MY DEAREST FRIEND by Hazel Statham

Part of the premise for ‘My Dearest Friend’ came from a dream. I have very vivid dreams and after watching a programme about the Peninsular War, I dreamt that a girl, desperate to rescue her seriously wounded brother from Portugal, approached a duke to help her to bring him home. I started writing the book at, what is now, part way through the first chapter and then put it aside.

I didn’t take it up again for quite a while but when I had to finish working through ill health, I resurrected it from my files. Reading through what I had written, I was much struck by Robert’s grief and decided that he deserved a happier life. However, as a man of intense emotions, who loved deeply and protected fiercely, there were many obstacles for him to clear to achieve true contentment. In Jane he found his perfect companion but the treachery of another conspired against them.

It is an emotionally charged book and at times there appears no hope for reconciliation when the couple are driven apart. How much can a heart endure before it’s irreparably broken?

Hazel Statham is the author of the historical fiction, My Dearest Friend.  You can visit her website at www.hazel-statham.co.uk and her blog at www.hazelstatham.blogspot.com.

THE TRUTH: I’M TEN, I’M SMART AND I KNOW EVERYTHING by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

How did I come to write my first fiction? This is my fourth book and the first one to divert to an entirely new path, yet with the same objective: To help women and girls lead happier lives, lives of meaning and purpose, while staying totally truth to the unique passions and potential of each woman or girl. I have been teaching the value of understanding one’s uniqueness for 15 years. But how to give the lesson a new simple twist that would captivate and at the same time leave the woman or girl who read the book on fire to be truer to herself?

Well, like all journeys, this one has a beginning. The beginning was another non-fiction book for women that I had titled, You Don’t Have to Be A Princess to Live an Enchanted Life. Seven Gateways to Happier Living. (My trademark is THE ENCHANTED SELF, hence the word Enchanted in the title. You can find out all about THE ENCHANTED SELF concept on my website and blog, www.enchantedself.com. For now, let me just say it is a both a way of living that enhances happiness and a way of perceiving yourself that augments your sense of well-being.)

Getting back to THE TRUTH, I’m Ten, I’m Smart and I Know Everything!-this book was to some extent embedded in the princess book. In that book I used discussions with myself as a Positive Psychologist, and a girl of 10 or so, who was me. We talked to each other about how we viewed each of the Seven Gateways of Happiness that we all need to walk through again and again to make progress in life. For example, the first Gateway is centered around self-esteem. My little girl inside of me felt very sure of herself and was actually, as it turned out, much to my surprise, angry at me-the adult, for not having more courage to do the things I claimed to be passionate about. I learned so much writing the rough draft of that book about myself and women in general, as I merged my thoughts with my client’s narratives.

I realized above all else, that we don’t harness the powers that we really have as adults to live empassioned lives that relfect what we really care about. We are in our own ways timid and afraid and bogged down by life’s pressures.

Once You Don’t Have to Be A Princess… didn’t get beyond a rough draft it came to me that the real gem in that book was the voice of the girl. If I could merge her voice with was a lot my voice as a kid, with my client’s girls inside of them and other women’s girl’s inside of them, then I could make a composite ‘girl’ who speaks for all of us.

And that is what happened. I started to write and as I think all fictional authors say, the character starts to direct what will be said and what will happen. And she did. She has a bit of me mixed in, but quickly became her own person. And boy did she tell us like it is!

I thing the ‘girl’ in THE TRUTH is a great character. She is funny and tragic, filled with wisdom and yet yearning for the wisdom and acknowledgement that she needs from grown-ups. She sees a lot and knows what is right. She is smart and proud of it. She has secrets and discovers a wonderful solution for a very painful problem she is dealing with. She is great. I hope you enjoy reading her diary as much as I enjoyed helping her write it. As she said, “Grown-ups say they know so much about live but I know more…” She does and we can learn from her!

