Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in Kingston, Jamaica, moved to Brooklyn, and then Queens, New York as a young child, then later moved to Central Florida with my family, where I still call home. I’m a freelance writer for Demand Media Studios with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and “Blind Sky” released in 2014 is my first book. I would like to travel more, as my destinations so far include Bonn and Cologne Germany, and Paris France. I enjoy tea, reruns of Sex and the City, all Marvel Comic book movies, yoga, and trying foods from different cultures.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Blind Sky” is my first book and I was inspired to write it after watching a program on the History Channel discussing he Lost City of Atlantis. The Lost City of Atlantis is surrounded by centuries of myths, mysteries and stories of an highly advanced civilization, that some say exist, but suddenly disappeared and could possible be underwater.

So the idea and concept of an advanced group of citizens living on earth but under secrecy was born, and as my ideas continued to develop, I knew I wanted this world of prestige, unimaginable power and advanced technology to collide with modern day society.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if it’s unusual, but to convey an emotion, feeling or action taking place when I’m writing and to really immerse myself into my writing, I find and listen to music, a song, or lyric while I’m writing, which helps amplify the intensity of emotion and/or action I want to express.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Just about all books and authors I have read has influenced me in some sort of way. I enjoy various types of books, genres and authors, so I take away what I enjoy the most and make it into my own when I write.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on the second book (sequel to Blind Sky) and a few short stories that I may turn into a novel.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still trying to navigate through the various promotional methods and decide the best one for me. I think different factors account for what works, such as your audience, book genre, so ultimately everyone has to find what works for them.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up on your dream, no matter how many rejections or no’s you receive. Before my book was published, I received a lot of rejections, but stopped counting after awhile because it was too discouraging.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The limit to what you can do and achieve is set by you. Success begins when you believe it will happen.

What are you reading now?
“The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak
“One Summer” by David Baldacci

What’s next for you as a writer?
Complete the sequel to my first book and hopefully get to see my books turned into a movie.

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 have a book, Greatest places in the world to visit, so I would take something like that (The photos are a plus), my devotional because I will need inspiration, faith and hope, something funny (humor is a must) and a book with a series, that way hopefully I can count them all together as one.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kerry Gordon Website
Kerry Gordon Amazon Profile

Kerry Gordon’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Kerry Gordon is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
A lifelong lover of literature, I was first published at the age of eighteen . My passion for the written word started early, and as a child I would carry her mother’s novels as part of my wardrobe.

I am the author of three traditionally published books. Salvation, a century-long romp through the life of a maladjusted vampire, was published in 2012 by Melange books. My first literary fiction title, Benjamin, was published the following year, also by Melange Books. Cold Breath of Life, my first poetry collection, was released by Hidden Brook Press in 2013.

The Motel Room and Whispering Peak, my two self-published short stories, are part of a planned collection called Whispers, the release of which is anticipated for Summer 2014. I’m currently living in Belleville, Ontario with my cats, my typewriters, and a personal library.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The novel I’m currently working on is called The Witches of Armour Hill. Last summer, my father took a new position in Peterborough, and I had a chance to look around the city a little bit. There’s great history all over Peterborough, but there was one story that stood out over all the rest.

In 1840, a woman was tried for witchcraft in Peterborough. They found her guilty, and she was burned at the stake. Yes, in 1840.

How can you not be inspired by something like that?

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I think my most unusual habit is that fact that I’d rather write on literally ANYTHING than type. I hate typing. Something about staring at a blank screen with my fingers on a keyboard – it just doesn’t work. When I’m looking at a blank sheet of paper (or a napkin, or a receipt, or that piece of my coffee cup I tore off this morning) with a pen in my hand though? Everything just flows perfectly.

I usually let myself get to about 5000-10 000 words on random sheets of paper before I force myself to take a typing day, and get it all on the computer.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I like to think that everything I read influences me. The goods things, I try to incorporate into my own writing. The bad things, I know to avoid.

Do you have any advice for new authors?

My advice for new authors is something I wish someone had told me when I was younger – don’t wait for anyone else to validate you. If you’re writing, then you’re a writer. You don’t need an agent or an editor or a publisher to tell you when you’re writer, because you already are. Now, you just need to decide what you’re going to DO with the things you write. (Scary, I know)

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t ever give up the control you have over your own work.

For me, this meant turning to self-publishing, but I know that it will mean a lot of different things for a lot of different people. However you decide to interpret it, it is SO important. Your book is your baby. You put hours and hours of your life into those pages. Don’t leave it to someone else to decide what happens to them now.

What are you reading now?
I am currently locked in the constant heart break that is George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. I tore my way through the first four books in record time, and now I’m sipping my way through A Dance With Dragons while I wait for The Winds of Winter.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My plans involve exploring independent publishing to its fullest extent. So far, I’ve only released short stories – at the end of the month I plan to release my first full length book, which I’m sure will be a whole new ball game. After that I’ll be releasing the first installment of my (tentatively planned) five book series, my first foray into serialised writing.

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?
Don’t do that to me… chances are I’d die from the stress of trying to decide before I even made it to the island!

Author Websites and Profiles
Alyssa Cooper Amazon Profile
Alyssa Cooper Author Profile on Smashwords

Alyssa Cooper’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Alyssa Cooper is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a young artist and literature enthusiast that seeks to perfect her craft and share her visions with the world. My out-of-the-box way of thinking and immensely high levels of imagination will leave you wondering how someone was even able to think up the things you will see in my work. Having a thing for monster erotica, mystery and adventure, I mix all three of those ingredients to bake some weird and high calorie cupcakes of literature and art. I’ve written 3 books and published 1 so far.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Boogieman. I’ve always wanted to write something fun and filled with adventure. Usually I get most of my inspiration from music and my dreams.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really. I write during NaNoWriMo or when I feel like it. I usually write and publish a novel in a year.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
None. I’m not a person that likes to read very much. Many things tend to get me to fling the book across the room easily. I mostly read educational books.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on my new novel “Deflowering of the Bird of Paradise”. It’s quite a different type of novel if compared to my last one. It’s more similar to a drama series where we observe the life of a group of people in a parallel universe.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’d always pick Twitter over Facebook. It’s much more fun and engaging to use and promote my work with. Short and sweet.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I advise you to take the indie route – read a few books on marketing your novel and go publish your book. It’s really not as hard as it seems, but it really takes time to build a following if you’re new in the business, so don’t be discouraged when you see you’re doing everything you can, but you’re not getting the results you wanted. As an author and reader, you should understand that it’s very hard for people to take risks when it comes to new indie authors. Give it some time, be patient and keep writing. You’ll get better, you’ll have more experience and you’ll have more to offer readers.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
One often meets his destiny on the path he takes to avoid it. I know it doesn’t have much to do with writing or publishing, but it is still the best damn sentence I’ve ever heard. Very, very true. And I just hate it when characters in movies and literature do the opposite.

What are you reading now?
Nothing at the moment. I have a lot of studying to focus on, but I’m hoping to read the second volume of Lackadaisy by Tracy J. Butler once it comes out.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Write the next book and keep marketing this one, of course.

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?
Anything written by Vanessa Cox. That’ll keep me sane… I think.

Author Websites and Profiles
Claire Amber Website

Claire Amber’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Claire Amber is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a mother who doesn’t enjoy cooking or cleaning, but loves entertaining and making people laugh through stories. I’ve written 7 novels and several short stories. I hope people enjoy reading them, because my house sure is a mess and we eat take-out an awful lot!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Kiss Me, Tate, a romantic comedy spinoff from my bestselling Barbara Marr Murder Mystery series. It’s a sweet and funny tale that follows two characters who attracted to each other, but are distracted by the antics of their own “dysfunctional” families.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think this is unusual, but I must have absolute quiet when I write with no distractions of any kind. I have found with kids in the house, this is somewhat difficult. I do my best!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I studied literature in college and two of my favorite classic authors were Mark Twain and Charles Dickens. I love how they infused humor into their stories. I’m drawn to books that make me laugh –even a serious novel that has a moments of humor or dry wit, are more compelling to me.

What are you working on now?
I am currently writing two books: my fifth Barbara Marr Murder Mystery, Dead Man Stalking, and simultaneously, I am co-writing a romantic comedy called Shelby’s Plus-One, which is the first book in a new series. Needless to say, I’m a little busy!!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I find the best method for promoting my books is to get the word out to my readers. I am blessed with readers who are always asking when my next book will be out.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep writing. (a twist on some great advice I once received from a wise fish – see answer to next question)

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Just keep swimming.” – Dory, from Finding Nemo

What are you reading now?
Game of Thrones. Wow. Powerful story. And the character Tyrion provides that dry wit that I love.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I think a true writer is always working to be better at his or her craft and to explore richer depths of the writing experience. That’s true for me, I know. I’ll be at this, working to improve my craft, until the day I die.

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?
Well, that doesn’t sound like much fun, so I’d want to be sure to bring books that made me laugh and forget the boredom. Do I have food? Do I need to forget my hunger as well? Hmm. Okay, then, I will bring Kristan Higgins’ Just One of the Guys. She writes really fun but touching romantic comedies and I think Just One of the Guys is her best. Then I’ll bring Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins. Fun and wildly crazy book. Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York – I’ll take that one too. That book helped me laugh through a particular tough time in my life. And finally, I’ll take any one of the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum novels.

Author Websites and Profiles
Karen Cantwell Website
Karen Cantwell Amazon Profile

Karen Cantwell’s Social Media Links

Goodreads Profile

Karen Cantwell is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve never been comfortable talking about myself, so I’ll share my official bio below. As for my books, I have four published books. The fifth book will be released on June 4, 2014, and I have a Christmas book set for release in November. There aren’t enough hours in the day for all the writing I’d like to get done, but I get there, one book at a time.

Born near the beautiful coast of southern California and raised in the awe-inspiring Rocky Mountains, author MK McClintock studied business at BYU-Idaho until she decided culinary school was a lot more fun. Armed with a gypsy spirit and adventurous nature, MK traveled from coast to coast living in remote mountains towns and a small New England village, traversed rocky coasts, experienced fine Southern hospitality, and explored the Highlands of Scotland before returning home to Montana.

She helps run her family businesses by day, and by night, MK spins tales of romance and adventure inspired by the heather-covered hills of Scotland, and the majestic mountains of home. With her heart deeply rooted in the past, and her mind always on adventure, she lives and writes wherever her heart and imagination lead her.

Learn more about MK by visiting her website: http://www.mkmcclintock.com or her blog: http://www.booksandbenches.com.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
BLACKWOOD CROSSING, and it’s the second of my British Agent novels. I didn’t plan to make this part of a series, but I enjoyed the secondary characters so much in ALAINA CLAIBORNE (book one) that I had to give the other two agents their own stories. That’s how BLACKWOOD CROSSING came about, but the story itself just happened. I always start with characters and settings. The settings were easy – England and Scotland – from there the story idea just materialized as I wrote.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure they’re unusual, but my main habits include making sure I have lots of ice water, usually a cup of tea, and a bit of chocolate (helps with writer’s block). I set a timer so I can get up and move around once an hour. I like to stretch and do jumping jacks. I have to write/type everything down. Even if I don’t think I’ll use it in the story, I have to keep a record of it somewhere on the off chance that I might use it at some point. I have lots of sticky notes on my monitor while I work and a white board with the main points, characters, and general timeline. I also like to listen to music while I write to drown out any noise that might interrupt me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Authors more than books. Long before I even though of publishing, I was reading Kathleen Woodiwiss and Johanna Lindsey. Their books and styles are among my favorites in the genre. I also like Julie Garwood, Louis L’Amour, and Larry McMurtry. Outside of the genres in which I write, I like Edward Rutherford’s style, though he writes in a different genre. He just has a masterful way of writing a scene.

What are you working on now?
A Christmas novel for my Montana Gallagher series and a couple of short Christmas stories for a multi-author anthology. It’s strange writing Christmas books during the spring and summer, but so far I’m loving it.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I haven’t found one single best method. I’ve found that it takes a combination of different methods in order to get the word out about a new release, but the most successful so far have actually been a featured ad on Awesomegang and virtual book tours. I use social media for author pages, but I’m not a fan. I love connecting with readers at my blog, and I get the most interaction there and via direct email.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, write, and when you’re done with that read and write some more. Some will say to build a platform, start a blog, get on social media, etc, but if you don’t have the books to share and promote, the platform won’t do you any good. I firmly believe that an author’s best marketing tool is to write more books, and get better at writing them with each new book.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Pretty much what I just passed along. I was offered all kinds of advice, but most of it I set aside. Authors have to find what works best for them.

What are you reading now?
“The Collector” by Nora Roberts, but I have a stack of 12 books on my nightstand. I just pick the one on the top and work my way down. Next week I’ll be reading something new.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More books! I literally have the next ten years of books already planned out. A few more series, a couple of single titles, and a few anthologies.

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?
That’s like asking me to choose between food, water, and chocolate. If I’m choosing right this minute, I’d take “Outdoor Survival Skills” by Larry Dean Olsen, “Ransom” by Julie Garwood, and “The Montana Gallagher Collection” by MK McClintock

Author Websites and Profiles
MK McClintock Website
MK McClintock Amazon Profile

MK McClintock’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

MK McClintock is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a retiree who finally had time to indulge my two greatest passions, reading and writing. I’ve written and self-published two books to date.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Bodies Were Burned. It was the result of my first book, Bodies Everywhere, which is a series of short stories I wrote for my Freelance Writing course from an on-line college. My professor kept telling me I needed to make a series out of these stories. At first it was just going to be the one book, but I enjoyed the idea so much and the book was nominated for an award that I said “Why Not!”

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m very OCD about dialogue. I’ve read too many books where the dialogue either slowed down the story or confused it. So, every paragraph, chapter, sometimes sentence is read to my partner before I commit to using it.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Agatha Christie, P.D. James, Edgar Allen Poe, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins. I could go on and on, especially with English literature.

What are you working on now?
I’m presently doing research before starting book #3 in the Bodies Everywhere Series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My method is to hit every free social media spot on the internet. I also really push my website, which is set up to promote and encourage others.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Once you decide on a story, do your research first. Do some sample short stories and have an impartial person, like my professor in school, read them and ask for an honest opinion. You could ask other authors for advice. If your stories aren’t shaking any authorial trees, try a different genre. Most importantly, don’t get discouraged or go into self-doubt mode. Believe in yourself, then others will start believing in you.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
This came from my mother every time I struggled writing something. “You can do anything you put your mind to.” Long after my mother passed away, I’ve remembered that and kept going.

What are you reading now?
The Greek Coffin Mystery by Ellery Queen.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To keep doing what I’m doing now. Finding new and exciting stories to tell.

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?
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Lady In White by Wilkie Collins
The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Author Websites and Profiles
Barbara A Martin Website
Barbara A Martin Amazon Profile
Barbara A Martin Author Profile on Smashwords

Barbara A Martin’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Barbara A Martin is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have more than 17 years of experience working within Fortune 500 companies than span both coasts of the US. As a leader, I am also trying to bring out the very best in my team, as well as myself. I wrote this book to help the Corporate Rookie of today to thrive in both career and life.

This is not your typically business book, as the last thing I wanted to do was to publish another one of those dry and mundane books that I’ve become all too accustomed to reading. Welcome to the Big Leagues is so much more and I get very personal in it.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Welcome to the Big Leagues: Nine Innings of Essential Tips for the Corporate Rookie.

I take great provide in coaching others how to become a top performer and strive to reach full potential. Similar to life, the corporate world can be a challenging environment to manage and it is also very unforgiving of mistakes. My tips not only deal with the dos and don’t of the business world, they also tackle life outside of the office, as trouble in one area negatively impacts the other.

My goal was to write something for the 18-26 year-old that will help this demographic to thrive in the corporate world and in life. However, veterans who have read Welcome to the Big Leagues, have also found it very useful.

I wrote this book as if I were lecturing my younger relatives. Especially in the earlier chapters where I use a lot of edge. After starting with tough love, my tone softens a bit to later emphasize the importance of keys areas. There is great value in Chapter 7 where the focus is on five key elements of wellbeing: Physical, Occupational, Economic, Mental and Social (POEMS acronym). I stress the importance of pursuing each area in moderation with good stories on how to do it, as well as what not to do; which is very easy to find when referencing baseball players or greedy business execs.

In the book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell writes a segment on New Coke. He tells about how it dominated in all of the taste tests against Old Coke, Pepsi and the many others. Incredible results! It was certain to be a real blockbuster in the marketplace. However, when the product launched it failed miserably. The reason being was that it was too sweet and consumers could not endure an entire can. When I think of my book, I think of the opposite to be true. There’s not one Chapter that’s the best ever written but when you endure the entire book, you leave with something very special.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My only unusual habit was my overall routine. I’m an early bird and started writing the book each morning between 3 and 4am. I wouldn’t stop working until 5pm on most days. I provided myself with a very aggressive timeline and stuck to it. I had I three month window in my life that made this much dedication possible, and I chose to capitalize on it.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Malcolm Gladwell and Bill O’Reilly. Gladwell is one of my favorite authors and O’Reilly stands up for what he believes. Bill gets a bad rap, but I truly believe that he is out for the wellbeing of “the folks”. I read all of his books and hope that one day he will read one of mine.

What are you working on now?
Focusing my attention back on the corporate world. I plan to write again fulltime during retirement. Perhaps in 15 years.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My own website… www.thecorporaterookie.com

I wanted to develop a brand and believe that I did it with The Corporate Rookie. I have a website and a group on LinkedIn. I post frequent blog articles that have value to the audience. I also keep www.thecorporaterookie.com in my email signature and use it as much as I can…Youtube comments, Facebook, LinkedIn groups and etc… Anything to help get the name out there.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t only look to write something meaningful, also make sure the words you speak each day have meaning. If they don’t then why should you be heard. Before writing a book, be sure to know who you are…right down to the very core. Then make sure that your message and writing support this.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Success has many fathers, failure has none.

This is true in both the business world and life. Everyone loves a winner and most point the finger when something goes wrong.

What are you reading now?
Pete Townshend’s autobiography.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I will continue to post blogs on The Corporate Rookie website. Hopefully the number of viewers pick up after 4/12, once the book is released.

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?
The Bible and Moby Dick, since I haven’t read those. The Alchemist and Illusions are two of my lighter reading favorites.

Author Websites and Profiles
Carmine Del Sordi Website
Carmine Del Sordi Amazon Profile

Carmine Del Sordi’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Carmine Del Sordi is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Though I’ve been a professional writer for most of my life, it’s only in the last five years that I decided to commit to writing fiction. I spent the time writing and have only recently published on Amazon/Kindle/other major e-book publishers and through Smashwords.
I have two e-books out now that are hungry for readers – The Big Crunch by Medeas Wray – set in Leeds in 2002 and featuring a character called Malkie, whose life is going into free-fall as all kinds of mayhem erupts around him. He’s a video games inventor and computer graphic artist and sometimes it seems that he’s locked into one of the games he’s invented. As he wrestles with his demons, he realises – reality kills.

Down To Zero is a larger work of fiction – the first in The Eaters of Light series, featuring Mallory Vine and Bob Dario, two seasoned murder-detectives as they discover an artist-celebrity cum serial killer who’s been hiding the evidence of a long-term killing spree in the art-works he sells to an A-list clientele. Set in London, in 2018, Down To Zero is where crime thriller meets the paranormal, as the two investigators start to uncover evidence even they cannot believe, taking them into the world of a psychologist/parapsychologist working in Paris in 1895 – and eventually, rocking the very foundations of the investigative culture world-wide. (Don’t want to say too much – give away the spoiler.)

I’ve also a compilation of short stories with the title ‘Jabberworky and The Other Odd Story’ in the pipe-line – just awaiting its cover as I’m writing this. It will probably be available Free through Amazon/Kindle and the other major e-publishers – and is amusing in places, a little scary in others and hopefully, intriguing.

I’d be interested to know what readers have to say about this and my novels – after all, readers are what it’s all about – and my aim is to entertain, always, and provide a page-turning experience that’s memorable.

Often, when I write, I only have a sketch of where the story is going to go when I start off, then I write further wondering where it will lead – as if I’m the first reader of the work. I’ve always loved reading. The world of books is incredible and immense – a place where we can travel anywhere, back in time, into the future, across many lands, experiencing all kinds of lives along the way. It’s a fantastic world out there.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Big Crunch is the title of my latest book and is something I’ve worked on for some time. It’s set in Leeds in 2002 as Leeds United are starting to slip down the league tables and was inspired by living in Leeds at that time and working in the design and media field where you find yourself rubbing shoulders with all kinds of disparate – and occasionally, mysterious – characters and wondering who they are and what their lives, away from work, are like.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Sometimes I don’t actually write for days and spend time mulling my thoughts over whilst watching TV or a film. Then suddenly, I’ll have a big burst of writing, sparked off by something as mundane as a rain-shower, or observing someone in a cafe. Sometimes, I find myself writing at inconvenient times, when the rest of the world is asleep, I’ll be hammering away at my keyboard.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love the work of too many authors to name but some of the greatest influencers on me have been: John Steinbeck, Iain Banks, Ken Kesey, Jean Rhys, Raymond Chandler, Lilian Hellman, George MacDonald Fraser (the mad romp of The Pyrates and his character, Flashman, the cad to beat all cads). I also thoroughly appreciate the consummate professionalism and hard work of crime-fiction authors like Ian Rankin, Val McDiurmund, P.D. James, Patricia Cornwell and a host of others. And then there’s William Gibson, Hunter S. Thompson, Ray Bradbury – I could probably go on and on.

I was an avid book-worm as a teenager and those books are still memorable to me – particularly the Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake, the stories of Franz Kafka and Edgar Allen Poe, the Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse. These all sound dark and gothic but then I also the writings of Bill Bryson and Richard Condon novels. (Forgot to mention him in the first paragraph).

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on the second – and third – novel in The Eaters of Light series, following on from Down To Zero – though the book delves into the past as well as heading off into the future as well. I’ve written the Prologue and at least three chapters and it’s going well, with a few hiccups or hiatuses – when I spend more time thinking than I do writing. I’m hoping to finish it in September 2014 or thereabouts.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m absolutely not sure – but would have to say Amazon/Kindle because of their prominence in the market-place – and Smashwords as well as they distribute to Apple, Barnes & Noble, Sony and a host of others.

Twitter as well – and I need to look at places like Facebook Authors as well. But sites like yours are invaluable – giving space for authors to describe themselves and their works further. All of them are the best method – that’s the only answer I can really give you.

Word of mouth recommendation is they say, the best method. Readers enjoying your work and telling other people about it whether that’s through social networks, tweeting or face to face, is probably the most invaluable means of promotion.

Giving away free samples and tasters of your work is a good idea, connecting to other authors and readers through sites like these, being open to others. And of course, having your own web-site – mine is www.medeaswray.com where you can find news about my books, samples of my writing, see my covers and discover more.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Not sure if I’m actually qualified at this stage, to give advice about writing and what makes for a successful career as an author.

But I have written a 12 point guide to formatting your work as an e-publication for Smashwords/Kindle/Amazon that some people have found helpful – find it on my web-site at www.medeaswray.com

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
‘Write drunk. Edit sober.’ – Ernest Hemingway. (Only joking).

Stephen King’s On Writing is probably the best advice and encouragement you’ll find – to be read again and again – and skimmed in a few places.

What are you reading now?
Empire of The Sun by J.G. Ballard.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I think some in-put is required after all this out-put – some hanging out with friends, enjoying the summer, doing a bit of weeding, some travelling, catching up on some movies. (I’m so ambitious).

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?
Probably manuals helping someone to survive on a desert island would be a good idea I’d have to say. But for entertainment value, optimism and sheer good fun, think it would be a few of George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman novels.

Author Websites and Profiles
Medeas wray Website
Medeas wray Amazon Profile

Medeas wray is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in Columbus, Ohio and have lived in the Greater Columbus area all of my life. I now reside in Central Ohio with my husband, Mark, and our son, Christopher, also a traditionally published author. I am an Amazon Best Selling Author of four books and the recipient of the FaithWriter’s Gold Seal of Approval and Books & Authors Award of Excellence recipient, Books & Authors Best Non Fiction Book – 2007, AllBooks Reviews Editor’s Choice 2010 and Books & Authors Best Native American Fiction 2011. My books include:

“Cedar Woman”,my solo novel, which made its debut in December of 2010 and recounts the story of a daughter of the Lakota Sioux who opens the first Native American restaurant in Central Ohio and won Books & Authors Best Native American Fiction 2011;

four time award winner “Son of My Soul – The Adoption of Christopher” released during November, National Adoption Month in 2007 and a Best Seller on Amazon within the first week of its release and soon to be available in audio;

“A Very Special Child,” an award winning Best Seller on Amazon America and in English at Amazon Japan, and

“Jesus Gandhi Oma Mae Adams”, My first novel, co-authored with Linda Lee Greene, an Amazon Best Seller as well. All are available through Amazon in Kindle or paperback, http://www.DebraShiveleyWelch.com/ and your major book stores.

Currently I am working on Woman Who Sees in Both Worlds – Ista Numpa, a sequel to “Cedar Woman” and part of the “Cedar Woman Saga”, “Christopher’s Family Table”, a companion cook book to “Son of My Soul – The Adoption of Christopher”, which I am co-authoring with my son, “My Cousin My Son” – A Story of Motherhood and Kinship, a sequel to “Son of My Soul”, “Heads Are Gonna Roll”, an ambitious tale weaving English history, reincarnation and murder, and “Swinging Bridge”, an anthology of essays, short stories and poetry.

“Christopher Meets Buddy”, a children’s book about the proper care of a pet bird, will be available soon. I can be reached at DebraSWelch@aol.com

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Cedar Woman” is a project I have wanted to work on for several years. Written with the help of my adopted sister, Julie Spotted Eagle Horse Martineau, it is a book which I have thoroughly enjoyed writing.

I asked my sister to act as a consultant. I did so because I didn’t want to write about the sacred things which are not supposed to be written about and I wanted to write about those which I could with utmost authenticity. I also wanted to make sure that I represented the Lakota people with the deepest respect and honor.

Within Cedar Woman you will find many words of the Lakota Sioux. Pronunciation and meaning is included the first time each word is used. There are three dialects in the Lakota language and no standardized spelling. I have chosen the spelling and pronunciation of these words in keeping with the dialect of my sister, Julie Spotted Eagle Horse Martineau, who is of the Lakota Plains Native Americans.

Powwow is described in detail, as well as the various forms of regalia, etiquette, music, and as with any ethnic festival – the food!

My son and I have attended the Muddy River Powwow for many years, and in doing so, have come to know and love our adopted family; they have brought us much joy. This book was written to honor them.

I hope you enjoy Cedar Woman.

Toksa Ake Wakan Tanka Nici Un – Walk With God

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I talk to my characters. I had to “kill off” one of my characters, and I kept apologizing: “I’m so sorry, honey, I have to do it for the plot!” Oh well. I really do get into them so much that I think of them as friends who I haven’t seen for a long time, even after the book is published.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
James A Michener, Taylor Caldwell, Nora Lofts, Colleen McCullough, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Stephen King, Dean Koontz and many more.

What are you working on now?
I just finished “Christopher Meets Buddy”. I have seen so many families with pet birds that were not cared for properly: cage too small, one size perches, incomplete diet) and felt that a book on the proper care of pet birds was needed. So, I decided to write one geared toward the 7-10 year-old-market on how to properly care for these marvelous creatures that we are blessed to have a part of our lives. I have a brilliant illustrator, and the book should be out soon.

My memoir, “Son of My Soul – The Adoption of Christopher” will soon be available in audio format. I’m working on the editing now.

In addition, I have begun work on “Swinging Bridge,” which is a collection of essays, shorts stories and poetry. The cover should be available soon. My illustrator tells me that he is almost finished.

I am also in the note taking, character developing stage for “Woman Who Sees in Both Worlds – Ista Numpa” and will begin writing it soon.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
www.DebraShiveleyWelch.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
The best advise I can give is to edit rigorously, and if you hire an editor, interview them first. Have them edit 10 pages of your manuscript before you hire them. Show the edits to friends whom you know are good at grammar and punctuation, to help you evaluate how well the editor did his or her job. If the editor refuses, pass them by.

This is important! As an editor myself, I’ve had so many clients say, “But, I spent $1,500 dollars on the editing and he ruined my book! It’s full of mistakes and he cut all kinds of things out!” So beware, be careful and shop.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”

William Shakespeare

What are you reading now?
A memoir by Karen Magill: “On The Right Side: My Story of Survival and Success”. Karen has MS and has struggled to remain an active and important part of the literary community.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More work! I write poetry continually, the short story as the idea hits me, and my books that I am currently working on. I’m also getting ready to co-author a thriller with a friend of mine, but you’ll have to keep up with my web sites and blog http://debrashiveleywelchloveandwriting.blogspot.com/ to find out more!

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?
“The Source” by James A. Michener, “A Woman of Substance” by Barbara Taylor Bradford and “The Stand” by Stephen King.

Author Websites and Profiles
Debra Shiveley Welch Website
Debra Shiveley Welch Amazon Profile

Debra Shiveley Welch’s Social Media Links

Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Debra Shiveley Welch is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a best selling author of a dozen non-fiction books, and just had my first fiction published…a middle grade series written with my young son, Max. I have a YA series coming out in October, called FREAK, and an NA series called GRIDWALKERS set for a spring 2015 release. I am a contributor to over a dozen Chicken Soup books, and numerous books on the paranormal, ghosts, UFOs, science and unknown anomalies. I’ve been writing since childhood and have published since I was a teenager. I also write screenplays and have a science fiction adventure optioned with Bruce Lucas Films.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest novel is EKHO: EVIL KID HUNTING ORGANIZATION, written with my son, Max. The book was inspired by Max’s real life spy group, EKHO, that he started in grade school as a way of keeping an eye on bullies and staying one step ahead of them. EKHO grew into a school phenomenon and Max had many friendships made with kids he still knows to this day in Junior High.
My latest non-fiction book is called VIRAL MYTHOLOGY: HOW THE TRUTH OF THE ANCIENTS WAS ENCODED AND PASSED DOWN THROUGH LEGEND, ART AND ARCHITECTURE. It’s pretty research intensive, so writing the fiction is a great creative release!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write in fits and starts and am NOT disciplined. I do not write every day, but instead do a lot of “writing in my head” before I ever sit down at the computer. Then, I can usually get a first draft down very quickly. I am always writing in my head as I go about my day, which leads people in my life to accuse me of being distracted! But the creative brain never stops working!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have been a voracious reader since early childhood, when I loved books about horses, animals, wildlife and nature and science. I have consistently read several books a week all my life. Today, I read books for research when working on a non-fiction title, but my “fun” reading is usually Charles de Lint, Stephen King, Dean Koontz and a host of wonderful YA writers I am discovering…I love thrillers, science fiction, end of the world stories, horror, fantasy, urban fantasy and humor. I review books for a website, too, so I get a lot of books for free that I can just bury myself in. My main influences have been King, de Lint, Sinclair Lewis, Carl Sandburg…

What are you working on now?
Right now, I just signed contracts for EKHO: BOOK TWO – REVELATIONS, which Max will write with me; GRIDWALKERS, a sci/fi time travel adventure I am writing with my co-author Larry Flaxman and based in part on the science and theories we presented in a non-fiction book of ours, “THE GRID: EXPLORING THE HIDDEN INFRASTRUCTURE OF REALITY,” and a non-fiction book, again with Larry, called “MIND WARS: THE HISTORY OF MIND CONTROL AND ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE.” Scary stuff!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My website is http://www.mariedjones.com and I love to promote through Twitter and Facebook on my author pages as well. Social networking works well for me because I am very outgoing and a major extrovert, so I have no problem with shameless self promotion!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Sit your ass down and write. Then write more. One book does not make you a writer. If you are self publishing, for heaven’s sake, get it edited before you release it, and have a great cover. If looking for representation, you better be working on a second and third project so you are not perceived as a one-trick pony. But most of all, quit making excuses and write!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Argue for your limitations and you get to keep them. We make SOOOOO many excuses for why we cannot do something, like write a book, and boy, do we love to defend those excuses! DON’T DO THAT!!!!!

What are you reading now?
I am looking for a good novel to read, and have a few on my desk. Or I may re-read ODD APOCALYPSE by Dean Koontz because I am madly in love with Odd Thomas!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have three projects due in November, but after that would like to finish a monster movie script I began a few months ago before I was offered the book contracts. It’s a monster movie with a major twist and I had so much fun working on it. It’s about a third of the way done. I am writing this with Larry Flaxman. I also have a work in progress called BLACK MARIAH that I had entered into a contest last year, just the first six chapters, and I almost won…came in second by a hair according to the publisher…and people raved about the first six chapters…so I must finish that. It’s an apocalyptic tale, but told on a small and more intimate scale.

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?
Oh, the entire DARK TOWER series by Stephen King. Ok, it’s 7 books, but even the first 3 or 4 would keep me sane!

Author Websites and Profiles
Marie Jones Website
Marie Jones Amazon Profile

Marie Jones’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Marie Jones is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Well, let’s see. I’m a born New Englander who loves dark chocolate, ice coffee, and sports. I know, you know about those already. What you may not know is I have four young children, and got married three weeks after my 21st birthday. On my wedding night, I forgot my license at home and when we went to the after party bar they wouldn’t let me in! I was in my gown, and the whole wedding party tried to vouch for me, but they refused so my new husband and I went home while everyone else stayed out to have fun.

I started writing stories around 14, and have continued writing, in some form, since. My college degree is in Interior Design and for a long time I wanted to be an Architect or Interior Designer. However, after I had my first child, I knew I needed to stay home. Four children later (all natural, I might add – no drugs – yowch) I get to write awesome stories for the world to read.

Ceithin and Aurelia were the first to whisper in my ear, back in 2011, and they were my first novel. (Fractured Moon) I’ve written 14 stories since I first published – 2 novels (Duality and Fractured Moon), a novelette series (My-Sir) a quickie series (The Hot Lunch Series) an erotic horror short story (Mistress of Pain and Illusions) a poetry collection (Cold Bitch) started a marriage novella series (Finding Time) A prequel to Duality (Torn in Two) and was part of a Paranormal Anthology with several other talented authors (Snowed In) .

I write a little something for everyone, a taste for every palate, shall we say =)

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Ah, the million dollar question. I actually just finished re-writing Fractured Moon, which will go live again on May 27, 2014 after a long hiatus off the shelves. As I’ve grown as a writer over the past few years, I knew Ceithin and Aurelia needed some polishing, and the plot holes needed to be fixed. I’d always loved their story, and I’m so happy with the changes made.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really. I’d love to make stuff up to sound more interesting, but really I just sit here, in my little two foot square in my house, and pour out whatever my chaotic mind thinks. Although, on this past Saturday, I did find myself writing in a notebook at the car shop while waiting for my van to get new tires. I ended up writing the entire Chapter One of (Aurelia Fridell #2)

I only drink coffee in the morning, the rest of the day it’s water or herbal tea.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love to read. My first love was Crime Drama (Patricia Cornwell, John Kellerman, etc) Then I found the J.D Robb series ‘In Death’, and let’s just say I was hooked on Eve and Roarke, fascinated by the characters Nora Roberts writes, and enamored with the world she created. I adore paranormal and urban fantasy novels as well, and Ilona Andrews shines in world building. There are so many authors who’ve helped shape me in some way, both large and small.

What are you working on now?
Polishing a few last minute details, and the second book in the series. I’ve also got six other projects going. *laughs* I really need to focus on one at a time, but try telling my fickle muse that.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Awesome Gang is a great place =) To be honest, marketing is difficult, and not my favorite thing to do. There is a tough balance trying to wear all the hats, and you never know what is going to make a reader want to pick up a book.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. In the wise words of Yoda, Do or Do not. There is not try. Also, keep your expectations realistic, or non-existent.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be true to myself when writing. Don’t emulate or try to write like anyone else.

What are you reading now?
*checks kindle* Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover, Hers by Dawn Robertson are the last two books I purchased. I did just beta read a novel by J.M. Dabney that was really interesting.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Fame? *laughs* I wouldn’t know how to be famous. I’m rather shy and quiet, so some kind of spot light might actually make me pass out. I’d love to keep writing stories that touch people, make them think, and entertain them for a while.

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’d rather bring duct tape. No offense to some of my favorite authors, but duct tape would be more useful if I were stranded. I could make a raft and get myself out of trouble rather than reading, and waiting for someone to possibly save me. I’m proactive that way =)

Author Websites and Profiles
ER Pierce Website
ER Pierce Amazon Profile
ER Pierce Author Profile on Smashwords

ER Pierce’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

ER Pierce is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born and raised in a small Kansas town on the Missouri River. I now live in New York’s Hudson Valley with my husband and two sons. Though The Crown of Stones: Magic-Price is my first published novel, I have been writing nearly all my life. In middle school, I wrote poetry and scripts for my favorite TV shows. That transitioned to longer stories in high school, where I wrote my first full-length novel (a post-apocalyptic behemoth) on a typewriter in my parent’s living room.

My passion for writing continued as an adult. I was a ‘closet writer’ for many years, scribbling away in private over one story or another. When I wasn’t writing, I read like a fiend. When I wasn’t reading, I thought about writing. I kept notebooks where I would jot down plots, characters, or titles— whatever came to me. There are several finished stories in a box in my closet just waiting for me to revisit them.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Crown of Stones: Magic-Price is my first published novel. If it was inspired by anything, it would be an unconscious desire to pay homage to what inspired me to write in the first place: the bookshelves in my parent’s house. I grew up in a family of readers with diverse interests, and the walls were teeming with a variety of genres, from sci-fi, westerns, mysteries, to the classics. It was like a candy store. Every book took me on a new adventure, and I couldn’t get enough.

My love for fantasy took off in high school when my brother handed me a copy of The Mists of Avalon. By then I had already developed an interest in the Middle Ages, and in all things magical/supernatural, and I devoured it.

The Crown of Stones evolved from the creation of my protagonist, Ian Troy. I wanted to construct not just a character, but a person that I, as a reader, would want to get lost in. One that would embody the characters I’d come to love from the stories I first read in my childhood home, so many years ago. My goal was to make him a little bit of a cowboy and little bit of an outlaw; a detective when he needs to be, a monster when he can’t help it, and a hero even when he tries not to be.

The Crown of Stones is the story of Ian Troy, a man with an innate addiction to magic, born into a world where magic is reviled, not revered.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I wouldn’t say it’s an unusual habit, but I do write my first draft by hand in a notebook. For some reason, I feel less constrained by pen and paper. The ideas are usually flowing pretty fast at that point and they rarely come out in complete sentences, in a straight line, or even in the margins. Whatever goes in the notebook is my framework, my skeleton. Then, when I go to the laptop, I put the meat on the bones.

After the first draft is done, it goes through several rounds of revising. I don’t move on from a chapter until I can read it all the way through without something feeling off. When I’m happy with it, I start editing and weeding out any unnecessary words that I might have missed during revising. Around this time, it goes to my editor. I also have a small group of beta readers that give me their very valuable two cents.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
When I first discovered fantasy, I read everything by Marion Zimmer Bradley. CJ Cherry was another big one for me. I devoured her books for years. I read Andre Norton and quite a bit by Jennifer Roberson as well. The Chronicles of the Cheysuli wasn’t Roberson’s most popular work, but there were some wonderful characters in those books. There were a lot of others along the way, but two of my more recent influences would be Jim Butcher and Simon Greene.

What are you working on now?
Currently, I’m working on Magic-Scars, which is the second book in The Crown of Stones trilogy. As Ian deals with the aftermath of events in the last book, he discovers long-buried secrets from his people’s past that will have ramifications not only for him, but for all the realms.

I hope to have it out sometime this fall. I’ve also started the first draft of book three as well, and I’m always scribbling down one new idea or another.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook was good to get the initial word out, but I’d have to say Twitter has been the best for me so far. I’ve connected with some great people on Twitter. Most are authors and aspiring authors, but everyone has been very welcoming. Goodreads has been wonderful as well. I love their author program. There are a lot of good groups to join there. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I currently lurk more than I participate. I hope to change that soon. I also plan to have a website up and running in the next month.

One of the things I underestimated was the amount of time I would need to devote to social media and promotion. It’s definitely a balancing act.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Being a new author myself, we’re probably all in the same boat. But I will say that a thick skin is a must. There will be people who will love your writing, and people who will be happy to tell you explicitly how much they don’t. Reviews are wonderful things. They can be a great inspiration, a helpful tool, and a rude awakening. Don’t let them go to your head and don’t let them bring you down. I read a quote recently that sums it up. “When you make something no one hates, no one loves it.”

For aspiring authors, I would say: don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. For many years, I wrote only for myself and told very few people. I was a ‘closet writer’. I would cringe when my close friends or my husband would tell people I was a writer. Writers are published. Writers have fans. That wasn’t me.

But I was wrong. If you write, you’re a writer. Don’t let fear keep you in the closet.

Also, write every single day. I didn’t put this into practice for a long time. I thought if I didn’t have hours to devote then why bother. But if all you have time for some days is a line or two, then so be it. I learned it the hard way. Your creative muscle is like any other. The more you use it, the better you get.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Read. Learn. But don’t be afraid to find your voice and develop your own style.

Before I decided to self-publish, I was told it was a mistake to write first person, that it was hard to do well and wouldn’t be as attractive to publishers. The Crown of Stones is an epic fantasy, written in first person in a contemporary voice. Since it was released December 2013, I’ve had numerous people tell me that because of the style in which it was written, it has a broader appeal. It can be enjoyed by fantasy and non-fantasy fans alike. I’m thrilled every time I hear that. Yet, I admit, it wasn’t some grand plan. This is simply what feels natural to me. This is how I write. If I wasn’t true to myself and my style, writing wouldn’t be as much fun, and it would show.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading The Good, the bad, and the Uncanny, by Simon R. Green and The Postcard, by Tom Connolly. The Postcard isn’t my usual fare, but it’s by a local author, and the story takes place in the Hudson Valley, not far from where I live. Last summer, when I was on the verge of publishing The Crown of Stones, Mr. Connolly was having his first book signing at a small, local bookstore. I enjoyed his reading and picked up a copy. I’m glad I did, too. It’s a change of pace for me and I’m really enjoying it.

What’s next for you as a writer?
After The Crown of Stones trilogy is complete, I’m leaning toward putting out an urban fantasy. The working title is Nite Fire. The protagonist is a half-dragon woman named Dalia Nite. I have about 200 pages written on the first draft. I also have another epic fantasy in mind, and down the road I hope to return to the world I created in The Crown of Stones, perhaps via a prequel, or another character’s POV.

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?
Gone With the Wind is a must. The Morgaine Saga by C.J. Cherry has to be number two (even though I’ve read it three times already). Jayne Eyre. The last one is a toss-up between These is My Words and Lord of the Rings. I’ve actually never read Lord of the Rings. Shhh—don’t tell anyone. Citing the ‘so many books so little time’ excuse, it’s just one of those things I haven’t gotten around to. A desert island would be the perfect place to remedy that.

Author Websites and Profiles
C.L. Schneider Amazon Profile

C.L. Schneider’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

C.L. Schneider is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am currently writing a SF series about a half-alien/half-human operative, Mark Praed. There are two books published (“A Sort of Justice” and “Talon’s Touch”), with another four books planned. I have another non-series book that I hope to publish later in 2014.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I’ve published two in a series–”A Sort of Justice” and “Talon’s Touch”. These are SF novels that are character driven rather than world building driven. They were inspired by the fact that I sometimes can’t find the sorts of book I want to read.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My characters have been known to take over the story line, and I’ve let them.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Dorothy Dunnett, who wrote historical fiction and mysteries was the greatest influence on me. Her books are a tapestry of beautiful writing and are character driven rather than time, location, and action driven.

What are you working on now?
I am currently editing the third book in the Mark Praed Series, and writing the fourth novel.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook has been my best method so far, but I think that will change shortly.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, write.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Let yourself be silently drawn by the pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray. –Rumi

What are you reading now?
The Outlander series by Diane Galbadon.

What’s next for you as a writer?
“A Sort of Justice” is through to the quarter final round for ABNA (Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award). I’m hoping to reach the semi final round which will be announced in June, 2014.

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?
Any of the Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett. Every time I re-read these novels I find something I missed.

Author Websites and Profiles
P. E. Sibley Website
P. E. Sibley Amazon Profile
P. E. Sibley Author Profile on Smashwords

P. E. Sibley’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

P. E. Sibley is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am the published author of five books Love Child, Child No More, and the holiday themed J and K Christmas, and J and K Christmas 2013 along with J and K Valentine. As of this writing I have written five books. I live in Staten Island New York but grew up in the projects of East New York Brooklyn. This neighborhood helped inspire my first book Love Child. I have a Bachelor Degree in the Social Science with Education Concentration and I am the mother of two boys Jason and Kristofer. Love Child was given a positive review by Midwest Book Review while J and K Christmas 2013 received four stars by Readers Choice.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
J and K Valentine was my last book. It’s a small book on Valentine Day poems and one short story. I was inspired to write it after getting two J and K Christmas titles already published so I wanted to experiment with a different holiday themed book. I took the challenge to write this one because I don’t love or even like Valentine Day as much as I love Christmas. However there is something about romance that can make poetry writing satisfying but it sure was challenging.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I seem to become most creative at night once the sun goes down. It’s like I really come alive then. I write during the day but its at night where my creative juices really get flowing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
V.C Andrews has been a big inspiration especially with the Dollanganger series (her original works before her death in 1986) Flowers in the Attic was a book that hooked me as did all the sequels in that story. Anne Rice, Stephen King, S.E Hinton, Michael Connelly, are authors who have influenced me especially in the suspense genre.

What are you working on now?
I am working on a few things right now. I began to write Child Scorned the third book to the series of books Love Child and Child No More. I am also working on a new J and K Christmas themed book for Christmas 2014. Most of my poetry themed books have included a short story or two but I am working on a poetry book titled Shadowed Days that will be a small book based on only my poetry. This small book will be ready very soon.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have found word of mouth to be very helpful especially when funds are low. It can start with a small number of readers and they spread the word. Going around talking to bookstores, libraries (have those sale sheets, and cards ready) all this is hard but it does help. Promoting on social media can also help. There are certain websites that allow you post your book for free so those are certainly worth look into. Mailing out the right press release to newspapers, and book stores is another way. You don’t lose anything by trying.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?

Very recently by Anne Rice If you want to write just write. Don’t try to go by any rules or methods all this can hurt instead of help. Just write. I was doing this already but just hearing her put it that way made me feel so much better about doing it. There is nothing wrong with rules and they can work for some people but everyone is different so I found this to be very good advice.

What are you reading now?
With so much writing its hard to keep up with reading but I try since reading is important especially in helping writers keep up with what people are reading out there. I just finished reading Shaken by Kerry Connelly which was a very good book in helping one deal with depression and emotional abuse. I am looking into reading my first James Patterson novel and plan to read Anne Rice’s Prince Lestat this October. For current reading I have read a lot of Archie Comics and was reading the classic Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence. There are many classic books I haven not finished reading and this was one of them.

What’s next for you as a writer?
As a writer I plan to complete my present works and finally work on scheduling my first book signing. I really want to get out and meet more readers and the public. I’m working on that.

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?
Flowers in the Attic by V.C Andrews

The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice

Goddess The Marilyn Monroe biography by Anthony Summers

The Outsiders by S.E Hinton

Ana (A.M Torres) Torres is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Interesting you should ask that twofold question. Who am I? I’m an author who writes from a small, Civil War era cottage in the Missouri Ozarks. The cottage floors are pine; there are twin fireplaces in the writing room. I like words and the messages I can make by linking them together. I’m a Message Maker.

I’ve written one book, which can be read as two. That is, the main book is titled Messages from Estillyen: A Novel of Redemption of Human Worth. It is 432 pages in length, and tells two stories at once. It’s true. So we also offer the book divided in two smaller editions—titled The Point and Redemption.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Shall I be honest with this question? The title is Message from Estillyen. The reason for writing—I wanted to say a bit about God’s messaging of Redemption, God directing his own drama, telling and entering his own story. That is, Scripture as Divine choreographer.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes, I like to move words about, change their normal order of presentation. Linking words is also a passion. Linking any two words changes the meaning of both, even if the words are as simple as one and two. The phrase one two is different than the words one and two set apart. Together, they start counting; apart, they enumerate.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Not as many as one would suppose. I’m not fond of academic work. I like C.S. Lewis, Shakespeare, and odd forgotten works, like Malcolm Muggeridge’s Christ and the Media.

