Back Porch Writer

Change of plans! Unfortunately, Tamica Brewington wasn't able to join the program. Not to worry!

This episode is all about #selfpubstigma (Does it still exist? Tweet with me @backporchwriter and let me know. I'll share your thoughts in a blog post, along with anyone else who joins the chat.) 

Udemy is an online classroom offering hundreds of courses on a wide variety of topics. I'll be teaching a course in mid-June: The Nuts & Bolts of Building Your Author Platform.

Bunkrapp.com is a great, free presentation tool! Try it and see why I like it so much. I created a modified book trailer for Deadly Sins. If you want to see it, get in touch via Back Porch Writer.

There's more, but my hands are tired from typing. Listen to the episode!

Christopher McLucas is an author, philanthropist, and all-around nice guy from, and currently, living in Omaha, NE. He's dedicated to helping businesses and entrepreneurship flourish in the midwest area. Christopher has shamelessly left this link to The Giggle Farm's Facebook page for people to like, share, find events, and have collaborative possibilities with Christopher.

https://www.facebook.com/TheGiggleFarm0412

 

Be sure to check out the May line-up over on our home page: www.backporchwriter.com. And, check out the affiliate link to Booklaunch.io if you want easy-to-use book landing pages that look great!

Samantha Gillespie is a creative, helpless romantic who was born in Mexico, where she grew up with her family until they returned to the States at age eleven. An avid reader from a young age, Samantha finally gave into her passion for writing, making her debut with The Kingdom Within.

THE KINGDOM WITHIN is a Young Adult fiction work by Samantha Gillespie. The book depicts the story of Meredith, a young princess who is destined into a marriage with a prince she’s never met, in order to save her Kingdom from imminent conquest. And while initially willing to do what is needed, everything changes when she is thrust into a fight for her life and love meets her from an unexpected front, causing her to question all she had prepared for, her purpose and actions.

Dual diagnosed* from an early age, Matthew Peters dropped out of high school at sixteen. He went on to obtain an A.A., a B.A. from Vassar College, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Duke University. He has taught various courses in a variety of disciplines throughout North Carolina. He is committed to increasing the awareness and understanding of the dual diagnosed. Conversations Among Ruins (All Things That Matter Press, 2014) is his first novel. His second novel, The Brothers’ Keepers (MuseItUp Publishing, 2014), is a political-religious thriller that capitalizes on his love for history and research. Currently, he is working on a sequel to The Brothers’ Keepers.

*The term dual diagnosed refers to someone suffering from a mood disorder (e.g., depression) and chemical dependency.

From the cut-throat capitalism of the 1980’s, through to the modern-day, A Clean Pair of Hands reveals how the corporate practices of the late 20th century are now being exposed and condemned.  Before becoming one of the directors of the family’s business consultancy firm, Oscar Reynard enjoyed a successful career working in senior management roles for a high profile industrial manufacturing  corporation in the United States. Reynard has been widely published in various trade magazines, co-authored a business training manual and written as a critic for business titles. He divides his time between Surrey and the south-west of France. 

From the cut-throat capitalism of the 1980’s through modern-day, A Clean Pair of Hands reveals how the corporate practices of the late 20th century are now being exposed and condemned through the eyes of a French businessman who succumbs to the seductive and unbridled excesses enjoyed by the country’s ruling elite and slowly becomes trapped by rampant corruption and moral decay that will threaten his family and his own survival.

We're aware that there are audio issues with this segment. They were out of our control. The author's portion of this interview turned out well. We apologize for the inconvenience.  

 

Caterina Rando shows women entrepreneurs how to be loud and proud about the value they bring in order to make their businesses thrive. For over twenty years she has been on a passionate mission to change the world with her brand of economic empowerment that is a combination of running your business with integrity always ongoing strategy, staying in action and putting your whole heart in everything you do.

She is a sought after speaker, business success strategist, master certified coach, publisher and author of the national best selling book Learn to Power Think from Chronicle Books.

Caterina has co-authored several books including: Make Your Connections Count, Incredible Business, Savvy Leadership Strategies for Women, Woman Entrepreneur Extraordinaire, Socially Smart and Savvy, and Direct Selling Power.

Caterina is a member of the National Speakers Association, the International Coach Federation, the Direct Selling Women’s Alliance and is an emeritus member of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Behavior and a Master of Arts in Life Transitions Counseling Psychology. She is a Certified Personal and Professional Coach (CPPC) and a Master Certified Coach (MCC), the highest designation awarded by the International Coaching Federation.

New from the author of Beach Plum Island… A natural-born storyteller presents a gripping story about grief, anger, and the healing power of love. 

Sydney Bishop hasn’t returned to Haven Lake, her idyllic childhood home, since a pair of shocking, tragic deaths shattered her family when she was only sixteen. Now a child psychologist engaged to marry a successful surgeon, Sydney has worked hard to build a relationship with Dylan, her fiancé’s teenage son, so she feels nothing but empathy when he runs away—until she discovers that his hitchhiking journey has led him to Haven Lake and her mother Hannah’s sheep farm.

Sydney returns to Haven Lake for the first time in twenty years to coax the boy home. Against her daughter’s wishes, Hannah offers to take Dylan in until he’s ready to reveal his own troubling secrets. Now, for Dylan’s sake as well as their own, Sydney and Hannah must confront the devastating events that tore them apart and answer the questions that still haunt their family—and the suspicious surrounding community—about what really caused two people to die on their farm those many years ago.

Great Plains writer Marilyn June Coffey has written three books, 600 poems, and dozens of articles and stories. A trained journalist (B.A., University of Nebraska, 1959) and creative writer (M.F.A., Brooklyn College, 1981), she has produced work that includes a popular memoir, a record-setting novel, and a prize-winning poem. Her poem, Pricksong, reviewed in the Los Angeles Times Book Review and Newsweek, won a national Pushcart Prize. Coffey's novel Marcella made literary history. It was the first novel written in English to use female autoeroticism as a main theme. Gloria Steinem called it "an important part of the truth telling by and for women. In 1989, Coffey's memoir, Great Plains Patchwork, appeared. The New York Times called it entertaining and insightful. Atlantic Monthly featured a chapter as its cover story. Natural History bought two chapters, American Heritage one. Harper & Row, McGraw-Hill, Macmillan, and Harcourt Brace Jovanovich printed excerpts. Known as a prose stylist, Coffey received a Master Alumnus award for distinction in the field of writing from the University of Nebraska in 1977. Since 1987, the UN-L Archives has collected forty boxes of Coffey's papers in its Mari Sandoz room. In 1991, Coffey investigated the orphan train movement, developing three programs for the Nebraska Humanities Council. One became the second most popular of the 232 programs underwritten by NHC and spurred her to write Mail-Order Kid. Now retired, Coffey taught writing at Boston University, Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, and Fort Hays State University in Kansas for thirty-four years, twice earning tenure. She became an interpretive reader/performer, appearing on local radio stations, statewide TV, and before more than 130 groups in twelve states, from Maine to Texas.  

Her new book, Thieves, Rascals, & Sore Losers is available for pre-order.

Based in North London, Frank Lankaster is a semi-retired academic and community development worker with many years experience in education, working both in the UK and US. Today Frank continues to work as a freelance researcher and writer. In his spare time he enjoys watching football and is a keen Liverpool fan. Tim Connor Hits Trouble by Frank Lankaster (published by Clink Street Publishing RRP $12.99, ebook RRP $4.99 ebook) is available to buy online from March 25th from retailers including Amazon.com and to order from all good bookstores. 

The book: Emerging from an emotionally exhausting relationship break-up, and with his young daughter still contriving to make him feel as guilty as possible, Tim Connor hopes to regain his equilibrium in his new role as lecturer of Social Sciences at the University of Wash. An exciting new romance is also whetting Tim’s appetite. 

Meanwhile, the college’s resident alcoholic dinosaur, Henry Jones, is at loggerheads with the Dean of Faculty, Howard Swankie and beset by bickering with his stoutly feminist wife. As tensions mount and the battle lines are drawn, Tim finds himself increasingly pulled in, until one day both Henry and Howard inexplicably go missing leaving Tim to deal with the crisis.  

Set against the backdrop of the financial crisis of 2008, Frank Lankaster has cleverly drawn upon his considerable experience within the education system and brilliantly captures its inherently political landscape. Tim Connor Hits Trouble skillfully and entertainingly combines the clash of ideas, warring egos, the pressure to perform and the delicate balance between working as an academic and as a teacher to produce an uproarious debut novel.

Rick Bentsen released his first novel, Dawn of a New Age, in 2001 to some small success.  After struggling for many years to come up with a followup to Dawn of a New Age, Rick released The Blademaster in 2014, the first book in an epic fantasy series that has completely invigorated his passion for writing once more.  The second book in his epic Blademaster Chronicles series, Willowdale, comes out April 7, 2015.  Rick lives in Massachusetts, where he is quite happy that winter seems to be over.

 

Rick Bentsen

Author, The Blademaster Chronicles

Book 1: The Blademaster (Released 3/19/2014)

Book 2: Willowdale (Coming 4/7/2015)

http://www.facebook.com/RickBentsenAuthor

Twitter: @rickbentsen