Taking a look at Spotlight columns

   Miracle workers came to Horseman Park

Spotlight readership has been steadily growing, so today enjoy "mini-clips" and links for some of the truly interesting authors I've had the pleasure to Spotlight since launching the feature. There are too many for one column, so each month to acquaint new readers with interviews they can find in column archives, there will be one column dedicated to  rewinds of different authors or organizations I've had the pleasure to work with for these features .

Even before the column was called Spotlight, there were some fascinating interviews offering insights to inspiration, objectives, little known facts about the person in the spotlight, and more.

October 15, 2009 - Life With McDuff-Local author Judy McFadden, a volunteer at St. Rose Hospital for over eight years, is now a published writer. Her book, Life With McDuff—Lessons Learned From a Therapy Dog, introduces you to her noble, hilarious Scottish Terrier therapy dog. McDuff miraculously touched her life and that of many others—even after death. MORE...

November 5, 2009 - Miracle workers come to Horseman Park - Sometimes stories about miracles seem like they must have been embellished. People confined to wheelchairs just aren’t able to get up and walk, let alone stand upright on the back of a moving horse, are they? Little Issac was just one of the miracles Rick and Virginia Hawthorne see every day!

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Celebrating People Who Make a Difference, includes a story by Rick Hawthorne, as told to Morgan St. James, entitled “Measuring Miracles by Leaps and Bounds.”  MORE...

November 16, 2009 - Author VuTran wins Whiting Award - His stories have appeared in the Southern Review, Harvard Review, Antioch Review, Glimmer Train, the 2007 O. Henry Prize Stories collection. His short story, “This Or Any Desert,” appears in the Las Vegas Noir anthology, a collection of stories portraying a chilling portrait of America's Sin City, where lady luck is just as likely to dispense cold hard cash as a cold-hearted killing. It was selected for inclusion in Best American Mystery Stories 2009. Based on that short story, Tran inked a book deal with W.W. Norton for an upcoming novel. It is the story of criminals and cultural barriers encountered by a cop while he searches for his Vietnamese ex-wife who has disappeared. MORE.

Darlien Breeze's "Ghosts and Gamblers"

January 5, 2010 - Spotlight - Author Darlien Breeze - This was the beginning of the official Spotlight series. I think I was born with a story to tell so I’ve always been writing. Much of my very young life was spent on the copper and gold mine owned by my grandparents on the California desert. With the nearest neighbor 30 plus miles away story telling—we called them fish stories—was a natural way to pass an evening. I love mystery and adventure. I get my ideas from other stories—the this is how I’d end it type of thing. From newspaper articles and out of the blue.  MORE...

Author Two Lenz' book

February 16, 2009 Spotlight: Las Vegas author Two Lenz talks about her award-winning autobiography 

Her name, which sounds like a pseudonym but is real, in some ways reflects the story she has to tell in her book, Walking Through Walls (Overcoming the Barriers of Mental Illness).

Her life has been one of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Characters in books, movies and on TV may suffer with these mental illnesses, but living with it and making a life is a whole different thing. Writing about it as Lenz does, promotes understanding as well as inspiration for others facing this challenge. MORE...

Next month watch for more Spotlight mini-clips.