Book Review: Writing Your Way by Julie Smith

Do you ever wish you had a knowledgeable and helpful mentor sitting by your side as you write? Having Writing Your Way: The Great American Novel Track by Julie Smith with you is the next best thing.

Broken down into seven different sections, this book takes you through the craft of writing, showing examples from Mark Twain, Stephen King, Herman Melville and other famous authors, and even a few from her own writing, to bring you through topics every writer needs to know about.

Compiled from many of her classes, Writing Your Way is like having your own writing coach at your finger tips. Aunt Julie, as she calls herself, discusses the three rules of writing, voice, viewpoint, plot, character, setting, research, finding your method, marketing, and more. She spends a good deal of time dissecting Twain's The Adventures of Huck Finn, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Melville's Moby Dick, and other classics, plus she provides resources like Strunk and White's Elements of Style--see it right over on my shelf--and Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird--see it on another of my bookshelves. Each chock full chapter ends with a Takeaway that summarizes that chapter's lessons.

I'll definitely be referring to Writing Your Way again. With her conversational style and spot on advice, it's no wonder Smith is such a prolific writer.


Title:  Writing Your Way: The Great American Novel Track
Author:  Julie Smith
Publisher:  booksBrimble
ASIN: B005EZ3JM2

SRP:  $4.99

I received a FREE Kindle version of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinions. I received no monetary compensation of any kind for this review.

Interview with S. B. Lerner, Author of In the Middle of Almost and Other Stories (Book Review Included)

S.B. Lerner worked as an attorney in Manhattan for many years, and in the evenings she wrote and published short stories. They are now available as a collection, called In the Middle of Almost and Other Stories.



After getting married and becoming a mom, she was struck with the importance of knowing family history, so she researched and wrote the story of her father’s fascinating life. It was through learning about his early passion for a Zionist youth group in Poland that she became interested in the subject of her first novel, A Suitable Husband, which is set in prewar Poland.



S. B. loves to read historical fiction and novels set in other times and places, as well as to travel and meet people. Travel time is limited, lately, but she teaches an ESOL class and learns about other cultures through her diverse group of students. When not teaching, doing ‘mom’ things or playing with the puppy, she is at her desk working on another novel set on a college campus in New York.


You can visit S.B. Lerner’s website at www.sblerner.com, and read her blog ‘Novel Thoughts” through a link on the website. You can find Susan’s book on Goodreads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12708823-in-the-middle-of-almost-and-other-stories

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?


I recently went to a high school reunion, and when they took a group picture. I ended up in the front row, and said to the guy sitting next to me, “Oh no! Now everyone will see me!” He laughed and said that I always was like that, always wanted to hide in the back. So I guess you might say I’m shy, or perhaps just wary. But over the years I’ve learned to put on a good act and if we met, we’d probably have a long, interesting conversation. I find people fascinating and love to hear their stories. I prefer that to talking about me, which is why I have a hard time answering this question and have been rambling. Tell me about you!

When did you begin writing?

I kept diaries when I was young, and in my college years I wrote lots of letters. That was before email and Facebook and I still have long, heartfelt letters written by friends and boyfriends, where we tried to unravel all the complicated emotions that define that time of life, before you worry about your kids more than yourself, and are trying to figure out where and with whom you belong.

I wrote a lot of essays and papers in college, and then went to law school. When I was working as an attorney in e NYC I discovered some wonderful writing classes and workshops that I attended in the evenings. That’s when I started writing short stories. I got great feedback and encouragement, and loved sharing my work and reading the work of my fellow classmates.

What is this book about?

This book is a collection of short stories and memoir. The stories are mostly about young women who are busy but lonely, and, as the description says, look for men in all the wrong places—the garage attendant across the street, the stay-at-home dad in the park, the younger man at the diner counter—with both funny and poignant results. The memoirs are sketches of my early life and how my parents’ experiences in the war ultimately affected me.

What inspired you to write it?

The memoirs came about because I knew little about my parents’ early lives and spent a couple of years researching and writing books about them. The memoirs are extracted from those books, which were written primarily for family, and frankly, so my son would know something about his grandparents.

Some of the stories came from the period in my life when I was single, working in New York City, dating, and finding it all a bit overwhelming. I would get together with my friends and we would discuss our experiences in ways that were both entertaining and therapeutic. Writing gave disparate events structure and enabled me to find meaning in them, as well as a kind of emotional release. Short stories are the perfect literary form to explore a single emotional arc. But the stories aren’t specifically about me and my experiences (really!). They were often what I imagined might have happened if I’d followed through on an impulse. In other words, the stories allowed me to experience what I was too chicken to do in real life.

Who is your biggest supporter?

Definitely NOT my son, who thinks the name of my book, In the Middle of Almost, is pretentious. He makes jokes about it. They are kind of like knock-knock jokes…I won’t go there. Diametrically opposite is my husband who admires my writing and hands out the little cards with my book information to everyone he knows and shows them the book on his iPad. It’s a bit embarrassing but I’ve gotten some sales from his efforts!

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?

Glad you asked! It is only available as an ebook, but it is available on most e-readers, including, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Apple iPad/iBooks, and Sony Reader. It is available at the Smashwords site, too.

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

Website: http://sblerner.com/

Blog: http://susanblerner.com/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/In-the-Middle-of-Almost-and-Other-Stories/265178710186807

What is up next for you?

A terrific small publisher is interested in my novel, A Suitable Husband, but he’s asked for revisions, so that will be my next project. I’ll keep you apprised!

BOOK REVIEW OF IN THE MIDDLE OF ALMOST AND OTHER STORIES!

In the Middle of Almost and Other Stories is an intriguing selection of short stories about single life and the challenges of working and dating in New York City. We meet Jennifer who is tired of sitting home alone on Saturday nights sipping Merlot and smoking while reading. When she opts to visit an old-fashioned matchmaker who promises to get her "married soon," she wonders if she made the right choice. An order of French Fries leads to some interesting results.

Then there's Jessica, an attorney living in Manhattan who feels a bit out of place among her colleagues. Sitting on a ledge enclosing the front of her apartment building, a relationship is struck with the gas station attendant across the street.

Then there's the young mom in the park with her son. Tragedy had changed her life forever. Could a chance meeting with a dad at the park make a difference?

Also included are "Witty Girl" and "Phantom Arms," and the memoirs: "The Terror of Field Lane" and "Memories in a Desk Drawer," along with an excerpt from the novel, Familiar Stranger.

It's been a while since I've read a short story collection. What holds this one together nicely is that the women in it tend to have something in common. Many are professional single women trying to navigate the world of career politics and dating--sometimes with disastrous results. Some are dealing with cheating boyfriends. The memoirs deal mostly with family memories. The last one, "Memories in a Desk Drawer," being perhaps the most moving part of the whole collection.

Lerner does an excellent job of painting pictures for her readers. I've been to NYC a few times, so I felt in familiar territory as the author dropped in descriptions of setting and weather. What I feel Lerner does best, however, is reach women where they are or where they were at some point in their lives. I don't think a woman out there can't relate to at least one of these characters.

I look forward to more from this author.

Publisher: Samson Books (September 13, 2011)

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
ASIN: B005MZ829Y
SRP:  $1.99

I received a FREE Kindle edition of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinions. The author paid me to promote this book with a virtual book tour through Pump Up Your Book, but that fee did not include a review. I received no monetary compensation of any kind to provide my opinions.

Guest Blogger: Tom Weston, Author of Fission

Our special guest today is Tom Weston, author of the historical novel, Fission. I've read Tom's young adult novels, First Night and The Elf of Luxembourg, both of which have a large amount of history in them, so I wasn't surprised that Tom's next novel was an historical--one of my favorite genres.

I had wanted to review this book, but my TBR pile is the largest it has ever been, and it wouldn't have been fair to request it knowing how backed up I am on reviews. I will, however, be getting to this book sometime in the future, as it sounds fascinating.

Lise Meitner:



a physicist who never lost her humanity

First they tried to deny her.

Then they tried to destroy her.

But she survived to discover nuclear fission and spark the race for the atomic bomb.

The clue is to be found in her headstone. No, it isn’t the physics. For, as much as I like science, the scribbling of mathematical equations on blackboards and the clicking of Geiger-counters does not make for riveting story-telling. What drew me to the Lise Meitner story is the humanity.

Imagine a story of hate and greed, intrigue and danger, war and destruction, the slaughter of the innocents on a biblical scale and the collapse of empire. And imagine at the centre of it all one little woman, brilliant but shy, victimized but resolute, betrayed but ultimately vindicated. What a story that would make! Well, you don’t have to imagine it, because that is the Lise Meitner story. And I didn’t have to invent any of it . . .

. . . it’s all true.

2 Women (not named Lise) who should have received the Nobel Prize by Tom Weston

In my novel, Fission, I tell the story of Lise Meitner, who discovered nuclear fission, but watched another get the Nobel Prize for the discovery. In fact, Lise was nominated for the Nobel no less than 15 times, for the fission discovery but also for her work prior to that discovery – and ignored by the Nobel Committee every time. At the heart of the story is a complicated web of sexism, bigotry, power and politics. But her story, alas, is not an isolated case. Many other women should also have been honoured with Nobel Prizes for their contributions science. Here are 2 of them.

Emmy Noether (1882 – 1935):
If Lise Meitner was the mother of the atom bomb, Emmy Noether could be called the mother of algebra. And if you’ve ever complained about algebra at school, you have Emmy to thank. She was a contemporary of Meitner and shared with Lise the disadvantages of being female and Jewish in Nazi Germany. She published under a male pseudonym and was only able to lecture at the University of Göttingen by scheduling classes under the names of her male colleagues. When the Nazis banished her from the classroom, she continued to lecture in secret in her apartment. She fled Germany for the USA in 1933, but died 2 years later after complications from surgery. The Nazis wasted no time in ‘disappearing’ her from the science books. Apart from inventing the field of Abstract Algebra, she should have won a Nobel for her work on General Relativity and a second for Quantum Physics, but the Committee condemned her as a mathematician and therefore ineligible.

Rosalind Franklin (1920 – 1958)
In 1962, James Watson and Francis Crick won the Nobel for ‘discovering’ the structure of DNA, which they shared with the world in 1953. What they should also have shared was the fact that their discovery was based on the then unpublished work of Rosalind Franklin; work which they took without her knowledge, and for which they did not credit her, although she was a colleague. She even corrected the errors in their models for them. When word leaked out that Franklin was about to publish, Watson and Crick rushed out their version – a single page, without citing any proofs or credits. Watson and Crick beat Franklin to the Press by 11 days. Fortunately for the Nobel Committee, by 1962 Franklin was no longer alive and therefore ineligible.

Originally from England, Tom Weston now resides in Boston, Massachusetts. His works include the fantasy based, Alex and Jackie Adventures, and the collection of short stories, Tales from the Green Dragon Tavern.


Find Tom on the Web:


Web Site: http://tom-weston.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tom.weston.readers
Twitter: http://twitter.com/tomwestonmedia
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12869740-fission
Trailer for Fission: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RCp6MCS_LrQ

About FISSION:
FISSION (Historical Fiction): published 2011 by tom weston media. Available in Hardcopy, Paperback and eBook:
Hardcopy: 329 pages, 6″ x 9″, ISBN 978-0-981-94135-6. MRP $26.95
Paperback: 329 pages, 6″ x 9″, ISBN 978-0-981-94137-0. MRP $10.95
eBook/Kindle/Nook: ISBN 978-0-981-94138-7. MRP $6.95

Find Fission at amazon.com (including Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/0981941354
Find Fission at Barnes & Noble (including Nook): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fission-tom-weston/1104968444
Support your local book store: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780981941370
Purchase an autographed copy of FISSION from the publisher at: http://www.tom-weston.com/purchase-fission/
A portion of all sales of Fission, no matter where purchased, go to the ‘Because I am a GiRL’ campaign by Plan, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children since 1937. Visit PlanUSA at http://www.planusa.org/content1619891 or get involved with your own national/regional Plan office.

Interview with Dianne Hartsock, Author of Alex

Dianne Hartsock lives in the beautiful Willamette Valley of Oregon with her incredibly patient husband, who puts up with the endless hours she spends hunched over the keyboard letting her characters play.

She says Oregon’s raindrops are the perfect setting in which to write her tails. There’s something about being cooped up in the house while it pours rain outside and a fire crackles on the hearth inside that kindles her imagination.


The intricate and fragile nature of the mind is always fascinating. Having worked with the public through various careers, Dianne has come to respect the resilience and strength of the human spirit. She’s always trying to capture that spirit in her writing.


Currently, Dianne works as a floral designer in a locally-owned gift shop, which she says is the perfect job for her. When not writing, she can express herself through the rich colors and textures of flowers and foliage.


Dianne’s books include Trials of a Lonely Specter and Alex.


You can visit Dianne Hartsock at: http://diannehartsocksalex.wordpress.com/

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

After growing up in California and spending the first ten years of marriage in Colorado, I now live in the beautiful Willamette Valley of Oregon with my incredibly patient husband, who puts up with the endless hours I spend hunched over the keyboard letting my characters play. Currently, I work as a floral designer in a locally-owned gift shop. Which is the perfect job for me. When not writing, I can express myself through the rich colors and textures of flowers and foliage.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in a lovely old house in Mar Vista, CA., in a large, boisterous and loving family.

When did you begin writing?
I’ve always been a story teller, and was very proud when my very first story in first grade was pinned up on the wall for everyone to read, the teacher liked it that much. I didn’t think much about writing again until seventh grade was a fantastic and talented creative writing teacher told me I had some talent and should develop it and maybe one day become published. She had me hooked! I’ve been writing ever since, though it wasn’t until about five years ago that I became serious about it. I went through a writing workshop given by Wolf-Pirate Publishing that really opened my eyes. And with this success with Alex and some online stories, I write every day and enjoy every minute of it.

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

Yikes. I suppose I’m a bit of a workaholic. I’m up at 7a.m. to get ready for work, then sit down to the computer for an hour, catching up on all the social media. If I’m very lucky, I might even have a little time for creative writing. I’m off to work at 9:15. Work all day, then home again at 6 p.m. to make dinner and spend time with the family. Hubby’s in bed by 8:30, and I jump right back on the computer until midnight, writing, editing, blogging, whatever’s on my ‘to do’ list that day. I am blessed to have Thursday and Sunday’s off for family outings and hopefully lots of writing!
What is this book about?

Raised in isolation by a physically and emotionally abusive parent, on her death, Alex is thrust into a world of violence and intolerance that bewilders and hurts him. He hears the cries of children, the screaming women. Alex has been left with horrible scars on his body and even worse scars within his mind. Even though it puts him in danger, he’s compelled to help those who call to him. He’s driven, motivated by his visions to rescue them and uncover the killer. When he can, he helps the police; yet some detectives suspect he’s the cause of the problem, not the solution. Often, Alex finds himself alone and afraid in a world he doesn’t always comprehend.

What inspired you to write it?

I’ve always been fascinated with the paranormal. I find the thought of being psychic intriguing to say the least. Alex started out as a vague idea I had I had one day I wondered what is would take to make someone psychic. I know a lot of psychics were born with their abilities, but I didn’t want that with Alex. I wondered what could change a person’s thought processes and open expand their minds to the possibility. I thought isolation would do it. Emotional trauma and abuse as a child. A mother with some with a touch of mental illness. These thoughts came together to form Alex’s character. The rest of the story built up around this.
Are you a member of a critique group? If no, who provides feedback on your work?

Writing can be lonely without support. Search around until you find a writer’s group you feel at home with. I belong to the Litopia Writer’s Colony, http://www.litopia.com/  which is the friendliest, most supportive group of people you could hope to meet. Their advice and gentle teaching has made me believe in myself as a writer.

Who is your favorite author?
C.J. Cherryh. I’ve fallen in love with more of her characters than I can count. I’d love to spend an afternoon discussing her worlds over a cup of coffee. Who was her influence for Tristen? Or her shy wizard, Sasha? What about Vanya? Josh Talley? So many others! Amazing writer.
Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?
Solstice Publishing: http://bitly.com/liLUSG

Amazon: http://amzn.to/r4qStN

Where can we find you online?

Blog: http://diannehartsock.wordpress.com/

FB: http://www.facebook.com/diannehartsock

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/diannehartsock

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4850270.Dianne_Hartsock

What is one piece of advice you would like to share with aspiring authors everywhere?
When you sit down to write, take a deep breath. Don’t think about how anyone else would write the scene. Forget about all the advice you’ve been given. Simply write the words as they come to you. It’s the best way to find your own unique writer’s voice.

What is up next for you?
At the moment I have a fantasy/adventure novel being considered by a publishing house. I have the sequel to this book written and am in the midst of edits and revisions. Also, I’ve been jotting down ideas and am about to start on the sequel to Alex. I’m excited to spend time with him again. I also have several short romances to be released as eBooks in the near future.

