Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is my first book – for the past twenty years I’ve been playing music with my band MJ Hibbett & The Validators, this felt like a way to continue showing off without having to go out quite so much!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
It’s called ‘Storm House’ and was inspired by going to the Sir John Soane’s Museum in London. Sir John Soanes was the architect who designed the Bank Of England as well as an avid collector of art and historical curiousities. When he died his will requested that his home be left exactly as it was and opened as a museum, which it has been for 180 years. It’s a mad place packed with a bewildering variety of objects which I love to visit, and the last time I went I wondered if there might be something else behind it. That’s where Sir Hugo Storm came from, and his House Of Unusual Interests!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I keep reading about other people’s rituals and demands that things have to be just so, but I tend to write whenever I get the chance. I’ve found that writing a book, from a distance, looks a little bit like writing a report for work, so a lot of ‘Storm House’ was written at my previous job, in between databases breaking.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve always loved the Nigel Molesworth books by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle, and though my spelling is (hopefully) better than Nigel’s, the spirit of bemused anarchy has inspired me in life and indeed in art. They are brilliant, also hilarious!

What are you working on now?
I’ve just finished the third draft of the outline to ‘The Utopians’, which is the follow-up to ‘Storm House’. I start writing it in full next week, and I can’t wait.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
The best way seems to be to make it free, then go all in to try and get as many people you know to download it. I did this when ‘Storm House’ came out and got a couple of hundred people to download it, which pushed it right up the Amazon charts, where loads more people saw it and downloaded it, which pushed it even higher… and so on.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
As one myself I don’t think I’m qualified to do so. When I asked my friend Charlie Flowers (author of the “Riz” thriller series) for some advice he told me “It’s a marathon, not a sprint”. He was right!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Over twenty years ago I went to see John Otway for the first time, and was surprised to see him sitting in the pub attached to the venue. I asked him why he wasn’t sitting backstage and he said “If I sit backstage I just have a beer on my own. If I come out to the front people buy me drinks and tell me I’m brilliant.” I have thus spent two decades doing exactly the same thing whenever I play my own gigs – it’s extremely good advice!

What are you reading now?
I’m halfway through a history of the Cold War, which I’m having to read as research for my PhD about the Marvel Comics character Doctor Doom. I have a vague idea that Doom might be a super-villain version of General Tito.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Apart from the sequel to ‘Storm House’ I’m also trying my hand at short stories, which is a lot of fun. I’ve written songs for years, so I’m used to trying to tell stories very quickly, but the nice thing about prose is that it doesn’t have to rhyme.

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 Compleet Molesworth’ by Willans and Searle, ‘The Hitchiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams (it’s been far too long since I last re-read it), ‘Emma’ by Jane Austen and ‘Watchmen’ by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. That should keep me going!

Author Websites and Profiles
Mark Hibbett Website
Mark Hibbett Amazon Profile

Mark Hibbett’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Currently, I work in the marketing department for a furniture company. Thank God, marketing is my ticket out of a long run of customer service and manual labor. I am a father, a husband, a bicyclist. I’ve always been a writer. I write mostly short stories of nonfiction humor. Though, depending on how depressed I get, also work on rhyme and meter poetry and a novel I’m kicking around. So far, I’ve written this book, Luck Favors The Prepared. But I also have two books of poetry in the hopper that I’ll publish, some day. I’m currently working on my second, larger collection of short stories. These will be both nonfiction and fiction stories.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is titled Luck Favors The Prepared. It was inspired by life, really. Which makes sense for a collection of nonfiction. All these stories I’ve either told numerous times, in various forms around dinner tables or at work. I was often criticized for talking too much at work. I guess that’s fair. I knew we weren’t supposed to talk but when you work some of the jobs as awful as the jobs I’ve worked you tend to disregard a no-talking policy and talk anyway. When I finally committed to getting these stories down on paper, naturally, they all took a drastically different form. Which is okay. I’m just glad I got them out and onto paper. They are hilarious and heartbreaking stories. I love them very much and am glad I can finally divorce myself from them and send them out to the world.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Being a writer is tricky business. It doesn’t mix well with being a father, or a husband activities which are daily priorities that over take any available time I may have to work on writing. There is much to do, since writing is not just about writing and editing. It’s about writing blogs to engage an audience, newsletters to further engage an audience, bloggers to contact and several social media platforms to fill with interesting material that further engages an audience. It is easy to become disheartened. Especially when the response for most every effort is silence. Even getting friends and family to take a look at your book is mysteriously challenging. All this is context to some of the peculiarities I’ve developed as an author. I work strange hours, when everyone is asleep. Either terribly early in the morning or late into the evening, or catch-as-catch-can when the daughter is sleeping (she is sleeping now, after throwing an incredible fit). But also, I have my daily schedule rigidly structured between creative time in the morning. That’s time I allow myself to work on just the writing (short stories and whatnot) and any other time is for editing, promotion, engagement, newsletters, blog posts, mailings, social media etc. I think I prefer to have my creative time reserved for the morning simply because I’m so terribly tired. Fatigue is a tool. I use fatigue the same way others use alcohol or drugs to get work done, as a device to break down the barriers of ego. If that sounds strange, that is okay. Think of it like this: it’s hard to be self conscious about anything when you’re that desperately tired, or drunk or high. And so, writing comes much easier. And then I save the edits for when I’m a little more crispy, and awake.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I adore most every author I’ve read. There are very few writers I have not enjoyed. Kirt Vonnegut, David Sedaris, Joan Didion, Alice Munro and Pat Conroy. Their ability to weave a yarn, to tell a story and, in the background, construct a larger narrative, is always fascinating for me. The best example I can think of is Galapagos, by Kurt Vonnegut. Galapagos is a seeming pastiche of interconnected lives and events all tossed together pell-mell. It is not sloppy, the stories intertwine in a very focused direction and pace, but the larger narrative doesn’t become apparent until about 3/4 of the way through the book when you realize everything has been meticulously mapped out, culminating in a precise unfolding of events, tight as clockwork. By the end of the book, it is not hard to see how it was accomplished, indeed, you just read the book. It’s all right there for the study. But to understand how it was created, mapped out and then chilled out, is breathtaking. It is awesome and terribly inspiring. I don’t think I’ll ever be that good of a writer, but that’s okay. Why try to be the next Vonnegut when we already had a Vonnegut. Isn’t one enough? Indeed, I may take a swipe at his craft or process, but with the very real, practical acceptance that I can’t ever be that great. All I want to do is tell a good story. To talk about real life and hopefully, capture a universal moment that anyone can enjoy and contemplate.

