Creative Biography

In this hilarious, candid, and warm debut, Icon for Hire vocalist Ariel Bloomer bares her soul and shares her struggles, coupling accessible autobiography with practical advice and inspiration for navigating the messiest parts of life. From growing up a passionate but troubled spiritual seeker to chasing her rock 'n' roll dreams, Bloomer's journey illustrates the importance of cultivating self-love and the transformational nature of creativity, and how to access the artist inside all of us.

Maverick Marketer is the story of National Sailing Hall of Fame marketing guru, Bob Johnstone, who built the leading performance brands of J/Boats in sailboats and MJM Yachts in powerboats.

Dr. Justin D. Key takes you on an inspiring journey through the transformative power of curiosity. As a multi-hyphenate—actor, entrepreneur, mathematician, writer, and speaker—Dr. Key reflects on his diverse path of self-discovery and the pivotal role curiosity has played in shaping his personal and professional life. From his childhood adventures in Sunday school to navigating the bustling streets of Hollywood, Dr. Key reveals how curiosity has sparked his creativity, fueled his passion, and helped him overcome challenges.

In the 1800s, the moist soil of the Midwest would stick to plow blades, stopping the farmers as they plowed. Young blacksmith John Deere knew about the problem, so he designed and built a self-scouring plow. With this small start, he founded the famous farm implement company Deere & Company and started down the road to success.

Behind every acclaimed work of literature is a trove of heartfelt decisions. The best authors put painstaking - sometimes obsessive - effort into each element of their stories, from plot and character development to dialogue and point of view. Veteran editor and teacher Richard Cohen draws on his vast reservoir of a lifetime's reading and his insight into what makes good prose soar.

Little is known about the Moghuls in the book of History. Nevertheless, their impact on the world system and their great feat is not something that can be swept under the carpet. The Moghuls dynasty were the rulers of most of northern India from the early 16th to the mid-18th century. Prominent among the Moghul rulers were the founder, Bābur, who ruled between 1526–30); followed by his grandson Akbar (r. 1556–1605). As far as Akbar's life history was concerned, his forefathers came from three separate non-Indian ethnic groups: Turks (or Turki), Mongols (or Moguls), and Persians (or ...

In the heart of the American South, amid rolling hills and lush landscapes, a genre of music was born that would enchant generations and shape the very essence of the nation's musical heritage. "The Legends of Bluegrass Music" is a journey through the lives and contributions of the most influential figures in this soul-stirring genre. At the heart of the Bluegrass universe stands a figure synonymous with the genre itself—the "Father of Bluegrass," Bill Monroe.

"A bigger fool the world has never known than I - a coarse fellow with no business to clutch a brush and scribble. I only know the scrawl, because my master took pleasure in teaching me between my chores. Not many men are so cursed . . ." Thus begins the tale of Li K’ai-men as told by his faithful, but mischievous servant, K’u Ko-ling - a tale of 12th Century China, where state service meant a life long journey across a landscape of turmoil and bliss. A tale of sacrifice, love, war and duty - a fragile balance between rituals and passions. An epic commitment between two men to define ...

🎁4 Free Bonuses: E-book on Growth Mindset, Habit Toolkit and More What do Taylor Swift, Walt Disney, Stephen King, and Frida Kahlo have in common? They all faced rejection, self-doubt, and failure long before they became icons. If your creative teen is struggling to stay inspired, this book will give them the push they need. Packed with short, uplifting biographies of iconic musicians, writers, and artists, this 3-in-1 volume reveals how the world’s most beloved creators turned obstacles into art, and setbacks into success. Introducing a Collection of True Stories to Spark the Creative...

Hundreds of millions of people use Apple products every day; several thousand work on Apple's campus in Cupertino, California; but only a handful sit at the drawing board. Creative Selection recounts the life of one of the few who worked behind the scenes, a highly-respected software engineer who worked in the final years of the Steve Jobs era, the Golden Age of Apple.

The year was 1983. A cotton trader, still in his early thirties, began to dream big. His aspiration was to become an 'industrialist'. The venture he was about to embark on was uncharted territory for him. He knew nothing about cement, limestone or anything remotely associated with it.

Peter Frankopan, number one best-selling author and historian, explores the connections made by people, trade, disease, war, religion, adventure, science and technology in this extraordinary book about how the East married the West with a remarkable voyage at its heart - the journey along the Silk Roads.

Steve Coogan was born and raised in Manchester in the 1960s, the fourth of six children. From an early age, he entertained his family with impressions and was often told he should "be on the telly". Failing to get into any of the London-based drama schools, he accepted a place at Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre and before graduating had been given his first break as a voice artist on the satirical puppet show Spitting Image. The late '80s and early '90s saw Coogan developing characters.

In the 1870s, surgery was a crude affair performed on the patient's kitchen table. In the frontier town of Rochester, Minnesota, Dr. W. W. Mayo brought his young sons, Will and Charlie, to assist him with operations. Fifty years later, Rochester became a medical mecca as the Mayo brothers were established as world-class surgeons. With a firm belief in sharing information and learning from others, the Mayo brothers proved the benefits of cooperation in a jealously competitive field and accomplished more than any single colleague of their time.

Undershaw was the Surrey home of Arthur Conan Doyle between 1897-1907. Built lovingly for his wife Touie to help treat her ongoing battle with tuberculosis, Arthur created a haven for his wife and family. It was here he wrote The Hound of The Baskervilles, brought Sherlock Holmes back to life in "The Empty House", and entertained guests such as writer J.M. Barrie, illustrator Sidney Paget, renowned actor William Gillette, and more.

Just before the Roaring Twenties, Al Smith, a proud son of the Tammany Hall political machine, and Franklin Roosevelt, a country squire, formed an unlikely alliance that transformed the Democratic Party. Smith and FDR dominated politics in the most-powerful state in the union for a quarter-century, and in 1932, they ran against each other for the Democratic presidential nomination, setting off one of the great feuds in American history. The relationship between Smith and Roosevelt, portrayed here, is one of the most dramatic untold stories of early 20th-century American politics.

In his Pulitzer Prize-winning poetry, Robert Lowell put his manic-depressive illness (now known as bipolar disorder) into the public domain, creating a language for madness that was new and arresting. As Dr. Jamison brings her expertise in mood disorders to bear on Lowell’s story, she illuminates not only the relationships among mania, depression, and creativity but also the details of Lowell’s treatment and how illness and treatment influenced the great work that he produced (and often became its subject).

It wasn’t supposed to be this hard. If America could send a man to the moon, shouldn’t the best surgeons in the world be able to build an artificial heart? In Ticker, Texas Monthly executive editor and two time National Magazine Award winner Mimi Swartz shows just how complex and difficult it can be to replicate one of nature’s greatest creations. Part investigative journalism, part medical mystery, Ticker is a dazzling story of modern innovation, recounting 50 years of false starts, abysmal failures, and miraculous triumphs.

In The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot, New York Times best-selling author Blaine Harden tells the riveting story of how Kim Il Sung grabbed power and plunged his country into war against the United States while the youngest fighter pilot in his air force was playing a high-risk game of deception - and escape.

Anna Karenina is one of the most nuanced characters in world literature, and we return to her and the novel she propels again and again. Remarkably, there has not yet been an examination of Leo Tolstoy specifically through the lens of this novel. Critic and Professor Bob Blaisdell unravels Tolstoy’s family, literary, and day-to-day life during the period that he conceived, drafted, abandoned, and revised Anna Karenina. In the process, we see where Tolstoy’s life and his art intersect in obvious and unobvious ways.