Motivational Author Shane Jeremy James

Shane Jeremy James started out with a love of reading and a desire to pursue a career in business.

He soon learned he loved working with people. He invested in Canada’s first Curves fitness centers. It wasn’t too long before those centers became some of the most popular in Canada and Shane decided it was time to give some of his success back to the community. One Thanksgiving, he, his manager, and his grandmother delivered over one hundred dinners to families, all at Shane’s personal expense. He then went on a mission to expand the program. It soon became apparent the thriving program would need more money. Shane quickly learned how to raise the necessary funds. Eventually, he connected his Curves locations with local food banks to help feed people year round. 

Shane is a success story on many levels. From community concern and activism to taking a seat on the Board of Directors for the non-profit John Volken Foundation, the one thing that has held true for Shane is that good things can only be accomplished by motivated people. Shane took that idea and began speaking to people about accomplishing their goals. He also decided he needed to lose the weight he’d gained. When he found a method that worked for him, Shane wrote the acclaimed book “Think, Act, Love, Lose Weight.” But, the public kept wanting to know how he had become successful in business. It wasn’t long before he began helping people learn how to network and market…anything. 

Often, it seems a how-to book about achieving business goals is designed for readers with business acumen and a basic understanding of marketing. Shane decided that wasn’t necessarily so and focused on the home-based would-be entrepreneur. He began training average folks in how to develop network and marketing techniques. He also wrote his second book “Prospecting, Closing, and Persuading.” 

Now Shane has released his third book “Networking to Wealth: the Seven Figure Secrets of Network Marketing Multimillionaires.” “Networking to Wealth” is about transforming a home-based business into a competitive presence through network marketing. His principles also apply to established businesses, large and small. According to Shane, every ten seconds a new home-based business starts up in the U.S. That’s a lot of competition. Shane’s goal is to help those folks who want their businesses to attain longevity. The means is through network marketing, and Shane’s ready and willing to share his wealth of knowledge on the subject.

http://www.networkingtowealth.com/ 

Q) Though off topic, I know readers will wonder how the owner of fitness centers had to find a way to lose weight. So, what happened? 

A) In my early 20's I pioneered the Curves for Women franchises into Canada, opening multiply locations. The business exploded to revenues over $500,000. Yet I found myself 65 pounds overweight, creating balance between my work and relaxation was the cause- that and eating  3 plates of pasta before bed did not help. I was eating emotional trying to deal with enormous business expansion when it led to frustration, anger and stress and feelings of being overwhelmed that came from overwork and needing to let others handle some aspects of my company. It was that learning experience which helped me first create then fine tune systems for business growth and a balanced lifestyle . Now I help network marketers and home-based business owners make millions in business, at the same time finding balance between life and business. That was my inspiration to write Networking to Wealth. 

Q) When and how did you first realize you had developed skills other people could use to improve their businesses? 

A) As a teen I was involved in sports and studying successful peoples biographies and read hundreds of books on business and years of reading Entreperur magazine and asking every successful business owner I met questions on their success and for tips on what I could do in my own company. That reading coupled with my majoring in Business in college taught me specific principals that help someone achieve success and I applied it Multi-Level Marketing.

It came so naturally for me that I thought everyone else knew how to do it, too, and as I grew more businesses, people started asking me for advice and wanted to hire me. That is when I realized I had skills that could help change people's businesses, financial futures.

The first person I helped went from a break-even point in their business to making $25,000 a month in profit. The network marketing business requires overcoming the hurdle of rejection, but in reality rejection is not the problem it's how we deal with rejection. Most people enter the network marketing industry part time, while working a former job. To succeed part-time, usually requires at least seven to ten hours per week. You have to carve out a few hours each day to pursue and achieve your dreams. Recently, I put together an online strategy for a $250 million non-profit organization and am helping a new network marketing company launch into the market place. All of these examples are different businesses, but the principles stay the same.  I found that if someone gets those main principles, you can put them into any business and they will result in increased earnings. 

Q) Though you work with any size company, you focus on helping the small, home-based dreams of success. What sent you in that direction? 

