks I have had previously motivates me because I no I'm 50 percent better than previous performances and it motivates me to prove it also.
What are you goals for the future? My next goal and what I'm focusing on in gold coast commonwealth games not to compete in them but 2 win the gold medal there.
What advice would you give somebody if they were struggling to achieve their goals? You will.always face setbacks and it does bring
you down and sometimes you feel like quitting. But stick at it work hard and good thing will happen stay positive.
Do you have anything coming up you'd like to promote? I'm boxing end of month in the British championships and will bring back gold
The Interview Winner of Pure Elite and Body Transformation Coach Chris Robinson
Recently I had the opportunity to interview professional bodybuilder, Chris Robinson. The dedication and discipline needed to excel in this profession, which this Mr. Robinson has done, is impressive. However, it is his profession combined with the other facets of his life that are truly fascinating.
wasn't interested in anything but History, Geography, Football and Rugby. I wanted to join the Armed forces but was unsure of which one. At 16, I was on the verge of joining the navy but pulled out as I thought I was too young. I started an apprenticeship as a welder and did that for 3 years, I got very bored doing the same thing each day and being honest, I was a terrible welder. So, after I’d done that for a while, I felt I was ready to try the forces again, so I re-applied for the navy and signed up in Nov 2001!!
What was growing up like for you? I had a wonderful childhood, never wanted for anything, and my parents brought me up to be respectful and to always remain humble no matter what, traits that I live by to this day! I was always active and playing sports, though I was a shy kid. Once I got to know someone I opened up to them, and I'm still like that today!
Who influenced your life when you were growing up? I always looked at Footballers as icons as people to look up to. It wasn't until I was much older that I began to look at people in the fitness industry as role models! I am a big Middlesbrough FC fan, so loved the whole team and liked players such as Gazza, though looking back he probably wasn't the best role model!
What were your ambitions? My main ambition was to travel and see as much of the world as possible, I spent 13 years in the Navy and saw a lot of the world and loved every minute!
Tell us a little bit about yourself.. Where you are from, what you wanted to do when you were younger etc. I was born in Middlesbrough and was educated at Kings Manor. I wasn't the best student and really
Along with that, I wanted to progress as much as I could in the Navy and go on to complete my 22 years. Unfortunately, an injury and bodged operation stopped that dream!
Did you ever feel you weren't going to make it? How did you get over that?
What do you think was the most important reason that you achieved them and why?
When I was discharged from the Navy, I felt totally lost. I had no idea what I was going to do, I'm not very hands on and can't handle sitting still for too long so was worried about my future.
]I'm actually afraid to fail. I want to be successful for one reason, so when my with and I settle down with children I know they will be secure and won't have to worry about anything.
I'd overcome a few things in my time whilst in the Navy. Not only had I lost weight, but I also went from being extremely unfit to getting in great shape after finding a new love for weight training. so it felt natural to follow my passion into the fitness industry,
It's not about winning the trophies, though, it's about showing people that hard work pays off; you bust your gut, and you will be rewarded. Never quit or doubt yourself for a second, you could be on the verge of something amazing just before you give up.
I've never doubted my ability as a personal trainer. I strive to improve each and every day and also spend hours on end building my knowledge base.
What motivates you now?
Once I got into competing there were tough times. Dieting down for a show is one of the most difficult things you can do, people have no idea of the sacrifices you have to make and how disciplined you need to be, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love the challenge of pushing my body to its limits.
How do you deal with setbacks now? Simple, I think about what I did, where I went wrong, and I make sure I don't make the same mistakes again. I've done 7 shows and 6 of these I made mistakes that cost me. Each time I rectified that mistake and improved, until finally on the 7th attempt I made no mistakes and won my first show. I could have easily given up but wanted it too much to quit. I knew all I needed to do was keep grinding. Hard work beats talent every time!
Name 3 achievements you're most proud of. 1. My everyday achievements of helping people change their lives around and show them that they are capable of anything they put their mind to. 2. Stepping on stage for my first show and not freaking out with nervousness!. 3. Finally winning my first show. It proved to me that when I set a goal and want something, I will achieve it!
Simply being the best version of me I can be and knowing I have the love and support of my amazing wife, who pushes me to better every day.
What are you goals for the future? We plan to build our business and move towards building up a brand of our own so people know us rather than just a company name. We are moving south to High Wycombe so there will be more opportunity to grow, and develop. This move will enable us to build our fitness empire as big as we want!
What advice would you give somebody if they were struggling to achieve their goals? Know the reason why you are setting the goal and why you want to achieve it. If it is for anything other than yourself, then you will struggle. Never do it for other’s opinions or to make them feel better towards you. More importantly, know how you will maintain what you have achieved and not go backwards.
Do you have anything coming up you'd like to promote? I'm taking a year out from competing to focus on my business with my wife, train harder to improve my physique and spend some quality time with my wife as our time together outside the gym has been limited recently! The next time I step on stage will be the WBFF in May 2017
that had passed in 2011. I couldn’t cope with my life any longer. I cut myself and took an entire bottle of medication. I sat on the floor and sobbed. My husband was at work, and through text messages, he sensed something was very wrong. He came home and took me to the ER. I stayed in the hospital on suicide watch for five days. I was then told that the state was having me committed. I was hauled off by ambulance to the most God forsaken place I have ever seen. I spent the next 4 days in a terrible excuse for a hospital.
Rebecca Lombardo was diagnosed
with bipolar disorder at the tender age of 19. Since that time, she has had many struggles with depression, including a suicide attempt. Through hard work, determination and dedication she has been able to control her condition. In 2015, she became a published author when her book based on her blog was published. Now she sharing her story with us. I was 19 years old when I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. From that point forward, life was a struggle. My moods were up, down, and back up again. I never knew what to expect. In my late 20’s, I decided that I wanted to take my life. In the end, I just couldn’t do it. However, I did succeed in teaching myself how to use self-injury as a coping mechanism. After being committed twice and losing every job I ever had, I had no clue where my life was headed. I would date here and there, and inevitably I was dumped due to my illness. Abusive relationships soon followed. By the grace of God, I met a good man, and we were married in August of 2001. He was there for me when nobody else would take the risk. My husband and I bought our first house in 2006, and we moved back to my old neighborhood. We were close to my parents, and I was happy. Things changed drastically when my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer in September of 2007. I promised her I would be at her side for everything, and I was. She passed away in January of 2008, and my life fell to pieces. I was filled with grief that I was unable to overcome. In summer of 2013, depression hit me like a brick. I tried to ignore it. I had better things to do. I wasn’t going through this crap again. Unfortunately, there is no stopping it. You can’t run from the pain. After a series of unfortunate events had left me feeling like a gigantic failure, I decided it was time to go. For real this time. I missed my mom and my brother
Walking out of that hellhole, I knew my life was going to change. I swore never to take another razor blade to my skin. I promised myself that I would never put my husband or my family through any of that again. I would do the work. I would take my medication and do whatever I needed to do to fight this battle. I decided that if I told my story, it might help people. By helping others, I knew I would be helping myself. So, I started writing again. It had been a passion of mine since I was a child, and I was grateful to finally find my voice again. My blog became a book, and it was published in August of 2015! I am now a month shy of three years clean from self-injury. Even though my life is going much better, I need to be realistic. I will never be cured, and medication will forever be a part of my life. I am OK with that. If anyone I know isn’t, I don’t need them in my life. I’m taking care of myself for the first time. I lost a lot of friends and even family members because of my suicide attempt. There are people that consider me selfish. I’m here to tell you that suicide has nothing to do with being selfish. Having bipolar disorder doesn’t make you selfish. I only hope that anyone reading this understands the repercussions of attempting suicide. It’s terrifying to remember the events of that summer. I will never forget the look of pain and fear on my husband’s face. I’m just sorry that it took me almost dying to start finally living. At 43 years old, I’m living proof that you can succeed despite your disability. It will take a lot of work, and you will feel like giving up. Don’t get in your own way.
SURVIVING BLENHEIM By Tim Walker Life is full of uncertainties. One day you have a great job, a family, and your health and the next it could all be gone. That’s basically what happened to Tim Walker. He lost everything during his threeyear battle with cancer. Although he won that battle, many would wonder if it was worth it. For Tim Walker, it must definitely was. He is now an author and blogger, so not only is he living the next chapter of his life, he is writing it as well. All hail the Blenheim Neck and Head Clinic! They have surely prolonged my wretched life. Named after the nearby home of the Churchill family, Blenheim Palace, near Oxford, given by a grateful Nation to Winston Churchill’s illustrious ancestor, the Duke of Marlborough, after his famous victory over the French at the battle of Blenheim in 1704. The battle now is against terminal illness at this efficient, modern clinic specializing in the treatment of neck and head cancers. It is May 2016, and I am awaiting a date for reconstructive surgery on my head. My ongoing three-year battle against skin cancer (squamous cell carcinoma) is reaching a tired conclusion. After radiotherapy, the cancer was defeated; however the war has left me scarred, with donor patches of red rectangles on my thigh and upper arm from where skin grafts have been taken, and with a hole in my cranium about the size of a large coin. I have just received a letter from the noble plastic surgeon who, in the company of a leading neurosurgeon, performed the procedure to cut away the infected part of the bone from my cranium, or skull, covering it with my skin flap, neatly sewn back onto my head with stitches on three sides. Yes, it could make a good cartoon – simply cut a square flap of skin, lift it up and then delve into the mush and gore above the bone, clearing it away to analyse and identify that portion of the bone that has been fatally infected with a potentially deadly osteomyelitis, and cut it away. Successful, yes, but the campaign is incomplete. I have requested that they go back in and put some form of protective covering over the said hole, as it is surely a risk to be going about one’s business with a hole in the top of the skull, offering a strategic weak point in the defensive wall protecting my delicate brain. The Duke of Marlborough would surely concur.
Frustratingly, the letter does not offer a procedure date, as it is a copy of a summary letter sent to my General Practitioner (GP). I quote: “It was a pleasure today to see Timothy Walker in the outpatient clinic. He has finished his course of antibiotics with no sign of recurrence of infection in his cranium. His wounds have healed well, and there is no irritation, there is no erythema, and I am happy with this progress. It has now been several weeks since he stopped his six-week course of post-operative antibiotic. He now has a defect in his cranium which he would like reconstructed. We certainly would like to do this as soon as possible in view of the size of the defect which is about 7-8cms in diameter… at an appropriate time, to be scheduled, when we can insert a titanium mesh.” I love the matter-of-fact language of the medical profession. To them, an everyday medical procedure or problem, to be approached in a formal, planned manner. To me, the patient, a matter of life or death. Any soldier at the Battle of Blenheim unlucky enough to have had a hole in their head would almost certainly have died of their wounds. If not from the hole itself (and the object that made it) then from the ugly specter of infection. These days, medical science has moved ahead, and marvels can be performed in the operating theatre, keeping people alive who years earlier would have died. I am almost a lucky one… lucky when I have a titanium mesh inserted between skin and bone, covering the offending hole, without any infection or rejection of the foreign object by my body… My life has descended into one of helplessly waiting for the next procedure. I now live alone in a one bedroom flat, surveying the wreckage of my life. My former life as a business owner, employer, husband and father is pretty much a receding spec in the rear view mirror. I even made a photo book of my first 50 years, called 50 Not Out, as a reminder to myself that I once did have a life. In fairness, I did it out of fear that I was losing my memory after my first lengthy stay in hospital in 2012, and as a prompt for writing my memoir sometime in the future. In essence, I have created my own reference book for my life story, not bad, eh? I have since thought that no one, baring my perplexed daughter, would be remotely interested in reading about my life, and have sidelined it in favour of the world of imagination – creative writing. Too much introspection is not healthy, but I feel I have now
