Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
The seed of inspiration had been growing very young inside of me. As soon as I could play with toys I was creating stories with them. Then, at age eight, I began to write stories for school and that is when I began writing stories for leisure. I have been discovering my style and growing in my structure ‘s format ever since. I was definitely that boy who was running off with his dog to run under a tree on a long summer’s afternoon.
I have always been intrigued by the mysteries of science as well and this often blanketed my intrigue into fictitious worlds. It is this thirst for the unknown that drives my writing, that makes me want to send the reader off to my many worlds.
I have written one published book with three more to come throughout the year.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is To Trump The Universe’s Aspirations, a direct reference to what will be occurring throughout the course of this entire series. With this, my first book, I took my inspiration from the many science fiction collections that I have read. I loved the idea of the variety of stories as I found myself getting bored if I stuck with one for too long. I decided that I would do the same, except I wanted to create a shared universe amongst the short stories. The idea is to always give the reader a chance to enjoy another type of story more than the last, while always returning to the familiar characters that we grow to love and hate.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When it comes to planning out my stories I fins that is where I am most unusual. I leave a certain degree up to the inspiration of the moment while the rest I plan down to exquisite detail. I find myself looking at each individual book as a pattern that needs to be maintained. When I aim to keep a particular rhythm going with a specified direction I find that I am keeping the correct shape of my pattern. So long as I keep to the pattern that feels right then I am pleased with how my work turns out. If I defer from the pattern it can get messy.
At the same time, I contradict this by allowing improvisation, but once again in specific places. The story needs to achieve certain aspects, the characters have to be somewhere by the end of this journey, but I can play with how they get there. It really is all about how each individual writer works to produce their own best work.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I find there was a particular series that inspired me and it was less about the content of that series and more the style in which it was told. The series the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander was a wonderful fantasy series for young adults. As a story, it had lovable characters with honor who fought the forces of darkness; what more could any reader want? What specifically inspired me here we less the story and more the excellent manner in which it was written. I remember how impressed I was that not a single page ever went by in that entire series of books where there was not something going on. Everything was described, but the author did not linger on endless detail and regardless of the pacing of the scene it was always interesting and entertaining.
To me, when a story can entertain you to such a degree that you do not even notice periods of lull or poorer storytelling, you know that it is quality writing. With my novels I aim to do the exact same. I want to keep every page interesting with a good rhythm. Short stories keep the flavor fresh and I aim to keep the stories providing an endless source of enjoyment, humor, and intrigue.

What are you working on now?
I am working on Vol. 2 of the Distributed Fate series at the moment. With the second book I wanted to take the concepts we just got introduced to and expanded on them in ways I found really fun. In Vol. 2 I get to showcase the beginning of who our main characters are going to be and what their journey is going to look like. I keep the variety coming, but I start to give the reader more a sense of how everything is going to be connected and the major things coming for Vol. 3 and Vol. 4 later on this year.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have been writing since I was a child, but marketing is a game that I am new to. As far as I can tell the best methods are giveaways and accessing your local market. If the population is decently sized in your area then you have a large area to market to in person. Remember your niches!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
First rule to any new experience; be humble. Humility is an efficient tool and it needs to be applied to writing like anything else. Assume that you will be in a fluctuating learning journey for a long time. Do your research for as long as you need to and get advice from those with experience wherever you can. They’ve already done it, you might as well listen and see what they have to say about how to avoid a lot of pitfalls along the way.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
This applies to the field of marketing and publishing as well as even many courses in life; it is important to use your heart to guide your yearning and your head to ensure you actually get there. It makes perfect sense to me. Remember always what you want, but be realistic and hard working to get there.

What are you reading now?
At the moment I am just starting to reread The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndam. Nothing like old school sci-fi!

What’s next for you as a writer?
This is the beginning of my journey as a published author and this year I will be publishing four books alone. Look out for Vol. 2, 3, and 4 for the expansion of this new shared universe!

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?
Obviously anything I choose needs to have an ability to be reread many times over. For starters, I would choose the Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien as this is one of the most masterfully crafted books of all time. The writing is dense, yet beautiful and elegant. I find it was here that Tolkien truly showed his skill as a writer. There is nearly no writing I could imagine being as simply poetic as the Silmarillion.
Next, I would choose Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer. This was easily my favorite of his works, but he always impresses with his concepts regardless of which book. What I like in particular about this one was that it brought together many elements of fiction that I in particular enjoy; that being aliens, understanding the nature of our universe and even God. His concepts are always very big, but what I love most about his work is that he is also a scientist and so even outlandish ideas are grounded with relatable concepts and theories. It is easy to use big ideas, but I find he writes these ideas very intelligently and this is a rare find on the market.
Lastly, I might have to go with Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy. While I have not read Clancy in years, I find this is example of spy novel writing at its finest. It was written within the last twenty years, but it’s a prequel with his famous Jack Ryan character. Mostly, I enjoy how two sides are displayed as the same merely with cultural differences and what exactly the inner workings of spy agencies in the 1980s were like. Overall, on the backdrop of an attempted assassination of the pope, this book does well to keep a steady pace and make you wonder how things will actually work out.

Author Websites and Profiles
Benjamin Knoll Amazon Profile

Benjamin Knoll’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in Baltimore, MD. I currently live in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia. Now that I am a Ninaw, my husband, daughter, and son-in-law are just second best lol. They don’t mind. We all think my grandson is absoultely perfect.

I am a novelist, reviewer, content editor, blogger, T-shirt wearer, and professional snacker. My family is blended from three cultures. I have opened my home to foster children, drug addicts, AIDS victims and anyone who needed an assist. I know people who have committed murder and people who have dined with the Pope.
Which is why I write sweet stories about tough love…and takes naps.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is a light hearted fairytale entitled Dragonfly Dreams. Years ago my daughter was into fanfic. I did a piece for her as a gift. She loved it, posted it and I was surprised at the response. Last year my publisher put out a call for anthology submissions. I brushed Dragonfly Dreams off and changed it from fanfic to an original piece and submitted it. I was honored when the publisher decided to make it a stand alone instead of part of a compilation.

I also just released my very first novel, Civil Warriors, An interracial romance set in the 1860s. That one is based on a local legend and a Civil War diary, belonging to my family.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if this can be considered a habit, but if I don’t write something first thing in the morning, life will not be good Also, I visit my stories settings to get a feel for the place. My fantasies have some tangible world mixed in; I map it from there.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Tolkien, Sharon  K. Penman, Alex Haley, G. Martin. The combination gave me a rich history, a  larger than life world and truth from every angle. Jennifer Blake’s Royal Seduction made me fall in love with overconfident men.

What are you working on now?
I am part of the Crazy Ink Beyond the Fairytale 12-Anthology collection. I am contributing to three of the anthologies: Beyond Wonderland, Beyond Neverland, and Beyond the Rose. I’ve completed Wonderland and I’m working on Neverland now.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Lovekissed, Reading Deals, I appreciate just any NL shares. I’m glad I found this one!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
1. Understand the value of butt-glue. You learn how to write by writing. If you never get it down, you won’t have anything too correct.
2. If you are writing for affirmation or approval, then quit, because you’re doing it for the wrong reasons and giving away your joy.
3. Always, Always, ALWAYS, appreciate anyone who takes the time to read you work. even if they don’t like it. They gave you time that you can’t give back. Be thankful.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Butt-glue! Also, success doesn’t come in a box. It looks how it looks and we each measure it differently. Stay away from comparisons and be thankful.