What happened to the Princess book? It sits waiting for a kiss of somesort from the prince or a frog to get going again. Meanwhile, I’m satisfied with THE TRUTH, I’m Ten, I’m Smart and I Know Everything!

Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein
Author, THE TRUTH: I’M TEN, I’M SMART AND I KNOW EVERYTHING
http://www.enchantedself.com/

Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interview, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, online book promotion, Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

THE LAST JEW STANDING by Michael Simon

As a young reader and moviegoer, I had two favorite genres: comedy and crime. My crime reading and viewing was mostly of an earlier era: the novels of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain and Jim Thompson, and films featuring mugs like Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson and George Raft.

It was later that I was taught a distinction between detective fiction and crime fiction. By my professor’s definition (I’ve heard others since), a detective novel is told strictly from the point of view of a detective. You only know what he knows. A crime novel may be told from the point of view of a criminal, a victim, or a bystander (innocent or otherwise.) It can even be told from multiple points of view, employing a crosscutting technique so often used in film and TV. This can raise the stakes, and often begs the categorization “thriller,” which I use to describe my books.

My main character is a detective, but in three of the books, the reader knows who the killer is long before the detective does, even before the killer kills. The story often begins with a murder and ends with a solution, as all detective stories do. But there are other murders along the way, and plots and schemes, and attacks and counterattacks. There are elements of romance as well as mystery. My goal is to make the reader hunger to find out what happens next, rather than wondering what happened before.

My newest book, The Last Jew Standing, is different from my others in that the entire story is told from the point of view of the detective, Dan Reles. We only see what he sees, and often, by the time he finds out what the criminal is up to, the damage is already done. My goal was to create a story that was just as thrilling as a multiple-POV story, but with only one narrator. To do that, I created a situation where the character found himself, (along with his family and his town) in increasingly desperate danger.

Then I challenged him to get out of it.

Michael Simon is the author of THE LAST JEW STANDING (Viking 2007). You can visit his website at http://www.michaelsimon.info.com/.

Tags: The Story Behind the Book, virtual book tour, online book promotion, author promotions, Michael Simon, The Last Jew Standing, crime thriller, crime novel, mystery detective, Jew, Texas, crime fiction, authors on book tour

F.H.M. MURRAY: FIRST BIOGRAPHY OF A FORGOTTEN PIONEER FOR CIVIL JUSTICE by Anita Hackley-Lambert

I was busy writing several manuscripts when my mother invited me to her home. This was a memorable day because although glaucoma had robbed her of her physical sight, she had perfect spiritual vision and a lot of wisdom. We spent most of the day discussing the rich history of her grandfather, Freeman Henry Morris Murray. Mother exposed, for the first time, family secrets she had harbored most of her adult life. She had me promise to kept the memory of my great grandfather alive. Not only did mother share new stories with me but she gave me her special box packed with Grandpa Murray’s papers. These documents were the seeds for my research and the inspiration I needed to keep me going for over ten years.

I prepared my first draft and was later diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer. I continued my research and put the writing on hold. I refused radiation and chemo and turned to the Lord. Today, I am cancer free. I credit my strong faith in God who healed me so I could busy myself with research, validate family stories, and write the book.

I also believe divine intervention played a big role in this. I had a supernatural encounter after finding Grandpa Murray’s journals. After opening the first one, the spirit of F.H.M. Murray entered my body and connected to my spirit. I saw him reading his own words through my eyes with his own tears streaming down my face. Then a quite peace came over me and I felt as if he had given me approval to write his book. This was an awesome and unique experience for me.

That day, connected to myself. By reading his words and uncovering his personal thoughts and feelings, for the first time in my life, I understood how I was more like him – explaining why I differed from my siblings. I also learned that my great grandfather was uniquely amazing – full of energy, a visionary, and a pioneer. It was difficult to understand why everyone overlooked him.

F.H.M. Murray did so much for so many. Yet, in all he did, he did it out of love for his fellowman – not for fame or fortune. His one desire was to be remembered in some small way. After he died in 1951 he was completely forgotten. Here is a man who devoted his entire life to fight for equality and civil justice for the betterment of his African American race. Despite segregation and Jim Crow laws, Murray created powerful businesses, which created career jobs for those he mentored and trained. He made American history by becoming the first in many areas. However, what is most impressive to me is how he maintained a full-time job and was still able to do all of the following:

• Teacher
• Lecturer
• Art Historian
• Civil Rights Activist
• Proofreader, Editor and Publisher, Newsman/founder of Alexandria Home News and the Washington Tribune newspapers
• Founder/engineer of the post-Civil War, Murray Underground Railroad of Alexandria, Virginia
• Founded Murray Brothers Printing Co.
• Founded Murray Palace Casino
• Co-founder of the Niagara Movement
• Co-founder and co-editor of the Horizon: A Magazine of the Color Line
• Co-founder of the NAACP
• Author and publisher of Emancipation of the Freed: An Interpretation of Black Folk in Art

F.H.M. Murray’s legacy is complex due to the overlapping careers he had. Perhaps a good part of his story is how it reveals the personal, business, and public character of a great man. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “not everyone can be come famous but everyone can be come great in their service to mankind.” Murray lived his life fully in the service of his fellow man – regardless of the risk, or the cost. But the best part is the detailed new information, describes the Niagara Movement, the Horizon magazine, and the NAACP, including clarity and validation to the conflict surrounding each – plus F.H.M. Murray ‘s close association with W.E.B Du Bois and other social reformers.

My first book was produced through my company, HLE Publishing (a subsidiary of HLE, Inc.) but printed by BookSurge. The only reason I chose BookSurge is of a special rush request by the Harpers Ferry Historical Society. Due to the enormous cost and disappointment I encountered, I realized I needed to have my own company. I have learned much and recognized the benefits of doing it myself. I realized that other writers could benefit from my services. I am pleased to announce that in 2008, HLE Publishing will present several books by other authors to the public. I am excited to be able to publish my own works but even more excited to do it for others.

Look for my upcoming announcement of my new book entitled, Barry A. Murray: Biography in a New Dimension. This is an exciting story about one of this nation’s most radical newspaper publishers serving the District of Columbia. The twist is that Barry walked in the footsteps of F.H.M. Murray, the great grandfather he never knew. Barry was my cousin. I believe you will love it! I actually have 2 other books I hope to publish this year. After that, I can get down to writing and publishing my other twelve works-in-progress that include such genres as autobiographical, biographical, inspirational, true supernatural encounters, suspense, and fiction.

Anita Hackley-Lambert is the author of F.H.M. MURRAY: FIRST BIOGRAPHY OF A FORGOTTEN PIONEER FOR CIVIL JUSTICE. You can visit her website at www.anitahackleylambert.com.  If you would like to pick up a copy of Anita’s book, click here.

Anita Hackley-Lambert’s virtual book tour is brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion.

THE DOWRY BRIDE by Shobhan Bantwal

I like to call my fledgling writing career a “Menopausal Epiphany.” I had not written a single creative word (other than school and college essays) until I hit 50 — a landmark year that brought home the ravages of menopause and then some. Fighting Mother Nature was a losing battle, so I decided to put those yo-yoing hormones to creative use instead.

My muses came alive along with my menopausal woes, and I started writing articles and short stories for a number of publications. THE DOWRY BRIDE project was born much later, after I had a taste of minor publishing successes.

Growing up in India, the horror stories about dowry-related abuse had always been abundant — a wealth of fodder for a creative mind. But thankfully that kind of violence had never touched my life. I was lucky to be born in an enlightened community that eschewed dowry. Nonetheless the disturbing topic stayed in the back of my mind.

