2020-05

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 career—at an age most people retire—reveals an ongoing zest for new challenges and a life-long pursuit of knowledge. Home may be in Toronto, but his love of travel and broad business knowledge accumulated from extensive experiences around the globe are evident in every chapter Gary writes.
Topics of Conversation:
Writing novels of intrigue
Using international settings
Incorporating current relevant issues into the plot
Creating authentic female characters
Interests outside of writing
Coming Soon
Snatched from a safe house in The Netherlands in the middle of the night, Howard Knight finds himself in the crosshairs of a vindictive crime boss relentlessly determined to even old scores. His lover, Janet Weissel, barely escapes the grasp of the unwelcome intruders. Her daring getaway takes an unconventional path to another country, a clandestine outfit, and a new purpose.
With The Organization’s vast resources as a backdrop, Pernicious Pursuit is a tale of survival, cunning schemes and dogged determination with seemingly insurmountable odds—while surreptitiously fighting back against deep-seated misogyny, abuse and the degradation of women by the nefarious criminal element.
Connect with Gary D. McGugan!
Website: https://www.garydmcguganbooks.comMonthly Blog: https://www.garydmcguganbooks.com/rendezvous-blogFacebook: @gary.d.mcgugan.booksTwitter: @GaryDMcGuganInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorgarydmcgugan 

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. She’s 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 (IPPYs) and at the American Book Fest Best Book. Jessica has also received numerous fellowships in recent years, including the Everett Helm Visiting Fellowship at the Lilly Library at Indiana University in Bloomington and the Eccles Centre Visiting Fellowship at The British Library in London. Jessica is a popular speaker and panelist, featured recently at events such as the US State Department’s National Poetry Month event, “Poets as Cultural Emissaries: A Conversation with Women Writers,” as well as the “Women’s Transatlantic Prison Activism Since 1960” symposium at Oxford University.
She has undertaken poetry residencies around the globe including at Hosking Houses Trust with an appointment at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in England, Paris Lit Up in France, and at the Crazy Horse Memorial and museum in South Dakota. Her work has been featured at galleries and exhibitions around the world, including IA&A Hillyer in Washington DC, The Emergency Gallery in Sweden, and Institute of American Indian Arts in New Mexico. 
Topics of Conversation:
About writing poetry
Integrating poetry with technology through her "Red/Act" Exhibition
Poetry Performance Art and her "emBODY poetry" work
How writing serves as a means of trauma management (bibliotherapy)
A reading from "Savagery" 
 
Poetry. Native American Studies. SAVAGERY joins Mehta's oeuvre as a reflection of what it means to be indigenous in today's increasingly hostile, post-colonial America. Reflecting on self, place, and space and with strong confessional leanings, SAVAGERY joins the ranks of other much-needed indigenous poetry of the era to provide a lens (and mirror) into indigenous issues and disparities while also providing a constant offering of hope. These poems are raw and very, very necessary.
Connect with Jessica Mehta
websites: www.jessicamehta.com and www.mehtafor.com
Twitter: @bookscatsyoga
Instagram: @bookscatsyoga

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 women’s writing group. In Guanajuato, where she lives with novelist Sterling Bennett, she took up the trumpet as research for her debut novel, The Trumpet Lesson. Her current writing projects set in Guanajuato include short stories and a second novel.
 
Topics of Conversation:
About “The Trumpet Lesson” and the Inspiration Behind the Story
Living in Guanajuato, Mexico
Learning to play the trumpet as research for her Novel
Bringing diverse characters together
Differences between writing fiction and non-fiction
Supporting non-profits
New projects from Dianne Romain
 
THE TRUMPET LESSON
Fascinated by a young woman’s performance of “The Lost Child” in Guanajuato’s central plaza, painfully shy expatriate Callie Quinn asks the woman for a trumpet lesson ― and ends up confronting her longing to know her own lost child.
When Callie became pregnant in 1960s rural Missouri over thirty years ago, her outraged father, with her mother’s acquiescence, insisted that no one know―and Callie complied. She went away, and she gave up her baby. She did it to protect the baby’s father―a black teen―from the era’s racist violence.
When Pamela, the trumpeter whose music flows from her heart, enters Callie’s life, Callie begins to dream of opening her own heart. But instead she remains silent, hiding her longing and risking giving up everyone she dares to love in order to safeguard her secret. Callie tells herself she does so to protect her daughter, but ultimately, in order to speak, she must confront the deepest reasons for her silence―the ones she’s been concealing even from herself.
 
CONNECT WITH DIANNE ROMAIN!
Website: https://dianneromain.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DRomainGTOTwitter: https://twitter.com/dianne_romainInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dianne_romain/YouTube Channel: Dianne Romain
Read our review of “The Trumpet Lesson”

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 Maximilian’s Treasure.  His short story, The Adventures of Sherlock Hound, was published in Mardi Allen’s collection, Dog Stories for the Soul, alongside stories from Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Willie Morris and others.  The son of a Choctaw mother and a Mississippi businessman, Judge Bell is devoted to his wife, Joanne.  They live near Jackson, Mississippi and have four children.  Judge Bell returned to law practice but is frequently called back to the bench by the Mississippi Supreme Court for short term assignments.
Topics of Conversation:
About “Maximilian’s Treasure” and the Inspiration Behind the Story
Is Maximilian’s Treasure real?
Finding solutions from our differences.
About writing to make people laugh out loud!
New projects from James Bell
 
MAXIMILIAN’S TREASURE
Rumors of a legendary treasure trigger a battle over possession of a Choctaw family farm. Two young lawyers, John Brooks and Jackson Bradley, agree to help the family keep their farm. Early legal success prompts the drive-by murder of the patriarch of the family. The grandson chases the suspects whose bodies are found on the farm, scalped. At the same time clues to a vast treasure are found on the farm. Jackson, pursued by fortune seekers, adventurers, an exotic beauty and a homicidal maniac, follows the clues from a Caribbean reef to the Chiapas jungle. John stays behind to defend the grandson and continue the fight for the farm. His efforts are complicated by arson, murder, race riots, and the realization that he lost his one true love. Though there is great distance between them, their adventures are intertwined as they rush toward a triple climax that could shake the world. Join the adventure and discover your “Maximilian’s Treasure.”
CONNECT WITH JAMES D BELL!
Website: http://maximilianstreasure.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VampireDefense
Twitter: https://twitter.com/James_D_Bell

Margaret Franceschini’s 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 col­lege writing, her essays always composed with her daily observation of their progression.
Through the years, she found the path to sincere friendships. While forming these friendships, she was able to gain trust and give these friendships emotional support. They shared the trials of young love and the conflicting decisions of their pregnancies. Weighing heavy on their hearts with this dilemma, and abandoned by the father, left them alone, with a decision of either abortion versus adoption.
Her story is a portrayal of young women of any generation that had to make a life-changing decision that, either way remained etched in their hearts for a lifetime.
Topics of Conversation:
The inspiration behind “Veil of Secrecy”
Researching her subject and the level of detail involved
Margaret’s writing journey – from poet to novelist
Personal interests outside of writing
A bit of insight into her next project
Margaret’s advice to emerging authors
 
VEIL OF SECRECY
An ambitious young woman who dreams of leaving her small town to follow her dreams learns the heartbreak of reckless love. As a young woman trapped in the confines of her small Newfoundland fishing village, sixteen-year-old Julie dreams of someday making her way out into the world and becoming a journalist. The daughter she gave up at birth must learn the same lesson, but will she follow in her mother's footsteps and give up her dreams? What happens when a daughter, given up at birth, makes the same tragic mistake as the mother she never knew? In 1950 Julie was deceived in love and had to give up not only the child of that union, but her dreams of escaping her small fishing village to become a journalist. Twenty years later, Marina, too, is deceived in love and has to forfeit her child, but dreams are not to be thwarted the second time around. The only refuge for young teen girls at that time was an old plantation pavilion called The Fold located in Nova Scotia. Hidden away on acres of lush green grass and surrounded by the wonder of the sea, The Fold holds the mystery and secrets of those who suffered emotions of forfeiting their infant and the suffering that remains within their veil of secrecy.
 
CONNECT WITH MARGARET FRANCESCHINI!
 
Website: http://www.pagepublishing.com/books/?book=veil-of-secrecyFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/VeilOfSecrecyBook/https://www.facebook.com/franceschinistoriesAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/Veil-Secrecy-Margaret-Franceschini/dp/164544080X/
 

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. He’s worked for the Associated Press, where his exposés gained national recognition, and CBS television news in Los Angeles, earning three Emmy Awards for his investigative documentaries.
His book, “Golden Ghetto: How the Americans and French Fell In and Out of Love During the Cold War,” was published in 2013. “Father Divine’s Bikes,” Book One in his Passaic River Trilogy was published in 2018. “Payback: Tales of Love, Hate and Revenge,” is the second novel in the trilogy continuing the historical noir crime drama surrounding Newark, NJ in the post WWII era.
TOPICS OF CONVERSATION:
- About “Payback – Tales of Love, Hate, and Revenge” and the Inspiration Behind the Story- The German-American Bund and the Minutemen- Redlining then and now – and other parallels in the story to current events- Personal Interest – on owning a 600 year-old property in Central France and the differences between French and American Culture
Payback – Tales of Love, Hate and Revenge, the second book of the Passaic River Trilogy, is a drama so intense that it would be improbable anywhere but 1946 Newark. Across the country millions were dealing with the loss of loved ones, and horrible memories were being buried for the greater good. But not in Newark. Two mutilated bodies were pulled from the putrid Passaic River, and the sawed-off arm of a third man was found neatly wrapped and tied at the city dump. The three victims were members of the German-American Bund, Hitler lovers who had to pay the price for supporting a murderous madman. Someone was sending a message that only revenge could clear the mind and free the soul.
CONNECT WITH STEVE BASSETT!
Website: https://stevebassettworld.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stevebassettworld/
Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/SteveBassett19
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevebassettauthor

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 hasn’t let this slow him down. Polish on his mother’s side and Montenegrin on his father’s, 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 newsmen roaming the countryside in search of, well just about everything. Sadly, their breed has vanished into the digital ether. Bassett’s targets were not selected simply by sticking pins in a map. There had to be a sense of the bizarre.
First there was The Long Branch Daily Record on the New Jersey shore. Mobsters loved the place. It was one of their favorite watering holes. A mafia soldier was gunned down not far from the paper. Great fun for a cub reporter. Curiosity got the better of him with his next choice the Pekin Daily Times located in central Illinois. Now a respected newspaper, it had once been the official voice of the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920’s. Pekin had saved its bacon during the Depression by tacitly approving two time-honored money makers, prostitution and gambling, earning an eight-page spread in Life.
Next it was the Salt Lake Tribune. The Pulitzer Prize winner was then, and still is, considered one of the best daily newspapers west of the Rockies. Bassett’s coverage of the invective laden contract talks between the United Mine Workers and the three copper mining giants led to his recruitment by the Associated Press. 
Bassett’s series for the AP in Phoenix uncovered the widespread abuses inherent in the Government’s Barcero program for Mexican contract workers. The series exposed working and housing conditions that transformed workers into virtual slave laborers, forced to buy at company stores, live in squalid housing and pay illegally collected unemployment taxes that went into the pocket of their bosses. The series led to Bassett’s promotion and transfer to the San Francisco bureau.
His final AP posting was in San Francisco. Bassett’s five-part series on the Wah Ching gained national attention by exposing the Chinese youth gang as the violent instrument of Chinatown’s criminal bosses.
Then came CBS television news in Los Angeles, three Emmy Awards for his investigative documentaries, and the prestigious Medallion Award presented by the California Bar Association for “Distinguished Reporting on the Administration of Justice.” Along the way he found time to author “The Battered Rich” (Ashley Books) exposing seldom discussed but widespread marital abuse among the affluent.
 
His book, “Golden Ghetto: How the Americans and French Fell In and Out of Love During the Cold War,” published in 2013 by Red Hen Press under its Xeno imprint, traces the sixteen-year history of what was then the largest U.S. Air Force base in Europe. It pieces together a love affair that defines trust, hope, renewal, prosperity, and finally the discovery that it was all a Cold War delusion.
His first fiction work, “Father Divine’s Bikes,” is a historical, noir crime novel set in 1945 Newark. A gangster war, three murders, a gun-toting paperboy, and the numbers racket punctuate the tragic story of two gritty altar boys adrift in a world of poverty, crime and hopelessness. The boys live in a world ripe for grifters like Father Divine and his promise of heaven on earth.
Bassett currently resides in Placitas, New Mexico with his wife Darlene Chandler Bassett.
To learn more about Steve Bassett, visit his website at www.stevebassettworld.com.
Topics of Conversation:
About Father Divine’s Bikes and the Inspiration Behind the Story
America’s Urban History
Who is Father Divine?
Multi-Generational Characters
Interests Outside of Writing
The VA and Assistance for Veterans with Disabilities

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: “I am a woman who went on a journey of self-discovery and found that my view(s) on life are determined by updates to my perspective based on new things I experience, meaning, things can change at any time.”
Learn more about Lucinda and her work at www.poetrymattersproject.org
Topics of Conversation:
History of the Poetry Matters Project
Poetry Matters Project Literary Prize – 20 Year Anniversary
Where are they now? Update on some of the past contest winners.
Getting involved – as a contestant, judge or volunteer
Poetry Diversified 2019 Anthology
Poetry Readings by Lucinda Clark

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 – including the Boston Globe Magazine, Boston Globe, New Hampshire Business Review, Boston Herald, New Hampshire Magazine – and has won New England & New Hampshire press association awards for investigative reporting, political commentary, feature and historical writing, and business journalism.
Among many adventures, he profiled James Dougherty, Marilyn Monroe’s mostly unknown unknown first husband, for Boston Globe Magazine. He also co-wrote the produced theatrical play “think twice before you think” about the life and writings of e e cummings. His essay on the history of the New Hampshire presidential primary was included in the 2008 analogy The American Presidency.
His Real America saga includes The Execution Channel: A Political Fable (2013) & End Times: More Great Adventures in Real America (2019). Penelope will be the final book in the trilogy.
He lives in Exeter, NH with his artist wife Anne and their cat Vito (the Twitter star of the family).
To learn more about Michael McCord visit his website at www.michaelmccordauthor.com.
Topics of Conversation:
A vision of “Real America”
How the Real America in the book compares to the current political climate in the U.S.
Satire – a fun book to write
How the Information Warfare plot plays out
Promoting and Self-Publishing
and more!

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.
Jeannine’s career has spanned a variety of industries and roles, but it has mostly involved analyzing lots of numbers and telling stories in numbers. Mid-career she switched it up and starting telling stories in words. She loves ice cream. Guinea pigs. Mathematics. Children. History. Practical jokes. Family. Thai food. Friends. Music. And, of course, writing.
Her first novel, The Tukor’s Journey, began in a windstorm as Jeannine and her nephews dove deep into sheltered waters seeking sparkling blue stones only visible when sunlight broke through the clouds. She built a story around that diving adventure, and over time, inspired by the encouragement of her nephews, it grew into The Tukor’s Journey series.
Jeannine enjoys nothing more than encouraging kids to seize life’s wonderful adventure and take the lead in their own powerful journey. She invites you to connect with her on social media. And she would be delighted to visit your school.
To learn more about Jeannine Kellogg visit her website at www.jeanninekellogg.com.
Topics of Conversation:
Introducing a world of adventure through extraordinary animals and locations
Encouraging outdoor adventures
Characters who use their own skills and imagination to invent and solve problems
Storytelling and instilling hope
The Publishing Industry vs. The Gaming Industry

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 Men’s Issue she created and edited for Ms. Magazine was the highest selling in the magazine’s history. She’s 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 book for the Pulitzer Prize. Her blogs are Writers Celebrate Writers and Manhattan Voyeur.                                                       
For more information on Susan Braudy and her book – visit her website at www.susanbraudy.com.
Topics of Conversation
A young woman’s sexual awakening.
America’s infatuation with the Kennedy’s
Researching historical figures
The power of language
Susan’s current project – a mystery/thriller based on a true story!
Advice for emerging authors

Melissa Muldoon is the author of three novels set in Italy: “Dreaming Sophia,” “Waking Isabella,” and “Eternally Artemisia.” 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 (studentessamatta.com). Studentessa Matta means the “crazy linguist” and has grown to include a podcast, Tutti Matti per l’Italiano and the Studentessa Matta YouTube channel, Facebook page and Instagram feed. Melissa also created Matta Italian Language Immersion Programs, which she co-leads with Italian schools in Italy to learn Italian in Italy. Through her website, she also offers the opportunities to live and study in Italy through Homestay programs.
Melissa has a B.A. in fine arts, art history and European history from Knox College, a liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, as well as a master’s degree in art history from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. She has also studied painting and art history in Florence. She is an artist, designer, and illustrated the cover art for all three of her books. Melissa is also the managing director of Matta Press.
Melissa designed and illustrated the cover art for Eternally Artemisia, Waking Isabella, and Dreaming Sophia. She also curates the Dreaming Sophia Art History blog site and Pinterest site: The Art of Loving Italy, where you will find companion pictures for all three books. Visit MelissaMuldoon.com for more information about immersion trips to learn the language with Melissa in Italy, as well as the Studentessa Matta blog for practice and tips to learn the Italian language.
To learn more about Melissa Muldoon visit her website at melissamuldoon.com.
Topics of Conversation:
Artemisia Gentileschi’s influence on the art world and her relevance to today’s women
Italy – its history and beauty
A common theme connecting all of her books
Incorporating history into historical fiction
Artistic expression
Advice for emerging authors
 
 

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 “human nature” itself can be changed, to compassion and altruism, to create a new kind of human being, who will then create a new civilization. He is a new civilization with a population of one.
His book, RE-EDUCATING MYSELF, describes his search and the answers that he found. THE MENTAL ENVIRONMENT describes the network of lies from which he extricated himself. His original songs, on “Uncle Bobby’s Record,” now have an international following.
Because he is writing from a new civilization, he can view the scientific establishment with some perspective, especially because he is not controlled by it. Also he brings to DIRTY SCIENCE original concepts such as “the mental senses,” “mental warfare,” and “psychological age,” which make this work a step ahead of the present culture.
To learn more about Dirty Science – visit dirtyscience.net. To learn more about Bob Gebelein and his other works visit bobgebelein.com.
Topics of Conversation:
What is dirty science?
Which areas of research are being targeted?
The spiritual and the psychic
How to recognize unscientific methods and educating the public
Getting the word out – read the first chapter

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 Conversation:
Writing her memoir
The different forms of abuse and how to recognize it
Consequences of abuse
Healing
Helping Others
Inspiration

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 1980’s. 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 “Wearin’ Blue.” 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 published four volumes of poetry and has released five musical CDs of his original songs.
For more information about Paul Kloschinsky and his book, “Vice and Virtue” visit his website at https://kloschinsky.com.
Topics of Conversation:
Writing Poetry
Inspiration
League of Canadian Poets
Songwriting and Photography
Poetry Readings from Vice and Virtue

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 Howe’s Private Office. She spent three years as the radio communications officer and visa assistant in the British Embassy in Sana’a, 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 B.A. (Hons) degree in Arabic with Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at Durham University where her second year was spent studying in Damascus, Syria.
She freelanced as an Arabic translator for a UN research report in Beirut, Lebanon.
She worked as an executive secretary for the British president and CEO of a large oil shipping company in Dubai, U.A.E.. Later, becoming the Business Development Director of an investment company in Dubai.
Michelle met her husband in Dubai and moved to America. Last year, they celebrated 20 years of marriage at a renewal of their vows in the same chapel in Las Vegas with their children in attendance.
Currently, Michelle is working on her second novel.  In her spare time, she enjoys volunteering, gardening and reading.
For more information about Michelle Peach and her book, “Gazelle in the Shadows” visit her website at https://michellepeach.com/
Topics of Conversation:
Story inspiration
The process of writing and research about Syria and its people
Worldly travels – 37 countries for business and pleasure
Working in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, Yemen and Djibouti.
Writing and upcoming projects
Advice for emerging authors

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, “Raina’s (Un)happy Birthday, visit www.rainasunhappybirthday.com.
Topics of Conversation:
Writing to show kids they have a voice
Relatable Characters
Working with an illustrator
About the publishing journey
Writing and upcoming projects
Advice for emerging picture book authors

Geza Tatrallyay is the author of ten published books in the genres of thrillers, memoirs, poetry and children’s 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 graduating with a BA/MA in Human Sciences. He completed his studies with a MSc in Economics from London School of Economics and Politics. Geza represented Canada as an epée fencer in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.
Geza’s professional experience has included stints in government, international organizations, finance and environmental entrepreneurship. Since 2004, he has been semi-retired, managing a few investments mainly in the clean energy sector and devoting himself to his family and his writing. Geza is a citizen of Canada and Hungary, and currently divides his time between Vermont and San Francisco.
To learn more about Geza Tatrallyay and his books visit his website: www.gezatatrallyay.com
Topics of Conversation:
The art of writing
Writing in different genres: Poetry, Memoir, Thriller, Children’s Books
His experience as an Olympian
Research and Russia
Poetry readings from his new collection, Extinction

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 knowledge consulting with Fortune 100 and 500 companies established her as a leading expert in bridging communication, team and gender gaps. Burke developed hundreds of team, leadership and energy boosting training programs which continually garner rave reviews from clients. As a coach, she works with executives and managers to adapt a mindfulness approach to their leadership capabilities and achieved great success in empowering women into leadership roles. Her work consistently results in higher productivity, stronger employee engagement, and more energized and inclusive workplaces. Some clients include Microsoft, Visa, Ernst & Young, Intel, Hewlett Packard, McDonald’s, Cobra Golf, Cisco Systems, Blue Shield, Disney, Sony Electronics, HTC, Genentech, Snap Inc., Stanford University and Sony PlayStation.
Michelle is also author of the highly acclaimed book, The Valuable Office Professional, endorsed by Ken Blanchard and was featured in Business Week, LA Times, SF Chronicle, and Wall Street Journal. Her articles appeared in Training, HR, and Chief Learning Officer, Huffington Post. She is a member of Forbes Coaches Council and participated in UCLA’s MARC intensive year-long mindfulness Program. Admired for her positive spirit, empathy, warmth and creativity, Michelle finds joy by giving back, fun adventures, reading, cooking, is a sports enthusiast and practices pausing every day.
For more information about Michelle Burke, Lilamani de Silva, and “15 Minute Pause” visit www.15minutepause.com or www.energycatalystgroup.com.
Topics of Conversation
Why it’s so important to take a 15 minute pause
How can we re-energize?
Life Energy Inventory
The Meddler vs. The Player
Feet on the Ground Challenge
Personalogy Games

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 show “Seinfeld” because the topics are so basic, but the humor so funny.
He started writing humor columns in college and began writing his popular Ake’s Pains blog in 2011. He released his first humor book, “Just Make Me A Sammich” in 2015 and followed it up with “Will There Be Free Appetizers” in 2018.
Don works as an analyst/economist in the trucking industry and has an MBA degree from the University of Akron. He resides in Northeast Ohio.
To learn more about Don Ake and his books visit his website at www.donake.net.
Topics of conversation:
 
Writing Humor
How to make even the most mundane topics funny
Humor that’s relatable and diverse
Making people laugh out loud
Who makes Don laugh?
Evolving and growing as a writer
Advice to aspiring authors