Detroit Michigan Then And Now - From Boom To Bust

Erica Miner’s new release, FourEver Friends, offers an in depth, first person glimpse at the 60's era; an era that Boomer Detroit residents look to with nostalgia and young adults look to with curiosity. She will be appearing on The Authors Show Radio on November 12, 2009

Though many people today think of the Sixties as a bygone era, Boomers hold these years dear within their hearts and minds. In the 60's Detroit symbolized the American Dream. Now all of that has changed.

On Labor Day in 1960, when JFK gave the keynote speech in downtown Detroit, the city was thriving. Businesses were doing well, education was well-funded and in top form, the city abounded with talent, especially among young people, and it was the all-important hub of Labor in the US. When Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and subsequently the city exploded into race riots in 1967, all of that began to change.Erica Miner's newest novel, FourEver Friends, tells the tale of four teenage girls set in 1960's Detroit. It is a time she remembers fondly.

"As a high school student at that time," states Ms. Miner, "I was full of hope for my city, my country, and my generation. I remember how wonderful it felt to anticipate the great changes to come. Since then my beloved city has been in a downward spiral, and with the current recession Detroit is hurting more than any other city in the US: the auto industry woes, the 15+% unemployment, are just the tip of this iceberg."

Originally Ms. Miner wrote the book as a love letter to her four ‘BFFs’ and to the school that gave us them an astonishing foundation that they were able to draw on. The book can now be seen as somewhat of a snap shot that captures a better time, lived in a better place.

In FourEver Friends, Ms. Miner takes us back to an era that Baby Boomers look to with nostalgia and young adults look to with curiosity. The 1960's were a time of new hope and idealism that ultimately dissolved into volatility and violence. In a specialized inner city Detroit high school, four teenage girls have established the roots of lasting friendship. Their backgrounds are different, but their passion for classical music and angst over raging hormones link them irrevocably. The girls' school is a cultural melting pot of race and ethnicity in which students are judged by their intellect and talents, not the color of their skin or religious upbringing.

"As heartbreaking as it is for me to observe the troubles of the (no longer) Motor City," stated Ms. Miner, "I still see Detroit in my mind as it once was. My fictionalized memoir FourEver Friends, takes a trip down memory lane to a time when the Boomer generation navigated the waters of their adolescence against the background of JFK’s election, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the advent of the Beatles, and other major socio-political events. Even though some of these events could be considered in a negative light, those were the best days the city and the people there had ever experienced. This book will bring back fond memories of those times."

Erica Miner will be appearing on The Authors Show Radio (www.TheAuthorsShow.com) on Nov 12, 2009. FourEver Friends is now available at Ms. Miner's website at www.ericaminer.com, Amazon.com, and Barnes and Noble. She can be contacted by email at emwriter@earthlink.net.

FourEver Friends
Erica Miner
Nightengale Press
ISBN - 9781933449739

Profile:

Violinist turned author Erica Miner has established a reputation as an award-winning screenwriter, author, lecturer and poet.

A native of Detroit, she studied music at Boston University, the New England Conservatory of Music, and the Tanglewood Music Center. After experiencing a variety of highs and lows in her quest to forge a career in New York City, Erica won the coveted position of violinist with the Metropolitan Opera Company. When injuries from a car accident spelled the end of her musical career, she drew upon her lifelong love of writing for inspiration and studied poetry and screenwriting, winning awards in both categories.

After moving to the west coast, Erica honed her screenwriting skills with author and script guru Linda Seger of "Making a Good Script Great" fame and with Ken Rotcop, the author of “Perfect Pitch.” Erica’s ten screenplays, one of which is based on her award-winning debut novel, Travels with My Lovers, have won awards and/or placed in such competitions as WinFemme, Santa Fe and the Writer’s Digest. She was a prizewinner in the Damas Gracias Poetry Competition in Upstate New York, and her essays and articles have appeared in Vision Magazine, WORD San Diego and numerous newsletters and E-zines. She is the author of Travels with My Lovers and FourEver Friends. Erica has completed the screenplay of her new novel, Murder in the Pit, scheduled for release in 2010.

In addition Erica has developed a number of writing lectures, workshops and seminars on writing. Erica is available for interview and can be reached by using the information below.

Erica Miner
emwriter@earthlink.net
www.EricaMiner.com

Posted by Don at Free Publicity Focus Group

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Mold, Bugs, Moisture, Odor, Energy Loss Company Offers A Single DIY Solution For Multiple Crawl Space Problems

What can appear to be many problems is often instead just one problem. All these problems may have their roots in an improperly maintained crawl space. CrawlSpace Concepts LLC offers a do-it-yourself, money saving solution.

For the past century, homes built on a crawl space have suffered numerous problems due to the nature of how the home was constructed. Open earth and foundation vents have allowed moisture to wreak havoc on the home and families living there. The problems suffered by homeowners include mold, bugs, moisture, odor, wood rot and energy loss. CrawlSpace Concepts LLC offers a single, DIY solution that offers an affordable opportunity to solve all these problems immediately and simultaneously.

“Mold, bugs, moisture and odor in a crawl space can now be a thing of the past,” stated Matt Leech President and CEO of CrawlSpace Concepts LLC. “The concept of the conditioned crawl space has been around for more than ten years and solves all of the problems that homes have with a crawl space, including energy loss. A conditioned crawl space is essentially treating the crawl space as if it were part of the home.”

The process is simple. Eliminating the foundation vents keeps the outside air out of the crawl space while a DrySpace™ vapor barrier seals out the moisture from the earth and foundation walls. Once the crawl space is clean and dry, adding conditioned air makes the home more comfortable and energy efficient. Installation can be accomplished by anyone with rudimentary skills.

Now that the International Residential Building Code allows for conditioned crawl spaces it has become easier for home builders to correct these problems at construction. However, one of the most vexing problems for homeowners of existing homes has been finding the same professional grade products available to contractors. “Our DrySpace™ vapor barrier products are what contractors are using to fix these problems,” explained Mr. Leech, “this is the same high quality white vapor barrier seen in television commercials. Installing the barrier is very simple and quite easy to accomplish.”

CrawlSpace Concepts LLC offers their products directly to homeowners and contractors as well as free installation advice and instruction on their website at www.crawlspaceinfo.com. “We are a hands-on company,” said Leech, “and we install our products in Michigan as well as train contractors across the country. We dedicate a lot of time for our customers, answering questions and teaching them how to install our products. It’s a major part of our business”.

More information is available by visiting the company’s website or by contacting CrawlSpace Concepts LLC at the address below.

CrawlSpace Concepts was formed in 2007 by a contractor with over 7 years of successful experience. His company, Decked Out, continues to operate today. CrawlSpace Concepts was formed when he recognized the need to help homeowners resolve the many issues related to crawl spaces. These include mold, bugs, moisture, odor and rust. The goal was to forever end the problems associated with the dirt crawl space.

CrawlSpace Concepts offers over 20 years of experience in the building industry. The company is a member of the Better Business Bureau and to date has maintained a zero complaint record. The company is fully insured and maintains all the licenses required by the state of Michigan.

Contact:

CrawlSpace Concepts LLC
34200 W. 9 Mile
Farmington, MI 48335
248-426-8320
877-379-7658
www.CrawlSpaceInfo.com
info@CrawlSpaceInfo.com

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Local Author Mark Gordon Smith Releases First Fiction Novel, Harrisville

New book set in Harrisville, Alpena and Oscoda Michigan areas

Mark Gordon Smith, author of the Private Italy trilogy, announced today the release of his first fiction novel, Harrisville. In this new novel, he continues the tradition of passionate and lyrical writing first revealed in the Italian trilogy, this time creating a work of fiction that is suspenseful, haunting and is filled with unexpected twists.

“The town of Harrisville has always been a part of me,” said Mr. Smith. “I lived in that town when I was a child, and the most critical event in the novel is based upon an event that occurred while our family was living there. Small town and rural life has always captivated me,” Smith explained, “particularly as it was portrayed in novels written in nineteenth century England. Harrisville pays homage to George Eliot’s Middlemarch. The main character of my novel is based upon Dorothea Brooke who is the key character in Eliot’s novel. I found that Dorothea’s strength, her drive and her life were deeply absorbing. Mary, who is the lead character in my novel, is a reflection of Eliot’s character.”

Mark Gordon Smith spent his childhood and early adult years moving around the globe: Italy, Washington, DC, Salt Lake City, Hawaii and Colorado. It was during summer vacations that his family would return to Harrisville and Mio, Michigan to visit his grandparents. Those experiences provided the core inspiration for writing his first fiction novel, Harrisville.

Mr. Smith attended the United States Military Academy. Throughout those years, he continued to pursue a lifelong passion for writing. After graduating from West Point, he completed a five-year obligation and then worked in several multi-national companies, primarily in sales and human resources. He left corporate work in early 2001.

In the summer of that same year, he moved to Florence Italy and wrote the first volume of his Italian Trilogy, Tuscany Echoes, A Season In Italy. It was after his return from Italy that he began to work on Harrisville. In the midst of his work on the fiction novel, he wrote and released the second volume of his trilogy, Tuscan Light, Memories of Italy.

"Most of my work in the past has been non-fiction,” stated Mr. Smith, “yet I have been working on Harrisville for many years. I was motivated, right from the first word of the novel, to share my fascination with small town life through a story filled with challenges, hope and redemption. The narrative takes place in the town of Harrisville, Michigan, located along the northeastern shore of Lake Huron.”

“Ultimately,” Smith concluded, “the novel was written to share with readers the parallels in all of our lives, whether we live in small town America or a small town in England. I hope, of course, that people will read and enjoy the novel; I also hope that readers will be further motivated to explore nineteenth century English classics as well.”

Mr. Smith will be available for interview in the Harrisville, Michigan area from April 16 to April 18, 2009. He will hold a book signing April 23rd at L. Bookworm in Holden Beach, NC, from 2pm to 4 pm, another at Pelican Books at Ocean Isle Beach, NC, from 2pm to 4 pm on April 24th. A third signing is set at Pomegranate Books in Wilmington NC on April 29 at 7 pm.

Harrisville is available at the author’s website and from Amazon.com. Mr. Smith is available for interview and can be contacted using the information below.

Harrisville
Mark Gordon Smith
ISBN: 978-0-9740983-8-8

Contact:
Mark Gordon Smith
Private Italy
Phone: 910-575-6735
Web: www.private-italy.com
Email: AlmarBooks@hotmail.com

Posted by Free Publicity Focus Group

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