Live Happily, Ever After… Now! uses age old, time tested secrets (found in NLP, Law of Attraction, Positive Psychology, and Hypnosis) to teach you how to create the life you want! Ask yourself: Are you in control of what you think, act and feel? Are you living the life you want? Would you like to be happy and successful in everything you do? The key is learning how much control you have over your life, your beliefs and attitudes about yourself, others and the world you live in. Once you understand that you are in control (and you will), then you can use the 9 simple steps to begin living the life you want.

This is the exciting premise of Terry M. Drake’s new self-help book, Live Happily, Ever After…Now! (Lake House Publishing).

Read the excerpt:

The formula for Happiness

What is the formula for happiness? As if there is a secret formula, which you could mix up a batch of in the lab. Well, actually it isn’t even that complicated. You don’t need the lab, you don’t need to mix any solutions, and that wouldn’t result in real happiness. As funny as this notion seems, our society has jumped on board with this idea. You are told a medication will help with all your problems. You are bombarded with advertisements about how much better life would be with a cold beer or how you will be happy once you buy that new car.

I can confidently tell you that without a change in your beliefs you will not find true happiness. Medications, relaxing moments, alcohol, and material things can help you enjoy your life, but alone they will never bring you true happiness. Permanent success and happiness will only come from within and only by making changes to the way you think about yourself and others.

Now, there is a simple formula for happiness and the best part about it is that it is already within you. Not only is it within you, it is under your control. It is also much easier than you think to lead a happy and successful lifestyle. Most of you don’t realize or fully understand this and that is okay. The most interesting fact is that you already use the formula, you just don’t understand it yet and that results in your continued unhappiness.

Terry M. Drake is a Licensed Social Worker, National Board Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, Certified Trainer of Ericksonian Hypnosis and NLP. He has spent the last 15 years learning about himself and others, through his academic studies resulting in his MSW and his professional studies, as a family therapist, clinical supervisor and vast training and research into hypnosis, neuro-linguistic programming, the law of attraction and positive psychology. Terry is currently a Director of mental and behavioral health programs and a Life Coach, Hypnotherapist in private practice. He is also ready to put his skills to use as an author, speaker, consultant and coach. Terry lives in Wellsboro, Pa with his wife and children.

His latest book is Live Happily, Ever After…Now!

You can visit his website at www.livehappilyeverafter-now.com.

Terry will be on virtual book tour June 1 – July 30 ‘10. Visit his official tour page at Pump Up Your Book to find out more about his new self-help book, Live Happily, Ever After…Now!

Amazon is the best way to obtain your copy, although it will be available to order in most local bookstores.

Tags: blog tour, book publicity, book tour, Ericksonian hypnosis, family dynamics, family systems theory, habitual thinking, happiness, Lake House Publishing, law of attraction, Live Happily Ever After Now, NLP, positive psychology, promote your book, relationships, sedona method, self-help book, sell your book, success, success principles, Terry M. Drake, virtual book tour

Title: Full Moon at Noontide: A Daughter’s Last Goodbye
Author: Ann Putnam
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Southern Methodist University Press
Language: English
ISBN-0870745557
ISBN-978-0870745553

This is the story of my mother and father and my dashing, bachelor uncle, my father’s identical twin, and how they lived together with their courage and their stumblings, as they made their way into old age and then into death. And it’s the story of the journey from one twin’s death to the other, of what happened along the way, of what it means to lose the other who is also oneself.

My story takes the reader through the journey of the end of life: selling the family home, re-location at a retirement community, doctor’s visits, ER visits, specialists, hospitalizations, ICU, nursing homes, Hospice.  It takes the reader through the gauntlet of the health care system with all the attendant comedy and sorrows, joys and terrors of such things.  Finally it asks: what consolation is there in growing old, in such loss?  What abides beyond the telling of my own tale? Wisdom carried from the end of the journey to readers who are perhaps only beginning theirs.  Still, what interest in reading of this inevitable journey taken by such ordinary people?  Turned to the light just so, the beauty and laughter of the telling transcend the darkness of the tale.

During the final revisions of this book, my husband was dying of cancer, and he died before I could finish it. What I know so far is this: how pure love becomes when it is distilled through such suffering and loss–a blue flame that flickers and pulses in the deepest heart.

As I finish this book he is gone three months.

Book Excerpt:

Writing this now in a rainy light after loss upon loss, a memory comes to me. When I was a teenager, I took voice lessons from Ruth Havstad Almandinger, who gave me exercises and songs I hardly ever practiced. I have wondered why this memory has so suddenly come to me now, and why this, the only song I remember, comes back to me whole and complete:

“Oh! my lover is a fisherman/ and sails on the bright blue river
In his little boat with the crimson sail/ sets he out on the dawn each morning
With his net so strong/ he fishes all the day long
And many are the fish he gathers
Oh! My lover is a fisherman
And he’ll come for me very soon!”

If only I’d known then that my true love would be a fisherman, I might have practiced that song harder and sung it with more feeling, which was what Ruth Havstad Almandinger was always trying to get me to do. If only I’d had a grown up glimpse of my true love when I was sixteen, I would have sung that song so well. If only I’d known he would have cancer and go to the lake for healing the summer after the radiation treatments were done. If only I’d known that I would be his fishing partner that miracle summer of the sockeye come into the lake from the sea. If only I’d known that the cancer would return and that I would do everything I could to save him, knowing all along that he could not be saved, and that my heart would break beyond breaking, then break again. If only I’d seen the sun coming up over the mountains and the sky shift from gray to purple and the pale smudge of light against the mountains turn gold just above the crest. If only I’d seen the sun glinting off those sunslept waters as my love lets down the fishing lines, and off in the distance a salmon leaps—a silver flashing in the sky as if to split the heart of the sun—before it disappears into a soundless splash, in this all too brief and luminous season, to spawn and to die—oh, how I would have sung that song.

Full Moon at Noontide is available to order at Amazon. To find out more about Ann Putnam, visit her website at www.annputnam.com.

Tags: afterlife, aging parents, aging parents help, Ann Putnam, author tours, blog tours, book marketing, book promotion, book publicity, book tour, Full Moon at Noontide, grief, health care industry, how to care for aging parents, loss, memoir, online book promotion, parenting and families, promote your book, sell your book, Southern Methodist University Press, virtual book tours

On July 4, 1845, when Henry David Thoreau moved into his cabin on the shores of Walden Pond, he was probably unaware that his abode in the woods, and the impact and influence of that endeavor, would forever echo through time. Thoreau was an uncompromising idealist; an ardent maverick who criticized his fellow man. He urged that men and women ought to live more simply, and more deliberately. “The mass of men,” he famously wrote, “lead lives of quite desperation.” Yet the scope of Thoreau’s message is much wider than social criticism. He speaks of spiritual transcendence in Nature and the unbounded potential of the individual. Thoreau is a dreamer and he speaks to dreamers. In a word, shun dogmatism and demagoguery; see beyond the immediate conventional religious explanations to reap a higher understanding. In our commodified contemporary American society, with the rise of religious intolerance and fundamentalism, materialism and mass consumerism, Thoreau’s message is needed now more than ever. Author Kenny Luck has thumbed through Thoreau’s voluminous journals, correspondences and other publications to make this the most comprehensive collection of Thoreau aphorisms available.

This is the exciting premise of Kenny Luck’s new inspirational coffee table book, Thumbing Through Thoreau – A Book of Quotations by Henry David Thoreau (Tribute Books).

Kenny Luck is a graduate student at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in History/Political Science from the same institution. He writes for The Weekender – an arts and entertainment weekly – and is currently working on his second book. He enjoys recording music, book browsing, and travel. You can visit his website at www.thumbingthroughthoreau.com.

Thumbing Through Thoreau is his debut book.

Kenny will be on virtual book tour June 1 – 25 ‘10. Visit his official tour page at Pump Up Your Book to find out more about his new inspirational coffee table book, Thumbing Through Thoreau.

Amazon or Barnes & Noble are the best way to obtain your copies, although it will be available to order in most bookstores.

