Join ghost hunter Susan Kronick as she tours the blogosphere April 4 – May 27 2011 with Pump Up Your Book to talk about her new autobiographical paranormal, Sarah, They’re Coming For You (Wild Child Publishing). Susan will be on a nationwide online book publicity tour giving interviews, giving away copies of her books and meeting and greeting new and old fans!  Susan will take part in a Facebook party on April 29 and May 27 where she’ll be available for chat plus will be giving away copies of her books.  In May, she’ll be talking LIVE on Barry Eva’s Blog Talk Radio Show ‘A Book and a Chat’ plus will be participating in the Literarily Speaking Book Forum discussing today’s publishing as well as stopping off at other blogs giving interviews, writing about the paranormal and having her book reviewed.

Susan Kronick’s background is the perfect backdrop leading up to her latest paranormal novel, Sarah, They’re Coming for You.  She has a Master of Science in Psychology from Nova Southeastern University and a Ph.D. in Paranormal Studies/Psychology from Union Institute and Graduate School, as well as being an adjunct psychology professor at Barry University and Palm Beach State College.  A psychic and a medium, she has the gift of seeing the dead since she was a child.  She also has taught parapsychology classes through the Palm Beach County School Board, as well as at Palm Beach State College.  Susan has extensive experience in the area of investigations of haunting and the paranormal.  She lives with her husband and her four spoiled rescue dogs in south Florida.  You can visit her website at www.susankronick.webs.com. “Like” her page at Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/susan-kronick/156870670886.

Sarah, They’re Coming for You centers around Susan’s own experiences with the paranormal using a fictitious character named Sarah.  Sarah must confront the ghosts who have haunted her throughout her life by journeying back to her family’s ancestral castle in the Alpine town of Meiningen, Austria. When a mysterious woman—a link from the past—enlightens Sarah of her journey, every thing falls into place.  Sarah has a connection  between her ancestral family and her own haunting from the rogue ghosts in the after life.  They seek her in order to claim two family members with a single soul. One thing left to do for Sarah.  Go to the family home in Austria and face the ghosts head on, or lose her soul forever.

Literary Nymphs says “Ms. Kronick has impressed me with her creative storytelling of ghost, mediums and evil spirits. She did a great job on the detailed research in this story and of the country of Austria. This really has me adding it to my list of places to go. The story is very well-plotted and the surprise towards the end of the book may shock you, but I won’t give it away here. If you enjoy a story with a good haunting story, I am sure you will enjoy this one!”

For more information on Susan Kronick’s Sarah, They’re Coming for You Virtual Book Tour, you can visit her official tour page here.

Pump Up Your Book is an innovative public relations agency specializing in online book publicity for authors looking for maximum online promotion to sell their books.  Visit our website at www.pumpupyourbook.com to find out how we can take your book to the virtual level!

Tags: author tours, blog tours, book publicity, ghost books, ghost hunter, ghosts, haunted, hauntings, i see dead people, Kindle books, online book promotion, online book publicity, online book tours, paranormal, paranormal author, paranormal book, paranormal kindle, paranormal studies, parapsychologist; mystery, psychic, Pump Up Your Book, Sarah They're Coming for You, Susan Kronick, suspense, virtual book tour

John Milton Langdon is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and has a master’s degree in maritime civil engineering.  Langdon retired and became a professional writer after an active and rewarding engineering career.  Initially he worked in Britain but from 1972 until 2008, he dealt with project development in Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria.  Langdon lives in the Austrian town of Klagenfurt which has a history stretching back to mediaeval times.  Langdon has three children and five grandchildren from his first marriage and two step sons from the second.  Langdon has many interests including travel, the British canals, music and literature but hiking in the mountains surrounding his home is a preferred leisure activity.

John’s latest book is a historical fiction titled Against All Odds (Tate Publishing).

You can visit John Milton Langdon’s website at www.jmlangdon.com.

Q: Thank you for this interview, John. Can you tell everyone what your latest book, ‘Against All Odds’, is all about?

John:  Based loosely on fact ‘Against All Odds’ describes the early years of a young man born into humble circumstances during the reign of Queen Victoria.  He shows how a combination of intelligence and perserverance, aided by a little good fortune, can help any child overcome the disadvantages of poor education and lowly birth status in an era when status is all important.  In ‘Against All Odds’, the first volume of a four part series, you can read how Jason Smiley Stewart is transformed from callow village youth into a ship’s officer.

Q:  Is this your first book?

John:  Yes.  ‘Against All Odds’ is my first book.

Q: Why did you decide to write a historical fiction novel?

John:  I think it would be more accurate to say that the subject chose me as I had no literary ambition, even ‘though John Milton is an ancestor.

A chance visit to an island in the Elphinston Inlet (Khor As Sham) in Oman provided the inspiration for my story, and my retirement from full time employment gave me the time I needed to write it.  The island is called Telegraph Island and anyone with Google Earth on their PC will be able to locate it quite easily.

In the middle of the eighteen hundreds a small group of British telegraph operators lived and worked at a repeater station on the island, as it was one of the links in the chain of repeater stations on the electric telegraph between Britain and India.  This was at the very beginning of the electronic age that we take for granted now.

Standing in burning sunshine on a barren lump of rock, surrounded by a sea edged with equally barren but precipitous mountains, I could only marvel at the fortitude of men who could live and work under such appalling conditions.  Water, food and all the other essentials of life had to be supplied by sea.  They lived in Arab style huts made of barasti and must have suffered enormously in the heat and humidity.  The operators spent long hours listening to incoming messages in Morse code which they then had to retransmit along the next section of the cable.  It was small wonder that many became ill and the phrase ‘gone round the bend’ was coined by sailors recovering mentally sick personnel from the island which is beyond a bend in the inlet.

I felt there was a story to be told about these men, with the development of the telegraph system during the industrial revolution as a background theme.  ‘Against All Odds’ is the first part of this story.

Q: Can you tell us all about your main character?

John:  The main character is Jason Smiley who becomes Jason Smiley Stewart during his life.  The story opens when Jason is a small boy living with his mother and blacksmith father in a village in eastern England and describes his mimimal education.  His ability to take advantage of the opportunities presented to him lead initially to a career as a naval officer and then to his involvement with the construction of part of the electric telegraph system.  During these early years he also met a young woman – his first sweetheart – but is prevented from pursuing the relationship by a puritanical Victorian father.

Q: John, you live in the Austrian town of Klagenfurt whose town’s history goes back to medieval times.  What’s it like living in Klagenfurt?

John:  This is a difficult question to answer as there is so much I could write about.

Klagenfurt is the capital city of the province known as Kärnten (Carinthia) and it has a very long history although there are few visible remnants of those ancient times.  There are a number of myths associated with Kärnten and some of these I have described in short articles which are included in my home page.  If these are of interest please refer to   www.jmlangdon.com

Klagenfurt is surrounded by mountains which can be capped with snow from about November through to March and the temperature can remain below freezing point for most of that time.   There are few people here, apart the old and infirm, who do not ski during the winter an it is not unusual for a 5 year old to have skiing lessons.  Although the temperature is starting to climb now, and snowdrops are beginning to appear, there is still snow lying on the fields and gardens around my home.

Whilst generally on the subject of winter, it may be of interest to note that all the motorists here have two sets of tyres.  We change from normal to winter tyres in October and then back to normal tyres in about April.  Many motorists also carry a set of snow chains during the winter months.

In summer thoughts turn to swimming, sailing and for the more energetic mountaineering.  We have a very big lake here called the Wörthersee and again there is an article on my home page about the ‘biggest bath tub’ in Europe.

Klagenfurt is well endowed with shops; from boutiques to supermarkets.  The supermarkets carry a wide range of fruit, vegetable and meat products but I often find that something I am accustomed to buying in Britain, or in Dubai for that matter, are unavailable here.  Mint sauce and dried mustard are two commodities that spring to mind.  They are not part of the local culinary heritage.  However horseradish sauce which is known here as Kren, is far superior to anything I have bought elsewhere.

The language of Austria is German of course, but English is spoken by many Austrians and their ability seems to depend on age and confidence.  For example an Austrian teenager will be fluent in English  but older people will generally say they cannot speak English as they do not wish to be embarrassed by making a mistake.  I have the same problem when I try to speak German.

Q: In your opinion, what is the key ingredient for writing great historical fiction?

John:  To write convincingly it is necessary to understand the custom and practice of the particular historical age one is writing about.  How did people live, interact, travel, dress and so on.  This requires careful research if the story is to have a realistic or authentic feel.

Q: Finally, I like to ask authors this question.  What is your passion?  What is it that you’re more passionate about than anything else?

John:  Passionately for sustainable energy; passionately opposed to the tunnel visioned concentration in Britain on wind power because it is not a reliable source of energy, and will lead to the construction of another generation of nuclear power stations.  Britain is surrounded by sea, but the energy that can be generated from ocean tides and currents is not being developed as it should be, particularly as tidal forces are totally predictable.

Q: Thanks for the interview, John.  Do you have any final words?

John:  Thank you for taking the time to ask some interesting questions.

Tags: Against All Odds, Author Interviews, John Milton Langdon

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In Ernest Hemingway’s introduction to his memoir, A Moveable Feast, he writes, “If the reader prefers, this book may be regarded as fiction. But there is always the chance that such a book of fiction may throw some light on what has been written as fact.” I’m hoping my novel will work to illuminate not just the facts of Ernest and Hadley’s years in Paris, but the essence of that time and of their profound connection by weaving both the fully imagined and undeniably real.

When I began to research my book, beginning with biographies of Hemingway and Hadley, and with their delicious correspondence, I knew the actual story of the Hemingway’s marriage was near perfect; it was a ready-made novel, ripe for the picking. I didn’t have to invent a plot for them, nor did I want to. My work would be to use the framework of historical documentation to push into these characters’ hearts and minds, discovering their motivations, their deepest wishes.

The most important step for me was getting Hadley’s voice. She has very little dialogue in A Moveable Feast, but what’s there is so evocative. It led me to seek out the letters she wrote to Ernest during their courtship, and that’s when I knew I could write the book. Her speech rhythms, her intelligence and charm and sense of humor all come through with clarity and effervescence. I simply fell in love with her, with them both.

Beginning to truly hear a character’s voice is like finding a piece of magic string. It pulls you inside their consciousness, and helps you see the world through their very particular point of view, unfolding the story only they can tell. That’s ultimately why I chose to write a few select passages from Ernest’s perspective. There were things I simply needed to know about the choices he was making, and could only know those things from the inside out. He’s terribly complex. Parts of their story aren’t easy to understand—and yet I needed to understand them if I was going to fully inhabit the world that needed inventing: the interior one. In many of Hemingway’s biographies, Hadley is quickly dispatched as “the first wife,” a youthful experiment gone awry. Their emotional crisis—that terrible spring and summer when Hadley learns she’s been betrayed—occupies only a few taut pages in one well-regarded biography, but is the crux of my story. I invented what I couldn’t know—all of their dialogue, for instance—but knew, in a deeper way, one that can’t be aided by all the biographies in the world, what lay at the heart of what I was imagining.

Paris in the 20’s was such a singular time in history, and the Hemingways’ years there were so full of spectacular adventure and compelling encounters, that I felt entirely grateful to live it with them. Working on this book was hands down the most fun I’ve ever had as a writer. I’ll never forget it.

Paula McLain received an MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan and has been a resident of Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony. She is the author of two collections of poetry, as well as a memoir, Like Family, and a first novel, A Ticket to Ride. She lives in Cleveland with her family. You can visit Paula McLain’s website to learn more about The Paris Wife at www.pariswife.com. 

Tags: author tour, blog tour, blog tours, book blog tour, book promotion online, Ernest Hemingway, Guest Blogger, Hadley Hemingway, historical fiction, online book promotion, Paula McLain, Pump Up Your Book, The Paris Wife, virtual author tour, virtual blog tour, virtual blog tours, virtual book tour, virtual book tours

Emma Piers is an author, wellbeing coach and narrator. She lives in rural Dorset in the UK with her life/working partner Mark Turner. Emma was born in a rambling old vicarage in Kent, in 1958. Her father was a vicar, and she had two siblings. During her early years, the family moved five times. During these years, Emma developed a deep love and sense of connectedness with the natural world around her. Walking and writing stories about mythical creatures and people became a big preoccupation, alongside a love of English that was instilled in her by two teachers who were both passionate about their subject. As a counter balance, she managed to fail her Maths ‘O’ level three times. Friendships came and went with five different schools in short succession being attended. A working year exploring the USA and France was followed by another year feeling out of place in a technical college studying pitman script, shorthand typing and profit and loss accounts. Many years and several homes later, after her younger child started grammar school, Emma started studying counselling and creative writing. After a number of years in counselling practice, and travels in Australia, Emma’s more recent studies are encompassing both traditional therapeutic and mythological storytelling. This form of storytelling incorporates understandings of the holistic ways in which human and environment interact.

