Author: Marissa DeCuir

A former award-winning journalist with national exposure, Marissa now oversees the day-to-day operation of the Books Forward author branding and book marketing firm, along with our indie publishing support sister company Books Fluent. Born and bred in Louisiana, currently living in New Orleans, she has lived and developed a strong base for our company and authors in Chicago and Nashville. Her journalism work has appeared in USA Today, National Geographic and other major publications. She is now interviewed by media on best practices for book marketing.

AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR WRITES OF KOREA 40 YEARS LATER IN DEBUT NOVEL

Posted on February 10, 2019 | by Marissa DeCuir

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Staunton, VA – Library of Virginia Literary Award winning author of the short story collection What the Zhang Boys Know Clifford Garstang combines his international experience and Virginia roots in The Shaman of Turtle Valley (Braddock Avenue Books, May 14, 2019), which explores the healing of wounds —in families, nations, and landscape— and the challenges in bridging cultural gaps.

After graduating from college, Garstang spent two years in the Peace Corps teaching English in South Korea. His time abroad helped guide him into the practice of international law in the United States and overseas. Garstang has returned to Korea in his first novel, The Shaman of Turtle Valley. He explores the collision of culture and family conflict, the lasting effects of warfare, and our universal need to heal from life’s greatest tragedies.

While stationed in Seoul, Garstang’s character Aiken Alexander gets a Korean girl pregnant and tries to make things right by marrying her and bringing her back to America, though their relationship is disapproved by both families. Garstang’s characters explore the mysteries of both Appalachian and Korean traditions, the need for conciliation in light of abuse and conflict, and tolerance through the lens of a man trying to keep his family together and maintain his morality.

Clifford Garstang is a former international lawyer and prize-winning author of the story collections, In an Uncharted Country and What the Zhang Boys Know, and editor of the anthology series, Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction from a Small Planet. With degrees from Northwestern University, Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law, and Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Garstang was an international lawyer in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Singapore and a legal reform consultant in Kazakhstan. Learn more at: https://cliffordgarstang.com/

The Shaman of Turtle Valley
Clifford Garstang | May 14, 2019 | Braddock Avenue Books
ISBN: 978-1-7328956-0-9
Literary Fiction

In an interview, Clifford Garstang can discuss:

His time as a Peace Corps Volunteer and how America’s foreign relationships have changed since his time in Korea
His years working in legal reform and international development with the World Bank
How he views the current situation with North Korea
What he did to prepare himself to write fiction after a twenty-year career in international law
His writing process as he transitioned from writing short fiction to his first novel
How he mixes fictional elements with real-life places and people in order to establish a tangible sense of reality in his writing
His personal experiences with cultural collision as someone who has lived overseas many times
His many-year journey to publication and advice to emerging authors

An Interview with Clifford Garstang

What do you hope readers take away from The Shaman of Turtle Valley?
I hope they will see the similarities between Korean and American values, especially the importance placed on family. But I also hope they’ll think about the importance of healing wounds and the need for redemption.

How has your background in international law and teaching English in a foreign country influenced your writing?
Living and working overseas definitely expanded my horizons in terms of the subject matter I explore as well as the kinds of characters who populate my fiction. Many writers treasure the learning in the process of writing, and I think that’s what global citizens have to do.

What memories of your time in the Peace Corps in Korea served you for the creation of this novel?
Because my time in Korea was my first international experience, everything was new and made an impression. For one thing, I found Korean society both friendly and closed at the same time, suspicious of outsiders. But I also found the history and culture fascinating, particularly my first exposure to Buddhism and Korea’s indigenous shamanistic practices.

In the future, what parts of the world would you like to incorporate in your fiction?
I’m currently working on a novel set in Singapore, where I lived for many years, and I’ve given some thought to a book set in China, where I visited many times during my legal work.

Marissa DeCuir

Born and bred in Louisiana, currently living in New Orleans, she has lived and developed a strong base for our company and authors in Chicago and Nashville. Her journalism work has appeared in USA Today, National Geographic and other major publications. She is now interviewed by media on best practices for book marketing.

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

IN PURSUIT OF JUSTICE, A GIRL’S GOTTA CUT A FEW CORNERS

Posted on February 10, 2019 | by Marissa DeCuir

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Caroline Taylor’s latest crime thriller: the hot spring release everyone’s waiting for

PITTSBORO, NC– No stranger to the thriller world, veteran author Caroline Taylor is back with her latest thriller with more action, adventure, and narrow escapes. Death in Delmarva (Black Rose Writing, March 21, 2019) will keep you turning the pages until every secret is revealed.

Daphne Dunn works as a lowly stockroom clerk in her cousin’s Foggy Bottom grocery store. She’s also required to play bill collector to customers who aren’t paying for their food, including pregnant Beatriz Cabeza de Vaca, who used to keep house for Daphne’s family in better times.

When Beatriz is stabbed to death outside her apartment, Daphne learns the baby has survived and sets out to find the baby’s missing father. She gets sidetracked when a friend facing life-threatening surgery asks Daphne to locate his sister, Charlie. Except for the lip ring and a nasty drug habit, Charlie could be Daphne’s twin.

The search for both people leads Daphne to the Delmarva Peninsula and a woman so desperate to cover her crimes against undocumented workers that she will kill anyone in her way, including Charlie and quite possibly the girl’s mirror image, Daphne Dunn.

CAROLINE TAYLOR is the author of four mystery novels—What Are Friends For?, Jewelry from a Grave, Loose Ends, and The Typist—and a collection of short stories, Enough: Thirty Stories of Fielding Life’s Little Curve Balls. A longtime resident of Washington, D.C., Caroline now lives in North Carolina. Read more of her numerous short stories and essays featured on her website at www.carolinestories.com.

Death in Delmarva
Caroline Taylor | March 21, 2019 | Black Rose Writing
ISBN: 978-1-68433-225-0 | Price: $18.95
Thriller

“An irresistible read filled with plenty of action—a dead voice coach, a
missing junkie, a drive-by shooting, double murder-arson, shipments of
mysterious merchandise—and the most inventive, tender-hearted amateur detective you’d ever want to meet. I loved this book and found it nearly impossible to put down.”
—Vicki Salloum, author of Waiting for You at Midnight and Candyland

In an interview, CAROLINE TAYLOR can discuss:

The original title— Dead Ringer—and its success as a finalist for the 2016 FREDDIE award for writing excellence
Why the book evolved from a proposed third in the Annapolis-based P.J. Smythe series to a stand-alone thriller
Writing a novel set in DC that is not the standard “Washington thriller” featuring corruption at the highest levels or global conspiracies
Portraying the lives of senior citizens who are not as invisible as most people imagine

An Interview with Caroline Taylor

Death in Delmarva touches on issues of immigrant trafficking. What inspired you to use this in your story?
The demand for workers in low-level, back-breaking jobs brings people here who are willing to do whatever it takes to support their families. This book was written before the migrant caravans of people seeking asylum filled the news. The caravans were begun as a way to achieve safety in numbers and avoid the plight of immigrants traveling alone and subject to trafficking. I wanted to showcase their desperation, which touched me deeply.

Why did you choose for Daphne, the story’s protagonist, to work as a clerk in a grocery store?
I wanted her to have a job—like the immigrant workers—that sucked. She, in a different sense, is also desperate for a paycheck. So she has to do whatever she’s told, but that doesn’t mean she
has to like it.

You’re becoming quite the seasoned writer. Did the process of researching and writing this book take you, either mentally or physically, to any new places?
It would be presumptuous to imagine what it’s really like to be an immigrant worker in the poultry industry or a low-level stockroom clerk or a retired lady of the evening, so it was scary exploring these aspects of people’s lives. I can only hope I got it right.

What advice do you have for writer’s experimenting with writing in different genres or styles?
Give it a try, but it may turn out your forte is in one or two genres. You really can’t write a western very well if you haven’t lived there, but you can write a historical novel with a little help from the library and the Internet.

You seem to have mastered the cliff-hanger in Death in Delmarva. Can we expect more to come in Daphne’s story?
Based on my experience with the first two novels, I am not a believer in trying to write a series character. It was fate that made the publisher of those two mysteries decide not to publish mysteries any longer, but I had trouble finding a publisher willing to pick up the series midstream. So I’ll just stick with the stand-alone.

Marissa DeCuir

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

Writer examines ideas of justice and revenge while handling delicate subjects with sensitivity in debut novel ‘Eye for Eye’

Posted on February 10, 2019 | by Marissa DeCuir

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Retrain your brain to drink less and feel better with hypnotherapist Georgia Foster

CORAL GABLES, FL – J.K. Franko’s debut thriller ‘Eye for Eye’ (June 22, Talion Publishing) explores how far normal people will go, given the right circumstances, to avenge wrongs when the legal system fails them.

The first book in the Talion series, “Eye for Eye” follows two sets of parents who seek revenge for crimes committed against their children: two families, two daughters. One killed by a driver texting at the wheel. The other date-raped by a young man the courts judge “innocent.”

In a story of vigilantism and revenge, Franko writes with sensitivity about delicate subjects like college rape culture and sexuality; with wit and cynicism about a broken legal system; and with dark humor about planning and getting away with murder. A fast pace and numerous unpredictable twists make “Eye for Eye” a guilty pleasure, a standout contribution to the thriller genre.

J.K. FRANKO holds a BA in Philosophy from the University of the Incarnate Word, a JD from St. Mary’s Law School where he served as Law Journal Editor, an MBA from UT Austin, and completed PhD work at UT Austin. As a lawyer, he was able to pursue a passion for writing, and his non-fiction work has been cited by courts and appeared on the National Law Journal’s “Worth Reading” list. True to his Cuban-American roots, Franko now lives in Florida with his wife and three children. For more information on J.K. Franko visit jkfranko.com.

Eye for Eye
J.K. Franko | April 8, 2019 | Talion Publishing
Paperback | 978-1-9993188-0-2 | Price:
Thriller

In an interview, J.K. Franko can discuss:

His firm belief in the outline process and the form his outlines generally take
What inspired him to write a book focused on trauma
His background in law and business and how this informs his writings
Authors and books that inspire him
How he implemented specific locations in the book based on his local connections
How he approached writing about controversial topics
Why the legal system often fails to deliver justice
Whether there is a place for vigilantism in modern society
The twenty-year slog to finishing his first novel
Why it is still possible to get away with murder
Fake news, Orson Welles, and the UK marketing for “Eye for Eye”

An Interview with J.K. Franko

Do you have a method that you typically practice when you write?
The most critical part of writing for me is outlining. It’s also the most time consuming. When you’re weaving multiple story arcs together, putting all the pieces together in a way that makes it easy for the reader to keep up with plots and subplots is critical. It’s like assembling a puzzle.

How does your education and involvement with the justice system inform the themes you explore in this book?
Working as a trial lawyer you learn how to craft a story that is a specific version of reality based on the facts that best serve your client’s interests. But, you also learn how alternate versions of reality can be supported by the same facts. That sort of training is great for being able to present a story in a way that takes the reader down one path, but then twists in a different direction that is surprising, but consistent with the same set of facts. That’s probably why there are so many twists built into my novels.

Do you think that revenge and justice are mutually exclusive?
As far as the target or focus of the justice or revenge is concerned, there is no difference. The verbs associated with the two words tell you a lot. Justice is “meted out” while revenge is “inflicted.” Justice is an almost institutional concept in terms of how it is rendered, while revenge is much more personal. In the last decade, social media has made everything more personal – from advertising, to shopping to, to politics. One of the themes the Talion Series grapples with is the blurring between justice and revenge based simply on the addition of that personal, social component.

How did you deal with writing a story with such traumatic and violent elements?
How violence is portrayed in a story to some degree depends on the genre. The way a killing scene is written in a horror novel—for example—is very different from how it would be written in a drama or a romance novel. For purposes of this book, the violent elements are critical to the storyline, but descriptively are not something that most readers are “into.” That said—I have had readers who wanted more “detail” on some elements of the violence, and I actually had one editor that “quit” because they were uncomfortable with “the morality of the storyline.”

The production of this book was a long process — what made you keep going?
I started writing fiction in the year 2000 – and this is my first completed novel – so yeah, a very long process. That said, I wrote the first draft of Eye for Eye in a month. Revisions and editing took a bit longer. Over the course of the last almost twenty years, I have been writing fiction on and off. Started and abandoned seven or eight novels. From each, I learned something about how to write better. It all came together for this book.

Marissa DeCuir

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

Research-based guidebook promotes happier and healthier drinking––cut back without quitting

Posted on February 10, 2019 | by Marissa DeCuir

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Retrain your brain to drink less and feel better with hypnotherapist Georgia Foster

MELBOURNE, Australia – Increased alcohol consumption in society today is rarely out of the news. Most therapies and therapists offer an all-or-nothing solution—give up completely or give in to the drink. Clinical hypnotherapist Georgia Foster offers a new middle way for drinkers to reduce their alcohol intake in her book, “Drink Less in 7 Days” (Red Door Publishing, 2/1/19).

Georgia Foster is a world-leading therapist, specializing in over-drinking behavior (as well as anxiety, self-esteem and other issues that are correlated with “problem drinking”). Foster wrote “Drink Less in 7 Days” after gathering information from her popular therapy courses in Australia––a country notorious for binge drinking––which have a 95% success rate in helping patients to reduce alcohol consumption. Questionnaires and other interactive materials in the book personalize the reading and learning experience, making it easier for anyone to rewire their brain to accept more balanced drinking habits.

GEORGIA FOSTER is a clinical hypnotherapist & voice dialogue trainer. She qualified with distinction at The London College of Clinical Hypnosis in 1996. She then went on to become one of the college’s senior lecturers before venturing out on her own to build her online products while running her busy London Clinic. Georgia now resides in Melbourne, Australia. She specializes in alcohol reduction, emotional overeating, self-esteem, anxiety, and fertility issues. Her unique and highly successful approach has helped tens of thousands of people learn how to feel better emotionally and physically. To learn more visit www.georgiafoster.com.

Drink Less in 7 Days
Georgia Foster | February 1, 2019 | Red Door Publishing
Format ISBN: 978-1-910453-57-5 | Price: $14.62
Health

In an interview, Georgia Foster can discuss:

The importance of focusing on our thinking (instead of our drinking) in managing alcohol consumption
What Voice Dialogue Theory is and how it pertains to the many different reasons people overdrink
The role an “Inner Critic” plays in our drinking habits
How some former “problem drinkers” are able to manage drinking without cutting it out completely
Hypnotherapy and its role in her 7-day drinking program

An Interview with Georgia Foster

Tell us more about the “Inner Critic” and how it impacts our drinking habits.
The Inner Critic is the driver to someone drinking too much. It is the critical and judgmental voice within that makes us feel vulnerable. If someone has a strong Inner Critic they will typically have self esteem and anxiety issues and may use alcohol to suppress their fears about life.

What a lot of drinkers don’t know is that when we drink alcohol the Inner Critic goes away. The critical part of the brain shuts down when we drink, which stimulates relaxation, calm, confidence and a ‘Don’t care anymore’ attitude. Unbeknown to the drinker, they are not drinking for the sake of it, they are drinking to run away from self doubt and fears the Inner Critic stimulates. It’s not the alcohol itself, it’s the emotions the alcohol creates that people get addicted to.
If someone uses alcohol to run away from the Inner Critic, over a period of time this becomes an emotional habit, which is why it is hard for people to reduce their drinking.

Also, if someone has a strong Inner Critic and drinks to suppress it, in the morning when they wake feeling a little hungover, the Inner Critic comes out to play again. The vicious cycle of needing to drink to relieve it’s negativity will stir in the background all day until they drink. This is why reduction can appear to be such a problem.

The goal of my book, “Drink Less In 7 Days,” is to train the brain to reduce Inner Critic time and improve sober coping strategies without needing to drink. When drinkers don’t have that Inner Critic making them feel worried about everything, the domino effect is there isn’t that frenzy to drink quickly or as much. This is an extremely liberating experience and improves general emotional well being straight away!

What role does hypnotherapy play in your program? Can everyone be hypnotized?
Yes, everybody can. It is a natural brain wave experience that we all go into just before we go to sleep and just before we wake. It is a heightened state of around 20 minutes where your mind can create positive emotional changes very quickly — hence why the book gets great results within just 7 days.

Many people ask me what is the difference between meditation and hypnosis. Both these brain wave activities are exactly the same. However, unlike meditation there isn’t an expectation to focus or think of a mantra. This can be difficult for ‘Perfectionists’ who can’t relax enough and find it stressful to try and think of nothing. Whereas hypnosis is more relaxing because there are no expectations on the listener. The digital recordings that come with the book do all the work, so there is no pressure to focus, relax or drift deeply. Although, ironically most people do drift as it is very relaxing.

How did your own relationship with alcohol inform your seven-day plan?
I drink. I am an Australian and Aussie’s are known as big drinkers. I have the odd hangover, I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. The purpose of the book is for drinkers to reduce their regular habitual drinking that they know inhibits their emotional wellbeing. I encourage people to have at least two Alcohol-Free Days per week, so they can gain sober confidence in all areas of their lives. I used to drink because I was socially shy and felt less than everyone else. I had a lot of self-esteem issues and this reflected in me not feeling confident without a glass of wine in my hand.

What is the difference between what you identify as an “emotional drinker” and an alcoholic? Can your approach be used for both issues?
It is a very common and good question to ask. The answer is slightly blurred, as hard liner AA types will probably disagree with me, so I do apologise in advance! An emotional drinker is someone who is aware their drinking interferes with their lives from time to time but it doesn’t affect their general life and wellbeing. They are very aware that alcohol can be a reflex action to challenges and stressful times but it does not destroy family life and work life. Whereas an alcoholic is someone who once they have one drink can’t stop to the detriment of family, friends and their professional life. They drink to complete oblivion each time they drink. There are many doctors who suggest there is the ‘alcoholic gene’ some people inherit. I believe it’s an emotional gene. We can without consciously knowing it, mimic our parents behaviours both positive and negative.

Do you think some people need to quit and not cut back?
There are many people who have decided to quit drinking completely. These types of drinkers I call them the “All or nothing drinker!” They can’t just have a few drinks. They abstain completely because they can’t trust themselves with alcohol. They are highly anxious drinkers and tend to be the Perfectionist drinking personality that I cover in the book. I might add, I am not suggesting people who have quit should start drinking again. This book is for those who would like to drink less and resonate with my approach.

How do you measure the success of your program? Is there a drinking-reduction percentage you aim for with your clients?
The goal of “Drink Less In 7 Days” is to reduce alcohol consumption by up to 50%. For some people that will be half a bottle of wine, for others it will be 4 beers. I don’t set rules. I want drinkers to achieve success so I don’t talk about the standard glass measurement, as this freaks a lot of people out. Most worried drinkers drink more than the recommended amount.

My suggestion is drinkers should hydrate with water while they drink alcohol, I call this DOWO, drink one, water one. This will naturally slow down drinking whilst making sure they try to eat whilst consuming alcohol, which will also help to drink slowly too. This is all part of the hypnosis training which is great, as people just notice they are calmer before they drink, so they drink more slowly and enjoy hydrating themselves with water.

What do you recommend for people who find themselves part of a “drinking culture” that seems inescapable––whether with family, friends, co-workers or geographic location?
The Pleaser personality trait can tend to drink to please others, even when they don’t want to drink. It could be a boring social situation that can stimulate the desire to drink too much or it could be family issues and drinking seems to alleviate the stress of it. I know a lot of people in the workforce sometimes feel they need to drink to keep their boss happy or feel like they belong. The truth is that people who try and encourage people drink, have their ‘own’ drink issues and will attempt to hide this by making other people feel guilty if they don’t drink with them.
Here are some top tips to help in these situations:

1. Decide before you go out how much you are going to drink over the hours you are there and stick to it.
2. Finish each drink before you have a top up so you can gauge how much you are drinking.
3. Opt out of all cocktails and punches. They can be lethal and hard to tell how much alcohol is in them.
4. Do not be coerced into drinking to please others. Tell little white lies if you need to. Such as: feign you are taking antibiotics or just a little under the weather. Even better, tell people you have a ‘cracking hangover’ and couldn’t fathom a drink!
5. DOWO Policy. Drink one, water one. Alternate between alcohol and water, to keep you hydrated, as mentioned above.
6. Drink from your non-dominant hand. It will seem a little uncomfortable, so it will make you more aware of how much you are drinking.
7. Drink a big glass of water before you start drinking, to hydrate yourself.
8. If you are shy or bored, instead of reaching for the alcohol to calm you down or entertain you, simply listen to one of the 5 minute recordings that come with the book for this exact situation to shift your thinking into a calmer and happier space.
9. Keep an emotional diary over a few weeks to understand what are the drivers to drinking in unhelpful ways are; such as boredom, loneliness, tiredness, fear and anger. Look at other ways of processing these feelings without transferring them to alcohol.
10. See wedding, birthday celebrations etc as a time when we all tend to drink more than normal and that is okay, so be kind to yourself and realise it’s just the situation!

Marissa DeCuir

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

America Deconstructed’ explores themes of home and belonging in America through immigrant stories

Posted on February 10, 2019 | by Marissa DeCuir

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEWARK, CA – America Deconstructed follows the journeys of sixteen immigrants as they maneuver cultural differences and uncomfortable situations while working to find a sense of belonging in their American homes.

Naseer was nine years old when he escaped Taliban and fled Afghanistan; his story chronicles the resilience of a young boy as he travels from Afghanistan to America in quest of the American dream. Another essay showcases the love story of Chidibere and Ifeyinwa and their struggles with language and being true to their African culture in America. Lisian’s story takes us through his journey to America, and frequently being asked where he comes from. Parag describes his journey as a young sixth grader who hid his attraction to boys in conservative India to embracing his sexuality in America.

America Deconstructed tells the story of courage, resilience, and identity from real perspectives of first-generation immigrants and their pursuit of the American Dream.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Chaithanya Sohan

Chaithanya Sohan immigrated to the U.S. from India in 2001. She received a bachelor’s in electrical engineering from San Jose State University and a master’s from Santa Clara University, and now works in Silicon Valley. She began writing for various websites in 2002 and decided to pen “America Deconstructed” in 2013. She has also authored pieces on political issues for One Earth One Mission and www.rethinkreality.com. She enjoys traveling and runs www.nomadicsue.wordpress.com and www.wordspeare.wordpress.com. She and her husband, Denell Hopkins, live in Newark, California, with their daughter, Maya, puppy Zed and her parents.

Shaima Adin came to the United States as a refugee in May 2000 at 16 with her mother and sisters. She is originally from Afghanistan but lived in Pakistan as a refugee for several years. Currently, she works in an engineering management at a testing laboratory in Union City, California. Shaima and her husband Naseer are first generation immigrants and refugees who made the American dream a reality by creating a comfortable life for themselves in the U.S.

An Interview with Chaithanya Sohan

The people featured in the book come from all walks of life and countries all over the world. Were you ever surprised by the stories your contributors had to share?
What do you say when you hear someone who is your age talk about selling potatoes and egg at the school yard. I had seen these stories in old Bollywood movies, but never knew someone my age could be living that life while my biggest hurdle was getting a certain grade, or not getting my chocolate for the week. I have been surprised, had my jaw drop in complete disbelief and humbled that I was fortunate to live the life I did in India.

In your experience, what is something that makes the cultural transition to America easier? Harder?
I think the American experience is a very personal journey and differs from one to the other. For me personally, everyday intricacies were challenging. Dating, going to get coffee, ordering food at the restaurant, etc were challenging. It took me about two years to sort of learn the ropes of American life. The easiest in terms of my transition was fashion, language and food.

What inspired you to pull together these stories? Were the contributors friends before starting the book?
As a teenager in America, I always thought my journey was unique. Nobody talked about the everyday challenges one faced. I thought I was unique in not knowing what a frappuccino or cappuccino was at Starbucks. It was when I met Shaima in college that I realized Starbucks might have been my sore spot but it was not unique. I always wanted to write a book, and I researched to see if there was a book like this. I then approached Shaima with the idea, and America Deconstructed was born.

Well between the both of us, we knew most of the contributors. Some were friends, friends of family, and coworkers. We wanted diversity in the book, and we approached few people online, expats, bloggers etc to get the diversity we wanted in this book. It was extremely hard to find Caucasians immigrants.

A major theme in the book is acclimating to American culture and creating a new identity in a foreign environment. What can you tell us about this idea of identity and belonging?
I have always struggled with the sense of belonging in America. As someone who is born and raised in India, my identity is pretty strong. I don’t see myself as an Indian- American as even my mom does a lot of times. I still identify myself as Indian. Belonging has been a challenge. As someone who still has strong emotional ties to India, and a certified mush ball, I have struggled with the notion of belonging and feeling at home in America. In 2009, I went back to India for the first time since I immigrated to America. As soon as I reached India, I felt the sense of belonging that had always evaded me in America. I feel like I am home when I go back to India and I crave that feeling when I am here. I always thought it was unique to me, but then I interviewed someone from Ghana who had come here when he was younger than I was, and yet the conflicts of belonging was as strong in him as it was in me. I knew then I wasn’t an unicorn.

What advice would you give to new immigrants who are chasing the American Dream?
The American Dream is a slow grind. It takes time and patience. Something as simple as dressing in an American acceptable way can be a slow process. As a tomboy, I used to dress in baggy jeans and big shirts back in India. It took me two years to dress in a mainstream acceptable way. It took two years for my jeans to get tighter and for my big baggy shirt to morph into fashionable tops. It was a slow and gradual process. American Dream can be different for different people. For a young person in college, it could be being accepted.

You refer to your surroundings as “cultural mix-masala.” How do you mix your own culture, your husband’s culture, and California culture?
I think this question is for my husband because he lives in a predominately Indian household with my Indian parents. On a serious note, we have been very open, accepting and respectful of each other’s cultures which has made the journey fun. We have formed our own subculture I think which is why I call it a cultural mix-masala. We indianize everything – chilli powder and spices are a staple in every cuisine we make at home. We have strived to take the good in all the cultures and make our own. It has been a normal all my life. As the granddaughter of an Anglo-Indian woman (British ancestry), I grew up in a multicultural household that probably wasn’t the typical Indian family. We have always had our own culture which made assimilating and making our culture in America easy and less daunting.

Your career has been focused on electrical engineering — how did you get into writing?
Electrical Engineering is my bread and butter, writing is chicken soup to my soul if that explains it. As a child, my dad and I would write letters to each other when we had our arguments. He would then critique the letter for grammatical errors. This is how I learned how to write. Years later, writing found me when I did not know how to move on after a tragedy. I began writing poems which one my teachers found in my book, and word spread around my school. I started hosting shows in school, writing for the school magazine, etc. I started freelancing when I came to America and eventually decided to write a book when I started thinking about becoming more professional in the space.

Why do you think it is important for people to hear these firsthand accounts?
These journeys need to be told especially in the political climate today. We always think about immigrants in terms of legal and illegal. We are not condoning illegal immigration in any way. We are trying to show the journeys of the people who call America home. We always think one can reach America and life is all good. It is not always the case. There is a assimilation period, learning a new language,etc that can be very funny yet challenging. Something as simple as a coffee run can be a daunting task.

What are you hoping readers take away from these stories?
I am hoping readers can take the book for what it is – a montage of the journeys of people who immigrated to America. I hope they can read the book outside of judgement, laugh, cry and just enjoy the stories for what they are. On a serious note, I am hoping people can become more tolerant the next time they see someone struggle with conversational English or taking time ordering at a restaurant.

Marissa DeCuir

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

Non-mom Kate Kaufmann explores what to expect when you’re not expecting

Posted on February 10, 2019 | by Marissa DeCuir

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PORTLAND, Oregon – Author Kate Kaufmann shows readers how to create a life outside the mainstream of motherhood in Do You Have Kids? Life When the Answer is No (She Writes Press, April 2, 2019). A savvy and validating guide to what might be in store for growing numbers of childfree and childless adults worldwide, Do You Have Kids? takes on topics from the shifting meaning of family to what we leave behind when we die. Weaving together wisdom from women ages twenty-four to ninety-one with both her own story and a growing body of research, Kate brings to light alternate routes to lives of meaning, connection, and joy.

“This book is a must-read for anyone without kids and for those who care about someone who is not a parent.” –Dr. Amy Blackstone, Professor of Sociology, University of Maine, and author of Childfree by Choice: The Movement Redefining Family and Creating a New Age of Independence

“A wide-ranging look at life for women who never have children… perceptive and informative … Ultimately, this supportive volume serves as a plea to respect the diversity of human experience.” – Kirkus Reviews

Kaufmann’s own fertility struggles led to her interest in what the experience of non-mothers is like. Today as a non-mom, Kaufmann has talked intimately about the topic with hundreds of women and men, and hopes to spark 2 million conversations on the topic through Do You Have Kids?; conversations that can dispel stubborn stereotypes and stigmas about the childfree and childless.

Do You Have Kids? is not a typical guide for finding solace in the midst of infertility or for consciously choosing not to have children. Rather, it serves as a roadmap for what the childless and childfree can expect as they navigate life. Non-moms by choice and by chance can learn from five generations’ advice and personal stories that detail the good, the bad, and the unexpected that comes from leading a fulfilling life without children.

Kate Kaufmann embarked on her life as a non-mom when she abandoned fertility treatments, quit her corporate job, and moved from the suburbs to a rural community to raise sheep. Since 2012, she has talked with hundreds of women ranging in age from twenty-four to ninety-one and advocates for better understanding of the childless/childfree demographic. Kate received an MFA in creative writing in 2016 from the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts and has a professional background in corporate staffing, training, and consulting. She’s lived in various urban, suburban, rural, and coastal communities and currently calls Portland, Oregon home. Her writing has appeared most recently in the Washington Post. Visit her at www.katekaufmann.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Deb Brandon

DEB BRANDON is a weaver, respected textile artist and enthusiast, and writer. She’s been an active volunteer with Weave a Real Peace (WARP), including serving multiple terms as a board member as well as writing the long-running “Textile Techniques from Around the World” column for the WARP newsletter. Brandon is a popular speaker on textiles and other topics. She’s an avid traveler and has competed nationally and internationally in dragon boating, and she’s been a professor in the Mathematical Sciences Department at Carnegie Mellon University since 1991. Her other books include the memoir “But My Brain Had Other Ideas,” and her essays have appeared in several publications, including HandEye Magazine and Weaving Today.

In an interview, Kate Kaufmann can discuss

Why she intends to kickstart 2 million conversations about what it’s like not having kids
How she and other women came to not have children—from her own infertility to stories of circumstances and choice—and created their identities within our family-oriented culture.
The unexpected differences between non-moms and mothers and commonalities of the childless and childfree
Why childless and childfree women should not feel guilty or selfish for not having kids
What are the many different reasons that women do not become mothers
How friendship and family relationships shift for those who don’t have kids
Ways non-moms and dads can respond to the question, “do you have kids?” that will create an authentic exchange instead of an awkward pause
Ways those without children can create networks for their elder years and design the legacies they leave behind
Why childless women can feel out of place in religious organizations

Advance Praise for KATE KAUFMANN:

“This book is a treasure that details what real-life childlessness can be like. For childless and childfree women, and those still deciding their reproductive futures, Kaufmann offers the insights you’ve been looking for about the many dimensions of non-motherhood-–loneliness, faith, prying questions from family and friends, and so much more.”–Karen Malone Wright, founder, TheNotMom.com & The NotMom Summit

“Want to visualize life once you know you’re not having children? Do You Have Kids? Life When the Answer is No offers facts, figures, and research findings, deftly woven in between the copious and delightfully honest interviews that Kaufmann conducted with people who don’t have children.” –Maxine Trump, award-winning director of childfree film To Kid or Not to Kid

“This collection of interviews, personal anecdotes, and recent data demystifies the reasons people choose not to have children and acknowledges those whose childlessness results from tragedy, disappointment, or circumstance. A straightforward exploration of human concerns through a lens not everyone stops to consider and a resource for people seeking community or broadened understanding.” –Nicole Hardy, author of Confessions of a Latter Day Virgin

“I hear voices of my patients, colleagues, and friends in the honest and varied stories that exemplify the full spectrum of “not-moms” in Kate Kaufmann’s new book, Do You Have Kids? Life When the Answer is No. With great advice and validation of all different experiences, Kaufmann offers a destigmatizing resource for childless and childfree women and their families, healthcare personnel, employers, and policy-makers. Women will find solace, resonance, and empowerment in this beautifully written book.”– Marjorie Greenfield MD, Professor and Vice Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

“Kate Kaufmann’s Do You Have Kids? Life When the Answer is No opened my eyes to what it might be like not to have children. Written with heart and frankness, this book is my compassionate companion as I strive to listen to and learn from childless and childfree friends and family members with openness, curiosity, and care. Its guidance and examples will be especially helpful to anyone wanting to explore sensitive topics and deepen relationships.” –Iris Graville, author of Hiking Naked – A Quaker Woman’s Search for Balance

“Kaufmann’s voice is that of a wise, compassionate mother to generations of non-moms looking for a woman who can relate, through her own lived experience, to the path of a life without children. Her exploration of the non-mom’s journey conveys the inherent threat this demographic poses to our pronatal society, and her examination of its earnings potential, giving potential, and social mobility suggests why many non-moms I see in my practice feel disconnected and invisible.”–Kristen Genzano, MA, LPC, NCC

“There is significant overlap in the experience of the LGBT community, the childless, and the childfree, particularly when it comes to aging. Aligned with SAGE’s mission to foster a greater understanding of aging in all communities, Kate Kaufmann explores topics that are crucial to navigating the challenges and joys of living child free, and highlights both the intrinsic differences and natural bridges that exist between the LGBT older adult community and their childfree heterosexual counterparts.” –Ian Alexander, SAGE Metro Portland/Friendly House

“In Do You Have Kids? Kate Kaufmann turns that dreaded question into a powerful conversation with the reader. Kaufmann mixes her personal story with those of other “Not-Moms.” Together with a wealth of research, these stories serve to unite an often-marginalized community as well as reminding the reader of the vital role these women hold in our society. This should be required reading for those who choose the childfree life, as well as those who need to better understand this choice. In other words, all of us.” — Janet Buttenwieser, author of Guts: a memoir

“I loved this book. Its fresh thinking captures the essence of what it means not to have children, which I believe is more definitive than whether or with whom we partner. Non-parents will find perspectives and wisdom to help guide life choices, including those about sexual and reproductive health. A joy to read.” — Anne J. Udall, PhD, President and CEO, Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette

An Interview with Kate Kaufmann

You have a goal to provide fodder for 2 million conversations about what it’s like not having kids. What do you hope these conversations will accomplish, and who do you hope will have them?
During our supposed fertile years, so much emotion swirls around having children or not that the topic often goes underground. Once we find ourselves on a path that doesn’t include having kids, whether by choice or by chance, it can be tough to resurface what’s now considered taboo. Depending on when we were born, one in every five or six adults will never have children, a number that’s sure to grow. Where do we go to learn more about what life is like for the childless and childfree? Our mothers can’t tell us, and resources that describe the full life span are few. I wrote Do You Have Kids? Life When the Answer is No to share true life stories and encourage curious, respectful, and frank conversation about alternate routes to fulfilling lives.

Why should mothers, grandmothers, and men read Do You Have Kids?
Our culture touts family first, yet it’s projected that increasing numbers of young adults will not have children. By reading about key research findings and other women’s experiences, mothers, dads, and grandparents can better understand how life might unfold for their loved ones. Men who aren’t dads have readily opened up about what not having kids has meant to them and appreciate having the women’s perspective as a leaping off point for conversation. On a more personal note, each of my three sisters has two children, and this book has opened doors to talk about topics we’ve never before discussed.

What are some of the big differences between non-moms and mothers?

We don’t (usually) bear costs of raising children and can more easily take lower-paying, more satisfying jobs and/or spread our earnings beyond our immediate families
Because we don’t have kids immersed in schools, activities, and friendship circles, we have more flexibility with our housing and living arrangements
Non-moms are at 2-3 times greater risk of breast, ovarian, and uterine cancer than are mothers
Since mainstream religions typically celebrate childbearing, finding inclusive spiritual communities can be challenging
We know our kids won’t oversee our aging or hold our hands when we die, so we need to make alternate arrangements

What do you hope readers take away from Do You Have Kids? Is there a call to action?
I hope non-parent readers discover interesting options for planning their futures and practical ideas and resources for addressing life’s challenges and opportunities. Parents who care about those without children might better understand the nuances of non-parenthood, appreciate and grow closer because of our differences, and find new commonalities. As I finished the book, I realized readers would want to talk but might worry about how to approach what can be a sensitive or charged topic. So I added tips for both parents and non-parents to address those awkward and inevitable conversational glitches. Like any important topic, we may feel awkward at first, and we’ll surely make mistakes, but the payoff for better understanding each other is huge.

What made you decide to write this book, and how did the writing process affect you personally?
Not long after we stopped trying to have kids my former husband and I moved to a rural community, where it seemed most everyone had children. I searched for other non-moms to talk to, looking for those special connections of shared life experiences–like mothers often find with each other. Slowly I met women and men willing to talk. As common themes emerged, I started more formal, in-depth interviewing, began writing, and my book project took form. Researching and writing this book has shaped and given profound meaning to my life, and I am indebted to all those who entrusted me with their stories.

How is the book inclusive for all women without children, either by choice or by chance?
Tell us about “childfree” versus “childless.”
I depict a broad swath of life experiences from interviewing a balance of women who consciously chose not to have kids (the “childfree”) and women who wanted them but found circumstances precluded parenthood (the “childless”). Studies have found that the “childless” are often viewed by others with pity, the “childfree” with scorn. I leave it to readers to come to their own conclusions about those profiled in Do You Have Kids? In the course of interviewing women for the book, though, I discovered that the line between the “childfree” and “childless” blurs over the life course, and we grow to have much more in common than we have differences. Take for example these non-moms:

A childfree married couple in their forties who traveled through Europe, Africa, and SE Asia for two years, all the while working remotely.
A never-married nanny who always wanted children; 48 hours after a trip to the Emergency Room she underwent a complete hysterectomy and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
A widow in her late sixties who now lives in a 17 foot travel trailer as a self-described nomad, crisscrossing the United States.
A woman orphaned at age 14, divorced after a 20-year marriage, and ordained as an Episcopal priest shortly before she turned 60.
A woman in her fifties who settled the complex estates of three childless relatives who died within 7 months of each other—her sister (a stepmother), her uncle, and her aunt.

Marissa DeCuir

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

Artist, academic and brain injury survivor Deb Brandon showcases international stories through textile art in “Threads Around The World”

Posted on February 10, 2019 | by Marissa DeCuir

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania – In her upcoming book, “Threads Around the World: From Arabian Weaving to Batik in Zimbabwe,” author Deb Brandon weaves together the stories of 25 diverse world cultures by showcasing their unique take on textile art.

Using original methods, modern fiber artists continue an age-old tradition of cultural story-telling. “Threads Around the World” (Jan. 28, 2019, Schiffer Publishing) examines everything from espadrilles to mirror embroidery, and offers well-researched context on the histories behind the wall-hangings.

Brandon –– a weaver, writer and mathematics professor at Carnegie Mellon University –– is a decade-long contributor to Weave A Real Peace (WARP), a nonprofit networking organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of textile artisans in communities in need. Her enthusiasm for the craft and its community brings an open-eyed understanding of textile arts, appealing not only to textile devotees but also to those interested in understanding diverse cultures through heritage crafts.

“The essays touch briefly on technique but this is not a how-to book,” Brandon says.
“The focus is on the beauty, artistry, and people who create these traditional textiles.”

Her other books include the memoir “But My Brain Had Other Ideas,” which follows Brandon’s brain injury story all the way through to long-term recovery, revealing without sugarcoating or sentimentality her struggles — and ultimate triumph. Her essays have appeared in several publications, including Hand/Eye Magazine and Weaving Today.

THREADS AROUND THE WORLD
From Arabian Weaving to Batik in Zimbabwe
Deb Brandon | January 28, 2019 | Schiffer Publishing
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0764356506 | $23.74
Nonfiction | Arts and Crafts

Handmade textiles are personal, no matter where in the world they’re created, and these photos and explanations of 25 diverse world cultures’ techniques vividly share the details. Take a voyage through the pages to see how today’s artisans continue to create traditional fiber arts with age-old methods.

Blending well-researched information, engaging style, and inspiration, Brandon shares fascinating stories about region-specific crafts—for example, espadrilles, flatwoven rugs, mittens, voudou flags, mirror embroidery—and the histories they hold. This open-eyed approach offers new ideas for textile devotees and for anyone who’s interested in heritage crafts and cultures.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Deb Brandon

In an interview, Deb Brandon can discuss:

The importance of textile arts to the global community
The relationship textile traditions have with grassroots economies and global communities
How textile arts tell cultural stories and broadcast our humanity
The textile traditions still being used today
Overcoming brain injury and its impact on this project
The long-term recovery from a traumatic brain injury and navigating the immediate aftermath

An Interview with Deb Brandon

Can you talk more about the modern weaving community and your involvement in it?
It seems like a very supportive niche group of artists.
WARP is a wonderfully supportive group, and it includes all kinds of textile artists and enthusiasts. I also belong to various guilds, and I’ve submitted pieces to exhibitions. Guilds are essentially a community of like-minded people who come together to learn and share. WARP also does this but extends it to a global community; guilds tend to be local or regional and focus on one particular craft or art form. Often, people are surprised to learn that guilds and similar groups are out there; there’s a belief that those kinds of groups are part of our history. But they’re here today too, and they’re supportive and welcoming. I have personal ties with textile artists across the globe, I’ve taken a variety of workshops and classes, and I’ve also taught textile techniques, for both adults and children.

Your memoir, “But My Brain Had Other Ideas,” goes into detail about your experience with a traumatic brain injury, but can you tell us briefly about that part of your life?
I have clusters of thin-walled blood vessels in my brain called cavernous angiomas. Two had bled, causing symptoms (seizures, blinding headaches, sensory and balance problems, and more) that interfered with every aspect of my life. I couldn’t work, couldn’t drive, and I couldn’t be the mom I wanted to be for my son and daughter, who were young teens at the time. To prevent additional bleeds, I underwent three brain surgeries, which left me with a number of challenging symptoms, including fatigue, headaches, balance and vertigo problems, and short-term memory issues, among others. As I recovered, I began writing poetry and other creative work, something I had never done before or been interested in—but I became passionate about writing, and writing became part of my recovery and now, part of both ongoing recovery and my work.

How does your narrative of long-term brain injury recovery differ from those written in the immediate aftermath of a brain injury?
There’s a lot of drama in the story of injury, immediate aftermath, and acute recovery, but no one truly recovers 100% from severe brain injury. What I found for myself, and learned is true for many (possibly all) brain injury survivors, is that after that acute phase, there is a lot of tough work, and ongoing adaptations and adjustments—and a lot of amazing and positive life to be lived. Some of the challenges—mood disorders such as depression caused by the injury itself (as opposed to situational depression) are a good example—are common but not talked about, not well-known or acknowledged. Issues around returning to work and dealing with the realities of living with an “invisible disability” become more important over time, as family and coworkers may not understand that what they’re seeing is a result of injury, not malingering or excuses.

I felt it was important to share my experience with this process—with this life I now lead—because these are the stories I needed to hear as I was going through the recovery process myself. There’s still plenty of drama and discovery over the long-haul!

What impact did your brain injury have on writing “Threads Around the World?”
“Threads Around the World” is based on articles and essays I wrote for the WARP quarterly newsletter. The WARP community was very supportive through the ordeal of my injury and recovery. One of the “side effects” of my injury is that I became much more aware of my surroundings and much more compassionate. My dedication to WARP and its members had already enriched my life, and that enrichment deepened even more post-injury. So when the idea to develop the book in part as a fundraiser for WARP surfaced, I was all for it.

In addition, after my injury, my interest in textile techniques shifted from strictly technical to a stronger interest in the artists and artisans and their world, their cultures. Also, as my brain began rewiring itself after the injury, I began writing poetry and other creative work, something I hadn’t done pre-injury. Writing became a passion, which spilled over into my WARP articles, resulting in a richer, fuller approach to the pieces that ultimately became “Threads Around the World.”

You’re releasing an audiobook of your earlier work, “But My Brain Had Other Ideas.” Can you discuss the importance of offering an audiobook?
Many brain injury survivors have difficulty reading, and audiobooks are an important way for them to “read.” In addition, my father is now blind (macular degeneration), so I’d been thinking about an audiobook because of that, in addition to the overall growth of audiobooks in general. I believe the book is important and audiobooks are a great way to expand its reach.

Your personal and professional interests are so diverse –– mathematics teacher, weaver, brain injury survivor, dragon-boater. What advice can you offer young creatives with varied interests, who are sometimes encouraged to streamline their interests into a professional path?
Don’t! Resist that advice! The varied interests enrich each other. Clearly, you’ll have to pick and choose to some extent (there’s only so much time in the day), but keep your hand in varied interests. I’ve seen people who single-focus or streamline, and they lose something; it feels to me like they perhaps lose a little humanity. Through the varied interests, you make connections with a variety of people, you experience a variety of ways of thinking, you get a better grasp of the bigger picture in life. There’s no down side to any of that.

Now that we’ve mentioned it: What is dragon boating and how did you get involved in it?
Dragon boating is similar to crewing. A group of people work together in a boat, powering it by paddling it. There are 10 seats per standard boat, two paddlers per seat (one on each side), a steersperson, and a drummer. The boat looks like an oversized canoe except that in addition to being wider and longer, the bow reaches up in a glorious dragon head and the stern has a dragon tail. The gunnels (outsides) of the boat are covered with painted scales. Unlike rowing, the paddles aren’t fixed to the boat, another similarity to canoeing. The paddlers paddle in unison, following the beat and directions of the drummer. Dragon boating originated in China; today, there are festivals and races on lakes and rivers around the world.

I got involved when my son was 11 years old. One of his friends invited him to participate in a practice. When he told me about it, my eyes lit up and I knew I had to try it—and that was it. We both became avid dragon boaters, which also deepened our mother-son bond, through that joint interest.

How did you decide to pursue a career in mathematics education? What was it about the subject that interested you?
I was always interested in math at school and enjoyed it. My thinking style was always analytical back then. I received a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering, but I lost interest in the engineering part and became more interested in math. I liked the creativity, too, the form of creativity that goes into math. When I decided to get my PhD in mathematics, I felt like I had found my community, and I enjoyed both teaching and research. After the brain injury, my love of teaching deepened, and I discovered that I was better able to connect with students. As my brain rewired itself during my recovery and I relearned mathematics, I became better able to address different styles of thinking. As a result, I became better able to empathize with the weaker students and became a much better teacher. I continue to improve my teaching as I teach, so it’s always challenging and intriguing and fulfilling. Teaching has become a passion.

Do you see a connection between what you teach (mathematics) and your textile art?
At first, the connection was that I enjoyed the fact that they were very different, but I found that there’s actually a strong connection between math and textile arts in creating new patterns. Unlike many other textile artists, I enjoy the preparations for weaving and dyeing especially, tasks that involve a lot of math. Post-brain injury, more self-aware, I enjoy the variety and diversity that requires exercising different ways of thinking. In that way, it connects with my approach to teaching now, too.

What’s next for you?
I’m focusing on both writing and speaking, as I develop a career that encompasses public speaking about brain injury and about textiles. I’m working on several new books, too. Oh, and I am still traveling to interesting places and discovering more about traditional textiles!

Marissa DeCuir

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

AN UNOPENING IN IPPY FINALIST’S DEBUT POETRY COLLECTION

Posted on February 10, 2019 | by Marissa DeCuir

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NASHVILLE, TN – Unopened is author and musician Doug Hoekstra’s latest and third book. Divided into three selections, Unopened allows the works to cross-pollinate and the reader to choose his or her adventure—“On the Page (Centered and Close to Home)”, “Off the Canvas (Out into the World)”, and “Between the Notes (Everywhere It Seems).” The introduction sets the tone for this journey, but the reader sets the course.

Among its fifty-seven selections, readers will find poems that rhyme and poems that don’t, prose poems, sedokas, and yes, even an obligatory sonnet. Some are personal, some are societal. Some look inward, some look outward. Each invites the reader to connect and reflect to what’s inside and what’s going on around them.

Featured on the front and back covers are Hoekstra’s original artwork. They are taken from a series of collages created to reflect the content of the book. As he says in the afterword, the art and prose are both “a collection of fragments—memory, imagination, anticipation—broken, reassembled, and made whole.”

Taken as that entity, Unopened is a worthy addition to Hoekstra’s body of work, living somewhere between the “five-minute worlds” of his songwriting canon and the short and long fiction of his prose writing.

DOUG HOEKSTRA is a Chicago-bred, Nashville-based writer and musician, educated at DePaul University (B.A.) and Belmont University (M.Ed.). His first book, Bothering the Coffee Drinkers (Canopic Publishing, April 2016) was an Independent Publisher Award (IPPY) Bronze Medal Finalist for Best Short Fiction. Bothering garnered stellar print reviews and signature appearances at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville and WXPN World Café’s Summer Listening Series hosted by David Dye. Bothering also worked as a compliment to Hoekstra’s work as a singer-songwriter, as he included selections from the book in his live oeuvre during performances in the U.S. and Europe. https://doughoekstra.wordpress.com/

Unopened
Doug Hoekstra | February 5, 2019 | Five-Minute Books
Paperback ISBN: 978198366471| Price: $14.99
Poetry

In an interview, Doug Hoekstra can discuss:

His musical career and how it influenced the poetry and prose in Unopened
Where he draws inspiration to create so much original and unique content
How he sees the writing process differing from music
Why he chose to separate the book into the internal self, external world, and space inbetween
The journey he hopes readers will take while reading the book
Where his idea for the cover comes from

An Interview with Doug Hoekstra

The book is broken down into three parts: “On the Page,” “Off the Canvas,” and “Between the Notes.” Can you describe what each section means to you?
They are divided that way to allow the reader to experience the poems in their own reality. Part One is titled “On the Page,” because it holds together close to home, with tales of family, friends, and things that center the human soul. Once we are in that place, we move on to Part Two, “Off the Canvas,” branching out into the world, natural and manmade, weaving personal, political, and societal experiences. This takes us to Part Three “Between the Notes,” where we venture further yet, with tales of music, art, love, and sex, and those indefinable places where we take risks and see where they lead. Once we’ve done that we often return to the page. Or not. But it’s up to the reader and their journey.

Can you describe the artwork that you included on the front and back covers?
Art often reveals itself as a collection of fragments—memory, imagination, anticipation—broken, reassembled, and made whole. So, I thought the cover of this book should reflect that. There are two poems in the collection that are central to its whole—the title poem, “Unopened,” which centers on my father and an old LP I recovered, and “Thanksgiving Day,” which centers on my mother and some of her old glassware—candlewick. My concept was to take images representative of those poems, break them and put them back together, so they became, like the narratives, both real and imagined, both literal and abstract. I took photographs of the album cover, printed those in various sizes, slicing and splicing the pieces randomly on different colored backdrops, working through about a dozen iterations. Then I photographed two candlewick glasses and printed those images on transparency paper, in different sizes, smearing the ink as it came out of the printer, again about a dozen versions. Then I mixed and matched, laying the various transparencies over the collages, scanning and manipulating those layered combinations again. In the end, the source images were represented in full, but modified by experience, and as in life, memory, imagination, or poetry, certain images or themes rose to the forefront.

Can you elaborate on the title, Unopened? How does that represent the pieces included in the book?
It essentially connects to a key poem in the book and the artwork. But, in another sense, any piece of art (art, music, literature) invites the reader to unwrap it or unopen it at first experience. This is how we relate to people we meet for the first time, as well – that first connection is an unveiling.

How is your music career and experience writing music translated into the poetry and prose in Unopened?
I have no idea! Seriously, I have always written short stories, songs, essays, and poems, so to me, they are just different canvases. Sometimes I write about the same idea in different arenas, more often, it’s just the resources at hand. I took a break from music about 10 years ago, because my son was little and I wanted to be fully present, focus on him, and in a broader sense, redefine myself. In that sense, it was easier to write prose, because you don’t have to record, get musicians, play live – it can be just me and the laptop when I have time. I suppose, because of that, they are a little more indicative of the headspace required in that setting, and they probably allow me to play around with different word rhythms and things of that nature. Inspiration is everywhere around us, so that part doesn’t differ – it’s what you pull out of your experiences and ideas.

How does your writing process differ when writing poetry, short or long fiction, and music?
Writing is much more solitary. Collaboration can come later, through an editor or a writing group or if you do a reading. But, music is much more collaborative, because after you write the song you demo it, take it to musicians to record/rehearses, and even if you have it charted, they put themselves into it, to a fashion, an engineer or producer adds ideas, and then of course, the audience may shape what you do with it later. So, songs evolve more in that sense. In terms of short and long form, I like the tightness that poetry and songs require—if you’re doing it right you can say a lot in a little space. I think what’s not on the page or what’s in between the notes is very important, it allows the work to breathe and the audience to put themselves into it. Longer fiction should be tightly written as well and can do this, but I think it’s a bit more difficult to achieve that space in that form.

What is something you want readers to take away from the book?
Shared human experience. Art is a mirror, but ideally, it allows people to step through that mirror, as well.

Marissa DeCuir

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

AUTHOR GUIDES READERS TO HEALTH AND FULFILLMENT USING INTUITION

Posted on February 10, 2019 | by Marissa DeCuir

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Denver, CO –Over the past fifteen years, author and certified clairvoyant Michelle DesPres has developed revolutionary intuitive-development techniques to help her clients and students incorporate intuition into their everyday life to increase personal well-being and boost creativity and effectiveness. Now, Michelle is making her techniques accessible to readers everywhere in her latest book, “Intuitively You: Evolve Your Life and Mend the World.”

Intuition can be applied in daily life to shift perspectives to promote healing and empowerment while helping deepen relationships through transparency. In “Intuitively You,” readers will find intuitive protocols, compelling stories, engaging facts, and a plethora of intuitive exercises and tools to experience and apply to their lives with the goal of eliminating non-serving patterns and behaviors that keep them from experiencing their greatest desires. The simple science of intuition is a gateway to personal authenticity, fulfillment, and a more peaceful, unified world.

Readers who work to help other people to enhance their lives, or are seeking to enhance their own, will find invaluable resources in Michelle’s “Intuitively You.” By teaching readers how to tap into their “gut instincts,” Michelle will guide them to take control over limiting patterns and behaviors to transform their lives and the world around them.

Michelle DesPres is a certified clairvoyant medium trained under the Berkeley Psychic Institute program for inner development. She is the author of the books The Clairvoyant Path and Intuitively You: Evolve Your Life and Mend the Word, designed to help others discover personal and collective fulfillment. She also published the Intuitive Ethical Standards establishing guidelines for alternative therapists. Michelle is a frequent speaker and motivational leader, and has been providing individual services and readings to a variety of clients for 15 years. She is the founder of the Intuitive Practitioner Program, where students learn about mind, body, and soul integration–and how to hone these skills to build thriving businesses.

In an interview, Michelle DesPres can discuss:

Why intuition is the new thinking that will allow us to create a higher and more balanced American ideal
The secrets to creating transparency, equality, unity, and world peace
How professions like teachers, medical providers, healers, and others can use intuition to help enhance the lives of their students and patients
Why establishing ethical standards is crucial in this growing industry
The health benefits that come from integrating intuition into one’s life and relationships
The science behind intuition, and how it is changing modern science

An Interview with MIchelle DePres

What is intuition? Is it accessible to everyone?
Intuition is important because it serves as our primary personal-guidance system that allows us to discern and establish our most optimal health and well-being so we can then enact that balance in the world around us.
Not only is intuition accessible to everyone, but we have innate intuitive skills within us that we can enhance and make stronger, and therefore more reliable for creating our highest aspirations.

When did you discover you were intuitive, and how has this changed your life?
Everyone is born into the world intuitive. Regrettably, our culture doesn’t recognize this basic human faculty and so we disassociated from this aspect of ourselves while still toddlers. I was no exception. As a young girl, I recall moments of interacting with the unseen world but was quickly told to disregard my “imagination” and do as I was told. Unfortunately, after thirty plus decades of doing what I was told, I found myself depressed and unfulfilled by life’s meaningless expectations and endeavors. It was then, in a moment of deep sadness, that my intuition once again broke through, offering me a connection back to higher knowing where I could find the solutions to fixing myself and the life I could no longer live. Fifteen years of intuitive awakening later, my life is completely different. I have a career I believe in and feel makes a positive difference in the world. My health is better, my relationships are deeper and stronger, and for the first time in my life, I have a sustainable future

Intuition is sometimes widely misunderstood or mislabeled as just a thought in your mind. How do you identify true intuition and harness that gift?
Intuition can be as simple as a wisp of a thought that strolls past your mind. The key is to develop your intuitive awareness so you can distinguish a mental thought from an intuitive impression, which only comes with practice. Just as you have five senses that allow you to see, hear, smell, taste and touch your physical reality, you have a 6th sense with the ability to see, hear, feel and know what is taking place in your energetic reality – which by the way then becomes your material world – so really it’s your 1st sense. The only way to properly harness your intuitive gifts and master your ability to create your ideal life is to seek out intuitive development classes. Intuitive classes will teach how to explore your higher senses and how they operate uniquely to you so you can be more aware of when your intuition is speaking to you in your everyday life as a means of keeping you on your path.

How have you seen the lives of others changed as a result of discovering intuition?
Every time a client leaves my office, I see how intuition has changed their lives for the better. Not only do they tell me how relieved, hopeful, empowered, and motivated they are to get back to their lives and resolve their issues, I’ve watched countless individuals overcome serious emotional, physical, mental and spiritual limitations just by being able to see their circumstances from another perspective. Intuition offers higher perception and understanding. Suddenly something like infidelity no longer feels like a betrayal because the energetic truth is one of higher agreement and perhaps a dedication to learning how to love one’s self more than another. When a client understands the greater purpose of their circumstances, their reality is automatically altered for the better.

What does an intuitive session with you look like?
A session with me is relaxed, enjoyable, educational and empowering. I first like to intuitively witness a client’s energy for myself before they tell me what they are seeking. Usually, what I see in a person’s energy field (whether they are in front of me or on the phone) is exactly what they have come to see me about. It’s not uncommon that I’ll notice something like a void in their career center only to learn that they’ve just lost their job and are wondering what to do next. So I always get my first impressions which I share and then allow my clients to ask me anything they would like to know about health, career, relationship, etc. My clients generally like to record their sessions as we get in depth with understanding and explanation as well as offering tools and solutions for changing any aspect of their lives they desire. I think it’s important to note that I don’t consider myself a guru or anyone else’s authority. I present my clients with probabilities, possibilities and potentials, which they are free to incorporate or not. Everyone is his/her own authority in a session with me.

How does intuition play into ethics?
Intuition is the ultimate form of transparency. I recall once meeting a girl my son was certain was the women for him. Immediately, I knew she was not – mother’s intuition. However, had I shared my wisdoms with my son, he would likely have not been able to hear that from me, maybe even intensifying his attraction to her. As it was, I said nothing and in a short time, he learned for himself she was not the one. The point is that just because you can intuit another person’s energetic dynamics doesn’t mean you should. There needs to be permission to explore and share intuitive promptings or you run the risk of harming others.

Marissa DeCuir

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

Skwerdlock series encourages imagination, self-expression

Posted on February 10, 2019 | by Marissa DeCuir

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW BERLIN, IL – Born of pure imagination, the mystical Skwerdlock arrived out of nowhere early one morning about 45 years ago, and has been living in the heart of Pops Jamison’s daughter Tricia ever since, helping kids see their potential with silly stories and rhyming.

Now, the Skwerdlock is being introduced to readers in a fun series. In the first book, Meet the Skwerdlock, Trish introduces young readers to the elephant-eared, hog-nosed Skwerdlock. Their adventures continue in I Saw the Skwerdlock with rhyming and more of Skwerdlock’s silliness. A new adventure, Never Take A Skwerdlock To the Doctor, is arriving this spring from ImagiLearning, Inc.

Pops created the Skwerdlock Series to help spark a love of books, teach a few new words, and have a good excuse for parents and kids to sit in the recliner and enjoy time together. When school becomes too serious and reading is more of chore, Pops encourages kids to pursue creative outlets. The illustrations in the book — created by Pops himself — teach kids that the stories they create are beautiful, no grades or expectations necessary and that you don’t have to be able to draw a perfect apple to be an artist.

John Jamison is a life-long believer in the power of stories. First as a pastor, then educator, creator of Centers for Innovation at multiple universities, Director of a national Game and Simulation academic degree program, a consultant for e-learning and brand development, John has used the power of story to bring about serious change and have some fun in the process. John grew-up in a small river-town in Illinois, and describes his childhood as “kind of Tom Sawyer-ish with a blend of Wizard of Oz.” John says, “I grew up in a family of storytellers and liars, and I spent most of my time trying to figure out which was which.” Keep up to date with his books at https://jbjamison.jamisonbooks.com/.

In an interview, J.B. JAMISON can discuss:

How he came up with the idea for the Skwerdlock series while singing and rocking his flu-stricken daughter to sleep one night
Why reading for pleasure can relieve pressure from the pressures of school
How literature inspires the imagination and what that can do for a child long-term
How he completed his first novel at 65, after earning his PhD at the age of 60
His decision to professionally self-publish after writing for major publishers for years
His success with the Emily Graham thriller series

An Interview with J. B. Jamison

You are also the author of the Emily Graham thriller series. What made you decide to start writing children’s books as well?
I have always enjoyed storytelling with children whenever my career has offered me the opportunity to do that. But I think the decision to start writing came from watching my two grandchildren develop a love of stories and books, but then seeing that love get dents all over it when going to school turned reading into something that was graded and measured by points and posters on the wall. Reading was no longer just a wonderful, imaginative adventure, but was now something that separated the students who won the free pizzas and stickers from those who did not. Instead of just being a reader, now children were a “good” reader, or “fair” reader, or “slow” reader. It was like I saw a light going out in their eyes. I am an educator and fully support education, but I wonder if we might find ways to educate without denting the magic? So, I write my stories to be as difficult to “grade” as possible, but very easy to feed a smile or a laugh. My books are an escape; an opportunity to read just for the fun of reading, and opportunity to dream about a future not defined by a ranking.

What is the most important lesson you hope to impart in the Skwerdlock books?
Imagination is a wonderful thing. In my mind, there is far too much emphasis put on making sense and having correct answers to questions. Reading starts out to be fun imagination time, but then we end up in school having to take tests about what we read. Imagination and dreams are far more important than checking the correct box. With a strong imagination we create the future. Without that imagination we just keep recreating the past. In my imagination my readers are going to dream of some amazing things they will go on to create.

Where does the Skwerdlock’s name come from?
I was sitting in the rocking chair at two in the morning holding my very sick infant daughter. She seemed to calm down if I hummed and my humming turned into a song. The song began, “Oh, I wish I had a Skwerdlock, a funny looking dog…”. I wasn’t thinking about what I was singing, but just happy to see my daughter relaxing. The Skwerdlock just showed up and told us his name when he walked in.

How does your writing process change when you are writing thriller/suspense versus children’s books?
My writing process is essentially the same. My first step for either genre is to allow an idea to ferment in my mind until it comes to the point where it becomes “real” to me. Once it is real, all I need to do is sit down, watch the story unfold, and write down what I see and hear. It’s the same for both. My children’s books are shorter, but I have to be more careful with language since my young readers can be so literal at times. I can use fewer words and let the illustrations do their part. Fewer words means less time spent editing, but more time picking and choosing the absolute best word to spark the synapses. But the actual writing itself process is pretty much the same.

Describe the artwork that you included in the book and why you chose to illustrate it yourself.
Amateurish, and intentionally so. I love really nice, professional illustrations. I also know that I don’t have the skills to create that kind of illustration. However, that does not mean I can’t tell a story and create a book. My goal is to create just enough of a picture that my reader’s imagination can go ahead and finish it, so they end up seeing their picture instead of mine. Maybe, if I am lucky, my illustrations will remove some of the “I can’t” I’ve heard children express and have them say instead, “Heck, if HE can do it, so can I!” As for why I chose to illustrate the books myself? The Skwerdlock made me do it.

Did the Skwerdlock spring forth fully formed from your imagination fully formed, or was he pieced together a little at a time?
The Skwerdlock just showed up in the middle of the night almost 40 years ago, and we have sung and talked about him ever since. But it wasn’t until a year ago when I decided to try and write the first book that I actually sat down and figured out what he looked like. It was all in the words of the song, but I had never actually tried to visualize it. I picked up a pencil and started sketching; ears like an elephant, neck like a giraffe, and all the rest. At one point I just put my pencil down and stared. There he was!

Marissa DeCuir

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

Author: Marissa DeCuir

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Skwerdlock series encourages imagination, self-expression

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