What are you working on now?
Currently I’m switching back and forth between my second collection of short stories and a novel. I have no idea how I’m ever going to finish them. They are both such monumental undertakings. But then, so was my first book. So I figure, if I just keep working on them, eventually they’ll begin to take shape. Both works are a bit of a departure from Luck Favors The Prepared. The novel is fiction, and it is mostly not-funny but sad and a little horrifying. The second collection of short stories, while mostly non-fiction and humor, is also bound with many fiction stories. While Luck Favors The Prepared was an exercise in peeling apart the minutiae and the mundane, both these works examine more sweeping narratives and themes.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Twitter and instagram, hands down. The author website, while a prerequisite to promoting your book, is rarely used. It is a good place to host a blog and to provide all the information anyone who’d want to know anything about you can go and read to their hearts content. But as far as promotion, it is rarely used. The most effective methods I’ve found are those that require little or no commitment from anyone who happens to come across them. This is why both Instagram and Twitter are so effective. Neither platforms offer very much and neither platforms require very much. And so the confines of Twitter and Instagram are highly restrictive, you must be very careful and selective about what you post. It is important to stay on brand, otherwise everything turns into chaos. It can be just as detrimental to mysteriously switching your voice in the middle of a novel for no reason or discernable effect. It is lazy and clumsy to post off-brand, so you can’t just post for posting sake. Your content has to be purposeful, timely but most of all, fun and interesting. And a key element: you should never talk about yourself more than 25% of the time. The rest of social participation should be sharing and engagement, which is very time consuming and oddly, not what you’d expect to devote most of your time to as a writer. It’s like how being a musician, is 25% writing and playing music and 75% auto repair since the life of a musician is always plagued by car trouble (tour vans always breaking down etc).

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Work. Work your ass off. Through all this work keep these truths front and center: nobody cares about your writing, nobody has the time to read what you write, you have no right to write but you’re a writer so you need to write anyway. Don’t quit your day job and don’t ignore your partner (husband, wife etc). Recognize that hundreds if not thousands of books are published every day. That’s pretty grim when you’re trying to gauge the competition you’re up against. It’s not about standing out from the crowd, it’s about curating your own little niche in a sea of anonymity, so that, should anybody stumble over you and your weird little world, they should find a universe of fascinating, illuminating and thoughtful things. They should be surprised and delighted. They should feel as if they stumbled over buried treasure in a wasteland. If you are doomed to remain undiscovered, at least, for a fleeting moment, you got to create a universe. That is not in vain and it is not useless. It is a beautiful thing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Look up!” This is what my sister told me on a very long, very difficult hike through Yosemite National Park. It was hiking advice, but I seem to have made it a motto that applies to everything in life. She was chiding me for always looking at my feet. Indeed, the ground was uneven and my footing was clumsy and unsure and I was desperately tired and heaving for air. She was giving me a hard time for failing to take in the scenery all around me (Yosemite is bucolic after all, it was a shame to miss even a second of it). And she was right, every time I looked up… BOOM. There was Yosemite National Park, in all its stunning glory. It was quite a vision. Over the years I’ve grown to adopt this as a charge to all things, to always look up. This gives meaning and purpose to all things, no matter how seeming futile or useless. Life is brimming with futility and uselessness and meaninglessness and everything that begs us to give up. So when I used to work as a machine operator, and I hated my work, I would every day remind myself of my sisters very sage advice. To look up. Because you never know what you may find and the chances are pretty good, you’ll find something fascinating. And if when you look up, or shoulder into uselessness and futility and you don’t find anything fascinating there, congratulations, you’re that much more acquainted with heartbreak and disappointment. Think of this interview, for example. How many people are going to find it. And of those people, how many people are going to chow through the lengthy answers I’ve provided here. Probably not many. But is it all useless? Is it all in vain? As I’ve been writing, I’ve been copy/pasting my answers into a Google doc that I can use later to write a blog post where I pretend I’ve been interviewed. This I will edit a little closer than I’ve had the ability to edit here (no toolbar) and use to promote my blog and website at a later date. So yes. While this interview is an exercise in vain futility, if you take a moment, and look closer, you’ll eventually see the value and usefulness and necessity in not just this one thing, but in everything we do.

What are you reading now?
Role Models: John Waters
The Death of Santini: Pat Conroy
Dear Life: Alice Munro
Annihilation: Jeff VanderMeer
Daredevils: Shawn Vestal
One More Thing: B. J. Novak

What’s next for you as a writer?
More work, and lots of it. Eventually I will die alone. I hope, before then, I get a lot done and I get to live a long life with my wife and daughter. As a writer, I hope to finish the first three chapters of this novel so I can begin shopping it around to agents. Meanwhile, I will continue writing and editing this second collection of short stories. Far off, in the future, maybe I’ll publish the works of poetry. It seems unlikely though. Not many people are interested in poetry. Which is fine.

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?
Golly. The desert island question. I guess Galapagos, Infinite Jest, The Bible and the complete collection of Calvin and Hobbes

Author Websites and Profiles
Nathaniel Barber Website
Nathaniel Barber Amazon Profile

Nathaniel Barber’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
II am part of the co-writing team, PHOENIX, writing speculative fiction that has a light tough. We have published two novels and one short story and are just a couple of old fogies who love to write.
Wait. That’s not right. An old fogey is defined as a very conservative, outdated person. We’ re anything but that. Our Muse has begged us to break the shackles of genre and let our imaginations run FREE, to write entertaining stories that let readers escape into unique places.
So our tales defy strict category and may contain a mix of genre, such as fantasy, romance, science fiction, action and adventure, mystery and even some occult. Most of them take place in our real world but bend reality.
Why? Because normal reality is boring.
So we have rebelled. We have been told that authors who do not fit into pigeon holes are hard to find on the virtual book shelf. But you found us, and we hope you join our fans.
We live in Hollywood, but we don’t spend much time in the wonderful California sunshine. Instead we are maniacs who sit in front of our computer screens, weaving tales we hope you will enjoy.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
We have written A WHISPER FROM EDEN: A Visionary Saga Spanning Time and Space, an American Indian Tribe Being Influenced by Two Ancient Societies from Another Galaxy; LEON’S LAIR, A Paranormal Thriller; and MY BELOVED GHOST IN THE AMAZON, a short story based on the book Green Mansions by William Henry Hudson. I loved, loved this book, written in 1904 and a bestseller after its reissue a dozen years later. Green Mansions offers its readers a poignant meditation on the loss of wilderness, the dream of a return to nature, and the bitter reality of the encounter between savage and civilized man. Our version takes place in modern day and has a very different ending.

The inspiration for A Whisper from Eden was weird. I wanted to write something, but had no idea what. So I put my fingers on the keys. I wrote, “The young boy walked into the general story carrying a pail of water. A shot rang out and the boy slid across the floor. He lay in a pool of blood. Well, why? And What if? From there the story came to life.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I guess the most unusual thing is working with a co-writer. Gary Jordan is also my husband. That can be tricky.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
We read everything. We have favorites for each of the genres and take inspiration in different ways. For instance, we love Michael Connelly for police detective mysteries and love the very tight writing and pacing, or Tolkien for suspense and drama, wonderful world building, and interesting characters.

What are you working on now?
At the moment, we have first drafts for SHAKTI AND THE PRINCE, Enslavement of a Planet, TAKE ME WITH YOU, MY LOVE, A Time Travel Fantasy, and RANDOM AMUSEMENTS, Series #1, which is a collection of flash fiction and shorts stories.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Probably Facebook.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I would say to just write. Then write. And write some more. The more you write, and re-write, the better you get and is the way to best way to master the craft. The other is the read, and read and read.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
James A Michener said he is a terrible writer, but a fantastic re-writer. Most of what I first put down on a page is terrible, and just a jumble of ideas. From there re-write and rearrange until find what I really wanted to say and polish until I like it.

