A Book and a Chat with Rick Lenz

Rick Lenz is a star of stage, and screen from his staring roll in “Cactus Flower” along sides the likes of Goldie Hawn and Walter Matthau, to appearing in John Wayne’s last file “The Shootist” He has played rolls ranging from gunslingers to patient husbands, intellectuals, to a wimpy murder-mystery fanatic. Along the road he has rubbed shoulders with the likes of Al Pacino to Peter Sellers and Ingrid Bergman to Lucille Ball. However Rick Lenz is not just an actor/director, he is also a talented artist and now author of a great book “North of Hollywood”

While “North of Hollywood” is full of anecdotes about many of the people Rick has come into contact with along his career, it also shares with the reader some of the darker moments in his family and life, touching on drug addiction and cancer.His book reveals real-life experiences of heartbreak, suspense, discovery and joy.

As Writer/editor Kevin Cook said…

“North of Hollywood is “fall-on-the floor funny and graveyard-serious, a page-turner with a brain. This is an excitingly original book overflowing with lyrical power that I can’t compare to anything else I’ve ever read.”


About North of Hollywood (taken from Goodreads)

Take a roller coaster ride through the life of a real Hollywood actor.

Rick Lenz is an actor who has made it in New York and Hollywood. You have seen him countless times on TV and in the movies. He has been a popular leading man as well as a character actor, consistently avoiding repetition in the roles he chooses. Lenz has played leads opposite some of entertainment’s biggest names, and has had recurring or guest starring roles on many of your favorite TV shows.

Yet his book is more than just an ordinary Hollywood insider story. Lenz is a terrific writer with a wicked sense of humor. Also a gifted artist and widely produced playwright, he uses his extraordinary storytelling skills to take you into his personal experiences with actors and entertainers we normally only hear about through the rumor mills, and to reveal real-life experiences of heartbreak, suspense, discovery and joy.

His memoir is fascinating. He doesn’t pull any punches. Along with plenty of showbiz anecdotes, he tells us about his marriages (especially his “final” one) and his journey from summer stock through New York, then to Hollywood. He offers us deep insights into an actor’s life and living in general. Feeling the shock waves of his stormy family background, including the emotional tremors of nearly losing his daughter who struggled for years with drugs, Rick Lenz is a real life husband and dad—and the absorbing reality of that shines through his words.

Spending time with Rick Lenz is fun, enlightening and authentic. If this weren’t a true story it would make a mesmerizing fictional adventure.
Bottom line: North of Hollywood is edgy, way out of the ordinary, and, as a bonus, funny.

It is a book that all will enjoy, one I highly recommend, it is due for release on February 15th, and if I were you I’d get my order in now for “North of Hollywood” as I’m sure it will be a very popular read.

So listen now and share an interesting, and entertaining show as I chat with my special guest today on A Book and a Chat with Rick Lenz

Barry

Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with Rick Lenz

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"Rick Lenz"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Rick Lenz - North of Holywood"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

My Blogs:

Book Information and Things UK - Across the Pond

Book and a Chat Radio Show Guests - A Book and a Chat

Funny, Weird Or Just Interesting News From Around the World - Laugh I Thought My Trousers Would Never dry

A Book and a Chat with Stephanie Osborn

My guest today is Stephanie Osborn, former rocket scientist, payload flight controller and a veteran of over twenty years of working in the civilian space program, as well as various military space defense programs.

She has always enjoyed writing, and as we heard during the program actually wrote Sherlock Holmes story when she was in fourth grade that was rejected because the teacher thought it was a copy of an actual Conan Doyle story, it is a shame that story no longer exists as I’m sure it would be amongst the other wonderful novels created by Stephanie since her retirement from the space race.

Her first book “Burnout” was so close to home and actual incidents that subsequently happened. Along the way she has worked with both Darrel Bain and Travis S Taylor on further Science Fiction series “The Cresperian Series” and “Extraction Point”.

In her latest production “The Displaced Detective Series” Stephanie has come full circle as it brings back her love for Sherlock Holmes. The first two books in the series “The Arrival” and “At Speed” are already out and receiving great reviews.

About “The Displaced Detective Series”

This is a science fiction mystery in which the brilliant hyperspatial physicist, Dr. Skye Chadwick, discovers that there are alternate realities, and said alternates
are often populated by those we consider only literary characters. Her pet research, Project:

Tesseract, hidden deep under Schriever AFB, is her means of looking in on these continua. In one particular reality, continuum 114, a certain Victorian detective (who, in fact, exists in several continua) was to have died along with his arch-nemesis at the Reichenbach Falls. Knee-jerking, Skye intervenes, rescuing her hero, who inadvertently flies through the tesseract wormhole connecting his universe with ours, while his enemy plunges to his death. Unable to send Holmes
back without causing devastating continuum collapse due to non-uniqueness, he must stay in our world and learn to adapt to the 21st century.

Meanwhile, the Schriever AFB Dept of Security discovers a spy ring working to dig out the details of - and possibly sabotage - Project: Tesseract. Can Chadwick help Holmes come up to speed in modern investigative techniques in time to
stop the spies? Will Holmes be able to thrive in our modern world? Is Chadwick now Holmes' new "Watson" - or more?

And what happens next?

Well we will find out, as this series promises to run and run as Stephanie has the next two in the editing/publishing stages, book 5 is being written, book 6 is planned, and book 7 is actually finished but needs beefing up. As we heard this prolific author is also producing and co-producing further nvels in her other series as well.

So listen now and share an interesting, and entertaining show as I chat with my special guest today on A Book and a Chat with Stephanie Osborn

Barry

Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with Stephanie Osborn

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"Stephanie Osborn"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Stephanie Osborn"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

My Blogs:

Book Information and Things UK - Across the Pond

Book and a Chat Radio Show Guests - A Book and a Chat

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A Book and a Chat with Dr Ken Stoller and Galen

My guest on today’s “A Book and a Chat” is Dr Ken Stoller, the editor, rather the author of “My Life After Life” the first book in the “Death Walker” series.

Before Dr Ken started his medical career over twenty years ago, he was already writing on psychopharmacology even before he entered medical school. During medical school, he was hired to do research for the Humane Society of the United States, and became involved in an effort to prohibit the use of shelter dogs for medical experiments, which made him very unpopular in certain circles when he published an article entitled “Sewer Science and Pound Seizure” in the International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems. He was then invited to become a founding board member of the Humane Farming Association, and served as science editor for the Animal’s Voice Magazine, where he was nominated for a Maggie.

Starting his career as a pediatrician he also worked in the UCLA Department of Anesthesiology and volunteering at the since disbanded Parapsychology Lab at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute.

In 1990s, after a friend, head of Apple Computer’s Advanced Technology Group, lapsed into a coma, Dr. Stoller began investigating hyperbaric medicine. Soon after, he started administering hyperbaric oxygen to brain-injured children and adults, including Iraqi vets and retired NFL players with traumatic brain injuries, also pioneering the use of this therapy for treating children with fetal alcohol syndrome. He is a Fellow of the American College of Hyperbaric Medicine and has served as president of the International Hyperbaric Medical Association for almost a decade.

The journey for the production of “The Life After Life” started one evening in 2007 when he received a phone call from the state police telling him that his 16-year-old son Galen had been illed at an unguarded rail crossing. Keenly aware of their emotional bond during his son’s life, Dr. Stoller would soon realize just how powerfully that bond could continue to express itself as his son began to communicate with him in dream states. Confused at first, plagued by disbelief, and overwhelmed with grief, Dr. Stoller, a man of science and medicine experienced difficulty in accepting what was happening to him, both in terms of the stress of the loss and the stress of the contact. Galen had to demonstrate to his father that it was truly him.

As said at the beginning Dr Ken is not the author, he is the editor, the actual author is Galen, himself who one day during the communication with his father asked, when he would start writing Galen’s own book.

About “The Life After Life”: (Taken from Amazon)

Sixteen-year-old Galen Stoller never saw the train that forced him, in December 2007, into another dimension–what some call the other side, heaven, or nirvana. He was able to make contact in dream states with his intuitive father within days and verbal contact by the end of the first month. Two years later he requested his father write down communication from Galen about his new circumstances. Dr. Stoller’s only comments in this revelatory account appear in Editor’s Notes at the end of each chapter. While there are many accounts of near-death experiences, never has an account been written documenting a personal encounter with such detail and clarity. The story of this gifted boy intent on getting through to earth the knowledge of what lies beyond is both comforting and sobering with a message relevant for all of us still living in this dimension.

