2019-20   Comments by Omasso So, Biochemist for medical research firm based in Bethesda, Maryland and Nairobi, Kenya.

Lilian, in the end we are going to have a bestseller on the shelves full of my memories and aspirations. This is great… of the options I had to work with, you are the best with each passing interaction: this email one of them.

When a professional writes with you, people say ghost writer, but I prefer to call them angel writers. Honestly, why ghost? and not angel!

After going through and through your work, for my book…  I must admit: you have worked yourself out to do a good piece; more importantly, helped me tell my story.

I think we accept the job as is, save for slight context addition and my inferences to those events of my life. I will in a week share with you what I will have done for your professional touch. Remember, I am not writing a new piece; all I am doing is to put myself right into the great piece you have so far done.

Bottom line: for now I think we assemble our writing artillery for chapter two.  I appreciate how working with you, your ideas have just opened up my mind and heart so wide into this work; I highly appreciate.

Sorry for pumping too much information at one go. But, I guess that is all what writing is😝😝.  Thanks for working tirelessly through this Christmas period. Many years from now, my great-grandchildren may just look for to say: thank you, for introducing this old man (me) to them in style. Thank you Lilian.

2019   Comments by Emmanuel Musa, Global Manager for a solar products company; Phoenix, Arizona.

Lilian, I feel really good proceeding with you. You have been the most responsive out of the few I reached out to on this, and I do feel comfortable with your brand of business.  After taking a look at the samples on your website, I must say I enjoyed reading the chapter about the Parlotones.  You really know how to weave a story together!

Wow, that Foreword was very well written, Lilian.  You did a great job of setting up just how family corrals around each other in good times and in times of need — a very good theme.  I have given this a couple of reads, and I must say I like it.  I don’t think I found any structural changes that I thought were necessary — you’re a strong writer! I did make a few cosmetic changes here and there, though. You’ll find them in the attached Word document in red and yellow font/highlight.

I’m really excited to share this Foreword with my family and also take our next steps down the memoir lane. I want to share a bit of feedback: my family members are pleased with the Foreword, thanks to your creativity.  My dad really appreciates the effort to memorialize things, so he’s spending some of his own time writing mini autobiographies. He might compete with you soon, haha! — can’t wait to see the next steps.

One nice touch was how the narrative seemed to capture my amazement on navigating fatherhood back then versus present times.  Raising more than three kids in today’s environment is a rarity.  And I like the stats (and other pieces of research you undertook) where you illustrated the developmental stages of young women.  It really provides great context to Grandma’s responsibilities within her culture. 

Nothing involving my family is quick or easy, haha.  I definitely understand the challenge of trying to keep the back story and the many twists and turns straight, but let me just say you are doing a great job and your responsiveness is amazing.  I myself can get frustrated working with my extended family, but this has been a great exercise working with you, and I know the final product will be a great tribute to Grandma.  Let me know if you need anything.

Once again, thank you for all your help getting this project started and working to put all of the history into one neat book. Thank you for your kind words, and thanks so much for your expertise and support!  It has been a pleasure working with you on this project.  Gathering my thoughts and those of my family has been a very rewarding experience through the many months.  And now that our little son is soon joining us, I think the project will take on a new dynamic — I would love for my children to one day read their great-grandmother’s story.

2018-19   Comments by Warren Mabey, New Jersey State Police Detective (retired).

OMG! I LOVE IT! I know it is just a preview but I love the Introduction and the shaping of the letter! I can’t wait to see it as it develops. Thanks again so much! 😍

Wow!! Why am I sitting here reading this Foreword with tears in my eyes? What a wonderful piece of writing and true to form on exactly what I would like to convey… it is going so well and you are so SPECTACULAR! 😉   Thanks so much! You are truly gifted!

I appreciate all your hard work on this project and I apologize for slamming you with so many photos. I wasn’t sure which ones I wanted to include and you seem to have such a gift at making things look and read so well!  I have no doubt in your ability and appreciate everything you are doing! It has gone from a one-page handwritten letter by me to an exquisite masterpiece thanks to you ! 😉

LOVE IT thanks! I appreciate your doing this for me. Can’t imagine trying to write it myself. You are the best!!!!  😉

Hello! Just read the latest draft. I LOVE it!! When this is all done I am going to have to come up and pick it up personally from you and take you to lunch or dinner!

