Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have a library of fiction stories I’d written in the last 25 years some of which are a work in progress to be published. Fairy Food is the first to test the waters. I originally wrote it in 2004 and have been revising and tweaking it up to its final, last year. I’ve loved writing since I was 11 years old. The characters are real to me. I remember being in a sector of Macy’s or Gimbles to try out one of the electric typewriters; I wrote on a clean sheet of paper, “Vampires are attacking the city”, hoping to start pandemonium. My most exciting Christmas was when I got my first typewriter at 12 years. I couldn’t stop poking the keys for all the short stories they told. Today, I think I’d need a course in learning how to operate an electric or manual typewriter; back space, white out, line spacing, no highlighting to delete!

If you’ve gone to my websites, you’ll know I don’t just stop and start with writing. I have many creative outlets which enable me to incorporate writing. I commend those who are able to write about themselves and their personal lives; I’m an observer and prefer to give my life to another character, adding sweet, dulcet ingredients to taper down the bitterness or sharp, gritty additives to magnify her bite.

I love listening to music while I write. I’ve also been composing it within the last three years and its been a blessed fulfillment. I love it when I’m writing an act in a chapter and the music seems to go with the flow just like on a movie screen. Thunder storms are greatly inspiring. My favorite subjects involve animals, nature and the supernatural. My genre is Fiction-Horror-Thriller. I’ve always been a horror fan with an occasional sci-fi and fantasy thrown into my repertoire of book reads. Werewolves, vampires and ghosts offer the most fun to write about; those were the main themes I read growing up. When I observe people, I place them into such categories. Depending on looks and personality, they’re either werewolf, vampire or prey.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I’m an admirer of decades prior to the 1990s; they seem to retain the stuff that made good movies and book novels. The 1970s inspired me to write Fairy Food.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I get an idea for a story, I grab almost anything to write its main inception on. I can also be up writing as late or early as 4am if I’m really caught up.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Quarrel With the Moon by J.C. Conway is the best werewolf novel ever written. That was the book that started an obsession in me for more. After that, I’d read The Howling – very unlike the movie – but still an attractive read. There were other werewolf books in between until I started picking up vampire books. The most prominent vampire book I adore to this day is The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause.

I should say thank God for individual imagination. I never go with the physical attributes described of characters in books; I always use my casting of characters’ physical attributes when it comes to reading and watching movies – I always have.

What are you working on now?
I have several stories I’m currently working on. With time permitting, I hope to put up the cover titles and synopsis to each of them on my site, rainbowkisses.com “Blood Brothers”, “Captive: A Nightingale’s Story” and “Family Counseling” are just to name a few.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
In addition to Awesomegang, I try word of mouth and general social networking. I created a brief video promo using some music I composed. https://youtu.be/VskBYLPUkUA

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Flow with your heart. Don’t stay discouraged. Love who you are and be that. Let NO ONE squelch your dreams.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Do not fear….. Isaiah 41:10

What are you reading now?
Currently, time isn’t permitting.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More wonderful stories; my dreams can’t wait to meet me.

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, my journal, Quarrel With the Moon and my sketchbook (it’s still a book).

Author Websites and Profiles
Pamela Benjamin Website
Pamela Benjamin Amazon Profile

Pamela Benjamin’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Pamela Benjamin is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Before I was a full time author, I was a Chartered Accountant, CFO, and Project Director. I’m multi lingual and have travelled and worked all over the world. At the moment I live in Bangkok,Thailand. In the course of my career I’ve experienced tropical hurricanes, been to secret military bases, and been chased by gun and machete toting mobs. I’m also a photographer and a CGI artist.

Under two different pen names I’ve written over thirty novels, both Science Fiction and SM Erotica, with stories involving futuristic androids, vampires and werewolves spawned by advanced science, contemporary adventure, Victorian adventure, all the way to Ancient Rome and China.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is “Port Royal”, a SM erotic pirate novel based in “the most sinful city in the world”, Port Royal. It features sea battles, duels on land, political and economic intrigue, and of course SM sex.

The novel was inspired by the discovery that up to the 17th century, the majority of the slaves in the Caribbean and the American colonies, were Irish and English men and women, many political dissidents and street criminals. Although in theory they were “indentured servants” working out fixed term contracts, these often became much longer through the manipulation of their owners, or they were worked to death before the expiry of their contracts in order to avoid paying them a contractual sum upon release.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Nothing that unusual. I do a lot of research for every book, everything from underwear to house design and weapons technology. I write using LibreOffice on my PC, and I write from start to end without jumping around.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Being a great Science Fiction and Sword and Sorcery (not High Fantasy other then Tolkien), I was inspired by authors such as Edgar Rice Burroughs, Andre Norton, E.E. Doc Smith, Robert E. Howard, Keith Laumer, and more recently by the likes of David Drake, David Weber, James White, Christopher Stasheff, and Bernard Cornwell.

What are you working on now?
My current WIP is another SM erotica novel entitled “Phantom Pain”. It is a supernatural/horror tale, a twist on the old haunted house concept. Everybody involved has their own agenda, including the ghosts.

After that I plan to work on the third of the Vampire-Tech series featuring vampires and werewolves spawned by advanced science rather than the paranormal or curses.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve found the personal touch to work the best for me. I join appropriate groups in GoodReads and other forums, make friends, sometimes I even write free short stories and poems just to let the others have a taste of my work. When individuals express and interest I offer free books, without obligation of review. Most of the time I get a good review anyway, and the work of mouth promotion does a lot to promote my work.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I’ve said this elsewhere, but make sure you have stories in you to tell before you decide to become an author, not the other way around. Too many people want to “give writing a try” but have no stories in them that they are passionate about. When I say stories, I mean a complete idea for a story, not just a love story, or a tale of redemption, or a space opera with light sabres.

There are few things more disheartening than to sit in front of your keyboard and have nothing to say. An author is a story teller, not just someone who knows all the rules and techniques of writing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It is a quote from the Marquis de Sade (yes that one).

“My manner of thinking, so you say, cannot be approved. Do you suppose I care? A poor fool indeed is he who adopts a manner of thinking for others!”

– Marquis de Sade

What are you reading now?
“The Siege” by Nick Brown, a tale of Ancient Rome.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Just to keep writing. There is nothing more important. To set free all the worlds and characters that still wait inside of me and to give them life.

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?
Dune by Frank Herbert, The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien, The Stories of Sherlock Holmes, and Choosing Lovers For Justine by Aran Ashe.

Author Websites and Profiles
V.W. Singer Website
V.W. Singer Amazon Profile

V.W. Singer’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

V.W. Singer is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I write Asian-American fiction with a geriatric twist. Currently, I have two books out, with a third one scheduled for winter 2015.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Seniors Sleuth

It’s the first in the series of Winston Wong Cozy Mysteries. It combines my love of mysteries and seniors. Also, it’s in honor of my mother, who used to read Agatha Christie stories with me.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I love using very particular styles of pens to write. Recently, I’ve picked up the habit of writing longhand and then typing everything up later.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Too many to count! In terms of Asian-American women writers, I’m a big fan of Jean Kwok and Lisa See.

What are you working on now?
I have a multicultural YA novel that comes out in winter 2015. It mixes historical and paranormal elements. Also, I’m working on the next Winston Wong book.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Giveaways are fun, and I also like connecting with readers in person.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Always put writing as a priority and develop a set routine to do it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Follow your heart, and write what you want.

What are you reading now?
I just finished Carole Sojka’s SO MANY REASONS TO DIE.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m continuing with my mystery series and looking to bring diverse voices into literature.

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 Survive on a Desert Island (to live)

-The Remains of the Day (to analyze)

-A Jennifer Weiner or Sophie Kinsella type of book (to find humor)

Author Websites and Profiles
Jennifer J. Chow Website
Jennifer J. Chow Amazon Profile

Jennifer J. Chow’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Jennifer J. Chow is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Oh, my goodness. Well, I’ll start with the books. I’m a USA Today, New York Times best seller who has written about 40 books. I also have some sweeter versions of a few of the Hell Yeah! so I have about 50 different books for sale including translations. And I have about 45 plotted for the future if I live long enough to write them.

As for me, I’m just a country girl. My books are much more interesting than I am. I love animals. I used to love to cook until I moved back to Austin and am surrounded by wonderful restaurants. I play piano. I used to teach piano, at one time I had 40 students. I am an accountant by trade. I also sing and have written songs, poetry and plays. My favorite colors are earth tones, like sand and burnt orange. I love flowers and the beach.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I just completed TEXAS WILDFIRE, which will be in the 12 Alarm Cowboy Boxset and is up for preorder now. It will release August 4th. The book was inspired by a friend I used to have who was a volunteer fire fighter and lived a life defined by the saying, “I Am My Brother’s Keeper.” I fictionalized it of course, made it hot and sexy, as usual.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write from my recliner with a dachshund in my lap. I keep a cup of coffee or a diet coke to my right. The TV is usually on so I don’t feel alone, but I don’t ever know what’s playing. I write every day unless I’m on a research trip.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My favorite author is Clive Cussler and I love how he works in history and lore into his adventure stories. I try to do the same with my romance.

Delicious by Shayla Black and Wild Card by Lora Leigh are two of my favorites.

What are you working on now?
I am working on two books – IF I CAN DREAM, the next Hell Yeah! about a McCoy cousin, Tennessee and his wife, Molly. It’s a second-chance romance. I’m also working on the sequel to TEXAS WILDFIRE, called TEXAS C.H.A.O.S. – The letters stand for a fireman saying, Chief Has Arrived On Scene. It will be an older sexy man, younger woman romance and I am super excited about it.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My advice is to try everything. The world of promoting is constantly changing and what works for one doesn’t always work for another. Get yourself out there.

Authors need to be flexible, they need to watch the markets and adjust their tactics but the possibility for greatness is limited only by your determination, your grit and your ability to tell a story that people want to read

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice has changed over time. I used to tell authors that now is the time to write, opportunity is unparalleled. And that is still true. But I like to add a bit of other advice now – Write the best damn book you can. So many people want to write for themselves, and that’s part of it. But you also need to write a book someone wants to read, if you plan on selling it. Competition is fierce and you have to write a book that is so good it stands out from all the rest

Write a good story. Series sell. Sex sells. HEA is better. 3rd person is easier. Past tense. 50000 words or more. Don’t spend a fortune on covers or special models – write a good story and a better blurb. Start with a bang – don’t describe the setting in the first paragraphs. The way people shop now is to read the first few pages in the sample and if you don’t catch them there, the reader will move on

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I write sexy stories, full stories about love, romance, adventure – some have serial killers, some have Mossad agents or Texas Rangers, some have drug cartels and every other thing I can think of. They also have great sex, sex and love the way it should be. In my personal life, many people were offended by my writing. Ha! I tend to think that they read it and liked it, they just didn’t know how to admit it. When I almost quit because of criticism over the content, my Nana told me 4 words that if I had listened, I would have saved myself a lot of heartache – her advice can be applied across the board. Here it is. TO HELL WITH THEM. – haha – there you go.

