Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Jen Paul. I’m a British writer that’s based in the south of France. I’ve always loved reading and writing since I first learned to read. One of the first Christmas presents that I asked for as a child was a type-writer because I wanted to write books! I’ve worked on lots of stories over the years but my main career as a magazine features writer has always taken up the lion’s share of my time. This summer I vowed to write a series of novellas for Amazon kindle Shorts, for the pure pleasure of writing. I have just published my first one.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
It’s called ‘The Girl Lost At Sea’ and it’s a historical thriller and romance set in the south of France shortly before Roman times. It’s a love story, but I wanted to also explore the effects of living with many ongoing traumas, but doing it in a historical setting. This first one looks at PTSD, the next will deal with memory loss and depression. I hope to raise mental health awareness through these shorts, while also presenting a story that people find entertains them and that they can take at face value if they want.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I guess not. Waking up early is one that I do that many other writers do as well. You have to be passionate about writing to be able to get out of bed while the world’s asleep!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There’s so many that I love. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez has to be my favourite. I can pick it up and read at any page and be transported into their world.

What are you working on now?
I’m writing the second instalment in my novella series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m just starting out so I’m not sure. But I love learning so I hope to find out! I will report back and let you know!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just get up and write. If you can do 500 words a day you’ll have something tangible before you know it. Keep learning and be open to learning.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
What other people think of you is none of your business.

What are you reading now?
Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher. I can only hope to write a memoir that brilliant one day. Here’s hoping!

What’s next for you as a writer?
A full-length memoir!

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?
Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken, Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli, IM by Isaac Mizrahi and Vacuum in the Dark by Jen Beagin.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jen Paul Amazon Profile

Jen Paul’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I began writing seriously–‘seriously’ being an operative word for consistently and with the intent to publish–near the end of undergrad at U of Maryland, where I studied Finance before switching to psychology, with a focus on addictions. It was kind of an artistic transition, from my obsession with lead blues guitar to my obsession with prose, specifically fiction at first. It also helped me smoke less pot because you can’t draft good prose whilst stoned. I lived in Seattle for two years after that, before matriculating into the MFA program at Sarah Lawrence College, where I studied fiction.

I’ve written one book and am in the planning stages for a second. Currently, I live in Harlem with my partner, also a writer and a co-founder of Dead Rabbits Books, an indie press we started together along with Jonathan Kay, an old childhood friend of mine who recently quit his job as a development manager at Amazon to venture out on his own.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My novel, titled Emerald City, is set for release with Dead Rabbits on September 15th, 2019. It will be available for pre-order and order-on-demand on Amazon or at deadrabbitsbooks.com.

Though my book lives completely in the world of fiction, much of my life’s peripherals contributed to its influence. Like one of my novel’s three protagonists, Benison Behrenreich, my parents are both Deaf, and my father owns a sign language interpreting company. However, unlike me, Benison’s father is executing a fraud scheme via running minutes–i.e. faking real relay calls–through Video Relay Services for the Deaf, which the FCC remunerates by the minute. Like Julia, my great-granddad had mob ties; unlike me, Julia’s family is still escaping those ties, whereas my family’s ended with my great-granddad and distant relatives. And like Peter, I’ve also struggled with addiction and alcohol abuse, and I’ve sold drugs to support my own habits; unlike me, however, Peter’s alcoholism deteriorates to the point of no return, and he’s a major drug runner via the Canadian border, whereas I was only a local figure trying to support myself.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Incredibly unusual: I don’t flinch in the face of a project. I got this trait from overestimating my ability when I first began to write, but it’s turned out to be a huge boon as the habit of diving right into a project is natural to me. On the other hand, it’s taken years to hone my patience and forward-planning; as you might imagine I struggle with issues of impulsivity and have written about such. (I recently submitted a story to Writing Class Radio about my impulsivity.)

I also only write after an alteration of consciousness. This used to mean drugs, but now that I’m working toward sobriety and harm reduction, I’ve had to find other ways to do this. Sometimes it’s a cup of coffee (despite that this too is a drug), other times it’s a four-mile run in Riverside Park along the Hudson.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Infinite Jest–David Foster Wallace
Cloud Atlas–David Mitchell
The Flamethrowers–Rachel Kushner
Autobiography of Red–Anne Carson
Giovanni’s Room–James Baldwin
Sapiens et al–Yuval Noah Harari
Jonathan Franzen–The Corrections
The Power Broker; Robert Moses and the Fall of New York–Robert A. Caro

I’ve also been influenced by film and television. Namely those which portray organized crime, addiction, family sagas, psychopathy, corporate fraud/political graft, and much more; films and TV such as Goodfellas, The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Requiem for a Dream, Succession, and much more.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently in the liminal stages of outlining a hybrid nonfiction project whose working title is Manufacturing Happiness. The book will combine elements of memoir, empirical research, and philosophy in order to portray my struggles with mental health, addiction, and general existential issues subsumed by the human condition.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is difficult to answer because the best way to promote your book is to try it all. Our press website–deadrabbitsbooks.com–includes a blog, newsletter subscription, and has a page dedicated to spotlighting writers called Warren Stories, which invites emerging writers to write about their process and experience with literary craft.

I also write my own newsletter, run my own website, and am active on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Scratch that: my partner, Katie Rainey, a brilliant writer and equally talented marketer, helped me set all this up. Most writers hate this part of the program, but it’s a necessary evil since business promotion is done online and publishing is, for better or worse, a business.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Make sure you’re having FUN. Yes, if you want to be a successful, published writer, you will at some point have to push yourself past that point. But if you’re not enjoying much any part of the process–e.g. by writing what you think you should write rather than what you’re really burning to write–then you’re setting yourself up to fail.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To try and write after any alteration of consciousness, which my former professor at Sarah Lawrence said during class one day and which resonated with me greatly.

What are you reading now?
The Power Broker. It’s immensely dense but entirely worth it.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My book tour. Katie has done an incredible job aggregating publicity events and readings for me. It’s going to be a lot to manage but I’m excited for it. In addition to New York, we’ll be doing events in North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, and Illinois.

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?
Three or four books that are very long and that I haven’t read yet. (To be honest the question imbues too much panic for me to answer this question deliberately!)

Author Websites and Profiles
Brian Birnbaum Website

Brian Birnbaum’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Several years ago, I rediscovered my first love, writing. So far I have two published works. My debut work is an award-winning detective mystery which will become a series. The latest release, is a contemporary women’s fiction which explores life and marriage.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
ICY ROADS is my latest release. The title is a play on the icy road which causes the accident that drives the story and the fact we all walk icy roads in life.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I mull things over with my dogs who are my muses before I commit them to paper.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
P.D. James and Anne Perry inspires my mystery writing. Elie Hildebrand and Kristin Hannah gives me direction in my general fiction work,

What are you working on now?
I have the second manuscript for my mystery series ready to shopped to agents and publishers. Next I’ll begin to work on the plot for book three in the series and I’ll start work on a non-fiction inspirational regarding the muddy waters we swim in life.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Any website that has reviews for books is the best advertising a writer can get. All reviews get an author’s name and their works known to other readers.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Listen to seasoned authors. Attend workshops focused on your genre. Take your friends and families opinions with a grain of salt unless they are published. First drafts will always be the worst ones. Read as much as you can by various authors in the genre you wish to write.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Start your work with action, not backstory.

What are you reading now?
Bernhard Cornwell’s Saxon Series and The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ll be pitching some article ideas to my favorite History magazine and hopefully will be getting an offer to write one. Then I’ll start plotting out the next mystery and begin working on the non-fiction, The research for it has been don

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?
Definitely not Jaws. That’s tough to answer. I love so many different writers and have enough books for a library. I guess I would choose to carry with me some of the Sharon Kay Penman books starring Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry the IV. Eleanor is one of the most fascinating women in history and so much change was happening during the medieval times.

Author Websites and Profiles
J.L. Canfield Website
J.L. Canfield Amazon Profile

J.L. Canfield’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am the founder of the Hawkeye Vision Publishing imprint where our mission is to promote and encourage literacy by putting our world in words. I have written over 26 books of the urban fiction, nonfiction, and poetry genre. I have been writing for about 15+ years as a hobby and just recently decided to use my literature as an avenue to inspire others to learn more, increase their vocabulary, and help decrease the school drop out rate by increasing the literacy level in urban communities.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest work is Dear My People which is the third installment of the Voice of The Black Sheep series. The Voice of The Black Sheep series is a mental and spiritual journey of a broken man trying to find himself, understand his purpose, and fit in to the fast moving world around him. Dear My People is the Black Sheep comin to terms with himself, his reason for being, and the role he plays in society. This series was inspired by the many people who wander through life blinded and obsessed with keeping up with the Joneses. It is to inspire self love, help motivate readers to pursue their dreams, and wake society up to the real world around them.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My unusual writing habits include writing into the wee hours of the morning on a story then not bothering with that story the next day. I always write down any idea or story by hand before I ever consider typing it. Changing my story at least 5-7 times before I’m actually satisfied with it and binge writing. Binge writing is me writing for 2-3 days at a time uninterrupted.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m influenced more by the world more than I am books. I read many authors, too many to name them all, but I’m most influenced by the events that happen in society whether they be good or bad.

What are you working on now?
Right now I’m working on Hawkeye Vision Production which will be an arm of Hawkeye Vision Publishing that will bring our works to the big screen.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I feel like Amazon has the big hand in promoting books right now being they are one of, if not, the biggest book sellers in the world. They reach a wide range of people across the world at any time of day. Their platform is known world wide and they allow authors like myself to control where our work is marketed and promoted or they can take control and push the work to audiences that they feel give you the best chance to make a sale.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
#1 – Believe in yourself and your work. Everybody’s not going to love your work, but everybody’s not going to hate it either. #2 -Remember that the buck starts and stops with the author. If you don’t push your work no one has a reason to push your work. And #3 – And I feel that this is the most important piece of advice that I can give to a new author, keep writing. The best way to get discover to have work out there. You write enough literature eventually someone will run across your material.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Stop looking at the world and look in the mirror. I was once so caught up on what people would think and say that I let it affect my work. I wasn’t writing from the heart I was writing to society. It wasn’t fun anymore it became work. And the advice to stop looking at the world and look in the mirror took me back to the beginning. It made me remember what I loved about writing and the goals that I were trying to reach with my writing. It brought the fun back. It brought the authenticity back to my projects. It brought me back to the writing.

What are you reading now?
Right now I’m reading the book “Why? Because you are anointed!” by T.D Jakes and the script to my You Tube series “United By The Hustle”, which is also a book that I wrote.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My next move is the big screen. I’m working on a couple movies and You Tube series. I’m going to always write because that’s my first love, but I want to expand my ventures to bring my writings to life.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
That’s a great question. The Bible, the most up to date history book, the most up to date Webster dictionary, and the biggest book of blank paper that I can find, so that I could continue to create.

Author Websites and Profiles
Alvin Hawkins Website
Alvin Hawkins Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
VCP (Paris Edmond), is a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service in Westchester County, New York. I spend most of time playing sports, especially handball, and writing realistic fiction. I’m an avid moviegoer (action, adventure, horror) and I travel domestically throughout the year. I was born in Brooklyn, New York, and currently resides in the Bronx. I have written 9 books, but only published one of them so far.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My first published book is known as the Knights of Labor. This book was written nearly ten years ago, and it was supposed to be the last of my original series of books I’ve written as a teenager. I was so impacted by the story line that I was inclined to continue writing and make this the first of the twelve book series.

To answer the question, I was inspired by watching the protagonists I created grow and mature, and I always wanted to see what happens next to them.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I’m going on long trips and I’m sitting on the plane, I take out my pen and paper and write. I’ve written at least a total of ten chapters while sitting on a plane, or waiting in a terminal.
I also go to random places like a park, beach, or somewhere outdoors, and write while also enjoying nature.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
When I first started writing short stories at the age of twelve, I was inspired by the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings Series. I also read some Stephen King and R.L. Stine books.

