Top Selling Authors: Get To Know Them Better

Featured Interview With James Lee Nathan III

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in East Elmhurst Queens NY and currently reside in Maryland. Pugs, good food, beer, Jazz, and a good weekend binge on Netfix are things I do enjoy.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Around 9 I think.
I started to read books (purely for the joy of it) sometime in 1970. The first book I devoured was Gangsters and Gangs, and no I do not remember the author, it was over 40years ago! (inserting smile right here) But that book launched me into books as a whole. Prior to that, I had only read comic books.

A few years after in intermediate school (back then that’s what they called middle school) my English teacher wanted me to take an additional course in creative writing. That course helped me in HS as I continued writing for my very own comic book characters. That was 1974, I stopped writing altogether in 1980, and resumed in 2010.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Wow, I have a few, LA Banks (RIP), Elmore Leonard (RIP), Walter Mosely, Michael Crichton, Guillermo del Toro, JRR Tolkien, Stephen King, and Timothy Zahn. However, the two with the most influence in my storytelling have been Crichton and Tolkien.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I have a series I developed called ‘The Next Level of Fiction’.
CRIME-PHYTER is a non-stop scifi trip, that spans three decades in the lives of four different people. All of whom are being manipulated towards one singular purpose, JUSTICE.

Story 1 revolves around the discovery of a mystical plant in south America and the life of one Kieran Church. He loses his wife and son to street violence and when the court system fails to convict, he strikes out on his own. But that is not the end or beginning of Mr. Church’s problems.

Story 2 is No free rides. It begins with the savage assault on a female member of the special forces. But the perps and their protectors, did not count on the involvement of a friend of hers. His justice is swift, but it comes with a cost.

Story 3 – I need an ALIBI, continues the story of Rachel Holt and her protector Paco, as the plant takes a full grip of both of their lives.

The final story is all about regret. It is called Not 4 Nuthin; when a reluctant arms dealer sells access and arms to terrorists that attempt to blow up the World Trade Center in 1993, he seeks not only revenge but redemption.

The mysterious plant is highly involved in the lives of all the main characters and the stories culminate in an unlikely conclusion.

No capes, no masks, only JUSTICE

Ibrahim Unites (print available on Amazon)
“Open your eyes and believe”: ZION RIVERS, an international man of action and the last ALLUNDAE GRANDMASTER, is a member of an ALIEN race that came to earth over 20,000 years ago. He searches for the remnants of his kind, to halt a growing EVIL in the guise of cult leader LANDEN MUELLER (an Allundae of lesser stock known as the SANGANESE). Mueller has developed a cult following numbering in the tens of thousands and seeks to corrupt mankind by replacing established religions with his own perversion. He is allied with an ancient enemy of the Allundae, the FICAR EGO, from the planet MAKUWE in the CYGNUS star system. SWORN ENEMIES of the Allundae who now seek to colonize earth.

Mueller is clever in hiding his crimes and even more devious in assigning dark deeds to underlings. Zion has chased him down for decades and now has this elusive serial killer cornered. But he cannot defeat him alone. Powerful and resourceful in his own right, Zion enlists the help of another. RAHEEM FLOROS a racially ambiguous man, a veteran, capable researcher and single parent suffering from PTSD; who just so happens to be afraid of the dark. An unlikely pairing, but Zion requires his assistance. Raheem is the key to the last battle and does not know it.

Raheem is putting his youngest daughter to bed after reading some of her favorite stories about some fictitious heroic beings called The Dragon Warriors. These stories have been in his family for decades. “Papa, are there no more DRAGON WARRIORS?” she asks, and he smiles and assures her that somewhere somehow there is one. Raheem ponders her thoughts and for the first time in his life, he proceeds to research these stories. The tales of miraculous feats of valor are from the three most current wars, Vietnam, Korea, and World War II.

Hours pass and he eventually falls asleep, the PTSD comes to him in his dreams and leaves him screaming and in a pool of sweat. His daughters know the only way through this is to wake him, and then hold him tight. Tonight, though, there is another reason. The youngest had her first period and needed feminine napkins. So off into the night he goes and to his destiny.

Raheem fears the night because of the pain it brings to his eyes. The pain is normal for others of his kind, but because of his need to resist the transition, his eyes hurt. He takes five more steps before stopping, and then a reassuring touch from a stranger who ironically seems familiar. “Accept it and let the transition occur it will cure your ills.” He says, and then steps into the shadows, revealing his very own eyes. Large orbs befitting a very large bird of prey and not a human look back at Raheem. Raheem feels comfort in the stranger’s eyes. “Come we have much to discuss and work that requires doing.” Zion says.

Over the next 72 hours, Zion explains RAHEEM’s long and complicated lineage as the last pure blood descendant of IBRAHIM, an ALLUNDAE patriarch from the CRUSADES. The skeptical Raheem learns of IBRAHIM and others in his line from the KINGS of KUSH to SPARTA, and many others. ZION refreshes his memory of things taught to him long ago that are fighting techniques and enlightens him on the UNIVERSAL CONSCIOUSNESS which enables an ALLUNDAE to motivate and inspire others to heroic deeds. Training is not complete, but a plan emerges.

MELVINA The Color of Power
This is a Historical Fiction and the fastest selling ebook I have ever written.
An older woman in her 60s rides in a lonely train car. Her destination is far different today than it was some twenty years previously. She closes her eyes and remembers when she first came to Fargo. Back then in 1881, she shares a car with a very pretentious young woman, dead set on evangelism and ridding the northern territory of the scourge of all mankind. ALCOHOL. The woman is clad in black from head to toe, her beautiful red hair and snow white skin are a perfect contrast to her drab clothing. Juxtaposed to the drab and righteous, sits the opposite in every way. Melvina is 40 but looks at least 20 years younger, and is fashioned in all white to include her bonnet, shoes, and umbrella. She senses an air of contempt about the train compartment before the first words are uttered.

Melvina, Ahhhh yes, Melvina, the mulatto from the east. Her presence takes the air out of the room, so strikingly beautiful that most do not venture to guess her ethnicity. No, they are too preoccupied admiring her beauty to think about anything else so primal as her race. Seduction has a way of doing that to people and Melvina Massey is every inch of seduction.

The two ladies strike up a polite conversation not knowing anything about the other initially but by the time the train pulls into the depot at Fargo, battle lines are drawn and distrust replaces politeness. Children will come, murders, deceit, sickness, political intrigue, statehood, affairs of the heart, will all come to pass, but bitterness will stand between these two until the very end.

