Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I started writing when he was in the seventh grade. Always having an active imagination, I wrote a short story for class that was later printed in the local paper. Setting aside my love of writing and drawing as a teen, I returned to it as a young man and started writing stories and creating comic book characters. Using my children, loved ones and friends as inspiration, I have created over a hundred characters and stories that I hope to publish. Always considering myself more of a creator than a writer, I spent several years looking for a collaborator. After a couple of failed attempts, I finally teamed up with my friend Charles Little and formed New Legend Books & Comics. Our first venture is the book “Dead or Alive: The Reaper’s Redemption”. I plans to continue creating new stories and characters and hopes to help others see their dreams of becoming published authors come true.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Dead or Alive: The Reaper’s Redemption.
It’s kind of a throw back to classics tough guys like the ones Clint Eastwood and Sam Elliot played. Ray is a tough guy who finds himself in a new life and feeling real happiness for the first time ever. That is until it is taken away from him so he does what tough guys do, he fights back.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think there is such a thing. I write when it comes to me and sometimes that writing goes on in my head for weeks or months before it ever gets on paper.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stan Lee is the man in my book. To be able to create so many good characters is amazing.

What are you working on now?
I am working on our next book, Vanished. I think its a great story and stays true to the classic tough guy theme that we started with Dead or Alive.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
We have had good success with Facebook so far. We seem to get a lot more hits there than anywhere.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep trying and be patient. I have waited 20 year to publish my first book.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Make your dreams obtainable for you”. If you can’t carry a note, don’t dream of being a sing. Find what you are good at and wrap your dreams around that.

What are you reading now?
My own stuff mostly…lol. I still work full time and write so it’s hard to read other stuff.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully a bunch more sales on the first book and follow that up with another book before Christmas.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible
A history book
A Comic book
A joke of the day book

Author Websites and Profiles
Troy Pendleton Website
Troy Pendleton Amazon Profile

Troy Pendleton’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
hi, my name is Taco Fleur and I’ve written about 7 books and 3 more coming. I have a passion for kettlebell training and enjoy teaching others.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book is Kettlebell Training Fundamentals, I was inspired to write it because I wanted to cover all the basics, the intricacies, the things most trainers forget about or don’t even know.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not that I know of. Maybe being direct to the point.

What authors, or books have influenced you?

What are you working on now?
All Kettlebell Exercises
Kettlebell Workouts

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep working at it, never give up if you truly believe in what you do, start somewhere and grow.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep writing and turn my books into ecourses

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’m afraid I have to take my kettlebells instead.

Author Websites and Profiles
Taco Fleur Website
Taco Fleur Amazon Profile

Taco Fleur’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi, I am a retired teacher of world (foreign) languages. My mission in writing these books is to give every child an early start learning a language. That way, he or she will have the time to become fully proficient and able to appreciate the beauty of our world in its many forms, plus having a marketable skill. I published my first book, ¡Hola! Let’s Learn Spanish, an early and fun start learning Spanish for kids roughly 6-10, or younger.
Language education is not a priority in the U.S. or the other English-speaking countries, and we need to change that, so our kids will have the same benefits as those around the world who know more than one language.
I love art: oil painting. As part of the second book Bonjour! Let’s Learn French, the craft is for kids to do an impressionist-style painting.
I also participate in a monthly guitar jam. This month (next week), the theme is songs about outlaws, and one of the songs I’m doing is the Ballad of Billy the Kid, by Billy Joel.
I am part of a group that also meets monthly to discuss a movie that we watch at home via DVD in Spanish. The discussion is in Spanish, which gives me practice.
Since my husband is Spanish, we speak Spanish a lot at home.
I have two daughters, one is married and has a 3 year old daughter.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I am about to publish Bonjour! Let’s Learn French. It will give children roughly 6-10 a fun and early start learning French.
Only 25@ of elementary schools in the U.S., public or private, offer foreign language programs to their children. In some cases, the only language available is Spanish.
This way, families who have an interest or love for French and France can give their kids an introduction to French.
Whether it’s French, Spanish or any other language, the best way that you can encourage your kids to learn a language is to try it yourself.
So, it’s never too late to learn a language, or to refresh your memories.
I hope that you will try the books and enjoy them.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t have unusual writing habits.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Actually, in writing these books, I had input from experts in the field of early foreign language learning.

What are you working on now?
I’m about to publish Bonjour! Let’s Learn French. Please visit the website, http://www.polyglotkidz.com. You will find not only the audio versions of the French and Spanish books, but other resources like activity sheets, recipes, and my blog, though I don’t have much time to update it.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I like to use facebook graphics which I post to facebook book groups.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I’m like the Grandma Moses of writing, (without the fame!) because I started very, very late. I wish that I had more time (and money) to publish books for the other languages.
New authors: if you are self-publishing, join some author blogs; they share great advice and support.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Follow your bliss. I feel that I’m following my mission in life.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading “Goldfinch” I can’t remember the author, and I have the book on Kindle. I’m also reading a series of books in Spanish: detective stories about awful crimes that take place in my husband’s hometown in Spain, Vitoria.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I need time to promote the French and Spanish books. I have written books for Italian, Arabic and Chinese. If I have health, time, money and an editor for those languages which I’m not so familiar with, I’d love to publish them

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would take a diary and write whatever comes into my head about life.

Author Websites and Profiles
Judy Martialay Website

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I come from a very humble background. I was born and raised in Northern Mexico, in the state of Durango. I grew up in a very rural village, Santa Rosa, with limited access to resources and opportunities. At the age of 11, my family moved to the U.S. in the hopes of seeking a better quality of life. We moved to the suburbs of Chicago, where a lot of relatives resided. I went to university in Chicago and worked + lived there for a few years after graduation. During my job as a marketing manager at a food company, I decided the office life wasn’t for me and that I wanted to focus and pursue writing seriously. I started a blog and started writing my book simultaneously. I now live in South Korea. I teach little kids English but the main factors behind this move were to focus on my writing and travel afterward!

After graduating university I realized that I had a very strong sense of writing but of course, like many writers, I was terrified! I was riddled with self-doubt and sat on the idea of starting a blog for over a year, then one day the fear of regret became heavier than the fear of being ridiculed for wanting to be a writer, so I started my blog (www.thisiisrocio.com). To appease my doubtful mind, I told everyone it was simply a fun hobby (and I fooled myself into half-believing this), yet at the same time I was writing my dual-language book, “The Legacy of a Mexican Patriarch.”

Since college, I knew I wanted to teach English in Asia to travel afterward, and it so happened that my passion for writing and travel merged here in South Korea, where I was able to dedicate the time and effort to birth these word babies.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“The Legacy of a Mexican Patriarch” is a dual-language biographical narrative, written in short essay format, about the life and influence of my beloved grandfather – Alejandro Cadena. He inspired me to dream big and go after my dreams, without any qualms or fears. He was as imperfect as the rest of us, but growing up, I perceived him as a demi-god because he was just so cool, wise and worldly (to me). He lived a very colorful and interesting life, so I decided to document his life as a way for family and relatives to get a more personal look at who he was and what he meant to me. The book is a tribute to his life and my Mexican heritage. Themes explored include family bonds, Latino culture, Hispanic heritage, US Latino experience, and immigration.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m a firm believer of scheduling writing into my calendar. I know this method can seem too rigid to most, but I’m an excellent procrastinator, and unless I gently force myself to sit down and write, I will find infinite ways to avoid it. Obviously, at times I truly don’t feel like writing when I said I would, and so I reschedule. The scheduling is a commitment to myself that I will do what I intend, whether it gets done today or three days from now isn’t too big of a deal. Like plenty of writers, I dislike writing passionately but I loved having written.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have very varied preferences in authors and genres. I love Kurt Vonnegut, Jack Kerouac, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Eduardo Galeano, Isabel Allende, Junot Diaz and many more. I enjoy dystopian novels very much so because I suspect we are living in one!

I truly draw inspiration from everything and anything. I love podcasts, TED talks, movies, documentaries, cool artsy videos from vimeo, concerts, music and so much more. I am a very interested and curious person, so I am constantly inspired. But I must add that I make it a point to find inspiration, it doesn’t always come to me.

What are you working on now?
I continue to write for my personal blog and have started contributing to a host of publications. I’ve also taken on an editor position at a local magazine I’ve been writing for. I’ve also got a new project called The Alignment Society which organizes and hosts art events in my city. The events take place every quarter, and the first one served to launch my book. I thought it would be a one-time thing but it was such a success that I’ve decided to put together a few more of them because the deep sense of community is so special.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
There really isn’t an all-encompassing answer. I had to do a lot of research and invest plenty of time and energy.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Only embark on the writing a book train [and self-publish it] if you are committed to put in the time. It will be hard a lot of the times but holding something you’ve made is a nearly indescribably feeling.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
In terms of creating, to stay in motion *every single day*. That means working a little bit on any project you’re passionate about daily, whether it’s 20 minutes to 4 hours, that doesn’t matter. Obviously, if there is a deadline, you best be working the appropriate amount to finish it on time, but do the work every day. And also, when the going gets tough [and it will] remember your why. Why are you working on this? The response should be soundproof and propel you onwards!

What are you reading now?
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

What’s next for you as a writer?
To continue publishing in a range of publications and consortiums. And to start getting paid for it soon enough!

Author Websites and Profiles
Rocio Cadena Website
Rocio Cadena Amazon Profile

Rocio Cadena’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in Bakersfield, California and have been a resident ever since. In fact, my family has been in Bakersfield since 1893. It has always been my belief that a person never stops learning, so, I attended California State University, Bakersfield and earned a BA in History, a teaching credential, a MA in Education (Curriculum and Instruction), and a MA in History. By profession, I teach high school Social Studies, and I am an adjunct professor at Bakersfield Community College. I enjoy outdoor sports and recreation, playing ice hockey, researching and writing, and spending time with my family. At this point, I have written two books, but I have several more in various stages of completion.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
A Branch Too Weak is my latest book. It is the first book in a series that I will release as they are completed. I suppose that the inspiration for the series is my love for history and the outdoors. In recent years I have read a lot on New Western History and I began to look at the American West differently. Added to that is my interest in California and local history. Ultimately, I decided to write a Western / historical fiction novel surrounding the beginning of the California Gold Rush.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
For some reason, my favorite time to write is on Saturday and Sunday mornings, between 4:30 and 10:00. It’s just me, my laptop, a cup of coffee, and some westerns on the TV. Some of my best ideas also come to me while driving or in the shower.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
As far as history, I enjoy reading historians who write about history in an approachable way–Elliott West, Stephen Ambrose, and Patricia Nelson Limerick are some of my favorites. And Louis L’Amor is probably my favorite writer of Westerns.

