2018 25 up and coming writers magazine by andwethought

25 HOTTEST INDIE AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Featured ●Indie Thinkers ●Indie Advocates ●Indie Creators

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Table of Contents

James Smith P. 7 Kerry Evelyn P. 8 John Hope P. 12 Camilla Monk P. 14 Tara Wood Turner P. 15 Apryl P. 17 Segilola Salami P. 19 Chrissy B P. 21 Cover Story: Dr.

Joey Charney P. 23 Judi Moreo P. 27 Dr. Mike P. 29

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Aimmee Kodachian P. 31 Jan P. 32 Heather Ann Havenwood P. 34 Marylin Hawes P. 37 Brian Banks P. 40

Indie Fashion Trends P. 43 Poetry Contest Winner

P. 46

Dawn Singh P. 48 Priya Ali P. 50 Brandy Miller P. 52 Paige Engle P. 52 Lorna Poole P. 54 Sheila Anderson P. 56 Jonas & Ren P. 59 Iolande V. Argent P. 61 Contact the Publisher: Send us an email: Customer Service & Subscription Questions Client_services@theindependentwriter.com

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25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Editor’s Corner

The Independent Writer Publication

What It’s Like to be Hot

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When we asked the participants in this years 2018 magazine to be on the list of the 25 hottest we thought it was apparent we meant hot in the sense of a controlled , in some cases out of control but in a good way, fire blazing the way for the rest. In a sense the pioneers of their creative and advocacy fields. We had no idea it would be a disappointment to some that we weren’t exclusively talking about looks. Let us assure you we meant looks as well as talent. What is more important to us and the world is your abilities to look at the impossible and make it an ant hill you can step over.

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How those on the list have taken social issues, prejudices against the indie creative, thinker, ore creator and turned their inability to open the gate into a reason to get the ladder and build your own path. We stand in amazement at the paths you blaze in education, environment, the fight against abuse, leveling the playing field for all artist and still remaining a beacon to those behind you to remind them the mountain top of a better world isn’t far off if we have the resolve to make it so through our little contributions. Please in 2019 promise us you will do more and bring us closer the world you envision – ~ Wilnona & Jade

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Poetry Contest Winner Would like to know, But still have to know, Because the person has painted in your mind the words that ease across the page as paint on a canvas. Painting a picture of whoever they want you to see. Know believe think of and meditate about. A true Artist is Who? That’s up to YOU. As the person plays the music in YOUR head.

Who Is the Artist?

Website: www.andwethought.com The Books: http://amzn.to/2yK1nJI

By:James Smith Who is the artist of what? The artist that painted the picture With all its beautiful colors The orange, the red, and the blue The green and the brown of trees, Sky, sun, grass and the people with smiles but there’s the artist Who writes the stories? Who writes the books? Who writes? And writes... and writes... With the hands that flows The words on the paper with The greatest ease. As through painting a picture in your mind at the things that they see That takes you to places at the past, present and future Of people you don’t know,

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Kerry Evelyn

warrior to heal a warrior. They set up excursions for current military, veterans, and first responders to get together and help each other heal.

Q: When did you come up with the idea for your book?

Q: Why a love story?

I was originally planning to write a World War II mystery/suspense/epic novel, and I'd been researching military stuff, and I got stuck. I put a message out on Facebook asking my soldier friends for input. One of my friends told me about his PTSD and asked me to write a story he could give to his wife so she could understand what was going on in his head. Why it was easier for him to die for his family over there than to live for them over here. I told him th ere was no way I could write a story like that - what made me qualified? But I couldn't shake this idea, and then I started waking up with scenes in my head. I'd hear dialogue from characters who already had names and backstories while I was driving or when I was in the shower. In my quiet time, I kept hearing whispers. Write this book, tell this story. And I knew I had to. I also knew I had to give back to the brave heroes that put our security above everything else. 10% of the profits from this book will be donated to Sportsman for Warriors, an organization based on the principle that it takes a

There's just not enough love in this world. Love is everything. I need to write happily-ever-afters. It's just in me. There's so much tragedy and heartache and terror in the world, for me, it's the ultimate Philippians Flip to write a story that takes the pain and suffering to happy ending. Philippians 4:8 - think of all the true, pure, noble, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy things when you are struggling - literally flip those negative, self-harming thoughts. Affirm the good things, and take authority over the outcomes. All things are possible with God, and so many have lost their faith after experiencing trauma or loss. I want to show people that when you let yourself get vulnerable and lean on others and God, your healing - and love - is right there waiting for you on the other side.

Q: Was it hard coming up with a clean romance? Not at all! My dad is reading this book, and I'm mortified enough! Haha! Just kidding! (But not really!) I wanted to write a story that parents

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

would let t h e i r teenagers read. Our soldiers are so young; m a n y ROTC'ers a n d recruits h a v e friends and family members who have experien c e d trauma, and for many, it's in their future. I hope to help them understand it so they can give grace and provide comfort.

Q: Do any of your stories reflect your life? While the characters do not reflect me or my personal story, I've put in some scenes that do, mostly related to the food and the culture differences between Yankee Massachusetts and charming Savannah. Lanie and Matt come from two different worlds, from coffee milk to sweet tea, arguing over the pronunciation of pecan, and so on. I had quite a bit of an adjustment myself when I moved from New England to Florida. It was fun to put in some of my experiences to illustrate their differences. Also, I think we've all experienced things that traumatized us, and while I haven't experienced their level of trauma, I have gone through some very hard things that have now become part of my story, my "new normal." Journaling them and talking them out with trusted friends and loved ones helps to ease the pain, especially pain endured from great loss, especially loss of a loved one. I still have 6 boxes of my grandmother's stuff stacked up by my front door. It's been almost a year, and I haven't been ready to go through them. It'll be soon, but I still have

some more heart work to do before I can go through the contents.

Q: If you could trade places with any literary character who would you trade with and why? Fascinating questionâ&#x20AC;Śso many possibilities! I'd have to go with my favorite spunky redhead, Anne Shirley. Not just because she's my favorite character of all time (although I'm sure that's a good enough reason) and marches to the beat of her own drum unapologetically, but because when she finally listens to her heart she gets to marry and spend her forever with the dashing, charming, Gilbert Blythe who has loved her since he first laid eyes on her carrot-colored hair. I would love to be Anne, letting my imagination carry me away (wait - I do that, haha!), and live in the gorgeous setting that is Prince Edward Island. I've been there twice - it is as beautiful and unruined today as LM Montgomery portrayed it so long ago.

Q: If you could write your life as a genre b o o k which genre would it be? And w h a t would you do as the heroine in the story? It would be an epic - a quest of a girl who didn't quite fit in a n d couldn't t h r i v e

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

where she was planted. Of uprooting, changing latitudes, and planting seeds and growing roots where the wind led her. Of discovering talents and finding her purpose, so far from home, but where she was meant to be. Of listening to those whispers, and obeying them even when she was afraid, and the abundant harvests that resulted from her perseverance.

Q: What will your next book hero be like? When will it be available? Easton Crane runs the stables at the Cliff Walk Resort. He's been trying to forget about Kat Daniels, who ran off a year ago to barrel race professionally. She gave him back his engagement ring over Christmas, and he's been determined to forget about her. Until she suddenly shows up again - he knows why she's back. And he isn't having any of it! Look for book #2 in my Crane's Cove series sometime next summer!

and what would be their best line or scene? Meemaw, Matt's grandmother, was modeled after Betty White. A little bit of Rose and a little bit of Paula Deen makes her a fun and sassy granny. BUT - don't ever call her Granny - she'll whoop you from here to Sunday! For Matt, imagine Jurassic Park Chris Pratt with Guardians of the Galaxy Christ Pratt, with a little Enchanted James Marsden thrown in. Brew that up with a southern accent, and voila! Lanie is a taller version of Julianne Hough, with the eyes and quiet spirit of Amanda Seyfried. So, to get back to your question (sorry, I'm easily distracted - was that a squirrel?!), I would love to see Chris, Amanda, and Betty in the kitchen whipping up some family recipe "mix it up, memorize it, and throw it into the fire." She was serious! Speaking of Meemaw's recipes - readers can get them when they sign up for my newsletter at KerryEvelyn.com!

Q: What was your most heartwarming Q: How does it feel to be selected as one experience as a new indie author? of the 25 hottest indie authors? The reviews! Oh my goodness, the reviews! Both the public and personal - I know my story is making the impact I aimed for, and it is a feeling words cannot adequately describe. Another thing that warms my heart is being able to give back - 10% of my profits will benefit the organization Sportsmen for Warriors, founded by my friend Cresta Bateman and her husband, Ben. Their motto is "It takes a warrior to heal a warrior," and so they organize excursions and other opportunities for active military, veterans, and first responders to get together and process their experiences as they navigate the healing journey. They also offer a service they call "Warrior Guardians," where they team up those hurting with "battle buddies" to offer encouragement and support in every aspect of life. Those who feel led to get involved, seek help, or contribute to the cause can do so at SportsmenforWarriors.org.

Incredibly humbling! I lost count of how many times I've pinched myself already. I'm so stinkin' excited, not just for me, but for the warriors who will benefit from the sales of my books. The more people that know about my message and buy the book, the

Q: If you could pick any celebrities to play your characters who would you pick

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Watch on Amazon.com or Channel 18

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

John Hope Q: Why did you start writing? Loads of reasons. Most of all, I love stories. I love what they do to me, how they make me feel, think, and spur me to action. Stories are a very human way of teaching and understanding each other. I started writing for all of these reasons. So that I may enter people's lives in a very personal way and impact their lives in ways that stories have impacted me. Writing also fits well with my personality. I've always been rather quiet and introspective - writing gives me a means for expressing what others can't normally see in me. And I like challenges that involve persistence and working hard, which is similarly why I enjoy running. By in large, I've started and I continue to write because I feel that I have to. If you can do something well and love doing it, why would you not? Every day, I'm bombarded by ideas and thoughts, many of them small and seemingly unimportant, but I know that if I can weave together these thoughts and ideas, there’s a chance I can share these with others in story form and impact their lives. Q: What is the Secret to your success? This has two parts. First, you need a great book. To write a great book, I wake up and write. Then next day, I wake up and write. Then next day, I wake up and write. And when I’m not writing, I’m thinking of idea after idea and eventually a story evolves. There’s a misconception that a successful book just needs one good idea. The truth is a book needs hundreds of good ideas, and the rest is hard work. The second part is getting others to see that you have a great book. This takes three things: getting the right book to the right person at the right time. Aligning these stars sometimes feels like an impossible task. But there are a number of things you can do to accomplish this, including knowing your audience, speaking with others in the industry, and most importantly NEVER GIVING UP. Throughout your writing career, you will get brutal criticism from time to time. No

matter what you hear, no matter who’s telling you, don’t give up. Believe in your writing, and push on. Q: Are you an awarded author and what are the titles of the books you have awards for? Yes. I’ve realized that in order to get my books recognized, entering and winning awards is critical. As such, most of my books have one or more awards. They include: Silencing Sharks Moonbeam Children's Book Award Florida Authors & Publishers Association Award Readers' Favorite 5-Star Award FWA Royal Palm Literary Award No Good Eric Hoffer Award Finalist Readers' Favorite 5-Star Award FWA Royal Palm Literary Award Colby in the Crosshairs Readers' Favorite 5-Star Award FWA Royal Palm Literary Award Pankyland Readers' Favorite 5-Star Award FWA Royal Palm Literary Award Pankyland 2: The Movie Florida Authors & Publishers Association Award FWA Royal Palm Literary Award Frozen Floppies FWA Royal Palm Literary Award Indie Excellence Award Readers' Favorite 5-Star Award Finalist Q: What is a day in the life of John like?

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES It’s a little crazy. I wake at 5am and run, shower, eat Life cereal, help my kids get ready for school, write for about an hour or so, start work at my s o f t w a r e engineering job, come home, cook dinner, help my kids with homework and studying, handle writing business stuff (orders, scheduling events, p u b l i s h i n g activities), watch some TV with my wife, and pass out. I occasionally do stuff around the house, cleaning and house repair, do some volunteer work, read, and once a week I Skype my parents. Q: Any recent successes you would like to share? Florida Gulf Coast University just opted to stock a couple of my books, namely Silencing Sharks and No Good, to support one of their courses. I’ll be speaking at the college as a follow up to the students’ studies.

focus in on the thoughts and emotions that kids have. Some of these are quite simple, like throwing in a witty line or two, while others are deeper and more complex. I often read books for kids and find many authors make their stories dumber than they need to be. My tact is to give a story its basic elements that anybody can understand - good, bad, and relatable conflict - and weave in complexities that enhance the story. That way, if a reader misses some of these deeper moments, they’ll still understand the basic idea and enjoy the story. Q: If you could change one thing about the world what would it be? I’d have everyone buy and read my books. � I joke, but I’m also serious. I’m really not that pessimistic about the world, as most people seem to be. Sure, I’d love there to be less evils, less horrible people doing wrong, especially when they harm the beauty in others, but it’s hard to say that changing one thing will solve anything. At the very least, if everyone in the entire world was reading my stuff, I’d have a wonderful opportunity to positively affect everyone, make that impact that I so desire. Maybe that has a chance of truly changing the world. Q: How does it feel to be selected as one of the 25 hottest indie authors? Wonderful. I’m truly honored to be considered. I’m really quite speechless about it. Thank you.

