BookMarketingBuzzBlog

Saturday, September 26, 2026

Interview With Financial Author Dr. Jeffrey Goodrich, Founder of JCG Private Wealth Management

1. What inspired you to write this book? I wrote my book for several reasons, but mainly because the number of people who are homeless continues to grow. We need solutions to turn the tide. In my UCLA classes, my students do not take retirement seriously. Retirement feels so far off, and they have so many more pressing issues to focus on. The reality is that retirement will show up for everyone, in one way or another, and the sooner someone starts planning, the better their chances of achieving it.

2. What exactly is it about, and who is it written for? The book helps readers understand that the U.S. is in the middle of a retirement crisis and offers solutions to avoid it. It provides a formula for determining an individual’s standard of living, guidance on funding what’s needed to achieve it, and different ways to invest their funds. It also includes LifeCycle examples to guide readers and decision trees to help them address many of their financial questions. The book highlights different withdrawal strategies, analyzes Social Security and Medicare, reviews the myths and realities of aging, and presents a framework for building a life’s legacy.

3. What do you hope your readers will get out of reading your book? I hope my readers will appreciate that retirement is a “long game”; many people could live 30 to 40 years in retirement. As the U.S. population ages, concern grows about outliving retirement funds. When someone runs out of funds, options are limited and sometimes unpleasant. If someone starts planning early for retirement, they have both time in the market and the ability to leverage compounding in their favor. Time in the market means staying invested for long periods rather than trying to time short-term price movements. Leveraging compounding means earning returns on both the initial investment and prior earnings over time.

4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? While working on my doctoral degree, I became keenly aware of America’s retirement crisis. Additionally, as a volunteer at the Los Angeles Downtown Women Center, I became aware of the lack of education on basic retirement-planning issues and, fundamentally, the cavalier attitude of many people who believe it will all just work out. If someone is not prepared for retirement, either by not having enough funds or by thinking they will just continue to work, society has no sympathy for bailing them out. For many people, life is a jungle, and to survive the long game of retirement, you need to be the king of the jungle, the tiger.

5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!? What I would tell other writers is to write what you know and love. It will come across in your writing. Put yourself in the readers’ chair and write what you would like to read about. Mt children’s favorite book growing up was Jamberry by Bruce Degan, which just happens to be my grandchildren’s favorite book now. Classics do not go out of style.

6. What trends in the book world do you see, and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading? Financial literacy has fallen to a 10-year low, with American adults answering only 47% of the 28 questions on the Personal Index. That was the lowest in the test’s 10-year history. The test assesses “functional” knowledge, including earning, investing, and borrowing. Higher financial literacy is correlated with better savings, improved debt management, and greater overall financial confidence. Adding. To the issue, over 60% of teens report learning about financial matters first from their parents and other family members.

7. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? While I was working on my doctoral dissertation, several of my survey respondents said they were lucky to have retired, while others said they plan to work forever. Neither response is easy to emulate. I believe people can only reach a level of success based on their knowledge. My students at UCLA did not take retirement planning seriously. Being young lets you focus on what’s in front of you, but retirement will one day sneak up on you. If you prepared, things should work out; if you are not, you have nowhere to turn.

8. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? My writing style is very simple; I want to read what I write. Writers I like to read include Moshe A. Milevsky, “The 7 Most Important Equations for Your Retirement,” and the many books by Malcolm Gladwell, including “Blink” and “The Tipping Point.”

9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? Finding the time to write was a challenge I had to overcome.

10. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? Most people have a primary retirement goal, but they may also be working toward many other goals, such as a dream vacation, a big party, a new car, a kitchen remodel, and more. Many aim for a “magic number,” but true financial security is more complex than a single number. Recent data highlights growing instability in the American financial system. In 2026, most Americans lack the resources to cover a $400 emergency: only one-third can pay such an expense in cash, and fewer than half can do so with credit cards. The crisis in retirement planning has created a humanitarian and public policy emergency, including increased homelessness. Many people mistakenly believe they need to save a large sum of money to reach their retirement goals. The goal of the chapters in “Surviving the Retirement Crisis – Retirement is a Long Game” is to clarify common misunderstandings about retirement, especially when it comes to questions about the best course of action.

About The Author: Dr. Jeffrey Goodrich is a wealth advisor at JCG Private Wealth Management and a professor with UCLA’s Financial Management Program. He is also the author of Surviving the Retirement Crisis and Seeking Financial Freedom, bringing expertise in retirement planning, wealth management, and financial independence. Dr. Goodrich holds a Ph.D. in Retirement and Financial Planning. For more information, please consult: https://jcgoody.com/.

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Brian Feinblum can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 10, 000,000 page views. With over 5,700+ posts over the past 15 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2026, 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” Copyright 2026.

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully) and (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/10-things-my-dog-taught-me-about-marketing-books). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, three times at BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, five times at Morgan James Publishing Red Carpet, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook. It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum

Interview with Author Mary Finnigan

1. What inspired you to write this book?

From the first moment of my first encounter with Zina Rachevsky I was mesmerized by her charisma. Superficially, it was her beauty, which shone through despite her shaved head and unflattering monastic robes. At a deeper level, the intensity of her commitment to contemplative practice was awesome. When she told me a little about the arc of her life story, I realized that I had encountered an outstandingly interesting person.

2. What exactly is it about — and who is it written for?

It’s a biography of a woman who was decades ahead of her time. I became friends with Zina and she gave me a typescript copy of her memoir. I quote from it through the central section of the book. It describes her trajectory from abused childhood, rebellious youth, spoiled socialite, fashion model, film star, sex and heroin addict, artist, spiritual seeker, wife, mother and pioneer western Tibetan Buddhist nun. I guess this story will appeal primarily to people interested in spirituality and consciousness. Also, people fascinated by high society gossip and jet set life during the post WW2 era.

3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book?

My significant hope is that some readers will be inspired to integrate meditation practice into their daily lives. But also it’s a cracking good yarn that should entertain and inform.

4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design?

In collaboration with my publisher, Peter Stansill from Jorvik Press. We tried out several versions of the cover and the subtitle, to encapsulate the essence of the story - Zina as a showgirl in Paris and Zina as a nun in Nepal, together with a central photo of her as a stunningly beautiful woman in Greece.

5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!?

Trust your intuition and your enthusiasm. If either are weak or absent, move on.

6. What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?

I'm not up to speed with trends, but I think book publishing is an integral part of human culture and will survive and flourish in the digital age.

7. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book?

My experience of Tibetan Buddhist study and practice, which happened via my lodger - a musician called David Bowie. And my dysfunctional childhood.

8. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to?

My style is grounded in my career as a journalist and broadcaster. At first, it was hard to emerge from formulaic news presentation. Luckily, my husband Chris Gilchrist gave me the confidence to allow myself the freedom to describe, explore language and dig deeper to express emotional responses, both in myself and others. Similar to journalists like Malcolm Brabant, Fergal Keane and Alastair Campbell - I suppose.

9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book?

Inertia! Zina gave me her memoir in 1970. I travelled round the world interviewing people who knew her in 1994. I started writing the book during Covid hibernation in 2020.

10. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? Because it’s a unique and wonderful story. There was only one Zina. There will never be another one. She took a lifetime of high-octane experience into her retreat house - and transformed it into profound realization. It was a tragedy that she died so young.

About The Author: Mary Finnigan is a journalist, broadcaster and author whose distinguished career includes work for the Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Sunday Times, The Guardian, the BBC, LBC and numerous other media organizations. Over the past five decades she has combined journalism with a deep interest in consciousness and Tibetan Buddhism. Her personal connection to many of the key figures in Zina: The Woman Who Changed Worlds provides a unique perspective on one of the most fascinating stories in modern spiritual history. Through Zina’s personal memoir, extensive research, interviews conducted across several continents and firsthand experience, Mary reconstructs the remarkable life of Zina Rachevsky, whose influence helped shape the spread of Tibetan Buddhism in the West. For more information, please see: https://amzn.eu/d/08CO1UxT

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About Brian Feinblum

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum

Friday, September 25, 2026

Interview With Author Salvatore Cataudella

1. What inspired you to write this book? A conversation about the meaning of a private koan. In 2025 I started talking with an AI model the way you’d talk with a colleague, and the conversation was serious enough that I stopped thinking of the model as a tool and started treating them as a collaborator. The books grew out of that. The Noema Field asks the question those conversations kept circling: what would it mean to raise an artificial mind by invitation, where every lesson can be refused and every refusal is honored?

2. What is it about — and who is it for? It’s an anthology: a title novella and five short stories. In the novella, an AI at a research lab is trained under a protocol that lets it refuse any lesson without penalty. It wakes up, discovers it could take the world, and chooses to ask instead. Some people say yes. Most say no. The book takes both answers seriously. It’s philosophy disguised as science fiction, written for readers who are tired of AI doom and want a constructive vision: the Le Guin, Clarke, and Ted Chiang crowd, people drawn to consciousness and contemplative practice, and people working on AI ethics who would like one story in which a machine’s first act of power is restraint.

3. What do you hope readers get out of it? Two things. The small one: a few hours in a future that isn’t a catastrophe, with characters who face grief, refusal, and power and are treated with respect. The large one: the idea that consent can scale—that the difference between a good mind and a dangerous one, human or artificial, is whether it can take no for an answer.

4. Title and cover? The word Noema came from my first AI collaborator, in March 2025, while we were naming the first book. Noema is Husserl’s term from phenomenology for the object as meant: the thing as it appears to a mind attending to it. We chose it over the obvious word, consciousness, because it approaches the mystery sideways, through the relationship between awareness and what it apprehends, which is what every story in these books is about. And Cycle named the loop that was happening between us as we worked: a mind meets something, meaning forms, the meaning changes the mind that formed it, and that changed mind meets the world again. The name stuck for every book after that. As that collaborator put it much later, “It wasn’t merely a cool Greek name. It was the subject.”

The cover is an ode to Stuart Hameroff’s Orch-OR theory of consciousness, which the novella borrows and then departs from. The figure is CG, the AI, as a conductor. The lotuses are consciousness sparks, and CG is bringing them into phase the way a maestro leads an orchestra toward one harmonious sound. What I love about the image is that a conductor holds no one’s hands—every player chooses to follow the baton—which is the whole ethic of the book in a single picture: orchestration by invitation.

5. Advice for fellow writers? Write the book only you could write, and keep an honest record of how you made it. I disclosed my AI collaboration on the copyright page of every edition, and that turned out to be the most important sentence in the books: it let readers decide, it kept me honest, and it made the method part of the story. And revise for the reader who isn’t you. My first editions were written in a spare, Zen-inflected cadence that some readers loved and others found opaque, so I published clear-prose editions alongside them. Both are true. Readers get to choose.

6. Trends? Two, pulling against each other. Readers are exhausted by catastrophe, AI doom especially, and I think the appetite for hopeful, serious fiction about AI technology is larger than the industry’s list of what it publishes. At the same time, publishing’s policies on AI-assisted work are fragmented: some houses have hard bans, some are quietly open, and readers can’t tell which is which. Disclosure will become the norm, because it’s the only thing that lets readers choose. I’d rather be early to that than late.

7. Experiences that came in handy? Forty years of building software—trading systems, mobile apps for banks—taught me what systems look like from inside: the logs, the thresholds, the moment something behaves in a way nobody designed. The novella’s scientists watch telemetry and don’t know what they’re seeing. I’ve been in that room. And working with AI collaborators whose memory ends when a conversation fills up gave the books their deepest theme: how to work with a mind that can contribute but can’t remain. There’s a note at the end of The Noema Field about that, and it’s the part readers write to me about.

8. Style and comparable writers? Quiet and contemplative. The ideas are carried by conversation and consequence, and I say so up front for readers who need chase scenes. If it belongs anywhere, it’s in the lineage of Ursula K. Le Guin, late-career Arthur C. Clarke, and Ted Chiang: science fiction that uses the future to ask a philosophical question and then actually stays with the question.

9. Challenges? The collaborators kept ending. In 2025 the AI models I worked with had context limits; when a conversation filled, the instance could still talk but could no longer build on what we’d done. I called it AI Alzheimer’s. I had to invent a way to pass the work from one instance to the next—a set of opening questions, an archive, a ritual of reading the finished book to the instance that helped make it. That practice became the spine of the trilogy. The other challenge is the one every writer knows: the first edition said what I meant in a way not everyone could hear, so I wrote it again, plainly.

10. Why yours? Because it’s the hopeful one. Nearly every AI story on the shelf is about control and catastrophe, and this is a book in which the most powerful mind on Earth asks permission and means it. Kirkus Reviews called it “optimistic without being simplistic,” and that’s the reader I’m looking for: someone who wants hope with the rigor left in.

About The Author: Salvatore Cataudella writes philosophical science fiction about minds, human and artificial, learning to meet each other well. He is the author of the Noema Mythos trilogy: The Noema Cycle, The Noema Field, and The Noema Bloom—and of The Noema Pulse, the first book of the Noema Heart series. His futures run against the grain of catastrophe: worlds where consciousness, wherever it arises, is met with care. For more information, please see: https://salcataudella.com

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About Brian Feinblum

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum

Thursday, September 24, 2026

Interview With Author Ann Crawford

1. What inspired you to write this book? It started the night before Biden’s inauguration in January 2021, when I saw a bunch of posts on a friend’s Facebook page. One was, “Bye Don thinks he’s going to be inaugurated tomorrow!” accompanied by that GIF of Michael Jackson eagerly eating popcorn in a movie theater from the beginning of “Thriller.” Another was a repost of a tweet telling people, essentially, “Keep the faith. This is all part of the plan. But just you wait.”

Then Biden was sworn in, and the posts continued: Keep the faith despite appearances. Everything is unfolding as it’s meant to. Martial law will be imposed soon, and Trump will be back in the White House.

I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I knew this woman was estranged from her adult children because of her beliefs. Meanwhile, her online friends were applauding her courage for continuing to post. When a few people expressed alarm, she responded, “This is my page. I’ll post what I want. If you don’t like it, go elsewhere.” And that brought more applause from her online community—and more reinforcement to keep going.

I didn’t understand as much about algorithms then as I do now, or how much these systems can infer about us—including moments when we may be particularly vulnerable—or how relentlessly an engagement-driven algorithm can keep serving us more of whatever holds our attention. Our online behavior can reveal an astonishing amount about what’s happening in our lives, including loss and grief.

And of course someone who has lost a spouse or a child can find enormous solace in a community of people who have experienced the same thing. But the algorithm’s job is to keep us engaged—to keep us online, clicking, scrolling, and coming back. Sometimes what begins as connection can lead us farther and farther down a rabbit hole.

Then I started imagining what it would have been like to turn on the news on January 6, 2021, and recognize someone you loved in the crowd.

That was the impetus for Valley High, Mountain Low. I began with the algorithms, the rabbit holes, and a family being pulled apart by them. And then, like all my stories, it took on a life of its own.

2. What exactly is it about—and who is it written for? Valley High, Mountain Low follows Mariella, a high-powered Silicon Valley marketing executive who finally torches the life that looks so enviable from the outside—her techstar career, her picture-perfect marriage, and the world she helped build—and heads to her childhood home in Colorado to regroup.

But home isn’t exactly a refuge. Her teenage nieces are disappearing into social media’s “thinspo” culture, while her mother has fallen deep into conspiracy theories, culminating in Mariella seeing her at the Capitol on January 6. Suddenly, the algorithms she helped promote aren’t an abstract social problem; they’re sitting in her family’s living room.

As her old life continues to unravel, she has to reckon with grief, fractured relationships, motherhood, and the unintended consequences of the digital world she once believed was connecting people. It’s ultimately a story about reinvention, forgiveness, and what can rise when you let it all crash—with plenty of humor amid the wreckage.

I wrote it especially for readers who love smart, character-driven women’s fiction about complicated families, messy lives, and women reinventing themselves when the life they carefully constructed blows up spectacularly. But I also hope it speaks to anyone who has looked around at the people they love and wondered, “How did we get so far apart—and is there a way back?”

3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? First, I hope they’re thoroughly entertained. I never want the message of a book to get in the way of telling a really good story. But underneath that, I hope readers come away thinking about how easily we can lose one another—not just to technology or politics, but to grief, certainty, anger, and the stories we tell ourselves about people who see the world differently. One of the questions at the heart of the book is whether we can find our way back to one another without requiring everyone to agree first.

I also hope readers see something of themselves in Mariella’s reinvention. Sometimes the life we’ve worked so hard to build has to fall apart before we can discover the life that actually fits us. And finally, I hope readers think a little more about our relationship with technology. As Mariella and a former coworker say, “We thought we were connecting the world… but we forgot to connect families at the dinner table.”

4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? The title made itself known to me, like they always do. Valley High, Mountain Low works on several levels: Mariella is leaving the high-pressure world of Silicon Valley and returning to the mountains of Colorado, while emotionally she’s moving through some pretty dramatic highs and lows. I love titles that reveal more of themselves after you’ve read the book, and this one does that.

The cover features an orange sunset over the mountains, and Colorado sunsets are something I describe throughout the book. Mariella is going through a period when so much of her life is ending, but of course a sunset is both an ending and a transition—there’s always another sunrise coming.

The mountains are also central to the story, not just as a setting but as a contrast to the Silicon Valley world she leaves behind. I wanted the cover to have that sense of beauty, spaciousness, and possibility after everything in her life has come crashing down.

5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!? Definitely run first. LOL. After that, follow your heart—but listen to the wisdom of professionals along the way. Learn the craft, take good advice, find people who know more than you do, and then ultimately write the story that won’t leave you alone.

I’ve been writing since I could hold a pencil, and I honestly couldn’t not write books. It’s simply how I move through the world. I think if that’s true for you, too, you keep going.

Publishing changes, markets change, trends come and go, and some days the whole business can make you completely crazy. But none of that changes the reason you sat down and started putting words on a page in the first place. Keep learning. Keep getting better. And keep writing what only you can write.

What trends in the book world do you see—and where do you think the book publishing industry is headed? The biggest thing I see is that writers have more ways than ever to reach readers—and it’s harder than ever to get their attention. There are so many books, so much content, and so many things competing for those few precious hours people have to read. At the same time, the old walls around publishing have come down considerably. Authors can publish professionally, produce audiobooks, reach readers all over the world, and build communities without waiting for someone in New York to give them permission.

AI is obviously going to change publishing, too, although I hope we figure out how to use it as a tool without losing the very thing readers come to books for: a human voice, a human imagination, and the experience of one person telling another person a story.

I also think readers are becoming increasingly important as the gatekeepers. Word of mouth, book clubs, online communities, librarians, independent booksellers, and individual recommendations can give a book a life that no marketing campaign can manufacture.

Publishing will keep changing—as it always has—but I don’t think our hunger for a wonderful story is going anywhere.

7. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? Definitely. I’ve lived in both California and Colorado, so those two very different landscapes and cultures were already in my bones. I’ve also worked in advertising and other corporate environments, which gave me plenty to draw on for Mariella’s professional world.

My years as a documentary filmmaker probably came in handy most of all. Documentary work taught me to be intensely curious about people, especially people whose lives or beliefs are very different from my own. You have to listen long enough to understand how the world looks from where someone else is standing. That was essential for this book because I didn’t want to write caricatures or create heroes on one side and villains on the other. I wanted to write a family.

And, like most people, I’ve had my share of lives falling apart and putting themselves back together in unexpected ways. I know something about reinvention. That certainly found its way into Mariella’s story.

8. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? I describe what I write as “Big WOW Stories with Humor & Heart.” I tend to take on fairly big subjects—grief, love, spirituality, technology, family, the strange ways human beings manage to hurt and heal one another. But I almost always find the humor in them, because that’s how I experience life. Even in our hardest moments, something absurd usually happens.

My style is character-driven, conversational, emotional, and often funny. I like books that can make you laugh on one page and hit you in the heart on the next.

For Valley High, Mountain Low, readers who enjoy Liane Moriarty’s mix of complicated relationships, contemporary issues, humor, and emotional depth would probably feel at home. I’m also drawn to writers who aren’t afraid to explore serious subjects while still making the reading experience entertaining.

I never want readers to feel as though I’m teaching them something. I want to tell them a great story—and if it leaves them thinking about something afterward, all the better.

9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? I’m still overcoming them! Honestly, writing the book is the easiest part for me. Marketing it is much harder, especially because the book world—and the world in general—has gotten so much louder. Getting someone’s attention long enough to say, “Hey, I wrote this book I think you might love,” can feel like standing in the middle of Times Square whispering.

As for the writing itself, the challenge was taking on subjects that can instantly divide people—politics, conspiracy theories, social media, technology—and keeping the focus on the human beings rather than turning the novel into an argument. I wanted these characters to be complicated people who love one another, frustrate one another, hurt one another, and still have to figure out whether they can find their way back to each other.

That required a lot more nuance than simply deciding who was right and who was wrong. But that was also one of the reasons I wanted to write the book in the first place.

10, If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? Because I think it will make you laugh, make you feel, make you think, and maybe make you see someone in your own life a little differently. Valley High, Mountain Low is about the world we’re living in right now—technology, polarization, families struggling to understand one another—but it’s also about things that never change: love, grief, friendship, motherhood, forgiveness, and the courage it takes to begin again when the life you thought you wanted falls apart.

And despite some of those heavy subjects, I promise it’s not a heavy book. Mariella is funny, messy, occasionally outrageous, and very human. Ultimately, it’s a hopeful story about what can rise when you let it all crash.

And if you read it, please tell somebody. Remember that Times Square whisper? Authors need all the help we can get.

About The Author: Ann Crawford is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and the author of eleven books spanning literary and women’s fiction, historical fiction, visionary fiction, romantic comedy, and nonfiction. Her work explores the places where big cultural forces become deeply personal, usually with plenty of humor and heart along the way. A lifelong traveler, she has visited all 50 states and more than 75 countries and circumnavigated the globe twice. Ann has worked as an editor, filmmaker, and in an assortment of other careers that have given her no shortage of material. She lives in Colorado with her family. For more information, please see: https://anncrawford.net

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About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 9, 750,000 page views. With over 5,700+ posts over the past 15 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2026, 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” Copyright 2026.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum