Annette Langer shares a wide spectrum of topics based on her own life experiences, often poking good-natured fun at herself to make her point. "Healing through Humor: Change Your Focus, Change Your Life!" offers readers inspiration, reflection, and pure entertainment through Langer's frequent use of self-deprecating humor to convey her message. Her stories detail how she overcame a life-threatening brain injury from a head-on auto accident, breast cancer and many lesser illnesses and injuries. Some of her chapters will tickle your funny bone, such as "My First Cruise, My First Gallbladder Attack" and "How to Bathe while Bandaged or in a Plaster Cast," while others offer more serious and practical coping techniques. By following the doctor's orders and also by finding the funny side to these "unfunny" challenges, Langer shows readers how they, too, can learn ways to cope with obstacles, focusing their energy on the positives life has provided. You're left with the realization that better times are indeed possible despite the setbacks. ================= "A Funny Thing Happened on My Way to the World: Diary of a Fearless Travel Agent" takes the reader along on Annette Langer's travels to all seven continents. Humor plays a prominent role in her stories once again, but she also details many unusual and, at times, sobering situations in which she's found herself, such as being held hostage in a workers' strike in Tahiti or managing to sleep through an earthquake in Peru! She balances her tales of adventure with many funny stories, as well, displaying her characteristic positive outlook. Whatever her topic, whatever her challenge (and yes, travel oftentimes can be a challenge), Annette Langer's stories demonstrate how she's used humor to deal with the obstacle and how she prevailed. Whether you're an armchair traveler or a seasoned explorer, this book offers something for everyone! ================= Her shorter works have appeared in several anthologies, including the Livermore Wine Country Literary Harvest; O'Brien's Literary Speculator Bright Beginnings; ValleyCare Physician Heroes; Voices of the Valley, First Press; Voices of the Valley: Encore, Voices of the Valley: Word for Word; Voices of the Valley Journeys, and several issues of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series: Inspiration for the Young at Heart; Say Goodbye to Back Pain; Recovering from Traumatic Brain Injuries; and Random Acts of Kindness.. Annette Langer resides in the San Francisco Bay Area where she is an active member of the California Writers Club. When not pursuing her writing and speaking events, you'll find her keeping busy as a police volunteer with her local police department.
