Archive for the ‘Author Interviews’ Category:

Pump Up Your Book Chats with Juan Carlos Marcos, author of Warriors at the Helm

Juan Carlos Marcos was born in Cuba and immigrated to the United States in 1962. He spent almost four decades in leadership roles in human resources in the corporate world, including experience in multiple industries. Among the companies he worked at included Saint Mary’s Hospital Medical Center, in Madison Wisconsin, Graber Industries Inc., Boston Market and McDonald’s Corporation. Now retired and working as a consultant, he took the time to fulfill his dream of writing his first book. Juan holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Northern Illinois University and a master’s degree in business from the University of Wisconsin. Juan lives in Evergreen, Colorado, with his wife Randi.
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Steven Fujita, author of Toe Up to 10K

Steven Fujita was born in Los Angeles and raised in Torrance, California. He attended college in Washington, D.C., and currently lives in Long Beach, California. Listen to Steven Fujita’s interview on the Book Club with John Austin, which aired November 2, 2010, about his novella, Sword of the Undead, a re-telling of Bram Stoker’s vampire novel, Dracula. http://www.internetradiopros.com/bookclub/?p=episode&name=2010-11-01_zbookcub_for_110210_1st_segment_steven_fujita.mp3 His other book, $10 a Day Towards $1,000,000, is available on Kindle. This book promotes the idea of using time and savings to build wealth. His new book, Toe Up to 10K, was released in September 2014. This book chronicles his recovery from spinal cord injury he sustained in 2012. Visit
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Sujata And Subhash Kommuru Authors of the Children’s Picture Book Chatur

About Sujata & Subhash Kommuru Subhash and Sujata hail from India. They migrated to the United States along with their memories of childhood and youth. Now that they are parents, just like every immigrant they crave to introduce their child to the culture and values of their upbringing. Yet it is challenging to teach something while you are in the midst of adjusting to a different culture yourself. Subhash and Sujata both work in different disciplines and have different styles and backgrounds, but it is the upbringing of their son that brings them on the same page. That exact place where they meet is captured and reflected in their
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Natsuya Uesugi, author of grydscaen

  Title: grydscaen Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy Author: Natsuya Uesugi Publisher: Xlibris EBook: 288 pages Release Date: July 21, 2011 Follow the lives of the main characters as they come together in the backstory to grydscaen:retribution, the first volume of the grydscaen saga. Faid is tired of life on the run in the Echelons, trying to keep his psychic power in check, he founds the Packrats establishing a safe haven for psychics. As a hacker he uses his jack to support his neurocyne habit. Lino is recruited by the Psi Faction and is sent on a mission to kidnap Faid. Riuho, Lino’s half brother becomes a prisoner of the Elite military and they experiment
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Jean Hackensmith, author of ‘Identity Crisis’

I have been writing since the age of twenty.  (That’s 37 years and, yes, I’m disclosing my age.)  I am the proud mother of three, stepmother of two, and grandmother to twelve wonderful children.  I lost the love of my life, my husband Ron, in November of 2011 when he died in an accident at work.  He took my heart with him and, for a time, my desire to write.  Time, as they say, heals all wounds, and I have again discovered my passion for the written word.  In fact, I find it strangely comforting to delve into the intricate webs that are my character’s lives and immerse myself
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Jermaine Gadson, author of ‘Tactics, Trends, and Traits of the Enemy’

Jermaine Gadson is the Senior Pastor of Faith Ministries, Inc., a non-traditional church located in Birmingham, AL. Prior to starting Faith Ministries, he served as an associate minister, youth minister, and pastor for local churches and ministries in the greater Birmingham area. While, growing up in the Baptist church, he gave his life to Christ at an early age, and is a third generation minister of the Gospel. He holds a B.A. in Religion with a Concentration in Congregational Studies and a Minor in Classics from Samford University, and a Master of Divinity from Beeson Divinity School of Samford University. He is currently a Doctor of Ministry student at
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Interview with Cheri DeGroot, author of Dear Friend

ABOUT DEAR FRIEND     Title: Dear Friend Genre: Non-fiction humanities Author: Cheri DeGroot Publisher: iUniverse Pages: 60 Language: English ISBN – 978-1-44016-146-9   Are you looking for a way to meet new people from all over the world, make new friends, and help others? The solution is simple and affordable—become a pen pal. In Dear Friend, author Cheri DeGroot shares the joys and rewards of becoming a pen pal and provides tips on sharing friendships through handwritten letters. Based on fifty-three years of personal experience as a pen pal, DeGroot details how her lifelong passion for pen palling began and how her friendships with people from all over the United
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with David Vermont, author of The Last Confession of the Vampire Judas Iscariot

