NEW Book: Naked in the Spotlight: My Life with Sex, Singing and Scientology

[CommunicatorIC]

NEW Book: Naked in the Spotlight: My Life with Sex, Singing and Scientology.

By Mark Janicello [Mark Janicello on Twitter]

Amazon: Naked in the Spotlight: My Life with Sex, Singing and Scientology

https://www.amazon.com/Naked-Spotlight-Life-Singing-Scientology-ebook/dp/B01MZ54CDB/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1520305079/

* * * * * BEGIN COMPOSITE AMAZON INTRODUCTION * * * * *

Naked in the Spotlight: My Life with Sex, Singing and Scientology Kindle Edition

by Mark Janicello (Author)

Paperback $12.00
Kindle $9.99

“Naked in the Spotlight” tells the life story of Mark Janicello, the multi-talented New Yorker, whose career defies easy categorization. Janicello's life reads like a typical American show business success story, until Scientology crossed the young performer's path. Janicello unexpectedly landed in the crossfire of a 13-year, international hate campaign that befits a Tom Clancy novel, more than the autobiography of an artist.

You can watch an extensive television interview with author Mark Janicello regarding "Naked in the Spotlight"
here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q76F0qVuq94


Janicello's life has been more bizarre than any fiction. Crushed between Scientology's enemies within several European governments and the cult itself, he went from stardom to "persona non grata", virtually overnight. He lost millions in contracts and appearances. He was arrested, blacklisted, slandered, publicly humiliated, and was often forced to perform with police protection.

Having worked side-by-side with the highest level of the Church's Management, Janicello travelled tens of thousands of miles in one year for the C.O.S.. His insights into the mentality and internal machinations of this very secretive organization, have never been told in this manner before.

At the time of the biggest protests, the Scientology Organization -- for whom Janicello had become not only their public face, but also their biggest fundraiser as well -- left him to die. After unsuccessful trips to the famed “Scientology Celebrity Center” in Los Angeles to gather support from John Travolta, Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley, Tom Cruise, Kirstie Alley, Jenna Elfman and others -- Janicello soon came to the terrible realization that he had been abandoned. He left Scientology for good in 2003.

“I underestimated the enemies of the Church, and vastly over-estimated my “friends” in Scientology."

“Naked in the Spotlight” chronicles one man's journey of self-discovery, told through the prism of his multi-facted career and played out against the rough streets of New York and Europe's most glamorous cities. A true 20th Century anti-hero, Janicello's candor reveals an ebullient personality and a troubled man, fraught with human weakness, thrust unprepared, in the position of fighting for his very existence. Janicello's life has been more bizarre than any fiction.

“At the end of the day, what I learned is that a religion or a philosophy can give you tools, but the only person who is going to save you, is you .”

Biography

Mark Janicello was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1962. He made his first solo appearance as a boy soprano at four years old and has been onstage, or in front of a camera, ever since.

In an amazing and eventful career, in 1992, he first conquered both the New York Subways and New York audiences as a street singer winning the KFC Musical Feast and the title "America’s Best Street Performer." His $15.000, prize-winning appearance in New York's Grand Central Station featured a virtuoso performance including multiple musical and vocal styles which based on the idea: „What if Elvis never died but just turned into Pavarotti?“

Product Details

Kindle Length: 332 pages
Paperback Length: 417 pages

Word Wise: Enabled

Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled

Page Flip: Enabled

Product Details

File Size: 1157 KB
Print Length: 332 pages
Kindle Publication Date: December 29, 2016
Paperback Publication Date: January 14, 2017
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B01MZ54CDB
Paperback ISBN-10: 1520305079
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-1520305073
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray: Not Enabled
Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Enabled
Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #723,137 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#462 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Artists, Architects & Photographers
#1178 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Biographical
#2433 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Artists, Architects & Photographers


* * * * * END COMPOSITE AMAZON INTRODUCTION * * * * *

 

[TrevAnon]

Not new, republish from 2011.

Janicello back then posted here as marjan, e.g. http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?23765-Excerpt-quot-Naked-in-the-Spotlight-quot

 

[marjan]

This is Mark Janicello.

I have not posted here in a very long time. I published my Autobiography in English in January of 2017. For the english-language addition, I wrote a new chapter. It is below. In the years since my book was published, my view on Scientology and on the writing of my book changed... and not for the better.
Best regards from Berlin, Mark

FOREWORD– SIX YEARS LATER

I left Scientology for good in June 2003. Six years later, in the Spring of 2009, while attempting a career “comeback”in Germany, I was humiliated on national television, because of my previous association with Scientology. That experience was the impetus for writing my autobiography and finally, publicly distancing myself from Scientology. What follows is that original text of:“Naked in the Spotlight.”

In April 2010, the first draft of my book was completed.Over the next year, I worked on the german translation of my original English text. After another few months, a hardback edition of my autobiography, in German, was published in April 2011. Until now, the original English text was never edited, as it was only used as the basis for the German translation. The text that follows is unchanged from its original edition. It has only been edited to correct typographical and formatting errors.

I am very proud of the book as it stands. Writing it was a huge step for me and something that I had spent years fighting against. When all was said and done, it changed the course of my life. “Naked in the Spotlight” gave me back my life. It rehabilitated my reputation and began a healing process for my mind and soul.

In the intervening years, I have gained more distance from Scientology, and with that distance, my opinion on the Scientology Organization itself and my view on the 10 years I spent in Scientology have changed, quite dramatically.

Since writing my book, I have had extensive contact with numerous Ex-Scientologists, Ex- Sea Org Members (some of whom had been in Scientology over 35 years). That, together with watching both “Going Clear,” Alex Gibney's award-winning documentary, and Leah Rimini's recent Mini-Series, “Scientology: The Aftermath,” forced me to confront other people's Scientology experiences, that were (in a different way) as horrific as my own. Hearing these stories, from people from all walks of life, from all over the world, forced me to realize that I was much too kind to Scientology when I wrote this book. It is the reason that I am writing this foreword.

These past weeks, while editing my original text, I realized how much “Scientology” was still hard-wired into my brain cells in 2009/2010. I had already been away from Scientology for more than 6 years at that point, but throughout my book, I bend over backward to accommodate all possible viewpoints and try to be as“fair” to Scientology as possible. They didn't deserve that treatment. Quite the contrary.

I had spent so many years defending and rationalizing Scientology's unconscionable behavior, both towards myself and others, to the rest of the world, that, without realizing it, I ended up still somewhat defending this corrupt, money-making machine, even in my own autobiography, while I was trying to distance myself from them.

Quite honestly, if I wrote the book today, it would be a completely different book.

I have very close friends who are still in Scientology. Despite everything that has been published, despite their own personal experiences, their disappointments, doubts and reservations about both Scientology's International Management and the organization itself, my friends are still afraid to leave Scientology. They don't want to lose “everything they have ever known.” They are afraid of “excommunication” and cannot imagine their life without Scientology and it's “technology.” They are terrified to confront what they already know.

One of my dearest friends was an avid Scientologist. To protect his family's privacy, I will not name him. Before joining Scientology, he was a very successful musician and songwriter, with a few top 10 hits. He had a beautiful, loving wife and a son whom he adored. My friend was everything that Scientology purported to be, but never was. He was caring, selfless, intelligent, talented and a very hard worker. Suffice it to say, that he was one of the finest men, I have ever been privileged to know. I loved him like a brother.

During his years in Scientology, he became a “New OT8.” He had completed the 3 L's. He had completed both the “Key to life” and “Saint Hill Special Briefing Courses.” He was studying to be the Senior Case Supervisor for Scandinavia and was hoping to be one of the first people to receive “Super Power” Auditing at the Flag Homebase in Florida.

At 47, after spending a fortune to cross Scientology's “Bridge to Total Freedom” and having completed nearly every study available in Scientology, he died of liver cancer, divorced, bankrupt and alone. He left behind a 10-year-old son and an (ex-)wife with a broken heart. That was what Scientology brought to my dear friend. That is how Scientology put him “at cause over the physical universe.” My friend, on his deathbed, was still defending Scientology to me.

I can tell you, with assurance, that it is nearly impossible to “dissuade” an avid Scientologist. It is nearly impossible to get them to look at facts. “Scientology has all the answers.” “L. Ron Hubbard and/or International Management don't ever make mistakes.” That is their mantra. That is their dogma, and that is the only way they can keep their blinders on.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's terribly hard to accept that you've been made a fool. It's difficult to acknowledge that something you've believed in, invested your money in, fought for and even put your life on the line for, is a lie, a complete and utter lie. No one wants to admit something like that.

In every lie, there is just enough truth to trap people. That is the modus operandi of Scientology. Scientology is a trap so cleverly constructed, that it can take years for one to realize that one has been duped...even after one has left the Organization. That is why apostates such as Paul Haggis, Leah Rimini, Jason Beghe, Mike Rinder, and me, all go through a process of filtering and extraction. This extraction process can (and usually does) take years. Scientology infiltrates every area of one's life and one's mind. It's like a trojan horse virus that infects a computer. Only with time, effort and lots and lots of examination, can one free oneself.

As it did for me, and for most of the Ex-Scientologists named in this foreword, it generally requires a huge, catastrophic event to finally “snap one out” of Scientology's spell. While I don't wish ill on any of my friends or colleagues, I only pray that one day, something monumental will happen to them too, so that they can start on the real road to “Total Freedom” .. the road that leads away from Scientology.

Six years later, I can assure you that there is life after Scientology.

It's abundant, beautiful and well worth living.

Berlin, December 22, 2016
Mark Janicello

 

[dchoiceisalwaysrs]

Just to keep it short. I think your first Paul Hartis should be Alex Gibney and the second Paul Hartis should be Paul Haggis.. otherwise thank you so very much for this post.

 

[JackStraw]

Thank you, Mark, for this response!

It was great to see.

I was in scn for 31ish years, almost exclusively at the mission level, so I never saw the horrors that others describe on this message board.

I always kept a foot in the "wog" world with a 40 hr a week job and mostly worked part time at the missions.
My marriage was strained at times by my wife because she was more into it than I was. She would take out loans form scummy loan companies that would loan money to anyone who could sign their name.

Anyway, I ended up going to a class 5 org on a 5 year contract and after 2 1/2 years I couldn't stand it any more and left. (There was some drama about that, but nothing like others had to endure.)

While in, at a mission I was being hammered to contribute more than I could and complained about this to my mission holder. I asked her if it gets better as you go up the bridge.

In a fit of honesty, she said "No, it gets worse."

As I said, I left the mission and went to an org, and then left.

This mission holder called me in (I was willing to talk with her as she was a long term friend and tried to recover me back to org staff.


I told her what I was thinking, feeling, seeing and why I was unwilling to continue. It was not a pleasant convo.

I was emotional, not screaming, not yelling, but I was worked up, it was hard to articulate what I thought, in an otherwise polite meeting, but I got across what I wanted.

Needless to say, I was not "recovered."

In fact, maybe a year or so later, I learned that this mission holder had abandoned her 2 or 3 missions and moved half way across the country!

I make no claim that I caused or influenced this result. That would be hubris on my part and that is about the worst sin one could commit.(to my way of thinking)

I guess I used your story as an excuse to tell mine.

Anyway, thank you for your story. It helps, possibly more that you can imagine.

All the best,

Jack

 

[marjan]

Just to keep it short. I think your first Paul Hartis should be Alex Gibney and the second Paul Hartis should be Paul Haggis.. otherwise thank you so very much for this post.

Thank you for the corrections. You are 100% right. Paul Hartis is a friend of mine for over 30 years... Oops. Will correct the posting here and the digital book on Amazon.

 

[Knows]

This is Mark Janicello.

I have not posted here in a very long time. I published my Autobiography in English in January of 2017. For the english-language addition, I wrote a new chapter. It is below. In the years since my book was published, my view on Scientology and on the writing of my book changed... and not for the better.
Best regards from Berlin, Mark

FOREWORD– SIX YEARS LATER

I left Scientology for good in June 2003. Six year slater, in the Spring of 2009, while attempting a career “comeback”in Germany, I was humiliated on national television, because of my previous association with Scientology. That experience was the impetus for writing my autobiography and finally, publicly distancing myself from Scientology. What follows is that original text of:“Naked in the Spotlight.”

In April 2010, the first draft of my book was completed.Over the next year, I worked on the german translation of my original English text. After another few months, a hardback edition of my autobiography, in German, was published in April 2011. Until now, the original English text was never edited, as it was only used as the basis for the German translation. The text that follows is unchanged from its original edition. It has only been edited to correct typographical and formatting errors.

I am very proud of the book as it stands. Writing it was a huge step for me and something that I had spent years fighting against. When all was said and done, it changed the course of my life. “Naked in the Spotlight” gave me back my life. It rehabilitated my reputation and began a healing process for my mind and soul.

In the intervening years, I have gained more distance from Scientology, and with that distance, my opinion on the Scientology Organization itself and my view on the 10 years I spent in Scientology have changed, quite dramatically.

Since writing my book, I have had extensive contact with numerous Ex-Scientologists, Ex- Sea Org Members (some of whom had been in Scientology over 35 years). That, together with watching both “Going Clear,” Alex Gibney's award-winning documentary, and Leah Rimini's recent Mini-Series, “Scientology: The Aftermath,” forced me to confront other people's Scientology experiences, that were (in a different way) as horrific as my own. Hearing these stories, from people from all walks of life, from all over the world, forced me to realize that I was much too kind to Scientology when I wrote this book. It is the reason that I am writing this foreword.

These past weeks, while editing my original text, I realized how much “Scientology” was still hard-wired into my brain cells in 2009/2010. I had already been away from Scientology for more than 6 years at that point, but throughout my book, I bend over backward to accommodate all possible viewpoints and try to be as“fair” to Scientology as possible. They didn't deserve that treatment. Quite the contrary.

I had spent so many years defending and rationalizing Scientology's unconscionable behavior, both towards myself and others, to the rest of the world, that, without realizing it, I ended up still somewhat defending this corrupt, money-making machine, even in my own autobiography, while I was trying to distance myself from them.

Quite honestly, if I wrote the book today, it would be a completely different book.

I have very close friends who are still in Scientology. Despite everything that has been published, despite their own personal experiences, their disappointments, doubts and reservations about both Scientology's International Management and the organization itself, my friends are still afraid to leave Scientology. They don't want to lose “everything they have ever known.” They are afraid of “excommunication” and cannot imagine their life without Scientology and it's “technology.” They are terrified to confront what they already know.

One of my dearest friends was an avid Scientologist. To protect his family's privacy, I will not name him. Before joining Scientology, he was a very successful musician and songwriter, with a few top 10 hits. He had a beautiful, loving wife and a son whom he adored. My friend was everything that Scientology purported to be, but never was. He was caring, selfless, intelligent, talented and a very hard worker. Suffice it to say, that he was one of the finest men, I have ever been privileged to know. I loved him like a brother.

During his years in Scientology, he became a “New OT8.” He had completed the 3 L's. He had completed both the “Key to life” and “Saint Hill Special Briefing Courses.” He was studying to be the Senior Case Supervisor for Scandinavia and was hoping to be one of the first people to receive “Super Power” Auditing at the Flag Homebase in Florida.

At 47, after spending a fortune to cross Scientology's “Bridge to Total Freedom” and having completed nearly every study available in Scientology, he died of liver cancer, divorced, bankrupt and alone. He left behind a 10-year-old son and an (ex-)wife with a broken heart. That was what Scientology brought to my dear friend. That is how Scientology put him “at cause over the physical universe.” My friend, on his deathbed, was still defending Scientology to me.

I can tell you, with assurance, that it is nearly impossible to “dissuade” an avid Scientologist. It is nearly impossible to get them to look at facts. “Scientology has all the answers.” “L. Ron Hubbard and/or International Management don't ever make mistakes.” That is their mantra. That is their dogma, and that is the only way they can keep their blinders on.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's terribly hard to accept that you've been made a fool. It's difficult to acknowledge that something you've believed in, invested your money in, fought for and even put your life on the line for, is a lie, a complete and utter lie. No one wants to admit something like that.

In every lie, there is just enough truth to trap people. That is the modus operandi of Scientology. Scientology is a trap so cleverly constructed, that it can take years for one to realize that one has been duped...even after one has left the Organization. That is why apostates such as Paul Haggis, Leah Rimini, Jason Beghe, Mike Rinder, and me, all go through a process of filtering and extraction. This extraction process can (and usually does) take years. Scientology infiltrates every area of one's life and one's mind. It's like a trojan horse virus that infects a computer. Only with time, effort and lots and lots of examination, can one free oneself.

As it did for me, and for most of the Ex-Scientologists named in this foreword, it generally requires a huge, catastrophic event to finally “snap one out” of Scientology's spell. While I don't wish ill on any of my friends or colleagues, I only pray that one day, something monumental will happen to them too, so that they can start on the real road to “Total Freedom” .. the road that leads away from Scientology.

Six years later, I can assure you that there is life after Scientology.

It's abundant, beautiful and well worth living.

Berlin, December 22, 2016
Mark Janicello

Mark - THANK YOU for your post and sharing your story.

I hope you write another book after now peeling off layers of the lies "implanted" by L Ron Hubbard, his poisonous tech and this evil cult.

THANK YOU!!

 

[Type4_PTS]

<snip>

In every lie, there is just enough truth to trap people. That is the modus operandi of Scientology. Scientology is a trap so cleverly constructed, that it can take years for one to realize that one has been duped...even after one has left the Organization. That is why apostates such as Paul Haggis, Leah Rimini, Jason Beghe, Mike Rinder, and me, all go through a process of filtering and extraction. This extraction process can (and usually does) take years. Scientology infiltrates every area of one's life and one's mind. It's like a trojan horse virus that infects a computer. Only with time, effort and lots and lots of examination, can one free oneself.

As it did for me, and for most of the Ex-Scientologists named in this foreword, it generally requires a huge, catastrophic event to finally “snap one out” of Scientology's spell. While I don't wish ill on any of my friends or colleagues, I only pray that one day, something monumental will happen to them too, so that they can start on the real road to “Total Freedom” .. the road that leads away from Scientology.

Six years later, I can assure you that there is life after Scientology.

It's abundant, beautiful and well worth living.

Berlin, December 22, 2016
Mark Janicello

Hi Mark, thank-you for stopping by. It's great to hear you're doing well!

I left the CoS in 1989 but it took me many years to fully extricate myself from the scientology mindfuck, so it's easy to see how your views have changed in the years after you originally wrote the book.

I'm embarrassed to have defended the CoS to others speaking badly of it during the 90's, years after leaving.

I think I've made up for it though since then.

 

[Gizmo]

Bump for newbies - this is a worthwhile read !