Archive for the ‘Author Interviews’ Category:

  • January 3, 2013
  • Author Interviews, Featured
  • Comments Off on A Chat with ‘French Illusions’ Linda Kovic-Skow + Kindle Fire HD Giveaway!

A Chat with ‘French Illusions’ Linda Kovic-Skow + Kindle Fire HD Giveaway!

Linda Kovic-Skow resides in Kirkland, Washington. She earned an Associate Degree in Medical Assisting in 1978 from North Seattle Community College and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Seattle University in 1985. She has been married for 27 years and has two daughters. An enthusiastic traveler, Linda also enjoys boating, gardening and socializing with friends. French Illusions, her debut memoir, is the culmination of a three-year project. You can visit her website at www.lindakovicskow.com. ———— INTERVIEW ———– Thank you for this interview, Linda! Can you tell us why you wrote French Illusions? About four years ago, after my husband and I dropped our youngest daughter off at
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Pump Up Your Book Chats With Kelly Preston author of Real Dogs Don’t Whisper

Kelly Preston is, first and foremost, an animal lover. Raised on a ten-acre property in a small town in Pennsylvania, she grew up with horses, rabbits, and – of course – dogs. When she left home after college, she acquired Gizmo, an irresistible Lhasa Apso that started her on a journey full of joys and sorrows, hopes and tribulations, frustrations, endless lessons in patience, and above all else, love. All of this has come at the hands (more precisely the paws) of Gizmo, Betty Boop, Buffy, Carla Mae, and the inimitable Mr. MaGoo. Learn more at www.realdogsdontwhisper.com Thank you for this interview, Kelly.  Do you remember writing stories as
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Interview with Mike Faricy, author of Crime Fiction ‘Bombshell’

Mike Faricy is the award winning author of mystery suspense thrillers woven together with a rich strain of humor and even some romance. He and his wife live in Saint Paul, Minnesota and Dublin, Ireland. His entertaining tales are populated with the sort of quirky, oddball characters we’d all like to know more about, but wisely prefer to keep at a distance. They serve not so much as examples as they do warnings to the rest of us. None of his characters will be saving the world from terrorism, international banking conspiracies or coups to topple the government. Rather, they’re individuals inhabiting a world just below the surface of
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First Chapters: Lady Grace by Sandy Nathan

Title: Lady Grace Author: Sandy Nathan Paperback: 426 pages Genre: Visionary Fiction Publisher: Vilasa Press (March 23, 2012) Language: English ISBN – 1937927008 ISBN – 978-1937927004 About Lady Grace The Earth has been devastated by a nuclear holocaust. Technological wizard Jeremy Edgarton and a few of his friends were whisked off planet moments before the horror by the goldies, a race of super-evolved aliens who seemed too good to be true. Unfortunately for Jeremy, that’s exactly what they were and now he wants out. Jeremy’s mother, Veronica Edgarton, is awakening from a cryogenic sleep in a chamber deep beneath the ice near the North Pole. She is facing life
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Pump Up Your Book Chats With Hank Quense

Award-winning author Hank Quense lives in Bergenfield, NJ with his wife Pat.  They have two daughters and five grandchildren.  He writes humorous fantasy and scifi stories.  On occasion, he also writes an article on fiction writing or book marketing but says that writing nonfiction is like work while writing fiction is fun.  A member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, he refuses to write serious genre fiction saying there is enough of that on the front page of any daily newspaper and on the evening TV news. He has a number of links where you can follow his work and his occasional rants: Hank’s Blog:http://hank-quense.com/wp Strange Worlds website:http://strangeworldsonline.com
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Bud Bradshaw author of Riverwalker

Bud Bradshaw’s fictional work, Riverwalker, is his second work, the first being Brandishing, the true-crime story of the California Highway Patrol’s greatest tragedy.  His previous formal writing consisted of Special Agent Intelligence reports while serving with the 109th MI Group from 1969-71, and later med-legal reports, chiefly as a Qualified Medical Evaluator and Disability Evaluator. As an artist, his paintings, prints, and giclees appear in private collections and museums worldwide, and he is a member of the Western Artists of America. You may view his web site and blog at www.budbradshaw.com/blog or contact him via Twitter @budbradshaw1 or Facebook. Purchase RIVERWALKER at Amazon Thank you for this interview, Bud. 
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Mark Connelly

ABOUT MARK CONNELLY Born in Philadelphia, Mark Connelly completed a masters degree in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he received a Ph.D in English. His books include The Diminished Self: Orwell and the Loss of Freedom, Orwell and Gissing, Deadly Closets: The Fiction of Charles Jackson, and several college textbooks. He currently teaches literature and film in Milwaukee, where he is the Vice-President of the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center of Wisconsin. His latest book is The IRA on Film and Television. You can visit his website at www.theiraonfilmandtelevision.com. To get your paperback copy of THE IRA ON FILM AND TELEVISION by Mark Connelly, visit Amazon
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, internationally known positive psychologist, inspires thousands with her ENCHANTED SELF®. Around the world people benefit from her techniques to enhance well-being, and to live up to their potential. Known for her ability to make complex psychological concepts easy to understand and to implement, she has now turned her talents to novel writing.  “A great fiction read is a great escape, and yet, it is more! It is the gateway to new ways of thinking and behaving.” Dr. Holstein received her Doctorate in Education from Boston University and her BA degree from Barnard College. Dr. Holstein has been a school psychologist and taught first and second
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Ray East, author of ‘Voluspa’

Ray East and Sam D have moved to Voluspa and live in the Forest of Skotos with their 5 year old daughter and a pet Typhon. They visit Earth with the help of an Empath from time to time. Ray East did her masters in Phsychology from Univeristy of Sussex and has worked as a counselor for adolescents. Sam D used to teach at a SPJC before he moved to Voluspa. Their latest book is Voluspa: A Magical World. Visit their website at www.magicalworldofvoluspa.com. Thanks for the interview, Ray.  I’d love to know why writing Voluspa was so important to you? We wanted to present this magical world which
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with YA Steampunk Author SM Blooding & Win Set of Tarot Dolls!

SM Blooding lives in Colorado with her pet rock, Rockie, and Ms. Jack, who’s a real bird. She’s still learning to play the piano and guitar, which is going marginally better, and for those of you looking for an Arabic update, she has successfully learned one word, “Yalla, people yalla!” She’s dated vampires, werewolves, sorcerers, weapons smugglers and US Government assassins. Yes. She has stories. Her latest book is the YA steampunk, The Hands of Tarot. Visit SM Blooding on the web at  www.smblooding.com. About the Book: She imprisoned and beat him. And now she thinks he’s her trophy. Synn El’Asim will do almost anything to prove her wrong.
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Pump Up Your Book Chats With “Felice’s Worlds” Author Henry Massie

Author Henry Massie will be touring the blogosphere with Pump Up Your Book Virtual Book Tours  September 4 – 28th, 2012, with his historical biography, “Feblice’s Worlds.” About Henry Massie Henry Massie is the author of the historical biography, “Felice’s Worlds.” Henry Massie is a psychiatrist, award-winning author, and pioneering researcher in the field of autism. FELICE’S WORLDS–From the Holocaust to the Halls of Modern Art, is the a memoir and biography of his mother, a brilliant and beautiful woman who participated in many of the most critical periods of the 20th Century. Find out more about him here: Website Address: www.booksbnimble.com Twitter Address: @booksbnimble Facebook Address: /booksbnimble The
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Greg Messel, author of ‘Last of the Seals’

Greg Messel has written four novels and three unpublished memoirs. He published his premiere novel “Sunbreaks” in 2009, followed by “Expiation” in 2010 and “The Illusion of Certainty” in 2011. “Last of the Seals” is the first in a series of mysteries which are set in 1957 San Francisco. The second book in the series “Deadly Plunge’ will be published around Christmas of 2012. Greg grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and has had a newspaper career as a columnist, sportswriter and news editor. He won a Wyoming Press Association Award as a columnist while working for a daily newspaper in Wyoming. Greg also spent many years
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Lyle Prouse, author of ‘Final Approach: Northwest Airline Flight 650 Tragedy and Triumph

Lyle Prouse was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1938. He is part Comanche and grew up in an alcoholic home in a World War II housing project. He was active in his Native American community. After graduating from High School in Wichita, Lyle joined the Marines as a private but made the rare transition from enlisted to officer grade and ultimately Captain, a jet fighter pilot flying combat missions in Vietnam. After his discharge from the Corps, Lyle became an airline captain for Northwest Airlines and flew for nearly 22 years before the same alcoholism that killed his parents almost destroyed his life. He was the first commercial pilot
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with ‘5 Easy Steps to Financial Freedom’ by Duane Harden

Duane Harden just doesn’t teach you theory but rather you learn through his very own life hands-on experiences that come along with building a strong portfolio of successful businesses, including residential and commercial real estate, a restaurant, a music company, and many more. He began with no financial education, but he was determined and inspired. Today he leads a Cash Flow Club where he mentors entrepreneurs on how to start and grow their business so they, too, can become financially free. His latest book is 5 Easy Steps to Financial Freedom: Do What You Love & Get Rich Doing It. Visit Duane Harden’s website at http://www.duaneharden.com/. To enter $10,000
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Suspense Author Alicia Singleton

Born and raised in Philadelphia, the Howard University graduate embraced the written word at an early age. She credits this to her loving, older sister whom, while they were youngsters, made the author eat lotion on a regular basis. Realizing the need to sound-out the ingredients on the lotion label, Alicia stopped the lotion-eating practice, but continued to read the labels of the concoctions her sister brought for her to try. This early necessity to read flowered to a passion; hence, a writer was born.The award winning author resides in Maryland with her wonderful husband and son. Still an avid reader, label or otherwise, Alicia is hard at work
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with ‘Artists and Thieves’ Linda Schroeder + Win Kindle Fire!

I’m honored to have Linda Schroeder here with us today, the last day of her 2 month virtual book tour!  Time is running out to win the Kindle Fire she’s giving away so if you haven’t entered yet, click here and do so fast! ABOUT LINDA SCHROEDER Linda Schroeder divides her time between the bright sun of California and the high mountains of Colorado. She has a Master’s degree in English and one in Communicative Disorders/Audiology. In addition to her novel, Artists & Thieves, she has published a college text. Her early interest in English expanded to include language disorders and she began a second career as an audiologist
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with “Willow Pond” author Carol Tibaldi

C arol Tibaldi is the author of “Willow Pond.” Carol Tibaldi was born and raised in Bayside, New York and attended Queens College of the City University of New York. She loves to travel and has lived in London and Los Angeles. For twenty five years she worked as a newspaper reporter and covered the crime beat. She is a history buff and loves to research different time periods having a special affinity of the prohibition era and the Civil War. Willow Pond is her first novel and she is hard at work on the sequel. You can visit Carol Tibaldi’s website at www.caroltibaldi.com Link to book on Amazon
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Farrokh Nazerian, author of THE LAST PERSON WHO SAW FARROKH

Farrokh Nazerian has been a journalist, editor, poet, entrepreneur, art collector, developer, and above all, he has been a lifelong student of “knowledge.” Born in Iran, he lived in England, before residing in California, where he is working currently on his second book, Sisyphus Revisited. His first book is a 4 act play titled The Last Person Who Saw Farrokh. You can visit his website at www.thelastpersonwhosawfarrokh.com. To get your paperback copy of THE LAST PERSON WHO SAW FARROKH by Farrokh Nazerian at Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Person-Who-Farrokh/dp/0615517218/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340427765&sr=8-1&keywords=the+last+person+who+saw+farrokh To purchase a copy of THE LAST PERSON WHO SAW FARROKH at Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-last-person-who-saw-farrokh-farrokh-nazerian/1108897513 _______________________________________ Thank you for this interview, Farrokh. Why was
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Interview: Author Kfir Luzzatto of “The Evelyn Project”

