Phyllis Johnson's "Hot And Bothered By It!"

We're happy to have Phyllis Johnson with us today talking about her book, Hot And Bothered By It! To learn more about Phyllis and her book, read on!

Publisher: Community Press

Cover blurb: Do you suffer from Oreo-porosis? Is there an instant Mess-age at your house when you go away? Is a period just punctuation found in your romance novels while you fan yourself? If you can relate to any of these circumstances, you may be going through a midlife chrysalis. If you find yourself with a group of women playing such games as the "Millionaire Purse Game," wearing red and purple together and eating chocolate until you pass out, then this book is for you. HOT AND BOTHERED BY IT contains fifty poems celebrating the midlife experience for women. This book is the perfect companion for entertaining you and your friends at your next night out. This book is also GREAT for your reading group! (And it’s perfect for milestone birthday gifts for girlfriends.)

1) How did this story come to you?
 I wrote a poem about a senior discount because my husband was teasing me before we hit fifty that he couldn’t wait until he got one. I kept writing midlife poems and before I knew it, I had fifty poems and a book was created.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
First I contacted the Red Hat Society but when they wouldn’t endorse it, I started sending it out to publishers.
A friend in my local writing group told me about Community Press and the publisher, who is also an illustrator, did the illustrations too. I’ve had a great time reading the poems at book signings. My last adventure with that was at an art gallery event. As the artists painted, they laughed and wound up buying lots of my books. One night I had a reading at a wine tasting. The women laughed, sipped wine and bought books too.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
I’ve acted for The Discovery Channel in FBI Files, New Detectives, Diagnosis Unknown and Psychic Investigator. That was all a blast. Meeting new people on the film set is always exciting. As a teenager, I dreamed of modeling. It actually came true for me when I turned 50 and I modeled for hotel ads. Another thing people wouldn’t know about me is that I twirled fire batons when I was a high school majorette. Boy, that last part is really scary to me now.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
I’m marketing a YA suspense novel, titled Inkblot, co-written with Nancy Naigle. I’m also writing a collection of funny high school stories. My day job is in a high school library and funny stuff happens in a high school. A lot of it just screams to be written about and so one of my latest projects, School of Rock, got started.

5) Parting comments?
 I love the contact with readers through these blogs. It’s a great way to promote and network. My advice to other writers is to never give up and follow your dreams. That applies to readers too, no matter what your dream might be.

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
http://www.phyllisjohnson.net/ I’m on Twitter and FB too.
My email is pjwriter7@aol.com