Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My mother tells me I was born in Texas a very long time ago, but I’m not so sure—my mother can’t be trusted. These things I do know: I was raised in Texas on barbecue, Mexican food and beer. I’ve lived in every time zone in the U.S.; the most memorable stint being the time spent in Las Vegas, where I currently reside and where my friends assure me I cannot get into too much trouble. Silly people.

The only constant in my life (besides my family, who deserves hazardous duty pay for sticking with me) has been change (my mother is still waiting for me to grow up). Silly woman.

I’ve been an accountant, a business owner, a tax lawyer, a pilot a flight instructor, and always a mom. But all of this career ADD made me incredibly unemployable. Hence the whole writing thing.

Actually, from a young age I’ve know stories would be a big part of my life. To date I’ve written five humorous romantic mysteries, WANNA GET LUCKY? ( double RITA(tm )finalist and a NYT Notable Crime Novel for 2010–but don’t let that throw you, yes there’s mystery but each book, at its heart is a romance), LUCKY STIFF. SO DAMN LUCKY, LUCKY BASTARD, and LUCKY CATCH, releasing August 26th, 2014) and several between-the-books-novellas, LUCKY IN LOVE, LUCKY BANG AND LUCKY NOW AND THEN.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
LUCKY CATCH is the next in the series, releasing August 26th, 2014.

And this whole story started with a smoking gun.

You see, I’m not much of a foodie. And, I’m not much of a cook either. In fact, I have a love/hate relationship with food—I love it, but I hate it when my jeans don’t fit. And it doesn’t help that I’m more of a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives kind of gal rather than one who favors an exorbitantly-priced, twenty-item tasting menu that stills leaves you lusting after a Whataburger. So, when it comes to fancy food prep, I’m a bit clueless.

Which leads me back to the smoking gun thing.

I was eating dinner at one of my favorite local restaurants in Vegas, Due Forni, with two of my best buds, one of them a chef. As a first course, we ordered some of the homemade mozzarella and their famous bread (totally to die for). I ordered the smoked cheese and, through mouthfuls I expressed my pleasure and my wonder at how they imparted the smoky flavor. I’m originally from Texas and the whole smoked thing is a religion there—but it requires a huge smoker and tons of hickory and I didn’t see that sort of set up at Due Forni. So, I wondered out loud how someone might give fresh mozzarella a smoked flavor.

My bud, the chef, looked at me as if I’d been living under a rock and announced, “With a smoking gun, of course.”

But, of course! A smoking gun. Who knew?

That little tidbit stopped me mid-bite and totally derailed his dinner as I peppered him with questions.

I mean, there’s just something so prosaic about killing someone with a smoking gun, don’t you think?

So, off the story ran, as stories are wont to do. Before long I found myself mired hip-deep in the world of gourmet cookery. And I became interested in the conundrum of serving incredibly fresh food in a place that is as hospitable to the nurture of delicate plants and exotic fish as the surface of the moon. And that led to research into the pipeline for gourmet foodstuffs, the need for temperature control, for impeccable and consistent quality and lightning fast shipments. All of this is incredibly competitive, with the top-tier chefs locked in a fierce battle for the freshest, most unique items on the planet.

The perfect recipe for murder.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I love to write with music playing…loudly. And I sing along….poorly…while I write.

Apparently I have at least a two-track mind:)

And, for the sake of those around me, I write at home, alone.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Probably Evanovich the most. her books showed me that breaking the rules and writing funny are indeed okay.

What are you working on now?
I am working on the next Lucky novella. this one will be set in the entertainment world in Vegas and will be dual first-person, Lucky and her friend, Flash, n investigative reporter, will both tell the story. I’m having fun with it, which is what the novellas are for, to try new things.

I’m also working on a totally new series, women’s fiction with romance (there always has to be romance) set in Napa. The first book is CRUSHED and I’ll tell you more about it later….

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Still word of mouth–whether in person or digital. I love doing blog tours and engaging with readers.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write the stories your feel in your heart. Work tirelessly topeprfect your craft. And never quit.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Join a good critique group.

What are you reading now?
The third and last installment in Deborah Harkness’ trilogy that began with Discovery of Witches.

What’s next for you as a writer?
The new series mentioned above. More Lucky books. Hopefully improving my craft as I go.

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?
One For the Money, to make me laugh. Atlas Shrugged to make me think. And anything by Nora Roberts, because we all need romance.

Author Websites and Profiles
DEBORAH COONTS Website
DEBORAH COONTS Amazon Profile

DEBORAH COONTS’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

DEBORAH COONTS is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written. I’m a Cozy Mystery writer from Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve been happily married for 27 years and have a college age son and two fourteen year old huskies. In my spare time I love to cook, garden, read, and knit. I’ve just completed my fourth book in The Cheongsam Fashion Mysteries. What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it? The latest book ( to be published) in The Cheongsam Fashion Mysteries is called, The Sweet and Sour Mystery. I continue to be inspired by odd stories I read in the news. Do you have any unusual writing habits? I prefer to work in the morning with a giant mug of strong coffee or tea. Sounds familiar, right? What authors, or books have influenced you? I adore Ann Hood, Sophie Kinsella, and Erika Bauermeister. What are you working on now? Number Five in The Cheongsam Fashion Mysteries. The murder takes place at a traditional Chinese wedding. I’m loving the research for this one. What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books? I’m still in the learning curve with this. So far I’ve done better when I focus on heavy promotion once or twice a month. Do you have any advice for new authors? Research. Your. Genre. What is the best advice you have ever heard? Learn to love the editing process. What are you reading now? Red Hot Deadly Peppers by Paige Shelton. As a gardener, I love this series. What’s next for you as a writer? Back to work on The Cheongsam Fashion Mysteries. 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? Three or Four??? Are you kidding? That’s like asking me which husky is my favorite! Author Websites and Profiles Carly Carter Website Carly Carter Amazon Profile Carly Carter’s Social Media Links Goodreads Profile Twitter Account Pinterest Account

Carly Carter is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Suanne Laqueur and I live outside New York City with my husband and two children. I’ve been a writer all my life but have only just published my first novel, “The Man I Love.”

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“The Man I Love” is my first novel, hopefully not my last. I had the cast of characters in my head since I was in college and I treated them rather like literary paper dolls. Just writing little scenes for them. My own personalized fan-fiction universe. It was only recently that an idea for a storyline emerged. Someone from my past came back to put things right. We had left each other to the point of total disconnection. Things had gone unsaid, business unfinished, amends unmade for 20 years. I had no idea the emotional impact it was going to make. I had no idea I had been waiting for this to happen. I needed to channel the onslaught of feeling and that was how “The Man I Love” was born. It’s a novel about reconciling with the past so that your un-grieved grief doesn’t forever shape you as an adult.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t just start from the beginning and write. I start in the middle and work out, or at the ends and work in. I write what comes to mind first—I quickly capture the snippet of dialogue or bit of physical description before it leaves me. I’m constantly throwing moments onto the paper. And as these moments pile up into pages, I start to see an arc, or a means to thread them together.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
When I read Rumor Godden’s “In This House of Brede,” I was amazed at how she was able to create well over two dozen characters and make each one unique and vibrant and alive. And I loved her attention to detail when it came to settings and surroundings.

Laurie Colwin’s “Family Happiness” blew me away with its thoughtfulness and depth of emotion regarding a sort of taboo subject—this very ordinary woman found herself having a love affair and struggling with emotions she didn’t have names for. I found myself thinking, “I want to write this way. Make ordinary people extraordinary. Take extraordinary circumstances and show how ordinary and universal they really are.”

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a short story called “My Funny Valentine” about a young widow giving herself permission to have a lover. And I’m working on a sequel to “The Man I Love” which will combine Erik Fiskare’s ancestry with his future narrative. It’s going in some interesting directions and to some fascinating places, from the St. Lawrence seaway to a Finnish utopian colony in Brazil. I’m excited to follow the threads and see where they lead.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I found creating a Pinterest board for “The Man I Love” was an incredible marketing tool. People are highly visual and having pictures of key locations and objects and the like, gave them a unique experience to dive deeper into the book and its imagery.

