Reader’s Life Magazine EXCLUSIVE! Cosby Media Productions
Interview with Braxton Cosby Interview with Tamar Hela
Contents 4-6:Braxton Cosby 8-10:Cris Pasquralle 12-15:Dan Peyton 17-19:Chayil Champion 21-23: Tamar Hela 25-26: EXCLUSIVE!
Editor’s Note Reader’s Life Magazine is proud to present our March issue, which includes authors from Cosby Media Productions. We hope you enjoy the magazine. - Editor Trisha Ratliff
Braxton Cosby
Dr. Braxton A. Cosby is a physical therapist, receiving his Clinical Doctorate from the University of Miami. With over 14 years of professional experience as a presenter, licensed Physical Therapist, program facilitator, Certified Clinical Instructor, Sports Nutritionist, and Personal Trainer, Braxton currently works with both bariatric and geriatric patients in Atlanta, Georgia, while also running Boot Camps in the metro area to help clients obtain their fitness goals. Braxton recently released his tenth book FAT FREE FOR LIFE: 13 PRICNIPLES FOR GUARANTEED WEIGHT LOSS AND ULTIMATE
HEALTH. Braxton also dabbles in acting, modeling and producing, being the CEO of his five division entertainment company Cosby Media Productions. He is currently in the pre-production of the book to film adaptation of book one of his Young Adult Trilogy The Star-Crossed Saga, Protostar. He is a past co-host with NFL Network personality Jamie Dukes on the radio show Ask The Fat Doctors, and now broadcasts his own podcast called Fat Free: Ask The Fat Doc.
Why he started Cosby always had a gift for creating and writing. In school he struggled slightly with multiple choice questions but when they asked for an essay he flourished. In 2010 he felt a calling to write, so he began to set pen to paper and write Protostar the first novel in his Star-crossed Saga. After finishing it, he wrote his next novel Supernova the sequel to Protostar. The Sect While speaking with a friend, his friend requested that he create a “Harry Potter” Series for Christians. He didn’t want to create a replica of Harry Potter. He went in with the idea that Harry potter has the “School of Wizardry” why not make “The School of Ministry”
He is planning three novels for “The Sect” He wrote and published a novella entitled “Evan’s Heart” that was published in 2014, it shows one of the events from Miss Evan’s point of view as she is willing to sacrifice her life to help Ziv in his training. The Sect is considered a Christian Fiction, but unlike most in the genre is not overwhelmingly religious. Who are his books suitable for As someone that has read ProtoStar, Supernova and The Sect, I can give you an honest answer. His first series is best suited for young adults in the 13-18 age range, but is suitable for all ages.
“The Sect” has a protagonist that is 21 years of age so it categorizes as a New Adult but is perfectly suitable for all ages as well. His plans for the books His movie adaptation for Protostar is currently in Preproduction, and they are hoping to start filming in 2016 and have it in theaters by spring 2018. It is hoped to be the first of many movie projects for his novels. He said it is too early to say who they are wanting for the movies but however they do have a small list of names that they are interested in.
He also told Reader’s Life Magazine that he is assisting in writing the script and that he has an award-winning Screenwriter working with him. Bill Hughes is assisting with set design and it will all be filmed in Atlanta Georgia. Keep up with Braxton @: www.braxtoncosby.com www.facebook. com/DrBraxtonCosby @BraxtonCosby
Cris Pasquralle I am a retired NYC police officer who has always loved reading. Sharing in the Harry Potter adventures with my two daughters lead me to an interest in middle grade/young adult fantasy fiction and my writing of Destiny Revealed, book one in the destiny trilogy. I currently live in Levittown long island with my wife and two children and look forward to sharing the adventures of Jack and Maddie Austin with all of you.
Cris Pasqurelle was raised in Long island and began writing at a young age. After entering adulthood he decided to try and publish his first novel but after being rejected decided to focus on other aspects of his life. Years later after becoming and then retiring from being a New York Police officer But he never lost his love for writing, After his daughters became older and they began reading the Harry Potter books, when vampires became the new trend in novels they asked their dad to write them a books...and he delivered. He soon decided to selfpublish through Kindle where Braxton Cosby found his novel. Cosby contacted him and asked him if he would be interested in
publishing through them. Since then he has published three novels and is planning more, and his novel Destiny Revealed is getting a movie. When asked what his inspiration for his novel was he answered with a pretty simple answer. He wanted to create a novel that showed a close family bond. Because so many novels now show a lack of guidance from parents. As a retired Police officer he had seen so many children left without parents and he had seen the affects of the lack of parents that he wanted to show how much they mean in the development of children.
His novel Destiny Revealed is about a set of twins whose parents are kidnapped on their thirteenth birthday. Their destiny is soon revealed to them by their uncle who tells them their are wizards and begins to train them. The twins then embark on a journey to find one another and learn that they each have their own strengths apart from each other. There are three novels in this series.
Follow Cris at Twitter link: https://mobile. twitter. com/cpasqueralle Facebook link: https://www. facebook. com/authorcrispasqu eralle/ Google+ link: https://plus.google. com/118115147776484 844470
Dan Peyton Bio: Daniel Peyton is a fresh author whose talents includes, writing, sketching and dreaming out adventures in far away places that he seeks to bring to paper. He lives in East Tennessee where he draws a great deal of inspiration from the unique landscape. He has been featured in short story e-zines as well as flash fiction blogs. Legacy of Dragonwand: Book 1 is the first in the Dragonwand trilogy.
Links" Facebook: https://www. facebook. com/DanielPeytonAuth or/ Twitter: @DanPeytonAuthor Youtube: https://www. youtube. com/channel/UChGcDD ErM-gvEW8uxfIHwag Pinterest: https://www. pinterest. com/senseidoji/ These are his past books: http://www.amazon. com/DanielPeyton/e/B006C986D6
Dan Peyton fell in love with writing while in the fourth grade when his teacher gave them free writing time. During that time he fell in love with writing stories and tongue twisters. During 9th grade he began wanting to write everyday. One of the authors that inspired him is John M Ford who wrote a star wars novel how much for just the planet. He said that he must have read it a dozen times while in school. He also loves the Ashes of Eden series by William Shatner. It helped him see that you can write but you can have a lot of people help you. Seeing that he began to write and asked his mother to help him edit it, which he then had his brother read. When asked how his family reacted to his writing Peyton said.
His mother loved and still loves his writing. His mother is the biggest reader in their family and is the head of the church book club, but his father didn’t quite understand it, he thought that it was just another hobby. He has written in Fantasy, Sci Fi, Christian Fiction, Editing is the hardest part of writing for him. He says that doing his own editing is alright but it is difficult to have a team of editors giving direction, because you have to worry about missing a correction and for someone creative is it very difficult, One of the most rewarding parts of being a writer is developing a story, he loves having people read his work and he loves entertaining readers.
He always wanted to be an author but while young thought that it would be too hard, then ten years ago he wrote his first novel that he wanted to get published, Publishing and writing then became his new direction in life. He has had wonderful reception. The day his newest novel Legacy of Dragonwand came out it hit “Hot New Releases” on Amazon. As far as negativity goes he views negative reviews two ways the first type being the ones you need to hear, and the second being internet trolls and those you need to just turn away from them. If you’re getting into entertainment you need to learn to not respond to them, because you are feeding their negativity.
When asked if he prefered to write male or female leads he said that he tends to have a male lead but he always tries to have a strong female lead. Recently he wrote a story with a female lead and he found it enjoyable stepping out of his comfort zone. He feels that vocabulary is very important in YA novels because your target audience is a very young and impressionable group. “A good deep vocabulary grows your knowledge.” His advice for writing a better vocabulary is to read older books. He says that people that want to write should just write. And to study the field if you want to publish.
He didn’t and was pulled into a fraudulent company. He says it was a bad experience. He says if you come across a publisher you are interested in to look them up. There are plenty of sites that analyse publishers agents. You can also join groups. Ask questions to authors and ask if they have heard of the publisher you are interested in. He said that when character they need to be relatable, and have flaws. He suggests making a lists of flaws before writing. Let the character have experiences that people would have(being thirsty, hungry ect) Don’t make your character too perfect. He is planning on writing a prequel and novellas for the Dragonwand trilogy.
The first novel will be showing the why Markus is leaving home and is introducing you to all of the main characters. It is the grounding story. He would love to see his Dragonwand trilogy be turned into movies. His favorite character is Donna who helps them. She was inspired by one of Dan’s friends. He loves to hear from his readers and you can find him on Facebook and Twitter.
Chayil Champion Chayil Champion is a graduate of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida when he doublemajored in both English and Journalism while competing as a two-sport athlete in Both football and track. After graduating from UM in 1998, Champion received his masters and doctorate degrees in education from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He embarked on a career in education as an English teacher and vice principal in South Florida’s Dade County and West Palm Beach County respectively before moving to Los Angeles, California in 2009.A native from Evanston, Illinois, a suburb that borders Chicago’s north side, Champion developed a love for writing at a young age which carried well into his adult years. After penning his first book in 2009 upon his adult years. After penning his first book in 2009 upon his arrival to Los Angeles, Champion has gone on to write four more books, which include the faith based fiction novels,
Affiliated and Going Pro,both from The Lost Souls literary series. Champion also wrote Exiting The Wilderness and But He Said He Was A Christian, two nonfiction Christian selfhelp books. Champion has two new epic books on the horizon for 2016; Majesties of Canaan, a faith based, Young Adult, super hero novel, and Unsheathed, the third book of The Lost Souls Series. Outside of his love for writing, Champion, runs his own educationconsulting company in Los Angeles where he continues to teach and tutor students In his free time, Champion focuses On fitness as he is a gym rat, frequents movies, and enjoys spending time with his daughter Vanessa.
The Beginning Chayil Champion began writing in 2009, but he was far from a newbie to writing. He had double majored in English and journalism. He says that the writing bug hit him when he moved to California in 2009, that was when he began to have ideas for books that he wanted to write both in fiction and nonfiction. Lost souls Lost souls is a christian fiction series starting with Affiliated. Champion drew inspiration from events that happened in his childhood, including the death of his close friend who was killed by gang violence while they were sophomores in high school. Champion says that his friend was shot multiple times and was part of gang activity but was also a very good guy.
He was just misguided, as he feels most of the young men that join gangs are. Writing affiliated was his way of bringing attention to a growing problem in America. It deals with a 14 year old 8th grader who wants to join a murderous gang and after an accident is brought face to face with Dante's inferno situation. The second novel in Goin’ Pro which deals with a much older character who is a College football player.
Gangs Champion feels that gang violence is an epidemic that not everyone pays attention to. He says that growing up near no
Publishing Champion first selfpublished but after speaking with Braxton Cosby he decided to re-published his novels through CMP. Projects His Lost Souls series is perfect for all ages, all though there is only 2 out currently he is planning on 7 in the series. He is also working on a novel that is coming out this year called Majesties of Canaan, a faith based, Young Adult, superhero novel, and Unsheathed, the third book of The Lost Souls Series.
Tamar Hela Tamar Hela is a writer and editor from California. From the age of ten, many of her teachers encouraged her to pursue a career in writing fiction. Having a knack for language and loving the art of storytelling, she loves using words to create new worlds for readers. When she’s not writing, drinking coffee, or traveling somewhere cool, she can be found curled up with a good book (of course).
Who she is Tamar Hela is an author and Editor of Cosby Media Productions. She is the author of “Spirit Lake” and “The Wrong Fairytale” She has been writing for 21 years but started writing seriously 5 years ago when she had a dream that inspired “Spirit Lake” She originally wrote 7 characters but she decided to cut it down to 6, a lot of he characters have traits of people she knows personally. Spirit Lake Spirit Lake is about a group of California teens who are assigned a school project. They have to research a lake that is surrounded by myth, while at the lake they are pulled into another world where the islanders are cursed to be animals by day and hunt for food for their enemies.
and they become human by night. Hela has a background in teaching english as a second language so the broken english spoken by the islanders was inspired by that. She has published a second novel in the series but is planning four novels and a prequel for the series. Most people would struggled to read others work and not steal from the books but Hela has no problem being an editor and writer, she says that there is nothing special about the way she works or anything it's just the way her brain works. She said as an editor she is able to read novels and see what lines work and what don’t and that sometimes she may see a technic that she likes but shes has never stolen an idea.
She says that for her the hardest part of writing is staying motivated but she is trying to grow in that area. She has been published both ways, Hela suggests that if you selfpublish that you hire freelancers to do the cover and to be editors for you. She also says that no matter how your publishing you should not rush, your story will get out there if that’s what your goal is and make sure what you publish is the highest quality you can create. Because when you publish your not just represent yourself your representing the whole writing community.
Links: website: http: //tamarhela.com twitter: @helagirl facebook: http: //facebook. com/thelabooks
Exclusive: Cosby Media Productions The Start Three years ago cousins Leon and Braxton Cosby were talking over Facebook when Braxton sent a clip of a movie he was in to his cousin. Leon asked “Why would you go out for roles when you’re a Cosby? Why not start up a business. So that is what they did. After that they began researching people and companies that had done similar things. They wanted to build off of Braxton’s talents and gifts of creativity and Leon’s gift for developing and running businesses. They looked at and studied people like Will Smith and Tyler Perry, and before long they decided to open a publishing house and then create a film and tv production company around that.
It was a slow start with a humble beginning but they have managed to publish over 30 novels. That number also includes novels they have reworked and published. According to Leon. “Braxton has a gift for seeing a Diamond in the rough.” He had read a novel by Cris Pasqueralle. Mr Pasqueralle had self published through Kindle online, Braxton felt that it had so much potential that he asked if they could publish it for him. They have continued down this path, and have published a few novels like this. This assisted them as well as the authors.
According to Leon “They aren’t a household name” but they are becoming increasingly popular and well known. Film and TV They already have one TV show on the air and are working on a second show. They’re first film “Protostar” is currently in pre-production, it is the first of many book to movie adaptations that are coming from their production company. Marketing They utilize social media to get their name out to viewers and readers, they are contracted with a promotions company they also have connections with distribution groups
Keep up with CMP at Instagram: @cosbymediaproductions Twitter: @Cosbymediaprod Facebook /cosbymediaproductions