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Fran Lewis

Irene Brodsky: "NEW YORK CITY AUTHOR, FRAN LEWIS, INTERVIEWED BY NEW YORK CITY AUTHOR, IRENE BRODSKY

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"NEW YORK CITY AUTHOR, FRAN LEWIS, INTERVIEWED BY NEW YORK CITY AUTHOR, IRENE BRODSKY

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Sun at 8:28pm

It is the greatest honor to interview fellow New Yorker, Fran Lewis. She is the author of The Bertha Series: "Bertha Speaks Out," "My Name is Bertha." "Bertha Strikes Back" and "Memories Are Precious."

QUESTION 1 - Please tell the readers where you grew up and what schools you attended?

ANSWER - I attended P.S. 67 on 180th and Mohegan Avenue in the South Bronx and JHS 44 on Prospect Avenue where I grew up on Southern Blvd/Tremont Avenue. I attended Columbus H.S. and graduated in 2 years to be followed by Hunter College where I graduated in 3 years. My lst two masters were from Lehman College in the Bronx. (Education and Reading & Learning Disabilities). My 3rd masters in Administration & Supervision was from Manhattan College in Riverdale. I also received a PD diploma along with my master's degree.

QUESTION 2 - How did you get interested in writing books?

ANSWER - I became interested in writing books after I retired from teaching when my mom was diagnosed with dementia Alzheimers in 2003. I decided not to spend my time doing something constructive. I started out writing short stories about things that happened to me growing up. I guess that is when I realized I could take all of the short stories and turn them into children's books. My Aunt Tova Ross made me promise before she passed away that I would write a book about my life growing up in the South Bronx and I kept my word. I wrote about things from my childhood that I wanted to share with children. I was always overweight as a child and I got picked on a lot by my friends and family. I decided to write these stories to help teach children how to deal with these issues and other real life issues they face today in an intelligent and humorous way.

QUESTION 3 - Tell us about The Bertha Series and who is Bertha?

ANSWER - Bertha is my paternal grandmother. My sister said that I looked like her growing up. She was not a happy person and at times when I would get angry, she would call me Bertha. I would call her Tillie after her sister Tillie who she reminded me of. I wrote three books in my Bertha Series and I am now working on the 4th. The lst is "My Name is Bertha" which includes short stories about my dancing, ice-skating and bowling lessons & more. "Bertha Speaks out" tells about how I dreaded long car rides and the funny things that happened along the way. It tells how I dealt with my mother who insisted that I get perfect scores on all of my tests or I had to write the test over. I learned to deal with difficult girls in school and it tells how we came together when a family member got dementia. "Bertha Fights Back" is my lst chapter book and it is dedicated to 9/11 and to one of my students who died in the lst tower. It deals with hate crimes, peer mediation and what happends when Bertha is accused of doing something and is just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It teaches adults what happens when a good kid does the wrong thing and learns the hard way. It does not have a happy ending but teaches important lessons to kids about tolerance, understanding and more.

QUESTION 4 - Our readers would like to know about your wonderful association with Robin Falls Kids Story Time Radio/Blog Show & Red River Writers."

ANSWER - I am proud to be part of Robin Falls Kids Radio Show & Red River Writers. Thanks to April Robbins and the authors on Robin Falls Kids, I have been given the opportunity to read from my books, meet great authors and learn more about the writing profession than I would have without their help and support. I love being on the radio, contributingt book reviews to April's magazine and hope to always be a part of Red River Writers. I would also love to review some of the books of the writers on Red River Writers for the magazine, too. I would love to speak out about issues that authors felt are difficult in writing and also other issues that we might read about in the news.

QUESTION 5 - Would you encourage young students to take up writing?

ANSWER - I think that young students need to know that writing is a great way to get their voice and thoughts heard.

QUESTION 6 - If you were not a writer, what would be your back-up choice of career.

ANSWER - I think writing is great but I am finding it hard to get my books re-published by a traditional publisher. If I were not a writer, I would have become a journalist or professional book reviewer.

QUESTION 7 - Since this is New Years' Day, what is your new years wish?

ANSWER - My wish is to raise awareness and funds for a cure for Alzheimer's hopefully through the sales of my book" Memories are Precious." The book is about my mom's journey with the disease in her own words. There are memories and dedications from authors, family members and friends from around the world. It is also a resource for anyone who wants to understand the illness, the stages of the illness and how to get help for a friend or family member. It has caregiver tips and much more.

QUESTION 8 - If you could go back in time for just one hour, what change would you make in your life?

ANSWER - If I could go back in time for just one hour, I would have become a school administrator and not just a reading/writing specialist and Dean. I think that I felt teaching reading and writing was more important than running the school. I realize now that my school or any school would have done better with someone who cares about the students, teachers, parents, and respects them; and would look at her day and running a school as an educator and not just as an administrator.

QUESTION 9 - Please tell our readers the names of your books & what websites/webpages are your books available?

ANSWER - "My Name is Bertha," "Bertha Speaks Out," "Bertha Fights Back," and "My Memories Are Precious" can be purchased on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Shelfari, Goodreads, Booksamillion and other resellers and Xlibris.com My websites are:

http://www.gabina49.webs.c

om - http://www.xlibris,com

http://www.myspace.com/hot

auntiebertha - http://www.gabina49.wordpr

ess.com

QUESTION 10 - WHAT HOBBIES DO YOU HAVE?

ANSWER -I love reading books of all genres and reviewing them. I review books for Manic Readers, bookpleasures.com and Ijustfinished.com. You can read my reviews on Ijustfinished.com under the name Gabina which is what my sister calls me. I love to walk and enjoy museums especially Metropolitan Museum of Art. I love doing research on the net. I am presently doing research for my next Altzheimer's Book on Brain Active Activities. The book might be called: Sharp as a Tack of Scrambled Eggs: Which describes your brain?

THANK YOU TO FRAN LEWIS FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS INTERVIEW!

Christmas spirit

Christmas Spirit

By Amy Garvey

Wouldn’t it be great if everyone had their own special matchmaker to make sure that they are matched with the right person in order to be happy for life? Wouldn’t it be even better if that person was your true soul mate and this special matchmaker helped bring down the divorce rate? But, what if the matchmaker was something supernatural that came when you inherited your Aunt’s house? What would you do if you moved into a house and it was haunted? This brings me to my review of Christmas Spirit a light-hearted and humorous story about two people whose destiny was decided by a ghost. Charlotte Prescott and Sam Landry are brought together when Sam comes to interview her about the ghost that is living in her house. She invites him to come and see it for himself. As they wait and for the spirit to arrive they talk about their lives and reason behind her moving into this house and his for taking the assignment to interview her. Not believing that there are ghosts he is strongly attracted to her. But, the unthinkable happens and he is hit with a sudden surge of heat and a warm feeling and he can no longer resist the urge to get up close and personal with Charlotte, nor can she resist him. It seems that no matter what they try to do they cannot stop what does happen next or can they? Getting shoved, feeling pushed, a cold chill and a strange heat sensation sends both Sam and Charlotte into a total frenzy that only stops when someone calls on the phone or knocks on the door.

It is almost as if this spirit or whatever is drawing them together is taunting them into their arms and then decides when to put the brakes on. Added to that Charlotte is writing a children’s book, but her imagination runs wild during a dream and her encounter with Sam seems to be deep rooted in a dream she has that might or might not have something to do with the ghost and the history of the house she now lives in. Instead of the children’s story Charlotte begins writing a romance that takes place in another time period and century. Inside her house she becomes embroiled with Sam, her need for him and when the ghost or spirit pushes him hard and leaves an imprint on his chest, not only Sam and Charlotte but her next door neighbor Lillian become concerned and start to search for answers. Sam is supposed to be interviewing other people in the area about different paranormal encounters and experiences that they claim to have had or ghosts or spirits they have seen. Needing to leave her in order to fulfill a deadline he becomes concerned about what might happen to her and with Lillian’s help and the research she did on the history of the Prescott family and the house itself, the pieces might start to fit together. Going through the research about her family and then realizing that the story she was writing was really about something that happened to the characters she wrote about in the past, the pieces came together and more.

Who were these ghostly figures? What relation were they to Charlotte? How did one communicate with her through her computer and verify what she learned at the historical society? You will have to read the book to find out just how a these spirits, one in particular, and her family history led to what would make for both Sam and Charlotte an interesting Christmas and more. This is a story that makes you believe in miracles and more. I would recommend this as a light read on a warm winter’s night in front of a fireplace with two people who really want to snuggle up and more. Friendship, understanding and some surprises will forever bind these Sam and Charlotte and don’t forget Lillian. What happens to the ghost and spirits? Read the book and find out!