Author: Sandra Cruz

Blogger, book reviewer, artist, poet, avid reader and nature/animal lover.

New book release: ‘Airbnb 99 Essential Message Templates’ by Message Magic

‘Airbnb 99 Essential Message Templates’ is a resource guide for readers in the Airbnb business. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Are you an Airbnb host who wants to offer exceptional guest experiences and stand out among millions of listings on the platform? If so, “Airbnb 99+ Essential Message Templates” by Message Magic is the solution. (Message Magic, 2023)

Not only will you receive comprehensive guidance and practical advice for improving your communication skills and enhancing the guest experience, but you will also receive an exclusive offer included in the book. This offer is a $50 coupon to optimize your Airbnb listing with AirbnbSEO.com. This valuable bonus will help you further enhance your Airbnb presence and attract more bookings, making it an even more valuable investment for any serious host.

Our pre-written message templates allow you to save time and effort while ensuring consistency, professionalism, accuracy, and personalization for your guests. You can even use them for direct bookings via personal websites and social networks.

Effective communication is crucial for building trust, clarifying expectations, handling issues, and earning positive reviews. With “Airbnb 99+ Essential Message Templates,” you can provide your guests with a memorable and hassle-free experience while maximizing your profits. Our customizable message templates have been proven to increase bookings, boost guest satisfaction, handle any complaints professionally, and help you stand out from the competition.

Do not let your listing get lost in the sea of Airbnb properties. Take your communication with guests to the next level with our book and reap numerous benefits, including streamlining your messaging process, and ensuring consistency, professionalism, accuracy, and personalization. Increase your bookings, boost guest satisfaction, handle any complaints professionally, and stand out from the competition.

Order now and experience the results for yourself!

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New memoir: ‘Iowa Trouble’ by Tyler Granger

‘Iowa Trouble’ is a politics centered memoir by Tyler Granger, a lifetime Iowan who was heavily involved in the area’s politics. Photo: Tyler Granger, used with permission.

Tyler Granger is a lifelong Iowan who wanted to share his life’s journey and began writing his memoir in 2020 for his infant daughter so she would have a book about her father and her family’s history. He shares his journey in this memoir, which includes stories ranging from football to Warped Tour to working for the Obama campaign. He has a degree in political science from Northwestern College and has worked on a variety of political campaigns and non-profits across Iowa. “Iowa Trouble” is a memoir of political violence across Iowa mixed with a variety of horror stories from punk sub-culture to Iowa gangsters to the politics of the Iowa Caucus. (Tyler Granger, 2023)

“Iowa Trouble” – while it is not for everyone, it includes something for everyone. It is a coming of age/gangster novel/political thriller/horror memoir with the target audience being punks and political junkies.

* Disclaimer: This self-published memoir includes stories of murder, rape, drugs and alcohol, political corruption, and other violent crimes that could be potentially emotionally distressing for some readers.

Author Tyler Granger. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

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Book of the week: ‘How To Employ Your Own Boss: The Ultimate Guide on How To Move From Being An Employee To Employer’ by Samuel Shy

‘How To Employ Your Own Boss: The Ultimate Guide on How To Move From Being An Employee To Employer’ is Samuel Shy’s book about entrepreneurship. Photo: Amazon

From time to time, everyone at one point or another has fantasized about being their own boss. Regardless of what type of job you have, if you work for someone else, it can be exhausting and soul crushing because jobs most require getting up early, long commutes to work, and working at least eight hours a day, which means being cooped up in an office all day and missing out on life’s important events and spending time with loved ones; not to mention stressful office politics and overly critical managers who often demean more than praise employees. When it comes down to it, do you really know what it means to be your own boss? In his new book “How To Employ Your Own Boss: The Ultimate Guide on How To Move From Being An Employee To Employer,”  Samuel Shy writes about this important topic that is frequently in every worker’s mind after a long stressful day at work. (Samuel Shy, 2023)

“How To Employ Your Own Boss: The Ultimate Guide on How To Move From Being An Employee To Employer” – is available only as an e-book and is only 62 pages long but it features the basic concepts you should know when considering being self-employed. This includes the definition of an employee, the types of employees, and most importantly, what is self employment. He lists the advantages, disadvantages, and examples of self employment and how to move from being an employee to being self employed. Once you decide that this is the right move for you, he also explains how to start and run your own business along with the advantages and disadvantages of being your own boss which serves as a reality check. He also includes the characteristics that define someone who can be their own boss: could this be you? Are you ready to take the plunge?

This guide dealing with entrepreneurship, business, and economics is available through Lulu.

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Taco Cabana menu news

Taco Cabana’s Double and Triple Crunch Pizzas. Photo: Taco Cabana, used with permission.

Launching April 12, 2023, Taco Cabana invites guests to enjoy the a la carte Carne Asada Street Tacos three-pack for $6.29 and the a la carte Carne Asada Cabana Bowl for $8.49. Perfectly complementing the returning Carne Asada menu offerings, guests can also enjoy a variety of delicious TC culinary favorites under $5, with many under $3. (Taco Cabana, 2023)

TC’s new Carne Asada options can also be enjoyed as a three-pack of street tacos plate for $8.49 or a combo featuring chips and queso and a 20 oz. beverage for $10.19. The Carne Asada Cabana Bowl is crafted with rice, refried beans, seasoned carne asada, lettuce, Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese, and topped with pico de gallo and sour cream; available for just $8.49.

TC is also expanding its recently released Favorites Under $5 menu to now include many Favorites Under $3. Guests can choose from culinary favorites like a flavor-packed Black Bean Taco, small or large Sopapillas, a small order of Chips & Queso, a classic Bean & Cheese Taco, and more. 

Guests can pair any of the new dishes and existing favorites with the dangerously delicious Chocolate Chimis, TC’s newest dessert. Visitors with a sweet tooth can enjoy two chocolate chimichangas filled with warm, gooey chocolate cream cheese and fried to perfection for just $2.99. The tasty new addition is available alongside another guest-favorite, the Oreo® Churros.

New Carne Asada items and Taco Cabana’s Favorites Under $5 menu offerings, including the new Favorites Under $3, are available at all participating Texas Taco Cabana locations and can be ordered in-restaurant, via online ordering for front counter and curbside pick-up, in the drive-thru or by mobile order when using the MY TC!® App.

Following the successful launch of the Double Crunch Pizza (DCP) in December 2022, Taco Cabana has announced the addition of two all-new DCP extensions arriving just in time for the Cinco de Mayo holiday. Available starting May 5, 2023, TC dares guests to taste the inferno with the all-new Ghost Pepper Ground Beef Double Crunch Pizza and go big with the Triple Crunch Ground Beef Pizza. Continuing the brand’s tradition of culinary innovation, these two items will be available at all Texas Taco Cabana locations while supplies last. 

One of TC’s most successful product launches ever, more than 400,000 Double Crunch Pizzas have been sold statewide within the first three months of the item’s release. This success encouraged TC’s culinary team to explore new and innovative flavors like the fiery Ghost Pepper Ground Beef Double Crunch Pizza available for $5.99 and DCP extensions like the exciting, larger Triple Crunch Ground Beef Pizza available for $7.99. 

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Taco Cabana will also offer a limited-time bundle featuring any Double Crunch Pizza and any of TC’s twelve margarita flavors for just $6.99, available from May 4, 2023 to May 7, 2023 while supplies last; the bundle offer excludes the new Ghost Pepper Ground Beef DCP. This flavor-filled combination is a perfect complement to Cinco de Mayo weekend and is not to be missed.

Taco Cabana, a subsidiary of YTC Enterprises, LLC, was founded in 1978. The brand specializes in Mexican-inspired food including breakfast, lunch and dinner tacos, dozen taco boxes, enchiladas, fajitas, quesadillas, flautas, burritos, double crunch pizzas, freshly made flour tortillas and a selection of made-from-scratch salsas and sauces. Restaurants feature open-display cooking, a selection of bottled beer and signature tequila margaritas, patio dining, drive-thru windows, curbside pick-up and delivery. As of April 6, 2023, Taco Cabana operates 143 company-owned restaurants in Texas. 

 

Book review: ‘The Vanished’ by Simon Rosser

‘The Vanished’ is the latest book in the Robert Spires series by Simon Rosser. Photo: Amazon

“The Vanished” may be book 9 of the Robert Spires series but it is an excellent read as a stand alone novel. It begins with Vanessa and Stefan hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains as what begins as a hiking adventure ends with Stefan’s disappearance. This event is just the latest in similar disappearances that have been occurring in the area so the UK’s Global Environmental Command, GLENCOM for short, dispatches Robert and Agent Belinda Caruso to investigate since it is thought that they might have some environmental connections.

Along with the disappearances, for decades now, there have been cases of  cattle and other livestock mutilations in neighboring farms that look as if they were done by scalpel or laser technology. No tracks or other evidence as to who might be responsible for the unexplained deaths has ever been found but there might be reason to believe that there might be an extraterrestrial link since there have also been instances of unusual lights in the night sky. Robert Spire and Agent Belinda Caruso team up with Spire’s old friend, ex-U.S. Marine Travis Dexter and the deeper they dig, the clearer it becomes that the U.S Military might be involved.

While the topics of farm animal mutilations, missing hikers, and mysterious lights in the sky are common occurrences in the real world, the author brilliantly combines them to create an intriguing yet unnerving science fiction adventure. Far from giving clear explanations for them, he does give a possible, though chilling, reason for the disappearances that could very well happen and leaves the way open for expanding on this story, including which mysterious government agency may be involved. It also serves as a warning to humanity without coming off as preachy or condescending.

The characters are believable and relatable, but giving the assassins for hire brothers the stereotypical ‘Deliverance-like’ characteristics makes them seem cartoonish at most. The language is easy to follow and understand and makes the story flow naturally. Overall, ‘The Vanished’ is a must-read and thrilling science fiction novel and is recommended for readers who enjoy science fiction, UFO/alien stories and appreciate speculative fiction.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

New album release: Big Talk – Jarrod Dickenson

Big Talk is Jarrod Dickenson’s new album. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Jarrod Dickenson is a guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer, originally from Waco, Texas, and now based in Nashville. His two albums, The Lonesome Traveler and Ready the Horses, along with his EP, Under A Texas Sky, have earned him critical acclaim and a devoted audience on both sides of the Atlantic. Not one to fear an exhausting tour schedule, Dickenson has entranced crowds all over Europe and the US and shared stages with such legendary artists as Bonnie Raitt, Don McLean, The Waterboys, Jools Holland, and Jimmie Vaughan. He has performed at prestigious festivals such as Glastonbury and Cambridge Folk Festival. After a baptism of fire in the world of the major labels, Jarrod Dickenson now exists as a fiercely independent artist, a look that suits him well and allows his creativity to follow whatever path it damn well pleases. Nowhere is this attitude better encapsulated than in the bluesy rock and roll growl of his uncompromising new album Big Talk, released worldwide on February 3, 2023 via Hooked Records. (IVPR, 2023)

The hardships and infuriation of recent years have only added steel to the resolve of an artist already willing to do it the hard way, prepared to stand in the face of a music business that shows dwindling regard for the brand of artistry that first inspired him to pick up a guitar and sing for his life—and Dickenson laid it all out for the world to hear on Big Talk.

Fans can stream or purchase Big Talk and check out Dickenson’s collection of music videos: “With Any Luck,” “Prefer To Lose,” “Buckle Under Pressure,” and “Long Hard Look.” Limited edition Big Talk vinyl is available at Dickenson’s official web store.

This album represents Dickenson’s most direct and uncompromising body of songwriting to date and his decision to occupy the producer’s chair has injected Big Talk with a drive and coherence that compliments the muscle of its material. Furthermore, Dickenson has assembled a band of ferocious players to bring these songs to life with striking authenticity in a series of live sessions recorded to tape. Together they create that unmistakable sound that only comes from the assembly of talented players, in a room, having a blast and what better way to flip the bird at those dark entities that inspired the album’s creation than to rage with such joy?

If Dickenson’s previous works have ventured a foot into the territory of rock and roll, Big Talk plants a large flag. It is classic like Petty, gritty like Waits. There are McCartney-esque melodies and the blues get thrown down with a certain Rolling Stones swagger, and yet Jarrod Dickenson has crafted a sound that is all his own. Big Talk sounds for all the world like a man who has found his groove. Get the record, see a show, but just do not piss him off.

Big Talk track list:
1. Buckle Under Pressure
2. Born To Wander
3. Home Again (feat. Oliver Wood & Jano Rix)
4. Prefer To Lose
5. Bamboozled
6. With Any Luck
7. If You’re Looking
8. Long Hard Look
9. Don’t Deprive Me
10. Goodnight

Second annual Community Band Festival

The second annual Community Band Festival will take place Saturday April 15, 2023. Photo: Greater San Antonio Community Bands Association.

The Greater San Antonio Community Bands Association will hold its Second annual Community Band Music Festival on April 15, 2023 from 11:30a.m. to 9p.m. The GSACBA is composed of ten community bands in the San Antonio area who have teamed up to present some amazing wind band music for the public. We have partnered with the Beethoven Maennerchor to present this festival in their outdoor Biergarten in the King William district. (Greater San Antonio Community Bands Association, 2023)

The Greater San Antonio Community Bands Association is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit as recognized by the IRS. It is the overall purpose of the GSACBA to serve community bands with the following specific purposes:

  1. Synergize the efforts of community bands in the greater San Antonio area.
  2. Establish and manage the community bands music festival.
  3. Harmonize efforts for musician recruitment among bands.
  4. Offer performance planning coordination among bands.
  5. Organize collaborative ventures with composers and arrangers.
  6. Spearhead innovative fundraising initiatives.
  7. Coordinate joint musical performance opportunities.

Book of the week: ‘Identicality’ by Jay L. Koppelman

‘Identicality’ is a suspenseful technothriller by Jay L. Koppelman. Photo: Jay L. Koppelman

Jay L. Koppelman, a San Francisco Bay Area resident, is retired from a career in real estate investment and finance. He currently serves as CFO of an educational therapy clinic and has been an active participant on various philanthropic boards. In his spare time, he chases his grandkids, enjoys golf, recreational flying, and reading about science and technology. “Identicality,” his debut novel, is a riveting and thought-provoking science fiction thriller that will keep you thinking and guessing until the very end – and beyond. (Jay L. Koppelman, 2023)

“Identicality” – As founding partner of a prestigious San Francisco law firm, Charlie Wood owes much of his success to business dealings with his life-long friend, the brilliant inventor-entrepreneur Adam Braudy. While Charlie is grateful to Adam, he cannot help envying Adam’s staggering wealth and fame and feels resentful every time Adam calls and expects him to drop everything to do his bidding. As Adam lies dying following an assassination attempt, he asks Charlie to aid him in fulfilling one last request: use his latest invention—a device capable of duplicating human life—to create an Adam replicant. Unable to deny his friend’s dying wish, Charlie sets aside his deep ethical reservations and, at the risk of spawning a Frankenstein monster, creates Adam’s replicant.

Everything seems to be going as planned as the new Adam takes on the first Adam’s role as husband, father, inventor and industrialist—firmly convinced he is the real Adam. But then the first Adam miraculously survives. How far will Adam go to get his life back?

Excerpt available – First chapter

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New book release: ‘The Vanished’ by Simon Rosser

‘The Vanished’ is the new sci-fi thriller by Simon Rosser. Photo: Amazon

When he is not busy with his day job as a lawyer, Simon Rosser is the author of action/adventure-thriller novels, predominantly the Robert Spire action thrillers, which all have an ecological, historical, science-fiction mystery cataclysmic theme. Think James Bond mixed with Indiana Jones and some environmental/historical facts thrown in for good measure. Previous books include “The A-Z Of Global Warming” – updated 2012 edition, and the Robert Spire eco-terrorism action-thrillers “Tipping Point,” “Impact Point,” “Melt Zone,” “Cataclysm of the Ancients,” “Crypto,” and the Galileo Project sci-fi UFO conspiracy thrillers 1-3. The author has also written sci-fi thrillers, “Vaporized” I and II and “Salient,” together with stand alone espionage adventure thriller, “Red Mist.” In his new book “The Vanished,” Robert Spire and Agent Belinda Caruso are sent by the U.K’s GLENCOM Agency to the United States to investigate the strange phenomena surrounding hundreds of individuals, including hikers, hunters, and sightseers who are mysteriously vanishing from U.S. National Parks where animal predation has been ruled out as being the cause. It is a gripping sci-fi mystery and book number 9 in the Robert Spire thriller series. (Simon Rosser, 2023)

“The Vanished” – When Vanessa and Stefan go hiking in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, little did Vanessa know that after finding an idyllic spot to camp, it would be the last time she would ever see her partner alive. Stefan seemingly vanishes into thin air. Since the 1960s, probably earlier, cattle and other livestock have been discovered by ranchers on their land, mutilated as if by scalpel or laser technology and drained of their blood. No tracks or other evidence as to who might be responsible for the unexplained deaths has ever been found. The strange, unexplained mutilations continue to this day.

