Special guest post by Tosca Lee about Iscariot, her latest release!

To get you excited about Tosca's next book, Iscariot, I asked for a short guest post with a little background about the book and how it came to be...

Tosca: I ran away from this story for about a year before casually mentioning even the possibility of it to author friends and my agent. I did it with the full expectation and slight hope they would talk me out of it. They didn’t. A year later, I finally admitted it had sprouted in my writer’s brain and rooted in my heart. It scared me. It fascinated me.

Over the next two years, Iscariot became an intellectual and spiritual quest to discover the life of Judas based on the belief that we all err in ways that make sense to us. That we do not set out to commit the heinous. As I wrote in the note for Havah, there is more—there must be more—than the two-dimensional account. There always is. 

After returning from Israel, I sat down to a library of more than 100 books, documentaries, lectures, commentaries, sermons and collected articles. I was fascinated by the context of Jesus—the Roman occupation and oppression, the deep groan for national freedom. For salvation. I was intrigued with the portrayal of Judas through the progression of the gospels, the question of the Greek word most often translated as “betray.” I was caught up in the richness of Jesus’ parables, the historical events in the scriptural account—in my own need to be accurate, whatever that is, as I chased vision through the lens of history and myriad layers of doctrine.

But somewhere in the pages of my first draft—filled with intricate detail to delight the history and theology-minded alike, I lost sight of the most important thing: the heart of the story. 

I thought back to my last days in Israel. I had stood on the shores of Galilee’s lake, sat on the wall of Capernaum's synagogue, viewed the theater of history. But as I entered Jerusalem, I was despondent. 

Walking toward the Dome of the Rock, I realized I had not experienced one moment of mystery. Coming up the steps toward the mosque, I stopped to give an old beggar woman a few shekels. The moment I did, she grabbed my hand in both of hers and I nearly fell to my knees. Here was God. And I knew without a doubt I had traveled all the way to Israel just to hold her hand. 

I threw out three theses’ worth of historical detail and returned to mystery. One of these days I may make some of those portions available, but for now here is the heart… a story of divine and human love—a story of you and me. 

Michelle: That's exciting stuff, eh? I've read Tosca's other books, Demon and Havah and they both fascinated me. She has a way with words and description that can't compare to any other author out there. In fact, I recall having to look up the meanings of a few words in Havah because the writing was so rich.  And just for the fun of it, I thought I'd add a picture of me with Tosca. This photo was taken in January 2010. I drove 200 miles to see Tosca in person because she's a sweetheart. I absolutely love her as a person and I very much admire her as an author. I wish I could write like she does...maybe someday. 

Guest post by Regina Tittel, an author who writes "edgy" fiction.

Regina Tittel is the author of The Ozark Durham Series, inspirational suspense romances. Here she tells us what inspired the story for the fourth volume, Cherished Stranger.

In this novel, Lucy Durham brings her sponsor child from Romania, along with the girl's father, Dorin, to her farm in the U.S.

Cherished Stranger tackles two spiritual messages. The first brings awareness to the need for child sponsorship and the often brutal truth of poverty. The idea came to me through our sponsorship of two children and their needs. After further research I learned about the horrific reality of sex trafficking and knew I could do something about it. Even if this book only grows one more sponsor or one more dedicated supporter of women's rights in third-world countries, it has done its job. But I believe God has bigger plans for it.

I was careful not to dwell on sex trafficking too heavily; after all, the book is a romance. That being said, I had to continually check myself to see whether or not the message was clear without being too depressing or overwhelming.

With the second spiritual message I wanted to awaken readers to the importance of a Christ centered church. This desire stemmed from personal experience. Today's churches are changing, and they're not all going in the right direction. I hope Lucy's experiences will warn them if they happen to be in a similar situation. I also included a list in the back of the book of what to look for when choosing a church.

Cherished Stranger tackles some important issues, but it's also fun and suspenseful. Dorin and Lucy's personalities clash from the start, and each time he speaks in his native tongue she feels defensive because of her lack of understanding. Speaking of which, this was the first time I included a foreign language in a book. It proved challenging, as I didn't want to leave my readers aggravated not knowing what was being said, but it was also fun to research and try to hear it in my mind.

Following is an excerpt from the back cover:

Lucy Durham Watson lost track of her sponsor child during Romania's flood. Now that the Christian organization has located her again, she's not about to lose her a second time. Disregarding advice from her family, she helps Anika and her father gain U.S. citizenship to live on her farm.

Life in Romania's poverty is a stark contrast to the comforts of the Ozarks. A fact proven by Dorin, the father of her sponsor child. Governed by his pride and his disapproval of Lucy's spontaneous and often reckless personality, they clash from the start.

But when Lucy becomes the target of a stalker, everything changes.

Thanks for allowing me to share with your audience, Michelle. It's always nice to meet other like-minded individuals.

"Changing the world for Christ, one reader at a time." -Regina Tittel Regina's books can be purchased at www.reginatittel.com or at most online stores.

Guest post about Healing Hearts by Brian Thompson

I don't normally do this, but since I'm going to be at the Romantic Times Book Lovers convention the rest of this week, so I thought I'd feature a post from a great guy and brilliant novelist whose writing I enjoy reading. I haven't had a chance to review his current book yet, but I thought its message fit within the context of my blog theme...healing hearts, so I wanted to give him an opportunity to tell you why he writes to minister to people who are hurting and give him an opportunity to bless you all with his candid approach to real life. So Brian will take it from here...

Human beings are wonderfully flawed creations, and we have the audacity to have relationships with one another.

Sometimes, these unions begin beautifully and end badly - leaving emotional scars we’re left to deal with. The marks represent the pain of our pasts, and we must try to salve our wounds enough to heal our hearts and move on.

But how?

My pastor says the pain you experience is meant to help someone else. Even if that’s true, in the midst of dealing with a personal debt crisis, a broken marital trust, or an unexpected family death, it’s difficult to focus on someone else’s needs, don’t you think? 

Sometimes, I move on through my writing. Many of my life’s biggest heartaches have been worked out on paper. It’s part of why I believe my characters seem so real. They’re reading intimate things about me; they just don’t know what’s real and what’s not.

I drew from my life while writing Micah James and Harper Lowe – two protagonists from The Anarchists. Micah is an unemployed engineer, too educated to find a menial job, and not educated enough for a high-level position. Harper is a psychiatrist whose salary is not enough to meet the couple’s financial needs.

Any future in engineering was pretty much decided when I got low grades in mechanical drawing and high school math. My wife, Heather, is not a psychiatrist. But, like Micah and Harper, we had financial difficulties early on in our marriage when only one of us was working. Those parts were hard to write, as they are not distant memories.

Like Teanna Kirkwood, another main character, we lost a child. Heather’s miscarriage last year weighed on us both emotionally. My heart limps from the experience, like Jacob’s leg after he wrestled with God.

I won’t be the same again. It took me a while to see the blessing in that.

A former student (I used to teach in a public school) miscarried. She posted about her experience online, and I empathized with her loss. I reached out to her, and gave her the condolences and warmth only a parent who had been through a similar thing could do.

I said it was not her fault, that she could conceive again when the time was right. And she appreciated that. It brought a unique healing to us both.

The main characters in The Anarchists are faced with life-changing crises. Damario Coley is maimed in a crash after confronting his wife with her marital infidelity. Quinne Ruiz is arrested when her out-of-control drug habit becomes public knowledge, and Harper finds herself a single mother when an explosion kills Micah.

Like them, we have a choice. Either use our pain to help others, or lose ourselves in the sorrow. It’s up to us. 

About the Book:

After a failed coup, a revolutionary named Noor is exiled to earth and sentenced to death. Vowing to rule the inferior planet, but separated from his lieutenants, he is forced to use human beings instead.

In the year 2050, tragedy strikes. Harper Lowe loses her son's father to violence. A tipsy Damario Coley is maimed in a crash. High on drugs, Quinne Ruiz is arrested, and single mom Teanna Kirkwood witnesses the death of her daughter.

The alluring Kareza Noor, CEO of the Genesis Institute, pilots the "Begin Again Initiative.” Out of 300 million applicants from across the nation, Harper, Damario, Quinne and Teanna receive the chance to erase a past regret. One of them must be forced to go along.

When the project's true motives are revealed, the group is sent hurtling toward an uncertain future with unpredictable consequences.

The Anarchists poses the question "what if?" with high-stakes action inside of a page-turning, reality-twisting adventure.

About the Author:

Brian Thompson is a speaker, independent publisher, and author of The Lost Testament and The Revelation Gate. He continues his tradition of carving out complex storylines for an ensemble of textured characters. A graduate of Morehouse College and Temple University, Thompson is also a former educator and professional journalist. He and his family live outside of metro Atlanta, Georgia.

Purchase links (for autographed copies): www.authorbrianthompson.com

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_20?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+anarchists+brian+thompson&sprefix=the+anarchists+brian%2Caps%2C483

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-anarchists-brian-thompson/1109574493

Marketing tips for promoting your book from The Book Marketing Expert Newsletter

Reprinted with permission. This resource comes from editor Penny C. Sansevieri's newsletter.


Promote Your Book: 250+ Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques, Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. Eastern

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepublishinginsiders/2011/10/18/promote-your-book-250-proven-low-cost-tips-and-techniques

Do you have what it takes to be a successful author, but you're not sure how to go about it? Are you a published author with a book that is struggling in the marketplace? Promote Your Book gives enterprising authors the advantage they need in order to more successfully navigate the publishing industry and gain a better understanding of their responsibilities as a published author. Join us as author Patricia Fry offers insights into tried and true book promotion techniques.

Learn how to promote creatively; when, why and how to get involved in social media; how and when to submit news releases and tip sheets; ideas for arranging book signings, radio, and TV appearances; tips for submitting articles and stories for publication; how to land and present speaking gigs and much more.

Shows available for download at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepublishinginsiders:

* How to Get Your Book Reviewed
* All About Ghostwriting
* Publishing Insights from Ellora's Cave
* Re-Purposing Your Content
* The Future of Author Events
* Selling Your Book in Bulk and Special Sales
* What Authors Must Know About Book Cover Design
* Literary Agents and Their Evolving Role in Publishing
* The Dos and Don'ts of Distribution, Parts 1, 2 and 3
* SPECIAL GUEST Seth Godin: Poke the Box
* Smart Self-Publishing: Why Book Design & Editing Matter
* Smart Self-Publishing: Making Money with eBooks
* Smart Self-Publishing Series: Becoming Your Own Publisher
* Branding: The Secret to Selling More Books
* Secrets to Getting Your Book Into Libraries
* Getting Your Book into Bookstores with Elaine Wilkes
* This Book Will Make You Money with special guest Jim Kukral
* How to Make Money on Twitter
* A Self Publishing Success Story
* From Blog to Book
* The Digital Book Revolution
* Powerhouse Promotion with Marci Shimoff
* eBooks: the Savior of Publishing or the Foe? with Joe Konrath
* Special Guest Mari Smith, queen of Facebook
* All Things Twitter! with Warren Whitlock

WHO WE ARE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author Marketing Experts, Inc. is a full-service book marketing, promotion, and publicity company. We serve authors at all stages of marketing and promotion. We offer a full range of packages and services to choose from. 

To see a price list or schedule a free consultation, send your e-mail to penny@amarketingexpert.com with the subject line "Author Services Info." You can also visit our website at www.amarketingexpert.com.

Reprint permission ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You are welcome to reprint any items from "The Book Marketing Expert Newsletter." However, please credit us as a source with the following paragraph:

Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com

Healing Hearts blog introduces Anthony Garcia, guest blogger and graduate in English Literature

Getting Published in Grad School by Anthony Garcia

With the job market looking bleak for recent graduates in the current economy, it is important for students to make themselves as competitive as possible. This is true for students from traditional undergraduate programs in English and related fields to online graduate programs, and everything in between. Publishing gives students something beyond their coursework to show for their time in school, and looks impressive to both educational and office-oriented employers.

If you are in academia, publishing may also be your best chance to distinguish yourself. Most tenure requirements for assistant professors place heavy emphasis on publishing, but graduate students are more often expected to publish in order to get ahead, and sometimes even just to be considered. This trend may seem discouraging to students who really want to focus on their studies, but there are many ways to start publishing while still in school.

Something needs to be written in order to publish, so that would seem like the logical first step. However, if you do not have something already written, it will be helpful to do your homework before drafting your piece. To make your writing have the most impact, put your energy into the type of work that's tailored to your field. For example, scholarly journal articles may be the premium in your area of study, or may be it's short stories. Next scope out each publication venue that looks like it might fit your interests, and consider what types of topics are discussed, and which issues are best for the audiences in your given area of study.

Once you have found a few possible venues to tailor your writing to, you can begin. If you are having writer’s block, it is helpful to have your peers give feedback during the brainstorming process. When you dialogue with someone about your writing, it can really help get the creative method started, and help you save draft time. Many graduate students feel advanced, but it can be easy to forget basic writing tools, such as the importance for outlining. Graduate students and even professors still benefit from the outline, just as a basic writer would. This tip is especially important when the material is dense, or you are working with the jargon-filled prose common in the academe.

Turning conference papers into published articles is another way to save time in the writing process, and to utilize the audience you gained during the conference. Looking for calls for papers for different conferences can help you get motivated to write out an idea you might have, share your work with others and get direct feedback, and work with a shorter draft before lengthening it for publication.

If you already have something written, you will need to make sure that your topic is relevant in your chosen area of specialization, especially if you plan on teaching and researching at a university level. The less relevant and timely your work is, the less likely that it will be recognized by scholars in your field searching for hires. If you are a graduate-level fiction writer, make sure to scope out the best journals, reviews and magazines for your genre. Checking out the qualifications that each site offers before sending out your work is a useful way to write with those guidelines in mind, and to save yourself time later on trying to figure out where to send your work. There are many resources that list different “homes” for writing, from children's literature to horror fiction.

Keep writing, and keep submitting. Because publishing is so imperative in the academe for many professional successes, getting a head start in graduate school will show that you are a force to be reckoned with, and will definitely help you when enter the job market. 

Bio: Anthony recently completed his graduate education in English Literature. A New Mexico native, he currently resides and writes in Seattle, Washington. He writes primarily about education, travel, literature, and American culture.