Blogs > The OP Book Stop

The Oakland Press wants to share book-related news with you, including updates on events and reviews. We want to talk books with you, so feel free to contribute.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Young author writes children's book about losing parent

Young Author Publishes Children's Book to Honor Late Father and Help Children Cope with the Loss of a Parent

New Year's Eve 2006 changed Megan D'Arcy and her family's lives forever, when the plane Megan's father was flying home crashed, despite his 36 years of piloting experience, only two miles from Romeo Airport. He died at just 53 years old.

To help understand her own grief, Megan, who was 13 at the time, wrote a children's story she titled, "Be Happy." The book features a royal frog family, mirroring of her own family, in which a young frog Princess finds out her father, the King, has died in an accident. Her mother, the Queen, helps her and her frog princess sister cope with their loss and learn to "Be Happy" as their father would wish for them. Now 18, D'Arcy is publishing the book to help other children.

"I decided to publish the book I wrote when I was 13 to reach out to small children who have lost a parent or even both parents," said D'Arcy. "I hope the simplicity of the story and beauty of the illustrations will inspire other children who have lost a parent to be happy and strive to succeed in honor of their parent's memories."

D'Arcy has kept her own promise to strive to succeed in her father's honor. She holds a 4.0 GPA, takes six Advanced Placement courses at Rochester Hills' Stoney Creek High School and interned for U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow and a microbiology cancer research lab in Dallas, Texas.

D'Arcy serves as president of Kiwanis volunteering organization Key Club, is vice president of her high school's student council, leads the Varsity Tennis Team as captain and is a member of the National Honor Society, among other activities.

Further demonstrating her commitment to helping children who face the same situation, D'Arcy has dedicated proceeds from the book to benefit Bloomfield Hills nonprofit Yatooma's Foundation For The Kids.

Founded by attorney Norman Yatooma, Yatooma's Foundation For The Kids was inspired by the extraordinary hardship endured by Yatooma and his family after the death his father, Manual S. Yatooma, who was tragically murdered in 1993. The Foundation is solely dedicated to helping families who have lost a parent. The Foundation provides a full spectrum of assistance including grief counseling, support groups, needs-based financial assistance, family budget development, resource referrals and academic success programs.

Nationally, it is estimated 1 in 10 children will experience the death of a parent by the time he or she graduates high school. In Michigan, approximately 45,000 children currently residing in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties will experience the death of one or both parents before they graduate high school.

"Be Happy" was published by Momentum Books, illustrated by Shaughn Gawthrop and designed by Annamaria Sala. "Be Happy" will be available for sale at select bookstores and on Amazon.com, retailing at $14.95.

________________________________

The information contained in or attached to this e-mail contains confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this e-mail is PROHIBITED. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender and delete the e-mail immediately. Thank you.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Rochester Hills businesswoman helps form images

How did Rochester Hills businesswoman Patty Buccellato get on the cover of a book with Deepak Chopra?
Buccellato is a certified image professional and founder of Refined Images.
A former advertising professional, she blended her business savvy with her eye for detail and great fashion sense in 1993, becoming a go-to source for the professionals who were trying to figure out exactly what "business casual" meant to their brand image.
A member of the Association of Image Consultants International and the only certified image professional in Michigan, Buccellato advises clients on appearance, non-verbal behavior, and professional presence skills, so she's uniquely qualified to talk about driving success with a goal-focused image, which is her chapter in said book, "Stepping Stones to Success."
Buccellato weathered the economic downturn by focusing on private clients, so she has experience in everything from large group seminars (including two of the nation's "Big 4" accounting firms and Walsh College students and alumni); to Image on a Dime, her intimate, small-group settings; to one-on-one image coaching. Her specialty is providing personally tailored color analysis.
"The public perception of image consulting is from reality television, such as 'What Not to Wear'," Buccellato said. "The 'real' reality is that the human eye draws conclusions and sends messages to the brain in one-twelfth of a second. First impressions are formed in a split second, whether accurate or not, so your image is a significant part in your business and personal relationships.
"I talk about this in detail in Stepping Stones," she added.
"Properly fitted clothing, and colors and accessories that create a positive first impression, and it boosts your confidence. That confidence is so critical to your success. This book has a number of thoughtful, easy-to-apply tips to help you be more conscious of your strengths. I'm so grateful and honored to be a part of this project, next to such prestigious consultants and coaches."

________________________________

The information contained in or attached to this e-mail contains confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this e-mail is PROHIBITED. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender and delete the e-mail immediately. Thank you.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Highland woman authors book about Lou Gerhig's Disease

A book signing for "Never Giving up, Never Giving In, A Family Fighting to the End — A Story of A.L.S." will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Prestwick Village Golf Club, 136 Inverness at the corner of Milford Road and M-59 in Highland.
The book was written by Pamela (Gutherie) Woods of Highland.
Her book is about A.L.S. better known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Only 5 percent of A.L.S. patients will find this disease to be hereditary, unfortunately it runs in her family.
Writing this book has been a long journey of over three years of many bottled up emotions. Twenty-two years ago, this horrible disease robbed my Dad's life just when he reached his ultimate achievement with his career in Ford Motor Co.
The book started to evolve as it helped recall the family's tragedy and everything family members went through pulling together to take care of her father, who ended up on a ventilator two of the three years he was ill.
Her father was not able to move a single muscle in his body except his eyes and how that became a blessing to the family with the only means of communication with him. Never did he give up on life until it was time for him to go.
Then if that was not enough trauma to deal with, 10 years after his death, Woods lost four siblings in six years from A.L.S.
Profits from the book will go to A.L.S. research at www.alsa.org .
The book can also be found at publishamerica.com at their on line bookstore under autobiography, then search the title of book.
Woods has been married to Jim for 45 years and has two beautiful daughters, Kimberly and Kristina, whom are married to Michael Corey, and Brian Rand. Having five grandchildren, Josh Corey, Nick Corey, Noland Rand, Nathan Rand, and Sarah Rand has made their life complete.

________________________________

The information contained in or attached to this e-mail contains confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this e-mail is PROHIBITED. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender and delete the e-mail immediately. Thank you.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Rochester authors write about being widowed

By DESIREE PETTIFORD
Special to The Oakland Press

A truly amazing story of love found through tragedy, The Color of Rain by Michael and Gina Spehn of Rochester tells the story of two widows finding each other.
Six years ago Gina's husband Matt was diagnosed with cancer and died on Christmas Day 2005.
Six short weeks afterward, Michael's wife Cathy was diagnosed with a brain tumor and died almost three weeks after.
Matt and Cathy had been close friends from a very young age and though their spouses had yet to meet, their families were already intertwined. They both lived in the same area, their children went to the same school and both families had been left with a mark too heavy to bare alone.
Finally meeting at Cathy's visitation service their widows leaned on each other for support as did their children and formed an instant bond. When they first spoke, Michael told Gina, "Lots of people are here tonight. Friends and family ... You and I just met, but you're the only one I know here." Their friendship quickly turned to love.
Their book, beginning as a way to preserve memories for their children, grew into a bigger project once they realized the impact it could have.
"We realized the impact of our story on many people around us. We felt compelled to write beyond the details to share the gifts of God's grace in our losses and the incredible legacy of generosity and faith given us by our spouses," says Gina Spehn.
The Color of Rain tells of the impact of losing a spouse and the grief and loss only another widow can understand. They masterfully tell how the tragedy affected their five children and molded together a family where the children both celebrate the memory of their lost parents and Michael and Gina as their mom and dad.
The Spehn's hope their story will give hope to others and inspire readers to focus on relationships rather then tasks and living on that impact they wanted to do more then just share their story so in memory of their spouses they started The New Day Foundation.
"If I had one hope for this story it would be that people would want to be better in their relationships and have better relationships. Be better husbands, be better wives, better parents and friends and they would really want to look at their relationships and see what they can do to make them better," says Gina Spehn.
The foundation strives to financially and emotionally help other families dealing with terminal cancer. Its mission is to bring hope and understanding to children who lose a parent to cancer. The Spehn's also host a weekly radio program in Detroit called Your Family Matters.
They will be appearing on The Today Show on Monday Oct. 10 and Huckabee later this month to showcase their new book and their unbelievable story. They will also be hosting a book signing at Costco (400 Brown Road, Auburn Hills, MI) on Oct. 15 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

________________________________

The information contained in or attached to this e-mail contains confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this e-mail is PROHIBITED. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender and delete the e-mail immediately. Thank you.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Royal Oak author to discuss dealing with behavior

SOUTHFIELD — A spiritual yet practical approach for dealing with difficult behavior will be discussed at a public forum at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, Oct 9.
The free hour-long event, which starts at 11:30 a.m., will be held in the parish fellowship hall.
The speaker will be Cindy Hampel, author of It's Not Personal: Lessons I've Learned from Dealing with Difficult Behavior. A Royal Oak resident, Hampel is also a member of St. David's parish.
"Cindy's book offers practical advice for handling difficult situations," said the Rev. Chris Yaw, rector of St. David's. "At the same time, the message of the book is spiritual and hopeful, so we're glad that Cindy will be talking to us about this important topic.
St. David's Episcopal Church has been serving the people of Southfield since 1952. The church holds Sunday services at 8 and 10 a.m., and Taize-style healing services four times a year. St. David's parishioners are also involved in community outreach by supporting local food pantry programs, growing a community garden that donates produce, and mentoring students at the nearby Vanderberg school. St. David's is located at 16200 W. Twelve Mile Road. The website address is: stdavidssf.churchsites.com.

________________________________

The information contained in or attached to this e-mail contains confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this e-mail is PROHIBITED. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender and delete the e-mail immediately. Thank you.