The Author Success Story Behind ABC's Resurrection: Q&A With Literary Agents Jeff Kleinman and Michelle Brower (Part I of III)

Photo: ABC
What began as an interview with literary agents Jeff Kleinman, Founding Partner, and Michelle Brower, Senior Vice President, of Folio Literary Management turned into enough material for a three part Q&A series on what agents really want from authors. The forthcoming second and third parts of the interview touch on what they're looking for in both a manuscript and an author, as well as advice for self-published authors looking for an agent. This part, however, dives into the incredible story behind author Jason Mott, whose best-selling novel The Returned became ABC's breakout success, Resurrection. I've decided to start with Mott's story because it exemplifies how good things really do happen to good people.

Q: We all love a great author success story, and the one of Jason Mott's novel, The Returned, turning into the hit ABC series, Resurrection, is now at the top of my list of favorite breakout successes. How did Mott transition from his job as a customer service representative for Verizon to the best-selling author success story he is today?


Michelle Brower: Photo Courtesy of Folio Literary Management
Michelle: I'm actually looking at the Resurrection poster on my office wall right now. Jason is a great example of how traditional publishing can work out best for an author. He was working at Verizon as a customer service representative at the time. He had an MFA in poetry, so he really had committed himself to writing.

I found his novel, The Returned, in my slush pile, making him an unsolicited author. I read it. I loved it. We worked together on it by doing lots of edits. When I sent it out, it turned out that it was very popular. Mira bought it for a significant deal. We then took the manuscript and connected with a co-agent who specializes in film and television. They then sold it to Plan B in an auction where other TV production companies were involved. That was when we made the pilot. After that, we hoped and prayed! ABC decided to order the series, which meant it launched on air, and the book became a best-seller. As evidenced by Mott, everything can hit on all cylinders.

Q: What was the time frame from book publishing to television launch?

Michelle: The Returned actually became a TV show before it came out in paperback. It never happens that fast. We had a lot of luck and a good set of circumstances. They bought the book before it was actually published and then produced it shortly after the hardcover came out, which was when we moved into making the pilot. I doubt it will ever happen like that for me again. It was just so good, and all the right things happened. That's not the typical experience, but we are all really thrilled about it. Jason is the nicest man. I have to be completely honest... he is so sweet; he is kind; he's hard-working; he is a dream author.

Q: For fiction authors, how important is platform over good writing?


Jeff Kleinman: Photo Courtesy of Folio Literary Management
Jeff: I can't reiterate enough the impact of a great concept, as evidence with Mott, who is a really talented writer. He has an MFA in poetry, so he knows how to craft words. I am going to sound like a broken record, but it really does come down to excellent writing. Too many authors try to find a "formula" or the "key" that will get things through. I am afraid authors will think too much about platforms and connections and then they'll go out and do LinkedIn with every celebrity. That's not what it's about. The bottom line is you have to have some housewife in Dayton, Ohio, pick up your book and say, "Oh, my God, I love this book!" and pass it to their friend, also in Dayton, who then passes it to a friend in Indianapolis. That's how books sell. Word-of-mouth. Ultimately, to do this, a book has to deliver.

Q: How often do books go to auction? 

Jeff: It is not unusual to have a battle over books. Michelle will get a book, and then she'll say, "You won't believe this, but six other agents have it!"

She is always fighting for an author. This happens with the publishers, too. If we send them a book that publishers are excited about, there will be multiple offers. The problem is the authors think it's through some kind of formula: that it's about platform or the exact right query letter. They don't think it's because they actually wrote a book worth reading. A query letter can be really good, but if there isn't a good book behind it, it doesn't mean anything. Authors can't jockey into the system. They sit down one day and decide to write a book, but they must think about the voice and developing quality characters.

Michelle: For me, a fiction writer with a platform is icing on the cake. If the author has a platform, that's great, that helps me sell the book better. But what really counts is how good the book is.

Q: What are your slush pile statistics? 

Michelle: I primarily work with literary fiction, which takes a lot more work editorially; whereas, a romance agent might have more volume overall.

A few years ago I did the math for my slush pile when I created a database for a blog post. I receive about 15 query letters daily and request between 10 and 15 full or partial manuscripts in a year. The maximum number of authors I sign out of my slush pile per year is four. That would be maximum; I usually only sign between two and four.

