Lakeisha Michelle Thomas, Author of Scenario’s of Why….Volume 1 “Internal Monologues”

Today we are interviewing Lakeisha Michelle Thomas, author of "Scenario’s of Why….Volume 1 Internal Monologues," a powerful book about HIV/STD testing.

 Tell us a bit about yourself.
 I am a 27 year old metaphysical Science student who thrives off of educating others.

Describe the purpose of your book in a few sentences.
The purpose of my book is to bring awareness closer to home so that whomever I reach will take these diseases more seriously in hopes that it will move readers enough to get pay more attention to their health and others around them.

Who do you think would most appreciate this book?
I believe anyone will appreciate this book, mainly people who are afraid to get tested. All of the scenarios are very common and most readers can connect with them.

What inspired you to write a book of monologues of people waiting to get results or tested for STDs?
The fear of knowing. I feel that it is very important for people to know that they are not alone. They share the same fears of everyone else when it comes to going with the whole procedure. Sometime that’s all it takes to encourage people and give them some type of comfort. Regardless of what the outcome is.

Author Lakeisha Michelle Thomas

What do you think are some of the biggest misconceptions about STD testing?
Some of the biggest misconceptions about STD testing starts with the myth that if you have an STD you will know it or if your partner has an STD you will know it. Not all STDs have visible symptoms and because of this way of thinking, a lot of people go untreated and as a result pass on these diseases to their children. Regardless of what we think we may know it is no harm in getting tested.

Can you tell us a bit about the process of writing this book, from the initial idea to the finished book?
The process of writing this book was challenging because I had so many ways I wanted to connect with my readers but I decided to take my time. This is just volume one so I decided to take my time. And touch on what I felt was more important self and health awareness and it just so happen that I when I was ready to publish National HIV testing day was coming up.

How do you think reading your book will impact people?
I think it will bring people back down to earth to realize how serious these things are. We have the ability of knowing and treating, why now take advantage of that.
 
Where can people find more information about STD testing?
www.cdc.gov/std/

What do you have in mind for your next writing project?
For my next writing project I will be working on a children’s book along with volume 2 of "Scenario’s of Why."

Is there anything else you'd like potential readers to know about your book?
Yes, All of the scenarios in my book are fiction and a few chosen from many that I had to use for the book that I felt would be more relatable to my readers today. As my goal is to raise awareness and touch motivate those who read my books, I try to be as informative as possible when connecting the characters in "Scenario’s of Why" and its readers.

More Information
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Flip Brown, Author of Balanced Effectiveness at Work: How to Enjoy the Fruits of Your Labor Without Driving Yourself Nuts

Today we are interviewing Flip Brown, author of the non-fiction and business self-help book Balanced Effectiveness at Work: How to Enjoy the Fruits of Your Labor Without Driving Yourself Nuts.

Tell us a bit about your book.
My book is a non-fiction business and self-help book.
 Balanced Effectiveness at Work: How to Enjoy the Fruits of Your Labor Without Driving Yourself Nuts is a resiliency manual for anyone who works for a living.

Within each chapter there are conceptual definitions, sample scenarios, frank assessments, “Flip’s Tips,” action plans for real traction, and positive reinforcement. The book addresses the chronic dissatisfaction that comes from being in a crazy-paced, priority-confusing, soul-sapping workplace. With a light-hearted but in-depth look at twenty-four wide-ranging topics, presented in a unique news-you-can-use format, it will provide you with real options, helpful resources, and renewed optimism.

Balanced Effectiveness at Work has five pages of endorsements from over 25 key authors, thought-leaders, and business executives including The New York Times bestselling authors Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Albion. International endorsements have been received from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, and Dubai.

More Information
Book website 
Where to buy the book 

Nefretiti A. Morant, Author of Perspectives

Today we are interviewing Nefretiti A. Morant, author of the romance/drama series Perspectives.

Author Nefretiti A. Morant

Tell us a bit about yourself. 
Let's see.  I'm a mother, a wife, and a big dreamer.  I have this big ole crazy dream of being a best selling author.  Two years ago I decided to chase that with my everything. 

Is there an author that had a major influence on you while you were growing up?
 I loved reading Toni Morrison as a teenager and young adult.  I'm also a big fan of Maya Angelou.

She's the one celebrity I wanted to meet.  At first reading their work didn't make me want to be a writer, I just loved the vivid pictures they painted with their words.  Once I started writing and fell in love with the art of crafting words I know that I wanted my footsteps to be right up their besides theirs in literary history. 

How long have you been writing?
 Consistently for the last two years, but before that since I was a teenager.  It all started with poetry. I love reading poetry, love writing it even more. It's my first literary love.

Describe your series, Perspectives, in a few sentences.  
Perspectives is a story about seven dynamic characters who learn to appreciate life. 
You journey with them as they experience a myriad of  life lessons. 

Who do you think would most appreciate this series?
Anyone who'd love a story with realistic characters that grow through their struggles and pursuit for more of life.

Was there anything specific that inspired you to write this series?
Well the idea just came to me one day after I had started my poetry blog.  I wanted to tell the story of different people who cross paths but don't all necessary know each other.  I wanted to display that although we all have different stories were not really that much different.  Perspectives is a quilt layered with the experiences of very different people who all want the same thing from life;  acceptance, forgiveness and most of all love.  

Did your background with working in NYC’s Department of Social Services have any influence the series?
Yes very much so.  I'd have to say that the weaving together of the different characters was inspired by my experience as a case worker. 

Who was your favorite character to write?
I don't think I have a favorite character.  I love them all as if they were real people. Well maybe Ebony and Kenneth.  I think Perspectives II and V are my favorite.  I had a lot of fun writing Kenneth and Ebony's separate love stories.

How do you think you've evolved as a writer since when you first started?
Well I'm driven and inspired by my accomplishments.  When I started Perspectives I wasn't sure where it would go.  But now that I've completed the series I'm excited and inspired to keep writing.

What was your favorite class in school, and why?
English and history.  As a student I liked English because I loved reading mostly any type of story. 

History mostly because to me learning about different time periods was like giving me the pieces to imagine  a compelling  costume drama.  I would imagine what it would be like to be a normal person living in whatever era I was learning about.  I think the life of everyday people is just intriguing to me.  We make up the fabric of society but so often are left out of the history books.  I think my gift is bring these ordinary stories to life, of coarse with some added twist for entertainment purposes.
   
How do you feel about the increasing popularity of eBooks?
I'm excited about it actually.  Its a great time to be writer. I myself am an avid eBook reader.

What are your goals as a writer for the next ten years?
To continue writing and producing inspiring works of art.

What is the most impactful experience you have had with a fan?
Being told that my work inspired them.  I think that was the most meaningful feedback I've heard even to this day.  At the time I had only written the first part of Perspectives The Saga.  it  encouraged me to expend the characters and produce an in depth story for each of them.

Have your family and friends been supportive of your writing?
They have been, especially my husband and my parents.  It's so encouraging to to have that support.  Especially when its something your so passionate about.

Have you ever had writer's block? If yes, how'd you deal with it? If you have not had writer's block, why do you think you haven't?
No.  I don't and hopefully I'll never encounter that demon.   As long as I can get some quiet and solitude stories just seem to pour out of me.
 
What do you have in mind for your next project?
I'm working on a spin off with some characters from Perspectives who were not the main protagonist.  I'm also working on a historical drama. I'm really excited about both.

More Information
Read about the author on Amazon
Buy Perspectives on Amazon 
Buy Perspectives on Barnes and Noble

An excerpt from Perspectives:

It’s rainy out, cloudy and overcast. I love days like this. Wish I could stand out in the rain. Face tilted upward, as the purity of heaven sent drops baptize me from the outside in. Walking to my car I replay the events leading me to this junction. I’m pregnant, just got positive results from a home test and the father isn’t my husband.

My name is Ebony Hughes. I’m a personal assistant at JK Harris & Company, one of the top international tax resolution firms in New York City. I have an awesome salary, I drive a BMW and I’m currently working on my CPA. I’m ambitious, I’ve always been. I’ve worked my way from poverty to success. At seventeen years old I was a teenage unwed mother. By twenty
three I was a married college graduate raising a straight A student.  At age twenty six my husband and I brought our first home. Together we worked hard, really hardand reaped the benefits.

Currently my marriage is a shredded fabric frenzy.  A delicately torn destruction strewn across the span of a year. I’m ashamed to say that I’ve had an extra-marital affair with my boss Kenneth. I’m smart enough to know this destructive relationship and resulting pregnancy are my way of hurting my husband Calvin, as much as he’s hurt me. I’ve abandoned all thoughts of reconciliation with him.

In the beginning we had a pure timeless kind of love. The kind all young girls dream of. My son resulted from this naivety. I got pregnant the first time Calvin and I had sex. We used a condom, but it broke. Plenty of times I think back, and think maybe we used the condom incorrectly. Perhaps we didn’t know what we were doing. We were both virgins. Two kids playing with a loaded gun, unaware of the life altering potential and consequences of our actions. We set out to discover new lands and found a whole new beginning. New life, unexpected and awarded to two extremely young people just beginning to live life themselves. Kaliq is a beautiful gift. Everything we loved in each other we loved the minute we glanced down at that little face. I smile to myself. I love my child so. Could never have abandoned him, the way my mother abandoned me.

I was terrified when I found out I was pregnant with Kaliq. Terrified to tell my grandmother who raised me. My birth mother was eighteen the summer I was born. She graduated High School while pregnant. However because I was born in July she was able to go away to college on her full scholarship to Clark in Atlanta Georgia. She completed her undergraduate studies in four years, and continued right after to Law school. She’s a successful Lawyer practicing in Atlanta. She’s practiced Law for about twenty five years, building a comfortable life for herself, and has never glanced back at me; her child. She would call, even visited but for whatever reason I never went to live with her. No one even told me she was my mother till I was 18 with a child of my own. I guess somewhere deep down I resented her once I was old enough to understand that the majority of children live with and are loved by their birth mothers. I believed my grandmother was my birth mother, until one night I overheard them talking on the phone. 

“Karen when are you going slow down your career, and take time to be a mother to your child”?

“She’s gonna put two and two together one day, how will you face her then”?

“She’s your child. I love her but you are missing out on her childhood”

“Ok baby, just think about it. When are you going to visit? You haven’t been home in about 5 years now”.

“OK baby I love you”.

“No I won’t say anything. I will let you tell her when you are ready”.

“Ok, Good night baby. I love you Karen”.

I stood at my bedroom door shocked. A giraffe could have walked down the hall, and I wouldn’t have been as flabbergasted as I was by, what I had just heard. Mama ain’t Mama. Cousin Karen my Momma. I crept back into bed.  I held that secret for almost a decade. It was the first one I remember having. It made me uneasy; knowing something I wasn’t supposed to know. Every time Mama called me, whether it was for dinner or to put up my clothes, I knew she was really calling because she knew that I knew. This information weighed on me. I might as well have been a charm school enrollee, walking around with a stack of books on my head.  Part of me was glad Mama raised me. I loved her and I didn’t really know Karen. Not to mention Mama was the sweetest woman. Everyone loved her. Everyone in our family, everyone in our neighborhood, everyone at our church.  Plenty of times I wondered if something was wrong with me to cause my birth mother to not want me? I spent many nights pondering that question.

Interview with Simon Wright

Today we are interviewing Simon Wright, author of many books on organization and productivity.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Simon. I'm a father, husband, author and productivity enthusiast, with a passion for helping people achieve their dreams, whatever they may be. I have made it my life's work to study the habits and patterns of successful people, to distinguish what sets them apart from the majority, whose dreams have more often than not eluded them. Hard wired behavioural patterns are at the core when it comes to reaching one's potential, and it is my hope that the books I have written will remove negative mental conditioning and help a wide variety of people in attaining whatever it is they want in life.

My areas of expertise are organizational and cognitive psychology, self-help and motivational encouragement.

In my spare time I enjoy trips to the beach with my family, practising yoga and meditation, and enjoy every minute on this great planet, knowing I am helping people through my publications.

Here's to your increased success and happiness!

How long have you been writing?
I have been writing for 15 years.

Did you have a career before writing?
I am a psychologist and writer

What drives you to continue writing?
 The undying need to help people reach their potential through organisation psychology

Who (age, gender, etc) do you think would most appreciate your books?
The teachings in my books would help people from upper high school onwards

What inspired you to write about organization and discipline?
I am a psychologist so it is my main area of interest in both my profession, as well as being a personal passion of mine

You have a lot of great ideas, tips, bits of advice, etc in your books.How do you get these ideas? Is it through trial and error in your own life?
I have gained many insights throughout my career, so a lot of this is direct knowledge.

Has anything surprised you while writing your books?
Just how passionate I am about this subject matter!

How do you hope your books will impact people?
I hope they will help to initiate positive change in peoples' lives, so that they may reach their true potential in life.

Have you had any particularly memorable experiences with readers?
Not as of yet, just the positive reviews which encourage me to continue!

What do you have in mind for your next writing project?
I'm releasing a book about establishing a solid morning routine in your day to set you on the right path for daily productivity.

As a father and a husband, how has your enthusiasm for productivity shaped your day-to-day life?
It has allowed me to organise my time, to incorporate my work, writing and family life.

Were you always a productive person?
Yes I have always been a relatively productive person, but as of late my productivity has gone through the roof!

Is there anything else you'd like potential readers to know about your book?
I would just like to wish them good luck in their lives, and I hope my range of books can help them in striving to reach their goals, whatever they may be!

Simon Wright's Books 
The Business Goal Setting Guide
The 1 Week Self-Organization Challenge
Organize Your Life In 1 Month 
Project Future Success 
The Daily Planner For Time Management 
Job Interview Confidence
The Work And Life Balance Guide 
Adversity To Achievement
The Habitual Success Ritual  
10 Strong Habits of Successful People