Special Guest - Bonnie Trachtenberg

SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN

By Bonnie Trachtenberg

 After the thrilling success of my two romantic comedies, Wedlocked and Neurotically Yours, I was a bit reluctant to write the novel that had been occupying my mind, because I knew I’d established a certain expectation from my readers. Something drove me to it anyway—despite the fact it has been a slower going process to write than I’m used to. The novel, Seven Minutes in Heaven, features some humor, as well as romance, but unlike my others it was inspired by more than twenty-five years of personal research into a topic that I find more fascinating than almost any other: What happens after we die?

I know many people may think that to be a morbid theme, but it really is quite the opposite. After all, what could be less dark and depressing than finding out that we never really die? That those who have flat-lined and been revived by medical doctors (sometimes after no brain activity was recorded for hours) often have amazing stories to tell us about what they saw, heard, and felt while detached from their bodies. These are not recalled dreams either; they are experiences that are often described as “more real” than our lives here on earth. Medical personnel have verified that some patients have detailed knowledge of events in and around the operating room that they could never have known due to their bodily perspectives and medical conditions.

After years of incessant and widely varied study on this topic, I’ve come to my own logical conclusion that the soul does indeed survive bodily death. Therefore, how could I ever discount the experiences of those who have crossed over and returned to us—especially because when they do, they are often transformed into very different people who radically change the way they live the rest of their lives.

That is the premise of Seven Minutes in Heaven. My protagonist, Lindsay Baines Davenport, is an uber-successful party planner in New York City who has, in a sense, lost her soul. She is controlling, callous, and cunning. Deep down, she is in pain. The woman who seems to have it all actually has very little of the things that truly matter. So when a near-death experience (NDE) reveals her life to her through an omnipotent and stunningly new perspective, she returns with advanced knowledge and amazing gifts that ensure her life will never be the same.

I hope the readers who enjoyed my other books will keep an open mind and check their expectations at the door when they read my latest. If they do, I don’t think they’ll be disappointed! Stay tuned for release dates.

BIO:

 Bonnie Trachtenberg is the multi-award-winning, bestselling author of Wedlocked: A Novel, Neurotically Yours: A Novel, and The Fine Art of Delusional Thinking. She writes a monthly relationship and advice column for Love a Happy Ending Lifestyle Magazine. Bonnie was senior writer and copy chief at Book-of-the-Month Club and has written seven children’s book adaptations. She has also written for three newspapers and penned countless magazine articles. She lives in New York with her husband, four cats, and a dog.

Learn much more about Bonnie at her website: http://www.BonnieTrachtenberg.com

Read her advice column at: http://www.loveahappyending.com/category/in-search-of-a-happy-ending/

Find her on Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/BonnieTrachtenberg

Follow her on Twitter: @Writebrainedny

Buy Wedlocked

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Buy Neurotically Yours

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Buy The Fine Art of Delusional Thinking

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Special Guest - Carol E. Wyer

Any writer today knows how important it is to maintain a profile on social media and get those reviews to keep the reading public interested in their books. It can get very tiring and authors who notice a dip in sales can become disillusioned. It is then when they might turn to one of those adverts that have appeared in their inbox to advertise or promote a book or, to take a chance at winning a book award and earn an accolade that will help launch their literary future.

Take it from one who has learned the hard way, there are very few competitions you should enter. Many charge a fee but it does not end there. Surprise, surprise you will be short-listed along with many others in your category. For some awards there are loads of categories so it seems as if everyone who entered won a semi-finalist award. That earns you bragging rights—which only serve to further promote the award itself—and the opportunity to purchase stickers for your books, badge or medal should you wish.

In my salad days, I believed that winning an award would allow me to garner attention from the media and promote my book further. Grumpy was not happy. He did not want me frittering away my hard-earned money on awards. He took some convincing but I applied. I won three – two Indie medals – all bright and shiny—the size of dinner plates. I also won a gold medal from Readers Favourite where I got a wonderful review and jumped about the room in excitement. Grumpy remained unimpressed by the size of my gong. “How much did that lump of metal cost you?” he grumbled. He was right. I should have saved my money. Did they help? No. Journalists were interested until I mentioned my award. “What’s that then?” they replied just before they decided it was not newsworthy. When it is an award from some obscure site that is unheard of in the UK then just forget it. It is not worth your time, or your money.

It didn’t dampen my ardour and I continued to seek out well-known awards. One of my books, Just Add Spice was entered for the Costa Awards (Ha, even Grumpy had heard of them). Then, my publishers, Safkhet Publishing, put one of my books up for The People’s Book Prize Award.

Founded by Dame Beryl Bainbridge and with Frederick Forsythe as its patron, this is a superb platform for authors who wish to be recognised. Entry is free. If your book is selected from the many, you will be showcased for three months, during which time the voting public will be able to vote for it. If you are then one of the lucky three to go through to the finals, you will have one further week ahead of the award ceremony to promote and ask readers (or your family) to vote again.

The ceremony takes place in London. It is a glitzy affair with a touch of showbiz about it. Sky television film for the entire evening and all finalists get the chance to show off their books.

It’s not just about the award. You have a wonderful opportunity to write about your book on social media, show it off and attract more readers. The People’s Book Prize award is dedicated to promoting literacy and showcasing lesser-known authors. You can let local press know you are a finalist and you may well find yourself appearing on radio shows or television. All of which all leads to sales and the feeling you have climbed onto the bottom rung of Z-list celebrity fame.

Some of you many know I won the award last year for my non-fiction book Grumpy Old Menopause. I can’t tell you how thrilled (and surprised) I was. Sales for the book jumped that month and I had a few manic days where I felt I was achieving what I had always wanted. My book was being read. I was making people laugh. Grumpy managed a smile—yes, a smile!

Now my humorous travel guide, Grumpies On Board is up for voting. It was compiled over several months and we have been researching it for some considerable time. It is more than a travel guide. It will give you ideas and suggestions to change how you travel or indeed make you want to try out all sorts of previously unheard of stuff. It’s stuffed full of fun and laughs too. You can find out why Grumpy will not go Snuffle Trunting again.

Given my beloved Grumpy wrote all the daft comments in it, he is rather hoping to cajole a few votes for it. If you have five minutes, could you please head over to the website, register and vote for it. I would love to see him collect an award. Heaven knows what he’ll say if it happens but be assured Sky will be televising it and we’ll all find out.

Vote HERE: http://www.peoplesbookprize.com/book.php?id=1322

Website: http://www.carolewyer.co.uk

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00XD6KSK0

Welcome to my special guest Mandy Baggot

Merry Christmas! Too much too soon? OK, well, in my opinion, it’s never too early for winter wishes and the excitement of life in New York City! Welcome to my brand new novel, One Wish in Manhattan.

The temperature is dropping, snow is on its way and Hayley Walker is heading for New York with one wish… to start over. 

With her daughter Angel, Hayley is ready for adventure. But there’s more to New York than twinkly lights and breathtaking skyscrapers. Angel has her own Christmas wish – to find her real dad. 

While Hayley tries to fulfil her daughter’s wish, she crosses paths with billionaire Oliver Drummond. Restless and bored with fast living, there’s something intriguing about him that has Hayley hooked. 

Can Hayley dare to think her own dreams might turn come true – could A New York Christmas turn into a New York Forever? 

Travel to the Big Apple this Christmas and join Hayley and Oliver as they realise life isn’t just about filling the minutes… it’s about making every moment count. 

A big warm-hearted story, full of Christmas sparkle that will delight fans of Jane Costello, Miranda Dickinson and Lucy Diamond. 

So grab yourself some buttered bagels and hot chocolate and curl up by the fire!

Buy One Wish in Manhattan now!

Welcome to my special guest Lynne Fitzgerald

 Lynne Fitzgerald is, undoubtedly, one of Merseyside’s most recognisable acting talents having appeared in plays such as The Salon at The Liverpool Royal Court and Theatre Royal, St. Helens, as well as Two alongside Louis Emerick at The Floral Pavilion in New Brighton.

What might not be so well known though is the fact that Lynne is also a prolific playwright and has penned such hits as 4 Girls and Caravan,Psychic Sybil and Desperate Scousewives 1 and 2.

Lynne’s new play, Hey Girl Show Us Your Tips, opened at The Theatre Royal last year and is set in a Traditional Liverpool Alehouse,

As Lynne has recently appeared in Two, written by Jim Cartwright, was there any inspiration drawn from that piece of observational theatre?

“I was so obsessed by Two and would never, ever liken my writing skills to those of Jim’s, but I did find that his style did sort of begin to creep into my own work.

"I had to be very careful not to follow the path that he had already gone down so fantastically well, which was quite difficult to be honest.

"That said though, there are very different characters in Show Us Your Tips, it is a completely different scenario and a whole different ballgame.”

Once Lynne has the idea for a new play in mind, the process is then undertaken to develop the story at full throttle.

“What I do is get the idea, think of a name for it, get the name, design the poster that will advertise it then look at the poster and start writing the play. It is a bit unmethodical but if it works, it works.

"Every writer has their own way of doing things, I expect, but this is the way I do it. I have the story rolling around my head for about four or five days before actually getting down to writing it, but once I start that part of the process it takes about another four or five days – working about five or six hours a day – before the first full draft is completed.

"Then I go back and rewrite it about three or four more times. The whole thing from idea to page takes around two weeks work in total.”

“I hate plays that are overwritten and it has taken me years to learn how not to do that, because I was taking stuff out that would have worked really well in the end, simply because I found I was over thinking the material and scenario I was creating.

"I was bogged down too much with what the cast were thinking and what the audience would think, until I got to the point where I had to take responsibility.

 If stuff makes me laugh it goes in, if doesn't it comes out.

"I think every writer – because it is such a solitary occupation – has to write what they think is funny or sad or dramatic or whatever.”

With what seems like such a pressurised writing routine, does Lynne actually like the process of writing?

“I'm addicted to it. I didn't start off wanting to write I wanted to act, which is my first love. Then I found when I was going to see shows in Liverpool and around, I was adding different scenarios and creating characters that were, sometimes, more suited to the play than the ones that were being played on stage.

"I did stand up successfully for 15 years and I wrote all my own material for that, as well, so that gave me a grounding in what makes people laugh, so I thought ‘what am I doing, giving so much, material away?’.

“When I did seriously begin to write stuff of my own, the prospect of it being seen by an audience really scared me and, probably, and there where times when I thought, I may never pluck up the nerve to get my first stage play 4 Girls and a Caravan off the ground.

"If, as an actor, things go wrong on stage then you can alter it and cover it up to some extent. With writing a complete script, there is no hiding place and what the actors are working with is the final product, so it isn't good enough you’re stuck.

"Things are never as scary as you think they’re going to be, once you’re off and running, but I would still love to go away to some retreat and write and write and write.”

Lynne is also totally hands on in all aspects of her play’s production.

“I'm a total control freak. I design the sets, the costumes, the lighting, everything. It might sound awful but I do tend to think that nobody else can envisage what I can so I’d prefer to do it myself.

"In fact, I physically built the bar when I was in Two at The Floral Pavilion"

So what can an audience expect from Desperate Scousewives?

“Basically, its Liverpool comedy at its best, with a fabulous cast Trevor Dwyer Lynch (Coronation Street) Lynn Francis Charlie Griffiths and myself.

"There’s nothing deep and meaningful about it, nothing too thought provoking, so just come along, have a great night and get ready to be rolling in aisles laughing.

Chris High Interview

L/R Lynn Francis Lynne Fitzgerald Charlie Griffiths Trevor Dwyer Lynch

Desperate Scousewives - The Play

Monday 28th September to Thursday 1st October 2015, 7:30pm Tickets £15.00* (£13.00* cons) Group discounts available ask at the box office 0151 666 0000 Four ordinary women living in a four terraced house's in the back streets of Liverpool we join the occupants the days leading up to and following the wedding of Vanessa played by Charlie Griffiths, a wedding, incidentally, which takes place in Walton Jail to a prisoner she's never met. Newcomer to the terrace, (Trisha) played by stand up comedian and Coronation Street star Trevor Dwyer Lynch tries desperately to fit-in with her new neighbours without realising the other's already know she's just moved into, Number One, owned by a battered wives association. Occupant of Number Two (Lily) played by Lynn Francis is currently in an abusive relationship and when she accidentally kills her husband, a whole string of hilarious co-incidences conspire to divert suspicion away from this down-trodden character Add in Bossy, loud-mouthed occupant of Number Three (Susan) played by Lynne Fitzgerald in her own inimitable style, your in for one hilarious night of entertainment. *Includes a £1.00 per ticket fee. Capped at 8 tickets. No fees to Friends of the Floral.