What are you reading now?
We read so much. Right now, I’m about finished with a interesting book called Man of Legends by Kenneth Johnson. It is a mix of adventure, suspense, romance, and supernatural mystery. I cannot resist Amazon advertisements that come on my Kindle Fire. This one was a pleasant surprise as the writing is fabulous.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finishing the two novels we have been working on and publishing those along with the short story collection. Then a science fiction series and writing more short stories and flash fiction for our website, which we will eventually put together in a second collection for publication

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) Lord of the Rings, 2) Clan of the Cave Bear, 3) a Michael Connelly novel, and 4) First Contact (In Her Name, Book 1) by Michael Hicks, the first of a fabulous science fiction thriller series. I chose these because I would be able to stay immersed, while marveling and savoring the fantastic stories and the writing styles.

Author Websites and Profiles
Lee Jordan Website
Lee Jordan Amazon Profile

Lee Jordan’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello – it’s awesome to meet you! My name is Susan Schaefer Bernardo, and I am a poet and children’s book author. I began writing children’s books by accident in 2012 when I was going through a tough divorce (is there any other kind?) and missing my kids when they were at their dad’s. My good friend Courtenay Fletcher was also grieving – she had just lost a dear friend, also a young mom, to breast cancer. We wanted to create a book to reassure kids that they were loved and always connected to the people they love, even when physically separated from them – and the result was Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs (I wrote the verses, and Courtenay illustrated). After a successful Kickstarter campaign, we indie published the book – and magic happened. Our book found its way into the hands of LeVar Burton (Reading Rainbow, Star Trek, Roots) and he invited us to collaborate with him on The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm, a picture book to help families cope with trauma. The Rhino book has been read aloud by Michelle Obama and sent via rocket to the International Space Station for an innovative STEAM program called Storytime from Space. It is ORBITING THE PLANET!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Our latest book is The Big Adventures of Tiny House, which is a picture book about an old farmhouse that gets recycled into a tiny house on wheels and sets off across America to discover what it means to be a home. It was inspired by actual people we met in the tiny house movement, especially Christian Parsons and Alexis Stephens of Tiny House Expedition, who have traveled more than 45,000 miles in a home they built from repurposed materials.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am all over the map. I write outside on the deck, in the living room, in coffeehouses while I am traveling…anywhere I can bring my little Airbook named Excalibur. I am easily distracted by bright shiny objects, chocolate and Facebook. And my dog. For the past three years, I have participated in NaNoWriMo, churning out 50,000 word drafts of a YA series I am launching in February 2018. Some books come through REALLY FAST (from idea to printed book with Sun kisses was 9 months, including the crowdfunding drive!) and others take a LONG time (like Inspired, the first book in my Firefly Tribe series, which I started writing in 1994! 23 years is a really long time to work on a book – I am SO ready to birth this one!).

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham is the first book I read by myself as a child, and I think my fate as a rhyming picture book writer was sealed in that moment! It is so fun reading my books to kis in schools, especially on Read Across America Day when I get to wear my red-and-white-striped hat. I am a huge fan of The Little Princess and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodsgon Burnett (I still re-read them every so often, like comfort food), along with all the dragon books of Anne McCaffrey, fantasy by Ursula K LeGuin, and of course, JKRowling and the magical-in-every-way Harry Potter series. Lately, I have been reading everything by Alexander McCall Smith. I read a broad range of books from chick lit to sci fi to memoir to non-fiction books about anthropology and science.

What are you working on now?
I am SO EAGER to release my next few books! I am in the process of working with the book designer for my YA novel Inspired (Courtenay is doing the most fabulous cover for me!). Courtenay and I have several picture books in the pipeline, too, including a picture book biography about an artist and a fun little alpaca story. I’m also always hard at work attending to the business of being an indie publisher and speaking to kids at schools and libraries. And…I have been doing an amazing national circuit of tiny house festivals since The Big Adventures of Tiny House came out in the spring, including Seattle, Portland, Georgia, Tennessee, New Jersey, Florida and Texas! Our character Tiny has really been embraced by the tiny house community, which is BIG!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Getting out there to meet people in person at schools and festivals and libraries is my favorite. I also love interacting with people on Instagram and our Facebook page. Courtenay and I try to put helpful stuff for readers on our websites, too – especially activities to accompany outr books that help families coping with loss and trauma. I try lots of things to get the books and myself into the world. Right now, I am looking for the best way to connect with indie YA readers – any ideas?

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Shoot for the moon….you might land on the Space Station!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It’s your life…you’ve gotta love it” (from LeVar Burton).
=”Look for the Helpers!” from Mister Rodgers.
And … I love this line LeVar and I came up with for The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm: “After every dark night, there comes a new day / Beeeee kind, do your best, and you’ll find your way.”

What are you reading now?
Just finished The Orphan Train (awesome!) and now I am reading Restoree by Anne McCaffrey. I set my Goodreads goal for the year at 33 books, and blew past that in a few months. I devour books.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More picture books, and revising book 2 of The Firefly Tribe YA series….hopefully while staying in Ireland, where the book is set Launching The Artist Who Loved Cats. A bilingual version of Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs to help immigrant children feel safe and connected. Mastering Amazon. Speaking to more people about the business of indie publishing and crowdfunding. Inspiring and being inspired! SO many books to release, so little time to sleep! Ooh, and NaNoWriMo is coming around again – I am trying my hand at a funny middle grade novel this time.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
That would be lovely for a month or two…

I would bring…
-Some sort of practical prepper’s survival guide
-a really thick journal (and a pen, so I didn’t have to harvest squid ink or anything like that!) and a thesaurus
–The Little Princess
–nothing by Stephen King (cuz I would he scared enough already!)

Author Websites and Profiles
Susan Bernardo Website
Susan Bernardo Amazon Profil

Susan Bernardo’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Anthony Avina. I’m 27 years old and live in Southern California. I work as a journalist for the online publications On Request Magazine and TheGamer, and when I’m not writing I’m filming videos for my YouTube channel, Avina Vlogs. I have been self-publishing for over seven years now, and have published over twenty books on Amazon and several other short stories on Wattpad and the online publication Sirens Call Publishing (eZine). While my main writing interest is in the horror genre, I do love to write in various other genres, like contemporary romance, drama, science fiction, fantasy and Young Adult.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is I Was An Evil Teenager: Remastered. The book is actually the collective work of my first series, featuring the novellas “I Was A Teenage Killer”, “I Was a Teenage Zombie” and “I Was A Teenage Demon”. The story focuses on a beautiful teenage girl named Lisa Etron, who appears to be the girl next door but harbors a dark and deadly secret. It threatens to consume those who make the mistake of caring for her, and it’ll take the ultimate battle between good and evil to find a way to stop her. It’s a terrifying look at what makes someone “evil” and our views on what “evil” should look like. I was inspired to write it because I noticed a trend in horror movies where the killer was always this outcast, hulking monster of a man with lots of rage. I thought to myself, “Why are all movie killers portrayed the same way? Couldn’t a woman be a monstrous killer too? In fact, what kind of person would be the last person you expected to be a killer?” That’s when Lisa Etron was born. I wrote this in 2010 and have come back to re-write the story and make it the best possible story it can be. It’s much more terrifying and chilling to read.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
While I usually listen to music while I write, sometimes I’ll put on YouTube videos in the background to help inspire or relax me. I especially enjoy the humor and sometimes horror related videos of Shane Dawson. I also enjoy writing in the late night/early morning hours, when the rest of the world is asleep. It allows me to work uninterrupted by day to day obstacles and gives me the quiet I need. Other than that I always make a cup of ice coffee and get a healthy snack, (fruit, Quest Bar, etc), get my preferred background music or video going, and get to work.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King is definitely my biggest influence. While I also love Dean Koontz and Ann Rice, my favorite author has always been Stephen King. The real world dialogue and situations of his characters combined with these larger than life plot lines helped influence the direction I wanted to take my own writing. While the Dark Tower series is my favorite of his, the book that helped influence me was Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub. It’s a sequel to my other favorite book The Talisman, and it features a really creepy serial killer that helped drive me to want to learn about what drives serial killers to do the awful things they do. It was a fantastic book that was a big influence on this series.

