A Letter from the Editor

Welcome, readers and writers, to the September 2023 issue of Books & Buzz Magazine!

On this month’s cover, I’m happy to be featuring Southern California–based author and editor Jennifer Silva Redmond, who lives and works with her husband, Russel, on a sailboat. The way Jennifer tells it, they seemed destined—from the very start—for a life at sea. “I was living in New York City in 1988,” she tells me, “when I came home to spend Christmas with my family and saw Russel again after five years. The timing was finally right, and we got married six months later. We moved onto his twenty-six–foot sailboat three months later and took off for Mexico three months after that.” Her new memoir, Honeymoon at Sea, which comes out this month, chronicles the events in Jennifer’s life that led up to sailing south on their first adventure. You’ll love our interview, in which Jennifer talks about the work both she and her husband do that allows them to enjoy their seafaring lifestyle, that time she saw sharks creeping up on her husband in a small bay, and who would play her in a movie about her life (J.Lo’s out, sadly).

Then, award-winning author David A. Bowles shares what inspired him to write his first book series. “My family told fascinating stories about our ancestors that came to Texas during the early days of the Republic,” he says. “Some were so far-fetched they were difficult for a young boy to comprehend.” Even though many of the stories lacked key details, they intrigued him, and he knew they needed to be told. Learn all about what inspired The Westward Sagas, David’s book series based on his great-grandmother’s family’s journey from Pennsylvania to Texas.

Next, finance expert and author Kalee Boisvert tells us all about how she went from book enthusiast to published author. Passionate about finance, but worried that what she wrote might be dry and boring, Kalee hired a book coach to help her spice up her material. The secret, as she soon found out, was stepping outside her comfort zone—the logic and mechanics of finance—and adding humorous anecdotes and real-life stories to her manuscript. The end result? “By unleashing my imagination and tapping into creative writing,” she says, “I birthed the book that I intended to write: an engaging and entertaining book about money.” In her article, Kalee takes us along on her transformative journey.

Finally, Catherine McCarthy, award-winning dark fantasy author, shares six of her best tips to help you self-edit your manuscript—and warns about newbie mistakes to avoid. While self-editing shouldn’t take the place of working with an editor, Catherine says, it can still go a long way in making your work as error-free as possible. “There is a lot you can do yourself before handing your work over to a professional,” she says. “Self-editing skills are a vital part of publishing.” Take a look at the benefits of editing your own work and some of the best ways to do it, according to this seasoned author.

Ready to jump in? Treat yourself to an informative journey into the creative minds of our contributors, and enjoy this month’s issue of Books & Buzz Magazine.

Happy reading,

Timothy Pike
Editor-in-chief, Books & Buzz Magazine