Interview With Author Sarel J Oberholster

 

 

1. What inspired you to write this book? Truth be told, my university training as an economist did not match the true reality of particularly the economic structuring of money, monetary systems, and payment structures. Most of my monetary training was closer to fairy tales at best, propagandistic at worst. Over many years, I stripped the veil of mystery covering money and central banking away and was horrified by the inherent dishonesty of something so revered. My book, written for the average intelligent person, explains this system of extreme exploitation and wealth redistribution away from everybody to mostly the political and corporate class with extreme devastation systemically visited upon the poor and the underdeveloped countries. An example is the system of targeted inflation (usually 2% pa) which harvests all economic progress and innovation for redistribution by the Central Banks to the systemically connected. I explain in in simple detail with parables to carry the narrative. The essence of economic progress is deflation, doing things cheaper and better than before. Central banks use money creation to simply take all that progress and hand it to the connected few. “Everybody” should enjoy deflation, lower prices, from progress yet “Everybody” suffers inflation, higher prices, after central banks are done with their magic. The fairy tale is that deflation causes unemployment and therefor central banks save to population from this calamity.   

2. What exactly is it about — and who is it written for? Its all about money and how “money” is used to steal wealth. I’m a free market orientated economist but a monetary system so patently engaging in wholesale theft from everybody can never be described as “free market”.  

3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? I am hoping that by shining a light on this system in a way which is accessible to almost anybody will help readers to take steps to protect themselves and their wealth from this system. Perhaps it would help to encourage systemic reforms… The question is do you know where money comes from, and should you care? You should. Your financial wellbeing depends on it.  

4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? Central Bankers are the masters and gods of the markets. Everybody wants to know what they will do next. Why is that? How is it that they wield such power? They have a license to manipulate the markets at will, how is that even permitted? The title and cover expose them for what they are.  

5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!? Write from your heart and tell the story you are compelled to write. Stay with it until it is done.  

6. What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading? Books are like food to the intelligent mind. We will all read for as long as we have an inquisitive mind. A world without books will starve. I know I will.  

7. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? I became a financial engineer by calling with a knack for stripping any system down to its operative parts and understanding the functional purpose of each component. Then, using these basic building blocks to create something different purpose built to achieve targeted objectives. Musicians can see the music, feel it, live it, consume it, and create with it. I “see” systems and understand their inherent design purpose at a rational and intuitive level. Applying this insight to the monetary system initiated the journey which led to me writing the book.  

8. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? I have developed my own style by writing articles. I deliberately write with directness and frankness, not shying away from calling a spade a spade. My focus is to take that which I see in abstract complicated systems and communicate my message in a comprehensible, usually parable, manner accessible to everybody.  

9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? Money is shrouded is mystery on purpose. The monetary systems are often very complex. Lifting the core truths from the systems in a manner which makes them visible and comprehensible to everybody kept me awake many nights. Explaining the evolution of theft by coin debasement practiced by the Roman Empire to the theft by unbridled money creation done by modern central banks anchored in the same objectives in a system which at its heart has remained true to the same principles for more than 2000 years, tested me on every page of the book. No boring science but a vivid tale of exploitation in a system controlled at the apex of the global economy.    

10. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? We use money every day. Buy groceries, fast food, music, books, but do we pause to ask where did the money come from? Why do we accept it? Why do we believe in it? Most people just accept money as if it is oxygen. We do not question oxygen, why question money? We will be very concerned if our oxygen is polluted. Money is not neutral and is being polluted every minute of every day. Buy my book and understand why money pollution is as devastating to your financial health as oxygen pollution is devastating to your physical health.  

About The Author: College professor and published author currently calling California home. I share my life with my supportive husband, cherished child, and a menagerie of opinionated pets. My co-author dog prefers snoozing over typing, but my two outspoken cats have plenty to say. When I'm not engrossed in my fantastical worlds, you'll find me devouring books, jotting down my next fantasy idea, indulging in anime, exploring hiking trails, pedaling through bike routes, battling an occasional dragon, or soaking in the breathtaking vistas of Yosemite National Park. For more info, please see: Silver River Publish | epic fantasy  

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, 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 four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen 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 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

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).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, 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 Cheryl Lynn

 

1.      What is your book, Washing The Inside Of The Cup, about?  The book is about being in a situation of hurt, pain and despair and believing, because of your beliefs, that this is your lot in life and you just have to accept it and make the most of it. It’s about crying out to your father in heaven, knowing in your own strength you can’t make it in this, and drawing near to Him amid your pain. His words say draw near to me and I will draw near to you. It’s about completely surrendering your whole heart to God and watching Him show up in a big way and do exactly what He said He would do; He drew near to me.  This caused my focus to change from being on the abuse to being on my heavenly father. I saturated my mind and heart with His word and arrived at a point where the hurt, pain and despair didn’t matter anymore. God had turned my tears of pain into tears of joy and happiness just being in His presence.

 

2.      What inspired you to write it? My youngest son who was only 2 when I filed for divorce was too young to remember everything the older children and I went through. He asked me to write down some of the stories he had heard me talking about and bring it to a family vacation.  After reading it he said to me, “Mom you’ve got to turn this into a book, it could help so many people. So that’s what I did. 

 

3.      You were in an abusive marriage, almost from the start, for 22 years. Why did you stay? I stayed because I was taught that marriage is a covenant and is not to be broken.  That divorce is wrong. I was taught to not ever let the word divorce be in your vocabulary. To always work things out. The Bible teaches that wives should not leave their husbands. It also says that God hates divorce. I didn’t ever want to be divorced, and I wanted to be obedient to my Father in heaven. This works great when both people are always working on themselves, adapting and adjusting to life and with each other.  The problem in this marriage was he never worked on anything in his life. It was like he had not matured past the mentality of an early worldly teenager. He didn’t think anything was wrong with his behavior.  So, the abuse just continued on and on and on. He would say he was sorry but that didn’t mean anything because he never changed. The reason the marriage lasted for 22 years was because I did all the changing.  Also, a woman’s heart is for her man, God made us that way. Abuse doesn’t change that; it just complicates it.

 

4.      You became a Born-Again Christian at age 15. How did your religious beliefs, to a degree, lead you to stay in a marriage that was insufferable? While it may have started off as religious beliefs that kept me in it, it eventually became a close relationship with my Father in heaven that had my attention while life was happening around me. Just like driving down the road, your eyes and mind stay on that road while the landscape passes by you. I was so busy with working, having children, keeping house, cooking, home schooling, managing rental properties, and seeking the Lord. Having my eyes on the Lord helped me transcend and rise above all the abuse.

 

5.      How did you summon the courage to finally leave? In the book I talk about an incident where my husband was choking and hitting on our 14-year-old son, and we were all screaming trying to get him off of Samuel. I remember thinking he’s had 20 years to change that’s long enough. I remember thinking divorce may be wrong, but this is wrong too. There was no love radiating from him for his family. I was so emotionally numb from all of it, I had no feelings left for him or for that marriage by that time. In my heart I knew that day, it was time. The next day I received a call from the head man over Excel telling me I needed to get the children out of the abuse. That call was confirmation of what I had decided the day before.  

 

6.      So, a commitment to your faith and a surrendering belief in God helped you to change your life? Our Father in Heaven is faithful to His word. If He tells you to do something, you can guarantee it will happen if you do your part. You can trust that He will do it. Even when heaven and earth pass away. He will still be standing by His word. There are multiple verses where He says seek me, search for me with your whole heart and I will let you find me. So, when I surrendered ALL my heart to Him like he tells us to do. His grace showed up to help me do my part which I did. My mind went from despair, hurt, pain, suffering and all that goes with that to peace, love, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, faithfulness, goodness and joy.  Instead of just accepting what the world offers you, even if your circumstances don’t change. You can change how you receive it and live in it. This change made me resilient in a difficult situation and made me a vessel for the Lord to work through. No answers ever come from wallowing in hurt and pain the only thing you get from that is more hurt and pain.  After my heart changed, I was able to help people as the Lord used me.

 

7.      After leaving your first husband, you got your RN Degree, then a Batchelor’s Degree and eventually a Master’s Degree-- all while being a single mother to seven children. How did you do it? When I filed for divorce my oldest daughter told me she would stay with me and help me as long as I needed her to.  She was 17 and she stayed with me till she was 23. She was like a second mom in the house helping with the younger children. So, I could work on my schooling. She also went to school during this time and received a Respiratory Therapy degree. After she moved out, she kept going to school and received her Bachelors in Human Services. My oldest son took the youngest son in under his wing and helped with him. My parents also helped with the younger daughters. I couldn’t have done it without everyone’s help. Big families rock!

