This Week on A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book

This week on the A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book BlogTalkRadio show, Jennifer will interview Tori Martinez, author of The Royal W.E. Unique Glimpses of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Listen live today at 3:30 at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jennifer-walker/2011/12/28/a-cup-of-coffee-and-a-good-book, or listen to the recording any time after the show.

Many people think they know the story of King Edward VIII giving up his throne for the woman he loved, Wallis Simpson, in 1936. The truth is: politics and innuendo clouded that story from the very beginning, with the result that few people really understand who The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were and what forces propelled them to their infamous fate. The Royal W.E. by Victoria Martínez examines the individual and intertwined lives of Wallis and Edward – or “W.E.” as they referred to themselves – and provides readers with unique glimpses of the real people, as opposed to the sensationalized characters, that were The Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Tori can be found at her personal website, http://www.victoriahill.com/, and her Arbitrary History Blog at http://www.arbitraryhistory.com/.

This week on A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book

This week on the A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book BlogTalkRadio show, Jennifer will interview Stephen L. Brayton, author of the novel Beta . Join us Wednesday, December 21st at 3:30 at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jennifer-walker/2011/12/21/a-cup-of-coffee-and-a-good-book for the live podcast, or listen to the recording any time after the show.

Private Investigator Mallory Petersen, a fourth degree black belt with her own taekwondo school in Des Moines, Iowa, splits her time between teaching martial arts and her often inane cases. It's not that she wants bad things to happen to people, but it makes life more interesting when they do.

When Mallory accepts a case to find Cheryl McGee’s kidnapped eight year old daughter, she is pulled into the dark underworld of child pornography. The trail soon leads to the Quad Cities, where Mallory partners with an officer from the Special Case Squad.

As the investigation deepens, Mallory discovers there’s more to the girl's disappearance than her client let on.

Guest post from Donna Anastasi: The Gerbil Room

Today we have a guest blog from Donna Anastasi as part of her virtual book tour with Walker Author Tours for her book, Spin the Plate. Let's get a little insight on what this author does when she's not writing or working!



Donna Anastasi Guest Blog: The Gerbil Room

My day job is as an interaction designer with positions in recent years with some of the top “Fortune” companies like Fidelity in Boston, McKesson, and Liberty Mutual. My current job is with a growing company whose radio blast you’ve likely heard. I haven’t yet told them of my secret life: my life as a crazy gerbil lady. I got my first gerbils at this time of year in 1999, shortly after a car-totaling accident. I was on my way to an office Christmas party one evening. For some reason my husband couldn’t go. I was on my way to pick up a girlfriend who I worked with when a newly licensed 16-year-old with a car full of friends came to a T in the road and didn’t realize she had a stop sign and plowed into me. My car was spinning around and I got hit by the airbags. Before I slammed into the stone wall, I really thought that might be it.

About a week later, I was still in the woozy state of mind that follows that kind of accident. I took my two then young girls to a pet store and thought, hmmm…this might be a good time to get a couple. My husband was out of town, and why not? Why not just do the thing you want to do rather than throwing up excuses all the time on why it is you shouldn’t. I’d always wanted gerbils, so I let my girls pick out two. One for each. Over time we got more. We got a boy from a pet store who, with one of the girls, produced our first (very colorful) litter of babies. I was hooked. The next gerbil we got from Texas, bringing with him the gene for Siamese coloring (like a Siamese cat) into this part of the country.

Now I have many gerbils.

Most of my gerbils I’ve bred myself. My three or four favorites have taken years. I’ll see a gerbil in a book or a small animal show and then the image of that gerbil is seared in my mind. I’ve never taken a picture; I don’t need to. Then I’ll travel the country and mix the genetics needed for the entirely and jet black gerbil, the schimmel (orange tailed white) whose genes almost died out in the country, or the holy grail of gerbil: variegated, where the spotted extends through the body and tail and color gets mixed up into the white collar.

One thing that I like about the gerbils is that with a high-responsibility, demanding, stressful job. I find it relaxing to spend time with the gerbils. I also find as a full-time employee, mother, and wife there is always someone who wants my time. Have you ever seen in the grocery store those spring loaded milk or orange juice cartons – I don’t know why but that is what it makes me think of – no matter how many tasks you complete another follows right behind and snaps into place. So the secret is to throw in a few cartons of your own. Fill up the time because God knows if you try sitting quietly with a book or exhibit any other sign of perceived idleness, you will be hunted down within two to four minutes. But if you are “busy” with something, those around you wait for you to finish before hounding you. When I escape into the gerbil room, when I’m cleaning cages and playing with the babies, for some reason, no one seems to bother me. It is a place of quiet, no demands, a tiny joy-fix, a little magic. A room of my own.

See YouTube for a video blog - me in the gerbil room: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAkeQs1V4L4

Thanks to Donna Anastasi for stopping by! Purchase your copy of Spin the Plate.

This week on A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book

This week on the A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book BlogTalkRadio show, Jennifer will interview Karina Fabian, author of Mind Over Mind and several other books. Listen live this Wednesday at 3:30 Pacific Time, or listen to the recording any time after the show is over, at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jennifer-walker/2011/12/14/a-cup-of-coffee-and-a-good-book

Deryl Stephens' uncontrollable telepathic abilities have landed him in a mental health institution, where no one believe in his powers.

