Colleen M. Story inspires writers to overcome modern-day challenges and find creative fulfillment in their work. Her first non-fiction book, Overwhelmed Writer Rescue , was named Book by Book Publicityâs Best Writing/Publishing Book in 2018, and her novel, Loreenaâs Gift , was a Foreword Reviews' INDIES Book of the Year Awards winner, among others. Her latest release, Writer Get Noticed! , was a gold-medal winner in the 2019 Readerâs Favorite Book Awards for writing and publishing, and a recent ...
Jun 05, 2020â˘39 minâ˘Ep. 21
Gary D. McGugan loves to tell stories and is the author of Three Weeks Less a Day, The Multima Scheme , Unrelenting Peril and Pernicious Pursuit. Whether sharing a vision with colleagues in large multinational corporations, helping consulting clients implement expert advice, or writing a corporate thriller, Gary uses artful suspense to entertain and inform. His launch of a new writing careerâat an age most people retireâreveals an ongoing zest for new challenges and a life-long pursuit of knowle...
May 26, 2020â˘33 minâ˘Ep. 76
Jessica (Tyner) Mehta is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, multi-award-winning poet, and author of over one dozen books. Place, space, and personal ancestry inform much of her work. Sheâs also the Editor-in-Chief of Crab Creek Review and owner of an award-winning small business. MehtaFor is a writing services company that offers pro bono services to Native Americans and indigenous-serving non-profits. Her novel The Wrong Kind of Indian won gold at the 2019 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY...
May 21, 2020â˘39 minâ˘Ep. 75
Dianne Romain grew up in Missouri and studied philosophy at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. After completing her PhD in Philosophy at UC Berkeley, she taught feminist ethics and philosophy of emotion at Sonoma State University and published Thinking Things Through, a critical thinking textbook. While in California, she practiced fiction writing techniques in a womenâs writing group. In Guanajuato, where she lives with novelist Sterling Bennett, she took up the trumpet as research for ...
May 15, 2020â˘38 minâ˘Season 5Ep. 3
James D. Bell is an award-winning author and retired Judge who received the highest bar association approval ratings ever given to a Mississippi Circuit or County Judge. He is listed in Preeminent Lawyers, Outstanding Lawyers of America and Top 100 Attorneys of North America. He is the author of two novels, Vampire Defense and Maximilianâs Treasure . His short story, The Adventures of Sherlock Hound , was published in Mardi Allenâs collection, Dog Stories for the Soul , alongside stories from Ma...
May 15, 2020â˘34 minâ˘Season 5Ep. 2
Margaret Franceschiniâs desire to write in a dramatic way began at a young age. Her passion for poetry and short stories can be traced back to early childhood when she wrote about the creatures she watched in her backyard. Entering into adult life led her to join poetry sites, where she was able to share her innermost feelings with those of the same type of writings. Later in life, she became intrigued with children with autism as she worked best with this population. Earning her credits with co...
May 15, 2020â˘21 minâ˘Season 5Ep. 1
Steve Bassett was born, raised and educated in New Jersey, and, although far removed during a career as a multiple award-winning journalist, he has always been proud of the sobriquet, Jersey Guy. He has written for several publications, including the Pulitzer Prize winning Salt Lake Tribune. Heâs worked for the Associated Press, where his exposĂŠs gained national recognition, and CBS television news in Los Angeles, earning three Emmy Awards for his investigative documentaries. His book, âGolden G...
May 15, 2020â˘33 minâ˘Season 4Ep. 15
Steve Bassett was born, raised and educated in New Jersey, and, although far removed during a career as a multiple award-winning journalist, he has always been proud of the sobriquet Jersey Guy. He has been legally blind for almost a decade but hasnât let this slow him down. Polish on his motherâs side and Montenegrin on his fatherâs, with grandparents who spoke little or no English, his early outlook was ethnic and suspicious. As a natural iconoclast, he joined the dwindling number of itinerant...
May 15, 2020â˘42 minâ˘Ep. 74
Lucinda Clark is the Founder of P.R.A. Publishing and the Poetry Matters Project Ltd. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pa. now residing in Georgia. She has written and published a four-part poetry series titled View From the Middle of the Road with various emerging writers from many areas of the arts. She is currently a contributor to the Accentuated Reading Project. Her mission is to build community connections through collaborations based on literary arts. Lucinda describes herself as follows:...
May 15, 2020â˘32 minâ˘Ep. 73
Michael McCord, the former political editor and columnist for The Portsmouth (NH) Herald, is an award-winning journalist and writer. A U.S. Army veteran, he covered his first presidential primary campaign in 1980 and has written for dozens of publications â including the Boston Globe Magazine, Boston Globe, New Hampshire Business Review, Boston Herald, New Hampshire Magazine â and has won New England & New Hampshire press association awards for investigative reporting, political commentary, ...