 

8.      You recently retired as a Registered Nurse, having helped many people. Did you choose such a profession as a way of healing yourself? No, at the time I already had an associate’s degree in business management. I was thinking of doing something in Real Estate since my dad was a builder. But one of the counselors at the university recommended I go to RN school. She said you only need two more classes to get in the program. That was the first time I had ever entertained a nursing degree. I chose it because the pay was good, and the ADN was a 2-year program. Two years went by fast, and I knew I could start working and provide for my children with an RN salary.

 

9.      Even after suffering a broken neck, and humiliating verbal abuse, and after seeing your husband abuse your children, you still held out hope for several more years after you left that he would somehow make the changes he needed to, to get his family back.  Did that happen? Were you ready to forgive him and take him back?

Well, we walked in instant forgiveness, so he was always forgiven. That is a choice that anyone can choose. No matter what situation they are in. The younger children were not abused as much as myself and the older children were and if there was ever any hope of restoration it wasn’t so much for me as it was for our children.  During the time of the divorce, we had a 2, 5, 7, 10-, 13-, 15-, and 17-year-old. The teenagers and I were so ready for the divorce, but the younger children would cry for their dad.  So, if he had gotten help and worked on his behavior and made radical changes that door was open until we married other people which was around 10 years later for both of us. But that never happened. We concluded he really didn’t care enough about us to make those changes. Once I remarried that door was permanently closed. I will say I didn’t ever want to be with him again and I’m glad that didn’t happen to me. When the youngest son was between 7 and 11 years old his dad picked him up less than 5 times to see him during that 4-year period. My son would cry because he thought his dad hated him.

 

This broke my heart. When the youngest daughter grew up, she said, before the divorce we had a mom and dad. After the divorce we didn’t have either.  So, while I got us out of the abuse (and thought I was doing a good thing) it created a whole other set of problems that I didn’t see coming at the time. So, in a situation like this where you feel you must decide, no matter what decision you make there will be consequences.  I come to realize why God hates divorce, it’s because the children suffer. In this situation it didn’t matter what decision I made they suffered either way. Which decision is better?? Each person must decide that for themselves.

 

10.  How do you hope to inspire other women to both strengthen their bonds of faith and to take steps to live a life free from monsters who try to twistedly turn the teachings of the Bible against these loving, innocent women? For women presently in a physically abusive marriage, do not leave yourself or children in a dangerous situation. Reach out to your family or a local shelter. Find someone that you can confide in. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-799-7233. If he gets help you can always get back with him later. For those women who are in a marriage with verbal and mental abuse and have chosen to stay in the marriage. Go to Gods word and find out what he says about you then start renewing your mind. Start seeking God with all of your heart so you can rise above the abuse. Cry out to your Father in Heaven He sees your pain and hears you. For those women who are not married yet. Be very careful who you say “I do” to.  First and foremost, make sure you marry a real Christian, not just someone saying they are a Christian or acting like they are a Christian just to get you to like them.  Look for a man that has a relationship with Jesus and at the same time be preparing yourself to be all that God wants you to be. The answer to 1001 questions is “Be led by God’s Spirit” Find that peace in your heart and mind and in the quietness listen for His voice. No one on this earth can give better advice than He can and no one on this earth loves and cares more about you than He does.

             About The Author: Cheryl Lynn is a survivor, a devout Christian, a mother, grandmother,                     retired nurse, and the author of an inspiring memoir, Washing The Inside of the Cup: My                     Journey of Walking in the Spirit (Christian Faith Publishing).

             She was raised in a wonderful Christian home, going to the Salvation Army Church. She was                 born again at the age of 15. At the age of twenty-three, she married into abuse and, in her                         desperation, turned to God with her whole heart. By God's grace, she found the wellspring of                 life and an intimate relationship with Jesus, our Lord. She homeschooled her children for 10                 years during the 1990s.

             After 20 years of living in abuse, she found the courage to divorce and remove herself and her                 children out of it. After the divorce, she went six years to school and received her MSN RN                     degree and has worked as an RN for the past twenty years. She is living proof that God's favor                lasts a lifetime, and His mercies are new every morning. For more information, please see                     www.cheryllynnbook.com.  

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, 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 four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen 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 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

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).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, 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

 

Can You Help A Family Through A Tragedy?

 

Today’s blog post, after having four million views of 5,000 blog posts published here for over a dozen years, is one of the saddest ones for me to write. But it may be the one that helps improve the lives of two children who lost their mother and father to a tragedy during the holiday season. They need your help.

Last month, the New Rochelle school district, where I live, sent out a cryptic email about two parents dying. No details were provided. I remember finding something online about a fiery one-car crash on the local streets. It was terrible. Someone’s kids lost their world. But I knew little else. 

Just the other day I found out it was my kids’ former nanny, Etta, who had lost her daughter in that accident. We had not seen her in a dozen years but my wife and daughter and I immediately visited her.

Here is a woman, a long-time Jamaican immigrant, who only has love in her heart. A God-fearing, respectful, honest-to-the-penny woman, she helped raise my kids as if they were her own, and now she is left to struggle to raise her daughter’s children, a fourth- and ninth-grader, after losing her only daughter and son-in-law to a freakish accident.

It was sudden, but the impact is ever-lasting. It appears the vehicle malfunctioned but the details no longer matter. The daytime, clear-weather solo car crash of the electric vehicle has left a beautiful family in dire straits. 

It was all over the news. See here:

 

2 killed in fiery Tesla crash in Pelham Manor, N.Y. youtube.com

There are two children to raise. And no money is coming in just yet. They don’t even know if there is a life insurance policy or how to access any savings her daughter may have had. But the bills keep coming, including the rent. Everyone is mourning and seeking to adjust to a new normal that is further complicated by financial insecurity.

Etta has had many challenges in life. Just a few years ago her home burned to the ground. But she moved forward and continued to see the good in the world. Material things are not important to her. A person’s worth is measured by how they treat others and how they love. She knew she always had her church and family.  

And now she has lost a piece of her family. Parents should never have to bury a child. 

When we curse the world for its brutal unfairness, we might think of Etta.

Everything now is in disarray. Etta may have to move the kids because she can’t afford the rent on their limited means. They are 80.  

The last thing you want is for the kids not to have stability of school, home, and friends.

I am asking that you donate what you can to a gofundme page — and to share this with others. I realize you don’t know Etta or these kids, but trust me, they deserve your support and are good people experiencing something very bad.

* Please help because it is in your heart to do the right thing.
* Please help because two innocent children need it.
* Please help as a thank you to me for the thousands of free blog posts I have shared with you.
* Please help change the trajectory of two young lives.  

Click here to donate: https://gofund.me/af91fa92  

Please share this with others.

Thank you in advance for your generosity!


Brian Feinblum
brianfeinblum@gmail.com

Publishing In The AI, DEI Era

 

A recent Publishers Weekly salary study of book publishing worker salaries revealed that the recently hired members (within the last five years) are not proportionately representative of America. The book industry’s newest generation of workers is heavily white, female, and LGBTQ. Good luck in finding other voices, like that of men, particularly heterosexual men of any race.  

Now, does any of this identity stuff matter? 

Well, one could argue that what gets published is based on whomever makes the editorial decisions. But, if the editorial decisions can be made by only using reader marketplace metrics and not identity bias, then it does not matter what an acquisition editor’s race, gender, or sexual practice is. So, to purposely hire — or not hire — certain classes of people — won’t matter if decision-makers green-light books that will actually sell better than the ones they reject.  

Now, will these acquisition editors be able to also select books that need to be published, regardless of a book’s financial viability, such as books that every specific type of people want to identify with? Well, maybe not.  

Publishing does need to explore books that should be published only because they are recommended by a Latina or a Jew or a transgender person. A book should be published on its merits. I am talking about terrific books that get ignored by publishers because on paper, the author lacks a marketing platform or is not part of the checked-box society. Publishers have some obligation to take a risk on worthy books — and to also ignore the tactics of identity politics.  

So, as a white centrist male, it is obvious to me that some parts of the book publishing ecosystem is a woke, DEI quagmire that, in its attempt to uplift some voices, ends up demeaning, distorting, ignoring, and silencing others unfairly.   

It is a tricky thing, to manage the role of gender, race, and religion on publishing decisions. Publishing is not always about profits but, rather, a perceived moral obligation to get alternative, underexposed stories out there — from the minority to the mainstream.  

Now you have robots and AI making or influencing publishing decisions, maybe even writing and editing books. We just need a fair standard enacted to determine what is worthy of publication.  Don’t dilute or dehumanize it.   

The publishing industry is imbalanced in its worker demographic make-up, but it may not matter, provided it manages to produce content that will sell and also serve society’s multiple demographics of readers, and ensure that great books with unmarketable authors don’t get ignored.  

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, 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 four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen 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 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2024.

 

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).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, 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