AuthorViews Video Podcast

We are delighted to present for you today a two-minute video on one of the most extraordinary books I have ever seen: Microchip Manufacturing, by Dr. Stanley Wolf. Microchip Manufacturing is a step-by-step guide to producing the computer chips that are built into everything nowadays from credit cards to smart clothing. The book is an incredible publishing achievement, with full-color illustrations on every page, most of which were created by the author of the text, Dr. Stanley Wolf. Along with the two-minute video for this book, we have permission to share an excerpt with you. The excerpt covers how to set-up and run a "Wafer Fab" -- a factory for building computer chips! It's a PDF file -- not HTML -- so you'll have to download it to view the gorgeous illustrations. Microchip Manufacturing is really a book on practical nanotechnology. It may be over the head of many readers, but the book is the sort of "labor of love" that we enjoy featuring here at AuthorViews. Dr. Stanley Wolf -- Welcome to AuthorViews!

Today we have a new first for AuthorViews -- our first music video! TVS and Two Fingers is a performance troupe out of Fort Collins, Colorado, who take their zany brand of musicianship into schools to educate and entertain. We shot this video while recording interviews with two Fort Collins authors, the incomparable Pat Hartman and Tim Van Schmidt (a.k.a. TVS). This video features a poem called Scissors and it's one of the shortest cuts on our site. Yes, we'll probably never make the cut for MTV, but it's a quick clip so check it out. TVS & Two Fingers -- Welcome to AuthorViews!

There is no doubt that this was the most difficult interview to film in the AuthorViews summer tour 2005. I remember how hard it was for me to retain my composure and continue to ask Steven Boone to open his wounded heart for us to see. This brief clip -- just a few seconds, really -- feels like an eternity, which is, in fact, its destination. A Heart Traced in Sand is the story of a teenage girl with an incandescent spirit and a father who is forced to watch and learn as her body is stolen by cancer. Even as her form betrays her, Naomi nurtures a "warrior spirit." We can all benefit from watching with her father as Naomi's story unfolds. At the beginning of Easter week, Steven's loss and Naomi's triumph are vivid reminders of the poignancy of the cycle of life. We are privileged to share this vision with you. Steven Boone -- Thank You and Welcome to AuthorViews.

We're back from Spring Break today, a little later than expected but rich with video. AuthorViews filmed interviews at the IAOC Conference in Valley Forge, PA, at the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, and at the Tennessee Williams Festival here in New Orleans. We'll start rolling out that new video next week. But first, we have a special treat for you today: home video of AuthorViews' own New Media Manager, George Ingmire, wishing his Mom a happy birthday! We have already profiled George here on AuthorViews, but now he has a new project and web site -- New Orleans Narratives -- where you'll find radio documentaries George has produced. George Ingmire -- Welcome Back to AuthorViews!

We have an extraordinary 2-minute video for you today about an extraordinary visitor to our world -- an Invisible Friend. Psychotherapist Laryssa Nechay and her son, Nick Nechay, share the true story of a family that was visited by a benevolent spirit lacking corporeal form. The family hid the news of this visitor for many years before revealing their secret to Laryssa and Nick. In the book, Invisible Friend, Laryssa and Nick condense the teachings of this loving guide from transcripts recorded by "Henry and Emma" -- the couple with whom the spirit communed. Please join us for a 2-minute video you will not soon forget. Laryssa and Nick Nechay -- Welcome to AuthorViews!

In today's video, author Rob Reider takes aim at "corporate prisoners" -- those who over the years have allowed themselves to become entrenched in jobs they dislike for companies they don't respect. If you feel stuck in your job or your life, you might want to pick up a copy of Reider's novel, Road to Oblivion, and see how other corporate prisoners found a pathway out. It's a comic novel -- a pleasant way to address very difficult issues. Rob Reider -- Welcome to AuthorViews!

Imagine a couple novice filmmakers going to Hollywood and turning the cameras around on a veteran director. Cheeky? You bet. But that's exactly what the AuthorViews team did last summer. We rode into Hollywood and shot this video with filmmaker and instructor Jacob Rosenberg. The pressure is on: not only is Rosenberg an established director -- he's also an expert in film editing. Today's 2-minute video presents Rosenberg introducing his book, Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 Studio Techniques, a comprehensive guide to film editing that includes an instructional DVD. Did the AuthorViews team rise to the challenge? You be the judge. Jacob Rosenberg -- Welcome to AuthorViews!

