novels

Of Riding Ellipticals, Counting Minutes, and The Challenge of Parenting …

Like the teacher in my psychology program who said that the hardest thing about parenting was the time required, I find that I never have enough.

Mothering three daughters, seeing to my husband, or rather attending our marriage, along with my work as a psychotherapist, and writing novels proves daunting.

I count minutes in much the same way that I count calories.

Frustration continually arises as I reprimand myself for lack of efficiency.

“I’m working as hard as I can,” I say to myself.


But am I working smarter?

I do not know.

Personal experience has

Of Riding Ellipticals, Counting Minutes, and The Challenge of Parenting … Read More »

Radio Show | Rosalie T. Turner

Rosalie T. Turner discusses her novels, “Sisters of Valor,” “Freedom Bound,” “Going to the Mountain: Lessons for Life’s Journey,” “My Very Own Book of The Lord’s Prayer”.

Her recent publication, “Beyond The Dream”, inspirational and historical fiction recently debuted. Rosalie has now begun research for her next title, “March With Me”, about the 1963 Childrens March in Birmingham, Alabama.

So tune in.

Radio Show | Rosalie T. Turner Read More »

Interview | Book Reviewer, Roxanne Piskel

1. Tell a little about yourself.

My name is Roxanne and I received my B.A. in English from Sierra Nevada College.
I run the blog Unintentionally Brilliant, which is mostly filled with my daily meanderings, but also features book reviews.
In “real life” I work as an administrative assistant for an environmental consulting firm in Reno, NV.

I’m mother to a four-year-old who provides a lot of humorous (and sometimes poignant) entries for the blog.

2. How did you come to reviewing fiction?
I was actually looking for something to post about one day, and I had just finished reading this fantastic book called This is Where We Live.
I decided to review it on my site.
I had so much fun doing so, I decided to make book reviews a semi-regular appearance on the blog.
I started off reviewing books that I picked up from the library, and have recently started querying publishers and authors for review copies.

3. How long have you been reviewing fiction?
I have always been the type of person to recommend books to friends. In this way, I have been a reviewer for a very long time. But in regards to the blog and writing physical reviews, I have only been reviewing fiction since September, so six months.

4. Are you a writer? If so what genre? Have you ever considered writing?

Interview | Book Reviewer, Roxanne Piskel Read More »

Of Fear, La Petite Mort, and the Transforming Power of Love…

I named my publishing company, NOJ Publications, after my husband, his named turned backwards.

I write about love, committed and constant, persevering and sustaining, which he has given me.

My stories and novels express what I know and have learned in relationship with my husband.

Love holds a most transforming power.

It dispenses hope beyond our wildest dreams.

Of Fear, La Petite Mort, and the Transforming Power of Love… Read More »

Men, Women and The Taboo of Love and Romance in Marriage…

Author, poet, novelist, and writing teacher, David Mura states: “Identifying what compels you to write, reveals the reason we are driven to write each or our works.”

To complicate things, I find that not only is the reason that I write multi-faceted, it also evolves and shifts at various intervals in my life.

I initially began to write because I wanted to read stories of characters with whom I could identify with by culture and race.

On a deeper level, I wanted to read about characters who shared not only my race and culture as an African American woman of the American South, but of a middle class background, who in many ways could appear quite Waspish, but was not.

Men, Women and The Taboo of Love and Romance in Marriage… Read More »