Welcome, Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz as she winds down her blog tour...

It's my pleasure to interview Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz about A Past and A Future, a collection of sixteen short stories.  This is book is available in print at  http://www.genremall.com/anthologiesr.htm#pastfuture.

Penny will be awarding a free story to one lucky commenter, so be sure and leave your name and email to enter the drawing.

1)      Tell me a little about your book.

My collection of stories,  A Past and a Future, is published by Sam’s Dot Publishing.  I’ve always enjoyed fantasy and soft science fiction.  Eight of the sixteen stories included in the selection are fantasy, and the other eight are soft science fiction. 

A PAST AND A FUTURE – stories in the collection:

FLIGHT OF THE ROC – Girl collides with a roc as she struggles to find her magic powers

BLURRED VENGEANCE – Vain and aggressive, Temur ignores the warnings as he seeks vengeance for his father’s death

WHO WILL HEAL THE HEALER – How can a young sorceress save her mentor when the powers of darkness threaten?

ASHLEY OF ASHLAND – Will the plain, younger brother win the heart of the fair princess or be executed as a traitor?

THE WATCHER – Her vision causes her to become a betrayer of all she holds dear.  Can she be saved?

ENCHANTRESS – Merlin knows the one he loves will be his downfall, but can he win in the end?

DRAKONI – Torn from her modern day world and thrust into a world of dragons, evil magicians, and handsome elves, will Farah succeed or die trying?

HESHE- Forced to hide as a young man, will the young noble woman tell her benefactor who she is, or will her pursuers capture her and take her back into slavery.

THE BABY MAKERS – In a world where cloning is possible, will Reese be able to save his illegal newborn child from a government determined to make her a non-citizen?

3-D PICTURES – The government thinks he is crazy and sends him to a shrink.  What will Avery do when the elves appear in the 3-D picture in the waiting room?  Go or allow himself to be “cured?”

SCREEN SAVER – The program arrives as a demo.  Will it be Clancy’s ticket to survival or a rip-off which brings him to destruction?

ISOLATION- The world as we know it is gone.  The rich are isolated from the dying poor.  Will Caryn and Rader make the right decision when they search for freedom?

LOVE IN A DIFFERENT HUE – What would you do if a blue-skinned robot wanted to protect and love you?  Chiri isn’t sure until he takes her in his arms.

DOWN SO LOW, THE GROUND LOOKS LIKE UP – Sylvan drinks herself into oblivion to compensate for her psi talents.  Can Deveneaux save her from her demons, or will he lock her up for propositioning an officer of the law?

REBELS WITH A CAUSE – Shayleena is tired of living her life through holovision.  She wants a real life with real people.  Will she find it as a volunteer for juvenile offenders, or will she be mugged and left to die?

CLOCKWORKS – John lives in Structured.  His ancestors came from a country where time means nothing. What will he do when he tries to trace his roots and finds his structured life is now in chaos?

2)      What gave you the idea for this particular story?

I’ve always enjoyed writing short stories. While some writers find them more difficult, I find them easier than writing a novel. I like the challenge of fitting a complete story within a limited number of words.  I’ve written a number of these over the years and decided it would be fun to put them together into a collection.

3) Are you a full-time writer or part-time, and how do you organize your writing time?

I split my time between writing my own stories and editing for two small publishers.  I sometimes find I spend more time working on other people’s writing than my own, but that’s okay.  When a story idea strikes me, that’s the time I write.  I tend to write in bursts, which is why I enjoy writing short stories more than novels.

4)      When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

When I was just a child (Don’t most writers say this?), I entertained myself by writing stories, illustrating them, and binding them between shirt cardboard, tied with a ribbon.  In high school, I convinced my English teacher to let me write a novel instead of doing my English homework.  It was fun, but the novel was never completed. I continued to enjoy writing and pretty much always knew someday I’d be published.

5)      What do you hope readers will take from your writing?

I read to escape, and I hope my readers will do the same thing.  I am not into deep thought-provoking stories.  I write to entertain myself, and I would like my readers to be entertained as well.

6)      Which genres do you write, which do you prefer, and why?

I write in a lot of different areas.  My middle grade novels are both paranormal mysteries.  My adult fiction tends to be fantasy or science fiction, although I also dabble in romance.  I like to write about relationships, and all my stories have some kind of relationship going whether it’s overt or covert.