May 15, 2020â˘44 minâ˘Ep. 72
Jeannine Kellogg loves a grand adventure and a great story. She has traveled to fifteen countries and her adventures include hiking in New Zealand, sea-kayaking above the Arctic Circle, and wading through rice fields in Thailand. Yet she has grown certain that the great inspirations are found not in distant adventures, but in the often-overlooked details of everyday life. Jeannineâs career has spanned a variety of industries and roles, but it has mostly involved analyzing lots of numbers and tel...
May 15, 2020â˘37 minâ˘Ep. 71
Susan Braudy is the bestselling author of six books. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Times , The Atlantic , Ms. Magazine, New York Magazine, Jezebel , The Week , and the New Journal at Yale. The Menâs Issue she created and edited for Ms. Magazine was the highest selling in the magazineâs history. Sheâs a recipient of the Dick Goldensohn Fund Award for investigative reporting and was a judge for the J. Anthony Lukas Prize at Columbia University. Alfred A. Knopf nominated her last bo...
May 15, 2020â˘22 minâ˘Ep. 70
Melissa Muldoon is the author of three novels set in Italy: âDreaming Sophia,â âWaking Isabella,â and âEternally Artemisia.â All three books tell the stories of American women and their journeys of self-discovery to find love, uncover hidden truths, and follow their destinies to shape a better future in Italy. Melissa is also the author of the Studentessa Matta website, where she promotes the study of Italian language and culture through her dual-language blog written in Italian and English ( st...
May 15, 2020â˘33 minâ˘Ep. 69
Bob Gebelein graduated from Harvard with a BA in Mathematics in 1956, and then went on to have a legendary career as a computer programmer and creator of software systems. But the main focus of his adult life has been to create a new civilization, because of the threat of nuclear annihilation and other cultural problems. His methods were psychotherapy, withdrawal from the culture, and dream analysis. He succeeded in his quest by discovering how âhuman natureâ itself can be changed, to compassion...
May 15, 2020â˘24 minâ˘Ep. 68
Aimee Cabo Nikolov is a Cuban American who has lived most of her life in Miami. She is a trained nurse and the president and owner of IMIC, Inc, a medical research company in Palmetto Bay, Florida. She lives with her husband, Dr. Boris Nikolov, and her three children, Danielle, Sean and Michelle. Love is the Answer, God is the Cure is her first book. To learn more about Aimee Cabo Nikolov and her book, Love is the Answer, God is the Cure, visit her website at www.godisthecure.com . Topics of Con...
May 15, 2020â˘24 minâ˘Ep. 67
Paul Kloschinsky was born in Saskatchewan in 1963. He received a BSc in Computer Science and an MD from the University of British Columbia in the 1980âs. He is now an avid photographer, songwriter and poet. Paul lives in Delta, BC, Canada. He won the 2007 MusicAid Award for Best Canadian Songwriter for his original song âWearinâ Blue.â In 2010, he was accepted as a full member of the League of Canadian Poets. He has since won multiple awards for his songwriting, poetry and photography. He has pu...
May 15, 2020â˘14 minâ˘Ep. 66
Michelle Peach worked in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the 1990s, serving in London in the News Department and the Foreign Secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howeâs Private Office. She spent three years as the radio communications officer and visa assistant in the British Embassy in Sanaâa, in the former Yemen Arab Republic. During those three years, she witnessed the beginning of the Iraq/Kuwait War in a country which supported Saddam Hussein with popular, violent demonstrations. She obtained her...
May 15, 2020â˘26 minâ˘Ep. 65
Britta Stromeyer Esmail is a writer and a mom passionate about raising resilient girls to find their own voice. The mother of two girls lives in Northern California. When she is not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, horseback riding and reading with her daughters Maya and Anya. To learn more about Britta Stromeyer Esmail and her book, âRainaâs (Un)happy Birthday, visit www.rainasunhappybirthday.com . Topics of Conversation: Writing to show kids they have a voice Relatable Charac...
May 15, 2020â˘29 minâ˘Ep. 64
Geza Tatrallyay is the author of ten published books in the genres of thrillers, memoirs, poetry and childrenâs books. Born in Budapest, Hungary, Geza escaped with his family in 1956 during the Hungarian Revolution, immigrating to Canada the same year. He grew up in Toronto, attending the University of Toronto Schools, where he was school captain and graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Human Ecology. Geza was selected as a Rhodes Scholar from Ontario, attending Oxford University and g...
May 15, 2020â˘29 minâ˘Ep. 63
Michelle Burke is a highly respected and sought-after Communication, Team and leadership Coach, Consultant, and Speaker. She is Founder and President of Energy Catalyst Group, a consulting, training and coaching company for well-being. Burke has devoted her 20-year career to helping leaders, their teams and organizations thrive by increasing self-awareness, accountability and shifting negative attitudes and behaviors that get in the way of an energized life and workplace. Her deep experience and...