Intrigued are you? There is more…come with me as I take you on a journey back in time, to discover a family’s distant relative, and the true color of power… MELVINA.

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Featured Interview With Safari Spell

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Albany, Georgia, but I escaped in my twenties and ended up about 250 miles north. I had several pets through college, but my husband is allergic to cats so I had to get rid of my sweet cat, Gandalf the gray. He went to a good home, though! I still get pictures from the foster parents. I do want a wallaby, but I’m pretty sure they’re illegal. The good news is my toddler is basically one and she’s legal.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve always loved books. When the Scholastic book fair would come through, I would beg my parents to let me get at least 3 and I usually ended up with 6 or 7. I started writing my first novel when I was 14 and it was horrible! I had no idea what I was doing, how to structure a novel, or how to conduct historical research. The first draft took 4 years to write and my mom and brother are still the only people who have read it. I still remember being so excited to get home from school so I could spend hours in my own world. That’s what’s so magical about writing – the love to share stories far outweighs the fear of how terrible they can turn out.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite author has to be Delilah S. Dawson. She’s so talented and funny and a consistently good read. Her work always entertains and she writes characters that feel emotionally available and real. I like anything with romance and time travel, but my favorite genre to read is probably YA Fantasy.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My first published novel, LONG LIVE DEAD RECKLESS, came out in July and it was a long road to get there. It took 5 years from conception to publication and the story evolved so much in that time. It all started when my husband made this joke about how he wanted me write him as a vampire. As a journalist, I didn’t have much experience writing fiction, but I decided to try anyway. The first few chapters were so much fun to write! Apparently they were just as fun to read because readers started asking for more of the crazy vampire rock band. Now I’m prepping the sequel, FOR THE AGES, for publication in March.

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Featured Interview With Gabriel Farago

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Budapest, and grew up in post-War Europe. After fleeing Hungary with my parents during the Revolution in 1956, I attended school in Austria before arriving in Australia as a teenager. Through my travels I have become multi-lingual and now feel ‘at home’ in different countries and diverse cultures. I hold degrees in literature and law, speak several languages and take my research and authenticity very seriously. Inquisitive by nature, I have studied Egyptology and learned to read the hieroglyphs. I travel extensively and visit all of the locations mentioned in my books. To create a seamless storyline, I try to weave fact and fiction together, blurring the boundaries between the two, so that the reader is never quite sure where one ends, and the other begins. This is of course quite deliberate as it creates the illusion of authenticity and reality in a work that is pure fiction. A successful work of fiction is a balancing act: reality must rub shoulders with imagination in a way that is both entertaining and plausible!

My home is now in the Blue Mountains in Australia, just outside Sydney, where we are surrounded by a World Heritage National Park. The beauty and solitude of this unique environment give me inspiration and the energy to weave my thoughts and ideas into stories which, I sincerely hope, will in turn entertain and inspire my readers.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
As a lawyer with a passion for history and archaeology, I had to wait many years before I could pursue another passion – writing – in earnest. However, my love of books and storytelling started long before that. I remember as a young boy reading biographies and history books with a torch under the bed covers, and then writing stories about archaeologists and explorers the next day, instead of doing homework. While I regularly got into trouble for this, I believe we can only do well in our endeavours if we are passionate about the things we love; for me, writing has become a passion.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Not surprisingly, I love reading thrillers. However, I have a degree in literature, and also like reading the classics, especially Russian, German and French classics by authors like Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Pushkin, Goethe, Schiller, Thomas Mann and Günter Grass. French writers like Dumas, Flaubert and Balzac are favourites.

As for who inspires me in my writings, well, somehow all of them do. I draw on literature generally for inspiration and try to hone my craft by studying the work of many authors.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book – The Hidden Genes of Professor K, a medical thriller – is book four in the Jack Rogan Mysteries series. It was inspired by the extraordinary research being carried out by scientists at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney where I am a director. Medical research is another serious interest of mine.

Writing The Hidden Genes of Professor K was an ambitious project. For a layman like me, exploring subjects touching on cutting-edge medical research and complex science is never easy, and would not have been possible without the guiding hand and generous help of leading experts. The learning curve was steep but very rewarding. It took me two years to write the book.
There has probably never been a more exciting time to be a research scientist than right now. Progress is breathtaking, the possibilities endless, breakthroughs come almost daily, and the speed of progress is head-spinning. Advances in technology are making the unthinkable possible, and what would once have taken two scientists several years of painstaking work, can now be done by a machine overnight!

I firmly believe that we are about to open a treasure-trove of knowledge buried in our genome right here, inside us all, that will transform the future of medicine and the journey of man.

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Gabriel Farago’s Website

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Featured Interview With Tom Morgan

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Literary Agent Tom Morgan has helped hundreds of Authors understand and apply the realities of business to their self-publishing success. (Some whose names he’s not allowed to mention!)

In addition to being Managing Partner at the First Class Artists agency, and active in publishing as well, Mr. Morgan lectures frequently at publishing related conferences, seminars and workshops.

He has appeared on major media outlets and been profiled in National publications.

Although his private coaching program is now closed, Mr. Morgan is offering one month of personal email coaching for 20 applicants only. The fee is $127. Contact: firstclass.artists@gmail.com with “coaching” in the subject line to check availabilities.

Tom Morgan’s next publishing training course – “You Tube Ads for Authors” (not a book) will launch in January 2017.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I guess I was about 15 when i “got hooked.” Never imagined i’d wind up as a literary Agent becasue of it.But very glad it did. I get to work with talented writers in all genres. Better than reading multiple books personally!

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
my favorites are like yours; the ones who speak to you from the heart. and make that heart connection.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Kindle Success Hacks came about as a result of my frustration at seeing so many aspiring writers stumble and fall because they weren’t able to treat self publishing as a business. So, KSH is my “band aid” for that problem.

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Tom Morgan’s Website

Featured Interview With W. T. Fallon

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I live in Fayetteville, AR, in the middle of nowhere, with no Macy’s, no Nordstrom’s, and no sign of civilization. I’ve always lived here and hope to one day make enough money to move somewhere warm with a beach.
I have two college degrees, no job, and I currently live with my parents. I have no marketable skills, but I’m highly talented in the areas of sarcasm, satire, and snark. I believe if you can’t say something nice, you should say something funny and totally true.

In between job interviews where I have to explain my strengths (staying awake during boring meetings, putting up with idiots and not losing my shit) and weaknesses (my weakness is I can’t decide which of my many flaws sounds the best so I always stumble on that question), I write books addressing the problems of society with sarcasm, satire, and snark. The ridiculousness of this year’s presidential election inspired my first novel, Fail to the Chief, which will be available wherever books are sold in September.

In my spare time, I enjoy watching TV, making fun of politicians, and haggling for a better price at discount sales.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve enjoyed reading since I first learned to read. I started writing for local newspapers and magazines when I was nine. I did that for several years, but most of them didn’t pay and wanted to tell me what to write, and I didn’t like that. I didn’t start trying to write books until a few years ago, but I have been writing satire for my local Gridiron Show for the last four years.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I read a variety of authors. I like Stephen King, Andy Borowitz, Ben Bova, Janet Evanovich. I read a lot of humor, some mysteries and thrillers, and some science fiction and fantasy.

My book Fail to the Chief was inspired by the stupidity and poor life choices of many real-life politicians, although it is, of course, a work of fiction. Stupidity in general inspires me to write, usually about how annoying stupidity is.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
After years of emceeing insipid singing competitions, TV personality Bryan Seafoam can’t wait to host “American President,” the world’s first reality show to elect a president of the United States. Finally, an opportunity to be a real journalist, digging up dirt and playing hardball with the top ten candidates.
But it doesn’t take long for the contestants to start slinging mud at Bryan – literally, when billionaire candidate Ronald Chump is challenged to dig his proposed moat along the Mexican-American border himself. Forced to work in a fast food restaurant, an anti-minimum-wage-hike candidate learns his coworkers are struggling to survive with multiple jobs and claims to have solved the unemployment problem in his state-leaving Bryan to duck ketchup bombs from customers. To make matters worse, Bryan’s producer pressures him to be nicer to the candidates, and his former crush, now an experienced political correspondent, shows up-and shows him up at every turn.
When a cheating scandal rocks the show, Bryan begins to suspect it’s just the tip of a very underhanded iceberg. Will trying to expose a plot to wreck the most hysterical, er, historic election in history cost Bryan his career-and his personal life?

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Featured Interview With Zoe Moor

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
International award-winning writer. Raised in Europe, where I currently live. No pets right now, unfortunately.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I don’t remember when I started, I was way too young. Don’t get me wrong, back then my work wasn’t impressive. Well, to my mom and dad it was. I was fascinated with books as long as I can remember. I remember the time my parents were reading me books for goodnight, and I would torture them for hours, not being able to fall asleep.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Oscar Wilde, by far. However, this answer doesn’t describe my favorite genre quote accurately. Because my favorite genre is romance, always was, always will be. There is something so poetic in broken hearts. Not so poetic in real life, though. People in my life inspire me the most. There is so much of them in my books and I thank them for that.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
“What Have We Done?” is a romantic story which will hopefully make you laugh and cry in the end. It’s a series and I am currently writing part two. It’s about friends, lovers, choices and mistakes. It’s about good people being selfish sometimes. It’s a story we can all relate to.

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Zoe Moor’s Website

Featured Interview With Joie Schmidt

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in Southern California. I currently live in Northern California. We have 2 bunnies, 1 German Shepherd, and 1 parakeet. I grew up in a household of 5 dogs, 1 cat, and fish. I love having pets.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
That’s a good question. I’m not sure, but I know I was very young in elementary school. I remember even writing, illustrating and creating the book binding for a couple of books I wrote called “The First Pizza” and “The First Cat”. I used to also get in trouble for having a flashlight under the covers when it was past my bedtime just so I could stay up later and finish a book I was reading.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love to read everything from inspirational writers like Joel Osteen, Brian Tracy and Eckhart Tolle to the bible. It depends on my mood, but I tend to read books in groups by genre. For example, I might read several inspirational books and then turn to leisure fiction books like “Twilight” by Stephanie Meyers and only read books in this genre for awhile.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
“Keep Joy in a Pocket & Love in a Heart Locket” is my latest book. It was inspired by the “Dreams of the Heart” series. I noticed that there were many catchy, inspirational phrases in the series like “And, blessings unto you dearest angels, be not ever blue, for He has always loved you” and “a smile to replace to the stars” that in turn reminded me of universally beloved household quotes like “shoot for the moon and you’ll be among the stars” and then it just felt natural to create this third book.

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Featured Interview With Eva Pasco

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
An only child at the age of five when my parents and I moved into our custom-built home which happened to be one of the first houses on Angell Rd. in Lincoln, Rhode Island, my rural surroundings had a profound impact on my life. Prior to my enrollment at Lincoln Community School, I looked forward to long walks with my mother and listening to her read stories to me. Until my sister came along two years later, I relied heavily on my imagination while dialoging with my dolls during high tea.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, my circumstances set the stage for a midlife writing career.

By the age of nine, courtesy of my mother who graduated from Katherine Gibbs secretarial school, I became a proficient typist, finger tapping the keys on my girly-pink Tom Thumb typewriter. At the age of twelve, I typed the first of many chapter stories in the genre of mysteries and spy thrillers. In high school I composed a Romance novella which earned its own reserve shelf in the library.

A lifelong Rhode Islander who incorporates geographic entities, historic references, and regional culture in my Women’s Fiction novels, these days I live in Riverside by the East Bay with my beloved cats, two literary agents who keep tabs on me while I work the keys. Allow me to introduce Misty, a 14-year-old, white, Himalayan mix and Hope, an 11-year-old, black-and-white shorthair.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
The realization of my fascination with books and how much I loved to read hit me when I was a third grader at the age of nine. I was so smitten with ‘The Wizard of Oz’ that I signed it out from our school library several weeks in a row to read it again and again.

As mentioned earlier, flying solo as an only child stimulated my imagination which served me well, for I started writing by the age of twelve. A malfunction in the electrical wiring which caused our doorbell to ring automatically, prompted me to compose, “The Mystery of the Midnight Doorbell” which involved secret codes and a smuggling ring. Yeah, baby!

When I retired from teaching, midlife restlessness revived my dormant flair for writing, resulting in the publication of my debut novel, ‘Underlying Notes’ – first printing (2007); second printing (2009); Kindle Edition (2014). While working on my second novel, other writing detours in the form of Memoirs, Retro 60s Flashbacks, and essays pertaining to Rhode Island delayed its completion.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite genre to read is Women’s Fiction. One of my favorite authors is Anne Lamott who inspires me to take on what I do in my novels. In her own words, “I try to write the books I would love to come upon, that are honest, concerned with real lives, human hearts, spiritual transformation, families, secrets, wonder, craziness—and that can make me laugh.”

Consequently, I compose fiction that taps into significant issues affecting the lives of ordinary/ extraordinary, flawed women who grapple with, confront, and overcome their personal dilemmas to become empowered in making profound life changes for the better. Secrets, idiosyncrasies, and sardonic humor prevail throughout my writing.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book in the genre of Contemporary Women’s Fiction is ‘An Enlightening Quiche’ (released September 20, 2016). It took approximately 8 years to bake and rise to the occasion. Besides the writing detours I’ve already mentioned, life’s hairpin turns predisposed me to put the manuscript aside, resume where I left off in spurts, and at one point, I’d contemplated scrapping the project altogether. Fortunately, I got perturbed with myself because I’m not a quitter and my characters deserved the life I’d planned for them.
That mentioned, the book is about how an heirloom quiche recipe redresses erroneous assumptions, misdeeds, unleashed secrets, and malicious intent—all of which wreak havoc, altering the lives of those affected from the fallout of a tragedy.
Augusta Bergeron: Dysfunctional. Deceptive. Demure. More than meets the eye at face value and stuck in a holding pattern, the town siren engages in morally destructive behavior she attributes to maternal abandonment until she eggs-humes her mother’s quiche recipe.
Lindsay Metcalfe: Pedigreed. Privileged. Proper. Mourning the recent death of her mother, the historian-in-residence hailing from Boston sets out to preserve the legacy of an impoverished mill, but gets more than she bargains for when taking a self-centered adolescent under her wing.
Taking place in northern Rhode Island’s fictitious village of Beauchemins in the Blackstone Valley region, the book is enriched with geographic entities, historic references, and regional culture.
In Augusta’s own words, “If you stay on the straight and narrow of Founders and saunter southward past the Green, you’ve left the jurisdiction of Beauchemins and wandered into the affluent town of Lincoln. If you’re inclined to hobnob with the socially elite or upwardly mobile, we’ll part company here and you can go on your merry way. More than likely, you’d rather head north and tarry with us plain-spoken and unpretentious French-Canadians who proudly identify ourselves as “Canucks.” Just as I thought! Follow me.

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Eva Pasco’s Website

Featured Interview With Gaurav Sharma

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born on March 4th, 1992 in New Delhi, India. I spent most of my childhood in Sitamarhi, a small town in the state of Bihar, India. After earning a Bachelor Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi I left India for pursuing higher studies. I have earned a Post Degree Diploma in Business Administration from Langara College, Canada. I live in Canada (as of) now.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing when I was 19. I was in the second semester of my college in Delhi when I realised my fellow classmates and juniors used to struggle with some courses and could not secure decent marks in exams. Their helplessness and my good knowledge of those subjects encouraged me to write textbooks related to mass communication and journalism. ‘Development and Communication Morphosis’, ‘Photography Redefined’ and ‘Design and Graphics Redefined’ were those books. After writing three textbooks, I decided to step into the world of fiction writing and now I know how challenging it is to write fiction.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I appreciate the works of my ‘author’ friends and teachers. Their books and articles inspire me to keep up with the challenging world of writing and publishing. Also, I feel good and hopeful whenever I look at my books and articles. My work encourages me to do more of it.

Dr. Ravi Dhar, Somaya Iqubal Khan and Priscilla Paul are among those writers whom I admire.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is ‘Gone are the Days’. Ever since this world came into existence, mankind is racing against time. ‘Gone Are The Days!’ is a story about Gaurav, a boy who hails from Sitamarhi, a small town in Bihar. As Gaurav was born in a Punjabi family , spent his childhood in Bihar, lived in Delhi afterward and went to Canada thereafter , he faces a huge mismatch in life. He recalls his memories from the past and shares it with the world. He carries with himself, a thirst to control time. He rushes to chase his unidentified dreams, make his life comfortable and often overlooks what life brings for him; what life has to offer . In this hodgepodge of reaching out somewhere, achieving something big, seeking happiness and securing the future, he somehow remains deprived of enjoying his very own moments of life. In this quest of leaving everyone behind and reaching the top, there comes a time when he finds himself in solitude; not because he left everyone behind but because he couldn’t keep up with them.

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Featured Interview With Jim George

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born, raised and still live in Reading, Pretzelvania, a city once known for shopping outlets and pretzels.

(No pets, only pests: the neighbor’s three shrieking tiny dogs. One barks, one squeals, one snorts like a pig.)

I’m a writer-artist-songwriter-singer-musician. For my hometown newspaper and some (inter)national magazines (Starlog, Guitar World, Prevue, Guitar), I have interviewed many names from the arts, including such legends as Gore Vidal, Muddy Waters, Carl Perkins, Bo Diddley, Steve Allen, Tony Bennett, Jean Shepherd and Willie Dixon.

My songs have been used in the background of several television shows, including Burn Notice, Fresh Off the Boat, My Name is Earl, The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Vanished, as well as in the independent feature film Neo Ned, starring Jeremy Renner and Gabrielle Union.

As a performer I have been a support act for such artists as Sonny Landreth, Joe Louis Walker, Savoy Brown, Simon Kirke, Ian McLagan, Eddie Money, Walter Wolfman Washington and Starz, among others.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
From very early on. My parents always read to me and I loved books as far back as I can remember. I began writing and drawing as a child, making my own little books with silly writings, illustrations and fake ads, a la Mad Magazine.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
The authors who inspired the writing in my first book, Jim Shorts, are Lewis Carroll, James Joyce, John Lennon and Edward Lear. I was always fascinated by wordplay, surrealism and so-called nonsense verse.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Jim Shorts is a humorous collection of 50 stories, poems and drawings which I’ve compiled over many years. Owing to the influence of the aforementioned authors, the style is densely wordplayful and rife with puns that reference television, films, art, literature, music, geography, history, etc. The humor is black, absurdist and wacky, with crazy characters doing crazy things.

Jim Shorts is available as a PDF from my website just below.

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Jim George’s Website

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Featured Interview With Karen J Hicks

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised on a Wisconsin dairy farm, and began spinning fantasies while I mowed the huge country lawn or driving a hay baler as a child. When tasked with writing a novella for my senior accelerated English class, my passion for writing began to burn.
I served for several years as in-house editor for author Steve Allen, wrote screenplays for various production companies and ghost-wrote a travel book for the Auto Association of Great Britain. I worked with Dove Audio, Inc., abridging books for recording and was an instructor for the American Film Institute’s scriptwriters’ program. I also wrote the official bio of Richard Pryor, which appears on his website.
The Coming Woman is my second book. The first was a self-help book titled The Tao of An Uncluttered Life.
I am retired and live in Henderson, Nevada, where I just finished penning a romantic novel and have completed the first draft of a spiritual self-help book. I serve as surrogate mom to my neighbor’s two dogs, which brings me great joy.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have been fascinated with books as far back as I can remember, either being read to before bed, or reading on my own. It was always a wonderful escape for me. While I have always written one thing or another, I didn’t write professionally until the 1990s.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Right now I read everything I can get my hands on by Jodi Picoult. I can’t put her books down. I don’t think there is one important life issue she doesn’t tackle. The other author I adore is Nora Roberts when she writes as J.D. Robb. I am working my way through every single book in her “In Death” series. But I am constantly reading and there are so many others I also enjoy. Kinky Friedman is another. Everyone and everything inspires me.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Coming Woman is about Victoria C Woodhull, the first woman to run for President (1872). When my friend Twya told me about Victoria back in the 1990s, I was shocked that I and very few others people had ever heard of her. I began to research her life and times: the first wave of suffragists, the historical Gilded Age. I discovered Victoria was also the first woman on Wall Street, the first to address Congress, the first to have a successful mainstream newspaper, the first to pass men as the most popular orator. She was arguably the most controversial and infamous feminists of the late 1800s. Her story has it all: power, politics, passion and promiscuity.

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Karen J Hicks’s Website

Karen J Hicks Facebook Page

Karen J Hicks Twitter Account

Featured Interview With Roy Redd

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in Gardena the neighboring city to compton in california. I am a child of two police officers raised during a rough time period. Eventually my parents were able to move us away from a urban area to a nice area. Now I live in the inland empire in riverside ca by myself.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I had an experience where I was broke, depressed and emberrased. My car broke down and I didnt have the money to fix it. I was fired from my job and I was late on rent. I went home and found out the girl I was with had cheated on me. I was sitting on the floor I began to pray and I decided to google success. I found a man named Jim Rohn and he talked about the importance of reading an hour a day and from there that’s all she wrote. Now I read a book a week and I love, love, love to read.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I read the bible daily and I love to read the bible now that I know that it’s not written for everybody to agree with its aspects. I think it was written for each individual to get what they get from it. I also love to read zen books, and buddhist books. Authors I love are Jim Rohn, Stephen Covey, Brendon Burchard etc. The book that changed my life though was Steven Pressfield, The War of Art. That book empowered me to sit my ass down and write this book I wrote today.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Success magnet is simply a book that goes to war with social paradigms on what success is. It angers me to see people perpetuate an idea of success having to do with some money crazed lifestyle. I write this book so that people can build their own personal ideal of success, which is practical for everybody.

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Roy Redd’s Website

Roy Redd Facebook Page

Roy Redd Twitter Account

Featured Interview With Sorchia DuBois

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in Missouri along the Jacks Fork River. My family lived off the beaten path and that is still how I prefer it. I taught English at high school and college levels and now I edit and write as well as work online for a virtual education provider. It would surprise most people to find out that I am an introvert of the ninth order. While parties and events are fun, I tend to sit in the background and listen. I love to be the center of attention, but I can only take it for a little while before I want to run screaming into the woods.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
The day my mom read the first story to me! I loved to be read to and I learned to read myself as soon as I could. When I could choose my own books, I developed a passion for science fiction, Gothic romance, thrillers, and many other genres of which my mother did not approve. Reading was a form of rebellion 🙂

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
P.G. Wodehouse. Tolkein. Sir Walter Scott–all childhood favorites. These days I enjoy Nora Roberts and the diversity of indie writers. I’ll try anything once, but I am a bit picky these days.

I love a good ghost story and I am a sucker for sappy romance–anything Scottish gets put at the head of the list.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Yes, let’s talk about Zoraida Grey and the Family Stones. The story is about a small-town girl from Arkansas who just happens to be a fortuneteller raised by crazy, witchy granny. When Granny sends Zoraida to Scotland to retrieve a healing crystal stolen centuries before, Zoraida learns more about her family history that she bargained for. Castle Logan hides secrets from centuries past. Zoraida steps smack dab into a simmering clan war and finds herself ensorcelled by not one but two handsome Scottish witches. Family Stones is book one in a three-book series that sends Zoraida from Scotland to the Yucatan Jungle and back again. Magic, mystery, romance, and risky adventures test the limits of Zoraida’s skills. Can she learn enough to challenge the witches of Logan Castle and save her best friend? Can she trust either one of the beguiling Logan men? Life and death hang in the balance.
Zoraida is a sarcastic, funny gal just about to turn the big 3-0. She has a boyfriend who doesn’t believe in magic and a best friend who would love to see ghosts but is always in the wrong place at the wrong time. In early drafts, I loved the conversations between Zoraida and her best friend Zhu so much that Zhu’s part in the book grew and grew. She is such a strong character and a perfect foil for Zoraida. She loves to fish, she loves anything magical, and she has a deep and abiding affection for good-looking men. The friendship between these two women is a huge part of the series and has been a blast to write.

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Sorchia DuBois’s Website

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Featured Interview With Beth Lynn

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am a teen author born and raised in South Florida. When I am not writing I enjoy spending time with my family and dog.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing when I was six years old. I would read books all the time, and then one day decided I wanted to write one. My first short story was about a bunny at a pet shop. Since that day, I’ve grown into the mature writer of full length novels that I am today.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
JK Rowling, Stephanie Myers, PC Cast. Generally anything in the fantasy YA genre.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Glacier: The Other Side is the 2nd in the Glacier Trilogy (which I hope to complete before I graduate from high school). Unlike Glacier, which took me 3 years to write, this one only took me five months. I truly enjoyed writing The Other Side because as the title suggests, we get to see a whole different side of Carly when she is put into more precarious situations. Below is the link to purchase it on Amazon.

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Beth Lynn’s Website

Beth Lynn Facebook Page

Featured Interview With Spencer Spears

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hey there! I’m Spencer Spears and I’m a writer of M/M romance novels. I grew up bouncing back and forth between the Midwest and the East Coast and I living in New York City currently. No pets, sadly, but my dream is to one day have enough space for a Siberian Husky with mismatched eyes who I can go on long runs with. I also dream about getting to eat nothing but tacos for the rest of my life. Not sure which dream is more likely to happen but for now, they’re both still in the running!

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I can’t remember learning to read – my parents read to me every day so I just kind of picked it up along the way – but I always loved it. I was totally one of those kids who stays up late, reading by the light of the nightlight, when I should have been asleep. I wrote my first story when I was in 3rd grade – about a set of triplets who solve a mystery while on vacation in the Florida Keys (a place I’d never been!) – and I haven’t looked back since. Maybe I’ll repurpose that first story one of these days…

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
It’s so hard for me to pick favorite authors because there are so many. I love reading genre fiction like romance, mysteries, and sci-fi/fantasy and I also love literary fiction and non-fiction. I’m inspired by other writers in the M/M romance genre, but also by books that have nothing to do with my genre. For example, I just finished Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad and it blew me away. I can’t get the world or the voice of that novel out of my head. So inspiring to read a book that well crafted.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is called Billion Dollar Bet and it’s inspired by my love of the lakes and woods in northern Minnesota and the way that opposites attract. It’s funny how sometimes, the person you click with best is the person you least expect. And if you can learn to let them into your heart, it can be life changing!

If you’ve ever spent time in that part of the country, you know that it’s beautiful. The name “Minnesota” comes from the Dakota language and means, more or less, Land of Sky-Blue Waters. And yet, for a piece of earth that’s so gorgeous, there are a lot of communities ravaged by the effects of poverty. These same communities often play host to people who “summer” in the area but don’t live there year round. I wondered what a romance between two people from these different worlds might look like – and the book wrote itself from there!

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Spencer Spears’s Website

Spencer Spears Facebook Page

Featured Interview With Martin Fone

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am 62 years old, married, retired and live in Frimley in Surrey. I was born in Rawtenstall in Lancashire and worked most of my career in the financial services industry, mainly in the City of London. I have a wide range of interests but mainly reading, keeping abreast with the news, depressing as that is, listening to music, writing and blogging.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always been fascinated by books – the best gift that my parents gave me – and have been a voracious reader since I could read. My house is full of books – thank goodness for ebooks or else I would have to move to a bigger place! I started writing seriously in my 50s and have published three books so far.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have very catholic tastes and will read anything that takes my fancy from Victorian novels to hot off the press non-fiction. I particularly like books with a historical theme. My favourite books of all time are Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South, George Eliot’s Middlemarch and Joseph Heller’s Catch 22.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I have always been fascinated by inventors and Fifty Clever Bastards is my paean to human ingenuity and a celebration of those who came unstuck in some way.
Have you ever stopped to wonder who invented the magnetic strip and PIN on your credit card, the ATM, the computer mouse, the conference call facility on your office phone, the telephone – all things that we take for granted as we go about our daily life? Have you assumed that their light-bulb moment opened up the path to untold fame and fortune?
The ability to spot a problem and develop a solution is a truly wonderful and awe-inspiring gift but for many inventors that is the easy bit. In Fifty Clever Bastards I shines the spotlight on 50 individuals who in their different ways made a major contribution to the way we live our life today.
The inventor’s lot is not always a happy one. When you are pushing at the barriers of human knowledge and technology, things can go disastrously wrong. If your invention doesn’t kill you – and in these pages you will find some whose demise was caused by their inventions – you may not profit from your endeavours either because somebody rips you off or you haven’t the financial resources to make it commercially available. Sometimes your invention is just so game-changing that out of a spirit of philanthropy you give it gratis for humanity to enjoy.
Each brief, slightly tongue-in-cheek pen picture concentrates as much on what happened after they hit upon their idea as what the idea was itself. After all, that is the more interesting part. Within the book you will find aviators from the first millennium CE, pioneers of transportation from bicycles and submarines to aeroplane trains, inventors of the zip, light bulb and the match. You will find that many who took the acclamation for an invention, weren’t the ones who came up with the idea in the first place. Life can be cruel sometimes.

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Martin Fone’s Website

Martin Fone Twitter Account

Featured Interview With Jennifer Provenza

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am an actor, director, playwright and theatre professor living in Sacramento. I was also raised in Sacramento and Davis, but then spent several years living in New York City and San Diego, before returning to my hometown to raise my family. I have an awesome husband, two adorable daughters and one fluffy black cat.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always been completely obsessed with books. I spent hours reading as a kid even before I could actually read. I would act out the stories and look at the pictures. Once I could actually read, I began devouring books, often reading more than one book a day in the summer. My favorites as a kid were Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, The Secret Garden, etc… I started writing basically as soon as I could hold a pencil. In junior high, I wrote a novella and I was always writing poetry and short stories. I started writing plays in college.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love reading plays, humorous essays, contemporary literary fiction, magical realism… I love so many authors and some of my favorite books are The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Glass Room, Chocolate, Shopgirl, and Brooklyn.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My book is called Life is But a Dream and centers around Angela who is a narcoleptic. Or at least, that’s what she tells people. The truth is . . . somewhat more complicated. Angela has two lives, existing in parallel universes. When she sleeps in one life, she is awake in her other life. In one reality she is single and successful in New York City. In her other reality, she is a loving wife and mother in suburban Sacramento. But which life is real? And can she be happy in both of them? When, in one of her realities, she meets Tony, a handsome poet, she begins to think that perhaps she can find love and have the family she always dreamed of. But, as things go well in one life, they begin to fall apart in another, and Angela has to navigate complicated questions of family, loyalty, and love.

I wrote the first draft right before marrying my high school sweetheart, then immediately went to grad school and then wrote and filmed a screenplay and wrote a play and had two kids. And then…. I decided to go back and edit and rewrite my novel and actually publish it.

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Jennifer Provenza’s Website

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Featured Interview With Lonnie Ostrow

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in New York, raised on Long Island and continue to live there with my family today. I currently don’t have any pets. When I was 20 I was blessed for my mom to have brought home the best puppy friend anyone could hope for, Bambi. Sadly, she passed away when my oldest daughter was three. But I have very fond memories of my furry friend or as my children like to call her “The Best Beast Ever”.

I have been an innovator, storyteller, promoter and celebrity-insider for more than two decades.

Since 2001, I have been the publicity/ marketing director & researcher for the iconic best-selling novelist Barbara Bradford. I also serves as an editorial and marketing consultant for a collection of first-time authors through The Editorial Department. Previously I served as a PR executive, promoting an assortment of first-time celebrity authors including Ray Manzarek of The Doors.