A) Great question. It’s my heart that set me in this direction. Most medium-sized businesses are making some kind of decent profit and can obtain loans from banks, but small businesses and home based businesses have a harder time and definitely need more help. Many are running on a bootstrap budget, and they are either steps away from achieving their goals or a step away from closing the doors. Just as you see on The Dragons Den TV Show, and Shark Tank. It’s exciting knowing that someone can get into network marketing and home-based business for a much smaller investment than a franchise costing hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. Yes people can and have made hundreds of thousands of dollars if not millions in Network Marketing. There are thousands of people who started dead broke and are now earning six or seven figure incomes after delving into network marketing and learning the ropes. You have to learn how to communicate, meet your clients’ needs, sell to grow, expand your sales force and wealth becomes the result In Network marketing. Staying focused and positive encouraging those you are training helps you achieve much more.

·         Every 10 seconds someone in the U.S. starts a home-based business.

·         50%: The estimated percentage of American homes that will be involved in the network marketing industry by 2015.

·         82% of people involved in network marketing are women.

·         $59,250: The average annual salary of an American working from home.

·         Over 85% of home-based businesses succeed; compare this to a traditional start-up company, which faces a 95% failure rate during its first five years.

There are approximately 39 million small business owners in the USA now.

Q) What benefit do you believe your instruction can provide small business owners that investing in a marketing or advertising company can’t? 

A) Usually marketing and advertising companies require a significant fee to work with you.. I have been able to figure out how to coach people online for a small amount of money so that they can quickly improve their skills, techniques and increase their revenue.  I have a college education in business and have built million dollar businesses in my twenties.  I’ve implemented everything I teach in my own companies. My advice can definitely save them a massive amount of  money. For instance, I have become an expert on outsourcing. I do hire within Canada, but also have employees from the US, the Philippines, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. I show my clients how to outsource online and offline marketing, web development, and administrative tasks.  If you understand how to do this correctly, you can save a lot of money and build your business much faster and generate more profit. If you make money in business, the question on everybody’s mind is “How do I put it back in to make more, and where do I invest it to get the best return?” A small business has  many moving parts, and that is where I come in and teach people every aspect so they truly understand how to make increase their business profits while growing rapidly. 

Q) You’re a busy man. You own and operate businesses, sit on non-profit agency boards, help charities, and still somehow manage a private life. What do you do to recharge your batteries? 

A) That was the reason I moved right beside the ocean. Often I strap on my rollerblades and roll around on our seawall. Exercise is very important in my life, producing extra energy that helps me stay alert and focused and achieve my big goals and  dreams. I also attend church , meditate 30  minutes per day, and spend several hours a week helping others by  working on the Board of Directors with several Canadian business associations. I donate time and resources to numerous charities and serve on the Board of Director for the John Volken Foundation. Eating healthy - lots of organic foods balanced with work and exercise re charges me. In business you are always looking for the extra edge, and time is your most valuable commodity that you cannot get back.  Making sure I spend time with my family and close friends is also very relaxing for me. 

Q) Any parting comments for those thinking about starting a home-based business, and/or established

businesses? 

A) Every industry includes reputable and not-so-reputable companies in its field. Naturally, the same hold true for the Network Marketing industry. There are many successful organizations which follow corporate compliance regulations and have high ethics and standards. On the other end of the spectrum, there are those which lack scruples altogether. The best way to determine the legitimate from the unlawful is to check whether they aim to establish long-term passive income, or if they're just skulking around for the grab-and-go profits. Also look for great network marketing trainers to learn from In my new book Networking to Wealth I have done my best to provide you with the proper tools and strategies to build a great network marketing business.

DA Kentner is an award-winning author www.kevad.net

 

 

Author, Poet Anne Serling

“As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling” goes beyond what some would view as the ‘expected’ biography. I don’t cry reading biographies or memoirs. I don’t. And, I did. 

Anne Serling’s account of her father and the love and joy their family shared transports the reader into the very heart of the family dynamics. Through Anne’s mastery of the written word, we are invited to partake in the memories as if they are current events unfolding before us. All I can say is be prepared to laugh, smile, and go through a box or two of tissues. “As I Knew Him” is writing at its finest.

 

Anne holds a degree in Elementary Education with a minor in English. She’s been a substitute teacher, worked with children with special needs, and was a preschool teacher at Cornell University’s Early Childhood Program and Cooperative Nursery School. Her poetry has appeared in publications such as The Cornell Daily Sun and Visions. Previously, she adapted two of her father’s teleplays to short stories which were included in the anthology “The Twilight Zone.” Anne and her husband currently live in upstate New York. 

