The Author Hub

F. W. vom Scheidt is a director of an international investment firm. He works and travels in the world’s capital markets, and makes his home in Toronto, Canada. He is also the author of a new book, Coming for Money (Blue Butterfly Book Publishing), a remarkable and provocative novel about the world of international finance and the human quests for success, understanding and love.

You can visit his website at http://www.bluebutterflybooks.ca/titles/money.html.

Q: It’s rare today to find an author who does nothing but write for a living. Do you have a ‘real’ job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some other jobs you’ve had in your life? Have they influenced/inspired your writing?

Much more than a job, I have a career.

I am a director of an international investment firm.

Having a career in something you enjoy is exponentially more rewarding than holding down a job you don’t enjoy while you pursue your writing.

The inherent influence from what I do over what I write flows from the fact that I have always followed a creative life; and, as a result, never seem to have followed a usual route or done anything in a usual manner.
How I write is no exception.

Because I have an encompassing business career, which always has more work than hours in the day … and, for that matter, does not even have a regular day because I work simultaneously in many different times zones, I suppose I have not felt the same need to publish as many other writers.

Yet I have always sought to maintain my integrity in a struggle with questions that have no answers … who am I … why am I here … what comes after this life.

And, because of that, I have always written.

Q: What compelled you to write your first book?

Following the adage of writing from what you know best, I wrote from my first hand-hand experience accumulated as a director of an international investment firm. I wrote as truthfully as possible of the world of international finance — not with the over dramatization so common in film and television, but with an intimate telling through a first-person narrative … of what it can be like to labour in the world of money spinning … of how the money’s immense leverage for triumph or disaster doesn’t so much corrupt people as corrupt the way they treat each other … of how the relentless demands of the money so often deprive you of sufficient time and energy to live through the events of your emotional and interior life.

The plot advances along questions arising from how we relate to our careers: How much money is too much? And how fast is too fast in life? And the central character advances along deeper questions in his own life: How do we cope with love and loss?

Q: Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Yes.

Q: Tell us briefly about your book.

The story follows Paris Smith. As he steps onto the top rungs of the corporate ladder, he is caught between his need for fulfillment and his need for understanding; between his drive for power and his inability to cope with his growing emptiness where there was once love. When his wife disappears from the core of his life, his loneliness and sense of disconnection threaten to overwhelm him. When he tries to compensate by losing himself in his work, he stumbles off the treadmill of his own success, and is entangled in the web of a fraudulent bond deal that threatens to derail his career and his life.

Forced to put his personal life on hold while he travels nonstop between Toronto, Singapore and Bangkok to salvage his career, he is deprived of the time and space to mourn the absence of his wife and regain his equilibrium.

In the heat and turmoil and fast money of Southeast Asia, half a world from home, and half a life from his last remembered smile, he finds duplicity, friendship and power — and a special woman who might heal his heart.

Overall, it is a deeply felt story about the isolation of today’s society, the prices great and small paid for success and the damages resulting from the ruthless exercise of financial power.

Yet, although it is a literary novel, it is also fast-paced and highly readable. By the time I had finished writing it, I recognized that readers would find the details fascinating, and would find the characters real, and not easily forgotten.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

I am working on a new novel; and on bringing a new institutional investment fund to market.

Q: Do you have a favorite character? Why is s/he your favorite?

No.

Q: How did you feel the day you held the copy of your first book in your hands?

If I recall correctly, my first reaction was a deep desire to give a copy to someone special in my life.

Q: What type of music, if any, do you listen to while you write? Do you need the noise or the silence?

I don’t listen to any particular type of music.

In younger days I was trained as a classical musician and played in a student orchestra where I also studied formal composition. I moved on from that to playing jazz. Now I listen to classical, jazz and everything in between including pop, rock and country.

I don’t seem to have any inherent need for noise or silence when I write.

Q: If you could live in one of your books, which one would you live in? (If you’re promoting your first publication, feel free to talk about an unpublished piece.)

Writing from the life I know, I suppose I already live to some extent in this novel.

Q: How do you balance out the writer’s life and the rest of life? Do you get up early? Stay up late? Ignore friends and family for certain periods of time?

I have no daily writing routine.

I work in the international financial markets where there is no typical day.

In fact there really isn’t even a day; money never sleeps … and there is always a market open somewhere 24-7.

I write when I can. Sometimes morning. Sometimes on long international flights.

Q: Is there an established writer you admire and emulate in your own writing? Do you have a writing mentor?

No. But I am always grateful to all of the wonderful writers I have read over the years who have illuminated the path.

Q: When growing up, did you have a favorite author, book series, or book?

I was fortunate to come from an environment that valued reading and education. As a result I absorbed a broad spectrum. Having the experience of so much writing from so many writers was a far greater influence that any single author.

Q: What about now: who is your favorite author and what is your favorite genre to read?

I read everything and anything that interests me; fiction, classics, biography, textbooks.

I imagine I don’t have a favorite author or genre because, rather than focusing on what I read, I am always much more focused on trying to solve the problem that I never have as much time to read as a I would like.

Q: When they write your obituary, what do you hope they will say about your book/s and writing? What do you hope they will say about you?

That I wrote truthfully.

Q: What is your writing space like? Do you have a designated space? What does it look like? On the couch, laptop, desk? Music? Lighting? Typing? Handwriting?

For me it is much more a question of time than space.

When I have the luxury of some extra time I utilize it regardless of space.

Q: Is there any particular book that, when you read it, you thought, “I wish I had written that!”?

No. I think I am always cautioned by thoughts that something I perceive to be so perfectly written by someone else exists as such because the writer that wrote it had a certain talent; and my talent is not their talent, and vice versa; so it’s far more productive for me to instead concentrate on writing what I know as well as I can possibly write it.

Q: Is there anything you’d go back and do differently now that you have been published, in regards to your writing career?

Not a thing. Not a word.

Q: In my experience, some things come quite easily (like creating the setting) and other things aren’t so easy (like deciding on a title). What comes easily to you and what do you find more difficult?

I don’t seem to find any component more difficult than others.

One thing I do try to follow is from some from something Ernest Hemingway once said about always stopping when you know exactly what’s going to happen next so that it makes it much easier to pick it up the next time you have to begin.

Q: Do you have any book signings, tours or special events planned to promote your book that readers might be interested in attending? If so, when and where?

I’m afraid my current responsibilities limit my outside activities. I am primarily using the services of Pump Up Your Promotion.

Q: It’s one thing to write a book and another to edit it. How do you feel about the editing process? What was it like to edit your book?

I enjoy editing. There’s something about having the luxury of a second chance to improve something you’ve created that appeals to me.

Q: Now that you are a published author, does it feel differently than you had imagined?

No.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

At a certain level, I wrote Coming For Money because I had no other choice.

I sat down at the keyboard. Although I have always been a literary writer, I had no idea how I would capture my experiences in international finance in literary fiction. Without thinking, the first sentence came to me. I typed it. Then I looked at that sentence for a long time.

Instinct told me that the sentence had risen from something that was deeply absorbing me, and that it was something I had to tell. I knew I had to find some way to tell it truthfully. From that point, I knew there was no way out . . . except to construct the novel.

While Coming For Money is a story that advances from chapter to chapter along the corporate intrigue that beats at its heart, and continually mirrors the financial headlines of our daily newspapers, it is much more. It is an illustration of what happens to us as human beings when we lose emotional connectiveness, when we lose emotional logic.

And this was how Paris Smith came to me – because he is tragically, if admirably, flawed. He is not flawed in the classic Shakespearean sense of a noble man who is brought to ruin by his own avarice or rage. His weakness is not that he lusts after wealth or power or flesh. Rather, and far more important for us in these times, he is flawed in that he never learned the great lesson of his generation: don’t become emotionally involved. Paris Smith’s weakness is that he needs, and has always needed, emotional involvement in order to sustain his life. It is for him – as, ultimately, it is for us all – as necessary as breathing.

As Paris Smith refuses to relinquish his search for emotional connectiveness, he becomes a character we learn to appreciate and admire. In the sometimes stubborn, sometimes creative, battles he wages against other men in his corporation who are pitted against him, Paris Smith becomes ever more conscious of how he could stem his personal pain and loneliness by simply retreating emotionally and victimizing those around him.

Or he might learn anew how to offer up his own emotional involvement. I’ll leave it for readers to see how this plays out in the end, and to decide what they may want to take away from his quest for human meaning in our contemporary world. But I hope readers will appreciate Paris Smith as much as I do.

In writing Coming For Money, I have tried to tell this story in a way that will let others in our increasingly isolated society know that they are not alone. I have also tried to say something about the value of not surrendering to the seduction of victimizing others as a defence against being victimized. In writing a narrative about not giving up, I attempted to capture something true and evocative about how all journeys toward the light begin in darkness. And I have offered readers some assurance that, of such journeys, they can become restored to wholeness.

http://www.bluebutterflybooks.ca/titles/money.html

Balthazar Rodrigue Nzomono-Balenda, sometimes called Rodrigue or Balthazar is an author who has written several books of poetry, include: The Depth of My Soul, The Struggle for Power and the Fight for Survival and his newest book, Freedom of Press the Sitting Duck. Balthazar Rodrigue Nzomono-Balenda was born in Oullins (France) in Agust 29th 1981.

He was raised in Republic of the Congo. His parents were diplomats in South Africa under the mandate of the former elected Congolese president, Pascal Lissouba. While Balthazar and his family were in South Africa, the civil war broke out in Republic of the Congo in 1997.

The war was planned by Dennis-Sassous Nguesso, who is the current president and he was supported by ELF Aquitaine, which now is Total SA. Total is a French oil company. Sassous’ plan was to murder and torture diplomats and officials who worked for Pascal Lissouba and Balthazar’s father was included. The South African government could not guarantee their safety. The UN sent them in Denmark.

You can connect with Balthazar at Url: http://www.redroom.com/author/balthazar-rodrigue-nzomono-balenda

If you want Balthazar’s book, please go to url: http://store.i-proclaimbookstore.com/frofprsidu.html

Q: It’s rare today to find an author who does nothing but write for a living. Do you have a ‘real’ job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some other jobs you’ve had in your life? Have they influenced/inspired your writing?

I am a translator, a staff worker and a multimedia designer. Writing is not a job for me. It’s a hobby and I enjoy it. When I write, I feel alive and productive. I am a person who does not like to stay still because I like being active. I have been influenced by authors like: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Sam Haris, Richard Dawkins and others. I have also been influenced by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour’s documentaries and she is the bomb because when she tells a story you feel like a part of it somehow. She is amazing.

Q: What compelled you to write your first book?

There many things that compelled me. My history about child abuse, genocides, war crimes, dictatorships, religious fanaticism, religious deceptions, hunger, poverty, discriminations, racial hatred, freedom, justice and peace. They compel me because I am sensitive about acts like genocides and abuse. I like freedom because, if you’re not free, you’re bound in chains.

Q: Have you always wanted to be a writer?

In fact I haven’t always wanted to be a writer because I was afraid to make a fool out myself to others and I was afraid that people are going to have negative views on my books. But one of my acquaintances convinced me to write books because it would benefit me and my country of origin. I was a bit skeptical, but I gave it a try.

Q: Tell us briefly about your book.

My book is about freedom of press being under attack by criminals and those who hire them to kill journalists. I use poetry to express my frustrations about the hostility journalists face in countries like: Turkey, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Mexico, Russia and many other countries around the world that cannot tolerate an independent press. I also use poetry to tell stories about the dangers, joy, sorrows journalists face in connection with their reporting.

