Welcome to Mahalo's Author Series, where notable authors and writers from a variety of genres are asked 20 questions or more by fans and readers across the web.
Sam Harris
Sam Harris is an American author and speaker who earned his degree in philosophy from Stanford University and his PhD in neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles. During his career, he has written several New York Times bestsellers including The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation and The Moral Landscape. Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Lisa Catherine Harper
Lisa Catherine Harper is the author of A Double Life: Discovering Motherhood, which won the 2010 River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Prize. The book is a memoir set against the backdrop of science as she explores the physical, mental and emotional transformations of motherhood.
Hear her full interview, as well as her answers to individual reader questions, here.
Claire Bidwell Smith
Claire Bidwell Smith is the author of The Rules of Inheritance, which narrates the author's twenties, bookended by the death of each of her parents from cancer and fogged by grief that showed no sign of lifting until she finds her way as a psychotherapist, grief counselor, writer and blogger, and then as a wife and mother.
Hear her full interview, as well as her answers to individual reader questions, here.
Robert Rodi
Robert Rodi is the author of Seven Seasons in Siena: My Quixotic Quest for Acceptance Among Italy's Proudest People. After seven novels set in the gay milieu (Fag Hag, Closet Case, What They Did to Princess Paragon, Drag Queen, Kept Boy, Bitch Goddess and When You Were Me), Robert re-branded himself as an author of nonfiction. Dogged Pursuit: My Year of Competing Dusty, the World's Least Likely Agility Dog, his first nonfiction title, was released in 2009.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Rex Pickett
Rex Pickett is the author of Vertical, the sequel to the critically-acclaimed Sideways that was made into a feature film in 2004. While Rex's success is attributed to his novel-turned-film Sideways, his screenplay for My Mother Dreams the Satan's Disciples in New York won best dramatic short film in 15-plus festivals upon its debut, ending with the win at the 2000 Academy Awards for the category of "Best Live Action Short," directed by his ex-wife, Barbara Schock, of the American Film Institute.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Lloyd Kaufman
Lloyd Kaufman is the author of Sell Your Own Damn Movie!, though he is most well-known for his creation of the cult classic, The Toxic Avenger, as well as Troma Entertainment which he founded in 1974.
Sell Your Own Damn Movie! is the fourth volume in Lloyd's how-to series, which also includes Make Your Own Damn Movie!, Direct Your Own Damn Movie! and Produce Your Own Damn Movie!
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Nick Cooney
Nick Cooney is the author of Change of Heart: What Psychology Can Teach Us About Spreading Social Change.
Nick is the founder and director of The Humane League out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, working to raise awareness about farm animal protection issues.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Seth Mnookin
Seth Mnookin is the author of The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear (2011), which combines investigative reporting, scientific history and sociology to explore the controversy currently surrounding vaccines and their alleged connection with developmental disorders in children.
Seth has also penned Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top (2006), chronicling a year with the Boston Red Sox, as well as Hard News: The Scandals at The New York Times and Their Meaning for American Media (2004).
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Tamsen Butler
Tamsen Butler, author of The Complete Guide to Personal Finance: For Teenagers, won the 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Award in the Young Adult Non-Fiction category for her book.Tamsen has also penned such titles as Meeting Your Match Online: The Complete Guide to Internet Dating and Dating Services - Including True Life Date Stories (2008) and The Complete Guide to Your Personal Finances Online: Step-by-Step Instructions to Take Control of Your Financial Future Using the Internet (2009).
Read her full interview, as well as her answers to individual reader questions, here.
Annie Jacobsen
Annie Jacobsen is the author of Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base. An investigative reporter with a focus on national security issues, Annie's writing can be read in the Los Angeles Times Magazine, as well as in her column, "Backstory," at latimes.com. Annie has written for The National Review and The Dallas Morning News as well.Hear her full interview, as well as her answers to individual reader questions, here.
Jeff Mudgett
Jeff Mudgett is the author of Bloodstains, the autobiographical tale of Jeff's discovery that his own great-great-grandfather was infamous serial killer H.H. Holmes. Bloodstains takes history even further, linking Holmes to Jack the Ripper and attempting to prove that both murderers may have been one and the same.Jeff first learned that his ancestor was Herman Webster Mudgett, a.k.a. Dr. H.H. Holmes, when he was 45-years-old. He then set out to find out more about his evil relative, culminating in Bloodstains.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Robb Wolf
Robb Wolf is the author of The Paleo Solution - The Original Human Diet, which explains how one can base their diet off of Paleolithic nutrition.Robb, a former research biochemist, is now considered one of the world's leading experts on Paleo dieting. He is also the co-founder of the nutrition and athletic training journal known as The Performance Menu.
Robb co-owns NorCal Strength & Conditioning, rated one of the top 30 gyms in America by Men's Health.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Dan Schawbel
Dan Schawbel is the author of Me 2.0: 4 Steps to Building Your Future. He is considered a "personal branding guru," being labeled such by The New York Times. He is the managing partner of Millennial Branding, LLC, a full-service personal branding agency on the east coast of the United States. As a result of Dan's success in the personal branding arena, he was named one of Inc. Magazine's 30 Under 30. Google his name and you will find over one million results. He boasts 120,000 Twitter followers and has so many Facebook friends, he has maxed out his account.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
A.J. Walkley
Alison "A.J." Walkley is the author of Queer Greer and Choice. She won the Barnes and Noble Rising Star Award for Choice in 2009, allowing it to be placed prominently in bookstores across the east coast.A.J. is currently working on a book and screenplay based on the life of Elizabeth Burke, an inmate in Texas. The author began a correspondence with Burke in 2009 that has grown into a much larger project. After much research, A.J. believe Burke may be innocent of her alleged crime - the murder of her seven-week-old son - and is now also trying to secure her a retrial.
Hear her full interview, as well as her answers to individual reader questions, here.
Larry L. Hines
Larry L. Hines is the author of The Beneficiary, a novel based on Hines' 40-plus years as a trial lawyer. The book centers on Attorney Dillon Clark who faces a biased judge, vanishing evidence and disappearing witnesses on his journey for the truth.Hines includes explanations of court rules and procedures in his novel in an effort to assure all readers will understand legal jargon and follow along with the plot seamlessly.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Pen Densham
Pen Densham is the author of Riding the Alligator: Strategies for a Career in Screenplay Writing (and not getting eaten). He is also the scribe of such screenplays as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Moll Flanders, as well as the writer on reboots of The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone.In Riding the Alligator, Pen offers his own insight into the world of screenwriting. He has also accumulated essays from such A-List Hollywood screenwriters as Shane Black (Lethal Weapon), Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and Eric Roth (Forrest Gump).
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Michael Shermer
Michael Shermer is the author of The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies---How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths. He is also the founding publisher of Skeptic Magazine, the executive director of the Skeptics Society, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, the host of the Skeptics Distinguished Science Lecture Series at Caltech and an adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University.Michael has written 15 books, including Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time; and How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Sara Caldwell
Sara Caldwell is the author of Splatter Flicks: How to Make Low-Budget Horror Films. She is also a producer for House of Gorey Productions and a screenwriter as well.Sara teaches film and screenwriting at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California. She is a contributing writer for ConstructingHorror.com and her filmmaking advice appears in the book NOW WRITE! Screenwriting. She has spoken at the Los Angeles Screenwriting Expo and Sweden's Lund Film Academy among other venues.
Hear her full interview, as well as her answers to individual reader questions, here.
John Kenneth Muir
John Kenneth Muir is the author of Horror Films of the 1990s, among upwards of 20 other titles.John's first book, Exploring Space: 1999, was published in 1997. Since then, he has published about two books a year. Among some of his titles are An Askew View: The Films of Kevin Smith, The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi, The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia and This Is Spinal Tap: Music on Film Series.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Meir Doron
Meir Doron is the author of Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan, along with co-author Joseph Gelman.Meir has over 2,000 articles, interviews, investigative reports and commentaries to his name throughout Israel and the United States. He has been the editor in chief of several Los Angeles-based Hebrew publications, including Hadashot LA, Shalom LA andShavuah Israeli.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Steven Pressfield
Steven Pressfield is the author of The Warrior Ethos, along with several other military-related books includingGates of Fire (1998), Tides of War (2000) and Killing Rommel (2008).Steven is also well-known for writing The Legend of Bagger Vance (1995), which became a movie in 2000 starring Will Smith and Matt Damon. He also wrote The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, a motivational book for writers.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Simon Mainwaring
Simon Mainwaring is the author of We First: How Brands & Consumers Use Social Media To Build a Better World.Simon is the founder and CEO of We First, a social branding consulting firm whose mission is to help companies, non-profits and individuals utilize online social media to build communities, profits and positive impact.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Paul Chitlik
Paul Chitlik is the author of Rewrite: A Step-by-Step Guide to Strengthen Structure, Characters, and Drama in your Screenplay. He has also written for such hit television shows as The Twilight Zone.Paul is a screenwriter, producer and director whose other credentials include Perfect Strangers, Brothers,The New Twilight Zone, Alien Abduction, Ringling Brothers Revealed and more.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Fern Richardson
Fern Richardson is the writer behind the Life on the Balcony, an award-winning blog in which she writes about container gardening tips and tricks for balconies, patios and small decks. She also includes fresh garden-picked recipes for her readers on occasion.Fern has been gardening since her childhood when her grandmother would give her cuttings from her own garden to experiment with.
Hear her full interview, as well as her answers to individual reader questions, here.
Martin Lindstrom
Martin Lindstrom is the author of Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy. He was listed as one of TIME Magazine's "World's 100 Most Influential People" in 2009 following the publication of his book Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy.Martin is a brand advisor for such companies as McDonald's, PepsiCo, American Express, Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, Walt Disney Company, Nokia and many others.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Randall Kennedy
Randall Kennedy is the author of The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency. He also wrote Race, Crime, and the Law; Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word; Interracial Intimacies: Sex, Marriage, Identity and Adoption; and Sellout: The Politics of Racial Betrayal.Randall is an American Law professor at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His classes and research focus on the intersection of racial conflict and legal institutions throughout American life.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Stacy Schiff
Stacy Schiff is the author of Cleopatra: A Life, as well as the Pulitzer Prize-winning Vera (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov)and the Pulitzer Prize-finalist Saint-Exupery. Stacy's bookA Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America won the George Washington Book Prize, the Ambassador Award in American Studies and the Gilbert Chinard Prize of the Institut Francais d'Amerique.All of Stacy's books have been New York Times Notable Books and featured in the Los Angeles Times Book Review, the Chicago Tribune and The Economist.
Hear her full interview, as well as her answers to individual reader questions, here.
Scott Lobdell
Scott Lobdell is the writer behind three of the DC Comics New 52: Superboy, Red Hood and the Outlaws and Teen Titans.Scott has worked at Marvel on Uncanny X-Men and Generation X. He also wrote on Marvel's Fantastic Four, Alpha Fight and The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Rick Emerson
Rick Emerson is the co-author of Zombie Economics: A Guide to Personal Finance, along with CNN anchor Lisa Desjardins. The idea for the book came from a "financial truth" the authors discovered - the skills needed to survive a financial downturn are similar to those needed to survive a zombie apocalypse.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Melanie Joy
Dr. Melanie Joy is the author of Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism. She has also written Strategic Action for Animals: A Handbook on Strategic Movement Building, Organizing, and Activism for Animal Liberation.Melanie is a leading researcher on carnism, or the psychology of eating meat. Her work on the topic has been featured on the BBC, NPR, PBS and ABC Australia. She has also written a slew of articles on carnism herself.
Hear her full interview, as well as her answers to individual reader questions, here.
Meg Favreau
Meg Favreau is the Senior Editor of the blog WiseBread, operating under the motto, "Living large on a small budget." Additionally, Meg is a writer, comedian, actress and food enthusiast.Meg has written for The Huffington Post, The Smart Set, McSweeney's, The Big Jewel and The Smew. She has also co-written Little Old Lady Recipes: Comfort Food and Kitchen Table Wisdom with photographer Michael Reali, due out in November 2011.
Hear her full interview, as well as her answers to individual reader questions, here.
Erik Qualman
Erik Qualman is the author of Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business and the founder of the Socialnomics website. Socialnomicsmade Amazon.com's #1 Best Selling list for the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Germany. It has been translated into Chinese, Portugese, German, Korean and Japanese.Erik also speaks internationally about his book. As a result, he has been featured in such outlets asBusinessWeek, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CBS Nightly News and The Huffington Post.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Kevin McKee
Kevin McKee is the writer behind the blog Thousandaire. Thousandaire offers finance advice to young people who have no idea how to spend, save, invest, borrow or budget their money. Through a series of entertaining posts and videos, Kevin uses his own financial mistakes to help others avoid making the same.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Janet Reitman
Janet Reitman is the author of Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion. The book began as an article Janet wrote in 2006 for Rolling Stone magazine, where she is a senior editor.Janet's writing has appeared in GQ, Men's Journal, The New York Times Magazine, the Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine and Salon, among many others.
Hear her full interview, as well as her answers to individual reader questions, here.
Susan Markowitz
Susan Markowitz is the author of My Stolen Son: The Nick Markowitz Story along with writer Jenna Glatzer. Susan's son, Nick, was kidnapped and murdered by drug dealers in revenge for his older step-brother's debts in the summer of 2000 in Santa Barbara, California.Above all else, Susan considers herself Nick's mom. She was a stay-at-home mother during Nick's life and is a step-mom to her husband, Jeff's, children, Ben and Leah.
Hear her full interview, as well as her answers to individual reader questions, here.
Ryan Blair
Ryan Blair is the author of Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain: How I Went From Gang Member to Multimillionaire Entrepreneur. He is a serial entrepreneur who founded his first company, 24-7 Tech, at the age of 21.Since, Ryan has founded multiple start-ups, leading to appearances on CNBC, MSNBC and Fox Business. He has also been featured in TIME magazine,BusinessWeek, Sports Illustrated, the Wall Street Journal and Forbes, among other major media outlets.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Gene Baur
Gene Baur is the author of Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food. Gene is also a co-founder and president of Farm Sanctuary, the leading farm animal protection organization in the United States, with shelters in New York and California.Providing rescue, refuge and adoption for hundreds of farm animals each year, Farm Sanctuary shelters enable visitors to connect with farm animals as emotional, intelligent individuals.
Hear his full interview, as well as his answers to individual reader questions, here.
Liz Lynch
Liz Lynch is the author of Smart Networking: Attract a Following In Person and Online - the first book to show how to integrate social media seamlessly with traditional face-to-face networking.
Liz has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CNN, ABC News, Fox Business News, CNBC.com, Forbes.com and Businessweek.com. She also writes for PersonalBrandingBlog.com, one of the top 50 marketing blogs today.
Hear her full interview, as well as her answers to individual reader questions, here.
References
