Author Spotlight-Barbara Jean Wilson

Book Summary:

"Mute But Now I Speak", is a powerful read that puts Barbara Jean Wilson's life into words. A must read for anyone who enjoys reading a true story. Especially one that takes you on a person’s journey, as they battle adversity, striving to survive. .

Bio:
Barbara Jean Wilson was born and raised in Flushing, New York and remains a die-hard New York sport fan. In addition to writing her first book, Barbara also loves to cook and entertain family and friends at the home she was blessed to receive from God and relaxing on Sunday afternoon reading the newspaper and books by various authors. Barbara loves to travel and had an opportunity to fulfill one of her biggest dreams. Her daughter Tawanna's surprise gift to Barbara upon receiving her BBA was a Mediterranean Cruise to Spain, France, and Italy in November 2008. Barbara is always praising and giving thanks to God from where He has brought her and keeping His hands of protections over her life and her daughter's life. Whenever Barbara thinks she can't do something or fear creeps in, she is reminded to look back over her life and see where God has brought her from and what He has brought her through. At that point, her faith just takes over and her spirit is renewed.

Website:                  http://www.mutebutnowispeak.com/
Facebook Page:      www.facebook.com/mutebutnowispeak
Goodreads:              http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10673082-mute-but-now-i-speak

Where Available:

Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Mute-But-Now-I-Speak/dp/1612158005/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343909833&sr=8-1&keywords=mute+but+now+i+speak

Barnes And Noble

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mute-but-now-i-speak-barbara-jean-wilson/1100439349?ean=2940012461513

Xulon Press

http://www.xulonpress.com/bookstore/bookdetail.php?PB_ISBN=9781612158006&HC_ISBN=

Author Spotlight-Terry Vinson-Sidekicks Incorportated

  

 

Drafted at the tender age of fifteen to participate in a secretive military training program, Jake Weber is soon thrust into battle in war-torn Vietnam under the codename Kid Rage, fighting alongside future living legend Colonel Liberty, an ultra-patriotic super-soldier fated to be the young warrior’s mentor and crime-fighting partner for the next decade-plus.

   Flash-forward nearly forty years, as a tabloid news crew travels to a remote, desolate island in the pacific in order to interview the reclusive, long-retired Weber concerning a series of brutal, sadistic killings that have recently rocked the superhero universe, the aged victims all past alumni of an eighties super-group known as ‘Sidekicks Incorporated’ and all former teammates of the man once known as Kid Rage.

   As stories of both past heroics and tragic failures are regaled in painstaking detail, a backdrop of building fear and unease soon emerges as a tangible entity whose lone agenda is the ultimate in final retribution.

   Retribution to be extracted for a quarter-century old deed so despicable it serves to blur the fine line separating good from evil; teammate from enemy; hero from villain.

Long before the sun’s inevitable descent below the Pacific’s vast, swaying horizon, the mystery of exactly who survives the bloody carnage of a tabloid TV dream project gone horribly wrong will indeed be solved, though doubts concerning the validity of good truly triumphing over evil may forever linger… 

Carelessness of the Heart

Carelessness of the Heart

Carrie is a successful and accomplished lawyer that wants more
than anything to find love. Torn between her new husband and
her past boyfriend Carrie searches desperately to find her true
love. What will Carrie do when the one she loves doesn't love
her back? Will Carrie let go or keep getting pulled back? Will
her family's secrets block her chance at love? Read Carelessness
of the Heart to find out.

Available at:
Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com
ISBN# 9780985612528

Author Spotlignt-Ronnie C. Dawson-Irreconcilable Differences

Bio:

Ronnie C. Dawson is a Social Services Professional, originally from Camden, New Jersey, who helps the disadvantaged get a new start in life. He currently resides in Williamstown, New Jersey, where he has lived for three years.

His first project, "Irreconcilable Differences 'til death do us part" combines the possible with the impossible, illustrating the effects of love, lies and loss.