As one reviewer put it…

This is a memoir that generates multidimensional consciousness, the wisdom of an open heart and the desire to participate in our unlimited opportunities guided by service and above all, love. I'm ready for Galen's next book in the "Death Walker Series".

Well reader, you do not have to wait too long, with the second book due out in the spring time and the third book already underway.

So listen now and share an interesting, and entertaining show as I chat with my special guest today on A Book and a Chat with Dr Ken Stoller and Galen

Barry

Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with Dr Ken Stoller and Galen

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"Dr Ken Stoller and Galen"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Dr Ken Stoller and Galen - Life After Life"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

My Blogs:

Book Information and Things UK - Across the Pond

Book and a Chat Radio Show Guests - A Book and a Chat

Funny, Weird Or Just Interesting News From Around the World - Laugh I Thought My Trousers Would Never dry

A Book and a Chat with DJ Brown

DJ Brown, or Donna as I’ll call her, joins me for a chat over a cup of tea on today’s “A Book and a Chat”.

She has always been a person interested in writing, in fact when she was in 4th Grade; Donna submitted her first full-length, illustrated book to Doubleday. A “kindly” editor took the time to write to her, both to let her know that her book did not fit into any of their current categories and also to encourage her to continue to write, no matter what.

From that moment on she was hooked and has been writing and submitting her work ever since, be it one of her many short stories, which she hopes one day to publish as a collection or her wonderful novel “Butterfly Season”.

About Butterfly Season:

BUTTERFLY SEASON is part thriller and part magical realism. The book takes Lila Dean to the edge of madness and back as she learns to deal with tremendous loss and overwhelming fear in order to protect her daughter Olivia, whose extraordinary gift not only seals her destiny, but changes the lives of the people of Freedom, Texas forever.

What people say about “Butterfly Season”:

“I just finished this book and I have to say I was literally blown away. Since I have "limited" time because of working two jobs...I very carefully choose the books that I purchase to read. This book's title is what originally caught my eye...but upon reading the little blurb on the back...I decided to purchase it. I was not disappointed in the least in the book. The storyline is one that grabs you from the beginning and just keeps you turning pages. I thank goodness that I had two days off....because I started the book one day and finished it the second. The author has a wonderful way of making you feel as though you are sitting right next to the characters. She's vivid in her descriptions of the characters and it makes you really feel a part of their story. I certainly look forward to further books by this author as she's a fantastic story teller. Be sure to purchase this book and read it...you will not be disappointed!” - Mary J. Kirkpatrick

Well Mary, judging by the many reviews I have read you are not the only one who can’t wait to read more by this talented author.

So listen now and share an interesting, and entertaining show as I chat with my special guest today on A Book and a Chat with DJ Brown

Barry

Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with DJ Brown

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"DJ Brown"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"DJ Brown - Butterfly Season"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

My Blogs:

Book Information and Things UK - Across the Pond

Book and a Chat Radio Show Guests - A Book and a Chat

Funny, Weird Or Just Interesting News From Around the World - Laugh I Thought My Trousers Would Never dry

A Book and a Chat with Lynne Kelly

I have one of the debut authors from the Class of 2K12 on my show today. Lynne Kelly was born in Galesburg, Illinois, grew up in Houston, lived in some much colder places, then found her way back to the Houston area, where she works as a sign language interpreter. For a few years she also taught special education, a good career for someone with excellent organizational and planning skills. Lacking those skills, she quit teaching in 2006 and thankfully has more time for writing. But it was during those teaching years that she worked with some great kids and became interested in writing, so that all worked out.

After giving up her main teaching role, she started writing her book “Chained” which though going through many edits and re-writes has been well worth waiting for.

As we discussed during the show doing research Lynn found out many things about elephants that she did not know before writing her novel, the research also included a personal “get to know” with one of these might beasts.Did you know…

Sscientists recently discovered that there are three species of elephants, not just two. (One in Asia, two in Africa.) African forest elephants are much smaller than their neighbors in the savannah, and the two African species are as different as tigers and lions.

Or that…

A long-distance call: some sounds elephants make are too low for you to hear even if you're standing nearby, but an elephant two miles away will hear them

The resulting book “Chained” has been worth all the research, receiving some great reviews..

