A Book and a Chat with Laura Lee

Laura Lee was book for a previous “A Book and a Chat”, however the winter storm that caused the lack a week without power in Connecticut led to that show being cancelled, however I am glad to say that she was able to be a guest on today’s “make-up” show.

Previously the author of twelve non-fiction books nonfiction books, including Broke is Beautiful, the Elvis Impersonation Kit, Blame It on the Rain, and 100 Most Dangerous Things in Everyday Life. In fact it was one of these non-fiction books that started the thought creation that lead to her debut novel “Angel”.

She wrote a book called “Bad Predictions” weird predictions, that never happened, earth is flat, man will never fly etc. She was, as a form of comic relief invited to be speaker at a conference put on by NASA. All went well, and after her success addressing a group of actual rocket scientists, she decided that she deserved a reward and I took a bus tour of Mount Rainier.

Throughout the tour, the guide kept mentioning burning out on his old job. Towards the end of the tour, someone asked him what his old job had been. He said, “I was a minister.”

This got her thinking and started the thoughts that with several other pieces of the puizzle and many years later lead to her writing “Angel”

About “Angel”:

Since the loss of his lively, charming wife to cancer six years ago, minister Paul Tobit has been operating on autopilot, performing his religious duties by rote. Everything changes the day he enters the church lobby and encounters a radiant, luminous being lit from behind, breathtakingly beautiful and glowing with life. An angel. For a moment Paul is so moved by his vision that he is tempted to fall on his knees and pray.

Even after he regains his focus and realizes he simply met a flesh-and-blood young man, Paul cannot shake his sense of awe and wonder. He feels an instant and overwhelming attraction for the young man, which puzzles him even as it fills his thoughts and fires his feelings. Paul has no doubt that God has spoken to him through this vision, and Paul must determine what God is calling him to do.

Thus begins a journey that will inspire Paul’s ministry but put him at odds with his church as he is forced to examine his deeply held beliefs and assumptions about himself, his community, and the nature of love.

Angel is a romance but not with a capital “R”. As one reviewer put it…

"Angel" a romance novel. Yes, but no. It provokes thought and feelings within ourselves. It hits the inner question of who we think we are. It pokes at the tender spot in our soul. Do we really know ourselves? And if we go in a new direction, what does that do with our lives and who we think we are? And society, how they view us and what if we do change, how will they judge and view us then? I found "Angel" to be about how we see ourselves and how society sees us. Strong feelings can evoke and change one's life. It is what we do with it. "Angel" puts that question within each one of us.

It is a book that will make you think, you know that the relationship and the church might be heading for a non-happy ending yet you feel you have to keep turning the pages, to find out more.

As Laura wrote…
What is interesting to me is how much people bring to a novel themselves. The author only writes half, the reader writes the other half. I would love to discover that people found things in it that I didn’t see in there myself.

So listen now and share an interesting and entertaining show as I spend thirty minutes sharing "A Book and a Chat with Laura Lee

Barry

Direct link to the show
A Book and a Chat with Laura Lee

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"Laura Lee"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Laura Lee - Angel"

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 Daren Krupa

My guest today‘s "A Book and a Chat" is Daren Krupa, at the age of fifteen he was given an assignment by his English teacher, who obviously knew the potential laying within the none creative writing Daren, to write a “meaning of life” essay. As Daren said during the show, “how could a boy of fifteen have any idea about the true meaning of life?”

This did not stop Daren from going into the realms of literature as he worked as a newspaper reporter, photographer and editor.

Seventeen years ago he wrote his first and as yet unpublished novel entitled “Squaw Peak”, typing it out on an old manual typewriter, cutting and pasting until he had a completed draft.

Seventeen years later, his second and first published novel “Such a Nice Boy” was much easier to produce though as Daren shared it did take him ten years and numerous re-writes and edits.

"Such a Nice Boy" is about a man who leads a gay life because he’s afraid of his feelings for women. It’s a lifelong conversation Daren has been having with himself about sexuality. He wanted to write a contemporary gay-straight romance since my early Twenties, when he was dating women and made himself admit he liked looking at guys. The writing of the book has not only helped Daren come to terms with his life but also been somewhat of a healing process.

About “Such a Nice Boy”:

It’s the summer of 1999 in Denver. Alan Hovey is living the life he dreamed: sex with handsome, buffed, eager men. Except he isn’t gay. Made no difference until he crossed paths with female co-worker Lindsey Ronan and her infant son Morgan. He starts getting notions about Lindsey, and being a heterosexual father whenever he’s holding Morgan.

Lindsey is married and afraid of Alan because of a traumatizing incident during college.

At work Alan has become a pariah for having boldly stood up for himself. He draws the attention of Frank Lively, VP of HR, homophobic and deeply closeted. Frank tries to harass Alan into quitting.

After Lindsey verbally demolishes him while shopping for making eyes at another, Alan meets a young man who says you’re with me because you’re mad at Lindsey.
Alan becomes more confused after accidently seeing Lindsey at work with her blouse off, and displays a very obvious reaction.

The path Alan follows and the choices he makes form the heart of a boy who at age forty two becomes a man. He crawls out of a family upbringing filled with death and chooses life. His coming of age is unique and compelling.

Daren shared with us, how he is already working on his next book, which I’m sure will take a lot less than ten years to write and will provide further proof that the English teacher knew inside Daren there was a budding author waiting to share his talent with the world

So listen to an interesting and hugely entertaining show as I spend thirty minutes sharing "A Book and a Chat with Daren Krupa".

Barry

Direct link to the show
"A Book and a Chat with Daren Krupa"

or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"Daren Krupa"

You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Daren Krupa - Such a Nice Boy"

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