"The Golden Road - French Wine or Moonshine?" is funny, funny, funny! The delicious characters, Bernice and Grandy, lead the reader on an amazing adventure in their motor home that they won on a game show. The story is engaging from beginning to end. The dialogue is delightful, funny and realistic. This is a book to lift the spirits of every reader of every age. The relationship of the two women is believable and endearing, inspired by the authors' lifelong friendship.
How the book was written is a story in itself. If Dona Bakker and Tami Riedeman knew they would have this much fun writing together, even while living in two separate states, they would have done it a long time ago. When their first draft was about 75% complete, Dona met Tami in Minnesota. They stayed in a hotel room for three days and worked on their draft. Six months later, Tami flew to California, they locked themselves in again and worked on the final draft. In their pajamas well into the afternoon, they spread their materials across the two beds, Tami with her laptop, Dona with a hard copy and a red pen. They munched on junk food and candy, and laughed until their sides hurt. Dona remarked to Tami, "Either this is really funny, or we are really demented." They agreed it was probably a little of both. Their reward for the long hours of reading and rewrites was a trip to the mall that very conveniently was located right next to the hotel.
Because The Price is Right was mentioned by name in the book, the authors were concerned about lawsuits. So they contacted Bob Barker public relations manager. He requested a copy of the chapter where the characters visit the show. It also included a hilarious encounter with the host, as well as mention of his DJT Foundation for the spaying and neutering of animals. Bob Barker gave the chapter his approval and was sent a copy of the book upon its completion. He was also recognized on the acknowledgments page along with the authors' best wishes on his retirement from the Price is Right.
Inspiration for the story line came from Dona's Uncle Roy, 100 years old, who watched The Price is Right religiously in his rest home. Many of the characters were inspired by residents where he lived, as well as life experiences of both authors.
Instead of wasting time and postage on queary letters, the two friends opted to go the self-pub route, which Dona had already done on her memoir. Stories of being able to wallpaper an entire house with rejection notices haunted them, with thoughts of having to wait years to see their finished product. As it was, it took two years. Because the characters have already been developed, the sequel will be published in half the time.
Then came the marketing. Tami and Dona split all costs down the middle. When the books were delivered, half went to Minnesota and the other half to California. The authors then embarked on book signings and readings throughout their own area of the country.
The first draft of their sequel ("The Golden Road Detour") is nearing completion and promises as much laughter as the first book in the series. The authors are looking forward to holding a book signings together somewhere between California and Minnesota.
Source: http://www.ArticlePros.com/author.php?Dona Bakker
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