Meet the Author
Harold Hovel is a retired scientist whose wide-ranging interests in science, history, animals, and storytelling have shaped an eclectic writing career. He has written six other books, including a textbook on solar energy and two previous books with Outskirts Press: a fiction novel about fighting pirates in the seventeenth century and a nonfiction book exploring how helping domestic and wild animals ultimately benefits people. Hovel lives in Katonah, New York, with his wife, Andrea, and a host of cats and dogs.

About the Book
Conversations with Monsters is an imaginative fantasy adventure that asks an irresistible question: if you could speak directly with the monsters of fiction and the monsters of history, what would you ask them? Dr. Holmes, the story’s curious and fearless hero, gets that chance. His travels bring him face-to-face with Dracula, Frankenstein’s creation, Medusa, a werewolf, ancient Egyptian mummies, a witch, and the Grim Reaper. But the book expands the idea of a “monster” beyond the supernatural as Holmes descends into Hades to confront notorious historical figures including Leopold II, Stalin, and Hitler. Along the way, he also enjoys more congenial conversations with Napoleon Bonaparte, Elizabeth I, Henry VIII and his wives, Blackbeard, Isaac Newton, Galileo, and Albert Einstein.

The result is a playful blend of fantasy, history, science, adventure, and humor. Some encounters lead to surprising transformations: Dracula becomes a librarian, Frankenstein’s creation finds a new path in public life, werewolves become crime fighters, and Medusa is given a chance at an ordinary life. Other figures, particularly history’s most brutal tyrants, receive a far less forgiving examination.

Inspiration Behind the Book
The inspiration behind the story is built directly into Dr. Holmes’s own background. A retired scientist with a lifelong fascination for how things work, Holmes also spent years captivated by horror films and the legends behind vampires, werewolves, witches, ghosts, and other frightening figures. Eventually, those familiar monsters stopped being frightening and became almost comic, but the curiosity remained: where did these stories come from, and why did people continue to believe them?

That curiosity becomes the engine of the novel. What begins with a visit to Dracula’s castle in Transylvania grows into a globe-spanning series of encounters with mythology, folklore, history, and science. Holmes’s ability to question the dead opens an even larger possibility: instead of relying only on history books, what if he could ask famous people themselves what happened, why they acted as they did, or how they made their discoveries?

Why Readers Love It
Readers who enjoy genre-bending stories will find plenty to explore in Conversations with Monsters. The book moves easily from comic exchanges with legendary creatures to adventures in Hades, historical debates, and conversations about scientific discovery. Holmes approaches even the strangest situations with the mind of a scientist, often testing supernatural claims with logic while remaining open to the extraordinary things happening around him.

The conversations also give the book its distinctive appeal. Familiar characters are reimagined in unexpected ways, while historical figures are questioned about their choices, achievements, and legacies. That combination allows the story to be funny, adventurous, educational, and thought-provoking at the same time, with the word “monster” taking on very different meanings depending on whom Holmes encounters.

Who Should Read It
Conversations with Monsters will appeal to readers who enjoy fantasy with a strong dose of history, science, mythology, and humor. Fans of classic monsters such as Dracula, Frankenstein, Medusa, werewolves, witches, and mummies will enjoy seeing familiar figures placed in completely new situations.

It is also a natural fit for readers fascinated by history’s larger-than-life personalities. Holmes’s encounters range from kings, queens, pirates, and military leaders to scientists and dictators, creating a story that continually shifts between imaginative adventure and conversations about real events, ideas, and discoveries.

Looking Ahead
Conversations with Monsters turns an unusual premise into a broad exploration of curiosity, redemption, responsibility, and the difference between reputation and reality. Some supposed monsters prove capable of change or reveal themselves to be victims of legend and circumstance. Others demonstrate that the most frightening monsters may be entirely human.

Through Dr. Holmes’s travels, Harold Hovel invites readers to look again at stories they think they know, ask questions of the past, and imagine what might happen if history, mythology, science, and fantasy could all sit down for a conversation.

Where to Find It
Conversations with Monsters by Harold Hovel is a fantasy novel from Outskirts Press. Readers looking for an unconventional journey through classic horror, mythology, science, and history can follow Dr. Holmes from Dracula’s castle to the Underworld and beyond.

For anyone who has ever wondered what they would say if given the chance to question a legendary monster, a notorious ruler, or one of history’s greatest scientific minds, Conversations with Monsters offers an imaginative answer.

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How to Self-Publish a Visual Memoir

National Memoir Writing Month gives authors a reason to return to the experiences, family stories, recipes, photographs, and turning points they have been meaning to preserve. A memoir does not need to cover an entire life. It needs a clear focus, an honest narrative voice, and a structure that helps readers understand why these particular memories belong together.

For some projects, words alone are not the whole story. Family photographs, documents, artwork, maps, and recipes can provide texture and evidence. Cookbooks with personal essays can also function as culinary memoirs, preserving both the food and the people, places, and traditions connected to it. A full-color publishing plan can help those visual elements carry their intended meaning.

Choose the Story the Memoir Will Tell
A life contains too much material for one book. Begin with a central question, period, relationship, place, or transformation. A focused memoir may explore immigration, caregiving, military service, recovery, creative work, a family business, or the role of food across generations. The theme helps the author select scenes and resist the urge to include every remembered event.

Write a short statement that explains what changed over the course of the book. Then list the scenes that best show that change. Memoir becomes compelling when readers experience events through specific moments rather than receiving only a summary of what happened.

Write Memory With Care
Memory is personal and incomplete. Keep notes about what you remember directly, what you learned from records or other people, and what remains uncertain. Verify dates, locations, spellings, and public facts when possible. If accounts differ, the memoir can acknowledge that difference instead of presenting an uncertain detail as settled fact.

Writing about living people requires judgment. Consider privacy, relevance, and the potential effect of sensitive disclosures. Change identifying details only with care and never in a way that makes the narrative misleading. For complex legal or privacy questions, seek qualified advice before publication.

Use Images to Add Meaning
Every visual should earn its place. A photograph may reveal a relationship, a recipe card may preserve a relative’s handwriting, and a map may help readers follow a journey. Captions should identify people, place, date, and significance when that information is known. Avoid inserting a large group of images without explaining how they connect to the narrative.

Gather the best available originals and scan them at appropriate resolution. Confirm who owns each image and obtain permission where needed. Organize files with clear names that correspond to chapters or captions. This preparation reduces errors during design and helps the layout team create a consistent visual rhythm.

Treat a Cookbook as a Story Collection
A memoir cookbook can preserve more than instructions. Headnotes can explain who made a dish, when it appeared, how ingredients changed across places or generations, and what the recipe means to the family. These short narratives give readers a reason to linger and make the collection distinct from a general recipe book.
Test recipes as carefully as you revise prose. Standardize measurements, temperatures, timing, yields, and ingredient order. Ask another person to cook from the written instructions without verbal help. Their questions will reveal gaps that familiarity can hide.

Consider a Full-Color One Click Package
Photo-rich memoirs and cookbooks require close coordination among editing, image preparation, cover design, interior layout, printing, and marketing. Authors who want those services organized within one path can explore Outskirts Press publishing and marketing suites for visually rich adult books.

The One Click full-color publishing options for cookbooks and memoirs are built around books in which color presentation is an important part of the reading experience. Review the current suite details, available formats, image requirements, and included support with a publishing consultant so the package matches the scope of your project.

Before production begins, prepare a complete manuscript and a working image list. Note where visuals are essential, where the designer has flexibility, and which captions are final. A well-organized submission allows the professional team to focus on presentation instead of chasing missing pieces.

Preserve a Story Readers Can Enter
Use National Memoir Writing Month to establish a steady practice rather than demand a finished book in a few weeks. Set a manageable schedule for drafting scenes, verifying details, interviewing relatives, testing recipes, or organizing images. Consistent progress gives the story room to deepen.

A professionally prepared memoir or cookbook can strengthen connections among generations and introduce a personal history to readers who have never met the people on its pages. With a focused narrative, careful documentation, and a publishing format suited to the material, independent authors can preserve memory in a book designed to last.

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Connect with a Publishing Consultant today to learn how Outskirts Press can help YOU publish YOUR masterpiece:

• Call 1-888-672-6657
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• Schedule a free consultation 

Outskirts Press stands behind our book printing and design services with the best 100% satisfaction guarantee in the self-publishing industry. Start publishing today.

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National Young Readers Week draws attention to a simple but important goal: helping children build a lasting relationship with books. Independent authors contribute to that goal when they create stories and informational books that respect young readers, reflect their curiosity, and give them a reason to keep turning pages.

Writing for children is not a reduced version of writing for adults. Young readers notice when a story talks down to them, rushes its emotional logic, or uses a lesson as a substitute for a satisfying reading experience. Authors can support literacy most effectively by creating books that are clear, engaging, age-appropriate, and rewarding to revisit.

Write for a Defined Reading Stage
A child’s age and reading stage influence nearly every creative decision. Picture books depend heavily on read-aloud rhythm and visual storytelling. Early readers need controlled complexity and supportive repetition. Chapter books offer more independence while maintaining accessible plots, and middle-grade books can explore deeper themes through the perspective of young characters.

Choose an age range before final revision and study recently published books for that audience. Notice typical word counts, chapter lengths, vocabulary, page design, and the relationship between text and images. These observations should guide the manuscript without forcing every book into the same mold.

Create Momentum Without Losing Clarity
Young readers need a clear reason to continue. Establish the central character, desire, question, or problem early, then let each scene create a meaningful next step. Explanations should arrive when the reader needs them. Long introductions and repeated background information can weaken curiosity before the story gains momentum.

Clarity does not require flat language. Specific verbs, concrete details, humor, surprise, and emotional honesty make a book vivid. Read passages aloud and listen for sentences that feel difficult to say, scenes that stall, or dialogue that sounds more like an adult explaining a lesson than a child responding to the moment.

Invite Children to See Themselves and Others
Books can affirm a child’s familiar world and open a window onto lives beyond it. Thoughtful characters have interests, flaws, relationships, and agency. They should not exist only to represent a message. When writing outside your own experience, research carefully, seek informed feedback, and revise details that feel generalized or unearned.

Representation also includes the range of family structures, abilities, communities, interests, and ways children learn. Specificity makes a story believable. It can help a reader feel recognized while giving another reader a respectful introduction to a different experience.

Support the Adults Who Connect Books With Children
Children often discover books through parents, caregivers, teachers, librarians, and booksellers. Make it easy for those adults to understand the book’s audience and value. A clear description should identify the age range, subject, tone, and reading experience without making promises the book cannot support.

Helpful supplemental materials can extend the relationship. A short discussion guide, activity page, classroom prompt, pronunciation guide, or list of related resources may give adults a practical way to use the book. Keep these materials focused and connected to the actual story rather than turning them into a generic worksheet.

Plan Meaningful Young Reader Outreach
Author visits and read-aloud events work best when they are interactive and suited to the group’s attention span. Prepare a brief introduction, a strong excerpt, and one or two questions that invite participation. For older children, discuss a writing decision, research discovery, or revision challenge. This shows that books are made through choices and persistence.

When sharing photos or comments from events, protect children’s privacy and follow the host organization’s policies. Build relationships with schools and libraries by being reliable, prepared, and clear about what you can offer. A good event should serve the young readers first; promotion follows naturally when the experience is worthwhile.

Build a Catalog Readers Can Grow With
National Young Readers Week can prompt authors to think beyond a single launch. Consider how future books might serve the same age group, continue a series, explore related subjects, or meet readers at a later stage. Consistent quality and audience focus make it easier for families and educators to recommend an author’s work.

A lifelong reader may begin with one memorable book at the right moment. By writing with respect, producing the book professionally, and creating thoughtful ways for adults and children to engage with it, independent authors can strengthen reader relationships that last far beyond this week.

Outskirts Press 
Where gratitude meets great publishing. 

Connect with a Publishing Consultant today to learn how Outskirts Press can help YOU publish YOUR masterpiece:

• Call 1-888-672-6657
• Live Chat at OutskirtsPress.com
• Schedule a free consultation 

Outskirts Press stands behind our book printing and design services with the best 100% satisfaction guarantee in the self-publishing industry. Start publishing today.

^{Click above to watch the video. New authors, click here for your free publishing kit.}