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I am author of 8 books, 6 still in print. I rev people up with laughter and enthusiasm as a speaker because they know I am sincere when I say, "You can have anything you want (just not everything you want) and I can prove it. You just need to learn how to REALLY make powerful decisions and REALLY solve problems. I have never met a problem I could not solve, including yours. 

Doctor Zest is my trademarked (yes, really) name and website, DoctorZest.com. On the other side of my life I am a professor of teachers of at-risk kids. I live on the beach on Marco Island and on a river bank in the woods of Wisconsin. Here in Florida I have a small Mediations business just to stay involved with my psychotherapist self. (I formerly had my own practice for ten years in Ohio.)

Thank you Anthony for answering some questions for us!  To start, please tell us about the latest project you've worked on.

I have been building three social media vehicles to get out the message of how to deal with life effectively. Mostly, lately, it has been about "stress" in one form or another: Website: www.DoctorZest.com Twitter: twitter.com/DoctorZest  Blog  DoctorZest.blogspot.com. I have written and loaded over 25 articles up to the website recently to help people deal with Stress, Lack of Fulfillment, Grief, and  Problem-Solving. I give it away and great things come back to me. (Oh, sure you can buy my books, but believe me it is not about that. It is the satisfaction I get, e.g., the lady who emailed me a month ago. She found Living a Stress Free Life in a New Jersey library, and took time to write and thank me for changing her life. You can't beat that for a reward.

Have you received any awards for your work?

I actually had an award named after me, THEN given to me - does that count? Every year in Wisconsin they give out an award to the most outstanding at-risk child advocate in the state. The Wisconsin Chapter of the National At-Risk Education Network has created this. I had no idea it was coming as the year I received it was the first year it was awarded. They have titled it The Anthony Dallmann-Jones Award. I think they should have named it something like the Flying Eagle Award - something you could remember AND spell. I think this has been going on for over three years.

Do you also do speaking engagements, or seminars?

Oh, my yes. I will be speaking in Moscow on October 2 and 3rd as the featured speaker at a large Russian Education Conference. In the last two years I have done workshops in Boston, St. Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Ft. Myers Florida, and Albany NY.

How has your education, profession or background helped you in your writing career? Or conversely, how has you writing success helped you in your  profession?

It is both. I learn a lot from researching my topics, but mostly I have the advantage of researching humans personally as I am a professor of educational psychology at Marian University. and get to interview my students (they are all teachers working on their Master's Degree in Differentiated Instruction for At-risk Learners (DIAL). They are a rich source of information from not only themselves but all the kids they themselves research. So, I sit at the top of an "information pyramid" in many respects. This helped launch SHADOW CHILDREN ~Understanding Education's #1 Issue, my last book.

Similarly, when I was a psychotherapist I learned an incredible amount from my clients, and I had over 30 active clients every week...so I was really learning a lot. This led me to my first self-help book, The Phoenix Flight Manual: Rising Above an Ordinary Existence and then Primary Domino Thinking: Creating the Life You Want and then Living a Stress Free Life .

The most fun was a totally unexpected success: CRABAPPLE ~ A True Story of Hope & Miracles - a small book about the magical ninth year of boys' development. It is autobiographical about Bravery vs. Cowardice and Rejection vs. Affirmation. I am writing a sequel today.

Is there any aspect to your profession that gets you in touch with your readers directly?

Yes, my professor's role.

What will your next project be?

I am attempting to form the International Council for At-Risk Education (ICARE) which is an outgrowth of the non-profit I direct: The National At-Risk Education Network, which has over 49,000 educators on our email list.

Who inspires you on a personal or business level?

Brad Warner - author of HARDCORE ZEN and SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN! a wonderful face forward look at the value of zazen meditation.

What type of work is the most rewarding or satisfying for you?

I love writing in the mornings...like this ;-)

What can you recommend for writers who are just getting started and are trying to make a name for themselves?

Not very exciting: LEARN! Take classes on creative writing. Here in Naples the local community colleges offer night courses every 7 weeks. There are classes on writing fiction, non-fiction both. I took one just to keep my hand in, and to be with other writers. It turned out my teacher Lisa Wrobley is a successful writer and we have become friends.

How did you get started as a writer?

This makes me laugh. I wrote, directed and starred in the 7th grade play and the 8th grade play (Each of 8 homerooms were responsible for a monthly assembly. Our class chose to let me write and direct the play. I wrote myself in as the lead. The applause was addictive.)

Which is your favorite book/work published? Is there a favorite?

CRABAPPLE is a miracle. I had published a book every year for three straight years. I was taking a break and had made a deliberate decision not to write a book for a while. I was sitting under a palapa on the beach in Naples Florida and had brought my lap top. I could barely even see the LCD screen it was so bright despite being in the shade. I saw some kid on the beach doing something (don't remember what) and it took me back to funny moment in the 4th grade, then another and another popped up, so I fired up the laptop and started writing them down, just to record them.

Well, fairly soon my mind was flooded with funny things that happened that year and i was typing so fast (and thank god my fingers were on the right keys because I couldn't see the screen. I got to laughing so hard that tears were rolling down my face as I tripped back memory lane. People walking by must have thought, "Oh, that poor man...so mentally deranged. It is nice someone brought him outside so he could get some fresh air."

Before the week was out, I had 65 pages. Then my ed. psych. background kicked in and I remembered my own class where I talked about the 9 year-old brain, how unique that year is in a kid's development and how wild kids can get then - testing the dawning that they are NOT invincible. So, I finished it out and self-published it in time for the holdidays as it is the perfect gift for the guy who has everything. EVERY guy can remember his 9th year...and all the Great Projects they had going. Don't believe me? Ask the next three guys what they remember about their 9th year. "Were you involved in any "projects" as a 9 year-old?" Then sit back and take notes. hahaha

SHADOW CHILDREN is close to my heart as it is about saving all the kids slipping through the cracks, and what schools could do that they are not doing. It is almost sold out, my publisher tells me. (RLDPublications.com)

LIVING A STRESS FREE LIFE sold out TWICE in the top 20 airports in the country. If I had had a better distributor I think that book would have been a best-seller. I get letters (now emails) almsot every week from someone grateful for it. (Wanting to know if I take private patients in some cases. Which I do not.) And it is the book I am using a lot of material from on the DoctorZest.com site now.

What does a typical work day look like for you?

6-9 writing alone every day. Then check on my online students for a couple of hours. Do some work with my non-profit, NAREN. (www.NAREN.info) -- the work for at-risk kids and their teachers never ends.
 
I spend a LOT of time right here--in front of this screen. I am always researching the web on various topics. AND, as I said, I am currently trying to get this social media thing down.

Who is your favorite writer/author?

Lee Child, John Sandford - I love heroic cops' stories. On TV nothing better than BBC mysteries such as Foyle's War and Morse and Midsomer Murders

Finally, a most important question: what was the last song you sang out loud when you were by yourself?  :)

Mama Mia. I cannot get it OUT OF MY HEAD. Thanks a lot for reminding me! ;-)

Thank you Anthony for a fun interview!  We wish you great success with your new non-profit project!