Thanks for being part of the conversation I am the Poet In The Forest. A children series I penned out in the 1990s. None of it would be possible if it wasn’t for this forest in South Charlotte, NC. I talk about it so much that I thought maybe it’s time you get to meet all that inspires me. Thanks for being part of the conversation

Everyone’s favorite time of the year – Christmas – is fast approaching! The bestselling The Booze & Vinyl series (nearly 200,000 copies in print) finds its holiday cheer in an irresistible new volume mixing beloved Christmas albums with merry drink pairings. A Booze & Vinyl Christmas (Running Press; October 2023), by award-winning food and drinks writer André Darlington, features 40 curated Christmas albums, from the 1940s to the present, complete with two inspired cocktails for the A side and B side. From The Nutcracker and A Charlie Brown Christmas to Bing Crosby and Kelly Clarkson, this book is the perfect companion for this year’s ugly sweater and tree trimming gatherings.

Bye Bye Barry, the definitive, firsthand account of Barry Sanders’ remarkable life story and career, premieres November 21 exclusively on Prime Video. One of the giants of the sport, Sanders displayed a style and flair that has never been replicated in football. His record-breaking career at both Oklahoma State - where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1988 - and with the Detroit Lions created a standard that will be celebrated forever. Ten years into his Hall-of-Fame career, it was only a matter of time before he broke Walter Payton’s record for most career rushing yards. But at the peak of his game, Sanders did the unthinkable. At age 31, he walked away from the game, never to return. Few retirements have ever been so shocking. Twenty-four years after the decision to walk away from the sport, Bye Bye Barry tackles one of the greatest mysteries in sports history: Why did he retire when he did? Fans across the NFL landscape have waited a long time for closure. Now, they’ll finally get the conclusive account on why Barry Sanders said “bye bye” to the NFL.

Since 1999, The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook has been an essential guide to navigating some of life's most unexpected situations. It's sold over ten million copies, been translated into more than two dozen languages, and inspired tabletop games and a museum exhibit. But what about the ultimate worst-case scenario: the apocalypse? In The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Apocalypse (Quirk Books; On sale: October 31, 2023; $18.99, Hardcover), practical survival tips meet hilarious what-if scenarios to provide tools that let you keep your cool during any situation. Dozens of survival experts provided their know-how so that readers will be able to: ● Apocalypse-proof their finances ● Pack a go-bag in thirty minutes ● Make an emergency gas mask or air filter ● Defeat a robot army, outwit a zombie horde, fend off rival clans, and more tongue-in-cheek scenarios that help keep things light

More than 35 years ago, Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider marched into the United States Senate's Committee on Commerce in a jean jacket and tank top to confront a band of concerned Washington housewives hellbent on silencing the howl of metal and beyond. Co-founded by Tipper Gore, a committee of politicians' spouses labeling themselves the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) had lobbied to plaster "Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics" labels on any music that conformed to their definition of sexual, violent, or drug-endorsing. Partnering with Z2 Comics, Snider's war to preserve the first amendment will be immortalized in He's Not Gonna Take It, a graphic novel charting the rocker's passionate battle against censorship alongside writer Frank Marraffino (Marvel Zombies) and artist Steve Kurth (Avengers, X-Force). Dee Snider: He's Not Gonna Take It will be available at retailers everywhere on November 21, 2023. The following journey would forever forge the name Dee Snider alongside the battle for freedom of expression-in the arts and beyond. This new graphic novel charts that one-man war throughout Dee's life. From a childhood where he was frequently silenced, through the early efforts to stifle his band's music, to the open warfare of the PMRC hearings in Washington DC, and his current efforts on social media, He's Not Gonna Take It tells the story of why free speech is so important to this man who has perpetually fought for it-even when it endangered everything that was important to him. "When I look back on that historic day, I think, 'How did I fit balls that big into those skintight jeans!?'" Snider recounts. "Then I reflect on the fact that I still stand for everything I stood for all those years ago...and I'm ready to do battle again." "Unless you grew up during the PMRC hearings, I don't think you can really understand what a massive impact it had as teenagers watched Dee testify before congress about the importance of freedom of speech," editor Rantz A. Hoseley explains. "Metal and rock preached rebellion and fighting back in the song lyrics, but here was the only frontman who was walking the walk. In a world where you thought that adults said one thing and did another, it was the moment where you could believe. Yes, there are people out there who will fight for what is right, against all odds, no matter what the cost. It's a story that is more vital today than ever."

The Ultimate Gift Wrapping Challenge is a one-of-a-kind competition where contestants put their creative skills to the test and battle it out each episode to be crowned the Ultimate Gift Wrapping Champion. This new reality competition, a first for QVC+, will be hosted and judged by entrepreneur and QVC home décor designer Lauren McBride, TV personality and "World's Most Famous Gift Wrap Artist" Alton DuLaney, and Britain's Gift Wrapping Queen Jane Means. Premiering December 4, this eight episode series, follows along as expert artists and crafters of all kinds face new challenges to master and try not to get their tinsel in a tangle.

Multi-platinum classical crossover group, IL DIVO, dropped their surprise EP today titled "A Merry Little Christmas," just in time for the holidays. The EP includes most-loved Christmas classics: "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas," "I'll Be Home For Christmas," "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year." Coinciding with the release, the group will embark on their U.S. "A New Day Holiday Tour," launching November 29 at Ferguson Center for the Performing Arts in Newport News, Virginia. The EP, released via Thirty Tigers, was produced by Grammy® and Latin Grammy® Award-winning artist Carlos Fernando Lopez (Ricky Martin, Laura Pausini, Marc Anthony). Says IL DIVO, "We wanted to surprise our fans with a special Christmas EP of holiday favorites that we will perform live, in concert, during our upcoming 'A New Day Holiday Tour.' We're excited to bring cheer and goodwill to audiences in America with our new renditions of classic Christmas songs that are so well beloved." The "A New Day Holiday Tour," which continues through December 23 in Naples, Florida, will feature the group performing songs from the EP, in addition to other holiday classics and songs from their vast catalog. Tickets for the tour are available at: https://ildivo.com/tour-dates/ Singing in English, Spanish, French and Italian, IL DIVO, with members Urs Bühler (tenor) of Switzerland, Sébastian Izambard (tenor) of France and David Miller (tenor), also recently announced a new addition to their group, Mexican American baritone Steven LaBrie. After the untimely passing of original member Carlos Marin in 2021 from COVID-19, Labrie had been a featured guest on their "Greatest Hits Tour" from 2022 to present, and now has become the group's fourth member.

Pod Crashing Episode 284 With Beth Shelburne From Earwitness One July night in 1995, Deputy Sheriff William G. Hardy was shot behind the Crown Sterling Suites hotel in Birmingham, Alabama. At the same time as the murder, at least 10 people saw Toforest Johnson four miles away at a popular nightclub called Tee's Place. But detectives zeroed in on him as a main suspect in Deputy Hardy's murder anyway, ultimately resulting in Toforest being tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. For over a quarter century, Toforest has been confined to a 5' by 8' cell on Alabama's death row. In 2019, investigative journalist Beth Shelburne began covering the case, going down a disturbing rabbit hole revealing many unsettling facts that cast grave doubts about Toforest's guilt. The facts she found tear at the very foundation of the American criminal justice system: No eyewitnesses or physical evidence tied Toforest to the murder; the state tried to convict a different man for the same crime; and perhaps most disturbing of all, Toforest's conviction relied on an "earwitness" - a woman who claimed to have eavesdropped on an incriminating phone call, a woman whom prosecutors paid for her testimony, in secret. That payment was not disclosed to the jury, Toforest, or his lawyers until after he had been on death row for 17 years. From the team behind the award-winning hit podcast Bone Valley, Lava for Good's Earwitness is an eight-episode docuseries that asks the question, "How did an innocent man end up on death row - and why is the state still trying to execute him over the objection of the prosecutor who put him there?" Shelburne's unprecedented access to key players-the lead detective, lead prosecutor, witnesses, jurors, and the earwitness herself-illuminate a story filled with disturbing twists, frustrating ambiguities, and shocking admissions. The story of Toforest Johnson and the state's enthusiasm for the death penalty in the face of such troubling evidentiary flaws brings to light the failings of a criminal justice system run amok.