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Book The Works of Shonda Rhimes

Download or read book The Works of Shonda Rhimes written by Anna Weinstein and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2024-08-22 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Works of Shonda Rhimes, the first book in Bloomsbury's Screen Storytellers series, brings together a collection of essays that look critically at the works of this award-winning writer, producer, and CEO of the global media company, Shondaland. Shonda Rhimes's television series, and those created and produced through Shondaland, have left an important imprint on television history. Beginning with her groundbreaking series Grey's Anatomy, the series created under the umbrella of Rhimes's brand, including Private Practice, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, For the People, Station 19, Bridgerton, Inventing Anna, and Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, have delighted global audiences with their innovative storytelling, dynamic characters, and the inclusion of contemporary social issues woven throughout the storylines. In this collection of essays, screenwriting and television studies scholars explore the ways in which Rhimes's series have been at the forefront of change in the television landscape in the past two decades, including discussions of the representation of women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ characters; inclusivity in casting; innovations in pilot and series development; variations on genre; and disruptive business and marketing practices. This collection of essays offers emerging screenwriters and informed consumers of television insights into the cultural impact of Rhimes's work as well as how one of the most powerful television creators and showrunners in the history of the medium has crafted and shaped screen stories that speak to viewers spanning all demographics across the globe.

Book Year of Yes

Download or read book Year of Yes written by Shonda Rhimes and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-11-10 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The creator of "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal" details the one-year experiment with saying "yes" that transformed her life, revealing how accepting unexpected invitations she would have otherwise declined enabled powerful benefits.

Book Year of Yes

Download or read book Year of Yes written by Shonda Rhimes and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-11-10 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The instant New York Times bestseller from the creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal and executive producer of How to Get Away With Murder shares how saying YES changed her life. “As fun to read as Rhimes’s TV series are to watch” (Los Angeles Times). She’s the creator and producer of some of the most groundbreaking and audacious shows on television today. Her iconic characters live boldly and speak their minds. So who would suspect that Shonda Rhimes is an introvert? That she hired a publicist so she could avoid public appearances? That she suffered panic attacks before media interviews? With three children at home and three hit television shows, it was easy for Shonda to say she was simply too busy. But in truth, she was also afraid. And then, over Thanksgiving dinner, her sister muttered something that was both a wake up and a call to arms: You never say yes to anything. Shonda knew she had to embrace the challenge: for one year, she would say YES to everything that scared her. This poignant, intimate, and hilarious memoir explores Shonda’s life before her Year of Yes—from her nerdy, book-loving childhood to her devotion to creating television characters who reflected the world she saw around her. The book chronicles her life after her Year of Yes had begun—when Shonda forced herself out of the house and onto the stage; when she learned to explore, empower, applaud, and love her truest self. Yes. “Honest, raw, and revelatory” (The Washington Post), this wildly candid and compulsively readable book reveals how the mega talented Shonda Rhimes finally achieved badassery worthy of a Shondaland character. Best of all, she “can help motivate even the most determined homebody to get out and try something new” (Chicago Tribune).

Book The Year of Yes Journal

    Book Details:
  • Author : Shonda Rhimes
  • Publisher : Simon and Schuster
  • Release : 2016-12-06
  • ISBN : 1501163051
  • Pages : 464 pages

Download or read book The Year of Yes Journal written by Shonda Rhimes and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-12-06 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A beautiful, illustrated, aspirational companion journal to Shonda Rhimes’s New York Times bestselling memoir Year of Yes. In her mega-hit book Year of Yes, Shonda Rhimes transformed her life by saying one small word: YES. Now, in the perfect complement to that instant New York Times bestseller, The Year of Yes Journal allows you to chronicle your own Year of Yes. The journal is broken out month by month, day by day, with each month highlighting a theme (“Yes to Doing,” “Yes to Help,” “Yes to Who I Am”). Daily, you can track what you say YES to and keep notes about how that decision has made a unique impact; monthly, you will find journaling prompts for reflection around that specific theme. With a check-in section at the six-month mark, as well as at year end, and encouragement from Shonda along the way, you will have ample opportunity to track how YES has transformed your daily life. This inspirational—and aspirational—journal is bound with a beautiful, gold foil-stamped blue case. With memorable aphorisms from Year of Yes placed throughout and gorgeously illustrated, this stunning journal is a must-have keepsake that brings a bit more YES to your life.

