tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23432518679010359482024-02-20T08:13:41.748-05:00Thoughtful ReflectionsHosted by Sylvia L. Ramsey. This blog is a potpourri of information about writing, presenting and authors.Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.comBlogger168125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-18532374658146095942012-07-12T01:30:00.000-04:002012-07-12T01:30:04.076-04:00FirstTime published Author, Gailya Keller, Shares her Story about Her Book, The Secret of Smiley Woods<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidSCwpusw3Y_JldBMkUk4IvqHWulIuumnpxRY5mCCOXB34XfPtWR7aZUjBqFZhd0JiUd9iPun1rHMBvlkefLSz8tatF_lAxSbPQvrRNnFpVgTb1KoBNIBGJQy7rjGATgDcdhyphenhyphenODcAn_og/s1600/GK0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidSCwpusw3Y_JldBMkUk4IvqHWulIuumnpxRY5mCCOXB34XfPtWR7aZUjBqFZhd0JiUd9iPun1rHMBvlkefLSz8tatF_lAxSbPQvrRNnFpVgTb1KoBNIBGJQy7rjGATgDcdhyphenhyphenODcAn_og/s320/GK0001.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I am a first time author of the children’s book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Secret of Smiley’s Woods</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I married my high school sweetheart when I
was 17 and we are getting ready to celebrate our 23<sup>rd</sup> wedding
anniversary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a wonderful 4 year
old little boy who is the light of my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am a bookkeeper by day and a writer by night, or midnight, or sitting
at the stoplight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tell
us about the genre of your work. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My published genre is children’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am open to any direction which I feel led
to create.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
did you choose this genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I have always had the desire to create.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am a huge reader and always seem to have a
story line circling around in my head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was never able to figure out where to start to get what I had inside of me
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw an advertisement for a
children’s writing course and signed up for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My children’s book was derived from one of my first writing
assignments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now that I am a mother, I
seem to think and write more in that direction and genre naturally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
are some of your books, stories that have been published?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">At this moment, I have one children’s book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Secret of Smiley’s Woods.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
ages do you direct your books?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Secret of Smiley’s Woods</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> is a 5 to 11 age group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My next book, which has not entered
production yet, will be a slightly older age group.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Can
you tell us more about the book and where we may find it?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUleSZ4kzMdoCq5vvFKSsKvt2ZObI5x0oibete12mkPtAgieJSPwlsbM9uvqG-vy3jhPl-jZnEYD0iBTVw1WbLnk-8DEsXJ2bjg5YOo5PQZk2rg-QqrTns5mo_P2lF7o_Lhtms6_8sG0o/s1600/The+Secret+of+Smiley's+Woods+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUleSZ4kzMdoCq5vvFKSsKvt2ZObI5x0oibete12mkPtAgieJSPwlsbM9uvqG-vy3jhPl-jZnEYD0iBTVw1WbLnk-8DEsXJ2bjg5YOo5PQZk2rg-QqrTns5mo_P2lF7o_Lhtms6_8sG0o/s320/The+Secret+of+Smiley's+Woods+Cover.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Secret of Smiley’s Woods can be found online at
my publishers website, Tatepublishing.com, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and
Books-A-Million.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ISBN is ISBN 978-1-61663-771-2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Do
your books have a teaching objective?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
so, what is it?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I believe the book shows you to always believe in
yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You never know what you can
accomplish when you find yourself in any situation until you try.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, never judge other people, you never
know where and in who you will find a special friend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">How do you come up with the names of
places and characters in your books? </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">With
Smiley’s Woods, the main character is Sarah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At the time I started working on this, one of my very good friends was
named Sarah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I was writing the story,
her name kept coming to my mind and was the only name who seemed to feel right.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">How did you develop the character/s of
your in each of your books (If you have more that one)? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
know this sounds horribly cliché, the they seemed to develop themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I was attempting to figure out the
direction of my story, they just grabbed me from inside and led me along and
when it was complete, I just sat there, wow!</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="text2"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Is there a unique character or a recurring character
if you have more than one published or to be published book?</span></b></span><span class="text2"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="text2"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">My primary character
in The Secret of Smiley’s Woods is Sarah along with her brother Peter and their
cousin Jason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my second book, Jason
gets to have his own adventure, and I hope to write a third which will allow
Peter to have a little fun himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
all goes well, we may get to visit with Sarah again in Peter’s adventure.</span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is your favorite thing about your book/s?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We all have fears and when you are a child, those
fears can be so huge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love the way
Sarah is able to face a large obstacle and keep pushing forward and finds out
just how strong she can be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all need
just a little Sarah in us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Is
your book illustrated?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If so, would you
tell us by whom, and if you worked with an illustrator, can you discuss that
experience?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My book was illustrated by a wonderful lady, Rebecca
Riffey, in my publisher’s illustration department.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was fabulous and so exciting!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spoke with her several times and she really
understood my characters from the very beginning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was excited about my book and that made
the journey feel more personal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
really cared about my book and that made it so much easier handing over my
vision to her and knowing she was taking it in the direction it needed to go
which, I believe, really enriched my book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How
is writing in the genre you write, different than other genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There comes such a responsibility when creating for
children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You really have to be careful
in the content of your writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Children
are developing at such a rate and the world it getting so harsh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When writing for children, we need to create
a story which will lift them up and be safe for them to read and enjoy and it
is bonus if you are able to provide a lesson which will help them as they grow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Are
there any problems in getting children’s’ books published?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Right now the market is so saturated; I think it is hard
to get any genre published but children’s is pretty hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never knew how many children’s books were
out there until I started writing myself and after becoming a mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is amazing there are enough publishers for
us all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
and when did you begin writing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I began writing when I was in high school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I actually still have those stories in my
someday file.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was blessed to have a
very special teacher who encouraged us to follow creativity in any direction it
took us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is your writing schedule?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">At the moment, being a mother to a very active
preschooler, it is whatever moment I can find quiet and paper or my computer
and am still awake enough to get the words out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I keep a notebook in my purse, van and bedroom so I am able to get that
paragraph or thought out fast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What
projects are you working on now, or plan for the future?</span></b><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I have a second book at my publishers
awaiting production.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is following
Jason, Sarah’s cousin as he embarks on his adventure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope to start working on a third book which
will allow Peter, Sarah’s brother to have and adventure also.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
kind of advice or tips to you have for someone who wants to write and get
published?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Get a good set of second eyes to edit your
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t be afraid of
change…sometimes it can be a really good thing and help your piece of
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stick with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No matter what, if you want to write, never
give up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may take years, but the
right publisher or magazine will come along exactly when it is supposed
to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Always surround yourself with a supportive
group of people in friends or family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only
take anything negative someone may say to heart enough to get better or grow
but never enough to give up on your dream.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
do you do when you are not writing? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I read as much as
possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am also learning I am not
too old to get around the equipment on the playground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sliding board is still a girl’s best
friend!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
“Made It” moments have you experienced in life?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I was at our neighborhood store and I saw a lady in
there with her small daughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
pointed me out to her daughter as the “lady who had written her new book”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The little girl looked at me with such awe, I
felt 10 feet tall and pretty much floated out of the store.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Where
can we learn more about you?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My website is <a href="http://www.gailyalenkeller.com/"><span style="color: blue;">www.gailyalenkeller.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My blog is <a href="http://gailyalenkeller.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://gailyalenkeller.blogspot.com/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My Facebook page is <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Secret-of-Smileys-Woods-Gailya-Keller-"><span style="color: blue;">https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Secret-of-Smileys-Woods-Gailya-Keller-</span></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-88180728164084736512012-06-30T01:30:00.000-04:002012-06-30T01:30:02.251-04:00Getting to Know Internationally Published Author, Aman Kay, and His New Published Collection of Poetry, Wings of Time<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Background
Information on the Author</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5cZTcCRhRzYwBbF4EOlFY67Hk7ZSqqowTZgqGLaLZQhfa7rTNqlKzp326tv_RO6WS7bXjd-S3Nl0StLoM_qvfoy3oKLKBrnvtnuNafn2h215vB4l_LA7M7qqtAF49ikTeKWHrDhtxAv8/s1600/Aman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5cZTcCRhRzYwBbF4EOlFY67Hk7ZSqqowTZgqGLaLZQhfa7rTNqlKzp326tv_RO6WS7bXjd-S3Nl0StLoM_qvfoy3oKLKBrnvtnuNafn2h215vB4l_LA7M7qqtAF49ikTeKWHrDhtxAv8/s320/Aman.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A product of a true melting-pot family, Aman Kay is
a published author/poet on three continents in several languages. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The themes and motifs in his poetry and prose reflect
his sincere love and regards for human race and its future challenges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although established in the circle of
academic and scholarly endeavors (since the early 1990s he has been included in
various Who’s Who volumes), Aman is much in touch with the world of an average
citizen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He spends plenty of time
reading genre writers, watching popular movies, and participating in
sports.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is a serious NBA and NFL and
international soccer (football) and tennis fan. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tell
us about the genre of your work.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This particular book is a collection of my
poetry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are like my children that
I have been guarding for several decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The themes of my verses are the reflection of every person’s joy,
prosperity, failure, heart-breaking experiences and the like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
did you choose this genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A great Persian poet was once asked, “Why do you
write poetry?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He replied, “It’s like
you ask an apple tree why your fruit is apple?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Like him, I, too, do not know what really happens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I live, I enjoy and I laugh; I suffer and I
cry, and then when the time is right everything comes together and I have a new
poem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time of versifying my new
production, I am merely a narrator who is simply acting as though he is taking
dictation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How
is writing in the genre you write, different than other genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In addition to writing poetry, I write novels,
analytical articles, and other types of non-fiction pieces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Poetry, to me, is the ultimate refuge and
savior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love and enjoy writing prose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I complete a poem, however, and I reread
it a few days later (I hardly ever polish my original verses because I do not
believe in artificial creation), I feel like I am closer to humankind and our
unending common grounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My soul rests
much easier at least for a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
are some of your books, stories that have been published?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGWtudBFK3-OgeLKP7rdm_1-HSOjJhZ4LveAlb5ItWe850BJRfQUBWvGEOsQs2b_h9ecBIct0UCH-3JLPyFuiE8WXXYHhXfxKoXJ8tNdz5AqbgGzfpKV9LmdO2d4ZkzX_iN1Quwo5qjZA/s1600/front+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGWtudBFK3-OgeLKP7rdm_1-HSOjJhZ4LveAlb5ItWe850BJRfQUBWvGEOsQs2b_h9ecBIct0UCH-3JLPyFuiE8WXXYHhXfxKoXJ8tNdz5AqbgGzfpKV9LmdO2d4ZkzX_iN1Quwo5qjZA/s320/front+cover.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I cannot even come close to recalling the hundreds
of poems and various pieces that I have published worldwide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have published several books in other
languages, an out-of-print novel in English, and now I have <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wings of Times</i> published.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Can
you tell us where we may find your newly released collection of poetry.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It was just released this May, and it is available
on Amazon at: </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wings-Time-Selected-Poems-Volume/dp/1475215258/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339980578&sr=1-1&keywords=aman+kay"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.amazon.com/Wings-Time-Selected-Poems-Volume/dp/1475215258/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339980578&sr=1-1&keywords=aman+kay</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Where do you get your ideas for writing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">As
I indicated earlier, for my poetry it is the idea and the poem that come to me
sometime “in single spies” and sometime in battalions.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For my analytical pieces, I always seek ideas
from the original source, i. e., a film, a play, a short story, or a novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For my make-believe stories, I rely mainly on
fictionalized true events.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is your favorite thing about your book?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As a rule, I do not like to talk about myself or my
books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About this particular book of
poetry, I want to think that I truly like it because there is nothing
artificial about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each poem is an
honest reflection of all that has led to its production.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwdQu2FfCnsp8KHHoxvwt_AGdRPjubVRVkdthpAoaAKr3IDcummpNgL2zZPKP9BEGWBhS3ZLcaknNTJM9QUcw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
</span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
and when did you begin writing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there
any one person who had a big influence on you or encouraged you to write?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">From elementary years, I developed a mysterious love
affair with words and verbal expressions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was from those 3<sup>rd</sup> and 4<sup>th</sup> grade years that I
started writing, but I used to hide my writings from others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like almost all other mothers, my late mom
was the main source of motivation and inspiration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later on, I was fortunate enough to be
encouraged by a variety of teachers, movie stars, writers, poets, and
movie/theatre directors.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is your writing schedule?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
atmosphere do you need to write?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-050X8bDdJbEO2sXMDJtNqOMMoCDm4cXzre9czi79vbNQf7xJ24VrzTPrSXrMUhEexNL8t7dQt7mAOg34TNwFRPyaaQpaOgM1T-Tg7U9a1D9iBeFsp-gnQTkohH8yv3vYzTvwyLEw_AE/s1600/Princess+April+2010+013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-050X8bDdJbEO2sXMDJtNqOMMoCDm4cXzre9czi79vbNQf7xJ24VrzTPrSXrMUhEexNL8t7dQt7mAOg34TNwFRPyaaQpaOgM1T-Tg7U9a1D9iBeFsp-gnQTkohH8yv3vYzTvwyLEw_AE/s320/Princess+April+2010+013.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Unfortunately, as much as I do not want to admit it,
I am not a considerably disciplined writer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The more grey hair I get, the less motivated
I am; nevertheless, I still find time to write.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Anywhere away from the home-office is the best atmosphere for me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d love to take my laptop to a nearby park
or on a cruise ship and write as I am exposed to nature and especially open
water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What
projects are you working on now, or plan for the future?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I am actually disciplining
myself to complete two novels that are completed and need final touches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am working on a book that can be used as a supplementary
book for upper high school and college students in their literature
classes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this book I guide the
potential readers through various stages and strategies of identifying
essential components of elements of fiction and infer the hidden/implied points
more confidently. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And of course I am
usually writing more poems that may turn into another book in the future. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
kind of advice or tips do you have for someone who wants to write and be
published?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Do not ever, ever try to be someone else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Write what you know and what you enjoy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be mindful of your potential audiences, but
never forget the late John Macdonal’s advice: Write to please yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“When that happens, you will like the work
too.”<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>Too, know your craft and be smart and wise
enough to realize that you can always benefit from others.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>Lastly, be patient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this amazingly competitive world, less and
less great writers are being discovered in a short time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Are
there any other comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning
writers?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The only thing you should resent about your writing
is that it takes time away from your reading!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
do you do when you are not writing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNABOtKzOy5RgTKKUrYSb7Oa_jpuoht2afuzR9z-oVARL7-Bb41eB7twfOMv2_sWw3odDwm0ggd2Se0fykzUlcaf6_WhUvWqwCaS6VxeS0Qg-dCtywvgOLRN71qQ3MJ3QzTRwevU3cc98/s1600/at+table.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNABOtKzOy5RgTKKUrYSb7Oa_jpuoht2afuzR9z-oVARL7-Bb41eB7twfOMv2_sWw3odDwm0ggd2Se0fykzUlcaf6_WhUvWqwCaS6VxeS0Qg-dCtywvgOLRN71qQ3MJ3QzTRwevU3cc98/s320/at+table.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Sports, movies, plays, traveling, and visiting my
favorite restaurants are among the basic things I do when I am not writing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Include
anything else you may wish to add.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If you have been reading <a href="http://www.blogger.com/" name="_GoBack"></a>everything
I have been saying to this point, I am truly grateful to you, dear reader.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
“Made It” moments have you experienced in life?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Every moment is truly precious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have never been fascinated with the
destination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the journey and its
adventures that have been inspiring me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-69613702104583209272012-06-26T01:30:00.000-04:002012-06-26T01:30:02.000-04:00Christian Author, Lillian Prenner, Shares Her Mission and Her Book, Grandparenting with a Purpose: Effective Ways to Pray for your Grandchildren<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lillian,
it is nice to have you as a guest author today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Could you tell us a little about yourself and all the things you do?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYbH2BPKe3FSHkdvqiimiLfnSuNFH0XETACwyKP2VDnoNnHlvvlOE3Jlh2vf77LW_8wI_uMqgA-fxn-V1BkJbBNMGA9P5COLZlaALx8NqCNcKtPMld-Q_tNXRJo5NLbTme2mkr18mrW9g/s1600/Book+signing+in+OKC.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYbH2BPKe3FSHkdvqiimiLfnSuNFH0XETACwyKP2VDnoNnHlvvlOE3Jlh2vf77LW_8wI_uMqgA-fxn-V1BkJbBNMGA9P5COLZlaALx8NqCNcKtPMld-Q_tNXRJo5NLbTme2mkr18mrW9g/s200/Book+signing+in+OKC.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lillian
Ann Penner is the author, speaker, National Prayer Coordinator for Christian
Grandparenting Network: directing the Grandparents@Prayer groups and the annual
Grandparents Day of Prayer, blogger, and a freelance writer. She and her
husband, John have been married over 53 years and currently reside in Portland,
OR. They have three married sons and twelve grandchildren, who are the love of
their life. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Hy4kk5ddrIaKSlN1aGgPBgglodn4L7jzzigsbrTlCrKlpyHALzIOTEQQFVrCkV84L1z2w5DzXR-6wD5b_yfwAcgTqXeHu5SUillagGzmxcTQrdfUI469spQ9ZN5nZe_hULmhdKM0mkY/s1600/P4230043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Hy4kk5ddrIaKSlN1aGgPBgglodn4L7jzzigsbrTlCrKlpyHALzIOTEQQFVrCkV84L1z2w5DzXR-6wD5b_yfwAcgTqXeHu5SUillagGzmxcTQrdfUI469spQ9ZN5nZe_hULmhdKM0mkY/s320/P4230043.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Where we live in Portland, the flowers are gorgeous
starting in April with the tulips. Portland. I love the flowering trees here
and the beautiful flowers since we lived in the desert for 40 years and the
flowering season was very short. We have a forest behind our townhouse and it
is just lovely.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lillian
has been active in church ministry for over 50 years, led a mentoring ministry
for women, participated in short term mission’s trip in Ukraine, and
volunteered with several Christian ministries. Currently, she is involved in
the leadership of a women’s Bible study and the 55+ group in her church. She
blogs on several websites, as well as her own on at </span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.grandparentingwithapurpose.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">www.grandparentingwithapurpose.com</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lillian
loves to travel with her husband exploring new areas, taking pictures, reading
fiction books, and have lunch with her friends.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tell us about the
genre of your work. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Challenge grandparents to model a standard of moral living in an immoral
world and pray for their grandchildren growing up in a spiritual hostile
climate.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Why did you choose
this genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a passion for my
grandchildren growing up in this post-Christian environment.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How is writing in the
genre you write, different than other genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My audience is to grandparents. I give them tools to pray intentionally
for their grandchildren.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What are some of your
books, stories that have been published? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have several published articles and book reviews in newspapers and
magazines. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> My book is titled:</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Grandparenting with a Purpose:
Effective Ways to Pray for your Grandchildren</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPFdvEhZYeLUcFrCdxdAvun2YAO72BlfBVBC-QPO00LAgDo09oQd55yt53kqJUIp4lhk9y0kWMmJ4lNj0CxSbFuFXo0XQINOSouFZH0HD6QnPplVnrdj_oZbcCt0a2o-SgCs6q0yTZL0/s1600/book+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPFdvEhZYeLUcFrCdxdAvun2YAO72BlfBVBC-QPO00LAgDo09oQd55yt53kqJUIp4lhk9y0kWMmJ4lNj0CxSbFuFXo0XQINOSouFZH0HD6QnPplVnrdj_oZbcCt0a2o-SgCs6q0yTZL0/s320/book+cover.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ISBN 978-1-6150-7611-6 Available on websites with Amazon, Barnes &
Noble, Crossbooks Publishing, and my website </span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.grandparentingwithapurpose.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">www.grandparentingwithapurpose.com</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. Published Nov. 2010.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Synopsis</span></b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe your grandchildren are living with you.
Maybe they’re thousands of miles away. Their parents may be spiritually
rebellious or simply neglectful of the family’s spiritual life, failing to make
prayer and church attendance a regular part of their routine. But even if your
grandchildren’s parents have established a strong Christian home, busy
schedules, jobs, parenting, and all the distractions of today’s world conspire
to distract or even destroy the family. How can you, as a grandparent, help?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">God gives
grandparents a sacred trust—an opportunity to imprint another generation with
the message of his faithfulness. You can stand in the gap by being a godly
example for your grandchildren and by praying for them. Even grandparents who
already pray regularly for their grandchildren will discover creative
suggestions for making the practice even more meaningful. From cell phones to
photo prayer journals, you’ll find tools that work for you—and for your
grandchildren.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The author provides
specific examples of prayers to help you get started, such as alphabet prayers,
prayers based on special scriptures, and prayers for certain holidays. You may
even widen the circle, praying for other children in your life, for children
who have parents in the military, and for the adults who influence your
grandchildren. Regardless of how far away your grandchildren are, praying for
them can bridge the distance between you and leave them with an inheritance more
precious than gold.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Where do you get your ideas for writing?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I get my ideas from reading books, magazine
articles, listening to grandparents, praying, and from my heavenly Father.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is your favorite
thing about your book? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The suggestions of how to pray intentionally.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Why and when did you begin writing? I started writing my thoughts about
intentionally praying for my grandchildren about 8 years ago. I had developed a
passion to pray for my grandchildren and I wanted to share it with others. I
heard a speaker say, “If God has given you a passion for something He wants you
to share it with others.”</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Is there any one
person who had a big influence on you or encouraged you to write? </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">An author friend, Helen Haidle who has written many books and been a book
editor for a publisher was a great influenced me greatly. She encouraged me to
participate in the annual Oregon Christian Writers coaching conference for
several times, in addition to their one-day conferences.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is your writing
schedule? </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since I am writing weekly blogs for two websites, I write a several days
a week.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What atmosphere do
you need to write? </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I like to sit in my recliner with my laptop in my living room with no
distracting noises.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What projects are you
working on now, or plan for the future?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would like
to write some small booklets for grandparents with Suggestions to Pray for
their grandchildren.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What kind of advice
or tips do you have for someone who wants to write and be published?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Go to coaching and writing conferences, network, and do research on the
computer. There are many websites offering writing advice.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Are there any other
comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning writers?</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You just have to learn and persevere.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What do you do when
you are not writing? </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPRaF_eZy0XaC83YHw7BU8PFYA-HPKiKbFOthyfN1qWM7s4_ZyvqjjgSUe3qfQEpcxBBlkuVUQdsal6bQjNGzlbaYYK6zkKDQSEoDwJVdjvqocqBR-bJZEF_e1Q9wCpcd_FFFpJllHVQE/s1600/grandchildren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPRaF_eZy0XaC83YHw7BU8PFYA-HPKiKbFOthyfN1qWM7s4_ZyvqjjgSUe3qfQEpcxBBlkuVUQdsal6bQjNGzlbaYYK6zkKDQSEoDwJVdjvqocqBR-bJZEF_e1Q9wCpcd_FFFpJllHVQE/s200/grandchildren.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I enjoy reading, traveling, and spending time with my children and
grandchildren.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Is there anything
else you may wish to add.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am amazed that God has used an
ordinary farm girl from Oklahoma with very little college education to write a
book and have a grandparenting ministry. I have always been involved in a
ministry during my adult life. Now I am so grateful that God is giving me the
opportunity to serve Him at the age of 74 sitting in my recliner with my laptop
encouraging grandparents to pray for their grandchildren a they are growing up
in a post-Christian culture. </span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What “Made It”
moments have you experienced in life?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Becoming the National
Prayer Coordinator for the Christian Grandparenting Network. Writing the book, <i>Grandparenting
with a Purpose: Effective Ways to Pray for your Grandchildren.</i> Having an
article published in the Significant Living Magazine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-2042453301911316732012-06-23T01:30:00.000-04:002012-06-23T01:30:00.978-04:00Julie Weishaar Marketing Professional Shares How She can Help Authors and others in the Publishing World with Internet Marketing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrh8tmzIhkCme06E1wNUHU1yHb7zKP39YGHcu6DA5gcYEhcpZivo8eRkm4H5w_5XLVBo2yqFmxO42ME49IzIqwNtIfcQ8ELMAFiVZmgMX5wiXYixvPlvGuzwY4FDvnGKJjfjx3s5zy4Hc/s1600/Untitled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrh8tmzIhkCme06E1wNUHU1yHb7zKP39YGHcu6DA5gcYEhcpZivo8eRkm4H5w_5XLVBo2yqFmxO42ME49IzIqwNtIfcQ8ELMAFiVZmgMX5wiXYixvPlvGuzwY4FDvnGKJjfjx3s5zy4Hc/s1600/Untitled.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Julie, can you tell us more about what you do, and how you can help authors and others in the publishing world? Let us begin with some basics by find out how long you have been doing this, and exactly what you do. Then, let us find out how you can help authors and others in this field. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1) How long have you been in the marketing profession? Did
you work for other companies before starting your own?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have been in the marketing profession for as long as I
have been in the business world. While raising my children, I owned my own
companies and marketing is a natural and necessary function for any business
owner. When I came back into the work force I ran a non-profit association for
five years, then went into corporate marketing, and then onto owning my own
business again. Anyone who has anything to promote has to market it. So the
answer to your question “how long?” – more than 20 years.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2) How long have you had a website? How do you use it in
promoting your business – what role does it play?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I created my first website as part of my learning process
when I started New Horizons 123 2 1/2 years ago. It is actually funny to see my
first attempt at my first website and compare it to where it is today. A
company’s website is ESSENTIAL in promoting any business. The website is the
central hub of a business. All the online activity they do to promote their
brand should lead back to their website. All my online activity is geared
towards bringing potential clients back to my website(s).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3) How has social media helped your business? Do you have
any favorite social media sites?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Social media is about building relationships. People like to
do business with people they know and trust, therefore getting them to know you
and trust you is critical. I use social media extensively in my business and
have been fortunate enough to have met some very helpful friends and clients
via social media networking.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4) What do you consider your niche in your profession? How
do you stand out from other professionals?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My niche is the small business owner who needs help promoting
their brand. I stand out from my competition because of the relationships I
have developed and because I use video marketing extensively in my consulting,
and video IS the way of the future for communications and messaging. I not only
help small businesses utilize video in their marketing, I also create videos
for the businesses I consult for.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5) What would you suggest to a young person getting started
in marketing?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That’s an easy answer – network, network, network :) They
should also find out who the thought leaders are in the niche they want to be
involved in, follow them, interact with them on social media platforms, and
become a perpetual student! It is also important for the young person to
realize that just because they read something online, doesn’t mean it is true.
Check out the reputations/reviews of the sources of information to be sure you
are following the “right” people. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6) How has blogging helped you in marketing your own
business?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Blogging alone is like operating in a vacuum. In order for your
blog/website/social media profile to have any value to you or anyone else, you
have to network, network, network! Get your blog listed in blog directories,
join blogging groups on different social media sites, interact, engage, share,
learn, teach, and did I mention, network, network, and network? I have
developed some extremely mutually beneficial relationships with other
professionals in my niche that I met on blogs (mine and others), in blogging
groups, and on social media networking sites.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong> Some links to find out more about Julie and what she does professionally:</strong></span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: black;">Who
is Julie <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/video-book-trailers/Weishaar"><span style="color: blue;">http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/video-book-trailers/Weishaar</span></a><span style="color: black;">?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Sample%20Business%20Videos"><span style="color: blue;">Sample Business Videos</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/video-book-trailers/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/video-book-trailers/</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: black;">Other
Video Products<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/video-book-trailers/cts"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/video-book-trailers/cts<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<h1 style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0.67em 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: black;">Video Book Triailers <o:p></o:p></span></span></h1>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/video-book-trailers/ok%20Trailers"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/video-book-trailers/ok
Trailers</span></span></a></span></b></span></div>
<br />
<h1 style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0.67em 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Biography<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Julie
has over 10 years </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/julieweishaar" target="_blank" title="julie weishaar Linkedin"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">corporate marketing management experience</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> and now helps small business owners hone in on
exactly what their business offerings are, who their target market is, and come
up with creative ways to get their marketing message across to their target at
the right time. Based in New York, but with an International target market, she
also helps business owners learn how to use video as part of their overall
marketing mix.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<h1 style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0.67em 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Branding with
Video<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Julie
helps business owners </span><a href="http://newhorizons123.com/services/" target="_blank" title="Strategic Planning New Horizons 123"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">strategically plan</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> how to use videos online, increase their web
presence, and promote their brand. </span><a href="http://newhorizons123production.com/" target="_blank" title="new horizons 123 production"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Say
it with Video!</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> Julie has a
passion for creating unique, engaging, descriptive,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and compelling videos and creates and uses
videos for </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHqqE_SsJGo" target="_blank" title="Business Profile Videos"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">business profiles,</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">
</span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGIWLeOdDF4" target="_blank" title="entrepreneurial checklist"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">blog
post/articles,</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUKuCsJ2WcA" target="_blank" title="Yadzooks Product Demo"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">product
demonstrations,</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYlHHWGf5lE" target="_blank" title="Messaging Videos"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">messaging</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">, and to </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBrCGbji_Ow" target="_blank" title="Dana's Song by Alyxx"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">showcase
talent.</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> Video branding/marketing is
the way of the future as video is such a </span><a href="http://newhorizons123production.com/products/" target="_blank" title="Video Marketing Products"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">powerful
marketing tool.</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> She can create
unique and memorable videos about your product or service that will make your
brand stand out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<h1 style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0.67em 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What is Video
Marketing?<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://newhorizons123production.com/" target="_blank" title="Video Marketing New Horizons 123 Production"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Branding with video</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> through </span><a href="http://5295.myvideotalkstudio.com/" title="video ads new horizons 123 production"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">video ads</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">, </span><a href="http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/sample-business-profile-videos/" target="_blank" title="business videos"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">business profile videos</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">, </span><a href="http://newhorizons123.com/VideoPlayer/evp/?seed=15-ways-to-develop-your-linkedin-account-to-generate-sales" target="_blank" title="social media marketing"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">social media marketing</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">,
</span><a href="http://youtube.com/beaky881" target="_blank" title="youtube"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Youtube video marketing</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">, </span><a href="http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/samples-video-emails/" target="_blank" title="video emails new horizons 123"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">video emails,</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">
video event marketing, and </span><a href="http://www.myvideotalkusa.com/219390" target="_blank" title="myvideotalk"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">other
video software technologies</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> is the
future of business. </span><a href="http://newhorizons123.com/" target="_blank" title="new horizons 123"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">New
Horizons 123</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> works with
business owners to create videos for you or use the ones you already have and
strategically integrate them into branding strategy that will drive traffic to
your website and turn more leads into sales.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<h1 style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0.67em 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Marketing
Consultant<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<br />
<h1 style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0.67em 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Authors have a product to sell – that product is
their book. Therefore, authors need to market their product by using the same
best marketing practices any company uses when promoting their offerings. New
Horizons 123 focuses on helping the small business owner (the author) utilize
the power of video to increase brand (book) awareness, rank higher in the
search engines, and make more sales. <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Video is
the best promotional tool for your book trailer.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<a href="http://www.reelseo.com/videos-sell-products-watch/" target="_blank" title="Video Marketing"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Video</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> is the
MOST-EFFECTIVE vehicle to deliver your message – announcing to your potential
readers that your book is available for purchase. Using video to promote your
product (your book) has become an integral component of online advertising.
Google loves video (great for online search) and people prefer to watch than
read, so authors should take advantage of the power of video to supercharge
their book promotion. Bring your book to life with a professional video book
trailer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">With the explosive popularity of sites such as
YouTube (now considered the number two search engine online), Vimeo, and others
– it’s time to embrace video and utilize the power of video to deliver your
message to your potential readers. Creating unique, compelling, eye-catching
video is the key in grabbing viewer’s attention! Present your readers with the
opportunity to see and hear about your book via video.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What do you consider your niche in your profession? How do you stand out
from other professionals?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My niche is the small business owner (in this case – the author) who
needs help promoting their brand (book). I stand out from my competition
because of the relationships I have developed and because I use video marketing
extensively in my consulting, and video IS the way of the future for
communications and messaging. I not only help small businesses utilize video in
their marketing, I also create videos for the businesses I consult for.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<h2 style="line-height: 150%; margin: 10pt 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What Makes a Good Video Book Trailer?</span></strong><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<br />
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo5; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Descriptive of your book<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo5; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Memorable<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo5; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Engaging<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo5; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Unique<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo5; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Compelling <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Why did you choose to be in video Marketing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I
love creating videos and “Saying it with Video”. Any message delivered in a
video format that is engaging, entertaining, and compelling makes that message
stand out. The fact that Google loves video and people would rather watch than
read, is why messaging in video is so powerful. I have always been a creative
person and creating videos for any kind of message, is a great way to channel these
creative energies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What are some of your video and marketing programs
that you have developed?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I
have created videos:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><a href="http://newhorizons123production.com/store" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Small Business and Marketing Company</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://newhorizons123production.com/store">http://newhorizons123production.com/store</a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: blue;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="color: blue;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/branding-with-video" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">MyVideoTalk</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: blue;"> <a href="http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/branding-with-video">http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/branding-with-video</a></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="color: blue;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span><a href="http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/sample-business-profile-videos/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Clients</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/sample-business-profile-videos/">http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/sample-business-profile-videos/</a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: blue;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="color: blue;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/small-business-marketing-doctor" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Messaging</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/small-business-marketing-doctor">http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/small-business-marketing-doctor</a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: blue;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_657611588"> </a></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/bermuda-cruise" target="_blank">Family Events</a></span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/bermuda-cruise">http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/bermuda-cruise</a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: blue;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="color: blue;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span><a href="http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/video-book-trailers/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Book Trailers</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/video-book-trailers/">http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/video-book-trailers/</a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: blue;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="color: blue;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/myvideotalk-marketing-system" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Screen cast tutorials</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/myvideotalk-marketing-system">http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/myvideotalk-marketing-system</a><br />
<br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I
have my videos posted in the following places:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/beaky881"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Youtube</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/beaky881">http://www.youtube.com/beaky881</a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: blue;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="color: blue;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/ultimate-video-branding"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Ultimate Video Branding</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/ultimate-video-branding">http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/ultimate-video-branding</a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: blue;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="color: blue;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/small-business-and-video-marketing"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Small Business and Video Marketing</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/small-business-and-video-marketing">http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/small-business-and-video-marketing</a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: blue;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="color: blue;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/tips-from-new-horizons-123"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Tips from New Horizons 123</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/tips-from-new-horizons-123">http://www.myvideowebshow.com/show/tips-from-new-horizons-123</a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">How do you come up with the visual portrayal of
characters in you videos?</span></b><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I
search for an image, graphic, or animation that captures the essence of the
message</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Why and when did you begin?</span></b><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Three
years ago, I set out to create a short video for my dad’s surprise 80<sup>th</sup>
birthday party. What started out as a little tribute to him ended up literally
being an epic video dedication and appreciation of his life beginning from his
birth until the present time. I included photos and music of his entire life,
his career, and his family with music. The music reflected the period of time
in his life that each section of the video focused on, including real life
performances from his wife and children. There were also dedications from loved
ones included in this video. When we showed the video at his party, there
wasn’t a dry eye in the house. I learned how to do things in creating this
video that I had no idea how to do previously and enjoyed it so much, that I
decided to incorporate video marketing in my small business marketing. The rest
as they say – is history.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What i<a href="http://www.blogger.com/" name="_GoBack"></a>s your working
schedule?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this your fulltime
profession, or do you do other things as well?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I
don’t have a schedule – I work 24/7 when I am not spending time with family and
friends. I love what I do and actually find creating videos a stress-reliever.
I am involved in many projects that all revolve around video marketing. I just
recently completed customizing a </span><a href="http://mvtmarketingsystem.com/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Key Leader Marketing System for
MyVideoTalk</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">. This is a
custom recruiting, training, and retention system for independent reps and
leaders in MyVideoTalk to help them promote the company and its products on the
Internet. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Do you usually work directly with authors, or with
the publishers, or other businesses? </span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I<strong> </strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">work directly with all </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">my clients who want me to create a video for them. My
clients range from </span></span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pkFqibGs0A"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Home Inspectors</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">, to </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R60M2x5ZMY"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">book authors</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">,
to </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnlaePZizis&list=PL02894F2BFC7CD166&index=6&feature=plpp_video"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">flower shops</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">, to </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1nS31gs-Y0&list=PL02894F2BFC7CD166&index=4&feature=plpp_video"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">pavement companies</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">, to </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7_s7sEtmkA&feature=plcp"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">commercial product distributors</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">, and more. </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Is there something that writers should know about
time and cost of book trailers?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The
cost for a </span><a href="http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/video-book-trailers/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">video book trailer</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> is $499 and is totally customized for the client.