Q: Do you have a favourite character? Why is s/he your favourite?

Wolverine because he fights for justice for those who are hurt and he understands it because he’s been going through the pain of rejection himself. He is the source of my strength.

Q: How did you feel the day you held the copy of your first book in your hands?

I felt so glad and this shows how professional my publisher is and I am so grateful for such a wonderful service. I am really happy.

Q: What about now: who is your favorite author and what is your favorite genre to read?

My favorite author is Christopher Hitchens and the genre that I like best is non-fictional books.

Q: When they write your obituary, what do you hope they will say about your book/s and writing? What do you hope they will say about you?

I hope for both because my writing reflect my way of thinking and it also reveals my character as an author. I guess it makes sense.

Q: What is your writing space like? Do you have a designated space? What does it look like? On the couch, laptop, desk? Music? Lighting? Typing? Handwriting?

All of in the above because when I write, there must be some life and I enjoy it when there is some dynamic around because I get inspiration from almost anything

Q: Is there anyone who has inspired, motivated, encouraged or supported your writing?

My family and my friends have always encouraged me and I am forever grateful to them for their support.

Q: Is there anything you’d go back and do differently now that you have been published, in regards to your writing career?

Yes. If there’s anything, which I could of done differently is to settle my pages well and to also go a little bit deeper in my details when I talk about something that interests me. In the end, it’s not about me, it’s about the readers and I need to put their interests above mine. Yes If I find something that interests me, I would love to share it with my readers by writing books, but the most important thing is to be effective in your writing.

Q: It’s one thing to write a book and another to edit it. How do you feel about the editing process? What was it like to edit your book?

Editing my book is a good thing because when I look at my books sometimes, there are mistakes and those mistakes can have a negative influence on how my readers view my book, that’s why I like editing my books so that I can give myself an opportunity to learn from my mistakes and to make it easier for my readers.

Q: Now that you are a published author, does it feel differently than you had imagined?

It feels good now most of the people at my college know that I am an author and I have fans on Facebook as well. I have lots of followers on Twitter. Being a writer makes me feel good when my message makes a difference in my readers’ societies and when I feel like my writing benefits France, Republic of Congo and Denmark because somewhere in the future, I must also think about investing in people who are younger than me in these countries as well as the rest of the world.

Q: Is there anything you would like to add?

I am a French-born Dane, originally from Republic of the Congo, which is also known as Congo-Brazzaville. I was born on August 29th 1981, in Oullins, which is a suburb of Lyon, in France. My parents, André and Rose Nzomono-Balenda were diplomats in South Africa, under the mandate of the former elected president, Pascal Lissouba. While my family and I lived in South Africa, the civil war occurred in the Congo in 1997, when the Marxist dictator, Dennis Sassous Nguésso overthew Lissouba by making a state coup. He was supported by Angolan troops and French politicians and oil companies like Total, that was the former ELF Aquitaine because the Congo has a lot of oil. Sassous-Nguésso was planning on torturing and murdering diplomats and officials who were working for the former president, Pascal Lissouba and my father was listed. The South African government under Mandela could not guarantee our safety. That’s why the United Nations sent in Denmark.

In Denmark, I am a student, a multimedia designer and a translator. I am hard working, ambitious and I am also a perfectionist. What I want my readers to know is that I value freedom, justice and peace, but I also believe that they come with a price. If you want peace, sow it first.

All my books are books of poetry. I have written the following books: The Depth of My Soul, The Struggle for Power and the Fight for Survival and my newest book, Freedom of press the sitting duck. In every single one of these books, I talk about the tyranny of religion, oppression, dictatorship and the importance of justice. I use poetry as a powerful tool to express something beyond logic because poetry gives me the freedom to tell different stories about different situations in our world, both yesterday and today.

Here you can find the links of my books:

The Depth of my Soul:
Url: http://store.i-proclaimbookstore.com/depthofmysoul.html

The Struggle for Power and the Fight for Survival :
Url: http://store.i-proclaimbookstore.com/stforpoandfi.html

Freedom of press the sitting duck:
Url: http://store.i-proclaimbookstore.com/frofprsidu.html

If you have any questions or if you are interested to invite me for a meeting please contact me at bnbalenda@yahoo.com

Teresa Jones is a writer for the Neighborhood Writing Alliance (NWA), which publishes the award-winning Journal of Ordinary Thought (JOT). Teresa is a member of Toastmasters International and the National Association of Female Executives (NAFE). Teresa is faithful member of the Apostolic Faith Church, where she serves as a prayer counselor for the Prayer Line Ministry. She and her husband, Alexander, have been married for 16 years and have two children. You can visit Teresa R. Jones website at www.teresarjones.com. You can contact Teresa at teresa.jones@revelation2-4.com.

Q: It’s rare today to find an author who does nothing but write for a living. Do you have a ‘real’ job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some other jobs you’ve had in your life? Have they influenced/inspired your writing?

A: I work full-time for the federal government and I write part-time. I have over 20 years of experience working for the government. I look forward to the day when it is feasible for me to leave my job. Overall, my work experience has enhanced my skills and abilities, including my writing.

Q: What compelled you to write your first book?

A: Return to Your First Love is the assignment God gave me to tell my testimony. Ten years ago my husband and I were hit with very disturbing news. Our two-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a rare eye disease, and we were told that our daughter’s eye would have to be removed. Miraculously, this would not be the case. After consulting with several doctors and overcoming other battles, our daughter’s eye would be saved.

One day while I was home alone, I reflected on the ordeal and many other challenges I have had to triumph over in my lifetime. In my spirit, I told God that life has been rough for me, but I could clearly see how He has been there to help me through it all. I began to think about other women I knew who were still trying to battle life on their own.

I then told God that it is ashamed that more women won’t turn their lives over to Him. I then heard a still small voice say, “Tell them.” I asked, “Tell them? Lord, how?” The same still small voice said, “Book!” This moment was the conception of Return to Your First Love.

Q: Have you always wanted to be a writer?

A: I can’t say that I have always wanted to be a writer. In retrospect, I can see that there were indications that I would be. I love stories that contain a moral lesson. I enjoy songs that tell a story and powerful lyrics more than the music. I often remember profound lines from movies. I tend to perform better on essay tests. I understand the power and play on words.

Q: Tell us briefly about your book.

A: Return to Your First Love is the assignment God gave me 10 years ago to tell my testimony. Throughout my life, I have gone from walking with God zealously in my youth, inconsistently in my early adulthood, and maturing to a steadfast walk with Him in my latter years. My story is a tale of overcoming the struggles of family dysfunction, low self-esteem, persecution, forgiveness, financial hardship, sexual immorality, challenges in the work place, to winning in marriage and living a victorious life.

Q: What type of music, if any, do you listen to while you write? Do you need the noise or the silence?

A: I usually listen to Christian music while I write. Sometimes I need silence, especially when I’m editing my work.

Q: How do you balance out the writer’s life and the rest of life? Do you get up early? Stay up late? Ignore friends and family for certain periods of time?

A: I have done all of the aforementioned. Since I have young children, I usually have to find time when they are asleep. It is much easier for me to write without disruptions.

Q: When they write your obituary, what do you hope they will say about your book/s and writing? What do you hope they will say about you?

A: I pray that my books inspire many to love, trust and obey God. The one thing I want the world to remember about me is that I truly love God.

Q: Is there anyone who has inspired, motivated, encouraged or supported your writing?

A: My husband has motivated, encouraged and supported me all the way in the endeavor to complete Return to Your First Love.

Q: In my experience, some things come quite easily (like creating the setting) and other things aren’t so easy (like deciding on a title). What comes easily to you and what do you find more difficult?

A: Creating settings comes quite easy to me because I use many details in my descriptions. Since I’m meticulous with my use of words in my writing, titles come relatively easy to me as well. I don’t enjoy editing because it is so tedious.

Q: Do you have any book signings, tours or special events planned to promote your book that readers might be interested in attending? If so, when and where?

A: I have another speaking engagement and book signing scheduled in November at the Labourers for Christ Ministries, 17th Sexual Relational Healing Retreat.

Location
Wyndham O’Hare
6810 North Manheim Road
Rosemont, Illinois 60018
Register Now!
ph 773.779.2900
fx: 773.779.1300
registration@labourers-for-Christ.org
www.labourers-for-Christ.org

Q: It’s one thing to write a book and another to edit it. How do you feel about the editing process? What was it like to edit your book?

A: Editing is an arduous process. When you think that you have dotted every “I” and crossed every “t”, chances are you will find one more mistake and start the editing process all over again. My manuscript was over 400 pages and it has gone through the editing process five times.

Q: Now that you are a published author, does it feel differently than you had imagined?

A: My life has not changed yet because I’m still working at my government job.

Q. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Return to Your First Love has been ten years in the making. I’m excited to see how God is going to use it in the Kingdom. View the trailer at (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OQzT0eQqk4). You can visit my website at www.teresarjones.com. You can find out more information about the book at www.revelation2-4.com.

Please join me in welcoming my good friend, Cheryl Malandrinos, to The Hot Author Report!

I attended Catholic school for eight years. Although I no longer practice Catholicism, I was baptized in the Catholic Church and attended the same small Catholic elementary school both my parents went to, which was across the street from where we lived.

This will surprise everyone who has known me for the past two decades—I was a very quiet and shy child. We didn’t have a lot of children in our neighborhood and I always got along much better with adults than my peers, so school was extremely tough for me. My parents believed in the “children are seen and not heard” philosophy, so I spent a great deal of time entertaining myself—which allowed me to use my imagination a great deal and led to me dreaming to become either a teacher or a writer one day. I’m lucky to be both—I’m a freelance writer whose first Christian children’s book will be coming out next year, and as a mother, I am most definitely a teacher.

There is a fourteen-year gap between my oldest child and the middle one. When I was just out of high school, I became pregnant with my son, John. When he was eighteen months old, his father and I separated and I became a single parent for the next eleven years. My current husband and I dated for most of that time and married in 2000. We welcomed Katherine in 2001 and Sarah in 2003. Only God knows if we will be adding to our brood. LOL!

When I was a kid, I used to pretend to throw up to make my middle sister sick. Terry had a very sensitive stomach, and even the sound of someone throwing up made her ill. We shared a bedroom for eleven years; and during that time if she did something to tick me off or if I was just feeling wicked, I would start making that hurling noise that everyone hates to hear. She would run from the room holding her hand over her mouth. I said I was quiet and shy; but I never claimed to be nice.

I have absolutely no patience. None, not a shred, not even one tiny ounce. I may be the most impatient person in the world. I’ve also learned not to pray for patience, because God has an even bigger sense of humor than I do, and He would give me plenty of practice if I asked for it.

***

Cheryl C. Malandrinos is a contributor for Writer2Writer. Her articles help writers increase productivity through time management and organization. A member of Musing Our Children, Ms. Malandrinos is also the new editor of Musing Our Children’s quarterly newsletter, Pages & Pens.

Cheryl is a Tour Coordinator for Pump Up Your Book Promotion and interviews authors and editors at her blog, The Book Connection. She lives in Western Massachusetts with her husband and three children. Visit Cheryl’s website here.

She is looking forward to the release of her first children’s book in 2010.

Welcome to The Hot Author Report!

Q: It’s rare today to find an author who does nothing but write for a living. Do you have a ‘real’ job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some other jobs you’ve had in your life? Have they influenced/inspired your writing?

A. I am a retired professional pilot. I began as an Army Aviator and served two tours in the Viet Nam War. I left the Army after eight years and hired on with a major airline on the west coast. I flew as a line pilot and left that company during the early years of deregulation when a corporate raider took control and maneuvered the company into a sham bankruptcy and our union declared a strike in protest.

In the ensuing years, I worked as a securities and insurance broker, travel agent and tax preparer. I returned to active flying after almost six years, flying jet charters, airfreight and corporate jets. I began writing in the early nineteen-seventies by writing mostly letters of political commentary to be published in the opinion pages of the Denver Post and Boulder Colorado Daily Camera. During periods of labor strife, I also wrote articles for union newsletters.

Q: What compelled you to write your first book?

The inspiration for writing “The Target” came from my personal experience as an Army Aviator in Viet Nam and flying as a professional pilot for the airlines, in jet airfreight and in corporate aviation, as well as working as a securities broker, travel agent and other odds jobs I performed between flying jobs, just to make ends meet. The story links directly to current events where deregulation of the securities and banking industries has led to the nearly total breakdown of our economic system.

Q: Tell us briefly about your book.

A. My book, The Target, is set in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West and tells the tale of the tumultuous first years of airline deregulation and the effects it had on that industry and the people who worked there. There are many of us today who believe it was, in large part, the rush to overall deregulation back then that led directly to the economic chaos that threatens to overwhelm our entire economy today.

In the nineteen-eighties, Carlo Clemenza was known as “the most hated man” in the airline business, as described by some pundits. A dedicated corporate raider and union buster, Clemenza used ruthless tactics to crush competing airlines and to bring airline workers to heel. His methods have earned him death threats, yet he struts with arrogance, surrounded by his cadre of security toughs. Thousands of airline professionals are forced to start their careers over or to find them at a sudden and complete end. The airline grapevine echoes the cry, “Why doesn’t someone kill that SOB?”

Only one pilot, angered by the deaths of his friends in a bloody crash, takes up the chase and he makes Carlo Clemenza The Target! His quest takes him to the far corners of the country as he finds himself also to be the object of pursuit and murder. The characters merge in spectacular action and settings and the story ultimately ends in redemption

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A. My second book is already in progress. It is built around the title, Romancing the Grey Lady; Surfing the Atlantic and Greeting Life’s Certainty. It is about my friends and I who attempt to live life to the fullest each day we are granted here on Earth.

Q: What type of music, if any, do you listen to while you write? Do you need the noise or the silence?

A. I was fourteen in 1955 when Elvis hit the scene, so I claim charter membership as one of the first teen fans of Rock ‘n Roll. I find the all-music channels on cable TV to provide my best source of classic R & R to set the tone for work, especially when I want to be “up.” Maybe it’s the rediscovered hormones? For more introspection, I prefer classical, jazz, new age, even blues. It’s all there on cable, but no “elevator music,” please.

Q: If you could live in one of your books, which one would you live in?

A. In one of my future books I will write a historical novel about the Susquehanna River Valley of Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary war. I grew up on mountaintop farm and I used to wander alone in the woods there, often long after dark, much to the consternation of my mother. On more than one occasion, I was run out of those woods by ghosts of that era and I want to tell their tale.

Q: Is there an established writer you admire and emulate in your own writing?

A. When I need a model for writing, a piece that paints a vivid picture in elegant words, spans a full season and clearly demonstrates economy and style, I pull out A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemmingway. Chapter One does it all and it is composed of two pages!

Q: What about now: who is your favorite author and what is your favorite genre to read?

A. Most of my current reading is on political themes and ultimately, I aspire to be a political writer. I tend to be conservative politically but I differ greatly from the current crop of neo-cons, war mongers and laissez faire economists who seem to dream of an American Empire. In this vein, I prefer the well researched writing of Pat Buchanan, Andrew Basevich and Congressman Ron Paul.

Q: When they write your obituary, what do you hope they will say about your book/s and writing? What do you hope they will say about you?

A: I want to be known as a story teller who wrote about fundamental truths. To my wife, my children and friends, I want to be remembered with laughter and love. I want my memorial to say, “Neither great warrior, nor aviator he, but they knew him and called him brother.”

Q: Where you have lived and what you have experienced can influence your writing in many ways. Are there any specific locations or experiences that have popped up in your books?

A: I was born in the Midwest and lived there until I was ten. I spent my teen years in Pennsylvania and my military post- adolescence in the Deep South. My first airline job was in Southern California and I have lived most of the past forty years in Colorado, mixed lately with winters in Florida. My flying career took me to virtually every corner of our land. I think these life experiences have blessed me with a uniquely broad perspective of life in this country and I celebrate the local culture that still exists in these locales. Accurately describing varied settings come quite easy for me due to my travel experience.

Q: Is there any particular book that, when you read it, you thought, “I wish I had written that!”?

A: That would be A River Runs Through It, by Norman Maclean. He was a tough character in his own right and I admire Redford for his complete honesty with this great story.
Maclean’s story-telling style came through magnificently in both book and movie.

Q: Do you have any book signings, tours or special events planned to promote your book that readers might be interested in attending? If so, when and where?

A: I will continue on virtual tour through September and then I will begin to book signings at independent stores in Orlando, Daytona and Melbourne, Florida. I will schedule a signing tour in Denver and Colorado Springs next spring.

Q: It’s one thing to write a book and another to edit it. How do you feel about the editing process? What was it like to edit your book?

A: This is a biggie, a big mistake, I mean! I self-published and tried to rush the editing and do it myself. I quickly noticed that every time I changed format, hundreds of more mistakes showed up. Still, I went forward with a test marketing edition. I blamed my rush on the rumor that another pilot author was bringing his own version of the story to publication. Without saying, it was a bad move. Luckily, my test marketing was mostly with my friends, so I pulled it off the market and took it to a professional editor.

