Diane Bator's Blog, page 41
August 19, 2021
FAIL TO WIN: BECAUSE OF THE BEATLES a new book by Jeff Parry and Louis B Hobson
FAIL TO WIN: BECAUSE OF THE BEATLES
Life and Business Lessons From
the Entertainment Industry
By Jeff Parry and Louis B Hobson
This title is available in eBook on all Amazon Kindle Marketplaces
Releasing AUGUST 5TH 2021
Fail To Win: Because of the Beatles is an insider's look at the enigmatic world of big finance, overblown egos, and phenomenal risk—and reward—in the behind-the-scenes machinations of international rock music promotions. Fail to Win illustrates the importance of embracing failure in order to attain significant financial and personal success.
PRAISE FOR FAIL TO WIN
Read it in one sitting. The book is fascinating and impressive. What you say about contracts vs. trustworthiness is so true. --Barry Estabrook, past editor of Harrowsmith Magazine
What an incredible adventure, and so well written. --Kirstie McLellan Day, author of Playing with Fire
Fail to Win is fantastic, entertaining, enlightening, funny, touching, a rollercoaster, not for the faint of heart...an absolutely delightful read. I wasn't be able to put it down. I've never been a huge book reader (hard to sit still that long, I guess) but I loved every page, found myself re-reading more than a few passages...just loved it. So, when's the sequel due out? --Michael Smith, former member of The Sailcats
ABOUT JEFF:
JEFF PARRY is a music and entertainment reviewer, playwright, theatre director, and long-time acquaintance of Jeff Parry. He has published over 700 articles in The Albertan, The Sun, The Calgary Herald, The Edmonton Journal, CTV Morning Live, and Rotten Tomatoes. He has directed 332 plays and had fifteen of his scripts produced for the theatre. This is his first full length book.
Jeff Parry and Louis Hobson’s paths have been crossing for thirty years, but their collaboration on Fail to Win seems to have been fated by destiny. Louis, a theatre director, film critic and playwright, worked in the same spheres as Jeff, who arranged tours for some of Louis’s plays, and who became the subject of some of Louis’s entertainment news interviews.
However, in 2015, Louis learned from his trusted, long-term clairvoyant, that “a gentleman from your past is going to reenter your artistic life. He will ask you to help him with a book he is writing. This book is just the tip of an exciting iceberg. Circling in his orbit are several musicals and plays he will ask you to work on for him. Working with him will take you across oceans and borders.”
Chance? Or predestination? In 2013 Jeff had reached a crossroads. In the midst of one of his most personally satisfying successes—bringing Nickelback and fifty other live bands together in a record six-week planning period, to raise a million dollars for Calgary’s Flood Aid—he learned his Broadway show would have to close due to industry politics and back-stabbing. After a career filled with spectacular successes an equally spectacular failures, he had to decide whether the rollercoaster was truly worth it.
Jeff rose from this devastation by doing what he’s done all his life: fighting back and winning. But in the course of this struggle, he realized that passing on his hard-earned lessons to rising entrepreneurs was the legacy he wanted his remarkable life to leave. He embarked on a daunting project: writing a book about what it takes to succeed in business and life. Writing a book is no easy task, and while stymied to finish Fail to Win, he reached out to Louis, whom he had probably not talked to in 25 years. The stars aligned.
Now, in addition to the multiple shows Jeff has touring world-wide and the two scripts Louis is completing, Jeff and Louis have developed a new writing partnership, and close friendship.
More information about Jeff can be found here:
Website: https://www.jeffreybperry.net/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffreyBPerry
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeffreybperry
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Jeff-Parry/e/B096CX5PQY/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1
To request additional review copies or an interview with Jeff Parry, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: Mickey.CreativeEdge@Gmail.com | (403) 464-6925.
August 17, 2021
Learn more about The Gift of Mentoring by Mentoring Expert Doug Lawrence
THE GIFT OF MENTORING
An Educational experience with Mentoring Expert
Doug Lawrence
Available in E-book and print worldwide.
A MESSAGE FROM DOUG LAWRENCE:
I am honored and humbled to be able to share some of my experiences as an effective mentor with you. Effective mentoring is a life long journey of learning and developing personally and professionally. I hope that you will grow as much as I have with the guidance provided through the "Gift of Mentoring".
ISBN-10 : 150858933X
ISBN-13 : 978-1508589334
Amazon.ca Buy Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Gift-Mentoring-Lawrence-Doug-ebook/dp/B0147WVG6I
Amazon.com Buy Link: Amazon.com:Gift of Mentoring eBook: Doug, Lawrence, Emily Hunter: Kindle Store
ABOUT DOUG:
Doug leads organizations to experience the benefits how mentoring will encourage workforce culture to flow in harmony (mentors), improve productivity from employees (mentees), reducing costly employee onboarding improving the bottom line (organizations).
Doug is an International Certified Mentor, and has obtained his Certificate of Achievement – Mentoring and
his Certificate of Competence – Mentor from the International Mentoring Community (IMC). Doug is currently obtaining his Certificate of Competence – Journey Mentor.Doug’s Practice of Mentoring has resulted in his accumulation of 2,000 hours of mentoring (in person and virtual), 197 hours of speaking opportunities and 672 hours teaching others how to effectively mentor.
Doug is a volunteer mentor with the Sir Richard Branson Entrepreneur Program in the Caribbean and with the American Corporate Partners in the United States working with military personnel in their transition from military life to civilian life. Doug is currently working with researchers to examine the role of mentoring as a support for those struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). His experience in law enforcement coupled with working with people suffering from PTSD has afforded him a unique view of mentoring and PTSD.
Doug is an international speaker and author about all facets of Mentoring and The Gift of Mentoring is his first book.
To request additional review copies or an interview with Doug, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.
August 14, 2021
Jennifer Leigh Pezzano releases Light Among the Shadows
Light Among the Shadows
By the Award-winning Author of “Awakening”
Jennifer Leigh Pezzano.
Released and published by Silver Dawn Publishing.
The book is available in paperback and eBook across all platforms .
~Pre-order Available Now~
“What I had done was extreme, but like a wild animal stuck in a trap, I knew the only way to survive was to relinquish my own limb. It was the last frantic vestige of my attempt to keep on living, despite there being nothing left to live for. I was hollowed out. Only tender bruised bone remained as I followed the endless white line of the highway.
Lara is running from a fractured marriage, and an unfathomable loss that consumes her.
Drawn to the beautiful, open expanse of sky and the possibility of a new life, Lara finds herself working on a secluded property in Montana caring for horses. There she meets Peter, a man trapped in the darkness of his disability and closed off from the world around him.
Together, they forge a connection that is tender and fervent as the walls they have built around themselves begin to crack. But can two broken people truly find healing in each other? Or will the wounds they carry be too deep to repair?
A journey of love and redemption, of choices that define us, and the delicate dance between the past that holds us back and the future that beckons us forward.
“Light Among the shadows is a gripping emotional rollercoaster of a read. A truly inspiring tale of new beginnings and real-life heartache. A book I could not put down! “ ~Jessica Brown
“Wow! I was literally blown away. This author deals with some very tough issues, things that would be difficult for most writers to touch. And she did them with a frankness and a depth that made me, as a reader, feel as though I were in the room when these things happened.
The setting is lush, beautiful, and powerful. This writer has a definite way with words. I was completely submerged in the story, not wanting to stop reading. And it never let up from there.”
~K.J Kennedy
“Light Among the Shadows” is an emotionally evoking story about self-discovery, the power of love; and its ability to heal even the deepest wounds. Once again, the author showcases her stylistic prose and incredible talent at creating viscerally stunning worlds." ~Carly Shilling
About Jennifer:
Jennifer is an award-winning author, poet, and literary junkie. Ever since she could remember, she has had an avid fascination with words. Awed by the power they have to mold and shape our reality, to turn ideas into things of beauty that inspire us, move us and make us want to live bolder, brighter lives. But it wasn’t until recently that she decided to sit down and blend her love of poetry with her appetite for a well-crafted story.
Jennifer lives nestled in the beautiful valley of Southern Oregon with her partner and daughter. She spends her day fervently typing away at her computer while trying to balance the blend of motherhood and self-discovery.
More Information about Jennifer can be found here:
Website: Author and poet/Jennifer Leigh Pezzano
Twitter: 🌌Jennifer Leigh Pezzano🌌(@PezzanoJenni) / Twitter
Facebook: Jennifer Leigh Pezzano | Facebook
Instagram: Jenni Pezzano (@jennileighp83) • Instagram photos and videos
To request additional review copies or an interview with Jennifer Leigh Pezzano, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: Mickey.CreativeEdge@Gmail.com | (403) 464-6925.
August 12, 2021
Epic Fantasy writer H.C. Newell features Curse of the Fallen
Welcome to Epic Fantasy author H.C. Newell! I was fortunate to read chapter one of her new book and hooked! I'm looking forward to reading more...
My name is H.C. Newell and I live with my husband in Nashville, TN. I’m an author of Epic Fantasy and have been working on my current series, Fallen Light, for the last seven years. I have no formal training in writing, no awards, and no friends of friends of Steven King or J.K. Rowling. (Wouldn't that be cool?) I am just a person with a passion for writing, a love of creativity, and a soul full of imagination. I have put my entire heart into the Fallen Light series, and I hope that you find as much joy, wonder, sorrow, and light while reading this series as I have writing it.
Website and other links to your social media pages.
What is your latest release?
April 26, 2021
What are you working on now?
Book two of the Fallen Light series
Was there a person who encouraged you to write?
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember, so while there was no need for encouragement, my husband was a big supporter when I decided to tackle a fantasy series of this size. As any author knows – writing is hard. I wanted to give up so many times, but he was always my rock.
What would you say are your strengths as an author?
Dialogue and character development. I treat the characters like real people. In my mind they are real, and that mindset makes it easy to get into their head, give them a voice, and create a realistic person with their own personality, strengths, and weaknesses.
How often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine?
I typically wrote for about 5-6 hours a day. It isn’t all at once, and sometimes it’s more, but as I’ve mentioned writing is my passion and is my biggest hobby. I love writing. Writing to me is what reading or watching TV is to others. I just love it. I don’t have a schedule for my writing. I can’t force myself to write, and if I try, the quality suffers. When the story comes to me – I write it.
Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?
I would love to see myself with 3-4 published books under my belt, and hopefully be earning enough from my series to be a full-time author! A TV series deal for my book would be pretty cool, too.
CURSE OF THE FALLEN
Magic is the purest form of darkness, and those born of its power must be purged.
Born of magic, Nerana is labeled a demon, and the cost of such treason is her life. Forced into hiding by the Order of Saro, she seeks to disenchant a curse that keeps her just within their grasp. After years of searching, she finds her redemption lies within the forbidden caves of Nhamashel, where ancient magic and formidable monsters lie in wait.
Through perilous trials, enemy territory, and finding trust in those she was taught to despise, Nerana soon learns that the journey to releasing such deadly magic may prove more fatal than the Order itself.
But for Nerana this is more than a quest for survival…
It’s a promise of revenge.
Hcnewell.com for signed copies and merchandise.
August 10, 2021
New in Paperback Diane Zinna's novel The All-Night Sun
**NEW IN PAPERBACK**
LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE
AND THE VCU CABELL FIRST NOVELIST AWARD
“Inventive and luminous…. Zinna’s intimate debut dazzles with original language, emotional sentience, and Swedish folklore as it plumbs the depths of grief, loss, and friendship [and] reaches an inspired emotional depth that, as the title signifies, never stops blazing.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
THE ALL-NIGHT SUN
By Diane Zinna
A Random House Trade Paperback; On Sale 8/3/2021
Lauren Cress is a professor at a small college, and in the classroom she is poised, smart, and beloved by her students. But internally she is deeply scarred by the loss of both of her parents, and still grapples with her grief daily. She is overcome with loneliness, until a magnetic Swedish student joins her class and slowly befriends her. Siri is everything Lauren wishes she herself could be: charming, fun, and free. When she invites Lauren home with her to Sweden for the summer, it’s an easy decision. Siri promises everything will feel fresh and new, just thawing out after a long winter. It sounds like everything Lauren craves, so she impulsively agrees.
At first, all is well. Lauren is delighted to be in Sweden, a landscape that seems to pulse with magic. But things grow tense when Lauren finds herself drawn to Siri’s enigmatic brother Magnus, the one person she made her promise to stay away from. Siri is resentful, and Lauren starts to see a new side of her friend: selfish, reckless, self-destructive, even cruel. On the last night of her trip, Lauren accompanies Siri and her friends on a seaside camping trip to celebrate Midsommar's Eve, a night when no one sleeps, boundaries blur, and under the light of the unsetting sun, things take a dark turn.
Ultimately Lauren must acknowledge the truth of what happened with Siri and come to terms with her own tragic past in this gorgeously written, deeply felt debut about the transformative relationships that come to us when things feel darkest.
More Praise for THE ALL-NIGHT SUN
“In The All-Night Sun, Diane Zinna displays her deep understanding of the writing craft…. Her stunning debut novel is a twisting tale of grief, hope and self-deceit, a story as mesmerizing as the young women at its heart.”—BookPage (starred review)
“[An] unsettling, mesmerizing debut…. In gently hypnotic prose, Zinna beautifully explores the transformative powers of grief, loneliness, intimate friendships, and the hunger we have to be understood.” —Refinery29 (“The 25 Books You’ll Want To Read This Summer”)
“Explosive.”—Electric Literature
“Diane Zinna’s The All-Night Sun is an unexpected love story—about rebirth after loss, about the human connections that art and literature enable, about the adventures we undertake and the tales we tell ourselves to get by. It’s also about risk and sorrow, about how our stories can fatefully mask reality. This is a memorable and meaningful novel.” —Claire Messud, New York Timesbestselling author of The Burning Girl
“This stunning debut novel explores the space between dreams and nightmares, life and death, the brilliance of the midnight sun and the darkness when you shut your eyes. Diane Zinna has given us a tender, aching, and unforgettable story.” —Julia Phillips, author of the National Book Award finalist Disappearing Earth
“The All-Night Sun is a provocative examination of the often-blurred boundaries between teacher and student as well as the disorienting effects of grief. Using language so suffused with light and color that it’s hard to look away from her words, Diane Zinna writes movingly about family, friendship, psychic black holes, and the ways in which art and writing can ameliorate the damage life etches on us all.” —Jennifer Steil, author of The Ambassador’s Wife
“Diane Zinna carves her sentences on the page. This book is compulsively readable because no scene or paragraph goes to waste; each nuance of thought and feeling gets traced with generous intensity. Zinna renders all the vivid saturations of grief, but not just that: she also traces the complicated fretwork of young friendship. This book shows how coming-of-age and elegy can be the same story.” —Emily Fridlund, author of the Booker Prize finalist History of Wolves
“Sensuous and hypnotic, The All-Night Sun reveals the many ways in which grief can distort one’s judgement and even one’s allegiance to the truth. Diane Zinna has gifted an empathic prose-poem to anyone who has felt displaced by loss and in search of a path out of the stalemate of memory.” —Pamela Erens, author of Eleven Hours
“The All-Night Sun illuminates the unwieldy paths the human mind will follow when chased by grief, loneliness, and the failure of memory. In lyrical, dreamlike prose, Diane Zinna’s mångataleads her characters from profound loss to the promise of wounds healed. An impressive debut by a gifted writer.” —Chris Cander, author of The Weight of a Piano
“The All-Night Sun is about loss, guilt, faith, friendship, and, as the title also suggests, the human ability to go on. Zinna offers everything I come to a novel hoping for—a compelling protagonist, graceful prose, first-rate storytelling, and deep compassion for her characters.” —Lori Ostlund, author of After the Parade
“A mesmerizing, disturbing, and heart-wrenching read about loneliness and grief. Diane Zinna writes sentences that will break you, and then suddenly everything on the page lights up again, and you go on the rollercoaster that is love, and loss, and life. With poetic and hypnotic prose, The All-Night Sun is an essential addition to fiction on grief and a compelling story about female friendship, its limits and constraints, and the surprising ways it can make us whole.” —Natalie Jenner, author of The Jane Austen Society
“The All-Night Sun is a testament to the power of storytelling. In much the same way that she pursues her emptiness across an ocean, the rawness of Lauren’s pain will have readers chasing her through the pages. The lies she tells herself—and others—about her past become the ghosts which simultaneously accuse and exonerate her. As she unravels and cuts through the tangles of her experience, we can’t help but cheer.” —Benjamin Ludwig, author of Ginny Moon
“Diane Zinna has written a mesmerizing story of how grief can pull us together while pulling us under. She is a writer deft with a paintbrush of words illustrating the dark hues of the deepest emotions. Her brilliant story is the heartfelt tale of Lauren and Siri, both orphans with pain shadowing their futures, which sends them on a journey together. Throughout the novel, we never quit wondering if they or their friendship will survive. The All-Night Sun is a gorgeous tribute to grief in all its forms, and how we have to go through it to get to the other side—there’s no way around it.” —Amy Wallen, author of When We Were Ghouls: A Memoir of Ghost Stories
When she was in her mid-twenties, debut author Diane Zinna found herself completely on her own in a new city, teaching at a small Catholic college outside of DC. She was in the middle of a long period of grief following the loss of both of her parents when she met and befriended a Swedish student at the school. Their bond deepened, and the student invited her to visit Sweden with her for the summer. This trip was a sort of thawing out for Zinna, and the start of a long-awaited healing process. But questions stuck in her mind long after she returned home: what if things had gone wrong on the trip, when Zinna was still so emotionally fragile? What if things took a turn at the school she worked at, which had been a lifeline for her at the time? What would she have had to learn to keep going? Out of these questions came THE ALL-NIGHT SUN (Random House Trade Paperback; On Sale 8/3/2021), a propulsive, memorable debut.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Diane Zinna is originally from Long Island, New York. She received her MFA from the University of Florida and has taught writing workshops for more than a decade. She formerly worked at AWP, the Association of Writers & Writing Programs, and in 2014, Diane created the Writer to Writer Mentorship Program, helping to match more than six hundred writers over twelve seasons. Diane has become well-known for her popular, online grief writing sessions that have grown each Sunday since the start of the pandemic. Diane lives in Fairfax, Virginia, with her husband and daughter. The All-Night Sun is her first novel.
THE ALL-NIGHT SUN by Diane Zinna
Random House Trade Paperback and eBook • On Sale August 3, 2021
ISBN: 9781984854186 • eISBN: 9781984854179 • $17
Contact: Mickey Mikkelson | Publicist
(403) 464-6925
August 7, 2021
From Bram Stoker Award-Winning Author, Ace Antonio Hall comes Lipstick Asylum
LIPSTICK ASYLUM
By Bram Stoker Award-Wining Author, Ace Antonio Hall
Published by Omnium Gatherum Media
This title is available in eBook on all Amazon Kindle Marketplaces
Releasing SEPTEMBER 10, 2021
The Scream Teens are hired to raise the dead as the necro-tainment for a zombie cruise, and the eighteen-year-old animator, Cozy Coleman, is bitten by a shapeshifting she-wolf. To Cozy’s surprise, she survives and with the aid of her friends, helps the government stop a human-extinction virus from spreading. Unfortunately, Cozy uncovers a secret so haunting, that her death is only the beginning of her problems.
Bram Stoker Award winning press Omnium Gatherum publishes unique dark fantasy, weird fiction and horror in print and eBook formats. The stories we publish can be sweeping in scope or intensely personal. What they have in common, is a dedication to fresh ideas and a unique perspective.
Please visit our website for more information about our award-winning fiction.
Website: https://omniumgatherumedia.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Omnium-Gatherum-100738966647365
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Omnium_Gatherum
OWARE MOSAIC
By Bram Stoker Award-Wining Author, Ace Antonio Hall
Published by Omnium Gatherum Media
This title is available in eBook on all Amazon Kindle Marketplaces
When villagers start dying of a strange brain virus, a seventeen-year-old forensic investigator uses a virtual reality video game called the House of Oware to help her find the killer before he strikes again.
“Once again, Nzondi creates a rich and vibrant world crackling with life. He is a brilliant writer, one readers and critics should be watching.” —Pete Nowalk, creator of How to Get Away with Murder
“If you're looking for a story that's daringly imaginative, Oware Mosiac will scratch that itch.” —Alma Katsu, author of The Hunger
“Nzondi's Oware Mosaic is real Afrofuturism, speculative fiction actually set on the continent itself. This is the future of SF, and the future is looking good.” —Steven Barnes, author of Lion’s Blood
“I loved, loved, loved this novel by Nzondi! Breath-taking SF adventure!!” —Linda Addison, author of How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend
WINNER OF THE BRAM STOKER AWARD 2019
ABOUT ACE:
Ace Antonio Hall(born July 4th, 1966) is an American urban fantasy and horror writer. His novel Oware Mosaic won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Young Adult fiction.
Among his many short stories that were published in anthologies and print magazines, Hall’s short story, “Raising Mary: Frankenstein”, was nominated for 2016 horror story of the year for the 19th Annual Editors and Preditors Readers Poll. Additionally, three of his short stories were on the Horror Writers Association Reading list for the 2017 Bram Stoker Awards.
