Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Crystal Lynn Miles Gauthier and I have written four books, two time travel romance, one cookbook, on psychig thriller short story and one co-wrote a children’s book in the last six months. I have been busy. I live in Lansing, Michigan with my husband Joe, 2 cats and 1 dog. We love to travel and I like to review books and crochet in my free time.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Diana’s Magic is part of the Time Travel Society Series it is book #2 in a series of five. Troianne is book #1

I was inspired by time travel and history. I always read my mothers historical romance novels as a young girl and then into adulthood.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can only write with the Televsision on, sitting in my recliner with something to drink usually ice tea or Coca Cola. All the animals must be resting or sleeping so I can concentrate.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Author Melanie Corona is my Australian mentor. I read her book Friendships Love and I knew that I wanted to write my own book. I also love Sandra Shrewsbury, Sandra Love, Neil Orr, SC Clarke and many more.

What are you working on now?
I am working on Book #3 in my time travel society series called Rheanon’s Heart.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Twitter, Facebook, Tsu, Bubblews and Tumblr

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t stop no matter how many bad reviews you get. The people who are negative about your reading are negative to your life. I was told by a professional that writing is a form of your self and inner thoughts. Never stop writing no matter how bad you think it is.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t get to high on your horse. You are an author, but you are not Jesus. Stay humble.

What are you reading now?
Wilderness Trail of Love by Dorothy Wiley.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to write some thrillers. First I have to finsish my series of time travel. But I would like to get into nitty gritty, bloody thrills.

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?
Author Susan Stokers Books

there are 4 in the Seal Series

Author Websites and Profiles
Crystal Gauthier Website
Crystal Gauthier Amazon Profile

Crystal Gauthier’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Crystal Gauthier is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am sixty four years of age, and stand six feet four inches tall. I took early retirement from the insurance business as an agent to pursue writing fulltime. I turned from the secular genre of writing during my college years to write solely in the Christian genre. This change of heart was due to the gift of faith in God that was given to me by Jesus Christ.

I grew up in a well-to-do family in Bethany, Oklahoma. My father was what one would refer to as a businessman. He had a tremendous influence on my thinking. Some saw him as hard and demanding, but I saw and knew him as an extremely honest, good-hearted, and forward-thinking man. My father gave me my drive and ambition. Though he was always respectful of Christians and their beliefs, he never judged nor condemned them for he was a non-believer till shortly before his death. I was given a religious introduction and example of a Christ-led life by my Aunt Johanna Mae Oliver, whom I respected and loved. She was a minister and devout follower of Christ. She could walk into a saloon filled with drunks, and in a non-judgmental way talk with those people and have them on their knees praying to God before she walked out.

The town in which I grew up in was founded by protestant Nazarenes. They built a Nazarene college there. The town had strict laws based on Biblical laws, but never was it a problem for the non-Nazarenes living there. Contrary to media sensation-seeking, the majority of the citizens of the United States live in great harmony with the many assorted religions that abound in this country. A person can gain such a diverse education in religion and tolerance if that is what they choose. I attended many different churches while growing up; from Catholic to Protestant to Jewish. I was never cast out or rejected. I suppose that is why I am outspoken on Christian unity.

I served four years in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War years, and served inside Vietnam. I view all the different aspects of my life as God’s schooling me. As a young man who had grown up in a very conservative family with the values that upbringing provides, I thought it my duty to fight in Vietnam. The difference in my conservative values and training was that my father drilled into my head to assess any situation and draw independent conclusions from the crowd around me; think for yourself. When I told my father after Vietnam that wars are not glorious and a duty of mankind, he never flinched. He told me that he agreed as that was the very same conclusion he had drawn from his time spent in the Korean War. My life changed from that time on. I battled the conservative notion of God. What I did not realize was that Jesus was the greatest revolutionary to ever walk upon this earth. As I studied the Bible to denounce and condemn it, God showed me love, love, and more love. I was defeated. I gave my writing to him. I found the God of my Aunt Johanna Mae Oliver.

I am not the picture of perfection. My Lord has sent me into some of the toughest situations and places that a man can go, but he always stood right beside me giving advice and courage. I was involved in a situation in war where I was expected to kill many human beings, but thanks to my Lord, he guided me onto a path that saved the lives of the men on both sides. I have walked into the toughest bars and drank with those inside, and whenever I brought up the subject of God, I try never to miss an opportunity, the place was always brought to a reverent and introspective silence. It will make you shudder to witness the respect given by these so-called outcasts of society. As Christians, I feel we have an obligation to go into the very depths of Hell to spread the word if God asks. My Lord has made my life a great adventure.

The aforementioned aspects of my life have brought about two books for my Lord’s glory: WHAT DOES FAITH LOOK LIKE and 365 DAYS OF POSITIVE LIVING, co-authored with Rita Pam Tarachi.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is WHAT DOES FAITH LOOK LIKE. Through a class in my church, I found my spiritual gift is faith. As a service to my Lord, I began a mission I call the Faith Project. Part of that project is to write books about faith to help newly converted or longtime Christians with their journey of faith building. WHAT DOES FAITH LOOK LIKE is a series of snapshots of faith. The first chapter is a true story revolving around my Mother’s family, the Carr family. The other nineteen stories are about my journey to faith, The Journey, or the stories of other people’s journeys or experiences with faith. My goal was to show faith in a different way through stories that are based on true life stories. I am not a theologian or member of the clergy, just a layman.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Ohhhh, maybe that I love to write in the wee hours of the morning when all the world is quiet and God can be heard so clearly. I listen to classical music while I write.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Besides the Bible, of course, Moses, by Edmond Fleg. I love his poetic prose, and who better to have a deep feeling for Moses than a person of Jewish decent.

What are you working on now?
Currently, I’m doing research on a book about a relatively unknown but great servant of our Lord, C. Ray and his Straight Shooters. C. Ray was a man that took on a mission to bring really poor boys to Christ. He drove the poor neighborhoods of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on Sunday mornings picking up young boys to transport them to his church and God. He was a local sign painter that spent all of his extra time and money to bring poor boys to God. He had the idea that the best way to bring the word of God to these boys was to do it in not only a structured church setting but also in an atmosphere that they felt comfortable in; the outdoors. When a person complains, what can one man do? He needs to see this example of what one man can do. C. Ray brought thousands of lost boys to God through what he called the Straight Shooters Club. A man in my Sunday School class was in the Straight Shooters and it changed his life. His testimony in church one Sunday morning prompted our coming together to write this story. God always directs my path. Since beginning this project, many people are coming forward with stories and encouragement connected with this project.

Do you have any advice for new authors?

Advice? I would probably say, write for the love of writing, not the quest for money. If your quest is money, your writing will reflect that and the statistics prove most writers never make a living writing just books. If you are writing for the love of writing and expressing yourself, you cannot be disappointed.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
In Matthew 22:37, when asked what is the greatest Commandment of God, Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” That is the best advice for any person to ever have lived.

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, Moses by Edmond Fleg, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, and The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

Author Websites and Profiles
Jim Newton Website
Jim Newton Author Profile on Smashwords

Jim Newton’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Jim Newton is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a lifelong actress/writer born and raised in Hollywood. I’ve written five books, two of them are collections of comedic scenes. I also had one of my plays published and I have a few monologues in a collection.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Just a Theory: a quantum love adventure.

I was watching a documentary about wormholes and parallel lives and that made me think, “what if someone went to a parallel life and it was better than the one they were living?”

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I wrote a short film in a very crowded, dive bar where a loud rock band was playing. Some people might find that distracting, but, I apparently don’t.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Carrie Fisher, Nora Ephron. I also loved Tina Fey’s autobiography.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a YA novel, “The Traveler’s Tree.” I’m also working on another TV pilot and my memoir book of comedic essays – but I think that’s a long way from being made public.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I tweet, facebook, instagram and i use pinterest to make boards pertaining to my book.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My motto for life is the motto that fits for writers as well.

Keep Creating.

Keep Positive.

Keep Showing Up.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
keep moving forward.

What are you reading now?
Dan Gilvezan’s latest book, “Soul.” It’s very interesting!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’d like to be staffed on a TV show, sell a pilot, have more of my plays produced. Until all of that happens, I will just keep writing.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
A collection of Neil Simon plays.

A Collection of Christopher Durang plays.

The Little Prince.

My journal.

Author Websites and Profiles
Annie Wood Website
Annie Wood Amazon Profile

Annie Wood’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Annie Wood is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a long-time resident of Provincetown Mass., who has been writing for approximately 10 years. I’ve written three books, the first of which will be released in mid-March. My interests include sailing, art, photography and, of course writing.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The HomePort Journals was inspired by a mansion on Commercial Street in Provincetown that had been disfigured by a malformed addition. Traces of grandeur remained, and I constantly found myself wondering, “what if….” Eventually, the story unfolded in my head. I moved the house to a different location, created a family lineage that ensured it was well cared for, and left traces of a mysterious scandal that drove its current owner into seclusion.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I trained as a classical musician, performing anywhere a trumpet was called for. Now, I write to music. I choose a composer whose works suit the prevailing mood I am trying to capture, create a playlist on ITunes, and write exclusively to the works of that composer. When I’m done for the day, I pause the music. The next day, I start the piece that was playing from the beginning, and my mind eases right back to where it was the day before.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m greatly influenced by Jane Austin, Armistead Maupin, Alan Hollinghurst, and Andrew Holleran. So many books have influenced me, but perhaps most of all Maupin’s Tales of the City Series. I also look to Walter Mosley for the music of speech.

What are you working on now?
A book about a relationship devastated by suicide. Two lovers recount their experiences–one from the hereafter. I call it a “speculative” memoir, because there are many gaps in comprehension and recollection.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Twitter seems to be doing the heavy lifting these days. Facebook seems more of a landing place than an active “buzz-generator.”

Do you have any advice for new authors?
You have to really love writing and be doing it for that reason alone. The best part of the experience is the creative part. Savor the joy in that, and let the rest take care of itself

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“There was a time in my life I thought I’d die if I didn’t own an electric waffle iron.” An elderly friend told me this when I was in my early twenties, and as she did, I saw the foibles of youth and the wisdom of age converge in her eyes. From that time on, I’ve always tried to care only about what really matters and let the rest go.

What are you reading now?
How To Be A Victorian by Ruth Goodman, Thomas Mann: Eros and Literature by Anthony Hielbut.

What’s next for you as a writer?
A sequel to The HomePort Journals is in the planning stages.

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 complete works of Saki, the complete works of Jane Austin, and Tales of the City. (I know I’m cheating by using the complete works, but without them I’d be insane in a week.)

Author Websites and Profiles
A C Burch Website
A C Burch Amazon Profile

A C Burch’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

A C Burch is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have four published novels and a fifth recently submitted to my editors, who will doubtless slash every page with their red pencils, causing a massive rewrite. Oh well, it could be worse. I picked cotton, harvested bales of hay, and performed other farm labor as a youngster. Editors are not quite as rustic with their language as were farm overseers, and they seldom make me throw hundred-pound bales of hay in August heat. On a more personal level, I have been married to the same wonderful lady for 42 years. We have two sons, one of whom is a children’s book writer/publisher and the other a nanoengineer. Michele and I divide our time between Destin, Florida and Jonesboro, Arkansas. She is the real talent in the family, a designer of beautiful and unique woven crystal jewelry. We can be found many evenings on our balcony overlooking the Gulf of Mexico as she artfully strings Swarovski crystals into a new design while I stare at the ocean trying to think of the perfect phrase to express a thought in my latest story.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Unspoken Valor” is a tribute to past heroes who never received recognition for their acts of valor. My father was one of the many WWII veterans who would never speak of their military service after they returned home from the war. In 1998 I was flying Dad to Florida for a fishing trip on his 75th birthday when the single engine of my airplane failed and we crash landed into a wooded area on the Florida/Alabama state line. After the dust settled and we crawled from the wreck to find our injuries were insignificant, Dad surveyed the sky for a long time before saying, “Well, at least there aren’t any Germans up there this time.”

