Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: This novel of love, scandal, and death in the Congo appeals to readers who like high-concept action-packed thrillers as well as those who are more interested in romance. It’s not a romance novel per se, but there is a love triangle that adds depth to the plot.

Q: What is the book about?
A: Heart of Diamonds centers around a diamond smuggling scheme uncovered by TV journalist Valerie Grey while she is reporting on the endless civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As she follows the trail of blood diamonds from Africa to an American televangelist in Atlanta and finally to the White House, powerful forces try to stop her from exposing it to the world.

One Amazon reviewer said, “There’s enough sometimes-bloody action and intense suspense to please the most demanding thriller addict.”

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I am a journalist, with credits in dozens of national publications and thirty years in the television business, so while this is a work of fiction, it’s based on accurate research into actual events in this tragic country. I made two trips to Central Africa to research the novel, so many of the scenes have a strong sense of place.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: I hope it is in how accurately I portrayed the people of the Congo. Too often, Africans are made to seem simple, slow, or lazy. But they’re not! They can be as complex as a Greenwich Village artist and as entrepreneurial as a Wall Street hedge fund manager.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: Heart of Diamonds also addresses the major issues facing the Democratic Republic of Congo and much of Africa. More than five million people have died there since 1998, making what’s known as the Second Congo War the deadliest conflict since World War II—and it’s still going on. I write about rape as a weapon of terror, child soldiers, widespread corruption at all levels of government, and the very sad plight of the hundreds of thousands of refugees from the violence that continues to wrack the nation.

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: I wrote this book about my beloved sister because she is a unique woman and led such a fascinating life; I wrote it to appeal to adults and the mainstream market. It’s an epic love story/mystery/thriller that ––judging by reviews on Amazon.com––is appealing to men as well as women and more mature teens … people from all walks of life.

Q: What the book is about?
A: This story is part fiction (faction?), but based on the life of my beautiful older sister and her seven marriages. This is from the publisher’s description: ” … sixty-four years–1933 to 1997–of happiness and tragedy. Always searching for her first love and her childhood, the enchanting child/woman captivates many men along the way, each wealthier than the one before … each sending her scurrying back to her childhood home, 1106 Grand Boulevard, a trail of broken hearts in her wake.”

“1106 Grand Boulevard” is the story of passions that last a lifetime; of family love and betrayal; of spousal abuse and sadistic child abuse; a story of Billie Jean’s desperate search for happiness, self-worth, and maturity … a story of people needing people and people using people.”

Q: Why I am the best person to write this book?
A: Since I’ve always been a writer and am the sister of the main character in the book, I’m the only one who could do justice to her complex character … her exciting life.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?:
A: In most love stories the heroine is married only once; how unrealistic is that in today’s world? As award-winning author Frank Nappi said in his review: “The resiliency of Dravis’s heroine, Billie Jean, is indeed refreshing, wonderfully antithetical to the all too common saccharine, off-putting portrayal of many of fiction’s leading ladies.” Nappi is the author of the new sensational novel, The Legend of Mickey Tussler and Echoes from the Infantry.

Q: Is there anything else to know about this book?
A: The title of 1106 Grand Boulevard is the actual Ohio hometown address of the author and the main characters in the book. The cover photo is a picture of her late father, John D. Barger, at age 90, while the home viewed through the car window is 1106. Dravis took the photo when her father drove her and the book’s heroine past the home while they were visiting from California in the 1980s.

For more about 1106 Grand Boulevard and Dravis’s other novels, go to:
http://bettydravisauthor.googlepages.com/
http://tinyurl.com/2b3rko