Storytelling & Other Content Reinvented with Movie-Style Soundtracks ("Gifts": Top Short Story Reading In 4 Categories)

Gifts: A potential new relationship turns tense when some unfortunate words are spoken on a first date. 

 #1 Spiritual Category
#1 Spiritual Short Story Category
Top 10 Romance Short Story Category

Revised Story, New Soundtrack, 
New Book Cover & Reviews!

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"Gifts is a profound lesson about the importance of knowing when to graciously accept someone's kind gestures. This short story is a tightly interwoven package of dialogue and narration that pulls you into it intellectually to fully understand the silent emotional energy being transmitted between the two main characters."

—Joey Pinkney, Award-winning Author & Book Reviewer

"A beautiful short story."
—Priyanka Seth, Editor, Star Scribes

"Love the new cover! :-)"
—Chazz Hill-Hayr, Director of Audio, Booktrack

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GIFTS has received over 900 engagements/reads.

Imagine the possibilities for your projects.

 

WHAT IS A BOOKTRACK?

A Booktrack is content with a synchronized movie-style soundtrack. It's a new way to experience creative storytelling, essays, poetry, screenplays, and other formats utilizing the integration of text, music, ambient and special effect sounds to reinvent reading and engage people into a unique experience with content. Do it yourself or hire someone familiar with the Booktrack Studio to create your story or other content.

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Instructions for Reading: 

• 1) Press the PLAY button on the eBook cover. 
• 2) Click the arrow on the right side of the page to turn the pages.  
• 3) Use the (-) and (+) symbols on the bottom of the page to slow down or speed up the soundtrack to synchronize better with how fast or slow you read.  
• 4) Use the Audio icon to lower the soundtrack (or MUTE the sound if you prefer to read it the traditional way). 
• 4) You can experiment with the other symbols on the bottom of the page.  

SHARE the direct link to "Gifts" that can be read at the Booktrack website (plus other books): http://tinyurl.com/zt9lz6o.

"Gifts" is slated to be adapted into a short film. I am having fun imagining my wish list for the music soundtrack. Thank you to Dame Judith Dench for BOTH of these songs after hearing her Desert Island Disc choices on the BBC show of the same name (and to my friend, Stephen in the U.K., who introduced me to this delightful, insightful program). Immediately, I thought of the couple, their relationship, their love story.

"All Right, Okay, You Win"

Count Basie & Joe Williams

From the album, "Count Basie At Newport"

"Gifts" will become available to purchase in the future so read it for free now (plus other books using the Booktrack studio platform). The "Gifts" Booktrack eBook will remain free, as a giveaway, as a GIFT is meant to be with no attachments or expectations of any financial return or exchange. I hope you enjoy it!

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What's In Or On Your Bedside Table? Objects As Storytelling Content

Image Credit: decozt.com

EVERY OBJECT WE UTILIZE IN LIFE HAS A STORY TO TELL ABOUT US, OR REFLECTS WHO WE ARE or what we value—past, present and future. (As Sherlock Holmes says, “It’s elementary.”) Some stories we want to hear, and some, perhaps not.

A REVIEW OF SOME OF THE EVERYDAY ITEMS THAT WE RARELY CONSIDER as we rush about our lives can also inspire a valuable journey to self-discovery. It’s a way to get in touch with ourselves, our relationships, our environment and structures we have created.

JOIN ME IN SURVEYING SOME OF THE SIMPLE OBJECTS most of us take for granted that can serve as storytelling and other content creation resources. I will take a close look at one of them.

THE OBJECT WILL TELL IT'S OWN STORY ABOUT WHY I HAVE IT or how it impacts my life. I’ll let the item do the talking to keep me honest about our relationship. I invite you to try this creative exercise as well.

1. A BOX OF TISSUES

I am almost empty. Val has had sinus problems for a long time. The worst is when she develops sinusitis. This happens because she ingests things into her body that weakens her immune system: dairy products, sugar, some caffeine, and products with monosodium glutamate. Today, her sinuses are revolting and pain is their way of communicating to her, of saying: “Change your habits!”

Her respiratory system has had huge challenges with two pneumonia bouts. The last one occurred in Cusco, Peru. It’s a miracle she’s alive. She had severe pulmonary edema with her lungs full of water and the liquid seeping into her brain. The clinic director said: “If your friend hadn’t called this morning when she did, you’d be dead. In another 30 minutes you would have died.” Actually, she did die.

Image Credit: blog.toiletpaperworld.com

Sometime in the evening, Val was in the crossing over tunnel. Her mother (who died in 1979), her maternal grandmother, and an extremely bright Being whose face she could not see, were at the end. She was so happy to see her mother and grandmother again and ready to join them. Without moving their mouths--speaking consciousness to consciousness--they told her she had to return. The Being put an incredible amount of light into her body. When she opened her eyes, her friend was in her room telling Val she was calling for help immediately.

