A Memoir by Bill Persky Before Larry David, before Louis C.K., before Ray Romano, there was the true Golden Age of television comedy, an era of brilliant and landmark programming that dominated the dial from the 50s to the 70s. Bill Persky, the five-time Emmy Award-winning writer, director and producer of over 300 TV shows and films was at the center of that special time in TV history. Along the way, he was responsible for some of the most successful and acclaimed sitcoms of all time, including the classics: The Dick Van Dyke Show That Girl Kate &amp; Allie. Persky blazed a trail through television during a time of tremendous social upheaval, when TV was still discovering its power to influence and move audiences. To this day, Perskys groundbreaking female characters, such as That Girls Ann Marie, remain pop culture icons. In his memoir, My Life is a Situation Comedy , Bill shares his tales of a life well lived and vividly recollected. Persky's touching, often hilarious and occasionally alarming backstage portrayal is one of triumphs and disappointments, celebrity and calamity, romances and breakups. I attempted to make things right and maintain a semblance of dignity, he writes, while constantly slipping on the banana peels of life.” Lucky for us, many of those slip ups wound up as fodder for the TV episodes we came to know and love so well. My Life is a Situation Comedy is populated by the larger than life legends and one-of-a-kind characters that figured so prominently in Perskys world. From his work with Carl Reiner on The Dick Van Dyke Show, to a surreal six weeks in London with the mythic Orson Welles, Persky knew them all and somehow lived to tell the tale. Among the marquee names that sparkled brightly in Persky's universe are Mary Tyler Moore, Bill Cosby, Sid Caesar, Steve Allen, Goldie Hawn, Marlo Thomas, Peter Sellers, Susan St. James, Jane Curtin, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Tim Conway, Andy Williams, Cary Grant and The Smothers Brothers. A veritable treasure trove of stars.

My Life Is A Situation Comedy

Persky, Bill

Humor & Entertainment

Mandevilla Press

An action packed, must read novel ... " - WASHINGTON TIMESWhen a beautiful journalist drowns mysteriously off Waikiki, former Special Forces veteran Pono Hawkins, now a well-known surfer and international surfing correspondent, quickly gets caught up in trying to solve her death. What he learns soon targets him for murder or life in prison as a cabal of powerful energy corporations, foreign killers and crooked politicians focuses the blame on him.Haunted by memories of Afghanistan, and determined to protect the Hawaii he loves from dirty politics tied to huge destructive energy developments, Pono turns to Special Forces buddies and his own skills to fight his deadly enemies, trying to both save himself and track down her killers.Alive with the sights, sounds and history of Hawaii, Saving Paradise is also a rich portrait of what Pono calls "the seamy side of paradise", and a relentless thriller of politics, lies, manhunts and remorseless murder."A rousing crime thriller." - BOOK CHASE

Saving Paradise

Literature & Fiction

Bond, Mike

Literary

www.MikeBondBooks.com Shot down over the jungle with a planeload of marijuana, Vietnam War hero Joe Murphy gets caught up in the brutal Guatemalan Civil War when he witnesses an attack on a Mayan village by the Guatemalan Army and its CIA “advisors”. Badly injured, he escapes on a nightmare trek through the jungle, hunted by the Army, the CIA, and death squads. Healed by guerrilla doctor Dona Villalobos, he falls in love with her and tries to save her from the War’s widening horror of insanity, tragedy, and death. Caught in the crucible of violence and love, he learns the peaks and depths the human heart can reach, and what humans will do for, and to, each other. Based on the author’s own experiences as one of the last foreign correspondents left alive in Guatemala after over 100 journalists had been killed by Army death squads. • “A riveting thriller of murder, politics, and lies.” —London Broadcasting • “An extraordinary story that speaks from and to the heart. And a terrifying depiction of one man’s battle against the CIA and Latin American death squads.” —BBC • “A riveting story where even the good guys are bad guys, set in the politically corrupt and drug infested world of present-day Central America.” —Middlesborough Evening Gazette • “The climax is among the most horrifying I have ever read.” —Liverpool Daily Post • An ideal thriller for the beach, but be prepared to be there when the sun goes down.”—Herald Express Biography Mike Bond "The master of the existential thriller" (BBC) Best-selling novelist, war and human rights correspondent, environmental activist, award-winning poet and international energy expert, Mike Bond has lived and worked in many dangerous, remote and war-torn regions of the world. His critically acclaimed novels depict the innate hunger of the human heart for good, the intense joys of love, the terror and fury of battle, the sinister vagaries of politics and multinational corporations, and the magical beauty of the vanishing natural world. His latest novel, SAVING PARADISE, the epic of a Hawaiian surfer and former Special Forces vet caught up in the murder of a beautiful Honolulu reporter, has been called the "eco-novel of the decade" for its depiction of corporate and political corruption and the battle for Hawaii's remaining paradises. His four previous novels are all based on his experiences in far, dangerous corners of the world: HOLY WAR: A British undercover agent fights for his life in Beirut at the height of the Lebanese War -- a deep look into the Middle East's ancient wars and hatreds. FIRE LIKE THE SUN: An international best-seller about U.S. nuclear warheads lost in the Himalayas, a manhunt through Nepal, Iran, Greece, Algeria, France, Virginia and Colorado. HOUSE OF JAGUAR: Vietnam vet and weed smuggler Joe Murphy loses his plane in a Guatemalan jungle attack, falls in love with the woman guerrilla who heals him, and fights to protect them both as the death squads hunt them down.

The Last Savanna

HOUSE OF JAGUAR: A tense, dangerous thriller of CIA operations and dirty wars in Latin America, guerrilla battles, drug flights, environmental catastrophes and genocides. Based on the author’s own experiences as a war and human rights correspondent there.1.ARCHETYPAL STORY OF LOVE AND DEATH: The intensity of love when any instant you can be killed. There is no safety anywhere, and any mistake could doom the person you love.2.FEEL THE FEAR: What’s it like to be hunted through the jungle, on foreign streets and in dirty barrios by endless faceless enemies? When you can never escape?3.EXOTIC: Midnight landings on mountain roads, guerrilla encampments, the Mexican underworld and California rock stars. HOUSE OF JAGUAR puts you there.4.AMERICA’S DIRTIEST WARS: HOUSE OF JAGUAR breaks the silence on the extensive war crimes perpetrated by US-backed military dictatorships in Central America. The author was the last foreign correspondent left in Guatemala when over 150 journalists had been killed by death squads, and worked thereafter as a human rights activist exposing US actions.See http://nyti.ms/1jWunDe5.WE CAUSED IT BUT WE’RE INVISIBLE: Starting with the US overthrow of Guatemala’s elected government in 1954, the US plunged that country into 45 years of civil wars and genocides. The present trial of ex-dictator Rios Montt has focused on numerous atrocities committed with the support of the Reagan administration, but the US has not even been cited in the trial. 6.HISTORICAL THRILLER: House of Jaguar is the core of Tikal, Guatemala’s ancient city civilization. What was it like?7.JUNGLE LIFE: The animals, trees, insects, the intensity of verdant thriving beings. The author traveled many miles of jungle and paddled many wild rivers and streams. HOUSE OF JAGUAR puts you there.8.DOES THE US TORTURE? What really happens inside the torture cells, the US covert groups, and genocidal Army units? HOUSE OF JAGUAR puts you there.9.KILLING CHRIST’S MESSENGERS: Why exterminate the Catholic clergy too? HOUSE OF JAGUAR tells why.10.THE SIX HOUSES OF HELL: House of Jaguar is the first of the six Mayan houses of Hell. Primeval myths and Mayan memories powerfully influence many Guatemalans. Are they a metaphor for what we’ve done? 11.BEFORE THE FIRING SQUAD: Will you want the blindfold as they tie you to the bullet-splintered bloody pole and you look down the barrels of the waiting guns? HOUSE OF JAGUAR puts you there.12.A DOLLAR A DAY IS PLENTY OF PAY: The role of US fruit companies in stamping out democracy in Central America. HOUSE OF JAGUAR tells how.13.WANT MORE WEAPONS? You’re a military dictatorship and the CIA wants to give you more weapons but you’re so evil that Congress has suspended military aid. How does the CIA get you the weapons anyway? HOUSE OF JAGUAR explains how.14.YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS TO LIVE: You’ve just been grabbed off the street by a death squad and thrown into a Black Maria. In 30 seconds they’ll pull up on a side street, drag you out and cut your throat. What are your last thoughts?15.EXTERMINATING THE RAIN FOREST: Can we protect the last vestiges of rain forest in Central America? And their magnificent animals?“Tough and tense thriller.” − Manchester Evening News“A terrifyig depiction of one man’s battle against the CIA and Latin American death squads.” – BBC“With detailed descriptions of actual jungle battles and manhunts, vanishing rain forests and the ferocity of guerrilla war, House of Jaguar also reveals the CIA’s role in both death squads and drug running, twin scourges of Central America.” − Newton Chronicle“Vicious thriller of drugs and revolution in the wilds of Guatemala, with the adventurer hero, aided by a woman doctor, facing a crooked CIA agent. The climax is among the most horrifying I have ever read.” − Liverpool Daily Post

House of Jaguar

An American climber in the Himalayas stumbles on a shipment of backpack nuclearweapons headed into Tibet for use against China. Pursued by spy agencies and other killersacross Asia, North Africa, Europe and the United States, he is captured then rescued by abeautiful young woman with whom he forms a deadly liaison. They escape, are captured andescape again, death always at their heels. A terrifying international manhunt and stunninglove story, Tibetan Cross is a European best-seller.CRITICAL PRAISE for TIBETAN CROSS:.“Intense and unforgettable.” FORT LAUDERDALE SUN-SENTINEL“Grips the reader from the very first chapter until the climactic ending.” UPI“Almost impossible to put down.” I LOVE A MYSTERY“A tautly written study of one man’s descent into living hell.” SPOKANE CHRONICLERICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH “Murderous intensity.”“A chilling story of escape and pursuit.” TACOMA NEWS-TRIBUNE“An astonishing thriller.” SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER“Grips the reader from the opening chapter and never lets go.” MIAMI HERALDMORE PRAISE FOR MIKE BOND“One of America’s best thriller writers” CULTURE BUZZ“One of the 21st Century’s most exciting authors.” WASHINGTON TIMES“One of the best books of 2014.” NETGALLEY REVIEWS“Bond’s latest book is a must-read.” YAHOO REVIEWS“Bond touches on the vast and eerie depths that lie under the thin crust of civilizationand the base instinct within man to survive.” NOTTINGHAM OBSERVER“A highly distinctive writer.” LIVERPOOL DAILY POST“Bond is the master of the existential thriller.” BBCAUTHOR BIO:Bestselling novelist, war and human rights correspondent and environmentalactivist, Mike Bond has lived and worked in many dangerous, remote andwar-torn regions of the world. His critically acclaimed novels depict theinnate hunger of the human heart for good, the intense joys of love, the terrorand fury of battle, the sinister conspiracies of dictators, corporations andpoliticians, and the beauty of the vanishing natural world.www.MikeBondBooks.comMandevilla Press“ONE OF THE 21 ST CENTURY’S MOST EXCITING AUTHORS.”—Washington Times

Tibetan Cross

The Battle of Beirut is worse than Hell, a maelstrom of implacable hatreds and frantic love affairs, of explosions, sniper battles and deadly ambushes. Neill, a journalist on a secret mission for Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency, is trying to find Mohammed, a Hezbollah terrorist who couldstop the slaughter.André, a French commando, is also hunting Mohammed, to kill him for the death of his brother,blown up with over 400 US Marines and French paratroopers by Hezbollah. For Rosa, a remorseless and passionate Palestinian guerrilla, Mohammed is one of few hopes for her people, and she will die to protect him. And for lovely Anne-Marie, André is the only one who can save her from Hell.Based on the author’s own experiences in Lebanon, Syria and the Middle East, Holy War has been praised for its portrayal of civil war, and for its evocation of men and women caught in a deadly crossfire.

Holy War

Reliability and continuous availability have become crucial for computer software in the information economy. Well-publicized failures from both industry and government have underscored the need for mission-critical software to be thoroughly tested before being released into the marketplace. When it comes to industrial-strength reliability, no computer system is more renowned than the mainframe. But for years the actual approaches used to test mainframe software have been kept under wraps. What techniques are used? How do the teams in mainframe development labs test their systems to ensure they will deliver such extreme levels of robustness? How can these lessons be applied to other software projects? Software Testing Techniques: Finding the Defects that Matter answers these questions and provides practical testing techniques for achieving robust reliability with any large-scale software project. Written in a friendly, accessible style, the book highlights areas such as devising attacks to validate data integrity, wreaking havoc to ensure recoverability, exploiting virtualized environments to improve test efficiency, the tug of war between finding defects and meeting schedules, and approaches for emulating customer environments to find the most critical defects. Focusing on real-life techniques illustrated through examples and case studies gleaned from the authors' experiences with large server testing and operation, software engineers will discover tried and true techniques that are used for testing multimillion-dollar commercial software products.

Software Testing Techniques: Finding the Defects that Matter

Computers & Technology

Miller, Geoffrey

Loveland, Scott

Shannon, Michael

Prewitt Jr., Richard

Programming

From the co-author of Make Money Teaching Online, Dr. Dani Babb releases the second edition of the book that helped thousands of instructors get started as an online professor. In the book, she will show those who are new to the field: What to expect as an online professor How to write a curriculum vita geared to online teaching jobs Where to find jobs as an online educator What to do to get your first job with little or no experience Interview tips and suggestions from hiring administrators Professors already teaching online will benefit from: Learning about new ways to market yourself in a social media world in online education Creating a career in online education as an adjunctpreneur ™ Diversifying your workload for job security Expanding your workload Networking your way to better paying positions Changes in the market impacting professors over the past 8 years Technology to help you teach more efficiently Using insights from her work as an educational consultant helping others find jobs and teaching online herself for more than ten years, Dr. Babb provides readers with a candid look at online education today, getting past screening tools to land a first (or fifth) online teaching job, and earning a living while working from anywhere. Tips from experts and examples of curriculum vita's make this book a comprehensive guide to online teaching jobs. You can learn more about Dr. Babb and her services at thebabbgroup.com Dr. Dani clearly understands the intricacies of online education from the perspective of administrators, instructors, and students. This book includes practical, insightful tips for navigating both the art and science of online education. New and seasoned instructors alike will benefit from applying the strategies discussed in this handbook. Dr. Kelly Flores Founding Dean and Professor, School of Applied Leadership, City University of Seattle If you want to live life on your terms, whether it is traveling the globe or just being home with the kids, online teaching is the job for you. Dr. Babb shows us in an easy step-by-step approach how to make this dream a reality. This game-changer investment of under $20.00 has personally given me a six-figure income in less than six months. I get to stay home with my son and give my family a wonderful lifestyle. Debra Touhey CEO, SF Financial Services/Online Instructor/Stay-at-Home Mom Bethel University, and top notch institutions everywhere, are seeking educators who can remove the distance from "distance education" - individuals who can not only teach, but reach online students. Truly qualified "adjunctpreneurs" are in high demand, but low in number. Dr. Babb's book helps prepare educators for the rigors and rewards of online education, providing them with a step-by-step guide to the very real world of the virtual classroom. Kelly Sanders-Kelly Executive Vice President, Bethel University The newest edition of Dani Babb's classic text teaches you how to gain important advantages in the highly competitive online education labor markets. Anyone looking to enter this field, acquire more work, or "trade up" to better jobs will benefit tremendously by applying Babb's keen insights! Andrew N. Carpenter, Ph.D.

Make Money Teaching Online: 2nd Edition: How to Land Your First Academic Job, Build Credibility, and Earn a Six-Figure Salary: Revised and Updated

Business & Money

Babb, Danielle

Job Hunting & Careers

"Shane Gericke writes with the clear eye of hard-nosed reporter and the sweet soul of an artist. The power of Blown Away is visceral and unforgettable - you won't want to miss this one." - Gayle Lynds Shane Gericke's debut novel, Blown Away, became an immediate national bestseller that won the coveted Best First Mystery award from RT Book Reviews. Its central character is Emily Thompson, a rookie police officer in the leafy Chicago suburb of Naperville. Emily, who's finally pulled herself out of the emotional mud that's suffocated her since the unexplained deaths of her husband, mother, and father, is finally looking forward to a celebration of life: her upcoming fortieth birthday. Unfortunately, so is a serial killer, who terrorizes her city of 150,000 with a series of brutal murders staged to look like the childhood board games Emily played growing up on Chicago's Southwest Side. The killer is clearly someone from her past. But who? From "Time Bomb" and "Duck-Duck-Goose" to "Chutes and Ladders" and "Operation," every corpse brings Emily and her Naperville Police colleagues - Martin Benedetti, Annabelle Bates, Hercules Branch, and Police Chief Kendall Cross - one step closer to "Hangman," the ultimate game in this blood-drenched contest. The killer promises to make Emily play for real: Hanging by the neck till she's dead, dead, dead, to fulfill his psychopathic need to murder her. But, Emily and her pals have far different plans for him and her birthday celebration ....

Blown Away

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Gericke, Shane

Thrillers & Suspense

"Shane Gericke is the real deal." - Lee Child Emily Thompson, the hard-charging Naperville Police officer who barely escaped with her life in Shane Gericke's series debut Blown Away, has been promoted to detective. She's fallen in love with Martin Benedetti, the county sheriff's homicide commander. They're building their dream house in the Chicago suburb of Naperville, where she lives and works. Life is good as she slowly recovers from her jagged wounds, both physical and emotional . . . Until another serial killer decides to crash the party and match wits with a cop he believes should have died in the noose of the first killer's "Hangman" game. In Cut to the Bone, a stone-cold multiple murderer is scheduled to die in the state electric chair in Naperville. He'd kidnapped an expectant mother, cut the baby out her womb, and gave it to his girlfriend, who'd wanted kids but didn't want to ruin her figure giving birth. The screams of the dying mother alerted nearby police officers, who gave chase. The killer smashed the infant against a tree trying to escape. The cops caught him anyway. He was tried, and now he'll fry. But Emily Thompson's newest foe, who calls himself The Executioner, decides that he, not the cops, jury, state, governor, or a mere detective, is this man's god of life and death. So he attacks Emily to get inside the death house and free the baby - and mom-killer, even as the electrical generator winds up to deliver its killing punch. An electrical killing punch that Emily takes full-force . . . This fictional crime was inspired by a ghastly real-life one in the Chicago suburb of Addison. In November, 1995, Jacqueline Williams's boyfriend, Fedell Caffey, murdered a pregnant woman, Debra Evans, and cut her nearly full-term fetus from her body. To eliminate witnesses, he and Williams also murdered Evans's ten-year-old daughter, Samantha, and eight-year-old son, Joshua. A third child, Jordan, was spared because, they thought, children under the age of two couldn't be reliable witnesses. The cut-out boy, named Eli, survived. Jordan and Eli are being raised by Evans's grandfather. Caffey and Williams were sentenced to death. That was commuted to life without parole when then-Illinois Governor George Ryan banned capital punishment in Illinois.

Cut To The Bone

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