Aggie Villanueva was Our Guest on May 28th

Author and Book Marketing Coach Aggie Villanueva was our special guest on May 28th. Listen to the Podcast now:

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The Rewritten Word: How to Sculpt Literacy Art no Matter the Genre - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

`There is more to writing than putting many words to paper and more to rewriting than rearranging those words. Dreaming about writing won't get you anywhere, and writing a thousand words a day won't help unless you know what to do with those words.'

I don't write novels but do occasionally write short articles pertaining to a dish I've just created or some other food related topic. So when Aggie Villanueva requested that I review her book The Rewritten Word, I had my doubts about the information pertaining to a cookbook writer like myself. I was wrong.

The Rewritten Word is broken into five lessons with the first four pertaining to all writings. Her 1st lesson `Organization' talks about "cutting to the chase" by eliminating rambling and teaches the writer to put their words in order of importance. In lesson 2 you will learn how to cut unnecessary words to create a better flow. I'm sure we are all guilty of over wording not just our writings but even our conversations. Lesson 3 talks about passive phrases giving examples in "past tense vs. present." I've often noticed, through my reading as well as listening to speakers, the use of the word "I". This overuse tends to make me feel that the person speaking or writing thinks entirely too much of themselves. Lesson 4 stresses the use of the right words. Aggie shares the importance of using a thesaurus when choosing words. I find this to be of value to me when choosing a name for a new recipe. It needs to be simple and understandable but catchy at the same time. And Lesson 5 brings all lessons together in the writing of fiction and setting moods.

Rewritten Word is only 35 pages (electronic version, 60 pages in Amazon Paperback, 75 pages at Lulu) long but those 35 pages are packed full of useful information that all writers, I feel sure, will find useful.

The Rewritten Word
2010
Cielos Rojos Publishing
35 pages
ISBN# 978-0-9825914-2-0
http://www.amazon.com/Rewritten-Word-Sculpt-Literary-ebook/dp/B0045JK48A/ref=kinw_dp_ke?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Barbara Forte Abate was Our Guest on May 22nd

Author Barbara Forte Abate was our divine guest on May 22nd. Listen to the Podcast now:

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BIO: Barbara Forte Abate was born in Millbrook, New York, the middle of five children. After graduating from Millbrook High School, she married young and promptly launched into the joys of family life, in short order becoming the mother of four very fabulous children, and along the way earning a doctorate from the University of Real Life.



Initially having settled in Franklin, New Jersey, she has lived with her family in a wonderful historic home in Chester County, PA, for the past fifteen years.

While increasingly challenged for several years by old house renovations and raising her children, Barbara never considered abandoning her dreams of writing. Most often composing her stories on yellow legal pads while babies napped and supper simmered (and sometimes burned) on the stove; piling up the pages until the time at last arrived to borrow a friend's typewriter and transfer her longhand scribbles onto finished pages.

While that particular milestone transpired some twenty years ago, and the aforementioned first novel has since lived a quietly rejected life in a rarely visited closet, Barbara's passion for writing has continued at a gallop. Her debut novel, "The Secret of Lies" was released on June 30, 2010.

http://www.barbaraforteabate.com/

Judith Kendall was Our Guest on April 30th

Author Judith Kendall was our special guest on April 30th. Listen to the Podcast now:

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In 1965, three members of the Nielsen Electronics staff were paying little attention to the many social changes occurring in their era. For John Hampton, senior engineer, his invention of an airline cockpit recorder had his career spiraling forward and held the promise of a secure future.

General Manager, Loren Slaton, was close to achieving his goal of becoming the major stockholder in the corporation, and he was looking forward to running the company on his own terms. Robin Nichols had just about mastered the art of balancing a career with that of being a single parent and was finally settling into a comfortable routine with her two sons. Certainly these three were aware of the flower children promoting their free-love lifestyle…the underground use of illegal drugs seeping subtly into regular society…the mounting apprehension about the Vietnam struggle. These subjects had prompted many animated discussions around the water cooler, but they did not seem an apparent threat to their own existence. Or were they?

