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Saralyn Richard

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Website: http://saralynrichard.com

Galveston Author Saralyn Richard

 

Genre: Children’s Picture Book, Mystery, Police Procedural

Author Bio: Saralyn Richard is the award-winning author of the Detective Parrott Mystery Series, Murder in the One Percent and A Palette for Love and Murder; and two standalone mysteries, A Murder of Principal, and Bad Blood Sisters. She’s also written the children’s book, Naughty Nana, and she’s been

a contributing author to the Bacopa Literary Review and the upcoming anthology of short stories from Encircle Publications. She served as chief editor of Burn Survivors’ Journey.

When not reading, writing, cooking, or gardening, Saralyn teaches creative writing and literature at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. She’s a big supporter of the arts, local businesses, public libraries, and historic theaters. She lives in Texas with her husband, her person-in-a-dog-suit sheepdog Nana, and her Bichon Archie.

Link to trailer:  A Murder of Principal –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l4gJoFJwjE 

Link to trailer: Murder in the One Percent –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Muq7P67-snY 

Awards include: 

Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Readers’ Choice Award 2021

Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Readers’ Choice Award 2019

First Place in Speak Up Radio’s Firebird Awards for Mysteries 2021

Second Place in Readers’ Favorite Award for Mysteries 2020

Finalist for Silver Falchion Best Investigator 2021

Finalist for Silver Falchion Best Police Procedural 2019

 

Topics for discussion:  The urban high school as a microcosm of society, writing fiction from one’s personal experience, writing about diverse settings, teaching creative writing to teenagers and to senior citizens. America’s wealthiest one percent, Brandywine Valley, PTSD, writing a detective series, women who write mysteries, the locked room mystery.

Writing for the young audience, collaboration between author and illustrator, the components of a children’s picture book, literacy, higher level questions, personification of animals.

Contact the Author: Email: saralyn@saralynrichard.com   

Leslie Lehr  

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Website: www.leslielehr.com

Book Title and Tag Line A Boob’s Life: How America’s Obsession Shaped Me… and You

Genre: Memoir/nonfiction, fiction, women’s fiction  

Acclaim: Good Morning America, People Magazine,  Entertainment Tonight,  Glamour Magazine, Katie Couric’s Wake-Up Call Newsletter – 

Reviews: https://leslielehr.com/book-reviews/ 

Link to trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRn_QIVTL-w

Book Synopsis: Author Leslie Lehr wants to talk about boobs. She’s gone from size AA to DDDD and everything between, from puberty to motherhood, enhancement to cancer, and beyond. And she’s not alone – these are classic life stages for women today. At times funny and heartbreaking, A Boob’s Life explores both the joys and hazards inherent to living in a woman’s body. Lehr deftly blends her personal narrative with national history, starting in the 1960s with the women’s liberation movement and moving to the current feminist dialogue and what it means to be a woman. Her insightful and clever writing analyzes how America’s obsession with the female form has affected her own life’s journey and the psyche of all women today. From prize-winning fiction to a viral Modern Love essay, exploring the challenges of contemporary women is Lehr’s life-long passion. A Boob’s Life, her first project since breast cancer treatment, continues this mission, taking readers on a wildly informative, deeply personal, and utterly relatable journey. No matter your gender, you’ll never view this sexy and sacred body part the same way again.

Author Bio: Salma Hayek is developing A Boob’s Life into a comedy series for HBO Max. Leslie’s novels include What A Mother Knows, Wife Goes On, and 66 Laps, winner of the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Prize. Her nonfiction includes Welcome to Club Mom, Club Grandma, and Nesting, featured on Oprah. Lehr’s essays have appeared in NYT Modern Love (narrated by Katie Couric on NPR), HuffPost, Yourtango, and anthologies including Mommy Wars. She wrote the screenplay for the romantic thriller, Heartless. A Breast Cancer survivor, Lehr works with StandUp2Cancer. She is the Novel Consultant for Truby Writers Studio and taught in the Writer’s Program at UCLA. Lehr is a graduate of USC Film School and has an MFA from Antioch. She’s in PEN, the Authors Guild, WGA, Women In Film, and the Women’s Leadership Council of L.A. Lehr has two daughters, two cats, and lives with her husband in southern California

Topics for discussion: America’s obsession with breasts, women’s health, body positivity, women’s history, feminism, fashion, censorship, domestic abuse, motherhood, & writing.

Author’s Notes:  Sample interviews and a Book Club guide are available at www.leslielehr.com.

Contact the Author: Email: leslie@leslielehr.com  

Mandy Haynes

Posted on by redpenguinweb@gmail.com

www.mandyhaynes.com

Mandy Haynes has spent hours on barstools and riding in vans listening to outrageous tales from some of the best songwriters and storytellers in Nashville, Tennessee. She quit a stressful career as a pediatric cardiac sonographer to chase her dream of being a writer. She now lives the life of a beach bum on Amelia Island with her three dogs, one turtle, and a grateful liver. She is a contributing writer for Amelia Islander Magazine, Editor-in-Chief of Reading Nation Magazine, and Executive Director of the International Pulpwood Queen and Timber Guy Book Club. She’s the author of two short story collections, Walking the Wrong Way Home and Sharp as a Serpent’s Tooth Eva and Other Stories. 

 

Topics for discussion: The importance of friendship, forgiveness, the harmful effects of gossip and rumors, and remembering what it was like to be young and innocent. “Wise as serpents, as innocent as doves.” 

 

Author’s Notes: I love talking with readers about these characters! It never fails – we always end up laughing after we tear up just a little bit – and that’s a powerful thing. 

Contact the Author: Email: mandy@mandyhaynes.com