A former Director of Education for NYC schools and the Sylvan Learning Center, the award-winning educator earned a BFA from Long Island University. Hall currently lives bi-coastal in New York and Los Angeles. Follow Nzondi on his social media platforms @Nzondi3 on Twitter or as Ace Antonio Hall Instagram and Facebook for news, books, updates and appearances for keynote speaking events at writing conferences.
More information about Ace can be found here:
Website: https://www.aantoniohall.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Nzondi3
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aceantoniohall/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ace.antoniohall.1
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Nzondi/e/B0829F7667/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1
To request additional review copies or an interview with Ace Antonio Hall, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: Mickey.CreativeEdge@Gmail.com | (403) 464-6925.
We look forward to the coverage!
August 6, 2021
Girls Succeed! Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women by J.Q. Rose
I'm thrilled to add a special Escape With a Writer segment for the lovely J.Q. Rose to promote: Girls Succeed! 99 cent Promo August 6-14 for eBook!
Whether the story is fiction or non-fiction, J.Q. Rose is “focused on story.” She offers readers chills, giggles and quirky characters woven within the pages of her mystery novels. Her published mysteries are Deadly Undertaking, Terror on Sunshine Boulevard and Dangerous Sanctuary released by Books We Love Publishing.
Using her storytelling skills, she provides entertainment and information in articles featured in books, magazines, newspapers, and online magazines. With her non-fiction book for girls, Girls Succeed! Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women, she returned to her first love, writing about real people. J.Q. taught elementary school for several years and never lost the love for teaching passed down from her teacher grandmother and mother. She satisfies that aspect of her character by presenting workshops on Creative Writing and Writing Your Life Story and creating a book for life storytelling, Your Words, Your Life Story, based on her workshops. JQ decided to take the advice she gives to her workshop participants to sit down and write their stories. BWL Publishing released her memoir, Arranging a Dream, in January 2021.
Blogging, photography, Pegs and Jokers board games, and travel are the things that keep her out of trouble. She and her husband spend winters in Florida and summers up north with their two daughters, two sons-in-law, four grandsons, one granddaughter, two grand dogs, four grand cats, and one great-grand bearded dragon.
Discover the inspiring stories of sixteen contemporary women who had ambitious dreams when they were girls.
Find out how they made those dreams come true!
Readers cheer for these amazing women when they follow their lives to discover how they overcome obstacles and crash through barriers to complete their goals. Learn about their workday and the achievements in their chosen careers.
Girls Succeed: Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women includes stories about 21st-century women who have discovered cures to stamp out disease, made people laugh, earned Olympic and Paralympic gold medals and crossed the country behind the wheel of an 18-wheel semi-truck and more. Meet the people who mentored these dreamers and helped them to negotiate the curves and bumps along the way.
With resources related to the occupation, girls can dive deeply into the career and the woman's life. The accompanying quotes inspire girls to work toward making their dream careers come true.
The Girls Succeed Reader's Guide, included in this book, suggests project and discussion ideas for classroom teachers and home-school educators to expand on themes covered in the book.
Author J.Q. Rose uses her experience as a classroom teacher and her storytelling skills as an author to inspire girls to dream big!
Amazon Link to Paperback https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B3FXN4R
CAREERS INCLUDED IN THE BOOK
Horse trainer, competitive dressage rider
World and national champion cyclist
Children’s book author and artist
Medical Doctor
Cooking Professional
Technology expert and filmmaker
Christian minister
Horticulturalist
Medical scientist
Olympics gold medalist in women’s ice hockey
Semi-truck driver
Teacher
Social worker
Entrepreneur
Professional Clown
Attorney
Amazon Link to Paperback https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B3FXN4R
August 5, 2021
Shane K Morton talks about The Drag Queen Detective Series
I met Shane virtually on a Cozy Mystery forum on facebook and loved his book covers as well as his tagline: If Jessica Fletcher were a Fabulous Drag Queen! I'm thrlled to host him on Escape With a Writer!
Shane K Morton lives in Studio city with his husband and their fur babies, Bette Davis and Izzie Gillespie. His novels include: The Drag Queen Detective Series, The Trouble With Off-Campus Housing, Private Waterloos, The Year of the Cock, Fault Lines, Bluegrass Boys Series and The Point Pleasant Holiday Series. His Dark Romance books, written under Sean Azinsalt, include: It’s in My Blood, Bound, and Dark Eros. When not writing, Shane can usually be found at a film festival or performing cabaret in a dark dive bar.
Join Shane’s Facebook Group- Sweet And Salty
Follow him on Bookbub- Shane K. Morton Books - BookBub
Instagram- Shane K Morton (@shanemortonauthor) • Instagram photos and videos
TikTok- ShaneMortonAuthor (@shanemortonauthor) TikTok | Watch ShaneMortonAuthor's Newest TikTok Videos
Amazon- Amazon.com: Shane K Morton: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle
What is your latest release?
Himbos, Homicide and Heels (Book #3- Drag Queen Detective) released in June. It’s a fun whodunnit inspired by Agatha Christie and of course, Murder She Wrote. The tagline for the series is, Murder She Wrote-With a Drag Queen, and its fun, witty, a little snarky and full of mystery and fabulousness!
What are you working on now?
I write in a lot of genres. I have my cozy mystery series (which is going to spin off in the fall) and I also write YA and romance. My next book is called, The Diamond Dandy (Tin Star Witches #4- Beyond Ruby Gulch) and is in a world set in the wild west of America in the 1800’s. Cowboy Witches! I was excited to be asked to be a part of it.
Was there a person who encouraged you to write?
I’ve written my entire life. I’ve had a couple plays I wrote that were produced, and have been working on a musical for the last decade. My husband is a teacher and together we wrote a few TV show pitches and pilots when we moved to LA. He inspires me, and makes sure that I get the time I need throughout the day to work on my WIP. He’s also great to bounce ideas off of and comes up with a bunch of my titles.
What would you say are your strengths as an author?
I love the dialogue that I write. Coming from the world of theatre, dialogue has always been of utmost importance to me. I also think I work outside the box well. My plots are quite twisty!
How often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine?
I write (almost) every day. I do give myself at least 1 day off a week to recharge. I like to write at night, mostly, but if the mood strikes, I can write on my phone if I need to. I’m a Gemini, so strict routines don’t really work well for me. I can’t force myself to sit and write, it has to want to come out.
Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?
I would love for writing to be the only job that I have. I would love to see my cozies and my Hallmark(ish) series being made into TV shows/movies, and given a chance to work on those scripts. I also want to be happy. So as long as writing makes me happy, I will continue doing it, no matter what!
Men Murder and Makeup (Drag Queen Detective #1)
mybook.to/DragQueenDetectiveCozy
Murder is a Drag.
Victor has a secret identity, and she’s being framed for murder.
Murder She Wrote… If Jessica Fletcher were a Fabulous Drag Queen
The mayors been murdered and everyone is on edge and reclusive mystery author Vicki Dean is the prime suspect.
Can Victor clear her name without revealing his secret identity?
Will the hunky new sheriff help Victor prove Vicki's innocence or be a threat to not only his freedom but also his heart?
Victor must let go of his fear and step out of the shadows in his high heels and lipstick to solve this mystery as only a drag queen can.
His life depends on it!
Divas Death and Drag (Drag Queen Detective #2)
A drag pageant where winning means not dying.
Maple Bay is hosting the Ms. Gay West Coast Pageant and Victor’s drag queen persona Raven Ronelle is the emcee and organizer. It’s a huge event for the town and everyone is excited. For someone, excitement means murder.
As the drag queens suffer multiple attempts on their life, Victor enlists the help of his best friend and his boyfriend, Sheriff Hottie, to sleuth out the truth.
As they place themselves in the crosshairs of the killer, they find that they’re not the only ones investigating. Unexpected help comes from drag queen reality star Ursula Moolay.
It’s a race against the clock to find out who wants the crown enough to commit murder.
Murder She Wrote… if Jessica Fletcher were a drag queen.
Himbos Homicide and Heels (Drag Queen Detective #3)
Hollywood is calling and they want Vicki Dean to play the part of victim!
Powerful Hollywood agent and producer Marcus Montrose has invited Vicki Dean and her friends to a remote chateau in the Northern California mountains. As soon as they arrive a blizzard cuts them off from the rest of the world.
Trapped with some of Hollywood’s greatest stars sounds like fun, until the first body is found. It’s a race against the clock to discover which of the guests might be a murderer.
With her boyfriend Harper Wolfe in tow, she takes it on herself to solve the mystery. If she doesn’t, she or one of her friends may be next. Can she get the Himbos and starlets to reveal their secrets before it's too late?
The only thing she hates more than a dead body, is being stuck in drag for 48 hours!
August 3, 2021
Winona Kent discusses life and her new book Notes on a Missing G-String
Welcome to Canadian mystery author, Winona Kent!
Winona Kent is an award-winning author who was born in London, England and grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan, where she completed her BA in English at the University of Regina. After moving to Vancouver, she graduated from UBC with an MFA in Creative Writing. More recently, she received her diploma in Writing for Screen and TV from Vancouver Film School.
Winona's writing breakthrough came many years ago when she won First Prize in the Flare Magazine Fiction Contest with her short story about an all-night radio newsman, Tower of Power.
Her spy novel Skywatcher was a finalist in the Seal Books First Novel Competition and was published in 1989. This was followed by a sequel, The Cilla Rose Affair, and her first mystery, Cold Play, set aboard a cruise ship in Alaska.
After three time-travel romances (Persistence of Memory, In Loving Memory and Marianne's Memory), Winona returned to mysteries with Disturbing the Peace, a novella, in 2017 and the novel Notes on a Missing G-String in 2019, both featuring the character she first introduced in Cold Play, professional jazz musician / amateur sleuth Jason Davey.
The third book in Winona's Jason Davey Mystery series, Lost Time, was published in 2020.
Winona's novella Salty Dog Blues was published in Sisters in Crime-Canada West's anthology Crime Wave in October 2020. Salty Dog Blues was nominated as a finalist in Crime Writers of Canada's Awards of Excellence for Best Crime Novella in April 2021.
Another Jason Davey short story, Blue Devil Blues, is one of the four entries in a new anthology, Last Shot, published in June 2021.
Winona has been a temporary secretary, a travel agent and the Managing Editor of a literary magazine. She recently retired from her full-time admin job at UBC's School of Population and Public Health. She's currently the BC/YT/NWT rep for the Crime Writers of Canada and is also an active member of Sisters in Crime – Canada West. After many decades living in Burnaby, Winona moved to New Westminster in 2018, where she is now happily embracing life as a full-time author.
Website: http://www.winonakent.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/winonakentwriter/
Twitter: @winonakent
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/winonakent/
Tell us about your life outside of writing.
I've been writing since the mid-1970s and back in those days, it was virtually impossible to make a living in Canada as a writer unless you were Leonard Cohen or Margaret Atwood. So I decided a very long time ago that if I had to work full-time, I would never have a job that actually involved creative writing. I wanted to save my imagination for my own fiction. So I was a temporary secretary and a travel agent. I took a little break for three years while I got my MFA in Creative Writing at UBC, and then after that I went to work for Telus for about 18 years--I was in Word Processing, and then in their Learning Services area. Roundabout 2003 Telus decided to downsize and they offered me a massive amount of money to leave--so I took them up on their offer and went to Vancouver Film School so I could learn how to write screenplays. Then I went back to work--this time at my old alma mater, UBC--and I landed a job in their Department of Health Care and Epidemiology (later the School of Population and Public Health)-- where I was a program assistant looking after MSc and PhD students. I stayed there until October 2019, when I officially retired--and now I'm actually (and finally) a full time writer!
Along the way I've also indulged in some of my more imaginative passions. In 1995 I started a semi-official website for the British actor Sean Bean. It was active until 2012, when I archived it. But one of my legacies was the creation of the original "Death by Cow" list--which detailed all of the films that Sean died in. The title came from the movie The Field, where Sean's run over the edge of a cliff by a herd of cows. I was also granted a ground-breaking interview with Sean when he was in Toronto filming Don't Say a Word.
I have a few interesting hobbies. One of them is family tree research. I have a very mysterious great-grandfather whose birth record I can't find and whose parentage is quite murky. I've done the DNA test and plunged into genealogy head-first. The hero of my amateur sleuth novels, Jason Davey, shares that interest with me. My other passionate interest is the London Underground--and more specifically, abandoned Underground stations. A few of my novels and short stories have included current and abandoned stations in their plots.
Do you have a work in progress?
I do! I'm working on the 2nd draft of my next Jason Davey Mystery, Ticket to Ride. Jason first appeared in a standalone novel, Cold Play, where he was an entertainer on a cruise ship in Alaska. Then I brought him back in a novella, Disturbing the Peace, where I gave him a true mystery to work on in Northern Alberta. After that I wrote Notes on a Missing G-String, where Jason had to find some money and a piece of a costume that had been stolen from a stripper's locker at a nightclub in Soho. Last year, in Lost Time, I sent Jason into rehearsals for an upcoming tour of his mother's folk-pop band while he tried to find out what happened to a teenager who'd gone missing decades earlier. And now, in Ticket to Ride, Jason is actually on tour with the band--and it seems like someone is out to kill both him and his mother.
What was the most difficult section/piece you ever wrote? What made it difficult?
Hands down it was my second novel, The Cilla Rose Affair. My first novel, Skywatcher, was a tongue-in-cheek spy story which had been a finalist in a first novel fiction contest. Unfortunately it was published in 1989, which was basically the end of the Cold War, and the bottom fell out of the spy fiction market and Skywatcherdidn't sell very well as a result. My confidence as a writer took a hit and I found myself truly stuck in writer's block for about two years. One of the main characters in The Cilla Rose Affair shared my obsession with the London Underground but I just couldn't find a way to write about it. Then I saw the film Field of Dreams which is about an obsession and a passion. And I realized that I had to immerse my character in his passion and make the reader experience it along with the character, rather than just write about it. I know that sounds like Creative Writing 101, but it was only my second novel and I was a very young writer and still learning. Once I'd got over that hurdle, I broke out of the writer's block and got The Cilla Rose Affair done. And by the way, anyone who says writer's block doesn't really exist, has never truly experienced it.
What sort of research do you do for your work?
I'm extremely meticulous when it comes to research. I always base my stories and novels on kernels of things that I've experienced myself, but that's usually just the starting point. I love to let my imagination run wild but, because I may not have first-hand experience with what comes next, I have to resort to research. I love doing research and I am so grateful for the existence of the internet. I remember the bad old days when I'd spend days, weeks, months, in different libraries, hunting through card catalogues and microfiche and dusty old stacks of books, writing letters, making phonecalls...the internet opened up the world for me and what used to take three months now takes about 10 minutes. But I'm always conscious that there might be a reader out there who’s an expert and they’ll take issue with what I've written and say, "No! That's not right at all!" So, as a result, I will research something until there is no room for error. One of the greatest accolades I've received recently came from a couple of my writing colleagues who were both absolutely convinced, on the basis of my Jason Davey Mysteries, that I have a background in music, and that I'd either managed a rock band or toured with one. I did take formal piano lessons and music theory for four years... but as for the rest.........
Which books and authors do you read for pleasure? Is there an author who inspires you?
My favourite authors are Monica Dickens (who was Charles Dickens' great-grand-daughter), John Galsworthy (who wrote The Forsyte Saga) and John Le Carre (The Spy Who Came in from the Coldand every other spy novel he's ever written). More recently I've been spending time with English singer Tommy Steele's autobiography, all three Call the Midwife books by Jennifer Worth (upon which the British tv series was based), Roadie: My Life On The Road With Coldplay by Matt McGinn (fascinating and extremely informative) and, believe it or not, The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit. I've seen the film a few times--it's one of my all-time favourites--but I don't remember ever reading the book, which was written for children. It's absolutely charming.
I'd have to say that Monica Dickens is the author who inspired me from a very early age. She was like me--she worked for a living, but she managed to create fiction from all of her work-life experiences. The novel that made the biggest impression on me was The Listeners, which was about the early days of The Samaritans, the original telephone help line for people in emotional distress.
Was there a person who encouraged you to write?
There were a few, actually. One was a high school Lit teacher, Sam Robinson. He recognized that I wanted to be a writer when I was 14 or 15 and actively encouraged me. This was back in the days when writers tended to succeed in spite of what we were taught in school, rather than because of it. There was very little creative in the curriculum back in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I was lucky that I went to a very progressive high school. Another was my Grade 12 Lit teacher, Mr. Williamson--I never did know his first name!--who actually let me write a novel for my major class project--and gave me an A+ for it when I handed it in.
Later on, when I was at university working on my BA in English, one of my instructors was Canadian writer Ken Mitchell. He taught me the basics of fiction and I'm still using a lot of his early wisdom. I also remember his favourite pet peeve: "There is no such word as gotten!"
NOTES ON A MISSING G-STRING
The first time we met Jason Davey, he was entertaining passengers aboard the Alaska cruise ship Star Sapphire, Eight ‘til Late in the TopDeck Lounge.
Then he came ashore, got a gig playing lead guitar at London’s Blue Devil jazz club, and gained a certain amount of notoriety tracking down missing musician Ben Quigley in the Canadian north.
Now Jason’s back again, this time investigating the theft of £10,000 from a dancer’s locker at a Soho gentlemen’s club. Jason initially considers the case unsolvable. But the victim, Holly Medford, owes a lot of money to London crime boss Arthur Braskey and, fearing for her life, has gone into hiding at a posh London hotel.
Jason’s investigation takes him from Cha-Cha’s and Satin & Silk (two Soho lapdancing clubs) to Moonlight Desires (an agency featuring high class escorts) and finally to a charity firewalking event, where he comes face to face with Braskey and discovers not everything Holly’s been telling him is the complete truth.
As he becomes increasingly drawn into the seamy underside of Soho, Jason tries to save Gracie, his band-mate’s 14-year-old runaway daughter, from Holly’s brother Radu, a ruthless pimp, while at the same time protecting Holly herself from a vengeful Braskey – nearly losing his life, and Gracie’s – in the process.
Sell link:
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07T...
LOST TIME
In 1974, top UK band Figgis Green was riding high in the charts with their blend of traditional Celtic ballads mixed with catchy, folky pop. One of their biggest fans was sixteen-year old Pippa Gladstone, who mysteriously vanished while she was on holiday with her parents in Spain in March that same year.
Now it's 2018, and founding member Mandy Green has reunited the Figs for their last-ever Lost Time Tour. Her partner, Tony Figgis, passed away in 1995, so his place has been taken by their son, professional jazz guitarist (and amateur sleuth) Jason Davey.
As the band meets in a small village on the south coast of England for pre-tour rehearsals, Jason's approached by Duncan Stopher, a diehard Figs fan, who brings him a photo of the band performing at the Wiltshire Folk Festival. Standing in the foreground is Pippa Gladstone. The only problem is the Wiltshire Folk Festival was held in August 1974, five months after Pippa disappeared. Duncan offers Jason a substantial sum of money to try and find out what really happened to the young woman, whose mother had her declared officially dead in 1981.
When Duncan is murdered, it becomes increasingly clear to Jason that his investigation into Pippa's disappearance is not welcome, especially after he follows a series of clues which lead him straight back to the girl's immediate family.
But nothing can prepare Jason for the truth about Pippa, which he discovers just as Figgis Green is about to take to the stage on opening night—with or without him.
Buy link:
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08GH5S5VG
July 31, 2021
Lynn McPherson launches The Girls Dressed for Murder
Welcome to Canadian author and crime writer, Lynn McPherson!
Lynn McPherson has had a myriad of jobs, from running a small business to teaching English across the globe. She has travelled the world solo, where her daring spirit has led her to jump out of airplanes, dive with sharks, and learn she would never master a surfboard. Lynn served on the Board of Directors for Crime Writers from 2019-2021. She is the author of three published novels with Black Opal Books and can be found at http://lynnmcpherson.net/.
What would you say are your strengths as an author?
I’m most comfortable writing dialogue. Action scenes make me sweat!
How often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine?
I write most mornings. I’m up at 5:00 or as close to it as I can manage. That usually gives me about two hours of focus time.
Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?
I hope to have an agent and a publisher, continuing to write cozy mysteries.
If you could offer once piece of advice to a novice writer, what would it be?
Write a book you’d want to read.
What would you consider to be the best compliment a reader could give your book?
You had me guessing until the end.
What are you working on now?
The first book in a new cozy mystery series.
THE GIRLS DRESSED FOR MURDER
When Izzy gets a killer dress for her birthday, she isn’t expecting to accessorize it with murder…
It’s 1958 in the cozy coastal town of Twin Oaks and amateur sleuth Isabelle Walsh is armed with a fresh perspective, two years after tragedy strikes. The first stop on her journey back to joy is the best little dress shop in town—introduced to her by best friend and fashion fiend, Ava Russell.
Izzy falls in love with the store and its style. So, when the boutique is marred by murder, Izzy wants to help. But with more suspects to choose from than a spring collection, she isn’t sure where to start.
Can Izzy unravel the twisted truth or will she become the victim of a deadly trend? Find out in the third book in the Izzy Walsh Mystery Series!
