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Corfu, Greece
Liana Metal lives in Greece, on the island of Corfu. She is an EFL teacher(MAEd -Applied Linguistics), book reviewer and freelance writer. Liana is also an artist. Her drawings/paintings can be found both online at www.aggelia-online.gr and at several shops in Corfu town. To contact the artist visit http://LianaMetal.tripod.com or her blog at http://LianasKerkyra.blogspot.com Η Ηλιάνα Μεταλληνού διδάσκει Αγγλικά στην Κέρκυρα, γράφει άρθρα και ιστορίες για έντυπες και ηλεκτρονικές εκδόσεις σε όλο τον κόσμο και ζωγραφίζει. Μπορείτε να την επισκεφθείτε στην ηλεκτρονική διεύθυνση http://toasprosaligari.blogspot.com και http://www.coffeetimecorfu.com

Storytime

Storytime
A book for kids/ 3 stories in English

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Welcome Lea Schizas!


This month we will meet Lea Schizas, the author of the
Middle grade/Young Adult chapter book:
Bubba & Giganto: Odds Against Us
http://www.4rvpublishingllc.com/Lea_Schizas.html



Media Kit for

Bubba & Giganto:Odds Against Us

by Lea Schizas

4RV Publishing LLC
PO Box 6482
Edmond, OK 73083-6482
http://www.4rvpublishingllc.com
ISBN: 978-0-9797513-6-3
$10.99US

Available at:
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Bubba-Giganto-Odds-Against-Us/dp/0979751365/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219156292&sr=1-1
4RV Publishing
http://4rvpublishingllc.com/Store.html
Barnes & Noble
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Bubba-and-Giganto/Lea-Schizas/e/9780979751363/?itm=1
The Reading Warehouse
http://www.thereadingwarehouse.com/book.php?ISBN=9780979751363

E-Mail President@4rvpublishingllc.com
E-Mail Author : museitupeditor@yahoo.ca


Lea Schizas is a mother of five and tenderly referred as ‘Mother Hen’ by many writers. Many have asked me where I find the time to do all that I do. Easy, when you have a deep passion for your work, you will always find time to complete your projects. Lea Schizas http://www.leaschizas.com
Email: museitupeditor@yahoo.ca

Lea Schizas is an award-winning author and editor, a short story competition winner, living in Montreal with her husband Jimmy and five children. She describes herself as “finally woke up after a 23-year self-induced coma taking care of the family, and rediscovered my passion for writing.”

She is the Founder and Editor in Chief of two Writer’s Digest 101 Top Writing Sites since 2004 and recipients of several Preditors and Editors Awards: Apollo’s Lyre, an online writer’s Zine: http://www.apollos-lyre.com; the online writing critique community The MuseItUp Club, http://museitupclub.tripod.com/;
-Founder of The Muse Online Writers Conference, http://www.freewebs.com/themuseonlinewritersconference/
-Founder of The Muse Marquee, http://themusemarquee.tripod.com
-Founder of The Muse Book Reviews, http://themusebookreviews.tripod.com
-Reviewer for the award-winning site AllBooksReviews.com
-Editor for Double Dragon Publishing
-Submissions Editor for Red Rose Publishing.

She is the author of the Young Adult paranormal suspense/thriller “Doorman’s Creek”, co-author and editor of the nonfiction writing reference book “The Muse On Writing” (http://www.freewebs.com/themuseonwriting ) and the fantasy “Aleatory’s Junction” (http://aleatorysjunction.tripod.com/ ), and author of “The Librarian Who Wasn’t”, a short story appearing in the EPPIE award-winning Anthology “Twisted Tails II”, and an article published in the book, “Hollywood Experts” a Silver Foreword award winner.

In 2009, she has been offered three new contracts:

Libby the Odd Squirrel and Robbie and Katie Get A Hairy Scare
both contracted by Guardian Angel Publishing and 4RV Publishing has offered her a contract for I Don’t Want A Haircut

You can read more of Lea’s bio and accomplishments at:
http://leaschizaseditor.com



Synopsis of Book

Bubba hates it when his dad gets a contract for a new project. That means uprooting the family from one city and moving to another. Attending a new school is a major pet peeve of his. His smart alecky nature attracts the bullies in every school he’s attended.

On the first day of school, Bubba bumps into this rather large student. Fearing a confrontation, he wears his tough guy attitude and waits for the punches to begin. Remarkably, the new student apologizes, and Bubba and David (aka Giganto as Bubba eventually nicknames him) become best friends.

Bubba and Giganto try out for the high school soccer team, and that’s when trouble begins. Bubba knew eventually he’d meet the bullies of the school, and he was right.

In the first initial weeks, Bubba learns about a death that occurred the previous year; faces the bullies on several occasions; helps Giganto practice soccer before tryouts; and challenges the bullies to a scrimmage.

Little does Bubba know Giganto holds a secret - one that will place Giganto in a deadly situation.


REVIEW

Bubba and Giganto

Odds Against Us

Lea Schizas

4RV Publishing, PO Box 6482, Edmond, OK 73083-6482,

www.4rvpublishingllc.com

2008, ISBN: 978-0-9797513-6-3

Paperback, pp.68, US 10.99

Children’s fiction/bullying

Very Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Liana Metal

http://LiaMetal.tripod.com

Lea Schizas, a multi published award winning author and editor, is a mother of five living in Montreal. Visit her at www.LeaSchizas.com

Bubba and Giganto is the story of Bubba, a newcomer in a school, who befriends a huge boy called David (Giganto) and together they are a good team. They soon have to confront the bullies of the school; what will happen? Is Bubba going to surrender?

The story is told in the first person in a diary like style, so it is direct and vivid, thus attracting the readers’ attention immediately. The language is fresh and casual and the descriptions skillfully brisk and alive. The author uses an original humorous way to describe things happening to Bubba so the story is highly enjoyable to read. This story is also exceptionally moving at times while highlighting the benefits of true friendship. The issue of bullying the author focuses on in this book is a common problem prevalent in most schools nowadays and should be dealt somehow by both parents and teachers. Therefore, this book should be read by families and educators as it might help them understand kids better. Lea tries to analyze the characters’ inner feelings by offering readers a close look into their behavior. This is an interesting read that caters to all the family. Get this book from

http://www.4rvpublishingllc.com/Store-Books.html



EXCERPT

Chapter One

Ever wonder if parents really listen to you? Try adding, “and the alien

scooped me up” and see their reaction. If they turn around and look in a weird way,

they paid attention. My parents just say, “Uh-huh, that’s nice, dear.”

But I’ve gone off topic here. My story has nothing to do with parents but

everything to do with accepting a challenge.

Starting at a new school and meeting friends is hard, really hard. Factor in that my

parents decided to name me Bubba - not Bobby, not Brendan, but Bubba - and anyone

can understand why I hate going to any school. This would be my fourth nightmare in a

brand new setting.

Anyway…

Getting off the bus, I bumped right into this huge student. Couldn’t avoid it. The

kid, who must have been over 200 pounds, hogged the whole sidewalk. His oversized

blue T-shirt looked more like a tent. Well, call me silly, but I turned to the circus freak

and told him, “Move out of my way.” Almost in slow motion, he started to wobble out of

my path.

As I tried to pass, he yanked me back by my collar. My gut told me I may have

made the biggest mistake of my life.

Putting on my ‘tough guy’ face (the gnarly grin and uplifted eyebrow),

I looked him squarely in the eyes. “What’s up?” I asked, while my legs screamed RUN.

Anticipating a nasty hit on my body, I squeezed my eyes shut.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to block your way.”

Unsure if my ears heard right, I opened one eye and checked where his pudgy

hands were. Although the tone of his voice sounded angelic in my head (with both

eyes shut), I may have mistaken sarcasm for sincerity. To my astonishment, his hand

waited for me to shake it in greeting. The other hand held on to his brown leather school

bag. It reminded me of what a spy carrying Top Secret documents would use.

“My name’s David Montana,” he said, clasping my hand in a tight grip and

shaking it. His ‘tent’ wobbled with every shake, rattle, and roll he did with my hand. A

childish grin spread across his cherub features.

“H-hey. I’m B -” No way would I tell him my name in front of everyone

circled around us expecting the first fight of the school year. “Nice to meet

you.” My racing heart resumed its normal beat. I’m not normally the queasy and

frightened type of a guy. I’m usually smarter in the sense I pick fights with guys my own

size. So knowing my body would continue its healthy state, I let out a very inconspicuous

sigh.

Besides, I felt lower than a deflated punching bag for thinking him a circus freak.

Everyone dispersed once the warning bell rang, obviously disappointed I didn’t

get my teeth knocked out. My newfound friend and I entered the ugly, red brick building,

similar to all my other schools. I wonder if it’s like a secret school code to keep schools

as monotone as possible in order to have students remain nice and quiet … well, bored is

more like it.

I looked around and felt like puking. The walls, lockers, doors, ceilings -

everything was clean, not a mural anywhere, made me a bit nervous since every other

school had those artistic imprints. Those schools allowed their students to decorate the

walls with paintings and feel at home. So, I wondered if I had just stepped into boot

camp or what, because it was blaringly obvious to me the kids here either had no artistic

qualities or the school’s administration felt they shouldn’t decorate the walls. Great!

Could this day get any worse?

Yes. I couldn’t help but feel as though I walked in a dank tunnel. Then it hit me as

I looked around. There were no windows. The only sunlight streamed from the corridor

windows. I stopped for a second and peeked inside a classroom. No windows. Yikes.

Even the Titanic had more windows.

“Yio, David.” I ran to catch up with him. “What’s up with the lack of windows?”

“Oh, you’ll get used to it. We really don’t notice. Students are less distracted.”

“Yeah, but how will we know when we’re nearing an iceberg?”

He looked at me as though I was off my rocker.

“Never mind.” I didn’t feel the need to explain my weird sense of humor to him.

David and I hit it off. Six foot plus David, and five ten and a hundred-sixty-five

pound me shared every single class. Luck knew I would need David somewhere down

the line.

And, boy, was Luck ever right.

----------------------------------

Pop in on the 3rd to learn more about Lea! Thanks for visiting!

Liana


17 comments:

Nancy Famolari said...

Lea is definitely a great mother hen to her writers. I know! I also love Bubba and Giganto. Excellent read for kids. Good post, Lia!

Liana said...

Thank you Nancy!

Gayle said...

Five children, and she still has time to mentor other writers? Maybe Lea is hiding a secret superhero identity.... ;-)

Katie Hines said...

It's always great to learn more about Lea. I call her "mother hen" too! Best of luck, Lea, with the sales of your books.

Vivian Zabel said...

Lea is such an inspiration.

Hmmm ... I thought Libby the Odd Squirrel was under contract to 4RV.

The Old Silly said...

Enjoyed reading about Lea - and love the Bubba synopsis and excerpt. Best wishes for many sales, and nice job, Liana!

Marvin D Wilson

Carolyn Howard-Johnson said...

Did you also know that Lea and I sponsor a free online conference for writers? (Lea's the tech genius behind the whole thing.) It's coming up in October. Google Muse Online Writer's Conference. We'd love to have you.

Best,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Tweeting writing tips at www.twitter.com/frugalbookpromo

Carolyn Howard-Johnson said...

Did you know that Lea and I sponsor a free online writers conference, too? (She's the tech genius behind it.) Google Muse Online Writers Conference. It's in October.

Best,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Tweeting writing tips at www.twitter.com/frugalbookpromo

Carolyn Howard-Johnson said...

Did you know that Lea and I cosponsore a free online writers conference? She's the tech genius behind it. Google Muse Online Writers Conference.

Best,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Tweeting writing tips at www.twitter.com/frugalbookpromo

Carolyn Howard-Johnson said...

Did you know that Lea and I cosponsore a free online writers conference? She's the tech genius behind it. Google Muse Online Writers Conference.

Best,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Tweeting writing tips at www.twitter.com/frugalbookpromo

Carolyn Howard-Johnson said...

Did you know that Lea and I cosponsore a free online writers conference? She's the tech genius behind it. Google Muse Online Writers Conference.

Best,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Tweeting writing tips at www.twitter.com/frugalbookpromo

Unknown said...

I've read and reviewed "Bubba and Giganto:Against All Odds." It focuses on an important subject for kids and their parents, bullying. Lea makes us understand how bullying feels, and even how the bully feels. It's a great read for kids that will help open up conversations about bullying.

Karen Cioffi said...

Lea is an amazing woman. And, Bubba is a wonderful and important book. Dealing with bullies is something most children go through and its necessary to delve into, especially in the format of children's books through story telling.

Wonderful post, Lia.

Karen

Harry Gilleland said...

Lea leads a full life, it sounds! Great post filled with good material of all sorts. Nicely done, Liana.

Cheers!

Harry

Anonymous said...

Lea is on busy person who somehow finds the time to write terrific stories. I was never a bully, not was I bullied. But I witnessed it many times and this can be terrifying for some kids while a coming of age opportunity for others.

Many directions an author can go with this subject. Yea, Lea is an awesome person. Great interview.

stephen Tremp
http://www.stephentremp.blogspot.com/

Margaret Fieland said...

Liana, great interview. Lea, when do you sleep?

A big thanks to Lea -- the first online Muse conference was a real kick in the rear for me -- I wouldn't be writing stories if it weren't for that.

Margaret Fieland
http://www.margaretfieland.com

Liana said...

Lea, thank you for sharing all that information with us-it's been a great pleasure having you here!

Nancy, Gayle,Katie, Vivian, Marvin, Carolyn, Kathy, Karen, Harry, Stephen and Margaret, a big thank you to each one of you for visiting!

Good luck to everyone!

Liana