Pump Up Your Book is pleased to announce Karen Glick’s Questions in the Silence Virtual Book Tour 2012 beginning on January 3  and ending on January 27 2012. Karen will be on hand during her worldwide tour promoting her book and giving us candid interviews and guest posts where we learn more about the author, she will have her first Twitterview and AuthorVid, both implemented by Pump Up Your Book, as well as giving her fans an opportunity to talk to her live via Pump Up Your Book’s chat room on January 27 where she will be giving away a copy of her book, Questions in the Silence!  Lots of fun along the way as Karen stops off at blogs around the world to give her fans a chance to ask her questions and to find out more about this talented literary fiction author.

About Karen Glick

Karen Glick lives outside of Philadelphia. She is a clinical psychologist whose other interests include writing, painting, and acting. When not feverishly engaged in these pursuits, she enjoys spending time with her four children, husband, cavalier king charles spaniels and cats.

Karen has just published her first novel, Questions in the Silence.

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About Questions in the Silence

Ari Rothman, born with psychic abilities, has a lifelong fascination with spiritual issues. Childhood visions and intuitions combine to make her a bit of an outsider in her peer group and she turns to religion to create meaning in her life.

Ari’s childhood experiences and her strong desire to help others make her a natural psychotherapist. However, the conflict between her intuitive abilities and a more rational approach to the human psyche intensifies when her first long-term client ends his sessions unexpectedly.

Visit her official tour page at www.pumpupyourbook.com/2011/12/17/questions-in-the-silence-virtual-book-publicity-tour-january-2012/.  Win copies of her book, learn more about the author and be sure to join her on January 27 2012 in the Pump Up Your Book chat room.

About Pump Up Your Book

Pump Up Your Book handles all the aspects of virtual book touring from pre-buzzing your book before the tour starts to making sure buyers will find your book long after the tour is over.  If you are the author of a newly published book, have an upcoming release or just want to give a previously published book new life, a virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book is the answer.  We welcome traditionally published, electronically published and self-published authors.  Our esteem list of clients include Claire Cook, Caridad Pineiro, C.W. Gortner, Barbara Bretton, Cody McFayden, James Hayman, Karen White, Kathleen Willey, Lisa Daily, Lisa Jackson, Mary  Burton, Nancy Thayer, Randy Sue Coburn, Ray Comfort, Sandi Kahn Shelton, Sheila Roberts, Therese Fowler, Hope Edelman, Wendy Wax, Jon Meacham, Shobhan Bantwal, Pat Williams, Jane Green, Judge Glenda Hatchett and cook show personality Paula Deen.  We also represent Random House, Abingdon Press, Zumaya Publications, WND Books, Sheaf House Publishers, New Hope Publishers, Guardian Angel Publishers, Genesis Press, and Moody Publishing.  Contact us to find out what we can do for you and your book!

If you’d like to contact Karen for an interview or review her book, contact Dorothy Thompson at thewriterslife@gmail.com.  Pump Up Your Book is an innovative public  relations agency specializing in online book promotion for authors.  Visit us at www.pumpupyourbook.com.

Tags: acting, authors, Authors on Tour, blog tour, book promotions, book publicity, book tour, books, cavalier king charles spaniels, childhood visions, clinical psychologist, human psyche, human psyche books, Karen Glick, literary fiction, literary fiction author, literary fiction book, literary fiction novel, online book promotion, online book publicity, painting, Pennsylvania authors, Philadelphia authors, promote your book, psychic abilities, psychic abilities book, publicity, Questions in the Silence, sell your book, spiritual, spiritual issues, spiritual issues book, virtual book publicity tour, virtual book tour, writing

Pump Up Your Book is pleased to announce Chris Shella’s Reasonable Facsimile Virtual Book Tour 2012 beginning on January 3  and ending on January 27 2012.  Chris will be on hand during his worldwide tour promoting his book and  giving us candid interviews where we learn more about the author, tips on writing legal thrillers and advice on how to become a published author as well as giving his fans an opportunity to talk to him live via Pump Up Your Book’s chat room on January 27 where he will be giving away a paperback copy of his book, Reasonable Facsimile.  Lots of fun along the way as Chris stops off at blogs around the world to give  his fans a chance to ask him questions and to find out more about this talented legal thriller urban fiction author.

About Chris Shella

Author Chris Shella is a graduate of Morehouse College and the University of Texas Law School and started his legal career in Long Island, New York at the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office. He is admitted to the practice of law in New York, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and North Carolina. Shella is also admitted to the federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina, the Middle District of North Carolina, U.S. District of Columbia, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, the Eastern District of New York, and the Southern District of New York.He is also admitted to the Bar Of The United States Supreme Court. He and his cases have been covered on Court TV, CNN, and in the New York Times, and other media outlets across the globe. He has represented everyone from lawyers to major drug traffickers to a serial killer in Baltimore. His two most famous case are the Vegan Baby Case and his defense of the Duke Lacrosse Case accuser for the alleged murder of her boyfriend.

Chris now resides in Durham, North Carolina, with his wife and son.

His latest book is the legal thriller, Reasonable Facsimile.

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

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About Reasonable Facsimile

Can Jasper Davis pull himself from his life of loose women, liquor, and general debauchery in enough time to win a murder case and possibly save his own hide ? Jasper Davis is a criminal trial lawyer in Baltimore who has slowly but surely become like the drug dealers and lowlifes he represents. He spends more time with hookers than clients and more time drinking Jack Daniels than studying the law books. Simply put. he is a shade of his former self. In Reasonable Facsimile, Jasper is in the middle of a first degree murder trial when he becomes the suspect in the murder of a DEA agent who was set to testify against his client. Jasper is so far gone on women and liquor he sees his trial skills deteriorate right before his eyes. Jasper is confronted by the situation is he gonna continue to be a reasonable facsimile of a human being or is he gonna become the man he once was.

Visit his official tour page at www.pumpupyourbook.com/2011/12/22/reasonable-facsimile-virtual-book-publicity-tour-january-2012.  Win copies of his book, learn more about the author and be sure to join him on January 27 2012 in the Pump Up Your Book chat room.

About Pump Up Your Book

Pump Up Your Book handles all the aspects of virtual book touring from pre-buzzing your book before the tour starts to making sure buyers will find your book long after the tour is over.  If you are the author of a newly published book, have an upcoming release or just want to give a previously published book new life, a virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book is the answer.  We welcome traditionally published, electronically published and self-published authors.  Our esteem list of clients include Claire Cook, Caridad Pineiro, C.W. Gortner, Barbara Bretton, Cody McFayden, James Hayman, Karen White, Kathleen Willey, Lisa Daily, Lisa Jackson, Mary  Burton, Nancy Thayer, Randy Sue Coburn, Ray Comfort, Sandi Kahn Shelton, Sheila Roberts, Therese Fowler, Hope Edelman, Wendy Wax, Jon Meacham, Shobhan Bantwal, Pat Williams, Jane Green, Judge Glenda Hatchett and cook show personality Paula Deen.  We also represent Random House, Abingdon Press, Zumaya Publications, WND Books, Sheaf House Publishers, New Hope Publishers, Guardian Angel Publishers, Genesis Press, and Moody Publishing.  Contact us to find out what we can do for you and your book!

If you’d like to contact Chris for an interview or review his book, contact Dorothy Thompson at thewriterslife@gmail.com.  Pump Up Your Book is an innovative public  relations agency specializing in online book promotion for authors.  Visit us at www.pumpupyourbook.com.

Tags: author promotions, author publicity, authors, bestselling books, blog tour, book campaign, book promotions, book publicity, book tour, books, Chris Shella, CNN, Court TV, criminal case, criminal trial lawyer, DEA, DEA agent, drug dealer book, Drug Dealers, Duke Lacrosse, law books, law practice, lawyer, lawyer author, legal thriller, lowlifes, Nassau County District Attorney's Office, online book tour, promote your book, Pump Up Your Book, Reasonable Facsimile, sell your book, The New York Times, Urban fiction, urban fiction author, urban fiction book, urban fiction legal thriller author, urban fiction legal thriller book, urban fiction legal thriller novel, urban fiction novel, Vegan Baby Case, virtual book tour

Title: The Cross Dresser’s Wife: Our Secret Lives
Author: Dee A. Levy & B. Sheffield Hunt
Genre: Memoir
Paperback: 166
Publisher: Createspace
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1456478513

BOOK SUMMARY:

At long last, valuable and emotionally intimate social commentary on the taboo subculture of cross dressing is revealed in the pages of THE CROSS DRESSER’S WIFE * OUR SECRET LIVES. Culled from the nonprofit website www.crossdresserswives.com by authors Dee A. Levy (the website’s founder) and B. Sheffield Hunt, this international collection of stories exposes, for the first time, the shocking secret lives of cross dressers’ wives or partners who silently grapple with the issue of transvestism in their marriage or relationship. This is the duo’s first literary collaboration.

Levy was married to a cross dresser for 20 years, a secret she hid from everyone in her life. Instead, she eventually tried seeking help online, which for her proved to be an exercise in frustration. “I found thousands of sites on cross dressers, although some wouldn’t allow me to post as the wife of a lingerie-wearing cross dresser. Other religious sites would refer you to their clergy, who would refer you to an immediate annulment. Many sites were critical of ‘unaccepting’ cross dressers’ wives, sending a message that we were selfish, reneged on our wedding vows, and should just enjoy it and go shopping for matching outfits. Finding nothing online that applies to how you feel only makes it worse and when you feel alone, it’s too easy to slip into invalidation. I kept thinking, I can’t be the only cross dresser’s wife who feels this way! I needed to talk to another cross dresser’s wife trapped in a situation similar to mine.” Ultimately, in 2006 Levy created the oasis she could not find: a nonprofit organization, Cross Dressers Wives, and its website, www.crossdresserswives.com. The site, she reports, now receives over two million hits a year. “No one knows how many of us are really out there.”

Originally, the book was meant to be an article about Levy’s own experience. However, while she was writing it, some of the women on the website’s Forum posted suggestions that they write a book of their collected stories, and Levy agreed. Naturally, to protect personal identities, all names, dates, and identifying details in the book have been altered. (All women on the website’s Forum post anonymously and utilize pseudonyms.)

Levy and Hunt invited the women on the Forum to tell their stories as they wished; once the stories were submitted, Hunt communicated with the writers to flesh out the details. Then, from the www.crossdresserswives.com Forum, they selected posts to sprinkle in between the stories. “The posts pages are meant to illustrate the powerful ‘emotional speakeasy’ sense of camaraderie, caring, and support that is evident on the Forum on a daily basis, each enhancing the themes of the five stories.”

Hunt describes the stories:

1. The Queen of Denial examines denial, a self-defense mechanism utilized by many cross dressers’ wives;

2. The Golden Nugget explores the significance of desire in helping a relationship remain intact;

3. Gaslighting exposes the lengths one cross dresser will go to cover up his secret;

4. His Favorite Woman asks if cross dressing hints that he really wants to be a woman, or is merely a doorway to other sexualities? and

5. Mr. Wonderful – Levy’s own story – ponders the ramifications of a woman’s choice to stay in the marriage.

“Multiple thorny issues can surround cross dressing. Often, it involves some sense of romantic betrayal at its deepest, messiest level. These relationships are operatic in scale and shake these women to their core,” Hunt contends. “Why else would a sound woman consider leaving the love of her life and disrupt her family if this issue was merely about ‘scraps of clothing?”

The book’s prospective audience, Hunt believes, includes “cross dressers; cross dressers’ wives; gender counselors; therapists; anyone in a relationship where someone is harboring a shame-based secret; or the avid reader / armchair psychologist eager for a penetrating peek into the human psyche.”

The authors hope that readers will gain a deeper understanding of the issue, and that the book will help bust the myths and eradicate the need for such secrecy. “In the little we do see about this issue on TV and entertainment, the women accept it,” Levy points out. “But what about the ones who don’t? These women are marginalized, minimized, and are a subculture that no one knows about. I want people to start thinking – and start thinking twice!”

My Thoughts:

If you are experiencing someone in your life who cross dresses and wanted to read about someone else’s experiences and perspectives so that you can see that you are not alone, The Cross Dresser’s Wife: Our Secret Lives by Dee A. Levy & B. Sheffield Hunt is the ticket.  Before I started this book, I knew what cross dressing was but had never had it actually happen to anyone in my life (unless they never came out of the closet with it) nor did I know anyone whose husband cross dressed or at least anyone who would talk.  So what I knew about cross dressing was simply that men liked to wear women’s clothes and that was it.  I never thought of what it could do to a family.  Much like anything “non-acceptable” I can imagine what torment the family goes through.  The Cross Dresser’s Wife left no questions unanswered in that respect and what I liked about it was that it was told from the wife’s perspective.  God knows what the husband’s perspective would be if he were to write a book, “I’m not causing anyone any danger.  It’s for fun.”  Give. Me. A. Break.  Sorry I might be from the old school, but this isn’t normal.  In fact, by the time I finished the book, I hated men and started to wonder who in my past, present and future might delight in wearing my lingerie.

But saying that, it proves that Dee and B. Sheffield did a marvelous job writing the book because they bared all secrets.  Anything you ever wanted to know about cross dressing from the wife’s perspective is in this book.  I felt really sorry for Dee.  It was like she was wearing a sign “If you cross dress look me up” because she tells the story of all the men who were in her past life who cross dressed and it was like one after the other.  The woman got no break whatsoever.

One particular passage she wrote was “I’m mad at myself now for not putting my foot down and sticking up for myself more.  Again, I was trying to be an accommodating wife.”  How many wives are stuck in a situation like that?  And I know women’s liberation has been around since the 60s and a lot of women wouldn’t put up with it but well you fall in love and try to think it’s either going to get better or there will be a point where it all makes sense and you know where to go from there.

Dee went on to join a forum of wives of cross dressers which helped her tremendously and she knew what she had to do. I won’t give away anything but I will end it with another passage she wrote: “Secrets create prisons, solitary confinement for feeling the way you feel and knowing what you know.  I want cross dressers’ wives who are in silent closets to get support and know that they are not crazy and definitely not alone.  I want cross dresses to imagine our pain and try, try, try to tell the truth to those you love.  I want human beings to read this book and refuse to live in a world where transvestites, cross dressers, and transgender of all stripes are in danger of falling victim to bullying hate crimes, or even death for daring to tell the truth and be authentic to themselves.”

A definite must read for those wives who are in similar situations so that they know there is help out there.

Tags: B. Sheffield Hunt, cross dressing, Dee A. Levy, memoir, The Cross Dresser's Wife

1. It took me a total of ten years to write it. There were some breaks, of course. I kept putting it away, taking it out, and seeing places that needed improvement.  I enjoyed this process, but I was also glad when it was over! I’d probably revise till I dropped dead, if anyone would let me. Good thing publishers have deadlines.
2. It’s about a mute Mayan girl kept chained in a shed in Guatemala who kills the doctor who rescues her. Despite this description, it has a positive spin that I think readers will find uplifting.
3. It originated in a trip I took to Guatemala during the Civil War there, back in the seventies. I went with a girlfriend. We were young enough to want to discover the “real” Central America, so we went without reservations or plans, traveled on second-class buses and stayed in no-star hotels. I think we did learn more that way, but we were rather naïve and possibly if we’d known more about the dangers, we’d never have done it. So in this case, ignorance was bliss.
4. The main question that moves the book forward is “why?” not “who?” Caitlin, the female protagonist, is a journalist who was the partner of the doctor the Mayan girl, Inez, killed. She had come to love Inez, too, and is devastated by what happened. Driven by a need to know more, she sets out on a journey of discovery, both external and internal.
5. I’ve been told it’s a suspenseful, moving story that will appeal to readers of psychological suspense as well as literary fiction. It’s also been called “an intelligent read”. I’m gratified that it already has 7 positive reviews from readers on Amazon at the time of this writing (Nov. 20), as well as from Publishers’ Weekly. I hope more readers will enjoy it and leave reviews.

About Sheila Dalton

Sheila Dalton was born in England and came to Canada with her family at the age of six. She studied English Language and Literature at the University of Toronto. She has worked as a barmaid, an art gallery assistant, and an independent craftsperson and artist.

Sheila was a freelance writer and editor for many years before becoming an Adult Services Librarian for the Toronto Public Library. She lives in Newmarket, Ontario with her husband and two cats. She has written over ten books, including a collection of adult poetry, three children’s picture books, a literary novel, and a YA mystery which was shortlisted for a major Canadian crime writer’s award, the Arthur Ellis.

You can read more about The Girl in the Box and Sheila’s other her work at her website:
http://sheila-anne-dalton.com

WE’RE HAVING A FACEBOOK PARTY!!!!

Pump Up Your Book will be hosting the December 2011 Authors on Tour on Friday December 16, 2011 at 4 – 10 p.m. (eastern time – adjust to your time zone)!  Tell your book friends that not only will this give them an opportunity to chat with their favorite authors BUT…

WE’RE GIVING AWAY ALMOST 100 PRIZES!!!!

All you have to do to be eligible to win any of our almost 100 prizes is to visit our Facebook page where the chat will be held.  Ask an author a question and you’re in!

YOU CAN CHAT WITH OVER 60 AUTHORS!!!!

To find out which authors will be featured, click here.

SO WHERE IS THIS CHAT????

To access the chat, click here.  Be sure to leave a comment to let us know you’re coming!

SEE YOU AT THE PARTY AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM PUMP UP YOUR BOOK!!!!

Tags: author chats, blog tours, book promotions, book publicity, happy holiday, Pump Up Your Book, virtual book tours

This is Your Life! is Literarily Speaking’s newest feature.  Here we spotlight different authors to find out who they are behind the book.  Where were they born?  What’s their family life like?  What did they play with as a child?  All these things mold them into the talented authors they are today. Today’s guest is Frank Zaccari, author of the memoir, Inside the Spaghetti Bowl (CreateSpace).  Enjoy!

* * *

Thank you so much for this interview, Frank.  Can we begin by telling us a little bit about where you were born?

I was born in a little town named Dunkirk, NY. It is about 40 minutes from Buffalo. We lived in a predominately Italian neighborhood surrounded by family. I had twenty-two first cousins that lived within two blocks. Looking back, it was a great way to grow up. I was always around family, which provided a tremendous support group. No matter what activity we joined or where we went to school or where we “hung out,” some family member was always involved. As a kid, I use to think – “I can’t go anywhere or get away with anything with all these relatives so close.” Thankfully in my late teens, I realized how special it was to be surrounded by so many people who love you and truly care about your best interest.

Did you have sisters and brothers?

My parents had five children in eight years. How they survived that still amazes me. I am the oldest of five children. In birth order my sister Mary Anne, a registered nurse is two years younger. My brother Anthony, the middle child, is a manager for major grocery store chain. My sister Annette is a PhD in family counseling and occupational rehabilitation for head injured patients. My brother Steve is the youngest and by far the most intelligent. There is no doubt in my mind he would have been mayor of Buffalo or a Congressman before a car accident twenty-six years ago left him paralyzed. In spite of his injury he is on the city planning commission and has owned and runs two businesses.

What was your life like growing up?

It was controlled chaos. Everything and everyone was going a mile a minute. With five young children, everyone had a series of jobs to complete in order for things to get done and everything got done.

I had 22 first cousins who lived within two blocks. So on any given day there could be 10 or more people at our house at meal time and there was always more than enough food for everyone. Most activities revolved around Holy Trinity Church. This was the Catholic Church in the Italian section of town. Many churches talk about being part of the community. Holy Trinity was the community. The five of us all went to Holy Trinity School through eighth grade and Cardinal Mindszenty High School. Despite many difficult financial years living in a city than lived and mostly died with the steel industry, my parents always found the money for us to attend high performance Catholic schools.

Dunkirk is located on Lake Erie so we spent a large amount of our childhood and adolescence at the Lake, swimming, skipping stones, water skiing and just “hanging out.” In the winter Lake Erie would freeze so we spent time climbing the snow dunes. Let me tell you there is nothing in the world as cold as the wind coming off Lake Erie in February.

Who was your first crush?

I love this question. My first crush was a beautiful young girl named Barbara. She was one grade ahead of me. Like many first crushes, we never went out or even talked on the phone. I am sure she never knew I had this major crush. She dated someone two years ahead of me. Isn’t it funny how you always remember that first crush! I can’t remember what I ate for lunch today, but I still remember Barbara.

What TV shows did you watch as a child?

We were TV junkies. We watched everything. The Beverly Hillbillies, Gillian’s Island, The Lone Ranger, Lassie, The Mickey Mouse Club (I think we all wanted to be Mouseketers), Hogan’s Heroes, The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, The Monkey’s and every cartoon ever made.

What was your favorite thing to do as a child?  Favorite games? Favorite toys?

