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Welcome to Three Questions with Van Heerling. This is where you get to meet authors, actors, painters and anyone else that is bent toward the arts, but on a more personal level. Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Lisa Calell author of "Disconnected." Let's jump in. VH: If you could go back in time to when you were seven years old, what wisdom or advice would you pass on to your former self? LC: The use of the word ‘whatever’ is definitely over-rated and quite annoying. It should never be used when a child is talking to their parents. (as I am learning from my 11year old son). Never stop saying the first thing that comes into your head. The innocence of a child’s thoughts is a precious and valuable gift that we have all been given and sometimes we just need to connect with that child within. Never give up, never leave anything to chance and never ever stop believing in the magic of Christmas. VH: At what age were you the happiest? How come? LC: I am happiest now. I thought turning 40 was going to be the worst thing ever to happen to me but to make the transition easier I created a ’40 list’ of things I needed to achieve before I got there. Writing a book was just one of many. I have achieved so much in the last year but the ‘icing on the cake’ was my Dad telling me how proud of me he was, something I have waited 40 years to hear. VH: What is the number one lie you tell yourself? LC: There are no calories in any food consumed around Christmas – in fact I think it may even be negative calories!!! VH: I agree, I just had a zero calorie piece of cake. It was delicious! Thank you Lisa.  Disconnected Katherine (Katie) Calder is happy, or is she? Married to a patient, loving and handsome lawyer who has been her life for 6 years – Chris. He wants nothing more than a ‘normal’ happy family life -will being with Katie ever give him that? Katie didn’t know how to love him or anyone but she knew she couldn’t be without him. She had detached from life, from love, from any true emotion yet Chris continued to love her unconditionally wishing for the day she would declare her love and even cry for the first time since he had known her. Katie’s mother - Jill Williams was desperately trying to have a relationship with her daughter who had been missing from her life for six years for reasons she never understood. Bringing Gerry back into Katie’s life was not the answer. Gerry brought back the horror of her ‘missing years’ causing her distress, misery and even blackouts, but why, what had Gerry done? What had happened in those two years when she had been missing that could cause this pain and anguish and if they found out would they feel the same about her? Katie didn’t think so, she had to protect them against the truth and she had to face her past - but at what cost? Disconnected is an intense, emotional journey that will have you smiling one minute and then feeling hurt and pain the next. You want it to work out, you want the happy ending - but then life is never that straightforward, this book will leave you with a void, this book will leave you disconnected! Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon CA  Lisa Calell was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, the youngest of three children. As a child, her appetite for Fiction and Poetry became evident from a very young age. Now married with two children of her own and has recently been through the trauma of turning '40', writing is her new passion. Disconnected is her first novel of a two-part series - the emotional heart-wrenching story of Katie and her quest for survival. Disconnected takes you through the horrors of her past, the uncertainties she faces day-to-day and her will to feel love with her one constant in her life - Chris. Within two weeks of publication, Disconnected hit #21 in Thrillers and #72 in Romance during an Amazon promotion. More recently, Disconnected reached #6 in Kindle and #1 best-seller in Psychological & Suspense and Family Saga.
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Welcome to Three Questions with Van Heerling. This is where you get to meet authors, actors, painters and anyone else that is bent toward the arts, but on a more personal level. Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Dawn Torrens (D.G Torrens) author of Broken Wings and several other fabulous books. Let's get started. VH: If you could go back in time to when you were seven years old, what wisdom or advice would you pass on to your former self? Dawn: If I could really transport my adult self back to when I was seven years old, I would give myself a much needed-hug (these were pretty sparse back then) and I would tell myself to hang in there that everything would turn out just fine... VH: What is the worst advice you ever received? Did you follow it? What happened? Dawn: I remember having a conversation once with an ex work colleague a lady I worked with for quite sometime. I was in my early thirties and had half written a novel. I was sharing with her my hopes and dreams of becoming a full time writer one day and dreams of publishing my first novel! I remember clearly to this day her response, "That's a pretty tall dream Dawn, maybe you ought to set your sights a little lower, something more realistic perhaps!" She said in a rather patronizing tone. I never challenged her response that day, I simply smiled a knowing smile! Because you see, I knew then that one day my dream would be a reality... VH: When was the last time you felt alive? I mean really alive! Dawn: Lol! The last time I felt truly alive and I mean truly alive was when I was holidaying in Greece a few years ago now! I was stood on a high cliff and I mean a really high cliff and I had the urge to dive off it into the deep blue see below that looked so calm and inviting. It was such a hot day and I remember looking over the edge standing there in my swimsuit... So I did just that and jumped off without giving it another thought! I have never felt so scared and yet so excited all at once in my entire life! It was an incredible feeling, would I do it again you ask? Hell yeh... VH: Dawn, it is always great having a chat with you. I know there is a sea between us but at times I feel like we are as close as two chairs, a table and sips of tea. I wish you continued success!  