Book Adventures in Shondaland

Download or read book Adventures in Shondaland written by Rachel Alicia Griffin and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2018-09-10 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Innovator Award for Edited Collection from the Central States Communication Association (CSCA) Shonda Rhimes is one of the most powerful players in contemporary American network television. Beginning with her break-out hit series Grey’s Anatomy, she has successfully debuted Private Practice, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, The Catch, For The People, and Station 19. Rhimes’s work is attentive to identity politics, “post-” identity politics, power, and representation, addressing innumerable societal issues. Rhimes intentionally addresses these issues with diverse characters and story lines that center, for example, on interracial friendships and relationships, LGBTIQ relationships and parenting, the impact of disability on familial and work dynamics, and complex representations of womanhood. This volume serves as a means to theorize Rhimes’s contributions and influence by inspiring provocative conversations about television as a deeply politicized institution and exploring how Rhimes fits into the implications of twenty-first century television.

Book Shonda Rhimes

    Book Details:
  • Author : Naida Redgrave
  • Publisher : Enslow Publishing, LLC
  • Release : 2017-07-15
  • ISBN : 076608504X
  • Pages : 130 pages

Download or read book Shonda Rhimes written by Naida Redgrave and published by Enslow Publishing, LLC. This book was released on 2017-07-15 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shonda Rhimes is one of the most well-known television writers, producers, and showrunners in the world. Her creations include smash hits like Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Rhimes knew she wanted to write in Hollywood. Through engaging text, full-color photos, and quotes from the writer herself, readers will learn all about Rhimes's rise to fame, the hardships she has endured, and what is next for the acclaimed television creator.

Book Recursion

    Book Details:
  • Author : Blake Crouch
  • Publisher : Ballantine Books
  • Release : 2020-03-10
  • ISBN : 1524759791
  • Pages : 338 pages

Download or read book Recursion written by Blake Crouch and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2020-03-10 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of Dark Matter and the Wayward Pines trilogy comes a relentless thriller about time, identity, and memory—his most mind-boggling, irresistible work to date, and the inspiration for Shondaland’s upcoming Netflix film. “Gloriously twisting . . . a heady campfire tale of a novel.”—The New York Times Book Review NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time • NPR • BookRiot Reality is broken. At first, it looks like a disease. An epidemic that spreads through no known means, driving its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived. But the force that’s sweeping the world is no pathogen. It’s just the first shock wave, unleashed by a stunning discovery—and what’s in jeopardy is not our minds but the very fabric of time itself. In New York City, Detective Barry Sutton is closing in on the truth—and in a remote laboratory, neuroscientist Helena Smith is unaware that she alone holds the key to this mystery . . . and the tools for fighting back. Together, Barry and Helena will have to confront their enemy—before they, and the world, are trapped in a loop of ever-growing chaos. Praise for Recursion “An action-packed, brilliantly unique ride that had me up late and shirking responsibilities until I had devoured the last page . . . a fantastic read.”—Andy Weir, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Martian “Another profound science-fiction thriller. Crouch masterfully blends science and intrigue into the experience of what it means to be deeply human.”—Newsweek “Definitely not one to forget when you’re packing for vacation . . . [Crouch] breathes fresh life into matters with a mix of heart, intelligence, and philosophical musings.”—Entertainment Weekly “A trippy journey down memory lane . . . [Crouch’s] intelligence is an able match for the challenge he’s set of overcoming the structure of time itself.”—Time “Wildly entertaining . . . another winning novel from an author at the top of his game.”—AV Club

Book How to Save a Life

Download or read book How to Save a Life written by Lynette Rice and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2021-09-21 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The first inside story of one of TV's most popular and beloved dramas, Grey's Anatomy. More than fifteen years after its premiere, Grey’s Anatomy remains one of the most beloved dramas on television and ABC's most important property. It typically wins its time slot and has ranked in the Top 20 most-watched shows in primetime for most of its seventeen-season run. It currently averages more than eight million viewers each week. Beyond that, it’s been a cultural touchstone. It introduced the unique voice and vision of Shonda Rhimes; it made Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh and T.R. Knight household names; and injected words and phrases into the cultural lexicon, such as “McDreamy,” "seriously," and “you’re my person.” And the behind-the-scenes drama has always been just as juicy as what was happening in front of the camera, from the controversial departure of Isaiah Washington to Katherine Heigl’s fall from grace and Patrick Dempsey's shocking death episode. The show continued to hemorrhage key players, but the beloved hospital series never skipped a beat. Lynette Rice's How to Save A Life takes a totally unauthorized deep dive into the show’s humble start, while offering exclusive intel on the behind-the-scenes culture, the most heartbreaking departures and the more polarizing plotlines. This exhaustively enthusiastic book is one that no Grey’s Anatomy fan should be without.

Book Gladiators in Suits

Download or read book Gladiators in Suits written by Simone Adams and published by Syracuse University Press. This book was released on 2019-08-21 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most popular shows to come out of Shondaland, Shonda Rhimes’s production company, is ABC’s political drama Scandal (2012–18)—a series whose tremendous success and marketing savvy led LA Times critic Mary McNamara to hail it as "the show that Twitter built" and Time magazine to name its protagonist as one of the most influential fictional characters of 2013. The series portrays a fictional Washington, DC, and features a diverse group of characters, racially and otherwise, who gather around the show’s antiheroine, Olivia Pope, a powerful crisis manager who happens to have an extramarital affair with the president of the United States. For seven seasons, audiences learned a great deal about Olivia and those interwoven in her complex world of politics and drama, including her team of "gladiators in suits," with whom she manages the crises of Washington’s political elite. This volume, named for both Olivia’s team and the show’s fans, analyzes the communication, politics, stereotypes, and genre techniques featured in the television series while raising key questions about the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and viewing audiences. The essays range from critical looks at various members of Scandal’s ensemble, to in-depth analyses of the show’s central themes, to audience reception studies via interviews and social media analysis. Additionally, the volume contributes to research on femininity, masculinity, and representations of black womanhood on television. Ultimately, this collection offers original and timely perspectives on what was one of America’s most "scandalous" prime-time network television series.

Book The Kid

Download or read book The Kid written by Dan Savage and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2000-06-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dan Savage's nationally syndicated sex advice column, "Savage Love," enrages and excites more than four million people each week. In The Kid, Savage tells a no-holds-barred, high-energy story of an ordinary American couple who wants to have a baby. Except that in this case the couple happens to be Dan and his boyfriend. That fact, in the face of a society enormously uneasy with gay adoption, makes for an edgy, entertaining, and illuminating read. When Dan and his boyfriend are finally presented with an infant badly in need of parenting, they find themselves caught up in a drama that extends well beyond the confines of their immediate world. A story about confronting homophobia, falling in love, getting older, and getting a little bit smarter, The Kid is a book about the very human desire to have a family.

