Postcards From Beyond Reality: The Selected Poems of Michael Daniels

Postcards From Beyond Reality: The Selected Poems of Michael Daniels by Bernard Jan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

‘Cries of a heart longing to be understood’

Postcards From Beyond Reality: The Selected Poems of Michael Daniels by Bernard Jan is a collection of sixty poems written as an extension book to his YA cross-genre novel Cruel Summer, from the perspective of its main character, Michael Daniels.

The book description deepens the meaning of the poetry further: ‘His life has been a cocktail of melancholy, sorrow, and desire. When a skateboarder dips his pen into poetry, what will his passion create? After a lifetime of abuse and the tragic loss of his mother, NYC teen Michael Daniels needed an outlet. Despite his cheerful nature, his inner mind was teeming with the stark contrast of darkness and light. So, in this volume full of images and symbolism, his underground rhymes reflect days full of extreme sports, failed relationships, and nostalgic memories.’

If you are looking for the poet inside the poem, look for the undercurrent he has left, the continuous hint of feeling can be found everywhere throughout this work. It’s powerful and strong, yet delicate and descriptive His pictures of emotional moods are painted beautifully. He has essentially captured the essence of what a poet is.

Bernard Jan will make you fall in love with literature again. If you've never liked poetry, you'll love Postcards From Beyond Reality. If you haven't read much poetry, this is an excellent place to start. A highly recommended read and a well-deserved five stars.

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Consenting Adult by Peter Skeels

Consenting Adult by Peter Skeels
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rewriting the Ten Commandments with a modern-day ‘Moses’...

Peter Skeels's novel CONSENTING ADULT is well-written and richly descriptive with brilliantly drawn characters and settings. The author weaves a well-crafted philosophical narrative that serves, perhaps, as an allegory for the pains of being. It’s a unique work that will captivate the reader from the opening chapter. Skillfully constructed, this well-written tale of morality and ethics will have you turning the pages from beginning to end. There’s plenty of imagery in the writing style that makes you feel you are right there in the story, and that’s something I look for in a good book.

To summarize the synopsis: Jonathan is hired as a creative writing instructor at the local community college. An idea occurs to him out of nowhere: what if there was a modern-day Moses who was told by God to rewrite the Ten Commandments, and what would they be like now if they were written? Jonathan is interested by the concept, but his students are not. If the Commandments get written, what would the present-day Commandments end up being?

This was a captivating read that had me immersed from the beginning. The story flowed from scene to scene with ease, and the author shows exceptional ability when it comes to storytelling. There are scenes of a graphic sexual nature. Nevertheless, the themes and outcome are just as affecting in the arresting contemporary landscape. Recommended.

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Customer Escalations Management: The Golden Recipe

Customer Escalations Management: The Golden Recipe by Nikolaos Zormpas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Helping to grow customer loyalty...

Escalation Management is a well-defined and documented process. It is even handled or managed by a separate dedicated team of people. This "escalation center" function works closely with the service desk function. It also supports the field or on-site support staff who take on maintenance and support roles.

Escalation Management is intended to bring order, structure, focused management attention and additional resources to those customer situations which could otherwise result in a high level of customer dissatisfaction and/or damage to the Service Provider's reputation. These are situations which could lead to significant loss of business or where significant costs may be incurred by the Service Provider to resolve the customer situation. The criteria to trigger an escalation depends on the organization or service provider. But it should be well defined.

Customer Escalations Management: The Golden Recipe by Nikolaos Zormpas shows that being easy to do business with causes positive word-of-mouth to occur naturally and in customer-initiated ways that your marketing department may not otherwise be able to imagine or influence, minimizing the necessary investment in enticements.

Wisely aligning your company with what customers care about causes customers to fall in love with doing business with you, whereby re-purchases and customer loyalty, thereafter, occurs naturally and sustainably. Having a customer escalation management system in place is crucial in any business, regardless of how big or small it is. A very highly recommended book, and a well-deserved five stars from me.

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