Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve published two books on Amazon now. Of course I suppose like other writers before that I wrote several half books that, for a variety of reasons never saw the light of day

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Concentric Darkness
When I finished Breath Thief I thought I’d tied up al the lose ends, that’s it now for something new, but very quickly new questions idea and possibilities started rattling around my head.
I suppose it started with one line – ‘I don’t want to be Holly any more…’ and it went from there. When I began I had no idea what was going to happen next, It all grew organically.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I find that I can write anywhere. I prefer to work on a laptop but always carry a notepad with me
I suppose the most unusual habit I have is it takes me a long time to move from finishing a book to punishing it

What authors, or books have influenced you?
As an adolescent I loved Tolkien
Nowadays I mostly read histories interspersed with binge reading to authors like Jo Nesbo. I get the updates from Awesome Gang and do read books they promote that pique my interest

What are you working on now?
Cross Quarter Day. It’s the final book in the Annie Taylor cycle. Hopefully it will answer some of the unresolved issues from the first two books

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I like Awesome Gang. I find my promotions with them are generally more effective than other sites and they’re always my go to site

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing
Subscribe to sites like Scribophile where you can meet other writers, get your worked critiques and learn more abut the craft

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
When you think you’ve finished put you book in a drawer for six months, then go back to it, it’s frightening how many mistakes you’ll find

What are you reading now?
James Shapiro 1606 – a year in the life of William Shakespeare

The level of research is fantastic and learning more about the events of the time he was wringing in really changes one’s understanding of King Lear and Macbeth.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish Cross Quarter Day – then I think it will be time to give Annie, Tilly and the rest a well deserved rest while I look for a new adventure

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Wow, what a difficult question

I think Jo Nesbo’s Robin Redbreast – just for the complexity of the plot, though I would also be tempted by The Boy
Njáls Saga – all human emption laid bare
The Lord of the Rings – for old times sake

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a ‘real-life romance’ writer, and I write to keep myself sane and because THE INK demands it.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My first published book, ‘Climbing The Walls’ is Book 1 of my current passion project — the ‘real-life romance’ Hart & Cole Series.

H&C is not a typical romance. My themes are simple: RELATIONSHIPS. MARRIAGE. SEX. INFIDELITY. INSECURITY. It’s about “After the ‘I Do’ ”… no one rides off into the sunset at the end of one of my novels; sorry. A marriage is not a happy ending; it’s a beginning of so much more to come.

The main characters have been with me for over 15 years now — glimpses of them emerge and haunt me for months on end, and then they go quiet for a year or more.

Book 1, Climbing The Walls , started its first draft somewhere around 2002… so it’s been largely buried under a rock for over a decade and a half! The second half of Book 2, Pandora’s Poison, was mostly written over a couple of months in 2016 — I lent the first book to a friend, and she DEMANDED I finish Book 2, so I did.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Honestly, I don’t have a writing process or habit. I write when the story possesses me, when my characters whisper to me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King — I am amazed at the AMOUNT of work he has produced over his career, and his tenacity to keep at it. He is also unafraid to voice his opinion, even when it means disparaging other writers.

Jodi Picoult — she has amazing metaphors that slip in unexpectedly and stay with you long after you’ve closed the book.

John Grisham — despite the dry, tight writing, there is always an undercurrent of dark humour in his novels.

What are you working on now?
‘Pandora’s Poison’ and ‘Pandora’s Price’ — these will be Book 2 and 3 in my Hart & Cole series. They both deal with the couple Darren and Luisa, who are struggling to keep it together while raising a child that was the product of an extramarital affair. It is intense, and painful, and some scenes I literally cried while writing. I am currently editing and tightening these two novels and hope to publish at least one before the end of 2018.

I also have Book 4 about halfway complete ‘Below The Surface’ which deals with Bryan and Stacey, a couple that have smothered so many secrets in their past that emerge years later when people from their past reenter their lives.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Amazon Marketing Services, Instagram and Facebook and other social media. I am a new author, so still playing around to see what works best!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Every novel isn’t everyone’s “cup of tea”… and you always, always, always have to keep that in mind as a writer. You do your best to have the “bones” of the story intact – a good plot, grammar, structure; you do your best to “market it pretty” with a good cover design and blurb… but the rest, you just have to test the waters to see what your readers think… and you have to have faith YOU WILL FIND YOUR TRIBE. Despite bad reviews (or ‘iffy’ comments from well-intentioned people) DO NOT LET ANYONE MAKE YOU DOUBT YOURSELF. And… JUST PUBLISH THE DAMN THING.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You can edit bad writing but not a blank page.

What are you reading now?
The last good book I read was fellow indie author Mercedes Siler’s “Easy”. Right now, I’m trying not to read anything until I’ve gotten through another draft of my Book 2! It’s focus time.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to write at least 5 books for Hart & Cole, and then I’ll see what’s next. Right now these characters won’t let me move on to anything else!

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?
Follyfoot series – Monica Dickens
A Painted House – John Grisham
Dolores Claiborne – Stephen King

… and my own novel Climbing The Walls, it was a huge accomplishment for me to finally publish it! I’d want my characters to keep me company

Author Websites and Profiles
Sacha Fortuné Website
Sacha Fortuné Amazon Profile
Sacha Fortuné’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi my name is Christopher Phyfer and I’m a 19 year old author all the way from Sunny South Africa. I mostly enjoy writing fiction stories, but somewhere along the line I might try something different. I personally enjoy gaming on the Playstation 4, going out with friends or just hanging out at home and playing with my dogs. I love all animals but I especially adore dogs, you will notice this in my books. So far I have only written one book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Ghost of The Woodland Highway. This book was mostly inspired by the Legend of the Ghost of Union Dale here in South Africa

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Personally I tend to always write in the first person perspective. It so much easier and it gives my a closer relation to the character.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Child in Darkness and Lord of The Flies really was amazing books, it was inspired me to one day start writing my own books.

What are you working on now?
I started a new book franchise based on a superhero of my design. It will probably be a series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is the first time I tried promoting via a website, and all the sources say that you guys are one kf the best promoting websites out there!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Well I’m a new author myself. But I guess I’ll say give it a shot, you never know what could happen.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Only trust yourself and no one else.

What are you reading now?
Fifty Shades Freed

What’s next for you as a writer?
As I stated, I’m starting on a superhero franchise of my design

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, Fifty Shades of Grey, Lord of The Flies and Child in Darkness

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey, with my amazing husband, Rodney and spoiled Chiweenie, Nala.

I have a passion for writing (and coffee) that has guided me all throughout my life. I love all kinds of stories and coffee, with a strict persuasion towards hazelnut coffee.

After formulating a story for over a decade, I finally released my debut novel, Family Tithes along with the formation of my production company; Serial Writer Productions. My most recent book is Moraless Pride.

When I am not writing, I read, obsess over (and rant about) my favorite television series, bake tasty treats and sing along (terribly) to my favorite songs.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, Moraless Pride: Ash is a book that contorts the perception of its characters. It’s a story about survival and the struggle to find worth in life enough to continue surviving. It’s a story about pushing a person to their limit while exploring the instinct to stay alive. Every character in this book is designed to defy their presumed, social roles.
Moraless Pride: Ash is the first in a series, that follows different characters in their pursuit of freedom. Whether that is freedom from financial burdens, family, power restraints, or the law, is specific to each character. I started Moraless Pride over a decade ago. The idea developed out of the characters. Ash was the first character, followed by Malvin and a few others that will be revealed now, in later books.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My writing process is random. There’s no true formula I follow when I’m writing my own books. Inspiration can hit me anywhere. I was at an amusement park a little while ago and randomly started thinking about an issue I had with a book.

When I get this kind of inspiration, though, I must write it down. I can’t wait, or I will forget. I must be in the moment when writing, at least initially.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have always loved Sandra Brown, David Baldacci, Rob Thurman, and Lisa Jackson. I love their style and their ability to tell a convincing, engaging story.

What are you working on now?
I am working on the second installment of Family Tithes.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I promote my book via my website, as well as Facebook, and Amazon. I have found the Amazon book giveaway feature to be an extremely useful tool.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice for aspiring writers is that there’s always an audience out there that will appreciate your writing. The digital age has allowed people to find others who have similar interests, who live on different continents and across oceans. Therefore, if you keep writing and continue building your passion, there you will find an audience with whom your work will resonate.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Always do what makes you happy. Whether that is a personal or entrepreneurial endeavor, it is always worth it. Taking the leap of faith is always better than turning your back on your dreams.

What are you reading now?
Currently, I am reading Lisa Jackson’s Expecting to Die.

What’s next for you as a writer?
After finishing the next installment of Family Tithes, I am going to write my first paranormal romance.

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 Cold Blooded by Lisa Jackson, Fat Tuesday by Sandra Brown, The Winner by David Baldacci, and Nightlife by Rob Thurman.

Author Websites and Profiles
Colette Tozer Website
Colette Tozer Amazon Profile
Colette Tozer’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
i am 23 years just graduated from college. i have always loved reading fiction books and hoped to one day write mine. this is the first book that i have written.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
HOME not so SWEET HOME. it was inspired by my own personal relationship with my mother. we didnt have a really good relationship but when i learned the sacrifices she had to make for me it made me appreciate her so i wanted others out there to try to have better relations with their mothers.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
i write a draft with a pencil on paper then when i type on the laptop i write something completely different from the draft

What authors, or books have influenced you?
lisa gardner. she writes mostly about children in foster homes or adopted children who come from dysfunctional homes which in turn shapes their behavior.

What are you working on now?
a new book about a man who has an affair but then his girlfriend dies and all his businesses fail and he is left with nothing.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
social media-facebook

Do you have any advice for new authors?
just do it. most people struggle to write the first line, they procrastinate until they later forget about the idea. just write, it wont be perfect but as you write more and more you learn and become perfect.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
if i try and fail, at least i tried. it is better to try and fail than not try at all afraid of failure because you will always live with the regret of not doing what you want.

What are you reading now?
into the water by Paula Hawkins

What’s next for you as a writer?
travel. it brings a lot of new experiences and inspiration

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 monk who sold his ferrari
the wanted
dark places

Author Websites and Profiles
lavinia gouwe Amazon Profile
 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a fan of science fiction and fantasy. I have only written one book, so far.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Curse of the Storm Giant Queen. I wrote the book to encourage my nieces and nephew to read. I thought that a book about them might make them want to read more.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I listen to music for inspiration when I write.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
J.R.R. Tolkien was a huge influence, as was C.S. Lewis

What are you working on now?
I am working on the second book in the series. There is a third and fourth book in the planning stages right now, and possibly more beyond those.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Social media seems to work the best. All you have to do is get your book in front of the right person.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Learn the science of language. It seems that nowadays, only the art of language is taught, and correct grammar and punctuation has fallen by the wayside. Wade into writing by starting off with articles, blogs, and short stories, that way, you will be know before you decide to publish your magnum opus.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If at first you don’t succeed…..

What are you reading now?
The Fall of Gondolyn

What’s next for you as a writer?
Advertising this book, and working on the second book in the 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 Return of the King, Red Storm Rising, Team Yankee, How the Irish Saved Civilization. Then some helpful books, such as: Raft Building Techniques, 101 Ways to Start a Fire Without a Match, Sand Castle Design

Joseph Lutes’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a clean YA fantasy author with four books and a prequel in The Azetha Series, a story about a princess who discovers she’s not really a princess, but a hybrid elf/elemental. I’ve also written a couple of short stories as well as poetry.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest release is a middle-grade book called CHUM: A Caleb Stark FBI Short Story. This book was inspired by a spur-of-the-moment story my brother-in-law, Jeff, told one year around the campfire at Lake Powell. The nieces and nephews love it when he tells them stories about pretending to be an agent and parachuting into places around the world.

I love Lake Powell, but it’s hard for me to get into the water when I know there are living creatures in there with me. And it’s harder still for me to get into the water after writing CHUM. Really hard.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can’t say that I have any unusual writing habits. I write in our family room and in order to write I have to clear the clutter and have my writing area set up. That means having a clean kitchen behind me and having a Diet Coke and water at hand. I also have to check my email before I start because I need to mentally clear things out of the way before I begin.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love writing fantasy, or stories that have some kind of fantastical or magical element in them. I was influenced in my early years by C.S. Lewis’ The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, as well as by JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit. I was drawn in with the ideas of traveling through portals to other worlds as well as enraptured with elves and elementals. I loved the battles between good and evil, epic journeys and everyday heroes.

In my later teens I discovered Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time Series which had me fascinated with Jordan’s ability to carry multiple characters and storylines in a masterful way. I was saddened that Jordan passed away before he could finish the series and grateful to Brandon Sanderson who finished it out, doing justice to what I believe Jordan would’ve done.

What are you working on now?
Now that CHUM is complete and released, I have several projects I am working on, including a non-fiction Surviving Motherhood series, a middle-grade contemporary fantasy series, and an online editing course for writers. It’s a lot to juggle and we’ll see which project gets to the finish line first.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still a work in progress when it comes to promoting books. I probably default to Facebook and Twitter the most for book promotion and that’s because those are the two sites that I’m most familiar with.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice for new authors would be to keep on trying, keep on writing. Don’t give up when you get negative feedback from others, because it’s going to happen. I’ve always tried to remember that not everyone is going to be your reader or your fan.

I’m a forever learner and I look at the feedback closely that I get from others. Some of it I take and learn from it, and some of it I set aside, realizing that it’s feedback from someone who isn’t a reader of my genre. It just doesn’t apply to me.

So keep on going, and keep on trying.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I ever heard was to join the League of Utah Writers. I was a new writer at the time and I was struggling to find resources about writing and publishing. I instinctively felt like there were more resources out there to help writers like me, but I just wasn’t finding them. I went to a local writing event and met several people who advised me to join the League. It was the best advice I’ve been given. I immediately began finding the answers I needed and was connected with a community of supportive writers who have continued to help me with my writing career.

What are you reading now?
I’m the worst when it comes to reading. I can’t read one book at a time, I read several depending on the mood I’m in. Let’s see, I’m reading Fatherhood, The Manliest Profession, Writing Irresistable Kidlit, and re-reading Tesla’s Attic.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My primary love is writing fantasy, but I’m hoping to also make a difference with my Surviving Motherhood series which has a focus on moms who are parenting children with RAD (reactive attachment disorder) and ADHD. The more I talk with these moms, the more I see a need for them to feel a connection with other moms, for them to know that they have a community, a tribe of others like them. We’re all trying to do our best for our kids and trying to survive from day to day.

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 could choose three books to take with my on a desert island my first choice would definitely be my scriptures. I especially love Psalms and Proverbs. When I’m having a tough time I turn to those amazing sections for advice and comfort. Jane Eyre is a classic love story that I’d love to have with me. And if I could have the whole Wheel of Time series as one giant tome, then I’d pick that as my third. I know, that’s kind of cheating, but those are my choices.

Author Websites and Profiles
Robin Glassey Website
Robin Glassey Amazon Profile
Robin Glassey Author Profile on Smashwords

Robin Glassey’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 originally from Massachusetts now living in New Hampshire with my husband, two kids, three cats and a crazy puppy! I’ve always loved writing and I have one release, so far!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Twilight Carnivals inspired by my own experiences throughout my life

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Always making sure I’ve got my lemon ginger cup of tea nearby!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Robert Frost, Shalini Boland And Dean Koontz

What are you working on now?
My second book, Twilight Carnivals

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Marketing with the app called Ripl!! I love it!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never doubt yourself and your abilities! You can do this! Surround yourself with a good support system.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Market your book to the fullest!

What are you reading now?
The Retreat by Mark Edwards

What’s next for you as a writer?
Completing my next book by February 2019!

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 Girl From the Sea, The Secret Mother, The Retreat

Author Websites and Profiles
Lori Katherine Website
Lori Katherine’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a cancer who enjoys the simple things in life; laughs, rainy days, sunsets, comfort foods, and music. I also enjoy a good book and a hot tea, horror and action movies, fall time, football and traveling. I started writing at fourteen, and I’ve written two books so far with many others in the works.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Abundance is the name of my debut novel, and it was inspired by the tragedies that life has thrown at me over the years and the strengths it has taken me to overcome them.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I sometimes act my scenes out… LOL!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Actually the first romance novel I read was by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Nobody’s Baby but Mine, and I fell in love with dynamic characters and well, reading in general after that. I wrote to her years and years ago and told her that I wanted to be a writer, and she wrote me back and encouraged me! It was a pivotal moment in my life! And that book is still my favorite!

What are you working on now?
I’m currently in the process of formatting the sequel, Return to Abundance, and writing the third book, Escape from Abundance, in the Abundance series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Word of mouth and social media has been some of my best methods so far.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Follow your dreams! Don’t be afraid to show your work, but you have to be ready to do so and no one can tell you when you are, you’ll just know it! Keep working towards your goal! You may be someone’s favorite author some day!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write, write, write and don’t stop writing! Dream big!

What are you reading now?
I’m one of those weird people who read many books at one time. I’m currently reading Dracul, the “prequel” to Dracula, and a few other books by fellow indie authors- Remade by Danielle Novotny, Chimera by C.B. Blankenship and Hunted in the Valley by C.R. Pugh. I have a very eclectic taste in books!

What’s next for you as a writer?
After I finish the Abundance series, I’m going to work with my father-in-law who is a retired homicide detective to hopefully put together a suspenseful psychological thriller.

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 man! I can only choose 3 or 4? Talk about torture!!! I would have to take Twilight, one of Susan Elizabeth Phillips Chicago Stars books, something by Richard Preston and a Game of Thrones by George R R Martin.

Author Websites and Profiles
Shanna Swenson Website
Shanna Swenson Amazon Profile
Shanna Swenson’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 mother, wife, creative and free-thinker. Life has been a great adventure for me. Wanderlust sent me across the world searching for my truth. What I discovered was this was never about a place, but a mysterious island hidden inside of myself.

I have written nine novels and countless short stories. The focus is always using immersive imagery and lyrical prose to speak of the heroines journey. The stories are multi-genre, but suspense rules the roost. Without tension stories have no meaning for me. I have published thirteen titles on Amazon, but am waiting for the right time for some of my more elaborate pieces.

I work hard on my writing every day and decided when I was five that I would one day be a novelist. I felt that I needed wisdom and experience first, so I read the classics and love to hear stories of legend and folklore from locals when I travel. I love every minute of this life and feel fortunate to be here as a writer, doing what I love.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Soul Keeper, a ghost story was inspired by a photo I ran across on an antiques website with an unusual ring for sale. It was strange and kept bothering me until I did some research and found out more about the era it came from. The story almost wrote itself after that and I included the research after the story so readers and writers could understand how a story might evolve when you allow it to do what it needs to.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Perhaps I do. I like to work in the yard and get dirty and sweaty, then rinse off and write. The physicality before the writing seems to get my blood going and helps me write strong scenes. I also have a tendency to wear exotic caftans or evening gowns with no shoes. The unusual dress helps me morph into a more creative sphere.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Shakespeare, Bronte, DuMaurier, Bradbury, Poe and Lee. There are hundreds more, but I think these are the top five.

What are you working on now?
Corvus Hall is a terrifying story that began as a short story and is looking more like a novella now. I am still in the drafting stage. We shall see! It’s a paranormal thriller based on a strange experience I had in Ireland a few years ago with a little Irish boy I met. I was hesitant to talk about it at first, but now I think I’m finally ready.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Twitter and Goodreads and public readings. People in person sharing or reading written work seems to make it more powerful and takes it higher.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
When people try to discourage you, use that negativity as your rocket fuel. You may not be the best writer that ever lived, but you can make up for having natural talent with raw determination and by exposing yourself to the best literature. Stay hungry, stay humble. Good luck!

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

What are you reading now?
I am actually reading three books: The Glass Castle, Atonement and re-reading The Turn of the Screw.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To find a literary agent for my more powerful work, expand my writing community and finding organic readership. I am a self-professed book nerd and I’m not afraid to say 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 Anarchists Cookbook, a book about herbalist remedies, Alas Babylon and The Art of War.

Author Websites and Profiles
Bibiana Krall Website
Bibiana Krall Amazon Profile
Bibiana Krall’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I served in the United States Air Force for four years, then bounced around for a little while after that. The whole time I was working on various stories and books. So far, I’ve only had one novel published, but I’ve written three others and are in various states of completion. Hopefully my next one will be ready for publication by next year.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My debut novel, “The Entropy of Knowledge,” was just released last month. Me and co-author Britton Learnard were telling science jokes (because we’re complete nerds) and said we should write a whole book around one of the funnier ideas we had. After the laughter died down and the liquor wore off, we asked ourselves “why not?” and wrote the book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I completely immerse myself in music, whatever I can find. With that in the background, I can somehow focus on the job at hand. Also, I try to treat writing like a job (since I do want a career in it). That means I write a little bit every day, five days a week. I try to set a goal. 500 words or more a day, with weekends off. If I didn’t set these goals, I’d probably still be on chapter one right now.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
John Swartzwelder’s “Frank Burly” series have really been a major influence to me. I love the high energy craziness. I’ve laughed out loud at every one of his books, and that’s what my aim is here for “Entropy.”

What are you working on now?
I am working on another Science Fiction book called “Order of Magnitude.” It’s not a comedy, but it is a topic of interest to me. After that’s done, I’m moving back to humor. I’ve been away from it for too long. Britton is currently drafting a sequel to “Entropy” and when he’s done, we’ll hash it out together until it’s something we both can enjoy. Usually that’s the hardest process. It’s done with knives and insults. Very ugly.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
For the first month, I’ve tried various places for book reviews. I write funny reviews on Goodreads, just to get my name out there and offer a free service that people can enjoy for free. (Did I mention it’s free?) Also, I’ve been working on a separate project for Wattpad that may be a successful venture. We’ll see.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you want to be a writer, you have to write. And know exactly what you want out of writing. Do you want to have a career in writing? Treat it like a career. Put in the effort like you would any job. Do you want to keep writing as a hobby? Treat it like a hobby. Only work on it when you want to. And no matter what, understand that perfection is impossible, especially in a first draft. Write it, leave it for editing. Don’t waste an hour trying to think of the perfect flowery line. You might change it later, anyway.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t squat with your spurs on. I’m not a cowboy, but that just makes sense.

What are you reading now?
Agatha Christie. I find she writes in a style that I absolutely love. After that, I have a lot of books in my “To Read” pile. Maybe I should pick one of them up.

What’s next for you as a writer?
In the next week, I’m hoping to launch something new and revolutionary on Wattpad. Keep your ears to the ground, you might hear more from me.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Incredible Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The Kama Sutra (for when I get lonely)

Mark Dellandre’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m new to publishing, but have always written stories for fun. I spent a few years in a private writing group until I felt I had developed some semblance of individuality and style. Practice makes perfect.

I’ve written about fourteen books, all of which I intend to edit and publish! Needless to say, writing has been a lot of fun for me.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Senkumo War Stories: Book of Blossoming is my latest and first book, the first in a series.

Senkumo War Stories was inspired by a curious combination of Japanese history, Japanese mythology, manga, and anime. The series is actually a prequel to a different series I’m working on called Death by Ex-Girlfriend. It sets the stage for the conflicts the appear in DbEG and gives a detailed telling of the main character’s backstory. I wanted to tell a dark, bloody, and tragic story for this series. The characters go through some tremendous development in this series, and you see that carry over in DbEG, which has a contemporary setting and isn’t nearly as dark.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
It’s not present in this series because the setting forbids it, but if I’m working with a modern day setting, I usually include a location, typically an abandoned building of some sort. This abandoned building is decorated with a row of colored windows or stained glass. In one story, I included an abandoned church for this purpose. In DbEG, it’s an abandoned bowling alley with columns of stained glass behind the bleachers.

I LOVE colored/stained glass. I always make this kind of place for the characters to retreat to. It always acts as this otherworldly getaway from the tension and action of a plot. Just sitting there, bathing in the glaring sunlight and rainbow of color shining down on you. I find it relaxing, so it’s a must-have in most stories I write.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Honestly, the most influential books in this case were the Kojiki and a manga called Noragami. The Kojiki is an 8th century historical chronicle of Japan. Reading that helped lay down the foundation for the mythological and supernatural aspects of Senkumo War Stories. Noragami is a great manga about a stray god’s struggle to be recognized and worshipped. The main character, Yato, has a similar backstory to my character Tsukiakari. They were both war gods during the Warring States era of Japan, and they both had to kill a lot of people to get to where they are in modern times.

What are you working on now?
Promotion for my first book, mainly. I’m also editing the second book and looking at what to do for all the books forthcoming. It’s a dizzying task, but I’m very passionate about it.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Well, I have a really dedicated following on a small forum called Mangaraiders. Other than that, promotion has been divided between word-of-mouth and Reddit. I have to say though, it’s been pretty effective. I just want to reach as many people as possible and get as much feedback as I can, so I can improve my form going forward.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
The key to tackling any daunting task is to simply improve what’s in front of you, day by day. Think of it like climbing a Mt.Everest. If you stand back and take in the whole view of the mountain before you climb it, you’re probably going to feel like you’re way out of your league. But if you focus on the first 100 feet, and the next hundred feet on the following day, you’ll find yourself nearing the top before you realize.

Having small goals is just as important as having larger ones.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“When there’s nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire.”

What are you reading now?
Star Wars: Jedi Search by Kevin J Anderson. Great stuff. Revenge of the Sith is by far my favorite Star Wars novel though. It’s just written so beautifully and pulls off what the movie only nailed halfway.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing. I’ll probably die before I finish it all. Send help.

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’ll take four copies of “How to Survive on a Deserted Island” please.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a lover of romance, mystery and suspense thrillers, and my love for writing developed through her habit of binge reading.

I love being in the water (although I can’t swim) and I’m also a food blogger and a dance choreographer. I also enjoy dining out, going to the spa and taking long trips to the country.

One of my main objectives when writing is to offer my targeted readers a temporary escape from reality. I’m really passionate about providing an unforgettable experience to my audience.

I was inspired by my family to write, and five years ago I began to pen the manuscript of her first novel, Sweet, Unholy Revenge: A cheating wife’s demise, which has been independently published received rave reviews locally.

My current novels are:
Sweet Unholy Revenge: A cheating wife’s demise
Sweet Unholy Revenge: The return of karma
A Mistress and a Murder: The beginning of the end

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest novel is A Mistress and a Murder: The beginning of the end. It was inspired by a real life event.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I start writing a novel without knowing how it’s gonna end. Not sure if that’s unusual, but that’s it.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
All books by Sylvia Day, Jackie Collins and Sidney Sheldon

What are you working on now?
I’m working on the sequel to A Mistress and a Murder.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I currently use Facebook and Amazon Marketing Services.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I’m new on the scene as well, so I’m just looking for advice as well.
But, one thing I would tell any other new author–take advantage of all the available resources that will help to take your book (s) to another level. Spend time learning the craft. It’ll be worth it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
One of best advice I’ve ever gotten was from my mentor. He said, “find your passion, and work on it. Shut out the noise. Do not allow anyone to deter you from your dreams.”

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading
‘how to write a sizzling synopsis’ by Bryan Cohen
and ‘razor’s edge’ by Sylvia Day

What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to create a website and build my mailing list. I also want to improve my writing and learn more marketing techniques.

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 adventures of Ulysses
The other side of midnight- Sidney Sheldon
The power trip- Jackie Collins
and my first novel, sweet unholy revenge

Author Websites and Profiles
Andrea Smith Amazon Profile
Andrea Smith’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a lover of romance, mystery and suspense thrillers, and my love for writing developed through my habit of binge reading.

I love being in the water (although I can’t swim) and I’m also a food blogger and a dance choreographer. I also enjoy dining out, going to the spa and taking long trips to the country.

One of my main objectives when writing is to offer my targeted readers a temporary escape from reality. I’m really passionate about providing an unforgettable experience to my audience.

I was inspired by my family to write, and five years ago I began to pen the manuscript of my first novel, Sweet, Unholy Revenge: A cheating wife’s demise, which has been independently published and has received rave reviews locally.

My current novels are:
Sweet Unholy Revenge: A cheating wife’s demise
Sweet Unholy Revenge: The return of karma
A Mistress and a Murder: The beginning of the end

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest novel is A Mistress and a Murder: The beginning of the end. It was inspired by a real life event. I felt led to write about a drama that occurred (which was close to home) and add a twist to it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I start writing a novel without knowing how it’s gonna end. Not sure if that’s unusual, but that’s it.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
All books by:
Sylvia Day
Jackie Collins
Sidney Sheldon
Together they provide a mixture of sensuality, suspense and entertainment on a level that I hope to achieve one day.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on the sequel to A Mistress and a Murder.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I currently use Facebook and Amazon Marketing Services.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I’m new on the scene as well, so I’m just looking for advice as well.
But, one thing I would tell any other new author–take advantage of all the available resources that will help to take your book (s) to another level. Spend time learning the craft. It’ll be worth it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
One of best advice I’ve ever gotten was from my mentor. He said, “find your passion, and work on it. Shut out the noise. Do not allow anyone to deter you from your dreams.”

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading
‘how to write a sizzling synopsis’ by Bryan Cohen
and ‘razor’s edge’ by Sylvia Day

What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to create a website and build my mailing list. I also want to improve my writing and learn more marketing techniques.

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 other side of midnight- Sidney Sheldon
The power trip- Jackie Collins
Afterburn/aftershock- Sylvia Day
and my first novel, Sweet Unholy Revenge

Author Websites and Profiles
Andrea Smith Amazon Profile
Andrea Smith’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been a writer ever since high school; i just didn’t know it then. My English teacher would read my compositions to all of her classes as an example of good writing, and i’d always watch with a great sense of pride as my classmates sat at the edge of their seats during a reading. Since then i have written three books; two of which are to be released soon. Financial Discipline- Making Dollars from Sense, which is a spin off of sorts to First Victory, and Shinigami, a crime-noir thriller based in Japan.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Financial Discipline came from a lot of personal experiences with money and what i’ve taught business owners over the years. Personal finance is such a broad subject that requires a lot of attention, and i felt i needed to expand upon what i talked about finances in The First Victory

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
If playing orchestral music and eating Cheetos whilst writing is weird, then yes.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My top influencers would have to be John C. Maxwell and Edwin Louis Cole. Their books have helped change the lives of millions, and i hope to give a few people that kind of change too.

What are you working on now?
The Shinigami. Its a thriller that’s been on my heart for about a year now. I’ve poured a lot into it and i believe readers will be in for quite a ride. That’s all i can say for now.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m tempted to say Awesome gang. But really the best method boils down to consistent marketing to as many people as you can.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
A good author is also a good reader. Read as much as you can, and write as much as you can.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best writer is not always the best seller. Now more than ever writers need to learn how to market their work

What are you reading now?
A Time To Kill by John Grisham. Dark but fun stuff.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I hope to transition into movies and television writing. There’s nothing more fulfilling than seeing your work translated to live action.

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 Time to Kill, IT and a DC graphic novel.

Author Websites and Profiles
Tiwayi Mushambi Amazon Profile
Tiwayi Mushambi’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Sonya A. McKinzie is a second-generation survivor of domestic violence, she is an advocate for survivors of domestic violence and as a result established her 501c3 approved nonprofit organization, Women of Virtue Transitional Foundation Inc. in February 2016, where she is the Executive Director and Founder; organization.
Sonya is a bestselling author and has five books: Heaven Rain on Me (2011) and Perfectly Imperfect: Moving Above and Beyond the Pain (2015), ThriveHer: From Surviving to Thriving (2017), The Untraveled Path to The Land of Milk and Honey (2018) and co-authored on Soul Source. She is also the creator and blogger for the Dark skin is Beautiful: Daily Journeys – Receiving God’s Destiny and The ThriveHer blogs.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Untraveled Path to the Land of Milk & Honey: Poetry & Haikus from the Soul of A ThriveHer

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes, I prefer to write a large amount of my content during CRAMMING sessions – the closer to the deadline the longer that I write.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Maya Angelou & Rupi Kaur

What are you working on now?
The second book of my “The Untraveled Path to the Land of Milk & Honey- ThriveHer” series

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook and my blogs

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be you – use your own style – but always have a MUSE as a guide to creating your best works.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be the rawest and realest you that YOU can be.

What are you reading now?
Her Volume 2 by Pierre Alex Jeanty

What’s next for you as a writer?
Believe it or not – creating Tshirts that empower, inspire and embody ThriveHer

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 message version
I know why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou
Milk and Honey – Book by Rupi Kaur

Author Websites and Profiles
SONYA MCKINZIE SONYA MCKINZIE Website
SONYA MCKINZIE SONYA MCKINZIE Amazon Profile
SONYA MCKINZIE SONYA MCKINZIE’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Sonya A. McKinzie is a second-generation survivor of domestic violence, she is an advocate for survivors of domestic violence and as a result established her 501c3 approved nonprofit organization, Women of Virtue Transitional Foundation Inc. in February 2016, where she is the Executive Director and Founder; organization.
Sonya is a bestselling author and has five books: Heaven Rain on Me (2011) and Perfectly Imperfect: Moving Above and Beyond the Pain (2015), ThriveHer: From Surviving to Thriving (2017), The Untraveled Path to The Land of Milk and Honey (2018) and co-authored on Soul Source. She is also the creator and blogger for the Dark skin is Beautiful: Daily Journeys – Receiving God’s Destiny and The ThriveHer blogs.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Untraveled Path to the Land of Milk & Honey: Poetry & Haikus from the Soul of A ThriveHer

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes, I prefer to write a large amount of my content during CRAMMING sessions – the closer to the deadline the longer that I write.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Maya Angelou & Rupi Kaur

What are you working on now?
The second book of my “The Untraveled Path to the Land of Milk & Honey- ThriveHer” series

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook and my blogs

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be you – use your own style – but always have a MUSE as a guide to creating your best works.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be the rawest and realest you that YOU can be.

What are you reading now?
Her Volume 2 by Pierre Alex Jeanty

What’s next for you as a writer?
Believe it or not – creating Tshirts that empower, inspire and embody ThriveHer

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 message version
I know why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou
Milk and Honey – Book by Rupi Kaur

Author Websites and Profiles
SONYA MCKINZIE SONYA MCKINZIE Website
SONYA MCKINZIE SONYA MCKINZIE Amazon Profile
SONYA MCKINZIE SONYA MCKINZIE’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m the author of 5 Middle East thrillers known for their even handedness. My spies, unlike James Bond are family men and women, struggling with marriages, relationships and grown children while away so much in the cold. My novel THE DAMASCUS COVER has been filmed as Sir John Hurt’s last film, also starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
TO DESTROY JERUSALEM. this is a historical thriller just published set in 1990 at the time of the first Palestinian Intifada (uprising). I spent a lot of time with the strike committees at the time and in the Palestinian towns and refugee camps to show their side of the story alongside the Israeli view which I know well.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Morning person, fall asleep in early evening with TV on, alas.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
In addition to John le Carre, I’m a big fan of the American suspense writer Charles McCarry. Recently the founder of The Mysterious Press told me McCarry is the most undervalued man of American letters. I agree.

What are you working on now?
Spending too much time on promotion.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I find my own Facebook page is the best where I engage with anyone who wants to chat with me.
https://www.facebook.com/howard.kaplan.359

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write more tweet less. Twitter is an author’s wasteland, sells almost no books and the community that’s created is usually other writers trying to sell their own books and not buy yours.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Persevere

What are you reading now?
A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD

What’s next for you as a writer?
Good question??

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?
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
The Bible
A History of Philosophy
The Damascus Cover

Author Websites and Profiles
Howard Kaplan Kaplan Website
Howard Kaplan Kaplan Amazon Profile
Howard Kaplan Kaplan’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I hail from Donalsonville, GA., a small town with a dark, checkered past. I played in the same streets as John and Clarence Anglin–two of the only people to ever escape from the maximum security prison of Alcatraz, and I was
friends with several members of the Alday family (Donalsonville was the site of the second largest mass murder in Georgia’s history–the Alday Murders).

I was also neighbors to the Squirrel Man but moved after discovering a large squirrel cemetery behind the man’s property. I still wake up in night-sweats from the horrifying images.

After meeting my wife, Myrna Rose, I packed up his things and a plethora of story ideas and moved about forty-five minutes away to the slightly bigger town of Dothan, Alabama, a.k.a. Circle City.

I discovered a passion for writing at an early age: he wrote his first book, a children’s picture book, at thirteen. While this book is still unpublished, I still have my original manuscript (with hand-drawn illustrations) and often get requests to read it from my two beautiful daughters, Myranda and Madyson.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Bastard Boys of Montezuma. I read The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt and decided then and there I wanted to write a Western. As a fan of the movie Tombstone, I thought it would be nice to write about ”the kids of Tombstone.” And since historians agree that Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp never had children, I figured maybe they didn’t know they had two illegitimate sons. Thus, The Bastard Boys were born.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write a blog called Opening Lines on my author site where I evaluate the first sentence of popular works of fiction. This obsession has me OCD about grabbing the reader’s attention with the first sentence of my novel. I want it to make the reader ask questions that they can only hope to have answered by reading more of the book. For example, the Opening Line of The Bastard Boys of Montezuma is: ”Across the street, I counted six crows perched on the rooftop of the funeral home, which was as ironic as it was prophetic.”

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Patrick Dewitt influenced me to write a Western, but Elmore Leonard has the style I love. If he was the Dickens of Detroit, I want to be the Leonard of Lower Alabama.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a storyline about a girl who comes across an opportunity to do something that everyone else is convinced is a scam and the adventure that follows from her decision to believe it’s not.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As a newly published author, I’m trying to investigate this right now. Hopefully, it will be the Awesome Gang!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read. Read everything, not just the genre you want to write. It might sound simple but it’s necessary to study how successful authors craft their sentences.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
In writing, Elmore Leonard’s most important rule was: ”If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.”

What are you reading now?
One of my fellow authors, Brock Heasley, in the same publishing house as me wrote a book which is coming out soon called Paper Bag Mask.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I make notes in my phone when an idea strikes me. The really good ones always seem to draw me back to them. And with each one I write, I only feel like my writing improves. So to answer the question, there’s always another story coming next.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’m a religious guy so I’d bring the Bible to comfort me and give me peace.
I’d bring something by Elmore Leonard, probably Freaky Deaky, which I have yet to read but was considered to be his personal favorite.
I think Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea would be appropriate.
And maybe something by John Grisham.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jaromy Henry Website
Jaromy Henry’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Enigma is my very first romance, although I have adored writing since I was a child.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Enigma was actually inspired by a business trip my father went on where the hotel was very poorly organized and he had a hard time finding his room. I began to imagine a hotel that was intentionally puzzling, and Anne and Lex’s romance soon followed.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not particularly, haha.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Sara Humphreys is my friend and mentor. A Princess in Theory and The Kiss Quotient also influenced my writing.

What are you working on now?
I am working on Ablaze, the second installment in my Technicolor Love series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Instagram the most.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write the kind of story you’d like to read. It’s been said before, I know, but it really helped my writing journey.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
That my author journey is unique, and to do whatever feels right for it.

What are you reading now?
Undiscovered by my friend Sara Humphreys, it’s fantastic!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I plan on continuing my Technicolor Love series and as of now plan on it being seven 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?
Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Author Websites and Profiles
Violet Moon Website
Violet Moon’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been writing professionally for ten years and have published more than twenty titles. I enjoy writing fiction and always have two or three books working at once. I am a husband and father of four and work as an EMT out of Bradenton, Florida. My passion is martial arts, gymnastics, and of course writing.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Eve
I have been interested in philosophy since early childhood. The similarity between religions that I came across really hooked me. After all of my different studies and experiences, an image kind of formed in my mind of how Pangea (The Super Continent) may have once been inhabited by humans long forgotten.
Then after many years, of exposure to physicists and conspiracy theorists I wondered how marvelous it would have been to see the tower of Babel be cast down by an angry God and witness the separation of Mankind. I reasoned that if someone had the power to separate the world’s languages then they must also have the power to separate the lands between as well.
It really was inspired by unanswered questions that were left inside of me and the desire to see those questions answered in a beautiful way.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I drink tons of tea. At least as much tea as I use to drink Jack Daniels.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Anne Rice, Stephen King, Douglas Monroe, Charles Dickens, Marion Zimmer Bradley

What are you working on now?
The prequel and sequel to EVE, The SHIFT series about a cosmonaut drifting in space with his only mental escape being the big red shift button which transports his consciousness into random Earthlings for temporary moments, and a book about a samurai who seeks to find honor in his past, present, and future.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My blog and website, and also my facebook page.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. Write everyday. Don’t be afraid to start a hundred books and not finish them (you can always go back). Just keep creating. Also, be patient with your release. The more time your audience waits for your book the better.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Nothing has power of you if you can learn to laugh at it.

What are you reading now?
The Varieties of Human Experience.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My own personal office!

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 21 lessons of merlyn, a survival guide, a matchbook, and a notebook.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jay Horne Website
Jay Horne Amazon Profile
Jay Horne’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
1

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
From Geek to God, It was inspired by God. I was in church when the story came to my mind.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write late at night

What authors, or books have influenced you?

What are you working on now?
MAking a movie out of this book

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Use editing software while you write

Author Websites and Profiles
Eddy Parisi Amazon Profile
Eddy Parisi’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been writing since my earliest days when I composed in crayon on paper with extremely wide lines. I studied writing at Yale University and the University of Michigan. While at Michigan, I received the Avery and Jule Hopwood Prize. It was the highest prize awarded that year and the first in Michigan’s history for a piece written directly for the screen. PUSHING THE RIVER (Amika Press, October 2018) is the latest of my three novels. YOU, IN YOUR GREEN SHIRT and A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD ME (available on Amazon) are my previous titles.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
PUSHING THE RIVER is based on real-life events. The idea literally presented itself right in my own home. That said, the challenge was to use those events as a launching point, an inspiration, and then to craft a structure and story that worked as a book. The events are quite specific, but the themes of individuals and families struggling, and trying to figure out how to best love one another, remain universal.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to joke (mostly with myself) that I am currently “auditioning characters.” I have been writing flash fiction pieces with different characters — from a four-year-old girl to a teenage boy to an elderly person with dementia — in an effort to try them out and see if any of them grab me as having a profound need to tell their full story. If one of them does grab be, that will be my next novel. As much as I tell myself (all through the writing of three novels to date) that I will do it differently the next time– that I will plan, and outline, and plot — I think I need to accept that my process just doesn’t work that way.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My answer to this undoubtedly changes, but the ones that come to mind today would be: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Cider House Rules, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. There’s a great deal of commonality among them. They are all beautifully written, full of sentences that I lingered on, and read over and over. Each of them incorporates a lot of social commentary and weaves it seamlessly into a captivating story. The overall conception of each of these novels is so breathtaking that I tear up when I even think about them.

 What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Does someone actually have a definitive answer for this? If so, please contact me immediately!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Persist. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?

What are you reading now?
Rebecca Makkai’s novel “The Great Believers.”

What’s next for you as a writer?
A new novel, once I land on a character and story that can fascinate me for a couple of years. Being immersed in a long-term, far-reaching project is excruciatingly difficult, but also tremendously rewarding and satisfying.

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 don’t tend to read books multiple times, even if it took my breath away on first reading. I would make my best guess about new works of contemporary fiction, based on recommendations from serious readers, and would expect to abandon at least one of the books I’d chosen.

Author Websites and Profiles
Barbara Monier Website
Barbara Monier Amazon Profile
Barbara Monier’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in Florida with my husband and muse. I am a proud mom, graphic designer wannabe, and sometime poet. I am also a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and have dreamed of becoming a published author since the age of twelve. I have written seven books (1 collection of poetry, 6 children’s books), six currently under contract with Crimson Cloak Publishing. My first book with them comes out on 11/11/18.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Adventures of Princess Jellibean. I have two nieces that live hundreds of miles from me so I created the character of an adventure and travel loving cat as a way to stay in contact with them. It started as a poem, which I mailed to both of them with a stuffed cat.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write sporadically. I have a long list of ideas which strike me at any point and anywhere. I love to write on my laptop from my couch while fighting with my dog for the keyboard.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Authors: Shel Silverstein, Lord Byron, and Ralph Waldo Emerson
Books: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and Act Like a Success Think Like a Success by Steve Harvey

What are you working on now?
The Adventures of Princess Jellibean is a series that I will continue writing, plus I am working on a STEM story about a little girl who wants to be a Marine Biologist.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Social media is an amazing tool for book promotions! I have three Instagram, two Twitter, and Two Facebook fan pages that I utilize. I also have the website my publisher created http://crimsoncloakpublishing.com/cindi-handley-goodeaux.html and my personal site http://ch.goodeaux.com/

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just write! Don’t worry about getting an agent or a publishing contract. If you have a story, tell it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
What helped me most was learning that while readers read a story from beginning to end, writers can write and piece a story together. If you know the ending, write it, then go back and build around that. I found that advice liberating!

What are you reading now?
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy plus I reread Big Magic once a year

What’s next for you as a writer?
Writing until I drop! This is a my passion and my purpose so I plan to continue to write and have plans for a middle grade story and several self-help books based on my life 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?
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
The Bible
Roget’s Thesaurus

Author Websites and Profiles
Cindi Handley Goodeaux Website
Cindi Handley Goodeaux Amazon Profile
Cindi Handley Goodeaux’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I love everything dark and Gothic. I’m a big fan of fantasy and horror; my favorite movie is Pan’s Labyrinth and my favorite writer is H.P. Lovecraft. I have worked as both a social media coordinator and editor. Now, as a grad student, I edit and design a newsletter for my university’s English Department while studying professional writing. I am also one of the co-editors for a literary magazine, Exhume. I have completed five novels, though only one, Dove Keeper, is currently published.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is a Gothic horror novel, Dove Keeper. When I was young, I was told my distant relatives were executioners, but I didn’t think much of it. However, like many writers who were also students, I had a situation in my sophomore undergrad year where it was two in the morning and I had the horrific thought: “Oh no, the poetry workshop is tomorrow, and I haven’t written anything!” I rattled my brain for something to write about, and eventually, I decided to do research on my executioner relatives.

I discovered not only what was available, but also what was missing, especially when it came to information about the women in executioner families. I wondered how they dealt with the stigma and isolation they endured, so I decided to write a book with a mother-daughter focus, something I find to be rare in horror and fiction in general. I also focused a great deal on the themes of grief and trauma, which was a very cathartic experience. I enjoyed creating three (originally two) very deeply flawed female characters, as well as combining the executioner story idea, stemming from that poem I wrote for class, with a much older idea I’d never been able to lift off the ground. It is my hope that the story’s focus on grief, trauma, and mental illness will resonate with others like me and help them feel less alone.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure how unusual this is, but I almost always need some sort of show, video, or music (metal!) playing in the background while I write.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
When it comes to influences, I am very much into 19th and 20th-century horror, especially Gothic and Weird horror. I am a fan of Mary Shelley, Angela, Carter, Bram Stoker, Shirley Jackson, Clive Barker, Sarah Waters, Joe Hill, and H.P. Lovecraft. It would be impossible to list all the books that have influenced me, but I have been especially affected by Let the Right One In, The Millenium Trilogy, Carmilla, and The Picture of Dorian Gray.

What are you working on now?
The better question would be what am I NOT working on? I have a spreadsheet with almost sixty story ideas I eventually want to write before I die–a different sort of bucket list! My most pressing project is rewriting and revising a horror novel, Rabbit Heart, which is about a girl adopted by two cannibalistic serial killers. I’m excited to say the first chapter will be published as a short story in TL;DR Press!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have an Instagram and Twitter for my book, @dovekeeperbook. I’m not sure how successful they are, but they’re the best in terms of amusing myself with memes about my Actually Very Serious book. When it comes to promotion, I’ve found that word of mouth and speaking to bloggers I know who love my specific genre have helped.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Know your strengths, weaknesses, and limitations–and respect them. Don’t try to force yourself into a certain routine because another writer you admire or know does it. If you can only write 100 words a day, you’re still a writer, and there’s plenty of time to figure out what works for you. You are more than just how productive you are or how many words you crank out in a certain timeframe.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
While I think you should always take other writers’ advice with a grain of salt, since it all tends to be very personal, the most helpful writing advice I’ve heard has come from Lisa Cron, and I would recommend her books on writing. She advises that writers should figure out their story first before writing, and not doing so will only make writing and rewriting far more difficult, and you’ll have to cut out and add way more. Determine the story, which is what your character wants and what gets in their way from achieving that want; this tends to include your character’s wrong beliefs about what they need (and who they are) or shortcomings that keep them from reaching their full potential.

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full of Ghosts, and I’m loving it. My next read (or re-read, rather) will be Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Once I receive the proofreader’s edits for the sequel of Dove Keeper, Birds in a Cage, I’m going to work toward publishing it in 2019. With any luck, Rabbit Heart will be available in late 2019, and another one of my novels will be published in early 2020.

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 Collection of H.P. Lovecraft, Dracula, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, and The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories

Author Websites and Profiles
Emily Deibler Website
Emily Deibler Amazon Profile
Emily Deibler Author Profile on Smashwords

Emily Deibler’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 farmer, homeschooling dad, entrepreneur, IT guy, freelancer and the list could go on. In short, “jack of many trades, but master on none.” I have published only 1 book and I am currently working on my second.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The book is called “The All Seeing Digital Eyes” and a conversation I had with my daughter about an year ago inspired it. This book is the result of my research into what I should tell my 13-year-old daughter, as she is taking her first steps online, flying solo.

When I was explaining to her about the threats and privacy concerns in the virtual world, I found it relevant to convert all this content into a book, which could help many others in decision making regarding their life online.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, I write down ideas as simple sentences and then work on to elaborate it. I guess that’s what most people do.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I was a light reader – used to read Sephen King, Michael Crichton, John Grisham; but I lost my virginity in reading to Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code;” that book really opened up a different way of thinking. Was impressed by the way fiction was plotted and executed. The same thing happened to me with the movie “The Matrix”, in fact, you can see the influence of the movie, if you look closely into my book.

What are you working on now?
I am working on ‘simplification’ of a doctoral thesis, that’s a lot of work.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Facebook for keeping in touch with a fan base and making announcements. Goodreads for promotion.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
When you start to write, let it flow, do not restrict yourself with boundaries. This is applicable to both fiction and non-fiction.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
There’s been many good advises over the years; don’t think I remember the best advise. The worst advise I have ever heard was “to cut short my expenses to the level of my income.” I believe in increasing my income to the level that meets my expenses.

What are you reading now?
Drowning in Potential by Rod Wallace

What’s next for you as a writer?
As I have already mentioned, I am currently working on 2 books – one is my own and the other is a simplification project.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Book 1 – How to find food and water in the desert
Book 2 – The biggest edible book.
Book 3 – the largest and lightest book that I could use against the sun.

Author Websites and Profiles
Neville Kattakayam Amazon Profile
Neville Kattakayam’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 Tralee, Ireland and now live in Newport, South Wales, United Kingdom.
As a child I spent his summer holidays in Listowel, Co Kerry where my uncle Moss Scanlon had a Harness Maker’s shop. It was a magnet for all sorts of colourful characters, and it was there that my love of storytelling was kindled by the likes of John B. Keane and Bryan MacMahon, who often wandered in for a chat and bit of jovial banter.
The numerous short stories I’ve written based on those characters have been published in various anthologies and eMags over the years.
I have self-published twenty of them in a collection called Dreamin’ Dreams and also as stand-alone stories with Amazon.com.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
A Pale Moon Was Rising is a murder mystery set in Ireland during WW2. It is a follow up on my novel Gallows Field, where we’re introduced to Eamon Foley who is in hiding after witnessing his boss getting shot over a missing ledger.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I always write the first draft in longhand in a lined school jotter. Then after I’ve typed it all into my laptop I print it off and edit it again. And again, until it looks like a book I would like to read myself.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Andy McNab, Val McDermid and Ann Cleeves have all influenced me because of their amazing writing style.
The books that I’ve loved since I was knee high to the neighbour’s rabbit are The Wind in the Willows, Treasure Island, Little Nell, and any book I could sneak out of the library under my jumper.

What are you working on now?
My almost completed new story Footsteps is also set in Ireland during the 1967 Summer of Love. A young American hitch-hiker wanders into a brutal and terrifying situation when visiting a beautiful but isolated seaside town in 1960s Ireland. Who are the sinister men in the dark car? Are they the shadows that are stalking her on the beach? And who is the dark, mysterious figure hovering by the water’s edge?

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
using professional people like Awesome Book Promotions usually pay off.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Chances are you’re not going to be the next big thing in publishing – but don’t let that stop you from dreaming you will. As long as you enjoy telling stories, do it. But don’t let it become a chore and take over your life. Enjoy yourself, be proud of what you write and always remember your writing will not please everyone. So write the kind of stuff you would like to read and put it out there for the world to see. And be responsive to feedback. Even criticism.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It took Edison over one thousand attempts to create the first light bulb. He said it made him more determined to prove he could succeed in the end. Always believe you will succeed.

What are you reading now?
Val McDermid Insidious Intent.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have several ideas for Eamon Foley, now that he’s joined the gardai.

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 Late Great Planet earth, The Wind in the Willows, Treasure Island

Author Websites and Profiles
Brendan Gerad O’Brien Website
Brendan Gerad O’Brien Amazon Profile
Brendan Gerad O’Brien Author Profile on Smashwords

Brendan Gerad O’Brien’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 romance author who loves writing about the strong, alpha male. I have written 4 full length books, and one novella (which is currently free on Amazon.)

I live in Vancouver, Canada and have been writing my entire life. It may sound corny, but I love taking walks on the beach and I find a lot of inspiration by walking in nature.

I am a voracious reader, I will devour a book in one sitting and if the story holds my attention, I will read until the book is done.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Puck Me Secretly is a hockey sports romance book. My boyfriend is an avid hockey fan and I have absorbed a lot of hockey in my life just by osmosis. The speed, skill, strength and endurance of professional hockey players inspired me to write this book. I thought that having a professional hockey player as my love interest would make for an interesting (and hot) story.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if I have an unusual writing habits, but I do have unusual writing hours. I tend to write until 3 AM on a regular basis. I guess you could call me a night owl. There is something really magical about the dead of night, when the rest of the world is asleep, and I feel like I am the only one up. I do write during the day as well, but my favorite writing time is at night.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Marianne Zapata with her book, “Wall of Winnipeg and Me” really influenced me with her slow burn. I could not put that book down. The anticipation and pacing of that story just about killed me. I have read that book at least 5 times. I grew up reading Nora Roberts. She is the queen of story telling. That woman can write a page turner like nobody’s business. LJ Shen really influenced me to write in first person POV. She is a magical writer – if you haven’t tried one of her books, you need to. Right now!

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on a hockey novella for a compilation that I am grateful for being invited to participate in. It’s going to feature the works of a lot of amazing (and seriously big) romance writers, but this free compilation will only be available to people signed up to our newsletters – so if this is of interest to you, be sure to sign up for my newsletter on my website, for your opportunity to get this free book.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have a website which features all of my books. A lot of my readers have signed up for my free newsletter. I usually send out a newsletter about once every 6-8 weeks and tend to tell a story (about my life) with funny gifs. I love it because a lot of my readers will write me back with their own funny stories – and I love hearing from my readers.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes – don’t make all the newbie mistakes I made!! The best advice I can give is hire the best designer possible for your covers, get your books professionally proofed, start a newsletter as soon as humanly possible and make some writer friends. This business is lonely. Have some peeps. When you first launch your book, it’s going to be very easy to get caught up in spending al your time promoting it – but find a balance between promotion and writing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Make writing your priority. I’ve seen too many authors put out their first book and then months, sometimes years go by without another book in sight. The best way to promote your book is to write another book. So make writing your top priority. Publish, publish, publish.

What are you reading now?
Crew, by Tijan.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Gosh, good question. Probably a lot of caffeine? A new writing hoodie? I think and I hope that what is next is writing more books. I have so many books planned, I just want to focus on publishing and writing. My readers keep telling me to write faster, so that is what I am trying to do!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Only 4 books? This isn’t going to work for me! I need my laptop!
The Wall of Winnipeg and Me, by Marianna Zapata
Sparrow, by LJ Shen
French Relations & Well Groomed, by Fiona Walker
The entire “Dollar Series” by Pepper Winters

(See how I did that? I am actually bringing 9 books!! LOL)

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

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Michael Batchelor. I’m 26-years-old, with a bachelor in Communications. I’ve written 2 novels and half-completed about 10!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Animal Circus. It’s a story that explores the life of circus animals and how they’re mistreated by a gang of sadistic showmen. It was inspired by a flyer I saw quite a number of years ago that was advertising an Australian travelling circus.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Does eating an excessive amount of sugar count?

What authors, or books have influenced you?
J. K. Rowling, Stephen King and George Orwell are my main inspirations for writing.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a book called Black Dog Market. It’s a collection of short stories that explores the different experiences and perspectives of a nationwide ban on meat consumption in Australia.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Goodreads is a great way to get people to read and review your work. Giveaways are also essential.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep your chin up. Keep writing and reading and learning.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Kill your darlings.

What are you reading now?
The Stand by Stephen King

What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing 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?
Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men and Building a Raft for Dummies.

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

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written five books, but it depends on how you count. I published three in Japanese, then two of those in English, one new collection of writing about Tokyo, and now two mystery/thriller novels. The third in the series is “written” but not rewritten (so not really written).

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Moving Blade has many inspirations. Mostly, the ideas come from living in Tokyo. I worked in the editorial section of The Japan Times, so that got me thinking about politics and how that intersects with people’s personal lives. I was also influenced by many of the old Japan hands, and China hands, I’ve met. Those older people were the basis for the character of Bernard Mattson. Originally, the book centered on him and his experiences, but by the time I finished it, the book starts out with his funeral.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Writing itself is an unusual habit, I would say. I love rewriting on the trains of Tokyo. Somehow the motion and the crowd really gets me to focus on the words. I can hear them in my head and make the sentences really sing like I want them to. Most of my good ideas come to me when I’m on the train, so I keep a notebook to jot them down, and a voice recorder for when I get off the train. Train time in Tokyo adds up.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many I can hardly list them. I’m always intrigued by the hard-boiled writers, Chandler, Hammett and Cain (the holy trilogy). James Ellroy, Cornell Woolrich, Jim Thompson, Elmore Leonard. That’s not to say I write like them, but I find their stripped-down prose and unstoppable momentum fantastic. I also teach American Literature at university, so authors like Kurt Vonnegut, Cormac McCarthy, Ernest Hemingway and also American poets have a real grip on me.

What are you working on now?
The third in the Detective Hiroshi series. Tokyo Traffic. It’ll be rewritten and released by spring of 2019.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Well, there’s promotion and promotion. I like some sites which let my work come out as it is, but others are pure contact with lots of readers, so it’s always a balance.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write every day. Rewrite every day. Read and learn from everything. Shed that overly romanticized skin and just get down and do the work.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It may be apocryphal, but one guy protesting at college said that the Navajo Indian tribe had a saying about the two basic rules of life: Try to be kind to everyone and try to understand everything. Sounds like a great goal to me.

What are you reading now?
I have things stacked so tall on shelves in my office, by my reading chair, by my bed, and for classes I teach, I can’t even keep track. I always have a page dog-eared in a dozen or more books, and a dozen more half-read in my e-reader.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ll finish the Detective Hiroshi series, and then I’ll do a couple of stand-alones, also set in Tokyo. I’m keeping notes on two works of non-fiction, too, one about Tokyo and another about teaching. We’ll see which ones scramble to the surface first.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Zorba the Greek, Slaughterhouse Five, Dickens (I’d have to argue out which one…), Plato (I was a philosophy major). Agh, that always breaks my heart to have to think like this. Forgive me, other writers, I want to bring your works, too!

Author Websites and Profiles
Michael Pronko Website
Michael Pronko Amazon Profile
Michael Pronko Author Profile on Smashwords

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

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Oh there’s not a whole lot to my story, and it would never make for a bestseller. I’m a candidate for worlds most boring guy. I tend to stay around the house a lot and write, and when I’m not writing I’m providing lap space for one or the other of my cats. I’m a newly published first time author, The Way of Cat is my first published work, and I’m very excited about the idea of continuing. It’s been a long road. I’ve been an avid writer for years, but only recently have I given any serious thought to publishing. It’s always kind of been one of those bucket list things that I never thought I’d actually get around to. I finally did, and I couldn’t be happier.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My premiere book is The Way Of Cat. As the name may imply, my inspiration really has been living with two cats. I’ve been a practitioner and explorer of mindfulness for some time, and I’ve always taken to heart the idea that cats are there own little zen masters, living in the moment and mindful of their world and everything in it. The idea actually started as a present for my wife, who is quite fond of guided journals. I thought it would be a fun idea to present writing prompts and activities to introduce mindfulness and self confidence in lessons from those who already understand it best… cats. Combine that with some whimsical lectures from the cats, and some dollops of feline wisdom… and before i knew it, it was done.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to write organically when I feel inspired. It’s a total mood thing for me at the moment. I don’t have plot outlines or plans or storyboards. I sit, I write, I chase the cat off the keyboard, I write some more. Rinse and repeat.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
In general my lifestyle has been heavily inspired by the works of Dan Millman and Richard Bach. Bach was my initial introduction to the ideas and practices of mindfulness long long ago, and then discovering the works of Dan Millman opened me to a whole new idea of how to live.

What are you working on now?
I’m continuing my interactive journal series with new themes, as well as working on a self help book for mental illness.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
That’s a good question…. I’m really new at this. Like, really really new. I’m just getting started on the idea of marketing and promotion and honestly I’m learning as I go. So I guess I’ll have to let you know when i figure it out.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t. Stop. Writing. Also, don’t ever listen to your inner critic. If you’re like me and have that little voice inside you that pops up after all of the excitement and enthusiasm of writing some fades away and whispers, “oh man, that’s crap, why did you write that? No one is ever going to read it.” Whatever you do, DON’T LISTEN! If you write it, they will read.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice that I have ever heard? That there is never nothing going on. There are no ordinary moments.

What are you reading now?
Right now I am in the middle of The Dresden files series by Jim Butcher.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Continuing on the theme I am enjoying. Opening up new ideas and insights to people across a variety of interests.

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, mine obviously… other than that, I think I’d have to go with Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan MIllman, The Dalai Lama’s Cat by David Michie, and The Christmas Train by Baldacci

Gordon Brown’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a business attorney by trade. During a rather long health crisis I started writing The Order Reborn with my three sons and lovely daughter. The Order Reborn is the first of a five part series. Book two is written and being proofread, and will be released in December 2018.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Order Reborn is the name of my first book. It was inspired by the desire for my adult children to have something fun to read.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do a ton of outlining first. I have these huge spreadsheets for books 1-5 with an overall series spreadsheet. I like consistency and having each book build upon the other, it’s fun.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Recently, I’ve been reading John Conroe’s the Demon Accords. However, Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas series was inspiring, and Jim Butcher is always a worth rereading.

What are you working on now?
Right now I’m proofreading Book 2, and finishing Book 3.

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep the Faith is the best advice I can give. Nothing else really works except perseverance.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Trust yourself.

What are you reading now?
Typhoon Fury by Clive Cussler

What’s next for you as a writer?
Continue to work on the entire series until it is finished.

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, The Order of the Phoenix. Steve Mchugh, Lies Ripped Open. John Conroe, God Hammer.

Author Websites and Profiles
Chris Neal Website
Chris Neal Amazon Profile
Chris Neal Author Profile on Smashwords

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Well, I’ve been interested in writing since I was a teenager, and I fooled around here and there with writing stories, mostly just for fun. It wasn’t until later in my life that I decided not only did I enjoy writing, I really had to. Now, it’s like anything that’s healthy for me like brushing my teeth, cleaning the house, putting any chaos into order, those kind of things. It’s become a part of me, and it’s probably the largest part of me that I don’t question. In writing, you can go anywhere. I’ve written quite a few books, some are out there, some aren’t, but I have dozens of manuscripts and they’ll all see the light of day some time or another.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Linus Jackson – Forty Years of Vengeance and Violence. That’s the name of my latest book. Lord only knows what inspired it, because I have no clue. My mother used to ask me, “Where did this story come from in you?” “I have no idea,” I’d respond. But I’m glad I wrote it. Linus is quite a guy and the story is fabulous, if you don’t mind my saying so.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so. I don’t stand on my head and write or sit in a yoga position or walk around the house playing out the parts. I just sit and write. I’m not fearful or concerned with writer’s block. If my creativity on a certain book gets stuck in a corner, I go onto another book for a while and then come back and turn that book around so it isn’t stuck in a corner anymore. I also have the same drawbacks as other writers’ in that I’ll suddenly realize a cup in a sink needs washing and hadn’t I better get that thing clean this very second, or gee, I forgot that today was the day I was going to do the laundry, so I’d better at least get a load in. Yep. I used every trick in the book, if you will, to get lazy about writing. No more.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Far too many to name. That’s like asking what my favorite color is. Well, actually, that question I can answer with a favorite. Deep purple is my favorite color, but that doesn’t rule out my love of other colors. I don’t have a favorite music artist. I don’t have a favorite food, nor a favorite dessert, nor a favorite sweatshirt or shoes or sport, anything really. But there are some authors I do enjoy time and again and some are Joyce Carol Oats, Danielle Steel, Louis L’amour, Max McCoy, and, honestly, so many. Some are just seriously lucky and probably have outstanding publicists and marketing geniuses, I guess, paving the popular appeal road. Believe me, I’d love my books selling as the above authors have, but even if they don’t, and so far they have not, I feel blessed to write at all, because I do believe I have a real gift for writing, and I’m thankful enough for that.

What are you working on now?
Many people have requested, believe it or not, that I write a sequel to Linus Jackson. That’s not going to happen. I am working on another western, however. I really enjoy writing westerns. This next one is set in modern times and it is proving to be very fun to write. The title is in working mode, so I don’t want to reveal it as of yet.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Truly, I’ve just rejoined FB after leaving it for nearly a year. My publisher suggested I get back on and use it as a tool to spread the word about my books. I get his point. So FB, Twitter, also one I left and am now back on. Emails. Online book interviews. And yes, I know I should have a personal website and so that is in the works, too.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Only what others have told me and I think if one truly loves writing its the best advice there is – keep at it and don’t stop.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Regarding writing? Just what I offered in the last question – keep at it and don’t stop.

What are you reading now?
Max McCoy’s Sixth Rider. Fantastic book!

What’s next for you as a writer?
My upcoming novel. A western.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Hmm. Something sexy so I don’t get bored. Something wild to count my blessings of peace and calm. Something ethereal yet scientific to keep me in God’s presence and love. Something cohesive so I know even though the world is breaking to bits, I know some of us are still of reasonably sound mind. And then, if you’ll allow me one more – something that is always in a forward process and progress, which is writing my own books.

Author Websites and Profiles
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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have written seven book, three are published the other four are various stages of the editorial process or being pitched to publishers.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Held”, which is the Dutch word for hero, set against the backdrop of World War two in Holland. It is the story of a reclusive professor who hides a Jewish student in his attic which sets of a chain of events that intertwines 5 lives together in a most extraordinary way. I
was inspired by the fact that 30, 000 Jewish people were kept alive, hidden in people’s homes during the Holocaust in Holland. 120,000 Jewish people were taken and only 5,000 returned from the camps. Which meant that the acts of everyday hero’s through the most dire of circumstances help preserve a generation of Dutch Jews.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to listen to my edits, by having the computer reading them to me, normally while I walk around my writing studio. I lay out two large pieces of paper and write the edits down as I lap.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Shakespeare, Jane Austen and Agatha Christie

What are you working on now?
I am working on a number of projects, books, screenplays and stage plays right now. I always work by layering projects it helps my creativity. I just finished a book, a thriller similar to the movie/stage play, Wait until Dark but with a modern day twist.

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Create a regular writing time.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
First drafts are like shoveling sand into a bucket, you are just collecting it all to craft something later in second draft, i.e. first drafts are always perfect, because all they have to do is exist.

What are you reading now?
Kate Morton – The Clockmakers Daughter

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am in the process of outlining a story set around another very famous story, from another characters point of view.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Night Circus, The Lake House, The Tigers Wife

Author Websites and Profiles
Suzanne Kelman Website
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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m currently working on my fifth book, which is the third in a series of books about a time-traveling super ghost with a sense of humor. All of my books are available worldwide on Amazon.
My background is nursing, but since I retired four years ago, writing has become my full-time occupation, I write most days.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My last book The Jasper Claxton Mysteries was the second in The Ghost from the Molly House Series. I wanted to create a sympathetic character who wasn’t restricted by the ‘human’ condition. Here is some information about the book:

Jasper Claxton was only twenty when he died in the early part of the 18th century in Newgate prison in London, because of gross injustice and cruel, barbaric beliefs, and practices. He’s now a super ghost who travels through time, helping others who are either the victims of crime, or troublesome and dangerous spirits. The Jasper Claxton Mysteries is a collection of three ghost stories that mix actual places, and historical events, with fantasy.
The first story is set in Haiti in 1933. While searching for some ancient stones that are said to have mystical powers, Jasper finds himself helping MI6 who are looking for a missing agent while investigating dark voodoo rituals, drug smuggling, and modern-day slavery.
The second story is set in Paris in 1900. Jasper works with a perfumier and spiritual medium, to try and stop a sinister Brotherhood, who are trying to become immortal and want to control the supernatural and the natural order of things.
The third story is set in Venice, Italy in 1934. Jasper finds himself back with MI6 who are investigating a research centre and sinister Artificial Intelligence.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so, but I do treat it like a full-time job.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Too many to mention, but I admire Dan Brown, I like many different genres of books, at the moment I’m enjoying Shani Struthers, we seem to have a similar mindset.

What are you working on now?
My new book is called The Pluckley Psychic Historical Society and is the third book in The Ghost from the Molly-House series, which should be out on Amazon in December 2018. After that, I’ll be on with the fourth book, which will be called The Paranormal Agency and is set in the present day.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Goodreads, although you can find me on many other book sites.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
You have to be really determined, and keep at it, it can be a long journey, I’m still on mine. You must also learn to cope with criticism, which is never easy.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It’s better to be loved for who you are than something you’re not.

What are you reading now?
The Haunting of Highdown Hall by Shani Struthers.

What’s next for you as a writer?
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?
Anything by Jane Austen, I’m an old romantic at heart!

Author Websites and Profiles
Grahame Peace Amazon Profile

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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Son of Adam is my first book.

My sons dared me to write a book, and so I did. It took all of four years night writing and over weekends as I have a full time career as the Technical manager at a steel and aluminium fenestration company.
The daunting task of completing my book was also satisfying. Some of the darker chapters was difficult to write, but necessary. The pure evil of the antagonists can not be appreciated otherwise.

I also like to DIY whenever possible. It’s a great way of relaxing when you have to solve technical issues for a living.

Much thanks to my wife, Nolene, for her support during the last four years. Just shows you, anyone can do almost anything if they dig in and dig deep.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Son of Adam
Inspired by questions such as ‘why is Christianity declining?’ and ‘why can we not rid ourselves of evils such as racism?’

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Define ‘unusual’ in literature. Every writer has his/her own style and unusual habits.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Robert Harris.
Dean Koontz.
John Grisham.
Ben Kane.

What are you working on now?
The sequel to Son of Adam. Working title: Son of Darkness.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still figuring that out. I’m using Amazon Author Central in conjunction with wordpress.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t ever give up!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If you’re going to do something, do it right.

What are you reading now?
The Bethren by John Grisham

What’s next for you as a writer?
I need to get going on the sequel to Son of Adam.

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?
Imperium, Lustrum and Dictator – by Robert Harris.
The Forgotten Legion, Silver Eagle and Fields of Blood – by Ben Kane
Anything by Dean Koontz

Author Websites and Profiles
Clint Fortuin Website
Clint Fortuin Amazon Profile