My earliest dream was to play shortstop for the New York Yankees. Unfortunately my skills weren’t as great as my desire. I spent the majority of my youth playing sports mainly baseball and football at playgrounds, Little League, Babe Ruth, Pop Warner (we called it Midget League football), high school and American Legion.

As a family we played Monopoly a great deal. My sister Mary Anne was ruthless and usually won. As we got into our early teens, my Dad taught us all to play cribbage. Now four generations of Zaccari’s still play cribbage at every family gathering.

Where did you and your family go on vacations?

My family did “stay-cations” long before it was even a word. No one had any money back then and lugging five children and all their things for a week away was simply not an option. From April to October we spend nearly every weekend at Lake Erie or Lake Chautauqua, swimming, water skiing, playing virtually any game that used a ball with our extended family.

How did you celebrate your birthdays as a child?

When you have four brothers and sisters and twenty-two first cousins your birthday was the one day of the year when it was all about you. We had cake large enough to feed an army, which was necessary since several cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandmother(s) often attended the celebration. Birthdays always made me feel special, safe and loved.

Growing up, were you more of a leader or a follower?

I was more a leader. Being the oldest of five, you really have no other choice. I was more a leader in athletics than in school or social events. I always felt comfortable and confident on the baseball or football field.  I was an average student, nothing special. I was never elected to student council and I was painfully shy in social setting and anywhere near girls.

Were there any signs you would be a writer one day?

NONE!!!  If you polled every teacher I ever had growing up, no one would say, I suspected Frank would become a writer. If any of my old teachers are still alive, I think they would die of shock to learn I have written three books…hahaha.

Do you remember your first date?

Wow, this is going back into the time capsule. Yes, I do remember my first date. I went to the Christmas semi-formal dance with a young lady name Susan. Being painfully shy around girls back then, it was the only time we ever went out.  One of my many high school regrets.

What did you do after you left high school?

I left Dunkirk to start college at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy NY. Troy was on the other side of New York State – six hours from Dunkirk. I did very well at Hudson Valley, earned my AA degree and was accepted at Cornell. At age 19, receiving that acceptance letter from Cornell was the high light of my life. A month or two later I won my first and only lottery. My draft lottery number was 10, so Cornell was no longer an option.  I waited for my “Greeting from President Nixon” letter than enlisted in the Air Force as a medic. I came to California in the military. The weather was better so I stayed out west. I finished college at California State University at Sacramento, and then began a very happy and successful 25 year career in the high tech industry.

Did you have any mentors while growing up?

I had several people whom I would consider mentors. First and foremost are my parents. They installed in me living life with integrity, a tremendous work ethic and unconditional love of family. Father Bernardo, our pastor at Holy Trinity church and school taught me that life isn’t fair and to succeed you need a good education, strong faith and the unconditional love and support of your family. The third mentors were Father Dowdell and Sister Dorothy two of my high school teachers at Cardinal Mindszenty who believed in me and never allowed me to settle for “good enough”.

Looking back, what is your fondest memory?

The unconditional love and support from my family that I have received my entire life. The greatest lesson I learned from my parents is to do whatever you have to do to love, support, provide for and protect your children. That is what they always did and it is deeply engrained in their children.

If you could change one thing about your past, what would it be?

This is another great question. I don’t think I would change anything. The good times and more importantly the bad times have made me what I am today. My greatest regret is not being able to protect my children from the great sorrow and hurt they experienced when their mother left our family.

How is your life different now than in the past?

The most important thing in my life is that my children are moving forward with their lives. They are happy, healthy and relatively well adjusted young women (given they had me as a single parent – hahaha).  I firmly believe the best part of our lives is still to come. A very good friend send me this quote:  “There comes a point in your life when you realize who matters, who never did, who won’t anymore and who always will. So don’t worry about people from your past, there’s a reason they didn’t make it to your future.”  Being single and an empty nester in my late 50’s finds me at peace and happy with my life.

Thank you so much for sharing your memories with us, Frank. Would you like to leave us with some final words?

Thank you for the opportunity to share my family’s story Inside the Spaghetti Bowl with you. I hope you and your readers will see your own family in this book and the memories make you smile.

A native of western New York, Frank Zaccari earned a degree in finance from California State University at Sacramento after serving as a military medic in the U.S. Air Force. He spent over 25 years in the high-tech industry holding positions from account representative to CEO, and for nearly 20 years specialized in turn-around management of companies under 100 million dollars. Upon becoming a single, custodial parent after nearly 25 years of marriage, he left an industry that he loved to buy a small business in order to be home to raise his children. He is currently the owner of an insurance agency and resides in Sacramento, California. Inside the Spaghetti Bowl is Frank Zaccari’s third book. Previous books are: When the Wife Cheats and From The Ashes: The Rise of the University of Washington Volleyball Program.

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

Visit him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001207722973.

About Inside the Spaghetti Bowl

The book is based on the last eight days of our mother’s life. It is a celebration of life, family, culture and tradition. As my relatives came to pay their last respects, we heard so many wonderful stories about the trials and sacrifices made by our parents and grandparents so we could live the American dream.

This is a book about family and unconditional love through the good times and bad. It is about a family who is and always will be there for each other no matter what. We hope you see your family in this book and the memories make you smile.

Read the first chapter here.

Tags: baby-boomer, blog tours, book campaign, book promotions, book publicity, culture, family, Frank Zaccari, funeral, Inside the Spaghetti Bowl, life, mother, parents, Pump Up Your Book, relationships, tradition, unconditional love, virtual book tours

The Story Behind the Book is one of Literarily Speaking’s most popular features. Here we find out either the inspiration behind authors’ books or how they got published. Today’s guest is John Rosenman, author of Dax Rigby, War Correspondent (MuseItUp Publishing).

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Dax Rigby, War Correspondent – Why I Wrote it and How I Published It

by John B. Rosenman

A distant, alien world. In several of my novels, I have been drawn to such a place, and so I was in Dax Rigby, War Correspondent. Why? Basically because anything can happen there. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. I’ve never been able to resist the opportunity to let my imagination stretch its wings and soar as high as it can, even to take reckless chances if necessary.

So, in the novel Dax is not only a handsome action hero but a likeable idealist with a painful, mean streets childhood who embodies a cosmic secret he has yet to learn. Who and what is he really? Can he cope with the truth of his real identity, or will he crumble?

This SF action-adventure also gave me the opportunity to create and explore a complex alien world with two intelligent extraterrestrial species and an improbable romance between an older, sexually aggressive copter pilot and young Dax. Poor guy, he tries to be faithful to his girlfriend Lexis, even though she lives back on Earth, nine hundred light-years away.

I also love mystery, and as in other novels I’ve written, the hero is confronted with several. What is killing and making humans and aliens so sick on the planet Arcadia, and what is the conspiracy he struggles to uncover? Above all, who is the deadly leader of the conspiracy, the evil mastermind who tries to kill him, and why does he or she do it?

Ultimately, it is how Dax Rigby copes with the numerous, life-threatening challenges on Arcadia that inspired me more than anything else to tell his story. Most of us would have caved in quickly if we were in Dax’s place, but his predicament offered me the chance to explore and develop his character based on the seemingly overwhelming obstacles he faced. Can he solve not only the manifold mysteries of Arcadia and save the human outpost and two dying alien species there, but also help stop World War III back on Earth and save six billion lives?

How It Got Published – After shopping Dax Rigby around with major publishers and agents, I did more market research and placed it with Lyrical Press. The publisher did the cover, presenting young Dax as a hunk whose shirt is open, exposing his muscular, chiseled chest. I liked the cover, but perhaps it’s too romance-y. Dax is sexy, but he ain’t Fabio.

When the novel didn’t reach as wide an audience as I had hoped, the publisher and I amicably parted ways, and I submitted it to MuseItUp Publishing. As with Lyrical Press, I followed their submission and formatting guidelines carefully, something that’s important. After all, if you don’t follow a publisher’s guidelines to the letter, you run the risk of being rejected without even being read.

As with Lyrical Press, I had editors. At MuseItUp, the editing process is the best and most rigorous I’ve ever seen. My editors, Chris Spellman (Content Editor) and Penny Ehrenkranz (Line Editor) took me through multiple drafts. Plus, Tiger Matthews did a great cover for the book. Altogether, it was a collaborative effort, and the novel is better for their input.

And that’s why and how I did it. Now comes the really hard part: promoting my book and getting Dax’s word out.

John recently retired as an English professor at Norfolk State University where he designed and taught a course in how to write Science fiction and Fantasy. He is a former Chairman of the Board of the Horror Writers Association and has published approximately 350 stories in places such as Weird Tales, Whitley Strieber’s Aliens, Fangoria, Galaxy, The Age of Wonders, and the Hot Blood anthology series. John has published twenty books, including SF action/romantic adventure novels such as Beyond Those Distant Stars and Speaker of the Shakk (Mundania Press), A Senseless Act of Beauty (Crossroad Press), and Alien Dreams (Drollerie Press and Crossroad Press). Shorter books include A Mingling of Souls and Music Man (XoXo Publishing), Here Be Dragons(Eternal Press), The Voice of Many Waters (Blue Leaf Publications), Green in Our Souls(Damnation Books), and Bagonoun’s Wonderful Songbird and Childhood’s Day (Gypsy Shadow Publishing). Recent developments: MuseItUp Publishing published two novels, Dark Wizard andDax Rigby, War Correspondent. Another SF novel, Inspector of the Cross, will appear in February. MuseItUp Publishing also published More Stately Mansions and The Blue of Her Hair, the Gold of Her Eyes, and it will release Steam Heat, a tale of erotic horror in December.

Readers can visit John at his website, www.johnrosenman.com, and other sites:
http://www.myspace.com/291520102\
https://twitter.com/#!/Writerman1,
https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1164323809 and . . .
http://s631.photobucket.com/albums/uu31/jrosenman/.

Tags: author tour, author tours, blog tour, blog tours, book blog tour, book promotion online, book tour, book tours, Dax Rigby War Correspondent, John Rosenman, literarily speaking, online book promotion, online book promotions, online book tour, online book tours, Pump Up Your Book, science fiction romantic adventure novel, virtual author tour, virtual blog tour, virtual blog tours, virtual book tour, virtual book tours

Pump Up Your Book is seeking tour hosts for Gordon Gumpertz’s Red Hot Sky Virtual Book Publicity Tour to be held in January and February 2012.  We are seeking blog hosts who would like to review his book, have him write a guest post for your blog or be interviewed.  We would love to have you join our blog host team if your blog qualifies!

CO2 buildup in earth’s atmosphere reaches a tipping point. Global weather destabilizes, turns chaotic. Ice storms, dust storms, floods, blizzards, hurricanes, tornadoes pummel the earth nonstop. A secret computer model reveals that the frantic weather will peak out, and transform world climate into an alien environment devastating to human survival.

Scientists Ben Mason, Claudine Manet, and Bertrand Short are developers of the computer model. Ben and Claudine are lovers as well as lab partners. While they work frantically to head off the approaching catastrophe, a disgraced Russian general hacks into their model and sees earth’s bleak future as his opportunity for ultimate world power.

Ben, who had left the CIA to develop the computer model at the national lab,  is reactivated by the Agency and sent on a perilous mission to block the rogue general’s plot. Claudine, not realizing that Ben is on a secret mission, misunderstands his absence, putting their relationship on thin ice.

Claudine is placed in charge of a massive NASA project that, if completed on time, could stop the approaching doomsday climate change. But her project is stalled by bureaucracy. Ben is on the run in hostile territory. The climate change calamity steadily approaches.

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

If you would like to review Red Hot Sky, please fill out the convenient form here!

Tags: blog tours, book reviewers needed, Book Reviewers Wanted, books for review, tour hosts, tour hosts needed, virtual book tours

Writing my memoir, Reversible Skirt, was a push-pull process that took place over many years. I didn’t have a flash of inspiration that motivated me to sit at my desk, begin writing and press on with full confidence that I would produce a story worth reading.

Amid the rafters of my garage I have cardboard boxes of journals going back decades. I expect if I were to pull them down and leaf through their pages, I’d find many memoir beginnings discarded for one reason or another. It seems for a long time, no matter where I began, what point of view I took, how well I crafted a scene or created dialogue, the project always ground to a halt, and quickly.

Many factors led to this repetitive cycle of beginning then abandoning my memoir, not the lease of which was my mother’s suicide, which occurred when I was two years old, an event my family buried so deeply that I first had to overcome decades of enforced denial before I could allow myself to open up and see what I actually felt about the formative events of my childhood.

Another thing that caused me to stumble a fair amount was a feeling that I have nothing worthwhile to say and that books should be written by people far more important and talented than I am. I do know, however, that whenever someone speaks the truth with an authentic voice, the message is a powerful one. And powerful messages conveyed with artful language are the stuff of books that people hold dear to their hearts long after they’ve read the last page.

If it had been up to me alone, the adult Laura, I probably never would have  written Reversible Skirt. There are plenty of things to write about, many forms writing can take: plays, songs, poems, stories, feature articles, essays, business profiles, data sheets, websites, manuals. I’ve learned a good deal from exploring all of those forms. But when my conscious mind was occupied with those things, the little girl inside of me was stewing, and every so often, she’d poke me, reminding me to tell her story.

I don’t know what caused me to realize the child I used to be was never going to stop bugging me until I wrote the story. But one day, at last, I did realize this. So I sat at my desk fully committed for the first time to seeing the project through.

Being inspired is energizing; it’s intoxicating; it’s sublime. I’ve found much inspiration in the words of other writers of memoir and autobiographical fiction, for instance, on the pages of Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” “The Woman Warrior” by Maxine Hong Kingston, Connie Mae Fowler’s “Before Women Had Wings,” and “This Boy’s Life” by Tobias Wolf. If I hadn’t read books such as these, it might never have occurred to me to write a memoir.

But it was my commitment that led to Reversible Skirt, a book that vividly portrays the confusing, gut-wrenching decade after my mother’s suicide from my point of view as a young child. It has sorrow, but also song; cruelty, but also compassion; disappointment, but also victory. I hope what I’ve brought to light in this book inspires those who read it, and if you are a writer with a book in mind, I hope you fully commit to turning your idea into a manuscript sooner rather than later.

***

Laura McHale Holland’s memoir, Reversible Skirt won a silver medal in the 2011 Readers Favorite book awards. Her stories and articles have appeared in such publications as Every Day Fiction Three, Wisdom Has a Voice, the Vintage Voices anthologies, NorthBay biz magazine, the Noe Valley Voice and the original San Francisco Examiner.

A member of both Redwood Writers and the Storytelling Association of California, Laura has been a featured teller at the Lake Tahoe Storytelling Festival.

To keep up with her, please visit http://lauramchaleholland.com.

Tags: abuse, author publicity, author tour, author tours, biography, blog tours, book blog tour, book campaign, book marketing, book promotion, book promotion companies, book promotion company, book promotion online, book promotions, book publicists, book publicity, Book Reviewers Wanted, book tour, book tours, books for review, child abuse, childhood, laura mchale holland, memoir, nonfiction, online book promotion, online book publicity, online book tour, online book tours, promote your book, Pump Up Your Book, Pump Up Your Book Promotion, reversible skirt, Suicide, survival, survivor, virtual author tour, virtual blog tour, virtual blog tours, virtual book tour, virtual book tours

It’s time to deck the halls and what better way to do it is to find out what your favorite authors are up to this joyous and oh-so-busy time of year. Today’s guest is Anneke Campbell, author of the women’s fiction, Slouching Towards Bellingham (BooksbNimble).

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Is Christmas your favorite holiday?

I like it more than any other I can think of because it reminds me of happy times in my childhood, but also because of all the Catholic holy days that I grew up with, it was the only one about joy and peace and I loved how pretty the tree was, Mary’s blue robe, and the idea of a newborn baby being so welcome.

What was Christmas like when you were a kid?

I loved going to night mass in Amsterdam in a tiny little church called “Our Dear Lord in the Attic.”  There were accomplished musicians that played Bach and then at 2 am we would have tomato soup. At home my mother made goose and lovely mince pies.

What’s your favorite outside activity during the holidays?  Or are you a winter hating humbug like me?

I don’t like the cold but one of the most beautiful memories I have is of my in-laws taking me on a sleigh ride in the snow.

If you have children, what kind of holiday activities do you include them in?

My daughter is grown up now, and we to like to hang out and not do much, I like to cook and relax by the fire, watch old movies. If I could find traditional  gorgeous Christmas carols I grew up with, I would make that a ritual, but nowhere in Los Angeles do they sing them.

What’s your favorite holiday movie?

My husband watched the Alistair Sims version of A Christmas Carol every year and it makes him tear up every time. I don’t have a favorite, most of them feel too sentimental so I would rather watch an old Cary Grant movie.

What is the best present anyone could ever give to you?

Peace on earth. I recognize that’s cheating, because no one person can give that to me, but can you imagine what a difference it would make?

Favorite holiday song?

The King’s College Boys Choir singing “Once in Royal David’s City” and “Oh Come, oh come Immanuel.” I also love listening to Bach’s Magnificat on Christmas morning.

Have you ever had to spend a Christmas away from home?

Upon occasion and I like seeing how other people and cultures celebrate. It’s actually a nice day to travel, because there are less people in the airports and trains and everyone tends to be friendlier.

What would you like Santa to bring you this year?

I would love Santa to use his sleigh to remove the pile of cement debris from my driveway.

Have you been a good little boy or girl or a naughty one?

Boringly good.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Giveaways, Contests & Prizes!

In celebration of Anneke Campbell’s new release, she will be appearing at  Pump Up Your Book’s 1st Annual Holiday Extravaganza Facebook Party on December 16.  More than 50 books, gifts and cash awards will be given away including an e-copy of of Slouching Towards Bellingham!  Visit the official party page here!

Tags: Anneke Campbell, Author Interviews, Christmas, Christmas stories, holiday stories, Pump Up Your Book, Slouching Towards Bellingham

5 Things You Should Know About Writing

1.    You do not need a shed at the bottom of the garden to write—earplugs works well.
2.    The main part of your job is to minimise distractions and write (see my post).
3.    Some of your good friends and family members will never read your work. You will not cry about this.
4.    You may work best with some added pressure. So create a date to finish the first draft.
5.    Listen to your editor. They have your best interest at heart.

5 Things You Should Know About Book Promotion

1. Writing a good story is only part of the deal today—next you have to gather a following, create a platform and get connected.
2. You probably don’t have a similar numbers of followers to authors like Paulo Coelho or Neil Gaiman yet, but join Facebook and Twitter and start anyway.
3. When you’re ready, go on a blog tour.
4. Word-of-mouth is still one of the most powerful ways to sell books.
5. Create a promotion to ignite the fire.

5 Things You Should Know About The 58th Keeper

1. All the places “The 58th Keeper” goes to are real: London, Istanbul, Paris, Rome.
2. If you read it and review you may win a Kindle or Nook.
3. Vincent is the son of one of England’s wealthiest men.
4. Book two will be finished soon.
5. Archy does look like a young Prince Harry.

5 Things You Should Know About R.G. Bullet

1. He was born in England but lives in Miami.
2. He has lived in nine different countries.
3. He has written a Victorian zombie short story series titled: The Caldecott Chronicles (PG13)
4. He’s addicted to Red Bull.
5. He once won a scratchcard lottery.

5 Ways to Connect With R.G. Bullet

1. Check my my website: www.RGBullet.com
2. Follow me: Twitter: @rgbullet58
3. Blog: TheWindsorTimes.com
4. Facebook/rgbullet
5. Or email me rgbullet58 {at} gmail.com

About R.G. Bullet

R. G. Bullet was born in Berkshire, UK. After living in nine different countries he has finally settled in Miami Beach, USA.

He is addicted to tea, reading, writing, motorbikes and shamefully Call of Duty.

His middle grade debut novel: The 58th Keeper has just been released.

To learn more go to www.rgbullet.com

Follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/RGBullet58
and join the fan page for the latest updates and fun competitions
www.facebook.com/rgbullet

Tags: Action, author publicity, author tour, author tours, blog tour, blog tours, book blog tour, book campaign, book marketing, book promotion, book promotion companies, book promotion company, book promotion online, book promotions, book publicists, book publicity, Book Reviewers Wanted, book tour, book tours, books for review, Earl, goodreads, illustrated, Manor, online book promotion, online book publicity, online book tour, online book tours, Pump Up Your Book, Pump Up Your Book Promotion, Purdey Shotgun, R.G. Bullet, Short story, The Caldecott Chronicles (No.1), Undead, Victorian England, virtual author tour, virtual blog tour, virtual blog tours, virtual book tour, virtual book tours, young adult, Zombie

Title: The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey: A Journey of the Extraordinarily Ordinary
Author: Deborah Barnes
Genre: Nonfiction
Paperback: 180
Publisher: ZZP Publishing
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0983440802

BOOK SUMMARY:

Combining a warm, humorous, and conversational style of writing with stunning photos and charming artwork, readers are immediately immersed into the world of Zee, a lovable male Maine Coon cat, and Zoey, a high-spirited female Bengal cat, as they share their amazing relationship and bond that formed between the two of them in The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey. What makes this story so compelling, is that the author narrates the journey of the cats through the personal trials and tribulations of her own life. Readers will easily be able to relate to the many moments the author shares and her spot on accuracy in understanding the many nuances of a cat is so realistic, one might think the author was a cat herself!  You will be certain to smile and laugh on more than one occasion as you share this incredible journey with Zee and Zoey and learn the ultimate message they teach us – to embrace the ordinary in life and dare to make it extraordinary.

