Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have one book published on Amazon and I am nearly finished with my second book. I love to read and write science fiction and fantasy.
I always wanted to be a writer from a very young and when I was given the opportunity to write my first book I jumped at the chance. I would write bits and pieces here and there with no real drive or motivation to reveal to the world what I had written. It was my wife that really pushed me to complete mt first book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is The Mind Hack. I was inspired by a variety of things including; Star Treck and other authors that I had read in the past including Tom Clancy and Anne MacCaffery. I really got a big push when my wife- who was encouraging my writing- found the Griffith review to submit my book. I did make the deadline but not the prize. Once the results came back I re-worked my book and published it as an ebook on Amazon.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am a combination pantser and plotter. I plot down to the chapter level and then write each chapter trying to get the characters to arrive at my desired objective.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have a long list of Authors that have inspired me including but not limited to; Anne McCaffery, Tom Clancy, Robin Hobb, Raymond E Fiest, to name a few.

What are you working on now?
I have two projects now. My first in a series of ten books The Bloodwood Curse, and I am working on my second book in that series The Belt of Truth.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am still working on promoting my books. Though I have built my own web page, summersby.org and I am active on facebook and twitter connecting to the communities there.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I would say to new authors, don’t write and edit at the same time. Your brain can not do both at the same time. I have found that it is best to write the whole manuscript out in its entirety then go back over and edit the work. This has helped me to actually finish my projects. I have been busier with other life-related issues now than ever before in my life and I have still found the time by focusing on either editing or writing to not only finish a book and have it published but also to create two whole new books.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Finish what you start. You can’t become a success if you never complete what you start.

What are you reading now?
I am working my way through Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have realised that even though I feel I have accomplished much in the last two years as an author I still feel that I have so much to learn. To this end, I am now applying to University to complete a Masters or a Doctorate in Creative Writing.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible and three books of blank paper, so that I can write. If I am going to be stranded I am most certainly going to have plenty of time to write. What an opportunity that would be to write.

Author Websites and Profiles
Peter Summersby Website
Peter Summersby Amazon Profil

Peter Summersby’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a a certified professional life coach, wedding and life cycle officiant, educator, motivational speaker and musician/Cantor.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Changing Curses For Blessings – Loving yourself and the world around you”
We could all use more LOVE in our lives, and the more we give the more we get. I wanted to write a book, think of it as a life manual, that will take the reader on a journey of self-exploration and awareness through stories, exercises, meditations and words of wisdom.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love Phillipa Gregory, love reading books about spirituality, and am an avid learner of Kabbalah.

What are you working on now?
Currently I’m working of a book of Kabbalistic prayers and “spells” to help people with healing, love, success and many other situations that come up in life.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook, twitter and Instagram .

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up! It’s not always easy to sit down and write, especially when life gets busy. Allow yourself some time to just sit quietly somewhere and write. Don’t listen to nay Sayers, write from your heart and publish your book – you have nothing to loose and a whole new world to gain!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t give up!

What are you reading now?
The paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

What’s next for you as a writer?
Hoping to promote the book above and publish a new book. Am also thinking about writing a children’s 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?
1. The Zohar,
2 The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven – to keep my humor while also learning how to wrestle an alligator
3. Jane Austen: Seven Novels

Author Websites and Profiles
Shai Specht-Sandler Website
Shai Specht-Sandler Amazon Profile

Shai Specht-Sandler’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a Portuguese author, currently living in Porto. Besides literature, I also love music, I currently play guitar and piano, but I wish to learn more. History and art, are also subjects that take a lot of my free time.
So far, I only wrote one book, a shot story.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
It’s called The Great Decoy: An Oak Island Short Story.
I applied for a contest sponsored by Amazon, and since had little time, I opted for a short story. So, I went with subject that was closed to me. I love the mystery surrounding the island, so the writing was natural to me.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t have writing habits, which is kind of frustrating. I lack a method. I just go along when the muses visit me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I would have to answer that the authors John Steinbeck, José Luís Peixoto and Luis Spúlveda, influenced me the most.

What are you working on now?
Currently, I’m working on a novel, a drama, this time written in Portuguese.
It’s still at the beginning, there’s some research that I have to do, but the main story line and characters, are already defined.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m new at this, but so far I think that websites like this one, are the best way to promote yourself and your work.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Well, with today’s technology that allows you to easily publish and promote your work, if you have any idea for a book, if you want to translate your thoughts into words, just go for it. Don’t shy away.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
When you face a challenge, always try to keep calm. The alternative is always worse.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel, Mindguard by Andrei Cherascu and The Shattered Bull by by Patrick Kanouse.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I will keep writing and hopefully, I’ll be able to come up with more stories to write about, at the same time that improve my writing.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
That’s a tough one, but I would have to say The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, The Piano Cemetary by José Luís Peixoto and The Old Man Who Read Love Stories by Luís Spúlveda.

Pedro A. Ribeiro’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I started writing when I was looking a creative outlet I could pursue from bed, if it came to that. When I began my first novel, I had been struggling with a variety of perplexing symptoms and had already spent two years trying to find out what was wrong with me. It took 9 years and over 2 dozen doctors to learn that I had Late-stage Lyme disease. By that point, I had written five books and self-published one. Though I had 16 very difficult years, Lyme disease gave me the gift of writing. Being able to escape inside my head to a world of my own making saved my sanity, and maybe my life. At this point, I have written 9 books and self-published 7 of them. I’ve written fiction, mystery and memoir. Once Upon a Lyme… A Tale of Two Journeys is the story of how having a misdiagnosed illness led me to become a writer.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Finding Ruth. It was inspired by a photograph I discovered of my mother when she was 19 years old while I was preparing for her move into a skilled nursing facility. When I saw that stunning photo of my mom, with her head tilted, eyes narrowed, with dazzling smile on her face, so confident and happy, I realized I didn’t know who this person was, what her life had been like before I came along, before the all the heartaches and loss. Because my mother has Alzheimer’s and can no longer shed any light on her past, I reconstructed her life from photos, letters, public records and firsthand memories. What I had when it was finished is a portrait of a bright, beautiful woman who was propelled through decades of broken promises and heartache, who never gave up.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if it’s unusual, but most of my writing is done in my head, when I’m away from my computer. Sitting at the computer can make my mind go blank. Only when my mind feels free can I create my stories. Walks on the beach or even cleaning around the house seem to be my most productive writing times.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
You’re probably not going to like this answer, but I have to say all of them. Even books I haven’t enjoyed have shown me mistakes that I don’t want to make. The good ones have always made me strive to write better.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on the 3rd book in the Madeline Dawkins Mystery series I started a few years ago. The first book, Spouse Trap, was the prequel. It’s the story of how a Santa Barbara socialite/fundraiser became a detective – after I put her through pure hell!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I wish I knew. I got on Twitter in January and I’ve had good interaction with readers and writers there. Goodreads has been a good place for my books. To be honest, I haven’t spent as much time as I know I need to in promoting my work. Which is the reason why I’m on your site.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be afraid to write something that you don’t like. If you don’t like it, delete it and try again. Some days it takes a lot of that before anything decent happens. Just don’t get frustrated. Go do something else and give it a try later.

What are you reading now?
The Hollow Man by Paul Hollis and Twitter for Writers by Rayne Hall.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finishing the third Madeline book and then see what inspires me 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?
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes; The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah; Any Human Heart by William Boyd; Music for Chameleons by Truman Capote

Author Websites and Profiles
Cynthia Hamilton Website
Cynthia Hamilton Amazon Profile

Cynthia Hamilton’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have written and published two books. Awakening to Life was my first; I wrote it when I was 16 years old and posted each chapter on Wattpad as I went. It was a fantastic experience – it meant I was never lonely, I got constant feedback from readers, and it was a lot of fun! The Wattpad community also kept me accountable by begging for the next chapter as soon as they’d finished the one before. So I learned to write quickly from the get-go. My second book is a contemporary romance and it’s published traditionally (i.e. with a publishing house). It’s under a different name though, and I like to keep them separate.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
This latest book is actually my first book: Awakening to Life. It’s gone through a bit of a rebrand now that I know more about this business of being an author. Publishing is my favourite part of the process (the actual writing is my least).

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can’t write at a desk! I sit on the couch and have terrible posture, but that’s how the words flow…

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love Meg Cabot, Tamora Pierce and John Marsden for YA. Rachael Johns, Sally Thorne, Kylie Scott and Tess Lesue are wonderful for romance.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a few different books. Another YA, two contemporary romances and a few novelettes – which is a really fun length to write.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Wattpad has been a massive tool of promotion for me. Awakening to Life received over 9.7 million views before I decided to self publish. It’s still on my account as a sample (10 chapters) and a lot of readers find their way to the published version from there.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read a lot and learn as much as you can. Go to workshops and writers festivals. Get feedback from writers who know more than you do.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My writing mentor always tells me to add more emotion. Her advice runs through my head every time I write a scene. It pushes me to always go for more.

What are you reading now?
I’m just about to start reading Who’s That Girl by Mhairi McFarlane.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More books! I just want to keep writing. Thankfully I’ve found this passion young, so hopefully I’ll have many decades of books ahead of 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?
Can I take all the books in a series and count that as 1? All bound together into one ginormous bit of goodness? Yes? Excellent. So, my choices would be:
1. Harry Potter series – J.K. Rowling
2. The Mediator series – Meg Cabot
3. Song of the Lioness – Tamora Pierce
4. Protector of the Weak – Tamora Pierce

Caitlin Guy’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Where to begin………Well, I am the proud mother/step-mother of four children – 2 boys, and 2 girls. And as if that wasn’t enough chaos in the house, we added 2 dogs and 2 turtles to the family. My husband and I have been together for sixteen years. Life has been full of good times and some bad times, but all the time spent together has made life worth living. Reading and writing are my passion and though I wish it was my full-time job, sadly it’s not. I earn my living as a special education teacher, teaching math to middle schoolers. Yep…you read that right – I’m a math teacher. BUT I love Reading more (just don’t tell my boss ). My passion for reading is still strong – my husband can attest to that. On average I read 200-300 books a summer. And after starting and never finishing any of the books I’ve written…I finally did. I am very excited to share my series “The Mystic Valley’ with readers everywhere! The first book WOVEN was just published on Amazon July 1st!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Woven is the name of my first book in the series. The book is about a girl who finds her destined mate (soul mate) – their souls are essentially woven together. Thus, WOVEN was born. I wanted to keep some sort of theme with the series, so all the books scheduled for ‘The Mystic Valley Series’ will all start with ‘W. Book 2 is titled ‘Wretched’ — you will have to go to my website to find out the inspiration behind why!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if it’s unusual, but I write better with music in my ears (which is why I wear ear buds). The music helps drive the feel or mood of the story.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Gosh, this is a hard one. I LOVE to read – I read 386 books in the last 18 months. I prefer paranormal romance ~ but any kind of romance is good. I love Elise S. Amore, Bella Forrest, Anna Lowe, Terry Bolryder, and so many others, that I couldn’t just pick one. They have all inspired me to tell my stories.

What are you working on now?
Book 2 of the series, Wretched (it’s about 1/2 way done). I am also working on a stand-alone romance (non-paranormal) called ‘The Glass Heart”.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am still figuring this out. I use Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and any other forum I can find… you could say I am still ‘wet behind the ears’ when it comes to marketing/promoting my work.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I hate to use the cliche but, just do it! You will never know what you’re capable of until you put yourself out there. Take a chance, you may be surprised how it turns out.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Work hard, set expectations for yourself, seek advice when you need help.

What are you reading now?
Forever Bear by Harmony Raines
Red Havoc: Bad Bear T.S. Joyce

What’s next for you as a writer?
To keep writing and trying to get my work out there for everyone. I hope to write something people enjoy.

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?
3 or 4?? Seriously, I’d let the sharks eat me….I couldn’t survive on so few books….

Author Websites and Profiles
LC Taylor Website
LC Taylor Amazon Profile
LC Taylor Author Profile on Smashwords

LC Taylor’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is my third book but I have at least another two to add to the Racing Hearts series. (double entendre). I am working on a sequel to Diversions which is only available as a free book, contained as a bonus in all my books now. I also am compiling a group or recipes mentioned in the various books. Like Tori’s chocolate mousse, and Ambers curry. Some of the situations in the books are based on real things which happened to me. Like the mushroom incident in book 1 Misdirection. I am a big dog lover, a real softie where they are concerned. I thrive in the sun and having Spend over 20 year in the middle east I miss it in the Irish climate. But my family is here so what can I say?

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Roadblock is my latest book and inspired by a need to expand on the other characters in the previous novels. I also have lots of Rally experience and incidents I wanted to use in the story.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Probably. I drink a lot of diet drinks and some times write better late at night. I am a night person.

What authors, or books have influenced you?

What are you working on now?
Collisions sequel to Diversions
Breakdown featuring new characters.
Impasse a temporary name for book 5 featuring characters from the earlier books
Teamleader a temporary name for book I have at this point in time just a rough outline done.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I can’t answer that yet. I have only just started properly promoting my books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes. Particularly Jean Grainger an wonderful Irish author.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Promote your book writing is only part of the job.

What are you reading now?
Safe at the Edge of the World: Sequel to The Tour: Volume 21 Jul 2017
by Jean Grainger
Turbo Twenty-Three (Stephanie Plum 23)
by Janet Evaonvich.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Start a blog.

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
Ruth Gowan Amazon Profile

Ruth Gowan’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have always loved history and before retiring have been an archaeologist, teacher, historic preservation consultant, and historic interpreter! I have written three time travel books for middle grade to adult and five history books for adults. I have two more books finished to be published later this year.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Divided Only by Distance & Allegiance” is the third and final book in a series! The first “Mittie & Thee” tells the story of the courtship of Theodore Roosevelt’s parents in 1853. The book contains there letters from that year. The middle book in the series “Between the Wedding & the War” contains letters from the Bulloch and Roosevelt families between 1854 and 1860. It provides the reader with a great deal of history about this period of political turmoil and about the lives of these important families. The final book, to be released in October 2017, contains the war years letters.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Each day, I begin from the beginning of the manuscript and edit until I come to where I left off. Then I start writing. So, when I write the last bit, I have already edited my manuscript about 100 times! I would not recommend this format but it works for me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
For my fiction books for middle grade readers, I would have to say that two great story tellers, Larry McMurtry and Janice Holt Giles are ones I would like to emulate.

What are you working on now?
I am writing the second of two short stories for a Christmas anthology for children. The characters in each story are from children’s books and will hopefully lead them to reading more about these characters. Each story has a Christmas/winter holiday theme.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have used several book promotion sites and try to use them all together. I discount my books, then promote them on such sites as Awesome Gang, Book Bongo, Book Cave, Choosy Bookworm, and Book Hearts.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t despair when sales are non-existent. Just keep working at it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Submit your children’s books to Children’s Literary Classics for a free review! Then if you garner one of their great seals of approval then submit your book to their awards contest. I have two Gold Medals for “Greg’s First Adventure in Time” and “Greg’s Second Adventure in Time”

What are you reading now?
Oathtaker by Patricia Reding

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have two books to ready for publication and then I’ll start writing Greg’s Fourth Adventure in Time. I also have a book started about five young men in the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression.

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?
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
Oh, Kentucky by Betty Layman Receveur
Any Harry Potter book!

Author Websites and Profiles
C.M. Huddleston Website
C.M. Huddleston Amazon Profile

C.M. Huddleston’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am fifty five, have two grown sons and three granddaughters. I like to keep fit and cycle, especially if I can cycle the coastal paths. I have written stories since my teens, but until now have not been brave enough to launch them at the world. I have five books available on Amazon’s Kindle, the latest of which is Eliza’s Song.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Eliza’s Song. My sons are both musicians, and the eldest was the inspiration for Cass. He is the vocalist in a rock band inspired by such bands as Poison, Motley Crue, Guns n Roses, and although he isn’t as old as Cass, he was the inspiration. A lot of myself is in Kate, and Eliza materialised after listening to my grandmother’s stories about going into service when she was fourteen. It sort of all got blended together somehow, and became Eliza’s Song. I enjoyed writing it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, although I work better in a quiet room. When I am looking for ideas for a new story I buy a new writing pad and a nice pen. It’s a bit old fashioned, but it always kick starts me when I can handwrite portions of a book. Once it starts flowing I can type it all up and keep going, but it always begins with a pad and pen.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Nora Roberts, although not the Mills and Boon so much. Diane Chamberlain. Lucy Clark.

What are you working on now?
Nothing at the moment. Ideas are in my head, but it hasn’t been a good year for family matters, and ideas don’t flow when I am a bit stressed. Once I get things sorted I will be writing again. Until then I am learning the marketing and promotion game.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am new to all this, so I couldn’t say just yet.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I am a new author, so no, not yet.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
From a creative writing class teacher who was really helpful. She said, just keep writing and don’t worry about the editing until the end. Get the story down first.

What are you reading now?
I have just finished Last Seen by Lucy Clark.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To learn how to market effectively.

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 Kill a Mockingbird. I loved it since my schooldays. And some Nora Roberts.

Author Websites and Profiles
Sandra Powell Amazon Profile

Sandra Powell’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am from Canada and live in a forest right now with my husband and three cats. I am a certified teacher who has taught at all levels, from grade two to adults. I love cooking, walking in the woods and going to plays.

This is my first book but I have loved writing since Grade Three when I received really good feedback from the teacher for my poems. I have been writing online for the last seven years and have done a bit of freelance writing, too.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book is called “Second Marriage: An Insider’s Guide to Hope, Healing & Love.” It is a self-help book designed especially for those in a marriage where one or both of the parties were married before.

Some of my earliest memories were of trying to help my mother and father fix their relationship. They had a tumultous marriage and I always wanted to make it better for them. When I grew up, I made many of my own romance blunders, which eventually resulted in being divorced at age 22. Over ten years later, I found myself remarried but it was hard. This time, it was my own marriage I was trying to fix.

I decided to write a book on second marriage because I knew that we were not the only ones who had struggles with being married the second time around. I wanted to help others who were dealing with similar issues to us.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yikes! I do tend to stay up really late sometimes when I get on a roll with writing. Once I get going, it’s hard to stop!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
C.S. Lewis is my favourite author of all time and i think I was influenced by his search for truth and passion for God.

I think I was a influenced by an author named Mike Mason, who wrote a book called “The Mystery of Marriage: Meditations on the Miracle.”

What are you working on now?
I am working on a second marriage journal, a second marriage devotional and a book on being married to your opposite.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have been learning more about networking and am trying to do more talking to other authors to promote my work.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I am a new author, too, so I can just say to my fellow new authors: this is just the beginning. Don’t expect everything to happen at once and believe that it will get easier in time to get your name out there.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My Grandma told me that any person can hold their temper because they manage to hold their temper when they are around their boss! That really made me think!

What are you reading now?
I am reading the Lynn Austen series, “Gods and Kings.” I absolutely love Biblical fiction.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to write more books and eventually do some speaking and courses on marriage topics.

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?
Ohh, that’s a hard one because I don’t often re-read books. Let me see…

The Bible, for sure.

The Mystery of Marriage: Meditations on the Miracle, the book I mentioned earlier by Mike Mason.

A box set of Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis (sorry, that’s probably cheating but I’m doing it, anyways!)

And a compiled book of Shakespeare’s works. I have always meant to read all of them and then would have the opportunity.

Author Websites and Profiles
Sharilee Swaity Website
Sharilee Swaity Amazon Profile

Sharilee Swaity’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m one of those writers that’s been chasing the dream since I was knee-high-to-a-grasshopper. I store a lot of unfinished manuscripts in my attic from those early years. After becoming a cancer survivor in 2013, I decided it was high time I made my dreams into reality and published my first novel. Since then, I’ve put out a short story, four novellas, and a boxed set.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Soul in Ashes: The Complete First Season has just been published. It’s a compilation of four novellas I wrote over the course of about a year. The characters have been kicking around in my head since I was in college, some twenty-five years ago. They’ve gone through a lot of reincarnations since then, but in Soul in Ashes, they’ve found their true home. The setting is inspired by the southwest U.S. where I live and the British Isles that I’ve always dreamed of visiting.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Just the challenge of juggling writing time around the schedule of my four busy children and my CPA husband (tax season is a bear). I snatch time whenever I can find it.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My first love was located on the genre shelf of mystery. I devoured The Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew, and Sherlock Holmes. Then, I discovered Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain, and my heart was forever stolen by fantasy. The first time I stayed up (literally) all night was reading The Night Mare by Piers Anthony, because I just couldn’t stand to put it down. (Luckily, it was summer and school was out, so I could sleep the next day away.) As an adult, I absolutely adore The Windrose Chronicles by Barbara Hambly. I read Dog Wizard so much it fell apart and I had to hold it together with a rubber band until I got a new copy! I also devour anything by Brandon Sanderson.

What are you working on now?
My current project is a YA dystopian. I’m keeping it under wraps, because I’m considering releasing under a pen name.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Hand selling at live events has worked the best for me so far, especially with my middle grade book (Fury of the Storm Wizard). For online sales, I’m planning to implement Chris Fox’s methods over the course of the next several months, so I’ll let you know how that goes.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Learn everything you can and then try it out. I think one of my biggest challenges has been the fear of jumping in and doing it for “real.” But once I actually started publishing, I feel like my learning process took off. There’s just no substitute for experience.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Keep writing. Don’t give up!

What are you reading now?
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. (It’s taking me awhile. It’s pretty fat!)

What’s next for you as a writer?
As I mentioned, I’m planning to implement methods I learned from Chris Fox and Susan Kaye Quinn for writing to market and publishing more prolifically. I’m traditionally a slow writer, because a I’m multi-task-challenged perfectionist, but I’m working on improving my speed. I recently bought Dragon dictation software, and I’m trying to learn how to use it, even though it feels like wrestling a real dragon. I hope to have a YA dystopian out this fall, though it will likely be under a pen name.

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?
Dog Wizard by Barbara Hambly, Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson, The Shifter by Janice Hardy, and my scriptures.

Author Websites and Profiles
Shauna E. Black Website
Shauna E. Black Amazon Profile

Shauna E. Black’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have done several of these interviews but it’s been a while since the last, so I decided an update is in order. I am a farm girl who has lived all of her life within five miles of the Missouri River. My husband and I own/operate a farm that has been consecutively operated for five generations. We have two grown sons, two lovely daughters-in-law and the two most awesome grandchildren on this earth

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest published book was Robin Unaware, the fourth in the e-book Birds in Peril series. Published January 2016:
Life is constant change, sometimes planned, sometimes instant and devastating. For Stephanie Harvester-Garrett, life takes an abrupt curve when her husband is killed in a car accident.
Determined to secure a stable home for her three children, Stephanie returns to Missouri to be closer to family and to accept employment in her brother’s law office. A whole new world opens for Stephanie and her children when they move into a log house owned by Hunt R&C employee, Todd Sellers.
Life appears to be too good to be true. Not only does living in the valley present the quiet, secluded existence Stephanie seeks for her children to heal from their tragic loss; she finds means to face the world head on, the world where none of her family knew she and her husband were spiraling toward an ugly divorce. Much to her surprise she quickly finds herself in an intimate relationship with her new landlord.
Having been where Stephanie is, years before (when his wife died and he was left to raise their daughter alone), in the beginning, Todd only seeks to give Stephanie the support she needs not only to survive, but to embrace the future. Much to Todd’s astonishment, he falls as hard and fast and as deeply for Stephanie as she does him. Unfortunately, not all of Stephanie’s family approves of this new found relationship. The heartbreak comes from those she would have leaned on and trusted the most.
In midst of it all, several mysteries involving those of the Hunt-Harvester-Cromwell team begin to unfold. Pieces slowly begin to fall into place after Dan Pentherst’s accident the same night Dr. Ross Garrett was killed. When Todd’s home is broken into, it becomes apparent someone embraces a sinister intent.
The dream of living a peaceful country life is interrupted by unexpected ghosts of the past, and hatred spawned in the name of love.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m a night owl. I write every night for at least two hours. If the muse is working I may stay there until the wee hours –or sunrise. Night is when there are no other sounds but my breathing and the clicking of the keys on the keyboard. No television to distract my thinking, no phones to answer, no one hollering “Hey, Mim!” to get my attention. I really do accomplish my best writing during the darkest hours of the night.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My favorite book of all time is Ashes in the Wind by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. But I have several favorite authors. My reading habits are eclectic, from historical romance to how-to. I’m as intrigued by romance as I am futuristic science-fiction.

What are you working on now?
I am preparing to publish a story I have been writing and rewriting since the late 1970’s. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve rewritten the story or how many people/readers/publishers/editors I’ve asked to give me insight on ‘the right way to publish it’. This past winter, it seems, I finally reached that golden epiphany. The problem with Sweet Pea has always been that it is too long. So—I intend to publish Sweet Pea as a trilogy. My plan is to publish all three divisions in a few weeks of one another so my readers can keep the story in their minds–and hopefully in their hearts. I’m working hard now to reach this goal. Sweet I: The Demise of Innocence is scheduled to be published no later than September, 2017. Sweet Pea II: Time to Deceive will be published in October, 2017 and Sweet Pea III Passion’s Price will be published in November 2017.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I believe that interviews such as this are vital to promoting an author’s work. Writers groups help to encourage the author but many do not necessarily promote that authors work beyond an initial announcement. My greatest shock when I was first published was to discover, even though my book was published by a New York Publishing House, they expected me to do a huge amount of the marketing, especially on the local level. It’s a bit different with e-books. Amazon really does work to help independent authors publish and promote their work. But, websites that link to Amazon, or interviews like this, and other author promotional sites go a long way to get your advertising word out there. Most authors also need their own website as well as Facebook and Amazon Author pages.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
In addition to ‘just do it’. Write it and finish it. I also tell newbie-writers, the number of times they rewrite a story/article/poem is irrelevant. Do whatever it takes to make that story/article/poem the best it can possibly be

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
‘Finish it!” Spoken very firmly, and somewhat loudly from a much published fellow author/friend who knew what she was talking about.

What are you reading now?
I just finished reading Newt Gingrich’s fictional thriller ‘Treason’. A very good book. Even though it’s fiction, it gives stunning insight about what may take place behind closed doors in Washington D.C.