What are you reading now?
I am an acquisitions reviewer. Most of my reading involves pre-published works.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Along with the Beyond series, I am collaborating with a fellow author, on a continuation of a story we did for an entwined anthology- Siren’s Lullaby. This was six perspectives sharing the same fate. Our stories told an epic tale of a romance between a pirate (me) and a siren. After that, I have another standalone almost ready to go. For me, always writing, always, writing, always writing….

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Harry Potter, Roots, & Lord of the Rings. I think my time would be well spent dissecting those tales.

Author Websites and Profiles
Tracy A. Ball Amazon Profile

Tracy A. Ball’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have four books on Amazon right now.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Demon of Blackguard Hall – A Gabrielle Warwick Demon Hunter Novel. I was inspired by a lot of other authors and books. First, I really loved Nancy drew growing up, so the title and story structure is a nod to that. I also fell in love with the Anita Blake vampire novels and feel like some of my style is influenced by those. I was an avid James Bond reader too, so there are hints of that in there. Lastly, I have always always loved gothic novels with dark scary houses.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The many Carolyn Keenes, Laurell K. Hamilton, Ian Flemming, Anne Rice.

What are you working on now?
The next Gabrielle Warwick book in the series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have heard great things about Awesome Gang.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
A writer writes.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“There isn’t just one true thing. It’s all true”. –Earnest Hemingway

What are you reading now?
The Wildling Sisters. One of the best books I’ve read in a long time.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Getting my series going.

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?
Seth Speaks, Guilty Pleasures, Charms and Changelings, and maybe… The Wildling Sisters.

Author Websites and Profiles
Bronwen Skye Website
Bronwen Skye Amazon Profile

Bronwen Skye’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an MBA by education, a marketer by profession and a writer by passion. I am always on the lookout to explore and learn from everywhere around me. My friends call m hyperactive as I am always bloating with energy. I am an entrepreneur and strives to provide marketing services to brands and businesses. My online professional presence can be found at www.brandedgupshup.com. Besides that, I am a social media addict and loves to keep myself updated with what is happening around me. Becoming an accomplished writer is my childhood dream and I believe that words are powerful enough to bring a change in the society! I see positive in every negative and feel that every story should come with a moral. I have currently published my debut book and look forward to write many more.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is titled Something called Life and the nuances of life and little instances which perturbed me to pen down the stories of the book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I think this habit is not unusual but definitely worth a mention. If on some days I am facing a writer’s block during the day, it is at midnight that I get ideas for my story or poem.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I keep reading books written by different authors because everyone has a different takeaway for the readers. Some of my cherished books are The Alchemist, Tuesdays with Morrie and Mrs. Funnybones.

What are you working on now?
That’s still in my dreams.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Any website which can help me talk about my book.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep writing and do not feel disheartened. Let the words flow and spread their magic.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Do not worry about the outcome, just keep on writing your heart out.

What are you reading now?
The Gift

What’s next for you as a writer?
A novel

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
PS I love you, The Alchemist, You can win, Things to do before I die

Author Websites and Profiles
Ipsa Arora Amazon Profile

Ipsa Arora’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Dick Croy is an award-winning screenwriter, novelist and playwright. He was writer and director of The Fourth Dimension, a documentary series of seven 60-minute television specials on the paranormal. His novel The River Jordan, co-authored with Henry Burke, was a book-of-the-year nominee in 2001. Fugitive Slave, their contemporary drama portraying the historical spirit of the Underground Railroad, is both an award-winning screenplay and a stage play which has received readings by the Classical Theatre of Harlem and other theater companies.

He is Screenwriter of the following feature films:
UNKNOWN POWERS*
ALIENS FROM SPACESHIP EARTH*
THE SHASTA GATE
THE SILENCE OF ANNALEE
THE PYRAMID PROPHECY**
WHERE THERE’S A WILL**
THE KRONGOLD INCIDENT**
WOLF TIME
THE BIKES FROM MOMBASA
AGAINST THE GRAIN
THE RIVER JORDAN**
FUGITIVE SLAVE**
THE TALL DARK MAN**
WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL
TERRA INCOGNITA
PORT BOU
HEADHUNTERS
FALSE FLAG
UNKNOWN RIDER**
(*already produced) (**shared credit)

Television Programs:
MAN OF MIRACLES*
THE MIRACLE HEALERS*
WORLD BEYOND DEATH*
AGE OF THE PSYCHICS*
UNDERGROUND DOCTORS*
THE UNKNOWN FORCE*

Author of the following novels:
THE SHASTA GATE
THE SILENCE OF ANNALEE
THE KRONGOLD INCIDENT**
WOLF TIME
DOWSING FOR LOVE
THE RIVER JORDAN**

Playwright of the following plays:
THE JUDGE AND ME**
BEDTIME STORIES
WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL
FUGITIVE SLAVE**
MORONS
EXPIATION
NAMASTÉ

Awards Won:
Gold Medal – MIRACLE HEALERS
Greater Miami International Film Festival
Golden Eagle – MIRACLE HEALERS and UNKNOWN POWERS
12th Annual Festival of the Americas
Houston International Film Festival
Silver Medal – WORLD BEYOND DEATH
12th Annual Festival of the Americas
Houston International Film Festival
Award of Excellence – UNKNOWN POWERS
Film Advisory Board
Blue Ribbon – UNKNOWN POWERS
Fifth Film Renaissance
First Runner-Up – FUGITIVE SLAVE
Ohio Independent Film Festival

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
THE SHASTA GATE: A Novel of Ascension. TSG was my first screenplay, some 40+ years ago, and although I couldn’t have told you this then, the story’s deus ex maxima ending is in a sense an elaborate metaphor for “ascension,” which is a concept all over the Internet these days on websites dealing with spiritual issues. I’m not sure exactly what it means and I’m sure as hell not sure how it’s supposed to take place, although it might possibly be similar to what happens to my two protagonists.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, but have you ever had the experience, no matter the blood and toil that went into writing your major projects, of looking back at your body of work and wondering where it all came from? When and how it all got written? Or read whole pages you don’t remember writing, that seem in fact to have written by someone else? So much of creative writing takes place outside of time in a sense.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
This would require too long an answer if I didn’t restrict it to The Shasta Gate, which I see as a sort of mashup of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance with Joseph Chilton Pearce’s The Crack in the Cosmic Egg except that, in addition to action and intrigue, TSG is peopled with fictional characters embodying much of the essence of the philosophical rumination in those books.”

What are you working on now?
Primarily promoting all of my novels on Amazon, now that they’re all there; and, on scribd.com, my novella False Flag, fiction based on fact about the 9/11 cover-up: well over 20K reads so far.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Just learning now as I go.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t ever give up (unless it’s for good) but consider an alternative career(s) or face the prospect of a resume filled w/day jobs.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My Dad’s when I played high school football as a fullback: “Just keep digging.”

What are you reading now?
Two books by Graham Hancock: America Before, and Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind

What’s next for you as a writer?
As the mother of my twin daughters used to say, “Much will be revealed.” Or not.

