#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Bjorn Leesson

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I’d like to welcome Bjorn Leesson back to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday.

Things you never want to run out of: Wonder at everything in the world. I always find something about everything that is interesting to me, and I would hate to stop finding things of interest. I’m pretty sure it won’t happen. Ha.

Things you wish you’d never bought: I can’t think of a single thing. I learn from the mistakes I make, to include bad purchases, and those “learning through pain” moments are also what makes each of us – us.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Just a functioning brain and an idea. And the functioning brain is maybe a little less reliable than it once was.

Things that hamper your writing: The self-imposed idea that “this isn’t any good” before I have given the story or character a chance to develop. I am getting better about this, but every once in a while, I have to resist the urge to purge what I have written en masse. I walk away from it for a while, and nearly always discover the spark needed for me to be happy with it.

A few of your favorite things: The forest, open desolate country roads, and the babbling of water features (water fountains, rocky streams, etc).

Things you need to throw out: Eventually, I need to shed all the material things that aren’t necessary. But, that is hard for us humans to do. One day, though.

Favorite music or song: I like a little bit of everything, but my favorites are ragtime, big band, classical, historical themed songs (such as Johnny Horton), and comedic (such as Ray Stevens and Spike Jones.)

Music that drives you crazy: Most rap. Sorry, it just isn’t music to me. It is only loud, unimaginative storytelling that rarely seems to have a positive message. Just one guy’s opinion.

The last thing you ordered online: Author copies of Runes of Revenge, the next release of the Outside the Thalsparr series. February 25, 2025, and I am very excited about it.

The last thing you regret buying: A hamburger from a local fast food chain that I already know is not very good, but I did it anyway – and paid the digestive price for it later. Ha.

Things you’d walk a mile for: The perfect field or forest to sit in and just enjoy the serenity, wildlife, and natural noises to be heard. It’s my idea of heaven on earth.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: People who want to dominate a room, force their opinions on others, and can not just agree to disagree and let it go at that. I don’t want to think for others, and I surely don’t want them to think for me. I don’t speak of healthy debate – I love healthy debate – but there is a point where an impasse is encountered. Some people just won’t stop until they have tried to beat someone else into the dirt.

Things you always put in your books: A wide emotional range for each character. It is my goal to make the reader laugh, gasp, cry, and wonder. Essentially, I want it to feel like “life,” even if it is a fiction fantasy story.

Things you never put in your books: The “f” word. It is just a word, yes, and it is very popular these days. But just like pointless sex scenes, the “f” word is just gratuitous, overused, and unnecessary in my opinion. Its use would not stop me from reading a book, but I don’t put it into my own writing. (Having said that, the word is alluded to a few times in my books, but not used in its entirety.)

Favorite places you’ve been: I label my answer here as “best” in the sense that I have only been once, and it isn’t likely I will be able to go back anytime soon – Great Britain. I went on vacation there many years ago to visit friends with more friends, and I enjoyed pretty much every second. Fabulous place.

Places you never want to go to again: Anywhere that contains a large number of drunk people in a confined space. Some of them are entertaining, while others are more trouble than it’s worth. Ha.

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Alive – Jeremy Clarkson, George RR Martin, and William Shatner. Dead – Einstein, J RR Tolkien, and my father.

People you’d cancel dinner on: Pretty much any of the internet, radio, or television rabble-rousers who just employ shock and awe for ratings with no regard to any ethical responsibility to society.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: I drove a street stock car at the local race track for a season. It was very fun, but became a little too expensive for someone just out of high school.

Something you chickened out from doing: Not as much as chickening out as much as just refusing to do it outright. Ha. My friend (who got me into stock car racing to begin with) wanted me to go sky-diving with him. That was a hard “no.”

About Bjorn:

Bjorn was born in the Lowcountry of South Carolina a long, long time ago.  He has worked in manufacturing all his working life to feed himself but has nourished his mind with the study of many topics; history of all eras, the paranormal, astronomy, writing of different types, photography, archeology, genealogy, vexillology, some other -ologies, even stock car racing for a couple of years, and on and on.  Bjorn finds just about everything fascinating in some way and has been accused of being too easily entertained.  A blend of a few of his interests led to the creation of the Thalsparr Universe.  The first installment of the series will be “Runes of the Dokkrsdottir,” with a release date to be determined.  He currently lives in the Midlands of South Carolina with his wife of 25 years on their hobby farm.