The lead time is generally 3-5 business days and the </span><a href="http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/business-profile-video-form-2/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Process is outlined here</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">. </span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What things should an author know <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>when they are thinking about working with
video marketing?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What type of video they would like<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Music or voice?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">If music, what type?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Main message of book<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><a href="http://myvideotalksales.newhorizons123.com/business-profile-video-form-2/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Other</span></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What kind of advice or tips to you have for someone
who wants to have their book to have a book trailer created? </span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">To
put yourself in the shoes of your potential buyer. What would compel YOU to
purchase your book after watching a video trailer about it? What are the most
salient points you want to get across to the viewer?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Are there any other comments, advice or tips that
you would give to writers?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What
“Made It” moments have you experienced.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The best “aha” is when the client says “I love it” </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Verdana; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Also when a client tells me that using video has
added a whole new dimension to their business. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The best advice is always to put yourself in your
prospective customer’s shoes and see what would impress/compel you enough to
make the purchase. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Websites:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://newhorizons123.com/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">New Horizons 123</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://newhorizons123.com/">http://newhorizons123.com/</a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://newhorizons123production.com/"><span style="color: windowtext;">New
Horizons 123 Production/Say it With Video<o:p></o:p></span></a></span><br />
<a href="http://newhorizons123production.com/">http://newhorizons123production.com/</a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://myvideotalkreviews.net/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">MyVideoTalk</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://myvideotalkreviews.net/">http://myvideotalkreviews.net/</a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://blog.newhorizons123.com/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Small Business & Video Marketing Blog</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://blog.newhorizons123.com/">http://blog.newhorizons123.com/</a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://myvideotalksales.us/sample-page/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Training site for MVT Marketing System</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://myvideotalksales.us/sample-page/">http://myvideotalksales.us/sample-page/</a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://youtube.com/beaky881"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Youtube</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2343251867901035948#editor/target=post;postID=204245330191131673">http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2343251867901035948#editor/target=post;postID=204245330191131673</a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://newhorizons123production.com/store"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">New Horizons 123 Products</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://newhorizons123production.com/store">http://newhorizons123production.com/store</a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">How can authors or others in the publishing world
get in touch with you?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Julie
Weishaar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://newhorizons123.com/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">New Horizons 123</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://newhorizons123production.com/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">New Horizons 123 Production</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="mailto:info@newhorizons123.com"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">info@newhorizons123.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">914-522-6411<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-14276575900212289342012-06-20T01:30:00.000-04:002012-06-20T01:30:00.984-04:00Traveling a Road with Love, Faith and Guts - Aspiring Author, Writer, Blogger, Singer Pat Garcia Shares Her Story<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today, I broke from the normal, to share a story of an aspiring writer's story. Maybe, if you have made it into the publishing world, you have forgotten the journey. Maybe, is you are still dreaming of getting there, this story will inspire you to hang on to your dreams and not to give up on yourself or your work. Today, is the story of Pat Garcia. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tell
us about yourself and your journey.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3tWW76yfuX7kriOJEm45HgYEea9jvRbKHHIAA8XnPJzASyBhJHP1CvJhiMEhaeZKatWEx2AyzdZux6xssQLCpecE6xkHvJcZs1-VonoipJXlEafQUl4a4i7CdtZ3wsdt1WXb3khzG-Gc/s1600/on+stage+with+band.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3tWW76yfuX7kriOJEm45HgYEea9jvRbKHHIAA8XnPJzASyBhJHP1CvJhiMEhaeZKatWEx2AyzdZux6xssQLCpecE6xkHvJcZs1-VonoipJXlEafQUl4a4i7CdtZ3wsdt1WXb3khzG-Gc/s320/on+stage+with+band.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Born in Blythe, Georgia, to
Moses and Elizabeth Ealy Pierce, I am Patricia Anne Pierce-Garcia Schaack, Pen
Name, Pat Garcia. I was raised in Keysville, Georgia, which was the home of my
father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There, we lived in a house,
which burned down some years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">My father and mother moved us
to Augusta, Georgia when I was five years old in a small suburb called Terrace
Manor. It was here that I began to stretch my imagination and began to write,
even before I knew how to spell the words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyBlYwM_edccNK93hbVLRhG_t4aMjdtue4bJbwLJxvtg1BJiljGm5GlDh0MKDNUeLFWpS7CJ3UPKiyhXZD_4-wpYhlwIZNPDXbWRt9AGGiCY1K-6cxs6tdQsyU7b9ke9vkrghuKGyNbug/s1600/Second+shot+-+Pat+Garcia+in+her+office.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyBlYwM_edccNK93hbVLRhG_t4aMjdtue4bJbwLJxvtg1BJiljGm5GlDh0MKDNUeLFWpS7CJ3UPKiyhXZD_4-wpYhlwIZNPDXbWRt9AGGiCY1K-6cxs6tdQsyU7b9ke9vkrghuKGyNbug/s320/Second+shot+-+Pat+Garcia+in+her+office.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I started school at the age of
five and will never forget my first day of school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My parents had bought me a brown paper school
tablet that they had hoped would last me for a couple of weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I was so impressed with my first day
of school and that I would learn how to write that I sat next to my mother as
she was attending to my baby sister and began to write a story, which took
every sheet of paper I had. My mother was upset at the waste of paper, but I
was so happy that I had written my first story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No one could understand it, but I did, and I cornered everyone<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and made them listen to my story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">At the age of eight, I decided
to start my own newspaper for Terrace Manor. At that time, I wanted to be the
first black publication for our area. I wrote every article by hand and
completed about five copies to sell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Surprisingly, the adult people around us bought it and smile at my
ingenuity, but my father thought differently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One of the neighbors had bragged about how creative I was and showed him
the paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That evening my bottom was
sore from the whipping I had received.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That ended my newspaper, but not my dream. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuxwG09_ym3Any6DZn0jNMVI_LsdZu9_q-fSsnXQBigNxyQg2SS0FI1n9XaDVNECVLDDESsjIU4fpOspJQLIZdWA3VnbI1lM5oeCeyEF0nvmCK4Rim4zAIBTgN8FMo0QbvnyFUHof58L4/s1600/Pat+Garcia+in+the+Jazzkeller+in+Seligenstadt,+Germany.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuxwG09_ym3Any6DZn0jNMVI_LsdZu9_q-fSsnXQBigNxyQg2SS0FI1n9XaDVNECVLDDESsjIU4fpOspJQLIZdWA3VnbI1lM5oeCeyEF0nvmCK4Rim4zAIBTgN8FMo0QbvnyFUHof58L4/s320/Pat+Garcia+in+the+Jazzkeller+in+Seligenstadt,+Germany.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">My dream of writing was often
deferred by circumstances and other people's opinions. It took me years to
finally let the stories, the articles, and the books that have been brooding in
me over years began to live and breathe in my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Two people unknowingly helped
me release those desires within me. The first person is Melinda Pierce, one of
my sisters. Five years ago, when we were visiting Augusta, Georgia, she asked
me why I had never written a book. I remember looking at her strangely, wanting
to know her reason for asking me such a question. She answered me by saying,
"I always thought you were going to be a writer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have always had a love for words and have
always read like a starving woman in need of bread and water. I just wanted to
know why you never wrote your book."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her keen insight at that time was a heavenly knock on my door from
above, and I will be forever grateful for that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTMWsG7K7wduww28PDD5MrGD6KBeoizgzCSdjReBE81rmi29Z9odreOzpzklHjb175otg4Z3xRi4FFwEYanw3h-ahq3bzex5T6TPnnaorvH7WCxp-4mUAFucqOBB3ICKOx0JK8hWEZinA/s1600/Patty+and+Circle+of+One+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTMWsG7K7wduww28PDD5MrGD6KBeoizgzCSdjReBE81rmi29Z9odreOzpzklHjb175otg4Z3xRi4FFwEYanw3h-ahq3bzex5T6TPnnaorvH7WCxp-4mUAFucqOBB3ICKOx0JK8hWEZinA/s320/Patty+and+Circle+of+One+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The second person is an old
school friend whom my husband and I visited on our last trip to the United
States in 2010.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He lives in Atlanta,
Georgia and we were very fortunate to spend five days and four nights with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, I was confronted with the question of
writing, but this time, Walter, my old school friend, was not so charming and
courteous when he asked the question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
came out and asked me very plainly when was I going to bring out my first book
because it was about time. I looked at him and said I would start very
soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was three years ago and since
then I have written the first novel, and it is sitting by a publisher in the
United Kingdom, waiting on a yes or no, and I am hoping that it will be yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only that, I am hoping that I will win my
first literary prize for this book because it is in a contest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Outside of that, I have a short story that
has been accepted by a Canadian Online Publisher and will be released soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">There are many firsts in my
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was the first Afro-American to
graduate from the George P. Butler High School in 1967.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were two Afro-Americans in the Senior
Class. My name came first and so, I was the first.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I graduated from Augusta
College, now Augusta State University, in the summer of 1972.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took me a long time to become disciplined
so that I could make it through this university, but I did. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Soon afterwards, I left
Augusta, heading to Ft. Leonard wood, Missouri, where my first husband was
stationed. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">There are a lot of other firsts
in my life, which could fill a book, events such as my entering into the United
States Army. I was the first female in our entire family that became a
soldier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There I finally learned how to
discipline myself and strive for higher goals. I was stationed in California,
before I volunteered to come to Germany. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I have seen and been in about
32 of the states within the U. S. and have also been in some small parts of
Canada, and I have traveled throughout Europe and have gotten to know countries
like France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Austria, Switzerland,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Belgium, Holland and many more. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was privileged to be in Germany in 1989 and
actually saw the Wall separating Berlin come down. That was an exciting event
in the life of all Germans and for me as an American to see that really happen
was a miracle. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR1tfey0vKQYGqwGc0APmwNbxKKgu8KbbzeSgfcfoEn6ZU5_PoLkGr0ZRYTefavfH7jdCZkLAb-jUtukW0O_TP6_1qZjdHeJfFUhfZ6h9ISgmF543ZKf9Z_ZWn7N6efpvuhyphenhyphentE7XQE4RM/s1600/Second+shot+-+Pat+Garcia+in+her+office.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR1tfey0vKQYGqwGc0APmwNbxKKgu8KbbzeSgfcfoEn6ZU5_PoLkGr0ZRYTefavfH7jdCZkLAb-jUtukW0O_TP6_1qZjdHeJfFUhfZ6h9ISgmF543ZKf9Z_ZWn7N6efpvuhyphenhyphentE7XQE4RM/s320/Second+shot+-+Pat+Garcia+in+her+office.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Other than writing, I have
begun to build up a foundation in the music scene. I sing and travel to jazz
clubs, auditoriums and churches throughout Europe with my band and give
concerts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My repertoire is mixed and so
our audience is composed of all ages and that is a wonderful thing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Writing and singing are my
heart and I look forward to sharing my heart with the people who hear me sing
and who read my books.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is it that you wish to achieve in your writing?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I write
fiction and non-fiction.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Non-Fiction </span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">In the area
of non-fiction, I started writing professionally for Wikipedia U.K., in the
United Kingdom, which has now been taken over by Overblog Europe. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I have
approximately eighty articles, which were published at Wikipedia U.K.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After they were taken over by Overblog, I
became an Overblog writer, in October of last year, under their pay per click
system and have geared the blog to Health and Fitness topics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You may find some of my Overblog articles at <a href="http://www.patgarcia.co.uk/"><span style="color: blue;">www.patgarcia.co.uk</span></a> under my pen name,
Pat Garcia, and the title of the blog is Garcia's Views on Body, Soul and
Spirit, and visits to my page and clicking on the like button is much
appreciated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I write
under a pen name because at the time that I first started singing in Europe I
was still using my first husband's name. His last name was Garcia and I liked
it so I had it legally put into my passport and went on stage as Pat Garcia.
That name has stuck and so I write under that name also. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">During the
Iraq War, I started my first official blog, The blog went out to a company of
soldiers who were stationed in Iraq and Egypt, and it also went to several
people who live in the Augusta, Georgia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The blog actually got started through one of the members of the First
Baptist Church of Keysville, Georgia, who is now also a Pastor, Barbara
Campbell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She lives in Keysville,
Georgia with her husband, William Campbell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I had been sending her and some others an inspirational word every week
per email and she asked me if she could pass the email on to her son who was
stationed in Iraq.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From that one
request, I reached a company of soldiers in Iraq and one in Egypt for an entire
year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was beautiful to wake up every
morning knowing that I had to meet a deadline for my article to go out on
Monday morning. I received post from the soldiers saying they looked forward to
their Monday morning word from my inspirational blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The title of the blog is Wind, Rain, Winding
Roads & Sunshine, the By-Ways of Life and can be found at <a href="http://www.patgarciaschaack.com/"><span style="color: blue;">www.patgarciaschaack.com</span></a>. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">About three
years ago, I decided to start another blog, which actually went live last year
and is still in development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
called Quiet Times and can be found on my website <a href="http://www.pgs-patgarciaschaack.com/"><span style="color: blue;">www.pgs-patgarciaschaack.com</span></a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quiet Times is a blog over the excerpts in my
journal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been maintaining a
journal for years and want to pass along the wisdom that I have gained from the
experiences that I have written in my journal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Four months
ago, I started my two WordPress Blogs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They are also unique in that one deals with Apple Products for
Beginners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am an Apple Fan, but unfortunately
find that most people shy away from Apple products, because of having to learn
how to use the equipment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I started
a blog named Garcia Talks about the How To's of the iPhone, iPad, MacBook and
Other Apple Products for the Non-Technical user. You may find that blog at: <a href="http://garciaanddigitaltechnology.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://garciaanddigitaltechnology.com</span></a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The second
blog is my baby blog and I love it, because it talks about women whose acts
were unknown but yet they were champions. So I have started a blog named Walk
On and I am writing a series called The Champions That Walked Among us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">You may
find this series at: <a href="http://garciaandwalkon.wordpress.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://garciaandwalkon.wordpress.com</span></a>.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">At the end of
April this year, I started writing as feature contributor for 24Savvy which is
own by Brandbuilding Communications in New York City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The owner is Valerie Donati McIntyre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I write one to two articles per month under
my pen name, Pat Garcia. My articles are featured at <a href="http://www.24savvy.com/"><span style="color: blue;"></span></a><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.24savvy.com/">www.24Savvy.com</a></span><a href="http://www.24savvy.com/"></a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I had the
pleasure of having my first literary article published by the American
Diversity Report on the April 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> this year. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a pleasure to work for Ms. Deborah
Levine, and I look forward to writing for her again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You may find my article, Returning to the Old
Southern Landmarks at: <a href="http://www.americandiversityreport.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=185:returning-to-the-old-southern-landmarks-&catid=2:in-the-south&Itemid=3"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.americandiversityreport.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=185:returning-to-the-old-southern-landmarks-&catid=2:in-the-south&Itemid=3</span></a>.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Fiction</span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Writing
fiction has taken some time to grow in me, but the characters for my series
have been living inside of me since 1993.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Whereas with non-fiction, I was writing speeches and different papers
since I was a child, with fiction I started out by reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am a voracious reader and had the opportunity
in my senior year to have an English teacher who introduced me to the world of
mystery. My first book, she gave me. It was a reward for babysitting for her
and the title was The Detective by Roderick Thorpe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love that book. Thorpe drew me into his
world quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Afterwards, I discovered,
Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart, Phyllis Whitney, Daphne DuMaurier, Georgette
Heyer, Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers and I have read every book they
wrote. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Attending
Augusta College, now Augusta State University, my favorite English professor was
Dr. Martha Fivash, who left the university and went into law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I lost track of her, in 1978 or 1979. She was
my lawyer for my divorce. She introduced me to the world of the Bronte Sisters,
Edna Saint Vincent Millay and The Ballard of the Harp Weaver, which I learned
by memory and George Elliot, Charles Dickens and the poetry of Samuel Taylor
Coleridge, T.S. Elliot, E.E. Cummings and many of the poets of England such as
Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Tennyson, Lord Bryan and many more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">My genre in
fiction is inspirational, multicultural romantic suspense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am a romantic at heart and have always
dreamed of writing the types of books, which not only have the element of
romance, but also suspense and the main characters are people who believe in
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has taken me two year, three
months and twenty-four days to write my first book in a series named The
Mansion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first book is sitting at
the publisher because I submitted it into a writing contest in England and I
hope that I win. If so, the first book will be on its way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are seven books in this series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were the characters that were born in
me and carried under my breast since 1993.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The titles
of the books in The Mansion series are:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Book 1 – A
Time To Love<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Book 2 –
Daniel The Beloved<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Book 3 – A
Time Of Peace<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Book 4 –
Everything Must Change<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Book 5 –
More Than Conquerors<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Book 6 –
You'll Never Walk Alone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Book 7 –
Going Home</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I love the
people I write about. They talk to me and usually guide me through the
dialogue. It is amazing for me because they become so real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a group of twenty readers read my first
book that I entered into the novel writing contest and each person could relate
to the book and identify with it. In fact, many had an aha effect!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">So, yes I
love my characters and enjoy working with them. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I also have
a short story that will soon be published by a Canadian Publisher, Alexandra
Brown, on her Online Publishing Site, Romantic Shorts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have the accepted, but the day of
publication is not yet known. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Last year,
I participated in the NaMoWri Novel week but did not complete it. I will
participate in it again this year and try to write another novel within a
month. The one that I started last year, I am in the middle of completing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">My rhythm
for writing is crazy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am an early morning
person, so I am usually up around five or five-thirty AM. I am in my office
around six-thirty and after my meditation of 45 minutes to an hour, where I
write in my journal, read my Bible and communicate with God, I start writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I write about three to four hours and then do
my office paperwork and take a two hour break at five PM. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At nine I am back in my office and I work
until until one AM and then go to bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
usually sleep four hours per night. That I must have if I want to function
properly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">There are
times though when I write the whole night through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I catch about two hours of sleep, because the
characters are talking to me and they yearn to come out. I don't push them
away. So I sit at my computer and I write until everything that is within me is
out. That could last a day or two and naturally I am totally wiped out
afterwards, but to read what I have written is so fulfilling because it is at
times like those that words are written that have Spirit in them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those are the kind of books that I want to
write. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I have four
projects going on at the moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I would like to enter a novel
into the American Writer's Award<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I want to get the first chapter
of my online novel up and going on my website.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I haven't done it yet because I am
thinking about opening up a separate book website or emerging it with new
blog website that deals entirely with fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am still looking into it.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I am preparing another article
to submit to American Diversity Report.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">And I am getting ready to
submit articles to two or three magazines that I would love to work for. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">My calendar is blocked for the
month of November for the NaMoWri month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I have four books outside of
the series that I have started and they are not finished because I am not
in the third rewrite and editing of Daniel The Beloved, which is the
second book in The Mansion series. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">If
anyone were to tell me they wanted to be a writer, I would tell them to start
reading and start writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has been
very helpful that I love to read and that I love to read most genres.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I enjoy reading nonfiction and consider it
relaxing to take the time and relax with a book, for example about Einstein's
theory of relativity or some theory in physics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I enjoy reading the classics, or reading about church history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of all, I enjoy reading the Bible and I
read it the first thing in the morning, every day because it is life for
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The second
thing I would recommend any writer is to find your own voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn't start writing until I found my
voice. Finding your voice and writing with your own voice is what attracts
others to your writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Finally, I
would recommend that they find out what is the best place for them to
write.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am a person who needs absolute
peace and quiet when I write.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don't
even want to hear a kettle boiling unless I am taking a break.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, my schedule often is out of whack
because the quietest time of the day in my home is at night and I let the night
tempt me into staying up and writing until the sun has risen high in the sky. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are very few people who understand the
need that a writer has for quietness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have learned not to try and explain it to them, just go away and find a place
where I am alone and can write in peace without any interruptions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">When I am
not writing, I am singing. I sing professionally and I love it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The heart has a right and left ventricle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So is it with me, one half of my heart
belongs to writing and the other half to music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They take second and third place in my life, with my faith in God having
first place. Everything follows. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">My Made It moments have just
begun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Feature
writer for 24Savvy, first literary article published at American Diversity
Report, feature blogger for Wikipedia U.K. that is now taken over by Overblog are
only small steps. My hope is to see my first novel and my first short story
published very soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-72000882121746886812012-06-16T01:40:00.000-04:002012-06-16T10:54:15.637-04:00Cathy Goldberg Fishman has Another New Children's Book,When Jackie and Hank Met<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">About the author:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9b0VRWV6dIO4Wju6PMJj4dWC8hXNRv9_C-mdLZzqOcXgbfJTzv8gD_JnLZIFiHgMuhLjKr-q5Sy1zOdRkO22JQthbLL7i4fsdKgMEMWJD8nzIx-dzWNuHwZtBYr4pzfgWsNn_JFymPac/s1600/cathy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9b0VRWV6dIO4Wju6PMJj4dWC8hXNRv9_C-mdLZzqOcXgbfJTzv8gD_JnLZIFiHgMuhLjKr-q5Sy1zOdRkO22JQthbLL7i4fsdKgMEMWJD8nzIx-dzWNuHwZtBYr4pzfgWsNn_JFymPac/s1600/cathy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9b0VRWV6dIO4Wju6PMJj4dWC8hXNRv9_C-mdLZzqOcXgbfJTzv8gD_JnLZIFiHgMuhLjKr-q5Sy1zOdRkO22JQthbLL7i4fsdKgMEMWJD8nzIx-dzWNuHwZtBYr4pzfgWsNn_JFymPac/s320/cathy.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cathy Goldberg Fishman was born in Mesa, Arizona, but grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. She has taught elementary school, sold encyclopedias from door to door, and directed a day care center. When she moved to Augusta Georgia, she opened a children's bookstore in her house called Eeyore's Tale from late 1978 to 1981. At the bookstore, Cathy organized birthday parties, cooking classes for children, and many arts and crafts events. Cathy is married to Steven Fishman and has two grown children. Her son Xan (married to Katie Cassling) lives and works in Washington, DC, and her daughter Brittany lives and works in Raleigh, North Carolina.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />Cathy now teaches full time at Georgia Military College in Augusta, GA. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tell us about the genre of your work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My first book was a Jewish Holiday picture book called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">On Passover</i> published by Simon & Schuster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That book was quickly followed by four other holiday books: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">On Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur, On Hanukkah, On Purim, and On Shabbat</i>. They were all beautifully illustrated by Melanie Hall. I have also written two Rookie Readers: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Soup</i>, dedicated to my daughter Brittany because she gave me the idea -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Car Wash Kid</i>, dedicated to my son, Xan and godson, Matthew. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My newest book is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">When Jackie and Hank Met</i>, a duo biography of Jackie Robinson and Hank Greenberg, published by Marshall Cavendish and illustrated by Mark Elliot.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why did you choose this genre?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I started out writing about the Jewish holidays because my two children were little and I was teaching them about the holidays. It seemed to come naturally. I got the idea for When Jackie and Hank Met when my synagogue showed the documentary film The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg by Aviva Kempner.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What are some of your books, stories that have been published?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So far I have 11 children’s picture books published.<br /><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">When Jackie and Hank Met<br />On Passover<br />On Purim<br />On Shabbat<br />On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur<br />On Sukkot and Simchat Torah<br />On Hanukkah<br />Passover (On My Own Holiday Book)<br />Hanukkah (On My Own Holiday Book)<br />Soup<br />Car Wash Kid</i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What ages do you direct your books?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Most of my books are picture books for ages 8 – 12, but Soup and Car Wash Kids are for a beginning reader.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Can you tell us more about your books and how to find them?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">*(newest book)When Jackie and Hank Met</span></u></em><em><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"></span></u></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Marshall Cavendish<br />2012</span></em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDrFcY6qhPBnfLAT2KKYN7dZYbW93h0ixfnoDNuMe90pxLprk8DdPaNEYMwk4kDwRCVgypZAEplCgQgKZ0Iz_waPY5hZqbUqr3drgxEd7sUO0dZL9PERoA_vyWsd2c5apGTRh2QZ01Mug/s1600/baseball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDrFcY6qhPBnfLAT2KKYN7dZYbW93h0ixfnoDNuMe90pxLprk8DdPaNEYMwk4kDwRCVgypZAEplCgQgKZ0Iz_waPY5hZqbUqr3drgxEd7sUO0dZL9PERoA_vyWsd2c5apGTRh2QZ01Mug/s1600/baseball.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Jackie and Hank were born eight years and one thousand miles apart. Nobody knew these babies would grow up and play baseball. Nobody knew Jackie and Hank would meet and become heroes. Jackie Robinson and Hank Greenberg were two very different people. But they both became Major League Baseball players, and they both faced a lot of the same challenges in their lives and careers. For Jackie, it was because of his skin color. For Hank, it was because of his religion. On May 17, 1947 these two men met for the first time colliding at first base in a close play. While the crowd urged them to fight, Jackie and Hank chose a different path. This is the story of two men who went on to break the barriers of race and religion in American sports and became baseball legends in the process. Beautiful text by Cathy Goldberg Fishman is paired with sumptuous paintings by Mark Elliott. Generous back matter material includes a photo and prose biography of each man, timelines, quotes, resources to learn more, and a selected bibliography. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">ISBN-13:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> 978-0761461401</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 18pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Kirkus Review:</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 18pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />Two baseball heroes who battled hatred and prejudice met for the first time in an on-field collision. Jackie Robinson and Hank Greenberg were both determined to play baseball, and they both served in the armed forces in World War II. But dealing with racial and religious bigotry was the true common thread that wove through their lives. They faced restrictions on their freedom to live in certain neighborhoods, stay in hotels or join clubs. They heard threatening epithets and had objects thrown at them. When they collided at first base, the crowd shouted for them to fight, but they just got on with the game, and Greenberg had some words of sympathetic encouragement for Robinson. In their retirement years, they remained friendly, and both worked for equal rights in and out of baseball. Employing a matter-of-fact, conversational tone, Fishman tells the stories of their lives in tandem, stating the physical distances that separated them while emphasizing the similarities of their parallel struggles. History is contextualized in language and syntax that is accessible and straightforward. Elliott’s acrylics, softly tinted and framed in white, variously depict the two lives separately or in a split-screen format that complements not only the action, but the spirit of the work.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 18pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />A gentle and loving reminder that baseball mirrors society and can also transcend it. (biographical information, websites, bibliography) <em><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";">(Picture book/biography. 7-10)</span></em></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><em><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><u>On Sukkot and Simchat Torah</u> </span></b></em><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ISBN-13:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> 978-1580131650</span></div>
<br />
<em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Kar-Ben</span></em><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeeG79my-aFnJx4mu9E4Em4_qOK0gjHJb04G6ZdjAs8D_6xt3tSp8Bas_V9eArheu2q1Je20ve-M6HlN3fx7fMdA96ddPHgn82GjIK2Xg9bmpE54oR5K2m6EQ9Y62OWVTYvo_RCJtAbfQ/s1600/On+sukkot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeeG79my-aFnJx4mu9E4Em4_qOK0gjHJb04G6ZdjAs8D_6xt3tSp8Bas_V9eArheu2q1Je20ve-M6HlN3fx7fMdA96ddPHgn82GjIK2Xg9bmpE54oR5K2m6EQ9Y62OWVTYvo_RCJtAbfQ/s1600/On+sukkot.jpg" /></a></div>
<em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2006</span></em><em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"></span></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Introduces the harvest holiday of Sukkot and Simchat Torah and how they are celebrated.</span></em><em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> </span></em><br />
</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Passover </span></u></b></em><em><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"></span></u></b></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On My Own Holiday</span></em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0h_vhbjXVUqPSpQ-bTCpj_lZ8DlxmTZk8Ol2BKRYB1aiQb5E4BaLUHvtQCzV48HgXdg2UwU7nSRq76L-SNXcIQGD4E-tcBkg4EMlCbNAXuVwJeS_duybOlae0b1OShy2LgPQgkPpKRr0/s1600/Passover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0h_vhbjXVUqPSpQ-bTCpj_lZ8DlxmTZk8Ol2BKRYB1aiQb5E4BaLUHvtQCzV48HgXdg2UwU7nSRq76L-SNXcIQGD4E-tcBkg4EMlCbNAXuVwJeS_duybOlae0b1OShy2LgPQgkPpKRr0/s1600/Passover.jpg" /></a></div>
<em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Millbrook Press/Minneapolis</span></em><em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"></span></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2006</span></em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">978-1-57505-656-2</span></em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Introduces the holiday of Passover relating the story behind the holiday and how it is celebrated.</span></em><em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"></span></em></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hanukkah</span></u></b></em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On My Own Holiday</span></em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1QWWAPKANaGpH5l2kHUW1FHvBl9ECQDbpECqTTADfKq4jArYAPE9ocX6JL3ryuIVknkM2yCpvvKuhkEUBItAJoJMw1Cc2RQXcizuD4dSnVQ4ut-RIXzB8H9Qu8HVk4yIagHifksknQLk/s1600/Hanukkah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1QWWAPKANaGpH5l2kHUW1FHvBl9ECQDbpECqTTADfKq4jArYAPE9ocX6JL3ryuIVknkM2yCpvvKuhkEUBItAJoJMw1Cc2RQXcizuD4dSnVQ4ut-RIXzB8H9Qu8HVk4yIagHifksknQLk/s1600/Hanukkah.jpg" /></a></div>
<em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Carolrhoda Books/Minneapolis</span></em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2004</span></em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1-57505-195-8</span></em><em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"></span></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Card catalog description</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />Introduces the Jewish Festival of Lights, or Hanukkah, relating the story behind the holiday and how it is celebrated. <em><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"></span></em></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">From School Library Journal</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />Grade 2-3-The first two-thirds of this book presents a simple history of the holiday, giving beginning readers a feeling for the events that took place. The last third of the text explores some of the ways Hanukkah is celebrated today and includes instructions on how to play dreidel. Sketchy watercolor illustrations show a multigenerational family enjoying various activities. Filling a need for material written at an easy reading level, Hanukkah does an adequate job of introducing children to the history and traditions surrounding the holiday.-M. A.<br />Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Cathy Goldberg Fishman</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Car Wash Kid</span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2f3_vbXTz2uYEOFNoFh59rH76N1lJoV8H8BSkj1VKfiaPdGu2ky819smXjowCldVjqXYqisVOXwrO80euCGSle57QVa7TRTbynLKjrm4CYRuJuiSssgy3Lp7KSagBavNNZoQITVpLTts/s1600/car+wash+kid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2f3_vbXTz2uYEOFNoFh59rH76N1lJoV8H8BSkj1VKfiaPdGu2ky819smXjowCldVjqXYqisVOXwrO80euCGSle57QVa7TRTbynLKjrm4CYRuJuiSssgy3Lp7KSagBavNNZoQITVpLTts/s1600/car+wash+kid.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Children's Press</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2003</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">0-516-22858-7</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Rookie Reader<span style="color: black;"><br />A boy and his father have fun washing the car together. </span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Soup</span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Children's Press</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2002</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">0-516-22536-7</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv-9ZW9XxZ8N-8mKZBdF0HSGUASOpRvUJmbOD-QyFl5hdquZjqqujrmP05ucgHoJ5Zx0m9s14YttiqCtWaTMZ_3OkjnYnCsQk9y1M3XvmTJ08g6v3-u-Z4mJjAMG_LG7oKU_uHTjfYUY4/s1600/Soup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv-9ZW9XxZ8N-8mKZBdF0HSGUASOpRvUJmbOD-QyFl5hdquZjqqujrmP05ucgHoJ5Zx0m9s14YttiqCtWaTMZ_3OkjnYnCsQk9y1M3XvmTJ08g6v3-u-Z4mJjAMG_LG7oKU_uHTjfYUY4/s1600/Soup.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Rookie Reader</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Each member of a family has a special job when they work together to make soup for dinner.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On Shabbat </span></u></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Atheneum Books</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2001</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6slMe45a3bwBMo_UWPDCtdVAYWWWQ5G-5CqaLn0F27mB4-59S8J5nl1E_Nqy1WLb1VHmzhNDOCW4ZhILxJKo57lwN-P9YsGyLX7hsg7LOgQ8sX5Nzi8mp2WkZ41qINu6U2tAsSJF3n8I/s1600/Oh+Shabbat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6slMe45a3bwBMo_UWPDCtdVAYWWWQ5G-5CqaLn0F27mB4-59S8J5nl1E_Nqy1WLb1VHmzhNDOCW4ZhILxJKo57lwN-P9YsGyLX7hsg7LOgQ8sX5Nzi8mp2WkZ41qINu6U2tAsSJF3n8I/s1600/Oh+Shabbat.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">0-689-83894-8</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">From School Library Journal</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />K-Gr 3-Fishman follows an observant family through their preparation for the holiday as they put away schoolbooks and briefcases and make ready to welcome the Shabbat Queen. The origins of a variety of rituals are explained through questions the children ask during the course of the celebration. The narrative reads more like nonfiction than a story, but the writing is clear and straightforward. The illustrations are the highlight of this book. The blues and purples of evening juxtaposed with the white and gold of candlelight truly invoke the joy of Shabbat. The expressionistic works are reminiscent of Marc Chagall's work, with central human figures against a tapestry of shapes and Hebrew letters. A good choice for holiday collections.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On Purim</span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Atheneum Books</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2000</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEWeiZ-aARA_bxiUyA5Mr7ZeAgkoqHTM6CxF96khuczTOi1xSRvhMI1AaEtH9mcRft-xelAJ9CIt1vnwWE_qyViDeYcpjK0Lg_XdMVwZpqgAsPHZ24AQQ9me3hysVsxrjwgbpm5KEA7mA/s1600/On+purim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEWeiZ-aARA_bxiUyA5Mr7ZeAgkoqHTM6CxF96khuczTOi1xSRvhMI1AaEtH9mcRft-xelAJ9CIt1vnwWE_qyViDeYcpjK0Lg_XdMVwZpqgAsPHZ24AQQ9me3hysVsxrjwgbpm5KEA7mA/s1600/On+purim.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">0-689-82392-4</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">From Kirkus Reviews</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />This is a sprightly overview from Fishman (On Passover, 1997), who uses a young girl's preparations as the vehicle for a recounting of the Purim story. The full cast of characters is presentQueen Esther and King Ahasuerus, Mordecai and Hamanfor a lesson in how Mordecai and Esther's acts of courage turned the wastrel Ahasuerus into a decent king and saved the Jews from Haman's wrath. Fishman smoothly includes a handful of Hebrew words in the texthamantashen, shalach manot, and tzedakahand makes Haman emerge in all his evilness, with prompts for stomping, hooting, and yelling at the mention of his name. In the end, Fishman explains how God's presence can be detected in the mettle of Mordecai and Esther, in their willingness to do the right thing at a potentially dire cost. Their example also universalizes the tale, providing transcendent acts of personal courage. Hall's pastel-pretty illustrations beguilingly serve to transmit the story and give it a suitably cozy atmosphere. (Picture book. 5-9)</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On Hanukkah</span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Atheneum Books</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1998</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Qhyphenhyphenl_719kj9T6fNzVhe1VLbGImoVSRNrhZ10wk2FQ1R6WKQaEKoxr1J9dHCIj9QHOVRaNJndfSZ0M2-yoQGOwMYRNJ62jMzlfpgigqHnQjf4T15zC21OdEW7T_qB70UXhBjFPXHWkvs/s1600/On+Hanukkah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Qhyphenhyphenl_719kj9T6fNzVhe1VLbGImoVSRNrhZ10wk2FQ1R6WKQaEKoxr1J9dHCIj9QHOVRaNJndfSZ0M2-yoQGOwMYRNJ62jMzlfpgigqHnQjf4T15zC21OdEW7T_qB70UXhBjFPXHWkvs/s1600/On+Hanukkah.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">0-689-80643-4</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /><b>From School Library Journal</b><br />Grade 1-3?A cheerful original tale. The story opens with a family (previously introduced in Fishman's earlier titles) preparing to celebrate the Festival of Lights. Each night, a young girl kindles the candles and says Hanukkah blessings. Her family members gather and each one contributes to the celebration by sharing history, food, gifts, games, and/or music. The author cleverly weaves in bits of information about the traditional observance without ever disrupting the narrative flow. Hall's light yet dynamic illustrations, done in collagraph and mixed media, portray almost constant motion, a frenzy of happiness, with swirling edges and, on several pages, blazes of gold color. A fine companion to Fishman's other holiday titles.?<stockticker w:st="on">MMH</stockticker><br />Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.<em><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";">-</span></em></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On Passover</span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Atheneum Books</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1997</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2R5BiLJk3gB21c0qqAE_XSSF8SE_K-XBzIMVZIGDLbCOeaFxAcQBnfZd03D0HZIaO6ODwRDmNZkDkZKASJNip0x0KsVnpQIHd0NXnRWzhzrJcZwz_Rl081MP4PY-mQb9DCkSs6gpPQ8/s1600/On+passover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2R5BiLJk3gB21c0qqAE_XSSF8SE_K-XBzIMVZIGDLbCOeaFxAcQBnfZd03D0HZIaO6ODwRDmNZkDkZKASJNip0x0KsVnpQIHd0NXnRWzhzrJcZwz_Rl081MP4PY-mQb9DCkSs6gpPQ8/s1600/On+passover.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">0-689-80528-4</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">From Kirkus Reviews</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />In an impressive debut, Fishman captures the emotion of the Passover celebration through the observations of a young narrator who recounts her family's annual preparations for the holiday. Childlike, fluid prose evokes sights, sounds, smells, feelings, and rituals, as the girl helps her mother take out the special dishes, pots, and pans, and the objects used before the holiday to remove all traces of leavened bread from the house: ``That night we light the candle and carry it around the darkened house. The flame sends shadow people dancing on the walls as the feather sweeps forgotten bits of leavened bread into the spoon.'' Scratchy mixed-media illustrations are a worthy counterpart to the text, combining images of the preparations and the symbols of the holiday in a swirl of textures and line. In soft pinks, greens, and gold, figures glide in and out of borders, furniture tilts and floats, vegetables dance over the cooking pot, and visions of other times and events long past fill the pages. A welcome addition to the holiday shelf. (glossary) (Picture book. 4-10) -- <i>Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.</i></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur</span></u></b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Atheneum Books</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">1997</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4nrOPyy3fDLUJePiFoe_5GsMpGzmvGbPY-BOKAFs7gvMAl1EP3jxWHzOXgNb8HHYfH-it-NGehNPe1U-PHxpz-u1sqfZElO_7UMkaZkytDDGMCZHMjyzleqx7hX4M-Vb04sGZUZcJI3I/s1600/On+Rosh+Hashanah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4nrOPyy3fDLUJePiFoe_5GsMpGzmvGbPY-BOKAFs7gvMAl1EP3jxWHzOXgNb8HHYfH-it-NGehNPe1U-PHxpz-u1sqfZElO_7UMkaZkytDDGMCZHMjyzleqx7hX4M-Vb04sGZUZcJI3I/s1600/On+Rosh+Hashanah.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">0-689-80526-8</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">From School Library Journal</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />PreSchool-Grade 3. This companion volume to the author and illustrator's On Passover (Atheneum, 1997) offers a basic, but solid introduction to the customs and symbols of the Jewish New Year and Day of Repentance that can be understood by both Jewish and non-Jewish children. The young narrator describes her family's preparation for each holiday, succinctly explaining the meaning and use of each symbol in both home and synagogue. Italicized Hebrew words are identified in a one-page glossary. Hall's skillfully blended, autumn-toned, mixed-media illustrations show the young girl interacting with her family as they celebrate the two special days. Layers of paint and oil pastel or crayon add texture and depth, sometimes producing a scratchboard effect. Lace and woven materials are either printed or used as an underlay to the paint. The illustrations are tied together through the inclusion of small cards bearing traditional New Year's greetings. A clear, interesting, attractively illustrated introduction to these holidays.?Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH<br />Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Do your books have a teaching objective?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If so, what is it?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My Jewish books do teach about the holidays, but Jackie and Hank did not start out with a “teaching objective”. I wrote that book because I saw a really great story. However, like all good books it shows something about the way we lived, explains a segment of history, and teaches about strength of character.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">How do you come up with the names of places and characters in your books? </span></b></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Some of my books are in first person and are loosely based on me and my family<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.</b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Is your book illustrated?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If so, would you tell us by whom, and if you worked with an illustrator, can you discuss that experience?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My books are illustrated. Melanie Hall worked on most of my books. We never met although we did speak on the phone once or twice. Her pictures remind me of a Chagall window and I would love to work with her again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I have never met or spoken with Mark Elliot the illustrator for When Jackie and Hank Met, but I am also happy with his illustrations. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How is writing in the genre you write, different than other genre?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Although picture books seem like they are easy to write, they are not. I think it is harder to write a good picture book than a longer work.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Are there any problems in getting children’s’ books published?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It took me seven years to get my first book published, but I stuck with it. I was very lucky to have the support of a good writer’s group who cheered me on and wouldn’t let me give up.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why and when did you begin writing?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I began writing because I loved reading so much. The more I read, the more I felt that I, too, could write something worthy of being published.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What is your writing schedule?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When I was getting my Masters in Writing at Vermont College, I had a great writing schedule. I wrote every day for several hours. But since I have graduated, and started teaching at Georgia Military College, I do not have a schedule – although I do try to write for at least five minutes every day. And sometimes that means just thinking about writing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What kind of advice or tips to you have for someone who wants to write and get published?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Read as many “how to” books on writing as you can and attend some writer’s conferences. The more you read, the better your skills will be. Also you will make some good connections at the conferences.</span></div>
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What do you do when you are not writing? </span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I teach full time at Georgia Military College. I also teach Hebrew at my synagogue.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tell us where we can find out more about you and your books.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/author/cathygoldbergfishman"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">www.amazon.com/author/cathygoldbergfishman</span></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cathy Goldberg Fishman</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.cathygoldbergfishman.com/"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">www.cathygoldbergfishman.com</span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />Find me on Facebook:</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/CathyGoldbergFishman"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://www.facebook.com/CathyGoldbergFishman</span></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">**Note from Sylvia: <em>You can visit my other blog at: </em></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></em></a><em><span style="font-family: Cambria;">that features a preview to my new book, <b>Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>. Translates into 50 different languages.</span></em></div>
<br /></div>
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-10216536497661707792012-06-09T15:37:00.000-04:002012-06-09T19:09:55.334-04:00Texas Author, Jon Bridgewater, Writes Mysteries and Shares What is Going to be Released This Year<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitDWcCLYPmFk_9umeigncaz4RUES8gIgXAkZBCanvhK-UMldqxFr9LDjtjzGJN8hSJ2gbwlQObHJ7guAzvhAgxM84dmRUQIlHInWxNoAigpxFmL3j59Pn59m_qsLYiVOKYMIY3mWTErkU/s1600/Jbridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitDWcCLYPmFk_9umeigncaz4RUES8gIgXAkZBCanvhK-UMldqxFr9LDjtjzGJN8hSJ2gbwlQObHJ7guAzvhAgxM84dmRUQIlHInWxNoAigpxFmL3j59Pn59m_qsLYiVOKYMIY3mWTErkU/s320/Jbridge.jpg" width="188" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Originally from the Midwest I have lived in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Houston</st1:city></st1:place> the past thirty
some years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Started my career in sales
and worked my way to Vice President of Sales and Marketing for a domestic
manufacturer of electrical protection equipment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have always had a love for entertaining and
the telling of a good story and when a friend suggested I write a book I
considered his idea ludicrous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The more
I thought about it I decided to give it a try and after many a rewrite I
finally felt I had a story people would enjoy reading and I hope you do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tell
us about the genre of your work.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found if I
wrote what I read I was in my comfort zone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I love books, movies and television shows that keep you guessing who
done it until the very end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hate when
I can discover the killer and their plot half way through anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also
write westerns, I love the adventure of the old west.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Man pitted against man, (red and white) good
versus evil, man against nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I write
so the characters come to life, they have depth and even similar shortcoming to
us all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
did you choose this genre?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mysteries
hopefully to keep the reader interested and guessing until the end, then they
can look back and see the clues I left behind for them to find.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Westerns just out of a love for the west and
western lore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of my stories are based
on truths or the truth about what could happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Mysteries and westerns alike deal with men and women any of my readers
may know in a setting that either exist today or did exist in the past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
are some of your books, stories that have been published?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Charity
Kills”</i> is my first published book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is available on Amazon.com and local independent book retailers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ISBN:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>9780984914203. For more info, go to <a href="http://www.jonbridgewater.com/"><span style="color: blue;">www.jonbridgewater.com</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis5UrjAnv12jPqsUFODn-_Pnk5u0iwaciGL0xsYrgVObG4w1918yAW7zxhx4VHxsoNkATIf_Ni2GU3YhmqZt5FZH0AAtUFtNN8by5DZy14G_ONYG6cAXz7amDq0zoslau6VZW3G4aC72I/s1600/charity+kills+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis5UrjAnv12jPqsUFODn-_Pnk5u0iwaciGL0xsYrgVObG4w1918yAW7zxhx4VHxsoNkATIf_Ni2GU3YhmqZt5FZH0AAtUFtNN8by5DZy14G_ONYG6cAXz7amDq0zoslau6VZW3G4aC72I/s1600/charity+kills+cover.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Charity</i>”
as it has become known, is about a burned out homicide detective who was hand-picked
to make the murder of a young woman simply slip off into the waste land of
unsolved crimes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plagued by the memory
of the unsolved murder of his wife some years earlier Detective Storm pursues this
new girl’s killer as a hungry dog might go after a bone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the help of unlikely group of allies
his determination spurs him on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">After The
Storm</i>” due out in the fall of 2012 is a story about the effects of the
underworld element that migrated to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Houston</st1:city></st1:place>
after Katrina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crime skyrocketed as
citizens desperately sought help from their local police to curb the onslaught
of home invasions, murder and drug distribution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the Medical Examiner’s little brother is
killed Detective David Storm and his band of investigators find themselves in a
corrupt world much bigger than anything they had experienced before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The third and final installment of the David Storm
Mysteries has yet to receive a name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is culmination of the series that lead Detective Storm to answers he has been
looking for in the previous books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who
had his wife killed and why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To do this
he becomes involved in the largest operation in the south to stop Cartel
smuggling of illegal drugs into the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Demons of
Revenge</i>” is so my only attempt at writing a western.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is due out sometime in 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book set in pre-civil way <st1:place w:st="on">Texas</st1:place> follows the adventures of a young man of privilege
who comes to <st1:place w:st="on">Texas</st1:place> to live the adventure he
had so far only read about in dime story novels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is set against real places and a time
where your intuitions had to keep you alive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jammed packed with a variety of characters the story leads you through a
turbulent time in Texas History.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">How do you come up with the names of
places and characters in your books?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
places are real and if you read the book you could find any of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The names of many have been altered as not to
offend the real people who live and work there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Years ago I read a series of book written by David Lindsey and loved how
he wrote about <st1:place w:st="on">Houston</st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I began to write I felt many readers
would like to experience the same thing I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fittingly make <st1:place w:st="on">Houston</st1:place> a Character in
the book and know exactly where the action was fictionally taking place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The characters are a Heinz 57 of people I
know, none of the names are real and although those who have read “Charity”
have tried to guess who I fashioned my characters after and in each case have
always been wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as a writer is
fun the hear their suspicions.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">How did you develop the character of your
protagonist in this book?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">If
my ego allowed I would love to claim he is me, but that would so wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to have a hero with flaws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He general back story is one created
completely out of my imagination, but the character possesses many of the traits
I find admirable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story is as much
about his personal redemption as it is about solving the murder of a young
woman.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="text2"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">What about an antagonist…is there a unique “bad guy”
or a recurring nemesis of any kind?</span></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="text2"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">There is a antagonist,
a very cunning smart killer who takes advantage of all situations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In following books there will be other bad
guys but never the same one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It appears
I like to kill them off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The small group
of friends who have read “Charity” and my other stories have mentioned that I
have picked out a similar type of person as my “Bad Guy” and I had not really
noticed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I reexamined my work I
found they may be right but the “bad guys” fit the stories.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What’s
your favorite thing about your book?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
redemption of my protagonist, how by solving a case no one wants solved he
saves himself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How
is writing in the genre you write, different than other genre? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mysteries
require to you to think far ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
work on the twist and turns of the story to keep your reader involved with
characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mysteries need to keep the
reader guessing until the end but also needs to contain clues throughout the
story so when the reader does discover the “bad guy” they say to themselves
“Damn” I should have seen that coming, the writer gave me the clues to solve
this,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
and when did you begin writing?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A few years ago after being pushed by friends who
thought I would be good at it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found
it hard, very hard at first but no love it and the stories play in my head like
I am watching a movie of it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is your writing schedule?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I write almost everyday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some days everything works and it all falls
in place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other days nothing works and
when that happens I need to walk away get some distance and come back looking
at things with fresh eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It usually
this off time my brain finds the twist or place I want to go and bam I am back
on track.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What
projects are you working on now, or plan for the future?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I have just finished
writing the first draft of the third of the David Storm trilogy so now I go
back to work polishing it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a
second western running around in my head and the true story of my Grandfather’s
life pushing to be told next, but I think the western will prevail.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
kind of advice or tips to you have for someone who wants to write and get published?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When you have an idea for a good story write it
down, save it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you have a flash of
a great twist in your work, record it or again write it down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have even called from my car back home to
my answering machine and left myself a message of an idea I don’t want to
lose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The brilliant flash you have just
before you go to sleep may not be there in the morning so jet up write it down
or record it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next morning you may
read it or listen to it and it may be crap but you saved it, it may be the
lynch pin you were looking for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Publishing is another matter all together and would take more time and
space then I have to give it right now, but suffice it to say seek help when
get ready for that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are some very
wise people who have already gone through it and can save you a lot of time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Are
there any other comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning
writers?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Don’t give up if you really want to write,
write.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have your friends read what you
write all criticism is helpful, you may not agree but listen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Biggest thing I can tell a beginning writer
is to develop your character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give them
death for God’s sake make them more than two dimensional. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
do you do when you are not writing?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I volunteer with one of the largest charities in the
country and work with special needs children and adults.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love to fish and ride my Harley.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
“Made It” moments have you experienced in life? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXKVEa7QT3dteKRLVBnpU-cHjCO9VHsFNAgLfkDE1pbO-83m0fEigItBGa8o3w64Ec0f9GFRz4RSQ0HbyUzOAHf5aZAdmnXDcudgwUf6oIgVDV6ubHu3Q3fZAA9UiuwTY83_4MPdy_7_E/s1600/100_0115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXKVEa7QT3dteKRLVBnpU-cHjCO9VHsFNAgLfkDE1pbO-83m0fEigItBGa8o3w64Ec0f9GFRz4RSQ0HbyUzOAHf5aZAdmnXDcudgwUf6oIgVDV6ubHu3Q3fZAA9UiuwTY83_4MPdy_7_E/s320/100_0115.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not sure I
would call it a “Made It” moment but more of an “Aha” moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few years ago I was helping with horse show
where the riders were specials needs people and use riding as therapy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I met a young girl who has become very
important to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day while standing
in the arena with her while she won another magnificent belt buckle for her
effort, I asked if since she now had so many, she had five over three years, I
asked her to let me wear one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her reply
was direct and very clear as she told me “You got to earn it”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I finally grasp what she had just told
me I had to do something to earn things, they were not just going to come to me
because I wanted them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that I
worked harder and now my work is beginning to garner some attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note from
Sylvia: <em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">You can visit my other blog
at: </span></em></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></em></a><em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">that features a preview to my new book, <b>Traveling
a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></div>
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-80802759406340523492012-06-05T01:30:00.000-04:002012-06-05T01:30:04.507-04:00Insight into Author , Fred Ledley's book, Sputnik’s Child<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDa9QUiRJaN7oXmdlomxiMRr4xN60q0ZP_anKWT5slI8kev9FoUnKkXRoG_aq_eli_20lBG5sLZyTksTEH4RmAqXCd7mhUxqmDObsqIsj8JKZIlghyvX_XbNRvx-gn4lOjFNtQPWVtA0/s1600/headshot-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDa9QUiRJaN7oXmdlomxiMRr4xN60q0ZP_anKWT5slI8kev9FoUnKkXRoG_aq_eli_20lBG5sLZyTksTEH4RmAqXCd7mhUxqmDObsqIsj8JKZIlghyvX_XbNRvx-gn4lOjFNtQPWVtA0/s320/headshot-1.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fred Ledley is an accomplished physician, scientist, entrepreneur,
and member of the baby boomer generation. He has written extensively on topics
ranging from biology and medicine to philosophy, ethics, education, and the
sense of wonder. In his first novel, Sputnik’s Child, Ledley provides a human
perspective on the ideas that influenced his generation and the faith that will
inform the future. He is a Professor in the Department of Natural and Applied
Sciences at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts where he teaches
courses in human biology, management, and futurism.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Relevant bio:</span></b><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My medical school education and training pediatrics was the most
formative experience of my life. I was very moved by the experience of caring
for children and their families; listening as they struggled with issues of
medicine and morals, fear and faith, love and limits; sharing both the
exuberance of hope and healing and the tragedy of disability and death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These emotions have never left me. In my
scientific career, I studied the genetics of disease and how inherited diseases
might be treated and watched very basic science mature to the point that we can
often (not always) help people we weren’t able to help before. Now, I study and
teach ways to more efficiently translate scientific discoveries to help people.
In writing Sputnik’s Child, I tried to understand the persistent hope – often a
perfect faith - that “untreatable” diseases might, in fact, be treated. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tell us about the genre of your
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sputnik’s Child is a very personal story about a child of the baby
boom, her search for identity, her success, and her crisis of faith. It is also
the history of her generation, which weaves together the events in Jackie’s
lives and those of her friends with the social currents of the Age of Aquarius,
a decade of malaise, the “me” decade, and an age of irrational exuberance. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The story is in some respects an allegory for the baby boom
generation. Jackie was born the day Sputnik was launched in 1957, the year that
was the height of the baby boom. The enormous demographic disruption of the
baby boom would reshape American society, and events put in motion in the
aftermath of Sputnik, would profoundly shape our future. In the months after
Sputnik, our nation would organize NASA, which would eventually lead to men
landing on the Moon. Congress also authorized the Advanced Research Projects Administration
(ARPA), which would lead to the invention of modern computers, the internet,
and modern biotechnology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even more
important, perhaps, was the National Defense Education Act (NDEA), which
revolutionized the nature of education itself to emphasize abstract concepts
and inquiry over memorization and pedantic problem solving. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jackie
was a child of this age. She was schooled in the new math. She was exposed to
pictures of the world brought into her living room via communication satellites
and was inspired by the race to the Moon. Nothing else was nearly as exciting.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It is an allegory that also includes the emergence of an age of
technology, a decade of irrational exuberance, and the seeds of the existential
crises of the past decade – the reemergence of terrorism, 9/11, the Great
Recession, and questions about our future. The novel ends:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“A generation had passed. Katie was now the
age Jackie had been when Apollo 11 landed on the Sea of Tranquility. Jackie
wondered whether Katie, or any of her generation, believed they would fly to
the Moon or to Mars.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Why did you choose this genre?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I thought about writing an essay about how the ideas of the baby
boom generation were shaped by events, but it seemed like that genre would fundamentally
miss the point; namely the intensely personal nature of how young people
formulate their ideas, their identity, and their faith, and how people respond
when their ideas and their faith is threatened.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How is writing in the genre you write,
different than other genre?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This book is certainly not a pure form of any genre. It is really
inspired by the work of writers like Leon Uris, James Michener, and Herman Wouk
who were created characters that came to life amidst the narrative of history. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Can you tell us more about your book?</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Title:
Sputnik’s Child</span></span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1bqhy8JbklgWda-oNNNSAoc61DqVIEjN4XKZtPav12cYZRN3Yv9jg4DvS6-NsYGDKhSuIcFKYfaVbkbSF8VJ4fPoIeMpku1ezkDjmfMd43N13qGA6koVdYsh0Qxd8GDNSiY_nm-0_Il8/s1600/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1bqhy8JbklgWda-oNNNSAoc61DqVIEjN4XKZtPav12cYZRN3Yv9jg4DvS6-NsYGDKhSuIcFKYfaVbkbSF8VJ4fPoIeMpku1ezkDjmfMd43N13qGA6koVdYsh0Qxd8GDNSiY_nm-0_Il8/s1600/cover.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">ISBN:
978-1453653</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Availability:
Published though CreateSpace. Available through most online retailers including
Amazon and Smashwords and by request at bookstores.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Website:
</span></span><a href="http://www.sputnikschild.com/"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">www.sputnikschild.com</span></span></a><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Jackie is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sputnik</i>’s
Child, born on October 4, 1957, the day that a human satellite first escaped
the gravity of Earth for the heavens. This is her story, and a history of the
baby boom generation, forged in an Age of Aquarius, which found faith in the
promise of technologies powerful enough to transport men to the Moon and
picture the Earth as it might appear to God. Jackie and her friends come of age
amidst the turbulence of the 1960s, frightened by race riots, civil defense
drills, terrorism, and the Vietnam War. They find ideas that will guide them
through adulthood in the civil rights movement, the spirit of Woodstock, family
traditions, and the conquest of space. For Jackie, the image of astronauts
orbiting and walking on the Moon gives her confidence that the frightful
problems on Earth can be solved. As her faith and friendships mature through an
era of social malaise, the “Me” Decade, and a time of irrational exuberance,
she achieves personal and professional success communicating the promise of the
emerging age of technology. But when her daughter is diagnosed with a disease
that has no known cause or cure, Jackie is confronted with a crisis of faith.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Where do you get your ideas for writing?</span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I love watching people. One of the best things about medical
school was that it really taught me how to see things about people, how to
listen, and how to tease out what people might not be able to tell you; what
matters to them, what motivates them, what hurts, and what they need.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What is your favorite thing about your
book?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m in love with all my characters; they have become my friends!<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Why and when did you begin writing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there any one person who had a big
influence on you or encouraged you to write?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have been writing since childhood. My parents still have my
first “book,” which I “wrote” before I even understood reading or writing words
– just pages and pages of random letters and numbers. My father was writing
textbooks at the time, and my parents tell the story that I would sit in his
study and imitate him. After college, my writing came became more focused on
technical writing and occasional essays in the professional literature of science.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My father was a big influence on my writing. He very much wanted
me to go to medical school, but when I was in college, I was much more
interested in writing poetry and plays – my undergraduate thesis was a
play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day, he brought home a book of
William Carlos William’s poetry for me, and said (something like) “we love your
writing, but would you do something to earn a living also.” Of course, William
Carlos Williams was one of the foremost American poets of the last century, and
also a practicing physician his whole life. Even as an adolescent, I couldn’t
find fault with his support and his logic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don’t remember anyone actually teaching me how to write, but theater
courses in college were a big influence. I loved Pirandello’s <u>Six Characters
in Search of an Author</u> and the idea that the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The drama is in us, and we are the drama.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2343251867901035948#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[1]</span></span></b></span></span></span></a>”</i>
As a student, we also worked with experimental theater troupes that would
create plays without employing an author, simply by exploring the interactions among
the company of characters. At some point, I learned that fiction is all about
recognizing characters – I feel like I recognize my characters, rather than
create them – who have intrinsic depth and motivations, and then putting them
in motion so that they can tell me the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I really feel like Jackie and her friends told me the story of their
lives, not the other way around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What projects are you working on now, or plan for
the future?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are so many things I would like to write. I have been
working on a novel that will explore human cloning; not science fiction – I’m
not terribly fond of science fiction - but rather a personal story that explores
what comprises an individual and a soul if another being is crafted to be
identical. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In a radio interview several weeks ago, and the host said that he
really wanted to know more about another character in Sputnik’s Child –
Jackie’s childhood friend Danny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
suggested that I write a parallel novel that would focus on his experiences. Each
of the characters in the book adopts different ideas that guide them to
adulthood; for Jackie, it was her faith in science and technology; for Danny, a
commitment to social justice; for Ruben, it was radicalism and a
Woodstock-inspired search for Nirvana; for Rachel, it was the ideal of family;
for Steve, his religious faith. I am intrigued with the idea of writing a series
– Sputnik’s Children – that would tell each of these distinct, intersecting,
stories.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What kind of advice or tips to you
have for someone who wants to write and be published?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think the important thing is to have something to say that may
make a difference in the life of a reader. This basic idea gets lost; too many
mass market books are simply about sales; too many independent books reflect self-absorption.
A published book needs to talk to the reader.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> To give you more of the flavor of the play, consider
this dialogue: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">The Father.</span></b><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> No
sir, no. We act that rôle for which we have been cast, that rôle which we are
given in life. And in my own case, passion itself, as usually happens, becomes
a trifle theatrical when it is exalted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">The Manager</span></b><span style="font-size: 9pt;">.
Well, well, that will do. But you see, without an author . . . I could give you
the address of an author if you like . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">The Father.</span></b><span style="font-size: 9pt;">
No, no. Look here! You must be the author.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">The Manager.</span></b><span style="font-size: 9pt;">
I? What are you talking about?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">The Father</span></b><span style="font-size: 9pt;">.
Yes, you, you! Why not?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">The Manager</span></b><span style="font-size: 9pt;">.
Because I have never been an author: that's why.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">The Father.</span></b><span style="font-size: 9pt;">
Then why not turn author now? Everybody does it. You don't want any special
qualities. Your task is made much easier by the fact that we are all here alive
before you . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What do you do when you are not
writing?</span></b></div>
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDeCmkMKpTuav4YAR-oKcXOuiwwP22Ibo3_PvRuQladpJI8fn8weG0siTjWuVxjEGJO_kaPQxcjpCGRiMJEXWVDflf6J1PKUAuH1epAFYDZGKqgK6eyh2g7cdlMNOV3IeMBHlCssapyoA/s1600/IMG_35821-150x150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDeCmkMKpTuav4YAR-oKcXOuiwwP22Ibo3_PvRuQladpJI8fn8weG0siTjWuVxjEGJO_kaPQxcjpCGRiMJEXWVDflf6J1PKUAuH1epAFYDZGKqgK6eyh2g7cdlMNOV3IeMBHlCssapyoA/s1600/IMG_35821-150x150.jpg" /></a><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In my day job, I am a Professor at Bentley University where I
teach biology, management, and a course in futurism and lead a research program
looking at ways to advance the translation of scientific discoveries for public
benefit. I am also very involved in music, and play clarinet in Shpilkes
Klezmer Band. </span></span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/shpilkes"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">www.myspace.com/shpilkes</span></span></a>
</div>
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p>
</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p></o:p><span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note from
Sylvia: <em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">You can visit my other blog
at: </span></em></span></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></em></a><em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">that features a preview to my new book, <b>Traveling
a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
</div>
</div>
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-65862056725600227892012-06-02T01:30:00.000-04:002012-06-02T01:30:05.302-04:00A Showcase for International Book Awards Author, Rosalie Marsh<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsFZqYvA-nBapBt7aox1DZtbSDmxsJZwuYOK572Z8KA3yo2005sAW5Nr1bpducohVSE2JV6huCTzZT7DFVJ_xUbZAxm3lQrwO22nC9aKfTDAlfDrxsPHBwkvYXpPjCs3BQAtxtW5bmYPA/s1600/LBF2010+cropped+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsFZqYvA-nBapBt7aox1DZtbSDmxsJZwuYOK572Z8KA3yo2005sAW5Nr1bpducohVSE2JV6huCTzZT7DFVJ_xUbZAxm3lQrwO22nC9aKfTDAlfDrxsPHBwkvYXpPjCs3BQAtxtW5bmYPA/s320/LBF2010+cropped+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="TOC2Char"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Rosalie Marsh is an award-winning
author, Speaker, Learning & Development Consultant, Grandmother, Blogger,
Marketer, Educator, Website Editor. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Born
in Lancashire, England, Rosalie settled in North Wales with her husband and
growing family. Rosalie followed a varied career in banking, sales management
and adult education; combining<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>travel
across the UK in work-based learning in a variety of roles with continuing
professional development activities – before ‘retiring’ to concentrate on
writing. Always a dreamer, Rosalie had long wanted to write a book having
various storyline popping up amid the ‘pots and pans’ and hurly burly of
life.Her writing evolved through undertaking various development opportunities
and academic studies in later life – achieving a BA(Hons) Professional Studies
in Education degree from the Manchester Metropolitan University. Rosalie has
also written and collaborated on various learning and marketing projects and
contributed to on-line magazines. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tell
us about the genre of your work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnKImnf9VPFpNMYTjFY1KJLWkdiiwN5x7_KnFz8TItu2KjibfNNLBzDWFz40oVD_DuPwcTdQrDfyfp2hUMf1R0TjY6IG5_6QcMOl34x5o18xEJG7Hn0S4KdK16g5jCBsHSrK-XDbQc_44/s1600/Nerja+&+Ronda.+Spain+re-sized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnKImnf9VPFpNMYTjFY1KJLWkdiiwN5x7_KnFz8TItu2KjibfNNLBzDWFz40oVD_DuPwcTdQrDfyfp2hUMf1R0TjY6IG5_6QcMOl34x5o18xEJG7Hn0S4KdK16g5jCBsHSrK-XDbQc_44/s320/Nerja+&+Ronda.+Spain+re-sized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="TOC2Char"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Just Us Two travel writing series</i> is
based on biographical travel experiences which started when a middle-aged
couple, after a number of years bikeless, became born-again bikers when they
bought a Honda GoldWing 1500cc touring motorbike and set off to discover
Europe. On the way , through many profound emotional experiences, they
discovered much about themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="TOC2Char"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">With a continuing heavy
focus on skills levels in the UK, the concept of Lifelong Learning, although
not a new one, is gathering pace. With this in mind and concsious that many do
not have formal training opportunities, Rosalie<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>has written a series on non-threatening,easy-to-read books which will
guide the reader through the minefield of personal effectiveness in general and
their career, enabling the reader to realise their potential and enhance the
success of their organisation. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
did you choose this genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Just
Us Two</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
During our first Gold Wing experience when we found long-lost family on the far
west coast of Ireland in Co.Mayo, I wrote down our profound emotional
discoveries and, after showing it to my mother ( who had never met her family
there) I put it away in a drawer where it lay for ten years.After our lives
turned upside down and we re-built our shattered lives, I realised that this,
and the feature articles I had written formed an inspiring story of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>overcoming obstacles and a realisation of
dreams.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Lifelong
Learning:Personal Effectiveness Guides</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">:
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Following
the publication of <em>Just Us Two</em> and the problems associated with e-book
conversion, I realised that I had the skills to complete the whole process
myself and set up our own publishing imprint. At this time I attended a lecture
which related to Lifelong Learning and the recent Wolf Report on standards. I
researched Lifelong Learning for the dissertation for my degree.The Wolf
report brought this up to date. I had extensive skills and experience which I
still wanted to use to benefit others – many who cannot attend formal training
courses – and decided to use my research paper as the springboard of a new
series.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How
is writing in the genre you write, different than other genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Both genres I write draw from personal experiences
but packaged into 1) a true story and 2) a more factual account to enable the
reader to grow and develop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
are some of your books, stories that have been published? Where can we find
them?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Just
Us Two:Ned and Rosie’s Gold Wing Discovery </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">ISBN
978-1-4389-2936-1 Author House. Available worldwide in print and e-book formats
for most readers.(Kindle,E-Pub,Adobe.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Just-Us-Two-Discovery-ebook/dp/B004HW6D80/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1330704428&sr=8-5"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon.com.</span></a>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Just-Us-Two-Rosies-Discovery/dp/1438929366/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330705136&sr=8-1"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon.co.uk</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/rosalie-marsh?keyword=rosalie+marsh&store=allproducts"><span style="color: blue;">Barnes
and Noble</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWtkItUf6t21Zps5RxUkmw7fPa3h0_Z8MV0w-UKUK4W3VfzU7LKvwK68mPOnOIXZr3Eu5elz60yi2cR2phZBscUt7wwmCKK-d3dIVrwebOxEdO8jPO0QsEYEo255tav1rfdU_wIfYZcBg/s1600/cover-5-+IBAWinner+seal+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWtkItUf6t21Zps5RxUkmw7fPa3h0_Z8MV0w-UKUK4W3VfzU7LKvwK68mPOnOIXZr3Eu5elz60yi2cR2phZBscUt7wwmCKK-d3dIVrwebOxEdO8jPO0QsEYEo255tav1rfdU_wIfYZcBg/s320/cover-5-+IBAWinner+seal+copy.jpg" width="233" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Just us Two: Ned and Rosie's Gold
Wing Discovery A Mid-Life crisis? A hankering for 'lost youth'? Pushing back
the horizons?. Whatever! </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Just Us Two is an exhilarating romp
through ten happy years of discovery, adventure, and fun! Ned, in middle age
wanted a little bike to tinker with. Rosie discovered a majestic Gold Wing
motorbike and swopped well-groomed hair and high heels for a crash helmet and
biker’s boots. Share their thrills and spills as they discover long lost family
in Ireland before jaunting around Europe to follow Rosie’s dreams . . .
travelling on their own, ‘Just Us Two’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The adventures start when Ned
wanted something to tinker with after a number of years bike-less. Rosie
pleaded: "If we buy a scooter will you travel? Will you brave the ferry?
Will you? Can we? ... " and bought a Honda 1100cc. Fate took a hand though
as Rosie discovered a Honda Gold Wing 1500cc motorbike by chance. Ned thought
he had died and gone to heaven and they sailed off to the west coast of Ireland
two weeks later on what was to be a profound emotional journey as they
discovered Rosie's long-lost family.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">Join Ned and Rosie as they go: coast to coast in
France and Spain; follow the Champagne Route; ride in the intense heat into the
Dolomites Just Us Two - tale of discovery and adventure;a tale of courage and
triumph over adversity as, following illness, they made mental and practical
adaptations in order to continue to do what they could while they
could..."</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Reading experience is enhanced with photographs,
detailed routes and practicalities of touring.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">**Second
edition (new jacket and format) ISBN 978-1-908302-12-0 to be published May 1st
2012. Christal Publishing and will be available worldwide in print and e-book
formats for most readers. </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Just-Us-Two-Rosies-Discovery/dp/1908302127/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1330704428&sr=8-10"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon.com</span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Chasing Rainbows:with Just Us Two</span></i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> ISBN 978-1-908302-00-7 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May 1st 2011 Christal Publishing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Available worldwide in print and e-book formats for
most readers.(Kindle,E-Pub,Adobe.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Rainbows-Just-Us-Two/dp/1908302003/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330704428&sr=8-1"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon.com.</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Just-Us-Two-Rosies-Discovery/dp/1438929366/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330705136&sr=8-1"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon.co.uk</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/rosalie-marsh?keyword=rosalie+marsh&store=allproducts"><span style="color: blue;">Barnes
and Noble</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLM0WYwGNrUIeCFsOq_FQAXZPIHM0jxFLWLnmsG7oo8o5ASTcI0gpDFHRwtfB2MGBDx4DRa2B28w02GtUV01EK5SrmqhG8IYWDyb2c2KWrp89MD1wfCWA8MHgHK9gJWJJnpSX-TjVQV5w/s1600/chasing+rainbows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLM0WYwGNrUIeCFsOq_FQAXZPIHM0jxFLWLnmsG7oo8o5ASTcI0gpDFHRwtfB2MGBDx4DRa2B28w02GtUV01EK5SrmqhG8IYWDyb2c2KWrp89MD1wfCWA8MHgHK9gJWJJnpSX-TjVQV5w/s1600/chasing+rainbows.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Chasing Rainbows is the second in
the Just Us Two series by Rosalie Marsh and the real end to Rosie's Gold Wing
story. A peep into Rosie's life as,with tongue-in-cheek humour,she pokes fun at
herself while she conducts a love-hate relationship with a hidden controller.
You know boys and their toys? Rosie pleads for maps as they return to Ireland
across Cavan,Sligo,Galway,beautiful Westport and Ballycroy in County Mayo which
Rosalie describes evocativally and with feeling. The fun then really started
when the phone rang and another trip was on the horizon. Rosie with her usual
'let's go' stuck pins into maps which almost became redundant... Chasing
Rainbows includes detailed routes and photographs to guide you as 'Just Us Two'
return to awe-inspiring Andorran mountains to meet with Gold Wing friends;
explore the majestic French Alps and Spanish Pyrénées; retrace their steps
through the notoriously challenging Pas de la Casa, Têt Valley and Central
Massif, north to Versailles where Rosie has another adventure planned. Chasing
Rainbows (also available as an e-book) is the sequel to Just Us Two: Ned and
Rosie's Gold Wing Discovery published in 2009 as soft cover and e-book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Lifelong Learning: A View from the Coal Face</span></i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> ISBN 978-1-908302-04-5<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>September 1st 2012 Christal Publishing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Available worldwide in print and e-book formats for
most readers.(Kindle,E-Pub,Adobe.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lifelong-Learning-Personal-Effectiveness-Guides/dp/1908302046/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1330704428&sr=8-8"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon.com.</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lifelong-Learning-Personal-Effectiveness-Guides/dp/1908302046/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1330705136&sr=8-9"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon.co.uk</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/rosalie-marsh?keyword=rosalie+marsh&store=allproducts"><span style="color: blue;">Barnes
and Noble</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsWp56-JzRpOzkVDRWLXqO8DlSsL8o3fbrzP0ZHUkFF_mfchkWtP8qmwNw_y6T6lb5SBzQR3DARsTMwFBzb_sxfjSvl0V-5Fwkzuz1vRctvC98OelAicmHgHd3OzwzU81VLcinQiGCpFw/s1600/9781908302045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsWp56-JzRpOzkVDRWLXqO8DlSsL8o3fbrzP0ZHUkFF_mfchkWtP8qmwNw_y6T6lb5SBzQR3DARsTMwFBzb_sxfjSvl0V-5Fwkzuz1vRctvC98OelAicmHgHd3OzwzU81VLcinQiGCpFw/s320/9781908302045.jpg" width="219" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Reflecting on where we are now, Marsh re-visits
extensive research previously undertaken. She examines various issues and
initiatives when there was a new focus on Work-Based Learning - still relevant
in 2011.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This new direction
in learning was in an effort to raise standards,improve skills and meeting
national targets in education and training to increase the prosperity of the
nation. The author examines various issues and new initiatives of the day and
reflects on where we are now. This is the first in the new Lifelong
Learning:Personal Effectiveness series by Rosalie Marsh which draws from her
extensive skills & experience in sales management in industry and
work-based learning in further education;they seek to enable readers to become
more effective and confident as they develop themselves throughout their lives
and careers towards a successful future. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Aimed at the Home
Learner . </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The author looks at the
wider issues of Learning;Opportunity;Access; Professional and Personal
Development.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Release Your Potential:Making Sense of Personal and
Professional Development</span></i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">. ISBN
978-1-908302-08-3 September 1st 2012 Christal Publishing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Release-Your-Potential-Professional-Effectiveness/dp/1908302089/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1330704428&sr=8-6"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon.com.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lifelong-Learning-Personal-Effectiveness-Guides/dp/1908302046/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1330705136&sr=8-9"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon.co.uk</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/rosalie-marsh?keyword=rosalie+marsh&store=allproducts"><span style="color: blue;">Barnes
and Noble</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI1AvjNiZ1w3rODeMBHZyB9G9HRbjxrK6U8eOebQHKiFyXCX0EWrcVW7bkDBJZHvSxD2eG_ZrRA4mQTBnPMmk9W8sKDSX4mlyuX5ReEolhoDr7H0nG6z_bnWU4ntKJsSAVV3kJPy2dwJA/s1600/9781908302083.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI1AvjNiZ1w3rODeMBHZyB9G9HRbjxrK6U8eOebQHKiFyXCX0EWrcVW7bkDBJZHvSxD2eG_ZrRA4mQTBnPMmk9W8sKDSX4mlyuX5ReEolhoDr7H0nG6z_bnWU4ntKJsSAVV3kJPy2dwJA/s320/9781908302083.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">A</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
user-friendly support material for learners of all ages with a wide range of abilities.Marsh
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">helps you to i</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">dentify and focus on your goals and development
needs in order to improve; identify your learning styles; manage your time and
stress;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>guides you to construct <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and maintain Personal Development Records and
a Personal Development Portfolio. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This is the second of the new
Lifelong Learning: Personal Effectiveness Guides by Rosalie Marsh which draws
from her extensive skills & industrial experience in sales management and
work-based learning in adult and further education; Who is this book for? Aimed
at the Home Learner and designed to read in bite-sized chunks Someone who is
unable to attend formal courses To fill gaps in underpinning knowledge and
skills needed to 'get on in life'. Designed as a user-friendly support material
for learners of all ages with a wide range of abilities They are designed as a
user-friendly support material for learners of all ages with a wide range of
abilities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="NormalBoldChar"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Tell us more about your books?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">**Just
Us Two:Ned and Rosie’s Gold Wing Discovery Second edition (new jacket and
format) </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">ISBN 978-1-908302-12-0 to be published May 1st 2012.
Christal Publishing and will be available worldwide in print and e-book formats
for most readers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Just-Us-Two-Rosies-Discovery/dp/1908302127/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1330704428&sr=8-10"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon.com</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Just-Us-Two-Rosies-Discovery/dp/1908302127/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1330705136&sr=8-10"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon.co.uk</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/rosalie-marsh?keyword=rosalie+marsh&store=allproducts"><span style="color: blue;">Barnes
and Noble</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglPdzJ7MR4_DNrN9vD6qQefdsF0KEYDSd8k1xVzm_zZtZGhVlMXSvDeydNg4kfclAYroGZupkUNa3Dp8owrt69Yx7YUuhovNzDnrX6YKUcTQbjKfszaeveeCTrUft_Etq7Jh8zcjUKJHI/s1600/Just+the+two+paperback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglPdzJ7MR4_DNrN9vD6qQefdsF0KEYDSd8k1xVzm_zZtZGhVlMXSvDeydNg4kfclAYroGZupkUNa3Dp8owrt69Yx7YUuhovNzDnrX6YKUcTQbjKfszaeveeCTrUft_Etq7Jh8zcjUKJHI/s1600/Just+the+two+paperback.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This first in the Just Us Two travel series(first
edition published in 2009) was a Winner in 2010 International Book Awards
(Travel: Recreational) and Finalist in the USA Book News 2009 Best Book Awards
in the same category. This second edition has a new jacket and extra
photographs. He wanted a little bike to tinker with ...She had well-groomed
hair and wore high heels! Not just for bikers but for travellers and dreamers
alike. Award-winning Just Us Two-Ned and Rosie's Gold Wing Discovery is an
exhilarating romp through ten happy Gold Wing years of discovery and adventure
and fun as a quiet middle-aged couple, who had never crossed the water to tour
before, journey into the unknown into far flung corners of Western Europe with
only each other to rely on. It is also a tale of courage and triumph over
adversity as, following illness when it appeared that the freedom of biking
days was over, they made mental and practical adaptations in order to continue
what they could while they could and then they would not say 'if only ...'<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">S<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kills for
Employability Part One :Pre - Employment. </i>ISBN 978-1-908302-16-8<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May 17th 2012 Christal Publishing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Skills-Employability-Pre-Employment-Lifelong-Effectiveness/dp/190830216X/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1330704428&sr=8-11"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon.com.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lifelong-Learning-Personal-Effectiveness-Guides/dp/1908302046/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1330705136&sr=8-9"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon.co.uk</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/rosalie-marsh?keyword=rosalie+marsh&store=allproducts"><span style="color: blue;">Barnes
and Noble</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ_rY8YFooezzFr7V8for4kpgikUyn5vLlAbRWwUw3mO8uILMDSZfA7zrFbSnJBF9bnNLPtj532mhWImuxlkQP3_owcifL2lcfo74dvReV2hiv4uE8rCFlvTgFSW00GRFmtsyS1Flxvmo/s1600/9781908302168.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ_rY8YFooezzFr7V8for4kpgikUyn5vLlAbRWwUw3mO8uILMDSZfA7zrFbSnJBF9bnNLPtj532mhWImuxlkQP3_owcifL2lcfo74dvReV2hiv4uE8rCFlvTgFSW00GRFmtsyS1Flxvmo/s320/9781908302168.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
<div class="Firstparanoindent" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This is the third of the new Lifelong Learning:
Personal Effectiveness Guides by Rosalie Marsh, which draw from her extensive
skills & industrial experience in sales management and work-based learning
in adult and further education. It is a step in the personal and professional
development journey where development of the whole person is at the heart of
Rosalie's ethos. In two parts, Skills for Employability - designed to read in
bite-sized chunks - will<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>focus on some
of the skills needed in order to impress an employer, stand out from<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the rest, become employed, and enhance your
future. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Firstparanoindent" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="NormalBoldChar"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Part One</strong></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
looks at the pre- employment skills needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Firstparanoindent" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="NormalBoldChar"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Part Two: Moving
into Employment</strong></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> (Nov.2012) will look at what you need
to know when you are in the world of work. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Firstparanoindent" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Each chapter details the learning outcomes and
relevance to other<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>qualifications such
as Functional Skills. Through short practical activities, you<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>will be able to see how far you have'
travelled' in gaining knowledge and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Firstparanoindent" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Part One: Pre-employment looks at those skills for
the future, which include: preparing for work, job applications and a
successful interview, working effectively in the workplace, ICT skills in the
workplace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Where
do you get your ideas for writing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">From life experiences.
Whenever I have come across something like office politics – especially in my
direct and retail sales days – I have had a strong storyline running through my
head. All these impressions are still in the melting pot for the future as I
complete my current projects which hopefully will inspire others to push back
personal and professional boundaries to develop their ‘whole’ selves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is your favorite thing about your book?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Just Us Two books: Our memories are there forever.
Reflections on what we achieved and the wonderful life-changing experiences we
had.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Lifelong Learning personal Effectiveness Guides:
Reaching out to people who can’t or won’t attend formal training courses. They
can be picked up and put down and be read in bite-sized chunks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Satisfaction that all books are in formats to
everyone a choice of the reading medium.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="NormalBoldChar"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Why and when did you begin writing?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I wrote [manual]procedures manuals<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>when I went back into work. Started to write
seriously for assignments when I undertook management qualifications. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="NormalBoldChar"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there any one person who
had a big influence on you or encouraged you to write?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My husband. <span class="NormalBoldChar"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="NormalBoldChar"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><strong>What is your writing schedule?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What atmosphere do you need to write? <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I now plan in my writing time and focus in quite
long chunks until I have ‘got it all out of my head’. I need to be quiet and
people to forget I am here. My study is decorated in a relaxing pale green and
cream paper with light oak furniture. I have a comfortable chair. My husband is
good at fielding calls if I have a deadline to meet. Also another very good place
is in the kitchen otherwise<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we would all
starve!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="NormalBoldChar"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><strong>What projects are you working on now, or plan for the future?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I have <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Skills
for Employability Part Two: Moving into Employment</i> scheduled for November
2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the future I am also working
on The Long Leg of Italy which starts when we first went to Italy for our
Silver Wedding, then 30th, takes in some of our journey to northern Italy on the
Gold Wing and our forthcoming trip to the Italian Lakes and Dolomites in June,
includes our recent Southern Italy trip and concludes with our journey back to
Sicily. Island Interludes will bring together and expand on newsletter articles
written, covering the Azores,Maderia,Canary Islands, Sicily, Malta, Cyprus. I
plan to bring them out together as<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the
link is Sicily.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="NormalBoldChar"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><strong>What kind of advice or tips do you have for someone who wants to write
and be published?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Go for it! Research your market, read and research
the writing and publishing world all you can and realise that there are many
routes to publication. Embrace new technologies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="NormalBoldChar"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Are there any other comments, advice or tips that you would give to
beginning writers?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Writing is an emotional experience
and a learning curve in itself. However the hardest part is keeping a focus on
marketing opportunities. For me, this has been another steep curve on my
lifelong learning journey as I have developed my website, blog and social
networking platforms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Plan in your writing time. Like
learning opportunities, it doesn’t just happen. It is very hard to make family
and friends understand that writing is not something you can pick up and put
down when they make demands on you. They have to respect what you are doing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
do you do when you are not writing? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Marketing, Blogging, Read on-line articles from
social media links. Social/Networking activities. Plan and dream of more
travel! Gardening when I have the time. Photo-editing and video-editing films
of travel journeys. Publishing activities for Christal Publishing. Eating out.
GoldWing Owner’s Glub of Great Britain meetings ( I am not now the Regional
Rep<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and the region is fairly inactive.
Some activities pre 2010 on www.northwaleswings.co.uk) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="NormalBoldChar"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><strong>What “Made It” moments have you experienced in life?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Winning the 2010 International Book Awards (Travel: Recreational
category).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Having three re-formatted and converted manuscripts
accepted for the Apple and Sony e-book stores. This had been a hurdle as they
have very specific requirements over and above other E-Pub and Adobe Digital
Editions retailers and Kindle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<strong><span class="NormalBoldChar"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Reviews: What readers say about Just Us Two: Ned and Rosie’s Gold Wing
Discovery</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmOY7UgyZIntQB7jNRIdlc8gg1TrtbNFUZWV_Ey23_Gs1gJdie8VJCR3U74EYqWysQISztibx-kdpfQ5R4LIuR6Z9zNA8c7Se7OeztbcUW68bWipO9Z4xGlMG2H2YS_iMAsZzLmA036e4/s1600/Bike+Solo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmOY7UgyZIntQB7jNRIdlc8gg1TrtbNFUZWV_Ey23_Gs1gJdie8VJCR3U74EYqWysQISztibx-kdpfQ5R4LIuR6Z9zNA8c7Se7OeztbcUW68bWipO9Z4xGlMG2H2YS_iMAsZzLmA036e4/s320/Bike+Solo.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;">“</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Inspiration for us all to motorcycle
touring overseas</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;">”<br />
Editor Motorbike Search Engine<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>on<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Just Us Two </i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">http://motorbike-search-engine.co.uk/motorcycle-product-reviews.php</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;">.<br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">‘Not
just for bikers!’ ‘Rosalie's passion for travel, adventure, and living life to
the full comes across so beautifully in her narrative and her book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Just Us Two</i> which I highly recommend.
Rosalie's thirst for knowledge and personal development has driven her to write
and share her wonderful experiences – a true inspiration to me and I believe to
anyone who aspires to live life without "if onlys”. . .’<br />
Chrisoula Sirigou, ExploramaEU [LinkedIn]<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br />
</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />
</i></span><span style="background: white;">Rosalie's description of the
countryside made me feel I was on the motorbike, wind blowing through my hair
and sun on my face. A book I will read again, and maybe again.</span><span class="apple-style-span"> </span><span class="apple-converted-space">Jean Mead, Author,
on<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Just Us Two</i>’ [Amazon review]<br />
<br />
“A celebration of life.” Paul. CalonFM<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on
Just Us Two</i><br />
<br />
“A gifted author who can bring her travels books alive. She has a wonderful
sense of the ridiculous and her style as a raconteur means that the reader
feels she is talking personally.”<br />
Judith Sharman. Well-Tree-Learning<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.
</i></span><span class="NormalBoldChar"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="NormalBoldChar"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Dreams Do Come True</strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
I have read this book and totally get it. Thoroughly enjoyed it and found it
completely absorbing.<br />
Helen Appleby Lancashire</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> [Amazon review]</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“A great read that will
make you smile.” Editor, Trike Magazine on<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
Just Us Two<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My wife June and I
have just returned having spent the weekend in Menorca. My reading material was
your lovely book. I really enjoyed reading it and it brought to life places we
visited on our Wing in 2007. Thanks for taking the time to put this all
together. I finished reading your book on our return flight today high above
the Pyranees. I have to say I found the ending a little touching and I had to
look out of the window as I suddenly got something in my eye. Can’t wait to see
the video. All the best and Thanks again for sharing. Paul Mann Leeds [Amazon
review]</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><strong> </strong></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="left" class="NormalBold" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>What readers say
about Chasing Rainbows.</strong></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="left" class="Normalcentre" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Another great book by Rosalie Marsh that should
not be missed.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">Most enjoyable mystery tour that anyone could
take from the comfort of their sofas.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">The flow of words employed to narrate it, is in
itself most refreshing making this tour a relaxing adventure not to be missed.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">A family book that should appeal to everyone. </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Joseph
Abela, Author, on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chasing Rainbows</i>
[Amazon review].<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div align="left" class="Normalcentre" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This well written book is both funny and
informative. As a map lover myself I found the map verses sat. nav. theme
running throughout the book very amusing. For anyonyone planning on undertaking
such a journey, it is an excellent travelogue with plenty of useful tips. For
those who were not thinking of venturing down that road, I guarantee that by
the end of the book, you will be yearning to do so. A great follow up to Just
Us Two. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Amazon
reader, on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chasing Rainbows.</i>[Amazon
review]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="NormalBoldChar"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Recommendations for
Rosalie re: Lifelong Learning- personal Effectiveness<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guides<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"A
highly effective trainer, coach and assessor who strives for excellence in
everything she does. Her knowledge of work-based learning and adult education
is outstanding and she offers good support to those she teaches and mentors,
particularly through drawing on her own personal experience as an adult
learner.<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Andrew Ellams, MD Ellams Associates Ltd.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“An
inspirational individual and dedicated professionalwho gives and shares only
her best. She's been very thoughtful and creative in her visionary approach to
support the education sector, strengthen stakeholder relationships and guiding
individuals to achieve their aspirations and goals.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prabhjit Kaur - PGCE(FE,) CMgr MCMI,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>AssocCIPD,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>MBA(Open).<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“A<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>detailed and passionate professional, who
loves to share her knowledge with anyone who will listen.”<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Joanna Kinch, MD Kinch Print Ltd <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Rosalie's
Websites are:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.discover-rosalie.com/">http://www.discover-rosalie.com<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Rosalie’s Chatter:
<a href="http://www.discover-rosalie.blogspot.com/">http://www.discover-rosalie.blogspot.com<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Christal Publishing
<a href="http://www.christalpublishing.com/">www.christalpublishing.com<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Twitter <a href="http://www.twitter.com/RosalieMarsh">www.twitter.com/RosalieMarsh<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Facebook:
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/rosalie.marsh.author">www.facebook.com/rosalie.marsh.author<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br />
<span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note from
Sylvia: <em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">You can visit my other blog
at: </span></em></span></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></em></a><em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">that features a preview to my new book, <b>Traveling
a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em><br />
</div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-71548237832354323292012-05-29T01:30:00.000-04:002012-05-29T01:30:02.425-04:00Marsha Maurer Has a New Book Released, Whatever is Lovely<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjop16COcXOlPlaGqsZaeY3lOsU-RvZhVD3ZBOo-cxPlJIErP3rRXM_io-KHp_0mBXcHx6zNHBTIN747v-4-jK0GkKHnri6u9ltiyqF-MVYEO-ZHB6_ILKeEjfLE-0_qDpwtz2sUhIl1eA/s1600/marsha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjop16COcXOlPlaGqsZaeY3lOsU-RvZhVD3ZBOo-cxPlJIErP3rRXM_io-KHp_0mBXcHx6zNHBTIN747v-4-jK0GkKHnri6u9ltiyqF-MVYEO-ZHB6_ILKeEjfLE-0_qDpwtz2sUhIl1eA/s1600/marsha.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Marsha
Maurer is the author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">With Healing
Wings, A Fragrant Fullness</i>, and<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> In
the Garden,</i> which won the Georgia Author of the Year Award in 2000 for
Inspirational Nonfiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The author has
taught English, literature, and writing at colleges and universities in the
United States and Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whatever is Lovely, </i>her latest book,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>recounts experiences from her travel,
entertaining, homemaking, gardening, wardrobe design, and life with her
husband, all with grace and refinement.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tell us about your newest book.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I
am excited about the release of my fourth book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whatever is Lovely: Design for an Elegant Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>The book emerges from my observation that
a</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> woman often spends
more time selecting a perfect pair of shoes than considering the inner
qualities she wishes to shape.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a
result, the person a woman has become may not resemble the person she had hoped
she would be. <i>Whatever is Lovely </i>provides a total make-over—within <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">any</i> woman's reach. Principles of
design for improving homes, gardens, and wardrobes are translated into spiritual
virtues to enhance living and relationships. </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF9Apk9Gx6uDzc7Ueo1wCO6a-hNv1K90XVdT31E615q_-2f8QIZnC56IGl0RC46Uh5lhH0CRlbHwDWB59SzM1hWrYgBxamJMB_XuqZol3ytSrY83ErpcVN7RQKzoMznYQOiunQ-uZFDL8/s1600/book+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF9Apk9Gx6uDzc7Ueo1wCO6a-hNv1K90XVdT31E615q_-2f8QIZnC56IGl0RC46Uh5lhH0CRlbHwDWB59SzM1hWrYgBxamJMB_XuqZol3ytSrY83ErpcVN7RQKzoMznYQOiunQ-uZFDL8/s1600/book+cover.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Whatever is Lovely </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">contains </span>personal reflections,
Bible passages, quotations, and photographs to inspire the reader to
cultivate beauty, grace, and harmony as she fashions the individual
she dreams of becoming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Whatever is
Lovely</i> offers transformation within and without. </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
women we admire seem to approach style, family, career, home, relationships,
and spirit as one seamless whole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their
inner and outer beauty is one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We aspire
to order our own multifaceted lives with such grace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Often, however, our self-improvement efforts
in one area do not relate to the rest of our busy lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Whatever is Lovely </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">identifies timeless principles of
spiritual design and offers life-changing suggestions for cultivating a
singular elegance. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a book of style for the spirit, to
infuse everyday living with passion, imagination, and joy; with simplicity,
balance, and peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whatever is Lovely </i>invites women to pause to inventory their hearts
and to make discerning choices in designing the admirable women they desire to
become. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Whatever is Lovely </span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">is available in
hardcover and in e-book formats at retailers and at</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Whatever-Is-Lovely-Marsha-Maurer/dp/0983557160/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331241384&sr=1-1"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.amazon.com/Whatever-Is-Lovely-Marsha-Maurer/dp/0983557160/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331241384&sr=1-1</span></span></b></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Whatever-is-lovely?store=book&keyword=Whatever+is+lovely"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Whatever-is-lovely?store=book&keyword=Whatever+is+lovely</span></span></b></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in 6pt 18.75pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ISBN-10:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> 0983557160 </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in 6pt 18.75pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ISBN-13:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> 978-0983557166 </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Whatever
is Lovely</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
is subtitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Design for an Elegant
Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>How do you define elegance?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitxSUpG9f90gaOkyxcsXvhz7OxZNpPqqmZORZJnKIJYaNkepsLEH9eK11FEwUZdnwzhtXLP5f17egrnMga9QSXOjfsJv_aHSkIyi8apnqwPScmFOiZ9xL5kicQRrOfXJ_PS4r3ui0gpD0/s1600/Perfume.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitxSUpG9f90gaOkyxcsXvhz7OxZNpPqqmZORZJnKIJYaNkepsLEH9eK11FEwUZdnwzhtXLP5f17egrnMga9QSXOjfsJv_aHSkIyi8apnqwPScmFOiZ9xL5kicQRrOfXJ_PS4r3ui0gpD0/s1600/Perfume.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In
my view, elegance comprises grace, ease, beauty, and regard for others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To me it means living ones’ life as a
spiritually-grounded cohesive whole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Elegance might be defined as grace of the spirit.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How does designing home, garden,
and wardrobe relate to designing a woman’s character?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV94gMa_5t97bxJk115oR7KXjGvShxulIQwwbO-0XXKCFRLLtM4Uox3uK48XUW9CM4B_MsTADnuKNFnwZDubkimxcobsyujCfsCsNztQmcaxmDwi-jf1Gv81NLI7AnVgINEDImGmiNGpc/s1600/vegetables.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV94gMa_5t97bxJk115oR7KXjGvShxulIQwwbO-0XXKCFRLLtM4Uox3uK48XUW9CM4B_MsTADnuKNFnwZDubkimxcobsyujCfsCsNztQmcaxmDwi-jf1Gv81NLI7AnVgINEDImGmiNGpc/s1600/vegetables.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
principles of artistic design which apply to creating an interesting décor or a
wardrobe that suits one’s personality also apply to designing the spiritual
qualities or virtues by which we live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
few of the design principles found in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whatever
is Lovely </i>include balance, comfort, harmony, and simplicity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Balance in a room, for example, is the sense
of proportion that gives a room the appearance of a cohesive whole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spiritual balance means establishing a sense
of proportion in our lives, focused on essential matters of the heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Women tend to be designing creatures; we
create business plans and dinner parties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whatever is Lovely </i>gives
attention to designing our best selves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why is the subject of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whatever is Lovely</i></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">so important?</b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzjQ-FUIB00xd0JeK_AOZoS00e5oLDhRgGGCrC5okkcfej7jWT3IONt3BFQ2XhIxetywuFk2JmswqL9InnlYj1kFCx4P8gP6bkflGh9iUCLPSozV7OrPxKR2alku9b22JI9MozqWlpNDQ/s1600/fireplace.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzjQ-FUIB00xd0JeK_AOZoS00e5oLDhRgGGCrC5okkcfej7jWT3IONt3BFQ2XhIxetywuFk2JmswqL9InnlYj1kFCx4P8gP6bkflGh9iUCLPSozV7OrPxKR2alku9b22JI9MozqWlpNDQ/s1600/fireplace.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
virtues and choices which women cultivate, or disregard, are the most
impressive models for nurturing the character and behavior of their families
and, ultimately, of society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
devolution of our society can be traced to an erosion of essential spiritual
virtues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is critical that we learn to
consciously cultivate these vital qualities, which inform all our decisions.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Who would be interested in reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whatever is Lovely</i>?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYuTGEdu1XGVL9bXqrc_zIR0n9iu1QLuX6u9kjNxyzZggsLiGjAmAxMy18_9jf7zmf3bvoVKlbkQW2wfC0v1FFDeM-wKLQmfEu0FmezTEUnmgrFY1bExiYjLRD3aE6TdYH0up-S5WeDSM/s1600/beads.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYuTGEdu1XGVL9bXqrc_zIR0n9iu1QLuX6u9kjNxyzZggsLiGjAmAxMy18_9jf7zmf3bvoVKlbkQW2wfC0v1FFDeM-wKLQmfEu0FmezTEUnmgrFY1bExiYjLRD3aE6TdYH0up-S5WeDSM/s1600/beads.jpg" /></a></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Whatever is Lovely</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> appeals to a wide range of women’s
interests—fashion, food, decorating, gardening, family, intellect, travel, and
spirituality. Perfect for today’s economy, its practical advice helps women
simplify their lives while focusing on essential matters of the spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book is appropriate for women of all
ages—an inspiring gift for mothers, graduates, brides, co-workers, family,
friends, or oneself. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What were the challenges of
producing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whatever is Lovely</i>?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikP_PcM_qX62-kdo-HvLCzz1uUFgZrlFOycfI821yg3OsrKFDwaLktBgNSJeyJa6xIacueYPpgQctl4yzo2QvCnJ0WBmIHcjMmYGW2OWfsDKaAOz-jW1IybvpI0P-7hyphenhyphenxjdZ06tSYMy8E/s1600/tea+cup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikP_PcM_qX62-kdo-HvLCzz1uUFgZrlFOycfI821yg3OsrKFDwaLktBgNSJeyJa6xIacueYPpgQctl4yzo2QvCnJ0WBmIHcjMmYGW2OWfsDKaAOz-jW1IybvpI0P-7hyphenhyphenxjdZ06tSYMy8E/s1600/tea+cup.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">One
of the challenges of writing and constructing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whatever is Lovely</i> was creating a cohesive whole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Selecting the principles of design which most
clearly relate to spiritual qualities, matching text to quotations from
Scripture and other writers throughout history, relating personal stories, and
selecting photographs to convey the virtues required considerable time, but the
project was a labor of love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What were the satisfactions of
writing and designing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whatever is Lovely</i>?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbJj7d9OxemrQ0ZZ6Lv1vi_ZM_vU50iAyDyWeNZHTPBjgoRvna0BlTc5joss8Ui6ezUZZHw8C1Ce69_cftyJdAq888tuU2veDGiXPr6HLvico63mWJi5kyWjk8L4f5qxhBbWVCXOwHM0s/s1600/cat+paws.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbJj7d9OxemrQ0ZZ6Lv1vi_ZM_vU50iAyDyWeNZHTPBjgoRvna0BlTc5joss8Ui6ezUZZHw8C1Ce69_cftyJdAq888tuU2veDGiXPr6HLvico63mWJi5kyWjk8L4f5qxhBbWVCXOwHM0s/s1600/cat+paws.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My
previous three books were published by traditional publishers, who bore the
expense of production but also controlled the appearance of the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because this book was custom published, I was
fully engaged in design choices from start to finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am delighted when readers tell me how much
they connect with the insights, savor the beautiful photographs, and enjoy the
humorous and poignant stories.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What do you hope women will
discover in the pages of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whatever is
Lovely?</i></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOqZg7f8ZM9jFQM8wVeM1lmE2ujZ8HMK8VWw7PMb4oDgi50nzPZigOVzXQtBbRf5eI44DQmcOtmLEsq2iTWoVYGe9KuKD5SEeGJMxrt0w01tnvct33e-cYE3SfSn195MRfOo9z4xPdx-c/s1600/nest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOqZg7f8ZM9jFQM8wVeM1lmE2ujZ8HMK8VWw7PMb4oDgi50nzPZigOVzXQtBbRf5eI44DQmcOtmLEsq2iTWoVYGe9KuKD5SEeGJMxrt0w01tnvct33e-cYE3SfSn195MRfOo9z4xPdx-c/s1600/nest.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Albert
Einstein said, “Make your choices lovely ones.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Readers of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whatever is Lovely </i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">will
discover how to cultivate a spirit that helps them make their own lovely
choices.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /><br />
<br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note from
Sylvia: <em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">You can visit my other blog
at: </span></em></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></em></a><em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">that features a preview to my new book, <b>Traveling
a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-91819208201220888452012-05-26T01:30:00.000-04:002012-05-26T01:30:00.792-04:00Nanci Rainey Shares Her Story about the Genesis of Her Book, Just One More Day in the Driver’s Seat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcn7fpresImxOgD_HoOG1v7BqIjnhrcTl8mN9IEOBUS5vTa9nqvDsgA2_kvYNE1E9qGeXos0DMOiN9nEzA8ftmV-qpDciTFLSXXIM6GpF2Vk95DSBbtVBN5jB5Fr2n0HOOr2uXD-JczY/s1600/MOM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcn7fpresImxOgD_HoOG1v7BqIjnhrcTl8mN9IEOBUS5vTa9nqvDsgA2_kvYNE1E9qGeXos0DMOiN9nEzA8ftmV-qpDciTFLSXXIM6GpF2Vk95DSBbtVBN5jB5Fr2n0HOOr2uXD-JczY/s1600/MOM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcn7fpresImxOgD_HoOG1v7BqIjnhrcTl8mN9IEOBUS5vTa9nqvDsgA2_kvYNE1E9qGeXos0DMOiN9nEzA8ftmV-qpDciTFLSXXIM6GpF2Vk95DSBbtVBN5jB5Fr2n0HOOr2uXD-JczY/s1600/MOM.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I, Nanci Rainey, raised four
wonderful children in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. I was fortunate enough to
witness their first words, first steps and falls. I was there to hold them in
my arms and wipe their tears. My children were my world and I marveled at their
beauty and innocence. After losing my son, Billy, my world changed forever. I
was left with a hole in my heart never to be healed. A grandmother of two of
the most amazing children, I was given a chance to marvel at the beauty and
innocence of a second generation. After ten years of struggling through the
world of grief, I had back surgery that left me paralyzed from the waist down.
I am now looking at the world through different eyes and realize we will all
have challenges and adversity in our lives, it is up to ourselves how we
respond to those challenges. I was given a chance to meet some of the most
wonderful young adults with spinal cord injuries from gunshot wounds and
stabbings and encouraged them to accept the challenge of a life altering
injury, working hard at rehabilitation side by side, acknowledging they are not
alone. I now volunteer at the rehabilitation hospital where I am able to listen
and motivate others to think positive, to believe and to accept the good.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What is the Genre
of your book?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">My book is a Memoir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the writing I do is based on life
changing events and the people who have crossed my path along this
journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>believe people come into our
lives for a reason, and how we react with others shapes our lives. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Why did you choose
genre?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I had a story to tell and it was
a life event, a tragic path I had journeyed through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started with a daily journal of my son’s
medical treatment. There was so much information thrown at us at once and
neither my son nor I wanted to chance anything to memory. Initially the story
was written more like a diary of medical information for others with DSRCT . I
didn’t want to limit my audience, therefore it became a story.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> How is it different?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in -0.1in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Writing memoirs is much different
than writing fiction. With a memoir, the cast of characters are already
developed, as is the setting and plot. There is an actual event or
life-changing moment in the story that was not created from one’s imagination;
it happened, it WAS.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Can you tell us more about your
book and where we may find it?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> I have
published only one book,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Just One More
Day in the Driver’s Seat”, released </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">February
21, 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63BbcKKQYYjVCtu2WAj9ubdTjeDBQLLz8PwxFBi_DIHj1RgL2-7ofvhyIA80cIfF_M398hPf2iTgc_avAU1SfIhjoj_DSC9iJk9SKdvzJPvx3f6qt4GfIcCrRxtYjS7k6WbLwy-GzKzw/s1600/PBOOK008-180x300.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63BbcKKQYYjVCtu2WAj9ubdTjeDBQLLz8PwxFBi_DIHj1RgL2-7ofvhyIA80cIfF_M398hPf2iTgc_avAU1SfIhjoj_DSC9iJk9SKdvzJPvx3f6qt4GfIcCrRxtYjS7k6WbLwy-GzKzw/s1600/PBOOK008-180x300.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Synopsis:</b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: list 46.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">My story
captures the spirit of my son, Billy, stricken with cancer at the age of 18 and
his courage and strength during the battle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The type of cancer Billy had is called DSRCT (desmoplastic small round
cell tumor), which was and still is quite rare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is no cure and the<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>survival
rate for five years is only 15%; most of the young adults stricken with DSRCT
end their battle around two years after diagnosis. The story is sad, yet it is
real. There is no fluff about cancer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is my hope to raise awareness of DSRCT and generate funding for more research.
A portion of the proceeds of my book will be presented to Memorial Sloan
Kettering Cancer Center for their research studies in DSRCT protocol.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My book is available thru the publisher: <a href="http://www.tatepublishing.com/"><span style="color: #000099;">www.tatepublishing.com</span></a>;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/"><span style="color: #000099;">www.barnesandnoble.com</span></a>; and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/"><span style="color: #000099;">www.amazon.com</span></a> .</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>You can also read more about
“Just One More Day in the Driver’s Seat; <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>and
information on DSRCT at<a href="http://www.nancirainey.tateauthor.com/"><span style="color: #000099;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>www.nancirainey.tateauthor.com</span></a> .</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">When did you decide to write the
book?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKphFvt52HVUWpIbWWpb-soJZJUDfvGPZLoSTzuYDVl5yOwCC84Juq-OeZV11BlAo4oDzlN9vmS3aIxPZbJgdhkxGGggBw7DEBjpv7YRsUSnQee2k7rwo3YN15cXM9NVLiSPxsvXy_OPI/s1600/motorcycle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKphFvt52HVUWpIbWWpb-soJZJUDfvGPZLoSTzuYDVl5yOwCC84Juq-OeZV11BlAo4oDzlN9vmS3aIxPZbJgdhkxGGggBw7DEBjpv7YRsUSnQee2k7rwo3YN15cXM9NVLiSPxsvXy_OPI/s320/motorcycle.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: list 42.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My story began the moment my son was
diagnosed. I started a daily journal of procedures, medications, visitors,
vital signs, etc. We were faced<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with a
monster that could (and did) destroy lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I wasn’t leaving anything to memory while under the influence of stress
and sleep deprivation. The journal was both informative as well as therapeutic
and at times it came in quite handy for the doctors looking for past test
results, etc. (oh yes, I had copies of them as well). It was a joke amongst the
staff and physicians that I was writing a book, but eventually, my son asked me
to write the book and it is in his honor the story was written.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">When did you begin writing and who
inspired you?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: list 42.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I began
writing while still in elementary school. I was intrigued with books and it was
my passion to read and write.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started
writing poetry, as most young teenagers do, but eventually I started writing
short stories in school. I can remember one particular teacher, Ms. O’Breeza,
encouraged me to continue my writing, saying it was a talent not to be hidden. </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Do you have a writing schedule?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: list 42.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">My writing
schedule fluctuates. I usually get ideas or start writing in my head while I am
relaxed in the tub or driving in the car. I would have to try to recreate the
though shortly after it comes to me and write it down. Not everything comes in
order and when I review all my thought and paragraphs scribbled, I sit at the
computer in my room and type, usually in the afternoon and early evening. Just
One More Day in the Driver’s Seat was completed while I was a patient in a
rehabilitation hospital for a spinal cord injury. I had already been under
contract with my publisher and there were still empty chapters. During my six
month stay at Magee Rehab, I managed to complete the book, with the help of a
speech therapist. (As a result of my spinal cord injury, I developed chemical
meningitis and had some word retrieval and memory loss.)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">When do you do when you are not
writing?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: list 42.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Currently I
volunteer at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital two days a week. I try to give back
a little bit of hope to those experiencing similar injuries and emotions. After
a spinal cord injury, one is fearful how they will be able to function in the
“able” world despite their disability and Magee offers hope through their
physical and occupational therapists. I try to show others how important
attitude is and positive thinking. I use myself as an example of one who is
trying to accomplish all I can regardless of my disability.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Do you have any new writing
projects in the works or planned?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: list 42.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I am currently
at the scribbling stages of a new story, one of overcoming challenges and
hurdles. Since the release of Just One More Day in the Driver’s Seat, I have
been working with my marketing advisor and publisher on getting my story out
there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marketing and selling the book
takes more time than I ever imagined. I have to put serious writing on hold at
this time.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What are your "Made it<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moments?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1UgS3_5ZyYut9VibZo9u4_scfROcFPykRuNQ7Vk08LzJj1MDIcSoXYRCF0TiyxkiPkHT1ZOLOpGbsxg7s7iJ_4Xbnf3hCeReFZKxnQUV9Tlx6TyZEiuXqpUcYP7LR7GND0IqcXwktgck/s1600/family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1UgS3_5ZyYut9VibZo9u4_scfROcFPykRuNQ7Vk08LzJj1MDIcSoXYRCF0TiyxkiPkHT1ZOLOpGbsxg7s7iJ_4Xbnf3hCeReFZKxnQUV9Tlx6TyZEiuXqpUcYP7LR7GND0IqcXwktgck/s200/family.jpg" width="144" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The birth of each of my children
were “Made It” moments in my life as well as each of their graduations. I am
also blessed to have been able to witness the birth of my grandchildren,
another “Made It” for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I “Made It”
when I was able to take my family to Denver, Colorado and celebrate “World
Youth Day” with Pope John Paul II.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
at Magee, “I Made It” when I was able to take my first step with braces and
assistance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The publishing of Just One
More Day in the Driver’s Seat has been my most recent “Made It” moment.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What advice would give someone
who wants to write or a beginning writer?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">My advice to anyone who is
inspired to write is to just write, write, write. When you write, your story
nor your thoughts are always in order; just write the words as they come and
set aside another time for formulating these sentences and paragraphs. I had
the Epilogue of my book completed prior to completing several chapters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be prepared to edit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are times editing can be dangerous, as
you can edit too much. After you edit one section, move on, don’t dwell on what
you already edited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it doesn’t feel
right the next time you read it, then you can change it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghnjUeINUoF1UJI9GfGdfx4uxmxUvI4mWr6NLp58XfEkXx7x4NZqiY4yYAA5SZ9gWcj0AkZ6cCeWiNtwOrtmCstFeyqu5wrPb2VDAjF73BhkDZVZwWTHzcRlKVsZ2fcxj1AhCLOw3c2sE/s1600/cruise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghnjUeINUoF1UJI9GfGdfx4uxmxUvI4mWr6NLp58XfEkXx7x4NZqiY4yYAA5SZ9gWcj0AkZ6cCeWiNtwOrtmCstFeyqu5wrPb2VDAjF73BhkDZVZwWTHzcRlKVsZ2fcxj1AhCLOw3c2sE/s320/cruise.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Never give up! There is always hope</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> and a
reason to believe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Note from
Sylvia: <em><span>You can visit my
other blog at: </span></em></span></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></em></a><em><span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">that features a preview to my new
book, <b>Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-89024284210437656712012-05-22T01:30:00.000-04:002012-05-22T01:30:03.771-04:00Dagayla Jo Brown Publishes Her Christian Autobiography, Waiting on God<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9SX15v-k698nE-CCi46MvqqMInEpbi4HNnRRLN3sIZEf-PurV_hMFZWhNx4JeDJAFV-1t1LJ2QpeUV2SlI1HC783DSq_IVPBDRuL1NOaKwwH8UZiQd65y9bxBp5pZLATxj3A8uDTRJI8/s1600/102_1527.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9SX15v-k698nE-CCi46MvqqMInEpbi4HNnRRLN3sIZEf-PurV_hMFZWhNx4JeDJAFV-1t1LJ2QpeUV2SlI1HC783DSq_IVPBDRuL1NOaKwwH8UZiQd65y9bxBp5pZLATxj3A8uDTRJI8/s320/102_1527.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black;">Born
and raised in Columbus Ohio, Dagayla Jo Brown has been a Christian for over 30
years. In 2008 God revealed to her the gift of writing. She has been writing
for three years now.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt;">
<span style="color: black;">She
aspires to be a well known Author, Inspirational & Motivational Speaker.
She was brought up with very good standards, morals and self-respect. She was
always taught to be kind to others and treat them with the utmost respect. She
prays that her writings will help, encourage and inspire those that are having
the same struggles that she has had in her lifetime.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt;">
<span style="color: black;">She
would like to give people hope that good things can come out of their trials
and tribulations. She would also like to encourage the hurting, the lonely and
those with low self-esteem. She wants them to know that if they will have
faith, belief and trust in God, He will do the impossible in their lives. She
states: "God is the head of my life. He is the first and foremost in all
that I do. I have learned to trust and lean on Him for all of my needs."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt;">
<span style="color: black;">Dagayla
shares; "I love God with all my heart, my soul and my mind. I love and
cherish this life that He has given me and all that it has to offer. I enjoy
every moment and second that I live and breathe."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt;">
<span style="color: black;">She
also would like her readers to know; "I strive to think positive at all
times. I make it a habit every morning when I awake; to first get on my knees
in prayer; thanking God for the peaceful rest and another beautiful day. She
quotes; “Today is going to be good day."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt;">
<span style="color: black;">She
lives by, "the power of positive thinking." This is the day that the
LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tell
us about the genre of your work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I write, Christian, spiritual, inspirational,
devotional, self-help, uplifting and encouraging books that are good for the
soul, mind, body and spirit. I feel that my previous struggles can help and
assist those that might be going through the same thing. I believe our stories
are best told once we have actually walked the difficult roads ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
did you choose this genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I was going through a life-changing event at the
time when God inspired me to share my experiences to help others deal with the
same struggles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The experience of
writing while dealing with my own experiences brought healing and was
self-therapeutic as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How
is writing in the genre you write, different than other genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I feel it’s different, because when I write on a spiritual
level, it digs deeps down to the soul and very core of a person. When you can
release past pains, hurts, failures and disappointments; that is when you can
face the pain that may have been hiding within you for years. I also believe
that involving God in this kind of healing that can be very different from
other genres because only He can heal those that are hurting from the inside
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I discuss things others are not
willing to face or talk about. When someone reads my book, I also believe that is
when the healing will begin and they will be on the road to recovery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Can
you tell us about your book.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My first Autobiography book was released last year
titled “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Waiting on God</i>.”</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUjWc1wdNLVtcs9Kuyz4ql6uT8E9AjK2hHDvH5o73ObCRzPlhKic6JREQn7YEWb7JEdLFoQw-80A5dSDr1C1m2HTj7Ku6_5rxt8VQE6UnWUX7Wm5iq5WKu0hu5WjAXUb-TfeGjrqc-84I/s1600/0578072319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUjWc1wdNLVtcs9Kuyz4ql6uT8E9AjK2hHDvH5o73ObCRzPlhKic6JREQn7YEWb7JEdLFoQw-80A5dSDr1C1m2HTj7Ku6_5rxt8VQE6UnWUX7Wm5iq5WKu0hu5WjAXUb-TfeGjrqc-84I/s320/0578072319.jpg" width="234" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Waiting on God
can be a little frustrating, especially if you have set your own clock and
timeframe as to when you want to get things done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Understand that God will get things done in
His own time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God has taught Dagayla how
to wait on Him through: Faith, Prayer and Supplication.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Title:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Waiting
on God</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">ISBN:
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">978-05780731-9<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And
where it can be found?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://amazon.com/">Amazon.com</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Rhema
Christian Center, 2100 Agler Road, Columbus, Ohio<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Website:
<a href="http://www.dagaylajo.com/"><span style="color: blue;">www.dagaylajo.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was it published?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">September 21, 2011<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Can
you give us a synopsis of this book/s?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My book is about learning from past lessons,
spiritual guidance for self-healing, forgiveness and moving on toward your
destiny with clear, heart, mind and soul. Allowing your faith, hope and love in
God, to lead you down the right path in life.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Where
do you get your ideas for writing?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
get my ideas from my very own life lessons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I wanted to share all that I had gone through to help others with their
own journeys.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is your favorite thing about your book?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My favorite thing is the scripture references that
will not only help you, but teach you how to deal with issues on a spiritual
level. Also, at the end of each chapter, I have a notes page. This will give
each reader a chance to journal their thoughts as they read my book so that they
can refer back to their notes as they deal with life issues.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
and when did you begin writing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there
any one person who had a big influence on you or encouraged you to write?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I began writing almost four years ago. No one had an
influence on my writing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to say
it was God who laid it on my heart to write about my past and current
experiences at the time. He helped me along the way. He gave me the words to
say and how to say them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is your writing schedule?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I usually write about
an hour to three hours in the evening and sometimes if I cannot sleep, I get up
in the middle of night or early morning to get my ideas and thoughts out. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
atmosphere do you need to write? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I need to write in a
very peaceful and quiet atmosphere<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.</b>
I can write sitting on the floor, on my couch or in my bed as long as I am
comfortable and can concentrate.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What projects are you working on now, or plan
for the future?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am currently working on another spiritual inspirational book,
and a non-fiction novel as well. My plan is to write about seven more in next
few years. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
kind of advice or tips to you have for someone who wants to write and be
published?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If you have the desire to write, find time every
single day even if it is only for a half hour. Just find some time. Every small
paragraph will eventually become a chapter and very soon you will have a book ready
for publishing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once completed, be sure
to do your research on whether you want to use a publisher or self-publish your
first one.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I self-published my first one and I can tell you, I
just may do the same for my next one. I have enjoyed all the things that I have
had to learn along the way and the experience I have gained. It is very easy,
but you will need the dedication, focus, patience and drive to do so it your
own. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Keep reaching for your dreams because anything is
possible! Don’t stop believing in yourself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Are
there any other comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning
writers?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Whatever your fears are, please let them go because,
that is the only thing holding you back. If have faith in God, fear cannot
exist. We all have gifts inside of us that are waiting to be birthed and bought
forth. Please use yours wisely.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
do you do when you are not writing?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When I am not writing, I am either reading, my
Bible, a devotional or another book of interest. I also enjoy watching
television at times; curled up on my couch in my warm fuzzy pajamas and a big
bowl of popcorn.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Include
anything else you may wish to add.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If you believe in God, put Him first in all that you
do and trust him with all that you have, for He knows what is best for you.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If you don’t know Him, may I suggest that you seek
Him for yourself, it will be the best decision you could ever make. He will
change your life forever! God bless you!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
“Made It” moments have you experienced in life?</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRiMFVwVCQvy89OSMZimG0_nkTcInoA2qazSCLm2uZrSgpcAc0wiHyFe69ZUpDI6k93MDEnz_5lIuqN56fNIgAgC4nos5ZI3h3drdJQrnhzY_q_E4m0xIlLt8G6D5y08VgM1TVescH-WE/s1600/102_2093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRiMFVwVCQvy89OSMZimG0_nkTcInoA2qazSCLm2uZrSgpcAc0wiHyFe69ZUpDI6k93MDEnz_5lIuqN56fNIgAgC4nos5ZI3h3drdJQrnhzY_q_E4m0xIlLt8G6D5y08VgM1TVescH-WE/s200/102_2093.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Strengthening
my Christian walk and building a strong relationship with God by allowing Him
to be the head of my life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Believing
and trusting in God and myself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Self-Publishing
my first book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Surviving
a life-changing event. By God’s grace I did not lose myself or my mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Learning
to love me and my own company.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note from
Sylvia: <em><span>You can visit my
other blog at: </span></em></span></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></em></a><em><span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">that features a preview to my new
book, <b>Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-69490614140734138782012-05-19T01:30:00.000-04:002012-05-19T01:30:02.995-04:00Multi-genre Author Barbara Quinn Has a New Book, Hard Head<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbsNCUsh9mJ6MKNhV3nIM60s2eKKWXwEAoYtInCvS9fgoO5LTmCU284gkCP3RSKJR8L2HoEQvSCbJzwsR4lbMdnrf-V5avjKi514LYvaEGsk6mobBC6_GiWfuaAu7F3PwhY3CCY9Rsvc/s1600/000_BarbBeach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbsNCUsh9mJ6MKNhV3nIM60s2eKKWXwEAoYtInCvS9fgoO5LTmCU284gkCP3RSKJR8L2HoEQvSCbJzwsR4lbMdnrf-V5avjKi514LYvaEGsk6mobBC6_GiWfuaAu7F3PwhY3CCY9Rsvc/s1600/000_BarbBeach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbsNCUsh9mJ6MKNhV3nIM60s2eKKWXwEAoYtInCvS9fgoO5LTmCU284gkCP3RSKJR8L2HoEQvSCbJzwsR4lbMdnrf-V5avjKi514LYvaEGsk6mobBC6_GiWfuaAu7F3PwhY3CCY9Rsvc/s320/000_BarbBeach.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m the author of four novels. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All are available at Amazon, B&N
and everywhere books are sold. <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">I’m Founder
of the Rose & Thorn Journal </span></span><a href="http://www.roseandthornjournal.com/" title="http://www.roseandthornjournal.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.roseandthornjournal.com</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes;"> a
zine that has been around since 1998. The zine is a wonderful place,
staffed by writers who volunteer their time to put out a great
publication.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was Publisher and
Managing Editor until 2009 when I left to work as an SEO content producer for a
consultant to Lexis Nexis, a large legal publisher. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes;">I love
to travel and have visited 47 states, plus many countries on four
continents. I've ridden a camel in the </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes;">Canary
Islands, attended the opera in Vienna and spent time in an absinthe
bar in Budapest. For ten years I practiced law. Before that, my jobs
included process server, lingerie sales clerk, waitress, and postal worker.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes;"> I
also did some reporting for local papers. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes;">I split
my time between Bradley Beach, NJ where I love the boardwalk, sand, and Asbury
Park music scene, and Rockland County, NY. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;">I have a terrific husband, a wonderful son, and an adorable
grandson. You can reach me at </span><a href="mailto:BAQuinn@aol.com"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="color: blue;">BAQuinn@aol.com</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d love to keep in touch via
twitter.com/BarbaraQuinn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tell
us about the genre of your work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m a multi-genre author and love mixing it up. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hard Head</b> is a suspense novel with
romantic and paranormal elements. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Speed
of Dark</b> is a Paranormal Romance.<a href="" name="_GoBack"></a> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">36C</b> is women’s fiction/chick lit. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Slings and Arrows</b> is an Urban Fantasy with dark humor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
did you choose this genre? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I tend to write a lot of fantasy and paranormal
stories usually with some romance in there. Those genres indulge my love of
travel. With fantasy and paranormal, I can go anywhere. When you add a little
romance, ahhhh, how can you not feel alive and good? Life is filled with many
different genres and so is my writing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How
is writing in the genre you write, different than other genres? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">To me fantasy and paranormal tales are much larger
than life, but they tackle real life issues. You have leeway to let go of laws
of physics, but you are still bound by the laws of human emotions. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
are some of your books, stories that have been published?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have four novels published. Two are with Eternal Press: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Speed of Dark</b>, a fantasy set in
1964 is about a fellow who falls for a mysterious girl while riding behind
a DDT truck. It came out in October, 2011and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hard Head</b>, the story of a mother and daughter who travel to Italy
and are caught up in an ancient vendetta, came out in February, 2012. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">36C</b>, the tale of a lingerie shop girl,
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Slings
and Arrows</i></b>, about a woman who takes up with a shady spiritualist were
published by DiskUspublishing and are available everywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I also have a number of stories in audio version at
Sniplits.com. My story <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Crab Line</b>s
won <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Best of the Net </i>in 2006 and I’ve
had a number of other short story awards.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Can
you tell us more about your book? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hard
Head<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha15cJXz-YEbksjtGFq52dSzEJAGFRIPF4eC-8v_xUM5DEcfzK8lnD9VaQkyCZr7DWzsDDy5Ta_ZPLaDKfDBp3LGrjVgF80Dc6We4jCsp1pTMyoRXMOPmjGyRKnvSJdD4J0nhT5ZHysxg/s1600/HardHead_200x300_dpi72.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha15cJXz-YEbksjtGFq52dSzEJAGFRIPF4eC-8v_xUM5DEcfzK8lnD9VaQkyCZr7DWzsDDy5Ta_ZPLaDKfDBp3LGrjVgF80Dc6We4jCsp1pTMyoRXMOPmjGyRKnvSJdD4J0nhT5ZHysxg/s200/HardHead_200x300_dpi72.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My novel <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hard Head</i></b> was re-released in
February, 2012. In <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hard Head</i>, </b>Rosanna Sweeney defies her father’s deathbed order
that she never go to Italy. She and her troubled teenage daughter journey
across Italy to the Calabrian town of her father’s birth. They find romance,
learn about one another, and uncover a past that links them to secret societies
and an ancient vendetta.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ISBN-13:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> 978-1615726073 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ASIN:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> B0075XR288 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Some blurbs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Barbara Quinn's <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hardhead</i></b> is eyepopping,
filled with memorable characters who take you on a fascinating journey. Think
Get Shorty, Pulp Fiction and Fargo, with a zany female slant and much, much
more. ... A remarkable book! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
--Noel Hynd<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Barbara Quinn has done an excellent
job of weaving her characters through a suspenseful plot and into a believable
ending. Beyond the suspense, this novel of self-discovery is bound to resonate
with anyone who has ever felt out of place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
--The Daily Republic<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A great read. Ms. Quinn catapults
you from one horrifying moment to the next, keeping you wondering how they will
survive these secret, and powerful societies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
--Shawn Phillips<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<strong><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Speed
of Dark<o:p></o:p></span></i></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcXN0Yb2wS1g3Qt7nE2YeYpbm0ceUEJfqsmC3P0AiQd2GIZ-YJYZyIwHMDdiSKvA1CE2OgGL8qwhPVYe-ryIHLQ2WcG2_F8pxf_j0iz5ldMAqNc4MQqPwQN7Tq_PseJ-5Fn-PIADRq2ec/s1600/SpeedofDark_200x300_dpi72.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcXN0Yb2wS1g3Qt7nE2YeYpbm0ceUEJfqsmC3P0AiQd2GIZ-YJYZyIwHMDdiSKvA1CE2OgGL8qwhPVYe-ryIHLQ2WcG2_F8pxf_j0iz5ldMAqNc4MQqPwQN7Tq_PseJ-5Fn-PIADRq2ec/s1600/SpeedofDark_200x300_dpi72.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">There are some people you never forget. In the summer of 1964, while
riding his bike in a DDT cloud, Luke D’Angelo falls for one of them–a
mysterious girl named Celeste. Like Luke, Celeste is an outsider struggling to
find her identity, but unlike Luke, Celeste has special powers that have the
potential to destroy everything Luke and his friends believe in. Luke and his
mentally challenged sister become fast friends with this curious girl. Set in
upstate New York, in a town that is home to a shrimp cocktail plant that
belches a foul-smelling tomato and fish fog, this coming-of-age tale about a
girl with a dream and the teens who want to help her fulfill it, is a balance
between the comic and the profound. The story resonates with the message that
inside each of us is a light that burns so bright no dark can extinguish it.
But at what cost?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">ISBN:</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><a href="http://eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781615725069"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: blue;">9781615725069</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ASIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> B005UI7B5E <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Some blurbs:</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I'm always on the
lookout for a good new author and Barbara Quinn fits that description to a
"T." I loved <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Speed of Dark</i></b>, from the
wonderfully realized setting to the characters and their complicated, but
timeless, relationships with each other. Quinn has also done a terrific job in
bringing to life what it was like growing up in the early part of the sixties.
I was a teenager at that time and a lot of what she writes about is eerily
familiar-either from my own life, or the people I knew at the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-Charles de Lint, author
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Someplace to be Flying, Forests of the
Heart, Seven Wild Sisters, The Onion Girl</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <br />
<br />
</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By turns lyrical and
grittily realistic, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Speed of Dark</i></b> brings its own vision to the Stephen King
territory of small town life in the sixties. In a novel rich with period
detail, Barbara Quinn effectively captures the sense of the numinous that
pervades everyday life.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-Eileen Kernaghan,
author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Snow Queen, Songs from the
Drowned Lands,</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Sarsen Witch <br />
</i></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Barbara Quinn's novel <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Speed of Dark</i></b> is a fascinating and imaginative story, blending the real
with the fantastic, giving us characters we can know and root for. Her writing
is wise and magical, filled with wit, passion and honesty. Barbara reminds me
of my late friend Laurie Colwin. This is an engrossing and rewarding novel.
Readers will have fun and be profoundly moved. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-Noel Hynd, author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ghosts</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cemetery of Angels</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Just read "<b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Speed of Dark</i></b>" by @BarbaraQuinn
The "icy storm in mouth" scene -never read anything like that
before!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> -Kat Magendie author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tender Graces, Secret Graces,</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sweetie</i></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Slings and Arrows<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UsZuxnAKOewMIuJQ0L1UFzXdxzJCno-82sHSqLfc2VRb4G6Sk-csXs9NeOKUma8EvPtqGnIKaroNaCkr5Riy5_aMk2PFg5pI9ZCYLigAunV49lNsGU4-CjbiqAIxWIZuiWzxcix7BbY/s1600/slingsandarrows_cover_5x8_thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UsZuxnAKOewMIuJQ0L1UFzXdxzJCno-82sHSqLfc2VRb4G6Sk-csXs9NeOKUma8EvPtqGnIKaroNaCkr5Riy5_aMk2PFg5pI9ZCYLigAunV49lNsGU4-CjbiqAIxWIZuiWzxcix7BbY/s320/slingsandarrows_cover_5x8_thumb.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When her husband leaves her for her
best friend, Ellen D'Este loses her ability to enjoy her work as a massage
therapist and her life begins to unravel. A friend convinces her to attend a
session with a female spiritualist. Ever the skeptic, Ellen resists the pull of
the shady Miss Wendy, but falls for the handsome Mark Vernon, a disciple of the
spiritualist. As time passes, Ellen is plagued by visions and strange
occurrences that test her beliefs and feelings. Can she find love, faith and
the ability to massage again or will she be the unwitting pawn of a charlatan? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Paranormal romance/dark humor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">ISBN</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> -86473858</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ASIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> B004I1KS18 </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">36C<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVMExFseYkv_jRBPmyXQQ_I0CWOkx6_6-BNCfLOuqB2KsT87sr-r9GhkNqPDJd7JOtPZqmCJ_wEYm5v8l5gmSnO1T-jTt2MCGpxEAt9T3p2enjsU6oecpMCOWi1UIQtqpnmqo3mToySY/s1600/36c_cover_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVMExFseYkv_jRBPmyXQQ_I0CWOkx6_6-BNCfLOuqB2KsT87sr-r9GhkNqPDJd7JOtPZqmCJ_wEYm5v8l5gmSnO1T-jTt2MCGpxEAt9T3p2enjsU6oecpMCOWi1UIQtqpnmqo3mToySY/s320/36c_cover_small.jpg" width="207" /></a>Tressa Connell dreams of finding the right fellow, of putting her graphics
art degree to work, and of traveling to Venice. The reality is that she's stuck
in a dead-end job selling lingerie to rail-thin women who prowl the high-end Manhattan
boutique where she works. Hounded by a helmet-haired boss, befriended by a
troubled Latina makeup artist, and wooed by a Jewish cop, Tressa also has a
giant grandfather clock strapped to her back, a bushel of eggs in her arms, and
her mother cracking a Pampers whip over her head. <br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span class="xsmalltext"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">ISBN:</span></b></span><span class="xsmalltext"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
030-69102672 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ASIN:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> B004I1KS4U </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.5pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Where do you get your ideas for writing?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
never know where or when an idea will hit. Sometimes I wake up at night and try
to jot down the vision I’m having on the piece of paper I keep next to the bed.
The next morning it often takes me a while to figure out what those squiggles
and letters mean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">For
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hard
Head</i></b>, glorious Italy was the source of inspiration. One of the major
scenes in the book takes place in Siena at the wild horse race that is run
twice a summer called Il Palio. I had to write about it even though I hadn’t
yet been there. I did visit Siena eventually and was touched by its captivating
light and beauty. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is your favorite thing about your book?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hard
Head</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
has a special place in my heart. My late father was born in Calabria, where
much of the story takes place, and he infuses much of the story. The term “hard
head” is used to describe people from Calabria who are known for being
stubborn. My father always told tales of the hard headed Calabrese, and he was
fond of playing tunes on his head with his fist as a tribute to his Calabrian
ancestors. He also talked of the Ndragheta, a Calabrian that appears in the book.
I’m glad that I was able to get some of the spirit of my Dad onto the pages of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hard Head</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
and when did you begin writing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there
any one person who had a big influence on you or encouraged you to write?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve been writing since I was a child. When I was a
Girl Scout I wrote a play for the troop in which Little Red Riding Hood was
evil and tormented the good wolf. My brother and I used to make up stories and
then perform them for our parents. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is your writing schedule?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
atmosphere do you need to write? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m a night owl so I usually write late in the
afternoon and in the evening. I need quiet to write. No music, little
background noise. And I need quiet in my soul. When I’m going through really
stressful times, the words tend to slow down. I hate that. But I know that
they’ll start flowing again once things settle down. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What projects are you working on now, or plan
for the future?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m working on two things now. One is a women’s fiction about an
older woman who is healed through music. The second one is a steampunk novel
about a character that has to pay for the sins of his father. That one is just
starting out. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
kind of advice or tips to you have for someone who wants to write and be
published?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s essential that you read, and that you write.
Writing is a long journey and the more you write the better your craft becomes.
Seek out critics who will be honest. Be generous with others who are trying to
write and don’t be afraid to write about the painful stuff. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Are
there any other comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning
writers?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Read, read, read, and read some more. Submit to
small journals. Enter contests. Grow as a writer and submit to bigger journals.
Schedule writing time every day possible.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
do you do when you are not writing? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I love the beach and I often take long walks on the
boardwalk from Bradley Beach to Asbury Park where I pass by the Stone Pony and
Madame Marie’s. I love cooking and wine too. My husband and I love to travel
and try to visit unusual spots no matter where we go. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Include
anything else you may wish to add.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There’s a whole new world out there in publishing.
The e-revolution has been a boon to writers and no one should be afraid to take
a chance with it. Don’t give up! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
“Made It” moments have you experienced in life?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Besides those wonderful events of finding the love
of your life, and having a child, I can think of a couple of special times. The
first edition of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hard Head</b> made the
rounds of the major publishers and so did the first edition of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Speed of Dark</b>. The feedback I got was encouraging
and that made me feel that the struggle was worth it. Though there were no
takers, I self-published them and sometime later had the wondrous experience of
having them picked up by a publisher. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On another note, when I was practicing law years
ago, I was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States.
Being in that courtroom with those justices on the bench was thrilling. My son
and husband were there with me and I’ll never forget that day. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note from
Sylvia: <em><span>You can visit my
other blog at: </span></em></span></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></em></a><em><span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">that features a preview to my new
book, <b>Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-88507285058503339142012-05-15T01:30:00.000-04:002012-05-15T01:30:01.241-04:00History Buff and Mystery Writer, Coralie Hughes Jensen, Tells us About Her Latest Book, Winter Harvest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mJHNQrEhzRh5a08t_cuDTtCY7uAAEzks11j6ltWRmf3tQPNNMYNVO0QHMDPxJHs3m93JJZxsXUp4kLkxiK_oIddWSPHQa2nozr5qjMsBcZBhfjN-iNrJw7eTBI06ChL79yDPp5Hx7YE/s1600/Corky3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mJHNQrEhzRh5a08t_cuDTtCY7uAAEzks11j6ltWRmf3tQPNNMYNVO0QHMDPxJHs3m93JJZxsXUp4kLkxiK_oIddWSPHQa2nozr5qjMsBcZBhfjN-iNrJw7eTBI06ChL79yDPp5Hx7YE/s1600/Corky3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mJHNQrEhzRh5a08t_cuDTtCY7uAAEzks11j6ltWRmf3tQPNNMYNVO0QHMDPxJHs3m93JJZxsXUp4kLkxiK_oIddWSPHQa2nozr5qjMsBcZBhfjN-iNrJw7eTBI06ChL79yDPp5Hx7YE/s320/Corky3.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I have been fascinated since childhood by different
cultures when my parents explored their forebears as religious pioneers in the
Pacific Northwest and Alaska. I saw firsthand how spiritual beliefs have affected
these cultures.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Often traveling to far corners of the earth, I now research
my stories by living with the residents and visiting their churches. While I
did not have to drive far for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Winter
Harvest</i>, I did have to travel back in time. The author of three other books
about life and spirituality, I finally write about something closer to home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A native of California, I have lived in Oregon, New
Mexico, Texas, and the Netherlands. I now live with my husband, and golden
retriever in Massachusetts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tell
us about the genre of your work<span style="color: #17365d; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9RQvVFVOCJIW1bkEDOBu4G9IrBOIPThOGe083TtHM2XMaDYbaotmw90chkIiQUVOiQ-Ucr2qbLenEJAsJYKZ7mLvPYlTG2yDyy3auXftDpoqeU4GA7C3Jv5reea5Ueyyu9E8E2a9Runk/s1600/WinterHarvest2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9RQvVFVOCJIW1bkEDOBu4G9IrBOIPThOGe083TtHM2XMaDYbaotmw90chkIiQUVOiQ-Ucr2qbLenEJAsJYKZ7mLvPYlTG2yDyy3auXftDpoqeU4GA7C3Jv5reea5Ueyyu9E8E2a9Runk/s200/WinterHarvest2.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My latest
book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Winter Harvest</i>, is a historical
with romantic and suspense elements. It is set in a Shaker Village in the 1830s
in western Massachusetts. In the late 1700s, Mother Ann Lee opened several
communes to house followers of her religion, the “United Society of Believers
in Christ’s Second Appearing.” The religious community is noted for dancing as
a form of worship and celibacy. Hoping to keep the community going, they
brought in children indentured to them, offering an education in return for
work in the fields and eventual membership. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text1;">Why did you choose this genre?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #948a54; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 128;"> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I am a history buff. Growing up, I read many books,
dreaming about what it was like to live in another time. Yes, the historical
novel cannot be written quickly. Even though I think I already know about the
setting or the history, I still have to do more research than I intend. I have
to find out how people dress, eat, live, and worship. What I can look up on the
Internet has to be verified by at least three sites or a book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
are some of your books, stories that have been published?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Winter Harvest</i>, I have three other published
books. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">L’Oro Verde</i> is a mystery with
a nun detective living in Tuscan village. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lety’s
Gift</i> is a novel about a woman with a paranormal gift that becomes the first
female Anglican bishop of western Newfoundland. My first book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Passup Point</i>, is a quirky novel about a
small town in Labrador. I have three short stories in an anthology, and some of
my short stories are published in magazines.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Coralie,
tell us more about your books and where we can find them.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Winter
Harvest</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> 978-1-59414-889-7 is available on Amazon and barnesandnoble.com.
The ebook version is coming soon. Intending to return for her, the Hammonds
indenture their young daughter, Lucy, to the Shakers, a religious group of
celibate families living at Hancock in western Massachusetts, when a recession
forces them to move west. The girl finds a loving new family among the members,
but disturbing events lead to mayhem within the quiet and thoughtful sect. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIu28h_Py1AF6H9KwIApRpMPtI1SioMOLToSXfqCOyW3UQIBKLldw9TOCgG0nXaIDarpsp-2QkqhCqaCCdWlxaYKFzmZ_lzyQwS1Bd351yu0stHr1sNikD_JnQo6caZkNPMT7ozsOQJXY/s1600/CoverLOVsw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIu28h_Py1AF6H9KwIApRpMPtI1SioMOLToSXfqCOyW3UQIBKLldw9TOCgG0nXaIDarpsp-2QkqhCqaCCdWlxaYKFzmZ_lzyQwS1Bd351yu0stHr1sNikD_JnQo6caZkNPMT7ozsOQJXY/s200/CoverLOVsw.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">L’Oro
Verde</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> 978-0-9787318-7-8 originally under the pen name L.
E. Chamberlain, it is available on Amazon and barnesandnoble.com. It is now
published under Coralie Hughes Jensen on Kindle and Nook. When Bernardo’s body
is found inside the church in her village in Tuscany, Sister Angela
investigates, trying to understand the victim’s relationship to the powerful
families involved in the production of l’oro verde, the region’s famous olive
oil; its green gold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguk1KTwGcZeBdkHM6gbrjbx8aL3LYuWc6WyKbwtdRN4Yb6ST4CZrJZ7VSJweUbQoCfLr5Bh-lBAIl74jgsUDEKq62hZiLXZv7lG1xdeWTtCDcUdIzceDInqPuWPeVvDdwKaYMGwKNmcgM/s1600/LGcover1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguk1KTwGcZeBdkHM6gbrjbx8aL3LYuWc6WyKbwtdRN4Yb6ST4CZrJZ7VSJweUbQoCfLr5Bh-lBAIl74jgsUDEKq62hZiLXZv7lG1xdeWTtCDcUdIzceDInqPuWPeVvDdwKaYMGwKNmcgM/s200/LGcover1.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Lety’s Gift</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
ISBN# 978-0-9787318-0-9 is available on Amazon and barnesandnoble.com and on Kindle
and Nook. Born with a gift, Sophie Hawkins is about to be consecrated the first
woman Anglican bishop in Newfoundland’s Eastern Diocese and stops to relate her
story to university students. She was born illegitimate in a poor fishing
village in the 50s. After her mother’s death, the young child was left to be
raised by a cruel grandmother, a sexually abusive minister, and the sadistic
overseers of a prison-like orphanage, leading her to a breakdown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl-osR9cmN8tb48Bj8WfMqfMhAanrA7ylnfZvtpyZiJaxqcQ1Y27v0Mh_j9D94Xjg2P_8O0mdst3TFBM553dUFVZzEFjSANgAgN4ikR1mR4AlUmSJ1D32ZAYSj-9T8No11O4ZPlzF1sBA/s1600/PPcover2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl-osR9cmN8tb48Bj8WfMqfMhAanrA7ylnfZvtpyZiJaxqcQ1Y27v0Mh_j9D94Xjg2P_8O0mdst3TFBM553dUFVZzEFjSANgAgN4ikR1mR4AlUmSJ1D32ZAYSj-9T8No11O4ZPlzF1sBA/s200/PPcover2.jpg" width="135" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Passup
Point</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> ISBN# 978-0-9787318-1-6 originally under the alias is
available on barnsandnoble.com and is coming soon to Kindle and Nook. Jonah
Devlin arrives in an isolated fishing village in Labrador to serve as pastor of
an abandoned community church. He meets Gabrielle Pye, a young waitress
struggling to raise her two younger brothers in the depressed economy of
maritime Canada.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How
do you come up with the names of places and characters in your books?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do lots of
research. If part of the novel doesn’t involve real names and places, I hunt
for location names on maps and make up similar ones. For people, I look up
lists of censuses or cemetery records for the location and time the book takes
place.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #948a54; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How
did you develop the character of your protagonist in this book?</span></b><span style="color: #948a54; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love to
give my protagonist a personality. For my female protagonists, I usually make
them observant first and develop them by making them stronger and able to face
terrible obstacles. The possible love interests for my protagonists are strong
but intelligent and caring men. I have one manuscript for a mystery that is in
the male protagonist’s point of view. He is a rogue and doesn’t deserve the
interest of women with whom he connects, but women fall for him because he’s
sympathetic and a brilliant detective.</span></span><span class="text2"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">What about an antagonist…is there a unique “bad guy”
or a recurring nemesis of any kind</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">?</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
do have antagonists. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Winter Harvest</i>,
the antagonist is the one who causes a death inside the community. In my
worlds, most antagonists cannot help what they do. Most have been hurt somehow.
Characters in my books are complex. It makes it more difficult for the
protagonist to want revenge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What’s
your favorite thing about your book?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #948a54; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Winter Harvest</i>, it is Lucy’s decision whether or not to pledge to
the community when she turns eighteen. Forces pull her in both directions. She
is grateful to the community that raised her but discovers advantages to living
among the outsiders too.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How
is writing in the genre you write, different than other genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Few of us
understand different cultures that existed before we did. If people do know
enough to write about others 60 or more years earlier, they probably studied
them for years. Historicals require research. Writers of this genre have to
love reading nonfiction books detailing life and events from the past. The
authors have to be detectives that want to check out every fact about the time,
including food, clothing, lovemaking, childrearing, etc. before the manuscript
goes out the door because skipping over the details makes the historical novel
much less interesting to the historical reader.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
and when did you begin writing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote
stories and poetry all through elementary and high school but had little
encouragement to continue until after I worked and lived in the Netherlands. On
my return I began my first novel. It was never published, but I kept writing. I
am on my tenth novel so far. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is your writing schedule?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For at least
an hour, I try to write, either fiction or nonfiction—I do freelance—every
morning. Much of the day is spent planning what I am going to write the next
day and reading novels and research books. I cannot emphasize how reading
nonfiction—including news stories—gives me ideas for future novels. Reading
other novels gives me format ideas, including creative ways to use POV, jumps
in time, and how these tools affect the story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
projects are you working on now, or plan for the future? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I am currently trying
to sell two manuscripts, one a historical set in Tudor England and another, a
mystery, set in New Zealand. I stayed in New Zealand a few years ago to do
research for the mystery and went to England to interview Anglicans for the
historical. I have also started a new novel. It has a contemporary setting with
flashbacks to WWII France. I hope to make it back to France again soon but have
visited the places I am including in my books several times already.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
kind of advice or tips do you have for someone who wants to write and get
published?<span style="color: #948a54; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 128;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Get into a local writing group. I go to Sisters in
Crime meetings. I also started attending the New England and Rhode Island
Romance Writers groups a few years ago and am currently on the board of the New
England RWA. They give workshops full of writing tips—even if you are not a
romance writer—and opportunities to meet agents and editors. I am also 2012 chairman
of the agents and editors for their annual conference. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Are
there any other comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning
writers?<span style="color: #948a54; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 128;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Read about your genre and know your grammar. If you
want an agent or editor to even look at your manuscript, you have to present it
with as few errors as possible. While proofreading seems difficult and a long
process at first, you can actually train your brain so that it gets faster and
easier editing later manuscripts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
do you do when you are not writing?<span style="color: #948a54; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I walk my dog. I administer communion to shut-ins,
and take art classes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
“Made It” moments have you experienced in life<span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;">?</span></span></b><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Anytime I get published, I feel I have made it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note from
Sylvia: <em><span>You can visit my
other blog at: </span></em></span></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></em></a><em><span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">that features a preview to my new
book, <b>Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-43052097286600095982012-05-12T01:30:00.000-04:002012-05-12T01:30:01.861-04:00Christian Author, Kay Baker, Debuts Her First Book, Sentenced to Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDetk9lLAVNs2fej7xJSOQHAtHQ5wZQu5ylWVhWdApwC7qR2lnFGLr9sKKcizVnUR0OFC7ZxEaGN0SOaxBfHSMTCx6XCO-t946JHb02qvC7mtE2PbJEEEsusBRvkmh4tDIUQQdgFywPYc/s1600/Kay-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDetk9lLAVNs2fej7xJSOQHAtHQ5wZQu5ylWVhWdApwC7qR2lnFGLr9sKKcizVnUR0OFC7ZxEaGN0SOaxBfHSMTCx6XCO-t946JHb02qvC7mtE2PbJEEEsusBRvkmh4tDIUQQdgFywPYc/s1600/Kay-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDetk9lLAVNs2fej7xJSOQHAtHQ5wZQu5ylWVhWdApwC7qR2lnFGLr9sKKcizVnUR0OFC7ZxEaGN0SOaxBfHSMTCx6XCO-t946JHb02qvC7mtE2PbJEEEsusBRvkmh4tDIUQQdgFywPYc/s320/Kay-1.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Author Kay Baker
currently resides in Northern California and worships at Abundant Life Fellowship
church, a non-denominational Pentecostal church. She was widowed in 1999 after
34 years of marriage. She has five children and eight grandchildren.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">She was incarcerated in
the early 1990s for a white-collar crime. During her incarceration she went
through a life-changing experience when she became a born-again Christian,
received the Lord Jesus into her heart and life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many say that inmates go through “jail-house
religion” and once they are free they go back to their old ways. However, for
Kay Baker, from the day she received her salvation, she never turned back,
never looked back to her life before she found Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the day of her salvation she has
dedicated her life to do what God has called all Christians to do- live a life
of integrity, a life trusting in God, a life following the example of
Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Kay Baker loves to
write and has written articles, essays and editorials from a very young age.
She has published her first book “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sentenced
to Life</i>” which is based on a true story, her own life story. She writes
about ordinary people who find salvation through extraordinary circumstances. God
brought her from a very long way and through her book she wants to encourage
her readers and give them new hope in Jesus. She speaks to small groups on
issues which motivate and encourage her audience, that only though living a
life with Christ can one find peace and love in <a href="" name="_GoBack"></a>these
very troublesome times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tell
us about the genre of your work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My book and books to come will be Christian fiction
based on true life stories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
did you choose this genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I chose this genre
because I have personally gone through a traumatic situation in my life. Only
through my trust and faith in God was I able to survive and make it through the
adversities I faced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through my book(s)
and through my writings I want to encourage those who have been and are going
through traumatic circumstances in their life that no matter what situation
they are going through God will give them the strength and courage to make it
through them all <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How
is writing in the genre you write, different than other genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Writing in this genre
allows me to write from my heart and, in the case of my first book, from
personal experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only in this genre,
Christian fiction, can I reach those who need encouragement, those who have
lost hope and tell them about Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
are some of your books, stories that have been published?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizGG_keG4jRHsdttP_JRNQlzLTevUNuNpc8W3TU9oEhoyVU1xRSVS5KRIcz_NfH0Wo34PLKi0JzsRJhPe4HUAW8ry6lKqlyo0GUdtKua5Gf77XgeJyuriuDCUvqouc0MsCdnZlj74A_Kc/s1600/final+cover+design+(1280x967).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizGG_keG4jRHsdttP_JRNQlzLTevUNuNpc8W3TU9oEhoyVU1xRSVS5KRIcz_NfH0Wo34PLKi0JzsRJhPe4HUAW8ry6lKqlyo0GUdtKua5Gf77XgeJyuriuDCUvqouc0MsCdnZlj74A_Kc/s320/final+cover+design+(1280x967).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I have only book that has been published so far—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sentenced to Life</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Can
you tell us more about your book?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Sentenced
to Life</span></u></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This book is a true life experience written in
fiction form.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">ISBN:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>978-61739-091-3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It was released on March 22, 2011 by Barnes and
Noble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It
is available at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://kaybaker.tateauthor.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue;">http://kaybaker.tateauthor.com</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(my website)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue;">www.barnesandnoble.com</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue;">www.amazon.com</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Synopsis:</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Kathy Williams looked every bit the part of the
successful career woman. At a time when women were just emerging into
high-profile jobs, she had it all—an impressive title, a wonderful husband,
beautiful children, a good home. But it was all just a façade. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In reality, her salary wasn't enough to maintain her
family's comfortable lifestyle, and they had to keep up with the Joneses, after
all. As director of investment banking for AMA Global Investments in Manhattan,
New York, she had access to clients' funds, what amounted to millions of
dollars. Opportunity was in her hands; the door was wide open for financial
gain. She gave in to temptation, to the devil's whisperings. Just a few dollars
won't hurt. They won't even notice. They have millions of dollars in their
account. They don't even know what to do with their money. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Taking a little here and a little there and moving
some numbers around, Kathy was able to pad her own salary. But it wasn't long
before she was caught and sentenced to eleven years in prison. Realizing how
far she had fallen from grace, Kathy turned to Christ, asking forgiveness for
her sins. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Sentenced to Life is Kathy's story of how she fell
into temptation but was able to overcome challenges in her life and ultimately
find peace and victory over her own lustful desires and misguided actions
through a close relationship with Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Where
do you get your ideas for writing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My book(s) are all
based on true life experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I choose
my main characters from people who have gone through traumatic experiences and
have been able to overcome their circumstances through faith and trust in
Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is your favorite thing about your book?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My favorite thing about
my book that has already been published and the one I have just finished
writing is that it is the story that ordinary people can relate to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all have heard of the stories of affluent
people who have overcome addictions but these are people, who are rich and
famous, have the financial resources to get “help” for their problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are people who the ordinary, everyday
working man cannot relate to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My book(s)
tell a different story, a story of overcoming through a life with Christ, a
story which brings hope and encouragement to the ordinary person whether they
are rich or poor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
and when did you begin writing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there
any one person who had a big influence on you or encouraged you to write? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I have always loved
writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started writing articles,
essays, editorials from a very young age. I started writing my book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sentenced to Life</i>, in early 2009. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote this book as an evangelizing tool to
bring lost souls to Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the
commands that Jesus gave all Christians is to spread the Word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found that I could do a better job of
spreading the Word by using my God-given gift of writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew that people could relate more to a
story based on real life experiences rather than one that was pure
fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is categorized as fiction
because I do change the names and settings of the book to protect the privacy
of the characters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There is really no one
person who has been a big influence in my writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What has been a big influence in my life,
which I want to share with others, is my own salvation and my love and faith in
Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is your writing schedule?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What atmosphere
do you need to write? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I submit articles for
publication once a month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not need
a specific atmosphere to write.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sometimes in the middle of the night a thought will come to me. I have a
note pad on my night table and jot down these thoughts when they come to
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Often times I write in cafes where
there are people constantly moving around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That kind of ambiance makes it easy for me to write because my writings
are about real life people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
projects are you working on now, or plan for the future?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The book I just
finished writing, which I need to edit and then submit to my publisher, is
about a woman who had gone through serious domestic violence and abuse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My next project is about a woman who had been
constantly raped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have already
interviewed my subject and just have to create the setting for the story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
kind of advice or tips do you have for someone who wants to write and be
published?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Everyone has their own
style of writing. Find your style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do
not copy someone else’s style. Everyone’s dream is to write a bestseller.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be prepared to promote your book after it is
written and published.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Are
there any other comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning
writers?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Writing is the easy part, promoting is the more
difficult part of being an author/writer and takes a lot of time and patience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
do you do when you are not writing? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I am a member of several ministries at my church. I
spend a lot of time doing volunteer work. I give motivational, encouraging
talks to small groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love reading,
mostly fiction. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Include
anything else you may wish to add.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">To be a good writer one has to have a passion for
what he is writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without that passion
words will just be words, without meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The story will not flow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
“Made It” moments have you experienced in life?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It is very gratifying
personally and spiritually when I hear that someone has been saved or led to
Christ through reading my book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is in
these times that I know that I have not written in vain, that my efforts have
brought someone out of a life of negative to a life of positive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The very first time I
had this kind of “Made It” moment was when a friend’s husband, who was in
county jail, read my book and passed it on to others in the jail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got the news that 3 people received Christ
because they read my book. It is very humbling that God used my book to bring
these 3 people to Him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note from
Sylvia: <em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">You can visit my other blog
at: </span></em></span></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></em></a><em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">that features a preview to my new book, <b>Traveling
a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-88294384488152420092012-05-09T01:30:00.000-04:002012-05-09T01:30:02.994-04:00Behind the Scenes with, John Brooke, the Creator of the Inspector Aliette Novelle Series<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglO-jUCytZ5syxC4FZzTZuv1oyxQlnLCZvTVO4l2lsnVh0eUTfX2j3v4t6uw7nuybNU1CCILkxGVtYpANPRRxER69g5og64MuoZwUfObSkjyitYH0fRGCiBpDdHaPT5Kyk9mrLrKckZ30/s1600/John+Brooke+summer+in+the+Midi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglO-jUCytZ5syxC4FZzTZuv1oyxQlnLCZvTVO4l2lsnVh0eUTfX2j3v4t6uw7nuybNU1CCILkxGVtYpANPRRxER69g5og64MuoZwUfObSkjyitYH0fRGCiBpDdHaPT5Kyk9mrLrKckZ30/s320/John+Brooke+summer+in+the+Midi.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">John Brooke lives in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Montreal</st1:place></st1:city>. He is the creator of the Inspector
Aliette Nouvelle series of literary mysteries set in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>. The most recent is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stifling Folds of Love</i>. Brooke has won Canada's Journey Prize for his short story "The Finer Points of Apples", and he won a CBC-Quebec short fiction prize for <em>The Death of PJ Barfard</em>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tell
us about the genre of your work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My primary focus these days is a series literary
mysteries featuring a French policewoman called Inspector Aliette Nouvelle.
I’ve just published the third, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stifling
Folds of Love</i>. I am working on the fourth. I’m not sure where the term
‘literary mystery’ comes from. A writer? Or a book marketer? I suppose it’s
meant to separate the ‘thriller’, which is mainly powered by plot and action,
from an approach that moves at a more measured pace and allows for a more
psychologically complex cast of characters. When you think about it, the
Sherlock Holmes stories were literary mysteries; the ‘thriller’ came later, but
the term took over a corner of the bookstore nonetheless. I get worried when someone
pegs my books as thrillers. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
did you choose this genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I chose this genre because the first story I ever
attempted was a police story. I was working in the film business in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Montreal</st1:place></st1:city>. Writing mystery
novels had never occurred. I happened to notice a brief item in one of the
French language dailies - a wire service story from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>: Jacques Mesrine, Public
Enemy Number One, had been tracked down and arrested north of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Paris</st1:place></st1:city>. The cop leading the operation was a
woman. What struck me were two things. One: that <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region> would have such a figure as
a Public Enemy Number One. This was the mid-80’s. I thought Public Enemies had
disappeared into 40’s film lore. I wondered what kind of man filled this
anachronistic role in modern <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
And two: that it was a female cop who’d caught him. I was fascinated by the
idea of an emerging feminine hero tracking down an outmoded ‘macho’ hero, and
taking the hero mantle for herself. Being a former Lit major, I had to notice
the mythic subtext framing that brief news story and it inspired me to write. The
context was police and crime. So without really knowing it, I began to write a
literary mystery: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Voice of Aliette
Nouvelle</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
are some of your books, stories that have been published? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I have published four books of fiction and a few
short stories. I have been fortunate to win prizes for my two of my short
stories. My books are:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM_RMDp_EOb46xsj-LEAYQOHNO2zMEn4sq1xw0Sstx8WuRUq4q4PEkIQIDsDVv1ZP9Ug3hrKZTnTHFZNhzUX65YaE380MOvLELhrUZgRc1xJmtgSYh1VhKCPp7ThyzjbhZbGGjkKQNIrA/s1600/Aliette+colour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM_RMDp_EOb46xsj-LEAYQOHNO2zMEn4sq1xw0Sstx8WuRUq4q4PEkIQIDsDVv1ZP9Ug3hrKZTnTHFZNhzUX65YaE380MOvLELhrUZgRc1xJmtgSYh1VhKCPp7ThyzjbhZbGGjkKQNIrA/s200/Aliette+colour.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Voice of Aliette Nouvelle</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> (ISBN 0-92183365-2) <span class="fbphotocaptiontext">Aliette tracks a former Public Enemy Number One - who
ought to be long gone, but can’t quite disappear into history. Mutual
attraction is a mutual mystery.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="fbphotocaptiontext"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">All Pure Souls</span></i></b></span><span class="fbphotocaptiontext"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> (ISBN 0-921833-80-6) Inspector Nouvelle
uncovers a Goddess cult behind the murder of an up-market Marilyn Monroe ‘lookalike’
prostitute<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzIInc7S5oOPBJDpi0MJpU9yidqnjlQN8cTv7UixBAeZmo9LciUb7im8ShLWhQeXduak2w-YMHPYQklqPVIOGH7Kkqb9GicPl5DTW8P7aMK-1meqtn4qFZZlewshVXWe_2Huf9OxwLpf8/s1600/All_Pure_Souls-72dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzIInc7S5oOPBJDpi0MJpU9yidqnjlQN8cTv7UixBAeZmo9LciUb7im8ShLWhQeXduak2w-YMHPYQklqPVIOGH7Kkqb9GicPl5DTW8P7aMK-1meqtn4qFZZlewshVXWe_2Huf9OxwLpf8/s200/All_Pure_Souls-72dpi.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="fbphotocaptiontext"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Stifling Folds of Love</span></i></b></span><span class="fbphotocaptiontext"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> (ISBN 978-1-897109-57-1) Celebrity
gossip clouds the inspector’s love life – but the city’s ‘most eligible’ lovers
are dying and it’s her job to find out why.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-49VNAineps8r61Co-myIixN-qe68NK4bBruP6Aq2jFv4Ff-TDhDn3_ZFJgh6CVEsfOAYafyv-IW_zOz-KC9XVcB5jWhRIGkca9iu9r7DpW2CcFHbiBNhVnUOT1QtMYhnTArf9Zj7WIk/s1600/LastDays.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-49VNAineps8r61Co-myIixN-qe68NK4bBruP6Aq2jFv4Ff-TDhDn3_ZFJgh6CVEsfOAYafyv-IW_zOz-KC9XVcB5jWhRIGkca9iu9r7DpW2CcFHbiBNhVnUOT1QtMYhnTArf9Zj7WIk/s200/LastDays.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="fbphotocaptiontext"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Last Days of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Montreal</st1:place></st1:city></span></i></b></span><span class="fbphotocaptiontext"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> (ISBN 0-921833-91-1) This a departure
from the Aliette Nouvelle project. The book, based loosely on my own
experiences and feelings, is about life in a small <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Montreal</st1:place></st1:city> neighborhood during the politically
difficult times surrounding the 1998 Quebec Referendum on Sovereignty.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="fbphotocaptiontext"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">All my books are
published by Signature Editions, based in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Winnipeg</st1:place></st1:city>.
They can purchased online in both paper and eBook format… The latest is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stifling Folds of Love</i>, which makes the
Aliette series a trilogy. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuiWYtOuHgQZwdNB2j1g26NkdwBhkteHfwePgnMHjZFldMGrMu37mHa4AP32xg8WQlH1_AOCQ2KRYhgk4jjqbPkBZ12aOpG4hg7QpQ3qgPL7nX6CIfL_3Dd9ldGnOoipvtQ1-yuspHzM/s1600/Stifling_Folds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuiWYtOuHgQZwdNB2j1g26NkdwBhkteHfwePgnMHjZFldMGrMu37mHa4AP32xg8WQlH1_AOCQ2KRYhgk4jjqbPkBZ12aOpG4hg7QpQ3qgPL7nX6CIfL_3Dd9ldGnOoipvtQ1-yuspHzM/s200/Stifling_Folds.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="fbphotocaptiontext"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My website provides
links to purchase and/or to find out more. </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.aliette.ca/"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.aliette.ca</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">How do you come up with the names of
places and characters in your books? </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The genesis of a French inspector’s name: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Aliette</b> - Borrowed from a little girl
who causes trouble in a Luis Buñuel film,<span class="st"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Le Fantôme de la Liberté</i></span>. (The Ghost of Freedom.) <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nouvelle</b> - New, in the feminine. I’ve
been told it’s not a real French name – you wouldn’t find any Nouvelles in a
French phonebook. I’ve never looked. (There are none in the <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Montreal</st1:place></st1:city> directory.) But I’m not writing
reality, I’m writing a story. I situated her in a border city on the <st1:place w:st="on">Rhine</st1:place>, where <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region> shares space with <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Switzerland</st1:place></st1:country-region>. I
liked the idea of her being on the edge of literal boundaries, and crossing
metaphorical boundaries as she goes about her investigations. The city is never
named.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">For the rest of the characters in the series, I have
no method in selecting names. I try to have fun finding French names that sound
good to me. They may be a little corny. They may carry a bit of symbolic weight
- like Aliette does. I hope not it’s too obvious. The best names will make me
laugh – my own private French joke derived from the French side of my life.
Claude Néon. J-P Blismes, Tommi Bonneau, <st1:place w:st="on">Pearl</st1:place>
Serein, Flossie Orain, Hermenegilde Dupras, Ondine and Georgette Duguay…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Last Days
of Montreal</i>, ‘Last Days’ is the only known name of the central character. The
sign on the back of his electric wheelchair is both a warning and a prophecy to
a city in danger of losing its unique identity to the crass demands of politics
– and the people who know him simply call him ‘Last Days.’ It seemed a perfect
name for a beer-soaked Don Quixote type travelling through a damaged world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How
did you develop the character of your protagonist in your books? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">You
develop any character by putting them into a situation that requires both
action and self-reflection – the self-knowledge gained as situation unfolds is deeper
‘character’. Writing a detective series provides endless opportunity to explore
trenchant aspects of a central character and those surrounding her. I’ve tried
to build the Aliette Nouvelle stories around underlying themes. As I mentioned,
the theme behind the plot in the first book is the hero’s identity – how a
‘new’<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Aliette wrests the hero mantle
from a tired, obsolete man. In the second book it’s Aliette’s spiritual
relationship to the world she lives in: the context is a murder within a goddess
cult; our hero’s sense of what she ‘believes’ is tested as she solves the
crime. In the third book, murders occur within the context of celebrity gossip
and spectacularly public love. Aliette works through it while trying to protect
the naturally private area of her own heart that wants to keep love quiet… So
in all three books you have a hero who faces challenges to essential parts of
her character. We hope she comes out ahead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="text2"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What about an
antagonist…is there a unique “bad guy” or a recurring nemesis of any kind?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In the Inspector Aliette Nouvelle series the ‘bad
guys’ change from one story to the next. In each, they represent the force that
challenges a part of Aliette’s character and the values defining it. The
recurring elements in the series are the people she works with. By design, they
are mostly men. Not necessarily ‘bad’ men, but men whose point of view will
usually differ from Aliette’s. In that sense, you could say a ‘man’s world – or
the ‘male perspective’ - is the recurring nemesis this female investigator
comes up against time and again. Which I hope gives Aliette a certain
contemporary universality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What’s
your favorite thing about your books?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If you are asking what is my favorite thing about my
books as finished products, that’s a hard question because I don’t read them as
a consumer of crime fiction. What’s more, readers I meet often express a
completely different sense of what I’ve written from what I intended. (One good
reason why a writer – or any artist – should just work to please him/herself.) But
to answer your question, I will say my favorite thing is a playful quality,
something that makes my mystery books a bit more like a ‘tale’ and a little
less like a slice of life from the literal world. Even when the context is
tragic, or sometimes violent, that is what I aim for. It’s not ‘absurd’ –
Aliette is a serious woman. It’s just not ‘hard nosed’… Whimsy? A cartoonish
tinge? It’s difficult to define categorically. Whether I succeed or not, only a
reader can tell.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As for the writing process, my favorite thing is the
enjoyment of finishing. There is so much uncertainty in the first stages of
writing a book - first in finding the story line, and then in making it work.
It can get very uncomfortable in terms of confidence and even interest. (How
many times have I heard someone say they abandoned a writing project because
they grew ‘bored’ with it?) It can last a year, or longer. That’s a test of
will and patience, and ultimately imagination - a long slow battle with the
Muse. When I come out the other end feeling I’ve got something solid, the
finishing stage is something to be enjoyed. A book may be three hundred pages
long, but it can still be just as elegant and precise in design and detail as a
sonnet. And the rhythm can feel like a song. Many readers will never even
notice. But creating that final level of quality is highly pleasurable. Something
definitely worth working for.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How
is writing in the genre you write, different than other genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The main difference between writing a police series
and ‘one-off’ novels or short stories is the continuity – the world you begin
to create. This both makes you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">want</i>
to go further and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">helps</i> you go
further, because one story always opens a door to a possible next, and the
familiarity with the territory and main character makes starting the next
slightly less daunting. Although you can certainly do this with novels and
short stories. Faulkner’s novels unfolding in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Yoknapatawpha</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype></st1:place>.
Runyon’s stories set in the Prohibition era <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:city> underworld. My book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Last Days of Montreal</i> is not quite a
novel; strictly speaking, it is a collection of ‘linked stories’ featuring
recurring characters, albeit in different roles – sometimes central, other
times peripheral. And all those stories are set within the same
well-established cityscape.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
and when did you begin writing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I began writing in my forties. I am sixty now. I
have always worked on the so-called creative side. I was in the film business,
working as an editor, also producing some short films of my own. When I tumbled
across the idea for the first Inspector Aliette Nouvelle story, my first
attempt at that was in fact a film script. I could not sell the finished
script, but I still liked the story so I began to transpose it into a book. I’m
not sure I like the word ‘novelize’ but I suppose that’s what I was attempting.
In any case, I had the story already there in front of me (which helped!) – the
goal was to make it deeper, more psychological, and to turn images (film
scenes) into viable prose. I also began writing short stories about the life
here in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Montreal</st1:place></st1:city>
during the politically crazy years of the Referendum. No one taught me - no
Creative Writing course. It’s interesting how, when you feel the need to
express something, you can find a way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is your writing schedule?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I try to adhere to a Protestant-work-ethic
nine-to-five writing schedule (seven-to-four is more accurate) with time off in
the afternoon for exercise and maybe a run. Perhaps a bit more work in the
evening if the energy is good. I rarely work on Saturday. I work a little but
not much on Sunday, just enough to get me ready to go again on Monday. If I
receive a contract for some corporate writing or translation, that gets
priority - bread and butter is a necessity. Over the course of a year the
portioning of free writing time to business writing time is pretty even, and I
manage to move my fiction projects forward according to plan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What projects are you working on now, or plan
for the future?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am currently working on a fourth Inspector Aliette Nouvelle
mystery, which, all things being equal, will be published next autumn. And I am
planning a fifth. I have a novel about fatherhood built around a golf game that
I keep trying to perfect. And I have anti-war story I’m working on. But for now
I am focused on giving Aliette the market presence that a five-book series (I
hope) will bring.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
kind of advice or tips to you have for someone who wants to write (especially mystery)?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">To would-be writers in general I say: learn to enjoy
it for itself. The market may or may not find you (or like you!), but you and
your stories may have to co-exist for a long time. Even the people closest to
your life won’t care much about your writing, beyond polite words. So
understand what you’re getting into and find a way to love it, quietly but strongly,
and over the long term… For anybody contemplating writing a mystery, my advice
would be to keep it close to home. That may sound strange coming from an Anglo
boy from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Toronto</st1:place></st1:city>
whose detective is a woman in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
But even if your setting is Mars, all mysteries are mainly about the cop, not
the crime, not the bad guy; and you the writer are the soul of the cop – it all
goes through your sensibility, your values, your take on the things occurring
in the world. So start from there. Though you may revere the tough voice of
Philip Marlowe or Harry Bosch’s edgy discomfort or the neurotic strength of
Harry Hole, they belong to someone else. Your cop is you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Are
there any other comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning
writers?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Two things: Take a hint from film and TV – if you
can’t see the story for all the prose, try writing it out as a series of present-tense
‘scenes’. Dialogue. One or two sentences laying out setting and action. This
may help you get the story down from A to Z. Then you can go back to perfecting
the art of prose. And: Be a mimic. We all start by copying someone else –
typically, someone we admire. Go for it. Mimic the voice and style of the
writer you admire most - it will help you get inside your story. But there
comes a point when you have to say ‘thanks, old friend’ and let your own voice
take over. That can be a bit scary, but it has to happen. You have to be aware
that it’s happening, and let it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
do you do when you are not writing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I play hockey in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Jarry</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Park</st1:placetype></st1:place>,
ten minutes from my house, on ice skates in winter, roller blades in summer.