Her latest book is Night Knight: Therapeutic Bedtime Stories.

You can visit her website at www.emmapiers.com or “like” her at Facebook!

Q: Thank you for this interview, Emma. Can you tell everyone what your latest book, Night Knight: Therapeutic Bedtime Stories, is all about?

Emma: It’s been created as a support for parents and care givers, in supporting children ages 5-12 during troubled times.

Q:  Is this your first book?

Emma: It’s my first book using my professional background and my partner’s illustrative skills.

Q: What compels you to write parenting books?  Have you ever thought about writing other genres?

Emma: I felt like this book started off writing itself rather than the other way round! I started with a few ideas and it kind of gathered momentum until I thought “Okay, so we have a therapeutic bedtime story book here.”

Q: Can you tell us more about your main characters and what part they play in making the book come together?

Emma: The two main characters are elves called Rosador and Orion. They have been endowed with supernatural, or ‘sidhi’ powers as they are known in Eastern cultures. They live in harmony with themselves, with nature, their families, friends and communities. They help other creatures from the neighbouring Dark Forest in their ensuing adventures in dealing with their ‘Dark Fairies.’ The ‘Dark Fairies’ are metaphors for bad thoughts and feelings that the creatures have believed to be true about themselves. Through their journeys, the creatures become watchers of their ‘Dark Fairies’ and are no longer held captive to their cruel whisperings and tauntings. Rosador and Orion are the custodians of love and truth, serving as the messengers of the healing messages contained within the story lines.

Q: Interesting that you were born in a rambling vicarage in Kent.  Would you like to tell us what your childhood was like growing up there?

Emma: We moved from there when I was two years old, to a Northern industrial town called Crewe, where my dad served as a railway chaplain. A few years later we moved to another rambling old vicarage, this time in rural Devon. This is where my memories start. I loved the natural environments there. The trees, woodlands, forests, and nearby sea, where we would go and sail in old dinghys with little out board motors attached to them.

Q: In your opinion, what is the key ingredient for writing great parenting books?

Emma: I think it depends entirely on what kind of parenting book you’re writing. Because ours is therapeutic in content and style, it’s been written in third party, using metaphor and imagery, as a story, rather than as a text book. For our work, I feel the capacity to enter into a child’s way of experiencing and processing the world is vital.

Q: Finally, I like to ask authors this question.  What is your passion?  What is it that you’re more passionate about than anything else?

Emma: I’m passionate about many things in life. Becoming awake and alive each morning is a passion in itself. An extraordinary gift.

Q: Thanks for the interview, Emma.  Do you have any final words?

Emma: Readers can buy our book, also available in cd’s and downloads, from our website: www.emmapiers.com, from Amazon, Waterstones, W.H.Smith, and through their local book stores. The most popular version so far is the mixed media book with two narrated cd’s set to background music. Anyone is welcome to contact us with any queries through or website. Thanks for interviewing me!

Tags: author promotions, bereavement and separation, best childrens book, blog tours, book promotions, book publicity, Emma K. Piers, find help for my child, free childrens stories, free therapeutic stories, get help for my child, help children through divorce, help children through separation, help children with divorcing parents, help children with separating parents, help for children, Help for children in bereavement, help my child, help my child through bereavement, How can i help my child cope with my divorce, How can i help my child cope with my separation, Knight Night, make my child happy, my child has problems, My child is a bully, my child is being bullied, my child is sad, my child is upset, my child keeps crying, Pump Up Your Book, support for bullied children, Support for children, therapeutic bedtime, Therapeutic Bedtime Stories, therapeutic help, therapeutic stories, virtual book tours

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Writing Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D. was an interesting journey. I started writing for Blogcritics (part of Technorati Media) in October 2007, during House, M.D.’s fourth season, wondering if anyone would even read my articles. They weren’t typical episode recaps, but, as my feature’s subtitle is: “an introspective look at House M.D.”

I wanted to dig deep and hoped that it was something other House fans were craving too. Turns out that they were. A lot of people love the show as I do: for its complexities and (of course Hugh Laurie’s performance). Early on I did a piece called “House as a Classic Romantic Hero.” The article really struck a chord with a lot of fans (especially female fans). I got letters from literature professors and others who saw what I saw.

I eventually decided that it would be fun to write a guide to the entire series. Rather than a straight-on episode guide, I wanted the book to explore the series’ character and story narratives and the themes, keeping the flavor of my BC feature, but going into the sort of depth that’s impossible with a blog.

Plunged into the foreign land (for me) of agents and publishers, I was ultimately introduced to House-fan-agent Katharine Sands of the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency. It was fun to learn how many publishing people are addicted to House, but the one who I chose was Jack David, publisher of Entertainment Culture Writing (ECW Press). The publishing house focuses on entertainment culture. Jack is a House fan and had already done one book on the series because he loves the show. Once I talked with him, I knew he was the best choice to publish the book you wanted to do a book looking poking between the lines and beneath the surface of our favorite romantic anti-hero House and his universe.

Doing a book is a completely different undertaking than writing a blog—even if the actual writing is not. I started with an outline of just chapter headings and expanded and expanded it, looking at analyzing every episode to figure out how each illuminated a particular point I was trying to make. Eventually my working outline was more than 50 pages. To me, the outline was key. I spent two months simply outlining and trying to find the direction the book would take.

There were things that required full-chapter treatment and others that could be handled in a sidebar or mini-chapter. There were episodes I wanted to highlight, but how and in what context? By the time the outline was done I had a two-part manuscript: several chapters about the show: one for each character, of course, and also chapters on the structure of the show, the writing, the music, the settings. I wanted to do a chapter on the House’s issues with pain and drugs. It’s a crucial theme and one the series has sometimes obscured. I wanted to address how the series handles religion and “God” issues (which it does incredibly well), as well as medical ethics and other “social commentary” in full chapter treatments. Beneath each outline heading (and numerous subheads), I jotted episodes and scenes I wanted to highlight. I decided early on that House is not really a medical show, so dealing with the series medicine, while an important element is not any more important than any other element, so there is one—but only one—chapter on the show’s medicine.