“This time?” I thought. He would never answer the obvious question, but it gave me the idea for what I hoped would be a great book. When Dad died a few years ago, mourners at his graveside service were stunned when a U.S. Air Force honor guard and a Scottish bagpiper showed up to honor him at the service. Why the professional honor guard rather than the group from the local VFW who usually came to veterans’ funerals? I have no idea. I researched as much as I could find about Dad’s military service and filled in the rest with supposition and unabashed fiction. If I did my job well, the reader will never know where I crossed the lines. I was lucky to grow up with a hero in my house. Is there one in yours? It is my hope that “Unspoken Valor” is a fitting tribute to all of the unknown heroes we meet every day.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I choose never to write unless I am wearing underwear. Of course, I almost always have on other clothes as well. I remember reading somewhere that Agatha Christie had the same requirement when she wrote. On a more believable train of thought, while I live in both Florida and Arkansas, I do most of my writing in Florida. I love to sit on the balcony and watch the gulf as I write. It’s peaceful to the point of being idyllic, causing words to flow onto the keyboard. If there is a better place to write, I haven’t yet found it.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have many ‘favorite’ authors, but if you held a gun to my head and made me choose only two, I really enjoy reading Bill Bryson for his precise use of language in all of his books and Louis L’Amour for his great storytelling ability. John Grisham is from the same part of the country where I grew up, and I always feel humbled when some book reviewer or fan says my writing reminds them of Grisham. I suspect I may not reach his talent level, but we speak a similar language. My reading interest is pretty eclectic. Currently on my nightstand are “Fields of Color,” a kind of consumers guide to quantum theory, “Seeing Further,” a Bill Bryson tome on the history of scientific thought, and “The Thief,” a Clive Cussler adventure novel. I suspect all of the above, as well as many others, have influenced my writing style.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on a ghost story based on the “Siege of Savannah,” a Revolutionary War battle fought in 1779. My protagonist/ghost was killed while a combatant in the battle and returns in modern times to take care of unfinished business. In keeping with my preference to write historical fiction, I have spent many hours in Savannah, GA recently in an effort to accurately depict the battle and overlay the 1779 action onto a map of modern-day Savannah.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My favorite method of promotion is the old-fashioned, tried and true, book signing event venue. I really enjoy meeting people and much prefer signing events and/or public speaking over the anonymous digital publicity.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Somerset Maugham once said, “There are three rules to writing fiction. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” I don’ t think there is a better way to put it. If you are a storyteller, which is what I endeavor to be, my best advice is to write the story just the way you would tell it if speaking to another person or a group. When you think you are finished, hire a good editor. He or she will likely rip your manuscript to shreds, but in the end will help you make it a better story.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Somerset Maugham also said, “Write the damn thing!” Most wannabe writers just never get the job done. Before you can ever throw your hat into the ring of agents, publishers, publicity, and the business of selling books, you have to write the damn thing.

What are you reading now?
As I mentioned before, “Fields of Color,” “Seeing Further,” and “The Thief.” I recently finished a couple Bernard Cornwell novels. I think he is my hero for writing historical fiction.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I recently met with a group called the Crispy Warriors. They are retired military pilots from every war back to WWII, and had reviewed “Unspoken Valor” at one of their weekly breakfast meetings. I found them to be such a fascinating group that I am considering basing my next book on them.

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 collection of Shakespeare’s works, The Walking Drum (Louis L’Amour), and a dictionary (since it has all the other books in it)

Author Websites and Profiles
Steven Abernathy Website
Steven Abernathy Amazon Profile
Steven Abernathy Author Profile on Smashwords

Steven Abernathy’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Steven Abernathy is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an advertising guy, turned professional pilot, turned writer and who knows what is next! I grew up in Nebraska and living there inspired me to write my first book, A Visit to Hartington which is a story collection about life in a small Nebraska town during the 1950-1960 period. It’s been a popular book because it reminds people about life in a time that was much more simple and yet, the start of a number of major changes in the country.

And speaking of change, how about a career change? Well I did that all right. I went from advertising copywriter to professional pilot. In just a couple of years, I left my IBM typewriter for the controls of a Lear Jet–a camera-equipped snooper if you will. We took pictures of the St. Helen’s Explosion, the Teton Dam collapse and we hunted for polluters from 40,000 above the ground. Then, it was off to Africa and the Middle and Far East to hunt for other things. What an adventure!

After being on the other side of the world for six months, we finally came home. We cleared customs in Bangor, Maine. They never looked in the plane. Humm…I thought. What if there was a bomb on that plane? That was the motivation behind book #2, The Last Flight of KIlo Mike.

I designed the cover for Kilo Mike. Take a look at it on amazon. It came out in January, 2001. See the jet flying behind those two box buildings? Nine months later, 9/11 happened. I freaked. The route I have my pilots fly in the book was identical to the American flight from Boston. There were a few folks who wondered what I knew and when I knew it but I was just as shocked as everyone else.

I thought there was more to the Kilo Mike story but I wanted to join the Kindle revolution so I re-wrote it and re-titled it to The Co-pilot. I wanted to create a series of books based on the co-pilot character, Chance Mikelson.

Chance landed in Lincoln and wasn’t flying anymore. (I won’t spoil the ending of the first book by telling you why he wasn’t flying.} He was at the bottom and got a room in a rooming house which was managed by a very strange dude. Chance didn’t like the guy very much but he did like a toothless, over=weight, under educated old man living in the building. He also fell in love with a waitress at the grocery store cafe. Life was pretty good for Chance until he found himself in the middle of a mess and a murder. Book number 2: The Rooming House Murder. It’s a five-star Kindle book.

I also interviewed 12 former Nebraska football stars to find out what it was like to play college football for a powerhouse like Nebraska. Those were interesting stories and I decided to create a Kindle book for those stories. That book is How To Be A College Football Player.

I also had a bunch of stories laying around which had been published in magazines and well, never made it out of the file boxes and desk drawers. Those stories became my latest book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Do you remember Charles Kuralt, the wonderful CBS journalist who traveled American in a motor home and did stories about ordinary people? I loved that show, “On The Road With Charles Kuralt.” That was my inspiration for a story collection along those lines. Short American Stories was born and is a Kindle book. It too, will be a series of books as I write my way along life.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
They say, good writers write every day. Well, you can be the judge of “good” because I write when I am inspired. When I am inspired, I find a coffee shop and adopt a table for about 60 days and “get ‘er done.” After that, I fly, or camp, or play with my dog, or shoot my guns.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Hemingway. Steinbeck, and Jack London. If you plan on writing, you should read London’s “To Build a Fire.” That is the perfect short story. I liked Hemingway’s Africa stuff because I lived there for a while and I loved Steinbeck’s simplicity.

What are you working on now?
Nothing. But I do feel a need for a new coffee place and I would like to finish two projects. Chance #3 will be the final in that series. I may also take a crack at something funny.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I like services like Awesomegang. I have advertised on Facebook and Google but haven’t had much luck.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write because you love to write. Write because you need to write. If you write to get rich, you probably won’t get rich. People don’t read as much. They are tuned in to phone screens and short blurbs of stupidity services/

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I flew for Willie Nelson and one day, when it was just he and I at the airport, I asked him how he came up with those block-buster hit songs. He told me he would get the idea in his mind but he never did something with the idea right away. “But,” he said, “if that idea is still rattling around in your head after a while, you’d better do something with it.”

What are you reading now?
I just finished reading Killing Patton. That was a very interesting book. I have read all of those books and I enjoyed them. Hopefully, Killing Kenny is not the next one!

What’s next for you as a writer?
Let’s see. I have two screenplays done and that would be great if those got considered by the movie makers. The odds are pretty high, like 100000:1 but I have been battling big odds forever. Hell, when I was three I got polio before the shot was around and at age four I escaped the baby sitter and got run over by a 1946 Packard.

I just turned 69 and am very involved in storm spotting and teaching emergency first aid and survival and training a search and rescue dog. Plus, I am looking at some new stories, two new books, and maybe a third movie script if the Good Lord gives me the time to write them.

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?
How to sail.

How to build a sailboat on a desert island.

The complete guide to desert island cooking.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kenny Miller Website

Kenny Miller’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Kenny Miller is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This book is my first.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
This book is called The Cerulean Collection. I associate the color blue with memories, and cerulean is the boldest blue, so this book is filled, for better or for worse, with some of my most dynamic memories.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can only write when my mind is tired and not bouncing phantasmagorical from thing to thing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Count of Monte Cristo is, in my opinion, the best novel ever written. I tend not to read anything from the same genre back to back. I think that’s boring. If I read, for instance, a classic literary work, I’ll read a book on chess next. It prevents the brain from saying, “oh boy, here we go again.”

Growing up, my biggest influence was RA Salvatore. He did things that nobody else was doing, and his imagination and just the depths of the worlds he created were awe-inspiring. To contradict myself, I could read a dozen Salvatore books in a row.

What are you working on now?
I’m writing short stories in an effort to build up my publication resume a bit so that my next novel can hopefully be an even bigger deal. I have the idea all mapped out in my head, but the time isn’t right. That’s the thing about lengthy works. It takes someone 8 months because they find 30 or so manic hours during that time period to get it down on paper. People think it’s a continuous creative process for all that time, and maybe it is, but very little of that is pen-to-paper time.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
The best method for promoting your book is to make it something people want to read in the first place. Commence the marketing bombardment however you want after that.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you put your stuff down the first time you hit a block or if you stop sending your work out the moment you get a rejection letter, this business isn’t for you. Literature is an art form, and you’re going to have to suffer for your craft. Part of that is feeling stupid and questioning your own voice all along the way.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It wasn’t necessarily advice, but one of the best ideas I’ve ever heard that influenced me as a writer is a bit from Patton Oswalt, where he talks about sexual fantasies that people think are so dark and so dangerous, but somewhere in Europe, there’s a whole magazine devoted entirely to that thing. The takeaway from that is not to be afraid to get to the bare, unsettling honesty that a weak writer would change to have some phony payoff. The payoff is capturing real life, and if your audience misses that, then maybe you won’t make a million dollars as an author, but at least you’ll be true to your craft.

What are you reading now?
The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My next book is already outlined, and it’s called Tough Guy.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would bring An Orgy of George, the three George Carlin books rolled up into one, even though that’s kind of cheating. I’d bring The Count of Monte Cristo, of course. Would it be too hokey to pick another classic and say Nicholas Nickleby? It’s the best.

For a fourth book I’d pick the biggest book of brain teasers and/or crossword puzzles I could find for entertainment. Wait, damn it, I don’t have a pen! Why is my desert island abandonment so carefully planned out, anyway? These would probably all be burned for warmth within hours.

Dan Marchese is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I grew up reading just about everything I could borrow from the town library, although admittedly sometimes just to get the sticker segments so I could complete the Reading Centipede for each book he finished. I’m a Midwest guy, having spent time in Michigan and Kentucky, but mostly Iowa, where I now live. I started writing during college, where I enjoyed getting red lines drawn through my Creative Writing projects, and where I also penned a weekly column in the school paper under the pseudonym “Fletcher Ford”. I’ve written two books, “Shopping Survival Guide for Men” and “Dubious Knowledge”, a collection of humor columns. You can catch that weekly humor column, the “Dubious Knowledge Institute,” at my author site, danvanoss.com. I also plays piano, Hammond organ and anything else with keys; you can check out some of my recordings at Reverbnation.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Shopping Survival Guide for Men”, inspired by having a wife and three daughters who are intractably drawn to The Mall, and seeing all of the other lonely, borderline catatonic guys hoping for the end to come soon.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Aside from using only unicorn blood as ink, no.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Dave Barry the most, also James Lileks and his incredibly funny historical pop culture insights. And the Douglas Adams Hitchiker’s Guide series, especially the original radio version. And Monty Python.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a Survival Guide for Men series, which will also include books on Home Improvement, and Sports.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Since I’m just starting out, I’m still figuring that one out, but I’m planning on developing an email list as my main source of connection.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be patient; it’s a long game. Expect to work for months-years to see if it is working for you. Do your homework, be smart with your marketing and what are the latest trends in self-publishing. Listen to self-publishing podcasts.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“So, I think the successful self-published author builds connection and thus trust by consistently delivering just a little more than what’s expected.” – Seth Godin

What are you reading now?
The report from doctor about my physical. It’s pretty depressing.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep writing – let’s see what happens.

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, the complete works of Calvin and Hobbes, Robert the Rose Horse by Joan Heilbroner

Author Websites and Profiles
Dan Van Oss Website
Dan Van Oss Amazon Profile
Dan Van Oss Author Profile on Smashwords

Dan Van Oss’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Dan Van Oss is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello, I am Freya Barrington. I have written one book to date.

I grew up in Lancashire, England with an overriding passion for animals, specifically horses. After attending a girl’s grammar school, where English was my strongest subject, the only desire I held was to work with my beloved horses. To the dismay of my parents, I went to work in a racing yard.

Realising that this was not a passing phase, my parents eventually encouraged me in my chosen career and I went on to work with event horses, show jumpers and hunters, gaining several British Horse Society qualifications along the way – namely, the BHSAI, BHSII and BHSI (SM). All this enabled me to work as a riding instructress and trainer, which I did on a freelance basis. I continued working in the equestrian field for many years, eventually running my own yard.

A chance conversation with a friend, however, brought about a change of career and I moved away from my life with horses, into the unknown world of residential childcare. To my surprise, I found that I enjoyed this line of work and progressed to being a full-time foster carer for the local authority. It was during this time that I first put pen to paper in a creative way, writing poems about the children with whom I came into contact. A short book of poetry was published and the proceeds were used to raise money for a local youth group.

It was also during my time as a foster carer that I came into contact with social workers. Their dedication and expertise inspired me to train as a social worker, gaining the Diploma in Social Work in 2001 from the University of Derby with an award for excellence in practice. I also gained the Post-Qualifying Award in 2007. I am a registered member in good standing with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

My main area of expertise was as a senior child protection social worker. I have been the principal social worker and mentor on a number of teams. I have also worked as a foster carer’s support social worker, a court advisor and hospital social worker. Since 2006, I have worked exclusively as an agency social worker, with specific focus on working for local authorities that require experienced social workers to offer support where there were staff shortages.

In 2010, I moved with my husband, Steve, to the island of Gozo in the Maltese Islands. I continued working in England as an agency social worker, flying back and forth on a fortnightly basis. This attracted comments from colleagues who said that they would never again complain about their commute to work! It was during this particular time that the idea for the book starting taking shape, so with the full support of my husband, I took a year’s sabbatical to concentrate on writing the book.

I continue to live in Gozo with my husband, but have plans to travel around Europe, looking for a peaceful spot to continue writing the sequel to Known to Social Services.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book is called, Known to Social Services. It is published by Faraxa Books and was released on 26th February. I am thrilled to report that it is currently the number one social work book on Amazon UK.

My job as a child protection social worker was the inspiration for my writing, along with my husband who is so encouraging. Social work is one of the most negatively portrayed professions, and I wanted to raise awareness of the very complex and difficult job, which social workers do.

All those who aspire to make social work their chosen profession need a solid foundation of skills, knowledge, and experience. This is born out of evidence-based research coupled with practical expertise. Students will read countless texts, journals and books, all of which will add to their proficiency and understanding. Within this theoretical learning process, I believe that students also need to develop their emotional intelligence; gathering information from their peers who have gone before them and who can offer a rich insight into the role they strive to achieve. I believe that this book can offer a valuable addition to any reading undertaken by students of social work, psychology and any of the caring professions.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to do most of my writing between midnight and 6.00 am. I find that there are no distractions at this time, and it is quiet and peaceful.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have been personally influenced by American author James Morgan Ayres whose support and encouragement have been invaluable. Books by Torey Hayden have also been inspirational.

What are you working on now?
I am working on the sequel to Known to Social Services. The book is mainly set outside the UK, but I’m not going to give too much away at this stage!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have been extremely fortunate in securing the support of Faraxa Publishing without the use of a literary agent. I have worked extremely hard alongside Faraxa, in promoting my own work. A Goodreads profile was essential, as was a Facebook Page, Twitter account, personal blog, Smashwords, Flickr, Pinterest and an Amazon Author’s profile.

I find that I use Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter and my personal blog more than any other medium.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
It has been said so many times, but …. never give up.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Have faith in your own ability and accept that everyone is entitled to their opinion.

What are you reading now?
I have just finished reading Dan Brown’s Digital Fortress. I haven’t decided what to read next.

What’s next for you as a writer?
This is an exciting and busy time for me. My husband and I are off to the UK next week on a week of book promotion. I have 2 radio interviews and 3 speaking engagements and book signings at Universities so far.

We leave Gozo at the end of April to do some traveling in France and also to find a quiet spot to write the sequel to Known to Social Services.

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 God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy – my all time favourite book

When the Lion Feeds by Wilbur Smith – my oldest favourite for regular visits

Wideacre by Phillipa Gregory – a book I most recently enjoyed and would like to read again

The Tent the Bucket and Me by Emma Kennedy – the funniest book I have ever read

Author Websites and Profiles
Freya Barrington Website
Freya Barrington Amazon Profile
Freya Barrington Author Profile on Smashwords

Freya Barrington’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Freya Barrington is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing since I was a teenager, but “Testament” is only my second published work. I also work as a staff writer for Inquisitr.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Testament” is my most recent published work. It’s based on the 17th century witch trials of New Yorke and gives a history for my next book, “Dark Heritage,” due out later this year.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think it’s unusual, but I listening to music is essential to my writing. It really helps me to get lost in the creative process. Most times, hits from the 80s do the job for me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Edgar Allan Poe’s works, Dracula by Bram Stoker, William Shakespeare, Clive Barker, Franz Kafka

What are you working on now?
I’m just getting started on “Dark Heritage.” I have already created an outline, which is detailed enough to be a first draft, and I’m all ready to jump in and start writing.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still new to marketing and learning as I go, so I can’t really say at this point. It’s a trial and error process at this point.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Take the opinions of others with a grain of salt and remember the old adage about wolves in sheep’s clothes. Listen to your own instincts.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“My philosophy is: It’s none of my business what people say of me and think of me. I am what I am and I do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. And it makes life so much easier.” ― Anthony Hopkins

While it’s not really advice per se, I think it’s a healthy way of looking at life in general, so I try to follow it.

What are you reading now?
I just finished Thomas Harris’ series on Hannibal Lecter. The last book, “Hannibal Rising” was quite different and compelling.

What’s next for you as a writer?
The best sellers list! We all have our dreams.

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?
Edgar Allan Poe’s Collected Works, The Plays of William Shakespeare, Clive Barker’s Books of Blood, and Stephen King’s The Shining.

Author Websites and Profiles
Edward V’Kanty Website
Edward V’Kanty Amazon Profile

Edward V’Kanty’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Edward V’Kanty is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an avid lover of learning. From early on I tended to develop interests in a wide variety of subjects and spend an unusual amount of time trying to learn about them. I usually tend to look at those topics from a point of view that is slightly off the beaten path. I seem to have trouble doing anything exactly the way other people do them, but at the same time, I am not usually to the opposite extreme either. The main topics that have stuck with me throughout my life includes: health and healing, religion and philosophy (especially the more eastern forms), exercise and longevity, little known investing methods for early retirement (who doesn’t want that?) and self defense for the nice person. So far, The Wisdom and Peace of the Teachings of the Tao Te Ching is my first book, but I have others on the way. I think my investing book will come out next, and soon.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My current book is The Wisdom and Peace of the Teachings of the Tao Te Ching. When I was in college I went through a rough patch emotionally. I went from being in a small town where I was known to a big college where I was a number. I had been good at sports, but I really wasn’t all that special compared to the people around me in college. My friends were mostly engineers, and I wasn’t, so when they all started working on projects I felt left out and alone. I ended up spending most of my time at a used book store across the street from the apartment complex I was living at. I bought enough books on religion and eastern philosophy to make my own book store. I eventually came across the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. It was my favorite of all the books I had read, yet it was so short and simple and to the point. I read every version I could find. The book was written thousands of years ago, so some of the wording was hard to digest, and each writer interpreted each short chapter just slightly differently. Eventually, I had friends going through rough times and I would recommend this book to them. But each time they would complain that they couldn’t understand a lot of it, so I would sit down and tell them what each chapter meant. Eventually, I started writing down these interpretations. Recently, a friend mentioned that I should publish my book. I had tried to publish a few things years ago, but the industry was different then, and publishing a book was harder and expensive. Now, things are easier, and I decided to give it a try.If my book helped even one other person it would be worth my effort. And now when I suggest the Tao Te Ching I can give out my version.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think I have odd writing habits, other than reading my words over and over and over. Especially with my Tao Te Ching version, I wanted the book to be plain and simple, but I still wanted to retain a certain poetic rhythm to the readings at the same time. I wanted a specific cadence. I am that way quite a bit when I write. I want the writings to express meaning, but I am picky about the words and the rhythm. I’m not like this here, in this interview, but when I am writing I am ultra picky.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching is an obvious influence. The works of other eastern philosophers as well- Bankei Zen was a big influence. It is a very straight forward system of Zen. I like authors and books that cut to the chase, take out all the fluff and get right to the point. Buddhism and Zen in general are influences. All of the religions are really- I believe they all have a common core teaching that runs through them. They all teach love, and they all teach that there is an Intelligence back of all we know that runs the show. That there is more to this world, and what is beyond, than we can comprehend at this point. Each religion also seems to have other teachings that are added to this core, big picture. But those added teachings tend to be “how not to kill each other until you mature enough to understand the big picture” kind of things. The lesser teachings are cultural, and teachings related to the time period of that religion- hygiene and things like that. These lesser teachings of “don’t kill each other” and “don’t have lots of unprotected sex with a lot of different people” tend to be what the masses concentrate on and argue and fight over, while missing the big picture entirely. They will argue over whether a woman should be able to talk in church or not, or teach, while missing the big picture.

What are you working on now?
I am finishing up my book on investing. One of the underlying themes of my life is freedom. For me, the Tao Te Ching is trying to deliver freedom from the bondage of being attached to this world. Attached to our bodies and what happens to them, and attached to having to have “stuff” to make us happy. In my work, I also want to be free. I tried working for other people and it just didn’t stick. I am attracted to investing because I don’t feel that the way society works is the way it is meant to be. I feel that the human race has cornered ourselves into having to work hard, often husband and wife both working, and sometimes having to work multiple jobs each, just to live. I don’t think this is how it is supposed to be. If you look at native peoples that have not yet “civilized”, there are obvious drawbacks, but at the same time, as long as they have shelter, hygiene and a good water and food supply, they are very happy and healthy. They tend to work 2-4 hours per day to secure the things needed to live, then they rest, socialize and play the rest of the time. I think this is how we are meant to be. By becoming financially independent, we can get back to that way of living. My new book is a guide to help people get to that point. I am not quite there myself, but close. And I have found a method that makes that idea a reality fairly quickly.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have no idea. I am a horrible salesman. I like learning, testing what I learned, and passing it along. I don’t like trying to figure out how to market or sale that information.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I really don’t, as of yet. I don’t like to teach anything I don’t know. I know how to learn, and how to put what I have learned into book form, but we’ll have to see if I can sell it. If I do, then I’ll give advice.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To only take advice from someone who has what you want. EVERYBODY wants to give you advice, and they mean well. But people can only give you what they have in them. If you want to open a gym, find a gym like the one you want to have and ask that person for advice. If you take advice from a gym owner that only has 5 customers, that person is giving you advice that is only good for getting 5 customers. If you take advice from someone that has never run a gym, they may have good ideas, but remember that they don’t know what is really going on. When you take advice from someone who has what you want, that’s when you really listen.

What are you reading now?
A few Zen books, Master Yunmen right now. I’m also rereading Bankai Zen books and a few others. I’m also reading A LOT of books on publishing books for Kindle

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m going to get my investment book out, and then start on a Self Defense for Beginners series, maybe one for women specifically. Then a few health books- diet and thyroid gland issues. Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis specifically. I have a few other ideas, but I’m going to get those out first.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
My Tao Te Ching version- I just love that book. And two blank books to write in. I like to create more than I like to read.

Author Websites and Profiles
Matthew Barnes Amazon Profile

Matthew Barnes is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a UK writer, based in Cambridgeshire in England. I’ve written and published three books: two of poetry, “Cats and Other Myths” and the multi-award nominated “Songs of Steelyard Sue”, and a dark fiction novel, “A Darker Moon”. My second novel, “Witchlight”, comes out from Vagabondage Press in May 2015

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
That’ll be the new novel, “Witchlight”, which comes out in May 2015. It’s a tale of witchcraft and love and what can happen when you suddenly discover the world is not as you once thought it was.

Specifically its about Holly, who has been mortal all her life. Now at thirty-eight, her fairy godfather arrives to tell her she’s a witch, and suddenly she’s having to come to terms with the uncertainties of an alarmingly magic-fuelled world. Magic is not like it is in the books and films, and Holly starts to doubt whether her fairy godfather, Partridge Mayflower, is the fey, avuncular charmer he appears.

When appearances are magically deceptive, Holly cannot afford to trust those closest to her, including herself. Accidents start to happen, people die, Old Magic is on the hunt, but in the age-old game of cat and mouse, just who is the feline and who is the rodent?

From March until May special e-preview copies are available.

As for the inspiration? I guess it’s years of reading and loving tales of myth and magic.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think they are unusual, because I do them, but I write all my first drafts long hand, which in this modern computer age is, I guess, a but unusual.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Too many to name, but if pushed I would quote Ray Bradbury, Alan Garner, Rosemary Sutcliffe and Sylvia Plath.

What are you working on now?
An unnamed sequel to “Witchlight”. It started off with a title, but I’ve since realised it doesn’t work, so I’m looking for a new one.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Mt website is at www.jswatts.co.uk. I’ve also got a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/J.S.Watts.page

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep reading, writing and submitting. Just don’t give up.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It takes a lot of rejections to get published.

What are you reading now?
“Alias Grace” by the wonderful Margaret Atwood.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finishing the sequel to “Witchlight” would be a good thing. I’m also hoping to put together a new poetry collection in the next twelve months or so.

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 Complete Works of Shakespeare, The Collected Poems of Sylvia Plath, The Complete Works of Ray Bradbury (if there isn’t one, there ought to be) and Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliffe.

Author Websites and Profiles
J.S. Watts Website
J.S. Watts Amazon Profile

J.S. Watts’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

J.S. Watts is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Don and Debra are a team both at home and at the office. Husband and wife for over thirty years, they have simultaneously served as directors of the Family Therapy Institute of Santa Barbara, a nonprofit organization. In this capacity they oversee the clinical work of fourteen therapists providing help to hundreds of clients each year.

They are authors or coauthors of numerous articles on parenting and clinical issues. They previously wrote a book, How’s Your family Really Doing? 10 Keys to a Happy Loving Family. It won two major awards. In 2009, Don won the title of “Best Family Therapist” in a poll taken by SBParent.com. In 2010, Debra was honored with an Award for Service to the Community by local therapists and the Mayor of Santa Barbara “for 30 years of inspiration, leadership, and training provided to thousands of clinicians, and the devotion exemplified with consistent visionary work for the community.”

Don has a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth, a masters in school-child psychology from University of Virginia, and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from California School of Professional Psychology. Also a musician, he was songwriter and music director for the animated PBS hit, Jay Jay the Jet Plane. His public education efforts have culminated in the writing and production of Happy Kids Songs, a series of songs and activities that help young children with social and emotional learning. His music has won over ten major awards.

Debra received her undergraduate degree in psychology with distinction from Stanford University and her masters in social welfare from University of California at Berkeley with a specialty in family therapy and community mental health. Prior to founding the Institute in 1979, she was the Executive Director of Social Advocates for Youth in the San Francisco Bay Area, working with runaway teens and children at risk. She has taught marriage and family therapy at Antioch University, Pacifica Graduate Institute, numerous local agencies, schools and mental health facilities. She finds respite from her busy life through painting, hiking and being with her much loved dog, Shammy.

Don and Debra have lived in Santa Barbara, Ca., for the past thirty-two years. They have two fine sons who have left the nest but still live in California. They share a love of games, music, movies, biking, hiking, travel, and art.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Who’s the Boss? The Win-Win Way to Parent Your Defiant, Strong-Willed Child was completed this past January. It was inspired by the hundreds of families who used the help of this method to turn things around with their children.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No.

What authors, or books have influenced you?

What are you working on now?
Children’s music in a series called Happy Kids Songs.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Strong-WilledChild.com

HappyKidsSongs.com

HowsYourFamily.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep at it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Develop and open heart and a quiet mind.

What are you reading now?

What’s next for you as a writer?
Writing a children’s play.

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?

Author Websites and Profiles
Don MacMannis, Ph.D. Website
Don MacMannis, Ph.D. Amazon Profile

Don MacMannis, Ph.D.’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Don MacMannis, Ph.D. is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I write YA sci-fi fantasy and I’m the author of The Lucidites Series (a three book series). I’ve been everything from a corporate manager to a hippie. My taste for adventure has taken me all over the world. If you can’t find me at the gym, then I’m probably at the frozen yogurt shop. If you can’t find me there then I probably don’t want to be found. I’m a hermit, with spontaneous urges to socialize during full moons and when Mercury is in retrograde. I live in Southern California with my family.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Awoken is the first book in The Lucidites series. It’s about a special race of people who can travel anywhere in their dreams.
I’ve always been fascinated by dreams and sleep. Not just sleeping, but dreaming, is vital to our survival. If we don’t dream then the human brain deteriorates. REM sleep deprivation in rats has shown to cause a loss of survival behaviors, decrease of pain threshold and depression. In humans sleep deprivation causes hallucinations because it is so crucial to brain function. All this kept me thinking about the power stored in dreams and dreaming abilities. I spun these ideas around in my head until I concocted a villain (Zhuang) who stole human’s abilities to achieve REM rendering them hallucinating zombies. And maybe also I was inspired by my own sleep deprivation at the time. My daughter was six months old and not sleeping through the night. I’m fairly certain I shouldn’t have been operating a motor vehicle.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I think everything I do while writing is unusual. I usually wake up at 3 or 4 am and not because I want to, but because the character won’t be quiet. I write on my phone while I’m walking for exercise and I’ve run into lot of stationary things. I’m also the queen of post-it notes. I’ve written entire chapters on a stack of notes, just because I didn’t want to stop the flow by moving to a computer.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Philip Pullman is by far my biggest inspiration. I love how unpredictable and effortless his writing is.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on another series. This one is way more dystopian with less sci-fi elements. It’s also involving the race of Dream Travelers.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve had luck with a few: Buck Books, Awesome Gang, ENT, Midlist, Riffle, Bookgoodies

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write the story that you feel in your bones. Don’t write one you think people will like because then you’re not being true to you. At the end of the day you are telling something that is a part of you, and people want to read an authentically told story.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write the story you want to read.

What are you reading now?

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m working on this new series. Two books done and going to start third soon. I’d like to have it edited and covers created and the whole thing published by the fall. I probably won’t sleep to get that all done, but it will be worth 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?
The Great Gatsby. The box set of Harry Potter (is that cheating?). And Running with Scissors. That way I’d have something romantic, something magical and something hilarious.

Author Websites and Profiles
Sarah Noffke Website
Sarah Noffke Amazon Profile

Sarah Noffke’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Sarah Noffke is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have known I was a writer since I was five years old. I took all the paper off the shelf.

My teacher told me to put it all back except one piece.

My best friend Mark stood up and said, “She’s going to write a book.” As only a kindergarten teacher can Mrs. Carnahan said, “Well, then, she’ll have to write it one piece of paper at a time.”

So I did. I’ve written about 50 books, most of which are no longer available, but the few that are available, are my best and brightest.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My current book is called The Leonardo Trait. It’s about turning your creative eccentricity into a life you love.

I got the idea from reading a couple of books that talked about having a lot of projects and passions. None of what they said really clicked with me, so I wrote my own book. I do that a lot.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if this is unusual, but I don’t know anyone else who does it. I design the cover before I write the book. I design my own covers, so I can do that.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love Dean Koontz’ Odd Thomas series. I’ve been moved by Anne Lamott’s nonfiction writing. I read The 7 Habits of Effective People by Stephen R. Covey and Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg once a year.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a book called 10 Impossible Ideas Before Breakfast, which is about the idea process.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I haven’t done a lot before with promotion. I’m hoping Awesomegang.com will become one of my top methods, and I’m doing a FreeBooksy promotion in a few weeks.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Write every day that you can. Just write. Don’t worry about what anyone thinks. You’ll get better, but only if you write.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t judge your insides by anyone else’s outsides. I use that in writing and in life.

What are you reading now?
Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson. I’ve read it three times but I’m waiting for his new one, Dead Wake, to be available at the library so I’m reading this one again. Devil in the White City is about the Chicago World’s Fair and a serial killer. Dead Wake is about the sinking of the Lusitania.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m expanding The Leonardo Trait into a series, and I’m looking forward to that.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I wouldn’t bring the Bible, no offense to God. I’ve read it, and I may read it again, but I’d read the most interesting, informative and useful parts again. I’d bring a nonfiction book, probably something on personal development. Probably The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Two books on writing, probably Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird and Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones. And a book filled with 2,500 blank pieces of paper. If I’m not allowed to bring a pen I’ll find something to make ink with and write with a twig.

Author Websites and Profiles
Angie Dixon Website
Angie Dixon Amazon Profile

Angie Dixon’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Angie Dixon is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Jeremy G. Woods, and I am a 2009 graduate of the University of North Alabama. I currently live in Dallas for job training, and I will be moving overseas in the summer of 2015.

I am the author of 4 books, and 2 of these books have recently been combined into a fifth book that is about to be released.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book called “Faith Without Borders” is a combination of the book on prayer I published in 2012 and the book on missions I published in 2013. I am passionate about missions, and prayer is a topic we so desperately need to learn more about, and I know that those who are interested in missions also are interested in prayer since they go hand-in-hand.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to get rid of writer’s block by going onto the next work and writing on it until I get stuck again. This means I have plenty of unpublished manuscripts, but it allows my writing to feel unforced.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
David Platt is very inspiring on his missional books. He writes on a topic that is needed, and I think that his ministry is inspiring to many.

John Piper is a very solid writer with a great grasp on the Bible. I highly suggest his books, too.

What are you working on now?
I am hoping to publish a mystery trilogy sometime in the near future. The first book has already been published (it was my first book to publish, in 2009). I have about the same number of pages in both of the sequels to the book, but I am not nearly done with them.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Facebook groups and Goodreads groups. I also have ads that I put on sites as well.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. Even if you don’t publish the first book you start to write, keep at the practice of writing as much as you can.

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

What are you reading now?
As much as I want to read and write right now, I am currently unable to spend as much time as I would like.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am about to be published by a publisher (the other four books were self-published).

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
Let the Nations Be Glad, By John Piper
Les Miserables, By Victor Hugo
Counter Culture, By David Platt

Author Websites and Profiles
Jeremy Woods Website
Jeremy Woods Amazon Profile

Jeremy Woods’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Jeremy Woods is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a former pro-wrestler and private detective. Before that I had an extensive military career. I study Judo and other martial arts and am a 3 time Hall of Fame Inductee into the United States Martial Arts Association.

My first published piece was a short story called “The Knight’s Last Stand” which was part of “The Romantic Heroes” anthology published by Safkhet Publishing.

After this, my debut novel, “Legend of the Mystic Knights” was also published by Safkhet Publishing and was released late 2014.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Legend of the Mystic Knights” arose from my interest in history. Something you learn about history, is one event will lead to another event. I often wondered what would of happened if the Crusades did not occur, would there have been a European Renaissance?

I now had my concept of the novel, but needed something to prevent the Crusades and Renaissance from occurring. My answer was that there was an evil released in 1100 A.D. Humankind must devote all its resources to fighting this evil, so technology has not advanced in over 1,000 years.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write in panic pass, creating hundreds of pages, and then I leave it alone.

I wait for a period of time, and go back and begin reviewing and editing the work. This way in editing it, it is new and fresh to me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Richard Matheson, probably one of the greatest writers since 1950’s. He is also one of my regrets, because I never had a chance to meet him.

What are you working on now?
A sequel to “Legend of the Mystic Knights” and a horror zombie novel.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I must thank Awesomegang.com for their website; it is a great resource for authors.

As for my promotions, I like creating illustrations for my novel. I then post them on my website www.warusho.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just write and do not give up. It may take you a long time to get published, but it is worth it.

I would also tell them to reach out to other authors and get their advice. The author’s and owners at Safkhet Publishing were very helpful.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write and don’t stop writing.

What are you reading now?
Every so often I like to go back and read some of my favorites. I am reading “I am Legend” by Richard Matheson and “It” by Stephen King.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish my sequels, and set up some tours for later in the year.

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 two I mentioned above that I am currently rereading.
I would include an encyclopedia, and also some Shakespeare.

Author Websites and Profiles
W.A. Rusho Website
W.A. Rusho Amazon Profile

W.A. Rusho’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

W.A. Rusho is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written several short novels or novellas and a poetry book and am finishing up on my serial novel Utopia, Book One in the Gifted Series.

I grew up in middle Tennessee and I am a lifelong gamer, comic collector and music lover. My writing reflects the things I grew up with. I spend most of my time staring at this screen, creating far more worlds and scenarios in my head than I ever find time to put to paper.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Utopia is book one of a planned trilogy of books about genetically gifted teens and young adults that must deal with their emerging ‘gifts’, as well as avoid falling into the hands of a cabal of government scientists bent on weaponizing them.

The inspiration came from years and years of comic reading. I have always been fascinated with origin stories in comics, so the history of my world took shape years before a character was ever created or pen put to paper. Conspiracy theories also play a big role in my novel and I’ve definitely been inspired by my share of paranoia and mistrust of large institutions.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if it’s unusual but I almost never write before midnight. Usually my best stuff is written well past 4 AM. That just seems to be the peak time for creativity for me.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I almost exclusively use facebook. I post to book groups and promote my own author page as well. It’s a good tool to reach a lot of people when you release something new.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write and write and write… One book won’t sell as good as ten will, etc. Also know your niche and try not to follow trends or write something simply because it’s currently popular; well written books will find readers regardless.

What are you reading now?
Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finishing my serial novel Utopia and then working on the two planned sequels for 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?
Definitely would take the complete Lord of the Rings, Bram Stoker’s Dracula or anything by Margaret Weiss or Tracy Hickman.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jeremy D. Hill Website
Jeremy D. Hill Amazon Profile
Jeremy D. Hill Author Profile on Smashwords

Jeremy D. Hill’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Jeremy D. Hill is a post from Awesome Gang