Robert Spire, and Agent Belinda Caruso team up with Spire’s old friend, ex-U.S. Marine Travis Dexter. Initially suspecting some kind of environmental cause, it soon becomes apparent that the U.S Military might be involved. Are the many hundreds of missing people, the unusual lights in the night sky and animal mutilations linked? As Spire digs deeper into the phenomenon, it quickly becomes evident that something inexplicable is happening and that there may well be an other-worldly explanation for what is going on.

This edge-of-your-seat fictional sci-fi mystery thriller will take you into the worrying and inexplicable but factual world of missing people, cattle mutilations and strange lights in the night sky. Buckle up and keep the lights on.

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New book release: ‘The Dot: Book 4’ by Mark Bertrand

‘The Dot: Book 4’ is the new science fiction adventure by Mark Bertrand. Photo: Mark Bertrand, used with permission.

Mark Bertrand is the author of “Starzel,” “Love Reincarnate,” “A Conscious Thing,” and “The Dot.” He is a writer by day and a stock market trader by night. His career path includes working in aerospace and neuroscience. He received a bachelor of science in aeronautical engineering and his master of mathematics from Boston University. To balance his left brain with his right, his MBA is from the University of California at San Diego. Finally, to quench his desire for knowledge, he completed his Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Southern California. Mark has been a Buddhist for more than forty years, is considered Mahayana, and has also studied Alan Watts’ and Tich Naht Hahn’s writings on Zen. He managed a small abbey in San Diego, California for ten years. Currently, he is a member of the Sangha at the Enlightenment Stupa of Benalmádena, Spain. In his new book “The Dot: Book 4,” two men on different planets discover themselves and their fathers while confronting planetary existential crises of famine, radiation poisoning, and the collapse of society. (Mark Bertrand, 2023)

“The Dot: Book 4” – The Cyborgs, hoping to create a civilization of kindness and love without the destructive effects of anger, harvest a group of scientists, inject them with a serum to alter their DNA, implant a neurolink brain chip, and send them to Ziran, a planet with minimal technology. Eight generations later, Ziran faces extinction. The planet’s binary star system is producing x-ray radiation, which is destroying crops, poisoning the people, and killing their settlement’s chances at a future. In the hopes of saving their planet, the people of Ziran use an ancient ritual, evoking the gods to possess the bodies of the King and Queen to create a child. This child, Zosimos, is the planet’s only hope.

Zosimos matures at an inhuman rate. As he ages, he displays exceptional mental abilities, helping his people solve a range of technological and medical issues. By the time he reaches the age of six, he is ready to take the crown. When Zosimos is exposed to a plant strain with the side-effect of reversing the DNA-altering serum, he feels anger for the first time. With that anger comes the realization that he is superior to those around him. In a fit of rage, he kills his parents and claims the throne, forcing his people to submit to his tyrannical rule.

The promise of a cure for radiation poisoning leads Zosimos to Kelv, the sage. Still filled with rage, Zosimos forces Vallena, who is friends with the sage, to trap Kelv and obtain a DNA sample, hoping to learn why the sage has survived in the wasteland with no protection from radiation. However, Vallena discovers a way to reinstate the DNA-altering serum and cure Zosimos’s rage, and tricks him into taking the cure. The cure works, and Zosimos grows depressed and filled with remorse. He seeks advice from the sage, and through their lessons on love, truth, and alignment between mind and body, Zosimos becomes enlightened. Zosimos, contemplating the solution to his planet’s crisis, and questioning everything he thought he knew, turns to the conscious supercomputer his father hid in Vallena’s home but it is indifferent to human suffering and unwilling to interfere with frail humanity. Using the teachings learned from Kelv, Zosimos convinces the machine to help them. The machine begins to study the human body’s ability to heal itself and in doing so, finds a solution that can save everyone: transcendence but in order for this plan to succeed, the people must trust the former tyrant Zosimos.

Centuries later, the Cyborgs return to monitor their experiment, only to discover a planet vacant of life. There are no humans, no evidence of civilization, no skeletons. The only indications of the now failed experiment are the abandoned neurolinks, and a dead supercomputer.

Sign up to receive the first chapter of “The Dot: Book 4” for free. 

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