Praise for Portfolio Life"Dave Corbett's book turns two simple ideas into a program for life-enrichment, that you can create a life expressly for yourself and that the so-called retirement years are the best time to do it. Drawing on a lifetime of work with people who were rethinking what they wanted and their direction, he shows how to do both those things. Be warned: If you read the book, you're going to be changed. But I think you'll like how you turn out."--Bill Bridges,...

Former private investigator and New York Times notable author David Corbett offers a unique and indispensable toolkit for creating characters that come vividly to life on the page and linger in memory. Corbett provides an inventive, inspiring, and vastly entertaining blueprint to all the elements of characterization-from initial inspiration to realization-with special insights into the power of secrets and contradictions, the embodiment of roles, managing the "tyranny of motive," and maste...

Just as a compass provides direction for an explorer, so does motivation provide direction for characters in fiction. The "compass" of character motivation is composed of four points: Lack, Yearning, Resistance, and Desire. In The Compass of Character you'll learn to deeply consider the key question "What does my character want?" and learn techniques to answer that question by writing realistic and empathetic characters without falling into formulaic, unsatisfying results that onl...

The most notorious love letters in American history-supposedly destroyed a century ago-mysteriously reappear, and become the coveted prize in a fierce battle for possession that brings back to life the lawless world evoked in the letters themselves.Lisa Balamaro is an ambitious arts lawyer with a secret crush on her most intriguing client: former rodeo rider and reformed art forger, Tuck Mercer. In his newfound role as expert in Old West artifacts, Tuck gains possession of the supp...

A saxophonist's murder is only the first shot fired in a citywide warAll great blues musicians chase something. Raymond "Strong" Carlisle calls it "the deep sweet"—that perfect note that always seems to sit just out of reach. For decades he has made crowds swing, made women smile, and earned the respect of some of the greats. But as long as he strained for the deep sweet, nothing he did with his baritone sax seemed to matter. Chasing that fantasy has led him here, t...

A country descending into civil war...A young artist forced to cross a nation in chaosto retrieve her stolen masterpiece...Her guide and guardian-whose past remains strangely obscure...Georgie O'Halloran created an artistic and literary wonder-only to have it stolen from her and published under the thief's name. Worse, it's the inspiration for a wildly pop...

Seven stories of desperation and death from a master of crime fictionSterling Associates recruited Satcher in the killing fields of Iraq. A marine who learned the brutalities and frustrations of war in Fallujah, Satcher was ideal for Sterling, a shadowy corporation whose business is to kill for America when the CIA can't. He comes to Guatemala, the deadliest nation in the Americas, to kidnap a Sinaloan cartel member and turn him against his family. There he meets O...

A country descending into civil war . . .A young artist forced to cross a nation in chaos to retrieve her stolen masterpiece . . .Her guide and guardian—whose past remains strangely obscure . . .Georgie O'Halloran created an artistic and literary wonder—only to have it stolen from her and published under the thief's name. Worse, it's the inspiration for a wildly popular video game that's become a favorite among the ...

Phelan Tierney helps people who hope to start their lives over. When Jacquelina Garza, a young woman he’s taken under his wing, disappears, the former lawyer devotes himself to finding her—despite her secretive and puzzlingly unhelpful family.Jacqi has been to hell and back. Abducted by a child predator when she was eight years old, she still, years later, bears the scars of the incident and its very public aftermath. Her life takes an even steeper downward spiral when she witnesse...

First Published in 1965 Politics and the Airlines looks into the making of airline policy in five countries, Australia, Britain, Canada, India, and the United States. It shows the part played by political parties, ministers, government departments, regulatory bodies, and the boards of management of airlines themselves. In four of the countries the major airlines are publicly owned and have been involved in the cut and thrust of political controversy between enthusiasts for public ...

Flying his Harrier, Major Dar Fantin stares into the North Carolina night sky with skepticism. Stopping in mid-flight is impossible at thirty-eight thousand feet, but that's exactly what an orange ball of light was doing. That was one of the last thoughts Dar had as he was sucked aboard the Nanta. Held captive, along with twenty-three other fighter pilots from around the world, he is assigned a guide. Littia educates her charge, imparting the language and historical background of Lantius. ...

Colonel Jack Adams crashes an AV-8B, Harrier in the middle of a North Carolina Bean field. The task of sorting out the cause of his friend’s accident falls to Colonel Dan Breakheart, the Second Marine Air Wing’s Safety Officer. Within days of the start of his investigation, Breakheart realizes that, not only sabotage was indeed a factor, regarding his friend’s death, but that it may be murder as well. Using information Jack’s wife provides, Breakheart begins delving into the last few days ...