Here Is Your Awesomegang Authors Newsletter
Published: Sat, 06/04/22
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Rupali Saini
Interview With Author Rupali Saini
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a poet, activist, author and wanderer rambling in the world of my imagination. I’m also a random choreographer and often tap my feet with a story in my mind. When not penning the subtleties of human heart, I’m an assistant professor and a passionate teacher. I believe in promoting learning through questioning. So far my two books have been published, the first is on spirituality, a non-fiction, and the second is this newly published SHOTS: Tell It Slant, a collection of 25 short shorts.
Before it my work has been featured in various journals and anthologies.What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book by me, as I have mentioned, is SHOTS: Tell It Slant, the stories you not only read but also feel. These stories are inspired from my quest to address the issues which we have almost normalized, though the practices are subtle forms of exploitation, disparity and prejudices, but in the humdrum of our hectic lives we tend to let them happen as nothing has happened. At some places, I also wanted to show the daily happenings to their core reality, which is off course disturbing and unsettling.Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yeah! there is, but I would like to call it a condition than a habit. It’s when I’m plotting a story, I want a pin-drop silence.What authors, or books have influenced you?
I write at my calling, when no other option is left than manifesting it in the form of a writing piece, I just do it under the influence of its necessity to bring it out on the paper/screen.
It’s true, I’m not a typical reader but I agree that a good reader is a good writer. So, before any such venture when a story in my mind nudges me to come out, I prepare myself with the readings of the relevant theme or genre.
In particular, I can’t name any. I’m really sorry for it. I always have this conflict of naming someone or a few. Actually, I get influenced with every that writing which attracts me intellectually and also goes straight to heart.What are you working on now?
The writing and publishing process of SHOTS: Tell It Slant was so exhaustive and tiresome for last many months, that for a while, I’m planning to take a break.
But, it’s not the endgame. Yes, there is something cooking up in my mind but not so sure about it yet. Don’t worry, the break will not be so long, hopefullyWhat is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As of now, these four are in my top list- WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. In future, if I earn some readers, I hope Goodreads too will join this list.Do you have any advice for new authors?
There are many lessons, I have learnt throughout my SHOTS journey, as there were 25 stories in total. and I would love to discuss those in detail.
For now, in brief, I can enlist the three most important.
1. Always keep something with you on which you can scribble or jot down, ideas pop up anywhere and ridiculously anytime, so don’t delay in giving them words. Yes, ideas come out of the blue and also vanish nowhere in the blink of an eye. So, be vigilant. You just plan what you want to write and then see the miracles of your mind. It works, you just pay heed to its calling.
2. When you are writing your first draft, don’t bother about its quality. You are vomiting, right! So, just let it out and hop on the next chapter, don’t start editing off the bat. Maintain a suitable gap, it helps you in detaching yourself from your beloved first draft. And if some factual data in your write-up bother you, then just leave the space or highlight the things where you would come back when finish your first draft. Don’t divert your mind toward the factual or nitpicking part, it kills the creativity. Just focus on your story and its spirit.
3. After maintaining an adequate gap, when you return to your first draft, you may find it terrible or a shit but believe me its not. Congratulations, you have a story now, you just need to improve it in its expression, grammar and punctuation. Editing can be a rewriting but again you have a story now, just toil over it.
I hope it helps.
Thanks!What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write, Write and Write, You will improve.
Sorry, I don’t know who said this or Is it something my mind is concocting?
But, it’s really a good adviceWhat are you reading now?
I hope, after our brief discussion above, you might have assumed the answer. Not anything, in particular
Beware! a good reader is a good writer. I’m voracious, when I decide reading something.What’s next for you as a writer?
As a writer, as I have hinted, something is drumming up my mind. Will spill soon, if everything goes right in its favor.
Cheers!If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Haha…
I would love to take ‘Bhagavad Gita’ with me, its a wonderful spiritual text. What do you think, would I take it for myself? I have read it Dear!, this I would take along with me for helping someone with its magical teachings, if I happened to find anyone on that island.
Have a Great Writing!Author Websites and Profiles
Rupali Saini’s Social Media Links
Luke Olensky
Interview With Author Luke Olensky
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am from New York and have been involved in entertainment in some form since age 13. I started as a professional wrestler and power-lifting champion before moving into music, acting, and modeling. I am also a college graduate, podcast host, personal training specialist, and entrepreneur. Thus far, I have written only one book which was just published in May of 2022. I look forward to more! POW!What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
20 Reasons & 20 Ways To Diminish Self-Doubt. I have done a lot in the world of entertainment, but I had not written a book yet. I realized this in November of 2021, and got right to work on what would be my first published book. My entire life was the inspiration for the book, especially these last few years when I did a lot of my own healing. I used many of the techniques I talk about in the read to help myself.Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes. Not so much with writing books, but for music I have some weird techniques. One of these is something I call “Red-light Writing”. My best musical ideas come to me when I’m driving, and I always have paper and pen with me. When I’m sitting at red lights, I write everything down.What authors, or books have influenced you?
RL Stine was the first author I loved as a kid with the “Goosebumps” series. I loved those. As I got older, I loved Stephen King! My favorite books though were “The Outsiders”, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, “My Side of the Mountain”, and “The Chosen”.What are you working on now?
Right now, I am not writing a new book. I am in the process of organizing a big promotional event for this one!What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use my personal site and all social media.
lucabrassy.com
facebook.com/20reasonsand20ways
twitter.com/lucabrassy
instagram.com/brassylucaDo you have any advice for new authors?
Let your idea blossom. Whether fiction or nonfiction, don’t force any ideas. You will know when a good one comes to you. Then brainstorm how you want to present the idea. Come up with key elements, points, characters, locations, etc before even writing anything besides these key points. Trust the process.What is the best advice you have ever heard?
So many to choose from but one that I love is “Believing in yourself means standing alone even if it seems like the world is against you”.What are you reading now?
I’m actually in the middle of reading my own book at the moment from a consumer standpoint.What’s next for you as a writer?
Next is coming up with a fictional idea for a book.If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Bible, The Outsiders, A strategy book to handle the situation I was in, and something about fitness. One for faith, one for enjoyment, one to deal, and one to stay as healthy as possible.Author Websites and Profiles
Luke Olensky’s Social Media Links
Mario Mainland
Interview With Author Mario Mainland
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a logistician by day and a writer by night – or any spare time I can carve from daily duties as husband to my wife Samantha and father to my five-year-old son Leo.
It’s been a relatively secret dream and aspiration to become an author, but there were two moments that ignited a spark to the dry kindling I had neglected for most of my life. In my late teens, a specific film was the first catalyst. I cannot recall what it was about, maybe it doesn’t even matter, but it was sufficiently profound that it prompted the first draft of The Eternilim, which was then known as ‘The Tower’. It burnt bright and hot and faded around 20,000 words – either due to inspiration dwindling or the inevitable intrusion of adult life.The second spark came when I was thirty-four at a church service I attended some random Friday in Dubai. I spoke with an odd but friendly stranger, cannot recall his name, and can only remember we spoke about fishing or kayaking and water leaking from his roof – but after meeting him (the service itself may have had some influence), I knew the very next day I would restart the story that began so many years ago. And as I ventured down the road of obscure, wannabe writer, wrought with anxiety and self-doubt, I also rediscovered my passion for the craft and the fresh desire to share it with the world. So here we are, my poetry, early teen-years to today, sporadic essays and my once shy stories. I hope you enjoy their company as I have.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
In a nutshell, it’s about how two brothers and their friend grow up in ancient Babylon and discover the origins of the human and the divine, the craft they used, the Annunaki and Nephilim kings of the past, and the real reason for Eve’s betrayal – It’s alternative history where the true purpose of the tower of Babel and the confusion of languages is revealed. At its core, the story weaves many beliefs, ideas, and concepts of our history into one unifying narrative. Think of it as a mix between Harry Potter and Dan Brown…Do you have any unusual writing habits?
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have a lot of respect for Stephen King and his body of work and recently read The Institute which I thoroughly enjoyed. His memoir ‘On Writing’ probably my favorite. Neil Gaiman is also up there, in particular his Sandman series and Good Omens which are both in the same vein as ‘The Eternilim’. I am currently reading Elsewhere by Dean Koontz.
These are my favorite authors because I enjoyed their stories, and as such, am also most influenced by their style of writing. Which I can only hope shines through at least a little bit.What are you working on now?
I’m working on a follow-up to The Eternilim, but it is not a direct sequel. The grand plan is to have a 9 book series all in different genres and all interconnected. The Eternilim will itself by 3 parts. The current project takes place in current-day and is a horror, incorporating mythological creatures – in the same vein as birdbox.What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Still working on it, but awesomegang seems to add the most value!Do you have any advice for new authors?
The best advice I’ve heard and what I try to apply:
1. Keep reading, and read different authors and genres. This is where you learn.
2. Write as much as possible, even if it is just outlines of future ideas. This is how you practice your craft. My go-to is poetry. Not only does it enhance vocabulary, but also expands and challenges your creative mind
3. The law-of-little-bits. Do something every day, even just one sentence. Inches matter because they accumulate, and eventually give way to larger daily work volumes.What is the best advice you have ever heard?
What are you reading now?
Elsewhere by Dean KoontzWhat’s next for you as a writer?
Just to keep going. The biggest enemy to a writer is not lack of creativity. It is self-doubt and fear of the blank page – both of which can be defeated by just sitting down and typing. The right words will not come otherwise.If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
1.) Building a shelter for dummies
2.) Project Hail Mary
3.) Astrophysics for people in a hurryAuthor Websites and Profiles
Mario Mainland’s Social Media Links
Kerry Evelyn
Interview With Author Kerry Evelyn
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi! I’ve been writing since my Nana went to heaven when I was a toddler. After two decades teaching elementary students, I decided to start that novel I’d always wanted to write. Being from New England, my Crane’s Cove series was the cure for seasonal homesickness. Cat’s Paw Cove provided the space for creative magical creatures and talking cats I wished existed. And my Palmer City Voltage hockey romances are a just-keep-flipping one-sitting coaster of fun! Between the novels, I like to write novellas and short stories featuring the series side characters. I’ve also published nonfiction, including two focus journals and workbook, How to Binge-Write Your Novel.What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is The Swan and the Phoenix: A Once Upon Academy Duet. Three years ago, some author friends and I got together to design a new world called Once Upon Academy, a college for the children of magicals and fairy tale characters for an anthology. My character, Nettie, is the daughter of the Swan Princess. She’s all set to observe a meteor shower in the Astronomy Tower when her crush enters and the two become trapped. He’s ill, and doesn’t know that soon he’ll be shifting into a Phoenix. She helps him survive the change. In the Duet, I’ve included that story, plus the continuation, which is Reggie’s story. It is is the only book that exists in a realm outside of my main series collections, but there IS a tie to my Cat’s Paw Cove book, The Beachcomber’s Buccaneer Bounty. You’ll have to read both to learn what that is! Fans have their theories–if you guess it, send me an email and I’ll tell you if you’re right!Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really unusual, but when I’m stuck I drink Port with ice (Nightjar from Cooper’s Hawk is my favorite) and eat Nerds or chocolate or gummy cherries.What authors, or books have influenced you?
Too many to list! I love authors who write series and connect all their characters from one book or series to the next, and so I’ve done that as well!What are you working on now?
Right now, I’m writing Book 3 in my Palmer City Voltage series. It’s titled Celebration on Ice. My critique partners and Facebook VIP group wouldn’t let me call it Celly on Ice, so I’m a little sore about that! You can check it out (and the rest of the series) at Goodreads.What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I love doing Facebook takeovers and reader conferences. Meeting readers is so fun! Book people are my favorite! I also find success with newsletter promotions and ads.Do you have any advice for new authors?
Best advice: Pay an experienced editor in your genre to edit your books. This is SO important. Readers can tell a book that is edited from a book that is just proofed. A genre-specific editor will let you know what your book is missing, when your pacing is off, and help you avoid the common pitfalls that scream “inexperienced author.”What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Lately, my mantra is just keep writing. I think it was Nora Roberts who said you can’t edit a blank page, and that is the truth! My best lines usually come to me during the second, third and something eighth read-through!What are you reading now?
I’m working my way through Kristen Ethridge’s Port Provident books! Set in Texas, they have all the things I love in a romance!What’s next for you as a writer?
With summer here (it’s June 1st!) I am prepping for summer book conferences! At the end of this month I’ll be in Port Canveral, Florida at Space Coast Book Lovers, and at the end of August I’ll be at Orlando Reads Books. Come see me there!If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I love this question! If I’m stranded on a desert island, I will need some Jesus to survive, ha! So, I’d bring my bible, my Anne of Green Gables hardcover that my Memere gave me for Christmas in 6th grade (it includes of the Anne books–is that cheating?). I’d also bring the hardback journal my other grandmother, Evelyn, filled out for me in her last years, and a photobook of my hubby and kids.Author Websites and Profiles
Kerry Evelyn’s Social Media Links
