Guest Blogger: Multiple Sclerosis Gets on My Nerves by Dr. Laina Turner- Molaski

Today's special guest is Dr. Laina Turner-Molaski, author of The MS Project: Orange is the New Pink.

A collection of stories of people afflicted by MS or who have loved ones afflicted, this book is meant to be informational regarding the disease as experienced by real people and to showcase the amazing strength people find when facing adversity.

The MS Project has a companion iPhone app also being released March 14th, 2011.

 Multiple Sclerosis Gets on My Nerves by Dr. Laina Turner- Molaski

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system that comes in many different looks and styles, which not only makes it difficult to diagnose but to treat. Some people with MS experience pain, some like my mother never have any pain. The disease tends to affect women more than men and no clear cause is known.

My mother was diagnosed with MS when I was in junior high, so I spent many years watching her deal with the affects of the disease. She was never one to bring attention to herself or be an advocate for things. She was rather introverted, so she was never involved in any MS awareness or fund raising things. As I got older, not being an introvert, I decided I wanted to be more involved and to do my part in creating more awareness. I knew that Susan G. Komen started from grass roots and look at the amazing things they have grown to be able to do. In my mind, even if my efforts just make one more person aware of what MS is and bring just a tiny bit more attention to the disease, then I have succeeded.

The MS Project is my effort to make a difference, no matter how small. By bringing people together who have MS or who care about the cause, I feel the effort will become even stronger.

Dr. Laina Turner-Molaski is a Faculty Chair with Capella University. She is also an author of both fiction and non-fiction and is a business consultant.


Laina’s mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 1985. After her passing in 2000, Laina became committed to bringing more awareness to the disease.


You can reach Dr. Turner-Molaski through the website The MS Project at http://www.themsproject.com/.

Guest Blogger: My Favorite Genre by Laina Turner-Molaski, Author of Stilettos & Scoundrels

Presley Thurman, a sassy, thirty-something red-head, was looking to reinvent herself. She didn’t allow the fact she was recently fired to bother her – she was ready to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a writer. Presley was a lover of shopping and Starbucks, and even though she sometimes had bad taste in men, she always had great taste in clothes.

Not looking back on corporate America, Presley decided to follow her dream. With her feisty nature and a spirit to not “sweat the small stuff,” she was ready to tackle any challenge (even if she had no idea how she would pay the bills). When her friend Trevor offered her a job with his online magazine to interview public figures, she jumped at the chance.

However, the new job turned into something unexpected when the U.S. Senator she was slated to write about was murdered – in her home town! Presley was excited – she hadn’t seen so much buzz since the spring sample sale at Saks. She was ready for this adventure, even if it didn’t seem to fit neatly into her life. She couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be in the middle of the buzz.

Presley was determined (not to mention curious) to find the killer and write her story. After all, she couldn’t afford her shoe habit without a job and she was certainly not one to shy away from danger. The only thing standing in her way was an old high school fling, Cooper Sands, head of the Senator’s security. He was not actually standing in her way, but because of his good looks, he was the biggest distraction and one she was having the hardest time overcoming. Cooper felt it was too dangerous for Presley to look for a killer and tried to distract her with reliving the past; which Presley found more dangerous than any killer. While she attempted to resist Cooper’s good looks and charm, Presley was able to discover the Senator’s wife, Helen, had been having an affair… with her best friend’s boyfriend! Did Helen kill the Senator? Or was it the Senator’s love of gambling that got him killed? And what was Cooper’s secret tie to the mob boss Garrison Palazzo?

Presley’s betting her favorite pair of Manolo’s she will find the killer… but will time run out!

My Favorite Genre by Laina Turner-Molaski


Depending on the time of day or day of week it will probably be different and for that I am lucky. I appreciate the fact I can enjoy many different types of writing and be entertained and/or learn something. I chalk it up to the fact that my parents were avid readers of many different types of books. My mom was an English teacher so she had a love of the classics and then her not so serious side enjoyed Danielle Steele and Janet Daily (she was a closet reader of Harlequin Romances and my grandmother, also a teacher, had an entire room devoted to shelves of Harlequins-all in numerical order). My father on the other hand enjoyed Science Fiction and great authors such as Tom Clancy, Zane Grey, and John Jakes. To this day I love the Dirt Pitt character from Tom Clancy’s novels. I admit I can’t understand half of what Dirt does – the books are way over my head in terms of military type vernacular – but Clancy writes such a good story I get great enjoyment out of his books without understanding them.

I get asked by many authors to do book reviews. I review almost every book I am asked to even if it is outside my norm. Things I would probably not pick up myself for entertainment such as vampire or young adult but I can appreciate their value to literature. As with anything else we must be open minded or else we might miss something very good.

I challenge you to pick up a book that is completely opposite of what you would normally read next time you are at the bookstore or on Amazon. Give it a chance. You might be surprised.

Laina

PURCHASE A COPY OF STILETTOS & SCOUNDRELS AT AMAZON! ALSO AVAILABLE IN A KINDLE EDITION!

Laina Turner-Molaski is a businesswoman, mom, author, Professor, and a major supporter of shopping. She has an undying love for shoes and coffee, which is why she created her main character and alter-ego Presley Thurman.


With a lot of letters after her name and a ton of student loan debt, she is always working to pay the bills. While she enjoys her day job, her passion is writing, and she uses a lot of company time writing her fiction or working on her social website for women, Chiczofrenic.com . She is hoping to sell her book before she gets fired from her day job for goofing off.


Laina is currently living in Indiana, with her family, and is always writing something, whether it’s blogs, articles, business journals and books or ideas for her next novel. She is continuously doing what she loves which is writing or drinking coffee.


http://www.lainaturner.com/