Ink Slinger's Whimsey

Class Act, Selling More Books Through School and Library Author Appearances

2012-01-09T10:33:00.002-06:00

Join me in this video interview with author Barbara Techel as she shares her book, Class Act: Selling More Books Through School and Library Author Appearances.

We had a great time using Skype to create this video interview for a Writers In The Sky Podcast. The video format allowed us to add visual elements, slides and URL information, to create a dynamic and engaging experience. Video is a new direction for my interviews and I hope that you will both benefit and enjoy what I have put together.

Barbara Techel is a wonderful author, with an engaging interview personality. She is every blog host's dream, offering clear information and advice with ease and experience. Her book, Class Act, is chuck full of valuable tips for making author appearances profitable and effective as a marketing strategy.

I highly recommend Barbara's book to every author as an excellent marketing how to. Barbara shares information on how to pitch a presentation to schools and libraries. Class Act includes her tips on, how to determine what to charge for an appearance, covering elements of presentation and technology use that are invaluable.

Sweet Satisfaction: a Review of 'Prince In The Mist,' a novella by Claudy Conn

2011-12-27T08:33:00.003-06:00

Prince In The Mist, By Claudy Conn

It happens. Once in a great while a character is born into literature that is so richly interesting one simply can't get enough of him. In the world of romance novels, Breslyn, Fae Prince of Dagda, is one such character. Introduced to us first through Claudy Conn's Legend series, Breslyn quickly became a character that enlivened interest and inspired fantasy beyond his intended role in the overall series. With Puckish mischief he disregards the rules of human-Fae engagement to tickle and tease Claudy's heroines and readers temptingly. We are intrigued by his interest in us, intrigued that for him we are more than a mad distraction or passing fancy. He is loyal but rebellious, a warrior who loves humans enough to risk his queen's disfavor by entangling himself in their lives and struggles. If you, like I, have fantasized about being seduced by this golden Fae you will not be disappointed. Claudy satisfies her fans' deepest desires to experience more of one of her most beloved heroes by taking us back in time to explore and discover Breslyn's early heroic and romantic exploits.

In Prince of the Mist, Claudy gives us not one but two romances, set in the era of English-Scotland conflict, before the tides of history turned in favor of Robert de Bruce and his Scotsmen. Breslyn digs himself right into the thick of things, aiding the Scottish by bringing the Knights Templar -guardians of many sacred Fae hallows, and Robert de Bruce together against the British.

Claudy opens the novella with the romance of Breslyn and Chartelle -Lady Dumfires. Political scheming, spies and ne'r-do-wells, add spice and intrigue to their passion. Stricken by her beauty and gentle nature, Breslyn sets out to free Chartelle from a marriage of convenience to the traitor Francis Bothe -Laird Dumfries. Trapped in a loveless marriage, Chartelle finds a champion and lover in Breslyn's strong arms. Can Breslyn free Chartelle and stop Bothe's traitorous machinations, without ruining her life, or breaking any of the Fae laws governing interference in human destiny? Claudy's scenes of passion between these two are enough to make your toes curl, but it is her gentle touch on the strings of your heart that will satisfy you long after the story has ended.

Also woven through the mists is the romance of Breslyn's friend and Chartelle's brother, the Druid Priest and Laird of Belfor, Storm MacLean. Alexis of Waverly has come in disguise seeking refuge at Belfor. Keeper of secrets and a possible spy, Alexis poses a double problem for Storm. Her father has been murdered and her lands confiscated by the British sympathizer, Lord Comyn. Storm is torn between suspicion that she may be a plant of his enemies and the burning need to make her his own. Alexis is everything the young Scottish Laird would have in a companion and in his bed. If only he could trust her, but his instincts tell him she is keeping secrets. Whether these secrets are her own or those of another he does not know. It only matters that she is his heart's burning desire.

Claudy's knowledge of the era, lore and history give this novel a depth of color and excitement that is undeniable. Prepare to be swept away.

Prince in the Mist can be purchased in e-book format through Smashwords.com or through Amazon

Book Title: Prince in the Mists

Author: Claudy Conn

ASIN: B006643NL2

Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui

Web of Lies: My Life With a Narcissist, by Sarah Tate

2011-12-23T01:00:00.102-06:00

Writers In The Sky Podcast presents an interview with author Sarah Tate about her recently released book, Web Of Lies - My Life With a Narcissist.
The interview offers information about NPC, Narcissistic Personality Disorder and about the authors experiences publishing her work through Create Space.

Click Play to Listen . . .

About the Author

Sarah Tate is a single mother living and working in Switzerland. She arrived in Switzerland ten years ago and apart from a brief stay in France, has remained ever since, as Switzerland has become her adopted homeland.
Sarah has three young kids, who take up most of her time, but she still managed to find time to write her first book, Web of Lies - My life with a Narcissist. The book is an auto-biographical novel which describes in graphic details, the ups and downs of life with a person who suffers from (amongst other things) Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Web of Lies takes the reader on an emotional journey and gives a deep insight into what it's like to be sucked into the world of a disordered individual, and more importantly, how to escape with your sanity in tact.

Review
Author: Sarah Tate
Publisher: CreateSpace (December 27, 2010)
Language: English

ISBN-10: 145651668X
ISBN-13: 978-1456516680

Link to Purchase

Web of Lies is the gripping autobiographical story of Sarah Tate, a young woman who's life goes tragically wrong when she meets and marries a man with NPD, Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

The author skillfully relates her life story and experiences, revealing aspects of relationship that are both sobering and chilling. Circumstances related in Web of Lies are those of a nightmare relationship come to life and include the psychological torment experienced by Sarah and her children as they struggle with both loving and fearing her husband and their father.

Readers will learn about the nature of NPD, how to recognize the symptoms and what it means for those who are close enough to be impacted by the narcissistic personality. The experiences and situations related in Web of Lies are real and expressed from the perspective of the author for the benefit of others.

Everyone may have some traits of narcissistic behavior, that may at times seem selfish or to be the cause of distress in their relationships. However, a person with NPD is engaged in behavior that goes far beyond natural or healthy self interest. Sarah Tate opens her life story in Web of Lies, as a healing journey of self discovery and recovery, a shining example of perseverance and the healing that can come through creativity. Web of Lies includes a comment from Dr. David Holmes, Senior Lecturer for the RIHSC Research Centre: Social Change Research Centre.

Recommended reading for everyone interested in the human story!

Residue and Ashes, an Interview With Author Russ Vanheel

2011-12-22T08:54:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite topics and interests as a writer is how creativity can be used in healing and self recovery.

In Residue and Ashes, author Russ VanHeel set out to record his healing journey using short story writing as a form of therapy. He explores the domestic abuse and trauma that he suffered in a past relationship from many angles.

Russ's writing is deeply visceral, and at times disturbing. Residue and Ashes is not for everyone, as it explores abuse situations and the abuser/victim experiences that are both traumatic and frightening. Those who have suffered abuse however, will recognize their own experiences in them and hopefully feel the liberation of deeper understanding that comes through self exploration and reflection.

Some of the stories Russ has written from the perspective of witnesses and several through the eyes of his abuser. Several of these stories explore the emotional experience of abuse through fictionalization, but all share autobiographical elements.

Healing is a personal process but sharing ones experiences is an integral step in moving forward and embracing life. Residue and Ashes is the author's vehicle of healing, which he hopes will touch others who have survived domestic abuse allowing them to know that they are not alone.

Residue and Ashes is a study in healing, and an exploration of the soul.

Join host Vonnie Faroqui as she interviews author Russ VanHeel about his latest book Residue and Ashes, a collection of short stories that explore the healing journey. How has the author used writing to aid in self recovery? How vital is creativity in the healing process?

Click Play to listen . . .

Author Russ Vanheel and grandchildren

After two years of extensive therapy, I had finally learned I was a victim of domestic abuse. From a male standpoint, this was an extremely difficult concept for me to accept, and up until then, it felt like nothing more than a weakness on my part. Who was this woman that had caused such an overwhelming magnitude of ruination to every aspect of my life? Someone totally devoid of a conscience, and clearly incapable of having empathy for others. I'd never known anyone like her before she came into my life....
~ Russ Vanheel

Russ's two books, Life in Purgatory and Residue and Ashes are available through Outskirts Press and Amazon books.

GOOD TALES, an Interview With Author Louis Winslow

2011-12-09T08:19:00.000-06:00

Every Body Loves a Good Tale

Author Louis Winslow and host Vonnie Faroqui discuss the release of his short story compilation in an engaging interview.

The author shares his experiences with writing and publishing, Good Tales: Tales Guaranteed to Entertain!

Louis Winslow is a retired chemist, turned author, living in Stillwater Minnesota. Good Tales is his first published work.

Click Play to Listen . . .

To purchase your copy of Good Tales visit Amazon.com

How to Create an Author Blog Using Google's Blogspot.com

2011-11-30T01:00:00.009-06:00

I have had so many authors tell me they won't blog because of being intimidated by the computer and about using internet, I thought a little How To presentation might be called for.

Spontaneous Combustion

2011-11-27T01:00:00.000-06:00

Book Title: Free Falling - Legend
Author: Claudy Conn
ISBN: 978-1466382022
Publisher: Create Space
Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui, Ink Slinger's Whimsey

If I were a cat, I would be hissing and spitting right now. I have just finished reading Claudy Conn’s Free Falling – Legend. [howling - Dammit woman, you just can-not leave a girl hanging like that!]

Readers, I have two words for you . . . spontaneous combustion –heck, have another, explosive! And another, AAAAAH! Well, maybe that isn’t a word exactly, but it’s what I’m feeling.

For those of you following the Legend series be warned. HOLD ON TIGHT! The series has reached a boiling point and Free Falling is all action.

Claudy starts by throwing two of the most frustratingly stubborn beings in the universe together. You know it is going to be a love-lust match from the beginning. I mean, how can it be anything but, when they are coming together with so much personal baggage! [Claudy you are a pure torment-ress and I don’t know if I love you anymore! Strike that. I know I do!]

Radzia MacDaun, Z, is young, impetuous, sexy, rash, proud, and deeply wounded by the murder of her father, a Druid priest; and the loss of her mother, a Daoine princess, who lies comatose in grief. Radzia, a rare mixture of Fae and human, is consumed with a blood lust for revenge on her father’s murderer, the Fae traitor, Gaiscioch.

Enter Danté, Prince of Lugh, with all the cool, arrogant self-assurance, and wounded pride of a Faery lord who has recently had his amorous attentions rejected. He is a big, proud warrior, with a thousand years of experience over Radzia; and he is pissed that his queen is sticking him with babysitting Z’s youthful energies. Danté thinks he is above the job, while his talents and energies are needed to fight a war. Radzia thinks of him as a pompous, over confident, overbearing, royal pain in the . . . not asset. For her, this is a personal battle. She is young and doesn’t feel any of the obligatory loyalty about following orders coming from her queen. She just goes with her gut, flying on instinct, and Danté isn’t part of her plans. Neither of them have time for romance nor do they see anything in the other, but an obstacle to their individual goals.

Claudy has placed these two and their romance in the midst of the rising storm. The moment has come for a final conflict between the forces of light and darkness. Queen Aaibhe’s pieces are moving into position for the final test and yet, everything that can go wrong is about to as Radzia leaps into action time and again without her hero at her side.

This is one hell of a roller coaster. Free Falling keeps you on the edge and leaves you hanging from its stormy start to catapulting finish. When you get to the end of this ride you are going to look around a little disoriented and stumble to get in line for the next. You won’t be able to leave the amusement park. I am almost scared to open my eyes and look for what is to come. I have no doubt that before Claudy ends the series; she is going to take us up, around, and upside down. When she finally lets us get off, we are going to be so sore! Thankfully, it will be Claudy’s kind of sore, which is all good. Are you ready for it?
[shrieking, arms up, all the way] Here-We-Go!

Visit the Author's Website at http://claudyconn.embarqspace.com/

Romance Over the Holidays

2011-11-23T12:16:00.000-06:00

One of the aspects of my life that I most enjoy are the relationships I am privileged to develop with some really incredible authors.

This week I would like call your attention to a prolific and wonderful romance writer, Claudy Conn. Claudy has two new hot series of romances out this year, The Legend series, and The Shadow series. Both series fall under the genre of paranormal romance or fantasy fiction.

You might remember Claudy as the author Claudette Williams and think of her regency and historical romances. Claudy wrote over 40 mass market bestsellers in that field using the pen names Claudette Williams and Melanie Davis for Fawcett, Zebra and Doubleday book club. After a nine year hiatus [we won’t call it retirement,] Claudy Conn returned to the world of romance literature with a foray into writing paranormal romance. Claudy embraces the paranormal aspects of her series with obvious enjoyment and ease.

Paranormal and fantasy fictions are my absolute favorite reads and she has made the switch seem effortless. She has nailed the genre as if she was born to write it. No disrespect intended toward the historical and regency set . . . I cut my reading chops on those romances.

Here is a link to Claudy Conn on Amazon where you can purchase your ebook or paperback versions today.

The Legend Series

Spellbound – Legend is a masterfully written tale that pits a contemporary young woman against ancient forces. Maxie Reigate descends from a long line of Druid priests and priestesses. She’s always been aware of the family legend but what she doesn’t know is that her fate is tied into the world of the Tuatha Dé, the fairy people, also known as the Fae, who are at the heart of Irish Myth and folklore. The wall of power, set up to separate the world of man from the Fae, is in danger of collapse; there is a blood sucking, evil and ancient beauty that wants her dead; the hero of her family’s legend, Julian, the High Druid Priest is about to wake up after a two hundred year coma and walk into her life; and then there is a Fae Prince who wants to protect and keep her for his own. There is danger at every turn and enough sexual tension to launch an arrow.

Shee Willow-- Legend
They called her ‘faeling’ and Willow ran.
She isn’t running anymore.
Half-human, half-Fae, Willow Lang has never felt she truly fit in either world, but she’s doing her best to ignore her Fae nature and focus on her work as an art restorer at a museum in New York City. Then she accepts a job restoring classic paintings in Ireland and finds herself in the middle of a conflict between the Seelie Fae and the evil Dark Fae. In order to protect the Human world, she must embrace her Fae powers. But that’s not the only challenge Willow faces. Roland Omren, a handsome gypsy, is vying for her affection. The hunky Fae Breslyn, Prince of Dagda, is trying to seduce her. And then there’s her mysterious boss, Shayne Bantry…

Trapped –Legend
BJ Mulroy has had it rough. Orphaned at an early age to be raised by an emotionally distant aunt, she was left to struggle on her own in a world where humans posed the least of the dangers she must face. BJ is a Fios, a human woman born with certain magical gifts, the sight being one of them. She has the inborn ability to see past any glamour used by Faerie beings to cloak their true appearance from humans. This is a dangerous gift to have. In ancient times the Fios were hunted down and blinded to prevent them from being able to reveal a Fae’s identity to other humans. Now, with the protective wall between the worlds thinning and the number of Dark Un-seelie Fae breaking through it on the rise, the gifts of a Fios are both rare and precious.

The Seelie queen has manipulated circumstances to place BJ in the thick of things, hoping to tip the scales of power toward the light and away from her enemies’ might in numbers. The queen is gathering power, drawing on firm loyalties and pushing each of her subjects to their utmost before it becomes too late. Powers alone may not be enough to stand against the vast hoard of monsters her enemies control. It is imperative that BJ discover the fullest extent of her gifts if she is to survive and aid the queen. What BJ doesn’t know is that the power her blood contains could be used to dissolve the fragile wall which protects the human world from invasion.

Conn introduces a new Faery prince, Danté, to temp our heroine’s passions, but this time the hero is obviously a human, Daremont Carrick. Well, maybe our hero isn’t too obvious. Conn has made things difficult for BJ by placing Dare, our lovely man-stud, magically out of reach. Trapped, after all is the title of the book and trapped he surely is. There are aspects of this love story that add heart to the story and emotionally complicate matters for BJ and Dare. However, I do have to admit that, the idea of a hot powerful man, kept yearning, and just out of reach does something wickedly delicious to raise the lust-tension of the book, and push thoughts of Trapped explosively into the very best of your wildest romance-fantasy dreams.

Just released in November 2011, Free Falling - My Review

I have just finished reading Claudy Conn’s Free Falling – Legend. If I were a cat, I would be hissing and spitting right now. [howling - Dammit woman, you just can-not leave a girl hanging like that!]

Readers, I have two words for you . . . spontaneous combustion –heck, have another, explosive! And another, AAAAAH! Well, maybe that isn’t a word exactly, but it’s what I’m feeling.

For those of you following the Legend series be warned. HOLD ON TIGHT! The Legend series has reached a boiling point and Free Falling is all action.

Claudy starts by throwing two of the most frustratingly stubborn beings in the universe together. You know it is going to be a love-lust match from the beginning. I mean, how can it be anything but, when they are coming together with so much personal baggage! [Claudy you are a pure torment-ress and I don’t know if I love you anymore! Strike that. I know I do!]

Radzia MacDaun, Z, is young, impetuous, sexy, rash, proud, and deeply wounded by the murder of her father, a Druid priest; and the loss of her mother, a Daoine princess, who lies comatose in grief. Radzia, a rare mixture of Fae and human, is consumed with a blood lust for revenge on her father’s murderer, the Fae traitor, Gaiscioch.

Enter Danté, Prince of Lugh, with all the cool, arrogant self-assurance, and wounded pride of a Faery lord who has recently had his amorous attentions rejected. He is a big, proud warrior, with a thousand years of experience over Radzia; and he is pissed that his queen is sticking him with babysitting Z’s youthful energies.

Danté thinks he is above the job, while his talents and energies are needed to fight a war. Radzia thinks of him as a pompous, over confident, overbearing, royal pain in the . . . not asset. For her, this is a personal battle. She is young and doesn’t feel any of the obligatory loyalty about following orders coming from her queen. She just goes with her gut, flying on instinct, and Danté isn’t part of her plans. Neither of them have time for romance nor do they see anything in the other, but an obstacle to their individual goals.

Claudy has placed these two and their romance in the midst of the rising storm. The moment has come for a final conflict between the forces of light and darkness. Queen Aaibhe’s pieces are moving into position for the final test and yet, everything that can go wrong is about to as Radzia leaps into action time and again without her hero at her side.

This is one hell of a roller coaster. Free Falling keeps you on the edge and leaves you hanging from its stormy start to catapulting finish. When you get to the end of this ride you are going to look around a little disoriented and stumble to get in line for the next. You won’t be able to leave the amusement park. I am almost scared to open my eyes and look for what is to come. I have no doubt that before Claudy ends the series; she is going to take us up, around, and upside down. When she finally lets us get off, we are going to be so sore! Thankfully, it will be Claudy’s kind of sore, which is all good. Are you ready for it?

[Shrieking, arms up, all the way] Here-We-Go!

The Shadow Series

Avid vampire and paranormal romance enthusiasts are in for a darkly delicious thrill when they sink their teeth into Claudy Conn’s Shadow Series. Conn has a gift for character and plot development that sets her work apart from other romance novelists. There are few romance writers of her caliber, who are able to sustain and build a quality series as she can do. It is a pleasurable gift to all of us that she has launched her writing into the paranormal and vampire sub-genres.

ShadowLove - Stalkers
Shawna has been running for most of her life. Half white witch and half vamp, Shawna’s daddy is Pentim Rawley, the powerful and vicious leader of a ruling vampire clan. Hidden at birth, protected and trained in the magical arts by her grandparents, Shawna has grown into a feisty, independent, beautiful young woman, but she is deeply lonely and now she has to run . . . Pentim has discovered that he has a daughter and he is looking for her.

Chad Macfare has secrets and desires of his own. He has visions, waking dreams of Shawna in Pentim’s grasp, and what he sees chills him to the bone. Chad is moved to seek Shawna himself, but is torn between the need to protect her and the knowledge that he will have to use her as bait if he is ever to destroy the monster that is Pentim Rawley. This is a deadly game with more at risk for Chad Macfare than losing his heart. Chad is more than he seems. His family has secrets so deep that if revealed would bring them under the eye of the father of all vampires himself, Dracula. Together Shawna and Chad struggle with trusting each other and knowing that the secrets they each keep could place others, innocents, in the hands of pure evil.

ShadowHeart –Slayer does something surprising in series literature. It forms a cross connection between Claudy Conn’s two paranormal series. Don’t worry I won’t spoil it for you.

Slayer, Nikki Walker is my kind of roundhouse kicking, vamp slaying gal. In spite of being a little inexperienced fighting the evil undead, Nikki is a more believable slayer than Buffy and other paranormal slayer-wanna-bees. It is possible that some of her appeal may come from the hero Claudy has matched her with.

Damon Drummond is a vampire. He is ancient, and more powerful than any vampire she has yet encountered, more mysterious, and oh so darkly desirable. In all respects, except for one, he raises her alarms and yet, for Slayer Nikki Walker, it is that one point where he staggers her comprehension. There is something that is just Not Vamp about him and that makes her hesitate. That something means everything to a slayer and because of it she can’t figure out if she should plunge a wooden stake through his heart or give him the key to her own. For his part, Damon has no doubts about how he feels towards Nikki. She is his to protect, and confound, simultaneously winning her heart, while thwarting her sole purpose, in denying her the vengeance she pursues. Separately they are formidable enemies, but when they combine forces the sparks fly and the chemistry explodes.

These two series will make fabulous gift sets for the avid romance readers in your life but if you don't want to wait, or if you are looking for some great holiday reading you can purchase them now. Both series are available in ebook formats or paperback through Amazon and other book sellers.

An Invitation from author Mary Martin

2011-11-21T13:43:00.000-06:00

Author Mary Martin is using some wonderfully creative online promotion tactics and you will want to see what she is doing. This is one example of putting the available technology and social media to work for you.
Here is the invitation she has sent inviting us join her for the upcoming launch of The Fate of Pryde.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Do you remember that childhood fantasy of toys coming alive and jumping out of the box to play at night when children are sleeping? What’s happening on my blog in November will remind you of that fantasy.

You may already know that the second novel in the Trilogy of Remembrance, The Fate of Pryde will be published soon—in fact by the beginning of December 2011.

In celebration of the launch, I’m handing my blog http://remembrancetrilogy.com/blog over to my protagonist, Alexander Wainwright, Britain’s finest landscape painter, where he will tell short stories and give his version of events from The Drawing Lesson and The Fate of Pryde. I’m sure some other characters such as Rinaldo and Jonathan Pryde will show up too.

I really want to bring these characters to life by giving them a voice [and soap-box] of their own. You just never know what a real character will say when given half a chance.

Throughout November, there will be readings from the novels, some video and photos and maybe some music. Unfortunately, current technology does not permit me to serve you a glass of champagne but if it did, of course, I would.

This launch is different from the usual because the characters will be in charge making it fun for everyone—especially me. It’s a party, so everyone can join in with their comments and questions.

November will be the lead-up to the Twitter Party on December 3rd in the afternoon and Facebook Event where there will be great prizes, such as a new Kindle—preloaded with my five novels—three from The Osgoode Trilogy and two from the Trilogy of Remembrance.

Alexander is already holding forth on my blog and so, you need to listen up! To follow the fun throughout November just click here
http://remembrancetrilogy.com/feed/rss/ and you won’t miss a thing.

Thanks everyone. See you soon!

2011-09-01T01:00:00.001-05:00

Ink Slinger's Whimsey welcomes author Jim Daddio in a written interview about his most recent novel, The Cobras.

Vonnie Faroqui: Some of the first questions that fans usually want to ask have to do with that moment of discovery, when you first knew that you wanted to be a writer; in part, because writing is one of those creative vocations that so many of us aspire too. Do you think of writing and being an author as a special calling or your purpose in life?
Jim Daddio: Writing is a passion. If a person believes in themselves and has a story to tell, fiction or non-fiction, it is important to find the tools to write it.
Faroqui: When did you first know you were a writer? How did you know?
Daddio: I was always told that I told a great story, that and in my business life, I was considered very creative in my ideas. I put the two together.
Faroqui: How do you find ideas for your books? How do you find inspiration, fill your creative well, so to speak . . ?
Daddio: I seem to always have ideas running through my mind. I try hard to create a different story or approach. My goal is always to create a fiction story that feels real to the reader.
Faroqui: What is it like to get that creative burst that evolves into a novel? How was that for you? What inspired you to write The Cobras?
Daddio: I was inspired to write The Cobras from people I’ve met over the years and the stories they’ve told me. I also did research on the FBI and law enforcement and created an FBI Agent from a composite of stories and my imagination.
Faroqui: Did you spend much time considering who you were writing for, or did you write for yourself?
Daddio: I would love to say that all readers would enjoy The Cobras, but it is a man’s book. The Stuart News said, “The language is frank and the violence is central in this fast-paced thriller.”
Faroqui: If you were to characterize your writing style how would you describe yourself? I try to develop stories about people that the reader can identify with.
Daddio: I want the reader to follow the characters throughout the story and understand the decisions they make, good or bad, and the consequences they face.
Faroqui: Some people believe that in order to be truly creative a person has to be tormented, or have deep inner turmoil? What do you think of that notion? Daddio: Again writing is a joy and passion. If that’s what drives a writer then the person’s personal life shouldn’t matter. This is especially for fiction. A non-fiction story can come from personal tragedy or turmoil in their life.
Faroqui: What experience in life has been the most helpful in preparing you as a writer?
Daddio: I’ve always traveled in my business life. Therefore I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many different people and be in so many places that the stories were always in front of me. It’s taking all that and tying it together with imagination and the writer’s privilege to embellish . . . (Ha, Ha.)
Faroqui: Do you have any advice to offer others, the would-be-writers out there, which might help them on their way?
Daddio: I have three rules; 1. It’s called The End. Write it, finish it and have it edited. 2.) Understand your audience and find a publisher that matches your genre. 3.) Have a plan to market and promote your work. Don’t count on the publisher on doing that for you.
Faroqui: Do you have anything you would like to share with your readers, thoughts, thanks, or news about upcoming books?
Daddio: I wrote a romance book with a humorous touch. I will be publishing it on an e-book only site. It is called The Choice. I tested it with three female readers and the response has been very satisfying. I also have signed with an agent to place a murder mystery, The Privileged.
Faroqui: What books have you written and where can your books be purchased?
Daddio: I have written a trilogy featuring a PI, Art Decco. The Wind, on Amazon.com, Las Vegas Dead, at publishamerica.com, and Heaven or Hell-A Story of Human Trafficking, at wings-epress and amazon.com
Faroqui: Do you have an author’s website where fans can follow your work?
Daddio: Yes, I do and thank you for asking, it is www.jdaddiothecobras.com

Many Thanks to Author Jim Daddio for answering our questions and for sharing his experiences writing The Cobras!

Blog, Blog, Blog

2011-08-31T01:00:00.075-05:00

A blog by any other name is, Free Publicity.

Why aren’t you blogging?

I have heard a lot of excuses for why authors don’t want to blog.

    "I am not good with computers."
    "It is too technical, I don’t know how to set up a blog."
    "It is too much work to maintain."
    "I can’t think of anything to blog about."
    "No one will know how to find my blog."

These are the most common excuses, but none of them need to be a deterrent. Blog hosting providers like Google and Wordpress are developing more user friendly tools every day. Gone are the days when you had to know a programming language to create a good looking website to promote your work. These days blog domains are creating templates that allow inexperienced bloggers to create attractive and exciting multimedia pages. An author can create what amounts to a decent webpage through their blog.

Take for example Blogspot.com, Google’s blog domain.

When you set up your account you not only get a front blog page, but you can also create additional pages for information such as, About the author, a page specifically about your Books, Reviews, Virtual Touring and more.

Take a look at my blog. I have additional pages that allow me to give focus to information I think is of value to my followers. At the bottom of my page I have a YouTube playlists of book trailers showcasing book trailers, for authors whose books I have reviewed. I can add audio files, and link to sites that have posted my reviews.

Through investing time in creating a blog, I have gained access to all the great features that used to belong exclusively to companies and people with the cash needed to hire a web designer and techno geeks. I have had fun finding and adding gadgets, personalizing my site to promote my work and I didn’t need to pay a site administrator to get it done. I have even posted attractive links to books on Amazon.com where followers can make purchases. [See, look left]

Granted I like computers, but I did all of this without knowing a computer programming language, or html code, because Blogspot.com has designed it’s tools with beginner to average computer users in mind. The same is true for most blog hosting domains. It serves them to make it easy for users to . . . well, use.

Even if you aren't super with computers, you should be able to create an account, a basic site, and learn how to post. You can afford to play around creating a site because it doesn't cost anything to set up a blog and because you don't have to start posting until you have things the way you like them. You could, if you wanted to, but there is no pressure to start posting immediately. Also, until you start connecting your social networking accounts to each other no one has to see your blog under construction.

The number one way to promote yourself and your book is through blogging. Blogging allows you to communicate with fans, to answer their questions and tell them what you want them to know.

Many social networking sites have programs or applications which allow you to syndicate your blog, redirecting traffic to flow into your blog through links that announce automatically when you publish a post. That means once you post to your blog, an announcement rolls over to Facebook, or Linked-in, and even Twitter, letting your followers know they have something new to read.

Subscribe buttons allow followers to receive your blog like a morning paper on their iPads, pcs, smart phones and other media devices. Where have all the newspaper subscribers gone? Why—to the internet, where they are reading their favorite morning blogs over a cup of Joe.

So what is really stopping any of us from capitalizing on this obviously a great promotional opportunity? Yup . . .

Fear

"It is unfamiliar territory and it sounds like hard work. I told you I hate computers!"

Let’s do it!

Let's move past our fear response and let’s familiarize ourselves with the tools. Let’s talk about it as we go. We don’t have to go it alone. If we have a question, let’s look for answers together.

Over the next few weeks, we will explore blogging, the best blogging practices and we will familiarize ourselves by using Blogspot.com’s tools and gadgets in creating an author blog.

Just think about it . . . Free Publicity.

A Fan Inside: Interview with Author Mary Martin

2011-08-24T01:48:00.002-05:00

Earlier in the month I posted a sneak peek into author Mary Martin's, soon to be published book, part two in The Trilogy of Remembrance --The Fate Of Pryde. Today I have the privilege of sharing with you a fascinating written interview with the author.

An audio reading of this blog is now available, click play to listen . . .

Vonnie Faroqui: Welcome to the Ink Slinger's Whimsey blog Mary. It is really great to interview you for our reading audience. Some of the first questions that fans usually want to ask have to do with that moment of discovery, when you first knew that you wanted to be a writer; in part, because writing is one of those creative vocations that so many of us aspire too. Do you think of writing and being an author as a special calling or your purpose in life?

Mary Martin: Yes, but I had to do a lot of other things first, such as practice law and raise three children, before I felt that way. It’s a sense of this is what I’m supposed to do and that is very satisfying and—fun. I think such a feeling gives you the longer view of the writing life in that you are able to reach out to someone you’ve never met and touch them. As a writer, I live for that.

Faroqui: When did you first know you were a writer? How did you know?

Martin: I think, somewhere in myself, I always knew I wanted to write. In fact, in my early twenties, I did try — briefly. But I quickly learned that I had to earn money to support myself. I decided to become a lawyer because I felt that I was assured of being able to support myself fairly well in that profession. After being called to the Bar, I married, raised three children and practised law for thirty years.
Strangely enough, I began writing at what was likely the busiest time of my life. The children and the law practice demanded a great deal; however, I began my first novel by stealing time late at night or early in the morning. The progress was excruciatingly slow. On one occasion, I had to set the whole project aside for at least a year because of other demands. But when I returned to it, I found that it was still alive. The spirit behind its creation was still there. I think I likely began writing as a form of self-defense. That is, there may be numerous demands on me, but this writing is my own territory, where I can really be myself.
But I think I was first led into the world of writing as a child. It grew from a love of reading stories. I was fascinated that you could enter another world through a book. You could leave your present time and place and enter into an entirely different world created by someone else. For me, that was almost magical.

Faroqui: Tell us what kinds of novels you have written.

Martin: My second trilogy of novels [The Trilogy of Remembrance] is about an artist, Alexander Wainwright, Britain’s finest landscape painter. The genesis of this trilogy occurred many years ago, before the publication in 2005 of my first novel, Conduct in Question, the first in The Osgoode Trilogy.
A writer friend/mentor of mine challenged me to write something other than a mystery novel. And so, I tried to write a romance, with little success. I had a man and woman meet while travelling on [believe it or not] the Orient Express to Venice. After thirty pages, I was getting bored. I knew enough to say that if the writer is bored, heaven help the reader!
At that moment in time, I envisioned a mysterious character who pretty much appeared in the room in my imagination. At once, I knew he was the protagonist for the book. It took a long time to get to know him, but after innumerable character sketches and other jottings, he became Alexander Wainwright, Britain's finest landscape artist. He would be the main character around which the next trilogy would be built. So, I suppose it was Alexander, himself, who inspired the trilogy. Once I got to know him a little bit, I found he had a great deal to say.
My experience has been that the characters an author creates are a part or aspect of oneself. Consequently, the growth of Alexander — a person who believes that there is much more to this world than meets the eye — probably is my inquiring, prodding, reflective self. I present him with many questions to which I personally want to find answers.
The next novel in this trilogy—The Fate of Pryde—will published this fall on Amazon’s CreateSpace. Again, Alexander is the protagonist and I’ve presented him with a new character from whom he has much to learn, Jonathan Pryde. Pryde is an extremely wealthy patron of the arts who wants to commission Alex to create a vision in stained glass for his residence in Vence in the south of France. Alexander hesitates. After all he is a painter, not a glass cutter. But Alex is drawn into Jonathan’s strange and murky world. At the foot of the garden of Pryde’s chateau-like home, stands a bunker protecting his secrets. In this novel, the question posed to Alex is—How can the very best and the very worst of humankind reside in one’s man breast?
And so, I love to present my protagonist with all sorts of problems to reflect upon. I have a few ideas for the next novel, but the trick, as always is to create a driving plot to find all the questions and— a few answers.

Faroqui: What kinds of books do you like to read and why? Are these the same kinds of books that you like to write?

Martin: When I’m writing [which is much of the time these days] I tend not to read fiction. Reading another writer’s novel seems to throw me off my own stride and so, I tend to read non-fiction, such as travel, philosophy, books about various religions and comparative mythology, essays etc; a pretty mixed bag.

Faroqui: How do you find ideas for your books? How do you find inspiration, fill your creative well, so to speak.

Martin: Sometimes, I feel myself running dry and that’s when I take a break from writing. Frequently, I turn to photography. It’s interesting to think about how the two activities relate. I’m definitely a very visual person and that plays a big part in my creating settings. I think the ideas find me rather than my finding them. Alexander seems to be ready with more questions and stories.

Faroqui: How do your books evolve? Do you get a creative burst which eventually matures into a novel? Do you pick a theme and lay a foundation? How do you approach the creative process?

Martin: I think each novel evolves in its own way. A lot like raising children—each one is quite different. It seems I do a lot of work “in the back of my mind” and so, when it’s ready, I sit down and get started. The growth of The Drawing Lesson was quite unusual. In fact it started out as a novella or even three novels and so the structure of a full novel was not really in place at the outset. Parts or scenes of the novel kept “floating up” to me and I would write them down without really knowing why. And so, I made a rule for myself—not to throw anything out until much later. It was like walking on a beach and coming across different shells and having to decide whether to pick one up and carry it home or not. Not until the end of the process did I cut out or change significant portions of the manuscript.
So, sometimes it starts out as an idea or a kind of character or a bunch of questions. I think I’m a pretty “organic” writer in the sense that I like the natural flow of the story to take over and guide me where it wants. I’m a great student of Carl Jung and consequently really believe in the power of the subconscious, which I think is a lot smarter and more creative than I am.

Faroqui: What inspired you to write The Trilogy of Remembrance?

Martin: As I mentioned before, I think Alexander Wainwright inspired me—that part of me which always asks questions.

Faroqui: Did you spend much time considering who you were writing for, or do you write for yourself?

Martin: I think I write primarily for me and my characters. Once you try to fit into some preconceived mold so that you can market your book to a particular group, you lose some of your creative “juices”. Unfortunately, there is a lot of formulaic writing out there and it’s not likely to be the best quality.

Faroqui: If you were to characterize your writing style how would you describe yourself?

Martin: That’s a hard one! Writers are always told they must find their own voice—your own way of saying things. I think it’s hard to find your voice, but when you do, I think you know it because it just sounds like you and it sounds like your characters. I strive for a smooth, economical and polished sound. Whether I hit it or not remains for the reader to decide.

Faroqui: Some people believe that in order to be truly creative a person has to be tormented, or have deep inner turmoil? What do you think of that notion?

Martin: No! At least I certainly hope not. Much is made of battles with inner demons. But it’s interesting you should ask. In fact, Alexander Wainwright does have a battle like that in The Drawing Lesson. Suddenly, this artist, known for his beautiful landscapes bathed in an ethereal light, starts painting trolls—ugly humanoid creatures—along the riverbank of his most recent painting. Of course this heralds a breaking up of his art so that he can advance creatively. I guess I’ve inflicted that on Alex so that I don’t personally have to deal with it. But seriously, I don’t think you have to suffer in order to create. I guess you do go down into the subconscious where wonderfully creative stuff resides, but so does a lot of stuff of nightmares.

Faroqui: What experience in life has been the most helpful in preparing you as a writer and who has been the biggest influence on your writing career and why?

Martin: My law practice itself was a huge inspiration for writing. After all, people would come to my office or sometimes I would make a house call. They would tell me the stories of their lives and, most of them paid me! Later, I came to regard my law practice as my window on the world and my research into humanity, which is my real subject matter. Many fascinating characters with their plotlines willingly came to my office. After years of this, I felt as if there were a burbling stew of stories within me — and so I began to write.
Actually, my law partner, a wonderful gentleman of the “old school” was the inspiration for my first protagonist, Harry Jenkins, lawyer in The Osgoode Trilogy, which was comprised of Conduct in Question, Final Paradox and A Trial of One—all legal suspense.

Faroqui: What do you hope readers will come away with when they read one of your books? Do you send messages through your work, hoping to inspire perhaps?

Martin: I hope the reader will enjoy looking beneath the surface of life for various layers of meaning and have found moments of quiet reflection. But, I also hope the reader has also been fabulously entertained with a great story and fascinating characters. In the weeks and months to come, he or she will think back to something in The Drawing Lesson or The Fate of Pryde and say— This person I've just met in real life reminds me of a character in that novel like Rinaldo or Daphne or Jonathan Pryde.

Faroqui: Do you have any advice to offer others, the would-be-writers out there?

Martin: The path for writers can be long and lonely but also very rewarding—not necessarily financially, but in terms of what really matters—personal growth. Keep working at your craft and your life. The publishing industry is undergoing massive changes and nobody really knows what the next stage will look like. Above all, don’t let anyone kill your creative spirit with rejection. Often, those who send rejection letters are simply looking for the next “sure thing” and cannot financially afford to take any sort of chance. Remember those agents only get paid if they pick a “winner” they can sell and they don’t want to waste time on anything else. Don’t take it as a personal rejection of your work or your talent. Once you have completed and published your work, you may think the hard work is done. I think, today, the greater challenge lies in promotion.

Faroqui: Do you have anything you would like to share with your readers, thoughts, thanks, or news about upcoming books?

Martin: I am always grateful to the readers, especially those who take the trouble to write. The second novel in The Trilogy of Remembrance—The Fate Of Pryde—will be on CreateSpace in the fall. Look for it there or on Smashwords.com. You can get any of the novels in The Osgoode Trilogy at any online bookstore and same for The Drawing Lesson.

Faroqui: Do you have an author’s website where fans can follow your work?

Martin: The Trilogy of Remembrance At this site you should check out the book trailer for The Drawing Lesson, which really captures the mystery and the narrative energy of the story.
The Osgoode Trilogy

A Sneak Peek at Author Mary Martin's book, The Fate of Pryde: second in the Trilogy of Remembrance.

2011-08-10T01:00:00.044-05:00

I was giddy with excitement when Mary Martin contacted me to ask if I would review her latest book before it goes to print, The Fate of Pryde, book two in The Trilogy of Remembrance. "Of course, I would be thrilled!" Was my immediate response. As a reviewer it has been an honor to read and remark on Mary's work.

I was first introduced to Mary Martin's writing when I interviewed her for a Writers In The Sky Podcast about The Drawing Lesson which was book one in this series. Mary's work is superb and she gave me one of the most enjoyable interview experiences I have had. That interview aired on 8/27/10. Since that time, Mary has become one of my favorite authors.

The Fate of Pryde more than lives up to its predecessor in the trilogy. If you are a lover of words, ideas, and beauty; if you enjoy concepts and abstraction; if you, like me, want a book that will make you pause and look up, caught by some nuance of thought-seed carefully planted by the author, you will appreciate The Trilogy of Remembrance.

The Fate of Pryde will first be available on Create Space in the early fall and later through Smashwords; which gives you plenty of time to read part one, The Drawing Lesson.

Now, on to my review . . .

The Fate of Pryde: The Trilogy of Remembrance,
by Mary Martin
ISBN: Pending
To be released fall of 2011.

With incredible depth of empathy, Mary Martin once again captivates our imaginations and transports us into the heart of artistry. In The Fate of Pryde, part two of The Trilogy of Remembrance, we return to the art world of Alexander Wainwright. Flushed with the success of his recent artistic breakthrough in The Drawing Lesson, Alex finds himself courted and commissioned to create a piece of stained glass for wealthy philanthropist, Jonathan Pryde.

Pryde is a man of immense wealth and power in the art world. Artists, museum boards, and critics alike bend before him. Pryde is a collector and a connoisseur of the artistic vision and Alex’s unique visionary gifts have caught his fascination. Pryde pursues Alex, challenging him both on a personal and a professional level. The further Alex moves into Pryde’s world the more the reader comes to realize that Pryde is dangerously fixated on the source of creative vision, Alex’s vision. Pryde’s desire to understand and to be understood by Alex becomes both a blessing and a source of danger to the artist. There is something not quite right about Jonathan Pryde, but Alex finds himself curiously drawn deeper into the man’s world. What they learn from each other and what they discover about artistic vision is the mystery that surrounds The Fate of Pryde.

Martin understands the healing potential of creativity and art. In The Fate of Pryde she explores the dichotomy of light and darkness and the power of creativity to both reveal and heal what hides within the soul of man. Martin uses the power of creativity as both an antagonistic force, to torment the mind and as a balm for the exploration and healing of her characters. Alex and Pryde both worship at the altar of artistic vision; Alex with open curiosity as a witness to life’s fullness, and Pryde with tormented longing and obsessive desire. Both men are driven forward by their hunger for creative vision. They each struggle in their own way to find a balancing place, one basking in the revelatory healing light vision brings, and the other seeking vision for absolution and redemption. What one man knows the other has yet to discover.

The artistic vision which infuses Mary Martin’s work is pure genius. Her story adeptly illuminates aspects of the human psyche and ego needs, bringing to man’s inner darkness the purifying light of awareness. The Fate of Pryde is a provocative and insightful work of art. I loved it!

ShadowLove - Stalkers

2011-07-19T15:06:00.000-05:00

Claudy Conn adds heat to the paranormal and vampire romance genre with her newest series.

ShadowLove - Stalkers

Book Title: ShadowLove - Stalkers
Author: Claudy Conn
ISBN: 978-1463556211
Publisher: CreateSpace
Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui

Avid vampire and paranormal romance enthusiasts are in for a darkly delicious thrill when they sink their teeth into Claudy Conn’s newest series, ShadowLove – Stalkers. Conn has a gift for character and plot development that sets her work apart from other romance novelists. There are few romance writers of her caliber, who are able to sustain and build a quality series as she can do. It is a pleasurable gift to all of us that she has launched her writing into the paranormal and vampire sub-genres.

Shawna has been running for most of her life. Half white-witch and half vamp, Shawna’s daddy is Pentim Rawley, the powerful and vicious leader of a ruling vampire clan. Hidden at birth, protected and trained in the magical arts by her grandparents, Shawna has grown into a feisty, independent, beautiful young woman, but she is deeply lonely and now she has to run . . . Pentim has discovered that he has a daughter and he is looking for her.

Enter Chad Macfare . . . with secrets and desires of his own. He has visions, waking dreams of Shawna in Pentim’s grasp, and what he sees chills him to the bone. Chad is moved to seek Shawna himself, but is torn between the need to protect her and the knowledge that he will have to use her as bait if he is ever to destroy the monster that is Pentim Rawley. This is a deadly game with more at risk for Chad Macfare than losing his heart. Chad is more than he seems. His family has secrets so deep that if revealed would bring them under the eye of the father of all vampires himself, Dracula. Together Shawna and Chad struggle with trusting each other and knowing that the secrets they each keep could place others, innocents, in the hands of pure evil.

ShadowLove – Stalkers is filled with steaming action and dramatic tension. Vampires aren’t the only monsters taking cover in the darkness of the night. There are other powers introduced for the series, whose intentions and capabilities are yet to be revealed. Claudy delicately plants the seeds for future development and characters without distracting from the excitement and romance of Stalkers. She has taken the best of the vampire and paranormal lore and built in many intriguing twists and avenues, exploring and combing the lore so masterfully that she develops whole areas of the genre left untouched by other writers. The result is that she has a paranormal, vampire series, of romance novels, which carries her own unique and spicy aroma.

All that being said and I still haven’t mentioned that Claudy fills her stories with enough passion to make the pages spark, sizzle, and steam. She doesn’t skimp when it comes to building sexy into her characters. The women are luscious and the men . . . well, the action doesn’t stop with the plot. She really knows how to make us tingle with anticipation for her next book. ShadowLove – Stalkers is hot, Hot, HOT . . . and yes, I am blushing.

Kiss Me Quick Before I Shoot: A Filmmaker's Journey into the Lights of Hollywood and True Love

2011-06-29T11:39:00.006-05:00

Book Title: Kiss Me Quick Before I Shoot
Subtitle: A Filmmaker's Journey into the Lights of Hollywood and True Love
Author: Guy Magar
ISBN: 978-0982866344
www.kissmequickbeforeishoot.com
Genre: Memoir/Filmaking
Publisher: Sea Script Company; First edition (May 4, 2011)
Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui, for Writers In The Sky

Kiss Me Quick Before I Shoot, is Hollywood filmmaker Guy Magar’s memoir detailing his journey from child immigrant, through college, years of filmmaking, and love along the way to becoming an accomplished director, writer and producer. In an industry known to gloss and glamorize a turd until it looks appealing, this book is being given all the best hype and promotional backing you might imagine the autobiography of a recognizable celebrity and talent would get. However, in this case the hype is REAL. Kiss Me Quick Before I Shoot deserves every bit of praise and recognition it gets and more.

Guy Magar's, Kiss Me Quick Before I Shoot

For those of us that love the movies or have ever dreamed of, aspired to, danced around, or dived into a career in motion pictures or television, Kiss Me Quick is a “director’s cut” commentary of life on the road to and inside the industry. When I read Guy’s recollections and experiences, I wept just thinking of all the hopeful seekers and dreamers struggling for a break that never get one. The detailed behind-the-scenes knowledge and wisdom he so generously shares is beyond priceless to any aspiring film or television talent seeking entry into the industry. This is “must” reading for acting and directing students seeking film and television careers. Theater and film school do not prepare you for the cold reality of the industry, but Guy’s conversational and revealing memoir sure will.

Readers looking for a Hollywood fix, an insider’s candid perspective on breaking into the business or stories of life among the stars will lock themselves behind closed doors to indulge their celluloid passions with this master story teller. I think I’m in love. Too bad Guy is taken. Which leads me to another aspect of this book, which I think places it a cut above other memoirs and books of its genre. Kiss Me Quick is more than a Hollywood success story, it also relates the very real human drama and love story between Guy and his wife, Jacqui; sharing intimate details of her diagnosis with Leukemia and of the trial medical treatments that saved her life. Guy opens his heart and with incredible spirit, courage, and candor shares it all.

The creativity and passion which infuses Guy’s film work also comes through in his writing. Kiss Me Quick Before I Shoot has all the excitement , flare, human interest , and drama Hollywood promises the hopeful, with a measure of reality, and God’s grace thrown in. Both of my thumbs are up for Magar’s Kiss Me Quick Before I Shoot. Hand me the popcorn. I am reading that again.

Join Me on Friday July 1, 2011, as I host a

Writers In The Sky Podcast interview with Guy Magar!

This review will be featured at www.TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com on July 4, 2011! Many Thanks for spreading the word.

The Answer

2011-06-24T00:05:00.004-05:00

Join me and guest Allison Wynn on the Writers in the Sky Podcast for our author interview.

About the Author:

Allison Wynn has a 30-year career in leadership effectiveness, personal empowerment coaching, and family and relationship development. After a successful corporate career, she started her own coaching practice to help people transition through life’s challenges. She provides personal and professional coaching through one-on-one sessions, workshops, and corporate programs.

Allison holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Management and a Masters Degree in Organizational Development. Her business background, unique life experiences, and ability to connect with her clients are special qualities that make theSOFIprocess simple, practical and effective.

Book Title: The Answer: A Journey From Anger To Peace
Author: Allison Wynn
ISBN: 978-1432770945
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui

The Answer relates a pivotal moment in the lives of Eric McPherson and Allison Wynn, two strangers drawn together by chance, who experience a life changing connection. Eric, frustrated and full of self loathing, stops at the local Starbucks on his way to work and finds a journal laying on the only available table. He opens it to look for identification, but there is none and so he reads the day’s entry.

When Allison returns to her table she finds him weeping, her journal clutched in his hand. “Are you okay?” she asks. And so the tale begins. . .

The Answer explores the destructive anger cycles that cripple human interactions, causing frustration and pain for so many individuals. The book is written using a journal entry format, from the perspectives of Eric, Eric’s wife, Mary Ellen and author Allison Wynn. The Answer provides a deeply insightful and poignant look into human relationships and the significance of feeling insignificant.

“How do we deal with anger in either ourselves or in others?” and “How do we create a more peaceful life?” These are the questions that Eric and Allison are asking. Eric knows that his anger is destroying his life and damaging his relationship with his wife, but he can’t seem to stop his angry outbursts. After spending the day deep in discussion with Allison, He returns home to share with Mary Ellen what he has discovered about himself and the changes he would like to make in his life.

This is a must read for anyone who is struggling with anger issues and domestic instability. The message of the book is one that everyone could benefit from. Emotionally charged, intellectually stimulating and insightful, The Answer offers an eye opening perspective on relationships, and the need for significance. This book will change lives.

Discover Inventor Joseph Lee and the Automatic Bread Machine

2011-06-13T01:00:00.008-05:00

Inventor Joseph Lee

I love learning and was thrilled to review the following book about an African American, former slave and inventor Joseph Lee. I hope you take the opportunity to read the book and to join us for our podcast interview with author Jerome T. Peoples on Friday June 17, 2011 for the Writers In The Sky Podcast.

Book Title: Lee’s Bread Machines
Author: Jerome T. Peoples, MS, ED
ISBN: 978-1432763374
Publisher: Outskirts Press

Many of us are familiar with George Washington Carver and possibly one of the other great African American and former slave inventors that have had a lasting impact on the industrial revolution and life in America today. Most of us, however, will never have heard of Joseph Lee, the inventor of the automatic bread making machine that revolutionized the bread industry. This former slave over came incredible hardship to rise (pardon the pun,) above adversity to have a significant impact on modern day America. The impact of his inventions, the first bread machine, then the bread crumber, changed the slice of bread on America’s table by allowing bakeries and restaurants to produce bread loves more efficiently and in greater numbers than ever before. Why without Joseph Lee there wouldn’t be a bread industry as we know it. And yet, in spite of the impact this man’s incredible inventions have had on us, hardly any information has been available about his life and accomplishments until now.

Much credit is due to retired science teacher turned author, Jerome T. Peoples MS. Ed., who researched and wrote Lee’s Bread Machines as an educational and inspirational tribute to this minority hero. With chapters covering : the African origin of bread, the life of house slaves, secret schools, the Civil War, Joseph Lee’s move to the north, his journey to greatness as an entrepreneur in the restaurant business, and especially his work as an inventor, this book is a treasure of information.

The book has school primer feel, but the layout makes for easy reading and information retention. Every child should have access to this book in school libraries and the knowledge of this American inventor should be included in school curriculum. Joseph Lee belongs to all of us, but his history as a former slave opens a door for further exploration of social history that could really capture and ignite the hunger for knowledge in students. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Joseph Lee, his life and his inventions. I hope that others will read and be as deeply moved as I was by the example set by this African American inventor who rose from slavery to find freedom, enterprise, and lasting significance through the power of creativity and invention.

I recommend this book for youths and for general informational reading. The content is well documented and presents interesting images and records that will educate as well as fascinate most readers.

Grade A work Mr. Peoples!

The Killing Game

2011-06-10T07:53:00.001-05:00

Book Title: The Killing Game
Author: Joe C. Stevens
ISBN: 978-1432769086
Publisher: Outskirts Press

The Killing Game is a novelette about a former mob hit man, Bronson Trellisane, who is being forced out of Retirement to kidnap a government witness. Why kidnap when, as Bronson puts it, “I’m a shooter, not an errand boy?” Ah, now we get to it. You see Bronson isn’t just any hit man and this witness isn’t testifying about the run of the mill mob activity. The whole messy business centers around the last job Bronson handled before disappearing into anonymity. Linda Masters is a bit of flash secretary for his former mob boss and she is running scared with information about the mob’s involvement and Bronson’s part in the assassination of JFK. Bronson needs to know what she’s got on them and at the same time extricate himself for good. Add to the mix a shady CIA man and the game they are all playing just gets deeper.

J.C. Stevens has written an interesting “what if” story for conspiracy theorists and crime fans to enjoy as a quick read. Perfect for airplane reading or an easy day on the beach. The Killing Game offers intrigue and a fast paced cross country ride to thrill audiences. There are a few surprising twists that I won’t spoil for you. Over all, The Killing Game is a good time read.

J.C. doesn’t attempt to prove any conspiracies with this book. He approaches the idea of a hidden gunman in the grassy knoll as if it was fact and not fiction, treating the assassination of JFK as background for the story he wants to tell. There comes a time when the truth can never be discovered and the myths develop. The Killing Game is an example of where one person’s creativity and imagination can journey out of the realm of fact and into the haze of fantasy.

Although it isn’t easy to find much sympathy for a person such as Bronson Trellisane, the author doesn’t seek to win hearts. This book isn’t about getting answers or true justice for JFK. This isn’t even a serious consideration of the JFK assassination, or an author’s attempt at historical reconstruction. The Killing Game is a creative exploration down one road in the many facets and theories surrounding the JFK murder. It isn’t intended as a school primer or to be confused with fact. It is a “What if story” simple and sweet.

A Review of the Book, Summer Is Her Name by Betsy Houser

2011-05-30T01:00:00.004-05:00

Book Title: Summer Is Her Name: Born in Kentucky
Author: Betsy Houser
ISBN: 978-1432767778
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui

Summer Is Her Name relates the coming of age story of Summer Rogers. Follow Summer through her childhood on a farm in Appalachia, through painful losses, youthful infatuations, and disappointments. Share Summer’s college days, and join her during World War II as she earns money for school working in a defense plant. Travel with her around the globe and witness other cultures, places and people. Finally, return home with her to find true love and peace in the old Farmstead where she was born. This isn’t a typical romance coming of age book. It isn’t written in the typical fashion. The story doesn’t rise and fall following all of the conventional plot formulas. Summer Is Her Name reads like a life. I like life. I like it a lot. This book reminded me. . . of how much.

There is a quality of grace and an acceptance of the “what-is-ness” of life contained in its pages that affected me in a way I hadn’t anticipated I would feel. Betsy has given breath and flesh to her characters, placed scents on the wind, and transported me into the heart of the farmlands. I have tasted the wild blackberries and felt the sun warmed grasses of Kentucky embrace me. In reading, I have felt the flush of embarrassment, the burn of surprise, the shudder of fear and the thrill of anticipation. She has distilled life experience into a bottle and poured me a glass. I hope to taste the like of it again. I feel completely humbled in reviewing her work. What can I say?

It is a damn shame that Betsy Houser waited to publish her first book until she was 85! I feel sick to my stomach just thinking about it. I am sure that Betsy has many accomplishments of worth to her credit but, oh, what a sweet treasure she has given us in this lovely fiction. I am actually choked with emotions at the thought that she might have passed away without sharing it.

I interviewed Betsy, and she told me that there were aspects of the book based in part on events and people she had known, lived or heard tell of during her lifetime. Betsy shared that she wove these bits into her tale, but that Summer Is Her Name really is a work of fiction and not autobiographical. I can’t say I was disappointed, because deep down I had already determined that, for me, Betsy is Summer, whether she says it is so or not. I just want the story to be true; for there to have been a Summer Rogers and a Mont, and for the story of Summer’s life and their love to be real and to last. I want this badly enough to convince myself that it is so, just as Betsy has written the story out for me. Thank you Betsy, for being you and for sharing Summer with us. You move me.

Create a book for the Nook, fast--here's how

2011-05-25T14:49:00.002-05:00

I would like to pass along a time sensitive opportunity for a free seminar, sent to me via email by the ultimate Publicity Hound, Joan Stewart. I am passing it straight along to you, just as I received it.

From: 20214@priorityoneemail.com On Behalf Of Joan Stewart
Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 1:30 PM

Subject: Create a book for the Nook, fast--here's how

Hi Vonnie,

The Barnes & Noble "Nook" eReader is starting to take the ebook world by storm because B&N now has 25 percent of the ebook market.

Even if you haven't published anything yet, there's still time to produce an ebook, fast, to promote your expertise, generate leads and create another revenue stream.

If you do have content

- in a printed book or at your blog or in articles you've written, all the better.

The ebook market is projected to increase to $2.7 billion within two years. That's billion, with a "B." Don't miss out on this.

Daniel Hall, who showed Publicity Hounds how to turn their ebooks into material for the Kindle late last year, is back with step-by-step instructions on how to make your book ready for the Nook.

I'm hosting a free webinar with him at 3 p.m. Eastern Time tomorrow, Thursday, May 26. Set aside at least 90 minutes. He sometimes goes way over the time limit because he answers every question that participants ask.

Register here:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/833100745

You'll also learn how to:

- Use your "Nook" books as lead generators for your business.

- Earn set-it-and-forget-it recurring revenue by building profit centers into each of your ebooks.

- Get readily available content to publish so you don't have to spend time and energy writing it
yourself.

- Build your credibility within your market, whatever that market is.

This training is free. The content is solid gold.

Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound
http://www.PublicityHound.com

How to Tips: for prerecorded podcast interviews

2011-05-24T13:03:00.000-05:00

Considering seeking podcast and radio interviews to help market your book? WITS Podcast host Vonnie Faroqui has some tips for how to give a good interview.

How to Tips: for prerecorded podcast interviews

Prerecorded podcast interviews differ from live radio in several ways. You will need to find out ahead of time how your interview will be conducted, live or as a prerecorded podcast to be aired at a later date.

Many Web radio and podcast interviews are prerecorded for the convenience of the blog host and site management. This allows for minor editing, a “positive” in favor of prerecording interviews that a good host will use to make higher quality podcasts. Writers In The Sky pre-records its podcasts and schedules these interviews to be aired on a weekly basis.

Even the best editing can’t turn Mr. Potato into a thrilling interviewee

That being the case, here are a few tips to help you on your way to becoming an interview superstar.

Get Comfortable

Live radio interviews can begin abruptly. A prerecorded interview usually allows you to get comfortable with your host and to ask questions of your interviewer before recording begins. For WITS Podcast interviews, I like to give our guests the general outline of the interview a day or two early, and then to answer questions before we begin recording. Taking the time to chat with my guests beforehand helps me gauge an author’s comfort level, break the ice, and address any fears our guests may have about interviewing. Live interviews rarely have time to allow a host to put their guest at ease. Interviewing is a skill that, as with all skills, gets easier through practice. Practice your interview skills with friendly audiences. Get your friends to ask you questions about your book and themes. Play around with your responses so that you learn to answer questions on the fly.

About timing

With prerecorded interviews, there are fewer concerns or constraints about time and timing than is the case for live interviews. During a live interview, you will need to be prepared to talk at a moment’s notice and to keep your answers brief so that your host can speak to other callers or break for commercial. With a prerecorded interview, it is possible to take more time with your answers as pauses and hiccups can be edited away. In both cases, help your host know when you are finished speaking by ending with a declarative sentence or by using a vocal downtick to make it clear to the host that you’ve completed your answer.

No prepared speeches

Don’t write out speeches to read during the interview. Instead, create a bullet point list of things you would like to convey during the interview, key thoughts or themes you want to work into your responses. Read answers are never very engaging and will make you sound stilted and mechanical unless you are theatrically trained. Even good actors avoid reading from a prepared script and take liberties with their material to allow for natural, conversational phrasing. Don’t make the mistake of reading prepared answers during your interview. It is a mood killer.

Listen to your host

Listen to your host and do your best to answer the questions they ask. Don’t assume that they are disinterested. Give them something to work with. An unresponsive guest is a hosts worst nightmare. A host will often ask follow up questions if they like what you’ve said, if they are trying to draw out more information from you or if they want to carry you deeper down a line of questioning they think will be of interest to their audience. If you are listening to your host, you will hear the cues they will give you. Be responsive and they will guide you through. An engaging guest is a delight to support and easy to sell. If you need a little help with energy and want to avoid sounding flat and uninspired, try matching or slightly exceeding your host’s energy level. To do this you have to . . . listen.

Share your passion

If you aren’t passionate about your book, who will be? Listeners will turn the dial if your interview lacks passion, but they will “hear it” if you SMILE – so get a telephone headset and free yourself to wave those arms around while you talk. Let the love you have for your book, theme, and characters come through in your voice. Standing while you speak conveys energy and confidence. Gesturing helps you convey intensity and meaning. We rely upon these things in everyday speech to help communicate clearly. Allowing for movement will help you relax during an interview and greatly enhance the sound of your voice.

Give of yourself

Being a good guest translates down to one thing. Give of yourself. When someone speaks from a place of inspiration about something they love, it is always interesting. Do you love your book? Didn’t you just invest time, energy, and money in creating and publishing it? If you love your book and speak from that place, you will have something interesting to say.

Letting go of fear and embracing life is a challenge that everyone faces. The circumstances may vary, but the opportunity to move past fear comes to all of us. I have one last tip to share and it will help you overcome any fears you have about interviewing . And it is . . .

Keep breathing

Breath is life. When you stop your breath, you stop your life, you freeze your emotions, and stifle your truth. Breathing frees stuck emotion and gives you voice. It carries you through and out of fear. If you encounter a question that throws you for a second, or need to gather your thoughts for a response, take a breath. In that moment of internal silence, while you concentrate on inhaling, your answer will come. It will come from a place of truth that exists deep inside of you, a place that is inside all of us. Share what comes to you and keep breathing.

I Am Going Where I Belong, A Review

2011-05-18T10:21:00.000-05:00

Book Title: I am Going Where I Belong
Author: Hans Lindor
ISBN: 978-1592322657
Publisher: Enaz Publications
Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui

I Am Gong Where I Belong relates a fictionalized and tragic tale of life for Haiti native Hans Leger. Born into the ruling class of Haiti and a life of privilege, Hans Leger discovers a side of his homeland that is both shocking and horrifying. The narrative carries the reader through a chance encounter with a child prostitute and her son, to the murder of Han’s father, and his family’s flight to and life in the USA as political refugees. This story reflects deeply on the living conditions, mental attitudes and struggles of the Haitian people. The narrative voice of the book relates and reflects upon issues of personal safety, survival, self loathing, racial and economic discrimination and political despotism.

I Am Going Where I Belong is loosely built around aspects of the author’s personal experiences, and offers a perspective and a vision of the Haitian people that have until now been given little or no voice. Author Hans Lindor eloquently weaves his personal experiences of life in Haiti and beyond into this fictionalized account, successfully capturing for his audience truths that can only be felt when shared by one who has lived and breathed them. Lindor has lifted his pen on behalf of Haiti and his native people.

I had the great pleasure of interviewing Hans Lindor after having read his book, I Am Gong Where I Belong. Lindor will tell you that the book is about a fictional character and that it is not about his life. After having interviewed the author, I can see why he would assert this. Many aspects of the character Hans’s life are fictionalized and differ from events that played out Lindor’s own story. However, the book also contains events, losses, and incidents that the author has drawn directly from his personal experience. The road of circumstance traveled may differ for the character, Hans, but when you read about Marie and her son, or when a beloved character is gunned down and must be left untended in the streets, there is an aspect of reality being shared that is heartrendingly real. These are elements of the author's own story which are retold using the vehicle of fiction to soften the impact for both the author and the reader. It is in these moments that Lindor’s ability to write is at its best. He transmits into words the incredible horror, loss and grief that has been his own and shares with all of us a tale of Haiti's children.

If you are at all interested in the lost boys of Haiti or in the politics and struggles surrounding this nation, you will benefit by reading I Am Gong Where I Belong. Well written and easy to understand, this book will open your eyes to realities and difficulties faced every day by the Haitian people. The author digs deep and offers up a piece of his soul in, I Am Gong Where I Belong.

The Quetzal Skull: A Review

2011-05-09T18:13:00.001-05:00

By request, I am re-posting my review of The Quetzal Skull. The original post first appeared on the Writers In The Sky blog, May 2, 2011.

Book Title: The Quetzal Skull
Author: Margaret Gill
ISBN: 978-1432768669
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui

There is much good to be said about Margaret Gill’s writing and The Quetzal Skull in particular. To begin, Margaret knows how to weave a delicious story that will captivate her youthful audience as well as those adults that enjoy reading the Young Adult Fiction genre of books. The Quetzal Skull follows, Narwhal, as part two in a series.

Superbly written, The Quetzal Skull, relates the continuing tale of Gray, a young man on the verge of discovering his deepening psychic gifts and his place in the world as a shaman. After his brush with death, in Narwhal, Gray goes to the mainland to attend art school. He intends to study art that is, but it seems once again fate and prophecy have a plan for Gray which is outside of his understanding and control. Kidnapping is the least of the lengths his enemies will go in their efforts to maintain their drive for power and control. They perceive Gray as a threat to their plans and won’t stop coming after him until they have eliminated the threat he poses. Follow Gray around the globe into the heart of myth and mystery, as he strives to solve mysteries locked in the distant past and fulfill his destiny.

Margaret does an excellent job of depicting and explaining concepts of psychic energy work and shamanism that accurately portray the teachings, methods and practices of modern and historic shamanic practitioners. She is able to capture in words and through story telling the atmosphere of time and place, which combine to create a flavor of danger and increase tension. Her research and insight into traditional shamanic roles and practices, as well as into the healing or mystical properties of certain herbs and the political intrigue used in her story, is to be commended. There is much to be learned, about our world and its societies, which she has cleverly revealed in the story or used as a device to develop her plot.

Exciting and enlightening, full of physical and spiritual dangers, The Quetzal Skull takes Gray and the reader on an adventure of thrilling proportions. Discover wonder and mystery in the crystal skull of Quetzal. A cast of memorable characters waits for you. You won't want to put this book down.

If you would like to contact the author write to . . . author@margaretgill.co.uk

Also by Margaret Gill . . .

Author Margaret Gill Shares Her Book,The Quetzal Skull

2011-05-06T09:01:00.001-05:00

Today I would like to share the interview I did for Writers in the Sky Podcast, with author Margaret Gill, about her most recent novel, The Quetzal Skull.

The Quetzal Skull, is already featuring in the quarter finals of the Amazon breakthrough novel contest for 2011. Three of Margaret's books have won first prizes at Winchester Writers' Conference and Swanwick Writers' Conference in the UK. Narwhal the prequel to The Quetzal Skull was shortlisted for the Cinnamon Press award, the UK Authors competition, was a Finalist in the Indie Excellence Awards (USA) and winner of the Eric Hoffer award.

This fascinating author shares her experiences in writing, the considerations she had about self publishing, for her choice of publishers, and gives some excellent marketing strategy tips.

Click Play to Listen . . .

"Margaret has a depth of emotion and joy for writing that really comes through in our interview. She writes from a place that few authors ever reach, a place of wonder for the mysteries of life and all things hidden. This author interview was pure joy. Thank you Margaret." - WITS Podcast host and reviewer Vonnie Faroqui.

Margaret lives in the United Kingdom, where she has spent the majority of her career as an educator. She was Head of English at Wellingborough College,UK, for twelve years. Her chief interests apart from writing are in the fields of healing, meditation and yoga which she teaches locally on a part time basis. She also loves to travel and art and is herself an artist, as she puts it painting from time to time.

To learn more about Margaret Gill's work visit http://www.margaretgill.co.uk/

For those of you wondering, Quetzal is pronounced [ket-sahl]

Love from the Other Side: a Review

2011-04-29T01:00:00.006-05:00

Book Title: Love from the Other Side: Searching for Answers
Author: Carol Shimp
ISBN: 978-1432767907
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui

Are You Searching for Answers?

At some point, most of us find ourselves searching for answers to questions about what comes after this life, about the possibility of being touched by the spirits of our loved ones who have passed on. We all have our own reasons for the search and it is in these times of searching books such as Carol Shimp’s, Love from the Other Side: a Search for Answers, find their way to us. Sometimes a friend will recommend we read, other times it will be through a review that our attention is caught. We may not always agree with what we read, but the need to understand drives us and so we turn the first page hoping to find peace and a sense of knowing. If you are in one of these periods of soul seeking, it is no coincidence that you are reading this review or that the opportunity to read this story has come to you.

Love from the Other Side - Cover

Carol has given the gift of her story in, Love from the Other Side, a memoir recounting her spiritual exploration, paranormal experiences, and quest to balance daily life with experiences of the spirit world, precognitive dreams and other worldly messages. Through this book, the reader will discover hidden groups of spiritual seekers, spiritual teachings, and have an opportunity to encounter teachings that are often obscured for the protection of the innocent. In a world that has grown skeptical of anything that cannot be scientifically weighed and measured, psychic and paranormal experiences remain a taboo subject in most homes, or a matter of ridicule and scorn. As I read, I found myself drawn into the memoir by the sincerity of the author.

The quality of writing is pleasing; the chapters are well constructed, making the story easy to follow. Great care is given in the treatment of spiritual beliefs and matters of faith. Carol does not denounce or espouse any particular faith, although she does share that her background and religious path is Catholic. She receives assistance from a group of spiritual seekers and eventually undergoes a non-Catholic exorcism of energies that were detrimental to her spiritual and mental health.

This is a marvelous book for the curious and for spiritual seekers. There are wonderful spiritual truths within the folds of Love from the Other Side that will enrich the unfamiliar and gratify those initiated in the practices and teachings of spiritualists and mediums. Rather than portraying the sensational, Carol’s style and message are without guile. In the end what is revealed comes from a place of love and is offered without condition.

A Podcast interview with Carol Shimp about the book and her publishing experiences is available through the Writers In The Sky Podcast and Blog or for download from WITS Podcast on iTunes for your iPod or iPad.

To learn more about Carol Shimp and her book, Love from the Other Side: Searching for Answers, go to . . . http://carolshimp.com/

Field Update

2011-04-26T01:00:00.003-05:00

For those of you who are following and have sent me messages of concern . . .

There has been a family health emergency that has taken my focus away from my writing and promotions over this past month. Please keep us in your prayers.

Thank you for your concern and your love.

Vonnie Faroqui and family.

A Review of: Shee Willow, a book by Claudy Conn

2011-04-25T23:53:00.000-05:00

Book Title: Shee Willow
Author: Claudy Conn
ISBN: 978-1613099933
Publisher: Wings ePress
Link to purchase:
Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui

Claudy Conn’s Shee Willow, carries us deep into the world of Fae intrigue and danger . . . exciting and fast paced, this is a novel with plenty of plot twists and surprises to support the romance. Shee Willow's tale can stand on its own but Conn brings back the cast of Faery characters we fell in love with from Spellbound-Legend, deepening the Seelie intrigues, romance, and dangers in part two of the series.

Once again Conn ignites the page with hunk madness, as every-which-way Willow turns brings hot potential for love and misdirection. A Conn story is always full of rich layers and like dark chocolate cake waiting to be licked from sticky fingers; she tempts even the most discriminating reader to escapism. I can’t help but pout a little when she tortures us with characters that we want for ourselves only to find out later that our hunk of hotness is just no-good for us or our heroine.

Shee Willow Cover Image

In Shee Willow, Conn writes from the first person perspective of each of her main characters, giving a different feel to the book than you will have encountered in reading Spellbound –Legend. If you like to imagine yourself in the role of the characters, this perspective and writing style might challenge you at first. It won’t matter past the first chapter, because once you get reading you will find that Conn is a master of the craft and the story is a pleaser.

I didn’t think the series could get better but Conn is developing the magical and political intrigue of the underlying plot connecting the books, as well as the romantic drama. Additional characters open the scope for rising action and she continues to weave in future romances and danger.

Conn is in high form and never shorts her heroine or her reader. It is pure torture deciding which of the men or Fae to fantasize over, and I do so love the bad ones!

You got me again Claudy!

Welcome Empathy Tour! Whose Stuff Is This?, and author Yvonne Perry

2011-03-25T01:00:00.009-05:00

Today I am participating in a blog tour for a new book titled Whose Stuff Is This? Finding Freedom from the Thoughts, Feelings, and Energy of Those Around You written by Yvonne Perry. The book has more than two dozen proven and effective ways to clear and protect your energy field. This guide offers empowering, proactive techniques to help empathic people manage energy overload. See http://whosestuffisthis.com/ for details.

Yesterday, Yvonne visited the Heart and Home Radio Show. Today, she is my guest blogger. I hope you enjoy the article she wrote about how to develop your intuition.

Being Non-Resistant Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry

By Yvonne Perry

I remember the line from Erich Segal's Love Story: "Love means never having to say you’re sorry."
That’s true because love never perceives itself as being wronged. If you never perceive attack, you will have no need to forgive, defend, retaliate, or feel sorry for yourself. What a freeing way to live! This is the embodiment of the often misunderstood feat of “turning the other cheek.” We’ve often thought that phrase meant that it is honorable to let people walk all over us. Turning the other cheek actually means standing in your place of power and letting things flow through you without even moving the needle on your “who gives a crap?” meter. You simply avoid giving away your power to anything negative. How? By paying attention to what you are experiencing at any given moment and not pushing against it. This state of allowing permits you to acknowledge your emotions—whether pleasant or not—and look for the gift or lesson each situation offers.

We resist because we are fearful or in denial. Perhaps we are afraid to feel, or worry that our emotions will take over. Quite the opposite is true. Our emotions, when stuffed, are silently taking over our health. Being resistant blinds us to possibilities and solutions and causes us to shut down. Our body may feel tight, tense, or lethargic; our emotions may feel heavy, sad, or angry. This causes us to attract more negativity and pretty soon we are stuck.

So, the next time you are about to get mad, judge, or resist, stop and accept yourself, the other person, and situation as it is. It doesn’t mean you condone it. It means you are accepting its reality instead of denying or fighting it.

If something is upsetting you, deal with it quickly. Acknowledge and release your feelings before they drag you down. That way, you can be present in every moment as you bring your attention and awareness to each thought, feeling, and activity as it is occurring. If you notice you are in a state of resistance, go to Chapter 9 of my book, Whose Stuff Is This? and do some of the exercises that bring peace of mind, balance, and well-being.

Whose Stuff Is This? Cover Art

When something upsetting is occurring for you, there are three choices you can make:

1) Resist, deny, avoid, or ignore it (not recommended!)
2) Communicate, ask for what you need, and be willing to alter what you can about the situation. If another person involved will not cooperate with your peace-making efforts, cut ties with the offender or remove yourself from the unhealthy environment. Let go of the need to change people. The only person you can change is yourself. Find a different job, move out, or do whatever you need to bring about a better living/working condition and peace of mind. You do not have to complain, suffer, or play the role of a victim. Instead, look for new opportunities and relationships with uplifting and positive people that will support and nurture you on your spiritual path.
3) Accept the situation once you have done all you can to remedy it. This does not mean you are giving up or surrendering to something you abhor. It means you have released all the negative charge surrounding the situation and come to a place of peace that will allow you to remain where you are without suffering, stuffing, or seething. This option is best employed when you are dealing with an uncontrollable situation such as the death of a loved one or the termination of a close relationship.
When you focus on cultivating and integrating a peaceful mindset into your life, the universe will guide you to the resources that support your goal of entering into the flow of who you really are. Undoubtedly, your intuition led you to this blog today. You know how to access your internal guidance!

When you are non-resistant, you feel lighter and it’s easier to be joyful and allow what you really want to flow into your life. My wish is that you will recognize your own power and live at a blissful level of unconditional, non-resistant happiness.

_____

Learn more about developing your intuition and progressing spiritually in Yvonne Perry’s new book, Whose Stuff Is This? Finding Freedom from the Thoughts, Feelings, and Energy of Those Around You. Learn more at http://whosestuffisthis.com/
Come along on the tour with us. Tomorrow’s blog stop will be at the Raising Intuitive Children blog. See the tour schedule at http://tinyurl.com/EmpathTour.

Dancing With The Pen - guest blogger Dallas Woodburn

2011-03-21T21:40:00.000-05:00

Ink Slinger's Whimsey welcomes guest blogger Dallas Woodburn as she celebrates the release of . . .

Dancing With The Pen: a collection of today’s best youth writing

“The best children’s book writers are not people who have kids, but people who write from the child within themselves.”
— Andrea Brown

In 2010, I founded the youth publishing company Write On! Books with the belief that young people need and deserve a vehicle to share their unique voices with each other, and with society as a whole. Our debut anthology, Dancing With The Pen, features stories, poems, and essays by more than sixty young writers in middle school and high school from across the United States and even abroad: Singapore, Canada, and New Zealand.

Write On! Books has a twofold goal: give young writers an outlet for expression, while also publishing exciting, creative work that gets kids excited about reading. Dancing with the Pen is a book for young writers, young readers, and the young at heart. I like to tell young people, “Even if you are not normally a big reader, this book is still for you. Maybe you'll recognize yourself in these pages.” I hope people who read this book are inspired to pick up a pen, step out on the dance floor, and go for a whirl themselves.

The idea to start Write On! Books was sparked within me more than a decade ago, when I released my first book, There’s a Huge Pimple On My Nose: a collection of stories and poems. I was in fifth grade, and the book – and my writing dreams – snowballed in magical ways I had not thought possible. Pimple was reviewed in national media outlets including CosmoGIRL!, Girls’ Life, and The Los Angeles Times. I was interviewed by newspapers and radio shows. I spoke at various writers conferences and book fairs, and the Santa Barbara Book Festival had a “Dallas Woodburn Day.” Perhaps most important of all was the thrill of seeing my own words in print. I felt proud and energized – the excitement of Christmas morning paled in comparison. My self-confidence blossomed. My love of writing intensified. I wanted to be a writer. I saw myself as a writer!

In the thirteen years since Pimple debuted, I have published a second collection of stories; contributed pieces to dozens of magazines, newspapers, websites, and Chicken Soup for the Soul books; written plays that were produced in Ventura and Los Angeles, California; and am currently pursuing my Master’s degree in fiction writing at Purdue University.

When I visit schools to speak about my own personal writing journey, I always ask the students if any of them are interested in writing. Usually a few tentative hands raise. In contrast, at the end of my talks when I ask the same question, nearly all the students excitedly thrust up their hands as if trying to touch the ceiling. Many young people tell me they didn’t know kids could be writers. Not only can kids be writers, they can be brilliant writers! They can write imaginative, touching, thought-provoking pieces, as Dancing With The Pen attests. And writing, especially for young people, can create many amazing opportunities.

The mission of Write On! For Literacy, which I founded in 2001, is to encourage kids to discover joy, confidence, a means of self-expression and connection to others through writing and reading. Activities and projects include writing contests, fun creative writing workshops, and an annual Holiday Book Drive that has collected and distributed nearly 12,000 new books to disadvantaged kids. For every copy purchased of Dancing With The Pen, a new book will be donated to Write On’s Holiday Book Drive to benefit disadvantaged youth.

Copies of Dancing With The Pen are available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Pen-collection-todays-writing/dp/1450254594/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1299355509&sr=8-2

Discounted bulk orders are also available through our website: http://www.writeonbooks.org/writeonbooks.aspx

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dancingwiththepen

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/writeonbooks

Bio: Dallas Woodburn is the author of two award-winning collections of short stories and editor of Dancing With The Pen: a collection of today’s best youth writing. She has written more than 80 articles and essays for national publications including Family Circle, Writer’s Digest, The Los Angeles Times, and the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.A. in Creative Writing and is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Fiction Writing at Purdue University, where she also teaches undergraduate writing courses.

Website: http://www.writeonbooks.org
Blog: http://dallaswoodburn.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/writerdallas
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dallaswoodburn

A Review of the Youth Mystery, Sudden Moves

2011-03-14T01:30:00.001-05:00

Kelli Sue Landon

Today, I would like to share my review of the youth mystery, Sudden Moves, by author Kelli Sue Landon. This is Kelli's first novel.

Synopsis:
When Katie Brashers announces to her friends that she's headed to Orlando, Florida, for spring break, no one thinks twice. But when school resumes and Katie is nowhere to be found, her sixteen-year-old classmate and friend, Michelle Martin, grows suspicious. The school staff claims that the family moved to Florida, but Michelle doesn't buy it. First, Katie never said goodbye to her devoted boyfriend, Brad; and second, Katie still has a treasured family book Michelle gave her to read-a book Katie promised to return. Something doesn't make sense. Michelle and her best friend, Tami, team up with Brad to investigate the family's disappearance, but it's not easy. Not only do they have to dodge Michelle's demanding, nosey mother, but they also have to sneak around the neighborhood while avoiding arrest for trespassing. After talking to neighbors and looking inside the house, they still have nothing but circumstantial evidence. Michelle is about ready to give up-until she takes her dog for their daily walk and uncovers a concrete clue. The clue leads her closer to the truth, but also thrusts her into dangerous circumstances beyond her control. If she isn't careful, Michelle could end up like Katie-gone without a trace.

Review:

Book Title: Sudden Moves
Author: Kelli Sue Landon
ISBN: 978-1426945847
Publisher: Outskirts Press

Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui

Michelle Martin is worried. Her friend Katie went to Florida for spring break and never came back. It isn’t just that Katie left without saying good bye. That was bad enough, but Katie never returned the book she borrowed and Michelle is going to be in serious trouble if her mom finds out she loaned it to Katie. Author Kelli Sue Landon takes this simple turn of events in a teen’s life and weaves a mystery that is sure to please her young adult audience.

The dramas surrounding friendships, infatuations, academics, family difficulties, and the teen culture depicted in Sudden Moves are all believable and set the stage well for the mystery that Landon unfolds.

There are a few plot twists and surprises in store for the reader that I don’t want to give away. I can share that Landon reintroduces us to kids we remember from high school, only Landon’s teens are living and dealing with all the pitfalls, social environment and pressures of modern day America.

Landon successfully writes the teen mentality, capturing all of the frustrations and inexperience which lead her young characters further and further into danger and along the road toward adulthood.
She places obstacles in their paths that many young adults face and yet she does so without depicting all the adult characters as either foolish, self centered or villainous. The adults in Sudden Moves have as many problems and quirks as the teens, but the author doesn’t treat them as cheap comic relief or with disdain, as is often done for television.

The book has a good pace, with plenty of rising action carrying the plot forward. There is a criminal element to the story, with some implied and mild violence that advances the plot. Teens fourteen and above will appreciate this book and relate well with its characters. There is a good amount of interaction between the main character, Michelle, and her parents –with several realistic and trust building scenes. Law enforcement figures are treated respectfully by the author.

Sudden Moves is above all else a mystery and Landon works hard to give her audience everything they need to make sense of and unravel the truth, right along with Michelle, about what happened to Katie.

Contest for Book Cover

2011-03-11T01:00:00.040-06:00

I would like to welcome guest blogger Carolyn Howard-Johnson, instructor for the renowned UCLA Extension Writers' Program, to Ink Slinger's Whimsey. Carolyn will be sharing information about an exciting contest she is organizing to find the cover of her new book.

Award-Winning Poets Seek Artwork for New Chapbook

World Wide Web-- Poetry Partners Seek Artwork for Fifth Chapbook

It's been said (quite a few times!) that a picture is worth a thousand words. Even though Magdalena Ball and I are poets, we think the original author may have underestimated, and we'd like you--if you're a painter or a photographer--to prove us wrong.

We are the coauthors of the Celebration Series of chapbooks of poetry.
They include Cherished Pulse (for anyone you love) , She Wore Emerald Then (for mothers on your gift list) , Imagining the Future (for Fathers), and Blooming Red, a Christmas chapbook. Chapbooks have been a tradition in the poetry world since Elizabethan times. The Celebration Series goes beyond the cliched sentiments in most greeting cards - and does it for about the same price.

All four of our chapbooks are illustrated by artists making each a triple effort.
Cherished Pulse and Blooming Red feature artwork from California artist Vicki Thomas. She Wore Emerald Then features photographs by May Lattanzio and Imagining the Future a photo by celebrated composer Ricky Ian Gordon.

We are planning a fifth chapbook lauding women's issues and feminist themes. We are looking for submissions to be used on its cover. Yes, it's a contest. The winner's work will be featured on Deeper Into the Pond: A Celebration of Femininity to be published later in 2011. There is no pay but since Ball runs respected review Web site The Compulsive Reader (www.thecompulsivereader.com), and Howard-Johnson is the author of a multi award-winning series of books for writers including The Frugal Book Promoter, they can promise a wide distribution of the cover image, credit and a biography of the cover artist in the book, and tons of marketing exposure.

See the other chapbooks' covers at www.howtodoitfrugally.com/poetry_books.htm.

Here is a poem from that chapbook:

Ariel

Memory's two voices,
the you-girl
suffering the moment
and the you-now
who interprets.
You promise yourself
you won't fear the secrets,
won't tell what happened
without the feelings.
You deny yourself that
and you become Ursula
stealing your own song,
leaving yourself gurgling
under the sea. You need
the music to tell your story,
to find it, to understand it
to know the truth,
to reach above the
ocean's surface
where
others
live.

If you have something you'd like us to see, please e-mail your creative work to Ball with SUBMISSION: DEEPER INTO THE POND in the subject line.

We hope to have a decision by June 1, 2011 and we reserve the right to select no winner. If a winner is selected, we may also choose runners-up so those acknowledgments may be used by the winners for purposes of marketing. There is no fee for entering, and only the honor and publications for being selected. Oh, yes. And two copies of the finished chapbook. We hope to hear from you.

____________

To learn more about Carolyn's work visit . . .

Web site: http://www.HowToDoItFrugally.com

Blogs for Writers: http://www.SharingWithWriters.blogspot.com
http://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com
http://www.TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/carolynhowardjohnson
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/frugalbookpromo
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/carolynhowardjohnson

CONTACT: Carolyn Howard-Johnson
CONTACT: Magdalena Ball

Bay Island - A zombie apocalypse that will pull terror from the depths of your primal, racing heart

2011-03-09T01:00:00.002-06:00

Book Title: Bay Island
Author: Matthew Kray
ISBN: 978-1432758509
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui

Bay Island, with its coastal fishing village and resort, rests quietly in remote isolation, peaceful and serene; its inhabitants ill prepared for the zombie apocalypse that author Matthew Kray is about to unleash. Get ready zombie fans, Bay Island is not just a zombie showcase of gore—although if you are looking for splatter you’ll get that too. Kray has a well written, character driven plot that will please horror fans with some truly gruesome imagery and suspense. Kray’s Bay Island will pull terror from the depths of your primal, racing heart.

The inhabitants are aware that there is a virus on the mainland causing the dead to rise and feast on the living. They know that their only hope of survival is to remain isolated from the contagion. What they don’t know is that beneath the waves, in the currents and on the tide walks an army of corpses.

Through skillfully manipulating words Kray builds a sense of anticipation and a feeling of silence around the island. He sets the scene with care and deliberation so that the natural silence of Bay Island’s lapping water is eerily broken by the slurping sound of macabre chewing and the sodden shuffling of corpse feet.

Not only does Kray maintain and build suspense throughout the book, he masterfully creates visual imagery through the written word that will make your skin crawl and insides turn. Once he breaks the rising tension, he really scorches the pages with truly exciting zombie combat.

To the horror critics that have lost hope for the genre, I want to acknowledge here that Kray uses his zombie apocalypse to explore the human spirit, and the driving motivations behind loyalty, greed, bravery, faith, self sacrifice, and a host of other insights. These characters are believable and motivated to survive. He places the inhabitants of Bay Island through the fire of tribulation and burns away the social masks to reveal their true faces.