May 15, 2020â˘33 minâ˘Ep. 62
Don Ake is a funny guy. His humor writing is clever, witty, and totally entertaining. Instead of telling jokes, he paints funny pictures inside your head. You will smile, then snicker, and finally laugh out loud. Often you will laugh with him, sometimes you will laugh at him, but you will laugh and laugh a lot. Don takes simple everyday things and situations and makes them hilarious. His perspective on life is unique, sometimes even bizarre. His humor writing has been compared to the television ...
May 15, 2020â˘21 minâ˘Ep. 61
Anna Dopico never imaged herself as a writer but felt compelled to write the story of Phil White and Gerard Vroomen, co-founders of CervĂŠlo Cycles. Married to Phil, she had an insiderâs view of their story from when Phil and Gerard met to when they sold their company. Anna was not only Philâs wife but a business person, as well, with financing experience that proved useful after Phil and Gerard started their company. She provided a home for CervĂŠlo in the early years, became a business advisor t...
May 15, 2020â˘27 minâ˘Ep. 60
Betty Jean Craige retired from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia in 2011, after thirty-eight happy years. During this time, she published books in the fields of literature, poetry translation (from Spanish), history of ideas, ecology, and art. She curated two museum exhibitions of the art of Alvar SuĂąol and produced a documentary about him titled Alvar: His Vision and His Art , which won first place in its category in the Indie Gathering Film Festival. Her non-academic books are Conve...
May 15, 2020â˘24 minâ˘Ep. 59
A Chinese American and son of Chinese immigrants who escaped from the Communist takeover of China in 1949, Stanley Chao grew up in California in a very traditional Chinese family: living with three generations under one roof, speaking only Chinese until grade school, and learning that anything less than an A grade was unacceptable, and that working hard was the only way to get ahead in life. Chao holds a BSEE degree from Columbia University, an MSEE from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MB...
May 15, 2020â˘33 minâ˘Ep. 58
DesirĂŠe CalderĂłn de Fawaz is a writer and illustrator specializing in stories about children from different cultural and religious backgrounds; stories that have universal appeal and hidden wisdom. Born and raised in Mexico City, DesirĂŠeâs earliest memories are of painting with oils and writing poems, both natural activities in a family where writers like Jose Vasconcelos and painters like Frida Kahlo flourished. In 2015, DesirĂŠe traveled to Lebanon in search of the perfect town that would set t...
May 15, 2020â˘18 minâ˘Ep. 57
Mark Gunther has been many things in his lifeâ student, hippie, cook, husband, carpenter, father, dancer, administrator, musician, entrepreneur, athlete. He has worked in staff or board roles in small businesses and nonprofit organizations for forty years. After his daughter Eva was killed by a drunk driver in 1997, he and his wife started the Eva Gunther Foundation ( www.evafoundation.org ), to âfuel hope in the heart of a girl.â Mark received an MFA in Creative Writing in December of 2015 and ...
May 15, 2020â˘27 minâ˘Ep. 56
Sherrill S. Cannon is a former teacher and grandmother of ten and the author of nine published rhymed childrenâs stories in addition to this newest book of poetry. Her books have received fifty-eight National and International awards. âA Penny for Your Thoughtsâ is a collection of poetry she has written through the years. As a teacher, she used poetry to help counsel many troubled teens and friends and has continued this pattern throughout the years. She is also a playwright with seven published...
May 15, 2020â˘32 minâ˘Ep. 55
Dr. Diane Pomerantz is a clinical psychologist who has been in practice working with children, adolescents, and adults in the Baltimore, Maryland area for over thirty-five years. She has done extensive work in the area of trauma and child abuse, and research in the area of personality development of abused children. She currently runs Healing Through Writing groups in her practice. She is a breast cancer survivor and has two wonderful grown children. She and her shaggy dog, Rug, live amidst tall...
May 15, 2020â˘34 minâ˘Ep. 54
J. Peter (Pete) Hoyer was born and raised in New York State, about 40 miles north of NYC. He graduated from the Citadel, Military College of SC, then served a 22-year career with the Army. He traveled throughout the United States, Europe, and South Korea. After retiring from the Army, he worked 20 more years as a civilian instructor with the Department of Defense, teaching logistics, transportation, and military tactics. He has received many military and civilian awards and decorations but is mo...
May 15, 2020â˘33 minâ˘Ep. 53
Since childhood, Thomas J. Brodeur has been telling stories. Early efforts included drawing his own comics, a skill he honed from grade school through college. In high school, he composed three graphic novels and wrote his first short story. His first published novel, Regina Silsbyâs Secret War (2004), was nominated for the Scott OâDell award for historical fiction. Besides writing, Mr. Brodeur managed to graduate college and divert some attention to a multi-faceted career. His corporate experie...
May 15, 2020â˘37 minâ˘Ep. 52