One rocky marriage would soon take a terrible turn, sending one of its participants scrambling to pick up the pieces. One formerly docile wife would not only surprise her husband by taking a bold stand, she would change the course of his life. One overconfident man would be blindsided by a puzzle that only the woman in his long-standing affair could solve. One woman’s principles would cast her into a struggle between right and wrong, complicating every aspect of her future. One tragic act would stun employees and have an unforeseen effect on management.

These incidents happened so rapidly that everyone was deep into the heady issues of the era before they even realized it, each of them struggling to survive the latest crisis, not one of them knowing how it would all end.

About Judith Kendall

Having lived and worked through the sixties, Judith Kendall was not only a witness to the significant changes occurring, she was part of them. Her own career launched during this period and over the next generations, she developed a seasoned perspective on the subtle and not-so-subtle distinctions between local neighborhood companies and large city organizations, knowledge that has lent itself well to her first novel, Overtime.

Put on the back burner for many years, her fascination for the sixties never dwindled, causing her to return again and again to finish the book. Each time, she was that much older, that much wiser, and had many more experiences to add. Her challenge was to keep the story in its time period and interweave the complexities of business relationships with the personal dynamics of the era, and that she has done.

www.judithkendall.com

J.A. Adams was Our Guest On April 23rd

Author J.A. Adams was our special guest on April 23rd. Listen to the Podcast now:

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Purple Haze Synopsis

The fate of eight friends who grew up in macropolitan East Texas seems to center around a single elusive individual. Untimely deaths plague the tight-knit group. Twins, Janda and Landan Colquin become concerned about the eccentric behavior of one particular classmate. At first the deaths are thought to be accidents. When the fourth classmate dies and local police rule it as a suicide, questions are raised. Race is thought to be a factor behind the police department calling it a suicide and their quick wrap up of the case.

With college having taken them all down different paths, the five year reunion brings their lives back together during which surviving friends become increasingly fearful for their lives as they seem to be surrounded by strange events. The rationalization that the deaths are somehow connected emerges.

Janda Colquin also carries a secret longing for college sweetheart, Keith Baptise, but life events keep getting in the way of her love life. Even after she triumphs in love, her inquisitive nature leads her to pay a high price for it. Consequently, in a different way, love helps her brother Landan mature into a political mover and shaker that changes the course of things in the East Texas Piney Woods.

In the middle of it all is Eugene Stykes, valedictorian for the class of '77. Obsessed with military maneuvers, he moves to a level of military influence in world events and a person of interest for the murders in Pineview.

BIO

Sherryl (JA) Adams, author of three psychological suspense thriller novels, uses literature to bring awareness to the epidemic of wounded hearts caused by societal ills in hopes of enlightening others that they too can move from victim to survivor. Along with extensive experience working with victims of violence in a therapeutic setting, her writings allude to healing the spirit and soul of victims. Experience include, therapeutic counselor for child victims of violence, court advocate for victims of domestic violence and violent crimes, Child Protective Service investigator, and training coordinator for Educare Training Institute writing curriculum for educators working with traumatized children.

In 1995 she traveled with the Institute to Oklahoma City to provide assistance to educators in working with traumatized children and their families following the aftermath of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. In addition, she has served as Executive Director of two nonprofit child intervention programs, and director of her church’s youth ministry.

Presently, in addition to her writing, she volunteers with numerous organizations bringing awareness to women issues, as well as, advocating against intimate partner and family violence. Such involvement includes, Any Baby Can, the Ortralla Mosley Foundation promoting awareness on teen dating violence and Gateway Church Restore Ministry assisting in facilitating groups for victims of domestic violence and childhood sexual abuse.

Foremost in all, the most important thing about JA, she is proof one can find love again after trauma. Adams is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and currently resides in Central Texas with her family.

www.jaadamsauthor.com