Blogtalk Radio Interview Thursday Feb 24 8:00 EST

I'll be on Blogtalk radio on Thursday evening from 8:00 to 9:00 EST. The link to listen is http://www.blogtalkradio.com/monicabrinkman/2011/02/25/six-unsynchronized-souls-motherdaughter-relationsh. If you would like to join the conversation the number to call is (213) 769-0952. Please note that the date shown in the link is Feb. 25, but the actual date of the show is Feb. 24. Don't let that confuse you. If you want to listen but can't make that time it will be available in the archive after Thursday.

The topic is Mother/Daughter relationships, a subject that is at the core of my novel Motherless Soul. The plan is to begin with a discussion of the book and possibly a reading from it. After touching on the importance of Mother/Daughter relationships to the story, we should be branching out to talk about the subject in more general terms. Of course I don't have any idea how the show will turn out, but I think we'll probably raise more questions than answers. And maybe we'll do a little venting as well. Please join in. It should be fun.

I learned this week that the Borders where I held my first reading of Motherless Soul will be closing soon. I love the convenience of on-line bookstores and, as anyone who reads my blog knows, I own a Kindle. But I find the closing of brick and mortar bookstores like Borders to be very sad. Hopefully, the smaller stores, such as Barnhill's in Winston-Salem and Park Road Books in Charlotte will survive the changes in technology. Readers still need a place to go and knowledgeable people to talk to face to face.

Six Unsynchronized Souls on Feb 24th

I'll be on Monica Brinkman's blogtalk radio show on February 24th at 8:00 PM EST. Click here for more information.

I'll be talking about my novel, Motherless Soul, but this time I'll be focusing on the theme of Mother/Daughter relationships. The core of the story is about a woman who is in her eighties who lost her mother when she was two. She contacts a hypnotist to recover memories from those early years so she can learn about her mother. In the process she discovers she's had many past lives and experienced the same tragedy each time. She needs to use what she learns from the past to prevent her next incarnation from going through the same horrific occurrence.

By incorporating the concept of past lives into my story I was able to approach Mother/Daughter relationships in a unique way. For example one character has the opportunity to instruct her next mother on how she should treat the child she will have someday. In another situation two friends were mother and daughter in a past life and have behavior patterns that stem from that relationship.

But the program won't be exclusively about Motherless Soul. I've invited some friends to join me. These are women who are each daughters and mothers and sometimes grandmothers as well. There won't be definite answers, just lots of opinions and stories. It should be fun.

You can call in to (213) 769-0952 on that night to join in on the conversation or you can listen in at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/monicabrinkman/2011/02/25/six-unsynchronized-souls-motherdaughter-relationsh. The show will be archived so you can hear it later if you prefer.

Motherless Soul Discussions

Last Wednesday I met with a group of people at the Forsyth Library to talk about some of the concepts I covered in Motherless Soul. I read sections of the novel. We had some lively discussions about reincarnation and about mother/daughter relationships. The library did a wonderful job of hosting and I believe everyone there had a good time.

Because the book deals with past lives my characters are influenced by relationships they had in previous incarnations as well as events in their current lives. This aspect of the book allowed me to cover my theme of mother/daughter relationships in unusual ways. It was fun to write and it is fun to talk about, especially when readers express their own thoughts freely.

There are a couple of similar events coming up. Please join me if you can.

1. I'll be at Barnhill's on January 21 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. That's at 811 Burke St. in Winston-Salem. Barnhill's is a wonderful store. They sell wine, art and gifts as well as books. The people who work there are knowledgeable and fun to be around. There will be a wine tasting when I'm there, featuring product from local wineries. I'm looking forward to that evening. (For the talk as well as the wine.)

2. For those of you who don't live in this area I also have an appearance scheduled on blogtalk radio. (The Monica Brinkman show on Feburary 24 at 7PM CST, 8PM EST, 6 Mountain and 5PM PST.) If you've never participated in one of these discussions, you should. When you call in you get to be part of the show. I did that last week for a discussion of Musical Chairs by Jen Knox. The theme for my show will be mother/daughter relationships. I imagine the talk will start with how I handled the subject in Motherless Soul, but it will quickly change to a more general discussion. The link is http://www.blogtalkradio.com/monicabrinkman/2011/02/25/six-unsynchronized-souls-motherdaughter-relationships if you would like to learn more.

Please come to Barnhill's or call in to Monica's show. It will be fun to talk to as many people as possible.