What are you working on now?
Of course this interview. But seriously, I will soon begin writing a novel titled the Kingdom and the Netherworld.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
There is no best method or website. There are only methods and websites. We are leaning on Goodreads because we believe avid readers will appreciate Messages from Estillyen.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write with passion true. And be leery of platforms. It is a very dangerous and dissipating notion. It’s the tyranny of modern man.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“My words are not my own,” spoken by Jesus Christ.

What are you reading now?
I’m re-reading The Wounded Healer, bu Henri Nouwen.

What’s next for you as a writer?
The novel titled: The Kingdom and the Netherworld.

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?
The Bible, a commentary of the Bible, and the complete words of William Shakespeare.

Author Websites and Profiles
Willaim Jefferson Website

Willaim Jefferson is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I currently live in Southern California, where I’ve been a professional writer for the past 9 years. My worlds of fiction are mostly in sci-fi and fantasy, so they range from the unicorn-ruled realm of the Morning Land to the gritty ‘Fringe Space’ of the western Galactic Frontier. Alas, despite keeping a keen eye out for griffins, centaurs, or galactic marshals, to my knowledge none have yet put in an appearance on Hollywood Boulevard!

My portfolio of work continues to grow, as you can see below.

Book Series:
Fantasy & Forensics: Centaur of the Crime, The Deer Prince’s Murder
Strangelets with a Side of Grilled Spam: Strangelets Episodes 1-4, Strangelets Season One
Fringe Space Tales: A Shovelful of Stars, Pay To Pray, Dogfight, A Planet Torn

Standalone Novels:
The Detective & The Unicorn
I Married the Third Horseman
The Wizard, The Warlord, and The Hidden Woman
Treasure of the Silver Star
The Adventures of Amanda Love

Collections and Novellas
So a Dragon, a Muse, and an Alien Walk Into a Bar…
Gatekeeper and Goddess
Sylph
Predators and Prey
Deepest Fears
Three Acts of Courage
Strange Powers, Stranger Places
Crisis Points
Love’s Origins
Blood, Sweat, and Fears (an 18-story compendium)
Fringe Space Tales – All of the books in the Amanda Love Universe

Short Stories
23 and counting! Check them out in Amazon’s listings below…

My welcome mat is out at www.michaelangelwriter.com. Or, feel free to stop by and say ‘hello’ to the kind folks who publish my material at www.bantyhenpublishing.com.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book is The Deer Prince’s Murder, which is the second book in the ‘Fantasy & Forensics’ series.

This is a sequel to the first book, ‘Centaur of the Crime’, which was itself inspire by one of my writing mentors: they suggested that when looking for an idea, mix two things that might not go together at first glance, like “C.S. Lewis and speed.’

I immediately thought of: why not ‘C.S. Lewis meets C.S.I’? And the rest is history.’

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Depends…does drinking enough Diet Pepsi to float the USS Enterprise count as ‘unusual’? Maybe, considering that most writers like coffee and I prefer to take my caffeine cold.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Kevin J. Anderson, Dean Wesley Smith, Kris Rusch, and Robert Heinlein. Oh, and a special shout-out to Vernor Vinge, who I have the honor of meeting for lunch a couple of times a year!

What are you working on now?
Launching a brand new series of serial novels based on the short story, “Never Mind the Princess, Save the *Dragon*.’

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still evaluating that, but I’ll post when I figure it out!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read a great deal, write a great deal. If that’s too general, then here’s something specific: find out whether you’re writing for the right ‘level’ of reader. Do this by giving your writing a ‘SMOG’ check. Seriously.

‘SMOG’ stands for ‘Simple Measure of Gobbledygook’. Look it up on Wikipedia, there are links to online calculators. You go to one, paste in a sample of your text, and it’ll tell you what grade level your writing comes in at. If you’re writing kid’s books and the calculator tells you that your work is suitable for graduate students, you’re using awfully highfalutin’ language.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write what YOU like to read. Proceed from there.

What are you reading now?
Game of Thrones, like about 25% of the rest of the world…

What’s next for you as a writer?
Continuing to build out entire worlds and series!

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. How to Survive on a Desert Island for Dummies
2. How to Build Unsinkable Rafts out of Anything for Dummies
3. The Ultimate Survivalist Guide for Dummies.
4. 500 Baby Names for your Volleyball (besides Wilson).

Author Websites and Profiles
Michael Angel Website
Michael Angel Amazon Profile
Michael Angel Author Profile on Smashwords

Michael Angel’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Michael Angel is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born and grew up in South Africa, and after spending a few years in England in my twenties, finally settled in Calgary, Canada with my husband. I have two wonderful daughters.

For as long as I can remember I have loved to read – to become immersed in stories and imagine a life different to my own. Although I read many different genres, I have always been attracted to fantasy – nothing is impossible in fantasy, and your imagination can run completely free! I also love stories that explore relationships – not just romantic relationships.

I have also been dreaming up stories for as long as I can remember, but it is only recently that I started putting my ideas onto paper. I love the creative process of writing, and love to see where a story takes me! I already have outline for quite a few more books, and I look forward to sharing these with the world in the coming years!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest (and only published book so far) is Bound by a Dragon. It is a fantasy romance, and I cannot really say where the idea came from! I think I wanted to explore the idea of a fantasy romance that was different from all the other urban fantasy and paranormal romance that we are seeing so much of. When I first started writing it, it was for my own personal amusement, but I enjoyed the story so much, I thought maybe others would too!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really! As long as I have a quiet space, a cup of coffee and my laptop, and I can write for hours completely absorbed in my story.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I cannot really point to any one author or book that has influenced me. I am an avid reader, and read easily over a hundred books in a year, in many different genres. When I enjoy a book, I will usually reread it to discover exactly what it is that I like about it. I love the quote from Dance of Dragons by George R. R. Martin, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies … The man who never reads lives only one.” I think that all my reading experiences have led me to be the writer I am today.

What are you working on now?
I am busy working on a sequel to Bound by a Dragon.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have my own website, http://www.lindakhopkins.com, where I promote my books, but I try and get my books onto as many different websites as I can so people can find my work.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
It is easy to become sidetracked by all the marketing, tracking sales, etc. All of this is necessary, of course, but don’t loose sight of what you love – writing!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If you want to be a write, then write!

What are you reading now?
I’m in between books at the moment, but in the past couple of months I have read The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb, Killing Jesus by Bill O’Reilly, and also very quickly read through the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am busy working on a sequel to Bound by a Dragon, and at this stage am also planning another two dragon books. I also have an unedited manuscript tucked away that I would like to get back to soon.

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 would have to have a (or 2 or 10) blank notebook so I could write my own stories! Also, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, a modern-day romance so I could feel connected – maybe Outlander by Diane Gabaldon, and a Bible.

Author Websites and Profiles
Linda K. Hopkins Website
Linda K. Hopkins Author Profile on Smashwords

Linda K. Hopkins’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Linda K. Hopkins is a post from Awesome Gang