Category: Guest Posts

Posted in Guest Posts

The Teacher, The Traveler & The Writer: Mark Niemann-Ross

Posted on by Cristina Isabel - Poet/Writer/Author/Blogger

AUTHOR BIO:

Mark Niemann-Ross teaches online, paddles an ocean kayak, travels from Wisconsin to Oregon and has no pets. He writes about technology on technology and the unexpected collisions between them.

AUTHOR Q&A:

1.  When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

MNR: I never realized I wanted to be a writer – it was just something I always did. I’ve become more disciplined about the process and have set up goals for how much I want to write.

2.  How long does it take to write your book(s)?

MNR: As long as it takes. I don’t feel like the quantity of writing is something I necessarily control. The words show up and I write them down. It’s kind of like getting letters in the mail – they show up, then I read them. I don’t have expectations for how much mail I’ll get over time and I don’t have expectations on how much I’ll write.

3.  What is your work schedule like when writing a book?

MNR: It depends on when the words show up. I make a point of checking daily to see if there are words to be written. If they are there, I get busy.

4. Where do you get your ideas or information for your book?

MNR: I currently spend a lot of time thinking about three things: 

  • R, a big data/machine learning language
  • Raspberry Pi, a single-board computer
  • Senior / Elder care. My mother-in-law is aging, and I spend a lot of time helping her out.

The stories I write spring from those domains. 

5. When did you write your first book?

MNR: Stupid Machine was my first formal book. It took me five or more years to write it – and re-write  – and revise – and tear it up and start over.

6. What do you do when you’re not writing?

MNR: Paddle a kayak, play jazz bass, be social. 

7. What does your family think of your writing?

MNR: They’re amused and supportive. We don’t depend on my writing for income, so it’s pretty easy to view it as a hobby that sometimes draws attention, occasionally some income.

8. What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating your books?

MNR: The characters in the books continue to amuse me. I invest a lot of time learning about them and exploring their back story. The more I learn, the more they become autonomous. It’s actually a bit creepy.

9. How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

MNR: I’ve written two proper books: “Stupid Machine” – a murder mystery solved by a refrigerator, and “Patches Catches the Sargo County Cattle Rustler” – a kids book about a clever border collie. Ask me for my favorite when we’re in private – I don’t want to offend either of them.

10. Any tips/suggestions on getting started?

MNR: Write something. Put your name on a piece of paper. Write a stupid sentence. Then another. Erase the first, then write another. Do that enough times and you’ll have a book.

11. What do you think makes a good story?

MNR: Tell me something that could happen. Then describe something that happens. It’s easy. Except for the surprising part. That’s hard. Then tell the story with half the words you used the first time.

LINKS:

Website: http://niemannross.com

PUBLISHED WORKS:

Posted in Guest Posts

From being, “Photographer of the Stars” to “Photographer that Never Sleeps!”; The Great, Fabian Suarez!

Posted on by Cristina Isabel - Poet/Writer/Author/Blogger

The Photographer of the Stars is back at it again! Between taking pictures of beautiful landscapes to the beautiful randomness of life, Fabian Suarez is there to capture it with a click. (Insert clicking noises) 😉

Back in January of this year Fabian was featured as a guest artist sharing his interests about Photography and what’s inspired him. And you know what’s changed?? NOTHING!! (Lol)

Fabian is always ready to take pictures, so let him know I sent you!! 😉

You can read his Q&A here: https://cristinaisabelauthor.com/2022/01/16/photographer-of-the-stars-fabian-suarez/

To see more of what inspires him, click here: fasphoto.wordpress.com

To contact him about working with him in a photoshoot, or to purchase his photos, email him: Fasphoto (@) yahoo.com

For me, photography is to place head, heart and eye along the same line of sight.

It is a way of life.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Recent Photo Album:

Posted in Guest Posts

Queen of Legacy: Merle R. Saferstein

Posted on by Cristina Isabel - Poet/Writer/Author/Blogger

AUTHOR BIO:

As the director of educational outreach at the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center for twenty-six years, Merle Saferstein worked closely with hundreds of Holocaust survivors helping them to pass along their Legacy of Remembrance to hundreds of thousands of students and teachers. When she retired from the Holocaust Center, she developed a course entitled Living and Leaving Your Legacy® and teaches and speaks to audiences locally, nationally, and internationally. 

She trains hospice staff and volunteers showing them ways to help patients leave their legacies and works closely with the patients at the end of their lives doing sacred legacy work. For many years, she has volunteered at a camp for children who experienced the death of a family member—helping them gain important tools to cope with their grief and also facilitated an all-day parent session at these camps. Merle currently facilitates a writing for wellness group at Gilda’s Club for women who have been impacted by cancer. 

Merle has been facilitating a weekly journaling circle since April 2020 at the start of Covid. For fourteen years, she culled through her journals taking excerpts according to approximately seventy topics. This June, Living and Leaving My Legacy, vol. 1, a book containing eleven of these topics will be released. The second volume will be published in 2023.

Merle is a council member of the International Association of Journal Writing, is the author of Room 732, a short story collection which pays homage to the historic Hollywood Beach Hotel and a B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree, and is a contributor to the Huffington Post, Medium, Authority Magazine, and Thrive Global. Her chapter on legacy journaling appears in The Great Book of Journaling: How Journal Writing Can Support a Life of Wellness, Creativity, Meaning and Purpose.

Merle was chosen as the 2019 Greater Miami Jewish Federation Volunteer of the Year.

AUTHOR Q&A:

  1. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

MRS: As a young girl, I wrote letters to my relatives who lived all over the United States. Around age nine, I vividly remember telling myself I needed to lead an interesting life to always have something to write about and share. Even back then, I was feeling the stirrings to be a writer.

  1. How long did it take to write your book?

MRS: Living and Leaving My Legacy, Vol. 1 is not a typical book because it is a compilation of excerpts from 359 journals that I wrote from 1974–2016. I began going back into my journals in 2002 and taking excerpts I thought I might want to share. That process took me fourteen years, and then I spent approximately five years editing down the excerpts into those to put into Living and Leaving My Legacy, Vol. 1. This book was a long time in coming.

  1. What is your work schedule like when writing a book?

MRS: I often devote at least an hour each morning to journal when I first awaken. Then after that, unless I am teaching, I might spend anywhere from three to eight hours a day focused on working on the book. Once I am in the flow, I allow for little to interrupt me. Generally, I find that even in my dreams, thoughts of the book float in. So, even if I’m not actually doing the writing, I am thinking about it, which in a way is part of the process.

  1. Where do you get your ideas or information for your book?

MRS: In the case of Living and Leaving My Legacy, Vol. 1, everything included in the book is from my own life experiences. It is a combination of my thoughts, feelings, conversations, encounters, memories, dreams, travel adventures, life lessons, values and beliefs, and hopes and dreams. The material is all recorded within the pages of my journals. 

  1. When did you write your first book? 

MRS: I wrote my first book in 1984. It was during a period of time when I was in between jobs. While I was interviewing for positions, I decided that what I wanted to be doing above all else, aside from finding a way to make a difference, was to write. And so, that began my journey as a writer. I spent an entire year writing A Slice of Life, which ultimately never got published. Surprisingly enough, I was offered a contract to make a movie from the book. The process was underway when the person in charge of the project decided to leave and build a movie studio in Hungary. That ended the fantasy of my book becoming a movie, but it certainly was an exciting time leading up to the end.

  1. What do you do when you aren’t writing?

MRS: I am fortunate to be leading a full life at age seventy-seven. After I retired in December 2011 from being the director of educational outreach at a Holocaust center in South Florida, I developed a course entitled Living and Leaving Your Legacy®. I have since taught sixty-three eight-week classes, speak locally, nationally, and internationally, and volunteer with hospice organizations doing sacred legacy work. I also facilitate a weekly journaling circle and a bi-weekly writing group at Gilda’s Club with women who have been impacted by cancer. I enjoy traveling and do as much of it as possible—especially visiting with my family and friends all over the United States.

  1. What does my family think of my writing?

MRS: For all of their lives, my children have known me as a writer. My daughter, who is now fifty, recalls how she would fall asleep listening to the clicking of the typewriter keys. I’ve often wondered how my husband feels as he has often sat at my side when I’m journaling. He never seemed curious, although I think if the tables were turned, I would be. When my son was younger, he was always interested in what I was working on. Collectively, I believe they all just accept that writing is what I do.

  1. What was the most surprising thing I learned in creating my books?

MRS: For this book, in particular, what surprised me was how much about my life I remembered when I went back into my journals and read them. Occasionally, I would come across a name, and I’d have no idea who it was, but that didn’t happen often in all those years of reading my journals. I believe that because I journaled, it has helped me remember in a way that most never do. 

  1. How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

MRS: In all, I have written four books. The first two I wrote in 1984 and 1994—neither of which were published. The one I wrote in 2012, Room 732, pays homage to the historic Hollywood Beach Hotel. It is a book of short stories which weave the history of the hotel within its pages. The chapters take place in room 732 of the hotel. I loved that book because it was something I had thought about doing for many years and finally wrote it when I first retired from my position at the Holocaust center. I self-published it and had a positive experience. This latest book, Living and Leaving My Legacy, Vol. 1, is especially dear to me because in many ways, it, along with volume two which will be published in 2023, is truly my life’s work.

  1. Any tips/suggestions on getting started?

MRS: I truly believe that to write a book, the only way to do it is to sit down and start writing. Sometimes it means facing a blank screen with no clue as to what to write. If that happens, my suggestion is to begin with answering these questions:  What do I envision this book to be? Who are the characters? Where will the book take place? Why is this a story I want to tell? When is the time period of the book? Answering these questions might help get a jump start. Writing is rewriting. So, regardless of how rough the first draft is, getting it, all down is what matters. The editing comes later. Just write!

  1. What do you think makes a good story?

MRS: To me a good story is one with universal truths. If readers can identify and find something that resonates for them, then to me that is a most important quality. The story must have a setting, plot, characters, conflict, and a theme.

  1. As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

MRS: Aside from a brief time when my mother had surgery and I thought I wanted to be a nurse, I always wanted to be a teacher. I had an excellent role model as a teacher—my mother, who was beloved by all of her students. By the time I went to college, I chose elementary education as my major. I eventually taught almost all ages. I began teaching third grade and then first. Later, I taught pre-school, worked with teens of all ages, and in the last ten years, I began teaching adults. Who I am is an educator. It comes through in my daily living and in my writing.

LINKS:

Website: https://merlersaferstein.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/merle-saferstein-43b97739/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/merle.saferstein

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/merles1212/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/safer1212

Pre-order Living and Leaving My Legacy, vol. 1 (Available: June 7th): https://www.amazon.com/Living-Leaving-My-Legacy-Vol-ebook/dp/B0B1GZCL5V/ref=sr_1_2?crid=DTAB7726B2NX&keywords=merle+saferstein+book&pldnSite=1&qid=1653432356&sprefix=merle+safe%2Caps%2C244&sr=8-2

***Book Launch Event: Temple Sinai of North Dade, 18801 NE 22nd Ave, North Miami Beach, FL on June 12th @ 4p (Books will be available for purchase at event)***

PUBLISHED WORKS:

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

I met this lovely lady with my mom 9 years ago at the Nova Southeastern Library (FL). She was giving us notes about writing along with sharing her new book (at the time), Room 732 (stay tuned for the book review!).

Posted in Guest Posts

The Juggling of 2: Mother & Horror Author – Patricia Stover

Posted on by Cristina Isabel - Poet/Writer/Author/Blogger

AUTHOR BIO:

Patricia Stover is a horror author whose works have been published in The Horror Zine, Scout Media, Cafe Macabre II, and Weirdsmith. Born and raised in Oklahoma, Stover resides in a small town near the Oklahoma/Texas border. She discovered her love of horror at a young age and was raised on campy 80s horror flicks. Her favorite type of stories are creature features. When she’s not writing, Stover is a mother to a rambunctious eight-year-old and she can often be found on the banks of Lake Texoma relaxing with a fishing pole by her side. 

AUTHOR Q&A:

1.When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

PS: I’ve always loved writing, but I think the “Ah Ha” moment was during my first creative writing course as freshman in college. I’ve probably told this story before, but I’d been given a three-page screenplay assignment. I sat down to write, and it was as if I’d opened a whole other world that was inside of me. The words just poured out. I named it “In the Woods” or something like that. It was a Western Horror screenplay and was way beyond three pages. 

2. How long does it take to write your book(s)?

PS: I’ll let you know once I finish my own book. I’ve only been published in anthologies and zines thus far. I had written several drafts of a book titled Hitchhiking With the Devil that I never pursued publication with. It was my very first attempt at writing a novel. I pantsed it and it had no direction or character development. So, now it is a trunk novel. I recently finished writing a YA horror novel titled Bone Crusher. It is about a sixteen-year-old girl named Star and her skateboard Madonna. I just got the first round of edits back from my editor and I am working on those. I’ve got the book proposal together and ready. Now I just need to finish all the edits. I think the first draft only took two or three months to write. The outline probably took a month. I hope to have all the edits done by this summer. 

3. What is your work schedule like when writing a book?

PS: I work full time and write as a side gig. But I do a lot of my writing at work. Shh, don’t tell. I try to squeeze it in wherever and whenever I can. Whether that’s at work or in the evenings when I get home, on the weekends, that sort of thing. 

4. Where do you get your ideas or information for your book?

PS: I have no clue where my ideas come from honestly. Bone Crusher just sort of came to me. I knew I wanted to write a strong, interesting female MC that young girls could look up to. One that would save herself. And I hope that I’ve done that well. I guess I’ll know when the readers tell me. I think I draw some things from the people and places around me, or my own experiences growing up. One of my goals as an author is to create great female characters and to try to focus on themes that are important to young girls and women. I think when I first began my writing journey, I really didn’t have any direction. I just knew I wanted to write stories and be published. But the more I wrote, the more I realized what I wanted to say, the message I had for the world. 

5. When did you write your first book?

PS: I’m still working on that but if it all goes well, I will have it all finished by this summer and I will be querying agents. 

6. What do you do when you’re not writing?

PS: I work full-time, and I am a mother of an eight-year-old boy who loves superheroes. I try to spend as much time with him as I can. When I am not doing that, I read, or watch horror movies. I like to get outdoors when it is warm and I like to travel, although I don’t get to do that very much. I hope to do more in the coming years. 

7. What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating your books

PS: Oh man. I’ve learned so much, I don’t know where to start. I think it was how much of ourselves ended up in our books. We may not notice it, but it’s there. All those bits and pieces of us, our lives now or our pasts. Maybe things we wish we could change or things we’ve already endured. It’s crazy how much we leave behind in our writings. 

8. Any tips/suggestions on getting started?

PS: The only tip I have is to get over being scared and just do it. You just have to put pen to paper or sit down at the computer and do it. That is the only way to get going. Start there and you’ll find your way. Surround yourself with people who get it and who are willing to help when you have a question. There are many writer groups for that. 

9. What do you think makes a good story?

PS: I think the character is what really makes the story so great. You have to start with an interesting character. One that isn’t perfect, and that other people can relate to. That’s the key to the beginning of a good story, for me. 

10. As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up? 

PS: I wanted to be a veterinarian and a nurse. I even went to college and had all my prerequisites for nursing. Then I decided I wanted to become a writer instead.

LINKS:

WEIRDSMITH ISSUE 9

PUBLISHED WORKS:

Posted in Guest Posts

Hiker, Educator and Author, Oh my! / Jiji Talmas

Posted on by Cristina Isabel - Poet/Writer/Author/Blogger

AUTHOR BIO:

JiJi Talmas also known as “Ms. JiJi” was born in a small town near the sea until she moved far away to a land of snow and the Rocky Mountains. Before she started writing books, JiJi got a graduate degree in Early Childhood Education. After that, just to shake things up, she achieved the award of Excellence for her contribution to public education and later on, received the Kathleen Stroud Award for demonstrating exceptional leadership in supporting families and children’s education. She loves to write books and short stories to educate and connect with children using beautiful illustration and heartfelt characters that inspire. When she is not writing, JiJi spends most of her time reading, giving back to her community, connecting with nature, and hiking.

AUTHOR Q&A:

1. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
 JT: I’ve been writing my entire life. As a child, I made my own magazine and distribute it every month at my own school and as an educator, I made my own stories and books for my children at the program but knew nothing about real publishing. I’ve learned so much during the Pandemic. The lockdown and being laid off for more than a year forced me to get busy with searching, networking, and educating myself on how to publish a book.

2. How long does it take to write your book(s)?
JT: Because I was laid off, I had all the time. It took me a year to publish two children’s books and 8 months to publish my third which is a journal that shares my experience as an Early Childhood Educator. My last book highlights the importance of the ECE for everyone from children to volunteers, to educators, families through simple attractive writing style and colorful pages that will make the reader smile. 

3. What is your work schedule like when writing a book?
JT: Again, I was laid off with no job. So, I had all the time. I wake up at 5 am to do my yoga and meditation, have breakfast, go for my morning walk. I sit by the river and think, write down a few notes and ideas. I come home and start writing, networking, communicating with the illustrator and editor until 5 pm. And do it all over again the next day. 

4. Where do you get your ideas or information for your book?
JT: My books are original. The first one, “The Nest in the Evergreen Tree” is a beautiful story based on a real place honoring a loved one who passed. The tree is real, the robin was real … the painted rocks and what’s beautiful is at the end of the book, it shows the real pictures of the magical garden. 

For my second book, we often have volunteers that come in to help and connect with children making special activities for after school and I as an educator always had a hard time finding a simple story that will help me introduce a volunteer to the children. There aren’t any at all. So, my second book was the first book written to shed light on volunteers and the important role they play in a child’s life at school. 

The third book is simply a journal about my work experience in the field as an educator written in beautiful lines with stunning photographs. 

5. When did you write your first book?
JT: The first book was written in year 2020.

6. What do you do when you’re not writing?
JT: Educating young children and hiking, connecting with nature.

7. What does your family and friends think of your writing?
JT: I see smiles… so, hope they’re proud!! 

8. What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating your books?
JT: I can never forget the moment I held my first book in my hand…. When you see your work being born … such a beautiful moment no words can describe.

9. How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
JT: I have written three books and my favorite is my first, “The Nest in the Evergreen Tree” this book will always have a special place in my heart and a song was written for it called “I remember” by the amazing Debra Krol. Full proceed of the book is donated every year on June 18th to support environmental learning programs for children giving them the opportunity to explore nature, woodlands, meadows and wildlife. 

10. Any tips/suggestions on getting started?
JT: Just do it … I know the journey seems long but start one step at a time and it’s not as hard as people think once you start… it’s a beautiful journey worth taking. 

11. What do you think makes a good story?
JT: Creativity and beauty but most of all knowing how to connect to the audience of your book. 

12. As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
JT: lol a cop or crime scene investigator … I always watch CSI and Law and Order.

LINKS:

 JiJiTalmas.com

PUBLISHED WORKS: