A humorous & helpful guide to bouncing back from job loss and figuring out the next step in your career path. Unfortunately, unemployment is on the rise—leaving many people anxious about how to recreate themselves and renew their careers after being fired. This fresh, funny, and smart guide will be their life saver, providing them with the information they need to thrive even in this tight economic environment. It will help jobseekers and prospective entrepreneurs figure out what they really want to do next, understand the changing job market, and find work in growth areas such as green technology. Personal interviews with workers who changed their lives after getting laid off—and who are now doing what they love—offer additional inspiration. There’s also advice on retraining, freelancing and independent contracting, and Internet marketing options, as well as a chapter devoted specifically to women. Praise for Thank You for Firing Me! “This funny and energetic guidebook for the recently (or repeatedly) fired. . . . begins with a sympathetic but no-nonsense plan for picking yourself up after you’ve lost a job, and moves swiftly into the brainstorming and planning necessary to start the next—and more satisfying—career. . . . Advice on finding community and places to get help and a plethora of resources elevate this cheerful, encouraging book into an invaluable resource.” —Publishers Weekly

The year was 1864. The freezing winds off Lake Michigan swept across the snow laden grounds and through the cracks of a building that held Southern prisoners in Camp Douglas, Illinois. Huddled with the other prisoners, John mulled over the reasons he had enlisted, even after his father had forbidden it. He knew the only real reason was to protect his best friend Frankie, who had enlisted first but never even bothered to show up at the station when the recruits left for war. Shivering, he wondered if he would ever see his family again or especially the girl he had loved since childhood. John realized that nothing but an act of God could deliver him from this hell on earth. Includes Readers Guide.

From stand-up comedian, actress, and host of The Netflix Afterparty, London Hughes, comes an uplifting and raucously funny memoir to show you how to ditch the self-loathing, start the self-loving, and engage with your inner winner. London Hughes has come a long way from secretly writing Frasier fan fiction alone in her bedroom. Between her breakout Netflix comedy special, To Catch a D*ck, her dating podcast “London, Actually,” and her award-winning TV performances, London the South Londoner has taken the entertainment world by storm. And now, in this sassy, brash, fearless, and funny memoir, London is ready to inspire women of all ages and races with her story—because London is absolutely the best person in the whole wide world to take you on a wild journey of self-discovery. As she herself puts it: “I’ve always been funny. I’ve always been cute. I’ve always been confident. I was born to do this shit.” All her life, London longed to be a badass—an awesome bullet-proof woman who nobody could mess with. At a young age, she made sure she was ready to become a star, developing her own living-room popstar training regimen to prepare for her future life. But London also had her fair share of disastrous experiences in terms of friendships, relationships, and career choices. Each of the fiascos in London’s life has, with hindsight, proved to be a formative life lesson, and helped her grow into the fearless person she is today. You'll definitely be grateful these setbacks happened to her and not you, but you'll also learn that however bad things get, you can always build your self-worth, think long-term, and emerge triumphant, no matter what the world throws at you. From starring in a school sex education video called “Swings and Roundabouts” to being gushed over by a fan while standing next to the Renee Zellweger, London leaves no stone unturned in Living My Best Life, Hun. It took London some time to find her voice and her people, but now that she has, she's mentally high-fiving her 14-year-old self every day.

Over the last 20 years, New York City has been convulsed by enormous challenges: terrorist attack, blackout, hurricane, recession, pandemic. New Yorkers is a grand portrait of the irrepressible city and a hymn to the vitality and resilience of its people. Craig Taylor spent years meeting New Yorkers - rich and poor, old and young, native and immigrant - and getting them to share indelible true tales. Here are the voices of those who propel the city each day - subway conductor, nurse, bodega cashier, electrician who keeps the lights on at the top of the Empire State Building - as well as unforgettable glimpses of the city, from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade by a balloon handler to the Statue of Liberty by one of its security guards. New Yorkers captures the strength of the city that - no matter what it goes through - dares call itself the greatest in the world.

Working undercover has its advantages, especially when Ryan Manning encounters the beautiful Sage Alexander. There is something about the handsome stranger that touches Sage's heart in return--until she discovers who he really is. Original.

Keeping Secrets unveils the struggle and survival of one of the worlds richest and most powerful corporate attorneys, Bonnie Marie Brown. Despite being a hard-nosed, undefeated attorney, Bonnie secretly suffers unbearable abuse at the hands of her husband, world-renowned rhythm and blues singer Gary Anderson. Because Bonnie is so publicly high-profile, she feels she has to please the public and keep her image afloat. In fact, no one, not even her adopted father, knows of the torment Bonnie endures with her charming celebrity husband. Keeping Secrets Volume I unveils the struggles of Bonnie M. Brown from the moment she is shipped from home to home, to her relationship with her mentor Roger Von Hogan, to her childhood romance with rhythm-and-blues singer Gary Anderson. Bonnies life is like no other. Journey with her as she travels a road paved with intrigue, murder, deceit and lies.

This volume combines some of Craig Lucas’ best known work, including Reckless ("a bittersweet fable for our time"—Frank Rich, The New York Times) and Blue Window ("…the clarity of a Mozart quintet. And it is faultlessly spun."—Dan Sullivan, The Los Angeles Times) with his newest play, Stranger. The three plays continue the author’s exploration of the nature of relationships in an ever increasingly distant society. Craig Lucas is the author of Prelude to a Kiss, both a success on Broadway and as a motion picture, The Dying Gaul, God’s Heart, Missing Persons and Longtime Companion. He is currently at work on numerous projects for theatre and film. Also available by Craig Lucas What I Meant Was: New Plays and Selected One Acts PB $17.95 1-55936-159-X • USA Prelude to a Kiss and Other Plays PB $16.95 1-55936-193-X • USA