Part two of the book is a unique (I hope) episode guide. I wanted to have some fun with that, but it ended up being much more challenging than I thought it would be. I didn’t want to simply recap each episode. You can get those re-caps everywhere on the Internet. I felt it was important to give readers something they couldn’t get online. So, following a brief summary of the episode, I tease out some of each episode’s most important (and often amusing) highlights: An “iconic” moment; House’s epiphany; “shipper alerts” (highlighting relationship moments between the characters); the Housian ethics of the episode, focusing on the ethical dilemmas faced by House and the crew. There are “Musical Notes” and something called “Title Tale,” which explores the meaning(s) within the context of each episode. I also researched the bios of all the guest stars over six seasons and included (some surprising) info about them.

It’s a massive amount of information to process and as I kept writing the seasons it got harder and harder to remember the details. But I was committed to this format (which I love), so I kept with it. It was far and away the most difficult part to write.

House is an incredibly complex series, and there is little wasted either in the dialogue, the music, the sets–even the wardrobe. Everything says something. Writing a column or an episode review is much easier in that, everyone knows it’s simply my opinion. “Your mileage may vary,” as they say. But with a book, I felt I needed to hear all the voices: those that spoke to me and those that spoke to fans who see things I may not. I spent a lot of time agonizing over whether I was missing the point sometimes–or overanalyzing at others. Because it’s a work of criticism–analysis–it’s still my subjective perspective, but I’ve always tried to keep others’ in mind.

The absolutely most fun chapter to write was House’s. I cast him as a “Byronic” hero, using the attributes of that literary archetype and running the character through that lens. It’s amazing how well he fits that archetype. It’s a huge chapter of necessity. At one point, I thought I was running so far over my word limit, I thought about severely cutting it back. My agent talked me out of it. She was right. This chapter is really the heart of the book, as it should be. Everything on the show revolves around House’s orbit!

Barbara Barnett is Co-Executive Editor of Blogcritics, an Internet magazine of pop culture, politics and more owned by Technorati Media. Always a pop-culture geek, Barbara was raised on a steady diet of TV (and TV dinners), but she always found her way to TV’s antiheroes and misunderstood champions, whether on TV, in the movies or in literature.

Barnett’s regular column, “Welcome to the End of the Thought Process: An Introspective Look at House, M.D.” features insightful episode commentaries and interviews with the House cast and creative team. It is the place for intelligent discussion of the hit television series starring Hugh Laurie.

Barbara has had an eclectic career. With an undergraduate degree in biology and minors in chemistry and English, she pursued a PhD in Public Policy Analysis after spending a few years working in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Her first professional writing gig was with a food industry trade magazine, and although it wasn’t exactly like writing for The New Yorker, it completely hooked her on the profession of writing.

She also writes lots of other things, including technology (from a non-geek perspective), the movies, politics and all things Jewish. Based in the north shore suburbs of Chicago, Barnett is married with two brilliant children and a dog. Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D. is her first (commercial) book. She hopes it’s not her last.

Visit Barbara’s website at www.barbarabarnett.com.

Tags: Barbara Barnett, blog tours, book campaign, book events, book tour, criticism, Drama, entertainment, House, House M.D., House M.D. addiction, House M.D. authority, House M.D. expert, M.D., medicine and television, nonfiction television, pop-culture geek, promote your book, Pump Up Your Book, sell your book, television, television popular show, tv, tv guide book, tv series, virtual book tours

Barbara Barnett is Co-Executive Editor of Blogcritics, an Internet magazine of pop culture, politics and more owned by Technorati Media. Always a pop-culture geek, Barbara was raised on a steady diet of TV (and TV dinners), but she always found her way to TV’s antiheroes and misunderstood champions, whether on TV, in the movies or in literature.

Barnett’s regular column, “Welcome to the End of the Thought Process: An Introspective Look at House, M.D.” features insightful episode commentaries and interviews with the House cast and creative team. It is the place for intelligent discussion of the hit television series starring Hugh Laurie.

Barbara has had an eclectic career. With an undergraduate degree in biology and minors in chemistry and English, she pursued a PhD in Public Policy Analysis after spending a few years working in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Her first professional writing gig was with a food industry trade magazine, and although it wasn’t exactly like writing for The New Yorker, it completely hooked her on the profession of writing.

She also writes lots of other things, including technology (from a non-geek perspective), the movies, politics and all things Jewish. Based in the north shore suburbs of Chicago, Barnett is married with two brilliant children and a dog. Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D. is her first (commercial) book. She hopes it’s not her last.

Visit Barbara’s website at www.barbarabarnett.com.

Q: Thank you for this interview, Barbara. Can you tell everyone what your latest book, Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D., is all about?

Barbara: Chasing Zebras is an intelligent look at one of television’s most popular shows. Medical students are taught that when they hear hoofbeats, they should think horses, not zebras, but Dr. House’s unique talent of diagnosing unusual illnesses has made House, M.D. one of the most compelling series on television. Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D. takes fans deep into the heart of the show’s central character and his world, examining the way this medical genius’ colleagues and patients reflect him and each other; how the music, settings, and even the humor enhance our understanding of the series’ narrative; what the show says about modern medicine, ethics, and religion; and much more. Complete with an episode-by-episode guide and quotes from my Blogcritics interviews with cast members, producers, and writers.

Q: Is this your first book?

Barbara: It’s my first commercial book. I’ve written two commissioned (write-for-hire) books for the National Safety Council and two other shorter (award winning) books on prayer and spirituality. Chasing Zebras is my first publicly available book.

Q: What compelled you to write about House, M.D.?

Barbara: I find the show to be deeply layered with a “procedural” medical mystery structure, but much lying beneath the surface in the way of character journeys and social commentary. I wanted to explore that. I also find the journey–the uncovering of the many facets–of the show’s central character to be incredibly interesting.

Q: You call yourself a pop culture geek. Would you like to tell us about that?

Barbara: I’m endlessly fascinated by all things pop culture. I find that really fertile ground to explore as a writer, but I also love the things that make “us” us: TV, music, comic books, pop literature–even advertising and the gadgets we use. I’m a consumer and student of our age!

Q: In your opinion, what is the key ingredient for writing great nonfiction books?

Barbara: Making the language interesting. Propel the reader through the chapters and make them not want to put it down–just like fiction. Some of the most gratifying comments I’ve gotten (from a few of those who’ve read the book) have been when the readers found they couldn’t put it down. They wanted to get to the next page. To me, that’s a tremendous compliment for a non-fiction book.

Q: Finally, I like to ask authors this question. What is your passion? What is it that you’re more passionate about than anything else?

Barbara: Wow. That’s a very hard question. I’m generally passionate about whatever my latest discovery is: whether it’s a new place, a new book, a new TV series or a flower–or the latest gadget or invention–something I’ve never discovered before. I’m intensely curious about everything. But I’m also probably most passionate about my family: my incredible children and my indulgent and tolerant husband!

Q: Thanks for the interview, Barbara. Do you have any final words?

Barbara:Thank you so much for this opportunity. Please buy the book! You can find out more at barbarabarnett.wordpress.com.

Tags: author interview, author promotions, Barbara Barnett, book promotions, Chasing Zebras, Fox network, Fox show, Fox TV, House M.D., House M.D. television show, M.D., television show, The Unofficial Guide to House, TV show

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I’ve worked as an air traffic controller for nearly the last thirty years, since being hired as a raw rookie by the FAA in 1982 at the age of twenty-two, making it the only real full-time job I’ve ever held.

So it seems only natural that aviation would be the subject of my debut novel, Final Vector, a thriller about air traffic controller Nick Jensen, a man whose wife has died under suspicious circumstances and who finds himself drawn into a plot to assassinate U.S. President Robert Cartwright.

Unfortunately, thanks to the devastating attacks of September 11, 2001, the attention of many of the world’s terror organizations has been focused for the last decade on aviation as their target of choice for attempted mayhem. And in a twisted way, it makes sense. An attack on airplanes affects us all, because who doesn’t fly? Who hasn’t felt a little twinge of nervousness walking into a long skinny aluminum tube preparing to rocket five miles into the sky?

Final Vector is my way of combining decades of aviation experience with a love for the thriller genre, asking the horrifying question, “What if?” What if an organization bent on pulling off the ultimate assassination managed to procure information regarding transportation of lethal weapons and hijacked those weapons?

What if the same organization learned the itinerary of the President of the United States, and staged a takeover of a critical air traffic control facility—with no one in the outside world the wiser—on the day the president was to fly into the airport served by that facility?

And what if that terrorist group were to force the air traffic controllers, at gunpoint, to place their target—Air Force One—in the exact location needed for a deadly missile attack, with only one man standing between these people and the success of their mission?

What if that man was unarmed and alone, with no way to contact the authorities and no way to get help? What if?

To learn more about Final Vector, as well as my upcoming projects, please check out www.allanleverone.com. I love to hear from readers and welcome constructive feedback concerning my work.

Thanks so much to The Story Behind The Book for giving me an opportunity to connect with your readers. As a debut novelist, I am by definition an unknown quantity, and well aware of the difficulty in convincing people to spend their hard-earned money on my creation. You guys are awesome!

Allan Leverone is a three-time Derringer Award Finalist whose short fiction has been featured in Needle: A Magazine of Noir, Shroud Magazine, Twisted Dreams, Mysterical-E and many other venues, both print and online. His debut thriller, titled FINAL VECTOR, is available February 2011 from Medallion Press. For details, please visit www.allanleverone.com or his blog at www.allanleverone.blogspot.com.

Tags: Allan Leverone, Final Vector, thriller

Cynthia Kocialski is the founder of three companies – two fabless semiconductor and one software company.  In the past 15 years, she has been involved in dozens of start-ups and has served on various advisory boards. These companies have collectively returned billions of dollars to investors. Cynthia has worked with established companies to bring start-up techniques and technologies to corporations desiring to process improvement and efficiency.

Prior to her work in the start-up community, Cynthia has held a wide range of technical, marketing, and management positions at major corporations. At IBM, Cynthia began with financial software to facilitate the tracking of sales and inventory for international operations. She later moved into development and engineering management working of scientific workstations. Finally, Cynthia transitioned into technical marketing and strategic planning role for graphics and digital video components for personal computers. At Matrox, Cynthia was the general manager, overseeing the R&D area of digital video and image processing product lines,

Cynthia graduated of the University of Rochester with bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and applied statistics. She also has graduate degrees from the University of Virginia in both electrical engineering and systems engineering.

She also writes the popular Start-up Entrepreneurs’ Blog and has written many articles on emerging technologies.

Her latest book is Start Up from the Ground Up: Practical Insights for Entrepreneurs.

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

Thank you for this interview, Cynthia. Can we begin by having you tell us a little about your book and why you wrote it?

Cynthia: Start-ups follow similar paths, encounter the same issues, reach the same conclusion and make the same mistakes – over and over again. I found that I repeated myself a lot.

The book shows readers how to think about transforming a product idea into an early stage company. It’s not enough to have a great product. You can only go so far with an idea. The product is like the heart of a company and just like a person, what makes human beings is far more than our hearts. Entrepreneurs often focus too much, and sometimes even exclusively, on the product and neglect the rest of the company. This book talks about this everything else.

Where do you believe you got your passion for helping startup companies?

Cynthia: I downsized into my passion. I started off my career working for IBM. It’s a really big company and I learned a lot working for them, but I always felt I could do more. Then I downsized to a medium sized company, Matrox Electronics where I had greater exposure to operating aspects of a company. Finally I downsized to start-ups, where I found my passion.

The atmosphere in a start-up is refreshing and exhilarating. Because staff sizes are small and everyone feels appreciated more for the contributions to the company. If you have to spend so many hours around people, you really want to be around people with great attitudes. People are upbeat and positive. The best part is you get to be part of the creation, not just the product but the company itself.

How can your book, Startup from the Ground Up, help these startup companies?

Cynthia: Startup from the Ground Up gets the entrepreneur moving down the right path and thinking in the right direction with tips, strategies, and techniques on how to launch a start up. In this book, readers will discover why a great product isn’t enough. Readers will learn how to think about their start-up, not so much what to think because every business and every market is slightly different.

Entrepreneurs put most of their emphasis on the deliberate creation of the product, but they don’t often think of the creation of the company and the development business with nearly as much intention.

When do you believe startup companies should start marketing themselves and where should they start first?

Cynthia: The first step is to realize marketing needs to start as soon as possible, not when the product is ready for the market and not just for a pre-launch campaign that starts shortly before the market is available to customers.

Marketing is not sales. It promotes the company and its products, as well as building awareness and creating demand for the product. If the product isn’t available and you don’t want to disclosure any specifics, you can still promote the company by being active in its industry. A start-up can sponsor industry meetings and events, staff could moderate panel discussions at conferences, could speak at conferences about technology and the problem the product will solve. There are many ways a company can engage in marketing before the product is ready.

