Peter Chapel - My first attempt at stringing words together resulted in a small book of song lyrics entitled “Impressions and Reflections”, a consequence of being a captive in my automobile twice a month for 14 years while driving eight hours at a stretch, mainly at night, to my weekends work retreat in Santa Cruz Mountains. The opportunity to reminisce made me recall incidents and people who for one reason or another left an indelible impression on my mind. With a small tape recorder by my side, I decided one day to express my thoughts, memories and feelings. As words formed phrases and sentences they fell into a rhythm and evolved into melodies. This mode of creativity lasted for about four years.

One time, while on jury duty, I became acquainted with a young man with a master’s degree in music from UCLA who transcribed all my songs to paper, and as time went on made various instrumental arrangements for all. Some 30 years later, after rebuilding, following the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 and finally being relieved of the responsibility of owning the property, at the insistence of a nephew, I decided to translate my late mother’s long letter describing her family’s experience as pioneers in Manitoba in the late 1 890s. This part of a heritage was never envisioned by the younger generations, and they were anxious to hear more. As a consequence I learned the fundamentals of using a computer and began to type out my memoir “Having the Time of My Life”.

I had attended UCLA under the GI Bill but for the following 55 years all my work and main hobbies were a struggle for survival requiring time-consuming physical energy which had no connection with intellectual life; I read no books. I was aware there were definite forms in writing novels or short stories and likely memoirs. At that time I felt drained, physical and mentally, I began simply as memories came in a stream of consciousness. I had no need to invent anything; it was all there in my memory to be tapped. After the publication of the memoir I discovered a few typographical errors; one date missed the mark by 100 years and another by a year. I am aware that the work falls far short of academic excellence. But, it is a representation of the “culture of the times” that has spanned just a month short of 90 years through which I had lived and been a witness to.

Joan Del Monte was a featured author at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Washington, D.C. in September 2007. She is also a multi-faceted woman, and has owned an antique shop, a real estate agency, and art gallery in Venice. She taught courses in antiques at UCLA extension and the California State College system; lectured on antiques on radio and wrote a bibliography of small antiques for the Los Angeles Public Library.

Joan taught a course in writing the mystery novel at Santa Monica College, which she called “A Guide to the Pitfalls, From Someone Who Has Fallen Into Most of Them”. She sold the movie rights to her first mystery “Magic Angel Ate a Pickle” and has a B.S. from Columbia University and an M.A. from U.C.L.A. She is a frequent public speaker on her books and the writer’s life.

She has three books in print: “PLONK GOES THE WEASEL,” takes place in a small redwood town. A film company has ripped them off and the residents go on a dogged hunt for unthinkable and truly wicked revenge. The second novel “DEATH HAD A YELLOW THUMB,” deals with the counterfeiting of saffron, the world’s most expensive spice, and is set in San Pedro, California and features a vagabond spice, missing ships and murder. Joan currently lives on the Venice Canals in Southern California and summers in the Northern California redwoods.

Joan’s third mystery, “Mud Blood – Murder in the Sacramento Delta” is set in the Sacramento Delta of California and was awarded Editor’s Choice by iUniverse. A fourth novel is underway. www.joandelmonte.com

Charles Domokos has taught post-production classes at the University of Southern California (U.S.C.) School of Cinema & TV and at the U.S.C. Summer Production Workshop from 1988 to 2003 (various Avid platforms). He has also taught TV and post-production courses at Loyola Marymount Univ. (Avid & FCP) and (currently) at Los Angeles City College School of Cinema-TV. He has served as an Avid consultant to TV post-production houses and edited short-form and long-form projects including TV documentaries and independent features. His most recent film RETURN TO VIETNAM won a 2007 Silver Telly (highest award) in the feature tv documentary category.

