Author Genre: CHILDRENS BOOKS,SCIENCE FICTION,PSYCHOLOGY
Website: A. B. Curtiss
Author's Blog: MobyJane
Blog: Depression is a Choice
E-Mail: abcurtiss@cox.net
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
Facebook: Check Out Facebook
Pinterest: Check Out Pinterest
Author Description:
A. B. Curtiss is an award winning author of twelve books, a board-certified cognitive behavioral therapist and certified hypnotist. Her newest book, BLUERAY AND THE EYE OF ZXANTHOR is a fast-moving YA Sci-Fi where an unlikely trio try to save humanity from certain extinction—and two of them are highly unusual high school runaways. HANNER AND BULLIES is a middle school favorite—the new girl handles her school bully problem by heroically solving a mystery that threatens the whole town. Ages 9 to 15.
Some words from our Spotlight author:
All my books carry the same message: that kindness, civility, self-responsibility and a regard for the ceremonies of life lead us to a life of joy and healthy community with our fellows. My children’s books say this in 40 pages. For the adult books I need considerably more pages than that.
A.B. Curtiss
Words come wrapped around an idea.
You write them all down
Then, one by one, you take all the words away
Until only the idea is left.
The remaining words were never words
They were always ART.
A.B. Curtiss
SPOTLIGHT Questions and Answers with the Author
Let’s start with what’s next. Do you have another book on the horizon? Can you tell us the timeline for its release and give us a little tease?
MY NEXT BOOK IS CALLED “THE GREAT GRIZZLY.” IT IS A CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK BASED ON AN OLD INDIAN LEGEND THAT GRIZZLIES WERE ONCE A BAND OF FIERCE TALL MEN WHO WORE THE SKINS OF ANIMALS. AFTER ONE PARTICULARLY CRUEL AND WANTON SLAUGHTER OF ANIMALS FOR SPORT THE HUNTERS WERE TURNED INTO THE VERY BEASTS THEY HAD HUNTED. “THE HUNTERS LOOKED DOWN. THEY WERE NO LONGER MEN THE PELTS THEY HAD WORN HAD BECOME THEIR OWN SKIN.
Do you do any book signings, interviews, speaking and personal appearances? If so, when and where is the next place where your readers can see you? Where can they keep up with your personal contacts online?
I WILL BE BOOKSIGNING NEXT MONTH IN OLD TOWN, SAN DIEGO.
You have great covers. They carry a theme and your brand with them. How does your book cover creation process work? Do you hand over the basic theme or do you have more of a hands-on approach? Do you get your readers involved in its development?
I WORK VERY CLOSELY WITH THE ARTISTS I CHOOSE TO ILLUSTRATE MY CHILDRN’S BOOKS. I SUPERVISE EACH PAGE AND WHAT MOTIFS ARE TO BE FEATURED IN EACH ILLUSTRATION.
You have written several kids short stories. Can you tell us if they had an impact on the sales of your novels? Are shorty’s one of your styles of writing or are they created to give readers a sample of your work?
MY CHILDREN’S BOOKS ARE SUITABLE FOR ADULTS AS WELL AS CHILDREN. MY BOOK ABOUT 9-11, THE LITTLE CHAPEL THAT STOOD, HAS TOUCHED THE HEARTS OF MANY WHO KNOW HOW IMPORTANT IT IS THAT WE NEVER FORGET THAT DAY. AMERICA WAS NEVER A VICTIM ON 9/11. WE HELPED ONE ANOTHER. PEOPLE RISKED THEIR OWN LIVES TO HELP STRANGES DOWN THE TOWER STAIRS TO SAFETY. NO, AMERICA WAS NOT A VICTIM ON THAT DAY. IT SHOWED ITSELF TO BE A GREAT NATION.
What writer support groups do you belong to? Do they help with the writing, marketing and the publishing process?
I ATTEND WRITER’S CONFERENCES AND I BELONG TO A SMALL LOCAL WRITER’S GROUP. SOMETIMES YOU THINK YOU HAVE SAID SOMETHING BUT IF NO ONE UNDERSTANDS IT, YOU HAVE NOT SAID WHAT YOU THOUGHT YOU SAID.
Has the advent of ebooks changed anything in your writing, getting the book to your readers and the relationship with your readers and fans?
I’M AFRAID BOOKS ARE ON THEIR WAY TO EXTINCTION. THE PRESENT GENERATION NO LONGER HAS THE SAME LOYALTY TO THE FEEL OF A BOUND BOOK IN THEIR HANDS AS THEIR PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS. IT IS NOT ONLY SAD BUT DANGEROUS TO OUR CULTURE. WHAT IS ELECTRONIC, AND DIGITAL AND STORED ON THE INTERNET CAN BE LOST IN A SECOND. THEN WHAT WILL WE DO FOR LITERATURE AND THE WORDS OF GREAT MEN TO GUIDE OUR THINKING AND SUSTAIN OUR SOULS? IT WILL BE WORSE FOR HUMANITY THAN THE BURNING OF THE ANCIENT LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA IN EGYPT.
What has been your experience in giving your books away free? Have you been involved in any other type of giveaways and how did that work out? What was your main goal in doing this? Did you run into any obstacles?
I SUPPORT A CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION THAT GIVES NEW BOOKS TO CHILDREN AND SCHOOLS. I HAVE GIVEN AWAY THOUSANDS OF NEW BOOKS. IT’S MY WAY OF GIVING BACK.
You are published under several genres. Does changing hats create any problems? Any tricks you can share with us? Which genre did you enjoy writing the most? Does moving from one to the other give you some breathing room?
I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE INSPIRATION COMES FROM AND WHAT COMPELS ME TO WRITE A PARTICULAR BOOK AT A PARTICULAR TIME. I WRITE WHAT COMES TO ME.
You have two great blogs. You do a great job keeping readers informed, marketing your books and providing useful information to others. What is your primary goal?
TO REACH OUT AND LET PEOPLE KNOW WHO I AM, WHAT I THINK AND WHAT EXPERIENCES SHAPE MY LIFE.
What is your method of getting reviews for your novels? Do you seek professional reviews or do you rely on your reading audience to supply them?
I ENTER BOOK AWARDS PROGRAMS. ONE TIME I ENTERED A BOOK FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS AND ALTHOUGH I DID NOT WIN, I RECEIVED A GLOWING REVIEW FROM THE CHILDREN’S BOOK EDITOR OF THE BOSTON GLOBE WHO WAS ONE OF THE JUDGES.
Author's Book List
BLUERAY AND THE EYE OF ZXANTHOR
An unlikely trio holds the only key to saving humanity from sentient robots indistinguishable from human beings—a high school runaway, his autistic savant buddy and a time traveling scientist from a distant planet combine powers to save Earth.
Order the Book From: Amazon
Hanner and the Bullies
Do you know what to do when somebody bullies you? Hanner Flynn wants to be normal. But she's different. So school bullies make her life miserable. She doesn’t have a mother and father like everybody else or live in a 'real' home. Her home is a converted storage shed with her aunt who manages a self-storage yard. Hanner hates where she lives so she spends a lot of time in her 'secret room' in the local woodsy park reading mystery books. She decides to turn detective and keeps a detailed record of some of the oddball renters at the self-storage. They are hiding big secrets! Drawn into the dangerous mystery of the cats-with-no-eyes and a battle to preserve “her” park, she finds the courage to confront her school bullies with an ingenious plan!
Order the Book From: Amazon
- Barnes and Noble
Depression is a Choice
A Board-Certified Cognitive Behavioral therapist details her own journey out of manic-depression. This book shows you how to think about depression in a different way both philosophically and neuroscientifically. The pain of depression lies in the very gears of our thinking process. Depression is only in the subcortex, never in the neocortex. When we know how our brain works, how the process of pain perception works, we can use simple mind exercises to short-circuit the pain of depression by disconnecting the message that we are depressed from one part of the brain to the other. We can take advantage of the neuroplasticity of the brain in order to forge new get-out-depression neural patterns which we can now use instead of using the old habitual depressive ones.
Order the Book From: Amazon
Brainswitch out of Depression
The book that introduced brainswitching to cognitive behavioral therapy. Brainswitching is a targeted system of simple mind exercises developed from neuroscience research, biofeedback and brainmapping. These exercises short-circuit the pain of depression by disconnecting the message that we are depressed from one part of the brain to the other and taking advantage of the brain’s neuroplasticity to forge new get-out-depression neural patterns which we can now use instead of the old habitual depressive neural patterns.
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- Barnes and Noble
Dragons Guard the Zoo
Funny, weird, clever, thoughtful poems. Meet the brave little triplets, the philosopher frog, the Moogly Mugfords, the real Little Jack Horner.
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- Barnes and Noble
Hallelujah A Cat Comes Back
Granny Cat's book of virtues. Rhymes that are charming and wise but never preachy. Wonderful black and white etchings set within a colorful flora and fauna border. Meet Hallelujah, a cat with character who bounces back from disaster thanks to the wisdom of Old Granny Cat whose good advice sets him on the straight and narrow path of good will, and good behavior. Lively, good-humored philosophy, and classic Victorian artwork.
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- Barnes and Noble
A Train You Never Saw
All aboard this wondrous train book! Trains of the imagination streak across every page. Very special art illustrations with colorful rhymes to match them. Hoo-RAY! Hoo-ROO! Hoo-RAH! Oh what a splendid sight to see a train you never saw! A moon train chases a shooting star, a rainbow train goes fishing, an alligator train and a mean, green train are all ready for this whimsical adventure. Good fun while teaching creative imagination and phonemic awareness.
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- Barnes and Noble
In the Company of Bears
Winner of a Benjamin Franklin Award. Pastel colors and deceptively simple rhymes soothe and calm as wonderful, magical polar bears serve tea, or picnic on the moon. Why is it so pleasant in the company of bears? The Bears always see the real you, and treat you special. No need to pretend anymore, just be your real self. Warm fuzzies, over-sized book, museum quality illustrations.
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- Barnes and Noble
Children of the Gods
In 1929 a retired newspaper editor vacationing in the archeological digs of an old Mayan ruin has a preternatural vision that tells him Earth was created as an experiment in altered consciousness by children of higher beings who then forgot their original awareness. Although the vision occurred over a six day period, the editor spends the next forty years of his life transcribing his original notes into two large journals mailed posthumously to his grandchild as a strange inheritance.
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Legend of the Giant Panda
The story is based on an old Chinese legend of how the Panda got its black markings. In this oversized picture book with distinctive borders, brave pandas fight a great Fire-dragon to save the Bamboo Forest. Lyrical prose matches superb saturated-color illustrations and emphasizes the need for us to conserve the planet to make room for all other creatures.
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- Barnes and Noble
The Little Chapel that Stood
Beautifully illustrated book tells of the historic chapel less than 100 yards from the Twin Towers that miraculously survived on 9-11. Firemen hung their shoes on the fence and raced to help the people in the towers: Oh what gallant men did we lose/Who never came back to get their shoes. The story of terror overcome by courage and bravery that teaches us no one is too small to make a difference.
Order the Book From: Amazon
- Barnes and Noble
Author Recommended by: HBSystems Publications
Publisher of ebooks, writing industry blogger and the sponsor of the following blogs:
HBS Author's Spotlight
eBook Author’s Corner
Top Shelf Author Advice
Mystery Reader’s Circle
Check out the index of other Spotlight authors. Spotlight Index.
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