Tags: author publicity, blog tour, book marketing, book promotions, book publicity, book tour, books of quotations, coffee table book, famous sayings, Henry David Thoreau, history book, inspirational, inspirational coffee table book, Kenny Luck, online book promotion, promote your book, Pump Up Your Book, sell your book, Thoreau aphorisms, Thumbing Through Thoreau, virtual author tour, virtual blog tour, virtual book tour

All her life, Breena had always dreamed about fairies as though she lived among them…beautiful fairies living among mortals and living in Feyland. In her dreams, he was always there the breathtakingly handsome but dangerous Winter Prince, Kian, who is her intended. When Breena turns sixteen, she begins seeing fairies and other creatures mortals don t see. Her best friend Logan, suddenly acts very protective. Then she sees Kian, who seems intent on finding her and carrying her off to Feyland. That’s fine and all, but for the fact that humans rarely survive a trip to Feyland, a kiss from a fairy generally means death to the human unless that human has fairy blood in them or is very strong, and although Kian seemed to be her intended, he seems to hate her and wants her dead.

This is the exciting premise of Kailin Gow’s new young adult fiction novel, Bitter Frost (The EDGE, June 2010).

Here’s an excerpt:

The dream had come again, like the sun after a storm. It was the same dream that had come many times before, battering down the doors of my mind night after night since I was a child. It was the sort of dreams all girls dream, I suppose – a dream of mysterious worlds and hidden doorways, of leaves that breathe and make music when they are rustled in the wind, and rivers that bubble and froth with secrets. Dreams, my mother always told me, represent part of our unconsciousness – the place where we store the true parts of our soul, away from the rest of the world. My mother was an artist; she always thought this way. If it was true, then my true soul was a denizen of this strange and fantastical world. I often felt, in waking hours, that I was in exile, somehow – somehow less myself, less true, than I had been in my enchanted slumber. The real world was only a dream, only an echo, and in silent moments throughout the day it would hit me: I am not at home here.

I would shake the thought off, of course, dismiss it as stupid, try and apply my mother’s armchair psychoanalysis to the situation. But then, before bed, the thought would come to me, trickle through the mire of worries (boys, school, whether or not I’d remembered to charge my IPod before getting into bed, whether or not my banner would be torn down yet again from the homeroom message board) – will I have the dream tonight? And then, another thought would come to me alongside it. Will I be going home again.
And the night before my sixteenth birthday, the dream came again – stronger and more vivid than it had ever come before, as if the gauzy wisp of a curtain between reality and dream-land had at last been torn open, and I looked upon my fantasy with new eyes.

I was a fairy princess. (When waking, I would chide myself for this fantasy – sixteen-year-old girls should want to start a fruitful career in environmental activism, not twirl around in silk dresses). But I was a fairy princess, and I was a child. I dreamed myself into a palace – with spires reaching up into the sun, so that the rays seemed to pour gold down onto the turrets. The floors were marble; vines bursting with flowers were wrapped around all the colonnades. The halls were covered in mirrors – gold-framed glass after gold-framed glass – and in these hundred kaleidoscopic images I could see my reflection refracted a hundred times.

I was a toddler – perhaps four, maybe five years old, decked out in elaborate jewels, swaddled in lavender silk, yards and yards of the fabric – the color of my eyes. I hated the color of my eyes in real life – their pale color seemed to make me alien and strange – but here, they were beautiful. Here, I was beautiful. Here, I was home.

Kailin Gow is the multi-published author of The Shy Girls Social Club Handbook for Dealing with Bullies and Other Meanies and 30 more books for teens and young adults, including The Gifted Girls Series which have been recommended by the Parents Teachers Association, PBS Kids, Homeschooling organizations, and Best Teens Books lists. Her fiction titles for older young adults and adults are: Diary of a Discount Donna (A Fashion Fables Novel), and the newly released The Phantom Diaries and Rise of the Fire Tamer (Wordwick Games Book 1). She holds a Masters Degree Communications Management from USC, and Bachelors Degrees in Drama and Social Ecology from UC Irvine. She is a mother, a mentor for young women, and the founder of the social group for girls age 13 to 19 called Shy Girls Social Club at shygirlssocialclub.com. You can sign up to follow her on Twitter at KailinGow, and can be reached at sparklesoup (dot) aol (dot) com.

You can visit her website at www.sparklesoup.com.

Kailin will be on virtual book tour June 1 – 11 ‘10. Visit her official tour page at Pump Up Your Book to find out more about her exciting new YA fiction novel, Bitter Frost.

Amazon or Barnes & Noble are the best way to obtain your copies, although it will be available to order in your local bookstores.

Bitter Frost by Kailin Gow

Tags: Bitter Frost, blog tour, book promotions, book publicity, Kailin Gow, online book promotion, promote your book, Pump Up Your Book, sell your book, virtual book tour, YA book YA fiction, YA novel, young adult author, young adult book, young adult novel

Tags: author publicity, Becky Due, blog tour, book marketing, book promotions, book publicity, online book promotion, Returning Injury, suspense author, suspense book, suspense novel, virtual book tour

When Gomez Porter becomes a test subject in an experimental drug trial, he is asked to keep track of any strange experiences through a blog. What Gomez isn’t ready for, is so many of his experiences suddenly seeming strange; the antiques dealer trying to buy his old tax papers, his neighbor boiling salamanders on his balcony at midnight, the super sexy lab assistant who falls for him but is unable to express herself in terms outside the realm of science.

But when one of the trial participants turns up dead and another goes missing, Gomez begins to fear for his life. No longer sure who he can trust and which of his experiences are real and which merely drug induced illusions, he decides it’s time to go underground and work out a devious plan.

Now, years later, his blogs have been recovered from a defunct server. For the first time we can find out firsthand what happened to Gomez as he takes us on a wild ride of discovery.

This is the exciting premise of Graham Parke’s debut novel, No Hope for Gomez! (Outskirts Press).

We had the privilege of asking Graham a few questions about his book!

Thank you for this interview, Graham. I am hearing all over the Internet how hilarious your book is.  Did you intend on having humor sprinkled throughout or did it just end up that way?

Graham: I intended for the book to be light and fun. Something you could read on the beach or while traveling. I started out defining the basic story and Gomez’ character, but as soon as Gomez formed, he basically took over and went nuts. There were so many things he wanted to do and so many topics he had strange ideas about.

I love your main character, Gomez Porter.  Would you like to tell our readers more about him?

Graham: I think Gomez sums up his own character very well: “Instead of heading for a big mental breakdown, I decided to have a little one every Tuesday evening.”

And that’s pretty much the kind of thing I had to put up with while writing No Hope.

How much of your own personality and habits show up in Gomez?

Graham: I’m not sure. Like me, Gomez tends to over-think things, but his mind goes to different places than mine does. I probably identify more with the Warren character. I have more ambition than Gomez, but manage to be far less successful.

Did you ever hit writer’s block and, if so, what did you do to get back on the right track?

Graham: Writer’s block is nothing more than working on the wrong story, I think. When you work on the right story, there’s no end to the ideas. This was the case with No Hope, the story was so right for me, I had to put on the breaks to stop it growing too large. I think I ended up taking more scenes out of the book than I put in.

Thank you so much for this interview and we wish you much success!  Do you have any final words?

Graham: I’m giving away signed copies of a limited edition novelette set in the Gomez universe. It’s not available for purchase anywhere, but you can win a free copy on my forum; www.grahamparke.com.

Further contact points are GoodReads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3234105.Graham_Parke

And recently Gomez has started a book for his face: http://www.facebook.com/pages/No-Hope-for-Gomez/236083610851

Tags: Author Interviews, Graham Parke, No Hope for Gomez

Title: Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Author: Gary Morgenstein
Paperback: 290 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace
Language: English
ISBN-1448620503
ISBN-978-1448620500

Baseball and bailouts, as American as apple pie. Weaving today’s economic malaise with the powerful magic of a Cinderella baseball team, Take Me Out to the Ballgame is a political baseball novel for our times. The Buffalo Matadors haven’t won a world championship in 37 years, a dying franchise. Until flamboyant Harry Witowsky, a 21st Century George Steinbrenner, buys them, vowing to do whatever is necessary to change the fortunes of the “Door Mats.” Victories and attendance climb as Witowsky creates an Us versus Them mentality at the Stadium. The rally cry of “Where’s My Bailout” replaces “Let’s Go Mats.” Buffalo’s surprising surge resonates with a nation afraid of losing jobs and homes, shaken by terrorist threats, frightened for the future. The Matadors become America’s Team.

Book Excerpt:

“Single and we win, that so much to ask?” Cal Fleisher pleaded, half-rising off the bar stool at Kellogg’s Bar in East Lackawanna.

“We’ve loaded the bases, none out in the last of the ninth, trailing Philly by one run,” Buffalo Matadors announcer Hal McCoy said somberly. “The Phillies have brought in the lefty Lerch to face the lefty Nate Jackson, a percentage move. Cy Trattora is going to leave the youngster in, oh brother, the wheels are spinning here in War Memorial Stadium against the defending world champions and we’re only in the season opener.”

“Come on Nate, get a piece of it.” Cal shoved his legs under his flabby rear, elevating himself sphinx-like.

“And so this broad comes in, biggest pair you’ve ever seen, and she says…” At a table several feet away beneath a Willie Nelson poster, stocky Mickey O’Brien paused theatrically, spreading his hands a little wider. “Nothin.’ Nothin’ at all.” His two friends laughted. Cal tossed them a shy glare.

“…popped up in foul territory. Perez moving over, looking for a play, near the stands, reaches in and…makes the catch,” McCoy groaned. “One down, big big out of Lerch. He jammed Jackson with a fastball on the…”

“Get outta here, Mickey.” The olive-skinned Nino jokingly pushed Mickey on the shoulder.

“like I’d ever lie?” That drew skeptical chuckles. “She kind of sauntered a little here and there.” Mickey swayed in his seat.

Tossing another brief scowl at the noise, Cal leaned forward. “Please turn it up, Tim.”

The bartender grinned sympathetically, upping the sound on the small color set above the bar. “Stop torturing yourself, Cal. Why should this year be any different than any other?

Take Me Out to the Ballgame is available to order at Amazon. To find out more about Gary Morgenstein, visit his website at www.gary.garymorgenstein.com.

Tags: Book Excerpts, Gary Morgenstein, political thriller, Take Me Out to the Ballgame

The inspiration behind the novel Captain Bonny Morgan: The Cassandra Prophesy is a result of my interest in three things: mythology, science fiction, and the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean at the turn of the eighteenth-century.  While as a Ph.D. and an academic I have written much in the way of literary analysis and criticism, I have always wanted to write a novel, and I wanted it to be a science fiction novel.  I realize what I’m about to say may sound rather clichéd, but the idea for Captain Bonny Morgan, the character, came to me quite literally out of the blue.

Tags: blog tour, book promotion opportunities, Guest Blogger, literarily speaking, online book promotion, promote your book, Robert Doc Gowdy, science fiction, science fiction author, science fiction book, science fiction novel, sell your book, The Cassandra Prophesy, virtual book tour

J.P. White has a terrific book out titled Every Boat Turns South.  Every Boat Turns South mixes memoir-like adventure with a moving coming-home tale. The book opens and closes in Florida, but its sultry and terror-filled center is set in the Turks & Caicos Islands and in the Dominican Republic. By interweaving the Florida bedside scenes with Matt’s confessional account of his wild life in the Caribbean, the author subtly builds sympathy for his ne er-do-well drifter, as Matt slowly reveals the truth about Hale by coming to understand his own impulses and needs and by cherishing, through memory, all that his father had taught him. The writing in both sections forcefully lyrical and full of maritime detail (sailors will love this book) suggests an autobiographical prompt, but clearly the author is in command of a style that effectively serves his complex plot. The flashbacks pulse with sensuality, the take on island natives and tourists is nothing less than superb: The hotel swarms with interracial couples strung together like rosary beads . . . white women, pale as chalk, lean into black men like they ve found the Rosetta stone. White men pull at strings of mulatto women like taffy. Meringue and rum, greed and sex rule. Everything. Everyone. As one of the novel s shrewd and exotic characters says, we all have our weaknesses once we get to the islands.

In the last 35 years, J.P. White has published essays, articles, fiction, reviews, interviews and poetry in over a hundred publications including The Nation, The New Republic, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Gettysburg Review, American Poetry Review, and Poetry (Chicago).  He is a graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida, Colorado State University and Vermont College in Fine Arts. He is the author of five books of poems and a novel, Every Boat Turns South.

We interviewed J.P. to find out more about his exciting new book, Every Boat Turns South.

Thank you for this interview, J.P.  Your book has a really interesting title.  Can you tell us how you came up with it?

There are three dimensions to the title I played with.  The sailboat in the story is bound from West Palm Beach to St. Thomas in the B.V.I.; the hero’s life is a wayward journey of little defeats and the father in the story is dying so it might be said his life has gone south.

Your book could be read like a memoir…are there aspects of your life story in this and how so?

I spent a couple of years in the Bahamas and Caribbean delivering boats. My father was a boatbuilder and life-long sailor and my parents lived a gypsy life in Florida for twenty-five years.

What kind of research did you have to do to write your book?

I returned once to the Domincan Republic to re-acquaint myself with some of the harbors that are in the novel.

What elements of your story would you find that are the most adventurous? Can you give us an example?

The sailing across the body of water between the Bahamas and the upper Caribbean known as the Thorny Path.  It’s a treacherous area filled with reefs, sharks, fast currents.  The Spanish gave this area its name because they lost so many ships there until they discovered how to use the Gulf Stream to return to Europe.

How did it feel when you finished the last chapter?  A sense of joy or sadness?

I suppose both sadness and joy because you always wonder whether your story is really done.  Have you realized everything you wanted to accomplish with one set of characters.  On the other hand, great relief.  I did it. Now, for better or worse, the book must finds its own way.

Do you have more books coming out soon?

The next book is called Whiskey & Hard Water.  It’s a prohibition novel in the voice of a thirteen-year old who sets out in a sailboat to rescue her father from three men who have kidnapped him and taken him to Canada.  Here is the first paragraph from Whiskey and Hard Water:

My dog Bob and I polish off a slab of peach pie when I see this lapstraked boat coasting in without her red and greens. The fireflies pepper this incoming craft and their glow makes me think I’m seeing double through binoculars. Bob looks hard into a moon-shot pathway of his own choosing, and he too is head-cocked and baffled by a boat ghosting in without running lights.

Thank you so much for this interview, J.P.  We wish you much success!

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to talk about my work and the sailing life.

Amazon or Barnes & Noble are the best way to obtain your copies, although it will be available to order in most bookstores. You can visit J.P.’s website at www.jpwhite.net for more information about the book.

Tags: blog tour, book promotions, Every Boat Turns South, J.P. White, literarily speaking, mystery author, mystery book, mystery novel, online book promotion, Pump Up Your Book, virtual book tour

Robert Boich standing at Chateau Eza outside of Monte Carlo

“…I knew I had to go someplace where it would be virtually impossible to find anymore drugs.  I spent three days and nights in Munich, mostly in my hotel room, contemplating wht lay ahead of me.  It wa sa very difficult time, much toughter than my previous attempts at sobriety.  I was alone.  My wife was in rehab seven thousand miles away.  There was really no one to talk to…as I began to examine my life and the situation I was in, I started to realize some of what I had put my family through.  It was the start of the process of owning up to some of my deficiencies as a father, a husband, a son, and a person.”

This is extracted from Robert Boich’s powerful memoir/self-help book, Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting: A Bridge from Addiction to Early Recovery.

As Boich says, “Making a resolution to address an alcohol or substance abuse issue is only the beginning. The real work begins when the alcoholic or addict acknowledges that something has to be done. As one counselor put it, ‘An addict only has to change one thing: everything.” More than mere abstinence or simply eliminating certain people and places from one’s daily routine, a successful recovery requires a brand-new approach in dealing with life.”

In this compelling, intimate narrative, Boich shares his struggles, and insights encountered during his first six months in recovery.

We interviewed Boich to find out more about his rivoting new book.

………………………………………

Thank you for this interview, Robert.  Your book, Excuse  Me, Your Life is Waiting!, must have had some painful memories to write.  Was it all based on your own life story?

Yes, it was.

When was your first experience with drugs or alcohol?

There were occasions growing up when my parents or a relative would give me a sip of wine, or I would suck a little foam of my grandpa’s beer, but my first real experiance was when I was fourteen. I think it was the summer before my freshman year of high school. A cousin and I got into our grandfather’s fridge and grabbed a six pack of his beer. That was my first WOW! moment with drugs and alcohol; where I really felt the effects of it, and more importantly, when I realized that I liked the way it made me feel.

Why do you think it spiraled out of control?

Looking back at things now, I realize it was out of control early on in my life. I drank all through high school; not a lot at first, just at parties on the weekend. I started smoking pot, which I really liked, during my first year of high school as well. Weekends turned into weeknights and by the time I graduated from high school I was smokong and drinking on a daily basis. At the time– the mid seventies–it seemed like everyone was doing it. It wasn’t until I got sober that I realized it was really only the crowd that I hung around with that was doing it all the time. I began experimenting with othr drugs as well. My consumption and variety of substances kept increasing through college and into my adult life. As to the final days, or years, the death spiral, I don’t know? At the time I had some excuses I would use, but in reality I think everything just kind of caught up with me. The signs were there for a lot of years, but I ignored them. I’m no different from most addicts and alcoholics: it wasn’t that something bad happened evertime I drank or used; but everytime something bad happened I was under the influance.

Do you think it’s hereditary or do you feel you fell victim to society’s pressures?

I feel there is most definately a hereditary factor to the problem. It’s a disease, and like a lot of diseases it can be passed on through the genes. That’s not to say that I don’t also beleive that an individual can be driven to addiction. Substance abuse offers an escape from the difficulties that life tends to rain down on us at times. The problem is that it never solves any of life’s problems. It usually just creates more problems.

When was the turning point?  When was it that you said enough was enough and  I’m going to seek help?

It was actually more of a process for me. I had already failed at my first two attempts to get clean; the first was a traditional thirty day rehab, and the second was a self-administered attempt at changing my routine. My wife actually got the ball rolling this time around. She had decided that she was going to go back to rehab. Her initiative forced me to take some action. The first step was to get semi-cleaned up. I thought I would be able to continue drinking and smoke a little weed if I stopped using other drugs. At the time I thought cocain was my real problem, and if I could kick that then all would be well.

I agreed that I would enroll in an intensive outpatient program when my wife got out of rehab, but I still thought that I could pretty much do things my way. I talk about all of this in more detail in my book, but the real turning point came out of the blue. I came home from a dinner shortly before my wife was due to be released and realized that I just wasn’t happy, even when I drank. I had been exposed  to 12-step meetings during my first rehab and would occasionally attend one; not for me but because I thought my wife needed them. The day after the dinner I went to two meetings. I didnt’t know it at the time, but I was surrendering. I had had enough and I was ready to listen. That was April 4, 2007, probably the most important day in my life.

What advice can you give families who are going through what your family went through?

Unfortunately, its not good. In my experiance, you can’t force someone with a substance abuse problem to get clean. The addict has to want to change. I would reccomend that family members learn as much as they can about the disease.Talk to professionals in the field.  Al Anon is a good starting point for information, especially when alcohol is involved, although the program can be applied to any substance. If you can get the person into rehab then do it. It might not take the first time, but it may at least plant some seeds in the addict’s head.

Who are what do you blame for this disease?

That is a real explosive question, and I’m not sure how I want to approach it.  From the disease standpoint, its a medical issue. If someone has it, they have it, case closed. Does our society have a tendancy to glamorize alcohol and drugs? Yes, sometimes that is the case. But, keep in mind that the problem of alcoholism has been around for a long time; probably since the time that the first grapes were crushed. I’ll leave it at that for now. Maybe we can continue this one at a later date.

I thank you so much for this interview, Robert.  Godspeed to you!

Thank you for your interest in my story and the opportunity to do this interview. I would be more than happy to address any questions from your readers. You can reach me through my website at http://www.rwboich.com/ .

Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.com are the best way to obtain your copies, although you can order it in in most bookstores. You can visit Robert’s website at www.rwboich.com for more information about the book.

Tags: alcohol addiction, alcoholism recovery, book marketing, book promotions, online book promotion, promote your book, Robert Boich, self-help, self-help author, self-help book, sell your book, substance abuse

We have an interesting guest with us today.  Dr. John E. Bell, author of the fiction novel, Invasion of the Baby Daddy (Jamar House Publishing), is here to give us insights on what his new book is all about.  Even though the book is fictional, it deals with a sensitive subject – unwed mothers.  Enjoy the interview.

Thank you for this interview, Dr. Bell. I’d like to start off by asking you what was the passion behind Invasion of the Baby Daddy? Why did you write it?

Dr. Bell: Invasion of the Baby Daddy is a fictional novel about a family that is trying to keep a marriage together in a blended family situation when a Baby Daddy is invading this blended family legally and causing the mother to do the unthinkable, choose between her marriage or her child. Every single Mom’s nightmare comes to life in the novel and this story reasonates in the American blended family structure when the circumstances of the law and practical life consequences collide

What is the “baby daddy syndrome” exactly?

Dr. Bell: Baby Daddy syndrome is how common the baby daddy occurrence has become in our modern day blended family structure. The term implies that many blended family’s deal with an irony of a baby daddy this is not always the case. However, with 6.4 million children growing up without a father in the home, one can clearly see how the syndrome applies to many communities and not just minorities and the uneducated citizens of the United states.

Was much of this based on your own personal life?

Dr. Bell: My inspiration for this book came out of my own personal experiences with my wife who has a child from a previous relationship prior to our marriage. My wife also had a court order that she did not understand that made her and her baby Daddy equal joint custodians to the child. This also makes their child a ward of the state. Which basically meant that my wife could not leave her state with me unless she gave her child to the Baby Daddy. You can see how this tragedy could strain any marriage. This is what inspired me to write this book.

You have a daughter. What’s the best advice you have for her?

Dr. Bell: As she matures into womanhood, I will advise my daughter to be honest with herself and true to herself. I would also warn her of the attributes of the Baby Daddy boys that never grow up to be men. I call these guys the great pretenders of our society. Finally, I would educate my daughter on how her life is in her hands and not to waste a day with ignorance or desperate young hot unprotected moments that have life altering consequences.

Thank you so much for this interview, Dr. Bell. We wish you much success!

Dr. Bell: Thank you, I have indeed enjoyed it,thank you.

Dr. John Bell has a Masters degree in Health Services from Strayer University and is a part time professor at the Shelby Oaks Campus in Memphis, TN. Dr. Bell has a Doctorate of Podiatric Medicine from Ohio College in Cleveland Ohio. Dr. Bell, practices Podiatric Medicine and Surgery in Memphis and the West TN area. He is a Veteran of the Gulf War serving 10 years in the U.S. Navy. Bell is also a member of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. Dr. Bell has one daughter and resides in the West TN area.  You can visit his official tour page here to find out more about his book!

Tags: Author Interviews, blended family, blog tour, book promotions, Dr. John E. Bell, fiction novel, Invasion of the Baby Daddy, literarily speaking, online book promotion, promote your book, sell your book, unwed mothers, virtual book tour

Every month, we pick wonderful books we’ve read to spotlight at Literarily Speaking. Today we’re happy to be reading Becky Due’s suspense novel, Returning Injury.  This is Becky’s final day here and your last chance to win a copy of her book! Announcement of winner will be on Friday.

To become eligible to win, all you have to do is ask a question or leave a comment. One lucky reader who comments with their email address is put in a pot to win the book. However, they must sign up for our email updates prior to the author’s appearance.

To recap:

• ask a question or leave a comment
• leave your email address
• sign up for our email updates to the left

That’s all there is to it!

Day Three: Literarily Speaking Book Club Selection: Returning Injury by Becky Due

Page 171

Rebecca hung up the phone. She took a deep breath and tried to relax. She couldn’t. She decided to call her mom because it wasn’t that early in New York. “Hi, Ruth. It’s Rebecca.”

“Hi, Rebecca. How are you?”

“Well, to be honest, I’m not doing that well. I feel like I’m going crazy. Remember I told you all about Roy and the trouble I had. Well, he’s been released from prison and I’m home alone and I’m just… nervous.”

“Oh, yes, I remember.”

“I know you don’t like to hear about it, and you think I’m making a big deal out of nothing, but I guess… I just wish I knew that he wouldn’t bother me.” She paused. “Strange things keep happening, and I get the feeling that he’s watching me.”

“Well, I’ll tell you, Rebecca, he won’t bother you. Too much time has passed. He doesn’t care one bit about where you are and what you’re doing. Plus, he probably feels sorry for everything and knows the best thing to do is to leave you alone. Really, Rebecca, you have to let this go. It will destroy you if you always live with this hanging over you, being afraid.”

Rebecca took a deep breath. “Thank you, Ruth, I needed that. I wish I didn’t get scared, but I do.”

“Rebecca, I understand, it’s fresh. Time will pass, nothing will happen and you will start to forget about it.”

“You’re right.”

“How is work going? You know, diving into work always helps me feel better.”

Rebecca smiled. She knew Ruth well. “Yes, I have some work to do.”

“Well, good. You get back to work and you’ll forget all about this Ray guy.”

Rebecca didn’t correct her. “I’ll do just that. Thanks, Ruth.”

Rebecca hung up the phone, then took Lily outside. There was nothing out of the ordinary, but she stayed close to the front door and she didn’t see a coyote. Lily did her business quickly and they ran back inside. After resetting the alarm, Rebecca followed her mom’s advice and got back to work.

Book Club Questions:

1. Rebecca is afraid of a stalker from her past who has been released from prison. Have you ever been a victim of stalking or known somebody who has. Did you/they reach out for help?
2. Rebecca’s mother left the family when Rebecca was young because she wanted a career not a family. Initially Rebecca was hurt and felt abandoned, but later learned to appreciate her mother’s independence and feminist beliefs. Is there a woman in your life who inspires you or mentors you to be an independent strong woman?
3. When Rebecca was worried that Roy would find her, her mother suggested that work would distract her from her fears. What distracts you or helps you when you are worried?

This is our final day!  I want to thank Becky for sharing her book with us!  To purchase her book at Amazon, click here!

Tags: Becky Due, blog tour, book club, book club giveaway, book club selection, book giveaway, Returning Injury, virtual book tour, win book

Anyone with a blog and an e-reader out there who wants to grow their traffic plus be part of a revolutionary experiment by reviewing a potentially bestselling book?

Bestselling author Vincent Zandri is virtually touring in July 2010 with his thriller/suspense novel, The Remains. Thirty years ago, teenager Rebecca Underhill and her twin sister Molly were abducted by a man who lived in a house in the woods behind their upstate New York farm. They were held inside that house for three horrifying hours, until making their daring escape. Vowing to keep their terrifying experience a secret in order to protect their mother and father, the girls tried to put the past behind them. And when their attacker was hunted down by police and sent to prison, they believed he was as good as dead. Now, it’s 30 years later, and with Molly having passed away from cancer, Rebecca, a painter and art teacher, is left alone to bear the burden of a secret that has only gotten heavier and more painful with each passing year. But when Rebecca begins receiving some strange anonymous text messages, she begins to realize that the monster who attacked her all those years ago is not dead after all. He’s back, and this time, he wants to do more than just haunt her. He wants her dead.

359 pages

Vincent Zandri

You can visit the author’s website at www.vincentzandri.com.

Zandri, who is represented by Pump Up Your Book, is trying an experiment to see if it’s true Kindle sales can outnumber print sales. This fall, his trade paperback version of The Remains will hit the stands; but meanwhile, can you help us in our revolutionary campaign to see if it’s true Kindle sales are outnumbering print sales?

If it is true, this will revolutionize the way we view e-books. If you are a blog owner who would like to receive a FREE pdf copy of Vincent’s new book, The Remains, before anyone else in the world will read it and you are willing to review it in July, email Dorothy Thompson at thewriterslife(@) yahoo.com before June 25, and please put “I want to host Vincent Zandri” in the subject line.

Vincent’s Kindle version virtual book tour will begin July 6 and end on July 30.

We would love you to be a part of this revolutionary campaign to see if e-books have really hit their peaking moment in history!

Tags: blog tour, ebook readers, ebook revolution, iPad, Kindle, Nook, Sony, The Remains, Vincent Zandri, virtual book tour

Every month, we pick wonderful books we’ve read to spotlight at Literarily Speaking. Today we’re happy to be reading Becky Due’s suspense novel, Returning Injury. Becky is with us and will be giving away a copy at the end of her stay on Wednesday. Announcement of winner will be on Friday.

To become eligible to win, all you have to do is ask a question or leave a comment. One lucky reader who comments with their email address is put in a pot to win the book. However, they must sign up for our email updates prior to the author’s appearance.

To recap:

• ask a question or leave a comment
• leave your email address
• sign up for our email updates to the right ——->

That’s all there is to it!

Day Two: Literarily Speaking Book Club Selection: Returning Injury by Becky Due

Excerpt from Chapter 4 Page 99

When Rebecca got out of the shower, she wanted to wear the same cashmere outfit she bought the weekend she met Jack. It wasn’t in the changing room so she threw her towel in the dirty clothes basket and started up the stairs naked. As she walked quickly up the stairs, she became acutely conscious of her nakedness. She felt powerless and like she was being watched.

But she always felt more vulnerable when she was naked. She wondered what it felt like for strippers and women in pornography.

About halfway up the stairs, she heard a loud crack and bang. She stood still. Lily started barking. The thunder rumbled loudly outside. She looked up the stairs, then continued walking. She glanced toward the windows and saw the sky changing. Dark clouds surrounded the house. “Oh, God, please don’t let the power go out.” Just as she said that, there was another loud crack and Lily barked again. The lights flickered.
“Honey, it’s okay. It’s just thunder.”

Rebecca rushed up the next set of stairs to the third floor and into the master bedroom closet. She pulled out the camel-colored cashmere lounge suit, held it up to her face and smelled it. She smiled and quickly got into it. It seemed a little tighter than it used to. “Oh, well.” She hugged herself as she headed back downstairs. She glanced at the clock. It was just after four in the afternoon but almost dark outside because of the heavy clouds.
Rebecca went straight to the kitchen and picked up the phone. She dialed the home security’s number, and asked, “If the power goes out while the alarm system is armed, what will happen?” Rebecca was assured a backup system was in place. She would hear a solid tone until the system was restored and rearmed, which usually took less than thirty seconds. Rebecca felt much more secure.

She sat on the deep sofa watching the rain and anticipating each rumbling of thunder. The clouds were thick and heavy. The thunder was loud, but infrequent and there wasn’t much lightning. Her mind drifted back to that weekend she met Jack.

Book Club Questions:

1. Rebecca has a favorite outfit that reminds her of when she first met her husband. Do you have clothes that stir up nostalgia or happy memories?

2. Rebecca was nervous and felt powerless when she was walking through her home naked, and she wondered if strippers or women in pornography ever felt powerless. Do you think stripping or pornography causes women to feel powerful or powerless?

3. How did you meet your husband, boyfriend or significant other?

Answer either of the questions below in the comment box to become eligible to win a free copy of Returning Injury on Friday!

Stay tuned tomorrow for Day 3 of Literarily Speaking’s Book Club Selection: Returning Injury by Becky Due!

Tags: Becky Due, book club, book club questions, book club selection, book giveaway, book promotions, online book promotion, Returning Injury

Every month, we pick wonderful books we’ve read to spotlight at Literarily Speaking. Today we’re happy to be reading Becky Due’s suspense novel, Returning Injury.  Becky will be with us for the next three days and will be giving away a copy at the end of her stay on Wednesday.  Announcement of winner will be on Friday.

To become eligible to win, all you have to do is ask a question or leave a comment on all three days. One lucky reader who comments with their email address is put in a pot to win the book. However, they must sign up for our email updates prior to the author’s appearance.

To recap:

• ask a question or leave a comment on all three days
• leave your email address
• sign up for our email updates to the right ——->

That’s all there is to it!

Day One: Literarily Speaking Book Club Selection: Returning Injury by Becky Due

Rebecca’s life just keeps getting better.  With Jack away on business, she’s looking forward to four days alone to work on her new client’s PR campaign to help women take back their lives.  But her past intrudes.  Roy, the man who stalked and assaulted her years before, has been released from prison.  Home alone in her big, beautiful house out in the country, Rebecca has to learn to take back her own life while facing her fears and regaining her strength.  But will she be strong enough when she faces the ultimate test?

Read the Excerpt:

Rebecca was in a hurry. She had been cleaning out files the last few days, trying to better organize her office, because she planned to throw herself into her work for the four days Jack would be out of town on business.

“Honey,” Jack hollered, “it’s three o’clock.”

“I’m coming,” she yelled back, grabbing a stack of old folders that she still needed to go through and hurrying to slip them into a drawer. The bottom folder slid across the desk and onto the carpet, spilling its contents across the floor. “Ugh!”

She picked up the first thing she saw. It was a small card in an envelope, like the kind that comes with flowers. On the front of the envelope was a fancy R. She knew exactly who it was from and when she had received it. Her heart started racing. Wondering why she still had it, she opened it and read, To: Rebecca, An Angel in my Heart. From: Roy.

Jack peeked into her office. He was a clean cut, handsome man with brown hair and brown eyes. He was in shape with meat on his bones, and looked great in his jeans. Rebecca thought he was the sexiest man alive, and no matter what he was wearing, he always looked like somebody important, somebody who wore a suit for work. “You ready, honey?”

“Yeah.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Distracted. I have a lot of work to do.” She tossed the card upside down on the papers lying on the floor.

“Well, you won’t have me around bugging you for four full days.” He smiled.

Rebecca smiled back, grabbed her bag and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll miss you.”

“Sure you will.” He gave her a big hug. “You love it when I go out of town.”

“…but I still miss you.” Rebecca did like it when he left town. The house was always clean. She did what she wanted when she wanted. She worked when she wanted, slept when she wanted and ate when she wanted. But most of all the house was quiet, and Rebecca liked quiet.

Jack liked noise. He liked loud sports, speedboats and motorcycles. Rebecca liked reading, and she would rather go sailing or bicycle riding. Jack liked the TV loud, he liked to talk on the phone loud and he liked to be around crowds of people in bars, sporting events and rock concerts. Rebecca did like to turn up her hip-hop dance music while cleaning the house or working out, but for the most part, she would rather go to a museum or gallery or spend time at a library or coffee shop. Jack was an extrovert who liked to keep busy and have fun, while Rebecca was an introvert who liked to spend time alone.

Jack switched gears easily when he was around Rebecca, and Rebecca switched gears when she was working. Rebecca was a go getter and she loved the challenge of her work. She had recently started her own PR firm, and she took pride in getting her clients the recognition they deserved. Because of Jack’s support, Rebecca was able to be extremely picky about who she represented.

Jack kissed her again, on the lips this time slowly, tenderly. “I’ll miss you, too.”

Rebecca knew he meant it, because he always missed her. He really loved her. No one had ever loved her like Jack did, finally making her understand why people wanted to find love, be in love. She couldn’t believe how much her life had changed. “You smell great,” she murmured as she leaned in closer to his warm neck.

On the way to the kitchen, Rebecca grabbed Jack’s suitcase and headed for the garage.

“Wait, Reb, I got it.”

“I got it,” Rebecca teasingly snapped back, suggesting she was perfectly capable of carrying a suitcase.

“You’re so stubborn,” he said and tried to grab it from her.

“Yes, I know.”

He quickly got in front of her and opened his hatch. Before he had a chance to take the suitcase from her, she had already hoisted it up into the back of Jack’s white Porsche Cayenne.

“Thank you,” he said, playfully patting her bottom.

“You’re welcome.” Rebecca had always taken care of herself, which was one of the reasons Jack fell for her. And one of the reasons she drove him crazy. Jack was so good to her, and she felt she didn’t do much for him in return. If she could carry his suitcase for him, fix a leaking toilet or put oil in his car, she was happy to do it. Plus, she recently learned that if you don’t use your strength, you’ll lose it. She remembered going out of town on a business trip herself and struggling to lift her computer bag up into the overhead compartment. That bothered her so much she started working out and lifting weights again. She loved feeling strong. But she had become a little lazy and comfortable after she and Jack were married.

Book Club Questions:

1. We live crazy, busy lives, but when you get time to yourself, what do you love to do?
2. Jack and Rebecca are different in many ways. Do you think opposites attract?
3. Do you think men are more attracted to women who are independent, or do you think men are more attracted to women who want to be rescued?

Answer either of the questions below in the comment box to become eligible to win a free copy of Returning Injury on Friday!

Stay tuned tomorrow for Day 2 of Literarily Speaking’s Book Club Selection: Returning Injury by Becky Due!

Tags: Becky Due, blog tour, book club, book club selection, book giveaway, online book promotion, Returning Injury, suspense, virtual book tour

My first experience writing poetry happened when I was in the seventh grade and was assigned the homework task of writing a poem to be turned into the teacher the following day. I wrote a blank verse poem titled Heaven And Hell and after turning it in I was called to the front of the class and thoroughly questioned about the legitimacy of this piece being from me and not stolen or borrowed from someone else. He didn’t think that a child of that age could write blank verse of that quality and actually accused me of cheating. I was embarrassed, but after a long dissertation he realized that it was indeed my own original piece and he finally gave me an “A” for the poem and a new poet was born.

Many years and a full life later and after being the sole caretaker for my dying husband for seven years, I needed a new direction for my life after his passing. My work had been piling up for years and gathering dust in a full to the brim, old filing cabinet. After hearing from a self published author about the self publishing industry, I did the research and decided that putting my collection together and publishing my first book would be a perfect venue for me to begin my new life and My Heart And Soul became my focus and my dream. Being a newbie to this industry, I didn’t know a great deal about what was required so I did dilligent research and found a publisher who I thought would be perfect for me. I took the photos, designed the cover and arranged the pieces for the manuscript and when I sent it to the publisher, my new career was born.

My Heart and Soul, is an emotional look into my deepest thoughts and feelings as I traversed my life. My faith is strong and readers will glean from this book the wretched throes of alcoholism and childhood sexual abuse I suffered as well as loosing loved ones at different times of my life. I share the many joyful events and occasions that hold special meaning in my life. I have experienced and share about deep passion and love and I share the powerful emotions I have for some of today’s social issues and injustices. This is a book about me and my life and the wonderful values and love I have for my God, and family. It is a powerful anthology from my heart and soul and I am blessed to be able to share this part of my life in this way.

Marilyn’s latest book is My Heart and Soul, a poetry and prose collection.  You can visit her website at www.marilynrandall.com.

Tags: blog tour, book promotions, Guest Blogger, how I got published, Marilyn Randall, My Heart and Soul, online book promotion, The Story Behind the Book, virtual book tour

Your book has just been published. Or maybe it’s going to be published in the next month or two. Regardless, authors are signing up for virtual book tours the moment they hear about the exciting ways they can promote their books with them. There is no better vehicle to sell your books online so I don’t blame them.

I would like to provide a checklist of things to consider before booking your tour. After all, you want you and your book to be in the most tip top shape, so here goes:

Literarily Speaking’s 28-point Checklist BEFORE Packing Your Cyber-Bags:

• Do you know which audiences you want to target?
• Are you aware the broader the scope of readers you want to target, the better the tour?
• Have you narrowed your key search words down to the most important and have figured out ways to use them in your interviews and guest posts?
• Have you compiled a list of potential blog stops for your tour along with email addresses if you are putting your tour together on your own?
• Are you making sure these particular blogs are updated frequently and have a full set of archives to make them search engine friendly?
• Can you provide author copies (unless the publisher takes care of it) to reviewers in time for them to receive the book, read the book and post the review by the given date both of you have agreed on?
• Do you have a professional author photo and can you provide your blog hosts with a jpg copy?
• Do you have a landing page (website or blog) where people can go to learn more about you and your book?
• Does your website or blog have clear enough directions on how to buy your book on the first page and are you providing a cover to entice them?
• Does your website/blog have contact information in case people want to get in touch with you?
• Are you keeping your blog updated with fresh content to keep it search engine friendly?
• Do you know how to craft a bio written in third person that includes your book’s title and website/blog url?
• Does your bio ramble or can you say most of what you have to say in one to three paragraphs?
• Are you prepared to learn more about you and your book than you did before the tour took place?
• Are you prepared for the workload that is involved when planning your tour – e.g. having to write several guest posts and fill out an umpteen amount of interviews keeping each interview fresh, different and non-boring?
• Do you have a few guest posts already written for when blog hosts ask for them?
• If not, can you come up with a few ideas beforehand so that when asked for a guest post at the last minute, you’re not pulling your hair out?
• Do you know what kind of guest posts bring in more reaction from the readers?
• Do you know what kind of guest posts bring in more sales?
• Do you know how to use the social networks such as Twitter and Facebook to promote your tour stops on a daily basis?
• Are you set up in google alerts to alert you on how well your publicity efforts are taking you?
• Do you know how to set up press releases to announce your tour or know of someone who can do it for you?
• Have you built up on your communication and organizational skills so you don’t become unglued?
• Have you built up your contact list (your followers)?
• Have you prepared yourself for negative reviews in case they happen and are you willing to accept them for what they’re worth?
• Are you willing to participate in your virtual book tour by leaving a comment at your “stops”?
• Are you willing to thank your tour host after they so kindly posted your interview, guest post, review, etc.?
• Are you prepared to SELL BOOKS?

If you have answered no to any of these, reconsider fixing those problems before you embark on an international virtual book tour. It’s way better to be prepared and ready than winging it.

Dorothy Thompson is CEO/Founder of Pump Up Your Book, an innovative public relations agency specializing in online book promotion and virtual book tours.  You can visit us at www.pumpupyourbook.com.

Tags: blog tours, book marketing, book marketing services, book promotion companies, book promotion opportunities, book promotions, Dorothy Thompson, how to promote your book, how to sell your book, online book promotion, Pump Up Your Book, virtual book tours

Our special guest today is Gary Morgenstein, author of the political thriller, Take Me Out to the Ballgame.

New York native Gary Morgenstein is the author of four novels. Jesse’s Girl is a thriller about a widowed Brooklyn father who searches for his adopted teenage son who has run away from a Montana wilderness drug treatment program to find his biological sister in Kentucky. In the romantic triangle Loving Rabbi Thalia Kleinman, a divorced middle-aged man falls in love with a beautiful, enigmatic woman rabbi, while still in love with his ex-wife. Take Me Out to the Ballgame, a political baseball novel — baseball and bailouts, as American as appple pie –follows a Cinderella baseball team led by a ruthless owner with political ambitions. “The Man Who Wanted to Play Center Field for the New York Yankees” is a baseball Rocky.

He’s also the co-host of Purple Haze, the Media Blvd Pop Culture Hour Show which airs on Blog Talk Radio every Thursday at 9 p.m. (eastern time).

You can visit his website at www.gary.garymorgenstein.com.

Q. Thank you for this interview, Gary. You’re certainly an author of many hats writing everything from thrillers to romance and relationship books to political thrillers.  Of all the books you have written, which genre did you enjoy writing the most?

To me, it isn’t about genre, but the characters and the story. If you don’t grab the reader by involving them in your characters’ lives, then all the razzle dazzle plot twists mean little. The reader must care about the people you have created.

Q. Since you are presently on a book tour with your political thriller, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, let’s start with this one.  Where did you get the idea for it?

Our nation is in trouble, polarized, fearful, uncertain. I have a passion for baseball and a passion for politics so I thought it would be fascinating to combine these into one story, where the baseball fans chant, as a rally cry, “Where’s My Bailout?” Come on, that goes to the heart of the disconnect between fans/voters and their so-called representatives in government. This Cinderella story of a baseball team, the Buffalo Matadors, which becomes America’s Team, unsheathing a dark underside along the way, was a wonderful opportunity to shine a light – without presenting an agenda – on Barack Obama’s America.

Q. Did you outline before you wrote your book or did you just go with the flow?

Outline, what’s that, lol? I take down notes, often wildly scribbled, and try and give myself a notion of where I want to end up. But the fun part of writing, and there is not a lot of that, it is work, is surprising yourself.

Q. Who was your favorite character in Take Me Out to the Ballgame and why?

I think Mickey O’Brien, a good-hearted guy, somewhat bitter over the economy, who finally opens his eyes at the impending disaster and how he and the fans of Buffalo have been cruelly manipulated.

Q. Who was your least favorite character?

Harry Witowsky, the owner of the Buffalo Matadors. While I had some sympathy for him, his ruthlessness and amorality ultimately offended me.

Q. Can you tell us about the setting and why you chose it?

I choose Buffalo because as a blue collar town it was the perfect venue for disconnect and the Us versus Them, liberal versus conservative, elitist versus working class/middle class story line that develops along the team’s meteoric and unlikely rise. I also attended Buffalo State College my freshman year, so there is that personal angle of remembering various bars along Elmwood Avenue where I fell face forward into the snow.

Q. What was the hardest part to write?

Some of the political scenes because I wanted to be balanced. Even though I am a political conservative and sympathetic to the Tea Party movement, I didn’t want to preach. That required pulling back a little on my own views. Sometimes I sounded bloody liberal, which alarmed me.

Q. Do you plan on writing more political thrillers or do you have something else in mind for your next book?

I talk politics on my weekly radio show, “Purple Haze,” Thursdays at 9PM/ET on blogtalkradio.com/mediablvd, so that is allowing me to vent for now. And vent I do!!!

Thank you for this interview, Gary.  I wish you much success!

Tags: baseball, blog tour, book campaign, book promotions, book publicity, Gary Morgenstein, online book promotion, political thriller, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, virtual blog tour, virtual book tour

Every month, we pick wonderful books we’ve read to spotlight at Literarily Speaking. Today we’re happy to be reading Vincent Zandri’s new thriller novel, Moonlight Falls.

This is his last day here with us and we will be announcing the winner of his book on Monday so make sure you read all the rules in order to become eligible.  To recap:

Read Day One’s excerpt here.

Read Day Two’s excerpt here.

To become eligible to win, all you have to do is ask a question or leave a comment on all three days. One lucky reader who comments with their email address is put in a pot to win the book. However, they must sign up for our email updates prior to the author’s appearance.

To recap:

• ask a question or leave a comment on all three days
• leave your email address
• sign up for our email updates to the right ——->

That’s all there is to it!

Day Three: Literarily Speaking Book Club Selection: Moonlight Falls by Vincent Zandri

Moonlight Falls is the Albany, New York-based paranoid tale (in the Hitchcock tradition) of former APD Detective turned Private Investigator/Massage Therapist, Richard “Dick” Moonlight, who believes he might be responsible for the brutal slaying by knife of his illicit lover, the beautiful Scarlet Montana. The situation is made all the worse since Scarlet is the wife of Moonlight’s boss, Chief of Detectives Jake Montana.

Why does Moonlight believe he might be responsible?

He’s got a small fragment of a .22 hollow point round buried inside his brain, lodge directly up against his cerebral cortex. The result of a botched suicide attempt four years prior to the novel’s start, an operation to remove the bullt frag would be too dangerous.

But the bullet causes Moonlight lots of problems, the least of which are the occasional memory loss and his rational ability to tell right from wrong. The bullet frag also might shift at any moment, making coma and/or sudden death, a very real possibility.

Still, Moonlight has been trying to get his life together as of late.

But when Scarlet begs him to make the trip over to her house late one rainy Sunday night to issue one of his “massages,” he makes a big mistake by sleeping with her. Later, having passed out in her bed, he will be rudely awakened by a garage door opening and Jake’s unexpected and very drunken homecoming. Making his impromptu escape out a top floor window, Moonlight will seek the safety of his home.

Two hours later however, he will receive another unexpected visit from Jake Montana. This time the big Captain has sobering news to report. He’s discovered his wife’s mutilated body in her own bed. She’s been murdered and now he needs the P.I. to investigate it in association with Albany ’s “overtaxed” Special Independent Unit before I.A. pokes their nose into the affair. Moonlight takes a big step back. Is it possible he made a second trip to the Montana home-sweet-home and just has no recollection of it? Once there, did he perform a heinous crime on his part-time lover? Or is this some kind of set up by his former boss? Is it really Jake who is responsible for Scarlet’s death? Does he wish for Moonlight to cover up his involvement, seal the case before Internal Affairs starts poking their nose into the situation?

There’s another problem too.

Covering Moonlight’s palms and the pads of his fingers are numerous scratches and cuts. Are these defensive wounds? Wounds he received when Scarlet put up a struggle? Or are they offensive wounds? Wounds he couldn’t avoid when making his attack on Scarlet with a blade? The answer is not so simple since Moonlight has no idea where he acquired the wounds.

Having no choice but to take on the mission (if only to cover his own ass), Moonlight can only hope the answers to his many questions point to his former boss and not himself.

Read the excerpt from Chapter 72:

Questions:

Q: Is it possible that towards the conclusion of the novel, Moonlight becomes convinced he’s a murderer?

Vincent Zandri: It’s hard to Moonlight to put two and two together due to his condition. Especially since, when under extreme stress, he passes out, loses his memory, and even walks the fine line between death and life. So when more and more characters in the book show up murdered, and all of them have had direct contact with Moonlight, he himself starts to feel that despite all good intentions, he may in fact he a killer.

Q: How does Moonlight overcome his inner conflict?

Vincent Zandri: He stays the course…He’s determined to find out who killed Scarlet, even if it killed him.

Q: So who did kill Scarlet Montana?

Vincent Zandri: The answer, as shocking as it is, isn’t revealed until the very end…So you’ll just have to pick up a copy and read it.

Now it’s your turn! Leave a comment below to become eligible to win a free copy of Moonlight Falls on Wednesday.  The winner’s name will be posted by Friday, May 7.

Tags: book club, book club selection, book giveaway, Moonlight Falls, online book club, online book club selection, online book promotion, thriller, Vincent Zandri

Every month, we pick wonderful books we’ve read to spotlight at Literarily Speaking. Today we’re happy to be reading Vincent Zandri’s new thriller novel, Moonlight Falls.  Vincent will be with us until Wednesday and will be giving away a copy at the end of his stay.  Check back to find out if you’re the winner on Friday.

To become eligible to win, all you have to do is ask a question or leave a comment on all three days. One lucky reader who comments with their email address is put in a pot to win the book. However, they must sign up for our email updates prior to the author’s appearance.

To recap:

• ask a question or leave a comment on all three days
• leave your email address
• sign up for our email updates to the right ——->

That’s all there is to it!

Day Two: Literarily Speaking Book Club Selection: Moonlight Falls by Vincent Zandri

Moonlight Falls is the Albany, New York-based paranoid tale (in the Hitchcock tradition) of former APD Detective turned Private Investigator/Massage Therapist, Richard “Dick” Moonlight, who believes he might be responsible for the brutal slaying by knife of his illicit lover, the beautiful Scarlet Montana. The situation is made all the worse since Scarlet is the wife of Moonlight’s boss, Chief of Detectives Jake Montana.

Why does Moonlight believe he might be responsible?

He’s got a small fragment of a .22 hollow point round buried inside his brain, lodge directly up against his cerebral cortex. The result of a botched suicide attempt four years prior to the novel’s start, an operation to remove the bullt frag would be too dangerous.

But the bullet causes Moonlight lots of problems, the least of which are the occasional memory loss and his rational ability to tell right from wrong. The bullet frag also might shift at any moment, making coma and/or sudden death, a very real possibility.

Still, Moonlight has been trying to get his life together as of late.

But when Scarlet begs him to make the trip over to her house late one rainy Sunday night to issue one of his “massages,” he makes a big mistake by sleeping with her. Later, having passed out in her bed, he will be rudely awakened by a garage door opening and Jake’s unexpected and very drunken homecoming. Making his impromptu escape out a top floor window, Moonlight will seek the safety of his home.

Two hours later however, he will receive another unexpected visit from Jake Montana. This time the big Captain has sobering news to report. He’s discovered his wife’s mutilated body in her own bed. She’s been murdered and now he needs the P.I. to investigate it in association with Albany ’s “overtaxed” Special Independent Unit before I.A. pokes their nose into the affair. Moonlight takes a big step back. Is it possible he made a second trip to the Montana home-sweet-home and just has no recollection of it? Once there, did he perform a heinous crime on his part-time lover? Or is this some kind of set up by his former boss? Is it really Jake who is responsible for Scarlet’s death? Does he wish for Moonlight to cover up his involvement, seal the case before Internal Affairs starts poking their nose into the situation?

There’s another problem too.

Covering Moonlight’s palms and the pads of his fingers are numerous scratches and cuts. Are these defensive wounds? Wounds he received when Scarlet put up a struggle? Or are they offensive wounds? Wounds he couldn’t avoid when making his attack on Scarlet with a blade? The answer is not so simple since Moonlight has no idea where he acquired the wounds.

Having no choice but to take on the mission (if only to cover his own ass), Moonlight can only hope the answers to his many questions point to his former boss and not himself.

Read the excerpt from Chapter 37:

Questions:

Q: Give us a brief explanation of what’s happened up to this point.

Vincent Zandri: Jake Montana and his second in command, Mitch Cain, have hired Moonlight as a special investigator into the brutal death of Scarlet Montana. There’s nothing unusual about this, since Montana and Cain are always calling in the financially strapped suicide survivor to “rubber stamp” cases of their choosing. But this case is different. Moonlight now only feels like he might had had something to with her death, he he had real feeling for her. Knowing that because of the partial bullet that’s lodged inside his brain, he could die at any moment, Moonlight decided to investigate the case for real and in doing so, begins to uncover a plot of crooked cops and on top of it, an illegal organ harvesting operation led in part by a group of Russian from the town of Saratoga to the north of Albany. When Cain realizes Moonlight is getting too close to uncovering some serious incriminating evidence, he takes it upon himself to destroy the evidence.

Q: Who is Jake?

Vincent Zandri: Jake Montana is Scarlet’s husband. He’s the Captain of the APD. He wants nothing more than to sweep his wife’s death under the carpet. He, being a drunk who blacks out, also feels that he might have had something to do with his wife’s death, but just can’t remember.

Q: They have found curare in Scarlet’s blood. What exactly is that?

Vincent Zandri: Curare is an incapacitating drug that’s been around for ages. It renders a body paralyzed, almost death-like, while it’s cognitive and sensory abilities remains in tact. Thus, one can be sliced open with a knife and not move a muscle yet be aware of every cut as well as the excruciating pain.

Q: What are Montana’s thoughts during this time?

Vincent Zandri: Jake is troubled. He realizes he neglected his wife for all these years and perhaps resorted to brutal treatment and abuse. Now that’s she’s dead, he misses her. But he also is crooked and he wants to wipe the legal slate clean. He’s a reprehensible man who used to be a good man. And he hates himself bitterly.

Now it’s your turn! Leave a comment below to become eligible to win a free copy of Moonlight Falls on Wednesday.  The winner’s name will be posted by Friday, May 7.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Day 3 of Literarily Speaking’s Book Club Selection: Moonlight Falls by Vincent Zandri!

Tags: author interview, blog tour, book club, Book Club Selections, literarily speaking, Moonlight Falls, thriller, Vincent Zandri, virtual book tour