Paula Takes a Risk by Randi Sherman

♥~♥~♥~♥~♥ A Fun Read ♥~♥~♥~♥~♥

After thirty-four years of just letting life happen to her, Paula Tenenbaum’s mundane existence was suddenly interrupted. It was bad enough to be fired from her job because she was “average”, but on that same day, her boyfriend also dumped her for being “un-dynamic.” Somehow, someway Paula needed to make a change. But before she could figure out what her first step should be, her scheming neighbor Larry tapped into her silent desperation and dreams and challenged everything that she believed about herself. At first Paula was skeptical and scared, but quickly, she realized that she had nothing to lose, as she donned the persona of the successful, and vibrant individual that she had always dreamed of being, navigating thru business, colorful personalities and the people that she had idolized from afar. Written with sharp humor, and huge personality, Paula Takes A Risk is the hilarious story about the metamorphosis of Paula Tenenbaum, who naively enters into an adventure that changes her life. This is a story certain to strike a chord in anyone who secretly desires change, but is afraid to make it.

~*~*~*~ The Review ~*~~*~*~

I think there’s a little bit of Paula in all of us. Timid, in a rut, comfortable in our life even if we’re not necessarily *happy* with it. And like most of us, Paula needs an outside force to get her moving in a new direction. I guess that’s what losing your job, your longtime boyfriend breaking up with you, and having a manipulative neighbor can do for a person.

Paula gets dragged from her safe-haven of a life and into a world of deception. Not the espionage kind, but the “putting on airs in order to impress people and make them believe you are something that you are not” variety. At the encouragement of her neighbor, Larry, Paula pretends to be an executive vice president of a fictional investment company. But somewhere along the way, a stab of conscious gets to her and the dream world they build comes crashing around their ears.

One thing I really enjoyed about Paula Takes a Risk–other than Randi Sherman’s snarky sense of humor–is that Randi doesn’t overwhelm the reader with the ins and outs of the business world. She definitively catered to her readers with this. Women who  picked up the book for a fun and sassy read, but didn’t necessarily want to learn how to take over Wall Street in three easy steps.

But there was one problem with Paula Takes a Risk. It was just too short!

Seriously though, Paula Takes a Risk is a great read: laugh-out-loud funny while it makes the reader wonder if it’s time for them to take a risk as well.

~*~*~*~ Let’s hear from Randi ~*~*~*~

Patience: I wish I had more.

I chose the self-publishing route because I lack the giselle-like grace and patience to jump through the burning hoops of fire that the publishing world has put into place for new authors.

Submit an outline. No, submit the first seven pages or first chapter, whichever is shorter. What else have you written?  Are you well known? Are you as important as a misbehaved, illiterate rap or reality star or perhaps the drug addled or fourteen year old celebrity who is writing his memoirs – because they are the literary works that are slotted for this year’s print and release. This is what the new author has to look forward to.

I had to be honest with myself. My books are contemporary fiction and may not withstand the multi-year wait or fermentation on a publisher’s desk. To illustrate my point, imagine the difference between:

“Marilyn pulled out her four pound Motorola Brick Analogue Mobile telephone, raised its antennae, and closed her eyes as she tried to recall John’s phone number. As she listened to the third crackling ring, she prayed that he was home. Maybe he would come and help her change the flat tire.”

Verses

“Marilyn pulled out her iPhone and pressed the road assistance icon.”

I was coming upon a milestone birthday and I looked at my life, my choices, and my goals. I wanted to make a change. I looked at the book that I had been working on it off-and-on for years. It was ready. The book Paula Takes a Risk is about takings risks to make dreams come true, and I asked myself: If not now, then when and if not me, well… then who?

I did an online search for self-publishing services. I found that there were plenty to choose from. So, I chose one. The account manager was attentive. A copy editor was assigned and I worked with a designer on the cover. The account manager worked with me on pricing and target audiences and I even purchased a social networking promotional guidance package. The whole process was straight forward and easy. In my dreams, it was only a matter of time before my biggest problem would be managing my schedule around my book signing tour and interviews.  I ignored the truth, which is, I was a client and the publisher simply provided printing and publishing services. The rest was up to me.

Sure when I received the box containing hardcopies of the Paula Takes A Risk, I thought – Wow, here we go! But the work was just beginning. My only regret is that I should have taken the time earlier in the process to learn how to be my own literary agent, publicist and cheer leader. I’m doing that now.

This is what I have learned:

Writing the book is the easy part.

Be realistic. What are you true goals?

Take your time and find the right self-publishing partner

You don’t have to spend a ton on money to self-publish, there all types of choices to make (hardcopies verses on-line book sources)

Learn about social media and how to use it

Learn some patience.

~*~*~*~ Author Bio ~*~*~*~

Randi Sherman, a native Californian, lives in San Francisco. With her tremendous grasp of the obvious, Randi has always had the ability to find humor in the mundane and share the laughter. She dares to examine and discuss everyday foibles, which obliges people to stop taking themselves too seriously.
Developing characters and writing have been a part of Randi’s life since she was a teenager, umm-mmum-mumm years ago. She spent time performing stand-up comedy at Los Angeles club amateur nights and studied Improvisation in the Bay Area. Realizing that she preferred having an income, living indoors and eating regularly, she reluctantly put her dreams on hold and entered the corporate world, yet never left behind her sense of humor and creative storytelling ability, skills which were not always appreciated during budget and strategy meetings.
Now, after living indoors for a while and eating, albeit too much, her book, Paula Takes a Risk is here. Randi’s unique wit, writing style and candor will surely make the reader sit up, stand up, roll over or assume an interested leaning position and take notice.
Randi would never claim to have a genius IQ, the body of a super model or always have the right thing to wear. However, she can spell the words, “smart” and “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” Randi maintains a trim, well-toned body that is cleverly concealed beneath twenty pounds of soft protective layering and she has the appetite of a bird. (By “bird” I mean vulture.) Her entire wardrobe consists of black, black and varying degrees of black, except for those items that are covered with lint because she put them through the wash with a tissue.
Things that Randi cannot live without: people to laugh with, her car horn, a gym membership where there are chubby women who break into a sweat while putting on a jog bra, wine, waist capes, and her partner, Carol.
Randi does not like mean-spirited people, liver, left-overs, communal dressing rooms, tight underwear, and people who point.
Randi is five-foot-seven.

~*~*~*~ Connect with Paula & Randi ~*~*~*~

paulatakesarisk@gmail.com

http://paulatakesarisk.com

http://randimsherman.blogspot.com/

~*~*~*~ Buy the Book ~*~*~*~

http://www.friesenpress.com/bookstore/title/119734000004536283/Randi-M.-Sherman-Paula-Takes-a-Risk

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=paula+takes+a+risk

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/paula-takes-a-risk-randi-m-sherman/1108568694

~*~*~*~ Randi on Tour ~*~*~*~

http://www.clpblogtours.com/2012/06/paula-takes-risk-by-randi-m-sherman.html

Thanks to Paula and Randi for visiting today. And thanks to you for joining us!

Lots of <3–Amie

Advertisement