Saturday, February 27, 2016

Trump This! An Unauthorized Bio of the Presidential Candidate by NY Times Bestselling Author


If you only discovered Donald Trump with the television show The Apprentice or with his recent entry into the Republican race for President of the United States, the chances are you think you know quite a bit about Donald Trump.  But the reality is that, like all larger than life personalities, Trump has cultivated his public image well. He’s been selective in what he’s let out and, when pressed, he’s been quick to deny
Trump This! The Life And Times of Donald Trump: An Unauthorized Biography digs deep into the truth that is Donald Trump looking into his family, childhood and early years in New York City, all of which made him the man he is today.  You’ll learn that Trump’s grandfather ran brothels during The Gold Rush years and that his father allegedly ran with The Ku Klux Klan. Trump punched out a teacher in the second grade. New Yorkers know that Trump lived a wild, sexually charged life at Studio 54 as a single man, but few know the true story of how Trump avoided the draft. And the details of the affair that wrecked his first marriage were chronicled in the tabloid press of the times.  All of this is interlaced with the tale of the rise and fall of and rise of his New York real estate empire.
“There have been many books written by and about Donald Trump, but no one has looked at him through the pop culture prism.  As a native New Yorker, Donald Trump has been an almost daily part of the city’s landscape. Now the whole country gets to really see this larger than life New Yorker. I think this makes Trump This! a unique biography,” said Publisher Lori Perkins.
"Writing this book literally on the fly was definitely a challenge.” Said bestselling author Marc Shapiro. “Things were happening daily, things that had to be addressed. In the weeks after I turned in the original manuscript I would wind up adding five additional chapters just to keep this book as up to the minute as possible which is the reality when you're writing about politics and politicians."

Shapiro acknowledged that for even the most ardent followers of Donald Trump, there are things in this book that will surprise and enlighten. "The reality is that Trump, outside of the tight knit business community, was a well kept secret to the man and woman on the street until The Apprentice went on the air. For those people, this book will definitely fill in the blanks."

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Interview with Sephera Giron, Author of the New 12 –Book Witch Upon a Star Romance/Horror/Astrology Serie

So Capricorn: Cursed is the First Book in the series? How did you come up with the idea for this series?

The idea for this series evolved out of my general interests in the occult arts and a couple of trips to Salem. RAB publisher Lori Perkins has always encouraged me to embrace my witchy ways and translate them onto the page. She was a huge force in helping me organize my thoughts to bring these ideas to life.

I’ve been a tarot counsellor and astrologist for years and have read for hundreds of people looking for love, looking for money, and looking for happiness. I’ve been an eclectic witch for over 20 years and though I’ve been invited to join covens, I remain solitary. However, the idea of covens and love spells always intrigues me and so I thought, why not write about them?

It seemed like a fun idea to have a coven of single lady witches who represent each sign of the zodiac. The lady of each sign will have an opportunity to cast a love spell with the coven during her birth month. Each book will follow a lady through her spell and romance.

Although all of the ladies are witches, they are all very different, much like real witches. Since most of them live in Hermana, a fictional magical little town like Salem, most of them have metaphysical jobs as well such as tarot reading, or ghost hunter and there’s a waitress, art teacher, and even a flight attendant.

Through the series, we also discover that some of them might not even be human.

What’s in store for these characters?

As the series progresses, we will learn more about many of the ladies, not just the “star of the month.” Their exploits will bring them to the brink of danger, often supernatural, and they will have to battle ghosts, demons, and other creatures while they sort out their love lives.

We will also learn more about how the town of Hermana was founded, who Lucy is, and what secrets she keeps hidden from her coven.

You have such an interesting background.  How does that dovetail with your writing?

I’m filled with curiosity and if something intrigues me, I will explore it and most of the time, it ends up in my writing work. I learned how to read tarot cards because I was a suddenly single mother and needed another part time job that I could do freelance while I raised my kids. Through tarot, I’ve met so many interesting people and it’s true that everyone has a story to tell. I become very inspired by some of my clients. Only after I explored my own metaphysical gifts, that I learned I’m descended from Spanish fortune-telling gypsies on my father’s side and my maternal Finnish great-grandmother was the neighbourhood dream interpreter.

What else are you working on?

I’ve been writing horror novellas for Samhain. I’m the Canadian Chapter Head of the Horror Writers Association for the past 20 years which keeps me pretty busy. In February, we’ll be launching our new podcast, just in time to highlight Women in Horror Month. My story, “The Lodge” will be part of the Frankenstein Project anthology that Rothco Press has put together from our recent trip to the Stanley Hotel. I’m co-editing an anthology with Christopher Jones about Toronto horror stories that will be released  Halloween, 2017. I’m also working on a story that will be in a Ouija Board anthology next year.

What’s the future of publishing (can you read it in the stars?)

We are in a wild west right now, which, as an Aquarius, I find very exciting!

There will always be publishing and the inventive and creative writers will always find a way to be published.

I believe that people will always love to hold and smell a book even though we all love our technological devices. I think hybrid publishing is here to stay, as in paper co-existing with ebooks. I also believe savvy authors will publish with several houses as well as self-publish their own backlists and weird little projects that don’t fit into a specific marketing slot.

Consumers have already figured out that stuffing a kindle full of free books means nothing. Readers have gotten over the shiny new toy phase of e-readers and are now back to demanding quality editing and a damn good story.


Monday, February 8, 2016

Two of a Kind? Best Kept Boy and Literary Playboy Lioness were Cousins


The New York Times today ran a lengthy obituary of Alice Denham, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/05/arts/alice-denham-ex-playboy-centerfold-dies-at-89.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=mini-moth&region=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0.  

Alice was the cousin of Denham Fouts, the subject of Arthur Vanderbilt's  first biography of Denham  Best-Kept Boy in the World:  The Short, Scandalous Life of Denny Fouts, Muse to Truman Capote, Gore Vidal and Christopher Isherwood. http://www.amazon.com/Best-Kept-Boy-World-Loves-Denny/dp/1936833417/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454957190&sr=8-1&keywords=best+kept+boy+in+the+world

According to Vanderbilt, Alice and Denny were the mirror reflections of each other:  both extremely good looking, sexy, and sexually active.   In her book  Sleeping with Bad Boys, Alice, once a Playboy  centerfold Playmate, describes her affairs with James Dean, Marlon Brando, Hugh Heffner, Norman Mailer, etc.   "Every month I had a mad new crush, a fabulous new romance. Sex was my great adventure."   

In Best Kept Boy in the World,  we learn all about how Denham Fouts was pursued by a shipping tycoon, a Greek prince,an English lord, one of the wealthiest men in Great Britain,and many others. He was, as Truman Capote said, "beyond being good looking; he was the single most charming looking person I've ever seen" 

Alice died on January 27 of this year  at the age of 89.  Denham died in 1948 at the age of 34.  Both of their lives are worthy of a television movie.