What would you do if you were responsible for keeping people safe? Whose arms do you cling to in your final hours? Where does hope come from? What or who do you love most? What will you die to protect? What will you cling to that makes life worth fighting for? These themes are all touched by the drama that unfolds in this horror piece. Not that Bay Island is moralistic or preachy; it isn’t by any stretch of the imagination. Bay Island is primarily a zombie thrill ride, but it has a human, beating heart.

Kray effectively uses suspense to capture the reader’s interest and –once the first zombie touches shore, he thrusts reader and characters alike into high velocity action that turns Bay Island’s zombie invasion into a resurrection of your most chilling, forgotten, walking dead nightmare.

Q&A Continued, With Author and Business Leader Karlin Sloan

2011-03-08T01:00:00.096-06:00

Ink Slinger's Whimsey is Proud to Welcome the UNFEAR Tour for Author Karlin Sloan.

Yesterday, March 7, 2011, Part One of this question and answer interview with Karlin Sloan was featured by host Yvonne Perry at her Writers In The Sky blog.

It is my pleasure to offer you the second half of that interview and to invite you to continue following the tour by visiting tomorrow's host, The New Book Review, for a review of UNFEAR Facing Change In and Era of Uncertainty. A full tour schedule can be found at http://bit.ly/unfearvirtualtour.

______________________

Karlin Sloan

Ink Slinger's Whimsey is presenting Part Two of this written interview with executive coaching guru, author Karlin Sloan.

Karlin Sloan is the founder and CEO of Karlin Sloan & Company, Ms. Sloan provides organization development consulting, training and executive coaching to clients the U.S., Europe, South America and Asia. She is the author of Smarter, Faster, Better; Strategies for Effective, Enduring, and Fulfilled Leadership (Jossey-Bass, 2006) and Unfear (January 2011).

As a consultant and executive coach, Sloan speaks with powerful corporate leaders every day and, over the years, has seen that many of the people she works with are living with stress and ambiguity. Managing from a fear-based state affects an individual personally, which can lead to consequences that impede a work team and, in turn, the larger organization. The book inspires readers to make decisions out of hope and purpose, rather than out of fear.

Vonnie: Karlin, you and your company are considered to be at the forefront of the executive coaching industry. You are an entrepreneur, an innovator, and visionary with a message of change. What are the greatest influences that have shaped your development as a leader?

Karlin: What a great question. My clients have had an enormous impact on my development as a leader. I’ve met some very talented, gifted people who have been examples of what is possible in galvanizing a team or a whole organization. I’ve been greatly influenced by pioneers in positive psychology who have opted not to study dysfunction and pathology, but have focused on what makes us happy, productive, engaged and optimistic. I’ve endeavored to put what I’ve learned into practice in my own organization, and I think we’ve got a wonderfully collaborative and positive community as a result.

Vonnie: How did you come to the concept of UNFEAR and how were the four practices developed?

Karlin: I had an epiphany one day when I was doing research on leadership and resilience, specifically studying the leadership case study of Earnest Shackleton, the Antarctic explorer who was foiled in his efforts to cross the continent on dogsled in 1914. I was trying to capture in writing the practices that enabled him to lead his team through a truly harrowing journey of shipwreck and survival, and I wrote out an early version of the four practices of UNFEAR. I tried them out with clients and found they really fit anyone leading in uncertain times.

Vonnie: What kind of fruit have you seen as a result of executives practicing the four practices of UNFEAR? What does a company look like when its leaders work together following the four practices?

Karlin: The energy in those organizations is infectious. People are engaged, excited about their contribution to something larger than themselves. You can feel it, and you hear it immediately when you walk in the door because people are talking about the business from a positive perspective. We spend so much of our lives at work – and we have a choice to build organizations that add to our lives and the lives of our customers and our communities.

Vonnie: As a consultant your clients are executive leaders, upper management seeking leadership development programs and executive coaching. What does your book offer the employee? How can the four practices of UNFEAR be used by employees seeking more out of their professional life? How might someone that is not currently in a position of leadership use your book and the four practices of UNFEAR to elevate themselves within a company?

Karlin: UNFEAR is really for everyone. What I believe is that leadership is at every level of an organization. That mantle no longer belongs only to those at the top. No one person holds all the cards in our complex, interdependent organizations, and we all need to take charge of ourselves and the world that we influence. UNFEAR is something that helps everyone around us. I’ve had people tell me what an impact it’s made on their family to use the four practices – and I find that so gratifying!

Vonnie: How have you used the four practices of UNFEAR in your own business, as CEO of Karlin Sloan & Company?

Karlin: We just completed our strategic planning retreat to prepare for 2011, and we were able to use the four practices to evaluate how we’ve done in the past year and to define what we want to do differently in the next year. I think they are a reminder for us to stick to our values and to keep ourselves healthy as an organization, and also as individuals.

Vonnie: If there is one message, out of the many in your book, that you hope the reading audience will absorb, what would it be?

Karlin: That wonderful things are possible when we set our minds in the right direction! We all have the capacity to shift ourselves out of unproductive, fearful states into fulfilling, empowered states from which we can lead ourselves and others. The world needs us to be at our best in order to meet the challenges we face, and the first step is to shift into UNFEAR.

____________________

Thank you for joining our tour and visiting this site.

Tomorrow's host, The New Book Review, offers a review of UNFEAR Facing Change In and Era of Uncertainty. A full tour schedule can be found at http://bit.ly/unfearvirtualtour.

UNFEAR Tour Launches into the Blog-o-sphere!

2011-03-02T08:10:00.000-06:00

Business Leader Releases

UNFEAR –Facing Change in an Era of Uncertainty
Leadership Development Expert Karlin Sloan Celebrates Book with Virtual Tour

Chicago, IL March, 2011, — UNFEAR - Facing Change in an Era of Uncertainty (ISBN: 9781452885858,) had its official book launch on January 20, 2011. The book’s release is being followed by a virtual book tour on the Internet, launched on March 1, 2011, from Karlin Sloan's Success TV blog with a discussion provoking article about future shock and facing change in an era of uncertainty. March 2, 2011, the UNFEAR Tour moves on its way to the Internet site of ASuccessfulWoman.com with an article about "Three Steps to Being Complaint Free"

This book and the UNFEAR virtual tour come at a time when people across the U.S. live in fear of unemployment, the unpredictable economy and the threat of terrorism and political unrest in the middle east that has a global scale impact. Author, CEO, and leadership development expert Karlin Sloan addresses how to combat these worries in UNFEAR: Facing Change in an Era of Uncertainty.
As a consultant and executive coach, Sloan speaks with powerful corporate leaders every day and, over the years, has seen that many of the people she works with are living with stress and ambiguity. Managing from a fear-based state affects an individual personally, which can lead to consequences that impede a work team and, in turn, the larger organization. The book inspires readers to make decisions out of hope and purpose, rather than out of fear.

"Many of the assertive, intelligent people I come into contact with are letting fear cripple their decision-making skills," says Sloan. "I wanted to write a book that provides them with useful tools to reduce fear-based behaviors, to inspire performance, and to align their team or greater organization around a larger purpose."

Using examples from business leaders, including P&G, Walmart, Yahoo!, and LG Electronics, Sloan offers clear, effective, and practical strategies that enhance teamwork and leadership effectiveness regardless of economic uncertainty.

I just finished my first reading of UNFEAR and I'm deeply moved. Karlin has done an amazing job of weaving and synthesizing important ideas and concepts in ways that support looking at ourselves, our organizations and our world in fresh, creative ways. UNFEAR is an inspiring and practical guide to facing our fears and taking on creating a world that we want to live in. - Marc Lesser, author of LESS: Accomplishing More by Doing Less

Karlin Sloan’s UNFEAR virtual tour will travel the Internet offering question-and-answer written and radio interviews with the author, blog articles, reviews, book excerpts, and more. Each tour stop will explore the concept of UNFEAR, and the four practices taught by Karlin Sloan & Company to executive leaders around the world. The Karlin Sloan virtual tour for UNFEAR is being produced by Ink Slinger's Whimsey and Writers in the Sky. Visit http://bit.ly/unfearvirtualtour for further information and a tour schedule.

Karlin Sloan is the founder and CEO of Karlin Sloan & Company, a leadership development firm providing development consultation for national and multinational organizations seeking to advance through enhanced training and executive coaching. Karlin holds a BA from Mills College, an MA in clinical psychology from the Professional School of Psychology in San Francisco, and executive coach certification through the William James Institute Center for Executive Coaching.

WHOSE STUFF IS THIS? Virtual Tour is coming our way!

2011-02-28T04:00:00.003-06:00

The virtual tour for Whose Stuff Is This? will be coming our way on March 25, 2011. I thought you might like a little advance notice and to learn more about the author, my personal friend Yvonne Perry, owner of Writers In the Sky Creative Writing Services.

Media Release

Nashville Author Shares Methods to Help Highly-sensitive People Shield Themselves from Detrimental Energy

Summary: A highly-sensitive empath launches a book, WHOSE STUFF IS THIS? Finding Freedom from the Thoughts, Feelings, and Energy of Those Around You, with ways to stay emotionally healthy in am over-stimulating world.

NASHVILLE, TN February 24, 2010 — Humans are connected in many ways: the air we breathe, our basic needs and physiology, and energetically/spiritually. No one feels the power of this connection more than the energy-sensitive people, known as empaths, who unknowingly pick up on the detrimental thoughts, feelings, and even the illnesses of others and their environment. Many carry this negativity as if it were their own. In fact, some empaths are so burdened with the energy of others, they are no longer aware of what their own energy feels like. Mysterious illnesses, anxiety attacks, hearing voices, seeing shadows, feeling negative, fearful, anger, or having an impending sense of dread,— you name it, they feel it. And most empathic people have no idea where this stuff is coming from.

“Around your physical body, there is a magnetic shield of energy known as your aura. Its purpose is to provide protection and gather energy and information as you interface with your environment. In grade school, we were taught to keep our hands to ourselves. The same is true with the energy field surrounding our body,” writes Nashville author Yvonne Perry in her new book, WHOSE STUFF IS THIS? Finding Freedom from the Thoughts, Feelings, and Energy of Those Around You.“Ideally, your energy field should be kept two to three feet from your body, but many untrained empaths unknowingly allow their aura to extend and blend with the energy fields of others who have lax boundaries around their auras. When empathic people tap into the thoughts or emotional impulses of another person, the intuitive gift of empathy (much stronger than heart-felt compassion) reaches in and absorbs energy in an effort to heal or ‘fix’ whatever is out of sync. In doing so, the empath can become contaminated with unhealthy energy. Unfortunately, most of them do not know how to clear the psychic clutter in their auric field.”

Yvonne is joined by psychotherapist Dr. Caron B. Goode, ED.D., NCC, DAPA to provide a fresh perspective on the psychological aspect of empathy and intuition. “Some of the characteristics that empaths display can also be diagnosed as ADD, agoraphobia, bipolar disorder, or clinical depression,” says Caron. “Most doctors and counselors are not aware that empathy fatigue exists, much less how to treat it, but this intuitive overload is a very real problem to energy-sensitive people.” Caron is the author of The Art & Science of Coaching Parents, Raising Intuitive Children, and Kids Who See Ghosts - Guide Them Through Their Fears.

“Yvonne Perry's book thoroughly explains the process of being an empath in today's world. She provides cognitive, emotional, physical, energetic, and spiritual explanations for the origin of deep empathy, while sharing her own amazing story and the stories of others,” says transformational coach Gini Grey. “This book offers an array of powerful techniques to help empathic people create healthy boundaries, stay balanced, and release other people's energy and emotions from their personal space. This book is a must read for anyone and everyone who is sensitive to the thoughts, moods and problems of those around them.” Gini is the author of FROM CHAOS TO CALM: How to Shift Unhealthy Stress Patterns and Create Your Own Balance in Life.

About:
Yvonne is a graduate of American Institute of Holistic Theology where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Metaphysics. For years she was enmeshed with the dogma of religion that her family and church leaders passed down to her. Before she had a label to put on her empathetic ability, she called herself an intercessor. While praying for others she empathically took on their suffering until it severely challenged her emotional and physical health. Embracing a totally different path and belief system, she now openly uses the gift of empathy to help others heal their lives. http://WhoseStuffIsThis.com

###
Contact:
Yvonne Perry
Phone: (615) 415-9861
Email: Yvonne@WhoseStuffIsThis.com
Website: http://WhoseStuffIsThis.com

WITS welcomes author of Evidence of Insanity, Carol Piner

2011-02-25T07:19:00.001-06:00

Writers in the Sky Podcast guest, author Carol Piner will share her autobiographical book, Evidence of Insanity.

This hilarious new book is a jaw dropping, full-speed-ahead romp through the life of a girl in the south. Carol "dances shamelessly" through a maelstrom of events that would . . . bring a man down, but she bounces back and keeps on going. This is an amazingly candid story that will have you laughing and crying at the same time. Carol Piner is a storyteller in the grand-old-southern tradition. Join host Vonnie Faroqui for a visit with the author and discover what it means to be a “tale spinner,” southern style.

www.EvidenseofInsanity.com
To buy Carol's paintings or signed copies of her book, Evidence of Insanity [for $22.72,] contact Carol directly at sunny@clis.com.

Click Play to Listen . . .

Limelight Book Review to Launch April 2011

2011-02-22T13:16:00.002-06:00

Ink Slinger's Whimsey [ISW] is always seeking new and innovative ways to assist our clients with their online promotions. The Limelight Book Review is our most recent project directed toward assisting our clients in capitalizing on and utilizing the social media phenomenon created by YouTube.

Limelight Book Review Launches April, 2011

About the Show

The Limelight Book Review is a weekly, video book review produced by and presented through the Ink Slinger’s Whimsey author promotions blog and is being promoted with a monthly online media release, in our newsletter, to our mailing list and through our blogs.

Audiences will be introduced to new authors, learn additional and interesting facts about authors they have met before, and enjoy insightful reviews about the latest books on the market.

The focus of the show is to bring positive attention to up and coming or established authors by . . .

• Sharing author bios and Internet URLs

• Featuring video book reviews with 4 and 5 star ratings

• Placement of video book reviews at http://inkslingerswhimsey.blogspot.com/, Amazon.com, YouTube, on Videojug.com and other video related social media outlets

• Announcing author promotional and virtual tour campaigns

• Providing authors with video book reviews that can be used for online self promotion through social media

Promotional Offer

Presently, the Limelight Book Review is in the production stages while we build a season of reviews and will launch right here, April 2011.

As part of the promotional build up and preparation for the show's launch, the Limelight Book Review video reviews are being offered free with the purchase of ISW's standard book review and the WITS Podcast interview combined services. For service details visit http://www.ink-slingers-whimsey.com/services.php.

Start building your video presence on the Internet by having our video review of your book featured on The Limelight Book Review. Submit your book for a free assessment now as the promotional offer won't last forever.

How Does My Book Become a Featured Review?

Books coming to ISW for written or video review services are assessed for entertainment value or social and cultural significance and literary quality, with grammatical and mechanical consideration. The review services are reserved for books receiving our four to five star rating. There is no charge for the assessment or if a book does not receive a high enough rating to be featured as a written review on our blog or through the Limelight Book Review show.

Authors interested being featured through this promotional opportunity please contact . . .

Vonnie Faroqui
Ink Slinger's Whimsey
http://www.ink-slingers-whimsey.com/

Yee-Ha!, A Review of Evidence of Insanity.

2011-02-21T02:03:00.000-06:00

Book Title: Evidence of Insanity
Author: Carol Piner
ISBN-10: 0557386934
ISBN-13: 978-0557386932
Publisher: Lulu Publishing
Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui

Yee-Ha!

In an age when everything is whitewashed for political correctness or proclaimed as abusive and then psychoanalyzed sagely by folk of privilege, Evidence of Insanity is an unapologetic, knock-down-drag-out hilarious romp through the author, Carol Piner’s, memory of life in Morehead, Carteret County, North Carolina and beyond. She begins by setting the scene of those early years in Morehead by sharing that, “Talk . . . was our biggest industry . . . the low down, dirty, mean mouth kind of talking. Of course, it was all true, but let’s forget that for a moment and move on.” Piner isn’t shy about spinning the yarn of her life, boldly exposing herself, her neighbors, family and relationships for their inglorious humanity. She does so by washing laughter over all, as she out-truths the gossip mongers in this “tell all” book.

Piner describes her early self best when she writes “Think of me as a small Scarlet O’Hara. A grimy at all times Scarlet, but her nonetheless.” An apt description as time and again she faces the cruelties of life with stubborn determination and tenacity but above all else, humor. Evenhanded but merciless in her commentary, she holds nothing back when it comes to self analysis or her assessment of people and circumstances.

Evidence of Insanity, reveals as much about the strength and courage, pride and perseverance to be found in womankind as it does about Piner’s life. If you have painful memories of childhood or traumas that you just can’t seem to let go of, an hour reading Evidence of Insanity will slap the self pity right out of you, and leave you humbled but ready to go on living, a little freer for the reality check.

The colorful goings-on related in the pages of her memoirs paint, with all the soul and rich southern flavor a body could desire, one of the best depictions of rural life America that I have ever read. Evidence of Insanity is surely aptly named. Fried Green Tomatoes and the Ya-Ya Sisterhood have nothing on the Yee-HAs of Carteret County.

An Interview with J.C.Knudson Author of, Living the Difference

2011-02-18T04:00:00.015-06:00

Writers in the Sky Podcast Presents . . .

Author J.C. Knudson in an interview about his book, Living the Difference. Knudson is using his autobiographical book as a vehicle to educate society on homosexuality. He is a firm believer that an educated society is a more accepting and understanding society and out of that understanding will eventually follow equality for all.

Living the Difference is an enlightening story revealed for people of all ages straight or gay. With all the news coverage recently on gay rights, teen suicides, and the upcoming elections, this book is worth reading, no matter which side of the issues you find yourself.

Click Play to listen . . .

Using PR and Social Media

2011-02-16T20:01:00.012-06:00

Obtaining coverage in media publications (TV, radio, podcasts, online video, newspapers, magazines, online news sites, blogs, etc.) is every author's goal for spread the word about their book. PR coverage is free, third-party validation, which often results in more credibility for you and your book. So how does one secure coverage in these publications and media, and how can social media help?

If you have been reluctant to launch yourself into the Tweet-o-sphere, here is another reason to get yourself out there.

Social media is not just a way for you to spread the word about your activities or book release. It is a way to connect with what the social media gurus call "influencers."

An influencer: is someone who is connected with and able to influence the public through the media, such as a journalist, reporter or blogger.

Many journalists, reporters, and bloggers make themselves available on Twitter. Oh, it's true, I promise, and using Twitter is a great way to introduce yourself to them.

First you have to find them and one way to do this is to look for influential blogs (use blog search engines like Technorati), subscribe to them, and start following their authors on Twitter. Another way is to start following journalists who target our industry. Then start tweeting with them, but don't oversell yourself or your book. Get to know their work and site themes first and make sure that you have something to offer them before making your approach. Develop relationships by tweeting about an article of theirs that you enjoyed or by asking a question. (You can also use the comment section on a blog in much the same way.)

The web and social media give access to a whole slew of influencers with which you can easily interact and develop relationships. Building relationships and networking through social media connects you with these influencers who have the ability to place stories about you and your book in front of the reading public.

Join us next week for TIPS on . . . How to Pitch Yourself .

Inside, Living the Difference

2011-02-16T09:48:00.003-06:00

Book Title: Living the Difference: an enlightening story revealed for people of all ages straight or gay
Author: J.C. Knudson
ISBN-10: 0578062712
ISBN-13: 978-0578062716
Publisher: Espresso House Publishing & Distribution, LLC (August 25, 2010)
Link to purchase: http://amzn.to/hyQvOn

Inside Living the Difference

J.C. Knudson has done what few other people have dared to do. He has written a book detailing the story of his life. I know tons of people write about their lives –too many to count and within every life is a story or lesson worth finding. What makes this book noteworthy is that J.C. has written with the intent of revealing his earliest memories of same sex attraction. His book details his early sexual development and goes on to outline the events of his life as affected and shaped by his sexual orientation. In writing, he has avoided much of the self pity or self aggrandizement that often characterize biographies, instead choosing to relate his story in a way that allows others to form their own opinions –to reject or to embrace the message he has to share. The resulting book is remarkably under-sensationalized.

J.C. doesn’t try to convince you of what being gay is or is not. He believes that being gay is as natural as being straight and so he doesn’t waste time defending that position. He simply and neatly opens the doors and lets you look inside his life. He is respectful. He doesn’t impose on the reader or force intimacy. His story explores the wasted moments and the misery created through self denial and ignorance, showing clearly that living a lie leads to a life full of regret and self judgment. By embracing himself and his natural desires J.C. opened himself and his life for self respect, for true loving, lasting relationships, and to mutual appreciation. He shares his confusion and desires without being explicit, and in so doing makes it possible for others to learn from his life, offering as much in the way of comfort and hope as he does to dispel fear and ignorance.

Living the Difference reveals in its pages a man with high standards, ethics, dedication, love, and loyalty. The life he has led could easily be any of our lives, at the best and worst of times and yet the difference is there, imposed by the perceptions and culture around him. What did Living the Difference reveal to me? It revealed a human story of triumph and humility that offers hope and a measure of normalcy to counter the misperception of irresponsibility and flamboyant decadency which veils the “gay life.”

There is much in this book that may be helpful in dispelling prejudice and fear about gay men in particular. However, the most benefit will be gained by those who will read between the lines and notice that J.C. is no different in his humanity than they are. I recommend this book for those who are struggling to suppress homosexual attractions or who are in confusion about their sexual orientation. This book will be especially helpful to those men who like J.C. have lived or are living double lives. Many gay men would like to embrace themselves but are afraid that doing so will remove them from having full lives; from the possibility of finding happiness, meaningful relationship, success, and achievement. J.C.’s story reveals that being gay does not condemn anyone to an empty or frivolous life, devoid of relationship, and doomed to rejection.

If nothing else J.C’s story offers hope to those who otherwise might have only the fear and self loathing. The real difference between gay and straight life comes from having the sanction to love fully by embracing one’s self. Living well being the only choice one has to make.

Social Media: Using LinkedIn's Blog Link application to broaden your promotional reach

2011-02-09T04:00:00.015-06:00

If you have a LinkedIn account or are considering using LinkedIn as part of your social media plan, don't miss adding the Blog Link application, powered by TypePad, when you set up your profile.

Blog Link is a free application that pulls your author blog, or blogs you write for clients, onto your LinkedIn home page. All you have to do is list your blog as one of the live links allowed in your profile, and when you choose the Blog Link tool it pulls your blog into LinkedIn. Not only will this application display your blog entries, it will display the blog entries made by any of your LinkedIn connections who also use the blogroll feature.

For those of you seeking to expand the reach of your blog or sell books outside of a regional location, using the Blog Link application in LinkedIn is a powerful easy way to attract new readers, and to build stronger relations with your connections.

To sign up for LinkedIn visit http://www.linkedin.com/

The Perks and Perils of Self-Publishing

2011-02-04T04:00:00.017-06:00

Author Olivia Rodan Jacobs returns as a guest blogger to share her publishing experience with Outskirts Press. Welcome back Olivia!

_______________________________________

The Perks and Perils of Self-Publishing

The manuscript was complete. It was time to think about publishing, but there were challenges. My first draft had been a simple mystery. The finished product brought up controversy. I’d added factual information that gave the thriller depth and intensity, but the page count had burgeoned. The book wasn’t sexy enough for some publishers but might be considered harsh by others. And I was a first-time author.
What should I do? I would never self-publish. Pay all that money, and then what? Give a few books to friends and let the rest sit in a box in my garage? (I’d heard such tales.)
A neighbor urged me to look into Amazon’s connection with self-publishing. I ordered SELL YOUR BOOK on Amazon, by Brent Sampson. I researched self-publishers and was impressed by the POD or print-on-demand approach.
One company stood out in my research, both for professionalism and fair pricing. So I entered a relationship with Outskirts Press (www.outskirtspress.com) and submitted my manuscript to Outskirts’ review committee. A positive response included the comment, “Reads like a movie.” I was pleased. It also stated, “Needs cutting.” Hmm, maybe 480 pages was too long.
The process of revising included shifting the order of some sections. Then I proofread, spell-checked, proofread again. Outskirts offers editing services, but I was watching my pennies.
The galley stage is a “last chance” to catch errors previously missed. I saw a few typos and entered them in the edit sheet. Outskirts also offers a proof-book, as more errors might be more caught in that form. Again watching my pennies, I declined. The first five books were sent to me as a publisher courtesy. You guessed it—I immediately spotted more typos. Then my daughter suggested I add a simple map. More changes. More charges. My own fault.
The book was ready. Outskirts Press sent out press releases. And then a friend suggested a change in the appearance of the title—putting Jerusalem 3000 in italics and THE POISONER’S AGENDA in all caps to better reflect the content of the book. It was a good suggestion. Outskirts helped me make the change. Throughout the whole process, both the copy and image editors at Outskirts displayed a professionalism, patience and courtesy that was impressive.
I was a published author! But since information had been released before I decided on a cover change, the wrong image showed up on some catalog pages, and since the book was already published, these corrections became my responsibility. (I’m still working on this!)
The perks of self-publishing? No one told me what to write. I worked with fantastic professionals at Outskirts Press. The book came to print in a matter of weeks, not years. But the perils? I made mistakes. I added improvements late. Don’t let your own “rush to print” pressure you. Your book will hit the market.
Ah, but that’s the next question, how to market it? Outskirts offers a lot of help in marketing, emailing many tips. I’m also gleaning a lot from Vonnie at Ink Slinger's Whimsey. What an adventure!

Olivia Rodan Jacobs, author of Jerusalem 3000, THE POISONER’S AGENDA
www.thepoisonersagenda.com Reviews on www.writersinthesky.com and www.amazon.com.

Social Media: Having a Plan

2011-02-02T09:03:00.000-06:00

Thinking of using social media to market your book?

It isn’t enough to simply use social media in an attempt to attract followers and redirect traffic to your website. If you are posting sales tweets or blogging sales promotional material all of the time you are not going to attract an audience, the followers you do have won’t be clicking through your links and you will develop a reputation as a walking advertisement. You have to be strategic about your use of social media and you have to be friendly. A lot of time is wasted by dropping link bombs or book promo sales tweets. Social media only works well for online promotions when you have a strong-engaged-return-following, a level of trust established with your audience, and when the communication and interest flows both ways. In order to build that loyal following and trust you have to offer the reader something they are interested in, you have to do it regularly and be open to comments by responding where you are able.

The people who are making and saving money using online promotions all employ a strategic plan when using social media. Here are some tips for making a social media plan that have been shared with me or that I have discovered working with WITS.

TIPS:

1. Write out your objectives: Know what you want your social media to do. Write out a bullet point list of objectives such as: “attract readers who are interested in my themes,” “excite readers into purchasing my book,” “inform readers about issues that interest me or have influenced my writing,” “introduce readers to my writing style,” or “Show readers how interesting and creative my writing is.”

2. List out all the social media sites you will be using: Pick your Favorites. The main four are: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn, plus having a blog. You don’t have to know how you’re going to use them, just list out the possibilities. Familiarity or popularity may be a consideration in the sites you select.

3. Develop a vision: Take each site and write the outcome you want. For example, “Attracting people who are both entertained and want to do business with me,” or “Sharing information that my clients want to know,” or “Creating a group that people are excited to join.”

4. List out possible places you can get material: This will be your resource guide of reliable websites that offer interesting news stories relating to your business or book themes. These sites are the places where you can return time and again for a new post or blog idea. If you aren’t familiar with or already searching the web for theme related sites try looking at the Top 100 Blogs on Technorati for examples.

5. Create a strategy: This might be posting updates three times a week or writing out a list of Tweets at the start of each month. It might also just mean spending time every day familiarizing yourself with the social media site and how to use it.

6. Write out your goals: Maybe your goal is to post a video book trailer, or get to 100 followers, to expand into a new sales area, or to simply generate more sales. Start with small, possible, measurable goals and update the results as you go.

7. Keep your blog friendly but professional: If you want to share pictures of your cat or update the babysitter on your current location and plans for returning home, use a separate Twitter account. Don’t use your professional blog to talk about Aunt Sally’s lumbago.

8. Give it time: It takes a certain amount of time to establish a following or return audience. Give yourself two or three months to know if your social media efforts are paying off before considering a change of direction.

9. Keep your advertisements to a minimum: You need to establish a returning audience, before you try to sell a product. Your audience will return to your site because you have peaked their interest by offering them news or insight, given them advice or passed on information they find useful. The fastest way to turn them off or away is by continually dropping sales posts or advertisements for your book. Out of every 100 posts, one should be advertising your services or product information.

10. Stick to your themes: Part of developing trust with your audience is being consistent in your choice of themes. The only way to woo your audience into returning to your site time and again is by offering them more of what they came to you for in the first place. Pick four or five themes and use those themes as a guideline when creating a post or blog entry. Follow your posting strategy religiously. Pre-program your posts and blog entries using a schedule. People respond well when they have expectations that are being met and random, irregular posting practices kill audiences. If you are offering quality content consistently and on a regular posting schedule, you will build the loyal following you want and sell books.

How a Book Was Born

2011-01-28T04:00:00.002-06:00

I would like to welcome guest blogger Olivia Rodan Jacobs, author of Jerusalem 3000, THE POISONER’S AGENDA.

How a Book Was Born

It started out innocently enough. When the dinner dishes were done, my children were busy with homework, and I had finished correcting the day’s pile of English essays from my high school students, I picked up a steno pad and amused myself for half an hour by writing a story, an adventure story, a mystery—really a mystery because I had no idea where the story was going.

I guess I broke all the rules of writing. I had no outline, no list of characters, and no resolution in mind. I just curled up on the sofa and scribbled, imagining scenes in my mind, remembering settings in vivid detail from my own tramping about in Israel. The characters became composites of people I had known. It was fun.

After a few months the characters sorted themselves into heroes or villains. The plot seemed to write its own denouement. It was time to type up my scribbles. Why hadn’t I used the computer to write what somehow evolved into a manuscript of more than two hundred pages? When I began, I hadn’t envisioned a book being born. I was simply unwinding after a day’s work.

Eventually I completed the typing and went to the library for a book about agents. I sent out a few queries. To my surprise I received several requests to see the manuscript. More than one response was positive. I chose a well-reputed agent and sat back to let him do the work.

He did, and several editors asked to see the manuscript. Then the replies started arriving. “Great story, but it is not quite right for our publishing house at this time.” That was the gist of it, over and over again, polite rejections. I put the manuscript in a drawer and forgot about it.

A few years went by. Then I felt compelled to take the manuscript out again. This time I actually did have a vision. I wanted to write about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the role of Jerusalem. I wanted to reach readers not particularly interested in political blogs. I wanted to turn the story into a mystery thriller with soul.

I took the basic plot of my original draft and gave it depth and passion by adding factual background material. My characters blossomed. To strengthen credibility for motivation, I added flashbacks to the plot. The book gained intensity greater than that of a simple mystery.

The initial writing was a lark. Turning the story into a thriller with the dual purpose of entertaining and embodying truth was plain hard work. Nevertheless, the whole process was almost self-propelled, and every moment was full of the excitement of creation.

By Olivia Rodan Jacobs, author of Jerusalem 3000, THE POISONER’S AGENDA
Publisher: www.outskirtspress.com
Author’s website: www.thepoisonersagenda.com.
Review on www.writersinthesky.com. More reviews on www.amazon.com.

Introducing Author Rowena Portch

2011-01-24T13:16:00.001-06:00

Spirian Series Author Brings New Dimension to “Blind Seer” Heroine.

Author Rowena Portch of Greater Seattle, WA, mother of two, accomplished artist, massage therapist, homeopath, and herbalist had already been writing professionally for over 30 years, across different genres and for various publications, when she set out to write her ambitious 5 part Spirian Series. The Protected, book one of the series was released on May 11, 2010 and is already gaining popularity and favorable reviews.

The Protected, are a supernaturally gifted race of beings, not quite human but not fully spirit that secretly share this planet. Among themselves they are known as Spirians, a race caught between the physical and spiritual realms – where anything is possible. Skye, a blind massage therapist, has lived her whole life as human and is unaware of her race and the path her life is about to take. Skye may be the prophesied “Healer” whose gifts are pivotal in the course of her people’s future; a future that could bring about the enslavement of humanity. The Protected, book one of the series, takes the reader with Skye into the hidden world of the Spirians, where a few stand in the balance ready to teach Skye to use the power that is her birthright before she becomes a pawn in a much larger game.

The Union, book two was released in the fall of 2010. Series heroine, Skye, has joined Khalen Dunning and his clan of Spirians and takes her place as the blind healer of legend. A rival clan, the Shadows, have set designs in motion to destroy Khalen and subvert Skye. Hungry for power and blood they cannot allow Skye to become Khalen's mate. Khalen will be pushed to use his powers to take life. Doing so will carry him to the edge of darkness and place everything he has fought for including his soul at risk. The truce between clans has been broken and war is imminent. Spirian elders from around the world are gathering to determine leadership and to negotiate and enforce Spirian law. Is there another of the Protected strong enough to challenge Khalen, one better suited to serve as Skye’s guardian? Are Skye and Khalen destined to be life mates? Can Khalen keep Skye alive long enough to cement their bond by claiming her? Author Rowena Portch keeps audiences guessing.

The series shows immense promise. The author shares that . . .

“I had the local Read Right program that helps folks learn to read more efficiently evaluate my book for their program. They were very pleased to have a book that was suitable for their young teens as well as adults. Because it contained no profanity, heavy violence, or explicit sex scenes, they found it appropriate to bring in as their main read for their young teens. I was very pleased and happy to hear that.”

Not only is the book becoming an easy favorite with readers, an author interview with Rowena Portch was be featured on Writers in the Sky Podcast, which aired over the Internet on August 6, 2010.

“The depth of realism and texture Portch has written into the character and world of her “Blind Seer” heroine is untouchable by the writings of sighted authors. Once you read The Protected you’ll never believe another author trying to write blind again. Portch has written a unique and engaging series that will thrill and inspire readers.” says book reviewer and podcast host Vonnie Faroqui of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services [WITS]

There is a spiritual level to Portch’s writing that challenges the reader’s understanding and world view. Theme elements include dualism and the balance between light and darkness, good and evil and the shades of gray between them. Portch pulls in and examines through her characters the role of Spirit and the ego as they relate to physical and emotional sickness, and health. There are real moral and spiritual issues being addressed in the series that the author handles skillfully, with humility, and without becoming dogmatic or bogged down by theology.

When asked, Rowena shared the following views on writing and information about the second book . . .
About Writing and Publishing . . .
“. . . I look for a solid plot and intriguing characters that I can relate to. I learned many years ago to write for myself. Now that self-publishing has earned its way into a much deserved respect, I feel confident publishing my own work and dictating where that work will take me. Outskirts Press provided a fabulous experience. I will use them again for the remaining books in my series. That's my plan anyway. Life has a way of changing the tides.”
About her series . . .
“. . . In book one, Skye learns about her Spirian side and grows to know Khalen Dunning, a powerful man that could easily claim her soul. In book two Skye is living among other Spirians. Her gifts have intensified beyond everyone’s expectations, including Case, the Protected’s wisest elder. Case knows that a union between Khalen and Skye would be a powerful one; a bond that would enforce the strength of the race. In book two I explore the lengths Khalen’s darker twin, Traeger, will go to ensure that the union between his brother and Skye doesn’t take place; and how far Khalen will go to protect her. Until now, Khalen’s power to take life has been subdued. In this book I want the reader to ask what would happen if that control was abolished and Khalen’s gifts were unleashed?”

Portch retired from her successful career as an editor at Microsoft, when she lost her vision to retinitis pigmentosa. After leaving Microsoft she and husband Gregg opened the Abel Wellness Center on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. Among the many healing modalities that Portch practices at the Center is the ancient form of healing, Chinese Tui Na, practiced by Qi Gong masters, acupuncturists, and Portch’s main character, Skye, from The Protected.

Portch has drawn not only from her personal life, using her experience of diminished sight and later blindness for character development, but has drawn in her healing work, and relationships to write the Spirian heroine’s world and to fill her books with realism. This author’s work will fascinate and please readers for years to come.

Learn more about Rowena Portch and the Spirian Series from her website at http://rowenaportch.com/ or by following her on http://twitter.com/Zhenikar and at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rowena-Portch-author-of-the-Spirian-series/113490825329394. The author will meet and sign books for the public with events to be announced through BookTour.com.

Happy 2011!

2011-01-16T21:26:00.000-06:00

The end of 2010, saw the completion of Garasamo Maccagnone's WITS virtual tour for St. John of the Midfield.

The 2011 new year begins with preparations for the launch of yet another fantastic virtual tour production for . . .

Author: Karlin Sloan
Book Title: UnFear

Genre: Business, Self Help, Leadership
ISBN10 : 1452885850
ISBN13 : 9781452885858
Publisher: CreateSpace Publishing
Release Date: December 2010
Tour Date: March 1, 2011
Link to purchase

Contact Vonnie Faroqui, virtual tour manager, for information about joining this virtual tour as a blog host or interviewer.

BUSINESS LEADER, ENTREPRENEUR, EXECUTIVE COACH AND AUTHOR OF UNFEAR AND SMARTER, FASTER, BETTER

Karlin Sloan is the founder and CEO of Karlin Sloan & Company, a leadership development firm providing development consultation for national and multinational organizations seeking to advance through enhanced training and executive coaching.

Karlin believes businesses and individuals have a responsibility, not only to their organizations for results, but to embody the changes they wish to see in the world. She holds a BA from Mills College, an MA in clinical psychology from the Professional School of Psychology in San Francisco, and executive coach certification through the William James Institute Center for Executive Coaching.

UNFEAR: FACING CHANGE IN AN ERA OF UNCERTAINTY . . .
A new book by executive coaching guru Karlin Sloan, investigates individual, team, and organizational strategies to reduce fear and inspire performance in the face of change. The book introduces powerful techniques to unlock the fear and begin to make decisions out of hope and purpose, rather than out of fear.

Garasamo Maccagnone , St. John of the Midfield, Virtual Tour

2010-12-27T14:17:00.002-06:00

Tour Schedule
Writers in the Sky authors' assistant, Vonnie Faroqui, invites readers to join WITS for a virtual tour celebrating Garasamo Maccagnone's release of St. John of the Midfield.

St. John of the Midfield, virtual tour begins on December 16, 2010, and runs through Christmas day, December 25, 2010, with every stop offering unique content.

December 16, 2010, Day one of the tour will be hosted by Irene Watson, of Blogging Authors, at www.bloggingauthors.com. Blogging Authors will host an author written article, "Prodigy Syndrome." Follow this blogger on Twitter: @bloggingauthors.

December 17, 2010, Day two, host Karen Pierce Gonzalez of Folkheart Press, http://folkheartpressblog.blogspot.com hosts a Q&A written interview. Follow this blogger on Twitter: @folkheartpress

December 18, 2010, Day three, Dallas Woodburn of http://dallaswoodburn.blogspot.com hosts an article about using YouTube for promotions and the book trailer for St. John of the Midfield. Follow this blogger on Twitter: @DallasWoodburn.

December 19, 2010, Day four, Vonnie Faroqui will post a review of St. John of the Midfield, at her blog http://inkslingerswhimsey.blogspot.com/. Follow this blogger on Twitter: @inkslngrswhmz

December 20, 2010, Day five, Garasamo Maccagnone will be joining Suzanne Lieurance, of The Working Writer's Coach, for a podcast interview you won't want to miss. Follow this blogger on Twitter: @WritersCoach

December 21, 2010, Day six, Carolyn Howard-Johnson of The New Book Review will host a Midfield review written by Irfan Faroqui. Follow this blog on Twitter: @frugalbookpromo

December 22, 2010, Day seven, Lisa Jackson hosts a Q&A written interview with Garasamo Maccagnone at http://lisahaseltonsreviewsandinterviews.blogspot.com. Follow this blogger on Twitter: @lisajjackson

December 23, 2010, Day eight, Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz will host an excerpt from the book and a Q&A written interview at http://pennylockwoodehrenkranz.blogspot.com. Follow this blogger on Twitter: @pennyehrenkranz

December 24, 2010, Day nine of the tour visits Writers In The Sky Podcast , for an author interview between Garasamo Maccagnone and virtual tour manager Vonnie Faroqui. Follow this blogger on Twitter: @writersinthesky

December 25,2010, Merry Christmas! We have a special bonus stop for everyone who has followed Garasamo’s tour.
Vonnie Faroqui, http://inkslingerswhimsey.blogspot.com,
offers a review of, For the Love of St. Nick, a Christmas short story written by Garasamo Maccagnone. Follow this blogger on Twitter: @inkslngrswhmz

For the Love of St. Nick

2010-12-25T04:00:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas!

I have a special bonus treat for everyone that has been following Garasamo Maccagnone's St. John of the Midfield virtual tour. I had intended to post my review of For the Love of St. Nick, a Christmas story by Garasamo Maccagnone. Instead, I have been moved by Mac's story, to dedicate this post to the men and women of the US Armed forces at home and abroad, by sharing an excerpt from the book.

Told from a narrative perspective by the oldest of two sons, For the love of St. Nick is a story of faith and love that is perfect for Christmas. Garasamo once again captures the experience and joy of childhood in this moving story of brotherly love and faith. I was transported to Christmas past, Michigan winters, childhood fears and faith.

Author: Garasamo Maccagnone

Book Title: For the Love of St. Nick
ISBN-10: 1439210128
ISBN-13: 978-1439210123
Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (October 7, 2008)
Link to purchase

Synopsis:
Two boys who have lost their mother tragically, worry they'll never see their father,a Naval Commander, after he embarks on a secret mission with the United States military.

For the Love of St. Nick, Excerpt: Page 31-33

Before we could go, all the men insisted we make snow angels in the clearing. That's when Lieutenant Morrison told the group, "Make em big so we can see em from the sky. It's the first thing we'll look for when we return." While the men weren't paying attention to us, Lieutenant Morrison leaned over on his side and waited for Johnny and me to finish making our angels.

"Boys, boys," he said twice in order to get our attention. Johnny and I popped up to see what he wanted to say to us. Lieutenant Morrison bit his lip, then spoke to us. "I'm bringing him home to you. Don't worry. He'll be home before Christmas I promise."

"You promise?" I asked.

"Scouts honor?" Johnny inquisitively asked.

"Yes, yes, scouts honor."

"How will we know he's close?"

"I'll send you a signal."

"What kind of signal?"

"I'm going to buzz your cabin."

"What does that mean?"

Lieutenant Morrison turned back to see if the other men were listening. Realizing they were not, he turned back to us and said, "You"ll know when he's near. I'm going to fly so low, it'll sound like a freight train coming through the middle of your cabin."

"Pinky promise?" Johnny asked. Lieutenant Morrison put out his pinky. The three of us joined our pinky fingers in a deal-making pact.

"Pinky promise. You boys got a deal," said Lieutenant Morrison.

**************

Writing From Experience

2010-12-22T04:00:00.065-06:00

Today Ink Slinger's Whimsey would like to welcome guest blogger, author Rowena Portch. Rowena has recently published book two in her Spirian Series, The Union. Both book one and two of Rowena's paranormal romance series were published in 2010, with book one of the series, The Protected, receiving the Readers Favorite 2010, silver medal for general fiction. The Spirian Series has captured the attention of reading groups and is garnering positive attention and feedback from reviewers across the country. Take it away Ro . . .

Writing From Experience
By Rowena Portch
(Photo of Greg and Rowena Portch Right)

When I explored writing over 30 years ago, a speaker I had listened to mentioned something about writing from experience. At that time, during my younger years, his profound bit of knowledge didn’t really stick. Years later, however, I decided to write about the odd set of circumstances that culminated my life. My memoir, “This is Not the Life I Ordered!” was born.

It was a two-year project comprised of anecdotes, and quotes I had conjured over the years. Though the stories were good, there was nothing to really tie them together; nothing to entice anyone to want to read them. My imagination kicked into high gear, and in three months, my memoir turned into a three-book series about a race of gifted beings called Spirians.

The challenge came with writing from the perspective of a blind massage therapist. Skye Taylor, the woman portraying me, was legally blind. Like me, she was not completely blind. She could still see shapes and some detail providing there was enough light. To keep the story interesting and descriptive, I had to draw upon my memories of what things looked like when I had good vision. Like Skye, most of what I see is in the form of energy, or vibrations that radiate from everything, even rocks and furniture. Describing objects the way that I actually see them would confuse the reader. Hence, I had to translate my experience to match those that a sighted person would recognize.

Many of the events that happen to Skye, happened to me in one form or another. For example, when Skye is in the hospital, she is visited by a mysterious man that leaves her with the gift to heal. This is an actual event. The part where the Shadow woman injects her with a tracking chip was fiction. It was a necessary element to stimulate a sense of danger. This is what keeps readers hooked.

Too many writers try to write about something that they have researched, or have written a story that they have always wanted to read but could never find. All of this is good, but if the personal experience is lacking, it will show in the story. To demonstrate this point, try writing about something you have heard about but have never experienced. Now, write about something that you have experienced. If you put full effort into this exercise, you will notice that one piece of writing lacks passion. The other shows emotion and heart, because the experience is a part of you.

Try this—the next time you go to a coffee shop, write about the people you observe, their displayed emotions, their body language, tone of voice, and appearance. Don’t forget to include your senses. What do you smell, hear, taste, feel? Now, take that short segment and see how you can weave your experience into a fascinating story. Make it short and sweet as if you were recounting your experience to a friend. The more you practice this, the more observant you will become to your surroundings. As a result, your writing will be stronger and much more believable to your readers.

By combining real-life experiences, and weaving them in with a good measure of fiction, what is revealed is a believable story that will keep your readers’ attention and make them yearn for more.

Welcome to Day Four of the St. John of the Midfield Virtual Tour

2010-12-19T01:00:00.021-06:00

Happy Holidays!
I especially want to offer a warm welcome to the followers of the St. John of the Midfield virtual tour and author Garasamo Maccagnone.

This is day four of Mac's virtual tour and if you haven't had a chance to visit the other stops you really need to go check them out. Every stop is unique and well worth the click.

Midfield Tour Schedule

And now. . .
It is my distinct pleasure to present to you, St. John of the Midfield, a review . . . by me, Vonnie Faroqui.

Photo right: Author Garasamo Maccagnone

Author: Garasamo Maccagnone
Book Title: St. John of the Midfield
Genre: Sports Fiction - Adult
ISBN-10: 1608607925
ISBN-13: 978-1608607921
Publisher: Strategic Book Publishing
Author Site: http://garasamomaccagnone.com/

Link to purchase

Reviewed by: Vonnie Faroqui for WITS

St. John of the Midfield Scores!

The saying goes “Sometimes in soccer you have to score goals.” Well Mac, you did it. St John of the Midfield is in the net.

Garasamo Maccagnone, is one of the best authors I have ever read. He has a talent that is remarkable and St. John of the Midfield doesn’t disappoint.

I think what I like best about Mac’s writing and St. John of the Midfield in particular, is that it is so . . . manly. There is nothing flat, politically correct or whitewashed about a Maccagnone story. He writes with depth and raw humanity. I like being in the head of his characters. As alien as the male perspective is for me, the realism is comfortingly honest. I don’t feel lied to.

It doesn’t matter that the story line might be shocking or disconcertingly painful, the characters and situations ring with truth. I laugh with the Santini Brothers in the kitchen as they tease their boy, Luca. I see Frankie call out and Mario shadowbox the dance of the heavyweights. Later, I feel Mario’s guilt and fear. I believe in Bobo. I suffer with Mario and I rage with Frankie.

Garasamo Maccagnone writes life into his stories; from the littlest observation –the waitress “with rugged facial skin like the underbelly of a rhino,—“to the bigger issues of ego gratification, responsibility and ethics. Mac writes it all in, Life and all of its dirty, selfish, poignant, angry, triumphant, beautiful, heartbreaking confusion, and he does it again with St. John of the Midfield.

This book is easily finished in one sitting, it is that good. I recommend it as a great gift for the reading men in your life, husbands, fathers, brothers, grown sons, and nephews. Women will love it too. One thing is for certain, you will never forget the character of Bobo, the true St. John of the Midfield.

Synopsis
St John of the Midfield
World-class soccer star Bobo Stoikov makes an escape from communist Bulgaria and finds his way to America. Landing a job as a youth soccer coach, Bobo builds a reputation for himself as a successful, yet unorthodox, coach who propels his team to the championship title. But things go far beyond the soccer field when arch rival Sonny Christopher seeks to destroy Bobo's reputation, along with that of his best player and the player's father, Mario. Before he realizes how serious the situation is, Bobo finds himself in sudden death and soon realizes there is more at stake than just a soccer game.

Next Tour Stop . . .

December 20, 2010, Day five, Garasamo Maccagnone will be joining Suzanne Lieurance, of The Working Writer's Coach, for a podcast interview you won't want to miss. Follow this blogger on Twitter: @WritersCoach

Claudy Is Back! Out of Retirement and Hitting the Paranormal Romance Scene

2010-12-17T04:00:00.001-06:00

Author of 40 top selling romances, Claudy Conn, comes out of retirement after nine years to present her latest book, Spellbound - Legend.

This is the first paranormal romance she’s written but it is just the beginning. “What I have done is outlined my series in my head. Each installment will have a new heroine and hero with circumstances that will develop for them alone. The ongoing story will evolve through each of them. Important secondary characters will take part in all of the books.”

Claudy continues by sharing that “Writing is a must for me. Inspiration comes from everything, but especially from my hot Irish husband, our incredible daughter and her handsome husband.”

Claudy brings a wealth of writing experience, talks about eBook publishing, and romancing the book industry.

Click Play to listen . . .

Visit the author's site at http://www.claudyconn.embarqspace.com/ to purchase your eBook today.

St. John of the Midfield, virtual tour begins TODAY!

2010-12-16T04:00:00.001-06:00

St. John of the Midfield, virtual tour begins on December 16, 2010, and runs through Christmas day, December 25, 2010, with every stop offering unique content.

Author: Garasamo Maccagnone
Book Title: St. John of the Midfield

Genre: Sports Fiction - Adult
ISBN-10: 1608607925
ISBN-13: 978-1608607921
Publisher: Strategic Book Publishing
Release Date: November 2010
Tour Date: December 16-25, 2010
Link to purchase

Garasamo Maccagnone has enjoyed writing since the age of sixteen. He is inspired by the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, and Jack London, and is currently working on his next book, The Fish and the Fox. Garasamo has owned a soccer club and coached and trained players for over twenty years. He lives with his wife, Vicki, and his three children, Garrett, Anthony and Sophia, in Shelby Township, Michigan, where his daughter plays soccer for the Michigan Gators.

ST John of the Midfield . . .

World-class soccer star Bobo Stoikov makes an escape from communist Bulgaria and finds his way to America. Landing a job as a youth soccer coach, Bobo builds a reputation for himself as a successful, yet unorthodox, coach who propels his team to the championship title. But things go far beyond the soccer field when arch rival Sonny Christopher seeks to destroy Bobo's reputation, along with that of his best player and the player's father, Mario. Before he realizes how serious the situation is, Bobo finds himself in sudden death and soon realizes there is more at stake than just a soccer game.

Link to Tour Schedule

Promotion TIPS: Be A Guest

2010-12-15T04:00:00.037-06:00

For Promotions there is no doubt that the Internet is the strongest place to market your product, in this case . . . your books.
There are a few online publicity tricks you can employ that will strengthen your marketing strategy and assist in elevating your site page ranking, self and your book in keyword searches with Google, Yahoo and others.

Become a blogging author
Become a commenting author at the sites of others
Become a guest blogger for an established blog or site

If you aren't interested in becoming a blogging author or in maintaining your own blog the other options are still open to you. Maintaining a blog however does open avenues and opportunities for promotions that shouldn't be passed up without serious consideration.

Each of these options will provide an opportunity for your byline and URL to be placed in front of potential readers and will create important cross and back links to other sites; which is important when you are seeking to improve your page ranking with search engines or when building toward monetizing your site.
Each of these options will also help establish your name and credibility as an expert or established author and will place your work in front of readers, providing sales opportunities; and all three are available and FREE ways to publicize your books.

Join me as a guest blogger

Blog about your current or past projects
Blog on your chosen theme
Submit an excerpt from your book
Send me your book trailer
Join our network of virtual tour blog hosts
Invite me to be a host for the virtual tour you are organizing

I am happy to be there for you.

Contact Vonnie Faroqui for information about being a guest blogger with http://inkslingerswhimsey.blogspot.com or at one of the Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services' blogs.

Spellbound - Legend: A Review

2010-12-13T04:00:00.008-06:00

Have I got a treat for you!

Spellbound – Legend is "Smokin’ HOT!"

Book Title: Spellbound - Legend
Author: Claudy Conn
EBook ISBN: 978-1-59705-390-7
Paper ISBN: 978-1-59705-595-6
Publisher: Wings Press
Link to purchase
Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui for WITS

After a nine year hiatus [we won’t call it retirement,] Claudy Conn returns to the world of romance fiction writing with Spellbound – Legend. You might remember the author as Claudette Williams and think of her regency and historical romances. Claudy wrote over 40 mass market bestsellers in that field using the pen names Claudette Williams and Melanie Davis for Fawcett, Zebra and Doubleday book club. Claudy Conn is back and writing with a vengeance to bring us her first paranormal romance.

Make no mistake this is top notch romance writing and Claudy embraces the paranormal aspects of her story with obvious enjoyment and ease. Paranormal and fantasy fictions are my absolute favorite reads and she has made the switch seem effortless. She has nailed the genre as if she was born to write it. No disrespect intended toward the historical and regency set . . . I cut my reading chops on those romances.

Spellbound – Legend is a masterfully written tale that pits a contemporary young woman against ancient forces. Maxie Reigate descends from a long line of Druid priests and priestesses. She’s always been aware of the family legend but what she doesn’t know is that her fate is tied into the world of the Tuatha Dé, the fairy people, also known as the Fae, who are at the heart of Irish Myth and folklore. The wall of power, set up to protect and separate the world of man from the Fae, is in danger of collapse; there is a blood sucking, evil and ancient beauty that wants her dead; the hero of her family’s legend, Julian, the High Druid Priest is about to wake up after a two hundred year coma and walk into her life; and then there is a Fae Prince who wants to protect and keep her for his own. There is danger at every turn and enough sexual tension to launch an arrow.

Talk about steam . . . Spellbound – Legend has all the elements needed to get your heart racing and in a good way. Claudy Conn has stepped onto the stage of paranormal romance writing and is going to give Harris, Hamilton, and Feehan a fight for their audiences. Conn is a master story teller returned to give us more of what we want. I don't know which is hotter Breslyn, Prince of Dagda or Julian of Talbot?! I am so conflicted! Best of all, Spellbound is just the beginning of an incredible new series.

Visit the authors site at http://www.claudyconn.embarqspace.com/

St. John of the Midfield Virtual Tour Announcement

2010-12-11T04:00:00.015-06:00

Writers in the Sky authors' assistant, Vonnie Faroqui, invites readers to join WITS for a virtual tour celebrating Garasamo Maccagnone's release of St. John of the Midfield.

Tour Schedule

St. John of the Midfield, virtual tour begins on December 16, 2010, and runs through Christmas day, December 25, 2010, with every stop offering unique content.

December 16, 2010, Day one of the tour will be hosted by Irene Watson, of Blogging Authors, at www.bloggingauthors.com. Blogging Authors will host an author written article, "Prodigy Syndrome." Follow this blogger on Twitter: @bloggingauthors.

December 17, 2010, Day two, host Karen Pierce Gonzalez of Folkheart Press, http://folkheartpressblog.blogspot.com hosts a Q&A written interview. Follow this blogger on Twitter: @folkheartpress

December 18, 2010, Day three, Dallas Woodburn of http://dallaswoodburn.blogspot.com hosts an article about using YouTube for promotions and the book trailer for St. John of the Midfield. Follow this blogger on Twitter: @DallasWoodburn.

December 19, 2010, Day four, Vonnie Faroqui will post a review of St. John of the Midfield, at her blog http://inkslingerswhimsey.blogspot.com/. Follow this blogger on Twitter: @inkslngrswhmz

December 20, 2010, Day five, Garasamo Maccagnone will be joining Suzanne Lieurance, of The Working Writer's Coach, for a podcast interview you won't want to miss. Follow this blogger on Twitter: @WritersCoach

December 21, 2010, Day six, Carolyn Howard-Johnson of The New Book Review will host a Midfield review written by Irfan Faroqui. Follow this blog on Twitter: @frugalbookpromo

December 22, 2010, Day seven, Lisa Jackson hosts a Q&A written interview with Garasamo Maccagnone at http://lisahaseltonsreviewsandinterviews.blogspot.com. Follow this blogger on Twitter: @lisajjackson

December 23, 2010, Day eight, Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz will host an excerpt from the book and a Q&A written interview at http://pennylockwoodehrenkranz.blogspot.com. Follow this blogger on Twitter: @pennyehrenkranz

December 24, 2010, Day nine of the tour visits Writers In The Sky Podcast , for an author interview between Garasamo Maccagnone and virtual tour manager Vonnie Faroqui. Follow this blogger on Twitter: @writersinthesky

December 25,2010, Merry Christmas! We have a special bonus stop for everyone who has followed Garasamo’s tour.
Vonnie Faroqui, http://inkslingerswhimsey.blogspot.com,
offers an excerpt from, For the Love of St. Nick, a Christmas short story written by Garasamo Maccagnone. Follow this blogger on Twitter: @inkslngrswhmz

Inside Murder: An Interview with Author Olivia Rodan Jacobs About The Poisoner's Agenda

2010-12-10T13:06:00.000-06:00

WITS host Vonnie Faroqui and author Olivia Rodan Jacobs talk in depth about writing of Jacobs's novel, The Poisoner's Agenda.

From the Author:

I am not now nor have I ever been a spy! But it's fun to write a who-done-it, a thriller. Why set the story in Israel? What an exciting place! Besides, I've studied, visited, and "bummed around" Israel enough that I could picture all the places I wrote about. But how could I (not a spy!) write a mystery involving espionage? Well, my cousin was a real life spy, and then there's all those international intrigue mysteries I've read... To be candid, the "story" of THE POISONER'S AGENDA sprang full-blown from a careening imagination.

Click Play to Listen . . .

http://www.thepoisonersagenda.com/

Promoting Your Book

2010-12-08T04:00:00.000-06:00

I wrote this article for the WITS Fabulous Friday Newsletter several weeks back and am only now getting around to publishing it here on my blog. I hope you find it useful.

Promoting Your Book Using YouTube

The era of publishers marketing books for authors is gone. Traditional publishing houses are no longer flush with funds and are not willing or able to promote the majority of the books they publish. If you are a self-published author you have always been responsible for marketing your books. Publishers, both independent and conventional, are increasingly advising authors to promote themselves online using virtual blog tours, podcast interviews, book trailers, and through the popular Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube social networking sites. The difficulty arises in knowing how to use these tools. Unless you are a teenager or surfing the Internet has become a major part of your life, you may not see all the marketing opportunities. You probably don’t know what to do, where to go, or understand how to integrate social networking into your marketing strategy as a means of redirecting internet traffic to your author home page, where readers can buy your book.

Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services [WITS] offers authors assistance with promotions, including consultation and management for a growing number of social network marketing strategies. This week we would like to highlight one aspect of social networking that will help you bring your book to the world market of YouTube.

YouTube was founded in February 2005 and has risen to become the world's most popular online video community. YouTube allows “. . . millions of people to discover, watch, and share originally-created videos.” It does this by allowing “. . . people to easily upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.com and across the Internet through Web sites, mobile devices, blogs, and e-mail.”

If you are not familiar with the Internet jargon . . .

YouTubing: is surfing the wave of Internet video posting.
YouTuber: is one who surfs the YouTube wave.

There are an estimated 30 million new video posts uploaded to YouTube every day from across the globe, in every language, with YouTube currently reporting “. . . 2 billion videos viewed a day [and a] . . . user base age range of 18-55, evenly divided between males and females, and spanning all geographies. Fifty-one percent . . . of users go to YouTube weekly or more often, and 52 percent of 18-34 year-olds share videos often with friends and colleagues.” ~ http://www.youtube.com/t/about

This is important to authors because the reading audience is hanging out and being entertained on YouTube and we want them to find, buy, and read our books.

What Can I do as an author to benefit from YouTube?

The first thing you need to do as an author is to have fun! Go exploring. Familiarize yourself with what YouTube has to offer. In the beginning you probably won’t have any videos of your own created or you will need to have a way of attracting YouTubers to your video clips. If you are going to attract attention you need to understand what YouTubers are looking for, to be where they are and to do what they are doing.

• Search for videos related to your own interests, e.g. video clips that share your book’s genre or major themes
• Create your own YouTube login account and channel (see WITS’ channel http://www.youtube.com/Writersinthesky)
• Keep your personal YouTube channel separate from your author channel
• Decide on a focus of interest for your author channel, choosing a genre, topics, or themes that relate to your book or that are in harmony with your book’s message
• Create playlists by theme on your channel
• Surf YouTube, using key words to find video clips you like, and begin adding videos to the playlists you’ve created under your chosen themes. By creating a playlist using other people’s videos, you are tapping into and harnessing pre-established searches. This saves time spent building a following and it places your author interview or book trailers where they can be seen.
• Post your author site URL and information through your YouTube channel to redirect traffic where your book is available.
• Use the subscription functions of YouTube to allow others to become a fan of your channel
• Allow followers to make comments. Even negative comments attract viewers and sell books. Google recommends, for increased search engine ratings and site traffic, that you do not monitor or block commenting.
• Become someone else’s fan and make comments on your favorite video posts. Leaving comments will create a back trail or back-link that allows others to find your playlists and video material
• Begin creating your own video vignettes, between 1-3 minutes in length is ideal.
• Have a trailer created for your book.
• Seek out video interview opportunities like those offered by WITS.
• Use video blogging on YouTube to talk about your book or current projects
• Key word tags are used to assist searching for and finding videos. Don’t forget to set up key word tags to any playlists and video clips you create

In this way you can begin to use YouTube to redirect traffic to an author site where your book is available. YouTube is a key component to integrating social networking into a marketing strategy and it isn’t necessary to have videos of your own created in order to begin benefiting.

The Poisoner's Agenda: A Review

2010-12-06T04:00:00.020-06:00

Book Title: The Poisoner’s Agenda: Jerusalem 3,000
Author: Olivia Rodan Jacobs
ISBN: 978-1432759117
Publisher: Outskirts Press (August 16, 2010)
Link to purchase
Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui for WITS

The Poisoner's Agenda, written under the name Olivia Rodan Jacobs, is an exciting tale of murder and espionage. The story is set in 1996, during the year marking Israel's 3,000 year claim on Jerusalem as the center of Jewish religious and political life. The author uses the contention and the heated religious and political differences of the time to creative advantage, treating the political and religious tumult of the Middle East with care and a measure of generosity.

Jacobs draws extensively from her own experiences of living and working in Israel to cultivate her plot. Characters feel well placed within the story, coming alive in a world that is deeply textured and realistic. All the characters including the terrorist have been given interesting and well thought out back-stories that drive their choices in a realistic manner, true to individual culture, heritage, and religious affiliation. The political and personal motives of the terrorist are woven into the story, as are those of the other main characters. Although I did not find the poisoner's character to be a sympathetic one, I did find his back story illuminating and was able to empathize with his personal story in a way that made me appreciate the book on a level I had not anticipated.

I found much in this book surprising. As a historical fiction the book is educational and relevant. As a murder mystery the focus for the reader is not on discovering who the murderer is, but on discovering the how and why, with clues dispersed throughout for reader speculation and gratification. The Poisoner's Agenda is the most effective as an espionage thriller, being quite exciting.

While I was reading I was surprised by the volume of information and historical content relayed. There was much concerning the Middle East conflict which I was previously unaware of. I found myself checking information and historical references. The author seems to have researched the historical data well.

I found The Poisoner's Agenda to be fascinating on many levels . It is wonderful book, especially for those who enjoy spy stories or who are interested in the Middle East from a historical perspective.

Say It: I'm No Bitch, I'm No Ho, and I'm More Than Just Another Vagina

2010-12-03T04:00:00.002-06:00

An Interview with Host Vonnie Faroqui and Author Elsie Spruill

Elsie Spruill, author of Say It: I'm No Bitch, I'm No Ho, and I'm More Than Just Another Vagina, loving yet firmly addresses a culture of sexual promiscuity and its impact on today’s youth culture. Join WITS host Vonnie Faroqui as they discuss the author's motivation for and approach to writing this book, and Spruill’s crusade to help young women value their bodies, their choices, and their self.

Click Play to Listen . . .

Article Marketing: An Example

2010-12-01T04:00:00.046-06:00

November 17, 2010, I ran a small piece called Article Marketing: Promoting Your Book
This week I would like to offer an example of an article that has a search-able topic which ties in with an author's book promotion.

Retinitis Pigmentosa
Spirian Series Author Brings New Dimension to “Blind Seer” Heroine.

Ink Slinger’s Whimsey and Writers in the Sky [WITS] would like to share with readers information about an eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa and introduce a fiction author, Rowena Portch, writer of The Spirian Series, who has overcome the condition in her own life, using it to enhance her work.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a group of degenerative eye diseases affecting one in 4,000 people in the United States and roughly one out of 5,000 people Worldwide. The retina, which is located at the back of the eye, sends visual images to the brain. In patients with this disease, damage to the retina gets worse over time. RP commonly runs in families and can be caused by a number of genetic defects. For those with RP, the photoreceptors in the eyes progressively degenerate, causing side or peripheral vision, to slowly worsen over time. Night vision is also diminished, with central vision typically declining in the advanced stages of the disease. The condition may eventually lead to blindness, with most patients retaining at least partial vision, total vision loss being rare. Wearing sunglasses will help protect the retina from ultraviolet light and may help preserve vision, and vitamin A may slow the disease from getting worse but there is currently no known cure or effective treatment for RP.

Signs of RP can usually be detected during a routine eye exam however; symptoms usually do not develop until adolescence, around 10 years old. Severe vision problems do not usually develop until early adulthood.
Author Rowena Portch retired from her successful career as an editor at Microsoft, when she lost her vision to RP. After leaving Microsoft, she and husband Gregg opened the Abel Wellness Center on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. Portch had already been writing professionally for over 30 years when she set out to write her ambitious 5 part Spirian Series. The Protected, book one of the series was released on May 11, 2010. The Union, book two was released October 26, 2010. The series is already gaining popularity, favorable reviews, and has garnered the 2010 Readers Favorite Silver medal for General Fiction for The Protected.

The Protected, are a supernaturally gifted race of beings, not quite human but not fully spirit that secretly share this planet. Among themselves they are known as Spirians, a race caught between the physical and spiritual realms – where anything is possible. Skye, a blind massage therapist, has lived her whole life as human and is unaware of her race and the path her life is about to take. Skye may be the prophesied “Healer” whose gifts are pivotal in the course of her people’s future; a future that could bring about the enslavement of humanity. The Protected, book one of the series, takes the reader with Skye into the hidden world of the Spirians, where a few stand in the balance ready to teach Skye to use the power that is her birthright before she becomes a pawn in a much larger game.

Author Rowena Portch was featured on the Writers in the Sky Podcast aired over the Internet on August 6, 2010.

“The depth of realism and texture Portch has written into the character and world of her ‘Blind Seer’ heroine is untouchable by the writings of sighted authors. Once you read The Protected you’ll never believe another author trying to write blind again. Portch has written a unique and engaging series that will thrill and inspire readers.” says book reviewer and podcast host Vonnie Faroqui of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services [WITS]

Learn more about Rowena Portch and the Spirian Series from her website at http://rowenaportch.com/ or by following her on http://twitter.com/RowenaPortch and at http://bit.ly/Facebook-RowenaPortch. The author will meet and sign books for the public with events to be announced through BookTour.com.

Say it: A Review by Vonnie Faroqui

2010-11-29T04:00:00.012-06:00

Book Title: Say It: I’m No Bitch, I’m No Ho, and I Am More Than Just Another Vagina
Author: Elsie Spruill
ISBN: 143272410X
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Link to purchase
Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui for WITS

Direct and to the Heart of Matters

Trust a Grandmother to put things in perspective. Elsie Spruill does just that in, Say It: I’m No Bitch, I’m No Ho, and I Am More Than Just Another Vagina. This little book packs a powerful wallop and speaks with loving concern directly to the youth culture about self respect and dignity. The tone of the book is modern and intelligent with urban grit.
Say It speaks frankly about sex, sexual relationships, and promiscuity. It may prove upsetting to those who are squeamish or coy, as the author is writing directly to the youth of today in an unvarnished, albeit creative voice. The chapter entitled, “The Vagina Says No!” is written from the perspective of . . . yes, the vagina and is sure to shock the rigid moralist. However, let’s not lose sight of the intended audience and message.
The author knows who she is speaking to and cares about the message she is presenting. Say It crosses blurred cultural lines to address a post feminist, MTV generation about the societal changes and impact of sexual promiscuity on the dignity, self respect, and health of women in the modern era. I felt the direct and powerful approach taken was realistic and necessary when reaching out, especially to the young urban woman. Elsie writes on a level that can be understood, delivering a message that touches every one.
Women’s groups and organizations that are dealing with the health and societal consequences of the sex and urban rap culture are sure to be able to use this book effectively to help promote change. Today’s youth are not interested in preachy sentimentality and glossy self righteous talk. Elsie knows this and writes in terms that will be understood and appreciated by those who deal and live real.

Confessions of an Ex-Gun Dealer: an Interview with Author Ludwig Sawicki

2010-11-26T04:00:00.015-06:00

WITS Podcast presents . . .
Confessions of an Ex-Gun Dealer, by Ludwig Sawicki, a humorous memoir about life as a gun dealer in middle America.

Author and host, Vonnie Faroqui, laugh over the life and situational humor in the book. Sawicki shares some of his writing and publishing choices and considerations.

The interview includes an excerpt reading by the author from Confessions of an Ex-Gun Dealer.

[Ludwig Sawicki, photo right]

Click Play to listen . . .

Get The Most Out Of Being A Host

2010-11-24T04:00:00.001-06:00

The Keys To Being Successful as a Virtual Tour Host

If you have been following my site or have visited any of my site pages you are now familiar with the basic idea of a virtual blog tour and how it works.

Today I would like to look at the key elements that make a successful tour and how you as a tour host can maximize your involvement for the best results.

How Do We Measure a Tour's Success?
The true measure of a virtual tour's success comes as increased Internet traffic, site ranking, increased followers and/or product sales.

Success is built through . . .

quality tour management
quality tour value in the form of articles, interviews, and reviews
quality host participation

There are three critical stages of a virtual tour . . .

Pre-Tour:
Increased Internet traffic is generated through the dedicated pre-tour buildup and promotional activities of the tour's management and hosts. Pre-tour buildup includes announcement of the tour as an online media release, mailing list notifications, pre-tour promotional blogging, and micro posting promotional efforts made through social media networks such as Twitter and FaceBook.

Tour Run:
Active participation by hosts and author during the tour . . .

appropriate posting of the tour articles, interviews and reviews, including purchase links, and tour stop links that tell followers where to go next
ongoing management, author and host commenting at the various tour stops through the course of a tour.
the creation of back links in comments made between hosts

Post Tour:
Really savvy tour managers and hosts will continue to get as much "play" out of a tour as possible, even after a tour is completed. They do this by referring to the tour in subsequent posts, by including links to other tour posts and hosts, and by visiting other host sites to leave comments about the tour's success. Hosts benefit in many ways by doing this and often make networking connections for future endeavors.

A good example of post-tour promotion comes through my recent participation in the November 21, 2010, Blog Jog Day tour, managed by Carol Denbow of A Book Inside. [Oh my, did I just try to get more Blog Jog Day "play" by referencing my participation? Watch . . . I'm not done yet.]

The day after the blog jog was complete I was reviewing the comments left by hosts and visitors. I like to make sure to thank other hosts for commenting on my blog. In visiting others I was honored to find that another host, All Things That Matter, used a selection from my blog jog post in a post-tour blog entry. Not only did she bring my blog and site to the attention of her followers, she also referred followers back to the Blog Jog Day.

Can you see how a trend is developing?

If I had failed to follow up as a host through post-tour participation, I would never have seen that my site had received additional mention. I would have missed the opportunity to comment with a thank you and to create backlinks between our posts. Backlinks are important because search engines like Google, and Yahoo monitor the comments and backlinks as part of evaluating a site ranking.

The benefits of post-tour participation continue as . . .

In appreciation for the post-tour mention at All Things That Matter, I was inspired to write this post, where I continue to pay the good publicity forward, for Blog Jog Day, and All Things That Matter Press, drawing further attention to my own post, and most importantly to the authors and books I represent.

Think about it and remember . . .

Anything worth doing . . .

A Side Splitter with Bang Appeal.

2010-11-22T04:00:00.006-06:00

Book Title: Confessions of an Ex-Gun Dealer
Author: Ludwig Sawicki
ISBN: 143275839X
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Link to purchase
Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui for WITS

Since we are into confessions . . . I have one of my own to make. I am a bleeding heart liberal, love animals and although I am not anti-gun I am close to it. When I first picked up this book I was skeptical about how fair I could be to the author and what kind of review I would give. That being said, I really, truly, deeply enjoyed this book.

Southern gentlemen and the Irish aren't the only natural storytellers. Author Ludwig Sawicki can spin out a tale with the best of them. Confessions of an Ex-Gun Dealer is a humorous, intelligent, straight shooting, and honest memoir that reveals much about life. No time is wasted in political correctness and yet the book has a charm about it that allows the reader to remain comfortable, even when challenged with setting aside personal bias.

Sawicki’s love of guns is infectious. His knowledge and experience is vast and yet woven into the book with such ease one hardly realizes they are receiving an education. There is an incredible level of joy and love conveyed in every character description and tale. The people and accounts shared by the author seem to come alive. Reading, I felt rather like I did as a kid when my uncle would entertain us by the fire.

There are strange things done by men with guns,
for the love of the hunting trail . . .

This is a great book for anyone who enjoys the hunting and the shooting sports but it is also a wonderful study in human resilience, determination, and character. The book is full of life experience and wisdom, business acumen, and best of all laughter. Sawicki is damn funny and an astute observer of human nature.

A Year in Review: WITS' Top 15 Book Picks for 2010

2010-11-21T00:00:00.362-06:00

Welcome to Blog Jog Day!

Thank you for stopping by my Blog! Please explore all this Blog has to offer, then jog on over to . . . The Story Ideas Virtuoso http://www.debgallardo.com/virtuoso/. If you would like to visit a different Blog in the jog, go to http://blogjogday.blogspot.com.

~~~~~~~~~

Over the course of the year the team members of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services [WITS] have been privileged to work with and review books from many talented and gifted authors. This year I asked the WITS team members to send me their favorite picks from the many books we have worked on or reviewed throughout the course of the year. The selection votes have now been sorted and counted.
It is my great pleasure to present to you . . .

Writers In The Sky Creative Writing Services' Top 15 Picks for 2010!

The books presented here represent client submissions made between Dec 1, 2009 and November 30, 2010 and have been listed in alpha order by author.

Book Title: Babes in Bucksnort: Sister Mary Olga Fortitude Book 2
Author: Davis Aujourd’hui
ISBN: 978-1432745004
Publisher: OutskirtsPress.com 2010

Aujourd’hui creates men, women, and children with unforgettable (and descriptive!) names and even more outrageous behavior. We appreciated the sharp humor that the author employed to this end and found great entertainment in discovering what these characters would do next. We also enjoyed the important messages of love and acceptance that Aujourd’hui emphasizes, particularly through the teachings of Sister Mary herself. Once in a while, we all need mirrors placed in front of us to help us examine and rethink how we treat one another, and Davis Aujourd’hui accomplishes this through his writing. Babes in Bucksnort is a book that will make you both think and laugh.

Book Title: How Did She Get There?
Author: Ann Karen Dowd
ISBN: 978-0615335308
Publisher: White Ink Press 2010

How Did She Get There? is a modern day cautionary tale. The heroine however does not turn anyone into a golden statue out of greed; or laze all day in the sun, thinking the world owes her a living while others labor. She is as human and self absorbed as we come, with all the classic confused notions found in a folk tale character. The author, Ann Karen Dowd, has written a story that leads her heroine and the reader through a maze of challenges; attitudes to be overcome, confused perceptions about right and wrong, pitfalls of human nature, even exploring the motivational fears and desires which often hide beneath well meaning intentions.

Book Title: Passion’s Evidence
Author: Barbara Fifield
ISBN Number: 978-1432753573
Publisher: OutskirtsPress.com 2010

From the pleasure in eating fresh strawberries straight from the vine to her belief in the connection that be found only in true love to the healing powers of quiet moments at the beach, Fifield has seemingly transferred her soul onto the pages and poems of Passion’s Evidence and offered herself as an emotional offering to her readers. She shares her highs and her lows, as well as the moments during which she cannot discern exactly how she should be feeling. For those who appreciate the power that a poem has to capture a moment in time, Passion’s Evidence is a recommended addition to your collection.

Book Title: My Dog Tim and Other Stories
Author: Garasamo Maccagnone
ISBN: 978-1432755621
Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc. 2010

Garasamo is a master of character development. His writing style is right up there with the greats. From first to last, Garasamo Maccagnone demonstrates a flexibility of wit and realism that makes My Dog Tim and Other Stories deep reading. These stories are dark, gritty, and for mature audiences only. Garasamo has that gift of revealing through his writing the secret struggles of life that most often remain hidden but are most in need of light.

Book Title: The Drawing Lesson
Author: Mary E. Martin
ISBN: 978-1450229364
Publisher: iUniverse 2010

The Drawing Lesson is a deeply insightful book about life, choices, forgiveness, madness, self doubt, and creative inspiration. Martin has an understanding of humanity, its inner turmoil, needs, and the creative urge that is both honest and compassionate. This is a compelling and moving story to be savored on the palate like fine wine.

Book Title: 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home
Author: Tisha Morris
ISBN: 978-1596525672
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company 2010

For those readers unfamiliar with feng shui practices the author explains just enough about the concepts to allow a lay practitioner to receive solid reward for their time investment when applying the techniques, without planting confusion about the ins and outs of feng shui itself. For readers who have already been exposed to the art and mystery of feng shui, the author assists by leaving out confusing or contradictory information and the superstitions which often impede implementation of an action plan and the needed changes. She writes with confidence that following the feng shui principles and applying these techniques will have a powerful healing impact and her confidence is transferred to the reader.

Book Title: Finding God: To Believe or Not to Believe
Author: Nicholas Oliva
ISBN: 098461432X
Publisher: Old Line Publishing

Nicholas Oliva writes a thought provoking and insightful book that challenges the ego attachments we have about the beliefs we hold. This book explores the world of science, religion, and atheism and integrates them into the aspects of Twentieth and Twenty-first Century physics. It ponders life and death experiences and includes the author's own near death experience. Posing many questions about the realm of our existence, it stresses the importance of promoting humanity without exclusionary elements of human prejudice. Hang on as your perfectly ordered world is shaken and stirred - if you have an open mind to believe what is real and allow for possibilities of the yet unknown.

Book Title: He Blew Her a Kiss: Communications from loved ones who have passed
Authored by: Angie Pechak Printup and Kelley Stewart Dollar
ISBN: 978-1432760922
Publisher: Outskirts Press 2010

He Blew Her a Kiss is a collection of inspirational stories relating experiences of communication from loved ones who have passed. The entire volume has been compiled, with sincere and gentle treatment by the authors, from email submissions by and personal conversations with ordinary people. This is a beautiful volume of collected stories that you will want to share with others. Not all of the stories are dramatic examples of after death communication, relating instead simple and poignant moments which have brought healing in times of grief. Some of the accounts are quite extraordinary and impossible to explain; all are uplifting and demonstrate humanity’s capacity to love beyond any obstacle, even death.

Book Title: The Protected
Author: Rowena Portch
ISBN: 978-1432758660
Publisher: Outskirts Press Inc. 2010

Portch has drawn from her own life and history to write Sky’s character and world, sharing in a way that only a skilled and talented writer can—the very personal experience of blindness. Not only has Portch succeeded to write a blind character in a sighted world, she has done so in such a way as to create a world paradigm, characters, and circumstances that elevate this book from the ranks of a good story to that of a great read.

Author Rowena Portch is getting an additional mention in our list for book two in the Spirian Series, The Union, ISBN-13: 978-1432764784, also published by Outskirts Press 2010. The author builds the dramatic tension in what is already an exciting series by introducing several unexpected elements and new characters. Book two, The Union, is a fast paced second offering sure to please readers already hooked by The Protected and the Spirian Series.

Book Title: Saying Goodbye: to the people, places, and things in our lives
Author: Julie Rember and Mike O'Mary, Editors. Contributors include Dianna Calareso, WITS writer/editor
ISBN: 978-0982579442
Publisher: Dream of Things 2010

This book is a beautiful anthology of stories about loss. At times the stories are funny, at times incredibly sad - but every story is deep, powerful, and gently pushes the reader to reflect on the power of loss in his/her own life.

Book Title: Awakened Wisdom: A Guide to Reclaiming Your Brilliance
Author: Patrick Ryan
ISBN: 978-0984236305
Publisher: Awakened Wisdom 2009

During the first few hours of its official Amazon Launch Awakened Wisdom became a bestseller in spirituality in both the US and Canada. Awakened Wisdom blends Buddhist, Native, and collected wisdoms into a beautifully crafted healing message for our modern culture. Patrick Ryan’s own life experiences greatly inform this work, and his message to his readers is simple and profound: we are at choice when it comes to how we want to live our lives during our brief time on this planet. In addition to sage teachings about ways of understanding our Selves, he also dedicates an entire half of the book to understanding and embodying the eight states of an awakened life. With exercises, daily practices, and plenty of anecdotes, Awakened Wisdom is sure to resonate with spiritual newcomers and advanced practitioners alike.

Book Title: Confessions of an Ex-Gun Dealer
Author: Ludwig Sawicki
ISBN: 978-1432758394
Publisher: Outskirts Press 2010

Southern gentlemen and the Irish aren't the only natural storytellers. Author Ludwig Sawicki can spin out a tale with the best of them. Confessions of an Ex-Gun Dealer is a humorous, intelligent, straight shooting, and honest memoir that reveals much about life. This is a great book for anyone who enjoys the hunting and the shooting sports but it is also a wonderful study in human resilience, determination, and character. The book is full of life experience and wisdom, business acumen, and best of all laughter. Sawicki is damn funny and an astute observer of human nature.

Book Title: Voices of Sedona: A Spiritual Path to Serenity and Contentment
Author: Lewis Tagliaferre
ISBN: 978-0595393671
Publisher: iUniverse 2010

Lewis Tagliaferre shares the five principles of Theofatalism®. The five lessons and the amazing details that accompany each principle inspire extended reflection and a desire to read certain segments time and again. Voices of Sedona is beautifully written in a style that is captivating in both its emotion and logic. If you are scared and confused about the uncertainties and suffering in life, you may find solace in Voices of Sedona. In addition to inspired dialogues with his spiritual teachers in Sedona, Arizona, author Lewis Tagliaferre blends elements of religion, psychology, philosophy, history, and current events into five incredible principles of universal awareness.

Book Title: Blood Betrayal
Author: Mike Thompson
ISBN: 978-1-4327-4802-9
Publisher: OutskirtsPress.com 2009

Set in the peculiar Anderson Valley town of Booneville, nestled against the foothills of Northern California's Coastal Range -- a mystery unfolds as a series of family tragedies is revealed when Wolf Magnussen's nephew is found slain in the midst of a family hunting trip. With Blood Betrayal, Mike Thompson has crafted a novel that will attract fans of suspense. The plot is unique and undoubtedly will have the readers guessing until the very last page, with a conclusion that warranted an audible gasp from WITS reviewer, Sarah Moore, as she sat alone in her living room.

Book Title: Memoirs from the Asylum
Author: Kenneth Weene
ISBN: 978-0984421954
Publisher: All Things that Matter Press, 2010

This tragi-comedic novel takes the reader inside the asylum, inside the worlds of three central characters: a narrator who has taken refuge from his fears of the world, a psychiatrist whose own life has been damaged by his father's depression, and a catatonic schizophrenic whose world is trapped inside a crack in the wall opposite her bed. The best aspect of the book is how the author has written from the perspective or inner thoughts of the characters. This is done with such realism, understanding and truth that it is easy to relate with the patient’s fears, frustrations, joys and triumphs. It is obvious that the author is writing from a deeper understanding of human motivation and psychosis. His treatment of his characters is compassionate and without judgment, allowing the reader to formulate their own opinions and confront their own preconceptions and prejudices. Well crafted, Memoirs from the Asylum proves itself in the great tradition of writing.

Thank you all and have a happy and safe holiday season.

TJ Gets a Haircut: an Interview with Audrey Fuller

2010-11-19T04:00:00.002-06:00

This Friday, WITS Podcast host, Vonnie Faroqui, interviews children's author Audrey Fuller.

Click Play to listen . . .

Audrey is a 12 year veteran of the US Armed Forces. Her first book is titled, TJ Gets a Haircut: The Twintastic Adventures of TJ and Taylor. The book is suitable for young children. The tale of a father who helps his son build a stronger self identity and take one giant step on the path to growing up.

Audrey shares the process of selecting an illustrator and more considerations taken when self-publishing a children's book, in this interview about one author's journey.

Special Amazon Download Deal!

2010-11-18T00:08:00.002-06:00

Author Mary Martin is a lawyer turned full time writer. Her law practice was the inspiration for the three legal suspense novels in The Osgoode Trilogy. http://www.theosgoodetrilogy.com

Now the first book in the next trilogy has been published—The Drawing Lesson, the first in The Trilogy of Remembrance, which is set in the world of art. http://www.thedrawinglesson.com/ Martin and her husband live in Toronto and have three adult children.

The Drawing Lesson, the first in the Trilogy of Remembrance.

With magical light, Alexander Wainwright, Britain’s finest landscape artist, creates stunning visions of the beyond. His painting, The Hay Wagon, wins the Turner Prize. His nemesis, Rinaldo, a conceptual artist seeks revenge. Despite his win, Alexander fears the loss of his muse. Seized with a vision, he paints ugly, misshapen, humanoid creatures on his canvas. Searching for his muse, Alex travels from London to Venice and New York, where Rinaldo awaits him to settle the score. But the real journey is within Alexander. Only by saving his tormentor not once, but twice, does he regain his artistic vision.

SPECIAL OFFER - Limited time discount.

Mary Martin's publisher has arranged for an offer with Amazon.com… a download to a Kindle for 99 cents.

In case you missed it . . . here is my review.

Book Title: The Drawing Lesson

Author: Mary E. Martin

ISBN: 1450229360

Publisher: iUniverse
Reviewer: Vonnie Faroqui for WITS

The Drawing Lesson, by author Mary E. Martin stands among the best of literary fiction. She brings wisdom, grace, and beauty to the page as skillfully as the best painter to the canvas.

Alexander Wainwright has won Britain’s celebrated Turner Prize with a landscape painting of The Hay Wagon. He should be thrilled but the taunting criticism of contemporary and rival artist Rinaldo has thrown him into a soul searching spiral of self doubt.

His beautiful landscapes, once so full of light and presence, begin to fill with creeping, shadowy figures. These troll-like creatures deny understanding and confuse Alex's artistic vision. His muse seems to have left him. A journey to rediscover his passion unfolds as Alex attempts to understand the creatures in his paintings.

The journey carries Alex into contact with a range of interesting characters who all struggle with personal inner demons. Alex touches each of their lives with his spirit and allows each in return to touch his own. The action of the story rises as the consequences of past choices return to entangle Alex in self doubt and recrimination, with the story reaching a climax as Rinaldo sets plans in motion to destroy Alex in a scene of public humiliation.

In the end Alex Wainwright transcends himself and his body of work by illuminating the human form with his divine vision, transfiguring on canvas both his inner and outer demons into beings of luminous spirit.

The Drawing Lesson is a deeply insightful book about life, choices, forgiveness, madness, self doubt, and creative inspiration. Martin has an understanding of humanity, its inner turmoil, needs, and the creative urge that is both honest and compassionate. This is a compelling and moving story to be savored on the palate like fine wine.

Check out our YouTube playlist, featuring . . . The Drawing Lesson.