Karen Gantz Zahler is a highly sought-after New York literary agent and property rights attorney. Her clients include Alec Baldwin, Alan Dershowitz, Kathleen Turner and a host of successful authors.
Dr. Joyce Starr is an author coach, book editor, proposal writer and publisher. A former White House official, think tank expert and author of over 20 books in diverse fields, she helps shepherd Karen Gantz Literary Agency book projects to success. Keenly aware of what publishers require, Dr. Starr’s insightful comments, proposals and submission letters often shorten the distance to contract offers. Appreciating the hopes and dreams of writers, feedback includes:
“Dr. Joyce Starr added her unique and special touch to every chapter. She was a Godsend throughout this journey.” – Mike Turpen, former Attorney General of Oklahoma, Turpen Time
“Dr. Joyce Starr did a superb job of weaving my text into a persuasive and succinct photography book that was accepted by a leading house. – Dr. Cathy Greenblat, photographer, Love, Loss & Laughter: Seeing Alzheimer’s Differently
“Joyce, This book is only possible because of your superb coaching and guidance.” – Barb Dehn, Hot Guide to a Cool, Sexy Menopause
“Dr. Starr did an excellent job in restructuring and editing the proposal and sample chapters.” – Admiral William Owens, former Vice Chairman, US Joint Chiefs of Staff
“Terrific job!” – Elizabeth MacDonald, Stocks Editor, Fox Bus. News, Skirting Heresy: The Life & Times of Margery Kempe
Dr. Starr and Karen Gantz provide authors with a wealth of professional services, including author coaching, book development, book editing, and book proposals.
Cathy Greenblat – Love, Loss, and Laughter: Seeing Alzheimer’s Differently
Over 5.3 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s; nearly 11 million family members and friends serve as unpaid caregivers. Love, Loss and Laughter by sociologist/author/photographer Cathy Greenblat challenges the dominant “empty shell” image of Alzheimer patients. Sponsored by Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), this work melds uplifting photographs with inspirational text by international care partners, researchers, medical experts, social care providers, activists and people with dementia themselves.
“You can almost touch the joy, love, and laughter that emanates from the people involved,” says a reader. Maria Shriver wrote the introduction: “This groundbreaking book provides honor, respect and dignity to people living with dementia and delivers comfort, support and understanding to their caregivers.” Read more…
Mike Turpin – Turpen Time
This inspirational work resonates with lessons for life and uplifting vignettes that readers won’t forget. Author Mike Turpin believes, “If you don’t take it personally, don’t take it at all.” “When you take a fall, take a bow.” A must-have gift book for daughters and sons. At various stages of his life, Mike Turpin was a Tulsa World paperboy, Colgate-Palmolive soap salesman, Sears Santa Claus, Steak & Ale waiter, forklift operator, Attorney General of Oklahoma and Democratic candidate for Governor of Oklahoma.
He’s a sought-after public speaker and the award winning co-host of Flashpoint, an NBC television affiliate program. His current clients include AT&T, Dupont, General Motors, Chesapeake Energy, Legal Shield, Pfizer and many others. Read more…
Nurse Barb – Barbara Dehn, RN – The Hot Guide to A Cool, Sexy Menopause
An approachable guide to menopause for women who are overwhelmed, desperate or simply want more information. Featuring stories from women who confront the challenges of menopause, nurse Barb Dehn makes sense of the hormonal roller coaster.
A guest lecturer at Stanford, Nurse Barb is author of Your Personal Guides to Health – booklets used by over 3.5 million women. While receiving patients in her Silicon Valley practice, she appears regularly on CBS-TV in San Francisco, with a broadcast version of her blog: Nurse Barb’s Daily Dose. A dynamic media personality, Barb is taping health spots for CBS which will air between the highly popular Rachel Ray and Judge Judy shows in April and September. The Hot Guide to a Cool, Sexy Menopause is the first book to make menopause fascinating and humorous, even for those who dread the word. Read more…
Arthur Samuels – Old Flames – A Novel
Gus’s experience at an elite Christian boarding school in the 1940s leaves him wounded physically and psychologically. His love interest, Leigh, is a moving target. In order to bolster his self-confidence, Gus volunteers to serve in the Marines and performs one of the most dangerous military tasks (flame throwing) on the Pacific Front.
Confronting the horrors of war, Gus seeks redemption in his old flame. Arthur (Sam) Samuels was born and raised in New York City (MA Fordham University, MEd Columbia University). He has taught history in private schools for over twenty years. Read more…
Admiral William Owens – America & China in the Same Boat
Admiral William (Bill) Owens served as Vice Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Jimmy Carter. He is currently the highest ranking US military officer currently residing in China. A naval commander who spent twenty-five years of his life under water, Admiral Owens warns about a looming tsunami of distrust between the United States and China.
“Unless we recognize what is happening, and find an understanding with China and its senior leaders, especially in national security issues, I am convinced that the future will be difficult for us, and that the legacy we leave our children will be worse,” he explains in this forward-looking work. The author has a transparent agenda: To mend military, economic and strategic fault lines before they implode into an earthquake beyond repair.
Admiral Owens is the author of Lifting the Fog of War, (The Johns Hopkins University Press, October 19, 2001), where he makes the case for a technological and administrative overhaul of the US. military.
Elizabeth MacDonald – Margery Kempe, Medieval Saint
The story of one of the most contentious Christian mystics of all time. Margery Kempe, an illiterate mother of 14 children, was repeatedly arrested for heresy at the behest of the Catholic Church during the early 15th century. Yet, she had the pluck and determination to stand up to the very men who had Joan of Arc burnt at the stake.
Author Elizabeth MacDonald is on television daily at the FOX Business Network as well as on FOX News. She has studied Margery for the last 16 years, and has read over 50 books and treatises about her life and times, as well as archival material and trial transcripts from the period.
Shirley Blaier Stein – Autism Mom
Shirley Blaier-Stein is the mother of an autistic child. Her book offers a method of empowerment and spiritual healing for parents of autistic children. As the author explains, “A parent is the child’s channel to the world, enabling him or her to connect and communicate with us. When the parent learns how to recognize and maintain this channel, true healing begins.”
She offers uplifting alternative approaches, including: How to open yourself to different ways of thinking in order to understand your child better and to penetrate his/her world; how to understand the mind-body connection in order to help your child heal; and how to awaken your intuition in your new role as an autism parent. Shirley Blaier Stein is an attorney, autism activist and the founder of the Autism Parents Community.
Linda Rendleman – Women Like Us: Illuminating the World – Real Strategies. Real Stories.
This is the second in the Women Like Us book series. The objective: to share women’s stories and strategies for creating a better world. Women are creating change, enlightening others and making a difference, whether through a major philanthropic initiative or one person at a time; across the street or across the world. Women are contributing in compelling ways, utilizing their feminine strengths, uniqueness and their passion for giving back.
Linda features women who pursued their passion for contributing to the greater good. They stepped forward to support and encourage others worldwide to live their best and most empowered lives. Linda Rendleman is a cancer survivor and single mom with a passion for mentoring, inspiring and encouraging others.
Carrie White – An Apple for the Teacher (A Detective Novel)
“The message on my office voice mail early Monday morning made me stop short: ‘Dr. St. Claire. Hi. This is Cynthia Neville. Well, um, I was wondering if I could come talk to you sometime soon? I’ve got a problem. Yet, Cynthia was dead. How could she be calling me?” Thus begins Carrie White’s “chick-lit” novel, An Apple for the Teacher. The book’s main character, Dr. Nan St. Clair, is a young English professor at an esteemed university. She is funny, smart, earnest, and irreverently reverent.
Carrie White is associate professor at Regent University, Virginia and recipient of a Fulbright Teaching Exchange Scholarship to teach in Slovakia. Her published works include: Running Naked Through the Streets, (Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, 2009), Reading More of Roddy Doyle, (Glasnevin Press, 2012), and Reading Roddy Doyle, (Syracuse University Press, 2003).