Born and raised in New York City, David now lives in Alexandria, VA with his wife and four kids. An attorney and accomplished litigator at one of Washington D.C.’s top law firms, he began writing about religion when he was asked to author a series of articles explaining the Catholic faith on the popular blog 52 Prayers.  He now writes regularly about his faith as the leader of an online Bible study group. About The Last Confession of the Vampire Judas Iscariot Of all the people who ever lived, surely Judas Iscariot, history’s most notorious betrayer, must be in hell. Or maybe not. After watching the crucifixion of Jesus,
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Gulten Dye, author of ‘Semi-Coma’

Gulten Dye was born and raised in a small town in Turkey and moved with her family to Istanbul as a small child.  It was there that she earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing, and worked as a nurse at a local hospital before moving to the Philippines with her boyfriend. After being there a little over a year, they got married and a short while after that moved to Shreveport, Louisiana where she immediately began her studies to be able to work as a Registered Nurse. While studying for her boards, she was allowed to work as a scrub technician in an operating room at a nearby surgery
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Q & A + Book Giveaway with P. Christina Greenaway, Author of ‘Written in Ruberah’

The PUYB Virtual Book Club hosts P. Christina Greenaway, author of the paranormal romance novel, Written in Ruberah, and Dream Chaser: Awakening. Visit our Virtual Book Club to ask questions of and leave comments for the author for your chance to win a digital copy of Written in Ruberah. The giveaway runs from now until March 23, 2014. ABOUT THE BOOK New York real estate broker Miriam Lewis takes off for a brief getaway to a remote inn on the rugged cliffs of Cornwall. Rest and romance with her boyfriend seem like the perfect cure for a life that appears to be going nowhere, and too fast. Entering Cornwall, Miriam crosses the River Tamar
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Brine Books, publisher of ‘My Whispers of Horror’

  We are thrilled to be able to talk with Brine Books about their latest release, ‘My Whispers of Horror’. We are an activist publishing company established as a partnership by a husband and wife in Ontario, Canada. The mission of this business is bring awareness for serious human rights issues around the world, while raising funds to expand our capabilities and to help fund non-profits and charities whose purpose is to better the world. Our main purpose as a company is to find ways to better the world. We feel that if we fail in this mission then we fail as a business, so we will not give
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Jo Kessel, author of ‘Weak at the Knees’

We’re honored to be chatting today with Jo Kessel, author of the new adult contemporary romance, Weak at the Knees! Jo is a journalist in the UK, working for the BBC and reporting and presenting for ITV on holiday, consumer and current affairs programs. She writes for several national newspapers including the Daily Mail, the Telegraph, the Guardian and the Express and was the anonymous author of the Independent’s hit column: Diary of a Primary School Mum. When Jo was ten years old she wrote a short story about losing a loved one. Her mother and big sister were so moved by the tale that it made them cry.
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Deborah Rix, author of ‘External Forces’

Deborah Rix’s favourite position for reading a book is head almost hanging off the couch and feet up in the air with legs against the back of the couch. She’s been reading too much from Scientific American for research and ideas and needs to get back to some fiction. She has a long standing love of science fiction, some of her favourite authors include William Gibson, Philip K Dick, Kurt Vonnegut Jr, Douglas Adams, Iain M Banks. A bit old school. Deborah enjoyed a successful career in entertainment publicity, live music promotion and event management. Which means she slogged through muddy fields for music festivals, was crammed into concert
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Marlene Morgan, author of ‘Sleeping with a Wall Street Banker’

Marlene Morgan is an author, and a Barrister-at-law. She also holds a master degree in taxation and administration law from Kings College London. Having recently passed the New York Bar Exam she is currently seeking admission to the New York Bar. She can be contacted through her website at www.marlenemorgan.com Q: Can you tell us why you wrote your book? I was living in New York City at the time and had a number of encounters with different people coupled with the fact I observed so many complicated lives everywhere: the gym, Starbucks, studying to take the bar exam. It seemed everywhere I turned a saw drama filled lives. I
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with ‘Champagne Lies’ Wendy VanHatten

Wendy VanHatten is a published author, Editor of Prime Time Living Magazine, professional editor for authors, and contributing writer in additional magazines. Her children’s books, the Max and Myron series, teach children to read as they learn how to become good citizens with positive character traits. She has taught writing at the college level and travel writing for continuing education workshops. Currently, she documents travel advice and photos in her blog,  www.travelsandescapes.blogspot.com. More information about Wendy and her books may be found at www.wendyvanhatten.com. Her books are available on Amazon or from her website. Q: Can you tell us why you wrote your book? I have always wanted to
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with ‘Into the Crossfire’ Cindy McDonald

