The movie adaptation of ‘Luckiest Girl Alive,’ the bestselling novel by Jessica Knoll, is now on Netflix. Photo: Amazon
Jessica Knoll is the New York Times bestselling author of “Luckiest Girl Alive” and “The Favorite Sister.” She grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and graduated from The Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. She has been a senior editor at Cosmopolitan and the articles editor at Self. “The Luckiest Girl Alive” follows an unforgettable young woman striving to create the perfect life—until a violent incident from her past threatens to unravel everything and expose her most shocking secret. It has been adapted into a major motion picture from Netflix starring Mila Kunis and is now available for streaming. (Amazon, 2022)
“The Luckiest Girl Alive”– Her perfect life is a perfect lie. As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and a handsome blue blood fiancé, she is so close to living the perfect life she has worked so hard to achieve. But Ani has a secret. There is something else buried in her past that still haunts her, something private and painful that threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything. With a singular voice and twists you will not see coming, “Luckiest Girl Alive” explores the unbearable pressure that so many women feel to “have it all” and introduces a heroine whose sharp edges and cutthroat ambition have been protecting a scandalous truth, and a heart that is bigger than it first appears. The question remains: will breaking her silence destroy all that she has worked for—or, will it at long last, set Ani free?
Petra-Fi is the new album by Stephen Akina. Photo: Google
Stephen Akina is a music composer and arranger who enjoys collaborating and producing original music. Following the premiere of his work “Seven,” commissioned by the Pasadena Pops Orchestra in 2006, Stephen began writing for films, television, and video games. His compositions and arrangements have been performed worldwide. Along with his future wife Kimberly, they founded Special Blend Music, a music service provider for the Film & Television industry. Over the years he has scored original music for over two dozen films, composed production music for over 100 + television shows worldwide and supplied soundtracks to highly acclaimed video games. Several of these scores have been converted into music that can be enjoyed on its own and available on all music streaming services. (Stephen Akina, 2022)
His new album Petra-Fi features new and popular remasters of downtempo/chill piano inspired by the ancient petroglyph locations throughout Hawai’i.
Petra-Fi 12 songs, 43 minutes
Track list:
Glass Pagoda (04:11)
For Sure (02:45)
Wavedancer (Remaster) (04:56)
Electro Peace (Remaster) (06:17)
Moon Over Kahala (02:23)
Beatitude (03:00)
Greek Holiday (03:04)
Simple Life (02:20)
Makani (04:01)
Mirage (03:50)
Nightfall (03:07)
Makani Solo (Piano) (4:01)
Petra-Fi is is available on all streaming/digital stores.
, Sawed Off will be available on digital and DVD on October 11, 2022. Photo: Uncork’d Entertainment, Used with permission.
Uncork’d Entertainment has acquired Sawed Off, a new supernatural horror feature based on a comic anthology story and starring Eva Hamilton, Jody Barton, and Trae Ireland. The movie will be released on digital platforms and DVD October 11, 2022. (Uncork’d Entertainment, 2022)
Sawed Off – In the vein of “The Evil Dead meets Groundhog Day,” the movie centers on two hunters, friends for years and vying for the affections of the same woman, who find themselves on cursed land and keep killing each other and coming back to life. Hunter Johnson is the producer and director. The screenplay is by Barton, Johnson, and Chuck Wagner, based on Wagner’s Eclipse Comics story “Bag Limit,” published in Tales of Terror in 1986. Other producers include Cris Hernandez and Richard Trejo along with Barton and Ireland. Jeff Miller executive produces through his company Millman Productions, along with James Cullen Bressack and his company Sandaled Kid Productions. Special makeup effects are by Oliver Poser. Trejo is Director of Photography.
“Sawed Off is a new twist on ‘cabin in the woods’ stories and features great performances from Jody, Trae, and Eva,” says Miller.