7)      What is the toughest part about being a writer and how do you get past it?

The toughest thing for me is marketing.  I’m an introvert in a lot of ways and going out and “tooting my own horn,” is difficult for me.  Internet marketing is a lot easier as it’s all done through the written word as opposed to a book signing where I have to meet and greet prospective readers.  Unfortunately, marketing has to be done, or books aren’t sold.  I’ve gotten better at approaching people to host me on their blogs, like you’ve done for me, and knocking on book store doors and asking to be a guest.

8) What about your book makes it special?

I think this is special because it is a collection of short stories.  It is not a themed collection, but a little of something for everyone.  There are eight fantasy stories and eight soft science fiction stories, yet each one is about a relationship and connecting with people in some way or another.

9) What is your marketing plan?

I have approached a number of bloggers, like yourself, who feature other authors on their blogs.  I am appearing for the next couple of weeks talking about myself and my book.  I have been writing tweets on Twitter and posting on Facebook.  I will also be making announcements on various forums to which I belong.  Finally, I plan to approach my three local bookstores to see if they will either host me for a book signing, or at least carry my book.

10) Where can people learn more about you and your work?

I have my web page and a blog where I feature other writers, occasional reviews, and writing tips. I am also on Facebook, Twitter, Jacketflap, Amazon, and a few other sites.

http://pennylockwoodehrenkranz.yolasite.com

http://pennylockwoodehrenkranz.blogspot.com/

11) What are your current books out right now, and what are the books coming up for release?

Most of the work is written as Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz, with the exception of my middle grade novels and picture books, which are written as Penny Lockwood.

A Past and A Future (short story collection) is now available

http://www.genremall.com/anthologiesr.htm#pastfuture

Ghost for Rent – writing as Penny Lockwood (middle grade novel) is now available (also on Amazon)

http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/b8656/?si=0

Dragon Sight (YA illustrated chapbook) is now available

http://www.genremall.com/fictionr.htm#dragonsight

Love Delivery, (contemporary romance) coming August, 2011

Lady in Waiting, (historical romance) coming November, 2011

https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2

All the following are written as Penny Lockwood:

Funny Dog, (picture book) coming May, 2012

Ghost for Lunch, (MG novel) coming September, 2013

Many Colored Coats, (picture book) coming October, 2014

Boo's Bad Day, (picture book) coming June, 2015

http://4RVpublishingllc.com/Childrens_Books.html

12) Any tips for new writers hoping to write in the genre of your book?

Read, read, read.  Always read both current and classic authors in the genre you wish to write.  You don’t want to copy their work, but you do want to read with an open mind to see what they have done to make their stories work.  I also encourage everyone not to give up after a rejection.  What one editor may not like, another will love.  You won’t get published by leaving the story sitting on your hard drive or in your file.

Thanks for having me as a guest today.  

My pleasure, Penny.  You're welcome to "Dish It Out" any time.  :)  And, don't forget to follow Penny on her last three stops:

http://writerschatroom.com/ Feb 13, 7 PM EST, The Writer’s Chat room

http://kellyaharmon.com/  Feb 14 Kelly Harmon

http://www.suhalfwerk.blogspot.com  Feb 15 - Su Halfwerk

Meet Dr. Joe Sivak - Stopping by on his Blog Tour

The true life account of a young man living with the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in a parent. The disease was diagnosed in his mother when the author was seventeen years old in 1979, long before Alzheimer's disease was a household term.

The book candidly traces with graphic detailed description and dialogue the course of the fatal illness. The emotional issues of such pivotal events as the loss of autonomy of driving a car and entry into a nursing home are experienced through the eyes of a young son. From a concurrent viewpoint Alzheimer's is explained with the wisdom of a 21st century physician who has personally experienced the emotional anguish, and thus the fact-based journey is a truly unique dual-perspective Alzheimer's memoir. The story juxtaposes the active uphill battle to become a doctor set against the backdrop of the passive helpless struggle of losing a parent to the disease.

The narrative provides explicit commentary on the modern plight of the physician and the global connection family members of an Alzheimer's victim painstakingly share. The unusual, seldom before elicited insights of the dual-perspective vigorously address universal issues such as coping, hope, futility, humiliation and societal bias toward the disease throughout the text.

About Joe Sivak:

Joseph J. Sivak MD is a board certified adult psychiatrist with twenty years of experience in direct patient care. He has taught and lectured in the United States and internationally in the areas of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Mood disorders, and chronic suicidal ideation.

He completed medical school at Hahnemann University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, and Residency Training at the University of Rochester. Dr. Sivak has served on the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Alzheimer's Association and the Northland Chapter of the American Red Cross and hosted a weekly mental health Radio Program for eight years on KUWS- Wisconsin Public Radio. Currently Dr. Sivak serves on the legislative committee of the Minnesota Medical Association, is a assistant professor at the University of Minnesota-Duluth College of Pharmacy and is in full time private psychiatric in Duluth.

More from Dr. Sivak:

I first started writing When Can I Go Home? back in 1989 when I was in my last year of medical school. That was about a year after my mother died from Alzheimer's disease. 

The book is a memoir about my mother's futile struggle with the disease. After she passed away I had a tremendous need and sometimes furious drive to record the journey in a timeless and permanent way. As a teenager, I had been my mother's primary caregiver for a few years, as the disease progressively robbed her of her cognitive abilities, personality and her very essence. At the time writing about it was very cathartic. 

The disease process is profoundly isolating for families and I wanted to scream out and tell the world. That element is there in so many Alzheimer's memoirs.  Unfortunately the issue of isolation has not improved in our society and much as we like to pretend it has in the last thirty years since my mother was diagnosed. At that time most people had not heard of Alzheimer's disease and of course now it is a household term, but as a society we are still ignorant and terrified about it till it affects our own family. The isolation is still there. 

The book is a bit unusual or even paradoxical from an Alzheimer's memoir point of view in that  It presents a dual perspective. First is a family caregiver specifically a teenager son, which is a bit unusual and at times even bizarre, since that is not the prototypical demographic of a caregiver. The other perspective is a clinical one from a physician. I have treated thousands of patients and their families affected by many psychiatric and neurological problems including many Alzheimer's victims. The clinical information is broken down and translated for the reader. 

So you essentially have these two very different points of view sort of flip-flopping but sort of coming into what I hope is a harmonious symmetry. The third aspect of the book is an underlying and ongoing commentary on all the relevant sociological and psychological issues this book interfaces with. Such issues as the state of health care delivery, being a doctor, and the aging population are addressed and sometimes not in a very convenient way for those that need to hold onto pretense and prejudice for security.   For example as a society we really don't treat the aging population with the honor and dignity they deserve. We are pretty much obsessed with youth and appearance. We also have a lot of bias toward the medical profession if not at times completely vilifying the field. So in that sense speaking candidly about things albeit my opinion yet based on experience may open the readers eyes, on some issue conversely it may propel some to try to look the other way even more. It's not always politically correct, but it is a memoir and it is honest. It is sort of visceral, some people will cry some will laugh some will get more angry, it makes you feel first, then think.

The manuscript was hard to finish, it lay dormant for some fifteen years, I never had an ending. Even after the death of an Alzheimer's victim, there is never an ending for the five million families affected by the disease.  something hit me, after all these years. We are all universally humanly connected by this disease process, and I had the clarity to finish this book.

I love writing, but most of my energy and creativity is spent in my day job. I am currently working on a novel about psychiatric residency. Fiction is obviously a much different prospect than a memoir but it taps a different part of your brain and soul to create something like this compared to a memoir. 

Joseph J. Sivak MD

www.niagarapress.net

http://alzheimmers.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/When-Can-I-Go-Home/357170603956

twitter @whencanigohome

Dr. Sivak's next stop is November 18 at http://www.armsofasister.com

You can also learn more about Dr. Sivak on his website

Stopping by on her Blog Tour, Betty Collier

Betty Collier is a wife, mother, daughter, sister, nurse, author, and child of the King. Married to William Collier since 1986, they live in Bartlett, Tennessee, with their sons, Jordan William and Brandon William.

Living Inside The Testimony is a collection of anecdotes compiled by author Betty Collier. In reading these stories, you will share in her journey and experience the inspiration, faith, hope, humor, romance, and love she experienced. The stories in Living Inside The Testimony revolve around Betty’s experiences with her family, friends, and other individuals who have contributed, often unknowingly, to the path God has chosen for her. You will hear the story of how Betty fell in love at age fourteen (with her future husband), about her husband’s near-death experience with emergency brain surgery a week before high school graduation, their experiences in New York a week prior to 9/11, and the frustrating ordeal she and her husband overcame when trying to build their dream home.