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?
Perhaps the Bible, Ulysses, Catch 22, and Gravity’s Rainbow – none of which I’ve read completely.

Author Websites and Profiles
Dick Croy Amazon Profile

Dick Croy’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Against all advice how to write an introduction, my name is Ted Akin. But I’m so much more than that, I’m Ted Akin: Unsuccessful Farmer, Mediocre Writer, and the World’s Okayest Musician. I fancy myself as an adventurer and solo-traverller. None of those are currently providing sustenance, so I spend my free time toiling away in the oil patch in West Texas where I work with water. I have currently put out three stories – West Texas Swing, Wham!, and Promenade. The first and last in that list, WST and Promenade, are fantasy, adventure, questy stories and are tied together. The middle, Wham!, is an oil field mystery about a guy who comes across a situation at work all while writing a story. There is a small chance a bunch of that comes from real life experiences.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Promenade. It is the follow up to my first, West Texas Swing and I wanted to keep in line with a dance theme. West Texas Swing obviously has a western/rural feeling to it and the phrase “promenade left” stuck with me from a random memory. I thought it fit well and went with that.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if I can call them unsual, but there are two things that stick out. One: I have sort of found a different muse/inspiration for each work I have completed. I would say the most unique would have been for Promenade. I had a hard time getting motivated to write and had a lot going on. One day, I just needed some quiet and spent the rest of day at work without music or any sort of noise. After that, the writing work flowed. I then tried that method for my latest project and it hasn’t provided the same results.

Two: I’ve taken to printing out a draft and putting it on my light board. I’ll then put a blank paper on top and edit in layers.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Definitely Good Omens and the Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

What are you working on now?
Double Whammy!! This is the follow up to my second book Wham! Whether its planned or not, I seem to have a more relaxed time frame on the project so I’m doing what I can to take my time and really make a good story. Of course, I get distracted and writer’s block like everyone else, so I’ve got other projects going as well. I put out a first draft to a new story and I’m working on an outline to a comic project a buddy and I are going to start. All good things.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Best is a poor choice of words. I’ve had the most “success” with my facebook author page and instagram. Still trying to figure out the whole marketing nonsense.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Let yourself get discouraged. In the small scale, you’ll have days where you think that your stuff is terrible. Take that feeling and fight it and turn that into something you enjoy.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t worry about word count/size. I can’t remember who it was or where I read that, but I have kept that with me since I started. Make the story as long as it needs to be.

What are you reading now?
Tim Dorsey’s Serge Storms series [hilarious], The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, Fire and Blood by GRRM. I’ve also started a book club on my website and just finished The Last Wish by Andrzej Spakowski.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finishing Double Whammy!! and then work on the next one. I also am toying around with some formatting ideas for previous works. This year, I also am trying to actually get out and setting up booths at some local-ish comic conventions.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Any book in excess of 1000 pages, a solid hard cover high school text book, and something plastic based. 1000 pages would provide ample supply of fire starting material. A hard cover text book would be a sufficient blunt force weapon to take down small game. A multi-page plastic book would hopefully provide something to both make a cup and a condestation catcher for fresh water. I like reading, but I like living.

Author Websites and Profiles
Ted Akin Website
Ted Akin Amazon Profile

Ted Akin’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a multi-genre author with five self-published books. I also work at a movie theater part-time, where I got my inspiration for my book Dear Moviegoer: Tales From Behind the Velvet Curtains. I have a penpal in England that I’ve been writing to for nearly 40 years! I’m a mom and a grandma, and I love the Los Angeles Kings and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is The Elixir Deception, book Two in The Elixir Series. I’ve been a Star Wars fan since I was 12 years old so that was a big inspiration for me. I like space opera in general, and I love to create my own worlds, and this was a fun one to write.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, though if I really need to knuckle down and write, I drink Lady Grey tea and use one of my many special mugs for it. I also can’t write to music, so my house is quiet while I write. I tend to sing along to the music and not write!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Sandra Brown is one of my influences. When I was just starting out as a writer, a publisher told me to read more in my genre. At the time I was just writing general fiction, nothing fancy, and picked up Fat Tuesday. I also have been inspired by Laura Ingalls Wilder and JK Rowling.

What are you working on now?
Right now I’m working on a one-off novella in The Elixir Series called Evalycer’s War. Evalycer is one of the characters in The Elixir Deception, and I liked the character so I expanded and wrote her backstory. This book is due out this summer (2019).

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I mostly use Facebook to promote my books. There are several reader and promotion groups I’m in, and I take part in book selling events hosted by other writers and marketers.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep writing! Write, write, write. It takes practice to get better at anything, and writing is no exception. Go to writer’s conferences, and most of all, READ!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Probably to just read. Read in your genre, and outside of your genre. You never know when a romance writer may be inspired to write a thriller!

What are you reading now?
Right now I’m reading Jade by Rose Montague, Become A Successful Indie Author by Craig Martelle, and On Writing by Stephen King.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My goal this year is to get my book of poems and short stories published, so I’m working on that, and I will have a table at the Colorado Spring Comic Con in August. Those are always fun!

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?
White Hot by Sandra Brown, Amaryllis and Other Stories by Carrie Vaughn, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling, and I can’t think of a fourth one!

Author Websites and Profiles
Margena Adams Holmes Website
Margena Adams Holmes Amazon Profile

Margena Adams Holmes’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
M.D. Neu is a LGBTQA Fiction Writer with a love for writing and travel. Living in the heart of Silicon Valley (San Jose, California) and growing up around technology, he’s always been fascinated with what could be. Specifically drawn to Science Fiction and Paranormal television and novels, M.D. Neu was inspired by the great Gene Roddenberry, George Lucas, Stephen King, Alice Walker, Alfred Hitchcock, Harvey Fierstein, Anne Rice, and Kim Stanley Robinson. An odd combination, but one that has influenced his writing.

Growing up in an accepting family as a gay man he always wondered why there were never stories reflecting who he was. Constantly surrounded by characters that only reflected heterosexual society, M.D. Neu decided he wanted to change that. So, he took to writing, wanting to tell good stories that reflected our diverse world.

When M.D. Neu isn’t writing, he works for a non-profit and travels with his biggest supporter and his harshest critic, Eric his husband of twenty plus years.

His current works include two short stories: The Reunion and A Dragon for Christmas. He is also the author of the epic SciFi Series A New World (Book 1 Contact and Book 2 Conviction). M.D. Neu’s debut novel in 2018 was The Calling a modern day vampire retelling.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Conviction, is the second book in my A New World series, but what inspired me to write this story was the need to tell a story that didn’t cast the typical main character we’ve all seen time and time again. I wanted to tell a story about the none typical hero: a gay man who wasn’t the hero type. In fact, in Contact, Todd’s husband Jerry even says as much. It was important to set that tone from the start. Todd is a normal everyman, even more so than some of my other characters in my other works.

But more than that, I wanted to write an epic science fiction story that wasn’t a dystopian story or a story were its humans against the aliens. I wanted to tell a story where aliens come to us in need, no hidden motives, they’ve lost their home world and have been searching for a new home for twenty years. Then they find us, warts and all. I don’t believe this is a story that we’ve seen before and, for me, it’s important for us to see it. I show the world and both people as they are. None of them are perfect and they all have bigotry to overcome.

This story also reflects two themes important to me, one is immigration and refugees, in the case of the story we can’t simply say no. We have to deal with it. For good or bad, we have to figure out what we are going to do and none action isn’t an option. When you have over 2 million aliens showing up in 400 plus ships in your planet’s orbit there is no brushing it under the rug or trying to pretend they’re not there. The other theme important in the series is religion, again for good or bad, it’s important in our world and now, in the context of the story, it’s been thrown in complete ciaos. Everything we believe, or think we believe, is now called into question especially when it comes to human’s being the end all be all. Both themes are huge and people are going to deal with it differently, and I wanted to show that in this book and this series.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There are quite a few books and authors that influenced me. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice is one. Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson it’s a series, but I kind of count it as one. My Ántonia by Willa Cather is another one, as is The Color Purple by Alice Walker.

These books and these authors really made me love the idea of story telling. they are all so different and when I think about their works I can see bits and pieces that I tried to emulate in my stories (I don’t know if I succeeded but I like to believe I did an okay job). I’m there are are others, but these are the ones that are coming to my mind.

Also, these authors all told stories that included people who you don’t typically see as heroes, if that makes sense and I wanted to do the same things in my writing.

What are you working on now?
Currently I’m working on my next release T.A.D. – The Angel of Death. It should be out later this year. I’m in the middle of edits and working with my publisher NineStar Press on the cover art and all that. I’d love to share the blurb:

Tad loves bouncing around in time and watching mankind grow and change. He loves humanity and helping when he can. However, his job isn’t conducive to helping people. He’s an Angel of Death.

Doug is fun loving and a drama queen. Despite his witty exterior, he has a dark history and is prone to self-destruction. He’s also an amazing drag queen and hairstylist with big dreams.

When Tad pushes the boundaries of his duties too far, his angel wings are stripped away from him and he is sent to New York City to live as a human. Lost and alone he ends up meeting Doug and the two start a friendship that will shape them both and last a lifetime. But nothing is simple when you’re dealing with a former Angel of Death and a Drag Queen. Could these two cause the fabric of our world to collapse or will they manage to keep the future as it should?

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
When it comes to book promotion I take various avenues. I do Press Releases, Events, Blog Tours, Podcasts, and small amounts of paid advertising usually on FaceBook. I also keep an active blog on my website, www.mdneu.com as well as stay active on social media like, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
When it comes to offering advice, on any subject, I tell people, go with your gut. You know what you want. You know what you need. You know what story you want to tell. So tell it. If something doesn’t feel right, then don’t do it. But at the same time, don’t be afraid to take risks. You never know what will work or what will resinate with people.

Also, as important as writing is so is getting yourself out there. Take every opportunity you can. You never know if opening up that Instagram account, may be all you need to break the New York Times Best-Sellers List.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t be afraid to ask. The answer is always ‘no’ until you ask, in which case, it might be a yes. I followed that advice to get my first book published and I continue to follow it now.

What are you reading now?
I have a stack of books right now. I’m reading New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson. I’m also reading several books as a judge for the Rainbow Awards, which I can’t say the titles of. But needless to say I have a long reading list, that I will get through. At some point. I hope.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Coming up next, other than my next release T.A.D.-The Angel of Death. I’m working on book 3 Conspiracy of my A New World series and I’m working on the second book of The Calling, currently titled The Called.

Over the next few months and into the late summer I’m going to be doing some book promotion in my local area, which I’m really pleased with. In June I’m going to be at Sacramento, CA Pride and in August I’m going to be on Writes Panel here in San Jose. I’m also looking at some other readings and signings in the San Francisco Bay Area. So there is a lot happening.

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 this is tough. Okay, I’m going to have to with the ones I mention before: Interview with the Vampire, My Ántonia, The Color Purple, and Red Mars (even though I would try and smuggle in the rest of the series).

Author Websites and Profiles
M.D. Neu Website
M.D. Neu Amazon Profile
M.D. Neu Author Profile on Smashwords

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

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a semi (pun intended) retired truck driver turned author. I spent most of my career behind the wheel of an eighteen-wheeler traveling extensively through forty-eight states gathering a lifetime of material for my books.
Rough Way to the High Way is the first of a series of novels, although Rough Way to the High Way is a stand alone book. I live in the beautiful Hill Country of Texas in the town of Spring Branch with my lovely wife, Miss Emily and our two Yorkies, Dixie and Dolly.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Rough Way to the High Way is my first novel and the first in a forthcoming series of novels about the adventures of trucker turned pastor turned trucker Mack McClain.

I had a little time when the trucking company I worked for went bankrupt, so I decided the time was right to take my writing seriously. I found an awesome writers group where I met some good writers who helped to draw out the writer in me. One of those, John Floyd Mills, was a former writer with now defunct San Antonio Light newspaper. John had recently published a novel, Buried. He also had started his own publishing company, Franklin Scribes Publishing, to help writers to see their labors of love on through to publishing since he knew all the ins and outs of the industry and knew how the process worked from beginning to end.
John liked my writing style and he approached me with the idea of the two of us partnering together to write a series of novels about a trucker and his adventures out on the road. I had such a thing in mind as well for some time, but never followed through with it, so I agreed. It turned out our writing styles were just too different for us to write together, so he moved on and wrote a sequel to his novel, and I ran with the other project on my own.
Did I say ran? Stumbled and fell would be more accurate. After I started on the novel, my crazy life got in the way once more, and my book was buried like the protagonist in John’s novel. And just like his protagonist, there was no way my novel would ever see the light of day without some dramatic event to cause it to see the light again.
That dramatic event was John’s death. After he died, I decided it was do or die for me as a writer as well. Sadly, for most writers it’s die, not do. The scrap of manuscript that would become Rough Way to the High Way seemed to call out to me from that dusty drawer each day thereafter. It could no more be ignored than John’s protagonist buried underground.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m a firm believer in having balance in all areas of life, including my writing life. The problem I have is I’ve never been able to pull it off. So my life as a writer is much like the rest of my life – pretty chaotic. So I steal precious moments from chaos and find creative moments to have productive writing time.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Not to sound overly spiritual, but the Bible is hands down number one. What an incredible story is told within the pages of the books contained therein. I’ve been a miserable failure as a Christian but I’m still learning. The Bible is the only book I know of that you can read and never tire of learning new things from it. C.S. Lewis is the Christian author who probably had the most influence on me. And I love the styles of John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway, though Hemingway with his rather sad obsession with death could lead you to be a little depressed.

What are you working on now?
The sequel to Rough Way to the High Way has first priority. Readers are asking for it already. And I have, as usual, a number of other writing irons in the fire.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m learning as I go on that one. I’m doing a lot of promotion on Facebook, some paid but mostly free. A lot of people are being so kind as to share my posts. Some share them regularly to their sites. I’ve even had some rather large sites pick up and share my posts, which is awesome and very much appreciated. Also I’m starting to do some interviews, written, audio, and video on radio stations and podcasts. And lots of book signings and the promotions that go along with them.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I would advise writers to do what I was advised to do:
Sit Down And Write.
Sounds easy. But strangely enough it’s not or we wouldn’t be so creative in avoiding doing it. I’m a pretty creative person. That’s helpful at times, in fact it would be impossible to write a decent novel without being creative. But, boy can I be creative in coming up with ways to avoid the S.D.A.W rule.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I’ve was advised and then learned the hard way anyway that you just have to sit down and write. And you have to tell that inner critic to shut up when you do.

