August 20, 2007 - After ten days of 100 degrees or more here in Memphis, we are now having a cool spell. Yesterday it was only 95 and today so far at 2 P.M. it is 93 degrees. People are succumbing to this dreadful heat with 12 deaths in the city and dead trees or ones with drying branches everywhere you look. Never have I appreciated AC more.
As a result of my staying out of the heat, I am finally making headway on the second novel in my Unlikely Alliance series. And yesterday my book club discussed The Plot Against America by Phillip Roth, an extremely thought-provoking novel exploring the premise that Charles Lindbergh was elected President instead of Franklin Roosevelt in 1940. The story narrater is a seven year old Jewish boy with alternating passages from his adult memories. A chilling "what if" novel.

Now for another author interview.

Interview with Kerul Kassel

GRACE: We’re glad to have you here with us, Kerul. Tell us about yourself.

KERUL: I’m an author, speaker, consultant, and coach, as well as community activist, a birder, owner of a home in Florida and an estate in New York’s Catskill Mountains, a wife and am a “mom” to two dogs and two horses. My books are about self-management–specifically procrastination, and how to use it to help you get what you want in life.

GRACE: With all of that going, I’d like you to slow down a bit for a second and give us some insight into the real you. Tell us, if you were an animal, what would you be?

KERUL: I’d be a hybrid I’d have the eyes and wings of an eagle; the unconditional love, sense of fun, adventure, and wagging tail of a dog; the wisdom, muscular strength, and graceful beauty of a horse; the ears and silent stealth of an owl–guess Id be a really funny-looking animal!

GRACE: That would be some animal. When did you begin writing, and what prompted you to write?

KERUL: I started writing for publication just a few years ago. I found so many people (my clients, workshop and teleclass participants) beating themselves up about what they hadn't accomplished in life, and it was weighing them down, draining them of energy, and that was so unnecessary! I wanted to help them let go of that punishing perspective and replace it with a new lively, fun, experimental, forward-thinking one, and I could reach more people by writing a book. You guessed it, I write non-fiction, specifically about procrastination.

GRACE: Which writer or writers do you most admire, and why?

KERUL: Too many to name! Authors that inspire me (in various ways) are Lenedra Carroll for her intuitive heft and lyricism, Deepak Chopra for his transcendent yet humorous wisdom, Seth Godin for his consistent and prolific nonconformist perspective, Eckhart Tolle and Don Miguel Ruiz for their simple, compassionate writing.

GRACE: What is the hardest thing about being a writer?

KERUL: Marketing and selling books! Writing is fun and easy compared to that!

GRACE: Tell us about your writing–published and in progress.

KERUL: My first book, Stop Procrastinating Now–Five Radical Procrastination Strategies to Set You Free, was released earlier this year, in March during National Procrastination Week through New Leaf Publishing. It’s available at http://www.amazon.com/. My next book, Productive Procrastination – Make It Work for You, Not Against You will be released this fall through Echelon Press. Whew – 2 books in 1 year! The next book may be stories about Productive Procrastination – sort of like a Chicken Soup for the Productive Procrastinator’s Soul.
I may also release some coaching recordings. I already have a CD audio series called Power Decluttering for Busy People. It’s a 6 CD set of one hour recorded-live teleclasses and comes with an online workbook that takes you through 25 steps to becoming organized – 5 steps each week. The workbook is also available alone, as an e-course. They’re available at http://www.newleafsystems.com/products.php. If you want more personal and business info about me, go to http://www.newleafsystems.com/who.php

GRACE: Whew! Kerul, you are one busy person! I don’t see how you have time to procrastinate at all. Thanks for being with us. We wish you the best of luck with all your endeavors.