‘Psychological Principles of Power’ by Jordon Bevan Photo: Amazon
Jordon Bevanis an American coach, author, and teacher in the realm of personal psychology and social dynamics. He trained as a CrossFit athlete, coached clients on self-development philosophies, and partied with friends at Ohio State College Fraternities. While living in Columbus, Ohio- Jordon became fascinated with psychology and social dynamics and spent much of his time in the gym and the library. He is one of the foremost underground experts on achievement and personal growth. In his new book “Psychological Principles Of Power: Strategies And Skills to Transform Your Self,” he provides readers with a potent and tried-and-true set of concepts they can use to immediately improve every aspect of their lives. These principles are the product of years of research and application. (Jordan Bevan, 2022)
“Psychological Principles Of Power” – You pick up thoughts, ideas, and techniques employed by successful individuals everywhere and in all fields. You acquire the knowledge necessary to realize your own potential for greatness. You will instantly become more upbeat, convincing, and laser-focused in all you do. Many of you who are reading this will have significantly increased your income and greatly enhanced your lives as a direct result of the knowledge provided here. These pages provide a plan for psychological success and achievement that is based on tried-and-true ideas from psychology, philosophy, biology, business, and metaphysics. These concepts are brought together in a quick-moving, educational set of actions that can help you achieve greater things than you ever thought possible. They help you feel better about yourself, enhance your own performance, and grant you total control over every facet of your personal and professional life.
‘Rise of the Unicorn’ is the new suspenseful thriller by D. Elliot Woods. Photo: Amazon
D. Elliot Woods has been an LA-based Film, TV and Commercial Actor for more than 25 years; from human and alien roles across various Star Trek films and TV shows to appearances on LOOT, NCIS: LA, HBO’s Ballers, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Friends, Drake & Josh as well as over 100 commercials for numerous household brands. His extensive industry experience and knowledge bleeds through into his writing. His Fly Free Entertainment production banner is dedicated to producing his own projects as well as helping train a whole new generation of creatives. He pours all his life experiences and knowledge of the industry into writing captivating stories featuring diverse, non-stereotypical characters. His unique way of viewing the world elevates his writing to thought-provoking, heart-wrenching, emotional and even comedic, in a fresh way that readers and audiences will fall in love with. “Rise of the Unicorn,” his new book, is a thought provoking, emotional suspense/thriller that entertains and captivates while carrying a message that cuts across every class of society. (D. Elliot Woods, 2022)
“Rise of the Unicorn” – Augustus ‘Gus’ Martin is an embattled LAPD negotiator. Months after suffering a significant blow to his career, he has clawed his way back up only to come face to face with The Unicorn – bank robbers who may in fact be a terrorist group – and who seem dead set on committing the messiest daylight robbery and hostage crisis of all time. The Unicorn will only negotiate with Gus as the world watches hostages die, one-by-one. If that were not enough, the politically desperate Mayor of Los Angeles recently appointed a new Police Commissioner… a Black woman from Texas whose credentials and competence have been quietly questioned by the rank and file. In the most pressurized of circumstances, she and Gus must trust one another in order to win a chess match against the most formidable criminal mind either has ever faced. The lives of over 30 hostages hang in the balance while philosophical questions demand very real answers.
Jason Carter gathers all-star lineup and good times tunes for new album Lowdown Hoedown. Courtesy photo, used with permission.
For thirty years, Jason Carter has been the fiddle player for the Del McCoury Band—the most awarded group in bluegrass history. He has won three Grammy awards, including 2018’s “Best Bluegrass Album” with the Travelin’ McCourys, of which he is a founding member. He has taken home five IBMAs for “Fiddle Player of the Year,” a staggering number that is not quite so crazy once you realize just how many bluegrass greats have turned to Carter for collaboration. (Jason Carter, 2022)
Jason Carter has spent years collaborating with a laundry list of all-time great musicians across a multitude of genres—not to mention his three decades as a member of the Del McCoury Band and being a founding member of the Travelin’ McCourys—but, never before have all of his friends, from all those years, joined Carter on his own solo album. That is, until now.
On November 4, 2022, Carter will release Lowdown Hoedown, a thirteen-song collection featuring Carter’s own rich vocals and red-hot fiddling backed up by a stunning lineup of musicians whom he calls friends. Imagine that Carter is throwing the pickin’ party of the century and we are all invited to join in. The guests? Well, there is Dierks Bentley, Aiofe O’Donovan, Vince Gill, Billy Strings, Sarah Jarosz, Jon Fishman, Marty Stuart, and that is just for starters. The multitude of guests speaks not only to Carter’s long-known stellar musicianship but also to his personality, lighting up the backstage hangs of music festivals nationwide.
Carter shared the opening track from Lowdown Hoedown, “King of the Hill,” a Bruce Hornsby tune that features Sam Bush on mandolin, Jerry Douglas on dobro, Russ Carson on banjo, Dennis Crouch on Bass, and Cody Kilby, Carter’s longtime Travelin’ McCourys bandmate, on guitar. “The story is about a guy who is unhappy with his job and relates to it like a prison. I think it made a great bluegrass song,” says Carter, who was introduced to the song by Kilby. “This was the first song we recorded for the record and the band knocked it out of the park.”
Fans can hear “King of the Hill” right here and pre-order or pre-save Lowdown Hoedown ahead of its release at this link.
Lowdown Hoedown track list: King of the Hill The Six O’clock Train and a Girl with Green Eyes The Likes of Me Paper Angel Dust Bowl Dream Hoedown for My Lowdown Rowdy Ways Good Things Happen Midnight Flyer Queen of the Nashville Night Kissimmee Kid You Led Me to the Wrong Highway 52 Bird Song
In her new memoir, Sharon Saulenas, an Intuitive and registered nurse, shares her startling spontaneous healing from debilitating injuries, including a traumatic brain injury. Photo: Amazon
As an Intuitive and RN, Sharon Saulenas has offered hope, healing, insight, and inner peace to many, including those at end of life. She currently assists others in connecting with their Intuition (Divine Wisdom) and helps dispel fears around death, dying, and beyond. In her fascinating new memoir “My Path to Spontaneous Healing,” Sharon Saulenas, shares her startling spontaneous healing from debilitating injuries, including a traumatic brain injury. (Sharon Saulenas, 2022)
“My Path to Spontaneous Healing”– The author takes you along with her as she experiences the terrible crash that caused life as she knew it to come to a screeching halt. You will continue along through pain-filled days of seizures and dramatically reduced quality of life to suddenly exploding into another time, another space, where complete healing occurs. Healed and renewed, she is now able to step fully back into life. Her senses and abilities are significantly enhanced. Joy and gratitude course through her entire being as never before and she is once again delighted to help others heal in whatever way is in their highest good. Beyond this, she also chronicles many other experiences communicating with a realm outside the domain of normal human experience.
Starting in early childhood, listening to her inner voice was a natural part of her. As a teen, she began receiving unsolicited communications, or ‘messages,’ that forewarned her of some future event, often the death of someone she knew. These messages proved prophetic, and at first she found them disturbing and frightening. However, over time she came to accept and trust them. Later in life, working as a RN, she found that her sensitivity to this other realm helped her to foresee different aspects of her patient’s condition, aiding in their healing. Visiting with loved ones that have passed was also a normal occurrence for her from a young age. During these visits, she would be filled with unbounded joy and unconditional love.
Much later, shortly after her husband died, she had an expanded experience of Heaven that was far above and beyond the joyous, love-filled meetings she had come to know. Here she describes dissolving into complete perfection, fully united in love. A towering event so Magnificent that much of it is inexplicable, yet she does her best to share it with us.
As an RN, Ms. Saulenas worked mainly in the specialty areas of ICU, Trauma, Adult Burns, and Hospice, where she very quickly discovered that there was far more to healing than treatments and medications. She bore witness to, and helped facilitate, many ‘miraculous’ healings, both large and small.
At the core of it all is her belief that we are all connected. We are all of the Divine, (or Greater Consciousness), and by turning inward, we can tap into that unlimited wisdom that offers endless ‘impossible’ possibilities. Life becomes filled with more beauty, joy, love, and healing. Here Ms. Saulenas shares her simple practice of connection with this boundless source, this powerful energy that supports and unites us all. Her revealing stories and simple instruction will inspire readers to open themselves to the latent powers that lie untapped within us all.
From Film Valor, How Dark They Prey is now available on Amazon Prime Video and Watch Movies Now. Courtesy photo, used with permission.
From Film Valor and directors Jamison M. LoCascio and Adam Ambrosio, How Dark They Prey is now available on Amazon Prime Video and Watch Movies Now. (October Coast, 2022)
How Dark They Prey– Includes four dark tales about the haunting nature of man and the unknown from WWII to Alien investigation, finding the occult, and kidnap with torture. The highly anticipated horror anthology is written by Adam Ambrosio, Anthony LoCascio and Jamison M. LoCascio. Starring Josiah Schneider, Timothy Paul Jobe, and David Johnson.
The Mystery Spot releases on digital and Video On Demand on October 7 from Terror Films. Photo: Google
From director Mel House, and starring Graham Skipper (Re-Animator: The Musical), Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4-5), and scream queen Debbie Rochon, experience the terror of The Mystery Spot this October. (Terror Films, 2022)
The Mystery Spot– A number of lost souls find refuge in a small motel in the middle of nowhere, its only distinguishing characteristic being the ruins of an old Mystery Spot—a long-dead roadside attraction with strange metaphysical powers. Nathan and Rachel find solace in one another, both attempting to escape dark pasts that seem to be using the Mystery Spot to go from being painful shadows of their lives to very real entities of the present. Everyone at the Mystery Spot will be affected by its unique properties, but only some will survive its reality-shattering implications.
The Mystery Spot releases on digital and VOD October 7 worldwide from Terror Films.
Chris Shiflett blends West Coast nostalgia and heartland hooks with brand new single “Born & Raised.” Courtesy photo, used with permission.
While Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Chris Shiflett gets recognition for his role in Foo Fighters, the modern-day guitar hero has seemingly always had one foot in the country music world—and, these days, he has been spending plenty of time making music in Nashville. Just last week, Shiflett played the Grand Ole Opry alongside a best-of-Nashville band—Sierra Hull (mandolin), Mike Bub (bass), and Michael Cleveland (fiddle). Now he has released his second of two singles recorded with legendary producer Vance Powell, “Born & Raised.” Shiflett began writing the tune while surfing his hometown Santa Barbara coastline but finished it in Music City where a group of Americana studio all-stars—bassist Jack Lawrence, drummer Julian Doro, keyboardist Mike Webb, and steel guitarist Luke Schneider—brought “Born & Raised” to life. (Chris Shiflett, 2022)
A swirl of West Coast nostalgia, heartland hooks, and Deluxe Reverb drive, the song unfolds like a love letter to one’s roots, delivered by a man who has spent most of his adulthood on the move. “Born & Raised” and Shiflett’s recently released “Long, Long Year” are both songs that find Shiflett in a reflective mood, looking at where he has been before heading toward whatever is next. Fans of Shiflett should certainly be keeping an eye out for even more new music over the next year. They can save “Born & Raised” hereand watch the lyric video now at this link. “Long, Long Year” is also available right here.
“My trip out to Nashville in March of 2021 was my first time recording any solo material since I made Hard Lessons. I hadn’t done much traveling post-covid lockdown so I was a little nervous heading out there to work with a producer and roomful of musicians I didn’t really know. In true Nashville style we made our introductions and got right down to work, hammering out the basic tracks in a few hours. Vance was great and made me feel right at home, and the group of players he put together were on point.” – Chris Shiflett
Catch Chris Shiflett on tour: September 17 – Redondo Beach, CA – BeachLife Ranch Festival 2022 December 3 – Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theatre December 8 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues Anaheim December 17 – Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues Las Vegas December 28 – Los Angels, CA – The Belasco
A longtime member of Foo Fighters, Shiflett has already played an integral role in shaping the sound, swagger, and scope of rock music throughout the 21st century. He joined the band in 1999, after kicking off his career playing guitar for seminal pop-punk groups like No Use For a Name and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. While flying the flag for modern rock & roll, he also made time to pursue projects outside of the band. Groups like Jackson United and Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants found him in the driver’s seat, establishing his credentials as a front man, while the long-running Americana podcast Walking the Floor found him shining a light on his heroes and contemporaries, its 200+ episodes highlighting the storytellers, songwriters, and road warriors of contemporary roots music. Two critically acclaimed solo albums, 2017’s West Coast Town and 2019’s Hard Lessons, marked Shiflett’s own entry into the Americana world, mixing classic Bakersfield influences with greasy guitar riffs, Marshall amplifiers, and country-rock crunch.
SA Examiner 