Interview with historical fiction writer Carol Eglash-Kosoff

Today's guest author is historical novelist Carole Eglash-Kosoff. She's touring her newest novel Winds of Change and is here to tell us a bit about it. Her earlier books include When Stars Align and The Human Spirit.

Bio:
Carole Eglash-Kosoff lives and writes in Valley Village, California. She graduated from UCLA and spent her career in business, teaching, and traveling. She has visited more than seventy countries. An avid student of history, she researched the decades preceding and following the Civil War for nearly three years, including time in Louisiana, the setting for Winds of Change and her earlier novel, When Stars Align. It is a story of bi-racial love. It is a story of war, reconstruction, and racism, but primarily, it is a story of hope.

This is her third book. In 2006, following the death of her husband, she volunteered to teach in South Africa. Her first book, The Human Spirit – Apartheid’s Unheralded Heroes, tells the true life stories of an amazing array of men and women who have devoted their lives during the worst years of apartheid to help the children, the elderly, and the disabled of the townships. These people cared when no one else did and their efforts continue to this day.

Her second book, When Stars Align, chronicles the Civil War and Reconstruction through the love affair of Amy, a white girl, and Thaddeus, a colored man born of the rape of an eleven-year-old slave girl and the teen heir to Moss Grove.

You can visit her website or connect with her on Facebook.

Carol, welcome to Reviews and Interviews. Please tell us about your current release, Winds of Change.
The racially charged love and conflict of the critically acclaimed When Stars Align become more entrenched after the Civil War and Reconstruction. Amy had taken her daughter, nephew, and a son she’d had never been able to acknowledge, born from her love with Thaddeus, her colored lover, to San Francisco, as a refuge from the intense racial scrutiny of the South.

They are forced to return to their old home, Moss Grove, a successful Mississippi River cotton plantation, as young adults. They discover facts about themselves that refute everything they believed regarding both their parents and their racial background. It changes the lives of each of them. Bess and Stephen’s love is thwarted. Josiah struggles with echoes of his past.

It is a tumultuous time in American history that includes the inventions of airplanes, automobiles, telephones, and movies midst decades of lynchings and economic turmoil. It is the Spanish-American War and World War I. Racial biases complicate lives and relationships as newly arrived immigrants vie with white and Negro workers all trying to gain a piece of the American dream. Winds of Change is a soaring historic fiction novel that stands alone, but follows the next generation from those we came to know in When Stars Align into the 20th century. It is a socially relevant, historically accurate, saga of decades often overlooked in American history.

What inspired you to write this book?
I was still emotionally connected to the characters I’d developed for When Stars Align and the nation was moving into an amazing period that had been little studied…the decades between the Civil War and World War I. It was a wonderful opportunity to tell a story.

What exciting story are you working on next?
A non-fiction book that I’ve wanted to write for more than three decades.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
When I held When Stars Align in my hands and cried.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I don’t write full time…I play tennis, bridge, and I have an active tax accounting practice.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Breathing life into unsuspecting characters.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
First a history teacher, then a journalist…I never got to do either.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Read and travel.

Thanks for being here today, Carol.

Interview with novelist Greg Messel

Today's guest is novelist Greg Messel to tell us a bit about his newest novel and his writing life.

Welcome to Reviews and Interviews, Greg. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’ve written three novels and three unpublished memoirs. I’m working on a fourth and fifth novel as well.

I’ve spent much of my life in the Pacific Northwest living in Portland, Oregon and in the Seattle area since 2008. I’ve been married to my wife, Carol, for 40 years. We were high school sweethearts just like the couple in my second novel, Expiation. I’ve lived in Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, and Wyoming and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, graduating from high school there. I attended a year of junior college, then went to Brigham Young University. I began a newspaper career in the rough and tumble Wyoming town of Rock Springs. We have three married children and ten grandchildren.

I worked as the news editor and sports editors of the Daily Rocket-Miner newspaper, winning a Wyoming Press Association award for my column. I also have published articles in various sports magazines. I left the newspaper business in 1981 and began a 27 year career with Pacific Power. After retiring in 2008, I moved to Seattle.

It was there that I returned to my first love--writing. My first novel, Sunbreaks, was published with Trafford in September 2009. The second novel Expiation was published in the spring of 2010 with Trafford.

The third novel, The Illusion of Certainty was published by Yorkshire Publishing in September of 2011.

We live on the Puget Sound in Edmonds, Washington, a ferryboat town, just north of downtown Seattle. I also enjoy running and have been in several races and half marathons.

That's a lot already. Please tell us about your newest book.
The Illusion of Certainty follows two parallel story lines. Marc is a successful businessman who seems to have everything—a great job, a beautiful wife, a house in an upscale neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, and two great kids who are preparing for college. But something is not right. Marc is unsettled by the sudden change in his wife, Aimee, who seems distant and unhappy. What is going on with her?

The second storyline involves a successful young attorney, Alexandra Mattson. Alex, as she is called by her friends, meets a handsome young cop, Sean, during an unexpected crisis in her neighborhood. Sean and Alex seem made for each other and begin to merge their futures in a world of uncertainty.

The only certainty in life is that we will face uncertainty. Despite all of the technology and controls available in the modern world, sometimes the only comfort comes from the human touch.

What inspired you to write this book?
There are so many unexpected events that impact our life. I began thinking about this when the economy suddenly collapsed in 2008. I was also diagnosed with cancer about a year and a half ago. Fortunately, my treatments have been successful and I am for the time being in good health. These events and watching similar occurrences in other people’s lives, made me ponder the sudden turnarounds we can experience. We think we are in control of our lives but it is only an “illusion of certainty.”

What exciting story are you working on next?
I am currently working on the first in a mystery series featuring private investigator, Sam Slater. The name of the book is “The Last of the Seals.” Sam is a longtime baseball player with the minor league San Francisco Seals. Sam’s career is coming to an end and the Seals are being displaced by the move of the Giants from New York to San Francisco. Sam is joining his old Army buddy in his private investigation business.

Sam also meets a dazzling, Elvis-obsessed TWA stewardess named Amelia. When his friend is suddenly slain, Sam and Amelia find themselves thrown into a tense struggle to find the murderer before he finds them. I’m really excited about the new book and I hope to have it published by the beginning of the summer of 2012.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I began writing when I was a child. I have an old canvas bag with crayon writing on it. It was my newspaper bag. I wrote the “paper” and then delivered it to neighbors and friends. I found the canvas bag in some things at my grandmother’s house after she died. I supported myself through high school and college being a stringer for local newspapers. Then, after college, I had a career as a sports writer, columnist and news editor. I finally got to try writing novels and published my first one in 2009.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I do write full time now after retiring from the corporate world. I usually write for a few hours each afternoon. I have fallen into a pattern of thinking about and outlining my book during the summer months. Then when rainy weather returns to Seattle in the fall, it’s a good time to stay inside and start to write.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I don’t know why, but I have to go back and add contractions to my dialogue. I don’t talk that way, but I seem to write that way. I’m always correcting that in my writing.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to write for a newspaper and to write books. I’m pretty lucky that I got the chance to do what I’ve always wanted to do.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I hope you try The Illusion of Certainty. I think it is both a business fable and a romance. It speaks to the struggles that many people face in the early 21st Century. I was glad to see reviewers saying that the story appeals to the romantic hopeful in all of us.

Thanks for your time today, Greg. Keep on writing!

Interview with humorous novelist Davis Aujourd'hui

Today's guest is humorous author Davis Aujourd'hui. He's doing a virtual book tour for his novel The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude Babes in Bucksnort with Pump Up Your Book.

Bio:
Davis Aujourd'hui is the author of the hilarious satires, The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude and Babes in Bucksnort. Davis possesses a rich life experience that has enabled him to draw from it in order to create a colorful canvas upon which to paint very human lives.

He is a retired social worker and, as will be the case with Sister Mary Olga in his third book, he is a recovering alcoholic. He also happens to be gay as are several of the endearing and humorous characters within his novels. He can speak from his own experience. He has possessed all of the foibles of his cast of characters who are naughty, nasty, and nice.

Davis, welcome to Reviews and Interviews Please tell us about your novels.
The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitudeis the first in a series of irreverent and bawdy religious satires that will tickle your funny bone.

Sister Mary Olga is a bourbon-swilling, chain-smoking nun who's always getting into trouble with the Reverend Mother, a reformed prostitute. The convent's chef is a gay cowboy. Just watch out for the nasty town busybody named Priscilla Bunhead who is always digging in the dirt. There's plenty of that for her to find on Dinkledorf Drive in the fictional town of Bucksnort, Wisconsin. There's a lot of hanky panky going on there!

All of the book's other zany characters are delightfully flawed and the scenarios are outrageous. You'll discover the secret of a transgendered nun under the most unlikely circumstances. You may have never discovered a body in the process of cremation as you tried to bake a cake or bore offspring who made inappropriate digestive noises while playing Baby Jesus in the annual Christmas pageant. Yet you will be able to relate to the human foibles discussed by Sister Mary Olga.

Sister Mary Olga takes the attitude of "to each one's own." She pokes fun at the conservative religious and social attitudes of the day. Yet the book has an underlying spiritual message; that is to lighten up and not take life so seriously.

Babes in Bucksnort is the sequel to the highly praised The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude. Once again, the unconventional bourbon-swilling, chain-smoking nun will spin outrageously funny new tales about the residents of Bucksnort, Wisconsin while she tests the will of a reformed prostitute who just happens to be her Reverend Mother.

Unfortunately, there is trouble brewing in the Snortlands. The nasty and notorious town busybody, Priscilla Bunhead, goes on a crusade to stamp out what she calls the gay menace. That's when she convinces her millionaire friend, Mildred Mayflower, to give away her fortune in order to bring the Reverend Billy-Bob Blunthead and his Born Again or Burn Forever Disciples for Jesus to town to do the job. It will be an uphill climb for them as the closet doors of many gay people in the Snortlands burst open.

Billy-Bob and his wife, Pinky Poo, will have another battle on their hands when Dimples Dufus, the heiress to the Mayflower fortune, arrives on the scene. They'll also have to reckon with a mysterious woman who channels an entity who challenges the hateful and hypocritical agenda of this spokesman for Jesus.

In between the laughs, Sister Mary Olga continues to dispense nuggets of spiritual wisdom during her classes in Beginner's and Advanced Holiness. Just don't take seats near the flatulent child named Fartley Dinkledorf or his lecherous one-hundred five year-old grandfather, Poopsy. The bottom line is that everyone is welcome in Sister Mary Olga's classes. Join the diverse cast of characters for a joy-ride that will tickle your funny bone until it aches.

What inspired you to write the newest book?
Years ago, I called up a friend's voice mail on a whim and I spontaneously left her an outrageously funny message from a character named Sister Mary Olga Fortitude. My friend loved it and that inspired me to continue to develop characters and to leave her continuing voice mails. Years later, I thought to myself that I could write a book about these delightfully zany characters. This book is the end result, though it is only the first book of many in a series.

What exciting story are you working on next?
My next book is entitled Have A Heart. After continued drunken bouts, Sister Mary Olga Fortitude is given an ultimatum by Reverend Mother Carmen Burana. She is given the choice of going away to Holy Happenings Rehab or being dismissed from Have A Heart convent where she teaches classes in Advanced Holiness. She begrudgingly consents to rehab where she continues to encounter more zany experiences before later joining the twelve-step program called Alcoholics Unanimous.

Meanwhile, the convent's gay chef, Randy Cowboy, continues to attend his own twelve-step program, Sex Maniacs Notorious. Unfortunately for him, he develops AIDs which is a consequence of his previous history as a sex addict. Fortunately for him, he has the support of the transgendered nun, Sister Samantha Monet, who secretly pines for him.

Mayhem ensues when the town busybody and prude, Priscilla Bunhead, sniffs out the dirt about AIDs coming to the fictional town of Bucksnort, Wisconson. She broadcasts the alarm to the arch conservative Reverend Billy-Bob Blunthead who continues his campaign to wipe out perversion in the Snortlands. Along with his histrionic, Tammy Faye Baker-type wife, Pinky Poo, he stages elaborate spectacles in his church where he hopes to gain the support of the local community.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I first considered myself to be a writer about six years ago. That was after I had written my autobiography about recovery from multiple addictions such as characters in my books have been challenged by. That's when I got the idea for writing a book about Sister Mary Olga Fortitude. As I progressed and I realized I had a series on my hand, I was totally convinced this was to be my new career.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I have been writing full-time for the last six years. I have completed a total of eleven books in the Sister Mary Olga Fortitude series. I am currently at work on the twelfth book after having finished another book which is not a part of the series.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
While I write books in the humor genre, they all contain spiritual messages. I don't know of any other books in this genre that have accomplished this.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be an actor. Creativity has always been a part of my makeup. I'm just glad that I've discovered a career where I can let my creative juices flow.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
If you are looking for books that will make you laugh from beginning to end, look no further. Hopefully, my books will also give you some food for thought. You may just see yourself reflected in my characters. Look for my books on Amazon.com. You can read more about me at my blog.

Davis, it's been fun having you here today.

Interview with novelist Gregory G. Allen

Today's R&I guest is doing a virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book. Please welcome novelist Gregory G. Allen.

Welcome, Gregory. Please tell us a bit about yourself.
I grew up in Texas, but have been a ‘Yankee’ now for the past 24 years. I am the author of Well with My Soul and Proud Pants: An Unconventional Memoir. I’ve had short stories and poetry published in several anthologies and websites and I contribute articles and blogs to three different sites. I’ve been in the entertainment business for over twenty years as an actor, director, writer, and producer and I’ve had over ten shows that I’ve served as book writer and/or composer/lyricists produced on stage. I spent 13 years in Corporate America before going back into the arts ‘full time’ five years ago and now use both the creative side and business side of my brain as I manage an arts center on the campus of a college.

Please tell us about your current release, Well with My Soul.
Choices we make affect many people around us for years to come. What makes us go down certain paths towards those choices? Well with My Soul is about two brothers trying to find a peace in their individual lives over the course of 15 years, but both stay intertwined with the other as they leave their lives in Tennessee. Themes of addiction, religion, homosexuality, and pride play a huge part in this family drama. One is a liberal gay man who forsakes his family and moves to New York City from Tennessee to make his mark on the world. The other is a southern conservative who is left at home holding the proverbial family bag. The story follows their loosely intertwined lives through the wild times of the late seventies and the restraint of the Reagan years in which one brother ends up becoming a minister and preaching his doctrine while the other believes there are some things people are born with and not meant to change.

What inspired you to write this book?
The past several years, the US has been dealing with gay issues in headlines constantly. And many times it seemed as if what made those headlines was a closeted man (who was a loud proponent against any type of gay rights) caught in a scandal. I started to think about what causes these men to stay in the closet and how ego/pride plays such a prominent role in choices people make.

I was brought up Southern Baptist and writing a novel about religion and sexuality (set in the late 70s and 80s when our country was in a very different time) where I could show two sides to that story appealed to me. I enjoy taking readers to places they may not otherwise go and usually involve twists and turns they don’t always see coming. Stories of personal journeys always pull me in and I was inspired by telling this story from two different points of views (each brother) in different chapters.

What exciting story are you working on next?
My next story is a different genre all together with a female protagonist who works with her therapist to unlock a gruesome past from her childhood and travels across the country to patch her life back together. (Do I dare give it a genre and say ‘chick-lit with a mystery/romance thrown in’?)

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I started writing short stories and plays as a child, but actually had my first musical produced when I was 14. I continued writing musicals through high school and then went into the BMI Musical Theatre workshop when I moved to New York City and continued writing stage shows. About five years ago (when I wrote a play version of Well with My Soul), I knew then I wanted to expand the story into a novel. From there I went from playwright to novelist.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I went through a period the past several years of writing non-stop: every moment I could – I was writing. Submitting short stories to magazines and different genres of novels was pouring out of me. I worked with editors and got a few to a place to be able to submit those and then writing seemed to slow down. I try to blog every day (just to keep up my writing skills), but I manage an arts center on a college campus which keeps me very busy.

Nighttime is now full of promoting and marketing my debut novel (as well as a novelette memoir about my older brother who died at 34 years old that was released this past summer as an eBook). Authors sometimes don’t think in terms of how much promoting they need to do themselves to get their work out there, but it takes time and effort. I’m enjoying that process. I’m meeting so many other writers via social media and read other works – constantly! I find it important to read as much as I write. We can learn so much from reading what others are doing.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
That’s a tough one. I’m not sure if it’s a quirk…but I email myself all the time. Some writers carry a pad or a recorder to jot down notes. If I’m at my job during the day and a thought pops into my head, I send myself an email and then compile those emails into notes, into outlines, into narrative. Does that count as quirky or just anal retentive?

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
An actor. I moved to NYC to be on Broadway. (Didn’t happen.) I did tour the country as a teenage mutant ninja turtle though in the late 80s/early 90s.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I hope that people will accept authors that do not fall into a specific genre. I sometimes wish I could say “I write speculative fiction” or “vampire novels”. I was worried when writing Well with My Soul people would classify it as gay fiction and put me into a box. As mentioned, my first published work was a non-fiction memoir, the other I talked about above and I also have a children’s book floating around out there. One friend of mine said the common theme of my writing is the unexpected. My stage shows or my novels.

I don’t think I always play by the rules and write a protagonist that everyone can love or let the guy always ‘get the girl’. I think authors should be given the chance to try many things and just perhaps in the process, readers will find something they can identify with, enjoy, and give another ‘genre’ from that author a try.

Gregory, I appreciate your time answering these interview questions today. Write on!