“Non-linear Editing: The Cutting Edge” provides the foundation for the college-level media student to make the leap into the world of film and HD-based professional post-production, as practiced in the Hollywood media community. This soft-cover text covers basic techniques and generic procedures fundamental to popular visual non-linear editing software from AVID, ADOBE and FINAL CUT and PRO TOOLS audio editing software. This book teaches the basic procedures including synchronization of audio to visuals, film-to-tape conversion, output to tape, output to film, standard definition (SD) to high definition (HD) conversions, and everything in between. There is special emphasis given to sound editing techniques to achieve professional level sound quality. “Non-linear Editing: The Cutting Edge” has been chosen to be part of the Los Angeles Public Library film book collection.

Gardner’s Guide to NLE: The Cutting Edge: ISBN 1589650212; available from www.Amazon.com, www.Barnes & Noble.com, and the Garth Gardner Publishing Company, 1 866 GO GARDNER or www.GoGardner.com

Christine Dupree - Gifted with the ability to re-invent herself several times over, Christine Dupree has done it again- this time as author of a self help book for couples who want more thrills and passion in their love life. A natural born entertainer and lover of adventure, Christine is perfect for the part. This former Penthouse centerfold turned professional boxer was photographed in Life Magazine as “one of the few fighters who wear makeup in the ring.” Featured on the cover of Fighting Female’s and again in Penthouse magazine – with clothes on, is a legend in the making and is winning in all areas of her life.

Are you missing the warmth, intimacy and exhilaration of a brand new relationship? Don’t worry! Now listless lovers can easily turn their love life into an exciting paradise of ecstasy with Penthouse Centerfold Christine Dupree’s book: Hot Romantic Escapades for Lovers, 69 Fun and Daring Ways to Keep the Thrill Alive. Couples who think they don’t have time or energy to spare will be seduced by the lure of erotica and the challenge of naughty delights. The book offers 69 scenarios like: Show Me Teacher, Body Surfing By the Sea Shore, & Dressing Room Decadence for you and your lover to experience. They’ll get you past your inhibitions, out of the ordinary, and into some of the most fun, fantastic intimate liasons you’ve ever had. Learn more here.

Virginia C. Green, PhD. is the author of Creativity Unwrapped: A Spiritual Path to Making Money Making Art With experience as varied as being a sales and marketing executive in the fashion industry, a small business consultant, and a counselor for gang youth and abused children, Dr. Green knows the ins and outs of realizing positive change. Success is not a straight line, but it does take commitment, especially for an art based small business.. And it takes creativity, whether you have an MBA or an MFA.

She explains: “Creativity heals. It helps cure depression, anxiety, addiction, trauma. It is the best path for changing our lives in ways that inspire us and the people around us. For the 25 percent of us who, according to the Surgeon General, will suffer a ‘mood disorder’ sometime in our lives, and for all the rest of us, creativity is the answer to the big deals and the little deals. Draw it, paint it, dance it, write about it, laugh about it, cry about it, transform it. I know it works because I have seen it work in my own life and in the lives of thousands of people of all ages I have worked with as a psychologist and corporate design executive over a 30-year career.”

In Creativity Unwrapped, Dr. Green:

• Guides artists into a closer relationship with their audience in ways that will make their work more responsive without sacrificing creativity and innovation;
• Teaches artistic small business owner how to befriend a calculator, to build a creative business plan, to price their work, to design an idea that is inspiring and efficient;
• Gives detailed and practical information about advertising, networking, public relations, and internet marketing, reminding the artist that everyone in these professions is an artist, too;
• Provides reflection on the value of play, rest, legacy and giving back for the home based art business;
• Incorporates a spiritual dimension into the artistic small business process.

http://www.creativityunwrapped.com/

Lucy Hall - Lucille Hall, CPhT, CPT1, BS, has worked in the field of Pharmacy for fifteen years, and in Oncology for ten. Her experience and direct interaction with physicians, patients and caregivers, provides a valuable safety net and navigational guide.

Designed as a guidebook and notebook in one, Cancer Care should be taken to each doctor appointment, each trip to the pharmacy, infusion, radiation, and even the grocery store. It includes a shopping list specially prepared for cancer patients, templates to assist communication with physicians, event and schedule calendars, and room to write. Why you need a refuge area at home, and what you need to create one. Do you have a personal first-aid kit? How many radiation treatments have you completed? is that thrush in your mouth? Organizing the information into a manageable to-do list can reduce stress, anxiety, and other unhelpful emotions. Let Cancer Care guide you through treatment, before your next appointment!