Q: If you could change one thing about your writing career, what would it be and why? I’d read and write more. Many of things that fill my days are good stuff, like spending time with my wife and kids. But other things I’d rather trim out, especially my software development work. But I still have to hang on this a little longer until my book sales reach a critical level. Q: How do you manage to captivate a youthful mind and hold his or her attention span? My goals with every story I write include making people think and making them feel. I work very hard with incorporating good, solid truths of life, hopefully presented from a fresh perspective. All the while, I try to tap into emotional buttons – and I mean all emotions. Happy, sad, angry, joyful. Anything that stirs a person’s emotions and works well with the story that I’m telling. Since much of my writing is for kids, I

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Q: You write amazing books how do you find the right balance between action and suspense? Thank you. T o b e honest, I was taught early on by my developmen tal editor to be mindful of pacing in my books, and now I’ve developed a form of “pacinganxiety”: if nothing has blown up in over three chapters, I worry that the book is too slow. Joke aside, what I do is that I perform a broad review of the balance between action and conversation/character development in the manuscript, chapter by chapter, to see if some interludes might be dragging on for too long, if a twists takes too many chapters to occur. For each chapter, I ask myself “does something happen that furthers the plot or constitutes a key step in character development?” if not, either my chapter cuts or my plot structure are flawed. Q: Are your books based in facts? Yes and no. I pepper my stories with references to actual news or political events, or with random trivia. In the same vein, character building in my series is heavily influenced by personal experience, and might even sometimes be a retelling of stories that actually happened (for example, the part of Spotless that takes place in Japan: I lived in Sumiyoshi, in the very apartment Island and March find the Cullinan in), but overall, it’s all fiction.

Camilla Monk Q: If your book became a movie which celebrities would you want to play your characters? Why? I’m always super embarrassed by this question because I feel that a movie deal is too bold a dream, so, to be honest, I never picture actors playing my characters. Q: How do your two nationalities play a role in your books? Technically I’m not a US citizen, but obviously I’m imbued with a mix of French/European and US culture. I like to think that it helps me broaden the focus of my plots, and that my characters feel a little exotic to US readers—foreign characters, for obvious reasons, but also American ones, whose personality incorporates a mix of north-American and European traits. As a result, they won’t always see the world or react to it in the way you’d typically expect if their literary DNA was 100% North-American. Q: If you could chat with a novice American traveler what be the one cultural rule they would need to respect the most in France? Explain. Be sad. I’m kidding, but not entirely. US travelers who come to Paris often report feeling they weren’t welcome there, that their questions were met with sullen faces, or their joyful banter in a metro car garnered them nothing but hostile stares. The reason for this is not that all French are assholes (although quite a few are). The truth is, our reputation as colorful Latin lovers who kiss everybody on the cheek and yell Bonjour! with a freshly baked croissant in each hand is overrated. The French are actually a little shy, and very mindful of personal space and public noise. They’re not staring at you because they hate you, they are because raising your voice or laughing out loud in

Q: How did these characters come about They’re a mix of cultural references and human observation. There’s often a three to six months phase, before I start writing a book in earnest, during which the characters form in my head, and I build them through short scenes, bits of dialogue. Most of those early scenes will end up being discarded throughout the writing process, and some will stick. Spotless, being my first book, went through forty-two versions, and pretty much none of its early flesh remains, save for the scene where Island wakes up after March cleaned her apartment, and 50% of the scenes with Kalahari.

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES the metro or in a restaurant is considered a social faux-pas. Same thing for the cheek kissing: if you grab a pair of binocular and observe French people in the wild, you’ll notice that they don’t kiss, it’s more like a fleeting brush of each other’s cheek—and hugs are definitely off the table unless you’re very close to whoever you intend to hug, and even then… (I never hug my best friends for example). Q: What our of the way places do you enjoy in Paris and Why? A night stroll in the historical center (Concorde, Madeleine, bastille, Châtelet, Champs Élysées…) is high on my list of favorite things to do in Paris. I also love to eat a cone of Berthillon ice cream on Île Saint Louis (Where Butterfly in Amber ends), and Place Daumesnil, where March and Island nearly kiss for the first time, is in the neighborhood where I grew up, a 5 minutes’ walk from my family’s home. Q: What book series is coming up? On February 28th, I’ll release STILL, the first book of a new paranormal mysteries series following the adventures of Em, a young woman carrying some heavy emotional baggage, and Faust, a 2,000 years hobo who can stop time. Later this year, the gods of publishing willing, I’ll announce the first book of a dark fantasy trilogy called SILVERLEGS. Set in a war-torn world inspired by the late Roman empire, Silverlegs is a good old tragic epic, except the man under the mask… is a girl. Q: If you could pick to be interviewed by anyone who would you pick? What show would it be? Why? Mmhh, I don’t watch TV much—as in, almost never—but I do have a massive crush on John Oliver, so I’m available at his convenience. Q: How do you feel about being selected as one of the hottest indie authors in 2018? Rubs nipples suggestively. The real question here is, can you handle the heat?

Tara Woods Turner Q: You are an Amazon best selling author how did you do that? To be honest I believe it was great timing and putting my book in front of the right audience. Marketing is hands down one of the toughest aspects of selfpublishing so it was really gratifying to see my promotional efforts pay off. I did a big Mother's Day push, which was perfect for a parenting guide, and I requested reader reviews. Reviews inspire confidence so that when readers go to check out your book they have more confidence in committing to the product. Q: How did you pick etiquette as a subject to write on? Etiquette is my passion so it was an easy choice for me. I am a certified etiquette consultant and I'm currently working on my master level certification. We live in a world that can be pretty uncivil and I think it is extremely important to help people, especially young people, learn the power of polite. They say write the book you want to read so that's exactly what I did. There were so many books out there teaching etiquette for children but none of them focused on that next level approach. What do you do after your children have mastered please and thank you? That is the book that I wanted and when I realized no one was really focusing on that I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. It was a wonderful experience. Q: What do you feel is the most important aspect of being an indie author? Why? To me the most important aspect of being in Indie author is having ownership of the entire experience. Knowing that success or failure is all up to me is empowering and helps me to make wiser decisions. It is definitely a learning process but having ultimate control over what I write and how I put that product in

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES front of readers is a wonderful feeling. And I'm not alone. I'm part of a large, robust community of indie authors and there is literally no question I have that someone won't know the answer to. We all share the ups and downs, the setbacks and the joys of selfpublishing and it's really wonderful. Q: When did you face your biggest writing challenge? For me committing that first sentence was definitely the biggest challenge I faced. I had read a million books on writing and publishing, I had outlined my book extensively, I had obsessed over the cover art and finally I had to admit that I was stalling for time. I realized it was simply time to write and once I typed out that first sentence I was off and running. Q: Are your writings about etiquette valid in today's society? How ? Yes. Learning ways to better show respect for one another is especially important in today's society. Most of us only look away from our cell phones long enough to impatiently argue with someone over politics or send a rude, incoherent tweet. Life is so much better and so much more navigable when we slow down, communicate effectively and look for the intrinsic value in one another. Q: When do you think an indie author is successful? As soon as any author hits publish he is a winner. Every person on the planet will eagerly tell you about a great idea they have for a book or a movie but so few people have the ambition or discipline to sit down and do it. In my humble opinion when you type "the end" you've really done something amazing. Q: What are the hardest learned lessons you have had during your writing career? The hardest lesson I had to learn was that a love for writing and even a talent for it is simply not enough if you are an indie author. I had to learn to wear a lot of different hats rather quickly if I wanted my book to make an impact. You can't log off and forget about it and as

someone with type A tunnel vision I had to dust off my skills and learn to handle it all. I'm still learning lol. Q: If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be and why? I would definitely want to live in provincial France in either Normandie, Nice or Chenonceau. I was fortunate enough to visit and life there is clean, simple and rewarding. Good friends, good food and of course good wine are so much more important than your bank account, what kind of car you drive or how many likes you get on social media. I fell in love! Q: You are vision impaired, do you feel this has helped or hindered your storytelling abilities? Neither and both lol. As far as the actual writing process goes technology is the great equalizer. I can work easily and comfortably using amazing adaptive equipment. My physical limitations do come into play for some aspects of being an author, however. For example, when cover proofs come back from my graphics designer I'm not confident enough to give my opinion until my husband has reviewed them with me. It's also challenging to come up with live promotional ideas. I couldn't do a live podcast or book club reading from my book, for example. But there are ways to still be creatively effective and discovering them is as much a joy as it is a headache. Q: How do you feel about being selected as one of 2017's hottest authorsd running. It's pretty surreal. When you're writing you tell yourself you'd be happy if people just get you and what you're trying to share with the world. When it actually happens and your expectations are exceeded it is beyond fulfilling. When I get my monthly sales reports I copy them to my spreadsheets and move on to the next task but when I get a new book review I'm on cloud nine for days! That's when I feel lucky to be able to do what I do!

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Apryl Q: You were a cheerleader; how did that impact your career as an engineer? Interestingly, many of my cheerleading teammates were also fellow engineers (among those teammates is my husband, who has an Industrial Engineering degree). One of the things I really have appreciated about an engineering education is how they train you to think. Being trained to dissect any problem and arrive at a solution is applicable in any setting, whether it be if you're working on a research p r o j e c t , writing a manuscript, or figuring out how to be more efficient in your day. As a cheerleader, the biggest "problems" we had to solve were how to work together as a team, how to hype up a crowd no matter the score of the game, and understand each person's body mechanics as we built human pyramids. So in a way, having an engineering background was super beneficial to my life as a cheerleader. But to answer your actual question, how did cheerleading impact my engineering career - is quite interesting as well. I brought a level of energy and enthusiasm to topics that might seem boring and nerdy to others, and I leveraged my team-building skills to work my way to my Electrical Engineering degree: I made sure to team up with other classmates to do our weekly homework assignments together, I participated in a Design Competition in which our team was voted most enthusiastic, and I made sure the learning was fun. When on the job, I approached every task with that same enthusiasm, and always continued to look for ways to take my work to the next level. I was also probably the one who took a more solitary and introverted type of role and make it more collaborative and social.

Q: Why did you decide to change careers? Ultimately, I would either seek a career/position change (which I did multiple times) because either a) I got bored and craved more in my work, or b) there was an element of the job that didn't fit my ideal work-life balance. My first job as an IT consultant ended when I was told to choose between my career or my family. My career as a teacher ended because it was emotionally draining and I spent so much time working and not playing. My career in higher ed ended when I burned out from high stress. Q: Were you scared to leave stability to pursue a creative career? I was TERRIFIED to leave my stable, lucrative job. I had worked my entire life non-stop to build my career and the thought of throwing it all away and starting from ground zero was intimidating. Because I had worked so hard, I rewarded myself for my efforts by indulging in rich experiences and the latest technological gadgets, and I wasn't willing to give up the success I had built for myself by cutting my income to start my own business. On top of that, I never saw myself as an entrepreneur or someone who was "creative" in my life, so that made things even more daunting. Q: You first book about being cheerful is a great read, how do you feel it will improve society today? I think many people crave work-life balance but they don't know how to achieve it. And I believe this is

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES because society places such harsh definitions and perspectives about work-life balance that are not realistic. My book encourages people to think outside of the box and create new definitions for themselves that are not dictated by societal pressures. With the way our culture views success, it frequently leads to burnout and lack of fulfillment. I want people to know that if they work on creating the life they want, the success will follow. Q: If you could remove one bad experience from the human experience what would it be and why? I would remove negative judgment, whether it be toward others, or to one's self. I wish we all had more positive and supportive lenses that we could use to look at life. Q: You Coach now and have a program can you tell us a little about it? While I also coach private clients, I also have a more introductory coaching program called the Accountability Success Circle. This program was my attempt to bring a more affordable and flexible coaching option to the table that catered to an individuals learning and interaction styles, while giving me the ultimate flexibility to do other things in my life that I enjoy. The program comes with group, individual, and self-study components. Many of my clients love the personal touch I bring to the program; this is extremely important to me to connect and be able to attend to each client in a way that works for them. I don't believe coaching is a one-sizefits-all experience, so customization is really important. At the same time, I know what small actions can make a big impact for a larger group of people, so I use my process efficiency skills to streamline the important things. Q: I have to ask about your past as a cheerleader, what as the highlight of cheerleading for you?

action was always an adrenaline rush. It was also my way of being seen without being the center of attention (I tend to enjoy being in the spotlight but not center stage, haha!) Q: How do you balance being a mother,wife, & Author? By setting very good boundaries. It's not an easy job to be the best at all three, but I constantly make sure I'm checking in on my stress levels and priorities, and reset my rules when they no longer serve me. Q: You have a talent for singing, so if you could do a duet with anyone alive or dead who would sing with? What song would you sing? Why that song and singer? There are SO many people I'd love to do a duet with; if I could do a duet with Pharrell Williams or Bruno Mars, that would be amazing. Their musical talent is amazing, and their songs are packed with energy, which is what I'm all about. I'd probably want to write an original song, so the title would be TBD. Q: How do you feel about being selected as one of the 25 hottest indie author? This is an absolute honor! To be honest, being an author wasn't something I ever thought I was going to do in my lifetime, either due to lack of confidence and my general tendencies of being a default math and science nerd. However, writing a book, and a really personal one, is definitely one of the top three biggest accomplishments of my life to date (joining my two children on that short list). I am extremely appreciative to have been considered and am looking forward to writing another book very soon.

