A Funny Thing Happened
on the Way to the Throne 
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Throne by Georgia Richardson has been released in e-book version by Star Publish. It is available for purchase at $7.95 from Starbooks, the exclusive distributor for Star Publish e-books.A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Throne is a collection of “Queenisms” about life, with a slight twist. Southern humorist, Georgia Richardson, a.k.a. Queen Jaw Jaw, mixes her sharp sense of humor with everyday life observations. And as the Queen says, “Every single story is true, honest injun…I’d rather walk on my lips than tell a lie.”Georgia Richardson is a freelance humor writer living in North Alabama. Her monthly columns appear in Shoals Woman, Penwomanship, and The Monthly View magazines. Some of the Queen’s work will also be included in the upcoming book, Boomer Women Speak.Visit her queendom at http://www.queenjawjaw.com where you can read all about her Lunch Hour Specials. Don’t forget to “paws” a while and see what her good friend and writer-dog Trixie, a.k.a., da Trixster, has been up to…
By Lea Schizas, Publicist for Star Publish Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the author of This Is The Place, Harkening, and The Frugal Book Promoter. Carolyn has won so many awards that I am afraid to list them for fear I will forget some of them. One of her latest awards is the USA Book News “Best Books 2004” Award in the Professional Category for her book, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won’t. It is published by Star Publish. Carolyn is a tireless book promoter who willingly shares with other writers what she has learned through years of experience. Her advice is never given with the “I know better than you” attitude. Instead, Carolyn speaks from the heart, almost like neighbors chatting over the back fence. No wonder her book, The Frugal Book Promoter, is racking up awards and selling like hotcakes. Q-When did the call for writing hit you?
A-When I was very young, maybe in the sixth grade. My mother explained that one should vary the way each paragraph started. I remember being thrilled when I found that you could use a clause for a subject. I actually remember writing, "That he was interested in geography made it easier for me to do my homework." What a great way that was to vary the topic sentences of paragraphs! Q-Were your family and friends supportive, or did they stare at you with that “yeah, whatever” look?
A-I don't remember caring! Ha!
Q-We’ve all heard that it’s “passion” that drives us forward; but in your case, Carolyn, I find that itgoes deeper than that. As I’ve said many times over, “teacher” is more apt in your case. So, my question is this: Do you find that it is the lack of guidance a new author gets after their book has been published by a traditional or even some nontraditional publishing houses that you decided upon the theme and birth of FRUGAL? What inspired you to write this book?
A-Exactly. I actually have spent some time teaching. I love teaching my class for UCLA Extension's Writers' Program. And, yes, I feel that teaching is somehow related to writing. Writers have a need to share and the very best ones share their souls. I took a hiatus from fiction and poetry--my first loves--to share the nitty-gritty practicalities of book promotion when I saw so many authors fumbling so badly when they discovered their publishers weren't going to publicize for them.
Q-I know for a fact that you’ve openly expressed your gratitude to your FRUGAL publisher, Star Publish owner Margie K. Tovrea (aka Kristie Leigh Maguire), that thanks to her diligent persuading, you decided to publish FRUGAL in paperback, as well as e-book. Why the hesitance? And why didn’t you even consider the possibility of having FRUGAL printed in paperback?
A-Initially FRUGAL was to be a guide and textbook for my class at UCLA and I wanted my students (struggling writers all) to be able to afford it. I also knew that FRUGAL would need to be published very quickly in order to have it ready for fall quarter. From my experience with trade paperbacks, I didn't think that I could achieve these goals with the more traditional print format. As it turned out, STAR PUBLISH was able to help me meet both goals and deadlines with both e-book and paperback. A miracle publisher, than one!
Q-We know you’ve mentioned in some way or the other comments about subsidy houses. But yet, you chose a subsidy house. Why not a traditional publishing house? And how did you come to your decision to choose Star Publish from all the other nontraditional houses?
A-Oh, it was that speed thing again. My first publisher took one full year from the time I signed a contract and received my advance to the day I held my book in my hands. I knew Margie (the owner of Star Publish) from NUW Independent Authors Community, an e-group I have belonged to for several years. She was the founder of this congenial group of writers who came together to support one another and to share their writing and promotion secrets with one another. I trusted her. And I didn't want to take the time to learn to self-publish. I'm not a detail person. Getting my own ISBN, fooling around with online bookstore entries and distributors, editors and cover artists. Yikes! I'd rather WRITE. Q-Are you happy with the service you received from Star Publish? And would you recommend them to another writer searching for a Print On Demand publisher?
A-You hear of so many writers who are not happy with their publishers, no matter how they are published. Big or small. POD or letter press. Subsidy or traditional. Mostly that's because communication is lacking. Margie, the publisher of Star, knows how to communicate. She never misses an e-mail. She does more than her contract says she will do. And, even when hurried, a writer knows she has her best interest at heart. I would absolutely, and do for that matter, recommend Star Publish to other writers.Q-Where did you find the time to write with your heavy workload?
A-My writing (and promotion) IS my heavy work load. (-:
Q-Let’s get to some nit-picking that has become dear to me in the last few months since I’ve started to review. I have noticed for quite some time now that published books are having more and more grammatical errors and typos. Do you find this acceptable?
A-Of course. It has to be "acceptable" because "it is." That doesn't mean we (publishers, writers, editors) shouldn't do everything to avoid even the tiniest typo but a book shouldn't be judged by its cover, the press it is printed on or its typos (assuming the copy doesn't look as if it’s written in another language!). It should be judged by its content.
Q-Is there a recommendation, beyond a writer editing before submitting, that you can suggest to any new writer out there?
A-A writer should not expect than even the best publisher and best editors will be able to catch everything. As a writer, have your most picky Libra friend go over the book. Choose an editor who knows more about English than most writers and more about writing (which IS different from knowing about English) than you do. Edit your book again yourself and then one more time before the book goes to bed. Q-What general advice do you have for writers who just completed their first novel? What do they do now?
A-Promote. Keep learning more about the craft of writing. Just because we are now published authors doesn't mean we get to sit back on our ....um.....laurels and vegetate.
Q-I know of many writers who openly say that writers who submit their work for free only hurt the rest of them. What is your opinion on this heavy subject that has the writing community split in two divisions?
A-That word "free" is open to interpretation and therein lies the problem. I do see both sides of the argument. I believe, however, that a writer who gets some exposure--maybe even some advertising--in return is not writing for free. I've written for newspapers that pay only $75 for a column and once I wrote for a slick monthly magazine that paid only $35 for a short piece. Those very slim dollars aren't as valuable to me as an ad, including my book cover art and a few blurbs, that shout to the world that I have something out there. Published!!! Something that, I WANT them to read!!
Q-You have written now both nonfiction and fiction. Would you consider one more difficult than the other? Why or why not?"
A-They are so very different. There is a learning curve for each. When an author writes one and moves to another without taking time to learn the new craft, she can get into trouble.
Q-Will you continue to teach?
A-Writing is teaching, in a sense. It's a way to reach more people that you can in a classroom. Yes, I'll always teach. Writing will always be first for me but having the feedback from students is a wonderful experience, too.
Q-Is there another writing project in the works now? Perhaps a FRUGAL #2?
A-I've talked about a FRUGAL II. I just keep learning new ways to promote books that may need to be shared. I also have a book of poetry in the works and the rudiments of another novel.
Free E-Books for the taking at Starbooks!Starbooks, the exclusive distributor for Star Publish e-books, is giving away e-books. This offer comes from Star Publish and its authors as a way of showing their apprecation to the many people who visit Starbooks to buy the Star authors' books.There is no catch to this offer. To claim your free e-book, go to Starbooks and scroll to the bottom of the page.
Grab the Queen Power: Live Your Best Life
By Allyn Evans
Star Publish
Release Date: June 2005
Finding Your True Self Among The Cultural Clutter
Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, columnist and reviewer author of This is the Place and Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered and The Frugal Book Promoter
It seems that our culture continues to trade on a little girl's desire to grow up to be cared for by a handsome prince. No doubt the Cinderella story is a captivating one. We, as a culture love Underdog (remember him from the 70s?) and Horatio Alger. The sad thing is that women still identify with the pretty, overworked keeper-of-the-hearth who has all that unrealized potential hidden beneath her apron and behind her sad eyes.
Allyn Evans, the author of Grab the Queen Power, uses the term (and title) Queen to attract readers who might otherwise not read a serious book or who would not understand the confident persona the author is trying to reach. Queen is a combination memoir and guide. It uses scholarly interviews with women of all ages to evoke memories and understanding from the reader. It is not light reading but it is inspirational.
Author Allyn Evans, born as a southern belle, draws from cultural icons from literature and film (Scarlett O'Hara, The Sleeping Princess) and serious feminist writers like Sue Monk Kidd to make her points. She has also worked closely with professors and graduate students from schools like Delta State University and the University of Mississippi's Center for the Study of Southern Culture. That she also reveals herself--right down to the core--is effective because we see the courage there, the willingness to bare raw bones in the cause of helping others.
Clever titles like "The Half Unconscious Queen" and "When the Princess Takes her Poison," along with fully wrought scenes and anecdotes makes this serious work entertaining. I'd like to see every little girl who turns 12 read it before she enters those difficult years of development, before she ventures out into the world. She would be certain to see things more clearly than generations of women gone before. Times have changed but the echoes of repression still abound. We can only be the better for recognizing them when we see them. This book will help women in any generation know and understand them well.
.----------------
(Carolyn Howard-Johnson's first novel, This is the Place, has won eight awards. Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remember has won three. Her new book, The Frugal Book Promoter is USA Book News' "Best Professional Book 2004." Learn more at: http://carolynhowardjohnson.com.)
The Rock of Realm by Lea SchizasPublished by Star Publish
Review by: Marilyn Peake, Author of The Fisherman’s Son Trilogy http://www.marilynpeake.com/
The Rock of Realm is a wonderful children’s fantasy novel written by Lea Schizas. At the beginning of the novel, life is normal for the fourteen-year-old main character, Alex Stone, and her best friend, Sarah Breckenridge. The reader has some hint that strange things might happen, when conversations between Alex’ s dog Butch and a squirrel named Pops are shared with the reader. However, at the beginning, this seems to be nothing more than animal communication revealed.
However, by the end of chapter one, it is clear that the reader has stepped into a wonderful fantasy world. On the way home from babysitting, Alex and Sarah walk through Greendale Park. There, Alex is hit in the head by “a small, pink granite rock, glimmering in the moonlight“; and Sarah finds a “beige pouch with purple stripes” that is filled with gold glitter. Repeating words that she learned in English class, Alex sprinkles glitter around herself and Sarah while chanting, “Glitter I toss, safely I will cross, into your realm it will lead, the rock I possess, evil digress, the Queen I am to thee.” Suddenly, the wind picks up, the glitter swirls and turns into a haze, and the girls along with Butch the dog and Pops the squirrel are no longer in Greendale Park.
And that’s where the adventure begins. The girls and their two animal companions (who they can suddenly understand) must unwrap the mystery of a new land to which they have been transported. The first clue is given to them by a talking tree: “The Rock of Realm is used as a passageway to enter Dread’s Forest or any other part of Rock Kingdom … But, beware. Dread’s Forest is a dangerous place now since Dread has resurfaced.”
The author, Lea Schizas, does a wonderful job of creating in descriptive language such things as: talking trees, a magical ice palace, mud beings, “Qulany” birds, Oracles that guard Rock Kingdom, the golden fish of the Qulany River, an invisible boat, and so much more. While the reader travels through fantastic places, moral lessons are absorbed as well. Without preaching or making the lessons too evident, Lea weaves into her book important messages such as the destructive power of jealousy.
I recommend The Rock of Realm for children, and for parents to read to their children. This book is perfect for hours of enjoyable family reading time.*****
Dread’s Forest, the Braks and The Qulany River invade STAR PUBLISH
STAR PUBLISH releases newest book, THE ROCK OF REALM, a YA Fantasy by Lea Schizas. The ROCK OF REALM sets the tone for another exciting read for the Young Adult reader. As recent recipient of two Writer’s Digest 101 Best Writing Sites of 2005 for Apollo’s Lyre and TheMuseItUp Club, Lea Schizas, a short story competition winner, is certain to establish herself as one of the newest writing voices for the young at heart.
What if you were hit with the realization that you were of royal lineage…to another realm? This is exactly what fourteen-year old Alexandra Stone has to face in the Young Adult fantasy novel THE ROCK OF REALM.
Alex, along with her friends Sarah, Butch, Pops and Jinx, learns the meaning of friendship and courage as they battle the dangerous elements that inhabit Dread’s Forest. Alex is determined to find answers and fight the man that has been the root of all evil in this adventure, her uncle, Dread. But has he? She will have to risk her safety and trust her instincts, torn between fear and love, when she is thrust alongside him to battle the Braks, skeletal creatures that project thorn-infested slime encasing their victim before plunging them deep within the caverns of the earth. Can family love defeat all evil?
THE ROCK OF REALM incorporates three learning elements–discovery, friendship, and courage –But the biggest lesson the Young Adult reader will absorb is that ‘‘things are not always as they appear to be". The ROCK OF REALM will shatter the concept of "villain".
Marilyn Peake, author of THE FISHERMAN’S SON trilogy: “Lea Schizas, does a wonderful job of creating indescriptive language such things as: talking trees, a magical ice palace, mud beings, “Qulany” birds, Oracles that guard Rock Kingdom, the golden fish of the Qulany River, an invisible boat, and so much more. While the reader travels through fantastic places, moral lessons are absorbed as well. Without preaching or making the lessons too evident, Lea weaves into her book important messages such as the destructive power of jealousy.”
Lea Schizas is Senior Editor of the print Coffee Cramp Magazine, Publicist for Star Publish, Editor in Chiefof Apollo’s Lyre and founder of the online critique community The MuseItUp Club.
For more information on Lea Schizas, link here:http://leaschizasauthor.tripod.com
For more information on THE ROCK OF REALM, go to:http://starpublish.com
Paperback Price: $12.95
Buy now from Barnes&Noble.com
Ebook Price: $6.95
Buy now from STARBOOKS at http://starpublish.com/starbooks.htm