Learn more and get this book at: http://www.cancercoach4u.com

Welsa Kerr

Wesla Kerr is a long-time resident of Southern California and finds inspiration in its vibrant multi-cultural life. She is retired from teaching English and various other subjects and has published a few travel articles and other non-fiction. She is now focusing on writing novels.

Matty McGuire, her favorite character, is a housekeeper/sleuth who "mops up" for the five clients in her cul-de-sac. Cul-de-Sac: Mop-up for Murder is the first of the series; Cul-de-Sac: Mop-up for Malice is the second, published last year and available at Authorhouse or Amazon. Readers loved it and clamored for the first one; hence this "prequel." The third one—the fmal Mop-up—is in revision.

When Matty (Matilde Maria Lopez-Jones McGuire), who cleans houses for the five families in a cul-de-sac in Costa Dorada, fmds one of her clients dead in a nearby canyon, she becomes a suspect. Not only must the forty-something widow clear her name, but she must also find the killer, who could be almost any of her clients. Could it be the dead man's widow? Or the romance novelist who may have had a tryst with him? Or the old man with Alzheimer's who repeats strange, incriminating meanderings? Or the TV evangelist who is perhaps not all he should be? Ramon is the homicide detective on the case; he also is Matty's night school teacher and may become more than that, especially when he accompanies her to Mexico for help from her feisty herbalist grandmother, who also has news of Matty's missing son. Matty's curiosity drives her to meet these challenges; her ambition motivates her to seek higher learning; her loyalty kindles her search for her real ethnicity; and her heart leads her to seek romance.

Web site: hstrial-WKerr.3.homestead.com

Email: weslakerr@charter.net

Leslie Ann Moore is the author of Griffin's Daughter, her debut novel and the first in her romantic fantasy Griffin's Daughter trilogy, was named 2008 IBPA Ben Franklin Award Winner for Best First Fiction. Griffin's Shadow, the second book in the series, has been officially endorsed by both Publisher's Weekly and The Library Journal. Both books are available online at Amazon.com and at local booksellers everywhere.

A native of Los Angeles, Ms. Moore received her doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from the University of California at Davis in 1988. Dr. Moore lives and works in Los Angeles, CA and in her spare time, she practices the beautiful and ancient art of belly dance.

Visit Leslie Ann's website at www.leslieannmoore.com/

Nora Novak Nora Novak is a mixed media artist, actress and writer. Novak has worked in both commercial galleries and a contemporary art museum. Originally from Antwerp, Belgium, she currently resides in Newport Beach and has recently published her first novel of contemporary fiction, Art Damaged which received the Editor’s Choice award.

Art Damaged is a glossy insider’s tale that is set behind the scenes of the contemporary art world in Orange County. The story follows Nina Valliere, a glamorous and alluring artist who works in a contemporary art museum. Nina copes with a man-hungry boss from hell, an alcoholic director and juggles the men in her life while pursuing credibility as an emerging artist. Complications arise and a scandalous turn of events threatens to compromise the museum and Nina’s future. A stylish romp through the recesses and chicanery of the art world, museum administration politics, and inner office intrigues, Art Damaged is an insightful debut novel that gives the reader a peek into the life of an up-and-coming mixed media artist.

For more information on Nora Novak and Art Damaged, please visit:

noranovak.com  |  artla.com |  artdamaged.net

Jerry Ruth Plum is the author of "My Nanny Was A Wolf", which in her words, will rekindle in you the love and understanding for all living creatures. "From my humble beginnings, you will feel the cool mountains and taste the sweet water. You will feel the rhythm of my horse under you."

The research on this book is my life. It encompasses two different she-wolves, my three daughters, and several people who have felt the warnings of fangs and the gentleness of a wolf’s kiss. The classroom is my home. It is the give and take of two hearts and two wills, and the combination of all that created this story. My instructors were the wolves themselves. I listened and learned. I was taught their rules, and I shared mine with them. We became a pack. Our adventures will set your imagination on fire. It will take you places you never could imagine. Those who read this book will believe and never doubt My Nanny was a Wolf.

"My Nanny Was A Wolf" is a combination of stories that transcends three generations. From the birth of my great-grandmother to my first wolf whose movie star friends included Slim Pickens and Evil Knievel. Our history returns to us so many times over. It pounces upon us uninvited. A drifting scent or a silent whisper can send your feelings tumbling as a feather in the wind. So…join me in my history and adventures with my Children, Wolves, and The Ancient Ones.

Mrs. Jerry Ruth Plum, has been an E.R. nurse for the past 36+ years and has worked in some of the toughest gang areas in Los Angeles. She is now working on her sequel books, MY GUARDIAN ANGEL WORE WOLFS CLOTHING, and THE E.R.NITE NURSE, THE UNSUNG HEROES.

Homa Pourasgari Homa Pourasgari is an Iranian-born American writer who has been traveling since the age of five. She lived in Iran before high school and moved to California when she was 12 to improve her English. She has attended a summer school in London, a bordering school in Switzerland and after getting her BA in business from Loyola Marymount University, she attended the University of Sorbonne in Paris for a year to study literature. She’s a member of Association of Iranian-American Writers, The Greater Los Angeles Writers Society, PEN American Center and the Independent Book Publishers Association.

As an activist and a member of Amnesty International, she has always been outspoken about countries that violate the basic human rights. Homa has worked as an assistant editor for UCLA’s West Word 7 and has attended UCLA’s creative writing courses. Her work expands across various cultures and deals with the disappearance of ethics and morality in exchange for greed, profit and politics. Multilingual, Pourasgari has worked in various industries such as banking, retail, accounting and fitness and uses her work and life experiences in her writings.

Her first book, Lemon Curd, won the 2006 Forward Magazine’s Book of the Year Award Finalist and prior to her second book, The Dawn of Saudi: in search for freedom, which came out June 22, 2009, she was quoted in USA Today regarding Oppression in the Muslim-dominated countries. Pourasgari is currently working on a new fiction about the forces that have impacted the U.S economy and the loss of American freedom.

To learn more about her and her books, you may visit www.homapourasgari.com, www.lemoncurdbook.com and www.thedawnofsaudi.com. Her books are available for sale at Amazon.com and major online bookstores.

Amy Reiley is a passionate aphrodisiac advocate and one of the foremost-educated women in food and wine. In August 2004, she became the second American to earn the title Master of Gastronomy awarded by France’s culinary temple, Le Cordon Bleu.

While at Cordon Bleu, Amy rose to notoriety for her work in culinary aphrodisiacs. In 2006, Amy releases her first book, Fork Me, Spoon Me: the sensual cookbook, cementing her role as America’s leading aphrodisiac food authority. Filling a niche in the cookbook market, demand resulted in the book’s second edition less than two years later.

Through her company, Life of Reiley, Amy has found many avenues to promote her aphrodisiac knowledge and unique take on life’s “consuming passions.” The Eat Something Sexy website, www.eatsomethingsexy.com and Amy’s monthly e-newsletter, Amy Reiley’s Aphrodisiac of the Month are considered the online authorities on aphrodisiac food history and science.

About Fork Me, Spoon Me
Whether you’re looking for love or just looking to fuel a little lust, Fork Me, Spoon Me the sensual cookbook will lead you by the hand down the road to romance or if you prefer, simply help you get down and dirty. Even if you can’t boil water, with this hot little page-turner at your side, you can still get it on.

Hot Honey Nuts -- Vanilla-Scented Sea Bass -- Moist Mango Meatloaf -- Ginger Mojitos -- Persian Love Cake

Written by Master of Gastronomy Amy Reiley, the leading American authority on sensual foods, Fork Me, Spoon Me explores the world’s most potent aphrodisiacs for steaming up the kitchen or bedroom or whatever room you feel like a little spooning.

For more info and to order books and merchandise: http://www.forkmespoonme.com

Barbara Schnell has dedicated her life to full-time employment avoidance. She’s been an actress, renovated a 1921 California Bungalow, ‘won’ a set of golf clubs on Jeopardy, and set a cash-winning record on $25,000 Pyramid. Barbara lives in Los Angeles with her patient husband and two cats.

In her debut novel, "First Year", Stevie O'Neill, a young LA actress, recklessly marries visiting Robert Anderson and follows him to South Dakota. There, she discovers that her Hispanic/Irish ancestry doesn't bother her blue-eyed blonde in-laws, but her lack of domestic skills does--a situation Mom Anderson is determined to correct. This orphaned, metropolitan smartass becomes an unwilling Martha Stewart in a student trailer park--but her life is not all drudgery, in Los Angeles she's a grunt in an army of wannabe celebrities, in South Dakota she's a star because of a beer commercial. Her brief fame even gets her a teaching job at the University. Stevie's new existence is filled with adventures most city girls never experience--or want to. She goes pheasant hunting; she survives blizzards; she drives the Hereford Queen in the Homecoming parade. She's thrown into an extended family circle and learns to deal with all that goes with family life. In the first year of an impulsive, hormone-driven marriage punctuated by misunderstandings and reconciliations, Stevie discovers that her Prince Charming has skid marks in his tights. Should she stick with him? At least for one more year?

“…engaging and believable. Stevie is an appealing heroine”—Kirkus Discoveries

“Fantastic! Sidesplitting comedy…guaranteed to generate smiles.”—Romantic Times

“…”epic” of the ordinary…very American, very universal, and very entertaining.”—James Koenig, Director/Founder of Scandinavia/LA Film Festival

Visit Barbara Schnell at: www.bagmlit.com

Enilde "Ginger" Ingels-Van Hook is the author of "The Kingdom of Nuts and Bolts", is a story about a families living in Argentina in the 1930’s told from the perspectives of a fly, a witch, a seagull, an angel, a demon and two little boys.  This story explores the fictions and mythologies of the South American culture of Argentina’s rich grasslands and spiritual histories. This is a comedic look at the eccentricities of vivid human characters interplaying with colorful imaginative creatures from the spirit world. It is a journey  through rich folklore and magical realism as the characters go  about their lives in community activities where magic spells go wrong on occasions and the Virgin Mary makes appearances.

The themes throughout the novel explores nuts and bolts in a delightful approach to how things are invented and produced.  The spirit of invention (Hector) conflicts with the spirit of destruction (Torech). By the end of the battle between the two forces, there are new chairs, tapestries on the walls and cutting boards all created out of thin air. This story is the first in a series of adventures.

Written works by Enilde Ginger Ingels-Van Hook:
Waiting in the Wings Poetry - 1991,
The Trilogy of Private Showings:  Poetry - 1992,
Gypsy Spurs, Twisted Rainbow,
The Haughty Naughty Tipsy Gypsy
A Magnetic Attraction Poetry - 2004,
      by Ginger & Luke Van Hook
The Kingdom of Nuts & Bolts - A novel - 2004
A Sliver of My Private Thoughts - 2007

www.gingervanhook.com | http://gingersartjournal.blogspot.com | www.enildeingelsvanhook.com

Jeung Ho Choi, MD is a board certified in Internal Medicine. He received his medical degree from Seoul National University, Korea. He completed his internship and residency at Loma Linda White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles. Dr. Choi has practiced acupuncture since 1987 at his Pain Management Clinic in Burbank. He specializes in stroke rehabilitation by micro-electro-therapy application. Through this application, Dr. Choi is able to reverse stroke induced paralysis. Dr. Choi’s clinical area of expertise include stroke induced paralysis, peripheral nerve induced paralysis and pain management through acupuncture. “Essentials of Electroacupuncture” is a formal textbook. It was written from 2006 based on his clinical study over 20 years.

Ordering information :

Susan Boyd Cooper bio & book synopsis coming...

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