If a start-up does any marketing prior to pre-launch, they are ahead of most of the other start-ups because most procrastinate and do nothing.

Why do you believe start-up companies should begin with more than one business plans?

Cynthia: Start-up need to realize the initial business plan is never the final one that works. The initial plan is merely a starting point from which the final one will emerge. The business plan should provide multiple methods and paths to be tried because on day one, it is uncertain what will work and what will well. Even if the start-up team has experience in the target market and has done it all before, today is never quite the same as yesterday and what worked then won’t necessarily work now.

The problem with a business plan is the misguided notion that what is written in the plan is a step-by-step process that is to be followed precisely regardless of the feedback. This is where start-ups get into trouble. It becomes a set of absolute rules to be followed to the letter. I had one start-up who referred to it as the “Plan of Record”. They were always referring the POR as if thinking was no longer required in the company; they weren’t listening to the market place.

What’s the best way start up companies can find customers?

Cynthia: The easy part is figuring out who your customers are, the hard part is getting them to speak with you so you can validate whether this assumption is correct. Most start-ups will send email or cold call customers. On occasion it works, but it’s not effective.

It’s not that potential customers aren’t interested in hearing what the start-up has to say, it’s just that the customers have priorities and whatever their tasks at hand are is what comes first. Start-ups often disturb a customer during their regular work hours. Start-ups need to meet with potential customers when they are in the mood to talk and aren’t going to be distracted by their daily schedules.

That’s why conferences, events, and tradeshows are great places to meet your customers because everyone is there to network and find out what’s going on in their industry. If you send customers an email asking to have an exploratory meeting at their offices, you may get put off. Often if you send an email asking if they will be attending an upcoming conference and ask whether you can meet at the event, you’ll get a better reception to you request for an exploratory meeting.

Thank you so much for this interview, Cynthia. Do you have any final words?

Cynthia: Many people dream of starting their own business and growing it to great heights. The good news is that there are a lot of people who have gone through the process, and many are willing to help. Why re-learn business lessons. Trial and experimentation can be costly both in terms of money and time. Entrepreneurs shouldn’t be in reinventing the wheel. Entrepreneurs just need to reach out and ask for advice.

Tags: Author Interviews, Cynthia Kocialski, startup companies, Startup from the Ground Up

Title: Semper Cool
Author: Barry Fixler
Genre: Memoir
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Exalt Press; First edition (December 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-0982518404
ISBN-978-0982518403

Semper Cool is the wrenching, sometimes hilarious and always thought-provoking true story of well-off Long Island teenager who enlists in the U.S. Marine Corps seeking adventure and his father’s approval and finds both, plus more danger than he ever could have imagined.

Barry Fixler gets molded into a Marine at Parris Island and sent to Vietnam, where he is assigned to a company that would soon etch its place in Marine Corps lore. Fixler’s Echo Company defends a hill at Khe Sanh against overwhelming enemy numbers in a 77-day battle that is considered one of the greatest military victories in the history of modern warfare.

With its vivid imagery, Semper Cool thrusts the reader into a “grunt’s-eye view” of the blood, guts, tears and laughter of war, as told by a Marine who returned home a man and a patriot. Be prepared to laugh and cry for the men and women willing to risk their lives for the freedoms that so many Americans enjoy.

BOOK EXCERPT:

Vietnam was a helicopter war. Choppers were the main transports for food, ammunition, mail and men. Get in fast. Get out fast. That was the helicopter pilots’ mantra.

One day, during the siege of Khe Sanh, two of our guys got hit real bad. When that happens what you do is take the Marine who’s seriously wounded and put him in a poncho, maybe 100 feet from the landing zone.

One guy takes the poncho by the feet and the other guy gets it by the head and you run to the Medivac chopper. You try to coordinate it so you get there just as the helicopter touches down.

I was holding one of our wounded guys by the head end of his poncho, making eye contact with him. His entire body was soaked with blood. How he was still breathing I don’t know. He was turned inside out. All of his organs were exposed, but he was still alive, and his eyes were fixed into mine.

“You’re going to be fine; you’re going back to the world,” I said to him. “You’re making it back fine. Back home. You’ll be fine. You’ll be fine.”

But I was thinking, “Just die already,” because the guy was already in shock, and he wasn’t going to make it.

The helicopter was on approach and four of us ran out carrying the two wounded Marines. We were catching heavy fire from mortars and rockets. The two guys carrying the first Marine scurried straight inside the helicopter. I was last on the ramp, and as soon as I got there, the pilot started taking off because the helicopter was being riddled with shrapnel. The cockpit glass was a mess. Pieces of it were in the co-pilot’s face. Mortar shrapnel sliced through the hull of the chopper.

I was barely on the ramp and the helicopter started lifting off. Next thing I knew, I was dangling from the ramp clinging to the poncho, and I couldn’t reach anything else to hold.

I lost my grip. For one quick second, I opened my eyes and actually saw the tops of trees. I was falling from the sky, and the only thing I could think of was that I was above the trees.

I had enough time to tell myself to curl in a ball, like doing a cannonball at the swimming pool, and close my eyes and wait to hit the ground.

That’s what I remember, waiting, waiting for the pain … But when I hit I bounced straight up. Swear to God, just like a trampoline.

I was thinking, “What the … ?!” I had no idea what I had landed on. The first time, I must have bounced 10, 15 feet, but it felt like jumping out of a six-story building onto a trampoline. Like I hit and bounced up three floors, then two floors, then one.

At the same time my helmet flew off, and—how I was thinking to do all of this, I don’t know—I tried to flatten myself out so I wouldn’t be such an easy target for the enemy.

I was still wondering what I had landed on by the time I reached cover. Well, for about six weeks, none of us had wanted to get our mailbags. The helicopters would come and drop mailbags, but no one wanted to run out the hundred feet under fire to get them. We had to get our ammunition and food, but screw the mailbags. We weren’t gonna get killed for mailbags.

So the mailbags piled up. They must’ve been stacked four, five feet high, and I’d landed right in the middle of them. That’s why I bounced: Those mailbags that nobody wanted to risk their lives for saved me.

The three guys who got stuck on the chopper made it back the next afternoon while I was eating C-rations in one of the trench bunkers where we slept. I could hear them talking to the other guys.

“We seen Fix get blown out of the helicopter! We seen Fix get blown apart!”

Their eyes saw me fly out the back of a helicopter in mid-air while under heavy fire, so they assumed I was dead. When they finally saw me sitting in the bunker they looked like they’d seen a ghost.

“But we saw you get blown out of the helicopter!”

“That’s right, but I’m right here. Yo! I’m fine.”

We always appreciated the mail.

– Excerped from Semper Cool by Barry Fixler

Tags: Barry Fixler, Book Excerpts, memoir, Semper Cool, vietnam, vietnam memoir

John Ames has a master’s degree in English from the University of Florida, where he was a Ford Fellow. After graduation, he built a rustic house and lived for several years on the edge of a spiritual community located near Gainesville, Florida. John’s search for enlightenment ended when he decided that he was too far from a movie theater. He moved inside the Gainesville city limits and taught English and film for thirty years at Santa Fe College.

He has produced and acted in numerous short films and videos, including the cable TV series the “Tub Interviews,” wherein all the interviewees were required to be in a bathtub. For ten years he reviewed movies for PBS radio station WUFT.  He has appeared as a standup comedian and has designed and marketed Florida-themed lamps.  He coauthored Second Serve: The Renée Richards Story (Stein and Day, 1983) and its sequel No Way Renée: The Second Half of My Notorious Life (Simon & Schuster, 2007), and Speaking of Florida (University Presses of Florida, 1993).

His recent book is a coming-of-age novel titled Adventures in Nowhere.

You can visit his website at www.johnamesauthor.com.

Q: Thank you for this interview, John. Can you tell everyone what your latest book, Adventures in Nowhere, is all about?

John: Adventures in Nowhere is about a droll ten-year-old boy who is thoughtful beyond his years and needs all of his cleverness to cope with his difficult home life. Danny Ryan’s father is dangerous and overpowering, one sister is seriously ill, the other is an emotional time bomb, and his mother is overworked. They are all stuck in a little three-room house where they can’t get away from one another. Ironically, the house is located in a beautiful spot that would be a wonderland for the boy if things weren’t so bad at home. As it is, Danny thinks he is stuck in nowhere, but nowhere does offer a wealth of eccentric characters who draw him into an adventure that leads Danny to an odd triumph. Though he sometimes doubts his sanity along the way, Danny eventually comes to realize that the ugliness in life is balanced by great beauty.

Q:  Is this your first book?

John: I have coauthored several books. Two Renée Richards autobiographies, Second Serve and No way Renée, are the best known. However, Adventures in Nowhere is my first novel.

Q: Why did you decide to write a coming of age story?

John: I decided that I would write a novel using as inspiration the people and places I knew while growing up in Tampa during the 1950s. The problems of Danny Ryan, the novel’s central character, are similar to the ones I faced as a kid. I wanted to give Danny a moment of triumph and understanding that I did not experience in my childhood. It was only after I finished that I discovered I had written a coming-of-age story. So the genre chose me.

Q: Can you tell us all about your main character?

John: Danny Ryan has been described by one of my readers as the most thoughtful little boy in history, but part of that impression comes from the fact that his thoughts are the only ones readers are given. Danny analyzes his world with the mental tools he has, and he battles his problems with surprising wiliness. He does not think like an adult, but his take on adult problems puts them in an interesting new light. Danny feels quite alone, but he finds diversion through the quirky characters he meets in his rural neighborhood. His challenge is to trust in their good intentions and quell his fears enough to accept the gifts they offer.

Q: Interesting that you have produced and acted in numerous short films and videos.  Would you like to tell us more about it?

John: The things I did were on a small scale. The ones that were most widely seen were the Tub Interviews, a series I did with my friend Henry Rowland. I did the interviewing and Henry did the camera work. The interviewees were required to be in a bathtub for the interview. Some actually took a bath and others just sat in the tub. We showed them on the local cable channel and they were picked up by a cable channel in Orlando. It was amusing to think they might be going into hotels in Disney World. Our mock documentary, Trail of the Skunk Ape about Florida’s Bigfoot achieved something of a cult status in Gainesville. I was told that high school students organized trips out onto our local geological landmark, Payne’s Prairie, to track the cagy skunk ape.

Q: In your opinion, what is the key ingredient for writing great coming of age stories?

John: I don’t know if I would set myself up as an authority on the subject, but what I keep in mind is that character, not action, is the most important thing in coming-of-age plots. If readers aren’t genuinely interested in the main character, they won’t care about his or her growth. If that happens, you might as well not have written the book.

Q: Finally, I like to ask authors this question.  What is your passion?  What is it that you’re more passionate about than anything else?

John: The closest I come to having a passion is an obsessive drive to finish a project. In the last couple of years, I have put hardwood floors in my house and remodeled my kitchen. I do all the work myself, and I keep working like a madman until the project is finally done. A few months ago I spent 18 straight hours cutting tile for my cabinets. Getting it done so I can take a nap is my passion.

Q: Thanks for the interview, John.  Do you have any final words?

John: Bamboo flooring works surprisingly well in a kitchen. Oops, still thinking about remodeling. I mean thank you for taking an interest in my writing.

Tags: Adventures in Nowhere, Author Interviews, book publicity, Coming of age, John Ames

Hayley Rose grew up in the beach side town of Pacific Palisades , California, to a family of visual artists. In the early 1990’s she traveled the U.S. with her band Crush Violet. In 1994, after a family reunion, she was inspired to write a children’s book. Looking for a cute and catchy name for a main character, she kept hearing “first in, first out”. Hence, the name Fifo was born. Hayley’s mother would often ask her what she wanted to be when she grew up, so Hayley decided to start her series of “Fifo” books with that very question. Her first book, Fifo “When I Grow Up” was published in 2002. Her love of travel inspired her second book in the Fifo series, Fifo “50 States”, published in 2010.

Along with writing children’s books, Hayley has been working in entertainment business management for the past 15 years, specializing in concert touring. She has worked with many “A list” musicians including Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart and Candlebox just to name a few. Hayley hopes to one day soon release an album of children’s songs. She is a currently member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and resides in Los Angeles, CA.

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

Connect with her on Twitter and Facebook!

Q: Thank you for this interview, Hayley.  Can you tell everyone what your latest book, Fifo “50 States,” is all about?

Hayley:  Fifo “50 States” is a colorful reference-like book, where Fifo discovers the wonders each state has to offer.  He learns along the way each state’s capital, shape, flag, motto, and much, much more. The possibilities are endless!  In this delightful book told in rhyme, Fifo is bitten by the travel bug.  He dreams of digging up diamonds in Arkansas, looking for fossils in Kansas, enjoying a delicious bowl of gumbo in Louisiana, and even seeing a Broadway show in New York.  Yes, America is an exiting place!

Q: Is this your first book?

Hayley:  Fifo “50 States” is the second book in the Fifo series.  Fifo “When I Grow Up” was published in 2002 and is about Fifo getting ready for his first day of school with the help of his caring mother and his loyal dog, Alan.  Fifo explores the endless possibilities of what he can be when he grows up.  By the time the school bus arrives, Fifo has been a policeman, a fireman, a doctor, a pilot, a teacher and even the president of the United States.

Q: What compels you to write children’s books?  Have you ever thought about writing other genres?

Hayley:  Writing for children just sort of happened for me.  I didn’t really set out to be an author of children’s books.  I actually thought I was going to be a rock star.  It all started after a family reunion in Chicago where I had just met my two adorable little cousins, Megan and Rebecca, who were one and two years old at the time, respectively.  I thought, “They’re so young and they have their whole lives ahead of them; I wonder what they will be when they grow up?” That night on my four hour plane ride home, I decided I would help them figure out their options. By the time I landed in Los Angeles I had written, Fifo “When I Grow Up”.

Throughout my childhood my parents were very supportive.  We would often talk about all the opportunities out there.  They never once said, “No, you can’t do that“.  They would encourage me in everything I did.  I have great childhood memories and I now believe it’s why I write for children today.  So far I do not have plans to write in any other genres, but you never know.

Q: Can you tell us more about your main characters and what part they play in making the book come together?

Hayley:  So far Fifo is the only main character.  I wanted a main character that was identifiable and relatable.  I thought a bear would be loveable, cuddly and comforting. Who wouldn’t love a fuzzy brown bear named Fifo?

Q: Interesting that you worked in the entertainment business.  Would you like to tell us about that?

Hayley:  I seem to have fallen into that world as well.  I started out as a temp answering phones for a few days and ended up staying for seven years.  All and all I’ve been working in the entertainment business management industry for over 15 years.  The best way to sum it up is a cross between being an accountant and a personal assistant.  We also specialize in concert touring doing the tour settlements for each show.   I have been fortunate to have worked on some pretty exciting tours such as Michael Jackson and Rod Stewart.

Q: In your opinion, what is the key ingredient for writing great children’s books?

Hayley:  Research.  Get out there and talk to as many kids, young and old, as possible.  Find out what get’s them excited and then write from the heart.

Q: Finally, I like to ask authors this question.  What is your passion?  What is it that you’re more passionate about than anything else?

Hayley:  Other than Fifo The Bear who is really my main passion, I love to travel and learn about history and other cultures. I believe that having an understanding of others and where they come from makes you more tolerant.   I have been very fortunate to be able to combine my two loves in Fifo “50 States”.   Next up we are heading to Europe!

Q: Thanks for the interview, Hayley.  Do you have any final words?

Hayley:  Thank you very much for taking the time to support me and Fifo The Bear as we continue our journey.  All my books can be found at amazon.com, bn.com and of course, fifothebear.com.  All books ordered from my website come with tattoos and bookmarks.  Follow us on Fifo’s blog at www.fifothebear.com/fifoblog, or become a Fifo fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FifoTheBearBooks.

Again, I’d like to thank you very much for taking the time to interview me.  It is very much appreciated.

Join Hayley at the PUMP UP YOUR BOOK MARCH 2011 AUTHORS ON TOUR FACEBOOK PARTY at the end of March to win a copy of Fifo: 50 States!

Tags: 50 States, Arizona, Author Interviews, bears, blog tours, California, children's book author, Children’s books, Fifo The Bear, Hayley Rose, Kids books, Nevada, promote your book, Pump Up Your Book, sell your book, state capitals, state mottos, travel, United States, virtual book tours

Join a talented and diverse group of 26 authors who are touring with Pump Up Your Book! Virtual Book Tours during the month of March 2011.

Follow these authors as they travel the blogosphere from March 1st through March 25^th to discuss their books. You’ll find everything from memoirs to business books, historical novels to thrillers, children’s books to young adult novels and more!

The month of March is filled with returning authors. Lisa Gardner is back to promote her latest Detective D.D. Warren novel, “Love You More.” Also returning is Lou Aronica and his fantasy novel, “Blue,” Dr. Jennifer Freed with “Lessons from Stanley the Cat,” Diana Gabaldon with her historical romance sci-fi adventure novel, “Outlander,” Cynthia Kocialski’s business book, “Start Up from the Ground Up,” James LePore’s thriller, “Anyone Can Die,” and Allan Leverone and his thriller, “Final Vector.”

Pamela Samuels Young continues her virtual book tour for the legal thriller, “Murder on the Down Low,” and coming back for her eighth virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book! is F.M. Meredith. She’ll be promoting the latest book in her Rocky Bluff P.D. series, “Angel Lost.” Kath Russell is back to promote her coming of age historical, “Deed So.” Elle Newmark is back with a new book, “The Sandalwood Tree.” Sheila Hendrix also returns with her YA paranormal, “The Betrayal.”

Memoirs come to you from Barry Fixler and Megan van Eyck, while historical novels are being promoted by John Milton Langdon and Paula McLain. Other fiction titles come to you from Laurel Dewey, Emily Sue Harvey, and Laina Turner-Molaski. Also on tour is Kristina McMorris and her women’s fiction novel, “Letters from Home.”

Barbara Barnett tours with “Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D.,” while Caitlin Rother promotes her true crime book, “Dead Reckoning.” Also on tour in March are Borneo Tom McLaughlin, Emma K. Piers, and Hayley Rose. Turner-Molaski will also tour during the second half of the month with, “The MS Project: Orange is the New Pink”, her MS awareness anthology. A portion of the proceeds from book sales will go to support the MS Society.

Visit Pump Up Your Book! on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/PumpUpPR#p/a/u/1/PfxzbLrX7Zw to view a video trailer introducing our authors on tour in March.

Pump Up Your Book is a virtual book tour agency for authors who want quality service at an affordable price. More information can be found on our website at www.pumpupyourbook.com.

Tags: blog tours, book publicity, book tours, online book tours, Pump Up Your Book, virtual book tours