I love the name of this novel: Long Pig. In today's 2-minute video, you'll learn the reason William C. Miller bestowed that unusual title on his new book. Long Pig is a comic novel about politics, centered around a mayoral election in San Francisco where anything goes. Down here in New Orleans, we are in the throes of a mayoral election that is as bizarre as any in history. Some 20-plus candidates are competing for the votes of a displaced electorate. Long Pig hits home. Author William C. Miller is quite familiar with the vagaries of California politics. A long-time trial lawyer, he is particularly proud of his rendering of the courtroom scenes in this satire of California political and media madness. William C. Miller -- Welcome to AuthorViews!

If Suze Orman is the brains of personal finance, Joan Sotkin is its tough-love coach. Her book, Build Your Money Muscles, is a financial fitness program that will buff-up your bank account. In her 2-minute video, Sotkin talks about the fear many of us have about money -- along with other emotions that discourage us from achieving our financial goals. As a special bonus, this video introduces viewers to a shade of pink as potent as Sotkin's message! What a fabulous color for inspiring us to spring into financial shape. Joan Sotkin -- Welcome to AuthorViews!

Today, New Mexico poet Joan Logghe is in the house with a 2-minute recipe for mid-life crisis from her collection of poems called RICE. In RICE, Logghe attempts to do in verse what we do in video, forcing herself to pare down the message to what can fit in the form. For Logghe, the form is the sonnet -- 14-line poems; for AuthorViews, it's two minutes -- the maximum length for our videos. In her video, Logghe talks about how she cooked RICE, then she offers up a taste. It's delicious. Take a look. Joan Logghe -- Welcome to AuthorViews!

Our newest 2-minute author video could not have come at a better time. Maggie Oman Shannon is on a one-woman mission to help us all just get along. Maggie's new book, One God, Shared Hope, is the "Cliff's Notes" of comparative theology. Maggie researched the scriptures of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam in search of overlapping beliefs. Her new book focuses on 20 shared principles, using passages from the sacred texts to help us find common ground. In her 2-minute video introducing the book, Maggie talks about our tendency to focus on religious differences rather than shared beliefs. She hopes her book will help advance the global dialogue, and we hope so, too. Maggie Oman Shannon -- Welcome to AuthorViews!

Take a journey of self-discovery with us today as we interview psychotherapist Jessica Nagler, author of the new book Jun Q'anil: One Who Walks The Way. Nagler abandoned her home, her fiance, her career, even her country in search of... something. We can all relate to that itch to just split. But Nagler actually did it, traveling on her own to Central America where she met a Mayan shaman and lost herself in the jungle. What happened when she returned from this quest? Watch this brief 2-minute clip and find out. Jun Q'anil: One Who Walks The Way is recommended for anyone who needs to break out of the box of modern Western living and tap a deeper sense of meaning. Jessica Nagler -- Welcome to AuthorViews!

Pat Hartman's second book set in Venice, California, Ghost Town is a nickname for the Oakwood district of Venice known for being a dangerous place. Dangerous, but the rents were cheap. Part Hartman raised her daughter in Ghost Town. This is a memoir of her time there in the early 1980s. Ghost Town is a microcosm of the Venice experience, complete with colorful characters, rampant crime, and a family scene at the very edge of the American experience. Pat helped shepherd many writers, including me, as editor of Salon: A Journal of Aesthetics. You can find back issues at her web site. Today, she continues to make the establishment uncomfortable with her thoughtful essays at EarthBlog -- including a rant against circumcision that is painful to read! Pat Hartman -- Welcome Back to AuthorViews!

Pawprints is a Noah's Ark of stories about the ways animals enrich our lives. The author has a lighthearted spirit and deep affection for our animal friends. In her 2-minute video, Hillebrandt shares a story about some unusual dinner guests. Watch this brief clip to find out who's coming to dinner. Ina Hillebrandt has taken a collection of charming stories about the animals around us and leveraged it into a literacy program for adults and reading programs for children. I encourage librarians and teachers, especially, to visit the Pawprints web site to learn more about the workshops and classes Ina offers. Ina Hillebrandt -- Welcome to AuthorViews.

We offer a very moving video today with "business therapist" Maureen Walsh, who has made a career of helping artistic people appreciate business while helping business people appreciate the arts. Maureen was our host for the Santa Fe AuthorViews shoot in 2005. Maureen Walsh is co-author with Marilyn Graman of the book, The Female Power Within. The two women founded Life Works in Manhattan which for years has been conducting workshops to help women understand and use their natural female power. This book is based on those classes. We are fortunate to have an excerpt from the book for you to enjoy as well. In her 2-minute video, Walsh talks about female power: it's noticed most when it's missing. It is an emotional interview that capped a long day. Through the video, you can see how powerful authorship is, too: we author these books and they change our lives. Maureen Walsh -- Welcome to AuthorViews!