It is with pleasure that we bring you a personal interview with Kfir Luzzatto who is the author of “The Evelyn Project.”  Mr. Luzzatto, a resident of Israel, is a well-known patent attorney who turned his hand to writing fiction with much success!  Kfir is touring with Pump Up Your Book Virtual Book Tours from July 2nd through August 31st in a national tour of reviews, interviews, guest posts and spotlights.  Please see our Authors On Tour listing “The Evelyn Project” for a posting of his tour. “The Evelyn Project” is a paranormal suspense/thriller written in contemporary times in a European setting.  Luzzatto’s characters are vividly drawn and alive
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Devin Thorpe Author of Building Wealth for Building the Kingdom

Devin D. Thorpe, author of Building Wealth for Building the Kingdom: A Financial Planning Guide for Latter-day Saint Families, lives in China and teaches business at a local University on behalf of Brigham Young University.  Previously, Devin’s 25 year career in business, included seven years running an investment banking firm as well as other corporate finance positions.  He served an LDS Mission in Argentina.  He earned an MBA from Cornell University after earning a BS in Finance from the University of Utah.  More information is available at Devin’s blog: bw4bk.tumblr.com; follow @devinthorpe on Twitter; like Building Wealth for Building the Kingdom on Facebook. Thank you for this interview, Devin. 
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Sean Vogel author of Celtic Run

About Sean Vogel Growing up in a small town in Michigan during the 1980s, Sean was provided with an excellent garden for cultivating his writing career. With only a few simplistic video games and three television channels, he became an accomplished daydreamer and a creative outside adventurer. A son of a garbage truck driver, Sean often received “gently used” items from his father’s route. With a bit of imagination and a little tinkering, these items were reborn as tools for battles against backyard bandits. These childhood experiences would later serve as the foundation and inspiration for Jake McGreevy’s gadgetry expertise. Seeking his own adventures, Sean joined the Army via
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Suspense Author Joshua Graham

INTRODUCING JOSHUA GRAHAM WINNER OF 2011 INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble #1 bestselling author Joshua Graham’s novel BEYOND JUSTICE is taking the world by storm, one reader at a time. Many of his readers blame him for sleepless nights, arriving to work late, neglected dishes and family members, and not allowing them to put the book down. Suspense Magazine listed BEYOND JUSTICE in its BEST OF 2010, alongside titles by Scott Turrow, Ted Dekker, Steven James and Brad Thor. His short story THE DOOR’S OPEN won the HarperCollins Authonomy Competition (Christmas 2010.) Publishers Weekly described BEYOND JUSTICE as: “A riveting legal thriller…breaking new ground with a
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Cancer Survivor Tom Laresca

Tom Laresca lives in New York with his wife and three children. Currently working as a foreign stock trader, he attended college at St. John’s University. Laresca enjoys playing sports and weightlifting. I Want to Help: My Story About Cancer, Depression and God is his first book. You can visit his website at http://iwanttohelp1225.com. ABOUT I WANT TO HELP: MY STORY ABOUT CANCER, DEPRESSION AND GOD Tom Laresca lived an average life in a quiet American town: a good job as a stock trader, a wife, a family, a beautiful home. Then in 2001, his life changed. While living in Boca Raton, Florida, Laresca explains, “I was wrongly arrested
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with William Bertram MacFarland

William Bertram MacFarland – Bertie Mac -never sought – or even imagined – a role as a Special Assistant to President John F. Kennedy. Even less did he imagine continuing in the role of Special Assistant to the President in eight subsequent administrations. His degrees from Duke University were in Mathematics and Physics (Quantum Mechanics) but fate and the U.S. government extinguished any hope of a career in those fields. Eager for adventure and travel, immediately after graduation from university he entered the intelligence arm of the government, did extensive military training, became a U.S. Army Ranger, trained in Special Operations, hand to hand combat techniques, did rigorous advanced
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Carolyn Wolfe author of The Unhappy Little Dragon

Carolyn Wolfe’s Bio Carolyn Wolfe is a free lance writer, poet, and author of six books including her collections of poetry, short stories and her first children’s book of bedtime stories in verse, titled: The Bedtime Of The Sky and Other Sleepy Bye Stories. In this, her sixth book, The Unhappy Little Dragon, Lessons Learned, she reveals the journey of Happy the dragon, who, while trying to understand how to master his uncontrollable gift of fire, has an exciting adventure in the woods. His forest friends help him understand his gift and that he really is a very special dragon indeed! Ms. Wolfe lives in the Shenandoah Valley with her
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  • May 3, 2012
  • Author Interviews, Featured
  • Comments Off on Pump Up Your Book Chats with Dr. Jackie Cogswell, Author of ‘Super Luke Faces His Bully’

Pump Up Your Book Chats with Dr. Jackie Cogswell, Author of ‘Super Luke Faces His Bully’

Dr. Jackie Chirco Cogswell is a family physician, wife, mother, former school teacher, and now author of a series of Christian children’s novels, the GIGGLEHEART ADVENTURE SERIES. Writing Christian books and reading the Bible has become her passion. In recent years, Dr. Jackie has been led to teach children of all ages how to prevent and stop bullying. As a Christian mother, the issue of bullying became very personal to her when her child was bullied in elementary school. Through the many struggles her son had with bullies, Dr. Jackie learned from firsthand experience how to tackle bullying from a Christian perspective. SUPER LUKE FACES HIS BULLY was inspired by
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Cynthia Haggard, author of Thwarted Queen

Born and raised in Surrey, England, Cynthia Sally Haggard has lived in the United States for thirty years. She is the author of the Thwarted Queen series, which includes The Bride Price, One Seed Sown, The Gilded Cage, Two Murders Reaped and Rose of Raby. She has had four careers: violinist, cognitive scientist, medical writer and novelist. Yes, she is related to H. Rider Haggard, the author of SHE and KING SOLOMONS’S MINES. (H. Rider Haggard was a younger brother of the author’s great-grandfather.) Cynthia Sally Haggard is a member of the Historical Novel Society. You can visit her at: http://spunstories.com/, https://twitter.com/ – !/cynthiahaggard, and http://www.facebook.com/cynthia.haggard. Thank you for
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Mainstream Action Adventure Novelist Kim Antieau

Kim Antieau has written many novels, short stories, poems, and essays. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, both in print and online, including The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Asimov’s SF, The Clinton Street Quarterly, The Journal of Mythic Arts, EarthFirst!, Alternet, Sage Woman, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. She was the founder, editor, and publisher of Daughters of Nyx: A Magazine of Goddess Stories, Mythmaking, and Fairy Tales. Her work has twice been short-listed for the Tiptree Award, and has appeared in many Best of the Year anthologies. Critics have admired her “literary fearlessness” and her vivid language and imagination. She has had nine novels published.
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Thriller Author A.K. Alexander

I started writing when I was nine-years-old. I used to write short stories on my dad’s notepads. One day he read one and he said to me, “You are a writer.” It stuck. My dad is still my biggest supporter and he is also my mentor in many ways. I went to college at The University of Southern California. My parents though didn’t think that “creative writing” at USC was a major that would likely be lucrative in the long run, so I figured I would be logical and look at writing in the journalistic field. God (the Universe), etc. had a different plan for me. Soon after I
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Pump Up Your Book Chats with Dog Memoir Author Barbara Lampert

Barbara Lampert is a Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in relationships. She’s been in private practice in Brentwood, California for over twenty years. She considers her work a calling and loves what she does. She has a doctorate in medical sociology and two master’s degrees – one in psychology and one in sociology. Barbara has adored dogs her whole life. They’re her passion! She notes that for a lot of people, their dogs are their best friends. She loves helping people know that’s ok – that a soul-satisfying relationship may be found with any being and needs to be treasured. Besides her love of dogs, Barbara is an avid
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