Interview with Frank Scully, Author of Empty Time

Frank Scully was born and raised in a small town in North Dakota and received a Bachelor’s degree in History with Phi Beta Kappa Honors and a Juris Doctor degree in Law from the University of North Dakota. He then served more than five years as a Judge Advocate General Corps Officer in the U.S. Army in the U.S., Vietnam, and Thailand. After that he attended the prestigious Thunderbird School and received a Masters in Business Administration with honors. In his professional career he has worked as a manager with large aerospace and defense manufacturers and also owned his own small business.

Depending on the vagaries of the universe he has been well off at times and broke, but never broken at other times. Blessed with an understanding wife who gave him twin sons, he has remained through it all a dreamer whose passion is writing stories that will entertain readers.

Please visit the author’s Website at: www.frankjscully.com

Blog: http://frankjscully.com/blog/

Empty Time is a thriller crime novel with a modern day high concept setting. Today’s corporate titans are much like the feudal lords and barons of medieval times. They fight and scheme their way up a ladder of prestige, privilege, wealth and power. The major difference is the lack of a belief in a coherent code of conduct or moral precepts. Chivalry is dead. Working on a global scale beyond governments and borders, these new aristocrats are almost untouchable. To take over a large leading-edge technology corporation, three top executives are willing to commit murder and fraud to manipulate the stock market and the international currency exchange market. To divert attention and provide a patsy they set up Jim Lang to take the blame before he is to be killed. He survives and discovers through the sacrifice of another that in order for life to have meaning he must be willing to give it up for something. To save the people he loves he must put his life on the line to turn the tables on his former colleagues.

When did you begin writing?

I began writing with an eye towards publication in 1991. My wife finally got tired of me saying I could write something as well as some of the authors I was reading and bought a word processor for me and told me to prove it. The word processor was a pretty primitive one but it was better than a typewriter. I sat down and started. I must now admit that my first attempts were not worthy of publication but I kept at it and kept improving.

How did you get published?

I started the road to publication the usual way. I sent out queries to agents constantly. Over the years I received more rejections than I could ever count. If I kept all the paper rejections I received I could recycle the pile into enough pressed wood to build several houses. After queries and rejections became electronic I was no longer causing entire forests to be cut down but the results were the same. Along the way I did engage agents occasionally, and although I got very close to print a few times, something always seemed to come along that left me a few steps short of publication. I did manage to avoid the many scam agents and publishers.
And then Lea Schizas started MuseItUp. I heard about it through the grapevine from other authors and sent a note of congratulations and also a query. It was a very short time from that query to acceptance and then to publication. I have been very happy to be a part MuseItUp and to work with Lea and the amazing group of editors and cover artists she has put together. I now have three books out through MuseItUp and three more scheduled to come out in the next year.

Tell us more about the book and how it fits into your series?

I am writing a series of stand-alone mystery/suspense/adventure novels, at least one for each decade of the 20th and 21st century, set in different locales with both continuing and new characters in each one. I call it the Decade Series. There is something unique in each decade that marks it as separate from what went before or what follows. I explore aspects of what is unique as it is expressed in the locale chosen and how it affects the culture, characters and the tenor of the times and yet also see the common humanity that never changes. While the larger characteristics of the decade provide the background against which the story is told, I like to find certain lesser known events and circumstances that signal significant shifts around which to build the plot. The stories are not written in any chronological order.

Empty Time is set in current time frame and is a story of corporate greed gone global. We’ve had privileged classes and greed around since the beginning of man so that is a common thread. However, with the tools at their disposal now and the amount of money and power possible, why wouldn’t corporate titans do whatever they can to win?

What inspired you to write this story?
Ideas for stories tend to pop into my head regularly and what I need to do is weed through them to find the ones that have the substance I want to explore and develop. This one appealed to me. I have worked for several large corporations over a 40 year career and have watched corporations change. There have been generational shifts over the years from the WWII generation to the Boomers to each generation that followed. As the generations each moved into leadership roles in corporations, corporate culture has shifted to what it is now. Management pay has ballooned, the divide between management and worker has grown into a chasm. There is now a separate class of people at the top who control vast wealth. The story was easy to write.
Who are your favorite authors?

My favorite authors include some of the old masters such as Raymond Chandler, John MacDonald, Ross MacDonald, Philip Marlowe, Sam Spade and others. Current writers I like include Michael Connelly, Martin Cruz Smith, and Walter Mosley.

Where can readers buy your books?
Empty Time and my other books, Resurrection Garden and Dead Man’s Gambit are all available at:

https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/

and also:

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and other online eBook retailers.

