Free Author Interview: Leslie E. Stern

Author Name: Leslie E. Stern

Where can we find your book?: All the usual outlets.  Amazon, Barnesandnoble.com, and if you want a signed copy you can go to my website leslieestern.com.  Let me also mention that the cheapest place to purchase the Kindle edition is to download it directly from my website.  The only place to purchase the hardbound edition is also from my website.

How much does it cost?: $14.95 for the paperback.  $24.95 for the hardbound.

Tell us a little about your book: Dr. Emma Weiss is a beautiful, intelligent, woman who moves to Savannah, Georgia and falls in love with gorgeous Jake Stanton and believes that he has fallen in love with her. Then she learns that he is actually a long-struggling drug addict. Thus, Emma inadvertently becomes entangled in a web of deceit, drugs, and the law. Can Emma cope with Jake’s addiction to drugs and more importantly, can she overcome her addiction to him?

Do you have any upcoming projects?:  My book of poetry "Images from my Soul" is available through all the usual outlets now. I have written the screenplay for "Betrayal Beneath the Spanish Moss" and it is being pitched in Hollywood as we speak.  My next project is "Living with a Legend", a non-fiction book of anecdotes about my step-father.  Iwao Takamoto designed about 85% of the characters at Hanna-Barbera, as well as worked on some Disney classics such as "Lady and the Tramp" and "Cinderella".  It's a heart-warming look at this gentle genius and is filled with drawings done by him and for him.  It's already gotten a great deal of pre-publication buzz.

What has your journey as a writer been like?: It's been a long and rocky road.  I have always written for my own enjoyment, having written my first short story when I was ten.  I spent my career in public relations, primarily writing.  I wrote "Dreams Surpassed", which is my first novel and I hope will be published after "Living with a Legend", I was young and hopeful.  When I wrote "Betrayal", it was a story that just had to come out.  I finished the first draft in three months, unlike "Dreams Surpassed" which was a five year proposition and still needs a major edit.  I was too impatient to find a publisher for "Betrayal", so I self-published.  Big mistake!  Even with years of marketing and public relations experience, it was still difficult.

Why did you choose to self-publish?: Impatience, pure and simple.

Would I do it again?:  Never!!  Too expensive, too much work, and little results.

Please share some advice to help future authors: Don't self-publish unless you can afford to hire a marketing firm to back you up and be prepared to spend a great deal of money on book tours without seeing a profit.  Go the traditional route and perfect your query letters to send to agents or publishers.  A small publishing house is still better than self-publishing.  Do an excellent proposal and get it out there.

On the writing end, start with a basic outline.  Don't just sit down and write.  You'll never get finished and you'll edit for the rest of your life.  An outline also helps writer's block.  There will always be a portion of the book you won't feel like writing.  Those are the days when you can work on a different part of the book if you have an outline.

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Free Author Interview: Stephen O'Connor

Author Name: Stephen O’Connor

Where can we find your book? The novel The Spy in the City of Books is available on Amazon.com, along with my collection of short stories, Smokestack Lightning.

How much does it cost? I believe the novel is 17 dollars; the Kindle edition is 6.99.

Tell us a little about your book.

A little over ten years ago, I met a man who had served in the OSS during WWII. (The Office of Strategic Services was the forerunner of the CIA). He had grown up in “Little Canada” here in Lowell, MA, and went to a French-speaking school. After volunteering for what they told him would be “dangerous work,” (“I was young and stupid,” he confided), he parachuted into France and operated undercover as a spy and liaison between London and the French Forces of the Interior. I had lived in France when I was young, and already had a keen interest in the “Maquis,” or French Resistance. So I began to interview Edwin while developing a good plot for a historical novel.

Do you have any upcoming projects?

They say that drink is the curse of the working man. Work is surely the curse of the writing man, or woman. I have 50,000 words of the next novel, The Nine Hazels, but as a high school teacher I’m buried in work from September to June. I’ll try to finish it next summer. I’m also doing some free-lance writing, and developing a story for an anthology. 

What has your journey as a writer been like?

When I was in high school, my mother came home from parent night and said, “Brother Bernier says you have a ‘literary mind.’” I always thought I would write, always wrote long letters to friends (remember letters?), and academic papers. It wasn’t until I was in my forties that I said, my God, life is running out-you can’t keep thinking you are going to be a writer, you have to write. I must have written millions of words since that realization.

Did you self-publish?

I was considering it, but I was able to find small presses that were willing to publish my work. There isn’t a lot of difference, actually. You can’t get into national chains, and you have to do a lot of your own promotion.

Please share some advice to help future authors.

Well, as Eric Burden once said, “Mothers, tell your children, not to do what I have done.” I waited too long to get going. You cannot begin too soon. I used to be hypercritical. I wanted a perfect first page. That kind of attitude can paralyze a writer. Just tell the story-you can rewrite all you want.

Who is your favorite author and why?

Well, Jack Kerouac was a Lowell boy, and I love his energy. His lived for a while right up the street from my current house. One of the stories in Smokestack Lightning, “The Hipster’s Hopper,” deals with a man’s obsession with J.K. I love the masters, Joseph Conrad, James Joyce, Flannery O’Connor, and the grace and style of Henry Thoreau.

What one person has impacted your life the most?

Aside from my parents, I’d go back to Thoreau. Again, Walden Pond is a short drive from here, so I often walk there and stop at the site of his cabin. All the philosophy you need is in the last chapter of Walden.  “Only that day dawns to which we are awake.”

How did you create your characters?
Many of the characters I’ve written are based to some extent on people I’ve known, or combinations of characters. An old friend asked me, “Is this guy supposed to be me?” Maybe 40%, or one aspect of his character is you, but I’m not going to be bound by reality. I try to make reality more dramatic and characters more compelling-that’s why they call it fiction. License to lie, or should I say, invent. But I once saw a guy open a bar door and shout, “Is there someone in here I’m supposed to be afraid of?” I couldn’t invent a better way of showing a character to be a reckless brawler.

Sample Chapter:

1

At six in the morning, not only his apartment, but the entire Pollard Mansion was quiet. The dim rooms were rich with the aroma of coffee. It had been brewed by timer–to Martin LeBris’ mind one of the greatest practical uses of technology in the modern world. “As quiet as the turning of pages in the holy books at dawn,” the poet had written, and there was something sacred in the stillness that pervaded the dim apartment–his "City of Books.” In the thin light of morning, Martin went to examine them; he had been a bibliophile from the distant days when his mother had brought him to the Andover Book Store, where the little boy watched the fireplace glow among the rows of mute testaments.

With money she’d set aside from her job at Woolworth’s, she bought his Christmas presents there, two books he selected called Corsairs of the Gold Coast and Indian Warriors of the East. The fierce Mohawk, and the grizzled pirate perched with his spyglass in the rigging still peered from the ragged jacket covers among the other volumes ranged about him in leather and gold. He went to the bookcase where he had stored some of those that were in sets, or whose bindings were gilded. Most had been published in the 19th century.

He paused for a moment, watching his reflection in the glass doors of the old bookcase. It was as if his own French-Canadian grandfather were looking back at him. “Bonjour Maurice,” he said. The short thick snow-white hair, glasses, the ruddy face and even the flannel lumberjack’s shirt. He could almost hear that gruff familiar voice: “Veins ici, toi.” Come here, you.

How the years had flown, as he donned this livery of age. He shook his head and smiled at the reflection; he had become his grandfather. Martin turned the key once and opened the glass doors. He inhaled the beloved mustiness of leather and paper. Green, black, and brown were the spines, but the letters were gold. Saintly companions, soft whisperers, undying confidants. They spoke of forgotten sieges, duels, palace intrigues, falconry, conquests; the solitary guard at the king’s door, betrayed and bleeding–unwilling to yield. The secrets of the dead, the dreams of the living, and the rhymes of the forlorn poet who put trembling quill to parchment under the myrtle bough and wrote can love be rich and yet I want?

There were histories, diaries, epics, romances, speculations, musings, ramblings, essays–there was bilious colic and laudanum; currants in the orchard and tea by the fire. And of course, there was one whole shelf dedicated to the classical Greek and Roman works he collected. Between sips of the hot Colombian coffee, his hand glided over Coleridge's Table Talk and Omniana, Stevenson's Virginibus Puerisque, Kingsley’s Hypatia, and settled on a slim blue volume by  Lord David Cecil called The Stricken Deer because the title struck his fancy.

"The Stricken Deer…what is this?" he wondered. Something that he'd picked up at the Brattle Bookstore, or some flea market, and forgotten, or had never had a chance to look into. He returned to the kitchen, where Hannibal, his aged cat, raised his head, ears twitching, but did not stir. “Look at me now, Hannibal,” he said to the cat curled in its bed of fleece, “an old man in his slippers, rummaging through dusty books older even than himself. Is this the promised end?” He sighed and laughed softly.

He sat at the table and opened the book. It was a life of the poet Cowper. The tenor of the morning changed as he read the inscription on the frontispiece:

I was a stricken deer that left the herd

Long since; with many an arrow deep infixt

My panting side was charged, when I withdrew

To seek a tranquil death in distant shade.

Martin put the book down, closed his eyes and saw the face the verse had conjured–Odette. There were so many faces that lived only in memory now, but they were vivid. “I couldn't save you, Odette," he said aloud, “I'm sorry.” In the last half century, he had apologized often, through wakeful vigils in the solitary night, to that lingering ghost, which spoke to him from amid the echoes of the guns of 1944–from beyond the thin veil that separates the living from the dead in time and memory.

He gulped some coffee, and his gaze ran along the rows of books that lined the floor to ceiling shelves, this world he had created for himself–for what? To remember? To forget? To wait in a fortress of tranquility for revelation, or just for death? And waiting, to call back the days of fire-placed, rocking-chaired bookstores, the world of youth, the world of peace, before he had known killing and had to steel his mind against the smell of death, sickening wounds, and all the grim havoc of war.

Yes, he was an old man, tired of the tumult of life. He’d lived much in his mind since 1945 and sought only the companionship of the ages, of blind Homer and Marcus Aurelius. And yet he wondered whether the duty that the philosopher spoke of did not demand that he had now lain sixty years in a damp, unmarked grave near the broken remains of the woman who died for France, and for him, or for the man he was back then: Patrice Quenton, spy, inserted into occupied France to serve as a liaison between London and the French Forces of the Interior for the Office of Strategic Services. That had been his real duty, weightier than anything he owed her for love, or so they told him.

Duty–that was a word that could create moral dilemmas for a man beyond any other in the language. "If I could’ve saved you, Odette," he murmured, holding her image in his mind like a withering flower. He hadn't even been able to save her body. He would like to have placed it under a stone of black marble inscribed with her name, and the simple epitaph: Morte Pour la France. That would have been right for her. But her grave was unknown. He shook his head slowly; his eyes narrowed and his mouth turned down, the morning tinged with gray as in a low voice he spit out the words, "Nazi bastards!” Hannibal's ears twitched as he watched with eyes like yellow marbles the silent old man gazing long through the brightening window, an empty cup hanging from his hand.

The world was on fire.

The pilot, or some crewman forward, was screaming at him to jump. Martin's knees were trembling. He wanted to know if they were over the drop zone, but the Liberator shook so violently that he and the men behind him were knocked to the floor. Flak tore at the fuselage as the rattling shell of the cabin filled with choking acrid smoke.

He heard a desperate shout, "Jump for Chrissake! They got our number!” His static line was hooked. He crawled to the open door, which was not in the side but in the belly of this airplane. The craft lurched and he was thrown out before he could jump. A rush of wind and flapping fabric–then he was jerked up like a puppet on a string as the silk chute billowed.

The deep hum of engines faded from his ears as he fell away from the airplane, but the hiss and glare of anti-aircraft fire still shocked the night, exploding above him with a force that jarred his teeth, and in a matter of seconds Martin heard a roar. A fireball lit the white hemisphere of his chute, searing the dark soffit of the ragged clouds. Flaming wreckage tumbled earthward like defeated angels.  He recalled for an instant, vividly, the face of a crewman who just a few minutes before had been telling him that Winston Churchill could drink any man in England under the table and wondering at the reality that the man, and the entire  crew of nine, had been incinerated. All dead–only he–falling, falling through the night, young and scared and everything yet to come as the fates unwound the threads. Odette, I’m sorry.

Free Author Interview: David Cooper

My debut novel Hatred, Ridicule & Contempt – a legal thriller based in the UK, all about a libel action from the viewpoint of the defendant newspaper and its lawyer – can be found on Amazon via the links on my blogsite. It is $2.99 for USA buyers.
http://davidcooperbooks.blogspot.com/p/hatred-ridicule-and-contempt-prologue.html

I am looking at a follow up “serious book” about law for small businesses, but if inspiration for a further novel comes first, so much the better!

I have had an interesting journey as a writer – eleven years in the making, to be precise! I devised much of the plot for HR&C in the late nineties, and wrote a great deal of it then, only for various life upheavals to intervene. I think that was, with hindsight, probably for the better as I was able to bring twelve years’ worth of perspective and reflection back into my final push over the summer of 2011.

Why self publish? Well, can I just say that the e-publishing revolution has focused very sharply on the interests of authors and readers alike, and is just as much a liberating force as the internet itself? Taking that into account, I would most certainly do it again as and when the seeds of a new plot start to take effect.

What could I suggest to new authors? Write about what you know about, and never pass up a chance for good advice close to hand – once I had completed my first draft, my wife’s help in editing and producing ideas for refining the flow and the content were very welcome.

So who’s my favourite author? You’re expecting me to say John Grisham, I’m sure. However, given that my aim in writing HR&C was to combine the tried and tested excitement of a Grisham drama with a series of plot twists that would keep the reader guessing to the end, I’ll go for a true master of the latter – Robert Goddard, a real inspiration to me.

Promotion – now there’s an interesting one. I have my own blogsite. I am hard at work via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. I put my cover onto a set of business cards. And my reference work of choice is John Locke’s “How I made $1m from e-books…”

Character creation? I have been practising law in the UK for 25 years. I have seen working life and practice in big firms and small firms, courts and tribunals, conference chambers and (inevitably) bars. The heroes and villains all emerged that way.

And what finally drove me to get it all done and launched, many years after the idea first took shape? Partly the e-publishing boom. Partly a drive through the Deep South from Nashville to New Orleans in the summer of 2011, where plans for a worthwhile conclusion to the book came up thick and fast amid the experiences of music history, the Civil War and the skyscraper era in Chicago where the last four nights were enjoyed. And partly the imminent milestone birthday next March – well, now that I’ve had a book published, I might not need the Harley Davidson after all…

Free Author Interview: Paul Chika Emekwulu

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?  I am from Nigeria and I live in Norman, Oklahoma with my family.

What is your most recent work?  My most recent book is entitled, Mathematical Encounters.

What inspired you to write this book?  There are two reasons.  First, I do believe that some people have unique ways of exploring and investigating certain concepts (including mathematical concepts) that are of interest to them.  

Secondly, a promise I made to the US Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria.  The US Embassy in Nigeria asked me why I was petitioning for a United States non-immigrant  visa.  I told them that I was coming to the United States to explore a dream – publishing.  To me it looks like I had a contract with the embassy.  Mathematical Encounters represents the best work I have ever produced both professionally nd otherwise. With the publication of Mathematical Encounters, I felt like I did not disappoint the US embassy.  I kept my promise.
Tell us a little about Mathematical Encounters. What is it about?  Some school books are not written strictly in line with any traditional curriculum.  They fall into the category of supplemental materials.  The right supplemental materials in mathematics are analogous to novels and other reading materials.  Novels, the language of expression notwithstanding, build language skills in the areas of vocabulary, reading and comprehension, spelling, grammar etc. Similarly, the right supplemental materials in mathematics build vocabulary, computational, language, reasoning and logical thinking skills. Mathematical Encounters for the Inquisitive Mind is a unique collection of articles I’ve written over the years under different circumstances and each has some dose of mathematical insights to the inquisitive mind.  The book can help students and the general reader to be logical in their approach to mathematics and life situations.
Why did you choose to write this particular book?  Every writer knowingly or unknowingly, through his or her writings reveals a part of himself or herself to the reading public.  Mathematical Encounters is a collection of different articles I wrote over the years at different times under different real circumstances and each has some dose of mathematical insights for the inquisitive mind. While on a famous American TV show one wintry morning of 2006, Steve Wonder was asked by the host why he has not produced any music recently.  In his usual manner of twisting his head from left to right, the 55 year-old replied, "You have to experience things in order to create music."   Steve is right.  Creative writing, fiction or non-fiction, in many ways at times, is similar to creating music.  Like Steven Wonder, I feel the same way for most of the individual articles that make up this book.  For the various circumstances that led to the creation of these articles, I not only experienced most of them, I lived them as well. 
What type of readers would be interested in Mathematical Encounters?  Mathematical Encounters for the Inquisitive Mind has something for everyone. It doesn’t matter whether you are in high school or college.  Even the general reader has something to benefit from the book.  We all have inquisitive minds. Nobody stops learning.
What is special about Mathematical Encounters?  It is unique.  It is unusual.  When you pick up a book by the title, you have an expectation of what  the book will look like.  This is not so with Mathematical Encounters. When one scans through the table of contents, the book looks like an English novel  but not in its entirely. 
What differentiates it from other books in the same category?  Mathematical Encounters is unique.  It is different in many aspects. It is not written strictly in line with any particular curriculum but that does not take anything away from its relevance.  You have to really read the book to know the difference
Do you write during the day, at night or whenever you can sneak a few minutes?  You gave me three options:  day, night or whenever I can sneak a few minutes.  I will say all of the above.  I write anywhere and anytime.  I don’t really have a special place or time where or when I do my writings.  One of my book chapters was completed when I was at a detention center having been remanded in custody by the US Immigration and Naturalization Services for an expired visa.
Is there a central message you will like readers to take away from the book?  The mystery of the sewing machine was discovered in a dream.  Through a dream experience, James Watt invented ball- bearings . Through a dream, the periodic table of elements (arrangement of elements according to their physical and chemical properties) was discovered by a Russian scientist named Dmiri  Mendeleyev.  Your dream could be the source of the next invention.  Don’t take your dreams for granted.  Keep a dream journal. 
Are you working on your next book? If yes, can you tell us about it?  Yes, I am, Actually I am working on two books now.  One  is tentatively titled, Mathematical Explorations.    Mathematical Explorations is all about odd, even, Fibonacci, triangular numbers and Lucas numbers  while the second one entitled, Mathematical Paradise – Getting to Know Triangular Numbers is about triangular numbers.
Odd numbers are numbers of the form: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27...
Even numbers are numbers of the form: 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28…
Fibonacci numbers are numbers of the form: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584 …
Triangular numbers are numbers of the form: 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, 28, 36, 45, 55, 66, 78, 91, 105, 120, 136…
 Lucas numbers are numbers of the form: 1, 3, 4, 7, 11, 18, 29, 47, 76, 123…
 Have you started another book yet? If yes, what is it?  Yes, I have.  I am working on four titles.
Mathematical Explorations
Selected Dreams From My Dream Journal (Enhancing Your Creativity Through Dreams)
Mathematical Paradise Getting to Know Triangular Numbers
 Mathematical Paradise  Getting to Know Fibonacci Numbers
 What is the best advice you could give other writers about writing and publishing?  Write about what interests and inspires you.  I have a penchant for Fibonacci numbers.   I love to talk and write about triangular numbers as well.  I have a passion for these types of numbers and that is what I mostly write about.   In mathematics, these numbers are studied under what is known as number theory.
Where can readers learn about you and your books?  http://www.mathematicalencounters.com
How can they contact you directly?
pemekwulu@yahoo.com or paulemekwulu@mathematicalencounters.com
Any final thoughts you’d like to share?  Write on what you know and what you are passionate about.
What is your favorite quote, by whom, and why? Never, never give up by Winston Churchill.  Because though giving up is an option,  it is not the best option, has never been and will never be.

Do you have a website and or blog where readers can find out more? Yes, I do and the address is:
http://www.mahtematicalencounters.com
Why and when did you begin writing? The first thing I have ever written and published  was an article in a student magazine when I was at Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri, Imo state, Nigeria. It was an article on beauty which they say is in the eye of the beholder.  In this article, I looked at other things that could be beautiful other than the obvious.  Examples are well-behaved graph, innocent-looking sequence like the Fibonacci sequence or other  mathematical  patterns.  This little achievement (having an article published in a student publication) motivated me to do another article when I was a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at New Era College, Benin, Edo state of Nigeria.  This article was titled, “Teaching of Mathematics in Our Secondary Schools.”  It was published in the July 23, 1981 issue of The Nigerian Observer.  It was also published in the June 8, 1982 issue of The Renaissance, a state owned newspaper of the then defunct East Central State Government of Nigeria.  This became my ‘aha’ moment that led to bigger things including the writing and publication of Mathematical Encounters.  If anyone is interested in writing, start with a newspaper article.
 While a teacher in Nigeria, I self-published a math pamphlet which sold 100 copies in its first printing and 1000 copies in a second printing.  Shortly after I immigrated to the United States, where my fascination with writing and publishing led me to write my first full-fledged book, Magic of Numbers
What kind of advice or tips do you have for someone who wants to write and get published? Write about what interests you and inspires you.  Writing a book is the easy part while probably the most difficult part is marketing the book to the target audience for whom the book is intended.
Are there any other comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning writers? Always keep writing materials with you.  Ideas can come to you at anytime, anywhere.  Such ideas need to be written down, otherwise,  if they come back later, the original flavor could be lost.
Where can people purchase your books? People can buy Mathematical Encounters at the following sites:
http://www.xlibris.com 
http://www.amazon.com
http://www.Books-A-Million.com
http://www. Barnesandnoble.com
What do you do when you are not writing? When I am not writing, I am doing the following or some of them:
Watching favorite TV programs including The Oprah Winfrey Show (that was then).  American Idol with Jennifer Lopez, Randy Jackson, and Steve Tyler, Are You Smarter than a 5^th Grader with Jeff FoxWorthy, Smart Travels (Europe) with Rudy & Rick Steve, Dancing with the Stars on ABC, ABC Evening News with Diane Sawyer
I surf the internet frequently researching for places where Mathematical Encounters is sold.  Through such research I discovered that Mathematical Encounters is listed on over 1,500 online bookstores including Waterstones, Powells, Abebooks, Bookhills Bookstore, Emporium Books, Books-A-Million, BookDepository, Take2, Google ebookstore, Half-Price Books.com, Debonair Bookstore, Akademika, Shuler Books & Music, Tattered Bookcover, Green Apple Books, McNally Jackson Books, Diesel  Books, Fireside Books, The American Book Center, Asia Books, Eslite Bookstore etc.
 What "Made It" moments have you experienced in life? When I first applied for an entry visa into the United States my application was denied.  It was rejected because the company inviting me did not explicitly state and agree to cover my expenses for the period of the visit.  I contacted them and told them what the US embassy said.  In less than three weeks, the president of the company sent a reply saying that the company would cover my expenses for the period of my visit. My visa was granted as soon as the letter was presented to the embassy.
On December 15, 1984, my visa expired and I became an illegal alien and eventually ended up having problems with US immigration.   I was detained at the Oklahoma City county jail for a period of 25 days before being transferred to Dallas.  From Dallas I was moved to Houston for immediate deportation to Nigeria.  Before the deportation arrangements could be completed, the deportation order was reversed.  Thank God today I am now a US citizen.
You are so fascinated with Fibonacci numbers and numbers of similar nature.  Why this fascination, Paul?  Yes, I am so fascinated about Fibonacci and triangular numbers.  There are reasons for that.
Some people may be asking: What are Fibonacci numbers.  What are triangular numbers? Further still, what are Lucas numbers? (discovered by Edourd Lucas who lived from 1842-1891).
Fibonacci numbers are numbers of the form: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, x, y, x+y...
while triangular numbers are numbers of the form: 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, 28, 36, 45, 55, 66, 78, 91, 105, 120, 136, 153, 191...
And Lucas numbers are numbers of the form: 1, 3, 4, 7, 11,18, 29, 47, 76, 123, 199. 322…
The three dots at the end means that the numbers continue indefinitely.  People do wonder why I am so fascinated with these numbers.  My friends do wonder.  My wife does wonder also.
Fascination with a History
My fascination with Fibonacci numbers has a history. I was exposed to this innocent-looking sequence called the Fibonacci sequence while I was a student at Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri, Imo state, Nigeria by an American math professor, Mr. Edward Himes. Since then I have been exploring Fibonacci numbers on my own. My explorations have been very fascinating. I will surely share these with you. But first, let me say this.
I wish I had the language of a fine artist.  I wish I had the language of a musician.  I wish I had the language of a poet.  I wish I had all these different languages to fully express my excitement and fascination for this number sequence that has attracted the attention of amateur and professional mathematicians for centuries.
The Fibonacci sequence as it is called was discovered by an Italian mathematician, Filius Bonacci more than 800 years ago.
Self-Exploration of Fibonacci and Triangular Numbers
In my exploration, I found out that there is a relationship between Fibonacci numbers and triangular numbers. This relationship is in form of a formula. This then led me to explore with substantial success the formula for finding the:
nth term of the following:
(i) even-subscripted Fibonacci numbers {1, 3, 8, 21, 55...}
(ii) odd-subscripted Fibonacci numbers  {1, 2, 5, 13. 34...}
(iii) odd-subscripted triangular numbers  {1, 6, 15, 28,36...}
(iv) even-subscripted triangular numbers {3, 10, 21, 36, 55 ...}
Summation strategy for first n terms of the following:
(i) Fibonacci numbers
(ii) even-subscripted Fibonacci numbers
(iii) odd-subscripted Fibonacci numbers
(iv)  triangular numbers {1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, 28...}
(vii) Lucas numbers {1, 3, 4, 7, 11, 18, 29, 47…}
 Is there anything you would like to add?
Thank you for having me.

 

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Free Author Interview: Janice Richards

In

Author Name: Janice N. Richards

A memoir “Growing Up in the Rockies”

“Growing Up in the Rockies” is a memoir of a happy childhood growing up in a mining town. It’s about a community where neighbors looked out for one another and still do. It’s about mother nature being your backyard and living with the environment. It’s about a time when it was safe.

My heart drifts back to the Rocky Mountains as I sit and look out the window, I see the snow that once brought such joy to my heart. I remember the days when I would have been known as a “Snow Bunny.” I think of my poor mother, and how difficult it was for her to keep me indoors. I was a mountain girl who climbed the mountains, and I chased the animals. I found all of God’s creatures beautiful. I was my father’s child. He roamed the wilderness and I learned from him. I loved to live life and I was very, very happy. It makes me very sad when I think of children who have not experienced such happiness, for I was one of the lucky ones. That is why I wish to share my life with you.

It is hard for me to know where to begin as I remember back on the life that I loved and miss so much to this day. I will begin with the memories that stand out in my heart and are what made me the person I am today. I will try the best that I can to divide the book by the four seasons, although the seasons have changed. Some memories will overlap into other seasons. However, life seems to run according to the events of the seasons and this will help to organize my memoirs.

Books may be ordered from the following outlets:

Authorhouse.com (self-publisher)

Amazon.com

Barnes and Nobles.com

Goggle.com

Autographed copies can be ordered directly through me by contacting me either on my blog site or on facebook.

On line prices differ from retail store prices.

Growing Up in the Rockies – 220 page memoir of a Happy Childhood These prices are only good if ordered online with authorhose.com

In addition she has written:

Dreams of Yesterday a collection of poetry

 Upcoming projects:

“Coming of Age in the Rockies: The Rebel Within”

“Montana’s Horse Range” poetry

“Grandma’s Pantry” poetry

“ Let’s Have Fun” for parents and teachers

“ Real Life Short Stories”

“Behind Closed Doors” 40 years of one teacher’s experiences.

“Apples or Nana’s” children’s story

“Mercedes Lynn with Love” a grandmother’s journey

My writing experiences mainly started as a teacher as I journeyed with my students through the writing process. Then after a divorce I turned to writing music lyrics as a therapeutic release however, it was very time consuming. That’s when I switched to poetry. My mother for years wanted me to write about my teaching experiences as I would come home and tell stories. I wanted to write my memoir about a happy childhood, because over the years I have seen the life style I grew up with disappear. Now children stay inside in front of computers or other technology games. I grew up when we spent most of our time outdoors. I wanted to share those memories. I continue to write about those things that are very important and close to my life. My life has been strongly influenced by my family and I want to share that with others. My teaching has strongly influenced me and all of my experiences have made me the person I am today.

I am not writing for a career or posterity. I do not have the time in my life to wait and worry about rejection letters. I chose to self publish because I want my books published for me. It has allowed me to maintain control and publish the way I want.

I plan to continue writing and publishing as long as I am able to do so, and will continue to self publish.

Advice to help future authors.

 “No one is perfect so writing isn’t perfect but it can be perfected.” ~ Janice N. Richards

Some very important guidelines should be followed when writing. I have made these very generic so that they don’t address any specific genre. They can be used with all genres. However, a specific genre like science fiction may require some additional areas of proofing not listed her. Keep in mind this is general.

·         Purpose for writing: Pick a topic, theme, or idea and stay with it. The words should flow naturally. Don’t try to write with words you never use it will become unnatural.

·         Audience writing too:  Determine who will be reading your writing and write to their interests, their, goals, their dreams, their purpose for reading what you wrote but write with your passion.

·         Start writing and do not stop until you have finished a poem, a section, or a chapter. Write without editing while your ideas are flowing creatively. You can always go back and change things. Make sure stanzas, paragraphs, chapters, and sections connect to one another.

·         Your ending should be as strong as your beginning, connect them together.

·         Proofreading: Do not proof for all the mechanical areas at one proofing. Use spell check before you start. Remember spelling and grammar are two different checks on the computer. Don’t expect spell check to catch grammar errors. Also, it is limited to the dictionary that was installed into your computer. If you aren’t sure use online dictionary or a hard bound dictionary. If you have an updated Microsoft program it will give you the rules for change, make sure you read them so you learn them for future writings. NEVER, NEVER, TRY TO DO THEM ALL IN ONE SITTING IT WON’T WORK. THAT’S WHY I USE ONE SITTING PER LISTED AREA.

·         a proofing for spelling,

·         a proofing for verb usage – tense,

·         a proofing for punctuation,

·         a proofing for correct sentence structure,

·         a proofing for word usage – don’t over use words this is where a thesaurus can be your best friend,

·         proof for capitalization – proper nouns, and last but not least

·         proof content area. Did you say what you meant and did you stick with the purpose. Don’t ramble, delete duplications.

·         I use different colored high lighters for the types of errors so if you are proofing seven areas you would use seven colors. I do that for two reasons.

·         First I want to see what types of errors I am making most frequently. Second I want to know if the errors are my errors or the publishers’ errors as it affects how you pay for corrections.

·         You will go through this process of proofing and editing and rewriting until you have a flawless work.

·         Average times proofing for a professional writer is twenty plus times.

·         Never edit your book when you are sleepy, hungry, or angry.

·         Frequent breaks are needed. It is recommended that every 15 minutes you get up go for a walk, stretch, get something to eat do anything but it is best that you do something where you won’t be sitting.

·         Remember to save all drafts, revisions, and proofs, it will safe you work in the end.

·         Always have more than one copy stored either on CD’s an external hard drive , a flash drive, in your email inbox, and on your computer. That way if computer’s crash you will be able to access the information without loosing everything. Store photos, music, and anything else you are using separate from the text and have it on backups. They are very time-consuming to redo.

·         Learn to cut and paste it will make your life easier.

·         Learn as much technology as you can.

·         Blog, tweet, and post on Facebook, website

·         Remember no one can publish your work until you give final approval. Don’t be afraid to reject it if the layout looks wrong, the print job isn’t right, or if corrections haven’t been made. I reject my last cover three times before I would accept the color they used.

·         Stay in control of your publishing after all your name is attached to it.

·         Maintain control of royalties, rights, and copyrights,

·         Market and sell your writings

·         Never sign a contract without having someone else go over it especially someone in the business.

·         Last but not least. If you are a writer you have a passion. Enjoy your passion and the journey it takes you on. Remember the more you write the more your writing will change and the more you will grow with it.

 My favorite author is Mark Twain and his book Tom Sawyer. I was able to relate to that style of living and enjoy it from the perspective of a real life style experience.

My father had the largest impact on my life in regards to appreciating nature and leaving the environment the way you found it. He instilled values of respect and responsibility in me. My mother was also a big influence on encourage my writing and the values that my father instilled.

I am driven to write because I don’t want future generations to forget what this country is all about. Much of what I grew up with has already been forgotten. All we hear on the news is the bad and the ugly. I want to remind future generations of a time when families were supportive of each other, the streets were safe to walk and neighbors looked out for each other. I want to remind society of the importance of commitment and responsibility. I want to promote the fact that life can still find happiness. I feel that we can return our society to that if generations work for it. I want people to remember the simple life and it’s benefits. I also want people to know they aren’t alone. There is always someone else out there that is sharing life’s problems.

 My book is being promoted on line through various sites, my block site at http://cjanasdreams.wordpress.com

I am also being promoted through twitter under authorconsult: on facebook under Janice N. Richards “Best Selling Authors. I have a promoter in Australia that is working with me. I am also currently scheduling book signings and local craft fairs for the holiday seasons. News information has gone out to over 500 news media stations. I will do radio and television interviews. I recently gave a presentation at the College of Southern Idaho. I will continue as a guest speaker upon requests.

I grew up with a disability and the teachers never thought I would finish high school. I went on to graduate from college and became a teacher. I have often over come hurdles in my life and continue to do so. I want others to know that you are the only one who knows your limitations. I am currently disabled but I continue to be a productive citizen.

My characters have been from real life stories. However, I am going to tackle a story that is not real life. I will use traits from a variety of people I have either seen or known over the many years.

When I started my memoir, it was much different from my poetry. My poetry was a collection written over a twenty-year span. However, my memoir I had to organize and decide how I was going to do that.

For me it was easier to put it into seasons. First, I did a table of contents for my outline. Then I just started writing, and kept writing. If I thought of something out of place I put it in my notes and later went back and did a cut and paste. Having it lined out by the seasons and months of the years made it easy for me to keep it in a sequence. Then after the writing was done I went back and added images and some poetry.

I can write anytime of day. However, since I am retired I decided to work it like a business. When I get up in the morning, I first check my emails just as I would have done at work. When I am finished with emails, I start writing. I take frequent fifteen-minute breaks so that I am not sitting too long at the computer. I stop for a lunch hour and dinner hour. I only write in the evening now when I am in the mood or working hard to finish. I try now to keep it to an eight-hour schedule. That way it allows me to do other marketing issues, proofing and personal life activities.

How do you juggle life around your writing?  By having a routine, it allows me to have time for everything. I live with my cats and one son. My cats are sleeping when I write. Although one cat has his box on my desk so, he can sleep next to me while I work. My son is off doing his own thing. I don’t take personal calls during the daytime when I write. My friends know to call me after five pm. My frequent breaks allow me to do household chores. I am a retired disabled teacher, so I rarely go out of the house. However, on a day when I do go out, I don’t write at all.

I was fortunate and grew up around the printing business, as my father was a printer. However, learning how self-publisher’s work has been somewhat different. I have learned that you really need to research and know as much as you possibly can. I have improved my technology skills, my being pro-active with publishers, and my marketing skills. However, writers are continually learning and finding new methods and outlets. Having access to other authors and their knowledge has been of great value to me.  I continue to communicate with them online and read their blog sites. I think one of the biggest struggles for any writer is the financial struggle.

What criticisms have helped you grow as a writer?  The main criticism that I have run into is proof your work, which all writers need to understand, and double check your publishers because you think it’s been corrected but it doesn’t always happen. The other is time elements. Once people know your book is coming out it drives them nuts if they have to wait. I have learned not to say anything too soon until I know it’s ready to hit the market. That way no one is disappointed if it takes longer to publish than anticipated.

Life is a journey you take the good with the bad. I am inviting everyone to come along and journey with me through the bumps in the roads. I don’t know what I will write until I do it. However, this is my legacy to my sons and the world. Please come on in and see how much we have in common. I hope that in someway I can touch my reader’s life.

 Happy writing!

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