What are you working on now?
Currently, I am working on the second book in the Golden Empire Series, but I have a few other projects that are in progress, such as a follow-up to my Bootlegger book and a history of homesteading in the Greenhorn Mountains of Kern County, California.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m pretty new at this, so, promoting my books has been a process of trial and error. Facebook has been helpful a helpful tool, and so has conducting a giveaway on Amazon. I hope running a promotion on Awesomegang will be fruitful.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be discouraged, and practice your craft. I’ve found that many people will be supportive, but there will always be those who are negative and pessimistic about what you can and cannot do. Try to ignore them and focus on what matters most to you. Even if it takes you years to finish your work, keep plugging along.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I like this advice on writing by Mark Twain: “You need not expect to get your book right the first time. Go to work and revamp or rewrite it. God only exhibits his thunder and lightning at intervals, and so they always command attention. These are God’s adjectives. You thunder and lightning too much; the reader ceases to get under the bed, by and by.”

What are you reading now?
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson, Scars of Independence: America’s Violent Birth by Holger Hoock, and The Border Legion by Zane Grey.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m going to continue writing. Unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury of time to dedicate to writing full-time. However, I will continue to bounce between books in my spare time until they are complete, and then, inevitably, I will start a new writing project.

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?
Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival
SAS Survival Handbook, Third Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving Anywhere
100 Deadly Skills: Survival Edition: The SEAL Operative’s Guide to Surviving in the Wild and Being Prepared for Any Disaster
WILD WEST Boxed Set: 150+ Western Classics in One Volume

Author Websites and Profiles
Richard Roux Amazon Profile

Richard Roux’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Denise Knight. I am a homeschool mom of four and preacher’s wife. I have graduated three of my kids and have 1 teenager still at home. I have two grand kids, and two honorar I hy grand kids. I am an educator, author, and spiritual counselor. I am currently trying to get an event planning and decorating business up and running. I have written 2 books and am working on 2 more.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
THE HALLOWEEN ABDUCTIONS: YOU JUST THOUGHT YOUR CHILDREN WERE SAFE. It was inspired by several factors:
1. the careless approach, many today, take toward parenting
2. the uncivilized behavior of todays children
3. the aftermath of hurt, anger, and confusion many youth deal with because of poor parenting and church hypocrisy
4. the apathetic and/or uninformed approach churches take to children and youth ministries

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know…I think I, myself, am unusual. I have been told I am psycho-mom, so I guess I am just weird, period.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Frank Peretti, Ted Dekker, Jane Austen, Washington Irving, CS Lewis-I know that is a strange combination, but they are my favorites (especially Frank Peretti)

What are you working on now?
The sequel to HALLOWEEN ABDUCTIONS. I am actually thinking of making it into a 5 to 6 part series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Twitter, I guess. This is all new to me. I am broke so I have no money (at this time) for professional marketing. Twitter seems to have been the most helpful.

Then there was support by a few family members in the beginning. There have been a few that have been a great support system and even purchased the book. Then there are some who care nothing for supporting or promoting my work. You can bet, though, when I start making money, they will want to be my closest family member and friend. Just saying….

Do you have any advice for new authors?
1. Find a way to network.
2. Don’t expect the people who should be your biggest cheerleader to show up during the difficult stages.
3. Prepare for showers of criticism, especially from those who are suppose to love you. Its amazing how so many people think they have all the answers in ventures they have never attempted.
4. STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I have not really had any advice. I have had a truck load of criticism and snide remarks, but no advice. I have, though, had some great encouragement. My best friend (Carolyn), my mother-in-law, my mama, and my youngest daughter (Tori) have praised my work, have listened to me during the writing process, and have let me know they believe in me. That is my cheer leading team.

What are you reading now?
a bunch of text books for my current online class assignments in managerial finance for public administration.
All I know is the ones who have picked apart my book and me for my choices in characters and plot need to be forced to read these text books. They might appreciate my work then.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I hope to get this book noticed. I would love to have it become a lifetime movie lol. And I am currently working on developing it into a series. I am also working on a children’s series from an idea I had about 10 years ago.

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. Bible (not being cliche’; I’m serious)
2. THIS PRESENT DARKNESS by Frank Peretti
3. PIERCING THE DARKNESS by Frank Peretti
4. THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE by CS Lewis

Author Websites and Profiles
Denise Knight Website

Denise Knight’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 first-time, self-published writer who has a passion for good fantasy and science fiction stories. I just self-published my first novel, Between Two Minds: Awakening, on September 1, 2017. During the day, I’m a certified scrum product owner for a large software company, and I help to drive the development of their flagship product. My other hobbies include playing the digital CCG Hearthstone and mixing original music pieces from music samples.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Between Two Minds: Awakening was the culmination of various aspects of my life. I was working as a data migration specialist when I had a series of unfortunate events occurred. To help get through the tough times, I thought about a fictionalization of my life but in a science fiction universe that was similar to our own but in the not-too-distance future with interesting possibilities.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Nothing too unusual, but some days I write can only write 100 words while others I can pump out 5,000.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m probably odd in that I’m a casual reader, and I often don’t finish titles. I base my writing more on life and movies than other books. However, I’m a big fan of dystopian books like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451.

What are you working on now?
The sequel to Between Two Minds: Awakening.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
https://www.facebook.com/dcwrighthammer/

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t try to get it right the first time. Write, write, write, write, and write. Once you have a fairly complete story, go back and make it all work.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My editor quoted Steven King, “Kill your darlings.” I tend to write compelling side stories within my chapters that are really fascinating (think Tarantino-esque). The problem was that they tended to not be related to the plot in any way. These darling stories can end up taking away from the overall book, so they either need to serve a bigger purpose or they need to be killed (pardon the expression).

What are you reading now?
I haven’t found time to do anything outside of my full-time job, care for my family, and write – so nothing right now.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Beyond the sequel to my debut novel, I have two other full length novels and a novella in mind.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Probably the Game of Thrones series. I’ve watched the show, but I know the books are better.

Author Websites and Profiles
D C Wright-Hammer Website
D C Wright-Hammer Amazon Profile

D C Wright-Hammer’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is David E. Hancox. I grew up in the hills of the Smokey Mountains in East Tennessee. My Great Grandfather was born R.A. Hancock. As an adult he rode his horse from East Tennessee to Nashville and changed the spelling of his last name to Hancox. Everyone says it was because he disagreed with his brother about politics. Some family members claim to have traced our family back to John Hancock. The family tree says he is a distant uncle of mine. However, I have never found any concrete records to prove that fact.
I began writing poetry in middle school. Soon after is when I discovered my love for writing stories. I was an above average student, but often preferred fun over school work. After High School I went to work for a friend’s dad at a tool outlet store in Pigeon Forge, TN. That job would eventually bring me down to the Gulf Coast. Eleven years ago I left the valley and headed for the beach. I have been working and raising a family with my wife Baylen for most of that time. We met shortly after I moved to South Alabama. She has grown up in the area, so to be with her I made this place my home. I have worked in the IT field for ten years now. We live in Foley, AL and have three kids. Two boys (Luke 9 & Jameson 6) and a little girl (Paisley 3). My wife and kids are the most important people in my life. Everything I do, every day of my life, is for them. They are my inspiration and my motivation.
My wife challenged me to write my first novel. She is a big Nicholas Sparks fan and I often ran my mouth about how I could write a better story. She finally told me to put up or shut up. So after a few months of hard work I completed my first novel, Leaving Standing Still. My wife was now a fan of my novel as well. I went the route of self publishing and like most it did not take me far. So I focused on my career and taking care of the family I have created.
After a longer break than I had planned, my wife finally challenged me again. She was ready for a new story to read. The Words I Should Have Said was originally a poem I wrote in High School. Using the story it tells I outlined my book and began writing. Knowing that I had completed a full novel once before made the task of writing another not seem as impossible. The ease in which I was able to write and the enjoyment I had in crafting this story only reassured me that this is truly the career I want. If it takes me two books or ten books, I will keep writing until I am successful. Once I reach that point, I will sit down and write ten more

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, The Words I Should Have Said, was based on a poem by the same name that I wrote my senior year of High School.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do most of my writing late at night once the kids have gone to sleep. With three kids it is the only time my house is quiet.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Nicholas Sparks has been a large influence on my work. My wife has always been a big fan of his work. So when I started to write I tried to write something she would like. That meant creating stories in the same genre as Nicholas Sparks.

What are you working on now?
I have not yet started my next project, but I am always thinking about what to write.

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never stop writing. The more content you have out, the more readers you will get.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The same advice that I would give to new authors. Never stop writing.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I plan to start writing my next book around the start of 2018.

Author Websites and Profiles
D.E. Hancox Website
D.E. Hancox Amazon Profile

D.E. Hancox’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m of Nigerian origin and I write motivational books. Im passionate about motivation because many young people in this part of the world need it to break free out of struggles.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Your Talent and Your Destiny. I was inspired to write it because many youths are struggling to discover who they really are. This book will Unearth the hidden treasure inside of them!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write everyday, anytime, anywhere, on my PC, on my phone, with a pen and just using any other thing possible.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Myles Munroe, Mike Murdock, Mensah Otabil.

What are you working on now?
A new book titled Unleashing the Star In You!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Frankly I haven’t found any very trusted one. I hope I can trust your site after this experience.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never get discouraged because the journey to stardom as a writer is a long one trust me.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Twenty children cannot play together for twenty years -Faith Oyedepo. Therefore, get serious or risk being left behind.

What are you reading now?
Make today count by John C. Maxwell

What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep writing and motivating

Author Websites and Profiles
Isaac John Akagu Website
Isaac John Akagu Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
For 13 years I ran a behavioral management firm working with some of the largest organizations in the world. Then I discovered that my own relationship with my middle daughter wasn’t as great as I thought. I wondered if I was the only father this clueless about his relationship with his daughters. So I set out to interview other dads with daughters.

