Writers Movement Guest Blog Appearance: Lisa Rusczyk

About Lisa:

Who the heck am I? My name is Lisa Rusczyk Hazard and I’m a writer and freelancer. I publish books under the name Lisa Rusczyk. I like to write in a variety of genres and try different things out each time I write a book. My latest novel , Chasing the Dark , published by Passionate Writer Publishing, was quite experimental for me.

I wrote the book in a week of furious typing. Most of my books take at least a year to write. The first draft was a mess. Over the years, I’d pick it up and fix stuff, and finally felt like it was ready to be published last summer. I wrote it in 2003. My editor did a wonderful job of fixing it up even more.

The thing I’m most excited about these days is my cat, Spooky. I have six cats, and one boy and one girl are not “fixed,” on purpose. Spooky, the girl with the long, soft tortie fur and the big green eyes who charms every person and cat in the world, is newly pregnant. Could our boy Osho be the dad?

Cats really do fall in love. Osho follows Spooky around wherever she goes. They sleep together. They prowl the yard together. If another boy cat comes near Spooky, Osho gets between them and howls. He is so madly in love with her – it’s adorable. When she walks in a room he’s snoozing in during a rare time they aren’t already together, his eyes light up, he jumps off the couch or bed, and runs to her, rubbing his face all along her cheeks and side.

Here’s to hoping one of the many suitors who came calling for Spooky isn’t the dad. I can’t wait to have kittens in the house! It will be great fun. And if you live near North Alabama, you can have one of these adorable kittens! They are destined to be epic.



About Chasing the Dark:


Melanie’s a budding artist always looking for the next high. She finds it one night when Sora and Josh take her on an ambulance-chasing ride. They watch a gruesome scene as the bodies are removed from the wreckage. Melanie doesn’t know why, but she is both attracted to this new pursuit and afraid of where it will take her.

The chasing brings Melanie closer to the mysterious Sora, his secret past, and the darker things that happen in the city at night. Along the way Melanie must face her own demons while escaping the drug dealing business.

Join Melanie and her friends Shara, Manny, Max, Sora and Josh as they confront and chase away their own personal demons.

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/chasingthedark.htm


About Unloved:

Bullying was once considered a harmless rite of passage. Some were either bullied in school or they were the bully. What was once considered an acceptable practice has now been drawn into the limelight by the national attention of highly publicized suicides due to bullying.

Bullying can take on different forms. Bullying is not just a physical act but can also be an emotional, written, or verbal act as well. Bullying can take place in the workplace, school, online, and even while we are traveling in our vehicles on the road. Bullying is a form of abuse that has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and civilized nations across the globe.

When bullying goes too far, the end result is sometimes suicide. Suicide should never become an option. One life lost to this senseless way, is one too many!

Seven authors (Jo Davis, HD Hatcher, Omegia Keeys, Autumn Prince, Lisa Rusczyk, KJ Thompson, and Vogue) have joined forces to send one message. That message is, “You are not Unloved!” Unloved is an anthology dedicated to those who have been the victim of bullying, or know someone who has been bullied.

All proceeds from Unloved will go to charities in support of Bully Prevention and/or Suicide Prevention.

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/unloved.htm

Press Release: http://www.prlog.org/11290644-chasing-the-dark-virtual-book-tour.html

Writers Movement Guest Blog Appearance: Shanda Sharlow

Shanda Sharlow began writing short stories from the time she could hold a pencil. Through the years, she's scribbled down thousands of pages of random stories and unfinished novels that were eventually abandoned or forgotten about. In 2005, she set down to finish a full fantasy novel in the form of the Psyonic, which she managed in a few months. For awhile, she shelved the book without any way to get it realistically published. After Amazon Kindle came out, she found the opportunity to release the Psyonic to the public, and is now working on another full novel. Currently, she lives in Vancouver WA with her father and brother, and edits novels for other people when she's not writing.




The original plot of the Psyonic was meant to be a short story. At most I expected it to be two chapters, and thus the story itself is a simple one. Once I wrote it, however, things changed and a short story simply wouldn't do. An entire novel's worth of plot and characters and twists and turns unraveled as I went along, and before I knew it there was an entire novel and a world around that story sitting complete.


The Psyonic is Fantasy, and classic, medieval setting, in fact. It is not, however, a classic Fantasy. It takes bits and pieces of concepts commonly seen in Fantasy and changes and mixes them about. Magic users aren't really 'magic' users at all, and they're reviled rather than loved. Princesses can scheme just as much as the seediest adviser or Queen, and there's nothing glamorous about inter-kingdom politics. And there certainly are no prophecies. The people would drive out a prophet long before he could say anything they'd remember.


The Psyonic took about four months to write, from July to October. It was my first completed novel, and was written when I was fifteen years old. It wasn't the first novel I ever started, but it was certainly the first I finished, which makes me a bit fond of it for that reason. After all, it's something to start a book...but it's a completely different thing to actually finish it.


Sometimes when I write books, I consider what actors and actresses would best fit the characters should they be made into movies. Sometimes they're ridiculous idealistic or impossible choices that could never actually be chosen, even if the books were ever made into movies, sometimes they're choices that I could believe would work even age-adjusted. With The Psyonic...I have no choices picked out. This isn't a lack of faith in the book, but the fact that the images I have of the characters in my head don't seem to line up with any actors or actresses I've come across before.


So, I suppose, if there's ever a casting call, they'll have to pick an entire cast of unknowns.


I listened to one mix-tape sound track over and over again while I was writing the book. Listening to music while writing helps to grease the writing wheels and allows me to actually write at a much quicker speed. Of course...while I was writing The Psyonic, I didn't really have access to much music to listen to, and wasn't all that motivated to look to more, so one long tape is all I listened to. Over and over and over.


It's entirely possible there are parts of the book which, if you knew the songs on the mix tape, you would find they synched up well with it.

Synopsis - Hale lived his entire life in hiding, traveling through slums and nondescript villages, never staying anywhere long enough for the people there to recognize his face. Never staying long enough for anyone to ferret out his secret.

When he comes across a woman who recognizes him, he becomes the confidante of a Princess. Yet the halls of the palace hold far more danger than that of the streets, for within its shadows lurk dark mysteries and murderous intent. Desperate to remain hidden from those who hunt him, Hale must unravel the hidden machinations of the gathered royal families before it's too late, or it will be more than his life that he loses.

Website - http://www.wix.com/yusagi2003/thepsyonicbook

Purchase Links - http://www.amazon.com/The-Psyonic-ebook/dp/B0032UYI44 ebook http://www.amazon.com/Psyonic-Shanda-Sharlow/dp/1453735119 paperback

Writers Movement Guest Blog Appearance: Katie Salidas

Author Bio:


The youngest of four children, Katie has always had a desire to entertain. Since, early childhood, she's dreamed fantastical characters and scribbled them into pages of various journals and notebooks. Taking an interest in vampires, she devoured every book, featuring those blood sucking creatures, in any genre she could find.

It was only natural that a love of reading vampire stories, turned into a love to write them.



Katie is also a Las Vegas native, having grown up in the famed City of Sin. She loves to feature it as a recurring setting for many of her stories.



Hunters & Prey:

Becoming a vampire saved Alyssa from death, but the price was high: the loss of everything and everyone attached to her mortal life. She’s still learning to cope when a surprise confrontation with Santino Vitale, the Acta Sanctorum’s most fearsome hunter, sends her fleeing back to the world she once knew, and Fallon, the friend she’s missed more than anything.

Alyssa breaks vampire law by revealing her new, true self to her old friend, a fact which causes strong division in the group that should support her most: her clan.
Worse yet, her revelation entangles Fallon in the struggle between vampires and hunters and The Acta Sanctorum is ready to attack again, with a new army of hybrid creations: the Frenzy Soldiers.

If Alyssa hopes to survive and keep her mortal friend safe, she’ll have to be willing to make a deal with the enemy, and regain her clan’s support. It will take everyone working together in a precarious truce to fight against the Acta Sanctorum’s new threat.

Links to buy:
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Hunters-Prey-Katie-Salidas/dp/0984419659/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1292611632&sr=8-5

Barnes & Noble
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Hunters-and-Prey/Katie-Salidas/e/9780984419654/?itm=5&USRI=katie+salidas

Smashwords
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/31078

Press Release - http://www.prlog.org/11142058-immortalis-hunters-prey-virtual-book-tour.html

Interview for Domestic Violence project

Interview for Domestic Violence project
By Author Tiffanie Minnis

I'm conducting interviews for my next book; Less Violence, More Love. I will send a email with 5 questions to those that are willing to participate. If you would like to remain anonymous, you will. If you will like to be quoted, you will. I'm looking to interview 50 women and/or men for this project. This is my way of showing the world the effects of abuse and what one goes through when involved in abusive relationships and how it's possible to escape and survive before it's too late. Please send an email to tminnis1981@gmail.com, inbox me on Facebook or DM me on twitter if you are interested or if you know someone that is.

Thank you,

Kick Starter Project

I launched my kickstarter project last night for my novel, DIVA and for my non-profit organization for Domestic Violence Awareness. I'm looking to raise $1,000 which will cover the re-launch of my novel and start up costs for my non-profit organization.


Novel re-launch will include; new high definition book cover and a music soundtrack recorded in a music studio. I would like to do anywhere from 3-5 songs which will be written and recorded by me. The songs will be in the hip hop genre (clean versions only) and will be related to domestic violence.


Non-profit organization; Domestic Violence Movement; Less Violence,More Love, which caters to both men and women that are or have been in abusive relationships. The organization will be based on prevention and education program, community outreach, housing, and children's program. The funding balance will go towards start up cost.


Rewards;


For anyone that makes a $1 pledge or more, they will receive a "thank You" letter from me, the author, along with a coupon code for a 20% discount on future book releases (one time use)


For anyone that makes a $20 pledge or more, they will receive an autographed copy of my novel, ~D.I.V.A.~ DOMESTICALLY INVOLVED IN VIOLENT AFFAIRS, along with a DIVA swag bag filled with goodies. Your name will also be listed at the end of the re-launched novel as a sponsor.


For anyone that makes a $50 pledge or more, they will receive an autographed copy of my re-launched novel, ~D.I.V.A.~ DOMESTICALLY INVOLVED IN VIOLENT AFFAIRS, which will include a new book cover and a music soundtrack with recordings by me along with a DIVA swag bag filled with upgraded goodies. Your name will also be listed at the end of the re-launched novel as a sponsor.



Even if you pledge as little as $1, I'm very grateful for your contribution. Funding is all or nothing, meaning if I don't reach my goal of $1000 by the end of 90 days, you will not be charged for your pledged amount and you will only be charged at the end of the 90 days IF my goal has been reached. You can follow me until the very end of all that I'm working to do. I will be held liable if I don't fulfill any agreements and you may contact me if you have any questions or concerns.


So with that being said, please tell your friends and spread the word. Thank you in advance for your support.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1162464312/diva-the-novel-and-the-movement-against-domestic-v

Writers Movement Guest Blog Appearance: Joseph J. Sivak MD

I first started writing When Can I Go Home? back in 1989 when I was in my last year of medical school. That was about a year after my mother died from Alzheimer's disease. The book is a memoir about my mother's futile struggle with the disease. After she passed away I had a tremendous need and sometimes furious drive to record the journey in a timeless and permanent way. As a teenager, I had been my mother's primary caregiver for a few years , as the disease progressively robbed her of her cognitive abilities, personality and her very essence. At the time writing about it was very cathartic.

The disease process is profoundly isolating for families and I wanted to scream out and tell the world. That element is there in so many Alzheimer's memoirs. Unfortunately the issue of isolation has not improved in our society and much as we like to pretend it has in the last thirty years since my mother was diagnosed. At that time most people had not heard of Alzheimer's disease and of course now it is a household term, but as a society we are still ignorant and terrified about it till it affects our own family. The isolation is still there.

The book is a bit unusual or even paradoxical from an Alzheimer's memoir point of view in that It presents a dual perspective. First is a family caregiver specifically a teenager son, which is a bit unusual and at times even bizarre, since that is not the prototypical demographic of a caregiver. The other perspective is a clinical one from a physician. I have treated thousands of patients and their families affected by many psychiatric and neurological problems including many Alzheimer's victims. The clinical information is broken down and translated for the reader.

So you essentially have these two very different points of view sort of flip-flopping but sort of coming into what I hope is a harmonious symmetry. The third aspect of the book is an underlying and ongoing commentary on all the relevant sociological and psychological issues this book interfaces with. Such issues as the state of health care delivery, being a doctor, and the aging population are addressed and sometimes not in a very convenient way for those that need to hold onto pretense and prejudice for security. For example as a society we really don't treat the aging population with the honor and dignity they deserve. We are pretty much obsessed with youth and appearance. We also have a lot of bias toward the medical profession if not at times completely vilifying the field. So in that sense speaking candidly about things albeit my opinion yet based on experience may open the readers eyes, on some issue conversely it may propel some to try to look the other way even more. It's not always politically correct, but it is a memoir and it is honest. It is sort of visceral, some people will cry some will laugh some will get more angry, it makes you feel first, then think.

The manuscript was hard to finish, it lay dormant for some fifteen years, I never had an ending. Even after the death of an Alzheimer's victim, there is never an ending for the five million families affected by the disease. something hit me, after all these years. We are all universally humanly connected by this disease process, and I had the clarity to finish this book.

I love writing, but most of my energy and creativity is spent in my day job. I am currently working on a novel about psychiatric residency. Fiction is obviously a much different prospect than a memoir but it taps a different part of your brain and soul to create something like this compared to a memoir.

Joseph J. Sivak MD
www.niagarapress.net
http://alzheimmers.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/When-Can-I-Go-Home/357170603956
twitter @whencanigohome


Book Info:

The true life account of a young man living with the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in a parent. The disease was diagnosed in his mother when the author was seventeen years old in 1979, long before Alzheimer's disease was a household term.

The book candidly traces with graphic detailed description and dialogue the course of the fatal illness. The emotional issues of such pivotal events as the loss of autonomy of driving a car and entry into a nursing home are experienced through the eyes of a young son. From a concurrent viewpoint Alzheimer's is explained with the wisdom of a 21st century physician who has personally experienced the emotional anguish, and thus the fact-based journey is a truly unique dual-perspective Alzheimer's memoir. The story juxtaposes the active uphill battle to become a doctor set against the backdrop of the passive helpless struggle of losing a parent to the disease

The narrative provides explicit commentary on the modern plight of the physician and the global connection family members of an Alzheimer's victim painstakingly share. The unusual, seldom before elicited insights of the dual-perspective vigorously address universal issues such as coping, hope, futility, humiliation and societal bias toward the disease throughout the text.

About Joe Sivak:

Joseph J. Sivak MD is a board certified adult psychiatrist with twenty years of experience in direct patient care. He has taught and lectured in the United States and internationally in the areas of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Mood disorders, and chronic suicidal ideation. He completed medical school at Hahnemann University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, and Residency Training at the University of Rochester. Dr. Sivak has served on the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Alzheimer's Association and the Northland Chapter of the American Red Cross and hosted a weekly mental health Radio Program for eight years on KUWS- Wisconsin Public Radio. Currently Dr. Sivak serves on the legislative committee of
the Minnesota Medical Association, is a assistant professor at the University of
Minnesota-Duluth College of Pharmacy and is in full time private psychiatric in Duluth

Writers Movement Promotion

Hello all WM members. I hope this post finds all of you well.

Thanks to the support of Ms. Tiffanie Minnis I have started my own blog to help expand the Writers Movement brand and you can find it at www.thestrugglingauthorblog.webs.com. The purpose of this posting is not for shameless promotion on my part but to solicit the sites of the WM members who have them so that I can be sure to post a link to your site on my blog. So, make sure you reply to this posting (or shoot me an email at ben@whatishub.net) so that I can get everyone on the site.

Much love.

Ben.