Meet The Author, Jacqueline Simon Gunn

Enjoy getting to know, Jacqueline Simon Gunn:

Thank you for joining me today. Tell us in three words how you would best describe your writing.

Emotional, psychological, thought-provoking.

Your book, Forever and One Day, was released February 6, 2018. Share a passage that you’d like for us to enjoy.

Now she looked at him and felt the what if washing over her. The desire to touch him, to remember how his lips felt kissing her mouth, her skin, her hair, felt irresistible. She gulped.

He stared into her eyes and she felt a kiss coming. Their faces hovered in an awkward dance as their mouths drew closer. She could feel the warmth of his breath against her lips. My gosh, she shivered, leaned in, then quickly pulled back. She broke the eye contact. Trying to shake the sensation, she gulped down some wine. “Justin. We can’t.”

You’ve been presented with the opportunity to be a best-selling author, but can never write again, or write forever, but never have a best seller. Which scenario sounds more tempting?

I would choose to continue writing.

If you could live on a college campus and never leave, or live in a small town but be able to travel, which one would you choose?

Small town, but be able to travel.

Okay, how about in an amusement park or in an airport?

Airport

And how about Ireland or Australia?

Australia

Who is your favorite band from the 90s (I’m thinking Counting Crows, Blink 182, Hootie & the Blowfish)?

I love so many 90’s bands, but if I have to pick I choose Pearl Jam.

Are there any good bands out there today that we’ll talk about in 50 years?

I’m sure there are, but I’m not too familiar with newer music. I’m still listening to 90’s alternative rock bands.

And what about your favorite comedy on TV (My favorite is still The Office)?

Frasier reruns.

Is there anything you’re currently working on?

I’m working on two romance novels.

Who is your favorite author, and if you could ask him/her one question, what would it be?

Irvin Yalom. I was fortunate enough to have met him and I got to ask him my question which was: How much was your fictional book, Lying on the Couch, based on real life circumstances?

Lightning round:

Ocean or mountains? Mountains

Yogurt or ice cream? Yogurt  

Chocolate or Sour Candy? Chocolate

Jimmy Fallon or Stephen Colbert? Neither

Happy or sad ending to a novel? Happy

Beer or wine? Wine

Flying or driving? Driving

Hemingway or Twain? Twain  

You’re stranded on a desert island, and you can take two things with you, as well as two people. What and who are you bringing?

Food and blankets. My husband and my dad.

You’re able to sit down with any leader in world history. Who would you choose, what would you talk about, and would you rather have him/her over to your house, or meet at their place of royalty?

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I’d like to hear his thoughts on the political atmosphere of today. I’d enjoy visiting him at his home.   

You can wish for one thing and one thing only (not world peace and no more wishes). What’s it gonna be?

Cure for cancer.

Jacqueline Simon Gunn is a Manhattan-based clinical psychologist and writer. She has authored two non-fiction books, and co-authored two others. She has published many articles, both scholarly and mainstream, and currently works as a freelance writer. Gunn is now writing fiction in both the thriller and the romance genre. Always in search of truth and fascinated by human behavior, her fiction writing, like psychology, is a way for her to explore human nature — motivation, emotions, relationships.

In addition to her clinical practice and writing, Gunn is an avid runner and reader. Gunn is currently working on multiple writing projects, including two romance novels.

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Meet The Author, Donise Sheppard

Enjoy getting to know, Donise Sheppard:

Thank you for joining me today. Tell us in three words how you would best describe your writing.

Articulate, clean, and pithy.

Your book, The Altered: Subsist, was released April 22, 2016. Share a passage that you’d like for us to enjoy.

Then several things happen at once. Daren’s face turns from playful to horror and he yells my name as I feel strong arms grab me across the waist. I see Mr. Forest look up and aim his bow as Daren begins to climb the ladder. I’m pulled back, hard, and yanked to a door that probably leads to the store below us. I try kicking and hitting and biting to get away, but it’s too late. I’m being taken. I’m going to become an altered. Or worse.

You’ve been presented with the opportunity to be a best-selling author, but can never write again, or write forever, but never have a bestseller. Which scenario sounds more tempting?

Even though being a best-seller is on my bucket list, I would give it up if it meant never getting to write again. I’m not me when I’m not writing. I will continue to write for the rest of my life, even if I never sell more than a few copies.

If you could live on a college campus and never leave, or live in a small town but be able to travel, which one would you choose?

Considering I already live in a small town, I’d have to be really unhappy to choose a college campus. Living in a small town isn’t so bad. We can go wherever and do whatever everyone else does, it just takes a little longer to get to the city.

Okay, how about in an amusement park or in an airport?

I would probably choose an airport because they have a bar area where I can sit and write and enjoy the occasional drink.

And how about Ireland or Germany?

I would move to Ireland in an instant. From the country to the cities to the culture and the accent, everything in Ireland sounds completely amazing.

Who is your favorite 90’s band (I’m thinking Counting Crows, Blink 182, Hootie & the Blowfish)?

I honestly don’t have a favorite 90’s band. I was born in ’91 and didn’t really get interested in music until I was around twelve, and then it was more solo artists than bands. Hootie and the Blowfish were pretty good, though.

Are there any good bands out there today that we’ll talk about in 50 years?

I don’t know about everyone else, but I have several bands I’ll still love in fifty years: Rascal Flatts, The Band Perry, Lady Antebellum, Sugarland, Skillet. Probably a ton more.

And what about your favorite comedy on TV (My favorite is still The Office)?

I have to pick just one? Friends is my all-time favorite, followed by Roseanne, then Will and Grace (which is back, btw). If I’m picking from current shows it would be Will and Grace, The Good Place, The Ranch, and Grace and Frankie. Yep. I can’t pick just one.

Is there anything you’re currently working on?

I have a very long work in progress list. I have a young adult, science fiction novel I’m working on, I’m editing three short stories, I have to edit two young chapter book, I’m writing a young chapter book, there is another short story about mermaids I’m working on, and a ton more story plots that I have written down.

Who is your favorite author and if you could ask him/her one question, what would it be?

I have two favorite authors: Jodi Picoult and J.M. Ames. I would ask Jodi why, with so many credentials, did she choose writing as a career. I would ask J.M. why he waiting so long to become a writer, instead of starting as a teen like most of us.

Lightning round:

Ocean or mountains?  Mountains

Yogurt or ice cream?  Ice Cream

Chocolate or Sour Candy?  Chocolate

Jimmy Fallon or Stephen Colbert? Jimmy Fallon

Happy or sad ending to a novel? Sad

Beer or wine?  Beer

Flying or driving?  Driving

Hemingway or Twain?  Hemingway

You’re stranded on a desert island, and you can take two things with you, as well as two people. What and who are you bringing?

I would bring a tarp to catch water so we don’t dehydrate, and matches to start fires to cook food. I would also bring my husband so he can hunt and tell me which plants were edible, and my dad so he could build us a boat to get off the island.

You’re able to sit down with any leader in world history. Who would you choose, what would you talk about, and would you rather have him/her over to your house, or meet at their place of royalty?

I would meet up with John F. Kennedy, who could have been America’s best president if given the chance. I would love to shake his hand and personally ask him what plans he had to make our country better. I would definitely meet at their place because I think my house may be too small for his security team.

You can wish for one thing and one thing only (not world peace and no more wishes). What’s it gonna be?

I would wish for the unlimited opportunity to travel where I want, when I want, for the rest of my, all expenses paid.

Author Bio

Donise Sheppard is a fiction writer born in Ohio, but residing in Southern West Virginia with her husband and four children. She has five self-published novels on Amazon including The Altered series, a short story published in A Haunting of Words titled “Coal Run Road”, a short story published in Tuck Magazine titled “Walk Tall”, and a short story titled “Broken” in the anthology Relationship Add Vice. When she isn’t writing, she’s reading, baking, or chasing her rambunctious children.

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Speak Easy, Speak Love, by McKelle George

Beatrice planned on a quiet summer, studying for her medical school entrance exams at her uncle’s home on Long Island. Little did she know her cousin Hero has been running a failing speakeasy out of the basement with the help of a handsome bartender, a talented blues singer, and a strangely enticing novelist.

Daring car chases, underhanded dealing with seedy crooks, and lavish parties are daily occurrences in the reckless underground world of 1920’s prohibition. And with a rival gang gunning for them and the cops close on their heels, it’ll be the most dangerous summer of their lives.

But there’s always time for a little romance…

This sparkling retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is an uproarious battle of wits with a 1920’s twist.

Pick up the new book from, McKelle George.

Meet The Author, Rhonda Jarvis

Straight out of the great state of Texas, please welcome, Rhonda Jarvis:

Thank you for joining me today. Tell us in three words how you would best describe your writing.    

Women, generational, love.

Your book, Antique Dreams, was released on January 30, 2017. Share a passage that you’d like for us to enjoy.

I ran, well let’s face it, I can’t call it run; I jogged past green grass, palms trees, kids playing in their swim suits and other common things that normally helped me have a better perspective about my day.  Dr. Cohen had been out of the office for the day.  Though the office was only open until 1:00, the day had been full of little disturbances.  A five year old boy refused to let his teeth be cleaned while his mother sat back while playing on her phone instead of discouraging his biting, scratching, fighting and screaming.  A teenage girl threw up while I was cleaning her teeth, an elderly woman sneezed in my face, and the printer stopped working in the front office.  None of these things were earth shattering; but the combination of the happenings along with my mood left me feeling quite full of angst.

You’ve been presented with the opportunity to be a best-selling author, but can never write again, or write forever, but never have a bestseller. Which scenario sounds more tempting?  

Write forever, would love the money of best-selling but writing things down calms me.

If you could live on a college campus and never leave, or live in a small town but be able to travel, which one would you choose?  

Small town and travel.  Optimum!

Okay, how about in an amusement park or in an airport?  

Airport, I love to people watch.

And how about Australia or Scotland?  

Scotland

Who is your favorite 90’s band (I’m thinking Counting Crows, Blink 182, Hootie & the Blowfish)?  

Hootie & the Blowfish, or Bryan Adams, though he was also in the 80s.  

Are there any good bands out there today that we’ll talk about in 50 years?  

Not to my knowledge, though some modern music is fun.

And what about your favorite comedy on TV (My favorite is still The Office)?  

Big Bang Theory

Is there anything you’re currently working on?  

Not specifically, only ideas.

Who is your favorite author and if you could ask him/her one question, what would it be?  

CS Lewis.  How?  How did he explain beautiful things so well?

Lightning round:

Ocean or mountains?  Ocean

Yogurt or ice cream?  Ice cream

M&M’s or Skittles?  M&M’s

Jimmy Fallon or Stephen Colbert?  Jimmy

Happy or sad ending to a novel?  Happy

Beer or wine?  Beer

Flying or driving?  Driving

Hemingway or Twain?  Tough, Hemingway

You’re stranded on a desert island, and you can take two things with you, as well as two people. What and who are you bringing?  

A water container, and a knife with my husband and my dad.

You’re able to sit down with any leader in world history. Who would you choose, what would you talk about, and would you rather have him/her over to your house or meet at their place of royalty?  

Eisenhower, I would like to meet him at his house.

You can wish for one thing and one thing only, not world peace and no more wishes. What’s it gonna be?  

People stop being so self-centered.

Bio

I am and have been an elementary teacher/stay at home mom/real estate agent/emerging writer. I taught third grade before our oldest was born. I was a domestic engineer as we moved from Oklahoma, to Maryland, to Puerto Rico. Upon moving to League City, Texas, we felt we were finally in a place where we would stay for a while. I began substituting and eventually taught first grade. We were wrong about staying for a while. After teaching one year in League City we moved to Abilene, Texas. I substituted and worked as a part time teacher but due to many things in my life, including the health of my parents in Oklahoma, I wanted something with a more flexible schedule so I became licensed to sell.  Real Estate was not as flexible as I had hoped and not my cup of tea. I stepped out of the sales position after five years and when I was half way through with this book. I’m proud to say I have completed a book, I look forward to more writing and challenging myself.

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Meet The Author, Abu Bilaal Yakub

All the way from Ontario, Canada, enjoy getting to know, Abu Bilaal Yakub:

Thank you for joining me today. Tell us in three words how you would best describe your writing.

Appealing, Beguilling and Captivating.

Your book, Amulets of Sihr, is set to release in early 2018. Share a passage that you’d like for us to enjoy.

“Stare at the stars and allow your thoughts to disperse among them. Across any realm, beyond any horizon, in a complex paradox, limitless iterations of an infinite population strive to achieve the illusion that has been created for them and very few of them ever realize that they are nothing but pawns in a much larger game of chance.”

You’ve been presented with the opportunity to be a best-selling author, but can never write again, or write forever, but never have a bestseller. Which scenario sounds more tempting?

Write forever. I may not be a bestseller but that does not mean my writing can never be and that is something I will always strive to achieve.

If you could live on a college campus and never leave, or live in a small town but be able to travel, which one would you choose?

Small town. The world is bigger than a campus dorm. Everyone knows that!

Okay, how about in an amusement park or in an airport?

That’s a tough one because I hate them both!

And how about Australia or Scotland?

Australia. I don’t fancy running into the Loch Ness.

Who is your favorite 90’s band (I’m thinking Counting Crows, Blink 182, Hootie & the Blowfish)?

Linkin Park

Are there any good bands out there today that we’ll talk about in 50 years?

I doubt that. I doubt that very much.

And what about your favorite comedy on TV (My favorite is still The Office)?

Oooooo…. The Office! Michael Scott! Are you kidding me??

Is there anything you’re currently working on?

Amulets of Sihr is the first part of a series and I’m currently working on its sequel.

Who is your favorite author and if you could ask him/her one question, what would it be?

Dan Brown. How did he concieve the idea of Da Vinci’s Code, Angels and Demons and Inferno…. Just HOW?

Lightning round:

Ocean or mountains?  Ocean

Yogurt or ice cream?  Ice Cream

M&M’s or Skittles?  M&M’s

Jimmy Fallon or Stephen Colbert? Jimmy Fallon

Happy or sad ending to a novel? Sad

Beer or wine?  Neither

Flying or driving?  Driving

Hemingway or Twain?  Twain

You’re stranded on a desert island and you can take two things with you, as well as two people. What and who are you bringing?

Ah, great. This question! Okay. A knife, another knife, and my brothers. Together, we can survive anything.

You’re able to sit down with any leader in world history. Who would you choose, what would you talk about, and would you rather have him/her over to your house or meet at their place of royalty?

Donald Trump. I would ask him how it felt to be the devil’s advocate, whether he was paid by the hour and if he had health benefits because he certainly does not seem to be representing humanity. Then I’d invite him for dinner! I’m not kidding.

You can wish for one thing and one thing only, not world peace and no more wishes. What’s it gonna be?

Wish I had a magic lamp… that’d give me three wishes right?

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