The strange true story of the first influencer Oliver, a hacker living in Germany, meets Donna online. She's an American girl living in New York. After chatting and talking on the phone for months, he finally decides to surprise her with a visit. But he soon finds out that things are not what they appeared to be, and that this visit will change his life forever. “Nobody has ever killed themselves over a broken arm. But every day, thousands of people kill themselves because of a broken heart. Why? Because emotional pain hurts much worse than physical pain.” -Oliver Markus Malloy, Bad Choices Make Good Stories “Don't ever think you're better than a drug addict, because your brain works the same as theirs. You have the same circuits. And drugs would affect your brain in the same way it affects theirs. The same thought process that makes them screw up over and over again would make you screw up over and over as well, if you were in their shoes. You probably already are doing it, just not with heroin or crack, but with food or cigarettes, or something else you shouldn't be doing.” -Oliver Markus Malloy, Bad Choices Make Good Stories "A must read. One of those rare books that sucks you in from the first to the last page." ★★★★★ - Amazon Review (Alternate cover edition)
Special Anniversary Omnibus: Get all three books for the price of one! _____ Part 1: Going to New York _____ The strange true story of the first influencer. Oliver, a hacker living in Germany, meets Donna online. She's an American girl living in New York. After chatting and talking on the phone for months, he finally decides to surprise her with a visit. But he soon finds out that things are not what they appeared to be, and that this visit will change his life forever. “Nobody has ever killed themselves over a broken arm. But every day, thousands of people kill themselves because of a broken heart. Why? Because emotional pain hurts much worse than physical pain.” -Oliver Markus Malloy, Bad Choices Make Good Stories “Don't ever think you're better than a drug addict, because your brain works the same as theirs. You have the same circuits. And drugs would affect your brain in the same way it affects theirs. The same thought process that makes them screw up over and over again would make you screw up over and over as well, if you were in their shoes. You probably already are doing it, just not with heroin or crack, but with food or cigarettes, or something else you shouldn't be doing.” -Oliver Markus Malloy, Bad Choices Make Good Stories "A must read. One of those rare books that sucks you in from the first to the last page." ★★★★★ - Amazon Review _____ Part 2: The Heroin Scene in Fort Myers _____ America has a heroin problem. Oliver moves from New York to Florida. Battling with depression, he gets sucked into the seedy underworld of Fort Myers, where he encounters a number of female drug addicts. He empathizes with them because of his own traumatic past. Oliver feels compelled to try to help them escape the addict lifestyle, but learns the hard way that he is in way over his head. "A truly fascinating and unexpected look at the darker side of addiction." ★★★★★ - A. Allyson, Goodreads _____ Part 3: Finding Happiness in Los Angeles _____ If you're a fan of Dave Chappelle or John Oliver, you'll love this book. After writing a book about his bizarre adventures in America's underbelly, Oliver finally finds love among his readers on Goodreads. "I think it will become a standard for people who are dealing with loved ones struggling with addictions." ★★★★★ - B. Bridges, Amazon Review Dear Reader, You're a little late to the party. Where the hell have you been? This is already the third and final part of the trilogy, and you're only joining us now? Tsk tsk tsk. Let me get you up to speed on what you've missed so far: In book one, Going to New York, you missed the utterly fascinating, nay spellbinding saga of me growing up in Germany and later emigrating to New York. I was a brooding, troubled teenage hacker. Wow! Good stuff! It's almost like my life was the perfect kind of crazy to make a really awesome book! Anyway, being a teenage hacker came in handy later in life. I went from rags to riches thanks to my keen understanding of technology and how to use the web to my advantage. In New York I was married to Donna, a girl I had met online. She was an agoraphobic, prone to temper tantrums. And fun was had by all, which led to a divorce 16 years later. That's where the story gets really interesting. I began dating. It didn't go well. I was no good at it. OK, truth be told, I was really bad at it. Apparently I had terrible taste in women. A heroin-addicted hooker named Alice broke my heart and robbed me of my will to live. Doesn't sound very fun, does it? But it's a fun read, I promise. Dark, but fun. Mesmerizing even! Brokenhearted, I moved from New York to Florida. That's where the first book ends. The second book you missed (I'm not mad at you. I'm