From 1995 – 2001, I was widely credited with inventing the “living celebrity postal phenomenon.” In all, I have worked with more than 40 legendary personalities, creating media events to celebrate their postal recognition by an assortment of foreign nations.

I am excited to share that I have my first book coming out on November 10 2016 called Poet Of The Wrong Generation. With Poet Of The Wrong Generation, I attempt to combine all my unique experiences to bring you a novel of love & betrayal, music & fanfare, downfall & redemption — a fable of stardom’s rewards, set in New York City during the 1990s.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve been a fan of classic rock and folk music for as long as my memory stretches. So the concept of me writing a novel with a rock star protagonist should come to the surprise of no-one who knows me. I was also a novice songwriter back in my teenage years into my early 20s. So in fact, the words I scribbled in spiral notebooks 25 years ago were stashed away for decades, only to become an integral part of creating this novel when I came up with a storyline and the characters. I often wondered: what might life have been like had I actually pursued a musical career back in the 1990s? I suppose that some of this book is how that far fetched fantasy might have played out. Another notable aspect is my years of working with celebrities. As a kid, I had such reverence for the life of rock stars, athletes and other entertainers. Then I started to work closely with some of the biggest names in entertainment and quickly discovered that fame and glitz of the celebrity life is mostly a facade. These cherished individuals all have the same everyday wants, needs and problems as the rest of us.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Nick Hornby
Carl Hiaasen, especially Basket Case
The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker
A Confidential Source by Jan Brogan

Tell us a little about your latest book?
“It’s not that I don’t love you, and my tears are yet to dry.
But you can’t go back and forth forever and we’ve already said goodbye.”

Through these words, a young poet unearths his musical soul while severing ties with the woman he loves after her stunning betrayal. Unknowingly, in writing this ballad of liberation, he will soon evolve as one of the fastest rising stars on the pop music landscape.

The year is 1991; the place, New York City. Here we meet Johnny Elias, a college student from Brooklyn with boundless adoration for two things in life: timeless popular music, and the heart of a sweet, complicated young woman who is clearly out of his league.

Megan Price not only is the object of Johnny’s affection, but also the only daughter of New York’s most powerful PR woman: the indomitable Katherine Price.

Projecting that her daughter’s boyfriend will never live up to the family standard, Katherine cleverly perpetrates a series of duplicitous schemes to rid Johnny from her high-class world. But in her callous disregard, she inadvertently sets him on a determined course to his improbable musical destiny – while sending her own daughter spiraling down a path of despair.

Poet of the Wrong Generation tells the symmetrical story of a lovable underdog and his meteoric rise to stardom, his humiliating downfall and his unprecedented attempt to reclaim his place as the unlikely musical spokesman for his generation. At the heart of Poet is a tale of star-crossed lovers and their struggle with unforeseen success and disillusionment, in an attempt to rediscover lasting harmony.

Uniquely integrating a variety of original song compositions, Poet projects the epic clash between true contentment and the fable of stardom’s rewards; a nostalgic journey through the major events of the 1990s, with a cherished cast of characters and a stunningly unpredictable conclusion.

Audio soundtrack of the original music from Poet Of The Wrong Generation can be heard on the author website, LonnieOstrow.com.

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Lonnie Ostrow’s Website

Lonnie Ostrow Facebook Page

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Featured Interview With Julian M Coleman

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in a housing project in Richmond, Virginia. It was rough then, and I can’t imagine what it’s like now. I remember cinderblock walls, no air conditioning and poverty. I’m Catholic, and I remember how the nuns used to visit us in that huge boat of a station wagon and take us to the center to play, sing and it was where I learned how to needlepoint. Those nuns were fearless. I had prayed to get the Calling, but I never did.

I’m happily married to a military colonel. We live in an old house that I swear is haunted. I remember being so depressed when I was a kid that I wanted to die. I had a dream that I lifted up from my body and saw another presence in the room with me. I could look down and see my body still asleep. What was weird was that I thought I saw the content of my soul and thought that it looked basically good. When I turned to the presence (that I could only thing of as an angel), I thought that she was beautiful but that she was transparent and I couldn’t determine her race. I just knew that she was good. She knew that I was sad and that I didn’t want to continue, but in the nicest way possible, she explained that I had to live. Did she actually speak or did I just hear her thoughts? I don’t know. I just remember that I wanted her to stay. Finally I was calm enough and I settled back into my body. I never forgot that dream. I was about eleven or twelve. I’ve felt haunted ever since.

I’m still in Richmond. Actually not too far from my childhood home, but lightyears away. My mother never moved too far away from that old residence, so I’m very close to my mother’s location. I have a snarky she-beast that I “rescued” almost ten years ago. She loves my husband, but she tolerates me. Seriously, she’s my muse and I wrote a novel about her humorous antics last year, Really, Cher?

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My mother was a voracious reader, I think that was because she needed to mentally escape five small children and a dead-end job. I was naturally shy, and therefore great bully material for anyone who wanted to beef up their schoolyard reputation. Reading helped me survive too. I would say that I started reading as soon as I could read a string of words.

I was approximately nine or ten when I put together my first “book”. What was it about? I don’t remember. I think it was an autobiography which is interesting since I’m hate talking about myself. I’m also uncomfortable when folks compliment me on my writing.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite authors are Stephen King, Anne Rice, and Toni Morrison. I also like some Peter Straub. His Ghost Story was one of the best horror novels I’ve ever read.

When I was much younger I read Sidney Sheldon (Rage of Angels was my favorite), Rosemary Rogers and Harold Robbins. Those books were guilty pleasures. There was nothing like cracking open a steamy novel while indulging in bites of pure chocolate candy. Still my preferred read is Paranormal/Supernatural romance. So in a way, I combined my favorite – scary books with sensual characters. What I don’t ever want to do is to throw in gratuitous scenes just for the sake of it. If it’s not central to the plot, or if it doesn’t explain the character’s motivations, then it isn’t necessary. I’ve actually had my editor say, “Julian, you need to add this scene so that it makes sense.”

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Stolen Prophet: The Prophet’s Mother (Book 1) is about the kidnapping of a young boy from his school playground. He’s nicknamed a prophet by his classmates because at times he’s able to tell the future. The story isn’t so much about his kidnapping as it is about his mother, a demigoddess who becomes a monster, to search for him.

The meat of the book is the police investigation. According to one character, “the city busted a crazy nut and jised a conscience on anyone who had ever committed and gotten away with a felony”. More than that, an unexplainable snowstorm covers the city in a matter of hours while the police work leads while trudging through a supernatural undercurrent. Dead bodies start filling the morgue with the preliminary cause of death examinations as undetermined.

I’m currently writing Book 2 of this Trilogy and excited how the story is going. I know my readers will love it too.

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Julian M Coleman’s Website

Julian M Coleman Facebook Page

Julian M Coleman Twitter Account

Featured Interview With Elaina Zuker

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Montreal; in my early twenties I moved to
New York City and lived there for 25 years, where I built my business
Success Strategies Inc., a consulting and training company. Then I moved
to the Bay Area, worked with clients in Silicon Valley. I have lived in India,
Jerusalem, and various other places.
I returned to my home town, Montreal, about 15 years ago and am delighted to
be back in Canada and with family and friends, travelling and working from here.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was fascinated with books ever since my parents read stories to me every
night, starting at about age 2. I started writing early in elementary school,
and edited the school newspaper all through high school.
I wrote copy for advertising and publicity in my first career, and continue to
use those marketing skills to promote my books now.
My first book, “How to Assert Yourself” was published by American Management
Association. I love being an author, and enjoy hearing from readers.
My best-known book, “Seven Secrets of Influence” was first published in the 90’s,
and is still going strong. It’s been a bestseller (150,000 copies sold) has been
translated into 5 languages, and is now an e-book, as well as an audio-book.
The CD is called “How to Influence People and Win Over Anyone”.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
TC Boyle, Joan Didion, Carl Hiassen, Calvin Trillin, John Grisham.
I love essays, beautiful prose (TC Boyle – Tortilla Curtain), art mystery
(Sixteen Pleasures) legal thrillers

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The road to Success (in any endeavor) need not be a lonely or isolated one.
Packed with simple and practical ideas, this is a “must read” if you want to “up” your game in today’s world.

This new book offers a unique system of support which combines the practices of barter, sharing and mentoring.
“A Swift Kick in the Can’ts” is a 21st Century version of age-old customs and practices.

Peer-Mentoring is a powerful method for achieving Success in a focused, targeted and accelerated way, by providing support via a “Success Buddy” system, which anyone can create either in person, by phone, Skype or email.

Beginning with clearly defined goals, two individuals with complementary skills and resources form a mutual “support for success” contract to achieve real results in any category of Life (Career, Health, Personal)

The book describes the historical and anthropological foundation for these idea and practices, beginning with the reciprocity customs of various tribes and clans (in a chapter contributed by anthropologist, Dr. Gabriella Djerrahian); the custom and history of barter and the Zeitgeist of the current “Sharing Economy”.

The practical “how-to” sections include a detailed section on Goals – how to identify and overcome resistance to setting goals, and how to set meaningful, specific goals in all categories of Life. (Career, Health, Personal)

Having set goals, the next steps are to identify what Skills
and Resources are required. Here is where the heart of the book – the section on Peer Mentoring comes in. Readers are given a detailed description of the elements of the process, as well as a comprehensive Inventory of Skills and Resources from which to draw, before creating the Peer-Mentor Contract.

In addition, there is information on “Where and How to Find a Peer Mentor”, the criteria for choosing one, and “How to Communicate with your Peer Mentor” to coach and advise the reader on how to make this relationship a successful one.

If you want to increase your productivity, enhance your earning power, achieve your goals, and reach more overall success in your life (whether measured in money, expertise, or relationships), then read on. Peer Mentoring™ is a system in which two people agree to support each other based on complementary skills and needs, and the partners create a ‘contract.’ The purpose of this process is to create a productively paired ‘buddy system’ to help both of you achieve your individual goals.

PRAISE FOR” A SWIFT KICK IN THE CAN’TS”

“A Swift Kick in The Cants” by Elaina Zuker takes the old notion of mentoring and places it squarely within the context of today’s cultural norms and values. This is what sets this book apart: it’s real recommendations provide honest, practical methods of addressing today’s reality – for persons at every level, in any kind of work.
This book is long overdue. I will be recommending it to my students, my colleagues, my readers and my friends.

Raymond Nadeau, CEO Living Brands Living Media Communications,

“Elaina Zuker has written a clear, concise and helpful book on moving out of stagnation to setting and reaching your goals. She has some smart ideas on peer mentoring and easy to use suggestions for identifying skills and goal setting. The book is written in accessible and easily understandable language – as exemplified by the title itself.”
—Dr. Leslie Faerstein

A great read for goal-oriented success!
This is “it” if you are looking for a well-focused and concisely defined quick and lively read. You will easily connect to your own personal needs and goals as you strive for the success you deserve. Go for it!!!!!”
—Emily Rosen

“This informative business book provides the reader with some unique ideas for increasing your business success through the sharing of skills
Elaina’s research and the input of colleagues and scholars offers the reader some great ideas on how to leverage your skills in order to gain others you don’t have. Any business owner will find this approach worth the read and possibly worth exploring to improve outcomes and even bottom lines!”
—Sandy Chernoff

“I recommend this book to anyone wants to advance their career and build lasting relationships with smart and interesting people.”
—Molly Sutherland

“Elaina has written another practical and powerful book to help get better results in the business world. As an owner/operator business, I sometimes wish I could have a coach or a mentor by my side to guide me, offer me the skills I don’t have and motivate me to get going on my next project or make that difficult phone call. A Swift Kick in the Can’ts does just that – and a lot more. I especially liked the exercises and the “how to” details she provides. I’ve already started on my search for a Peer Mentor.”
—Marcia

“I read it from cover to cover and just loved it. It was interesting, factual and easy to grasp. Honestly it gave ME a kick in the can’ts. In my over thirty-year real estate career I have worked in partnerships and “mentoring” relationships with many other professionals and to mutual benefit. For some of them it would have been useful to have had Elaina’s model and “contract” ideas to clarify those relationships!”
—Janet Gifford

“I read A Swift Kick in the Can’ts after hearing Elaina Zuker speak at a workshop in New York City. The idea of peer mentoring was new to me. This book is a breeze with a thought provoking premise . Elaina points out that as we intuitively and organically move more and more towards a sharing economy, the individualistic “by my bootstraps” ideology/myth has run its course and we are starting to be more honest and explicit about the fact that we rely on a network of friends and contacts for our successes…”
—Shindy Johnson

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