The fact that atrocities like dowry deaths continue unhindered today in India, despite anti-dowry laws, sparked the idea for the novel. Also, as far as my knowledge went, dowry had not been the main theme in any fiction book published in the United States. I wanted to give American readers a rare glimpse into an archaic practice that still persists in the twenty-first century in certain parts of the world.

But in spite of its controversial topic, THE DOWRY BRIDE has all the elements of popular fiction: romance and intrigue, a young bride in jeopardy, a gallant hero, humor and anguish, betrayal and hope. Notwithstanding the drama, adventure, and action essential to a work of fiction, I have tried to paint a realistic portrait of a culture that is simple yet complex in many ways, abundant yet lacking in some areas, progressive yet shockingly primitive.

Please visit my website: www.shobhanbantwal.com for the book cover, an excerpt, information on the book, my Indian recipes, articles, short fiction, and pictures depicting life in India.

Shobhan Bantwal is the author of THE DOWRY BRIDE (Kensington, Oct. ‘07). You can visit her website at http://www.shobhanbantwal.com/.

Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interview, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, online book promotion, virtual book tour, Shobhan Bantwal

ON STRIKE FOR CHRISTMAS by Sheila Roberts

I think the best book ideas come from a real life experiences, and some of the most irritating experiences can provide the best material. If I hadn’t been irritated with my husband, I never would have come up with the idea for my new book “On Strike for Christmas” about a group of friends who go on strike for more appreciation over the holidays with near disastrous results.

My husband was grumbling about having to spend yet another holiday with my big, loud, fabulous family and I had just had it.

What was his problem, anyway? He’d been doing this for years? Now that I think about it, maybe that was his problem. The poor man spends more time with his in-laws than his own family. But when I made my threat I wasn’t thinking so rationally. “I’m going to put you in a book,” I threatened.

He just laughed.

Until I actually did it. And once I got rolling I’d give him regular reports. “Your nickname is now Bob Humbug.”

“Ha! I like it.”

He wasn’t that wild about being the prototype for a naughty husband once he had a chance to actually read the book. We got an advanced reader copy and he started hauling it back and forth from work, and one day he came home looking like the personification of Elvis’s “Blue Christmas”. “Am I really that bad?” he asked.

Part of me wanted to say, “Yes! That’s why you’re in a book.” But he had obviously learned his lesson, so I assured him that fiction often requires some over the top writing. (And there is
plenty of that in this story.)

Still, he took the underlying message to heart, and now, like Scrooge, he’s a changed man. And he’s given the story an enthusiastic thumbs up. So there’ll be no Christmas strike at our house this year.

Just a lot of fun as we celebrate both the holidays (with my family, of course!) and the release of my first novel with St. Martin’s Press.

Sheila Roberts is the author of ON STRIKE FOR CHRISTMAS (St. Martin’s Press, Nov. ‘07). You can visit her website at http://www.sheilasplace.com/.

Tags: virtual book tour, women’s fiction, Sheila Roberts, On Strike for Christmas, Christmas books

CULLOTTA by Dennis N. Griffin

I began writing as a hobby in 1994, after moving to Las Vegas following a 20-year career in investigations and law enforcement in upstate New York. My first book – The Morgue – was self-published through 1stBooks (now Author House) in 1996. I was spending the summer back in New York when the book was released and did some signings at local independent book stores. I also appeared as a guest speaker at a library in a nearby town. Through these events I developed a small fan base and was able to generate enough sales to recover the publishing expenses and make a few dollars profit. This limited success encouraged me and I wrote another fiction, and then four more. These were all self/POD published and just above break even financially.

In November 2001, I attended a writers’ conference in Florida that turned out to be a career-altering experience for me. I was chatting with another attendee over coffee and we shared our backgrounds. As luck would have it, she had retired as a civilian employee of the Indiana State Police. As we warmed up to each other, I lamented the fact that my books just weren’t catching on the way I’d like. I told the lady that I enjoyed writing, but felt that after six books and seven years I should be doing better.She asked me if I’d ever considered writing non-fiction. With my law-enforcement experience she thought I’d be a natural for writing police history or true crime. My new friend said she had written the history of the Indiana State Police and it was selling quite well in the Hoosier State as a local interest story. I purchased a copy of her book that day and read it on the flight back to Las Vegas. I was hooked on trying my hand at non-fiction. Within a short time I decided that my first project would be writing the history of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (Metro).

I knew that in order to produce a quality product I’d need to have Metro’s assistance. I put together a proposal and presented it to them. The sheriff endorsed my plan the same day. Armed with that promise of cooperation, I prepared a book proposal and submitted it to Las Vegas publisher Huntington Press. HP is a small traditional publisher of non-fiction books about gaming and Nevada history. In late January 2002, the proposal was accepted and I immediately began researching Las Vegas’ police history back to its establishment in 1905.

It was quite a project to say the least. Thankfully, Metro more than lived up to its agreement. I was assigned a lieutenant from the Public Information Office as my contact person and given a letter of introduction signed by the sheriff. I had tremendous access to old records, photos and personnel. But even with all that help, gathering the necessary information was a slow process. It was two years before the manuscript was finished.

It is often said that timing is everything. In my case that was certainly true. Although it had been unplanned in the beginning, Policing Las Vegas was released in 2005 — just in time for Vegas’ 100-year birthday bash. The free publicity regarding anything Las Vegas was overwhelming. That book marked a turning point in my writing career in several ways. But most importantly, it gave me name recognition and established my credentials as a credible researcher.

When writing Policing I knew that any book about Sin City police history would have to include something about organized crime. A veteran Metro detective I had become friends with suggested I write about the Tony Spilotro era. He said that Spilotro was the basis for the character that actor Joe Pesci played in the 1995 movie Casino. I followed his advice and put in a section called The Mob’s Man. The piece was relatively short and I knew I had only scratched the surface of what had actually transpired during Spilotro’s reign. I wondered if I did enough digging, if I could come up with sufficient material for a book about the Spilotro days.

Again, my timing was impeccable. I contacted several of the cops and FBI agents who had investigated Spilotro in the 1970s and ‘80s. They were now retired and many of them were willing to share their experiences with me. Convinced that I could put together an informative and entertaining book, I went back to HP with another proposal. The Battle for Las Vegas – The Law vs. the Mob, was released in July 2006. I was very pleased with the book and it was well-received. My only regret was that with most of the Spilotro gang either dead, in prison, or their whereabouts unknown, the story was told almost exclusively from the law’s perspective. I would have preferred to have included some personal insights from the criminal side.

One day while Battle was in the final stages of production, I was chatting with one of my sources, retired FBI agent Dennis Arnoldy. He had been the Las Vegas case agent for the Spilotro investigations. When Spilotro’s chief lieutenant Frank Cullotta had flipped and become a government witness, Dennis had been his handler. I knew that Dennis and Cullotta had become friends and remained in contact over the years. On a whim, I asked Dennis if Cullotta had ever thought about writing his biography. I said that if the former mobster was willing to be candid, he’d probably have quite a story to tell.

About two weeks later Dennis called me. He said Frank Cullotta wanted to meet with me and discuss a book. Under tight security, I met Cullotta in a Las Vegas hotel room in March 2006. It happened that he had been thinking about writing a book and had hundreds of pages of notes already prepared. We talked for a couple of hours and reached an agreement to co-author his biography. He’d supply the details and I’d put them on paper. He committed to being completely open and to provide details never before made public. And he did just that.

CULLOTTA – The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster, and Government Witness, was released through Huntington Press in July 2007. Writing this book was a fascinating experience that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

Dennis N. Griffin is the author of CULOTTA: THE LIFE OF A CHICAGO CRIMINAL, LAS VEGAS MOBSTER, AND GOVERNMENT WITNESS. You can visit his website at www.authorsden.com/dennisngriffin/.