Being on the sidelines, hands down. I cheered for football and basketball, and being the closest to the

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Q: What were your goals when you started out recording The Segilola Salami Show? Do you feel you have met them?

new and noteworthy. I don't do what I do for praise (though I do like praise ehehehe)

This may come as a surprise but I had no setout goals per se. I had only just found out what a podcast was and I started the show as a way to educate myself about the medium and to see how viable a marketing tool it is.

The one thing that I can

Since I started out, The Segilola Salami Show has far exceeded my expectations and opened doors I didn't realise could be opened

Segilola Salami Q: How do you balance being a mother and an entrepreneur? I am extremely blessed with my daughter, she makes being a mother like a walk in the park.

Q: How did you feel when you became iTunes and Blogtalk radios New Notable? What do you feel is the key to your success? Those things didn't really mean much to me beforehand, so it feels kinda like another day in the office. To be honest, I

I don't sleep anywhere as much as the average person, so that gives me extra time to fit in more work. Then technology helps a lot. It enables me to connect with people halfway across the world. I've connected with a number of really lovely professionals, who we've gone on to become penpals and they recommend opportunities that they come across to me (and vice versa) didn't even know I was showing up regularly under

say gave me a massive big head was when the VP of Blog Talk Radio got in touch with me saying that he and his team had been following my show for a good few months on iTunes and were impressed that the show was consistently being listed on New and Noteworthy on iTunes and that they would like to have me on their platform. Now, my big head wasn't the fact that they were monitoring my show but that they had been studying it and were impressed. It made me feel that even with my less than professional recording equipment, people actually liked what I did. Key to my success? I don't think I am successful yet. I feel that there's always room for improvement. I feel I can do more to make it worth the time of the

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people who give up their time to listen to what I have to say on the show Q: If you could rewrite the history of mankind what event would you remove history? Why? Not a single event, it is our history that makes us who we are today If I could create the human race from scratch, I would create us to be robot-like. One skin colour, in fact, one of everything. One hive mind, no violence inherent in our DNA or I would set the earth to be a time bomb. Every time a human being spills another human being's blood violently, the earth would sink into the ocean by 1cm. Q: How important do you feel Literature is to our culture? It is extremely important, it ensures that our history, beliefs and traditions do not get lost. It gives generations unborn a snapshot into the lives of their ancestors. There is a saying if you don't know where you are coming from, you don't know where you are going to. Q: You got your start writing children books in Yoruba, what made you make the transition to adult books? I was looking for something to read but couldn't find the type of story I wanted, so I wrote it myself Q: Do you feel writing heavily influenced by ethnic themes educates a new reader or narrows the books audience to a niche market? It's a combination of both. Over the course of time, you will connect with people who want to find out more about you as an author and take a chance on your book that's in a genre that they would not normally read. Then you will get readers who only ever want to read a specific genre Q: If you could have the ear of any person in the world for half an hour who would you choose and what would you talk about?

It would have to be my grandmother. I would want to ask her what she was thinking when she went on to have 11 children. Q: How does your child inspire you? When I look at my daughter, I know that falling down and staying down is NOT an option. My daughter gives me the strength to get up whenever I fall. She inspires me to roar when I need to. Q: What does it feel like to be selected as one of the 25 hottest? Like another day in the office eheheheheheh Q: what have you been working on lately?" In December 2017, I launched my first online TV channel called Yoruba Kids TV. It's an online TV channel with content suitable for children of all ages but most importantly 90% of the programs are in the Yoruba language (but with English subtitles) and as is to be expected the characters in the programs are of African origin. I started the channel to suit my personal life. One, I wanted content that my daughter could watch where the characters looked like her and spoke her mother tongue (Yoruba). I also wanted a channel that I did not have to hover over my daughter to make sure that the content was suitable for her, even if the audio gave the impression that it should be suitable (cue violent YouTube kids with nursery rhymes as background music). You can check out Yoruba Kids TV by clicking here https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/y oruba-kids-tv/ Before this year is over, I hope to have another TV channel launched as well as write at least one book. Last year I didn't write anywhere as much as I would have liked.

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Chrissy B Q: You have an interesting past could you tell us a little bit about it. I suffered from depression, anxiety and panic attacks for seven years along with other mental health issues. I didn’t speak about what I was going through for a long time because I felt that no one would understand. When I finally did open up, nothing worked for me apart from when I came across the UCKG HelpCentre (a charity and church) which was amazing and I was fully recovered within a few months. The practical and spiritual support was a winning combination for me. Q: When you were first approached about doing the Chrissy B show what went through your mind? I said yes straight away, but so many things were going through my mind. Even though I was already a presenter on TV, I was always with other presenters and never the sole presenter, so the thought of doing a (then) live show was very nervewracking. Would I be able to do it? Would the viewers relate to me? But I had to put aside all the questions and tap into my faith. It was an opportunity I could not pass up. What an amazing way to be able to help people. Q: How do you balance having a wonderful hubby at home and the demands of being a tv presenter?

I had no idea how demanding being a TV presenter would be. As I am also the executive producer of the show, there is so much that goes on behind the scenes to get an episode together - and we have three episodes a week! But I am always very careful not to let the show take over my life because I have a lovely husband and I want to to ensure that work will not interfere with my relationship. So I’m very disciplined regarding spending quality time with Michael. We make it a point of having a date every week, usually at a restaurant where we can talk and a nice walk somewhere. We try to spend the whole day together, or at least a few hours. I also avoid doing any location filming which would involve me staying nights away so that I’m always home with my husband every evening. The work I do is very important, but my husband always comes first. Q: You have done so much with your career, it’s hard to contemplate how much more you can do, but where do you see yourself and your show in the next five years? I have a firm faith in God and so I depend on Him for my future. I work hard, try different things outside of my comfort zone, and I do plan to a certain extent, but I see my life ultimately in God’s hands and if one day another opportunity comes where I can help more people via another route that doesn’t necessarily involve TV, I will take it. I see the work I do as a calling rather than a career. My ultimate goal is to help as many people as possible while I am on this earth, however that may be.

Q: What are currently your greatest challenges? Do you have a plan to overcome them? My greatest challenge is trying to make people realise that mental health issues can be beaten. There is a message out there saying “It’s okay not to be okay”. I do agree with this to a certain extent as there is nothing wrong if you have a mental health problem. However I also say that

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES “It’s not okay to STAY not okay” because mental health issues can get worse and even fatal if nothing is done about them. I am living proof that you can fully recover from depression with no relapses. However sometimes I hear things out there that say that you have to learn to live with your problems and I totally disagree with that. I will continue speaking out about this. Q: If you could take on another problem that needs solving on the British airways besides mental health what would it be? What media format would you use? I think there has been a great decline in family life. It seems that families are spending less and less time together, or if they are together in the same room, everyone is doing their own thing. For example, it pains me to see couples and families in restaurants and instead of talking, everyone is on their phone doing God knows what. This is a trend that is getting worse and worse, communication is breaking down, relationships are breaking up, and children are getting more and more depressed. Something needs to be done. TV is a good way to do this but I think every avenue should be explored.

Q: What part of your story do you carry with you all the time and how does it impact you now? I think the most difficult thing to deal with when I was going through my problems was the fear I always felt and the terrible loneliness even though I was surrounded by people. I never forget where I came from and I keep my experience fresh in my mind and I thank God every day for the life I now have and for the joy and peace I have deep inside. This always keeps me appreciating the transformation I went through. Q: If you were stranded on a deserted island what movie character would you want there with you & why? Honestly? I’ve never been a person to get stars truck or be wowed by any movie star or character. Are you a nice person? Do you treat others with respect? Then I don’t mind being stranded on an island with you. :-)

Q: Was there anytime you were completely humbled by a guest story? What was their story and how did the story affect your life? It’s difficult to choose one story because they have been so many amazing guests on the programme and each person's story is different. Sometimes it’s the simple things that they say that so powerful such as one particular lovely lady I interviewed who had been passed around to different family members to be looked after, but each one didn’t give her any love but beat her on a regular basis instead. She said she thought that was the way people expressed their love. She never had any affection and didn’t know what a hug felt like. I found that so sad, but the amazing thing was that she turned her life around and is one of the most bubbliest and friendliest people you can meet and she gives these amazing hugs. She never received hugs as a child but she made sure that as an adult she takes every opportunity to give someone a hug that needs it.

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Cover Story

Dr. Noah Charney Q: You have traveled the world, how did your journeys begin?

I was lucky in that my parents loved to travel, particularly to Europe. So I spent many summer holidays in France, as well as Italy and England. My love for living abroad crystallized when I was 16. I went on an abroad program through my boarding school, Choate, to live in Paris and then in Pau, in the south of France. It was a wonderful feeling of independence as well as feeling empowered to live in a big city in a foreign language at a young age. I knew I want to live in Europe fulltime from that point on. Q: There are so many accomplishments you have under your belt, which one are you most proud?

I’m totally delighted at the most oddball and longshot, and most recent—my latest book, Collector of Lives: Giorgio Vasari and the Invention of Art, was nominated

for the Pulitzer Prize. I’ll never get it, but to be nominated felt very cool. Q: Can you tell us how you developed the idea of art history experts and law officials cooperating?

I have an unusual academic specialization: art crime. I got interested when I was a graduate student at Cambridge, studying art history but interested in true crime, detective stories, and enjoying heist movies like Thomas Crown Affair. I wanted to write a novel, and thought to set it behind the scenes in the art world, where I’d had some experience. I thought an art theft/forgery plot would work well. But trained as a scholar, I set about researching real art crime, and found very little material on it. A handful of journalistic books, and almost no scholarly ones. I wound up writing my first book, The Art Thief, but also fell into this as an academic field of study. Turns out I was one of the first to study this. I founded a research group, ARCA (Association for Research into Crimes against Art, www.artcrimeresearch.org) to promote this study, and founding trustees included members of the art squads of Scotland Yard, the FBI, and the Carabinieri. I was lucky enough to have my academic work written up in the New York Times Magazine, which really propelled things. Now we’re entering the 9th year of running a summer-long postgraduate academic program in Italy, the first in the world that allowed for the study of art crime. Q: A fun question, How do you like being a judge for an international

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES schnapps contest? Can our readers attend this festival? Where do they find m o r e information about it?

A great “job,” if you can call it that! I’d never had schnapps before moving to Slovenia (where I’ve lived for seven years). My grandmother-in-law is the village schnapps champion, and I’m always delighted to be a guest judge at such tastings. Every Slovenian has a family member, it seems, who makes very good homemade schnapps (alcohol distilled from apples). Bill Murray once told me he’d like to fly over sometime to be another guest judge, so it seems we’re in good company! Q: How are you changing the stuffy kinda up tight reputation around the idea of art history?

You’re right, unfortunately, that art history has a reputation of being stuffy and elitist. Some members of the art world enjoy that club-like atmosphere. I think the best way to overcome this is to write for the thoughtful general reader, the person who might not think to go to an art museum. Preaching to the converted, or worse, arguing with a tiny group of peers, is not what I’m after. So I try to address the broader public, in a variety of ways. I’m a “pop professor,” less interested in 24

academia. So I do some TV presenting, I write best-selling non-fiction, I write more popular (as opposed to academic) articles, and so on. Q: You write both non fiction and fiction how do you make both sides of the literature coin entertaining to readers while discussing art history?

