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5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Vern E. Smith, author of The Jones Men

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JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Vern E. Smith, author of The Jones Men
(Rosarium Publishing)

Set in 1974, Lennie Jack and Joe Red, two ambitious young heroin dealers launch a bold plan to control Detroit’s drug trade with a daring robbery of the biggest kingpin in town, ex-cop Willis McDaniel.

With the clock ticking on an all-out war, Lennie Jack and Joe Red race to set up their takeover plan while trying to stay a step ahead of McDaniel’s deadly hunters and a squad of police detectives lead by Big Al Lewis. The book unfolds in cinematic chapters at an astonishing pace that places the reader at the center of the action.

“A large accomplishment in the art of fiction.” — New York Times Book Review.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the inspiration to write “The Jones Men”?

Vern E. Smith: The Jones Men grew out of my work as a journalist. I was a bureau chief and national correspondent for Newsweek, and before that a newspaper reporter in California.

I reported a story for the magazine that turned into a piece called “Detroit’s Heroin Subculture,” in which I first used the term “jones men” to describe the players in that world. Continue reading 5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Vern E. Smith, author of The Jones Men →

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5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Jack Barr, author of Failing at Fatherhood

JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Jack Barr, author of Failing at Fatherhood
(Trinity Grace Press)

Starting with an article on CNN and now the author of his first book, Failing at Fatherhood, Jack Barr shares his deeply personal story as a new parent who has recently learned of his daughter’s inborn chromosomal deficiency.

His daughter, Marley, and her diagnosis of Down syndrome consequentially spiraled his life down into an overwhelming state of depression, fear and anxiety, that only forced him to search for answers through the multifaceted events throughout the timeline of his life. Barr’s service as a missionary with his wife in Thailand set up the story of failure and redemption as his apparent faith compeled him to resolve his past, reflect on the present, and passionately hope for the future.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the inspiration to write “Failing at Fatherhood”?

Jack Barr: My daughter and her birth inspired me to write Failing at Fatherhood. Before she was born, I had a distorted view of people with special needs. Instead of being a proud father, I was an emotionally absent father for my daughter her first year of life. Continue reading 5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Jack Barr, author of Failing at Fatherhood →

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5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Kathrin Lake, author of Writing with Cold Feet

JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Kathrin Lake, author of Writing with Cold Feet
(Buddha Press)

Writing with Cold Feet is not only for blocked writers or reluctant writers, but for all writers. Even bestselling authors have praised this book as a helpful guide that writers can use to find their way back to their muse.

All writers or want-to-be writers will easily relate and be inspired by the stories within. Must read sections are:

  • Planned Revelations
  • Feedback and the Monster
  • Wrecking it
  • Money and Writing
  • The Evil Puppetmaster..and many more original ideas!

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the inspiration to write “Writing with Cold Feet”?

Kathrin Lake: Writing with Cold Feet was born from a long-running course that began when I was asked to teach a class called “Fear of Writing.” I had no idea what I was getting into and what a life-long journey it would become to help writers not only overcome their writing blocks, but tear down the myths about writers and writing, and create an easy path for writers to discover their own unique writing process. Continue reading 5 Minutes, 5 Questions With… Kathrin Lake, author of Writing with Cold Feet →