INTERVIEW and GIVEAWAY
Practical Advice from an Evolved Soul
by Marcus Dino
Practical Advice from an Evolved Soul is the third book in Marcus Dino's Fifi series. Also available: Fifi and Diary of a Mad Gen Yer.
Practical Advice from an Evolved Soul is currently on tour with Goddess Fish Promotions. The tour stops here today for my interview with the author and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.
Description
"Fulfill your destiny Fifi, as you wander through the Wilderness," Goth her spirit guide tells her ...
Marcus Dino's latest book Practical Advice from an Evolved Soul, an anthology like it's smash hit predecessor, Diary of a Mad Gen Yer, has 21st century actress/heroine Cheryl "Fifi" Larouche coming back outrageous as ever introducing new "Silly Stories", "Silly Poems", and "Silly Blogs", plus an added new twist using the world of Twitter, Fifi's "Silly Tweets".
Practical Advice from an Evolved Soul is third in a series of Fifi's stories following Marcus Dino's top ten Amazon Bestseller, Diary of a Mad Gen Yer, and his original Hollywood novel, Fifi.
Many of the major characters from Mr. Dino's two earlier book are back in Evolved Soul, including Fifi's boyfriend Biff, her obstinate father Charles, and her two alien friends from the planet Zatoris, Alocki and Helos. In addition there are some very interesting new characters in Evolved Soul, including a long dead Englishman who said he knew great literary figures such as Dickens and Keats called "The 200 Year Old Great Writer", and two entities who say they are Fifi's "Spirit Guides", Goth and Au.
Both Goth and Au write very inspirational blogs that convey a strong message in the "Blogs" section of Evolved Soul.
Practical Advice from an Evolved Soul is both humorous and inspirational and, like it's two predecessors, will entertain the reader from beginning to end.
Excerpt from "My Silly Poems"
READ IT FAST
By Moi
EEEEEK HERE'S A DANDY THAT MY RIGHT BRAIN JUST MADE UP..... OF COURSE THERE ARE SOME STUCKUP TYPES WHO WILL SAY....”NO WONDER SHE'S NOT HAD ANY SERIOUS BOYFRIENDS THE PAST 10 YEARS.”YOU HAVE TO RELIEVE STRESS PEOPLE.... YOU HAVE TO RELIEVE STRESS... NOW YOU MUST READ THIS POEM AS FAST AS YOU CAN FOR EFFECT... ENJOY
F LAROUCHE
The gnat that sat on the bat that sat on the hat that sat on the cat that sat on the mat said:
"At first I pouted but my patience paid off as I purposely picked plenty of pickled prickly peanut buttered peppered pear and pecan pies at the produce section and puckered my lips as I later sold these pickled prickly peanut buttered peppered pear and pecan pies to plenty and plenty of people and felt pleasure as I profited from pocketing all these people's pretty little pennies."
Praise for the Book
"A very entertaining follow-up to the humorous adventures of Fifi and her ever-growing circle of family, friends and spirit guides! I really got a kick of her experiences with agents, snooty salespeople and internet blogging and tweeting. I especially loved Fifi's dealings with Mr. B. and her excursions into Dreamland! I look forward to the next chapter in Fifi's 'evolved soul'!" ~ Julie T. Byers
"This book is different, zany, humorous and sometimes unbelievable, but I feel you will come away with a lot of sound practical advice you can apply to your life. If anything it will teach you how to laugh at yourself, realize that money isn't always this most important thing in the world and failing can teach us some very valuable lessons. This book is recommended for anyone who wants to learn a little more about themselves and learn perseverance can sometimes pay off." ~ tammy
"This book is a great read and was very humorous. Although it was not based on true events, it could easily have been written by a girl in her twenties that is living in Los Angeles and trying to make her way in the acting industry." ~ jlynnp79
"I just loved all the funny and inspirational stories. Is there a more entertaining fictional character today than Fifi Larouche? And the stories by Goth and Au are so inspirational. I whole heartily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys good storytelling." ~ edith
"This book is so funny you will not want to put it down. It's cool how the stories and poems are illustrated thoroughly that I recommend this book for everyone to read." ~ Jessika Garrett
Interview With the Author
Hi Marcus, thanks for joining me today to discuss your new book, Practical Advice from an Evolved Soul.
For what age group do you recommend your book?
Probably a target age of tweens and YA, catered to a female audience but in reality adults of any age as well as younger children would enjoy reading Evolved Soul, as well as males.
What sparked the idea for this book?
Spontaneity. When I'm driving and listening to an oldies hit, one of Fifi's silly tweets with her dialogue with "Hippy Dippy from Serendipity" who laments the passing of "classic rock", comes out. When I take a walk on Rodeo Drive and window shop at an expensive luxury store the idea for "Shopping Spree" pops into my head. The silly poem "Say it Fast" comes out when I was at a poetry reading and saw a few poets doing tongue twisters. I am stuck in a horrible traffic jam on Sunset Blvd and another one of Fifi's silly tweets come to mind about LA traffic. A lot of inspirational thoughts and ideas that have come to me through the years of me delving into spirituality leads to Goth and Au's spiritual advice. The one place where I rarely got ideas for my book is sitting in front of a laptop.
