ShahSight

The Interpreter: Author Interview: ‎King Samuel Benson

2012-03-08T01:27:00.002-08:00

Shah Sight
‎King Samuel Benson, welcome, and at last the wait is over, now we will enjoy your company all the way from Africa, you may want to tell us something about where you live, and what you do in Africa, before I ask you about Why You Are Not Wealthy?

King Samuel Benson Firstly, I'd like to say thank you for this opportunity.
As most people already know, I live in Lagos, a coastal city in West Africa.
I grew up in this environment and to be honest with you, it wasn't easy. I presently work freelance, if you know what that means.

Shah Sight King, we totally understand what you mean, I am from Afghanistan myself, and it has not been easy for me either. What does this book mean to you King, what have you learned from writing it, and what do you expect people who will read it to learn from it, you may want to tell us a little bit please?

King Samuel Benson Talking about myself, I've come a long way in a short time. I've always dreamt of becoming wealthy. It was something we all wanted as kids. Big, beautiful houses, flashy cars, and lots to eat and drink. We all dreamt of a life like that. During my senior secondary school, I patiently bore the pains.(I didn't have a choice anyway). After school, the beautiful life I imagined was nowhere to be found. The Internet had always appealed to me, so I ventured into it and let my enthusiasm strengthen me. Like I said, I wanted to be wealthy, but I had no sure path to getting there, so I sought for ways. How long has it been? 4 years? No, 5 years. I started small and learned quickly. Why didn't I try? I did virtually everything I found to help me make money and succeed. Nothing 'really' worked.
I think my enthusiasm and undying desire for success was the only thing that kept me on else I'd have resigned myself to fate long ago. But I was increasing in knowledge and gaining much experience, and suddenly I began to realize something: the reason why I was not succeeding, and why many other success-seeking people like me have not been able to succeed till today. What I couldn't achieve for more than four years, I achieved in less than two weeks. I felt compelled to share my newly-found knowledge knowing it won't affect my success one bit, but instead will strengthen it and thus I wrote 'Why You Are Not Wealthy'

King Samuel Benson You see, we've always been taught that being hardworking is the only way to become successful but the truth is; Hardwork, alone, cannot get you there. Damn! What am I even saying? The road to success isn't even 'hard'! Although being hardworking helps, but the road to success in anything but hard. Unless, of course, if Hardworking is defined as the efforts spent trying to locate the 'right' road.

Shah Sight Thanks. We believe this book is about finance, as we get from its name, how do you see it working for a someone who reads it in Europe or America, how would this book appeal to a large number of readers from around the world, what would they learn from reading it?

King Samuel Benson And that's what 'Why You Are Not Wealthy' is for. It's all about helping you locate the RIGHT road and saving you the trouble of 'Hardwork'. The hardworking strategy took me more than 4 years of intense research to locate the right path to wealth, and takes some people even longer than that. I even know people who, using the hardwork strategy, spent their entire lives seeking success and never found it until their death.
It doesn't matter what part of the Solar System you're from. The road to success is a universal one. Same road, same simple, but unknown strategy.
And the strategy? I shared it on 'Why You Are Not Wealthy'.
Outlined chapters in the book are:
1. Introduction

2. Why You Are Poor

3. Understanding Wealth's Strategy

4. Implementing It.

5. Your Life As A Success

6. A Word From The Author

Shah Sight We can feel that you are talking from your heart, and that makes us understand you better, we thank you for this honest conversation. You said you work as a freelancer, do we see a lot of your own personal experiences in the book, or you have approached the subject from a totally different angle, for example from a lot of your different researches, as you said?

King Samuel Benson Most of the knowledge shared in the book are based on my own experiences. Experiences which I eventually confirmed to not be mine alone. We all have similar experiences. Although no two are ever alike, they are all of the same nature.
I didn't list examples of my personal experiences in the book. If I haven't mentioned it before, it's a straightforward book as you'll note from the chapters I listed. I didn't allow chance for any out-of-line mentions or descriptions. I went straight to the point of my book's intention which is to let you know why all your efforts are yielding little results and how you can avoid that and get on the right track, and every single letter is relevant to the book.
My struggles, efforts, and all my experiences right from my childhood when I began it all, I leave for a greater work.

Shah Sight Brilliant. So what is next King in terms of writing, are you writing another book at the moment, or you are happy to promote this one?

King Samuel Benson I'm presently working on a fiction. It's titled '2018' It's about the war that broke out in 2015, how the earth was almost completely destroyed, how a New World was proclaimed together with a New government, how the remaining survivors from all over the world were gathered and divided into Regions and Districts, about a brutal sport, how a teenage african boy through that sport worked his way to the top amid romance, love and a battle for survival. How he reached the top and discovered a new kind of betrayal and scheming amongst the power-holders and something else: a DARK SECRET. Something none of the oppressed inhabitants never thought of, something no one like to be told of.

I intend to publish '2018' by April, and another book titled 'African Moonlight Tales' before April ending.

Shah Sight Thanks, although we would love to continue with this really interesting interview, but it is not going to be the first and last time with you, and we don't want to keep you with us all night, do you want to say something to our audience at the end of this interview, before we say goodbye to you, please feel free to say anything you think we should know?

King Samuel Benson Well, once again I'm grateful for this given chance :) If you're reading this right now, I thank you for the time you've taken out to be part of this. Allow me to share an hidden truth with you, many of us are working hard and getting very little or nothing in return because all our struggles are framed inside the Poverty Circle. It's not something we created with our own hands, it's something we met here on earth. Something that has been passed down from generation to generation. Something that has been deemed right, taught and generally accepted. That's why the rich will continue to become richer, and the poor will always grow poorer. I really want you to read 'Why You Are Not Wealthy'. You're the reason I wrote that book. Although it's not very much in volume, it's powerful enough to change your way of reasoning in particular, and your life in general. Get a copy. And to all my lovely readers out there, I want to say a big THANK YOU! You've been my major source of empowerment. I really appreciate you. If you enjoy novels, then prepare yourself for a big drama and twists with '2018'. To keep yourself updated, if you haven't already, 'follow' me on my blog @www.kingstarprofitworld.blogspot.com Once again, THANK YOU! :) xx

Shah Sight If you want to buy King's book, visit:http://www.facebook.com/groups/shahsightshop/310016582389211/?ref=nf

Shah Sight Literary Book Shop
Why You Are Not Wealthy King Samuel Benson

The Interpreter: Author Interview: JCarson Black

2012-03-01T07:59:00.002-08:00

Shah Sight
‎JCarson Black, Welcome. Let us congratulate you on your book being number one in Kindle paid store, you did tell us about how you felt when you saw it, we don't ask you about that, but tell us please what exactly in the book led it to the top, the story, any of your characters, some particular chapters, tell us what is it that people love about The Shop?

JCarson Black Well, I think that's complex, and depends on a lot of things. Foremost was the fact that my publisher, Thomas & Mercer, Amazon's thriller imprint, helped me a lot. They pushed the book.

JCarson Black I should give you a little history. The banner you have up is from THE SHOP as we originally put it up last March. I think one reason it did well is that thrillers are popular. I also used the 99 cent price point, which worked well back then. Before my husband and I put up THE SHOP, it had been "shopped" to around 35 editors in New York by my literary agent. No one wanted it. But putting the book up yielded great results, and that led to a sale of the book to Thomas & Mercer.
about an hour ago · Like

JCarson Black About the characters. There's the main character, Jolie Burke, who is a detective in a small sheriff's department on the Florida panhandle. When a local police chief is found dead in a motel room, Jolie is sent to investigate. She uncovers something much more ominous, which leads to the highest levels of government.

JCarson Black Shah, I don't know that there's much I personally can do to keep it in the Top 100. Books rise and fall, and there are always new books coming to push you out. Thomas & Mercer has much more power over this than I do--they know when to push a book and when to give it a rest (I think), because after a while you saturate the market. At least that's my theory.

JCarson Black I have never done a lot of "marketing" or even that many guest blogs--only if asked. I think amazon has the best sales tool in their also-boughts and bestseller lists, and their alogrithms do what their algorithms do. I think a good cover, a good book, a good product description, being in a popular genre, and tagging the book right for the market are probably the best ways to promote your book.

JCarson Black How did I feel when I saw THE SHOP was #1? Over the moon. I couldn't believe it--just kept staring at the screen shot. (Yes, I took a screen shot!)

Shah Sight Thank you so much. How much do you think the title of the book, The Shop, has played its role to this success, I find it fascinating myself?

JCarson Black I don't know! My mother hates the title. She says, "The Shop, what is that? Is it about a shopkeeper?" But it felt right. My husband (and publisher) Glenn and I came up with it. We got the idea for the story while watching cable news during dinner. Want to hear that story?

Shah Sight Sure, please carry on.

JCarson Black We were watching cable news and preparing dinner when Jon Mark Karr's plane came in to Boulder. Jon Mark Karr was suspected of killing JonBenet Ramsey--that was a huge thing over here, because the media loves that kind of story, and they'd been stirring hysteria about the death of the little beauty queen for a year or more. So when this guy claimed to have killed her, the press went nuts.

JCarson Black Karr was arrested in Amsterdam (there's a theory he needed to get out of there and here was his ticket out), and he regaled the U.S. Marshals over shrimp cocktail over his exploits in the sex trade and how he killed JonBenet. So when he was flown to Boulder, Colorado, in a jet hired by the sheriff's office there, the media was out in force. It was a big event--kind of like the Space Shuttle landing. We thought it was ludicrous, but then, on the spot, came up with the kernal of an idea for THE SHOP.

JCarson Black How does a government distract the media from shining a spotlight on its most serious transgressions and power grabs? By creating a diversion. When Michael Jackson died, everything else stopped. It was all Michael all the time. Before Michael Jackson died, there was the Iranian protests, which shook the world. A young woman named Neda became the face of the protests, when she died before our eyes. And then Michael Jackson's death came along, and you heard nothing--literally nothing--about Iran and the protests.

JCarson Black I find that disgusting. But intriguing... What is it about our culture that we make a cult of celebrity?

Shah Sight Thanks, Maggy, tell us please about the actual story in The Shop, how did you start with it, did you think it would be number one one day by then?

JCarson Black I set out to write the best book I could. I always do. But I'd lost my publisher a year or so before, and as I always did when I got dumped by a publisher, I got seriously to work and said I would raise my game. I know this book changed from the previous ones. I had the idea, and started with a celebrity murder in Aspen. In fact, we created a web page to support it, the "pre story" to the Aspen murders, which can be seen on my J. Carson Black author page. If you go there and click LIKE, there is extra content around the story of THE SHOP. http://www.facebook.com/JCarsonBlack.authorpage

J. Carson Black Author Page
Author
Page: 256 like this

JCarson Black I did have high hopes for this book, and so did Glenn. I knew I had to find the best agent I could get. We narrowed it down to 4 of the best possible agents for this particular kind of book--a big thriller. It's enormously difficult to get an agent like that, so we honed and honed our message. Finally we queried them. I was fortunate to have a friend who was with Gelfmann-Schneider, who recommended me. And finally, after 25 years in the business, If found the agent of my dreams. Her confidence in me added to my belief about the book. But the Big Six are hardly buying, and so two years later we went the ebook route.

Shah Sight By reading the reviews on Amazon, apart from a lot of five stars reviews, there are a few of one or two stars as well, what do you think of them, what do they say to you?

JCarson Black Some people think the story is too complicated. It may be, but there are others who don't think so. I think it comes down to personal taste. I start a lot of books, and read through few of them to the end. And I think, "This book is not for me." It might be wonderful for someone else. The important thing, as far as I'm concerned, is that I did my best with that book and I am proud of it. Not only that, but I like it. A lot.

Shah Sight Maggy, we are all proud of your achievement, it's a great feeling, tell us something about yourself please, where do you live and what else you do apart from writing?

JCarson Black I'm an Arizonan, born and bred. I live near the Mexican border, and my next book will, tangentially, deal with border issues. I'm married to my best friend and publisher. I like to hike in the desert and write. I'm a horse-racing fiend, and am looking forward to the prep races leading to the Kentucky Derby.

This has been an exciting year, and we are both proud of our little business, Breakaway Media. The best thing about all of it (although the money's good) is the relationships I've made with other authors and readers. That's given me more hours of happiness - getting to know so many great folks - than just about anything else. Thank you for having me today, Shah.

Shah Sight Maggy, it is a real pleasure for us, and thank you so much for being with us today on this talk show, anything you want to add you are welcome?

JCarson Black Just that I haven't had breakfast yet! Thank you, Shah - this has been fun.

Shah Sight https://sites.google.com/site/shahsightshop/the-shop If you want to buy The Shop, visit:

The Shop J. Carson Black - ShahSight Home Literary Book Shopsites.google.com

The Interpreter: Author Interview: Courtney Conant

2012-02-29T10:54:00.003-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Courtney Conant, Accept our warm welcome on our live show today, we are so pleased to have you with us on this show. As many of our audience know about you, we leave asking you to say something about yourself at the end, now we would love you to introduce your main characters in The Blood Moon of Winter, please?

Courtney Conant
Thank you so much for having me here! I'm glad to be a part of the group and to get a chance for this interview...

Regarding my characters from BMoW, there is really only one main character and one secondary (though he does become more andmore prominent throughout).

Liliana Makay, my MC, takes the leading role as your average, everyday woman attempting to make her way through life as best she knows how. Life is normal until she begins dreaming of another world. The more she dreams, the more she comes to find out that she is actually not dreaming but that the world really does exist and she is slowly being brought over to it.

Courtney Conant Now Jason Caurns, a handsome author who just happens to walk into Lily's life, only plays a minor role in the first book. However, in the second, he holds a much larger part.

Shah Sight We know Jason, as an handsome author as you describe it yourself, Courtney, does Jason being what he is, especially being an author, plays any specific role into the main story, why did you chose Jason an author, does it help the story flow, does it help Liliana find out the truth about her dreams, tell us the connection please?

Courtney Conant
It's difficult to not give away too much, when describing the connection between the two. Jason just happens to be Lily's favorite author. Though their meeting each other seems purely accidental in the beginning, as the story progresses, it comes to appear as though it was preordained to happen.

They have a deep connection that slowly comes to the forefront and becomes quite prominent (and even more important in the second novel).

Shah Sight Thanks, we totally understand that. You may want to tell us about the sequel of this book, before we continue asking you about your other works, do you want to tell us something about your next book and also when will it be published, or maybe its name?

Courtney Conant
The sequel is titled Beyond the Known Horizon and it is currently underway. It picks up right where Blood Moon ends and continues the journey of Lily, as she attempts to learn a whole new life and of the new world she is now inhabiting. The other side of the story follows Jason in his attempt (as poor as it is) to cope with the loss of Lily from his life and how he tries to find a way to Makayra, the land Lily has been taken to.

The novel goes back and forth between the two main characters and is a bit more difficult to write and keep track of so it is taking longer than I had expected it to. My hope is to have it completed by fall and published by December of this year. It will take some hard work but I am fairly confident that I can achieve this.

Shah Sight Can you read a few lines from your published or unpublished book, totally up to you, and also describe your books by adding a few tags to them here, please?

Courtney Conant
Here are a couple of paragraphs from Beyond the Known Horizon.

After her disappearance, he had gone into her office and grabbed the book. It meant something to him, a reminder of that moment they had shared, a reminder of what could’ve been. The book was the only thing he had of hers and he kept it with him always. It was his way of keeping her fresh in his mind. Thinking of if he found her… When, not if, he thought to himself, for I will find her. He would give her the book again and watch for that same radiant smile to shine across her face again. It was what he longed for, each time he looked at the book.

He sat like that, on the edge of the bed, staring at the book, for a long time. He could almost imagine that if he went up to the window, that he might see her and her panther sitting at the edge of the lake. Of course, that was his imagination running wild. He knew it was only a scene and not real, yet he could feel her presence as he looked longingly toward it. Rising from the bed, book in hand, he made his way to the window. He laid his head on the frame and looked into the painting. As he did so, he felt a tugging sensation, something pulling at his mind, drawing him forward.

Courtney Conant Some tags that might help... Paranormal, Mythological, Quantum Realities, Prophecies, Ancient Rituals, Talking Creatures, Fae, etc...

There are so many possible tags, but I don't want to overdue it!

Shah Sight Thanks, Courtney, why Jason falls in love with Lily, as you call her in your book, is she beautiful, is she very clever, or is it because she is very different from any other girl out there, tell us how does Lily look like?

Courtney Conant
Lily is your typical girl next door, pretty but nothing overly special. She has natural red hair down to waist, dark auburn with bright scarlet undertones blended throughout, fairly pale skin, almost like porcelain, and no freckles. For the most part, she is simplistic.

As Jason comes upon Lily for the first time, he sees her as a carefree woman, swinging in a park, late into the evening, not seeming to have a care in the world. He is instantly drawn toward her.

Shah Sight We will have a couple more questions for you for this interview, now tell us about yourself please, Courtney, we would love to know you as a person a little bit more, what is the most unique characteristic about you that we should know?

Courtney Conant
A little about me? I'm a go-getter, I guess you could say. I need challenges and always do my best to accomplish what I start out to do. Here is an example: I'm a distance runner and just finished my first full marathon (26.2 miles) only a week and a half ago. Halfway through the race, I got sick. I had internal bleeding and and infection in my intestines. I didn't know how bad it was at the time but I was not going to let anything stop me from completing that race. I finished the marathon and proceeded to spend the next 3 days in the hospital getting myself fixed up.

That's what I do, I always try to finish what I start, no matter what extreme it takes me to.

So I write, I run and I publish as well. With the help of some friends, we are starting our own indie publishing company for all fictional genres. Actually, the company goes live tomorrow!https://www.facebook.com/XchylerPublishing.page is our fan page, if anyone is interested in checking it out. Our actual website is under construction currently and should be complete shortly.

Xchyler Publishing
Submissions are currently open. We are accepting all types and styles of fiction...See More
Page: 353

Shah Sight Very interesting and this says a lot about you as a person, you have one more book as well, The Mind Entangled, right, tell us a little bit about this book as well, please?

Courtney Conant
The Mind Entangled is a work in progress as well. It is going to be a collection of short stories, all following the life of Adrianna, a once beautiful and outgoing dancer turned kept woman. After marriage, she slips under the control of her husband without even realizing it is happening to her. Things change suddenly, as she is warned of an unknown danger that is facing her.

The story is my own take on the children of one of the great Norse gods. Amzn.com/B0051OTPAG is the link to Part One: The Discovery on Amazon, where it is available for free, and is still on the Best Sellers list for Mythologies.

I hope to have part 2 in the collection done in the next couple of months. It will be titled Part Two: The Torleif.

Shah Sight Thank you. Give us some promotional tips at the end of this interview please, how do you promote your books?

Courtney Conant
Well, the best promotional tip I could give would be for every author to host their own book launch party. Back in January, I was able to host a launch party for Blood Moon at a local SciFi/Fantasy convention and it was a huge success! It brought in a lot of attention and has helped to pave the way for my work. It also helped to meet with those that had already read my book and to meet new readers. It did motivate me to work on the next in the series as well.

Shah Sight Thanks a lot Courtney, it was a real joy. Also visit:https://sites.google.com/site/shahsightshop/courtney-conant

The Blood Moon of Winter, Courtney Conant - ShahSight Home Literary Book Shopsites.google.com

Shah Sight And also: http://www.facebook.com/groups/shahsightshop/306298116094391/?ref=nf

Shah Sight Literary Book Shop
The Mind Entangled - Part One Courtney Conant

Courtney Conant Also, for anyone wanting a signed copy of my first novel, it can be purchased at www.courtneyconant.com/buyand I do ship anywhere in the world.

Where to Buy www.courtneyconant.com
Changing Hands - a Tempe bookstore that supports indie authors - now has copies ...See More
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Courtney Conant Thank you again, Shah, for having me and I'm always around and open for discussion, for anyone with questions or just looking to chat about books!

Shah Sight It was a real pleasure to have you on our show today, hopefully see you soon. And I owe you a review for your book, which I will post to Amazon soon.

Courtney Conant How I love new reviews!! I look forward to reading your thoughts on my work.

The Interpreter: Author Interview: Mark Gillespie

2012-02-27T13:29:00.001-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Mark Gillespie, welcome on our live show, please, you may want to say something to our audience about yourself before I ask you about The Wall or any other of your work?

Mark Gillespie Hi and thanks very much Shah...I live in Glasgow, Scotland where I'm currently enrolled in Strathclyde University as a mature student studying English Literature. For the past ten years however, I was a musician working across the UK and Ireland...I played bass live and on sessions and had a great time before getting back into writing.

Shah Sight Thanks Mark, the first question that struck me about your work was the title of your work, The Wall, what is it there behind choosing this title for your work?

Mark Gillespie Well, regarding this short story, there was never really any question of calling it anything else. I had a very weird dream one night about a long line of people stretching out across the horizon...It was never ever really clear why they were there but basically, it was an image of a massive human wall. My dreams never make sense but they usually give me a great starting point for story ideas, so I'm thankful for it none the less. It only started to make sense later on when the London riots happened and the rest of the story started to come together.

Shah Sight Mark, very interesting indeed, it makes sense, completely. The Wall is a short story, do you have any other story apart from it, and tell us how is the book doing in terms of sales, reviews, etc., what people say about it?

Mark Gillespie Yes, I have about eight or nine short stories altogether since I started writing last year after many years of concentrating on music. The only other one that is available just now on Amazon or Smashwords, is The Visitor. I've made these two available and in maybe a couple of months, after a couple of new ideas are explored, I will put out a collection of nine or ten short stories. Then I hope to attempt the dreaded novel...As for sales, the two stories are doing quite well. I have a website that I've used to help promote them, along with Facebook, Twitter and lots of other devices for marketing e-books. I'm quite new to all this but it's great fun finding out about it all and I do genuinely love it, like any writer, when their work is read and appreciated. I've been lucky to get some good reviews on Amazon and Smashwords for both stories, and from all over the world...so that's very nice and much appreciated!

Shah Sight We all have a little bit idea what The Wall is about, maybe you want to tell us about it a little bit more, and also about your next short story, The Visitor, why did you write these two stories?

Mark Gillespie The London riots last year and the shock that they caused around the UK, was really what triggered writing The Wall. My friend in London had her house burned down and lost everything and it made me think what might have happened if the riots had escalated and spread worldwide. It's basically a sci-fi/apocalyptic story. It follows a small tribe of survivors who gather together and who have to protect themselves against the Earth's creatures, who as a result of nuclear damage caused by the riots, have mutated into something almost human. It's quite dark and the characters in The Wall are not always what they may seem to be. The Visitor was written before The Wall and it's a ghost story based around the return of a girl's dead lover, who visits her as she tries to escape the personal demons of her past. I wrote these stories for the same reason I write anything...it's an outlet for my over-active imagination!

Shah Sight This might be the hardest question we ask, and if you could read a passage from your book, The Wall, to our audience, that would be great, we will wait with an added interest to get that passage from you here, please?

Mark Gillespie Sure, no problem...might take a few minutes :)

Mark Gillespie London. 2011. Riots, death, the wall.

Come rain or shine, when I was a child a long time ago, at least a hundred of us used to stand in the wall. A seemingly unending line of people, standing side by side under the moonlight would stretch long across the blackest night. Things made sense in the wall, even if that sense proved ultimately twisted.

What I know of the Old world and what I know of anything, came from my tribal Elders. In the Old World, there were too many people and the world was overcrowded. Tech-no-logical wonders existed, manmade tools that go beyond the imagination of the New World. This is what I know. Despite all that, there must have been little happiness in the Old world or the riots that destroyed London in 2011 would never have spread so far and wide and with such terrible speed. It was only when civilisation crumbled and a nameless land crawled back out of their countries that it must have felt real. All the tech-no-logical wonders died with the world. This was the First Apocalypse and the beginning of the New world.

Mark Gillespie This is the beginning of The Wall :)

Shah Sight Great writing, and a really brilliant idea for the story, we would love to hear a lot about this book, but we leave it for the near future, tell us please if you have thought about your full-length novel as yet, of course you said you are going to write one, but do you know what it will be about, or you are concentrating on getting your other shorts stories out?

Mark Gillespie For the moment Shah, the novel exists only in my head and will do for a couple of months yet. I want to put a collection of what I feel are my strongest short stories together and then once that's done, I'll move away from exclusively writing shorts and onto something bigger. I still have a lot to learn regarding the art of writing and feel like a total beginner. I have an idea for the novel and it's quite surreal, but as of yet, it's still a tiny seed with a lot of growing to do.

Shah Sight Thanks Mark, there will be one more question for you for tonight apart from this one, tell us please what do you do to learn the art of writing, are you part of the Authonomy community, or any other such writing communities, or you are learning from reading other authors' books, and from writing yourself, who is your favourite author that you think you want to follow his path?

Mark Gillespie I believe, like many do, that the best way of learning how to write, is to read, read and read some more. Despite the best of intentions on their part, I don't believe much in the value of creative writing courses although I would never criticise anyone for choosing to go that way. Everybody's different. But I believe you can learn a lot by just reading. The feel and flow of the words, how a plot is constructed and packaged, the mood, the rhythm...By reading great writers, you absorb so much that is unspoken and perhaps, something that can't be taught. I don't have a single favourite author, there's so many to choose...from a young age, I adored the work of Roald Dahl and still do. I love the writing of Yukio Mishima, I think his prose is amongst the most beautiful I've ever read. Philip K Dick, Cormac McCarthay, Charles Dickens...so many!!

Shah Sight Mark, before I thank you, say good bye, and add a few links from your books, please tell us anything that you think we should know about you or your works that we have failed to ask you?

Mark Gillespie Thanks very much for having me on Shah, it's been a pleasure...thanks also to those that have followed the chat. I will put the link below for my website and there are links on there for the two stories and lots more info besides. Please take a look if you have the time and inclination to do so and get in touch anytime. Nothing else to say except that I'm looking forward to putting the short story collection out soon and will definitely let you all know when that happens :) Have a great week everyone, goodbye and thank you! :)

Shah Sight Thanks Mark, it was a pleasure to have you with us. Also visithttp://www.facebook.com/groups/shahsightshop/305216429535893/?ref=nf

Shah Sight Literary Book Shop
The Wall by Mark Gillespie

Mark Gillespie http://www.markgillespie.moonfruit.com/

MarkGmarkgillespie.moonfruit.com

Shah Sight http://www.facebook.com/groups/shahsightshop/313515318706004/?notif_t=like

Shah Sight Literary Book Shop
The Visitor, Mark Gillespie A short story about Aimee Hutton, a young woman who moves away from the city after the death of her ex-boyfriend, Max Downey. In an attempt to escape the past, Aimee flees to a small village in search of a new start. However, on the first night in her new home it is the past itself, in a most une...

My Fallen Teeth

2012-02-22T16:02:00.001-08:00

My Fallen Teeth

I was once called a 'Kill Boy', when I was very young, because I saw death in everything. I used to think that one wouldn't swallow down his fallen tooth, because he is supposed to place it in his palm and look deep at his fallen tooth. Doesn’t he see a body wrapped in white cloth? Others would laugh at my imaginations, and I would go deeper into my thoughts.

Then I thought of the next step, when one went to a dentist to fill in his fallen tooth with a new one. I visualised the new tooth as another dead body that went into the mouth of a grave; I saw the human's mouth as the mouth of a grave, and the new tooth as another dead body. I am not surprised why others called me a 'Kill Boy', because I still look at my fallen tooth as my own dead body, and when I go to the dentist to fill it in with another tooth, I look at my own mouth as the mouth of a grave, and at the new tooth as my own dead body. Even the dentist with his white dress looks dead to me.

Are you still surprised at why I was called a 'Kill Boy’? How many teeth have I lost from when I was growing up, and how many times have I visualised my own death? Many teeth. and as many times. How many dentists have I met from when I started losing my teeth? Many dentists. What do I see beside my disintegrated body long after I am dead? My fallen teeth.

The Interpreter: Author Interview With Margarita Felices

2012-02-22T13:16:00.001-08:00

Shah Sight‎Margarita Felices, welcome on our show, and it's a real pleasure for all of us to have you with us today on our live show. It has been fascinating to interview authors from all walk of life, journalist, businessman, teacher, we would love to know you better before we come up with our actual questions, tell us something about yourself please?

Margarita Felices I live in Cardiff with my partner and three little mad dogs and I work for a well-known TV broadcasting company. I love living in Cardiff because, for all its modernisation, there are still remnants of an old Victorian city. I love writing and base my stories in Cardiff because it has such character. I am Gothic, I love the fashion, the architecture and the music. I have written several short stories for ladies magazines over the years and also helped develop scripts and storylines. I thought it was about time I sat down and wrote a book.

Shah Sight Thanks Margarita, from what we know about your one story, it is about vampires, right, did actually where you live make you write about vampires, the remnants of an old Victorian city, or it is something else that has influenced your writing, why you are writing about vampires, tell us something about it please?

Margarita Felices Yes it's about vampires, but I think so much more. For example, they are not the type that are out to take lives. My characters are on a mission, something has been stolen from them, something ancient and important. I love the genre. Mind you saying that, I'm not impressed with some of the characterisations of them. I love the old Victorian vampires, the Bram Stoker Dracula and the vampire Lestat. Living in Cardiff just helped put my characters in a base that I was familiar with. I felt I could do much more with my characters if I was standing exactly where they were! Taking in all they could see and smell. But I love supernatural stories, they are fun to write and you can let your imagination run riot.

Shah Sight It is fascinating, Margarita, how do you personally feel about vampires, were you scared of them when you were a child, you said your vampires are not scary, so what actually you want your readers to feel when reading your vampire story, if they are not out to kill people or suck their blood, what kind of personality or emotions you have given your characters, how do we connect with them?

Margarita Felices They never frightened me to be honest, if anything I am more afraid of Zombie characters than Vampires. Perhaps its because they appear to be more human looking than any other supernatural creature. I feel sorry for them, alienated from mortals for being different. I do have a few villains in the story that are out to 'suck your blood' in fact Max, my main villain, does kill a few people as well as beat up a femaile vampire! I always described Rachel, my lead, as a compassionate vampire, but also a vicious killer. I want my readers to know that not all Vampires are evil. I want them to feel something towards Rachel that makes them hope she finds what she's looking for at the end, she's not only looking for the book.

Shah Sight Thanks, this is getting really interesting for us, Margarita, the book I am asking you about is called Judgement of Souls, which is now also featured on our site, do you have another vampire story, or a Zombie story, apart from this one, if yes, please tell us something about it, if not, tell us about your next project?

Margarita Felices I've recently submitted a short story to BTGN about a psychic. It's a different story to what I've written in the past. It's a bit quirky and a story that I've had in my archives for such a long time and I always liked it so I re-wrote it and hopefully should be out very soon. I'm also writing the prequel, Judgement of Souls 2: The Call of the Righteous. This novel will go back in time for Rachel. It will span 300 years and see her get mixed up in all sorts and travel to lots of different places and meet the dashing Count that is mentioned briefly in JOS3. Then I have the last in the trilogy to wrote and will focus on her parents and when the Book of Cain was found.

Shah Sight Very interesting, do you want to read a few lines of Judgements of Souls to our audience, a few lines that say a lot about your story, you might not remember it, but we will love to wait to hear something from your book, even if you have to go and look for it in your book, and then read it to us here, if not possible we can move to another question?

Margarita Felices ‎...she clenched her hands, her knuckles whitened and her smile faded as she remembered the attack on the Elysium, her parents’ banishment from their home and betrayal by the one person she thought she could trust; all those memories, a lifetime away, but still fresh in her mind. There was only one person to blame: a man who had broken her heart and condemned her and her parents to shame....

Chris Karlsen Having read Judgement of Souls, I can say I was struck by the imagination Ms. Felices showed in describing the history of vampires. I also enjoyed the different settings starting with Cardiff.

Margarita Felices Thank you that's kind of you to say..

Shah Sight I thought you wouldn't remember it, but of course when you love your work you do remember a lot about it. What do people say about your particular story, Margarita, we know there are lots of vampire stories, as there is sci-fic, thriller, fantasy, etc, why people think that your book can stand out among other such stories, you may want to tell us their exact words about your story, like what our Chris Karlsen just said?

Margarita Felices I had a great review from a magazine yesterday. They loved that my main character was female and it made a great change. And also I 've been told that it goes at a great pace. There is no padding in my novel, if it didn't move the story on, it was deleted as simple as that. The reviews I've had so far have been overwhelming, I hope that I've given the reader a different look to vampires, yes they are killers, but they also have traditions which they are very strict with. Some of the catch lines before the reviews have read: A great ride, funny in parts - Page turning and compelling - Unique and different - Clever and Imaginative - Vampires don't twinkle.

Shah Sight Well, it's like watching a movie for us, and we want to thank you for giving us such a pleasure, and talking about movie, have you thought of changing your vampire story to a movie script, has any agency talked to you about making your story into a film, do you see your story being a movie, yourself?

Margarita Felices I work for TV ! Seeing my book made into a film would be fantastic! But there are hundreds of stories out there in competition. Right now I'm happy that a few people a week download and enjoy what I've written. If of course anyone was interested, I would gladly script the novel - I have a bit of experience with film scripts! Perhaps one day if there was a lot of interest I would change it, but that's a harder market to break into than being an author. And the pressure is immense. I'm plodding along at a good pace, writing the second in the trilogy and making notes for the first one. If I was approached right now, I wouldn't give my best work, I know it. So for now, a film is a nice distant dream. But wow! To see my characters on the big screen - now that would be nice!

Shah Sight Margarita, I will give the Amazon links that I have from Judgement of Souls, in the end, do you want to also tell us where else can we buy your book, give us a few links please, if you want?

Margarita Felices Thank you. You can also download the book from Books to go Now. I will have a website running very soon and a book promo. Anyone that wants to chat to me can do so via FB - I don't bite!

Margarita Felices and also from here http://astore.amazon.com/gifofdaw-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=350

Shah Sight It was a pleasure being with you today, anything else you want to tell us, please give us the joy of hearing it, before we meet you once more on our show, in the future, we thank you and say goodbye for now?

Margarita Felices Thank you - that wasn't as daunting as I thought it was going to be. I'd like to thank everyone who has downloaded the book so far. It means so much to new writers to get recognition. Bye bye xxx

Shah Sight If you want to buy Margarita's vampire story also visit:https://sites.google.com/site/shahsightshop/m-17

Judgement of Souls Margarita Felices - ShahSight Home Literary Book Shopsites.google.com

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Shah Sight And also: http://www.facebook.com/groups/shahsightshop/search/?query=judgement+of+souls

Shah Sight Literary Book Shop
Buy and sell your books from your own shop. Type the key words for your favourite book, author, or genre. Go To The Shop https://sites.google.com/site/shahsightshop/ Tip: Find your book and tell you...

The Interpreter: Author Interview With Chris Karlsen

2012-02-15T12:25:00.002-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Chris Karlsen, Welcome on our show, and we are so excited to be with you today. You may want to say something about yourself to our members, before I ask you a few more questions?

Chris Karlsen Hi Shah, I'm a retired police detective. I always wanted to write but never had the time while working. I've just finished three books. Two are paranormal romances and in release. The third is coming out next month and that's a romantic thriller.

Shah Sight Thanks Chris, you are a retired police detective and you write romantic thriller, please tell us the connection between your writing and your past career, why don't write about what you know best?

Chris Karlsen I like romances and thrillers they're what I read the most. Once I was done with law enforcement, I was done. I have no desire to relive my career through my characters.

Shah Sight Chris that makes sense, thank you so much. Chris if we don't write to earn our living out of it, what would be the other best motive for us to write, why did you agree to write?

Chris Karlsen I grew up with a love of history, especially medieval English history. It was one of the things that led to my first book, "Heroes Live Forever." The story of a young English woman who inherits a house haunted by the ghosts to two medieval knights and she falls in love with one of the ghosts. Another interest is time travel. My second romance is a time travel where the couple are transported back to medieval England and the hero's life is at stake.

Shah Sight Will you ever write in another genre apart from what you are writing now, what else would be your other favourite genre, do you fancy writing science fiction, or mystery, for instance?

Chris Karlsen The romantic thriller coming out, "Golden Chariot," is different from the first two books in that the romance is the subplot. I just finished the draft of the sequel to it and am currently working on book 3 of my "Knights in Time," series, which "Heroes Live Forever," and "Journey in Time," are from. What I might like to try down the road is a Gothic horror. I kind of have an idea of what I'd do with the villian and I'd like to set it in Victorian England too.

Shah Sight We are interested in what you have been in your own life, a detective, it is very interesting for us. Do you think your life experience as a detective is there in some ways, in your writing, is there lots of action in your books that you think is influenced by what you have been in your real life?

Chris Karlsen Absolutely. I think it's almost impossible for a writer not to be influenced by personal experience. As a detective, I spent a lot of time in court in trials. That helped with testimony and questioning my heroine in Journey in Time used for a medieval trial. My heroine in Golden Chariot is a nautical archaeologist but she comes from a family of cops. What she was taught by them aids her in fighting for her life in the story. Logical thinking is very important in detective work and I infuse my characters with a great deal of logic or at least try to.

Shah Sight Chris give us one or two links to Amazon for your books, before I continue with my questions please, where your readers can find your books?

Chris Karlsen http://www.amazon.com/Heroes-Live-Forever-Knights-ebook/dp/B004WPW29G/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329327523&sr=1-2

Heroes Live Forever (Knights in Time)www.amazon.com

‎4 Stars "A grand debut" by Night Owl Romance Reviews. Elinor Hawthorne has in inherited a house that is haunted by the ghosts of two medieval knights, Basil Manneville and Guy Guiscard. Basil is the man of her dreams, her knight in shining armor. She falls in love with him an...

Chris Karlsen http://www.amazon.com/Journey-Time-Knights-ebook/dp/B005KP18XS/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329327523&sr=1-2

Journey in Time (Knights in Time)www.amazon.com
London attorney, Shakira Constantine finally agrees to spend the day with her handsome client, Alex Lancaster. While riding in the countryside, the couple finds themselves caught in a time warp and transported back to the 14th century-and an England preparing for war. Everyone believes Alex is th...

Chris Karlsen Thank you for asking for the links, Shah. I appreciate the opportunity.

Shah Sight My pleasure, we are enjoying the interview immensely, I ask you a couple of more questions before letting you do your other things, tell us please about your writing style, what I mean is do you write from a lot of experience reading other books, or you have your own style of writing, for instance, I use very little words to tell my story, how is it with you?

Chris Karlsen I'd say both. I do read a lot. When I see a scene that really strikes me and it can be because of the well written action, or love scene, or crisp dialogue, I read it again. When I reread, I concentrate on how the author drew me in and try to craft my scenes with my words, my spin, using the technique I admired. My books are character driven and I dig deep into them and I'd say most of what they feel and say is from my style of digging deep. The action and emotion guide the verbiage.

Shah Sight ‎Sharon Kleve said that your books are 'wonderful', do you get a lot of such complements from your readers, tell us what your readers say about your books?

Chris Karlsen Sharon is very kind. Many say that they were deeply invested in the characters. Some say they felt like they knew them personally. One comment I get often is they think the books would make great movies. All those comments are so fabulous to hear. I'd love for them to be movies. I'm asked on blogs who I'd cast in my character roles and that's fun to do.

Shah Sight Chris, do you want to add to what we already know about you and your works, before we thank you for this great time having you with us and let you do your other works, anything that you think we should know about you or your works, please?

Chris Karlsen I'd say if you want to suspend belief for a bit or enjoy knights, time travel, & reincarnation, then I think you'd like "Heroes Live Forever," and "Journey in Time." If you want to work a Bronze Age shipwreck off the coast of Turkey with an American archaeologist and the Turkish agent investigating her, then I think you'll like "Golden Chariot," which is out on March 17. I love Turkey and have visited numerous times. I knew I had to set a book there. The same with England.

Shah Sight Thank you Chris, we are looking forward to learn more about your works in the future, hope to see you soon on our show.

Chris Karlsen Thank you, Shah. I've had fun and enjoyed our time together and thank you for all the "likes" that appeared.

Sky Citizen Barak I am definitely buying one of her books, she is amazingly convincing.

William Talcott Another great interview by Shah. Thank you Shah and Chris Karlsen!

The Interpreter, Shah Wali Fazli, Tee Gee

2012-02-06T05:01:00.001-08:00

The Interpreter: Author Interview With Michellle Grogen

2012-02-01T12:01:00.000-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Michelle Grogan, welcome on our show, and thanks for being with us today, do you want to say something to our members, something unique about yourself as a person and as a writer, before I ask you a few more questions?

Michelle Grogan Good Morning Everyone! I am so glad to be here! I am not sure how unique a person I am, I am pretty laid back and like things simple. But when it comes to my writing, I like to create drama and conflict - things that bring my characters together, have the potential to tear them apart, and figure out how to overcome the obstacles in life to get back together again.

Shah Sight Michelle, thank you so much. When I first wrote it was about my own life, and a friend was the first person to tell me to do so, what motivated you, was it your parents who said you should write, or was it you who found out that talent in you first?

Michelle Grogan
I began writing when I was in middle school, but I began telling stories when I was younger by acting them out with my Barbies and My Little Ponies. Early on, I never really shared my stories with anyone - at that time, they were just for me. I did read A LOT - & I still do - and decided one day that if all those other authors could do it, why couldn't I? My family has always been an encouraging force in my life and now my fiance has been the one person who has pushed me to get my writing out there and does all he could to help me with that. In college I began writing one page stories that I shared with the leader of a youth group I was part of and he thought they were good and would be even better expanded. My first foray into letting others really read my writing came when I began writing Fanfiction and posting them online. Not sure if I totally answered that question LOL!

Shah Sight It is perfect Michelle, thank you so much, can you tell us what was your first story about, if you remember, or tell us about your first book, you said you wrote drama and conflict, what should we expect to read in your first book?

Michelle Grogan
Well, I think my first story - written when I was in middle school - had to do with teenage issues and growing up. I don't remember a lot of the details. As far as being influenced by conflict and drama, I grew up watching soap operas with my mother - my favorite being (then and now) General Hospital. My first published novel - Forbidden Love - was inspired by that soap and by the Romeo and Juliet theme of love being forbidden and what two people do in order to be together . . . with the conflicting families being connected to organized crime. In my first book, my readers should expect romance, characters trying to find their places in the world, a father and daughter trying to reconnect, and one man looking to use a blossoming love to get what he wants - no matter the costs.

Shah Sight Michelle, very interesting indeed, I ask you one more more question about your first book, and then move on to the next, what characters do you love the most in your book, and why, what I mean is that you really enjoyed writing about them, and they are still with you today, was it your main characters, is there also the good and bad guys in your book like there is a in a film?

Michelle Grogan
In Forbidden Love there are definitely good and bad guys, but it might surprise readers when they figure out who the good guys are & who the bad one is. As for my favorite character I'd have to say it's my female lead character Jessica Alvarez. Jessica has been with me even before I found the right story for her to star in. She's a character that I have cultivated for years before she found her place in Forbidden Love & has had a chance to tell her story.

Shah Sight We really enjoyed your first book's details, tell us something about your other book, something as interesting as your first one, be it the characters or the story, and do you have another book?

Michelle Grogan
Well Forbidden Love is the first in a trilogy. The second installment will be Is Love Enough? & focuses on the continuing growing relationship between Jessica & her father Luis as well as her feelings for Jake. There will be romance, there will be danger as both Luis & Jake inhabit very dangerous worlds. And through it all Jessica has to figure out if love is enough to stand up to & survive all that is thrown at them.

Shah Sight Mechelle, give us one or two Amazon links to your books, before I ask you a few more questions, where can people buy your book as this will hopefully reach hundreds of people?

Michelle Grogan My book is being offered exclusively through Amazon.com. It is availed for the kindle for $2.99 & free for Amazon Prime members to borrow. Here's the linkhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005PGNLQO/

Forbidden Love:Amazon:Kindle Store www.amazon.com
Amazon:Forbidden Love
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Shah Sight Thanks Michelle, I will ask you a few more questions, we are loving this interview, but we don't want to keep you with us all day. I don't believe much in being influenced by other writers, and it is a personal thing, what about you, do you really think that you are following some of your favourite authors?

Michelle Grogan
Well I think in some ways I am influenced by the writers that I read. The genre that I write is romantic suspense but I read a wide range of genres. I think I'm more influenced by ideas & styles. I did fall into a slight rut where I was comparing my writing to those of James Patterson, Andrew Gross & some other big name people. I had to take a step back & remind myself that my writing shouldn't be compared to theirs because we are all different people with different writing styles. Once I stopped doing that I was able to focus on me, my writing & the stories my characters want to tell.

Shah Sight I think Michelle you did the right thing, still my personal thoughts, others may think differently. Can you please read a few lines of your book for us where your favourite female character has played a part, just a few lines please, I know you might not remember it, but give it a try please, if you do, or we will move to the next question?

Michelle Grogan
This is from Chapter 3: "Good morning sweetheart," her father said, coming out of the kitchen with a mug of freshly brewed coffee in hand.
"Dad!" Jessica spun around, tossing the phone onto the couch and launching herself at her father, heedless of the coffee he was holding. "Are you okay? What happened? Why did the police come for you last night?"
Chuckling, her father sipped his coffee. "I can brew some decaf for you," he offered.
"Funny. Come on. What happened?" she asked, curling herself into the leather armchair as her father sat on the matching couch.

Shah Sight Michelle, that is how we love our books, and our characters, and you proved it to us, and I am sure that is how much your readers love your book, thank you so much for your time, if you want to tell us anything in the end please give us the joy of hearing it, before we say goodbye to you, and hope to see you soon again?

Michelle Grogan I just want to say that this was my first interview as a published author & I enjoyed it immensely. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts & writing with you!

Shah Sight Thanks Michelle, and it was amazing journey with you today, and I really hope to have you with us again.

Michelle Grogan All you have to do is ask!!

...

The Interpreter by Shah Wali Fazli

2012-02-01T01:27:00.001-08:00

The Interpreter - Special Military Version www.amazon.com
One morning, Shabir Khan wakes up and he finds himself in an American NATO military camp, in the Sangin district of Helmand, one of the most dangerous places on earth. What did bring him there when his parents lived in Moscow and his sisters and brother lived in Zurich?&#xa...

Lorena Bethey

2012-01-28T01:50:00.001-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Lorena Bathey, welcome on our show, and you are live to all our FB members, do you want to say something about yourself, before we ask you about your literary works, tell us who you are and where you are from, please?

Lorena Bathey Hi Shah, I love this idea. I live in California near San Francisco. I am a full time novelist. I love writing and having a blast creating new novels for people to read. I just got engaged and have a wonderful blended family of 6 kids and three grandkids

Shah Sight Wonderful Lorena, and thanks so much, since you are a full time novelist you must have at least a few books published, do you want to tell us about your books a little bit, what genres, how many, etc., please?

Lorena Bathey I have three books out in the market place right now. My first, Happy Beginnnings: How I Became My Own Fairy Godmother is how I got started. I call it the real woman's Eat Pray Love cause I do go to Italy to run away from divorce but I only stayed for 10 days.

Lorena Bathey
But that writing led me to really discover who I wanted to be and to write about women going through transition and change. From that memoir came my first novel, Beatrice Munson. It's the story of five suburban women who discover they've become like their homes, varying shades of beige. They've lost their passions and dreams and when Beatrice Munson moves in, she shakes up thier world. It's a great story about rediscovering who you are and owning the woman you want to be.

Lorena Bathey
Then my next novel just came out in December. It's in ebook format and will be in print soon. But it's called House on Plunkett Street. That book is about Phoebe Bertram who really simply exists in her day-to-day life. But when she has to change her home and her job she discovers three women ghosts come to her in her new apartment. They teach her how to truly live her life. It's basically what would happen if ghosts were your life coaches.

Lorena Bathey And my next novel is in editing now...its called The X and total change

Lorena Bathey It's a thriller about a woman whose husband divorces her and takes her boys away and she has to find out why. So with the help of an ex FBI private detective she toughens up and goes after her ex.

Shah Sight Lorena, since you are a full time novelist that means that you are earning your living from writing, and from what you are telling us here, you are quite an exciting and special writer, which is every author's wish, give us some tips please how can you do that when many authors cannot?
Thursday at 8:47pm · Like

Lorena Bathey
Well, I have decided to pursue writing full time, which I know not everyone can do. But I think if you commit to making it work then you also put the faith in the opportunities available. It is a lot of work. I spend time networking, talkin...See More

Shah Sight Well, Lorena, still that needs a lot of courage and speciality, and I applaud you for that, tell us please what people think about your books, you must get a lot of good feedback that has encouraged you to choose to be a full time and a successful novelist, what is the best words that you hear and you think is really nice?

Lorena Bathey
Thank you, Shah. Yes, so far my books have been really well recieved. I am on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords and my reviews are 4 and 5 stars. I believe the books touch a chord in women. My books have morals but they also protray women as strong and capable going through changes and growing to be better people in the end. I like to throw good plot twists in and my dialog is very good because I see the books like movies in my head.

Lorena Bathey But even though I have been very lucky to have so much love and support of my work, I have had a couple of people give me insights into what didn't work for them. I appreciate that becuase I take that and incorporate it into my writing which I believe makes my writing better
Thursday at 9:00pm · Like

Shah Sight Lorena, give us a few links to your books please, so our audience can find your books, before I ask you a couple more questions and let you go and be with your exciting world of writing and promoting?

Lorena Bathey You can see about me at www.LorenaBBooks.com

Lorena B Books www.LorenaBBooks.com
This novel is the one you stay up until 3 in the morning reading.... one you jus...See More

Lorena Bathey And you can find me athttp://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Lorena+Bathey&x=17&y=18

Amazon.com: Lorena Bathey www.amazon.com
Amazon.com: Lorena Bathey

Lorena Bathey P.S. That's not my book in the pic above. I will put the other books here. And I would say that the temporary lower pricing for ebooks is going up soon. So go and download the eBooks now to get them at $. 99 or $1.25.

Lorena Bathey At Amazon you can find both the ebooks and print copies.

Lorena Bathey I also have a blog that I love to write Called Inspiration for Transformation. I talk about things women think about and I have my other passion...photography. You can find that here http://inspirationfortransformation.blogspot.com/p/photos-ive-taken-my-other-passion.html

Inspiration for Transformation: Photos I've Taken - My Other Passioninspirationfortransformation.blogspot.com

Shah Sight Lorena, let me ask you something totally different, will you be tempted or have you ever been tempted to write something quite different to the genre that you are writing now, if yes why, and if not why, will you ever write a vampire novel, for instance?

Lorena Bathey Oh, one last place I'd love if your readers could follow is my Facebook fan page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lorena-B-Books/138014032926011

Lorena B Books
A site dedicated for the release of the novels and works of author, Lorena Bathe...See More
Page: ‎468 like this

Lorena Bathey Um...I think I can safely say I will not be writing any vampire novels. Not that they aren't great...just not my thing. Probably fairly certain I won't be writing Sci-Fi either...

Lorena Bathey
But other than that I keep my options open. It has worked that my novels seem to have a female protagonist...even when I didn't start to write it that way, one emerges. In one of my next novels I started to write a story about several different individuals reaction to a traumatic event and the female character began developing and then growing the story. So...my books really develop themselves. I get an idea and then go with what comes up.

Lorena Bathey I have been asked many times by readers of Beatrice Munson, My first novel, to write a sequel. I am thinking about it but it won't be a typical sequel

Shah Sight Lorena, we are greatly enjoying this interview with you, fantastic so far, but we know you have other things to do, and it is not the end with you, we will definitely have you back on our show, do you want to say something in the end that you think our audience should know about you, it could be anything exciting or even not exciting, anything, before we thank you and end the interview here?

Lorena Bathey
First, thanks Shah for the opportunity to talk about what I absolutely love...writing. But I'd like to say that I hear all the time the comment, "I'd love to be a writer." I always answer the same thing. So write. That is really the first step to being a writer. Just sit down and write. don't worry about what it looks like, sounds like at first, you'll fix all that later. But if you have a passion, don't let fear stop you. That being said, if you decide to become Indie please...please...please..make sure that you do quality, professional work. Hire editors..real one, not your aunt sue (unless she is in fact an editor). Hire good graphics people to create a shelf ready cover (thats a cover that can be seen in any books store). And do due diligence with your work. This is a fast growing business and there is a lot of crap out there. Make sure your work is credible by being professional about your product.

Shah Sight Thank you so much Lorena, it is greatly appreciated, and we particularly appreciate your enthusiasm about writing and taking the opportunities that is out there, that says a lot about you.

Shah Sight If you are an author or even if you are a rave reader, please add me first and ask for an interview, we would love to interview you, and join our literary group herehttp://www.facebook.com/groups/160298634071734/

The Interpreter: A Literary Group
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Lorena Bathey Thank you Shah. I'm off to join the group right now! We authors have to stick together! Thanks for putting the word out about us!

The Interpreter: Author Interview With Shah

2012-01-25T14:47:00.000-08:00

Lisa Selby
ShahSight Hello Shah, Welcome to your website ShahSight. You have interviewed many authors, including myself. You have also interviewed yourself. I thought it would be a good idea to have someone else interview you. So it is my pleasure to be able to do so. You are the author of "The Interpreter" please tell us something about your background so we can understand you better as an author.

Shah Sight Thanks Lisa, it's very kind of you, and it's appreciated. My full name is Shah Wali Fazli, I was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. After finishing my school, I went to university, studying medicine. But the Mujahidin and after them the Taliban took over Kabul and things went from bad to worse and the worst not only for me, but for the whole country. It's a long story, and both my books, The Interpreter, and Running from Life, are about the Afghanistan war.

Lisa Selby What made you want to become an author?

Shah Sight I think it is my job, and the way I have lived my life, full of adventures, full of tragedies, full of accidents and full of dramas one after the other, I haven't lived a normal life, Lisa, I have always been in danger, and that made me write about what I had seen in my life.

Lisa Selby Other than school realted projects had you ever written before as a hobby?

Shah Sight No, Lisa, for me hobby didn't exist much, you can't have hobbies in a country like Afghanistan, you can only think of survival, you can only think of how to make things safe for you and for your family. I was born in the middle of an ongoing war in our country.

Lisa Selby What was the first thing you wrote? Was it "The Interpreter"?

Shah Sight I first wrote Running from Life in the Dari language, The Interpreter is my second book.

Lisa Selby Why did you decide to write "The Interpreter'?

Shah Sight When I was writing the interpreter, I thought of so many other names, until I came up with this name. After I wrote Running from Life in my native language, I got the confidence and I started writng this book. The main reason was to make a living out of writing, if possible, let's see if I can do that.

Lisa Selby For those people who might be unfamiliar with the book can you tell us briefly what it is about?

Shah Sight Thank you so much Lisa, of course, I would love to. The setting is in Helmand, Afghanistan. The story is about an Afghan interpreter working with the American forces in the Sangin district of Helmand, one of the most dangerous places in the world. His job is to go on patrols with the forces, to connect the soldiers with the local Afghans, and also with their Afghan partners in different parts of Helmand. Mullah Aslam, the Taliban commander, looks at Shabir, the interpreter, as an infidel and he is after him all the time -- to capture him and then behead him, as he manages to behead many interpreters in Helmand.

Lisa Selby Shah, it sounds fascinating! What do you hope your readers will get out of your book "The Interpreter"?

Lisa Selby Waht message are you trying to send?

Shah Sight Thanks, Lisa, I have said it a few times before, and I love to say it again that when I was writing this book I so much hoped that the war would be over by the time my book comes out. People who have read The Interpreter know what this book can offer. There is a lot to learn about the war and complexities of this war in our country. It's written in a way to make the readers wonder, guess, and ask themselves a lot of questions, and then get their answers in the next chapter or page. There is a lot to learn in this book, about Afghanistan, it's people, it's culture, it's beautiful nature, and also why NATO is and should be in that country.

Lisa Selby Shah, I think this book, "The Interpreter" will answer a lot of people's questions regarding this war and what is really going on over there, instead of what people see on the news. Do you see the current situation in Afghanistan getting better or worse in the future, especially after the US troops leave?

Shah Sight Good question Lisa, I so much hope that things get better for our people, as they have suffered so much. Now the US and the Afghan government are in talks with the Taliban, and the Taliban are ready to join the peace process and give up with this war, that is the only hope for us. But if the Taliban continue fighting in Afghanistan, and the neighbouring countries continue with their support of the Taliban, things will be the same for years to come.

Lisa Selby Shah, I only hope that things will get better in your home country. In the meantime, are your working on any other books? If so what are they about?

Shah Sight I am editing Running from Life, and only thinking of writing a sequel to the interpreter, because I had promised to myself if ten people liked the interpreter I would write the sequel, and I can tell you that more than ten people have approved my first book in the English language.

Lisa Selby Shah, I am sure that once more people learn about your book that they will want to read the sequel to "The Interpreter" as well as "Running From Life". I want to thank you for allowing me to interview you. I have found it fascinating, informative, and very enjoyable. I wish to ask you one last question. How can we purchase your book? Is it online, in the bookstores?

Shah Sight Online, you can buy it nearly every where, on Amazon.com and .uk, and on Smashwords, Barnes and Nobles, and many other sites, just type my name and the name of my book, that is it. But in the shop you have to order it, I don't think it physically exists in the shelves, which is a pity. I only add one link here to make sure people can see the book.http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/103817

The Interpreter - Special Military Edition, an Ebook by Shah Wali Fazli www.smashwords.com
‎'The Interpreter' is the story of Shabir Khan, an Afghan interpreter working with the American NATO forces in the Sangin district of Helmand, one of the most dangerous places on earth.

Lisa Selby Shah, Thank you very much for granting me this interview. It has been most enjoyable and informative. I wish you nothing but success on your books and your writing career. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. I also hope that the Afghanizatin poeple can soon live in peace. Thanks again for joing us on ShahSight.

Shah Sight My pleasure, Lisa, it was great to be with you on this interview, thanks for having me.

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The Interpreter: Author Interview With Gerry McCullough

2012-01-24T11:20:00.000-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Gerry McCullough, It's so nice to have you on our show again, tell us what have you been up to from when we interviewed you first, you seemed to be very busy?

Gerry McCullough Well, Shah, partly it's been family commitments, partly it's been health, and partly it's just been sheer busininess, trying to publicise my new full length book, Danger Danger, and my new Short Story collection, The Seanachie, Tales of Old Seamus. It takes a lot of time to publicise just one book – when you hasve three out, it takes at least three times as long. In fact, I just haven't had that much time to put into the 2 new books – there aren't three times as many hours in the day! On top of that, I'm trying to work on my next book, which, as a writer, should really be my top priority.

Shah Sight Thanks Gerry, before we discuss your new works, do you want to tell us a little bit about your travel to China, which I think was a few months ago, what was it about, and what you gained from it?

Gerry McCullough Shah, although I'd love to go to China, I haven't managed it sofar! My husband Raymond went there a few years ago – maybe that's what you're thinking of (Do you want to delete this Q&A?)

Shah Sight It's ok, Gerry, no worries, tell us about what is the connection between your last works, Belfast Girls and Danger Danger, and your new stories, why did you write these new works?

Gerry McCullough Danger Danger is a similar book to Belfast Girls in the sense that It's also set mainly in Belfast, with a trip to Zurich, and is about 2 girls. But it's different because it's more of a straightforward romantic thriller. Belfast Girls didn't fit tidily into any category, and people seem to have liked that about it. But Danger Danger is, I think, a book with a better plot, while still covering some interesting themes, and focusing a lot on the characters. I hope readers of Belfast Girls will enjoy it as much or more.
The Seanachie is also set in Ireland – this time in Donegal – but the stories are a lot lighter than my first two books, and none the worse for that! The cover reflects this difference. These are stories which I first wrote for the Irish magazine Ireland's Own, and the first story, The Tale of a Teacup, was actually the first fiction I had published and was paid for – my first professional achievement. So I have a soft spot for it! Old Seamus is a lovable Irish rogue who makes a living by poaching, and his stories take us back to the Ireland of many years ago. They are full of nostalgia, fun and sometimes romance. They're priced deliberately very low, so that nearly anyone can afford the Kindle edition. I love writing them, and I hope lots of people will love reading them.

Shah Sight Gerry, thank you so much, before I ask you for a link for your new works, I would love you to give us one reason why should everybody go and buy your book, and who you think would benefit from your stories the most?

Gerry McCullough I write because I enjoy it. I publish because I want other people to enjoy what I've written. It seems that lots of people have enjoyed Belfast Girls, which has sold well over 2000 ( heading towards 3000) and has 35 reviews on Amazon with an average rating of 5 star. Danger Danger, since it's only out a couple of months, doesn't have so many ratings, but still has 12 5 star. The Seanachie being only just out has 1 5 star to date. I think you might enjoy them too, group members!

Gerry McCullough My next book is similar to my first 2 romantic thrillers – but since I'm still trying to get it finished, you can't buy it yet!

Shah Sight Gerry, tell us more about The Seanachie, we would love to know about the story a little bit more from you, and give us a link where we can buy it?

Gerry McCullough The Seanachie is a collection of the first 12 of my Old Seamus stories – light hearted stories in the tradition of Somerville and Ross who wrote The Irish RM. I've had 36 of these stories published in the magazine Ireland's Own so far.It's published by Precious Oil Publications, and is available on Kindle Paperback coming soon!

http://www.amazon.com/Seanachie-Tales-Old-Seamus-ebook/dp/B006WVI37S
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seanachie-Tales-Old-Seamus-ebook/dp/B006WVI37S

The Seanachie: Tales of Old Seamus www.amazon.com
The first collection of twelve short stories featuring Old Seamus, the Seanachie – a lovable rogue from the fictional Donegal village of Ardnakil – whose amusing yarns and escapades are narrated by his old friend, Jamie. These stories were first published in the popular Irish weekly...

Shah Sight Thank you Gerry, this is my last question for you for this interview, what are you doing at the moment to promote your books, book signings, radio interviews, what, tell us a little bit about it please?

Gerry McCullough On Saturday I spoke about my books and my writing at a large cross community conference for women in Belfast. The audience was receptive and enthusiastic, and bought quite a few of my books afterwards. I write a lot for Internet blogs such as Mark Williams very popular one _ and for my own, http://www.gerrysbooks.blogspot.com/ Recently I completed an article about Twitter for Hannah Warren. And then , there's this interview! I'd like to do much more, but recently my health has forced me to pull back a little. I really want to give more time to writing my next full length book, what's more. But, of course, the publicity has to go on!

Gerry's Booksgerrysbooks.blogspot.com

Gerry McCullough Thanks for interviewing me Shah – and all the best with your own excellent book, The Interpreter.

Shah Sight Gerry, you know we would love to have you on our show for ever and enjoy your company, but we know you have other things to do as well, so we thank you for your time, and it was lovely to have you with us.
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The Interpreter: Author Interview With Andy Szpuk

2012-01-24T05:23:00.000-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Andy Szpuk, welcome on our live show once again, I must admit that we had a great experience from interviewing you last time, couldn't resist not to do it again, what makes you such a pleasant person?

Andy Szpuk I had a happy childhood, certainly compared to my parents and grandparents who went through so much. I thank them and bless them from the bottom of my heart for keeping me safe.

Shah Sight Andy, thanks, do you also think that it's our personalities that sell first and then our works that we have created?

Andy Szpuk I think the use of the written word allows us to explore our unconscious selves very deeply. We can find things out about ourselves, and others, that we weren't completely aware of, and develop our ideas and views about the world.

Shah Sight True, Andy, you were born in a non-English speaking country, right, how come you manage to write in English, and so perfect?

Andy Szpuk I was born in Britain, Shah, 1962. My father arrived as a refugee in the early 50's, and then my mother came later in the 50's, and they married. I was brought up speaking Ukrainian at home, until I went to school at the age of 5, so couldn't speak much English until then. It's a bit of a cliche, but I always loved books from an early age - I was a big fan of Paddington Bear.

Andy Szpuk Anyway, my English is far from perfect!!

Shah Sight Thanks Andy, do you write about the Ukraine, do you set your book there, what kind of connections your writing have with your parents' home country?

Andy Szpuk Sliding on the Snow Stone begins in the Ukraine and finishes there. As a child of the diaspora, it's inside me always. I have family in Ukraine, cousins, I hope to visit later this year. I'm currently researching and planning a new work, all about my grandfather's family in the Lemkovyna region of Eastern Europe.

Shah Sight Andy, has any of your books been also translated into Ukrainian language, do you have fans there, or do you intend to translate it into your native language, later, at some point in your life?

Andy Szpuk I would love for it to be translated! Into Ukrainian, Russian and other languages. I don't have any literary connections in Ukraine, but I've had exchanges with Canadians and US citizens of Ukrainian descent, and had a really postive reaction.

Shah Sight Andy, thank you so much for your time, it was a pleasure to be with you once again on our show.

Andy Szpuk Thanks to you, Shah.

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"This book should go down in the annuls of war memoirs."

2012-01-24T03:19:00.000-08:00

The Interpreter

5.0 out of 5 stars, Insight and understanding, 24 Dec 2011

This is the story of an Afghan national working as an interpreter for the US army. His job takes him into danger and under fire from the Taliban.
Although this is not autobiographical the author has had experience in this field.

If anyone questions the reason for NATO being in Afghanistan point them in the direction of this book. Written like a journal detailing the day to day life in Sangin the reader is given an insight into the real people of the country; their love of family; their struggle for a decent life, for medical treatment and an education for their children. It's not much to ask for, is it? Yet the Taliban think the people should live in poverty and ignorance with no medical facilities and no schools. They destroy everything that the forces build for the people and force the innocent villagers to provide food for them.

The fact that the English isn't perfect only adds to the authenticity of the writer's words. This book should go down in the annuls of war memoirs. A must read to aid understanding of a different culture. Well done, Shah.

Pauline Edwards

The Interpreter: Author Interview With Susan Goodsell

2012-01-22T15:55:00.000-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Susan Goodsell, Thanks for your interest in our interview, do you want to say something to our members, before I ask you a few questions?

Susan Goodsell Thank you for accepting me in your group, it is good to meet everybody.

Shah Sight Thanks Susan, we are also very pleased to have you with us as a member. Susan, are you a writer, do you have any book published, tell us how this literary group interests you?

Susan Goodsell I am a new author. I am co-author with Peter Hindley of 'The Perfect Crime: A Story Of Truth Or Fantasy'. This is our first book and is true crime. I am interested in meeting other authors - we are both on a huge learning curve.

Shah Sight Thanks, so you are in the right place, we are all authors, and we love to know about the rest of our members. Susan, how was the experience of writing the book with another writer, for both of you, was it difficult in certain ways?

Susan Goodsell We work well together and I think, complimented eachother's style. We live in different countries and worked using the telephone and electronically, it worked well for us, except that is, for the neck ache caused from balancing the phone on one's shoulder while typing with two hands! Didn't walk upright for a while! lol I can honestly say it has been an enjoyable experience working with my uncle, Peter.

Shah Sight We know a little bit about the story as Peter was kind enough to give a few minutes of his time and talk to us. Do you want to put a bit more light into the real story, as you said it is a true crime, what actually happened in the story?

Susan Goodsell When faced with an unsuspected death of a close family member and every formality that should have been followed after such a death is ignored, one has to wonder if there is an alternative play of events, these and others are presented in an unique format whereby the reader takes on the role of detective, judge and jury.

Susan Goodsell With hindsight we can all make a difference.

Shah Sight Yes, of course, so tell us what made you both write this story, although you said it in a way in your answer, above, you may want to tell us a little more?

Susan Goodsell Thankfully we had recorded all events, times, places, letters etc as they happened over many years and they were to prove to be invaluable in producing this true account which takes many twists along the way. I think I can say that there will be some element of this story that the reader will be able to relate to, if not in their own lives, in somebody elses close to them.

Shah Sight We are truly enjoying this interview, it is as if we are actually reading the book itself. What are people saying about this book, Susan, are you satisfied with the feedback you are getting?

Susan Goodsell We have had very positive comments and it certainly seems to generate a mix of shock, surprise, and a topic of conversation. I have been quite fascinated by the reaction to the look and feel of the book when it is placed in somebodies hands. Although I say it myself, I really am quite proud of the finished product.

Shah Sight Susan, the way you both managed to do this job is quite impressive, let alone getting it published. What is your next project, although this book has come out recently, you are not going to work with your uncle again , are you?

Susan Goodsell We have at least one more book to write, a sequel to The Perfect Crime..., which has been started and hopefully will be ready in about a year. Having said that, I really hope to gain the time to be able to explore other ideas I have flying around in this head of mine.

Shah Sight Thank you so much, we wish this interview to reach as many people as possible, will you please provide us with one or two links where people can buy this book?

Susan Goodsell Certainly. http://www.amazon.com/,http://www.amazon.co.uk/, http://rosedogbooks.com/

Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more www.amazon.com
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Susan Goodsell Sorry this link for Rosedog might be better!http://bit.ly/wf7Xmf

Rosedog Books:Publisher-ISBNLIB-Book infomation,Prices,excerpt,ebook download www.isbnlib.org
Copyrights 2009-2010 ISBNLIB.com, ISBN Library: Book Infomation, Free ebook download, Price, Book Excerpt. All rights reserved. www.isbnlib.com. English Books | 日本语 Send emails to admin#isbnlib.com for any concerns.

Shah Sight It was lovely to have you on our show, Susan, you are welcome to say anything that you think we should know, be it about yourself, your book, your job, where you live, anything you may want us to know?

Susan Goodsell Thank you very much, this is the first live interview I have done and I have really enjoyed it. I am a teacher in an all boys secondary school and will have to have my wits about me tomorrow so I will thank you for your time spent talking to me and wish you best wishes and goodnight.

Shah Sight Thank you, hope to see you again soon, it was a pleasure for us. Goodnight

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The Interpreter: The Walker

2012-01-22T14:20:00.001-08:00

‎Christine Sutton:

http://www.facebook.com/groups/160298634071734/

The Interpreter: A Literary Group

Come and join this group. Suggest your author interview, and bring your work to be featured on this site: The Walker: Free:http://www.amazon.com/The-Walker-ebook/dp/B005U9XW4W

The Interpreter: Author Interview With Shah

2012-01-20T05:50:00.000-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Shah Sight,welcome to our author interview, can I ask you why you are interviewing yourself?

Shah Sight Yes, of course, it's because I interview my fellow authors nearly every day, and no one agreed to interview me, so I had to take things into my own hand, and interview myself.

Shah Sight I always wanted to ask you about you and Khaled Hosseini, two writers from the same country, how do you campare your writing with his writing, I mean, the Interpreter to the Kite Runner, for example.

Shah Sight I have read Khaled Hosseini's first book the Kite Runner, Khaled has the ability to engage his readers in a very different way to mine, he is calm and collective, and very gentle with his writing, exactly like his own personality, a gentleman, whereas my writing is quite different. I can never write like him, I don't have that ability to engage my readers the way he does, it's extraordinary what he can do with his writing, and now we see the results, he is an international figure now.

Shah Sight I totally agree with you say about Khaled Hosseini's work, from what I have read in the Kite Runner. So, tell us how would you like to write, and why you think you can never write like him? Are you jealous of him?

Shah Sight Good question. Yes, every writer out there is jealous of him, if they dare to compare themselves with him, which I sometimes do, and the outcome is mere jealousy, nothing else. As I said, I write quite differently from him. I am not gentle with my readers, I am not calm and collective with them, I am not soft and slow, I am very different. My writing explodes in front of my readers' eyes and make them uncomfortable, which I am so sorry about that. I don't think they get a break from me throwing words after words of thrill and drama to them, for which I really want to apologise to my dear readers. I am very, very sorry.

Shah Sight Shah, why can't you try to be gentle with your readers, that is what you want to do in your life, from what I know, why you don't try to look after your readers and be gentle and calm with them, when you want to make your living out of writing one day, you can't continue doing this, bombarding your readers with a world of scary and dramatic words, why can't you be different for the sake of your own writing, and your own life?

Shah Sight Thank you so much, another good question, I think it's because that is my personality, as you know I believe that our personalities, what we are in our life, and how we have been raised, etc. etc., have a big influence on the way we write.

Shah Sight Deos that say that you are not gentle as a person, can I say that you are a gangster or something?

Shah Sight I am not a gangster, but not a gentleman either, something in between these two, maybe a totally different writer and a totally different personality.

Shah Sight Fair enough, what is your next book, do we expect the same stress and disturbance from your next book as well, or is it different, when it is going to come out?

Shah Sight My next book is called Running from Life.

Shah Sight Running from Life?

Shah Sight Yes, it is coming out soon, but I don't know how soon.

Shah Sight Can I tell you something, no one will read this book either, it will sit next to The Interpreter, like two disfigured twin brothers, will look at each other and think why the hell we are here in this world.

Shah Sight I know from where you are talking, because it's called Running from Life, and it's scary enough already, that is why you are saying that, and you think it's not going to be any different from The Interpreter. But, I don't care who is reading my books, and who is not, I can't change myself for my readers, I can't be someone else, I love to be myself, it's enough for me even if one person in the world likes my books.

Shah Sight Don't you think that is selfish what you are saying, don't you think that it's not fair when someone goes and pays money and buys your book, and he gets insult instead? He gets nothing but you showing yourself off, you don't giving them a break, you don't looking after them as a writer, but always thinking about yourself? Why don't you want to change?

Shah Sight You mean that I have to change myself for every reader that is out there? So, how I am going to change myself for every reader's choice that is out there reading my book?

Shah Sight Ok, Shah, it was nice to see you and have you on our show, but I hope to never see you again. You gave me that thrill from opening your book and reading your first word in the book, you continued doing so throughout your book until the last word, and now from when we started this interview up until now there is a thrill in my heart, you are a hell of a thriller writer, and I don't want to see you again. Bye.

Shah Sight I'm happy with what I am. I have lived with thrills and dramas, I will continue living with them, I don't want to be someone else, all I can say is sorry to those who have been scared by my writing, and that I think is human enough to put me into the world of any other normal human being, those who don't live in my scary world. What is wrong if for once I take them to my world to see what I have been through throughout my life, what is wrong to take them away from their comfortable life, and show them my horrifying life, what is wrong to take them from the comfort of Europe to my dramatic way of living, what is wrong if I want to introduce them with how I have lived my life, how I have been raised, and how we are still living, in horror, what is wrong if I can direct their calm and collective thoughts to our lives, to our war-torn land, Afghanistan.
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Shah Sight http://www.amazon.com/Interpreter-Military-Shah-Wali-Fazli/dp/1467926175/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1327068524&sr=8-4

The Interpreter: Special Military Edition www.amazon.com
One morning when Shabir Khan wakes up, he finds himself in a military camp, in H...elmand. What did bring him there, when his parents lived in Moscow and his sisters and brother lived in Zurich? Shabir Khan studied and he joined a Karate club in Kabul, so what ha...

The Interpreter: Five Stars Review

2012-01-19T03:56:00.000-08:00

Nov 27, 2011 Katherine L. rated it

Human scenes of Afghanistan crafted around the pursuit of a torturer

While The Interpreter portrays an insider’s panorama of the conflicts in Afghanistan, it is also crafted as a story that tunnels into the vendetta between an Afghanistan man and his Taliban torturer. Yet the book is written with the gray zones that make this conflict one of controversy.

Based on true experience, the author tells of his hunt for the Taliban with American soldiers and Afghanistan men. They course many villages, finding out the tenor of people who have been displaced from farms. The Americans have built schools and hospitals yet the Taliban raid and attempt to forcibly convert the villagers. Both pro and anti American responses are depicted but what is so poignant are the individuals and their losses. The worry the Afghanistan men have about their women and how Americans might treat them is an understatement to the plights of these people.

Shabir was learning karate when the Taliban captured him, beat him, and tortured him, sending his family to Russia for refuge. His bravery in joining the American forces as an interpreter leads to compelling scenes of encounter. When he interprets intercepted radio messages, he knows he is a target. Although he eventually vanquishes his tormenter, there is more to this. It reminds me of the end to Doctor Zhivago in that Shabir must leave; he has to be displaced. Because the Taliban know him, his presence only causes strategy that can kill those around him.

This is a moving book, rich in scenes of Afghanistan and the hunts there. The author doesn’t sensationalize because much is preparation. A traditional meal is a blessing. Also his relationships nourish him as the plot surges towards the confrontation with his nemesis. I was rapt to read this to the end.

The Interpreter: Author Interview With Michael Sims

2012-01-18T12:35:00.000-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Michael Sims, Welcome to our show on our literary group, do you want to say anything to our members before we start with the questions about your works?

Michael Sims I am pleased to be a member of this group - looks interesting. I have been writing for more than 35 years and I enjoy it more now than I ever did.

Shah Sight Michael, thank you so much, tell us who designed the cover for your book, and what do we expect to read inside?

Michael Sims Nightmare City is our first standalone novel since 2007 following two books in the Department 18 series. It is a supernatural thriller. The cover is entirely the work of the publishers, Samhain. The blurb is - They can control people’s minds. What happens when they can’t control themselves?
Three brothers. One rare and terrifying ability: they can control people’s minds. Robert considers it a gift--he's used the power to set off on a successful career. For Peter, it's been a curse. He couldn't adjust and turned to drugs, a broken man. And Gabriel... he took yet another path. He sees the full potential. He embraces the evil. As he travels the globe, no one in his path is safe. He's about to unleash his ultimate plan, but first he needs to destroy the only ones who might stand in his way. His brothers.

Shah Sight Wow, very exciting, and the cover is really true to the story, so what do you classify your book, as dark, thriller, horror, what?

Michael Sims I guess it would be classified as horror but not by me. It is supernatural by which I mean that the characters have to battle forces beyond human. It is a thriller because that is how we have paced it. It is very much character driven, as it is the story of the three brothers as much as it is a fight between good and evil. It's a bout choices as the three of them make very different choices about the path their lives take and the results of those have to be faced.

Shah Sight Tell us please that there is also one or a few girls involved in the story, in some ways, or there is not any?

Michael Sims Girls, interesting question. Yes indeed, female characters are important in our writing. In this book clearly the main three characters are brothers - so naturally are male. However there are important and strong female characters in a psychic, a research centre professor, and others. It is impossible for us to write a book without a balance of sexes - just as in life.

Shah Sight True, I think that is why this question came up to my mind, I am glad I got the answer I was looking for. Tell us about the readers, what do they say about the book, are you happy with what you have heard so far?