Book The Power of Onlyness

Download or read book The Power of Onlyness written by Nilofer Merchant and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2017-08-29 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An 800-CEO-READ Staff Pick Shortlisted for the Thinkers50 Breakthrough Idea Award A Financial Times Business Book of the Month “For any would-be activists who hear the voice: ‘not me’ or ‘not now,’ Merchant makes the strong case for ‘yes you’ and ‘yes now’—and even shows you how to jump in.” —Van Jones, host of CNN’s The Messy Truth, author of Rebuild the Dream and The Green Collar Economy “The Power of Onlyness is a book for our times. . . . Merchant forces us to dig deep, into the book and ourselves, and it goes beyond self-knowledge and self-empowerment, obliterating the fear of otherness with an understanding of the onlyness of us all.” —Sally Haldorson, 800-CEO-READ An innovation expert illuminates why your power to make a difference is no longer bound by your status If you’re like most people, you wish you had the ability to make a difference, but you don’t have the credentials, or a seat at the table, can’t get past the gatekeepers, and aren’t high enough in any hierarchy to get your ideas heard. In The Power of Onlyness, Nilofer Merchant, one of the world’s top-ranked business thinkers, reveals that, in fact, we have now reached an unprecedented moment of opportunity for your ideas to “make a dent” on the world. Now that the Internet has liberated ideas to spread through networks instead of hierarchies, power is no longer determined by your status, but by “onlyness”—that spot in the world only you stand in, a function of your distinct history and experiences, visions and hopes. If you build upon your signature ingredient of purpose and connect with those who are equally passionate, you have a lever by which to move the world. This new ability is already within your grasp, but to command it, you need to know how to meaningfully mobilize others around your ideas. Through inspirational and instructive stories, Merchant reveals proven strategies to unleash the centrifugal force of a new idea, no matter how weird or wild it may seem. Imagine how much better the world could be if every idea could have its shot, not just the ones that come from expected people and places. Which long-intractable problems would we solve, what new levels of creativity would be unlocked, and who might innovate a breakthrough that could benefit ourselves, our communities, and especially our economy. This limitless potential of onlyness has already been recognized by Thinkers 50, the Oscars of management, which cited it one of the five ideas that will shape business for next twenty years. Why do some individuals make scalable impact with their ideas, regardless of their power or status? The Power of Onlyness unravels this mystery for the first time so that anyone can make a dent. Even you.

Book Tough Love

Download or read book Tough Love written by Susan Rice and published by Simon & Schuster. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recalling pivotal moments from her dynamic career on the front lines of American diplomacy and foreign policy, Susan E. Rice—National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama and US Ambassador to the United Nations—reveals her surprising story with unflinching candor in this New York Times bestseller. Mother, wife, scholar, diplomat, and fierce champion of American interests and values, Susan Rice powerfully connects the personal and the professional. Taught early, with tough love, how to compete and excel as an African American woman in settings where people of color are few, Susan now shares the wisdom she learned along the way. Laying bare the family struggles that shaped her early life in Washington, DC, she also examines the ancestral legacies that influenced her. Rice’s elders—immigrants on one side and descendants of slaves on the other—had high expectations that each generation would rise. And rise they did, but not without paying it forward—in uniform and in the pulpit, as educators, community leaders, and public servants. Susan too rose rapidly. She served throughout the Clinton administration, becoming one of the nation’s youngest assistant secretaries of state and, later, one of President Obama’s most trusted advisors. Rice provides an insider’s account of some of the most complex issues confronting the United States over three decades, ranging from “Black Hawk Down” in Somalia to the genocide in Rwanda and the East Africa embassy bombings in the late 1990s, and from conflicts in Libya and Syria to the Ebola epidemic, a secret channel to Iran, and the opening to Cuba during the Obama years. With unmatched insight and characteristic bluntness, she reveals previously untold stories behind recent national security challenges, including confrontations with Russia and China, the war against ISIS, the struggle to contain the fallout from Edward Snowden’s NSA leaks, the U.S. response to Russian interference in the 2016 election, and the surreal transition to the Trump administration. Although you might think you know Susan Rice—whose name became synonymous with Benghazi following her Sunday news show appearances after the deadly 2012 terrorist attacks in Libya—now, through these pages, you truly will know her for the first time. Often mischaracterized by both political opponents and champions, Rice emerges as neither a villain nor a victim, but a strong, resilient, compassionate leader. Intimate, sometimes humorous, but always candid, Tough Love makes an urgent appeal to the American public to bridge our dangerous domestic divides in order to preserve our democracy and sustain our global leadership.

Book The Warmth of Other Suns

Download or read book The Warmth of Other Suns written by Isabel Wilkerson and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-10-04 with total page 642 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this beautifully written masterwork, the Pulitzer Prize–winnner and bestselling author of Caste chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves. With stunning historical detail, Wilkerson tells this story through the lives of three unique individuals: Ida Mae Gladney, who in 1937 left sharecropping and prejudice in Mississippi for Chicago, where she achieved quiet blue-collar success and, in old age, voted for Barack Obama when he ran for an Illinois Senate seat; sharp and quick-tempered George Starling, who in 1945 fled Florida for Harlem, where he endangered his job fighting for civil rights, saw his family fall, and finally found peace in God; and Robert Foster, who left Louisiana in 1953 to pursue a medical career, the personal physician to Ray Charles as part of a glitteringly successful medical career, which allowed him to purchase a grand home where he often threw exuberant parties. Wilkerson brilliantly captures their first treacherous and exhausting cross-country trips by car and train and their new lives in colonies that grew into ghettos, as well as how they changed these cities with southern food, faith, and culture and improved them with discipline, drive, and hard work. Both a riveting microcosm and a major assessment, The Warmth of Other Suns is a bold, remarkable, and riveting work, a superb account of an “unrecognized immigration” within our own land. Through the breadth of its narrative, the beauty of the writing, the depth of its research, and the fullness of the people and lives portrayed herein, this book is destined to become a classic.

Book Your Fully Charged Life

Download or read book Your Fully Charged Life written by Meaghan B Murphy and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-02-23 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A high-energy guide to living with presence, optimism, and joy--one yay at a time! Ever wish you were one of those upbeat, positive people who embrace every day with a can-do mindset that motivates others and simply makes life more fun? Longtime magazine editor Meaghan B Murphy is one of those high-energy people--and she's here to share her secrets for finding more yay every day. Your Fully Charged Life is Murphy's practical guide to bringing your best self to every moment, even when the pressures of daily life leave you feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and wallowing in negative thoughts (and a pint of your favorite gelato). Spanning health, work, family time, and more, this book reveals small changes in outlook and habits that yield big results, without ever sacrificing who you are. Informed by the latest research in neuroscience, positive psychology, and inspiring examples of women and men who live fully charged every day, the book presents simple ways to: • cultivate gratitude--and pass it along • make meaningful connections with the people around you • learn to say no--so you can fill your days with things that matter to you most • recharge when you need it • spread the positive charge to others to make the world a happier, healthier place Going beyond platitudes and shallow Insta-inspiration, this inspiring and empowering book provides a blueprint for feeling less stressed and genuinely making the most of your every day.

Book Stealing the Show

Download or read book Stealing the Show written by Joy Press and published by Atria Books. This book was released on 2019-03-19 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a leading cultural journalist, the definitive cultural history of female showrunners—including exclusive interviews with such influential figures as Shonda Rhimes, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Mindy Kaling, Amy Schumer, and many more. “An urgent and entertaining history of the transformative powers of women in TV” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). In recent years, women have radically transformed the television industry both behind and in front of the camera. From Murphy Brown to 30 Rock and beyond, these shows and the extraordinary women behind them have shaken up the entertainment landscape, making it look as if equal opportunities abound. But it took decades of determination in the face of outright exclusion to reach this new era. In this “sharp, funny, and gorgeously researched” (Emily Nussbaum, The New Yorker) book, veteran journalist Joy Press tells the story of the maverick women who broke through the barricades and the iconic shows that redefined the television landscape starting with Diane English and Roseanne Barr—and even incited controversy that reached as far as the White House. Drawing on a wealth of original interviews with the key players like Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls), Jenji Kohan (Orange is the New Black), and Jill Soloway (Transparent) who created storylines and characters that changed how women are seen and how they see themselves, this is the exhilarating behind-the-scenes story of a cultural revolution.

Book Inside Bridgerton

    Book Details:
  • Author : Shonda Rhimes
  • Publisher : Simon and Schuster
  • Release : 2022-10-25
  • ISBN : 166800108X
  • Pages : 425 pages

Download or read book Inside Bridgerton written by Shonda Rhimes and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-10-25 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The stunning, full-color, behind-the-scenes look at Shondaland’s hit series on Netflix. Inside Bridgerton is the intimate behind-the-scenes story of the hit Shondaland series on Netflix. Shondaland executive producers Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers offer exclusive insights, and introduce you to the series writers, producers, directors, cast, crew, and talented creatives who brought Julia Quinn’s beloved novels to the screen. Full-color and beautifully designed, Inside Bridgerton is the official book about the show, and includes never-before-seen photographs, firsthand accounts on casting, insight into the decisions behind the costumes and sets, directors’ accounts on filming your favorite scenes, and more from the creative minds that launched a cultural phenomenon. From the Introduction to Inside Bridgerton: SHONDA: Shall we take everyone back to the beginning? Not to the 1800s, but to 2017 and that hotel room where I was sick, and needed something to read, and there happened to be a copy of The Duke & I by Julia Quinn, the first of the Bridgerton novels. I’m not someone who was into romance novels—I really didn’t even know much about the genre. But I picked it up, couldn’t put it down, and then immediately got my hands on the rest of them because they were a fabulous read. And then I passed them to you. BETSY: I thought you might have hit your head in the hotel room when you had the flu. Romance novels? But you insisted that they would be a fabulous show and you have excellent taste. I was deeply skeptical because I hadn’t read a romance novel since I was a teen—I’d certainly never read a period romance novel. SHONDA: Totally—you read the ones of the 1980s, when everyone wore huge shoulder pads and diamonds. BETSY: Right. So there’s some continuity here because these guys were wearing diamonds, too. SHONDA: Fair—but as far as a period romance, I mean, if it wasn’t Jane Austen, I didn’t really know about it. I’m not going to diss Jane Austen because I’m not an idiot… BETSY: She might get upset. SHONDA: She might roll over in her grave. But Julia Quinn’s novels were just so much juicier than Austen, and they’re written by someone who was far less confined and less proper. After all, Julia is a modern woman, not stuck in the constraints of the age. BETSY: Without a doubt. And I never knew that the ton existed: Austen wrote about a pastoral society where everyone is in relatively drab clothes and spent a lot of time in chapels and churches. SHONDA: Totally. And they recycled their dresses more. BETSY: Meanwhile, this was an amazing world of luxury and excess. And she had this crazy device of a gossip columnist, pulling the strings, which was such a cool concept. Julia Quinn created an entirely new, glamorous, bright world that you had actually never seen before.

Book The Reluctant Psychic

Download or read book The Reluctant Psychic written by Suzan Saxman and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2015-01-27 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We all, as children, saw imaginary friends and heard monsters in the closet. But for Suzan Saxman, those friends and monsters didn't go away—and they weren't imaginary. They were the dead who came to her from the time she was a little girl with urgent messages for the living. Raised in a house filled with secrets, she saw and spoke the truth as soon as she could talk, alarming the nuns in her convent school with her revelations and terrifying her own mother with her strange visions. Each night she woke to see a man with no eyes watching her, and each day she kept watch by the window while her father was at work and Steve, her real father, a swarthy drifter, rendezvoused with her mother. It was the 1960s in suburban Staten Island and she tried to hide it all, and be a daughter her mother could love. Always skeptical of her tremendous gift, she struggled to come to terms with her calling even as she revealed the destinies of everyone, from housewives to hit men, stockbrokers to rock-and-rollers. She could witness everyone's future—everyone's but her own. Why was she visited by angels and demons? Could she ever escape this strange fate? Where was her own soul mate? Now Suzan tells the story of her journey and tries to make sense of her family's buried secrets. Through powerful readings of others' destinies interwoven with compelling narrative, a reluctant psychic emerges from the shadows.