“As I Knew Him” has been described as a “lyrical tribute” to Rod Serling’s legacy. That may be a fair assertion. However, it is Anne’s ability to bring to life her father’s empathy, kindness, and sense of social justice through her words that separates this book from the pack. Shared personal correspondence and photographs help to paint the picture of the man, father, and confidant Anne knew. She takes us from her father’s early days, his military service during WWII, the meeting with the woman who would become his wife, and allows us to sit on her shoulder as the daughter plays with her father in the yard. We ‘hear’ Rod’s stance on censorship and his deep rooted love of animals. Most of all, this is a book of family and how our futures are molded by the values instilled within us by those who love and guide us. Buy this book. You won’t regret it.

 http://www.anneserling.com/ 

Q) I’m certain that writing a book about your father was suggested numerous times over the years. What made you decide that now was the right time? 

A) Writing the book was actually never suggested. It was just something I needed to do. Initially I began another book about ten years after my dad died--IN HIS ABSENCE. I was unable to finish it though as I was still so much, even then, in the throes of grief and unable to navigate my way through that minefield. After several years I heard things that had been written and said that described my father in a way that could not have been more removed from the person I knew and it made me angry. I decided it was time to set the record straight. And so I wrote this book as a tribute to my father. 

Q) You are an extremely talented writer. Why haven’t we seen a book (regardless of genre) from you before this? I noticed on your web site that you have started a novel. What genre will it be? 

A) Thank you so much! 

Poetry was, initially, where I was comfortable. Writing a book seemed like such a daunting task. 

When I began AS I KNEW HIM, I wondered, not only emotionally, but also realistically, how I would reach the end. As I went on, I found the process became easier and although there were certainly more than a handful of frustrating days and blank pages, there were also moments when I reached the end of chapters and felt a sense of completion. 

What I am writing now is a novel called AFTERSHOCKS. It is about the dissolution of a family and the fractured interpersonal relationships involved. 

Q) No doubt this has been asked, but what do you believe was the greatest gift both of your parents gave you? 

A) At an early age I learned of the insidious nature of prejudice and how my dad felt it was our world's "greatest evil." 

Both my parents shielded my sister and me from "the Hollywood scene." And I am grateful for that. Although I think that environment would be even tougher to grow up in now. Not to say it wouldn't, at times, be exciting. 

From my father I learned that unconditional love is the greatest gift a parent can give their children.  Also the ability to laugh at one's self. 

Q) Several renowned celebrities came out in public support of “As I Knew Him.” Their support is a

tribute to both you and your father. How did it feel knowing they were willing to state their lasting impressions of your father after all this time? 

A) I am grateful and humbled beyond words that these kind people took the time out of their busy worlds to offer me these quotes. 

My dad was once quoted as saying he felt his writing was "momentarily adequate" and that it wouldn't "stand the test of time."  These endorsements, after all of these decades, touched me deeply, as they would have him. 

Q) The Fifth Dimension is a grade school program designed to enhance the life skills of children entering middle school. It utilizes Twilight Zone episodes to focus on such issues as prejudice and mob mentality. How involved were you with creating this marvelous program? 

A) I was not involved in creating this program. Credit goes entirely to the superb teachers that implemented it, organized it and made it successful through their creativity and belief in the idea. It is focused on enhancing the life skills of elementary students as they prepare to enter the tumultuous years of middle school with its peer pressure and bullying. 

And these students really "get" these moral messages. When asked by one teacher, after viewing the episode "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” "Who are the monsters?" The entire class stood up. 

I believe my father would have considered this program his greatest accolade. 

Q) Any parting thoughts for your readers? 

A) I hope I have been successful in presenting the human side of my father and that readers come to know "another dimension" of the man beyond his public persona and the mistaken portrayal by some as a morose, depressed angry man. 

Additionally, I hope that I have helped others by opening up about getting through my grief. Grieving the loss of someone is so difficult. I hope my sharing lets others realize that they are not alone and that there is no "right" way to get through it. No "appropriate" measure of time. It's tough and it's messy and can take years before you feel "right" or "normal" again and that is ok.

DA Kentner is an award-winning author www.kevad.net

 

 

 

 

 

YA Author Scott Blagden

Scott Blagden worked in real estate after being shown the exit door when a college prank found the

  wrong audience – apparently humor wasn’t in the offering that semester. Today, he lives on Cape Cod, is still in the real estate biz, is the father to two teenagers, and, he has just seen his first book published. 

