Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in Kent and since then have lived in Hampshire, Wales (on the breathtaking Gower Peninsula), Dorset, Cornwall and currently in Totnes, Devon. I usually find that after six or seven years in one place life begins telling me it’s time to move on. I’ve now lived in my present home for just over six years, so am curious to see whether life will soon be prodding me again! I love medieval Totnes and this whole environment, though, and am in no hurry to go anywhere else.

I have written five novels, across a variety of genres. My first – OUT OF TIME: Tyneham Revisited – is a ghost story inspired by Tyneham, an actual Dorset village that died. Then came THE FOREIGNER (which I started writing before Out Of Time, but finished afterwards) – a romantic saga inspired by my grandmother’s life. DUSTY’S JOURNEY relates to a baby bird’s ‘take’ on the world and the idea behind it is to help people along a path of self-development. My fourth – THE PORTRAIT – is a love story across lifetimes that questions its protagonist’s understanding of death.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book – SAM’S STORY: It’s A Dog’s Life – was inspired by my charismatic Bearded Collie, Sam. Actually, I can take little credit for it, since Sam did much of the writing himself and needed very little input from me. I’m trying not to dwell on the fact that his book has, already, attracted far more reviews than any of mine!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Before I began writing, I read John Braine’s book HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL. This suggested setting a minimum number of words to be written every day – and I took the advice rather too much to heart. Traveling through France with my husband and two small daughters, I was determined not to let a single day pass without putting 1000 words on paper. (Back in those days, pen and paper or a typewriter were the only writing tools available!) This was my first attempt at writing a book and I worried that if I missed a day I might lose my momentum forever.

So, after each day’s journey had ended and I’d tucked the children (and my husband, who’d done all the driving) up in bed, I took myself off into the bathroom to write. Why the bathroom, you might ask? Well, we were on a tight budget and staying in B & B (Pension) accommodation without too many facilities – so the bathroom was the only place I could be where I wasn’t disturbing anybody. Of course, if another guest needed the shared WC I had to leave. Oh, and the light was on a timer, so every few minutes it went out and in total darkness I needed to reach up and turn it back on!

But I kept to my daily 1000-word pledge.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I was deeply influenced, at the age of around 13, by Margaret Mitchell’s GONE WITH THE WIND. I think that must be one factor in my having written a saga of similar length. I’ve also been influenced by Daphne du Maurier’s work – especially REBECCA, a great favorite. I don’t know if I should be admitting this, but I’ve trespassed at Menabilly, the real-life Cornish mansion on which Manderley was based.

‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again … ‘ What a great opening sentence, and how privileged I felt to be there in the grounds of the house that inspired ‘Rebecca’!

Later, I met Daphne’s housekeeper of 30 years’ standing and had lunch with her. I also met Ralph Rowe, the housekeeper’s son, who before his untimely recent death was a Master Jeweler at Par, in Cornwall. As I write this, I’m wearing a beautiful ring he made for me that I treasure dearly.

What are you working on now?
My next novel is just a thought-form at present, but is connected with life beyond death – a subject close to my heart. I’m very keen to help people who fear death see that it is not something to be feared. With this in mind, I’m spending some time writing thoughts (my own and other people’s) on Facebook (and on a Blog) on what might lie beyond. So try not to be too surprised that my Facebook Profile is not mine in the accepted sense. I haven’t embarked on a Personal Profile yet.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m not terribly adept at promoting my books, technologically speaking, but find the Author Marketing Club and sites like Awesome Gang absolutely invaluable.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes – sticktoitiveness! I think it’s important simply to keep on keeping on – being persistent and as consistent as possible in getting words written. I’m not recommending the way I once did my 1000 words daily – nor would I necessarily recommend a thousand words a day. That can be daunting, and often was, for me. Just find a method that suits you and stick to it through thick and thin. Thankfully, there are a great many different methods for success – or simply for the sense of achievement that comes with a book or short story that has your name on it. Make it the best it can be, writing several drafts if necessary, and editing it carefully so that there are at least no glaring errors.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I was once told by Penelope Hoare, then an Editor with a big London Publishing House, that I had buried a promising theme beneath far too many words. That was clever in that I felt encouraged while also aware of where I was going wrong.

What are you reading now?
I’m about to read the latest in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series – PERSONAL. I adore Jack Reacher, although I was slightly disappointed in the last two books. My hopes are high that this new one will be a return to Lee Child’s earlier edge-of-seat form. I’m currently reading DISCOVERING YOUR PAST LIVES (Spiritual Growth Through A Knowledge of Past Lifetimes) by Dr Glenn Williston and Judith Johnstone. And on my Kindle at bedtime I’m enjoying Wilbur Smith’s WILD JUSTICE.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m exploring spiritual things and am fascinated too by cause and effect, both within this lifetime and past and future lifetimes. These explorations and my findings will decide the theme of my next novel, which is likely to go in some sense beyond death.

