Joyce T. Strand's Blog, page 5

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: Del Millers, Author and Life Consultant

Dr. Del Millers, Author
ENERGIZE YOUR LIFEDr. Del Millers is the founder of TheBestYouAcademy.com, EnergizedLifeAcademy.com, and author of eight books on nutrition, fitness, and personal growth. His most recent book is ENERGIZE YOUR LIFE: ACTIVATE THE 7 PILLARS OF POSITIVE ENERGY THAT MAKE YOU FEEL ALIVE. Reviewers applaud his book as “inspirational,” “motivational,” “smart,” and “scientific.”
Millers typically writes a book every other year and is mulling over his next one. However, a key goal is to take the plunge and write some fiction. When he’s not writing or consulting, he enjoys spending time with his family, and he is learning to play the piano and the guitar so he can teach his three daughters. He plays tennis regularly and is a Latin Ballroom dancer.
Q: Who can benefit the most from the advice in ENERGIZE YOUR LIFE: ACTIVATE THE 7 PILLARS OF POSITIVE ENERGY THAT MAKE YOU FEEL ALIVE? Are you targeting entrepreneurs, working parents, scientists, celebrities….? Does your advice apply to all equally?
Del Millers: I've consulted with hundreds of people over the past twenty years (doctors, lawyers, accountants, business owners and executives) who are at the verge of burnout.  I've met thousands more at my seminars that often tell me that they just can't continue with their current fast-pace lifestyle because it's literally killing them.
These were the conversations that inspired me to write ENERGIZE YOUR LIFE .  I wanted to help people find a solution to their personal energy crisis and show them a new way to live and work. 
To Energize Your Life simply means to fall in love with your life again.  To find ways to get rid ofwhat I call the "energy suckers" that drain your energy everyday.  And to prevent burnout by doing meaningful things with your time.
ENERGIZE YOUR LIFE is primarily for people at a personal crossroads in their life.  This could be professionals, working parents, entrepreneurs, or even unskilled workers.  The important thing is that they realize that the way they've been living and working is no longer working for them.  Something is missing.  And they're tired and ready to make a change. 
Q: How and why did you categorize positive energy into 7 (seven) different pillars? Did you conduct research to see what would work? Or did it come mostly from your own experiences?
Del Millers: The seven pillars of positive energy are the various sources from which our energy needs can be met. Keep in mind that energy isn’t just a physical entity. We also draw energy from our emotions, clarity of thought, as well as the meaningful and fulfilling events in our lives.
For instance, to feel alive, not only do we have to practice daily health-building habits, we must also clarify and understand why we do the things we do — both at work and in our personal lives – cultivate positive emotions, and make time for play.
Are there other sources of positive energy that I don't know about? There certainly could be.  The seven I presented in ENERGIZE YOUR LIFE (passion and purpose, personal evolution, physical vitality, positive energy, positive psychology, prosocial behavior, and play) are based on the wealth of new research over the past two decades on positive psychology, employee engagement and play, as well as my years of experience consulting with executives, entrepreneurs, small business owners, career changers and self re-inventors.
Q:You started your career as an Electrical Engineer and Pharmaceutical Sales Rep. What turned you, or inspired you, to write self-help books and do consulting?
Del Millers:  Like most people, engineering was something I fell into because I was good at math and science in high school.  However, I quickly realized that sitting in a cubicle everyday wasn't what I wanted to do with my life.  So, I tried technical sales then pharmaceutical sales.
After four years in corporate America, however, I made the discovery that I am not the employee type. So, I hung up my suit and tie and bid farewell to corporate America to pursue the uncertain life of an entrepreneur.  And I've always been interested in living the kind of life that inspires me.  So writing about it and consulting with others is just a natural byproduct of sharing what I know so that others may grow.
Q: Reviewers of ENERGIZE YOUR LIFEapplaud you for the book as “motivational” and say you “know your stuff.” What qualifies and enables you to advise readers on how to ENERGIZE YOUR LIFE?
Del Millers: Twenty years ago, I walked away from corporate America because it was sucking the life out of me. I needed room to breathe. To explore. To create an inspired life.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that you have to quit your job, as I did.  However, you do have to be honest with yourself and either find ways to love what you do or make a plan to leave it behind.  In short, to live an energized life, you either have to learn to love your job or leave it.
I chose to leave my corporate job because I wanted to create a life I could fall in love with – an energized life; and I did.  So I’ve been a student and seeker of this way of living practically my entire life.  And as I wrote in the book, to live an energized life is to live a life that inspires you and those whose path is brightened by your light.
And I’m honored and humbled that throughout my life I have had the pleasure and privilege of inspiring others all over the world to live better lives. Inspired lives.
Q: What do you discover to be people’s biggest blockade to energizing (living an energized life)? Is it different between men and women?
Del Millers: The biggest challenge that most people (men and women) have is that most of us have been conditioned at a very young age to be "workers," instead of "players."
We're taught to do well in school so we can go to college, get a "good job" with benefits and then spend the best 30-40 years of our lives climbing the career ladder.  Not that there's anything wrong with that if that's all you want. 
The problem is most workers are restricted to a limited version of themselves in the workplace and that's not who we are as creative, intelligent beings.  Human beings are multi-dimensional, so pretty soon our one-dimensional work life conflicts with our need to grow, explore, and to live inspired with purpose, passion and play.
Players, on the other hand, put creativity, fulfillment and fun at the center of everything we do.  We're not afraid to explore our multiple selves.  We are entrepreneurs, artists, writers, bloggers, songwriters, musicians, filmmakers, and inventers, all at the same time.  In short, players are creators.  We create our lives around what feels most rewarding, exciting, enjoyable, challenging and fulfilling.
Q: How helpful is humor to convey your messages to readers?
Del Millers: Humor is a great vehicle for communicating important ideas.  However, it isn't the only one.  Sometimes, just showing people what's possible is all it takes to create a chain reaction to begin the process of change.
I still remember my big "aha moment" very clearly.  Twenty-five years ago I walked into my friends karate studio dressed in my work suit and tie.  He, on the other hand, was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and I remember thinking to myself, I want his life.  Well, a year later, I had it.
Q: Can you provide three to five tips that will lead us to energize (help to energize our lives)?
Del Millers: The following are some of the most important lessons from ENERGIZE YOUR LIFE :
1. Learn to love your work (or at least like it) or create a plan to move on.  Is your job a way to support yourself while you pursue your true passion?  Is it a way to hone your skills?  Whatever purpose your work serves in your life, find some element of it that you love and try and do more of that.  If you simply just hate the work that you're doing, then it's time to start creating your exit strategy.  For most people, their work is the biggest "energy sucker" in their lives.
2. Steal a few "play moments" each day.Play is an integral source of energy.  To neglect it is to neglect one of our most fundamental needs as a human being.  Play is all around us, but is generally only noticed by the playful at heart. You stand in a line at the supermarket, post office, bank, or airport. Why not use this as an opportunity to increase your play quota for the day.  You don't have to be a comedian.  All you have to do to steal a few play moments each day is to adapt a playful attitude.
3. Passion leads to Life PurposeIf you're sitting around expecting to find meaning in your life, you won't.  You have to get out into the world in pursuit of your passions and test reality.  And through trial and error you will come to know the things that feel most right to you.
While in the pursuit of your passions you will eventually arrive at what feels most meaningful and fulfilling to you.  Without passion and play you will end up as a mere fragment of yourself, living a life of boredom and regret.
4. Focus on what's going right in your lifeThe way we think about our health, stress, life’s daily setbacks, or a momentous defeat affects us more significantly than the events themselves.  And research has shown that although our brain controls our biochemistry, our thoughts control the brain.  The research also shows that negative thoughts affect our brain in such a way that produces negative emotions.  And unfortunately, negative emotions will prevent our brain from seeing all possible options.  They narrow our thinking and prevent us from seeing all possible options.
Positive thoughts, however, have the opposite affect on your brain.  They lead to positive emotions.  And positive emotions expand awareness, build trust, and lead to more creative connections and positive outcomes, such as better negotiations.
5. Be optimistic when you have every reason to be pessimisticIt’s easy to have positive energy when things are going right and everything is unfolding as they should. But the time when you need positive energy the most is when your world is filled with negativity, when everything that can go wrong is going wrong, and when you’re surrounded by negative people and negative results.
This is when you really need to dig down deep and find the source of your inspiration and reconnect with your larger vision. If you don’t, you’ll be buried alive in the pit of despair alongside all the other negative people who pulled you in.
Q: Have you written other self-help books? On what other subjects do you offer help?
Del Millers: ENERGIZE YOUR LIFE is my eighth book.  My very first book was FITNESS & SPIRITUALITY: HOW TO MAKE THE CONNECTIOM. I've also written several fitness books as well as cookbooks.
Q: What’s next? Will you write more self-help books?
Del Millers: I will definitely be writing more self-help books.  I tend to write a new book about every other year.  And, yes, I already have several ideas for my next book project.  My ultimate dream, however, is to do something that scares the living daylights out of me and that is to one day write a novel.
Q: Tell us something about Del Millers. What do you like to do when you’re not energizing or writing?
Del Millers: I always encourage others to find something that they love to do and do it often, because play leads to joy and joy is the fuel for love.  So, I try to take my own advice.  I exercise everyday, I love to play tennis 3-4 times a week, and I am a Latin Ballroom dancer. 
I am also currently learning to play the piano along with my three young daughters and I'm teaching myself the guitar so I can teach it to them.  My all time favorite activity, however, is just rolling around on the floor or on the grass in the park with my girls tickling each other.
About Del Millers
Del Millers (aka Dr. Del) started his career as an Electrical Engineer andPharmaceutical Sales Rep for some of the top Fortune 500 companies in corporateAmerica. After four years in corporate America, however, he made the discovery that he is not the employee type. So he hung up his suit and tie and bid farewell to corporate America to pursue the uncertain life of an entrepreneur.
Dr. Del has since authored eight books on nutrition, fitness, and personal growth.  His most recent is Energize Your Life.  Through his online training courses —The Best You Academy and Energized Life Academy —Dr. Del has consulted with clients on four continents and in six different countries on how to fuel their lives and work with positive energy, and find freedom, fulfillment, and fun.
Dr. Del has a PhD in Nutritional Sciences and a Masters degree in psychology. He lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife and three daughters.
About ENERGIZE YOUR LIFE
'activate the 7 pillars of positive energy that make you feel alive'
To Energize Your Life is to fuel your life and work with purpose, passion and play.
This book on how to get the most out of life strives to teach you the techniques required to fall in love with your life once again and help you to:
   Get rid of 'energy suckers'                         Learn to use simple positive strategies to prevent burnout                        Spend more time doing what you truly love 
ENERGIZE YOUR LIFE will provide new meaning or purpose to your life, through the things that you do every single day, by the way you relate to the world and through your interactions with others around you.
Take time to do meaningful things every day, create a community around yourself and find something you love to do.  And if and when that thing no longer makes your heart sing, move on to the next thing.
ENERGIZE YOUR LIFE shows you the simple positive strategies you can employ to successfully create fulfilling work, prevent burnout, cultivate positive emotions, enrich your relationships, become a conduit for positive energy, and, most importantly, make time for joy.
Excerpt
Passion leads to purposeIt’s pointless asking yourself what is the purpose of your life if you’re sitting in some dead-end job.  You have to get out into the world and test reality.  You have to experience life through the pursuit of your passions in order to arrive at what feels most meaningful and fulfilling to you.
Instead of asking “what is my purpose?”…a better way of phrasing the question is “how am I allowing life to find its fullest expression through me?” Another good question to ask is “what is my big vision for my life?”
These are queries that can only be actualized through a life of passion and meaning.  Anything less and you end up being a fragment of yourself, living a life of boredom and regret.
And as you already know, boredom won’t energize you, neither will regret.  You have to regularly engage in activities that make you feel alive.
You must also find meaning in your work or create a plan to move on.  Going to a job everyday that doesn’t inspire you does more than drain your vital life energy; it robs you of your humanity because, as surely as a bird instinctively knows how to fly, you were meant to aspire for greatness.  Greatness is in your DNA.
You must claim your magnificence, proclaim your freedom, and start living your passions.  This is how you give your life meaning.  It is the only path that leads to a truly energized life.
Your Life’s PurposeWe exist on this earth for a very short time and the purpose of our lives is “to live.”  I don’t mean to simply exist. 
Getting up in the morning and going to a job you hate, then coming home and watching television until you fall asleep, only to get up and repeat, isn’t living; that’s existing.
“To live” is a verb.  This means that you have to take some conscious action in order to have an experience of life.
But, how do we experience life?
Well, we experience life through our senses: smell, touch, taste, sight and sound.  Of course, we may also experience life on a deeper metaphysical level, but that’s a topic for another day.
Therefore, to experience life, we have to get up off our butts and go smell the flowers, taste some good food, do something we don’t know how to do, marvel at the beauty around us, and learn how to listen to the stillness of motion.
Our lives are nothing more than the accumulation of our experiences.  Some will be memorable and others won’t.
Those memorable experiences are what give our lives meaning. They bring us happiness and joy.  They touch the lives of others and in doing so, make a difference in the world.
Those experiences that are less memorable serve simply as a way to kill time.
So, a better question to ask than “What is my life’s purpose?” is “What can I do with my time today that is meaningful — in some way  — to me or others?”
LinksPurchase LinksBooksite Amazon 
Author Links Book Trailer   Blog
Facebook YouTube
Twitter @drdelmillers

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: Sofia Diana Gabel, Author

Sofia Diana Gabel, Author
A RAMTALAN TRILOGYSofia Diana Gabel, a multi-genre author, brings us her science fiction RAMTALAN TRILOGY series with relatable teenage protagonists and villains with their own agendas. She likes to place ordinary characters in extraordinary situations, and also embeds messages along the way. She believes that setting is important and can actually serve as a character.
Gabel enjoys time out of doors and hiking; she also appreciates time with her daughters and grandson. She is currently working on two novels--an adult SciFi and a contemporary thriller.

Check out the excerpt following her interview.






Q: You write in multiple genres. Let’s start with science fiction and your trilogy, A RAMTALAN TRILOGY: TWO BROTHERS. What drew you to science fiction? Do you enjoy reading it? Do you find it’s a satisfying genre in which to tell your stories?
Sofia Diana Gabel: I think I got started reading science fiction from my dad. He loved it and I guess I saw his enjoyment and wondered what it was all about. I started with Asimov and went on from there up to the contemporaries now. Sadly, I don’t get to read as much as I’d like and always seem to have a stack of ‘to be read’ books piled up! For my science fiction Ramtalan Trilogy series, this genre is the only way to tell the story. I love to blend in different elements as well, such as thriller, romance and adventure.
Q: In A RAMTALAN TRIOLOGY what draws us to your protagonists? Why will readers engage with them?
Sofia Diana Gabel: My protagonists are teenagers. I’ve been a single mother to three daughters for most of their lives, and had three teenagers at one time for many years. It just seemed natural to write about teenagers, with a science fiction/alien twist. Readers will feel the turmoil of the teenage years and how teens make mistakes because they don’t know any better, but in the case of the Dachel brothers, the stakes are very high, especially when they do make mistakes or misjudgments. We all remember what it’s like to be a teenager, right?
Q: What about villains? Is the concept of villains versus heroes relevant in A RAMTALAN TRILOGY? What makes an effective, compelling villain?
Sofia Diana Gabel: Yes, the villains are critical to the story arc. A villain has to have their own agenda for doing the things they do, which sometimes places others in danger. But a villain also has to have a ‘human’ element to them, a part that keeps them from being completely off the rails. My villains are definitely driven to achieve their goal, yet they also have something deep down that readers can relate to.
Q: In your science fiction and paranormal stories, how do you create credibility and/or believability? Does it matter to your readers?
Sofia Diana Gabel: I think a good story must be at least somewhat credible or believable, even if the reader has to ‘suspend disbelief’’ so they can get taken away by the story. In paranormal, supernatural things occur, which aren’t normally considered believable, but to enjoy the story, a reader has to accept that it’s normal. Hopefully I’ve created that in my stories. I like to put ordinary, relatable people in extraordinary situations in such a way that the reader believes it could happen.
Q: Do you write only to entertain your readers or do you embed a few messages in your stories along the way?
Sofia Diana Gabel: I usually have some sort of message in the stories. In the RAMTALAN TRILOGY, there are elements of bullying and later in the story it comes out why the bully is like he is.
Q: Do you prefer writing in one genre over another? Or do you like different features from each one?
Sofia Diana Gabel: I actually enjoy all of the genres I write in, but right now I’m thoroughly enjoying science fiction, having just finished another science fiction novel. Historical fiction has always been a love of mine, too.
Q: You have degrees in environmental science and archaeology. Does your education help you in your writing?
Sofia Diana Gabel: Yes! I wrote an environmental thriller where I used my knowledge of biology and wildlife to create a somewhat, tongue-in-cheek, scenario about global devastation. I am currently writing an archaeology-based thriller as well. I think education always manages to bleed through on the pages in one form or another!
Q: Were you able to exploit the settings to help tell your stories? Do you find setting to be an effective plot-creator or contributor? Why?
Sofia Diana Gabel: Setting can be very important and become a character itself. The settings in the RAMTALAN TRILOGY are important because each setting has something to say about the story or characters. A science fiction novella I wrote, The Clean Slate Accord, takes place completely in an isolated bunker, which plays off how the protagonist has isolated herself while governing the world.
Q: What’s next?
Sofia Diana Gabel: I am currently working on two novels: one an adult science fiction and the other a contemporary thriller. I’m also editing my latest YA science fiction novel.
Q:  Tell us about Sofia Diana Gabel. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Sofia Diana Gabel: I’m in love with the outdoors. When I can, I love to hike or be around nature in some way. And of course I love to read. Baking is a fun time for me, when I get the chance. Then again, I also like quiet days at home with my three hairless Sphynx cats or spending time with my daughters and grandson.
About Sofia Diana Gabel
Sofia Diana Gabel is a multi-genre fiction writer who was born in Sydney, Australia, but is now living in the United States with her family. With degrees in environmental science and archaeology, she enjoys being out in nature when she's not glued to her desk writing or researching a new story idea. Writing is a true passion of hers, born from a love of the written word that can transport the reader to different places or worlds and deliver them back to reality, safe and sound.
About A RAMTALAN TRILOGY
Book One follows 17-year-old Argus and Tai Dachel as they transition from sheltered homeschoolers to mainstream high school students, where they begin to discover they are not the ordinary teenagers they thought they were. As their extraordinary abilities begin to emerge and they learn the truth about themselves, their lives take twists and turns they never could have imagined. They struggle to find balance and normalcy while keeping the secret they must guard at all costs. 
The boys want nothing more than to fit in with their friends, but that becomes more and more tricky. Eventually an AURA (Astronomical Urgent Recovery Administration) agent begins to suspect the truth and the situation escalates. Not only are their lives in danger, but their friends, especially Argus's girlfriend Lola, are beginning to realize the brothers are not what they seem. 
In the second book in the Trilogy, Argus finds himself mixed up in the battle between a hostile faction of Invaders and the peaceful Ramtalans he’s come to know as his friends. After hearing disturbing news about his father, and with Tai being held captive, Argus has to come to grips with the truth about who he really is. Not only is AURA hot on his tail, but his relationship with Lola is in jeopardy. As his special abilities increase and become stronger, he risks exposure and capture. He must find some way to protect everyone around him, but winning seems impossible. 
The third and final book in the Ramtalan Trilogy brings Argus and Tai Dachel to a critical juncture in their lives, and the lives of every human on Earth.
Excerpt
This was going to be a good day with no trouble. Argus had said that over and over again all morning, but now that he was standing at the school attendance office counter, right under an irritating flickering fluorescent light, he had his doubts. He gripped the pen and filled in his information on the enrollment form:
Name: Argus DachelAge: 17Previous school: Home schooled
His stomach fluttered and he wiped a trace of sweat off his forehead. What was he doing? There was no way this could be a good day. He didn’t belong here. High school was where normal kids went and he and Tai, his twin brother, weren’t exactly normal. They had special abilities that they weren’t allowed to use in public, and some sort of rare blood disease that kept them away from other kids. How much weirder could they get?
This was their senior year and their guardian, Aunt Celeste, said they should go to a public high school to be around other kids. She seemed a bit hesitant, like she wasn’t quite sure about it, but in the end said it was for the best. How? How was going to a school filled with regular kids for the best? Aunt Celeste said other kids didn’t have super strength or the ability to dissolve and reappear, so what was the point in being around normal teens? He’d spent most of his life secluded away in their house in the middle of nowhere. And that’s how he liked it. He had freedom at home to do what he wanted, without restrictions like he had now. Now it was all, no using your abilities at school, no getting hurt or cut, no telling anyone about anything. Secrets. And that sucked.
Links
Purchase Links Amazon Barnes and Noble
Author LinksWebsite Blog Goodreads Facebook 

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: Kate Wrath, Author

Kate Wrath, Author
FAIRYTALE EVOLUTION #1: FLIPPED
THE E SERIES: 6 booksKate Wrath brings us her newest novel, a present-day fantasy evolved from a fairytale world she created. FLIPPED is the first in her new series FAIRYTALE EVOLUTION, and she describes it as “a bit out there.” Her reviewers tell us that it is “an ultimate joy ride” in a “fantastical world.”
Wrath’s second book in the FAIRYTALE EVOLUTION series, The Dark Road, is with her editor, and she has already started to write the third one in that series along with a spinoff to THE E SERIES. When she’s not writing she enjoys spending time with her family and paying attention to her art work.
Wrath, who is an artist as well as an author, is offering a very special giveaway—a one-of-a-kind sculptural dragon cover of a special edition of FLIPPED. She is also offering 25 e-book versions of FLIPPED. So don’t miss the opportunity to enter her giveaway at http://www.katewrath.com . And check out the excerpt from FLIPPED following the interview.
Q: Your newest book, FLIPPED, has been described by reviewers as “an ultimate joy ride” in a “fantastical world.” In what genre would you place it? Science fiction or fantasy? Who will most enjoy reading it?
Kate Wrath: FAIRYTALE EVOLUTION #1: FLIPPED  is a contemporary fantasy set in a modern world that could have evolved from a typical fairytale setting.  It's whimsical, humorous, and a bit out there, but it's grounded by a solid storyline and characters that are believable despite the crazy situations they encounter.  I think anyone who enjoys quirky sci-fi or fantasy would probably enjoy this book.  Be warned, though, FLIPPED has a dark undercurrent.
Q: Reviewers also say that FLIPPED has a “good blend of sweet, mischievous, and dangerous creatures” that are “unique and interesting.” What makes your characters engaging? Why will readers embrace them?
Kate Wrath: Character is my number one thing when it comes to telling stories and I get a ton of comments about my characters.  I think the main thing is that these characters are so real to me, and as such they change and grow and react.  They're out there dealing with whatever my wacky universe throws at them in the best way they know how, which isn't always perfect.  Is hardly ever perfect.  They're full of mistakes, past traumas, little quirks they don't even realize, desires and motivations that are at odds with their goals.  So you never know what's going to happen.
Q: How did you create the world for your setting, which is described by a reviewer as “interesting, exciting, and has limitless possibilities?” Do you have rules that you follow in your fantasy world to enhance credibility? Is credibility important to readers of fantasy?
Kate Wrath: Any story needs to have credibility.  You can't just have your character wave a magic wand and fix everything.  That's not a satisfying solution.  So, yeah, there are rules in my world regarding the use of magic and an underlying system of how it all works.  Even though I don't write all that into the story, I understand it as the author, so everything flows in a logical way.  But just like in real life, there are mysteries that no one really understands, and I think that element is important, too.
As far as creating the world itself, when I first conceptualized the story, I spent a lot of time writing about the infrastructure of the world.  Everything from transportation to sewage.  Because the world combines modern-day technology with evolved, commonplace magic, it took a lot of consideration to understand how it all fit together.  I didn't feel like I could write this world without knowing exactly how it worked.
Q: You have a special giveaway to promote FLIPPED. Tell us about it. Are you an artist as well as an author?
Kate Wrath: Yes!  I love art and I love to experiment with new kinds of art.  For a past book release, Enter to win this extraordinary special edition of FLIPPED.
Go to:  http://www.Katewrath.comI gave away a hand bound edition of one of my books—something that fans of the series really loved. 

I wanted to do something similar for this release, and I happened across these beautiful journals that artist Aniko Kolesnikova was making by attaching polymer clay panels to the covers of blank journals.  I wondered if I could make the book cover itself out of polymer clay and use it with the same kind of Coptic binding I had sewn for the previous book.  A little research later, the answer was… yeah!  So I jumped headlong into the project making a sculptural dragon cover for a one-of-a-kind edition of FLIPPED . 
Luckily, I have a lot of experience working with ceramics, and those skills were nicely transferable.  I've done some videos of the process.  The book is printed on archival quality, acid-free parchment paper, with a hand sewn Coptic binding, which leaves the spine bare so you can see all the decorative stitches; I think it's really beautiful.  Making the dragon cover itself took me more than a week of doing pretty much nothing else.  Just attaching the scales, one at a time, took hours to accomplish. 
But it's all worth it to have this amazing one-of-a-kind treasure to give to a reader.  I love that the giveaway is tied intrinsically to the story.  It's not something that you can get anywhere else.  I love this book so much, and since I can't keep it myself, I only hope that fate sends it to someone who will love it and connect with the story.  I feel really fortunate that the last book giveaway went to an awesome fan, Ashlee, who still keeps in touch and lets me know she's taking good care of it! 

You can watch the Kate producing this cover at: Video1 and Video2 .
Enter to win this unique artwork/book at http://www.katewrath.com .
Q: You have also written a series of books: the E series. Are these similar to FLIPPED? How are they different?
Kate Wrath: In many ways, the two series are the complete opposite end of the sci-fi/fantasy universe.  THE E SERIES is a sci-fi dystopian series that's dark, violent, and pensive.  It's Fairytale Evolution's goth sister.  On the surface, FLIPPED is light and flouncy.  Honaia, the main character in FLIPPED , is quite the girly girl.  She's all curls and lip gloss at first glance.  But as the story progresses and she grows, she finds out what she's made of.  So really, both series have strong female leads who do what they need to do.  Also, both series are dystopian, and I might even say that FLIPPED is unexpectedly more dystopian than THE E SERIES.  Another thing is that they're both character-driven stories.  Everything I write is character-driven.
Q: Do you write to entertain only? Or do you embed a few messages along the way?
Kate Wrath: At the risk of sounding like a nerd, I'm a nerd.  A total lit nerd.  I get off on Hemingway 'n' stuff.  So underneath everything, there's always a theme.  There's always meaning, layer upon layer.  It's not like soap box preaching or anything.  It's about the human condition, the deep questions of the universe… stuff like that.  But y'know, I like to be entertained.  So I hope that my writing achieves both.
Q:  How important or helpful is humor to tell your stories?
Kate Wrath: Humor is incredibly important, but not just as a device.  The thing is, even my darker series has quite a lot of humor.  Humor is life, and I write life, whether it be life in an apocalyptic society ruled by killer robots, or life in a big city where magic and faeries exist.  But the key—to me—is that it's not just humor.  Not just darkness.  These things fluctuate.  They come in and out of our lives in different proportions.  I always strive for a world that feels real on an emotional level.  And that includes humor.
Q: Do you use the concept of hero versus villain to tell your stories? What are the characteristics of a compelling villain?
Kate Wrath: There are a lot of people who would tell you that my villain from THE E SERIES , Matt, is their favorite character.  Seriously, there's a whole pro-Matt cult out there.  Aside from the fact that he's sexy as hell, the main thing I did with him was to keep it real.  I don't believe in the whole good vs. evil thing on a pure level.  There are a thousand tints and shades.  Villains, just like heroes, are a product of their experiences.  I love that a villain can sometimes be a villain and sometimes be a hero… and vice versa.
Q: What’s next?
Kate Wrath: Next is book two, Fairytale Evolution: The Dark Road.  My editor currently has it, so it shouldn't be too long.  I'm working on writing book three, Bootcamp, and also a spinoff to THE E SERIES that takes place a few years after the ending of the series.  I guess I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to that world.
Q: Tell us about Kate Wrath. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
A:  Sleep.  Haha.  For reals.  I spend so much time on writing and marketing.  Any free time goes to my awesome, amazing family.  Occasionally I get a chance to do some art or read, and that's about it.  I wish I could say I was a ninja or a human rights activist, but really, writing (+day job) takes up most of my life.
About Kate WrathKate Wrath lives in the Southwestern US.  Much like other authors, she has both a [family] and a [pet]. [family] = three crazy-but-lovable, exceedingly adorable people with longer eyelashes and better sense of humor than Kate [pet] =lovable-but-crazy giant German Shepherd who seems to be able to read, but pretends not to understand when something is required of him
Kate is the author of two sci-fi /fantasy series.  THE E SERIES: E (Book #1), EVOLUTION (Book #2), EDEN (Book #3), ELEGY (Book #4), ENDGAME (Book#5), and JASON AND LILY. FAIRYTALE EVOLUTION: FLIPPED Fairytale (Book #1) The second book, The Dark Road, is currently being edited.
Kate believes in literature as an art form, world peace, and animal rights, but aspires to write total trash that is full of senseless violence, with characters who eat house pets.
About FLIPPED
The big city is no match for a blue-eyed farm girl with impressive Zung Pow skills and a flair for unconventional magic.  At least, that's what Honaia tells herself when she's unexpectedly assigned to a handsome city mage for apprenticeship. The problem is, she never really expected double agents to be involved.  Or dragons. Or crazy rips in the Space-Time continuum, for that matter. But when it comes down to it, none of those things expected her either.
FLIPPED is the first book in the FAIRYTALE EVOLUTION series.
Contains: Language, violence, faeries.
Excerpt
       Somewhere in the drunken ramblings of the night, Deez had promised to teach Honaia about guns.  So bright and early the next morning they headed to the shooting range.  The big troll actually seemed quite excited about the prospect.       He gave her a basic rundown of gun safety, which pretty much amounted to don't aim it at him, then handed her the pistol.  They made their way into an enormous room full of mostly gnomes whose job it was to run about wildly and be shot at.  They paid gnomes more, Deez explained, because they were harder to hit.       "What about faeries?" Honaia asked.  "Aren't they even better for the job?"       "Faeries are too f'kin hard to hit," Deez explained.  "Most people would need a special weapon to do it.  Besides, faeries have too much dignity."       "Don't you run out of gnomes?" Honaia asked as Deez shot the first one.  But the ammunition they were using didn't leave the gnomes unconscious for long, so they would spring back up and continue their running after a few seconds.To her surprise, Honaia found that shooting gnomes was a great stress relief.  She quite enjoyed the little squeal they made when they went down.       "Great, isn't it?" Deez agreed, chuckling, but after a few thousand rounds he thought it best to take the gun away from her.       "I was just getting the hang of it," Honaia protested.       "We'll come back later," he promised.       On their way out they bumped into the woman with black hair.  Honaia managed to quickly squash the tinge of fear and the automatic desire to clobber her.  They had not crossed paths on this side of the portal.  Still, she bristled.       A slow smile crawled across the woman's face, sultry and stunning, as she faced off with Deez.       "Nexa," Deez said tightly, scowling down at her in a battle of wills over who would give way first.  "This is Honaia," he said in mock friendliness.  "Onus' new girl."       The choice of words was not wasted on Honaia.  She flipped her hair and drew herself up to look as impressive as possible on short notice.
Links


Purchase links
FLIPPED 

THE E SERIES
E (Book 1)
EVOLUTION (Book 2)
EDEN (Book 3)
ELEGY (Book 4)
ENDGAME (Book 5)
JASON AND LILY (E book 0)
Author Links
Web page Facebook 

Twitter http://www.twitter.com/katewrathGoodreads 

Giveaway
To enter the giveaway, go to http://www.katewrath.com

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: R P Momsen, Author

R P Momsen, Author
PHIL!R P Momsen’s PHIL! intends to make us laugh. Momsen describes his story as SciFi “in a hilarious, fun way,” designed to show how the universe was created in an alternative manner. He recognizes the divisiveness of religion and strived to write a story that anyone of any religion would find “refreshing.”
Momsen is already working on the next book in the PHIL series and has two other novels in the editing stage, which he plans to release next year. He lives in Maui and confesses to being an inept surfer. He loves to travel.
Q: How would you characterize your rather unique PHIL!? Fantasy? SciFi? Literary fiction? Why? Who will most enjoy reading it?
R P Momsen: It would best be described as SciFi meets modern scientific thought but in a hilarious, fun way offering an alternate explanation as to how the universe began and how life came to be. I wrote Phil as a lighthearted read that anyone could enjoy.
Q: How did you conceive of Phil, the character? What sparked you to create him and his role of overseeing the world?
R P Momsen: Religion has always been such a divisive issue. I wanted to write something that tried to answer the fundamental questions of life in a funny, tongue-in-cheek way that anyone, no matter of what religious background, would find refreshing.
I thought it would be fun if the guy who was running everything was a lot like us, has his issues, has a sarcastic, dry sense of humor and someone you’d like to have a beer with; and he just happens to run the universe.
Q: Will readers like Phil, the character? Why or why not?
R P Momsen: I think readers will love Phil, he’s funny, sees things from a positive but different perspective and sees our problems as minor and kind of cute, in a little alien species kind of way.
Q: How do you create credibility, or believability, in your made-up universe? How do you engage readers so that they will accept the concept and read on?
R P Momsen: I think it comes down to creating a universe that has many similarities to our own. Creating a new world that still stays within the confines of how we live. No matter where or how you live there will be problems, triumphs and challenges whether they’re in this world or an imaginary one.
Q: How helpful is humor to tell your story?
R P Momsen: Very, it’s what drives the perspectives and reactions of the characters. The greatest humor comes from simply seeing something in a different way from others.
Q: Did you write your story strictly for entertainment or did you embed a few messages along the way?
R P Momsen: It is mostly for humor but I wanted to have readers look at religion and science with an alternative perspective. There’s a few messages throughout PHIL but they’re done in a fun, creative way.
Q: Do you use the concept of hero versus villain in PHIL!? What are the attributes of an effective villain?
R P Momsen: There is a villain in the novel that is in constant battle with Phil throughout the story but it’s as much an adventure of discovery as it is hero versus villain. Though the villain plays a big role towards the end of the story and is one of the most hilarious scenes.
Q: As you take your readers around to different locations in the universe, are you able to exploit the various settings to expand your story?
R P Momsen: Absolutely, each setting and new world builds on the story and I’m able to create very funny stories within Phil using the different worlds to build the plot and backstory.
Q: What’s next?
R P Momsen: I’m working on the next book in the Phil series and aim to have it completed by spring 2017. I also have two novels in the editing stage that I’m hoping to launch in the new year.
Q: Tell us about R P Momsen. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
R P Momsen: I love to travel and I live in Maui so I’m able to spend a lot of time in the water scuba diving or stand up paddling. I’m a terrible surfer though which is kind of embarrassing for a person living here but I’ve come to terms with it.
About R P Momsen
R P Momsen was lucky enough to meet Phil in a very lovely but rather smelly pub a few years ago. After listening to the most amazing story of his life, and a half dozen pints, Rick agreed to bring Phil’s story to the world and finally get Phil a vacation. Through an arduous process over the next couple years of intense notes, grand philosophical debates, lengthy trips through multiple universes and numerous beers this masterpiece of answers was named Phil and finally released. A great friendship has been created and Rick has agreed to continue to write the real truth about everything, why it’s kind of a good thing to know and what humankind could do to be invited to the really cool parties.
About PHIL!
A very funny science fiction adventure that will change the way you look at life, the universe and why we're all here.

Billions of years ago, our universe was born. Not really that terribly exciting for most life forms except of course yourselves… and, well, Phil. The poor bastard who’s had to watch over all you people the last billion or so years.
Well, finally after years of listening to all your griping, bitching and whining, always with some imaginary being getting all the credit, he’s finally had it!
Phil has decided to explain what the world is, why you’re here and how you can evolve finally into a species worth talking about at parties.
In this hilarious actual account, Phil takes two unwitting Physicists on the adventure of their lives, which isn’t saying much for a couple of physicists, and shows them what life, the universe and lovely little corner pubs really is all about. They’re transported to other dimensions to meet their better looking selves, get taken prisoner by an evil but very good looking race, fly through black holes and help the creation of a new planet all while their greatest challenge hangs in the balance, saving earth from the most evil, and best dressed, species the universe has ever seen.
Will they save earth? Has all the years of hard work Phil has done creating you beings been lost? Does any of this really matter?
Excerpt from PHIL!       Ping.        Ping.        “You gonna answer that?” Delphinia slurred. Typically an attractive female colleague, except now she had half a glass of Pan Universal Kumquat Juice down her front, and somehow an equal amount sprayed randomly throughout her hair. We were all drunk—she was winning.       “Just another idiotic human with some whiny ‘I can’t do anything for myself’ question.”        “Are they still making you do that? Didn’t you create some god chat line for them to look up on their own?” asked Braithwaight, a much larger and uglier version of myself who had the unusual characteristic of having the largest nostrils in the universe. You wouldn't know them as nostrils, of course, given that their size and look is of one of your outhouses, massively uneven, bright orange and dripping with something I'd rather not discuss.       “Ya, but they seem to be using it mostly for porn and watching other humans or animals doing idiotic stuff, which is even stranger when you realize that the average human does 4.8 stupid things per week; you would think watching each other in real time would keep them amused enough,” I replied. Braithwaight was correct, after all—a number of years ago, I had instructed humans to create something called God Gab to answer all their questions and, hopefully, quit bothering me. As usual, they misunderstood, called it Google, and continued to harass me anyway.       “Slow... what dey say?” Delphinia slurred, spitting Pan Universal Kumquat Juice over both of us, which as it turned out was actually rather tasty; I decided to order one next despite it being a bit of a girly drink.       “Dear Lord.” (Dear Phil, it should have actually read.) Please give me strength in dealing with my two kids; I’m always so tired, they stay awake for hours on end, I seem to be the only one in the house able to nap, they eat all my food, hide my weed and are even messier than my 3 ex husbands. I can’t keep doing it. What should I do?”       “Signed ‘lame-ass, stoned and grumpy Mom.’ I added the last part.” I ordered my drink despite Braithwaighte’s sudden drunken episode of visualizing me in a short skirt with nice big perky ears; an odd and very unsexy effect of the alcohol.“So, how do you answer it?” Braithwaight asked, refocusing himself.       “ I usually give some form of positive bullshit advice that they ignore, and then they continue doing exactly what they’ve been doing for years,” I replied.       “You should just sway what you twink then; who cares what they do?” Delphinia again slurred, though this time with more drooling than spitting, which was fine with me since I now had my own drink. Oddly enough, this had never occurred to me before, which just goes to show that the advice of a really drunk person should not be discounted even when slurred, spat, or dribbled. I took two large gulps of my drink, hoping to gain some more of this wisdom; my entire mind seemed to open up and swallow everything around me; my eyes fell out of my head, dropped off the table, and rolled under my now very short skirt, and then I spat the remaining mouthful onto my two companions, to which Braithwaight said ‘mmmm’ before promptly ordering one for himself.       If it had seemed like a good idea before, after two sips of Pan Universal Kumquat Juice, it became the most brilliant idea since the first crossing of the universe in a giant Easter egg with very slightly modified snowshoes and a six-pack of Grantham Planetary Beers. Without putting anymore thought into it, or in fact having any more thought left, I promptly replied to my lame ass Mom message “I would suggest refraining from drinking every night until near unconsciousness, or adoption, whichever ones easier. Signed, Phil. PS. There is no Lord—Surprise!”
Links
Exclusive to  Amazon Author Links:  Website | Twitter |Facebook | GoodreadsTwitter: https://twitter.com/philtheuniverse

Link to Follow Tour  

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: Lonnie Ostrow, Author

Lonnie Ostrow, Author
POET OF THE WRONG GENERATIONLonnie Ostrow brings us POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION, a book in a different genre—musical fiction. Contained within his romantic suspense novel are ten original song compositions. Set in New York City in the 1990s, it will appeal to fans of pop music and readers of contemporary romance.
Ostrow is now working on a second novel, which he plans to publish next year. He lives in Long Island with his wife and daughters and commutes to New York City to his full-time job with novelist, Barbara T. Bradford. He also mentors new novelists and has served as a PR executive.







Q: How would you characterize the genre of  POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION? Romance? Literary fiction? Why? Who will most enjoy reading it?
Lonnie Ostrow: My novel would best categorized as “musical fiction,” although sadly you won’t find any genre like that on Amazon, or at your favorite bookstore. It’s been hailed as “the ultimate rock and roll love story.” It is a contemporary mainstream fiction novel set in the 1990s in New York City. And yes, it centers around a star-crossed love story, so it can also be classified as romantic suspense.  It will be enjoyed by fans of pop music from the past 40 years, readers of modern romance, and those nostalgic about the 1990s.
Q:  How do you integrate music into the story?
Lonnie Ostrow:The protagonist, Johnny Elias, is a poet turned songwriter who composes lyrical stanzas when inspired by events in his life. At the outset, he is writing poems about major news events like the ’91 Crown Heights Riots and the free concert by Paul Simon in Central Park. Later, when his heart is broken, he pens a break-up song to reveal to his longtime girlfriend that he knows of her betrayal. This song gets recorded and is the catalyst to launching a career as a recording artist. All told, there are ten original song compositions inside the story. Two of them have been professionally recorded and can be viewed as music videos on my author website: LonnieOstrow.com. So this novel has an audio soundtrack.
Q: How helpful was your background as innovator, promoter and celebrity-insider to conceive and tell POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION?
Lonnie Ostrow: I’ll start with the celebrity-insider part. For over twenty years, I’ve worked closely with many of the world’s most beloved entertainers. I’ve had the unique opportunity to get to interact with these icons in private moments when life is anything but glamorous. As outsiders, we see the image they want us to see. Privately, they cope with most of the same everyday issues as the rest of us. And often it is a struggle to live up to the pressure of lofty expectations. I’ve transferred a lot of this into my novel about a fictional rock star and his struggles to find a measure of happiness amid all his overnight success. As a promoter, I’ve seen public relations used for both building people up and tearing them down in differing circumstances. My PR savvy was leaned upon to show how hype can build a superstar, and how publicity can be weaponized to damage reputations just as easily.
Q: Why will readers embrace your protagonist? What will make them care?
Lonnie Ostrow: Johnny Elias is a loveable underdog. One reviewer recently dubbed him “a musical Rocky.” He’s grown up bouncing through a series of Brooklyn foster homes, always down on his luck. But he is a talented underdog who doesn’t fully comprehend his abilities as a songwriter and later as a singer until he has his heart shattered by his longtime love. Johnny is loyal and generous to his friends and bandmates. He is untainted by his overnight stardom and never forgets his roots, or those who helped him to reach success. He’s also a sensitive, thoughtful young man who can turn any emotion into a song. Life and love knocks him to the ground many times. But in the end, he endeavors to utilize all his creative resources to win back everything in most spectacular fashion. Readers will be rooting for him from the opening scene to the final paragraph.
Q: Would you say that the mother, Katherine Price, is a villain? What makes an effective, compelling villain?
Lonnie Ostrow: In John Lennon’s famous song, Working Class Hero, he has a line that says, “first you must learn how to smile as you kill.” I would say that all memorable villains possess that trait. Katherine Price is not a murderer. She is however, highly skilled in putting on the perfect face for every public occasion. As a self-made PR power-broker in New York City, Katherine sees herself as an elitist with a high standard for herself and her children. She believes to have their best interests at heart. In reality, her competitive nature turns her callous and later vindictive for perceived slights against her. She uses her vast power and manipulative skills to take down those who she sees as standing in the way of her happiness. She’s a complicated villain, in that she truly loves her children, but loses touch with reality when her agenda becomes destructive.
Q: Why did you choose to set POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION in the 1990s rather than make it current?
Lonnie Ostrow: My first draft of this story was actually a screenplay that I wrote for a class assignment in my senior year at Adelphi university back in 1992. So it was a “current” story when I first conceived of it. In 2002, when I adapted this screenplay into a novel, I held a great appreciation for the nostalgic tone that the 1990s provided. Furthermore, the original song compositions that I wove into the story were mostly written during the early 90s in response to events from that era. They blended seamlessly into the storytelling.
One other reason for keeping the story in the 90s is the dearth of quality pop music during that decade. This was a time when rap, grunge, prefab boybands and video vixens replaced the singer-songwriters on top-40 radio. Outside of a handful of 80s bands like U2 and REM, the 90s were devoid of songwriters with something to say in their music. The fictional Johnny Elias fits nicely into this era, in that he truly is the poet of the wrong generation. Only Johnny’s throwback style somehow manages to connect with both older and younger music listeners as a refreshing alternative to the mostly shallow and transitory musical phenomenons of that time period.
Q: How helpful was it to set the story in New York City? Were you able to apply The City’s ambience?
Lonnie Ostrow: New York City is one of the primary supporting characters in this novel. It both opens and closes on the Great Lawn in Central Park with a pair of mega-concerts. One is Paul Simon’s 1991 performance, where we meet Johnny Elias as a twenty year-old music fan, taking in the show with his longtime girlfriend, Megan, and his best college buddy, Andy. Megan Price and her family live on Fifth Avenue in an apartment facing Central Park. Johnny is both enamored with this scene, and yet feels sorely out of place in this high-class world. He travels by subway and bus from his one-room Brooklyn apartment to visit Megan in her opulent neighborhood. When success strikes, Johnny moves from Brooklyn to Central Park West, where he never quite feels at home. He’s just as focused on the homeless outside Central Park as he is with the tranquility of its greenery. So many of Manhattan’s great landmarks make for stunning backdrops to the unfolding drama throughout the story.  
Q: Did you write POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION strictly to entertain readers? Or did you embed a few messages or themes along the way?
Lonnie Ostrow: There’s this one brief moment in the early part of the story when Johnny Elias encounters a homeless man on Fifth Avenue. He hands the man a dollar. The man responds with the line: “May all your dreams come true. Just be careful what you wish for.” The subtitle of my novel is: A Fable Of Stardom’s Rewards. Indeed, Poet is a story of an aimless daydreamer who imagines musical stardom to be the pinnacle of everything. Then he becomes an overnight superstar and the view is drastically different on the other side of fame. I wrote this novel to entertain, to wax nostalgic on the 1990s, and to express the poetic, emotional side of art and the artist. It’s also a journey of discovery for Johnny and Megan in their search for lasting harmony.
Q: What’s next? Will you write another novel?
Lonnie Ostrow: I started a second novel back in 2005. It has a title, which I’ll hold off on divulging. This is another cynical look at stardom from an entirely different perspective. It is also set primarily in New York City, though it features a different cast of disenfranchised characters in search of notoriety and respect. I got some 300 pages in (about halfway), when I decided to put it on hold until the publication of Poet. I now plan to go back and complete this novel sometime in 2017.
Q: Tell us about Lonnie Ostrow. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Lonnie Ostrow: I’m a hardworking family man. I live on Long Island’s south shore with my wife and our two daughters. I commute daily to NYC to my full-time job with the famed novelist, Barbara T. Bradford. In my “spare time” I mentor a wide array of aspiring novelists with editorial and marketing assistance for their debut novels. Since 2015, I’ve been a staff member of The Editorial Department in Tucson, AZ. I provide their client authors with assistance on their book content, as well as building fundamental marketing infrastructure to help them build their own start-up fan-base.
About Lonnie Ostrow
Lonnie Ostrow has been an innovator, storyteller, promoter and celebrity-insider for more than two decades. With POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION, he combines all his unique experiences to bring you a novel of love & betrayal, music & fanfare, downfall & redemption—a fable of stardom’s rewards, set in New York City during the 1990s. Since 2001, Mr. Ostrow has been the publicity/marketing director & researcher for the iconic best-selling novelist Barbara T. Bradford. Previously he served as a PR executive, promoting an assortment of first-time celebrity authors. From 1995-2001, Mr. Ostrow was widely credited with inventing the “living celebrity postal phenomenon.” In all, he worked with more than 40 legendary personalities, creating major media events to celebrate their postal recognition by an assortment of foreign nations.
About POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION
“It’s not that I don’t love you, and my tears are yet to dry. But you can’t go back and forth forever and we’ve already said goodbye.”
Through these words, a young poet unearths his musical soul while severing ties with the woman he loves after her stunning betrayal. Unknowingly, in writing this ballad of liberation, he will soon evolve as one of the fastest rising stars on the pop music landscape.
The year is 1991; the place, New York City. Here we meet Johnny Elias, a college student from Brooklyn with boundless adoration for two things in life: timeless popular music, and the heart of a sweet, complicated young woman who is clearly out of his league. 
Megan Price not only is the object of Johnny’s affection, but also the only daughter of New York’s most powerful PR woman: the indomitable Katherine Price.
Projecting that her daughter’s boyfriend will never live up to the family standard, Katherine cleverly perpetrates a series of duplicitous schemes to rid Johnny from her high-class world. But in her callous disregard, she inadvertently sets him on a determined course to his improbable musical destiny - while sending her own daughter spiraling down a path of despair.
POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION tells the symmetrical story of a lovable underdog and his meteoric rise to stardom, his humiliating downfall and his unprecedented attempt to reclaim his place as the unlikely musical spokesman for his generation. At the heart of Poet is a tale of star-crossed lovers and their struggle with unforeseen success and disillusionment, in an attempt to rediscover lasting harmony.
Uniquely integrating a variety of original song compositions, POET projects the epic clash between true contentment and the fable of stardom’s rewards; a nostalgic journey through the major events of the 1990s, with a cherished cast of characters and a stunningly unpredictable conclusion.Audio soundtrack of the original music from POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION can be heard on the author website, LonnieOstrow.com.LinksPurchase LinksAmazonAuthor LinksWeb:     LonnieOstrow.com
             HarmonyRiverPress.comGoodreadsYouTubeLibraryThingYouTube Channel
Instagram
Facebook page
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lonnie_Ostrow
Blog

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: Cate Beauman, Author

Cate Beauman, Author
DECEIVING BELLA
11th The Bodyguards of L.A. CountyWelcome back to Cate Beauman and her newest Bodyguards of LA County book, DECEIVING BELLA. The Bodyguard romantic suspense novels feature a new heroine and bodyguard in each standalone book and also some repeat characters.  DECEIVING BELLA, the eleventh of the Bodyguard books, involves a heroine who is a top skincare specialist, a long-lost father, and a “hottie” next door neighbor, formerly an NYPD detective.
Beauman uses music to inspire her writing and develops a playlist for each of her stories. You can see the list for DECEIVING BELLA following the interview. She is already working on the twelfth Bodyguard book and enjoys time in between writing at her home in North Carolina with her husband, two boys, and their St. Bernards, Bear and Jack.
Don't miss the opportunity to enter the Amazon Echo giveaway at the end of the interview; and check out the excerpt and song list.
Q: Can you remind us how you got started writing the Bodyguard series? What prompted you to create a series that gives you the flexibility to create new main characters but offers familiar structure with the bodyguard concept?
Cate Beauman: When I started my writing career I had no idea that my first book would be the beginning of a series. I began Morgan’s Hunter with the goal of telling a standalone story about a no-bull bodyguard and his feisty principal. I introduced Ethan and Sarah to the storyline and knew I had to share their adventure too. It wasn’t long after that the Bodyguards Of L.A. County was born.
I love that my readers get to check-in with previous characters all while meeting new heroes and heroines. It’s fun to come back to Los Angeles or wherever Ethan Cooke Security and his team of Close Protection Agents are going to take us. Although it’s a given that each novel will include a bodyguard, every storyline is entirely different.
Q: I am always curious how you select the careers for your heroines. In DECEIVING BELLA you chose ‘top skincare specialist’ for Isabella. Does her career help to engage readers? Or, define her character? Or tell the story?
Cate Beauman: I truly love Isabella Colby. She was such a fun character to write. She and Reed McKinley make an amazing team. Bella’s career is perfect for her. She’s a bit of a girly-girl. She’s into fashion and always looks amazing. Basically, she’s the exact opposite of her hottie next-door neighbor, Reed. Luckily, their differences seem to work for them. I can’t wait for everyone to meet this couple. They’re great!
Q: Do you find that humor helps to create characters and/or romance?
Cate Beauman: I can’t imagine telling a story without humor involved. What’s more engaging than characters that are having fun/making each other laugh/making the reader laugh? Everyday life can be pretty depressing. My goal is to create great adventures that take readers away from their troubles and drop them into a different world. If they’re bored, I haven’t done my job.
Q: Did setting DECEIVING BELLA in Los Angeles help to support the suspense and/or romance? It’s a great town for a mystery!
Cate Beauman: DECEIVING BELLA actually takes place in Los Angeles and New York City. It’s the best of both worlds. In this case, the setting helps support both the romance and suspense. Reed and Bella live in the Palisades. They often walk the beach together and eat ice cream. Their relationship mostly starts after a walk along the water. Reed is from the Big Apple. Unfortunately, trouble follows him to his new home in Los Angeles.
Q: Have you included any of your life experiences, even friends, in the plot?
Cate Beauman: Writers are constant observers. I’m always watching the way people interact or respond in everyday life situations. I never set out to base my characters on anyone I know personally. I want my heroes and heroines to be unique individuals who grow as the story unfolds. I think it’s vital to make my characters as real as possible with their faults and virtues just like any other typical human being. That’s what makes characters so beloved. They must come alive in a reader’s mind.
I think a writer’s personal experiences find their way into the pages of the book whether we want them to or not. After all, the story world is a reflection of how an author sees the world. The building blocks of any story start with the writer’s perceptions.
About Cate Beauman
International bestselling author Cate Beauman is known for her full-length, action-packed romantic suspense series, The Bodyguards of L.A. County. Her novels have been nominated for the National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, National Indie Excellence Award, Golden Quill Award, Writers Touch Award, and have been named Readers Favorite Five Star books. In 2015, JUSTICE FOR ABBY was selected as the Readers' Favorite International Book Award Gold Medalist, while SAVING SOPHIE took the Silver Medal. SAVING SOPHIE was also selected as the 2015 Readers Crown Award winner for Romantic Suspense and FALLING FOR SARAH received the silver medal for the 2014 Readers' Favorite Awards.
Cate makes her home in North Carolina with her husband, two boys, and their St. Bernards, Bear and Jack. Currently Cate is working on her twelfth full length romantic suspense novel.
About DECEIVING BELLA
Isabella Colby has always yearned for normalcy. Now that she’s settled in LA, she finally has it. Good friends, a pretty home, and her thriving career as the Palisades’ top skincare specialist are a dream come true. Bella is content until she meets her hunky new neighbor, but her attraction to the blue-eyed cutie is the least of her worries when contacting her long-lost father threatens to destroy her happy life.
Reed McKinley is more than ready to forget the past. His seven-year stint as an NYPD detective nearly got him killed. His wounds have healed and he’s starting over as Ethan Cooke Security’s latest recruit. With sixty-hour workweeks and little time to himself, the last thing on his mind is a relationship. Then he bumps into the gorgeous woman next door.
Reed and Bella become fast friends. Before long, Reed discovers that Bella is keeping dangerous secrets. Bella may have the answers to decades-old questions he’s been searching for. Reed will risk it all to uncover the truth, but he soon realizes that the deeper he digs, the direr the consequences.
Excerpt from DECEIVING BELLA
       Should we get started?” Bella gestured to the kitchen.       “After you.”       She walked in front of Reed, hurrying to the table to pull out a chair. “Does this work?”       “Yeah, it’s fine.” He sat down.        She immediately draped him with the black cover, wanting to get to his hair while it was still wet. “So, what are we doing here, exactly?”       “Just a cleanup, especially on my neck.”       “Sure.” She grabbed the sheers and took her place by his side, sliding her fingers though his short hair and stopped. “Oops.”       His shoulders tensed. “What?”       “Just kidding. A little haircutting humor.”       He tilted his head up, meeting her eyes. “A comedian.”       She laughed as he smiled. “I haven’t even started cutting yet.” She gave him a bump. “Try to relax. I promise you’re in good hands.”       “Chop away.”        “Thanks.” She combed her fingers through his hair once more, using small snips to freshen up his look. Silent seconds ticked by as she breathed in the masculine scent that was Reed. He didn’t seem to wear cologne or use any fancy shampoos, but he smelled good just the same. “So, how was your day?”       “Not too shabby.”       She worked her way around his head, finding his cut a breeze to clean up. He easily could have gone another week without any problems. “What did you do?”       “Worked a little. Boxed.”        “Fascinating.”        “I could make up something about stopping a bank robbery in progress or rescuing a cat from a tree.”       She smiled. “The truth is fine, thanks.”        “What about you?”       “It was pretty much a normal day at the office—a second-session tattoo removal, a microdermabrasion, two stretch mark reductions, the usual stuff.”        “What’s the tattoo of? The one you’re taking off?”       “A woman’s name. Genevieve. The relationship didn’t work out.”       He winced. “Ouch.”       “Triple ouch. Tattoo removal is not a pain-free procedure, nor is it cheap—and he went pretty ornate with Genevieve. Hopefully next time he’ll pick a woman with a shorter name or abstain from getting himself tatted up altogether.”       He laughed.        She grinned, loving that sound. Did he have any idea how gorgeous he was when he smiled like that? She picked up the clippers off the table and let her knees rest against his as she leaned in and gently lifted his chin, evening out his sideburns. She swallowed, feeling his breath on her skin and his eyes studying her face. Licking her lips, she met his gaze. “You better hope I get this part right, or you’ll have to tilt your head for the next four days.”       He sent her another one of his pulse-pounding smiles. “You’ll have to help me decide if I should lean more to the left or right.”       Oh, this cutie had the potential to be trouble. Her eyes darted to his mouth mere inches from hers as his five o’clock shadow tormented her sensitized fingers. She took a step back and a steadying breath. It was a good thing they were just friends—currently the only relationship status she was interested in.The Unofficial DECEIVING BELLA Soundtrack
I love music! I can’t imagine a world without catchy tunes playing, especially when I’m writing. Music is inspiration. Melodies, beats, and the mood of each song help me portray emotions and feelings as I tell a story. It’s a rare day when I don’t have my headphones in place, bopping my head, while my fingers race across the keyboard. You can listen to the “soundtrack” for each book on my website
The soundtrack, of sorts, for Deceiving Bella:·      Favorite Song by Ben Rector ·      Lay It All On Me by Rudimental w/Ed Sheeran·      Into You by Ariana Grande ·      Cake by the Ocean by DNCE·      Truth by Steve Moakler·      Any Other Name by Thomas Newman·      Rock Bottom by Hailee Steinfeld·      All I Want by Kodaline·      Crash by Usher·      Stand By You by Rachel Platten
Links
Purchase Links Amazon | Kobo | Nook | iBooks
Author Links Amazon Author Page BookBub Goodreads
Social linksTwitter: @CateBeaumanWebsite Facebook InstagramSubscribe to newsletter

GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!
TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY OF AN AMAZON ECHO, go to:
http://bit.ly/2dyM91F">


rafflecopter.com/launch.jsscript>

WHAT THE EXPERETS SAY: Cate Beauman, Author

Cate Beauman, Author
DECEIVING BELLA
11th The Bodyguards of L.A. CountyWelcome back to Cate Beauman and her newest Bodyguards of LA County book, DECEIVING BELLA. The Bodyguard romantic suspense novels feature a new heroine and bodyguard in each standalone book and also some repeat characters.  DECEIVING BELLA, the eleventh of the Bodyguard books, involves a heroine who is a top skincare specialist, a long-lost father, and a “hottie” next door neighbor, formerly an NYPD detective.
Beauman uses music to inspire her writing and develops a playlist for each of her stories. You can see the list for DECEIVING BELLA following the interview. She is already working on the twelfth Bodyguard book and enjoys time in between writing at her home in North Carolina with her husband, two boys, and their St. Bernards, Bear and Jack.
Don't miss the opportunity to enter the Amazon Echo giveaway at the end of the interview; and check out the excerpt and song list.
Q: Can you remind us how you got started writing the Bodyguard series? What prompted you to create a series that gives you the flexibility to create new main characters but offers familiar structure with the bodyguard concept?
Cate Beauman: When I started my writing career I had no idea that my first book would be the beginning of a series. I began Morgan’s Hunter with the goal of telling a standalone story about a no-bull bodyguard and his feisty principal. I introduced Ethan and Sarah to the storyline and knew I had to share their adventure too. It wasn’t long after that the Bodyguards Of L.A. County was born.
I love that my readers get to check-in with previous characters all while meeting new heroes and heroines. It’s fun to come back to Los Angeles or wherever Ethan Cooke Security and his team of Close Protection Agents are going to take us. Although it’s a given that each novel will include a bodyguard, every storyline is entirely different.
Q: I am always curious how you select the careers for your heroines. In DECEIVING BELLA you chose ‘top skincare specialist’ for Isabella. Does her career help to engage readers? Or, define her character? Or tell the story?
Cate Beauman: I truly love Isabella Colby. She was such a fun character to write. She and Reed McKinley make an amazing team. Bella’s career is perfect for her. She’s a bit of a girly-girl. She’s into fashion and always looks amazing. Basically, she’s the exact opposite of her hottie next-door neighbor, Reed. Luckily, their differences seem to work for them. I can’t wait for everyone to meet this couple. They’re great!
Q: Do you find that humor helps to create characters and/or romance?
Cate Beauman: I can’t imagine telling a story without humor involved. What’s more engaging than characters that are having fun/making each other laugh/making the reader laugh? Everyday life can be pretty depressing. My goal is to create great adventures that take readers away from their troubles and drop them into a different world. If they’re bored, I haven’t done my job.
Q: Did setting DECEIVING BELLA in Los Angeles help to support the suspense and/or romance? It’s a great town for a mystery!
Cate Beauman: DECEIVING BELLA actually takes place in Los Angeles and New York City. It’s the best of both worlds. In this case, the setting helps support both the romance and suspense. Reed and Bella live in the Palisades. They often walk the beach together and eat ice cream. Their relationship mostly starts after a walk along the water. Reed is from the Big Apple. Unfortunately, trouble follows him to his new home in Los Angeles.
Q: Have you included any of your life experiences, even friends, in the plot?
Cate Beauman: Writers are constant observers. I’m always watching the way people interact or respond in everyday life situations. I never set out to base my characters on anyone I know personally. I want my heroes and heroines to be unique individuals who grow as the story unfolds. I think it’s vital to make my characters as real as possible with their faults and virtues just like any other typical human being. That’s what makes characters so beloved. They must come alive in a reader’s mind.
I think a writer’s personal experiences find their way into the pages of the book whether we want them to or not. After all, the story world is a reflection of how an author sees the world. The building blocks of any story start with the writer’s perceptions.
About Cate Beauman
International bestselling author Cate Beauman is known for her full-length, action-packed romantic suspense series, The Bodyguards of L.A. County. Her novels have been nominated for the National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, National Indie Excellence Award, Golden Quill Award, Writers Touch Award, and have been named Readers Favorite Five Star books. In 2015, JUSTICE FOR ABBY was selected as the Readers' Favorite International Book Award Gold Medalist, while SAVING SOPHIE took the Silver Medal. SAVING SOPHIE was also selected as the 2015 Readers Crown Award winner for Romantic Suspense and FALLING FOR SARAH received the silver medal for the 2014 Readers' Favorite Awards.
Cate makes her home in North Carolina with her husband, two boys, and their St. Bernards, Bear and Jack. Currently Cate is working on her twelfth full length romantic suspense novel.
About DECEIVING BELLA
Isabella Colby has always yearned for normalcy. Now that she’s settled in LA, she finally has it. Good friends, a pretty home, and her thriving career as the Palisades’ top skincare specialist are a dream come true. Bella is content until she meets her hunky new neighbor, but her attraction to the blue-eyed cutie is the least of her worries when contacting her long-lost father threatens to destroy her happy life.
Reed McKinley is more than ready to forget the past. His seven-year stint as an NYPD detective nearly got him killed. His wounds have healed and he’s starting over as Ethan Cooke Security’s latest recruit. With sixty-hour workweeks and little time to himself, the last thing on his mind is a relationship. Then he bumps into the gorgeous woman next door.
Reed and Bella become fast friends. Before long, Reed discovers that Bella is keeping dangerous secrets. Bella may have the answers to decades-old questions he’s been searching for. Reed will risk it all to uncover the truth, but he soon realizes that the deeper he digs, the direr the consequences.
Excerpt from DECEIVING BELLA
       Should we get started?” Bella gestured to the kitchen.       “After you.”       She walked in front of Reed, hurrying to the table to pull out a chair. “Does this work?”       “Yeah, it’s fine.” He sat down.        She immediately draped him with the black cover, wanting to get to his hair while it was still wet. “So, what are we doing here, exactly?”       “Just a cleanup, especially on my neck.”       “Sure.” She grabbed the sheers and took her place by his side, sliding her fingers though his short hair and stopped. “Oops.”       His shoulders tensed. “What?”       “Just kidding. A little haircutting humor.”       He tilted his head up, meeting her eyes. “A comedian.”       She laughed as he smiled. “I haven’t even started cutting yet.” She gave him a bump. “Try to relax. I promise you’re in good hands.”       “Chop away.”        “Thanks.” She combed her fingers through his hair once more, using small snips to freshen up his look. Silent seconds ticked by as she breathed in the masculine scent that was Reed. He didn’t seem to wear cologne or use any fancy shampoos, but he smelled good just the same. “So, how was your day?”       “Not too shabby.”       She worked her way around his head, finding his cut a breeze to clean up. He easily could have gone another week without any problems. “What did you do?”       “Worked a little. Boxed.”        “Fascinating.”        “I could make up something about stopping a bank robbery in progress or rescuing a cat from a tree.”       She smiled. “The truth is fine, thanks.”        “What about you?”       “It was pretty much a normal day at the office—a second-session tattoo removal, a microdermabrasion, two stretch mark reductions, the usual stuff.”        “What’s the tattoo of? The one you’re taking off?”       “A woman’s name. Genevieve. The relationship didn’t work out.”       He winced. “Ouch.”       “Triple ouch. Tattoo removal is not a pain-free procedure, nor is it cheap—and he went pretty ornate with Genevieve. Hopefully next time he’ll pick a woman with a shorter name or abstain from getting himself tatted up altogether.”       He laughed.        She grinned, loving that sound. Did he have any idea how gorgeous he was when he smiled like that? She picked up the clippers off the table and let her knees rest against his as she leaned in and gently lifted his chin, evening out his sideburns. She swallowed, feeling his breath on her skin and his eyes studying her face. Licking her lips, she met his gaze. “You better hope I get this part right, or you’ll have to tilt your head for the next four days.”       He sent her another one of his pulse-pounding smiles. “You’ll have to help me decide if I should lean more to the left or right.”       Oh, this cutie had the potential to be trouble. Her eyes darted to his mouth mere inches from hers as his five o’clock shadow tormented her sensitized fingers. She took a step back and a steadying breath. It was a good thing they were just friends—currently the only relationship status she was interested in.The Unofficial DECEIVING BELLA Soundtrack
I love music! I can’t imagine a world without catchy tunes playing, especially when I’m writing. Music is inspiration. Melodies, beats, and the mood of each song help me portray emotions and feelings as I tell a story. It’s a rare day when I don’t have my headphones in place, bopping my head, while my fingers race across the keyboard. You can listen to the “soundtrack” for each book on my website
The soundtrack, of sorts, for Deceiving Bella:·      Favorite Song by Ben Rector ·      Lay It All On Me by Rudimental w/Ed Sheeran·      Into You by Ariana Grande ·      Cake by the Ocean by DNCE·      Truth by Steve Moakler·      Any Other Name by Thomas Newman·      Rock Bottom by Hailee Steinfeld·      All I Want by Kodaline·      Crash by Usher·      Stand By You by Rachel Platten
Links
Purchase Links Amazon | Kobo | Nook | iBooks
Author Links Amazon Author Page BookBub Goodreads
Social linksTwitter: @CateBeaumanWebsite Facebook InstagramSubscribe to newsletter

GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!
TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY OF AN AMAZON ECHO, go to:
http://bit.ly/2dyM91F
">


rafflecopter.com/launch.jsscript>

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: Devra Robitaille, Composer, Songwriter, Keyboardist, and Author

Devra Robitaille, Composer, Songwriter, Keyboardist
Author of children's Muffy Series
MUFFY'S FLORIDA ADVENTURE
MUFFY AND THE DOG CATCHER
Coming soon: MUFFY MEETS THE MEDICINE CATDevra Robitaille, a successful composer, songwriter, keyboardist, and author has just released her second children’s story in the Muffy Series, MUFFY’S FLORIDA ADVENTURE: A DOG STORY FOR KIDS. Published by her independent children’s publishing company, The Hologram Library, the Muffy series features “a happy and curious Goldendoodle puppy” with stories targeted at four to eight year olds. In MUFFY’S FLORIDA ADVENTURE, Muffy goes on vacation in Florida in a “big house on wheels” and has some adventures.
In addition to the Muffy Series, Robitaille has also written and published PEACHEY AND THE GLOBOSIS and plans to publish a SciFi story she wrote for ages ten to fourteen, DEVIN ANAD THE DREAM STEALERS. She will also be publishing the third book in the Muffy Series, MUFFY MEETS THE MEDICINE CAT and is just finishing “The Efficiency Claus: An Improbable Christmas Tale" (for ten to fourteen year olds.) When she is not writing children’s books, or composing and writing for theater, she enjoys kayaking—at least floating, and she continues to really “love love love” music. She lives in Florida with her husband, multiple dogs, and dolphins and has an adult daughter who is co-founder of The Hologram Library.
Don't miss the excerpt from MUFFY'S FLORIDA ADVENTURE following the interview.
Q: Do you write a particular type of story for children, i.e., adventure, family, or fantasy? What age group read your stories?
Devra Robitaille: I write in various styles.  I have two books aimed at young children, four to eight years old: MUFFY AND THE DOG CATCHER and MUFFY’S FLORIDA ADVENTURE.  Then I have a SciFi Fantasy adventure about to come out called DEVIN ANAD THE DREAM STEALERS, which would be for ages ten to fourteen.  I am currently almost finished writing “The Efficiency Claus: An improbable Christmas Tale” also aimed at the age group of ten to fourteen.  If I had to categorize them, I think they would all fall somewhere in the adventure genre.            Q: What type of characters do children enjoy reading about? For example, you’ve written about Muffy, “a happy and curious Goldendoodle puppy.” Do children like animal characters? Are they easy to personify or engage young readers?
Devra Robitaille: Yes, I think children love reading books about personified animal characters, like Winnie the Pooh, and Aslan from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I found them easy to personify because the dogs I wrote about were based on my own dogs and of course one gets to know their foibles and personalities; so they became real to me.  I found the youngsters that read the Muffy books were very invested in the characters and I hope they feel that they are friends. 
Q: Do you embed messages or morals in your stories? Or do you write simply to entertain?
Devra Robitaille: Well, my goal is always to be entertaining, but what better way to teach a child about family values than to sneak it in on a wave of giggles.  Not so different than convincing a child to eat broccoli by frying it in sugar! Yes I do try to have my characters always take the high road, but certainly not in a preachy way.  For example MUFFY AND THE DOG CATCHERis about open channels of communication and accepting each other’s differences.  MUFFY’S FLORIDA ADVENTURE is about being brave and helping your friends when they need you. DEVIN AND THE DREAM STEALERS is obviously more complex since it is for older children, but it’s about coming of age and listening to your inner guidance.  “Efficiency Claus” is just a good romp. (although the message is the deepest of all, but you’ll have to wait until I finish it. LOL)
Q: What is the Hologram Library?
Devra Robitaille: The Hologram Library is an independent children’s publishing company that I started with my daughter to be a vehicle for “clean” reads that promote family values, while still igniting the inner chuckle.  I have always been an avid reader, and I hopefully passed that along to my daughter.  We believe that a good author creates a whole universe, which is like a hologram, and, if we’ve done it right, it should transport the reader totally.  The hologram library is “a repository of little worlds for the kid in us all”
Q: How relevant is believability or credibility to engage children in reading? What does engage children? Do you include villains to frustrate your characters? Are they scary?
Devra Robitaille: I think believability is key, and yes sometimes you do have to put in some conflict, otherwise it’s too linear and you’ve got nothing to solve.  Even when its fantasy or SciFi, you don’t what your readers to be thinking “I just don’t buy that.” Or “this is boring.” It all has to hang together and make sense and come right in the end.  However, if you’ve created a world in which your animals can speak, then as long as you remain true to that world, and the characters are believable in that world; you’re OK.
Children are easily engaged because they are better than we are at suspending disbelief.  The world is still magical to them, and that’s something that we have a responsibility to help them keep going through to adulthood.  The adults that I know that are the most interesting are the ones that still have a child-like view of the world.  The main message of the “Efficiency Claus,” in fact is “Keep the magic alive”
Q: How important are illustrations to tell a story? Are they more relevant to younger kids?
Devra Robitaille: I started illustrating the books because I love to paint.  Now, as I look at the proofs, I think it was a good idea. They look nice. Young kids love things that are pretty and colorful. It will help keep their attention and get those good values across.  I illustrated DEVIN AND THE DREAM STEALERS originally, but now, due to the cost to readers my daughter and I are looking at having to take the paintings out. That would be sad. Even though they are not necessary, they add an extra dimension – like a helping hand to give your imagination a little boost as to what the author thinks the characters might look like.
Q: You are also a composer and keyboardist. What drove you to write children’s stories as well?
 Devra Robitaille: Good question.  I moved to Florida and it ate my head.  No seriously, summer heat and full-on humidity is why I started; you can’t really bike or kayak when it’s 100 degrees out. But then writing took hold of me and it became a glorious obsession. 
Q: Do you use humor to reach your young readers? Do they like to laugh?
Devra Robitaille: Absolutely.  Humor is the magic key to the kingdom. In my humble opinion everyone needs a daily dose.  Because I’m English my sense of irony is strong, so some of my humor is quite wry…….surprisingly, kids get it!  Who’d’ve thunk it.
Q: What’s next? Will you continue to write children’s stories or maybe branch out to pen novels?
Devra Robitaille: Well, I seem to be working my way up the grade levels, so who knows?
Q: Tell us about Devra Robitaille. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Devra Robitaille: I am an odd duck!  Born in England and grew up in London, I am at my very core a city gal.  I love the smell of diesel in the morning.  But now I live in Florida on the Sarasota Bay, and dolphins swim by my front door. I have many dogs, the biggest is one hundred pounds and the smallest weighs ten. They are crazy-nuts and like a pack of two year-olds on caffeine, they keep me hopping. My husband is like a four year old. My twenty-three-year-old daughter is the only one amongst us with any semblance of maturity.  We have a kayak and love to go out into the bay and just float. I would have to say it floats my boat. Of course I love love love music, as that was my profession for most of my adult life too. And good movies, and British murder mysteries on PBS… don’t get me started.
About Devra Robitaille
London-born Devra is a prolific composer, songwriter and keyboardist, as well as an author of books for kids.  Trained at the Trinity College of Music in England, she has worked with such legendary artists as John Lennon, Cher, Diana Ross, The Jackson Five, Leonard Cohen, George Harrison, Adam Ant and Thomas Dolby.  She wrote 2 top-ten singles for her own band on Jupiter Records.  She became well known as a virtuoso player in the London session scene in the eighties and joined Mike Oldfield of Tubular Bells fame as a keyboard player for a tour of Britain.  While on the road, her manager informed her that 2 of her songs had won 1st and 2nd place, respectively, out of over 3000 entries in the BBC Song Contest.  Moving to America in the nineties, Devra teamed up with a lyricist to write and compose a musical, “Cole and Porter” which had a successful run in Los Angeles at the Hudson Theatre, and has written the score for “Rinaldi” which will be onstage soon.
Devra lives in Sarasota Florida now and has authored a series of novels for children and young adults. PEACHEY AND THE GLOBOSIS was originally written as a cartoon series complete with musical score.  It is Devra’s plan to record it as an audio book in the near future.  Her soon-to-be-released book for older readers, DEVIN AND THE DREAM STEALERS has already received rave reviews, and she is now working on the “Muffy” series for children. The first books, MUFFY AND THE DOG CATCHER and MUFFY’S FLORIDA ADVENTURE are now available on Amazon and MUFFY MEETS THE MEDICINE CAT will be released soon. She continues to write and compose for the theatre, but loves to write for children.
About MUFFY’S FLORIDA ADVENTURE
Muffy is a curious and happy-go-lucky Goldendoodle puppy.  She and her sister, Riff, have been adopted by a fun-loving family who adore dogs; the Gabriels.  How lucky these dogs are to be taken on an amazing vacation to Florida, all of them together in a big house on wheels to visit their cousins who live on the Sarasota Bay.  They drive across the country all together in the 'Great escape' and then take a breathtaking trip on Captain Skye's tourist boat.  Her puppy and first mate, Starboard, shows them all the ropes, and they go to Teapot Bayou and meet all manner of lively and interesting wildlife, including Puff the dolphin and Melodee the manatee.  Muffy's Florida Adventure is full of warmth and laughter and good family values too.  Little Oliver the Papillion discovers he is brave; Radar the Golden Retriever discovers the courage to stand up for what he believes, and Muffy discovers that it's better not to chase bees.

Excerpt From MUFFY’S FLORIDA ADVENTURE – Chapter Three – The Silly Bee
“C’mon,” he buzzed, “let’s play”.Muffy got up to follow him.  Her leash slipped undone.  No one noticed. “Okay,” she said.“Bzzzzzz, I’ll show you some really cool flowers, follow me, over here, bzzzzz.”Now we all know that Muffy has a bit of a short attention span, and likes to follow pretty things that fly, like butterflies, or grasshoppers, or big blue flies…….and bees.She chased the bee, with her leash trailing behind her and they chatted away.  He showed her this and he showed her that.  He buzzed and flew and she hopped and giggled.  Bzzzzz, hop and giggle.  Bzzzzz, hop and giggle.Suddenly she looked up and saw the Great Escape pulling out of the parking lot.  Oh disaster!  Oh no!She started to run, and to panic, and to bark…….and to scream inside her head to Radar and Oliver, to Freedom and Jazz, to Mum and Will.  But the Great Escape was pulling out onto the highway now.  Oh no!On board the Great Escape, up in his little window place Oliver caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye.  MUFFY!!  MUFFY!!  He screamed and barked, he shouted and tried to jump down.Mum saw how agitated he was and tried to lift him off his ledge, but she didn’t understand what was wrong and Will was just starting to go up the on-ramp to the highway.  Oliver tried to scream at Radar, who didn’t understand at first.  Riff had fallen asleep and was blissfully unaware of her sister’s plight and Freedom and Jazz looked on helplessly.  How could this happen?  Didn’t we take a head count?  She must have been missed in the confusion. Maybe Riff was counted twice.“Muffy, Muffy, Muffy!” screamed Oliver, as best he could while Mum was attempting to put the wriggling Papillion onto the floor.  Then it happened, Will glanced up into the rear view mirror and saw her; a bedraggled little thing valiantly running to catch up, dragging her leash behind her. Will slammed on the brakes and everyone tumbled forward in a heap.  “Sorry,” he said, turning just in time, before he would have been on the highway with no way to turn around, and coming about narrowly missing a low brick wall that surrounded the meadow.Muffy saw him slowing down and she knew they’d spotted her, and she started to slow her little feet, almost tumbling head over heels down the embankment.  “Holy Moly,” she thought, “that was a close one. What on earth would I have done if they’d left me? Silly Bee!”Everyone was very glad to see her and know that she was unscathed, well mostly.  They made a big fuss of her and Sara who felt quite guilty for not noticing she was missing, gave her extra treats.After that, life in the Great Escape fell into a pleasant routine and so passed the first couple of days.
About MUFFY AND THE DOG CATCHER
Muffy is a happy and curious Goldendoodle puppy who lives on a farm.  One day she chases a silly grasshopper and gets lost.  She finds herself alone and hungry, on the point of collapse, but luck is on her side and she is adopted by a wonderful family, the Gabriels, who have a very orderly and devoted pack of dogs.  Muffy becomes part of her new family, and is accepted by Radar and Oliver and the gang, but she still pines for her sister, Riff, and misses the Farm.  One of her new friends, Wise Dog, introduces her to a very unusual Dog Catcher who has a special talent; he can communicate with animals and helps them when they are in need.
Muffy’s courageous journey is full of laughter and adventure as she tries to unite her two families.
Links
Purchase linksAmazon MUFFY AND THE DOG CATCHER MUFFY’S FLORIDA ADVENTURE
Author Links

Twitter: @HoloLibTheHologram LibraryFacebook Book trailer: MUFFY AND THE DOG CATHERPinterest

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: Lori Anne Rising, Author and Life Coach

Lori Anne Rising, Author
LEVERAGELori Anne Rising’s book LEVERAGE: AUTHORSHIP FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM offers nonfiction authors “practical, applicable advice” to write an influential book using the least amount of tools to reach target audiences. She explains that the publishing world has changed requiring new approaches to writing, publishing, and marketing—and an author needs to understand the purpose of a book.  In the following interview, she also suggests how her theories might be applicable to fiction writers, specifically in identifying a target audience for marketing.
Rising has three international best-sellers and is a Certified Life Coach who works with authors to help them write books that will help build their businesses. When she’s not writing, she enjoys traveling and doing new things—even if she’s not good at them. She has many projects in the works and is currently writing Book 2 of the LEVERAGE three-book series.
Q: How would you define the title of your book LEVERAGE? What does it mean to “leverage?” Why would authors want to “leverage?”
Lori Anne Rising: Leverage is about the ability to make a larger impact using less effort. It’s the difference between using brute force to move a heavy rock versus using a pulley system, for example. When it comes to being an author, especially into today’s publishing world, no one wants to do everything the hard way. There are ways to be highly effective, shorten the learning curve, and produce a far better, more powerful nonfiction book – if someone is willing to put a little extra time into the initial phases. Think of it like setting up the pulley system to save effort and time later versus walking up to the big, heavy rock and trying to give it a shove. It might get you started faster to give it a shove, but your effectiveness will be impacted long-term. Taking a few extra steps at the beginning to set up a system that will alleviate effort, be highly effective, and even be able to be used again later, can really be worth it. That’s leverage.
Q: You also speak of “influence” as an important goal. Can you define “influence? And how “leverage” leads to it?
Lori Anne Rising: Influence is one’s ability to shift the thoughts, beliefs and/or actions of someone else. There are various kinds of influence. For example, offering money as a reward is a kind of influence. Celebrities have a different kind of influence. A boss at work and a parent have a third kind of influence. Some kinds of influence work incredibly well as an author. Others don’t. Some kinds of influence can be combined and integrated into a book or marketing plan by authors. Others can’t. LEVERAGE actually goes through each of the various kinds of influence, which ones work for authors, which ones don’t, and how authors can combine the various kinds both when they write their book as well as when they’re marketing it.
Consciously incorporating influence into a book itself IS a form of leverage. After all, as authors, we want our books to make a difference somehow in our readers’ lives. We want our books to sell more copies so that we can both make money AND make an even larger impact in the world. Knowing how to be highly influential creates a powerful book for a reader. When a reader likes your book, they talk about it. When they talk about it, more people find it, buy it, and read it – without you putting in more effort than you would otherwise. If people DON’T like your book, they won’t talk about it and your efforts may sell more books, but they may or may not make a difference to readers.
Personally, if I’m going to put that much time and energy into writing, publishing and marketing a book, I want to make it the most impactful, powerful, useful book I can – the first time. It makes marketing it, sharing it, and getting readers to buy it and use it SO much easier – and more fun!
Q: One of your reviewers said, “This book is a must read for anyone who wants to reach their target audience.” How does an author identify a target audience? Who is your target audience for LEVERAGE?
Lori Anne Rising: Identifying a target audience is fairly simple – but may or may not be easy. I go into specific detail in the book about how to do this effectively, and I have an Influential Author’s Toolkit available that provides an even more detailed, step-by-step approach as well as templates and resources for authors. To keep it short and simple here however, it’s easiest to think of what a book actually is:  It’s a one-to-one conversation between a reader and the author. Which really means that identifying a target audience isn’t about figuring out a group or segment of the population, it’s about figuring out the ONE most ideal reader. By doing so, the author’s language naturally shifts in such a way that their writing becomes more accessible - and influential – to more readers. It’s counter-intuitive, but it’s highly effective.
LEVERAGE is written for experts, thought leaders, and those who want to be. These people are typically professional speakers, coaches, consultants, trainers, and informational marketers who want to make a powerfully positive difference in their readers’ lives AND use their book as a leverage point to build their business. You see, books – especially nonfiction – aren’t just a product to sell. In fact, if an author is looking at their book as nothing more than that, they’re missing the most valuable aspect of being an author! Books are business cards; the most effective, efficient and influential business card anyone could ever create. When readers like what you share, they want more. It’s not uncommon for a nonfiction author to give away a $20 book and wind up with a $5,000 speaking gig, for example. That’s leverage at its best as an author!
Q: Do you believe your insight into authors’ books is relevant to both fiction and non-fiction? How could an author of fiction benefit from it?
Lori Anne Rising: To be quite honest, I don’t know. The book was born out of over a year’s worth of research that I did to earn my master’s degree. When I developed the research focus itself, I specifically designed it to focus on nonfiction. While there are several reasons for this, the main reason is that, as an author coach, I work exclusively with nonfiction and I wanted my research to be highly relevant to my work.
That said, there may be some possibilities for applying some of the tools developed from the research I did. Understanding influence, for example, can help even a fiction author when it comes time to market their book. Marketing after all, is a deliberate attempt to direct someone’s actions, i.e., buy the book. The research that I did has its foundation in over 60 years of influence research from the business arena, including sales and marketing, so it could be helpful. Understanding one’s target audience will also help, especially when it comes to the marketing aspects.
Some fiction authors also have products and other aspects of a business that they incorporate their books into. For these authors, the concepts of leveraging their books to build their business that are central to the Influential Authorship series ( LEVERAGE is just Book 1), will be very helpful. Again, it’s not about selling a book. It’s about leveraging that book into other kinds of opportunities.  
Q:  Can you offer three to five tips that will lead to “leverage” and/or “influence?”
Lori Anne Rising:1.     Write about what you’re passionate about. The passion will come through. (So will the lack of passion if you choose a topic you’re NOT passionate about!) Having read and edited first drafts from authors all over the world, I can say that this factor is THE #1 aspect of making a real difference. I’d rather read a horribly written book by someone who’s passionate about their topic than a wonderfully written book by someone who’s bored. I can edit the writing. I can’t edit passion. And trust me, the end reader can tell the difference!2.     Ask yourself, “What do I want to be known for in 3 to 5 years?” Allow the answer to guide your topic selection. After all, once the book is published that’s what you’ll be known for, right? So why not start with that in mind. And, all the better if you’re passionate about the topic!3.     Write as if you’re writing to just ONE person (your most ideal reader). In fact, put a chair next to you and have coffee with that person while you’re writing. It might sound odd and feel awkward, but it’s incredibly effective! 4.     Stop looking at your book as a product. Start thinking about it as a leverage point to grow your business. It’s a paradigm shift that opens doors. 5.     Stop worrying about how “good” or “bad” your writing is. There are plenty of ways to develop authentic content that you feel passionate about that don’t include actually writing it all yourself. And, even if you ARE writing it all yourself, don’t worry. Editors have jobs for a reason!

Q: What led you to become an “author coach?” What qualifies you to help authors?
Lori Anne Rising: I began as a life coach. Then, I decided to write my own book – a life coaching book for women. It was a STEEP learning curve. So steep in fact that I quit writing at all for over a year after it was published and really questioned whether I’d ever write another book. Once it was published though, I started having a number of people ask me how I did it, what it took, and if I’d be willing to help walk them through their own writing process. Most of those asking didn’t consider themselves writers, but had a passion for a message they wanted to get out. And, I realized I wanted to help.
Knowing how hard it was for me – someone who’d been a paid writer since I was 12 – I wanted to do what I could to make it easier for others. So, I took on a mentee first as an experiment to see if combining life coaching with authorship made sense. It as an AMAZING experience! That mentee led to a client. That client led to others.
Today, I’ve worked with clients all over the world including the US, Canada, England, Spain, Belgium, and Jamaica. And, helping others helped me get back to what I love most:  writing.  I’ve continued publishing my own books and am now a three-time international bestseller.
I love writing. I love seeing others achieve their dreams. When those dreams include writing a book, seeing it in the world means that not only have I helped the author, but I’ve contributed in some way to the betterment of each reader’s life as well. It’s leveraging my ability to serve. And it’s my joy and my passion! It’s not easy. It’s a ton of work to be an author – even in today’s highly accessible market – but I love it and can’t imagine NOT doing it.
Q: Several reviewers were pleased with how easy LEVERAGE was to read, how useful the exercises were, and how impactful to their writing. How did you create the process for readers to follow? Did you conduct research to see what would work? Or did it come mostly from your own experience?
Lori Anne Rising: Before becoming an author coach, I did quite a bit of business writing, including training manuals and system documentation. Usually, it involved talking with people to understand the end result they wanted, and then figuring out on my own how to turn the process into a step-by-step system anyone could follow. So, while the information came out of the academic level research that I did as my master’s thesis project. The process itself is my own blend of natural gifts in creating systems others can use, my life coaching background, and my years of experience working with authors as an author coach.
Q: The sub-title of your book is: AUTHORSHIP FOR THE NEW MILLENIUM. What makes this time period different? How does LEVERAGE address the change to the new millennium?
Lori Anne Rising: The publishing world has changed. Dramatically. Part of my research included a historical look at what the publishing industry once was and how it used to help support authors. Today, finding a big publishing company to hand-hold a fledgling author, even when the author’s work is worth it, is slim to none. Publishers used to help with marketing. They no longer do. Authors didn’t used to have the option of self-publishing. Now, they do.
Technology has changed the industry. For better or for worse is up to each individual to decide. Either way though, there’s no going back. Authors can no longer rely on help or guidance from a publishing company. Whether they choose to go through a traditional publisher or self-publish, it is up to authors to market and sell their own work. If they can’t prove they can do that, a publisher simply won’t take them – no matter how good the work itself is. Are there exceptions? Of course. But let’s face it:  if you want to be successful in today’s world as an author, you have to have an entirely different mindset than even 20 years ago, let alone 50 years ago. You no longer get to only focus on the art of writing. Today, you have to focus on developing the business side of being an author as well.
Marketing and sales is all about influencing someone’s thoughts, beliefs and actions. Understanding influence is at the core of not only creating a powerful, authentic and original book, but it’s also at the core of effectively marketing it. If you don’t understand how to influence your readers, you won’t make it. The quality of the work won’t matter if it doesn’t get into readers’ hands. Once it’s in your readers’ hands, they have to want to read it and be so impacted by it they want to share it.
LEVERAGE teaches today’s nonfiction authors how to matter in a market that’s overflowing with options.
Q:  What’s next?
Lori Anne Rising: I’m always working on several things at once. LEVERAGE is only Book 1 in a series of three books. Each book in the series reveals a segment of the research I did and applies it to nonfiction authors. Book 2 is in the works now. I hope to release it by the end of the year. While Book 1 focuses on the foundational concepts, Book 2 will reveal ways to develop the content itself, including methods that most want-to-be authors don’t realize are available to them.
I’ve also had a very long desire to dive into memoir writing. It’s a place of learning and vulnerability since it’s a new arena for me but it’s a desire that won’t leave me alone so I’ve finally taken the plunge. This summer I published RISING OVERTHE HILL on Kindle, a short read about turning 40 and the unforgettable moments from my 20s and 30s that got me here. Having gotten the first one complete, it feels more comfortable to start diving into additional memoirs that I’d like to write. I’m looking forward to seeing how this new path unfolds!             Q: Tell us about Lori Anne Rising. What do you like to do when you’re not writing or coaching?
Lori Anne Rising: I enjoy traveling and doing new things. This past summer, for example, I earned my scuba diving certification and am looking forward to using it as often as I can! Living in the Pacific Northwest, there are some really amazing places to go hiking and exploring, so I get out as often as I can. I also enjoy a variety of creative projects such as painting, cross-stitch and wood carving. I’m not great at all the things I put my creative energy into, I just really enjoy the process of being creative and seeing something take shape. Sometimes the best creations are the ones where I had no idea what it was going to be when I started and just allowed it to unfold as I went. Mostly though, my time is spent with the people in my life I care about the most. There’s nothing more satisfying to me than a one-to-one conversation with my partner or a dear friend, or an evening spent around a campfire laughing, listening to my partner’s music (he’s a musician) and sharing the stories that bond us together.            About Lori Anne Rising
Lori Anne Rising is a three-time international bestselling author, Certified Life Coach and author’s coach. She focuses on developing books that are original, authentic and powerful. So far she has worked with authors in the U.S., Israel, Canada, Spain, Belgium, England, and Jamaica teaching them how to leverage their knowledge, stories and wisdom to build their business while making a powerful difference.
She holds a master’s degree in Leadership and Communications from Marylhurst University that includes a full year of research into how to be powerfully influential as a nonfiction author. In her spare time, she enjoys travelling, scuba diving, cross stitch, hiking, painting, wood carving and the company of good friends.
About LEVERAGE: AUTHORSHIP FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM
~Reach more people, make more money and make a powerful difference in the lives of readers.~
Based on original research, this ground-breaking book challenges the age-old “wisdom” of the publishing industry. By blending over 60 years of influence research from the business and leadership field with nonfiction authorship, this little book doesn’t just teach writing skills, it provides a fundamental paradigm shift for authors that takes their books to a whole new level.
Experts and thought leaders will discover:  What influence really is, why it matters, and how they can leverage it as an author; what the fundamental building blocks are to develop more powerful content far more easily, how the power of intentions guide content development to meet – or even exceed – goals and expectations, what really drives readers to take action in their lives, the biggest mistakes a new author can make, and much more!
Excerpt
You’re likely saying to yourself, “Influence is great, but will I make any money?” After all, you have a business to run, a family to support, and a life to live, right? Writing a book sounds like a nice hobby, but if it doesn’t serve a greater purpose or support achieving an even bigger goal, it’s likely not going to get done. There will always be something more important, more pressing, or more bottom-line oriented to work on first. Plus, you’ve likely heard that selling books really doesn’t make the author any money. Whether you’re taking the traditional publishing route or self-publishing, selling a relatively low priced item and receiving only a fraction of the proceeds doesn’t sound like something that will be worth the time, effort and long-term commitment. Until you consider the facts. In a 2006 study done by RainToday, a market research firm, researchers discovered that, after direct referrals, buyers find service providers in the following ways:
69% by attending a conference or presentation
69% using someone they already know
62% from a website article or story
60% from a magazine article or story
And 43% from a book
Based on these numbers you may be thinking that writing a book is the lowest priority in your marketing plan, while creating conferences, speaking and networking should be top of the list. But, combine the above information with the following statistics, also from the same RainToday study. By publishing even just one book:
96% of nonfiction authors generated more clients
95% of nonfiction authors generated more speaking gigs (the best place to find clients according to the above information)
94% of nonfiction authors saw brand improvement
94% of nonfiction authors generated more leads
87% of nonfiction authors were able to charge higher fees (now there’s a bottom-line benefit!)
87% of nonfiction authors were able to increase the QUALITY of their clients (more fun too!)
76% of nonfiction authors were able to close more deals (as in partnerships and business opportunities that are not clients per se)
Authors from this study were professionals from a wide variety of industries. They were experts and thought leaders just like you who wrote about a wide variety of topics, including business, self-help, motivational and more. Now, put the two sets of statistics together and you’ll discover that if you want to build your business as an expert or thought leader, the best way to do that is through public speaking. And, the best way to get speaking gigs that put you in front of clients, is by writing a book. So, if you’re going to write a book that positions you as an expert or thought leader with the intention of building your business and making a difference in others’ lives, why would you not ensure that you’re creating the highest degree of influence that you possibly can along the way? As an author, you can create a very high degree of influence – influence that touches hearts and moves mountains – to make a difference in others’ lives. The more hearts you change, the more books you’ll sell too – and the more opportunities you’ll have to reach even more hearts. It’s a beautiful upward spiral in which everyone wins. What more could you ask for?
Links
Where to find Lori Anne Rising onlineWebsite  Twitter:  @LoriAnneRising Amazon AuthorPage

Where to find LEVERAGE:NOTE:  LEVERAGE is currently FREE on all sites listed.Amazon  iTunes Barnes &Noble, NookKobo  Scribd24 SymbolsInktera

What the Protagonist Wants by Joyce T. Strand, Author

Joyce T. Strand, Author
THE REPORTER'S STORYAs an author of mysteries, I strive to drive the plot from multiple perspectives--the puzzle itself, the protagonist, the villain, and the background. However, in my latest mystery, THE REPORTER'S STORY, the protagonist, Emma Matheson, truly overrides the story, although San Franciso in 1912 provides some intriguing villains. 
In the following article, I explore the theory that the plot is all about what the protagonist wants.









What the Protagonist WantsByJoyce T. Strand, Author
“The main question in drama, the way I was taught, is always, 'What does the protagonist want?' That's what drama is. It comes down to that. It's not about theme, it's not about ideas, it's not about setting, but what the protagonist wants.” -David Mamet
When writing a mystery, what comes first: the puzzle, the protagonist, or the setting?  Is it, as Mamet suggests, all about what the protagonist wants?
In all seven mysteries I’ve published I’ve always started with the protagonist. In the first three mysteries, Jillian Hillcrest’s position as a public relations executive drove the selection of the crimes for her to solve. Brynn Bancroft’s somewhat promiscuous personality determined much of the plot for her two contemporary mysteries. The judge’s case history and his values determined the type of mystery and characters involved with him in 1939 Ventura, Calif.
But out of all seven books, the personality and goals of Emma Matheson in The Reporter’s Story truly drove the plot and the mystery. 

Before plotting the story, I developed Emma. I searched for an early 20th century female reporter who had written and published front-page stories for major west coast newspapers. I was fortunate to uncover Marjorie C. Driscoll, who started as a reporter in San Francisco for William Randolph Hearst and eventually moved to the Los Angeles Times as a respected front-page contributor. To create Emma, I used an article written by Driscoll, a graduate of Stanford University in 1913, which she published in The Stanford Illustrated Review in 1920, titled "In the Newspaper Field." I drew from it my protagonist's values and her reporter's approach.
For the sake of intrigue and mystery, I set the story in 1912 San Francisco. The infamous tongs and the city’s reputation for the unruly days of the Barbary Coast that accompanied the Gold Rush made for an adventurous backdrop.
More important, it was a time when female reporters were not necessarily revered or tolerated, although Hearst and Pulitzer were starting to use them more and more. But to be successful, a female had to first overcome the bias against her gender and then work to write a story.
We learn early on that Emma has accepted this challenge and has no intention of allowing her gender to slow her down.
A less determined reporter would not have insisted on covering house burglaries and might have been satisfied to cover the stories assigned to her as part of the woman’s section. A less experienced reporter would not have been as successful. She makes choices and never backs off. This determination leads her to some difficult situations and doubtful choices, but it does move her toward her goal—and the plot to its conclusion.
By adapting the approach and skills of the real-life Driscoll, my protagonist works her way through a series of events involving shady characters, the infamous San Francisco tongs, and an environment in transition from intolerance of female reporters to selected use of them at a time when women’s suffrage was reaching its apogee. 
And, as Mamet says, the story is all about what the protagonist wants. In The Reporter’s Story it’s all about what Emma Matheson wants—to become a world-class reporter no matter what it takes.

About Joyce T. Strand
Joyce T. Strand is the author of who-done-it contemporary and historical mysteries set in California. All of her published seven novels are inspired by actual events and/or real people, although they are definitely fictionalized.
Her first three contemporary mysteries feature protagonist Jillian Hillcrest, a public relations executive who encounters murder and mayhem at her Silicon Valley company. Jillian’s boss, Brynn Bancroft, solves the next two mysteries when she leaves her position as Chief Financial Officer to run a winery in Sonoma, north of San Francisco.
In Strand’s first historical mystery, a Superior Court Judge strives to discover the truth behind the mystery of a robbery-murder in a small California town in 1939. In her newest mystery, THE REPORTER’S STORY, a house burglary in 1912 San Francisco piques a young reporter’s instincts that leads to intrigue and murder.
Strand headed corporate communications at several biotech and high-tech companies in California's Silicon Valley for more than 25 years. Unlike Jillian, however, she did not encounter murder in her career. Strand lives with her collection of cow statuary in Southern California, and enjoys exploring and writing about the growing wine region in the Ramona Valley near San Diego. 
About THE REPORTER'S STORY 
A house burglary in 1912 San Francisco that the victim denies happening piques Emma Matheson’s reporter instincts. Why would a businessman deny that recovered loot was his and forego collecting his $8,000 worth of stolen jewelry? Why did he fire his maid and butler who originally reported the theft? The more she pursues the burglary that wasn’t a burglary, the more she sees it as a major story, involving murder, intrigue, and smuggling. Can she solve it and write the story that could project her to become the world-famous reporter she so covets? Or will she become one of its victims?

LinksPurchase Links
THE REPORTER'S STORY 
Amazon -- paperback and Kindle
Unicorn Books and Gifts - signed paperback 
Other books available in e-book and book format at:Amazon
Unicorn Books and Gifts - signed paperbacks
For Nook at:Barnes and Noble
Author Links
WebpageFacebookGoodreads  Twitter:  @joycetstrand