Inside Scoop Live!

Scott Macfadyen is a Canadian author who loves to spend his time with his wife Tabitha and his dog Carly traveling or off grid where he can work on his writing. Scott spent over 20 years as a chef in restaurants, Pubs and resorts but had always had an interest in writing stories ever since elementary school. In his younger years he was known to write many stories and shared them with his school mates. Scott had a true passion for the escapism of story telling and over the years he had come up with the idea of his first published novella, A Whisper In the Shadows. Scott continues to write and looks forward to bringing you new stories and adventures in the future.

TOPICS OF CONVERSATION

• Scott's Writing Journey

"Layla is a devoted mother and wife, but when someone from her past is gunned down and left for dead, she returns to her previous life that her family knows nothing about.

CONNECT WITH SCOTT MACFADYEN!

In addition to a career as a newspaper editor, publisher, and manager, Robb Grindstaff has written fiction most of his life. The newspaper biz has taken him and his family from Phoenix, Arizona, to small towns in North Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin, from seven years in Washington, D.C., to five years in Asia. Born and raised a small-town kid, he’s as comfortable in Tokyo or Tuna, Texas.

The variety of places he’s lived and visited serve as settings for the characters who invade his head.

His novels are probably best classified as contemporary southern lit, and he’s had more than twenty short stories published in a wide array of genres. His articles on the craft of fiction writing have appeared in various writer magazines and websites, and one of his seminars was presented at the Sydney (Australia) Writers Festival. He also has taught writing courses for the Romance Writers of America, Romance Writers of Australia, and the Novel-in-Progress writers retreat.

Robb retired from the newspaper business in the summer of 2020 to write and edit fiction full time. He and his wife relocated to the beautiful Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri.

Robb also edits fiction and non-fiction books for authors from around the world. It helps that he’s fluent in five languages: US English, UK English, Canadian English, and Australian English, plus his native language, Texan.

Robb Grindstaff’s books are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple iBooks, and many other online retailers. They are also available in paperback, e-book, and audiobook.

TOPICS OF CONVERSATION

• Robb's writing journey

SLADE

Synopsis:

A car crash thirty years earlier left Slade Bennington severely disabled but with a new outlook on life. His book about overcoming trauma becomes a bestseller and a box office hit movie. Slade strikes up an unusual friendship with Schuyler, the six-foot-tall teenage actress who portrays his sister in the movie. She encourages him to continue writing, and his pithy musings about life spur a nationwide following of devotees who study his books like Holy Scriptures.

Slade becomes a counselor to the celebrity in-crowd—the Shaman to the Stars. While thousands adore Slade, others call him a Svengali or Rasputin-like character who controls and manipulates his clients.

One disillusioned fan spends years plotting revenge.

Robb’s website (Discover Robb’s books and learn about his editing services)

Robb’s Amazon page

A Writer’s Block (Robb’s Substack with tips and discussions on writing and editing)

Robb’s books on Evolved Publishing

Robb on Facebook

Robb on Twitter occasionally

Email: robb(at)robbgrindstaff(dot)com.

Matti Silver has been storytelling for most of his life. He loves working, reading, writing books and creating worlds for himself and others to immerse themselves within. A lover of film, comic books, fantasy and anime, he takes it upon himself to combine all the best ideas and present them to the world, like a master curator of fine taste and limitless free time.

Besides his endless energy and eclectic taste in everything, Matti loves nothing more than reading everything except speed limit signs and expiry dates on his government documents.

To learn more about Matti Silver and his work visit his website at  www.evwpress.com.

TOPICS OF CONVERSATION

• Becoming an Author

Connor Shane is an “almost” 20-year-old author currently making his way through community college. He hopes to become an ecologist one day in order to help better understand and protect the wildlife of our planet.

Connor loves a story that carries a message and believes art is one of the most beautifl ways to teach lessons, allowing us to live our best days. He prefers deep discussions about life as opposed to throwing opinions about the weather into the wind. He’s also a serious gamer.

Connor goes by the pen name Curon. A Warm Touch is his debut novel.

• Connor's Writing Journey

After hundreds of years since humanity’s extinction, with a whole new world of technology and animal-like intelligent life living in a reconstructed society, the pain of friendship persists. It doesn’t seem to matter how strong Similic and Drift want their relationships to be, since without passionate effort held together through the thickest of conflicts, they are never meant to be.

The question that always haunts them is one that seems so awfully simple, yet that’s exactly why it rips them to shreds. How do we maintain and improve our closest friendships? At that rate, how do we keep track of our relationships with ourselves, with all the surging thoughts that make us who we are? The answers may or may not lie in an obvious light, but the only way to truly fail is to choose to give up. What seems like such a wonderful party get-together between once close friends ends up becoming the very reason they may never see each other again. It would be simple enough if it were left at that, however Similic and his best friend Drift are determined to keep their connection to their friends and themselves intact. If they are able to do so, and if they are able to figure out this mysterious person who somehow knows too much about them, is a question they might not be able to answer well. But will they ever say that this uncertainty will stop them from trying? So far, the answer seems to be never!

Amazon Author's Page: https://amzn.to/3jjBXyQ 

For the past 50 years, professional ecologist and conservationist Budd Titlow has used his pen and camera to capture the awe and wonders of our natural world. His goal has always been to inspire others to both appreciate and enjoy what he sees. Now he has one main question: Can we save humankind’s place — within nature’s beauty — before it’s too late?

Budd’s two latest books are dedicated to answering this perplexing dilemma. PROTECTING THE PLANET: Environmental Champions from Conservation to Climate Change, a non-fiction book, examines whether we still have the environmental heroes among us — harking back to such past heroes as Audubon, Hemenway, Muir, Douglas, Leopold, Brower, Carson, and Meadows — needed to accomplish this goal. Next, using fact-filled and entertaining story-telling, his latest book — COMING FULL CIRCLE: A Sweeping Saga of Conservation Stewardship Across America — provides the answers we all seek and need.

Having published five books, more than 500 photo-essays, and 5,000 photographs, Budd Titlow lives with his music educator wife, Debby, in San Diego, California.

You can learn more about Budd on his website www.buddtitlow.com.

Mariah Tinger is an author and educator teaching sustainability at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. Additionally, she is pursuing her Ph.D. in climate communication at Otago University and applying her knowledge as a co-host on the podcast, The Climate Minute. 

When she is not chasing chickens or her children in her Massachusetts home, she is dreaming of new ways to tell the climate story.

You can learn more about Mariah on her website www.mariahtinger.com.

TOPICS OF CONVERSATION:

• About Coming Full Circle and the inspiration behind the storyline

Amazon Synopsis: Is there a winning re-write of United States history that everyone will feel good about? Following a multi-generational family across America and back again, this book sets the record straight. The skillful, entertaining story-telling shines a light on the origins of our current conservation crises—climate change and biodiversity loss—while convincing readers that we have immediate solutions right at our fingertips. Only one question remains: Will we use these solutions in time? Buy a copy of "Coming Full Circle" and find out what happens! (from Budd Titlow and Mariah Tinger, the authors of "Protecting the Planet")

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/protectingtheplanetashome/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/budd.titlow/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/btitlow/

FIdelis O. Mkparu is a Nigerian immigrant to the US, and in this novel, he sets out to speak to his experiences and those of his fellow immigrants.

He is a professor of Medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University and a senior attending cardiologist at Aultman Hospital and Mercy Medical Center in Canton, Ohio. Previously, he was a Spaulding fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard Medical School. His preceding novels include Love’s Affliction and Tears Before Exaltation (Colorado Independent Publishers Association EVVY Awards Winner, Literary & Contemporary Fiction 2018). 

To learn more about Fidelis Mkparu and his work visit his website at https://fidelismkparu.com.

TOPICS OF CONVERSATION:

• About Soulful Return and the inspiration behind the story/

SOULFUL RETURN

Amazon synopsis: "The hounding voice inside me would not let go."

CONNECT WITH FIDELIS MKPARU:

Website: https://fidelismkparu.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fidelis.mkparu

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fidelismkparu

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fidelis-mkparu-md-facc-fase-fasnc-58545938/ 

Mark Shaiken lives with his wife Loren and their dog Emily in Denver, CO. He schooled at Haverford College and Washburn University, and practiced commercial bankruptcy law for several decades before moving on in 2019 to write, volunteer and play music.

Mark has written three legal thrillers to date: Fresh Start, Automatic Stay and Unfair Discrimination. Before getting into fiction, he wrote And . . Just Like That - essays on a life before, during, and after the law. Mark is currently working on his next book in his legal mystery series, titled Cram Down.

You can learn more about mark and his work at markshaikenauthor.com

TOPICS OF CONVERSATION

• About Unfair Discrimination and the inspiration behind the story

UNFAIR DISCRIMINATION

Amazon Blurb: A committee of creditors hires 3J, one of whom is the leader of a White Nationalist organization on the government’s domestic terrorist list. When the member realizes he will not get paid back everything he is owed, he blames 3J, a black attorney, and opposing counsel, a Jewish attorney. How far will the hater go to get paid back and what steps will he take to do so in the name of White Nationalism?

CONNECT WITH MARK SHAIKEN!

Website: http://markshaikenauthor.com 

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/mark-shaiken-author

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Mark-Shaiken-Author/100070831924501/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkShaiken 

Check out the trailer for Unfair Discrimination

https://youtu.be/TK0yh8f3eAE 

MEET THE AUTHOR

Born in Tehran, Iran, Homa Pourasgari spent hours in her father’s home office, writing, reading and letting her imagination carry her to unseen worlds. She moved to Los Angeles, California at a young age. After graduating from Loyola Marymount University with a degree in business, she went to Paris for a year to study literature at the Sorbonne. Before becoming a fulltime writer, she ran her own boutique, worked at a bank and a CPA firm, was a personal trainer and even taught spinning and cardio kickboxing. When she is not writing, she is stumbling, miming and pointing to find her way in a foreign country. Her latest novel, The American Outsider, is based on her travels in Japan.

Learn more about Homa Pourasgari and her work at https://www.homapourasgari.com/ and https://www.theamericanoutsider.com/ 

TOPICS OF CONVERSATION

• Inspiration behind The American Outsider

THE AMERICAN OUTSIDER

Summary from the webite:​​​

“She had gone to Taiji to help save the dolphins; in the end, it was the dolphins who had saved her.”​

Tessa Walker is a veterinarian with a strong, emotional connection to animals. As a teen, she witnessed the brutal slaughter of dolphins, and as an adult, she decides to do something about it. She leaves her home in Los Angeles and travels to Japan to speak out for them, but little does she know that she is embarking on an adventure that will change her life forever. From the urban metropolis of Tokyo to the historic Kyoto to the culinary city of Osaka, and the seaside town of Taiji, Tessa is determined to help Japanese activists stand up for her beloved mammals.​

Along the way, the friendships and bonds that she builds with people in Japan, and the unconditional love of a stranger named Toshiro, open her eyes to a complicated society of conventions and traditions. Yet, her limited knowledge of the language and customs doesn’t deter her from taking on a dangerous mission that could land her in jail.

Website: https://www.theamericanoutsider.com/

Read our review of The American Outsider

Gahl Sasson is an established author and has been teaching workshops on Storytelling, Kabbalah, Astrology, and Mysticism around the globe for over 20 years. His first book, A Wish Can Change Your Life, has been translated into over eight languages and is endorsed by HH the 14th Dalai Lama. His second work, Cosmic Navigator, is the essential reference guide to understanding your astrological makeup. Since 2018 Gahl has been publishing a yearly bestselling book on the astrology of the upcoming year.

He is a contributor to the Huffington Post, and Astrology.com, and has been named "Los Angeles' Best Astrologer" by W Magazine. He is a guest lecturer at USC, Tel Aviv University, and teaches at Esalen, Omega Institute, University of Judaism, and the Open Center in NYC. He has appeared on CNN, ABC News, KTLA-TV Los Angeles to name a few. His academic paper, Symbolic Meaning of Names in the Bible was published by the Journal of Storytelling, Self, & Society. He currently resides in Los Angeles but gives seminars and workshops regularly in over 13 countries.

His website is www.CosmicNavigator.com and has a podcast – the Cosmic Navigator Astrology Show.

TOPICS OF CONVERSATION:

• His journey to becoming the Cosmic Navigator

THE ASTROLOGY OF 2023: TRAVERSING THE BRIDGE

Prepare for and plan the next 12 months with this essential astrological guide written by The Cosmic Navigator, Gahl E. Sasson. The 2023 Manual combines Kabbalah, Astrology, Tarot, history, and Mythology. The first part of the book provides a list of important dates for each month. The second part details the major astrological trends of the year 2023, while the third section lays out a month to month forecast for each zodiac sign. What days are good for finance? Which dates are auspicious for love and relationships? When should you pay attention to your health or start a diet? When will Mercury retrograde? When are the eclipses and what do they mean for each sign? How to manifest your New Year's resolution? Why is the numerology of 2023 lucky 7? What does it mean that Pluto moves into Aquarius for the first time since the French Revolution? Get your guide to the stars to help you navigate the Astrology of 2023.

CONNECT WITH GAHL SASSON!

Website: https://cosmicnavigator.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cosmic_navigator/ 

Links to Webinars, Live Events and Free Goodies: https://linktr.ee/cosmic_navigator 

CK Sobey (known as Kas to her friends) continues to live a life of curiosity. She considers herself to be a seeker, an explorer. Her many ventures in life attest to this. In her earlier years, she studied singing and theater. Kas is a trained mediator and worked in the San Diego dispute resolution department. She also worked in the corporate world for almost thirty years. As a once active spiritual practitioner, she later became a certified hypnotherapist, bringing a deeper understanding of the inner, subconscious mind to others. She has facilitated groups in a variety of subjects and a practice called SoulCollage® for years.

When CK is not writing or in her studio creating something that has caught her attention, we can find her in her kitchen cooking and savoring a dish with a blend of aromas wafting about or somewhere on one of her trails, waving.

A Collection of Tiny Stories, Diminutive Tales from the Tip of My Imagination is her third published book.

To learn more about Kas and her other works, visit https://innerharvesting.com/

TOPICS OF CONVERSATION

• About A Collection of Tiny Stories 

A COLLECTION OF TINY STORIES, DIMINUITIVE TALES FROM THE TIP OF MY IMAGINATION

This collection of Tiny Stories is an assortment of tiny, brief stories that were born out of moments of whimsy, mystery, and longing. I believe in the indefatigable powers of imagination. I do my best to widen my imaginative lens of what I can create in any genre, recipe, or seeking a solution to a problem. The list goes on and on. It is what gets me out of bed in the morning. What will the day bring? Not every day is an explosive revelation, with my muses rambling around, whispering to me of some plan. I do my best to find peace and calm, even in moments. When I find these moments, they are the sweetness between the flow of found ideas. The quiet space is what I need to receive. I honor this time to allow the ideas to take shape, to grow. I love pictures as well. They have their own story to tell. As prompts I become turned on to a story, musing or something new coming all together. I hope you enjoy my visual stories as well. They were created for these stories.

Website: https://innerharvesting.com/