BOOK REVIEW:

I’d like to start off by saying I’m a huge animal lover.  I’ve had cats – lots of them – dogs, rabbits (well, one), hamsters, birds, you name it, so I knew I couldn’t wait to get my hands on The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey: A Journey of the Extraordinarily Ordinary by Deborah Barnes.  I can’t even begin to name all the reasons why I love this book but if I had to narrow it down to one – the pictures are breathtaking and worth the price alone.

Deborah begins her book by telling us about how her animal kingdom started and let me explain about this “animal kingdom” first.  Deborah is a very conscientious animal owner.  Throughout the book, as she’s talking about each one, you can sense this is someone who doesn’t take pet ownership lightly.  The real stars of this book are, of course, Zee, a Maine coon cat, and Zoey, Bengal cat.  Pictures cannot justify how beautiful these animals are.  But what I loved about this book was how Deborah took us on a journey in itself into her life with these cats, showing us their quirky personalities and wonderful dispositions.  If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to buy from a cattery (which I found particularly interesting) or how these two breeds interact in a  household of other cats, you will love this book.

The photographs in this book are beyond beautiful.  Barnes’ writing style is superb and the storyline keeps you captivated.  Owners of Bengal and Main coon cats will particularly love it, but if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to own one of these cats, this book will help guide you and show you what to expect.  I do want to also note the cover was the most beautiful cover I have ever seen – kudos to the designer!

Cat lovers everywhere will fall in love with The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey and it makes the perfect coffee table book.  The pictures alone are great conversation starters!

I would give this 5 out of 5 stars.

Tags: blog tours, book marketing, book promotions, book publicity, cat behavior, cat lovers, custom illustrations, Deborah Barnes, from ordinary to extraordinary, human-pet bond, humorous, inspirational, kittens, learning lessons, love story, online book promotion, online book publicity, pet lovers, photography, promote your book, Pump Up Your Book, sell your book, The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey, virtual book tours

History made fun! In this fast-paced and action-packed time travel adventure, the wise-cracking whiz kid, Puggie Liddell’s modified Gameboy activates a time travel portal and he lands in the 1890s with his sibling rival, annoyingly prissy teen sister, Gigi, who thinks history is like-totally-gross.

The kids must learn to work together to find a time travel portal back to the present before the eccentric scientist, Nikola Tesla, or his arch nemesis, inventor Thomas Edison, can steal the Gameboy and use it to complete a death ray machine, an invention powerful enough to disturb the very fabric of space-time and create an instantaneous world disaster.

5 Things You Should Know About The Incredibly Awesome Adventures of Puggie Liddell

1.  Sibling rivals Puggie and Gigi Liddell travel back in time and visit the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, which was so spectacular, it inspired both the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz and Disneyworld!

2. Puggie and Gigi also have an opportunity to ride the original Ferris Wheel, which made its debut at the Chicago World’s Fair.

3. Puggie and Gigi became two of the 38 million visitors, who marveled at P.T. Barnum’s magnificent American Museum, which held a wide array of animals, fascinating objects, human oddities, before its demise in 1865.

4. Author Oscar Wilde toured the United States in 1882 but was caught in a time-loop when he met Puggie and Gigi on a train in 1893.

5. Puggie and Gigi learned to work together to save the world from rival inventors, Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla, who wanted to use Puggie’s Gameboy to complete a death-ray machine, an invention powerful enough to destroy the planet.

Dr. Karen Mueller Bryson is an optioned screenwriter, produced playwright and published novelist.

She is the author of several romantic comedy novels for adults and is the creator of Short on Time books, a series of fast-paced and fun novels readers can finish in one sitting.

The Incredibly Awesome Adventures of Puggie Liddell is Karen’s first novel for young people.

For additional information about Karen Mueller Bryson, visit her website: http://www.ahorsewithnoname.com

Tags: adventure, adventure novel, author publicity, author tour, blog tour, blog tours, book blog tour, book campaign, book marketing, book promotion, book promotion companies, book promotion company, book promotion online, book promotions, book publicists, book publicity, Book Reviewers Wanted, book tour, book tours, books for review, gameboy, history, Karen Mueller Bryson, Nikola Tesla, Novel, online book promotion, online book publicity, online book tour, online book tours, promote your book, Pump Up Your Book, Pump Up Your Book Promotion, The Incredibly Awesome Adventures of Puggie Liddell, Thomas Edison, time travel, tween, virtual author tour, virtual blog tour, virtual blog tours, virtual book tour, virtual book tours

5 Things You Should Know About The Incredibly Awesome Adventures of Puggie Liddell

By Karen Mueller Bryson 

1.  Sibling rivals Puggie and Gigi Liddell travel back in time and visit the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, which was so spectacular, it inspired both the Emerald City in the Wizard of Ozand Disney World! 

2. Puggie and Gigi also have an opportunity to ride the original Ferris Wheel, which made its debut at the Chicago World’s Fair. 

3. Puggie and Gigi became two of the 38 million visitors, who marveled at P.T. Barnum’s magnificent American Museum, which held a wide array of animals, fascinating objects, human oddities, before its demise in 1865.   

4. Author Oscar Wilde toured the United States in 1882 but was caught in a time-loop when he met Puggie and Gigi on a train in 1893. 

5. Puggie and Gigi learned to work together to save the world from rival inventors, Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla, who wanted to use Puggie’s Gameboy to complete a death-ray machine, an invention powerful enough to destroy the planet.

Dr. Karen Mueller Bryson is an award-winning/optioned screenwriter, produced playwright and published novelist. She is the creator of Short on Time Books, a line of fast-paced and fun novels for readers on the go. When Karen is not at her computer creating a new story, she spends time with her husband and their bloodhounds. Learn more about Karen at her website: http://www.ahorsewithnoname.com/

Giveaways, Contests & Prizes!

In celebration of Karen Mueller Brysond’s new release, she will be appearing at  Pump Up Your Book’s 1st Annual Holiday Extravaganza Facebook Party on December 16.  More than 50 books, gifts and cash awards will be given away including a signed copy of The Incredibly Awesome Adventures of Puggie Liddell!  Visit the official party page here!

Tags: author tour, author tours, blog tour, blog tours, book blog tour, book promotion online, chapter books, Chicago World's Fair, death-ray machine, Disney World, Five Things You Should Know, Guest Blogger, Karen Mueller Bryson, literarily speaking, Nikola Tesla, online book promotion, online book promotions, online book publicity, online book tour, online book tours, Pump Up Your Book, The Incredibly Awesome Adventures of Puggie Liddell, Thomas Edison, tween chapterbook, virtual author tour, virtual blog tour, virtual blog tours, virtual book tour, virtual book tours

I have a wonderful guest today!  Nicolette M. Dumke, author of the health/fitness book, Food Allergy and Gluten-Free Weight Loss: Control Your Body Chemistry, Reduce Inflammation, and Improve Your Health (Allergy Adapt, Inc.), is on a blog tour December 5 – 16 answering questions about nutrition.  I am happy to be hosting her today and here’s my question:

“I recently gave up carbonated sodas in my diet and two months later, I lost an astounding 18 pounds.  I also gave up sweets during that time but have brought them back to an occasional cookie, etc.  I don’t see a weight increase and am continuing with my non-soda diet plus walking 1/2 mile in the morning, although I do drink sweet tea.  My question is that I’m wondering what sweets actually do to the body besides taking in excess calories.  Do they play havoc with other parts of your insides?”

Nicolette:  “Sodas are major culprits in the weight gain battle. A 12-ounce can of soda contains 38 to 40 grams of carbohydrate, or the equivalent of about 10 teaspoons of sugar. A 44 to 45-ounce super-sized fountain soda contains as many as 186 grams of carbohydrate. This is the equivalent of almost one cup of table sugar! If consumed without food, the sugar in a soda enters the bloodstream very rapidly. This causes blood sugar levels to shoot up, followed by a similarly dramatic rise in insulin levels.

The best-kept secret about weight gain and loss is that calories are not the only, or even the major, determiner of weight. Hormones, such as insulin, cortisol, leptin, and others, are what really determine our weight. High insulin levels, which are likely to occur after drinking a soda, affect the enzymes that control fat metabolism. These enzymes tell your body, “Hold on to any food you get,” thus causing weight gain, as well as making it impossible to mobilize body fat for use in physical activity. High insulin levels also make us feel hungry, thus leading us to eat even more food. For more about insulin and other hormones and how you can control them to help you lose weight, see http://www.foodallergyandglutenfreeweightloss.com/controlling_hormones.html.

Here is why giving up sodas has produced such dramatic weight loss: Your insulin levels are remaining low and stable much of the time. This allows you to burn body fat and makes you feel less hungry. Because your body is put into a “burn fat” mode by low insulin levels, your morning walk burns body fat very effectively. Other types of moderate exercise, such as gardening, house cleaning, and leisurely bicycling or swimming, would also promote weight loss. However, walkers are the most successful at losing weight and maintaining their loss. Excessive or overly strenuous exercise, especially if done without food, unsettles our weight-controlling hormones and can even promote weight gain or impede weight loss. For more about this see http://www.foodallergyandglutenfreeweightloss.com/exercise_right.html.

Sweet tea is a better beverage than soda because it contains much less sugar. If you are adding the sugar yourself, you probably add only one to two teaspoons per glass of tea, or 4 to 8 grams of carbohydrate. If you find your weight loss slowing down, or for optimal health, you might want to sweeten your tea with stevia. The purified white powder form of this herb, especially in “next generation” stevia products such as those made by Protocol for Life Balance™, is a great sweetener for everything from baking to beverages. In addition, health food stores sell flavored stevia solutions to add to tea and coffee. Stevia contains no calories and does not cause blood sugar or insulin levels to rise. On the other hand, studies have shown that artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame™ can cause weight gain in some people, so if you want to give up sugar in your tea, stevia is the healthiest choice.

An occasional cookie, especially if eaten with a protein-containing meal or even a snack of nuts or cheese, is also less problematic than a soda for two reasons: (1) It contains less sugar, and (2) The fat and fiber in the cookie (oatmeal cookies are good for fiber), as well as the protein fat, and fiber in the meal or snack, buffer the impact of the carbohydrate in the cookie on blood sugar and insulin levels.

Although sugar is mentioned repeatedly here, it is not the only culprit among sweeteners. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which has recently been re-branded as “corn sugar,” is as bad or worse. Because the single sugars in HFCS are “free” rather than bonded together in pairs as in table sugar (sucrose), HFCS enters the bloodstream even more rapidly than sugar, causing an even higher insulin response. Sodas are usually sweetened with HFCS, which may be part of the reason they are so detrimental to health. For more about the negative health effects of HFCS, see the 10-1-2008 post about half way down this page: http://www.chemicalfreekids.com/updates08.htm.

Sweets play havoc on our bodies in other ways. Excess consumption of sweets, with the resulting repeated jolts to the pancreas (the organ that produces insulin) can wear out the pancreas, resulting in type II diabetes.

Another problem with sweets is that sugar has a detrimental effect on our intestinal ecosystems of bacteria and other microorganisms. Sugar promotes the growth of unfriendly bacteria and yeast in the digestive system as well as elsewhere in the body. Its ability to encourage yeast of the Candida species can be especially problematic. Thus, diets high in sweets can lead to disordered intestinal flora (called dysbiosis), digestive problems, leaky gut syndrome, and food allergies. People who develop Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease, often have habitually eaten diets high in sweets.

Sweet! That’s what sugar is, but for best health and weight reserve it for occasional treats. The rest of the time, sweeten your goodies with liquid fruit sweeteners such as fruit juice concentrates or Fruit Sweet™, date or coconut sugar, honey, agave, or stevia. Have fresh fruit for treats or dessert and nuts or other protein foods for snacks. Keep up the good work on walking and avoiding sodas, and you will reach your ideal weight more easily than you might imagine.

Nickie Dumke enjoys helping people with food allergies and gluten intolerance find solutions to their health and weight problems. She began writing books to help others with multiple food allergies over 20 years ago and the process culminated in The Ultimate Food Allergy Cookbook and Survival Guide. She says, “This book contains everything I know to help with food allergies,” and it has helped many people come back from near-starvation. Her other books address issues such as how to deal with time and money pressures on special diets, keeping allergic children happy on their diets, and more.

A few years ago, while listening to the struggles of an allergic friend on the Weight Watchers™ diet, she remembered her own weight struggles* many years ago and thought, “There has to be a better way.” This was the beginning of a new quest, and she is now helping those who are overweight due to inflammation (often due to unsuspected food allergies) or high-in-rice gluten-free diets, as well as those who are not food sensitive but want to lose weight permanently, healthily, and without feeling hungry and deprived. Her unique approach to weight and health presented in Food Allergy and Gluten-Free Weight Loss is based on body physiology and reveals why conventional weight-loss diets work against rather than with our bodies and therefore rarely result in permanent weight loss.

* (Nickie’s weight loss story, briefly, is that in her early 20s she could not lose on a calorie-counting diet in spite of repeatedly further reducing the number of calories she ate and swimming vigorously and often. Then she found a diet based on blood sugar control, lost weight without being hungry, and still weighs what she did in her mid-20s).

Nickie has had multiple food allergies for 30 years and has been cooking for special diets for family members and friends for even longer. Regardless of how complex your dietary needs are or how much or little cooking you have done, she has the books and recipes you need. Her books present the science behind multiple food allergies and weight control in an easily-understood manner. She has BS degrees in medical technology and microbiology. She and her husband live in Louisville, Colorado and have two grown sons.

You can visit Nickie’s websites at http://www.foodallergyandglutenfreeweightloss.com and http://www.food-allergy.org.

Tags: abdominal fat, anti-inflammatory, anti-inflammatory diet, anti-inflammatory foods, apple-shaped body, blog tour, blood glucose, blood sugar, carbohydrate, carbohydrates, carbs, celiac disease, cortisol, diet, diet plans, diets, easy weight loss, fat, fats, food allergies, food allergy, Food Allergy and Gluten-Free Weight Loss, GI, gluten free, gluten intolerance, gluten-free diet, glycemic index, healthy diet, healthy weight loss, how to lose weight, hypoglycemia, inflammation, insulin, insulin resistance, leptin, leptin resistance, low blood sugar, low carb, Nickie Dumke, Nicolette Dumke, obesity, omega 3 fatty acids, overweight, Pump Up Your Book, rice, rice allergy, supplements for weight loss, virtual book tour, weight control diets, weight gain, weight loss, weight loss diets

It’s time to deck the halls and what better way to do it is to find out what your favorite authors are up to this joyous and oh-so-busy time of year. Today’s guest is me!  I’m on a mini-virtual book tour for Romancing the Soul: True Stories of Soul Mates from Around the World and Beyond (Zumaya Publications) and I thought it would be cool to let everyone know how I deck the halls, too!

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Thank you for being my guest at Literarily Speaking! Is Christmas your favorite holiday?

Dorothy: Well you are welcome!  Don’t I know you? Oh, never mind.  What were we talking about?  Oh, yes, is Christmas my favorite holiday?  Absolutely!  Feasts, family and friends – what more could you want?

How do you prepare for the holidays?  Do you decorate?

Dorothy: I do decorate.  This year I’m getting a late start because we have 64 authors on tour (not blaming them!) but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.  Can you believe it’s December 8 and I still don’t have my tree up?  Well honey…let me tell you, today I started bringing up the boxes from the mud room closet downstairs and I’m going through them while I wait for my son to get his toosh over here to help me put it up this weekend.  We live in a condo so no decorating outside except for a wreath on the back door but inside it’s Christmas wonderland..once I get it up of course!

What’s your most favorite ornament?

Dorothy:  Hm…I love my red hat ladies ornament and the ornaments that were handmade by my kids when they were little but my favorite….that’s a toughie.  Now my most sentimental one is an ornament that was either my grandmother’s or my great-grandmother’s.  I used to put it on the tree to have my loved ones with me, but I was afraid it would get broken so I tucked it away.  This year I’m looking for an ornament where you can put a picture inside.  Cassie, my fifteen year old cocker spaniel died in August and she would have so loved to have been here this year to help open presents.

What’s your favorite outside activity during the holidays?  Or are you a winter hating humbug like me?

Dorothy:  Okay since I asked myself my own question, I guess you know I’m a winter hating humbug.  Here’s the thing.  We live on the water.  That might sound all nice and everything and you can’t beat it in the summer but the winters are torturous.  Our carport is like a wind tunnel and sometimes you can’t even catch your breath just getting in the  car.  However, no matter how much it snows, I still like playing in it.

What kind of holiday activities do you enjoy doing with family and/or friends?

Dorothy:  My daughter is a gourmet cook and with all gourmet cooks comes the want to get everyone out of the kitchen – including me.  But, we do get together to do the Christmas dinner thing.  My son, daughter and I get together to go Christmas shopping, the few days that are available where we can all be together at once.  We used to do more, but they’re older now. Sigh.

What is the best present anyone could ever give to you?

Dorothy:  Peace of mind that the world is going to stay a safe place.

If you could go anywhere in the world during the holidays, where would that be?

Dorothy:  Wow, what a great question, Dorothy!  How did you know I love to travel?  Well.  If I could go anywhere I wanted to during the holidays, it would be to a cabin in a Smokies and have an old-fashioned Christmas.

Solid white lights or multicolored lights?

Dorothy: White inside, colored out (although I have to fight with my daughter on this one as she likes white both inside and out).

Favorite holiday song?

Dorothy:  What’s the one by Mariah Carey?  Oh wait, the one in Home Alone?  No wait wait…my mother used to have a Christmas album of Johnny Mathis songs.  When I hear one of his songs playing at Christmas, that really takes me back.

Have you ever had to spend a Christmas away from home?

Dorothy:  Nope.

What do you want Santa to bring you this year?

Dorothy:  A nice long tropical vacation (preferably not during hurricane season).

One last question, isn’t this fun?  What does Christmas mean to you?

Dorothy: I said it above – feasts, family and friends. ;o)

Thanks so much for the interview, Dorothy.  Do you have any final words?

Dorothy: May everyone have a Happy Holiday!

Dorothy Thompson is the compiler/editor/co-author of Romancing the Soul: True Stories of Soul Mates From Around the World and Beyond, as well as other relationship ebooks such as How to Find and Keep Your Soul Mate and 101 Facts You Never Knew About Soul Mates.  Her relationship columns have appeared in eNotAlone, SistersDiva Magazine, MindBodySpirit Magazine, Singles Cafe, SinglesStop, Innerself, Single Again, Free Spirit Centre, Holistic Harmony, SpiritualMinds, Self-Growth, Into the Mystic, Romance Stuck and many other relationship ezines as well as The Eastern Shore News and The Daily Times, both Gannet Publications.  She has been featured in the supermarket tabloid, OK! Magazine as well as appearing as a special guest on many radio programs including Lifetime Radio, Single Talk, Cuzzin Eddie Show and A Book and a Chat.

Her many upcoming projects include a self-help book titled The Soul Mate Triangle: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Soul Mate Relationship (due to be released by Zumaya Publications in 2013) and several other books in various stages of production.

Dorothy is also CEO/Founder of Pump Up Your Book, an innovative public relations agency specializing in online book publicity and social media.  You can visit her website at www.PumpUpYourBook.com or follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pumpupyourbook and Facebook at www.facebook.com/pumpupyourbook.

Dorothy lives on the beautiful island of Chincoteague, Virginia.

About Romancing the Soul

Snow White and Prince Charming.  Romeo and Juliet.  Beauty and the Beast.  Harry and Sally.  These are all names that come to mind when one thinks of the term “soul mates,” but what does it actually mean?  More importantly, how do we find our soul mates and would we know what to look for? Romancing the Soul – True Stories of Soul Mates from Around the World and Beyond brings together sixty beautiful and compelling stories from people all over the world who have found their soul mates through real-life miracles and chance encounters.  From karmic soul mates to twin souls, these powerful and heartwarming stories will not only mystify you, they’ll make a believer out of you.  Relationship expert Dorothy Thompson has compiled sixty stories into three sections – karmic, companion and twin souls – so that you can know without a doubt who your own soul mates are with no guessing. More than sixty authors have banded together to tell their true soul mate experiences – some of which will surprise you – in the hope this will be a reference for all those who are searching, whether it be for relationships, friendships or personal gratification.  A stepping stone toward understanding the soul mate experience, this is the book for the soul mates of the New Age and will have a profound effect on your search for your own soul mate.

Romance Junkies calls Romancing the Soul “Amazing…beautiful and emotional.  Romancing the Soul has made a believer out of me.  Even though I have finished the book, the book has not finished with me.”

Susie Housley of MyShelf says, “I feel that it accurately captures the true essence of what the world “love” truly means. I found myself caught in a roller coaster of emotions that quickly went spinning out of control.  Very highly recommended.”

“If you’ve been searching for unconditional love and spiritual kinship all your life,” says Amara Rose, ordained minister of The Universal Life Church and author of  What You Need to Know Now – A Road Map for Personal Transformation, “you must read Romancing the Soul.  Dorothy Thompson knows the pathway, and has gathered profound soul mate stories to make you laugh, cry, and shout with joy, ‘Yes, I’m ready to meet mine!’”

Donna Britt of Lifetime Radio says, ““Dorothy is on to something here. She has a real insight into ’soul’ mates…her story comes from the heart.””

Mayra Calvani of Midwest Book Reviews says, “This is a book to be cherished, to give to a special friend or keep at your bedside table to be read and re-read at night whenever you’re feeling down. A feast for the soul. Highly recommended.”

“This book will touch your heart, bring tears to your eyes and a smile to your face,” says Larry James of CelebrateLove.com and author of How to Really Love the One You’re With.  “Explore all the soulmate possibilities as you experience what others have when they discovered the spiritual connection that changed their life and their relationship. An excellent read!”

Giveaways, Contests & Prizes!

Dorothy Thompson, co-author/editor of the anthology, Romancing the Soul: True Soul Mate Stories From Around the World and Beyond, is offering one free paperback copy of her book at Pump Up Your Book’s 1st Annual Holiday Extravaganza Facebook Party on December 16.  More than 50 books, gifts and cash awards will be given away! Click here for details!

Tags: A Book and a Chat, blog tour, book promotions, Christmas, Cuzin Eddie, Dorothy Thompson, find my soul mate, find soul mate, find your soul mate, Holiday Celebrations, Lifetime Radio, magazine tabloid, OK! Magazine, online book promotion, promote your book, public relations, public relations agency, Pump Up Your Book, relationship expert, relationship loss, relationship stories, relationships, Romancing the Soul, sell your book, Single Talk, social media, soul mates, true soul mate stories, virtual book tour, Zumaya Publications

It’s time to deck the halls and what better way to do it is to find out what your favorite authors are up to this joyous and oh-so-busy time of year. Today’s guest is Braxton A. Cosby, author of the young adult science fiction novel, The Star-Crossed Saga: Protostar (Firefly Publishing & Ent,LLC).

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Thank you for being my guest at Literarily Speaking!  Is Christmas your favorite holiday?

Braxton: Yes. It’s the celebration of a risen savior. Plus, I love giving my kids and my family gifts. I like to see their faces light up when they receive something that I picked out for them that I thought they would like.

How do you prepare for the holidays?  Do you decorate?

Braxton: I’m the one responsible for the heavy lifting. I get the lights out from the attic; place them everywhere in and around the house. I’m also responsible for getting out the tree and the decorations. My wife mainly decorates the house and she, the girls and I decorate the tree together.

What’s your most favorite ornament?

Braxton: I have a green ornament from my grandmother who passed away ten years ago. We keep it and always hang it in a place where people can see it. Strong source of my faith and inspiration.

What’s your favorite outside activity during the holidays?  Or are you a winter hating humbug like me?

Braxton: No, I love the holidays. Believe it or not, I like to be out in the malls during the holidays. I like to see people buying each other gifts and sharing love with one another. People seem to be more cheerful and polite during the holidays.

What kind of holiday activities do you enjoy doing with family and/or friends?

Braxton: Watching movies and having dinner. We usually get together during Christmas Eve and sit around until the kids fall asleep. That’s when we open at least one gift (adults) at midnight.

What is the best present anyone could ever give to you?

Braxton: I received the best spiritual gift of already; salvation. But if I could get an earthly gift, I’d love a classic silver Corvette with red leather interior.

If you could go anywhere in the world during the holidays, where would that be?

Braxton: Traveling during the holidays, hmm. I’d love to take my wife to Paris one year and take in the New Year at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Solid white lights or multicolored lights?

Braxton: I like classic solid white lights myself.

Favorite holiday song?

Braxton: Jingle bells. The girls sing that one pretty good.

Have you ever had to spend a Christmas away from home?

Braxton: No, I could not stand it if I had to. My girls have to see their gifts under the tree.

What do you want Santa to bring you this year?

Braxton: A fabulous opportunity to extend my vision of young love and the power of choice to millions of readers all over the world.

One last question, isn’t this fun?  What does Christmas mean to you?

Braxton: This has been a wonderful experience. Christmas to me is the chance to express God’s love to one another and take the opportunity to practice considering someone else’s wants for a change. Being able to say thank you to the people you care about and relax in that special kind of love is priceless.

Thanks so much for the interview, Braxton.  Do you have any final words?

Braxton: See the vision, receive it, believe on it and pray to God to give you the courage to walk in it. Follow what is true to you, even if you undergo scrutiny. In the end, at least you followed your own sense of purpose, win or lose.

Braxton A. Cosby is a dreamer with a vision of continuously evolving and maximizing the untapped potential of the human spirit. Braxton received a lot of his inspiration from watching the accomplishments and exploits of his famous uncle, comedic legend Bill Cosby. A physical therapist by background, Braxton received his Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate from the University of Miami. Braxton’s fascination of science grew into an obsession of Sci-fi and on one unassuming Sunday, this self-proclaimed romantic decided to pursue a “calling” to create a new genre of writing; Sci-Fance- mixing science fiction and romance. Braxton lives in Georgia with his wife and two children. He believes that everyone should pursue joy that surpasses understanding and live each day as if it were the last.

His latest book is the young adult science fiction novel, The Star-Crossed Saga: Protostar.

You can visit his website at www.braxtonacosbygodson.com or connect with him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cosbykid84 or Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000215860223.

About The Star-Crossed Saga: Protostar

It Starts With Choice! What would you choose: love or irrefutable duty?

On the brink of Civil War, the Torrian Alliance continues with its mission to obliterate Star-children across the universe in order to suppress an intergalactic evil. Following the recommendations of his Council, King Gregorio Derry has agreed to send his only son on a mission to restore honor to his family. Bounty Hunter Prince William Derry has crossed thousands of light-years to planet Earth, in order to fulfill this age old prophetic practice. The quiet days of Madisonburg, Tennessee are officially over as Sydney Elaine now knows the full meaning of the phrase Be careful what you wish for when she is confronted by this strange visitor. As an unforeseeable event delays his assassination, William decides to study his target more closely and begins to form a connection with Sydney that challenges his inner being. But this conflict is the least of his problems, as a conspiracy back on his home planet Fabricius threatens the lives of those he loves and his father s royal legacy. Along with that, he must unravel a hidden menace here on Earth that seeks to secure a vested interest that threatens both his and Sydney s safety. Will William be able to complete his mission or will he choose love, sacrificing everything he stands for?

Giveaways, Contests & Prizes!

In celebration of Braxton A. Cosby’s new release, he will be appearing at  Pump Up Your Book’s 1st Annual Holiday Extravaganza Facebook Party on December 16.  More than 50 books, gifts and cash awards will be given away including an an e-copy of his book, The Star-Crossed Saga: Protostar!  Visit the official party page here!

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Braxton will also be appearing at Pump Up Your Book Live! Chat Room at 8 p.m. eastern on January 4.  Click here for more details!

Tags: author appearances, bestselling science fiction novels, Bill Cosby, Bill Cosby's nephew, blog tour, book announcements, book campaign, book events, book promotions, book publicity, book publicity tour, bounty hunter, Braxton A. Cosby, Civil War, Georgia, Georgia author, light years, Madisonburg, online book promotion, physical therapist, planet earth, promote your book, Protostar, Pump Up Your Book, sci-fi, sell your book, star children, Tennessee, The Cosby Kids, The Star-Crossed Saga Protostar, Torrian Alliance, University of Miami, virtual book tour, YA book, YA science fiction, young adult, young adult author, young adult book, young adult novel, young adult science fiction, young adult science fiction author, young adult science fiction novel

It’s time to deck the halls and what better way to do it is to find out what your favorite authors are up to this joyous and oh-so-busy time of year. Today’s guest is Sarah Tate, author of the memoir, Web of Lies: My Life with a Narcissist (Createspace).

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Is Christmas your favorite holiday?

Yes, it is!

How do you prepare for the holidays?  Do you decorate?

I do. When you’ve got kids in the house you have to.  I like to have lots of scented candles and traditional decorations.

What was Christmas like when you were a kid?

It was always magical.  I loved looking up on Christmas Eve in the hope of seeing Santa’s sleigh and hearing his sleigh bells.

What’s your most favorite ornament?

A clay hedgehog made by my daughter

What’s your favorite outside activity during the holidays?  Or are you a winter hating humbug like me?

I’m lucky to live in a place where we have lots of snow.  I love the Christmas markets, sledging with the kids, and watching all the local festive parades.

If you have children, what kind of holiday activities do you include them in?

Everything.  It’s all about them.

What’s your favorite holiday movie?

Polar Express

Favorite holiday story or book?

A Christmas Carol

What is the best present anyone could ever give to you?

This year, the best present would be to have my Dad with us.

If you could go anywhere in the world during the holidays, where would that be?

Anywhere that my nearest and dearest are.

Solid white lights or multicolored lights?

Solid white

Favorite holiday song?

White Christmas

Have you ever had to spend a Christmas away from home?

Yes

What do you want Santa to bring you this year?

Three happy smiling faces on Christmas morning (my kids!)

Have you been a good little boy or girl or a naughty one?

I’ve been completely boring this year!

One last question, isn’t this fun?  What does Christmas mean to you?

It means a great deal.  It is all about making memories for my children to treasure when they are older.  Just as my own parents did for me.

Sarah Tate is a single mother living and working in Switzerland. She arrived in Switzerland ten years ago and apart from a brief stay in France, has remained ever since, as Switzerland has become her adopted homeland.

Sarah has three young kids, who take up most of her time, but she still managed to find time to write her first book ‘Web of Lies – My life with a Narcissist’. The book is an auto-biographical novel which describes in graphic details, the ups and downs of life with a person who suffers from (amongst other things) Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Web of Lies takes the reader on an emotional journey and gives a deep insight into what it’s like to be sucked into the world of a disordered individual, and more importantly, how to escape with your sanity intact.

Her second book, Renaissance – A Journal of Discovery, is the sequel to Web of Lies. It describes the road to recovery from narcissistic abuse, and charts the progress of Sarah and her children as they rebuild their lives following the breakup of the family, and slowly come to terms with the financial and emotional devastation caused by Sarah’s ex.

Sarah has discovered a passion for writing, and is about to embark upon her first novel, a psychological thriller.

You can visit Sarah’s website at www.sarahtateauthor.com and her blog at www.singlemumsal.blogspot.com.  Connect with Sarah at Twitter at www.twitter.com/SarahTateAuthor or Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sarah-Tate-Author/358586909900.

About Web of Lies

Web of Lies takes you on an emotional roller-coaster, experienced through the eyes of Sarah Tate, an intelligent, young newcomer to Switzerland who is swept off her feet by an older, more experienced company manager. Within weeks of their meeting, Bill impresses her with a courtship vastly unusual in modern times. He lures Sarah with his intellect along with numerous gifts, expensive restaurants, and trips to luxury hotels. Sarah, who is searching for not only love but security, quickly finds herself falling for the worldly but sensitive and caring man Bill represents himself to be. In Web of Lies, she describes the highs and the lows of what it is like to be involved with a person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, how to come to terms with the abuse, and most importantly, how to escape.

Bill, who is seventeen years older than Sarah, has led what she finds at first to be a fascinating life. Married twice before, he has been recently widowed, after his second wife fell into depression and took her own life. Within months of their first meeting, Bill has proposed to Sarah, and they are planning a lavish wedding and exciting new life together. However, Sarah quickly starts to feel there may be more to Bill than meets the eye.

Sarah battles to keep the marriage on track, but is frustrated by Bill’s lackadaisical attitude towards work, and his constant bragging about how he’s going to make millions via various entrepreneurial schemes which never materialize.

Sarah eventually begins to wake up to Bill’s lies and schemes, but not before she discovers his dark side….

As the marriage ends, Sarah battles serious clinical depression in order to cope with the destructive relationship with Bill.

Sarah realizes finally that she must break the pattern of abuse in order to escape with her sanity intact. Mindful of protecting her children from him, she eventually stands up to Bill for the final time, and is left at the end to carve a new life. She is in debt and alone, but thankfully free from Bill’s negative and unhealthy influence.

Giveaways, Contests & Prizes!

In celebration of  Sarah Tate’s new release, he will be appearing at  Pump Up Your Book’s 1st Annual Holiday Extravaganza Facebook Party on December 16.  More than 50 books, gifts and cash awards will be given away including an an e-copy of her book, Web of Lies!  Visit the official party page here!

Tags: blog tour, book promotions, memoir, narcissist, Pump Up Your Book, Sarah Tate, virtual book tour, Web of Lies

The Story Behind the Book is one of Literarily Speaking’s most popular features. Here we find out either the inspiration behind authors’ books or how they got published. Today’s guest is S.B. Lerner, author of In the Middle of Almost and Other Stories (Samson Books).

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When I was single and working at a high pressure job in Manhattan, it was all a bit overwhelming. I was dating but not in a steady relationship, and had a great group of girlfriends in the same situation. We would meet for coffee and talk about our dates, and the conversations were often more entertaining than the actual dates we dissected in minute detail. But it wasn’t until I found my way to a writing workshop that I was able to explore the truths underlying those conversations.

I wrote my first story in a fit of inspiration. The teacher called it a ‘little gem” and I was hooked. Not only because I can’t resist a compliment, but because the process of zeroing in on an emotional state and revealing it through a story was liberating. Often I didn’t even know what I was writing about until I finished. Even then, other people would see things in my stories that I hadn’t realized were there. It was all very heady.

I wrote because I loved to write—no dreams of fame or fortune. I was busy with work and my fellow classmates and workshop participants were audience enough for me. It was only when I decided to write a novel and thought I might want to actually get it published someday, that I realized that publishing the short stories would give me some credibility in the writing world. I doubted that my work as an attorney and businessperson would impress any of the literary types. If anything, it would turn them off.

So I went through the unfun process of sending out my stories and eventually got them published in literary magazines and newspapers. I also started working on a novel. Initially I thought a novel was like a longer version of a short story (I had a lot to learn!) and it wasn’t until I got to around page 70 that I realized that a novel needs a plot, whereas a short story is an expression of a something more intangible—a feeling or a snapshot of a moment in time. They are very different genres, and though some scenes in my novel have the feeling of a short story, the novel itself evolved into a much more complex, plot-driven beast.

Assembling the stories, and memoir (which came from books I wrote about the lives of my parents, but that’s another story) into a collection and publishing it as an ebook has been fun and challenging. It also required putting up a website, blogging a bit, and going on a tour such as this one. Along the way I’ve been meeting people from all over the world who relate to blog posts or comments in groups I’ve joined. That has been unexpected and surprisingly rewarding. In fact, if anything I’ve said here or any of my stories resonate with you, I’d love to hear from you. The internet can be overwhelming, suck all your time, and be otherwise problematic. But there is a side to it that I like to think of as its “better angel” in that it gives people the chance to connect and form friendships who may never have otherwise found each other.

You can reach me through the comment tab on http://sblerner.com or at samsonbooks7@gmail.com. I hope to cyber-meet you!

S.B. Lerner worked as an attorney in Manhattan for many years, and in the evenings she wrote and published short stories. They are now available as a collection, called In the Middle of Almost and Other Stories.

After getting married and becoming a mom, she was struck with the importance of knowing family history, so she researched and wrote the story of her father’s fascinating life. It was through learning about his early passion for a Zionist youth group in Poland that she became interested in the subject of her first novel, A Suitable Husband, which is set in prewar Poland.

S. B. loves to read historical fiction and novels set in other times and places, as well as to travel and meet people. Travel time is limited, lately, but she teaches an ESOL class and learns about other cultures through her diverse group of students. When not teaching, doing ‘mom’ things or playing with the puppy, she is at her desk working on another novel set on a college campus in New York.

You can visit S.B. Lerner’s website at www.sblerner.com, and read her blog ‘Novel Thoughts” through a link on the website. You can find Susan’s book on Goodreads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12708823-in-the-middle-of-almost-and-other-stories

Tags: author tour, author tours, blog tour, blog tours, book blog tour, book promotion online, book tour, book tours, Guest Blogger, In the Middle of Almost and Other Stories, literarily speaking, literary short story collections, memoir, online book promotion, online book publicity, online book tour, online book tours, Pump Up Your Book, S.B. Lerner, short story collections, virtual author tour, virtual blog tour, virtual blog tours, virtual book tour, virtual book tours, women's fiction, women's fiction author

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A Day in the Life of Glen C. Strathy
by Glen C. Strathy

I wish I could say what a typical day was like, but for me that’s something which keeps changing over time.

I’ve been a freelance writer for the past decade, during which period I co-authored two non-fiction books for adults and wrote promotional materials for financial newsletters. To write Dancing on the Inside, I forced myself to take one day a week just to work on children’s fiction. Often I would leave home and go to a library or a cafe, so I would be away from email, the internet, and the temptation to do things around the house (I work at home most of the time). In those days, I used a laptop that did not connect wirelessly to the web. It was slow progress, because each time I would have to put myself back into the mindset I had seven days prior.

These days, my wife is back in school, so I often have to take our daughter to her school in the morning, and pick her up in the afternoon. Both these activities seriously cut into my work time (I used to get up at six and work uninterrupted until noon, then do another stint from one o’clock to four). Then there are the after school lessons, and I am the family cook as well.

What also makes this month exceptional is that Nanowrimo is underway. For those unfamiliar, Nanowrimo is an annual challenge in which you try to write 50,000 words of a novel during the thirty days of November. This means I am often spending my evening hours trying to meet my daily word count goal.

At the same time, I keep telling myself I need to blog more and write more articles on writing for my website, www.how-to-write-a-book-now.com. I also have been trying to teach myself social media. The biggest thing I have learned is that making my thoughts available to a legion of strangers on the web and trying to make real connections to all these people can constitute an infinite demand on my time.

Oh yes, one day I hope to achieve the writer’s life most of us dream of: spending most days alone in a quiet seaside home with a typewriter, cafes and European restaurants close by, frequent elegant parties where I hobnob with intellectual and artistic giants, hundreds flocking to my readings or lectures on writing, a gardener, a maid, a well-stocked wine cellar, and a lifetime cost-of-living grant from a generous foundation or government.

But until then, there’s never enough coffee or hours in the day…

Glen C. Strathy started writing stories when he was 11 years old and too shy to have a life.  He eventually found a life when he started acting in community theatre and met other writers, actors, dancers, and artists.  He discovered that the best thing about performing arts (and other arts too) is that they give people more freedom to be who they want to be.  After spending time as an actor, teacher, and freelance writer, he returned to his first love, fiction and wrote Dancing on the Inside, a novel for ages 9-12.

Glen earned an M.A. in English from the University of Western Ontario, and graduated from the Artist in Community Education program at Queen’s University, Kingston. He co-authored two non-fiction books, one of which (The Coming Economic Collapse, Warner Business Books, 2006) became a New York Times Bestselling Business Book.  He belongs to the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). His website www.how-to-write-a-book-now.com provides advice to budding authors.

Glen lives with his wife, fellow writer Kaitlin Rainey, and their daughter in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

You can visit his website at www.glen-c-strathy.com.  Visit him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/glencstrathy and Facebook at www.facebook.com/Glen.C.Strathy.author.

Giveaways, Contests & Prizes!

Glen will be attending Pump Up Your Book’s 1st Annual Holiday Extravaganza Facebook Party on December 16.  More than 50 books, gifts and cash awards will be given away including a paperback copy of Dancing on the Inside!  Details will be posted at Pump Up Your Book on Monday, November 14.

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Enter to win a copy of Dancing on the Inside at Goodreads!

Contest begins on October 25 and ends on December 16.

Click here to enter!

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