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/.

Book Review: Murder on the Down Low by Pamela Samuels Young

Enjoy a page-turning thriller that combines secret lives, murder, and the law, in Murder on the Down Low by Pamela Samuels Young.

L.A. attorney Vernetta Henderson and her outlandish friend, Special, are tossed for a loop when a young lawyer's actions cause the death of their friend and Special's cousin, Maya. Leading the charge in a wrongful death suit against Eugene, who was also Maya's fiancé, Special isn't satisfied and begins to exact her own type of revenge.

Prominent African-American men are being gunned down on the streets of L.A. and police struggle to find the connection among the victims. They appear to be family men, well-educated, attractive, and successful. Maybe there is more to these men than meets the eye.

A shocking revelation ties the wrongful death lawsuit to the puzzling murders. When Special's brand of justice goes too far, it's possible no one, not even, Vernetta, can save her.

Having read Young's Buying Time, I was eager to dive into Murder on the Down Low. I received my copy of this book for Christmas two years ago. The author had been on a virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book! (at the time Pump Up Your Book Promotion), and the premise sounded so interesting that I added it to my Amazon Wish List. Santa kindly left a copy of the book for me under the tree, but with all my other reading commitments I hadn't been able to get to it. When I heard that Young was touring with this book again, I knew I had the perfect excuse to dig it out of my TBR pile.

Murder on the Down Low tackles a weighty issue. The book opens with the murder of the first victim, but moves swiftly to Maya's funeral. Maya's friends, Vernetta, attorney Nichelle Ayers, and LAPD detective J.C. Sparks, are distraught over the loss of their friend and concerned that Special hasn't shown up yet. Special finally arrives, and when she gets her chance to speak, she lets everyone in the church know that Eugene Nelson is responsible for her cousin's death. She follows this up with attacking Eugene outside the church, setting into motion a dangerous game of payback that is certain to backfire on her.

This is an emotional, face-paced thriller that you won't be able to put down by the time you to get the end of Chapter 1. The reason I say the end of the chapter is that I felt a bit too much time was dedicated to providing details of the first victim's lifestyle prior to his untimely death. I understand this might have been done to set the stage for exactly what type of person the murderer was after, but if I saw this book in the store and picked it off the shelf to read the first page, I might not have purchased it, which would have been a horrible shame since it is a superb story. Perhaps the victim's lifestyle could have been revealed early in the police investigation.

Other than those first three pages, I was totally hooked. I couldn't put the book down; I stayed up late reading it--way too late. I polished it off within a few days and would have read it again if I had the time.

What Young did well in Buying Time and in Murder on the Down Low is create complex characters that are blended into a riveting plot. You think you have the murderer pegged, and then a new clue is uncovered that turns you in a different direction. I honestly never saw the end coming.

What I did not know until reading the back cover, is that Vernetta and Special have been in other books written by Young ( Every Reasonable Doubt and In Firm Pursuit.) This came as a bit of a shock because this book is a perfect stand-alone. I'm definitely going to be reading the earlier adventures of these two friends.

Murder on the Down Low is intense. It's edgy. Young educates and entertains with this novel. I look forward to reading more of her work.


Title:  Murder on the Down Low
Author:  Pamela Samuels Young
Publisher: Goldman House Publishing
ISBN-10: 0981562701
ISBN-13: 978-0981562704
SRP:  $14.95

Also available in a Kindle edition for only $3.99!

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/

Author Interview: John Milton Langdon, Author of Against All Odds

John Milton Langdon is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and has a master’s degree in maritime civil engineering. Langdon retired and became a professional writer after an active and rewarding engineering career. Langdon lives in the Austrian town of Klagenfurt, which has a history stretching back to mediaeval times. Langdon has three children and five grandchildren from his first marriage and two step-sons from the second.

 John’s latest book is an historical novel titled Against All Odds: Jason Smiley Stewart-My Life Story. We'll talk to him about his childhood, his writing, and what the future holds.

Welcome to The Book Connection, John. It's great to have you here. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I am a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers in London and I have a master's degree in maritime civil engineering. I was born in Britain and initially worked there but from 1972 until 2006, I was involved with project development in Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria. After an active and rewarding engineering career, I retired and became a professional writer. I have many interests including travel, the British canals, music and literature but hiking in the foothills of the Alps near my home is a preferred activity.

Where did you grow up?

I was born and grew up in Britain in the small coastal town of Barry in South Wales during the second world war.

What is your fondest childhood memory?

As a very small boy I remember sitting on a carpet in front of the living room fire on a cold winter evening and hearing the wind rampaging around the house. My father, mother, elder brother and my elder and younger sisters were also there in front of the fire. On the hearth was a big plate of sliced bread, a pot of home made beef drippen and the salt celler. We took turns to put a slice of bread on the toasting fork and when the bread was nice and brown we spread a layer of drippen on it, sprinkled it with salt and ate it with great delight. The taste was outstanding but in retrospect it was probably very unhealthy.

When did you begin writing?

I started writing shortly before I retired and effectively writing replaced engineering as my day job.

Do you write during the day, at night or whenever you can sneak a few moments?

Normally I write during the day and in the evening, but it isn't a totally exclusive activity.

What is this book about?

Based loosely on fact, Against All Odds describes the early years of a young man born into humble circumstances during the reign of Queen Victoria. He shows how a combination of intelligence and perserverance, aided by a little good fortune, can help any child overcome the disadvantages of poor education and lowly birth status in an era when status is all important. In Against All Odds, the first volume of a four-part series, you can read how Jason Smiley Stewart is transformed from callow village youth into a ship's officer.

What inspired you to write it?

In 2004 when I was working in Abu Dhabi, my wife and I visited a small Omani town called Khasab, which is located near to the Straits of Hormuz. One of the attractions there is an area known as the Fjords because of its similarity to Norwegian scenery. In English it is known as the Elphinston Inlet or transliterated from the Arabic, Khor As Sham. We sailed along Khor As Sham in an Arab dhow and anchored at Telegraph Island. I learnt from the dhow captain that a small team of British men had lived on the island during the 1850's in order to operate the repeater station on the newly constructed electric telegraph to India - this was at the very beginning of electronic communication. When I sat on that small, barren lump of rock in the heat of the midday sun, I could only marvel at the fortitude of men who could live and work under such appalling conditions. I believed there was a story to be written about the men and the island.

Who is your biggest supporter?

Until she lost a long battle with cancer, my wife.

Are you a member of a critique group? If no, who provides feedback on your work?

No, I haven't joined a critique group. Until she died my wife critiqued my writing and I was always amazed by her ability to provide cogent advice when her first language was German and not English.

Who is your favorite author?

There are many, but I think Nevil Shute would be top of the list.

Do you have an agent or are you looking for one?

I don't have an agent and have ceased looking for one.

Was the road to publication smooth sailing or a bumpy ride?

Before I discovered Tate Publishing it was an exceptioally frustrating experience, but afterwards everything worked as it should.

If you knew then, what you know now, is there anything you would have done differently?

Probably not.

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?


Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Against-All-Odds-Stewart-My-Stewart/dp/1598861476/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1293963559&sr=1-2

Barnes & Noble http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Against-All-Odds/John-Milton-Langdon/e/9781598861471/?itm=1&USRI=john+milton+langdon

Tate Publishing http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=1-59886-14-7-6

Do you have a website and/or blog where readers can find out more?

Website is at http://www.jmlangdon.com/

What is the best investment you have made in promoting your book?

Hopefully this one, as my other efforts have not been very successful.

What is one piece of advice you would like to share with aspiring authors everywhere?

Don't give up!

What is up next for you?

I have a script for a BBC radio play competition to complete and I am trying to write another novel, but there are not enough hours in the day.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Against All Odds has been translated into German and I am currently looking for a publisher in either Austria or Germany.

Thanks for spending time with us today, John. We wish you much success.