That newest version looks great!! Gets better and better all the time!! Love it. Thanks and I really appreciate all of your extra work and attention.

I read the entire thing. I love it!  I also really like the ending under the “Seeking Thrills” section. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!  LOVE the tribute write-up you did for my dad!!  Have a great weekend!

[About a Sneak Preview he received] Why do I have tears in my eyes as I read this….?????   I know it’s just an introductory draft, but I love it!  Thanks so much, and great captions 😉  Looks like right on track!

Wow, the latest draft brings back so many memories. I made a couple of tweaks in green and suggestions to delete in red. I answered your two questions.  Loving it, especially the chapter title ;))

Wow this is turning into something much more epic than I originally envisioned! And I love the epicness of it. 😂  You captured the tone and spirit just perfectly!

Good evening. A quick glance on my iPhone and it all looks great!  Not just great — superb!!  I will add my edits and comments when I can get to a real computer, probably tomorrow.  I had forgotten a lot about what I sent you that is in your notes. Hopefully you can work magic and make sense of it! 😉

Yes, got it! Wonderful and extraordinary! Love it and appreciate all the extra work you put into it. That’s why this conclusion will be so difficult, 😫🤣 and I still owe you that lunch!     [We did meet for lunch!]

2018   Comments by Chrizelle Ransom, Doula and Childbirth Educator; Chiangmai, Thailand.

Hi Lilian! I LOVE ❤️ it!!! Perfect! I am so happy you understood what I meant. Thank you for all your hard work!

(About Chapter 1 sneak preview)  This is great! Thank You!!! This is looking great! I like the tone and structure.

I love it! I really do. What I love about this version is the frequency of sensory input ….smells, colors, tastes, sensations. This is ggggggreat! Thank you!

Thank you for treating the religious material with such respect and care.

I’m so impressed with your ability to zone in and get to the heart of the matters I share. Thank you once again.

Thank you for your patience and sincere work and words.

I like where this is going. Thank you!

I love it!!! I noticed the things you’ve changed and it makes a big difference.  Thank you for taking the time to rewrite it.

I love this chapter too! Reading about my Ouma makes me so happy. I have been having so many dreams and memories since opening this part of my brain.

This all looks so good! I love it:-) There is already so much there. All the highlighted areas look fine. I really like this chapter. I’m finding it interesting…even though it is my own life. Thank you, Lilian!

I am amazed every time at how you manage to keep the story straight and make sense of everything I write. A true talent and gift, for sure. Well done for making sense of the whole story line, I really don’t know how you do it.

Thanks, it looks and reads great! Another wonderful chapter, thank you!

Lilian-  Thanks for all your work. It’s been a marvelous experience so far to see her bring her early years back to life! It’s been a marvelous journey for Chrizelle so far. She really appreciates the way you write and care for her story!  Thanks!    (from Peter Ransom, her husband)

Very nicely done, thank you. I love this chapter, you really made it come together. I’m actually crying thinking of my mother and her humility.

I love Chapter 8!!! It was a tough one but you pulled it together expertly.Thank you for helping me. This Christmas I am thankful for you and all you have helped me with. Thank you for your hard work and patience.

2018    Comments by Dr. Deborah Cross Antoine, New Jersey.  CEO of The Women’s Sports Foundation, founded in 1974 by tennis legend Billie Jean King.

Lilian, I love the Introduction sneak preview!!! Wow! Did you ever make my weekend! This is really fabulous! It makes ME want to read the next chapter.

Good morning. A quick note just to say the new chapter is really great!

Hi Lilian, the first draft is wonderful! Great! Such progress. I am thrilled. I love it! Thank you. It’s beautiful!

Just read this and it is wonderful! Can’t wait to see the pictures inserted. Great great great!

Thanks for so nicely motivating me to continue! Lovely writing. Looking forward to more!

Dr. Deborah Cross Antoine was President and CEO of New York Junior Tennis & Learning from 2010 through 2016.  She holds a #2 Singles ranking in her age group with the Eastern USTA Section, and was named the USTA Eastern Woman of the Year in 2013.

2017   Comments by Fabienne Daniel, Director of Fabz Fit and Certified Personal Trainer; Pennsylvania.

By the way, today is my birthday. I don’t let people know for some reason. I’m deciding to tell the ones I always get a positive energy from, and that is YOU!

2016-17   Comments by Aster Keleta, a dedicated social activist on behalf of immigrants; Ethiopia and San Diego, California.

[Initial comment] Lilian, I simply want to say thank you for the starter pages. I love your style. Please call me to give me an idea of the process of getting it done, as you are my first and only person I contacted.

[Subsequent comments] We have a great culture and history that nobody knows, not even ourselves. Thank you, Lilian, for giving me a voice and visibility by writing my story. You are a God-given angel!

I can’t express it enough how much you have motivated me to do this. I truly appreciate it. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you for your guidance, and I don’t even know where this will take me and that is the beauty of it. I am doing it as I go and not knowing where I will stop or begin. A good place to be… less stressful and good therapy.

I would have expressed myself better in English, had I learned English well. Here you are making sense from the stuff I throw together. I truly appreciate that. I feel that I am living a full circle — reliving the life I lived, but this time through a different eye.

Thank you Lilian! It is a pleasure working with you. You are my voice, make me feel alive; and I can’t wait to write how the idea of this book came and how I met you; it is incredible. Looking forward to more questions! Again, thank you for your kind words and thoughtful questions that make me see my life more clearly.

I know so many courageous and phenomenal refugee and immigrant women whose stories should be written to save others from that situation. Once mine is done; hopefully, you would help others as well. Thank you so much for your encouraging and sweet words. I don’t think anybody can do better than what you are doing in capturing the story.  I appreciate it!

Lilian, you are such an important person in  my life; I wouldn’t be able to voice my story without your involvement; and in the process, I am clearer on my journey and better analyze myself for what my purpose in life is.  By the end of this work, I would celebrate my freedom from confusion and distractions.  I would be focused and more certain in my life ahead. I don’t think anybody can write my story more than you do.  It is beautifully written.

You always help me to articulate what I try to say. Thank you for your provocative questions that made me think. Thank you so much for all your hard work.  You’re awesome! There is no way this would have been done without you. Your encouraging words and your deep questions and your writing skills did the magic.

So far, you have given my barren life a life of its own and find my own happiness. I am so grateful for having you in my life. You have organized my book very well. My first person to find was you in my Google search, and you happened to be the best for my story telling. Thanks to God and you! I am glad we did this together. Love and Peace to you!

I am glad you enjoyed what I brought you, and I wish I could do more for what you have done to writing my life; I found meaning to the life that I had thought was a waste. You have a special place in my heart.

2014   Comments by Major General James Capers, Commander of the 4th Marine Division (Retired); Texas.

The Introduction you wrote for Major James Capers (USMC Retired) brought a tear to my eye. You’ve expressed his innermost thoughts so perfectly. Thank you.

2014   Comments by James Richardson, Printer Technician; California

Lilian. WOW. I can’t think of anything else to say. You’ve expressed what’s been inside of me so well. It’s amazing to see my thoughts in writing and so clear.

2014   Comments by Margaret Iuculano, Business Coach; Florida

WOW! Reads amazing. Thank you so much — you truly have a gift!

2014   Comments by Mahamadou Sow, Executive Chef; Mali and Vermont.

Lilian, I have the impression I met the right person. A person for that book and for more to come. A person I’ m really proud to have talked to. And a person who is without any doubt in my mind part of my family and my life.

I woke up early and read your work four times. I’m in tears. You touched my heart and strengthened my soul. This is what I’m talking about. Thank you. You’re a great writer. Thank God I found you. You have a noble job and you do it well. I’m in love with your style. Your pen is sincere and touching.

What I admire in you the most is your talent. Talent is not what you can do, talent is what you have in you: honesty, courage, devotion, dedication, respect for what you do for others, and much more. Thank you.

Thank you. Not just my book, you are giving a new hope. A hope that all oppressed and tortured human being be treated humanely.

Will print it now and read it. I could not read it last night, I’d not be able to sleep. That is how I am.
Have a good week end.

Lilian you put me in tears. I’m crying. Your pen is sincere and touching.
You’ve been using your heart to write my book. Some writers just use their fingers.

2013   Comments by Kerin Johnson, Banker, Florida.

Lilian, I just read Chapter 1. It is so real. Will you give me a day or two to have all this seep in? It just pops off the page and makes it so real. You did such a beautiful job. I will be forever in your debt for this book. Thank you.

2013   Comments by Marissa Gould, Actress and Singer; Los Angeles, California.

After spending a good five years writing my first memoir, I was in need of some serious help. Then my father put me in touch with Lilian Duval. Working with someone who can help me edit my voice and ask me questions from an outsider’s perspective has been eye-opening and one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for myself.

No one can do life alone, and books are a large undertaking. Lilian has been there for me through thick and thin, even when I’m slow and don’t send content! Her kind and encouraging words have kept me going so I can pursue my dreams and, with her help, actualize them.

2012   Comments by Marjorie Latham, Jewelry Designer; New York State

Lilian, I could never do the job that you have just done on my Biographical Sketch. I thank you very much. This my dear is the work of a professional. I love it! Thank you.

Beautiful job on the Press Release! I love it and so does my husband. You are the best!

2012   Comments by Jon Frank, Actor; Boston, Massachusetts.

I have had the pleasure of working with Lilian Duval in writing my memoir and story about my personal journeys and also of corruption in a small-town police department. Unfortunately, I can’t sign my real name to this review as of yet because of safety concerns of mine. But Lilian has been extremely on point and easy to work with, and she made it an extremely pleasurable experience. Her unique approach to ghostwriting my memoir made it simple, easy, and many times therapeutic in telling my story to her to be put into book form.

I wouldn’t worry much about the notes you provide. Obviously you will tell Lilian about the very important parts you would like to write about in your book, but once you do this, Lilian will send you many questions via email about your life, and your answers / responses will actually become the book!

Maybe if you create an outline that would be even better than worrying about notes. You could always refer to your notes. Lilian is very good at this and she keeps all your answers in a very orderly file. After each chapter is completed she sends it to you for review. The actual process of answering her questions will build your book. I found the process fun and very therapeutic.

2012   Comments by Lawrence Tan, EMS Publishers (Educational Books), Singapore.

Thank you for your invaluable assistance on the Situational Writing Booklet for our students. I will surely get in touch with you about future works in the days to come.

2011   Comments by D.W., Elementary School Teacher, New York State.

Greatest discovery I have ever made! Lilian Duval is an amazing writer and saves me a ton of time while getting great results!

2011   Comments by G.L., Office Manager for Realty, New Jersey.

Lilian, thank you for being compassionate and empathetic to my situation. I felt comfortable sharing confidential information with you and appreciate your professionalism. I was able to get my point across because of your expertise with writing and will definitely use your service for future assignments. My attorney was very pleased with the draft. It was exactly what he needed. Thank you so much for being compassionate. I will definitely keep you posted on the outcome and would like to be a character in your book in the future.

2011   Comments by Alla Aronovskaya, first violinist and founding member, St. Petersburg String Quartet (Now St. Petersburg Piano Quartet), Wichita, Kansas.

After starting my memoir, it was a long 6 years before I returned to write this book. The reason for this was an unexpected letter which I received by e-mail from an amazing woman, whose name Lilian Duval and who decided to help me. She is my assistant in this project.

She is writer by herself and her style of writing I like very much. I would write the same way if I were as free speaking in English as in Russian. Lilian is the author of the critically acclaimed novel You Never Know, published in 2011. Both she and her husband are survivors of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. They sent all three of their children to Juilliard, and Lilian herself is an amateur classical guitarist, deeply devoted to music. Lilian and her husband were our guests at Music Mountain in August, 2011.

I am very glad that she agreed to help me gather my scattered thoughts and memories into something organized and beautiful.