For twenty-six years Cindy’s life whirled around a song and a dance: she was a professional dancer/choreographer for most of her adult life and never gave much thought to a writing career until 2005. She often notes: Don’t ask me what happened, but suddenly I felt drawn to my computer to write about things I have experienced (greatly exaggerated upon of course—I’ve never been murdered!) with my husband’s Thoroughbreds and happenings at the racetrack. Viola! Cindy’s first book series, Unbridled, was born—there are four books to that series so far. Cindy is a huge fan of romantic suspense series, and although she isn’t one to make New Year’s resolutions,
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Chick Lit Author Greta Bondieumaitre

Greta Bondieumaitre is from St. Lucia, a small but lively island in the Caribbean. She started writing love stories between classes in high school to amuse her friends at lunch time. Ten years later, she published her first novel, “Her Heart’s Desire”. She later published, “Play Me A Love Song” and recently, “‘Til I Find You“. She describes writing during her post-high school years as, “self therapy”. Visit her blog at www.gretabondieumaitre.blogspot.com. About the Book: No one knows how bumpy the road to love is more than Tisha Cole. After years of excruciatingly embarrassing dates, the 25-year-old receptionist is ready to hand in her dating license, but her cynical
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Christopher Cloud Author of Voices of the Locusts

About Voices of the Locusts   Sixteen-year old Jack O’Brien has never known the bittersweet stint of love, and romance is the farthest thing from his mind as he and his family arrives at a remote U.S. Air Force outpost in Japan where Jack’s father is base commander. The year is 1948. Jack’s life changes after a chance encounter with Fujiko Kobaysi, a beautiful and enchanting 17-year-old Japanese girl. Jack is immediately smitten. Fujiko’s traditional parents are overly protective and monitor her every move, and Jack and Fujiko meet secretly at her garden, located some distance from her village. There is a good reason why Fujiko’s parents are so
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Sarah Renée, Author of The Saderia Series

Sarah Renée has loved writing from an early age. She has been writing short stories since the age of 4, and at the age of 10, she came up with the idea for The Tiger Princess. She wrote the novel when she was 12. She is fascinated with wild animals and the wild world outside her home, and has an obvious great love of tigers. She enjoys spending time with her cats, reading, drawing, and playing her violin when she is not writing. In her free time, she is constantly daydreaming about her many characters, creating new ones, and coming up with interesting adventure story ideas. She is now
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Historical Fiction Author Mike Hartner

Mike Hartner is a father, son, author, patriot, geek (ret), and husband. His love of all things genealogical led him to writing, and writing has now led him to fiction and a large epic saga. He lives in Vancouver, BC with his wife and son. His latest book is the historical romance, I, Walter. Visit his website at www.accidentalauthor.ca. Q: Can you tell us why you wrote your book? To learn about myself and others. Q: Which part of the book was the hardest to write? The ending Q: Does your book have an underlying message that readers should know about?   Just that each person is unique and
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Raquel Whiting Gilmer, author of ‘Crumbs Aren’t Enough’

Hi, my name is Raquel Whiting Gilmer and I am a wife, daughter, aspiring mother (I don’t have any kids yet but I want them.), sister, friend, small group leader, lawyer, entrepreneur, confidant, advisor, blogger, twitter attempter, soon to be published author, and accepter of crumbs. Well, a recovering crumbs accepter. What’s a crumb accepter? Is it as bad as it sounds? It’s bad, but it’s preventable and curable. Freedictionary.com defines a crumb as a small fragment, scrap, or portion. And it defines accepter as one who accepts. So a crumbs accepter is one who accepts small scraps. No bueno, right? How did I get like this? Well, I
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Khanjan Mehta, author of The Kochia Chronicles

ABOUT KHANJAN MEHTA Khanjan Mehta is the Founding Director of the Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) Program at Penn State. The HESE program challenges students and faculty from across campus to break down disciplinary barriers and truly collaborate to develop technology-based solutions to address compelling problems facing resource-constrained communities. The objective is to develop transformative social innovations and scalable business models to transform these technology solutions into sustainable and scalable ventures that enable and accelerate positive social change. Mehta has led technology-based social ventures in Kenya, Tanzania, India, China and other countries. These ventures range from telemedicine systems and ruggedized biomedical devices to low-cost greenhouses, solar food dryers,
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Doe Running Deer, author of ‘My Past Decisions Have Made Me Who I Am Today’

ABOUT DOE RUNNING DEER Doe Running Deer is retired and lives in Texas, where she was born and raised, after having lived in a variety of places throughout the United States. Running Deer is currently married and has two daughters and two grandsons. Can you tell us why you wrote your book? I wrote the book, because I wanted to be free from the chains that held me captive. I was being constrained by my mind that needed to be renewed, which caused physical problems. Which part of the book was the hardest to write? The first 18 years of my life was the hardest to write about. The
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  • October 15, 2013
  • Author Interviews, Featured
  • Comments Off on Pump Up Your Book Chats with Scott Eder, author of ‘Knight of Flame’

Pump Up Your Book Chats with Scott Eder, author of ‘Knight of Flame’

Since he was a kid, Scott wanted to be an author and explored many genres through high school and college. Fantasy, though, captivated his soul. Tales of Knights and magic, dragons and elves filled his dreams. After greasing the gears of the corporate machine for many years, he escaped the Information Technology vortex to focus full-time on writing. The stories he’d envisioned years ago—of nobility and strife, honor and chaos—demanded they be brought to life. Scott lives with his wife, two children, and a giant Chihuahua on the west coast of Florida. Visit him at:  http://www.scotteder.net/   Q: Which part of the book was the hardest to write? The hardest
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with ‘Gem City Gypsy’ Kristin Kuhns Alexandre

Kristin Alexandre was raised in Dayton, Ohio where she worked as a feature columnist for The Dayton Journal Herald and the Kettering Oakwood Times. She has written two previous books: Nuncio and the Gypsy Girl in the Gilded Age,  a graphic novel that was featured at the 2011 NY City Comic Con; and Find a Great Guy: Now and Forever. Alexandre was a co-founder of Earth Day 1970 and worked on staff with House Beautiful Magazine and as a contributor to Town & Country Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor and The Daily News. Her celebrity luncheon series for the Chairman of Ammirati & Puris Advertising at The New York Yacht Club
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Linda Merlino, author of ‘Room of Tears’

  ABOUT ROOM OF TEARS At 9:59 a.m. on September 11, 2001, Diane O’Connor’s life as a firefighter’s wife changes forever, shattering her faith. Four decades later, a note still hangs on her kitchen cabinet in Queens, the paper yellowed with age. Diane knows the scribbled sentences by heart; she’d left them the morning of 9/11 for her husband, Billy. In the summer of 2041, Diane invites Friar Antonio Ortiz to her home. He is a man destined to become counsel to the first American pope – her son, Peter. Antonio asks no questions and arrives in secret, promising to wait nineteen years before passing Diane’s journal to Peter.
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with New Adult Author Lilliana Anderson

Bestselling Author of the A Beautiful Series, Alter and the Confidante Trilogy, Lilliana has always loved to read and write, considering it the best form of escapism that the world has to offer. Australian born and bred, she writes New Adult Romance revolving around her authentically Aussie characters as well as a biographical trilogy based on an ex-Sydney sex worker, named Angelien.  Lilliana feels that the world should see Australia for more than just it’s outback and tries to show characters in more of a city setting. When she isn’t writing, she wears the hat of ‘wife and mother’ to her husband and four children.  Before Lilliana turned to
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Joe Sergi, Author of ‘Sky Girl and the Superheroic Adventures’

Joe Sergi lives outside of Washington, DC with his wife and daughter. Joe is an attorney and a Haller Award winning author who has written articles, novels, short stories, and comic books in the horror, scifi, and young adult genres. Joe is the creator of the Sky Girl series of novels and the editor of Great Zombies in History. His first novel, Sky Girl and the Superheroic Legacy was selected Best of 2010 by the New PODler Review. Joe is a life-long comic fan who regularly writes on the history of comics and censorship for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. A complete list of Joe’s titles is available
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  • September 22, 2013
  • Author Interviews, Featured
  • Comments Off on Pump Up Your Book Chats with Tim & Debbie Bishop, Authors of ‘Two Are Better’

Pump Up Your Book Chats with Tim & Debbie Bishop, Authors of ‘Two Are Better’

Tim Bishop Originally from Maine, Tim Bishop has over thirty years of experience in business, first as a CPA, then for many years in various roles in the corporate world. In addition to consulting for small businesses, Tim serves as a Hope Coach for TheHopeLine, a nonprofit organization that seeks to reach, rescue, and restore hurting teens and young adults. Debbie Bishop Debbie Bishop has taught for over twenty-five years, for the past ten years as a literacy specialist in Framingham, Massachusetts. She has a passion for reading and seeing that young people do it well. She also has high interest in recovery issues and encouraging others with her
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  • September 21, 2013
  • Author Interviews, Featured
  • Comments Off on Pump Up Your Book Chats with Joseph Spencer, author of ‘Wrage’

Pump Up Your Book Chats with Joseph Spencer, author of ‘Wrage’

As a boy, Joseph Spencer immersed himself in the deductive logic of Sherlock Holmes, the heroic crime fighting of Batman and Spider-Man, and a taste for the tragic with dramas from poets like Shakespeare and Homer. Before Joseph took to spinning his own tales, he pursued a career in print sports journalism, graduating summa cum laude from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. He covered such events as NASCAR’s Subway 500 race in Martinsville, the NBA Draft Camp in Chicago, the Junior College World Series, and Minor League Baseball’s Midwest League All-Star Game during a ten-year career throughout the Midwest. Now, he works as an emergency telecommunications specialist with an Illinois police
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