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?
REBECCA because of its many associations for me, personally;

FROM THE MUNDANE TO THE MAGNIFICENT and/or THE FINDING OF THE THIRD EYE by Vera Stanley Alder;

THE ASTONISHING POWER OF EMOTIONS by Esther and Jerry Hicks;

THE WINTER ROSE (a memorable novel set in the London I love) by Jennifer Donnelly

Author Websites and Profiles
P.G. Glynn Website
P.G. Glynn Amazon Profile

P.G. Glynn’s Social Media Links

Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

P.G. Glynn is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I began writing at a very young age, thanks to my sister, who was writing quite a bit of Poetry and short stories around the time I was four years old. Being seven years older than I, my sister was able to teach me books and stories beyond my age group. It was the inspiration of seeing her write that got me started… At least that was one of the reasons.

The second reason was due to our Family’s lower-middle class salary. My father worked as a grain farmer, putting in fourteen hour days for minimum pay, while my Mother owned and operated a Cafe that spent more money than it made. Because of this, we were not gifted with the superficial luxuries other children my age were granted. Satellite television was far out of our reach, and so when the television show “Pokemon” started to get big around us, I was unable to keep up with the shows myself. Often I was left behind in the dark, unsure of what was really happening or what my friends were discussing in Kindergarten class.

Eventually, these strictures caused me to want to write my own Pokemon story. So at five years of age, I made a spoof novel called “Automon”. The book had the same basic premise of Pokemon, but I put my own story-line and ideas to it.

After completing it, I read it out to my grade 1 class, and got amazing reactions. The feeling of seeing an audience enjoy my work was unbelievable, and from that day forward I kept on writing.

Fast forward sixteen years later, and I am still writing. I have currently released four books for Amazon Kindle, and I plan to keep increasing that number as time goes on.

This collection includes two novelettes, and two novels. All of which are connected to the same world, which is now being called the “Spettra” series. They are in the genre of Psychological- thriller/Horr0r.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book was a sequel to the first full-length “Spettra” novel. The inspiration of which obviously would have come from the first, but the concept of the first came about generically.

I had originally planned on writing another novelette. The story’s premise was pretty simple. Here you have a psychiatrist, who works night shifts in a criminal institution for the terminally insane. The idea was to have his insomnia put him in a place that only the insane could see, and all the nightmares would unfold from there.

What it turned into, was Spettra. The idea that beyond the physical realm are many more that the norm cannot see. That inside the minds of those damaged and restricted, there is a strange compensation for their losses. They are allowed to see the realm of the dead, at least one of the many…

Spettra is the idea that there is no heaven nor hell, but realms. Places our energies travel too after we pass, and we relive a different life in a new world.

It just goes to show that it really is true. A writer is only the journalist, to a world of their own creation. They mark down points they see, after their characters begin to live and breathe on their own. The story changes out of the writer’s hands after that, and becomes something bigger than ones normal imagination could fathom, even of the one who wrote it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
The only thing I feel that may be seen as unusual, is the constant drinking of coffee, or Coke, or whatever meets my fancy, while I am working. It seems I always need something beside me to ingest as I work, and especially when it comes to revisions.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King has to be the greatest influence I have in writing. His book “On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft” inspired me to keep on moving, and re-taught me all the basics and important tidbits I needed to take me to the next level. It got me into writing everyday again, and up to a certain high quota. I recommend that book to anybody starting out in writing. It will help you shape the mastery of the craft, much easier.

Dean Koontz is another I respect. His fast paced story-telling has always kept me moving page after page, and I have learned a lot from his particular style.

Another influence would be William Shakespeare’s writings. His deep concepts and powerful poetics have always kept me captivated. He was truly far beyond his time, and I think more people should appreciate his work for what it is.

There are many more, too many to mention and each one is worth talking about. However, that will be another time and another place.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on revising my old work on Amazon, and making new book covers for the ones I have already published.

I have also been working on marketing, which is almost a full-time job in itself.

Writing-wise, I have been working on deep thoughts, and poetry to post on my blog. Soon I will be writing a new novel, and once I begin, I am committed until it is complete. So I am savoring the last day or two I have before getting deep into work.

Yet at the same time, I still cannot wait to start.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still learning a lot of different things about marketing. I would say that using Facebook and Twitter has been the best for meeting new associates as well as other Authors. I have not gained a lot of readers from these sites, but there has been a few.

I’d say the best way to get out in the open, is to get your books on as many websites as possible. The more you are mentioned, the easier people will find your books. Then the more people find them, the more people buy them, the higher your Best-seller rank goes up (On Amazon, I’m not sure about other self-publishing sites) and the easier it becomes to market your books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write.

It’s about that simple. Write as much as you can and when you start a project, set yourself a quota to reach and make sure you hit it everyday. It will keep up momentum and you will find that reaching it will get easier and easier. Soon you will be able to keep upgrading that quota, and you will become a better writer the more you do it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Stephen King’s quote “You need to read a lot, and you need to write a lot”

It is very simple. The more you write, the better you get. The better you get…well we’ve already discussed how that snowballs. Either way, writing as much as you can is the best way to keep yourself relevant and to get noticed. Publishers want to see a work ethic as well as talent. It does them no good if they just get one of two.

What are you reading now?
I am currently re-reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King.

I read it over a year ago, and decided to dive back into late last night.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I will be finishing the Spettra series on Amazon, and will also begin publishing a Teen Action novel on Nook.

I have a bigger project that is near completion, that I am waiting to get traditionally published. By the end of this year, I hope to have it sent out to literary agents for consideration.

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?
“11/22/63″ Stephen King

From The Corner Of His Eye: Dean Koontz

The Association: Bentley Little

How to Survive and escape a Deserted Island- Author Unknown.

I imagine someone (or a hundred someones) has written that last one, and I feel it would be quite beneficial if I were to be stranded on a deserted island. The others, are just pure entertainment.

Author Websites and Profiles
Adam Gainer Website
Adam Gainer Amazon Profile

Adam Gainer’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Adam Gainer is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
God, how long have you got. I’ve done just about every job on the planet, working in offices, factories, hotels and bars. For the last 20 years I’ve been working in marketing for a lousy financial company in the UK, writing their advertisements and marketing communications. That barely left enough time to eat, sleep and bring up my son, but I found a few scraps of time left over to write at weekends and during holidays. It took me a decade of writing to put together my first book, a 700-page collection of poems and short stories called Sex on the Brain, which came out in November 2012. I followed that up with a short story called Sticky Pages, about a technophobe with a libido on steroids, in the summer of 2013, and later that year a spoof biography of the sex-life of Henry VIII, called (originality be damned) The Six Wives of Henry VIII later that year. In the spring of 2014 I put out a short novel called Reality TV, more about that below.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Reality TV. It’s a kind of dystopian vision of where I think society is headed, in the best traditions of Orwell, Huxley, Bradbury and others. Television has pretty much taken over our lives. Especially the genre of so-called ‘Reality’ television programmes. Mostly they’re just formulaic copy-cat shows peddling vacuous trash about the minutiae of uninteresting nobodies, or the public’s obsession with celebrity and fame. They drive me nuts when I’m trying to find something decent to watch after a hard day at work, and I scroll down a thousand Sky channels and all I can find is this brainless gunk that’s as interesting to me as watching paint dry. The ‘elimination’ shows which seem more about humiliating the losing contestants than anything else, I find particularly excruciating. That’s what gave me the germ of the idea for Reality TV. The book is based around a top of the ratings TV show called Humili-ATE, where famous celebrities hurl insults at each other across a restaurant table while eating risqué food cooked up by the chefs from a notorious prison for murderers and sex offenders. There’s no such thing as bad publicity, right? Well, I won’t say too much more but when the show’s host Soup Dogg spirits the wife of one of the celebrities into the restaurant toilet and they begin making out, on camera, the show reaches a tipping point, threatening to descend into chaos. I also introduced an element of magic realism to really ram home the point about how controlling our television habits have become, so in Reality TV the television can hold a conversation with you, and if you kicked the screen in and stepped inside it, you enter the world of the television show that was on at the time. Pretty scary stuff. There is violence and sex in there, so it won’t be to everyone’s taste. But it’s not erotica. Nothing against it, but it’s not what I’m interested in writing.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, probably the same ones you’ve read about from other authors. I find it really hard to write anything half decent sitting at a computer. So most of my first drafts are done with pen and pad. Either propped up in bed (early mornings are best), or when I’m out walking. There’s something about doing a physical act that switches off the interfering, worrying left hand side of the brain, and allows the creative juices to flow. So if I’m really stuck I’ll often go for a long walk, or go shopping, or take a bath, just do something. Before you know it the block evaporates and the words start to come. Cycling also works for me, I live in the country so I often go on long bike rides. They’re great for running lines of dialogue through your head, because you don’t write them down in a stilted way, you voice them aloud. I’m sure many of the people I pass when I’m out cycling wonder who the maniac is on the bike who’s always talking to himself. Oh, and I take along a little mini usb mic too, to record it as I go along, since cycling and writing at the same time isn’t a great idea.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There really are too many to list. In their ways, everyone from Plato onwards. I munched my way through most of the classical canon of western literature in my 20’s and 30’s, so they’re all in there somewhere, influencing my world view. They can pop up at the oddest times when you’re writing about something completely unrelated, and suddenly you remember a quote from Emerson or a snippet of Shakespeare or a scene from Vonnegut that sheds light on whatever you’re wrestling with. It’s like having your own internal Google, except much more random and unreliable. So if you’re asking what books or writers influenced me, I’d say all of them, from the earliest children’s books I read, even the Beano and Dandy comics I devoured as a child, they were all enamouring me of the joy and power of words and stories. But if I rephrased your question slightly to say, which books or authors ‘inspired’ me to write, that’s a lot easier. Martin Amis and Charles Bukowski are my literary gods. Surprisingly I didn’t begin reading either of them until quite late on (Amis in my late 20’s, Bukowski in my late 30’s). They say that reading your favourite authors is like having a conversation with a friend, and that’s certainly been my experience with Hank and Mart. There’s a black humour, a laughter in the face of the worst that the world can throw at us, that I just get from Amis and Bukowski like from no other. Amis seems (to me) to have lost his way a bit in recent years, his canvas has gotten more complex and darker, so it’s not so joyous to read. His 1980’s novel Money was the highpoint. It remains one of the funniest and greatest novels I’ve read. ‘Time’s Arrow’ is also a mini-masterpiece (there aren’t many books that can joke about the holocaust and get away with it). But Hank, well, Hank just kept firing from the hip right to the end. I don’t think I ever read a bad book by him. Women, Ham on Rye, Factotum, The Post Office are but a few of the semi-autobiographical novels he wrote that I’ve re-read over and over. Plus any one of the poetry and short story collections which are too numerous to mention. Pick any one at random and a couple of pages in I defy you not to laugh out loud, or think, god, that’s just what happened to me! He wrote a little gem of a novella right near the end of his life, called Pulp, which was like nothing else he had ever written. Its narrator was a private detective with a voice straight out of Chandler or Hammett. It was the closest Buk got to pure fiction, and to me it signalled a new direction he might have taken. Alas, papa death finally shook him by the hand shortly after it was published. But along with probably the best short story ever written (Bring me your love), I rate Pulp as a masterpiece of short comic fiction. More than anyone else, I think, these two authors inspired me to write. They taught me that you can write about the big serious issues in life, but in a way that can make people smile. God knows the world needs more laughter. That’s something I want to do, I decided. So I did.

What are you working on now?
A short story about a rich football agent in pursuit of a girl, a Western novella about the seven deadly sins, and a bit of a spoof of Fifty Shades of Grey that I’ve been meaning to get done for the last two years, but every time I write another chapter, something pops up in my life that means I have to put it to one side. It’s going to be hilarious though, a real laugh out loud page turner. Bit like the original really.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Well, excellent sites like this, of course. Plus I promote them on my website, and blog and tweet about them. To be honest, I’m not really sure what works. The main problem seems to be that while self-publishing, and e-publishing in particular, has been liberating for many authors whose work might otherwise have never seen the light of day, it has also led to an outpouring of poorly written, often barely literate books that seem to have tarred all self-published authors with the same brush. If you’re not already a famous author, or a celebrity of some kind, it’s very difficult to build any kind of platform as an emerging writer. You can spend several years writing the best novel of the 21st Century, put it out on Amazon and within minutes it will have disappeared under a tsunami of other books that came out the same hour, let alone day. I liken publishing on Amazon to throwing a big rock into the middle of the ocean. Traditional publishers aren’t much help either. If you’re not already a noted author or a celebrity who are easy to market, they usually dump your manuscript straight on the slush pile without even glancing at it. Of course, if I went out and robbed a bank, or kidnapped someone, they’d be queuing up with their cheque books open to get my story. Funny old world. So no, I have no idea if there’s a best method for an emerging author to promote their self-pubbed books, except to say keep plugging away and try to be as scientific as you can by looking at your Amazon and other sales stats, to see what works best for you.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
See the answer above. Keep at it, and decide what you’re in it for. If you’re in it just for the money, statistically you’ll probably make more flipping burgers. But if you write because you love it, and you’ve a burning compulsion to reach out and connect with others through your story-telling, then if that’s reward enough, enjoy it for its own sake. If success comes along, that will be a bonus. Hard work and talent will get you a long way, but you need the luck too, and that’s a lottery ticket.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Live every day as though it were your last. Make sure the people you love, know it. Give more hugs. And be kind to others.

What are you reading now?
I usually have several books on the go at any one time. At the moment I’m reading Classic Nasty, by Jack Murnighan, World War Z, by Max Brooks (which my son insisted I read!), Girls, by Nic Kelman, Pastoralis by George Saunders, and House of Holes, by Nicholson Baker, which has me in absolute stitches.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Just to keep plugging away. Success is a lottery ticket so it’s best not to count on that, and just enjoy the ride. I think I’d like to get a book out in print though. So I’ll either knuckle down and write a genre novel that some agent or publisher might take a sniff at, or go down the CreateSpace route. Just so that when I’m gone my son might have something tangible to remember what I’d written, rather than it being all in cyber space. A modest ambition perhaps, but I’ve never really been a one to need my name up in lights. If you have the love of your family and children, that’s as rich as you can be, in my book.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Money, by Martin Amis.
Women, by Charles Bukowski.
The Encyclopedia Britannica
Do it Yourself!: The Complete Guide to Masturbation by Stephan Niederwieser

Author Websites and Profiles
Frank Bukowski Website
Frank Bukowski Amazon Profile
Frank Bukowski Author Profile on Smashwords

Frank Bukowski’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Frank Bukowski is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have written 42 books, mainly are Sherlocl Holmes short stories, Anthologies and Volumes. I first started writing Health and diet books but found I was much more suited to writing mysteries. I know it’s early in the year yet but my first Christmas baking recipe book will be coming out in less than a week. I’m really excited about it.

About me.

I was born in Sheffield, England and moved to Florida in 1993. My profession back in England was a nutrition expert. Here in America, I’m a real estate investor. I buy houses, fix them up, sell them. But mainly just rent them out now a days with the economy.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called 25 Days of Christmas Pastry Recipes.

Not such an exciting book to you, probably not, but it is my latest book and I have such great memories of Christmas that I thought it but be a great idea to do a recipe book especially for Christmas, my favorite holiday.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I find the best time to write is during the very early hours of the morning without distractions.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Well I love Stephen King and all horror. I write a couple of Supernatural Tales called” you guessed it” GHOST STORIES.

What are you working on now?
Thought I would take a break after the Christmas recipe book, Ive done a lot this year.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?

http://penniemaecartawick.wordpress.com/

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write and write some more. Don’t be discouraged

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You can achieve anything out of life if you’re persistent enough.

My older brother said that many years ago and I have always remembered it.

What are you reading now?
Mystical Emona

What’s next for you as a writer?
Not sure yet. I’m actually thinking of changing my genre of writing from mysteries, to cook books.

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?
Stephen King The Stand

Claws of the Griffin

Call of the Lost Ages

Cravings

Author Websites and Profiles
Pennie Mae Cartawick Website
Pennie Mae Cartawick Amazon Profile

Pennie Mae Cartawick’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Pennie Mae Cartawick is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in the UK, but now I live in the Middle East with my wife, which is great for travel opportunities. I’ve been to over one hundred countries, across six continents. Travel is my passion, as is playing bass guitar in a rock band.

I have written nine books, and eight of them are based on my travels. The other one, is an account of me gaining my private pilots license.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Rapid Fire Europe: City Hopping in 22 different nations of Western Europe.

Western Europe is just on the doorstep to the UK, and one day I decided to visit as much of it as I could. The only way I could do this without bankrupting myself was to do it quickly. a day here, a day there – rapid-fire style.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so. At least I hope not. Unless you count bathing in blood before starting a new book as odd?

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’d say Peter Moore, the Australian travel writer first inspired me. I read his book, The Wrong Way Home, about him traveling from. The UK to Australia, overland, and loved his style – a real mix of description, humor and education.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a travel book about visiting the countries of the Middle East.

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep writing. Simple advice but the main one, really.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Paint the scene with words rather than just say, ‘the view was great’. You need to really describe it to the reader, saying why is was great.

What are you reading now?
I’m actually reading a novel called I am Pilgrim.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m going to do a series of trips with a budget airline called Ryanair.

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?
Too difficult to answer, But, the thickest ones I could find.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jason Smart Website
Jason Smart Author Profile on Smashwords

Jason Smart is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Sarafina Bianco. I am a survivor of financial, emotional, sexual and physical abuse. Having left my abuser five years ago, I took to the blogosphere to help myself recover (before I knew there were rehabilitation programs for abuse survivors). Now, after four years of blogging and three years of trauma therapy, I’ve written my story into a book, my first, to be released on October 1st: the first day of National Domestic Violence Awareness month. My book, a memoir, is entitled The House on Sunset.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The House on Sunset was inspired by the abusive relationship I held secret for five years. Although my family and friends knew the relationship was tumultuous, they had no idea of the nightmare I lived. The nightmare, however, didn’t stop when I left him. In the aftermath I lost my car and house, and I had nothing left.

Once I was better able to cope with the aftermath (PTSD and body dysmorphic disorder), I began detailing bits of my life to people I trusted, and it became clear I needed to use my voice as a way to reach other women who felt alone in their lives.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes. As a former high school English teacher, I often times break rules I forced my kids to follow. I write in fragments often, mimicking the brokenness I felt. I also begin sentences with conjunctions, to stay as conversational and informal as possible. It is my belief that when we discuss such personal issues, it’s critical the audience can latch on to your voice. In order to make this possible, I write like I speak.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Though I have read many memoirs, I cannot say they have inspired me to write this. I am a literature junkie, loving Mark Twain, Slyvia Plath and Virginia Woolf like my life depends on it. Kurt Vonnegut and Leo Tolstoy, too. What influences me is honesty. Poking at the ugly bits in life without flinching, not to make people uncomfortable, but to show others they are not alone.

What are you working on now?
Having just finished The House on Sunset, I plan to take a month or so off, focusing only on my blog and marketing the book. I will, eventually, write a follow up to The House on Sunset, detailing my recovery process and my rediscovery of who I am.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Twitter, Facebook and my blog (http://sarafinabianco.com) have all contributed to my success equally. I am forever indebted to my friends (fans) who promote and support me in ways I don’t deserve.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write through the fear.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write through the fear.

What’s next for you as a writer?

The second half of my story. Where life begins to be survivable.

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 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
and Bossy Pants by Tina Fey

Author Websites and Profiles
Sarafina Bianco Website

Sarafina Bianco’s Social Media Links

Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Sarafina Bianco is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Writing is about the only thing I can do freely without concern for hurting anyone’s feelings. I stay clear of offense because the characters get to be based in fiction, even if they are coincidental representations of the real characters of my life, I get to tell the story my way. Simply, I wants to bring readers into the fold of my written world of story telling.

Currently writing out of Las Vegas, sin city is likely to yield some pretty interesting characters for my next book. While you’re waiting on that you have to pick up my first novel Cold Hearted. And know this is not a reflection of the poverty and abuse from which I came, but a epitomic representation of how to shatter the odds stacked against you. Today, I am an entrepreneur and an author with a page turner for a story. When I am not writing I attend school, travels, goes for brisk runs, knocks the tennis ball around a bit and hits the green to hit a few hole in ones.

Cold Hearted is my first Novel.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book Cold Hearted, It’s a fiction – was inspired by my son.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Reading, writing, running and playing golf or tennis

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Rachel Ward, I love her books.!

What are you working on now?
Cold hearted second novel

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My website, Twitter and Goodreads

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write your first draft with your heart. Re-write with your head.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
When something bad happens you have three choices… You can either let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you!

What are you reading now?
Along Came a Spider

What’s next for you as a writer?
Continue writing Cold Hearted 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?
The Drowning

The Lucky One

House Rules

Author Websites and Profiles
Naghilia Desravines Website
Naghilia Desravines Amazon Profile

Naghilia Desravines’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Naghilia Desravines is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I think word that best describes me is eclectic. I’ve got so many different things going on all the time. As a writer, I’ve written numerous short stories, I love flash fiction, and most of them have placed or won contests. I’ve had one novel published and am working on another along with a couple short stories.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Dragons of Jade was released on April first of this year. As to what inspired it, I’m really not sure. Maybe a dream? I find a lot of inspiration comes in the middle of the night and wakes me up. I love dragons and while I do believe at one time they existed, I don’t believe they required virgin sacrifices. Though I’m sure they wouldn’t turn down a free meal when offered.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really. Usually there is a Doberman under my desk and another beside me. Sometimes the cat wants to lay on my keyboard but when that happens, no writing gets done. I do like to write in the middle of the night. There’s just something about that time when the whole house is asleep. It’s dark, quiet, and kinda scary.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I grew up reading Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Jack London along with Shakespeare and many classic novels. My grandmother had a wide selection of books and weekends spent with her were spent reading things that I probably shouldn’t have, well into the night.

What are you working on now?
Right now, I’m working on a sequel to Dragons of Jade. I hadn’t really planned one but have had so many requests for a sequel that I pondered a bit and discovered that the story wasn’t finished. I’m also working on Dark Descent, a mystery novel set in a small town in East Texas. It’s about ready to go to the editor so I’m excited about that.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m not sure I have one. I’ve tried Facebook groups, other paid advertising, blogging, Twitter, and even attending book events. All have had varying degrees of success. Depending on what you call success. Some have sold books, others haven’t.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write! Someone said “Great books aren’t written, they’re rewritten.” and someone else, “You can’t fix a blank page.” so you have to write. Once it’s on the page, you can fix it. And don’t ever let anyone crush your dreams.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
There has been so much great advice but I think the advice that touched me most was that I was responsible for my writing career. I’m the one doing the writing, making sure it’s edited, and ready to publish. I’m the one responsible for reading guidelines and doing market research. I’m also the one responsible for doing the marketing. And while I’m not responsible for accepting my submissions, it is my responsibility to not give reasons to reject them. It’s easy to sit back and complain about how publishing is hard work and that editors just don’t understand my writing but does no good.

What are you reading now?
I just finished The Maze Runner by James Dashner. I’m not sure what I’ll start next. Maybe reread Scorpio Races.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing and editing. I have a stand alone fantasy started, the sequel to Dragons of Jade, plus I’m working on two serials, Where the Heart is and I Wish…. I also have a couple short stories in the works.

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?
Wow, hard question. Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler, and Lord of the Rings.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jean Lauzier Website
Jean Lauzier Amazon Profile

Jean Lauzier’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Jean Lauzier is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a retired professor of physics but I’ve maintained a passion for the outdoor life and the chasing of birds in particular. My wife and I have a small farm in south Texas and stay busy with gardening and our vineyard. We have about 36 gallons of (hopefully) good red wine fermenting right now. It should be ready by Christmas.

Even though I’m a physicist, my career was spent making and analyzing sound recordings of birds and other wild animals in their natural habitats. I founded the Center for Bioacoustics at Texas A&M University back in the 1980s.

I did a great deal of technical writing over my career, but my novel “The Scarlet Kingfisher” is my first attempt at fiction. It took me just about one year to write it and it was great fun. I’m proud of how it turned out and I hope many people find it entertaining. It may be the first time that birding and murder has been combined to create a suspense novel. So far, my readers seem to agree that it is different, at least.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
There is no real Scarlet Kingfisher, the species that forms the name for my book. I’ve always daydreamed about the excitement of discovering a species of bird previously unknown to science. I would trade just about all of my accomplishments to have done that, but it didn’t happen for me. So – I made it up. I’ve set the novel in rural south Texas, a place I know well. It is a place with all manner of characters from which to draw and I’ve done that liberally. I hope my writing will transport readers to the thorn brush land of Texas and have them living among scientists and villains as the chase to discover and possess the Scarlet Kingfisher proceeds.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think my writing habits are particularly unusual. I get up very early in the mornings and almost all my writing is done before daybreak. My biggest struggle is that I have mild dyslexia and me ability to see misspellings and typos is almost zero. I can hear the mistakes, but not see them. I have a beautiful electronic British female voice (Audrey) that reads back to me every sentence I write. I could not allow one paragraph to become public without Audrey’s approval.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have read very little fiction over my life. Only in the last few years have I begun to sample some of the classic American literature. Although I read some of Fitzgerald in college as a requirement for a course, I recently re-read The Great Gatsby again and found it profoundly wonderful. His prose is pure poetry for me. If only I could write like that. Here is a passage where Gatsby kisses Daisy. Could anything be more beautiful?

—-

They stopped here and turned toward each other. Now it was a cool night with the mysterious excitement in it which comes at the two changes of the year. The quiet lights in the houses were humming out into the darkness and there was a stir and bustle among the stars. Out of the corner of his eye Gatsby saw that the blocks of the sidewalk really formed a ladder and mounted to a secret place above the trees — he could climb to it, if he climbed alone, and once there he could suck on the pap of life, gulp down the incomparable milk of wonder.

His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy’s white face came up to his own. He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips’ touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.

What are you working on now?
I have ideas for my next book, but have not started writing yet. I have chosen to spend a month or two attempting to market the Scarlet Kingfisher. If I can’t sell this one, maybe I should not attempt a second. If I do write another book, it will be my effort to create a literary novel and not a commercial story like The Scarlet Kingfisher.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m just learning this now. Stay tuned.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Enjoy the writing part, because the marketing part is really hard.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Strive to be in the smallest peer group possible.

What are you reading now?
Writing Journal: A Year in the Life of a Self-Published Author by Scott Haworth

What’s next for you as a writer?
Attempting to break The Scarlet Kingfisher through the fog of a new volumes on Amazon.com every five minutes of every day of every year. I checked its sales ranking while I write this sentence and it is at #196,437. Pretty depressing. I’m not going to give up. My book is worth reading.

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 Great Gatsby, The Norton Anthology of the English Literature, and On the Shoulders of Giants by Stephen Hawking.

Author Websites and Profiles
Robert Benson Website

Robert Benson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Robert Benson is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve had work that I liked, especially preaching at a Lutheran church in mid-north Ontario, Canada and now on a very part-time basis in Toronto. At the same time, writing what we now call literary fiction has been at the center of my life for decades. Thanks to e publishing and the amazon kindle program, I now have eleven novels and two shorter works off my computer and into the world. What a blessing!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The novel I put most recently on kindle is called “Testimonies”. It’s the third volume in my “Witnesses” series, which I began working on in the mid 1980’s. It’s part of my attempt to reflect on aspects of America’s past & recent times. Some of the themes I take up are war, healing, family life, faith, power, leadership, and sociopathic behavior.

Most of the main characters in the series have developed the capacity to think deeply about North American life and take the trouble to bring what they’ve learned to others. They are witnesses, who sometimes must overcome daunting opposition.

Apart from ambition, other extended works of fiction have inspired me and the desire to use what talents I have to say something about what it’s like to be alive and active in a democracy.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My first answer would have been no, until it occurred to me that maybe my life is unusual. I’ve spent a lot of time writing fiction and sacrificed what’s at the center for many people — family life, extra money, and a privileged place in society.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Too many to list. Classics from days gone by — Shakespeare, Don Quixote, Chekhov, Balzac, others. Some of the novels of Charles Dickens liberated me from many present-day biases. I read passages in the Bible most every day. Among present-day writers, I like V. S. Naipaul & A. S. Byatt & Mavis Gallant, a Canadian who died recently.

What are you working on now?
The fourth volume of my Witnesses Series, which I call “Witnesses and Troublemakers”. I hope it will be ready for kindle by the end of 2014. See the next question.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m new to book promotion. I’ve used the kindle select program and Author Marketing Club. I’ve recently signed up with Ask David, Bookgoodies, and this website. I think that’s all I can handle right now.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
People have different attitudes toward what they do, including writing. A hobby for some folks, an occasional activity for others, a way to make money for those who’re at home in the marketplace, or a vocation that calls for a lifetime of commitment. Good writing comes from these and other sources. We’re led to take the path that’s right for us.

Don’t be in a hurry, find our what’s best for you, stick with your decision, work hard at writing if that’s what you’re called to do, and don’t worry. Fight the demon of discouragement. If you need other employment, that will teach you a lot about the world; you’ll receive learning that will benefit your writing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Probably love your neighbor. And who is our neighbor? Everyone, especially in today’s interconnected world.

What are you reading now?
An early travel work by V. S. Naipaul called “The Middle Passage”. A novel by Paulo Coelho called “The Witch of Portobello”. I’m listening to an audiobook of Laurence Sterne’s “Tristram Shandy”, read by Anton Lessor. My sister gave me the collected writings of Elizabeth Bishop for my most recent birthday.

What’s next for you as a writer?
After I’m done with “Witnesses and Troublemakers”. I’ll go to the fifth & final volume in my Witnesses series. I’ve written the various parts but it’s a mess. I’ll probably need two years to straighten it out. Also, I’ll work at promoting my novels. I’m slowly getting the hang of it.

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?
Works that I could stand to read over and over and keep on seeing new things. The Bible, Shakespeare, Quixote, Bleak House, and plenty of blank paper.

Author Websites and Profiles
Richard French Website
Richard French Amazon Profile

Richard French is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a full-time secretary at Benco Leasing in Erie and throughout my career I’ve written several books but this is the first novel that I’ve had published.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The title of my debut novel is ‘The Early Bird Cafe’. This was originally a short story before I expanded it into a novel. The short story only took place in the cafe so I felt that was a great name for it. Once the characters took me on this journey into their lives, I couldn’t help but keep the name.

As Jim, the main character, is working on his second novel, he writes much of it in the cafe. I felt that it would have influenced his book as much as it influenced mine!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m pretty flexible about when and where I write, so I don’t need a cold drink or a cat in my lap. I prefer drafting right from the keyboard instead of relying on hand-written drafts so mostly you’ll find me at the computer bouncing back and forth from maintaining my social media presence to a round or two of Bejeweled Blitz. If anything, it seems that, the more I have going on, the better I’m able to focus my energy on writing!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
This is an impossible question for me as I’ve never had a favorite author unless you want to say Charles M. Schultz! I read anything I could get my hands on when I was little, from reference books to fairy tales. I’ve probably read one book from just about every major author, but rarely two.

More than feeling that I’ve gained writing influence from books and other authors, I’d have to say it is a genetic disposition bred in me. My parents are born storytellers and I was always encouraged to talk about my experiences at school and work from start to finish. As my vocabulary and my attention grew, I saw and heard more…thus, my daily stories got longer and longer. They shared their love of learning new things, so couple that along with a child eager to please and you have the perfect ingredients to cultivate a writer!

What are you working on now?
I’m excited to share that I’m working on a sequel to Jim and Eve’s story along with a series of books about the mob. I’m also continuing to juggle my marketing on ‘The Early Bird Cafe’ and handle everything at my day job. Although it’s a logistics company, I’ve taken over their newsletter and website. So, I’m all about writing and marketing all day no matter which hat I’m wearing!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I love a multi-faceted approach to my personalized marketing campaign. Internet marketing these days is as individual as the authors out there. So I like to work on my website’s SEO the most. Having the right keywords puts me in the running towards building a website that isn’t “invisible” to the search engines. Later this year, I will be pushing to launch a newsletter with exclusive content for fans, and I’m full of ideas for a future vlog. Most people are going to start with Amazon, naturally, so I work a lot on my author central profile.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just like my main character, Jim, I feel that keeping a regular journal is an indispensable tool for any author. Not only does it keep the juices flowing from day to day, but it helps to let off steam, vent frustrations and catalog inspiration. I highly suggest everyone try it – not just authors. I’ve been able to use pieces from journals to inspire my fiction writing. I’ve been able to grow as a person by re-reading those old entries. It has become a catalog of me that I can’t do without.

Also, take life by the horns. Steer your own ship. Don’t allow anyone to intimidate you. This is your book, your writing, your time – so enjoy every minute! You are fearfully and wonderfully made – nobody can tell this story as perfectly as you can. Trust yourself and take that step. Because, at the end of the day, you have to be able to lay your head down at night and tell yourself that you did the best you could.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best thing I ever came across was actually in Linda Ashcroft’s book ‘Wild Child’ about her alleged relationship with Doors rocker, Jim Morrison. In it, she claims he once wrote to her: “To Write, Write.”

Now, I know there’s a lot of controversy surrounding her and that book, even to this day, but whether he really wrote that to her or not, the logic is sound. So many people wish they were writers and they get caught up in the social media buzz and the Pinterest boards and the dreamcasts and getting everything just right in their minds before they begin that they talk themselves out of the actual act.

Whether or not you are going to be the next New York Times bestselling author…whether or not yours will be the next Great American Novel…life is short…so short. If you want to write, write. If you have a story bubbling up inside of you, write. If you’ve always had a dream, write. If people told you it would never be good enough, write. The answer will ALWAYS be no if you never try anything. If you just write it there is a good chance that you will create something wonderful – you will touch a new part of you.

Like him or not, druggie, drunk or existential philosopher, Morrison gave good advice to Ashcroft and all of us.

What are you reading now?
I stash a book in every room of the house – literally! So, on my Kindle Cloud Reader app on the desktop, I’m reading ‘HellBounce’ by Matthew Harrill

In the bedroom, I’m reading ‘30,000 On The Hoof’ by Zane Grey

In the den, it’s ‘The Mystery In The Snow – a Doc Savage thriller’ by Kenneth Robeson (a 1934 thriller)

My reading nook is where I’m currently reading ‘The Greatest Stories Never Told: 100 Tales from history to astonish, bewilder and stupefy’ by Rick Beyer

In the car is a current edition of Forbes Magazine and a copy for lunch of ‘Edged Weapons’ by Frederick Wilkenson

My Women’s Health magazines are always in the bathroom!

I hate carrying one book everywhere I go, so I just read a different book in every room instead. There’s even a turn of the century novel in my mother’s van currently, though the name of it escapes me!

What’s next for you as a writer?
Next is to cultivate my audience and begin sharing great blogs and newsletters with them while ‘The Early Bird Cafe’ spreads its wings and takes flight! Through my publisher’s reach with the Ingram catalog, it’s already been picked up in several countries for sale online…from Canada to Japan! So, I want to be sure and give ‘EBC’ the attention it deserves marketing-wise.

Of course, my writing skills are also needed at my day job for their newsletter/website/social media content. Then there are the circle of friends that I write letters to. There’s no time for a ‘down moment’ when it comes to me and writing. That’s just how I love it to be!!

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?
Wanderer of the Wasteland – Zane Grey

The Holy Bible

Encyclopedia of Entomology by John L. Capinera

Author Websites and Profiles
Carrie Aulenbacher Website
Carrie Aulenbacher Amazon Profile

Carrie Aulenbacher’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Carrie Aulenbacher is a post from Awesome Gang