Let’s Be Social:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPGJWXLY?binding=paperback&searchxofy=true&ref_=dbs_s_aps_series_rwt_tpbk&qid=1733701027&sr=8-1

Website: Thalsparr.com

Some Fun(ny) Holiday Memories...

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I love the holiday season. For me it starts with Halloween and runs right to New Year’s Day. I was thinking about all the fun we’ve had on Christmas through the years. I treasure all our traditions, memories, and adventures, even the ones that went a little sideways.

When I was little, it actually snowed in Virginia Beach on Christmas Eve (once). When we opened the front door to our little porch, there were reindeer tracks in the snow. I had proof (though no photographic evidence…it was the 70s) that Rudolph and Santa were real. Sadly, I found out later the tracks came from our next-door neighbor’s German shepherd.

One year when I was really small, my parents and I stood in line to see Santa for what felt like hours at Pembroke Mall. I got all the way to the front and had a panicked meltdown. When we left, I was horrified that I didn’t get to tell him what I wanted, and I just knew Christmas was doomed that year. To my surprise, Santa still came, and he brought me some amazing toys. But how did he know? I never told him. I remember running to the phone that morning to let all my grandparents know that Santa’s for real, and that he delivered even if I didn’t have my picture made with him.

I was an only child and an only grandchild on all sides for almost five years. I had a sweet gig. Then along came my sister and my cousin just weeks apart. And my sister came home from the hospital on Christmas Eve. I wanted a puppy, and I got a sister, who was too wiggly to carry around. Talk about not getting what you asked for. It took a bit to adjust to a new baby in the house. She was loud and determined to do her own thing, but I wouldn’t trade her for anything.

My grandmother loved Christmas, and I would always spend the night after Thanksgiving with her, so we could put up her tree. I loved all her vintage decorations. She had a beautiful 1950s angel tree topper. When I came back later to visit the beautiful blond angel was bald. It fell off the tree, and her Boston terrier chewed the hair off.

The same grandmother was known all over the neighborhood for her special Christmas treats. And she loved festive hard candy. She’d put it out in a glass dish with no cover. Every time, we’d try to get a piece of the candy, it was all stuck together. She blamed it on the humidity, and we just chipped away at it until a chunk broke off. One day, I came around the corner and caught her Boston terrier licking the candy in the dish. It wasn’t the humidity.

One of the first times we hosted the holidays at our house, I wanted everything to go off without a hitch. I put the turkey and the ham in the oven, and when I went to check on them, the handle on the oven door broke off completely. I couldn’t get it open, and the door was too hot to touch. It took my husband and brother-in-law with a clamp and a pry bar several tries to get the door open. They couldn’t repair it until the oven cooled down. Thankfully, the meal wasn’t ruined or trapped in the oven.

After spending one of our first married Christmases in Virginia Beach with our families, we packed my tiny Ford Escort and headed back to Central Virginia. For weeks into the new year, my car had this weird citrisy smell that was overpowering at times. I got queasy from the scent if I ran the car’s heater. I tore that car up looking for whatever was causing the unusual smell. Finally, I told my husband about it, and he pulled the cover over the wheel well up. A bag of potpourri had fallen behind the spare tire, and the heat in the car seemed to enhance the aroma. Mystery solved.

What are some of your fun, if not funny holiday moments?

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Jennifer Anne Gordon

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I’d like to welcome Jennifer Anne Gordon back to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you never want to run out of: This may sound ridiculous, but I never want to run out of books…It’s not something I fear in day-to-day life, but it’s the reason I travel with a couple books and a Kindle loaded with books, and my phone loaded with audio books!

Things you wish you’d never bought: Years ago, I bought a couple retro style “rockabilly” and “wiggle” dresses…they looked good, so I bought more, and more…and let’s be honest, where am I wearing these dresses?? They take up over half my closet space now.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Crippling imposter syndrome.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Being able to write the things you are too afraid to say out loud.

Things you need for your writing sessions: I am a beverage goblin. I need to get that out of the way. So…depending on the time of the writing session I will need coffee, a bubble water, and a regular water. If I am writing late at night I will need a bubble water, a regular water, whiskey, and if there is a deadline I need to meet—also coffee. These all need to be in easy reach, but also not close enough for me to flail around and spill on my computer.

Things that hamper your writing: Being talked to, my dog being so cute that I need to stop what I am doing, and ADHD.

A few of your favorite things: Travel, knickknacks that people think are strange (bones, rocks, old rusty keys, very tiny mirrors.

Things you need to throw out: For years I was a professional performer and dancer…I have a ridiculous number of costumes, and wigs, and dance shoes that I can’t even walk in anymore. I hate to get rid of these things because it feels like a door closing completely on a time I will never get back.

Something you’re really good at: Worrying…also I am very good at the waltz.

Something you’re really bad at: Hiking or walking when there is a cliff on one side of me…also going down escalators. Terrible at both of those.

Favorite music or song: “If you Could Read My Mind,” either the original Gordon Lightfoot or the Johnny Cash version.

Music that drives you crazy: after teaching ballroom dance for the last 14 years…It kills me every time I hear “Kokomo” (The Beach Boys), and have to scream “It’s a rumba.”

Last best thing you ate: I was in Latvia this fall and while there I had the best Indian food I had had in my life! We had it almost every night we were there, as traditional Latvian food was…NOT good.

Last thing you regret eating: Um…Latvian Onion Soup. It was a big bowl of brown sadness.

The last thing you ordered online: a giant eyeshadow palette.

The last thing you regret buying: Day of the Dead “temporary” face tattoos.

Things you’d walk a mile for: If there was a sign with an arrow that said “Baby Foxes to pet”

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: If someone is touching their eyeball or even talking about touching their eyeball.

Things you always put in your books: Twins, reflections that are not quite right, grief, ghosts that might not be ghosts.

Things you never put in your books: I can only say never for now…but I have never put in a steamy sex scene.

Favorite places you’ve been: Venice, Prague, Porto, Montenegro, Detroit, New Orleans, Budapest.

Places you never want to go to again: Tampa, Atlantic City, Madrid, Las Vegas (still had a great time in all of those places but for me…the vibes were off).

Favorite books (or genre): horror is my genre of choice…that said my current fave books are- Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman, Small Town Horror by Ronald Malfi, The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste, The All-Night Sun by Diane Zinna

Books you wouldn’t buy: Roman-tasy is NOT my thing.

About Jennifer:

Jennifer Anne Gordon is an award-winning author and podcast host. Her debut novel Beautiful, Frightening and Silent won the Kindle Book Award for Best Horror/Suspense for 2020, as well as the Best Horror Novel of the Year from Authors on The Air and was a finalist for American Book Fest’s Best Book Award- Horror, 2020, and a Finalist for the Shelley Award from Chanticleer International Book Awards for Best Supernatural Novel for 2023. Her novel Pretty/Ugly won the Helicon Award for Best Horror for 2022, and the Kindle Book Award for Best Novel of the Year (Reader’s Choice). Her collection The Japanese Box: And Other Stories was an instant Amazon Bestseller and her story The Japanese Box won the Lit Nastie Award for 2023 for Best Short Story.

Her personal essays have been featured on Horror Tree, Nerd Daily, Ladies of Horror Fiction, Miniskirt Magazine, Tangled Locks Journal, and Quail Bell Magazine, and are featured in the collections Such a Loss, Not Ghosts, But Spirits Vol V, and Letting Grief Speak: Writing Portals for Life After Loss.

Jennifer is the creator and co-host of the popular comedic literary podcast Vox Vomitus, as well as a co-host of House of Mystery on NBC Radio.

For benevolent stalking please visit www.JenniferAnneGordon.com

#WriterWednesday with Jonni Jordyn

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I’d like to welcome Jonni Jordyn back to the blog for #WriterWednesday.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Lately, I’ve been working to resume a novel that I set aside a few months ago as I prepared my previous books for new releases under my new imprint (publishing company). I have an outline, but still, picking up where I left off has proved challenging. I haven’t yet fully recovered the muse that took me through the story, and I have become painfully aware of how much I need to get that internal drive going. Until I fully recover it, I’m basically just filling out a form of what happens in the various scenes. This is not a disaster. I will go through the whole book again to flesh out some of the background and fill in details and “fluff” to what I’ve written. When I say fluff, I mean how far I go to describe the color of her dress, if I do at all.

Things that hamper your writing: distractions and interruptions, of course, but this time of year, a simple cold could hamper the clarity of my thoughts, especially if I’m taking cold medications.

A few of your favorite things: It’s the holidays and I’m a sucker for Christmas romcoms. I especially love stories of princes and princesses, Cinderella plots, and anything in Scotland so I can just listen to them talk.

Things you need to throw out: Shoes. On the one hand, a girl can’t have too many shoes, but I need to get rid of some to make room for new ones.

Favorite foods: My favorite breakfast sandwich is a scrambled egg with butter and jelly. It's sweet rather than savory, but it's my favorite start before my morning writing routine.

Things that make you want to gag: peach and apricot jam. It's a mental thing. When I was 5, my mother wouldn't believe that I could swallow a pill, especially the enormous penicillin pill they prescribed me, so she smashed it in a spoon and mixed it with apricot jam. Have you ever tasted penicillin? Nothing good can cover that hideous flavor. Add in my hypersensitive taste and smell and to this day, I can't allow those jams anywhere near my mouth.

Favorite music or song: “Windmills of Your Mind” as sung by Sting is one I will always stop what I’m doing to listen to.

Music that drives you crazy: “It’s a small world.” Disneyland was torture when walking past that ride, and my family loved pushing that button.

Things you’d walk a mile for: I don't mind walking, so there's not much I wouldn't walk a mile for.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: I am uncomfortable in loud crowded parties and may need to find a quiet spot to overcome the sensory overload.

Things you always put in your books: I always put some kind of a romantic thread in my books. It may just be a tiny casual relationship, or an enemy to friends or lovers romance.

Things you never put in your books: I have yet to put any kind of gratuitous sex or violence in my books. If I include scenes of sexual assault, they are not explicit and they are only their to paint just how evil the antagonist is.

Favorite places you’ve been: I went skiing in Vancouver at the Whistler & Blackcomb mountains. As a skiing adventure, these mountains provided one mile of vertical elevation, but I remember standing on top of the glacier and looking into its blue depths at my feet. I would love to return some day.

Places you never want to go to again: There are many wonderful things to see and do in New Orleans, but I went to Mardi Gras once, and I had no problem with flashing tops to get beads or some of the other shenanigans that went on there, but I was kind of disgusted that the gutters were actually flowing with spilled alcoholic beverages and vomit.

Favorite books (or genre): I tend to gravitate towards fantasy and sci fi, but I prefer books that only use the genre as a vehicle to advance a story that is about the people and their relationships. I don’t often delve into high fantasy, but the hobbit series was an exception. The 2001 series was pretty hard sci fi, but the story was about the personalities of HAL and Bowman.

Books you wouldn’t buy: I don't read horror. Stephen King's Thinner and Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes may be as close as I come.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: I responded to a woman on a dating app who was nothing like the women I had connected with. I don’t know what prompted my finger to like her. It was kind of other worldly as I sent her a nice introduction. It wasn’t the last thing that I had done that was out of character for me. We clicked and are going strong, but I don’t know where I got the gusto to initially contact her.

Something you chickened out from doing: I was in the sixth grade and new to a school at the start of my first semester there. I was invited to a party. I don’t party, but I went hoping I would make friends there. After some food, introductions and gossip, they wanted to play spin the bottle, but I totally made up some story about having to get home. Total chicken.

The funniest thing to happen to you: I was skiing with a friend and we took a turn down a trail that looked empty, except the trail fell off into a steep slope covered by a ground fog that was indistinguishable from the groomed slopes and made it look relatively mild. We survived and laughed.

The most embarrassing thing to happen to you: I was in the fourth grade and at dinner one night, my father was quizzing us and asked what the capital of Portugal was, and I quickly responded, “Lesbian! Oooops. Lisbon.”

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: I wrote a queer novel about a lesbian couple that had to go to Texas to accept an inheritance. My granddaughter totally knew which one was patterned after me.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: I wrote a mystery about musicians and an older band that describes many facets of life as a musician in one of my novels. In it, all the musicians are modeled after some of my bandmates, but the keyboard player is not really about me.

About Jonni:

Jonni Jordyn, born in Oakland, Ca, started out playing music at age two, and moved on to singing and acting in grade school. High School introduced writing and film making followed by drawing and photography in college. In other words, she had a VERY LIBERAL arts education.

Jonni published some poetry and some india ink drawings in literary magazines while in college, won critical acclaim for her acting in a cabaret theater, but was faced with a decision to pick out the arts she wanted to pursue.

Of all the available opportunities, music and song writing won the first round when she found herself performing with legendary stars of the sixties and seventies.

Round two began years later, after leaving California for Arizona. It all started with a blank piece of paper and the question, "how can I possibly write more than eleven thousand words for a single story?" A valid question which was followed up a year later with, "How did I ever write 160,000 words?"

Now, the writing comes much easier, but still there are questions like, "How will I ever get all these ideas written down?" followed closely by, "How many times can I edit the same book?"

Jonni currently lives in Colorado with her bird.

Let’s Be Social:

Website: Books by internationally read author John Kovacich


Tips for Writing Faster

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It took me close to five years to complete my first book and another two to three years to get it published. I decided that if I wanted to write professionally, I needed to find ways to speed up my timeline. There is no one right way to write a book. Here is what worked for me.

Planning and Organizing:

I write mysteries, so I like to have the story outline and the crimes plotted out before I start writing. This also helps me later when I need to write the book’s synopsis. I also find that if I have enough of an outline, then I don’t end up writing myself into a corner that I can’t get out of or ending up in a spot where I am not sure what happens next. My outlines aren’t usually very formal. There are several paragraph of what happens in each chapter. I color code the romance, clues, and humor in each section to make sure that they are spread throughout the book.

Establishing a Daily Word Count

I like to have a daily word count that I track to keep myself on schedule. I still have a day gig, so I try to write 1,000 a day on workdays and 3,000 on weekends or holidays. If I know I have a scheduling conflict, I try to write extra to compensate for a skip day. I have found that if I stick to this, I can have a rough first draft in two to three months. When determining a word count, you need to keep in mind your writing style and life schedule.

Writing the First Draft

When I start writing, I just write. I don’t spend time rewriting paragraphs or chapters. My goal is to complete the first, rough draft. If I hit a spot that needs some research, I make a note and highlight it. I’ll go back and do all the research at one time.

Mary Burton calls this her “sloppy copy.” She’s right. It’s not ready for others to read, but by the time you finish, you have a completed first draft. Then I start the revising. To me, revising is harder than actually writing the book.

Revising and Reworking

This stage takes me another 2-3 months. I print out a copy of the manuscript and read it through, making any edits. I check for inconsistencies, plot holes, and story lines that aren’t wrapped up by the end. I will do this five to seven times. I’m looking for different items such as over-used words, typos, consistencies in spelling, continuity issues in the story, etc.

When I think it’s ready, I send it to my critique partners and my critique group for their feedback. Then I make the edits and do one last read through to check for those pesky typos. Then it’s ready for my agent. (More revisions come after my agent and editors review it.)

This is the process that works for me, and I’m able to complete multiple books in a year. Try out my tips. If they don’t work for you, try another technique. You need to find what works for your style and schedule.

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Michael Hingson

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I’d like to welcome Michael Hingson to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Hardest thing about being a writer: Sometimes coming up with the words to express a thought. Coming up with appropriate ideas about concepts especially about blindness so that readers will really understand

Easiest thing about being a writer: telling personal stories. Once I have ideas fixed in my mind, putting them down. Making people laugh.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Quiet time. Help from others to make ideas real. Making myself smile.

Things that hamper your writing: Outside noises. Interruptions. Suggestions from others that simply don’t fit into the story.

A few of your favorite things: Garlic bread. Chocolate. Good clean comedy. Quiet time to ponder everything.

Things you need to throw out: Old papers. Old electronics that doesn’t work any more. Negative thoughts since they only hurt me and not others.

Favorite foods: Garlic bread. Rib eye steak. Chocolate chip cookies. PG Tips tea.

Things that make you want to gag: Tomatoes. Kiwi fruit.

Something you’re really good at: Laughing at myself. Public speaking. Working with dogs.

Something you’re really bad at: Creating visuals for videos. Quickly coming up with ideas to include in books I am writing, but I do get there.

Favorite music or song: Swing and big band music. Michael Buble. Classical pops music like from the Boston Pops.

Music that drives you crazy: Rap. Hip hop. Heavy metal.

The last thing you ordered online: USB cables. Pizza. Treats for my guide dog.

The last thing you regret buying: A ladder that didn’t meet my needs. USB cables that were wrong because the online description didn’t give me enough information to reject them. An audio book I didn’t like.

Things you always put in your books: True snippets about me. Some relevant bible verses to emphasize a point. Stories about my late wife.

Things you never put in your books: Swear words. Negative things about people, even terrorists.

Favorite places you’ve been: New Zealand. Hawaii. San Francisco. New York. Boston.

Places you never want to go to again: Any hotel that is inaccessible to blind persons. Any restaurant that serves only fried food, (too much isn’t that good).

Favorite things to do: Cruising. Talking with people. Traveling with others.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Cruising alone. Listening to any politician that isn’t interested in listening back. Not being able to have calm conversations with others because they won’t share respectfully. Sitting through a speech where the speaker spends most of their time simply pointing to items on a screen

Best thing you’ve ever done: Married my wife. Escaped from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Began my public speaking career and continuing it after the pandemic. Starting my podcast, “Unstoppable Mindset”.

Biggest mistake: Not starting an IRA earlier. Starting my speaking career later than I should have. Not learning to play Chess well.

The coolest person you’ve ever met: Larry King. Peter Falk. My wife.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: I wouldn’t know about that, needless to say. However, Adam West, (TV’s Batman), who was quite unfriendly.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: Your book changed my life. I have a whole new perspective on blindness because of your books.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: At a book club meeting where everyone swore they had read Thunder Dog, “What were you doing in the World Trade Center anyway?”. “How do blind people have sex?”

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: Helped perfect Ray Kurzweil’s Reading Machine. Helping to bring assistive technology products to the blindness market. Teach people about accessibility. Opened a New York office in the World Trade Center.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: Constructing a Braille computer terminal. Running my own business from 1985-1988, we didn’t get the revenue we wanted.

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: Escaping from the World Trade Center. Talking about public speaking. Lessons I learned from my eight guide dogs that are in “Live Like A Guide Dog”.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: I personally lead 30 people out of the World Trade Center. I was lead out of the World Trade Center by my guide dog, (guide dogs don’t lead, they guide). Others wrote my books, not I.

About Michael:

Michael Hingson, blind since birth, was born in Chicago to sighted parents who believed in raising their son with a can-do attitude. Treated like all other children in his family, Michael rode a bike did advanced math in his head and learn to read and write – Braille that is!

Michael’s family relocated to the warm Palmdale area of California when he was five years old. It is here that Hingson had his first adventure with Guide Dogs for the Blind and received his first guide dog. He later went to college receiving a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Physics along with a secondary teaching credential from the University of California at Irvine.

Michael then enjoyed a nearly-30-year career working for high tech companies spending most of his time in management roles.

Michael Hingson’s life changed dramatically on September 11, 2001 when he and his guide dog, Roselle, escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Center moments before it collapsed. Soon after, Michael and Roselle were thrust into the international limelight where Michael began to share his unique survival story and 9-11 lessons of trust, courage, heroism, and teamwork.

Mike has served as The National Public Affairs Director for one of the largest Nonprofit organizations in the nation: Guide Dogs for the Blind; He has served as the vice president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users; Michael has held a seat on the Fort Worth Lighthouse for the Blind. He is the chair of the board of directors of the Earle Baum Center for the Blind and is the vice chair of the Colorado Center for the Blind; Michael is The National Ambassador for the Braille Literacy Campaign of the National Federation of the Blind.

Until October 2019 he worked as the CEO of the Do More Foundation, the non-profit arm of Aira Tech Corp, a manufacturer of assistive technology which makes a revolutionary visual interpreter for blind people. In January 2021 Mike joined accessiBe as its Chief Vision Officer to help advance the company goal of making the entire internet fully inclusive. AccessiBe provides an artificial intelligence-based product that makes web sites accessible to many persons with disabilities.

He is the author of the #1 New York Times Best Seller: “Thunder dog –The True Story of a Blind Man, a Guide Dog & the Triumph of Trust” – selling over 2.5 million copies Worldwide. In 2014 Mr. Hingson published his 2nd book “Running with Roselle”- which Is the first of its kind- A story for our youth shedding light on one of Americas Darkest Days. Mr. Hingson’s third book, “Live Like A Guide Dog”, was released on August 20, 2024. This book shows readers how they can learn to control fear and not, as Mike would say, “become blinded by fear in the face of crisis”.

Aside from his talents and advocacies, Mr. Hingson has traveled the Globe from Japan to New Zealand, the Netherlands to his hometown, Chicago. Speaking to some of the world’s most elite: from former President, George W. Bush to Larry King, to Fortune 500 companies and colleges and Universities Nationwide. After sharing his story of survival on hundreds of TV and Radio programs, Michael is now an Expert hired by many of today’s major corporations and organizations. Speaking and consulting on the importance of Teamwork and Trust, Moving from Diversity to Inclusion, as well as offering Adaptive Technology Training – spearheading innovation for ALL! - Thus, bringing organizations to the forefront of the ever-changing competitive modern world.

In June, 2024 Mike was inducted as an alumni member into the honors Fraternity Phi Beta Kappa.




#WriterWednesday with Mary Ann Miller

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I’d like to welcome Mary Ann Miller to the blog for #WriterWednesdsay.

Things I never want to run out of: ice cream.

Things I wish I never bought: crappy luggage.

Hardest thing about being a writer: naming things. People, streets, restaurants, anything that requires a name. I will admit to using the internet to help me with restaurants. I google popular names, make a list, say them aloud, and pick one or change one to better reflect my novel.

Easiest thing about being a writer: writing the rough draft. At this stage of writing, it’s exciting to know the story can go anywhere. Thoughts come out of nowhere and some make it into the book.

Something I’m really good at: gardening. I lived in the Midwest my entire life except for the last five years and learning a new ecosystem has been a challenge, but I’m getting there. In March, I planted eighteen-inch elephant ears and by mid-August they were six feet tall. I had to dig them up and transplant them because they covered the front of the house.

Something I’m really bad at: cooking. I hate to cook and I’m terrible at it. Just ask my husband or my kids.

Last best thing/worst thing I ate: In December 2023, I got Covid for the fourth time and lost my sense of taste and smell. Both are coming back slowly and food either tastes disgusting, not so disgusting or has no taste at all. I have been surprised at what tastes awful. Chocolate, bananas, bread, bacon all taste the same and they’re terrible. I search for foods that have no taste and when I find them, I eat them until they too, taste terrible.

Last thing I ordered online: Ty Beanie Babies for my six grandchildren.

Last thing I regret buying: white cushions for the patio furniture. The mold and mildew in Florida is unbelievable.

Things to say to an author: I love your book.

Things not to say to an author: Your book was boring. I couldn’t finish it.

Favorite places: Rome, Italy and Athens, Greece

Places I never want to go again: China.

People I’d like to invite for dinner: Louise Penny. I’d like to pick her brain about creating fictional small towns. She has readers who ask where Three Pines is and can they visit. That’s a writer’s dream.

Cancel dinner: Sean Diddy.

The nicest thing a reader said to me: my brother, Ed is an introvert, but he has come to both book launches. After the Cracks Beneath the Surface book launch, he sent me a text “You should write more books. That was a fun party.”

Craziest thing a reader said to me: “I’m glad you don’t write stupid books.”

Real-life story that made it into a book: In Cracks Beneath the Surface, my main character, Sheriff Jhonni Laurent is in the kitchen of Aubrey Holmes, daughter of the victim and they’re talking about chocolate cake. Laurent says that her mother used to put mayo in her cake because it keeps the cake moist. I had a neighbor who did that, too.

Something readers think is about me, but it’s not: batting cages. In my youth and even later into my forties, I was active in sports. Either playing, coaching, or refereeing soccer, volleyball, softball. One of my characters, Stacy Simmons, is the softball homerun champion. I never hit a homerun. I wish I had.

About Mary Ann:

Mary Ann Miller currently lives in Florida with her husband, where she is working on the third novel in the Sheriff Jhonni Laurent series. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northern Illinois University and earned a paralegal certificate with Roosevelt University. Miller is a member of MWA, ITW, and Sisters in Crime and when not writing, can be found reading poolside or hosting family and friends fleeing the cold winters of the north.

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