The Angel God Loaned Me

This year I had the pleasure of cyber connecting with a woman who I feel clearly defines the meaning behind: I’ll do anything to help my child. Tina Guccione’s story is an emotional tale because she has lived through every parent’s worse dream – losing a child.

Her book The Angel God Loaned Me first began as a mother and daughter team to give other teens encouragement, and how to be strong during times when all appears lost and hopeless.

Tina takes you step by detailed step to better acquaint you with her daughter Annie, and the fight this little girl put up. There were several scenes in the book where I wanted to shout, “You go, Tina. Don’t let them push you around.”

The Angel God Loaned Me reminds us how precious our children are – to hug them, take time for them, and simply love them as a parent should love their child.

INTERVIEW WITH TINA GUCCIONE

- Please explain to my readers briefly what your book is about.

The Angel God Loaned Me is more of a testimony to my daughter, Annie. It takes you through a mother’s perspective of dealing with the death of her daughter. This book tells you of the near fatal car accident that left Annie fighting for her life. You will go through the struggles that I went through to get Annie home. You will learn that the journey was more important than the destination.

- We know writing is therapeutic for many. Please tell us in what ways writing this book has helped you.

This was a release. I never got angry and ‘lost it’ so to speak so I had to channel the heartache someway. It was also keeping the last promise I made to her. Being able to complete the book that we started together I think was a huge accomplishment. She wanted people to know that if the desire is there – you can achieve it.

- Was there any point while writing God Loaned Me An Angel where you felt you couldn't continue with the book? Why?

There was about a year that I had to walk away from it. I got scared because I was almost done and I had separation anxiety. I was scared that once it was done then my physical ties to her were gone. It was the only working tangible thing I had left.

- I know you began writing this book originally with your daughter to show determination and a strong faith in God from her point of view. Having read the book these sentiments come through. How long after her passing did you find the strength to continue and finalize this project?

At first I was on a mission to complete it. Then fear set in. I didn’t want to let it go. I heard her one day whispering to me ‘Mom, it’s time. Finish it.’ Then I was on a mission again. That’s where you came in. To fix what I didn’t know.

- Is there any specific target audience you feel will greatly benefit from The Angel God Loaned Me?

I think it’s a book for anyone who is going through adversity on any level. It’s not going to tell you how to fix it or get through it. That’s up to the individuals themselves. We all battle things differently. There’s no text book way to win in this life. I hope teens will read it and realize that they are strong and parents read it and realize that they need to believe in their children and themselves.

- Has this book been helpful and healing to the rest of your family?

I think the boys are just glad it’s written and available. They are so proud of Annie and what she’s been through. They helped me realize how important this book was to all of us. Through it, I believe, we all helped heal each other.

- Being a mom, working outside of the house, please tell us when you found the time to complete this project and how long did it take to finish?

I do warehouse start-ups and improvements for a living. Those take up a lot of hours in a day. Many nights I would sit up and work on it in order to unwind. There is a certain feeling that comes over you when you allow yourself to connect with someone that means so much. This project took a little over three years to complete.

- I know the book is available in three formats: hardcopy, soft cover, and ebook. Where can readers purchase The Angel God Loaned Me? Please give us a link.

The book is available on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and also my website at http://www.theangelgodloanedme.com/

- My final question, Tina, is: how are you coping today, seeing that the joint project your daughter began has finally come to pass? Are you reliving the pain of the accident? Do you find this helps motivate you to help others in similar situations?

It’s a surreal feeling to see our lives in print. I went to the cemetery when I got the first copy and buried it with Annie. Sounds silly but I wanted her to physically have the first copy.

Her accident lives with me every day. It’s a process that I will go through for the rest of my life. It’s the reason she’s not here with me. Today I take that energy and try to turn it into something positive for others. I speak at churches and schools about her and her bravery and positive attitude. I get to talk with teens about issues they have and help them find their inner strength.

Sometimes I laugh a little because I’ve always told the kids that laughter will help you through anything because it turns the most hurtful situation into something positive. Annie took that advice as her life statement. She was so funny. Anyone that knew her knew that her smile lit up a room and it still does.

One Lovely Blog Award

Last week I was a guest blogger on Ginger Simpson's blog. I sat wondering what to post when the stress of it brought me to emotions I was feeling at the moment: STRESS. So naturally I wrote about the Stress Factor in writers. Click here to read it but finish this blog posting first.

Just a short while ago I opened my email box and found a nice surprise to lift my spirits. Ginger honored me and two other ladies the One Lovely Blog Award. The best part is reading why she chose these ladies. It's truly touching when someone acknowledges your work, and Ginger simply made my day brighter.

The rules are simple:

1) Accept the award, and don’t forget to post a link back to the awarding person.
2) Pass the award on.
3) Notify the award winners.

First off I would have chosen Ginger immediately with no doubt or hesitation only because this woman's character possesses qualities I adore: honesty, humor, and no bull shit. You know where you stand with her and she won't hesitate to open herself up to you or lend an ear as she has on many occasions with me. Thank you, sweetie.

For my choices these women each inspire and motivate me in some way:

Donna McDine: what I love about Donna is her consistency in promoting whatever she does. Although she may not know this many times I've wished that I possessed Donna's natural ability to post all over the place, promoting SFC, her book reviews, and whatever else she's got going in her career. She has grown as a writer and presence in the writing field from the first time I met her and like a proud mama I can't help but smile and brag about her.

Katie Hines: Katie is another fellow writer I have had the privilege of watching over the years and blossom to a savvy promoter and writer. I remember when Katie first started her blog, unsure what to post, how often, etc...just check out her blog and you'll see she's been a very busy bee. As always, Katie, you never cease to amaze me.

The next ladies all possess the same qualities I mention above. They work endlessly with the same passion I possess to help fellow authors.

Karen Cioffi
Karen spends a lot of time organizing the VBT - Writers on the Move group and blog. Again, no gain other than to help fellow authors garner some recognition along with their books by scheduling blog tours. This may sound simple but having had to organize and still organize quite a few things I can tell you it's not as easy as one thinks. Unless you possess the passion and love for what you're doing, you'll end up quitting...and quitting doesn't seem to be in her vocabulary.

Nancy Famolari:
Okay, this may sound wierd to some but Nancy will understand why I'm honoring her with this award: because she followed my butt-kicking sermon and submitted books. LOL! Believe me, I've butt-kicked quite a few writers but Nancy was the very first writer who didn't hesitate to take my advice. Nancy, stop reading and start writing more stuff! LOL!

and although I would love to go on and on because there are so many writers who I believe deserve this award. I know some of the ladies I have chosen will choose them. But before I leave there is one final writer I owe a lot to:

Carolyn Howard-Johnson:
I cyber met Carolyn early on in my writing career and I still can't figure out at times whether I want to hug her, slap her upside down when she piles on more 'thank you' notes I need to send out for introducing and bringing in more people to our Muse Conference, or tell her how much her friendship means to me. I guess there's no need because I've just said it. That woman is so spunky and 'frugal' -hehehehehe play on words for those who know Carolyn's book - I'm hoping to bottle and sell some of it and make a million.

To those I didn't mention, like Vivian Zabel, my 4RV publisher, Rob Preece, and so many more including all of my Musers, awards are not necesary for me to say how much I appreciate and love each and every one of you.

AdrianaDominguez joins Full Circle Literary

August 4, 2009 For more information, contact:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Stefanie Von Borstel

stefanie@fullcircleliterary.com

Adriana Domínguez, Former HarperCollins Executive Editor,

Joins Full Circle Literary

Adriana Domínguez has joined Full Circle Literary as its newest agent, effective immediately. Ms. Domínguez has over ten years of experience in publishing, most recently as Executive Editor at HarperCollins Children's Books, where she managed the children’s division of the Latino imprint, Rayo.

Prior to her work at HarperCollins, Ms. Domínguez was Children’s Reviews Editor at Críticas magazine, published by Library Journal. She is also a professional translator, and has worked on a number of Spanish-language translations of best-selling children’s books.

