Chair Shots and Other Obstacles: Winning Life’s Wrestling Matches is an introspective look into the wit and wisdom of legendary professional wrestler and manager Bobby “The Brain” Heenan.
“Chair shots” is a part of wrestling vernacular, but it is also a metaphor for setbacks and impediments that one experiences in life. Heenan has had his share of challenges – both personal and professional. He also has learned his share of lessons, but not in a formal education setting. The world has been his classroom and observing life around him, his curriculum.
In his new role of “self-help guru,” Heenan dispenses that wisdom through tangible and downright funny examples and anecdotes of a 59-year life and a five-decade career in professional wrestling.
And what a career it has been. Heenan shares his many “chair shots,” from battling pesky promoters and fanatical fans to combating cancer, which Heenan refers to as “the ultimate heel.” Heenan also shares his seemingly infinite supply of humorous stories about many wrestling legends including: Dick the Bruiser, Andre the Giant, Vince McMahon, and Hulk Hogan.
Finally, “The Brain” sums up his experiences with a last bit of advice: “Don’t be a ‘Bobby Heenan.’ I’m not even saying to be a Ray Heenan. Just be a clown. That’s the best advice I can give anyone…Now, when do I get paid?”
What makes a page-turner? What mysterious literary essence holds a reader so hard they feel they must keep reading? And then tell friends, “I couldn’t put it down!”
And what do literary agents and publishers really look for in a manuscript?
Internationally-acclaimed author and story coach Barbara Kyle reveals the answers in Page-Turner with insights into:
– the essentials of story structure
– how to create a “storyline”
– the power of “deep character”
– the art of crafting dialogue
– mastering point of view
– maximizing settings
– plus practical advice on how to query agents and get published
… and more
Page-Turner shows how to create the kind of novel that brings offers from publishers and praise from readers.
For emerging writers who want to break in, and published authors who want to produce a breakout book, Page-Turner is an indispensable guide.
To the children, the town was their whole world. To the adults, knowing better, Derry, Maine was just their home town: familiar, well-ordered, a good place to live. It was the children who saw – and felt – what made Derry so horribly different. In the storm drains, in the sewers, It lurked, taking on the shape of every nightmare, each person’s deepest dread. Sometimes It reached up, seizing, tearing, killing…
The adults, knowing better, knew nothing. Time passed and the children grew up, moved away. The horror of It was deep-buried, wrapped in forgetfulness. Until the grown-up children were called back, once more to confront It as It stirred and coiled in the sullen depths of their memories, reaching up again to make their past nightmares a terrible present reality.
Frightening, epic, and brilliant, Stephen King’s It is one of the greatest works of a true storytelling master.