These next weeks while I edit/proof/ etc. the Sweet Pea Trilogy, I probably will not read anything else. I don’t want someone’s ideas (or published work) to distract or influence my written word in any way.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Once Sweet Pea is published I will return to my Birds in Peril Series. I’m hoping to publish number five in the series, “Wise, Bold Eagle’ early in 2018, if not December 2017.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
My Bible, My Kindle (and pray it can be recharged on that island). Right now, my Kindle holds around 30 books I have yet to read. If I can’t take my Kindle, Nora Roberts has a couple newly published books, as does Sherrilyn Kenyon and Heather Graham. I hope I have time to purchase those before the I take off on that doomed cruise

Author Websites and Profiles
Mary Elizabeth Fricke Website
Mary Elizabeth Fricke Amazon Profil

Mary Elizabeth Fricke’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in Chantilly, Virginia, with my wife of thirty-six years. We have four children between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-three who work, study, and serve in various parts of the country. I’m an avid non-fiction reader and love teaching as well as watching and playing (although not as well and as often as I used to) sports.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Power Over Pornography: The Breakthrough Formula for Overcoming Pornography Addiction.”
I never intended to write a book at all. After years of research trial and error working to help pornography viewers overcome their habit, I developed a unique but effective program that was very effective. Given the lack of effectiveness of other programs, I felt that I could best get it out to others by putting it in book form. So many people want to stop viewing but can’t because they don’t know how. This book shows them how. Those following his program have realized success and benefits they never thought possible.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write in the mornings but nothing unusual.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Leadership and Self-Deception is an eye-opening book that influenced me to write..Other books include Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and Clayton Christensen’s “How Will You Measure Your Life?”

What are you working on now?
Figuring out how to deliver a newly developed course by the same name so that more people can kick their porn-viewing habit.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Still trying to figure that out. Mostly, it’s word-of-mouth from those who read it, applied its principles and have experienced success.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Inspiration comes while you’re working. Don’t wait for inspiration to come first.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Everything is a choice. You don’t have to do anything.”
“Never give up.”
“If the king doesn’t rise, the kingdom falls.”

What are you reading now?
“Expert Secrets” by Russell Brunson and “Advertising Solutions” by Craig Simpson and Brian Kurtz.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Before starting my next book, I want to expand the help I’m providing to people for overcoming their addictions in order to enjoy happier lives. I then want to write a book to help people overcome other addictions besides pornography.

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?
7 Habits, How Will You Measure Your Life?, Leadership and Self-Deception

Author Websites and Profiles
Brian Brandenburg Website
Brian Brandenburg Amazon Profile

Brian Brandenburg’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
For now my only published book is Vampires of Gnosson, Book One of a saga that should be a tetralogy. I have written a few more sci-fi mixed with archaeology novels, that hopefully would some day will polish and publish. My background is in science (chemistry and biotechnology) with an MBA added later on. Been a history buff for a while and also an enthusiast of keeping Earth habitable for future generations—not exactly a ‘tree hugger’ but an advocate of clean energy, recycling and biodiversity preservation. On religious matters, I think each one should be free to choose whatever they may want to believe or not, provided nobody tries to impose on others whatever limitations their own faith imposes on them. Politically speaking, I think democracy is a work in progress that can only be sustained and improved by civic engagement. No matter how many times I might hear “they’re all the same”, I’d insist History shows us otherwise.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Vampires of Gnosson, Book One”. The fact that history seems cyclical on the one hand, the need to raise awareness on the dire consequences of man-made global warming and its consequences by every creative means available, the need to delve into “vampire Darwinism” and my predilection for combining sci-fi and vampires with ancient history, which in my view should offer incredible possibilities as yet unimagined. I love recycling for environmental preservation but would like to break traditional moulds in ‘vampirology’ , a bit like French chefs sometimes add the strangest ingredients to create new dishes. The city’s name seemed appropriate in light of the role knowledge plays in the perennial panic attacks some faiths experience when science questions some of their tenets. Although it is more a backdrop in this first book, this should come front and centre further along in the saga.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
To write books on vampires I’ve considered writing upside down, at night, in a dark forest with an owl on my shoulder; but nothing beats a colossal mug of coffee early morning and comfortable chair with a couple of computer screens where one can find relevant information on a pinch. I LOVE silence to write, but when one can hear mosquitos buzzing on the other end of the Earth on a good day, earplugs or muffs sometimes are necessary. For some age-related reason I presume, spurts of creativity are better released when they stampede early morning by writing with pen and paper, however. For some reason the keyboard is a great tool when the sequence of events has to find a voice, but doesn’t work so well for me when plots and such decide be born at the wee hours past midnight. Most of the time, I keep notepads (not like Schubert under his pillow) but close by, just in case. Does pathological panic about inconsistencies in complicated plots having one hunt down a sentence at 3AM count as an unusual writing habit? In that case, maybe add that one .

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve read quite a bit Anne Rice, especially her vampires, which I find fascinating; witches, angels and such not so much. Love Gore Vidal’s historical novels and almost anything he wrote. Historical novels in general, from Robert Graves “Claudius, the God” to almost anything dealing with the Nile from Emil Ludwig’s book on it, Alan Moorehead’s “The White Nile”. Fantasy from Asimov to Michael Moorcock’s “Von Bek” (whose translation to french I much prefer to the English version—not to be snob, just accurate), medievalists like Umberto Eco, to Dan Brown who I find supreme master of the fast-paced, to Tolkien and the biting irony of Pierre Daninos and Alvaro de Laiglesia. “When all of them start talking at the same time in my head, I turn them all off anyway” as someone told me, many years ago. Nonetheless, no few of them I’ve re-read and, were I a vampire and live long enough, would gladly re-read yet again.

What are you working on now?
The next books of the saga, which tell how Byron became what he was at the beginning of the Book One, what exactly ‘that’ is, why he came ‘back’ to Earth, and why ‘back’ is between quotation marks, his many adventures in Per-Maat and his discovery of something that made him re-evaluate many of his preconceptions. There is also a novel I wrote in 1998 with extraterrestrials, ancient Egyptians and what not I might soon be dusting off.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am exploring and discovering but so far, guess I ma too new to the game to decide. Aside from amazon.com, I use GoodReads.com, Indie Book Lounge.com, babelio.com (mostly for books in french, but since I’m quite a francophile makes sense), now Awesomegang.com. From time to time I let people in twitter my book is out there. That part is truly a work in progress.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I suppose: if an idea constantly bothers you enough, an idea constantly simmering inside, following you everywhere, screaming that it has the right to exist in words, don’t deny it. Find you voice and write it down, even if it’s an the back of a cereal box ripped open on an impulse. And prepare, if you want it to be presented to the world, to become a human orchestra of one, giving as much effort to make that happen as to the writing itself. Few people are born with a colossal contract by a large publishing house, an agent, an editor, a PR consultant, a secretary, a researcher, and such other niceties. If you are one of them, congratulations! If not, take heart: others had done it in the past, when the marvels of the Internet didn’t exist to help them get there.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Not everything that is good is new nor is the reverse always true. On the other hand, if something new helps you learn anything about yourself, be it good or not so good, it sure is useful.
Occam’s razor never needs sharpening, in writing as in everything else in life.

What are you reading now?
Umberto Eco’s “Baudolino”

What’s next for you as a writer?
On the immediate, trying to complete the saga and striving to find ways to devote more time to writing. I also still have to discover the nuts and bolts of the writing world, as much as many an indie writer.Ideas tend to erupt on one’s head and with only two hands and two eyes enslaved by the screen, they often form lava tubes one has to clean before the next eruption. Like many, I contemplate more projects that I can tackle, but sure would love to have some of them become movies or serials someday and be able to help with that. It’s in a sense like having an entire universe on one’s shoulders; so for now, beyond the “Vampires of Gnosson” saga, I’m playing by ear.

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?
John Ralston Saul “The Doubter’s Companion”, Gore Vidal’s “Creation” and “Julian”, Cervantes’ “Don Quijote de la Mancha”

Author Websites and Profiles
Taggart Rehnn Website
Taggart Rehnn Amazon Profile

Taggart Rehnn’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve always been a storyteller, but never put pen to paper until a rainy August Saturday afternoon, after putting away groceries and nothing to watch on TV in 2015. Suddenly, I had a publishing contract, and am now in the midst of the vortex of marketing, analytics, refining, and continuing to
write, which I now define as my true calling and passion.

I’m now fully and happily immersed in the whirlwind that is the publishing industry, even as I diligently continue my work in software sales.

I’m a former-Long Islander with Hispanic roots, now living Florida, and it is from those memories of summers on Long Island that I crafted my debut novel, Last Exit to Montauk.

Now I can’t stop my brain from working through new ideas for future stories, which is why I currently have sixteen other books in various stages. I’ve already promised my publisher, Janet Fix, thewordverve, I’d have one to her by the end of this summer, which has her excited.

My hobbies, aside from enjoying my ongoing work as a published author, include many of the other art forms: singing, performing, and reading. The beach is always home to me. . . and laughter, whether my own or someone else’s, is an unsurpassed joy that I embrace whenever possible.

Lastly, I live in the Tampa Bay area with my wife, four sons and “two and a half dogs,” which are actually four dogs, but three are Chihuahuas while the fourth is a shepherd, who thinks she’s a Chihuahua, so I say it “two and a half.”

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My debut novel is called, Last Exit to Montauk and it was inspired by my life on Long Island, in the 1980’s. That said, had someone told me that at the age of 49, I’d complete my first novel, publish it at 51 and have sixteen others in process, I’d have laughed and thought that person was nuts…N-V-T-S, as the great Mel Brooks once said. (Okay, I know it was Ron Carey’s character, Swiftus, in History of the World, Part One, but Mel wrote the movie, so I give him the credit.)

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
How would you define unusual? I wouldn’t say unusual, but here’s my current process, which again, is all new to me. Remember, I’ve only started doing this in August 2015, so I’m still a “newbie”.

How it works for me is like this, images, like a video or movie will start playing in my mind’s eye, including dialogue and music. From there, I start typing what I see, hear, smell, etc. It’s a fully immersive process, involving my five senses. It’s the strangest sensation I’ve ever experienced, and one I’m still learning to manage.

I usually write at night, or after yard work, on the weekends. I get into “the zone” by putting on music videos on YouTube or SiriusXM and listen to Howard, The Bridge, Road Trip, The Message or Classic Rewind, and start typing away. Before I know it, I’ve written 1000 words, or a few chapters.

So is this unusual? I don’t know, but it’s how I do it. So far, it’s worked for me, which is why I have sixteen stories in process.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Off the top of my head, Joseph F. Girzone’s Joshua series, Harry Potter series, Hunger Games, Howard Stern, Stieg Larsson, Lawrence Kelter, Cheryl Bradshaw, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and William P. Young’s The Shack have all influenced me. Also, I love the Jack Reacher and Jack Ryan novels as well.

It’s funny. I was in Orlando this week, on vacation with my family, at Universal Studios. We hit all three parks, including their new water park, Volcano Bay, which was a hoot. Anyway, I bring this up, because two of the three parks have multi-million dollar attractions that began as a whim in 1990 on a delayed train between Manchester and London, England to some nondescript woman, probably heading home.

After trials and tribulations, including going on the UK version of public assistance, fast forward to 1997, and the first novel in the Harry Potter series was published. Two decades later, me along with millions of others can now walk around Universal Studios’ vision of her novels. She went from welfare to millionaire status in five years, all because of a young wizard named Harry.

Is that my goal? No, I don’t never see my novels getting transformed and becoming part of a theme park, but who knows? I can certainly see them transferring to the Silver Screen in the not-to-distant future, which is one of my goals.

What are you working on now?
I have other love stories/romance novels in various stages. In addition, I have a thriller and a pure fictional comedy piece as well. My publisher, Janet Fix, thewordverve, recommended that I stick with one genre and develop a following for now, before venturing into a new category. But, I can’t control what comes to me, as I mow my lawn or drive to an appointment, or relax at the beach.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have a variety of methods, and am always open to suggestions and recommendations. I use sites like this. In addition, I use social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads as often as possible. I’m even hosting an online reader’s circle on my Facebook page on July 15, 2017 from 6 to 8 PM ET.

It’ll be an opportunity for readers to come together and discuss the novel. It will offer guests exclusive access to a deeper conversation with fellow readers, as well as the chance to meet and “hear” me speak about my work as I provide insight and context into my stories.

I also am proactively reaching out to various review sites and publications, while my publisher works with various media outlets. We have a media kit we use for that, which contains everything, including information on me, the book, a short and long synopsis, what people are saying, downloadable’s, contact info and even a sneak peek.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes, keep writing daily, even if it’s for a half hour. Get in the habit of writing at least 500 words daily. Before you know it, you’ll have a book ready for editing. And don’t give up, even if you have writer’s block from hell.

Take a deep breath, take a walk around your block, drink some water, listen to some music, and get yourself into the zone. And relax!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“If what you’re writing is not driving your story forward, then delete it.” My editor/Publisher, Janet Fix, thewordverve, gave me this advice, and allowed me to cut my manuscript for Last Exit to Montauk from just under 800 pages to 388 pages.

That and “get your butt in a seat and start writing!”

What are you reading now?
I’m reading the latest Dragon Tattoo book, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, by David Lagercrantz. I’m also reading Persuader, a Jack Reacher novel, by Lee Child. I just finished Lawrence Kelter latest, Back to Brooklyn, Book 1 of the My Cousin Vinny Series and it was awesome! I highly recommend it!

What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep on writing! I currently have sixteen other stories to complete, so I plan on working on and completing those. That said, based on my current process, of having stories just hit me, I anticipate that I’ll have many other stories in my “queue”, which has my Publisher excited.

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, which is technically 66 Books, but for now I’ll count it as one.
The Shack
Joshua by Joseph F. Girzone
Different Seasons by Stephen King
The Harry Potter Series

I know you said 3 or 4, but I like to push the envelop and these are all must reads!!

Author Websites and Profiles
Phillip Vega Website
Phillip Vega Amazon Profile
Phillip Vega Author Profile on Smashwords

Phillip Vega’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a writer by nature, which necessarily means that I like spending a lot of time locked up with my thoughts to put down on paper. Some people would think this lifestyle is boring. Some people might be right. I am also an outdoors-man, a handy man, and home brewer. I dabble in music and art, and am highly accomplished at video and film making. So far I have published 17 titles on Amazon.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Lie and Odor is a spoof of “Law and Order.” It is based on a comedy script I wrote in high school and polished over the years. The original story used The Streets of San Francisco as the template, but I was afraid nobody would remember that show, so I incorporated it into something more familiar to the modern audiences.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I usually don’t get dressed when I write, and then when I do get dressed, it’s time to go to work.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I think almost every author I’ve ever read has influenced me to some extent or another. I like Tom Robbins for being non-conformist, and Douglas Adams for being just plain silly. Kurt Vonnegut also had a unique voice that set him apart from his peers. Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck gave their stories power. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller was a brilliant example of non-linear storytelling and a wonderful dark comedy.

What are you working on now?
“So Help Me God,” a tragedy about toxic leadership in the military. The story was by a very dear friend, N.R. Mahan, who succumbed to PTSD a few weeks ago. She gave me another story the day before she died.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Book promotion is not something I have great luck at. Sometimes I hit the key times, other books completely fail to sell. Awesome Gang has been my best success so far.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing and never stop. If you are blocked by one story, put that on the back burner and work on another one. The more you create, the more creative you become.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Always give your characters something to do. I think Vonnegut said it best when he wrote, “Make every character want something, even if it’s only a glass of water.”

What are you reading now?
Irish Fireside Stories, by various authors. Research for my mid-grade reader books on fairies.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m moving to San Antonio in a few weeks, and I will have internet and new experiences. I am an experience junkie!

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 King James Bible, because I would be praying a lot while stranded on a desert island, and it has more stories in it than any other anthology I know. An old Sears-Roebuck catalog, for personal hygiene. The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, because I like to laugh. And of course, a diary, or notebook, or some blank paper to keep writing my own stories, even if I will never have an audience to share them.

Author Websites and Profiles
Toby Mc Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a former major league baseball player who, like many of us, could not get enough of the game while playing so I went into coaching it after my playing days. I opened my own sports academy to help young players develop their skills and form the love for the game that I had. Along the way, I learned so much about teaching the game and dealing with kids, parents and other coaches. When I stopped working so much, I realized I had a brain, so I began writing about my playing, coaching and parenting experiences. It has resulted in 3 books so far.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Creating a Season to Remember: The New Youth- Sports-Coaching Leadership Handbook came about after hearing so many parents and coaches calling their sports coach an “Idiot.” I began to realize that people were often right with their assessment but also sympathized with the “Idiots” because they don’t have the proper, or any, training to coach the kids in ways that inspire and improve their skills. So, I wrote a comprehensive handbook that deals with every type player and every situation that coaches of any sport will encounter in hopes of limiting the number of unfortunate scenes that occur daily on the playing fields and indoor courts. I am not sure there was an old handbook for coaching, but the state of youth coaching now demands a need for one.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, only that I do as little research as possible as I want the information I pass on to come from my heart and experience, not from things I read about the subject.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many authors and books from my younger days gave me a love of books and the goal of writing a book someday. My favorite was always The Catcher in the Rye, even though I was expecting it to be a baseball book. I write so much now that unfortunately, I do not read as much as I should.

What are you working on now?
I am working on my worst favorite part of being an author – the marketing – so I am grateful for sites like yours.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I believe just giving people quality advice, on a daily basis, about how to best deal with sports relationships is the best way to open their eyes to the possibilities of influencing kids in positive ways.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write from the heart and let a professional worry about the editing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“I am not throwing away my shot” – even though that came in recent years from the famous play, I think of it often, so as not to waste any days. I am not throwing away my shot at helping sports parents and youth coaches to be all that they can be.

What are you reading now?
Gonna try and tackle Alexander Hamilton, referred to above because the play was so inspirational.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Soon, I will begin another book to help coaches and parents navigate their way through the world of youth sports.

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 Catcher in the Rye and what else? my three books, Creating a Season to Remember, Raising an Athlete and The Making of a Hitter.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jack Perconte Website
Jack Perconte Amazon Profile

Jack Perconte’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
“Step by Step Back Surgery. A Recovery Guide: What your doctor can’t tell you” is my first book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
After going through back surgery I learned that information on what to expect and how to prepare for surgery and recovery is hard to find. Doctors have a different way of thinking about the medical procedures, what they share with the patients lacks the details and the perspective of a patient going through the procedure. I kept a diary of what happened every step of her journey from surgery through rehabilitation, physical therapy and beyond. I wrote the book so other people can learn what I learned and what I would have done differently if I then what I know now. It is my hope that others will benefit from information and it that this information will make surgery and recovery an easier experience.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love to read but this book was not influenced by any author, it was influenced by not finding anyone who wrote a book that would answer my questions.

What are you working on now?
I am working on a book about cataract surgery. Similarly to the back surgery, I want to know the information from the patient point of view. I want to know what to expect, step by step and not from the doctor’s perspective.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I found facebook helpful to connect with people who have similar interests.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you have something to share do not be afraid to write your first book. It feels good to be able to share something you know with many people.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Authors are a very supportive group. Encouragement, advice and bouncing ideas with facebook author groups have been very helpful to me.

What are you reading now?
Baldacci, The Last MIle

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am passionate about spreading medical information. I am working on a book about cataract surgery. Similarly to the back surgery, I want to know the information from the patient point of view. I want to know what to expect, step by step and not from the doctor’s perspective.

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 am an avid fan of David Baldacci. Nothing better to get away and forget about your own problems then one of his books.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kady Dash Website
Kady Dash Amazon Profile

Kady Dash’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a husband and father in North Carolina. I’m the author of The Wicked Instruments series, humorist, and avid reader. My inspirations come from decades of stand-up, Dungeons and Dragons, and great humor writers like Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, and Chuck Palahniuk.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Wicked Instruments is currently on Book Three, which is Goblins, Parents, and Other Monsters. It continues the adventures of Leanna Moonbody as she tries to find a balance in her life between the singer she wants to be, and the new ruler of Kingsfield, the largest city in the world. I was inspired by my wife, sister, and my brother, as these were characters they used to play in our campaigns.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do, I think. Once I have the framework for the story written down, I’ll test out a few dozen pages to get started, mess it up, do it three more times, then write the whole book in about a week. When I’m comfortable with the start of the book and I’m ready to tell the story, I can write about 10,000 to 15,000 words a day. It’ll take me a few months to edit all of it, but most of that is cleaning up sentences, removing my bad habits, and so forth. So yeah, I’ve written all three of the books so far in about a week each.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
As I mentioned, Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, and Chuck Palahniuk are my biggest inspirations, both in terms of style and technique.

What are you working on now?
Book Four of The Wicked Instruments, a companion book of short stories that take place on that world, and a separate project called Horses on the Wind. It’s an anti-romance novel.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve found twitter lets me engage the most directly with people.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Writing is the easy part. If you’re an indie author, the hardest part is all the other hats you have to wear. Get ready to learn a lot about business and marketing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t try to be a great man, just be a man. And let history make its own judgments.

That’s a Star Trek quote, and a damn good one.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully, three books over the next year. If I’m not going to be famous, I’m damn sure going to be prolific.

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 Catcher in the Rye, The Complete Hitchhiker’s Guide, and one or two massive collections of stage plays from the 1950’s-1980’s. I can never get enough of them.

Author Websites and Profiles
D.C. Fergerson Amazon Profile
D.C. Fergerson Author Profile on Smashwords

D.C. Fergerson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a husband and a father and 39 years old. I’ve written three historical mystery novels in the Adam Lapid series, all taking place in the early days of the State of Israel and featuring Adam Lapid, an Auschwitz survivor and former Nazi hunter, who now lives in Tel Aviv and works as a private detective.

The first novel, Ten Years Gone, takes place in 1949 and begins when Adam Lapid is hired by a German Jewish woman to find her missing son. The last time she saw her son was ten years earlier when she handed him to a friend to spirit him out of Nazi Germany. Naturally, things get complicated in a hurry.

The second novel, The Dead Sister, revolves around the murder of a young Arab woman in Tel Aviv, a murder the police don’t seem to be working too hard to solve. The victim’s brother hires Adam Lapid to discover the identity of the killer, but the killer is quite willing to strike again to avoid capture.

In the third novel in the series (so far), The Auschwitz Violinist, Adam Lapid investigates the death of a former musician in one of the camp orchestras in Auschwitz. The man was found dead in his apartment with his wrists slashed, but Adam Lapid doesn’t believe he committed suicide.

Apart from these three novels, I’ve also published a number of crime and fantasy short stories.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Ten Years Gone, which, despite being the first in the Adam Lapid series chronologically, was written third.

What I came up with first, before figuring out the plot of any of the books in the series, was the character of Adam Lapid. He is a former police detective in the Hungarian police force, who lost his entire family at Auschwitz, and now works as a PI in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The premise came to me second, in a flash, perhaps because it was shortly after my first son was born. In this book, Adam Lapid attempts to find a boy who’s been missing for ten years, ever since he was a small baby.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to write with very little planning involved and not according to sequence. Sometimes I figure out who the murderer is, write the climax showdown scene, and then work my way toward it.

I’ve recently started working with a voice recognition software, but it’s still too early to tell how that would change my output.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Lawrence Block, Donald Westlake, Don Winslow, and Jo Nesbo are some of my favorite crime novelists. I also like Lois McMaster Bujold in science fiction and Stephen King in practically any genre.

What are you working on now?
The fourth Adam Lapid novel. I don’t know the title yet, but I’m about forty percent done.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still learning the marketing ropes of the book business. I need to try more promotional websites before I know which one is best.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write and publish quickly. If readers like your work, they want to buy more of it right now.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Work hard and don’t let perfection stop you from producing good work.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading the Cliff Janeway series by John Dunning and listening to Riding the Rap by Elmore Leonard.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have a few ideas for standalone novels and also a vague notion of what the next few Adam Lapid novels will be. I also want to write a humorous crime series set in England, but I need to get some other projects out of the way first.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Stand by Stephen King, A Long Line of Dead Men by Lawrence Block, The Fools in Town Are On Our Side by Ross Thomas.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jonathan Dunsky Website
Jonathan Dunsky Amazon Profile

Jonathan Dunsky’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have written three works of nonfiction and three novels, as well as travel articles and a writing blog, which is currently archived on my website www.katedunn.co.uk

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called THE DRAGONFLY and was shortlisted for the Virginia Prize for Fiction to encourage women authors. Awarded a blue star by Kirkus, who called it “an emotional high wire act”, THE DRAGONFLY is set on the French waterways and offers a vivid account of the relationship between Colin and the nine year old French granddaughter he has never met. Delphine is thrust unexpectedly into his care when her mother dies, and to distract her from her sorrows he takes for an adventure on the Dragonfly, a day boat for fishing that he built himself. Hanging over their journey is the mystery of exactly how her mother died – Colin’s son Michael is in prison awaiting trial for her murder. The boat is tiny and Delphine has a very big personality…

I am lucky enough to have a small boat myself and one day we moored up beside a tiny craft and got talking to the owner, a middle aged man who was on Day 36 of an epic journey in the company of his young granddaughter – that sowed the seeds of my story.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really – I just write, with as few distractions as possible, in a small shed at the bottom of our garden. I’ve developed RSI from so much typing over the years, so I have learned to dictate into some voice recognition software, so I don’t actually put pen to paper, which is a bit of a shame.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Anything by the late, great and much-lamented Helen Dunmore has been a huge influence on my work. Reading A Spell of Winter opened my eyes to what spells words can cast.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a companion piece to my novel The Line Between Us, which Joanna Lumley described as, “a heartrending love story”. It’s set on the Welsh borders and explores the complicated relationships between a group of volunteers renovating an ancient vineyard.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m lucky enough to be on friendly terms with a wide selection of book bloggers who have been incredibly supportive in promoting my work. They really are the unsung heroes of the publishing world.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write for the pleasure of telling a good story – keep your expectations low and then anything is a bonus.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t say the same thing in a number of different ways. Once is sufficient.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading The Sellout by Paul Beatty – it’s audacious and irresistible.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I need to finish my current project. I’ve got several ideas lined up after that and need to decide which to pursue.

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?
Anything by Helen Dunmore or Miriam Toews, Yeats’ poems, A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kate Duun Website

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been a storyteller since I learned to speak. Writing came easily, but there were some years during which I had to come to grips with learning to write well. I eventually learned that a manuscript is sort of like a diamond. It doesn’t matter how large it is before it’s cut, and nobody will appreciate it until it is polished.

While a very young man, I fantasized about making a living as a musician. Looking back, I realize that was good training for a foray into the 21st Century, where everybody with a word processor is suddenly an ” Amazon novelist” in much the same way we can all be filmmakers on Youtube.

I began writing professionally in the 1990’s. Living in Seattle, a city on the shores of Puget Sound and the Salish Sea, I developed an interest in recreational boating. A local boating magazine published a few of my articles, and then offered me a job as editor. The magazine folded 15 years later, but not before I learned a great deal about writing. During the 90’s, I published a non-fiction book, “How to Choose your First Powerboat”. It was picked up, with an advance, by the first publisher to look at it. I have to say, that fostered some false conclusions about the relative ease of landing a traditional publishing contract.

I spent a few years working on a novel about William Kidd. I got discouraged when several books about Kidd appeared in the course of just a few months. I will finish that manuscript someday, but my writing has evolved and the earlier work will need a total revision.

My first two (self) published novels were Summertime, Book One (2014) and Summertime, Book Two (2015). Summertime falls into the magical realism genre. A wealthy businessman makes an impulsive pawn shop purchase of an old saxophone. He is unwittingly caught up in a cosmic battle between good and evil. His life changes in unimaginable and alarming ways while he struggles with ego and moral choices.

“The Rabbi’s Gift” is my latest novel. It is “traditionally” published by an emerging press, Neoteric Publishing. Prior to acceptance by Neoteric, I emailed scores of literary agents. The almost universal response was what I came to call the Simon and Garfunkle treatment – (The Sound of Silence). Like most other authors, I found it frustrating to have a book rejected by people who never read even a single word of it. I was almost ready to pull the “self-published” trigger again, when Neoteric actually read “The Rabbi’s Gift” and offered me a contract.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“The Rabbi’s Gift, (Retelling an Ancient Tale)”

I do a lot of reading about spiritual and mystical subjects. I started down the rabbit hole that dumped me into the wonderland of The Rabbi’s Gift when reading about the folk history of Glastonbury Abbey in Britain. Perhaps hundreds of thousands of British Christians believe the abbey was established in 37 AD by Joseph of Arimathea. In the Biblical accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea donates one of his family tombs to receive the body taken down from the cross. It is not unusual for British Christians to believe that Joseph of Arimathea had an avuncular relationship to Jesus. Some theorize that he was Mary’s uncle, and others that he was the direct uncle of Jesus.

“The Rabbi’s Gift” adopts the premise that Joseph of Arimathea was the uncle of Jesus. Unless a family had two sons and named them both “Joseph”, then Joseph of Arimathea was the brother of Mary. Following that thread, along with information from two (inconsistent) geneaologies for Mary in the New Testament, it’s possible to make certain assumptions about Mary’s very wealthy family and her early childhood.

“The Rabbi’s Gift” is not a religious book, nor should it be considered a Christian book. There were no Christians on earth until more than 30 years after the events in “The Rabbi’s Gift”. As the back jacket blurb concludes, “The Rabbi’s Gift” gathers shards of Roman history, Jewish mysticism, and Babylonian astrology to craft a speculative backstory for two of the most recognized figures in western literature.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Several.

Perhaps most unconventional; I don’t outline. I often wade into a novel not entirely sure where the plot and characters are going to take the story. Before a scene is converted to manuscript, it’s been mentally replayed dozens upon dozens of times. Even then, the final details often emerge while still typing the rough draft.

I concentrate a lot on sentence structure. Each sentence in a story is like a brush stroke in a painting. One can’t create a compelling story with boring sentences.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Authors:
John Steinbeck
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Frost
Dan Brown
Stephen King

Books:

Works by the authors listed above.

“Rocks of Ages” by Stephen Jay Gould (no relation)
“The Golden Bough” by James G. Frazer
“The Gnostic Gospels” edited by Robert Miller
“Secrets of the Code” by Dan Burstein
“The Language of God” by Francis S. Collins
“The Gifts of the Jews” by Thomas Cahill
“The Metaphysical Poets” a Penguin Classic

What are you working on now?
“Booth”

A historical novel examining the entire life of John Wilkes Booth, culminating with his suicide in Enid, Oklahoma, in the very early 1900’s.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
The Facebook Pages for both of the Summertime books and so far for “The Rabbi’s Gift” have been cost effective.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. It’s like practicing the piano. You need to log a walloping number of hours to become proficient.

Stay humble. The moment you delude yourself into believing that you have “arrived”, you know it all, and your work is at some exalted level is the moment you stop evolving into the best writer you could become.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t do it for the money. Don’t expect to make any money, at all.

Write for the joy of it. Write because you are a story teller. Write because your soul will explode if you can’t share your plot and your characters with the world. Write at the highest level possible, and never be satisfied. Those are choies we can make. Becoming rich and famous isn’t a choice, it’s more of a lucky accident that seldom depends on talent alone.

What are you reading now?
“The Escape and Suicide of John Wilkes Booth” by Finis L. Bates

“The Conspiracy Between John Wilkes Booth and the Union Army to Assassinate Abraham Lincoln” by Dr. Robert E. Arnold

What’s next for you as a writer?
Some surprises, no doubt. We look ahead, we plan, but our plots don’t always unfold as we imagined they would. As our characters interact, new possibilities unfold before us.

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?
Desert island with wifi? A Kindle.

Author Websites and Profiles
Chuck Gould Website
Chuck Gould Amazon Profile

Chuck Gould’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written one memoir (about Federal Prison) and am currently working ona second memoir (about my first marriage).

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“It’s Their House; I’m Just a Guest” was inspired by the time I spent in Federal Prison. So many people seemed interested in what that experience was really like, rather than the soap opera version you see on “Orange is the New Black”

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
People have described my writing style as that of someone sitting in the room with you, telling a story. To some it seems very personal.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Kurt Vonnegut will always be my most influential author. Writers like David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs have also been influential, as has the humor of David Thorne.

What are you working on now?
A memoir about my first marriage, to my High School sweetheart. I mention a bit about the marriage in my first book.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Word of mouth most of all. Also I’ve been very lucky to get many Amazon reviews by people who read and enjoyed the book.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Promote your book wherever you can. Put your Kindle version on countdown sale or free as often as possible.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write for one person.

What are you reading now?
I’m rereading HOUSE of Leaves, which remains a favorite book. I am also working my way through all the books Gorman Bechard wrote.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My memoir about my first marriage. That will deal with a lot of emotional topics for me: depression, physical and mental illness, sexual abuse…there were good times but a lot of bad ones.

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?
Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
Dune – Frank Herbert
Starship Troopers – Robert Heinlein
Post Office – Charles Bukowski

Author Websites and Profiles
Douglas Kent Website

Douglas Kent’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is the question where people can tell about their self-publishing experience or the series they have been working recently. I admire mother-tongued writers for how productive they are. In my case, the ability to write came recently, with the level of the language. I have a single book that I started to write immediately as soon as I got to that level, maybe even a bit too early. But I had to, as a student, and then for being motivated to share my story.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Zealand Tale. The inspiration is something I could talk about for hours. If I want to explain short which I am wary to do, the key point was maybe that there was a lot of change happening around me at the time when I started. I picked up a lot of memories in New Zealand during the exchange and the trip and it became extremely difficult to share it with friends in this environment, at least to go as deep as this country worth it. And then came the dinner story in the prologue and I really got pissed off. I started to write the next weekend.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
One hour every day, that might be called unusual. It might sound as little effort but when you get home from a day when you worked all day on your doctoral study, that page can feel a pain in your butt. But one hour was okay, listening to the music of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I think the soundtracks brought a lot of inspiration and motivation. I love the work of Howard Shore.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
It is difficult to give an answer as English is my second language. From Hungarian literature I could mention János Arany for his terrible landscape descriptions, and how he put people in the landscapes. We were often familiar with the places for Hungary being such a small country. For English literature, I could mention the books of Dan Brown, but rather for noting and translating all unfamiliar words in little booklets. That has been a steep learning curve.

What are you working on now?
I am not planning other books. The next will come as spontaneous as the first if it does.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I shall see yet. I am on InstaFreeBie, and started with a book giveaway not that long ago.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I got somewhat into self-publishing tips before the release and found a lot of authors whos advice would be several books more credible. But what I can say is to be very regular with writing and do it in an environment where you can open up. For me, this was alone in my very tiny flat in the evening which had a calm and contemplating atmosphere for the otherwise busy location in Lyon.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
This might be very specific for me but to tell the truth, this I read in an article about the rights of people who appear in a non-fiction book. So, let this not to be a secret anymore, but Charlotte and the other main characters in the book are actually wearing another name. There was one scene where I had to avoid detailing what happened. That is still one of my favourite adventures but I had to face it that it will never be shared in the book.

What are you reading now?
Torturing myself with Shakespeare’s MacBeth. I say torturing even tough I love Shakespeare. The text is extremely difficult. Luckily my brother bought me Arden Shakespeare where you have explanation of many expressions – you can imagine half a page of monologues and the other half is decoding parts that might be difficult for mother tongued readers. This is a brilliant help to follow the storyline but I lose my temper when there are spoilers.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to hold the paperback in my hand.

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?
Surviving, Sailing and Navigation and Edible Plants of Stranded Desert Islands. I know some of these titles might actually exist. Otherwise I’d bring The Hobbit and The Silmarillion. The Lord of the Rings had so much more than it promised after seeing the movie. Tolkien was surely a mastermind and I found his trilogy an appealing and easy reading.

Author Websites and Profiles
Andy Gibbon Website
Andy Gibbon Amazon Profile

Andy Gibbon’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing stories since I was a kid, but I didn’t finish my first novel until about three years ago. To date I’ve written and published fifteen novels and a novella.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
BOUNTY: An Urban Fantasy Novel, is the third book in my Solumancer Cycle. It’s a story about a young wizard in near-future Detroit who battles the supernatural creatures crossing into our world from distant fantasy realms. Like most of my books, it was inspired by the hours upon hours of tabletop roleplaying games I’ve played.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Writing in itself is an unusual habit. Taking on multiple personalities and making them talk to each other? That’s not normal.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m not one of those people who scours the book lists for little-known authors with cult status. I pretty much follow the crowd. Case in point, I’m a huge fan of King, Tolkien, Martin, Gaiman, etc.

What are you working on now?
An offshoot trilogy from my main epic fantasy series, a sci-fi trilogy I’m writing under a pen name, and the fourth book in the Solumancer Cycle, SPIRAL.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I got a BookBub once. That was pretty cool. Otherwise I’ve been trying to write the first few books in a series and then release them back to back with only the occasional run of promos. So far that has worked out pretty well for me.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write mainstream stuff first and save your artsy-fartsy stuff for later when you’ve got a solid backlist established. Give it your own twist, of course, but keep your genre-blending to a minimum. People like books that are like other books they like. Also as mentioned above, be willing to write multiple books before releasing. This gives you time to work through some of the stuff you may not ‘discover’ during your writing process until later books. Know your ending. Try outlining, even if you’re a discovery writer (pantser). If that doesn’t work for you, at least know your ending. You can write a lot faster if you know where you’re going to end up.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Just keep swimming.

What are you reading now?
The Frostborn series by Jonathan Moeller. I’m currently on the fourth book, The Master Thief. It’s pretty good so far. Normally I get super bored reading tedious epic fantasy like Wheel of Time, and I find myself getting annoyed by the majority of self-published books, but these are passable with solid (if repetitive) writing, plenty of action, and solid, straightforward story lines.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Trying to stick with the series I haven’t finished instead of going off and working on new ones. I have six series, and I’ve technically only finished one of them. So yeah, I have ADD when it comes to going deep.

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 Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings (three-in-one edition), the Bible, and my writing notebook.

Author Websites and Profiles
J.C. Staudt Website
J.C. Staudt Amazon Profile
J.C. Staudt Author Profile on Smashwords

J.C. Staudt’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m always writing, though sometimes only in my head. I’ve got several works in progress … that have been in progress for, literally, years. However, I’ve recently made my writing more of a priority and completed/released my first published book last month (June 2017).

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The title of my book is: How to Be a Good Mom (Or at Least Not an Epic Failure). Understandably, my children and husband inspired me to write the book. It’s a compilation of stories from raising my kids under the premise of five “rules” for parenting.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have my best ideas when I’m not able to write them down (i.e., driving, in the shower, lying awake in the dark), although I’m not sure that’s unusual for writers.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Everything I read influences me in some way. I love words and the power of language. Some of my faves are Tolkien, Rowling, Welty, Melville. I read a variety of genres.

What are you working on now?
I’m itching to get started on a new project – an idea for a novel that’s going to require some research. I’m also busy promoting the Good Mom book.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is really a learning process. I’ve been using ads on Amazon and Facebook as well as word of mouth. I’m so happy to have stumbled upon Awesomegang!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up. Believe in yourself. You can do this. I know that all sounds cliche/corny, but I truly believe that if you have a dream, you should go for it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“You are gifted … JUMP!” – a little note from my husband the day after he showed me the Steve Harvey video about your gift being your parachute and that you must jump to soar. I knew he supported me, but he used that powerful language to convey something special that day.

What are you reading now?
A Man Called Ove is on my nightstand to start tonight. I promised my kids I’d read it before anything else. My to-be-read stack is never-ending.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Write. Write. Write. And some promotion too, I guess.

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?
Ooh, that’s a hard one. My Bible. Moby Dick. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And then some collection, like short stories by Flannery O’Conner or an anthology like a college reader.

Author Websites and Profiles
Steph Williams Website
Steph Williams Amazon Profil

Steph Williams’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Adam Springsteen and I’ve always enjoyed reading. At the age of about 14, I had a dream of having my own published book. As life went on, I forgot about the dream until I took Creative Writing in college. I wrote my book and then made excuses as to why I couldn’t get it published. Finally, this year (2017), I decided to seek out self publishing and my book hit the market on June 28th, 2017. I’ve always enjoyed writing papers and books in my classes in school.

I have a wife and three kids and enjoy spending time with them playing board games, watching movies and going on vacation. I am a middle child with two brothers. I enjoy playing basketball and football to pass the time. Music is another enjoyment of mine as well. I attend church regularly and have so since I was a kid.

This is my first book and if I can find time, I hope to write a sequel to it.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Awakening Dreams was inspired by situations that I went through in life. Although the same situations don’t appear in the book the things faced are things I faced growing up. Bullying, confusion, doubt and losing my dad when I was 23 were inspirations for writing this book. My teacher, Michael Collins (also an author), was an inspiration as well.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m straightforward when it comes to writing and don’t really have any unusual writing habits.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Boxcar Children – Gertrude Warner
The Bible
Til We Have Faces – CS Lewis
Lord of The Rings – JRR Tolkien

What are you working on now?
Nothing in the works right now.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I just google different avenues and ways to promote my book. I’m new at this so I’m learning as I go.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never give up on your dreams and don’t get discouraged if you don’t sell a million copies. Make it fun and enjoyable. Enjoy the moment, it’s a feat to become an author whether self published or a major publisher.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t give up and never quit.

What are you reading now?
Disciplines of A Godly Man

The Bible

What’s next for you as a writer?
I hope to start my second book soon.

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
CS Lewis – Til We Have Faces
William Golding – Lord of The Flies

Author Websites and Profiles
Adam Springsteen Amazon Profile

Adam Springsteen’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Ganga Bharani Vasudevan is the author of ‘Just you, me and a secret’, and Plot Engine, among many others.
Her short films ‘Tiny Steps’ and ‘Candles’ won the Best Film Award and Special Mention Award in an international film festival. She was awarded ‘Best Urban Chennai Blogger Award’.
She is now writing a script for an Indian Feature film that will be released in the year 2017.

Website: http://gangabharani.com/

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Story Ideas for Authors. I am a plot coach with a target to help 100 authors this year with their story building and publishing processes. With this as the motivation I wrote Story Ideas book that has enough story seeds to grow a forest of stories in the backyards of your mind.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
YA I write all day. Does that sound unusual.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
J.K.Rowling is someone I love.

What are you working on now?
I am writing the sequel to my romantic suspense, Just You, me and a Secret.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Awesomegang. I rely mostly on Social Media to promote my books. I regularly promote on twitter with trending hashtags.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep writing. Don’t follow anyone else’s method of writing. Staying original is more important than becoming popular.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Goodor bad Criticism helps”

What are you reading now?
I am reading Gone Girl.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am writing script for an Indian Feature Film.

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 my books: ‘Murder in the elevator’, ‘Just you, me and a secret’.
I will also take a book on how to survive in a deserted island.

Author Websites and Profiles
Ganga bharani Vasudevan Website
Ganga bharani Vasudevan Amazon Profile

Ganga bharani Vasudevan’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a veteran educator and have submitted chapters to print books before but this is my first ebook.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Shifting to Mobile: 6 Easy Steps for Moving to Mobile Learning” and it is inspired by my company’s work with many current clients who are seeing a huge opportunity to retain great millennial workforce talent by adding mobile technology to their training toolset.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to write outside, in adirondack chairs, in my garden with pomeranian puppy beside me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I really like the work of Annie Murphy Paul who writes about trends in learning and education

What are you working on now?
The next book will be about Cultural Intelligence training – its importance, and how to use mobile technology to train this topic much better.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Awesomegang, of course!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, write, garden for awhile, and then write some more!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Slow down and smell the flowers.

What are you reading now?
“Wild” by Cheryl Strayed

What’s next for you as a writer?
I would like to write some white papers about the business case for developing expertise in many business fields.

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 Unbearable Lightness of Being, Stand Still like the Hummingbird, anything by Slavoj Zizek or Jean Baudrillard.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kristin Garn Author Profile on Smashwords

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello. I was born and raised in Frederick, Maryland. I now live in southern Pa. I wrote all the time as a child into my college years but writing took a back seat as I began my career in education then became a wife and mother. I have been a first grade teacher for over 20+ years.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My last book published to date would be book three, Heart of Mine. It is the last book in my Irony of Time series. This book brings together all the major characters from book one and two for an incredible ending. The series began with a very vivid dream. After waking up I had to know more about these characters and what was going to happen to them. Chapter one in the first book contains elements from that dream. From there the series just took off and led to the final book where the main character at the helm is one that needs to be heard and is the perfect one to wrap the series the up.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think I have any unusual habits. I am not one to map out the whole book or chapters ahead of time. I let the process take over as I write. I usually have the major character and events or the surprise twists and turns thought out, but even that can change. I develop the overall plot first then I go back for months and work on character development and all those wonderful little juicy in between details.
If I find myself blocked then I take a nice hot bubble bath and let my mind take me through that certain scene or next chapter. I have to keep a notebook and pencil beside the tub. Is that unusual?

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I remember loving Janet Daily as a young adult. Later my taste turned to historical romances and then paranormal romances. I like a good mystery, but there has to be a romance or interesting relationship somewhere within the pages. I also have become fascinated with stories where we can get inside the head of someone who has mental challenges.

My favorite author seems to change the more I read. It was Diana Gabaldon (big Outlander fan here!). I really like Gillian Flynn, but I have found that I can’t read too many of her books in a row because they are so dark and deep that I have to quickly find something happy/humorous to read. With paperback, I tend to give them away after I’m finished reading them, but I have held onto a Pamela Clare book for quite awhile now because it is my “sensual fantasy fun read.” I love Brenda Novak and Nora Roberts.

What are you working on now?
I am really excited about what I am working on right now. It is a contemporary romance with paranormal elements. The main character is a first grade teacher (Hello! Like me, but not me).
She strives to be that over achiever, fresh out of the gate teacher, but a tragedy two years ago won’t release its strange and troubling hold on her.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My website is: mlcrum1.wix.com/author
My facebook page is: www.facebook.com/authormlcrum/

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I don’t know about other authors, but I find the writing process to be rewarding, but the marketing and promotion process to be down right frustrating. So for new authors, make your voice heard and your presence known way before you publish your first book.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Just keep putting yourself out there and keep writing.

What are you reading now?
I usually don’t read two books at a time, but I was in the mood for a little romance and mystery so currently I am reading When Lightening Strikes by Brenda Novak and Rapture in Death by J.D. Robbs (a.k.a Nora Roberts). I was so luck to be invited to be a part of a book signing at Nora Roberts book store in MD with her and Brenda. Love these ladies!!!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am going to get my new book all polished up and then query some publishers. Keep your fingers crossed! But I’m REALLY excited about being invited back to Nora Roberts for a book signing event on January 27, 2018!!!! It is in Boonsboro, MD…..would love to meet any of you!!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
My guilty pleasure….Ride the Fire by Pamela Clare (I tend to give books away after I read them, but this one I kept). This book just reminded me of the movie Last of the Mohicans and I love that movie!

I think I would pick a classic I never read. Not sure which one, but something long. Maybe War and Peace.

Author Websites and Profiles
M.L. Crum Website
M.L. Crum Amazon Profile

M.L. Crum’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Like most people, I think, I hate this question. I never know what to say. I’m a pretty boring guy. I live in North Bay, Ontario. I’m married and I have 5 children. I have written 4 books to date, 3 of them are in the horror genre and the 4th one…isn’t.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Well, technically, my latest book is an older book that has been republished. It’s called Little Angels and it was inspired by a family trip to Nova Scotia back in 1992 or 94. We stayed in these cottages right on the ocean and the beach had these cliffs on either side of it. On one of these cliffs was a small graveyard that looked really old and decrepit. So, one morning I wake up and go outside and there’s my dad up at this graveyard, checking it out. I went to join him and as I was looking at the graves, I noticed every single person there had been under 12 years old. That really freaked me out at the time since I was only 12 or 14. Years later, this memory pops into my head and I start thinking about why all those kids died. I figured it was probably some kind of disease since those graves were really old, but then my mind started inventing other ideas, which led to writing Little Angels.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Unlike most people I know who are writing books, I sit down at my computer to write other than just talking about writing books. I’ve discovered this is an usual thing to do these days.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Wow…way too many. Jonathan Janz, Brian Keene, James Herbert, Graham Masterton, Brian Knight, Gord Rollo, Steve Vernon, Stephen King, Bentley Little, Douglas Clegg, Edward Lee, Wrath James White, Peter Straub, William Peter Blatty. That’s just off the top of my head.

What are you working on now?
I’m about halfway through a story for an anthology I was invited to called The Ghost of the North. I’m also in the planning stages of another story, which is yet untitled. Once those are out of the way, I have another novel to finish, tentatively titled Only the Ghosts Know.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m terrible at self-promotion. I just want to write books. This is why I had to publish with a publisher rather than self-publish. I need help with the marketing aspect of publishing. If I could, I’d stay home all day and just write and let the publisher sell the books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Ass to chair, fingers to keyboard.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
See last question.

What are you reading now?
I just finished reading Odd Man Out by James Newman, which is a great, disturbing read. Next up will be Children of the Dark by Jonathan Janz. If you’re not reading either of those two writers, you’re missing out.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep writing and keep trying to publish what I 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?
I can only take 3 or 4? That’s just mean. You are cruel human being for making me choose only 3 or 4 books. Does my kindle count?

Well, I guess I would bring a Bible. Lots of good horror stories there. The Exorcist is still a personal favourite, so I’d bring that one for sure. Collected works of H.P Lovecraft. That would keep me busy for a while. And maybe a good, big collection of ghost stories.

Author Websites and Profiles
Joseph Mulak Website
Joseph Mulak Amazon Profile
Joseph Mulak Author Profile on Smashwords

Joseph Mulak’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Accoun

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
E.E. Kennedy is the author of “I’ll Be Watching You,” in the KEEP ME IN SUSPENSE anthology. Like her character, Stacy, she wrote commercials for television in a large urban market, but unlike Stacy, she didn’t encounter an obsessed murderer!
She’s also the author of the Miss Prentice Cozy Mystery series (about a high school English teacher) from Sheaf House Publishers, available in eBook or paperback at Amazon, B&N, or CBD.
The titles include: IRREGARDLESS OF MURDER, DEATH DANGLES A PARTICIPLE, MURDER IN THE PAST TENSE and INCOMPLETE SENTENCE
Her standalone novel, ANOTHER THINK COMING, is a finalist in this year’s Athanatos Christian novel contest.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My most recent series book is INCOMPLETE SENTENCE, and it was inspired by a frightening true life case, the Unicorn Killer, who eluded law enforcement for years. My most recent book, a novella in the anthology, KEEP ME IN SUSPENSE, is “I’ll Be Watching You.” It’s about a young woman who writes commercials for a TV station, something I did years ago. It was fun reliving the ups and downs of that job! Fortunately, I didn’t have a stalker, LOL.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I have flashes of inspiration, I write little notes to myself on whatever I can find. A few years ago, I was cleaning out my pockets and found a sweetener packet with the words, “You’re Killing Him” on it. It was a reminder to put a similar note in the book I was writing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Agatha Christie, of course. Also Charlotte MacLeod, Margery Allingham, Patricia Wentworth, Meg Chittenden. Anything by Jan Karon. And Mary Higgins Clark, too.

What are you working on now?
A Christian romance novella set at Christmastime, “Christmas at the Cactus Cafe,” for an upcoming anthology and book number four in the Miss Prentice series, entitled, THE VILLAGE IDIOM.
Also, a Christian mystery novella for another anthology.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Anything online. I also like to do public speaking

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Learn as much as you can, read constantly, but Don’t Forget To Write!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Two things from an old writing teacher: “Remember that a villain never thinks he’s a villain. He always has a rationale for what he’s doing.” AND “When your plot stalls, have them eat something or get them in trouble–or both.”

What are you reading now?
I’m re-reading some old Agatha Christies: TOWARDS ZERO and ORDEAL BY INNOCENCE

What’s next for you as a writer?
Just more writing…

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Holy Bible, of course. The Jan Karon Mitford series, and the Boy Scout manual, for practicality.

Author Websites and Profiles
E.E. Kennedy Website

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have only written one book that I have published but have been interested in writing all my life. My hobbies have always been antiques (owner of an antiques store for 35 years) plus reading, knitting, crocheting, and cooking. When I recently became a grandmother, I began knitting little toy animals for my granddaughter. I live in Pennsylvania with my hubby and two dogs.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book — and my only published book — is The Adventures of Jasmine Bunny. The story is inspired by the animals I had been knitting for my little granddaughter. I thought she would enjoy the animals more if they had meaning so I gave them life by building a story around them. Before long they took on a life of their own and took over life in the process! With the first book completed, at the encouragement of friends and relatives, I decided to publish it so that others could share in the story. A sequel is in the works as I write.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can’t think of anything unusual but then again, the whole writing process is a bit unusual. I never outline anything but I do tend to spend a lot of time thinking about the plot line of a story. But then the characters never do what I want them to do!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love reading historical romance novels and would love to write them but I feel inadequate to the task. Maybe someday … at the moment, children’s stories are more in my wheelhouse, especially with the grandkids.

What are you working on now?
The sequel to The Adventures of Jasmine Bunny.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
It’s too early to tell. I am still trying to find that out. I do have a website that is in early stages of development and a facebook page as well. These are http://kalabryan.com and https://www.facebook.com/AdventuresOfJasmineBunny/

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never give up!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Follow your heart and your dreams.

What are you reading now?
Eloisa James novels.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I would love to continue writing books in the Jasmine Bunny series and hope that they will be enjoyed by others so that I can go on with them. But even if they don’t, I will still write for my granddaughter.

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 books by Nora Roberts and maybe one by Stephen King if I feel brave enough!

Author Websites and Profiles
Kala Bryan Website
Kala Bryan Amazon Profile

Kala Bryan’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m just a regular guy who decided one day to sit down and write a book. They say that inspiration comes to us sometimes in strange ways…well, I’m no different. Things just more or less, fell into place. I started writing What’s Left of My World in December of 2015 and finished it up in September of the following year–my only setback being that I hadn’t yet learned the ins and outs of being an independent author yet…and I made the mistake of not nailing down my cover designer. So, I had to wait a few months before I could publish it.

What’s Left of My World hit Amazon’s best seller’s lists in two genres within 30 days after publishing–both in post-apocalyptic fiction and dystopian fiction. In fact, it made it all the way to the top 5, and I was literally blown away. Since then, I remain humbled with the reception it continues to get. I count myself very blessed.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
This We Will Defend is a continuance of the first book, picking up pretty much where the first left off as the second in the series. I began writing it while waiting to publish the first one. So, I guess the inspiration came chiefly from watching my debut novel become unimaginably successful.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I listen to hard rock music during dark scenes or write outdoors in areas that spawn imagination or ideas. Sometimes, I enjoy a glass of bourbon. Or two. Or three. And a beer or two. It worked for Faulkner and Hemingway.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve always been inspired by Stephen King ever since I was a young boy. The Shining, Firestarter, and Carrie were among the first books I’d ever read. George Orwell (1984), Nevil Shute (On the Beach), and later on life; William Fortschen (One Second After) had a major influence on me to write post-apocalyptic fiction.

What are you working on now?
Book 3 of the What’s Left of My World series, of course. I’m also working on a second non-related post-apocalyptic thriller series I plan to introduce at some point next summer that touches more on current events, particularly relating to terrorism and the immigration crisis both in Europe and in the United States.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Awesomegang has always provided me with great results. Indieauthornews, and of course Facebook and other social media sites.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Concentrate on telling the story. Don’t worry about anything else…if you have a story to tell, it will eventually get out the way it needs to.

Do NOT read your negative reviews. Have someone else to that for you. You won’t please everyone. Just remember that the ones who give you good reviews are the ones you’re writing for. They are your fans. Write for them. Don’t change the way you write to please unhappy readers.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“The good Lord gave us all two ears and one mouth for a reason–so that we can listen twice as much as we talk.” – my grandmother

What are you reading now?
I don’t read as much as I’d like to, unfortuately. Not enough time. I do listen to my fair share of audiobooks though, and spend a lot of commuting time doing just that. Right now I’m listening to author friend, mentor, and fellow Virginian Franklin Horton’s fifth installment in his Borrowed World Series, Valley of Vengence, and it is FANTASTIC. The audiobook for This We Will Defend is set to be recorded within the next week, so I must set aside time to proof it, otherwise next on my list is JL Bourne’s next installment in the Tomorrow War series, Serpent Road.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I plan to keep writing. I’ve been bitten by the success bug and I can’t stop. It’s an enjoyable pastime, and it sure beats sitting around watching tv.

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 a tough one. One of them would have to be the Bible. My mother would kill me if I didn’t have one with me. The next would be the SAS Survival Handbook, which I’ve read, but I’m certain I’ve already forgotten everything. The other two? Well, probably my two, since they’re the dearest ones to my heart. The characters are like family to me. It would be a shame to live life without them.

Author Websites and Profiles
C.A. Rudolph Website
C.A. Rudolph Amazon Profile

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

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a Young Adult Indie-Author, and I’ve written three books so far.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My recent book is titled Spiraling Vortex. It is the second book in a series of eight novels planned. It starts immediately after the events of Dancing Abyss. The Brook Falls series follows a young girl named Ashley during her journey of growing up and dealing with life’s hardships.
When I was growing up, my family had a summer camp, in Wirral NB, and I guess that town is the inspiration behind this series. As are events I’ve experienced during my own journey, have deeply inspired this story.
Often I have found myself flipping through old journal entries, taking me back to that time, and things that were going on around me that I happened to record.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I suppose I do, however they aren’t unusual to me. One different thing about the way I write is that I can’t build. If I sit down and try to map out my stories, down to every detail I end up with extreme writer’s block. I just can’t plan. I don’t know. I find it much easier if I get an idea to just sit down and write, allowing the characters to direct me to where they are heading.

Another thing I do while I write is that I write in chunks, and edit constantly. I guess that’s what takes me so long to complete a manuscript. I’m way too much of a perfectionist.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve always loved reading, it’s something that I’ve done ever since I knew how to read. So, it’s hard to say for sure. However, I’m thinking that from my childhood my earliest influences were probably Judy Blume, R.L. Stine, and Christopher Pike.
I read a little bit of everything, and recently, I’d say J.K. Rowling, Stephanie Meyer, and Veronica Roth has had some influence as well.

What are you working on now?
I’ve been working on an untitled Mystery/thriller for young adults, but recently I’ve been thinking about shelving that for now. I’m at a crossroads at the moment because recently, I have had two main characters screaming at me from different directions.
The characters from my Number Three Series, are pulling me in that direction. They seem to have more to say and are very loud about it.
Then the characters from Brook Falls are demanding a bit as well. Still, have much more to say.
I’ve considered alternating between both projects to satisfy both sides, but I guess we’ll see.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
At the moment, I’d have to say Twitter. I just recently have redone my personal website, and Facebook is coming along, so I guess we’ll see about that as well.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don;t give up, even when it feels hopeless. Keep pushing on.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You’ll always regret what you didn’t do, rather than what you did.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading Stephen Kings The Tommyknockers.

What’s next for you as a writer?
It’s hard to say, you never know where my writing will take me. Hopefully though, whatever I write next will be that much better than the last.

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 take the Divergent Series, and Stephanie Meyer’s The Host

Author Websites and Profiles
Clara Cook Website
Clara Cook Amazon Profile

Clara Cook’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a historical fiction author who lives in Auckland, New Zealand. I have written five novels inspired by genealogy research into the immigrants who came to this country in the 19th century. I build a real life for my characters, based on real events wrapped around the bones of real people. The love, they laugh, they cry, they grieve and they leave something of themselves behind at the end of every story.

In particular, the 19th century is significant in our history because New Zealand is such a young country. Settlers didn’t start arriving until the 1840s and by the 1850s the European population still only stood at around 28000. After the Land Wars with the Maori in the 1860s immigrants began to arrive in their thousands. The period between 1880 and the turn of the century was, in essence, the birth of a new nation. There are hundreds of fascinating stories of those times that are worth sharing.

New Zealand is a stunningly beautiful country with an absorbing evolution. The people who came here came of their own free will in search of a better life. They worked hard, and developed a ‘can do’ attitude long before such a thing was heard of or became popular. They made do with what they had and developed something from nothing and by doing that often became world leaders in new ideas. It is their stories I tell.

And mine of course:
Gwenna
The Girl from County Clare – an IndieB.R.A.G medallion recipient/ Chill with a Book Readers’ Award.
The Cornish Knot
The Disenchanted Soldier
The Art of Secrets

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
‘Gwenna’. The book is loosely based on the true story of my great-grandmother who lived in the valleys of South Wales, although this story is set in New Zealand at the turn of the 20th century.

“Dreams and nightmares collide for Gwenna, the master confectioner. Her Pa is dead; her stepbrother Elias is in charge and the business is failing. Against all odds, will the plucky sweet maker from Wales fulfil her dreams?”

Falling in love with the cheeky and charming Johnno opens up opportunities for Gwenna, but every step of the way she is thwarted. If not by Elias, then by Johnno’s father and the restraints of a society with strict Victorian values, but Gwenna is irrepressible. Nothing will stand in her way.

Throughout the twists and turns of love and tragedy, Gwenna is a young woman with uncommon courage, determination and ambition in an era when women were expected to stay at home. There are people who love her and those who are willing to help her achieve her goal but, blind to anything that distracts her from creating her legacy, Gwenna risks losing the one thing that matters to her the most.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not that I’m aware of, although my family will tell you that when I’m in ‘the zone’ the world could spin off its axis and I wouldn’t notice. I like silence when I’m writing, I reread everything I write, I stop when I’m temporarily stuck and go for a walk, or make myself something to eat. I drink coffee in the mornings and wine in the evenings. I fiddle with my hair when I’m thinking and I like to write on a laptop somewhere where it is sunny – usually at my antique writing desk in the corner of my family room, but it could be on the sofa in the lounge or anywhere else where there are no people and no noise.

I’m never lonely at these times because I have my characters to talk to and I listen to their woes and try to work out a way to help them out of their difficulties.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
In the days gone by… A long time ago, I enjoyed reading Jean Plaidy/Victoria Holt/Phillipa Carr novels. Those stories hooked me on historical fiction. I didn’t know it was the same author until years later. Barbara Erskine was another. I love the time-slip aspects of her novels.
I recently received an IndieB.R.A.G medallion and a Chill with a Book Award – both readers’ awards – for my novel ‘The Girl from County Clare’, and one reader compared my writing to that of Catherine Cookson. I couldn’t have been more pleased. I read Cookson many years ago too, and will be reading them again now I’ve been reminded of them. More recently, I’ve been inspired by the works of Diana Gabaldon and Deborah Challinor.

What are you working on now?
The ebook of ‘Gwenna’ is due for release on 24 July and the print book is expected in August, but already another story is percolating at the back of the mind. It will be a sequel to ‘The Girl from County Clare’ and ‘Gwenna’ combined focussing on the younger generation who wants to make their own mark in this new country of theirs. When it finally starts to burn I’ll put a few words onto the screen and see where they lead me.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I don’t have any one way. I try new things all the time. I do have my own website – an Amazon author page, which links to all my books.
I also have profile on my Facebook author page, and I’m on LinkedIn, Goodreads, and Pinterest.
I’m about to send out my first ever newsletter to tell people about ‘Gwenna’ as soon as the cover design is finalised.
You can sign up on my homepage of my website if you’d like to know more.
I do FB ads from time to time and I have Amazons ads running when I want to say something new.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write what you love best, what you are passionate about. It doesn’t matter what the subject is. Don’t let people tell you to write ‘to the market’, unless the current trend is your passion. Your story, your voice is unique, work with what you have and don’t try to be something else until you feel the drive to change.

Edit until you bleed. Hire a good editor – or a series of editors – to go through development, proofing and layout, and get a good cover design.

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

I belong to a fabulous group who are honest, blunt, kind, caring and downright brilliant writers. We all support one another and wouldn’t dream of letting anyone write anything sub-standard. I’ve been with them for ten years and my writing has grown in depth and strength in that time because of them.

Followed by, get a good editor. Mine is worth her weight in gold.

What are you reading now?
A while ago, I decided that I was only going to read indie authors and/or New Zealand authors. I didn’t want to be one of the pack where we all read the same book. I wanted to find a gem amongst the unknown and I have certainly found some wonderful new authors.

Recent reads:
‘The Stationmaster’s Cottage’ by Phillippa Nefri Clarke https://www.amazon.com/Stationmasters-Cottage-Phillipa-Nefri-Clark/dp/0648013812

Kirsten McKenzie’s timeslip novels ‘Fifteen Postcards’ and ‘The Last Letter’, https://www.amazon.com/Kirsten-McKenzie/e/B01F0R5TPS/
V.L. McBeath’s ‘Hooks & Eyes’ https://www.amazon.com/VL-McBeath/e/B01N2TJWEX

and I love the books by Linda Gillard, and Deborah Challinor. A while back I read Shayne Parkinson’s series of novels about life in rural New Zealand. https://www.amazon.com/Shayne-Parkinson/e/B003RF8LDI
There are too many to name.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Thinking time to find the strand that links ‘The Girl from County Clare’ and ‘Gwenna’ together.
Or I might write try entirely different. I’m not sure yet, but I’ll write something. I love to write.

I’ll write more books, put them up on Amazon and hope that one day readers will love my stories enough that my name alone will inspire them to buy my next book. I’m allowed to dream.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Only 3 or 4? What about 3 or 4 series of books?

For a stand-alone book – ‘Gone with the Wind’ by Margaret Mitchell – for the glorious sweeping drama, the love story, the historical authenticity, and much more. But even then there is a sequel – ‘Scarlett’ by Alexander Ripley.

The first in the Cross Stitch series by Diana Gabaldon – for the idea of time travel, the passion between Jamie and Claire (illogical as it might seem), and the period setting.

The Poldark series by Winston Graham – each book focuses on a different character. I love the Cornish setting but the characters are outstanding.

New Zealand authors: Deborah Challinor’s ‘Tamar’ series with White Feathers and Blue Smoke – her first set of stories. The later ones are terrific too.
or Jenny Pattrick’s ‘Denniston Rose’ series (and I really enjoyed ‘Skylark’).

And mine of course:
Gwenna
The Girl from County Clare – a B.R.A.G medallion recipient.
The Cornish Knot
The Disenchanted Soldier
The Art of Secrets

Author Websites and Profiles
Vicky Adin Website
Vicky Adin Amazon Profile
Vicky Adin’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Adele Baker was born in the shadow of the Blue Ridge mountains. Her father’s job relocated the family every few years. At 13, she had experienced many cuisines, from Cajun seafood gumbo, to Swiss cheese fondue, to Mediterranean keftedes (lamb meatballs). Her family prioritized time around the dinner table, and there were usually more people at the table than the original six. She appreciated the close-knit family of her childhood and valued meals together.

Micah and Adele met in college, married, and within two years of graduation, their family had grown. Addie Rae was born in March, and Adele experienced unbounded joy during her daughter’s first year. The family hiked the Blue Ridge mountains with Addie Rae tucked into the backpack. They sailed the lakes of northern Michigan, skied and biked the hills of Virginia and hiked the San Jacinto mountains of California.

Despite a healthy lifestyle, Adele discovered that the weight gain of pregnancy had not disappeared. She sought a workable diet, and research led her to the low carb diets. It fit well with her lifestyle and became a way of life. The pounds melted and Adele’s energy increased. The drawback was a sad lack of tasty ketogenic and paleo recipes. In time, Adele created many keto- and paleo friendly recipes, and was frequently asked to share them. She recorded her recipes for others to enjoy, and that collection is now available to you. She hopes that you enjoy the following recipes, and wishes you success with your new way of life
I wrote four Cookbooks so far.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
An Aphrodisiac Cookbook: What to cook to charm for one evening. Complete Guide, Tips undefined Tricks, Essential TOP recipes to Spice Up Your Sex Life
Love to my husband inspired me to write this Cookbook.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like writing a Cookbook in public places.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad, Poor Dad

What are you working on now?
Electric Smoker meat recipes

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This site, Facebook, special groups for Readers

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Believe in your talent and keep going no matter what

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Think positively and be thankful to universe!

What are you reading now?
Hey There, Speedy, don’t be Greedy: How Speedy the Squirrel learned to put others first

What’s next for you as a writer?
Continue creating delicious recipes

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?
Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Two any books by Ernest Hemingway

Author Websites and Profiles
Adele Baker Website
Adele Baker Amazon Profile

Adele Baker’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a management and engineering professional as well as an educationalist by qualification. I am best known for my impartial analytical opinions on political, social and religious issues. I am also a passionate social thinker.

So far I have written two books – Kathputli and Life In Shackles.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is “Life In Shackles”. My seriousness on social issues and success of “Kathputli” were driving factors to make “Life In Shackles” into publication.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes, I have spent lots of time in my life in journey and stay away from my family. It’s the time which I utilised to fulfill my passion towards writing.
I use a table only to format, edit and publish my work which is written in trains, sea beaches, river banks and hotels.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
“The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne influenced me a lot.

What are you working on now?
I have around half a dozen rough drafts of my books. Now a days I am completing a motivational book name not yet decided.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
In my case, social media and my friends there on made my books successful. I used goodreads too.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
The best advice for aspiring authors is to become a good reader and listener first. Then to build up a social circle. These two suggestions are crucial to make pre-order successful and getting reviews. These are important to get words of mouth.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write, read, edit, publish and move to write next book.

What are you reading now?
I am reading my fellow Indie authors Kay Pollard, Joanne’s Rhino and Britt Collins.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to publish two books every year to finish all those rough manuscripts.

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 Magic, The Hero, The Secret, The Power of Positive Thinking

Author Websites and Profiles
Prakash Vir Sharma Website
Prakash Vir Sharma Amazon Profile
Prakash Vir Sharma Author Profile on Smashwords

Prakash Vir Sharma’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a native Jamaican who lives on the western side of the island. I’ve written two Christian novels – “His Last Hope” (2015) and its prequel, “His Last Resort” (2017), as well as a children’s book, “So very… Max!” (2016). I’m a former assistant college professor who works online as an administrative assistant. I also offer freelance copy editing and self-publishing consultancy services.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“His Last Resort” was published in March, 2017. It is a work of Christian fiction, and I came up with the content while reading the Bible one day. I came across a particular scripture (1 Peter 3) that spoke about the source of a woman’s “true” beauty, and I wondered how I would have responded to it if I worked in the beauty industry. The plot developed over time, with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write when I am inspired to do so. I can easily go months without writing a word, and then find myself writing pages upon pages in one sitting when the inspiration hits. I believe the Holy Spirit is my ghostwriter. I know this, because some of the things I write have no meaning, no message, no reach… but the presence of the Holy Spirit results in inspired writing that impacts readers in unexpected ways. I’m learning to wait on Him so that my writing can minister to others, in addition to entertaining them.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have spent years studying the writing of Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In fact, his fiction formed the basis of my master’s dissertation. I don’t think my writing is particularly influenced by his, but it assures me that even stories that are completely fictional have power and a wide reach.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on two more books in the “His Last Hope Series.” I’ve completed the first draft of one of them, but the book requires a complete rewrite, which will take some time. I’ve been working on the other for over two years, but have tossed out most of what I’ve written. My words need to be very specific in order to get my intended message across, and I’m afraid I’m just getting to that place now.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I find that word-of-mouth is still the most effective promotion for my writing.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. I read somewhere that “if you have something you need to write, someone out there needs to read it,” and that has pushed me to keep at it. Writing fiction still doesn’t come naturally or easily to me, but I am convinced that my words have a wider reach than I would if I didn’t publish.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
As a Christian, my first instinct is to say, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

What are you reading now?
I just started “City Girl” by Lori Wick. I’m also reading Nigeria Lockley’s “Pursuing Your Passion in a Godly Fashion.”

What’s next for you as a writer?
I hope to publish two more books within the next year, with a fifth in the “His Last Hope Series” not too long after that.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Wow. That’s a hard one as I hardly ever re-read books unless I’m studying. I’m going to go with the Bible, which I am currently re-reading, as well as “Love in the Time of Cholera” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and “Redeeming Love” by Francine Rivers. I’ve never read that particular Rivers novel, but recently learned that it’s the bestselling Christian Fiction book of all time. The books I’ve read of hers have been good, so I have no doubt this one would be no different. I would also take Priscilla Shirer’s “Fervent,” which I’ve heard is a life-changing book.

Author Websites and Profiles
M. A. Malcolm Website
M. A. Malcolm Amazon Profile
M. A. Malcolm Author Profile on Smashwords

M. A. Malcolm’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a work-from-home mom to six girls. Currently the author of one non-fiction book about our decision to homeschool; I plan to write more about our journey in homeschooling, but also about our travels in our RV throughout the country and how it’s all possible.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My first book is about our family’s decision to homeschool and with the hope to help others in their journey, I created Deciding to Homeschool: A Guide for Parents on the Fence to be a comprehensive Q & A guide.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes, but I have unusual living habits, which goes hand in hand. I’m a night owl and my best writing is done in the shower.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
In the past five years I’ve been greatly influenced by Marie Kondo, Bea Johnson and Fly Lady, Marla Cilly mainly because they see a problem, and LIVE the solution. I can only dream to one day help as many people as these three strong inspiring women.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on Love Letters to my husband. This project is a personal projection of what’s going on in my heart amidst the chaos of running a business, a household and chasing my toddler. My intention is to inspire other women, wives and mothers to hold onto the good in this life, for the days are long but the years are short.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m a new self-publishing author; I’ve been promoting with Facebook and my personal blog, but am happy I found Awesomegang and hopeful sales will pick up.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write it down. On a napkin. On the back of a receipt. On your hand. If an idea comes in, just write it. You never know what thoughts will become stories.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
When deciding what to write, I struggled. Then, I read a book about writing. The best thing I absorbed from it was to “write what you know” and everything became clear.

What are you reading now?
31 Creative ways to love & encourage him

What’s next for you as a writer?
At present, I’m working hard on my marriage, and as I go through the motions, I’m writing it all down. After helping parents decide if homeschooling is right for their family, maybe I’ll help spouses decide if divorce is right for their marriage.

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 Wedding by Nicholas Sparks, The Bible, and the Biography of Bob Dylan

Author Websites and Profiles
Lisa Hopper Website

Lisa Hopper’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
After I graduated from college, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so I joined my friend and we began to write books. Years later, I have published many novels, novellas, and short stories in a variety of genres such as children’s, fantasy, science fiction, and horror.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest published book is called “The Metatron Chronicles”. It is a science fiction story with every chapter dealing with a different group of people. Taking place in Nippon, a ruin storm is coming, but nobody believes it will hit them. Only Metatron, an AI that has the run of the country, can save them.

What inspired it was my friend, Colby Trax, story, “Firmware: Keylogger”. When I was editing a chapter in that book, my mind was filled with Metatron and the ruin storm. I could see the events he generally mentioned and how they would make a fantastic stand alone story. After a few years passed, I finally had the time write the story!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Every book I’ve read has influenced me, from the romances I love to read to the cozy mysteries that make me smile to the Warhammer 40k novels that engage me in a much different way.

What are you working on now?
Right now I’m editing “Friends of the Flames”, the fourth book in my From the Flames series.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never give up and stay true to yourself. A lot of people will tell you what you should or shouldn’t write, but I’ve learned to do what is true to me. If I don’t, I’m not writing my stories, I’m writing someone else’s.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m going to keep editing the stories I’ve already written. For a couple years, I wrote, wrote, and wrote. Now I need to edit them so I can get them out and then write more.

Author Websites and Profiles
Trisha M. Wilson Website
Trisha M. Wilson Amazon Profile
Trisha M. Wilson Author Profile on Smashwords

Trisha M. Wilson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi! My name is Alix Adale and I write (hopefully) suspenseful, cathartic romance from the bleeding edge of reality. In my work, I try to present fresh twists on established paranormal themes by drawing inspiration from psychology, horror, true crime, and the occult. Yet in this world of darkness, love can conquer all!

I’ve written two and half romance novels, two PNR novellas, 75+ erotic shorts, and 10+ SF/F short stories.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest books are Blood is Magic and Night is Magic, two vampire romances in the same series. Either one can be read as the first in this four-book series as they are all written as more or less standalone books. The series focuses on the Bradens, a clan of vampires who live in the Pacific Northwest.

I couldn’t tell you when exactly I decided to write this series or why, only that when I chose to write in paranormal romance it was inevitable I would write about vampires (even though shifters so dominate the market now), because I simply love vampires.

They are powerful, mysterious, tragic, strange, creepy and (sniff) beautiful.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Hmm, this might be a little weird, but for my latest book, I had a number of characters in different locations so to avoid confusion, I created ‘action figures’ for each character. In photoshop, I made 2D cut-outs of each character, printed them out, taped them to cardboard, and put them in groups in different parts of the room so I could visually ‘see’ where everybody is.

Ridiculous, huh?

What authors, or books have influenced you?
We would be here a long time to run through them all! In terms of the paranormal romance and vampire genres, the classics like Bram Stoker, Sheridan Le Fanu, and Anne Rice are formative. Some of my favorite PNR authors are Christina Pope and Charlaine Harris, to name a few. And in other media, every from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Vampire: The Masquerade!

What are you working on now?
A book called Fire is Magic, the third in my Hearts of Dagon series…all of which have “…is Magic” in the title, so you know they’re related!

In this story, the female lead is a vampire hunter and the male lead is a vampire–they first meet and are attracted to each other without realizing the other’s ‘occupation’ so to speak. They find out the next morning… and the whole love-hate thing takes off from there!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
There are a million things to do, but I’m a fan of having my own website where I can post whatever I want.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Join online forums like Kboard’s Writer’s Cafe, Absolute Writer’s, Reddit’s Writing or Erotica Authors subreddits, and if you’re in romance, a site like Romance Divas or Harlequin’s community for aspiring writers. The indie author route is expensive, complicated, and full of traps, but other authors have been there, done that, and are willing to help.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Life is but a dream.

What are you reading now?
Oh my god, my Kindle is stuffed with ten brand new, unread PNR romance books I want to get through ASAP, something from K.M. Weiland, and a publisher’s proof of a science fiction anthology that I’m lucky to be part of later this year.

What’s next for you as a writer?
The fourth book in this series! It’s going to wrap up the series, bridge to the next one, with some characters moving on and others fading from view.

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 by Robinson Crusoe
How to Escape a Desert Island by Tom Hanks
Finding Your Romantic Partner on a Desert Island
1001 Fun Things to Do on a Desert Island

Author Websites and Profiles
Alix Adale Website
Alix Adale Amazon Profile

Alix Adale’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account