AuthorViews Video Podcast

The World Cafe is a guidebook that teaches how to host productive conversations, whether in the salon setting of a living room or the more structured setting of a boardroom. In four years of filming author interviews, I have never met a speaker with the depth of sincerity combined with the knowledge of her subject that Juanita Brown displays. I could have filmed her for hours. But to meet our strict 2-minute rule, I not only had to slash her interview but I also had to include co-author David Isaacs, the gentler half of this amazing author team. I think the two minutes that survived editing is terrific. This book offers something I've never seen before which the world desperately needs: a structured way to talk with each other. My hat is off to Juanita Brown and David Isaacs and their seminal guide, The World Cafe. Juanita Brown & David Isaacs -- Welcome to AuthorViews!

Every now and then, AuthorViews will throw a curve at you, like today's video. Debra Cox is not an author and is not introducing a book in her 2-minute video. Debra is an image consultant who works with authors, among others, helping them to communicate with style. I like Debra's approach -- she's more concerned about finding a look that reflects your personality than forcing you to look like someone else in order to succeed in business. AuthorViews can be used for more than just introducing books. We have filmed interviews with performance artists, literary agents, media coaches, acquisition editors, etc. Today's 2-minute video is a good example of how people can use AuthorViews to market to authors and others in the book trade. Debra Cox -- Welcome to AuthorViews!

What better way to start the weekend than with some live, let-your-hair-down music? That's what Tim Van Schmidt serves up in this collection of over 200 reviews of rock concerts of the 1970s. It might not be Wolfgang's Vault -- the recently commercialized collection of concert promoter Bill Graham's memorabilia -- but Van Scmidt's archive provides a valuable, first-person account of the U.S. music scene through the eyes and ears of a local journalist. In this 2-minute video, Van Schmidt lets us in on a joke with John Cage and shares an orange with Carlos Santana. For those who lived through the '70s and now want to remember them -- or those fascinated with the musical history of that era -- King Koncert delivers pictures and profiles not available anywhere else. Tim Van Schmidt -- Welcome to AuthorViews!

It is unusual for us to run two videos by the same author back-to-back here at AuthorViews. However today's book, Beast of Bengal, is so closely associated with yesterday's book, Letters from Calcutta, that I felt I shouldn't separate them. Beast of Bengal is a mystery novel based on one of those Letters from Calcutta. In that letter, author Elaine Pinkerton's father describes a corpse discovered at the hospital where he is stationed in India. Pinkerton has filled in the backstory of this mystery with her imagination. It is all set against a background of Gandhi's struggle to liberate India from foreign rule. Elaine Pinkerton lays out the details in this 2-minute video. Elaine Pinkerton -- Welcome Back to AuthorViews!

I am delighted to share a love story with you today. The story is about Richard & Reva Beard, husband and wife, separated for 18 months during World War II, united by a deep and daily correspondence. Sixty years after Richard's service as a doctor in India, this box of letters arrived at his daughter's house. The communiques inside the box were so riveting they cost Elaine Pinkerton her job. She quit work to edit them into this volume: From Calcutta with Love. Those who served in the China-Burma-India theater, their families and loved ones, will appreciate the detail and nuance these letters contain about life in Calcutta mid-century. What they'll also find are tender expressions of love along with the unvarnished horrors of war. Please join Richard & Reva's daughter, Elaine Pinkerton, as she introduces this long distance love affair in today's 2-minute clip. Elaine Pinkerton -- Welcome to AuthorViews!

We are very pleased to welcome Chris Epting, talking about his book, Elvis Presley Passed Here, a guide to pop culture landmarks in the U.S.A. In two breathless minutes, Epting takes us on a verbal tour of fascinating places. He stops at the spot where the first plane flew, where Ben Franklin flew a kite, where the corndog was invented! Chris' previous book, James Dean Died Here, was National Public Radio's "Book of the Summer" -- you might have heard one of his stories featured on NPR. The title of Chris' book is never explained in the video -- most likely because I did something during the interview to mess up the clip. The title refers to a park where Elvis Presley used to go to relax and pass around the football. This video was filmed in Hollywood, California -- very near the park where Elvis passed. Chris Epting -- Welcome to AuthorViews!

Today I am pleased to welcome Carol Adrienne back for an encore performance at AuthorViews. Carol is the co-author, with James Redfield, of The Celestine Prophecy: An Experiential Guide and The Tenth Insight, and author of the book The Purpose of Your Life, which also has a video on AuthorViews. Today, Carol introduces us to the book When Life Changes or You Wish It Would. In just two minutes, she takes us from Hero of our lives and drops us into the The Void. We follow a "cycle of change" -- whether we want to or not. Carol's video is a quick tour of that cycle; her book is a guide to managing our progress through that cycle. Carol Adrienne -- Welcome Back to AuthorViews!

Today we are pleased to welcome back to our site media coach and marketing consultant, Susan Harrow. Today Susan is previewing her classic text, Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul. In this brief video, the ravishing Ms. Harrow illustrates how to use your hands and your "gypsy spirit." It's a marvelous performance! Susan becomes one of only two 3-time authors here at AuthorViews. When you're finished enjoying Susan's 2-minute video, check out the installations for The Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on Oprah and Get a 6-Figure Book Advance. Susan Harrow -- Welcome Back to AuthorViews!

Today's video is with renaissance woman Pat Hartman, the host of our Fort Collins, Colorado, visit on the 2005 AuthorViews Tour. Pat is an artist, journalist, entrepreneur, correspondent, and friend. She is an amazing person whom I've known for over 20 years. In this 2-minute video, Pat talks about her first book, Call Someplace Paradise, which is about that most quintessential of beach towns: Venice, California. Pat is the creator and maintainer of VirtualVenice.info, a web site that catalogs everything Venice, and she pours all that knowledge into this book. After you watch this short video, I encourage you to read a few pages of the book at Pat's site or at Amazon. That's all it will take for this talented writer's prose to pull you in. Pat Hartman -- Welcome to AuthorViews!

I have known Gary Michael Smith for many years, and one of the things I've always admired about this teacher-author-actor-writer-publisher is that he seldom writes for free. Gary Michael Smith gets paid for most articles he writes -- even when he's writing about his cats! In Writing for Magazines and Trade Journals, Smith shows you how to get paid, too. As a writing instructor at the University of New Orleans, Smith has coached hundreds of students in writing and publishing for pay. One of those students made a small fortune selling her first article -- find out just how much in this crisp 2-minute video. Gary Michael Smith -- Welcome Back to AuthorViews!

Happy Saint Valentine's Day! We are very pleased today to debut a 2-minute video with well-known love advice guru Dr. Suzanne Lopez, psychotherapist to the stars, filmed in Hollywood, California. Suzanne talks about her new book, Get Smart With Your Heart: The Intelligent Guide to Love, Lust and Lasting Relationships. "Nothing is more romantic that a relationship that works," says Lopez, as she guides men and women through that initial passion toward a meaningful bond. In our 2-minute video, the ravishing Dr. Lopez speaks as much with her hands as her voice. It is a spellbinding performance. If you are programming a story about love, your audience will appreciate hearing from Dr. Lopez.

Today's video is an illustration of how publishers and others in the book trade can use 2-minute AuthorViews videos to introduce a season, an imprint, or a publishing company to the press. Jenny Williams is marketing assistant for Berrett-Koehler Publishers in San Francisco. In her video, she talks about the BK Currents imprint and its mission to promote positive change at the intersection of Business and Society. Don't you think your web site would be improved with a 2-minute video about your company, your products, your people? Sure it would. So while you're enjoying the charming Jenny Williams, send me an e-mail about your video needs.

Would it change your opinion about women in the clergy if you knew that some of the most beloved passages in the Bible were written by a woman? Ruth Hoppin hopes this revelation will change the church. In her 2-minute video, she takes us down into the catacombs of the Vatican where she uncovered documents that support her claim that a woman wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews. When first published, Priscilla's Letter was removed from circulation within months. Finally back in print, it will change the way you think about the church and the role of women in it. Readers of The Da Vinci Code will enjoy this real-life detective story involving one of the darkest mysteries in the Catholic Church.

Today we have another pre-publication video to show you. Campfire Cuisine is not due in stores until May, but youll want to add it to your wish list after watching this short clip. Campfire Cuisine is published by Quirk Books, packager of such classics as Field Guide to Stains. They know how to have fun with a book. But author Robin Donovan took her research very seriously, snooping around campgrounds and testing dozens of recipes. You might want to watch this video before lunch. Robin starts with the slivered duck and takes you all the way to desert. Dont say we didnt warn you!

Todays video features spiritual scientist Rebecca Skeele and was filmed in one of the more spiritual American cities: Santa Fe, New Mexico. Skeele begins her video by waking up in terror. In two short minutes, she guides us from the land of fear to a seat at the banquet. Its really quite a transformation -- I think youll enjoy watching it. Skeeles new book is You Can Make It Heaven, a step-by-step plan for making the journey yourself from fear to feast. It has one of the lovliest book jackets I saw on the tour. An attractive cover and a deep message -- something our featured author and book share.