A Book and a Chat with Mark J Grant

My guest today is Mark J Grant, a name well known to people in the financial world. Mark has run Capital Markets and been on the Board of Directors of four investment Banks. He was also the President of a public company in the Telecom space. He started writing “Out of the Box” an economic commentary about eleven years ago that now goes to some 5,000 financial institutions in 48 countries.

Mark has also written “Out of the Box and onto Wall Street: Unorthodox Insights on Investments and the Economy”, but now as they say on Monty Python for something completely different.

At a dinner party friends were discussing how there was not any “fairy tale” type books their young children could read and enjoy, Mark took matters into his own hands stating he would write such a book. The result is the wonderful “LILA: THE SIGN OF THE ELVEN QUEEN.”

About LILA: THE SIGN OF THE ELVEN QUEEN:

Lila is a polite six-year-old girl who lives with her mama and papa in New York City. She has two cats, and would now like to have a dog–except dogs are not allowed in her apartment building. After thinking about it for awhile, Lila asks her parents if she can have an invisible dog.

Her parents agree, and together they decide to name the dog Fluffy. On their way to the pet store to buy invisible supplies for the invisible dog, a black and white Aussie appears from around the corner and introduces himself to Lila, saying, “My name is Fluffy.”

 In a series of fun adventures that follow, Fluffy introduces Lila and her family to the invisible people of Iceland, who live inside the boulders of Central Park and the cornerstones of New York City buildings. One day, the invisible people discover that the birthmark on Lila’s left forearm is the sign of their Elven Queen, and just as she turns seven, Lila is made a princess. Can anything be better than that?

The book has proved to be a huge hit both with those reading it as well as being read to. A second book is already planned which I am sure will continue Mark down the path of a successful children’s book 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 Mark J Grant

Barry
Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with Mark J Grant

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"Mark J Grant"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Mark J Grant - LILA: THE SIGN OF THE ELVEN QUEEN"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

Check out my song parodies
Across The Pond LLC- Links to everything including song parodies

Author of "Across the Pond" and "The Bathroom Book of Romance"
A Book and a Chat Blog
A Book and a Chat Radio Show

A Book and a Chat with Joel Boggess

Joel Bogges is my guest on today’s “A Book and a Chat” has a Master’s degrees in counseling and business, plus almost seven years of experience as a life and career coach, Joel has the education, life experience and wisdom to help you tune into and fully express your unique voice.

His own life challenges have also helped him understand many of the difficult paths that life can take you down.

Joel is a He is a life/career coach, host of the Finding Your Voice radio show, and author of the brand new book Finding Your Voice.

As one reviewer wrote about the book…

"You may feel like your life is out of your control-that others, or your circumstances or past mistakes have already determined your destiny. I've learned, however, that you have the ability to improve your life by making choices that are authentic to your personality and your priorities. Joel's book, Finding Your Voice, will help you tune into what really matters to you so you can make better choices and achieve goals that are meaningful to you."

About “Finding Your Voice: Sort Through the Clutter, Discover Clarity, Confidence, and Direction” : (Taken from amazon)

Need clarity on what to do next? It's not that there are no options, or nobody give you advice. On the contrary, the choices can be overwhelming. What's important is knowing what is right for YOU in your season. Say "NO" to the noise and "YES" to your life.

Lost that "spark" somewhere along the way? You are an unique gift to the world - discover clarity of direction and shine!

Joel Boggess has Master's degrees in counseling and business. He has been a life and career coach since 2006. In addition to his own journey, Joel offers a number of real-life accounts of the growth and success his clients have experienced. These stories bring to life the truths he offers. Highly relatable and immediately applicable, Finding Your Voice will help you get back in touch with the real you to live your best possible life

. You will learn:

·    How to get "unstuck" and move forward to the life you were born to live;
·    How to take control of your schedule and live a life with less chaos and more meaning;
·    How to make better decisions for work, home and family, and to be at peace with your life direction;
·    How to identify unique gifts and skills that enable you to make a difference in the world.

 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 Joel Boggess

Barry
Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with Joel Boggess

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"Joel Boggess"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Joel Boggess - Finding Your Voice: Sort Through the Clutter, Discover Clarity, Confidence, and Direction"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

Check out my song parodies
Across The Pond LLC- Links to everything including song parodies

Author of "Across the Pond" and "The Bathroom Book of Romance"
A Book and a Chat Blog
A Book and a Chat Radio Show

A Book and a Chat with C.S. Lakin

After over 700 shows one of the great pleasures I have is returning authors, in today’s case of C.S. Lakin one I have known and followed through the every growing success of not only her wonderful fairy tale fantasy series “The Gates of Heaven” but everything else she has shared with readers along the way.

C. S. Lakin is the author of twelve novels, including the seven-book fantasy series The Gates of Heaven. She also writes contemporary psychological mysteries, including her Zondervan contest winner, “Someone to Blame”. She works as a professional copy-editor and writing coach and loves to teach the craft of writing.

In all her books she seeks to journey to the heart of human motivation, to uncover unmet needs, and show the path to healing and grace.
C. S. Lakin latest book being released next week is  “The Sands of Ethryn” the book 6 in the must read “The Gates of Heaven” series, able to be read as a standalone book as are all the others in the series it all leads to what, as we learned during the show to the 7th and final book which is currently being worked on.

About “The Sands of Ethryn”:  (taken from Amazon)

The ancient and acclaimed land of Ethryn is dying from pervasive drought, and while the king searches to find water, a mighty tower is uncovered in the desert. King Kael hopes the scroll found near the altar will tell of water sources, but when he touches the gemstone set in the altar, he falls into a coma that transports him back five thousand years where he is a slave building the tower.

Sha’kath, the wizard who oversaw the building of the tower all those centuries ago, had cast a spell that brings sand bubbling up from the ground so the workers can make bricks and complete the tower’s construction.

In the past, the king, whose is a young villager named Lael, is pursued relentlessly by God, given visions and declarations that he has been chosen to be a deliverer and a prophet , but Lael keeps fleeing. Then, when the tower is completed, heaven appoints him as deliverer, and he and his companions escape and head to their villages. God directs Lael to the sacred site and makes him the Keeper, then reveals his great power as he brings down judgment upon the world, confusing languages and scattering all in rebellion and defiance. Lael is shown the beginnings of Ethryn—a fertile and prosperous land that will become a great kingdom—and then he returns home to his family, where he fully embraces his destiny and delivers those who will listen. God then destroys his village with fire, but Lael leads his contingent to the sacred site and a new beginning.

At the end of his life, Lael—who has watched Ethryn grow and prosper and who has been a gifted healer—returns to the tower to place his poem in the chest and put the gemstone on the altar. Before he takes his last breath, he turns and sees a girl—who is Ra’daf of the future—and when he dies, King Kael in the future wakes from his long sleep. Upon awakening he finds Ra’daf nearly dead by his bed—for the vizier had tried to stop her from waking the king with the amaranth in the vase. Lael heals her, and the vizier flees, unable to locate his secret chamber, but intent on discovering the locations of all seven sites and destroying them all. Kael, upon reviving, now knows where the site is buried under sand and takes his people there, where he again is set up as Keeper, and now, with heaven’s blessing, water erupts from the ground and ends the drought.

The author is also now working on a new YA fantasy series “Shadow World” of which “Time Sniffers" is the first novel available.

Books by C.S. Lakin

·    A Rip in the Redwood Curtain (Literary Fiction)
·    Innocent Little Crimes (Suspense/Mystery/Women's Fiction)
·    A Thin Film of Lies (Suspense/Mystery/Thriller)
·    The Wolf Of Tebron (Fantasy) published 2010, AMG/Living Ink Publishers
·    The Map Across Time (Fantasy) published 2011, AMG/Living Ink Publishers
·    Someone to Blame (Contemporary Fiction) published 2010, Zondervan
·    The Land of Darkness (Fantasy) release date fall 2011, AMG/Living Ink Publishers
·    Time Sniffers (YA Sci-fi)
·    Conundrum (Contemporary Fiction/Mystery)
·    The Unravelling of Wentwater (Fantasy) release date spring 2012, AMG/Living Ink Publishers
·    Intended For Harm (Contemporary Fiction)
·    The Crystal Scepter (Fantasy) release date February 2013, AMG/Living Ink Publishers
·    The Sands of Ethryn (Fantasy) release date fall 2013, AMG/Living Ink Publishers





Whether C.S.Lakin  is exploring the depths of the human psyche and pushing her characters to the edge of desperation, or embellishing an imaginary world replete with talking pigs and ancient magical curses, she is doing what she loves best – using her creativity and skills to inspire and affect her readers.

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 Series"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

Check out my song parodies
Across The Pond LLC- Links to everything including song parodies

Author of "Across the Pond" and "The Bathroom Book of Romance"
A Book and a Chat Blog
A Book and a Chat Radio Show

A Book and a Chat with John-Manuel Andriote

Today’s guest on “A Book and a Chat” is John-Manuel Andriote,  he is an author, journalist and speaker focused on cultural trends, politics, health and medicine, LGBT issues, specializing in reporting on HIV/AIDS.

John was working on his masters degree in journalism at university in 1985 when he learned two of his friends like John  in their twenties had died of AIDS.

While the news headlines went on about the growing  plague John himself chronicled the efforts of America’s gay community to care for those already sick and help others prevent becoming infected with HIV, at the same time battling for equality as American citizens.

