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Interviewing Lillian Brummet and Lillian Interviewing me: Author Interview Exchange #4

Boobie Babble Author Interview #4

Dave and Lillian Brummet have been writing professionally since 1999 - to date, they have written 3 published books. The main focus of their books, blogs, newsletter and radio program is to inspire hope in individuals, helping them realize the value of their efforts and encouraging them to become more positive, proactive in life.
The Brummet's Conscious Blog:
The Brummet's Conscious Blog - where you will find the eco-tip of the day, quote of the day and many resources for green living. You will also see inspiring positive environmental news and updates on the Conscious Discussions and Authors Read radio shows. You'll also find an insider's view into the world of writing, and links to everything the Brummet's have to offer: http://consciousdiscussions.blogspot.com


Conscious Discussions Radio:
Conscious Discussions Radio is an hour long talk show that celebrates individuals around the world who are working to make the world a better place. Conscious Discussions is not about pointing fingers - it is about celebrating individuals who are stepping up and doing proactive things. www.brummet.ca/conscious.html

Trash Talk - An Inspirational Guide to Saving Time and Money through Better Waste and Resource Management discusses the 4-R’s of waste management and the proper order for them. This being Refuse, Reduce, Reuse Then Recycle… before we even consider sending the item to the trash bin. Trash Talk focuses on the third R, Reuse – which also saves people a lot of money (through reduced shopping, reduced utility bills...) and provides a way to make a real and measurable contribution towards a healthier planet. The book enables readers to feel more positive in life and leave a lasting legacy. Trash Talk is currently available in both paperback format & will soon be updated and released in the upcoming Trash Talk - Its Easy Being Green e-book series. Details at: www.brummet.ca/trashtalk.html

Towards Understanding, revised edition is a collection of 125 non-fiction poems written in chronological order. It is a true story of a young pre-teen female growing up on her own, struggling to survive, breaking the chains of inner demons and finally growing towards understanding of her value & purpose in life – but not quite reaching it. Thus the title… Towards Understanding. The reason behind the book was to show other victims of abuse, violence and neglect that they can live a wholesome life without baggage from the past. Second to that Lillian wanted to provide a roadmap that showed the healing process that victims go through, letting others know they are not alone. People who are involved with victims can learn what that person is going through or will go through and therefore they might be able to provide a better support system. The original version of this book (with 120 poems) is still available in paperback through most online and retail bookstores. The new revised edition offers 5 new poems, creating an ending the author is more comfortable with, and updated author information. Details at: www.brummet.ca/towards.html


Purple Snowflake Marketing - How To Make Your Book Stand Out In A Crowd, is a reference guide for self-marketing authors who want to be noticed in a snowstorm of writers. With 19 chapters and 25 appendices, this book is a means for authors to design an effective marketing plan and utilize frugal promotional tools with the click of their mouse. Whether it is utilized by order of chapters or randomly at the reader's discretion the book is a marketing plan in itself. Accelerate your marketing efforts far beyond your peers with the more than 900 resources available with the click of your mouse! Purple Snowflake Marketing provides reassurance to authors along with ample advice for avoiding pit-falls and setting a pace for marketing endeavors. Details at: www.brummet.ca/purple.html

Q: What is your idea of happiness?

A: Happiness to me is still a bit of a conundrum – Although I have been finding much more personal fulfillment since I became a writer, despite the incredibly long hours and the stresses it involves. Working for someone else was not fulfilling in any way – it was draining my reserves in fact. Writing has allowed me to educate, inspire, and motivate others to live a more conscious, proactive and green lifestyle. Knowing that readers actually use that knowledge in their lives is very encouraging to me. On a personal level - I find peace in working the soil; I’m big on gardening and love being a part of the life cycle there. Watching the amazing process that a seed goes through, and all the mirco-organisms, life in the soil, pollinators and beneficial life… When seeking some form of refuge from the stresses in this live I always turn to animals and wilderness.

Q: Are you doing what you really want to do in life?

A: Oh, absolutely. I wouldn’t change a thing… of course we are always evolving, growing – but I wouldn’t change the general direction of my life’s path. I really feel like I am making a difference – as a writer, radio show host, blog manager – with the topics I cover and highlighting the incredible work that others are doing. As a gardener, I participate in seed saving programs and share both seeds and produce with the needy, friends, organizations and neighbors. As a writer I’ve given back in many ways from book reviews to literacy organization donations.

Q: In your career as a writer - what do you consider to be your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

A: My greatest strengths would be determination and self-discipline. I am not afraid of hard work, and I am dedicated to the work we do – I really believe in it and having been a business manager/owner I know the work it takes to make a business like this work. My weaknesses involve impatience with delays from having to learn new technology to waiting for a book release – this is very hard for me. Normally I can be very methodical, practical… but I can also be impatient and moody at times due to frustrations. Luckily Dave (her co-writing husband) is a patient man, who doesn’t mind going behind the scenes to repair a computer problem… while I pace in the background.

Q: What are some of your favorite websites for writers?

A: There are so many! (She laughs) – Let’s see… RoseAndThornEzine.com, WritersJournal.com, WritersUnlimited.com, BeWrite.net, Once Written.com, AbsoluteWrite.com, Writer2writer.com, WritersAndBeyond.com, WritersGazette.com …I could go on and on with this one… Oh I mustn’t forget WritersInTheSky.com

Q: What are some of the tools you use for marketing?

A: I use every tool I can find, methodically utilizing each opportunity as it arises – or I’ll make a note of the opportunity for a future date. I feel it is important to experiment with different tools, since you never know when you will stumble upon an untapped audience. Currently my marketing seems to evolve around interviews, articles and social networking. I have a couple of blogs, a book tour page, an e-newsletter that goes out twice a month, a great website that is currently going through upgrades, a radio show… and these all take time to manage. If your readers have time, I would like to invite them to do an Internet Search on my name and they’ll see that more than 15,000 links come up – and often as many as 30,000 (depending on the search engine used; I tend to use Bing, DogPile or Google).

Q: Are you satisfied with your experiences as a published author? (things you’ve noticed that could be improved, what you’ve enjoyed, what you’ll do better next time…)

A: Being an author, as opposed to other writing genres, is much more of a challenge in that there is more marketing and record keeping involved. A book is sold over and over in one’s marketing campaign until the book no longer exists in the publishing industry - which can be 10 years or more. While an article is queried out to a magazine, who decides to publish it – and that is pretty much it. Sure you need to keep records as to when the article was published, when and how much you were paid and when you can use the article again. (Most have a 3 month waiting period before you can rewrite or reprint a published article). Authors need anywhere between 1 and 8 years to produce a book – an article can be written in a single day.
As to being satisfied – well, there is no doubt this is a challenge. Too many people want free books, and there are so many challenges from marketing costs, time management, public appearances… all this time put into the books only to sell a few hundred copies a year. It can be daunting and challenging, but it is worth it – none-the-less.
You can see my author interview with Lillian at http://consciousdiscussions.blogspot.com/
-- World of Writing Interview # 31



Rachel Jeanette Hall Stolle was born and raised in a little town called Jefferson, in North East Texas. As an individual, she has endured economic hardships, sexual abuse by a internal strife. Today Rachel is a 29 year old Baylor University, Texas. graduate, teacher, poetic monthly staff writer, and a budget-conscious stay-at-home mom in Waco


Rachel's first Christian Children's Picture book is set to be released September 12, 2010: Why Did This Happen to Me, Aunt Lou?, and has many other books planned for this series. Find Rachel at: http://auntloubooks.weebly.com



Q: How would a good friend describe you?


A: My husband of eight years, Jason, is my best friend in the world. I sat here pondering this question and I realized, "JUST ASK JASON!!", so I did. He sat pensive for a moment and his first adjective made me grin from ear to ear--beautiful. I absolutely adore how our relationship has grown and changed with the years. After birthing two children (80lb pregnancies each) one of which ended with an impromptu c-section and an eleven pound (10lb 14oz, i give myself the other 2 oz) baby, he still truly sees me as being as beautiful as the day we met. I giggled at his response and said, "no, really". This is what he came up with. A good friend would describe me as loyal, kind-hearted, thoughtful, and dependable.


Q: What are your long-range and short-range goals and objectives? How do you plan to accomplish your goals?


A: My long-range goals as a Christian Children's Book Author are to create a series of picture books that help parents incorporate scriptures, and bible stories, into the every-day explanations they give their children. I am a stay-at-home mom to two beautiful girls. My oldest is four, and very inquisitive. I find myself daily responding to her insightful, innocent questions with the best intentions, but sometimes I fall short and talking to her in a way that she finds engaging. This book series is my attempt to do both.


My short-term goals are to successfully complete the five books that I have already written. I write when I feel led, and through the years I have created five wholesome children's stories in anticipation of sharing them with my children and family.


Q: How do you determine or evaluate success?


A: I find it so very ironic that this question appears here. I just days ago wrote my very first one-page article for Poetic Monthly Magazine with this very title. It will appear in the October issue. Feel free to see more of my work in future months at poeticmonthly.com


Here I sit enjoying a calm evening with the hubby, after a long and crazy day. The television is blaring a home improvement show, and we sit anxiously hoping for the phone to ring with an offer on our home of seven years. The girls are settled into bed after a day at pre-school, and two long and torturous hours driving around the area waiting for our home to be viewed. Finally my mind slowly relaxes, forgetting about the worries of the day. This is where I find myself, contemplating success.


There have been many benchmarks in my life that I believed I would experience success once I met them—today I realize that success is something you define for yourself, not something that can be achieved by checking the traditional ‘life-steps’ off a list given to you by this world.


Granted, some things on my checklist are far from average, but it is a checklist nonetheless. I am a childhood sexual abuse survivor, check. I am a nationally ranked HS mascot, check (had to throw this in there just for its sheer randomness). I am a HS graduate within the top 10% of my class, check. I am a college graduate, check. I am a violent crime survivor, check. I am a wife, check. I am a homeowner, check. I am a teacher, check. I am a mom, check. I am a stay-at-home mom, check, check, check, check, and check (that one counts more!). And now I am a published children’s book author and illustrator, check. These are all things that I am proud of, and at a time in my life I would have thought that these things defined me and/or my ‘success’.


I felt a tug on my heartstrings today as I listened to my first radio interview (with poetic monthly blog radio mind you), plus found my book listed at both Barnes and Nobel, and Books-a-Million—success for me is allowing all of the bad and nasty things I have ever experienced to be turned beautiful. I realize now that I have a mission, not just a checklist. I have a mission to reach others with my message of hope, faith, peace and love. I have a mission to teach my children, and hopefully others via my books, that there are things so vastly more important than just income, or status, or degrees. I define my success by my faith. This world is fleeting, but if I can reach one heart and one soul with my message of healing, and lead them to find their home—what better thing could I ever do?


So this is my commission to you, aspiring or current authors—just start. Start looking over your checklist, and your life. Decide for yourself what your definition of success is and go for it. Find your story and share it. You never know, it just might lead someone home.


Q: What inspires you?


A: My life experiences, and a very strong Christian role model in my childhood inspire me to write. I credit my earliest foundations in Christianity to a wonderful woman named Lousie Ritche. Aunt Lou, as everyone knew her, was a caring, Godly woman who devoted her life to service, and passed away in 2009 from Alzheimer disease . 
“Why Did This Happen to Me, Aunt Lou?” is my first published work. It aims to help children who have experienced hardships or trauma in their lives to understand that God is by their side.


I am a childhood sexual abuse survivor. I experienced eleven years of intermittent abuse at the hand of a distant family member. I am also an adult attempted kidnapping turned carjacking survivor. You can see my account of that terrible day at http://auntloubooks.weebly.com/the-day-i-was-nearly-kidnapped-and-c.... I truly felt led to make "Why Did This Happen to Me, Aunt Lou?" my first and most-important work.


Q: What is your opinion of the world today?


A: This is such a very loaded question and I have very mixed feelings on this topic. As a Christian I see hope, peace and love present in our world today in so very many ways. There are wonderful people living among us today, just as there are the truly hurting and lost. While there is great good taking place and many people still willing to help a fellow neighbor, there is also great evil, self-centeredness, destruction and perversion. I do not, however, believe that any of this sets our world of 'today' apart from our world of 'yesterday'. I just think we hear more about the negative than ever before.


I guess my most accurate and direct answer would be that I see great unmet potential in the world today just as at anytime in our history.


Q: What is your contribution to society?



A: My books. My honesty. My heart. ...I desire to be as transparent and honest about my life as possible. I believe that this action alone will facilitate healing and change. If I can reach one child with the message of salvation and healing then I feel that I will have accomplished my life goal.




Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blogs, and more at: www.brummet.ca * Support the Brummets by telling your friends, or purchasing a book - each book sold raises funds for charity as well!

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