What I discovered was more profound than I could ever have imagined. This book takes you on this journey with me, into a world of joys and sadness that are too often misunderstood.

At first, I wasn’t planning on writing a book. But the interviews were too profound and I knew I needed to share them.

I was floored at all the people, mostly women, who talked about how the book changed their life, or was at least, a powerful influence. After 3 years of being interviewed and getting feedback and discussions about the book and father-daughter relationships,, I created this 2nd edition, which people seem to be raving about. It begins with revelation about a quirk in a man’s brain that is responsible for sabotaging relationships (are men brain damaged at birth), and goes on to explore the rarely-mentioned profound impact of fathers and daughters on each other.

I even explore famous dads and daughters, from Winston Churchill to Martin Luther Kink Jr. to Mark Twain, Paul McCartney to U.S. Presidents Trump and Obama, Supreme Court Justices to CEOs and more. Once you start looking, the influence of fathers and daughters is hard to miss.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book is, The Secret Life of Fathers (2nd Edition). When my middle daughter Lauren was 22, I learned about something terrible that happened to her when she was 6 years old… how she was thrown naked onto a baseball field and humiliated in front of our whole neighborhood. I was distressed and became overwhelmed with sadness and shame, that I had not been there for my baby. I sent her an email, saying I was ashamed that I had not been there for her, and wondered what else had happened to her growing up that I was not there for. I said I felt like a terrible father, that my career and her silence growing up meant I had never really gotten to know her.

She sent me a reply email. It simply said, “I’ve been waiting my whole life to hear this.”

Sobbing, I wondered what went wrong. How could I be so clueless about my relationship with my daughter. So I started talking to other fathers of daughters, to try and figure out what went wrong, and how I could be a better father. These interviews turned into a marathon, with more than 100 recorded, deeply intimate, 2-hour interviews with fathers of daughters.

These interviews became the basis for the book, and The Father-Daughter Project, which i founded to help improve the relationships between fathers and daughters worldwide.

I am deeply humbled by this work, and all the lives it’s touched.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Hahaha… unusual writing habits? Not really.

I do like reading my work out loud to others. That really helps. I was in a writers’ group for a while, where we read our new pages out loud to each other. After I got past my initial embarrassment, it was a really great exercise. Somehow, hearing the voice in your head is quite different from having you speak the words aloud to others, and getting feedback.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
How to Win Friends and Influence People was fabulous, especially because it wasn’t preachy, but instead, told stories to make its point.

I also loved Psycho-Cybernetics, where plastic surgeon Maxwell Maltz discovered that plastic surgery didn’t fix a person’s feelings of ugliness, because “ugliness” is in the mind. This was powerful to me, even life-changing — how much of our self-perception is inside our own head, andf that we could change it.

I don’t mean this as self-serving but, my own book has also influenced me. Actually, it’s the interviews. I learned so much about myself, about men and what they/we are going through. That quote – “Men live lives of quiet desperation…” I got that feeling from many of the dads. But I also got joy and excitement, like a door opening, where I suddenly started understanding something profound about myself, how I had been screwing up, especially with my daughters.

But don’t get me wrong. I ain’t perfect! Not by a long shot. But the journey’s been great, and the privilege of doing this work… wow!

What are you working on now?
Mostly promoting my book, The Secret Life of Fathers (2nd Edition).

I have two books in the wings. The Definition of Insanity, based on mind-blowing true events that few people are aware of. It should raise the hairs on the back of everyone’s neck at how something so incredibly awful could happen. And another, a screenplay called Insecticide, about prejudice from something completely unexpected…

But for now, it’s all about fathers and daughters.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Radio interviews have been great. Awesome actually! I’ll probably start doing TV and that will also probably be great too. I love the instant feedback, from the host or hosts, and even from the audience.

It was on a radio show that the host screamed out, “That explains so much! I always knew men were brain damaged!” This was her response to something physiological that happens to boys in the womb. Her response was so amazingly funny, I shared it on other interviews and it got so much traction, it became one of my themes for the book. That’s something you get from being live in front of real people, instead of sitting, staring at a computer screen.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Do what you love. Follow your passion. Listen to that inner voice, The Holy Ghost, or whatever you want to call it. There’s a voice inside you, telling you deep down, where your passion is. Let that guide you as an author. If it fascinates and excites you, it will excite others. And even if it doesn’t, you will feel fulfilled!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Michael Crichton. He woke up early EVERY day and wrote for one hour. If he was on a roll, he’d write for longer. If not, after an hour, he’d stop. With 1 hour-a-day he became one of the most prolific and successful writers of our time. Go Jurassic Park!!!

If he could do it with one-hour-a-day (especially mornings, when our mind is freshest), any of us can!!!

What are you reading now?
Hahaha… What am I reading now? The questions in this interview…

An Incomplete Education; Essential Philosophy; Ted Talks – The Official Guide to Public Speaking; I loved the Steve Jobs Book.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Promoting the book mostly.

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?
Philosophy – an Illustrated History of Thought; American Proverbs; The 2548 Best Things Anybody Ever Said; The Small Big – Small Changes That Spark Big Influence; Predictably Irrational; Design of Dissent (graphics that moved people to change the world).

I’d probably also want a book of How-To-Escape-A Deserted Island book — lol

Author Websites and Profiles
James I. Bond Website
James I. Bond Amazon Profile
James I. Bond Author Profile on Smashwords

James I. Bond’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing all my life, but mostly for news/entertainment websites and blogs. Some pretty heavy stuff happened in my life a few years ago, and I needed to deal with it somehow. I guess writing a book about all the crazy shit that happened to me was my way of coping with it.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Bad Choices Make Good Stories. It’s hard to classify. Technically it’s a memoir, but if you didn’t know it was a true story, you might as well consider it a coming of age novel, or a contemporary romance, or even a romantic comedy, I guess. What can I say, my life has been pretty absurd.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m a procrastinator with a touch of OCD. I don’t do things until the last minute, but then, when I finally tackle a new project, I have a laser-like focus. I think about nothing else, from morning until night, until it’s finished. I can’t sleep at night because I’m writing half a book in my head, and I often get up at 2 am to write it down, before I forget half of it by morning. Sometimes I don’t leave the house for days, and forget to eat all day, because I’m so focused.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Growing up, I used to love reading Stephen King, Dean Koontz, David Morrell, Dave Barry and Peter Straub. I guess out of those, Stephen King has been most influential to me. But I think

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a sequel to Bad Choices Make Good Stories. This one has the tag line “The Heroin Scene in Fort Myers.”

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve been pretty successful promoting my books on Facebook. My personal page has over 12,000 fans: https://www.facebook.com/oliver.markus.malloy/

And the page about Bad Choices Make Good Stories has over 22,000 fans:
https://www.facebook.com/badchoices.us

I’m always looking for link exchanges, so if anyone would like to swap links, hit me up!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
The secret to good writing is to use small words for big ideas, not to use big words for small ideas.

Albert Einstein once said: “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” and “If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.”

I think effective communication is all about the art of expressing complex thoughts in simple language that anyone can understand.

I hate it when people who have absolutely nothing original or thought-provoking to say, try to use big words to sound smart, and then write a bunch of trivial garbage, while hiding behind a facade of high falootin’ vocabulary.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
-Plato

What are you reading now?
To be honest, I haven’t read a book in years. I think my attention span is getting shorter as I get older. I just end up reading articles on news websites before I go to sleep. The last book I read was The Perks of Being a Wall Flower. I loved it. I guess I relate to damaged outsiders and flawed heroes.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I moved to Los Angeles a few months ago. Why not make the most of my location and try to get a movie deal for my book. Hey, I can dream, right?

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?
Hmm… I think the Lord of The Rings trilogy would keep me entertained for a while. I was still in high school the last time I read it. Running Man, for sentimental reasons. It was the very first book I ever read by Stephen King. America, by Jon Stewart. He’s gotten me through some dark times during the Bush presidency. And the phone book, so I could call every random stranger in there and ask them to rescue me off the island. (You didn’t say I can’t take my cell phone with me on the island.)

Author Websites and Profiles
Oliver Markus Malloy Website
Oliver Markus Malloy Amazon Profile
Oliver Markus Malloy Author Profile on Smashwords

Oliver Markus Malloy’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have written 5 books, so far.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“The Guardians of Xegarath,” is my latest ebook, and it was isnpired after my near successful suicide attempt back in 2012.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not that I am aware of!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
J.K. Rowling and, A.V.I, and J.R.R. Tolkien were huge impacts on me.

What are you working on now?
I am currently in the works of a 400k word poem which I plan to finish this year.

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?
Never give up, and don’t fall for vanity presses.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
NEVER GIVE UP!

What are you reading now?
Currently, I am reading the Warcraft novels.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To finish me 400k word poem

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 Hobbit, Harry Potter, and Fever 1793

jordan zuniga’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
With or Without Pulp is my first published book. I have written a number of screenplays, Vinegar to the teeth, And Now For My Next Trick, Devil’s Ink, The Language of Leaves that have placed well in various screenwriting contests.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
With or Without Pulp is my first and latest book. It was inspired by the time I lived in West Hollywood.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to walk a lot when thinking through a story.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
James Cain, Dashiell Hammett, Mickey Spillane are all the crime and noir influences. I like Jerzy Kosinski, Anthony Burgess and Paul Auster on the more literary side.
For poetry, Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath and John Ashberry.

What are you working on now?
I am working on a novel about two young men rescuing a young girl from a cult.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am not sure how to answer this since I just started. As it solidifies I would certainly update this answer.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. And silence the inner critic.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Feed your artist and write three pages a day from Julia Cameron. I took a screenwriting class with her years ago and her approach to writing balanced the discipline and the creative.

What are you reading now?
I can’t give the title away but it’s by Joseph Coulson a fellow writer who wrote The Vanishing Moon. It is his latest book and he was kind enough to let me read it.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I will most likely turn Without or Without Pulp and continue with John Smith on his journey to redemption. I also want to finish the current novel I am working on because I think it touches on a lot of that overblown masculinity and fanatical passion for purity that has warped the current state of the States.