What are you working on now?
I actually have the next four books I want to publish fully typed and ready to be edited. As I promote the first Knights of Labor book, I’m also typing the sixth book of the nine that’s fully handwritten.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I promoted my book through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter when it comes to social media. I’m now adventuring to different websites and forums to promote on those places as well. My best method has been marketing through word of mouth to co workers, people I met on my route, and friends.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To this day, I remember I was in Columbus Circle writing the fourth book to this series and an older woman saw me writing. She was impressed and told me her story about how she wrote many books but never took initiative to get them published. She claimed she had many books sitting in one of her shelves, waiting to publish (I was doing the same thing with my stories). She told me how she wished she chased after that dream, and encouraged me to not do what she did.

What are you reading now?
I had just finished the book, “Money is the Answer for Everything,” by Joseph Willis, and I’m currently reading “Rich Dad, Poor Dad.”

What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to finish the twelve book series first before anything else. After I finish those twelve, I will help aspiring writers with their books whether it be editing or any other needs.

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 Alchemist, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Stephen King’s It, and Knights of Labor part 4

Author Websites and Profiles
Paris Edmond Website
Paris Edmond Amazon Profile

Paris Edmond’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m Chris Love, 35 years old, born and raised in South Carolina. I joined the Army in 2005 and served until 2010. I’m a disabled combat vet, stay at home dad, and in 2018 I was elected to the board of Trustees for the village of Theresa, where I live with my wife and our 4 kids. I’ve written one book so far.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my book is City of Red: Part 1. The book as it is was born from an idea I had for another story. In it, a former made man, now homeless, watches his wife and son from the shadows, keeping them safe without ever revealing himself bc it would put them in danger. In that story I had all these wonderful characters with very fun backstories. One day, I decided to start at the beginning and tell those backstories instead. The original idea, which I created sitting by the river at Whetstone park with my wife will be seen in book 3 of the series.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I work late at night. Mainly out of necessity because we have 4 kids and it’s so crazy and loud during the day. I also like to write the book in my head. Say I’m cutting grass or driving somewhere, I focus on the scene at hand and develop tone, outcome, actions, etc.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
John Marco, Brandon Sanderson, John Jakes, and Mathew Pearl are the authors that have influenced me to write the most. Likewise, their books has influenced me. Although he isn’t an author, he deserves an honorable mention, film director Quentin Tarantino. I’ve always loved his movies. The guy can write and direct a movie about mobsters then jump to a spaghetti western. That’s the kind of writer I want to be.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on City of Red: Part 2. I’ve also begun work on a western set in the 1800’s called Momma, and a horror story.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
So far, it’s Facebook. I feel most comfortable on Facebook, I just know it and how it works alot better than others such as Goodreads or inkitt, which I’m also on. I’m operating on all of the above options right now. I have to get my work out there.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Do everything you can to advertise your book. Try to get interviewed by your local news, start doing events like book signings and meet and greets and also, get into competitions.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Only worry about the things you can control.

What are you reading now?
Game of Thrones

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have my first meet and greet and book signing event on Aug 1. I’m going to finish City of Red: Part 2 and continue to add published works to my name. I’m entering as many novel competitions as I can so I hope something exciting comes of that.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Dante Club
North and South
The Eyes of God
A survival guide for dummies

Chris Love’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
After spending the last 20+ years working as a practitioner in the health and well-being fields I am very excited to have published my first book and can’t wait to do another.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
It’s called Rise Again After Divorce: The 5 Keys For Women To Heal Wounds, Resurrect Dreams And Create A Life Full Of Love and it was inspired by my own painful divorce.

Because I spent years trying to make sense of what happened with my marriage, and even longer trying to find my own self-confidence again, I really wanted to write about everything I have learned so that someone else could have a shortcut and not have to take the long and often harrowing road I took.

In truth Rise Again After Divorce is not only for those who have experienced the difficult breakup of a relationship, but for anyone facing any sort of trauma or difficult life situation. It’s full of life skills, though admittedly geared up with examples for those experiencing relationship issues. I’ve also discovered it’s not just for women either as a lot of men have told me how helpful they have found it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I had always thought I could never write a book. It was a long-held belief and I’m sure many will identify with it. A bit like being told as a child your artwork isn’t good and then believing all your life that you’re not creative.

Then one morning I woke up and felt I just had to give it my best shot. I’m not sure where the idea came from. Nothing could have been further from my conscious mind at the time. But once the idea was there it wouldn’t go away and so I decided to run with it and see what happened.

I had spent years assimilating my own experience and learning from that as well as from my work with clients, yet no-one was more surprised than me when it only took me just over 3 weeks to put the first draft down on paper. It was if it was all there ready to go and all I had to do was put the time in to get it onto paper! Well, onto my laptop. I did spend a lot longer crafting it though, to get it to the final standard that I was happy with.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love biographies and memoirs. I find it so inspiring to read about how someone has changed their life for the better, or how they have grown as a person through their own experiences and their reactions to those experiences. The most recent one I read was Michelle Obama’s book ‘Becoming’. A fascinating read, and with lots of insights into American life for this Brit!

What are you working on now?
Because my own divorce was so pivotal in setting me on the path of self-discovery it was the obvious place for my writing to start. However once I had got the writing bug I decided quite quickly that Rise Again After Divorce would be the first in the Help Your Cellves Empowerment series, with follow-ups covering health, work and personal development issues etc.

I have so many ideas for my next books I’m going to have to be very disciplined to choose one and stick with it until it’s published, and then onto the next, otherwise I’m going to end up with a drawer full of unfinished manuscripts!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
With this being my first book I’m on a learning curve. I run a private Facebook Group for women going through a divorce or breakup called Divorce Be Gone, Let’s Move On! I also have a more general Help Your Cellves Facebook page for health and all things to do with wellbeing. Both of those are useful places to let people know about the book. I noticed there was a lot of interest when I released the audiobook too.

They say only 20% of all your marketing is effective, the difficulty is knowing which 20%!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My experience is with non-fiction and I found it helpful to outline the whole book first. I also did the same for each chapter. I used a board with lots of post-its and moved things around so everything flowed as well as I could manage with all that I wanted to say. Then, when I sat down to write it, I knew exactly what I wanted to say in each section.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
‘Stay in your own lane’. It’s so easy to get distracted by what others are doing and to compare ourselves. By all means take inspiration from others but keep focused on your own work and don’t see yourself as less (or more !) important.

What are you reading now?
I always have a selection of non-fiction books on the go. The one that has me gripped at the moment is ‘The Telomere Effect’ by Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel. It is so exciting to see how we can affect our health and the rate at which we age, by supporting the length of the telomeres of our chromosomes.

My relaxing and entertaining read is The Break by Marion Keyes.

Since launching the book in audio format I’ve discovered the joy of listening on the move to some great titles. It’s transformed long car journeys. (Am I allowed to say that? )

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m tying up a few loose ends concerning marketing the first book, then it will be time to plump for the next book topic in the Help Your Cellves Empowerment series, and get it written. I am enjoying the researching part of it too though, gathering the stories and examples, and developing the themes. There is so much I want to say I will have to get that board and post it notes again to get the ideas organised into a flow.

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 do like a book you can go back to and read it as if it was the first time, or at least find new perspectives. For this reason I love The Hidden Face of Jesus by Anne and Daniel Meurois-Givaudan. I think since I bought my copy it’s been renamed Christ’s Hidden Life Remembered. I’m not religious, but I do find the concepts written about in the book fascinating and enlightening. It’s been a while since I last read it so maybe it’s time to revisit it again.
A book full of positive quotes and wisdom would also be good to keep the spirits up such as one of the Chicken Soup For The Soul series. I would also need a book about surviving on an island. It would have to have lots of flora pictures so I recognise them, and details of how to gather and make something edible and drinkable from what you can find. I say flora and not fauna as I’m vegetarian and wouldn’t want to eat anything living!

Author Websites and Profiles
Sara Gibbons Website
Sara Gibbons Amazon Profile

Sara Gibbons’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
A mother of 4 and grandma of 12 grands. Love to smile and enjoy life. Love to sew and design clothes. Being around my family and friends is one of my favorite times. Enjoy going to church and being around my church family. Enjoy traveling and site seeing. Only written 1 book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Unfinished Business. To help others not to give up on their dreams and vision. Empower women to believe in their self and stay motivated. Stay positive and don’t let fear stop you from moving forward.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Valencia Wallace, Shannon Ward, Lyvonne Copeland, Michelle Obama.

What are you working on now?
Being enterurprenur for my designer clothing line. Women’s ministry around the table talk.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Social media . Facebook, Instagram, email .

Do you have any advice for new authors?
To never stop believing in yourself. Keep writing and dreaming. Write down your vision and plan make it plain. Don’t let finance, time or anyone stop you from writing. Stay encourage and motivated because their will be times you don’t want to finish writing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never stop writing. You have a voice and writing is the opportunity to be heard.

What are you reading now?
Motherless Child

What’s next for you as a writer?
Start writing my next book.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Becoming, For a Mother’s Heart, Fly and We’re going to need more wine.

Author Websites and Profiles
Vandella Wells Amazon Profile

Vandella Wells’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Only the great one memoir with Mister B, though I’m collecting continued stories on Facebook and in my journal folder for a sequel. He is now a healthy 102. He’ll surely outlive me. I must hurry.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Living With a 98-Year-Old Rocket Scientist: Mister B. He did that all by himself. That is, Mister B is the inspiration, and he continues to hold my admiration so long as he continues to refer to me as “Sweet Pea.” Maybe I’m picky, but nothing smells so sweet as those innocuous leggy blooms. At my age, I prefer a nosegay and a reference to the leggy years.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Well, I do love to write on my patio, but we also have a conversation room just inside the main house where four recliners face one another forming the shape of a diamond. Often, after a conversation here, or in the breakfast room, I’ll have to rush to my computer to record the events, the facts, the measurements and the physical experience of a lucid, mind-blowing moment with the man.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Before Long, the business of discontent by Auralee Arkinsly, Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. Surprised by Joy, the diary of the young C.S. Lewis, Melody of the Mulberries by Tonya Jewel Blessing, Holes, by Louis Sachar, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard, and Paris in the Present Tense by Mark Helprin.

What are you working on now?
I have a stack of twelve novels to read, and I’m working on the title and opening page to a sequel, but a recent confession by Mister B has sent my world spinning into the possibility of a thriller.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Goodreads, Kindleprenuer, used to be Amazon ads… now, personal emails.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep at it. Don’t forget to learn marketing and publicity while you are learning to write. Be nice to your editors. They’re probably write. I mean, right.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Learn to laugh at yourself. I was in a very sad situation when I decided to use Mister B as my muse. I learned to laugh at myself, and that made all the difference.

What are you reading now?
The Life We Bury, Red Mountain, Where the Crawdads Sing, Sold on a Monday.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Compiling another book, and deciding what it will be. Maybe it will decide for me as I write.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Yikes! My journal, the good Lord’s Word, and whatever book I happened to be reading when the boat sank. Wait. How is that even possible? See, this is what I have to contend with- cognitive dissonance all the time. Sorry. Did I spoil your question?

Author Websites and Profiles
Lynn Byk Website
Lynn Byk Amazon Profile

Lynn Byk’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 Merren Tait, debut author of humorous novels with a dash of romance and a liberal pinch of kick-arse women. The Year of the Fox is my first novel.

It’s taken me a number of decades to realise my creative passion, but after studying literature, teaching literature, and sharing the love of it as a librarian, I figure it had only been a matter of time before the author within burst out. The Year of the Fox is what happened after a year of feverish writing in my spare time. I am currently drafting my second Good Life novel, The Songbird Plot.

The chick lit genre is one I discovered relatively recently after laying aside my literary snobbery (I credit my reading group and Janet Evanovich for turning me). I love an entertaining chick lit book, and while I enjoy reading lighter ones, I tend to make my novels as meaningful as they are funny.

I grew up in Motueka, a small town at the top of New Zealand’s South Island, where I learned to love the roar of nature. I am of Scottish, English, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Irish and German descent.

I now live in a small house on a large block of land near Raglan. When I’m not working, writing or reading, I spend my time looking after my many chickens and a pair of wayward sheep, or out on my stand up paddle board. I dream of having more time to do everything I love.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Year of the Fox is the novel I have just published. It was inspired by a year I spent in a bus on a large piece of land. I had some pretty fun and interesting adventures while I tried to establish a homestead and raise barnyard animals for the first time.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I work full time, so I tend to start my day very early – 5am! That way I can get an hour and a half writing time before work, which works well for me; my brain is most creative in the morning. It does mean I’m a bit of a grandma in the evening. My bedtime is between 8.30pm and 9pm.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I studied literature at university and taught it for years, so I have a good grounding in literary fiction. However, it has been commercial fiction that has influenced me most in my writing. And I say that loudly and proudly. Where I come from, there’s quite a lot of snobbery in our writing culture.
I was first exposed to the joys of chick lit through Sophie Kinsella’s I’ve Got Your Number (thank you, Sophie) and then I discovered the wonder and joy of stupid humour in Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series. She allowed me to be confident in bold humour that has an element of the ridiculous about it. I secretly love Janet. Michelle Holman, a New Zealand author, exposed me to saucy chick lit. I couldn’t get enough of it, and read her stories back-to-back. I think elements of all three writers sneak into my writing, but particularly the last two.

What are you working on now?
A Good Life novella and the second novel in The Good Life series, called The Songbird Plot. All the stories in the Good Life series are stand alone, and while I’m sad to leave the characters of The Year of the Fox behind, I’m having a ball discovering the new ones in my next stories.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still very new at promotion and marketing and am learning a lot as I go along. I think it will take me a couple of years of trial and error to be able to answer that one definitively, but from what I understand Facebook Ads and Amazon Ads are the best way to advertise – arguably better than Bookbub.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t compromise too much on what you want to write in order to tailor your work to ‘the market’. Literary trends and fads change, and the bottom line is that if you want to be successful, you have to enjoy what you write – it has drive you each day, especially if you’re working it around work and family commitments. If it feels like a chore, or you’re forcing words onto the page, the readers won’t like it either.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Get professional feedback. Hire a manuscript assessor or a developmental editor and send them the first revised draft of whatever you’re working on. It will change your life!

What are you reading now?
I am reading two things: a graphic novel called Heimat by Nora Krug about German cultural displacement and collective shame a couple of generations after WWII. It’s fascinating: and I’ve just picked up Casey McQuinton’s chick lit novel Red, White and Royal Blue because it seems wonderfully subversive. The hook is “What happens when America’s First Son falls in love with The Prince of Wales”. How can you NOT want to read that immediately? So far I’ve read a page. I’m already very impressed.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finishing my next writing projects. Quite often I only get 2 hours of writing done a day, so the process is SLOW. I’m both excited and impatient to see how the stories unfold.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
1. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver (my favourite book)
2. Dietland by Sarai Walker (my favourite chick lit book. It kicks arse!)
3. The Tuesday Next omnibus by Jasper Fforde. I’d love to reread them and humour will always get you through

Author Websites and Profiles
Merren Tait Website
Merren Tait Amazon Profile

Merren Tait’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Jason, I am the founder of Digital Marketing NYC, and just released my first book. I would describe myself as half successful, half a failure, half smart, and half not so much, half rich and half broke. Well, doesn’t that leave me in the no man’s land of mediocrity, you might ask?
But I associate with all my many halves, and all the self-made and self-destructed in between, and can speak from many different places of experience. I am half Swiss and half Greek, so perhaps my DNA is accountable for being a hybrid of contradictions!

I’ve traveled the world quite extensively, I have built companies in Hong Kong, Germany, and New York, and have dabbled in a variety of fields, from trading, import/export, design, advertising, product development, production in the US and overseas, branding, community building, and not-for-profit work.

I am a big fan of Roger Federer and beat myself up for not pursuing tennis when I was young, given the fact that I am his age and we grew up in the same small town, and I am pretty merciless at anything I put my mind to. I chose fencing instead, accomplishing bronze in the World Cup of 2000—despite being admittedly half-assed, lazy, and wasteful. I confess that, not with arrogance, but with a profound awareness of what I might have accomplished had I approached it all with a little less youthful lackluster, which has now cultivated in me a zero tolerance of waste—of time, of talent, and above all, opportunity.

I love to cook, ambitiously and with complications. I’m never not reading, not questioning, and not researching. I focus on maximizing all the time I have right here and right now, and do so with a dry—but unlimited—sense of humor.

It is now my contradictory laziness and wastelessness that will benefit you reading my books. I need you to get the absolute maximum out of every energy cell expended, without sacrificing a drop of senseless effort. That is my ethos.

I even out on a very Swiss pragmatic middle ground, where tech boredom is ignited by a playful creativity, working outside the box whilst being resolutely goal- and result-oriented.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My first book is called Instagram Stories. My inspiration for this book came from looking a social media very critically. Do not get sucked into a digital world that robs you of your time and takes advantage of you… as it does with the majority of humanity in this very moment. Turn the tables and take advantage of this bizarre and unique opportunity at your fingertips, and dare to buy back a time and a freedom that you didn’t even know the meaning of before.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Drinking massive amounts of coffee.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The first book that really influenced me was Nelson Mandela’s autobiography “A Long Walk To Freedom”, which really shaped my way of thinking and had a huge effect on me. I draw a lot of inspiration from reading books related to the one I am writing. Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why” was an inspiration for Instagram Stories and how I approach the subject matter. The list goes on and on but I prefer to keep the credit short and concise.

What are you working on now?
I am working on the “How To Crush It” series and plan to write books on niche products within the social space. And I am very passionate about the food industry, so I also have a book in the pipeline that takes on how we “treat” food in this day and age.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Well obviously websites like awesome gang are a great strategy to get the word out and tap into audiences that you don’t own. A great strategy to reach new readers and hopefully make them love what you do.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I am definitely not an expert in this field, as I am just a newly published author myself. The only thing I would advise on, is to just get it started and publish the book. There is only one way to really get great at writing, and that is publishing a lot of books over the course of many years. It’s the compounding power that usually makes the difference between mediocre and great.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Knowledge is power and to keep reading, reading, reading.

What are you reading now?
Currently reading “Unlimited Memory” by Kevin Horsley.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Since I am in the digital space, I experiment a lot with new and upcoming tools and software but I am hoping to publish my second book by November.

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 long walk to freedom. City of thieves. A brief history of time.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jason Heiber Website

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a Software Quality Assurance professional with over 8 years of experience. I wrote 1 book so far and want everyone to read it.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Your cybersecurity is your own responsibility: A game-changer handbook for everyday users of anything digital

My inspiration was the current situation in the world, where people are either not aware thair are being spied on or if aware – people not willing to take steps for digital self defense, because they think it’s hard or impossible.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
The only unusual writing habit is when I think I can write something.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Books:
Panopticon – Jeremy Bentham
1984 – George Orwell
Gods Themselves – Isaac Azimov
All books for Carlos Castaneda

What are you working on now?
I am working on second edition of my book for 2020 release

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I am myself a new author therefore I don’t have much to say, I would say – write no matter what.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Patience is the key

What are you reading now?
Beyond the Brain – Stanislav Grof

What’s next for you as a writer?
My taxes

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
How to survive on desert island
Some poetry book
War and Piece – Tolstoy
Erotic

Author Websites and Profiles
Dennis Meowman Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m multi-published with over 100 titles with four different publishers not including myself. I have written in several different sub-genres of romance including time travel, paranormal, romantic suspense, science fiction romance, young adult and erotic romance. I have never written straight erotica. My novels, novellas, and shorts are always focused on the romance between the main characters first.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Tempting Tabitha is book 4 of my Zolon Warriors series that is a part of S.E. Smith’s Magic, New Mexico world. Each of the stories in that series has been inspired by the previous book. So far, all of the books have been centered around one family of men who came to Earth with no women in their lives. They revere women on their world because most of their females die before their twenty-fifth birthday. They have no idea why, though their scientists have been researching it for years.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so, but then I don’t normally hang out with a lot of writers to know if my habits are unusual or if it’s just something weird that writers do. I listen to music while I write. I usually listen to subliminal creativity music or subliminal positivity music. When I’m not listening to that type of thing, I’m usually listening to Pandora, specifically the Enya, KISS or Classical piano channels. I write on a nearly 10-year-old laptop that I would love to eventually replace. Do you think that could be my unusual habit?

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Christine Feehan was the first. I loved her Drak series and I couldn’t wait for each new one to release so I began writing my own vampire novel while I waited. I love Sandra Hill’s humor in her Viking time travel books and I absolutely adore the humor in Eve Langlais books. Others who have influenced me are S.E. Smith, of course. I love writing in her Magic, New Mexico world. Evangeline Anderson has humorous Science Fiction romances that are a guilty pleasure. I say guilty pleasure because some of them are very close to questionable consent, but she writes it so well, I find myself enjoying the stories anyway.

What are you working on now?
Right now, I’m working on Wooing Wynter, which is book 5 of the Zolon Warriors in S.E Smith’s Magic, New Mexico world. Wynter and Geno are having a difficult time letting go of the past and admitting that they are attracted to each other. Both are widowed and both still have guilt associated with their first mates. I’m really looking forward to seeing how they’ll work it out. They’ve yet to tell me how they’re going to eventually come together in the end.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m not sure. I haven’t found any one method that seems to work better than the others. When I do, you can be sure that I will return to that repeatedly as working to promote seems like a full-time job. The more time I have to spend on that, the less time I have to do what I love, which is crafting good stories and writing romance.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep at it. No one starts out knowing exactly what to do. We aren’t born knowing exactly how to put out stories together to appeal to readers. We aren’t all grammar gurus and masters of subplots. We ARE the only ones who can tell the story that’s locked inside us. Keep writing, keep improving as you go (I’ve written over 100 novels, novellas and short stories and I’m still learning new things) because the more you know about story crafting the easier your writing will become and the better it will be. Remember one more thing; no one can please everyone. Write what you love, feel, smell, see, taste, and touch it while you write and your passion for it will show in your writing and somewhere, someone will resonate with it and say you are the greatest writer in the world.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never give up, never surrender? ::grin:: Just because that’s a nerd quote from Galaxy Quest, it doesn’t make it bad advice. Sometimes when you’re down and the rejections keep showing up in your inbox and mailbox, you have to persevere. Keep sending out those queries, keep writing on your current work or works in progress because one day, that letter will finally come and you’ll be able to say, “I did it!” I can’t tell you how many times I almost gave up and how many times my husband wiped away my tears of frustration and told me, “You’re a good writer and someone is going to see that, but they never will if you stop now.”

What are you reading now?
At the moment, I’m mostly reading science journals on quantum physics and other sciences to help with the realism of my science fiction stories. Many don’t know this but among other things, I studied physics for a bit before I decided that it wasn’t something that would bring me closer to my family. In fact, it separated us for a bit due to the high demands of the field. I’ve also been reading a few medical terminology papers and have studied the physiology of tigers and other animals. Did you know that most, if not all male cats on Earth have spines or barbs on their reproductive organs? Some of the things I’ve discovered while researching are bizarre!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m not sure I know how to answer that. I plan to write more in the Zolon Warriors, I also have a new series, The Alien Protector series that is in the same universe as the Zolon Warriors, but not in the same world. I’ll be writing book two of the Alien Protectors in the near future. I also have a long list of other series’ with my publishers which I have neglected over the past years due to illness and family obligations. I plan to start adding to them again soon. With luck, you’ll start seeing my name everywhere and it will be synonymous with good reading!

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, that’s a tough one. I’m not sure. If we’re talking about reading for pleasure, possibly 3 of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon because they are so long it would take a while to get through them. And 1 survival book that covers everything from building shelters to surviving on a desert island when you’re allergic to seafood. LOL

Author Websites and Profiles
Tianna Xander Website
Tianna Xander Amazon Profile
Tianna Xander Author Profile on Smashwords

Tianna Xander’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is my very first book but I have many that I’ve started, just never finished. So be on the lookout for more to come.

I’ve always been painfully quiet, stayed behind the scenes at parties and other social gatherings and even picked jobs that keep me out of the view of others. But being on the outside of the limelight allowed me to look at a lot of relationships and lifestyles and really look at what makes people tick.

I have been very giving over the years and that often means others will try to get over because they think kindness is a weakness. It wasn’t until I started getting tired of being the one on the losing end that I started speaking out and telling others the true light (or their dark shadows) that is causing their battle in life.

I have been a counselor (of sorts) since I was a junior in high school. I am a good listener and even though I don’t talk much, I do give sound advice when asked.

I am a single mother of three, been through many relationships and have been able to pull from life’s experiences to put real grit in my stories. But only I know what’s real and what’s not (wink).

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My first book is called “Window Shopping”.

It was inspired by the things women go through in relationships and learn to live with while losing themselves in the process.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think I do. My chapters come in scenes in my head and I put them on paper. Not weird at all, right?

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love a wide range. I am fans of Dan Brown, to James Patterson, to Eric Jerome Dickey to Sidney Sheldon.

But I haven’t read anything in a while because I didn’t want any of their styles or ideas to be in my head as I wrote.

What are you working on now?
My next book involves what women can sometimes face in Corporate America and what the men in that world “think” they can get away with.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still feeling this out

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t run from your gift. Sit in a quiet place so you can really feel and be in tune with what you want to write about and then go for it. If it flows, it’s meant to be.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory

What are you reading now?
Absolutely nothing…I’m thinking about my next book.

Author Websites and Profiles
Dachri Chanelle Website
Dachri Chanelle Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hey guys,

Seth here.

Usually the quiet type- until you give me a drink or two.

Have been reading fiction since I was about 9 and have never stopped since. I started writing when I was 15 and wrote my first titles on a dystopian planet called Terra-B12. The manuscript is still laying somewhere in my parent’s house. I don’t think I’ll ever get myself to edit or publish it, it’s really bad. However, having written a book at such a young age gave me the taste of what it’s like to follow your passion.

I’ve published only 3 books.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I just finished a collab but publishing is still pending. My last published book was Property of the Vampyren Prince. Like most books, this one was inspired by a very one-sided love. I guess if you want more information on it, then check out the book

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Nothing special. I’m one of those naked writers who open their laptop at midnight and hack away until dawn while sipping wine every few minutes.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Ann Rice

What are you working on now?
Working on a co-write with Anastasia Black. I’ll give you guys a hint: Dragon shifters

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook, promo sites and email lists.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write at night and write until you fall asleep. Initially, this was my self-prescribed cure for insomnia. Before long, it turned into a habit I couldn’t live without.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
At your deathbed you will only regret that which you didn’t do.

What are you reading now?
The Way of Men – Jack Donovan

What’s next for you as a writer?
Grow this Vampyren universe as much as humanly possible.

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’t answer this. Seriously.

Author Websites and Profiles
Seth Eden Amazon Profile

Seth Eden’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing for almost five years now, but The Beekeeper of New York is the first novel I’ve published.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Beekeeper of New York is about all sorts of things, but at it’s heart is a question about whether invisible things – things we can’t prove – make our lives better or worse. Yusra, for example, has spent her life looking after her autistic brother Someer, but completely underestimated his ability for fend for himself. She’s struggling with mortality because she’s going through cancer treatment – but she doesn’t have a faith to reassure her. Her brother is beaten badly by a crowd who think he’s possessed by demons. And her best friend Sofia is increasingly frustrated by the international community refusing to see the untold suffering underway in their native Yemen.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I phone myself with plot updates. I’m a single mother and I have two boys to look after as well as holding down. full time job. It doesn’t leave much time for writing. So when an idea hits me, usually when I’m driving home from the school run, I leave a voicemail to myself with plot details that I can pick up later. It’s the inspiration for the sweet moment when Someer talks to his dad’s voicemail in Beekeeper. I think that scene brings readers closer to Someer, and it’s because it’s written from something close to reality.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love Paulo Coelho. He influenced me to head to Europe and walk the Camino de Santiago a few years back. He’s certainly an influence in this story, although I also real a lot of thrillers, and some of that influences the second part of the book as the suspense elements really begin to heat up.

What are you working on now?
Trade secret. Although, I think I’ve plotted the perfect psychological thiller set in a community who have been under-represented by writers over the years.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is my first book and I’m learning as I go – I guess it’s the same for a lot of people on here. Hopefully my promotional journey will begin and end with Awesome Gang.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
James Joyce said that the art of writing is all about attaching the seat of your pants to the seat of your chair. I think that’s the bottom line. There are so many reasons to get up, get distracted, and to put down what you’re writing… and those distractions really amplify when you hit a difficult part of your story. Just stay put and write something… you can always fix it tomorrow.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Avoid playing internet poker when you’re trying to write.

What are you reading now?
My recent reading – and audio books in the car – includes I Am Pilgrim, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Dark Places Gillian Flynn, Animal Farm by George Orwell, Atonement by Ian McEwan, Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho, Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff, Make Me by Lee Child, Ian Fleming by Andrew Lycett, the Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, catch 22 by Joseph Heller, Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, On Writing by Steven King, Smiley’s People by John Le Carre, Mr Paradei by Elmore Leonard, and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

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?
The bible, complete works of Shakespeare, and The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

Author Websites and Profiles
Summer Luqman Amazon Profile

Summer Luqman’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing for almost five years now, but The Beekeeper of New York is the first novel I’ve published.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Beekeeper of New York is about all sorts of things, but at it’s heart is a question about whether invisible things – things we can’t prove – make our lives better or worse. Yusra, for example, has spent her life looking after her autistic brother Someer, but completely underestimated his ability for fend for himself. She’s struggling with mortality because she’s going through cancer treatment – but she doesn’t have a faith to reassure her. Her brother is beaten badly by a crowd who think he’s possessed by demons. And her best friend Sofia is increasingly frustrated by the international community refusing to see the untold suffering underway in their native Yemen.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I phone myself with plot updates. I’m a single mother and I have two boys to look after as well as holding down. full time job. It doesn’t leave much time for writing. So when an idea hits me, usually when I’m driving home from the school run, I leave a voicemail to myself with plot details that I can pick up later. It’s the inspiration for the sweet moment when Someer talks to his dad’s voicemail in Beekeeper. I think that scene brings readers closer to Someer, and it’s because it’s written from something close to reality.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love Paulo Coelho. He influenced me to head to Europe and walk the Camino de Santiago a few years back. He’s certainly an influence in this story, although I also real a lot of thrillers, and some of that influences the second part of the book as the suspense elements really begin to heat up.Trade secret. Although, I think I’ve plotted the perfect psychological thiller set in a community who have been under-represented by writers over the years.

What are you working on now?
Trade secret. Although, I think I’ve plotted the perfect psychological thriller set in a community who have been under-represented by writers over the years.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is my first book and I’m learning as I go – I guess it’s the same for a lot of people on here. Hopefully my promotional journey will begin and end with Awesome Gang.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
James Joyce said that the art of writing is all about attaching the seat of your pants to the seat of your chair. I think that’s the bottom line. There are so many reasons to get up, get distracted, and to put down what you’re writing… and those distractions really amplify when you hit a difficult part of your story. Just stay put and write something… you can always fix it tomorrow.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Avoid playing internet poker when you’re trying to write.

What are you reading now?
My recent reading – and audio books in the car – includes I Am Pilgrim, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Dark Places Gillian Flynn, Animal Farm by George Orwell, Atonement by Ian McEwan, Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho, Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff, Make Me by Lee Child, Ian Fleming by Andrew Lycett, the Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, catch 22 by Joseph Heller, Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, On Writing by Steven King, Smiley’s People by John Le Carre, Mr Paradise by Elmore Leonard, and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

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?
The bible, complete works of Shakespeare, and The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

Author Websites and Profiles
Summer Luqman Amazon Profile

Summer Luqman’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Lindy Schneider is a contributing author to ten books in the NY Times best-selling book series, Chicken Soup for the Soul. She has been a featured guest on ABC, CBS, NBS, FOX and the CW. She has been quoted in U.S. News & World Report, INC., Atlanta Business Journal, Huffington Post and many more.
Tom L. Schneider is the creator of an innovative public-school model that the U.S. Department of Education called, “the future of education in America.” As a successful businessperson, Tom has won national awards for client retention and generated multi-millions of dollars in sales. Tom L. Schneider has been featured on ABC, NBC, and many radio shows.
Together Tom L. and Lindy Schneider have coauthored four books, two of which are Amazon bestsellers.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
College Secrets of Highly Successful People: Keys to Launching a Great Life.
After successfully working in the business world, Tom L. Schneider and Lindy Schneider stepped into the world of higher education. They became college advisors to save college students from graduating with a huge loan debt but no career to pay it back. After having worked for various colleges for nearly 25 years they launched AmericasCollegeAdvisors.com where they could tell the students the very things the colleges would not let them tell. Their book College Secrets of Highly Successful People and their program College Superhero Secrets were the result. They teach college students how to leap tall buildings, walk through walls and become fireproof.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Lindy Schneider: I write wrongs! People say things that are just wrong, especially when taken out of context. I keep a file of these funny or odd statements and use them as inspiration. I won an international playwrighting award for which I used an especially odd statement as the motivation for the main character. Other times things happen that are just wrong. I like to write about those situations too and how they became right.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Tom L. Schneider: My favorite author is Ray Bradbury. His body of work is a portal to other worlds. Reading his work is my best escape.
Lindy Schneider: I read mostly non-fiction. I love biographies because I believe we can learn from the paths that others have walked. Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker and Atomic Habits by James Clear have been especially influential to my thinking and writing.

What are you working on now?
Our next book will be Career Secrets of Highly Successful People. Many young adults have not found their career path in college. We plan to feature people who have become highly successful in the trades or other professions that did not need a degree and how they did it.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
We have been doing many radio, TV and podcast interviews and live speaking to get the word out about our book.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
“You are a marketer first and an author second.” – Tom L. Schneider

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Lindy Schneider: “Live your life so you have no regrets.”

What are you reading now?
Get Your Book in the News, by Sandra Beckwith

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 journal for my writing, a sketchbook for my sanity, the Bible for encouragement and a survival manual for, of course, being able to survive.- Lindy Schneider
A collection of fiction novels, both historical and futuristic so that I could find my escape in the past and my hope for the future. – Tom Schneider

Author Websites and Profiles
Lindy and Tom L. Schneider Website

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am John Satterlee a first time author of the book Eternal Love and Life. I live and work in Orlando, FL with my wife and two sons. Born in Kodiak, AK, raised in upstate New York in a small town called Broadalbin and finished school in Orlando. Served 5 years in the U.S. Air Force in the early 80s. Outside of writing worked in the hotel, apartment and pest service industries but hope to be known more for my writing in the future.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My current book is Eternal Love and Life but another will be on the way. Eternal Love and Life is a combination of a love story and end time bible prophecy. http://www.christianfaithpublishing.com/books/?book=eternal-love-and-life I wanted to have a story where people who most people would reject be heroes and to give attention to coming events in bible prophecy at the same time.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
The main climax/big ending is in the second to last chapter. Like to use last chapter as a summary of the book. Like to have illustrations or charts in key places to show what the characters are going through.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
If I had to name a book it would be Left Behind. Actually inspiration from this book came from the movie series, Thief in the Night, Distant Thunder, Image of the Beast and Prodigal Planet from 70s/80s, Haven’s Light and a small bit of Hogan Heroes.

What are you working on now?
My second book that is on the way is based on the Prodigal Son story but setting is in rural Idaho and Las Vegas. A young farm boy comes into a lot of money comes into a lot of money and wants to leave the small town for women and adventure in Las Vegas. Things went well at first in Las Vegas then he met the woman he thought was the woman of his dreams but turned out to be his worse nightmare. When he run out of money and was living on the streets he realized going home was the best option and at home he turned his life around.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Make the reader care about my main character or characters.

Author Websites and Profiles
John Satterlee Website
John Satterlee Amazon Profile

John Satterlee’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am John Satterlee a first time author of the book Eternal Love and Life. I live and work in Orlando, FL with my wife and two sons. Born in Kodiak, AK, raised in upstate New York in a small town called Broadalbin and finished school in Orlando. Served 5 years in the U.S. Air Force in the early 80s. Outside of writing worked in the hotel, apartment and pest service industries but hope to be known more for my writing in the future.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My current book is Eternal Love and Life but another will be on the way. Eternal Love and Life is a combination of a love story and end time bible prophecy. http://www.christianfaithpublishing.com/books/?book=eternal-love-and-life I wanted to have a story where people who most people would reject be heroes and to give attention to coming events in bible prophecy at the same time.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
The main climax/big ending is in the second to last chapter. Like to use last chapter as a summary of the book. Like to have illustrations or charts in key places to show what the characters are going through.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
If I had to name a book it would be Left Behind. Actually inspiration from this book came from the movie series, Thief in the Night, Distant Thunder, Image of the Beast and Prodigal Planet from 70s/80s, Haven’s Light and a small bit of Hogan Heroes.