“Dear Life, You Suck” isn’t standard fare in any genre, let alone Young Adult (YA). The main character, Cricket Cherpin, is a young man growing up the hard way; without parents in a Catholic group home where he’s the oldest ward and on the verge of turning eighteen. One way or another, ready or not, Cricket is about to be unleashed into the world. The thing is, Cricket is well aware of the limited choices he’s facing because he’s been engaged in many of the darker activities for some time. And it is the clash of those worlds he lives in that has created Cricket’s unique persona and outlook. 

“Dear Life, You Suck” is filled with blunt, creative, often profane, occasionally laughable language as Cricket walks a wobbly balance beam between protecting the younger wards in the home and dealing with the drugs, drug dealers, and many other vices and people he encounters outside the nuns’ umbrella of safety. Cricket isn’t quite like any character readers have encountered before, and that’s what helps transcend this book beyond the YA genre. 

This is a book destined to be talked about. The characters and settings Scott has created are not going away. Why? Because they are very real. We’ve met these people, read about them in the news, seen them on the street corners, and maybe raised one or two in our own families. Cricket isn’t foolproof. He doesn’t have all the answers, but needs those answers – right now! He’s seventeen and subject to mood swings and ever changing outlooks as the circumstances around him buzz in and out of his grasp and understanding. “Life sucks” is his mantra, as it is with many teens who find themselves alone and standing on the brink of adulthood, until that one chance, that one person enters their life, and they discover what they thought was their future may come with a fork in the road. 

Parents who believe ‘their’ teens would never drink, smoke a joint, curse, or take a dip in the darker side of life won’t like this book. But, their kids are going to love it.

http://scottblagden.com/ 

Q) The obvious question: What inspired this book? 

A) Actually, the inspiration was the utter failure of my three previous novels. I wrote those novels with the goal of getting published as my main objective. I was trying to write something I thought would be popular, something I thought would sell. Around the time my third novel received its three or four hundredth rejection letter, a profane and hilarious character popped into my head. I started writing down his thoughts, never thinking I could use such outrageous stuff in an actual novel. But the more I wrote about this angry, wounded, distrustful young man, the more I realized there was a story beneath the crassness. A story that might never see the light of day publishing-wise, but a story that needed to be told nonetheless. I basically said “screw it, I’m not getting published anyway” and decided to write Cricket’s story. I was writing it more for myself than anyone else, and looking back on that time now, I realize that’s what made all the difference. My “I don’t care what anyone thinks” attitude enabled me to tell Cricket’s story honestly in his true voice. 

Q) You opted to give Cricket a language that is at times all his own. Where did his unique words come from? 

A) I’ve heard about actors “getting into character” before performing, but this is the first time it’s happened to me when writing a book. After I really got to know Cricket, I “became him” every time I sat down at my computer. And once I was “in character,” his words flowed out of me like water through a busted dam. Some of the language came naturally and some needed a great deal of editing during the revision process. The finished draft definitely did not just “flow” out. I probably did two or three hundred revisions before finishing the manuscript. 

Q) “Dear Life, You Suck” has been likened to “The Catcher in the Rye” in its portrayal of life. I see traces of Mark Twain’s subtle humor that requires a second look to fully comprehend. While the comparisons are complimentary, they do tend to take away from the fact this story is solely the product of your imagination. How do you feel about the comparisons being made so early in the book’s release? 

A) Yes, the novel is purely a product of my imagination, but like all stories, deep dark traces of the author leak out onto the pages. It’s overwhelming and surreal to be compared to writers I worship, and I haven’t really been able to get my mind around that yet. I try not to think about it too much because it’s very possible that my unstable, self-esteem-strained brain will trick me into believing I’m something more than a tenacious hack with a twisted imagination. Struggling with my second novel helps keep me grounded. Also, I never forget that I have a genius editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Adah Nuchi, and she’s responsible for much of the book’s success. She’s brilliant, passionate, and stubborn - the perfect combination for a YA book editor. Especially with a client who tends to write a great deal of outrageous nonsense.  

Q) What were your teens’ reactions when they learned dad was writing a book about a teenager’s life instead of a murder mystery? 

A) I have 17-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. My son’s read the book, and he loved it. He admitted he was nervous about reading it because he was afraid he might not like it, and he knew he’d have to be honest and tell me. He did say it was weird reading Dad’s thoughts about teen life, especially the “romantic stuff.” My daughter hasn’t read it yet because she’s been real busy with school and work, but my guess is she’s just not ready to glimpse dad’s warped mind. And I’m fine with that. She can read it when she’s ready. 

Q) This book will be a hard act to follow. So, will your next project be on the same artistic plane, or will you take decidedly different course? 

A) The good reviews have definitely heightened my level of anxiety about book two. I don’t want to disappoint readers who like Dear Life. I'm intentionally going in a very different direction, and it’s a challenging story, so I’m taking my time. My editor’s been telling me for the last year and a half not to worry about pub dates for book two and to take as much time as necessary to get the story right, and I finally understand where she’s coming from. I want to make sure it’s as good as it can be (with her assistance) before sending it out into the world. Especially since it’s sure to be compared to Dear Life. My next novel is about a 17-year-old track star with “father-issues” and a full-boat college scholarship who suddenly finds himself caring for a five-month-old infant he’s recently learned is his daughter. 

Q) Any parting thoughts for soon-to-be fans? 

A) For readers, my hope is that they will give Cricket a chance. It's risky to write a character honestly from page one because a reader might write him off before discovering the real him (just like in real life), but I think it's a writer’s responsibility to present characters as they truly are, not as society thinks they should be. For writers, my advice is “never give up.” It may take five or ten or twenty novels before you get published, but if you concentrate on becoming a better writer instead of becoming a published writer, you’ll get there.

DA Kentner is an award-winning author www.kevad.net

Actress and Author Barbara Kyle

A trained student of classical theater, Barbara Kyle spent two decades acting on stage and television

before turning her attention to writing fiction. Her historical series ‘The Thornleigh Saga’ has been published around the globe and continues to ensnare a growing number of fans in her riveting tales of scandal and intrigue set in the Tudor/Elizabethan period. 

A wife, mother, and now grandmother living in Ontario, Barbara sets a high bar when it comes to detail and realism. And rightfully so, because her latest offering, the fifth book in the series, is “Blood Between Queens,” a story chronicling the deadly rivalry between Mary Queen of Scots and her cousin Queen Elizabeth I of England. Readers simply would be unforgiving at any slip of contemporary tongue, “Would you prefer decaf?” or surprise appearance by a plastic cup, to use extreme examples in making my point. 

Unlike some authors, Barbara isn’t shy about incorporating real life figures into her fiction. Her debut historical novel “The Queen’s Lady” featured Sir Thomas More banning books and burning men at the stake while his fictional ward Honor tried to save More’s victims. Honor ultimately enlisted roguish Richard Thornleigh to aid her in her quest. Naturally, in part due to Barbara’s strict discipline to detail and adherence to plot proper for the era, readers craved more. “The King’s Daughter” soon followed with the daughter of Richard and Honor taking center stage, and a continuing saga was born. 

Barbara’s prose is wonderfully precise with the conversations carrying a realism I suspect is due to the author’s classical training. The settings are so believable that a reader will not have any trouble envisioning the happenings, costumes, the waft of stale drink, or dank castle corridors. If you’re a fan of historical romance and/or suspense and intrigue, Barbara Kyle is an author you should definitely invest in.

http://www.barbarakyle.com/ 

Q) I must mention that you have also written a contemporary suspense novel; “Entrapped.” You developed an early passion for historical novels as a child, so, why the divergence, and will we see more forays into contemporary? 

A) I live in Canada where there's a sort of war going on in Alberta between landowners and Big Oil. Entrapped was sparked by the true story of a farmer there whose family suffered from a company's nearby toxic "sour gas" wells, so he sabotaged the wells. His story moved me, and the environmental issue is so timely, so I used it as a springboard for a novel of suspense, a thriller. I don't have more thrillers planned at the moment, because I'm at work on the next "Thornleigh" historical novel . . . but I have learned to never say never. 

Q) You have made mention of how you find parallels between the intrigue of the Elizabethan period and our own time. What did you mean? 

A) Tudor England was a time of extraordinary energy that burst out in bold voyages of exploration and a brilliant flowering of literature. But it was also a time when English people were gripped by fears of invasion by either France or Spain, the two great powers of the day. Religious paranoia fed a lot of the fear, since Elizabeth's England was Protestant while most of Europe was Catholic. So alongside the extraordinary positive energy ran a deep mistrust about foreigners, an atmosphere in which networks of spies infiltrated suspect groups and authorities imprisoned and tortured suspected enemies of the state. Sounds to me a lot like our own time. 

Q) In interviews you stress that authors should not allow their research to overshadow the story. You obviously conduct hours of research to paint an accurate picture of the era. How do you control your dedication to detail and keep the backdrop where it belongs and the characters and plot in the foreground? 

A) It's quite a paradox. To write effective historical fiction the writer has to do a great deal of research, making reams of notes, but readers don't want a history lesson, they want an exciting story about characters they care about, so the writer pares down all those notes to just what's essential. I must admit, I find the research so enjoyably engrossing I have to cut myself off at a certain point so I can just write. 

Q) Religious persecution in the 1500s has played an important role in some of your stories. What is it

about that topic that seems to fuel your need to address it today? 

A) Religious persecution is born of simple tribalism, a fear of outsiders coming to do harm and destroy one's way of life. That paranoia fascinates me. The fact that English Catholics and Protestants were killing each other over religious beliefs in the 16th century seems irrational to us today, and yet an irrational fear of outsiders, especially of other religious groups, still plagues our society. 

Q) Mary and Elizabeth’s feud is legendary and has been portrayed in books and film many times over. Basically, you are treading on what some might view as dangerous ground by going there. So, why tackle a pairing many readers are familiar with, and what creative edge do you believe you have injected into their relationship to make it fresh? 

A) I've found that people are endlessly fascinated by the lethal feud between these two queens who were cousins. They were utterly different. Elizabeth's upbringing was one of uncertainty and fear, since her father, Henry VIII, beheaded her mother, Anne Boleyn, when Elizabeth was three, and as a young woman she lived in constant fear that her half-sister, as queen, would execute her. This experience molded Elizabeth, so that when she came to the throne at age twenty-five she governed with Machiavellian forethought and care. Mary Queen of Scots on the other hand was impetuous and impulsive. She grew up in the French court, the most glittering court in Europe, where she was pampered and petted by the French royal family. She married the French heir to the throne and thus became queen of France at sixteen. As queen of Scotland, she was ruled by her passions, and rashly lost her kingdom - twice. Mary had three husbands before she was thirty; Elizabeth never married. As for a fresh approach to their story, Blood Between Queens tells it through the eyes of a new character I introduce to my fictional Thornleigh family, Justine. Deeply loyal to Elizabeth, she accepts a mission to spy on Mary, but then falls under Mary's charismatic charm. 

Q) Any parting comments for fans and potential new readers? 

A) A big "thank you" to all the readers who've written to me about my books! Hearing from readers makes my work a joy, and I always reply to emails. So if anyone wants to get in touch, please visit my website www.BarbaraKyle.com and follow me on Twitter @BKyleAuthor.

DA Kentner is an award-winning author www.kevad.net

 

Nonfiction Author Robert K. Tanenbaum

Robert Tanenbaum’s legal career as a prosecutor mirrors the best, and the worst, of this country. Brooklyn native Tanenbaum became the homicide bureau chief for the NY District Attorney’s Office, where he never lost a felony trial. He played a role during the congressional investigations into the murders of President John F. Kennedy and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King by serving as the Deputy Chief Counsel in charge of the investigation into the assassination of President Kennedy. He’s also served as Mayor of Beverly Hills, taught at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, and conducted continuing education seminars for lawyers in several states. His commitment to seeking justice has never wavered. 

“Echoes of My Soul” is Tanenbaum’s first nonfiction venture in over 25 years. He chose a subject close to his heart because of the people involved, which includes his mentors, D.A. Frank Hogan, John Keenan, and Mel Glass, to whom Tanenbaum credits in helping formulate his professional career. “Echoes of My Soul” is an insider’s account of the rape-murders of Janet Wylie and Emily Hoffert, which became known as the Career Girls Murders Case. It also focuses attention on the coercive methods used by police to elicit false confessions from George Whitmore, wrongly accused for committing the murders. 

The methods/force used by police to elicit false confessions from Whitmore became instrumental in the Supreme Court’s landmark decision that prescribed what we know as the Miranda Warnings. Miranda requires law enforcement to advise suspects subject to custodial interrogation of their rights, including but not limited to the right to have an attorney present during questioning and the right to remain silent. The Wylie-Hoffert case is also held to be partly responsible for New York State’s abolition of the death penalty. 

Tanenbaum incorporated trial transcripts and never before publicly viewed crime scene photos, along with D.A. Mel Glass’s direct input, to write a stirring account of events that forever changed law enforcement procedures and the steps taken to further protect citizens against wrongful prosecution. “Echoes” is a story of drama, anguish, perseverance, and a fight for justice in the face of injustice. But don’t forget that “Echoes” is also about the victims, Emily Hoffert and Janice Wylie, brutally murdered in their apartment, and the search for their killer. 

“Echoes” could have been a tedious, laboring read rife with legal jargon most readers would never connect with. Instead, Tanenbaum crafted his book into a fast paced thriller/mystery using fact to keep readers on the edge of their seats. This is a seriously good book that while entertaining, never wavers from its mission to tell the truth and chronicle a search for justice on many levels – much like Robert Tanenbaum.

www.RobertKTanenbaumBooks.com  

Q) What made you decide to return to nonfiction for the first time since 1987? 

A) I was requested by my mentor at the NY District Attorney’s Office (“DAO”), Mel Glass, to write the truth, the inside account of the Wylie/Hoffert double murder/rape case.  In my judgment, it is the single most important case ever to come out of the NYDAO.  The manner in which the case was investigated and prosecuted in the N.Y. Supreme Court has become the paradigm of the Ministry of Justice, the beacon of integrity for all of law enforcement to measure up to and emulate.  When mistakes are made, admit to them and correct them.  Seek truth and do justice without fear or favor as professionally and effectively as possible. 

Q) How did being a part of the Kennedy and King investigations affect you? 

A) When I served as deputy chief counsel to the congressional committee investigation into the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King Jr., I was astounded by the incompleteness and lack of professionalism of the Warren Commission effort.  The federal executive intelligence agencies responsible for the investigation had their own agendas that regrettably conflicted with the search for truth. 

Having been trained in the DAO of legendary D.A. Frank Hogan, I was undeterred by those who sought to influence the investigation by applying political pressures or other considerations that were anathema to the search for truth.  Ultimately, when the committee actively compromised the integrity of the probe, I tendered my resignation.  The committee members’ political crassness and timidity breached their duty to inform the American people about the truth. 

Q) Working within the justice system forever changes a person’s outlook about society. Do you

foresee a day when you can truly walk away and live a life outside the halls of justice?

 

A) The concept of American execeptionalism is rooted in our Judeo/Christian value system.  Its essence is that we are a moral people who attempt to institutionalize virtue, while recognizing that evil exists, and that it must be confronted and defeated decisively. 

At its most compelling, there is a moral dimension to our value system that exists and ought to influence and determine the decisions that we make in our private and public lives.  Certainly, public officials are mandated pursuant to our founding documents, The Declaration of Independence/Constitution – two promissory notes – to be guided by and act consonant with these moral and legal precepts. 

To do justice in our lives, to be civil, tolerant, rational and forthright is to enhance the dignity not only of ourselves but of the public office we may occupy, the job we hold and the culture in which we thrive.  These values are everlasting.  We need to experience them so that we may always be reminded who we are and from where we came.  When faced with cultural coarsening, we seek affirmation of triumph.  Echoes of My Soul satisfies that need. 

Whether inside or out from the halls of justice, my life, my moral quest remains the same. 

Q) The events portrayed in “Echoes” are extremely important and masterfully told. Do you sometimes fear the book’s entertainment value might override the critical message? 

A) Seems to me that the more entertaining the presentation, the more intense the message. 

Q) The obvious question: Will there be more nonfiction works from you, and if so, what’s on the horizon? 

A) I will definitely engage in presenting more dramatic, tempestuous and garish confrontational non-fiction accounts.  It’s important to continue the process of enlightening through the prism of satisfying entertainment. 

Q) A question purely out of curiosity. As a retired police chief, I’ve been known to throw cheese puffs at the TV when law enforcement procedures, and especially Miranda, are bastardized to fit an implausible story. Do your hackles ever get raised at the misinformation TV spews out from time to time? 

A) Yes, ABSOLUTELY!  I share your concern that it is of the utmost importance for the media to have legitimate experts knowledgeable and savvy about the criminal justice system to discuss the crucial issues of the day.  Unfortunately, we experience, all too frequently, less than competent pontificating talking heads spinning inaccurate reportage!

DA Kentner is an award-winning author www.kevad.net