“…a story that unwraps the heart and asks it to be brave, loyal, and above all, kind.”
~ Kathi Appelt, Newbery Honor winner and New York Times bestselling author of The Underneath and Keeper.

“…It doesn’t matter if Kelly is writing about about gentle giants, adults who have made mistakes, people left without choices or boys who rise to their own occasion, she has a talent for making the characters feel real and for making readers feel.”

About “ Chained”

The touching story of a boy and an elephant who have a friendship stronger than any lock, shackle, or chain.

Ten-year-old Hastin’s sister has fallen ill, and his family must borrow money to pay for her care in the hospital. To work off the debt, Hastin leaves his village in northern India to work in a faraway jungle as an elephant keeper. He thinks it will be an adventure, but he isn’t prepared for the cruel circus owner. The crowds that come to the circus see a lively animal who plays soccer and balances on milk bottles, but Hastin sees Nandita, a sweet elephant and his best friend, who is chained when she’s not performing and punished until she learns her tricks perfectly. With the help of Ne Min, a wise old man who seems to know all about elephants, Hastin protects Nandita as best as he can. Still he wonders–will they both survive long enough to escape?

As we learned during the show, Lynne is already hard at work on her next book a YA novel, with a more humorous touch “Reasons for Leaving” about a hitting the road to find a long lost friend, when all you want to be is safe at home.

So listen now and share an interesting, and entertaining show as I chat with my special guest today on A Book and a Chat with Lynne Kelly

Barry

Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with Lynne Kelly

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"Lynne Kelly"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Lynne Kelly - Chained"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

My Blogs:

Book Information and Things UK - Across the Pond

Book and a Chat Radio Show Guests - A Book and a Chat

Funny, Weird Or Just Interesting News From Around the World - Laugh I Thought My Trousers Would Never dry

A Book and a Chat with Dee A Levy and Brian Sheffield Hunt

Imagine that in the middle of celebrating the New year over a romantic dinner, your husband suddenly says he has something to” tell you”, no not tell, “show you”. Only to appear ten minutes later dressed in your dress and lingerie. What would you think, what would you do, to suddenly after how many year of marriage to find that your husband and father of your children was a “cross dresser”?

This happened to Dee A Levy, one of my guests on today’s today who is the founder of the nonprofit organization Cross Dressers Wives, whose mission is to provide a safe environment for cross dressers' wives everywhere. Since 2006, the website www.crossdresserswives.com has emerged as one of the top support sites designed to address the needs of all women who are (or were) involved in an intimate relationship with a cross dresser. The Forum encourages cross dressers' wives from across the globe to reach out and anonymously share their experiences in an effort to learn from each other without fear of being judged or humiliated.
She was in the process of writing a book about her own life, when finding others who wanted to share their own story, herself and my other guest on today’s show, Brian Sheffield Hunt decided to put all these stories into a wonderful and helpful book “The Cross Dresser’s Wives – Our Secret Lives”.

The book is a powerful and engaging, this international collection of thoughts and short stories emanating from the web site, it offers valuable and emotionally intimate social commentary on the taboo subculture of cross dressing and, for the first time, exposes the shocking secret lives of cross dressers' wives or partners who silently grapple with the issue of cross dressing in their marriage or relationship.
The show brought up many interesting pieces of information about what is basically still a thorny subject of “cross dressing”. Unlike Gay and Lesbian relationships, the fact that your partner is a cross dresser can lay hidden for many years, a large percentage indeed is happily, or so it seems, heterosexual men.

A Brian shares on the web site...

“Multiple thorny issues can surround cross dressing. Often, it involves some sense of romantic betrayal at its deepest, messiest level. These relationships are operatic in scale and shake these women to their core. Why else would a sound woman consider leaving the love of her life and disrupt her family if this issue was merely about ‘scraps of clothing?”

The book consists of five stories that cover many issues and stories submitted to the sites forum submitted by women who wanted to tell their own stories. These stories are sprinkled with other selected posts, all of which are meant to illustrate the powerful ‘emotional speakeasy’ sense of camaraderie, caring, and support that is evident on the Forum on a daily basis.

