Friday, April 13, 2012

It's early 1700's and Katherine Lindsay is kidnapped by pirates in The Devil's Fire by Matt Tomerlin - Author Interview



Arr Maties, welcome aboard the pirate ship of Captain Jonathon Griffith. Don't touch anything and beware of the captain; he might make us walk the plank. Author Matt Tomerlin is our guide this weekend. We'll stay close to him since he is in good ranks with the crew. Matt is going to tell us about his new release and how he weaved his tale.

Louise: Matt, welcome to my blog! I’m so excited you could join me for a chat. When did you first decide to submit your work to be published? Tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step.

Matt: Thanks for having me, Louise! Last year I read an article about self-published ebooks surpassing traditionally published books in number, and I decided to dust off a manuscript I had completed a while back. It was a pirate story that I'd put a lot of research and character development into. I began editing it extensively, and the last half of the novel changed quite a bit. My writing style has improved (hopefully) over the years, so it went through a lot of editing. Once I was satisfied with it, I released it for Amazon Kindle. It's sold more copies than I ever imagined, and reviews are starting to pop up now.

Louise: Please tell us a little about your new release, The Devil's Fire, without giving too much of a spoiler away.

Matt: It's about a young woman named Katherine Lindsay who is kidnapped by pirates in the year 1717. The pirate captain, Jonathon Griffith, has eyes for her, and murders her husband. Katherine is taken to the Caribbean, where she witnesses the most despicable acts of piracy firsthand. She quickly realizes that if she is going to survive, she must become a different person. The story is told through a number of shifting character perspectives.


Louise: Do you plan all your characters out before you start a story or do they develop as you write?

Matt: I plan the main characters out, but most of the time they evolve over the course of the story. Katherine took on traits that I didn't always plan for. In the end, she surprised me. There's a crucial turning point in the very last chapter, and the choice the main character makes is one I had not foreseen. It simply happened, and I knew as I typed it that it was the right way to go.  

Louise: Yes, characters do seem to take control and we have to listen. How much research do you do for your books? Have you found any cool tidbits in your research?

Matt: "The Devil's Fire" is historical fiction, and even though I took quite a few liberties with the time period and some of the historical figures, I wanted it to feel as authentic as possible. A reader appreciates an author who knows what he/she is writing about. It makes it easier for them to suspend disbelief. They want to learn a few things while being entertained. 

Louise: What is your writing process? Do you outline, write by the seat of your pants (Pantser) or a combination of both?

Matt: A combination of both. I usually have a rough synopsis, but I'm quick to abandon a plot point if I discover a better option along the way. 


Louise: Do you write full time? What did you do before you became a writer or still do?

Matt: I'm a graphic designer. Eventually I would like to write full time, but at the moment I am balancing the two.

Louise: Do you have a ritual when it comes to writing? Example….get coffee, blanket, paper, pen, laptop and a comfy place.

Matt: No ritual. Ideas come to me at random times and I'll rush to my computer, and start typing away. Some days I will write two chapters, other days I just have no creative energy. I have to take it as it comes.

Louise: Describe a typical writing day for you.

Matt: I wish I had a typical writing day… that'd be great!

Louise: Please give us a sneak peek at your future books. What’s on the horizon?

Matt: I am currently finishing up the sequel to "The Devil's Fire." It's titled "The Devil's Tide" and follows a couple of survivors from the first book, as well as introducing several new characters. I'm incorporating more historical figures into it, including some very famous pirates. It's fun to mix fictional characters with popular historical figures. The ending of the first book provided a nice path for the second, and it was easy to get right back into the flow of the story. I've paid close attention to reviews, taking note of what readers seemed to like the most about "Devil's Fire." I want to give them more of that, but also something new. This is not a retread of the previous story.

 Click on the image to read an excerpt from chapter 5.

Louise: I just love your book covers! What is your favorite genre to read and who is your favorite author?

Matt: Believe it or not, historical fiction is not my favorite genre. I'm a huge science fiction and fantasy nut. I love Orson Scott Card, George R.R. Martin, Frank Herbert, Tolkien, etc. After I finish "The Devil's Tide," I will continue on a science fiction novel that I've been working on for a while.

Louise: Is there anything else you would like to tell the readers we have not touched on?

Matt: Thanks again for the interview! "The Devil's Tide" is scheduled tentatively for summer of this year.

Louise: Where can the readers learn more about you and find your books on the web? 


Matt: Readers can find me on:

Louise: Matt, thank you again for visiting with me this weekend.
Readers, Matt is giving away an eBook in Kindle format to one lucky commenter. If you don't mind, please leave your email in your comment so we can easily contact the winner. If you opt not to, be sure to check back on April 16 to see who the winner is.
Bio:
Matt Tomerlin was born in 1979 in sunny Southern California. He has written several short stories and just completed his first novel, "The Devil's Fire". Due to positive feedback, he is also planning a follow-up to "The Devil's Fire". He is also working on "ARCTURUS," a science fiction retelling of the Arthur legend.
Tomerlin currently resides in Murrieta, California, where he works as a freelance graphic designer, when he isn't writing.



Excerpt from "The Devil's Fire":
It was six hours before the pirates discovered her cowering beneath the bed.

Several pirates spilled into the cabin, laughing and cursing. She glimpsed only their feet. Some wore boots, but most were barefoot. She watched through a hole in the heavy quilt that was draped over the bed as they thieved most of her clothes and jewelry. They took whatever perked their interest and then left, their boisterous laughter fading into the roaring pandemonium that had enveloped the main deck.

After what she presumed to be two hours, she heard a loud scuttle and a subsequent shriek that was abruptly cut short. A riotous commotion lasted for nearly five minutes before it broke into uncontrollable fits of laughter. For the next hour she was left to ponder her husband’s fate. Her mind played out a relentless torrent of ghastly possibilities, with Thomas meeting a grisly death in every one of them.

And then, with a glorious flood of relief, she heard his voice. Her eyes burned. She squeezed them shut, refusing to allow any tears to burst free; there would be time enough for that later, when she held him in her arms again, and the present ordeal was nothing more than a memory.

Thomas was conversing with a man whose voice held a distinctive air of authority. As this man spoke, the pirates gradually calmed. Katherine found herself transfixed on the voice, even though it was far too muffled through the cabin walls for her to distinguish words. He possessed a tranquil tone that she rather liked, and she temporarily forgot her peril while listening to him.

Thomas and the man with the fair voice eventually ended their conversation, and the pirate uproar started anew. This went on at some length, and the cabin remained empty over the next few hours. Gradually, the clamor outside grew even louder, and the unmistakable sound of a shattering bottle prompted her to wonder if the pirates had discovered the cases of wine in the cargo hold.

The endless ruckus numbed her senses, and she found her eyelids growing heavy. The floor’s wooden planking seemed to stretch away from her. Her vision thinned to narrowing slits that soon receded into darkness.

The door was thrust open, and the ruckus outside flooded the cabin like a tidal wave. Katherine lifted her head and smashed the crown of her skull against the underbelly of the bed. Her eyes shot open in accordance with the jolting pain.

A pair of buckled shoes marched deliberately for the bed. The man who wore them reached down and tore the quilt away, spoiling her hiding place. With the velocity of a striking snake, his hand shot under the bed to grasp Katherine’s hair, dragging her painfully from cover.

“This ship’s treasures never cease,” said the man with the voice that she had liked so much. But his pleasant enunciation was no match for the hunger in his eyes.


Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Remember the weird kid with the greasy hair and the odd smell you went to school with? Goats Eat Cans by Steven Novak VBT Pit Stop April 12

Click on the image to visit the Meet & Greet with Steve Novak on VBT Cafe Blog.


Born in Chicago Illinois, Steven Novak has spent the whole of his life creating. After attending The Columbus College of Art and Design for four years he moved to California where he married his wife. The pair have been together for nearly a decade. He likes pizza. He’s sort of a nerd. He has terrible luck and worse personal hygiene. He also hates having to write bios about himself. He thinks bios are stupid. His work can be found online at www.novakillustration.com

Join Steven and I as we chat about his new release Goats Eat Cans Volume 1 and why he loves to write. (Warning: Be sure to go to the bathroom before reading further. We are are not responsible for accidents while laughing!)

Louise: Steven, welcome to my blog! I’m so excited you could join me for a chat. When did you first decide to submit your work to be published? Tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step.

Steven: I’ve been submitting stuff for years. I think I sent my first queries out when I was still in college and I had no idea what I was doing. I just put some packets together, found some addresses, and mailed stuff off. The very first thing I tried to sell was a picture book I’d written and illustrated about a kid that builds a rocket and sails it to Mars where he meets a bunch of aliens and goes swimming.

It wasn’t exactly “high art,” but I thought it was cute.

Everyone hated it, of course. And rightfully so.

Louise: Please tell us a little about your new release without giving too much of a spoiler away.

Steven: The book is called Goats Eat Cans Volume 1 and essentially it’s a collection of short, occasionally funny, occasionally gross, occasionally funny-gross stories about some of the more terrible moments in my life. There’s a little of everything in there. There’s a chapter about the time I nearly lost my virginity and ended up with three hundred stitches in my head instead. There’s another about the day I actually lost my virginity, and it involves no stitches whatsoever. There’s an incredibly detailed retelling of my vasectomy, and a story about when I got married, and one about my failed experience with traditional publishing, and, of course, there’s another about the time a burst polyp caused me to lose so much blood from my anus that I passed out at the hospital and woke up in a pool of my own blood and feces.

That’s a particularly fascinating chapter.


Louise: Do you plan all your characters out before you start a story or do they develop as you write?

Steven: When it came to Goats Eat Cans none of that was necessary as it’s actual stuff that actually happened to actual people. Last year I polished off series of young adult fantasy/adventure novels called Forts, though. There was very little pre-planning involved with that.

I’m a terrible pre-planner.

I’m far too lazy.

Louise: How much research do you do for your books? Have you found any cool tidbits in your research?

Steven: None - because of the whole lazy thing.

No research was necessary with Goats – unless you count digging through my memories as “research.” I’m guessing that you don’t, though.

Louise: What is your writing process? Do you outline, write by the seat of your pants (Pantser) or a combination of both?

Steven: When I write fiction I never outline. I’ve been asked this question before and I usually tell people that I avoid outlining because “if it’s not good enough for me to remember, it probably wasn’t good enough to write.”

That’s a complete lie, of course.

Once again, it comes down to laziness.

Laziness is the foundation on which my life is built. It’s my motto. It’s my creed. It’s the scarlet letter I’ve chosen to wear, and damn it, I’m wearing it with pride!

Louise: Do you write full time? What did you do before you became a writer or still do?

Steven: No. I actually pay my bills and purchase the food to stuff my rapidly aging face and ever-expanding belly as a graphic designer and illustrator. I’ve done a lot of direct market educational stuff when it comes to illustration, plus a few books here and there. As a graphic designer I do a lot of web based work, occasionally I’ve dabbled in product design, and I’ve recently started putting together covers for independently published authors. That’s been a lot of fun.

In fact, if you’re an author looking for a quality cover, drop me an email. My rates are solid, my turnaround is quick and my demeanor is professional. I also wash my undercarriage daily, so I smell fantastic.

Louise: Do you have a ritual when it comes to writing? Example….get coffee, blanket, paper, pen, laptop and a comfy place.

Steven: Usually I start by taking off my shirt. Then I unbutton my pants and slide them over my hips. Lastly, I pull off my socks one by one, before dropping my britches and letting everything hang loose.

Writing in the nude is a very freeing thing.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I lather myself in healthy sheen of margarine, climb into the oven and roast my pasty skin to a golden brown at 450 degrees for 30 minutes.

Dress me up with a sprig of basil, a side of creamy mashed potatoes, and I make for a hell of a family meal.

The leftovers are even better.

Louise: Being nude all day is very freeing! When all the kids are grown and gone; try it! LOL
Describe a typical writing day for you.

Steven: I don’t know. I’m one of those people who can’t really write unless I’m “feeling it.” Writers block has my number and because of that I’ll go months without typing a word. It took me a year to write the first Forts book.

Louise: Please give us a sneak peek at your future books. What’s on the horizon?

Steven: This year is actually going to be pretty busy and if you’re a fan of Goats Eat Cans Volume 1 you’re an awfully lucky chap. Volume 2 is going to be released in July and I’m looking at getting Volume 3 out by November/December. Sometime in the next few months I have a picture book hitting the stores through Featherweight Press that I did the illustrations for, and in early 2013 I’ll be releasing another humor novel titled, Fictional Jerks.

Then I’m going to jump off a bridge.

There might be obituary.

Keep your eyes open for that.

Louise: What is your favorite genre to read and who is your favorite author?

Steven: Honestly, I don’t read that much anymore. I haven’t read a single book this year and there’s not really anything I’m itching to pick up. I just don’t have the time. Between writing in my nude, cooking in the oven, and the various things I have to do in order to keep food in my belly, my spare time is limited.

When I was a kid I loved Ray Bradbury’s stuff.  On a purely nostalgic level he’s pretty high on my list of favorite authors. I also grew up on comic books. I could probably name a hundred comic book writers that I love.

Louise: Is there anything else you would like to tell the readers we have not touched on?

Steven: I considered making a really inappropriate joke here and ultimately decided against it – which is uncommon for me.

Maybe I’m growing up?

Maybe I’ve transformed into an adult?

Maybe my wife can finally take me to social gatherings and not be worried that I’m going to embarrass her horribly?


Unlikely.


Here’s why:


Louise:
Is there anything else you would like to tell the readers we have not touched on?

Steven: My genitals.

Louise: Wait *mouth hangs open, shuts* LMAO TMI there Steven! Where can the readers learn more about you and find your books on the web?

Steven: The hub for all things me related is www.novakillustration.com

Everything Goats Eat Cans can be found at www.goatseatcans.blogspot.com

I’m also on twitter @stvfoolery and you can find me making a jerk of myself on Facebook on a fairly regular basis as well.

If you’ve got a few extra pennies in your pocket and you’re looking for a couple laughs at a cheap price the Kindle version of Goats Eat Cans Volume 1 is currently available for a measly $1.99

That’s a heck of a deal. 

BLURB:
GENRE: Humor

Remember the weird kid with the greasy hair and the odd smell you went to school with? You know, the one who never talked to anyone? That creepy little jerk who sat alone at lunch? The oddball who never took a shower in gym class? The one you imagined might one day go on a shooting spree?

Believe it or not, that kid grew up.

He grew up, he got married, he never shot a single person, he wrote a book, and he even started taking showers after his workouts – most of the time.

Goats Eat Cans is his story.

Follow along as Steven Novak recounts the sometimes hilarious, sometimes hilariously painful, and sometimes painfully hilarious moments that have made his life so wonderfully frustrating. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you might even vomit. No matter what, you won't be able to stop reading.

Goats Eat Cans features 55 stories, 55 illustrations, 99 luftballons and enough nonsense to keep you chuckling and giggling for days on end – or hours – or at the very least a few minutes.

EXCERPT:
MY CAT SMASHING MOJO
 
I have a mortal enemy. His name is Jabar.
Jabar is a cat.
Is that lame—to have a cat as a mortal enemy? Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. If I were you though, I wouldn’t rush to judgment. You don't know this cat. This cat is evil. He's cunning, he's focused and nasty and vile and just plain mean.
He’s smart too.
He’s real smart.
He’s so smart he’ll write your midterm, and he’ll get a better grade than you ever would have.
He's my Lex Luthor.
Of course, if he's Lex Luthor, that would make me Superman, and I can’t be Superman. I hate that goody two-shoes jerk. Plus, I look terrible in red speedos.
Okay, this cat is my Joker. Which makes me Batman.
Yeah, I can deal with being Batman. Not the corny seventies Batman, but cool, pissed-off Frank-Miller-Dark-Knight-Returns Batman. I’ll be the Batman who chews steel, spits iron, and calls Robin a fruitcake.
That Batman’s awesome.
You see, not long after purchasing and moving into our first home, the wife and I had a cat door installed in the door leading into our garage. We then had another installed in the side door leading from the garage to the back yard. This was so our two cats could come and go as they pleased. It was simple. It was cheap, and at the time, it seemed to make perfect sense.
The thing we never counted on was that, while the doors gave our cats the ability to get out, they also presented other cats in the neighborhood with a way to get in.
It really should have been obvious from the start, but it wasn’t.
Okay, so maybe I'm not exactly Batman.
I mean, besides being a hell of a hand-to-hand fighter, a billionaire playboy, and a heck of a detective, Batman was also a scientist. A scientist would have figured out the intricacies of the cat door situation long before installation began.
I first spotted him on a Tuesday morning. I was late to work. I hustled down the stairs and into the kitchen where I planned to snag my keys and head for the door.
He was right there, waiting for me.
There was a very fat cat with a big black spot over his right eye sitting on my kitchen counter. The chubby, eye-patched little bastard was squatting on my tiled countertops without a care in the world—like he owned the place.
Our eyes met and I swear to you, I saw him grin.
Before I could react, he leapt from the counter, shot through the cat door leading into the garage, zoomed through the one leading into the yard, and was gone.
Not only was he smart, he was fast—especially for a dude carrying a couple extra pounds.
Lets jump ahead to Wednesday night. I was awoken by the sound of two cats fighting downstairs. I figured it's just our two cats—because they’re jerks and they fight all the time—so I tried to go back to sleep. Plus, I was in the middle of  a fairly fantastic dream involving me, the Enterprise, and an invading horde of hypersexual Orion slave girls.
The fighting didn’t stop.
It wouldn’t stop, and it sounded a heck of a lot more vicious than usual.
I dragged myself from bed, wobbled downstairs half-awake, and clicked on the lights. It was Jabar. He was in my house, and he was beating the snot out of my cats. The black-eyed devil spotted me and escaped in a blink.
The next night, the exact same thing happened.
The night after that, he did it again.
He was toying with me.
The wife and I decided to temporarily close up the cat doors and bring a litter box into the equation. After a few weeks, we tried the cat doors again.
The very next night, Jabar was back.
Damn it!
I’d had enough. If Jabar’s intention was to start something, he should considered it started. It was on! I was done fooling around. I was done playing the straight man, and I was through playing nice. No more games. No more second chances. No more lollygagging, no more pigeonholing, and no more lollypigeons!
If he wanted some of me, he was going to get some of me. He was going to get all of me he could handle, and them some!
I coiled my hands into fists and slammed my knuckles together. I lifted my head to the stars and proclaimed to the heavens above, "Bring it on, bitch!”
The wife heard me from the other room. "Bring what on? Who are you talking to?"
"Nothing...no one."
It was a Monday night—around 11 p.m. I was in the garage, and I was standing to the side of the door leading into the backyard. My eyes were trained on the flapping plastic covering the cat door just below my knees. Hoisted above my head was a brick.
My plan was simple: Cat comes into garage. Cat gets smashed.
Almost elegant in its simplicity, no?
Sort of like a Peanuts comic strip—with bricks and squashed cats.
"Steven, are you in he—" The wife stepped into the garage and immediately spotted me with a brick over my head, a wild expression on my face, and sweat pouring from my brow.
She stared at me for a moment, an indescribable look of confusion on her face. "Steven, what are you doing?"
"Nothing."
Her eyes moved from me, to my smashing brick, and back to me. She wasn’t buying my nothing excuse. "No, seriously, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to crush Jabar with this brick."
"Who's Jabar?"
The cat that keeps coming in here at night."
"How do you know his name is Jabar?"
"I heard the little girls across the street calling him that when they were playing with him in their yard."
Her expression changed. Suddenly, she was looking at me like I’d just taken a dump on the floor—like I dropped my pants and started humping the punch bowl at her company Christmas party.
"So, wait. You're going to stand here in the garage all night so you can smash the cat of the little girls across the street with a brick when he tries to come in our house?"
When she said it aloud like that, I have to admit, it sounded just a little idiotic.
So what?
I couldn’t let that deter me. The plan was the plan, and the plan was set in motion. There was no coming back and no backing down. I had no intention of allowing her to steal my need for vengeance! Under no circumstances whatsoever was I going to let her ruin my cat-smashing mojo. Not today! Not ever again!
"Yep. That's exactly what I'm going to do."
"No, you're not."
"I'm not?"
"No, you're not."
"But I want to."
"You're not smashing that cat."
"Oh."
"Put the brick down and come upstairs."
You've won this round Jabar.


Friday, April 6, 2012

Real Moms Love to Eat; A love affair with food and still look fabulous! Author Beth Aldrich VBT Pit Stop April 6

 

Beth Aldrich, author of, Real Moms Love to Eat wants you to conduct a love affair with food and still look fabulous by simply working through her easy-to-follow 10-part plan of making over your entire outlook and relationship with food. You have to eat at least three times a day, so why not love what you're eating and feed yourself food that will love you back? Discover new and interesting ways to prepare and "get involved" with food; complete with 21-days of satisfying and delicious meal suggestions, this funny book will find a permanent spot on your bedside table or kitchen counter. Real Moms really DO love to eat!


Inspired by her natural health training, Beth wrote her new book, REAL MOMS LOVE TO EAT. No matter a person’s health and weight loss goals, this book takes the boring out of eating and incorporates more fun in daily meal planning with a 10-week plan that allows busy moms to eat what they like, lose weight, and still look amazing. REAL MOMS LOVE TO EAT is not your typical diet plan, but a healthy lifestyle plan that can be followed for life. 

Visit Beth on her Web site: www.realmomslovetoeat.com

 Click the image for Kindle eBook, also on Amazon in Print.


Excerpt:
“Oh, food—how we love you, and how we fear you. How we desire you, and how we push you away. Food, you shameless flirt, you player, you tease. You could almost seduce us into an illicit affair. . . . Maybe because moms are so concerned with setting a good example or guiding their kids down the right path, we sometimes make ourselves feel guilty. We deny ourselves pleasure. But when it comes to food, this is a big, Oh, no, you don’t! Denial leads to obsession—the nasty kind where you can’t get that bad boy out of your head and then you binge. Instead, when you give yourself the license to love a variety of foods, experiment with an array of flavors, and lighten up on your self-righteous have-to-eat-100-percent-healthy-and-be-perfect-all-the-time side, then you can give yourself permission to love—food and anything or anyone else. You find a new balance. You find your own personal way of healthy eating. Fear leads only to ruin. Denial leads to deprivation. Controlled indulgence, on the other hand, leads to freedom.”
Just a few of the many busy-mom-friendly tips readers of REAL MOMS LOVE TO EAT will learn include:

Make it All About YOU: Remembering the pleasure inherent in early food experiences can make food seem like a friend, not an enemy. Beth teaches readers how to have a loving relationship with food and recapture the pleasure, showing them how to change their perspective on food-for good. Out with the guilt and in with the happy-tasty-delicious! This book will provide the tools needed for moms to feel more energetic and still look great in those skinny jeans!
Get Naked with Raw Foods: Every bite of fresh, scrumptious, whole foods can increase vitality, energy and contribute to the health of the planet. Raw foods are easy to prepare and make your mouth sing. You’ll be asking the sales clerk, “May I get a smaller size, please?” in no time, when you get on the whole-food wagon.

Tame your Cravings Dragon: If you’re yearning for sweets and processed baked goods, odds are your cravings dragon needs to be tamed. By consuming nutrient-dense whole grains, such as quinoa, whole-grain toast with sesame butter, and oatmeal, that dragon of yours will turn into a pussycat in no time.

Hungry for More Lovin’?: In addition to the easy-to-follow steps outlined in Beth’s 10-part plan, there’s 21 days of lick-the-back-of-the-spoon, sample menu suggestions, complete with lifestyle recommendations and recipes including, Balsamic Broccoli Salad, Harvest Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup, Lime-Crusted Spiced Salmon, Cocoon Chicken and Apple Cobbler Du Barbi—and yes, you can have a piece of chocolate every day—Beth insists upon it! Find out why.

Book Blitz: Real Moms Love to Eat with Beth Aldrich
by KWOD Radio
in Books
Tue, March 13, 2012


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No-Bake Brownies

These gooeylicious treats are high in flavor and low in fat. (see video)





In 2007, Beth was filming her PBS TV series; and on an off day, she volunteered to work on the special Cool Globes project for the City of Chicago. On the way to filming, she was involved in a serious car accident; while in the hospital, she re-evaluated her life and career. Money and success suddenly seemed trivial compared to the health and well-being of her family. She realized that most of the joy she felt came from two things: health (of her family, herself, the planet) and pleasure (enjoying everything that the wonderful world has to offer). While recovering from her injuries, she saw an advertisement for the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN) in New York City and she knew this was the place to launch her next endeavor. 

It was there that she learned the idea of integrative nutrition—nutrition that could transform life itself—and she studied and became passionate about holistic health counseling through the teachings of IIN founder Joshua Rosenthal, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Andrew Weil, Dr. Barry Sears, Geneen Roth, and Deepak Chopra.

BIO
Beth Aldrich, Certified Healthy Lifestyle Counselor and Nutrition Expert, engaging speaker, media personality and author of the book, Real Moms Love to Eat (New American Library-Penguin Books imprint, January,2012), delivers health, nutrition and environmental fundamentals through keynote addresses, lectures and as a media spokesperson. As an expert health and nutrition columnist for Diet.com, SocialMoms.com, Hotmomsclub.com and RealMomsLovetoEat.com, Beth shares her wisdom, experience and knowledge about all things eco and health. From food coaching, and living a balanced life to, the energetics of food and finding your passion, Beth delivers her message in a charismatic yet compassionate way.

She is the founder of For Her Information Media, LLC (FHI) established in 2003, with productions such as the PBS TV series, For Her Information (aired in Turkey, Israel and 60 cities, nationwide), the radio shows, A Balanced Life with Beth Aldrich, and Real Moms Love to Eat with Beth Aldrich, and the online magazine and newsletter, FHI Online. Her company's mission is to be a life guide for conscious-minded women. Beth is also the founder of Restoring Essence Nutrition, LLC and a Certified Holistic Health and Nutritional Counselor through the American Association of Drugless Practitioners (AADP). Beth received her education from Columbia University's Teachers College and The Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City.