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?
Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess
Notes on the Cinematographer by Robert Bresson
Writing Degree Zero by Roland Barthes

Author Websites and Profiles
Michael Elsy Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in Canada and now live in Vermont with my husband and Jack Russell, Ike. We have a boat so in the summer I enjoy being on our beautiful lake, hanging with friends, swimming, paddleboarding, and concocting new adult beverages. The winter is more about being a homebody and also when I get really creative, holiday decorating, cooking, DIY, etc. I have also recently joined the yoga craze, although, I admit, I am an avid American Ninja Warrior watcher, and if I was younger I would definitely be building ninja obstacles in my back yard.

I have been a closet writer most of my life, but The Scrying is my first published novel and the first in the fantasy trilogy.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Scrying, is the first in a trilogy and a very personal endeavor for me. It was an accumulation of a lot of hard work, soul searching, and a determination to fulfill a promise. The story and characters, although fictional, represent strong females, of which I have many in my life, a strength and determination to overcome unsurmountable odds, personal sacrifice, and the power of destiny. It was inspired by many different things but the base foundation for the story was that I wanted to represent the power of the female bond, portray strong, self-reliant characters, and create an entertaining world where readers could escape.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
The writing process for me is very habitual. When an idea comes I start an outline, a rough version of plot, context, characters, settings, basically getting down the ideas before I forget them. These outlines linger in a manuscript folder until I decide what I want to develop.

During the development stage, I storyboard. I am visual reader and writer and I like to ‘see’ the characters, settings, etc. Storyboarding really helps in developing character profiles and world building. Once I feel comfortable that I have a story I am passionate about and the foundations of it are developed, then I begin to write, and this is where the detailed organization goes out the window. I am a free writer and write different parts of the story at different times, not always in sequence to the storyline.

As far as my writing environment, I do not like distractions when I write. No music, TV, or background noise. I write in my home office and usually the only sound that I hear is my dog snoring under my desk. Perfect!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have to say the biggest influence was Oscar Wilde and his novel the Picture of Dorian Gray. It was to say the least, brilliant. Tolkien, King, Rowling are all big influences as well. In high school I was obsessed with the horror genre, Dean Koontz, John Saul, and Richard Laymon were my favorites and each was so good at establishing a creepy and enthralling atmosphere.

What are you working on now?
Currently, I am working on two books simultaneously. The Hallowed, the second in The Scrying Trilogy and a standalone paranormal fantasy. I have about fifteen other manuscript outlines, all at various stages of development, which of those will actually evolve into published works is yet to be determined.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am new to publishing so currently promoting is one big learning curve. I have joined a few goodreads indie groups which have been very informative with respect to social media promotions, book promotion websites, and overall information and helpful tips. Currently, most of my promotions are trial and error to see what works, hopefully I can come up with a more streamlined plan of promotion as I publish more books and gain more promotional experience.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Do not try to be the next…..because you never will be. I hate when I get asked to compare myself to another author or asked who I write like. I write like me, and the only person I compare myself to is the writer I was yesterday. As a writer we are individuals and our works are subjective. Not everyone is going to like what you write and not every book is going to be a bestseller. Write because you are passionate about it, publish it because you are proud of it. Don’t try to be the next Rowling, Meyer, or Roth – just be you.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“You fail, only if you stop writing.” – Ray Bradbury

What are you reading now?
Currently I am reading the third book in the ‘Ketty Jay’ series by Chris Wooding. A steampunk, sci-fi, sky pirates adventure. I am totally hooked on the series and am enjoying immensely the adventures of Captain Darian Frey and his ragtag crew. The books are both exciting and humorous and a great way to escape from reality for a bit.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish the trilogy, that is my first priority but also to develop other manuscripts and create a larger catalogue of works that I am proud of. I also want to evolve as a writer, honing my craft, and developing my writing without losing my specific style and voice. I think it is important to always be a better writer than the one you were yesterday.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Definitely books that take me to another place or are though-provoking, the Harry Potter series, anything by Dickens, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, and a volleyball. If you are going to be stranded on a desert island everyone needs a Wilson!

Author Websites and Profiles
Jaci Miller Website
Jaci Miller Amazon Profile

Jaci Miller’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Marissa Marchan, and I am a Child Support case manager by day and a creative writer by night. I have written a total of ten books including two children’s books: A Boy Named Ray, and, And Then There’s Haley, and two contemporary romance: My Amnesia Girl, and My Runaway Bride. Four more novels in the series are in the works.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest work, Mrs. Millionaire Short Story Book Series contain five stories, and fifteen more titles are in the works.
Mrs. Millionaire and the Homeless Woman Book 1
Mrs. Millionaire and the Bad Father Book 2
Mrs. Millionaire and the Waitress Book 3
Mrs. Millionaire and the Runaway Kids Book 4
Mrs. Millionaire and the Delivery Girl Book 5

The idea for Mrs. Millionaire character came to me while in bed, sleeping. Within weeks, I finished writing four stories in the series. I was so inspired I even created the book cover for each story.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Since I have a day job, I have to schedule it. I write at night—in the dark. I know a lot of people would think I’m insane because after a long day at work, who has the energy to do anything let alone get ideas for your story? So far it works well for me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have to say Jennifer Crusie because of her book, Maybe This Time, was the first romance novel I’ve read and it inspired me to write my very first romance novel. I love her writing style. From then on, I continued writing.

What are you working on now?
I just finished writing Mrs. Millionaire Short Story Book Series Volume I. It contains five stories. Each completely stands on its own, without a cliffhanger. It tells the stories of different characters suffering personal crises whose lives intertwine with Tilly at various points and tie together into one big surprise ending.

It still has to go through proofreading and editing, but I finished writing Volume II.
Mrs. Millionaire and the Thief
Mrs. Millionaire and the Maid
Mrs. Millionaire and the Reluctant Hero
Mrs. Millionaire and the Elevator Man
Mrs. Millionaire and the Taxi Driver

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I joined about 30 book groups on Facebook. I also have twitter account, LinkedIn, Goodreads, and my own website. I only signed up to what I can manage. I still need some time to write.I just recently discovered Author Marketing Club, that’s where I found your site and found it to be exploding with ideas on book promotion and other things. I plan to be a member.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
As I am also an aspiring author and still learning the ropes in publishing my work through self-publishing, don’t let rejection bring you down. Keep writing and don’t give up. Take every piece of advice going, and never think it doesn’t apply to you.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To write a good story, you have to get inspired, develop your content, and then revise your work until you’ve written the best story you can write.

What are you reading now?
Whenever I want to recharge, I always go back to my favorite book: Hans Christensen. It always put a smile on my face. I never get tired of reading it.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am so excited with the character and story development of Mrs. Millionaire. Writing it transport me inside the pages and feel like I’m part of the story. I just finished the next five stories, and I have ten more to go. I think I will be busy for a while.

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?
Hans Christensen hands down.

Author Websites and Profiles
Marissa Marchan Website
Marissa Marchan Amazon Profile

Marissa Marchan’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in the middle of rural Suffolk, UK, and am owned by a slinky black cat who’s far too clever for her own good.
In my spare time, I’m an amateur historian/archaeologist, and in non-work daylight hours am usually out on a field somewhere with a metal detector and/or a trowel. I’ve added quite a few things to the Heritage England Record and the Portable Antiquities Scheme; but what really fascinates me is the stories behind the artefacts.
My first historical novel, Sheriff and Priest, is about the story of a local boy made good – Wimer the Chaplain was born in Dodnash in Suffolk of a poor Saxon family, but made it to be a confidant of Henry ll, holding down the job of High Sheriff for all Norfolk and Suffolk. Then he gave it all up and came home to found a Priory… finding the original site of that Priory (not where it’s shown on the map) is still one of my proudest discoveries.

I also have a series of short stories about Henry Baker, a boy who finds a magic pencil on the way to school – I have no idea where these come from, but I enjoy writing them

I self-publish as a rule, but I’ve also had a couple of short stories published as part of anthologies; a steampunk story set in the time of King John in an anthology called Dangerous Magic, and a Bronze Age story in the 2017 anthology of the Historical Novel Society’s winners and runners-up from the last couple of years’ competitions. Alas, mine was a runner-up – but I’m delighted to be appearing in such august company!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Sheriff and Priest. I metal detect; one day I was gently waving my detector over a mildly bumpy bit of meadow, and nearly blew my head off, the signal was so strong. I got the local archaeological unit out to dig it, and it turned out I’d discovered a lost Priory. Many, many hours of research in the local Records Office later, and I realised that not only had I discovered the physical remains, but that the bare bones of the man who’d built it were fairly well documented – and it was a really interesting career. Not least because he’d resigned from the 3rd richest job in England, at the height of his career, to come home to the tiny little village he was born in, and found a Priory. Why? And why did the King’s mistress give him the land? There had to be a story in there…

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have been known to flesh out a scene by dictating it whilst I’m metal detecting. It seems to work particularly well for dialogue – but I do have quite a lot of bits where there’s a BEEP! and I go quiet for a while!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
This would be an awfully long list – like most authors, I’m a voracious reader. I love China Mieville for the fabulously gritty details of his descriptive passages; for Neil Gaiman, for the wonderful simplicity and humanity in his stories; for Hilary Mantel, for making me wish I didn’t know how the ending pans out.

What are you working on now?
Right now I’m about 1/3rd of the way through the follow-up novel, tentatively titled Jean the Scholar. The history bones of it revolve around the 30-year legal dispute around some land that Wimer’s uncle left him, but which his nephew tried to grab and hold on to. Wimer’s adopted son Jean takes on the might of the 13th Century establishment, to stop them killing the Priory that Wimer built. He also discovers along the way that he wasn’t meant for a vow of celibacy…

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Reviews! Reviews, reviews, and more reviews…

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If life is problematic, write for just 10 minutes a day, if that’s all you can do; but write every day. Finish the book. Forget about it for several months, whilst you read books on the craft of writing. Open the file again and resist the urge to delete everything; the first draft is when you create the clay. Now you get to be a potter, and shape it the way you meant to the first time, but didn’t have the skill.
Pay for an editor – copy and content. They will help enormously.
It’s probably going to take you half a dozen editing passes. Seriously. Don’t send it out into the world half-formed.
When you’re done – set it free. Send it to agents, publishers; keep a log of who’s had it and when.
Start the next book.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Finishers are the only authors who get read.

What are you reading now?
My TBR pile is embarrassing… right now, open beside me is Martin Allen’s Mints and Money in Mediaeval England, Mark Woolmer’s The Phoenicians, and a trashy magazine! On my bedside table is Oliver Rackham’s Trees. My kindle has half-a-dozen novels queuing.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have about 8 novel ideas that I’d like to move onto. I think the one shouting loudest is to take the Bronze Age story, about a girl just transitioning into adulthood and becoming a warrior, and develop that.
I also need to write two more in the children’s stories series I have, and bundle them into a better-presented package than they’re in at the moment.

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 Silmarillion. Tolkein distilled so much scholarship into that, that it would bear fruit for a long time!
A very old SF book called A Canticle for Liebowicz. It makes me cry every time I read it – and I’d like to look at it with a writer’s eye and find out why that is.
And for sheer pleasure – a collection of my favourite poems. And I’d like to choose ’em, please

Author Websites and Profiles
Nicky Moxey Website
Nicky Moxey Amazon Profile

Nicky Moxey’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

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

Thought I’d go international with my opening but realised its the only French I know and now I feel more Del Boy that David Ginola

So far I’ve written on book and I also blog in my spare time at randomcloudblog.wordpress.com and project 2 is underway taking on the lollypop squad.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Little Black Cloud – which basically sums up my battle with the gremlins and charts my recovery from self harming in the church toilets to breakdown, with the really focus being on the path to wellness and eventual recovery, despite how painfully slow and tedious it maybe.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Due to the school runs I find I usually myself writing during nap times but I find random things often come to me at night, usually after half an hour tossing and turning trying to get to sleep and then boom – off my brain goes on a tangent all of its own accord, to the point my bedside dresser resembles a pin board/waste paper basket.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love John Connolly, Stephen King, Joe Hill, Marian Keyes, Justin Cronin to name a few.

I really love The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson, a tale about reincarnation and the redemptive power of love. I read it at the time my dad was going through chemo and I really found comfort in the thought that no matter what happens, love is a bridge and we can always find our way back. I also love the Passage trilogy, When a Monster Calls and Every Dead Thing.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a another project all to do with body positivity and taking on the ridiculous beauty standards set by the media mainstream.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You can’t put an old head on young shoulders.

What are you reading now?
The Break by Marian Keyes.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m about to join the blogging team at Huffington Post UK.

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?
Every Dead Thing
NOS4R2
The Gargoyle
The Passage

And a copious amount of Bacardi!

Author Websites and Profiles
Tracey Wright Website

Tracey Wright’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I won awards for my writing in high school and university — then I realized that life is serious, I got married, had kids, and became a college prof. When my second college textbook on Ethics was published by Pearson/Prentice Hall, I finally realized that what I really wanted to do was write fiction! So I quit my job and wrote. I currently have 4 published fiction books– a short story collection titled “Connections”; a science fiction novel titled “Walls of Wind”; and two award-winning young adult novels titled “The Occasional Diamond Thief” and “The Salarian Desert Game”. My forthcoming novel, “The Sorrow Stone”, will be my first historical fiction novel, although I have another HF novel with my agent and a third in the writing stage.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Sorrow Stone is coming out in October 2017. Years ago I was at a talk by a midwife who mentioned finding in her research an old superstition that a woman grieving the loss of her child could alleviate her sorrow by selling a nail from the child’s coffin to a traveling peddler; this was called “selling your sorrow”. The idea captured me immediately, but it was years before the novel in its final form was finished.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I need absolute silence to write, and I am a night-owl, so my best writing time is between midnight and 3:00 am. Sometimes I’ve felt embarrassed when people catch me sleeping in until 11:00 am, but I was excited this summer to visit the Dostoyevski museum in Saint Petersburg and learn that this author whom I have long admired, also needed silence to write and therefore wrote from midnight till 4:00 am. when his wife and children were asleep. I feel vindicated!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Feydor Dostoyevski (The Idiot), Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness), Shakespeare, Chaim Potok, C. S. Lewis (The Narnia books), Anne McCaffrey, O.S. Card (Ender’s Game), Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games), to name a few. I could really go on and on…

What are you working on now?
My third Historical fiction novel. I find Europe in the 12th Century a fascination period of history. You couldn’t make up anything to match the real stories that happened in those times. Great to read (and write) about — awful to live through!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve learned a lot from people like Mark Dawson, Nick Stephenson, Dereck Murphy. I think the most useful online marketing for me has been teaming up with other authors in joint promotions, but I really love speaking at writers’ conventions and offering writing workshops, although really, neither of those are cost-effective marketing. But people helped me when I was starting, and I like to pass on that help to emerging writers.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t send off (or self-publish) your book until it’s as good as you can make it — find people who will ruthlessly critique your first 3-4 drafts.
Learn everything you can about writing — both the craft of writing and the business and marketing side of it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Some people begin as really great storytellers – and they have to learn to write well.
Some people begin with a beautiful writing technique – and they have to learn to tell a good story and tell it well.
Until you can do both, you’re not a writer.

What are you reading now?
Check me out on GoodReads to find all my reading.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am half-way through the second Historical Fiction novel in a trilogy, with the final book waiting, and I have another science fiction novel that I’ve sketched out and want to write when this historical trilogy is completed.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Lined blank paper – thousands and thousands of pages of it, and a ton of pens (and pencils for when they all run out of ink). But really, I’d insist that the island have internet access, if nothing else, and bring my laptop to write on.

Author Websites and Profiles
J. A. (Jane Ann) McLachlan Website
J. A. (Jane Ann) McLachlan Amazon Profile

J. A. (Jane Ann) McLachlan’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

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

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
One Red Sock was written around an idea I had for a particular scene, Once I figured out how to get the characters to that scene the rest fell in to place and the characters told the rest of the story for me.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Being an artist most of my life, I like to storyboard and draw out some of the scenes. I try not to write out the whole story though and let the characters dictate how it flows and not force things the way I want them initially.

What authors, or books have influenced you?

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on another supernatural suspense story and a children’s book in between when I need a break and want to do some drawing. I have plans for several more books and am working on my writing nightly.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have not discovered this yet and look forward to the adventure

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be fearful to chase your dreams. You will hear many times how there are so many people that want to do what you are trying and it will be tough. Don’t let that discourage you or stop you. Just feel good about completing it. I would guess most people never even get that far. Then try to keep improving and focus on completing the next one. Whether you succeed or fail shouldn’t drive you or how many books you sell. Just follow your passions in life and enjoy your moments of tranquility when you lose yourself in your story and your characters. If others feel the same way and enjoy it, you might succeed financially eventually. But know you have already succeeded just by completing it and feel proud of yourself. You can’t catch a dream if you never chase it.

Brion Thomas Kelly’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Giuseppe Prota and I’m a self-development enthusiast.
I just released my first book, Do Work You Love: How to Find Your Passion and Build Long-Term Self Motivation.

Since I was a teenager I’ve always been curious to understand how happiness works. After moving from Italy to Belgium to complete my studies, I started working as a Supply chain professional.
In the meanwhile I’ve kept researching and introspecting to improve my personal happiness, focusing on my Life purpose discovery.

In fact, I’ve always dreamed to align my passion with my career or business.

Having struggled with it myself, I gradually developed a passion for helping people find work that matters to them while discovering and using their full potential.
This is why in August 2017 I started Design Your Passion as a way to share my knowledge about the topic.

I love educating and inspiring people to expand their consciousness and live the life of their dreams in practical ways.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book is called Do Work You Love: How to Find Your Passion and Build Long-Term Self Motivation

Every day I look around, starting from my family, friends, colleagues, and see that people are just reacting to life. They’re not CREATING their life. This is what was happening to me before realizing that something big was missing in my life. I’ve always dreamed to have a job aligned with my passion, a work that I could love. So I started researching, following several mentors, reading books, doing exercises…all in order to find my Life purpose, that is: the most important thing I could be doing on this planet.
I hear too often that “work is not something you’re supposed to enjoy, it’s just work”. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to write this book.
Specifically, I wrote this book to help you find the work that matters for you. I’m not talking about spiritual or abstract things: I’m talking about work. The work, the art that you can create to have a great impact on the world.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not yet

What are you working on now?
I’m working on my website, social media and blog. Also, I want to translate my book in Italian and French, as well as create a paperback and audio version.
Next, I will transform the book content into a video course.

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep writing daily if possible, to develop a habit and love for writing. Write what people WANTS to read (not what they need to read) but don’t forget your true passion. In other words, find a balance.
Also, believe in yourself and commit yourself to mastery, which requires patience and a lot of practice. Stay away from whoever tells you that success comes easily and quickly.
Finally, focus on the one thing and do it. Don’t get distracted by all other things you could be doing with your business. Focus on becoming a master at writing if that’s what you’re passionate about.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Focus on the one thing and do it. Don’t get distracted by all other things you could be doing with your business. Focus on becoming a master at writing if that’s what you’re passionate about.

What are you reading now?
The purple cow

What’s next for you as a writer?
Become better and better at writing + find ways to get to know my audience

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?
Mastery (George Leonard)
The four agreements (Don Miguel Ruiz)
The ONE thing (Gary Keller)

Author Websites and Profiles
Giuseppe Prota Website
Giuseppe Prota Amazon Profile

Giuseppe Prota’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in the UK with my partner and daughter, and have never fitted into the kinds of slots most people comfortably fall into. Much of my life has been spent working with computers, but I am moving away from this in my journey towards writing. I have just finished my first book, although I have started writing countless other times at various points in my life.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Advertise This! is my first book. The inspiration for it was largely due to coming to a realization about the real industry behind mobile apps and games. The insights I have arrived at paint a very different picture of the digital world than the widely held view. My aim is to help end users understand what they are actually engaging with when using mobile apps, and it might just encourage aspiring developers to look towards other, more fulfilling aspirations.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I probably do, but everything I do seems perfectly normal to me!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
This is a difficult one to pin down. I have read a wide range of books from an equally wide range of authors. For entertainment, I love trashy thrillers, so typical mainstream books that are kind of like reading a movie. For expanding my knowledge of the world, and the human condition, I have always maintained a soft spot for conspiracy theories. I don’t necessarily accept much of what I read on this front, but find the process of how someone comes to believe something endlessly fascinating.

What are you working on now?
Following on from my previous answer, I am currently looking into how people form beliefs, and am digging into whatever evidence exists to confirm or deny various fundamental facts about life, and the world in general, facts that we take for granted or believe are so obvious as to require no questioning or investigation.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Still getting to grips with this!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
The best way to learn is by doing. The only way you’ll get anywhere is by actually doing it, and following the process right through to the end.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
That everyone has an equally valid right to their own view of the world.

What are you reading now?
Virgil – The Aeneid

What’s next for you as a writer?
As long I I don’t get ripped to shreds by the ever so kind online community, I’ll be bringing my research into fundamental beliefs together into a book. There again, even if I do get ripped to shreds, I’ll still finish the book I’m working on.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Lord of the Rings Trilogy – it’s long and quite a good escape into fantasy. Weaveworld by Clive Barker. Loved it when I was a teenager, and it is nice and long also. I would also take an empty notebook and some pens and pencils, because creating your own work is always more engaging than simply reading someone else’s.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kevin Kendall Website
Kevin Kendall Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been a missionary, a mystery shopper, and a youth leader. I’ve worked as a Health Care Assistant, have crewed on a North Sea helicopter, and been taken at gunpoint from my home and threatened by corrupt police officers in a language I didn’t understand.

I’m a Scottish author who lived in York, England—the setting for my latest novel: Fallen Warriors—for ten years.

I’ve been writing since I was Eight and worked on and off to complete Fallen Warriors for ten years. I’m the author of The Great Scottish Land Grab, a contemporary political tale of one man’s fight to reverse the Highland Clearances and transform Scotland, first published in 2014. I’ve also published two short stories: Dragon Lake and The day we all finally had enough.

I’m married with three children, and now work as an IT Consultant in Scotland, developing applications for businesses, databases and reports.

I’m passionate about goals and a few years ago accepted a challenge to write down 100 goals. To date I still haven’t stood on a new planet or learned to fly, but there must still be time…

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Fallen Warriors is my latest novel. It came from two ideas I had ten years apart. I was sitting in a traffic jam in York when I saw hooded children weaving in and out of traffic on their bikes. I had an idea for a terrorist attack using traffic to seal off a city. Quite frankly, the idea scared me and I shelved it until I was in a church service ten years later and had an idea for a story about ordinary people suddenly finding they had the ability to work miracles. I combined the two ideas and Fallen Warriors was born.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I dance to music while I’m writing sometimes… I hope no-one’s ever filmed me!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Bible has been a huge influence: the gritty, no attempt to cover anything up, in your face descriptions of events; the weakness and human failing laid bare; the astounding descriptions of miracles that are told matter of fact.

I read a lot of science fiction as a child which I think first inspired me to want to create my own worlds. As I got older I got into Tom Clancy and loved his complex plots. George RR Martin has taken his place and both have been a big influence on the type of character driven plot I’m now writing.

What are you working on now?
I’m writing the sequel to Fallen Warriors and beginning to plot out the third book which will give readers a full trilogy.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Face to face. Since I published Land Grab, I’ve printed up business cards with my book cover on them and have handed them out. I’ve seen consistent sales by doing that.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. Finish your first book. Ask other people to read it. Be willing to accept criticism. Keep writing, keep learning, keep reading.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Seek wisdom.

What are you reading now?
In His Steps by Charles M Sheldon

What’s next for you as a writer?
Push on to publish my first sequel and then I would also like to branch out to publish a couple of non-fiction books I’ve been working on.

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?
SAS Survival Handbook
Robinson Crusoe
Swiss Family Robinson
The Bible

Author Websites and Profiles
Mark Anderson Smith Website
Mark Anderson Smith Amazon Profile

Mark Anderson Smith’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I currently live in Arizona with my husband of twenty years and my four-legged child, Oreo. I debuted my first novel, The Liberator’s Medallion, in 2016. Ersha’s Revenge, book two in the series, was released 9/2017. When not writing (or trying to stay cool in the AZ summer heat) I enjoy reading, cooking, and traveling.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Ersha’s Revenge (Medallion Series Book 2). I was inspired to write book two because of how much I enjoyed the experience of writing book one and because of all the positive feedback from readers.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I use a technique where I create an outline made up of 12 plot bullets. I start with bullet one, where I write how I want the book to start. Then, I jump to bullet twelve and I write how I want the book to end. I go back and forth from top to bottom filling in all of the pieces. When the outline is done, I have a map of how the book will flow. It helps ensure there are no plot gaps in the story.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I cannot say I have a specific book or author that has been a greater influence than another. However, I can say every book and author I have read has influenced me in some way. I can say after having become an author myself, I now have a much greater respect for how difficult a task it is to not only come up with the story itself, but to do all the other pieces required to get a book into the hands of the readers.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on a romance/murder mystery. This is off genre from my current sci-fi/fantasy series. I know readers are already asking me for a book 3 in the Medallion Series, but I want to give my brain a break in order to allow that story to be organic and not forced. That is when I think I do my best work.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Word of mouth is great! I also like Goodreads.com because it is a platform for all book lovers; whether author or reader. Other than that, I hop around trying out different places, like Awesomegang.com. Haven’t found the perfect fit yet. Will let you know if I find it.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Know up front that writing the story is the easy part. It is everything else that is costly, time-consuming, and hard. With the indie/self-publishing stigma now gone (for the most part) it is very hard to stand out. Even the best books can easily get buried and overlooked.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Only a select few actually make a living from being an Author. Write because you love it, not because you think it is going to make you rich.

What are you reading now?
I am actually taking a break from reading for the moment. I am still cross-eyed from finishing up Ersha’s Revenge, which I just released a week ago.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I hope to have another book out within the next year, and another Medallion Series book sometime shortly thereafter.

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, Ann of Green Gables, The Hobbit, Dummies guide for how to survive on a desert island!

Author Websites and Profiles
D.M. Chappell Website
D.M. Chappell Amazon Profile

D.M. Chappell’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a young author from Huddersfield, England. I have been writing stories for nearly a decade now but only have recently decided to publish some of my work. So far i have released 1 short story and 1 novella.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest work is The Dark Ranger, an episodic novella series. I was inspired a lot by the TV show Supernatural and The Witcher series of video games.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m a really slow writer but i like to focus more on quality that quantity.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Raymond E Fiest, Robert Jordan, H. G. Wells, Brandon Sanderson, Christopher Paolini, George R R Martin

What are you working on now?
The second episode of The Dark Ranger and my fiction Blogs.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Still working on one.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing and don’t look back. It’s a hard industry but once you get the idea of how things work it will be the most rewarding thing you’ve ever done.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write your manuscript from start to finish then begin the process of rewriting otherwise you just get stuck in a never ending cycle of rewriting without actually finishing your book.

What are you reading now?
The Dark Tower 2

What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully release more stuff.

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?
Army Survival Guide. (Survival comes first)
Magician by Raymond e Fiest
The Wheel of Time: Book 1 by Robert Jordan

Author Websites and Profiles
Aqib Ali Website
Aqib Ali Amazon Profile

Aqib Ali’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a psychologist who has lived and worked in the U.S, Canada, England and Africa. I’ve lived life as an adventure, and had some unique experiences, good and bad, as a result. Including two years in a monastery and staring down the wrong end of an AK-47. I live in a little village in the boonies of snowy Western New York , where there are more cows than people. I write science fiction about what might be, to challenge readers’ fixed ideas in a way that will make them consider other possibilities, particularly about sentience, free will, and life after death.
And much of what I write is about things that are not what they seem, but might be. Psionics, multi-sensory human beings, telepathy, telekinesis, precognition, clairsentience, energy medicine, awareness and ongoing communication between the living and the dead as a fact of daily life, and how that might affect the life and philosophy of a world. (This may be the part where I say I have one piece of paper that says I’m a psychologist, and another that says I’m a medium).

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, Alvar’s Spear, asks the questions, “What if planets were the bodies of sentient beings?” It was inspired by what I saw as a great lack of awareness that sentience is more widespread than we appear to believe. And Carl Jung’s words, “The way out is through.” It’s about a sentient moon-planet who tasks a hybrid being, to become Alvar’s Spear, and save her from being turned into a fetid swamp by insectoid mutants. Meanwhile, the sentient spirits of his world and of its flora and fauna communicate with him about his destiny as Alvar’s Spear. Gar makes a perilous journey into the Forbidden Mountains with a pack of snow wolves–by going through what the staid Antal society considers crazy, he emerges as Alvar’s Spear. And does what he will.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have a unique writing method. I begin with an idea, flesh it out, do a plot sketch and (usually) a bare bones, one or two sentence, chapter by chapter outline, and then let the creative juices take me where they will.
The unique part is that I’m often actively involved with individuals from the other side of the veil called death in the process. So, with a little help from my friends, I write science fiction with a distinctly spiritualist theme.
I’m not trying to write best sellers, but meaningful, entertaining science fiction that gives you more than you bargained for. More than just an exciting page turner. Without any preaching, I weave in concepts of spiritualism and responsibility for one’s own actions that will be both interesting and thought-provoking.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Oh boy, I could go on and on. I devour books. And I owe much of what I learned to love to an astute New York City Librarian, who saw an eight-year old trying to take out adult books, sat me down, asked me to read to her, and discuss what I’d been reading,and promptly issued me and adult card.

But to create a short list that I will later regret leaving some favorite authors off: Evelyn Waugh, Thomas Merton, Rumi, e.e. cummings, Allen Ginsberg, Arthur Rimbaud, Ezra Pound, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, Roger Zelazny, Ursula LeGuin, Robert Heinlein, Cordwainer Smith, Virginia Woolf, Robert Silverberg, A.E. Van Vogt, Joan Vinge, Walter M. MIller Jr.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a book called Witches’ Gambit, the prequel to the two books I’ve published. It’s about Aidan Ray, a high-powered attorney –and secret sixth-generation medium–in a dystopic, ultra-right wing America of the near future, who is visited by a deceased alien, Vitok. He tells her earth is about to be sent back to the biologic period, where slime will be the dominant species, by the Krieg. And told to make the hazardous journey by quantum intrusion to the planet Narr to defend earth in the Council Of The Seven Worlds.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Goodreads and Facebook, and my own website to promote my books. I agree with the professionals who say Goodreads is the one mandatory site for writers. (It’s all readers). If you’re a reader as well as a writer—and you should be—you will find a world of new and old writing discussed there.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I believe self-publishing is a wave of the present that will become a tsunami. But it requires entirely more self-discipline than traditional publishing. I review Indie books professionally—have for four years now—and I have seen a great improvement in the general quality of the books I’m being asked to review. The wealth of unique ideas and approaches is, I believe, the Indie world’s greatest asset. Thoughts that would never make it past the hurdles of traditional publishing. Of course, there are also still too many slap-dash, poorly written, awfully edited books coming out.
So, first and foremost, hone your writing skills. Learn to write well. Then learn to write better. Read the books on technique. Find a writer’s group that writes more than it talks about writing—and ruthlessly harpoons any bloated whales you put on paper. Better to get constructive criticism from them than from readers who have plunked down their hard-earned money on your books and been disappointed by a lack of craftsmanship.
And, like it or not, Indie writers must learn how to market their books. To my mind this does not mean you need to be something you are not. In my experience, most fiction writers are introverts. So you have to find a way to remain who you are while getting the word out about your writing –
Preferably in a way you will be proud of when this short life on earth ends.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Stephen King is only one of the great authors who has said if you want to be a good writer you must become a great reader. I will add this—I believe the level of your writing raises or lowers to the level of your reading. If you want to write better, read masterful writing.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading an Indie book (that has to remain unnamed) for BlueInk Reviews. I’m also reading Bob Lee’s The Attempt, Lyra Shanti’s Shiva XIV, E.P. Clark’s The Midnight Land, and Christina McMullin’s A S[pace Girl From Earth.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I will go on to write the rest of the Seven Worlds Series, spending time on each of the seven planets.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
This is a terrifying question. I can only say, it would probably be classical science fiction and one Thomas Merton book.

Author Websites and Profiles
Charles Freedom Long Website
Charles Freedom Long Amazon Profile

Charles Freedom Long’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was a homeless kid from Galveston, TX. I have built my dreams with drive and motivation and now teaches others how to build their dreams with their drive and motivation. I am a certified speaker, trainer, and coach through Les Brown and the Les Brown Institute. I am a best-selling author of “Keep Walking: How God Worked Through My Logic.”

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
God At War. I looked around the world and saw that everyone seems to be at one. Then I realized, there was a Bible story that paralleled the way of the world today. So, I wrote the book that is both exegetical and has hidden meanings that apply to our time.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes. I can see a book from start to finish. Then I know exactly how it is going to end, and then I write from the beginning towards that end. It takes me about 1 month to write a 40,000+ word book.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
The Code of the Extraordinary Mind – Vishan Lakhani

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on 2 more books as well as growing my personal development and training company, ATS JR. Companies.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Nothing beats word-of-mouth. The power of our words cannot be beaten. I do also like using Facebook. It is an easy way to reach a mass of people at once.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes. Only write about what you are willing to die for people to read.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
There is no such thing as bad news. There is information and how you process it.

What are you reading now?
The Essence of Success by Earl Nightingale

What’s next for you as a writer?
To have a book on the New York Times Best Seller List

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Rich Dad Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki
Cash Flow Quadrant – Robert Kiyosaki
Richest Man in Babylon – George S. Clason
Think And Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill

Author Websites and Profiles
Antonio T. Smith Jr. Website
Antonio T. Smith Jr. Amazon Profile

Antonio T. Smith Jr.’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an author out of Maryland where I’ve written twenty novels and currently working on my twenty-first novel called, “Twelve Bachelors For Sale,” the fourth follow-up to my first novel, “Bachelor Not for Sale.” I love writing and will be publishing my first sci-fi novel in late 2018.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called, “My First Love.” What inspired this book is the love story between my mom and dad who met at a movie theater when my mom was 15 and have now been married for almost 54 years. The storyline of the novel is not their story, but the idea of a first love being the one and only love and did get from their love story. We often believe that when two people connect as teenagers, it’s puppy love or infatuation, but sometimes it can be the real thing and I wanted to show how I believe in a first love being that forever love and that’s what I hope I have done when my readers read that novel.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have one very unusual habit when I write and that is I like to have my television on and a horror movie like Aliens (all of the movies in the series) or something creepy by Stephen King or something else I wouldn’t just sit and watch all the way through without covering my eyes. That way I will stay focused on what I’m writing and not watch television. I can’t write in complete silence and anything I enjoy watching would be a distraction. I am terrified of horror movies so that keeps me from watching.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My favorite romance author is Brenda Jackson. Years ago someone gave me her book called, “A Little Dare” and that started my love of reading romance novels which turned into my love for writing them. Others who have influenced my writing are not romance authors but mystery and espionage type novels. Those are my favorites to read and its their novels that have influenced me to pick up a pen and write. Authors like Robert Ludlum and his novel, “The Chancellor Manuscript” is still my number one book ever! I also have every single book he as ever written in hard or paperback. I also enjoy Tom Clancy novels and my favorite was Executive Orders. He was a master at writing. I also have just about every book he has ever written. After I spent years reading their books, I knew my imagination could lead me to writing and in the next several years, I hope to pen my first espionage novel.

What are you working on now?
Currently I’m working on three novels. Two romance novels and one compilation novel with other women writers. The two romance novels are “Twelve Bachelors for Sale” and “On the Lam”. For the compilation novels, it’s number four in a series of books call, “One Sister Away: Encouraging Words from One Sister to Another. I pull together other writers and we write passages, poems, testimonies, short stories, etc. that will encourage, inspire and empower other women who sometimes just need another woman to help then through the day. The first there in the series were popular so we’ll be releasing another book in late November 2017, just in time to give them away to women around the holidays.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
For promoting my books, I love promoting in Facebook groups and I also use Facebook Ads for all of my releases. I post to social media daily on FB, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My greatest advice to any new author is to not give up on getting that first novel out. The first one, I found was the hardest and now I pretty fluid with getting my books to print and e-book out to my readers who always demand more and more. I would encourage them to continually plug away each day even if it’s only a few paragraphs. Before long, you’ll look up and find you have a complete novel.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I have ever received was to not be discouraged by negative reviews. Take the meat and throw the bones away, my mother would tell me growing up. In other words, take what you need to improve and continue on the path you started. Not everyone will love what you have to write about, but those who do are the ones you want to keep providing the distraction from everyday life by having a great romance story for them to indulge in.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King. I have eight more of his books that I haven’t read yet and I’m making my way through those. I never download his books, I buy them all for my bookshelf. He is currently my go-to author to read.

What’s next for you as a writer?
What’s next for me is to work on turning one of my novels into a one-woman stage play. After that, I plan to do a straight to DVD movie of Bachelor Not for Sale, my first novel and try to market it at some of the festivals.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would bring Stephen Kings, “The Stand”, Stephen Kings, “Needful Things”, the first 3 Brenda Jackson Madaris novels that come in one big compilation book and my own book, “Bachelor Not for Sale” as a reminder that one day I had a dream of publishing my own novel and I did. That was a major highlight in my life, an achievement I am extremely proud of.

Author Websites and Profiles
Cheryl Barton Website
Cheryl Barton Amazon Profile

Cheryl Barton’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in Chicago, Illinois and lived there with my family until we moved to Japan when I was 8. We lived there for four years so my dad could become a professional golfer. When we came back to the States, we moved to Phoenix, Arizona—my mom called it a big sand trap. I graduated from Camelback High School and went on to Arizona State University. However, college wasn’t for me at the time and I dropped out in the second semester. I joined the U.S. Navy and became a photographer for three years. After I was discharged, I got married and went back to college. This time I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and an MBA. I went back in the Navy as a commissioned officer and retired with 22 years of service. During this time, I also earned another degree, an MMAS, Master of Military Arts and Sciences from the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College. After my retirement, my husband and I spent a few years living in our motorhome, crisscrossing the country until he passed away. I went back to work as a federal civil servant in the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I retired once more to devote my time to writing. I’ve published seven books in two series. The first series is called “The Seaward Isle Saga” and includes “The Black Elf of Seaward Isle,” “Tangled Omens,” and “Blood Mission” as well as a short story, “The Island Game: The Inside Story of Seaward Isle.” The second series, “The Chronicles of Eledon,” includes four books, “Spell Breaker” (2016 Book Excellence Award finalist), “The Blue Witch” (2017 International Book Award finalist), “Gossamer,” and “Noble Magic.” More books are in the works.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book is called, “Noble Magic” and it’s the last book of the Chronicles of Eledon. The original inspiration for my books was “Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien and the movie series of the same name directed by Peter Jackson.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Sometimes, it feels like I’ve become a hermit or a monk because I have to write alone and in complete silence—no music, no food, only water.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Tolkien, of course, for the original inspiration, but not his writing style. J.K. Rowlings, Suzanne Collins, Deborah Harkness, James Rollins, and Tom Clancy are some of my favorite authors and I just read a sci-fi book by Jay Posey called “Sungrazer,” a new favorite. I like to read a variety of books, not just fantasy. I’m also a member of the Writers’ League of Texas and they have an outstanding schedule of classes. I no longer live in the area, but I take online classes with them.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on the next series. It will be another trilogy and the first book should be out in 2018. The latest working title is “Curse of the Sea.”

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Enchanted Book Tours for promotion and have a tour for “Noble Magic” coming up in November 2017. It helps but I haven’t found a sure-fire method that works consistently.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Work with a good editor to improve your writing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Writing is like pushing an airplane. It takes a little while to get it rolling, but once it does, it’ll take off. Would you believe my mom told me that in a dream?

What are you reading now?
“Escape Clause” by John Sandford. It’s a mystery.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m a member of the Tucson Science Fiction/Fantasy Writer’s group and we’re publishing an anthology of short stories in October 2017. Two of my short stories will appear—“One Way Journey” and “The Bonds of Earth.”

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 survival guide to living on a desert island, a blank journal to write my thoughts down with a couple of pens, and a dictionary to learn a new word every day or to use as kindling to start a fire.

Author Websites and Profiles
Joni Parker Website
Joni Parker Amazon Profile

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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
i have published only one last march but i have written many more that are waiting to be edited in order to be published! i have created a fantasy world called “Land of Oyr” and i have planned six tribute novelettes that will be written in the style and form of each writer.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest (and first!) book is called “Savage Swords” and is inspired by R E Howard and his character Conan. It is a sword and sorcery novelette that besides honoring a great author it brings the reader into my fantasy world “Land of Oyr”.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
The only unusual is that sometimes i write while holding my baby boy in my left arm when i babysit for him! Being a new dad i try to snatch few minutes every day to write!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Well, Tolkien is my favorite author (and the second book is going to be a tribute to him). i place Moorcock and Howard as seconds since its one has a different style and perspective but each one influenced me allot. Then are my childhood favorites Vern and Doumas great writers of fantasy and adventure, without them i wouldn’t have developed a love for book reading. There are a great more too many to list.

What are you working on now?
I am currently between two stories for my land of Oyr tribute to be released by the end of the year and another short story i have written for a zombie apocalypse contest! they need editing, covers and formatting but the most of the work is done.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
i use most of the social media that are available but i prefer fb and my blog https://landofoyr.wordpress.com/.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
i don’t feel that i can give advice to new authors as i am a new author myself but i will state a cliche that is the best thing for a writer to do: “write and write…”

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
it’s something i heard from an interview mrs Weis gave:” keep reading, keep writting, keep your day job!”

What are you reading now?
i have started a Dragonlance saga marathon reading the nine core books specifically the three chronicles the three lost legends and the three legends.

What’s next for you as a writer?
i want to create an role playing system for my fantasy world and write adventure and modules for it. also when the stories i have written are published i would like to create the comic editions of them.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
well, i am going to cheat as i will take large books! lord of the rings, dragonlance chronicles, and complete Conan omnibus!

Author Websites and Profiles
viel nast Website
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viel nast’s Social Media Links
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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
When I retired in 2004 when we sold our travel business and immediately opened the drawer where three half written novels resided. Instead of immediately finishing these I started on a novel called GREEK LETTERS about Philhellene who left Cheshire in 1827 and travelled to Greece, this story expanded to a Quartet and suddenly the earlier novels seemed to fit into this family saga, from the early nineteenth century up to the present century.

Writing was something I had always wanted to do, but somehow working for a living always got in the way. As a child I loved to play with words, write for the school magazine, articles for magazines as I got older. After a magical early career as an air hostess in 1960, which led to my novel CAST A HOROSCOPE; a job as a PA for the editor of a motor racing magazine, who on Grand Prix weekends was the commentator for broadcasts (imagine working in the pits and paddocks with he who was then the equivalent of Eddie Jordan or David Coultard) and as the young do, I never gave it a second thought. Then in a desire to return to my native Yorkshire I set up my own business ‘Girl Friday’, a kind of do-anything-legal office. I got a taste for media recommendations at this time and life became exciting. Selling ‘Girl Friday,’ as I got married, I eventually took an Open University degree (to fulfill another dream). Then opened our tour operation ‘Filoxenia’ which specialised in fly-drive and holidays to remote and unusual parts of Greece, following yet another passion. When it became time to retire we sold the business; then writing in earnest began, while still living on the Pennine hills in Yorkshire, close to where I had been born. It’s a country life shared with my husband and two adult children and a succession of spaniels.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Volume 4 of the GREEK LETTERS QUARTET, Much More Than Hurt. Although it the fourth volume in the Quartet, it is also chronologically the last in the Jigsaw series of 8 novels. The name just came to me because the book is quite sad with great uplifting moments. Rather like life itself. It was also planned as an answer to the question which of all the books a reader should read, if they could only read one; I am realistic I know some people read only a few books! Even so it is still very much part of the whole series.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Apart from getting up with the dawn when I was writing the first draft of the GREEK LETTERS QUARTET the desire to seek out a lonely olive tree to sit under to write on an ipad, proof read or edit I don’t think my writing habits are very unusual.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Lawrence Durrell, then Patrick Leigh Fermor and William Dalrymple.

What are you working on now?
Taking a break and writing a second children’s book: The Dog Who Swam and Swam and Swam”, a sequel to “The Puppy Who Didn’t Like Rain.” These books were inspired by my daughter’s Springer Spaniel, an adorable puppy who suffered from the disease Steroid Responsive Meningitis. I was going to write about the positive way to cope with this which as the name suggests can be kept under control, but it was too sad for a children’s book, even though the dog is now healthy.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think I prefer using the internet, facebook, sites such as this, twitter. I have tried using bookshops, local outlets for the paperbacks but so often the books get damaged or dirty and it is dispiriting.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just do it. If you enjoy writing you were born to do it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write what you know. Do your own research, resist Google!

What are you reading now?
A very amusing memoir ‘A Kilo of String” by Rob Johnson, set in the Peloponnese, an area we love, twinned with Kind of Blue by Ken Clarke, I like reading political memoirs, of all persuasions.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Bring me a crystal ball!

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?
Mani by Patrick Leigh Fermor
From the Holy Mountain by William Dalrymple
Alice in Wonderland
A large blank notebook with lead and coloured pencils.

Author Websites and Profiles
Suzi Stembridge Website
Suzi Stembridge Amazon Profile

Suzi Stembridge’s Social Media Links
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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live and work in Chester County, Pennsylvania, a hotspot of activity during the American Revolution. Growing up in “Revolutionary Country,” I became fascinated with the legends and heroes of that era, men and women in whose footsteps we walk, whose sacrifices should never be forgotten. For me, knowledge of historical events is paramount to understanding modern day turmoil. As Aldous Huxley so astutely observed, “That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.”

Today I work in the Finance department of a large corporation, but my passion is and always has been writing. Beginning in the fifth grade, I dabbled in short stories and poetry, but it wasn’t until recently that I decided to pursue my dream of publishing novels. I’ve self-published two novels on Amazon, “The Devil Take Tomorrow” and “A Devil of a Time,” and I’m currently working on a third. I’m not a prolific writer by any means, mainly due to the amount of research and editing I put into my stories. In my mind, no book is ever completely finished, and so I am always editing or revising or fine-tuning my work. Fortunately, Amazon makes it easy to upload revised manuscripts, which I do with great regularity; otherwise, I’d be tearing my hair out worrying about the authenticity of some detail or fact.

On a more personal note, I live with my husband and our five cats (all rescues–my favorite breed). I’ve discovered that cats are book lovers, since every time I leave a book open on my desk I return to find a cat sprawled across it.

As an author, I strive to create true-to-life historical tales that will captivate the mind long after the last page is turned. The work is challenging, often tedious, the hours long, but I’ll keep turning out stories because I can’t stop, because writing is in my blood, because the blank page keeps calling to me. And when you write what you love, someone else just might love what you write!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“The Devil Take Tomorrow” was inspired by my research into the British occupation of Philadelphia 1777-1778. It’s well-known that the British army spent almost the entire war occupying New York City, but the occupation of Philadelphia has taken a back seat for the most part.

During the war for independence, the City of Brotherly Love became a military objective of Major General Sir William Howe, commander in chief of the British armies in America. In September 1777, at great cost to his army, Howe succeeded in capturing the seat of rebel government. He occupied the city for the next nine months, spending much of that time in liquor-soaked indolence while General George Washington rebuilt the Continental Army at Valley Forge.

​​Benjamin Franklin, then on a diplomatic mission in Paris, took the news of Howe’s victory in stride. His shrewd assessment has amused historians for centuries: “Sir, you mistake the matter. Howe hasn’t taken Philadelphia, Philadelphia has taken Howe.”

Since Philadelphia is more or less my home turf, I decided to write a novel of intrigue, adventure and romance set during the occupation.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I usually have a cat or two lounging about as I write. Sometimes, when I draw a blank, I look into their mystical eyes for a few moments and pretend they’re feeding me inspirational lines. There’s something fascinating and stimulating about making eye contact with a cat. Okay, it doesn’t work all the time, but every so often that steady, thoughtful feline gaze will help jumpstart the creative process. If not, it’s still a comfort having my silent cheerleaders nearby.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Growing up I read many books on the early American frontier. My favorite book was Dale Van Every’s “Bridal Journey,” the rollicking tale of a young woman captured by Indians while traveling to Kentucky to be wed, and then rescued by the book’s hero, with whom I fell in love. To this day I still adore that book and the heroic main character who set my imagination alight.

What are you working on now?
My next novel, “This Day is Ours,” will be out in 2018. Here is a brief synopsis: As the flames of revolution spread across a divided land, a shadowy figure prowls the streets of Philadelphia, preying on silk-stockings loyal to the British Crown. Known only as Jack Flash, rebel highwayman, he plays a daring game of cat-and-mouse for the patriot cause, always one step ahead of his enemies. Until the night he clashes with a lady whose fiery spirit could spell his doom.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I don’t really have a favorite method, but I do send out tweets and posts regarding my work, especially if I’m running a freebie or a sale or have won an award. Marketing is a difficult, time-consuming task, especially as I’d rather be writing. I don’t devote as much time to marketing as I should, but I intend to change that after my third book is published.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write about what you love. Be prepared for setbacks because you will encounter them. In this new world of publishing, “hitting it big” is like winning the lottery–a longshot. Even so, never give up, because you have to play to win.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“The wisest man learns by listening to others.” Benjamin Franklin

What are you reading now?
“The Lees of Menokin: An early American love story” by Suzanne Hadfield Semsch.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Why, more writing and researching, of course! That and keeping an eye and ear out for a new book premise. As a writer, I’m always on point, seeking new ideas and inspiration.

I plan to enter a few book contests next spring. I had good fortune in the one contest I did enter, so I might as well try again.

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?
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, The Frontiersmen by Allan Eckert, Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography, and Huckleberry Finn.

Author Websites and Profiles
Gretchen Jeannette Website
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Gretchen Jeannette’s Social Media Links
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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in London, England. I travelled widely in Europe, Africa, and Asia and lived in Indonesia for the last twenty-five years. I have a degree in PPP (Psychology, Philosophy, and Physiology) from Hull University, England. The Policewoman is my first book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Policewoman is a book about narcoterrorism and the men and women who combat them.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I prefer to write in present tense

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Tom Clancy & JK Rowling

What are you working on now?
The sequel to The Policewoman

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Newsletter and connect with readers on a personal level

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write and keep writing!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write and keep writing!

What are you reading now?
The Operator by Robert O’Neil.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Writing the sequel to The Policewoman

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 Harry Potter series

Author Websites and Profiles
Justin W.M. Roberts Website
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