As one reviewer put it…

“Finally! A book that actually acknowledges that many crossdressers ARE sexually motivated by this "harmless hobby" and that wives are NOT selfish, "uneducated", or unloving if their relationships crumble under the onslaught of the increasingly deviant desires of their partners…
...it should be required reading for everyone involved in a relationship that is faltering from the strain of this - partners who are struggling, ex-partners (who often remain scarred for years), therapists (who may "research" by using the same resources available to the wives), and crossdressers - anyone who truly wants to understand the emotions experienced by the silent partner. These wives valiantly try to hold their families and relationships together in an escalating, isolating, shape-shifting world that tells them that they are "irrational", weak, or prejudiced if they dare to doubt the" truth" of what they are told by the crossdressing communities and their supports...and who ultimately choose to believe in their own perceptions and in the importance of their OWN gender, sexual identity and sexual preferences.

Whether these women stay or leave the relationship, it is an understatement to identify them as courageous, self-sacrificing, and strong...they are survivors!
Highly recommended.”

I would go further than that, not only the book but also a visit to the web site to read and understand just what these woman have gone through. A good start would be to listen to today’s really interesting A Book and a Chat with Dee A Levy and Brian Sheffield Hunt

Barry

Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with Dee A Levy and Brian Sheffield Hunt

or you can download the mp3 file of the show fromA
"Dee A Levy and Brian Sheffield Hunt"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Dee A Levy and Brian Sheffield Hunt - The Cross Dresser's Wives"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

My Blogs:

Book Information and Things UK - Across the Pond

Book and a Chat Radio Show Guests - A Book and a Chat

Funny, Weird Or Just Interesting News From Around the World - Laugh I Thought My Trousers Would Never dry

A Book and a Chat with Hunter Shea

Hunter Shea was raised on a diet of The Night Stalker, The Twilight Zone and In Search Of mixed with the old B movies at the local drive in. That being the case it came as no surprise that when he finally finally decided to write, what were produced were horror stories.

As Hunter shared with us, during another interesting and entertaining show, at first these were just short stories many of which were published in magazines such as Morpheus Tales, The Harrow, Tabard Inn, Deadline & Ethereal Tales. Finally his debut novel “The Forest of Shadows” was produced, though as we heard during the show not without its own roller coaster ride to production.

It is not every day that you hear of a book that is really scary. No special effects, 3D images or background music, just a book that almost should have a warning in some parts… “Read With the Light On”. However in “The Forest of Shadows” Hunter has produced just such a book.

Reviewers have made comments such as

“With Forest of Shadows debut novelist Hunter Shea combines ancient evil, old school horror and modern style. Highly recommended!”

“Shea isn't just focused on scaring the pants off his readers (although, to be honest, I had a knot in my stomach just reading the prologue!). He takes the time and energy to develop his characters, in particular, the main character, John Backman. Shea is a true storyteller who provides the reader with all of the details necessary to see what he sees, to feel what his characters feel. He gets the reader so invested in Backman that one can't help but turn page after page with bated breath, anxious to discover Backman's fate.”

About “The Forest of Shadows”:

John Backman wins the lottery on the night his wife dies. Instead of going crazy with the money, he retires from a job he hates and uses the money to cover the living expenses for himself and his young daughter, Jessica. However, because John grieves his loss and is also diagnosed with anxiety disorder, his sister-in-law, Eve, chips in to help the small family keep the vultures away, get their finances in order and just survive day to day.

John indulges his interest in the paranormal by setting up a paranormal web site about ghost/UFO sightings and experiences, and this is how he is contacted by Judas, a man in Shida, Alaska who tells him about strange, frightening experiences he had while cleaning an empty house. A house where a family had mysteriously disappeared. Intrigued, John decides to investigate this case, and that means moving Jessica, Eve and Eve's infant son, Liam, into the house while he works. This very decision will be John's undoing, because the horror that awaits him and his family in that house is unlike any other he would have ever imagined.

It is a book reminiscent of Stephen King at his best, which will have you wanting to turn the page to see what happens next while at the same time, wanting to hide yourself under the blankets. Let’s face it any book that is good enough to have a beer named after it, has to be a sure winner.

With further books already in the pipeline, I am sure we will hear a lot more of Hunter Shea.

