From a sexy IRS agent to embracing unemployment to selling good ideas, there is something for everyone in these new titles from the McCombs community.

Meghan Miller, a former marketing major, wrote and illustrated "Kayla’s Cape," a children’s book about a girl who gets a cape for her birthday. Kayla always had dreams of being a super hero, and the cape helps her realize the powerful feelings of “delight and responsibility” that result from helping others. Miller, who was crowned Miss Fort Worth 2011, was also the first Miss America’s Outstanding Teen in 2006. An accomplished actress and puppeteer, Miller speaks to students and community organizations about bullying issues through her pageant platform, Kayla’s Heroes.

"The Gift of Job Loss" offers a novel perspective on getting the dreaded pink slip. Instead of launching into a full-time job search, Michael Froehls, MBA ’90, advocates using the unexpected free time to improve your skills, investigate a new city, learn a foreign language, take a “bucket list” vacation, or simply take time out from the stress of employment to reflect on what’s important to you. Froehls, a native of Germany who holds a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Trier, has worked in international strategy and financial and management consulting. “We’re programmed to think of unemployment as a curse, when really, it can be the most rewarding time of your life,” he says.

Connecting with one’s audience is at the heart of John Daly’s new book, "Advocacy." From using examples to ensure understanding to being clear about “what’s in it for them,” Daly, a professor of communications and management, espouses the notion that even good ideas must be sold through effective communication. He draws on research in the fields of persuasion, power relations and behavior change and illuminates the ways body language, storytelling and providing evidence play a role in convincing others to grab hold of an idea and run with it, rather than letting it whither. “Creative genius is seldom sufficient to make great ideas viable,” Daly writes.

Diane Kelly, BBA ’88, is a CPA and tax attorney, with stints in a “Big Four” accounting firm and the Texas Attorney General’s Office under her belt. After bosses in both workplaces were indicted for fraud and other criminal activity, she channeled her up-close experiences with white-collar crime into writing. "Death, Taxes, and a French Manicure," which won the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award in 2009 while still a manuscript, follows Tara Holloway, a special agent for the IRS whose head for numbers and sexy charm combine for “a hilarious, sexy, heart-pounding ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat,” according to one reviewer.

Management professor John Butler has made a career of studying various business communities. In "The Development of University-Based Entrepreneurship Ecosystems: Global Practices," Butler provides recommendations on how to develop a successful entrepreneurship community in higher education. Co-authored by Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Mark P. Rice and Babson College’s Michael L. Fetters and Patricia G. Greene, the book identifies the seven factors that must be present for a university entrepreneurship ecosystem to thrive.

Drawing on their experience building innovative systems for technology transfer, IC2 Institute fellows John Butler and David Gibson edited "Global Perspectives on Technology Transfer and Commercialization: Building Innovative Ecosystems," a volume of essays from 13 countries by scholars critiquing technology transfer from each of their respective nations. The book explores intellectual property management, the management of risk, market identification, the role of public and private labs, the role of universities and how technology contributes to a country’s overall economy.