Bookpleasures.com welcomes as our guest Barbara Terry, America's favorite auto expert and co-author with Beth Ann Stifflemire of The Spectacular World of Waldorf, Children’s Book Series that will shortly be released.

Barbara is one of the most sought-after Auto Experts, Columnists, Producers, Show Hosts, Authors and Off Road Racers in Television, Print and Radio.

She is a marketing, media, product integration and PR expert and has over 15 years in business ownership and management experience. She has appeared on the cover of Kiplinger's Magazine, has been featured in over 100 publications and has made more than 2000 Television and Radio appearances since 2006 such as: Fox Sports, The CBS Early Show, Inside Edition, NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, The Tony Danza Show, CNN, Maxim Radio, Oprah Radio, ESPN Radio, ivillage, SPEEDtv.com among a long list of others.

Barbara also wrote a weekly auto advice column for The Houston Chronicle for 6 years, has written for Examiner.com, First30Days.com, motorolaroadtrips.com, Men’s Fitness Magazine, New York Daily News and wrote a chapter in The Experts Guide.

Since 2006 Barbara has served as the Spokesperson/Representative/Host for numerous companies such as Ford Motor Company, eBay Motors, General Motors, Goodyear, Pennzoil, Sylvania, Quaker State, Fix A Flat, FRAM, Prestone, Gillette, Volkswagen, Shell Oil, Liquid Wrench, Gunk, RainX, Duracell, GPS Protected, American Airlines, General Tire & Turtle Wax.

She has served as Television & Internet host for Turtle Wax, About.com, US Auto Parts, AutoMD.com and Gillette. Barbara has also hosted live events for American Airlines, Volkswagen, Goodyear and was Emcee for GM Style Dubai Event in Dubai for General Motors.

Barbara owns and operates her own off road race team “Barbara Terry Racing” where her and her team participate in Off Road Races. She solidifies all sponsorship funds and media.

She is the author of a hit book that hit book stores in August 2010 that features 40 Celebrity Athletes and their amazing car history…”How Athletes Roll.”

Barbara has interviewed hundreds of A-list celebrities and professional athletes such as Sugar Ray Leonard, Rusty Wallace, Arnold Palmer, Michael Strahan and Richard Marx to list a few.

Co-author, Beth Ann Stifflemire is a published fiction author ranging from Romance to Children's genres. A Communications Graduate of Texas A&M, Beth Ann has been featured in the Austin American Statesman, Monster.com, Texas Wine Trail, Texas A&M University Communications Department Feature, Georgetown View Magazine, Hill Country News, Lone Star Literary Life and Nerd Girl Books and more.

Norm: Good day Barbara and thanks for participating in our interview.

How did you get to be where you are in your life today?

Barbara: Growing up in a very small town in Texas with 6 older brothers and a step-dad that taught all of us crazy work ethic when we were so very young. I work 7 days a week, always have and more than likely…always will.

Norm: What do you consider to be your greatest success (or successes) so far in your careers and what has been your greatest challenge (professionally) that you’ve overcome in getting to where you’re at today?

Barbara: Being a woman in a man’s world, you have to work twice as hard and be twice as talented in order to achieve success.

Norm: How did you become interested in autos and what made you want to become an expert in autos?

Barbara: I was a total tomboy growing up as my brothers would only pay attention to me if I were doing what they were doing, well of course, they paid attention when I cooked for them! I have always been fascinated with cars, trucks…anything with a motor. I was so very fortunate to have been an Automotive Spokesperson for over 22 companies and all of the amazing opportunities and open doors that were open to me. 

Norm: Why did you want to form your own publishing company, Waldorf Publishing and could you tell our readers something about the company?

Barbara: I was a bit worn-out from all of the traveling that was involved with my TV and Entertainment industry career. I was rarely at home to spend time with my Yellow Labrador so starting Waldorf Publishing was perfect, then of course, I named the company after my Yellow Labrador…Waldorf.

Norm: With all of your careers, how do you find or make time to write? As a follow up, do you write more by logic or intuition, or some combination of the two? Summarize your writing process.

Barbara/Beth: You do what you can do when you can do it. And not to mention work at ALL hours. I think you have to incorporate a little of both intuition and logic when writing, especially when it's non-fiction. You want to be precise and 100% accurate yet allow your own creativity to flow. There is a ying-yang concept to it all. Writing begins in an outline form so you have a beginning to start from and an end to get to. Then research, followed by letting the creative/writing process evolve. You have to also be open to change, because you may change a lot along the way from what you originally intended.

Norm: How did you become involved with the subject or theme of The Spectacular World of Waldorf, Children’s Book Series? As a follow up, what were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?

Barbara and Beth Ann: With both Authors being lovers of Labrador's it felt like a natural character to create something around. Not to mention we already have a great brand with Waldorf Publishing behind it, so we thought: why not expand on it. The desire was to take a lovable character and utilize it for educational purposes. Educational material is always desired in the book world. Not to mention with Beth having 2 young children of her own, she sees the necessity for easy to read, fun educational material for children. The ultimate goal was to bring something to the market that people will fall in love with. We feel this has been achieved right out of the gate, when at BEA (Book Expo America), we had so many educators, librarians, parents and book buyers flock to it and say how much they work seeking this type of educational/literary material.

Norm: Could you tell our readers a little about the series?

Barbara: The Spectacular World of Waldorf allows children to discover new places in the USA and worldwide through humorous and intriguing travels for the picture book age reader. Bright-detailed illustrations combined with the attention savvy stories allow parents, educators and more to introduce the world to small children in a format while grabbing their attention. This comical Labrador draws children into his whimsical adventures in search of his lost reading spectacles. The poor pup has a habit of misplacing them but children will be enticed into his many travels to help silly Mr. Waldorf locate them as he discovers new friends and places in a format that small children will easily recollect and adore. 

Norm: What was the most difficult part of writing the series and did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

Barbara: Two things were slightly difficult when writing this series. 1: Making sure we are as factual as possible while having fun with the places Mr. Waldorf explores. 2: Making sure the illustrations are fun and in line with the material.

Norm: Where can our readers find out more about you and The Spectacular World of Waldorf, Children’s Book Series?

Barbara: You can learn more about this Children’s book series and all other Waldorf Publishing books at:

Waldorf Publishing

Amazon.com

Twitter: @WaldorfSeries

Author Beth Ann Stifflemire

Norm: What do your plans for future projects include?

Barbara: We have many more books that will be hitting the market for years to come. We plan on making this series a memorable one that children will spot in a store, recognize and love. There is an enormous world and thousands of places to teach children about...this is only the beginning. We also have a total of 28 books hitting the market this year and over 30 already slated for 2017 that include all genres from Non-Fiction, Thriller, Business Books, Celebrity Books, Young Adult, Biographies and the list goes on.

Norm: What advice do you have for your readers?

Barbara: If you have a dream do not let anyone try to deter you from your passion and desires. Work hard and it will pay off! And of course never forget to consume large amounts of chocolate!

Norm: Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors

Barbara: Thanks very much for the opportunity!