In his new haunting, mystery novel, The Portal (published by Trafford Publishing), experienced author Craig Conrad finds the epicenter of darkness in the Midwest and leads readers to a house buzzing with evil that could unleash unseen wickedness on the world -- if not for the heroics of one man, who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Vietnam veteran Paul Rice, a man who suffers from constant nightmares and guilt as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder, promises his new girlfriend, Linda Eastman, an artist with movie-star looks, that he will take a week off from work, travel with her to meet her parents as well as her younger brother and sister, and stay in her family's recently renovated home in Lanark, Wis. Once there, Paul meets her father, who turns out to be a wealthy man in the plumbing fixture business, and her mother, a woman who is only keeping the family together for the benefit of her teenage children still living at home.

Strangely, Paul's dreams turn toward something more menacing, especially when a series of brutal, ritualistic killings start to take place and he begins to uncover the strange killings and disappearances that date back to the time when the Durie clan built the house that the Eastmans recently renovated. Soon, he discovers that the Duries actually created a grimoire, a book of precious sacrifices that would open a portal to the underworld and finally prove that hell indeed exists.

Can Paul follow this twisting trail of evil that leads to the darkest corners in the old Durie mansion and exorcize its unyielding demons with the newfound help of Police Chief Clive Thayer? Can they figure out the pattern of murders in time and together track the killer to the next house before he claims the life of his next victim? Can Paul destroy the house before it opens the hell mouth and unleashes untold evil? Find out in the startling conclusion of Conrad's novel, The Portal, a book that promises as much unflinching horror as it does bone-chilling suspense.

About the Author

Conrad enjoys reading all types of fiction and historical nonfiction, especially thrillers. He got hooked on horror at an early age, catching all the monster marathons at the local neighborhood theater and then running home late at night in the middle of the street. In addition to The Portal, he has also published The Calling, which is also available for order, as well as The Chosen and Last Goodbyes, forthcoming later this year. Conrad currently resides in Milwaukee, Wis.

Trafford Publishing is the premier book publisher for emerging, self-published authors. For more information, please visit http://www.trafford.com.

This release was issued through eReleases(TM).  For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Trafford Publishing

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The graphic adventures depicted in the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Spider Man and Batman continue to top the comic book charts and inspire box office blockbusters.

Yet also climbing the "comic book" charts is the graphic novel Atlas Black, an unsung hero of sorts, whose adventures are capturing the minds of college students at the Texas Tech University Rawls College of Business. The graphic novel is now required reading in both undergraduate and graduate classes taught by its author: Rawls Associate Professor of Management Jeremy Short.

"Think of all the textbooks college students have to wade through during their college careers. I've found that the traditional textbooks have a disconnect with the students," Short said. "So, the students have a hard time retaining the information - but Atlas Black uses a fixed set of characters that apply the material to their story."

And that's how Atlas Black was born. Short co-authored Atlas Black: Managing to Succeed with Talya Bauer, the Cameron Professor of Management at Portland State University, and Dave Ketchen, the Lowder Eminent Scholar in Entrepreneurship at Auburn University. Len Simon, who has also worked on such projects as Anastasia, Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights, Fat Albert and Curious George, is the illustrator for the book.

"Managing to Succeed not only focuses on starting a business," Short said. "Atlas faces challenges paying his rent, working odd jobs to get through school that offer a little 'real world' experience. He even has challenges with his ex-girlfriend. The second novel in the series will focus on how Atlas Black maintains his business and the third will focus on franchising his business."

The second graphic novel of the trilogy is expected to come out in May of this year.

"One of the most fulfilling things about the Atlas Black series is that students finish a book and then ask what's going to happen next," Short said. "I doubt that has happened before in the history of textbooks."

The graphic novel is picking up steam quickly at universities across the country, as well as internationally, as they request Atlas Black to become a part of their curriculum, according to Short.

Short added that it's not just about developing an educational tool to help his students adapt real-life lessons to the classroom; it's also about a desire to make textbooks affordable again.

"Students can literally go broke buying books for classes each semester," Short said. "It's crazy. Flat World Knowledge (his publishing company) allowed us the creative license to make this book affordable to students."

It sells for $14.99, and is available at Amazon.com.

This release was issued through eReleases(TM).  For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Jeremy Short

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Normally unabashedly conservative, the revolutionary new diet prescribed by the self-proclaimed "sexiest fat men alive" is anything but.

(Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100312/CL68653 )

Southern-fried radio hosts Rick Burgess and  Bill "Bubba" Bussey, known for the offbeat, outspoken and unabashed world that is the nationally-syndicated "Rick & Bubba Show®" (60+ markets nationwide),  tackle their favorite subject in their new book, "Rick and Bubba's Big Honkin' Book of Grub" (March, 2010, Thomas Nelson).

Exactly what a diet/recipe book should be, Grub is full of family recipes, hilarious stories and good eating - without a single mention of calories.

With recipes from their wives Sherri and Betty (who have somehow kept these two fed for years) as well as the winning entries from Rick and Bubba's Big Honkin' Recipe Contest, Grub is a keeper. So pull up a chair, grab a fork, and dig in!

• Stories, lists, favorite family recipes and more

• Excerpts, lists, images, interviews available

About the Authors

Bill "Bubba" Bussey is co-host of the nationally-syndicated "Rick and Bubba Show", which is heard by over three million listeners every day on 66 radio stations from coast to coast.  Also the co-author of the New York Times bestsellers Rick and Bubba's Expert Guide to God, Country, Family, and Anything Else We Can Think Of  and The Rick and Bubba Code, Bubba is the husband of the beautiful Betty Bussey and the proud father of two children, Hunter and Katelyn.

Rick Burgess is co-host of the nationally-syndicated "Rick and Bubba Show", which is heard by over three million listeners every day on 66 radio stations from coast to coast.  Also the co-author of three New York Times best-selling books – Rick and Bubba for President, Rick and Bubba's Expert Guide to God, Country, Family, and Anything Else We Can Think Of  and The Rick and Bubba Code - Rick has appeared numerous times on FOX News' Fox & Friends and Hannity & Colmes, as well as radio's Sean Hannity Show.  Rick is the husband of the former Sherri Bodine and the father of five children -  Brandi, Blake, Brooks, Brody and Bronner.  The eulogy Rick delivered at his youngest son, Bronner's funeral in January 2008, was, for a week, the most-viewed video in the world.

Find them online at www.rickandbubba.com !

Join tens of thousands of others on their Facebook Fan page!

Follow them on Twitter!  @RickandBubba

Publication date:  3/30/09

ISBN  9781401604028

$16.99 trade paper

SOURCE Thomas Nelson Publishers

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"We are going to pick potatoes." That's what the family housekeeper told four-year-old Irene Levin when she was whisked off from her playgroup in the park to flee German-occupied Norway.

In 1942, Irene Levin was one of 1,200 Norwegian Jews who escaped to Sweden during World War II. Nearly 800 remaining Jews were deported and murdered in Auschwitz. Irene's memories of life in Norway during and after the war are the subject of her book, "We Are Going to Pick Potatoes," Norway and the Holocaust, the Untold Story."

Published by Rowman and Littlefield, the book chronicles a largely unknown chapter in World War II history. It is also the story of one woman's rediscovery of her childhood role and her family's war experiences, and the resilience of the human spirit.  

Rabbi Michael Melchior, Chief Rabbi of Norway and former Israeli Cabinet minister calls the book "an important personal and passionate story which gives new perspective to the greatest crime humanity has known - the Holocaust."

The book describes the integration of Jews into Norwegian society from 1854 through the war years. Irene offers a poignant account of what happened to her family during the war, including the loss of seven members of her father's family.  They were among the 771 Jews who were sent to Auschwitz.

After the war, the book focuses on the silence and denial among the returning Jews who only referred to those who perished in Auschwitz as "having disappeared."  She hauntingly recalls the gaps in the Jewish community created by these missing relatives.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has added the Norwegian version of the book to its library, making it available to scholars and the public.

The book will have its official launch at the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford on April 1 along with an exhibit from the Oslo Jewish Museum.  The exhibit, at the Greenberg Center's Sherman Museum, includes information about Norwegian Jews and their contribution to Norwegian art and culture, as well as their participation in the Norwegian resistance movement.

"We Are Going to Pick Potatoes," Norway and the Holocaust, the Untold Story" is available on www.amazon.com,  www.barnesandnoble.com, and  www.hamilton-books.com.

    
    
    CONTACT:  Irene Levin Berman, 860.242.5330, irenelevinberman@comcast.net

SOURCE Irene Levin Berman

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Digital textbooks are poised for rapid adoption if early successes at NYU Bookstores are any indication.

"We expect digital textbook use to grow as fast as the title inventories can," says Phil Christopher, director of NYU Bookstores. "The technology is in place, the books are highly interactive, and students own powerful portable devices. Moreover, traditional textbook costs are rising, and students are quite comfortable with searching, shopping and learning online. Our students are excited to have the option of purchasing CafeScribe® digital textbooks."

When students register for courses, NYU Bookstores emails them links to the required texts to signal the availability of the books on the CafeScribe eBook platform, making it simple for the student to opt for the digital versions. With CafeScribe, no additional eReader is required to access the eBook, and most titles can be downloaded to multiple computers.

NYU has integrated its point-of-sale and store management software with other back-end computer systems to provide this exceptional service to students. Best practices like this have made NYU one of the top independent sellers of CafeScribe digital textbooks. "It's all about providing students with as many choices as we can," said Christopher.

Like CafeScribe eTextbooks, electronic textbook sales as a whole are on the rise. They represent less than five percent of college-store textbook sales but could reach 10 to 15 percent by 2012, according to the National Association of College Stores (NACS).

In addition to lowering textbook costs and making reading more interactive, digital textbooks serve as a lifeline when traditional textbooks aren't available, such as when a faculty member assigns a text at the last minute or a student registers late.

CafeScribe digital textbooks from Follett Higher Education Group (FHEG) are available in more than 8,000 titles in every major discipline. Digital textbooks are just one new way that Follett is saving students money, FHEG also enables students to purchase and rent both new and used textbooks.

Once students download a digital book, CafeScribe technology enables them to read, search, highlight, bookmark and annotate the pages. In addition to the study tools built into the digital textbooks, CafeScribe provides a built-in academically based social networking platform. This allows professors and students to create study groups, share notes and discuss topics with peers in their classroom and around the world.  Once a CafeScribe digital textbook has been purchased and downloaded by a student, they own that copy of the digital textbook, and there is no limit imposed on how long they may access the material.

Students and professors can find digital textbooks at www.CafeScribe.com and www.efollett.com, or at point-of-sale displays at participating college and university bookstores.  

CafeScribe digital books can also be downloaded for a seven-day trial period. To learn more about the Try Now, Buy Later program, please visit www.cafescribe.com or www.facebook.com/cafescribe.

CafeScribe has partnered with different inventory control, POS and retail management solutions, including Booklog and RATEX, to help schools streamline the process of bringing CafeScribe digital books to campus bookstores across the U.S.

About the CafeScribe eBook Platform

The CafeScribe eBook platform is a digital textbook and social networking platform for students and educators. The platform is the latest addition to Follett's broad portfolio of course material options for students, available online and at more than 850 college bookstores operated by Follett in the United States and Canada. For more information, visit www.cafescribe.com.

About Follett

Follett Corporation is a $2.7 billion, privately held company that provides products, services and solutions to the educational marketplace.

SOURCE Follett Corporation

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