Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am Tulika Anand Thakur, a poet from Patna, Bihar dabbling into poetry since last few years. I am a recruitment specialist at SHEROES specialized in diversity hiring. I also moderate the online poetry community of SHEROES which has around 50000 members at present. I have worked in several industries like education, ecommerce, media and internet. I have written one book so far. The name of my book is “Alfazon se Ulfat”. In my first book, I have presented a collection of my 200 poems in hindi and urdu which are reflections of my deepest emotions around love, real life experiences, motherhood, friendship, relationship and womanhood.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my latest book is “Alfazon se Ulfat”. I am very romantic by nature and mostly write poems around love and relationship. I get fascinated by urdu words. Hence, the name of my first book is “Alfazon se Ulfat”.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I get the urge to write generally when I am alone. I write mostly during odd hours like 10 pm in the night till 2am. I write 7-8 poems in a row.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I get influenced by the poems of Gulzar, Zaved Akhtar and Piyush Mishra.

What are you working on now?
I am working on the series-2 of Alfazon se Ulfat.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
The best method to promote my book is to talk about it on social media channels like facebook, whatsapp, instagarm, twitter and SHEROES and among my family and friends.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
The only advice is to pen down your thoughts and publish it. Don’t wait for the right time. This is the right time to write it and publish it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I have ever heard is “Believe in yourself”.

What are you reading now?
I am reading a book namely “How to win friends and influence people?”

What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to be a best seller author for a romantic 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?
I will bring following books:

1. Secret
2. Designing my life
3. Message in a bottle
4. Half-girlfriend

Tulika Anand Thakur’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
We’ve currently got two published under the name Evie Snow but in 2018 we’ll be releasing around seven or eight new releases and a bunch more in 2019. It’s going to be a busy couple of years! There might be a lot of cake eating and some red wine… (Who are we kidding? truckloads of cake and buckets of red wine!)

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Our latest book’s named Talkin’ The Talk and so many things inspired us! It all started with the phone-hacking scandal from a couple of years ago in the UK. We started to wonder what would happen if a newspaper editor was accused of being involved, but was actually innocent. And then we wondered where he’d hide out to clear his name. Texas Hill Country was an obvious choice because it’s warm, there’s amazing food and wine, and we loved the contrast between a down-home genuine Texan and an uptight Brit.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
We’re a husband and wife writing partnership so there’s a lot of eccentricity going on. We have been known to settle plot disagreements by throwing pillows across the living room at each other!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
So, so many. We’re both voracious readers. To name a few though, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Rachel Gibson, and Beverly Jenkins have been huge inspirations in romance, but then there’s P.G. Wodehouse, Terry Pratchett, Ian Banks and a big smattering of John LeCarre thrown in.

What are you working on now?
The next novel in the Texas Hill Country series, ‘I Want Candy’. Hopefully, we’ll get it done soon because Candy Blume, our heroine is awesome.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
We hope Awesome Gang will be great and there’s always Facebook and word of mouth. We’ve learned to never underestimate the power of one reader telling others about how much they enjoyed reading our books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Red wine is wonderful! So is caffeine. And writing friends are valuable too. Make sure you cultivate friends who can give you honest opinions about your work in a nice way!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The first draft is just you telling yourself the story… Think that was a Terry Pratchett quote.

What are you reading now?
Persuasion by Jane Austen and The Magicians by Lev Grossman

What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing. And traveling. We’re both voracious travelers and spend a lot of our time galloping around the place, meeting new people and eating far too much good food.

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 Had To Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Excession by Ian M. Banks, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John LeCare and The Code Of The Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse

Author Websites and Profiles
Evie Snow Website
Evie Snow Amazon Profile

Evie Snow’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
So far I have one published and a couple more in the oven;)

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Extraordinary – It was inspired by my personal experience with a feeling that I am missing out on something. I go through the seasons in my life where nothing seems to satisfy and after much prayer and letting God speak to me, these are the thoughts and lessons that I have learned all condensed into a book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know that it’s unusual, but I go back and forth between typing out my work to voice to text.
It really just depends on how I feel that day or how the inspiration comes.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
John Piper, John Ortberg, David Platt and obviously the Bible – These are probably some of the major influencers in my life.

What are you working on now?
I am working a book that I actually started before I wrote Extraordinary. And I am also working on a devotional

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook and my website have really given the best results.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be afraid to publish. If I listened to all the thoughts in my head, I wouldn’t ever publish even a blog post.
I also highly recommend having a central place to capture thoughts. I use evernote and it works great because it somethign I can access anywhere.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Writers write.

Simply but true.

What are you reading now?
Discerning the Voice of God: How to Recognize When God is Speaking by Priscilla Shirer

What’s next for you as a writer?
I would really like to get my devotion published and my next book as well.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Bible – NIV translation
Anything John Piper

Author Websites and Profiles
Benjamin Moore Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a wife and mom with 25+ years of professional writing in the technology space. But I have also spent nearly 15 years in women’s ministry leadership, pastoring and mentoring women and writing personal devos, teaching curricula, and Bible studies for women. About a year ago, I took a sabbatical from that role to prayerfully consider my next steps in ministry. It was during that season that God led me into the fiction space, giving me the beautiful impartation of my first fiction book – Running from Monday. During the writing of that book, a fire for writing fiction was lit in my soul, and I am presently writing six other books in this series. The series will focus on the redemptive journeys and faith narratives of women, infused with the stories I’ve heard and been a part of over my time in ministry, and will address everything from childhood sexual abuse, addiction, prodigal journeys, and redemption to the everyday challenges of women walking in faith and purpose–waiting on and trusting God in seemingly impossible situations, learning to lay down old patterns of thinking, walking in healthy friendships, and managing such challenges as divorce, coparenting, racism and prejudice, sickness and disease, and aging, death, and recovery. I have a passion for helping women get unstuck from the ruts in their road and watching them walk out of pain and into purpose to live as God created them to live.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book is called Running from Monday–the prodigal journey of Delaney Anderson, a young woman who emerges from a childhood of abuse and loss with more than a few strongholds and broken coping mechanisms. She’s kept her story locked inside her for most of her life. From the outside, she looks like a survivor, and the life she’s built for herself is an impressive one of career success, position, and affluence. But the painful stories of childhood have a way of banging on the doors we’ve locked them behind until we can no longer ignore them. Life for Delaney begins to unravel. Locked-away emotions and a numb conscience lead to sinful choices and painful outcomes. The unexpected death of a family member sends her back to her hometown, where she expects to confront her demons. What she finds there instead are amazing people and a series of divine appointments filled with grace and healing.

Since I had no idea I would be writing fiction until I spent time quietly seeking God for my “next,” I have to say that my primary inspiration for this story was the Holy Spirit–who both imparted this story (rather out of the blue) and pulled out of my own soul all the personal and ministry experiences I had been through to knit together this story. He used my own experience and those of so many women I’ve journeyed with to shape this story, and then he breathed across the page every day we were writing and gave it life. The word “inspire” comes from the Latin [in+ spirare] and means “to breath in.” This is what I experienced with the Holy Spirit. I didn’t craft the story on a napkin or have it rolling around in the back of my brain somewhere, nor was I prompted to write it by some external muse. It was by the inward impartation of God’s Spirit, and I hope to never write a book any other way but in that surrendered posture. The results are beyond what I could have ever written by my own design.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
If coffee is considered an unusual writing habit, then I raise my hand and say “guilty.” LOL
I do love my cup of java in the morning when I write, though some of my best writing is done late at night when my family has gone to bed and my house is quiet. Given the faith-filled focus of my fiction works and resources, I don’t write without prayer and inviting God to speak. I believe God gives me great creative freedom to dream and write with him, but I want his guidance and direction to take the story where he has already ordained and provisioned it to go. He’s the best literary agent you could ever hope for. Where I let him lead, he opens doors to people and places I could never gain access to.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
As a child, I was heavily influenced by fiction–everything from L.M. Montgomery to C.S. Lewis to Tolkien. As an adult, I’ve camped out for long happy hours inside the walls of Hogwarts, sat in the courtrooms of Grisham, hovered over the post-mortem examinations of Robin Cook, wandered the dystopian world of Panem, and pondered my faction alongside Tris Pryer in post-apocalyptic Chicago. I am a lover of big epic stories and movies–Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, and all things Marvel Universe. Layered over all of that powerful fictional influence is the most stunning epic love story of all time…the Bible. Nothing has influenced me more nor wrapped itself around and infused all other stories I’ve read than God’s Word. It is the filter, the sifter, and the guide star of all other prevailing influences in my literature-loving world. Nonfiction Christian resources and theological studies have also shaped my soul in large and small ways. Beth Moore’s Breaking Free and other deep Biblical dives have fed my hunger for transformation and growth, Epic of Eden by Sandra Richter greatly illuminated my understanding of God’s epic rescue mission from Eden to Revelation, and Ravi Zacharias’ works continue to shape and solidify all of my “isms,” ideologies, and theology. All of this is brought to bear on the way I write and how I want to tell stories.

What are you working on now?
Working on the accompanying personal devo and small group discussion workbook that will accompany Running from Monday, and I am now 12 chapters into book two in the series, Waiting on Tuesday.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m relatively new to the world of self-publishing, so I’m still learning. I’m engaging across multiple avenues right now, but Facebook is a stand-out platform for brand visibility and relationship building. There are a lot of Christian fiction and clean fiction writer’s and reader’s groups on FB, and building relationships and visibility there has been a valuable investment of time.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Prayerfully consider your gift and calling in life. There are a lot of people pursuing talents when they should be sifting their talents to find their gifts. All of us have seen the difference watching shows like American Idol and The Voice. Some people are talented and you can appreciate them in the moment. But the truly gifted leave an impression you don’t forget. You know a truly gifted artist when you see their art, hear their songs, or read their books. When I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, I experienced a surge of emotion and a flood of tears–not at the story (which was wonderful), but at the WRITING. A truly gifted writer had penned those words, and I was the grateful recipient of that gift. When I saw the movie Lincoln, I got that same feeling and marveled at how beautifully WRITTEN that movie was. Just because you love to read or want to “try your hand” at writing doesn’t mean you’re gifted to write. Why waste the fleeting moments of our lives chasing talents? We should be identifying our gifts and pursuing them with everything we have in us. Nothing will bring us greater success, favor, or anointing…and nothing will deeply fulfill us more than the very thing we were designed, fashioned, and gifted to deliver to the world. Before you write a single word, PRAY and ask, seek and be sure. Both you and the world you influence will benefit the most by your courage to ask that question and your willingness to lay down anything but what you were created and gifted for.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The very advice I just posted above–given to me by a pastor fifteen years ago when I was certain my ministry role was in music and on the worship team of my church. I was reasonably talented in music, but he helped me to see that my greater gifts were in teaching and writing. “God will allow you many talents,” he said to me. “But he has gifted you uniquely for specific works in this life. Sift your talents and find your gift.” I spent a lot of time exploring ministry gifting assessments and personality tests as well as walking through Rick Warren’s Purpose-Driven Life. God confirmed what so many other people already saw–I was called to teach, and that core teaching gift would manifest itself in many ways, from platform teaching to mentoring to workshop training to blog writing and book writing. That advice steered me down a life-changing road that led me to where I am today.

What are you reading now?
I am reading two books on intercessory prayer and a Christian fiction book called Before We Were Yours.

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

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I love and hate this question!! Only 3 or 4??

The first one is easy. I would take my Bible. It is my daily manna and I couldn’t live without it. I would take my big anthology of Shakespeare’s complete works (I’m a lit major), Anne of Green Gables because it’s such a part of me, and either Narnia’s The Final Battle or HP’s Deathly Hallows. Both are a reminder that good ultimately triumphs over evil, God and his kingdom will win in the end, and humanity will return to the peace and prosperity God intended for us when the battle is over.

Author Websites and Profiles
Lea Sims Website

Lea Sims’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

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

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“40 Single NYC”
I was inspired to write this, simply because everyone kept asking me why I was single. That question was never raised when I was before I hit the big 40. That’s when I realized I was in my 40s. Also being an actress for twenty years, age definitely was a huge inspiration to write this book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I free flow. I find I write a section that might belong to another chapter and somehow create a way to work it into the best chapter of the story to work.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love E. M. Forster, A Room With A View, A Passage to India.
J.D. Salinger, The Catcher In The Rye, Franny, and Zoey

What are you working on now?
Figuring out how this whole book promoting works. But I already have another story in mind from a screenplay I wrote about an actress.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still learning…

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Malcome Gladwell : To know how the book ends when you start writing.

What are you reading now?
The Catcher In The Rye again.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To write my screenplay into a 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?
Passage To India, The Agony And The Ecstacy, The Fountainhead, and Franny and Zooey

Author Websites and Profiles
K.D. Brighton Amazon Profile

K.D. Brighton’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am the author of 19th century steamy historical romances set in North Queensland, Australia and explore the passions and hardships of unique characters.
There is corruption, deceit and murder, as well as cattle rustlers, slave traders and hell fire clubs. Explore townships of Jarvisfield and Inkerman, as well as Ravenswood and Bowen. One book even incorporates my great grandmothers cattle station ‘Inkerman Downs Station’.

I currently have 11 traditionally published titles available.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Avarice & Charity is book number 3 in the Sins of the Virtuous series. The series itself explores the sins we are all tempted by and the virtues we aspire to portray. Book 3 shows the sin of greed and how the person possessed by it will go to whatever lengths to satisfy it, including destroy the innocence of a charitable heart.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do tend to watch a lot of musicals while I’m working on the first draft – very dramatic ones like Phantom of the Opera and Chess.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I take inspiration from many authors, especially those that got knocked back by publishers so many times like J.K. Rowling. As far as favorite authors go though, I love anything by Amanda Quick.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on edits for book 4 from Sins of the Virtuous and I’m in the middle of writing book 5.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I love visiting book blogs as there are so many people willing to interact with you as an author.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Try to take bad reviews constructively.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
A bad first draft is better than a blank page.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing. I have a few more book to finish of for Sins of the Virtuous then I want to write a few more stand alone titles.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
To Kill a Mockingbird
Surrender
Lord of the Flies
Ravished

Author Websites and Profiles
Faye Hall Website
Faye Hall Amazon Profile

Faye Hall’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hey! My name is Sid. I’m a graduate of Physics.

‘You started too early, and that’s you USP.’ my mom used to say this, as i planned my first story back in 2014 when I was about 17, and wrote first chapter of my first Novel in 2016 when I turned 19.

My first Novel- The Photron, is Going to publish in June 2018.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Photron – England Must Fall.

I am a very big fan of science fiction stuff and creative stories. I’ve always had a soft corner towards the Classic Science Fictions, but one day, while reading them i realized that there are not many Indian writers working in this classical genre. This realization was my first step towards The Photron.

Second step, came to me, when i was sitting in my physics class and this whole idea of The Photron bombarded my mind and after that, there was no going back.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Loads of them..!!! HAHAHAH..!!
Biting my nails when I was unable to recall something while writing.
Eating ice cream while writing.
Writing, irrespective of time and period of the day or night.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne.
20000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.
Journey to the Center of The Earth by Jules Verne.
Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The DaVinci Code by Dan brown.
Angels & Demons by Dan Brown.

What are you working on now?
Right Now, I’m Working on a book series. Which is plotted in the era of 322 B.CE
It is an amalgamation of Indian- Historic & Mythological Fiction with a hint of Adventure of an untold and unwritten Secrets.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Awesome Gang, Obviously.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Enjoy..!! Have fun with what are you doing.

Writing is only thing which can open portals of another world for you.
You might not realize this at first but, with time you’ll find yourself in another dimension of this world, Which i personally call _ The-Make-absolute-no-Sense Dimension.

You’ll be there with bunch of your character, you’ll actually hear them, see them and fell them.

Don’t just think only about, market, money, sells and all.
Just enter in you dimension and enjoy with you Hugh Lawrence & Sid Belcher just as I did.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“No Matter how your books will do in market, Just Don’t stop writing.
Writing is an art, possessed by few.”

What are you reading now?
Compilation of Sherlock Holmes Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Sita: The Warrior of Mithila by Author Amish.

What’s next for you as a writer?
As for few months, I’ll be engaged in the Promotions of my Upcoming – The Photron.
After that I’ll enter in my The-Make-absolute-no-Sense Dimension.

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?
Sherlock Holmes.
Ram-Chandra Series.
The Mysterious Island.
The Treasure Island.

Author Websites and Profiles
Author Sid Website

Author Sid’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a South Florida native but have traveled the world as a destination wedding planner. While planning weddings on Italy’s, Amalfi Coast, the idea for Vida Blue came to my mind.
I have a second book coming out in February 2019, called The Greatest PM of India. A romance fiction that grabs the heart and makes us all think of our love of country and family.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Vida Blue. The inspiration was the romance and beauty of the Amalfi coast of Italy and specifically the town of Positano. I wondered what it would be like to live there, with the love of your life and what I would do if I lost that someone. How would I start over again? Would I find someone new, could I be with someone else? The protagonist, Ariadne is not me by any stretch of the imagination but her story is real, as real as her flaws and search for life after a tragedy.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I keep my note pad and phone close because I get ideas for a specific story or a sentence in one of my stories at the most uncanny moments. In the shower, riding in an elevator or during a meeting at work. The thoughts will pour out, usually extremely good ideas and I must make an effort to capture it or it will leave me as easily at it came.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My tastes are very broad, from women writers like Chitra Divakaruni to Science Fiction writers like, Robert Heinlein. It could be a short story that influences me or the idea behind the story like The Best Place on Earth by Ayelet Tsabari. I don’t have a specific genre that I read but I know my forte is Romance and Adventure.

What are you working on now?
An exciting story of a strong, political character in India who is running for the candidacy of Prime Minister. He’s really quite a scoundrel but the people love him and he’s highly supported by the rich and famous. An American writer is unwittingly entangled in his life and becomes a pawn because she is penning a story that resembles his life. A young college student tries to help and the story leads you into a web of dark characters but also shows how humans can teach each other things even if they are not culturally similar.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think Amazon has been key in promoting my book, as well as, IngramSpark. The social media platform is powerful – Twitter, Instagram and Facebook have been useful in influencing readers to take a look at my book. My website is my writer’s corner and I want to not only promote my works but allow other writers to tell their stories on my page. Sharing is the best!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up. Even if you think you will never finish, you will. Keep at it and get a good support group. There were many times I wanted to throw in the towel and my friends, family, even my editor said, “Don’t give up, it’s a good story. It needs to be told.” That would give me the fire to continue until I could no longer think about giving up.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Indie Publish your book. I admit it scared me to death. How will I publish my own book? I don’t have a clue! What I like is that you have total control, no one is telling you what to do or when to do it. Many new authors are afraid to self-publish but I feel completely confident that I did the right thing.

What are you reading now?
The Cuban Affair by Nelson DeMille. Someone gave it to my husband and he had it sitting on the table for so long, it was calling to me. I’m enjoying how the plots are spun in this tale and the beauty of the island of Cuba.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My plan is simple. Continue writing and enjoying the journey. I would love for one of my books to hit the best seller list, who doesn’t wish for that? Even if it doesn’t, I’m content that my story is available and when I hear someone tell me, “where did you come up with that beautiful story?” It makes it worth all the hard work.

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 could read Stranger in a Strange Land over and over again. Also, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. All those colorful characters, I never get bored with this story. The Great Gatsby is also amazing.

Author Websites and Profiles
Susie Perez Fernandez Website
Susie Perez Fernandez Amazon Profile

Susie Perez Fernandez’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
So far, I have finished two full-length novels and a short story. I started officially writing novels at the start of 2018, finally staring in on a passion I hadn’t had the courage to explore earlier.

And I love it.

I have never had this much fun in any job, and given my love of reading, this should be no surprise.

Writing started while I was traveling through New Zeland, but it won’t stop anytime soon.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Shifting Intentions. It is a stand-alone book in the Shifting Heart series.

The idea of this novel was born from my love of fantasy novels and I have always wanted to write one that had strong, sexy women.
The scenery of this novel was fully inspired by my travels. I wanted something set in a beautiful mountainous region, that was lush and teeming with life.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When a scene is giving me a particularly hard time, I braid and unbraid my hair a few times until the solution comes to me.

I am not sure why I started doing this, but the easy, repetitive motion helps me focus and usually produces great ideas.

The best part, I am an expert at braids now. Want a fishtail? No problem!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have to give credit to Stephen King.

I have been reading his novels since I was a young teen and each time, his flexibility in writing blows me away. He can write fantasy, horror, suspense, and well, anything and they are all captivating and interesting.

When I read one of his books, I always focus on his ability to build the world and write the mundane. The realness of his novels inspires me to focus on the small details, not just the drama and big plot twists.

What are you working on now?
I just started a romance novel set in Fiji. So far, it involves an American woman who is here teaching yoga and an Australian surfer. It’s my first contemporary, non-fantasy novel so I am excited to work my mind in a different way.

This time the world is already built, I just need to fill it with color.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is probably my weakest skill. There is so much to learn about digital marketing and I am focusing now on creating great novels and content, hoping as I go along, the books will help sell themselves.

That being said, my blog gets pretty good traffic and I have a short story on there that has pulled in a few readers I otherwise would not have found.

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

I didn’t think I could do it, until I did and finshing my first novel is still one of the best moments of my life.

There is so much to learn and it is easy to drown in everyones advice. Read what they have to say, but find what is going to work for you. What works for one author might not work for you, so don’t despair if you hear of people writing 3,000 words a day, when you don’t get close to that. It isn’t about numbers, it’s about feeling the story.

At the end of the day, write your book and love your story.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t be afraid to put real, deep emotions in your book. It should hurt to write, otherwise you won’t elicit those emotions from readers.

What are you reading now?
Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

What’s next for you as a writer?
Two things:
I am taking a Marketing Class to hopefully get better and spreading my stories.

I have just stared my third novel and I am going to throw myself into it with full gusto.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Can I have three or four series?
Why not!

I would take: The Name of the Wind series by Patrick Rothfuss, The Century Trilogy by Ken Follett, The Wheel of Time Series (which I have been desperatly wanting to read).

Don’t worry about saving me for at least a few months.

Author Websites and Profiles
Ivy Hayes Website
Ivy Hayes Amazon Profile

Ivy Hayes’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I write historical fiction. For the last few years, I have been working on a five-book series based on the lives of the outlaw Robin Hood. I like to think of it as a mythical biography. From the start, I decided to treat the story as if it were about a man who truly existed. The series chronicles his life from his childhood, through his outlaw days and beyond. The series tackles other themes as well, including homosexuality in medieval England.

I was lucky enough to find a publisher in 2016, and the first book in the series, Heir of Locksley, was released that same year. Its sequel was released in 2017. I’ve always had an interest in medieval history, fantasy, and folklore, and this series has been a great way for me to combine all my interests.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My current book is called Knight of Sherwood. It is the sequel to book one, Heir of Locksley, and the second book in the Outlaw’s Legacy series. As the series follows the life of Robin Hood, this book was the one that stuck most closely to the legend. It covers the period of Robins return to England after fighting in the Crusades, only to find himself a landless outlaw. I was inspired by the many ballads and stories of Robin Hood that I’ve read over the years.

I discovered the story when I was a child in a neglected corner of the school library and I have loved it ever since. The legend inspired me to write my own take on the series and I hope this book does it justice. I also wanted to be able to put my own twist on the storyline, and I was inspired to try something different with Robin Hood’s love life. I was intrigued by the idea of a bisexual hero in medieval England, and although this is touched on in Heir of Locksley, it is tackled more strongly in Knight of Sherwood.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Most writers have sight, Lol. I am a blind writer and author but nothing unusual about that. It proves writers who have talent and a story can write no matter what! I try to plan my books as much as possible beforehand, but quite often the stories develop a life of their own and I have to run with it. I usually write in the mornings.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love Elizabeth Chadwick’s novels. She has the perfect blend of adventure, intrigue, and romance.

What are you working on now?
I am excited to share I just submitted the third book of Outlaw’s Legacy to my publisher and I’m now writing the fourth.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Well, kind people help like Catherine of Lyon Media and Book Promotions blog. I use my blog and social Media. I also do as many blog interviews as I can.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
First piece of advice is to write what you enjoy reading. If you would pick it up in the bookshops, the likelihood is that your readers will also. Know your genre audience. And? Write what you want to write, not what you think will sell. Book trends are changing all the time.

First and foremost, you have to love what you do. Read book marketing guides and try implementing their suggestions, but if you find they don’t work, then just do what works best for you. here are many booksites to help like here at Awesomegang. Don’t spend big money.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write what you love to read. Chances are readers will it. Also, layer a few book ads and do as many interviews like this on as many booksites you can. Promoting your books takes time and effort.

What are you reading now?
The Griffin Chronicles by E.G. Foley. It’s a great fantasy series set in Victorian England. Yes, even blind writers are avid readers thanks to aids to help.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have the fourth Outlaw’s Legacy book of the series to finish and the fifth and final book to write. After that, who knows? I have some vague ideas floating around the back of my brain, so we’ll have to see what happens. That is thn part of writing. Coming up with a new story ideas and characters!

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 my, no pressure! Lol. I’d have to take a Sherlock Holmes book. Harry Potter would also be essential. There would need to be an Elizabeth Chadwick novel included in there as well. Maybe one

Author Websites and Profiles
N.B. Dixon Website
N.B. Dixon Amazon Profile

N.B. Dixon’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is my first children’s book, but I have two more planned and will be released soon.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Little Blue Penguin was inspired by the imagination of my niece, and the conversations we have. The Little Blue Penguin and the Pirates of Plant Food was just one of the many conversations we’ve had.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Maybe.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have always been a big fan of fantasy, and science fictions. I love Tracy Hickman, especially Wayne of Gotham.

What are you working on now?
Two more children’s books, and I don’t have much to say about them right now but I’m super excited to get these out.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Usually I stick with Facebook and their promoting pages, but being able to find sites like Awesomegang.com is such a fantastic experience.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Being a budding author myself, all I can say is exercise that keyboard everyday.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You don’t need a company to publish a book.

What are you reading now?
Star Wars: Tarkin by James Luceno

What’s next for you as a writer?
Publish 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?
Best Sand Recipes, How to build a boat, and the Dictionary because all other books are just a remix.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi, I’m Maggie
I’m a nerdy young woman with a positive attitude towards life. I thrive on helping other people. I have suffered years from anxiety and panic attacks, and thus have started writing self-helps books to help people who have the same problems that I used to have.
I have currently written one book, with many-many other ideas already forming.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is named – Your Journey to Calm: A Guide to Leaving Anxiety and Panic Attacks Behind.
I was inspired to write it by my own years of struggles with both anxiety and panic attacks. Now I am a medical doctor and have helped out many others with their anxieties.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to write first thing in the morning. This is more likely to happen on the weekends when I’m in my country home in the middle of the forest – there’s nothing like the birds singing and no big-city-noise.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My current favorite author who I feel has influenced my views on life is Umberto Eco.

What are you working on now?
I am currently making sure that everything goes well with the release of my first book – Your Journey to Calm: A Guide to Leaving Anxiety and Panic Attacks Behind. And then I am planning on writing another self-help book on obtaining better sleep.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I feel that talking to people personally is the best approach. Of course you need people who are interested in your book. But it’s most rewarding to find someone who can benefit from your book and then share it with them

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just do it! I slacked for months, being afraid that I’ll never finish my book. But here I am, the happiest I have been in a long-long time. You won’t regret this journey!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Finished is better than perfect. Yes, you must have quality but you have to draw a line somewhere, you can’t edit forever and until perfection.

What are you reading now?
Cassandra Clare – Lord of Shadows

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have many different ideas for self-help books, on subjects that I am passionate about – for example sleep and self-esteem. So I’m probably going to start writing a new book soon enough

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Hobbit; some sort of a survival guide; a mindfulness book

Author Websites and Profiles
Maggie Oakes Website
Maggie Oakes Amazon Profile

Maggie Oakes’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi, I’m Cesario Picca, I was born and bred in Salento (South Italy) thanks to my parents Francesco and Antonia. For 25 years I worked as a crime and judicial reporter so it was very simple to starting write thrillers. In my books, like Broken Lives and Murder in the Tremiti Isles, there are many real stories crossed with fantasy. I’ve written four thrillers and I’m finishing my fifth.
The main character of my thrillers is a rough and rational man, talkative, charismatic, ready to savor every moment of life as if it was the last. Nicknamed Saru (the nickname that is given in Salento to those named like him), the reporter Rosario Santacroce covers the city’s crime beat. As often happens, occasionally work also follows him on holidays because a real reporter is destined (almost) never to unplug. And that is probably why he gets entangled in murders.
Maybe, between Saru Santacroce and me there are many points in common, we love life and we think life is a gift and we have to taste this present also if sometimes could be difficult. We love footing and untill now we have run 19 marathons. A good way, in our opinion, to relax and feel good and finding new ideas for thrillers.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My last thriller is Broken Lives dedicated to victims of abuse. I love the Tv series Criminal Mind’s and so I’ve written a psychological thriller. Is set in London and the Scotland Yard detective Sonny D’Amato must stop a serial killer. A monster from the past reemerges in the present destroying the life of three young students and engaging in a fight against time with the promising Scotland Yard detective, Sonny D’Amato, in charge of solving the difficult case. The suffering of someone who as a child doesn’t know about love but suffers only abuse can turn into the worst nightmare when it triggers that dangerous stress factor that makes anger push a person to cross the hellish threshold of no return. Thanks to the precious help of the coroner July Pence, the detective digs in the past in search of the logical thread that will allow him to solve the intricate enigma. He will most likely get the promotion that he feels he deserves, but without being able to rejoice. In fact, his soul will be hostage to the pain emanating from this sad inquiry that will make him lose sight of the difference between the victim and the executioner. Because, as Alexandr Solzhenitsyn wrote, “the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being”. Set in London, Broken lives, the new thriller by Cesario Picca, sees once again the reporter from Salento Rosario Saru Santacroce looking for news to inform the readers about these crimes which are worrying a city already wracked by terrorist attacks.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No, I usually start writing when I feel a story and I don’t stop.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
For 25 years I worked as a crime and judicial reporter so it was very simple to starting write thrillers. In my books, like Broken Lives and Murder in the Tremiti Isles, there are many real stories crossed with fantasy.

What are you working on now?
I’m finishing a thriller about Freemasonry. It’s in Italian and so I’ll need someone to translate it.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I promote my thrillers using social media and my website always thinking about new ideas. But I think readers are the right unit of measure of our talent.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
We must always believe in our ideas giving them the right form and expression

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I think there isn’t the best advice.

What are you reading now?
The Anti-Christ by Friedrich Nietzsche

What’s next for you as a writer?
I hope to continue amusing people who read my stories

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 usually read classics and Bible but also thriller writers.

Author Websites and Profiles
Cesario Picca Website
Cesario Picca Amazon Profile
Cesario Picca Author Profile on Smashwords

Cesario Picca’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Author bio: Jaime Leah Marchon is a true gemini, in life and as an author. Teen-friendly young adult to edgy new adult/contemporary fiction. Sweetheart heroines and bad boys with a past. Hilarious best friends and shy ex-boyfriends. She’s an avid reader and nature lover. Fitness addict and foodie. Traveler and homebody. Full makeup or barefaced. Crime procedurals or teen dramas. Four inch heels or barefoot. Sweet and salty caramel or red hot sauce. Anything can happen.

For real though, I’m all over the place, I can love something and hate it at the exact same time which makes writing the perfect profession for me. I like getting my thoughts out into the world and sharing these stories that are usually floating around in my head as I’m falling asleep at night.
I’ve written countless books and am currently editing and revising tons.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Name? Name? I’m so not there yet. Am I the only one who leaves the book’s name to literally the last second? Meaning, when it’s time to design the cover? The latest book I’ve written has a working title of Annalyse (the protagonist’s name) and it was actually inspired by a character that I created with my husband for one of his books. I got so into mapping out her character sketch that I had to write a book from her perspective.
And of course I’m currently editing my sequels to Falling Faster (All Falls Down and Falls on Me)

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do my best writing while watching YouTube makeup videos or listening to music. It drives my writer hubby CRAZY! I also love to write in nature whenever possible, including bustling parks (in my car) or even in the middle of the woods on a long hike. And through many years of trial and error I’ve come to conclude that I need to map out the ENTIRE book before I can write a word.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve always been a huge reader, devouring VC Andrews books and Stephen King’s IT in 8th grade, all 1000 pages. I’ll literally read anything I can get my hands on, tons and tons of free ebooks especially. And… I’m not too bashful to admit that the majority of my reading is magazines like USWeekly and Cosmo and now that I’m not 20 anymore, Oprah Magazine. I can find inspiration anywhere but I love indie authors like JJ Knight (her MMA books especially), Addison Moore and BT Urruela. As for more well-known authors I’ve always loved the humor or Janet Evanovich and the Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell. My absolute favorite author is my husband Matthew Marchon and not just because I get to help him pick the storylines. Told you, true Gemini.

What are you working on now?
Currently working on final edits of the next books in my Fall Series: All Falls Down and Falls on Me as well as editing ‘Annalyse’ and storymapping ‘Brooklyn’ and ‘Lila’. I have to have my hands in five pies at once (and yes, I’m like that with actual pies [all food] too).

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
If I find one, I’ll let you know. Just put it out there, anywhere and see what happens. My best site might not work out for you and you may get tons of traffic from somewhere I never even thought to look.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just write. As much as possible, any little sliver of time you can find… WRITE! Don’t limit yourself to a certain number of words per day, don’t get bogged down in what other people are doing, just do you. Stick to your writing voice and style. When I started writing New Adult was where I was comfortable and it wasn’t even a recognized category at the time. Oh the doors that could have opened if I’d stuck with my New Adult style.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I’m really trying to implement writing at least 500 words a day. It keeps your mind in the game and keeps your characters at the forefront of your imagination. Eat, breathe and sleep that novel and you will be too excited to stop. Keep that momentum going!

What are you reading now?
I’m reading and re-reading my own work. So much so that I have entire scenes memorized. But it keeps me invigorated and ready to tackle the editing process.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Editing, editing, editing. Finishing started works. Putting it all out there because you never know what’s going to take off or what will resonate with audiences.

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 a Gemini. It depends on the day. Right now I would take…
A thick and juicy Stephen King novel, probably IT because there’s just so much to it. There’s a lot of analyzing that could be done. But I would be scared Pennywise would pop out from underneath my hammock.
Honestly, and this sounds like bragging, but the best book I’ve read in a long time is After Failure by Matthew Marchon (yes, the hubby). I know the characters, I love them or love to hate them, and it would feel like a warm cozy blanket around me. Plus, I have multiple copies so if I needed to start a fire…
I’d probably try my hardest to find a self-help book about being stranded on a desert island because I would not survive the solitude for more than 3 days (and for those first 72 hours I would love it with my whole heart)

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m 28 and living with Multiple Sclerosis. It’s hard for people who don’t have it to understand how much harder it is to get by each day with enough energy and positivity. It’s a daily challenge, and the challenges presented are different every day. I’m hoping to inspire others with MS to stay positive, to connect to others who have this disease, and to educate the world about how to help those with MS. I’ve also written a book of poetry about MS symptoms in the year 2017, when I had 3 major relapses and was very stressed. Hopefully others can use my work to remind themselves that they’re not alone in this battle.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
In the year 2017, I was under a lot of stress and amidst the summer months, started writing about my varying MS symptoms. It was such a great release because it was the only way I knew how to explain and inform others about what I was going through. Then I thought, why don’t I ask others to share, too? I thought it may be just as therapeutic for others as it was for me, and that there are so many other stories to tell since MS is unique for each person living with it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not particularly, sometimes I may drop an F-bomb or some irony but each reader may interpret the writing as they like.

What are you working on now?
By the end of summer, I hope to complete a short documentary about the writers behind “But You Don’t Look Sick” to add to the public eye, and promote the book.

What are you reading now?
Right now I’m reading “The Hidden Life of Trees” – it’s absolutely fascinating and a dream come true, since I theorized all the findings when I was in the ninth grade and everyone thought I was crazy. Trees are amazing!

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a stay at home mom for 26 years. I have 4 children ranging in age from 26 down to 5. I live in southern Iowa and love to travel, read, write,quilt, and cook. This is my first published book. I have written seven in total but in the course of life 5 have been lost.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Shadows of Night is the first in the series and the one available now. I am currently working on the next book Shadows of Light.
I think my children’s love of hearing my stories inspire me to write although it doesn’t influence what my stories contain. That part is purely my imagination.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have to be completely alone when I write and most of the time I write in a notebook by hand while lying down on my bed.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I started reading the Dragonlance series as a teenager and I was hooked from the first book. I have read probably close to 200 fantasy adventure books and love the world’s they create.

What are you working on now?
Shadows of Light is the book in working on now and it is the second book in the Shadow Lords series and will pick up from where the first ended.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is my first book so I’m experimenting with promotions but I have an author profile on Goodreads and on Amazon. I do self promote on Twitter and Facebook too.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Determination. Never give up writing and trying if it’s what you truly love to do.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My husband telling me I could accomplish my dreams and that I just had to believe in myself and keep pushing myself to achieve my goal.

What are you reading now?
Darkmage series, Courtlight Series and rereading R.A. Salvatore ‘s books.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Writing , (of course,) promoting my books and hopefully more interviews. Shadows of Night (ebook version) will be going on special promotion on June 8th.

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?
First would be a survival guide, second would be my own book, the third and fourth would be The Lord of the Rings ( complete trilogy in one book) and a Notebook to write in.

Author Websites and Profiles
Barbara White Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I like reading and writing. I have written one book, Faces In The Dark, which is about a normal dude who just happens to be America’s most popular writer. I’m currently at work on a novel about a serial killer, and once I’m done with that I’m going to collaborate with a friend of mine on a fantasy.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I love to eat while I work. My favorite food is cheese of all sorts! (Except, you know, American, because American sucks.) I like to listen to music while I write. I find Rush, Yes, Weather Report, Miles Davis, Genesis, Soundgarden, Simon & Garfunkel, Frank Zappa and Black Sabbath to be great writing music.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Animal Farm by George Orwell comes to mind. I read it when I was nine and it changed my life. I would not be an author if it weren’t for that book! Les Misérables by Victor Hugo has also influenced me profoundly; it is my favorite book of all time. I love all of Ayn Rand’s works, especially The Fountainhead. Other authors who have influenced my work include Erich Maria Remarque, Charles Dickens, Lemony Snicket, Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, William Shakespeare, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Douglas Adams, and Aldous Huxley. Basically, I’ll read anything and everything! Just no Amish romance novels! While they’re not authors, the lyrics of Neil Peart (Rush), Paul Simon, Peter Sinfield (King Crimson/ELP) and Peter Gabriel (Genesis) have helped me to become a better wordsmith.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Don’t ask me. I’ve sold exactly one copy, as of this writing. (So go buy my book!)

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Stay off the Internet while writing. There are two reasons for this.
1: You’ll check your email and your Facebook and your Amazon sales rank and click on this link and that link until you’ve wasted an hour of your predetermined writing time.
2: There’s porn out there. And I hate porn.

My second tip is to write when you have writer’s block. Just write anything, no matter how stupid, and you’ll be on a roll before you know it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it’s done. It’s that easy, and that hard.”
-Neil Gaiman

What are you reading now?
We The Living by Ayn Rand
The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Julie And The Wolves by Jean Craighead George

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Well, four, obviously! Why would I take three if I could take four?

All jokes aside:
The Bible
Victor Hugo – Les Misérables
Ayn Rand – Atlas Shrugged
The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare
I chose these books because of how long they are and how good they smell.

Phil O’Halloran’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi! I’m K.A. Cummins, a writer, homeschooler, math lover, techie, and consumer of mass amounts information. I enjoy new adventures and somehow managed to tandem skydive and climb the Mayan Ruins of Lamanai in Belize, despite a fear of heights. When it comes to writing, I delve into the mysteries of the universe to connect possibilities, people, and the peculiar.

I have three published short stories, including the indie published short read, “The Warehouse Tour”. I am currently working towards getting a middle-grade science fiction novel published.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I just release a revised edition of The Warehouse Tour.

What inspired it? Have you ever had some crazy, random thought pop into your head and it makes you laugh because it was so absurd? That’s where this story started. Some crazy, random thought that I wrote down and set aside and then came back to a year later.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really.

However, ironically, I avoided lengthy writing growing up. The only writing I did back then was poetry or a rare journal entry. I didn’t come into my own as a writer until I was an adult.

I also tend to be a slow writer. The whole story needs to be plotted before I can really dig into drafting.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There are so many great writers. My all-time favorite author is Edgar Allen Poe. I love his short stories and poems. Aside from him, I would say my approach to writing has been influenced by writers like R.L. Stine, C.S. Lewis, H.G. Wells, and James Patterson. I actually took James Patterson’s Master Class online a couple of years ago.

What are you working on now?
Right now, my main focus is preparing the first book in my middle-grade science fiction series for the submission process. The story is an adventurous blend of science, whimsy, and depth with a dash of strange humor. I’m really excited to see it entering the final stages.

Here’s the one-line premise: Transported into another world, twelve-year-old Sarah Ann Reisende must face a genetically-engineered warrior with an army of vicious hybrids.

You can read more about it, including a couple of excerpts, on my blog here: https://authorkacummins.com/2018/05/17/excerpts-and-updates-for-sgt-book-1/

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
While I do promote my books through social media, my website, and my newsletter, I try to focus more on building connections with readers through those channels. To me, that’s what writing is really about – connecting with others. In keeping with that, I often seek out other opportunities for promoting.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read a lot. Study the craft of writing. Develop a thick skin. Even if you don’t agree with some’s opinion of your work, be gracious. Covers, titles, blurbs, and editors impact the success of a book more than ads or promotions.

At some point, you will get frustrated and discouraged. You may even want to quit. Just remember, success is the result of persistence in spite of failure.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t submit or publish a story before it’s ready, and don’t pitch a story that isn’t polished and ready.

What are you reading now?
These days, I read a lot of middle-grade and young adult stories. My reading pile is taller than I am and includes, Ending Fear by Deana Fugett, All That We See or Seem by Kristina Mahr, and Spin the Golden Light Bulb by Jackie Yeager.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing. More connecting.

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?
Edgar Allen Poe’s complete volume of works, Robert Frost’s complete collection of poetry, the Bible, and my copy of A Treasury of Peter Rabbit and Other Stories by Beatrix Potter. Can I cheat and throw-in my copy of The Night Before Christmas? The last two books hold a lot of sentimental value.

Author Websites and Profiles
K.A. Cummins Website
K.A. Cummins Amazon Profile

K.A. Cummins’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an architect and a writer. Born and raised in Zambia. I grew up watching way too much tv and reading an insane amount of books. I was already trying to write by age 7… it never went well. I have 1 book published. Dozens in the bin

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The streets of Nottingham. I was walking home from school, took a shortcut through a construction site… that was the inspiration for the broken world setting. It was a pretty rubbish day…that was the inspiration for the poem in the prologue. It wasn’t meant to be a book when it started, I was just jotting down a feeling on a piece of paper.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Unusual? I don’t know. On Nottingham i’d Open Microsoft word document and movie player on my laptop. Then I’d spend the entire weekend in a loop; alternating between binging through series and writing… half and hour here and half an hour there.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Authors and books not really. It’s encouriging every time I hear that George R. R. Martin has once again failed to deliver winds of winter this year. My influences probably come from Christopher Nolan mostly. And by extension all his movies. And Quentin Tarantino.

What are you working on now?
Something called “Serial” .. That’s all I’ll say about that for now

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Method… I’m still figuring that out. So far goodreads seems to do well I thInk

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you want to be a writer then write. Pick up a pencil, laptop, phone and start typing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If you want to be a writer then write.

What are you reading now?
Stories of your life and others by Ted Chiang

What’s next for you as a writer?
God knows. I suppose I’ll keep on keeping on

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Chrysalids, the rainmaker, holy bible

Author Websites and Profiles
Auckly Simwinga Amazon Profile

Auckly Simwinga’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m 28 and living with Multiple Sclerosis. It’s hard for people who don’t have it to understand how much harder it is to get by each day with enough energy and positivity. It’s a daily challenge, and the challenges presented are different every day. I’m hoping to inspire others with MS to stay positive, to connect to others who have this disease, and to educate the world about how to help those with MS. I’ve also written a book of poetry about MS symptoms in the year 2017, when I had 3 major relapses and was very stressed. Hopefully others can use my work to remind themselves that they’re not alone in this battle.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
In the year 2017, I was under a lot of stress and amidst the summer months, started writing about my varying MS symptoms. It was such a great release because it was the only way I knew how to explain and inform others about what I was going through. Then I thought, why don’t I ask others to share, too? I thought it may be just as therapeutic for others as it was for me, and that there are so many other stories to tell since MS is unique for each person living with it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not particularly, sometimes I may drop an F-bomb or some irony but each reader may interpret the writing as they like.

What are you working on now?
By the end of summer, I hope to complete a short documentary about the writers behind “But You Don’t Look Sick” to add to the public eye, and promote the book.

What are you reading now?
Right now I’m reading “The Hidden Life of Trees” – it’s absolutely fascinating and a dream come true, since I theorized all the findings when I was in the ninth grade and everyone thought I was crazy. Trees are amazing!

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a scotch-drinking, cigar smoking, full-time Indie writer living in the Tampa bay area, with little to no political correctness filter. I refuse to own a pair of flat shoes and even wear high-heel wedges to the beach. When I’m not sighing aloud in pleasure over the sunset, or hanging with friends and family, or moaning at the sexy lines of a classic car, I am writing. I laugh every day, and find there is never a reason to lie. Always tell the truth, which is usually so outrageous no one ever believes it.

I love golf, tennis, horses, boating and the ocean. I’ll argue to my death on French vs. domestic red wine, and am highly opinionated, based on what I believe is experience. I don’t work out in gyms because I’d rather be outside, and do avoid processed foods. While my lifestyle could be criticized by some, I’m completely comfortable in my own skin and believe you should never, ever waste an opportunity.

To date I’ve written four books, How To Steal A Highlander, His Viking Bride, Wicked Wicked Passage, and Firewater. I’m especially proud of the audiobook version of His Viking Bride and will be doing more audiobooks in the future. This is largely inspired by my father, who was a voracious reader, but is now legally blind.

I am actively working on nine more books, a few of those I’ll talk about more in this interview. Romance is definitely my first love, but I do cross genres into straight fiction, biography/memoir and erotica. I don’t read one genre, so why would I author in one genre?

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest release How To Steal A Highlander was inspired by my love of a country where scotch was invented, (or as I like to say ‘Scotchland’) LOL, as well as the rich cultural history and fantastic vistas of Scotland. Besides, what greater lure is there than the strains of bagpipes and a kilt-wearing alpha male?

I also wanted to challenge myself as an author using the time travel aspect. Our hero from the past comes to modern times and our heroine from now travels to the past. It forced me to take a look at everyday things from a different perspective. Besides, making the heroine a thief, provided the twist I wanted to showcase not all heroines are upstanding, altruistic people, but still deserve their happily ever afters.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Define “unusual.” LOL.

Everything about my habits are considered abnormal when compared to a standard forty-hour work week. My creative bandwidth is widest between twilight and dawn, so I’m a dusk-to-dawn writer. I write every day. I’ve found scotch (in the right sipping dosages) sharpens plots, and ruby port is fantastic for releasing emotive expressions for a character. And yes, this formula has been perfected through research. Vodka? No. That’s for nightclubs and cocktail parties.

I also need silence. Silence is completely necessary for me. If I’m interrupted, I find it takes fifteen to thirty minutes to return to the creative headspace to continue working. If I do put on music to write to, I’ve found lyrics distract me, but Mozart helps for action scenes.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Almost too many to name as I think all authors influence me. My top picks are Mark Twain, Homer, Robert Ludlum, Carl Hiassen, Pablo Neruda, Ernest Hemingway, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Salman Rushdie, and J.R.R. Tolkein.

What are you working on now?
We are in beginning stages of production on How To Steal A Highlander, the audiobook. I’m also working with a local chef doing a biography cookbook, where we meet once a week and he tells me the life stories behind his dishes. That is a really fun project and should be complete closer to the end of 2018.

I’m putting the final touches on two full-length erotica novels, Wicked Wicked Days, and Wicked Wicked Wilderness. I’m finishing first drafts of a erotic allegory novella, Thousand Kisses Deep (an homage to Dante’s Inferno), and a romantic suspense trilogy Bishop’s Pawn, Bishop’s Peril, and Bishop’s Prize. And yes, I work on all of them simultaneously.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
First and foremost I love Twitter. Does it translate to sales? I’m not so certain, but I’ve found the author community there incredibly inspiring. I believe strengthening your relationship with bloggers is probably the best way to promote as an Indie author. I don’t think I can pinpoint ONE, but with any marketing or promotions, repetition is the key. You can’t make a determination if something is working or not by using it one time.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read. Read. Read some more and then write. Stick with it, eventually you WILL finish. Don’t listen to compliments from your friends and family, but get some writer’s groups to critique your work, and surround yourself with authors who are better than you.

If you want to know where to improve, you need to know where you suck. Honest feedback helps you learn and grow. Then get yourself a really great editor.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never leave the house without lipstick. LOL.
Seriously, I’m assuming you mean advice regarding writing? The best advice is ‘keep your butt in the chair.’ I now have writer’s butt, it is a chronic, but curable condition, and I’m looking into reviews and recs for stand up desks. Hoping to find one with room enough for the keyboard, monitor and a full bar.

What are you reading now?
I read one or two books a day. No, I really do not sleep much. Lately I intersperse classic literature with books such as alien menage romance and twisted fairytales.

What’s next for you as a writer?
A lot more promotions! In May I did a television spot for our local ABC news, and learned firsthand how much fun that was. So we’ll be doing more publicity and podcasts in the coming year, along with more promo videos.

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?
Hmmm, stranded on a desert island? First of all, I’ve already decided my vanity won’t allow a rescue… desert island with no razor, moisturizer or hair products? Nope. I’m definitely in for the long haul.

My practical self would want to ensure I had The Complete Outdoor Survival Guide, and the next year’s Farmer’s Almanac so I could prep for hurricanes. Of course I’d need the entire collection of The Far Side comics to keep my sanity and throw in the complete comedies of Shakespeare. With all that time on my hands, I’d probably come up with new meaning for old English words.

Author Websites and Profiles
Olivia Norem Website
Olivia Norem Amazon Profile

Olivia Norem’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Currently, I’ve written over a dozen; all science fiction. You might call me a tech geek. I got a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, flew in the Air Force for 10 years then worked for Northrop Grumman on programs like the B-2 Bomber and ‘other’ fun projects.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Red Dots” is a Sci-Fi short story. I can’t say that anything in particular inspired me, but I’ve been working on the plot for a long time. It just hung around in my ‘projects’ folder until I found the twist.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m a binge writer. I type fast and if the story is in my head I can put down 10,000 words per day.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love all of the classic science fiction authors. They inspired me to go into engineering and the Air Force. I think the science fiction genre is great, because I’m not bound by anything and I can subtley comment on everything from human nature to politics.

What are you working on now?
I have two new novels work. One is the sixth book in my Virus/Earth II series. The other is a young person’s science fiction story which is interesting. I’m looking forward to finishing both of them off and getting on to the next project.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Work, work, then after I take a break I work some more. I haven’t found any site that is really effective. The only method that seems to work is to publish more books. When something new comes out, it seems to help all of the other books. The only other key thing to do, is spend money. You have to find the sites that are best for your genre and stick with them. Over time your list of readers increase and you’ll sell more books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write because you have a story to tell and you enjoy telling it. Don’t plan on making tons of money, cause that ain’t going to happen unless your name is Steven King.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Go through the final draft and TAKE OUT WORDS.

What are you reading now?
Believe it or not, as a science fiction writer I’m listening to a biography of Napoleone Bonaparte.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Write, market, market, write, edit, market, write, market, edit, publish.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Anything by Clarke, Asimov or Bradbury.

Author Websites and Profiles
Ray Jay Perreault Website
Ray Jay Perreault Amazon Profile
Ray Jay Perreault Author Profile on Smashwords

Ray Jay Perreault’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I currently live in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – land of the NBA Thunder! But attended Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, which is where my family and I hail from and where I majored in Graphic Design and co-majored in Creative Writing.

Nobody Told Me I Couldn’t… is my first published work.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I wrote “Nobody Told Me I Couldn’t…” after hearing an inspirational talk of the same title. It was about how bees are disproportionate for flight, yet as we all know, they fly. It is a reminder that the reason that many of us aren’t able to overcome certain obstacles in life is because we tell ourselves that we can’t. Then shortly after that I learned about Colony Collapse Disorder, which affects honeybees. Worker bees leave the hive to search for nectar and pollen and don’t return leaving only the queen and larvae. The hive can’t continue without workers. I began to do tons of research on honeybees and decided to write a story about an insect race where different flying insects compete against one another.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write while I watch television and listen to YouTube videos about outer space. I don’t understand why, but it fuels my creative engine.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis. I love the relationship between Aslan and Lucy. Also if you couldn’t tell by my books subject, I love talking animals and lions are so majestic!

What are you working on now?
I am currently perfecting a fantasy novelette, “L’Truishus: Harbinger”. It is about a changeling – some people call them shapeshifters – with unusual origins whose true identity is questionable.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I hope that awesomegang.com will be a great place to promote. But I am also on fictionfinder.com and Authorsden. Only time will tell.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read as much as you can in the genre that you are writing in and thoroughly research your subject. When I was writing “Nobody Told Me I Couldn’t…”, I looked at lots of different children’s books to better understand how to illustrate them and lay out the text so that the story would flow at a kid-friendly and entertaining pace. I also did beaucoups of research about the different types of insects that are in the story online, in magazines, at the public library, and with books.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Read as well as write.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading whatever draws my attention in magazines – particularly pop culture and entertainment news. I’ve been keeping up with the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Unfortunately, I had to move so many of my favorite books are all packed up.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m taking it one day at a time. I plan to publish L’Truishus: Harbinger 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?
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and The Bible

Author Websites and Profiles
Elizabeth Carter Website

Elizabeth Carter’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have always been interested in exploring other worlds and cultures. In fact, it’s for that reason I became an Anthropologist. But there are so many wonderful ways to explore other worlds and ever since I was 8 years old and read the book ‘The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, I was hooked on both Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Currenty I have a short story called “On Arrival” published in Just A Minor Malfunction Magazine #4 and my first novel called ‘Mimi of the Nowhere’.

However, Mimi of the Nowhere is the first book in a Sci-Fi series. Books 2 and 3 are currently in editing and will be out late Summer and Early Fall of 2018 with the other remaining books coming out late this year or early 2019.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My first novel is called Mimi of the Nowhere. It’s about a homeless woman living in a future, after climate change has destroyed the earth and people are forced to live inside shielded giant walking cities.

I guess part of what expired it is my masters research, which was with an organization called the Romero Theater Troupe. They basically use the stage to look at the struggles of people in their every day lives. One of the stories they told while I was doing my research with them was on a Homeless man and his story. They also did another series of stories on Homeless women and how all of them had become homeless. It was amazing to me, how easy it was for these women, some who were living perfectly normal lives, to suddenly find themselves without a home. Thinking on all this stuff, and writing about science fiction, I thought to myself, we so often read about the captains of ships or these people in positions of power, what about a story about a woman who lives on the streets? And what if she had been living on the streets for centuries?

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am almost always working on several books at the same time. I don’t write anything in order and I never plot. I just sit down during my time to write and write. Sometimes a story will catch me for a while and I will focus on it, but then out of the blue I will have to dive in somewhere else. Usually, when a story is making significant progress though, I get excited about it enough to focus. At the time of writing this, I have 7 books with a significant portion written, some are directly related to Mimi of the Nowhere and some are in other series or are Stand Alone.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There are just so many amazing authors’s out there. I’d have to say though that some of my major ones are Ursula K LeGuin, Stephen King, and Frank Herbert. They do this particular thing in their writing, they give me words or phrases or images that are just so potent that it’s like eating a fantastic meal and I always feel satisfied after reading their work.

What are you working on now?
Write now I am wrapping up production of Book 2 in the Chronicles of the Great Migration called Upon Stilted Cities. It takes place 40 years after the events of Mimi of the Nowhere. That one is out July of 2018

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I blog weekly on my website. Sometimes it’s updates of my writing or sample chapters and sometimes its poetry and art I create. You can find it at https://loridianslaboratory.com/

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. Ignore those people who tell you its crazy to write or that you are wasting your time. Remember why you write. Remember that it is an act of creation and beauty and that someone somewhere will love your stories. There are so many readers out there, it only takes a tiny percentage of those who love your work to do well.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To persist, to keep trying, to do what brings you joy but to remember that discipline is important. Discipline is how you move forward. Set goals and meet them and find the joy in that.

What are you reading now?
Right now I am reading Rose Madder by Stephen King but I just finished The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons and Watership Down by Richard Adams.

What’s next for you as a writer?
After I finish the Chronicles of The Great Migration, I think I am going to delve into a Fantasy Series. I have a sizable portion written in book 1 and I want to explore the concept but in the end Sci-Fi is always my first love.

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 you can count them as one book, The Dark Tower series by Stephen King would be one. The Tao Te Ching (Ursula K Leguin translation) would be the second and I think the Harry Potter Series would be the third. I’ve read through all those books a number of times now and I still find great joy in all of them.

Author Websites and Profiles
Michael Kilman Website
Michael Kilman Amazon Profile

Michael Kilman’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve published nine paranormal or fantasy romance novels; six short stories or short story collections; and three non-fiction writing craft books.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Love’s Brilliant Wreckage started as a dream about a woman who stepped into books and delivered the characters babies. I held onto the idea for three years, figuring out how to present it. Who was this woman? Could she really step into books, or did her mind play tricks on her? It wasn’t until I set Annie in 1945 and added the stresses of the WWII homefront that the story emerged.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I listen to Andrea Bocelli when I write love scenes.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Anne McCaffrey
Grace Burrowew
Courtney Milan
Georgette Heyer

What are you working on now?
A medieval farce with an evil overlord, minions, a pregnant talking horse that used to be human, a writer of kick-ass medieval heroines, and a man searching for his missing brother.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have a lot of success on Pinterest and Instagram. Consistency is the key. Post or schedule posts throughout the day.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t expect perfection, it’s elusive. Read and study your genre. Take as many classes and workshops as you can, but don’t live and breathe by every nugget of information taught. You have to find your own way of doing things. Be persistent. Join Facebook writing groups and participate. Give more than you take.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You won’t know anything until you’ve written a million words.

What are you reading now?
Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon
Mark Twain in Hawaii
Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes
Show Your Work by Austin Kleon

What’s next for you as a writer?
Launching Love’s Brilliant Wreckage
Getting a new cover and title for an old book
Re-writing the medieval book
Plotting an urban fantasy series

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 Princess Bride
Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series

Author Websites and Profiles
Cheryl Sterling Website
Cheryl Sterling Amazon Profile

Cheryl Sterling’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a aspiring artist and I’ve only written one poetry book so far.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my latest book is called Mind of thoughts of an introvert and the reason I wrote this poetry book is I had a lot of old poems that I’ve written since I was in high school and it’s been a long dream of Mine to turn them into a poetry book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do have unusual writing habits. I usually think of the title of a poem before I start writing it. And I limit how many I write a day, in order to not get writer’s block so I only write about 5 poems a week.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve been inspired by the Poet Maya Angelou and funny enough Chicken Soup for the Soul those books were great reads when I was a kid.

What are you working on now?
My next book will probably be a biography about my life,also I will be working on a children’s book about Pirates inspired by a person I used to work with who has Downs syndrome.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Still working on finding one. I’ve been promoting on Twitter,Tumblr and Instagram so far.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
The best advice I can give to new Authors is to take your time not to rush the process.If you don’t have any ideas one day it’s okay not to write anyting for a day or more.Give your brain a rest and ideas will naturally come to you.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I’ve ever heard was closed mouths don’t get fed.

What are you reading now?
Currently I am reading Kathy Griffin’s book called official Book Club selection hahahaha really funny!

What’s next for you as a writer?
Next for me is trying to get my book on a global scale.

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 book I would bring would be corduroy.second book I would bring would be Twilight. The third book would be To Kill a Mockingbird the last book would be a picture dictionary lol!

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
So far I’ve written two Books, Sting of the Scorpion and Scorpion’s Reach

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Years ago I was sat eating lunch under a tree in a place called Rotorua, there’s a lake there, and a small seaplane was coming into land.
I found myself asking “what if?” and a story began to formulate, but I didn’t do much with it, just kept it on the ‘backburner’ as I wasn’t a published ‘author’
About three years ago I thought “Screw this If I don’t follow through now with my dreams, I never will” so I wrote the first in the series (Sting of the Scorpion) and the response I got was positive enough for me to write the second, now I’m hooked!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I try to write a little every day, probably the best time for me to write is early in the morning, but I have everything linked to Google docs and I’ve been known to ‘whip the phone’ out and bash a few words into the manuscript at the strangest of times, basically whenever I’ve got a moment I can get a phrase down, and I’ll worry about how the story sounds later, when I do the re-write.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Steinbeck said, “Never do a re-write in the middle of a first draft” I’ve not read his work, but I live by that saying.
JRR Tolkien
CS Lewis
John le Carre
Bernard Cornwell
Frederick Forsythe
Wilbur Smith
Bodie Theone
Stephen King
JK Rowling

What are you working on now?
Book three of the series “Scorpion’s Vengeance”
and also another based on a true story called ‘Smuggler’ about people smuggling and why people would even consider fleeing using these people

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still learning this, I’ve had the books out about a year, but done very little marketing, they’ve been selling themselves (and doing a pretty good job) so I want to up the game in that area.
I’ve had the most success when people have the book in their hands, most aren’t able to put them down.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep going, read as much s you can, write as much as you can, enjoy the process. Take a job writing copy, that’ll teach you to pack the most into the fewest words.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Just keep swimming, Just keep swimming!”

What are you reading now?
A book called “inside Pine Gap” about the NSA’s listening post in Australia.
“Secret Life of a Juror” by Paul Sanders

What’s next for you as a writer?
After I’ve finished book three, I want to concentrate on “Smuggler”. After that, I’ve got a plan for a WW1 story based on some family history, it’ll be a ‘Historical fiction/Romance’ or at least that’s the plan.
I want to see if I can write that Genre

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 Bible would be top of the list, I read it every day.
Lord of the Rings By Tolkien
As many Bernard Cornwell books as I could lay my hands on.
The Pigeon Tunnel by le Carre
and something to write with.

Author Websites and Profiles
Lawrence Hebb Amazon Profile

Lawrence Hebb’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Gertrude J Chapman is an International Speaker, Inner Image Coach, Podcaster, and Author whose energetic speaking style and audience interaction keep the attendees motivated.

She served in outreach in various communities for many years alongside her husband and family. They served over 4,000 people per week through the various channels they designed.

After years of helping individuals and families with the bare necessities, this approach had come to an end. It was just applying bandages to deep-seated issues.

Gertrude J Chapman created Turning Point Enrichment, as a place where people could visit and be inspired to reach their highest potential in life. It was birth out of inner resources of helping solve the problems of others.

Gertrude designs workshops, seminars, conferences, write books and develop other products that help individuals overcome their struggles, appreciate their uniqueness and embrace their self-worth.

I have written over 15 books. Some are online and others I wrote for my conferences and workshops.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Unapologetically You A 30 Day Transformation To Winning.

The story behind “Unapologetically You A 30 Day Transformation To Winning” is to bring you to a point where you begin to see yourself as a person who is not just existing and settling, but as an individual who has value to deposit into others and one who is capable of making a dramatic impact in the world.

Being unapologetic means that you do not have to apologize for being you. Embrace your uniqueness and live your truth.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No, I do not have any unusual writing habits that I can think of at the present moment.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Bible inspires me every day to look beyond myself to help others. Think and Grow Rich has been a great motivational book for me.

What are you working on now?
I am working on a motivational book for entrepreneurs and leaders in other fields.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I usually promote my books at my conferences and seminars and design workshops to highlight the topics in my book.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I encourage the new authors to continue to flow from their hearts and continue moving forward no matter what. There is someone’s life your story is impacting for the better.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
That I have a story to tell.

What are you reading now?
True Prosperity.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To continue collecting the inspiration from my heart and writing it down, for my next books. I love writing what I am passionate about to motivate others that they have hope.

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 my Bible, Think and Grow Rich and Rainbow in the Cloud.

Author Websites and Profiles
Gertrude J Chapman Website
Gertrude J Chapman Amazon Profile

Gertrude J Chapman’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a CSU Dominguez Hills graduate with a BA in English Literature. Books are my life. When I’m not reading or writing, I watch movies or do crosswords. I’ve two books under my name. . . for now.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Belleza and the Brute. I know that there is an abundance of books out there that were inspired by Beauty and the Beast, but I’ve always been a big believer that if you haven’t seen the story you’re thinking of on a bookshelf, you better start writing it. It was my homage to my own childhood and how fairytales influenced my love of books, especially the romance genre.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if it’s unusual, but if I’m blocked, I go to any bookstore and just walk through the books. I feel like they give me the power to think about my next move. Okay, maybe it is strange.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Jane Austen (of course), Lori Brighton, Sabrina Jeffries, Julia Quinn, Sarah MacLean, and Lisa Kleypas.

What are you working on now?
I have two WIP’s. One is a historical romance set in the Regency Era. That one might take me a while to finish since I will be taken out of my comfort zone and want to be as historically accurate as possible. The other is a contemporary romance in the friends-turned-lovers trope. Still working it out, but I’ve always followed the “just write till you finish” rule.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Instagram which is then connected with Facebook and Twitter. I’m pretty awful at keeping up with social media, so I try to have everything in one spot.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just write. You’re doing it for you, for the enjoyment of writing. The amazing reviews, authors, and readers that you meet along the way are extra perks to becoming an author, but in the end if you’re not enjoying it, you’re doing something wrong.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Julia Quinn- “Finish the book. The world is full of first chapters.”

What are you reading now?
Currently paging through A Duke in Shining Armor by Loretta Chase. Loving it!

What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully I will be traveling to Dublin, Ireland for my first author signing. I’d like to finish my third book before then.

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?
Twas the Night After Christmas by Sabrina Jeffries – a Christmas book is always a must for a cheery mood.

To Seduce an Earl by Lori Brighton- this is the beginning of an amazing historical series. MUST READ!

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean- LOVED and I mean LOVED this book so much I have two copies.

Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn- Ugh this series is the best. The absolute best. Every time I re-read it, I can’t help but envy how close this family is.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jane Matisse Website
Jane Matisse Amazon Profile

Jane Matisse’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Jaime Vendera, and I am mainly a vocal coach known for my ability to shatter glass with my voice as seen on shows like Mythbusters. I’ve written and co-written over 50 books, non-fiction as well as fiction.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Mind Over Music and was co-written with Joe Vitale (he was featured in the movie, The Secret). I wrote this book in three days based on a challenge given to me by Joe.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am not a trained writer; I speed write and fix the 900 typos in 3000 words after my creative spurt stops erupting, ha-ha. I don’t really believe in writer’s block. I am either to write or bored with it. If I feel bored, I don’t write. But I start typing generally at whatever time of the day the inspiration hits me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Joe Vitale for sure as far as self-help goes. I am a HUGE fantasy fiction fan, so Terry Brooks is #1 for me. I am a lover of books so there’s too many authors to mention:0

What are you working on now?
Now that Mind over Music is finished, I am working on my next vocal book, “Raise Your Voice 3: Rebalancing Your Voice”, and working on an 8-book YA fantasy series called, “The Tales of Spitfire.”

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have a large email list I’ve developed over the years for JaimeVendera.com an VenderaPublishing.com. I always return to the fans that have supported me over the years, and i continue to build and support that list.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t think about the little things like who is going to do the cover, how will you get it edited, etc. Focus on writing. Just write, write, write, and don’t go back to nitpick every sentence/paragraph you’ve written. Just write anything and everything that comes gushing forth in your mind so that you tap into the creative flow. As your creative flow unfolds your book, everything else will begin to fall into place.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Just have fun! is what my vocal coach, Jim Gillette said to me when I was on my first television show, Good Morning America. I was soooo nervous. I had to shatter a wineglass with my voice, but i was so uptight worrying about it (though i’d already shattered dozens) that I wasn’t doing well during rehearsal. Then Jim called me, and he said, “Don’t even worry about whether you break it or not. Just have fun. If you remember that you’re doing this for fun, it will be fun, effortless, and easy.” That has stuck with me for nearly 15 years now, and I use it for every walk of life, including writing. Remember, when character building in a new fantasy novel, or even when writing a how-to book, always have fun writing. If you remember that writing is fun, those words will flow like water!

What are you reading now?
The Art of Selling memberships by Erik Charles Russel for non-fiction, and I am starting on the Shattered Realm series by Cinda Williams Chima.

What’s next for you as a writer?
The adventure never ends:) So, who knows. I wake up with new ideas every day, so i write songs, I write down ideas for new stories, I write articles for various websites….I am a word addict:)

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?
Hahahaha, you’re killin’ me, Smalls. I could not choose. Can I just bring my Kindle in a solar charged battery case???

Author Websites and Profiles
Jaime Vendera Website
Jaime Vendera Amazon Profile

Jaime Vendera’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
When I was in prison, someone suggested I write a book. This is that book. But let me explain how I got to prison.

I’m a serial bank robber. I don’t deny it. I did the crimes and did the time, seven years in Donovan, one of Southern California’s roughest prisons.

I was raised in a lower income area of South San Diego. The area in which I grew up (South San Diego) was like all other low-income urban areas of San Diego, prevalent with gangs. My neighborhood (Otay) was no different. I ended up joining the ranks of my local gang as a teenager, but never found interest in the more publicized violent acts that some other gang members are known to commit.

My thing was stealing (out of necessity). I all but mastered petty theft as a child with frozen pizzas and Playboys and used my proceeds on things like more trendy clothing, to better fit in with my peers. As I aged and grew, so did my hunger for a bigger, better, more profitable heist. At eighteen years old I graduated from primarily petty shoplifting and auto burglaries, to bank robbery.

Shortly after turning nineteen in the early 2000s I was arrested for just over a dozen bank robberies. To my delight there had been a major blunder in my case. Prior to my arrest they had arrested, charged, and had been in the begging stages of convicting someone innocent for my string of unarmed bank robberies. Luckily (for me obviously), they had all but coerced a confession out of an innocent guy and proceeded to place his photo in all the line-ups for my previous robberies. Due to some striking similarities between us, most tellers identified him as possibly being the robber.

I robbed two or three more banks during his detention before they finally let him go. In their haste to judge and convict an innocent person, law enforcement helped me, the actual robber. I went from looking at almost life in prison, to a deal in a California state prison (it was up to the judge).

Although I was unarmed during every robbery, made it a point to be polite, never stopped anyone from leaving during the robberies, and never so much as farted during the commission of my robberies, I was still dubbed one of the most violent criminals to ever cross the path of that particular judge at sentencing. I received two strikes and eight years in prison (the max allowed).

That’s where the real story begins. Over seven years in prison later I was released straight from solitary confinement (the hole) back to the lovely streets of San Diego. I now live in beautiful Newport Beach, California. I am an entrepreneur and trade in cryptocurrencies, operate a totally legit escort service, and am an author now. The lesson: People do change.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My true crime memoir, UP ON GAME: FROM ROBBING BANKS TO STACKING BITCOIN (My Involvement in Gangs, Prison, Bank Robbery, and Success in the Business World), chronicles some of my life experiences. From growing up in the hood, robbing banks, doing over seven years in prison, becoming an entrepreneur, to now trading in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

I was inspired by how many people told me I should write a book upon hearing my stories. Something that helped guide my decision was when someone stated to me in astonishment, “Not here in America!” in response to one of my prison stories.

I was skeptical about writing my story up until that point. I wasn’t exactly proud of what I had done in the past and did not want to glorify crime. I had planned on possibly breezing through my prison time, if I ever decided to write it at all. Once I heard how she responded to something that I had thought was common knowledge, I knew I could enlighten people on some serious issues taking place on our streets and in our prisons. I could help put them “up on game,” if you will. There are more killers in prison than people think, and they all don’t wear prison blues. I hope to create some sort of measurable change in our system. I love an underdog story. I’d like to see more of them.

Orange Is the New Black is tame compared to what I experienced. I’m here to tell you about the need for prison reform, the neighborhood struggle for poor kids, and how life can truly be unfair.

Just a fair warning, my book contains graphic language and situations and also some bootlegged photos behind bars. You’ll also find our recipe for pruno. Try this at home.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Hmmmmm…Well I’ve never sacrificed a chicken to try and get back a lost paragraph.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The 48 Laws of Power and Sun Tzu’s The Art of War definitely helped me through my time in prison. I would recommend both to anyone currently interested in visiting their local prison for any extended amount of time, because in there, it’s all about manipulation and survival.

What are you working on now?
I’m focusing on my escort business, crypto trading, and getting my current (and only) book out there. Other than that, I work on myself every day and continue to hustle, only legally now.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My book’s website is www.UpOnGameBook.com. I am pleased to be featured on free or low-cost ebook channels such as this one. For authors it’s about getting the word out to readers, not making a million bucks or getting on a best-seller list.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice would be limited to nonfiction writers or memoirists, but it’s all in your perception of the story itself. If it’s your own story and there’s a message you’re trying to get out there, then you got to do it in a way that will captivate your reader. Lucky for me I have the personality of a serial bank robber that’s not only sarcastic, but relatable. So it all flowed out for me in an interesting way. Find your interesting way.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Trust no one you have no reason to. Remember that if you end up in prison.

What are you reading now?
I have just completed reading In Fifty Years We’ll all be Chicks by Adam Carolla. I’m set to be a guest on his show in early June, and I like to make it a point to know my audience. I’m very glad I read this book as I found it to be hilarious and insightful. Although he has some views that are different than my own, he presents his points and topics in such an interesting way that it forces the reader to think and view things from Adam’s perspective. His rant on Dung Beatles and other life forms definitely has several laugh-out-loud moments.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
How to Survive on a Deserted Island, Outdoor Survival Skills, One Reason Why Not to Travel: You Could End up Stuck on a Deserted Island, and finally How to Grow Marijuana on a Deserted Island, along with a manual of three simple steps to building a coconut radio.

Author Websites and Profiles
Richard Stanley Website
Richard Stanley Amazon Profile

Richard Stanley’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello! I’m a skeptical enquiring mind who loves to learn, and I also like to share what I’ve learned with others! Mind Files is my first book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The full title of my book is Mind Files: Perception, Perspective & Problems. I’ve faced a lot of challenges in this life so far, and I know how hard it is to let go of resentment, blame and anger, and truly leave it all behind you. I read a lot of self-help books over the years. All of them – in their own way – taught me a little bit about the healing path, but I always felt like there was something missing. I’m an analytical brain so I needed to know exactly what I needed to do to leave all that negative stuff behind. Positive affirmations all by themselves did nothing for me except fool me into thinking that I had left all the resentment, blame and anger behind.

Just when I thought I had all the answers, my brother committed suicide and I found myself way back down in the depths of all of it again. I was angry, frustrated, depressed, you name it! About a year after that, my health started to rapidly deteriorate, and I realized that everything I thought I had learned and left behind was really only on the surface. I had to start all over again and figure out how to get rid of all that much floating around inside my head once and for all.

When I finally did get through all of it, I knew I had to share what I had learned with others.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I honestly have no idea!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Wow – I don’t even know where to begin with this one! I’ve always read a lot! I’m big into mythology, metaphysics and philosophy. I’m a huge fan of Carl Jung, so I’ve read a lot of his work, and some newer psychologists as well – like Robert Holden, Paul Ekman, and Ellen J. Langer . Joseph Campbell was a huge influence on me! I stumbled on a series of interviews he did on PBS, and I was instantly intrigued! I starting reading Campbell’s books one by one and I finally understood what I had always kind of ‘known’ but couldn’t explain to people about the mystery of the entity we call God! In the self-help genre, I love Caroline Myss and Louise Hay! A Course in Miracles made a lot of sense to me. It touched me in a way that no other Spiritual text had, so when I finally read that book, I really began to heal.

What are you working on now?
Well, I’ve just self published my first book, so I’m anxious to get that out to people. I teach a workshop that takes people through the steps outlined in the book, so those are my two main focuses right now.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Again, I’ve just begun this journey so I can’t really answer this yet, but I’ll be sure to let everyone know when I know!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t let other people’s ideas, criticisms, or doubts creep into your mind. Write the book you want to write.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Stay true to yourself! I know it’s a cliché, but it is absolutely true!

What are you reading now?
I’m reading Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche

What’s next for you as a writer?
I plan to do a follow up book called Inside the Mind Files, that will go into detail about the conclusions people tell themselves and how to move passed each one.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would take – A Course in Miracles, The Hero With a Thousand Faces and Carl Jung’s Red Book

Author Websites and Profiles
Penny Hodgson Website

Penny Hodgson’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a proud Canadian and Serenade is my first novel. The sequel, Nocturne, is available now in digital format, and will be released in print on July 10, 2018. I am so excited for this! The great feedback and response I am getting for these books is so incredible. What a journey!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I was in my local bookstore one afternoon with my daughter and watched as she searched the Teen/Young Adult section in frustration. She didn’t want vampires, or witches, or dystopian worlds, she wanted a modern day adventure with characters that felt real. So, being the doting mother that I am, I started writing her a book. One month into the process, I was quitting my job as a musician and focusing entirely on learning how to write. I fell head over heels in love with this avenue of storytelling. Being a musician gave me many life experiences to pull from, and my love of Stephanie Meyer’s work fueled the passion to forge ahead and get the story on paper. A love triangle, the romantic setting of the rocky mountains, the art of survival and a character whose strength builds with each page… it all began to come to life every time I sat down to write. I realized when I completed the first manuscript, that what I was essentially trying to get across to my daughter –through the magic of reading– was the understanding of true love; what it feels like and how you know when you’ve found it. And, I am happy to say, that my knowledge of that is born of my own, real, experience.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can’t write without a beverage, even if I don’t drink it.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There are so many! Recently Tahereh Mafi has blown my mind completely. Madeline Miller’s ‘Song of Achilles’ was really beautiful. My bookshelves are overflowing with book I need to read… so many amazing authors, so little time!

What are you working on now?
I am working on book three of The Nightmusic Trilogy. It is sooooooo close to being done I can almost smell the fresh ink on the print copies I have the first in an adult series almost completed, and the start of a new teen series in the works.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Promoting books is hard! Word of mouth, or great websites that help authors, are so valuable.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you like it, then so will someone else. Trust your gut. Write for you.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If it tastes bad, don’t eat it

What are you reading now?
Circe – Madeline Miller

What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing. More reading. More yoga.

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. How to survive on a desert island
2. Tree Forts for dummies
3. The Power of Positive Thinking – Peale

Author Websites and Profiles
Heather McKenzie Website
Heather McKenzie Amazon Profile
Heather McKenzie Author Profile on Smashwords

Heather McKenzie’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I love to spin stories and weave tales. I get inspiration from many sources; sometimes I can see a vista and immediately create a scene in my mind. Other sources are music and news headlines, or unusual words that fire my imagination. I love music, hiking, and creating jewelry in my spare time, with all pieces being unique and one of a kind.

I have written 26 books and am working on several more. I write in a variety of genres, from Christian Fiction to Fantasy to Fairy Tale Adaptations and Historical Fiction.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Dare Not My Liege the Princess Who Passed the Test. It is Volume 4 in The Princess Who… series and is an amalgamation of The Princess and the Pea and The Frog Prince. It was inspired by the idea of having a demanding and spoiled woman being forced to marry a seemingly boorish and rude man, only to discover that he is the noblest man she knows. Also by the idea that some words have dual meanings, and that the words the Prince desires in a Princess, sensitive, refined, and delicate, can have both negative and positive meanings, as is evidenced in his meetings with not only his betrothed, but other Princesses that he rejected for not being “true” royalty.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I love to write outdoors, and after laying down a book synopsis, cast of characters, and chapter index, will frequently dictate into my dictation software on my tablet while hiking. It’s a time saver and I get exercise at the same time. I also am frequently inspired by scenes in nature, and the writing flows much faster than when sitting at a computer. In the winter I frequently put on headphones and listen to music while typing the old-fashioned way on my computer. Music evokes emotion and poetry, and helps bring stories and characters to life.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love C.S. Lewis, Edith Wharton, Victoria Holt, Gail Carson Levine, Isaac Asimov, and J.R.R. Tolkien, to name a few. These are authors that I have studied for character portrayals, writing style, and the mastery of genre, although my personal style isn’t similar to any of them.

What are you working on now?
I am about to start a book on Moses which will be part of a series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Goodreads, Amazon, and Kindleboards.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Master your craft and keep writing. Don’t follow the advice that some successful authors dish out, which is to write what people want to read. If you are writing to make money, it will show and your works will not be genuine. Write what is on your heart and someone will read it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t give up, and keep learning your craft.

What are you reading now?
I love history and am a Titanic buff and just finished 2 volumes on the subject. I just finished Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage, and Unsinkable, the untold story of the Titanic. I am about to start reading Bringing Heaven to Earth. I am as eclectic a reader as I am a writer and mix it up with genres.

What’s next for you as a writer?
The sky is the limit, as I have ideas for at least ten more books in widely varying genres.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
My Bible, The Lord of the Rings, a collection of C.S. Lewis’ works, and a collection of fairy tale adaptations.

Author Websites and Profiles
L. M. Roth Amazon Profile

L. M. Roth’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an author, learner and career-changer. I studied physics, worked as a research scientist, and now create educational media. I’ve written two ebooks, Read The Bible This Year and 5 Steps To Get Ready For A Career Turn. Each book comes from personal experience and includes stories about what I’ve learned doing both of those things!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, 5 Steps To Get Ready For A Career Turn, was inspired by my own career turn! I went from researcher to writer, and learned all kinds of useful things the book talks about. I want to help people find the best career fit for their life, and this book is a step in that direction.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write an hour each day, first thing after breakfast, in my home office. When I get stuck, I take a break to play guitar or do pullups on my door-frame pullup bar

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Tim Ferriss, Jon Acuff, Jeff Goins, Michael Hyatt, Tim Keller, S.C. Gwynne, Dave Ramsey, and Parker Palmer have all influenced me through their writing.

What are you working on now?
Career Turn: Making the Leap to Work You Love is my current project. It gives advice and encouragement to anyone who wants to change their career, based on a better understanding of their calling. Career Turn is due out this winter.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
To promote my books on Amazon, I use their Free Book Promotion that lets me ‘sell’ my ebook for free every 90 days for 5 days. This promotion lets me place my book on many free book websites and drives downloads. Through this method Read The Bible This Year has been downloaded over 700 times.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Make your writing a habit. However much you do, do it consistently.

Invest in understanding yourself and your purpose in writing. Clarity and meaningful work will follow!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It’s not exactly advice, but friend of a friend once observed: in the story of the tortoise and the hare, the tortoise wins every time!

What are you reading now?
Tim Keller’s book Counterfeit Gods – a fascinating analysis of modern spiritual attachments and the hope offered by Jesus.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I look forward to working with the outstanding editor Chantel Hamilton on Career Turn, publishing with an on-demand printer, and developing dialogue with readers about how they are being led vocationally.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’d take the Bible, Thomas Merton’s autobiography, a book of John Donne’s poetry… and a book about How To Survive On A Desert Island

Author Websites and Profiles
Ed Burdette Website
Ed Burdette Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a life-long angler as well as a professional biologist and since 2012 I’ve developed a bit of an obsession with Japan’s mountain-region culture, survival methods and traditional fly fishing skills. I’ve written four books on various aspects of fly fishing – three focusing on the Japanese tradition and one on the modern, European competitive methods of river fly fishing.
I’ve also been heavily into bouldering (a kind of rock-climbing) and a variety of martial arts as well as loving cooking for people when I get the chance.
I’m slowly learning Japanese so that I can speak to my friends in Japan more easily and I’ve also found myself getting into writing for video, a bit of camera-work and also some presenting in front of the camera too.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Tenkara Fishing with Hisanobu Hirata”, which was inspired by a Hirata-san who grew up in the shadow of his father (a famous “Shokuryoushi” or professional/survival tenkara angler who supplied the local inns with fresh fish). As a boy in search of pocket money he tried to copy his father’s method of fishing (using the traditional bamboo rod and hand-made horse-tail casting line and simple artificial fly patterns). Initially he was disheartened by his lack of success – and his father refused to teach him directly (his reasoning being that if he had the necessary talent he would be able to pick up the skills by observation). Eventually he became a master angler and has now taught 160 students his methods and approaches over his 50-year career. In the last 20 years he has focused solely on teaching “tenkara” and running his tackle shop in a small town in the foothills of the mountains of Gifu Prefecture in Japan.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I often sketch out bullet points and then stop completely to sleep on an idea – perhaps for several days. When I come back to write the proper text I find that my subconscious has already been working on it and the words flow much more easily.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Hunter S. Thompson (Particularly “The Great Shark Hunt” anthology), Thomas McGuane, Dave Trott, Annie Proulx, David Mitchell

What are you working on now?
A Fly Fishing Natural History…which explores some of the classic experiments in behavioural ecology and uses them to explain how fly fishing actually works.
Along with my “partner in crime” John Pearson, I’m also working on a film documentary about a pioneering outdoorsman, adventurer and tenkara angler Yuzo Sebata with the working title “Yuzo Sebata: Footsteps in the Wilderness”.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still working on that – but Awesome Gang seems like a great place to start. Building an email list seems to be absolutely crucial too.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
It is better to have 99 out of 100 people hate what you do and 1 person to love it…than to have 100% of people “not mind” your stuff. As long as it’s what you really believe in, then it is far better to polarise people than it is to try to please everyone.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
See previous question!

What are you reading now?
“This Thing of Darkness” by Harry Thompson

What’s next for you as a writer?
Multiple e-books, a lot of blogging and some more video treatments.

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 Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time (Hunter S. Thompson), Close Range: Wyoming Tales (Annie Proulx), Tragically, I Was an Only Twin (Peter Cook), The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (David Mitchell)

Author Websites and Profiles
Paul Gaskell Website
Paul Gaskell Amazon Profile

Paul Gaskell’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing more-or-less full time for about twenty years (the “less” part while I raised small children). I write all over the science fiction-fantasy spectrum, for adults and younger readers too. I have three science fiction books in my Nearspace series (the first one is “One’s Aspect to the Sun” and they’re published by Tyche Books), a middle-grade fantasy, “The Seventh Crow” (Dreaming Robot Press), as well as novels, short story collections and ebooks I publish myself.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is a science fiction adventure for younger readers called “Planet Fleep,” and it was inspired by–the cover! Yes, I found the cover first, on a pre-made covers site I love to browse through, and the characters and story just came to me. I love the way story inspiration can come from almost anywhere.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I spend part of my writing time at my treadmill desk, writing while I walk. It takes a little bit of practice to learn this multi-tasking skill, but not as long as you might think! It’s a great way to shake up the lifestyle of constant sitting that seems to go hand-in-hand with writing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve always been a voracious reader, so I’ve been influenced by an enormous number of authors. From Edward Eager and Walter Farley when I was young, through the Nancy Drew mysteries, and on to Nancy Kress, Connie Willis, Neil Gaiman and others, what I like is a really good story with lots of things happening. Slow-paced, reflective literature is not for me, although of course any good story can have depth and meaning. But for me, the story and the characters come first, and I think that’s what my reading over the years reflects.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on several new novel-length projects, one in my Nearspace series and a couple of others. I usually have a few projects I’m juggling–it may not be the most efficient way to work, but it seems to be what works for me.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think it’s a matter of trying a lot of different things and figuring out what is the best fit for both the author and their readers–and it can even vary between books. I do think a newsletter/mailing list is a good way for authors and readers to connect, since it’s a little more personal than randomly sending out messages on social media. I do like to have some fun on social media with pictures and interesting tidbits, though. So readers should join my mailing list AND follow me on social media.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I always say write a lot, and read a lot. Realize that writing is a craft to develop; few people are naturally great writers, but you can become a good one with work. Understand that 99.9% of first drafts are terrible, but that’s okay–once that’s done, it’s all about making it better, which I think is easier. Don’t doubt that you have a story to tell, and don’t self-reject because you think your story isn’t good enough.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I think the best advice is about writing for yourself first. It’s fine to follow market trends and write what you think readers want, but I think to be successful you still have to have some personal connection to what you’re writing. If you’re just “phoning it in,” readers will pick up on that, and your writing won’t resonate the way it could.

What are you reading now?
I always have a few books on the go! On my e-reader, I’m reading a sort of paranormal detective book, “The Midnight Eye Files” by William Meikle. For an audiobook, I’m listening to “Taken” by Benedict Jacka. And in print, I’m about to start “A Curious Beginning” by Deanna Raybourn.

What’s next for you as a writer?
There’s a second Science Twins (Planet Fleep) book just taunting me to start writing it, so I think I’ll have to give in and at least write a brief outline soon. As with many writers, I suffer from “too many ideas, not enough time” syndrome!

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 guess I could cheat and say I’d only bring my e-reader (with a couple hundred books installed!). But I’ll answer in the spirit of the question. I’d bring “To Say Nothing of the Dog” by Connie Willis, the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams, a nice fat book of short stories, and I’d try to sneak in Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Cycle as one book. (That’s a really hard question!)

Author Websites and Profiles
Sherry D. Ramsey Website
Sherry D. Ramsey Amazon Profile

Sherry D. Ramsey’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an author, editor, and gourmet mushroom grower based on the NSW south coast. After finishing a PhB (Hons) in Science at the Australian National University, I worked as a paleobiogeochemist in the Netherlands and then vagabonded my way across Europe working on small farms. Now I live in a tent, write young adult science fiction, culture bioluminescent fungi, and hang out with my donkey, Mindy!

I’ve written two books – the first two instalments of the ‘Kindred Ties’ trilogy (Convergence and Emergence). Book 3 will be out in May 2019!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Emergence, and it is definitely inspired by my science background (and my intense love of ‘Avatar The Last Airbender’). I used to sit in lectures at university daydreaming about potential applications of molecular jugglery, geology, electromagnetic radiation, evolution….Emergence winds a spiritual element through our understanding of natural phenomenon.

In Emergence, the Convergence gene is a mutation on the mitochondrial gene sequence that enables a person to form a telepathic bond with a unique animal partner. The Walkers alone have the unique ability to communicate with all animals from one of the three biomes of air, earth, and water. Science is the backbone for the convergence between humans and animals, but I also incorporate a parallel universe, the spirit world, which only the Walkers can enter through meditation. The Walkers’ abilities are tied to the existence of ancient spirits composed of pure energy that can traverse the boundary between worlds.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’ve lived in a caravan, my van, and a tent, and I’ve written in all of these places. I also tend to listen to one song on repeat while writing, which is pretty weird. Oh, and lots of tea is also necessary.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Ender’s Game series by Orson Scott Card – I read these when I was young, and they’ve really stuck with me. I loved the world, the science, the terminology, and how smart and able the Battle School kids are (Bean will always be my favourite).

Dune by Frank Herbert – another book I read when I was young; the beautifully crafted Arrakis will always be with me.

Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald – The first time I saw myself (as a budding baby queer) in a story.

Ahab’s Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund – I took this with me on my travels, and it’s a BIG book to lug around. That’s how much I love it.

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson – all of his novels take interesting scientific, historical, and philosophical concepts and mash them together until your brain explodes with new possibilities. Just, wow.

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky – the evolutionary narrative, the science – I adored this book. Tchaikovsky creates an alternative history that challenges human superiority to the very core.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, by Yuval Noah Harari – an insightful examination of humanity’s insatiable quest for connection and to understand our place in the universe and the energy that surrounds us.

What are you working on now?
I’m busy working on book 3 of the Kindred Ties series, which will be released in May 2019.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Forcing my friends to read my books, creeping out on Goodreads, and notes delivered by carrier pigeon.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Do it. I’m so glad I had the guts to do it. I’m the happiest and most empowered I’ve ever been in my life. When you’re working on a piece of writing, your days will be more vibrant, exciting, and rewarding. We’ve only got, what, eighty or ninety years of life? Why not spend them doing things we truly believe in? I think Seneca, in his treatise ‘On the Shortness of Life’, sums it up: “So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it.” Don’t waste it. Just Freaking Do It.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I love Haruki Murakami’s intense writing day schedule – it involves a full morning writing, followed by a long run or swim, and an early bedtime. I also always tend to gravitate to Hemingway’s advice: “daily, diligent, urgent progress.”

What are you reading now?
Obsidio, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. Loving it!

What’s next for you as a writer?
More adventures and daydreaming, I hope.

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?
Great question. Definitely some sort of survival manual, ‘The Arabian Nights’, ‘Ahab’s Wife’, and a blank notebook to record my adventure for posterity.

Author Websites and Profiles
Marita Smith Website
Marita Smith Amazon Profile

Marita Smith’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in New Zealand, to a Maori mother, and a Dutch father. They are both school teachers. My dad was a principal of a primary/intermediate school, so I grew up in the town of that school, but moved to Raglan when I was fourteen. I spent two years living in Raglan, and then three years living on the Great Barrier Island as my dad currently is a principal at one of the schools there. Raglan and the Great Barrier Island helped me so much as a person, and I’m not sure if I would be where am today if I didn’t have those amazing experiences. Growing up I had always been interested in writing, but I only ever saw it as a hobby until I moved to Raglan. I currently live in Auckland, and am studying. I’ve written about eight books, but Broken is my first book being published.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name is Broken. It follows Matariki, a Maori boy who struggles to understand love, his identity, and his sexuality in a thick-skinned New Zealand community that is constantly pre-defining people. One of my close friends inspired it. He is Maori and grew up in a hard-skinned New Zealand environment. He also happens to be gay. He wanted me to write a novel that focused on hyper masculinity in New Zealand. Although there are books and movies that focus on hyper masculinity (such as Moonlight), there aren’t many New Zealand books or movies that focus on hyper masculinity in New Zealand. He wanted a story that was similar to his own. Hyper masculinity does exist in New Zealand but it’s not talked about very much.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
There is one thing I do that people find unusual: I almost never plan on paper. I always plan in my head. I have a pretty good memory so I can remember my plots really well. Plots always just come to me during random times. For example, I’ll be eating dinner and all of a sudden a plot will come up inside my head. I’ll literally envision a whole novel in my head, and then I’ll begin to put my stories down on paper. I’ve always been like that. People have told me that’s not the right way to do it, but it works for me. I have tried outlining and while it does help sometimes, I just find it more natural when I think of the plot in my head. Another thing I do, is I delete a whole chapter if I’m not feeling it. I don’t think this is too unusual, as some other authors do this as well.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Jodi Picoult, Gillian Flynn, Fleur Beale, Angie Thomas, and Becky Albertalli have influenced me. Some of my favorite books are The Hate U Give, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Nineteen Minutes, I Am Not Esther, The Kite Runner, What We Saw, Before I Die, and Gone girl. Those books have all influenced me in some shape or form.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on a YA murder mystery. I’ve only written about one chapter so far, but I have planned out the whole plot in my head so I know how I want things to develop in the story.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m kind of new to this, so I don’t really know. But from what I know, Goodreads is pretty awesome and so is Amazon. Social Media is also a great way to promote your books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep looking for opportunities and keep believing in yourself. There were so many times where I doubted that I would get a novel published. There were a couple of times where I found myself crying myself to sleep at night, thinking that this dream isn’t possible. Eventually I decided I was just going to keep looking for opportunities and keep believing in myself. This helped so much because I had gotten more confident to reach out and look for opportunities.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“You need to believe that you can do this, because the more you don’t believe, the less likely this will happen for you.” And also the Nike slang “Just do it” is something that I find so true. I spent so long talking about how I wanted to be published someday, but while I said that, I never actually looked for any opportunities.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading Leah on the Offbeat.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am going to be releasing four new books after Broken.

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 Nineteen Minutes, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens agenda, The Hate U Give, and Gone Girl.

Author Websites and Profiles
Nina de Beurs Website
Nina de Beurs Amazon Profile
Nina de Beurs Author Profile on Smashwords

Nina de Beurs’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a Kenyan writer born in 1973 in Siaya County, Nyanza Province. I developed hunger for reading materials as a young primary school boy always yawning for more until I settled on writing as my career of choice, creeping into my blood vessels and spreading throughout my body, hogging my dreams and life pursuits.
I joined The Writers Bureau, Manchester, England as a student in 2010 and got my writing voice amplified by my first published article, Dialogue Saves Kenya, published by a Canadian magazine, Pages of Stories in 2011, a story about the 2007 post election violence in Kenya.
My first book; The Grave Decade, was published by an American publishing firm-Strategic Book Publishing and Rights Agencies-SBPRA. My second book, Guava Strokes, a memoir that explores corporal punishment in schools was published in 2014. In 2015, I wrote The Sunset Honeymoon, a literary fiction that focus on negative cultural practices that fuel the spread of HIV/Aids. In 2016, I wrote a fiction, Sugar Daddy, the story of Jairo or call him The Tu Man who by the influence of his fat wallet lures a school girl the age of his daughter into irresponsible sexual behaviour and dumps her after impregnating her. Sugar Daddy was followed by a children’s fiction, Kulukulu, the Bad Name, series that shares out how just a name can torment a pupil to an extent of killing her ambitions. My latest release is Birds of a Feather, Anjawo and the drama involved in her illicit trade that deals in liquor and drugs. The negative impact of the business to the surrounding community constitutes the theme of the book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Birds of a Feather, written from a village setup was inspired by my own observation of the negative impact of illicit brew and drugs on youths who comprise the majority hence the target of dealers. Peer influence among the school going population and challenges that abject poverty exposes children to. The book explores governance, romance, culture, crime, stigmatisation, ethnicity, human rights and many other aspects of life.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Learned writers who crave urban life tend to shy away from village literature, stereotyped as a reserve for the primitive. But truth be told, literature is all about sharing the realities of life with the public. A bigger swathe of the world population occupy rural areas where traditional beliefs and cultural practices still control human life. Imposing a cover on the existing lifestyle is a big disappointment to whoever anointed me to serve the world as a writer.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I was influenced by great African writers who laid the foundation for African literature like Chinua Achebe and his books like Things Fall Apart, Elechi Amadi-The Concubine and others, Prof. Ngugi Wathiongo- The River Between and others, David Mailu- My Dear Bottle and others etc.

What are you working on now?
Editing a book, Frazer Academy by a 15 year old boy- Ethan Otieno.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Just discovered awesomegang.com as one of the best.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Only God created man into his own image, but man cannot create another man into his image. When writing, be yourself, with your own unique approach to issues. This will result into outstanding reading materials that give your audience what they’ve never met anywhere before. Snub authority figures in the world of writing trying to mould young writers into their own image.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To know myself and act myself.

What are you reading now?
The River and The Source, by Margaret Ogolla.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To write Volume 3 of the children’s book; Kulukulu, the Bad Name.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Randy Love at Your Service, The Concubine by Elechi Amadi, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and My Dear Bottle by David Mailu.

Author Websites and Profiles
Elisha Otieno Website
Elisha Otieno Author Profile on Smashwords

Elisha Otieno’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I just published my first book early this year. To say I was and still am excited about this would be an understatement. I am not sure how to qualify myself anymore – middle-aged sounds right, especially if one takes into account that my family has a long list of folks who live well into their 90s. Personally, I figure I’ll live until I’m 100, so I’m going with middle-age. I married the love of my life back in 1975; four children, eight grandchildren later, we are still going strong. Writing has been another love of mine. I always liked the essay form. Back when there were newspaper columnist/humorists, I never missed an article by Erma Bombeck or Dave Barry. I think they fed the humor gene that flows through my family. My faith in God and my family are very important to me. I see the humor of both relationships and like to feature that in my writing. I also am a birder. Springtime when the babies are coming to the feeder is the most challenging time for me to write. You can find me standing with binoculars keeping up with my birdie visitors throughout the day. I also love to play games. Anything from cards to board games to old-school video games. I love the camaraderie and the competition. I’m hopeful that play will keep my mind and reflexes sharp.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE MAGIC was inspired by my father. Alongside of his career, my father was a talented magician. Dad grew up during The Depression and was quite a story-teller. When I decided to write down some of these stories so that they wouldn’t be forgotten, I realized that a novel was coming together. It became a middle-grade novel, and I am hopeful that it will remind children and adults of how important it is to look for the magic in the midst of difficulty and challengers.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My worst writing habit is the misguided notion that I need to have a bowl of Peanut M&Ms by my side when I write. This is particularly troubling when I’m writing in the morning as M&Ms are not exactly the breakfast of champions. Sometimes I refer to them as part of my writing tools. If I’m going through a lot of M&Ms, then you can be sure I’m getting some words down on the page and gaining weight at the same time.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Barbara Robinson’s wonderful book THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER and Robert Kimmel Smith’s THE WAR WITH GRANDPA are two that made me appreciate reading aloud with my kids and grandkids and laughing together all the way. Laughter has such a bonding quality. In the adult realm, any book by Alexander McCall Smith, but especially his Number One Ladies Detective Agency books and also books by Fannie Flagg have had a huge influence on me.

What are you working on now?
I am in the very beginning stages of my next novel, so I’m not ready to give any clues as to exactly what that is just yet. I also continue to publish at least weekly on my humor blog, www.lifeonthelighterside.com.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As I am pretty new to all of this, Facebook has been my go-to promotion tool. I have a blog, www.lifeonthelighterside.com, that I also have used to promote my book. I did a book-signing at a local bookstore, too.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, write. Discouragement comes but it also leaves as you keep writing. Don’t show your work too early, but be prepared to show it to a well-chosen writing support group to help you grow and see past your blind spots. The first draft is only the beginning. Don’t give up.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Nike was on to something with their “Just Do It” campaign. It sticks in your head and it translates to writing well.

What are you reading now?
FUNNY SIDE UP by Rita Davenport, THE SCHOOL OF ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS by Erica Bauermeister, and TALK LIKE TED by Carmine Gallo.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am beginning my next novel. I am also learning about marketing and promoting my work.

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 RELUCTANT TUSCAN by Phil Doran, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen, and 501 MUST-VISIT DESTINATIONS so I could plan where to go when I was rescued.

Author Websites and Profiles
Bonnie Anderson Website

Bonnie Anderson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was raised in the not so wild lands of Sparks, Nevada before moving to a small town in Northern California just before my twenty-first birthday.
A year ago I packed up everything I owned and made the trek across the country to sunny Orlando, Florida, where, when I am not working my day job for a large non-profit, I can be found playing among the roller coasters of Universal Studios and Disney World.
I live with my massively large house panther, Riker,Ok, he’s not really a panther, just a very large black cat, and his not so identical twin sister, Deanna Troi.
More Than a Reflection is my first book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
More Than a Reflection is my debut novel and was inspired by my own journey with learning to like myself exactly the way I am, and not listening to what others say is beautiful.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I love modern technology and how with the invention of Google docs I can now write from anywhere. I can switch from my desktop, to my laptop and even my smart phone. I have been known to write while waiting in line at Disney or Universal Studios.The most unusual place I have found myself accomplishing my best writing is actually in the bathtub. Who needs to sing in the shower when you can write in the bath! I have found that K-pop (Korean Pop Music) helps me to stay focused on my writing and not get distracted by the world around me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
C.L. Stone, the author of The Academy Ghost Bird series was the one who told me to just stop talking about writing a book and just do it. Without her kick in the rear end I would probably still be talking about possibly writing a book one day. Her advice and encouragement was invaluable.
Reading the Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn when I was a teenager put me on the path to realizing that my value could be found in God’s eyes and not from what the world deems beautiful.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on the second book in my True Beauty series, the sequel to More than a Reflection.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Word of mouth is a great tool for promotion. Whenever I truly love a book, I want everyone I know to fall in love with it also. For a website, Awesome Gang, and Armadillo eBooks are great tools.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep writing, even if it is just for a few minutes a day. Make it a habit so you feel like you are forgetting something if you don’t write anything.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming. I know that Dory didn’t mean it as advice, but really, just keep swimming, eventually you will get to the other side of whatever trials you are facing if you just keep swimming.

What are you reading now?
Love’s Cruel Redemption by C.L. Stone and the audiobook of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am constantly striving to learn to grow and develop my craft. I’ll keep plugging away at these stories that are floating around in my head so I can share them with you.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
My goodness, how can you choose???
The Bible
Runaway Girl by Anne Eliot
Can the Harry Potter series count as one book?

Author Websites and Profiles
Michelle Craddock Website
Michelle Craddock Amazon Profile

Michelle Craddock’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Perspective is the first book I have published, though it is the first book of a trilogy that I have almost completed. Book 2 – Stronghold is being edited and will be released by the end of the year.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Perspective is my most recent release. Twelve years ago, God challenged me to write. Actually He asked to to write with Him so I sat down with no agenda or plan and started writing an allegory story depicting some of the things God had taught me over the years.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My habits change. When I first started writing, I worked full time and had three children so writing was sporadic at best. Now that my daughters are grown, I am able to devote several hours a day to writing when I’m not distracted with painting.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Jane is my all time favorite. I also admire Ted Dekker and Hannah Hurnard.

What are you working on now?
At this moment, I am finishing book 3 of the Unhindered Love series – Liberty. It’s been a long wild journey but I am almost done with the trilogy.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Finding site such as this one that help authors promote their books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up. If writing is in you, don’t let discouragement stop your story.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Do you.

What are you reading now?
I just finished reading Ted Dekker’s book Outlaw.

What’s next for you as a writer?
After editing and releasing the rest of my trilogy I plan to write a book in the same world ten years in the future. I’ve got it planned in my head but nothing on paper yet.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The complete works of Jane Austen
The Bible
Hinds Feet on High Places
I bunch of paper so that I can write my own.

Stephanie Barganier’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I written several books in the self-help category and the fictional Osei International Book Series

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book was Book V of the Osei International Book Series. I kept waiting for an internal green light, mostly because Book V deals with a heavy subject, which I wanted to lighten up and make informative. The CIA wanted it’s off book cyber department to find out what really happen to Hitler. The FBI did their own investigation as did the NSA. The United States only had the word of Russia as to what really happened to Hitler. Osei was assigned to dig deep into records and people of interest in the Operation Paperclip program, which is real and documented in American history. The problem is, what we’ve learned in the history books and what Osei found (fiction) is a little different. My greatest concern was people didn’t want to hear about World War II or any of the people involved. Once I overcame this writer’s block, I did my best to expose the abnormalities in what we’ve been told and what is documented. My character, Osei could make this story work. He was appointed by the CIA to look into these matters for a reason.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes, I’m terrible, sometimes I go months without writing and then I sit down and write for days. I don’t yet understand my writing habits. I’ve only been writing for six years.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m sorry to admit I’ve been influenced by the five o’clock news and the thoughts of “what aren’t they telling us?” The Series is based on current events with fictional outcomes. The problem is, some of my outcomes later turn out to be closer to the truth then I realized.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on Book Six. I can’t leave Osei without closure. He has been let go from the CIA and with good reason, but not necessarily his fault. His Case Manager, Shelly, who is an intelligent woman helps him to become a Government Contractor with a high level security clearance. He still works on CIA assignments, just now, he works from home. I needed to bring closure to his journey from a young college student in New Zealand, to one of the Agency’s top cyber operatives.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use AMS. I believe the best place to market books is on the platform which sells the books. The kindlepreneur.com guy convienced me to reach out, so here I am.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Do the best you can, and then don’t worry about it. Don’t be surprised if you wake up one morning and decide you can do a better job, so you rewrite the books, or touch it up. As time passes, your best gets better and better.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Know exactly what you want. Stay in the moment and sooner rather than later, what you want will find you in the moment.

What are you reading now?
I’m learning how to market my books more effectively, so it’s a variety of books.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Once I’ve delivered Book Six, I will be looking for another engaging book idea. I’m in the moment remember. The goal is to sell lots of books and entertain people at the same time. Yet, there is a deeper goal here. I believe my books should carry a life lesson, entertainment plus something to think about.

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?
l’m sorry, I don’t play well in the sandbox, never have. I would bring three or four of my own books to determine if I could make them better. If you catch me reading a book, it was written by Warren Buffett, The previous Director of the CIA or a disgruntled CIA operative.

Author Websites and Profiles
Sandy Ingram Website
Sandy Ingram Amazon Profile

Sandy Ingram’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in Gloucestershire, UK, with my family. I am lucky enough to have had my short fiction appear regularly in various publications over the last few years, and my debut novella, ‘Severance,’ was published earlier this month.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
‘Severance’ is a dark re-imagining of the classic fairy-tale, ‘The Little Mermaid.’ I really enjoy telling stories from a skewed angle – although I think my nightmarish retelling is probably closer in spirit to the Hans Christian Andersen original, which is pretty twisted.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like plenty of background noise – I find it disconcerting to write in silence!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love Stephen King, Hilary Mantel, Kazuo Ishiguro and Ian McEwan.

What are you working on now?
I have a couple of short stories on the boil at the moment.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think Awesome Gang is such a great idea to get the word out for new authors.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be afraid of self promotion – contact local papers to see if they’d be interested in running a feature on your work. Our own local paper is including a feature on me in their next edition after I contacted them in light of the release of my novella. Making that contact may feel a bit cringe-y, but it is worth it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Your writing, like a muscle, will get stronger the more you use it – make time to write everyday.

What are you reading now?
I am reading ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’ by Robert A Heinlein, and ‘The Unconsoled’ by Kazuo Isiguro.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have a few short stories due to appear in magazines over the coming months, including ‘The Unfolding’ which will feature in the June edition of ‘Outposts of Beyond’ magazine, and ‘Plain Sight’ which will feature in the July issue of Havok Magazine.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would take Stephen King’s ‘The Stand’ (great story and, due to its size, is the equivalent in length to about 5 books), Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ and Ian McEwan’s ‘Atonement.’

Author Websites and Profiles
M A Smith Website
M A Smith Amazon Profile

M A Smith’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Stas Borodin is the author of the popular fantasy series “Magic, Sorcery and Witchcraft”, written in the genre of heroic fantasy.
The series includes the novel of the same name “Magic, Sorcery and Witchcraft”, novels “Black Hands” and “Funeral Pyres”.
“Fists of clay” is a stand-alone novel and a sequel to “Magic, Sorcery and Witchcraft”.
The novel “Stars and Arrows” is written in the genre of alternative history and set in times of American Civil War.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Gigante” is my new fantasy novel. It’s a dark fantasy about fencing master and his personal revenge.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Early Russian sci-fi. Brothers Strugatski, Efremov, Obruchev, Belyaev, Kazantsev.

What are you working on now?
Sci-fi adventure novel “Aqua” .

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read more, play video-games less.

Author Websites and Profiles
Stas Borodin Website
Stas Borodin Amazon Profile

Stas Borodin’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a retired Texas District Court Judge who has been writing for 30 years which has often made me feel like 2 people. The two “careers” use different parts of the brain. I always wanted to write but needed to make a living so I chose the justice system, following in the footsteps of my father. I have 7 novels and 2 nonfiction books. (living that other life took a lot of time or I’d have written more.) There’s some theme or plot in every book that deals with various aspects of the legal system. The two nonfiction are a divorce book and a book about murdered judges which I researched for 6 years while I was still on the bench and wrote after I became “semi” retired. My novels are mystery/suspense/women’s or literary fiction, you might say as there isn’t always a category they fit.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Texas Style Justice is my newest book which was inspired by what I observed politically and in the courtroom during my 12+ years on the district court bench in Texas.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
It’s maybe not a habit, but I have arthritis in my neck so I have my 15″ Macbook Pro hooked up to a 32″ TV for a monitor. It enables me to sit up straighter and not bow my head over a laptop. I’m fixing to buy a new 13″ as soon as I can get to the Apple store which is over 30 minutes down the road toward Houston.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
When I was an adolescent, I used to read Mike Shayne mysteries. I also liked true crime. I’ve been a fan of Dashell Hammett and his ilk, Mary Higgins Clark, (not that they’re of the same age…) Rosamunde Pilcher. Patricia Highsmith. Ed McBain. Oh, heck, my problem, I’ve been told, is that I like just about everything.
I like humorous characters and somewhat happy endings. I didn’t like the Ripley books by Patricia Highsmith because I wanted him to be caught.

What are you working on now?
I have 3 novels in progress: Murder and Madness which is the 3rd in the Mavis Davis Mystery series (PI mysteries). Death of a Rancher’s Daughter which is the sequel to Death of a Prince (lawyer mysteries). And Ritual (suspense) about police officers who are searching for missing little girls in Galveston.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m establishing a mailing list through promotions with Instafreebie & Bookfunnel. Mailchimp is my email server.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be discouraged. “All first drafts are shit.” I think Hemingway said that–or something very similar.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Apply the seat of your pants to the seat of the chair and write.
You have to actually finish something before it can be published.

What are you reading now?
The Personal History of Rachel Dupree

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish my WIPs!
Learn how to reach more readers.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
This is a joke, right?
I would have to mull this over for about a decade. Who has that kind of time???

Author Websites and Profiles
Susan P. Newsletter Website
Susan P. Newsletter Amazon Profile

Susan P. Newsletter’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am from NYC, lived in the Southwest and California, the south and traveled North America. I have written three non fiction books and four novels. I am single divorced and attending classes in Film History and Music Business.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Third Calling: Light of A New Day Book 3. It was inspired by my other book, Light of A New Day Book I.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write fiction at night, non fiction in the day. I write progressively one chapter to the next.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am influenced a lot by Hunter Thompson, he reminds me a lot of my scrambling and writing styles. I also have been influenced by Orwell, 1984 and The Truth Shall Set You Free by David Icke.

What are you working on now?
I am about to begin the fourth installment of Light of A New Day.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My best method is word of mouth. My books are available on many websites.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep reading, keep writing and keep experiencing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Defy odds and defy others’ perception of your works and yourself.

What are you reading now?
Hunter Thompson, Better than Sex and a Biography of John Wilkes Boothe.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Lots of Articles, screenplays, short stories and more books.

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?
Illuminatus Trilogy, Hunter Thompson Great Shark Hunt, some Hemingway and The Stand by Stephen King.

Author Websites and Profiles
Damian Light Website

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I grew up in a small town in Australia where I currently reside. I’ve been writing steadily for over a decade now, and as my skills improved I moved from writing shorter pieces to novel length fiction. This is my first book, or rather, the first one that’s fit to be published; my first attempt over a decade ago was terrible and deserved to die the slow death it received.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Weeds Grow Near Roads is my first book. It’s inspired by all the fantasy novels I grew up reading and is the result of the question: What would really happen to an adolescent on his lonesome in a high fantasy world where the technology level would see it approximate our Dark Ages period. As such, it is a dark, terribly violent and gloomy narrative that sees the protagonist stumble from one mistake to another.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think I have any unusual writing habits. I do plan what’s going to happen in each chapter and slowly expand the plot points as the work continues and other ideas come to mind.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
While it seems a bizarre nomination for a fantasy writer, Cormac McCarthy has inspired me with his bleak writing that fits the adage ‘show, don’t tell’.

I suppose that the popularity of the television adaption of ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ has shown that fantasy is still a popular genre, despite the negative musings of agents and other insiders.

What are you working on now?
I’ve just dipped my toe in the planning stages of my second novel. It too will be fantasy, despite my earlier plan to switch between fantasy and novels rooted in the real world; I abandoned that plan when I found myself bored by an attempted second novel that would have been a narrative focusing on a character much like myself.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As this is my first time on the promotion merry -go-round I can only list sites such as awesomegang.com and similar sites.

Amazon themselves say they will promote your work more if you publish exclusively through them.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Revision is the most overlooked or, perhaps, under mentioned thing about writing. Your first draft will probably never be seen but anyone but yourself, so be prepared to trim and punch up the work. Also, since you’ll be the only one reading a, possibly, terrible first draft, new authors shouldn’t be embarrassed about what they themselves to be poorly written material. Not only will you be redrafting as the process continues, but others are often less critical of your writing than you will ever be. Also, joining a writing group in your local area can help your writing. It was during the live reading of one of my shorter pieces that I realized what I needed to change in my novel.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Redraft and revise your work is the best advice I’ve heard. There have been some movies – ‘Throw Momma From the Train’ and ‘As Good as it Gets’ to name a couple – that make it seem that writers simply sit down in front of a typewriter, word processor or computer and writing just ‘flows’ from them.

Also, writers should keep in mind that publishers don’t do a hard edit, in fact, they won’t accept work that’s improperly formatted and with typos galore. I found that out the hard way.

What are you reading now?
I’m rereading China Mieville’s ‘Perdidio Street Station.’ Probably my favorite novel of all time.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Onto the second novel I suppose. Also, since I’m still part of my local writing group I still continue to produce one short piece for each monthly meeting.

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?
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville, The Scar by China Mieville, and both ‘The Crossing’ and ‘Blood Meridian’ by Cormac McCarthy.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a 46 year old mother and wife currently residing in Hunterdon County New Jersey. I have been writing since the age of 13 and finally thought it was time to branch out of my comfort zone in writing The Opening which took me a little of two years to complete. So far I have written two books. The second book Venomous Kiss will be out this year.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Opening is a personal story all in itself full of surprises, twists and turns. The thing that most inspired me to write a supernatural horror was one, my love for the genre and two, the ability for me to communicate my best through this genre. Spiritual/Supernatural/Horror writings is a whole other language to some people and when expressed in a creative way can take us as far as our imaginations, dreams and fears will carry us.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think I have any unusual writing habits unless needing the television or music blaring in the background is unusual.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King and Sydney Sheldon are like the most awesome writers to me. I can definitely say that they have had some influence on my writing.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on a feature film for The Opening, a new novel Venomous kiss which will also be a film and SpiritWalkers the prequel to The Opening which will start production in late 2019.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
The best method is personal promotion and when I say personal I mean, the author should put all of the love and work into promoting their projects because no one else is going to love our work the same way that we do. I do a lot of self promoting which can be timely but very gratifying in the end. By doing promoting on my own I get to meet with and talk to the most wonderful people who usually are able to push me in the right direction in furthering my promotional and networking skills.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be afraid. Everyone has a story to tell big or small and it is time for you to tell yours. The best promotion is to get out there and talk to people even if you have to rent a space for your first book signing and handout flyers to promote it. You will ALWAYS get negative with the good pertaining to your book. Do not let it discourage you because if you do, you have already lost. It’s your story, your words and your ideas.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Keep pushing! There were a few times I wanted to give up. I wouldn’t allow myself to do so.

What are you reading now?
I actually wish I had time to read outside of my own work but with a new novel and scripts to go through I don’t have too much time to read anything else.

What’s next for you as a writer?
After Venomous Kiss, I will start on another writing project in the horror genre of course!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Stand by Stephen King
Bloodline by Sydney Sheldon
Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon
The Langoliers by Stephen King

Author Websites and Profiles
Carona Davis-Diop Website
Carona Davis-Diop Amazon Profile

Carona Davis-Diop’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I grew up in Scotland, worked in finance in the City of London for many years, and then had a complete change of career on retirement to write. I have (so far) written one original novel, but I have written fanfiction for some years, where the comments I received and friends I’ve made really helped me to improve. I’m grateful to all of them.
I’m currently working on a second original novel as a follow up to my first one.
I have also written a thriller screenplay which was filmed and shown.
When I’m not writing I force myself to the gym, very reluctantly, where I can be found wheezing at the back of the room. I travel a lot, and enjoy it.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Death in Focus was inspired by years of watching cop shows and similar, and reading every murder mystery I could get my hands on at the local library: from the great Queens of Crime (Christie, Sayers, Marsh, Allingham) to some rather more obscure ones; and more modern writers – at the top of the list, JD Robb.
I had written a fair amount of cop show fanfiction, and one day I thought I’d try to write something with my own characters, not someone else’s.
The murder plot was inspired by my background in both chemistry and finance.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Sadly not. I just sit at my laptop and write – and procrastinate.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Everything I’ve read has influenced me one way or another, but the biggest influence has to have been the Queens of Crime for their different, but compelling, styles, and JD Robb’s In Death series, for its keep-turning-the-page pacing.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a second book continuing with the team from Death in Focus. I still write fanfiction, too.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m pretty new at this. I use my Twitter account, and am just waking up to the ways of promoting books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Even if you don’t want to, try to write a little as often as you can. Read everything – different genres, different styles, different authors. I have read everything from Gothic horror to Harlequin romance, classics to pulp fiction, and while I didn’t like some of it, everything expanded my horizons and vocabulary.
Practically – use a good spellchecker and make sure you know your basic grammar! Great plots aren’t much good if you can’t express them well.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Put your manuscript down when you think you’re done, then re-read a week later. It’s amazing how many little errors need to be corrected even with spellcheck.

What are you reading now?
In the last week, I’ve read sci-fi, romance, and mystery novels. (I still read a lot.)

What’s next for you as a writer?
The second book in this series, and then… who knows!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’d take JD Robb’s Naked in Death, DL Sayers’ Gaudy Night, Lois McMaster Bujold’s Curse of Chalion, and CJ Cherryh’s Foreigner.

But I’d actually really like simply to take my Kindle!

Author Websites and Profiles
SR Garrae Amazon Profile

SR Garrae’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a public communication and marketing professional with 10 years of experience in various industries including education, automotive, nonprofit and consumer electronics. I have a passion for learning/teaching and use my background to translate my experiences into writing. “Is it Happening Now?” is my first published book. I hope to write many more on varying topics.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Is it Happening Now?” was inspired by my real life experience in dealing with death anxiety. After experiencing death of a loved one for the first time at well into my twenties, I went through a long process of understanding death and overcoming the anxieties around it. Once I recovered, I wanted to write a book about my experience and tips on how to overcome death anxiety, in hopes to help others that may be suffering from it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes, lol. I tend to write an entire book in my head before I sit down to start typing. I spend weeks or months in “writing mode” without actually touching a computer. Once I sit down to finally start typing, I complete my work fairly quickly.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I like various others, here are a two of my favorite books:

Nora Roberts: Return to Sender
Chip & Dan Heath: Made to Stick
James Allen: As a Man Thinketh

What are you working on now?
Next, I am working on a guide to informative public speaking. This will be tailored for young adults that want to become better public speakers for school presentation, job interviews and once in the working world.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I like to utilize several channels when promoting my books, including email marketing, display advertising, networking with relevant book clubs, and social media. There is an audience for every type of book out there, and it is best to use all resources to find your audience.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice to new authors would be to identify a specific audience for their piece of writing and to make sure all writing and promotion plans are aligned.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“You can never win if you don’t try”.

What are you reading now?
Right now, I am reading a novel titled “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo”. It is an autobiography novel on the life of late actress Evelyn Hugo, describing her life story and all clarifying all of her alleged scandals during her time in Hollywood.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Next, I am working on a guide to informative public speaking. This will be tailored for young adults that want to become better public speakers for school presentation, job interviews and once in the working world.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Anything by Jane Austen…

Author Websites and Profiles
Bhavna Bhatia Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I don’t usually share my story with others. However, sometimes when I unintentionally mention things from my past, people are intrigued. They want to know more about my life. I’ve often been told that I should write a book because my struggles would resonate with others and my life story could be an inspiration. I’ve listened; I’ve written my book. I hope you enjoy it!

I truly believe that despite the pain of your past, you have the ability to change your future. You can make it happen if you just believe. It all starts with you.

Sometimes the people that we love can become cages, trapping us in a life that we don’t recognize or accept. Throughout my life, I have developed strength of character—a real determination that has seen me through some dark and abysmal times. This is the purpose of telling my story—I want to help you to discover your strength. I lived on the other side for a very long time. The other side of happiness.

They say that your youngest years are also your longest; you are too new to realize the relentless pace of the world. I was trapped there in my childhood and my youth, absorbing the pain of my circumstances in slow motion.

For too many years, I lived in utter misery because of my cruel dad, that evil boarding school and my slavemaster husband.

It was as if I had my face pressed against the window of a bakery but I was never allowed inside. Sure, I knew what the delights inside looked like but the taste, the smell, and the rapture of them were lost on me. Happiness was something that belonged to other people. They wore it so lightly, so naturally, that it became a source of confusion for me growing up.

I learned the wrong kinds of lessons. You know, the ones that keep you trapped inside misery forever. I just didn’t know any better. My normal was on the other side of living—it was coping. It took faith beyond reason to jar me out of that life but I found a way to cross over to the other side.
After endless torment, I made a promise to myself: No more. It was time to build the life I desired. I made a plan to change my world.

To say that writing this book has been an emotional experience would be an understatement. I had deliberately buried any memory of my youth because it became too painful to recollect. To write this book, I had to uncover my pain and dig up those memories that were long since put to rest.

In fact, I grew so disconnected from my feelings about my past, it was as if every bad memory I had was automatically locked away in order to protect myself from random recollections. Despite my efforts over the years to keep things buried, writing this book has uncovered these recollections and raw emotions, which now feel like fresh memories burnt into place.

Painful experiences can completely disconnect you from your feelings and the person you truly are, and worst of all, neglect your most crucial needs. I was there. I was at rock bottom and deeply ashamed of the choices I had made. I had to try to find a way to reconnect with myself.

I want to share my story to help others who feel as I did—ashamed, alone, sad and hopeless. Join me on this journey through my life’s struggles. As you join me in this personal memoir, a retelling of my crossing, I want you to hold a thought in mind. If life has kept you shut out of its joys and pleasures, I want to charge you with a single idea: if I could find my way through the bakery door, then you most certainly can too.

As you read my story, I hope you find your own inner strength to escape the prisons erected around you in your life.

I hope you will enjoy reading it.

All the best,

Christine Clayfield

Author Websites and Profiles
Christine Clayfield Website
Christine Clayfield Amazon Profile

Christine Clayfield’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been a science teacher, BBC web producer, doorman, photographer & builder’s labourer. I have a Zoology degree from Cardiff University in south Wales and have travelled the world looking for wildlife.

I’m an award-winning writer and poet who has been widely published all over the world. I’m also the founder of the international Welsh Poetry Competition. I work full time as a book publisher and writer. I’ve written a crime thriller trilogy where I hope to give readers the same thrills and excitement that you get from reading Lee Child and James Patterson.

If you enjoy crime thrillers, action, adventure, murder mystery, black comedy, technothrillers with bouts of juicy sex you can visit my writing website – www.david-lewis.co.uk.

For book publishing help visit – www.publishandprint.co.uk.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Going Off Grid, a new poetry collection.

This contemporary collection by one of Wales’ most prolific poets focuses on digital capitalism, the negative influence of big tech and our addiction to data. Lewis is deeply concerned with the negative direction mankind is taking and cares passionately about helping to steer us all back to a far simpler, happier place in the far more important offline world. Death and depression, as well as love and nature, are also ever-present themes and the whole package is tightly woven together with some subtle, yet haunting, photographs. “An epic tour de force of modern poetry. The opening poem, (Diet), is reminiscent of T. S. Eliot’s ‘The Waste Land’ and this author’s ‘Roadkill‘, but this time focuses on digital capitalism. Lewis is primarily concerned with the madness and addiction pervading our online worlds while we neglect the more important offline. The title is a hope rather than a statement.

“The book includes a handful of vignettes and reflections of the author’s immediate locale edited in the style of Julia Margaret Cameron that provide an added texture and insight to the text. Another piece of top drawer writing by one of Wales’s best poets.” – Andrew Davies

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Nope.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Gary Snyder, Frederick Forsyth, Charles Bukowski, Wilbur Smith, Ann Sexton, John Evans

What are you working on now?
A second haiku collection.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
No idea, I just write. I’m quite well known in Wales but haven’t got around to promoting my stuff elsewhere really. I should do…

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Show don’t tell.

What are you reading now?
The Tomb of the Inflatable Pig (about Paraguay).

What’s next for you as a writer?
A gritty novel based in south Wales.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
“How to survive on a desert island” and “How to get off a desert island”

Author Websites and Profiles
Dave Lewis Website
Dave Lewis Amazon Profile

Dave Lewis’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am primarily a romance author, though I have been expanding into horror, fantasy, and science fiction of late. To date I have written and published over twenty novels, novellas and short stories, with at least three more coming out later this summer and early fall. I work a day job in a game store, which allows me to still indulge my creative mind. I live in New Mexico with my husband and our dog. I love reading, writing, painting, and playing games in my free time.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
A Whole New Life is a sweet romance with a twist. I was first inspired when watching some mob documentaries on television, which is admittedly a strange place to find inspiration for a romance. I thought about what it would be like to be a daughter raised in the mob world, of how she might want to escape that life and how her new life might play out. What you get is Jenna in A Whole New Life and the complication she comes across when she meets the handsome Deputy Henri Gunther.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t really write at my desk. I have a nice little writing corner set up with a desk and writing books, notebooks, and things to keep me organized yet I never write there. I usually write in bed snuggled with my dog.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I grew up reading JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. I then moved on to Stephen King and Anne Rice. I would say that they all influenced me, though probably Rice is the biggest influence on what I actually write the most, paranormal romance.

What are you working on now?
I am finishing up a novella based on Atlantis right now. I am also working on the sequel to my romantic fantasy novel, Quest for Redemption. I have several other projects to work on this year and into next. I am always writing.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I find that having an active blog works best for me. I talk about my books, the works of others, personal matters, health, etc. I just try to be there for my readers and to build a community. I am also on Facebook and Twitter.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. Don’t take rejection to heart. Read as much as you can. Be persistent. Research before you submit.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If you don’t have time to read you don’t have the time or tools to write. Not sure that I got that word for word, but it’s a quote by Stephen King.

What are you reading now?
I am re-reading His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am working on plotting out a four book hard fantasy series focusing on dragons and dragon borne. I am super excited about going in a new direction 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?
I am going to cheat a little. I would bring the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I would group all the Harry Potter books together. And then probably The Stand by Stephen King.

Author Websites and Profiles
Sheri Velarde Website
Sheri Velarde Amazon Profile

Sheri Velarde’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have written three books, Last Goodbye and Longing to Be are published and my third one, Lying in Wait will be out in the Fall of 2018. I currently work at a financial firm in Massachusetts. I was born and raised in Upstate New York. I did my undergrad at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire and received my Master’s Degree from Northeastern University in Boston. I love yoga, a nice glass of wine, and spending time with friends and my family. I’ve been gluten free for 8 years. My favorite music is Pearl Jam, anything Chris Cornell sings, female singers from the 90s and the Beastie Boys.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I always wanted to write about a group of friends in college and the twist and turns of young adults on their own for the first time. I enjoy writing about them adapting to mature situations. Creating a fictitious campus, writing stories of social issues while throwing in romantic twists and turns is a blast to do. I plan to take my characters through graduation. So I’ll have 5 books in total. I love telling their individual stories and making them grow. It’s a rite of passage for anyone that pursues a college degree.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to use an outline but I’ve found that after about the 4th or 5th chapter the book completely takes a turn. I like keeping the outlines and looking back at them regardless of the impact they’ve had on my current novel. They are full of ideas, and who knows, at some point, those ideas may make it into the next book.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I read; The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis and I knew what I wanted to do. It was as simple as that.

What are you working on now?
During the Onondaga State series there will be a lot of twist and turns, heartaches, epic love stories, devastating situations and life-changing encounters. Hopefully my readers will feel as though they have been transported to this university and join my characters throughout their four years at OSU.
Lying in Wait will be out in the Fall. This is the third book in my college romance series, The Onondaga State Series (after the fictitious campus OSU). I am planning to write five books in the series and take the characters through college. Lying in Wait centers around one of the main characters, Laura and the trouble she finds herself in after she takes a job at the college radio station. Her intertwined relationships will push her from one man to the other and she will soon discover what it’s like to be the center of attention. But her heartache may just be the reason for all the failed relationships in her life and this book will leave you wanting to know more about what happened to Laura Chase!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I keep my website up to date and I think social media is so crucial to making others aware of what is going on. I follow what my other Indie Authors do and hope they do the same when they see what I am doing. To see a friend successful is just as important. The friends I’ve met in the business make me want to continue to be a part of this culture.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Reach out to an author and ask for suggestions and recommendations on beta readers, editors, designers and photographers. Having good people you can trust in your corner can make or break your experience and drive you to continue.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Maybe it won’t work out. But maybe seeing if it does will be the best adventure ever.”

What are you reading now?
I love reading magazines. Short articles that will grab my attention for the moment. It’s all I have right now!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am finishing up Lying in Wait while working on my fourth, Lessons in Love. Lying in Wait is due fall 2018, and that will be here before I know it!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
In case I never get off the island, I’d bring both my books, Last Goodbye and Longing to Be. They would bring me some comfort. I’d also bring a medical book/survival guide. And my last choice would be Fifty Shades of Grey…. why not, right?

Author Websites and Profiles
Laurel Ostiguy Website
Laurel Ostiguy Amazon Profile
Laurel Ostiguy Author Profile on Smashwords

Laurel Ostiguy’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a retired physician am active locally in refugee resettlement. I have coauthored one book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Escape from Hell: Based on the True Story of a Syrian Political Prisoner.

I had retired as a physician and moved to Chapel Hill, NC when looking for something to do, I saw a newspaper article about a Syrian refugee who wanted to become a physician in the US. I mentored this refugee connecting through the article’s author.

Since English was his greatest need, I gave him the writing assignment to tell his story. Well, his story was so powerful that we had to publish it as this book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am very methodical writing for an hour or so each day at least.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
James Patterson and John Grisham.

What are you working on now?
I am writing a couple of articles, one on a Mexican immigrant who is in sanctuary and another on simplifying math terminology.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am using KDP select to offer discounts and will market these discounts.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Carefully consider your book’s point of view. I started with 3rd person and had to rewrite the book in first person when all of my first readers recommended this. The first person narrative in this case was much more powerful

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I took a Masterclass from James Patterson from the Masterclass website. His advice was invaluable.

What are you reading now?
James Baldwin’s Go Tell it on the Mountain

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finishing the articles mentioned above

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 latest John Grisham and James Patterson Books.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have only written the first part of a book since I am fresh on the scene. (It took me a long four years of crying in the corner and yelling at myself in a mirror to get the confidence to publish!) I will be uploading the rest of the “Broken Sky” series and a spin-off series within the next year and I am more excited than my dog when I come home with hamburgers and fries.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Broken Sky: Part One. I was inspired to write this when I sat up at 3 am, scrolling through an app called Tumblr. I was eating a grilled cheese and blasting music, even thought I was supposed to be studying for a mid-term, and ended up coming across a series of pictures based on angels and demons. Intrigued with the idea of a forbidden love story, I took inspiration from the photos and pieces together the story that is… Broken Sky. (I passed the mid-term the next day too. Score!)

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
May I plead the fifth? No? Okay, I’ll just come out and say it… I really enjoy wrapping myself in the tightest blanket burrito while wearing bright pink glasses I call my “FOCUS FOCALS.” Other than that, I listen to a lot of music, take small dance breaks, and cuddle my dogs and cry when I have writer’s block.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
J.K. Rowling. She is my IDOL. I also love Stephen King and all of his works. Growing up, my mother hated the idea of me reading about a killer clown, but I made it work by hiding in my closet with a flashlight and all the cookies I wasn’t supposed to have!

What are you working on now?
Currently, I am working on “Broken Sky: Part Two,” the spin off-series, “Faded Sky,” and my summer body at the gym. Wait… does the last one count? I am technically working on it!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
HONESTLY, THIS WEBSITE RIGHT HERE! I also heavily rely on social media, Amazon marketing, and my girly charms when I’m forced to interact with people on the daily.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I am a new author myself. Maybe we can exchange notes? The only real solid piece of advice I can give is… take LOTS of breaks, and set deadlines for yourself. It helps!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Life is short. Have the extra slice of cake… but eat too many extra slices, your life WILL be short.” My grandma told me this and told me that everything must be in moderation!

What are you reading now?
Stephen King’s It… for the millionth time.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I honestly never thought I would get this far, so I never thought about it. Maybe I’ll try my hand at comics next! I’ve always wanted to be a magician too… the possibilities are endless in life!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Stephen King’s It, Harry Potter, Coraline, and White Fang.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jayna Kayy Website
Jayna Kayy Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m brand new at this. Entangled Earth is my first novel. I’ve always been an avid reader, but never took the next step.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Entangled Earth. It’s an apocalyptic tale based on an slightly odd concept that is easy to imagine but it turns out it’s quite hard to describe succinctly, particularly without giving away a big reveal in the first third of the book. The book flowed from the initial concept of a parallel world that was invisible to us that all of a sudden started physically affecting our world.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Other than writing the end first then working backwards, I don’t think I do. My mum always used to complain that my short stories I wrote for school would end with either everyone just dying or waking up from a dream. Since then the ending has been a big focus. We’ll see what my mum makes of the Entangled Earth ending when she gets to it.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve always been a Stephen King fan, but I think for Entangled Earth my major influence was John Wyndham.

What are you working on now?
I’m around 60000 words into my second novel, Under three skies. It’s a (mostly) future set scifi thriller. Once you get past the slightly wild physics Entangled Earth is a relatively simple adventure story about getting from one place to another, but Under three skies is more ambitious.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m very much still figuring that out!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Nothing happens if you don’t get words down on paper (or into your computer).

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Just keep writing. Don’t stop. There’s no such thing as writers block, just a lack of ideas and they will come by getting words down on the page.

What are you reading now?
Authority by Jeff VanderMeer, the second book in the Southern Reach Trilogy.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My next task is to jump back in to writing Under three skies. It’s been on the back-burner for a few months. I’m not following my own advice, but life got in the way!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Stand and the Pewter F. Hamilton Commonwealth saga.

Author Websites and Profiles
David Lea Amazon Profile

David Lea’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a marketer in turkey and this is my fourth book but my first published book

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Love Triangle
it is inspired by the love life i lived and my encounters on romance this days

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Great Gatsby

What are you working on now?
I am working on a motivational book

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Awesome gang so far

Do you have any advice for new authors?
They should Keep writing and creating till its complete

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
its Believe in your self

What are you reading now?
Moonlight Harbor

What’s next for you as a writer?
Improve my work by writing a new story

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?
Love Triangle by K.N Roger

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Just so you all know – I am an Indie author. I don’t enjoy the support of a publisher, their experienced editors, a PR firm, an advertising agency, a distribution network, and so on. As a solo author, I have to pay for all that support myself. Not an easy task to be both creative talent and business man.

Having said that, I am a man who prefers fantasy to reality. From the moment in my early childhood, when my mother told me to use my imagination in lieu of friends – my training as a fiction writer had begun. Unfortunately, it took until I was nearly out of college to actually embrace writing, and finish writing a novel. I’ve been working on various manuscripts ever since.

As of this interview, I have produced seven works: Thadius, Sawbones, The Lantern of Dern Blackhammer, The Last Atlantian Prince, In the World of Hyboria, Harrow’s Gate, and Tales of Mad Cows and Brothels – two novellas, and five novels.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The most recent publication is The Last Atlantian Prince – a story of brave warriors, dark magic, brutal battles, and cunning intrigue. As to what inspired the story – I’ve always loved sword and sorcery fantasy. I hold a special place in my heart for such tales, so when I get the chance to write a story about magic, dragons, demons, and great heroes, I do. Inspiration for me comes and goes, and it is often hard to determine exactly what is the source of the inspiration. Sometimes, it is music, other times it’s images, and other times it’s just a random thoughts that spark the beginning of a story.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can’t say that I do. My writing habits are as dull as dishwater. For the most part, on weekends, I’ll wake – have breakfast, drink my coffee, then adjourn up stairs to my office where I’ll sit and dissolve into the world that my characters inhabit. There, I merely write down what I imagine is happening with, to, and for my creations.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
What authors or books have influenced me? As far as authors – I can’t pick just one. In science fiction I love Dan Simons, Larry Niven, and Philip K. Dick. In fantasy I am a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, and Robert E. Howard. For the classics I love Homer, and Dante Alighieri, John Milton, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as the great Louis Carol.

Regarding books – The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien; The Ringworld by Larry Niven; The Alienist by Caleb Carr; Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury; Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card; Various stories of Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard; And, Breed to Come by Andre Norton.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on two manuscripts at the moment. One is the sequel to The Lantern of Dern Blackhammer. The working title is, The White King of Moore.
Second, is the first in a series of stories that take place in a parallel universes. I’ve got a working title, but I’m not ready to put it out to the public yet.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Promoting is no easy task. I have a Facebook account, and a Twitter account, as well as a web site www.Boarerpitchford.com. But, just having blogs or a web presence is not enough. So, there is no one “best” method I’ve found.

If one wants to be successful, an indie author must engage a promotional service. They are not cheap. Having said that, they are a must if you want to get the word out. Also, I’ve used a press-wire service for press releases, and have attended writers conferences.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
From my personal experience – 1) Don’t write a story because you think you’re going to sell it to a publisher and make millions. Write because the story must be told – that your message must be heard; 2) Get, and hold onto a great editor; 3) Write a beginning, middle, and ending – then go back and shape the work; 4) Never stop living your dream.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
When I was quite a bit younger, I was struggling to comple a number of stories I was writing. I’d get going with high spirits, write for hours shaping the beginning, then stall. It was frustrating. Then, an author told me this – [paraphrasing] Always write based on three acts – beginning, middle, and end. Also, remember, if you write just one page a day, at the end of a year, you’ll have 360 pages of a manuscript.

This advice allowed me to break down my writing into workable chunks, and took the pressure off of me about how much I needed to produce in a day. Suddenly, writing became a pleasure, and not a chore.

What are you reading now?
This is a funny question. I get it – in the past most authors are reading other authors works, finding inspiration, and so on. In the world of today, with billions of stories, and a incomprehensible amount of information out there on and over the Internet – I read all the time. But, at present, I’m not reading any particular author’s works. After editing and re-writing my own work hundreds of times prior to publication – I get a bit burnt out and tend to take a break from novel reading. So, as of today – I’m on a reading timeout.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’d like to say nude jet skiing in the Caribbean, but I don’ t see that happening any time soon. As I said before, I’m working on two new projects. I’d like to attend some conventions and conferences this coming year (2019), but that remains to be seen. As always, I continue to promote my brand, and works, and jot down ideas for future 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?
First, I’d take How to Survive on a Desert Island by Jim Pipe. Then, I’d have some leisure stuff like The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, and Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Lastly, I’d bring Siddhartha by Herman Hesse – for spiritual reasons.

Author Websites and Profiles
Lawrence BoarerPitchford Website
Lawrence BoarerPitchford Amazon Profile
Lawrence BoarerPitchford Author Profile on Smashwords

Lawrence BoarerPitchford’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
“I love magic and wonderful journeys that expose the richness of everyday life.”

Darcy Deming began her life long journey communicating with imaginary and animal friends on her family’s forty-acre farm in Upstate New York, where she began training show jumpers at twelve years old.

Five years in the Australian outback enabled her to understand the value and the connection of the energetic web of life surrounding all things. It was here that she discovered the Australian horse sport of Polocrosse which she brought back and founded the now popular American Polocrosse Association.

In the late 80’s Darcy returned to the US and had a thriving Training and Equine Rehabilitation Ranch near Sedona, Arizona. During a clinic at the ranch, a Cherokee Elder approached Darcy and asked if she would be willing to study with her so that she could pass on the Old Ways.

Even though she is a Cherokee trained Shaman, Darcy is The Keeper of the Sage, always interested in expanding her abilities and knowledge.

The outdoors world of nature has always been Darcy’s cathedral. It is there where she works with the nature and elemental spirits in a humble way to help heal the land and the inhabitants, many of which have resided there for centuries.
Darcy has her first book in a Young Adult series coming out in May of this year
Sage Stone – The Magic Between the Worlds is already being touted as the next Harry Potter series, but with magic that you can actually use. She currently lives in Tubac, Arizona where she and her husband, Mike have a Gallery called La Esplendida.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Sage Stone – The Magic Between the Worlds was inspired by a trip to a sacred cave on top of a mountain that is considered to be the Center of the Universe by the indigenous people here in Southern Arizona. It was in that cave where I made an amazing connection with the Mountain Apu who asked me to write this story, the name was provided and a knew journey in my life began…

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Absolutely, I am not a typical writer. Chapters seem to float down to me from the ethers in no particular order. When they arrive, I start jamming the keyboard… As soon as I reach 7 or 8 Chapters that are roughly drafted, I start putting together the links and touches to tighten things up… it’s an exciting process.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
One of my favorite books is Dandelion – The Extraordinary Life of a Misfit by Sheelagh Mawe.

What are you working on now?
I am zooming through book 2 in the Sage Stone series which I hope to have out late fall 2018…

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use a variety of promotional platforms.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t spend tons of money on classes, plot builders and all that hooplah. Just write! I am always amazed at writers who have issues with inspiration, wow…. Look out your window, scroll through your pictures, what makes your heart beat… That’s what you should write about!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To ask one question, over and over and over as I create my book….
What if……? What if so and so did this? What if…

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 think that they would all be empty journal notebooks, provided that I had an endless supply of pens!

Author Websites and Profiles
Darcy Deming Website
Darcy Deming Amazon Profile

Darcy Deming’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written two books, The Bone of the Day and Last Chance, Texas. The bone of the day is is based on the two years of my life I spent as a private investigator. It’s the career I wish I’d had instead of the one I actually experienced.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My last book, Last Chance Texas was inspired by my love for libraries and most people who love libraries are still grieving the loss of the Library of Alexandria. I wondered how would people feel if their own library was destroyed by fire.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I guess the only strange thing I do for my writing inspiration is to create a Pinterest board and put images and ideas all together and then refer to a while I’m writing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The writers that have influenced me the most are Jane Austen, JK Rowling, Margaret Atwood, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Georgette Heyer.

What are you working on now?
My current work-in-process is it’s called Maid of the Raven’s Wood. It’s a retelling of the Grimm’s fairy tale, The Robber Bridegroom set in Germany in the 800 a.d. after Charlemagne’s conversion of the Saxons.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My bad breath pies through Amazon.com and I bought spots on digital girl.com. I’ve also posted through my Twitter feed and through Facebook posts. Have websites and I also have book trailers posted on YouTube and on my website.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
A New York Times bestselling author once asked me yes my goal was to make money. I thought for a moment and then realized that the only thing I really wanted was to tell a really good story. I honestly believe that’s all I really want to do and I hope you do too.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Alice Walker who wrote The Color Purple told authors to write the book that they wanted to read. I think that is so wise.

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading James Comey’s book A Higher Loyalty. I’m amazed at what a good storyteller he is for a Republican.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m involved in the rewrite for Maid of the Raven’s Wood and I’m also doing my dreaming and planning of my next novel which I will begin the first draft in during NANOWRIMO.

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 complete works of Shakespeare, the Holy Bible, and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Author Websites and Profiles
D K Kerr Website
D K Kerr Amazon Profile

D K Kerr’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I earned a degree from the University of Arizona in Creative Writing and English Literature, and have been working in the Insurance industry since 2009. I am early in my publishing career, but I have two books out, and am working on the third, which will complete my first trilogy.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Quarantine, and it is the second book in my Containment Series. I love dystopian/post apocalyptic stories, and this blends both of them together, along with a good deal of government conspiracy. Like most of my ideas, I can’t remember exactly where this one came from, but the plot twist came first, and everything branched out from there.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write best in the closet. It’s quiet, free from distraction, and oddly well air conditioned.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have been majorly influenced by Joseph Heller, Ian McEwan, and Orson Scott Card.

What are you working on now?
Eradication, book three of the Containment Series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Most of my work is promoted via Amazon ads, but I also promote through my Facebook page, and have just started with Facebook ads, as well as promotion sites to push my discounted periods.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be consistent. Even if you can only write 200 words a day, after a year you’ll have a 73,000 word manuscript, and that’s a novel. Also, just don’t be afraid to put it out there. No one gets it right the first time, and I have just published the 3rd edition of my first book.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
See above. Those weren’t my ideas, but they are the best that I’ve heard.

What are you reading now?
Atlantis Plague, by AG Riddle.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finishing my first series, scaling up my advertisements, and hopefully being able to go full-time by 2022.

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?
Catch-22, Lord of the Rings, The Complete Collection of Short Stories by Ernest Hemingway, and War and Peace.

Author Websites and Profiles
Matthew Staggs Website
Matthew Staggs Amazon Profile

Matthew Staggs’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
So far I have published 2 books and a short story but I am working on so much more. I have over 20 years of story ideas and I am so excited to share it all.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is the special edition of a book I wrote called The One That Got Away. So many things inspire my stories. This particular story was inspired by life around me and the music I was listening to one morning. I have a playlist for every story and those songs remind me of the couple I am writing about.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I would say one of my most unusual habits is not writing in order. I write as the scenes come to me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am a huge fan of poetry from Maya Angelou to Lord Byron. I also am a huge Jodi Ellen Malpas fan and Gemma James.

What are you working on now?
So I am currently almost done with book one in a series I am working on called The Grown and Sexy Series. I really wanted to write some stories about women 35 and above. Book one “Happy Birthday Jules” is about a divorced mother who travels to Miami with her girlfriends to celebrate turning forty. While on vacation her friends dare her to kiss a handsome stranger. Needless to say there is an immediate chemistry and the story of their love begins.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Right now I primarily use facebook but I definitely am working on branching out.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
It’s dream fight for it! Authors are artist surround yourself with people who can takeover the heavy lifting because all you really want to do is write.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Live your truth.

What are you reading now?
The Controversial Princess by Jodi Ellen Malpas

What’s next for you as a writer?
I just did my first book signing event and I loved it. I thought I would be nervous and I was but I settled right in. So I will be doing more signings and adding to the Vazquez Vixens family, hopefully. I always say “I want Vixen World Domination”. So more merchandise and more books.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Ok I was recently asked this question so it’s not that hard. I am going to cheat a bit.
1) A notebook so I can keep writing my stories
2) The This Man Series by Jodi Ellen Malpas
3) The Wisdom of Sundays by Oprah
4) A compilation of Maya Angelou poetry

Author Websites and Profiles
AC Vazquez Website
AC Vazquez Amazon Profile

AC Vazquez’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a punk rocker, skateboarder and astrophysics student. I am 41, was born in Kentucky and have lived in Oakland California since 1997. I have written 8 books and published 3. The others are on their way. I write under my real name and also my pen name Justin Tense.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Beast. It was inspired by a real-life cryptid sighting in Kentucky when I was a kid. Several of my friends saw it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes. I smoke tons of marijuana when I write. I also listen to Thrash Metal while I write.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Michael Moorcock, Tolkien, Martin, Clive Barker, Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, Howard and Lovecraft…just tons and tons of writers.

What are you working on now?
A fantasy series and a sci-fi novel.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have just begun to promote, so I don’t know for sure, but I will say anything but facebook. Facebook is absolute garbage for book promotion.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Let it suck. Fix it. Edit it more. Get beta readers. Then edit more. Then, when you finally like it, publish! See, it wasn’t that hard, was it?

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Don’t go ninjy-in’ nobody that don’t need ninjy-in’.” – The West Virginia Ninja

What are you reading now?
Destroyer by Chris Fox.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Fame and Fortune baby!

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?
Complete works of Robert E. Howard, a couple of Elric novels, Dune and Complete works of H.P. Lovecraft.

Author Websites and Profiles
Aleister Davidson Website
Aleister Davidson Amazon Profile

Aleister Davidson’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
One book called Pretty City Murder now on Amazon. As as a patrol officer for the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, I conducted hundreds of investigations, both criminal and non-criminal, and worked closely with cops, firefighters, and paramedics. My former supervisor works with cops who get into trouble. I have a BA in English, a JD, and a long writing background as a legal editor/writer and newspaper correspondent. I was a substitute teacher and owned a tutoring franchise at one time, and now I privately tutor middle and high school students in reading/writing. My blog tells much more.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Pretty City Murder. My experience as a patrol officer gave me material to write the book, which is a police procedural and takes the reader into the world of law enforcement. My uncle was a police sergeant, and the main character is based on him. He was one of those people I loved and wanted to memorialize.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I prefer to write at night when it’s quiet. I go outside to get fresh air, and that helps me write dialogue.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Noir books influenced my writing, and, in part, that is due to my genre. Graham Greene was another influence. He considered himself to be a writer who happened to be Catholic. My Catholic faith molded me into the person I am and is more important than anything else, because I will face Christ on the day of my death, and I want to be ready.

What are you working on now?
nothing, yet

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m getting more involved in promoting the novel, but so far, I have found success on Face Book. Kindle-free days should boost sales.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
don’t give up – you haven’t something to say

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
don’t lie

What are you reading now?
nothing

What’s next for you as a writer?
waiting to see how Pretty City Murder fares – I would like to write about true crime and already have an unsolved murder of a well-known chef in San Francisco

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 – I would need it if I couldn’t go to Mass; Nicholas and Alexandra (Peter Massie); The Power and the Glory (Graham Greene)

Author Websites and Profiles
Robert Dunn Website
Robert Dunn Amazon Profile

Robert Dunn’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a fiction suspense thriller novelist, I studied at Baker College. I actually went for photography, having to take some filler classes, I took some writing classes and fell in love. I always knew that’s what I really wanted to do, but never had the time. Then one day about 5 years ago I told myself, that’s it, I’m writing my book. I did and published it and then I was hooked. I’ve had so many stories in my head, that writing comes very easy for me. I have a wonderful support team, my husband Brian, my two children and now eight grandchildren. I love God with all my heart and soul. He has truly blessed me, without God Almighty, I’d have nothing and be nothing…all Glory goes to our Heavenly Father!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is The Arrangement, was inspired because my husband grew up in Yale, Michigan. It’s such a quaint little town, it’s idyllic to raise a family, and nobody ever really talks about. I thought that maybe if I based my book from there, that the town would get noticed somehow.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I write, I place my fingers on the keyboard, closing my eyes. I then picture my characters that I’m writing about. I become them as I write…so you can feel the emotions that they feel.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Nicholas Sparks, Nora Roberts, LaVyrl Spencer

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on The Settlement Part 2 of The Arrangement, which will be available in the fall of 2018.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Twitter and Facebook

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I guess my advice to a new author would be, never give up on your dream. Life gets in the way sometimes, but always follow your dream.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Completely unrelated to writing, but my mother always told me growing up…if you see someone with out a smile…give them yours!

What are you reading now?
The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have a few author’s night set up for the summer. I have a some book signings coming up and I already have my next book sent to the editors.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Holy Bible, that’s all I would need.

Author Websites and Profiles
Carolyn Alexander Website
Carolyn Alexander Amazon Profile

Carolyn Alexander’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an author, freelance-writer, and cannabis journalist. I’ve written articles and interviews for national magazines like the Hemp Connoisseur in Denver, Dope Magazine in Seattle and Herb.co. Under my DJ name, DJ Cola, I interviewed DJs for DMCWorld.net. My short story collection is available on Amazon and I write blog posts at my website goshdarnblog.com.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my book is “Accelerated Learning Techniques for a Budding Sociopath: A Bunch of Short Stories.” A friend and I were sitting around doing nothing and came up with this weird title. I had to use it for my collection after that.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I talk into a recording device. I’m not above stealing email messages from my inbox and secretly recording other people’s conversations in cafes to get dialogue for my stories. Prompts are okay, sometimes, but mainly they are for losers who don’t have a creative bone in their body, but if I can’t think of a story I go ahead and steal it from someone else who talks a lot. The easiest way I learned to tell a story is to listen when I silently talk to myself like a crazy person. I start there. Then I listen to people tell stories at bars. This is the only way to tell a story in the modern age. At a bar. I learned third person later once I mastered 1st. Not the other way around. I’ve followed all my own advice for years and have won awards and written for magazines. Wanna fight about it? Do ya? I didn’t think so.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Fight Club, The Great Gatsby, Rollerball Murder, Moby Dick, The Color Of Money, On The Road, etc.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on writing something great. It’s a tall order, but I know enough people who will read what I’ve written and tell me, “You suck!, so improvement is inevitable. I’m writing novellas, screenplays, blog posts and articles.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I find publishing my own blog at GoshDarnBlog.com keeps me motivated. I just published a physical book in “print” and I’m going to follow the local bookstore route and see what happens. Pitching your “product” and yourself is the only way to get anywhere in this world. Jesus did it. If you can’t learn to pitch or sell yourself no one will ever read a word you’ve written. Ever. Now we have email lists, social media and whatever you can imagine, so why not go for it already?

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Go get your MFA degree in Creative Writing or if you don’t want to do that find local community writing classes for $40 bucks a pop or go to a local writing conference for $500 dollars. Force yourself to write even if it’s for five minutes a day. Don’t get distracted by your depression or anxiety. Be okay with writing crappy, but just make sure you hire an editor later on and pay them real money. Join a local writer’s group for free to get motivated. Get over your fear of rejection when it comes to sending your work out. None of this advice is easy to follow, but if everyone was writing books– Wait! They are! Haven’t you seen the bad books for sale on Amazon and the bad movies uploaded on Amazon Prime? There’s hope for people who write “good.”

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Don’t quit.”

“Don’t write for money. There’s lots of easier ways to make money.”

What are you reading now?
“1001 Ways to Market Your Books” and also H.G. Wells short stories.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Submitting my short stories to the New Yorker and then getting rejected by the New Yorker.

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” because that would be a horrible thing to happen to someone. “The Complete Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook” of course and “Survival Wisdom and Know-How : Everything You Need to Know to Thrive in the Wilderness.” The fourth book could be any book to use as kindling for a fire.

Author Websites and Profiles
Evan Hundhausen Website
Evan Hundhausen Amazon Profile

Evan Hundhausen’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have the gusto to say “I am well” even though I have a chronic illness which causes me to be housebound several days a week. This is because I have learned that my sense of wellness isn’t associated with the physical. I have dipped my toe into the water of authorship with my first book “Well”.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Well – A Memoir” sprang from a very unusual and interesting source. I dealt with my chronic illness with very bad coping mechanisms that led to major depressive disorder, alcoholism, pain pill addiction and a suicide attempt. As a Christian, this was so shameful for me and I didn’t understand how I could let it happen. Was my spiritual life that big of a mess?

When I got home from the psychiatric hospital, I began pouring over a decade worth of journals looking for answers. I found relevant entries and collected them in a scrapbook. I also included in the scrapbook original artwork telling my story through the end of a paintbrush. Then I went through my blog and other essays I had written and included those as well. The scrapbook told a story, and I realized it had evolved into a unique type of book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to write longhand on paper and doodle or create art throughout the writing. I use several art mediums while writing, such as, collage, painting, sketching, and mixed media art forms. When I am done I have a visceral, textural and authentic work. However, it doesn’t transfer electronically easily. My book “Well” was my first attempt in making this transfer happen.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am no longer a prolific reader because of my illness. However, I prefer non-fiction inspirational and challenging books. Dallas Willard is my favorite author.

I would have to say that the book that has influenced me the most is the Bible. The words on those precious pages breathe life into me. I write in “Well” how words of scripture were the only concise thoughts flooding into my mind while in the psychiatric hospital.

What are you working on now?
A compilation of family anecdotes. I have several funny storytellers in my family with great tales. Even though I have heard the stories over and over again growing up they continue to entertain.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am so new to this!!!! Right now I am using social media; i.e. Facebook and Twitter. I have my own blog, https://aliasintown.blogspot.com where I post regularly.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I am one. Does someone have advice for me? I could use it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
One word. Savor. Life is hard and when great moments invade that cause a belly laugh, a sense of awe, a warmth of love, or just joy savor it; not only in that moment but put it to memory and savor them over and over. Savor.

What are you reading now?
The Quest Bible Study by Beth Moore.

What’s next for you as a writer?
It is my deepest desire that “Well” will help another person. I’m very focused on getting it into the hearts and hands of people who need it.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible, 14,000 Things To Be Happy About, and a coloring book.

Author Websites and Profiles
Alias In Town Website
Alias In Town Amazon Profile

Alias In Town’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have published many articles and books as an English professor, but Hosta Seizure is my first venture into writing fiction. KIRKUS Reviews says, “Henry . . . subtitles his debut work of fiction ‘a magical realist gardening mystery,’ and it’s an appropriate description for this quirky, creative novel. In it, hostas are revealed to be sentient beings with a complex, nuanced system of communication. The author writes numerous chapters from these plants’ perspectives, and they have personalities as varied as the humans who tend them.”

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Hosta Seizure was inspired when my partner in the garden one day said, “I think Empress Wu is really beautiful this year,” and my knee-jerk reaction was, “Shh! Not in front of the other hostas! We can’t show preference!” That interaction prompted me to keep an iPod with me at all times while gardening to capture audio notes, and I delved into hosta history and science to develop personalities for hostas with names like Big Daddy, Sheherazade, Blue Mouse Ears, etc. The American Hosta Society serialized the novel that emerged, and I was excited to turn that product into a paperback then into a Kindle version.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I guess if carrying an iPod at all times while gardening so as not to miss an “emphed” idea from a hosta counts as unusual, that would be one. I record the voice memo on the spot and e-mail them to myself, then move those emails into a specific folder to review when I can knit ideas and dialogue together into a scene.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I think One Hundred Years of Solitude changed my life as a reader. It was followed by such monuments as House of the Spirits, Midnight’s Children, and others. I have read almost all of Tony Hillerman’s books. Then there’s Genus Hosta, The Hostapedia, The New Encyclopedia of Hostas, The Little Book of Hostas . . .

What are you working on now?
I am working on the second volume in the Cozy Magical Realist Gardening Mystery Series, Hosta Seizure. Gardeners have an adage that the first year you plant a hosta, it “sleeps” (i.e., gets its roots settled in), the second it “creeps” (begins growing larger), and the third year it “leaps” (grows into full maturity or well on its way). The first volume of Hosta Seizure, available in paperback and Kindle, has loads of sleeping metaphors layered into it: the protagonist, Funky, it turns out, fell from a tree as a kid, engendering a dormant capacity that is awakened in this first volume. I am currently drafting lots of scenes and dialogue driven by “creeping” and by “leaping” for volumes 2 and 3.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am still trying to figure that out. I subscribe to the Awesome Gang newsletter, as well as that of the Fussy Librarian. I have established a big e-mail list which I use sparingly, so as not to bug friends. And Facebook. I also just created a trailer on YouTube.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
As a fiction writer, I probably need as much advice as I feel qualified to give. As an author more generally: become consumed by the project, research, write, revise, write …

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

What are you reading now?
Quite a few books on the gut biome + lots of articles on hostas. Recently finished Green Island.

What’s next for you as a writer?
The next two volumes of Hosta Seizure.

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 had writing materials, the books on hostas mentioned above. If I were stranded uniquely as a reader, the magical realist books I mentioned earlier and one of Tony Hillerman’s or Agatha Christie’s.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jim Henry Website
Jim Henry Amazon Profile

Jim Henry’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a middle school special education teacher, parent advocate, associate pastor, missionary, and director of Global Government & Leadership Institute. I am passionate about accelerating innovation in education with a particular interest in differentiated instruction, multiple intelligences and using technology to support all learners. As a mother of a son with Asperger’s Syndrome and other intellectual disabilities, I remain an advocate for special education. I reside in South Jersey with my loving husband and son. Along with my curious cat Chloe. I have written a total of six books. My first book “A Touch of Peace” was written when I suffered my first psychotic breakdown and was diagnosed with Bi-polar.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Lovely Princess Anne is the latest book I have written. It was inspired by a student in my classroom who was bullied, teased and felt she was ugly. Although I tried to intervene, I felt helpless. As teachers, we work to protect our students by teaching students to respect, accept different beliefs, customs, and diversity. However this I feel is the hardest challenge of all.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I want to say that I tend to write more when I am depressed. This is not a good thing, but I believe it has helped me to cope with bipolar and the challenges of raising a son with intellectual disabilities.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I believe King David from the Bible has influenced me the most. I love the metaphors and can relate to his struggles and accomplishments.

What are you working on now?
I am working on another children’s book focusing on disabilities.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My website is http://touchofpeacepublishers.com. The best method is usually through networking with friends and co-workers. I find that social media is a nice way to get some attention, but I also feel that it is very competitive and difficult to attract a following. I am trying to get more exposure.

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

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Keep writing and writing your words have power!

What are you reading now?
John C. Maxwell 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

What’s next for you as a writer?
As a writer, I want to take several leadership courses and put them into practice. Travel more and write about those experiences.

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 Shack, Jonathan the Elephant

Author Websites and Profiles
Tanya Merced Website
Tanya Merced Amazon Profile

Tanya Merced’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m currently writing the third book in my Pendulum Heroes series, with the first book finally getting published now. That said, I have an addiction to writing short stories and I’ve written a slew of them. Those stories have been published in Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine, Apex, Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, Lightspeed Magazine, Daily Science Fiction and several others.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Pendulum Heroes is about four gamers who are stuck not only in the game but in their character avatar bodies. This is particularly troublesome for Melvin Morrow, who plays the game as a warrior maiden whose armor is literally a chainmail bikini. Also not a fan of this predicament is his friend Richard Bates, now an old man with a frazzled gray beard and crazy unpredictable mage power, or his brother Mike Morrow who is now a megrym–imagine an imp + fruit bat + chupacabra and that’s a megrym. The reason they’re stuck here is that mages from this world import players from Earth via the game to do suicidal tasks no sane person would sign up for… only this time something broke.

Stories like Narnia inspired this, mostly because I couldn’t imagine why and who put a portal to another world into a wardrobe. That and my constant love affair with video games.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Sometimes to nail the feeling of the right scene or story, I’ll write to music. I wrote a flash story to Rock the Casbah. One of my highest praised stories “17 Amazing Plot Elements… When You See #11, You’ll Be Astounded” I wrote with Nouvelle Vague’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” on repeat.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
When I was a kid, I pretty much mainlined Piers Anthony’s books. I’m also an avid fan of Kurt Vonnegut, Ursula K. Le Guin and Harry Harrison’s “Stainless Steel Rat” series.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on finishing book three of the Pendulum Heroes series. I plan to have a book for each hero, so there will be four books total.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Book promotion is a pretty new thing to me. I’m more used to writing a short story, selling it to a respectable venue in the business and letting them do the advertisement. That said, I do a bit of blogging about my experiences and I tweet from time to time.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Advice from me is like advice from either an energetic toddler or an old drunken uncle… either its funny and naively simple because I don’t know enough or it’s a meandering mess because I know too much and can’t handle it! I will say that short stories really helped me get experience writing well, coupled with peer review. The act of reading other new writers and trying to eloquently tell them why you didn’t like something can only help you when you’re looking at your own work. To that end, I recommend new writers join critters.org.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It came from Buddha and it keeps me working when I feel malaise setting in. He said, “that’s the problem, you think you have time.”

What are you reading now?
Ink, Iron, and Glass by Gwendolyn Clare. Speaking of writer advice, the back cover of her novel has one of the most powerful quotes in that regard. It simply says “our best weapons are words.”

What’s next for you as a writer?
I plan to tap into the Buddha’s words, realize time is fleeting and finally finish this third novel, then launch into writing the fourth and final act.

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?
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony
The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

Author Websites and Profiles
James Beamon Website
James Beamon Amazon Profile

James Beamon’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a Registered Nurse by day and a writer by… whenever I can fit it in. I have written 7 books, 4 of which are published at this time. Although I started out writing in the YA Urban Fantasy genre, I’ve figured out that I like to write in many different genres.

My published works are: a YA Urban Fantasy trilogy — Five Out of the Dark, Five Out of the Pit, and Five Out of the Ashes; and SAVED, an adult Romantic Thriller/Suspense.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
SAVED is my latest book. It’s a Romantic Thriller/Suspense novel that I wrote for my mom and sisters because they are all huge romance fans and not-so-much fans of fantasy.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have been known to write in some odd places, like wrestling tournaments while waiting for one of my sons’ turn to wrestle.

Also, I don’t do much plotting, I prefer to let the characters tell the story. I always carry a notebook with me and use it to write down ideas and future plot points that pop up in my head at random times.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love reading fantasy, even as an elementary school child I gravitated toward it. I read and loved books like A Wrinkle in Time, The Phantom Tollbooth, and Alfred Hitchcock short stories at a young age alongside all of Beverly Cleary’s fun books. Really, I read anything I could get my hands on back then, including my dad’s collection of Louis L’Amour books.

Here’s a small list of authors that have influenced me: Brandon Sanderson, J.K. Rowling, Nicholas Sparks, Jim Butcher, and J.R.R. Tolkien.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on revisions to a YA superhero/dystopian novel titled Myrikal that will be out in February. And, I just started writing on a new Romantic Thriller.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
BookBub and FaceBook ads have been good promotion sites for me.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep writing. And, embrace the editing and revising parts of writing because that’s where you really make your story shine.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“I am asking that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life we ‘accentuate the positive.’ I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort. I am not asking that all criticism be silenced. Growth comes of correction. Strength comes of repentance. Wise is the man who can acknowledge mistakes pointed out by others and change his course. What I am suggesting is that each of us turn from the negativism that so permeates our society and look for the remarkable good among those with whom we associate, that we speak of one another’s virtues more than we speak of one another’s faults, that optimism replace pessimism, that our faith exceed our fears. When I was a young man and was prone to speak critically, my father would say: ‘Cynics do not contribute, skeptics do not create, doubters do not achieve.'” ~Gordon B. Hinckley

What are you reading now?
Witchy Winter by D.J. Butler

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have so many new ideas for books, I’m just going to keep plugging along so I can get as many of them written as possible — and enjoy the ride the characters take me on along the way.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Harry Potter (probably The Goblet of Fire if I could only choose one), The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, one of the Harry Dresden books by Jim Butcher, and the Book of Mormon.

Author Websites and Profiles
Holli Anderson Website
Holli Anderson Amazon Profile

Holli Anderson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Chad Stambaugh is a Fiction and Non-Fiction author. A Business Owner during the day. Chad is also a Paranormal Investigator and full-time writer. He’s spent the last decade reading all kinds of books and writing blogs about the paranormal. His latest novel, The Devil Within is his first fiction novel after writing predominately non-fiction.

Chad Stambaugh is a 4-time Paranormal Award Winner. Non-Fiction Book: Paranormal Investigations, 2013; Non-Fiction Book: The Paranormal Dictionary, 2014; Paranormal Radio Show of the Year; 2015, Non-Fiction Book: Beyond the Veil, 2015, The IPPA Award: International Paranormal Acknowledgement Award. (Only the second American to ever win the Award.) He’s also had one of his short stories; “Everyone Hates the Grays.” Published in Portable Magic; The Authors First Anthology book.

Chad started his writing career in 2012 by chance. He lives in Fresno, Ca and has three children and 3 grandchildren. You can read Chad’s blogs at the link below. Enjoy!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Contagion is the title of my newest book. I love conspiracy books, so as this is my second fiction book that I’ve written, I wanted to try one of my own conspiracy book. This is actually book one of a trilogy. So I hope everyone enjoys it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I actually use dragon to get the words on the page, because I have real bad arthritis and it’s hard for me to type.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Tom Clancy is my favorite author. He greatly influenced me with his Jack Ryan series. I’ve taken online classes from James Patterson, Judy Blume, Malcolm Gladwell, R.L. Stine and David Mamet. They’ve all inspired me and given me the education to become a great writer.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on book two of the Contagion series; Detainment.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have two places that people can go to find my other works. My author site on Amazon and my personal website; www.chadstambaugh.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just write! I talk to so many would be authors online and in person and the biggest thing I hear from them is I don’t know what to write about. I say just write. Don’t worry about what it is that you’re writing. Just write. Eventually, you’ll come along something that really inspires you and you’ll be able to turn it into your first novel.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Pretty much what I just said earlier. And that’s to just write. Find time. Don’t make excuses. Get away from the T.V. and Write.

What are you reading now?
Right now I’m reading a Fantasy novel called Helm. It’s a different version of mankind, Elves and Dwarf’s. It’s pretty awesome.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Right now, I’m just working on finishing up my Contagion trilogy. After that, I’ve got some ideas on another trilogy that I’m thinking of writing.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Man, that’s a hard choice. War and Peace, Gulliver’s Travels, The adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Author Websites and Profiles
Chad Stambaugh Website
Chad Stambaugh Amazon Profile

Chad Stambaugh’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am 26 and married with two children. I live in Gettysburg, PA. I enjoy writing mystery and science fiction with a twist.

So far I have written three books. With each book I am learning more and applying it to my latest story.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
What Lies Below was inspired by a creative part of my brain that loves mysterious twists.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
The only thing I can think of is I like the tv on in the background while I write but I keep it muted. It helps me write in the strangest way.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am not a huge reader. I’ve never been big on reading. I’m more of a movie person. I just love the idea of creating a story out of nothing.

What are you working on now?
I an currently working on some short stories to practice and learn new writing skills.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am still new at all of this. I am still searching for ways to promote my books. This site is one of the first I’ve tried!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I still consider myself a new author. If I had to answer I would say always keep your imagination active. The second we “grow up” we lose most of our imaginative sides.

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

What are you reading now?
I an not reading anything currently but I did just add Ready Player One to my kindle.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep learning and perfecty my writing. Push myself but above all, have fun with it.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would bring a book on fire making, fishing, cooking, and how to build a raft.

Author Websites and Profiles
Brandon Rohrbaugh Amazon Profile

Brandon Rohrbaugh’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile