Category: Author Interview

Author Interview, Author Spotlight, Authors on Tour

Outskirts Press Presents Nouna Kettaneh, author of “A Memoir of Love Science and Adventure- My Life with Svante Wold”

Author Nouna Kettaneh is taking her latest book, A Memoir of Love Science and Adventure–My Life with Svante Wold on tour – a Virtual Book Tour, that is, with Outskirts Press! Technology has created a wide variety of ways to reach audiences all over the world. All it takes is a little thinking outside the box, and nowadays you can market a self-published book in a variety of affordable and impactful ways. Virtual book tours, for example, are a great way to connect with readers from all corners of the globe, all from the comfort of your own home. Join Nouna Kettaneh and A Memoir of Love Science and Adventure, My Life with Svante Wold    as they appear in features and interviews (such as the one below) in the weeks and months ahead!

OP: Tell us a little bit about A Memoir of Love Science and Adventure, My Life with Svante Wold.  What is it about?

Nouna:  This book is the story of my life with my husband, Svante Wold.

Svante was a brilliant Swedish scientist who started the field of Chemometrics in Data Science, that is “how to extract the desired information from large data sets”.

 We met in 1986 at a conference and fell madly in love. Everything separated us, living in different countries with established careers and relationships. Our published letters from 1986-88 tells our story and are a testimonial to the power of LOVE.

After our marriage in 1988, we lived and worked together. This book recounts our rich life, our travels and adventures and our accomplishments.

We were pioneers in the field of Data Science and wanted to changed it from Statistical to Multivariate based. With a lot of work and perseverance we succeeded.

Today Multivariate Analysis is accepted and used to solve challenges in the Natural and Live Sciences. It has led to the blossoming field of Artificial Intelligence, AI.

OP: Why did you decide to write this story?

Nouna:  I decided to write this book, after my husband died, to “bid time return”, and relive my life with Svante Wold. It was my way to survive, my therapy and a tribute to a wonderful and unique man.

OP: How did you get your book published? 

Nouna: I first typed and sorted all our letters, filled in the gaps between the letters and wrote about the rest of our life together and our scientific accomplishments. Tamara Byrne helped me as my editor. We then contacted Outskirts Press and sent them our manuscript.

OP: What types of readers would be interested in this story?

Nouna: People interested in a true love story that is intertwined with science and fun adventures. People who are curious about Data Science and Multivariate Analysis will find some easy explanations and examples.

OP: What is special about your book?  

Nouna:  My book is special in describing our scientific achievements along with being a moving love story.

OP: What differentiates it from other books in the same category? 

Nouna: The detailed description of our involvement in science and in particular our advances in data analysis are very unique to a memoir which is also a love story.

OP: Have you published any other books, and do you plan to publish more?

Nouna: This is the first book I have written and for the moment I am not planning another one.

OP: How can someone learn more about your book or purchase it?

Nouna: You can purchase books at Amazon, Barnes and Nobles online, and other online bookstores. If you have questions and want to know more about my book, you can reach me by email.

OP: Thanks for your time, Nouna! We look forward to learning more about you as you visit other bloggers!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nouna Kettaneh-Wold is retired and lives close to her family in Hollis, NH in the home where she and Svante lived.

This author purchased the Virtual Book Tour marketing option, which allows self-publishing authors to connect with bloggers and harness the power of the blogosphere by taking their book on the “virtual road.” Learn more about this service by visiting your Publishing Center and reviewing the available marketing options.

get published now

Have you written a book that you’d like to publish?

Connect with a Publishing Consultant today to learn how Outskirts Press can help YOU publish YOUR masterpiece:

Outskirts Press stands behind our book printing and design services with the best 100% Satisfaction Guarantee in the self-publishing industry. 

Author Interview, Author Spotlight, Authors on Tour

Self-Publishing Author Robert “Bob” Love Discusses “Destiny’s Voyage: SS Atlantic, Titanic of 1873”

Author Robert “Bob” Love is taking his latest book, Destiny’s Voyage: SS Atlantic, Titanic of 1873 on tour – a Virtual Book Tour, that is – with Outskirts Press! Technology has created a wide variety of ways to reach audiences all over the world. All it takes is a little thinking outside the box, and nowadays you can market a self-published book in a variety of affordable and impactful ways. Virtual book tours, for example, are a great way to connect with readers from all corners of the globe, all from the comfort of your own home. Join Robert “Bob” Love and Destiny’s Voyage: SS Atlantic, Titanic of 1873 as they appear in features and interviews (such as the one below) in the weeks and months ahead!