What are you working on now?
My second book that is on the way is based on the Prodigal Son story but setting is in rural Idaho and Las Vegas. A young farm boy comes into a lot of money comes into a lot of money and wants to leave the small town for women and adventure in Las Vegas. Things went well at first in Las Vegas then he met the woman he thought was the woman of his dreams but turned out to be his worse nightmare. When he run out of money and was living on the streets he realized going home was the best option and at home he turned his life around.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Make the reader care about my main character or characters.

Author Websites and Profiles
John Satterlee Website
John Satterlee Amazon Profile

John Satterlee’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
One. Yep. That’s it. Just one book. The Stories of Cody Bill was every entertaining midwestern catastrophe my mind could remember and recreate. I love writing random brain thoughts down for future work. I ride motorcycles. Do you ride motorcycles? haha just kidding but seriously look into it. Nothing compares. Mashed potatoes and hot wings have my heart. I grew up shy and observant, remembering every little piece of dirt people would commit. Grudges? No. I like reminding people how screwed up we all were. My curiosity is a disease and Google is the cure. I went to school for history and was just average, I like that, just Joe No Genius and his silly ideas coming to paper. There is maybe a paragraph of being serious when it comes to my book. The rest is unsupervised teenagers making incredibly bad decisions.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Stories of Cody Bill. My psychotic friends proved to me they warranted a book. Teaches too, they get zero love and we need to honor those gentle classroom giants.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write at night! Well I try to if inspiration comes. Being a morning zombie that not even coffee can cure is troublesome and some famous author said don’t trust night writers. Forget them. It’s my best time, then I can go be a night bike rider after. Promoter by day, writer by twilight.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian has no equal. I love following Sam Harris, the man is a genius. Check out 1491 if you enjoy history, the best book I’ve read in recent years. I still have an extensive list to catch up on.

What are you working on now?
A western. Dark and historically fictional, the book will span the blood spilt in Kansas and Missouri prior to the civil war. Plus Mormons, everybody loves a controversial Mormon.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook. I’m small time and have a little following in my hometown.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. It gets better as you go. The process is slow and publishing is a nightmare, but just believe in your ability. Get an editor, they will turn your icky mud into gold.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never, ever give up.

What are you reading now?
The Amazons by Mayor

What’s next for you as a writer?
Promoting my debut and writing a damn good 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?
Not Blood Meridian, too dark. Maybe Lord of the Flies, Harry Potter (JK is a genius) Neil Gaiman would make it and I’d have to have a Batman comic book (graphic novel) by Frank Miller

Author Websites and Profiles
D. W. Udell Website
D. W. Udell Amazon Profile

D. W. Udell’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m the founder and president of Human Rights Foundation (HRF) Nigeria. I have over sixteen years experience working within the criminal justice system. I previously worked at the International Criminal Court, The Hague, Netherlands. I’m an alumnus of Webster University, St Louis, Missouri and I enjoy writing suspense fiction.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Prodigal Renegade

I’ve always had the knack to write fiction. Inspired by my experiences, encouraged by family and friends to pursue my passion.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Nope!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
John Grisham

What are you working on now?
A legal thriller with a twist of espionage.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Can’t say yet. Ask me again in 6 months.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Drive your publishing cost as low as possible.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I’ll let you know when I do.

What are you reading now?
The Rooster Bar – John Grisham

What’s next for you as a writer?
Publishing my next book.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Any of John Grisham’s book will do.

Author Websites and Profiles
Victor Fakunle Website

Victor Fakunle’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I just published my debut novel, Desperate Forest, and am currently working on my next novels. I first began writing by exploring the world of Harry Potter fanfiction, and I have two stories out on popular fanfiction sites.

I write clean stories filled with adventure and romance, and I always try really hard to write strong characters with solid development.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Desperate Forest is my debut novel and the first book in my Forest Tales Series. I first developed the idea a number of years ago when I was really into the TV show Once Upon a Time. I really liked the idea of writing my own type of fairy tale, and it turned into a fun romantic adventure similar to the Princess Bride.

The setting of it being in the forest was inspired by one of my favorite places growing up. My sister and I would spend days exploring a woods by our house. We would read, write, climb trees, and let our imaginations run wild. Some of my best memories are from those days. I still love hiking and being outdoors, so I decided I would do a series of books that in some way take place in a forest as a nod to that time in my life.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Hmm . . . if I can, I always love to write outside. My imagination seems to work best there. Besides that, I tend to think of my best ideas when I’m busy going about my day.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many! I love to read, but the most notable would be The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope, the Harry Potter series, and anything by Victoria Holt. I love anything that has a unique setting and good vibe.

What are you working on now?
The next book in my Forest Tales series, called the Jabberwocky Princess. It is my take on the popular Lewis Carrol poem the Jabberwocky. All the books in the Forest Tales series will be stand-alone reads, but I plan on having characters from my first book make an appearance.

I’m also working on the beginning stages of a three-part dystopian series, which I am really excited about. I’m going to try some new stuff as an author with this series, such as taking on some more serious subject matter and different viewpoints. I’m so excited to really delve into the characters that I’ve started developing.

I’m also about half way through my third Harry Potter fanfiction. I just love writing in that world, and when I get writer’s block with my original projects, I often find going back to my fanfiction for a while gives me the creative break I need to return to my other projects with a fresh eye. My first fans ever were in the fanfiction world and I am extremely grateful that supported me as a writer. As long as I have stories for them, I will continuing writing fanfiction because it is so much fun!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Haha, honestly, I really haven’t figured this one out yet! I have a personal website (www.cecelouise.com) that I’m very proud of because I built it myself. I also have a Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest page. I think communicating with readers and other writers is the best thing that authors can do to help promote their books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
First and foremost, write for yourself. Write what you love. If you don’t, it will show in your writing.
Second, let your first draft be a mess! Never go into writing thinking your first draft will be a masterpiece. It won’t. That’s where you get all your ideas out. Never censor your first draft because you are worried about showing it to someone. That draft is for you. Once it is complete, go back and decide what works and what doesn’t and edit it then. If you get too stringent with your first draft, you can miss some really great ideas.

Finally, to be successful as an author I think you need two things: a lot of confidence and a lot fo humility. It can be really hard to balance both. Writing is personal and it can be really intimidating to share your work. Be confident and proud of your work. Don’t be afraid to talk about what you love and why you do what you do. Don’t get hung up on the dollars and cents. Remember, if you’ve written something and you have readers that enjoy it, you are a successful author.

As far as humility goes, don’t be afraid to take advice and constructive criticism. No matter how long you’ve been writing, how many awards you’ve won, or how many classes you’ve taken, there are always things to learn and ways to improve. Be open to hearing what your readers think. I’m lucky to have a great beta team that I trust. When I share my first draft of anything, I am completely open to criticism and advice on improvements. Without that help, my stories wouldn’t be as good. Be prepared to laugh at yourself and be excited to improve your projects. Don’t get stuck on thinking something has to be one way just because that was how you originally developed it. If it doesn’t work for the overall story, be flexible. In the end, you can usually see a much stronger story for your edits.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Your first draft is you telling yourself the story. I think that is great advice because if you get too hung up on what everyone else will think at that point, you stifle your creativity. First drafts are meant to be a mess. That’s how you discover a great story and strong characters underneath it all. Give yourself that freedom and your writing will be better for it.

Also, no book is universally loved. This is so important to remember. Everyone is not going to love your writing style or your stories. Think about your favorite book of all time. You probably think it’s so aweomse, no one could possibly dislike it. Go online and look at its reviews. Sure enough, there will be some bad ones. This is important to remember as you get criticism on your own work. Some people will hate it and that’s okay. Don’t let it get you down or stop you from writing. Even the most popular authors get negative reviews. It’s just a fact of writing.

What are you reading now?
I have been a little naughty lately because I have been writing so much, I haven’t been reading as much as I used to! I am in the process of judging a Harry Potter fanfiction contest on Wattpad so I’ve been reading those stories. When that is done, I plan on diving into a new book, since I have some new things waiting on my Kindle.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Who knows? Mainly, I hope to write a lot more books. I really hope to grow a following for my writing and connect with readers who enjoy my style. I’m still in the beginning stages of my writing career though.

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 3 or 4? That’s tough! I’m pretty sure the reason I would be on the desert island would be because I took too many books on vacation with me and they sank the boat

Definitely one of the Harry Potter books, Prisoner of Azkaban or Deathly Hollows because those are my favorite. Probably the Sherwood Ring because I know I’d have fun re-reading it and reminiscing. Jane Eyre because I’d want a break from all that island sunshine and would need to hang out on the moors a bit. Last but definitely not least, the Bible, because I’d need that guidance to keep my faith strong.

Author Websites and Profiles
Cece Louise Website
Cece Louise Amazon Profile

Cece Louise’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 screenwriter in Hollywod, CA writing under a pen name. I’ve written 2 other books.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
This Light Novel,”Generation 150″ was the brainchild of my college age grandson. He’s a fan of Japanese graphic novels,Anime and “Light Novels”. We decided to write this book, together, and it was and is a wonderful experience for us both. When we are writing, we are business partners, not Grandmother and Grandson. The profits from the sale of this book on Kindle will go towards his collge fund.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t force anything. Even when I’m on a deadline, if I have nothing of value to write at that moment, I don’t. It makes for better books and screenplays.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Nora Roberts, James Mitchner,Den Koontz,Barbara Cartland, Sidney Sheldon

What are you working on now?
I’m hired to write a screenplay for a Producer.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Newswire for Press Releases. Awesome Gang

Do you have any advice for new authors?
NEVER,NEVER give up!!! I know everyone says that, but take a break if you’re discouraged. A writer writes. It’s your life blood.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If you write because you want to make money and become famous, it will never happen. That was a tough one for me. Of course I want to make money! Its’s true, when you write without worrying about profit, you will get noticed.

What are you reading now?
Keith Richard’s Autobiography. It’s like a history book of music from the 70’s on.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Working on that screenplay, I was hired to write.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
How to Survive on a Desert Island, Robinson Crusoe, A notebook for writing.

Author Websites and Profiles
Cheryl Eckhardt Website
Cheryl Eckhardt Amazon Profile

Cheryl Eckhardt’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
About A. E. Bartlett
His first of four books was “Victims of Greed”: an edgey young adult drama (coming of age thriller) dealing with a questionable charter named; John Wolf. The seconded book highlighted a grooms faulty concept of love, and his heart felt questions about is brides love – in the drama “How do you know its love”.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Breaking Free is my latest book.
I was inspired to write this book, as after 25 Years, I found myself without a Job. I had a great Job, I had a couple degrees, yet things went down hill. I now understand the importance of having more than one income, which one should be passive income.

Breaking free is not about making money; it is about being free from bills, the nightly worry of how the rent will be paid, and having to deal with the stress of having to go to work. It is a good feeling to know that any time you want, you can quit your job. It changes how you feel about work.

You may want to keep your job. Once you do not worry about being fired, being late, even how well you do your job or pleasing the boss, you can tell people how you really feel . You may even find you like going to work once you have broken free. You can be in the same place, yet be happy, when you have a choice to stay or go and your bills are still paid.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes. I write books about different things at the same time. I will start on one, then move to another, then come back and finish the first book I started later.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Too many

What are you working on now?
A book about the Inquisition and America

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes, put your book in the right category. I thought my first book was an Action adventure. After many people read it — it turned out to be an Action Drama which was place under Action adventure on Amazon and Itunes

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Love the Lord with all you heart.

What are you reading now?
Tech Manuals — day job

What’s next for you as a writer?
I would like to try Christian stage play

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, How to survive on a desert island, How to build a boat and how to navigate the sea.

Author Websites and Profiles
Alan Bartlett Website
Alan Bartlett Amazon Profile
Alan Bartlett Author Profile on Smashwords

Alan Bartlett’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a debut author. It took me eight years of trial and error to get to this point. In 2013, I tried getting published the traditional way and failed miserably. Five years later, I decided to try again. I couldn’t be bothered with the unnecessary hassle of querying agents, so I started my own publishing business.

The rest, as they say, is history.

I write spiritual and metaphysical stories inspired by world mythology.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Little Light is a story about a wise and curious soul that meets the crazy cosmic family before it’s born on earth.

The idea came to me when I was lying in bed alone in my apartment in Japan. I was contemplating the vast nature of the universe when I suddenly thought, “How nice it would be if I could invite the planets over for a discussion on life, love and the larger purpose for our existence.”

I promptly opened up my notebook and drew a sketch of what the mythological Nine Celestial Beings would look like if they were ‘updated’ for the modern era. The idea ruminated in my head for four years before I finally sat down to write the story.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to write at night, when the rest of the world is sleeping. I gaze out of my window a lot and contemplate life. I endlessly come up with questions that have no answers. Is that unusual?

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My literary influences are: Paulo Coelho, JK Rowling, Haruki Murakami, Neil Gaiman, Roald Dahl, Devdutt Pattanaik, David Mitchell and Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

Not in any particular order, of course.

What are you working on now?
The sequel to The Little Light – the second book in The Guardians of the Lore series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think for debut authors it’s worth personally reaching out to book bloggers and other authors – especially those who read and write books in genres that are similar to your own. They’re more likely to leave a ‘genuine review’ and appreciate your work early in the game.

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

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It’s your life, man. Do what you want. As said by my best friend from high school.

What are you reading now?
Circe by Madeline Miller

What’s next for you as a writer?
Developing my publishing house, Mith Books. I’m interested in working with people who want to publish their own books – especially in the non-fiction genre. If you don’t know where to start, let me help. I’ve learned it all the hard way so you won’t have to.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
My Kindle… I know – cheating right? Then again, knowing my luck, the battery will probably die just as the story is reaching its climax. So in all seriousness…

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Witches by Roald Dahl
Leader: 50 Insights from Mythology by Devdutt Pattanaik
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Can I sneak in a fifth book? I know… cheating, right?

Author Websites and Profiles
Dipa Sanatani Website
Dipa Sanatani Amazon Profile

Dipa Sanatani’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
aka Ann Quagliato. This is my debut novel.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Three in the key. My youngest son, who was 16 at the time, suggested I write a novel where the male character was in the NBA.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I didn’t write the book in order. I started with an outline and worked on a section I was motivated to write on that particular day.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Growing up I read Nancy Drew and Harlequin romances as well as Danielle Steel, Jackie Collins, Nora Roberts. I also read Harlan Coban and Nelson DeMille.

What are you working on now?
I am still in the drawing board phase for a book that is geared toward young adults that can also be enjoyed by their parents.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
For this book I am using Amazon.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Follow through to make your dream come true. Pay attention to detail.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Writing is more about the journey than the destination.

What are you reading now?
Treasure Island

What’s next for you as a writer?
I only intended to write one book, but the feeling of accomplishment and enjoyment is motivation enough to keep going.

Author Websites and Profiles
KC Avalon Amazon Profile

KC Avalon’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an artist with a very eclectic background. When asked to tell everyone about myself, I am swept away to a moment when my parents were asking me if I wanted to take piano lessons when I was in kindergarten because I was banging on my sister’s toy piano all hours of the day. They picked up the hint well. I studied classical piano all the way through to college when I attended Butler University, Jordan School of Music. I fell in love with other instruments along the way. My Father and Mother never missed a beat. They never said no. They were so in tune to each of my new loves in music. They cultivated and nourished each love in just the right way as if they were growing a garden. They were so good at growing my music garden that I never fell out of love with what was planted and growing. First, it was the piano. My youngest sister had gotten a toy piano for Christmas. She never touched it or at least she never got the chance to play because I was banging on it all the time. For the sake of everyone in the family, my parents arranged for me to begin piano lessons However. before they invested in buying a piano, they planned for me to practice every day at another Filipino family friend’s home for about a year. I needed to trek to another part of the neighborhood to practice each day. I remember vividly my friend’s grandmother. She monitored my practice. She seemed so mean and scary to me at that age. However, that didn’t deter me. If I paused for just a moment, she would begin yelling something in our language to keep practicing. I also faintly remember seeing a slipper or two fly by my head My parents said that they would not force me to do this. Mom and Dad advised that if they saw the first signs of interest waning, they would pull the plug on lessons. Despite the trek to practice piano or fly-by slippers, I was so determined to learn the piano. My interest never waned. My practice time slowly grew longer. But no one dissuaded me to shorten my desire to practice. My younger brother started piano the following year, my youngest sister started piano the following year after my brother My parents saw that there was a genuine interest in music with my brother and sister. Piano was not going to be a love for them. My brother connected with trumpet and my sister connected with the violin. Eventually, Father started this Christmas rotation tradition at home where my brother, sister or myself depending what year would get a new musical instrument or an instrument upgrade for that year.

My next love was the alto saxophone. I was so awe-inspired by the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders who were in the band. I wanted to be in band SO, SO BAD that I volunteered to carry their instruments into the band room to store them in their band lockers. I must have a been a sight to behold wobbling into the school with all these instruments. But it felt so good to carry those instruments. I asked the band director when students could start taking band as a class. She said that 4th grade. I was just starting the third grade when I asked her. I was so down about having to wait a year to start band. My parents picked up on that quickly too. The next week I was scheduled to start my first private saxophone lessons. These love affairs with music only grew more and more. My music garden grew to include bassoon, flute, and oboe.

As I mentioned before, my parents were the gardeners for the music garden they were cultivating within me. I remember the day my parents as part of their own self-enrichment started ballroom dance lessons. To help them remember what they learned from class, they would teach my brother, sister, and me the dance steps they learned. My brother and I stood behind my father and my sister stood behind my Mother and we would learn all the steps for each of their classes. Of course, a new love affair emerged. I fell in love with dance. The timing of these ballroom dance lessons came when Disco craze. Soon I found myself teaching ballroom and disco dance classes all over town. My love affair with dance showed no signs of waning. When I saw my first episode of Solid Gold, well, that was it. That led me to discover concert dance forms in modern, tap, theatrical, and ballet dance.

Enter Mr. James Carr. I will always hold him with the greatest respect and honor as my mentor in high school. He was so instrumental in shaping the person I was to become. When he first met me I was an introverted pianist who accompanied his show choir with hidden desires to dance and perform. He was instrumental in my self-discovery of voice and of being a performer. He introduced me to Broadway musical repertoire. He had this magical way of tapping into your inner soul for the much needed self-discovery, that would end up having the most life changing effect on a student. I was so enthralled by ambience that surrounded those in musical theatre and show choir in high school. Mr. Carr had already gathered a small jazz band to accompany the show choir during my Freshman year in high school. We would rehearse during the evenings with the choir. I thought to myself one day, that because I had last period free my sophomore year, wouldn’t it be awesome if I could be the accompanist for the show choir for class credit?! I thought that I would be a shoe in because I was already the rehearsal accompanist outside of school. Well, the choir director had other plans. He looked at me with such an unexpectedly stern, serious face. “If you want to take show choir as a class, then you will have to audition like everyone else.” I was so surprised and taken aback that I could not respond for what seemed like an eternity. My voice quivered when I finally came back to reality and tried to speak. I asked and clarified that I wasn’t asking to sing or perform with the choir. I was just offering any instrumental assistance to the group. He just looked at me unmoved as if to say there was no misunderstanding. In the most emphatic, deliberate manner, Mr. Carr advised, “If you want in, prepare a song to sing for the audition. Choose a time slot on the sign-up sheet and be ready to sing your solo for the audition.” In hindsight, he knew exactly what he has doing. He was working his magic as a mentor and planting the seeds of self-discovery. He was aware of all my growing interests outside of playing in a band. In hindsight, this was his push to get me to cross that bridge and become a theatrical performer. He knew that I was on the precipice of stepping out of my comfort zone. To embrace the evolutionary change I wanted so much, I needed that stern push to do this or forever hold my peace. I committed to do the audition. So, I left the room freaking out. I chose this Barry Manilow song. Ugh. I found a stool that I planned to use as a prop. I started jotting down notes of when to sit on the stool and at what angle. I also jotted notes down when to walk downstage for a more dramatic effect while I was singing. Although this was my very first audition, Mr. Carr forced me to think quickly and utilize inner creative resources that I have never accessed before. All of this awakened something within me that was way beyond my comprehension. Yet, it all oddly seemed quite natural. What was it that I just experienced? What I experienced was own process of self-reinvention as I was shedding my old skin and coming into a new realization of myself. I was no longer that introverted piano accompanist. I was becoming something quite different.

Years later having stayed the course, I made my Broadway debut in a musical from James Clavell’s novel Shogun, which lasted about a year on Broadway. I had lost contact with my high school choir teacher Mr. Carr. I prayed and gave thanks to Mr. Carr on opening night. I did so with every subsequent opening night on Broadway. As the saying goes ‘timing is everything.’ I was in NYC at the perfect time when Asian musicals were on the Great White Way for over 10 years straight. I was fortunate to hop into Miss Saigon for 5 years, then jumped ship to do the Broadway revival of King and I with Lou Diamond Phillips and Donna Murphy when offered the dance role of King Simon of Legree. It had a good 2 year run. When that closed, Miss Saigon welcomed me back, this time on its national tour. It would last another 2 years. But I knew this was my transition out of show business as I prepared to embark on a career in law. Years later, Mr. Carr and I found each other on Facebook. I was personally able to give Mr. Carr my deepest gratitude, honor, and appreciation for what he inspired me to be before he passed away.

Two weeks after Miss Saigon closed, I was in my 1st day of law school. Law school was a culture shock. I specialized in entertainment law and quickly found affinity for advocacy of music artists’ rights. As a second year law school student at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, I was fortunate to have authored Digital Compensation: Recording Artists’ Collective Fight for Just Compensation 31. SW. U. L. REV. 701 (2002) published in Southwestern University Entertainment Law Review journal.

But life unfolds in unexpected ways. Near the end of my last semester of law school I became ill. I lost my health insurance. I was so ill, I couldn’t even take the California bar as planned. I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t want my partner to get swallowed up with this precarious situation. So, I called my brother in Florida and asked if I could live with him to get this all sorted out. I discovered I was HIV+. The next couple years were spent recapturing good health and getting myself back on my feet. Despite what I had accomplished in law school, my resume was all in performing arts with a small section in education describing my last 4 years in law school. Costs for taking the bar were expensive in Florida. So, I found work doing web design and graphic design work for special events in Florida. I found additional work teaching acting and voice to aspiring artists. I was also able to take a position as musical director and accompanist position for Annie: the Musical for a youth theatre group. Getting legal experience was also of the highest priority to me. Although my plans were underway to take the bar, my offers to volunteer at law firms were rejected. That was understandable given that I was a law school graduate still awaiting practical training. This all changed when I was finally hired by the Department of Children and Families as a paralegal. It was the best first step I could have ever asked for in my legal career because I was able to learn the nuts and bolts of law from the ground up, by being a paralegal for prosecutors. Fast forward 7 years later, DCF was a really good fit for me. I would have never expected that trial practice would be such a good fit, but it was a different sort of theatre that made it a natural segue from regular theatre. I was Division Chief by my last year there. For the next 4 years I joined a private child welfare agency as in house counsel and Director of QA/QI. The agency directly provided services to children in need of finding permanent loving homes and to parents who were also in need of rehabilitative services as parents.

Unfortunately, child welfare’s inherent daily crisis and stress would take its toll again on my health. So, I left. In this period of self healing, I reconnected with the arts. I wrote and designed the graphic art and photo eBook Creating Yourself to Be the Man that You Desire with Courage, Motivation, and Inspiration published in 2016. It depicts my thoughts, poetry, and process of self-healing after leaving the adversarial driven nature of being a trial lawyer.
I also wrote and designed the graphic arts and photo eBook: Thinking of You: For Your Man, Your Boo, or Simply Just You also published in 2016 as a tribute to love. Both books are available on iBook store. After that book, I founded Visionary Quest Records, which would embody a new facet of self-discovery – me as composer of music. Left with just myself and a piano, one’s creative energy will find its outlet of expression of somehow, some way. My music initially had its beginnings in dance but it has evolved to modern classical and cinematic genres. In March and April of 2019, in honor of his Father and Mother, I composed and produced original orchestral works to pave the way for my upcoming orchestral album Tears from My Eyes: Song from Soul released in March of 2019. These original musical works have been published with their full score and instrumental parts on Sheet Music Plus and Score Exchange. They can be found under the following titles: 1) Tears from My Eyes: Remember Your Feelings (For Orchestra); 2) Tears from My Eyes: Reflection and Contemplation (For Flute Choir); and 3) Tears from My Eyes: Mourning in the Rain (For Clarinet Choir). Lastly, in April 2019, Calvendo published the calendar version of Pooch ‘n’ Kitties, which served as the impetus for the book Pooch ‘n’ Kitties: When Gigi Met Mimi.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Pooch ‘n’ Kitties: When Gigi Met Mimi. My pets have been such a source of healing for me. I was going through a hard chapter in my life a few years ago. During that period of healing, I discovered new dimensions of my creativity that had never been realized or expressed until these past few years. My creative energy is self-driven and so I felt compelled to memorialize my pets’ memories and the love they have shared with me because they have been such a source of inspiration, companionship and comfort, especially with this story in this book. The story is a true story. It has served as a valuable lesson to me that we only have one life to live. Cherish each day, each memory, and each feeling. I was blessed to have experienced this story about my poodle pooch Gigi and a feral kitten named Mimi. When this relationship of Gigi and Mimi emerged, I immediately began photographing and videotaping everything. With all of us growing older, I wanted to cherish the memories of my ‘kids’ before it was too late. I found that memorializing these memories with a fusion of the written word, art and photography was the perfect way to keep the memories and love of my Pooch ‘n’ Kitties alive forever.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Inspiration can come at a moment’s notice. Inspiration can come as an emotional response such as, joy, celebration, sadness or fury. The emotion rises to a threshold where it then must be expressed in writing or in music. When inspiration comes at a moment’s notice, I will do all that I can to stop what I am doing and to write whatever idea or musical expression needs to be written down. There is also inspiration that has undergone a deep long period of gestation before its creative birth. But when it comes down writing the written word or composing music, I will pull these inspirational moments into the late late hours of the night. My most creative and productive times to write are between 12am to 6am.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Authors that have moved me in some profound way include Carl Jung, Carl Sagan, Dalai Lama, Robert Hand, Karen Hamaker-Zondag. I am not sure that they have influenced how or what I have chosen to write about, but they have expanded my horizons in how I view the world.

What are you working on now?
I am working on a book directly related to the music industry for aspiring music artists. The book is about the impact playlists have made on the music industry not only to everyday listeners who seek playlists to reflect the mood or emotion of a given moment but also its impact on recording artists and how they make a living. The goal of the book is to be a resource and tool for recording artists to gain more knowledge about the many playlists that exist as well as the opportunities.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am following Kindlepreneur.com’s map as best as possible. It appears to be the most comprehensive.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t prejudge yourself out of writing what you want to write about. Self-doubt can be one’s biggest obstacle. Yet, it is a self-created fiction that holds us hostage to what. Nothing. Self-doubt can rear its ugly head at every creative endeavor. When it does, take a moment to walk away, get a breath of fresh air, and come back and look at the totality of what you are creating. If it makes you cry or laugh or just makes you smile, know that it will do the same for someone else. You may come back with some constructive edits, but you will have a more fervent belief in what you are creating.

In music, there are listeners who will cherish a songwriter’s music and message. So long as it is played and shared, the music will find its listeners who will cherish its message. The same I believe goes for writing. There are readers will cherish an author’s story and message. So long as it is shared, the story will find its readers who will cherish its message. But before any of this can happen, one thing must happen first. The music and book must be written first. Nothing happens when nothing is written, but the world becomes your oyster once you create.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
When I was in college, I was nervous that I would have to end my undergrad studies prematurely. I confided in my dance professor. “If this happens, I don’t feel that I will be ready.” His response, “you’ll never feel you’re ready. The degree is an artificial barometer of readiness. If you had to go to that big audition for the big show today, you would step up and be ready to audition.” The key takeaway from this was that we’re all ready to do what we desire, to create what want to create, and to face the challenge of the moment when presented with that challenge. Learning is a lifelong ongoing process. We are ready when we want to be ready.

What are you reading now?
I am reading “The Secret Sauce For Placing Your Music In Television & Film: Advanced Digital Marketing Tactics to Help You Score Big” by Marc Fantano. It’s my next goal for my music to get it placed in film and TV.

What’s next for you as a writer?
(See What am I working on right now above)

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
How to Survive on a Deserted Island (Prepare to Survive) by Tim O’Shei
Planetary Transits (Life Cycles for Living) by Robert Hand
Ethics for the New Millennium by Dalai Lama XIV

Author Websites and Profiles
Tito Abeleda Website
Tito Abeleda Amazon Profile

Tito Abeleda’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello,
My name is Grant, and I live on the south coast of the UK and I have been writing for the past nine years. I have written a historical fiction trilogy subtitled Jabuti’s Quest. I began writing after attending what turned out to be a poorly described course titled ‘Creative Writing for Beginners’. It turned out to be a group of elderly ladies who’d been meeting for the previous seven years to share their love of poetry! Nothing wrong with that, but it wasn’t what I was looking for. But it did propel me on a creative journey that at times can be frustrating, but ultimately quite liberating.
I am currently working on the fourth installment to the Jabuti’s Quest series.

In my ‘day job,’ I work as cabin crew for British Airways. I have been employed in this role for twenty-one years to date. I use my free time wisely down-route by visiting coffee shops around the world and work on my writing. I’m fortunate enough to have a job that allows me to indulge in my passion.
The other passions in my life are kite-surfing and paddle-boarding. I am fortunate enough to live right by the sea in Worthing, and when home I can go whenever the conditions are right.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The first line to my debut novel came to me after awaking from a dream one morning and led to me writing a trilogy. As I’m half-way through writing the fourth book in this series I don’t as yet have a title, but I look forward to that part as it’s akin to wrapping up a well thought out and cherished gift.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Hmm, unusual? Not so much, apart from having three lucky coins and a stuffed parrot on my desk and sipping oolong tea from a fine antique china cup! Just kidding
I do find writing at home too lonely, so I write in coffee shops and listen to music through my headphones.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

What are you working on now?
The fourth book in the Jabuti’s Quest series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Awesome gang?!
No one thing is a quick-fire method apart from just to keep on plugging!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never EVER give up!

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

What are you reading now?
The diary of Anne Frank

What’s next for you as a writer?
Treat every day as a new opportunity to be a better writer

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?
Batavia’s Graveyard
The Voyages of Captain Cook
Endeavour

Author Websites and Profiles
GRANT LANGLEY Amazon Profile

GRANT LANGLEY’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a U.S. Army veteran born in The Bronx, New York and moved to Puerto Rico at the age of ten. I joined the U.S. Army when I was seventeen years old and after the Army, I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government and International Politics. After graduating, moved to Hollywood to become an actress and I have over 60 acting credits, including “Nip/Tuck”, “Everybody Hates Chris” and “He’s Just Not That Into You.” I won Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for a Layon Gray play “Soldiers Don’t Cry” by the Valley Theatre League (North Hollywood) in 2003. I have also been a singer/songwriter and have written, directed and edited some short films and music videos. I now live with my family in Norway and decided to focus on my writing, launching my first children’s book series. With this Kid Astronomy series, I have written two books, “Thank You Mercury!” and “Dear Pluto.” My goal with this first series is to teach kids a bit of astronomy, by making it also fun to read.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is “Dear Pluto” and what inspired it is the story of how Pluto was a planet for many years, and then was demoted, shocking many of us. With some astronomy facts for kids to learn, I created a bit of fun fiction by telling the story of how Pluto was demoted, sad and tried to find his place in our solar system… and he did in the end! It is a heartfelt story about self-identity and belonging as well.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure if it is unusual for writers, but I seem to write best in the very early morning. Sometimes I wake up around 4 or 5am with an urge to write.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
For children’s books, Dr. Seuss has been my biggest influence. Also A.A. Milne with his Winnie The Pooh series. I also love Hans Christian Andersen’s books and illustrations by Arthur Rackman. For adult books, a bit of Paulo Coehlo, Herman Hesse, J.K. Rowling, Stephen Fry, etc.

What are you working on now?
I am working on the third book in the Kid Astronomy series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have been learning how to use Amazon marketing techniques, and am still searching and learning. I am new to this website, but I believe has been effective.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice is to write, even when it gets tough. I am having a hard time with my third book, on getting the story just right, but I have to keep working at it. Writing is a muscle and to call oneself an author, one has to write.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To remember that when one door closes, another one is open.

What are you reading now?
I am reading Stephen Fry’s “Heroes” (His Mythology series book #2).

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am taking it a step at a time. Right now, I need to get through writing and illustrating the third children’s book in my series, and then I can think of what’s 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?
Siddhartha, The Alchemist, The Prophet and anything Pablo Neruda.

Author Websites and Profiles
Carmen Gloria Website
Carmen Gloria Amazon Profile

Carmen Gloria’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 freelance writer; self-published (indie) and traditionally published author; and web entrepreneur.

I’ve been a freelance writer since 1993, a self-published author since 2002 and an internet marketer since 2008. I’ve self-published over 100 ebooks (fiction and non-fiction); with just over 50 being romance novellas.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Marriage Bargain: A Small Town, Southern Romance. It was inspired by a book I read (my Kindle always has a romance novel on it). As I was reading that book, an idea for one like it unfolded in my head and wouldn’t let go.

So I gave in to it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Other than writing a lot (I publish a book roughly every 3 to 6 weeks). I have published as many as 3 in one month! That was when I was writing mostly novellas in the 15,000 to 25,000-word range..

These days, my books tend to be longer (50,000 to 60,000 words — like “The Marriage Bargain”), so I’m not able to put out as many.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
In the romance genre, I read a lot of Harlequins in my teens. So it’s not a particular author, as much as a publisher, I suppose.

I remember being greatly inspired by Dame Barbara Cartland. At the time, of course, I had NO IDEA that I would wind up being a romance writer. But when I started, I do remember that she published a lot. Knowing what hard work writing romance is, her body of work is all the more inspiring.

What are you working on now?
“Love after Betrayal.” It’s a story about a woman who finds out that her husband has been unfaithful after almost 20 years together; 12 of those as a married couple.

Can she put their marriage back together, or will her new lover become the love of her life?

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I always tell writers in my writing group and in my romance writing course that your best marketing tool is always your next book.

That being said, I don’t spend a lot of time “marketing” per say. I spend my time writing. Now that I have published over 50 romance novels/novellas, I’m starting to put more effort into marketing. But it’s not something I advise for new writers.

The reason is, when you spend money on marketing, you want to capture a customer/reader for life. If you only have one or two novels out, you spend your money, the customer buys and reads your one or two novels, then what? You have nothing else to offer them — until your next book is done.

This is why I advise new writers to spend the bulk of their time putting out new titles. Then, when you have five or six out, you can start looking at spending money.

Romance readers are fast and prolific readers. So once you start “feeding the beast,” so to speak, if you have a few titles out, your career can take off pretty fast — which is wonderful for romance writers.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
(i) Marketing: What I said in the last question about marketing.

(ii) Read in the genre you want to write in: For example, if you want to write suspense romance, read suspenseful romances. It’ll make you a better writer.

(iii) Read about writing: Two books I highly recommend are Stephen King’s “On Writing;” and “Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence”. These are two of the best books I’ve ever read on writing. Both of my copies are dog-eared to death!

These books can make you a MUCH better writer, if you read them and put the info into practice.

(iv) Be patient with yourself: Becoming a good writer takes time. Becoming a best-selling writer takes time.

One of the things I love about being an indie publisher is that you don’t need to sell millions or even thousands of copies of your books to make really good money.

I’ve earned as much as $3,500 in one month just toddling along writing my little romance novels. And that doesn’t take selling thousands of copies, just a few hundred here and there.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My mom told me a lot of good stuff. Basically the way she raised me and my sisters was to be independent and to take charge of our own lives. In a nutshell, her message was: “You can do anything you put your mind to … if you’re willing to put in the work.”

Hard work and focus — those two things will get you almost anything you want. I truly believe that because it’s two things many are not willing to embrace, at least, not for the long haul.

What are you reading now?
I’m always reading two or three books at once.

On my Kindle, I’m reading a romance novel. I’m also reading two paperbacks. Elie Wiesel’s, “Night” and Michelle Obama’s, “Becoming.”

What’s next for you as a writer?
A new romance novel, 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?
Romance novels, biographies, and books on writing, for sure.

Author Websites and Profiles
Yuwanda Black Website
Yuwanda Black Amazon Profile

Yuwanda Black’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 retired Aerospace Engineer with a love of science fiction and fantasy books. Stories of courage in the face of adversity always grab my attention. It’s especially interesting if the main character has to rely on their wits to get out of sticky situations. These are the books I like to read and write.

I have published three books, and I’m in the middle of writing my fourth.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest published book was the last in a series of three. The entire series was inspired by my daughter. When she was three and four years old, we used to have a long commute together. To keep her entertained, I made up stories for her. The story of the Enchanted Trees was one of her favorites and I eventually turned that into three books.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to dictate my stories to create the first draft. This habit isn’t unusual because many authors dictate their stories. But I particularly like it because I consider myself primarily a story teller.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My reading interests have changed quite a bit over the years. I used to read Asimov, Clark, Bradbury, etc. Then, I changed to Tolkien, CS Lewis, etc. Now, I read unknown modern YA authors who write in the Fantasy genre. In a few more years, I’ll probably be reading something completely different.

What are you working on now?
I started a series based characters with psionic talents. It’s set in the future on several different planets. The main character is bold and brave… well sort of.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use my website as well as Facebook advertising.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Have courage. It takes guts to write a story and expect others to read it and like it. However, there is someone out there waiting for your story. It’s important to finish it and make it the best that you can.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Forgive and let go. This advice probably transformed my life. Forgiveness is choosing not to hold on to old grievances. The result is feeling lighter or freer and living in the now.

What are you reading now?
Gnosis: A Psychic Urban Fantasy by Rick Hall. This book is in the genre as my current book. I’m really enjoying the journey in this book. The story has such an intriguing and unusual element. I can’t wait see what happens next.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My main goal is to complete my next series about psionic humans.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would bring my Kindle and hope for wifi. I just can’t choose.

Author Websites and Profiles
Katherine Towers Website
Katherine Towers Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Since retiring from an engineering career I have been pursuing my passion for teaching, writing, and playing music. I have written 15 books about music, science, nature, and health.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is titled “Plant Based Health & Wellness.” It is the story of how I reversed several very serious illnesses by adopting a plant based lifestyle.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t have any strict writing schedule or rules. I just write about my passions, and only when I feel inspired – which is most of the time every day!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Because of my recent health issues I have been following many inspiring naturopathic doctors like T. Colin Campbell, Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Joel Fuhrman, and Pam Popper. A lot of their influence shows up in my latest book “Plant Based Health & Wellness.”

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on a guitar book called “Beginning Fingerpicking Guitar” and a series of books of classical music for the 5-string banjo.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Of course I promote my books on my own website at rickmckeon.com. Also, I have used Facebook ads and AMS with some degree of success. I’m very excited about my new relationship with Draft2Digital.

I have a few books published by large publishing houses like Mel Bay (music) and Apress (technical). If you can have a major publisher promoting your book, that’s great!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
So many new authors get discouraged and quit. It is important to believe in yourself and hang in there. If you are sharing something of value with your readers, you will succeed.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“What you think about you bring about.”

What are you reading now?
I’m mainly reading about book marketing. We authors love to write, but we are probably the worst ones at marketing. That’s a skill we all need to learn – like it or not.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I continue to work at the craft and to deepen my knowledge in my many diverse areas of interest.

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
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Probably not much of a chance to use those lessons on a desert island, but maybe once I get back.
CHAOS by James Gleick
The Mathematical Tourist by Ivars Peterson

Those would keep me going for a while.

Author Websites and Profiles
Rick McKeon Website

Rick McKeon’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
To start, it’s easiest to say that I grew up on a farm. It was a horse-boarding farm to begin with but there were always other animals around just for the fun of it–pigs, goats, sheep, mini horses and donkeys, and much more. Since then it has turned into mainly an alpaca farm. Outside of animals and nature I have always enjoyed art, mostly through drawing sketches. I liked art so much that I went to college for art! Painting, to be specific. But now I’ve found that I enjoy writing so much more. I’ve written three books so far, however, the first one of those three (a low-fantasy novel about Greek mythology) was never released. It might later in the future, but until then it remains on the back burner. The other two books, “These Memories Don’t Exist: A Short Story” and “A Narrator’s Tale: The Dubious Efforts of Poor Men,” being a novel, are currently available via Amazon.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called “A Narrator’s Tale: The Dubious Efforts of Poor Men.” It’s a comic fantasy novel inspired by Terry Pratchett’s “Discworld” and “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams. But wait, before you think, “oh, of course, you would say the two names of the funniest authors out there,” let me explain. I was inspired by the concept of Discworld, as a place, being this really absurd setting where anything could happen. That alone was the main catalyst for “A Narrator’s Tale.” As for Adams, the thing that stuck with me the most from his book was the omniscient narrator, who could just go off on random tangents and inform the reader about anything in the galaxy that may or may not be wholly relevant to the story or its characters. That was the second catalyst. “A Narrator’s Tale” definitely has that omniscient voice, but it’s a version where the voice itself essentially only thinks that it knows everything. And of course there’s an absurd setting.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes. My strangest writing habit is probably my most self-hated. It happens during my own editing process where I’m re-reading a section, or maybe even the whole story. I’ll add little notes here and there, mentioning to myself that I want this and that changed, or I want to insert a little blurb about whatever as to reference something else, and then I’ll jump back to that reference, edit it a little to line up with the past edit, and I repeat that process, jumping back and forth from the beginning of the story to the end, back to the middle, and all over. I don’t think I’ve ever edited a novel or short story of mine where I didn’t just go through it from beginning to end in a straight line. I always want to add or tweak things, and that gets me thinking about something else completely unrelated in the story somewhere else. My mind always jumps.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve read quite a few online interviews and bios lately about authors relating to how they got started. It seems that so many people mention how they’ve always been a bookworm since they were kids and being an author was always a dream until one day, surprise, their dream came true! I’m probably the furthest away from that as possible. I didn’t start reading for entertainment until I was in college. Prior to that, I had been a fan of essentially just Garfield, Calvin & Hobbes, and Far Side comics. Andrzej Sapkowski’s “Witcher” series was the first set of books that really sucked me in. After that, I began buying and renting books like crazy, largely fantasy and science fiction.

What are you working on now?
Currently, I’m working on a vengeful space opera novel revolving around a duo of mercenaries and their pet. Despite the whole “revenge theme” that it carries, I’m incorporating quite a bit of humor into it. Granted, some of that humor may be dark, but it’s humor all the same. I’m very excited about it because the possibilities of a space-themed story can get really bizarre and wild.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m new to promoting my own work (very, very new), so I honestly can’t say what’s “best” just yet.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I’m a new author myself, so I feel as though I shouldn’t advise others on how to jump through all the hoops when I haven’t even made it through the obstacle course.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The beginning is always the hardest part. My mom said that once, and I’ve found it applies to a lot of situations, whether it be packing up your house in boxes to move, planning a construction project, saying goodbye to someone, or staring at the next blank Word document before you start typing. The beginning is the hardest, yeah, but once you get going things will typically start falling into place.

What are you reading now?
I just began “A Dance with Dragons” by George R. R. Martin. No, I have not watched the whole T.V. show. Yes, I have heard some things about it (almost too much).

What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing! I’ve only just begun. I have so many ideas for new stories and for ways that I can expand upon what I’ve already written (currently published and unpublished). I’m an author, editor, format specialist, secondary editor, cover illustrator, editor again, and now I’m learning the ropes of becoming my own marketing agent. The writing is by far my favorite part and I wish I could do only that. Maybe one day I will, but for now I have to split my time between every self-publishing aspect that exists (except for the printing, thank goodness–Amazon handles that one).

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’m assuming this question has one of those unwritten rules about “books as books,” otherwise I would definitely grab the largest tomes I could, hollow them out, and pack them full of survival gear. But aside from that, I would bring along: “The Complete Sherlock Holmes,” “The Last Wish,” “A Game of Thrones,” and (for good measure) Outdoor Life’s “The Ultimate Survival Manuel.”

Author Websites and Profiles
Grant Gerwatowski Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a retired lawyer living in Washington, DC. I have seven books in print, one of which (THE DOG WHO PLAYED CENTERFIELD) I wrote with our 8-1/2 yer old grandson.

I write mysteries and thrillers, all with an historic bent. One mystery series involves my PI (Socrates Cheng) who is half Greek and half Chinese. My thriller series involves terrorism. I also have a new mystery series that takes place in 1930s Shanghai.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My most recent book is DEATH IN THE FLOWERY KINGDOM. It takes place in 1935 Shanghai, and is a historical mystery inspired by my interest in China, its history, customs, and philosophies. I currently am writing the second book in ths series — DEATH OF THE YELLOW SWAN. This takes place in 1937 Shanghai when the Japanese and the Communists are both closing in on the city before the start of World War II.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes. I write every day — even if I have nothing specific to say. Also, I research the book after the current one I am writing as I write he current one. This keeps it all frsh for me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Authors: Lawrence Block, Michael Connolly, Richard Stark, Pat Conroy.

What are you working on now?
DEATH OF THE YELLOW SWAN.

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, write. Do not give up. Persistence pays.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Finish your first draft at all costs. No one ever reads an unwritten book.

What are you reading now?
Conrad’s HEART OF DARKNESS. Several Shakespeare’s histories.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish my current book as I research the one after that.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Shakespeare’s complete plays

Author Websites and Profiles
Steven M. Roth Website
Steven M. Roth Amazon Profile

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

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Jeff Zwagerman who lives on East Lake Okoboji in Iowa and winters on Sanibel has his fifth mystery/thriller published by Black Rose Writers titled The Skinny. There are the fifth in the “Zander” series so far.

Jeff Zwagerman is a former educator who taught Speech, Theatre, and English. He was a high school principal and Superintendent of schools with a B.S. in Theatre and Speech, M.A. in Educational Administration, and ED.S. in Education.

His first novel, Always A Kicker was the first in the Zander series. A Full Bubble Off Plumb continues the saga of the broken and damaged character. The third book, South Of Sideways, finds the character drawn to the Florida Keys. The fourth book in the Zander series is called Tin Roof Rusted and is set in Southwest Florida, the Everglades, and Sanibel. The Skinny is the fifth in the series and involves Zander’s sometime hippie friend, Fats. He had quite a story from his past but hadn’t shared it with anyone. Now the reader finds out what happened to him.

The books are available from all on line sources and Black Rose writing.com.

The following is a short synopsis of Beyond Contempt:
Zander’s new romantic interest, Aubrey, is kidnapped right in front of him, and he never saw it coming. He needs to engage an old friend or two to help him try to attempt a rescue. Unfortunately, another problem rears its head before he has a chance to make good on his rescue plan. Zander finds out he’s a father. Before he has time to even process that fact, something else hits him right in the gut. His new born daughter has been kidnapped.
Ill advised decisions from his previous life continue to haunt Zander. When he finally has a chance to find happiness in the mountains of Colorado with Aubrey, everything falls apart. Most people might give up, but that’s when we find Zander at his best. He needs to be in control, and he needs to make his own plans.
Combining both sets of these problems, however, might prove to be too much even for Zander.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I am currently writing the book “Protocol” and it is a continuation of the Zander series. We should be able to find out what Zander is planning for his newly acquired daughter and what will happen when he gets his girlfriend Aubrey back.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I try to write in the morning from 10 until noon. My goal is 2,000 words which I hardly ever accomplish.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m especially fond of John Sanford and the Virgil Flowers series as well as the Davenport series. I also read Lee Child and C.J. Box. My favorite Florida author is Randy Wayne White and his Doc Ford series.

What are you working on now?
The next novel is the Zander series called “Protocol.”

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve found that Facebook has been productive.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write your book. Worry about all the other things much later.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write every day.

What are you reading now?
C.J Box

What’s next for you as a writer?
The vast unknown.

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?
Some classics I think. East of Eden, To Kill A Mockingbird, Great Expectations. Maybe the Thorn birds and The Godfather.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jeff Zwagerman Amazon Profile

Jeff Zwagerman’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile