Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an expat, living in Germany with my family. Being away from the hustle and bustle of British life has given me a little time to write, but sadly still not enough time. I have only just started writing and two young children take up most of my energies!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The book is called Mo. I was inspired by a story I read in a local paper about someone called “The Moth Man”. He collected moths from all over the world. I wanted to integrate his unusual hobby into a story with a contemporary twist.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I think writing is generally an unusual habit: sitting at a desk; staring at a screen; shutting yourself away from the world for an hour or so. Mind you, that sounds like my day job, too.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
It sounds banal, but I read EVERYTHING. I particularly enjoyed Fantasy when I was younger, and I still read that genre. But really anything that is recommended to me, or I find discarded at an airport – this is how I stumbled across “The Life of Pi”.

What are you working on now?
The second book ín “The Spotlight Tales”. It’s a environmental whodunnit – if there is such a thing.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I really don’t know. I am floundering a bit in the marketing game. I am torn between contacting everyone, and not wanting to badger anybody. I need to read what your other authors have answered for this question.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write in your own style; don’t try to emulate other authors; don’t be afraid to walk away from your writing for a while; get out of the house for a bit.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Just keep on driving, and you’ll get there.

What are you reading now?
I’m ploughing my way through The Mallorean.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am formulating Book Three of The Spotlight Tales in my mind. I have ideas, and they are slowly coming together.

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?
Four of the Encyclopedia Britannica that I bought about ten years ago. There are about 20 of them in the set, and I’ve barely looked at them. It would be a good opportunity to read them. Might be a bit boring, though.

Author Websites and Profiles
Simon Pearce Website
Simon Pearce Amazon Profile

Simon Pearce’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Trevor Douglas and after a long career as an IT consultant, I began writing in 2013 and published my first novel, The Catalin Code, in 2014. Since then, I’ve written a further three novels in the mystery/thriller genre and I’m currently writing my third Bridgette Cash Novel in the ‘Cold’ series, entitled Cold Hard Cash.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Cold Trail, the second book in the ‘Cold’ series. I’ve had the idea for this book since 2010, but have only now had time to write it. The story was largely inspired by a desire to write a novel where my main character, Bridgette Cash, is pitted not only against a group of criminals as she investigates a possible murder, but also a huge, once in a lifetime snowstorm. I liked the challenge of pitting my main character against multiple challenges – mental, emotional and physical to test her to her limits.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really other than I’m a big fan of Dragon Dictate and do most of my first drafts via voice, rather than a traditional keyboard.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
While I’m a big fan of Lee Child, John Grisham, and Patricia Cornwell, I am most indebted to Nelson De Mille, particularly his book ‘Spencerville’. For almost twenty years, I’d dreamed of writing the next big spy thriller (think Robert Ludlum and Frederick Forsythe), but every spy novel idea I had was terrible. After reading Spencerville, which only had 3 main characters and was set in a small town, I decided to move away from ‘spy’ style novels to more a straight crime fiction genre. I came up with four reasonably solid ideas for books and then decided to start writing my first novel in 2013. I credit Nelson De Mille for inspiring me to move in a new creative direction that got my writing career going.

What are you working on now?
I’m writing Cold Hard Cash, the third book in the ‘Cold’ series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still trying to figure that one out. I hear Bookbub is all the rage right now, but things change pretty quickly in the eBook publishing space. I link in with a few Indie communities and listen to a lot of podcasts. I think any advice I give now will likely be out of date in six months.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes – 3 key points:
1. If you’re going to go Indie, write in series from the ‘get go’ and start a mailing list the day you decide this is what you want to do.
2. Be patient. You will get better with each book you write and it’s like most things in life – you need to do this for a while before you get good at it.
3. While a good story is paramount, you also need characters that are believable, that develop over time. Having a character arc (particularly for your protagonist) is vital.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Stephen King’s advice is hard to beat – ‘Read a lot and write a lot’. When you start writing, don’t stop reading. You never read the same way again after you start writing, and you learn a lot from the best authors by continuing to read their books after you have started writing your own stories.