What are you reading now?
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

What’s next for you as a writer?
As long as God gives me breath on this earth I will continue to write books that I hope will touch many lives and inspire others. As I said before I have lots of irons in the fire, fiction and nonfiction, so a lot of things can happen to help determine which iron is pulled out first.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible. Just the Bible. Because I probably wouldn’t make it off of the island alive. There wouldn’t be anyone left to be influenced by me or anything I would do or write. So I would study the only book that mattered at that point.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kelly Mack McCoy Website
Kelly Mack McCoy Amazon Profile

Kelly Mack McCoy’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a semi (pun intended) retired truck driver turned author. I spent most of my career behind the wheel of an eighteen-wheeler traveling extensively through forty-eight states gathering a lifetime of material for my books.
Rough Way to the High Way is the first of a series of novels, although Rough Way to the High Way is a stand alone book. I live in the beautiful Hill Country of Texas in the town of Spring Branch with my lovely wife, Miss Emily and our two Yorkies, Dixie and Dolly.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Rough Way to the High Way is my first novel and the first in a forthcoming series of novels about the adventures of trucker turned pastor turned trucker Mack McClain.

I had a little time when the trucking company I worked for went bankrupt, so I decided the time was right to take my writing seriously. I found an awesome writers group where I met some good writers who helped to draw out the writer in me. One of those, John Floyd Mills, was a former writer with now defunct San Antonio Light newspaper. John had recently published a novel, Buried. He also had started his own publishing company, Franklin Scribes Publishing, to help writers to see their labors of love on through to publishing since he knew all the ins and outs of the industry and knew how the process worked from beginning to end.
John liked my writing style and he approached me with the idea of the two of us partnering together to write a series of novels about a trucker and his adventures out on the road. I had such a thing in mind as well for some time, but never followed through with it, so I agreed. It turned out our writing styles were just too different for us to write together, so he moved on and wrote a sequel to his novel, and I ran with the other project on my own.
Did I say ran? Stumbled and fell would be more accurate. After I started on the novel, my crazy life got in the way once more, and my book was buried like the protagonist in John’s novel. And just like his protagonist, there was no way my novel would ever see the light of day without some dramatic event to cause it to see the light again.
That dramatic event was John’s death. After he died, I decided it was do or die for me as a writer as well. Sadly, for most writers it’s die, not do. The scrap of manuscript that would become Rough Way to the High Way seemed to call out to me from that dusty drawer each day thereafter. It could no more be ignored than John’s protagonist buried underground.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m a firm believer in having balance in all areas of life, including my writing life. The problem I have is I’ve never been able to pull it off. So my life as a writer is much like the rest of my life – pretty chaotic. So I steal precious moments from chaos and find creative moments to have productive writing time.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Not to sound overly spiritual, but the Bible is hands down number one. What an incredible story is told within the pages of the books contained therein. I’ve been a miserable failure as a Christian but I’m still learning. The Bible is the only book I know of that you can read and never tire of learning new things from it. C.S. Lewis is the Christian author who probably had the most influence on me. And I love the styles of John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway, though Hemingway with his rather sad obsession with death could lead you to be a little depressed.

What are you working on now?
The sequel to Rough Way to the High Way has first priority. Readers are asking for it already. And I have, as usual, a number of other writing irons in the fire.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m learning as I go on that one. I’m doing a lot of promotion on Facebook, some paid but mostly free. A lot of people are being so kind as to share my posts. Some share them regularly to their sites. I’ve even had some rather large sites pick up and share my posts, which is awesome and very much appreciated. Also I’m starting to do some interviews, written, audio, and video on radio stations and podcasts. And lots of book signings and the promotions that go along with them.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I would advise writers to do what I was advised to do:
Sit Down And Write.
Sounds easy. But strangely enough it’s not or we wouldn’t be so creative in avoiding doing it. I’m a pretty creative person. That’s helpful at times, in fact it would be impossible to write a decent novel without being creative. But, boy can I be creative in coming up with ways to avoid the S.D.A.W rule.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I’ve was advised and then learned the hard way anyway that you just have to sit down and write. And you have to tell that inner critic to shut up when you do.

What are you reading now?
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

What’s next for you as a writer?
As long as God gives me breath on this earth I will continue to write books that I hope will touch many lives and inspire others. As I said before I have lots of irons in the fire, fiction and nonfiction, so a lot of things can happen to help determine which iron is pulled out first.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible. Just the Bible. Because I probably wouldn’t make it off of the island alive. There wouldn’t be anyone left to be influenced by me or anything I would do or write. So I would study the only book that mattered at that point.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kelly Mack McCoy Website
Kelly Mack McCoy Amazon Profile

Kelly Mack McCoy’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have written 7 books so far. I started writing and publishing books when I was still single. Now, I am married with 3 kids. I first wrote about my life as a single lady. Surprisingly, I met my future husband during the book launch of my very first book. After that, I wrote a book for every new stage in my life. Since I am now a mother, I have also written 2 children’s books so far. These are Mommy Loves You Just the Same and Isay’s Skirt is Getting Smaller.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The title of my latest book is Keep Your Employees Engaged: Low Cost and No Cost Ways. This was inspired by my HR practice in the past 20 years. I also wrote this book to help my fellow small business owners to help them keep their employees happy, loyal and motivated even with their small budget.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My most unusual writing habit could be that I sometimes write parts of my book while at the Adoration Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
For my latest book, one of the authors that influenced me is the late Stephen Covey.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a memoir and a children’s book about my eldest son who is a music prodigy.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
So far, the best platforms for me were Facebook, Amazon and my own website www.handsonparentwhileearning.com.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be afraid to dream big. Just write.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write from the heart.

What are you reading now?
The Lean Start Up

What’s next for you as a writer?
I hope to write more bestsellers and award-winning 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?
The Holy Bible, one of my daily devotionals and The Five People You Meet in Heaven.

Author Websites and Profiles
Teresa Dumadag Website
Teresa Dumadag Amazon Profile

Teresa Dumadag’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a coffee addicted, night owl who has imaginary people running amok in my head 90% of the time. I try very hard to keep my stories true to life, and create something that will connect with readers. When I’m not in writing mode, I work on promo graphics, book covers and formatting. I’m a mother of two pretty awesome kids… although they aren’t really kids anymore since one is 19 and the other is almost 18! I’ve been married for 21 years to a man that balances me, keeps me smiling, lifts me up when I’m down, and supports me unconditionally. Our family is rounded out by two dogs, five cats and one 19 year old turtle.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Outcast Like me. The story behind the story was inspired by all the challenges my kids have faced over the years in school – although none of the story reflects anything that’s happened to them personally. We’ve all been, at one time or another, in a situation where we were left to feel outcast – alone and lonely. I just took thoughts and feelings of those moments and Lexie, the main character, brought them to life. The book is set in St. Augustine where my daughter started college. It’s a beautiful, historical city that made the setting of the book extra special to me.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I wouldn’t call it unusual, but I like it quiet when I write. And coffee… there has to be a cup of coffee beside me to keep me going.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There are so many different authors I could list, but I’ll keep it brief: Colleen Hoover, that woman has like magic fingers or something, because she has such an amazing way that she writes her characters that makes readers instantly connect to them. Nora Roberts has a series called ‘Born In’. There are three books to that series and I’m pretty sure those are the books that got me hooked on her. Nora’s words paint a picture for you that just blooms as you read her books. Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series is one of my most favorite (besides Harry Potter – because J.K. Rowling… need I say more?) With Diana’s books, I got history, real history, woven into fiction books that I just could not put down.

What are you working on now?
At the moment I’m working on a new series. I’m not sure how many books it will be just yet because I haven’t done a generalized plot to see where the stories will go. I’m a total panster like that. The series is call The Blossom Chronicles of Plain Jane. This will be a time traveler book, but as with all of my stories, not what you’d expect. More information will be available on my Facebook page and my website soon!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Promoting books has become tougher over the last few years. What works one time might not work again. Marketing is constantly evolving and authors have to evolve with it. No matter how much it all changes, I will always continue on with my tradition of hosting release day parties on my author page. It’s usually an all day event with lots of information about my books, including the new release and I do hourly giveaways.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. Don’t give up.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Keep writing. Don’t give up.

What are you reading now?
Right now I am currently reading the Poldark Series by Winston Graham.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Next for me is to keep the series momentum going for The Blossom Chronicles. It’s my hope to have at least one book out this year, no matter how much more life tries to throw at me.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’d take note books! Gotta keep getting those stories written. But first, I’d rip out a few pages to make a big HELP ME sign so I could get rescued and get back to my computer to write more books.

Author Websites and Profiles
Sonya Loveday Website
Sonya Loveday Amazon Profile

Sonya Loveday’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Born in Los Angeles, but raised in a Bakersfield, CA, I was always creative. Drawing, writing, sewing, crocheting, and a few more is what started my creative journey. Leaving home at the age of 17, I went on to college and majored in Cinema, TV, Arts. The workload, as I went towards my upper division classes, was a piece of cake. Majoring in that field didn’t feel like work. It felt like it was my career and I just knew this was the direction I had to go.

Soon after I graduated college, I got my first job in the industry as a Production Assistant. From then, I moved up very quickly and became a Producer, receiving 5 Daytime Emmy Nominations. This was an accomplishment being that I was a girl from the neighborhood that many didn’t see past the stop signs. I produced for television shows that was on the following networks: CBS, Travel Channel, Food Network, TNT, Fox, HGTV, and many more.

In 2013 my television career came to a halt and I was forced to take a hiatus from a show that didn’t get a pick up. I had been in the industry for 7 years at this point so I decided to take a break and gather my thoughts and figure out my next direction. That year was the year I became an author of my first children’s book, “The Princess and the Egg Shaped Diamond”. After developing that book for 7 months, I declared that every year I would push myself to put out a book to continue as an author.

To date, I have written and published six books, all from different genres.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is tricky because I authored it under an alias to separate myself as a children’s author, since this new book was geared towards adults.

My latest book is a fiction novel titled, “Lanah Hill’s Mind Games” and it was inspired by the many women (and been) who have been heartbroken over the years with no explanation. Many people carry this pain into the next relationships without fully healing so I decided to create a character to show the up and down emotions of a woman who carries this pain on her back. We see her growth and her pain and the reader will be able to relate to Lanah or learn from her stories.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Funny question because I do. I always design the book cover before writing a word of the story. In addition, I research what I’d like my characters to look like and I save those images to help me write. I know, pretty unusual.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I actually do not have any authors that have influenced me. In fact, prior to becoming an author, I wasn’t much of a reader. I can probably count on one hand how many books I have read. I’m more of a story teller and if anything, I was influenced by anyone who developed anything creative. From books, to films, to products.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on the beginning stages of my first short film. I’m creating an adaptation of one of Disney’s favorite princesses, Cinderella.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Social media and Word of mouth for sure. I guess I could pair up the two because I can promote my book using quotes from readers on social media, and next thing I know, I’m having mounds of sales.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write about anything you love. My children’s books surrounded my family, my self-development book used Pizza (which I love) as a tool to get my point across regarding being happy in life. And of course my fiction book I used my love for love.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Luke Skywalker from the 1980s explesive Group, Two Live Crew, “Don’t Stop Get it Get it”.

What are you reading now?
The Brothers Grimm version of Cinderella. In writing, you must do your research.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Films, Sequels to books, and my 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?
Well of course they will all be my books. Mainly because I pushed myself so hard in writing and developing those books that by reading them, it would only strengthen me even more to figure out how to get off that island.

Author Websites and Profiles
Chantay Brown Website

Chantay Brown’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been writing since grade school. I have written countless books; they’re in every stage of production. As of May 2019, I’ve published three: Dread, Finding Nowhere, and Drawer #7.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Drawer #7. The idea of the ending is what inspired me, so I can’t talk much about it. But I can tell you what inspired the inciting event. I looked into a mirror, only to find myself staring into a face that wasn’t mine. Talk about your major freak out. As it turned out, the mirror was in fact an indoor window. The face on the other side was my brother Chuck’s. He looks enough like me that it really threw me for a loop there for a second. So I was off an running.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m a southern boy. I hope this doesn’t gross everyone out, but I dip Copenhagen longcut while I write. I know, disgusting. What can I say? In Arkansas, men chew or dip while they work. It’s a long time habit (and a bad one) with which I grew up. I’ve recently kicked tobacco, and so now I find it difficult to get my vibe right. Either I’ll work my way through it, or I’ll head to 7-11 for another tin. Keep your fingers crossed.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Dean Koontz is hands down my #1 hero—but Fire Starter by Stephen King remains my all-time favorite novel. I’ve read it countless times but still cry at the end. I also love Chuck Palahniuk, and of course Dickens and Poe and anything that shocks even as it moves me.

What are you working on now?
Actually, I’m stuck. I’ve started a novel but can’t seem to get it off the ground. With Drawer #7, I deleted more than I ended up publishing. And that story clocks in at 142,00 words! Maybe I’m dreading all the deleting, or maybe my Copenhagen jones is holding me back. Whatever the case, I fully intend to break down the wall and get back to it!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Promotion is another snag. The past several months, I’ve immersed myself in Facebook and AMS ads. I’ve had a lot of success (DN7 just passed 2,000 copies sold), but it’s soured me on writing. So I’ve taken a break from business for a while, at least until I find my groove again. My plan is to take a much more calculated, limited approach to promotion and keep my focus on creating story worlds. I’ve discovered that, although I’ve sold tons of books, I’ve made very little.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Make sure you understand your motivation. Is it to make money or write great stories? Often, those are mutually exclusive concepts. If you want to write great stories, allow yourself to be happy with that—and not resent the fact that they’re hard to sell. If you want to make money, then write to a profitable audience and don’t resent the fact that you have to write what you need to write rather than what you WANT to write. To me, making money is all but a far-fetched goal. So I’m taking the “Write Great Stories” approach. As far as profits, I’m hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To flick the little naked “Word Muse” off my shoulder and replace him with a drill sergeant who says, “Don’t feel like writing today? Oh poor baby. WELL SIT YOUR ASS DOWN AND WRITE ANYWAY!” This was Stephen King, although not in those exact words.