Betty attributes her success and her great love to God, and she shares with readers how God has orchestrated her life’s path every step of the way. Betty’s prayer is that you will see and feel Proverbs 3:5-6 come alive and speak to your heart as you take a walk with her, inside her testimony. She hopes you enjoy the journey and discover that we all live inside testimonies meant to be shared with others.

It's like watching a Lifetime Movie...You'll go to bed and dream about the real-life characters in the book...
It's a beautiful, heartfelt love story...
It's funny, amusing, and entertaining...
It's very emotional and inspirational...
You'll laugh on one page and cry on the next...
It's all about God's amazing love and abundant blessings...

And it's all true, straight from the heart of the author who has been on an incredible journey!

How to Find Humorous Inspiration

An editor for a magazine in which I ran an ad to promote my book, Living Inside The Testimony, asked me to come up with “A HOOK” that she could use as the headline for the ad. She said it needed to be something “catchy” that would peak the curiosity of radio and TV producers.  This is what I came up with:

·         I Became an Author Overnight, and I Remember the Exact Night it Happened

·         How to Become a Best Selling Author Overnight.

·         When You Live Inside a Testimony, You Can’t See It.

·         Why Read a Book Written by Someone Who Never Wanted to Write One?

·         Is it Luck or is it all Part of THE MASTER’S Plan?

·         Is Your Life Part of a Master Plan?

She considered all these suggestions, but after she read the book for herself, this is the headline she created and used for the ad:

Marrying Your High School Sweetheart is Great: Until Your Kids are in High School. Don’t Miss this Woman’s Fun Advice About Life

Having said all this, my point is simply that the book takes on so many different faces. It was written to be inspirational and encouraging, but it offers much more than that. It’s hard to categorize it only in the inspirational genre because it has so many other facets that are neatly tied together to flow very smoothly. The editor said she was definitely inspired, but felt the main thing I had been missing in my promotions was to stress the humorous side of the book also. She thought it was very funny, but also full of life, love, and faith. It has enough variety to appeal to the general population, whether you share my faith or not.

I never considered myself an author, and if you had asked me prior to January, 2009 if I would ever write a book, my answer would have immediately and adamantly been "absolutely not!"  Perhaps my honesty will make you wonder if the book is even worth reading, but I can assure you...I am an author. I became one overnight, and in fact, I remember the exact night it happened. It was after midnight when January 9th turned into January 10th, the night I dreamed about this book.  I am confident that if you allow me to share my journey with you, you will understand perfectly, but only if you have the faith to believe. I wrote this book based on faith, well aware that not everyone would share my faith. If you read the book, you will see that my journey has been inspired by faith, hope, humor, romance, and a lot of love. As one reader told me, "It's like being on a roller coaster. I didn't know what to expect next. I was laughing on one page and crying on the next...This book is a masterpiece!"

Also I would like to mention what has resulted because of the ad I ran in the magazine. I guess the “hook” worked because the president of an internet radio station has asked me to host a new talk show. Beginning November 15, I will debut as the host of “Living Inside The Testimony with Betty Collier” on www.webtalkradio.net. You will be able to listen or play on demand and download the shows at any time beginning November 15.

Here is a sneak peak at the show’s description: ABOUT THE SHOW: “Get ready to remember this name: LIVING INSIDE THE TESTIMONY. Your life is never going to be the same. Host Betty Collier and her guests live each and every day inside the testimony. They will help you discover the inspiration that lies within all of us and prepare you to share it with others. Hear incredible stories of faith, hope, humor, romance and love, offering a source of inspiration and encouragement. Join Betty on this truly incredible journey of faith as if you, too, have been touched by an angel.”

For more information about my book, please visit http://livinginsidethetestimony.com

Here's the next stop on Betty's Tour...don't miss it. 
http://azpublishingservices.blogspot.com

NOTES from Ginger:

Betty would like to present a complimentary copy of her book and a free tote bag to one lucky person.  All you need to do to receive these gifts is be the first person to leave a comment saying your read her post on Ginger's blog.  Please go to http://www.facebook.com/livinginsidethetestimony and leave the comment there.

On November 5, Betty's tour continues at Changing Face of Publishing, http://azpublishingservices.blogspot.com  Please join her.
.