What are you reading now?
I’m not reading anything, I’m in writing mode.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I will continue to add to the series I have active – those series are – Hell Yeah!, Texas Heat, Moon Magick, Dixie Dreaming, El Camino Real, Sons of Dusty Walker, 12-Pack and Texas Heroes. I also plan on trying my hand at historical

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?
Since I would continue to write to entertain myself, I would bring a big dictionary and a big thesaurus. I would bring a Medical handbook in case I get sick and a Survival book so I can identify the plants that are safe to eat. And lastly, I would bring a book of magic spells to try to get myself the hell off the island – – haha bet you thought I was going to list some entertaining books – – no, I shall write those for myself.

Author Websites and Profiles
Sable Hunter Website
Sable Hunter Amazon Profile

Sable Hunter’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Sable Hunter is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am the love child of a hippy and a gypsy. Okay, not really, but the shoe fits pretty well. Though I love to garden, I have a difficult time putting down roots of my own. Traveling, meeting new people, having new adventures and creating art of all kinds provides the fuel for my very Sagittarius fire. Yeah…spontaneously combustible.

The people I meet, the stories they share with me and my personal adventures inspire the words in my books. Speaking of which, I’ve written two so far.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My current work in progress, “White Picket Fences” is the sequel of “To Speak of it Again.” Where the first in the series is highly based on my life from birth through the age of 40, the sequel spans the next five years. I get to tell the love stories and the observations I’ve made of the people I’ve met along the way!! *EEEK!* And wow…have I heard some stories and seen some $#@%!!! It’s been incredible, but don’t take my word for it… *wink and smile*

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Me? Unusual? Yeah, probably…

I’ve been known to forget to shower, eat or socialize for days at a time when I’m writing. When the inspiration hits, nothing will stop me.

Coffee with a ton of creamer and a wee bit of sugar is my constant companion. I block out the world with a variety of music blaring through my earbuds. Like seriously, I listen to everything from Apocalyptica to ZZ Top and everything in between. I think my playlist has A.D.D. I’m checking into it.

I chew on a pencil though I never use it to write. Does that count?

What authors, or books have influenced you?
If you know me, you know my favorite book of all times is, “The Scarlet Letter.” I think it’s because it’s the first “grown up” book I read as a child.

I am and always will be in love with the classics. I love language and the classics are full of swoon inducing vocabulary.

What are you working on now?
Oops, I guess I covered this one already BUT…

I usually have more than one project at a time going on and this is one of those times.

I am also working on the start of a new series about women. No, not famous women…women. I sincerely believe each of us have a story and I’ve been blessed to have met some pretty phenomenal women who have agreed to let me share their lives with you. I don’t make promises easily, but I am convinced you will find a bit of yourselves in at least one of these amazing souls.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My street team is incredible! Dina’s Dolls pimp me out like a … wait, maybe I shouldn’t use that saying here. Let’s just say they know how to get the word out.

Social media has taken over and no matter the site, there are promotion opportunities available. I think it would be unfair for me to choose just one when they’ve all been such a great help.

Personally, I send everyone to my personal website and from there, people can connect with me on my other sites. www.dinaredmon.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write…even if it’s not on your current project. Write.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write what you know … and that’s what I do.

What are you reading now?
I’m going cross eyed with edits and re-writes on my current project.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have plans for two different series. As earlier stated, I am starting a series about the average woman to show just how brilliant we are AND I’m also working on a paranormal series. Yep, gonna try my hand at that as well.

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?
“To Speak of it Again” Yep, my first book because it reminds me where I came from and how I became who I am.

“The Scarlet Letter” because I will never tire of reading it.

“How to Survive Anywhere” because, well…it speaks for itself.

Author Websites and Profiles
Dina Redmon Website
Dina Redmon Amazon Profile

Dina Redmon’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Dina Redmon is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Sean Michael Hayes was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. In his younger years he was a professional skateboarder and broke lots of bones. This is what brought him to America, the skateboarding not the broken bones, where he now lives part-time in Encinitas, CA. He likes to head out into the world on solo backpacking adventures, and when he’s not coaching today’s top professional skateboarders he’s doing something like diving with great white sharks in South Africa or living with a shaman in the Peruvian Jungle. In the last 18 months he has traveled to Spain, South Africa, Thailand, Peru, and about a dozen more countries. This diverse social and cultural understanding is the foundation for his dynamic and thoughtful literature. His experience with travel, elite sports, global marketing, and social media; have all complimented his transition into a breakthrough indie author. Sean’s is currently backpacking and working on his soon to be released second book I Killed A Black Dog.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book is called Five Weeks in the Amazon, here is the excerpt I wrote for it on Amazon.com

A Modern Quest for an Ancient Remedy….

If you enjoy a fast-paced read and a true story, Five Weeks in the Amazon is the book for you. It’s an honest story filled with peaks of humor and valleys of despair. Author Sean Michael Hayes has written a book that many would put on their shelf next to Cheryl Strayed’s blockbuster success, Wild. His adventure took him into the middle of the jungle alone, but Hayes unique writing style makes the reader feel as though they are right there with him. Five Weeks in the Amazon is filled with Hayes thoughtful solutions to many of the common problems we all share. Want to find out what happened to a Canadian backpacker who hiked into the Amazon jungle to live with a shaman? Order the limited supply, first-edition now.
EXCERPT
“At the beginning of the ceremony, nobody knows how the Ayahuasca will react, for them or anyone else. Even though I couldn’t see anybody else in the dark room, I could sense overtones of apprehension among the group. We were sitting there, waiting for the Ayahuasca to do its magic, wrapped in the darkness of the night.
With no warning, an explosion of sound and light shook the entire house. The startling interruption made someone gasp, and I heard a quick squeal from somebody else. The sky crackled to life. I knew at that moment why long ago people thought the thunder came from the sounds of the gods fighting. I imagined Zeus’ sword crashing through the clouds.
The small room became lit again and again by blasts of purple light. Thunder exploded at the same instant as the lightning flashed and I knew the storm was right on top of us. The storm shook the wooden house with every strike towards the Earth it took.
I could feel the sky’s energy and I looked across the room. Through the door, I could see the jungle illuminated with each white-hot flash of light. The room was still electrified and loud, and the Ayahusaca made its presence known. People started purging, Otillia started singing, and all the sounds mixed together…”

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Similar to Hemingway, I try to write at least 500 words a day. Like me, he also woke up early to write, and to avoid the heat when I am traveling. Plus, the morning is peaceful and quiet.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The most influential books in my life have been Plato’s dialogues, which include “The Phaedo” “Crito” and “The Apology.” They form a picture of what Socrates, Plato’s mentor, went through leading up to the trial where he was sentenced to death and then follows him through discussions on why he must accept this decision as just.

What are you working on now?
I a now working on my second book “I Killed a Black Dog” which is a collection of my best short stories and poems from 15 years of travel and adventure.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
for me I focus more on creating great content for my own site, canadianhayes.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Practice with intention. Write the best you can and don’t listen to anybody that doubts your goals and visions.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“The only difference between someone who is an author and someone who is not is that an author has written a book.”

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading Raymond Carver’s “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.”

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am finishing my audiobook, which will be out soon, and I plan to travel to Colombia in November!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Any Salinger, Hemingway, Plato, Theroux, Steinbeck.

Author Websites and Profiles
Sean Michael Hayes Website
Sean Michael Hayes Amazon Profile

Sean Michael Hayes’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Sean Michael Hayes is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born and raised in the New Orleans area and am married to my childhood sweetheart. By day, I’m a clerk of court administrator, by night author and historian. I’ve written four novels: But for the Grace of God, Fame and Misfortune, and books 1 and 2 of a Mardi Gras romance series, The Captain and the Queen and The Captain of Her Heart. Additionally, I’ve written several books and short essays regarding local history.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My most recent book was The Captain of Her Heart, a continuation of my Mardi Gras-themed romance. My involvement in a Mardi Gras organization (krewe) inspired me to begin the series.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do remarkably well on airplanes and casino coffee shops.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve primarily read biographies and non-fiction historical works and have not been particularly influenced by other novelists.

What are you working on now?
Forever Her Captain, the third and final installment in my Mardi Gras-themed romance trilogy, as well as conducting some research for several non-fiction papers on local history.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook is still a preferred method, and Pinterest.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write as often and as much as you can. Don’t stop if you don’t have to. You’ll only improve with more and more practice.

What are you reading now?
I’m not currently reading since I’m trying to complete my novel.

What’s next for you as a writer?
After the Mardi Gras-themed trilogy, I’d like to produce on a couple of ideas I have for doomsday-type stories, one involving hurricane forecasting advancements and another concerning the destruction of our technology infrastructure.

Author Websites and Profiles
FRANK BORNE Website
FRANK BORNE Amazon Profile

FRANK BORNE’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Pinterest Account

FRANK BORNE is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is the first book that I’ve written. Fortunately, I have a day job. Unfortunately, it has a habit of getting in the way of my writing. My day job is running a manufacturing company that makes medical and plumbing products primarily for the bariatric (large people) market and the disabled market.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called “False Pretenses” and it was inspired primarily by the events surrounding the Iraq war.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so, but what’s normal to one person may seem unusual to someone else.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I really enjoy thrillers, and the authors that I have read most recently are Daniel Silva, Vince Flynn, Brad Thor, and Lee Child

What are you working on now?
A crime thriller

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have a book publicist, because along with trying to write my next novel I have that pesky day job that I alluded to earlier.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing and stick with it to the end. It’s very gratifying to see your book get published.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
That’s a broad question. One piece of advice that really sticks out in my mind though came from a former girlfriend’s father. We were talking about what I wanted to do when I got out of college and I said that I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. He replied that I didn’t have to decide on what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, only for the next few years. I could always change my mind. I felt a great weight lift from my shoulders when he said that, and I’ve since changed my mind and direction many times.

What are you reading now?
Stuart Woods’s Stone Barrington series.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m currently writing a crime thriller, and I have a few others that I want to write. Again, it’s just a matter of finding the time to write.

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 Da Vinci Code, War and Peace, and a book on raft building and navigation.

Author Websites and Profiles
Scott Kramer Amazon Profile

Scott Kramer’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Scott Kramer is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Andrea Perno. I’m a full time Art teacher for Kipp Ujima Village Academy in Baltimore, Maryland. I’m also a freelance illustrator, and a science fiction writer for Beau Coup publishing. I have written two books that are currently out. One, THE LAST DROP, is part of a young adult, trilogy. The second book of the trilogy I aim to have finished by mid October of 2015. The other book, REMOTELY UNPLUGGED, was published this February 2015.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, REMOTELY UNPLUGGED, is a science fiction, thriller. It was inspired by a horse back riding trip I took in Banff, Canada. If you know Banff, it’s one of the world’s largest national parks. It’s very remote. You can only enter the park on foot, horseback or bike. No motorized vehicles are allowed in the park. I took the trip with a good friend of mine and spent six days horseback riding for about eight hours a day, following a guide we knew pretty much nothing about, in the remote wilderness of Canada. The one thought that kept crossing my mind was, jeez, what is this guide was a serial killer? No one would know where to look for our bodies. With a little added sci-fi flare, REMOTELY UNPLUGGED was born.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Strange writing habits…that’s tricky because it’s really the characters who have the strange habits. For example, not only do they tell me what to write, they tell me when to write (that could be at 3:15in the morning…thanks Avery. The boss loves it when I come to work and can’t talk to people in a “human” fashion before 9:00am.) I also do a lot of writing in the car to and from work. Part of that is just long commute. But part of it, I feel, is also a zoned out, listening to, but not really listening to, pop radio music and letting the characters have space to invade my mind. Space they would not otherwise have when I’m teaching middle schoolers during the day.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
All of Gary Paulsen’s work, particularly, HATCHET, have influenced my writing. I’m also a huge Jim Kjelgaard fan. But, probably my most influential authors are Suzanne Collins (HUNGER GAMES) and J.K Rowling (HARRY POTTER)

What are you working on now?
Right now I’m tirelessly working on the second book of, THE LAST DROP, trilogy. I’m also working with a screenwriter in LA to translate THE LAST DROP into a script worth pitching to Hollywood. *Fingers crossed*

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I don’t think there is one “best” website I’ve found to promote my books. Word of mouth and being able to work with talented and generous bloggers has been very successful. Goodreads, Facebook and Twitter have also been great places to promote. I always keep my ear to the ground for great places to get the word out.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Advice for new authors…This may be the most long winded response, but here goes:

1.) Write every single day. No excuses. No matter what. No, I’ll do it tomorrow, I’m too tired, I should walk the dog, I have to cook dinner yatta yatta yatta. If you’re saying those things you don’t want to be a writer bad enough. You should walk the dog? You better have a notebook in your back pocket ready to take notes. Oh, you need to cook dinner? That laptop better be propped within typing distance so you can switch back and forth between writing and stirring the Béarnaise sauce. And lord knows I can’t count the times I’ve been so tired I’ve fallen asleep with the laptop across my chest. I usually wake up to find I’ve written at least one sentence and a whole lot of aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…it’s still a win.
2.) It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks and yet IT MATTERS what someone thinks. My second piece of advice to aspiring authors is to find other, like-minded people who are doing the same thing. Talk to people. Share ideas. I spoke to one guy who was in the process of writing his own book. He said he didn’t want to share his ideas or his thoughts because he was afraid it would “disrupt my process” or that I would “steal his ideas.” Needless to say, I gave him a piece of my mind. We as writers are in this together. We don’t “steal” another person’s story. And disrupt the process? YES PLEASE. You might say something profound that makes me think of something different!
Bottom line, build a support system with friends, family, co-workers (because rarely can you quit your job and just write…at least at the start of it all.) and the oddballs you find online that you know nothing about (and that’s the best part). Get every one of them to read your drafts…all seventy five thousand of them, and give you advice. HARD advice.
3.) This one relates to number two. Grow a thick skin. My younger brother, Michael, gave me a brilliant piece of advice when I was starting my first book. I was handing it out to beta readers and family members who, (now granted I had told them to be harsh) were crushing my soul and making me feel like my work was complete garbage. (By the way, the first draft IS GARBABE. So let’s not sugar coat it.) Anyway, I was having an “I’m worthless and this isn’t worth the headache and the criticism,” moment when he literally swiped the computer off my lap, went to the end of the page I was working on and typed: “No matter what other people think or how they feel the story should progress, it is still YOUR story. You got this.”
I add that quote at the bottom page of every manuscript I’m working on. It matters what people think of your work, but at the end of the day it is still YOUR work. People are going to say all sorts of things, good and bad, through the beta reading and editing process and beyond when the book comes out. That’s part of the process. Something to cry over and be inspired by. Trust me it’s worth it. This leads me to my last piece of advice.
4.) The single most important advice I have for aspiring authors is to “just do it.” Some of you know what I’m referring to here. If you haven’t seen Shia LaBeouf’s motivational speech, click this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuHfVn_cfHU He may not be the best spokes person in the world and I don’t condone some of his life choices, but he is a profound artist in his own way and his advice is sound. Plus it’s said with the passion and intensity I strive to live my whole life with.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The single most important advice I have for aspiring authors is to “just do it.” Stop talking about it and just write.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading, SNOW CRASH, by Neal Stephenson.

What’s next for you as a writer?
What’s next is I will finish my trilogy and then I will begin another separate sci-fi/fantasy novel that I have in mind.

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 Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and Where The Red Fern Grows.

Author Websites and Profiles
Andrea Perno Website
Andrea Perno Amazon Profile

Andrea Perno’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Andrea Perno is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a fantasy adventure writer with three books in print. My writing began in high school, but my first book wasn’t published until 20 years later after I returned from Afghanistan. The first book (Protectors of the Vale) parallels my combat experience fighting the Taliban. As the men in my 12 man team and I trained, fought, and in some cases experienced hardships so too do the characters in my book. Obviously the setting is more Lord of the Rings/Forgotten Realms than modern times but the feeling of being there…in the thick of it…is visceral! Book 2 and 3 followed and since then I have had a heck of a lot of fun sharing my stories with fantasy readers.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Book 3 Guardians of the Mountain was inspired as the epic grand finale by a dream. I had been thinking seriously about writing a 3rd book and wrapping up the series. One night it came to me. A long forgotten prophecy, fear of the end of times, betrayal, and a myriad of twists and turn really got me excited about writing. It took well over a year to get it all together, but in the end is was my best work. I had learned so much since my first published work that this book captures the essence of who I am and nicely wraps up the loose ends of the previous episodes.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am addicted to shock and awe in my writing! I love to astound and even mislead the reader only to reveal an unexpected twist or turn that blows their mind. I have written and re-written countless pages just to get the reader perfectly poised for the excitement I want them to feel. By all reports this is what keep my readers turning pages well into the wee hours.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
R.A. Salvatore’s Dark Elf Trilogy, Cleric Quintet, and well pretty much his entire collection have been my go to books since high school. J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings was a huge influence (for almost all fantasy lovers I bet). I read a dozen Piers Anthony novels and most of the Dragonlance books by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman. more recently I have enjoyed the “I am number four” series by Pitticus lore and the dystopian novels like Maze Runner and Divergent. The books are better than the movies but I enjoy the movies as well.

What are you working on now?
My latest novel is under construction at about 50k words. It is a very dark, modern day fantasy about a former Soldier working as a detective who stumbles into a government conspiracy. This is a tricky book because there have been many books written in this genre and style but much like my fantasy adventure novels…I take life and remake it into fantasy which gives it a personal and undeniably real feel.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Amazon is the best way to find my work. My books can be found in kindle, softcover, and hardbound varieties by searching my name (Curtiss Robinson) or by title (Protectors of the Vale, Defenders of Griffon’s Peak, and Guardians of the Mountain). My publisher is Beau Coup and the series title is “The Heroes of Daerun” for specific searches on google. I also have a personal page, author’s page, and book page on Facebook. Come find me…I am very available and enjoy chatting with avid readers and writers.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Of course I have advice
1. Never give up…easier said than done for most
2. Write often and read you own work. If you love it then so will others
3. Never go cheap! I have the best artist, editor, and publisher so my work will stand out
4. Have fun…if you write for fun it is never work
5. Pay it forward! No one really wanted to help me when i got started and that sucks so i try to help new writers get the ball rolling. Do the same and pay it forward.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My publisher (Sable Hunter) told me there are literally thousands of books in digital format that are free online. Few people will just give a new author their hard earned cash when they can get free books so be prepared to give your book away for free to establish a following. If they love your style they will want more. You make money on the second and third books once they are hooked. This is digital marketing 101.

What are you reading now?
I spend most of my reading time online. I love articles and personal growth. I always have my eyes peeled for a new novels and nothing beats the “dead tree version” but right now I am all digital until something incredible comes along.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I love writing but I do it as a hobby. I retired form the US Army a year ago and now I run a clinical counseling practice where I help good people with anxiety, depression, PTSD, and grief. I have written dozens of articles on stress, anger, and coping. Who knows, I might make it into one of the journals of psychology 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?
OK…seriously? If I am stranded on a desert island I would bring the 3-4 largest books on tax law or politics I could find so I could have plenty of paper to wipe my butt and what better book to use than tax law or politics! That would be enjoyable and practical.

**If I had unlimited toilet paper then I would bring the 3-4 best books on how to survive or escape the desert island**

***If I had unlimited toilet paper and I was on a desert island in need of good reading (unable to escape) then I would bring scripture and get closer to God. Yeah I know everyone expected me to say something a little more whimsical but I am a practical guy. What can I say?

Author Websites and Profiles
Curtiss Robinson Website
Curtiss Robinson Amazon Profile

Curtiss Robinson’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Curtiss Robinson is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Well, I’m 24 and I love to read, write and play the flute. I live in Ohiobut wish I lived in England, being the anglophile I am. I have published one book, “No Backward Glances,” and am currently writing the sequel.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is titled “No Backward Glances,” and it was partly inspired by a portion of my life. Many of the details surrounding Rory’s breakups and relationships match my own experiences almost exactly; I just added a bit more excitement to her every day life.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I absolutely can not sit at a desk. I get distracted at how uncomfortable I am. The only position I can write in is sitting on the floor or a bed with my legs up and my laptop resting on my knees, with a stack of pillows supported my head.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Definitely Kresley Cole. I didn’t think my detailed style of writing when it came to the sex scenes would be very popular, but when I read Kresley’s Immortals After Dark series, I was shown that people do write and read very raunchy scenes.

What are you working on now?
The sequel to “No Backward Glances,” which I currently am calling “Think of Me.”

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am actually not the best at marketing or promoting my book, or anything, really.For now I’m really relying on reviews from bloggers to get the word out.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be a perfectionist. Most of your book is going to be edited in publication process, so if it’s not perfect then it will be before it’s released. That being said, still look out for obvious errors because they’re the mark of an amateur.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To write what I know. I can’t write confidently about something I know nothing about, so I make the more detailed aspects of my story seem realistic because they are; they’re my own experiences.

What are you reading now?
“The Stolen Child” by Keith Donahue.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Who knows? I know that I have a third installment planned, but beyond that, it’s all one step at a time and each step is a new adventure!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
“Gone With the Wind”, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone,” “Anne of Green Gables,” and a survival guide.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kat Schuessler Amazon Profile

Kat Schuessler’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Kat Schuessler is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have spent my life searching ever deeper levels of reality beneath the easily explainable, I hunt spooky sites in Europe and America. I have three novels out; absorbing fictional tales for those struggling with their lives who would like to find some deeper connection and meaning: “The Mourning After” (a romantic story spanning lifetimes via reincarnation), “Entertaining Naked People” about a young man too sensitive to fit in; to wise to buy into some of the things acceptable religions have been telling him, and “The Gardens of Ailana”, which is a much more in-your-face tale of those darknesses we all carry inside us and how sometimes childhood abuses don’t need to be forgiven to be dealt with and healed from.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“The Gardens of Ailana”. My lady friend’s husband died of ALS, but for years she took him to this special healer who sat with those in need in her gardens in a small village in northern England. My lady friend took me there once, years after this healer had died, and we looked over her garden wall. I feel like i connected with the spirit of the healer, and she wanted me to write a book about a healer who no longer needed her body. So when she died she simply stepped out of her body and continued to help others.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I sometimes, as with this book, channel at an amazing pace, producing deep level insights about what happens beyond everyday reality, what lies beyond death, and such. Things I did not know myself, even suspect, until I read what I had just written.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Mostly theosophical teachers, but also anyone who writes such luscious imagery that I am drawn to savor particular passages for days before moving on. Barbara Kingsolver comes to mind.

What are you working on now?
I work on several books at once. The main one I am focusing on currently seems to be about isolated individuals, physically or psychologically unable to socialize with others who find themselves drawn to a specific internet social scene. They begin to notice amazing synchronicities connecting them and slowly find themselves forming together into performing some Higher service for humanity. – Perhaps they are being influenced by the mysterious backers of this social net.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I find Goodreads very helpful and friendly. Some great discussion groups going on. Plus – I currently have international giveaways going on for two of my books: “The Mourning After”, and “The Gardens of Ailana”. – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18088429-the-mourning-after?ac=1

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just get pen on paper (or fingers on keyboard). Don’t worry about whether what you write is worthwhile at first. Just keep expressing your soul through your words, however awkwardly. – But then never publish before you HAVE refined the wording. Show some respect for yourself, your gift, and your readers.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Duck!

What are you reading now?
All sorts of stuff; mostly spiritual and theosophical.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am an American, currently traveling England, and live my life in the moment. If there is one thing I don’t do, it’s anticipate all the possibilities of what might happen 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?
“Light on the Path” written down by MC. “At the Feet of the Master” by Alcyone, and two books I haven’t yet written.

Author Websites and Profiles
Edward Fahey Website
Edward Fahey Amazon Profile

Edward Fahey’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Edward Fahey is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a little blonde, recently moved to Chicago, IL. I’m married to an amazing man who works as a Technical Director for one of the best high school fine arts departments in the nation. We live with our two cats, and are working to adopt a child!

At this point I have four novels out, but that will be changing very soon. I have one urban fantasy series and one medieval fantasy series. Soon I will be starting on a second urban fantasy series.

I love to garden, act in theater productions, read, and be with kind people, but of course my greatest passion is writing.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is That Sucked, book 3 in the Series That Just Plain Sucks. (I’m kinda cheating cause it comes out in one month). The series was originally inspired by the question: “What if Stephenie Meyer got turned into a vampire and realized she didn’t know what she was writing about?” For those that don’t know, Meyer wrote the Twilight series.

Anyway, that simple question evolved into a fun series somewhat poking fun at the vampire craze.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
One of my writing rituals is tidying up the house before I sit down to write. It is hard for me to be creative knowing the dishes need to be done. This may stem from feeling like writing is a treat or a fun thing to do. I was raised to work before we play, and those lessons are still at work in my life.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
One of my favorite authors is Anne McCaffery. Her Dragonriders series has had a major in pact on my writing in plenty of subtle ways. Patricia Briggs is another. I love her use of 3rd person narrative, especially in her Alpha and Omega series.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on the final book in my Dothan Chronicles series. This book will wrap up the story of Princess Bethany who accidentally gets sold into slavery.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I try a little bit of everything when it comes to to marketing. I do a lot on twitter and facebook, and occasionally even pay for an ad (gasp!).

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write what you want to read. If you can’t enjoy what your writing, it will show through to your reader. Once I was trying to write a short story, the whole time thinking “This is so boring.” I finally deleted it. If I’m bored, no doubt the reader will be too.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write every single day! Make it a habit. If you can go weeks without writing and not feel the itch, something is wrong.

What are you reading now?
I’m finishing up The King Trilogy by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff. Excellent series (warning: explicit language and content)

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m stoked for my next series. It will be another urban fantasy series, dealing with how we has humans might handle the mystical world it it “came out of the closet.”

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?
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskel, A Jane Austen novel, and War and Peace (just cause it’s really long and would be something to read for like five years).

Author Websites and Profiles
Charissa Dufour Amazon Profile
Charissa Dufour Author Profile on Smashwords

Charissa Dufour’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Charissa Dufour is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing for many years. I published a cassette (yes, that long ago) of folk tales called As You Wish. Shadoe Publishing has published one middle-grade novel, Riding the Rainbow, which won the prestigious 2015 GCLS Award for YA Literature. They’ve also published my latest release, a YA novel, A Man’s Man. Coming up next is a much more mature work for readers 16+ called The Boxer (Shorts) Rebellion. Under other pen names I also have published eight short stories in various genres from spec fiction to erotic romance.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest release is A Man’s Man. It was inspired by an interview I saw on television. Rosie O’Donnell was discussing the questions her (then) ten year old son was asking about living in a family with same-sex parents. Since my kids had asked basically the same questions, it inspired me to create a story that might answer some of those questions for kids living in the same kind of families.

Of course, I had to make it dramatic, so when RJ loses his mom in a sudden car accident and has to go live with his father and his boyfriend, he is very angry. The first lines of the book set it up:

‘It’s like this, see. My dad’s a fag, his boyfriend’s queer, and I think I might be gay. I mean, I think it’s contagious or something.’

RJ decides he’s going to turn his dad straight, but once his plan is in action everything goes wrong. Just what does it take to make a man’s man, anyway?

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Oh no, no, no. Unless you consider watching old black and white movies with the sound off while writing unusual. Of course, when I’m stuck I turn up the volume and wait for the plot to untangle in my brain, sometimes snagging exactly the word I need from the film’s dialogue. They really knew how to write dialogue before all the special effects replaced that.

Oh, and I write sad scenes over and over again until they make me cry. I figure if it doesn’t touch my heart, how will it ever touch yours? Conversely, I write silly scenes over and over again, trying them out on new listeners until I get spontaneous laughter. Basically, I write everything over and over and over and over and over…. But by the time I turn loose of it and offer it to you, I know that it’s the best I can do. Then the editor shows me where I’m wrong and I start rewriting again, and again, and again until she’s happy…

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, every Harry Potter book by J.K. Rowling, oh and the play Harvey, by Mary Chase. Great authors telling great stories.

What are you working on now?
My wife grew up on a tropical island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. She has a wry sense of humor, and the stories she’s told me about growing up gay in a 100% Catholic community are absolutely hysterical. She had a solid cadre of young butches in training, who fought to establish a place for themselves among the Acoreans. I’m taking some of her best stories and fictionalizing them into a novel I’m calling, Island Girl. Hopefully it will be finished and ready to publish just in time for the Christmas buying frenzy.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I like joining groups on Facebook, tweeting on Twitter, and begging for honest reviews in exchange for free eBook copies of my books. As a matter of fact (winky winky), I’ll be glad to extend that offer to anyone reading this. Simply contact me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/genta.sebastian) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/GentaSebastian), and we’ll exchange email addresses to set up delivery. Remember, though, I’m offering free eBooks to garner honest reviews – so don’t ask for a book if you have no intention of following through. It generates bad karma, and you don’t want that, do you?

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes. Sit your butt down in the chair, put your fingers on the keyboard and start writing. Turn off that internal editor until the story is completely told. Then re-write as many times as it takes to tighten up your work and make it ready for consumption. If you can afford it, hire a professional editor. If you can’t, get as many beta readers as possible to comb though it for you.

And remember, every book you write will be better than your last. If you picked up a musical instrument and started playing, you would be pleased with your first ability to play a song. But the more you played, the wider your selection of songs would grow and the better your skill at mastering the instrument. Everyone’s first novel sucks compared to their tenth. So get started and keep writing, writing, writing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
This too shall pass.

Oh, you mean writing advice? Be honest and unafraid of using the words necessary to tell the tale. Aim for the reader’s heart, but along the way send shock waves to their spines, anxiety to their hearts, and conundrums to their brains.

What are you reading now?
Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison. FANTASTIC book.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing, and competitions. After winning the Golden Crown Literary Society’s Goldie Award, I found I like the look of the award sitting on my mantle. I want more, so I need to write often and compete whenever possible.

Of course, I also enjoy speaking to school boards, librarians, and assemblies about my rainbow family books, and the need for 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 complete collection of Shakespeare (that’s a lot of stories and will keep me busy for a long time).

Jane Yolen’s collection of Folk Tales from Around the World (same reason).

Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell, because it will help me perfect my craft.

And last, but certainly not least, Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein because, well, I grok.

Author Websites and Profiles
Genta Sebastian Website
Genta Sebastian Amazon Profile

Genta Sebastian’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Genta Sebastian is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve started with a five novella series called Ice Bear Shifters. Up next is my Fire Bear Shifters series, which I’m working on right now!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Bearing the Late Thaw is my latest book. It’s the final novella in the Ice Bear Shifters Series

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m pretty cliche when it comes to writing habits. I just buckle down with some coffee and tea and get into the story!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Too many to list – I love reading shapeshifter stories, especially about bears!

What are you working on now?
I’m working on A Blaze to Bear – which will be the first book in my Fire Bear Shifters series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I find that my personal website is a good way to engage with readers, which helps them keep up to date with new releases.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep writing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You will succeed because others are lazy. (In other words, don’t be lazy, work hard, and you’ll catch your dreams eventually).

What are you reading now?
Outliers

What’s next for you as a writer?
More bear shifters!

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 seriously don’t know how I could possibly choose just four. No, seriously. I will say that The Picture of Dorian Gray would be one of the three. Love, love, love that book!

Author Websites and Profiles
Sloane Meyers Website
Sloane Meyers Amazon Profile

Sloane Meyers’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Sloane Meyers is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a thriller writer, published by Simon & Schuster and Touchstone since 2011, and I also write for my own independent label, Fictum Ltd. I’ve written 18 novels to date.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“The Identity Mine” is about a terrorist cell that steals a new kind of technology that allows people to ‘see’ thoughts, dreams and the implanted person’s view of the world in real time. It’s based on real technology, as are all the stories in my Warner & Lopez series of books – computers do now exist to watch our thoughts, and have been developed to learn more about neuroscience and how the human brain works.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Only how hard I work! I typically write 5,000 words per day on a new draft. I like to produce a new novel every 10-12 weeks for my independent label, and one novel per year for publishers.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Michael Crichton for his foresight and technological know-how, Wilbur Smith for his epic adventures and Tim Willocks for his grasp of narrative and prose.

What are you working on now?
The last draft of “The Identity Mine”, which is to be published August 10th, a new project for my literary agent, and two ‘treatments’ of my novels for Hollywood film studios / producers interested in my work.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Digital advertising works best, presenting my work to those people who are actually interested in the genres in which I write. It’s wonderful to be able to put my work directly in front of people who have signed up specifically to read action / adventure techno-thrillers.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Work hard, keep working, and never quit. It took me fifteen years to get my first publishing deal, and I still work as hard now as I did then. You never achieve anything if you expect it to land in your lap, but great things can come with effort and a little bit of luck

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never quit.

What are you reading now?
“The girl on the train” by Paula Hawkins.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing! I’d love to move into more screen writing, but for now I have six novels lined up to be written over the next 14 months. I’m always busy.

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?
Wilbur Smith: A Falcon Flies. Michael Crichton: Jurassic Park. Tim Willocks: Green River Rising.

Author Websites and Profiles
Dean Crawford Website
Dean Crawford Amazon Profile

Dean Crawford’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Dean Crawford is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a small town girl who has always had a big imagination, but was always too shy to express it outside of my own head. Thankfully, one day I figured out I could write.

I currently have 3 published books, and a 4th about a week away from publishing.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Cheers Beers is a cautionary tale. I was tired of seeing so many people I love in abusive situations. They inspired the story, and I hope it is able to help someone going through something similar who might stumble across it to believe she (or he) can get out.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes! I have to write on the couch with the TV on. I live alone, but I grew up in a house full of people, so I can focus better with background noise.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Judy Blume, of course.

Louisa May Alcott – Little Women, and specifically Jo March, inspired me to write women with a backbone and opinion.

Along the same thread…

Lucy Maud Montgomery – I have always considered Anne Shirley my “spirit animal.”

What are you working on now?
I am working on a re-write of my first novel, Wiener Brain, which is a children’s book (more specifically: Middle Grade Fiction), as well as the sequel, which will be called Crumbsnatchers.

After that, I look forward to more literary fiction.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m terrible at marketing, so I’ve only stuck with Facebook and Twitter for promotion up until submitting to Awesomegang.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t worry about what anybody else thinks, just write what speaks to you. If someone has a problem with that, it’s because they’re upset their imaginary friends aren’t speaking to them.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
That once I stop being afraid of people thinking I’m writing about them, I’ll write the best book of my life…I’m still working toward that.

What are you reading now?
“In the Unlikely Event” by Judy Blume

What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to establish my own imprint. It’s a few miles down the road, but it’s in my plans.

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?
Summer Sisters (Judy Blume)

Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)

Anne of Green Gales (Lucy Maud Montgomery)

And if Chelsea Cain’s entire Gretchen Lowell/Archie Sheridan series were available in one volume prior to me being stranded, I would take that too.

Author Websites and Profiles
Lindsey Stuffel Website
Lindsey Stuffel Amazon Profile

Lindsey Stuffel’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Lindsey Stuffel is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Books is an interesting word. I tend to write shorter stories, some of which follow the same characters and end up being just as long as a normal novel when it’s all said and done. (Like A Mile High Romance)

Across my four pen names (Cassidy Coal, C. Coal, Callista Carr, and C.K. Carr) I’ve written about fifty unique short stories.

Why four pen names? Because I like to let readers know what they’re getting and my cute meet puppy love stories that don’t have a single cuss word and no more than a first kiss or two (by C. Coal) are very different from my Stripped Bare short short stories that start and end hot (by Callista Carr). Which is not to say that readers can’t enjoy both. I enjoy writing both!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest release is A Mile High Romance: The Complete Collection about a sassy accountant who finds her happily ever after with her billionaire boss.

What inspired it? Hmmm….I like the thought of ending up with a billionaire as much as the next girl, but on some levels I’ve always wondered if it would really work and if I’d really fit in that kind of world. So, I set out to explore that through Sarah Baxter.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I would love to say something really interesting here, because my writer brain certainly came up with a number of interesting responses I could put. But, no, not really. I do listen to music most of the time when I’m writing. (Even if it’s only the music playing in my head.)

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Oh, wow. Which ones haven’t? I’ve been a voracious reader since I was eight. At some point in time I owned over 1,500 books. I finally got rid of about a 1,000 of them when my family started protesting each time I moved, but I think that number has crept back upward again…Oops. I tend to absorb stories and then forget the details, so I think every book I’ve ever read feeds that dark unknown at the back of my brain that helps generate stories.

What are you working on now?
Nothing. Which is probably why I have the time to fill this out! Isn’t that terrible? I’m actually trying to figure out which project to start next. Too many ideas, not enough time!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I hope the folks here don’t mind my mentioning a competitor, but I’ve found BKnights on Fiverr to be useful for freebie promotions. I choose the $5 option each time and get 500 or 600 free downloads. Seems to be worth the cost…

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t beat yourself up, just write. The words won’t be perfect in that first draft and that’s okay, but getting started is probably the hardest part, so just write without censoring yourself. And if you read it and it sucks (like the first novel I wrote), then you edit it and make it better. Don’t think you can’t write just because that first draft wasn’t Pulitzer-quality.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
No one else has to live your life, so don’t live it for them, live it for you.

(I don’t know if I specifically heard that anywhere, but it’s the mantra I’ve come to live by and what I remind myself when one of my friends is about to do something I think is really, really stupid and they haven’t asked my advice.)

What are you reading now?
I’m trying to read outside my comfort zone these days, so I’m reading the Odd Thomas books by Dean Koontz. Very good books, IMHO.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I think the next project is actually going to be a novel. Possibly in a different genre and under a different name. (Because I’m weird that way…)

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 couldn’t stop crying if that were the case. Only three or four books? I am not a re-reader, there are just so many books out there that I’ll never read all the books I want to.

This is going to be a weird choice. I read War & Peace and Anna Karenina many, many years ago and really liked them but haven’t had the guts to try to read them again. I think I’d take those because they’d take forever to read and I really have wanted to see if I still like them now. But, because I’d need a palate cleanser to turn my mind off and just have fun, maybe I ‘d take a Sophie Kinsella novel as well. And maybe a Tom Clancy or Brad Thor novel, too. Just a couple novels I know will entertain and read easy without too much brain damage. (Kind of like what I write. Haha…)

Author Websites and Profiles
Cassidy Coal Website
Cassidy Coal Amazon Profile

Cassidy Coal is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
So far I have released one book, Ascendancy Rise of the Fallen. The follow up to that book Butcher of the Bay is with my editor now. I also have a book Ascendancy The Arena being edited that will be making an appearance on Kindle Scout soon. So if you see it there and want a free copy give it a vote :-).

More about me, I have done a few different things before the writing bug grabbed me. I started out in the golf industry, moved into finance, and am now working on becoming a full-time author. I truly enjoy the freedom writing brings, creating things from scratch is an incredible feeling. Plus I get to spen each day with my wife, and our two wonderful dogs.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Ascendancy rise of the Fallen, was written after I finished Arena. I fell in love with telling a story about the man character from that books parents. With the books being fantasy, and the characters being magical it was easy to think of them having extended lifespans. From there I thought what if I told their tale back in the 1920’s during a significant time of change in our country. It was pretty fun, and I learned a lot about the city of San Fransico and some of the history that surrounded it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Well, I think they are unusual. I like to write a rough draft, and then expand on that vision two or three times, then start to edit. I find that most writers I talk to end up writing to much and revise downwards in words. So I find myself doing the exact opposite. I also find that my best writing takes place in the morning.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have a few authors that I really love. John Conroe, M.R. Forbes, Lindsay Buroker, Annie Bellet, and Joe Abercrombie.

What are you working on now?
Right now I am in the finishing stages of the next two books, both should be released sometime in August. Then it’s back to writing. I’m looking forward to getting back to idea creation instead of doing revisions. It’s been a busy Moth completing re-writes and launching my first book, but it has also been fun and rewarding.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am new to the promotion game so right now I am just trying to get the word out there. I use facebook and twitter. I have signed up to run a few advertising spots, and right now am enrolled in Kindle Unlimited.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Being a new author myself I try not to tell anyone what to do. How much success do you need to have before you are doing things right? I would suggest getting on Kboards and listening to podcasts. There is a ton of helpful information out there. Then you need to do what works for you.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write a series, and release frequently. That seems to be echoed by most of the authors that I speak with. Also do not skimp on the cover art. People say don’t judge a book by it’s cover, but we really do it.

What are you reading now?
Half a War by Joe Abercrombie. I also just started the Dragon Blood series by Lindsay Buroker and it is amazing.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am hoping to get at least one more ebook out this year maybe two. At some point it becomes a matter of financing, covers and editors aren’t cheap, but are a must have. So if the books start doing well, I plan on having two more out if they kind of flounder around maybe one more for the year. Either way I will keep writing and revising, and getting new projects in the pipeline.

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?
This is a great question.

Hungry as the Sea by Wilbur Smith. It’s not my normal fair, but I love it.

Demona Accords by John Conroe. Awesome Urban Fantasy.

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, Classic Fantasy.

The last one is much harder to pick. Duma Key by Stephen King. Loved the ending.

Author Websites and Profiles
Bradford Bates Website
Bradford Bates Amazon Profile

Bradford Bates’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Bradford Bates is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a fantasy author who writes Children’s/Young Teen’s fantasy novels. I have just published my debut Children’s/Young Teen’s Fantasy, The Magic of Geo.

I spent many years teaching and lecturing, English, and Literature in a variety of classroom settings. I have also had the wonderful privilege, and experience of being a voluntary reading mentor for children in a public library. I know how important it is for children and teens to read stories that can reflect on some of the issues they face in real life and that’s what I try to do in my stories as well.

The Magic of Geo is my first children’s fantasy book. I am currently working on my second which is not really a sequel as the story happens long before the tale within, The Magic of Geo, but does take us back to the land of Geo… way back.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Magic of Geo was inspired by my love for reading fantasy and Sci-Fi, and for my love of children’s books.

As a child and teenager, I loved to read and explore new worlds and fantasy adventures from books like Robinson Crusoe to The Chronicles of Narnia. As an adult I want to share my own worlds and fantasy adventures with today’s children/teens and hope they get as much enjoyment out of them as I did as a child.

Even in later years, my love for Fantasy/Sci-Fi never waned. My greatest inspirations come from C.S Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Philip Pullman, Terry Brooks, and of course, J.K. Rowling among many others. I finally gave in to the inspirations of my mentors and with the aid of my muse created, The Magic of Geo.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write what comes to my mind at the time. I do not plan or work from a template, or make an outline. For me these tools sometime stagnate the creative process and I find that outlines tend to create themselves as I write, anyway.

I edit what I’ve written when my muse stops talking and thats when I find myself switching chapters or moving parts of chapters as the story develops and things fall into place. Usually in the middle of editing, my muse starts up again and I write some more and then edit some more. This can go on for hours, sometimes.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love C.S Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, and his space trilogy; JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, and The Hobbit; Philip Pullman’s, His Dark Materials trilogy; Terry Brooks’ Magic Kingdom of Landover series, and all the Shannara series; and of course, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

There are many, many other books that have influenced me, such as Madeleine L’Engle’s, A Wrinkle in Time, and Katherine Patterson’s, Bridge to Terabithia which I refer to as soul-touching books. Those are the main one’s that spring to mind.

I could write a book, if not a series on all the books that have touched me in some way throughout my life if I paid a mind to it, so I’ll settle for the ones I’ve mentioned so far.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on another Geo book at the moment called, Unicorn Magic. The story is set in the land of Geo, but long before the tale within, The Magic of Geo. It’s more of an, “in the beginning…” type story and is the story of the unicorn that is mentioned in The Magic of Geo.

It tells of the rise of the shadow and how troubles first came to Geo long, long ago.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My website is: http://huffingtonbooks.com which is the main site I operate from.

I use facebook and twitter mainly and have recently done ran a promotion on my facebook page to see if advertising on facebook works. I am still exploring twitter.

I’m also on LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Stumble, and am trying some other sites, to see what I can do. I’m on a very limited budget as I’m sure most authors are, so that limits how far I can go with advertising etc.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Promote your book wherever you can. Do interviews where you can and contact anyone who promotes books on their site… try not to be too shy. If people don’t know your book is out there, they can’t buy it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I adhered to was getting a proper editor to go over my work. Despite having studied advanced grammar and even taught English, one doe not see all of one’s own errors.

It’s not enough to have friends and family look at your work, even though it helps to have those extra eyes. Get a professional editor to go over it… but send them your best edit first.

No one wants to read a book full of errors and children deserve to read, well-written works, especially since what they read may influence how they write.

What are you reading now?
I’m starting on Phillip Pullman’s, His Dark Materials Trilogy again because it’s been quite a while since I read it and I do so love it. Plus I have hard copies… I love holding a book in my hands.

I’m also reading a couple of new books written by indie authors whom I have promised to review. One’s Epub and the other’s Kindle. Both are in the drama genre. I do love a good drama. And, I’m slowly working my way through, George R.R. Martin’s, A Song of Ice and Fire series… also in paperback format.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My main focus right now is to market, The Magic of Geo wherever I can while I juggle reading, and blogging with writing my next book.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Definitely Robinson Crusoe. (grin) I might take Gulliver’s Travels as well… just in case I run into any iddy-biddy folk. After that, a survival book of some kind, and a compilation of some sort containing a variety of works in several different genres, the main ones being fantasy and sci-fi.

Author Websites and Profiles
K.C. Huffington Website

K.C. Huffington’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

K.C. Huffington is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been writing since first grade and decided to become a writer in fifth grade. I had a wonderful fifth grade teacher that encouraged us to write. She even taught me how to write dialogue. Back then I wanted to become a science fiction writer like my grandfather, Maxwell Sheridan, who published in the pulp magazines of the forties and fifties. He also worked with Ray Bradbury.

I got into fantasy because I had a background in reading all the OZ books by L. Frank Baum. I was also reading a book by Stephen R. Donaldson entitled The Mirror of Her Dreams. Later I read the second book, A Man Rides Through. I also just loved to use my imagination to make up things.

I have written three unpublished science fiction books. I have self-published two fantasy books, Guardian of the Gauntlet, and Guardian of the Gauntlet, Book II. I am working on the third one (Guardian of the Gauntlet, Book III).

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book which I’m working on now is Guardian of the Gauntlet, Book III. It is inspired by the Parable of the Wedding Feast which I studied in Sunday School as a child.

If you mean my latest published book, it is Guardian of the Gauntlet, Book II, and was inspired by a fellow writer who said to me “I thought she was supposed to do good with the gauntlet,” thus the subtitle “The Greater Good.”

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am a night owl. I write in bursts late at night, just the way I am filling out this interview late at night. I don’t wait until I am inspired; I just write when I have the time.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
L. Frank Baum, the Oz books, C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia, Stephen R. Donaldson, The Mirror of Her Dreams and a Man Rides Through.

What are you working on now?
I am working on Guardian of the Gauntlet, Book III, which is based on the Parable of the Wedding Feast.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
http://lenitasheridan.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Before you self-publish think how a reader would see your blurb. You may need to make changes, not only to the blurb, but to the book itself.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never give up.

What are you reading now?
Dolor and Shadow by Angela B. Chrysler.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I may write my memoirs and entitle them Goldstream Valley Girl. I also have short stories to enter in contests.

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, Mere Christianity, Once on a Time (A. A. Milne).

Author Websites and Profiles
Lenita Sheridan Website
Lenita Sheridan Amazon Profile

Lenita Sheridan’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Lenita Sheridan is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a longsword fighter, a book-binder, a crafter of all kinds of things, and a web programmer. I’ve written too many books, but I’ve only published two – my first novel, and a smaller book about online marketing.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Meldling – First Novel of the Daemonva. It was inspired by the epic fantasy stories that I grew up with, like the Belgariad by David Eddings, or Lord of the Rings. I love the adventure of fantasy – great magics, sword and sorcery, and vast world-building.

A lot of fantasy that I loved as a kid was about a character discovering themselves and rising to do great things, and I wanted to recapture that with The Meldling.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Although I like to write on my laptop on my couch, I can write literally anywhere and on any device. I’ve written chunks of stories in bathrooms, on buses, in airports and on planes, or while waiting for a movie to start in a cinema. I have to sync it all up using Evernote afterwards.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
David Eddings, J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert Jordan. I love the style and imagination of Terry Pratchett, and I developed a sense of rigor in world-building by reading Anne McCaffrey and Isaac Asimov.

What are you working on now?
The next book in the Daemonva Trilogy, called The Nameless Knight, and the first book in another trilogy called Fire Eyes, Shadowblade.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook. My articles on swordfighting and bookbinding are pretty popular, especially when I go off on a rant about lightsabers. (Hint: lightsabers are ridiculous and they were overused in the prequels.)

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Spend money on two things first: the cover and the website! A hundred dollars spent on a quality cover and a professional site will form the bedrock of your marketing efforts. Marketing is hard, much harder than actually writing a book, and you need to talk to other writers and figure out what will work for you. Once your first book is published, split your time between writing the next and marketing your work.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“When someone gives you a bad review, it’s not personal. It’s their reaction to the story, not the author. It’s not going to connect with everyone, and that’s okay! Just let it go, accept the criticism if you think it’s merited, and work on making your next book as great as possible.”

What are you reading now?
Knight’s Shadow, by Sebastien be Castell. I’m also re-reading Pride and Prejudice for the umpteenth time.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m going to write all the things. ALL OF THEM. I’ve spent years improving my writing to the point where I’m confident enough to be published. Now that I’ve released my first story, I’m excited to finally live my dream of being a fulltime author.

I have always been a storyteller, and I have dozens of stories itching to be told.

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 bring If You Want to Write, by Brenda Ueland, and three books with blank pages. And all the pens I can carry, of course.

All I need is one book to inspire me to write, and the means to do so, and I will be happy.

Author Websites and Profiles
Claire Ryan Website
Claire Ryan Amazon Profile
Claire Ryan Author Profile on Smashwords

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

Claire Ryan is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Well, I’ve been writing ever since I was very, very young, having written my first, full-length novel when I was twelve. Nobody will ever see that, though, of course. I’ve published seven books as of this year, with many still to come.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Grieving Liberty and what inspired it is a little bit difficult to place. I had this scene in my head, of siblings troubled by their restricted futures in their high positions and I think, being someone in my twenties, spoke to me as that conflict one has with what is required of them within society.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have a tendency of changing where I write almost daily, even if it means transporting all my writing materials and notes from one side of the house to the other.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I don’t know if I can say anyone in particular has influenced me. I tend to read a lot of whatever I find that’s interesting at the time and try to take lessons from what I like and dislike about it.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a lengthy project at the moment and that’s been really exciting for me. It’s a bit of a mixture of what I have done before, with so many new elements. I had hoped to release it in 2015 but it’s a story that’s expanded almost beyond my control so it’s looking more towards a 2016 release date.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I like to interact with readers, be it on Twitter or on Instagram. I think that’s always the best way to do it.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read as much as you possibly can. You’ll learn something every time and that’s knowledge towards making your work even better.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Read everything. Write a lot. Don’t overthink it.

What are you reading now?
I’m actually re-reading Pride and Prejudice.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m always striving to be better so, really, all I want to do is keep writing. Next year, I feel, will be a big year for me as I have a lot of ideas that I’m just itching to share with readers. Whatever happens, I know I’ll have a good time doing 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?
That’s tough. Probably it would be The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kyra Gregory Website
Kyra Gregory Amazon Profile

Kyra Gregory’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Kyra Gregory is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
To date I have only written one book which is available on Amazon through the Kindle store. For nearly a year I had been writing a detective story which had been building momentum and then fell by the wayside. Another story blending Sci-Fi and religion also gained a full head of steam before hitting a brick wall. I know that I had several good crime stories in me after working with the police for thirteen years. However I never thought that I would write a LGBT book, let alone a true account of my own experience.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Not long before I sat down to write the book I had been called out to a domestic disturbance in Alum Rock a predominantly Muslim and Asian area of Birmingham. There I encountered two gay students from Pakistan that had been subjected to abuse. Both men were young at twenty-two, they intended to get a civil ceremony in the United Kingdom. They hoped to remain together in England as partners and both were very career minded.

As things turned out they did get the civil ceremony and even returned to Pakistan. I remember thinking how brave they both were to break all of the conventions in Pakistan to be out gay men and risk religious and sexual persecution.

It was something that I just kept thinking about and eventually I started to record my experience on paper and that was how my book came about.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
For some reason I only get the urge to write at night, often when I very tired and need sleep the most. During those times I write using any pen to hand. After several days I usually have various post it notes and random thoughts written down. Eventually I gather all the information up and start to form a story.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have never read a LGBT book before or watched a film where the central characters were gay. However I enjoy reading pulp fiction crime. The older the better and I enjoy the Hard Case Crime novels that are being republished on Amazon.

What are you working on now?
No one thing at the moment but I hope to publish another book within the year.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Awesomengang have been recommended to me.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Promotion is key for getting your book out there to a wider audience.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Something I was told years ago by a family friend. “No matter what you think of someone or how they may seem, you can learn something from everyone. Instead of focusing on the negative and what you think of them, find out what you can learn from them.”

What are you reading now?
James Patterson, Private India. So far it has been a nice easy quick read

What’s next for you as a writer?
As a policeman to keep my head up during such crazy times. As a writer to find time to write and enjoy doing 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 Game by Neil Strauss

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Monster by Kody Scott

SAS Survival, for practical reasons and get off the desert island.

Author Websites and Profiles
William Portlock Amazon Profile

William Portlock is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a Midwestern girl who loves to read, cook, and travel to historical and out of the way places. I currently have five books published and numerous ones half written. lol

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest is called The Gangster’s Woman. It is the second in a Trilogy. In the first book the main character’s sister was missing and this is her story. I had no clue what to do in this story until I found out about a painting that is hanging above the fireplace in an old gangster haunt. No one knows the story of the woman in the painting so I decided to give her one. The painting is actually on the cover of the book too.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No but if I write a historical one I tend to listen to music from the era of the book.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love LaVyrle Spencer. I grew up reading her books. I consider her a great story teller and that is what I inspire to be.

What are you working on now?
I am very excited to have been asked to be in a contemporary mob/ mafia romance anthology. It will be released the end of December. I plan to spin off a series from that. I also am working on the final gangster book and next year I would like to start a small town suspense series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I wish I knew. There are so many books out there right now it is really hard to get noticed. So if you enjoy a book, please leave a review and share it with others. I also try to post and promote in groups that can target readers of the genre of the book.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing and finish that book!!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t pay attention to negativity. No matter what you do, you will never please everyone so do something that makes you happy.

What are you reading now?
The Mobster Series by Amy Rachiele

What’s next for you as a writer?
Trying to find more time to write. It is much easier in the wintertime but summer up north it is hopeless. lol I am very excited to be going to my first RT convention next year so I plan on attending many classes and learning lots of new things.

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 take Gone with the Wind because it is long. Ashes in the Wind because it was the first romance I ever read. Morning Glory because it is my favorite book and I would take a book on how to survive being stranded on a desert island.

Author Websites and Profiles
Ginger Ring Website
Ginger Ring Amazon Profile
Ginger Ring Author Profile on Smashwords

Ginger Ring’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Ginger Ring is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in the Outer Hebrides, work as a web developer, and live in Oxfordshire with my family, hedgehog and various squirrels. I run the exotic pet resource website Crittery and also enjoy geocaching.

I currently have one book and one short story published, my next book Tacenda is being finalised and I have several anthology contributions and other books in progress. My first non-fiction book will be a basic guide to Geocaching entitled In it for the Cache.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
When Disconnected is a collected of short speculative fiction tales, “Tales that tug at the readers’ hearts and broaden their minds” one reviewer has stated. They are a diverse collection which I hope has something in it to appeal to everyone. I find it especially fascinating seeing who connects to which tale!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I compose a lot of writing at awkward times, in particular whilst walking!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have a great deal of respect for Ursula Le Guin, Octavia E Butler and Robin Hobb.

What are you working on now?
A short science fiction story called Autobodied, a contribution for a charity anthology and a non-fiction book about Geocaching. I also have several fantasy books I’ve begun that I will be picking up as I go.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My best results to do date have been during free promos, I also find GoodReads a valuable resource.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Finding a supportive community is helpful!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new – Ursula Le Guin

What are you reading now?
I’ve just finished Small Kindnesses by Satya Robyn which I really enjoyed. The characterisation in this book is very interesting and it was a lovely break of pacing from my normal stories.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Tacenda will be the next book I’ll have out, this is a science fiction story about an interspecies messenger team called Kerris and Arucken. Life isn’t easy when you don’t own yourself, your partner is an alien, and your ship is semi-sentient. When the pair become stranded on a planet they must discover who is stealing the minds of children.

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 Tales of Earthsea, Ursula Le Guin,

The Last Unicorn, Peter S Beagle,

Assassin’s Apprentic, Robin Hobb

The Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan

Author Websites and Profiles
Christine Jayne Vann Website
Christine Jayne Vann Amazon Profile
Christine Jayne Vann Author Profile on Smashwords

Christine Jayne Vann’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Christine Jayne Vann is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing for several years and last year released the first in the Ethan Elliot series entitled A Life Awakening. In mid 2014 I released the second book in the series called Moving On From Memories Past. I am now releasing the third book in the series trilogy, Living My Life On My Terms which at 595 pages will tie up all the loose ends from the previous two books in the series.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Living My Life On My Terms being release on 8/5 /2015 was inspired by a close friend who had several relationships with the opposite sex that all ended in failure. Finally, the main character Ethan Elliot discovers another side of himself and coming to the realization, that he was living a life as dictated by a negative ego rather than living the life his soul chose to live when it took physical form.

Given the recent Supreme Court ruling on same sex marriages, Ethan’s story will touch many who have grappled with life changing decisions.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My only habit is to sit down each day and writing 4,000 words at a sitting.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Far too many to names, but some such as Pearl Buck and Steinbeck come to mind.

What are you working on now?
My next novel is currently under way and it deals with a young girl who lost her mother to cancer.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am currently using a P.R. site called Piece Of Cake and have been more than pleased with the work they have done.

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

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never let others talk you out of your dreams.

What are you reading now?
I’m lucky if I have the time to read a newspaper.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have several subjects I will be addressing in upcoming books that primarily deal with the human condition.

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?
Harper Lee, Go Set A Watchman, Catherine Coulter, Nemesis, Jimmy Carter, A full Life.

Author Websites and Profiles
Ryan Stevenson Amazon Profile
Ryan Stevenson Author Profile on Smashwords

Ryan Stevenson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Ryan Stevenson is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Your typical Big City Aunt! I’m just now hurtling into middle-age but I’m not slowing down. Help, I’m speeding up! I’ve been writing as a fun hobby for over twenty years but only two books are commercial. I’m branching out now for egg money. Seriously, have you seen how expensive eggs are these days?!

When I’m not writing I’m working, reading, wrangling friends and family, and gardening as well as I can on my balcony.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
‘B’ or ‘How the Bogeyman Didn’t Save Christmas.’ Essentially it’s the holiday special I’ve always wanted to see. Danger! Suspense! Steampunk spookiness! Romance! I had to write something fun and funny so everyone could check out of reality for a while and just enjoy themselves with a holiday extravaganza. Paying it forward in honor of all the books I’ve loved throughout my life. It was also written as a love letter to my family, especially the kids, and I hope they treasure it down through the years.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I get going and the writing gets intense I sometimes just BREAK and hurtle out of my chair to flail around in the living room. Frightens people and pets.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Terry Pratchett’s ‘Discworld’ series is a pure blessing and I adore Agatha Christie and all her ilk. I love simple, straight-foward story and I try my best to provide the same.

What are you working on now?
‘Souls by the Sea’ (working title) an urban-fantasy Halloween story for teens wherein our heroine has to deal with yet another witch attack. She hasn’t gotten over the first one!

It’s going to be funny and, I hope, inspirational for teens that are struggling. And I love Halloween so there’s a heaping helping of that, too!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Best method so far is sheer socializing. “Buy my book or I’ll cry! Just kidding. But not really. Buy it.”

Do you have any advice for new authors?
KBoards ‘Writer’s Cafe’ is a great source for interaction and good advice. If Googling for the answer to your problem doesn’t turn up anything then KBoards will.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never give up. Never surrender!

What are you reading now?
‘Rebecca’ by Daphne Du Maurier. Our actual heroine is never given a name. And rightly so, she’s beginning to annoy me!

What’s next for you as a writer?
Just continuing to build on what I’ve accomplished and never stopping. I will probably stay in the children/teen genre but the inspiration there is endless.

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?
Lord of the Rings, The Complete Shakespeare and, of course, How to Survive while Stranded on a Desert Island.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jessie Talbot Website
Jessie Talbot Amazon Profile
Jessie Talbot Author Profile on Smashwords

Jessie Talbot’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Jessie Talbot is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
A lifelong lover of Romance, I began writing about six years ago. I wanted to bring a more realistic view of rodeo and horses to western romance and ended up with bits of magic, mayhem and humor filling the pages. I married a rodeo cowboy and have spent the last thirty-five years training and competing on barrel racing horses. To say I love the western lifestyle is an understatement. We live on a hay and cattle farm and continue to rodeo in our spare time.

I just published my second book, Radio Rose. The first, Sugarwater Ranch, is set in Oregon and is the story of a bull-rider.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Radio Rose, a Change of Heart Cowboy, book is set near Trinidad, Colorado. When I was looking for a location, imagine my surprise when I learned Trinidad is called the Sex Change Capital of the World. It’s peopled with a crew of characters who are a little off center to say the least.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to write in streaks. One week, I’ll write for many hours each day and the next, I think about what’s to come.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Jennifer Crusie, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Katie Lane and RL Naquin are my must read authors. The loveable characters and bits of humor get me every time.

What are you working on now?
I working on the sequel to Radio Rose. It’s called Love and Other Useless Things and features one of the twins from the first book. Her bright blue hair captures her cowboys attention.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/stephaniebergetwrites and the gang here at Awesomegang.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, write. There’s no other way to learn.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Get a great editor.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading the second in Sandra Owen’s K2 team series, Someone Like Her. Sandra writes a wide range of books with everything from Historicals to this Seal series.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m working on a Novella in the Change of Heart Cowboys series and the next book in the Salt Creek Cowboys trilogy following Sugarwater Ranch.

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?
Welcome to Temptation and Faking It by Jennifer Crusie, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and Heaven, Texas by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I could read them over and over. Well, I have.

Author Websites and Profiles
Stephanie Berget Website
Stephanie Berget Amazon Profile

Stephanie Berget’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Stephanie Berget is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have self-published two short novels based off of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” I have also written a number of short stories and fan fiction.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is “The Madder Woman,” and it is the sequel to “The Madder Hatter.” Honestly, I really liked the first season of “Once Upon a Time,” and I was inspired to create my own twisted perception on classic fairy tales.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
None that I can think of. I prefer writing at night while listening to music, but that doesn’t strike me as unusual.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” and Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind” are two that have inspired to research hard when preparing to write a book, myself. They’ve also taught me the value of perception–how one person’s truth cannot define what is true to everyone else. I make sure to remind myself of this when I am creating my characters. It helps me make each one an individual rather than a copy of themselves.

What are you working on now?
I am working on a ton of things, but currently, I have been spending the most time on “The Madder Boys,” which is the third book in my “Madder Series.”

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook’s Ad campaigns have been really helpful.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t feel bad for making mistakes or getting confused sometimes. When trying new things, trial and error are bound to happen. If you keep it at though, these mistakes will help you learn and grow.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Focus on the story. Don’t let yourself get too stressed out about word count every day, just focus on getting the story the way you want it to be.

What are you reading now?
I’ve been reading a long fanfic about the Flash. It is dark and very intriguing.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Write more.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
A couple of survival books (I am not an outdoors person, at all), and a couple of “Sherlock Holmes” books.

Author Websites and Profiles
Cassandra Kemper Website
Cassandra Kemper Author Profile on Smashwords

Cassandra Kemper’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Cassandra Kemper is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
What’s up! I’m Lex, a 25 year old student of, well, a lot of stuff. Officially, I have a Bachelor’s degree in philosophy, and I’m working on my research master’s thesis. Unofficially, I’m a student of martial arts (mainly Japanese jiu-jitsu), crossfit, music, psychology, literature, seduction, entheogens, diet and loads more. These are the topics I have most experience in, and love writing about. In my spare time, of which I have too little, I love playing video games (good rpg’s in particular), going out to clubs/festivals/parties/what have you, or train myself in doing absolutely nothing- yes this is something worth training, and it’s hard… lol.

I’ve been working on a novel for quite a long time now, and I’ve probably written about a 1000 pages, divided over 20 attempts… More on that later, years later probably!

I’ve also written a lot of papers on philosophy- academic philosophy concerning ethical themes mostly.

But right now I’m focusing on writing concise little kindle books in the self-help and self-development area. Guys and gals who want to develop themselves physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually will hopefully resonate with the stuff I’m producing. I’m publishing this stuff with The Polymath Team- a bunch of like minded guys who like to write about the same topics.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Art of Sitting.

I sit a lot. Like most people in the West. It’s not healthy, and we should all be more aware of this.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My latest habit is listening to gangsta rap while writing. It’s great.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Too many to name… Here’s a short list:

Aristotle
Derek Parfit
Elliott Hulse
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Hermann Hesse
Hans-Georg Gadamer
Lao-Tzu
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Paul Auster
Plato
Thomas Mann
Tim Ferris
Tony Robbins

What are you working on now?
Finishing the Art of Sitting.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Just write good quality stuff. All the rest will follow.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Make sure you’ve read all the classics.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
There is a moment when you’ve analyzed enough.

What are you reading now?
Stephen Fry – The Stars’ Tennis Balls

What’s next for you as a writer?
The 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?
Thomas Mann – Der Zauberberg
Hans-Georg Gadamer – Wahrheit und Methode
Ludwig Wittgenstein – Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
Lao-Zu – Tao Te Ching

Author Websites and Profiles
Lex van den Oever Website

Lex van den Oever’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Lex van den Oever is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is actually my first book but I do have many other ideas I am currently working on.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Franco and I don’t really my sister was telling me she was sick of the cliche amnesia story so I decided to mix it up a little bit and make an original.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to drink or eat something while writing I don’t if that’s unusual though I also listen to music as well.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love the story of Amanda Hocking she is what actually inspired me to publish my work. She’s amazing!

What are you working on now?
I have plots for various stories in my plan book but I think I’ll do a mystery set in a school trip next look out for it.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I contact blogs, post on my twitter and go on many websites that offer promotions.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Go for it you have nothing to lose you never know if people will like your book if you don’t publish it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You never know how something will turn out if don’t try it

What are you reading now?
Not much but I have plenty of stories in my library to get through.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have a collection of short stories I will release next so look out for those.

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 Fault In Our Stars by John Green

The first three books of the Harry Potter series.

Asma Hassan’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Asma Hassan is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
5

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book I have written, one which I hope to be publishing soon, called The Baron, was inspired by the movie, and the original book of the same name, Scarface.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I prefer writing everything first by hand before typing it up.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
At the top of the list would have to be Stephen King.
Other notable mentions go to Hunter S. Thompson, Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Mike Gayle, Matt Beaumont,

What are you working on now?
I am currently in the process of preparing the book mentioned above, The Baron, for publication.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is a difficult one to answer. I guess for each author it will be different, and it’s whatever works best.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Spend as much as time as possible learning about the writing process and the publishing industry.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Trust no one, do your own research.

What are you reading now?
Books of Blood by Clive Barker

What’s next for you as a writer?
I will only start work on a new novel once I’ve finished publishing my remaining few unpublished novels.

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
Dan Sihota Amazon Profile

Dan Sihota’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Dan Sihota is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a Scottish, mostly-YA paranormal romance author, though I have recently branched out into New Adult and Erotic works. I currently have 9 published books available through Amazon, with 4 more to come by the end of 2015.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Cursed Rebel and it was inspired by my fascination with Celtic fae lore. Ever since I was a child, I’ve grown up hearing tales of selkies and kelpies and the

Loch Ness Monster. I also found the Tuatha De Dannan from Irish lore to be really interesting.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Does having to drink about 2 litres of Cola before I write anything count?

What authors, or books have influenced you?
LJ Smith was the author who originally inspired me to write – her Vampire Diaries novels blew me away. Her writing style was very enthralling, especially in Forbidden Game. Since then, I’ve become addicted to anything Cassandra Clare writes, and I challenge myself all the time to try new genres – sci-fi, steampunk, etc.

What are you working on now?
Several things. I have a few sequels on the go, and a couple of short stories.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Facebook a lot, and sometimes Twitter, but sites like Awesomegang are invaluable to expanding my reader base.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Promotion is ESSENTIAL. For a long time after my first book was published, my agent kept telling me I had to get on Facebook and promote. But I hated Facebook, so I never used it. But after my second book released, I started hitting Facebook groups and pages, and I saw my sales soar. Posters help a lot. I use picmonkey.com – just go in and make up a virtual poster to promote your book. Teasers from your book et huge response, especially on Teaser Tuesdays.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Like I said, promotion is essential. If my agent hadn’t pushed me to do it, I never would have sold any books.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading a few different books but my main one right now is Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have my first book signing this month in my hometown, so that’s going to a big deal for me.

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?
Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare, Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready, and The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin.

H.G. Lynch’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

H.G. Lynch is a post from Awesome Gang

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing off and on for the last 28 years. After seeing a few magazine articles published, I wrote a Christmas play, and eventually accomplished my goal of writing a novel. In fact I wrote a series of inspirational novels for middle grade students about teens who bring their baggage to summer camp and learn how to carry it. The stories were based on my experience growing up at a Bible camp in WI, as well as issues I saw my kids’ friends dealing with as they were growing up.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is See No Evil, Book 3 in the Rustic Knoll Bible Camp series. The character was inspired by a teenage boy who attended the camp where I lived. He was blind, and in the days before handicap modifications were required, it seemed odd for him to come to camp. But he fit right in and we were all impressed with how much he was capable of. In my book, the main character is a blind, but capable 17-yr.-old who wants to enter a triathlon in hopes it will relieve him of some of the guilt he feels over his use of pornography while his dad was dying of a heart attack.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I love being outside, so a lot of my writing is done on my patio. I can look up and enjoy the scenery, and as long as we’re outside, my dog doesn’t interrupt me. I also find that a pre-dawn walk usually helps when I’m stuck and trying to figure out a scene or a problem with the story. The darkness makes me focus on the problem and keeps me from getting distracted by things around me, and the exercise gets the blood flowing to the brain and helps me think.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I loved Jan Karon’s Mitford Series. The characters she creates in the setting of a small town and their inter-relationships make me feel at home in her stories. That was probably my first inkling of the importance of character in a novel.

What are you working on now?
I’m attempting to graduate to adult novels, and working on developing an idea for a mystery/suspense novel. I can’t say much more because it’s still in the very early stages of planning.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ll let you know as soon as I figure that out!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be patient. And understand that while writing may be a hobby for you, publishing is a business which will require you to become a business person. You’ll have to learn about marketing and sales and the publishing industry. So take your time, hone your writing and get help from a professional editor so that you’re work is the very best it can be when you submit your proposal.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write something every single day.

What are you reading now?
Right now, I’m reading other mystery and suspense authors to study how they set up their stories and what makes them interesting. I’m very interested in Colleen Coble’s Rock Harbor series.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m not sure whether I’ll continue writing middle grade stories or not. It depends on how much success I find in the adult mystery/suspense genre. I might try that genre for middle grade at some point.

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, At Home In Mitford, When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin, and The Shack by William P. Young.

Author Websites and Profiles
Mary Hamilton Website
Mary Hamilton Amazon Profile

Mary Hamilton’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Mary Hamilton is a post from Awesome Gang