The clinic director rushed over to the hotel in which she was staying and drove her to the clinic. The doctors put her in a hyperbaric chamber because her oxygen level had dropped to the low thirties. A normal level is in the 90s. Val has anemia. Cusco is 13,000 feet above sea level and her blood couldn’t make enough oxygen.

Although she is reaching for me tonight, I must say she has made changes so she doesn’t need to use me very often. She’s sworn off two drains on her immune system: alcohol and cigarettes. Plus, she almost only uses Yacon honey & syrup (a low-calorie, low-blood sugar sweetener for diabetics and weight-watchers she discovered in Peru), uses Almond beverage and goat’s milk, and minimizes caffeine intake. 

Image Credit: savvysistershops.com

Her greatest enemy is her love for sugar-producing carbohydrates (the “bad” carbs) she eats for comfort food, or just because it’s a hard pattern to break. Also, she loves sour cream mixed with Lipton Onion Soup to make a dip that complements her favorite potato chips, Lays Classic. The soup mix has monosodium glutamate. Also, she’s prone to binges of putting cheddar cheese in her morning grits and making grill cheese sandwiches.

Sinus problems are a symptom of deeper issues—emotional ones. She was abused as a child, and it left an imprint on her. It says: “You’re not worthy. You’re not good enough. You aren’t a person to value.” Sometimes these feelings rear up—even though she’s worked hard against them, knowing they are not true. 

The more she eradicates the harmful programming she received as a child, the less she’ll need to eat things that feed the sinus problems. She’s doing more work on the inside to affect her outside choices.

She uses me to wipe her tears too; although lately, she wipes her tears with her fingers and rubs them into her skin where her heart resides.

See what I mean about how one ordinary object can be used as a storytelling resource, and has the capacity to impact a life? Here are the rest of the items:

2. The book, “The Secret.”
3. The book, “Messages from Your Angels.”
4. A hand-painted, black lacquer jewelry box my dad brought home to my mother after serving in the military in Okinawa.
5. A digital microcassette recorder.
6. A remote for my DVD/VHS player.
7. A small, white box with pearl earrings inside.
8. My Zrii notebook.
9. A maroon cloth napkin with a pattern of tiny white roses.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN. What’s on YOUR bedside table?

Note: The “What’s In or On Your Bedside Table” is an idea inspired by a dream I had in February 2009. I was a guest in the audience of the game show, “Let’s Make a Deal.” Audience members were offered a deal if we could find the requested object in our pocketbooks. I don’t recall what object was requested, but I found it. Monty Hall, the host, picked out a piece of paper from a bag with the prize written on it. I won $37,000.75. I awakened.

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The Power of Numerology Is Top 10 In New Book Releases. Listen to Author Stefanie Campione In Action.

"Accurate" . . . "Amazing!" . . . . "I'm Speechless" . . . These are some of the words callers used to describe the numerology analysis they received in this podcast of a edited previous live program featuring STEFANIE CAMPIONE.

Now, congratulations to Stefanie, whose new book release debut of "The Power of Numerology: A Guidebook to Discover the Unknown You" has been holding #1 (Print) and #2 (Kindle) in Amazon's Hot New Releases.

You can hear her as as a special guest when she appeared on The Healing Artist Studio Project's blog talk radio channel helping others through knowing their numbers. Stefanie used the power of numbers to chart life events, romantic compatibility, career direction, and insights into the caller's personalities to help create their new stories. Every reading she conducted for callers ended with hearty and sincere appreciation and gratitude.

Check Out Lifestyle Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Healing Artist Studio Project on BlogTalkRadio

GIFTS is Top (#1) in Romance, Short Story Literature on Booktracks (Books with Soundtracks: Reinventing Reading)

Click here to experience Gifts.

                             

I'm sharing the first beta interactive multimedia test version of a short story, Gifts. I've integrated literary and cinematic elements (music score, ambient effects and sound effects) to this tale to expand and enhance the storytelling experience.

Feel free to leave comments regarding your experience to help fine-tune this new publishing platform made available by Booktrack™based in New Zealand.

The next step planned is to re-write Gifts as a short film script and to use the Booktrack™ platform to create a new soundtrack and sound effects for it. Do contact me if you're a screenwriter, music supervisor or composer who would like to explore collaborating with me on the script.

Technical notes:

1) You can control synchronizing the reading & soundtrack speed of the story using the (+) and (- ) icons located at the bottom right of each page.

Click here to experience Gifts.

Gifts is a Booktrack™-sponsored production.

Imagine, innovate, play and create without fear of failure.