So listen now and share an interesting, and entertaining show as I chat with my special guest today on A Book and a Chat with Hunter Shea

Barry

Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with Hunter Shea

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"Hunter Shea"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Hunter Shea - Forest of Shadows"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

My Blogs:

Book Information and Things UK - Across the Pond

Book and a Chat Radio Show Guests - A Book and a Chat

Funny, Weird Or Just Interesting News From Around the World - Laugh I Thought My Trousers Would Never dry

A Book and a Chat with C.S.Lakin

Back again for today’s show is the always popular author C.S. Lakin, who like every great fantasy author uses her initials in her pen name.

She comes from a family of successful writers. She grew up collating television scripts for her mother, a screenwriter, story editor, and producer for television.
As an adult, Susanne assisted in developing series for television, and while raising two daughters and running a bed and breakfast inn in northern California, wrote her first three novels and a cookbook. In 2009, Susanne’s contemporary novel, Someone to Blame won the Zondervan First Novel contest at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. As well as being an author of some twelve novels she works as a freelance copy editor and writing mentor.

Susanne also teaches at various conferences about the art of writing and as we heard during the show, over the holiday she has created a blog for nearly every day of the year to be used on new blog site she has created which will be filled with articles that focus on the craft of writing. All this information can be found on her new blog Live Write Thrive.

Since she was last on the show as well as publishing the next volume in the great “The Gates of Heaven” series, Susanne has two new mysteries up on ebook at Smashwords! Conundrum , an intense relational drama/mystery about betrayal and faithful love, and Innocent Little Crimes, a top 100 finalist in the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest, a mystery spinoff on Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians.

There is always Time Sniffers, a wild young adult time-travel romance for teens who love science is now out. as an ebook.

With all this other work however my favouirite is her fantasy series “The Gates of Heaven”. Book three “The Land of Darkness” is now available, book four “The Unraveling of Wentwater” is in “gally” stage to be released in the spring, and book five “The Crystal Scepter” will be out later this year.

Each of the novels in “The Gates of Heaven” series are subtitled “fairy tales,” and this description becomes especially pointed in The Land of Darkness. The story has everything a reader could want – mysterious creatures, a quest, a story that never falters and even a wicked stepmother (think Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, a baddy that will make you laugh) and two ugly stepsisters. They all mold together in a third magical story, which again has twists and turns and adventures that make the reader work for their dose of fantasy.

And it’s all wonderful….

About “The Gates of Heaven”: (from Faith Fiction Friends)

Jadiel, a 12-year-old girl, lives with her wealthy father and stepmother on a spacious farm. The stepmother is not what she seems, and finds way to bewitch the father while she steps up her mistreatment of and cruelty to Jadiel. After several unsuccessful attempts to kill the girl, the stepmother sends her off to find the leaves of the terebinth tree, which no one seems to have heard of. If Jadiel fails in her quest, the stepmother will kill her father.

Callen, a young man not much older than Jadiel, works for the girl’s aunt and uncle. He becomes interested in old parchment drawings of a bridge, with words inscribed in an unknown language and the drawing of a giant tree. He leaves for the capital city of Sherbourne (which was the major setting of The Map Across Time) – and finds himself rescuing Jadiel from kidnappers.

Together, Callen and Jadiel embark upon a quest, she to save her father and he to find the bridge. Eventually they are joined by an old, scarred guide named Ebed, who directs them forward both geographically and spiritually.

The reader comes to understand that whatever else The Land of Darkness is, it is the story of a spiritual quest, one that transcends the fantasy its set within to become something very recognizable – the meaning of faith.

It’s a delightful, enchanting story. Even with the wicked stepmother.
As mentioned book four is already into printing stage and book five with the publishers, each book as well as being part of the series can be read as a standalone novel in its own right. I have really enjoyed reading this series and am already looking forward to the next book when it comes out in the spring time.

So listen now and share an interesting, and entertaining show as I chat with my special guest today on A Book and a Chat with C.S.Lakin

Barry

Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with C.S.Lakin

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"C.S.Lakin"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"C.S.Lakin - The Gates of Heaven"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

My Blogs:

Book Information and Things UK - Across the Pond

Book and a Chat Radio Show Guests - A Book and a Chat

Funny, Weird Or Just Interesting News From Around the World - Laugh I Thought My Trousers Would Never dry

A Book and a Chat with Gordon Gumpertz

If you like novels full of action and adventure, or disaster films such as “Armageddon” then Gordon Gumpertz, my guest on today’s “A Book and a Chat” is the author for you.

