Shaking The Holiday Blues Away
Released Date:December 11th
Publisher: MLRPress
BLURB
As a last resort, a gay married ex-sailor turns to
a Past Life Regression therapist to help him heal his chronic holiday blues.
For most people, the Winter Holiday Season means
family, fun, mistletoe, music, merriment, parties, and presents. In short, it's
the happiest time of the year.
Not so for twenty-nine-year-old, ex-sailor, and
gay married man, Michael Bourlard. For fifteen years, this blond and buff man
has been traumatized by yearly holiday blues that last the entirety of
December. Over the years, Michael has sought the help of medical doctors,
psychiatrists, traditional therapists, New Age crystal and magnet therapies,
hoping to shake away the holiday blues. But it has all been to no avail.
Finally, in an act of desperation, Michael turns
to his last, best, hope: Dr. Minnow Saint James, America's premier Past Life
Regression therapist.
But can Dr. Saint James find the origin of his
patient's annual malady in a past life, or will Michael be staying in bed with
the covers pulled over his head, and listening to "Eve of
Destruction," while everyone else enjoys "Silent Night," yet
again, when the clock strikes December 1, 2015?
ABOUT CHRISTOPHER
I love writing. I always have. My first published
writing was a Letter to the Editor of TV Guide. I think I was seven or eight,
at the time. In third grade at Ernie Pyle Elementary School, in Fresno,
California, I wrote a one-act play that my class produced at the end of the
school year. I’ve been writing ever since.
If the words I string together entertain,
enlighten, or intrigue you, then I feel happy and successful. If they do not,
then I’ll try even harder the next time to please.
I ache to be a better writer. But it’s a pleasant
ache.
I love hearing from my readers and from visitors
to my website. I consider it an honor and a privilege to personally answer
every correspondence.
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Bronx, New York, and raised in Fresno,
California, Christopher Stone’s early years were dominated by school, watching
television and motion pictures, bicycling, skating, and reading avidly. Summers
were spent swimming, and doing whatever it took to survive the oppressive San
Joaquin Valley heat. But he also remembers fondly the yearly summer trips to
New York, to visit family and friends—and to see Broadway shows.
Christopher left Fresno, for Hollywood,
California, during his college years after being accepted into the Writers
Guild of America’s Open Door Program, a two-year, scholarship, training ground
for aspiring screen and television writers. As it happened, rather than a
teleplay or screenwriting gig, his first professional writing job was in
journalism—as the Los Angeles Editor for Stage Door, at that time, Canada’s
equivalent of the U.S. entertainment trade weekly, Variety.
Christopher would later use his Writers Guild of
America training to co-author and sell the original screenplay, The Living
Legend, with Jon Mercedes III, to the Erin Organization, and later, and also
with Mercedes, to write two seasons of The Party Game, a Canadian TV game show.
As a young freelance entertainment journalist, he
contributed to many Los Angeles-based publications, among them The Advocate,
for which he wrote a breezy film column, “Reeling ‘Round,” and the Los Angeles
Free Press. During this time, he became a member of the Los Angeles Drama
Critics Circle.
Christopher dipped his toes into the world of
motion picture advertising and publicity, as assistant to the West Coast
Director of Advertising and Publicity for Cinerama Releasing Corporation, in
Beverly Hills. At the same time, he also did special advertising and publicity
projects for 20th Century-Fox. Christopher went on to become an Account
Executive for David Wallace & Company, a public relations firm specializing
in entertainment accounts—and located on West Hollywood’s legendary Sunset Strip.
Returning to his first love, writing, Christopher
became a full time freelance contributor to national consumer publications
including Us, Good Housekeeping, Family Circle, McCall’s, In Cinema, and The
National Enquirer, among others. Many of his stories were syndicated worldwide
by the New York Times Syndication Corp.
Another important area of endeavor for Christopher
Stone was Re-Creating Your Self. A Blueprint for Personal Change that he first
developed for himself, the journalist went on to teach the principles and
processes of Re-Creating Your Self to others – first, in private sessions,
later, in workshops and seminars, and, finally, for California State University
Extended Education. Eventually, one of his students suggested he write a book version.
Re-Creating Your Self was first published in
hardcover by Metamorphous Press, and subsequently published in a trade
paperback edition by Hay House. It has since been published in Spanish, Swedish
and Hebrew language editions.
When not writing, Christopher used his longtime
interest in, and study of, metaphysics, to teach meditation and psychic
development classes – first in Beverly Hills, then later, in Manhattan Beach.
He went on to co-author, with Mary Sheldon, four
novellas for a Japanese educational publisher, and then, also with Mary
Sheldon, the highly successful The Meditation Journal trilogy of hardcover
books. Subsequently, he returned to journalism, this time, contributing
hundreds of print and online entertainment features, columns and reviews to
magazines and websites. For eight years, Christopher was the Box-office
Columnist for MatchFlick.com, a popular online motion picture site.
In his private life, Christopher Stone met David
M. Stoebner on May 17, 1994, and they have been together ever since.
In 2008, they were married in Los Angeles.
They share a home with their two dogs in Coastal
Los Angeles County.
In 2013, Christopher’s pet project has been
transforming their rarely used kitchen table area into a killer, retro 1950s
Diner Nook, complete with a 1952 Seeburg Table Top jukebox, a neon diner sign,
and a malt machine.
Christopher’s first novel, Frame of Reference was
e and print published, in fall 2012, by MLR Press. A short story, Sweet
Homo Alabama was published by MLR Press, December 19, 2012.
Stone spent much of 2013 writing Frame of
Reference 2: The Dark Side of Stardom, a sequel novel to Frame of Reference, as
well as, Abracadabra, and a short story, published at Halloween. But the
indefatigable scribe also found time to contribute weekly reviews, columns and
interviews to Queer Town Abbey.
Christopher is currently writing Going and Coming,
a novel laced with metaphysical themes, and wrapped around the character of Dr.
Minnow Saint James, a highly successful Past Lives Regression Therapist, and
the author of a best-selling nonfiction book. Christopher hopes Going and
Coming will be released Friday, January 22, 2016. It will launch a series of
Dr. Minnow Saint James Metaphysical Adventures novels. As of this writing,
Going and Coming is tentatively scheduled for November 2015 publication, by MLR
Press.
On a personal note, Christopher and David adopted
a five-month-old Yellow Lab puppy, Sammy (Samantha Stevens), on February 6,
following the sudden passing of their beloved Yellow Lab, Gracie, on January
22.
FIND CHRISTOPHER HERE