Discouraged? Don't be. Jeff and Michelle give great advice on landing an agent in the next two articles.
Also see my previous article: "Why Agents Reject 96% of Author Submissions"

Follow Heather Hummel on Twitter: www.twitter.com/HeatherHummel
This post originally appeared on the Huffington Post. 

Wrestling with the Wrath of Writer's Block

Staring at a blank page and not having the words flow the way they did last week, or even yesterday, is every writer's nightmare. Writer's block can feel paralyzing, especially with a deadline fast approaching, and it can often leave writers wondering if they should give up on their craft. Some would say it's a rite of passage. Others would argue it just takes shaking things up.
To help out, I tracked down willing writers of various genres who have faced the plague of writer's block, and who were willing to share their cures or tips for preventative maintenance.

Novelist: Hildie McQueen

Writer's Block, or "Where was I going with this" syndrome affects all authors at some point. While working on my latest book The Rancher, I became so frustrated. My poor hero, Grant Gentry, sat on his horse without a clear destination and I thought, well crud, nobody wants to read this boring crap. So I did what I normally do, I walked away from the story.
That is my secret. When you hit a brick wall, turn around and walk away. For me there's nothing like a drive down long country roads to clear the mind and get the story back on the right path. Sometimes I even invite the hero or heroine along.
It's amazing what drives in rural Georgia does to the characters in my head. They loosen up and start talking. Maybe it's the fresh air, or maybe they're afraid I'm going to kill them off?

Playwright: Everett Robert

As a playwright, the most important thing for me to write is dialogue. When I'm struggling to hear a character's voice, I'll often stop whatever I'm doing, turn off the music or noise and go to a coffee shop, walk around a college campus, or go to a retail store. I find that writer's block doesn't come from a lack of "ideas," but rather a lack of "voice." Listening to other voices helps me tune in my muse to the character voices I'm struggling to hear.

Novelist: Julie Benson

When I wrote Bet On a Cowboy I suffered from writer's block. The charismatic man I loved enough to give his own story clammed up on me. My heroine wouldn't share her internal conflict with me. I feared I'd miss my deadline for my first book written under contract. At a workshop I attended with Jayne Ann Krentz and Susan Elizabeth Phillips, they said to keep writing until the story makes sense. Trusting them, that's what I did. When I hit the major love scene on page 137, suddenly everything made sense. I knew the answer -- my heroine wanted children but didn't think she'd ever have a meaningful relationship. I added a scene at the beginning with her checking into having a child through artificial insemination. The rest of the book practically wrote itself from there. Now when writer's block hits I know that as long as I keep writing, eventually everything will make sense.

Fiction Writer: Daniel Sherrier

Exercise is a wonderful remedy for writer's block. Writing, obviously, is a sedentary activity, but being sedentary is how cobwebs form in your brain. That might help if you're writing about cobwebs, but otherwise, they'll just get you stuck. So, go out for a run, take a kickboxing class, or even just a brisk walk might do the trick. You'll come back to your work feeling energized, and you'll have done something your body needs anyway. Your entire self wins -- and your book does, too.

Ghostwriter and Novelist: Heather Hummel

As a ghostwriter, my clients often provide me with the basic concepts for their books, sometimes even an outline and some material. However, it's up to me to organize and write the rest of the material to complete their book for them. To do this, and to write my own novels, I've always had two effective muses that prevent writer's block.
One is cycling, as I have been known to write entire chapters in my head while pedaling on long bike rides. I see my laptop as the tool for putting the words down, but much of my writing actually formulates in my head while riding. (The trick is remembering them later when I go to type the words on my laptop.) For this reason, I tend to ride alone, so I can quiet my mind with only the whirl of tires on the pavement beneath me.
My other muse is photography. Because I'm also a land and seascape photographer, I find the cross-creative roles feed on one another. If I'm feeling stuck with a chapter, I load up my car with my camera gear and my two dogs (they make great assistants) and head out to spend time photographing Mother Nature. By the time I return home, I am always refreshed and ready to write again. Having the mix of visual and written careers keeps me motivated on both fronts.

If you have a favorite muse, please share them in the comments below.

Follow Heather Hummel on Twitter: www.twitter.com/HeatherHummel
This post originally appeared on the Huffington Post. 

Q&A With Author Darcie Chan

Darcie Chan is the famed author of the eBook breakaway sensation The Mill River Recluse: A Novel, and the sequel, The Mill River Redemption: A Novel. Set in the fictional sleepy town of Mill River, Vermont both novels portray the deep complexities of its small town characters and their bigger than life problems. I read both books back to back, and quite frankly, I was glad to have waited to read The Mill River Recluse: A Novel until right before I was given an ARC of The Mill River Redemption: A Novel because I don't know how fans waited for the sequel! Darcie was kind enough to put her author pen down for a few moments to answer some of my have-to-know question.





 
HH: What do you think is the real reason there is a trend of attorneys who become successful authors?

DC: Probably the main reasons that lots of attorneys become authors are that attorneys are required to do a huge amount of writing, and that people inclined to pursue a career in law (as opposed to a career in the sciences) are more likely to enjoy it. Some lawyers do more writing than others, of course, but when I was working as an attorney, my job was primarily to draft environmental and natural resource legislation. Writing was something I did about 90 percent of each work day, and I really loved that part of my job.

That said, legal writing is very different than writing fiction. Both require creativity (which is something that many people might find surprising, given how "dry" and rigid legal language can be), but writing fiction is far more freeing and fun for the imagination. At least, that's how it was for me, and that's the reason I started working on a novel once I'd settled into my legal job. I wanted to spend more time with a different kind of creative outlet, one that I'd always enjoyed.

HH: Father O'Brien...a priest with a penchant for pilfering silver spoons? How did that concept come to you?

DC: Strangely, I remember the exact moment I thought of it. I was in the process of thinking through my concept for a first novel, working out the plot and naming characters. I liked the idea of an older priest being involved, since he would be an ideal person to know what was going on with lots of people in a small town, but I wanted him to be quirky. I'd just eaten a yogurt, and I was staring at the spoon in my hand while I pondered what quirk the priest should have. The "spoon problem" suddenly seemed so obvious and funny, particularly because a spoon is such a mundane object to most people, but to Father O'Brien, it would be simultaneously precious and a source of shame.

HH: The Mill River Recluse was one of the unusual breakaway Indie hits. Has your approach changed with both writing and marketing The Mill River Redemption via Ballantine?

DC: In terms of writing the first draft, it wasn't all the different, except that Redemption flowed onto the page in about six months (versus the 2.5 years it took me to finish a first draft of Recluse). I was working under a contract deadline for Redemption, but the story took shape and came out so much easier, which I attribute to having been through the process of writing a novel once before. The editing, though, was much improved for Redemption. (It was basically nonexistent for Recluse, which wasn't professionally edited until Ballantine picked up the rights to it and reissued it.) I could see how my editor's suggestions really improved my writing and the story. For that and other reasons, I truly believe Redemption is a stronger book than my first.

The marketing of The Mill River Redemption is being handled largely by Ballantine, which is a great relief, because I'm no marketing expert! The marketing that I did for The Mill River Recluse as a self-published e-book was basically a series of cheap trial-and-error features and online ads that I designed myself. I had no idea what would be effective, if anything. This time around, I have a wonderful marketing manager assigned by my publisher who is coordinating a whole campaign for my books. I appreciate her so much, as well as everyone else at Ballantine who has worked to introduce my second novel to the world!

I should also add that I'm still heavily involved in doing publicity for my books. I'm finding that now, though, my publicist is able to access many more review sources and media outlets than I could have as a self-published author. She's also taken charge of arranging and coordinating appearances and interviews. The happy result is that I've had more time to focus on writing and more time for my family. I truly couldn't be more thrilled with the supportive and collaborative team I have at Ballantine!

HH: There are mixed reviews, so to speak, about Kirkus Reviews, who were instrumental in helping The Mill River Recluse gain recognition. What advice do you have for authors about approaching them for their own reviews?

DC: I used a Kirkus review because, for indie authors, very few professional review services exist. Yes, there are lots of great and popular blogs that review self-published books, but I was looking for a review of the same caliber as a traditionally published book might receive. Kirkus uses the same standards and reviewers for both traditionally published and self-published books. I was also interested in using pull-quotes from my review (if it turned out to be positive, which was not guaranteed) for marketing purposes, because Kirkus has a highly recognizable and respected name in the book world.

I think a Kirkus review can be very useful for authors, both in the credibility it gives a story and in the industry-wide exposure it provides. I don't have data to quantify how many additional sales of The Mill River Recluse might have been attributable to having the review, but I do believe that the review provided some measure of reassurance to readers who might not otherwise have taken a chance on a first novel by an unknown author.

HH: I appreciated your approach to The Mill River Redemption as a sequel in that it didn't streamline where Recluse left off. Instead, Redemption weaves over, under, around, backwards and forwards in a very well-crafted manner. What advice do you have for authors who are working on a series?

DC: I'm glad you liked the structure of Redemption! I crafted it that way because I wanted to tell a new story while imparting the "feel" of Mill River from my first book. I also wanted to involve several of the town's residents in this new novel. I thought the best way to do both of those things was to write a new story that partially overlapped, and was interwoven, with the one in my first novel.

Since I've only written two books and the first draft of a third, I'm not sure I have solid advice for a series just yet, but I'm very concerned with character progression and consistency. I'd like for my characters -- if they're featured in more than one book -- to learn and grow as people from one story to the next, but it's also important that their personalities are consistent, without any dramatic or unexplained shifts in their thoughts or behavior.

The other aspect I tried to focus on was storytelling. I tried to build a fresh, new, emotion-filled story around strong characters -- both new ones and the holdovers from Recluse. As a reader, I find that compelling, interesting stories, coupled with characters and a setting I love, keep me returning to books in a series. As a writer, I'm hoping with everything in me that readers find my Mill River books to have those same characteristics.

Thank you, Darcie!
Read my review of The Mill River Redemption on the New York Journal of Books.

Follow Heather Hummel on Twitter: www.twitter.com/HeatherHummel
This post originally appeared on the Huffington Post.
 
 

Friends Rally Support for Author's Third Open-Heart Surgery

The NBC29 news story is now on YouTube.

Friends of 49-year-old Heather Hummel are raising funds to support the Charlottesville author and UVA
alum through her third open-heart surgery to repair effects of a congenital heart defect.

Guest Q&A with Author Van Heerling

I invited author Van Heerling to my blog as a special guest today to celebrate the release of his second novel Dreams of Eli. Thank goodness he agreed to show up!

Q. DREAMS OF ELI completely deviates from your first book, MALAIKA. What traits, if any, carry over between the two?

Dreams of Eli takes place during the 1800s while MALAIKA is present day Africa. They are indeed far apart, however, I would say that the general tone of the stories carry over. The protagonists in each story are deeply lost and flawed in their own ways. Although Dreams of Eli is quite disturbing in some parts, I have had readers contact me, bawling their eyes out after each story. I mean this in the best of ways.

Q. You have over 100 reviews for MALAIKA. What good/bad/ugly advice do you have for authors regarding reviews? 

Reviews are interesting. The advice I would appreciate hearing would be as follows: don’t get hung up on the unpleasant reviews. Read them once. Allow them to ruffle your feathers if this is the case, and then go back once you are cooled off and read them once more. During this second read, look for legitimate criticism. If there is any, allow it to improve your future work. I do this with my bad reviews. It takes some discipline. Ease into it. Above all else never respond in a negative way to someone that has left a bad review. Doing this reflects badly upon the author. Take your lumps.

As for the good reviews, remember them for when you doubt your talents. Go back and read them as many times as you feel is necessary. Know that these are YOUR readers. These are the people that want you to write. So write to them. If your readers contact you directly, make it a point to respond and thank them.

Q. If you could take 6 months off and travel anywhere you wanted to write your next novel, where would you go?

Mars.

Q. Which do you prefer to write: narrative or dialog? 

Narrative. First person narrative in fact. My absolute favorite way to tell a story is from the perspective of an untrustworthy narrator. What I mean by untrustworthy is unpredictable even to the character itself. For me it is unapologetic and allows the human condition to take hold.

Q. If you wrote a children's book, would the main character be a human or animal or otherwise? 

Human. I actually have two children’s books finished but not released. The first is of a little boy, called “The Bee Stomper.” The other is of an eight-year-old girl. One day I will release them, maybe. The latter will be a thirty book series. Yes, thirty.

Q. We both pride ourselves on being original thinkers. Which original quote of yours will become famous?

“In this life, seek your own answers, and quote yourself for a change.” It’s funny because people quote me.

Heather, thank you for the chat. It’s no secret that I think you are one of the lights in our darkening world. Shine.

Visit Van's website/blog at: http://www.vanheerlingbooks.com/

The Making of Chloe Kassidy

Special Guest Post by Author Cari Kamm:
 
The Making of Chloe Kassidy

“It was much easier to control the outcome in photography. Heartbreak couldn’t be retouched.” – Chloe Kassidy

As someone who has worked in the beauty industry for over a decade, who has a master’s in clinical nutrition from New York University and currently works in corporate social media management with clients in the beauty, fashion, and restaurant industries . . . how the heck did I create a character that’s a professional photographer?  I can say that I did pull it off considering my editor is a Photonovelist! Heather Hummel gave me the seal of approval.

Life inspires me to create a character. I don’t necessarily “hear voices in my head” as someone that would require medical attention. Ha! My imagination is always alert. It’s on twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week. Yes, even when I’m sleeping.

In an instant, I can go from sipping my cappuccino, to walking along a tree-lined street, while sitting in a movie theater, to having lunch with a friend, if inspired by a sound, a person, a smell, or even a shadow, my mind will wander off and absorb something specific in a moment. That moment can lead me into a story idea or a personality for a character.

My protagonist Chloe Kassidy has just been accepted into one of Manhattan’s most exclusive art exhibits, Love Through Light. However, with her singular dedication to her career, she soon realizes that in sacrificing her personal life, she has never been in love. A hopeless romantic who is terrified of heartbreak, Chloe begins to enlist the help of her circle of friends to learn about love through their very different stories and experiences.

So why a photographer? I felt it would be a creative career that would allow the story to be told through the lens and allow Chloe to remain safe. To create a photographer, I had to declare myself as a photographer. For almost six months, I researched online photography and equipment blogs. I attended gallery openings, watched YouTube videos, and did several searches on photography terms and definitions. I highlighted words that could also be applied to love. Finally, I pulled out my Canon (I could finally use!) and behaved as a photographer. I walked the Brooklyn Bridge, through Central Park and sat in restaurants to create the voice of Chloe Kassidy. I took pictures everyday! Throughout my own daily life, a moment may capture me and I think, “Wow... my character would eat that, do that, say that, adore that.” All of the scenes in FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY were shot throughout the two years it took to write it. Lastly, I have family members that love photography as a hobby and one that is a professional photographer. I asked them personal questions such as “What do you feel when you’re shooting?” or “How does it feel when you’re capturing a moment?”

Chloe Kassidy and I shared similar feelings of failing, of not finishing, or not getting it right. She prepared for her exhibit opening and I work to complete the novel.

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY was inspired by the notion that women grow up with ideas of true love and destiny, For Internal Use Only approaches those ideas with a decidedly twenty-first century viewpoint. By incorporating problems inherent with today’s dating world, this book is meant to enlighten readers to stop chasing fairytales and start creating their own. My goal was to write a humorous love story with an edgy and dramatic twist that gives each of us a new fairy tale to look forward to: our own.

Cari Kamm has worked in the beauty industry for over a decade, building brands, working behind the scenes, and even selling her own skin care line. She has a master’s in clinical nutrition from New York University. Kamm currently works in corporate social media management with clients in the beauty, fashion, and restaurant industries. Living in New York City with her mutt Schmutz, Kamm loves finding inspiration in the most unexpected places, being a novelist, and convincing her fiancé that ordering takeout and making dinner reservations are equal to cooking. More information can be found on her website, CariKamm.com. To check out the book trailer, click here: http://tinyurl.com/bdr7bfn.

I Don't Blame Amazon for Ridding "Like" and "Tags"

Here's what I know will be an unpopular post regarding Amazon ridding the Tag and Like features, but here goes:
I was happy when Amazon got rid of tags because they were overly abused by the masses, which lead to defeating the purpose of them.
The Like feature's purpose was to help Amazon identify what books you like so they can continue to make recommendations to you.
Indie Authors piled up and Liked books for fellow authors, whether they read them or not, and this skewed the purpose of the feature.
I know this won't be a welcome thought, but rather than trying to manipulate a system (aka Amazon), I wish more Indie Authors had focused on good writing and promoting authentically.
I always felt all those manipulations were just that - manipulations. Honest RTs and sharing posts on FB like many of us do is FABULOUS and how it should be done. Trying to manipulate Amazon's system, well...I honestly don't blame Amazon for getting rid of those features. I don't see them as "out to get Indie Authors" as much as Indie Authors manipulated their system, so...if these features aren't working as intended, Amazon has the right to remove them.
Lastly, Amazon used the Like feature on all their products. It's no longer on, for example, the Canon EOS T3i - or any other product. It's not all about authors, Indie or otherwise, in the Amazon world. 

My Next Big Thing

One of my favorite authors and people, Cari Kamm, invited me to join her in the latest blog craze, My Next Big Thing. Cari's second novel, FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY, releases in December 2012, and not a moment too soon. Many, many readers have been awaiting her second release after reading FAKE PERFECT ME, her debut novel. And, I hear she's working diligently on her third.

Cari has asked about my forthcoming novel $1 AND $100, which begs the question, how do you relate to money?

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I wanted to write a novel about money and how we all relate differently to it. I took it one step further by making it pretty much the protagonist in that it is the one constant throughout the book and it drives how each person handles it when in their hands. I also wanted to use both a $1 bill and a $100 bill because they draw and don’t draw different responses from different people.

What genre does your book fall under?

While my Journals from the Heart series is chick-lit/women's lit, this one is straight up literary fiction. It will appeal to men, women, and most demographics. Well, anyone who can relate to money should be able to relate to $1 AND $100!

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

There are several characters throughout different periods in life from a mother and son in the mid-seventies to a divorced, wealthy man and a high school girl in the 80s, to a college aged couple in the 90s. Think LOVE ACTUALLY and I could probably use that cast.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

How do you relate to money?

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I've been both traditionally and independently published, and I'm considering submitting this one to agents just because of its broad appeal and to see if an agent would be drawn to it.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

This is one I'm still working on. I work on it when I'm not ghostwriting for clients, so the time I can devote to it ebbs and flows. However, I just joined a great writing group and that alone is encouraging me to plug away on it.

 What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Perhaps THE LAST CONVERTIBLE. 

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Anyone who has held money inspired me! Also, I'm always guided by a higher power when I come up with ideas for and write my books. I am considering doing a documentary on the same topic where I'd interview (on camera) different people about how they relate to money. So, people of all demographics and locations inspired me. 

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

My goal is to make people think about how they relate to money. What their beliefs are around it. What they learned about it from parents and elders and other influential people in their lives. My intention is to start a dialog through fiction about something that impacts our lives on a daily basis, for good or not.

###

The great thing about this blog event is passing the torch onto other writers.

I've chosen three very different, yet equally fabulous, authors to pass the torch on to…

 
Van Heerling:
-As a writer-
I don't just make stuff up.
I imagine new worlds and the people within them. And then quietly and with a curious eye, I spy on them to see what they will do next.
~VH~

Van Heerling is one of the great literary novelists out there today as well as being one of the most original thinkers I know. Check out his website at: www.vanheerlingbooks.com/

Jewels Moss is a published author of science fiction books, and paramormal romance novels. She keeps her true identity a secret because it is fun to be Jewels. This is why she created her for her naughty side. She enjoys writing erotica, especially if she can create erotica from a story you wouldn't expect it from. Her works include The Siren's Song, Naughty Tales, and the soon to be released Why Yellow Jackets can't find the Hole. She enjoys being an author with Midnight Fire. Check out her website: http://naughtytales.webs.com/jewelsreleases.htm

Paul Hoffman was born in Madison, Wisconsin and was raised in Wauwatosa, a suburb of Milwaukee. He is a 1981 graduate of Wauwatosa East High School and attended both the University of Wisconsin - Madison and the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, graduating in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications (Radio/TV) and a minor in English.

His nearly 30-year career in journalism consists of working as a sports writer at the Milwaukee Sentinel; assistant sports editor at Pioneer Press newspapers in the Chicago area; sports editor and news editor in Shelbyville, Indiana; news editor in Columbus, Indiana; and has been special publications editor at the Daily Journal in Franklin, Indiana for the past 12 years. Paul is a member of the Wauwatosa, Milwaukee County and Wisconsin historical societies. He is married and lives in Columbus, Indiana. He has three daughters, a son and two stepdaughters. Visit Paul's website at: www.paulhoffmanauthor.com