I’m sixty and I love it, but I know I am getting close to my body’s limit. I
also enjoy golf when I visit my parents in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ontario</st1:place></st1:state>, and riding my bike through the
valleys of the St. Chinian wine district in the <st1:place w:st="on">Midi</st1:place>
region of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>
when we visit Annie’s family. I do my tai-chi, jog and otherwise try to stay
fit - I believe it helps when you’re sitting in front of that empty
page/screen. Our life in this part of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Montreal</st1:place></st1:city>
is such that can we walk almost everywhere we need to go. Or ride our bikes. I
read. I listen to music. I know it’s futile, but I root for the Toronto Maple
Leafs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
“Made It” moments have you experienced in life?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">To be honest, I’m not sure what a ‘Made It’ moment
is any more – if I ever knew. I used to think it was finding out I’d won a
literary prize, which has happened more than once – but that was false signal.
Real ‘Made It’ moments happen when I’m running in the park and one tiny
sentence appears in my head that knits an idea together perfectly. I remember
that happening when I was writing the story that won the big literary prize
that was supposed to change my life…When my first novel was published and I
received my box of ‘author’s copies’ and took one out and held it in my hands,
I wept, very privately. But even that was not a ‘Made It’ moment. As with my
prize-winning short story, the moment happened long before the box of finished
books arrived… I was trying to write that first book but I needed something more
solid to use as a resource. Annie, the French woman I live with, only had a
vague idea what I was up to. (It’s the language difference – especially in the
early stages.) Still, it was Annie who happened to go into a used book store in
rue <st1:place w:st="on">St. Hubert</st1:place> and come home with a copy of
the out-of-print memoir that became both the central motif and primary source
of research for my first mystery. Receiving <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i>
book from the woman I love on a Saturday afternoon was a ‘Made It’ moment, but
I had no idea. I don’t think we ever really do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note from
Sylvia: <em><span>You can visit my
other blog at: </span></em></span></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="color: blue;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></span></em></a><em><span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">that features a preview to my new
book, <b>Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-77534797398836619742012-05-05T01:30:00.000-04:002012-05-05T01:30:02.602-04:00Chatting with Delin Colon about her book, Rasputin and The Jews: A Reversal of History<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8aMidvEXfHMRl0YQMvWt7atumyF0CcnInzRbHx65ODKd140EUXH55rhSzHtOo8QVZOOjOIKEwvnYhu6tJmuWrt975qEkQNF7eP7G7IOiSVakgRHFVu1sxMiRhP_icLoza2DgPL1AujTk/s1600/Delin+B&W+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8aMidvEXfHMRl0YQMvWt7atumyF0CcnInzRbHx65ODKd140EUXH55rhSzHtOo8QVZOOjOIKEwvnYhu6tJmuWrt975qEkQNF7eP7G7IOiSVakgRHFVu1sxMiRhP_icLoza2DgPL1AujTk/s320/Delin+B&W+(2).jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hello! My name is Delin Colón. Born exactly halfway
through the 20<sup>th</sup> century, I grew up in a small artists’ colony,
Roosevelt, NJ, just an hour from New York City. That atmosphere certainly
imbued me with an appreciation of the arts. I began writing poems and short
stories at the age of 8, and throughout my secondary and university schooling,
contributed to and edited various literary magazines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My undergraduate work was in French; my
graduate work was in Clinical Psychology. I’ve worked as a researcher,
technical writer, artists’ model, proofreader, waitress, Playboy bunny,
psychiatric counselor and owner of a construction company, as well as an agency
that matched writers with clients.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My philosophy about places I’ve never been is that
you can’t really get to know them until you’ve lived there and met the people.
As a result, I’ve lived in New Jersey, Maryland, D.C., Florida, Montreal,
northern and southern California (San Diego and Eureka), and now coastal
Washington state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After 45 years of
moving around, I think it’s out of my system and I’ll stay put here in the Pacific
Northwest. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Looking back at my life so far, there are certain
ironies that strike me, contrasting my early flower child days with my current
middle age. I went from taking acid to taking antacid, an analogy that pretty
much sums it up.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tell
us about the genre of your work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve always loved doing research and seem to be
obsessed with historical research, especially concerning Jewish history.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
did you choose this genre?</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQsB77WRLQ37RxpUCiMNJnwdYicqA0H-AC1XlVDsEO20fa7EFFijINdhS0j3h7pgACZoTMk5TdJAbE9v0v4HIwNWW_oRklbPct2-r5AJd76tTQUDrHT4gjQp_nARcNjJBVFbx0ZYRUQhA/s1600/RasputinLarge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQsB77WRLQ37RxpUCiMNJnwdYicqA0H-AC1XlVDsEO20fa7EFFijINdhS0j3h7pgACZoTMk5TdJAbE9v0v4HIwNWW_oRklbPct2-r5AJd76tTQUDrHT4gjQp_nARcNjJBVFbx0ZYRUQhA/s320/RasputinLarge.jpg" width="283" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I think the genre chose me, rather than the other
way around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While it’s widely known that
Jews have, throughout history, been scapegoated, their plight tends to fall
between the cracks in historical accounts. For example, in my book, “Rasputin
and The Jews: A Reversal of History”, before discussing Rasputin’s aid to Jews,
I detail the oppressive conditions of Jews in Tsarist Russia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Generally, histories and stories concerning
the era of the last Tsar discuss the opulence of the aristocracy, the brutality
of the murder of the royal family, and the Revolution. But, few ever note the
tsarist regime’s brutal treatment and slaughter of entire populations of Jews.
The imprisonment and murder of the Tsar’s family, in the end, was no different
than what vast numbers of Jews suffered under Romanov rule, for centuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, there was a difference: generally, Jews
were tortured before being murdered. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How
is writing in the genre you write, different than other genre?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The wonderful part of writing historical non-fiction
is that the characters and plot already exist. There is nothing to fabricate.
The research is the most time consuming aspect, but if you have a love for this
kind of detective work, as I do, it’s a pleasurable and inspiring pastime. Once
the research information is structured and organized, the work practically
writes itself. I have to say that I have the utmost admiration for fiction
writers (a genre I have attempted), who have to start from scratch, creating
the characters and plot out of thin air.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
are some of your books, stories that have been published?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Rasputin and
The Jews: A Reversal of History” – ISBN <span style="background: white; color: black;">978-1461027751 is on Amazon, in both paperback and Kindle: </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1461027756"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1461027756</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s also at Barnes & Noble, both in paperback
and Nook: <a href="http://bit.ly/wC5OcR"><span style="color: blue;">http://bit.ly/wC5OcR</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and can be ordered at any other bookstore.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf3xL7xUc7ObziROlgxi5mAMrWuiQGaC5g77V5gY-OgzJkEjeYZ1EEh_E3jPlEvye990yARLyGNt6tEnO0mguNBqR6t4q_j1nOebgHj_SueWDrcTQZgcHaku7Na-G1T8k8yUW1qlRXyOw/s1600/RJDrkBkCvr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf3xL7xUc7ObziROlgxi5mAMrWuiQGaC5g77V5gY-OgzJkEjeYZ1EEh_E3jPlEvye990yARLyGNt6tEnO0mguNBqR6t4q_j1nOebgHj_SueWDrcTQZgcHaku7Na-G1T8k8yUW1qlRXyOw/s320/RJDrkBkCvr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The book describes how Rasputin was vilified by the
rabidly anti-Semitic aristocracy, bureaucracy and clergy for advocating equal
rights for the oppressed Jews, as well as taking an anti-war stance in an era
of war mongering. Included are specific cases of Rasputin’s aid to Jewish
groups and individuals. The political interference he is often accused of
concerned his efforts to appoint cabinet members who were for equal rights for
Jews and who would be against war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
debauchery he was charged with was found to be unsubstantiated and quite
hypocritical. The very aristocrats who accused him of drunkenness and
womanizing consumed French champagne and vodka by the case, and were rife with
venereal diseases themselves, due to their own promiscuity.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My website discussing the book and its background
is: <a href="http://therealrasputin.wordpress.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://therealrasputin.wordpress.com/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My current project is a book containing true stories
from the Pale of Settlement, the ghetto between the Black Sea and the Baltic
Sea that most Jews in tsarist Russia were confined to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been reading journals, memoirs,
autobiographies and biographies, as well as family histories people have sent
me. It occurred to me that one account of a person’s life in such an adverse
setting may give a taste of the time, era and conditions, but given many
accounts, one gets a view of a collective experience, and an understanding of
how widespread it was.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Where do you get your ideas for writing?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Much
of it is from my own family history and the stories that I’d been told.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among other things, I was told early on, that
my great-great uncle was Rasputin’s secretary. It was only later in my life,
doing searches, that I discovered his out of print memoirs in French which,
fortunately, I can read. What stunned me about the memoir were the myriad
accounts of Rasputin’s humanitarian efforts for the poor, the peasantry and the
Jews. While a few other authors have tried to rehabilitate Rasputin’s image,
none had really been successful. I felt compelled to try and spent a dozen
years digging up substantiating research.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is your favorite thing about your book?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s righting a historical wrong. It’s about the
powerful writing their side of history, rather than the common man, and having
that point of view pass as the only one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s unique. While there have been more French authors (or Russians writing
in French) than English-speaking ones who have tried to vindicate Rasputin,
apparently, they haven’t been taken very seriously, which is unfortunate. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
and when did you begin writing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there
any one person who had a big influence on you or encouraged you to write?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I began writing at the age of 8. I was in the
hospital, recovering from an appendectomy, which in 1958 was not as simple as
the ones they do now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started writing
about my hospital stay and the other kids in the room and their stories. I
wrote poems as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">While I was encouraged by teachers, parents and
writing mentors, my motivation to write was so great that it was nearly
obsessive and needed no stroking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m a
bit of a recluse and generally share nothing I’m working on until it’s
complete. For me, writing is a very solitary process that doesn’t require a
support group, although it is always nice to meet a kindred spirit who’s doing
what I’m doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is your writing schedule?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
atmosphere do you need to write? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I don’t really have a schedule. Most of my time is
devoted to research, so I read for several hours a day, often marking passages
and taking notes as I go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, the
research is never completely done because there’s always something else to read
on a subject, but when I feel I have enough convincing evidence to substantiate
my premise, I put each event or piece of information onto index cards. I
organize the index cards reflecting my outline, the structure and flow of the
book. Writing is the final part for me, linking together all the information,
so that each section segues logically into the next.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I can pretty much write anywhere, but I generally do
it on my dining room table, which we never use for eating anyway, because I
need the space to spread out my index cards, reference books and my writing
pad.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What projects are you working on now, or plan
for the future?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I actually have several ideas
brewing at the moment, but the one I’m currently working on is about true
stories from the Pale of Settlement, which I mentioned earlier. In addition, I
also have the diaries of my great grandfather who was one of the pioneer
settlers of a town in Israel, in the late 19<sup>th</sup> century, and I’d like
to write about him. I’d also like to rewrite “Rasputin and The Jews” into a
screenplay, which would be timely considering that the 100<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of Rasputin’s death is five years from now.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
kind of advice or tips do you have for someone who wants to write and be
published?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m always loathe to give advice to other writers
because I believe each has his or her own idiosyncratic approach to the
process, and so much is intuitive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
only thing I know is that you have to love what you’re doing – with a passion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would recommend not discussing the work,
except perhaps with a mentor, editor or critiquing group (not family members or
friends), so as not to get sidetracked, until the work is completed. You also
have to ban any thoughts or worries about the publishing, marketing and
promotion while you’re in the process of writing. That can be distracting
enough to prevent you from being completely absorbed by the task at hand. Once
the work is done, there is plenty of time to attend to the business of writing.
Process first; business second.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Are
there any other comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning
writers?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Unless there’s total conviction and security (or
divine inspiration) in what a beginning writer is doing, I would recommend
belonging to a writers’ group, led by someone experienced in the field, because
the critiques can be invaluable.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
do you do when you are not writing?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Generally, when I’m not writing, I’m reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also do minimalist collages, which affords
a pleasant and relaxing break from intellectualism. I see certain images in
dreams, then translate them onto paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My art website is at: <a href="http://delin-colon.artistwebsites.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://delin-colon.artistwebsites.com/</span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What
“Made It” moments have you experienced in life?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">That’s an interesting question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been very fortunate in my life and have
had a number of life changing experiences that have caused me to shift
perspectives, from time to time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
fact, I’ve noted that those events seem to occur about once every seven years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know the significance of that, if
there is any.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To me, “made it” implies
static events and I see life more as a progression, a continuum, with one event
building on another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m basically a
lazy person and if I ever felt that I’d “made it”, there would be little
impetus for me to move on and do anything else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’d probably just put my feet up and drink one Harvey Wallbanger (a
screwdriver with a shot of Galliano) after another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I have to see myself as not having made
it, to maintain a degree of humility and to have the motivation to strive for
further self-expression.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope that
makes some sense.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note from
Sylvia: <em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">You can visit my other blog
at: </span></em></span></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></em></a><em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">that features a preview to my new book, <b>Traveling
a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-15511883487233461892012-05-01T01:30:00.000-04:002012-05-01T01:30:02.956-04:00Top 100 Best-selling List Author, Marie-claire Kuja, Shares Her Story about Her Book, False Labels<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tell us
about yourself, Marie-claire.<o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghi2Tn1bDSbZx2x-BtKRvc32DNvNJoArxeF8jCzGMSCNNKFASelAUd6TtmKSERLRHa2OmrcQRM-FYK3q6OIihK_5s9_cl17iXv3J17uPXiemRiq1xjJGbK8Emxmqo5FXpM9PlN4rHvFAs/s1600/me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghi2Tn1bDSbZx2x-BtKRvc32DNvNJoArxeF8jCzGMSCNNKFASelAUd6TtmKSERLRHa2OmrcQRM-FYK3q6OIihK_5s9_cl17iXv3J17uPXiemRiq1xjJGbK8Emxmqo5FXpM9PlN4rHvFAs/s1600/me.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I am a mother of two
boys, a blogger, a nurse, a speaker an aspiring podcaster and the author of the
false label series. I am originally from the African country of Cameroon and
reside in New York City.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Tell
us about the genre of your work.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-themecolor: text1;">It cuts across all ages and gender.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> My short stories are
of a mixed genre, and falls into the categories of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">non-fiction</span>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Self-Help-Health-Mind-Body-Books/b/ref=dp_brlad_entry?ie=UTF8&node=4736"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Self-Help</span></a><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">/
Self-Esteem/</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Advice-Books-ebooks/b/ref=dp_brlad_entry?ie=UTF8&node=305950011"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Advice & How-to</span></a><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">/</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Self-Help-Health-Body-eBooks/b/ref=dp_brlad_entry?ie=UTF8&node=156430011"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> Mind, Body</span></a><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">
& spirit/Teens/</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Religion-Spirituality-eBooks-Kindle/b/ref=dp_brlad_entry?ie=UTF8&node=158280011"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Religion & Spirituality</span></a><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"> , </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=dp_brlad_entry?ie=UTF8&node=158495011"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Meditation</span></a><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">/women/devotional.
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Why
did you choose this genre?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I didn’t choose the genre I write in, rather it chose me
because I write out of personal experiences, which was <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>based on the difficulties I faced growing up,
and also on the stories of other girls around me.</span><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> . </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Most
of my writing is centered on women's issues because<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realized when we are faced with certain
crisis, we just settle or give-up, or<span style="color: red;"> </span>hide those
things.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> We all have trials and tribulations
in life but the challenge is not to hide them but to share, because while
sharing, you in turn inspire and empower others to know that it’s ok to share
those things we all go through. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you don’t have a test,
you won’t have a testimony</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This genre gives me the opportunity to share and testify all
the good things God has done for me and in turn empower every woman or young
girl to do the same.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There are thirteen short stories in the book and it actually
cuts across all the genres I, mentioned above. I think by restricting myself to
a particular genre it limits my work. I believe a story should be good enough
to stand above any classification. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">How
is writing in the genre you write, different than other genre?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">It is different,
because <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>among many other things, the
book encourages the reader to always embrace their own stories joyfully,
completely and with pride, to answer only to the name God calls them instead of
what people call them. They also are true stories most of which had to do with
personal experiences. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Can
you tell us more about your book?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">This is my first
published book, but I have written and published articles in an online magazine
called Ezine:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Five-Secrets-on-How-To-Thrive-in-Recession&id=2259733"><span style="color: blue;">Five
Secrets on How To Thrive in Recession</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?cat=Finance:Personal-Finance" title="View articles in the Finance: Personal Finance category"><span style="color: blue;">Finance:
Personal Finance</span></a> </span><span class="bullet-separator"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">•</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">
Published: May 28, 2009 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Safeguarding-Your-Mind&id=1969363"><span style="color: blue;">Safeguarding
Your Mind</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?cat=Health-and-Fitness:Emotional-Freedom-Technique" title="View articles in the Health and Fitness: Emotional Freedom Technique category"><span style="color: blue;">Health
and Fitness: Emotional Freedom Technique</span></a> </span><span class="bullet-separator"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">•</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> Published:
March 5, 2009 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Your-Relationship-With-You-%28A-Woman-of-Virtue%29&id=1966559"><span style="color: blue;">Your
Relationship With You (A Woman of Virtue)</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?cat=Womens-Interests" title="View articles in the Womens Interests category"><span style="color: blue;">Women’s Interests</span></a> </span><span class="bullet-separator"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">•</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> Published:
March 5, 2009 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Even-in-the-Midst-of-Crisis---Keys-to--Thriving-in-Crisis&id=1962328"><span style="color: blue;">Even
in the Midst of Crisis - Keys to Thriving in Crisis</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?cat=Self-Improvement:Personal-Growth" title="View articles in the Self Improvement: Personal Growth category"><span style="color: blue;">Self
Improvement: Personal Growth</span></a> <span class="bullet-separator">•</span>
Published: February 17, 2009 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Mango-Tree&id=1971440"><span style="color: blue;">The Mango Tree</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?cat=Self-Improvement:Empowerment" title="View articles in the Self Improvement: Empowerment category"><span style="color: blue;">Self
Improvement: Empowerment</span></a> </span><span class="bullet-separator"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">•</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">
Published: February 16, 2009 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Teen-Pregnancy-and-How-To-Reclaim-Your-Life&id=1962466"><span style="color: blue;">Teen
Pregnancy and How To Reclaim Your Life</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?cat=Home-and-Family:Pregnancy" title="View articles in the Home and Family: Pregnancy category"><span style="color: blue;">Home and
Family: Pregnancy</span></a> </span><span class="bullet-separator"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">•</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">
Published: February 12, 2009 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Give
a short description of this book:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTpXBhK9uD2l9_EeHneAutt_Ds4aVRfnYUj7LT__1v9cPRxcQeeHO0RBPHGeMhP25OSQAtYzIBRz532zRyBfDGCdcemh4_k3Q-uaUqR9Q0qO2VmuO6gZfC5KRMN8rZxdsnM9W0cMASwUY/s1600/Amazon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTpXBhK9uD2l9_EeHneAutt_Ds4aVRfnYUj7LT__1v9cPRxcQeeHO0RBPHGeMhP25OSQAtYzIBRz532zRyBfDGCdcemh4_k3Q-uaUqR9Q0qO2VmuO6gZfC5KRMN8rZxdsnM9W0cMASwUY/s320/Amazon.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> T</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">he book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">False Labels</i>,
teaches us to stop being at war with ourselves, stop dwelling on the past and
focus on the future. We are reminded to be thankful to God and celebrate our
uniqueness. False Labels further encourages everyone to embrace their own
stories joyfully, completely and with pride. Among other things, the reader
will learn how important it is to be an original of his or herself instead of
an imitation or a look-a-like of someone else. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They will also learn what to do when others
call them false names, how to deal with bullies, and to believe that God can
use them right where they are, exactly the way they are, use their tongue to
build and not to destroy; instead, use their one and only life to impact others
and always live by the words of the golden rule “Do unto others what you want
them do unto you”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<a href="" name="productDetails"></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<hr align="center" noshade="" size="1" style="color: #a0a0a0;" width="100%" />
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Title:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">False Labels: Don’t Let People Label You:
13 Uplifting Short Stories OF Inspiration</i>, Hope, Encouragement and
Empowerment<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">ISBN:
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">9780985022693
for print (published on Feb;6<sup>th </sup>2012) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>9780985022617 for the kindle version
(published on Jan 17, 2012)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/False-Labels-Inspiration-Encouragement-ebook/dp/B006YSDENC/"><span style="color: blue;">h<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ttp://www.amazon.com/False-Labels-Inspiration-Encouragement-ebook/dp/B006YSDENC/</i></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/false-labels-marie-claire-kuja/1108479715?ean=2940014072878&itm=1&usri=false+labels."><span style="color: blue;">http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/false-labels-marie-claire-kuja/1108479715?ean=2940014072878&itm=1&usri=false+labels.</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Please
include your website </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.falselabelseries.com/"><span style="color: blue;">www.falselabelseries.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can you give us a synopsis of this book/s?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As children and adults, plenty of us are still
trapped inside identities we never asked for, because throughout life people
are constantly putting us down with derogatory words. It’s just like they are
sticking a label on us. Too short, too old, too tall, too slow, too many
mistakes, not talented enough, can never amount to anything, can never do
anything right etc. These stories we hear are from the beliefs, attitudes,
assumptions and labels that have been bestowed upon us by our scolding parents,
our uptight teachers, and our rejecting friends. Unfortunately, negative and
demeaning words impact our lives and deliver a crushing blow to our fragile
sense of self worth. They leave a lasting scar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> But how can we combat this? How can we
empower our spirits and minds and the generation to come?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">False labels which transcends age and gender is packed
with inspirational stories which encourage personal empowerment, self esteem
and spiritual growth. False labels addresses the virtually universal pain that
we are never good enough. Every man, woman, boy or girl is encouraged to
embrace their own story joyfully, completely and with pride. In False labels we
are further reminded that it is possible to always be exactly who we are and
its perfect to bring our own special brand of joy and charm into the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">False Labels further encourages us:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To believe that we are not who people call us
but what God created us to be.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We have the power to choose and believe in our
own stories</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To believe that God created us for a divine
purpose.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That everyone is unique in their own right,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To use our words to build and not to destroy</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To be ourselves instead of an imitation of
someone else</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
celebrate our uniqueness</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And to
believe that there are much better truth if we look beyond false labels.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Where
do you get your ideas for writing?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I get my ideas from
real life things that happen to people around me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">What
is your favorite thing about your book?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The book is written in
a very unique style with some words to ponder and a prayer at the end of each story.
That is my favorite because it kind of leaves<span style="color: red;"> </span>the
reader with something to hold on to.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Why
and when did you begin writing? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I started writing in
2005 as an act of self cleansing and healing. I was hurting so much but because
there was no one to talk to, I turned to writing as a way of venting those
feelings. I started writing in my journal. And whenever I felt down and read
from my journal, it felt so uplifting. It was amazing how my own words became
an inspiration to me. Later that year a school mate had picked up my journal,
read it and started tearing up. When asked why, she said that was exactly her life.
Then I knew I was not alone. I was not the only one feeling as if the world was
closing up on me. Then came the need to have a strong voice in other to share
this with other people who are still trapped in their past<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there any one person who had a big
influence on you or encouraged you to write? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Yes, Myself. As a
matter of fact, lots of family members and friend only knew I wrote a book on
the day the kindle version was published. My reason was that I did not want to
be discouraged. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">What
is your writing schedule?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
atmosphere do you need to write? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I don’t have a set
schedule or atmosphere for writing. I work at night and get so tired when I
come home in the morning, so what I do is I write just a page or two in the
afternoon when I am awake. I also scribble something during my break time at
work whenever ideas come to my mind.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What projects are you
working on now, or plan for the future?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am working on the next book in the series
which will be out in just a few months from now. I am also in the process of
starting a foundation. I am also starting podcast interviews this March and hope
to be in speaking in churches, school workshops and conferences.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">What
kind of advice or tips do you have for someone who wants to write and be
published?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I have already been
asked this question so many times. My take on this is that you don’t need to
allocate time else you might end just writing the book in your head. Commit to
writing at least a page a day if you are so busy. And nowadays there is no
reason not to write and get published. There are so many opportunities
especially with self publishing taking over. I believe that everyone has a story,
something that only you have to offer the world, something that can change
someone else’s life.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Are
there any other comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning
writers?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Do a lot of research on
your topic. Ask question especially to established authors. Don’t
procrastinate, just write at least a page a day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">What
do you do when you are not writing?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I go to my regular job
as a nurse. I also find some time to blog.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Include
anything else you may wish to add.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">We are all blessed with
something, “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">That Something</i>”</b> which can change the lives of so many<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Don’t underestimate whatever
your contribution can be to your community or the world. God has given us
something and we all have it in our hands. It could be your talents or skills,
ideas, knowledge, education, money and so forth. what are you doing with it?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Regardless of whatever
your challenges might have been, you are not alone and not a write –off.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">You matter and can make
a difference.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">What
“Made It” moments have you experienced in life?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Even though I have a
lot of made it moments, this book is one of the biggest one for me. When I started
writing, I had told myself that I didn’t just want to write anything in the
name of a book but something that will change someone’s life. I have had emails
from people I don’t even know telling me how my book has inspired them. This also
is a “made it” moment for me, because it makes me know that truly I am valuable
and have something to offer the world. It also makes me finally feel that I am
not just existing but living. Also, when my book made the Amazon top 100
best-selling list within just two weeks of release.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note from
Sylvia: <em><span>You can visit my
other blog at: </span></em></span></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="color: blue;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></span></em></a><em><span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">that features a preview to my new
book, <b>Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>.</span></span></em></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-74481409880388010092012-04-28T01:30:00.000-04:002012-04-28T01:30:01.708-04:00Inspirational Christian Author, Kevin Lewis, Shares His Writing<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Kevin, can you tell us about yourself. </span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8tTlcf0PUf4LyFmVczrEivLq2T4-2kxhrc2FXqrKquTwYRE-HylESfvjIcS9npcqL1IwK7VN5rhy7EUZs49SxYE2NrYQJ4nSQ579j6Fpty3mSp_kQusYutIv_7NT6FdscCoktGwmC2k2f/s1600/DSC_2681-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8tTlcf0PUf4LyFmVczrEivLq2T4-2kxhrc2FXqrKquTwYRE-HylESfvjIcS9npcqL1IwK7VN5rhy7EUZs49SxYE2NrYQJ4nSQ579j6Fpty3mSp_kQusYutIv_7NT6FdscCoktGwmC2k2f/s320/DSC_2681-1.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am a 36 year old Christian author. I grew up in a town in <st1:state w:st="on">Florida</st1:state> called <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Niceville</st1:city>,
<st1:state w:st="on">Florida</st1:state></st1:place>. I currently live in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Charlotte</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">North
Carolina</st1:state></st1:place> area. I am not married and have no kids but
am ready for that next part of my life. I have four academic degrees including
a Masters in Business Administration and a Masters in Information Technology. I
actually did not know God or Jesus until the age of 30, when I received my
salvation. I love God and Jesus with all of my heart. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started writing books when I was 32 years of
age. The reason that I started to write is because I was praying one day and
God inspired me to start writing. I had never written anything before that
time. However, from that day forward I have had no problem writing anything.
Anytime I sit down to write anything the words just truly flow out of me. I
currently have two books published. The first one is called Water for the
Christian Spirit Vol. 1 and the second book is called Devotionals for Living
Free. Both of the books are inspirational poetry books. My third book coming
out later this year is going to be a Christian children’s book.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Tell us about the genre of your
work. </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The genre of work that I write is Christian
inspirational writing. I write to share the Word of God with readers and to
inspire readers to have a closer relationship with God. It is a rewarding genre
because it is such a life-changing genre.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Why did you choose this genre?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Well
I should say the genre chose me. Through prayer I discovered that God had a
plan for me to be a writer. God is definitely a great provider. As anytime that
I need to write anything he supplies the perfect words for me to get the
message across to my readers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What
are some of your books, stories that have been published?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKM07cCKnJYbPmhI-R5PW-Xd2RuLyKLJ7nhUtLBRdkccImqWnJs5JT6if0_mK3pTLkQQ_YMKfOsqhxLKbypB0wQKql3fCwj55ip4uBDCgv4jTBNOBTB0F1bpLHwehY9Mw8fvuVPH-wPkk/s1600/bookcover1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKM07cCKnJYbPmhI-R5PW-Xd2RuLyKLJ7nhUtLBRdkccImqWnJs5JT6if0_mK3pTLkQQ_YMKfOsqhxLKbypB0wQKql3fCwj55ip4uBDCgv4jTBNOBTB0F1bpLHwehY9Mw8fvuVPH-wPkk/s200/bookcover1.jpg" width="123" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As previously stated I have two books Water
for the Christian Spirit Vol. 1 and Devotionals for Living Free. I have also
contributed to Relationships and Other Stuff <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vol. 3: True Stories and Poems from Men and
Relationships and Other Stuff: True Stories about Relationships. In addition, I
maintain a weekly blog @ my website: <a href="http://authorkevinlewis.com/">http://authorkevinlewis.com</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What ages do you direct your
books?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first two books are directed at all age
groups, because they are for any reader but mainly Christian readers. The third
book will be directed at children ages 4 to 8.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Can you tell us more about the
books?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Water
for the Christian Spirit Vol. 1 is a book of inspirational Christian poetry
which is for any Christian believer young or old. The book is meant to inspire
a closer relationship with God. The book can currently be found on <a href="http://amazon.com/">Amazon.com</a>
and the ISBN is 9780982366806</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7GbSxLyeVKt5nsV497gwKDAtNc4sYCyLBsWiFHhakbCxiMA5sedWz4JuUtGvl0v7JkD3tKxTs_YokrGESfkXqpGTxNDmaUWYyAGfIpgIJiUhXaR6IyNwFzTRGaa85ieKFx9Yadl8RnXP3/s1600/bookcover2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7GbSxLyeVKt5nsV497gwKDAtNc4sYCyLBsWiFHhakbCxiMA5sedWz4JuUtGvl0v7JkD3tKxTs_YokrGESfkXqpGTxNDmaUWYyAGfIpgIJiUhXaR6IyNwFzTRGaa85ieKFx9Yadl8RnXP3/s200/bookcover2.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Devotionals
for Living Free is a book of Inspirational Christian poetry which is also for
any Christian believer. This book is also meant to inspire a closer
relationship with God. The book has themed poems within different chapters and
an additional section of helpful information for every believer. This book can
be found on <a href="http://amazon.com/">Amazon.com</a> and the ISBN is 9781456317997<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Do your books have a teaching
objective?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If so, what is it? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
teaching objective of my books is to inspire people to seek a relationship with
God if they do not have one. If they have already received their salvation,
then the objective is to inspire the reader to have a closer relationship with
God each day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">How
do you come up with the names of places and characters in your books?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can actually explain how I come up with the
poems in my books. I pray before I sit down and write. In addition, I study the
Word of God and am always looking for new revelation within the Word. When I
sit down to actually write the words come out of me from Godly inspiration and
revelation from what I have received in prayer and studying. The titles of
poems come to me at different times. I can be anywhere and get a title for a
poem. I will write the title down and then when I get in my spirit the time is
right for that poem I will sit down and write the poem.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">How
did you develop the character/s of your in each of your books?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">This really does
not relate to my current books, but does relate to the book I am working on. I
developed the character of my upcoming children’s book through prayer and then
sitting down and writing a story that would be an inspiration to parents and
kids alike.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What is your favorite thing about
your book/s? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">My
favorite thing about my books is that they honor God and inspire people to seek
a relationship with God and Jesus. Moreover, the books help other Christians
develop a deeper relationship in their Christian walk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">How is writing in the genre you
write, different than other genre? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
genre that I write is very different from other genre’s because the genre
focuses on Christian readers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Are there any problems in getting
children’s’ books published? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a publisher but with self publishing it
is quite easy to get any book published including Children’s books.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What is your writing schedule? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I write
every week, but usually I take a year in between books to write my next book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What projects are
you working on now, or plan for the future?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></b><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am currently working on
completing a Children’s book.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What kind of advice or tips to
you have for someone who wants to write and get published?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would say make sure that you learn grammar
rules. While spell check is great, it will not catch every error. Do not give
up, keep submitting your work. Not everyone will like what you write but it
only takes one person to like your work to become published by a company.
Always keep writing and improving your writing. Never think that you have
arrived. Even the best need to continue to practice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Are there any other comments,
advice or tips that you would give to beginning writers? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would say write what is in your heart and
always keep writing from that place. People can tell if you are sincere and
when we write from the heart, the writing is always sincere.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What do you do when you are not
writing? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Hard to
answer because I am always blogging and writing. I would say that I keep
developing my relationship with God. I can never learn everything about he
Bible and I will never lose my zeal for developing a deeper relationship with
God. I also am into health and fitness, movies, and traveling. In addition, I
love to sing and am often singing throughout the day.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Anything else you would like to
add?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would say to everyone out there to keep
following any dreams you have. Nothing is impossible and you can achieve each
and every dream that you have.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What “Made It” moments have you
experienced in life? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The made
it moment was actually seeing my first book published and being able to tell
all my family and friends to check it out. Then my parents telling me about how
proud they were of me. That means a great deal to me and touches my heart each
time I think about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Find out more about Kevin on these sites: <o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Website: <a href="http://authorkevinlewis.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://authorkevinlewis.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Twitter: @kevin_l_lewis<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Facebook Fan Page: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/kevinlewischristianauthor"><span style="color: blue;">www.facebook.com/kevinlewischristianauthor</span></a></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note from
Sylvia: <em><span>You can visit my
other blog at: </span></em></span></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="color: blue;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></span></em></a><em><span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">that features a preview to my new
book, <b>Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>.</span></span></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-12366457108458219632012-04-24T08:06:00.000-04:002012-04-24T08:06:00.490-04:00Agron Shehu Tells Why He Wrote His Sc-Fi Book, Human in SpaceTime…What a Shock<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq6pSW8p4FTYfnf91Eb8EuEM14vaYtXjMCXdq-KG3SmeC_ko9R_baPBV6fucypg1tBEj-rB7WoE9xZx7RChKY1TlPHGuHGs45dCLF2IaWV60JlX55RbZAopMgpwhg2L4GbvSRRkgBGFSd8/s1600/Author+Pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq6pSW8p4FTYfnf91Eb8EuEM14vaYtXjMCXdq-KG3SmeC_ko9R_baPBV6fucypg1tBEj-rB7WoE9xZx7RChKY1TlPHGuHGs45dCLF2IaWV60JlX55RbZAopMgpwhg2L4GbvSRRkgBGFSd8/s320/Author+Pic.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 115.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Agron Shehu, a Professional
Petroleum Engineer lives with his family in <st1:city w:st="on">Halifax</st1:city>
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
The author has lots of interests including astronomy, physics, math, history
and social behavior. He enjoys playing the guitar and tennis. He has gained
lots of life experience traveling around the world. The most recent passion is
writing books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Tell us about the genre of your
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It’s an
Sci-Fi book. The book is about the human historical journey in the space-time from
the dawn to the modern days seen by an alien (Quark) very sophisticated being,
a human mind (Higgs, no instinct or whatsoever feelings in his being) and a
primitive human (Ardi) as she evolves over time. During their journey in
space-time they encounter the images of the most vital civilizations on planet
earth from the dawn to the future and compare to that of civilized world of
planet QUARK where alien Quark belongs, going from future to the past. The
journey is a concurrent one in space-time from the dawn to future for planet
earth and from the present to the dawn for planet QUARK. They scrutinize the
human evolution and alien Quark draws conclusion why human all time is fighting
to each other and suffering so much. Why the most vital civilization lost in
history. What about human mind and human instincts? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why human instincts were manipulated so much
overtime and human decision making was based mostly on his instincts and still
it’s the same nowadays?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why did you choose this genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Always I
have been fascinating by the human being on earth. It’s a matter like the rest of
the other matter on universe but so sophisticated, a matter with mind who
changes the environment, who no other matter can do in the way that human does.
In order to describe the human doings I think the best way is to use Sci-Fi
genre.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I see that you have a published
book, could you tell us more about it?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Human
in SpaceTime…What a Shock” is the first my published book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP0nX3OykqP6suxFOWBZd_p495SHDrDWhOT_aWklKJVXJGgn9eK8zF-RN9_B_R-nEPeA2BEINOj2oefHNRaLSR4bOlt5gATkF0ohR0pQdBwCTB4H6K2bfCTVHuokK2bAFesZlOPtyGZR7-/s1600/Human+in+SpaceTime.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP0nX3OykqP6suxFOWBZd_p495SHDrDWhOT_aWklKJVXJGgn9eK8zF-RN9_B_R-nEPeA2BEINOj2oefHNRaLSR4bOlt5gATkF0ohR0pQdBwCTB4H6K2bfCTVHuokK2bAFesZlOPtyGZR7-/s320/Human+in+SpaceTime.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 115.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Human journey in space-time from
dawn to the present…what a thrilling and captivating journey! A concurrent
journey of human civilization, from past to present and from present to past
for another world, so sophisticated . . . a combination of three strange
characters, one from present time, another from human primates and an
alien!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A scrutiny of a virtual life of
human in space-time; where the events pass in a parade shocking Higgs from
planet earth and alien Quark. Higgs instincts are left to his twin Hitt, on
earth . . . and what consequences for the people on earth caused by Hitt,
without mind . . . led only by instincts! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 115.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What a love story between Quark
from that sophisticated world and Ardi coming from the dawn of human . . . <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 115.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Why is human fighting all his
life, why is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">symbiosis</i> always in
conflict with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">commoners</i> . . . what is
the solution? Why <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">food, shelter,
healthcare and energy</i> are the conditions of existence of human, in fact the
existence of civilized human.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 115.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Human evolution scrutinized by
three different characters in this imaginary voyage . . . and solution . . .
find out, what’s next in this fascinating story! </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Human in SpaceTime…What a Shock”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Library Congress Control Number<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>2011917522<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ISBN<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hardcover<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>978-1-4653-7417-2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Softcover<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>978-1-4653-7416-5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Ebook<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span>978-1-4653-7418-9<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://amazon.com/">Amazon.com<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://barnesandnoble.com/">Barnesandnoble.com<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Kindle Edition<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://xlibris.com/">Xlibris.com<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://www.agronshehu.com/">www.agronshehu.com</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">How
do you come up with the names of places and characters in your books? </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Usually the places
are those historical on earth such as <st1:country-region w:st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region>,
<st1:city w:st="on">Babylon</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Greece</st1:country-region>,
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Rome</st1:city></st1:place> …. and
Moon, planet earth and planet QUARK. Mostly all these places are encountered in
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Dreamliner” (the spaceship) as images
in spacetime. The characters are mostly three acting in the “Dreamliner” and
some others who are met by the three characters over their journey in spacetime
as images come by. Three of the main characters’ names Quark, Higgs and Gluon
actually come from the elementary particles in physics. That because they look
like so small compare to the Milky Way galaxy, but so important yet. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">How
did you develop the character of your protagonist in this book?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Higgs who is one of
the most import character in the book in all actions represents only his mind
not at all instincts exist in his being. He left his instincts and his body on
planet earth without any mind as Hitt. Higgs is developed as only mind while Hitt
as only instincts. You can reveal in the book what is happening with both of
them as such. That’s the most interesting thing in the book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Quark comes from
sophisticated world QUARK, so he is quite different from human being. Actually
he judges what’s happening on planet earth and why. Could that be different in
a better way? He scrutinizes things and finds out why human in earth fights to
each other. At the end he calls them military humanoid not yet a civilized
society.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Ardi comes from the
dawn of planet earth. Her body is covered with fur, but over journey to planet
earth she is changed in a so beautiful woman with her proper mind and not
brainwashed, so no instincts manipulated.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="text2"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What about an
antagonist…is there a unique “bad guy” or a recurring nemesis of any kind?</b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="text2">There are two antagonist developments in the book.