Gordon, though a writer in his youth left in basically until he retired to follow his writing dream which has now led to the production of “so far” two great page turning novels. In addition he has won gold and silver awards in national and regional short story competitions.

His first book “TSUNAMI” received great reviews…

"TSUNAMI starts with a bang and the reader is off on a 300 page wild adventure. I could not put it down. I know this is a cliché, but I have to say it anyway. TSUNAMI is a page turner."

About TSUNAMI

Deep in the mid-Pacific, an ancient undersea volcano comes to life. Leading scientists predict the volcano will subside and go dormant, but seismologist Dr. Leilani Sanches is alarmed. Her advanced computer model shows the volcano will build to a monster explosion and trigger a tsunami massive enough to wipe out the Southern California coast.

Her theory is fiercely opposed by a jealous scientific establishment and powerful special interests who think a tsunami scare will hurt business. Her efforts to warn the public are blocked.

Coast Guard Commander Dave Steel believes she is right and becomes her ally in a race against time. Leilani and Dave meet the violence of nature and the violence of their enemies head on, and put their lives on the line in a frantic struggle to move five million people away from the coast before disaster strikes.

His new book RED HOT SUN, promises to be even better, sort of the world was going to end, a man was going to save it, he gets the girl, and everything turns out picture perfect as world destruction is avoided once again. Gordon however transforms this classic man versus nature battle into an action packed story of survival.

About “RED HOT SUN”

CO2 buildup in earth's atmosphere reaches a tipping point. Global weather destabilizes, turns chaotic. Ice storms, dust storms, floods, blizzards, hurricanes, tornadoes pummel the earth nonstop. A secret computer model reveals that the frantic weather will peak out, and radically transform world climate into an alien environment devastating to human survival.

Scientists Ben Mason and Claudine Manet, developers of the computer model, are lovers as well as lab partners. While they work frantically to head off the approaching catastrophe, a disgraced Russian general hacks into their model and sees earth's bleak future as his opportunity for ultimate world power. Ben, who had left the CIA to develop the computer model at the national lab, is reactivated by the Agency and sent on a perilous mission to block the rogue general's plot.

Claudine, not realizing that Ben is on a secret mission, misunderstands his absence, putting their relationship on thin ice. Claudine is placed in charge of a massive NASA project that, if completed on time, could stop the approaching doomsday climate change. But her project is stalled by bureaucracy. And Ben, his cover blown, is on the run in hostile territory. The climate change calamity steadily approaches, threatening to turn the planet into a simmering wasteland.

With a third book already underway I’m sure we’ll hear a lot more about Gordon Gumpertz, I might add, I also think that “Red Hot Sun” would make a great movie.

So listen now and share an interesting, and entertaining show as I chat with my special guest today on A Book and a Chat with Gordon Gumpertz

Barry

Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with Gordon Gumpertz

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"Gordon Gumpertz"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Gordon Gumpertz - RedHot Sky"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

My Blogs:

Book Information and Things UK - Across the Pond

Book and a Chat Radio Show Guests - A Book and a Chat

Funny, Weird Or Just Interesting News From Around the World - Laugh I Thought My Trousers Would Never dry

A Book and a Chat with Irene L Pynn

Irene L Pynn author of the YA fantasy novel “From Light to Dark” is my guest on today’s “A Book and a Chat”. She did not really have a huge amount of choice than becoming an author being raised in a family of writers. Though her days were filled with a mix of Dr Who and Shakespeare, the fact that she almost made herself sick in first grade trying to turn herself into some magical figure might explain the fantasy link within the story.

Irene writes fantasy and light science fiction for adults, young adults, and children. Her work spans novels, plays, transmedia events, and more. Most of her work focuses on internal conflicts told through speculative metaphors.

She got the idea for this her debut YA novel while watching a Cirque du Soleil performance of Varekai. It began with an Icarus-like fall, but, instead of dying, the Icarus character ends up in a magical world below where he encounters strange creatures. Taking this idea and blending the different worlds with a touch of Romeo and Juliet, Irene created the star-crossed Eref and Caer in From Light to Dark.

About “From Light to Dark” (taken from Amazon)

“Her voice was like flower petals falling on wet grass.”

Eref is about to die. He sits at the End of Light World, accepting his stoning execution one rock at a time, until the impossible happens: the ground opens up beneath him, and he drops down into the unknown.

There, he meets Caer, a kind-hearted girl from Dark World who saves his life. Together, the pair forms an unlikely and illegal bond that not even the strongest hatred can break. But can their connection bring down the evil institution that has kept Light World and Dark World at odds for hundreds of years?

As one reviewer put it…

“Irene L. Pynn is a phenomenal storyteller who immerses the reader in the thick tapestry of her extraordinary worlds. Again, we are introduced to a fantasy author who plunges our senses into stories that spirit us away from the daily grind and transport us into realms where honor builds heroes, beauty is birthed from dignity, and magic solves our problems. Reading Pynn isn't a pastime, it's a life choice." Ron Gavalik, author of the Grit City emotobook series.

The book as everything love, action, magic, mythology, some violence, fantasy, puzzles, riddles and great characters, add to that an amazing cover and you get “From Light to Dark” is a book not to be missed.

So listen now and share an interesting, and entertaining show as I chat with my special guest today on A Book and a Chat with Irene L Pynn

Barry

Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with Irene L Pynn

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"Irene L Pynn"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Irene L Pynn - From Light to Dark"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

My Blogs:

Book Information and Things UK - Across the Pond

Book and a Chat Radio Show Guests - A Book and a Chat

Funny, Weird Or Just Interesting News From Around the World - Laugh I Thought My Trousers Would Never dry

A Book and a Chat with Wayne Edwards

Finally starting to shake off the affects of the mix of bronchitis and smoke inhalation, and host the first real show of 2012. My guest on today’s show Wayne Edwards would make anybody smile with his wonderful rhyming poetry covering all sorts of subjects and for all ages, a show well worth the listen.

Wayne did not start writing his poetry until he retired from the Air Force in 1977. He spent his last five years in the military as the Air Force’s nuclear security inspector, which might explain why he built himself an underground house. He has written sixteen paperback books of rhyming poetry, all illustrated with his own cartoons, which are enough to make you smile in themselves.

He is a popular guest and many events ranging from schools to senior centers his words and humor a fit for all ages. He subjects of his books range from youthful reflections to hospitals, from animals to law enforcement.

During the show Wayne shared with us several of his poems, all with twists at the end, and sure to have the listener chuckling, one of my favorites was “The Parking Ticket”

The cop was writing out a ticket
When I came out of the hardware store.
A parking ticket is the one thing
That can really make a person sore.

I said, “Can’t you give a guy a break?”
And I guess I really showed my ire
‘Cause he got out another ticket
And he wrote it out for one bald tire.

That’s when I told him what he could do,
I think you probably know the verb.
He calmly wrote another ticket,
He wrote, “Car parked too far from the curb.”

Seven times more, he wrote out tickets
And stuck them under the wiper blade.
And then he just coolly walked away
Completely ignoring my tirade.

It’s people like him that make me mad,
Who take their authority too far.
Those tickets will cost a small fortune.
I’m sure glad that it wasn’t my car!
(Written by Wayne Edwards)

As one person wrote to Wayne...

Thank you for sharing your gift with others. I know that your poetry will allow our family to share laughter and rich experiences together while the kids (shh, don’t tell anyone) actually learn something too. My eldest is a budding writer and my youngest would prefer shots at the pediatrician to picking up a pencil. I am confident that your clever words and hilarious art while inspire both ends of the writing spectrum in our house. Thanks again!

His poetry is classed as paraprosdokian "a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part." The twists at the end of each poem enough to bring a smile to anybodies face.

Wayne Edwards is a poet for all, a person who can bring a smile to anybodies face, as the review says, his poetry allows people to share both laughter and the experiance of his words and art.

Check out Wayne’s award winning web site filled with words that will bring a smile to your face. Sixteen books so far but I’m sure many more to come from Wayne Edwards, the “family poet”.

So listen now and share an interesting, and entertaining show as I chat with my special guest today on A Book and a Chat with Wayne Edwards

Barry

Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with Wayne Edwards

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"Wayne Edwards"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Wayne Edwards - The Famnily Poet"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

My Blogs:

Book Information and Things UK - Across the Pond

Book and a Chat Radio Show Guests - A Book and a Chat

Funny, Weird Or Just Interesting News From Around the World - Laugh I Thought My Trousers Would Never dry