On this episode of the Gab Talks we have the pleasure of chatting with Australian author Anita Selzer. This is Anita’s second visit with the Gab Talks and we are thrilled to have her back. Anita’s book, The Female Gaze in Art & Photography Volume One is the winner of the 2025 New York City Big Book Award. Volume One was the winner of the Independent Press Award in the Fine Arts Category.

Anita is the author of fifteen adult and children’s non-fiction books, including “Reframing Beauty” and “I Am Woman.” Her work focuses on women, gender culture and history.

Before stepping into the world of publishing, Anita cultivated a rich academic and professional life. Holding a BA, Diploma of Education, Graduate Diploma in Women’s Studies, a Master’s in Education, and a PhD in Education, she has long been engaged with the intersections of gender, history, and learning.
Anita served as Executive Officer in Women’s Affairs in the Premier’s Department in Victoria. Her expertise also extended into publishing, reviewing books for Cambridge University Press and the academic journal Gender and Education.

New Wine, A journey into refueling your life in the spirit

Book review: https://www.printedwordreviews.com/bookreviews/9798890430519

Welcome to an enlightening conversation with Dr. Susan Agbenoto, a dynamic and multifaceted leader in faith-based circles. Based in Central Florida, Dr. Agbenoto is not only a respected author and speaker but also an experienced investment professional and a dedicated lay pastor. She holds a Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Care and Counseling and is passionate about guiding people through life’s most challenging seasons with grace.

In this interview, we’ll explore the themes from her impactful books, "Restore Me! But Privately, Please" and the award-winning "New Wine: A Journey Into Refueling Your Life in the Spirit." These works powerfully address the silent struggles of leaders and the critical need for spiritual renewal. Prepare for a conversation that blends practical wisdom with theological insight, offering a refreshing and restorative perspective on integrating faith, purpose, and holistic well-being.

* New Wine will cause you to embark on a soul-stirring journey as you dive into revelations of what happens when you are a recipient of God's outpouring of new wine.

* Have you ever wondered if there's more to life? Felt that inner dryness that saps your spirit? It's time to uncork the New Wine of the Lord. Within these pages, you'll encounter a tapestry of narratives meticulously woven to awaken the dormant embers deep within your soul.

MEET Dr. Susan Agbenoto

"Restore Me! But Privately, Please" is a resource designed to aid in personal restoration. It's suggested that readers engage with the first chapter at their own pace to determine how frequently to proceed through the rest of the material, emphasizing that restoration is a gradual but permanent process. "The Journey of Restoration," addresses the common experience of silently struggling with emotional or spiritual disconnection and the need for renewal. Dr. Susan Agbenoto emphasizes that taking steps toward change, rather than ignoring problems, is crucial.

"New Wine," an award-winning book that explores life's phases through the metaphor of a grape seed's growth (buried, pressed, crushed, aged). This book also incorporates church history to connect personal experiences with a larger spiritual narrative, offering the hopeful message that God has good plans for the future.

A FREE "Restore Me! E-Workbook" is available to complement "Restore Me! But Privately, Please." It can be obtained by subscribing to the author's newsletter or using the contact form.

You can find out more at https://www.susan-agbenoto.com/

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Feldman speaks about his short stories collection that takes place during the Sexual Revolution, (60’s & 70’s), when attitudes towards sex and morality are liberalized. Sex by either gender without guilt or shame, with whom or whoever.

2022 NYC Big Book Award Distinguished Favorite New Fiction (First-time Published): Eva is a young woman living her dream life as a photographer at a wildly popular magazine in the Big Apple, after moving from her small hometown in Virginia. She soon finds herself overtaken by confusion and entangled in a web of deceit, as a long-time guy-friend turned man of her dreams promises her the world and then disappears mysteriously, leaving only a screen behind.
What started out innocently soon turns into an infuriating, but addictively mysterious mind-game. Eva struggles to find her worth in a man who is obsessively in love with her but hides behind a screen. Fighting to regain herself and her dimming future of which she was once so sure, every aspect of her life turns to upheaval at his random disruptive presence, in text, but never in physical form. Eva's story holds deeper mystery as she fights to pick up the pieces, find healing, and come into her own in a way that is completely foreign to her. But not before encountering a bombshell surprise that will totally rewrite her history and inform her future.
Between the Lines will speak to the heart of those who understand the elusive pursuit of a dream, and the deep-felt desire to find true love, walking the road of heartache and confusion to get there. It is written for anyone who has struggled with self-worth and has fiercely sought the truth, in the midst of seemingly endless frustration.
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This book was written by Dr. Lynsey Victoria Rinelli, an Emergency Veterinarian. A Wagner College graduate with a BS focused in Biology and Psychology. She pursued her dream to become a Veterinarian. After her time at Ross University and clinical year at LSU, she traveled to Alaska. There she participated in the aid of canine racers in the Willow 300. She is focused on emergency surgery, physical rehabilitation and exotic animal medicine.
Partnered with psychologist, Brittany Rose DiFalco. She has a bachelors in psychology and masters in clinical mental health counseling. She specializes in trauma, grief and loss, and anxiety based disorders.
"Goodbye For Now" is a heartwarming picture book that explores the deep bond between a child, Little Grey and her beloved German Shepherd, Teddy. When Teddy is diagnosed with a terminal illness, Little Grey and her parents face the difficult journey of coping with grief and loss.
As they navigate the stages of grief together, Little Grey learns valuable lessons about the importance of cherishing time with loved ones, the power of unconditional love, and the significance of saying goodbye. Through tender moments and fond memories, this family shows that even in the darkest times, support and time can help heal the heart.
Themes: The unbreakable bond between children and their pets, coping with grief and loss, the importance of cherishing time with loved ones, unconditional love and support.
Age Range: Adults and children of all ages
Genre: Picture Book

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"Unpacking the Attic" by Ann M. Mracek
Does your inner child still carry hurt and longing for acceptance?
Does the experience of childhood impact who we are today?
It truly does!

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Is it possible to rewrite the scripts of fear and insecurities holding us back? This insightful and playful look at the author’s childhood will encourage you to reflect on your own life.

Many of us had to navigate childhood through a maze of broken relationships, dysfunctional families, neglect and even trauma, yet as adults we can empower the child we were, to gain clarity, self acceptance and forgiveness through the healing journey of retrospection.

A unique blend of memoir and healing practices, the author takes you along in real time through the process of emptying her parents’ home as they transitioned into assisted living.

She expertly weaves the vivid stories of her childhood with compassion and intent to heal and forgive.

Told with humor, honesty, and empathetic insight, you are guided to gain adult perspective, to send love and acceptance back in time to the child still living within. Retrospection can be a powerful healing elixir.

You will cry, you will cheer, you will learn self acceptance and forgiveness. You will learn to let go, to stop fighting old battles, to rewrite the recordings others imposed upon you of self doubt and fear, with new ones of empowered acceptance and understanding.

Looking back has a way of clearing your vision for looking forward.

The Dream Collector is an exploration of the psychological consequences of betrayal, abandonment--and the redemptive power of art.

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Sabrine, hospitalized for five years at the infamous Salpêtrière Asylum for Women, gains her release due to intervention of her sister Julie Forette and a young Sigmund Freud. The reunited sisters are introduced to the dazzling art milieu of 1886 Paris, and soon become close friends to the leading Impressionists. Sabrine attracts a cult following as a poetess, the enigmatic "Haiku Princess." Seemingly cured by Freud of her Grand Hysteria, Sabrine soon enters into a tumultuous relationship with Vincent van Gogh.

Jule and Sigmund Freud, alarmed by the eerie parallels between the emotionally volatile couple and their self-destructive impulses, begin an urgent search to discover the root causes for Sabrine and Vincent's growing psychoses. Julie, 'The Dream Collector' seeks their most unforgettable dream for Freud's interpretation and revelations occur.

Anita Selzer speaks the female gaze and its impact on the female representation in photography and art.

Historically, male artists have re-presented women through their eyes. The Female Gaze in Art and Photography redresses this imbalance, looks at art through women’s eyes. It shines a light on the work of twenty contemporary women artists and photographers from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and United States of America, placing these creatives and their works centre stage.

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The female gaze is not singular; it is multifarious, often based on the creative’s lived experience. It positions subjects as whole people and not objects. The female gaze reclaims women’s bodies as repositories for multiple meanings. It emphasises the emotions of and intimacy between creator and subject, who are at times the same person.

The Female Gaze in Art and Photography offers an empathetic re-presentation of women, men and those identifying as LGBQTIA+. The art and photography covered is also thematic, addressing issues affecting our lives today: love and loss; lifecycle of women; motherhood; gender, sexual and racial identity; the fractured self; autonomy and agency; strength, resilience and vulnerability; relationships; racism; marginalisation and diversity; feminism; migration and dispossession; and climate change among others.