Tag: #author

HumorOutcasts Interview – Deborah Fezelle “The Time of Our Lives”

by Billy Dees, posted in Books, Podcast

“The Time of Our Lives”

by Deborah Fezelle

In this book, Deborah Fezelle takes the reader inside the famous Juilliard School, down the halls of the Drama Division, and into the classrooms with her classmates.

Set in New York City during the early ’70s, Deborah describes life both inside and outside of Juilliard. The backdrop is the Upper West Side, the Village, and the Times Square of that era.

During this interview Deborah Fezelle elaborates about her experiences described in the book. She expresses what it was like to experience New York for the first time as a young drama student during an incredible transformative period of her life.

Deborah Fezelle

For those who trained at Juilliard, this book is a trip down Memory Lane. For those who dream of becoming an actor, it’s a road map for what it takes to survive in a business where “rejection is the norm and stability is a dream.”

This interview is courtesy of HumorOutcasts.com and is available on your favorite podcasting platform listed under the Billy Dees Podcast. For your convenience, the episode is below on Spotify.

You can find Deborah Fezelle on

X (Twitter)

Special thanks to Donna Cavanagh and Shorehouse Books.

Sample audio:

The full podcast on Spotify:

“Growth : A Mother, Her Son, and the Brain Tumor They Survived” by Karen DeBonis

by Billy Dees, posted in Books, Media, Podcast

Can a woman who never learned to stand up for herself find the courage to speak up for her son?

Karen is a happily married, slightly frazzled mother of two when her eight-year-old son, Matthew, develops a strange eye-rolling tic. Matthew’s tics quickly multiply. He becomes clumsy and lethargic, a gifted program dropout.

Karen tries to get her husband and their pediatrician to acknowledge what’s happening, but they dismiss her concerns. As a people-pleaser, Karen lacks the skills to assert herself and stifles the growing dread in her heart. For three years, Matthew steadily deteriorates while Karen questions if she has the fortitude required of motherhood. Finally, desperation breaks through her fear of conflict, and she demands answers, only to be horrified by the truth.

Karen DeBonis

Matthew has a brain tumor.

A delicate surgery and promise of complete recovery convince Karen her battle is over. But she is wrong. The ensuing years launch her on a journey of perseverance and personal growth she never imagined, teaching Karen just how weak she is–and then exactly how strong.

On this episode Karen shares her journey with her son’s health battle and why she decided to chronicle the story in her book.

More about the author here at KarenDeBonis.com

Jessica Guerrieri Talks Writing, Querying, and Maintaining Sobriety

by Billy Dees, posted in Books, Media, Podcast
Jessica Guerrieri

Jessica Guerrieri is a true advocate for sobriety and the recovery community. It was a pleasure to have her on as a guest on the podcast.

Jessica is a mom to three fierce, young daughters and has spent the past decade as an advocate for addiction recovery.

Jessica enjoys competing in Spartan Races all over California and in May of 2023 she celebrated a decade of sobriety.

Follow Jessica on Twitter!

Jessica has a BA in English from UC Davis with an emphasis in creative writing. Her articles have been published on Scary Mommy, Yahoo Life, Mom.com, BluntMoms, Filter Free Parents, and Sonoma Family Life and Mendo Lake Family Life magazines.

“Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” is book (being queried now) about an alcoholic mother’s obsession with her mother-in-law’s perfectionism which ultimately forces her to reexamine the enemy in the mirror.

During the interview Jessica shares her personal journey of recovery into sobriety. She also shares the trials and tribulations of being an author going through the query process of getting published.

Jessica’s website is www.jessicaguerrieri.net

You can find her on Twitter and IG @witandspitup

The full podcast is available here:

“Making It Home – Life Lessons from a Season of Little League” By Teresa Strasser

by Billy Dees, posted in Books, Media, Podcast

Teresa Strasser is an Emmy-winning writer for her work at Comedy Central and Emmy-nominated television host regarding her talents at TLC.

Teresa has been a contributor to the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, the Arizona Republic, The Jewish Journal, HuffPost, and The Today Show. Her first-person essays have garnered three Los Angeles Press Club Awards, including Columnist of the Year. Teresa has appeared on The View, CNN, Good Morning America, The Talk, and Dr. Phil.

Radio and podcast audiences know Teresa Strasser as Adam Carolla’s co-host.

Media Personality/Author Teresa Strasser

Her first memoir, “Exploiting My Baby: Because It’s Exploiting Me” was a Los Angeles Times bestseller and optioned by ABC.

On this episode Teresa is talking about her book, “Making It Home – Life Lessons from a Season of Little League.”

After the deaths of her brother and mother just months apart, Teresa explains how baseball helped with her grief and to renew a relationship with her father. Even for readers who are not necessarily big baseball fans, the book is an excellent manual for navigating their way through loss.

The book is available as of June 6, 2023 wherever you buy books.

Teresa’s website TeresaStrasser.com

Teresa Strasser on Twitter @teresastrasser

Author Kimber Silver “Broken Rhodes” Talks About Writing and Story Development

by Billy Dees, posted in Books, Media, Podcast

Our guest on this episode is Kimber Silver, the author of “Broken Rhodes,” published August 16th, 2022.

Kimber Silver

During this interview Kimber discusses her early life and how it impacted her writing, as well as some of her writing techniques. Kimber is a believer in sticking with a schedule to maintain progress as a writer.

You can visit Kimber’s website for short stories, book reviews, interviews, and photos here KimberSilver.com.

The Billy Dees Podcast is available on your favorite podcast platform. For your convenience the episode is below.

Melissa M. Monroe “Mom’s Search for Meaning: Grief and Growth After Child Loss”

by Billy Dees, posted in Books, Podcast

This podcast contains content that some viewers may find triggering.

Our guest on this episode is Melissa M. Monroe, author of, “Mom’s Search for Meaning: Grief and Growth After Child Loss.”

Paralyzed by guilt, grief, and PTSD after her 2-year-old daughter Alice died in her sleep of unknown causes, Melissa Monroe was determined not to become a victim in the story of her life. While taking the advice she had given to many grief and trauma patients throughout the years, hoping she could create a meaningful life without closure, she took notes throughout her healing process.

Melissa M. Monroe

Struggling to advance her timeline beyond that of her daughter’s – and still eager to be the keeper of Alice’s stories – Melissa began to write about Alice’s life and the impact of her death. She became her own lab rat, trying various approaches to healing with the hope that her experience might be helpful to others stuck in a trauma time loop.

During this interview Melissa talks about her experience with child loss, her career, and the process of writing.

You can find out more about her at MelissaMarieMonroe.com.

You can find the Billy Dees Podcast on your favorite podcast platform. The audio podcast and the videocast are both below.

Christian Feraria – The Mediocre Student’s Guide to Graduating College

by Billy Dees, posted in Books, Media, Podcast

Christian Feraria is an author, publicist, public speaker, and YouTuber! His screen name is qtc_christian on various platforms including YouTube.

Christian’s book, “The Mediocre Student’s Guide to Graduating College,” is a book for struggling or unmotivated students who wish to navigate college successfully. Growing up, Christian’s sisters were both stellar students who went to elite colleges and medical school. Christian felt mediocre in comparison to them having been, at times, a more insecure student academically.

Shortly after graduating college, Christian was inspired by the Toni Morison quote, “Write the book you would want to read.” After hearing the quote, Christian immediately thought of a book for mediocre students because that’s the book he would have killed for!

Christian Feraria

Throughout his book, Christian elaborates on how to succeed academically and socially on a college campus. He writes about picking professors and the presence of drugs, sex, etc.

Since his book was released, Christian Feraria has been doing public speaking at schools to get struggling students to believe in themselves. He also has been doing interviews like this one, not only to promote his book but to also raise awareness that the challenges many of us face in school are not that unique.

You can find the full interview wherever you find podcasts. For your convenience you can listen below.