BIO: Dave and Lillian Brummet have been writing professionally as a team since 1999, starting out as free lance writers – which they continue to do today. To date, they have written 3 published books. The Brummets are also the hosts of the Conscious Discussions talk radio show and of the Authors Read radio program. They supplement these activities with two blogs and a newsletter in an effort to provide ample information to their audience. The main focus of their work is to inspire hope in individuals, helping them realize the value of their efforts and encouraging them to become more positive, proactive in life.
Thanks for being here, Lillian. It’s a pleasure.
#1- Tell us a little about yourself outside of your writing career…
Well, I am a 40-year-old woman with a passion for living consciously and leaving a lasting legacy every day. I have a strong passion for rescued animals, preserving a healthy environment, gardening and seed saving. Dave and I have been together for 20 years and have two fur-companions, both rescued dogs who share the home - we love spending time with them. Between walking the dogs, gardening, house projects and yoga I tend to stay in pretty good shape, but am not in ideal shape – so I keep trying to eat better, exercise more frequently, take my supplements... I absolutely love to write, anywhere and just about anytime – although I am more of a morning person. When Dave and I have a few hours to spare away from chores or work, we head for the mountain trails and can be found snowshoeing, hiking, bicycling or just lounging in nature every few days or so.
#2- Can you tell us about the AUTHORS READ radio program?
Authors Read started about the time when I started to slow down the book review projects I was taking on. Writing book reviews was a great way for me to support authors and literacy groups, while challenging myself to come up with new techniques, styles and make each piece unique. However it was also very time consuming, and I soon found myself having to stop the activity altogether so I could focus on other things. Authors Read came about through my continued passion to support literacy and the joy I received from hosting online radio programs. Today, Authors Read airs 2-3 times per week, featuring authors, poets and storytellers reading from their published work. There is nothing like hearing a story the way the author intended it to be read – straight from the author's lips. (www.brummet.ca/authors.html)
#3- Can you tell us about the CONSCIOUS DISCUSSIONS radio show?
Sure! This radio show is an hour long, it airs up to 3 times per week and offers several features. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I interview individuals from around the planet who are working to make the world a better place. On Sundays we alternate between Positive Eco-News (positive, inspiring environmental news) and Sunday Gardening segments (gardening sustainably). Conscious Discussions is a way for us to help accelerate the growing global movement towards conscious living. (www.brummet.ca/conscious.html)
#4- You also have three published books. Can you tell us a bit about them?
Ok, the first book we wrote was based on a column that I had authored for a few years – Trash Talk 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. The final section of the book offers moneysaving tips on energy and water consumption. Trash Talk is currently available in both paperback format & in the upcoming Trash Talk e-book series (estimated release date Jan 2010). (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 my life growing up on my own as a young pre-teen female, struggling to survive, breaking the chains of inner emotions and finally growing towards understanding of my value and purpose in life – but not quite reaching it... thus the title. The reason behind making this very personal story available to the public is to show other victims of abuse, violence and neglect that they can live a wholesome life without baggage from the past. Second to that I 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 that I am more comfortable with along with a few other updates. (www.brummet.ca/towards.html)
Our most recent book is a nonfiction guide for authors titled:
Purple Snowflake Marketing - How To Make Your Book Stand Out In A Crowd. This is a reference guide for self-marketing authors who want to be noticed in a snowstorm of writers. With nineteen chapters and twenty-five 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. We also provide over 900 resources and an event calendar – that will accelerate your marketing efforts far beyond your peers. Purple Snowflake Marketing provides reassurance to authors along with ample advice for avoiding pit-falls and setting a pace for marketing endeavors. (www.brummet.ca/purple.html)
#5- How do you handle the negative reviews and critiques you receive?
Honestly there have been very few negative remarks about our books and we have had them reviewed by more than 40 outlets to date. There are always the individual reviewer who would find a particular point in the book lacking in some way, but most of the time people really like what they are reading. When we do receive a poorly worded, or overly critical review we would start – as always – with a sincere thank you letter to the reviewer expressing our appreciation for them taking the time to critique our work. Then we evaluate the critiques for things we can use to improve our writing skills, while scanning for sentences and phrases within the review that we could use for promotion purposes. If the reviewer is completely out of line and there is no useful blurb for marketing purposes, we simply refrain from using the review in our promotion projects.
#6- Are there any upcoming releases we would like to know about, and could you give us your web site so readers can check it out?
There are many! (She laughs) Starting with Trash Talk's e-book series (2 books in the series) which will be released in just a few weeks – as soon as we can get our website commerce pages active and ready for the public. This series is based on the 1st edition of the book, but with more updated information, a large resource section and many more chapters on conservation, items we can recycle or reuse in some way and more. When we have this series in e-book format and ready for purchasing, we will be offering affiliate opportunities for all our e-books.
Following this we will be publishing a gardening series – followed closely by a drum lesson series (CD & Video) and... Well, you get the idea. The files are ever-bursting with projects that we get to as time allows.
#7- This about concludes it. Thank you again for joining us. Is there anything else you would like to share?
Yes, I would love to encourage your readers to enter the contest to win one of three copies of Towards Understanding's revised edition (e-book). They can access a free sample of the book, and a few individual poems from the book on our site: www.brummet.ca I would like to thank you for this experience in sitting in with you to discuss our work – and I would also like to invite your readers to contact me anytime via our site.
No comments:
Post a Comment