Facebook Page:  www.facebook.com/irreconcilabledifferences2012
Goodreads:         http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7152746-ronnie-dawson
Twitter:                 www.twitter.com/irreconcilable1

Book trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl3xy7f56q8

Where available:

Amazon.com (See Below)

http://www.amazon.com/Irreconcilable-Differences-death-part-ebook/dp/B0077PIVJI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1332045599&sr=1-1

Barnes and Noble (See Below)

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/irreconcilable-differences-til-death-do-us-part-ronnie-dawson/1109628984?ean=2940014249706

 Prologue

As the blazing sun took its position high above the Las Vegas horizon, Mia Davis woke up
to the day that she had been longing for her entire life; her wedding day. In a few short
hours, she would be walking down the aisle to proudly stand next to the man that she has
been deeply in love with for the last two years, her friend, her lover, her soul mate,
Michael Williams.

Through the tears that flowed from her eyes, her face displayed a smile that could be seen
from across the room. She lifted her eyes and raised her hands over her head, as she gave
thanks to God for giving her such a beautiful day to let go of her pain and misery as is to
begin the next chapter of her life as a married woman. She still couldn’t believe how
everything in the world around her appeared to be almost perfect. So much so that as she
took a glimpse out of the window, and turned her attention up to the sky, she could see an
image in the clouds that looked like two smiling faces.

As the image in the clouds seized her attention, it brought memories to her mind of her
parents. The memories of her mother and father, and how she came to lose them only
served to make the tears of happiness flow harder, turning into showers of pain, as her
mind took in a harsh reality. The day that she had dreamed of for as long as she could
remember, had finally arrived, and the people who brought her into this world would not
be with her to witness her dream become a reality. No father to walk arm in arm, step by
step with her down the aisle, giving her away, and no mother to be there to help plan
every aspect of the wedding, making the day as special as it promised to be.

Mia’s parents were brutally murdered in a tragic incident two years ago. A high speed
police pursuit through downtown Camden, New Jersey turned deadly, as a car driven by
an unknown person, desperately trying to avoid being captured, forcefully struck and
killed them both as they crossed the busy intersection of Broadway and Federal on a busy
Monday morning. To this day, the crime remains unsolved, leaving Mia to feel victimized
as a result of so many unanswered questions. Questions she often finds herself asking
again and again, as she wonders what kind of person could take a life and not feel obliged
to come forward, especially if that person knew what they had done. Which in her mind,
they must.

Because the person responsible was never caught, Mia continued to feel a sense of loss,
which slowly consumed every aspect of her life. She had hoped and prayed that her void
would be filled by her unity with Michael. After being with him for two years, still seeking
the peace of mind that had thus far been elusive, she found herself desperately waiting for
closure day after day. As her thoughts began to creep up on her, overpowering her joyous
spirit, she fell to her knees, put her face to the floor, and began to pray. She cried out,
“Lord, please give me a sign. Show me what you have planned for my life!” as the words
left her lips, she heard the door open.

Michael walked in to find his bride to be on her hands and knees. At first he thought that
she was cleaning as she always did. It wasn't until his ears caught the sound of her
whimpering that he quickly realized that she was crying. He walked across the room to
her side, knelt down and asked what was wrong. Before giving her the chance to answer
he lifted her up off the floor and carried her to the couch.

Sat beside her, he rubbed her back, and asked her again, “What’s wrong? Why are you
upset?” She leaned over with her hands covering her eyes, trying to hide the tears, and put
her head in her lap. “Nothing”, she said as she fought back the tears. “I’m just thinking
about how everything is so beautiful, and how my parents aren’t here to share it with us.”
He put his arms around her, and whispered in her ear, “Your parents may not be with us
physically, but they will always be with us in spirit. Your Mom and Dad will always be
watching over their one and only daughter.” Mia explained the smiling faces in the clouds
and went on to say how they had reminded her of her parents. Michael smiled, “That’s
your Mom and Dad expressing to you how proud they are of you, and how they will never
stop loving you.”

Mia sat up and smiled at Michael as she wiped the tears from her eyes. His comforting
words seemed to instantly heal the pain inflicted by the thoughts of her loss. She wrapped
her arms around him, remembering that she was with the man that she would call her
husband in just a few hours. The happiness that his words brought her flowed through
her, she tightened her grip on her chosen forever, squeezing as hard as she could. “Thank
you so much for saying that. I needed to hear it” she said in a whisper.

“No need to thank me. That's what I'm here for”, he quietly replied. “Now let's get to the
honeymoon!” he said laughing, trying to lift her spirits.

“Aren't you forgetting about the wedding?” she said, laughing back at him.

“I knew I was missing something!” He grinned back as he put his hand on her cheek,
stroking it with his thumb. He looked into her soul through the open gates of her eyes.

“Are you ready to be my wife?” he asked.

She took in a deep breath, exhaled, looked into his eyes and replied, “I'm ready”.

Author Spotlight-Lisa Wooten-Unforgivable

Bio:

Lisa Wooten is an avid reader who especially enjoys thrillers and mysteries. Her first novel, Unforgivable, is a suspense tale of a young woman, Joan, who is convicted of murdering her best friend on the night on their senior prom. Joan is deemed criminally insane and sentenced to life in a psychiatric asylum. Filled with despair and anguish, Joan escapes to her “special world” where she can be anyone she wants to be; a beautiful model, a smart lawyer, an Olympic gold medalist. Her only ally is her psychiatrist. With his help, Joan is hoping to be declared sane so she may be released from the asylum. But should she be? As long-buried memories unfold, she teeters on the edge of sanity and insanity, fantasy and reality. Could it all come crashing down on her or will she free herself?

Unforgivable has very unique characters that deal with real life problems. Joan and her false world wrap the readers up, leaving them wondering what is going to happen next and what is real and what is a fantasy

Lisa wrote Unforgivable with the hopes that not only would it entertain an audience but that it would shed light on the different levels of mental illness that plague people and how these individuals are perceived not only by their caregivers but by their own family and friends. Lisa has worked in the healthcare field for 10 years and during that time, has been able to work with many different individuals, some of whom do suffer from a mental illness.

Lisa is currently working on her second novel. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, Ted, and their Persian cat, Clara Rose.

Guilty or innocent? Sane or insane? Justified punishment or horrible mistake? Joan Miller believes she is ordinary in every way until she is tried and convicted for murdering her best friend the night of their senior prom. Joan is deemed criminally insane and is committed to a life sentence in a psychiatric asylum, where she attempts to escape a life full of despair and anguish as she did in the past - by creating glamorous characters and living in her private World. Now cohabitating with mentally ill and criminally dangerous patients, with an estranged family who is ashamed of her, Joan has nowhere to turn. She confides in her only ally... her psychiatrist. With his help, she struggles to be declared sane in hopes of being released from the institution. But should she be? As long-buried memories unfold, she teeters on the edge of sanity and insanity, reality and fantasy as she realizes that she may have committed the terrible crime after all. Could it all come crashing down on her or will she free herself?

Do You Have What it Takes to Be a Successful Author?

Do you have the motivation and stamina to go out and promote your book? When I ask authors this question most give me a quick yes, but what when I dig deeper and ask how have they promoted the response seems to be the opposite. Promoting your work is much more than telling your family, friends, and coworkers about it. It’s about promoting to those who have no clue who you are.

In this age of networking it’s easy to consider saying, “Hey buy my book,” on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pintinterest or whatever networking group you’re a part of. But are you garnering any sales from it? Probably not because your post or tag is getting lost by the millions of others. If you’re going to say, “Hey buy my book,” you need to have a reason for them to buy it. 

On top of self-promoting on your networking sites what else are you doing? Hopefully you’re not in the ‘I think it’s enough’ category.  If you are, good luck with that. For those of us who wish to be successful we’re in the ‘be in as many places as we can’ category.  Along with networking we seek out interviews, guest blogs, book events, and any other way we can capture a sale. We don’t just stop with getting the interview or guest blog either. We follow up and promote them.  From having authors on my blog I can always tell the authors who will succeed from those who will fall by the wayside. How? Because the successful ones not only tell people they’re being interviewed but they also follow up with commenting on the interview the day it’s posted.  The ones who fall by the wayside leave it up to me to post and that’s it. There are times I have thought I selected the publish button and haven’t and didn’t notice until a day later. Guess the author didn’t care to check because I didn’t get a, “Hey where’s my interview?” email. 

If you have what it takes to write a book, do what it takes to sell your book. Don’t be frustrated if you friends and family don’t buy a copy. With my large family I should easy rake in 100+ sales, yeah right. I don’t waste my time marketing to them. I go for the actual readers and then take it a step further by following up. 

This is just my 2 cents for the day. I have what it takes, do you?

Omegia Keeys

The Not So Common Sense Guide for Authors

Rise and Fall of a Track Star

Single, Black, and Government Owned

 

www.okeeys.com

C U @ 8-Cindy Vine-Author Spotlight

Author Bio:  A teacher, writer, mother - Cindy Vine was born in Cape Town, South Africa and has lived and worked in many different countries around the world. She currently resides in Tanzania at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. Cindy has three children, two of whom have already left home. Writing and reading has been a passion of hers since she was a young girl.

Websites:  http://cindyvine.com ; http://cindy-vine.blogspot.com ; http://facebook.com/cindyvinefanpage ; http://twitter.com/cindyvine ; http://cindyvine.hubpages.com

Purchase Links: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007N60QAI

Publisher:  Createspace

Release Date:  March 2012
Book Genre:  Chick Lit/Women’s Contemporary

 

1. What inspires you as a writer?

The self-belief that I can do it, I can write and entertain people.  My late grandmother was very inspirational.  She had a great imagination and used to tell me lots of stories and encouraged me to believe in myself.  And of course there’s my children who are so supportive of my dream.

2.  When did you have that ah ha moment when you knew you were a writer?

At elementary school I always used to get the highest grades for my stories.  In secondary school the teachers also made a big deal about my essays.  But the biggest a ha moment would have to have been at Teacher’s Training College where I had to write children’s stories for an assignment and my lecturer told me I’d get published one day as I had what it took to be a writer.  But then life got in the way and it was almost twenty years later that I started writing to get published.

3.  What is your writing process?

I am not a fly by the seat of my pants type of writer.  I get an idea, do some research then come up with a title.  I find I have to have a title before I can do any writing.  It just seems to make the whole story seem more real to me.  Then I mull it around in my mind for a couple of weeks, play around with some dialogue, so by the time I come to write an outline I have a good idea where I am going. The next step is deciding on the characters.  Usually I write a character sketch for each character.  On the current novel I’m working on, Hush Baby, I approached the character sketches slightly differently.  Using Google images I searched for images of people who looked similar to the characters I was imagining in my head, and then printed out those images.  Next I came up with their name, date of birth, character traits and what problems they were facing in life.  I gave every character 4-5 problems because the problems you are facing in life dictates how you handle everything else.  I figured that would give my characters more depth.  Then  I list the chapters and say roughly what each chapter will be about just using keywords.  That becomes my outline.  Finally I start to write the story.  Sometimes I might veer off the outline or think of a twist I can add, but I will always return to the basic outline.  As I finish about 3-4 chapters, I email off to my editor who proofreads for me.  After I’ve finished I take a couple of weeks off and then the editing starts and I follow most of my editor’s suggestions.

4.  Tell us about your favorite character and why you chose to write about them?

My favorite character is Jenny in Not Telling.  Here’s a girl who faced enormous odds, went through so much but still endured.  I wrote about her because I wanted to show that whatever you go through there are people going through far worse, and they can overcome the adversities.

5.  What are you currently working on?

I am currently working on 2 projects.  Hush Baby will explore a little of Munchausens by Proxy and Diary of a Dancer incorporates the diary my late cousin wrote in the last year of his fight against AIDS.

6.  Any upcoming events?

Just this Virtual Tour unfortunately, as it’s the start of the new school year and I’m the principal of an elementary school.

7.  If you could be anyone you like, who would you be?

I guess I would be Meryl Streep.  She is the most brilliant actress of our time, able to carry off comedy and serious roles.  She appears to balance her life perfectly.  Definitely a great role-model.

8.  Do you have any advice for new writers and something that a seasoned vet can learn?

Work out a schedule to manage your time effectively.  Time is the biggest challenge as you have to write more content, build an author platform and market your books, as well as looking after your family and holding a full-time job.  Effective time management is essential.  Also believe in yourself.

9.   Where can your followers find you?

My username is cindyvine on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Google +, Goodreads.

10.              Any last words?

Only you can make your dream a reality.  If you want to be a writer, throw caution to the wind and go for it.  You don’t want to spend the rest of your life wondering if you could have done it.  Become a risk-taker and do it.