OP: Tell us a little bit about Destiny’s Voyage: SS Atlantic, Titanic of 1873.  What is it about?

Bob: This book provides two stories. One involving the circumstances of destiny not in just the souls aboard the first of the White Star Line luxury steamship but the vessel herself. The companion story is one of historical significance, including the record of the Board of Trade hearings in Nova Scotia and Liverpool, England. Taken from ancient transcripts, the reader can apply their own judgment as to the cause of this disaster and provide themselves with the history of the world’s worst non-military sea disaster prior to the RMS Titanic in 1912 and the correlation between the two under “like father, like son”.

OP: Why did you decide to write this story?

Bob: This book started as a family genealogy when my then ten-year-old great grandmother came to America. In 1959, my great grandmother agreed to record her story but passed away before it could be done. My mother had many , so I was going to use them, but I was in law enforcement at the time and could not devote the time. In 1981 I lost my mother, so I shelved the project until in Alaska in the mid-1980s. I looked at the story involving my great-great-grandfather being aboard the SS Atlantic when she went down. I was working with Lloyds of London and making trips to England, so I started new research. Having discovered the original transcripts in the maritime archives in London, I started the new direction of destiny as there are stories of passengers, crew and the ship that made this theme so interesting.

OP: How did you get your book published? 

Bob: The publisher released the book in 2006. Unfortunately, my wife was terminal with cancer. She passed away on Christmas Eve 2007. I had never examined the book until a critic identified some mistakes. I discovered a lot of major mistakes in the editing. It took me two years to convince the publisher of their liability for the errors. They finally made corrections and reprinted in 2009. I still wasn’t satisfied with the book, so did nothing about marketing until I published my last book with Outskirts Press and decided to have Destiny’s Voyage reborn. It is an excellent history and the most complete one published about this tragic event. I am now ninety and want to see a quality book to chronicle this historical event of April 1, 1873.

OP: What types of readers would be interested in this story?

Bob: Those in the maritime industry and anyone interested in a narrative non-fiction story about destiny and struggles of those souls who aimed to be new pioneers to the United States. The book would also provide a good historical rendition for school students in grades 8-12.

OP: What is special about your book?  

Bob: A labor of love? From inception in 1959 until the current and best release of Destiny’s Voyage by Outskirts Press, it has been 64 years.

OP: What differentiates it from other books in the same category? 

Bob: To my knowledge, it is the only complete treatment of this disaster. There have been other good books published about specific events or underwater photographs, but Destiny’s Voyage is a chronicle of history covering the manufacturing of the vessel to her horrific demise and to stories of documented affairs of her passengers and crew.

OP: Have you published any other books, and do you plan to publish more?

Bob: Outskirts Press published my last book, Peg Leg Annie. With my age in consideration, I’m not certain if I am able to finish a few other projects I have started. I must wrap up Treaties on Government and finish writing a fiction novel called “The Bridge”. I will crank out as many stories as possible. I informed my children that I would be running late for my funeral because I needed to finish the last chapter.

OP: How can someone learn more about your book or purchase it?

Bob: By going on-line to your favorite bookstore or direct to www.outskirtspress.com/destinysvoyage  or to me at www.rwboblove.wordpress.com  You can e-mail me or contact through social media sites, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.

OP: Thanks for your time, Bob! We look forward to learning more about you as you visit other bloggers!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bob Love started out life in the small Idaho desert town of Mountain Home, Idaho USA. The nation was trying to recover from the “Great Depression”. Bob’s father became a deputy sheriff in 1938. In 1943, the Army Air Corps created Mountain Home Air Force Base as the line of defense in the anticipated Japanese attack through Alaska and Canada. It was then the Deputy became the Sheriff. Rather than shielding his young son Sheriff Love took Bob on many of the traumatic events including military air crashes and serious vehicle accidents, ingraining the underlying respect for human trauma and the need of public service. Bob acquired his thirst for journalism when he became editor of his high school newspaper. He went on to pursue the vocation, but the Korean War draft interrupted his goals. After his service in the Air Force Bob fell back on the foundations of his youth, becoming his family’s fourth generation police officer rising to a Chief of Police position. He transitioned into a career as an independent insurance adjuster which spanned over 45 years serving Alaska. It was near this career change that he realized the relative chain of events that led to many of the cases he investigated. Bob wrote “E=A Syndrome” (Emotion Equals Attitude) about the positive and negative emotions that affect our attitudes setting up disastrous results. As an adjuster and marine surveyor in the Last Frontier he investigated hundreds of aircraft, vessels, vehicles, and industrial accidents. Prior to commuter air improvements, as a pilot, he flew alone to many of the Alaskan bush losses. In 1989 the Exxon Valdez oil spill presented he and his wife Bev’s firm with the responsibility to administer the claims arising from the spill cleanup activities. Exxon also commissioned them to handle the off-hiring surveys of the 2500-chartered vessels. A studious interest in Situational Awareness concepts gave Bob further insight into his beliefs and when he applied it to the history of the SS Atlantic, pre-destiny was clearly inscribed on her hull. Retired, Bob and Bev, along with their Bishon, Baby Boy, lived in Anchorage, Alaska when this book was first printed in 2006. As a licensed adjuster, Bev worked alongside Bob managing and owning their own firms for over 43 years… On Christmas Eve 2007, Bev lost her long and arduous battle with metastatic internal melanoma cancer. Bob and Baby Boy traveled in the west with their fifth wheel and now live with his childhood friend and Air Force widow, Patricia and their Bishon, Murphy in Boise, Idaho.

get published now

Have you written a book that you’d like to publish?

Connect with a Publishing Consultant today to learn how Outskirts Press can help YOU publish YOUR masterpiece:

Outskirts Press stands behind our book printing and design services with the best 100% Satisfaction Guarantee in the self-publishing industry. 

Author Interview, Author Spotlight

Another Movie is in the Works for another Outskirts Press Author

Not too long ago, we shared the exciting news of Outskirts Press author Skip Stover and how his book was being turned into a movie. And shortly thereafter we announced the TNT Mini-series starring Chris Pine, which was based upon Fauna Hodel’s memoir One Day She’ll Darken.

Self-publishing author Stephen S. Janes is now the latest Outskirts Press author to join those exclusive ranks. His book The Prayer Wheel Odyssey is currently in pre-production.

cover-1

The Fate of the World Is in One Woman’s Hands…

A man climbs the fence at the White House and is shot to death. A passerby, a young American Everyman, finds a document fallen at the site of the tragedy. Suddenly, his life changes beyond his capacity to imagine – for this document is of crucial importance to the shadowy and subterranean forces that rule the world in the barely known realm at the peripheral vision of the ordinary citizen. But the powerful figure at the center of this web is anything but ordinary. She is a modern Medea: brilliant, ruthless, who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. And our Everyman – drawn into a mythic hero’s quest – must thwart her, or the world will pay the price. Brilliantly crafted from the political and environmental realities we face, The Prayer Wheel Odyssey is a uniquely spellbinding thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat while it opens your eyes to what could happen to our planet if just one mistake is made… or just one person tips the balance for personal gain.

“The Prayer Wheel Odyssey” is described as “a uniquely spellbinding thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat while it opens your eyes to what could happen to our planet if just one mistake is made…or just one person tips the balance for personal gain.”

Sounds like a good movie, doesn’t it? Los Angles based talent management company Harris Management thought so and put the wheels in motion. Click here to read the full press release.

We caught up with Mr. Janes to discuss his success:

Q: Why did you decide to write The Prayer Wheel Odyssey?

Janes: I have always been concerned about reliance on fossil fuels as our primary energy resource, not only because that supply will one day be exhausted but because of what its products appear to be doing to the health of people and of the planet. After some reflection, writing a book seemed to be the best approach for expressing my views. I decided to publish the book myself. I knew the book would have to be worth reading and I wanted it to be a work of fiction based on a number of relevant facts. I wrestled at length with how best to write a novel that would hold reader interest while conveying a message in an entertaining manner. An action/adventure storyline was the solution I settled on and after considerable research I determined that Outskirts Press would be my best resource for publication and support services.

Q: Tell us about the plot . . . what happens? 

Janes: A woman and a man face off in a struggle that may have implications for the welfare of life on the planet. The woman is the modern-day Medea, she of ancient Greek mythology, searching for something of incredible value. She is ruthless, cunning, and has resources and connections beyond those of most world leaders. He is Everyman, young and somewhat naïve, thrown into a battle of wits simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. At the center of their contest is a document resulting from the work of one of the world’s greatest chemists centuries ago. That chemist was a real person and the novel is based on some of his work as well as that of his son at the behest of a Russian Czar. The storyline, reflected in the title of the novel, follows the path of that document from the late 1700s to now.

Q: Tell us about the process of getting your book turned into a movie…? 

I participated in the Outskirts Press Book Awards Program and received a professional book review that I shared with others, including a close friend, Sharon Justice, who had read and commented on the manuscripts for my books. She shared that book review with Earnest Harris of Harris Management in Los Angeles. He expressed interest in the book, so I sent him both books that I have published with Outskirts Press. Mr. Harris indicated after reading The Prayer Wheel Odyssey that it should be made into a feature film. He agreed to become Executive Producer for the film and to shepherd the book through the process involved in making the movie. I feel fortunate that Earnest Harris agreed to write the screenplay himself.

Q: Why will The Prayer Wheel Odyssey make a great movie?

 Janes: I believe it will make a great movie. Some readers have indicated that this book is one of the best mystery stories they have read. Their comments centered not only on the plot line but on the intrigue and action involved as the story progresses. I wrote it almost visualizing it as a movie, each scene and every confrontation guided by what I saw happening as I wrote. As other writers well know, the outline for the book was often outpaced by the characters as they developed. I am anxious to see what those characters do on a big screen.

So are we, Stephen. Congratulations on your remarkable success!

 

Author Interview

Author John Dukes raises awareness, opens hearts to Autism Spectrum Disorder

Author John Dukes is changing lives. His son, John Jr., passed away in 2016 after living with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In his latest book, Dadders, Can I Pet the Whales?, Dukes takes readers on an emotional journey through the story of his family and the story of his son, whose take on life and the world is both powerful and life-changing. We interviewed Dukes as his book began to receive public recognition.

Q: Tell me a little about your book.

JD: The book is about how a child with Autism can affect a whole family and people surrounding him. I starting writing the book when I took a trip to SeaWorld® with just John and myself. I had finished the book and had it on the back burner until my son John died from septic shock from a gallbladder infection. That’s when I decided to finish the book.

Q: This clearly has enormous personal significance to you, not just as in terms of the finished project, but in terms of content. The subject of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is one which has long been poorly understood. What was important to you about exploring this subject, with all of its personal implications, in the form of a book?

JD: This question has a lot of answers. First of all, Autism affects 1 in every 57 families. That means 1 in every 57 children are diagnosed with some type of Autism. My wife and I knew something was different about our son John but couldn’t put our finger on it. Once he was diagnosed with PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder), which comes under the Autism umbrella, that’s when we started with research and reaching out to others in the same circumstance.

My book is to let you know if you have a child with Autism you are not alone. The one thing I learned about myself is how much patience you need to deal with a child with Autism, and not just Autism but all children with special needs. God only gives you what you can handle. I learned what unconditional love is. John didn’t know the seven deadly sins. He only knew love, and his smile was awesome. The writing of my book was therapeutic for me. It helped me get through a tough time in my life. When my book was published, it made me feel like I was complete and John would live forever through the book. Everyone that reads the book gets to know John and my family.

Q: We’ve already seen some incredible community engagement surrounding your book. Could you describe how it has been received by your community, the attention you’ve been getting, and what you hope to be the result of this engagement?

JD: The book has been received exceptional by the community. I have received accolades not only from every person that read the book but I also received a Proclamation from Delaware County Council for Autism Awareness.

I have received recognition from State Senators and State Representatives. My book has touched the hearts of the people that read it. They either knew us or know someone with an Autistic child. It shows some of the difficulties families go through with children that have disabilities.

[Interviewer’s note: Since the interview itself, John’s book has also been covered in the Delaware Valley Magazine’s September 2018 issue, and his first book signing on August 1 raised $2,207 for charity. All proceeds from the book go to the District 19 Challenger League and the National Autism Society. John’s book is moving people all over the country.]

Q: What did the average day spent writing look like for you, and what writerly habits helped you along the way?

JD: On average I spent each day writing and rewriting page after page to make sure my words came across the way I wanted them to, in order to portray me and my family. My writing habits were simple: from my earliest education about writing to my college days, I always wrote from the heart. I don’t believe in fluff. Tell it like it is and keep it short and to the point.

Q: What’s next for you and your family? Are there more books in store?

JD: My amazing son John passed away on July 21, 2016. I was lucky enough to have John with us for 25 years and 2 days. I was blessed to have him for that long. John died from septic shock from an infected gallbladder.

I don’t know what’s next for me. I thought about another book related to John and my family and I am in the process of writing, but if it turns into a book only time will tell. If enough people show interest in it maybe I will publish it. The only thing all proceeds from my book go to the Challenger League which John played baseball for and the National Autism Society.

Visit Outskirts Press for more information on John Dukes and to purchase Dadders, Can I Pet the Whales.