Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi, my name is Wanda S. Maxey. I’m a Christian and a writer who lives in Michigan, along with my 3 children and 6 grandchildren. My passion is writing about the sociopath, trying to help spread the word about the dangerous impostor. Before I tangled with a sociopath I thought they were all serial killers, or close. Not true! Up to 4% of the population are sociopaths. They live among us but they blend in so well. They are ravaging wolves. I’ve just published my 3rd book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Lonely Heart Meets Charming Sociopath”

I was married to a wonderful man for over 32 years when he passed away with cancer. Two years later, being desperate and lonely, I searched and found a new love on the Internet. After a whirlwind courtship we were married. I discovered, on my wedding night that he was an abuser. After several years of study about personality disorders, I wanted to tell my story with the hopes that it will prevent someone else from walking the same unwise path.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really. I need peace & quiet to write. Glancing out my window, with a view of the pond & bird feeders, gives me a break. My phone alerts me every 2 hours so I can walk up & down the stairs a couple of times. Around noon I force myself to stop and go for a 30 minute walk.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Bible changed my life, for all eternity.

“Why Does He Do That” Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men by Lundy Bancroft.

“The Verbally Abusive Relationship,” and others by Patricia Evans

“The Emotion Thesaurus” A Writer’s Guide To Character Expression, by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi.

“Plot & Structure” by James Scott Bell

What are you working on now?
Trying to market my books while keeping up with my blog, and writing short stories.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Networking on social media sites and sharing the work of other authors. Also, searching for places with free promotion, like Awesomegang. Thank you, you are AWESOME!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t think about writing, just write! Take a walk for inspiration. Go to a coffee shop. Listen, ideas are all around.

Follow Wicked Blog: Writers’ Village

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“My advice to anyone considering a career in writing is this: If it is in your blood, then it was probably put there by the One who created that blood. Pursue it. If it isn’t a genuine passion, there is no shame in admitting that. Research and explore until you find what it is that is in your blood.”

– Dr. Dennis E. Hensley

What are you reading now?
“Chapter after Chapter” by Heather Sellers

What’s next for you as a writer?
Short stories and magazine articles.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible

A memoir by Mary DeMuth

Chicken Soup for the Writers Soul

To Kill a Mockingbird, since I haven’t read it and I heard that it’s good.

Author Websites and Profiles
Wanda Maxey Website
Wanda Maxey Amazon Profile

Wanda Maxey’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Wanda Maxey is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve only written one book so far, but I have also written a lot of short stories.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Inherited Magic was inspired by watching a show about string theory while seriously sleep deprived. I started daydreaming about different kinds of magic or different ways that magic would look if that was how it interacted with the world.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Unusual? There is not much that seems unusual to me, I work in a locked psychiatric unit. I generally sit around in my underwear and a t-shirt that says or implies something offensive to closed minds and type. My favorite shirt says “I read banned books” and it is shocking how many people look at me funny when I wear it.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Frank Herbert, Arthur C. Clark, Mark Twain, HG Wells
Really this could get very long…

What are you working on now?
I’m working on two things right now. A sequel to Inherited Magic that picks up several years later and takes on a larger scope of the overall story. I’m also working on an outline for a story about a serial killer and FBI agent that fall in love. There is a lot more to it other than that one line and I don’t want to give it away but it has been a lot of fun playing with.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am still learning that.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Shut up and write! The best way to get better is to keep doing it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t do THAT in public!

What are you reading now?
Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene
I have always found science to be great source of inspiration and wonder. If reality is so amazing and wonderful, how can our dreams not be fantastic?

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have red note book full of ideas and madness that I want to write. I am going to work on the outlines for my serial killer/FBI love story and the sequel for Inherited Magic right away, but…

I keep going back to this space opera that has been unfolding in my brain for a couple of years now. It will be a challenge to write, but I really love the story and idea.

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?
A book about escaping desert islands?
I suppose I would take a volume of Shakespeare because putting on a one man show of the Tempest on a desert Island seems like a good way to kill time, and prove I’m not crazy. Cosmos by Carl Sagan because if my world is made so small and I am trapped, I want to be able to look at the stars and wonder. The complete works of Robert Frost because I look to poetry for solace. Last but not least, a choose your own adventure book so I won’t get bored.

Author Websites and Profiles
Andrew Gordinier Website
Andrew Gordinier Amazon Profile

Andrew Gordinier’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Andrew Gordinier is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
After twenty years as an active educator, I continued to pursue my love of writing, soon becoming co-editor of a popular Long Island web-zine. As I created and authored my column Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives, I solidified my special niche of investigative journalism and put those same talents to work while writing my first full length book, Sex, Lies and Cosmetic Surgery. I followed up with my second book, Tick, Tock, Stop the Clock. – Getting Pretty on Your Lunch Hour to address many of the less invasive paths to beauty.
Watch this candid interview of Lois on The Writers’ Dream Show to learn more about these books.

“Tales2Inspire™ began a whole new chapter in my life.
Another story for another time.”

After completing my two books on aesthetics, I began writing what I often refer to as my ‘Inner Beauty’ stories – inspiring stories to touch the heart and soul. In 2012, I initiated my Tales2Inspire™ “Authors Helping Authors” project/contest as a means of sharing inspirational messages written by authors from across the globe, never dreaming this project would grow in such strength and numbers as it has. One of my goals has been to help talented writers build solid author platforms while highlighting them in a variety of ways to further their paths to discovery. I include some of my own stories in each of these Tales2Inspire™ books, so this project certainly has lit my discovery path as well!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I have just published the fourth book in my Tales2Inspire™ series. It is titled Tales2Inspire ~ The Ruby Collection, and subtitled, “Gifts of Compassion”. What inspired me to create these books? Each morning I read the latest headlines online., followed by the daily paper. Later in the day I often watch the latest news coverage on TV. I feel bombarded by negativity: the latest scams, battles, natural disasters . . . the bigger the calamity, the more we get bombarded with negativity. I’m not an advocate for burying one’s head in the sand, but I think we need more of a balance to all that negativity. There is really a lot of good stuff happening around us every day. I wanted to give my readers an opportunity to pick any one of the ales2Inspire™ books before closing their eyes for the night, and read one uplifting, true story. I can almost guarantee them a peaceful night’s sleep, followed by a bit more positive focus when they awaken the next morning!.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I hear a catchy phrase on my car radio, a few words capture me in a simple conversation, something strikes a resonate cord from a TV show or commercial, I suddenly wake up in the middle of the night with a fresh new idea. . . ,. I guess my subconscious mind keeps working in the background, but I’ve learned that some of these great ideas evaporate if I don’t record them right away. So I keep little note pads in sundry places: by my bedside, in my two favorite Baggalini purses, in my car, so I can jot down these inspirations before they vanish into thin air. At the end of the day, I add them to my computer.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
When i was a young girl, I remember reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. The young protagonist began fabricating lies to compensate for her dismal home life. A savvy teacher set her straight, explaining that she could create any world she desired through her writing, but that when she spoke, it was important to speak the truth. That message kind of stuck with me – both how writing frees us to create and how that writing can effect others.

What are you working on now?
I have two newsletters that I distribute monthly – one on Beauty & Anit-Aging and the other on Inspiring Stories. They take a lot of time, but bring me respect and credibility as a writer in both arenas, so I think it’s worth the effort. I have two fabulous experts who write columns for my beauty newsletter: a highly respected plastic surgeon who shares cutting edge treatments, and a chemist who develops skin care products for the trade. But I add human interest articles too and post all of them on my beauty blog, write catchy intros for the newsletter, and link back to the longer blog articles. And then I have my monthly inspiring stories new

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My newsletters by far are my most effective method for promoting my books. But to make them work you need two key ingredients. The first is what is sometimes referred to as a “legal bribe”, but what that means is to give each new subscriber a valuable FREE incentive. The second ingredient is to be generous with the content and quality, of information you provide.
I give each signup to my Beauty & Anit-Aging Newsletter a FREE twenty-two page booklet on Makeup for Women of a Certain Age. My new subscribers to my Inspiring Stories Newsletter get a FREE sampler of six full length inspiring stories from my Tales2Inspire ™ books.
Once a new subscriber hits the SUBMIT button on one of the sign-up forms, they receive the promised gift through an automatic transmission. You can see how this works by going to: www.tales2Inspire.com and clicking on the word NEWSLETTER.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Writing requires both hard work and much skill to make it read effortlessly. It takes time and effort to get a quality book published, so we tend to think once accomplished, our deed is done. Unfortunately, in today’s publishing climate, this is only the beginning. marketing is the real monster that needs to be conquered.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Don’t fall in love with your words.” or as Stephen King put it: “Get rid of your darlings.”

What are you reading now?
A Transplant Guide for Patients by Dan Poynter
This isn’t a book that would normally be on my bucket list to pick up to read by choice, but was surprised to find that I am thoroughly immersed in it. I offered to review this book for Dan simply because he has been so helpful to me in spreading the word about Tales3inspire. I have already learned so much about stem cell transplants. Dan speaks from the heart, with honesty, yet hope for himself and other transplant patients.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To continually strives to find new and innovative ways to strengthen opportunities for discovery for me and my growing circle of talented Tales2Inspire authors.

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?
Tales2Inspire books of course, because they would keep me uplifted and motivated.. But I would also want a practical survival guide to help me function and cope with the elements until my rescue team arrived.

Author Websites and Profiles
Lois W. Stern Website
Lois W. Stern Amazon Profile

Lois W. Stern’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Lois W. Stern is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Spell For Sophia is my fourth published book. I am a shaman and Reiki Master so magic infuses my everyday life. The first three book in the Teen Wytche Saga incorporated systems of magic I am well familiar with, but I had to research much of the magic used in Spell For Sophia.
Extreme math anxiety and taller students who mistook me for a leaning post, marred my youth. Despite these horrors, I graduated summa cum laude from the University of California at Davis. I live a nearly normal life with my extraordinary daughter, two shamelessly spoiled dogs, and an enormous dragon.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Spell For Sophia is a stand-alone book, but in many ways it is the sequel to my third book, Spell Fire. One of the most unusual characters in the book is a Walk-in (when a soul takes over another soul’s body). That character was inspired by my encounter with a Walk-in while I was a psychic on a police case.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I lived in northern California, I would light a tea candle and work until the flame extinguished. Now that I live in the desert, I shy away from rituals that would add heat to my home.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I spent my childhood looking for a magic wardrobe that would transport me to Narnia. So C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia was a strong early influence.

What are you working on now?
I had started the fifth book in the Teen Wytche Saga, but set it aside to write a New Adult novel. The characters are older and quite different from the Jefferson High and Athenian Academy teens in the Teen Wytche Saga.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My best promotional tool is school visits. I’ve had sales bumps with several sites, including the Romance Studio and blog tours arranged by I am a Reader, Not a Writer. Of course, the best one-stop site for the Teen Wytche Saga is http://www.AriellaMoon.com.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Join writers’ organizations like SCBWI, Romance Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime and enter their writing contests. Attend writing conferences. Hone your craft and never give up!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Nora Roberts once said, “You can fix a bad page of writing but you can’t fix a blank one.”

What are you reading now?
I just finished Alexis Hall’s fun and imaginative novel, Iron and Velvet and look forward to reading the sequel. I have a stockpile of books waiting my attention.

What’s next for you as a writer?
A slight shift in genre and expanding my readership is next on my To Do list.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’d grab one of my Harry Potter books, and two books on my Christmas list: Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger, and Shadows & Dreams by Alexis Hall.

Author Websites and Profiles
Ariella Moon Website
Ariella Moon Amazon Profile

Ariella Moon’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Pinterest Account

Ariella Moon is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am student born and raised in Liverpool England and my first and only book was Sunken Dreams.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Sunken Dreams. I love learning about different periods of history and one that has fascinated me has been the Titanic, especially the passengers on it. So for my first book I wanted to do a tribute to the passengers and crew of the Titanic.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Binge writing is my writing habit. I can go for hours and not be able to write a single word but then I’ll get a small idea and I can go for hours writing 2,000+.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Anne Frank is my biggest influence. Reading her diary has me in tears. Halfway through writing her diary Anne starts to edit it so it can be published after the war. Many would see her dream of being a writer far fetched as she is a Jewish girl in hiding in Nazi occupied the Netherlands. However her dream did come true even if she was not alive to see it.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a book called Catherine The Most Faithful. I was inspired by just reading about one of my favourite parts of history. This story is based on one lady who was one of the most influential during that period of history.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook hands down. I share it on their with my friends and family and most are willing to then share it to there’s. Most of the people who have read my book found it through someone they know sharing it on Facebook.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Go for it. If you want this go for it. I had no money to spend and I was 18 when Sunken Dreams got published. I wanted it and went for it. Anyone can do it if you try, it’s not easier by far but if you want it you can get it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Make your own writers kit. Include; a device to listen to whatever music helps you write, a thesaurus, pens, note pads, research you have done, your favorite drink and something that inspires you to write. This helps me keep going when I’m writing.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading Madeleine by Kate McCann, it is such an emotional and heart felt story of a mother going through her worst nightmare.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My next aim is to write a series. I have got it planned and Catherine The Most Faithful will be the first in that 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?
Anne Franks Diary, Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and The Captains Daughter by Leah Flemming.

Author Websites and Profiles
Abbie McDonough Website
Abbie McDonough Amazon Profile

Abbie McDonough’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Abbie McDonough is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I grew up in south west England in a small town. I graduated with an MA in analytic philosophy from Cardiff University. I have always written since my childhood, short stories, poetry and songs. I have had a few short stories published in literary magazines, but Disfigured Liberty is my first published book. I currently live and work in Japan.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book is entitled “Disfigured liberty”-it’s a collection of short stories all written in the summer of this year. The book itself was inspired by the excruciating wait for responses from literary magazines. The average response time being six months for the magazines that I was submitting to. The stories themselves came from some place deep within-themes of love, loss, and death run through them all.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if it’s unusual but it’s my process. I always write for two hours, morning or evening, the only difference being the morning session is accompanied by coffee and the evening session is accompanied by whiskey. The first hour is spent rereading and rewriting. I always listen to classical music.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m not sure I would say they influenced me but authors whom I love are Iain Banks, Ian Mcewan and Robert Olen Butler. The latter had a profound influence on my writing process.

What are you working on now?
I am working on promoting this book and moving house right now. Next month I plan to start work on my new novel.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m hoping it will be this one.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write from the heart. Don’t plan. I can’t wait to sit at my PC each day to find out what happens next. The characters decide the story not the writer.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
From Robert Olen Butler. He wrote a short story real time over about 30 hours on camera. He changed the way I write. Don’t plan, listen to classical music, begin each session reworking the previous day(s) writing.

What are you reading now?
I am reading a collection of short stories by Ron Rash entitled Burning Bright.

What’s next for you as a writer?
A new novel.

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 Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R Tolkien (I’m counting that as one book!) I’m not a fantasy writer but I have loved this story forever.

Atonement by Ian Mcewan–beautiful writing .

A Long Way Down Nick Hornby–one of the best character writers I have read.

Author Websites and Profiles
Neil Brown Amazon Profile

Neil Brown’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Neil Brown is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Steven Lloyd. I write out of Southern Illinois, and have interviewed such authors and actors as Jack Ketchum, Nancy Collins, legendary film greats Bill Moseley and Sid Haig, from the “Devil’s Rejects” films. My work has appeared in several print and on-line publications.

In 2008 I launched a publishing company called Croatoan Publishing, dedicated to the Horror and Dark Suspense genre. Before closing the doors, I released “People are Strange” by James Newman and “Flesh Welder” by Ronald Kelly. You can visit me here http://stevenlloyd.weebly.com/index.html

I have a short story out titled “The Wooden Box”, which is in my new collection STRANGE ROADS. You can download The Wooden Box here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Wooden-Box-ebook/dp/B00BCNWI5Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361114050&sr=8-1&keywords=the+wooden+box+steven+lloyd to get a feel for how I write. 99 cents isn’t bad.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Strange Roads.

All the stories in Strange Roads are reprints. Just before publication I added two original stories “The Wallet” and “The Fight of the Century”.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Sometimes I write at work, but mostly here at home in my office.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King, James Newman, Brian Keene, Sara Brooke, Ronald Kelly, John Grover, Jason Brannon, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Golding, Bukowski, R. Thomas Riley, Jack Ketchum, Nancy Collins, and many, many others. Too many others to name here.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a novel titled “Dogwood Summer” at the moment. Loving it so far!

Description:

When fifteen-year-old Hector McGee skipped the last day of school to go fishing with his best friend Vernon, he didn’t expect to hear a woman’s screams coming from inside the Buckmyer house. He heard a familiar voice, one he knows all too well—the raspy voice of his drunken father—dishing out brutal punishments that only he could give.

It’s the 1940’s and Hector McGee is on the run from the Buckmyer brothers seeking revenge after the disappearance of his father. Hector enlists the help of his best friend and several others as they plunge deep into the Dogwood Bottoms seeking the mythical voodoo doctor Pepper Jones. They will have to go through hell to find him and the trip may very well kill them all.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I hit all the boards I can. People I know run these, so it’s not a slap in their face when I promote. Facebook and Twitter are great outlets for my promoting as well.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never give up. If you’re writing for the money, just close the laptop now and walk away. Do it because you love it. Money will come later. I do it because I have to. It’s in my blood. I can’t think of doing anything else. Only when you know that you’ll probably never walk the same plane as Stephen King will you be able to grow as a writer. Put all that I’m—going—to—be—a—famous—writer—one–day—bullshit aside and write the damn thing. And keep writing. Read everything you can get your hands on. Reading is a part of the learning process. You’ll be better for it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Nobody who can write worth a damn ever writes in peace.

–Charles Bukowski

And.

If what a writer wrote was published and sold many, many copies, the writer thought he was great. If what a writer wrote was published and sold a medium number of copies, the writer thought he was great. If what a writer wrote was published and sold very few copies, the writer thought he was great. If what the writer wrote never was published and he didn’t have the money to publish it himself, then he thought he was truly great. The truth, however, was that there was very little greatness. It was almost nonexistent, invisible. But you could be sure that the worst writer had the most confidence, the least self-doubt.

–Charles Bukowski

What are you reading now?
Prince Lestat by the always great Anne Rice

What’s next for you as a writer?
After I finish “Dogwood Summer”, I’m going to be working on a western story.

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?
“On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft By Stephen King.

Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing.

Run with the Hunted by Charles Bukowski

Author Websites and Profiles
Steven Lloyd Website

Steven Lloyd’s Social Media Links

Facebook Profile

Steven Lloyd is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
As an author I have written a number of books, including novels, poetry and children’s books. My novels are written as Brian L Porter and include: A Study in Red – The Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper, Legacy of the Ripper, Requiem for the Ripper, Behind Closed Doors, Purple Death, Glastonbury, The Nemesis Cell, Avenue of the Dead, Kiss of Life, and the short story collection, After Armageddon, and my book of Remembrance poetry, Lest We Forget was also written under my primary name. Over the years I have been fortunate to have won various awards in the annual Preditors & Editors Readers Awards, including Best Author, Best Thriller, (A Study in Red – The Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper), Best Mystery novel, (Glastonbury), and Best Children’s Book, (Tilly’s Tale).

I have also written a collection of very romantic poetry based on the time I spent in Mexico some years ago, under the pseudonym Juan Pablo Jalisco, and Of Aztecs and Conquistadors has been an Amazon #1 Bestseller in both the USA and the UK. As Juan Pablo, I won the Preditors & Editors Readers Award for ‘Best Poet, 2010)

Another Amazon #1 Bestseller came with my children’s book written as Harry Porter, (with illustrations by Sharon Lewis), entitled Alistair the Alligator.

In addition to my books, I am also the in-house screenwriter and co-producer at ThunderBall Films Ltd. I’m curently working on a number of screenplays and was recently the co-creator, co-producer and screenwriter of the ‘coming soon’ TV drama/documentary series, Jack the Ripper, Reality and Myth, featuring John Nettles, (Midsomer Murders), Mischa Barton, (The Sixth Sense), and Clive Mantle, (Casualty, Holby City).

When not writing, I am an ardent dog lover and my wife and i share own home and our lives with our wonderful ‘pack’ of rescued dogs.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest release is Avenue of the Dead, a fast-paced thriller set against the backdrop of the ancient ruined city of Teotihuacan in Mexico. The book was inspired by a visit I made to Mexico some years ago, when I met and spoke to a wonderful old man who seemed to be filled with the combined knowledge of all the ancient cultures and the history of his country. Over a period of days, he educated me in the many ages of civilisation that have grown and died over many centuries in Mesoamerica, and when I was looking for a setting for my latest novel I could think of no better place than the ancient city of Teotihuacan. Though set in the present day, Avenue of the Dead brings the reader into direct contact with the ways of tose ancient peoples who inhabited the land we now know as Mexico many centuries before the Aztecs.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Only that I will often go to sleep at night and literally dream an entire story, from start to finish, and have the ability to recall the dream in enough detail to note the scenario down the next day, giving me the framework for a new novel, without having had to think too hard about it.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Tess Gerritsen, Clive Cussler, Peter Robinson and Peter James, all of who have influenced me and my work over the years. Conan Doyle was for me the absolute master of mystery, Sherlock Holmes being the model for all great fictional detectives who have followed in Conan Doyle’s footsteps. Clive Cussler’s novels inspired me to seek to follow his wonderful talent for creating believable adventure from unbelievable scenarios, and Tess Gerriten’s medical thrillers are so wonderful to read and inspired my own novel, The Nemesis Cell.

What are you working on now?
Together with the hugely talented illustrator, Sharon Lewis, I’m curently working on a new children’s book, Percy the Pigeon, I’m also working on the sequel to Behind Closed Doors, with the working title, A Tainted Inheritance, as well as a couple of movie screenplays.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I find Facebook the most suitable and efficient means of promotion, with a whole host of groups available in which to market and promote one’s work.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Quite simply, never give up tring toimprove your craft as a writer, and, if submitting your work to a publisher or publishers, do not let yourself become too despondent when the almost inevitable rejection letters or emails begin arriving. If your work, and your book is good enough, then there is a publisher out there who will want it. It just takes time to find that elusive link in the chain that takes you from aspiring writer to pubished author.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Very simply, it was this: Don’t be too self-satisfied with what you’ve written. Learn to be self-critical and be prepared to self-edit your work over and again until you know in your heart you’ve done the best job you can, and then, when the book is with your publisher and their editor makes even more changes to your precious manuscript, don’t take it personally and remember that though it may not seem like it at the time, your editor is there to help you, to make your book the best it can be and most importantly, to make it saleable!

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading ‘Ancients’ by David Lynn Golemon, a terrific action adventure novel, in the style of Clive Cussler or Matthew Reilly.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I think I have plenty to keep me going for the forseeable future, but one never knows what opportunities might present themselves in the future.

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 Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, stories I can read over and over again, and always find something I’ve missed in the past.

The Return of Serlock Holmes, for the same reasons as above.

Corsair, (Clive Cussler), a great seafaring tale to keep me entertained while awaiting rescue!

The Cruel Sea, (Nicholas Monserrat), one of the finest tales of the men who served in the cruellest of environments during the Second World War.

Author Websites and Profiles
Brian L Porter Website
Brian L Porter Amazon Profile

Brian L Porter’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Brian L Porter is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a Southern California-based writer of horror, SF, thrillers and bizarro fiction. My bibliography includes The Fetus and Other Stories and The Phantom Cabinet, as well as “Sacrificial Version” from Into the Darkness: Volume One.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is The Phantom Cabinet. It was inspired by recurring childhood nightmares and a lifelong love of poltergeist fiction.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Occasionally, I’ll drink way too much coffee and go into full-blown caffeine convulsions, which results in me generating ideas for half a dozen stories simultaneously.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
H.P. Lovecraft, Grant Morrison, Stephen King, Alan Moore, Thomas Ligotti, Bentley Little, Peter Straub, J.D. Salinger, Peter David, Chris Claremont, Clive Barker, Warren Ellis, Jonathan Hickman, Michael Marshall Smith, Robert McCammon, Rod Serling, Richard Kelly, David Lynch, John Carpenter, Ray Bradbury, Neil Gaiman and Richard Matheson.

What are you working on now?
I am editing two novels (one horror, one thriller), and writing a new story featuring Professor Pandora, the villain from “Sacrificial Version.”

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Goodreads giveaways, my publisher’s subscriber emails, and contacting indie book reviewers.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Get used to rejection.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Avoid overly formal dialogue.

What are you reading now?
Warren Ellis’ Gun Machine and Grant Morrison’s The Doom Patrol Omnibus.

What’s next for you as a writer?
A science fiction thriller featuring Investutech, the number one threat to our multiverse.

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?
H.P. Lovecraft: Tales, Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers, Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles Omnibus, and X-Men: Messiah Complex.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jeremy Thompson Amazon Profile

Jeremy Thompson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Jeremy Thompson is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in Hertfordshire, England. I have a background in Animal Science and Conservation. I have been lucky enough to do volunteer work at a wolf conservation center during my degree, and my last job as an ecologist gave me the opportunity to work all over England, in some absolutely lovely locations.

BOUND is my first novel. I started writing it as something to do when I working away and staying in hotels by myself.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is titled BOUND, about a slave girl, Coiran Hiralad, who survives an attempt to sacrifice her to the sea god. She is taken in by the former crown prince of Mocene; his act of kindness sets in motion a coup attempt.

Initial inspiration came from the saying “No good deed goes unpunished.”

other inspiration came from my love of crime dramas, (started when I read the strand illustrated version of sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes), Norse mythology, history (the death of William Rufus), my GCSE Latin classes, and my Traditional English Martial Arts class.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Unusual writing habitats? Not really, (I will scribble ideas down on scraps of paper when I’m out and about), my more wild ideas usually spring from sleep deprivation after I’ve worked nights.

I do love to listen to music when I write. My Sound track whilst writing BOUND included Wardruna, Loreena McKennitt, Mari Boine and Within Temptation.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I grew up reading Tamora Pierce, Diane Duane and Barbara Hambly. Tamora Pierce’s books certainly inspired me to start writing.

I love SONG IN THE SILENCE by Elizabeth Kerner, which gave me the idea to write in first person and split the point of view between Coiran and Elam.

I had originally written the story in standard third person point of view, but Coiran who was supposed to be my main character kept slipping into the background (as a former slave and a wolf, she doesn’t like being the center of attention).

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a sequel to BOUND entitled WEFT OF CRIMSON, which picks up a few months after the events in BOUND.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m active on goodreads.com, (I find the site easier to navigate than some). I also have a website: sarahdowningblog.wordpress.com/ which I try to keep updated with news relevant to my books, and I have a book trailer up on youtube.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My biggest advice would be to check your work with more than one spelling/grammar checker, as well as reading your work aloud, don’t just rely on one spell checker to pick up every spelling mistakes.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Double check everything!

What are you reading now?
I’m doing more writing than reading at the moment. Though I am part way through HAMMER OF THE SUN by Michael Scott Rohan, ORIGIN OF THE BRITISH by Stephen Oppenheimer and THE PROTECTOR by David Morrell.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have ideas for another two books after WEFT OF CRIMSON, after that, I’m not sure.

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?
Only three or four books? I take at least twice that on holiday with me!

Dale Brown – The Tin Man;
Barbara Hambly – the Silent Tower; and
Kelly Armstrong – Exit Strategy

I think that covers the widest selection of genres on my bookcase, and they are all books I can read again and again.

Author Websites and Profiles
Sarah Downing Website
Sarah Downing Amazon Profile

Sarah Downing’s Social Media Links

Goodreads Profile

Sarah Downing is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I write hot and sultry contemporary romance, and to date have written 30 romance novels. Most of them are set in the sub-tropical Northland of New Zealand, where I live.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Treat with Caution is a fun & sexy enemies-to-lovers contemporary romance set in Doubtless Bay in the Northland of New Zealand. It is book 1 of the Treats To Tempt You series which follows a group of friends who work in a coffee and chocolate shop, and the men they fall in love with.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write every day, including my birthday and Christmas Day!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I read quite widely in all genres, mainly popular fiction, and adore Nora Roberts!

What are you working on now?
I’m just finishing the fifth book of the Treats to Tempt You series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Have the first book in a series perma free has worked for me. Treat with Caution reached No. 1 in free romantic comedy on Amazon, and No. 1 on the UK, NZ and Australian iBooks Store.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write quick, write series, link to your next book in the end matter, have a newsletter signup straight after this.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The difference between a published writer and an unpublished one is that the first never gave up. It’s so true!

What are you reading now?
A guide to the PS4 game Last of Us. I’m a gamer – I love gaming because it’s the only time I have where I don’t think about writing!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m working on a new series of contemporary romances… Watch this space!

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?
Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban, Terry Brooks’ Magic Kingdom for Sale, Nora Roberts’ The Witness, Richard Adams’ Watership Down

Author Websites and Profiles
Serenity Woods Website
Serenity Woods Amazon Profile
Serenity Woods Author Profile on Smashwords

Serenity Woods’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Serenity Woods is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Maxwell Grantly is a non de plume for an anonymous school teacher, living in a small seaside town on the east coast of Great Britain. Although he has written nine short stories, he does not think of himself as an author. He is, first and foremost, simply a mathematics teacher. Maxwell does not write for an income and so he offers most of his work for free or at the lowest possible price that he can. He simply writes just because he enjoys doing so and for no other reason.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Maxwell’s latest book is called “Runs Like Clockwork” and is a steampunk-themed story for older children. It tells the tale of a mechanical clockwork toy named River Falcon, lost in the fictional town of New Babbage. The toy becomes stolen from his clock-maker inventor and then encounters a number of adventures in his attempts to escape and survive in his new hostile environment. Without giving too much away, the story has a tragic bittersweet ending that will touch your heart.

Many different people, events and circumstances combined to provide the inspiration for the story. Perhaps, most importantly, the author suffered the traumatic loss of his father to cancer in the weeks before the story was written. This private family bereavement must have shaped the plot of the story, even if it did so subconsciously.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Being a school teacher, Maxwell Grantly enjoys reading children’s literature. However, as a writer, he does not write books that could be described as typically suitable for the younger reader. Maxwell produces short stories that he enjoys writing and that he enjoys reading. He writes solely for one audience: himself. He uses vocabulary and imagery that is more suited to adults but, admittedly, the characters in his books are ones that children might relate with. This means that his books may only be suitable for accomplished young readers or for adults who might like to break from their regular reading agenda. To stress, his stories contains a range of extended vocabulary and literacy imagery that makes it more appropriate for older children and adults only (or perhaps for reading aloud by an adult to their child.)

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Maxwell enjoys reading a wide variety of books of different genres. Most importantly, he has always enjoyed the works of Roald Dahl and admires the ability of Dahl to break away from using a traditional mindset of typical children’s characters.

What are you working on now?
He is currently taking a short break from writing, whilst formatting ideas for a new original story: a fictional children’s crime story based on the use of scientific principles to solve a murder.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Maxwell understands that “word of mouth” is the single most important factor in the promotion of any book. How many books have you opted to read because a friend has recommended it to you or because you have read a positive review somewhere?

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you enjoy writing, do it. Very few of us (including Maxwell Grantly) will ever sell more than a handful of tittles. New authors are joining a market that is already saturated with an incredible diversity of excellent titles – the competition is incredibly tough. If you don’t enjoy writing, do something else.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Writing a book is like making love to an elephant. You have to be crazy to start! It’s an incredibly difficult task. You have to wait twenty-two months (usually longer) before you see the results of your labours. Finally, you may get killed in the process.

What are you reading now?
Maxwell has only just finished reading “Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck. He found it an incredibly absorbing and moving story and found the dire plight of the charters to be incredibly profound and inspirational.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Maxwell’s next major writing project is the fictional children’s crime story mentioned above. It remains very early days and so it may take several months before this task is completed.

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?
Are you allowed to take four VERY large waterproof books and prop them upright to form the walls and roof of a shelter?

Author Websites and Profiles
Maxwell Grantly Website
Maxwell Grantly Amazon Profile

Maxwell Grantly’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Maxwell Grantly is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi! I’m Anne Eliot, and I’ve written four young adult books. They are all teen romance, set in high school. My first book, Almost was a ‘Cinderella’ book because I indie published it and it did really well. Well enough to land me the agent of my dreams as well as got me on the Amazon Kindle, top 12 of all 2012 in Children’s and Teens, right on the same list as some of my hero authors!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called How I Fall, it’s about a teen who falls down a lot because she has balance issues due to the fact that she has Cerebral Palsy. It was inspired by a real girl who lives in Denver named Allison. She doesn’t have CP, rather, she has similar symptoms to someone who would have left-sided hemiparesis. But of course it’s not about the CP at all, it’s a romance of course. About a girl who has a crush on this football player guy.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure how to answer that. I do spend a lot of time lurking around coffee shops and when I’m on a roll I eat a ton of cheese and crackers…more than I want to admit to. Do these count?

What authors, or books have influenced you?
This list is so long…I have my romance hero authors, and I have my writing inspiration authors, as well as the writing books that have also helped me. How about if anyone ever really reads this and they want to know one of these lists, they email me and I’ll tell them some individually? hehe

What are you working on now?
The sequel to How I Fall, and it’s called How I Fly. Much kissing and romance. Much resolving of issues that came out in book one!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Well of course, there is AwesomeGang. I wish I had a best method, and so I don’t I tend to try everything. I’m on Facebook a lot, tumblr I love, but it is not to promote books really, more just to stare at beautiful blogs and think…Twitter is fun but I also fail at promoting there too. So…gah. Does this help at all?

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes! Please just write. Get the story down. Write your whole heart and don’t hold back. One page a day is a book in a year. You. Can. Do. It!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I’ve ever heard was when someone told me to only care about what I thought, because if you try to worry over what others think…it will crush you.

What are you reading now?
Jo Jo Moyes. The One Left Behind. She rocks.

What’s next for you as a writer?
So many projects are in the works, but all are babies right now! My audio books are coming out, that is really next.

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?
Eeek. No. I can’t imagine this torture. I’d bring my fully loaded Kindle and a solar charger. Is that allowed?

Author Websites and Profiles
Anne Eliot Website

Anne Eliot’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Anne Eliot is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is KG Stutts. I am the author of sci-fi romance as well as several erotic romance novels. So far I have published five books this year. The sixth book is out on November 21st

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Amethyst Chronicles: Winter’s Kiss is the first in a five-part series. Amethyst is a team of four genetically enhanced humans. They must work with an elite Air Force squad to take down Dr. Clayton Rudo, a scientist who is using a weather machine to control Earth. It was inspired by a Pat Benatar song, Invincible. If you actually listen to the song as you read the first chapter of Amethyst, you can tell.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if it is unusual but I like to write a lot by hand. Amethyst was written entirely in a notebook my best friend sent me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m a big fan of Timothy Zahn, Suzanne Collins, and Catrina Taylor, to name a few.

What are you working on now?
The second book in the Amethyst Chronicles: Croceus Poison and a wrestling romance story, Between the Ropes.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have my website, kgstutts.com and my blog, kgstutts.BlogSpot.com I love interacting on Twitter and Facebook.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Writing is difficult but it’s incredibly rewarding. It’s a labor of love and takes a real commitment.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write every day. Leave a part of your soul on the page.

What are you reading now?
The Choices of One by Timothy Zahn and Birth of an Empire: Homecoming (Xarrok Series Book 3) by Catrina Taylor

What’s next for you as a writer?
Second book in A Mirror’s Beginning series will be out in Feb. Second in the Amethyst Chronicles is out in April.

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, that’s hard. This list is going to be random. Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn, Tethered by Pippa Jay, and The Troublesome Apprentice by Liza O’Connor

Author Websites and Profiles
KG Stutts Website
KG Stutts Amazon Profile
KG Stutts Author Profile on Smashwords

KG Stutts’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

KG Stutts is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a self-employed editor, proofreader, transcriber and localiser. I wrote my first book to help people with high cholesterol back in 2013 and have since written about business from a first-hand experience perspective, with six books now out, including a value omnibus edition of my two bigger business books. I blog about business, social media, Word tips and language at www.libroediting.com and write as a part-time endeavour, aiming to help other people running small businesses.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called “Quick Guide to Networking, Social Media and Social Capital”. I was inspired by the fact that I was getting a lot of searches on my blog for these topics, and had written quite a lot on them, so decided to put together a quick guide on the subject (my quick guides are 15,000-20,000 words long at a budget price and packed with information and links to further free resources).

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write around my day job so I will write bits here and there. Although I base my books on blog posts I produce, one usually influences the other – the blog posts are there to give all the images for my book readers so they come along together. For instance, for my latest book, I wanted to write about Google+ in the book, so had to create a blog post full of screen shots for my book chapter to link to!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Joanna Penn of www.thecreativepenn.com (who is also a client of mine) has a great mine of information and is very supportive of fiction and non-fiction authors. She inspired me to write about my own experiences. Other business books that expect their readers to buy more resources or download a course and otherwise don’t give all the information in one go but expect them to pay more inspired me NOT to do that with my own books!

What are you working on now?
I keep being asked to provide mentoring services for new businesses, especially in the proofreading/ editing arena. So I’m going to rewrite my two main business books into a package tailored for those people, with self-mentoring questions after each chapter. I will then produce a self-mentoring guide to go with my more general books out of that. I hope to have both of those out in early January 2015.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My best website for sales is Amazon, but Smashwords and its link to iBooks on the Apple Store are doing well, too. I started a website for my books, and that channels readers through to buy – but my very popular professional website with its good SEO also drives a lot of enquiries there and direct to my sales channels, too. Word of mouth is great, too.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be professional: get an editor (even though I’m an editor myself, I have an editor of my own for my books!) and professional cover design. Don’t give people the opportunity to go to your book with a bad feeling about its standards. Also, before you even write it, think about who your audience is and bear them in mind the whole way through. What do you want them to get out of your book? What are they looking for? What will help them best achieve that?

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be professional is the biggie, I think.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading a history of the London Underground! Even though I work with mainly non-fiction texts all day, and learn a lot from them, I’m always learning and enjoying finding out new information. I’m a big reader – fiction, non-fiction, travel memoir and business books, mainly.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Putting together my new resources for editors, plus I want to write a book about how to use an editor, for writers who might not understand the process. That’s going to be another of my quick guides. I’m also – because I don’t have enough to do, right? – writing up some academic research I’ve been doing over the years, and that should be done by the New Year, too.

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?
Complete Works of Shakespeare, War and Peace because I’ve never read it, Complete Works of Hardy (is that allowed?) and Iris Murdoch’s “The Book and the Brotherhood”.

Author Websites and Profiles
Liz Broomfield Website
Liz Broomfield Amazon Profile
Liz Broomfield Author Profile on Smashwords

Liz Broomfield’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Liz Broomfield is a post from Awesome Gang