Joshua Lawson, a summer intern at SK-Mental Institute, does something no one else has ever done: he accepts Deryl's reality and teaches him to work with it. As Deryl learns control, he finds his next challenge is to face the aliens who have been contacting him psychically for years--aliens who would use him to further their cause in an interplanetary war.

Read my review of Mind Over Mind!

Learn more about Karina at http://www.fabianspace.blogspot.com/.

This week on A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book

This week on A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book, Jennifer will interview Michael Allen. Michael Allen is the author of A Danger to Society and When You Miss Me, the first a novel and the second a children’s book, both of which he has written from real life experiences. He has also written several screenplays that are in post-production and will soon be released.

Listen live Wednesday, December 7 at 3:30 Pacific Time at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jennifer-walker/2011/12/07/a-cup-of-coffee-and-a-good-book, or listen to the recording any time after the show.

Author Interview: Jennifer Hurst

Today's interview is with Jennifer Hurst, author of Fall.

Bio: Jennifer grew up in a traveling family. As the oldest of 8 children, she spent most of her childhood in the South Pacific playing in the ocean and going barefoot to school. She graduated with a B.S. in Technology Management at Utah Valley University and worked in the construction industry for 12 years. Jennifer worked her way up from drafter to project manager before retiring to pursue her lifelong passion for writing and art. She lives in Utah with her three sons, a toe nibbling, snuggly Boxer named Tanu, and a deranged siamese cat called Horatio (who also loves to walk up and down on the piano keyboard in the middle of the night).



Jennifer Walker: Where can we find out more about you and buy your book?


Jennifer Hurst: Interested readers can find me at jenniferhurst.com. Fall is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony Ebooks, Smashwords and other places where ebooks are sold.



Jennifer Walker: Tell us about your book.


Jennifer Hurst: Fall is about a headstrong, impulsive young woman, Julia Dayle, (JD for short) who is given the chance to prove herself as a project manager for a conversion project. Her grandfather owns the construction company she works for and she is determined to prove to him she has what it takes to run his company when he retires. Little does she realize what she is getting into when the actual work begins on the site. There are twists and turns to the plot that not even the most attentive readers will figure out (I secretly enjoy surprising people). There is a paranormal aspect to the story, and this involves demons, angels and, well, I won’t say. That’ll ruin the surprise.


Jennifer Walker: Where did you get the idea for the story?


Jennifer Hurst: Like a lot of writers, I got the idea for this story from a series of dreams I had. Fortunately, none of them made it into the final cut of the book.


Jennifer Walker: What is your greatest writing challenge?


Jennifer Hurst: Staying focused. Often while I'm working on one story, I'll get an idea for another and I have to start on it right away before I lose the feel of it.


Jennifer Walker: What other projects do you have coming up?


Jennifer Hurst: An action/adventure YA called Muddy, a Sci-Fi graphic novel for tweens based on a computer game called Zening, a Chic Lit Fantasy based on Scotlands Pict people, an action/adventure for tween boys about a family of Monster Hunters, and of course, the sequel to Fall.


Jennifer Walker: What is your writing process like--do you outline first or just start writing, etc.?


Jennifer Hurst: I used to be very organized and detailed. I'd have every chapter outlined and scenes described in detail, but once I got to writing it, I'd find myself in a tug-of-war with the characters over who got to tell the story and how. Finally, I just gave up and let them have their say. It's a win-win situation as I'm not stressing about what goes where and the characters get to tell it their way.


Jennifer Walker: What have you done to develop your writing craft?


Jennifer Hurst: I write constantly. In my journal, notes to my kids, in my head, etc. I carry around a notebook and when words won't come, I use doodles to capture the feel of the stories I want to write.


Jennifer Walker: What was the hardest part: writing the book, getting it published, or marketing it? Why?


Jennifer Hurst: Marketing it. I like it - but its more time consuming than writing the book. I'd rather be writing.


Jennifer Walker: Tell us a little about your non-writing life. Family? Pets? Hobbies?


Jennifer Hurst: I have three boys, who are the centers of my universe. They keep things lively and interesting and help me to keep my priorities straight. My hobbies involve my children. I write to entertain them and earn a living to support us. It's becoming more and more a family thing for us - we tell stories a lot.


Jennifer Walker: Who is your favorite author of all time, and why?


Jennifer Hurst:: Frank Herbert. He opened my mind to a whole new world of science fiction and the possibilities. C.J. Cherryh would be a close second. I love her book Rimrunners.

This week on A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book

This week on the A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book BlogTalkRadio show, I will interview Ellen Ruderman, author of CHASING THE RED CAR. Ellen G. Ruderman, PhD, is a psychoanalyst and mental health consultant who has published numerous articles and books about the challenges of women's quest for autonomy in professional and familial relationships. CHASING THE RED CAR is her first novel.


Read my review of CHASING THE RED CAR at http://jennifersbookreviews.blogspot.com/2011/11/book-review-chasing-red-car.html