My main mentor is J.A. Hunsinger, author of the Axe of Iron series of historical novels about the Vikings in America. He says you should absolutely have anything that is to be read by another human to be professionally edited. That can be very difficult for blogging on a virtual tour where you have to respond with a clean, well-written piece in a short time.

I find the spell and grammar check on Word 2007 to be very helpful and my very best tool for self-editing is to read an entire piece aloud to myself at least two times. In this way I can not only catch nearly one hundred percent of the little glitches but I can also check for story telling quality, as well as tempo and style.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to share?

My first novel, The Target; Love, Death and Airline Deregulation can be found at Amazon, Xlibras and most internet marketing websites. I offer autographed copies with airline/internet discounts at www.caddispublishing.com/

My Facebook page is currently under construction and I occasionally blog on Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty. Most of my literary blogging these days is done through Dorothy Thompson and her “Pump Up Your Book Promotions.”

I maintain a busy schedule, yet I manage to make time for intense physical activity. I stay fit by playing ice hockey in the spring and summer and I surf in the late fall and winter in Cocoa Beach, Florida, home of World Champion, Kelly Slater. I make my own surfboards and golf clubs for my friends, though there is not enough time for me to golf any more. I am a music minister in my church and I just signed up for voice lessons with an operatic soprano. Most of my surfing and hockey pals and I know one another only by our first names. Our ages are from seventeen to seventy and all of us are dedicated to living our lives to the fullest in our remaining days.

I have been blessed with a full life and a beautiful family. The depth of my life experience has given me enough material to fill an ample sized shelf of books and I will spend the rest of my life in this quest. My advice to aspiring writers is that if your life has not yet provided the “Big Story,” then start with the small stories, especially the one in your life today.

About the Book

Jane, the evolved computer intelligence, can save the world’s three sentient races. She has learned how to move ships outside the universe, and then instantly back to a different world, abolishing the light-speed limit. But it takes all the processing power available to her. With the Starways Congress shutting down the Net, world by world, soon Jane will not be able to move the ships. Ender’s children must save her if they are to save themselves.

The Long Story

It’s hard to know how to start this review because I’m not quite sure what to say. I have followed these books from Ender’s Game now through the end of the series, emerging not a completely different person, but certainly changed.

Children of the Mind is the conclusion to what got started in Speaker of the Dead. In his acknowledgements, he thanks two people at Tor for allowing him “to split Xenocide in half in order to have a chance to develop and write the second half of the story properly.” Having read the book – even so long after it being published – I find myself thanking them as well.

There is a beauty to this books – especially in the latter parts – that isn’t in the other books. It is almost as if, having set everything in motion, Card is sitting back (even though the plot does not slow) and enjoying the true wonder of the universe he has created. There are moments when I stopped reading just so I could imagine the beautiful pictures Card describes.

Though there was a niggle of fear in regards to the ending of the book turning into something I would hate, I realize now that it couldn’t really have ended any other way. Everything is just… right, and I am putting down this series with a feeling of great satisfaction.

And yet, he has still left loose ends. I won’t tell you what they are so I don’t spoil the contents of the book, but Card has struck a good balance between what has been tied up and what will continue to go on beyond the book, unanswered in all but our imaginations.

The Short Story

Perhaps even more so than when I excitedly recommended Ender’s Game months ago, I highly recommend this entire series. Card is an author like no other I have read with an ability to write books that will take you not only across the horizon of plot but also to all the depths of thought that you allow the books to take you. These books are a choose your own adventure in a different way; you can be entertained or you can shift your entire way of thinking about the universe.

***

Rating: 4 ½/5 Stars

***
Children of the Mind
Orson Scott Card
http://www.hatrack.com/
ISBN: 978-0812522396
Length: 384 Pages

About the Book

As a child, Ender commanded a warfleet that wiped out a planet. The triumph of his life could be his fight to stop it happening again. It might be his tragedy that he cannot.

Congress has sent a warfleet to Lusitania, home to Ender, his family, two alien species – and the deadliest virus ever known. The warfleet carries an order to destroy. To commit xenocide.

The Long Story

Ever since reading Ender’s Game, I have been impressed with Orson Scott Card’s ability to create a story that is not only entertaining on a surface level but can also take you to the depths of your beliefs should you let it do so. A friend of mine told me that Xenocide isn’t as good as the previous books, so I was worried about being disappointed while reading it. Having finished it, I’m not disappointed, but I can see why other people might be…

In each of the Ender’s Game books, Card explores a different area. In this book, he explores religion and the power of belief and the mind. Therein lies the reason some people might not like this book: Xenocide features a lot more talking, theory, explorations of what the Buggers truly are and so on.

Another wonderful ability Card has is that, though there is a lot of talk, you never get the impression that he is using the story to work through his own thoughts (a pet peeve I have with some authors); he has already worked things out. The impression is that he wants you to learn as much as you want to get out of the story, which I appreciated.

However, that’s not to say the story is without action! What happens to Ender towards the end… Well, I certainly thought there couldn’t be any more plot twists and yet that’s a huge one.

The Short Story

Yet again, Card has given us a book that will challenge your mind and your views about how the universe works – if you let it. If you’re not in for deep thinking, theory and contemplation, then you might find this book a bit boring for your tastes.

***

Rating: 4 ½/5 Stars

***
Children of the Mind
Orson Scott Card
http://www.hatrack.com/
ISBN: 978-0312861872
Length: 416 Pages

Since we wrote Football is for Lovers, you might assume that our topic of choice would be either football or lovers.

Yes.

We love football. It’s a beautiful sport. Some of those moves – dazzling broken field running, leap-in-the-air pass receptions worthy of Baryshnikov – can take your breath away.

And when you go beneath the sometimes beautiful, sometimes brutal exterior of football, you’ll find that what you’ve been looking at is actually chess played on Astroturf.