What is up next for you?

I have three more books in the Decade Series coming out next year from MuseItUp. Blood Sins, Gravedigger’s Open House and Vacation Man.

I am working on a seventh now tentatively called Digital Death. It involves outsourcing of work to India, software piracy, international bank skimming, terrorists, spies and murder, of course. The hero in this one will be a bit different. A young orphan who survived the boat exodus from Vietnam in the 70’s has grown up to be a remarkable man.

What would you say to a class of aspiring authors?

It’s a cliché but true. You can only perfect your craft by practicing constantly. Write and then write some more. Write because it is what you enjoy. Write because it makes you happy. Learn to love to edit.

Interview with Murray Tillman, Author of Meet Me on the Paisley Roof

Murray Tillman is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Georgia and formerly Chair of the Department of Instructional Technology in the College of Education. He has authored several texts that assist teachers in using instructional design tools and has developed training manuals and courses for businesses and human service agents. Murray is a graduate of Birmingham-Southern College and the University of Georgia. Meet Me on the Paisley Roof is his debut novel.

Visit Murray online at http://www.meetmeonthepaisleyroof.com/.

Where did you grow up?

I was born in Birmingham, Alabama. When I was nine years old, my family moved to Columbus, Georgia. I attended grammar school and high school there and later returned to teach in the public schools for a year. So, I think of myself as having two hometowns, two places where I grew up. I loved the big city bustle of Birmingham, the clanky trolley cars, the smell of the Merita bakery near our house, and the big storm sewer across the street where we could hunt for crawfish. Columbus, to my surprise, had clean air, soldiers in khaki uniforms wandering around downtown, and a den of iniquity, Phenix City, Alabama, just across the Chattahoochee River. Today, I enjoy going back to both cities and step back, it almost seems to me, into another time in my life.

When did you begin writing?

My college days were the emotional winter of my life. I found comfort as well as beauty in literature and music. I read novels, poetry, minored in English, took a creative writing course, and wrote several short stories. I was surprised one day when my professor read aloud to the class part of a story I had written and then said, "I wish I had written that." Although I wasn't sure why he said it, I was pleased to hear his comment. I hoped someday I could do more.

My graduate degrees, however, were in psychology taking me off the creative writing track. Although I started a novel once, my muse was fickle, requiring large chunks of time before she would appear. No weekend gigs for her. I had to wait for retirement before I could really start writing a novel in earnest.

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

I prefer to write during the morning but am on call from my muse at any time. Once I sit down and start writing, I don't know when I'll get up. If I have written two or three decent pages by noon, that's great. If not, I'll take a break then start work again until, by the end of the day, I have those two to three pages. That's my goal, anyway.

What is this book about?

Meet Me on the Paisley Roof is a humorous novel, one that lets you really get to know the characters. The tale is narrated by the 16-year-old Trussell Jones so this is his story. If I could use an analogy from cooking, there are four ingredients in the story: SPICY, HOT, SWEET, and MYSTERY.

1. SPICY: You have three teenage boys full of energy and mischief who like to tease and test one another. They have a long history of planning adventures and then launching themselves at neighborhood targets, especially at night.
2. HOT: I mean hot in the sense of conflict and danger. The boys have difficult family relationships. For example, Trussell's stepmother, with no parenting skills and nutty to boot, has purchased a .38 revolver to meet the mounting threats in her life including, she thinks, Trussell.
3. SWEET: Trussell hopes for love with Ellen. But first, he has to speak to her, which he finally manages after a scare from the seductive Trudy.
4. MYSTERY: The boys confront problems they haven't encountered before. What do you do when a motorcycle, with the key intact, appears behind your garage?
Mix these ingredients in differing amounts to form the different chapters. Add a little thyme for reading (I apologize) and you have a laugh-out-loud tale of teens seeking adventure and love in the hot summer of 1956.

What inspired you to write it?

From my growing-up years in Columbus, three events stand out very vividly. (1) When I was in the seventh grade and later as a teenager, I was madly in love with a beautiful girl in my school who, I thought, viewed me as a pest. (2) I had wonderful friends with whom I shared many nocturnal adventures, problems in our family lives, and dreams about the future. (3) I studied piano very seriously for a while and adored listening to the Classical and Romantic repertoire, if not on a record player, then in my head.