I think telling a good story is telling a good story. I’ve started to teach writing over the last few years, and really analyzed this. I borrow fiction techniques for non-fiction, and vice versa. All reading should be engaging, informative, paced, dynamic, vivid. Regardless of genre. Your job is to entertain, inform, and make the reader feel smart. That’s the sign of a good writer. Q: How have you made art history relatable to the younger generations?

For many years I taught for Brown University in Rome, a program for enthusiastic high school students. This was my favorite age group—there’s such a sharp learning curve, the students are delighted to see how quickly they learn so much. I approach it like this, and if I’ve made any distinctive contribution to teaching art history, this is what it is. I approach art history as a series of mysteries, puzzles, detective stories to be solved by the students/readers. Everyone likes a mystery, and it’s a matter of presenting the interpretation of art, the analysis of iconography, in criminological terms. Also, showing students how quickly they can learn, without feeling like they are engaged in rote memorization, is a powerful tool for good.

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Q: If you could interview any artist in history who would you interview and what would your top 5 questions be?

What a great question. Hm. Well, my latest book is about Giorgio Vasari, a great Renaissance artist and architect, and also the first art historian. I’d ask him 1) What he did with Leonardo’s lost “Battle of Anghiari,” which many believe he hid behind a false wall in the Palazzo Veccho. 2) I’d ask for a table of contents of his famous lost Libri dei Disegni, in which he collected drawings by the famous Renaissance artists he admired (the books, perhaps as many as 12 of them, are lost, and I’d love to know what they contained), 3) I’d like to know how much of his famous “Lives of the Artists” he wrote himself, as opposed to the assistance of his literary friends, 4) I’d like to know how he got the idea to hide Masaccio’s “Holy Trinity” behind a false wall, and 5) I’d like to know if he built any secret spaces in his buildings—I’m guessing he did. Q: What do you have coming up in a the future?

In the spring of 2018 my next book comes out with Phaidon: Museum of Lost Art, which is about art that has been lost to us, much of which was more important when it existed than the art that has survived the centuries and is still with us today. I’m

also helping with two books by celebrities—I’m co-authoring a cookbook by the famous chef, Janez Bratovz, and I’m co-authoring a book about conceptual art with the famous conceptual artist, Ulay. I’m also co-authoring a new HBO series… Q: What five cities must a novice tourist see in Europe?

Well, the obvious ones must be seen: Rome, Florence, Venice, Paris, London, Madrid, Amsterdam, Vienna. But the wise traveler should also go to slightly more exotic ones, like Ghent and Ljubljana. Q: You write as a journalist as well, how is writing a novel, for newspaper and magazines, and teaching different? How do these professions help you be more creative in the other?

I approach all of them the same way (see my Buzzfeed article, “How To Have a Two-Hour Workday.” I make an outline, a master plan, and then “slice” it up into portions the size of articles, around 1500 words, which I feel I can write in about two hours. The only real difference is with fiction—I need large blocks of quiet alone time to get into the groove, whereas with non-fiction and articles, I can write in two-hour bursts while doing other things around those bursts.

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Q: What would you tell future art history majors for success in a changing world?

It depends which aspect of the art world you’re interested in. Ethics in the art trade are important for the future, and too often overlooked. But the art world is fairly conservative and there are a lot of niches unfilled—professions that no one has thought of before. You can really come up with something new and noteworthy by thinking outside the box a little. Q: Who have you written for as a journalist

Oo, dozens of publications, literally. I’m proudest of writing for The Guardian, the Atlantic, the Washington Post. I’m a columnist for the Observer, Salon, Fine Dining Lovers, Playboy, and others. Since I am mostly freelance, I try intentionally to write at least once for as many venues I like as possible.

I’ll say Paris, when I was 16. It was a wonderful feeling. But I’ve loved every place I’ve lived in Europe, and could imagine happily remaining in any of those places. Venice is particularly wonderful and unique. Q: Where can we find out more about you?

Come visit me at noahcharney.com or on Facebook, where I’m most active and post most activities. Q: How do you feel about being selected as one of the 25 hottest indie thinkers?

Amazingly cool, I’m totally delighted! Thanks gang!

Q: What has been your favorite experience while living abroad?

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Judi Moreo Q: Why did you start writing? When I was in high school, my English teacher told me that I had talent for writing. Whenever we had essay assignments, I would write a story about whatever the subject was. Then the local newspaper offered me a column writing about what teenagers in our town were doing. I loved the process.

best seller. Most recently it received the "Spirited Woman Pick 12" award as being one of the best books for women to read in 2018.

Q: What is the Secret to your success? There is no Secret. It is DISCIPLINE. We have to discipline ourselves to write every day. The more we write, the better we get at it. Q: Are you an awarded author and what are the titles of the books you have awards for? Yes, "You Are More Than Enough" has received many awards as well as being an international

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES "Ignite the Spark" was also an international best seller. Q: When did you face your biggest writing challenge? My biggest writing challenge has been my book, "Overcoming Cancer: A Journey of Faith." I wanted the book to give people hope, but of course, I couldn't make any promises they will get well. I tried to tell my story from an educational point of view. Q: Are your writings about etiquette valid in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s society? How ? Yes. Good manners are important in every decade. I post about etiquette

another story. We have to be very creative when we want to market our books. There are so many books out there competing for the same market. Q: If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be and why? If I could live anywhere in the world, it would be right where I am. I love Las Vegas and I love my home. Most people don't realize we have a wonderful community in Vegas. People who really care about other people, as was proven to the outside world after the massacre at the Mandalay Bay recently. The weather in Las Vegas is good year round. Well, maybe it gets a bit hot in July and August. We don't have much humidity and we don't have many bugs. Q:How do you feel about being selected as one of 2018â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hottest authors? I am honored beyond words. Especially because my new book, "You Are More Than You Think You Are" is my best work ever and it is slated for release in April of 2018.

every Monday on Social Media. Knowing how to conduct yourself in a positive manner in any situation will make life easier. Q:What are the hardest learned lessons you have had during your writing career? The hardest lesson was marketing. Writing the book was the easy part. Getting it in front of the public so people can make the choice to buy it is

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Dr. Mike Editor’s Comments: Dr. Mike has changed careers multiple times to find what fits him and what he loves to do. This article is here for his bravery to go after what he loves. Q: What drew you to writing? �� I have always been a story teller. I learned at a young age that the better a joke is told, the louder the laugh, so I practiced. Later as my life experiences started to pile up, I learned that I could make them sound much better than they were just by telling the story in an interesting way, and that if I did it properly, nothing needed to be added that wasn’t actually a fact. Once I began to practice and teach at the college level, these stories and the craft of storytelling became my key to reaching patients and students. Eventually, I wanted to reach more people, and I had a story that was very important to me personally that I wanted to tell, so I tried writing it down. Q: With all your life experiences how do you feel your writing will impact society? �� Well first of all, I hope they enjoy it, but in the long run in perhaps a in small way I would like to entertain people enough so that they don’t realize that they are also learning something about themselves. That lesson I think is that no matter how far we run we always take our best friend and worst enemy with us. Until we embrace those aspects of ourselves, we can never honestly develop into who we were truly meant to be. Q: You have had many occupations can you tell us a little about them? �� When you grow up in poverty you learn pretty early that any job is better than no job. I never thought I was ‘too good’ for

any particular job, so I took a lot of different ones. Aside from shoveling snow, and running errands my first ‘paycheck’ job was as a chicken breader in a carry-out fried chicken franchise when I was twelve. I was too young to work there so they kept me locked in the store room so no one would see. Every day, after school, I would get twenty cases of frozen chicken parts from outside and marinate and flour them, stack them on trays individually, and put them in the front cooler. By the end of the shift, I would look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, covered in flour, and chicken guts. After that there weren’t too many jobs I wasn’t willing to try. I was a big kid so when I was fifteen, I lied about my age and got a job working the shipping docks for an international retail catalog distributor. You did a man’s job, for a man’s pay, and the men taught me how. I’ve built tractors on the assembly line, sandblasted burned out buildings, built new houses, bound books, and even worked as a typist in a clerical pool. All these and many more each taught me something important, but the most important thing I ever learned was that if the only reason you did something was for money, then there would never be enough money in it. Q: Did your experiences in the Vietnam war sculpt your stories? �� The Vietnam war is a central issue in my stories, but only to a point. Those that returned from that conflict were not welcomed home, there was no glory, no fan-

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES fare, no welcome. People wanted to forget and the men and women who fought and died were forgotten along with it. I remember mostly my anger that no one cared. It was much later that I recognized the enormous amount of ‘survivors’ guilt that fueled that anger. Midway into the initial stages these things down I suddenly saw my father with a different lens. I suddenly recognized the damage and guilt he carried as a survivor of another, greater conflict. It made me understand his distance, and inability to speak of it. Q: What does it mean to you to have a book of your experiences written? �� I originally wanted to just document some of my life experiences in a sort of diarist form for my children so that later on they might understand some of the reason my clock ticks a little differently than other people. When I began to sort through the memories in order to get them in a more linear form it began to take the form of a narrative. I was insecure enough to ask the opinion of people who are smarter than I am regarding their opinion of the storyline. They insisted that I continue, and the rest was a lot more work than I expected.

the more I thought about my father. At the end of his life he presented each of his children with a hand-written diary of his war years, and the many missions he flew as a tail-gunner on a B-17 bomber. It was something he had never spoken of his entire life, and here he had actually kept a daily diary complete with hoarded photographs of the actual events. It was/is a compelling read, and the horror of it lies just below the surface. It was both a celebration of incredible bravery and a confession of the very root of his emotional insecurity’s. There had to be another book. Q: How did you feel when you knew you were picked as one of the 25 hottest Indie Founding Authors for 2017? �� Stunned.

Q: What was the most challenging part of writing? �� Writing what you remember and then bringing it alive is fun, especially in the third person, but there are also huge holes in the fabric of the tale which must be pulled back together. It is tempting to introduce hyperbole to make it exciting or the central figures more heroic. This book is not about heroics, it is about the journey. Q: Tell is about your new book and any upcoming projects? �� The more I wrote the story of Emmett Casey, and not all of it is about me, Emmett is a conglomerate of his generation,

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Aimmee Kodachian Q: Why did you start writing? I simply followed my intuition... In 2005, I was driving down on the freeway coming from a business meeting that went very well. It was a beautiful day with a clear sky. I was feeling joy and happiness that I couldn't believe that I, Aimmee, was actually driving a brand-new car on the freeway in the United States. For so many people that might be a normal thing, but not for me. I was born and raised in Lebanon and I have lived 13 years in the 1975 Lebanese Civil War. You can just imagine living with no hope or opportunity. Tears of joy were running down on my face. I pulled my car in the desert and I broke down crying. Then I started to hear my inner voice telling me that I need to write my story and give people hope. After that moment, I felt that it is my time to pay it forward, even though it was against my belief to tell my story to the world, I had to listen to my inner voice and follow the direction I was given. It was no longer about me or what I believe. It was about helping others and that is what motivated me to start writing.

Q: You turned into a successful speaker along with being an author how do they complement each other? Before I even thought about becoming a speaker I wrote my book "Tears of Hope." That gave me credibility and direction on what I was going to speak about. You see, 80 to 90% of successful speakers they start their speaking career by first writing their books. Even though the book gave me credibility, I still needed to learn how to deliver my message. To me, it is a privilege when people give their time to sit and listen to what I have to say. I take that pretty seriously. It took lots of practice and training to get my message clear. Being an author first helped me in my speaking journey. Speakers and authors definitely complement each other.

Q: When did you face your biggest writing challenge? Many people know that I have only a fourth grade education, severe dyslexia and English is my third language. It was very challenging for me to write my book when I never read a book in my life. I was faced with many challenges. But with determination and persistence, I found a way to write my book. I hired a ghostwriter and I sat down with her one-on-one and dictated to her everything. Several years later, I was able to take the book and add some of the knowledge and wisdom I learned throughout my journey. I actually was able to write the book myself. No matter who you are, you will always find challenges in writing your book. But if you feel it in your heart that your book is going to help others, then you will find a way to write your book and when you are done writing, you will soon forget about all the challenges.

Q: What is the Secret to your success? Well, there are many things that played a role in my success. Here are a couple of them that helped me... Growing up I used to focus on my weaknesses. Then I learned that if I focus on my weaknesses, I will never reach my goal. So I learned pretty quickly to switch my perspective and focus on my strengths and that is very important to anyone’s success. Second, if you want to succeed in business or life you must work on being determined and make a commitment and follow up with it. Third, you must never believe that you’ve learned everything you need to know. You never stop learning.

Q: Can you tell us how you founded AK and The Experts And How it has grown to where it is now? I truly believe in making a difference in the world. In order to make an impactful difference, we must share our knowledge and wisdom with each other. So I couldn't think of anything better than having a TV show where I can use my platform to invite experts and give them the opportunity to share and teach others the mistakes they've done and the lessons they’ve learned. When you have a clear and good intention, you will grow without even putting much effort to it... I didn’t stop with just my show. I’m now

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES producing several shows including “World of Book Reviews with Judi Moreo,” “Behind the Entertainment Scene with Stephanie Thompson” and several more.

Q: What are the hardest learned lessons you have had during your writing career?

The biggest shock to me was when I finished writing my book. I thought that my job was done. I wrote my book and now the world can have it. It didn't take too long for me to see and face the reality that books don't have legs. Your book becomes like your baby and your baby needs to be taken care of. People can help you babysit your kid but they are not going to raise your baby. You must take full responsibility and that was a hard lesson to learn.

Q&A with Jan 1. What job did you leave to become a

journalist? I developed my career as a journalist while practicing my career as an educator. I was an adjunct professor of Communication. Prior to that, I taught high school English and Journalism.

2. What were your greatest challenges? Q: If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be and why? Personally, I consider myself to be lucky and fortunate to be living in the best country in the world, the United States. It has given me the opportunity and the freedom to be the best I could be and that is priceless to me!

As a journalist, my greatest challenge was and remains “selling myself,” writing that query and persuading an editor who does not know my work that I have something his/her readers will want to read.

3. Tell us about starting a newspaper Q: How do you feel about being selected as 2018’s dyna m i c and hottest host? I feel humbled, joyful, hono r e d , appreciative and everything in between... Thank you for selecting me!

while teaching. Our high school had not had a school paper for many years.

Some of my students

came to me and asked if I would be their sponsor for a newspaper club.

I was

already teaching a full class load and was sponsoring the school drama club, but, eventually, they persuaded me to tackle the task.

We ran the paper as a club for several years,

establishing

our

“brand”

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES journalism. We sold

on when no conversation or formal

ads, and we bought

discussion is taking place. Listen to the

computers

and

chatter; listen to the silence; listen to the

big

breathing, the gasps, the giggles. Those

printers.

Our

break was when our

are vital clues to what’s really going on.

little paper was taken

5. What would you tell others who want to

on by a local weekly newspaper.

They

showed us how to layout the paper, place our ads and photo. And, The Bay Weekly, our mentor, took our monthly paper to their printer, so we had a “real” NEWS PRINT newspaper.

pursue this career? I would say, “Don’t forget to read. Read everything; read all the time.” It’s not enough to find material and people to write about. It’s not enough to listen and to ask questions. You have to know the topic deeply and broadly, so you can ask the unexpected question, the question for which

Finally, we had enough involvement to

there is no “canned” answer.

become an elective class. We had a newspaper office where our class was held. We invited journalists to come in and speak to the students, we had textbooks, editors – the whole shebang! Great fun.

Secondly, have a “Plan B.” Journalism is in a period of great change. Obviously, technology is leading many of the changes. But, world events and the human condition are changing journalism as well. So, have

4. Did you take any lessons from teaching

a backup plan so you can pay your bills.

and apply them to journalism? One of the most valuable skills from teaching that applied to journalism was learning how and when to ask questions, and HOW and WHEN to listen. The “how” is one thing, the “when” was something unique.

A good journalist must listen

carefully and keep careful notes. Also, a good teacher and a successful journalist knows that you have to listen to what goes

6. How does it feel to be one of the hottest

founders for the article? First, I don’t know that I am a “hot” founder. �

Secondly, of

course I’m ♫ “hot/ too hot, not to cool down.”♪♫ (See the lyrics to “Just One of Those Things.”)

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Learn this One Simple Trick: To Have a Prosperous 2018 Hey Sexy Boss™ Ladies! It is now 2018, and 2017 is now far far away. The number one thing I do now, as an entrepreneur is I ‘complete’ my last year. YEP! I complete it. Remember when you were in high school, and you would have the ‘last day’ of school, then you would get summer break. There was always this hard line, between freshman and sophomore year. As adults and entrepreneurs, there is really not that hard line.

If you don’t take the time and intention to truly CLOSE out the year and COMPLETE the year you will get stuck with all of the old baggage from the past, and it will be placed into the new year. Ideally you want a clean slate. You like this idea? You still with me? Good. I am going to give you my SOURCE of a blog, that I go to, to complete the year. The owner of the blog is my personal business powerhouse coach. YEP! I am giving you my coach. The last week of 2017, I spent over 3 days

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES completing and then creating 2018. HOLD UP! You do not have to take all of this time. I promise. On the Blog she has over 60 questions she has listed. Before you FREAK OUT…. She does encourage you to ask yourself at least 10 questions with the intention PROCESS of completing 2017. Questions you ask yourself. Questions to remind you of EVERYTHING you did in 2017. Your accomplishments, your wins, the your challenges you over came, and your lessons you learned. One of my mentors said to me 5 years ago: “Heather, Everything Happens for the BEST. Everything!” Of course, I snapped back, “You mean, everything happens for a reason” He looked at me right in the eye and said ‘NO! Everything Happens for the BEST’

Who is the author of the creating post? YEP! you guessed it, my COACH! Here is the link to her blog post with the questions to help spark your brain on what you want to create! === > LINK Just in case you were wondering, YES, my coach has niched herself to work with ‘artists’. So much of her language is around artists. If you are a entrepreneur, just change the language from ‘my art to ‘my business’

Back to completing 2017… Here is the Source === > LINK After you take a little time (an hour or so) to complete 2017, NOW you are READY to CREATE 2018! Just think of it like cleaning out your closets. It is best to take EVERYTHING out, so you can SEE it all. Then, only place back into the closet the things you want to keep, and let go of everything else. Which of course gives you room to create and buy new items! Change your wardrobe…etc.

I am creating many new things for 2018 - Here is just a PEAK! - Chat Bot Set Up and Monitoring - Podcast / Radio Show Launching and Marketing - Alexa and Google Home set up (YEP! We will be able to set your podcast up on Alexa and Google Home) Super exciting! - VIP Days - Are you feeling Stuck in your Marketing, Messaging, Sales? I do one-on-one intense Marketing VIP - One-On-One Marketing and Business Implementation Coaching When we are creating we are changing our focus to something else, which means you are leaving or abandoning something else…..

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Life Lesson: What you Focus on Expands!!! If you want your health to improve you focus on your Health. If you want your relationship to improve you focus on your Relationship. If you want your Wealth to Improve, you Focus on selling and helping more people!!! (I bet you thought I was going to state: “focus on your money!” Nope!) As you jump into 2018 and beyond, ask yourself this question: Is what I am doing, Is what I am focusing on feeding my confusion or strengthening my clarity? Go and create, build and focus your time, your attention, your marketing on helping more people. Be You! Be REAL! Be the BOSS of your LIFE! Heather Havenwood Heather Ann Havenwood, is a serial entrepreneur and is regarded as a top authority on digital marketing, sales coaching, and online publishing business strategies. Heather Ann has been named Top 50 Must Follow Women Entrepreneur's for 2017 by Huffington Post. She is also called Chief Sexy Boss™ (from her Amazon BEST SELLER book Sexy Boss™ How Female Entrepreneurship is Changing the Rule Book and Beating the Big Boys

Wilnona Marie

Read her today! On Amazon.

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Marylin Hawes Q: You recently received an influential award how did it feel to have your work finally realized? Oh my goodness I was stunned for days. The votes came in from around the work online. It shows how media spreads our name and work. Votes came in from as far away as New Zealand. At the end of the day this award is not about me it is for recognition of those who are abused and being abused and all we are doing to PREVENT this heinous crime. Q: You have had an interesting story with your family filled with tragedy and

accomplishments. Can you tell us a bit about it? From the moment the police left having told us about the abuse our life went into melt down. It was like a Tsunami. We all held together and every week my husband Roger, their step dad, had a weekly meeting with the children, checking out they were all OK. There were very black moments and when we all felt black at the same time the tension was horrendous, It is amazing we are all SO close emotionally even though one son now lives in New York and my daughter in Singapore all4 of them are in regular contact and fly around the world seeing each other . I raised them to be resilient always saying life is tough but without any knowledge of how tough it would be. In the middle of all this their biological Dad had meningitis and was on life support for 5 years and yet all 4 of the stayed focused and are successful. I have always

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES said NEVER GIVE UP you have to keep swimming to the other side even in rough waters Q: What was your greatest challe nge to getting U K Enough Abuse Up And running? Finding appropri ate trustees and the money we needed to raise before you can be considered a Charity Q: What are four signals you teach parents to look for when it comes to predators? 1. overly exaggerated interest in a child 2. overly exaggerated touch and lap sitting and wrestling games 3. RESPECT your quirky instinct if it feels wrong it probably is wrong! Always ask WHY you feel it and write it down and you see a picture forming 4. exaggerated keenness to have your child alone with them Q: If you could get one peice of legislation through parliament to stop abuse what would your law entail? Sorry there are 2 ! MANDATORY reporting and mandatory eauk training for all parents and all schools Q: When the abuser in your case got a small sentence how did you and your family rally the courage to see true justice done? What words of advice would you give anyone going through a similar situation

Pure white hot anger and the need for true justice. My children had been badly harmed - NOBODY does that. to me The anger was like a laser and very scary it was that or go and punch his lights out permanently! Anyone in this situation FIGHT back on the system if you feel injustice until you use your last breath. I told my boys if I fight back and win all anonymity for our family will be lost and they said DO IT MUM. Mothers are mostly like lionesses and it is a natural response to protect. BUT it takes great tenacity and a steel spine ! Every day I said " I will NOT Be beaten by the system " Q: What should former victims know about reaching out for help? Get help for your mental health sorted and seek a trauma therapy , and someone who deals with the Amygdala and not the thinking frontal part of the brain. Too many counsellors keep taking you back to " that time" and it can exacerbate the problem with flash backs. We use the THIRVE PROGRAMME is has 98.9% success rate - 8 one hour sessions and you are out the other side with a new sunny life ! I have done it and never looked back. THEN you can manage the rest of your life and thinking clearly after the CONFUSING AND PAINFUL fog of abuse. ALSO you cant change the past in ANY part of your life, you can only move forward learning from the past!! so don't become a prisoner of it. These abusers have no shame and all the while you hold it inside, you give the abuser respect still controlled by their voice in your head .Be your own best friend Q: Is your family happy now? Did you get your happily ever after? I am not sure there is happy ever after ; life is what it is and we strive to make the best of everything. We are alive and have no ill health and every day is a blessing. I actually feel blessed I AM HEARD IN OUR GLOBAL PEVENTION MESSAGE AND TAKE THIS INTERVIEW FOR INSTANCE IT IS A GREAT LEGAC . All the children are now happily married , two are parents and all have EXCELLENT professions. 2 sons are Actuaries, one son is a senior manager in public affairs in Westminster and my daughter, is now a Mum of

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES two adorable little ones and has just resigned her job as strategic director for Sheik Mohammed in Dubai.

harm. Abusers tell me parents are naĂŻve, which they are, and leave the door wide open for abusers to walk through laughing as they go.

Happily ever after for me I suppose is - they got through it all and I am hugely proud of them, and thankful to God who watched over us all

Q: How does it feel to be picked as one of the 25 hottest Advocates?

Q: Here is a fun question, if you were stuck on an island and could bring four items for survival and one celebrity what would you bring and who would accompany you? David Attenborough because he could tell me all about the various life on the island and I would never be bored 1. Make up

Oh amazing,I didn't know I had been and am delighted to hear it - goodness !!! Who picked me? People just want a sensible voice with strength and experience of the issues and no mumbo jumbo tell it like it is .BUT I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t keep doing it on NO funding! At times, I spend hours and months helping several people and never does anyone think to donate! We don't have the luxury of a help line. I am GIVING my time to help and over 14 years I have a vast contact list of who to go to.

2. a sharp knife 3. a notepad and pencils so i could draw 4. garlic then anything vile I had to eat could be disguised Q: If you could be guaranteed a broadcast of forty minutes twenty minutes to all predators on children and twenty minutes to all parents what would you tell them? Parents - step up to the line YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for protecting YOUR children from harm so learn ALL you can. Too many parents are just in denial about reality and it is 2018 and unacceptable .A 20 minute talk about good parenting online as well Predators - I would like the conversation to be between them and parents with me introducing , acting as a char person, So parents hear from the abusers WHAT PARENTS should do to prevent

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Brian Banks Q: Can you tell us a little about your job. A creative Government Affairs professional with extensive experience in Advocacy and Communications on the Federal, State, and Local levels. I utilize focused and transparent strategy to provide consistent leadership to build relationships, create rapport with elected officials and their staff, and to market effectively to the appropriate audience. My professional background allows me to engage officials at a higher level because of the diverse background I have in local, state, and federal affairs within the non-profit, and for-profit community. Q: What drove you to want to help the community? In order to be a productive member of the "community" I believe it is my duty to serve others. This was instilled into me by my parents and grand-parents, all serve their community and often put the needs of others before themselves. I personally believe in accessibility that leads to inclusive opportunities and resources, no matter the ethnic background, economic status, or the community one calls home. Q: You teach also, how do you feel that gives back to the community? A good teacher is a better student that has the uncanny ability to listen first and then provide education second. The lesson here is that teaching is an opportunity to shape the minds, ideas and ideals of individuals or a group of people. As a teacher you must have the ability to inspire, and ignite any one scholars lamp of knowledge, all while motivating and impacting a student to go beyond whatever they imagined they could do. If you are able to accomplish this you have obtain success for yourself and others. I teach because I enjoy it and I know I have been give tools to share from great mentors, and life lessons. I feel it is a responsibility to share and allow students to make

informed decisions on how they will utilize the information they learn from me. Q: What has been the most fulfilling experience from your day job and from teaching? Most fulfilling? It is hard to pick just one or two items. I have worked alongside a lot of people, and been able to meet a lot of great people including Presidents, Ambassadors, Celebrities, Professional Athletes, World-Renowned Professors, and GREAT students. I would say in my day job I enjoy the opportunity to influence policy, and persuade others to do what I need them to do because it is good for them and the people around them. I have changed tax codes, spearheaded the implementation and direction of national and world councils, testified before legislators and federal departments, but most of all what I am proud of an what fulfills me is being able to come home to my family knowing the work that I am doing will make the proud. I will say one thing when it comes to teaching, like most professors what makes you proud is when students GET IT, they may struggle, and not understand early on in a lesson but when you see the light bulb go on and they demonstrate their understanding through assignments, or test it makes your proud and happy for them. That is a great feeling. Q: Why did you pick a junior college for your teaching passion? I have had the opportunity to teach, and lecture at most of the major universities in the Washington, D.C. region. From that I have learn a lot of great things, and have grown as a professor. I teach at a Junior College because I enjoy the diversity of students. I teach traditional students that are fresh out of high school, and students in their careers, and some students that are retired. I have the opportunity to get to know a lot of people and I enjoy the diversity in thought, and background that I encounter from semester to semester. Q: If you could create any legislation knowing that it would become law without veto possibility what law would you write to change one thing in American society? Why?

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

My law would revolve around the safety and well being of others. EVERYTHING that crossed your mind that hurts progress would be wrapped up into the Bill, and it would be the responsibility of the government to simply make life easier, fair, and equitable for all. I would call it, "The Fair Chance Law", I'm not saying everyone would have the same thing but they all would truly have the chance to accomplish greatness without worrying about where their next healthy meal is coming from, or how to study with outdated books, or no books. Or can I go to the movies and not have to worry about being shot. This is what some would call a pipe-dream and they may be right, BUT the reality is there are countries out there that do a better job than our country in ensuring the best for their citizens. And crime is at a minimum, people are healthy, and are educated at a high level. Maybe this will happen in America one day, maybe not. The reality is we have the knowledge and the money to do anything we just won't do it because of greed and power. Q: As a teacher, what is your outlook on the American future workforce? It's impossible for me to answer this question as only a teacher. Being ingrained into policy and government affairs, and a student of government I see the direction we as a country are moving in. Unfortunately many scholars, and professionals are not looking at how our country and world is moving in the 21st century, thus they tend to only focus on their profession without the realization that sectors must work together to obtain success. People must have contextual intelligence, simply put the understanding of differences and weak points must be understood and appreciated, this

will allow a person or a group of people to bring different sectors together to solve real problems. Q: What cause do you feel doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t receive the needed attention? There is a laundry list of causes that receive a lack of attention or misdirected attention. I could go on forever about the environment, health-care, public education, infrastructure, etc., etc. However in this United States of America the African-American community often receives little credit and attentions on issues that directly affect them in a negative way, some of those issues are government created and that is sad. If I take it a step further I am not just talking poor people, and safety-net programs which I should add are used by all backgrounds. I am talking fair and equitable treatment rather it's in the boardroom, or just walking down the street or driving a car. I LOVE the fact that as a Black male I was blessed with being born into adversity, this helps me work through issues without hesitation and without being flustered. My community is not perfect, but what community is? But we are proud, educated, and more than capable. Pay attention America and you will not only see positivity but you will feel it and be appreciative beaus it will flow back to you. Q: Has there ever been a time you were in awe of the people in the room you were sitting in? Hmm. No. I don't get excited about the people I am around. I do enjoy taking in their wisdom and sharing it with others. People are people and I respect who they are and what they have to offer.

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES Q: If you could accomplish one last feat before you had to retire what would you do? Great question. I am building on a solid foundation. And I am not half way to accomplishing all I would like. Only time will tell where I go and what the next great "feat" will be. Q: Why did you choose to be both an advocate and a teacher?

the expectation of being acknowledged. So I accept this honor on behalf of them. I accept this on behalf of hard-working parents and grandparents, single moms, and single dads, non-profits, and for-profits that are given back. I accept this with my fist held high and powerful in the air, I accept this honor on behalf of my ancestors that paved the way. I am honored to have the honor to thank others for all they do.

I am more than and advocate, I am the man with the will-power to move forward in a positive manner to create opportunity and manifest positive change. The word advocate is often frowned on because people think of that person banging down doors and making demands. I do advocate but I am very strategic in my approach and this is based on my analysis and knowing all sides of the issues rather I agree or disagree, this helps me shape the policy needed or sometimes not needed to move whatever agenda forward I am working on. As for being a teacher we are all teachers, we all inform and persuade, and educate, for me I just enjoy sharing myself with people and all I have learned should not be bottled up but shared. I go beyond the book in all I do. I find it helpful for myself and others. Q: If you had a half hour on prime time TV uninterrupted to sway American hearts what would you talk about and why? I've been here and I have talked about all kind of issues. But if I had a choice I would sway people to take time and read, and gain an understanding of the issues that affect them and their families. If people really knew what was going on they would make the right decisions in their personal life, their community and at the voting booth. Q: How do you feel about being on the 25 hottest advocates list? It always an honor and humbling to be recognized in a positive way. I am thankful, and likely I am not the most well-deserved to be on the list. There are a lot of people out there doing great work without

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

r T e i d

s d n e

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES Fashion Trends 2017 & 2018 At suzyqjewels we are on top of trends before they come out so for 2017 it was rose appliquĂŠs on everything, lace detail jeans,tops, ripped jean jackets, tassels, bell sleeves and faux furs and sequence in gold and silver detail that came back for the holidays.

2018- what's making it big for 2018 is bows, bows & bows on tops, shoes and belts, clear heels are making a big come back so it looks like your walking in air, long tassel earrings and floral channel inspired classics are back. To learn More go to SuzyQjewels.com

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Poetry Contest Winner Editors: We want to thank all the participants for submitting their poems & the panel of judges for reading through them. Congratulations to Alison Wheaton

A Benediction of the Canonization of R.W. Martin Eleven years of faint howls, flashes of love remembered, faint ghosts haunting hallways speckled with cobwebs. Their existence screams to be removed by a hand, gentle or brusque, and here I stand amongst the choking dust, surrounded by creaking corridors, abandoned to phallic embrace, alone. One night’s what’s offered, and in these parched lands, mirages are as welcome as actual relief. Be it beauty in the mind’s eye or in that of the beholder, something concrete, bolted to life, inside its consequences. “Here I am, in my exposed state! Me and my exposure, in all its truth-bearing, its hope and its contradictory disappointment over the horizon!” I shout for him to hear, for me to hear, for the hallways to hear, for the echoes to warn apparitions and neglected side effects alike. The touch, this touch, this mist of cleansing potential slowly penetrates the ideals of chosen aloneness to find writhing ecstasy on the other side. Specters of the past can be heard running for cover, can be seen cowering in corners until the earthquake passes. They are the ones in fear, they are the ones that cry and howl in agony as joy becomes their exorcision, the antidote to the host body that shall be regaled as her favorite anecdote in future hen conversations. Chanting above the memories that silently broke her brain, that creaked within the creases, covered in dust, grime, guilt, humiliation, and dirty accusations by the residue of pain, smoothed away by micromotions until the mind gleams anew. What once was a haven for the howling hauntings shines bright and unspoiled. A canal of cleanliness, begotten by the act of sin, wiped clean with the feverish ferocity of lover’s lust. The apparitions of unwanted advances, stuffed into a back room; the solicitation of one’s sexual soul, scrubbed away by soft words; the spirits of sinners’ forced desires, polished with the elbow grease of an amor determined to make her shine like a beacon again.

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Free 30 Minute Webinar

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Dawn Singh Q: The idea of Indie Fest where did that come from? I had applied for one of the authors for my publishing house to attend a literary festival and it was just ridiculous. They were basically weeding out anyone who wasn't from one of the big publishing houses. unless you had sold hundreds of thousands of books or were a celebrity, it was a real jumping through hoops process. I decided that we needed a festival for those authors who had brilliant books but were starting out or weren't from one the big publishers. So, I did. The first UK Indie Lit Fest was in July 2016. I wanted a festival which readers and writers could attend for free, meet readers, authors, Skype international authors, attend workshops and readings and just have a great time discovering new books. Q: Are you astonished at how the festival has grown each year? Yes. I still can't quite believe it. The first year we had around 25 attending authors from all over UK. We had a little church hall with a room for workshops. In 2017 we had the beautiful Kala Sangam in the center of the city, we had nearly 40 authors and we have Ingram Spark along as sponsors as well as my own Publishing house Follow This Publishing. The event attracted people from all over the UK and we had over 400 visitors throughout the day. Q: Why did you start writing? I started writing as an escape. It's an angst-ridden clichĂŠ I know but it's true. I read everything I could as a child. By the time I was 11 I had read all the children's books and all of the teen section at my local library and started in on the adult books. The idea of been transported to another time and place appealed greatly to me. I wrote a book at 10, which I think my mum might still have, called Hippos in the House. My next attempt was poetry, in my Sylvia Plath phase, and it was published in an

anthology of pieces written by school children. I wrote another novel at 13, which I re-read, decided was rubbish and threw in the bin. I started again in 2005 and never looked back. Q: If you could trade places with any of your characters which character would you choose? Would you change anything in their stories? I love Regina and would l would love to swap with her as she has some amazing powers like flight, super-strength, speed and loads of other cool stuff, I could change her story I would give her a happier story. Poor Regina has a really rough life and stuff just piles up as she goes along. Q: What does it take to pull off the indie festival each year? No sleep. Just kidding. We have now become a Community Interest Company, which means I now have a board of directors to help me, which is really nice. It is quite a large undertaking. All of us work

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES full-time as well as organizing the event so we all work evenings and weekends as well as holidays to make this happen. As we as are non-profit, we have to secure funding as soon as the event has finished for the following year. We liaise with authors, roll out social media campaigns, manage press releases, liase withe authors, coordinate mini pop-up events to promote the festival, recruit and organise volunteers and much, much more.... Like I said ...no sleep! Q: Writing isn’t your only profession, how do you balance your careers? It's very hard...I know that's the wrong thing to say but it's true. I work with children with challenging behavioral and emotional needs Monday to Friday, I run Follow This Publishing with my husband, I write and I am the director for the Lit Fest. oh yeah and I have 3 teenagers. It's a balancing act that I get wrong a lot because I'm not Wonder Woman but I have great support. My fellow directors at the Lit Fest are getting into the swing of things this year and have really stepped up and help a lot. It helps that we all really like each other and take on each other’s tasks when they have other commitments, we're a a little Lit family and I love it. With my publishing company my husband runs a lot of the day to day aspects which is a huge help. we also have wonderful assistants who are worth their weight in gold. My biggest help is my family. My kids and husband have supported me from the get-go, they come along to my events, volunteer at the festivals and pop-up events, fold endless leaflets and just rock in general. Q: How did you start your own publishing company? What are some great books coming out in 2018? I was signed to a small publishing in 2104, they had just started up and it was tiny. I was the first writer they signed and was super excited. Unfortunately the CEO's wife got sick and Michael, my publisher, decided to fold the company. It was close to my release date so not ideal at all. He

suggested that I could do it myself, so I took on the company name and we've gone from strength to strength. Some new releases this year from Follow This Publishing are: Emy gets a sister” by Chris Turnball, this is his second children’s book and his first was amazing so we have a lot of tiny people who are excited for that. I have Before Death coming out at the start of 2018, which is all about Death and who he was before he get the job. I will also be releasing the last book in the Regina trilogy by the end of the year. We also have a few other releases from some up and coming authors which re under wraps for the moment watch this space. Q: Have you ever read a manuscript you just had to have? Yes and luckily I have secured them all. The first author I signed after taking over Chris Turnbull. He sent me The Vintage coat, which is a novel about a man who comes across and old army jacket which enables him to travel back to 1943. It hit me like... WOW! There have been more since then but that was my first author and so it will always be a special find. Q: If you could collaborate with any author who would it be? What story would you write? I would love to collaborate with Sherri Wingler. She is a fantastic talent and is tearing up the indie YA scene with her “Immortal sorrows” series. Her character depth is superb and her ability to draw in the reader is unparalleled. I'm a total fan-girl for anything she writes. Q: Which Indie Author would you like to have at your festival? It would have to be Sherri Wingler again, I would love to pick her brains and from her books and character building. Q: How does it feel to be selected as one of 25 hottest creators?

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES Surreal if I'm honest. I think like most women in the world I just get on with it and sometimes when someone points out what you've achieved it's like. huh! I really did do that. It is also a fantastic honor obviously and I'm really excited about it too.

Having my own network was never a part of my business plan. One of the guest hosts on my show asked me to assist her in producing a show for her. Once we filmed the pilot episodes, she realized that she didn’t have anywhere to put it. At the time, my signature show Living 365 was on a women’s network that wouldn’t target the mixed gender audience the show host was looking for. She asked me why I couldn’t start my own network and me being me, couldn’t really come up with a reason for something not to be possible. Within 3 weeks my business partner built the platform and the 365 TV Network was born. Q: Did you have any experience beforehand with broadcast television? Other than being accepted into college to study

Indie TV Star

Priya Ali

Q: How did you get started having your own television network?

radio and television broadcasting, no I had absolutely no experience whatsoever. My parents denied me the option of pursuing the field, due to the failing economy and redirected me into the accounting program. , Q: Have you considered telling your story, if so, how would you do it? I have most definitely considered telling my story and taken that a step further by writing my first book, which will be released later this year. Q: Does being a TV host give you a leg up in interviews when you are the interviewee? Sometimes it can give me a leg up because I can sense where the questions will go and what the interviewer is looking for. On the flip side, I can

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES redirect the conversation with an interviewer to support the message I am looking to convey. Q: How do you balance Success and family life? Prioritization is key, as well as being able to assess the needs of your business and your family and knowing where to place your attention when it is needed. It’s a juggling act and I have definitely dropped a ball or two in my time, but I strive to bring the best of me to both areas of my life and to serve them both equally. Q: Have you ever had a moment when you were such a fan girl about your interviewee? Yes, I was afforded the opportunity to interview Michie Mee, a female pioneer in Canadian Rap/Dancehall, who came on the scene in the 80’s. As the daughter of immigrants from Guyana, South America it was so impressive to hear this woman using Jamaican patois in her lyrics. I was a teen when her music started coming out and found someone I could identify with and offer me a chance for a sense of belonging. When I obtained the opportunity to interview her a couple of years ago, I was so in awe of being in her presence and as she represented acceptance to me as well a concrete example of a minority woman succeeding in the business world. Q: In the next five years where do you see 365 tv network? It may be shocking to hear, but in 5 years the 365 TV Network will likely no longer exist. As an entrepreneur that lives on the cutting edge of evolution and development, I am sure there will be another forum or platform that I will be using to share my message and accomplish my purpose. Q: You have a book coming up what can we expect from that story? You can expect to learn some of my most profound lessons in life, tips to conduct business with integrity, how to create possibilities when you can’t see them, as well as some juicy personal bits from my life. Q: What can we expect next from you and 365 TV network?

You can expect continued acceptance of everyone, an effort to enhance the lives of human kind with a splash of entertaining excitement. Q: How did you feel when you were selected to be one of the 25 hottest indie artists? I am overwhelmingly honored to be selected as one of the 25 hottest indie artists. Although I may not fit the bill of the traditional “artist” and am more likely recognized as an advocate, being selected has allowed me to identify the art in what I do. I am sincerely humbled and grateful to be recognized in this capacity, and am now even more inspired and dedicated to continuing on with my life purpose in assisting others on the path to enhancing and enlightening their lives and leading them to Living 365. Finding time to write and present a show is a matter of scheduling and planning my time. I plan my talk time and I plan my writing time. Nothing is left to chance. I've tried going without planning before, but then life gets in the way and nothing gets done. If I plan for both, I make time for both, and I can also plan all the other things that need to be done at the same time. I learned to read at age 4 and read absolutely everything that had any hint of print on it. Writing came as a natural extension of that love of reading. I started journaling at age 13 as a way to bring some sanity to the craziness of my life. It wasn't I was 30 that I made a commitment to myself to write my first book through National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Once I saw I could do it, even if it wasn't a publishable book, it only took me 4 years after that to write my next one, and I haven't stopped writing books since then. I published my first book in 2012, started a writer's group and began working with other writers in 2013, and haven't looked back. It's an amazing thing. That is a tough call. I think at this point in time the person I would want to interview most would be Joss Whedon, the writer behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and a whole series of other incredible productions. I would want to find out how I can get him on my show!!

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Brandy Miller My dream job in the entertainment world is to be a Writer/Producer. I have a vision of producing the 40 Day Writer Reality TV series where 40 writers compete over 40 days to finish, polish, and pitch their books to publishers who then compete, Shark Tank style, for the rights to publish those works. I also have several books that I want to turn into movies. One thing I learned early on, which I talk about in my book, The Write Time: How to find all the time you need to write a book, is about learning to combine activities. There are plenty of ways to combine activities so that you can get more accomplished with less time spent and without sacrificing quality for either. For example, you definitely need to eat each day and you need to invest time in your family and friends. Use meal times to spend with family so you're getting that quality time in with them while satisfying your nutritional needs. What I would tell others who want to pursue a career as a writer or as a show presenter is this: Commit 100%. Don't waste your time or your energy trying to build back doors, bridges, and ways out "just in case". You'll only disperse the energy you have to bring to your dreams and you won't get anything accomplished in the meantime. The second thing I would tell them is that you need to get very clear about why you want to do this, and that why needs to be so big that when you find yourself curled up in a ball, crying because the road's hard and you're not sure why you're putting yourself through this anymore, you can reflect on that why and find the courage you need to get back up and keep going. What you are doing is important work that shapes not only this generation but every generation to follow, but you need to know why it is worth doing it and worth making the sacrifices and fighting the battles you'll have to fight to make things work for you.

It's an incredible thing to have been chosen as one of the hottest indie podcasters for this article. I really am honored to have been chosen and am excited about the potential for what this podcast can do for current writers and for the aspiring author who hasn't yet had the courage to step up and let their voice be heard. I truly believe it's going to forever change the way people see writing and publishing.

Paige Engle You have been with a traditional publisher, now you are indie why is that? Which do you prefer? The decision on which publishing option to choose is a very personal and strategic one. It really depends on the goals for your business, brand and your book. I am now in the indie space for the flexibility and creativity latitude that it provides to me and my ideas. I love being able to make most of the decisions and the ability to react quickly in the marketplace.

You have helped many authors become bestsellers even New York Times Bestsellers, why do you think you have been so successful? I have developed a system and implemented strategies that are able to be duplicated. This is so important in a marketplace that is changing and evolving every day. I pride myself on staying up to date with the changes and anticipating what will happen in the future for my clients.

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES You wrote about traveling alone, what do you feel every woman should know if she travels alone? My best selling book ‘The Ultimate Guide to Safe Travel for Women’, is a manual on how women can travel alone and feel confident while doing so. My best advice is to plan ahead, be aware of your surroundings and to have fun. Do you feel traveling and learning another language have helped you be a good writer? Absolutely!! I speak 4 languages, 2 of them fluently and this ability has definitely helped me as a writer. I am able to use common words from other languages (expanded vocabulary) and incorporate that into my writing. I totally enjoy being a wordsmith & having fun with language. Where should a novice traveler go to I’m France? Every neophyte to France should at least spend three or four days in Paris. Although Paris does not represent most lifestyles in France, it is a great place to start to discover the heritage, history and architecture of this amazing country the size of Texas. Why did you choose to write a travel Book? Travel is my passion and Paris is my second home. I have been lucky enough to have traveled to more than 20 countries and 300+ cities worldwide. I love being able to give my readers tips and tricks to make their travel memories more rewardable and safe.

knowledge, expertise and system could assist them in doing just that. I adore being able to see an author become a bestselling author and learn how to leverage their book project to build their brand and generate income. What has been your greatest accomplishment so far? Personally, it is my daredevil son! Professionally, becoming a #1 Bestselling Author in the Travel Niche. Where Do you see yourself in the next five years? In five years, I see myself continuing to live the life that I have created for myself. By being the best wife, mother, traveler and writer that I can be. How many authors have you helped get on the bestseller list? Currently to date I have helped 21 authors become bestselling authors and have 7 more slated for 2018. How do you feel about being selected as one of the 25 hottest creator? I am so honored to be selected among the 25 Hottest Creators. This is truly an amazing list of value driven creatives, authors and entrepreneurs. Thank you so much for the inclusion. Wishing you much success in all of your future projects.

Do you think you will ever write a fiction? If so what would it be about? Yes! I am currently in talks about creating a Bilingual Children’s book series. I am super excited. How did you start your strategy business? My Publishing and Branding Strategy business started out of sheer grit & frustration. I kept encountering authors who were not as successful as they could have been with their writing projects simply because did it not have the basic author platform foundations in place. I knew that my

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Q: What got you started in relationship coaching? My own disastrous story, I struggled with relationships for years, well into my 30's. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just say I made every mistake for you. I dated players, men who would not commit, controlling men and so on. As a child, I didn't see love as happy ever after but more of a miserable experience.

Lorna Poole Q: This is a new year. What can Women do to find love in 2018? Focus on growth, get better at what you do. Learn how to be a great first date, great conversati onalist, great at choosing the right g u y . Learning how to heal your heart, or whatever that one thing is that will drastically change your love life for good. Learn, learn, learn and take actions from what you learn. See it as practice. This has changed my life and will change yours too, if you do it! Quickest way to falling in love with the right guy is getting focused on the how.

I wanted the kind of love most people don't have. Equally attracted to each other, totally in love, masculine, handsome guy, I was really attracted too, who would make a great partner and husband. The guy who "gets me", gives me freedom in the relationship to be me and is also loving, supportive and intimate who I connect with as my best friend, lover and husband. I think my burning desire created my now reality. Q: Has your business ever had an effect on your life? It has helped me to grow into a better person than where I was when I started this journey to become and be more. I love the challenges I face, and overcoming them. There is a great satisfaction in accomplishing. Q: You lived in both Ireland and the US how does the culture differ? I love the USA, you can tell anyone in the USA you want to fly to the moon and they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t look at you and laugh they say go do it! I love the cute little authentic restaurants and pubs here. I think our cultures are slightly different but ultimately, fundamentally all humans at their core are the same. In my experience like attracts like and I have found in both countries I tend to attract similar personalities or traits in the people I associate with. Q: Have you been able to find love? How does it feel to have the one? Great, I feel great. I feel happy and content as I feel happiness comes from positive memories, my life was not always this way so I really can see the

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES difference. I go out with a great guy and love my baby girl. I love my little life! Q: Where did you meet the love of your life? Online. I am a big advocate for online but in saying this, I feel as a person I had become the woman who could attract a great guy at that point, doing what I told you earlier I just focused my energy on becoming more this changed my life. And when I grew my confident, believed I could have what I wanted, showed up professionally, it clicked. Q: What has been the greatest accomplishment during your years as a coach? My married and engaged clients as well as my clients who are in long-term love. That feels better than anything you achieve personally, like your own relationship. To give it to someone else, amazing! To see your client starting to trust themselves, see that they are beautiful as they are, to see that they can meet a quality guy and start their own family. I met two babies this year and another wedding in 2018, I’m beyond proud!

Q: What was the one thing you looked forward too when you were single about a future relationship? Enjoying the getting to know you stage, kissing loads of handsome boys. If I was to tell my younger self-anything is fall in love lots of times. It’s so good!! Q: What has been your most hilarious date? The time I dated in the USA and the guy gave me a brief on how you’re supposed to date, as we don’t really date in Ireland, so this was new to me. I learned a lot about letting the man plan the date, open your car door, pay for the meal etc. It was amazing. We date here but it is more of a protocol in the USA. That was funny! We had a good laugh after and I was so embarrassed. Q: How does it feel to be picked as one of the 25 hottest indie thinkers? Very privileged, and thank you so much. Ever grateful. xx

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Sheila Anderson You are known as a stylist, but you are super smart, does either attribute get in the way of the other?

No, not at all. You can be a smart stylist! In all seriousness, one needs to be smart and savvy to get ahead in any business. But I will tell you there are times when I am so focused on how something looks, that I need to step back and remember function first and then how it looks is next. That is true for everything in any design field. It has to be functional first and then aesthetically appealing. As an image consultant, I may be drawn to the aesthetic first, and then have to step back to determine functionality. You built a business out of a problem you saw, was it harder than you thought to actuate the solution? If so, why or why not? It was extremely difficult. I had no idea how to begin or what resources were available. This was before the internet! In the

1980s and 1990s I was limited by what society offered in terms of clothing in size 12 on up. I have always had to deal with a weight challenge. I tried to fight it for years, hiding behind clothing that only made me look bigger and truly hid who I was. I felt invisible. I wanted to be noticed. I wanted to be seen just like the “normal girls.” I was mad at the clothing industry for not designing stylish clothing for anyone over a size 14. In fact, I would like to see the industry go away from labeling it plus size. It is a size just like 2 or 6. There is no reason whatsoever to label it a plus size. We don’t say normal sizing for anything under a size 14. If the size on the tag bothers you, I always tell people to simply cut it out. No one is going to ask you what size you wear. Well, besides an image consultant who is working with you. It doesn’t matter the size. It matters how you look in the clothing. So there were many internal feelings that finally came to the surface that made me mad; mad enough to figure out how to dress the body I had. I buried myself in fashion magazines and watched how celebrities dressed. From a very early age, I was in tune

with how things looked and what made them visible. I am very artistic. So my creative side felt stifled by not being able to dress or present myself in a way that I felt internally. Over several years, I evolved. I took chances on putting things together. I made mistakes. I tell my clients all the time I would rather you take a risk and get it all wrong than to do nothing at all. And so it began. I was on a quest to make myself visible. People started noticing and then people asked me to help them. When did you know you had made it? Tell us that story: I do not think one ever really thinks “they make it.” I believe we all continue to evolve and grow. I am constantly furthering my education and knowledge base by taking courses, reading blogs and books, listening to podcasts, and simply talking to others. I am in constant state of awareness. But to answer your question, I would have to say the greatest feeling of triumph came most recently when I published my first book. To open that box of your own books for the very first time was overwhelming but certainly a very proud moment. You recently wrote your first book, is that different from dominating the business world of style?

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES It goes hand-in-hand. Writing a book is a way for you to be seen as a thought leader in your industry. It showcases your thoughts and beliefs. It will help you be visible. It is a business tool to helping you dominate your industry. What is the oddest way you have acquired a client? Does my husband count? He may be my m o s t challenging client. Similar to how one tends to not listen to their own mom, such can be the case with a spouse. For years he watched me put together my own style while he was quite happy with his own, which was quite ordinary. He did have strong opinions on what I wore or picked out. As I went through my style journey, I became confident in what I was choosing for myself. I was getting noticed and that confidence was internalized. He was ready to have that same confidence and started asking me questions on what looked best. Did he always listen? No, of course not! We both have come a long way and there are times when he picks out things better than I do. You just never know, he may be my next image partner!

Your favorite aspect of the job what is it and why? Watching someone come to life when we bring out their inner persona and express it in its true sense outwardly in all ways. There is nothing greater than seeing the impact on someone’s life both personally and professionally when they

have an overall confidence in who they are and the values they bring to others. The building of self-worth is an incredible feeling. If someone else’s wanted to break into the field what would the number one piece of advice? Be a good student. Take in as much information as you can. Study, study, study! Then do it your way. I like to think of it like a buffet, pick what areas, services, and advice resonate with you and then focus on

those. You don’t have to be good at everything. Pick one or two things you would like to do in the image or impression management field and do those VERY well. Then put your flair on it. An extra piece of advice, do not compare yourself. While it is good and necessary to keep an eye on any competition, remember no one is you What has been your greatest setback w h i l e operating your image c o n s u lt a n t business? Overall it is quite simply the time and effort it takes to getting things rolling as is the case with any business. We live in an instant society so we are used to things moving quickly. That is not always true when starting and cultivating a business. We want things to happen quicker so it can be disheartening when it does not. Perseverance is key. How do you explain what you do to potential clients? “I make you visible in the space you want to own.” That is what I tell people I do when they ask me. They typically then ask how I do that.

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES If you could work with just one celebrity who would it be and why? Adele. I love how she embraces her body and really does not care what others think it should be. She adorns herself very well with garments that flatter her and speak to her inner essence. Her stage clothing is spot on! I would like to see a little more of this carried over into her every day look.

How do you feel being selected as one of the 25 hottest indie thinkers? Who wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be thrilled to be on any list of the 25 hottest?! I am actually quite flattered and find it an honor. I hope my story inspires somebody in a way that helps them move forward in whatever capacity they desire. I want everyone to succeed.

Right now who has the greatest positive impact on your life? My former business partner, Kathy. We were partners in a style business for several years and continue to be each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatest cheerleaders. She is truly my best friend and the one who challenges me to do more and encourages me to be more in every aspect of my life, not just in the image business.

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Up & Coming Indie Artists

Jonas and Ren (1) As someone starting out in the creative world how do you see the current landscape of the literary world? Rachel I've been writing throughout my whole life, and I think its wonderful. Writing, not even creatively, is so great for everyone in any place in their life. I love the accessibility and openness of our literary world today, and I can't wait to see it expand even more. Jonas: I think the number of people with stories to tell and the number of ways to tell those stories are both greater than they've ever been. There's so much out there to explore and hear and read, and it's only going to keep growing. (2) Where do you plan on making your home in the vast world of writing? Rachel I've tried my hand at many different types of writing, but the one I've stuck with is writing music and songs. I've been a songwriter for almost 5 years now, but only seriously for about 2.5. It gives me an outlet for emotions and stress that nothing else does. (3)Who are your influences? Rachel: My influences have been from all over. For music, it has been writers like Birdy, Kipyn Martin, and Ruth B. When it comes to literary writing, I love reading Rupi Kaur, Lang Leav, and Emily Dickinson. Jonas: The books I read as a kid were Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Hunger Games and other YA. Later I got into authors like Douglas Adams, David Wong, Neil Gaiman, and Terry Pratchett, and I still count all of them on my list today.

4) If you could meet one famous person alive or dead who would it be? Why them? What would you two discuss? Rachel: Probably the musician Mika. I loved his music style when I was younger and I think his personality is crazy and wonderful. He is also a cool example of how an artist's style can change over time and still be their authentic self. He seems so lovely, but that he could give great advice. Plus, he speaks a bunch of languages and I think that's awesome. Jonas: I'd love to have lunch with Douglas Adams. I think it'd be a blast, just talking about society and everyday life (5) What do you hope to accomplish during your career? Rachel: More than anything, I'd love to just be able to help other people. I've been in some really, really tough places in my life and I don't want anyone to have to feel that way. Or at least, I hope they know that they aren't alone and that there's an outlet for all that pain. Jonas: Telling good stories, and lots of them (6) What is your predictions for publishing & writing over the next decade? Rachel: I'm a little sad to see the world of creative literature get so digital, but I know that it's inevitable. I love print publications more than anything, but I think it's so great that through the internet, people are able to share their art with many more people. Community can be a really wonderful thing. Jonas: Obviously, there's been a big shift into digital and cross-media, ebooks and audiobooks and audio dramas and that kind of thing, and I think that's going to continue. Multiplatform

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES Jonas: Rowling, Gaiman, or maybe Denis Villeneuve.

(9)How do you feel about being selected as one of the 25 hottest up and coming artist? Rachel: It's amazing! I feel a little unworthy but so honored and grateful. A lot has changed for me in the past year, and I'm super happy to be a part of this. Jonas::Is it getting hot in here? Feels kinda hot. :)

experiences and those sorts of connections. Hopefully, I'll be along for the ride.

(7) So far What is you biggest accomplishment? Rachel: Probably getting to play my original music at Merriwether Post Pavillion. It was terrifying but incredible and I learned so much from it. Jonas: Other than the work I've accomplished on my own, I'm immensely proud of my college's award-winning literary magazine, Amaranth, which I was the editor-in-chief of from 2015 to 2017.

(10) If you could do a duet with a current top charter who would it be? What type of song would you write? Rachel: There's so many I would choose, but if I had to pick one it would be Pentatonix, the acapella group. They're so incredibly talented and they know so much about music. I also love that they are all so themselves and don't let anyone change. All over, I hope. Some stories need to be told in certain ways, and I'm always looking to expand. But since I was a kid, novels have been my go-to.

(1) Which hero of yours could you meet and know that you had reached the pinnacle of your career? Rachel: I'm not sure, really. Probably anyone who writes or performs music professionally in the worldwide sense. I have a ton of respect for people who can set things aside and pursue their real dreams above all obstacles.

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Q: So who is Dr. Ande? A: That’s me. Some of the people I’ve worked with started calling me that and it stuck. So they started using the the catch phrase, “what would Dr. Ande do?” Q: How long have you been in the literary and entertainment industry? A: I’ve been a speaker, entertainer, spokesperson, model, actor and radio talk show host for over 25 years. I wrote my first award-winning essay in 1st grade and received my first award for filmmaking in 3rd grade. Q: You’re also an actor? A: Yes, the bug to get on stage in front of others started in preschool with my performing a Hawaiian hula dance. This later lead to my performing in the opera Aida and doing a Spanish language play called Bodas de Sangre (Bloody Matrimony) in high school. Q: And you model. A: I was one of California’s first specialty models which started off doing in-house modeling gigs for the USAF Base Exchange then I got an agent and landed my being a spokesperson for GMAC MasterCard and promoting the Penn and Teller college tour.

time doing the traditional publishing route; so I started Oubliette Publishing in 2007. Q: That’s pretty bold; how did you know what you were doing? A: I have been writing and editing papers since the 1st grade; then in high school I several “letters-to-the-editor” that got published (and also garnered some very angry responses!) I enjoyed journalism and joined the school newspaper and was made Sports Editor. After that I went on to learn magazine publishing in college where I also worked as a reporter. Then I was hired to train others in “typesetting” for an LGBT newspaper called “Mom Guess What”. I even wrote some movie reviews for the paper while I was there. So for me publishing a book wasn’t a large leap. Q: So what else are you doing? A: Currently, I host the, “Iolande Argent Show” (www.iolandeargentshow.com), where I do industry interviews with experts and influencers that assist speakers, authors; musical acts and filmmakers grow their brand, promote their books and increase their incomes. The show is a podcast heard globally, a vidocast on Youtube and a TV broadcast shown in Sacramento, CA on channel 18. Q: Wow, that’s a lot. Anything else going on? A: I’ve also created several virtual and live events to offer international exposure and networking opportunities for those involved. I started in 2016 with the Women’s Virtual Success Summit, which featured influencers from 7 continents!!!) and the IVA’s Virtual SelfPublishing Summit.

Q: So what made you start Oubliette Publishing? A: I had written a book but I didn’t want to waste

I helped organized the 2017 I n s p i r a t i o n a l Women in Literature Conference (which included brilliant virtual speakers including the

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES editor of the Guardian).

(Ivasco.org) I am passionate about helping others with literacy and through the programs that’s just what’s done. The group helps people learn to create their own “books” and tell their own stories in their own words. We work to serve the under served communities to get published and promotion. When I’m not doing that or working on a film you can also check out my status or podcasts to see what’s next. If you are seeking a fiery, passionate trainer or entertaining keynote speaker you may contact her office at: 916.800.2633 or email her at: contact_iva@iolandeargent.com.

I was a headlining speaker for the 2016 HAES Live (Health at Every Size) in Sacramento, CA and hosted the Women’s Business Virtual Success Summit in 2017. I will also be reprising her role as co-organizer and speaker at the 2018 Inspirational Women in Literature Conference to be held live in Sacramento, CA and tentatively features speakers from Hulu™ and Netflix™ and returning speaker from the Guardian. Q:Soisthereanything you’ve left out? You’ve got so much going on when do you sleep? A: I take cat naps. Helping people step up to the podium and get their passion on has always been my thing. I was in Toastmasters and received my C o m p e t e n t Communicator certification and was a group President and PR person helping to elevate groups to the distinguished level. In 2017 I started a non-profit, Iolande V. Argent Services Co.

25 HOTTEST INDIE: AUTHORS | ARTISTS | ADVOCATES

Conference,Podcast, Internet Channel, Reality Tv Show www.andwethought.com / Email: Ladies@andwethought.com

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