Even so, lovers is really the subject that intrigues us.

Remember the line from that old song, “Love is the answer”?

Well, we happen to think it is. Literally. To whatever the question may be.

Because if we really did love one another, it would solve virtually every problem on the planet. Greed, corruption, war, hate: gone.

If we became a world full of lovers, then, to quote another song, “What a wonderful world it would be.”

Yet, two people who claim to love each other find themselves at war over a simple game like football!

And like most wars, it’s almost always not about what it appears to be on the surface.

What made Hitler grab Poland? He already had his own country, for goodness sake. Does anybody really need more than one?

So, too, every August across the United States, at the start of the NFL pre-season, the Clicker Wars begin. The euphoria of the football-starved fan is challenged by surly mutterings of “I hate football.”

And the surliest mutterers seem to be those who know virtually nothing about the game.

To which we say: if you don’t know what it is, how can you say you hate it?

Look: hate is not a good thing. It tends to get in the way of love just about every time. In this case, it can lead to fighting over the TV clicker, sulking in separate rooms, even a certain amount of hostile glaring.

But, counter the offended parties, it’s not fair to be ignored all during football season.

To which we say: aha! So that’s what you hate!

We’d hate that, too.

But push the hate aside, and it might open the way for the kind of shared experience that leads instead to laughing together, maybe even to a little euphoric post-game cuddling. So maybe it’s worth taking the time to find out what football is all about.

Hey, it’s not all that hard.

Yes. We did say that football is chess on Astroturf. And it is. But it can be understood and enjoyed at the checkers level, too.

Heck, they even dress opposing teams in different color uniforms so you can tell the bad guys from the good guys. Better yet, you get to pick which is which. Maybe work out a little teenage angst by rooting against the team wearing jerseys the color of that dress your high school arch-rival wore to prom.

Plus cuddling beats glaring every time.

Trust us: Football really is for Lovers. Or at least it can be.

***

Bob Brooker and Kaye O’Dougherty have been adventuring together for a lot of years now. They first met at a recording studio on 42nd Street. Yes, that 42nd Street. They recorded a commercial for E.J. Korvette’s, who went out of business soon thereafter.

Bob is an old saloon singer who, as Bobby Brookes, recorded for RCA Victor and Capital back in the day. Kaye has trouble carrying a tune in a bucket. Nevertheless, over the years, as Brooker and O’Dougherty, the two have collaborated on a variety of theater, film, TV and video projects, performing, writing, directing, managing, and producing. Football is for Lovers (which can be found at http://www.footballforlovers.com) marks their debut as book authors.

Hello and welcome, everyone It is my extreme pleasure to welcome to The Hot Author Report the co-authors of Football is for Lovers: Bob Brooker and Kaye O’Dougherty!

Welcome to the site!

Q: It’s rare today to find an author who does nothing but write for a living. Do you have a ‘real’ job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some other jobs you’ve had in your life? Have they influenced/inspired your writing?

For most of his life, Bob earned his living as a singer. He’s traveled all over the world, recorded for RCA Victor, Capital, Rainbow . . . even done his share of weddings and bar mitzvahs when cash flow called for it. Although since we met back in the 70s, our focus has been on theatre projects of one kind and another, Kaye has, over the years, always provided financial services for a clientele of small businesses . . . sort of her version of weddings and bar mitzvahs. In our younger days, we started out – briefly – with the usual ‘job’ jobs, working for a variety of employers. It mostly inspired us to find ways and means to earn a living without doing it via the 9 to 5 thing, which, for both of us, would be slow death.

Q: What compelled you to write your first book?

We’d both gone back to college to complete our degrees with the intention of revving up our work in the entertainment field after graduation. But in 2004 – three months after Bob graduated magna cum laude from Montclair State, and on the weekend before he was set to go into a recording studio to complete work on a new album – Bob had a stroke. It left his left side – including his left vocal chord – partially paralyzed. But it didn’t turn off our need to create. Like the 9 to 5 thing, that would also be slow death. So we made the move from the stage to the printed page.

Q: Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Kaye has. Her favorite things since pre-K have always been writing and reading, the quiet, behind-the-scenes sort of stuff. Bob has always been performance-oriented. He’s the ‘front man,’ the guy on stage, the entertainer. We sort of fit the lines from that old song: “You are the words/I am the song./Play me.” Since Bob has worked not only as a singer, but also as an actor, director and producer, the collaboration has been ideal, with Kaye researching and drafting the initial material, and Bob editing it based on his experience and vision of what will and will not ‘play.’

Q: Tell us briefly about your book.

We thought it was a shame that a cool game like football was apparently causing conflict in a lot of relationships. Val, our favorite bank teller, actually said she hated football . . . about which, Val admitted, she knew very little. So, obviously, if she didn’t know what the game was about, it couldn’t really be football that she hated, now could it?

A brief discussion of the subject revealed that it was being ignored by her boyfriend from August pre-season through the February Super Bowl that was putting a strain on their couplehood. So we wrote Football is for Lovers as an antidote to what seems to be a rather common problem.

In the book, we not only make understanding the game as easy as buttering toast, but also we give you the tools to make football work for your relationship, not against it. Football is for Lovers gives you a whole new way of looking at football that can end the TV clicker wars, spice up your love life, and maybe even get you some M&Ms into the bargain. Not bad, huh?

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A book about God. The working title is: He’s Not the Guy (God Didn’t Do It!) We keep hearing these miracle stories where, say, a building collapses and ninety-nine people are killed. Only one survives. The survivor credits God with saving him. But . . . uh . . . does that mean God killed the other ninety-nine? We think not. And we intend to set the record straight.

Q: How did you feel the day you held the copy of your first book in your hands?

We grinned a lot!

Q: What type of music, if any, do you listen to while you write? Do you need the noise or the silence?

Kaye needs absolute silence. Bob needs noise, which could be music or, more often than not, any Western available on TV. We’re thinking the need for noise is based on Bob having grown up in a large family, then staying solo at those lonely hotels when he toured the world as a singer. The background sound of the television sort of took the place of his brothers and sister.

Q: Is there an established writer you admire and emulate in your own writing? Do you have a writing mentor?

Unfortunately, we have no mentor. But Toni Morrison is an author we both admire. Her writing is so incredibly lush and beautiful! You could eat her words with a spoon! We met her once at the rehearsal for a stage play she had written. We’re really not into running behind people to get their autographs, but we – okay, Kaye – positively fawned over the woman.

Q: When they write your obituary, what do you hope they will say about your book/s and writing? What do you hope they will say about you?

We’d like the header to be: Bob and Kaye: American Humorists. Then maybe, “They were good for laughs, but they made us think, too. And since it’s true that ‘as you think, so shall you be,’ we’re glad they did.” Of course, if we were to have a single obituary, we guess that would mean we’d have to die at the same time, yes? Maybe a tsunami could work. Could be we should look into getting a beachhouse . . .

Q: What is your writing space like? Do you have a designated space? What does it look like? On the couch, laptop, desk? Music? Lighting? Typing? Handwriting?

Once upon a time, it seemed to us that the only way to write was curled up in our favorite chair with a yellow legal pad and a pencil. Now, we go straight to the computer. Since we’ve picked up speed at the keyboard, the words can get down on the paper a lot faster than via the old pencil method.

Plus the flexibility of being able to move or delete whole paragraphs at will is awesome!!! Okay. Sitting at the computer is not as comfortable as curling up in a chair. But it solves the problem of our being able to read our own handwriting.

Q: Is there anyone who has inspired, motivated, encouraged or supported your writing?

We have inspired, motivated, encouraged and supported each other in our writing. Just as we’ve done with most everything else over the years. It’s been better than good . . .

Q: Is there any particular book that, when you read it, you thought, “I wish I had written that!”?

For Bob, it’s Taylor Caldwell’s Captains and the Kings for its tragic prescience.

For Kaye, it’s Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities. Sorry about the movie! But the character sketches, switching between how the character saw himself as opposed to how he was seen by the rest of the world, were so incisive they might have been written with a scalpel.

Q: Have you ever had a character take over a story and move it in a different direction than you had originally intended? How did you handle it?

Absolutely! Although we’re focused now on non-fiction, when we were working on stage and screen plays, we were actually woken up at night by characters protesting that we were putting words in their mouths. Invariably, we would apologize and let them have their way.

Q: It’s one thing to write a book and another to edit it. How do you feel about the editing process? What was it like to edit your book?

Ah, that’s where we have the best of both worlds. Since Kaye loves the quiet atmosphere or research and writing, and Bob loves stirring up the pot with his editing, we have, in-house, a multi-directional view of things. As we recall from biology class, flies have this attribute, too. Anyway, Bob’s favorite phrase, left over from his directorial days, is: It doesn’t play. Which means it doesn’t work as it is. Make it better. After a brief scuffling over making changes (a spicy part of the creative process), Kaye has to admit: Bob is always right!

***

Bob Brooker and Kaye O’Dougherty have been adventuring together for a lot of years now. They first met at a recording studio on 42nd Street. Yes, that 42nd Street. They recorded a commercial for E.J. Korvette’s, who went out of business soon thereafter.

Bob is an old saloon singer who, as Bobby Brookes, recorded for RCA Victor and Capital back in the day. Kaye has trouble carrying a tune in a bucket. Nevertheless, over the years, as Brooker and O’Dougherty, the two have collaborated on a variety of theater, film, TV and video projects, performing, writing, directing, managing, and producing. Football is for Lovers (which can be found at http://www.footballforlovers.com) marks their debut as book authors.

Achieve Your Goals
By Kathy Balland

There may be times in your life when you feel stuck. You may be in a situation that is making you unhappy, however you are lacking the inspiration you need to help you to achieve your goal; whatever that goal may be. Sometimes you may not even be sure of what it is that you want.

If you are unclear as to what your goal is, you can take a look at each area of your life. The areas may include: Family, friends, health, career, finances, physical location, hobbies, and also your love life. You can begin by determining on a scale from one to ten (ten being best) how you feel about each of these areas of your life. After you determine which area has the lowest number, you can then think about what you can do to make that area a “ten”. (For help, check out the resources section of Lose the Diet at: http://www.losethediet.com/_site/pages/Resources.aspx.)

Once you have determined what your goal (or dream) is, then you can begin to focus on it by determining what steps you need to take in order to get there. One thing to consider is that even though you may not be happy with your current situation, it was that situation that launched your dream. So it is important to appreciate where you are in your life, which helps to create a positive mental attitude. This attitude can help to move you in the right direction more quickly.

Also, it is a good idea for you to surround yourself with other people who have similar goals. This support system can add more inspiration, and can provide even more ideas which will help you to reach your goal. Determination is very important, because the person who did not reach their goal is usually the one who gave up before they reached the “finish line”. (Consider that Thomas Edison tried 700 times before inventing the light bulb.) Sometimes, you simply need to keep trying and not give up.

If there comes a time when you could use some extra inspiration, a personal life coach can help you to find out what you want, and can help inspire you to get there. Also, a hypnotherapist can provide positive visualization, which can help you to reach your goal more quickly by using the power of the subconscious mind. Any of these tips and tools can help you to reach the goal that you desire.

***

Kathy Balland is the author of: Lose the Diet – Transform your body by connection with your soul. For a FREE half hour guided meditation audio to help you relax and reconnect, sign up at: www.LoseTheDiet.com. The book trailer is at: www.DietFreeMovie.com. Follow Kathy on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/LosetheDiet