The story that I wanted to write comes from this well of feelings about my teenage years: a seemingly impossible love, friends who love, support, and test one another, and music that would send your soul soaring. Add to that the teen frustration of having to deal with challenging events without having any experiences to fall back on, emotions so intense, so alive, that I can feel them today, a half-century later. I wrote Meet Me On The Paisley Roof to share those feelings, expressed humorously, in a fast moving story.

Who is your favorite character from the book?

Let me tell you about Mr. Childs, a construction foreman and father of Cassidy and Ronnie, teenage friends of the story's narrator.

Mr. Childs has the potential to be a hero or a villain. Here is one quick example. Mr. Childs wants to show Trussell how it feels to fire a shotgun. So they go to the back of the house where Mr. Childs produces a loaded shotgun, demonstrates how to hold the weapon properly, and then fires a blast out the back door into a large mound of dirt. And why was the large dirt pile there? Mr. Childs had, on his own initiative, recently bulldozed his wife's vegetable garden in order to build a fallout shelter.

On one hand, Mr. Childs wants Trussell to learn about shotguns and acts immediately to "help" him learn. On the other hand, Mr. Childs is firing a deadly weapon within the city limits, easily alarming neighbors who hear the cannon-like noise that shotguns make. On one hand, Mr. Childs wants to protect his family from the devastation of nuclear war, a commonplace fear in the 1950s, but on the other he didn't discuss the matter first with his wife, who lost her garden.

And so it goes with Mr. Childs, trying to be helpful, yet often skirting the limits of reason, if not the law, to do so.

Who is your biggest supporter?

Assuming that we are talking about enthusiasm here and not girth, I would name Phyllis Pruitt. Phyllis and I are sort of related: my son married Phyllis's daughter. So we are "mutual in-laws" maybe?

After revising the manuscript "one last time," I set it on a shelf, too tired to start on the rounds of gathering feedback. And so it sat for several years. But I kept hearing that Phyllis wanted to read it so eventually I sent her a copy.

The feedback from Phyllis made me sit up and listen, especially one sentence: "I kept falling out of my chair laughing!" Wow! Maybe that last revision did the trick, I thought. And so I took the manuscript off the shelf and continued my journey with a fresh resolve.

Phyllis is one of the six wonderful people I thanked in my acknowledgements: "Phyllis Pruitt ... who laughed the loudest of anyone, for her thoughts and enthusiasm." And today, she visits and comments on the book's Facebook page. Thanks again, Phyllis!

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?

Meet Me on the Paisley Roof is available at: Amazon, Barnes &Noble, MyBookOrders.com, or at your local bookstore. For direct links go to the Mini-Blog tour site set up by Tribute Books: http://www.meetmeonthepaisleyroof.blogspot.com/.

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

The Mini-Blog tour site set up by Tribute Books has a listing of all the major links you might need: http://meetmeonthepaisleyroof.blogspot.com/, including my e-mail address, web site, Facebook page, and book purchase information.

If you have a question about the book or about writing in general, there are several ways to contact me: my e-mail address, web site e-mail, or Facebook page. Question or not, I hope you will visit the Facebook site and say hello, leave a comment, and by all means "like" it.

What is up next for you?

I will continue to promote the book for awhile, visiting indie bookstores in the Southeast, keeping active on Facebook, and volunteering to speak at libraries and high schools. Since publishing an article in "Georgia Backroads" magazine about music in my childhood ("Ruby's Boys and Mamie Lee at the Piano", Summer, 2010, p. 46), I've been considering similar writing projects. Writing the article was a fun romp down memory lane, and you can find it online at: http://www.georgiahistory.ws/issues/articles/Ruby%27s%20Boys%20&%20Mamie%20Lee%20at%20the%20Piano.pdf.

Meet Me on the Paisley Roof web site:


http://www.meetmeonthepaisleyroof.com/

Meet Me on the Paisley Roof Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/MeetMeOnThePaisleyRoof

Murray Tillman Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/MurrayTillman

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186

Meet Me on the Paisley Roof blog tour site:

http://meetmeonthepaisleyroof.blogspot.com/

Paperback
Price: $14.95
ISBN: 9780982093832
Pages: 316
Release: August 2009

Amazon buy link ($14.95)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0982093837/tributebooks-20

Barnes&Noble.com buy link ($14.95)

http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=dcSBhG3Rj8w&offerid=229293.9780982093832&type=2&subid=0

MyBookOrders.com buy link ($11.50)

https://secure.mybookorders.com/order/multiproduct.aspx?orderpageid=89

Next blog stop: Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Interview with Lesley Kagen, Author of Good Graces

Lesley Kagen is a writer, actress, and restaurateur. She lives in Wisconsin.



Visit her web site at www.lesleykagen.com.  

Where did you grow up?

On the west side of Milwaukee. In a blue collar neighborhood very much like the one featured in Good Graces

When did you begin writing?

I was born with a pencil in my hand! One of the first things I can remember getting down on paper was a poem for a school contest, entitled I am the Sun and I'm in the Sky. I won! Encouraged, I tried my hand at a script for 77 Sunset Strip. It was my favorite TV show back in the day. I must've been around nine at the time. I thought I'd come up with a pretty good story, and asked my mother to send it to Hollywood for me. Bless her heart, she did. I waited every Friday night for weeks to see Stu and the rest of the crew solve, The Mystery of the Dog Collar. Alas, some dreams do not come true. I did receive a nice 8 x 10 glossy of Ed "Kookie" Burns, though, so I was rewarded for my efforts. I kept a diary for many years. Wrote more than I had to for school assignments. Came up with some comedy skits in high school and college. During my working years as a DJ and interviewer, I wrote all my own pieces. When I moved out to LA, I worked for an in-house advertising agency and wrote thousands of commercials. As odious as they are, it was good preparation for my writing career. I journaled. Wrote outraged letters. It wasn't until seven years ago, at the age of 54, that I wrote my first novel, Whistling in the Dark.

What is your newest book about?

Good Graces is a sequel to my first book, Whistling in the Dark. Set in Milwaukee the following summer, the summer of 1960, it's the story of two young sisters, Sally O'Malley and her Irish twin, Troo. A heat wave has everyone in their close knit neighborhood on edge. Especially when a series of disquieting events begin to unfurl.

What inspired you to write it?

Not so much a what as a who. Shortly after Whistling in the Dark was released, I was inundated with mail from readers asking for another book about the sisters. My response was, "Oh, thank you for liking the book so much, but that will never happen. I think I actually said, "Over my dead body will I write a sequel." I then proceeded to write, Land of a Hundred Wonders, the story of a young brain damaged woman set in small town Kentucky. Tomorrow River, my next book, was also set in the South. After I'd handed in the manuscript, I realized that I was feeling homesick. I wanted to set another story in Wisconsin. This time in a small town. I tried, but when I began writing it, Sally and Troo's voices kept popping into my mind. And those of the readers who enjoyed them so much. I eventually surrendered. I was scared. I thought it'd be a challenge I might not be able to handle. Could I recapture the story line? The feel of the neighborhood? I needn't have worried. When I finally committed, it was like the sisters were just waiting for me to show up.
Was the road to publication smooth sailing or a bumpy ride?

As you know, if you want to be traditionally published, you need to find a literary agent who is willing to represent your work. Whistling in the Dark was rejected by over 150 agents. (It went on to become a NYT bestseller.)

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?

At your local bookstore, Amazon.com, B&N.com. It's widely available, thank goodness.

Where can readers find you online?

They can visit lesleykagen.com. I'm also on Facebook.

What is up next for you?

I'm currently touring around the Midwest, doing lots and lots of book clubs and trying like heck to finish another story. This one is a mother/daughter tale that I'm just have a ball with. Hopefully, it will be available sometime in 2012.



BOOK INFORMATION:

Hardcover
Price: $25.95
ISBN: 9780525952381
Pages: 352
Release: September 2011

Amazon buy link

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525952381/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tributebooks-20

Barnes&Noble.com buy link

http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=dcSBhG3Rj8w&offerid=229293.9780525952381&type=2&subid=0

IndieBound buy link

http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525952381

Books-A-Million buy link

http://www.booksamillion.com/product/9780525952381?id=5003903803737

eBook


Price: $12.99

Kindle buy link

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005DIAUA4/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tributebooks-20

Nook buy link

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/good-graces-lesley-kagen/1100483667?ean=9781101549063&itm=1&usri=good%2bgraces

Lesley Kagen web site:


http://www.lesleykagen.com/

Lesley Kagen Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/LesleyKagenBooks?sk=app_4949752878

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186
Good Graces blog tour site:

http://goodgracesblogtour.blogspot.com/

Next tour stop: Reel Swell Productions