At Full Circle Literary, Ms. Domínguez will continue her strong list of children’s picture books, middle grade novels, and literary young adult novels. She will also represent authors writing for adults in the following genres: literary fiction, women’s fiction, and historical fiction. For her adult nonfiction list, she will seek women’s interest, multicultural, pop culture, and how-to books.

Full Circle Literary founder Stefanie Von Borstel says, “We are very excited to have Adriana on board. Her eye for spotting and developing authors is unparalleled and we feel her taste is very much in tune with our global interests. Adriana and I met while working on Latino-interest projects at Rayo. I was impressed by her detail-oriented editing and her strength as an advocate for authors throughout the publishing process. I am certain that those skills, among others, will make her an excellent agent.”

“I am very much looking forward to helping published and unpublished authors develop their work and navigate the complex world of publishing from concept through publication, and beyond,” adds Ms. Domínguez. “I am particularly excited about having joined an agency that shares my interest in publishing the work of Latino authors, and that has the awards and recognition to prove that it does it well.”

Ms. Domínguez will be based in New York City and will serve as Full Circle Literary’s

East Coast representative. She can be contacted by e-mail at Adriana@fullcircleliterary.com.

Full Circle Literary is a California-based literary agency. Founded in 2004 by Stefanie Von Borstel and Lilly Ghahremani, the agency represents a wide range of children’s and adult authors. For more information, visit their website: www.fullcircleliterary.com.

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Who Doesn't Know Carolyn Howard-Johnson

What can I say? Carolyn Howard-Johnson is all over the net and all over the place in general. She must be one organized writer with a clean house because I know my house is in dire need of a cleaning...but that only happens after I finish on the computer, which seems to be late at night and then I'm too tired for anything. LOL! I'd like to spend today's post introducing you to Caroline:

As a college freshman, Carolyn Howard-Johnson was the youngest person ever hired as a staff writer for the Salt Lake Tribune--"A Great Pulitzer Prize Winning Newspaper"-- where she wrote features for the society page and a column under the name of Debra Paige.

Later, in New York, she was an editorial assistant at Good Housekeeping Magazine. She also handled accounts for fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert who instituted the first Ten Best Dressed List, where she wrote releases for celebrity designers of the time including Pauline Trigere, Rudy Gernreich and Christian Dior. She was also a consultant for the Oak Park Press in the Chicago area.

Her nonfiction and humor have been seen in national magazines and her fiction and poetry appear regularly in anthologies and review journals. She has been a columnist for The Pasadena Star News and is now a columnist for Home Décor Buyer, a trade magazine, and Myshelf.com and others. She writes movie and theatre reviews for The Glendale News-Press.

She studied at the University of Utah, graduated from USC and has done postgraduate work in writing at UCLA. She also studied writing at Cambridge University, United Kingdom; Herzen University in St. Petersburg, Russia; and Charles University in Prague.

The author’s first novel, This Is The Place, and her book of creative nonfiction are award-winners. She also wrote a screenplay, The Killing Ground. Her book The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't was named USA Book News' Best Professional Book of 2004 and won Book Publicists of southern California's Irwin award.

The second book in the HowToDoItFrugally series is The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success which also won a USA Book News Best Book nod. It is also the winner of Reader Views Literary Award and a finalist in the New Generation Indie Best Book Awards. Her marketing campaign for that book took top honors for marketing.

Howard-Johnson’s stories have appeared in anthologies like: Pass/Fail, edited by Rose A. O. Kleidon, PhD; Calliope’s Mousepad in review journals like California State University at Stanislaus's Penumbra and the Mochila Review.

She was honored as Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award by California Legislature members, Carol Liu, Dario Frommer and Jack Scott. She is the recipient of her community's Character and Ethics award for her work promoting tolerance. She was honored by her city's Character and Ethics committee for promoting tolerance with her writing and was named to Pasadena Weekly's list of 14 women of "San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen"

Born and raised in Utah, Howard-Johnson raised her own family in sunny Southern California..

Not enough? Okay, here are some of her awards and I had to cut them down not to go on to several posts:

California State Legislature's Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award, 2004, first author given an award in this category.

Reviewers' Choice Award: This is the Place named first place, Sime-Gen’s mainstream category, spring 2001.

Red Sky Press Award: 2001, judged by Rose A. O. Kleidon, Prof. Emeritus of English at University of Akron.

Masters Literary Award: Finalist 2000.

New Millennium Literary Award: Semifinalist, 1400 entries, June, 2001.

Mille Club: Honored by AmErica House, Baltimore, Md. for sales and promotion.

Preditors and Editors Readers Poll: This is the Place named Top 10 Novels for 2001, 2002. Harkening named Top 10 Literary books,2003.

NUW’s Award of Excellence: Editor: Kristie Leigh Maguire.

MyShelf.com: Ten Best Reads: This is the Place, 2002, Frugal Book Promote, 2005.

Women WritingOnLine Award: Honorable Mention, First person essay “Life Begins at 60.”

Zino.com: Award for Outstanding Article, May, 2003: “Taking a Dose of What’s Good for You.”

Book Crazy Radio Network: Award celebrating 100 reviews.

Long Story Short: Poem of the Month, “Shelf Life,” March 2204.

#1 Best Sellers: EBookAd.com, The Frugal Book Promoter, Aug. 2004. Also #1 bestseller at Starbooks.com for 2005.

Reviewer’s Choice Masterpiece: selected by reviewer Lori Soard for WordMuseum.com.

Readers’ Award: For The Pedestal Magazine for poem, “Olvera Street Tutorial.” Editor, John Amen.

Glendale's Character and Ethics Committee: Recognition for work promoting tolerance.

Book Publicists of Southern California: The Irwin Award for best cost-effective publicity campaign.

Pasadena Weekly's List of San Gabriel Valley's Women Who Make It Happen, 2005

The Compulsive Reader, The Year's 10 Best Reads of 2004, for Tracings

The Military Writers' Society of America, Silver Award of Excellence, 2006, for Tracings.

Publishers and Writers of San Diego, honorary member, 2007-2008.

American Business Women’s Association (ABWA), outstanding woman, 2007.

Amazon.com Top Ten Books in Sales, Sept. 2007, The Frugal Editor.

Top 10 Podcast on AuthorAccess.com.

Star Publish Top Selling Book since publication.

Reader Views Literary Award, The Frugal Editor, publishing category, 2007.

New Generations Indie Book Award, top award for marketing campaign.

New Generation Indie Book Award, finalist The Frugal Editor, how to category, 2008.

USA Book News Best Books 2004, The Frugal Book Promoter and 2007, The Frugal Editor.

#1 Podcast on Reader Views, 2008.

AWARDS FOR BLOGS

Blog of the Day, SharingwithWriters.blospot.com

Writers' Digest's 101 Best Websites 2008, SharingwithWriters.blogspot.com

Brillant WeBlog Precio 2008, SharingwithWriters.blogspot.com and TheNewBookReview.Blogspot.com

AUTHOR-OF-THE-MONTH, FEATURED AUTHOR AND BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH

Tomrbooks: Calley Moore, Editor.

Aspiring Authors: Diana Redman, Editor.

Word Thunder: Sarah Mankowski, Editor.

My Shelf: Brenda Weeaks, Editor.

Authors’ Cove: First Featured Writer of the Month. Erika Michell, Editor.

Poems for You: Featured Book of Poetry, Kristin Johnson

Speechless The Magazine, Featured poet, poems from Tracings

Tri-Studio, First Featured Poet. Editor Kathe Gogolewski.

Queen Jaw Jaw: Featured Author, Georgia Richardson, Editor

MichelleDunn.com: Frugal Book Promoter is her Writers' Resource Book-of-the-Month for June 2005

Writing News: "Sharing with Writers" newsletter honored. Editor Belinda Hughes.

I lied, I placed all of them.

Carolyn is also my partner-in-crime for The Muse Online Writers Conference. This will be our fourth year hosting this FREE annual writers conference and we're proud that it made it as the number one spot this year over at the Preditors and Editors annual awards.

Stay tuned for more this week on Carolyn and her career. The only thing I'd like to add is that Carolyn works endlessly to help writers, answering emails, responding in groups...and glad I came across this wonderful lady so many years ago.