boxed it off and can get on with the business of living. And, by a circuitous route, this has brought me to the circumstances of my writing and selfpublishing my first novel, Devil Gate Dawn. This went up on Amazon Kindle in April 2016 to a resounding whimper, a deafening silence of indifference, as it now sits with over 3 million other low price e-books on Amazon’s swelling database. I have spent approximately £200 on getting it to market, and virtually nothing on promotion. The largest part of this was professional proofreading and copy editing – an essential stage in my view. I designed my own book cover but then paid a modest amount through fiverr.com for a graphic designer to give it the required professional touch, and provide a rights paid image. Nearly two years in the writing, it started its life as a weekly blog series, The Life of George. It then was taken down after about nine months, and I read it with despair – a disjointed and tangential mess cobbled together storyline mixed with sociopolitical rants. I was making it up as I went along and spicing it with angry reactions to political issues that got up my nose. How could I ever turn it into a coherent novel? I became aware of a relatively new website – chanillo.com – who allowed authors to put their novels, memoirs or short stories up chapter by chapter, building a book over a period of time. This was perfect for me, I thought, as I could sort out the mess that is George’s jumbled story chapter by chapter over a ten month period. This I did, setting myself a goal of putting up one chapter per month. My typical chapter length is about 4,000 words, each subdivided into four sections or scenes. These sections were largely embellishments of my weekly blog posts. I had to impose a bit of retrospective order on this mess, and wrote a character list, with brief one line descriptions, and a plot summary to act as a reference guide. Subplots were added in, such as George’s daughter Essie’s adventure in New York, returning with a new and mysterious boyfriend. I then decided to develop the character of his other child, the teenage boy becoming a young man, Derrick, adding in a spot of bother for Del with a local gang. I also developed George’s love interest, his neighbour Sunny, to give him a family life swirling around his battle with the Anti-Poverty League terror group. The other sub-plot, King Charles III, followed, and a new ending was written.
After it had become a complete book on chanillo, I closed my account and took it down, planning to make further revisions and send it to be proofread and copy edited. My copyeditor helped to further mould it into a credible novel, pointing out plot holes or weaknesses and making good suggestions. The writing was firmed up and made consistent, and errors removed. It was starting to take shape, but before I put it up on Kindle, I touted around my modest social media following for Beta Readers to read and feedback. This process yielded two very useful and enthusiastic ladies who gave valuable feedback that resulted in further changes. I then became aware of the Amazon Scout programme for exposing new novels by emerging indie authors and read their rules with interest. Novels should be proofread, unpublished and over 50,000 words. Well, mine just scraped over this lower limit, weighing in at 51,700. I decide to submit it. I was accepted, and it was exposed for a 30-day period between March-April. It yielded a total of 320 ‘reads’ of the 5,000-word opening extract. Whether all these ‘reads’ translated to ‘nominations’ towards winning a publishing deal, I do not know. At the end of the promotion period, Amazon politely thanked me for taking part and informed me that I had not been selected for a publishing deal. Rats. However, they did undertake to email all those who had nominated my book once it went ‘live’ on Kindle. Okay, this was something. And so this was how a chronically ill man, fighting skin cancer, managed to write and self-publish a novel. Is it any good? Let others be the judge. I have persevered with it and invested in making it as good as I can and have set the price at the lowest level allowed by Amazon at the 70% commission rate for authors - $2.99/£2.10. I launched it with a free download promotion that ran for two days, yielding a total of 78 units ‘sold’. I’m hoping some of those will convert to positive reviews. Now I’ve returned to an earlier project – A Light in the Dark Ages – something that appeals to my love of history, as I can enjoy both the researching of historical facts and feed them into a made-up story. Life comes in episodes that can be forced on you by external factors – health, displacement, bad luck – and your resilience is tested. In my case, I am lucky that I had a crutch to reach to when my physical and mental health were teetering on the brink. That crutch was writing about it, what was happening to me and why. When I got this out of my system, I moved on to short stories, blogging
and then novel writing. Here I am, shouting into the wind of social media. Can anyone hear me? I’m alive, and I’ve got something to say!
A CATHARTIC JOURNEY Sometimes out of great pain, the need to create a change grows! Construction Developer reconstructs his path after tragedy strikes. John Duffy was on the endless treadmill we all seem to gravitate to these days. Basically, he was just one of the many who slave away 10 hours or more a day, seven days a week just to afford all the material possessions society mandates we have in order to be considered successful. However, all this changed in 2008. John had been made aware that his father had been coughing up blood. As it just so happened, he was working on a property where the client just happened to in the plasma blood department at National Health Service (NHS) when he found out. This prompted him to ask the client and her husband, a Biology lecturer at Leeds University their opinions. They both recommended immediate consult with the doctor. The diagnosis wasn’t good. Although the family tried various treatments, which included multiple trips to Weston Park in Sheffield, it the outcome was inevitable. So, the family took their father back to his home, his retreat from the rest of the world, to live out his final days. To ensure he was comfortable, the received nurse service. The nurses were great. Not only did the provide medical comfort, their compassion, and cheerful personalities created a positive atmosphere that was noticeable to all who visited. However, regardless of how wonderful these nurses were, they couldn’t change what was to be. John Duffy’s father passed away due to the terminal illness. Afterwards, John went through the normal internal examination one goes through when dealing with grief. But then something else happened. He has an overwhelming urge to do something, to give back. His younger brother was struggling as well, so John decided to do some research on Google. The first thing John took note of was the KüblerRoss model or The Five Stages of Grief. The five stages are: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.
He immediately started trying to figure out how to bypass the first four stages. A few sites offered hope but also had outrageous price tags. After quite a bit of research, John realized a common thread to all the bereavement sites he’d visit. Although the end result product was important, it was the whole process of getting there which helped the most. Being immersed in a project, selecting the photographs and in doing so, opening memories connected to a treasured moment, helps to slowly replace the darkness grief with memories filled with love, which in turn, help to disengage from all the negative emotions involved. A simplified form of catharsis. In 2012, he launched Timeless Memories on Facebook in 2012 which can be viewed at www.facebook.com/amoursouthyorkshire1 John Duffy still wasn’t satisfied. He wanted to do more, so he did. He launched a business, Amour South Yorkshire, which not only helps the public re-create memories of their departed loved ones on various products, they also donate a portion of their proceeds to charity.
DON’T STOP... LEARNING! Linda Marie Gilliam taught elementary school for over 40 years. Once she retired she thought her teaching days were behind her, but she was wrong. Linda Marie Gilliam is now teaching compassion and empathy through her new Children’s book series. When Linda Marie Gilliam retired from elementary school teaching after 40 years of service she honestly believed her, teaching days were behind her. However, fate played a hand in teaching her the most important lessons of all, learning never stops and once a teacher, always a teacher. When she turned seventy, Ms. Gilliam longstanding dream of owning a horse came true when she got Phenom Pharaoh, a nineteen-yearold retired racehorse, which was a legacy. He is the great-grandson of Seattle Slew and Secretariat. And while Phenom Pharaoh’s lineage may be impressive, people are talking about him for a completely different reason these days; his unlikely friendship with a barnyard cat. Linda observed this relationship develop between Phenom Pharaoh (the horse) and Moogli (the cat) in the days and weeks since the horse arrived. She had long wished she could find a way to
share this level of compassion and empathy with the students she taught. One day as she was watching the horse and the cat, who Linda Marie Gilliam refers to as best friends, she grabbed her camera and just started taking pictures. Once they were developed, Linda could clearly see the best way to put them to good use. She used the photographs to create a Children’s book. Moogli and Me: Our Magical Adventure explores this rare relationship in a fun and educational way. Not only will children of all ages (adults include) love looking at the photographs of the real animals, kids will love that the dialogue appears to be coming from the animals too.
To pick up your copy of Moogli and Me: Our Magical Adventure, please visit: US Paperback Kindle
UK Paperback Kindle
Proceeds go toward St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital!