All Up In Author's Business!

After reading Gwyneth Bolton’s answers to I think this blog should have a title. All up in the authors business. LOL. What do you, the readers think? As you guessed, we’re about to be all up in Gwyneth Bolton’s business.

Dyanne: Gwyneth, thanks for playing along with this interview. There is a method to my madness other than just being plain insane. I’m hoping the readers will play along and enjoy this. I’m also hoping to show them writers have a fun and approachable side. Ready for the first question? Here it is: If you were granted the power to end either world hunger or have world peace, which would it be? And no, you can’t try to answer so that you can do both.

Gwyneth: That’s a hard one. But I’m going to go with end world hunger. Because honestly, if things were equitable and fair and folks around the world had the basic necessities like food, clothes and shelter, we’d get peace as a by-product. If not, then at least those currently disproportionately affected by poverty and hunger would be able to live and fight on the side of right until we get peace. The cynic in me believes that wicked people are always going to find reasons to war. So, we need more folks who are strong, ready, willing and able to fight for righteous causes. So feed them; end world hunger.

Dyanne: I like your answer and knew you’d find a way to have your choice affect both (smile). Now you’ve been given a chance to rewrite one scene in your personal life. What scene would that be?

Gwyneth: Dang, Dyanne, you all up in my personal business. Sorry, I can’t share the one I would really change ‘cause I don’t know you like that. LOL. But there are a few boyfriends in the past that—knowing what I know now—I would have walked on by. So, that summer night before my senior year of high school when I was walking around with my best friend Lily and we thought we were too hot to trot and that boy I’d seen and secretly liked finally said hello and asked for my phone number… Instead of telling him yes and spending that night on the phone until I couldn’t keep my eyes open and the next six years of my life in that mess of a relationship… I would have said I don’t have a phone and kept it moving. LOL. What I didn’t know then is that there was a much better guy for me waiting a few years down the road, and I had plenty of things to keep me busy until our destinies linked up.

Dyanne: That was a really great answer. I love it especially the end. To bad we can’t see into the future. Now, for the serious stuff. Tell us what you’ve been up to and what books you have coming out this year and any future works that you’re at liberty to talk about.

Gwyneth: This year is a busy year for me. It’s the release year for the first three books in my new series, Hightower Honors: four brothers on a mission to protect, serve and love. Hightower Honors chronicles the lives and loves of four very hot and sexy brothers from a strong upper-middle class Paterson, New Jersey family with a rich legacy of public service. The Hightower men are all tall, dark and handsome alpha males. Their upbringing dictates that when push comes to shove, they should always do the right thing. The only catch is that sometimes the right thing in their minds has to be done the right way, their way. Raised by two loving parents, James and Celia Hightower, the brothers know what real love looks like and they want it for themselves. Eventually. On their own terms.

The first book in the series, PROTECT AND SERVE was released in July 2008. The next books in the series are MAKE IT HOT, THE LAW OF DESIRE and SIZZLING SEDUCTION. In MAKE IT HOT, September 2008, Joel Hightower is a fireman injured on the job and forced to think about a career outside of his dream job. Too bad he can’t think around the spunky physical therapist helping him recover. In THE LAW OF DESIRE, December 2008, the woman Lawrence Hightower finds himself falling in love with could very well be a criminal. He needs to figure out who she really is before the criminals looking for her find her. In SIZZLING SEDUCTION, October 2009, Patrick Hightower is used to putting out fires, but a sweet and sexy kindergarten teacher breaks through his protective shield and gets him thinking it might be more fun starting one.

Dyanne: Thanks Gwyneth. Where can readers reach you?

Gwyneth: Readers can e-mail me gwynethbolton@prodigy.net. They can visit me and contact me via my website http://www.gwynethbolton.com or they can look me up on MySpace http://www.myspace.com/gwynethbolton or look for me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/people/Gwyneth_Bolton/1039714933. Readers can also reach me via snail mail by writing me at PO Box 9388 Carousel Ctr. Syracuse, New York 13290-9381.

Say Hello to Gwynne Forster

Dyanne: Gwynne, thanks for taking the time from your deadlines to participate in the RSJ blog. These questions are not the usual, so don’t think I’ve gone loopy. My first question for you: Share a secret with RSJ that you would never want to see in print.

Gwynne: I may have some, but if I share them, I’ll surely see them in print. Right?

Dyanne: LOL. I was hoping I’d sneak that one past you. I should have known better. Okay, here’s another one. If you were ruler of the world, what would your first order be?

Gwynne: I would eliminate all the differences among people except gender and language. We need the language barriers, because eliminating them would give us something to strive for. And Lord knows we need the gender differences. At least I do.

Dyanne: LOL. I also need the gender differences. I never thought about the language barriers, but I’m in agreement with you. What a great answer. We all have vices, so tell me the one vice you have that you’ll never give up.

Gwynne: Probably chewing gum, which I always do when I’m working at the computer. My father thought it worse than a vice.

Dyanne: Now that the crazy part of this interview is over, tell us a little about your next project and where readers can reach you. Thanks again for playing along. I know how busy you are right now. Where can readers reach you?

Gwynne: I have two books—a mainstream and a romance—coming out in October. The mainstream is entitled A DIFFERENT KIND OF BLUES, and it’s the story of a woman who gets a shock and, consequently, sets put to turn her life around. The romance, WHAT MATTERS MOST, is about a doctor who, after an earth shaking epiphany, departs from all he has known and all he’s ever been to become a different, kinder, gentler and more admirable man, the obstacles he encounters and the woman who stands with him through it all. This book is a part of a project aimed to introduce St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and its services to African American women who don’t know that the service is free for their sick children if they have no insurance. The book is not about St. Jude; it is a romance in which some characters are involved with St. Jude.

Gwynne Forster
www.gwynneforster.com

A Hello To Lisa G. Riley

Dyanne: Hi Lisa G. Congratulations on your book Simply Wicked and your anthology piece in Zane’s Honey Flava. I hear they’re doing really well. I bet you’re nervous, wondering what crazy questions I’m going to ask you, so here goes: As a PR person you have been given the go ahead to take ONE writer to the top (and it can’t be you unless you can figure out a way to get rid of your client) So how are you going to take that client to the top? Or are you going to get rid of them? LOL


Lisa: Actually, that’s a difficult question. It would depend on what the client’s book is about. For instance, say a client sets a book in London. One idea would be to fly that client to London and have her do signings at the various places she may have mentioned in the book. Of course, a contest would be in order as well. That could be anything: answers to questions about the client or her book, or sending in proof of purchase—your receipt—of the client’s book, etc. After a random drawing, the winner could receive an all expense paid trip to London for two. The contest would be announced during commercials of shows with heavy female viewership (Good Morning America, The Today Show, etc.), or better yet, get that author on one of those shows, and get her interviewed by newspapers. There would also be a contest in London, with the winner being given a special meeting with that author and maybe a shopping spree in London, I don’t know…but it would be something fabulous! And of course, I like the idea of the proof of purchase contest idea the best!

Dyanne: I hope everyone’s taking note on the good ideas you’ve given. Since you didn’t kill off your client, I’ll give you a chance to do something fun. What one totally selfish thing would you like to do for Lisa?


Lisa: I don’t know if this could be called selfish since I only have myself to worry about at this point in my life, but I’d like to take myself off to Paris and London for a year or so. You know, a couple of my books (Simply Wicked and Caught Up in the Rapture), are at least partially set in those cities—one in each of them. I just love them!

Dyanne: You’re right; that’s not VERY selfish. I hope you get to live your dream. On the writing front, what are your future plans?


Lisa: I have a completed manuscript that I’m hoping will be picked up soon by a publisher. It’s called Do Me Right, and is about an engaged couple who already lives together and have planned their wedding. The only problem is that one of them doesn’t show up for the wedding. The book follows the two as they try to navigate the problems of their relationship. It sounds serious, I know, but there’s a lot of humor in it. I’m also working on All or Nothing at All, a romantic suspense about a woman in search of a valuable instrument from her father’s estate. She’s not the only one chasing it: the FBI, assorted criminals and the DEA are after it as well. And while she’s chasing clues across the globe, her man is chasing her, trying to pin her down for a commitment.


Dyanne: Thanks Lisa. Where can readers reach you?

Lisa: Thank you, Dyanne, and you’re welcome. My website is http://www.lisagriley.com/ and my e-mail address is lisa@lisagriley.com