Linking all your social media accounts together is critical. As is remembering to be a PERSON as you network, and not just “read my book, read my book.” You must connect with people before they will become interested in your story.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Once published, network with other indie authors and help each other out. Tweet and share for each other. Swap reviews. Every mention counts. Every time you step outside your door is an opportunity to talk about your book.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Get an editor. You owe it to yourself and your future readers to make your story the best it can be. Invest the time and money in honing your manuscript to perfection.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading “Middlemarch” by George Eliot for a book club. I wish it were going better but (sigh) it’s not.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to continue connecting with the following I’ve established with “The Man I Love” by blogging and sharing my writing and artwork. And I want to add another title to my author page sometime in 2015.

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?
“In This House of Brede,” by Rumor Godden

“Family Happiness,” by Laurie Colwin

“His Dark Materials” trilogy by Philip Pullman

Author Websites and Profiles
Suanne Laqueur Website
Suanne Laqueur Amazon Profile

Suanne Laqueur’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Suanne Laqueur is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi There! Just want to send out a big thank you to all of my readers!

I love to write, paint with watercolors, and eat chocolate. Not necessarily all at the same time. I love to do pranks too, usually just on my poor husband who luckily puts up with me and lets me think I’m clever. One of my favorite pranks was sewing his work t-shirt neck-hole shut on April Fool’s (I made him lasagna that night to make up for it.)

He does a few on me- his last one was hiding an old helium birthday balloon under the covers at night. I had just finished a spooky story, and as the last one awake, I checked the doors and turned off the lights. As I climbed into bed this apparition rose out of the covers, and I screamed….until I heard him laugh.

I still owe him for that one…..

Again, thank you, and have a great day!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my last book is Lost No More, which is part of the Ghost No More Series. It’s about giving a voice to who Jim was, and what he went through.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Only that I seem to write with mini-dachshunds piled around me. They like the heat from the computer.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I don’t know about influenced, but I’ve always loved both Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

Do you have any advice for new authors?

Keep at it. Write for yourself, and don’t picture anyone looking over your shoulder critiquing your work. It really does all come together. You can’t edit unless you get some words on the paper. You have something to give!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
That’s big. Hmmm. Love others as you love yourself…. remembering to love yourself is a big part of 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?

See my favorite authors! Also the bible- Every time I read it, I get something new.

Author Websites and Profiles
CeeCee James Website
CeeCee James Amazon Profile

CeeCee James is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
To begin with, I’m the author of PARADISE ROT (BOOK ONE) and ONCE AGAIN, WITH BLOOD (BOOK TWO). I earned a degree in film from CSULA and was an award-winning art director for 16 years. And then I got the hell out of Dodge (advertising) and decided I was better at fiction for the greater good (entertainment) than fiction to make people buy shit they don’t need (advertising). I’d written two novels and a ton of scripts in my 20′s but I don’t really count them as over 20 years passed since writing Paradise Rot. So really, let’s call Paradise Rot the first novel. I just dropped the second book of the trilogy, Once Again, With Blood.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Once Again, With Blood is the second of a trilogy, which I’m calling simply, “The Island Trilogy.” The series was inspired by a couple of things. One, in the time-honored tradition of Hitchcock, I wanted to take an innocent and put him through the meat grinder and see how he reacts. I was also inspired by the satire of Hiaasen, Moore and the comedic film duo who brought such greatness to the world as “Shawn of the Dead.”

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m a catch as catch can writer. I leave my laptop on all day and steal an hour here or there to write. I work from a color-coded chapter analysis to help me keep track of where my characters are. I usually have a soundtrack for each book. For this one, Ravi Shankar, Satyajit Ray and The Talking Heads are on constant rotation.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Hunter S. Thompson for his velocity and bite, Carl Hiaasen for his humor and plot, Christopher Moore for his absurdity. There are many books that have inspired me, ranging from non-fiction to pulp fiction. I’m also heavily influenced by cinema. My books are dialogue driven and take my cues from the movies and the way people converse. I’m also a big fan of the 3 act structure.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on Book Three of the trilogy. Since I’m winding things up with the characters, I feel as if I’m writing two books – one for the story continuation and one to bring the characters to conclusion.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube book trailer (http://youtu.be/dETwMucaKoo)free ebook listings (my first novel, Paradise Rot, is perma-free), blogging, reposting blogs, retweeting, spamming good friends and family.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Get something down every day, even if it’s a couple hundred words. Some days it’s gonna be a slog and others 2k words in an hour. It’s like that.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Most anything Hugh Howie says, various folks on KindleBoards, my wife.

Buy the ticket. Take the ride – Hunter S. Thompson

What are you reading now?
Eric Schlosser’s “Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety”

Stephen King’s “Mr. Mercedes”

Craig Lancaster’s “600 hours of Edward.”

What’s next for you as a writer?
Book three in the trilogy and then I’m giving myself a couple of weeks to think about nothing, which seldom is the case.

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 never reread anything. That being said:

The Wool series

LOTR

Principles of Internal Medicine

First aid for dummies

Author Websites and Profiles
Larry Weiner Website
Larry Weiner Amazon Profile

Larry Weiner’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Larry Weiner is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a 26-year-old author, secondary educator, and certified reading specialist with a BA from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI) and an MAT in Literacy Education from Madonna University (Livonia, MI). I’ve been a member of the National Council of Teachers of English since 2011 and have presented at the National Conference for Peer Tutoring in Writing (2009) and the Michigan Reading Association Annual Conference (2014). While teaching reading and writing to middle school and high school students, I strive to create written works that will interest my students and teach them valuable lessons at the same.

I have self-published a collection of short stories titled What a hodgepodge!. This June 2014, Ferne Press (Nelson Publishing & Marketing) recently published by first novel The Visitor’s Choice: A Search to Make Things Right.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest (and first) published novel is titled The Visitor’s Choice: A Search to Make Things Right.

I used to write short stories all the time in high school. In college, I only wrote one for a dorm-wide writing contest (I got second place). After graduating from undergrad, I decided I wanted to write again. I found a picture online of a book with vines coming out of it that started the juices flowing. That summer day I opened my laptop and started typing. I refused to stop until I had finished my first short story in years. Once finished, it felt great! And the ideas kept coming. What if I wrote another? And another? And another? What if I put it all together into a book? And there it was!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Being a high school English teacher, I rarely have time that I am not lesson planning or grading essays. Therefore, all of my writing comes in installments during summer vacations and winter breaks. When I am able to write, I find that during the day I usually get distracted with Netflix and other things until bedtime when I want to sleep but my brain becomes alive, and I can’t stop writing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Maze Runner by James Dashner is a great book that starts by throwing readers directly into the action of the novel.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman does a great job of surrounding the reader in the environment of the characters without wasting time on the typical paragraphs or pages of exposition.

My favorite novel, The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, shows how powerful words can be, showing writers that you don’t need to use thirty words when ten will do.

What are you working on now?
It’s August, so I’m pretty swamped writing up lesson plans and assessments for next year’s upcoming students to make sure that they all have fun while learning in my classroom. However, I still try to cram in as much reading for fun as I can before my reading is solely essays again.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I love sharing on Facebook and Twitter, but I also enjoy discovering Awesome Gang.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
You are never just going to just start writing. You have to make the decision to take a risk and put pen to paper. And no one is going to tell you to do it either. You need to be the one to light the spark instead of waiting around for the lightning to strike. It’s up to you to take action.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I ever heard is to treat my writing and publishing journey as a hobby. If something happens, great. If not, oh well. This advice really helped me get through the year of rejection letters and emails before finally landing a publisher. I wouldn’t have been able to handle all of the negativity if I took it personally, but because I treated it like a hobby, it made the adventure all the more enjoyable.

What are you reading now?
The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman. I love his Magicians triology, and this one is the last. If you wonder what it would be like if Harry Potter went to college, then this is for you.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My main character David Wilson definitely has more adventures in store. I just need to get them all organized and out of my head.

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 Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway

Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides

The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern

The Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Stein

Author Websites and Profiles
Alexander Davidson Website

Alexander Davidson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Alexander Davidson is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi there! I’m Cynthia St. Aubin, and I write paranormal mystery and paranormal romantic comedy! It’s like While You Were Sleeping…but with zombies! (Would that make it While You Were Creaping? ) I’ve written three full-length novels in a series that is currently stuffed in my desk drawer next to the emergency Junior Mints, and four novellas in the Matilda Schmidt, Paranormal Psychologist series. There will be eight novellas total in the Matilda Schmidt series, so I have releases coming up in September, October, November and December! Because the holidays aren’t crazy enough without releasing a novella a month.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my latest book is Unbearable, and it was inspired by wanting to revisit the story of Goldilocks (a porn star, in my rendition), and the three bears (who happen to be werebears, for my purposes). Fairy tales have a way of feeling like archetypes, and like any story that has been passed down from generation to generation, details change in the telling. Being the art history and mythology nerd that I am, it’s fun for me to pick up some of those threads and reimagine them in a modern context, or juxtapose other historical events onto that canvas. Why couldn’t Humpty Dumpty be the Orphic Egg? And maybe Van Gogh was so tortured because he was actually a werewolf. These are the questions that keep me smiling as I sit down to my laptop to play with my imaginary friends.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I’m writing a scene, sometimes I physically act it out so I know how to describe it. For example: in Unlovable, Dr. Schmidt gets handcuffed to the bed, but has to roll out of the way when Cupid gets into a fist fight with a half-naked hit man. I wasn’t sure how she would accomplish this, so I stuck my hand to a wall and did a few tests. My cats found this highly entertaining. Also, I sometimes do the voices for my characters when writing dialogue. This gets especially interesting when one of said characters is a suicidal Easter bunny, and the other is a demigod.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Humor plays a huge role in my motivation for writing, so I often turn back to books that make me laugh/snort/ and or pee a little. Janet Evanovich was my first love in this space. P.G. Wodehouse is a master of comedic timing, and I’ve long hoped his work would season me on some level. On the flip side, I also gobble up poetic prose, so authors like Barbara Kingsolver have had a profound impact on the way I approach descriptions. I like to think that you can still be funny, but balance this with a little depth and poignancy.

What are you working on now?
The name of my latest book is Unassailable (I never met a pun I didn’t like), and it was inspired by the idea that it would be lots of fun to write about a pants-less ghost pirate needing therapy from the good Dr. Schmidt in order to resolve his unfinished business. I’ve been celebrating International Talk Like a Pirate day (September 19th!) since 2007, and have developed a semi-unhealthy fixation on all things piratey. Working that theme into one of the novellas just felt like something that needed to happen.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Admittedly, I’m nothing like a ninja in the marketing space. I have found Facebook to be a great way to connect with readers and other authors, and create a supportive community.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Putting my work out into the real world has been such a learning experience for me. What follows is just a few of the lessons this process has brought me. Take what’s useful to you and leave the rest. Write the story that you love. Let it be something that you’re passionate about and willing to fight for. Speaking of fights, be ready for one. You’re going to have to be your own biggest fan, your most ardent supporter, and at times, your own cheerleader. You have to be willing to believe in your dream when no one else does, and that can be a real challenge. Do study the craft. Even if that means ordering discount grammar and style books on Amazon. Find a critique group and listen to criticism when it comes. Be willing to find out where there’s room for improvement in your work. Look at authors whose careers you admire and learn from them. Make friends in the writing community and be supportive. That support finds its way back to you when it’s your turn to put yourself out there. Don’t compare your first drafts to anyone else’s finished product. Finally, put your ass in the chair.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Sherrilyn Kenyon has posted the story of her journey to publishing on her website, and to this day, I still read it when I need a boost. The gist is, behind every “overnight” success us a long, twisted, gnarly road of unseen effort, disappointment, and discouragement. The thing that separates those who make it from those who don’t has more to do with how much of the aforementioned difficulty they are willing to take on than it does getting lucky, or hitting the right trends (though those things play a definite part). Fight for what you want. http://www.sherrilynkenyon.com/about/the-road-to-publication/

What are you reading now?
Mostly, the back of the Pop-Tart box. Which is to say, I’m on a deadline. Procrastination is my biggest challenge as a writer, so when I’m under the gun, reading becomes optional…kind of like sleeping and cleaning.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Once I’m finished with Matilda’s series, I’ll be looking at turning them into audiobooks, hopefully. Also, it would be great to dust off those poor, neglected novels sitting in my drawer and do something with those. In any case, I hope to keep bringing a little laughter and light to my readers by doing what I love best.

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?
Hannibal – Thomas Harris, Prodigal Summer – Barbara Kingsolver, and Janet Evanovich’s Hard Eight.

Author Websites and Profiles
Cynthia St. Aubin Website
Cynthia St. Aubin Amazon Profile

Cynthia St. Aubin’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Cynthia St. Aubin is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been featured here before for my previous novel Dead Reckoning, the first title in the Bequia Mysteries series. But for those new to Awesomegang and my novels, I write mysteries and science fiction. I’m working on a series called the Bequia Mysteries, set in the Grenadines, in the eastern Caribbean. I’ve already completed the first three novels in the series, a trilogy which introduces the characters and setting. I’m currently working on the fourth title in the series, and a non-Bequia mystery. I’ve also completed a science fiction novel which is close to publication, and working on a second. It’s not a series though, I have my hands full with one series already.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The book just released is Deadeye, the second tile in the Bequia Mysteries. It was inspired along with the first novel. I wanted something unique and sprawling to introduce the characters, the location, and the series. So I turned the first three titles into a trilogy. But each is capable of standing alone, so readers can enjoy each novel without having to read them in order. The feedback I’ve been receiving from readers so far vindicates the approach I took, and it appears I’ve achieved what I set out to accomplish with the first three titles.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Can’t say I have, but I guess it’s what you mean by unusual.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I cut my teeth reading the old ‘hard boiled’ series by the founders of that genre, Dashiel Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald and Mickey Spillane. I loved their style, their use of language, and the fantastic characters they created, Sam Spade, Lew Archer, Mike Hammer. My all favorite character is Travis McGee, created by John D. MacDonald. Those are the authors who triggered my imagination and the urge to write and tell stories.

What are you working on now?
I’m about halfway through the fourth title in the Bequia Mysteries, and outlining a fifth. I’m also working on a non-Bequia mystery, readying my first science fiction novel for publication, and outlining a second science fiction novel.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I do much more now than the first time I was featured here for Dead Reckoning. At that time my website was still under development, I didn’t yet have a blog, and I was new to social media. Now I spend more time on social media sites than I care to, but it is necessary to promote my novels, and rewarding when I connect with my readers. I’ve discovered and joined many terrific sites for promoting my novels, awesomegang being among them. But in terms of a best method strategy, I use the social sites, online communities and promotional sites to steer readers toward my website. That’s where the real action is, and where I get to engage potential readers.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Know why it is you write. What makes you an author and what do you want to accomplish. Answer those questions first and go from there. Because those answers will determine how you approach your writing as an art, as a hobby, as a business, and as a career.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The one I pay forward. It is to write, and write, and write, everyday. It doesn’t matter what you write, just write. Practice, practice and keep practicing. And the other tip, perhaps as important, is to learn the craft. How to do more than just use words and language, but how to manipulate them. Often what’s going on in one’s imagination doesn’t get translated to the page. And it doesn’t happen by itself or by accident. Doesn’t mean you need to take writing courses or get a degree in creative writing, although those will teach you the craft. But I think one of the best ways to learn the craft is to read, read and read, especially in the genre you enjoy and you want to create in. And while you’re reading pay attention to the language, how words are strung together to create a scene, or produce an emotion, or make you visualize what the author is imagining.

What are you reading now?
Mostly my own writing and materials I need to read for research. I have projects in various stages going back and forth to my editor, and I’m in the initial stages of three new novels. I try to put aside weekends for pleasure reading, but that has to compete with all the other non-writing activities I relegate to the weekend. I just finished ‘His Kidnapper’s Shoes’ by a terrific indie author Maggie James, and her second novel, ‘Sister, Psychopath’ is waiting for me to dig into.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To continue writing. To develop more stories for the Bequia Mysteries. I want to make it a continuing series, until the characters tell me they’re heading off to do something else with their lives. And I want to develop more Science fiction stories.

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?
My answer hasn’t changed since the last time, so I’ll repeat it here. The specific book titles wouldn’t matter, I’d want to have the sort of books I can read over and over again and still enjoy. The type of books where using them to read, or using them as the only available kindling for a fire, is a tough choice. I’d want to have a mystery, an espionage suspense thriller, a science fiction novel, and perhaps something philosophical.

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

Michael Smart’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Pinterest Account

Michael Smart is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a writing teacher and a novelist. I work at Boise State University, where I direct the technical writing program. I have written 12 books: eight nonfiction books about writing and literature, and the four novels in the Detectives Seagate and Miner Mystery series.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Three-Ways. It’s about the murder of a sex-addicted graduate student studying English at Central Montana State University, the college in the fictional town where I set the books. The victim had sex with three or four women on his last night on earth. All of them–and their other partners–had motives, means, and opportunity to kill him.

What inspired this topic? I can’t really say. I don’t think it’s that I wish to live through this guy vicariously, because he ends up really dead by page 3 of the book. I guess I thought the topic would give me another way to to get at the kind of ethical fable that I like to write about. This time, it was lust. The previous books were more about public issues.

All of my books are ethical fables in the guise of police procedurals. They’re all about choices we make as we try to figure out who we are and what we want. The title of this book, like that of the others, refers to a number of different characters in the book. Just as Big Sick Heart, the first book in the series, was about three different characters who had big sick hearts (of one kind or another), Three-Ways is about three-way sexual relationships and love affairs. Among the characters in a three-way relationship is the protagonist, Detective Karen Seagate.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m afraid I don’t. Paper, pen, then the computer–the usual. The only thing that is borderline unusual is that I don’t believe in writer’s block. Just as a plumber can’t not go to work because he or she lacks inspiration that day, I can’t not write because I’m not inspired. I put words on the screen, then fix them the next day.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My two favorites, at least as they relate to my own writing, are the books by Le Carre and Elmore Leonard. Carre for how he gets at the layers of motivation in his characters, and Leonard for how he makes the books gallop. Like every other mystery or crime novelist, I’m a big fan of Leonard’s rules for writers. (Google the phrase if you haven’t seen it–it will change the way you write.)

But I try not to read every crime novelist out there. Maybe I’m too impressionable and don’t want to pick up anyone else’s style. Perhaps that’s the reason I write in the first person, in the voice of my detective, Karen Seagate. I know her pretty well by now, and she can’t speak like anyone else or see things they way others do. My books, for better or worse, are mine.

What are you working on now?
I’m preparing the fifth book in the series, Fractures. Now that you know my titles refer to multiple things going on in each book, you should expect fracking–as well as at least one very bad head injury.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m hoping that Awesome Gang will turn out to be the best site for promoting my books. I’m a member of eNovel Authors at Work, where the chief whip-cracker, the endlessly energetic and generous romance novelist Jackie Weger, teaches me something about promotion nearly every day.

The trick is to get the book into people’s hands. I feel lucky in that the people who read my books tend to like them and read the others in the series.

But I do wish I knew Oprah and she really liked my writing.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you can be happy not writing, don’t write. If you have to write, read the best writers, develop a really thick skin, and try to figure out how to summon the persistence you will need to keep writing when the world appears to say that it will keep turning even if you don’t write.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I like a line from Elvis Costello: Nothing in this ugly world comes easily.

What are you reading now?
The Last Taxi Ride, by A. X. Ahmad. I like to read books by writers I’ve never heard of, from places I can’t pronounce.

What’s next for you as a writer?
What’s next is always the same: trying to become a better writer.

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?
Books on building boats and planes out of desert island vegetation.

Author Websites and Profiles
Mike Markel Website
Mike Markel Amazon Profile

Mike Markel’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Mike Markel is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born and lived the first part of my life in Ireland, where I enjoyed a very happy childhood with a brother and several sisters, loads of cousins and some very interesting and eccentric aunts and uncles. This was followed by a very lively, party filled early adulthood until the party to end all parties resulted in my being exiled to the United Kingdom, where I have lived, in increasing dollops of sobriety, ever since. I currently live in a small town near London and am retired from work and most of my former dissapations.

I always had a talent for telling stories but I didn’t start writing professionally until about five years ago. There are a lot of articles and some short stories by me published online. The many positive comments from followers decided me to publish my first book. I’m glad I took that step because the reviews have been very good. I’m now approaching elderly status and looking forward to spending the rest of my life as a full time author. No life could be better.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My current book is called “The Zombie, the Cat, and Barack Obama” and it is a political satire/comedy horror.

I have always had a healthy scepticism towards the various conspiracy theories, which bedevil our world. The belief in the Illuminati, the moon landing hoax and the many accusations thrown at Barack Obama over his origins and ancestry. They all seemed to be ripe material for some satirising and that is what I primarily set out to achieve. There is so much to laugh at in the world around us. It’s a satirists dream. Regarding President Obama, while I primarily make fun of the nonsense about his origins, I could not resist a few sideswipes at him as well. If you don’t like the heat Mr President, stay out of the kitchen.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
What are unusual writing habits? Do I turn my shirt inside out for luck or balance a white rabbit on my head? If you peeped in my window, would you see me in a judge’s wig in front of the computer, while I pronounce sentence on some invented literary character? No none of those are my practice. In fact I’m really quite boring and conventional in my approach. I just think and type and then think again and revise. I prefer to leave the funny habits to my characters. That’s what the reading public want and I hope that’s what they get from me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
For style of narrative and sheer storytelling ability, Charles Dickens. For brilliant ability to satirise, Jonathan Swift.
I love PG Wodehouse for his comedy and Bram Stoker and Steven King for the more horrific elements. I also am a great admirer of “Animal Farm” by George Orwell and would love to write a book in a similar satiric vein.

What are you working on now?
Principally my time is occupied in promoting my current book. I am preparing the sequel, but it’s only at the planning stage as yet. I would like to issue some of my short stories in book form, (with some new additions). All to be achieved before the end of next year.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
It’s difficult to say here. Facebook is good for getting your name out but you are advertising to other writers mainly. I’m not certain how effective that is. I’m hoping this website lives up to it’s name as “Awesome”. Amazon and Goodreads are useful but you need to be careful there because of the trolls. I can’t single out any one website or method as brilliant. The best thing to do is to maintain as wide a presence as possible and really work.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Publish on sites like HubPages or Squidoo. You can gain followers there and if they really like your work, it can be a brilliant boost to your confidence. These people can also be relied on to write reviews for you, when you do get around to publishing a book. Help other authors, by reviewing their work. Most of them will very generously help you back. Don’t react negatively to bad reviews. It can backfire badly on you. It did with me once and it took months to reduce the damage. Don’t give up and whatever the situation, maintain your self-belief.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

What are you reading now?
“A tale of two cities” by Charles Dickens.

What’s next for you as a writer?
As I said earlier, the sequel to my current book and a book of short stories are in the pipeline. I would also like to explore writing for television or cinema. Those are more long term goals though.

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?
“Gullivers Travels” by Jonathan Swift.

“Queen Mary” by James Pope- Hennessy.

” The complete works of Charles Dickens”

“Vanity Fair” by William Makepiece Thackeray.

Author Websites and Profiles
Christopher Antony Meade Website
Christopher Antony Meade Amazon Profile

Christopher Antony Meade’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Christopher Antony Meade is a post from Awesome Gang