Featured Interview With Diane Dean-Epps

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
As the creative mind behind her “sit-down standup” style of humor writing Diane Dean-Epps has proven that comedy is just as effective from a chair—preferably one with lumbar support and a cup holder—as it is from a standing position. Her humor has found a home in multiple books, including Bangs ‘N’ Botox: My Aging Journey Near, Through, and Out of Denial and Botox, Fillers, & Human Preservatives, the latter essential reading for anyone who’s ever looked in the mirror and gasped at what time hath wrought.
Diane’s career has offered up a bountiful buffet of opportunities—sometimes concurrently—in industries as diverse as media, education, marketing, entertainment, and fitness leading to incredible feats of multi-tasking. This explains her unique ability to deliver a punchline, grade essays, post social media updates, and draft stories as she voices commercials and assumes the plank position for one minute and 22 seconds.
Currently residing in northern California, Diane writes and performs in productions both planned and—much to the surprise of unsuspecting bystanders—unplanned. Her audiences are (mostly) entertained, and she considers that a solid win.
Answer to specific questions: Raised in Stockton, CA – now live in Grass Valley, CA. Yes, I love my fur babies! One cat, two dogs.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Early, early days…like age 5…I was flipping through books, and making up the plot before I could read the words. I’ve always been a reader and I’ve known since I was able to write in cursive that I am a writer. It was probably in third grade when I knew it wasn’t so much a choice as a “this is me” kind of thing.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I was definitely a BIG Erma Bombeck fan when I wasn’t in her demographic at all. I love Fannie Flagg, Nora Ephron. There are so many. The Alchemist is HUGE for me. I’ve got my serious side, reading Pablo Neruda, Ayn Rand, and the like. Is it any wonder I ended up becoming an English teacher? I mean, girl’s gotta pay her bills, and while earned money writing, it’s about as steady of an income as any art you might choose – or art that chose you. My favorite genre to read for “mind candy” would be rom coms. I LOVE cultural books also that frame up with story within a culture that I can learn more about. That’s why I enjoyed Tony Hillerman books, and love that his daughter, Anne, continued to write in the genre. My family and life inspire me because there are so many stories, situations, and observations…just getting out there is enough to spawn new material. And I do write everyday. Again. It chooses me, so I’m madly trying to find a pen, paper, and my sanity as I’m driving, on vacation, and doing really anything when inspiration hits. Again. And again. And again. Thankfully.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Pending the invention of a time machine, we’ll all have to make peace with aging. What better way to do it than by having some fun at aging’s expense? Bangs ‘N’ Botox does just that…and so much more.

As a relative unknown, Diane acknowledges she might be destined to become the Emily Dickinson of humor—sans living next to a cemetery—with her work gaining popularity posthumously, if at all. Nevertheless, she presses on, writing Bangs ‘N’ Botox, her fourth humor book.
Step into Diane’s laugh-lined world as she acts as your guide through this entertaining take on aging. With the sharp wit of a seasoned humorist and the life experience of a baby boomer and active senior, she offers up a fresh and funny perspective in her signature “sit-down standup” comedy writing style.
Packed with punchlines, Bangs ‘N’ Botox is filled with humorous observations, pithy asides, helpful hints, and the occasional rant, all told from Diane’s hilarious perspective. Delivering rapid-fire laughs, she tells you about everything from her marginally successful skincare experimentation to her knack for making any situation awkward to how different her glory days are from her golden years.
This share-worthy book will have you reading excerpts out loud to your friends and family. Aging has never been this relatable—or this comical.

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Diane Dean-Epps’s Website

Diane Dean-Epps Facebook Page

Featured Interview With Shawn P McCarthy

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in the Finger Lakes area of Central New York. After living in Washington DC for 12 years, my family and I settled in Massachusetts. I have a wife, two kids, and two grand-kids, plus big goofy yellow lab and a spoiled rotten cat.
I have a fascination with history and historical fiction. For a couple of years, I worked at the Smithsonian Institution. So that was a historian’s dream. My son also went to preschool right in the museums, so he also was exposed to fascinating things at a young age.
During that time I managed to keep my hand in with other writing, including a few articles that I wrote for The Washington Post. But I never gave up on my dream to write books. First non-fiction business books, and then historical fiction. My new book, Local Honey, is my tenth book.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was lucky because I knew I loved to read at a young age, and also I wanted to be a writer early on. By my early teens I planned to be a novelist, but when it came time to go to college, I was bitten by the journalism bug. I received a degree in journalism from Saint Bonaventure University and wrote for newspapers for five years.
But newspapers were starting their decline in readership, and since my wife and I wanted to start a family, I went back for a Master’s degree and made a career switch, first to non-profits and eventually to the corporate world. During that time, I developed a deep interest in historical fiction. I respected how the stories could take readers to a specific time and place, while also tapping into human emotions that are evocative and timeless.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I am a huge fan of historical fiction, and that’s also what I write. Thus I’m a fan of writes like Hilary Mantel, Ken Follett, and Colleen McCullough.
I’m inspired by authors who understand wordlbuilding as part of the stories they tell. People talk a lot about “worldbuilding” in connection to fantasy or science fiction stories. But historical fiction builds a different kind of world. It reconstructs a slice of the past and lets the reader walk through it, seeing the sights from that time and touching things that may no longer exist, while also feeling and understanding human emotions that remain eternal. The best historical fiction writers are able to do that, and I aspire to do the same.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I’m about to publish Local Honey, a novel set in 1951, long before terms like “PTSD” were part of the public lexicon. It tells the story of Jim Yarrow, a wounded World War II veteran who returns home to small-town Massachusetts where he manages to find peace, family, and a comfortable routine. But even though that’s soothing, his calmer life doesn’t fully silence the echoes of war, which really has had an affect on his whole town.
Local Honey is also the story of Becky Bivens, a destitute but resilient woman returning to her childhood home ten years after her mother’s scandal forced them to flee. Intent on rebuilding her life as a simple beekeeper, Becky finds her past waiting for her—a past that includes Yarrow. The book is a study of haves vs have-nots in post-war America, and how people get drawn into situations that are beyond their control, forcing them to make stark choices about their lives and who they will listen to.
• The 1950s were a pivotal time in America.
o The country was still recovering from the trauma of the Second World War, while also entering a period of great economic expansion.
o But the decade also came with strict social rules and crippling class divisions. Not everyone was able to participate in the new prosperity,
o While the book is at times serious, humorous and touching, there is a cloud of desperation and moral ambiguity that hangs in the background.
It took me just under two years to write the book, and probably 40% of that time was doing intense research into the early 1950s and the look, fel and attitudes of that era.

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Shawn P McCarthy’s Website