‘Symbiosis’ and ‘commoners’ which fight to each other and that’s one of the
Quark findings why there are lost civilizations on planet earth and the other
one is instincts and the mind of Higgs which couldn’t live together and
separate to each other. Mind remains Higgs and instincts becomes Hitt. Hitt is
a unique ‘bad guy’.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What’s
your favorite thing about your book?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">My favorite thing
of the book is the way how the book is composed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I think it’s is a
very rare or it’s a unique way how to scrutinize the human character over time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The duality Higgs
and Hitt is an amazing symbiosis which I like so much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">How
is writing in the genre you write, different than other genre?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">That’s completely
different. That’s why my book could be a unique one. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Why
and when did you begin writing?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I am so frustrated
why the human fights to each other. Human should be peaceful being. Human is so
unique in universe. That’s why he couldn’t be a military humanoid but a
civilized human being. That the message of this book. I think there is a way
how the human should be a civilized being, which is mind education, not
instinct manipulation. Through the mind education he can find the proper ‘energy’
and proper ‘healthcare’ in order to be a civilized human being.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I wanted to send
this message to the reader. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I started to write
this book about three years ago, but thinking about that was way before.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What
is your writing schedule?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I am a petroleum
engineer and I live doing this job. Writing is a kind of my hobby.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I want to see how
this book is doing, so it’s impact and than I’ll schedule next step.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What projects are you working on
now, or plan for the future?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I have lots of
projects in my head, but again it would depend on outcome of this book.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What
kind of advice or tips to you have for someone who wants to write and get
published?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">If you have
something to contribute in the life of humanity don’t hesitate write and tell
the truth. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Are
there any other comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning
writers?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I think there are
no tips for writing. If you think (not feel) to do so just do it, no
hesitation, try it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What
do you do when you are not writing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I work as petroleum
engineer. The rest I play guitar, play tennis or skiing.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What
“Made It” moments have you experienced in life?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Waiting what’s
going to happen with this book. But as I have already mentioned I am petroleum
engineer, so I have ‘made it’ lots of things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note from Sylvia: <em><span>You can visit my other blog at: </span></em></span></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></em></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em><span>that features a preview to my new
book, <b>Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>.</span></em><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-72955159356009639662012-04-21T01:30:00.000-04:002012-04-21T01:30:03.331-04:00International Bestselling Book Author,Elinor Stutz, Shares Her Story and Her Books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixaWKLJp9vEb1TjYI0CS0M5hZ8ZRyYiegBzmvIJaENBctKSymzStTsdqg1bqmPd6m7oRIr-5EitxM-bTpgRjZXWSOqAT_ZtMmUjZ7SneCJFMaSQuPZFH1U1c3ECrvE7eHzLLRa7WA9Z2NP/s1600/Elinor_Small+Red-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixaWKLJp9vEb1TjYI0CS0M5hZ8ZRyYiegBzmvIJaENBctKSymzStTsdqg1bqmPd6m7oRIr-5EitxM-bTpgRjZXWSOqAT_ZtMmUjZ7SneCJFMaSQuPZFH1U1c3ECrvE7eHzLLRa7WA9Z2NP/s320/Elinor_Small+Red-4.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">A vision came to me while at Stanford Hospital lying on a
stretcher with a broken neck. I had one of those near-death experiences you
read about but never happens to you. My life flashed in front of me in the form
of a report card. On the left hand side, I had very high marks, but the right
hand side was startling – it was blank and entitled Community Service!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I instantly recognized a need to begin giving back to
communities at large. I vowed that if I were able to walk out of the hospital,
I would begin doing just that. It was on that stretcher while waiting to be
admitted, that I wrote my first business plan – to help others near and far
understand how to take their natural talents and convert those into sales and
grow business.</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Elinor
Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, LLC authored the International Best-Selling book, <i>“<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nice-Girls-DO-Get-Sale/dp/1402207441/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284253242&sr=1-1"><span style="color: #034c64; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Nice Girls DO
Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results</span></a>.” </i>Community
Service work teaching job seekers how to sell themselves on interviews to land
their desired job led to the writing of her second best-selling book, <i>“<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hired-Sales-Techniques-Yourself-Interviews/dp/1601631421/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284253225&sr=8-1"><span style="color: #034c64; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">HIRED! How to
Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews</span></a></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">OpenView Labs designated Elinor as one of the
worldwide 25 Top Sales Influencers for 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Elinor is known for delivering</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> inspirational keynotes
to standing ovations. She provides consultation, team training, private
coaching and business retreats to GROW your business. The Smooth
Sale product line complements all she does. Elinor is available upon request
for consultation. </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Tell us about the genre
of your work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">My
forte is sales through creative business development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am an advocate for using all types of media
and mediums to build business along with building relationships every step of
the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Likewise, I use many methods
for teaching my clientele such as webinars, tweets, blogs, articles, books,
videos, training sessions for teams, coaching individuals and coordinating Business
Retreats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">My
style is to commit to continual education and report back what I find to work
best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mantra is to over-deliver on
value.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Why did you choose this
genre?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Many
years ago, I was a stay-at-home Mom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
realizing I needed to help earn college money for the children, my husband did
some research on the best avenue for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One night he came home to say, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I’ve
got it, you have the personality of a salesperson.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I turned around somewhat appalled, and
quietly asked, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Is that a compliment or
an insult?”!</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">It
turned out my husband was right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Looking
back, as a child I was always selling my parents and everyone else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first job in the corporate world did not
welcome women and being the only woman, some very nasty tricks were played on
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additionally, they refused to train
me plus I was given the silent treatment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wanting to be a good role model and refusing to quit, I kept on doing my
best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the 4<sup>th</sup> month I
became the top producer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My secret
technique was being nice to all of my new contacts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They each called me a breath of fresh air and
actually asked permission to buy from me!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">How is writing in the
genre you write, different than other genre?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I
learned to write as if we were sitting in my breakfast room having a cup of
coffee together as I share stories about what happened in the field and how I
overcame the difficulties. So the reader is drawn into the story, able to
picture exactly what happened, how it was resolved, and read the end result so
that they may avoid similar difficulties in the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most business books are factual and dry
whereas readers describe my books as not only informational but also highly
entertaining!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">What are some of your
books, stories that have been published?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Nice Girls DO Get the
Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">, Sourcebooks –
became an international best-seller, translated into several languages and
appeared in TIME Magazine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">HIRED! How to Use Sales
Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">, Career Press –
became an instant best-seller.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I
also write weekly articles for PersonalBrandingBlog.com – rated #5 of all the
blogs available, and many of my articles are syndicated.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Can you tell us more
about your books?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Nice
Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">,
Sourcebooks, 2005</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbklnCpm-80P9tZyZ7WhvaCUa6RA4LckitTzlS4GehGgdlrZ4LjGQauNX9SmlKYQQ8_-biwdnwYZShsaa28538QEQn7uuG9zTeDlzsSX8-4zg-oA_KcBCPLuKN7qhB54Bzx8bwUOg_oeqL/s1600/Nice+Girls+WR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbklnCpm-80P9tZyZ7WhvaCUa6RA4LckitTzlS4GehGgdlrZ4LjGQauNX9SmlKYQQ8_-biwdnwYZShsaa28538QEQn7uuG9zTeDlzsSX8-4zg-oA_KcBCPLuKN7qhB54Bzx8bwUOg_oeqL/s1600/Nice+Girls+WR.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">ISBN:
13: 978-1-4022-0744-0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">ISBN:
10: 1-4022-0744-1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The
theme of this book is to believe in yourself, strive to do what is right and
commit to learning to improve situations and your status in the work
environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the entertaining side,
the book is referred to as a “corporate tell-all” relaying the nasty tricks and
shenanigans women often experience when trying to establish themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What the reader derives is how to stand up
for oneself, the relationship build and selling techniques that work best and
how to build a long-lasting clientele.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There formula is there too for those who wish to become the next top
producer of their company.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">______</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">HIRED! How to Use Sales
Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">, Career Press,
2010 – became an instant best-seller.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTQ3MnJ7hoX9nZbQ1d_BdhS3y05tno_IiGvZ_CmUeKj5eY_woA5-1xPYUEhdfJgVapW70gjRK0VMtC_3OqEuWTdLH3dGB8tKTGC-_HvfiF5wFGhUApEjDz2UBkh_jpVZ6QCsiYFwLcm9de/s1600/Hired+CP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTQ3MnJ7hoX9nZbQ1d_BdhS3y05tno_IiGvZ_CmUeKj5eY_woA5-1xPYUEhdfJgVapW70gjRK0VMtC_3OqEuWTdLH3dGB8tKTGC-_HvfiF5wFGhUApEjDz2UBkh_jpVZ6QCsiYFwLcm9de/s200/Hired+CP.jpg" width="127" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">ISBN:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>978-1-60163-142-8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">ISBN:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>978-1-60163-685-0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">HIRED!
explains the process of the sales cycle and how interviewing follows the
same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book walks the reader through
each step of interviewing explaining the sales techniques that should be
applied at the right moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Examples
through story-telling provide an accurate viewpoint of how it all works
together for a greater positive impact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Years of prior community service led this author to recognize the
techniques work well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the financial
markets dropped worldwide, I knew it was time to write the book.
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Where do you get your
ideas for writing?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Upon
attending my very first networking event as an entrepreneur, I experienced one
of two reactions:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The men laughed
thinking a woman couldn’t possibly know enough to be a sales trainer and the
women ran away hearing I was a sales trainer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I went home to read marketing materials, as my message was obviously way
off the mark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The common theme was,
“write a book”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since no one was talking
to me, I had all the time to do so.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">What is your favorite
thing about your book?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I
believe the Nice Girls book is classic in that etiquette is included in the
sales know-how.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s appropriate even
with the advance of social media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good
manners will never go out of style or be unappreciated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book brings acclaim from around the world
and puts a smile on everyone’s face who reads it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Likewise,
much about HIRED! will remain in fashion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Everything I write about is based upon building relationships,
understanding the needs of others and working to solve their problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So no matter the new technology, the
principles will always be the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
favorite thing about HIRED! is that it has helped many people land their
desired job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s community service at
its best because it teaches the reader from their point of reading forward to
become strong in their field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additional
opportunities arise due to the goodwill the book produced.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Why and when did you
begin writing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there any one person
who had a big influence on you or encouraged you to write?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Nice
Girls was my first attempt at writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was the marketing materials that encouraged me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I didn’t try writing, I would never know
if I could succeed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first publisher
said yes and it became an instant success. It’s a remarkable record, and that
is why I wrote the second book to make certain it wasn’t just “luck” as some
said but that I was actually good at what I did.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">What is your writing
schedule?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What atmosphere do you need to
write? </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Being
goal-driven, I set the number of pages per day that I expect to write but
include an overall number of pages for the week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, if one day I fall short, I make it
up on Saturday to fulfill the weekly goal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My first book was written in 3 months; being highly competitive with
myself, I wrote the second book in two months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A third book is in the works and that goal is six weeks to completion.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What projects are you
working on now, or plan for the future?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Speaking programs are being planned now
and should begin in the Spring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
working with another who is an outstanding fundraiser.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will be a community effort to help
people land the job they desire and to give a portion of the proceeds to
medical research.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">What kind of advice or
tips to you have for someone who wants to write and be published?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">My
expertise is in the non-fiction area based upon my personal experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this realm, write what you know well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What were your experiences?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What difficulties did you have to overcome to
do well?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How did you overcome those
difficulties and what was the outcome?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How did all of this further your endeavors?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are there stories you may share to make the
book more personal and engage the reader?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Before you begin writing, mentally review the highlights of what you
wish to share.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps these topics will
become the chapter headers and then the rest of the information will be easier
to fill in.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Final
word here is do not doubt yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Write what you believe helped you and will serve to help others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Believe in yourself and others will believe
in you.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Are there any other
comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning writers?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Many
people belong to writing groups while others agonize over every paragraph and
title.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some I know took ten years to
write their book and it became outdated before ever going into print.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My advice is to commit to writing your book
without second guessing yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
you ask opinions, each person will give you a different one serving only to
confuse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Find quiet time to write and
answer only to yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most likely
your answer will be the right one.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">What do you do when you
are not writing? </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Monday
through Friday I work on my business and that invariably involves writing in
the form of email or posts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But on
Friday afternoon through Sunday, I enjoy time with family and friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Travel has always been a passion and I get
away as often as possible.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Include anything else
you may wish to add.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">In
today’s world, your book is now a business card.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book establishes your credibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People know who you are and where to find
you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Resource Section in the back of
your book may point readers to other events with which you are involved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You will find the book is a springboard into
other activities such as speaking, guest appearances on shows, and requests for
collaboration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">What “Made It” moments
have you experienced in life?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The
book made all the difference in my business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was more than worth the effort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have enjoyed the following due to becoming a credible author:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Delivered
Keynotes: in Paris, France and at large conventions across the U.S <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Honored
by OpenView Labs of Boston MA, listed in their “Top 25 Sales Influencers for
2012”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The
“Global Leadership Award” will be received by Powerful Women Int’l. on
International Women’s Day 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note from Sylvia: <em>You can visit my other blog at: </em></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="color: blue; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></em></a><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">that features a preview to my new book, <b>Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>.</span></em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-38971228215819231542012-04-17T01:30:00.000-04:002012-04-17T01:30:00.829-04:00Nancy Clark Townsend and Her New Book, Furred & Feathered Friends: Katrina Castaways<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rreqT0iYWtz4xy8hJQ-kyRYuPTKrAhAra9NOi4D70XWvffnGcrjOkc36LA0jeozpTkOSALQGReLw_IN0xnjlf-4KOOJ-8_oQegCTGjFWv8RhN1HSLYgmx5xWbTq-sHrM2o1FhgmDaw68/s1600/Nancy_Townsend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rreqT0iYWtz4xy8hJQ-kyRYuPTKrAhAra9NOi4D70XWvffnGcrjOkc36LA0jeozpTkOSALQGReLw_IN0xnjlf-4KOOJ-8_oQegCTGjFWv8RhN1HSLYgmx5xWbTq-sHrM2o1FhgmDaw68/s320/Nancy_Townsend.jpg" width="218" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Nancy Clark Townsend was born in
New York City's Borough of Manhattan, but lived most of her life in New York
State's Lower Hudson Valley. She has shared her home or cared for an assortment
of animals – dogs, cats, parakeets, ferrets, box turtles, chickens and goats
among others. With her late trainer-driver husband, she owned and raced several
harness horses. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Nancy</st1:city></st1:place>
has been writing for pleasure since she was eight. She took Creative Writing courses
from “Writer’s Digest” and studied writing at <st1:placename w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">SUNY</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Empire</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">State</st1:placetype></st1:place></st1:placename>
College. She has written several romance and suspense novels and is currently
working on a personal memoir and a collection of animal memoirs. She is the
editor/writer of her church’s newsletter, “Church Chatter,” for which she also
creates a Bible Word Search and Acrostic. She was a legal secretary for over
twenty-five years. Later, as an education secretary, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Nancy</st1:city></st1:place> worked with teachers to write and
produce curriculum guides for elementary and high school students. In one, she
re-wrote and modernized several of Aesop's Fables. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br /><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She belongs to two on-line
writing groups – Advanced Writing Workshop and AARP’s Writing Memoir. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Nancy</st1:city></st1:place> has nine
grandchildren.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her son Greg is a police
lieutenant in a city in upstate <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">New
York</st1:state></st1:place>. Her daughter Karen, whom she describes as
"the incredible soccer mom", lives in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Virginia</st1:state></st1:place>. Her stepson Michael is a Sergeant
in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> Army, stationed
in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Georgia</st1:country-region></st1:place>,
but he will be retiring in June 2012. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
is now retired and resides near <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Shreveport</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">Louisiana</st1:state></st1:place></st1:city>
with her rescued dogs, Buddy and Luke.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Tell
us about the genre of your work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Furred
& Feathered Friends: Katrina Castaways </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is pure
fantasy – the animals talk and do some pretty amazing things in order to
survive until they are rescued.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is completely
different from my usual genre which I classify as a combination of suspense,
mystery and romance.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Why
did you choose this genre?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">With regard to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Furred</i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">& Feathered Friends</i>, I live in
Northwest Louisiana near <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Shreveport</st1:city></st1:place>
where we were sideswiped by Hurricane Katrina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not long after we were hit harder by Hurricane Rita.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Between those two storms, the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Gulf States</st1:state></st1:place> suffered a
terrible blow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The northern parts of
each state were flooded with refugees, both animal and people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a very upsetting and depressing time
even if you didn’t suffer directly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
remember feeling so inadequate because I wasn’t able to physically help and
what little money I could afford to contribute seemed so small.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think at the time I needed to focus on a
story of survival because the news was full of horror stories about death and
destruction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote this short novel
about a group of animals who survive despite being left behind when their
owners are forced to evacuate without them.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What
are some of your books, stories that have been published?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpESAoouYlc02Fn1RKQnfeHNTPoWQ13vN1bk7dcAXKPIn5ExhR6GqyAtvPjr-bZ0qrMEM4ToiuS7ceR2o-kd4y6rFvBHNLcrSGSuFqt9slXcbt1D2plL3tjFbehXRnM13suaAAPxna_xGO/s1600/FurryCover144x222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpESAoouYlc02Fn1RKQnfeHNTPoWQ13vN1bk7dcAXKPIn5ExhR6GqyAtvPjr-bZ0qrMEM4ToiuS7ceR2o-kd4y6rFvBHNLcrSGSuFqt9slXcbt1D2plL3tjFbehXRnM13suaAAPxna_xGO/s1600/FurryCover144x222.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The short novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Furred & Feathered Friends</i> is my
first published book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My story “The Dog
and the Nike” has been accepted for publication in a short story anthology
entitled “That One Last Shoe” edited by Betsy A. Riley which is due out in 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My full-length novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Witness Wore Fur</i> is also due out in 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All three books have been, or are going to be
published by Betsy’s private imprint, Blue Dragon Press.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p>Review:<br /><b></b></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"</span>First-time author, Nancy Clark Townsend, should be very proud of Katrina Castaways. I loved how she swept me through the story, introducing each of the Castaways, their back story, and how they overcame hardship and fear to band together and preserve their home until rescue arrived. I have always loved stories where the animals communicated, and this one was both charming and delightful. Like any Disney tale, I could see the cats, dogs and the parrot working together to overcome their physical limitations. Humorous, sweet and memorable. I felt the ending could have been less abrupt. However, maybe that was just me wanting to read more. I highly recommend Katrina Castaways to all who love a well-told animal story." --<br /><strong>by</strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/AW5OQCO9F3FZ1/ref=cm_cr_dp_pdp" original_target="http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/aw5oqco9f3fz1/ref=cm_cr_dp_pdp" rel="nofollow" saprocessedanchor="true" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Kimberley D. Kozlowski "Kimberley Dehn, author"</span></a></div>
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What
ages do you direct your books?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Most of my novels and short
stories are written for adults.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,
a teacher in a <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Texas</st1:state></st1:place>
middle school showed my short novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Furred
& Feathered Friends: Katrina Castaways</i> to her colleagues and they have
expressed an interest in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those
children are generally seventh and eighth graders, but it’s a simple book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could be read by and certainly read to
younger children.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Nancy, tell us where to find your
books.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Book (fantasy) - <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Furred
& Feathered Friends: Katrina Castaways</i> (short novel)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>By
Nancy Clark Townsend<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Amazon.com
(Kindle <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">ASIN:</span> B0076UH1JK) &
paperback<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.barnes&noble.com%20"><span style="color: blue;">www.barnes&noble.com</span></a> (Nook BN ID:
2940014021029)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><a href="http://www.createspace.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.createspace.com</span></a> (paperback
ISBN-13:978-0-9837356-1-8)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The anthology, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">That One Left Shoe,</i>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>includes my short story "The Dog
and the Nike".<o:p></o:p></span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibFU8U5nJ7Mqk5jzp2zRLkqEiq8Zupow7RC-WHhMk9QnBvmBZ0cnnrm_5CXiYTHRXT0iw0nGQRqUxiExDojNgvGmev4fmT4zY-b5z2jKmvT4Z1kVW3jQ_yYsNvsJUeGTKYPQd_YDcbhi6a/s1600/ShoesCover2RGB400x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibFU8U5nJ7Mqk5jzp2zRLkqEiq8Zupow7RC-WHhMk9QnBvmBZ0cnnrm_5CXiYTHRXT0iw0nGQRqUxiExDojNgvGmev4fmT4zY-b5z2jKmvT4Z1kVW3jQ_yYsNvsJUeGTKYPQd_YDcbhi6a/s200/ShoesCover2RGB400x.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Book sales will benefit the Carroll
County chapter of the Maryland Writers' Association </span><a href="http://www.carrollcountymwa.org/" target="new"><span style="color: blue;">CCMWA</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">)<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.thatoneleftshoe.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.thatoneleftshoe.com/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
</div>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp70UoWNUb5dEULi8f9Z1V2ccMHNCxsjVxlwRKjx8Bnps_pCBwc8HFiHRjXGGdRx_pynNz9Pd4bndYWfnjKHAqMzv8uOrW6wDZhg1faJDFWURD6391QNFljmnVKTWA6Rs6_R15KCSP7FR3/s1600/cover8B-RGB400x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp70UoWNUb5dEULi8f9Z1V2ccMHNCxsjVxlwRKjx8Bnps_pCBwc8HFiHRjXGGdRx_pynNz9Pd4bndYWfnjKHAqMzv8uOrW6wDZhg1faJDFWURD6391QNFljmnVKTWA6Rs6_R15KCSP7FR3/s200/cover8B-RGB400x.jpg" width="129" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Book (suspense/romance) - <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Witness Wore Fur</i> (full-length novel)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>By
Nancy Clark Townsend<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To
be released in Spring 2012</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Do
your books have a teaching objective?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
so, what is it?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I didn’t write <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Furred & Feathered Friends: Katrina
Castaways</i> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with a teaching objective
in mind, nor did I write it for children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I think it is a book that will be enjoyed by all ages of readers if they
are as crazy about animals as I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was pleasantly surprised when a woman in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Texas</st1:state></st1:place>
wrote to me that she has shared the link to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Furred
& Feathered Friends</i> with some of the reading teachers in the middle
school where she teaches. She said that in order to spike interest they are
always looking for ways to connect learning with real life or things their students
are familiar with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Texas was impacted by
both Hurricane Katrina and Rita – Katrina sent thousands of refugees to their
state and Rita did tremendous physical damage, displacing and killing even more
people and animals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">How
do you come up with the names of places and characters in your books? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I avoid the names
of people I know or have known and I use the Writer’s Digest book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Character Naming Sourcebook,</i> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to help me name my characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes I use the actual names of cities or
towns, but if I’m writing about a small town and I think the story might offend
its residents I make up a name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that
case I check my Atlas to try and avoid using the name of any real town in a
particular state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not, however,
above using the names of the many animal friends I’ve had over the years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like to think they would be delighted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Four of my characters in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Furred & Feathered Friends: Katrina Castaways</i> are based on
animal friends from my past – Bruno, a large Newfoundland dog; Fawn, a little fawn-colored
Chihuahua; Will, a yellow cat; and Jasmine, a Siamese cat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The black and white pointer dog that is a
main character in my upcoming novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Witness Wore Fur</i> is based on and named after my dog, Luke who came to me as
a stray and adopted me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tend to use
animals I’ve known as characters in my novels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is my way of memorializing them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">How
did you develop the character/s of your in each of your books (If you have more
that one)? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I get the idea for
a story or novel first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Usually I have a
vague thought of what the protagonists should be like, but I don’t plan them
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like people they tend to grow and change
on their own and I follow their lead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
keep a list of the characters, even if they are peripheral (barely mentioned),
and I write down everything about them even though sometimes it’s not
specifically mentioned in the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
sure that most of my characters have bits and pieces in them of not only me but
of people I have known, but I try not to make it obvious.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="text2"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Is there a
unique character or a recurring character if you have more than one published
or to be published book?</b></span><span class="text2"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="text2">I don’t have recurring characters – they come to life
in one novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think all my characters
are unique in one way or another – at least I try to create them that way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, since <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Furred & Feathered Friends: Katrina Castaways</i> has been so well
received I find myself wondering – hmm, is there another adventure awaiting
Bruno and friends?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found it very
difficult to part with them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What
is your favorite thing about your books?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">My favorite thing is the writing
itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People ask me if I have a hobby,
like crafts, knitting, sewing and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have to say that writing has always been my hobby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I should get a bumper sticker that reads,
“I’d rather be writing”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Is
your book illustrated?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If so, would you
tell us by whom, and if you worked with an illustrator, can you discuss that
experience?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">My book, “Furred & Feathered
Friends: Katrina Castaways” isn’t illustrated, although the paperback version
has some great animal silhouettes and paw prints that my publisher, Betsy A.
Riley of Blue Dragon Press <span style="color: black;">(</span><a href="http://bluedragonpress.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://bluedragonpress.com/</span></a>) put in as
segment dividers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It definitely adds to
the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I believe that the
cover of a book is very important in attracting readers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Betsy designed the front and back cover of
this paperback and did a really fabulous job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She also designed the cover for my upcoming novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Witness Wore Fur</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has
been a great experience working with Betsy all around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve heard that some publishers don’t give authors
any say with regard to the cover but from the beginning Betsy sent me her
various ideas and I had a great deal of input.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">How
is writing in the genre you write, different than other genre?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As for my little trip down
fantasy lane with “Furred & Feathered Friends”, it is not generally a genre
I’m that comfortable with – it just happened to work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe in the saying “write what you
know”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would never try to write a
purely medical or political novel or a book about spies or the military.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know enough about those genres.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t pull it off even with technical
assistance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, I know a
lot about romance – I’ve been married and widowed three times and engaged once
to a man who died before we were able to marry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have had my share of boyfriends before, in between and after.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I know a great deal about love and
relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite TV shows and reading
material tend to be suspense and mystery with a smattering of romance – I love
lawyers and lawmen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was also a legal
secretary for many years, so I weave a lot of that knowledge into my
stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a great many animal
friends so I rarely write a story<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>without
animals involved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve written a couple
of stories that involve harness racing because my second husband was a driver
and trainer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Why
and when did you begin writing?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><pre><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I grew up in a reading family and my earliest memories are of being read to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> background plays a crucial part in becoming an avid reader and that is also necessary to </span></pre>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">become a writer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began writing when I was about eight years old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t recall why except I always enjoyed playing “let’s pretend”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think reading and writing fiction is an older child and adult’s way of being able to play “let’s pretend” without feeling silly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I have any regret it’s that I didn’t try harder years ago to get published. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What
is your writing schedule?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I’m retired so I don’t have a set
schedule.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I write whenever the mood
strikes me and I don’t feel pressured to do something else – like housework or
shopping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course my dogs, Luke and
Buddy, don’t take too kindly to being ignored – fortunately they like to sleep
a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they’re awake I have to make
time for feeding, walking, rubbing tummies and playing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to working on my projects I
spend some time writing on line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
belong to an AARP community group called Writing Memoir that I recommend to
seniors out there even if you aren’t a writer (<a href="http://aarp.org/"><span style="color: blue;">http://aarp.org</span></a>)
and look up Community and Groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also
spend time posting on a small private website – Advanced Writer’s
Workshop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is actually how I came to
be published because Betsy A. Riley is the Administrator and a member.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I shared my rough story about the Katrina
castaways; she read it and now it’s a published book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What projects are
you working on now, or plan for the future?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I’m in the process of helping my publisher, Blue Dragon Press,
to edit my full length novel, “The Witness Wore Fur”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A widow finds a dog that has been stabbed in
the woods behind her home and she and a State Police Senior Investigator meet
and fall in love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story evolves
around who, what, when, why and how the dog was stabbed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Otherwise I plan to edit novels I have
already written over the last two decades – one at a time – for as long as I’m
mentally and physically able.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I
achieve some success then perhaps my children will decide to publish the novels
I leave behind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do have an idea for a
new novel, but that’s all it is right now – an idea.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What
kind of advice or tips to you have for someone who wants to write and get
published?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Keep writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keep writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Keep writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t give up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are so many venues now with e-books, print-on-demand,
the Internet, self-publishing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The world
is wide open to you so explore your possibilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Network.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Make friends with other writers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
think we are a generous group of people and always willing to help others to
achieve their dreams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Become involved
with on-line writing groups and your state and local writer’s associations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just be cautious in how much you share
because unfortunately there are those who would steal it and make it their own.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Are
there any other comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning
writers?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I think the future is wide open
for authors in all genres.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The venues
may change but I really hope the time doesn’t come when books as we know them
disappear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love to curl up with a good
book hard cover or paperback book, and at this point I don’t own a Nook or
Kindle e-book.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What
do you do when you are not writing?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I am Treasurer for my United
Methodist church, and have led a number of adult Bible studies in the past
couple of years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m preparing a study
now on “The Passion and Death of Jesus” but admit I’ve been somewhat
sidetracked by what is going on in my writing life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have two wonderful dog companions who do
their best to get me up in the morning when they decide it’s time – who needs
an alarm clock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also make sure I do
my chores (like feeding them).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s
Buddy the adorable mixed breed who is 9 and Luke a handsome black and white
pointer who is about three.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both
wandered into my yard as starving and abandoned older puppies and promptly
adopted me because they recognized a soft touch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are much smarter than me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also enjoy interactive games on line –
Scrabble and a similar word game, Lexulous, through Facebook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m an avid advocate on Facebook for a number
of animal rescue groups and animals that need to be saved from kill shelters.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Anything
else you would like to add?</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><pre><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Although I enjoy the writing I don’t care for the business end of the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am so grateful</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> that my publisher took all that off my shoulders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a few good friends to thank for </span></pre>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">encouraging me and helping my dream come to fruition - bbdunne, Sara Van der Wansem, and the author Kimberly Dehn – not to mention Betsy A. Riley and Blue Dragon Press.</span> </span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What
“Made It” moments have you experienced in life?</span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I was unable to have children, so
my first husband and I adopted two infants – a girl at 6 weeks and 3 years
later a boy at 4 weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those were my
supreme “made it” moments – becoming a mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ve lived an interesting life despite its ups and downs, and I have a lot
of great memories mixed in with life’s inevitable struggles and tragedies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to pass up one of my “made it” moments
many years ago because my family came first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I had the opportunity to work in the District Office of a newly elected
Congressman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had been his Assistant
Legislative Secretary during the time he served in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place> <st1:place w:st="on">State</st1:place></st1:place>
Assembly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew it was a job that would
require many long hours away from my husband and children, so I turned it
down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He went on to serve twenty years
in the House of Representatives so I have had some regrets about that, but on
the other hand I know I did the right thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It took me 74 years to get here, but publishing “Furred & Feathered
Friends: Katrina Castaways” is definitely a “made it” moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m PUBLISHED! Wow!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I have an author page
on the Blue Dragon Press website (</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://bluedragonpress.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://bluedragonpress.com/</span></a>) and also at
author and cat-lover <st1:place w:st="on">Kimberley</st1:place> Dehn’s website (</span><tt><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><a href="http://keptbycats.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">http://KeptbyCats.blogspot.com</span></span></a>)</span></tt><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">If anyone would like
to write to me I'd love to hear from them – <a href="mailto:nancy@BlueDragonPress.com"><span style="color: blue;">nancy@BlueDragonPress.com</span></a>.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note from Sylvia: <em>You can visit my other blog at: </em></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="color: blue; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></em></a><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">that features my journey of writing my new book, <b>Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>. Book trailer and more.</span></em></span></span></div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-28439605207048561352012-04-14T01:30:00.000-04:002012-04-14T01:30:02.310-04:00Visiting with author Maryanne Raphael<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJpwDN3UqPY0CJQ548qbfCbTqJU0_U9_Lcu2nhYSDmTJ5Ykx78fyill9FHzW9Z6OVwwVDR6ybf3Z8op19TO2oKox58BR85HVNupwLNhAG4TzdWUAQh7uJZ9LaZSM896CBNiCN7R7mhl1fi/s1600/325f81b0c8a01e7ce403d110_L__V192591902_SX200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJpwDN3UqPY0CJQ548qbfCbTqJU0_U9_Lcu2nhYSDmTJ5Ykx78fyill9FHzW9Z6OVwwVDR6ybf3Z8op19TO2oKox58BR85HVNupwLNhAG4TzdWUAQh7uJZ9LaZSM896CBNiCN7R7mhl1fi/s1600/325f81b0c8a01e7ce403d110_L__V192591902_SX200_.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I was born in Waverly,,
Ohio , the oldest of ten children. I graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Ohio
University , then went to the Sorbonne in Paris . I was an editor at Prentice
Hall and an editorial assistant at Woman's Day Magazine. I taught at the New School
in New York , at Ohio University, at Parker School and the University of
Hawaii . I met Mother Teresa and became a co-worker and with her permission
wrote two books about her work. Now have ten books for sale on Amazon.com..
“Runways,” “The Man Who Loved Funerals,” “Anais Nin, The Voyage Within:” “Along
Came A Spider, A Personal look at Madness”, Alexandria ,” “Mother Teresa,
Called to Love” “What Mother Teresa Taught Me.” “ Garden of Hope ,” “Dancing On
Water.” “Saints of Molokai .” <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When did the writing bug bite and in what genre?</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I got my first rejection
slip from St. Anthony Messenger when I was five years old. My grandfather typed
up a story I dictated to him and we sent it out. I wrote short stories for
several years and collected rejection slips. Grandfather says a rejection slip
shows you are a professional writer. We write and send it out.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What goals do you want to accomplish? Is there a
message?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My goal is to write
about things I feel passionately about and share that passion with my readers..
My message is Life is Precious and I hold up various parts of Life to myself
and my readers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tell us about your latest book. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxdlH5W2kJC_5kLup46GChh5ma1IgmpKyNM6dlxBjXk7sY-2MOPUK1j4C7IXUV4zJu35AnnTVwOj8HosLg3dIy7NIvXFMo2EcjI81m9D5iTa7BG57uuyGfXmFwCJ5c1pf5wfJUxW3MJ0J/s1600/Saints.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxdlH5W2kJC_5kLup46GChh5ma1IgmpKyNM6dlxBjXk7sY-2MOPUK1j4C7IXUV4zJu35AnnTVwOj8HosLg3dIy7NIvXFMo2EcjI81m9D5iTa7BG57uuyGfXmFwCJ5c1pf5wfJUxW3MJ0J/s200/Saints.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Saints of Molokai is a
Nonfiction narrative about the people with Hansen’s disease who were arrested,
sent into exile with no prepared shelter, food, water or medicine. It tells of
the Kokuas, healthy men and women who accompanied their diseased loved one into
a life of isolation. It described Father Damien who cared for the exiles until
he caught the disease and Mother Marianne and the Franciscan Sisters who lived
in the colony until they died.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is the hook for the book?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Father Damien was
canonized on October 11, 2009.and President Obama praised him and the Congress
made a resolution to celebrate him as an American Saint. Also there is an
interest in National Parks and the Congress declared Kalaupapa, Molokai A
National Memorial Park.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How do you develop characters? </span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I made a mixture of all
the interesting people I know who remind me of the character in my head. It may
be a movie star, a friend, a character from a book or play. As I write the
characters take on their own personality and characteristics.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Who is the most unusual/most likable character?</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3Q8vYO_bM4hPW1GVoo8b9k7t5Wl1fiXz_IaFCwkXnjlGe8CIJDUOJAkTZwooGIDL9aP-d7Zm9PDT6BHmTGIgsXJg8wtpcqcv-6GHqZaKaeN7Ogf7oa6Cvn42pluiEVWMF3JUmiZBwwwL/s1600/love+funerals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3Q8vYO_bM4hPW1GVoo8b9k7t5Wl1fiXz_IaFCwkXnjlGe8CIJDUOJAkTZwooGIDL9aP-d7Zm9PDT6BHmTGIgsXJg8wtpcqcv-6GHqZaKaeN7Ogf7oa6Cvn42pluiEVWMF3JUmiZBwwwL/s200/love+funerals.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My favorite fiction
character from my own books is Charlie The Man Who Loved Funerals. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8)</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">How do you keep the plot
moving</b>? </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Almost all of the action
comes from the nature of the characters. The conflicts, the relationships, the
happiness and sorrows.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is your writing style? Preferred Point of
View?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My style is to use the
shortest strongest words. I want my work to be easily read by young adults and
be interesting enough that everyone will want to read it. I like to write Third
Person Limited.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How does your upbringing/environment color your
work? </span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I was raised Roman
Catholic and growing up with 9 brothers and sisters I learned early to love and
forgive, to have compassion and passion, that helps me understand all kinds of
people.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What was your best review?</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Runaways Reviewed by
Anais Nin:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_8EU0alCeU_CeYO2Ei6m4uycnXCHwjaJPtcklCEq8xblB1R5JsW4FfRuXow6Pve6ClIHutvV3a7BzlXztBEous0XP6Uee1liFajfWzRy98q7kQOqiPqenO8XpDUpfYUku6W5KOxQnNpz8/s1600/key+to+success.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_8EU0alCeU_CeYO2Ei6m4uycnXCHwjaJPtcklCEq8xblB1R5JsW4FfRuXow6Pve6ClIHutvV3a7BzlXztBEous0XP6Uee1liFajfWzRy98q7kQOqiPqenO8XpDUpfYUku6W5KOxQnNpz8/s200/key+to+success.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“This is an important book. Nowhere else have I
seen the theme of the runaways treated as thoroughly, honestly, unflinchingly.
It is important because it not only describes the various stories fully, but
because it offers suggestions for improving a tragic situation.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Where can we learn more about your books and
events?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My web site is </span><a href="http://www.authorsden.com/maryanneraphael" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">www.authorsden.com/maryanneraphael</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All my books are for
sale on Amazon.com</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Note from Sylvia: <em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">You can visit my other blog at: </span></em></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="color: blue; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></em></a><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">that features a preview to my new
book, <b>Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>.</span></em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-50626668409797740552012-04-11T01:30:00.000-04:002012-04-11T01:30:01.456-04:00Flower from Castile Trilogy Author, Lillian Gafni, Stops by for a Chat!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Lillian, you have an interesting background, would you share that with the readers?</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuj5iBDDWqCCvOBP_JZTIERMz7oh30nr7qz_FRCBz3szQlHBWK7Vfn_hu45d2BTIt3wihyphenhyphenAH40-1IgeXRJbLcxWBFj_0aiz8wz8d5mf63Cf3x_rVldOhAXWOh1TWgTR-QB6E_nPQLcnJo9/s1600/-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuj5iBDDWqCCvOBP_JZTIERMz7oh30nr7qz_FRCBz3szQlHBWK7Vfn_hu45d2BTIt3wihyphenhyphenAH40-1IgeXRJbLcxWBFj_0aiz8wz8d5mf63Cf3x_rVldOhAXWOh1TWgTR-QB6E_nPQLcnJo9/s320/-3.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">I was born in Cairo, Egypt and schooled in a non-denominational, French Catholic School of St. Vincent de Paul. The school accepted Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish girls. I loved the nuns, and they were good to me. In Egypt all spoke Arabic besides the international languages found there. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">My father came from a Greek background so he spoke Greek in addition to Italian. He spoke seven languages. I never picked up the Greek language, because my paternal grandmother died young. We spoke French at home, but when my maternal grandmother visited we spoke to her in Ladino, a mixture of Castilian Spanish and Hebrew words. The word Spain in Hebrew is Sepharad, and my family is of Sephardic background. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZvwXRw041u53OIBI_XL5C35ZBIu9uO9g4P3BQu_1nWm7uCnGUQOyYXP0NGhZF1eXUZiAAlvFcYvpZj5lnBq5X8Qddt54eHueFfeRECns5B16AceXHju9wRianoZ-er9p7Ur1XYcvZ_T-4/s1600/319953_120755418031514_100002911691112_126199_1770416658_n-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZvwXRw041u53OIBI_XL5C35ZBIu9uO9g4P3BQu_1nWm7uCnGUQOyYXP0NGhZF1eXUZiAAlvFcYvpZj5lnBq5X8Qddt54eHueFfeRECns5B16AceXHju9wRianoZ-er9p7Ur1XYcvZ_T-4/s320/319953_120755418031514_100002911691112_126199_1770416658_n-1.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">My ancestors were exiled from Spain in 1492, but Ladino was kept as a spoken language throughout the centuries. When the state of Israel was born in 1948 we became the target of mobs in Egypt. My parents then immigrated to Israel where I had to learn Hebrew. Later on I served two years in the Israel Defense Forces and transferred to the Negev Desert where I met my American-born husband Joel. Afterwards we came to California to raise our two children. Since I spoke Romance languages the transition to English was easy. I was able to finish high school, then college, university and graduate work. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Tell us about the genre of your work.</span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">I write both fiction and non-fiction, although, I did discovered later on that fiction is where I want to be.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Why did you choose this genre?</span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">I feel comfortable in fiction, which helps me create without bounds. I still adhere to portray accurate historical events within the parameters of creative fiction. In fiction I find that characters speak to me as live persons. They take a life of their own and dictate which way they will evolve. I believe that we draw these characteristics from real live characters from the past. These can be an amalgamation of several characters into one. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">What are some of your books, stories that have been published?</span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">In addition to my three books, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Living a Blissful Marriage</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hello Exile</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flower from Castile Trilogy</i>, I also published a short story called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rusty</i> in the anthology <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">L.A. My Way</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rusty</i> is the story of a vagabond using many stratagems to trick his unsuspecting victims to help him survive. I had fun writing it and it falls into a satirical category. ISBN: 0-9627735-0-6</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Can you tell us more about your books?</span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjPey7gu2qgKKeQ3YN7bXs_axuUUV73-qdC7cvWXl3oRu_DwjyeCerRSEufuOg304ym7QeSv2dECfxVlIilT7M2RMKZhT94CxhXDi8osNRL9V2w-h_9sSbalcW_cl2t_Tpo15psD5AaVjp/s1600/DSC00421-6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjPey7gu2qgKKeQ3YN7bXs_axuUUV73-qdC7cvWXl3oRu_DwjyeCerRSEufuOg304ym7QeSv2dECfxVlIilT7M2RMKZhT94CxhXDi8osNRL9V2w-h_9sSbalcW_cl2t_Tpo15psD5AaVjp/s320/DSC00421-6.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">My first book “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Living a Blissful Marriage</i>” is non-fiction where I tapped into my education in clinical psychology. Afterwards I did the lecture circuit for a number of years teaching couples marriage education. In addition to the sales market in the US, I was very lucky to have landed a foreign publisher in India to carry my title. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Living a Blissful Marriage</i> teaches couples to understand each other through empathic communication while mirroring their partners’ pleas and requests to be heard. Through a series of exercises they learn to rediscover their deeply buried love for each other and bring it back to the surface. The book also has a chart they can use to keep goals in their marriage to keep building a life together.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Living a Blissful Marriage: 24 Steps to Happiness</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> is on Amazon.com and all other booksellers. ISBN-978-0970273505</span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggjhNxvPMyM6LC-XVuaCz7pntzDLS0pILuYcnqA0WXa3lzlzC5Bj5rP_sojleX2fxaiPesiC7AbBkuM8n8tGXa38icFCoCHS61qq7xNnVuZ8DdEIN4ZkfJejRVhYhFIS40OEo8RHrOWwOl/s1600/HelloExile3753913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggjhNxvPMyM6LC-XVuaCz7pntzDLS0pILuYcnqA0WXa3lzlzC5Bj5rP_sojleX2fxaiPesiC7AbBkuM8n8tGXa38icFCoCHS61qq7xNnVuZ8DdEIN4ZkfJejRVhYhFIS40OEo8RHrOWwOl/s320/HelloExile3753913.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">For my second book I switched to fiction where I wanted to explore. My second book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hello Exile</i> is historical fiction based on a true-life story. In the 70s I worked in the US for the commission on Soviet Jewry, where our efforts centered on helping Soviet Jews leave an oppressive regime in the Soviet Union. I corresponded with prisoners of conscience in exile, and with Ida Nudel, the main character in my book on which this book is based. At the time, I used the fictitious name of Klara Abramovna Abramovitch for my main character to disguise her real identity and not endanger her life. I then classified Hello Exile as historical fiction even though it was biographical. I wrote <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hello Exile </i>back in 1987 then put it away in a drawer, not knowing what to do with it. I published it in 2004, which makes my first written book to become my second book to be published. I guess it’s never too late to reactivate a dormant book. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hello Exile</i> is the story of human strength in the face of everything meant to destroy it.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Hello Exile,</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;"> ISBN: 978-1413724844 can be found on Amazon.com, B&N.com, Powell’s books, Abebooks and others booksellers. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwmYSnV8C3trGcu-KiV3GfYCBorRNGFraE_SBwQHg7whf8OrAWVCjtBIcuB2t8ydBFWhwyUu9YXzEswMeip4lGbb2nWXycy2miLFCDn8d2p9JN9rtg0WNWmp-v8G9-Oqh7HUSiBMZlU2uh/s1600/Front+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwmYSnV8C3trGcu-KiV3GfYCBorRNGFraE_SBwQHg7whf8OrAWVCjtBIcuB2t8ydBFWhwyUu9YXzEswMeip4lGbb2nWXycy2miLFCDn8d2p9JN9rtg0WNWmp-v8G9-Oqh7HUSiBMZlU2uh/s320/Front+Cover.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">In my newest book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flower from Castile Trilogy</i> I used my Sephardic background for insight into the exodus of Jews from Spain in 1492.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My main character is the sixteen-year-old Catholic girl, Isabella Obrigon, who discovers a secret to her birth. She becomes caught between two faiths and two people. She must decide on whether to stay in Spain or join her brethren in exile. When her path crosses with Miguel Costa, an eighteen-year-old Converso (a convert to Catholicism) her fate becomes sealed with his. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Flower from Castile Trilogy</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;"> is a story about redemption, love and forgiveness. Two unlikely individuals who hate each other fall in love despite harrowing events pulling them apart. This period in history can be learned through the lenses of real characters that lived at one time in an uncertain world. I also tried to recreate in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flower from Castile</i> a lost world where a peaceful way of life ended and religion ruled with an iron fist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book is geared to adult fiction, but can also be a YA book. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Flower from Castile Trilogy Book One: The Alhambra Decree,</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;"> ISBN: 978-1463744588 as well as the other books can also all be found on my website and online bookstores. Both <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flower from Castile</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hello Exile</i> are paperback as well as eBooks. Excerpts can be read on ‘Look Inside the Book’ on Amazon.com, and on my Facebook Page,</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Flower-Castile-Trilogy-Alhambra-Decree/dp/1463744587/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329873689&sr=1-1">http://www.amazon.com/Flower-Castile-Trilogy-Alhambra-Decree/dp/1463744587/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329873689&sr=1-1</a></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">How do you come up with the names of places and characters in your books?</span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">The places I selected for the narrative in Spain had to be the seat of power in Seville for the monarchs and the place from which a whole exodus of exiled Jews will sail from its largest port. The character’s names were easy to cull from history, but the main character’s name had to be the same as Queen Isabella. Isabella Obrigon shared the same name as the Queen as her Godmother, and shuu . . . there’s a spoiler here, and the answer is in the book.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">How did you develop the character of your protagonist in your book?</span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">My protagonist is a young, privileged noblewoman who is confronted with the secret to her birth and the decision as to whether to remain a Catholic or to follow her brethren of a different faith. I chose Isabella to be a young adult who hadn’t been exposed to prejudice and hate, but could see from both point of views, one being exclusively Catholic and the other selectively Jewish. Through her untainted eyes she leads us to question why do some individuals, or nations, inflict pain and suffering on others. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">What about the antagonist . . . is there a unique “bad guy” or a recurring nemesis of any kind?</span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Unfortunately, there’s always been a recurring nemesis throughout history. There’s always been a “bad guy” to oppose. The antagonist in this narrative is Father Thomas de Torquemada who makes the strong wince. Everything he touches is marked by torture and death. What I wanted to portray is an antagonist carrying within him ignorance and prejudice under the guise of faith. Faith alone does not</span><strong> </strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">discriminate and pass sentencing. It is in the hands of the few that hate resides.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">What is your favorite thing about your book?</span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">My favorite thing about writing historical fiction in particular</span><strong> </strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">is</span><strong> </strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">opening a door into the past to see how people lived. How they survived danger? What made them choose one decision over another? How they sacrificed their lives to save others? And how the human spirit wins in the end over tyranny and oppression?</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">How is writing in the genre you write, different than other genre?</span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">I believe writing historical fiction gives you the freedom to create, expand and design a story according to your own beliefs. You find a voice for the beleaguered character and speak for them. In historical fiction you can change a world about to destroy itself, and superimpose a world the way you see it fit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Why and when did you begin writing?</span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ejgghElWYrTBGGbZh-A5eKFvnR8ztLU2cP-TAYQMN9ScIwd4srKlIvy47UQNBSMDK6DltI0sjVbcsG_MHzyRTgByJhU1NnXtZ_YislmNGLjwEQr6qo_W34IzJp5ew_oSHOEjnLEPewC1/s1600/img631.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ejgghElWYrTBGGbZh-A5eKFvnR8ztLU2cP-TAYQMN9ScIwd4srKlIvy47UQNBSMDK6DltI0sjVbcsG_MHzyRTgByJhU1NnXtZ_YislmNGLjwEQr6qo_W34IzJp5ew_oSHOEjnLEPewC1/s320/img631.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">As far as I remember I wanted to write. As a child, I read copious number of books. My quota for books was then curtailed from the school library because my school studies fell behind. Perhaps, as a child I made a conscious decision that if I can’t have more books I’ll have to write them myself. With the years writing fell to the side as life happened. I began writing in earnest when I became acquainted with the plight of Soviet Jews in the 70s. I wanted to help beyond the capacity of commiserating with their plight. I wanted to help with action and words. I found this vehicle in sitting down and putting my thoughts on paper.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">What is your writing schedule?</span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">I try to write each day for several hours then after a break read what I wrote and edit what I don’t like. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">What projects are you working on now, or plan for the future?</span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">I have a big agenda. I’m completing the second book of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flower from Castile Trilogy </i>and hopefully the third by the end of 2013. Afterwards, I would like very much to dabble in mystery dramas in the genres of Daphne du Maurier.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">What kind of advice or tips do you have for someone who wants to write and get published?</span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijDra2dj6vLRAkux78t3YYFG-EwgvzwIgqFzYX-ocGYo-TvYjBLQ0Pgguxn9_WjTgwXRHXMC3zkj_W_slV1vLRGvfNsgDwkzNMWZBBV_tQdDxmh2bRqeHK8Lvr_Fz-2mF0h55xXJdbCfGc/s1600/img628.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijDra2dj6vLRAkux78t3YYFG-EwgvzwIgqFzYX-ocGYo-TvYjBLQ0Pgguxn9_WjTgwXRHXMC3zkj_W_slV1vLRGvfNsgDwkzNMWZBBV_tQdDxmh2bRqeHK8Lvr_Fz-2mF0h55xXJdbCfGc/s320/img628.jpg" width="311" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">The best advice I can give is to spread Crazy Glue on the chair then sit down. Kidding aside, discipline is the most important ingredient in writing every day, following a plan to write a chapter or two per week, and a book in a year. Apparently, I tried hard to follow this routine at the beginning of my writing career, and had to fight for every inch of it. I once hung a banner for my kids from my office door that read: “Disturb only in case of fire.” In the past I also tried to find a balance between writing and spending time with my family. Now my children are grown and I can be a full-time writer. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Are there other comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning writers?</span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">There’s always a beginning, a middle and end to everything. I was a beginning writer and wrote by fits and spurts. Another way to motivate us to write is to be inspired by using a banner, a photo or a motto of a famous or prolific writer on the wall above your computer that quotes in his or her own words why they write. Mine is framed on the wall above my computer and it says: </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">“Writers help summon people to a vision of human betterment. It </span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">is not unnatural for writers to be concerned about the human estate </span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">or to deal with those universals of human experience. Their primary goal is to their consciences. They create an awareness no just to </span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">things as they are, but as they ought to be.” -- Norman Cousins.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Another belief beginning writers should follow is to believe in their power to create and be published, that their voices have weight and should be heard. I equate the struggles to write and being published as being armored with a pen, a saber or lance and fighting for our own personal time to write. Be a soldier for your own cause. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">What do you do when you are not writing?</span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I enjoy spending time with my husband and family, reading, watching classic films, walking and admiring the numerous mountains in my hometown.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">What “Made It” moments have you experienced in life?</span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIbAsdvVFSXbnrhvEHsotXncrlEmG5P53pq5ZBkOn-gmI4Ns4pAs3-jbBxAWtB-UmNBQsiU4nrvvEBU9uxy0TXjV21FHusYwb2-SSmfth3i_20D6TRAVv3RtkbgKb0oNnN1og4B5yfVd96/s1600/img630.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIbAsdvVFSXbnrhvEHsotXncrlEmG5P53pq5ZBkOn-gmI4Ns4pAs3-jbBxAWtB-UmNBQsiU4nrvvEBU9uxy0TXjV21FHusYwb2-SSmfth3i_20D6TRAVv3RtkbgKb0oNnN1og4B5yfVd96/s320/img630.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">The most significant moment in my writing career came when I held the first book in my hands. To feel that it was real. Then it was the second and now the third. You never stop enjoying the results of your hard work, glued to your chair and shutting the world around you while opening another on your page.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Amazon.com:</span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<u><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Flower-from-Castile-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B0065LIYC4/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1328910896&sr=1-1"><strong><span style="font-family: Times;">http://www.amazon.com/Flower-from-Castile-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B0065LIYC4/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1328910896&sr=1-1</span></strong></a></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Amazon.com Author Page: </span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lilian-Gafni/e/B00634QK74/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0"><strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">http://www.amazon.com/Lilian-Gafni/e/B00634QK74/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0</span></strong></a><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Facebook Books:<u></u></span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flower-from-Castile-Trilogy/296119073764746"><strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flower-from-Castile-Trilogy/296119073764746</span></strong></a></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Website: </span></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<u><a href="http://www.flowerfromcastile.com/"><strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">http://www.flowerfromcastile.com</span></strong></a></u></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note from Sylvia: <em><span style="font-size: 10pt;">You can visit my other blog at: </span></em></span><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="color: blue; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></em></a><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">that features a preview to my new book released in 2012, <b>Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts</b>.</span></em></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343251867901035948.post-3596052912580045902012-04-08T01:30:00.000-04:002012-04-08T01:30:00.195-04:00Visiting with Susanne Gervay, Australian Author of Jack Books, Butterflies and More<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgRH_fTuIbIQR7inqk6zBN3aRvvFjHkacQVHYFUDEtZwUez7lNQeFxhGZOaO7RVFg5ytvwapTIc_mvOpmp217QToaK9bHIkkkzasCjNWmgD-Fsy-jtakHxY3FjYAkEKuddSYsB6nihmBbT/s1600/Susanne+gervay+with+Jack+books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgRH_fTuIbIQR7inqk6zBN3aRvvFjHkacQVHYFUDEtZwUez7lNQeFxhGZOaO7RVFg5ytvwapTIc_mvOpmp217QToaK9bHIkkkzasCjNWmgD-Fsy-jtakHxY3FjYAkEKuddSYsB6nihmBbT/s1600/Susanne+gervay+with+Jack+books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgRH_fTuIbIQR7inqk6zBN3aRvvFjHkacQVHYFUDEtZwUez7lNQeFxhGZOaO7RVFg5ytvwapTIc_mvOpmp217QToaK9bHIkkkzasCjNWmgD-Fsy-jtakHxY3FjYAkEKuddSYsB6nihmBbT/s400/Susanne+gervay+with+Jack+books.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Only
recently have I under stood why I am driven to write and advocate for young
people and families for young people and adults. It’s deeply embedded in the
struggles of my family’s wartime, human rights violations and the refugee
experience. My parents carrying my little brother, left all they knew to escape
across ‘no-man’s land’ minefields in the dead of night for freedom. My mother’s
Hungarian world was no longer the same. Gone were the operas, balls, visiting
the health spa on Lake Balaton; her father’s world at the university as a
Professor of Engineering; a household with servants and afternoon teas on
Margarita Island on the Danube. My father’s world was taken too. His farm
taken. His white horse disappeared. His way of life gone.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">The
Austrian refugee camp was crowded, difficult, but it was from here that
Australia selected them to go as bonded migrants on a battered WW11 warship.
They had hoped to be selected by the US. Like other refugees they worked long
hours – my father in the car factory; my mother in the clothing factory . Life
in Sydney began in one room with the family sleeping on mattresses on the
floor. But there was hope and a belief in the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">My
parents who have passed away now, would be profoundly moved that, I am an
Australia Day Ambassador and have been recently been awarded an Order of
Australia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">An
interview with ABC radio (similar to BBC) Conversations with Richard Fidler -
<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2010/11/15/3066754.htm">www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2010/11/15/3066754.htm<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">As
a multiple cancer survivor, single parent of two children, teacher, I felt
compelled to write children’s and young adult books which would travel with
young people and families. My books are endorsed by anti-school bullying
organizations, The Cancer Council, The Children’s Hospital (Westmead Sydney),
Room to Read and many associations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Tell us about the genre of your work</span></b><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">I
write real-life fiction that has won awards across the board, including
children’s books, young adult novels, picture books, short stories for
anthologies ranging from children to adult, adult short stories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Why did you choose this genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">It’s
instinctive and something I’ve been writing since a little girl, not for
publication but because it’s natural. I write from an emotional core about life
with all its funny and sad parts. The driving force is that whatever the
challenge, there’s hope and light.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">What
are some of your books, stories that have been published?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Butterflies </span></i><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">is a young adult novel recently
published in the USA by Kane Miller<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Butterflies
(Australian version), published HarperCollins Australia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">JACK
books: - <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Am Jack. Super Jack, Always
Jack</i> published by HarperCollins Australia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">That’s Why I Wrote This Song</span></i><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">, a young adult title with music and
lyrics by Tory Gervay published HarperCollins Australia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">The Cave</span></i><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"> published HarperCollins Australia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Ships in the Field</span></i><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"> published Ford Street Publishing
Australia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and others<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">What ages do you direct your books?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">From
5 to 21 years<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Can
you tell us more about your books and where we may find them?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">All
my books are available through online bookstores. ‘Butterflies’ published in
the USA is available through bookstores. All my titles published in Australia
are available in bookstores in Australia and Pacific regions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong>Butterflies</strong></span></i><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"> by Susanne Gervay<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Publisher:
Kane/Miller Book Publishers (2011)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">ISBN:
9781610670432<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZkHuPVzWdv9q2n5G2rQ8afOskoc5TKgknvArkzWE_pckKl01NSI8XCgLsLdem4EqDIKz8guWO-PaVrSorrqNErfUQ9wPu67zy_ygE8YzwfUIKL0zQau9417waxBW_Xd6dqBP_9kg_Uear/s1600/butterflies.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZkHuPVzWdv9q2n5G2rQ8afOskoc5TKgknvArkzWE_pckKl01NSI8XCgLsLdem4EqDIKz8guWO-PaVrSorrqNErfUQ9wPu67zy_ygE8YzwfUIKL0zQau9417waxBW_Xd6dqBP_9kg_Uear/s320/butterflies.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">‘Heart
wrenching and beautiful are the two words that immediately came to mind as I
read "Butterflies." The true terror and depth of Katherine's burns
and recovery are deftly shown through the movement of the text between
flashbacks and the present. Gervay paints a picture of Katherine as she grows
and changes allowing the reader to believe in her as a real person. Unlike
other teen angst books, Katherine does not dwell in her angst, but moves beyond
it and chooses to leave the misery and find joy in her daily life. Gervay has
done an excellent job of examining a topic not often seen in books for young
adults- burn survivors who are not victims, but victors. Gervay allows
Katherine to win at the end- not because she suddenly becomes amazingly
beautiful, but because she always was beautiful and knew that within herself.
Kudos to Gervay for painting the reader a picture of a self-reliant teen girl
who does not depend on a boy to make herself feel valuable. Highly recommended
for libraries- school, public and personal- who want to add to their girl power
collections.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Reviewed
by Kim Thompson, M. Ed, MLIS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Kenton
County Public Library<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Grades:
7, 8, 9, 10, 11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Use:
Recreation; Reference Aids: Appendix; Genres: Coming of Age, Family, Realistic;
Literary Merit: Very Good; Characterization: Very Good; Recommendation:
Recommended;Level: High School; Comments: webmanager@swonlibraries.org<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Trailer:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JP7BKgmQic"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JP7BKgmQic</span></a></span></div>
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">JACK
Titles<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">: I Am Jack, Super Jack </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Always Jack</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">I Am Jack</span></i><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"> HarperCollins Australia IBSN 0 207
19905 1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkOie7G4SQHBVH9jaWkrZt5-GWYtlSBMvBDTE3ODY31juuXmdjNTiFpxamsEjvCnNBi7P6sPHU2DdZ9TR9U-hXPfhaPXZezsND7J8etjM_weegLnru1i6TmaORIUPxEwHhmGOyZ7Hexexe/s1600/superjack-sml.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkOie7G4SQHBVH9jaWkrZt5-GWYtlSBMvBDTE3ODY31juuXmdjNTiFpxamsEjvCnNBi7P6sPHU2DdZ9TR9U-hXPfhaPXZezsND7J8etjM_weegLnru1i6TmaORIUPxEwHhmGOyZ7Hexexe/s1600/superjack-sml.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Super Jack</span></i><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"> HarperCollins Australia IBSN 978 0
207 19918 9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Always Jack</span></i><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"> HarperCollins Australia IBSN 978 0
7322 9020 7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Tackling
the touch issues with a light touch<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Always Jack<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Susanne
Gervay: illustrator Cathy Wilcox<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">In
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Am Jack </i>, Jack battled bullies at
his school and won. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Super Jack</i>,
Jack faced the trails of a newly blended family. Now, in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Always Jack</i>, our hero faces a challenge bigger than he’s ever faced
before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWMHGsdobJktHFRaapPYYg_7BcJ0IU1RaOsxeWeeUVVxxSrl4asfrVvDBk5fI6zq9_u37a1RXDgd8g77wVV-loPimVcFt3_2QQ6C60bJMD6XwBTQt4nOEexMMjDxnx5biX240uwT9qtIQh/s1600/iamjack-sml.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWMHGsdobJktHFRaapPYYg_7BcJ0IU1RaOsxeWeeUVVxxSrl4asfrVvDBk5fI6zq9_u37a1RXDgd8g77wVV-loPimVcFt3_2QQ6C60bJMD6XwBTQt4nOEexMMjDxnx5biX240uwT9qtIQh/s1600/iamjack-sml.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Nanna
is older and wobblier than ever. Jack is experiencing strange emotions whenever
he sees his best friend Anna. Then there’s mum and Rob’s impending wedding,
which seems to be taking over the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">But
these entire woes pale into insignificance when mum delivers the news that she
has breast cancer. As usual, Jack sums it up incredibly succinctly: ‘I look up
at him. It’s hard to speak. ‘But it’s cancer Rob.’ I can’t live without mum.
None of us can love without mum.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">But
while mum’s illness makes Jack re-evaluate aspects of his life, it doesn’t
dominate the narrative. This is the skill in Gervay’s storytelling: to
encapsulate the realism of a young boy’s life, yet still deal with big issues
such as cancer. Death. Divorce, grandparents, sibling rivalry, friendships, refugees
and the Vietnam War.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">How
does Gervay deal with so many issues in one relatively short children’s book?
The answer is that she treads lightly. Jack is Gervay’s vehicle for spreading
words of wisdom but at no time does she preach. Eternally, Jack and his story
remain wholly believable. Readers will not only empathize with Jack but love
his sensitive introspection and his wisecracks designed to alternately
entertain and annoy his family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY45ug8gIvp6cyup3qF_7Tp8rZh9D02SUjL6GCONEdAPSy3Dv_pdgK92eqi0nFl2IZH7ajaCKFV_a0lSAZtyzyPHi6l_K7Z6aZ6UsOjkS_EaTzd0J9WyiMsS46I759WKaDxtIwxiI4zs7a/s1600/always-jack-sml.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY45ug8gIvp6cyup3qF_7Tp8rZh9D02SUjL6GCONEdAPSy3Dv_pdgK92eqi0nFl2IZH7ajaCKFV_a0lSAZtyzyPHi6l_K7Z6aZ6UsOjkS_EaTzd0J9WyiMsS46I759WKaDxtIwxiI4zs7a/s1600/always-jack-sml.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">At
its heart, <em>Always Jack</em> is a powerful tool for providing comfort to children of
cancer sufferers and for educating the uninitiated. More than that, it’s a true
Australian story that could happen to any of us. And as a multiple breast
cancer sufferer and survivor herself, no one understands better than Gervay
what it’s like to battle – and overcome – the disease.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Part
survival manual, part therapy, part autobiography, part fiction, Always Jack
succeeds in distilling a complex medical conditions for young readers to
digest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">‘Mum
is in her white sack when she waves us over. ‘I’ve organized that you kids can
have a quick look into the radiation treatment room.’ It is super quick but
it’s interesting. Reminds me of a laboratory. There’s a major X-ray machine
like a big metal right angle hanging over a metal bed.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">As
Gervay says, she wrote <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Always Jack</i>,
‘for families who go through cancer to share the journey; and to invite other
kids and community to join in.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">The
illustrations sprinkled through the book, by Sydney Morning Herald cartoonist
Cathy Wilcox, are as delightful and entertaining as Jack himself. Beautiful,
sad, funny – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Always Jack</i> will make
you laugh and make you cry. Guaranteed. Carrying the NSW Cancer Council’s stamp
of approval, Jack’s story will stay with readers always.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Reviewed
by Aleesah Darlinson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Sun
Herald Book Section<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Trailer:
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Am Jack</i> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWC6QkiplkU"><span style="color: blue;">www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWC6QkiplkU</span></a></span></div>
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong>That’s Why I Wrote This Song<o:p></o:p></strong></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">By
Susanne Gervay with lyrics and music by Tory Gervay<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Published
HarperCollins Australia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">ISBN
13: 978 0 207 20086<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">The
new young adult novel by bestselling author Susanne Gervay is no ordinary book.
It’s a multi-media experience, complete with music (soundtrack available <a href="http://www.blogger.com/at%20www.sgervay.com"><span style="color: blue;">at www.sgervay.com</span></a>) and film clip (as seen on
ABC TV's Rage and online on <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.youtube.com"><span style="color: blue;">www.youtube.com</span></a>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggd30Pq7zj3M8n5nT5PN0tO2pt-etNOrcGxmFy94T90maXsvQuimqvWFHEdFayPUGHtZ6y8JctrmnZB0IQyWolIB_L03Ts8sAcSdgaBMrGctIPEdrkZZlOllbdiFR6wcgQQ1UCejMmDDPg/s1600/front-cover-sml.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggd30Pq7zj3M8n5nT5PN0tO2pt-etNOrcGxmFy94T90maXsvQuimqvWFHEdFayPUGHtZ6y8JctrmnZB0IQyWolIB_L03Ts8sAcSdgaBMrGctIPEdrkZZlOllbdiFR6wcgQQ1UCejMmDDPg/s1600/front-cover-sml.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">A
tremendously passionate writer, Gervay has won many fans by simply speaking
about her work at festivals and literary events. Her novels show the same
ardor, as Gervay writes from the heart and often, about subjects with which she
has had personal experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">This
latest novel was inspired by the author’s daughter, Tory Gervay, and is a
collaborative effort between the pair (Tory wrote the music and lyrics featured
in the book.) The story is about a teenage girl, Pip, who uses music to help
her express and understand her emotions, her relationships and identity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Writing
and performing songs, such as the no-holds-barred Psycho Dad, is how Pip and
her friends assert their autonomy. Each girl struggles under the weight of
parental pressure, particularly from dominant and in some instances violent,
father figures. The girls’ diverse but equally affecting relationships with
their parents, gives the story balanced doses of hope, sentimentality, anger
and heartbreak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">This
book has fantastic energy to it, partly because of its multimedia components
but also because of Gervay’s descriptions of rock concerts and Pip’s musical
performances, which encompass all the senses so evocatively.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Angie
Schiavonne <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Feature
in Spectrum Sydney Morning Herald<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Trailer
– That’s Why I Wrote This Song – track Pscho Dad <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqNOCtdoNCM"><span style="color: blue;">www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqNOCtdoNCM</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Trailer
– That’s Why I Wrote This Song – track I Wanna Be Found <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw0JRQVht3E"><span style="color: blue;">www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw0JRQVht3E</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">The Cave <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">HarperCollins
Australia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">IBSN
0 207 19814 4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">‘The
Cave is a gritty story of courage and hope for those in the passage between
youth and adulthood. Both compassionate and confronting, Susanne Gervay takes
us on a journey, eight days’ camping with the hero Knox and his mates including
Fat George, Bennie and Jones, and the evil Watts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsb-9lXqC5Vd1CKxLeybisKEq1WO0deAccX2U8w-h1SHslhlfRNtNyzz1z87UWBXKryDrXD-8eRgpnRK1SnlbRiKHF0pN_ct5WKq6LNWLC1FOgSV0aPD-kTmWxa0v8ndgJqNol-NVeYT0K/s1600/the_cave-sml.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsb-9lXqC5Vd1CKxLeybisKEq1WO0deAccX2U8w-h1SHslhlfRNtNyzz1z87UWBXKryDrXD-8eRgpnRK1SnlbRiKHF0pN_ct5WKq6LNWLC1FOgSV0aPD-kTmWxa0v8ndgJqNol-NVeYT0K/s1600/the_cave-sml.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">This
journey was eight days of descending into fear, exhaustion, ravines and rivers,
each in their own way carving out a sense of self-knowing and mateship; eight
days of reverie where past and present ghosts comfort and perplex. Ultimately,
in the cave, Knox comes to a sense of responsibility and authenticity that is
more powerful than the mystery of the Rave Party or Watts metal tip leather
boots. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">As
a psychologist, I recognize the private maelstrom engulfing many young adults,
in-transit between powerlessness and independence. As an educationalist, I
appreciate the groups’ ambivalence towards their two guides, Seaton and Sarah,
and towards a society that alienates and fragments. As a reader, Susanne Gervay
compels us, like the river that is part of her story, towards the rancid murky
Cave, the final place of initiation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">This
is an epic story beautifully written with clear spare prose and the ability to
go right to the heart of young males in modern society.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Carole
Kayrooz PhD, MAPS, Vice Pro Chancellor, University of Canberra<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Ships in the Field</span></i><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"> (Picture book)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">by
Susanne Gervay & Anna Pignataro<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Publisher:
Ford Street Publishing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">ISBN:
9781921665233<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Ships in the Field</span></i><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"> is an illustrative narrative giving a
voice to children and families impacted by war and disaster, establishing a new
home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0GVvoVbjb6_qDBmIx1zMEqXTaUDTbJm7C9mu3BFMce1yTocXGit6IUBA6CgpBIoGVi_n6O4dONXBYhSxZihsZGhO_oVLGeuic9hlOaphS8X7ILgM1PNjGHBLl0ZJMreDeGo9qRQrEdpn/s1600/ships-in-the-field-med.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0GVvoVbjb6_qDBmIx1zMEqXTaUDTbJm7C9mu3BFMce1yTocXGit6IUBA6CgpBIoGVi_n6O4dONXBYhSxZihsZGhO_oVLGeuic9hlOaphS8X7ILgM1PNjGHBLl0ZJMreDeGo9qRQrEdpn/s1600/ships-in-the-field-med.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ships in the Field</i> is a book that will
never date. It’s a story that will be every bit as relevant fifty years from
now as it was fifty years ago. A must-have for every classroom.’ Quote from
Review below marked ***.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Do
your books have a teaching objective? If so, what is it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">All
my books have teaching notes and although available as trade books, the
secondary school market is important and keeps my titles in backlist for a very
long time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">That’s Why I Wrote This Song’</i> where my
daughter Tory Gervay wrote the music and lyrics that are integral to the text,
is a leader in multi-platform story. While each aspect stands along – the book,
songs, lyrics, youtube film clip, film script, back story – all inter connect.
A reader can jump into any of these mediums to engage in the journeys of the
characters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Am Jack’</i> is a rite-of-passage middle
grade novel studied in many anti-school bullying programs. Adapted into an
acclaimed play adapted by Monkey Baa Theatre, it has just completed its third
season to full houses in Australian theatre. Endorsed by the major Australian
anti –school bullying organizations, it is a major teaching text.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Always Jack’</i> carries the rarely given
Cancer Council’s yellow daffodil who has endorsed it:- ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Always Jack</i> makes it safe for children. Families and communities to
talk about cancer.’ The Cancer Council.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Butterflies</i>’ is recognized as
outstanding youth literature on disability (IBBY) endorsed by the major
Children’s Hospital in Sydney and widely studied in schools as well as in
outreach burn unit programs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">How do you come up with the names of
places and characters in your books? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">The
characters comes from life, the people I know, observe, the travels as an
author from speaking in Kiribati a 3rd world Island Nation in the Pacific Ocean
to speaking in New York at the World Burn Congress on ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Butterflies</i>’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">The
places are from my observations. For example in my young adult novel ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">That’s Why I Wrote This Song’</i> I was
inspired by the music of youth, the bands and the music scene. In ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Cave’</i> I was inspired by The Blue
Mountains which is the canvas of the novel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">When
I write, I live my books, experience it and the places and characters come from
there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Is
there a unique character or a recurring character if you have more than one
published or to be published book?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">All
my characters I believe are unique, yet they connect with us. We know them, love
them. They are our friends and family. When the reader has finished reading my
books, I hope that the characters continue beyond the page in their lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Jack
from my Jack books is greatly loved in Australia. He is an everyman – part of
us, someone we know, our best mate, a brother, son – us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Katherine
in ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Butterflies</i>’ is magnificent.
She’s just a girl, but as she faces her challenges, the fighter in her
confronts us with the fighter we can be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">The
older/father male characters are inspired by my father. In ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Cave’</i> the grandfather who is an air
force veteran brings wisdom, family commitment and core values to the page. Sam
Knox the main protagonist in ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Cave</i>’
is deeply influenced by his grandfather. An insight he gains:-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Grandpa
said that;-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">‘War
is not brave, but men can be brave in war and in life.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">I
remember when I wrote that line, both the character Sam Knox and I were
growing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">What
is your favorite thing about your book/s?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">When
I write, I laugh and cry with my characters as they face challenges and
discover who they are. I seek the heart of human relationships and when I get
there, it is a deeply felt satisfaction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Is
your book illustrated? If so, would you tell us by whom, and if you worked with
an illustrator, can you discuss that experience?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">My
first picture book ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ships in the Field</i>’
is illustrated by award winning illustrator Anna Pignataro has just been
published in Australia. ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ships in the
Field’</i> seeks to give a voice to the children and families of refugees as
they find home in new countries. It is deeply personal as the stories are of my
father slurping chicken soup every night; my mother sewing in the factory;
memories of war and hopes for the future. When Anna Pignataro read the
manuscript she said it was her story as the child of Italian immigrants.
Together we created the universal experience of finding home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">It
was emotional and complex as the words and images gave form to the personal and
the universal. The pleasure and privilege of working with Anna, as she wove her
own narrative into the artwork deepening and visually enriching my story was
extraordinary. It became our story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ships in the Field’</i> is being embraced
here as an immigrant nation. I love this review<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">***Reviewer:
Jenny Mounfield<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">With
issues of immigration featuring heavily in news headlines over the past year,
the release of this title couldn’t be more timely. Ships in the Field concerns
one family’s experience of migration as seen through the eyes of a child.
Forced from their homeland by war, the unnamed child and her parents embrace a
new life in Australia. Once a farmer, Papa now works in a factory, while Ma, a
teacher, takes in sewing. Despite the horror of the past and the unknown future
ahead, this family is a joyful one—though something is still missing for our child
narrator. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">In
these two heart-felt sentences, Gervay captures the child’s perspective
beautifully: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">“Papa
grew up in a village in the old country, before it was broken.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Ma
grew up in a city in the old country, before it was broken.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">By
using deceptively subtle wording and misdirection, Gervay expertly conveys the
war that still haunts this family as a powerful presence underpinning their
outwardly happy lives. But so, too, the hope felt, particularly by the
narrator, is just as potent, creating a satisfying emotional contrast that
culminates on a high note when the child’s heart’s desire is realized on the
final page. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">The
title of this book is significant for it highlights what is perhaps the most
obvious point of difference between us: language and the way in which we use
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">“
‘Look at the ships in the field,’ Papa says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Brownie
and I giggle. ‘Papa, you mean sheep.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">‘Yes,
the ships.’ Papa wiggles his moustache.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Pignataro’s
watercolour illustrations reflect Gervay’s humour. Smiles abound on almost
every page, and the child-like style, simplistic and colourful, adds a sense of
levity to what, in a different artist’s hands, could have been a much darker
story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">This
is a book that needs to be read more than once. Many of the layers weren’t immediately
evident on my first read-through. The shadow of war haunting the family is only
mentioned in two lines of dialogue between the child and her toy, Brownie, yet
its positioning after scenes of family frivolity is stark. This added to Ma’s
crying behind closed doors and the narrator’s fear of night delivers an impact
that more graphic depiction could not. It is obvious that author and
illustrator have worked hard to get the balance between darkness and light just
right. While at first glance this is a deceptively simple story, it soon
becomes apparent this balancing act was no easy feat. Hope is very much the
prominent theme, but it is only visible because of the darkness behind it. Too
much darkness and the light would be snuffed out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Ships
in the Field is a book that will never date. It’s a story that will be every
bit as relevant fifty years from now as it was fifty years ago. A must-have for
every classroom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">How is writing in the genre you write,
different than other genre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">The
realistic genre is an emotional one, where you expose your emotions and really
yourself. It’s risky, but if you’re on this pathway, then you have to jump in.
Young readers know a liar and I want to write the truth so that in the rocky
road between childhood to adulthood, there are characters who will travel with
readers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Are there any problems in getting
children’s’ books published? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">I
have been a writer for a long time, and the start of the journey is very hard.
I was crushed many times as my work was rejected, ignored or torn apart.
However it is about belief in your work, persistence, development of craft,
writing what you feel and writing because it is part of you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">There
are so many writers who seek publication, so it is a crowded supply market and
limited opportunities to become published. Today I am an established author in
Australia and can call any of the publishers and have my work considered. I
even get commissions. For example I have been asked to write a 4th JACK book by
HarperCollins Australia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">However
I still get rejections. My title may not suit that publishing house, their
marketing agenda. They may have cut backs or there’s another title similar in
theme to yours. There are many reasons for publishers to refuse your work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">It
is very difficult to get into the US market. It was rejected so many times.
However ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Butterflies</i>’ has finally
been published there and received a starred review from the School Library
Journal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">My
US literary agent is submitting my other books to US publishers but it is still
very difficult to get a commitment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Why and when did you begin writing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">I
have always written like many authors. I never expected to be a published
author. However when my beloved father passed away and my marriage broke up, I
started to seriously write for comfort, understanding and out of anger,
confusion, pain and ultimately hope. I wrote for young people because my
children also faced the emotional challenges I did and I wanted to give them my
hand to navigate the way. My books I hope do that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">What is your writing schedule?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">My
writing schedule is insane as the life of a writer is chaotic with writing
tours, festivals, community events, writing time, interviews … the myriad of
aspects to an author’s life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">I
struggle to get time to write creatively.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">What projects are you working on now,
or plan for the future</span></b><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">I
have had accepted my second picture book – title still under discussion. My
publisher doesn’t like my titles. Like all my books it is close to my heart. It
is about giving a voice to sibling relationships with one of the siblings
facing illness. Like all my books it’s about validation of family and hope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">It
has been endorsed by VARIETY which is our film industry charity that supports
young people facing major illness. I am proud of that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">I
am also co-script writer on a feature film – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I AM JACK </i>– which combines my 3 JACK books. I have made Jack older
in this film – a teenager – so that I can escalate the bullying, love and
intensity of the film. I’m hoping it’ll be in pre production late this year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">I
have been commissioned to write a JACK 4 which will be set in Vietnam, so need
to visit Vietnam and also get down to some serious writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">What kind of advice or tips to you
have for someone who wants to write and get published?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Join
a writing organization like SCBWI, get involved with the writing world as that
is where you will find guidance, advice, craft and the ways to publication.
You’ll also make friends who understand the ups and downs of writing and that
makes it a great journey.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Establish
a critique groups where you can read and work on your stories. However it is
essential that you have an open mind and are able to accept criticism. Accept
what is useful and discard what isn’t. However be grateful that someone is
interested enough to consider and comment on your writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Join
Facebook children’s writing communities and enter into conversation with what
is happening. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Are there any other comments, advice
or tips that you would give to beginning writers?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Having
the interest and talent for writing is only the beginning. Learn, write,
critique, write, edit, write. Accept every comment as a gift, not an attack, so
that it becomes a building block for your work. And have fun with it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">What do you do when you are not
writing?</span></b><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">I
live near the harbor beaches and the surf beaches. So I swim most days if when
the weather permits, enjoy walking along the cliffs. Sydney is a beautiful
city.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">When
I have time I love movies, theatre, musical theatre and of course, a good book
to read at night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">I
love my writing community and enjoy events, as well as family and friends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Anything else you would like to add?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Writing
has enabled me to work towards the promotion of literacy, education and social
justice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">I
am a patron for Monkey Baa Theatre for Young People www.monkeybaa.com.au; Role
Model Ambassador for Books in Homes – books for indigenous and disadvantaged
children http://www.biha.com.au/; Author Ambassador for Room to Read –
educating kids in developing countries www.roomtoread.org; Chair of the Board
of the NSW Writers Centre – <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.nswwc.org.au"><span style="color: blue;">www.nswwc.org.au</span></a>;
Co-head of Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators Australia and
New Zealand – www.scbwiaustralia.org; Chair of the Children’s Writers &
Illustrators Network at The Hughenden – <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.thehughenden.com.au"><span style="color: blue;">www.thehughenden.com.au</span></a>;
Director of the Children’s and Young Adult Literature Festival at NSW Writers
Centre – <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.nswwc.org.au"><span style="color: blue;">www.nswwc.org.au</span></a>; NSW Selection
Committee of the May Gibbs Trust Fellowship - <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.maygibbs.org.au%20"><span style="color: blue;">www.maygibbs.org.au</span></a>
; Advocate for Cancer Council – <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.cancercouncil.com.au"><span style="color: blue;">www.cancercouncil.com.au</span></a>;
Ambassador for 2012 National Year of Reading <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.love2read.org"><span style="color: blue;">www.love2read.org</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">What
“Made It” moments have you experienced in life?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">I
don’t know what ‘made it’ really feels like. However I loved the adaptation of
‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I AM JACK’</i> into theatre and its
performance to 1000s of young people and adults. I have had heart warming,
funny and beautiful moments. I’d like to share this email after a performance
of ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Am Jack’</i>:-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Name:
Rita Perri<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Teacher
Bankstown Public School<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Comments:
Hello Susanne,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">I
just wanted to let you know that my class (5P from Bankstown Public School) had
the wonderful experience of attending a performance of "<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I am Jack"</i> at the Seymour Centre.
I'd like to share a few snippets of their written responses with you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">“I
really felt sorry for Jack when he was being bullied. I thought the actor Tim
was really good at switching voices like from Rob to Nanna. Even though it
wasn’t my first time in a theatre, I just loved the play!” (Akila)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">“Susanne
Gervay, you’re play was amazing, but it was heartbreaking as well. When the
target light struck Jack in the face, it felt like electricity was flowing
through my body. I think the most humiliating part was when they spat on Jack
in the shower” (Samir) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">“It
was a magnificent show. I was so happy when we got there. When we walked
inside, the dark lights made me feel like we were in the movies. It was
exciting because I have never been to see a play before.” (Adam) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">“When
Jack was being constantly attacked, I felt like I was in a very dark place
where no one takes care of you. I hope I never feel like Jack did.” (Justin) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">“I
loved the play and I’m sure everyone else did too! It was emotionally heart
stopping when it got to the point where Jack couldn’t take it any more. And
what’s sad is that it’s all true. I’m so glad that in the end, Jack overcame
his bullying” (Roney) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">“The
most upsetting scene was when the brainless bully George Hamill began spitting
on Jack in the shower after sport. If I was Jack I would feel humiliated!”
(Arash)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">“Jack
keeps getting harassed by that malevolent George Hamill. I hate him so much! He
should really be ashamed of himself!” (Mohamad O.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">“Oh
my gosh! I went to the Seymour Centre to watch “I am Jack” It was soooo
electrifying. My favourite part was when he finally got help from his mum and
the principal. I despised the part when he was getting spat on. I hate bullies,
especially when they are bullying me or my friends. When it was finished, we
got to ask the actor questions. I thought he was great at changing into
different characters!” (Maisam) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">“This
was my first time seeing a real play in a theatre. I believe that was the best
first play anyone could go to. I really enjoyed it.” (Aditi) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Thank
you again for inspiring my children!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Rita
Perri <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Teacher<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Learn
more about Susanne on these websites:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.sgervay.com"><span style="color: blue;">www.sgervay.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.sgervay.com/blog"><span style="color: blue;">www.sgervay.com/blog</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.youtube.com/user/sgervay"><span style="color: blue;">www.youtube.com/user/sgervay</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">The
Hughenden: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.thehughenden.com.au/" original_target="http://www.thehughenden.com.au/" saprocessedanchor="true" target="_blank"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">www.thehughenden.com.au</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Note from Sylvia: </span><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">You can visit my
other blog at: </span></em><a href="http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/"><em><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="color: blue;">http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/</span></span></em></a><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">that features a
preview to my new book released in 2012, <b>Traveling a Rocky Road with Love,
Faith and Guts</b>.</span></em><br />
<br />
<div class="yiv2026432052msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">•RSS 2.0: http://thougfulreflections.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss&</div>Thoughtful Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13848877726595369960noreply@blogger.com7