The man with the gun pushed me down onto the carpet. I tried to cower to make my body curl smaller, instinctively covering my head. `Oh God, please don't kill me.' My words clung to my teeth and now my whole body was so cold. All I had left were these words. `Please. Please don't kill me. Jesus. God. Please.' I wanted to live and I knew it with absolute certainty. I don't want to die. Emma Slade was a high-flying debt analyst for a large investment bank, when she was taken hostage in a hotel room on a business trip to Jakarta. She thought she was lucky to come out of it unscathed, but over the ensuing weeks and months, as the financial markets crashed, Emma became her own distressed asset as the trauma following the event took hold. Realising her view on life had profoundly changed she embarked upon a journey, discovering the healing power of yoga and, in Bhutan, opening her eyes to a kinder, more peaceful way of living. From fast-paced City life to the stillness of Bhutan's Himalayan mountains, Set Free is the inspiring true story of Emma's astonishing life lived to extremes and all that that entails: work, travel, spirituality, Buddhism, relationships, and the underlying question of what makes a meaningful life.

The world and its politics are becoming ever more polarised, leaving no room for the light and the shade. In The Half of It, Emma and Nicole will explore race and identity through the lens of the mixed race experience, creating a space for discussion and illuminating the true nuances of the mixed-race identity and what this really means. In The Half of It, Emma and Nicole, hosts of the critically acclaimed podcast Mixed Up, will discuss what it truly means to be mixed-race and all the different layers that fall into this. They will delve into everything from culture and identity, to interracial relationships, to adoption, to understanding the historical context of mixed-race people – and ultimately culminating in a rounder and deeper appreciation for the mixed-identity. They will illuminate us on their own experiences of growing up mixed, interweaving guest interviews and insights from people they talk to along the way. Emma and Nicole want to break down barriers and open up a deeper dialogue of the mixed-race experience. Although this was born out of a desire to speak directly to the mixed-race community, they discovered there is something in it for everyone. Whether you are mixed, you know someone mixed, if you have ever considered dating outside of your race, if you’re a parent committed to exposing your child to a more diverse view of the world, or indeed an adult committed to expanding your view of culture and identity – this is for you.

This SpringerBrief offers a state of the art analysis of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communications and its role in marketing. The book begins with an overview of traditional word-of-mouth (WOM) and its evolution to eWOM. It discusses the differences between traditional and online WOM. The book examines why people engage in eWOM communications, but also how consumers evaluate its persuasiveness. It also looks at the effects of eWOM. The book identifies current gaps in the eWOM research, but also highlights future directions for this growing field. eWOM is an important marketing technique in brand communications, and it plays an important role in modern e-commerce. Marketers become extremely interested in enhancing the power of eWOM developing loyalty programs and building brands. Studying the effect of eWOM can be beneficial for companies. This book should be a good resource for scholars and practitioners that need to understand the pervasive effects of eWOM.