Michael Sims No reviews as yet, and no comments on Amazon. It's only just been released to be fair so early days. Certainly the editor who commissioned the book loves it and we hope his faith in us is justified. We like working with him.

Shah Sight What are the means of action in the book, guns, arrows, karate, boxing, vampires, or any other kind of supernatural means, can you tell us something about this?

Michael Sims Psychic possession. Characters are controlled by the psychic demon and battle their own human demons along the way. Their very human flaws make them vulnerable to the creature that Gabriel has become and his two brothers have to enlist the help of other psychics to battle and try and stop him. It becomes a race against time.

Shah Sight Thank you, do you want to give us a link where we can buy your book, before we thank you one more time, and we end the interview here, it would be appreciated?

Michael Sims a lot of detail is on our site at www.maynard-sims.com and the Kindle links are http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nightmare-City-ebook/dp/B006N4PHK0/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1326915442&sr=1-2

Welcome www.maynard-sims.com
View our BLOG Our standalone novel NIGHTMARE CITY published by SAMHAIN available in ebook and trade paperback format

Michael Sims and http://www.amazon.com/Nightmare-City-ebook/dp/B006N4PHK0/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1326918526&sr=1-3

Nightmare City www.amazon.com
They can control people’s minds. What happens when they can’t control themselves? Three brothers. One rare and terrifying ability: they can control people’s minds. Robert considers it a gift--he's used the power to set off on a successful career. For P...

Michael Sims many thanks Shah for this opportunity.

Shah Sight It was a pleasure for us, thank you for your time.

The Interpreter: Author Interview With John Logan

2012-01-18T10:47:00.000-08:00

Shah Sight
‎John Logan, welcome, I must admit that some of us might know very little about you, do you want to tell us a little about yourself, before we move to your work?

John Logan Hello, Shah, thank-you. Well, I'm a Scottish writer, living in the Highlands of Scotland. My fiction has been published by Picador, Vintage, Edinburgh Review, Northwords, Chapma, Nomad etc etc...with reviews of my work in Scotland on Sunday, Scottish Studies Review, The Spectator, The Hindustan Times. I've had work in anthologies edited by A L Kennedy, John Fowles, Ali Smith, Toby Litt. The book I published on Christmas Day, The Survival of Thomas Ford, I had under contract with a literary agent in London for over a year. 2 agents at that agency "loved" the book...the film consultant at the agency thought the book was the best she'd read at that agency in all her 4 years there, and this film consultant had discovered Slumdog Millionaire as an unpublished manuscript and got it made into a film by FILM4, so her word was taken very seriously. I suppose I;m answering your question about "myself" there by telling you right away about my work!

Shah Sight That is what we love to hear, John, thank you so much, can you break all your works down to a few more lines, please, to our audience, one by one, one more time, so exciting, we want to hear again?

John Logan http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006Q68W7U/ref=s9_simh_gw_p351_d0_g351_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0T64TBTKSYZ672N1XYYC&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

The Survival of Thomas Ford www.amazon.com
THE SURVIVAL OF THOMAS FORD Thomas Ford is the only survivor of the car crash which killed his wife. He is also the only witness who would be willing to identify the young, reckless driver who caused the crash. But the driver has no intention of ever letting himself be identified, not ...
·

John Logan Thanks Shah, that link above is to the US Amazon page for my novel, The Survival of Thomas Ford.Of course it's on Amazon UK as well. A full break-down of my published work is at my website www.johnaalogan.com The Survival of Thomas Ford was the 5th novel I wrote. My earlier novels are not yet up on Kindle but will be over next few months. A couple of them were also under contract to another literary agent, at an earlier stage. My other novels are Starnegin's Camp,. The Major, Agency Woman, Rocks in the Head, I have some story collections also which will come out. But, right now, The Survival of Thomas Ford is the only book I have up on Kindle! Francesca Main, senior editor at Simon and Schuster said of it "John A. A. Logan is a hugely talented writer. I love books like this, that have the pace and excitement of a thriller, and the voice and emotional depth of a literary novel"

John A. A. Logan -Author www.johnaalogan.com
‎"Bold"

Shah Sight Thanks John, you may want to tell us about how you came up with the idea of writing your last book, we are interested to know, in a few lines, please?

John Logan ‎"Thomas Ford is the only survivor of the car crash which killed his wife. He is also the only witness who would be willing to identify the young, reckless driver who caused the crash. But the driver has no intention of ever letting himself be identified, not to mention what his father’s intentions are…or those of his girlfriend, Lorna, the hospital cleaner." A wee synopsis there....Lorna, the cleaner, is a very important character in the book...though most readers ultimately feel the story is about Jimmy, the driver. As for the idea for the book...I write very much from the subconscious Shah...I do not even WANT to know cosnciously where these ideas come from! All I know is I wrote steadily for many years, and perhaps only on this my 5th novel did I feel I really achieved what I'd wanted to. My influences had been Knut Hamsun's Hunger, Mikhail Bulgakov (The Master and Margarita)...John Kennedy's Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces...Alan Sharp's A Green Tree in Gedde...Dostoyevsky's The Idiot...many films too went into my melting pot....Equus...Barry Lyndon...even Celine and Julie go Boating would have got into the subconscious there and had an influence...oh, and The Green Ray, the Rohmer film I love best...it's focus on synchronicity and relationships...I can see that influencing me in the Ford book.

John Logan http://www.amazon.co.uk/Survival-Thomas-Ford-ebook/dp/B006Q68W7U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326909468&sr=8-1

The Survival of Thomas Ford www.amazon.co.uk
THE SURVIVAL OF THOMAS FORD Thomas Ford is the only survivor of the car crash which killed his wife. He is also the only witness who would be willing to identify the young, reckless driver who caused the crash. But the driver has no intention of ever letting himself be identified, not ...

John Logan ‎(And for UK readers, the UK link)

Shah Sight John, thank you so much for your time, very interesting indeed, we normally ask our interviewees one single question, in excitement, we did it quite differently with you, but this is not the end, we would love to have you here again. Do you want to say something to our audience, in the end, anything you would love us to hear about yourself, or your work, or any other thing that interests you in your life, be it your car, your dog, or home, whatever?

John Logan Thank-you very much, Shah...I appreciate it! I can tell everyone one thing more.,.that I live in the Highlands of Scotland as I said, right beside a hill where long ago the Pictish King of Scotland had his home...I often walk there at 4am or so, and meet deer on the tracks who are very surprised to see a human up and about like this...I make my way to the top of the hill and sit on the plateau where the old Pictish King had his Fort built on vitrified stone. If I meditate, that's where I do it, and probably that is where I get the idea for books too...among trees and deer with a view over the sea. All best wishes Shah (and every one else reading!), John

Shah Sight We appreciate your time John, it was great to be with you today. See you soon again.

Brendan Gisby Well done, Shah and John. A brilliant interview by a fellow-Scot!

The Interpreter: Do It With Hoooah

2012-01-17T11:20:00.000-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Rebecka Vigus, Welcome to our show, we are pleased to have you with us, let me tell you that we are also honoured to have you as a member on this site. I know you read my book, The Interpreter, and you left a brilliant review on Amazon, there must have been something that dragged you to it, can you tell us what was it that made you want to read this book?

Rebecka Vigus Honestly it was e-mailing back and forth with you on LinkedIn that first go me interested. Then I visited your website to find more information. I am a firm believer in seeking information. I knew little about Afghanistan as a country. I really wanted to see it through the eyes of someone who had lived there.

Rebecka Vigus got* me interested

Shah Sight Ok, thanks, interesting, and then you got the book, and started reading it, what did you really like about the book, and what made you think, oh I don't like this bit or that bit, honestly, we want to know?

Rebecka Vigus I liked that I felt as though I was traveling with the main character. I could feel his fear in the firefight and see his pain at the destruction of the villages around him. He seemed real, human, and someone I could identify with. He's the type of character that if you met him in life, you'd want to have dinner with him and talk to him about how you could help make a difference.

Shah Sight Thanks, so you seem to have liked the main character, do you still remember his name, or one of his fellow interpreters' name, or the place he worked, although you don't have to remember, just in case?

Rebecka Vigus
I remember his name, just not how to spell it and I don't have the book with me to check. I know they worked in Helmand a city I'd never heard of before this book. I also remember an interpreter taking clothing and shoes to school children. I could not decide if they were brave or just tempting the fates when they went to visit their families. I understand wanting to be with family. I get they were hoping to give their lives something normal, I just am not sure I'd ever be brave enough to attempt getting to my family knowing that my fate would be suffering and death if I were caught.

Rebecka Vigus Sabir? I believe was his name.

Shah Sight Oh, sweetheart, you said it, Shabir, correct, and Helmand, totally true, thanks for that. Why do you think you liked the bad guy, the Taliban commander, in the book, he is a bad guy?

Rebecka Vigus
I didn't. I so wanted them to capture him. He was remorseless and everything I think of as a terrorist. He was greedy and did not care who got in his way. I think Shabir was the thorn in his side and even more so after he shot the commander. The Taliban commander is every bad man in the history of the world. Rape, pillage, and plunder to fill his own coffers with the implied dare; 'Catch me if you can.' He was a very well developed character.

Shah Sight Thank you, Rebecka, did you laugh at points throughout the book, you may want to tell us, and also what was the saddest part of the book for you?

Rebecka Vigus There were times when I could share the humor of the men as they joked with each other. I saw it as a way to relieve stress for them. The saddest part of the book that's hard. I think it was probably the new interpreter that helped distribute the clothing and got to see his younger siblings at the school. Then being captured and killed. I also felt deeply Shabir's missing his own family.

Shah Sight Honey, you are getting me back to the story, sorry that this interview can be a bit longer, hope we are not taking a lot of your time, tell us something about the action, what was it that you think was entertaining in terms of action, I will ask you about the thrill next?

Rebecka Vigus The action I could sense the tension, smell the fear, and feel the dirt kicked up by the bullets. It was as if I was there with them. Not knowing where the threat would come from made it all more real when it actually happened. I cannot imagine hiding behind crumbling walls, or inside a Humvee waiting for it all to be over.

Shah Sight I see, thanks a lot, do you think there was an unwanted lover in the story who came to Shabir from time to time, do you remember anything about her?

Rebecka Vigus The woman of his dreams. Yes, I remember her. I wonder if he ever found her once he left his position in the trenches?? I think he needed to believe in a future and she represented that to him. While she seemed unwanted at times, I think she was also something to hang onto from a life he'd had before. Without dreams we have nothing.

Shah Sight Thanks, Rebecka, what do you think of the soldiers who Shabir worked for as an interpreter, and the Taliban who fought against them?

Rebecka Vigus
Let me say first, that I hate war. As to the soldiers Shabir worked with I believe they were making an effort to help the Afghani people by ridding them of the Taliban. The Taliban remind me of outdated warlords still believing in the system that allows for if I see it and want it I take it. They are about a century or two out of touch. If they can keep the people in fear and uneducated they can prevail. It's part of the reason they burn schools. They are uneducated ruffians themselves.

Shah Sight Rebecka, do you want to say something to those who may want to read the interpreter, what should they expect to learn from this book about Afghanistan, the Taliban, and the war in Afghanistan?

Rebecka Vigus Read it with an open mind. It is a work of fiction, it will deliver a good story. Shah has well developed characters that make it seem real. Know that the Taliban is worse than even mainstream media allows us to know. But most of all enjoy the book.

Shah Sight Thank you, we all should have a lovely friend like you in our life, then we have every joy with that as well, it was a pleasure to be with you on this show, see you soon.

Rebecka Vigus You are most welcome. Thank you for the opportunity.

................................................................................................................................

Shah Sight http://www.amazon.com/Interpreter-Special-Military-Version-ebook/dp/B00652BE7U/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_2

The Interpreter - Special Military Version www.amazon.com
One morning when Shabir Khan wakes up, he finds himself in a military camp, in Helmand. What did bring him there, when his parents lived in Moscow and his sisters and brother lived in Zurich? Shabir Khan studied and he joined a Karate club in Kabul, so what happened th...

The Interpreter: Author Interview With Suzanne Tyrpak

2012-01-17T07:09:00.000-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Suzanne Tyrpak,Thanks for your interest in our "On The Spot Interview", as the great William Talcott has named it recently, if I ask you what would you like to read in a book, our members may be able to guess what and how you would like to write, and please, before our members start guessing about the genre you would love to write, you might want to tell us about it, we would love to hear about your works, and your interests in the world of writing, are you a published author, tell us where can we buy your books?

Suzanne Tyrpak I love reading books that hook me in from the beginning with a question or dilemma--some kind of mystery that draws me through the story. For me, a good story contains an element of mystery.

Suzanne Tyrpak And I enjoy learning about something when I read: another time and place, something scientific, something fascinating. I've published two novels and two short story collections. Here's my author page on Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Suzanne-Tyrpak/e/B003ZTP0J4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1 Sorry--the last post got away from me!

Suzanne Tyrpak www.amazon.com
Visit Amazon.com's Suzanne Tyrpak Page and shop for all Suzanne Tyrpak books and other Suzanne Tyrpak related products (DVD, CDs, Apparel). Check out pictures, bibliography, biography and community discussions about Suzanne Tyrpak

Shah Sight Thanks, do you want to tell us a little bit about your novels, what are the stories about, just in a few lines, please?

Suzanne Tyrpak That said, two of my fave authors of all time are Jane Austen and D.H. Lawrence.

Suzanne Tyrpak I write historical suspense, and my stories feature strong women. I like to explore the roles of women, and recreate lost history. Vestal Virgin--suspense in ancient Rome is the story of a Vestal Virgin who faces the Roman Emperor, Nero--a sociopath bent on destroying her family. Hetaera--suspense in ancient Athens is the story of a slave girl who becomes a courtesan (hetaera). The hetaera were literate, powerful, and had more freedom than most Athenian women.

Suzanne Tyrpak The plural of hetaera is hetaerae!

Shah Sight Suzanne, very interesting, were you so young when you started writing, what made you chose writing historical suspense, what motivated you, is there any kind of connection between how you lived or worked and how you write?

Suzanne Tyrpak My major in college was classic theater with a focus on Greek theater and ancient religions. My mom was a children's librarian, and she got me interested in mythology at a young age. My interest continued after being introduced to classic Greek theater; I was an actress for awhile, and the characters for women were wonderfully dramatic! Guess I've always been a bit of a drama queen!!!

Shah Sight Suzanne, you definitely are a drama queen, let me ask you something away from your work, and this is our last question for you today, I am from Afghanistan, and unfortunately women in our country suffer a lot, of course you have been thinking about those women a lot in your life, what are your thoughts about them, I think they have nothing in their life to enjoy, how much do you know and what do you want to say to us?

Suzanne Tyrpak I have thought about the women in Afghanistan a lot, and my heart goes out to them. Throughout history there have been times when women have been oppressed. Despite that oppression, women continue to play a major role in life. After all, the species can't continue without us! I want those women to know that though they may feel helpless, though they may feel unheard--many people are aware of their situation and their pain. Their cries are heard, and echo throughout the world--echo through our collective consciousness. The internet is a great thing, and words are powerful. I pray things will change for the women of Afghanistan, and all oppressed women. When I heard about pharaonic circumcision I was so appalled that I wrote a novel about it--as of yet it's unpublished, but I will do something with it. When I shopped the book around, no one wanted to hear about it. But people must learn about this horrendous mutilation. Knowledge is the first step toward change, and I believe change is possible. Women's voices must be heard.

Shah Sight Thank you, Suzanne, if I tell you that your words brought tears in my eyes, you should believe me, and I am sure every word in your novels is as powerful as your answers here in this interview, it was a real joy for us to have you on our site, today.

Suzanne Tyrpak Thank you, Shah. It's a pleasure to meet you. You're in a position to help many women. And I feel sure you will. Please let me know how I can help. May all beings be free from suffering.

Author Gordon Mathieson

2012-01-16T09:24:00.001-08:00

THE COLOR of ICE, by Gordon Mathieson, Publ. SinoAmerican Books, 2009

She stared at her former lover, now the sitting in the Oval Office.

“Look, I can’t take this assignment now. For God’s sake, I’m a Biology professor, and department chairman. I work with mice, monkeys and students. And some days, I can’t tell one from the other. But this allied project with China…it sounds like you want me to be your…your mole.”

He stared into her eyes without a smile.

“Your word, not mine.”

She stood up and paced on the plush carpet. Her mind reflected on their past as Harvard graduate students. She knew he was fully aware of her fluency with the Mandarin language and her accolades in virus research.

“I’m still confused, Mr. President. I’m sure as hell not a trained spy and, and you could find anyone with my capabilities for this assignment. Why me?”

He stepped closer, gently resting his hands on her shoulders.

“Because, Carrie, unlike all the others, I trust you.”

HOOK ISLAND by Gordon Mathieson Publ. CreateSpace 2010

The two teens knew they were trespassing onto the condemned property but the underground factory and its maze of tunnels intrigued them. Their cell phone flashlight led the way.

Suddenly, a swooshing sound flew between their heads.

“What the hell was that?” Andy shakily asked.

“I…I think it was a bat…let’s get outta here!” Becky responded.

Suddenly a light flashed on behind a door. Factory Office was painted on the door window.

The teens silently duck-walked closer to eavesdrop on a conversation.

“Listen!” Becky whispered to Andy.

They heard a man ask about some illegal deal. He was quickly answered by a woman’s voice. It was a familiar voice.

The teens slowly rose up to peek through the blurred window. They immediately recognized the honey-blonde with her youthful outfit. She seemed in control of the agitated man.

Quickly, the teens slid their bodies back down to the floor.

Andy, with wide eyes whispered, “My God! That’s …that’s….”

“Our homeroom teacher, Miss Lakely!” Becky completed his sentence.

SUMMER GAMES by Gordon Mathieson Publ. Create Space 2011

Mrs. Bing could see how Becky was very much interested in her new friend, Jake. But she also picked up the sincere affection the mixed-race young man had for her daughter. It was a pleasant evening and she was happy the young man was coming to her dinner table. It as Jake who spoke first after pulling out his chair to sit down.

“So, how would you say in Mandarin ‘I would like to use chopsticks?’” Jake asked.

“Oh, that’s easy,” Becky responded. “You can remember this — Wǒ xiǎng yòng kuàizi’ (我想用筷子) — see Jake, Wǒ xiǎng (我想) means, ‘I would like to. And yòng kuàizi (用筷子) means to use chopsticks. Pretty simple, eh?”

Jake smiled, and then answered with, “Xiè xiè” (謝謝) which meant thanks!

The Interpreter: The Mission

2012-01-16T05:45:00.000-08:00

David stood alone outside the ship, and although he knew it was too late to change his mind, he wondered how things would have been had he decided to stay on Valdorion. Then he thought of Mary and knew that if anything happened to her because he didn’t go home, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. He turned and was about to step onto the ramp when he heard her voice come from the darkness behind him.
“Who are you?” she asked.
He slowly turned around. As dark as it was in the tunnel, he could still make out the features of her face. Slowly, Mary stepped from the tunnel into what little light the silo had to offer, and then pointed her pistol at him. He had rehearsed the things he would say to her dozens of times, but now that she was in front of him pointing a pistol at him, he was at a loss for words.
Above him, David could hear the sound of hydraulic pumps and the high pitched whine of motors moving one of the ship’s gun turrets into position. He knew that Legionnaire already had his crosshairs on Mary. He took a step toward her and looked back up the length of the battle cruiser. Holding up his hands, he desperately shouted, “Don’t fire!”
Mary paid no attention to the heavy weaponry on the ship. She took a step back and continued to point the gun at David. “Why are you doing this?” she cried.
When David tried to speak he couldn’t find the words. Demanding an answer, Mary shouted, “Why?”
David fought back a tear and tried to hide the fact that his heart was breaking. He masked his sorrow with a face of anger. “Because I have to.”
Suddenly the lights in the tunnel came on and spilled out into the silo. Casey and five troopers took their places behind Mary. The old security chief held the letter that David had left him in one hand and placed his other hand on his daughter’s shoulder. While speaking to his daughter he looked at David with a look of regret in his tired eyes. “He has to go, Mary. You have to let him go.”
Mary looked back at her father. He held the crumpled letter tightly in his fist. With tears and questions in her eyes, she turned back to David. He had taken a step back and now stood at the edge of the ramp. The hard look he used to hide the pain of his breaking heart softened, but before he would let her see the tears that welled up in his eyes, David turned and ran up the ramp into the empty darkness of the ship. Once inside, the hatch closed and sealed shut behind him.
Mary began to weep. She turned to her father and for the first time since her mother’s death, he took her in his arms.
While standing in the airlock Darkblood watched through the porthole in the hatch as the troopers escorted Casey and Mary back into the tunnel. When the countdown began, thick slabs of tempered steel and concrete slid into place and sealed the tunnel off from the silo.

The Interpreter: Author Interview With Lawrence Fisher

2012-01-16T03:27:00.000-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Lawrence Fisher, Welcome to our author interview, we are thrilled to have you on our literary site today, you seem to be such a sincere person, do you think that would play a big role in your writing and make it more likeable and a brilliant read to your readers, how do you write Lawrence, how do you prefer to write, and tell us what are your books about, do you love to write action novels or fantasy, what, let us know about yourself and about your books, name them please, if you can, and give us the links where we can buy them?

Lawrence Fisher So many questions for one little guy. Oh, where to start? Where to start? "Start at the very beginning. A very good place to start."

Friends, authors, countrymen. Lend me your eyes. Seems familiar to me. Maybe someone wrote something similar?

Lawrence Fisher Thank you very much Shah for hosting me. My book is called "Kill Me Now!"

Lawrence Fisher Anyone reading that would think, what the heck is the book about?

http://KillMeNow.org/

Kill Me Now! The bookkillmenow.org
Kill me now! is a book describing the hilarious exploits of a man who is dating to find his soulmate and has no idea of what he is doing. Will he find her?

Lawrence Fisher Well, my book has a subtitle:

"A Middle Aged Man's Maneuvers through the Frontline of the Dating Battlefield"

That about sums it up. My book is a diary of amusing events that happened to me while trying to find a partner, a soulmate.

Most of us have had weird dates; horrific dates; boring dates and so have I. I simply managed to find the humor in the stories. Why be upset when you can enjoy the experience?

Lawrence Fisher My book is not an action novel, fantasy novel or even a romance novel. Not even a work of fiction. I wish it were fiction, but I was there in the midst of it. Unless the women I was dating were a figment of my deranged imagination and I am actually lying in status and the Matrix is bombarding me with images gone wrong.

But alas, I have the blue pill of reality and I was there! Yet somehow I find the humor in it all; and believe me there is a lot of humor in the situations. Even the great Ashley Fontainne laughed at my escapades.

Lawrence Fisher I portray myself as a late forties single guy who goes looking for love "in oh so many different places" when I have no idea what I am doing or understand the signals being sent out.

You can read an excerpt from my book at:

http://killmenow.org/kill-me-now-excerpt/

Excerpt - Kill Me Now!killmenow.org
No date again, woe is me! How many of us have sat at home wondering why we don’t have a date? How many of us have gone to a bar to look for a girl, found someone interesting and just froze? What should we say to her? What is a good pick up line? Questions, questions, questions! Help!

Lawrence Fisher How did I come up with the name? The book was originally called "World of Dating" and then I changed it to "Weird date stories" but neither suited me.

I then went on a date described in the book: Ms Motor Mouth and while sitting in front of her and wishing that Scotty would beam me up, I was thinking "Oh G-d, take me now!" The title was born.

Lawrence Fisher My book is available from Amazon both as a Paperback and Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/Kill-Now-Maneuvers-Frontline-Battlefield/dp/1462059511

Also Barnes and Noble:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/kill-me-now-lawrence-fisher/1106781133

And from the publisher:

http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/Products/SKU-000498384/Kill-Me-Now.aspx

Kill Me Now!: A Middle Aged Man's Maneuvers Through the Frontline of the Dating Battlefield www.amazon.com
Kill Me Now! is about Lawrence, a man in his late 40s dodging bullets deep in the dating battlefield while searching for THE ONE. In Kill Me Now! Lawrence tries to decode the signals of his enigmatic opponent, often resulting in his hasty retreat. Why is she resting her head on her hand? I...

Lawrence Fisher I am currently working on the sequel and I am already looking for a publisher

Lawrence Fisher I believe that my sincerity and honesty comes out in the book. I do not pretend to be someone that I am not. It was a lot of fun to write this book.

I have met some great people as a result.

Shah Sight ‎Lawrence, thank you so much for your time, and a very interesting insight into your book, and future work, we really enjoyed the few minutes being with you, hope to see you again on our author interview.

The Interpreter: Pinpoint and Count to Ten

2012-01-15T14:30:00.000-08:00

Sheila Mary Belshaw

Here are the extracts, the first from 'Pinpoint':

This is madness, Julia said to herself, her heart almost
beating out of her chest. Not a chance now of trying to get to
Charlie’s girlfriend’s house; the other end of the street would
be blocked off too. Besides, getting nicked carrying an
unlicensed gun was the quickest way of losing her practising
certificate. Her livelihood.
Unlawful possession of a firearm. How would I plead?
Reasonable Excuse? It would depend on whether the court
approved of the motives. What motives? Somebody is
threatening to kill my daughter, Your Honour. Who is
threatening to kill your daughter, Mrs Grant? I’m not at
liberty to say, Your Honour. It is not an answer simply to show
that the weapon was carried for self-defence, Mrs Grant.
There is a reasonable excuse only if the weapon is carried to
meet an immediate and particular threat . . . But, Your
Honour . . .
Well, that’s that then, Julia thought. No ammunition, so get the hell out
of here. Some other weapon will have to do. Scissors, kitchen
knife, razor blade, acid -
She felt a rush of bile to her throat. ‘No!’ she screamed
out loud.

.....................................................................................................................................................

Extract from – ‘Count to Ten’ by Sheila Mary Taylor:

“I just can’t face it, Mum.” He was sobbing, not sounding like
Andrew at all. “I can’t carry on. Please don’t let them do it.”
The room swam around me, walls, pictures and plants colliding in a
Picasso of incongruous surrealism. I sat down, momentarily speechless.
Idiot! I told myself. Why did you leave him alone?
Andrew knew how easy it had become lately to manipulate me to
suit his whims and fancies, but this was one time it would be fatal for
that to happen. Literally fatal. This was only the fifth treatment. Six were necessary to
save his life.
The words drummed in my head: If he does not complete the
treatment he will die.
I had to answer him quickly. My first words would be vital. It would
be so easy to say: Darling, I’ll come right now and take you straight out
of that nasty hospital . . .
Or I could say the right words to trigger his own innate strength to
enable him to muster up enough will-power to carry on.
I panicked. What in hell’s name were the right words?
“You must go through with it, Andrew,” I said as calmly as I could. If
he does not complete the treatment he will die. “I’ll be there just as
soon as I can. Don’t worry, darling. Everything will be all right. You can
do it.”
Pretty pathetic words. Which of course he ignored.
“No! I want to get out. Now! I don’t want any more of this.”
I had failed hopelessly.
“Help me, Mum.”
If he does not complete the treatment he will die . . .

*

“You’re marvellous,” my friends would say. “You’re taking it so well. I
don’t know how you do it.”
I would smile and tell them modestly that they would be exactly the
same. “You have to be,” I would say. “You have to be strong for the
whole family . . . It’s quite natural, you know.”
Because of course you couldn’t possibly describe to them the inner
turmoil which eats at you incessantly. Nor reveal the homicidal
nightmare which plagues your nights, driving you insane; you dare not
breathe a word lest they think you less than human. Nor could you
bore them with how the whole dreadful thing was wrecking your life,
your marriage – everything. They would have wondered what kind of a
woman you were and whether you were after all really fit to be a
mother.

The Interpreter: Author Interview With Betty

2012-01-15T12:17:00.000-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Betty Carlton, Welcome to our author interview, as you know you are live on our literary group, and to other Facebook members, Betty, do you have a book in your name, are you a published author now, and if so what are your expectations in terms of rankings, sales, reviews, etc. some of our authors despair when their books don't do very well on Amazon and other sites, what do you want to tell them, what should they expect from their books after the few months of publication? And do you have a link to your books where we can buy them?

Betty Carlton Thank you Shah for including me in your interviews. Betty Carlton Is the pen name I use for the books I write for Sizzler Editions. have three with them and a fourth almost ready to submit to them.

Betty Carlton On Amazon I have three other books self-published. Unlike many authors I wasn't bitten in an early age with the desire to write. I just carried these stories in my head and decided to write them down. I soon discovered a whole new world of ebooks. I'll love to have great reviews, who wouldn't? But, you can't and won't please everyone. Just do the best you can to get the word out that you DO have a book out there. Once you have an audience you ranking and sales will take care of themselves. So with that said here's where my books are: http://shop.renebooks.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=betty+carlton and on Amazonhttp://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&search-alias=digital-text&field-author=Betty+Carlton

Betty Carlton So, let yourself have fun and enjoy the ride.

Shah Sight Betty, thank you and it was so lovely and joyful to have you on our author interview, and thanks for the useful insight and answer to my questions, greatly appreciated, hope to see you again soon.

The Interpreter: Complete Sight Words Learning Adventures of Buster Bee

2012-01-15T09:05:00.001-08:00

Shah Sight
Complete Sight Words Learning Adventures of Buster Bee is up:http://www.facebook.com/groups/160298634071734/

The Interpreter: A Literary Group
Come and join this group. Suggest your author interview, and bring your work to be featured on this site: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Learning-Adventures-Omnibus-ebook/dp/B006SMHHN2/Rules: No co...

The Interpreter: Author Interview With William

2012-01-15T07:09:00.000-08:00

Shah Sight
‎William Talcott, Thanks for being here with us, we greatly appreciate your time, do you want to tell us something about The Mission, how did you start with this book, I believe that it has been a success, what do you think people like in your book the most, and what do you like about The Mission yourself, the thrill, the search, the love story, the mystery, the hero and heroine, what do you like the most about The Mission, you seem to be so enthusiastic about it? Tell us where can we buy this book?

William Talcott The Mission started out as a short story meant to entertain a group of friends I played video games with years ago. Part way into the story I asked myself where I really wanted to go with it and made the choice to kill off my first character. Instead of returning home victorious, we face the grim reality of a military operation.

William Talcott I hope that people like the characters the most. I really enjoyed writing the part of the Professor. I really get into stories with narratives. One influence for writing the part of the Professor was the movie Pitch Black. after the narrative by the character, Riddick, I felt I had to give it a try and the Professor was the perfect character to use.

William Talcott There were so many things that I enjoyed while writing the story. Writing the action was fun and I really got into developing the characters and the close ties between them as well.

William Talcott There is a love story through most of The Mission. There is a sort of tension between David and Mary. They are in love but because of who and what David is, he must keep his distance. David makes some difficult choices to keep Mary and others in his life safe.

William Talcott I'm not really sure who you would call the Hero or the Heroine in this story. There are so many. I find that in real life, it is the joint efforts of many who make heroic things happen. In The Mission, all of the main characters give of themselves.

William Talcott There are Heroes and Heroines in all of us.

William Talcott As far as purchasing The Mission, I have been doing the best I can to let everyone on Facebook know where they can get it. @ Amazon as an e-book! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004S7AHCM and it has recently been made available in print as wellhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1468026372?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1468026372&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

The Mission (Remnants of the Past)www.amazon.com
The Mission follows a group of mercenaries as they take a dying scientist to the planet Valdorion in what they believe is a search for a cure. Under advisement from Senator Tyrell and against his better judgment, the commander of the Undead agrees to take the youngest member of his mercenaries on...

William Talcott I would really like to Thank Shah Sight for giving me this opportunity to share my story with everyone here at The Interpreter: A Literary Group.

William Talcott This was Fun!

Shah Sight William, thank you so much, now we are totally convinced why everybody loves The Mission. It was a pleasure, hope to see you again soon.

Ashley Fontainne The Mission is an outstanding book! It takes the reader into another world, yet reflects current issues and scenarios that could be ripped from world headlines! I highly recommend this book!

The Bee

2012-01-14T14:51:00.000-08:00

Honey, when I open my eyes from a long coma, I want to see you, but you are not there. Are you not happy that I am not dead, do you really think that I know who you are, a dream, not real. Tell me what else can I do to come close to you, I tried to die but I couldn't, I'm sorry, come back to me, my love, don't be sad.

The Interpreter: Epidemic

2012-01-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

The volunteers started to arrive late on the Tuesday afternoon, and three days later the clinical trials of a new antibiotic drug commenced in earnest. On that first day all fifty-eight volunteers were deliberately infected with a particularly virulent virus. Not that the volunteers were aware that was to happen.

Over the next forty–eight hours the symptoms started to slowly appear. Firstly the rash appeared on the upper body. Secondly there was the vomiting, and finally the breathing difficulties. Of the fifty-eight volunteers, thirty-four contracted the disease. For the next three days they all received various doses of Batch 942/D. It was on the second day that it became clear things were not going exactly to plan.

On that day two of the patients died.

...........................................................................................................................

Epidemic - available on Amazon.co.uk http://www.amazon.co.uk/Epidemic-John-Holt/dp/161667170X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326036878&sr=8-1

Tom Kendall, a down to earth private detective, is asked to investigate the death of a young newspaper reporter. The evidence shows quite clearly that it was an accident, a simple, dreadful accident. That was the finding of the coroner, and the local police department. Furthermore there were two witnesses. They saw the whole thing. But was it an accident, or was it something far more sinister? Against a backdrop of a viral epidemic slowly spreading from Central America, a simple case soon places Kendall up against the boss of one of the largest drug companies in the world.

The Interpreter: The Lynchcliffe Cuckoo Vol 1 Mis en Scene

2012-01-14T14:05:00.000-08:00

The day had begun like any normal day for Dr Francis Merrifield. He had risen from his bed shortly before 7, taken breakfast and settled into his favourite chair to drink his coffee while reading the newspaper. Shortly before 9 am he had commenced home visits by virtue of his pony and trap; tending to sick or feverish children and changing a few leg ulcer dressings. All pretty routine. Around 1 pm he had returned home to lunch prepared by his housekeeper, Mrs Brownlow. Then he was disturbed by a knock at the door. He opened it for Mrs Brownlow had her afternoon off on Tuesdays. On the doorstep panting for breath stood a young messenger.

“Lord Trevelyan says will you come?” The lad panted. “Only Mrs Frazer’s gone in labour and they think it might be a tough one it being her first child an ‘all that.”
“Tell him I’ll be there right away.” Dr Merrifield, a handsome young man in his mid to late twenties with mousey fair hair and deep green eyes drained the dregs of his coffee cup and grabbed his bag.

Merrifield drove to the Trevelyan Towers estate as fast as he could. The wind was beginning to pick up and fine drizzle washed over his face. He was met by Jameson, Lord Trevelyan’s butler, who ushered him into the study where Lady Celia Trevelyan was doing her utmost to pacify an anxious expectant father.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lynchcliffe-Cuckoo-Vol-Scene-ebook/dp/B005H3N64M/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1324676772&sr=1-1

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lynchclife-Cuckoo-novels/310116522349057?sk=info

http://lynchcliffe.wordpress.com/about

The Lynchcliffe Cuckoo Vol 1 Mis en Scene www.amazon.co.uk
The tragic & unexpected death of a new mother sets in motion a chain of events that is to have far flung consequences for her daughter, Margaret. Certain that he cannot give Margaret the life she deserves Thomas Frazer, her grief-stricken father, makes the heart-wrenching decision...

The Interpreter: Author Interview With Melanie

2012-01-14T10:43:00.000-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Melanie Dent, Thanks for your interest in our author interview, do you want to say something about yourself to our members and about how and when did you start with writing, and if you could name your first book for us and tell us what it was about, and also about the book that you are writing now, if you do, and tell us what genre attracts you the most to write? Please give us some links where we can get your books?

Melanie Dent I started writing when I was in my teens. I am single and don't have any kids. My first novel is The Lynchcliffe Cuckoo. It is a historical romance set in 1912 and covers issues such as friendship love and treachery across class boundaries. I am currently writing a novel called Eye of the Storm which is about my romantic hero Lewis Franklin and tells the story of his earlier life. Lynchcliffe Cuckoo to be published in paperback by Night later this year (no definite date yet) and is already avaailble on Kindle. I posted link here earlier. I like writing romantces whether historical or not. I would like to try my hand at a crime novel one day but think I am too much in awe of Agatha Christie.

Melanie Dent Thanks Shah

Here are some other links related to the book which might be of interest.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lynchcliffe-Cuckoo-Vol-Scene-ebook/dp/B005H3N64M/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1324676772&sr=1-1

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lynchclife-Cuckoo-novels/310116522349057?sk=info

http://lynchcliffe.wordpress.com/about

The Lynchcliffe Cuckoo Vol 1 Mis en Scene www.amazon.co.uk
The tragic & unexpected death of a new mother sets in motion a chain of events that is to have far flung consequences for her daughter, Margaret. Certain that he cannot give Margaret the life she deserves Thomas Frazer, her grief-stricken father, makes the heart-wrenching decision...

Melanie Dent Is that what you are looking for? never done an FB interview before

Shah Sight Thanks, it was great to be with you, and know about your books and yourself, greatly appreciated.

The Interpreter: Author Interview With Gordon

2012-01-14T06:46:00.000-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Gordon Mathieson, Thanks for your participation in our author interview, we are so pleased to have you with us today. You may want to tell us a little bit about yourself, and also about what you are writing at the moment. We know a little bit about your previous works from here and there, but we love to know about them from yourself, how are they doing, and what are people saying about them? Where can we buy your books, please?

Gordon Mathieson I have written and published 6 books. I have been both mainstream published and independent. My genre is generally Mystery. I have one spy thriller THE COLOR of ICE, a tension filled story between CHINA and the US. It is now a feature film screenplay which I will be pitching to movie producers.

Gordon Mathieson My next book will be my third in my Becky Bing mystery series, the MIssing Winner. THis follows HOOK ISLAND, and SUMMER GAMES featuring a teenage Chinese American. THis amateur detective solve cirmes like the older classic Nancy Drew books, but with contemporary technnology, her feisty pesonality, and bright determination. WHat makes these books special besides the storyline is that I use Mandarin in some of the dialogue (with English translation) to encourage readers to know about the CHINESE language----something I has studied at Yale University. I am encouraged by the sales and feedback of the Becky Bing series and have written a film/TV pilot screenplay for HOOK ISLAND. I will be releasing MISSING WINNER this spring. I look forward to promoting my books on sites such as yours and helping others to do the same.

Shah Sight Can you provide us with some links where we can buy your books please, it will help the readers?

Gordon Mathieson My website is www.gordonmathieson.comwhere I personally autograph copies for readers. In addition books are available on AMAZON in US, UK Germany, France and Italy. I now have HOOK ISLAND availble on KINDLE.

Gordon Mathiesongordonmathieson.com
Check out http://gordonmathieson.com/! Gordon Mathieson, author, is the author of mystery and thriller novels, The Color of Ice, multi-cultural thrillers, The Greater Boston Challenge He was formerly a Chinese translator, Computing Director Yale University, ghostwriter,. HIs first Cape Cod mystery...

Shah Sight Gordon, it was a great joy to have you here with us, we really appreciate your time, and we hope to have the pleasure of meeting you again soon.

The Interpreter: With Kim Asher

2012-01-14T04:44:00.000-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Kim Asher, I know you live in Australia, but I don't know where about, do you want to tell us a little bit about it, and I also know that you have ordered many copies of my book The Interpreter for yourself and many friends, can I ask you why you got interested in this book, and why in that extend that you have ordered many copies, tell us something about it, we would love to know?

Kim Asher
Blimey - this answer could take aaaaages! I live in Melbourne, which is the capital city of the state of Victoria, which is in the south-east part of Australia. 7 or 8 months ago I met my first Hazara refugee (who was an interpreter for the allies back in AFG) and since then the number of Afghans (particularly Hazaras) in my life has exploded! A particular group of my Hazara friends were all interpreters, which is why they became refugees and came to Australia - a very long and dreadful trip that tends to involve a lot of danger, a lot of ill-treatment and imprisonment in Indonesia and Malaysia, frightening and dangerous boat trips, then the agony of uncertain futures and a complete lack of information and months turning into years in detention camps here in Australia.

Kim Asher I now have a Hazara housemate that I met on Facebook through my other mates - he is very young, has no idea where his family is and calls me "mum". :) He got out of camp 2 months ago and we took him in and take care of him and make sure he had a family and friends and as good a future as we can help with.

Kim Asher
I am also trying to help one of the interpreters get out of Curtin detention centre (the camp all my boys came through), which is in the far north-west of Western Australia. It is in the middle of nowhere, he has been there for 2 years after spending 6 months in an indonesian prison, after spending 2 weeks on a boat that was MEANT to go to Christmas Island, but actually limped back to Indonesia after getting lost and running out of food and water.

Kim Asher
He is very traumatised, very ill, very depressed and very sad. He received his "positive result" 11 months ago - meaning the government announced "we believe you are a genuine refugee" - but he is still there and no one will tell him anything. It's disgusting. He has family in Perth, which is several hours' flight south of his camp, but they will not let him go there to be closer to his family. It's wicked what we have done to him.

Kim Asher Anyway, I am fighting for his rights, to get him moved, to get him freed, but we have no idea what is going to happen.
36 minutes ago · Like

Kim Asher Also, the closest restaurant to my house is an Afghan restaurant. Through the restaurant, we met an Aussie guy who works for the Australian military and who will soon be training members of the Afghan military. He studied Dari and Farsi in 2011 and is now fluent in both.

Kim Asher It is him that I lent my first copy of your book to. :} He is now studying overseas and I don't know where the book is. I'm not fussed - I've ordered 2 more so that I can read one and someone else can read the other. I would like to see what my Afghan interpreter friends think of it - reading it could be good therapy for them, or good English practise and study, or both! :)

Kim Asher I am interested in the book because I want to know as much as I can about the lives of my friends and about how things are over there in AFG.

Kim Asher
As a feminist (observing the Taliban, women's rights and women's problems) and a very loud critic of American foreign policy and American military invasions, etc, etc, I have been watching Afghanistan for a long time and meeting all the Afghan guys has been an amazing opportunity to find out as much as I can from Afghan people (not just the media) and to try help them as much as I can in order to undo the damage various governments in several countries have done to them. It also helps me to help them because I feel so guilty about what our government policies (which exist in the form that they do in order to appease the most stupid people in Australian society) have done to them.

Shah Sight Kim, it was lovely to get your answer, I appreciate your time, thank you so much.

Kim Asher Khahesh mikhonam, azizam. :) My pleasure - I look forward to actually _reading_ the book when it arrives again! :D Thank you for writing it and for spreading the word and helping outsiders understand what goes on in AFG.

The Interpreter: Author Interview With Stuart

2012-01-13T15:29:00.000-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Stuart Nager, Welcome to our author interview, I will try to ask you something quite different to what I have asked the rest of our members, if you don't mind. The question is if you were to write a love story, which we don't know if you have or not, where would you start, what would you name your main characters, have you thought about it, and tell us if you have written any love stories or not, if not, what is your book or books about, and which genre are you writing? And where is the best place to buy your books?

Stuart Nager I've written love stories: two are published right now in anthologies, both on Amazon: Dawn of Indie Romance (http://www.amazon.com/Dawn-of-Indie-Romance-ebook/dp/B005EM2OD0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1326496092&sr=8-2) and After Dark (a tongue in cheek paranormal story):http://www.amazon.com/After-Dark-ebook/dp/B005Y48I1U/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kinc_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Dawn of Indie Romance www.amazon.com
Back in March 2011, we acted with as much speed as we could and, if we're honest, not enough planning. The first “With Love” Anthology was created in a rush, pulled together from random donations from incredibly generous Independent writers. Catrina and I are so grateful to you...

Stuart Nager I also have a book coming soon from Trestle Press that is a compilation of stories and sonnets I've written, where Love is the theme. It is not always pretty, but love tends to go from the sublime to the tragic. I do have a novel that I am getting critiqued on, which I should have back in my hands next week. My main female character is Elora; as in most of my character namings there is a deeper meaning in her name (which readers can go look up). It sheds a bit on where she is and where she goes; but it's more about the male character: so, a different slant, I hope.

Stuart Nager Right now, for people who want to read my short fiction, they could go to Tale Spinning, my fiction blog: stuart.nager dot wordpresss dot com (for some reason, FB won't let me put up the link). http://wp.me/1mecg

Tale Spinningstuartnager.wordpress.com
An open experiment in writing styles by Stuart Nager

Stuart Nager Thanks Shah Sight

Shah Sight Thanks Stuart, how could we not think that you could very well be a love story writer, so there I asked and you answered right away, thank you very much for your time, and you left us with so much warmth and love, greatly appreciated.

The Interpreter: Author Interview: With the best seller author Tom Winton

2012-01-13T06:37:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/groups/160298634071734/

Shah Sight
‎Tom Winton, Thanks for agreeing to answer our question. Your book that we love to hear its name from you, how is it doing now, I heard at some point that it was a best seller on Amazon, that you will also tell us about it now, where do you see your book in a few months or another year, do you think it will continue to be as successful as it is now? Give us a few addresses where we can buy your book?

Tom Winton
I released two novels in 2011, Shah. "Beyond Nostalgia" came out in February, and "The Last American Martyr" in August. Both books have been on three or more Amazon bestsellers lists, at the same time. BN was on the literary fiction list for two months. Unfortunately both novels have suffered big setbacks in the rankings of late. That has happened because when I cut ties with my publisher "Beyond Nostalgia" lost almost all of the Amazon features that was sending readers its way. Went from 1200 sales a month to almost nothing--overnight. Talk about a nightmare! At any rate many people think that these are two very special books. Hope folks will check out both book's 5-star reviews (BN has 36 ot them). Before publication BN was up for Random House's 2011 Book of the Year Award. Now "The Last American Martyr" is up for the same honor in 2012. These books are far too good to sink to the bottom of Amazon's sea of obscurity. I'm hoping that a big review is coming up for TLAM, and that it will bring both books back to light. I am stunned, flattered and dumbfounded that so many readers have compared both these books to classics. Hope folks here will take a look--both are 99 cents in the Kindle version. here, Shah. Here are the links to both books. http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Nostalgia-ebook/dp/B00650O686/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1320923879&sr=1-1 http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-American-Martyr-ebook/dp/B005GFM764/ref=pd_sim_kinc1/184-9415842-1837338?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Beyond Nostalgia www.amazon.com
BEYOND NOSTALGIA (Be sure to check out Tom Winton's newest novel, The Last American Martyr.) Born with blue in his collar instead of his veins, best-selling author Dean Cassidy chronicles his soul-scarring rise from New York's darkest alleys to a place high atop the literary world.

Shah Sight Tom, of course, it was a pleasure to know about your books, and we are so glad we got the answer from you that we were looking forward to hearing it.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Also find Tom on: http://markwilliamsinternationaldigitalpublishing.com/mwidp-books/

The Interpreter: Author Interview With Ashley

2012-01-12T09:02:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/groups/160298634071734/

Shah Sight
‎Ashley Fontainne, we are so thrilled to have you as a member, and to have you with us in our author interview, do you want to say something to our members about yourself and your work, what are you writing now, and how many books do you have in your name, do you love to write about real life stories or fiction, tell us something please? Where should we look for your books?

Ashley Fontainne Thank you so much Shah Sight for allowing me the opportunity to share with the members!

Ashley Fontainne I have written two books, both fictional suspense/thrillers. They are the first two in a three part series entitled "Eviscerating the Snake." The first one, Accountable to None, is self-published and available on Amazon as an ebook as well as a trade paperback. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/Accountable-to-None-ebook/dp/B004XOGR56/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1326385694&sr=8-2

Accountable to None www.amazon.com
Glorious revenge, the dish known as best served cold. Audra Tanner has waited for five years to invite her unwitting guests to her feast of just desserts and now her dinner party approaches. Audra was a brilliant CPA that for years, worked the grueling hours her job demanded as she ma...

Ashley Fontainne The second novel, Zero Balance, is currently in editing with my new publisher, World Castle Publishing. It is slated for an early March 2012 release worldwide, and will be available as an ebook, trade paperback and available at Barnes & Noble. The third and final book, Adjusting Journal Entry, I am currently writing.

Ashley Fontainne My stories, although fictional, encompass real life scenarios and characteristic traits from real muses. The world is full of interesting people...some with the qualities of a hero, and some with the qualities of the villain. The best characters, in my opinion, encompass both.

Ashley Fontainne I write in the suspense/thriller genre because that is the kind of books I am drawn to, and to be quite honest, I am an adrenaline junky!

Ashley Fontainne The idea for this series came from reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. I wanted to set a classic revenge tale in a modern setting...but also expand on it, more specifically, to delve into what happens AFTER one obtains their revenge.

Lawrence Fisher Ashley rocks

Ashley Fontainne LOL Lawrence Fisher....

Lawrence Fisher The Hoot says u rock

Shah Sight I just learned that life is all about love, after interviewing the brilliant Ashley Fontainne, full of stories and full of love, thank you for being with us today, it was a real, real joy to be with you.

Ashley Fontainne I truly appreciate being a part of this group and the privilege to share my work with such a wide range of individuals!

Ashley Fontainne One thing I neglected to share yesterday ....my book trailer! http://youtu.be/sHEYq5hCSl

http://www.artistfirst.com/Authors-First_2012-01-10_Ashley_Fontainne.mp3

The Interpreter: With ‎Áine

2012-01-12T00:20:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/groups/160298634071734/

Shah Sight
‎Áine P Massie, Thanks for taking part in this interview, right now you are live to your friends, my friends, and our literary group, why I am saying this is because I want you to take the opportunity and tell us all about your good literary work, where did you start and where are you now, are you a published author, if yes, how many books do you have, what is your favourite genre, and where can we buy your books?

Áine P Massie
I am originally from Florida, now living in Wisconsin where I work on my House Millar series full time while raising four children I am also a Wiccan priestess dedicated to the gods, family, and love.

I have always had a particular fascination with vampires, mythology, and the unusual. When I can escape from my children and books, I enjoy reading, playing, ritual, a good cappuccino, and working with my healing stones.

My first published work came in high school where I was part of a writing and drama group called AU. But,I've been reading the likes of Shakespeare and Poe since late elementary school and enjoys most forms of fiction. "Blood’s Voice" has been a long time in coming and with its publication (June 2011) I embarked on a new chapter in my life.

I am currently working finishing the rewrites for "Blood Bound" and am about 1/3 of the way through writing on my third novel, Glamour Blade.

Áine P Massie For more information and to buy my books visithttp://apmassie.com/books/

House Millar: Booksapmassie.com
Anya Millar had no memory of her life or an instruction manual on how to navigate the insane world of humans, biting, and reality. Instead, Anya has had to learn to navigate the world of love, life, and sanity while avoiding those that would see her dead or enslaved.

The Interpreter: Author Interview with Robert

2012-01-11T15:24:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/groups/160298634071734/

Shah Sight
‎Robert Craven, thanks for your interest in our interview, we know you lived in Ireland, right, but we don't know where in Ireland, and what did you do apart from writing, and if the place you lived or the work you did influenced you to become a writer?

Robert Craven
Many thanks for the question Shah, I live on the East cost of Ireland, 20 miles north of Dublin in a small town named Rush. Its very picturesque and I'm fortunate to live 5 minutes from 2 beautiful beaches. I work near Dublin airport in a printing company & watching the flights coming in & out gave me the idea - how could you ship a sarcophagus in 1941? I've had a few careers - full time bass player, graphic designer & layout artist - I designed Get Lenin's cover. I think being a gigging musician gave me the confidence to keep pitching Get Lenin as you hunt down every opportunity for a gig, radio play or studio session. It makes you bloody-minded in making sure the world knows who you are.

Get LENIN
As the German troops approach Moscow during the Russian offensive of World War II, encountering ever more determined resistance as they go, what if they could snatch the greatest and most heroic symbol of the Soviet Revolution, the body of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin? Would Soviet morale collapse? W...

The Interpreter: With Sheila

2012-01-11T08:17:00.000-08:00

Shah Sight
‎Sheila Mary Belshaw, tell us please about your new book, Count To Ten, there is a lot of good reviews and positive talks about this book, why did you write this book, I suppose it's about a child that has got cancer, what did motivate you to write about such a hard subject, I mean it takes a lot of courage and heart to write such a book, how did you write it, and what people say about it, give us a link where we can buy it?

Sheila Mary Belshaw
Thank you, for this opportunity to be on your site. Count to Ten was actually the very first piece of writing I ever did, except that it started as little scraps of notes I wrote at my son Andrew's bedside while he was undergoing the horrific treatment for osteosarcoma, a virulent bone cancer that strikes teenagers. I never dreamt it would one day become a book, but in 2000 it was published under the title of "Fly With a Miracle" by my married name, Sheila Belshaw. I never intended to write a book, but it just happened. Then when the e-book revolution happened I was thrilled when Tim Roux of Night Publishing said he would republish it under its new title, and by Sheila Mary Taylor, which is my maiden name.

Sheila Mary Belshaw Count to Ten wasn't a difficult book to write because the events unfolded before my eyes and all I had to do was pour them out onto the paper. But I was also motivated to write the book because of the tragic result of the illness on Andrew's lifelong goal to become a pilot.

Sheila Mary Belshaw
This burning desire of his was, I'm sure, part of the strength he gained to beat this cruel disease. He was determined to get better even though he was close to death. I was inspired by his incredibly positive attitude, his bravery and his stoic belief that he would live. But the threat to amputate his leg made it seem at times that he would never achieve his goal. Count to Ten tells the story of his amazing courage, and how having cancer actually gave Andrew an even greater incentive to stay alive against all odds.

Sheila Mary Belshaw The links to Count to Ten are:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Count-To-Ten-ebook/dp/B006GQXR4I
http://www.amazon.com/Count-To-Ten-ebook/dp/B006GQXR4I/

Count To Ten www.amazon.co.uk
Few things worse can happen to a mother than for her child to be diagnosed with cancer. It started as a pain, that became a 'hot spot', that grew into a tumour, ultimately threatening Andrew's life. At the very least, his leg would have to be amputated, a chilling prospect in itself.

Sheila Mary Belshaw
I had always wanted to write but imagined that I had to have a degree in English Literature in order to be qualified for such a career. So I started very late in life, and it was only this book about Andrew that triggered my pen. But being my first piece of writing, it was not up to the standard of a published book. So in the meantime I started to write novels - four romances which were published but are now out of print and I'm hoping to re-write them, now that I have improved my craft! and have them published as e-books. I also sharpened my writing skills by resurrecting and editing three of my mother's unpublished works of fiction and had them published by Penguin. The rigorous editing I had to do for Penguin on these books then gave me the confidence to rewrite a psychological legal/crime thriller I had written, called Pinpoint, and this was published in April 2011, also by Night Publishing. It reached the Amazon Kindle 100 Best-seller list for Thrillers and Mysteries in June, July and August last year, and the links for this book are: If readers would like to know more about my writing career, I have a blog:

Sheila Mary Belshaw The links for Pinpoint, by Sheila Mary Taylor, are: http://www.amazon.com/Pinpoint-ebook/dp/B004UST5Q8/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pinpoint-ebook/dp/B004UST5Q8/

and for my Sheila Mary Taylor blog: http://sheilamarytaylorauthor.blogspot.com/

Pinpoint www.amazon.com
A lawyer, a murderer and a policeman – caught in a tangled web of love, loss, terror and intrigue When criminal lawyer Julia Grant interviews Sam Smith who has been charged with a vicious murder, she feels a strange connection to him. Has she met him before? Does he ...

The Interpreter: With Janus

2012-01-11T04:56:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/groups/160298634071734/

Shah Sight
‎Janus Gangi Author, Thank you for your interest in our interview. While most of our members know a lot about you, some of us probably have no idea about yourself, your works, for example, how many books you have written, what is your best genre of writing, how long have you been in the business of writing, do you make a lot of money from selling your books, or it doesn't matter to you that much, how is it for you, tell us something please? Name your works for us and tell us where can we buy them, give us the link please?

Janus Gangi Author First of all let me say thank you for this opportunity.

Janus Gangi Author I have one book that is up on Smashwords and Amazon Stolen Moments but after careful consideration I decided to revise the book. I have enlisted the help of Legerity Entertainment and I am very excited to be working with Mark Bell and his team.

Janus Gangi Author
Stolen Moments is the first book in a series of books about the Agents of Providence. There are two other books in the works as we speak White Magick, which is almost completed, and The Sisterhood due out next year. Each one of the books, although all belonging to the same series, are in a different genre. Stolen Moments is a fantasy romance. White Magick is a dark fantasy/horror, and The Sisterhood is a mystery. In addition I am writing two sort stories that spotlight the two main characters of the series. Elizabeth Rose, with an expected release in February and Vincent Blair, King of the Vampyres that will follow shortly after that.

Janus Gangi Author
Although I was briefly a singer and a song writer in my youth, I spent the majority of my life in the medical field and then later on I was the pastor of a church in NYC. After leaving the big city for the mountains of Tennessee I went on to get my Psychology degree. Writing came unexpectedly to me about two years ago when Stolen Moments came to me in a dream. I have been writing ever since and learning all about the workings of this trade, slowly but surely.

Janus Gangi Author
I am a practicing eclectic solitary witch,. All of my past 40 years of knowledge and experiences in the pagan arts are incorporated into the fantastic adventures of the Agents of Providence. Although stolen Moments is not a best seller, it still suites me fine. I main intention was to shed some positive light on the Magickal arts and to have the books serve as a resource for those interested in Wicca. I use the term Wicca in a generic sense as I do not belong to or represent any particular established organization.

Janus Gangi Author I have three pages here on facebook and all are most welcome to join me. My author page Janus Gangi Author, Stolen Moments Book Series, And Confessions of a Romance Writer. I will post the links below. Once again thank you for letting me share a little bit about myself with all of you!!

Janus Gangi Author All authors are invited to post their books, Blogs, and Author/Book pages on this page....https://www.facebook.com/stolenmomentsbookseries

Janus Gangi Author https://www.facebook.com/confessionsofaromancewriter

Janus Gangi Author https://www.facebook.com/janus.gangi

Janus Gangi Author Blessed Be!!

The Interpreter: With Raymond

2012-01-11T04:33:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/groups/160298634071734/

Shah Sight
‎Raymond McCullough, thanks for allowing me to interview you, in your book The Whore and Her Mother, which I am reading right now, and I am really impressed by the amount of information I could get from history of the human kind, how long did you take to complete this book, and you must have made a lot of search, one can read history, bible, and contemporary news in your book, tell us whatever you want us to know, and where can we buy this book?

Raymond McCullough
Thanks Shah. I completed the actual writing of the book in about four months, thought the research for it has taken me forty years (off and on) to do. I had written about 12,000 words of WHM while my wife was working hard with her first novel – getting it up to the Top 5 on HarperCollins' Authonomy.com site. I decided to put what I had written up there to see what sort of reaction it got. I received very favourable responses from people of Roman Catholic, evangelical, Jewish and New Age backgrounds, so I was encouraged to get on and finish the book – which I did in early summer last year – publishing it in August 2011 on Kindle and in September in paperback edition.

The subject has obviously interested me for a long time, but the events of 9/11 sharpened my interest and had me going back to previous research and checking things again. The whole 9/11 thing was an attack on the centre of world trade and that got me thinking about the Hebrew prophecies of Babylon (or Mega-Babylon), which are also about controlling world trade.

Since the book was published a number of suggestions made there have become more of a reality in world affairs, so I have posted a New Year Update on the WHM Facebook page pointing out some of these recent events. (It's always good when things you've suggested are backed up by actual events!) The update can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/911.Babylon

The book is available on all Amazon sites (in both Kindle and paperback editions), and these are linked from our Precious Oil Publications site: http://www.preciousoil.com/publications/The_Whore.shtml

The Whore and her Mother
Published by Precious Oil Publications
Page: ‎57

The Interpreter: With Erich

2012-01-10T13:33:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/groups/160298634071734/

Shah Sight
‎Erich Hicks,Thanks for being with us today, and tell us please all that we should know about you, what do you do in your life, and tell us if you have any kind of connections with writing, do you have a book, name it for us if you have, what do you do Erich, please tell us? Do we find you on Amazon, Smashwords, etc., or should we look for you somewhere else, tell us anything you want us to know, please?Like · · Unfollow Post · Share · 20 minutes ago

Erich Hicks
Erich Martin Hicks
Founder, Alpha Wolf Productions, Inc.
BIO

Erich Martin Hicks, founder of Alpha Wolf Productions Inc., is an acclaimed Special Effects Coordinator, Producer and Writer, with over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry. The company, co-founded with wife, Portia Scott-Hicks, is an independent production outlet that develops, writes, and produces feature film and television content.

Historically, Erich is the first African-American/Black to receive a Special Effects Pyrotechnic Operators’ 1st class Masters License in the Motion Picture Industry. Thus, he is expertly qualified to produce and direct action sequences, stunts and explosions to achieve a realistic scene(s) in television and the big screen. An apprentice to the legendary Special Effects Coordinator Richard “Dick” Albain, whose credits include; (The Three Stooges; Assault on Precinct 13; Bewitched (TV series); and many more), Hicks’ work has included the small and large screens including, Scary Movie: 2; Diagnosis Murder; Married with Children; Captivity; and The Victoria Secret’s Fashion Show. Most recently, he completed work on the CBS summer series, Swingtown, and on the film Life is Hot in Cracktown (Kerry Washington, Vondi Curtis-Hall) – a gripping portrayal of crack cocaine’s assault on Urban America.

As a writer, his first novel, Rescue at Pine Ridge, was released in December 2008. The novel is a historical narrative, depicting the all-Black 9th Calvary. Known as the US military’s famed “Buffalo Soldiers”, that helped settle the American West in the late 1800s. Hicks has completed an accompanying screenplay for a TV mini-series, Trilogy and Epic, and has garnered support from acclaimed actor/director Bill Duke. Dedicated to exploring the history of African-Americans/Blacks and shattering stereotypes, his Alpha Wolf Productions, Inc. has also developed a feature film documentary, Soul on a Wave (narrated by actor/author Hill Harper and acclaimed actor Keith David), which exposes the life and times of surfers of color. Currently, Hicks has completed a motion picture epic screenplay STAGECOACH MARY, based on real life heroine Mary Fields. “Stagecoach Mary” was the first African-American/Black woman to deliver mail for the United States Postal System in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. This project has been developed and written for Queen Latifah.

Mr. Hicks obtains new ideas for his diverse projects from his many travels, acknowledging the direct correlation between nature and history. An avid outdoorsman, he has traveled near and far to climb the world’s most celebrated mountains, including Mt. Whitney (located in the Eastern Sierras of California) which is the highest mountain in the contiguous United States. Mr. Hicks also descends from a family heritage that includes his grandfather's distinction as a Buffalo Soldier who served under General John Joseph (Blackjack) Pershing. Mr. Hicks' grandfather was one of the highest-ranking African-American Military Officers in WW-1. As Captain in the 317th Armored Train Division, Captain Lee J. Hicks was responsible for getting ammunition to the war front.

Mr. Hicks is available for lectures on the Motion Picture Industry, and on issues pertaining to African-American/Black culture, military, politics and history.

Please visit imdb.com for a comprehensive resume at:http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0902436/ and http://www.alphawolfprods.com/ for more information.

Also, you can review these links: specialeffects9.blogspot.com
alphawolfprods.com stagecoachmary.net

Enjoy and Peace.

Erich Martin Hicks www.imdb.com
Erich Martin Hicks, Special Effects: Scary Movie 2.

The Interpreter: With Author TK

2012-01-10T12:45:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/groups/160298634071734/?notif_t=group_activity
Live interview with one of our authors, on our Literary group.

Shah Sight
‎Author TK McEachin, thanks for being with us today, and welcome to our group, tell us a little bit about yourself please, and any work you do at the moment, do you write for fun, or to earn your living, are you a full time writer or you have another job, how many books do you have in your name, and where can we buy them?

Shah Sight, Author TK McEachin and Joyce Tyler like this.

Author TK McEachin
Thank you for having me. I was born & raised in Atlanta, Ga and have been an avid reader & writer since I was old enough to do so. I was educated at Georgia State University where I earned a BA in Philosophy & Biology and a minor in classical languages (Latin). I published a couple of short stories for the school's literary magazine but didn't decide that I wanted to write for a living until I took a creative writing course in fiction. A professor of mine encouraged me to continue writing and I decided that I wanted to write novels in my spare time initially, then eventually pursue it full time. Currently I am a guest contributor for several political blog sites including RedWhite&Blue News.com and (formerly) hermancain.com. I also share my Conservative political blogs with various social networks and I am one of three new editorial writers for Black Literature Magazine. I am now a full-time writer and my first novel, The Elements -Book I will be released in 2012. This is one book in a fantasy series and so far the first three books are completed. It will be available 3-4-2012 through Amazon, B&N and directly from my website www.theelementstrilogy.weebly.com.

The Elementstheelementstrilogy.weebly.com
Site for TK McEachin, author of The Elements

Author TK McEachin Here is my first editorial for BLM magazine:http://blackliteraturemagazine.net/blackliteraturemagazine/2012/01/09/toni-morrison-octavia-butler-transcending-their-genres-to-teach-america-about-slavery/
http://blackliteraturemagazine.net/blackliteraturemagazine/2012/01/09/toni-morrison-octavia-butler-tblackliteraturemagazine.net

Author TK McEachin
Here is a brief summary of The Elements Book I:
When Kgosi, ruler of the Kishnu people refuses to halt his invasion of the neighboring villages of the Lungi people, and Nkosana, ruler of the Lungi people has ordered an act which unintentionally offends a foe that neither ruler could possibly defeat, Baba, the elder Kishnu sangoma or diviner takes very drastic measures to preserve both indigenous tribes of the Earth.
The Elements is a story that takes place millions of years ago on Nchiyamolekuli or as we call it in modern times, Pangea, the massive land mass before the division of the seven continents. After a major battle in which many lives are lost and the environment is devastated, Baba, the wisest and most trusted friend and adviser to King Kgosi of Kishnuizwe, first exhausts diplomatic means then urges both rulers to leave their lands to seek refuge elsewhere. Baba learns that the angered foe is Paytah, leader of the Nootau - One of the 4 elements (Earth-the Onatahi, Wind-the Makani, Water-the Iscindri & Fire-the Nootau) who live within their respective elements on the Earth and at times among the people disguised as human.

After months of failed crops and fishing expeditions do not produce enough food for all of the people on both sides, they are forced to follow Baba's recommendation to leave for Kisiwachamani, a large distant island whose indigenous people may be helpful in supplying the people with food as well as medicine and shelter. Once there, the Mwilimmoja – the island's first and only inhabitants led by Nangaza and Ina, agree to aid the Kishnu and Lungi if they follow their strict dietary laws and agree to be “prepared”. Nangaza explains that this involves a ceremony where they all drink a fermented beverage which will remove all toxins and illnesses from the peoples, thereby preventing the spread of any disease to the island's inhabitants. The people are so desperate that they agree without full knowledge of what preparation really is, nor the freedom or bondage that comes along with it.
In Book I we follow this story from the invasion of Lungizwe by the Kishnu to the initial encounter with the people of Kisiwachamani.

Author TK McEachin I got the idea to write The Elements back in 2003 after watching the news and then President Bush ordered troops into Iraq. I abhor war and wanted to write a story showing alternatives to war/fighting and why peace is necessary. This series is my message to the people & leaders of the entire Earth.

Joyce Tyler I'm loving this so far! Amazing!

http://www.facebook.com/ShahSight/posts/358182747529849?notif_t=feed_comment

The Interpreter: With Rebecka

2012-01-09T10:27:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/groups/160298634071734/

Shah Sight
‎Rebecka Vigus, We knew each other for the first time on LinkedIn, you were kind enough to buy my book, and leave a wonderful comment, something that we authors so much look forward to, let me ask you about the reviews about your book, are you happy with the reviews you have received, was there a point that you thought someone was unfair about leaving a review, or you are satisfied from what achievement you have got from your writing? Tell us the name of your books please and tell us where can we buy them, provide us with a link?

Rebecka Vigus Tough question. I know not everyone who reads them will love my books. Most of my reviews have been good. I have an awful time getting them. One person left a review saying I should write for children as I write at a low reading level, I knew it to be a dig, but took it as a new idea. Maybe I should try children's books. I am very proud of what I've written. I have several books: Only a Start and Beyond(poetry), So You Think You Want to be a Mommy(for teens and tweens), and then I moved to mysteries: Secrets, Out of the Flames, and Target of Vengeance. All can be found at amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Rebecka+Vigus&x=9&y=17

Amazon.com: Rebecka Vigus www.amazon.com

Rebecka Vigus Wish it would show my book and not one by a distant relative...grr.

Shah Sight Thanks, what are you writing now, do you have another book coming out soon?

Rebecka Vigus I have just started a three book series. Cold Case: Sleeping Dogs Lie is coming out in just a few months. I'm working on the second in that series and some short stories for a contest. I need three, two are done and I'm halfway through the third. The series features Macy McVannel and her partner Tom Maxwell. They will go on in the second and third book to different crimes.

Shah Sight Last question, Rebecka, what do you like in a book when you read it, are your writings influenced by any of your favourite authors, you might want to name one or two of your favourite authors?

Rebecka Vigus I like a book that keeps me guessing. I am mostly a mystery buff. While the big name authors are good, I like William Kent Krueger's Cork O'Connor series. I love John Gilstrap for a good sit on the edge of your seat book also, Carla Neggers is a good read. I recently stepped out of my comfort zone and read Elemental Reality by Cesya MaRae Cuono....a good YA read. Not sure any of them influence my writing other than they make me strive for accuracy and gripping stories.

Shah Sight Rebecka, it was wonderful to be with you today, I wish you more and more success in your writing, thank you so much for being with us.

Rebecka Vigus Thank you for the opportunity.

The Interpreter: With Fran

2012-01-09T02:18:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/groups/160298634071734/

Shah Sight
‎Fran Lewis, Hello and welcome, we are so pleased to have the honour of having you with us. If we were to sit down in front of you and were so keen to listen to you about your book, where would you start, from how you got the idea to write your book, how you imagined your story, or when you actually began to write it, why did you agree to write books, and particularly your first book, we want to listen to you whatever you want to say and from wherever you want to start, and of course please don't forget to give us the link to where we can buy it?

Fran Lewis
The one thing that everyone should know about me is that the three children’s books that I wrote are about my life growing up in the South Bronx. The first two books My Name is Bertha and Bertha Speaks Out are true stories that happened to me and my feelings about the events are included. Bertha Fights Back was written in memory of my student Janine Gonzalez who died in the first tower on Sept. 11th and to honor the memory of others who lost loved ones that day.
Background:

I have written three children’s books and one on Alzheimer’s The Alzheimer’s book was written in order to raise awareness for a cure and to raise funds for research. I have given Memories are Precious to many people to see what their reactions would be. I was surprised when my doctor and his wife said it should be required reading for anyone that wants to learn about the illness, the stages and caregiver tips too. It includes my mom’s story and feelings from the day she found out she was diagnosed with the illness until now. It has resources for those who need to get help for a family member or a loved one too. Dedications from family, authors throughout the world, and stories of how others have dealt with this illness when family members were diagnosed helps the reader understand why there is an urgency to find a cure.

My three children’s books are based on true stories that happened to me growing up in the South Bronx. I was always overweight and a total klutz. My mom decided that dancing lessons and ice- skating lessons would help make me graceful and agile. Not really. She also expected me to always be perfect and get straight 100’s one every test I would ever take. You have to read Bertha Speaks Out to see what I finally have to do and more. Bertha Fights back is a chapter book and helps children deal with real life issues that kids face in middle school today. My niece, Dani Nicole Miller co-authored the book with me. My niece, Jamie Miller illustrated the book and all of the covers for all of my three children’s books.

Links and sites:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Memories-Are-Precious/Fran-Lewis/e/9781441584793

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=bertha+fights+back&box=bertha+fights+back&pos=-1

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=my+name+is+bertha&box=my+name+is+bertha&pos
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=bertha+speaks+out&box=bertha+speaks+out&pos=-1

gabina49@wordpress.com
this is my blog

Memories Are Precious www.barnesandnoble.com
Available in: NOOK Book (eBook), Paperback. FREE SHIPPING on orders of $25 or mo...See More

Fran Lewis
‎1. I attended P.S. 67 in the South Bronx and JHS 44 on Prospect Avenue where I grew up on Southern Blvd. and Tremont in the South Bronx. P.S. 67 was on 180th and Mohegan Avenue. High school was Columbus and I graduated in 2 years to be followed by Hunter College and I graduated in 3 years. My first two masters were from Lehman College in the Bronx. The first is in Education and the second in Reading and learning disabilities. My next master’s is from Manhattan College in Riverdale and it is in Administration and Supervision. I also received a PD diploma along with my master’s degree.

2. I became interesting in writing books when I retired from teaching when my mom was diagnosed with dementia Alzheimer’s in 2003. I decided not to spend my time doing something constructive. I started out writing short stories about things that happened to me growing up. I guess that is when I realized I could take all of the short stories and turn them into a children’s book. My Aunt Tova Ross made me promise before she passed away that I would write a book about my life growing up in the South Bronx and I kept my word. I wrote about my dancing lessons, ice skating fiasco and other things from my childhood that I felt I wanted to share with children. I was always overweight as a child and I got picked on a lot by my friends and family. I decided to write these stories to help teach children how to deal with these issues and other real life issues they face today in an intelligent and humorous way.

3. I have written three books in my Bertha Series and I am working on my fourth. The first is My Name is Bertha which includes short stories about my dancing, ice skating, and bowling lessons and more. Bertha Speaks Out tells about how I dreaded long car rides and the funny things that happened along the way. It tells about how I dealt with my mother who insisted that I get perfect scores on all of my tests or I had to write the test over. I learned to deal with difficult girls in school and it tells how we came together when a family member gets dementia. Bertha Fights Back is my first chapter book and it is dedicated to 9/11 and to one of my student’s who died in the first tower. It deals with hate crimes, peer mediation and what happens when Bertha is accused of doing something and is just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It teaches adults what happens when a good kid does the wrong thing and learns the hard way. It does not have a happy ending but it teaches important lessons to kids about tolerance and understanding and more.

Bertha is my grandmother. She was my father’s mother and my sister said that I looked like her growing up. She was not a happy person and at times when I would get angry she would call me Bertha. I would call her Tillie after my grandmother’s sister Tillie who she reminded me of.

The Interpreter: With Andy

2012-01-08T13:36:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/groups/160298634071734/

Shah Sight
‎Andy Szpuk, Thanks for the interest, and we are so glad to have you here. Andy, do you write to make money or you write because you love writing, or is it both? How many of your books have been published so far, name them for us, what do people say about them, and tell us please where can we buy them?

Andy Szpuk Of course I'd like to make money from writing, but on my own terms. I'm not prepared to compromise on quality. I have a deep, deep passion for writing and am driven to throw words onto pages. Everyday I write, and my mind never stops. The ideas are there. The construction is the creative part, and then there's the endless editing. It's magic.

Andy Szpuk http://www.amazon.com/Sliding-Snow-Stone-Andy-Szpuk/dp/1466305681/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326056379&sr=8-1

Sliding On The Snow Stone www.amazon.com
It is astonishing that anyone lived this story. It is even more astonishing that anyone survived it. Stefan grows up in the grip of a raging famine. Stalin’s Five Year Plan brings genocide to Ukraine – millions of people starve to death. To free themselves from the daily terrors...

Andy Szpuk It's available on Amazon US in paperback and kindle, Amazon UK on kindle (with paperback coming soon). It's also available on Smashwords.

Andy Szpuk Sliding on the Snow Stone is my debut novel, published in 2011. I've had a few wonderful reviews and some great exchanges with readers.

Andy Szpuk Anything else you'd like to know?

Shah Sight Thanks a lot,, it was a pleasure to have you here with us, I hope to see you soon in the near future.

Andy Szpuk Thanks Shah Sight

The Interpreter: With Kate

2012-01-08T12:05:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/groups/160298634071734/

Shah Sight
‎Kate Rigby, Hello Kate, and thanks for stopping by to answer our question. When we asked who would be happy to stop by and join our interview, you were so enthusiastic about it, to me that shows the amount of your enthusiasm about your work, now we are all ears to hear about your work, how did you start, and where are you now, how many books you have, tell us please, we would love to hear? And what is the easiest way to buy your books, Amazon, Smashwords, where, you may want to give us one or two links, please?

Kate Rigby
Many thanks for this opportunity, Shah. I’ve been writing for over thirty years. I was then up in north Liverpool and now in Devon. I realized my unhip credentials were mounting so I decided to write about it. Little Guide to Unhip is published by Night Publishing and there is also a Facebook Page!

However, I’m not completely unhip. My punk novel, Fall Of The Flamingo Circus was my first book to be published in hardback (1988), then by Allison & Busby (1990) and by Villard (American hardback 1990). Small prsses have published my novels Seaview Terrace (2003) Sucka! (2004) and Break Point (2006) and other shorter work has appeared in Skrev’s avant garde magazine Texts’ Bones including a version of my satirical novella Lost The Plot. Thalidomide Kid was published by Bewrite Books (2007).
I’ve also uploaded some of these books and others onto Kindle, and I’ve not finished yet! I think I am on my 15th book.

I’ve had other short stories published and shortlisted including Hard Workers and Headboards, first published in The Diva Book of Short Stories and now published as part of the Dancing In The Dark erotic anthology, Pfoxmoor Publishing (2011).

At the moment I’m just editing my oldest book, which I first began in 1978. It won a bursary in 1991. I am wondering if it can now be classed as historical!

My books are available at Amazon.uk/Amazon.com, Smashwords and some are available in paperback. Most of the Kindle ones are all on offer at 0.99 at the moment!

I will post a couple of links beneath this post but rather than bombard you, you can find details of all my work and where it is available on my website:

http://kjrbooks.yolasite.com/

KJR Bookskjrbooks.yolasite.com

Kate Rigby http://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Guide-to-Unhip-ebook/dp/B003RCJW0W/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3TVV12T0I6NSM

Little Guide to Unhip www.amazon.co.uk
When we are young, we all hope that even if we are not totally hip, we are not completely unhip. With age, we begin to realise that we have had more than a few embarrassing moments and tastes and, maybe more to our surprise, we don't really care. There are days when we are ...