VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

Join Host Virginia S Grenier on Monday as she talks with Dennis Milam Bensie about his two memoirs: One Gay American and Shorn: Toys to Men. This show is going to be about many different topics from writing and the arts to child abuse and family relationships. Dennis Milam Bensie grew up in Robinson, Illinois where his interest in the arts began in high school participating in various community theatre productions. Bensie’s first book,  Shorn: Toys to Men was nominated for the Stonewall Book Award, sponsored by the American Library Association. It was also a pick in the International gay magazine The Advocate as “One of the Best Overlooked Books of 2011″. The author’s short stories have been published by Bay Laurel, Everyday Fiction, and This Zine Will Change Your Lifeand he has also been a feature contributor for The Good Men Project. One Gay American is his second book with Coffeetown Press and it was chosen as a finalist i...

 Join Host Virignia S Grenier as she talks with Halo Publishing's debut children's book author Aaron Chokan. Dr. Chokan has been a successful, practicing foot and ankle specialist for 10 years.  Currently, he is owner and founder of Ohio Foot and Ankle Center with 4 locations in Northeast Ohio.  He lives in Hudson, Ohio with his loving wife and 5 children: Hunter, Reece, Finlay, Calais and Lucia and their dog Paisley.  Dr. Chokan is an avid golfer and tennis player. You can find out more about Dr. Aaron Chokan, his picture book series and World of Ink Author/Book Tour at  http://tinyurl.com/clmogvy Follow Dr. Aaron Chokan at http://tinyurl.com/clmogvy Facebook http://facebook.com/lailaiandchubchub The Adventures of Lai-Lai and Chub-Chub is a sweet picture book series about friendship and growing up. ISBN-10: 1612441505 ISBN: 9781612441504 Hardback Written by Dr. Aaron Chokan Illustrations by Amy Rottinger Genre: Picture Book Halo Publish...

Title of Book: One Gay American Author: Dennis Milam Bensie Author Website: http://dennismilambensie.com Publisher: CoffeeTown Press ISBN-10: 1603811532 ISBN-13: 978-1603811538 Price $13.95 Publication Date: September 2012 Genre of Book: Memoir About the Book:   Dennis Milam Bensie is One Gay American . Born in the 1960s and raised with traditional values in Robinson, Illinois, Bensie desperately wanted romance, a beautiful wedding, and a baby to carry on the family name. He denied his sexuality and married a woman at nineteen years old, but fantasized of weddings where he could be the bride. The newlyweds "adopted" a Cabbage Patch Doll and ironically witnessed a Cabbage Patch Doll wedding (a successful fundraiser staged by a local women's club) where the dolls were granted the type of grand ceremony off-limits to gay couples. In search of his identity as a gay man, Bensie divorced his wife and stumbled through missteps and lessons that still st...

Dr. Chokan has been a successful, practicing foot and ankle specialist for 10 years.  Currently, he is owner and founder of Ohio Foot and Ankle Center with 4 locations in Northeast Ohio.  He lives in Hudson, Ohio with his loving wife and 5 children: Hunter, Reece, Finlay, Calais and Lucia and their dog Paisley.  Dr. Chokan is an avid golfer and tennis player. VS: I want to thank you for being my guest here on The Writing Mama today. What do you do to help balance your writing life with your family life? Chokan : In my life, I have such a wonderful wife who is able to care for our children and keep our life in order. She is the glue to our whole family. My writing life seems to be able to keep it separate since it does not consume me. My kids are my palate and my template that I follow and without them, I have no stories. VS: How long have you been writing? Chokan: About a year. VS: What inspired you to write your book? Chokan: My inspir...

Mikey Brooks is a small child masquerading as adult. On occasion you’ll find him dancing the funky chicken, singing like a banshee, and pretending to have never grown up. He is the author/illustrator of several books including BEAN’S DRAGONS , the ABC ADVENTURES series, and author of the middle-grade fantasy-adventure novel, THE DREAM KEEPER . He spends most of his time playing with his daughters and working as a freelance illustrator. Mikey has a BS degree in Creative Writing from Utah State University. He is also one of the hosts of the Authors’ Think Tank Podcast . VSG: I want to thank you for being my guest here on The Writing Mama today. Mikey: It is my pleasure. I am happy to be on a show that helps promote writing for mommies and daddies. VSG : What do you do to help balance your writing life with your family life? Mikey: The best thing for me to do is remember that have more than one role in life and each of those roles requires my attention. Having ...