just disappointed.) is called The Heroin Scene in Fort Myers, which is a very fitting title, believe me. Sometimes I'm a slow learner, so I dated my way through the heroin scene in Florida, and I couldn't figure out for years why I wasn't finding any wife material. But oh how I tried. And tried. In all the wrong places. Pretty sad. I'm not proud of it. After years of sad pathetic sex with heroin addicts I was a wreck. My younger self wouldn't have even recognized me. Lucy and Veronica had turned me into a broken, humiliated shell of a man. My heart had been ripped out of my chest so many times, it was a miracle I hadn't killed myself yet. (Seriously, it's a fun read. I promise!) At the end of the book I had it up to here with heroin addicts. I told myself never again would I let myself be sucked in by the sweet lies of manipulative, fake love. The name of the final chapter was NO MO HO. No more whores. I needed to change my life before my life was going to kill me. I hopped on a plane, back to my native Germany, to lick my wounds and heal before returning to America. That's where the second book ended. And now, for our third and final act...
Oliver, a teenage hacker living in Germany, meets Donna online. She's an American girl living in New York. After chatting and talking on the phone for months, he finally decides to surprise her with a visit. But he soon finds out that things are not what they appeared to be, and that this visit will change his life forever.
This book is about all the ways that I, and millions of people with autism, experience the world.When I was in high school, I attended a seminar for people with Asperger's. There was another individual there (pretty safe bet he was on the spectrum) who raised his hand and repeated the cliché "there's no normal." He said, "We're all different! We're all weird in our own way! So, there really is no such thing as normal."I raised my hand and said, "You know what? That's bullsh*t. There is such thing as normal! The difference between us and everybody else is that they all have quirks that fall within the range of what society considers normal, and we fall outside that range." I almost felt bad, because he didn't have much to say after that.I encourage you to read our first book, Chasing the Rabbit, because it will give you a very different perspective on my life, as it's mostly written from my dad's point of view.The first book I wrote (with my dad) was Chasing the Rabbit: A Dad's Life Raising a Son on the Spectrum. My dad chose that title--he always describes me with the analogy of a greyhound chasing a mechanical rabbit: the greyhound can see the rabbit but can never catch it. My dad says that the rabbit represents normal, and I'm the greyhound. As someone with Asperger's--what's now called "high-functioning autism"--I am always trying to be "normal." I know what "normal" is, and I know what "normal" looks like, but I am perpetually trying to catch the rabbit, which is "normality." A lot of people have an issue with the term "normal." I don't. When people say things like, "There's no such thing as normal," it devalues the struggle I go through every day.
Dear Republican, if all the lies Fox News tells you about liberals were actually true, I'd hate liberals too. Who wouldn't? But that's the thing: virtually nothing you are being told about liberals is actually true. It's propaganda, designed to demonize liberals. Most liberals honestly have no idea why you Trump voters hate liberals so much. This is why: You're being lied to, to make you hate liberals. Be honest: you can barely tolerate me even using the word liberal so many times in a few sentences, because to you it's such a toxic word. Liberals repulse you. They are barely even human, and definitely un-American, right? You think liberals are everything that is wrong with America. Liberals are wrong, bad and evil. Evil demons. America would be a much better place without liberals, right? That extremely negative emotional response in your head was created by malicious propaganda lies you have been fed about liberals. Here's a short list of true facts Fox News doesn't want you to know. And it's just the tip of the iceberg. Hitler and the Nazis were not liberals, not lefties, not socialists, and not democrats. Hitler and his Nazi minions were right-wing Christian conservative nationalists who hated liberals for the same reasons you hate liberals. I know what you're thinking: "That's fucking crazy talk! That can't possibly be true! This guy is a deranged libtard!" Well, I have news for you: it's absolutely 100% true. And I can easily prove it to you in this short book, if you give me 5 minutes. MAGA is a death cult. They hate liberals with the same intensity, and for the same absurd reasons, as the Nazis hated the Jews. Nazis thought they were righteous and good, and that they were eradicating evil. MAGA believes the same thing about themselves and liberals. They don't want to co-exist.
A cautionary tale of all the things you shouldn't do on a road trip across America. Join Oliver on his epic road trip from New York to California, as he almost gets blown up in the Sears Tower in Chicago, almost gets bitten by a rattlesnake in Colorado, almost gets eaten by a mountain lion in the Rocky Mountains, almost dies in a sand storm in Death Valley, almost gets killed by a sea elephant in California, almost gets arrested by a Park Ranger on Route 1, almost gets abducted by aliens in Yosemite National Park, almost gets disappeared by the US military, almost has sex with a hooker in Reno, and almost crashes in a helicopter.
Dear Indie Author, Forget everything you think you know about writing and self-publishing. Chances are it's complete bullshit. Nowadays there are literally hundreds of thousands of people who dream of being a professional writer. And thanks to self-publishing and print-on-demand, there's nothing stopping you or anyone else from publishing whatever you want. Even if it's complete crap. The result? Every year, millions of shitty books get self-published. Books that should have never been published in the first place, because they are so bad, nobody wants to read them. While you're reading this little book, one of two things is likely gonna happen: Either you totally hate this book, because you feel what I'm saying is stepping on your toes and you may feel personally attacked. Or you wholeheartedly agree with this book, because you're one of the few good indie authors who actually have talent. But even if you hate every word I say, you probably should take the time to read this book anyway, because you'll learn a few very important things. I promise to keep it short. Oliver
FOREWORD BY GUY KAWASAKI Presentation designer and internationally acclaimed communications expert Garr Reynolds, creator of the most popular Web site on presentation design and delivery on the Net — presentationzen.com — shares his experience in a provocative mix of illumination, inspiration, education, and guidance that will change the way you think about making presentations with PowerPoint or Keynote. Presentation Zen challenges the conventional wisdom of making "slide presentations" in today’s world and encourages you to think differently and more creatively about the preparation, design, and delivery of your presentations. Garr shares lessons and perspectives that draw upon practical advice from the fields of communication and business. Combining solid principles of design with the tenets of Zen simplicity, this book will help you along the path to simpler, more effective presentations.
Do you have something important to say? Are your knowledge and experience unique, valuable, and in demand? Do you want to write a book that changes the way people think and live? By combining his experience as an educator and entrepreneur, author Gregory V. Diehl teaches passionate thinkers how to turn unique messages into profitable books--without sacrificing royalties or creative control to a publisher. With in-depth advice about all stages of book creation, publication, and marketing, The InfluentialAuthor takes a uniquely grounded and intellectual approach to nonfiction self-publishing. Unlike self-publishing guides that promise to teach you how to write a bestselling book quickly and easily, Diehl's book actually walks you through the complex details of planning, writing, editing, and promoting your work at the standards of traditional publishing. Whether you are an experienced writer or have just started thinking about how to write a nonfiction book, The Influential Author will teach you about: -Combining your passions and experience with reader demand to decide what book to write. -Organizing your knowledge into sections and chapters for maximum comprehension and flow. -Refining your book with feedback from editors, proofreaders, beta readers, and market testing. -Choosing a title, subtitle, description, and cover design that capture your message and create sales. -Pricing and promoting each format of your book (digital, print, and audio) for maximum readership and revenue. Enjoying lifelong passive income, influence, and meaning from your book's success. Publishing a book could be one of the most important things you ever do. Read The Influential Author to begin your path to writing nonfiction books that matter.
