Las Vegas, NV, June 16, 2022 –(PR.com)– Histria Books is pleased to announce that author, S.P. Grogan has been awarded two 2nd Place awards for his culinary novel, Captain Cooked, as “Best in the World” at Gourmand International Cookbook Awards held in Umea, Sweden from June 2-5th.
S.P. Grogan, author of “Captain Cooked, a Mystery of Romance, Revenge, and Recipes” (10th Anniversary Special Edition) received two 2nd Place awards in the categories of “Best Food Novel” and “Countries & Regions – South Pacific.”
Edouard Cointreau, Founder & President of Gourmand International stated: “The selection of the Gourmand Awards gives an overview of the best around the world. The size of that universe is difficult to envision from individual countries. In total, we estimate there are now over 100,000 food and drink culture books and documents every year, in print or digital, free or paid, with or without ISBN registration. There were approximately 25,000 when we started 26 years ago, with much less digital or free. There is approximately 1% chance to be selected on this Gourmand Awards list!”
Gourmand International Awards, known as the “Oscars of the Culinary World” celebrated its 27th Anniversary, and for books published in 2021, there were only 1,558 selected as final nominees from 227 countries, more countries represented than participate in the Oscars or the Olympics. Gourmand International is the largest world competition in the food sector.
Captain Cooked tells the story of a young videographer, Madison Merlot Dayne, who is the field producer on her chef father’s traveling and popular television cooking show, “Insatiable Delights.” Arriving on the Big Island of Hawai’i she stumbles across the poisoning of a famous Hawaiian singer, and thereafter faces danger while trying to solve the murder as well as tasting the delicacies of the islands. Captain Cooked interweaves 22 recipes into the plot from the top chefs and restaurants on the Big Island.
Well-known Southwestern best-selling author, Anne Hillerman, said, “Captain Cooked reads like Janet Evanovich morphing into Rachel Ray while filming a remake of the Perils of Pauline.”
Histria Books is also pleased to announce that an eBook version of Captain Cooked (978-1-59211-212-8) will be released on July 1.
S.P. Grogan was also recognized by Gourmand International with a “Special Award” as editor of My Cookbook Passion by his wife, Pamela Kure Grogan who was selected as a “Special Award Winner.” My Cookbook Passion is semi-autobiographical and a culinary history that tracks the evolution of the creative food world, from the 1920s-1980s as seen through Pamela’s personal collection of over 3,000 vintage cookbooks. Gourmand President Cointreau commented, “Your book is a real treasure, most interesting and well written. It brought back many happy memories.”
Captain Cooked: Hawaiian Mystery of Romance, Revenge… and Recipes!, 272 pp., ISBN 978-1-59211-065-0 (hardcover) and ISBN 978-1-59211-112-1 (paperback), is available at HistriaBooks.com and from all major book retailers. Titles published under the various imprints of Histria Books are distributed worldwide by the Independent Publishers Group. For information on publishing with Histria Books, please visit HistriaBooks.com or contact us at info@histriabooks.com
Las Vegas, NV, October 21, 2025 –(CarryOnHarry.com)– Oscar nominated actor Mickey Rourke is still a challenge to work with on a movie set. 17 years after his Golden Globe winning performance in The Wrestler, the actor is still doing things his way.
Speaking to CYInterview, Mickey Rourke’s costar in the upcoming film, Devil’s Play, Gary Stretch, who is also one of the film’s producers and has a history with Mickey, said the actor completely changed the character he was supposed to play in the movie:
“The role was a great role and Mickey changed it a lot. And it was based on a true guy and there were some brilliant scenes in the movie that Mickey just erased and did his own thing, which in some ways I was mad about because it was so brilliantly written, the role. And then in other ways, I’m happy that Mickey did Mickey because he did a great job. But he completely changed it and, but it worked.”
Gary Stretch, a former boxing champion/actor/filmmaker, is among other things, known for the 2019 documentary film he directed on former UFC superstar Ronda Rousey, Through My Father’s Eyes. Mr. Stretch said Rourke’s role in Devil’s Play is his best work recently, but also noted that the actor had a couple of meltdowns while filming Devil’s Play:
“I think it’s the best I’ve seen Mickey in a while because he’s very real in the film. You know, he had a bit of a meltdown on the set a few times and he was a challenge, but, he, what I will say, is you know, Mickey has a lot of, a bad reputation. He worked really hard. He did his job really well and the only thing, it, was not 100 percent was that he completely changed the role, and so, but we trusted that he’s a great actor and we went with it and we made it work, so, it was great to work with him.”
Mr. Stretch, a powerhouse actor in his own right, is known for brilliant performances in Oliver Stone’s Alexander and the Shane Meadows film Deadman Shoes. He was joined for this CYInterview with his Devil’s Play co-star, Bulgarian acting superstar Dessy Tenekedjieva. You can watch him commenting on Mickey Rourke, starting at minute 17 of the video below:
The director Ben Charles Edwards, also stated that Mickey Rourke described his role in the Devil’s Play as “One of my most meaningful performances in the past two decades.”
Devil’s Play is slated for worldwide distribution by Buffalo 8 on December 19, via Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play and Verizon Fios/Vubiquity. It will be available via a pre-sales launch on Apple on December 5th.
Produced by Dessy Tenekedjieva of Black Sea Film and Nova Film the movie was shot across Bulgaria, Los Angeles, and London. It featured cinematography from Dennis Madden (Savage Flowers) who delivers masterful visual storytelling.
Learn more about the film here: www.devilsplaymovie.com
Bishop Jephthah Sotabinda’s Newly Released “Divine Verses Volume 2” is a Compelling Collection of Spiritual Messages Offering Divine Insight and Guidance
New York, NY, October 20, 2025 –(CarryOnHarry.com)– “Divine Verses Volume 2: Verses of Truth and Wisdom”: a spiritually rich continuation of divine teachings. “Divine Verses Volume 2: Verses of Truth and Wisdom” is the creation of published author, Bishop Jephthah Sotabinda, a poet, songwriter, and naturopath, dedicated foremost to serving as a messenger of Jesus Christ. From his adolescent years, he explored literary arts through children’s books, poems, and songs, but following his divine calling, he has focused on recording messages from God in his writings, known as Divine Verses.
Bishop Jephthah shares, “The verse-styled publication of the messages of the Lord Jesus Christ continues with volume 2 of the Divine Verses. This volume 2 is a sequel to the first and previous publication of the Divine Verses. As the holy spirit of God continues to impart the messenger of the Lord Jesus Christ, Bishop Jephthah, with the needed godly knowledge, another publication of the Divine Verses has to be born. Like the first and previous publication, this volume is also a thorough portrayal of pure divine truths and wisdom, as it brings absolute clarity on all kinds of truths, be it truths about life, love, or God. But the ultimate truth, which is the truth about God and his Son, Lord Jesus Christ, is the main foundation of the book because it is the highest truth in existence. For the reason that the Lord Jesus is desirous to see that everyone attains salvation, he continues to pass on his messages of truth to his messenger so that those who pay heed to them can be saved.”
Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Bishop Jephthah Sotabinda’s new book inspires readers to deepen their understanding of God’s truth.
Consumers can purchase “Divine Verses Volume 2: Verses of Truth and Wisdom” at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.
For additional information or inquiries about “Divine Verses Volume 2: Verses of Truth and Wisdom”, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
