Best Book Tour

Casey Hibbard - Stories That Sell

2010-03-13T19:35:25+00:00

Interview Questions for The Virtual Book Review Network

What excites you most about your book’s topic? Why did you choose it?

I truly believe this is a topic whose time has come. Today’s buyers need proof that solutions work as promised. Using your customer success stories to sell products, services and ideas is exponentially more credible and effective than what the vendor says about its products and services – and organizations simply don’t do this enough. There are powerful customer stories that they just aren’t sharing with their audiences. The book assembles a decade of experience to help companies use their customer success stories for competitive advantage.

How long did the book take you from start to finish?

20 months from the start of writing to the release date.

What aspect of writing the book did you find particularly challenging?

All day, I sit in front of a computer and write for client projects. Throughout the book process, I continued to work pretty long hours for my day job. When the end of the regular workday hit or the weekend came around, I had to really dig deep to find the discipline to stay in front of that computer to write the book when I really wanted to get outside or do something active.

What surprised you the most about the book writing process?

I featured more than a dozen organizations in my book, and had each one review, edit and approve the parts written about them. I expected it to be more difficult to get big-name companies to talk about their internal practices publicly in this way. Toyota, Amdocs, SAP, Kronos, Sage Software and more all stepped up and agreed.

Replacement Child - A Memoir

2010-01-23T06:00:00+00:00

The year - 1953
Prescription Filled

In his heart, my father wasn’t at all sure they should have another child. He missed his little girl terribly—was bitter about her death. He blamed himself for not being there to protect his family. He replayed his revised scene in his mind a thousand times: my mother rushing out of the apartment with Linda rolled in the quilt while he ran back to push the beam off of Donna, lifting her up over the flames and smoke, carrying her down the steep stairway just before it collapsed.
There could be no replacement for Donna. He didn’t want one. And he thought Linda would need their undivided attention for many years.
But, he wanted his wife back. He needed her smiling again. If a new baby would do it, he would comply.
My father chose the Blumenkrantz Hotel in Lakewood because he knew how much his wife loved the ocean, and because it was an affordable way to get away to the beach for a few days. They needed a change of scenery. Different surroundings to shift their perspective, lift their spirits—their souls—from the oppressive daily grind.

Scenes on terrorism exposed ...

2009-04-03T06:00:00+00:00

Infinite Exposure

ISBN 978-0-9770866-8-9 is an e-book by Roland Hughes, published by Logical Solutions in 465 pages.

The story begins with a secret international team of al-Qaida fighters following and apprehending an offshore web master who is part of an al-Qaida cell, which, in turn, is part of a far-ranging network. From here, the scene shifts to the financial districts of the United States, and their never ending search for ways to save money. The CEO of a huge American bank, with large branches in France and Germany, is approached by a marketing company to offshore their operations. Such a move will save millions of dollars and, in the thoughts of the executive, produce a lucrative advancement. He is more concerned with this personal gain, and does not think through the proposition, even when given hints by his second in command, who is most knowledgeable. A software company becomes involved and contributes further to the maneuvers, and the story progresses to a horrendous financial debacle, and many associated reactions. A third element enters the picture - a group of traders who deal with insider information, have ties to Account Executives in Russia, with the Russian Mafia, with China, and with the coordinator of the occult al-Qaida fighters.

To provide more details would spoil, for the reader, a most interesting and thought-provoking proposal of a possible future American agenda.

With respect to the writing, Roland Hughes quite masterfully juggles the various elements, as they shift from one to the next. His characters are interesting, and the story’s progression is at a fine pace. I read an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of this book which contained spelling and grammar problems. However, I understand the author has since had the manuscript fully edited and corrected. With removal of this jarring note, I should like to say that Roland Hughes has provided added enjoyment to a highly recommended read that presents some very serious thoughts to ponder, as well.

Download an excerpt at: http://www.infiniteexposure.net

Pinch Hitter

2008-11-15T06:00:00+00:00

Pinch Hitter: Baseball Fantasy Becomes Reality

Reviewed by Stuart Nachbar

I love baseball, so I jumped at the opportunity to review a fictional story based around the great American game. Dean Whitney’s Pinch Hitter is a slightly different story than I’m used to reading. It revolves around David Robbins, a 45 year old electronics salesman who is discovered by a major league manager when he fills in for a friend in an amateur game. He demonstrates not only an ability to hit, but also a keen batting eye, equally important for success in the major leagues. David impresses the manager in the stands so much that he is invited to batting practice with the major league team, and then he is offered a contract for the final six weeks of the season.

But David also has a secret that is a driver to the story. His older brother Danny was also a baseball protégé. Unlike David, Danny is an over-confident pitcher with quality stuff, good enough for a scholarship or a major league contract. However, Danny’s promise ends when he is hit above the eye by a line drive—off the bat of his younger brother. Immediately after that fatal incident, David ends his own baseball dreams, and years later, Danny disappears from his life, crippled by lingering pain and lost dreams. At the start of this story David has not seen his older brother for nine years.

Pinch Hitter is a moving story and I could see that Whitney spent a lot of time around a major league baseball team. The clubhouse and front office scenes are more detailed than I would expect to find from an author with no personal day-to-day connection to major league baseball, and Whitney also shows a strong knowledge of the situational game, where managers have to strategize again each other, using mind and matter to win. It’s no surprise that his main character is a pinch hitter, since that is a situational position in a game, as opposed to an everyday star. Reading Pinch Hitter, I was reminded of Rudy, the Notre Dame football movie, where a 26 year old college senior has overcome dyslexia to earn a degree and have a chance to play for a national championship team. Rudy is carried off the field at the end of his only game, just as David is heralded by his teammates at the end of this story.

Return to Middle Kingdom

2008-10-23T05:00:00+00:00

A Trip Back In Time to China

Reviewed by Stuart Nachbar

In 1977, when I was a junior in high school, Roots was the first family legacy series I had read. I was motivated to read the book after I had learned so much from the TV series. The series spanned several generations of a black family immigrating to the United States and surviving slavery to eventually prosper on their own. Released nearly a decade after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Roots won nine Emmy Awards and the finale is the third-highest rating television program ever. The movie and book were factually disputed at the time, but I learned much from the story.

Thirty one years later, Yuan-Tsung Chen, a former Cornell University professor writes a different and more personal family legacy. Chen’s work, Return to the Middle Kingdom, spans 150 years of Chinese history and politics, through the eyes of her late husband, his father and grandfather. Like Roots, it has potential to be reworked into a movie or epic series; as Americans, we must gain more understanding of the nation that holds so many keys to our economic future.

Getting from College to Career

2008-04-30T18:56:45+00:00

Virtual Book Review Network interview with Lindsey Pollak, author of Getting From College to Career

How do you get a job without experience and get experience without a job? It's the question virtually every college student or recent graduate faces. In Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World, Lindsey Pollak offers the first definitive guide to building the experience, skills, and confidence grads need before they start their first major job search.

About the author: Lindsey Pollak is a writer, editor, and speaker specializing in career advice for young professionals. She is the coauthor of two career advice books and has written for Marie Claire magazine and Metro New York newspaper. Lindsey frequently speaks at universities and corporations across the country. She is a graduate of Yale University. Learn more at: http://www.lindseypollak.com/blog.

LAUREN SMITH: What inspired you to write Getting From College to Career – your own experiences, the experiences of others, or a little of both?

Lindsey Pollak:
Getting From College to Career is the book I wish I’d had when I was in college. It’s the book I wish my younger brother and sister had. It’s a collection of all of the tips, ideas, advice, secrets, strategies and warnings that I didn’t even know I didn’t know.

It has also launched a dream career for me—working as an author and speaker helping college students and young professionals. My senior year of college I was a freshman counselor (resident advisor), living with and advising a group of freshman students. To this day it was my favorite job I’ve ever had—and this book provided the opportunity to continue this work. As a counselor I learned that helping students build confidence and a sense of themselves is just as important as teaching them specific skills. That’s the attitude I brought to writing Getting From College to Career—compassion for this very challenging and scary time of life, and a desire to help each student/reader find his or her own path and not fixate on what a recent graduate “should” do. I think of the book’s readers as extensions of the freshmen I counseled in college. My goal was to be a big sister to the reader—young enough to relate to their time of life and old enough to have some wisdom and perspective to share.

LAUREN SMITH: Do you think today’s college graduates face bigger challenges than ever before; if so why and what are those challenges?

Lindsey Pollak:
In many ways, yes. Demographically, there are simply more young people today, who are more educated and who more aware of available opportunities and global competition because of the Internet. Millennials are building careers in a time of tremendous competition, but also unprecedented global opportunity. I think it’s incredibly exciting!

Landmark Status: A Ludicrous Romp Through Miami

2008-04-26T15:36:55+00:00

Review By Stuart Nachbar

I used to be an urban planner and I worked in and followed big-city politics in New Jersey. I’m one of those people who watched eight seasons of The Sopranos and told friends that there were some scenes that were not too far from real life in urban North Jersey.

Being a huge Sopranos fan who also enjoys Carl Hiassen stories, I thought that I would like Landmark Status, Alan Rolnick’s debut novel. Like some good Sopranos episodes, there’s plenty of cigars, construction and corruption, though like Hiassen’s books, there’s a slightly goofy good-guy main character.

Rolnick’s main character, Benji Bluestone, is the type of lawyer I might have become had I gone to law school instead of becoming a planner. He’s reasonably sane, knows his work and loves sporty cars, but he’s not interested in the big money or the big deals. Benji is the son of a lawyer who founded the leading real estate law firm in Miami. He prefers to be his own man, but wants his father’s respect.

Benji’s the most believable character in Landmark, but Delia Torres, who becomes his love interest, is less credible. Maybe it’s me, coming from Jersey, but a Princeton grad returning to Miami to become an exercise instructor, then later a real estate broker, seemed too far flung. It would have better to characterize her as a former Florida Gator cheerleader with a 4.0. It would have also been more consistent with the story. Miami fans hate the Gators and it would better explain how Delia could kick “admirers” in the cojones and walk away with a smile. But I’ll drop a hint about the ending: it’s Delia who conceives the brilliant business solution to save the day.

An Amazon Monopoly

2008-04-03T20:27:59+00:00

Fables from the Mud

2008-02-01T19:14:23+00:00

An Interview with author Erik Quisling

...another great interview brought to you by the Virtual Book Review Network

Lauren Smith: What inspired you to create a work of fiction?

Erik Quisling: I initially came up with the idea for Fables from the Mud shortly after I graduated college. In the course of my soul searching and trying to figure out my place in the world, I was struck with the idea of a clam who was trying to do the exact same thing. For some reason it struck me as extremely amusing. This is how The Angry Clam, the first fable in my book, was born.

Lauren Smith: Do you see Fables From the Mud as a satire, cultural commentary or something more?

Erik Quisling: Fables From The Mud is about three little creatures – a clam, an ant, and a worm – all of whom are struggling with very human problems. The stories are satirical but in many ways are simply a cultural commentary on the human obsession with finding meaning in the world. All in all, they are designed to be amusing and to get you to see somewhat the absurdity of taking life too seriously.

Lauren Smith: How did you develop each of the fables?

Erik Quisling: Each fable was born from its own separate bout of inspiration. In each case, it was a single line of text that came to me that was like lighting a fuse that set the story on its course. Once the fuse was lit, the stories pretty much wrote themselves – I simply had to go back and edit them a little bit.

Lauren Smith: Are any of the characters based on anyone – or any type of person - you know?

Erik Quisling: I can say that the more I read the stories, the more I learn about myself. But I truly think each character is a reflection of some deeply common human experience – not of any human in particular.

Give Me Back My Credit

2007-11-05T20:58:32+00:00

Lauren Smith: Denise tell us, what is your book about?

Denise Richardson: My book is a Memoir and consumer hand-book in one. It’s not a thesis. It is a step-by-step recounting of my own personal ride through a 15 year battle to reclaim my true credit identity. It includes a series of interlocking events that exposes the insidious effects of corporate negligence, identity theft, mortgage accounting errors, bogus debt collections and weak consumer protection laws. It takes place in a land where corporate lawyers claim to be right and it's up to you to prove them wrong –and I did. The ride was a not merry one, but it was definitely a trip filled with life altering lessons that I provide at the end of each chapter. Unlike most books written by university professors, attorneys or degreed professionals, I was in the trenches and learned what I know by fighting my way out and attending the University of Hard Knocks, where I soon obtained my graduate degree in "but you can't do that to me". My story is an epic saga that happens to far too many of us. Mine is not the worst story out there –but I decided to tell me in order to paint a picture of what happens when we’re up against Goliaths, deemed guilty and must prove ourselves innocent.

Lauren Smith: Why did you write it?