Author Interviews

Author Interview Cleveland O. McLeish

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Cleveland O. McLeish

Today’s Author Interview is with Cleveland O. McLeish, a prolific writer, screenwriter and play wright. 

Cleveland, thanks for telling us a bit more about yourself and your books. How would you describe your book to someone who has not yet read it? For example your latest work Chloe.

Chloe represents everyone who has ever made a difference in somebody’s life. She was that unplanned pregnancy that came with an option to abort, who grew up to change the world…or did she.

Chloe is a mystery/thriller that will keep the reader guessing. I have a friend who read the book, and skipped to the end, only to be forced to go back and read the book from where she left off.
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What inspired you to start writing ?
I have been writing plays for my church since 1999. It was fun to be able to add some structure to the productions we did, as opposed to just improvising. That led to my online ministry at www.christianplaywright.org. I loved writing so much, that I have tried my hand at all types of writing.
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ChloeHow did you get the idea for the novel?

It was originally a play, that morphed into a screenplay that ended up as a novel. Each version has won an award, so it’s easily one of my favorite stories. I was inspired to write it many years ago from a “What if” thought I had.

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Who is your favorite character and why?
Chloe, of course. She has easily grown to be a part of me….a part of the family. She is real, honest and open about how she feels and what she is thinking. She is not afraid to be herself, despite what others may think of her.
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Are your characters based on real people?
Fragments of real people, no one particular character.
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Give us an excerpted quote from your favorite review of this book:
This was written by a non-Christian:  “I don’t agree with the message of this book and I think some of its points are a bit of a stretch, but that doesn’t mean that the story didn’t catch me by surprise and present an argument that was not only concise but well written. Instead of shoving points of view in your face, it guides you through a scenario that is a valid way to approach this topic. (I won’t spoil it for you future readers)I didn’t realize the impact of what was going to happen to the characters until it really hit me and I realized the intent of the story. It did make me think for a moment about my own personal beliefs and though they differ than what is in the book, I still think it’s a good read because of how thought out and well written it is.”
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If Oprah invited you onto her show to talk about your book, what would the theme of the show be?
Purpose of Life
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How much of the book is based on real life (either yours or someone you know)?
Not much. I created a world I was not familiar with, and characters I was meeting for the very first time.
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Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you have learned as a writer from then to now?
Being persistent and consistent in writing will make us better writers.
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What scene or bit of dialogue in the book are you most proud of, and why?
Well, it’s hard to say with spoiling it for future readers, but without saying it…I am sure everyone who reads the book will agree that that is the best part lol.
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If your book would be made into a movie, who should play the main character?
Emma Watson would do well as Chloe.
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How did you get published? Please share your own personal journey.
I have had written material for a while, as well as hundreds of length plays. I have approached trade Who-I-am-in-Godpublishers in the past, but found it to be too tedious a task, so I was quite content with the reach and success of my website. One day while browsing, Amazon took me to CreateSpace.com.  It caught my interest, so I tested the system with a few of my plays, as customers keep asking me for hard copies of plays from my website. It worked out pretty well, and I was sold on their system…so I have been using them since.
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What general advice do you have for other writers?
Keep writing, and never stop. Write everyday. Write consistently everyday. Rejection from publishers and peers is not a failing grade for your talent. Most of all, believe in yourself, and what you write.
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What is the best part of being a writer?
Touching and prompting a change for the better in someone…maybe bringing comfort or laughter to those who mourn or are dejected.
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Considering a book from the first word you write to the moment you see it on a bookstore shelf, what’s your favorite part of the process?  What’s your least favorite? Creating a story on a blank piece of paper is priceless. Marketing and getting the book on the shelves is a difficult stage for me.
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What is ONE thing that you have done that brought you more readers? 
Announce the availability of my book during a Church service.
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What’s the most challenging part of being a writer?
Writing everyday.
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Where’s the one place in the world you’d like to visit?
Jerusalem.
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What is your favorite book?
Anything by Frank Peretti or Randy Alcorn
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How would a close friend describe you?
Troublesome. LOL
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Where can people learn more about your writing?
My website www.christianplaywright.org
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These are Cleveland McLeish’s latest books:

Chloe: A Novel, available on Amazon as paperback and e-book

Who I Am In Christ: 101 Daily Declarations of Faithpaperback and e-book

or meet him at Facebook
or his webpage to learn more about this multi-award-winning playwright and screenwriter, who considers himself one of God’s modern-day scribes. He has penned over 100 plays and several
screen plays, some of which have won Bronze, Silver and Gold medals in competition, including the Screenplay Chloe Cleopatra Taylor. He is also a youth director and lay minister in the Church of God of Prophecy in Jamaica. He is a born Jamaican living in Kingston with his lovely wife, Nordia.
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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $159 for three months! Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/  to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 980 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Tagged: Chloe, Cleveland McLeish, Declarations of Faith, playwright, screenwriter, Thriller, Who I Am In Christ, www.christianplaywright.org

Goodreads Giveaway: Thriller by Peter Standish Evans

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OMINOUS: BORDERS: COFFEE:   
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Ominous:-Borders:-Coffee
Set in PARIS, this thriller surges ominously through the psyche of modern Europe. …transport yourself to the mean streets… set in the vibrant suburbs of PARIS, this thriller surges ominously through the psyche of modern Europe… conflict is rife; danger is everywhere. Be warned, watch your back …

Tension ramps as borders, emotional, sexual & psychotic are stormed, and these threats weave danger for the fanatic lovers of coffee and the creative arts.

An obsessive and beautiful classical violinist is pitted against a malevolent killer; it’s summer in modern Europe & the cafés and bistros hum with robust and colorful activity. Inspector Vasseur sits at his favorite table on a battered sidewalk. Alone he drinks on hot summer nights, his instincts grappling with the mysterious case of innocent deaths along the River Seine.
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OMINOUS: BORDERS: COFFEE:   (The Paris Thriller) will be a dog-eared and red wine stained addition to your book collection.

Paperback, 280 pages, $8.99
e-book $4.99
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About the Author:
Peter Standish Evans lives with a deep love of both creative writing and vibrant reading. He spends significant time exploring the works of new writers, buying first editions where able.

Writing his novel ‘Ominous: Borders: Coffee’ (The Paris Thriller) was an exploration into the borders of ‘characterisation’, and an occasion to fuse ominous fiction with a touch of dangerous poetry, so lending depth to a troubled character. In this novel, the author explores the emotional, sexual and psychotic traits of those pitted for and against evil.

He is currently writing the second novel in the series, with the working title ‘the circle of dark squares’… once again featuring the Parisian Inspector, Jean-Luc Vasseur.

He has a published poetry collection ‘Red Winds Howl’, which has been described as “a blend of 303 bullets and tequila”. A second poetry compilation is being readied for release, featuring his poems from the 21st century. This collection titled ‘Deep Red Lands’ will be published in 2014.
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ENTER to WIN the GOODREADS GIVEAWAY:
Peter Standish Evans’ Thriller “Ominous: Borders: Coffee”
Giveaway dates: December 20 – January 05, 2014
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18158959-ominous?ac=1

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Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 970 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

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Tagged: classical violinist, Europe, Goodreads giveaway, malevolent killer, Ominous: Borders: Coffee, Paris, Peter Standish Evans, Thriller

Interview With Three Authors of Legendary Christmas

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Legendary-Christmas

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A pleasure to meet today with Jan Scarbrough, Janet Eaves and Magdalena Scott. Thanks for telling us about your Legendary Christmas Past. We hear you have an e-book promotion going on at Amazon?
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Jan:  Our publisher Turquoise Morning Press has bundled six Christmas novellas that are on sale until the end of December for only 99 cents. It’s called A Legendary Christmas Past Boxed Sethttp://amzn.to/17luvoI

The six novellas were written by three authors—Janet Eaves, Magdalena Scott, and myself, Jan Scarbrough—and they were set in a fictitious town of Legend, Tennessee. The neat part about this bundle is that the novellas take place in the 1940’s, the 1960’s and the 1970’s. So they are “historical” even though they deal with very recent history.

These Christmas novellas are set in Legend, Tennessee

·         If Only In My Dreams, 1944 and 1945, by Janet Eaves

·         A Groovy Christmas, 1968, and Not Quite Christmas, 1969, by Jan Scarbrough

·         Under The Mistletoe, 1975, and The Holly and the Ivy, 1978, by Magdalena Scott
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How did you come to write stories set in the same fictitious town?

Janet:  Maddie James, Magdalena Scott, Jan Scarbrough, and myself, Janet Eaves carried on our friendship online via email. We mainly talked about our writing projects. After playing around and creating character names from our first pet and the first street we lived on, we decided to create a story about each of these characters, but as a twist, they all had to live in the same small town. And to twist it even further, we each took a season—fall, winter, spring and summer.

That was the beginning of months of collaboration as towns have their own personalities, peculiarities, and of course landmarks. But first, our town needed a name.

At the time I was sitting in my home office discussing this project via email, and I glanced up at the extremely large map of the United States on my office wall… and there, down in the right corner, was the map’s Legend. So I suggested Legend as the name of our town and we liked it… Now that our town had a name it needed a location, and it seems it took only seconds for us all to agree that Legend would be in Tennessee, sitting at the foot of the Smoky Mountains, which is an area many people recognize because if its tourist appeal.

Do you have other books set in Legend, Tennessee?

Jan: Yes. Our publisher has bundled the non-Christmas novels and novellas into a nine book set called Love in a Small Town. Again, it’s on sale until the middle of December for 99 cents. We’re so pleased it’s reached the top 100 Amazon Bestseller list in Romance.

Janet: Yes. The boxed set bundle of Love in a Small Town starts with the first four books I was telling you about. In Claiming the Legend, the opening book in the series, the town is detailed as my character rolls into Legend for the first time. Streets, businesses, and directions give a sense of place in this seemingly sleepy town. My heroine heads for the local Bed and Breakfast, owned by the heroine of Bed, Breakfast and You, written by Maddie James. This lovely home is also described as is Maddie’s character, and the B&B itself. So you see it took lots of collaboration between all four of us to pull off a series written by four different authors using the same setting and recurring characters.

But before all the details of our stories could solidify, we needed a detailed map of the town. This map took me weeks to build and is continually updated whenever one of us has a new story that requires their location to be land-marked.

Why did you choose to set your Christmas romances in the past?

Jan: A year earlier, we had already written a set of four Christmas novellas at the request of our publisher. These e-books are bundled in A Legendary Christmas Boxed Set.

Magdalena:  When we decided to do Ladies of Legend Christmas romances set in the past, we each chose a somewhat recent decade.

Jan: Maddie James was going to take the 1950’s but work commitments and other book deadlines didn’t give her time to participate the following year.

Janet, why choose to write about the 1940’s?

Janet:  Christmas near the end of WWII was all about love, struggle, fear, hardship, and remembrance. Gifts were hand-made items of necessity such as scarves, socks, and maybe even a sweater or blanket. Food and nearly every item one could purchase at the time was limited by the rationing stamps allotted to each family. Families leaned on their faith, each other, and awaited news from outside of their homes by word of mouth, or if they were fortunate enough, a radio.

But as hard as it was to survive, people persevered, they pulled together as a nation, and they fell in love. The two stories set in Legend during this period reflect the hardships and the joys of life as the war wound down, and the danger of falling in love when the life of the one you love could so quickly end.

Jan, why write about the 60’s?

Jan:  As a teenager during that time, I had seen it through the eyes of teenage angst. Going back to research those two years, I discovered that so much happened—the assassination of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, riots in Chicago, and a flight around the moon for 1968. In 1969, people were dealing with times that were changing even faster. In both novellas, I write about characters who confront the change. In A Groovy Christmas, the heroine is sorry she’s never burned her bra and comes face-to-face with her blossoming sexuality. In Not Quite Christmas, I flip it, making my hero straight-laced and my heroine a hippie who has been to Woodstock. I had fun weaving the days’ events into the stories while setting the characters in a typical, small town where nothing changes.

My two novellas in this boxed set are prequels to my other two Legend novellas The Reunion Game and Santa’s Kiss. I’ve created a mini-series within the main Legend series based upon my first two characters Jane and Graham in The Reunion GameJane’s sister Dawn appears in Santa’s Kiss. You’ll find the love story of Graham’s parents in A Groovy Christmas. Jane and Dawn’s parents have their own love story in Not Quite Christmas. I wasn’t aware of how much readers enjoy series until I wrote these. Now I hope to write more series. It’s fun to piece relationships together like giant puzzles.
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Magdalena, why did you choose to set your “historical” romances in the 1970’s?

Magdalena:  My husband graduated high school in 1970 and I graduated in 1978; I thought it would be fun to revisit those times. And it was! I pulled out my yearbooks to describe the clothing and hairstyles for the characters, and my husband’s for the times when the characters were looking back. I used Wikipedia to help choose songs to play on the juke box in Jim Bob’s Saloon. Music is so evocative, and I think the juke box adds an important layer to the scenes that take place there. In Under the Mistletoe, the first time Charles McClain goes into Jim Bob’s when he’s visiting Legend, Freddy Fender’s Wasted Days and Wasted Nights starts playing on the juke box, and Charles realizes that’s pretty much what his visit to Legend has been. Of course this is just minutes before he meets Dorothy Robbins, the pretty blonde waitress who wants to go back to college so she can get a good job and leave Legend forever.
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So the stories in A Legendary Christmas Past are prequels to your other Ladies of Legend stories? What was that like to write?

Magdalena:  It was fun, like when I introduced Martin McClain as a little boy back in the 70s. He is a hero in one of my contemporary Legend stories, Midnight in Legend, TN. And that saloon I mentioned before? It is the building that, years later, Midnight Shelby buys when she moves to Legend from NYC. She converts it into a beautiful store and the actual bar area serves designer coffee.

Writing the prequels also forced me to become more organized. Each of my Legend stories has a McClain as one of the main characters. Because of doing the prequels—Under the Mistletoe and The Holly and the Ivy—I now have a reasonably detailed family tree including birth years for the McClain family and some of the others who become involved in the stories, like Dorothy Robbins of Under the Mistletoe and her friend Jeannie Adams in The Holly and the Ivy. Having that family tree with notes to myself about who does what and in which story is very helpful.
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Do you have a favorite story in the boxed set?

Janet:  If Only In My Dreams (1945) is one of my all-time favorites. The novella is told through the eyes of the heroine. When she takes on a blind, wounded soldier to help him recuperate, she finds that life is so different from anything she had ever known before, and to break through his shell of pain and loss, she has to let him now see the world through her eyes. In the end, the message, if there is one, is that people are people no matter their disability. To treat them any differently takes away their identity.
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What else would you like to tell us about A Legendary Christmas Past Boxed Set?

Magdalena:  I love my McClains and Legend. I’m so glad the four of us created this little town where “romance lives next door,” and thrilled that so many readers are discovering it and learning to love it too!

The whole set of a Legendary Christmas Past is available for a short time for only $0.99
Amazon Kindle e-book, 392 pages:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GQ1WQIG
Link to Legend Website:  http://www.legendtennessee.com/

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $159 for three months! Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/
to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or  Kindle Countdown Deals.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 960 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Tagged: A Groovy Christmas, A Legendary Christmas Past Boxed Set, Amazon Kindle Special, If Only In My Dreams, Jan Scarbrough, Janet Eaves, Legendary Christmas series, Magdalena Scott, Not Quite Christmas, Novella, Tennessee, The Holly and the Ivy, Under The Mistletoe

3 Frequently Asked Questions by Writers

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HuntsPoint-Beach

Some author-publishers want to “just write”. Not even write a blog, guest blog, articles for newspapers or God-forbit, “waste time on Social Media”. However, in order to “just write”, and if no money comes in within days or weeks, then you will have to stay at the day job, all week long doing something other than writing. You will only make money by selling books, and the first step in selling a book is to get in contact with potential readers and show that your book exists.  For a self-published author, Social Media is the only gateway to a global audience that doesn’t cost money, only your time and a bit effort to social “network”.

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Question #1: I Follow People on Twitter – But They Don’t Follow Back

Did you just click on “Following” – and nothing else? Or did you frequently re-tweet or engage otherwise with them? They are certainly not obliged to follow, it’s voluntarily, but you have to give them a reason, other than just click on following. Think about your appearance or your tweets:

  • Do you have an appealing avatar (portrait) and introduction, so that people are enticed to follow you?
  • What are you tweeting? Is it newsworthy, funny, useful? Or are you talking only about your book?

If you go to a party and and just say hello or nod at someone, and continue into the room to get a drink, do you expect people to run after you, trying to invite you into a conversation? Social Media is like a big party. As more interesting you are and as more friendly and social, and as more communicative  you are, as more people will want to talk with you.

Replying to someone’s tweet, is a great way to make friends and followers on Twitter. Asking them a question, sharing a success, or otherwise adding value to the conversation will most likely get you a response, and probably a follower.

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Question #2: How Do I Get Followers on Google+

… and also: Why should I be on GooglePlus? It is one of the most important Social Networks for authors – if not THE BEST in terms of your Google Search Engine ranking. Success.com sums it up in an article:
Share good content, people will spread the word, and you’ll get more followers. Add the Google+ badge to your website and blog, help people, make meaningful comments and invite people to join your circles.

Authors can start a main page on GooglePlus and separate sites for each of their books. Google+ allows to create up to 50 pages. Please do read this article by moz.com about Google+ for higher search engine rankings:

How to build your Google+ circles, filled with potential followers, is explained in lots of articles and YouTube videos, just a few links of many:

http://www.wikihow.com/Create-Circles-in-Google%2B

http://websearch.about.com/od/web20/p/Google-Circles.htm

http://www.martinshervington.com/what-are-google-circles/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7vxTKvi3e0#t=11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slwgtb803WY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVrV2-dr3FU

For a FREE PDF book, how to use Google+ get the links here:

http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/09/01/15-reasons-to-be-on-google/

http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/08/30/how-to-make-use-of-google-as-
an-author/

As an author you want to interact with potential readers, reviewers, book bloggers and book clubs – find these people by using the search function on top of your Google+ site.

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Question #3:  I Had a Radio/TV Interview – But Nothing Came Out of It … 
When I hear this, my first reply is:

  • What did you do with the interview?
  • How did you promote this free promotion?
  • Did you promote your interview that you got on a blog website, podcast, TV show, or radio, before and after the event?

Much like other public appearances, radio interviews are a great way to get attention: AM/FM, satellite, internet, or even Blog Talk Radio, the interviews can be used to gain some positive and popular PR.

There are lots of Possibilities to Promote Your Interview:

  • Before and after, on Social Media: Promote upcoming interviews – “Looking forward to talking with radio host …at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Love his show!” “Like” the interview show on Facebook,follow the host on Twitter, and look for other ways to cross promote. Get busy tweeting after the interview: “Great conversation with …. on Wednesday! If you missed the show, here’s a link.”
  • Get a copy of the taped interview
    Use the link to show the video on your sales pages, e.g. on your Amazon author page, your Goodreads page (or other book lovers sites) and on Google+, where you can post it as many times as you want in your timeline and on all your pages or communities.
  • Re-blog your interview on book blogger sites to your own blog, and promote it heavily on Social Media.
  • Write an article on your own blog about the experience of being interviewed on radio or TV, give fellow authors tips, and promote this blog post.

Last, but not least: Get the next interview booked. Now that you know how it works, try to get as many interviews as possible – which means lots of exposure for your book.
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Read also:

How to Get Radio Interviews
http://www.radiopublicity.net/radiopublicitytips.htm

How to Promote Your Book During your Radio/TV interview
http://emsincorporated.com/promote-product-book-radio-interview/

Preparing for a TV / radio interview
http://www.nrcdv.org/dvam/themes/dvap/PDF/Preparingfor-TV-Radio-Interview.pdf
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Hope these tips help you to successfully promote your book. Let me know about more questions : )
And don’t forget:  an interview is not a book sales event, you cannot expect soaring sales after, it is one little step of building your author brand and reputation and to get your name out there.

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $159 for 3 months! Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/ to advertise your new book, specials or your KDP Select Free Days.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 940 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Tagged: author interview on blog talk, follow back, how to built circles on Google+, how to contact radio show hosts, how to get followers on Twitter, radio interview, why should they follow you

Interview with Author Bart Stewart

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Author-Bart-Stewart

Author Bart Stewart


A pleasure to talk today with Bart Stewart, author of several books and short stories, notably his latest novel Painter of the Heavens
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Bart, what inspired you to start writing?
I started writing as a kid, mainly as an escape from some hard times my family was going through. I was inspired by the old Twilight Zone TV show, and wrote surreal fantasy pieces like that.I never stopped loving that sub-genre, which is much smaller than some other fantasy categories, like sword-and-sorcery. Richard Matheson, who passed away this year, was the great modern practitioner of it. He wrote some Twilight Zone episodes, too. H.G. Wells may have been the real pioneer. He said to take a realistic setting and inject one fantastic element. My first book, Tales of Real and Dream Worlds, is in this style.Apart from Matheson/Serling fantasy, I read the classics. Tolstoy, Twain, Dickens, Poe, and from the 20th century Truman Capote. I always said In Cold Blood was the best description of personalities I have ever read. But now I have to mention Elizabeth Strout’s 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner, Olive Kitteridge.
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How would you describe your latest book to someone who has not yet read it?
I’m hoping the subtitle, “A Novel of Crime and the Heart,” will tell the world that this is fiction that goes into the personalities and psyches of its two main characters as they become caught up in a criminal scheme. It might better be called “A Novel of the Heart, and Crime.” Painter of the Heavens is a very character-driven novel about a woman who becomes romantically involved with a potentially dangerous con artist. We don’t know his thoughts, only hers, so he could very well love her as much as he claims to. His behavior and statements tell us that he has a conflicted and compartmentalized mind. Ultimately, he becomes quite scary.
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Is there a message in your book that you want your readers to grasp?
I enjoy painting pictures with words, describing scenes and personalities. I’m told by objective readers that I am very good at it. In this novel I am showing two people, Penny Sturdevant and Lyle Chilton, whose lives go off the rails due to the obsession for money that one of them has. If there is a message it would be to resist such attitudes, but also that it is something we are all subject to in this rat-racing society.
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How did you get the idea for the novel?
That is always the toughest question! Where did you get this idea, or where do these characters come from? It is very mysterious. The stories just start rolling like a movie in my head. I edit them, but the origins are unknowable to me. I get lots of story ideas, all the time. A tougher question might be why choose one story idea over others?  In the case of this novel, the interplay of the two personalities appealed to me, and I thought the fraud case itself was intriguing.
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Are your characters based on real people?
No character in my novel comes from any single source. I generally cobble my characters together like Frankenstein’s monster, from parts and traits of many different people. There is usually a bit of me in there somewhere. Otherwise, they are made up of pieces of people I have known, sometimes even briefly.
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Who is your favorite character and why?
Penny and Lyle, are predominately who the book deals with. Several supporting characters turn up, especially Penny’s best friend and sounding board, Chloe. But Penny with her healthy, heartfelt desire to have a fulfilling life, and Lyle with his conflicted, mirror-maze mind are characters that equally stayed in my thoughts.
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If Oprah invited you onto her show to talk about your book, what would the theme of the show be?
The theme would be – Me being on the Oprah show. No, I’m kidding. The theme would be Honesty. Or maybe Authenticity. Painter of the Heavens deals with issues of authenticity in life.
How much of the book is based on real life (either yours or someone you know)?
Penny’s struggle to have a fulfilling life is real enough, and it is going on all around us, on the street, every day. Likewise the reality of wishful thinking, or “wanting to believe,” which the con artists prey on. The changeable personality type, the Jekyll-and-Hyde type, is no fantasy, either.
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What would/could a reader or reviewer say about this book that shows they “get” you as an author?
They would have feelings of empathy for Penny, who only wants “to be part of something.” She wants to be part of something healthy and long-lasting, not just a love affair but a larger life around it. She ends up with Lyle Chilton, and a criminal scheme. But I don’t write heroes and villains that are 100% good and evil. Lyle is a conflicted person, and while we aren’t privy to his thoughts, he seems to have found some genuine connection with Penny, which is another interesting aspect of the novel.
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Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?
The most striking thing I have learned is that I can’t stop doing it. I keep on writing in the face of impossible odds. The traditional publishing route is like a lottery. There is a certain bar of quality that must be met, but beyond that it is luck of the slush-pile draw. We like to think that the most successful writers got that way because they wrote the best books. Instead they are like lottery winners, surrounded by a sea of talents of higher, lower, and similar worth. W.C. Fields once said it was easy for him to quit drinking, that he had done it a thousand times. That’s how I am with writing, in the absence of any commercial success I have quit a thousand times. But the stories keep coming to me, and objective readers keep telling me how much they love my work.
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Considering a book from the first word you write to the moment you see it on a bookstore shelf, what’s your favorite part of the process? What’s your least favorite?
I love reading the finished product. That’s the best part. All the rest of it is pretty grueling mental work. After all, every sentence can be worded a dozen different ways, or more. You have to deliver the best wording, every time. It is just a lot of hard mental work, for no guarantee of pay, or even of being considered, or seen at all.
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What scene or bit of dialogue in the book are you most proud of, and why?
There are so many great “small” scenes in Painter of the Heavens, little vignettes along the way. Those are what makes a novel in my view. But if I had to pin down a favorite scene in my book it would be where Lyle convinces Penny to be his accomplice in the forgery fraud. He will actually convince you that this madness of his is a good idea! He talks a very, very good game. Always.
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If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything about your book?
This is going to sound really conceited, but no. I work-shopped this novel extensively at some top writing centers, and had it professionally edited. For a book about the psychology of characters like these two, it is as good as I can make it.
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If your book would be made into a movie, who should play the main characters?
Unfortunately, Susan Hayward and Robert Mitchum are dead.
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What general advice do you have for other writers?
Understand that this may be the toughest game in the world in terms of finding success. There’s no heavy lifting involved, but the odds of achieving success are remote. There must be a billion writers in the world, and while most of them are not competitive, they all take up time and oxygen. With e-books the odds have shifted slightly in the author’s favor, but the same old situation of the vast slush-pile of manuscripts still exists. It has only been shifted directly to the readers, who must now choose between the endless thousands of titles pouring onto the market every week. If you view this as a lifelong calling, you may be able to build a core following that will lead to some sales. You have to deliver extremely well-polished manuscripts, of course. A good writing center is helpful for that. Remember too that creative works are subjective. Every book ever written was hated by somebody.
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What is the best part of being a writer for you?
The self-expressive aspect of this is probably unparalleled. No other art form can communicate with both the specificity and the atmospherics of literature. With writing you can talk to the logic center as well as the emotions. I have written a blog post that goes in depth on the value of literary fiction:  http://bartstewart.com/2013/09/new-literary-society-due/
What’s the most challenging part of being a writer?
The challenges are endless, just in producing the fiction. The work has to be your best. Revisions go on forever; it seems that it’s never finished. Then comes the marketing part, with all the expense and all the computer platforms you have to learn to do that. I am not a computer engineer nor am I wealthy.
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Where’s the one place in the world you’d like to visit?
The Great Barrier Reef
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What is your favorite book?
Important books are not always pleasant books, understand. I said above that Capote’s In Cold Blood had the best descriptions of human personalities that I know of. If you have not read it, I do recommend it, and I can tell you that it is not overly graphic in describing the murders.
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How would a close friend describe you?
“The triumph of style over bile! The droll soul with the heart of gold! The mellow jello fellow! Ladies and gentlemen – Party Barty!!!”
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Where can people learn more about your writing?
.Painter-of-the-Heavens
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Painter of the Heavens
Book-Tales-of-Real-and-Dream-World
Tales of Real and Dream Worlds
http://goo.gl/5KXw4c
Don’t miss the Goodreads Giveaway: TALES OF REAL & DREAM WORLDS by Bart Stewart
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/67941-tales-of-real-and-dream-worlds


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The Statuary Cats
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Tagged: Author Bart Stewart, novel by Bart Stewart, Painter of the Heavens, Tales of Real and Dream Worlds, The Statuary Cats

Interview with Author Caro Ayre

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Breathless-by-Caro-Ayre
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Today’s Author Interview is with the lovely, talented author Caro Ayre from Kenya, who lives now in Somerset, UK. She is the author of two books – and more to come.

Caro, how would you describe your books to someone who has not yet read it?

BREATHLESS
This book is not so much about an illness, but about how the members of a family deal with or fail to deal with knowing one of them suffers from a life threatening condition.
FEAST OF THE ANTLION
This is an action packed adventure set in Kenya with a touch of romance.
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Is there a message in your book that you want your readers to grasp?
I hope that reading Breathless will give readers an insight to the problems created by Cystic Fibrosis, not just to the person with the condition but to the extended family. I also hope to raise money for research into this disease.
With my other book Feast of the Antlion, I wanted to give the readers a taste of what a wonderful place Kenya is. I was born there and was lucky to have experienced a magical childhood enjoying the wide open spaces and getting to see wildlife in its natural setting. I hope that I have conveyed some of the magnificence of the country in this book. If it makes people want to go and experience Kenya that would make me happy. All the settings are based on places I loved and knew, but the story is certainly not autobiographical.
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What inspired you to start writing?
I started early writing tiny books for my dolls. I day-dreamed my way through school, reading everything I could lay my hands on. Class-work seemed less unimportant, much to the despair of my teachers. Many years later while in the process of restoring a huge house and garden, I took to writing to give myself an excuse to sit down. At first the challenge was to write enough to be able to classify as a novel. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I kept at it. Then unsure what to do next, I wrote another, and kept going. It is only recently that I have taken the final steps towards publishing.
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How did you get the idea for the novel?
Breathless started with the idea that I wanted to explore how a family might cope with one of them suffering from a serious long term illness. I wanted to see if it would make or break the characters. Discover who would cope and who wouldn’t.
The Feast of the Antlion I was trying to explore the ups and downs of creating a wildlife conservation sanctuary and keeping control of it.
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Does your book have any underlying theme, message or moral?
I do hope with Breathless that readers will learn a little about Cystic Fibrosis and how transplants may be a sufferers last hope. If any reader feels inclined to sign the donor register as a result of reading the book I will feel I have achieved something worthwhile.
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Are your characters based on real people?
I think all characters that any author creates are bound to have elements of people they know in them. I doubt anyone would recognize who I have based my characters on. I can usually picture the character in my head, but I don’t go so far as to find a photo of them.
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Are your plots based on real-life experiences.
No there is nothing autobiographical about my books. But usually I know the locations well. I like to pick places and buildings I know and love, though I might move them to a different geographical location to prevent someone from complaining that I have described it wrongly.
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How much of the book is based on real life (either yours or someone you know)?
When I started Breathless I knew nothing about Cystic Fibrosis other than it was life threatening and genetic. I never wanted the book to be depressingly about the illness, so chose to have Hannah, the daughter who has the condition, in good form because of her mother’s unstinting determination to keep her that way. I would have an idea, and then try to find out if that was something that a cystic fibrosis sufferer might do. I came into contact briefly with a lot of very helpful people online, who would tell me how they dealt with different issues. Their accounts sometimes made me explore avenues I had never considered before.
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What would/could a reader or reviewer say about this book that shows they “get” you as an author?
“What else has she written?” Would give me joy!
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Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?
Being organized would have saved me a lot of grief!

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Considering a book from the first word you write to the moment you see it on a bookstore shelf, what’s your favourite part of the process? What is your least favourite?
Holding a copy of the book has to be the best moment. The endless editing, not helped by my knack of putting nearly as many errors in as I took out has to be worst. There is also losing a lot of work because of a power cut and failure to keep a back up.
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What scene or bit of dialogue in the book are you most proud of, and why?
In Feast of the Antlion there was a plane crash at the beginning, which considering I have no idea how to fly, worked quite well.
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If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything about your book.
Not at this stage. Though with both books I may go back to write a follow up. But that might not be for a while. I have a couple of other books that I want to finish before then.
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What genre have you not yet written, but really want to try.
My next book is heading for the Crime shelves. Not too brutal, but not too cosy either.

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Feast-of-the-Antlion
 How did you get published? 
The first book I ever wrote was picked up by an agent and reached committee stage at one of the well-known publishers. Sadly it was rejected, and the agent retired, leaving me back at square one. But the experience gave me the confidence to keep writing.Personal circumstances put writing on the sidelines for a long time. And when I got going again, the publishing industry had changed. Self publish had become acceptable and the arrival of Kindle and other similar devices made it even more acceptable.I decided that I must get the editing side of writing sorted, and set to work. I published Feast of the Antlion as a Kindle book first, but so many people asked when the paperback was coming out. I knew I had to figure out how to produce one. After a lot of online research I set up my own publishing house, bought a block of ISBN numbers, and chose to LightningSource as my printer. I have to admit I made a few beginners errors, but I am happy with the route I have chosen. I think what I love most about this route is that I have total control. No one can remainder my book, because I haven’t hit some impossible target set by someone I don’t know.
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What general advice do you have for other writers?
Pick names carefully. Write them down. Know what nicknames they have too, and who uses them. Be sure of them before you get too far into the book. Nothing messes with your head more than a name change at a later stage. It is easy enough to make the changes on the computer, but much harder to get your head round them. Beware of names that are non gender specific unless there is a reason for doing so. For example, Chris, readers may think they are reading about a man, and then discover that the character is a woman which is disconcerting.  Be methodical. Have a plan and stick to it.
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Do NaNoWriMo at least once.
Don’t worry if you get stuck on something, jump to another part of the story and carry on from there. The best character may not turn up until you are half way through the story, but if you don’t keep pounding it out you might never find him or her.
Each book starts with a different spark. The first draft I pound out the story, usually with too much back story about the characters and their families and why they are in whatever situation I have thought up.
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What is the best part of being a writer?
Being able to decide what your characters do or don’t do, allowing them to be brave or foolish enough to do things you might not have had the courage to do yourself.
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What is the most challenging part of being a writer?
All the steps that come after the fun of creating the story. The editing, the formatting, but most of all going out there trying to persuade friends and family and then strangers that they should buy the book.
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Where is the one place in the world you’d like to visit.
I’ve always wanted to go to Egypt, to the Valley of the Kings.
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What are your favourite books?
  • Dr Zivago by Boris Pasternack.
  • The historical novel Katherine by Anya Seton.
  • And a recent addition Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.
  • The Far Pavillions by M M Kaye a wonderful story about set in India. It reminded me so much of stories that I had been told as a child. I love reading about distant places, different cultures.
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How would a close friend describe you?
This is a difficult question! I asked a friend, who was sweet enough to come up with “generous and kind, determined, artistic, quirky polymathic, thoughtful, perceptive and caring” but that’s the kind of friend she is! I think I’d probably have come up with a book bore, bonkers and a bit of a hermit.
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Where can people learn more about your writing?
From my website. www.caroayre.co.uk which has a link to my blog and my books.
What is ONE thing you have done that brought you more readers?
Put a big pile of books on my hall table. My Bed & Breakfast guests are good customers.
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What is the one thing that your readers would be surprised to know about you?
That I get to do all the jobs round here that require the tall ladder, including fixing parts of the roof.
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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-Book-PR.com/book-promo to advertise your new book, specials or KDP Select Free Days.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are almost 900 of them : ) – if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

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Tagged: BREATHLESS, Caro Ayre, Cystic Fibrosis, Cystic Fibrosis Society, FEAST OF THE ANTLION, Greenham Hall B&B, Kenya, Somerset UK

Interview with Linda Kovic-Skow: FRENCH ILLUSIONS

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Author-Linda-Kovic-Skow

Linda Kovic-Skow at 21 in France

A pleasure to meet Linda Kovic-Skow, the author of the higly popular French Illusions, an amazing true story of a young American au-pair at a Château in the Loire Valley, west of Paris.
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Linda, how would you describe your book to someone who has not yet read it?

In the summer of 1979, when I was twenty-one, I contracted to become an au-pair for a wealthy French family in the Loire Valley. To secure the attractive position, I pretended to speak French, fully aware that my deception would be discovered, once I arrived at my destination.

Based on my diary, French Illusions captures my often challenging, real-life story inside and outside the Château de Montclair.

The over-bearing, Madame Dubois, her accommodating husband Monsieur Dubois, and their two children are highlighted as I struggled to adapt to my new environment. Continually battling the language barrier, I signed up and attended classes at the local university in the nearby town of Tours. When I encountered, Adam, a handsome young student, my life with the Dubois family became more complicated, adding fuel to my internal battle for independence.

Is there a message in your book that you want your readers to grasp?
Set in the beautiful Loire Valley, French Illusions, my remarkable true story, recounts my exploits as a young, adventurous woman filled with dreams. It’s not too late to create your own memories. Go out and explore the world. Life’s for living, after all.

What inspired you to start writing? 
About five years ago, after my husband and I dropped our youngest daughter off at college, I went through a sort of mid-life crisis. I missed being a mom and I wondered how I would fill the void. Sure I had my part-time bookkeeping business, but it consumed only a few hours a day and it was not interesting any more. Something was missing, but what?

This prompted me to review what I like to call my “mid-life list.” This is similar to a “bucket list,” with an important twist. The idea was to refocus myself and figure out the things I wanted to do with my life in my fifties – while I could still do them. My list was short.

  • Learn to play the piano
  • Travel to Africa to see the elephants
  • Travel to Tahiti and see the island of Bora Bora
  • Travel back to France (with my family this time)
  • Write a book

At the time, I didn’t own a piano and, with two daughters in college (on the east coast no less!), I couldn’t afford a trip to Africa or Tahiti. I had already traveled back to France in 2001 with my family, so that left me to examine the fifth item on my list more closely. If I did write a book, would it be fiction or non-fiction? What genre would I choose?

The answers to my questions came to me in the shower (which is where many of my ideas seem to materialize, strangely enough). I decided to hunt down my diary from my au pair adventure in France and compose a memoir. It took me three years and countless hours to write French Illusions, but now I can scratch another item off my mid-life list.


Who is your favorite character and why?
One of my favorite characters in my memoir is Madame Dubois. Given her very arrogant, unforgiving attitude, she is the natural antagonist in my story.  As I worked my way through my diary, I recounted many heartbreaking interactions with my patron. Here is a sample of one of them:
“Ten minutes later, I returned to the salon with a tray of refreshments and under the watchful eyes of everyone there, I poured and served the tea. My hand trembled, but I kept going and completed the task without incident. Heaving a sigh of satisfaction, I plopped down next to Alexandre.
It felt good to be around other people besides the Dubois family. Even though I still struggled with French conversations, at least now I understood many of the words spoken around me. If I encountered trouble with certain words, I knew how to ask the speaker to speak more slowly or repeat what they’d said.
Turning toward Alexandre, I tried out a new phrase. “Donne-moi une pâtisserie, s’il te plait.” Please pass the pastry. Madame Moulon noticed and congratulated me on my progress with the language, “Mademoiselle Kovic, votre français s’améliore.
Merci beaucoup, madame.” I replied, glancing at my patron, eyes hopeful.
Madame Dubois opened her mouth, but no words of praise burst forth. Instead, she pointed to the teapot and asked me in English to pour her mother another cup of tea.”
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Give us an excerpted quote from your favorite review of your book:
“This memoir from new author, Linda Kovic-Skow, is a must-read for all of us that have longed to explore the world, but don’t have the courage of the vivacious, young protagonist. Looking for a new direction in life, Linda yearns for adventure in her hopes of becoming a glamorous flight attendant. But, when she fibs her way into a job as an au-pair in the Loire Valley of France, she soon discovers that her expectations aren’t quite in line with those of her new employer.
The story flows nicely as she paints a picture of the quaint towns and rolling hillsides of her new home, but the highlights for this reader were the vignettes with the children, especially little Antoine. His adorable one-liners and interactions with Linda never ceased to brighten my mood. The relationships with the rest of the family are nicely developed throughout the book, and the dialogue reads well. Don’t be surprised when you see French dialogue on the page, though, because it is a convention that carries throughout. Overall, I thought that Francophiles and casual readers alike could enjoy this story, and I personally can’t wait for a sequel!” – Amazon Reviewer

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Bedroom-at-the-Chateau

Bedroom at the Chateau

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If Oprah invited you onto her show to talk about your book, what would the theme of the show be?
 Stories from plucky women.
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What would/could a reader or reviewer say about this book that shows they “get” you as an author?
A few readers have told me that my memoir reads like a novel and, at times, they have to remind themselves that French Illusions is non-fiction. I consider this a great compliment. Successful narrative non-fiction, above all else, must encompass good storytelling techniques such as character development and dialog.
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What scene or bit of dialogue in the book are you most proud of, and why?
Chapter 15 in French Illusions was such fun to write. I pictured myself walking through the Songais market in the Loire Valley, describing my stops along the way. I wanted readers to feel as though they were right alongside of me, experiencing the event with me. Here is an excerpt:

“Rows of tables presided over by neighboring farmers and tradesman filled the square, many of them offering tempting samples to potential customers. Everything from pungent goat cheeses to hand-made sweaters were on display. Ahead, I noticed a booth offering tastes of guignolet, a local liqueur made from wild and sour cherries. The vendor, a deeply tanned man wearing a beret, waved me over. “Mademoiselle! Venez donc goûter!

Unable to resist the temptation, I stepped up to his booth and he poured me a small drink, pushing it toward me with a wink. Down it went, its syrupy sweet taste so scrumptious I licked my lips afterward. “Merci,” I said. “C’est très bon.

Down a few stalls, I discovered products made entirely from honey, including confections, lotions, and soaps. The scent compelled me to bring a bar to my nose, closing my eyes as I inhaled.

Curious about a small crowd near a retailer up ahead, I peeked around a bystander and discovered a colorful display of misshapen orange, yellow, and striped squashes. It took me a few moments, but my eyes honed in on the real stars of the show. Unique samples of squash resembling geese and ducks sat upright, charming the audience—the children in particular.”

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What genre have you not yet written but really want to try?
I would love to write a children’s book someday filled with stories surrounding the pets I acquired growing up. My love for animals, coupled with my parents lassiez-fare (let it be) attitude towards child rearing, resulted in some great tales. It would be fun to put them down on paper.
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What general advice do you have for other writers?
Hire a professional editor. I mean it. You can’t edit your own book. You won’t see the mistakes because you are too close to the writing. It will cost you a few hundred dollars for a line editor, a bit more if you need some in-depth editing, but it’s the best money you will ever spend. I cringe every time I read a negative review where the main complaint is formatting, spelling or punctuation. You want readers to judge you solely on the content of your story.
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French-Illusions

French Illusions


Where can readers learn more about your writing?

http://lindakovicskow.com/

Don’t miss Linda’s lovely book trailer: FRENCH ILLUSIONS 

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-Book-PR.com/book-promo to advertise your new book, specials or KDP Select Free Days. $39 Special ends in October.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 885+ of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

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Tagged: aristocratic French family, Chateau in France, French Illusions, French language, memoir filled with challenges, Memoir of an American au-pair, She pretended to speak French

How to find Book Review Editors

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Book-Reviews

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In the last blog post you could read how useless and expensive (measured to results) it is, to send out mass press releases, in the hope someone will pick up your book, review it and to write about it in a major newspaper or magazine. However, most likely it doesn’t work this way.
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You read how important it is, to customize your press release and send it to a targeted audience. But how do you find editors and journalists, who could write about your book – if it is hardcover and in the certain genres they review. More about this later.
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So, how can you find these Editors/Journalists?
Nothing easier, just google “Newspaper Book Review Editors”. On one of the top ranking places you will find John Kremer’s generous and helpful, free listing of editors of leading newspapers in the USA. Authors from other parts of the world just add the name of their country into the search function. This doesn’t mean that editors wouldn’t write about English books from abroad, but the likelihood is higher when the author comes from the same country.
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Use an Excel List and more tips
John Kremer also shows how a professional list of editors could be compiled in the Window’s Excel program. His lists are a free service and not updated constantly. As editors often change or might retire, it is anyway necessary to call ahead before you send out your news release. John Kremer also cautions: “Note that most newspaper book reviewers are only interested in major fiction, major social issue books, biographies of famous people, and some regional books.
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Important: good timing
Most newspapers only review new books. So, they need to have a book (galley copies or advanced review copies) six to twelve weeks before the publication date of the book. The most likely reason for no response is that your message was received and considered spam because it was not directed to the name of the editor/journalist, or a need those recipients have, or if it isn’t clear what the email is about!
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What about memoirs, non-fiction or children’s book authors?
You could start out with local newspapers or radio stations and try to get and interview, if there is anything in your book that you can hook to local points or to an upcoming holiday. So plan well ahead, at least three – six months ahead of your book launch.
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Another way to find names of media professionals who could introduce your book to a wider audience can be found when reading reviews in magazines and newspapers, online and print or listening to radio interviews. Note the name of the editor, journalist, reporter or interviewer.  Google the mail or email contact of the editor. Sometimes names can also be found on new books back cover blurbs.
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What Press Release companies will NOT tell you:
Usually book editors will not review a book that is not published in hardback, and still often self-published books.  A trade paperback, is also a huge strike against the chances of the book getting reviewed (but not absolutely impossible) even first-time author genre books are seldom reviewed, unless they are local. Non-fiction books seem a little easier to get reviews from them. However the self-published rule applies to all books.
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Before you send out your news release, make sure to get the editors submission guidelines – and that there is a slight chance for a review – things that press release companies don’t bother to do!
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What does all this mean for first-time, self-published e-book authors?
Direct your energy into getting in contact with book bloggers and book reviewers on Social Media sites, Goodreads and other literary websites and follow / friend these “power” readers to ask them – after you got them to know – to read your book, and hopefully they will review and write about it.

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 830+ of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

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http://pinterest.com/111publishing/
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Why I Hate Self-Promotion

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I hate to promote myself

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Why I Hate Self-Promotion is the title of a Salon.com article by SEAN BEAUDOIN, author of 

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I planned a completely different blog post today, but when I read this hilarious article, I just had to write about his sad/funny musings and how it can help authors. Sean Beaudoin’s subtitle is:  “As an author, marketing myself is a crucial part of the business — but that doesn’t mean I hate doing it any less”.

Sean has a publisher, however, as with all big (and small) publishers, he is “responsible for his own book promotion, as he is not John Grisham. And even John Grisham bitches about his promo budget.” Sean explains: “Publishers used to do most of the marketing for the books they put out. The best an author could do was finish the last chapter and then show up reasonably sober for a tri-city book tour.”
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“It’s essentially the record business model. A label signs 100 bands and tosses a few singles out there, hoping one gets noticed and blows up. Meanwhile, they spend all their cash stroking Mariah Carey, who is going to sell the same shit-train of albums regardless. The label does nothing to promote the 100 unknown bands, and if their singles die–which almost all of them do–so be it. Contracts were made to be canceled. But there are rare unexpected and random hits, and that is where the money comes from.”
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So, what can we learn from Sean Beaudoin?
He makes almost everything right: I have never heard about him or his books. Now I do! Why?
He is smart and wrote a guest post on Salon.com, a really great and funny peace of writing that makes readers wanting to see his books. And it allowed him to include lots of links to:

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You get the idea?
If you don’t get an article like this into Salon.com or the Huffington Post, write at least for a major newspaper (or a regional one), a magazine or a blog that has lots of readers (not writers), who might be interested in your topic. You can write about scenes and facts of your book in a thousand angles and topics. See also a sample of what you can do in a former blog post about Steven Raichlen’s article in the Huffington Post.
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Did I mention his book’s great cover design?  Another good idea:  he (or his publisher) posted his latest book on Amazon and other online retailers for pre-orders, which every author should do. Why this is so important?  Bookstores return unsold copies after three months to the publisher. Bookstore chains, such as B&N, sell over the internet too. And some readers who have heard from friends or online about your book go (still) to bookstores to get it. As more buzz is made about your book BEFORE it launches, as better for its success.
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We can learn a lot from Sean’s promotion mistakes too
He writes: “I have 975 followers on Twitter, an embarrassing pittance for anyone trying to move units.”  Well, in the meantime his Twitter followers increased by a hundred more – for sure due to his article. Anything less than 2,000 Twitter followers is pretty useless. Lots of books about Social Media recommend even NOT to follow people under 2,000 followers at the least. Better those from 5,000 and up… To reach these numbers, one just needs to be pro-active and re-tweet a lot. And most important to choose readers, bloggers and book reviewers as followers.
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Sean Beaudoin is NOT on Goodreads, where readers flock to, and this is a big mistake. There he could not only have an author page, but also a second one for all his books. He could join lots of reader groups in all possible genres and beyond, without having to peddle his books. He could upload all his Twitter followers and Facebook friends with one click. His shear presence would be enough; plus a Goodreads Giveaway campaign that could bring a lot of attention to readers and also book reviewers.
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Same with Google+ where he could join reader communities, show off his books and on his Google+ page show all his book titles several times a day – a rarity in Social Media. Most important: being on Google+ means authors and their books are automatically on Google’s search engine top rankings. An additional benefit of Google+ is their EVENT page where one can announce a book launch for free to the public. However, the same is true as for all Social Media sites: choose lots of followers, which is very easy at Google+, done with only a click on the ADD function which is next to each Google+ account. It is even easier as with other sites. You don’t have to wait for approval as on Goodreads or Facebook.
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Having said all this, Sean Beaudoin’s marvelous website, his great book trailers, an interview and especially his article in Salon.com and in Weeklings  will find him lots of new readers. Check out his new book Wise Young Fool on Tuesday, August 6, in bookstores – and is already available on Amazon.com. The Hardcover sells for only $13.23, and the e-book for $8.89.  Wise Young Fool is certainly available on Amazon.co.uk and other countries as well.
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You see, even here in this blog post Sean Beaudoin’s books are indirectly promoted, just writing about his initial article.  It proofs that writing for magazines, blogs and newspapers, no matter if print or online, will help to show off your books and start a snowball system of publicity.

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for three months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 830+ of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

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FREE TODAY, July 25 – REWRITE REDEMPTION

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Interview with the Author of Rewrite Redemption J.H. Walker

Author-J.H.Walker

J.H. Walker grew up in Central America. She now lives in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies with her photographer husband and many, many books.

In addition to her never-ending study of human behavior, she’s a political junkie and a certified tree hugger.

Rewrite Redemptionher debut novel received raving reviews. She is presently working on her second book.

“Thanks a lot for taking the time to talk about your book and your writing live!”

Thinking all the way back to the beginning, what is the most important thing you have learned as a writer from then to now?
Writing is a new venture for me. I have spend my days in my study, now, instead of my art studio. I have never studied writing but I have studied creativity. And that understanding can be brought into play in any creative endeavor.

Walt Disney was a creative genius. When it came to creativity, he had a strategy that served him well. It’s too complex to go into detail here. But basically, he brought three “versions” of himself to the creative process: the Dreamer, the Realist, and the Critic. They each performed different roles in the production of anything he created, and they each came into play at the proper moment.

The key point is that when you’re writing, you’re the Dreamer. You need to be absolutely free to create without limit or judgment. You need to be able to wander without restraint. If you can learn to separate your Dreamer from the Realist and the Critic, you’ve taken a huge step towards expanding your creativity.
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How did you get the idea for the novel?
I have always wished I could go back in time and talk to my younger self, give her the benefit of the wisdom that begins to come with age. That desire led me to a fascination with time travel and eventually a book about it.

Does your book have any underlying theme, message, or moral?
Morals are subjective. I spent my childhood drowning in morals—I’m not about to foist mine on anyone. I’m more into practicalities…strategies for understanding and handling life. I have woven a few of those into the story. I suppose you could call them messages. There are just certain truths, that if learned young, give you a better chance of having a smoother path through life.

First and foremost, life isn’t fair—the sooner one comes to terms with that fact the better. Life isn’t fair. It just IS. The truth is that bad things happen to good people all the time…sometimes really horrible things. And when you accept that this is just part of life, it makes it easier to move through the bad times and on to something better.

We receive subtle messages from institutions like religion and icons like Santa Claus, that if we’re just good than good will follow. We will be blessed. But the facts don’t bear that out. Good, honest, and even deeply religious people have their share of unfortunate circumstances. And some of the most crooked despots on the planet are billionaires. But because of these subtle and usually subconscious messages, there’s a tendency to react in less than useful ways when bad luck befalls us. People can get stuck in what I call a “wallowing-why-me mode,” instead of making a plan to deal with the situation. I think this is particularly true of young adults and teenagers, as they haven’t spent enough years on the planet to realize, “this too will pass.” What seems like a tragedy at the moment might be laughed at later or even completely forgotten. Seriously.

In this book, I wanted to include a simple strategy for dealing with what life dishes out. First, realize that life isn’t fair; it’s a mix of both good and bad. It is what it is. Besides, sometimes something that seems unbearable at the moment can turn out to have a silver lining. So when something happens that you perceive as bad, instead of freaking out, assess the situation and make a plan to deal with it or move through it. If you do this, you’re going to have a lot less heartache. And realize that even the most heartbreaking things hurt less over time.

Of course, my characters have paranormal abilities to help them out and real young adults don’t. See? Unfair to us lowly humans… But the message is the same. When something difficult happens, you still have to face it, even if it’s just to put it behind you. And when good things happen, enjoy them. Celebrate.
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Are your characters based on real people?
Not specifically. I’m sure they’re compilations of people I have known in my life, combined with my knowledge of human behavior. The one exception is Ipod. Aspects have been changed to protect his identity, but I knew him very well. His father’s abuse drove him to suppress his emotions, but he found solace in the world of knowledge and fact. Facts were things he could trust…emotions, not so much. He’s grown now and absolutely brilliant. He was sweet and vulnerable in his younger days, and it was him I was seeing as I wrote Ipod.

A boy like Ipod was the only straight, teenage boy I could possibly have had, living in such close proximity to two teenage girls without problems. Not that I don’t think he didn’t have any illicit thoughts alone in the shower. But he was able to compartmentalize his thoughts. Ipod so desperately needed that living situation; he never would have done anything to jeopardize it. Nor would he have taken the chance on losing his friendships with Lex or A.J. over what he would see as a trivial, romantic inclination. He’s far too logical for that. I figured I’d get a little flack about the living situation, but these three kids have known each other since they were really young. In their minds, they’re a family.
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Rewrite-Redemption

Rewrite Redemption

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Who is your favorite character and why?
I relate most to A.J. I understand her desire to be invisible. I wanted to be invisible myself, beginning in middle school and lasting until my junior year. But I enjoy writing Lex. She’s bold, and she’s smart, and as A.J. says, “Pretty much fearless.” Her parents provide financial support, but that’s about all they give her. Her father lives on the east coast. Her mother is a narcissist, thinking only of herself. In spite of this, Lex has found a survival strategy that has allowed her to remain relatively psychologically healthy.

Her mother, an attorney, requires her to see a therapist once a week. (Lex says her mom is just establishing a paper trail in case anyone ever accuses her of neglect.)  Early on, Lex realized that understanding people gave her a certain amount of power…and Lex likes power. So she utilized her “Shrinks” in a somewhat unique way. Since she had to be there an hour a week, she used that time to learn as much as she could about herself, her parents, her friends, and just people in general. It’s given her a unique perspective and a level of maturity uncommon at her age. She’s a loyal and true friend, but you don’t want to cross her. I would have liked to have been like her when I was her age. So I suppose I get a little vicarious satisfaction writing for her character.
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Are your plots based on your real-life experiences?
A few reviewers have questioned the lack of parental involvement in my characters’ lives, implying that their living situations would never happen without social services finding out. That’s where some real-life experience kicks in.

I don’t use specifics from kids I’ve worked with. But I know from real-life experience with kids, that in some homes, the parents are absent, neglectful, and even abusive. Neglect and abuse occurs at every socioeconomic level, across ethnic and cultural lines, within all religions, and at all levels of education. And some of the time, no one knows about it. So I respectfully beg to differ.

Kids can be really adept at hiding their situations…especially teens. They don’t want to stand out or be different. Often, they’re embarrassed or ashamed. Some are terrified of foster homes. There are a lot of wonderful foster parents, people who open up their homes to kids in need. But others do it for the money and reasons I won’t get into. And sometimes, those homes can be pretty scary. As for social services, Congress is constantly cutting their funding. Social services is overwhelmed and underpaid. Kids fall through the cracks.

It’s not as if my characters don’t have a place to live. Three of my kids band together and make a family. They have each other’s backs and cover for each other. I’ve seen this time and time again in real life. It doesn’t make up for the lack of parental involvement. But it does good things for the kids who have that option. At least, then, they have someone. Family isn’t always blood. Sometimes, family is who is there for you when you need them.
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Give us an excerpted quote from your favorite review of this book:
I incredibly grateful to the wonderful people who have reviewed my book. I have had so many kick-ass reviews; I don’t think I could narrow it down to one favorite. But I’ll give you one that makes me smile each time I see it. It’s from a sixteen-year-old girl who shelved my book in her favorites. It’s only three words:

Abbey  rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: january-2013favourites

IT. WAS. AWESOME.
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If Oprah invited you onto her show to talk about your book, what would the theme of the show be?
If Oprah invited me on her show, we’d probably all be focused on the pigs flying around the room, ha. We’d know we’d just been transported to “Never gonna happen land.” Young-adult novels, with strange things going on, are not exactly her cup of tea. That being said, the title of my book is Rewrite Redemption. Oprah is big on redemption, so I suppose she’d make that the theme.
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What would/could a reader or reviewer say about this book that shows they “get” you as an author?
If I have succeeded in getting readers to care for my characters, I know they “get” me as an author. I have a pretty good understanding of human behavior, and I work hard to make my characters real. And if the readers say I have elicited their emotions, then, yeah, I know they “get” me as an author. When I read a book, I want to be taken on an emotional ride. I love it when I can do that for someone else.
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If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything about your book?
I would have given my hero, Constantine,  a shorter name, probably just one syllable. The long name got cumbersome when it had to be used over and over in close proximity. I probably could have come up with a more romantic/clever name for my heroine than A.J. Jones, but somehow it works for me. The irony is that I never consciously did any real choosing when it came to names. These were just the names the characters had when they appeared to me. Ipod was Ipod, right from the start. Weird nickname, I know, but I couldn’t see him as anyone else.
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What genre have you not yet written but really want to try?
I’d like to do a dystopian novel. I love them.
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What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I’m an artist and I’m very happy spending time in my studio. I’m also a political junkie and I keep up with what’s going on in Washington. Things are very precarious in politics right now. We have a faction in Congress that doesn’t believe in science and that’s really scary. When the very people, deciding the course of this country, make decisions that don’t consider fact and science, bad things result. If we don’t do something about climate change soon, this planet is going to end up being one of those dystopian novels everyone loves so much. Reading a dystopian novel is one thing. Living in one…not so much.
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How did you get published? Please share your own personal journey.
I wrote the first draft in 2008. It was at a very busy time in my life and I set it aside. Then in 2010, I picked it back up again, and sent out a few query letters. I even had a couple people read the manuscript and say they’d look at it again if I made a few changes. (I didn’t realize at the time how rare that was.) So I played with it for a while, but was still really engaged in other things. I never sent it back to the editors who had shown interest. Then things began to change in the publishing world and suddenly, there was the option of self-publishing. I liked the sound of that. You own and control your own franchise. There are no deadlines. So I whipped the book into shape. I hired an editor as a second set of eyes. This year, I published it on Amazon.
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What general advice do you have for other writers?
As a writer, I don’t have enough experience to be giving advice to anyone. But here’s something I discovered in the course of my journey. When you think you’re done, you’re probably not done. It’s amazing how much better you can make a book by going over it and over it. I’m horrible at catching mistakes, ha. But I love editing and polishing to make the story better. I suppose it’s the artist in me, but I find a lot of joy in making a passage flow. I think it’s the part I like best about writing.
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What’s one thing that your readers would be surprised to know about you?
There was a time in my life when I was connected to the music world. I lived near Chicago. My then, boyfriend, had a lighting company and did lights for bands, including some big names. I had back-stage passes to all kinds of venues. I met a lot of interesting people and had some wild times. But I have to say, it’s a life that burns you out if you let it. I realized that and moved on for that very reason. I have some fond memories. But I’m way happier living a quieter life.
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Where can people learn more about your writing?

Get my book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B6GT4H2

Check out my trailer on my website.  http://www.jhwalkerbooks.com

Read reviews on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17289823-rewrite-redemption

I’d love it if you’d like me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jhwalkerbooks

And my Twitter handle is: @jhwalkerbooks

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 815 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+
http://pinterest.com/111publishing/
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