For the next 20 years John wrote for many publications including working as senior editor for Family Health International HIV/AIDS technical assistance program.

John is now a noted historian of the AIDS epidemic with his own unique personal story.

His book "Victory Deferred" won the 2000Lambda Literary Awards "Editors' Choice" award. It was named an "honored book" by the American Library Association and a finalist in its gay/lesbian nonfiction awards.

Mix with that, his book "Hot Stuff: A Brief History of Disco" and a history of Washington, DC’s "Metropolitan Club" and you can see what a talented author John-Manuel Andriote.

Now John is turning his talents to another area with his first children's book, "Wilhelmina Goes Wandering", which will be published in April of this year. Based on the true story  from my own neck of the woods her in Connecticut  about a runaway cow that became a cult hero and illustrated by Vermont-based artist Katie Runde.

About "Wilhelmina Goes Wandering"  (taken from book press release)

Journalist and author John-Manuel Andriote teams with artist, musician and dairy farmhand Katie Runde to re-imaging the true story of Wilhelmina, the Black Angus cow who decided one hot July day in 2011 to run away from her farm in Orange, Connecticut.

For five months, Wilhelmina hangs out and travels with a herd of deer. Daisy the doe becomes her best friend. They’re seen around Orange, Milford, and West Haven. For some reason, animal control officials believe Wilhelmina is a bull, and refer to her as Waldo. Until, that is, the first of their unsuccessful efforts to capture her.

When the humans appeal to her sweet tooth and finally succeed in tranquilizing the eight-hundred-pound bovine, they move her to an animal sanctuary twenty miles away in Oxford, Connecticut. They expect Wilhelmina will be happy there for the rest of her life.

It turns out that’s the only thing they were right about. Betty, the gentle farmer who adopts Wilhelmina, accepts her because the old Scottish lady shares Wilhelmina’s sense of adventure. As Wilhelmina comes to understand, acceptance and love can cure wanderlust and let you know you’re home at last.

With a follow up book about one of the other characters in the book already being planned the success of John-Manuel Andriote is set to continue.

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 John-Manuel Andriote

Barry
Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with John-Manuel Andriote

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"John-Manuel Andriote"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"John-Manuel Andriote - Victory Deferred"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

Author of "Across the Pond" and "The Bathroom Book of Romance"
A Book and a Chat Blog
A Book and a Chat Radio Show
Across The Pond LLC- Links to everything including song parodies

A Book and a Chat with Todd Brockdorf

“A Book and a Chat” starts off 2014 with Todd Brockdorf as my guest.

Todd Brockdorf is NOT an astronaut, a professional athlete, or a reality TV star (yet), he simply is a regular guy who discovered how to excel beyond the ordinary and find what moves him in life.

While in college, Todd thought he knew everything about running a student organization. Was he ever wrong! After his Executive Board nearly resigned, he learned important lessons in leadership, effectively communicating his vision, and building a change-ready organization. One year later, membership had increased about 300%. Todd was taking the first steps in learning about being “better than average”.

After years of studying companies and life, Todd now the best-selling author of Better than Average: Excelling in a Mediocre World, he is a frequent speaker leading programs and training for corporations, non-profit associations, and colleges and universities who want to be Better than Average in order to stand out from the crowd.

About “Better than Average”: (taken from authors web site)

Better than Average: Excelling in a Mediocre World is a business book by Todd Brockdorf designed for professionals who want to stand out from the crowd.

Leave that old concept of growing up, getting an education, and obtaining a steady job behind. That’s Average. If you’ve ever dreamed of wanting more, desired to stand out from the crowd, or wanted to reach a higher level of your potential, Better than Average is your guide.

This step-by-step road-map to your Better than Average lifestyle, leadership, and company teaches:

·    How to distinguish yourself from the crowd
·    How to apply the 8-step Better than Average process to your personal, social, and professional lives
·    How to emulate the 8 habits of today’s Better than Average leaders
·    How to let your creativity flourish while remaining in the fold
·    How to build on your existing talents to give you a step up on Average
·    That it doesn’t have to be grand to be glorious

While there have been many authors in the Self Help / Personal Improvement category on the show, most of them either relate to business management, or share steps that are in many ways beyond the normal reader.  This book provides a  clear explanation of his concepts, peppered with humor and specific examples from the authors own  experience that can relate to all aspects of life as well as being helpful for all ages.

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 Todd Brockdorf

Barry
Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with Todd Brockdorf

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"Todd Brockdorf"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Todd Brockdorf - Better Than Average"

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

Author of "Across the Pond" and "The Bathroom Book of Romance"
A Book and a Chat Blog
A Book and a Chat Radio Show
Across The Pond LLC- Links to everything including song parodies