What was the hardest part to write in this book?
Creating a good flow in the book with the anthologies, poetry, and blogs - especially spiritual advice given by Fifi's spirit guides Goth and Au, and tweets. Making sure the content was entertaining and easy for the reader to follow.
How do you hope this book affects its readers?
I hope they are entertained as that is part of the purpose in terms of Evolved Soul in engaging the reader. I hope the reader takes some of the "spiritual advice" to heart.
How long did it take you to write this book?
About two years total with writing the stories, poetry, blogs, and tweets and putting them all into an anthology.
What is your writing routine?
My writing routine? Again it’s spontaneous, I write whenever I feel like it, whenever something out of the ordinary inspires me. Certainly not just sitting in front of a laptop trying to get ideas to "come to me".
How did you get your book published?
My publisher is Summertime Productions. Evolved Soul is in both print book and ebook form.
What advice do you have for someone who would like to become a published writer?
It takes a lot of hard work and perseverance to be successful in this field. The trick is to believe in your books.
What do you like to do when you're not writing?
I'm involved with a few spiritual groups. I have attended a number of spirituality conferences. This is where I was inspired to create the "advice" given by Goth and Au. I also enjoy going to book conferences. Finally I enjoy dining out and watching movies with a few movie buffs. It was my love for movies, plus visiting all the major Hollywood attractions and landmarks, that inspired me to write about Fifi, a struggling actress.
What does your family think of your writing?
They are quite supportive. Of course, they're supportive of anything I do.
Please tell us a bit about your childhood.
Adventuresome, as my father was in the service and we traveled frequently. Growing up in places like Florida, Hawaii, and the California Mojave desert gave me a sense of adventure. My father's relatives lived in New Jersey so we visited New York and the East Coast. My mother's relatives lived in Japan so we visited there. Not to mention crisscrossing the majestic United States from East to West and back three or four times. Excellent background for an aspiring writer.
Sounds great! Did you like reading when you were a child?
Yeah, I one of those kids who enjoyed being in a library reading Sci Fi from Asimov or Bradbury or suspense anthologies by Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine as opposed to playing ball (and seeing balls fly over my head or go under my glove) with the other kids.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
After reading great Sci Fi anthologies and novels by Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Arthur C. Clarke as a kid. I wanted to be the next great Sci Fi writer. In essence there is a lot of fantasy (Sci Fi?) in Evolved Soul.
Did your childhood experiences influence your writing?
A lot of my childhood experiences especially kids I grew up with helped developed Fifi's persona. Some of my own childhood/adolescence experience is found in Helos, Fifi's genius absent minded friend. A lot of adults I knew as a kid helped influence the persona of Fifi's domineering father Charles.
Which writers have influenced you the most?
Let's see there are a few. I already mentioned Asimov, Bradbury, and Clarke. There's also Hemingway, Steinbeck, and of course the great William Shakespeare. When I wrote the novel Fifi I was inspired by Steinbeck and how influential characterization was part of his works. Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles inspired me to write the short stories for Diary of a Mad Gen Yer and Practical Advice from an Evolved Soul. Of course I have Fifi doing Shakespeare in "A Midsummer Night's Silliness". I also wish to add how great a storywriter Harper Lee was with To Kill a Mockingbird, and I try to create good storylines in my short stories and especially in my original novel Fifi.
Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
Well, I get pretty positive vibes when I talk to people who have read from Practical Advice from an Evolved Soul. Most of the reviews have been positive. There perhaps are a few who weren't too thrilled with the book but then you have people who are disappointed we don't have 365 days of sunshine the whole year. Can't please everyone.
What can we look forward to from you in the future?
Deep in the crevasses of my cerebral cortex, as I see so many movies today dealing with Gen Y aged superheroines, I'm thinking about adapting my Fifi trilogy into a screenplay. Also I'm going to convert Diary of a Mad Gen Yer, currently in ebook form, into a printed book.
Thank you for taking the time to stop by today, Marcus. Best of luck with your future projects.
About the Author
Marcus Dino has always wanted to be a fiction writer as long as he can remember. Living in Southern California, plus his being a diehard movie buff, has led him to write stories dealing with the struggles and conquests of heroic, up-and-coming Hollywood actress Cheryl "Fifi" Larouche.
Practical Advice from an Evolved Soul is an anthology and inspirational book and is Mr. Dino's third Fifi series book. His first book, Hollywood novel, Fifi, was first published in 2003. His second book, Diary of a Mad Gen Yer, an anthology and Amazon bestseller in its category, was published in 2009.
Mr. Dino has a Masters degrees in Education and Engineering and is a graduate of Chapman University. He has a distinguished career as an electronics engineer working for several Aerospace companies and also as a mathematics teacher in Los Angeles area schools. He currently resides in Santa Maria, California.
Giveaway
Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win a $20 Amazon or B&N gift card.
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