Shades of Love: Poetry of Life and Love Lost and Found By: Haviv Elana Trocki-Videll While others may write their thoughts in a diary, after a great date or horrific fight with friends and loved ones, Haviv Elana Trocki-Videll has written and continues to write poems inspired by her experiences. Shades of Love... is a book of 18 of these poems, inspired by the ups and downs of her personal experiences in life and love. She chose 18 of her poems for this book because the number 18 signifies life and also because she wanted to remind readers that in life we experience many shades of love (romantic, be it unrequited or reciprocal, platonic, unconditional, personal, even hatred is a shade of love and not its opposite, as it stems from feeling, caring). Each of these is an equally important experience. That as such, even if you think you have never found love, we have all experienced even romantic love in life. Love, like life, is a journey, not a destination. So one should face all shades of love and life with courage, bravery, and optimism, for love is never really lost.

Fantasy role-playing at its most exciting. Imagine you are Grey Star, the wizard, embarking on a perilous journey to The Forbidden City. Your magical powers protect you, but the power of the Wytch-king threatens . . .

Once the mighty fortress had stood strong, defended by the mightiest of all Drenai heroes, Druss, the Legend. But now a tyrannical, mad emperor had seized control of the fortress, and his twisted will was carried throughout the land by the Joinings --- abominations that were half-man, half-beast. Tenaka Khan was a half-breed himself, hated by the Drenai for his Nadir blood and despised by the Nadir for his Drenai ancestry. But he alone had a plan to destroy the emperor. The last heroes of the Drenai joined with him in a desperate gamble to bring down the emperor -- even at the cost of their own destruction.

When life loses its meaning, when suddenly the world is turned upside down, when there's nothing left that resembles life as we've known it, where do we find the strength and sustenance to go on?

For naval aviator Jerry Coffee and others who were held as prisoners of war in North Vietnam, there was only one choice: to go within.

Beyond Survival is a journey into the invincible human spirit that unites heart and mind in a compelling and unforgettable experience. Drawing from his seven years as a POW, Captain Coffee provides timeless lessons that apply to the physical, emotional, and ethical challenges of everyday life. Proving that leadership and creativity are possible in difficult and uncertain circumstances, Captain Coffee offers a message we can draw on in any trying situation. His story demonstrates that conviction must come from within, and in telling that story he touches the place inside of us where growth begins.

Beyond Survival is a positive statement about love and commitment in the midst of war and division. It contrasts the cold reality of war, degradation, and torture with the warmth of human connections, inner serenity, and kinship with all of life. It poignantly illustrates that to be stripped of everything that is familiar and by which we identify ourselves leaves us with only what unites us - our human identity. It conveys truths about relationships at every level - with ourselves, with others, with our country, and with our God.

Without inflaming the wounds inflicted by America's involvement in Vietnam, Beyond Survival explores an issue at the heart of every free society: the willingness of ordinary individuals to maintain a passion for freedom so compelling that adversity strengthens rather than weakens personal resolve in the worst of circumstances. Through Gerald Coffee's story you will discover the universal principles of survival and triumph that empower anyone to overcome adversity.

Relates the adventures of Gallen, Maggie, and Orick, the bear, dwellers on a distant planet where humans have perfected genetic engineering and must fend off an attack by the alien dronons