What are you working on now?
I just finished work on the second YA novella in my Nightmare Academy series. It’s a prequel series to my adult series Nightmare Wars, and follows a vampire woman named Francesca who must infiltrate a secret school that is training the supernatural creatures of the world for a coming war with humanity. She must find a way to stop the war before humanity is wiped out.

Next I am working on Book Four of the Nightmare Wars series, and that will be focusing on the continuing supernatural war between those who support humanity and those who want it’s destruction.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Instagram and Twitter are where I get the most interactions with readers and fellow authors, although Goodreads has been a great way of connecting with readers as well. The new Instagram Story feature has been a great way to connect with other authors and readers, allowing them to comment on the pictures and events of my day as they happen, and allowing me to have a more open dialogue.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write what you love, not what you think others will love. A writers talent is reflected in the passion for their project, and if you write what you love others will recognize that and respond to it. If you aren’t happy with your book, then no one else will be either.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
One of the best pieces of advice I have heard is from of course Stephen King, who said, “Good books don’t give up their secrets at once.” This showed me that a good book benefits from showing the audience what is going on in your book rather than just telling them. A good book can reveal very little at the beginning and draw in the reader to want to find out what other secrets its hiding.

What are you reading now?
Right now I’m ready a horror/comedy anthology called Demonic Wildlife: A Fantastical Funny Adventure which features a friend of mine, author Maxine Grey. I plan to read Ashes to Ashes by Valerie Thomas next.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Next for me is working on my novel for NaNoWriMo 2017. It’s a sequel to my contemporary romance/drama novel VOID, so I need to map out the outline for the book and get ready to write this book in a month. After that I’ll work on Nightmare Wars Book Four.

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:

The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower by Stephen King
It Gets Worse by Shane Dawson
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Author Websites and Profiles
Anthony Avina Website
Anthony Avina Amazon Profile
Anthony Avina Author Profile on Smashwords

Anthony Avina’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have an MM, Boston University College of Fine Arts, & spent over 25 years as a musician, composer, teacher, and conductor in the New England area. Originally a trumpet player, I am currently learning piano and recorder, and hacking around with my neighborhood garage band.

When not working on a book, I enjoy reading, creating art and jewelry, puzzles, baking, and walking my greyhound. The family dinner is a daily priority for me, as confirmed “foodie.” I usually prepare it to the soundtrack of vintage radio programs, as well as the news of the day.

I have written over 20 books. My bibliography includes a wide variety of genres, including curricula, classical music, historic children’s fiction, cooking, and crafts. My books have appeared on top-ten lists, including Music Appreciation, Music History, Hot New Curriculum, and Quick and Easy Cooking. Currently, I am creating picture books, including the art.

The best books give something to the reader, whether it’s skill, knowledge, or just the pleasure of a good story. It’s really exciting that people are reading and enjoying my work. The feedback from my readers has been priceless, all of it, and I hope they keep it coming.

Training as a classical musician taught me to focus my energy and enthusiasm, so I achieve my goals. It’s a very satisfying life.

I am a brain aneurysm survivor.

A native of New Jersey, I live on the New England coast with my husband and 2 teenagers.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I recently released the ebook, “Covered with Love,” an ABC book about a puppy who is reminded just how many people love her, when friends and family collaborate on a special quilt for her birthday. It was inspired by the quilters group of First Lutheran Church in West Barnstable, MA, who cover the youth of their church with love, by presenting each with a quilt upon his high school graduation.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Well, I do stay up pretty late, but that’s par for the course with a lot of creative people.

How about this – I use a pencil and paper. That’s probably downright radical!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I admire authors who make an effort to keep their books wholesome and family-friendly, like Miss Read and Joann Fluke.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on “I am an American,” a children’s picture book that gives kids a chance to stand, yell, and cheer for their pride in this country. (sneak-peek on Instagram @ to.the.republic )

It started when I discovered the story in a 100-year-old children’s book by Sara Cone Bryant. That line, “I am an American” stayed with me.

It feels so good to say it. So reassuring. Try it:

“I am an American.”

Isn’t that amazing, how that feels?

On researching Sara, I learned that she and I come from the same state, and even graduated from the same school. To my further amazement, the art for this book came to me completely & effortlessly. I feel truly blessed to be called to bring Sara’s story to our children, who hunger for pride in their country. They are bombarded with so many negative messages about America, but Sara’s message is as vital now as it was then:

…a love for our country that begins in the heart, radiates out, and shines as a beacon of light and hope for people everywhere…

If we can just teach our children a simple love for our country, I truly believe they can grow up to make this country – and the world – the kind of place we want to leave to them.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Twitter seems to bring the most results, so far.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just put something on the paper. Write down every idea in your head about your book, as they come to you. And pick up your socks.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Michael Landon said to make every day count, don’t wait for “someday” to create whatever it is you dream of creating.

What are you reading now?
This form!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m planning to enthrall you with the short list of books I would want, if I were to be stranded on a desert island. Further down the road, I hope to create a sequel to “I am an American.”

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible, The Best Loved Poems of the American People by Hazel Felleman, and the biggest P.G. Wodehouse anthology available.

Author Websites and Profiles
Gail McGaffigan Website
Gail McGaffigan Amazon Profile

Gail McGaffigan’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in the South Bronx in the late sixties to a drug-addicted mother, who didn’t know who my father was, and into a world that didn’t want me. Growing up, I faced life or death situations every step of the way, it seemed. Not only have I struggled to overcome my own specters, but also those of my environment.

To date, I have written two books.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I started to write Ghetto Bastard and Ghetto Bastard 2 as a form of therapy. In doing so, I realized that all the people around me, throughout my life, had been dealing with their own misfortunes. That’s when it hit me that I was writing my memoirs to convey that “current situation” neither determines nor defines “final destination.”

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can’t say that I have any unusual writing habits. I’m just writing my story.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Donald Goines, who wrote Whoreson, Dopefiend and Inner City Hoodlum, has been a big influence on me because his books, even though fiction, told the good, bad and ugly of the ghetto.

I also enjoyed reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley, The Godfather by Mario Puzo, Frankenstein by Mary Shelly and Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice.

All of the books I mentioned attest to the humanity of man and yet the inhumanity of man.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on the third book in my Ghetto Bastard Series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My books Ghetto Bastard, A Memoir and Ghetto Bastard 2 have recently been released on Amazon. As I am a new author, I am still developing a way to best promote my books. Hopefully, this bio will be one of the best methods I list in future author bios.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up! If you can see it, you can achieve it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Someone that was like mother to be once said “Beauty is only skin deep. Ugly is to the bone.”

What are you reading now?
I’m currently not reading anything because I’m working on my third book Ghetto Bastard, Life After Death.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Completing the Ghetto Bastard series with three more books to come.

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?
Dopefiend, by Donald Goines, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelly, the Godfather by Mario Puzo and The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley.

Author Websites and Profiles
Russell Vann Website
Russell Vann Amazon Profile

Russell Vann’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name’s Jayden Melbom and I’ve been writing since the age of ten I think. My passion for writing started shortly after my passion for reading began; I remember as a child I hated reading actually because I was always playing too many video games and didn’t want to waste my time with books. How times change. But ever since I’ve gotten the taste of writing I’ve never looked back. I’ve written many books in the past, but only currently have one published.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called ‘Threads of Life’. It’s a short story collection revolving around the themes of love and breakups mainly, of course the inspiration being my own breakup which fuelled my desire to get my feelings onto a page.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No, not reallly. I write everyday, which I suppose is unusual in a way, and often I listen to rap while writing. That is probably not something everybody does.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King I would say, George R.R. Martin as well, the Magician Series by Lev Grossman has influenced me as well. But those are just authors I’ve read recently, and I believe every book I’ve ever read has influenced me in some way and the writing style I have now.

What are you working on now?
A new novel about a basketball player who breaks his leg and must deal with the consequences, and it’s also about a girl who loses her boyfriend in a car crash and must deal with his loss. It’s going pretty well at the moment.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Doing this I guess. I’m pretty new to promoting and publishing, so I don’t really have a “best” method just yet.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write everyday, read a lot, don’t doubt yourself or your skills. Do that and you can be great.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To write everyday I think. A year ago I was only writing sparingly when I wanted to, and I just didn’t develop as quickly as I am now.

What are you reading now?
“The God of Small Things” by Arundhati Roy, and I am also rereading the Harry Potter series.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Just continue to write and write as it’s what I want to do for the rest of my life. Continue to publish my work as well I guess.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The first four books in the Game of Thrones series; there’s so much complexity in them and they are so long that I could just keep rereading them and find more stuff hidden within the words.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jayden Melbom Website
Jayden Melbom Amazon Profile

Jayden Melbom’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a wife and mother currently living in Colorado. I’ve been writing since I could pick up a pencil and love creating my own world. I have two self-published novellas and two traditionally published novels.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I have a two book series recently published called The Mystic Hope Series. The first book is Unbroken Spirit, and the sequel is Love’s Sacrifice. I was inspired to write the series because I love fantasy stories and wanted to try my hand at it. While the stories are Paranormal Romance, I consider them more Urban Fantasy as spiritual/otherworldly elements intertwine with the real world. The first book focuses on the tough topic of domestic abuse. The second book deals with good versus evil.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I read so many types of genres that I pull inspiration from different authors such as: Karen Marie Moning because of my love for fantasy, Jodi Piccoult for her amazing writing talent, and Francine Rivers for her ability to bring Biblical stories to life.

What are you working on now?
I’m not working on anything at the moment as I’m pregnant with our second child and busy raising a three-year old. I have no time or energy to write.

What are you reading now?
Mostly parenting books because three-year-olds are tough!

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?
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, because it’s my favorite love story and I’ve reread it multiple times, yet it never gets old. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, because I love the world she creates. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, because I love the movie and have attempted to read the book multiple times, but have never finished it.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kelsey Norman Website
Kelsey Norman Amazon Profile

Kelsey Norman’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I help young professionals get out of jobs they hate and find the work they love.
I help young dads become better husbands and fathers.
I help millenials grow in their confidence, strategic planning, and decision-making ability.
I help Christians who want to go deeper in their faith and live more integrated lives.
I help people of all ages get out of debt and become more financially stable.
I help people of all ages build LifeDocs that fit their needs.

I’m the bestselling author of three books:
Life Doc: How to Succeed in Life Without Losing Your Faith, Family, and Friends
Give and Grow Rich: Change Your Mind, Change Your Money
All Roads Lead to Jesus: A Universal Book from a Non-Universalist

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Life Doc: How to Succeed in Life Without Losing Your Faith, Family, and Friends

I met a guy who started living at 66 and died at 67. He had 11 months of finally living his dream. This caused me to do some deep introspection. I realized if I wanted to live the life of my dreams, I needed to get started TODAY!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
5:30am is my best time for writing. My second best time is after 11pm.

I wrote Life Doc in a week and a half. Then I completely re-wrote it in two days. That was a crazy experience!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Rob Bell, Donald Miller, and William Zinsser are my top three authors, by far.

I find certain musicians have shaped my writing as well. Guys like Jon Foreman, Josh Garrels, and NF.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on turning my book into a course and coaching program for those who want to go deeper with the Life Doc concepts.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Self-Publishing School has the best author community, in my opinion. So supportive, so encouraging, and they do great work.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Start.
And once you’ve started, Finish.

Keep two books close to you at all times:
William Zinsser’s “On Writing Well”
E.B. White and William Strunk’s “The Elements of Style

In them, you’ll find everything you need.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Respond, don’t react.

That has nothing to do with writing, but everything to do with life.

What are you reading now?
Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson
Jack: Straight from the Gut by Jack Welch
The Way of the Wild Heart by John Eldredge

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have an idea for a satire devotional and a few ideas for business books. We’ll see which comes first.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible
Plato, “The Complete Works”
Donald Miller’s “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years”
Rob Bell’s “How to Be Here”

Author Websites and Profiles
Omer Redden Website
Omer Redden Amazon Profile

Omer Redden’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in the Mother City, Cape Town, South Africa but currently reside in Vereeniging roughly situated 80 km on the outskirts of Johannesburg.

I have written one stage play, two volumes of Afrikaans poetry, one teen fiction novel, Steal My Heart, with Ramsha Tausalkar, a crime novella, The Mystery of the White Rose Serial Killer. My third book,or second novel, Death Before Dawn, is currently by the publisher. I’m working on my fourth, A Gathering Storm.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Mystery of the white Rose Serial Killer.

The book was inspired by problems we face in South Africa i.e. organ harvesting, corrupt police, a wrongful arrest and a serial killer.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No, I just love making notes of everything I write – character names, places etc. Furthermore I just write. No planning. Nothing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I deeply admire John Grisham. He has a fantastic writing style and his stories are absolutely wonderful and well-written.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working the sequel to Death Before Dawn, titled as A gathering Storm.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I mainly promote my books on Author Masterminds: https://authormasterminds.com/zalman-s-davis
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Zalman-Davis/e/B071ZGPQVR/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1508771723&sr=8-1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZalmanSDavis/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zalman-s-davis-84bbb8143/

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write everyday even if it is just a few words and keep believing in yourself. Write, rewrite and write some more.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If J.K Rowling could make it after being rejected so many times, then so can you!

What are you reading now?
I’m reading Craig Russel’s Eternal.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Publish more crime fiction books, write more stage plays and hopefully get my works translated into multiple languages.

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 not quite sure about that, but it would most definitely be John Grisham’s books.

Author Websites and Profiles
Zalman S. Davis Amazon Profile

Zalman S. Davis’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been sneezed on by an elephant, held at gunpoint and survived a killer California earthquake, which may explain my penchant for writing cliffhangers. After a brief Hollywood acting career, I happily moved behind the camera as Assistant to the Director of Production at The American Film Institute. I’m a former magazine editor and national journalism award winner. I was contributing book editor for Five Minutes to Midnight, an international thriller. The success of that book encouraged me to write my first solo novel, The Body Business, which was a finalist for some national and regional awards. Its sequel, The Body Next Door, is a Chanticleer Mystery & Mayhem Award- and a Readers’ Favorite Mystery Award-Winner.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is The Body Next Door, a multi-award-winning mystery. The inspiration for the entire series is the journey almost all of us makes to try to find a place in this crazy world. So you might say that the book is a mystery in a mystery. As Samantha struggles to discover her true calling, she must work to solve a mystery that is keeping her from reaching her goal.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
What may seem unusual for some seems normal to me. Honestly, I can’t think of any off-beat habits, although I probably have the most cluttered work space of any living writer. I envy ultra-organized writers, but I’ve never been able to write an outline and stick to it. Chaos forces me to focus.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
As a mystery writer, Agatha Christie and Nancy Drew are deep in my bones. Dr. Seuss for children’s silly verse. I was an early reader, and devoured anything I could reach on the bookshelves at home. Lately, books by Paulette Jiles, Jodi Picoult and Anthony Doerr have inspired me to keep working at my craft.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on the third “Body” book in The Samantha Newman Mystery Series, and a children’s silly verse series. I’m also doing research for a historical novel set in Mexico and Texas.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I try to promote through well-respected email newsletters and websites, especially those that feature books in my genre. However, my absolute favorite way to connect with readers is one on one through my website, email updates, or face to face at book fests, community events and especially, book clubs. I love connecting with readers! They inspire me to keep writing and to get better every day.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read. Read good books, written by good writers. Get feedback from early readers about your work (not your family or best friend, unless they are book people). Learn the rules of grammar. I’m not saying you have to always abide by them, but know which ones to break, and when. Understand that your job is not over when the book is published. A writer writes, but an author is a business owner. You have to be willing to work at promoting your books, too.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write every day. Even if your time’s limited, make writing a daily habit.

What are you reading now?
I just finished “News of The World.” Loved it. I’m halfway through “Keepers of the House,” an old Pulitzer Prize winner. And I have about five books in my to-be-read stack, most of them mysteries.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m hoping to get “Body” Book 3 out next year. The Body Next Door just came out in audiobook, and I’ll be doing promotion for that. Then on to my children’s series and writing the historical novel I’ve been researching for almost a decade.

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 few from my shelf: All the Light We Cannot See would definitely be one. I’m in love with that book. I’d like to reread Marcus Aurelius. Something by Shel Silverstein. And a single tome that includes the complete works of Shakespeare.

Author Websites and Profiles
Gay Yellen Website
Gay Yellen Amazon Profile

Gay Yellen’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is James Kademan and I am a new author. I have written two books so far, You Got This! A motivational guide for achieving your goals and The BOLD Business Book: a strategy guide to start, run and love your bold business.
I live in Madison, Wisconsin and run two small businesses that I started. I love talking, writing and living the entrepreneurial lifestyle. Which means I have few hobbies and hang out with people that mostly talk about business. It’s awesome.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The BOLD Business Book was a few year undertaking that was inspired by my reading of hundreds of business books along with attending a bunch of seminars on business, sales and time management. After starting and running a few businesses I learned a few things that seemed to never be addressed. I teach business planning classes and run into students that are oblivious to some things that are very important and rarely spoken about. So I decided to write a book that dealt with these things and had a blast doing it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I often listen to a loop of Ariana Grande’s “So into you” in the background.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Tony Robbins anything, Tim Ferris’ 4 Hour Workweek and Richard Banlder’s books on NLP have been read and reread by me. Almost to a fault.

What are you working on now?
The followup to The BOLD Business Book. I had to set a date to stop adding content so I could actually get the book to the editors. Content still keeps flowing, so I need to get that out to the world.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Hopefully awesomegang.com.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write and write some more. Then get smart editors that get your style. Do not fall in love with any sentence, paragraph of chapter. The best steaks came from cows that were trimmed.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Beware the rabbit hole.

What are you reading now?
Snowball, about Warren Buffet and Making It Stick, a book on improving memory.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To promote The BOLD Business Book.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Man’s Search for Meaning, Decisive, Walden and the biggest survival guide I could find.

Author Websites and Profiles
James Kademan Website
James Kademan Amazon Profile

James Kademan’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m still writing out of my bedroom. I hope someday to have a writing shed in the backyard. I have written a lot of books, but I only have published two. ‘5150: A Transfer’ is the start of a fiction series about the process of recovery from psychosis. The second book ‘Half’ was just released. I completed the third book, ‘M3X1(0’ and am still in the middle of editing it. I’ll take a break from editing in November to attempt to write “A Quarter” – the 4th book of the series – during NaNoWriMo.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Half is the book that was just published. It’s a continuation of the story that began in ‘5150: A Transfer.’ The main character slowly regains his sanity, but it proves elusive at times. He finds comfort in easy, repetitive tasks and games.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write on my iPad sometimes when I’m too lazy to get up from the TV.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
William Burroughs’ Naked Lunch, Jean Genet’s The Thief’s Journal, Jean Cocteau’s ‘Les Enfants Terribles,’ Garcia Lorca’s Casa de Bernarda Alba, Coleridge’s poem Kublai Khan, Canti by Giacomo Leopardi, Pablo Neruda’s Ode to a Pair of Socks, JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, a gay pornographic novel called “Bunk House Hunks,” A to B and Back Again by Andy Warhol (and Bridgid Polk), James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, The Shining by Stephen King…I guess I could go on for a long time, but those are the ones that spring to mind.

What are you working on now?
M3X1(0 is written, and I’m editing it now.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
If I knew that, I probably would hire someone to write this interview for me! Emails to friends, facebook, it’s all shots in the dark, and there are no fish in the barrel.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Don’t think about it; don’t plan to do it; write. If you have trouble with parts of speech and grammar, I highly recommend Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition – especially the part where you diagram sentences.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Buy the most expensive house you can afford and the cheapest car you can stand.

What are you reading now?
“Joyland” by Stephen King.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m going to sell the rights to the series to a powerful movie studio and watch money pour in. I work at a movie studio, so I just have to spill some coffee on the right producer.

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 1967 edition of the Unabridged Random House Dictionary of the English Language, The three part series of the complete editions of Physique Pictorial (I won’t go into why), Dante’s Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso in the original Italian…and one good potboiler by Stephen King or Preston & Childs that I haven’t already read. Oh and a huge blank notebook.

Author Websites and Profiles
Duncan MacLeod Website
Duncan MacLeod Amazon Profile
Duncan MacLeod Author Profile on Smashwords

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Skylar Hoffman. I’m a senior Mass Communication major at the University of Delaware. I had a near death experience that I made me fall in love with writing. I’m not a writer, I consider myself a thinker. I see things and I find a way to produce my ideas. I turned my near death experience into a screenplay titled, “False Advertising” which I’m looking to produce into a feature film. My experiences with the paranormal lead me to write my autobiography, “I Kinda See Dead People: A Spiritual Memoir.” Which is out now! I’m not trying to make money. I want people to know my story and get exposure to help the world. Both the living and dead. That is my purpose.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The movie, “The Sixth Sense” has a famous scene where the boy goes, “I See Dead People.” Many people know this film and the famous quote. I actually can see ghosts but I’m still young and learning about them. My story is told in a joking tone to lighten the subject matter. Therefore, I decided to title my book, “I Kinda See Dead People.” The subtitle, “A Spiritual Memoir” just talks about how the work is my story of self discovery.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I need to see it in my head first. You must experience what you are detailing in some way, shape, or form before you can write about it accurately.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
R.L. Stine, Mary Shelley, Robert Lipsyte, Stephen King, and Myself.

What are you working on now?
I’m about to finish my two screenplays that I’ve neglected on this book journey. I want to balance writing books and writing screenplays. I need a literary agent before I write another book. That way my stories can reach more people.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still learning that much. Definitely use social media to your advantage!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Watch a ton of YouTube videos, you’ll get there soon enough. Don’t listen to the haters, you have a vision, I suggest that you follow it. Everyone will tell you what to do, up until you follow through on your own terms.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t expect anything.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently a college student. Therefore, I’m reading textbooks that I don’t enjoy. I’d like to be reading anything Stephen King. That man is a horror genius!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I took an online course on writing fiction books. I need to read more so that I know what I want to write. I don’t just write books, I prefer to write movies, but I know which medium would best suit a story. I want to come up with a book series about other dimensions. I plan on also writing a book using a pen name about how innocence is lost and make an audience sympathize with a psychopath on death row.

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?
If I was stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere, I would bring Game of Thrones series with me. I’ve watched the show and really enjoy it. I would have a ton of free time, so thousands of pages of fantasy would be amazing. Plus there’s a lot of erotic material and that would help me be less lonely.

Author Websites and Profiles
Skylar Hoffman Website
Skylar Hoffman Amazon Profile
Skylar Hoffman Author Profile on Smashwords

Skylar Hoffman’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Marvin Crowther Grew up in San Bernardino California and Ogden Utah currently living in Saint George Utah- managed several businesses, worked for the IRS and enjoys outdoor adventures many of the things the author writes about are things he either experienced himself or has been on hand when others experienced the event. Author of Life’s Tangled Trail, Authored: This Volcanic Caldera We Live On

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Life’s Tangled Trail was written in the 1930’s by my grandfather. He was inspired by the events that took place during the Great Depression and his work in paleontology.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My inspiration comes from personal experience

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Louie L’Amour, Charles Dickens, and Louise Carol have a big influence on my writting

What are you working on now?
Missing Logs Mystery. A twisted who done it about loggers finding a unlikely group of thieves took their logs. Two died in what looked like an act of nature. The youth Grove and his friend Lyn find evidence to contradict the conventional wisdom.
Question is what did the mayor, sheriff and town council have to do with the thefts and were the deaths accidental, where they murder or did someone frame them?

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just write from your heart, and what makes you happy

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write whatever comes to mind then go back and organize it later

What are you reading now?
Cervantes Don Quixote

What’s next for you as a writer?
The adventures of running an inner city 24 hour donut shop

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?
Bible, The Lord of the Rings, Book of Morman

Author Websites and Profiles
Marvin Crowther Website
Marvin Crowther Amazon Profile

Marvin Crowther’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a married mother of two little girls. I have spent the last nine years of my life working in law enforcement and the criminal justice system. I just published my very first novel. I never considered writing until one day this summer, I had a crazy idea to try it out. I found that it came naturally, and I enjoyed it. It brought back memories that I had been voted biggest storyteller my senior year…who knew that 15 years later it would be the truth

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
A New Dawn. It’s about a victim of domestic violence. I was inspired because in my line of work, I see a lot of women who are beaten down. They continually return to their situations and lose themselves. I wanted to show women that they don’t have to be victims. They need to fight and save themselves.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really. I try to sneak it in when I have free time.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Nora Roberts, Jojo Moyes, and Nicholas Sparks

What are you working on now?
I have an idea for my next story, but don’t have it on paper yet.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is new to me. I made my first announcement on Facebook to let friends and family know. They usually feel obligated to buy. If they like it, they forward onto their friends. I also researched on Pinterest best ideas to promote your books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just write what you feel. Once you see it on paper, it takes on a life of its own. You may end up with a storyline that differs from your original idea, but it may be better.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It actually came from my dad when I was younger as an athlete. He said no matter how good you are, there will always be someone better. You just need to work that much harder to earn your place, and you’ll appreciate it more.

What are you reading now?
I’m going to read a story about serial killer HH Holmes

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ve got another story to write.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a multi-genre author who prefers to write suspenseful and daring tales laced with sweetness and shock-value alike. To date, I have three traditionally published titles with Blushing Books Publications and several other titles under my own self-published indie imprint, InfinityxCreations. My newest release is a paranormal romance and urban fantasy set to a contemporary backdrop and takes place in Nashville, Tennessee and surrounding areas. I enjoy hiking, photography, swimming and spending time with my children doing outdoor activities.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Forbidden Fantasies, it’s a bit hard to say what inspired it. I was doing some random researching for paranormal books about succubi and came across a legend about cambions, from there I began drafting a story about a young cambion who had no knowledge that she was a hybrid and the story just took off from that point.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not that I can think of – really. I get on the computer and need some music to get things going usually but I don’t have any rituals or regimens to start the process per se.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King, Anne Rice, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Laurell K Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, Karen Marie Moning, Ashley Jade, Alta Hensley, Dean Koontz, Agatha Christie, Edgar Allan Poe. There are several of them, really.

What are you working on now?
A contemporary romantic thriller entitled, ‘Swiped.’

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have found that Facebook is the best platform for myself. Although, I will say lately Twitter has been pretty buzz worthy itself.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Start building your platform first – you want sales, you’ll need an audience. Just because your book may be fantastic doesn’t mean that it will catch attention when thrown into the pond with all the other bigger fish. You need to have a place to cast your bait from so that it doesn’t get snagged on a rock, lost in the current, or sunk in the mud.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t give a damn what others think. The best writers really don’t. It’s all about a good story and being true to the craft and yourself. Don’t ever doubt your talents and even when it gets really hard – never give up.

What are you reading now?
Ashley Jade Complicated Hearts Part 2

What’s next for you as a writer?
I plan on staying in the craft for a lifetime. I want to put out many more books for years to come and hope to keep building my brand to become a household name someday.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible, The Four Agreements, and How to Survive on a Deserted Island

Author Websites and Profiles
Sai Marie Johnson Website
Sai Marie Johnson Amazon Profile
Sai Marie Johnson Author Profile on Smashwords

Sai Marie Johnson’s Social Media Links
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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I wrote 12 novels. I write since I stopped playing with toys – well, I started again with my kids, but I kept writing. Half of my novels are traditionally published, half of them I published myself. For publishing houses I am the nightmare because I am not focused on a single genre. The best story counts. And since I tell stories every way I can (over 1.500 live readings, playwright, script writer for film, photography) I see myself as a multi media storyteller.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“The Locomotive” – I just had that picture one day in my head: What if a train derails next to the sea and somebody lies underneath the rubble on the ground during low tide and the water comes in …

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I dictate my stories using speech recognition software. This way I hear the words right away for the first time.
PS: it isn’t any faster than typing, I still think about my sentences

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Since late 1980s: Cormac MacCarthy, Richard Ford – in the 90s Charles D’Ambrosio joined the round.

What are you working on now?
I work on an Utopian novel.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I still try to figure this out.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Always write the best story the best way you can.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“If you can do something else than writing, then do that.”
I can not.

What are you reading now?
Deborah Willis short stories.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Well, I work on a complex novel. That will take a year or two.

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?
Charles D’Ambrosio’s three books.

Author Websites and Profiles
Thorsten Nesch Website
Thorsten Nesch Amazon Profile

Thorsten Nesch’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Tonya Mead is a Certified Fraud Examiner, Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator and Private Investigator. She started her career as an Educational Psychologist- School-based, K-12 Regular Administrator (she has maintained her credentials). Presently, she is the President of Shared Knowledge, LLC. It is a certified minority-woman owned company. Tonya Mead is a recipient of the 2014 Cafritz Foundation Award for Excellence in Public Service for her innovative work in solving the difficult problem of educator fraud and accountability for the DC’s 85,000 students. Prior to her system, DC Schools were the poster child of academic fraud (Greg Toppo, USA Today, “Memo warns of rampant cheating in DC Schools”, November 4, 2013). She is a recognized expert, and former member Regional Council, the College Board. Ms. Mead was the state education agency’s team lead for the Accountability and Consolidated State Performance Reports involving advanced statistics, and complex data mapping, computer systems format structure, data forensics, and the joining of disparate data files and duplicate removals.

Since 2010, she has led her company as an independent reviewer for the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Healthy Schools on the secondary level and the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation on the post-secondary level. From 2006 to 2012, Ms. Mead. Mead served as expert content reviewer for the publication, “Helping Children at Home and School III: Handouts for Family and Educators “ for the National Association of School Psychologists, 250 (March 2010).
On the school level, she has served as Ninth Grade Academy Coordinator whereby the earned promotion rate increased by 10% through extensive tutoring in English and Math and modifications of the master schedule. She also has served as Instructional Facilitator and was responsible for a 17% increase in standardized test scores and led school improvement in a school that had been labeled by the City Paper as the “worst school in a city of under-performing schools” ultimately earning national recognition by the Middle State Association- Commission on Secondary Schools and Colleges. She directed the installation of a computerized library loan and circulation database and obtained support from the U. S. Library of Congress for donated books. She authored a successful proposal for funding from the Perkins Act, WIA and managed by the DC Department of Youth Employment to pilot a program to pay high achieving students in an impoverished area to excel in academics.
Prior to Ms. Mead’s work at the state education agency, Dr. Mead was Clinical Coordinator and Internal Audit Investigator for DEA Controlled Substances at a residential treatment facility in Massachusetts. Shared Knowledge has served as the lead consultant and Educational Psychologist for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor’s Alliance Against Drugs, Inc. a quasi public private partnership with the Department of Public Safety. In this role she started the “Status of Girls” program which expanded the live satellite feed from Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, DC and Aruba, Dutch Caribbean. She secured national co-sponsorships and 23 legislative endorsements. Some of the organizations signed on to assist with the program: National Crime Prevention Council, the Coalition of Girls Schools, The Boys and Girls Club, and the Girl Scouts, to name a few. Managed to budget. Marketed the conference and satellite-driven program ($300,000.00 budget). Oversight for RFP process, contract compliance and evaluative reports.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my book is, Fraud in Education: Beyond the Wrong Answer. The inspiration for this book is based upon the 10 years spent working in the public school system in the District of Columbia.

The inspiration for my latest book was my analysis of Office of Inspector General Reports and Auditor’s Reports (a) the 2012 DC OIG Report No. 2011-0318 regarding test security of standardized assessments and (b) the 2007 DC OIG Report # 06-2-25GA and the (c) DC Auditor’s Report #00:03:SDG:LD:HA:vh with findings that many DC schools had fraudulently graduated students without the proper credits or course completion and ineffective systems for special education accountability.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Norman Vincent Peale and Robert Schuller

What are you working on now?
An update of my book, Awaken From your Slumbers and Rise on your Wings, an inspirational book for African Americans.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have a blog at http://edfraud.net

Two of my articles written for the professional law enforcement community to combat fraud has appeared in the Fraud Magazine published by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. As a result, I have received a lot of hits to my site and possibly sold a few more books, However the best website thus far is the http://amazon.com/author/tonyajmead because it provides an automatic update to my blog feed.

Another method that has been helpful is presenting at professional conferences. I have presented before the National Institute of Standards and Technology regarding cyber security, the National Association of State Directors of Education Certification, the International Conference on Academic Integrity, and the International Academic Forum. While attending these conferences, I have the opportunity to meet colleagues, recharge my batteries and network.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My book is narrowly focused on fraud, data breaches, and cyber security in the education sector. Although the education sector employs 13.3 million people in total, it doesn’t readily come to mind (unlike healthcare) when one thinks of fraud. Even so, my book is ranked in the 787 for forensic science on the Top 100 list and about 1,400 for the education administration category. When doing a Google search on the words “fraud in education” or “cyber security,” the number of searches for cyber related words are 100 times greater than that of fraud. So the design of your book cover is very important. I placed too much emphasis on the fraud aspect (for the cover) although one full chapter is solely focused on data and cyber security. I would probably see an increase in book sales with a book cover that illustrates an equal emphasis on cyber, data and computer-assisted crimes in education.

Another thing that would be helpful for new authors is to make sure that when you receive positive comments about your book in person, that you ask the reader to post them to your website and or review section for Amazon.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” Pablo Picasso.

What are you reading now?
The Science of Mind magazine.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Continue to read and write more.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible, A course in miracles, any book by Norman Vincent Peale, and Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

Author Websites and Profiles
Tonya Mead Website
Tonya Mead Amazon Profile

Tonya Mead’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have a full time auto-detailing job at a Ford dealership and write at night. I’d REALLY like to flip that situation on its head, but only time will tell! I’ve written two books, After and Preservation Protocol.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Preservation Protocol. I was inspired by the recent fears of artificial intelligence outstripping human intelligence and what that might mean for the future of mankind. I decided to take that idea and expand on it: What if the artificial intelligence gained humanlike emotion, and the drive to protect its own existence?

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really! I write late at night when everyone is in bed so that I can focus. Other than that, I’m nothing special.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I grew up reading Isaac Asimov and Jules Verne. I also read a lot of Stephen King in my later school years and early adulthood. I’m definitely a fan of J.K. Rowling as well.

What are you working on now?
My first two books are strongly based in science fiction, but I’m rolling around the idea of doing something paranormal. I’m not for sure about it just yet. I’m still coming off the high of finishing Preservation Protocol!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I find Amazon’s own advertising tools for Kindle are a good, strong base to start with. Ancillary promotion sites and strong word-of-mouth are an important addendum.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
You’ve got to write for the love of it when you are starting out. Nobody knows who you are, and almost nobody will care about your book. YOU need to care about your book, though! If you’re not having fun with the whole process, or are only concerned with making money? Go do something else. You’ll be miserable otherwise!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Find your happiness, find yourself.

What are you reading now?
An Adventure Time comic book! I’m such a kid, and I’m okay with that.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m really hoping to grow wings as an author. I’d love to be able to transition to it full time and put out three or four books a year. Only time will tell!

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?
Oh, wow! What a question. “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, because like I said, I’m still a kid. Maybe “Journey to the Center of the Earth”. Maybe “Different Seasons” by Stephen King. I’m just coming up with these off the top of my head. It really is a difficult question.

Author Websites and Profiles
John Prescott Website
John Prescott Amazon Profile

John Prescott’s Social Media Links
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