Broken Wings Two people who have both suffered tragic losses in their young life; both of them avoiding love for completely different reasons. Joshua, a soldier in the British Army, a bomb disposal expert and the very best at what he does. Angelina, an editor for a local newspaper and writer in her spare time. Both of them focused on their careers. Brought together unexpectedly, they fall unconditionally and irrevocably in love with one another. All is perfect in their lives until Joshua is unexpectedly posted to Afghanistan for six months. Angelina's worst fears are finally realized. Joshua has to go, it's his duty as a soldier, but the pull in his heart is strong and he leaves her behind with a heavy heart. Angelina is devastated and prays for his safe return. Until one day, a few weeks into Joshua's deployment, there is a knock on her door that changes her life forever.  Author Bio: D.G. Torrens is the author of seven books which she has written and published over the past three years with a toddler in tow! D.G. Torrens currently lives in Birmingham, United Kingdom with her husband and four year old daughter. The author is also a member of RABMAD, "Read a book make a difference" where a group of like minded authors donate a percentage of their sales to their chosen charity. The author is currently penning her latest novel, The Poppy Fields which is due for release in the New Year. Need more D.G. Torrens? Broken Wings Tears of Endurance Whispers from Heaven Author fan page Blog Welcome to Three Questions with Van Heerling. This is where you get to meet authors, actors, painters and anyone else that is bent toward the arts, but on a more personal level. Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Jude Ouvrard, author of Wonderland. Buckle up. This will be a heck of a ride. VH: When was the last time you felt alive? I mean really alive! JO: When I was 14, I was in a car accident. My dad was driving and I was sitting in the passenger seat. We were hit head on. The only thing I remember is my father telling me to watch out and he placed his arm in front of me when we were about to be hit. Seconds later, my dad was opening my car door and asking me to move my legs. I was okay but my face and my eyes were burning. At the time of the impact, I was calling my mother with my father's cellphone. When the air bag deployed, the phone crashed into the right side of my face. The paramedics arrived and I was on my way to the hospital minutes later. I looked like a boxer after a really rough match. My right eye was terribly swollen and I had scratches all over my face. My eye was in a pretty bad shape. I had internal bleeding and traumatic injuries. As a result, I had lost 90% of my vision and could only see shadows and some colors. I stayed in that condition for a year and finally had a surgery. The most beautiful day of my life was when I walked out of the hospital two days later and I could see again. I felt alive again and relief for having survived such a terrible accident. Although I was still not perfect, I felt a lot better. I had to wear sunglasses to protect my eyes, but I remember seeing the sun rays. This particular time in my life will always be one of my happiest moments. My right eye will never be how it was prior to the accident, but I'm happy that I can see again. VH: If you had one hour left to live from this moment, who would you seek? What would you do? Why? JO: One hour doesn’t give me enough time to drive to my parents. I would get there but I would have maybe five minutes with them. I would spend the hour with my son. I would write him a list of things I want him to achieve. Things that I wish I had time to do or things that I wish I had witnessed him doing. I would give him all the advice I could think of and I would take pictures of us. Pictures are so meaningful to me, they sometimes mean so much more than words. A family portrait is the perfect memory. I would also call my family and tell them how much they mean to me and how much I wish I could have been closer. An hour is definitely not enough. VH: If you could go back in time to when you were seven years old, what wisdom or advice would you pass on to your former self? JO: I would tell myself to Be Myself and to not care about what people might think or say about me. Sometimes, I feel like I’ve spent my life trying to be what other people wanted me to be instead of being myself—this is not the way to live. At that young age, you are trying to make friends at school and to be loved by them as well. I wish that I had been stronger at the time. I had friends but it wasn’t always easy. Their influence was strong and at the end of the day, I was following them instead of doing my own thing. Elementary school and high school were the hardest for me. I struggled and it affected my life. I had good grades and I was a good student but my feelings and emotions were all mixed up. Being strong enough to truly be yourself shows how dedicated you are and it helps you get or achieve what you want in life. VH: Jude thank you for allowing us to peek behind the curtain for a moment. It was a pleasure getting to know you better.  Wonderland Summary: Lucas Colton is far too young to go through all this pain but meeting poetry teacher, Preston Davidson, changed everything. His life went from heartbreak to joyful and then, from friendship to love. The impact Preston had on Lucas’ life was mesmerising. What would you do if you knew you may not have a tomorrow? EXCERPT: When I arrived at Central Park, Preston was sitting by the statue of Alice in Wonderland with two steaming cups of coffee in hand. He wore a canary yellow sweatshirt with a pair of dark blue jeans and black leather converse. “You’re on time,” I teased, taking one of the cups from him. “I figure I shouldn’t waste any more time.” Preston took a sip of his coffee. “Life is too important right now. I don’t want to miss anything.” “I can see that you’ve thought about my situation thoroughly.” I couldn’t help but be flattered. It was obvious now that he cared about me, even if just as a friend. “I have a few questions for you. If you don’t mind, of course.” Curious, I wanted to know what was going on inside his brain. Looking through his glasses, I saw how tired his eyes were, how the rims were red. He hadn’t slept all night, I would bet. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to answer all of them, but I’m willing to try.” Preston made me nervous, and I hoped he wasn’t going to ask for a medical explanation. I had asked to be told what was necessary. The details weren’t important to me. All I knew was that I had kidney cancer, and that it had started to spread to my other organs. My lungs were affected, but they were giving me enough medication to keep me out of pain. “I want you to name three things you can’t live without,” he said. That seemed pretty simple, nothing to be worried about. “Coffee, a good movie, and cheesecake.” I laughed. “You took me off guard. I don’t know, but those are things that I enjoy, I guess.” “It’s perfect. Now tell me: what would you do if bacteria were killing all the coffee beans in the world, and you foresaw that thirty days from now, you wouldn’t be able to find a single coffee bean in the world?” Was Preston serious? What kind of question was that? I shook my head and smiled. “I’d drink as much as I could, and I’d try to freeze some to keep for special occasions.” “Good answer. Now tell me: what would you do if the film industry decided that it was no longer profit-earning to produce movies and that thirty days from now, there wouldn’t be any movies anywhere for sale or rent?” “I would buy as many movies as I could afford, and go to the movie theater one last time.” “Another great answer. Last, but not least: what would you do if the Cheesecake Factory was going bankrupt, and thirty days from now, you couldn’t find a single piece of cheesecake in the entire world?” “I would eat cheesecake for every meal, gain weight, and die of heart failure,” I joked. Preston laughed. “I’m asking you all these questions because I’ve come up with a plan. You said you might have weeks to live. Let’s hope you have a month. You have to make the most out of it. You have to enjoy and do everything you’ve ever dreamed of doing. Are you ready to have the best time of your life?” A smile spread over my lips. “Okay, I see where you’re going with this.” “I’ll spend that month with you. I want to be with you every time you smile or cry, when you feel good, or when you’re in pain. You can’t do this alone, Lucas. So tell me: what is it that you’ve always dreamed of doing?” “I’m a pretty simple guy; don’t need much to be happy, so forgive me if we aren’t going to Australia. I think we’ll stay here in New York.” “Sounds good to me — and my wallet.” Preston looked at me, waiting for me to tell him everything I wanted to do before the end came. “I want to go to a rock concert.” “Perfect.” He wrote it down in his pocket size notebook. “What else?” “Um, I want to watch all the Star Wars movies while eating greasy pizza in front of a fireplace.” “Today is your lucky day; I have a fireplace at home.” Preston had a huge grin on his face. He was enjoying this, probably more than I was. “Next?” “I want to see a Broadway show. Don’t care which production, just want to watch one.” “I’ve seen them all so I’ll take you to see my favorite.” He lifted his eyes from his pad up to mine. “Anything else?” I took few moments to think, my hand reached for my chin while I looked at the sky. “I want to go to a gospel celebration.” I laughed while he wrote it down. “And I want us to sing our hearts out and dance with them.” “We’ll see about the dancing part. Keep going with the ideas.” “I don’t know. I want to take long walks in Central Park. This is my favorite season.” “We’ll come here every day, if you want.” I nodded. Preston put his notebook into the back pocket of his jeans and looked at me like he was seeing my soul. I felt the vibration and the appreciation for everything he was doing for me, but I couldn’t get my head around it. Why would he do all of this for me? I had just met him, after all.  Author bio: Jude was born and raised in a small village named Lacolle. She now lives in Montreal, Canada.She is the proud mother of a beautiful four year old son, and has spent the last twelve years with her partner, Cedric. French is her native language, but she prefers to write in her second language, English. Jude has a passion for books, both reading and writing them. She is currently working on a novel called Body, Ink, and Soul. Coming soon! Also by Jude Ouvrard: “Under the Sun,” Heat Wave: Beach Reads Volume Two Need More Jude Ouvrard? My website/blog Facebook Goodreads About me Amazon Barnes and Noble |
"For me, writing is a joyful torture or sorts." ~vh~ “In this life, seek your own answers, and quote yourself for a change.” ~vh~
The muse has tapped my shoulder and my ear is turned toward her lips. I am waiting for her whisper. ~vh~
"The funny thing about life: more often than not it’s laughing at you rather than you laughing at it." ~vh~
"At some point there is a moment when you should give up. I’m here to tell you that today is not that day." ~vh~
“If you are afraid of the truth, never ask a young child a question.” ~vh~
“The frailty of life is most evident at its last breath.” vh
“Prove not to the world but to yourself that you are above your current circumstance.” ~vh~
"Don't be wishful when it comes to your dreams. Take aggressive action in your pursuit of them. Start now with a single step, no matter how insignificant it may feel." ~vh~
"Nothing is more powerful than an unwavering, unapologetic decision to BE." ~vh~
"Strive to be the light in an ever-darkening world. SHINE!" ~vh~
"Think big and then think small. That’s where the details live." ~vh~
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