What are you reading now?
Night School by Lee Child.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finishing Cold Hard Cash later in the year, but more than anything, 2018 is a year of marketing for me to get my name known a little wider in the reader communities.

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. Pillars of the Earth (my favorite book)
2. Any book on how to survive on a desert island (for practical reasons)
3. Game of Thrones – the complete series (I haven’t had time to read them yet, and I guess I’d have a lot of spare time on an island)

Author Websites and Profiles
Trevor Douglas Website
Trevor Douglas Amazon Profile

Trevor Douglas’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi everyone. My name is Erzabet Bishop and I am a USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of paranormal and erotic romance. I’ve run out of fingers and toes for how many books are out there. lol.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Kitten Around and it is the third in the Shifting Hearts Dating Agency series. It was inspired in part by my very unwanted guest, Hurricane Harvey. While I was very lucky to escape with very little damage, my friends of mine were not. It was a frightening time for everyone in Houston and it made its way into my book.

One of my other new releases is called Burning Midnight and another called Torment is coming out in February.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Other than the fort of water bottles and the mountain of candy stacked on my printer? No. (giggles)

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Kim Harrison, Anne Rice, Rachel Meade, Holly Black, Maggie Stievater to name a few. I fell in love with urban fantasy and paranormal books when I was pretty young and my characters tend to live there.

What are you working on now?
I have just finished Bound in Fire, a fireman romance that will be in the Coming In Hot set out this spring. I’m also working on Snow, a paranormal retelling of Snow White. Also in the works is the third book in the Demons in Darkness series and a few more top secret projects that will reveal themselves soon…

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I love to work with other authors to do newsletter swaps. The exposure is the key.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t quit. Even when times are hard (like for me this year with my husband out of work and a hurricane bearing down on us) you have to let yourself center and find that place inside yourself where you can just be…and write.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Ray Bradbury had a saying that went something like this…Write a short story a week. Sooner or later you won’t be terrible. Damned if that didn’t work. lol.

What are you reading now?
I just finished Eleanor and Park and I loved it. Currently, I am reading an arc of The Hostage. Oh-I also just finished Woman in the Window. If you love thrillers, check that one out. Wow!!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to explore my roots in YA and finish the novels that keep pawing at me in the middle of the night. Reverse harem is also something I really want to try. Cause who could resist 4 hunky guys? Oh yeah.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
That’s not fair. *whimper*
Guilty Pleasures by Laurel K. Hamilton
Tales of Horror and the Supernatural (anthology from when I was a kid)
Wuthering Heights
Court of Mist and Fury
Tithe by Holly Black

Author Websites and Profiles
Erzabet Bishop Website
Erzabet Bishop Amazon Profile

Erzabet Bishop’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
While I have ghostwritten at least a dozen books – mostly self-help, marketing and biography – for others, the first book under my real name has recently been published. After writing other people’s stories for so long, it feels nice to finally see something with my name on it.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Addiction Nobody Will Talk About: How I Let My Pornography Addiction Hurt People and Destroy Relationships

My battle with the cross-addictions of alcohol and pornography, along with how my mental illnesses of bipolar disorder and PTSD, were the impetus. When I fell, it was hard. The book details that fall with the hope that it shatters any stereotypes non-addicts may have about those with porn addiction and that those who might be in the early or ongoing stages of porn addiction can see where it leads and turn things around now, before it’s too late.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
The first draft of this book was written while I was in jail. I had to write it into four composition notebooks using those tiny eraser-less pencil you use to score mini-golf. It was the only writing instrument allowed.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein is a huge book in my life. I’ve read it three times, about 10 years apart and the lessons I take from it change every time. It’s a bit of a barometer of where my life is at any given moment. I’m also a big fan of Chuck Klosterman, Augusten Burroughs and just about anything on behavioral economics, like Thinking Fast and Slow or Freakonomics.

What are you working on now?
I’m doing a lot of publicity and promotion for the book right now, but in between I’ve started outlining the next book about pornography addiction, which will be less memoir and more self-help.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve found my website at www.RecoveringPornAddict.com has been nice because I control the message and medium 100% there. Social media is OK, depending on who is doing the talking. I think the best single piece of promotion I had was a story by the New England Cable News network.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, write. You only get better by writing. It may take millions of words to get good, but you’ll get there. And never give up. I had 50 agents and 70 publishers say no, or want me to change things to my book I wasn’t comfortable with before I found the right publisher.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Put down the gun.

What are you reading now?
Sadly, nothing. I find that between my day job as a ghostwriter, interspersed with marketing my book and simply trying to be a decent father and husband, I needed to take a break from reading for pleasure.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finding time to write the next book while still working on books for my clients as a ghostwriter.

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?
Siriona, Texas – It’s over a million words, and I’ve got the time
A guide to survival on a desert island
The biggest book of Sudoku and Crossword Puzzles I Could Find
I’d bring my book, to remind me where I came from.

Author Websites and Profiles
Joshua Shea Website
Joshua Shea Amazon Profile

Joshua Shea’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Well for one, I love to read horror stories, and it’s even more fun to write them. I have written three books so far, Albert: Killer In The Woods, Albert II: Bobby’s Revenge, and The Soul Cursed Protector.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Soul Cursed Protector, was my latest book. My kids inspired me to write that one, because they wanted to be able to read something of mine. With that I decided to write more of a kid friendly book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not sure if it’s unusual, but I always have to have a cup of coffee while I write.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King has inspired me the most. I mean that guy doesn’t care what anyone thinks, he writes what he wants to write in the moment.

What are you working on now?
I am writing a murder mystery at the moment called, The Midnight Killer. I feel like this will be some of my best work yet.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I just promote myself, and my books the best that I can. I don’t really have one specific method or website that I use.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never give up, no matter how many times you get rejected, it’s just apart of being a writer.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write the way you feel is comfortable, you can’t make everyone happy.

What are you reading now?
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Can’t say for sure, as a writer you never know.

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?
It, Mr. Mercedes, Lord Of The Rings just to switch it up a bit.

Author Websites and Profiles
Allen Stanfill Amazon Profile

Allen Stanfill’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an English writer and avid female adventurer. Born and raised in South West London, I read Geography at the University of Chichester where shortly after, my travels took me to the open highways of North America. Spending five months living in Ghana, West Africa volunteering in teaching tennis to children, led me to founding non-profit organisation ‘Africa Tennis Aid’. Shortly after, I went to live in the Amazon Rainforests of Ecuador, inspiring my second travel book and audio book ‘Letters From The Amazon’ by PeopleTalk Podcasts and spent two years travelling around Australia, living in an aborigine community and writing my first travel book ‘The Show Must Go On – Being with an Australian Travelling Zoo’. In recent times, I went and spent time with Buddhist Monks whilst building houses in Cambodia and a year hitchiking around New Zealand, waka sailing with Maoris and visiting indigenous villages.

I have written for ‘Tennis Life UK’ and ‘Tennis Today’ Magazine and an adaptation of my first travel story ‘The Show Must Go On – Being with an Australian Travelling Zoo’ was first published in 2013 in German for travel book ‘Australien wie wir es sehen’. I still live in London, where I love playing tennis, petting dogs and wonder at the world about me.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The first book I have written is called ‘The Show Must Go On – Being with an Australian Zoo’. It is a creative narrative of my experience travelling as an English animal care assistant on the carnival circuit of East Australia. The carnival circuit is an exclusive world which I was privy to be welcomed into, so the story was my way of sharing this carnival life through my eyes as a foreign outsider in this fanciful world not many can imagine.

Its free on Amazon Kindle for Australia Day weekend 26th – 28th January 2018

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write how I speak alot of the time or how I speak internally to myself. I think my writing habits portray an expression more like an intimate candid conversation you would be having with me through the pages of these crazy things I’ve done. I hope it comes across that way anyway.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love unique adventure stories and I aspire to write and entertain others through writing my own. I like books from the adventures of Levison Wood, Charlie Carroll and Lois Pryce, especially solo womens adventure travel stories. I hope I can inspire women through my own unique adventure stories, hit the road, make the most of their time and explore this great big fascinating world around us by following their curiosity and see the funny side of life too…..

But I did love Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, which traveller or free spirit doesn’t?

What are you working on now?
Its called ‘Letters from The Amazon’ as a working title and was originally a short version made into a six part audio book produced by PeopleTalk Podcasts. It was inspired by my childhood love for Indiana Jones and the desire to follow in his adventurous footsteps into the Amazon Rainforest, not only feeding my incessant thirst for adventure but also discovering I would be following in his footsteps to the most sacred natural treasure trove that is being snatched away as we speak…

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Still working that out! Hopefully Awesome Gang! you were recommended by the way…..

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Not established enough yet to justify – I’m still a new author!

I would just say if you have a story you’re just compelled to tell, just work hard, improve your craft to make it the best you can do and put it out there and see what happens! You’ll feel alot better…

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The cave you fear to enter, holds the treasure you seek to find…..

And you have to be willing to do things other people are not willing to do, that’s what sets you apart for success.

What are you reading now?
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl – about not giving up hope when faced with greatest adversaries.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Continuing my second travel story ‘Letters From The Amazon’ which I hope this time to submit to a traditional publisher to help me share my adventure and discoveries.

Watch this space….

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?
Mmmm… aside from a couple of adventure story books, a blank notebook to write….I think by the Dalai Lama also – I’d have time and peace to meditate!

Author Websites and Profiles
Sal Bolton Website
Sal Bolton Amazon Profile

Sal Bolton’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have never thought of being a writer! Sometimes, you start to discover things about yourself you have never known before! However, it is never too late! once this happens to you, just follow your intuition and passion.
I started writing in 2013, I published eight fiction and non-fiction books, write English articles on the internet and produced two documentaries, and compose songs. I wrote Sci-Fi, children, philosophy, spirituality, suspense, but the genre I love most is the Romance genre, that is why I always mix Romance with the other genres.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I always question myself: does the mind have a role in evaluating our beliefs? The Big questions of life always inspired me, so I wrote “Beyond Life” book in an attempt to have some answers

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think that it is very unusual, but I always have hard times when writing fiction books, for the characters of my stories come alive, I can almost see, hear, smell every one of them! This sounds crazy but I believe that this happens to many writers as well.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The philosophy books of the Egyptian scholar Mustafa Mahmoud, the Islamic scholar El Ghazaly and dr. Mohamed Emara influenced me, also I love Shakespeare, Jane Austin, and Charles Dickens

What are you working on now?
I am trying to gather information about the environment in Egypt, as I have a passion to write a novel regarding the many problems that arise from the pollution.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
don’t know yet.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be true to yourself and your readers. In other words, don’t write what others want you to say, but write what you feel is true.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be confident

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading a romantic book titled “transient” by the innovative writer Kareem Adly

What’s next for you as a writer?
I would love to translate the rest of my novels into English and turn any of my novels into a movie.

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 Nobel Quran, change your life (by El Ghazaly), Piano scales chords

Author Websites and Profiles
salma Hassaballa Website
salma Hassaballa Amazon Profile

salma Hassaballa’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Educator, author, lover of languages and cultures are some words people who know me would use to describe me. I am a single parent who enjoys romantic comedy and Marvel superheroes. My favorite thing in the world to do is to breakfast at 1 AM (totally bad for the health) while watching The Andy Griffith Show. I have written too many books to count. Most have been ghostwritten for others.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my latest book is Want Not, Touch Not. This is part 2 of Her Crime, His Time. I originally wrote Her Crime, His Time as a novella but one reader was dissatisfied because she wanted more. This prompted me to look deeper into the relationship of Jaz and Terrell and expand the story to Want Not, Touch Not which I consider even better than part 1.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write when commuting to and from work, at airports, just about anywhere really.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love Catherine Coulter’s, Lavyrle Spencer, Constance o’Banyon and Johanna Lindsay

What are you working on now?
I am working on a time travel romance novel that I am excited about.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Writing in series is a good promotional tool, especially when the first book is permafree. Facebook is a good tool with many reader” groups available to authors.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I believe every one of us have a story inside of us. Don’t be afraid to write your story, if it’s even just for your own pleasure.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
A good editor is worth his/her weight in goal.

What are you reading now?
I am reading the Andrew Grey’s Carlisle cop series.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I would like to spread my wings a little and diversify into other genres, one of which is children’s books, more specifically for tweens. I remember my love for reading started at this age with books like Nancy Drew and Sweet Valley High.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Gone Too Far by Suzanne Brockmann, The Gamble by Lavyrle Spencer, Johanna Lindsay Man of My Dreams, Wolf Runner by Constance O’Banyon

Author Websites and Profiles
Shashane Wallace Amazon Profile

Shashane Wallace’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a bestselling author, and have written for ERE Media, HR.com, Lean Human Capital, Recruiting Headlines, HealthcareSource, , and other forms of media. I have also been a featured speaker on the topic of job hunting and recruitment.

To date I have written 3 books with a focus in HR Books.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Job Search: Fundamentals of Effective Job Hunting, Resumes, and Interviews

What inspired this book was the success of my last book Recruiting 101 which was a best seller.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have to listen to Depeche Mode when I write lol

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My wife Sarah Mostyn

What are you working on now?
A comprehensive book on Human Resources.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
The best advise i recommend is to build a following.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never stop writing!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never give up your dreams!

What are you reading now?
I am reading a manuscript for my wife Sarah.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Continue to write and work on new projects.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
1. The Catcher in the Rye, 2. Recruiting 101, 3. The Blue Baboon in the Big Balloon

Author Websites and Profiles
Steven Mostyn Website
Steven Mostyn Amazon Profile

Steven Mostyn’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi everyone; I’ve been in the building trade for 30 odd years and writing about it since 2009. Now trying to help people through handycrowd.com and learning just as much myself. I’ve published one small book about old ceilings, and have just finished another, much larger one (a life’s work you might say) about living a more practical life.

I’m lucky enough work from home near the beach in Norway, and look after five crazy chickens and one not-so-crazy wife; Oh, and two kids, 12 and 14 (jury’s still out on their crazy…).

Strictly non-fiction so far, but I have some great real life stories from my aid work days in East Africa, which I’m dying to weave into some colourful fiction. One day, if I have the chops…

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
How to be Handy [hairy bottom not required] and the inspiration comes from seeig so much stuff written about DIY and home improvements which just seem to assume that folks can actually do the work. I thought this was dumb, I mean, I had to learn it and it takes years to get good at some of this stuff! So I set out to get inside the mind of a handy person and get the whole process down on paper to help other people who want to do all of their own stuff.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I love late at night work, if I didn’t have kids I’m sure I’d sleep until midday and then work into the small hours every day…

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Case for Working with Your Hands: Or Why Office Work is Bad for Us and Fixing Things Feels Good by Matthew B. Crawford
Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives by Dan Millman
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
Walden by Henry David Thoreau

What are you working on now?
Book marketing! And of course a new book about home maintenance…

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook seems better than google adwords etc.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Have your own platform…

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If you want to meet extraordinary people you need to do extraordinary things…

What are you reading now?
How to be Everything by Emilie Wapnick
Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson

What’s next for you as a writer?
Expand my reach…

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 four books on hunting, food preservation, navigation and how to build a log cabin lol!

Author Websites and Profiles
Ian Anderson Website
Ian Anderson Amazon Profile

Ian Anderson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Well, hey there! I’m Abby, and I’m a writer based out of New Hampshire. I currently have 3 books out, with my 4th coming out February 13th, 2018: In the Event the Flower Girl Explodes.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
In the Event the Flower Girl Explodes was inspired by 2 years of complete wedding chaos, where everyone I knew was getting married — including myself.

No wedding planning is without its drama, and the outright absurd stories I witnessed or were a part of set the foundation of this book. I also was inspired by the unique geography of Florida — where some parts are considered the South, but other parts (like Miami) are not. It made me want to create a fictional town that was a suburb of Miami, but tried to play it up like they were the South.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My compulsion to write is probably the weirdest part. I could be in the middle of anything — washing dishes, watching TV, even driving — and I’ll stop what I’m doing and write in the first notebook I find. Which brings me to my other writing quirk: my work is completely scattered, and I have to designate “organization” days where I sit down with all my notebooks, type up what I’ve written, and put everything into its proper folder on my computer.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
David Sedaris and Joan Didion have been my biggest influencers in the world of essay writing. Likewise, Anais Nin and her journals were monumental for me. I’m also a huge fan of Cheryl Strayed and Lauren Groff, both of whom have a brutally beautiful way with words.

What are you working on now?
Well, right now it’s all about In the Event the Flower Girl Explodes! I’m also in the beginning stages of a new book. Right now it’s just notes and ideas, but the story is forming quickly and I look forward to turning those notes into a novel.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Aside from this site, of course? Really, it’s all about connecting with the readers. I love Goodreads for that exact reason, as I do Instagram. The world of the internet has really opened things up for writers. We don’t have to be this mysterious name behind the story. We can interact and bare our souls in new and engaging ways.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep at it. Recognize that rejection is the name of the game and we’ll always wish we were the exception to the rule. Just keep at it. Write every day, even if it’s just a blurb about how your day went. Just keep at it. Read just as voraciously; writing without reading is like driving without stoping for gas — eventually you’ll run out of fuel. Just keep at it. Find that fine line between knowing you could always improve as a writer and having faith in your writing abilities in the present moment. Just keep at it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.”

(Meaning delete the parts that don’t work for your story, even if you love them. Don’t literally kill your darlings.)

What are you reading now?
Always the Love of Someone – Huw Lawrence

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m excited to see where I go with In the Event the Flower Girl Explodes! I’m also excited to start writing my newest novel, as I am to start organizing my newest poetry for my next collection, which will hopefully be out later this year.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Four books on surviving on a desert island.

(But, for real: Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Anais Nin’s Henry & June, and…yeah, still a book on surviving on a desert island.)

Author Websites and Profiles
Abby Rosmarin Website
Abby Rosmarin Amazon Profile

Abby Rosmarin’s Social Media Links
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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Maria van Daarten. I was born and grew up in the Rhineland/Germany. For many years I travelled through Southern Europe and took on a variety of jobs in order to support myself and allwow me a lifestyle that gave me plenty of free time.

Today A am married and live in Berlin. However, I continue to spend a large part of every year in Southern Europe enjoying the sunny climate.

Currently, I am working on my second book which once again covers in a light-hearted way the topic of Prostitution.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The title of my book is: “Sunshine, Sex & Easy Money” – Diary of a Call Girl – I got the inspiration when I was living in Athens/Greece and worked as a Callgirl.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No

What authors, or books have influenced you?
None

What are you working on now?
I am writing in a juicy, light-hearted and amusing way about a Callgirls daily work.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
https://goo.gl/QNr5dd

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write… just keep writing. Every day if possible. Open at least your document and read your last sentences. It keeps you flowing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Try to write 1000 words per day and if you cant make it, don’t worry! Another day you will write more than 1000 words.

What are you reading now?
Hitchhiker trough the galaxy

What’s next for you as a writer?
Publishing, promoting and writing 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?
The first three of Douglas Adams and one about survival

Author Websites and Profiles
Maria Van Daarten Website
Maria Van Daarten Amazon Profile

Maria Van Daarten’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My passion for writing started when I wrote her first poem at age 5. Since then I have written more than 210 poems and 3 plays. The Jasmine strand is my debut novel and the first to be published.
I love to spend my time reading, writing and traveling. I enjoy classical dance and music. An ardent animal lover, I devote most of my free time to taking care of stray animals.
I am an expressive person interested and swayed by other’s expressions and mannerisms. I can spend days together just watching people.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My novel “The Jasmine Strand” is inspired by the thousands of women I have met and their lives. You can see so much joy in a woman’s face as she welcomes a guest with a cup of coffee. Have you ever wondered why it is mostly the woman who does this simple task? Is it wrong to embrace tradition? Should fights for simple changes always be a revolution? Have we achieved much by revolutions?
A jasmine strand is a symbol of a tradition loving Indian woman. While many like to adorn their plaits with it, some also hate doing it, but adorn themselves with it just to avoid tiffs in the family. Sadly, adjusting and accommodating to the whims of her family becomes a habit that puts an Indian woman in situations that she finds very hard to wriggle out of. Most women do not aim for the skies, but would rather struggle to gain the respect and affection of their family. But often they do not get what they want, despite all their sacrifices, and this book is dedicated to all of them.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am inspired heavily by mannerisms of people and animals around me. I may forget their names and faces but never their mannerisms. I also like to superimpose one persons mannerism on another and think, how would ‘X’ behave if she had ‘Y’ mannerisms.
Also I like to visualize everything like a movie and then start writing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Arundhati Roy, Ken Follett have influenced and inspired me a lot.

What are you working on now?
I am working on a thriller set in a forest. It has lot of references from my observations of people during my trips.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I mostly like to use social media to promote about the book as it is a faster mode of communicating and connecting with the readers. I haven’t run any promotions about the book yet but I strongly feel connecting with the readers on social media is the way to go. I also have some excerpts from the book uploaded regularly in form of an image on my Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write !
Don’t hesitate to publish your work. Don’t be afraid of feedback and select a great editor.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Writing snippets or dialogues in a regional language does not necessarily being the flavor of the region. It can only be brought by creativity in your writing.

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading Grit by Angela Duckworth.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Thrillers, comic strips , more social novels. Sky is a beautiful blue today and wide open for me.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The three books that I am working on right now..

Author Websites and Profiles
Hemamalini Padmanabhan Website
Hemamalini Padmanabhan Amazon Profile

Hemamalini Padmanabhan’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am brand-new to the publishing world. I just published my debut novel!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The title of the book is His Wife, and it was inspired by my favorite book growing up, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I always felt sorry for the main character in her book, and I wanted to do a modern retelling of her story, and make that character strong and kickass!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have to make myself write every day, and I dread starting to write. You’d think I was going to the dentist. But once I start writing, I never want to quit.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Sylvia Day is a strong influence on my writing. I love her description, and the way her words flow on a page.

What are you working on now?
I am working on a new adult romance between a graduate student and a police officer. Can’t wait to see where these characters take me!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am a boots on the ground kind of girl. I use Facebook heavily, going page by page to promote my books myself. I am trying to learn Twitter and Instagram now.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Write. Write. Write. Write!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write every day. And develop a thick skin for criticism!

What are you reading now?
I am reading (again!) Sylvia Day’s Crossfire series. I love to reread my favorite books. It’s like visiting with an old friend.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More books! I want to publish my second book as soon as possible, and then try to dive into book three right after that.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Little Women by Louise May Alcott
It by Stephen King
The Stand by Stephen King

Author Websites and Profiles
Ashley Hastings Website
Ashley Hastings Amazon Profile

Ashley Hastings’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written 3 books and working on #4.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Out of Silence, I believe that women abused by spouses or a partner need to be encouraged to leave. These women need to hear they are not alone and there are people, counsellors that are willing to help. Police should not return the abuser to the home the abused person(s) live at. Often when the police leave the abuser becomes more angry and abusive. I want a spotlight on abused people.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to stand up when I write.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Margaret Atwood

What are you working on now?
Romantic novel. Much happier than Out of Silence which was difficult at times. I prefer to write very early like 4:00 a.m. I have a clear head and high energy.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is my first time promoting my books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t get distracted.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?

What are you reading now?
What Happened – Hillary Clinton.
I have read books my whole life so I don’t spend too much time reading these days. I love a good mystery.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish my latest book – Romance with some sex novel

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Any of John Grisham’ books would keep me busy. I also have all movies made from his books.

Author Websites and Profiles
Rosemarie Smith Website