What are you reading now?
As is my habit, I am re-reading a Dean Koontz novel, “The Taking.” While I know that reading many authors helps develop a diversity of style, my approach is to master a more narrow style. Thus, I have practically memorized everything Koontz, King, and Palahniuk have ever written. I prefer to read material I can depend on being top quality rather than risking wasting my time trying to discover something new. Not that I never venture out. I just don’t do it often.

What’s next for you as a writer?
What’s next is the same as what I’ve been doing: Keep writing.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Fire Starter by Stephen King, Velocity by Koontz, and Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jeff Wade Website
Jeff Wade Amazon Profile

Jeff Wade’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a Maine native who was raised on Disney movies and Harry Potter books, what more can I say? My mind likes creative things. Writing, reading, painting, and cooking are some things I am passionate about. Putting bits of myself or people I love into the characters I create gives me a sense of thrill. I also greatly enjoy steaming hot herbal tea poured into mugs with encouraging sayings on them, or mermaid tales.
I have one novel that has been published, which took me over three years to finish. I took a couple of long breaks in between writing, which I regretted in the long haul. Oh, and I am a mom! My children are fourteen and ten and neither of them cares that I write books. A dream of mine is that one day I’ll be considered a “cool mom.” I’m not there yet. My dogs, however, all three of them, think I am pretty awesome, so that is almost as good.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My first novel is named Deception in the Shadows – Gerica’s Tale, and the inspiration behind it is an interesting story. I blame my fiancé for it. In May of 2015 at about 3 am, his obnoxiously loud snoring made it impossible for me to fall back to sleep. So what do you do when you can’t sleep in the middle of the night? You come up with great ideas that you probably won’t remember in the morning.
Only this one I could not forget. I sat in my class that day, and then worked my normal shift as a hostess and brainstormed all day long. I thought about heroes and girls with brown curly hair like me! I knew there had to be a way to make this idea into something special. When I got home there was nothing that could come between me and my laptop.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Is anything really unusual when it comes to writing? The only thing I can think of is the purple three-ring binder that I carry everywhere with me. When my daughter is in girl scouts or I’m waiting to pick up my son from an away basketball game, I sit in my car and handwrite everything. Then when I get home, I put Netflix on in the background while I type it all.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Brothers Grimm and J.K Rowling are huge influences for me, but can I be honest? Television shows like Once Upon A Time, and comics like iZombie are HUGE in my life, too. I like to keep a wide variety of all things slightly geeky to keep my ideas coming. I love it all. These visuals give me mental pictures to play with while I write.

What are you working on now?
I have the second installment of my Deception in the Shadows series in the works. It’s going to have more of a back story about one pivotal character from the first one, as well as answer some burning questions readers will have once they have finished Gerica’s Tale. I also have a four part series about fairies that I hope to have the rough draft of done up this year. The fairies in my four part book are nothing like Tinkerbell, they will be far more sinister than she is! I’m super excited about both pieces!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have relied heavily on Facebook and Instagram. I don’t have any other platforms as of right now. My Instagram name is S.Robichaudwrites_ and that so far has had the best influence.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice would be to do it. You are going to doubt yourself; there are times you will think you are in over your head or that it was a bad idea to put a book out there. You will worry about people hating it and what the critics might say. None of that matters. You put what you feel passionate about out there and trust that it will find the right audience. If your first, second, or third don’t have the success that you want, there is good news. You can write another! There is no limit on what you put out there. Follow your heart and trust the process. There have been a lot of people who have loved my book. Others have told me I shouldn’t write, but do you know what I’m going to do when I’m done this interview? You guessed it, write some more! They can’t stop passion.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I have ever gotten came my tea bags. Yogi tea is phenomenal at giving me that extra push I need. Each bag of tea comes with an inspirational quote. I cut them off and tape them to my computer. My favorites are “What belongs to you shall come to you,” “If you allow yourself to be successful, you will be successful,” and lastly, “Let it come to you.”

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading, “And the Mountains Echoed,” by Khaled Hosseini, and can I just say that I adore his writing. I go through pain, anger and relief while reading any of his books. The way he tells his stories with such detail, it makes you wish that you could be there. I think it is inspiring and enlightening.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My next step in my journey as an author is marketing myself and my work as I continue working on my storytelling skills. I am enthusiastic about where everything will take me! I am learning every day that this journey is trying but beautiful.

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, since the question asked what books I would bring and not what items I would bring I would have to say, The original Brothers Grimm tales, A Thousand Splendid Suns, She’s come undone, and all the Harry Potter books bound together to make it one massive book. Ah, but that’s not all I would bring. I would, of course, need pens, paper and my laptop, because imagine the stories I could come up with on an island. I just hope it’s tropical…

Author Websites and Profiles
Samantha Robichaud Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Joanna White and I have two published novels (one soon to be released on July 1st) but I’ve written over 50 of them – 54 last I counted. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing for Entertainment and have been passionate for writing ever since I wrote my first book at ten years old.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Hunter was released on April 30th of this year and it was inspired by a mixture of Mulan (yes, the Disney movie) and the Hunger Games. I loved the idea of a woman disguising herself as a man and the concept of an arena like the Hunger Games, but didn’t want the aspect from the Hunger Games like the entertaining side of it with the parade and interviews and stuff. So I created a prison that takes/arrests only men and the main protagonist is female so to save her brother, she has to disguise herself as a man (the Mulan aspect).

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Either listening to instrumental music when I write, playing out the action scenes sometimes when I have to, or making a daily writing goal I try to meet every day but it’s different for each book.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Bible is first and foremost because without God, I wouldn’t have this talent at all. Cassandra Clare’s novels have inspired me and some of my more modern fantasy books. She’s very descriptive and I love how she writes. Some of my best online friends are authors with amazing books including Ariel Paiement’s On Twilight Wings, Allen Steadham’s Mindfire, and James Quinlin Meservy’s The United, which have all inspired me as well.

What are you working on now?
Right now, while I’m working on publishing Hunter and Shifter, the first two books in my debut series, The Valiant Series, I’m writing a modern fantasy vampire/werewolf/supernatural creature novel that’s the fourth in its series called the Mystics Series, which I began October of 2018. So far, the fourth book, Lethal Hearts, is coming along nicely! In fact, I just wrote a wedding scene earlier tonight between two of my favorite characters in it!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
So far, Facebook. There are so many author promotion groups and readers groups and places to share your books. They also have a lot of author takeover events which has geared a lot of interest in my books and myself as an author and the takeover events have allowed me to meet some amazing authors who have supported me and been an invaluable source to me.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never stop writing and never give up on your dreams, especially if writing is your dream. You will face rejection but it’s what you do in the face of that rejection that counts – do you give up or keep going? I say, keep going!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Trust in God. He has given me everything, including my talent for writing and the passion for it. It’s because of Him that Hunter and Shifter were accepted by a publisher at all and it was in His perfect timing too!

What are you reading now?
The United by James Quinlin Meservy. It’s inspired me by how creative his world and race building is!

What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully publishing the rest of the Valiant Series after Shifter comes out July 1st!

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?
Haha, that’s not enough for all of Cassandra Clare’s books. She’s got six in her Mortal Instrument Series, so I guess I would have to pick between them. No, in all honesty, I would pick the Bible because it is all I need.

Author Websites and Profiles
Joanna White Website
Joanna White Amazon Profile

Joanna White’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Over 50 traditional westerns and short stories, mostly Texas Ranger novels, new series of present day Texas Ranger novels, 2 mysteries set in New Hampshire

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Lone Star Ranger 10: A Ranger for Life…it’s the latest book in my Lone Star Ranger YA series

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Hardly ever outline a story

What authors, or books have influenced you?
James Reasoner, Livia Washburn

What are you working on now?
Another Texas Ranger novel

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m a terrible promoter. I did notice I get the most “likes” on the Country Ways Facebook group

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t plan on getting rich

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Just enjoy writing

What are you reading now?
Two westerns I have to review for WWA Roundup Magazine

What’s next for you as a writer?
3rd book in my contemporary Texas Ranger 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?
2 by James Reasoner, 2 by Livia Washburn

Author Websites and Profiles
James J. Griffin Website
James J. Griffin Amazon Profile

James J. Griffin’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m Elsie and I’m brand new to the authoring world. I chose to write this book, and soon-to-be series, because I had a very specific story to tell about my international long distance relationship.

Today, I’m still learning the ropes of my new country. I enjoy spending time with my husband, daughter and pup and doing as many of the things I used to do back in the USA as I can. When I’m not staring at a computer screen, you’ll find me binge watching my favorite TV series, taking language lessons and trying to improve my skills as a novice gardener.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The inspiration for this book came from a chance online meeting back in 2014. I met a wonderful person who happened to have joined the site the same day as I did — though we didn’t know that until years later. I was the first person he messaged and he was the first I answered. Both of us were happily single at the time and enjoying our daily routines.

As it turned out we lived thousands of miles apart on two different continents. Though we were from completely different backgrounds we learned we had a multitude of the things in common. After a few months we gave in to an “official” relationship. This led to a tremendous amount of doubt at first about whether it was even possible to make an international long distance relationship work. As one can imagine, it was incredibly lonely at times, and honestly never easy, but in the end we endured and now are together in his hometown building a life together.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I completely lack any concentration in a quiet room. I must always have music or TV on in the background if I’m trying to write anything.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I read so many different authors and genres I can’t say that any one stands out.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on the next two books in the series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As an absolute beginner to both writing and promoting, I’d have to say that Google has been the biggest help in promoting my book. I’ve learned so much from so many different sources. There is an endless amount of information out there for aspiring writers.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
As a newly minted author myself, I have no advice to give other than keep learning and keep on writing. You don’t have to be the best writer as long as you have something interesting to say.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Whatever book you publish is infinitely better than someone else’s masterpiece that’s still sitting unpublished in their desk drawer or on their hard drive.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading mostly nonfiction. I have an ever growing book list that I’ll probably never get around to.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m going to keep concentrating on nonfiction but expanding to other related topics.

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, if I stranded on a desert island the most practical books to take would be survivalist books. And, maybe a Harry Potter book just to take my mind off all the hut building and fish spearing I’d be doing.

Elsie Meredien’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I really love speculative stuff as well as anything intensely bizarre. I’ve currently written 2 novellas and a short story collection of Sci Fi/Horror, which makes sense regarding my taste.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book is called Errors, it’s based around the fact that even though the stories inside aren’t related in any way; a common theme throughout them all is error. Mistakes, faults or whatever you want to call them, both direct and indirect lead characters down troubled paths and into the situations we find them stuck in.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so, though I do have this thing where I feel super inspired just before I need to go to the toilet. Not sure what that is called but it’s pretty helpful, minus the toilet time of course.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Horror wise Clive Barker, Sci-fi I’d say Philip K. Dick, but I read lots of comics too so: Scott Snyder, Charles Soule, Grant Morrison and Brian K. Vaughn.

What are you working on now?
I’m actually working on some different comic ideas and a novel created around a bunch of shorts I wrote previously.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I try to push my stuff through my twitter, but I’m not great at it to be honest. I’ve used book promo blogs before which have helped, there is a lot of stuff out there but finding places that suit your title is tough sometimes.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep writing, any time you can write it all down. If it isn’t perfect you can always come back and edit it later but once you have that first draft the possibilities start opening up. Also I’d say don’t force it, make sure you ingest lots of stuff to keep you inspired then let it sit for a little, your brain can make some really cool connections if you give it some breathing room.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Every great story starts with a single word

What are you reading now?
Curse Words, Ice Cream Man, Doomsday Clock, Philip K. Dick’s short stories, Against Empathy by Paul Bloom. A pretty mixed bunch.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Trying to get a little readership going, I know I can get my word count down and have lots of ideas ready to write out, I just need folk to actually read them, which unfortunately is the hard part.

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 can be very practical at times so I’d probably bring 4 books on ‘how to escape a desert island’. If they didn’t get delivered on time though, I would bring 4 short story collections I’d never read, I like new and direct ideas, not much of a re-reader.

Author Websites and Profiles
J Man Amazon Profile

J Man’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I currently reside in Oslo, Norway. have written three books so far

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My upcoming novel is titles Ripe Dreams. I was inspired by the heartbreaking stories of migrants who braved the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean sea for a better life in Europe. The trauma they try to cope while adjusting to the new setting inspired me into becoming a voice for the silent torture they face. As once a refugee myself, the story resonates with my experience and it indeed shades the light on PTSD, migration abuse and explores the role of therapy and the shared or collective trauma of unaccompanied minors residing in Europe.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have no discipline to be honest when it comes to writing. Sometimes I go for months without dropping a word but constantly plotting in my mind new projects, scenes and characters while living my ordinary life. Then I hit the switch when a captivating story I had been concocting takes shape.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Richard Wrights books have had the biggest impact on my writing. Native son to be specific as well as the Harlem Renaissance writers like Claude Mckay and Zora Neale Hurston been truly inspirational . Aldous Huxley and his flawless deep dialogues and his depiction of his characters in his many novels captivated me. Many of beat generation writers like Jack Kerouac and Saul Bellow, Charles Bukowski have had tremendous impact in my style of writing as well

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on an travelogue based on an African road trip. I have been to just 13 or so countries so far so I got a long way to go. But it is my grand scheme to capture the vastness, the vibrance and the diversity of the beautiful continent.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I dont do much of promoting but my favorite website is of course Awesomegang

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just be yourself when you write. Dont force or impose yourself on the characters and let them come alive on their own. It is surprisingly liberating to let your imagination get carried away

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never quote other writers! When you sit down to write it is just you the blank page and the pen. You are the creator and nothing else exists. Never let other writers voice or style hijack your train of thought.

What are you reading now?
I am re reading The Rebel by Albert Camus

What’s next for you as a writer?
Good thing about this profession is you never stop learning. And I would love to learn more on the job, experiment and grow as a writer and a person. And would be nice if I could live off it for a change but am not complaining

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?
Cemetery of the mind by Dambudzo Marechera
Hunger by Knut Hamsun
On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Author Websites and Profiles
Nathan Haddish Mogos Amazon Profile

Nathan Haddish Mogos’s Social Media Links
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