Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
35 years of law enforcement experience, presently retired to South Carolina from NYS. Am in the middle of my fourth novel. Using my background, all my novels involve a PI, former NY State Police Investigator that involve mysteries in and around the Adirondack Region of NYS. Had a book signing a week ago in Lake Placid NY, were much of the action of my stories take place.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Placid Terror. The inspiration for this story from my experience working with the State Police during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. This story involves opioids, human trafficking and and a plot by terrorists to take the Olympic Village of Lake Placid out of the running to host the 2030 Winter Olympics.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Usually try to write an hour a day. Belong to a couple writing groups that help with composition and grammar.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Michael Connelly, Lawrence Sanders.

What are you working on now?
Fourth book in the Marc LaRose Mystery Series, Masters of Terror.

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up. Find good editors.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Edit you books more than once, preferably 4-5 times before publishing. Then, there will still be some errors.

What are you reading now?
Re-reading Connolly’s Trunk Music.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Masters of Terror, after that, uncertain.

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?
All of Connolly’s, Lawrence Sanders and the Holy Bible.

Author Websites and Profiles
Bob Clark Website

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a US Navy Veteran (13yrs) from Queens, NY. My self-published books are:
THE ANUK CHRONICLES
Rise of Prophecy, Vol. 1
Rise of Villains, Vol. 2
The Ballad of Persephone – Upcoming release (August 27th, 2010)

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My upcoming release, THE BALLAD OF PERSEPHONE, is the third installment in “The Anuk Chronicles” series – Anuk by the way is short of Anunnaki; this was done to avoid any confusion with Zecharia Stitchen’s book THE ANUNNAKI CHRONICLES, and/or get sued by the History channel’s ANCIENT ALIENS.

THE BALLAD OF PERSEPHONE is the ‘heart’ of the series, and paints a concise picture of events prior to Volumes I & II. Think of it as the Star Wars prequels, relative to the originals, without the upset stomach of course.

As for inspiration, the grand canvas of the entire series was woven when I was a child. I had a story to tell, and with time, life provided me with the necessary acrylics. To put it in a nutshell, my story is Frank Herbert’s DUNE meets Erich von Danikean’s non-fiction CHARIOTS OF THE GODS.

I couldn’t find an appealing fictional rendition of the Ancient Astronaut, or Alternative History genre. In documentary and speculative circles, the topics I found to be fascinating. In the fiction arena, however, content remained on either extreme of a very short pendulum.

An opportunity presented itself to stitch together real science, archaeology, anthropology, religious beliefs from all religions, alternative history, and my story. I started off putting pen to paper, and spat out a screenplay.

For a number of reasons, including the story being too big for a two hour script, I resorted to putting a small percentage of what I want to tell in novel format. By the way, a one-hour pilot has been adapted from RISE OF PROPHECY, Vol. 1.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to lock myself in a room and avoid sunlight, and can only write between 10am to 4pm…with one break in-between. Oh, there has to be loads of coffee.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Now that list is extensive, but I’ll have to go with Frank Herbert, Erich von Danikean, Andrew Collins, Graham Hancock, and Ken Atchity. Books, Dune of course, Chariots of the gods, The Cygnus key, and The Messiah Matrix.

What are you working on now?
I am working on the 2nd Editions of Rise of Prophecy and Rise of Villains (explanation in ‘advice to authors’ section.)

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Now that is a trick question. I am not a Facebook addict, and most of my friends there are from the military – promoting books there resulted with lots of requests for freebies. Twitter seems to be working for me. The thing is to keep consistent with posts and remain visible. You can offer One Million dollars for no reason, and not a soul will interact with you unless they recognize your handle.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes. Utilize resources, take your time, and market your books long before publishing. Fresh out of the military I did the bare minimum for my first book – hence the 2nd edition. Stay away from Vanity publishers…in other words, if an individual/company charges your for a publishing package, they are ripping you off.

Last one (yet there are many) Grammarly and other editing software are not your friend. Nothing can replace a professional editor. THE BALLAD OF PERSEPHONE was expensive to finish, and I am happy I spent the money. Use your resources.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never proofread your own work.

What are you reading now?
Born of Chaos: A Post-Apocalyptic Military Science Fiction Thriller (Ruler of Ashes Book 2) by Jeff Demarco

What’s next for you as a writer?
The Anuk Chronicles was meant for the screen. Each book is written as a ‘stand-alone,’ for the most part, yet they all connect to the same grand universe. I plan to continue writing segments for the whole story, and adapting screenplays along the way.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Saviors Champion – Jenna Moreci
The Illiad – Homer
Wilderness Survival – Gregory Davenport

Author Websites and Profiles
Abdur Mohammed Website
Abdur Mohammed Amazon Profile

Abdur Mohammed’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My first children’s book – Scooter and Friends Take a Vacation – is at the printer, about to be released.
I wrote a lot of “technical” things in my career before I retired. 1) In personnel at the Lawrence Hall of Science on the Berkeley campus, I wrote – for the Director to present to the Chancellor – a procedure for the advancement and promotion of non-Professor Series Instructors. This procedure was later incorporated into the University’s Academic Personnel Guidelines; 2) as a private contractor, I wrote the original Personnel Manual for the Pacific Science Center in Seattle; 3) as Personnel Manager wrote original Personnel Manual for Seattle law firm of Karr, Tuttle, Koch, Campbell, Mawer and Morrow; 4) When at American DEsign and Mfg in Seattle (a company my husband and I owned until 2000) I received a grant for ESL in the workplace, and wrote a Buddy System to accompany ESL. My Buddy System won an award for its innovative approach to employee relations from the Association of Washington Businesses.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Scooter and Friends Take a Vacation – children’s picture book. Inspired by my love of my grandnieces and nephews, and the adventures I had taken them on, and by my love of books that have animals as their main characters. My story is written in rhyme because I have always loved to rhyme, as in writing my own lyrics to known music for years. (The first poem I ever read was The Night Before Christmas, which I had memorized by the time I was four years old – or so my mother told me)

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so. I get my ideas while I’m sleeping, (or more ‘when I can’t sleep) and then get up and start writing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
As an impressionable teenager my favorite author was Leon Uris. I read everthing he ever wrote, and while I’m not Jewish, I was so taken with Uris’s stories I “decided” I was an honorary Sabra A bit later, Jane Austen became my favorite; and after that – it was international intrigue, Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn, and Brad Thor topping my list. Thanks to belonging to various book clubs, I have, over the past several decades, become enamored with all manner and shape of best-selling authors. I ‘m ashamed to say I remember the titles of books I have loved, but have forgotten the authors’ names. A few recent examples of my favorites are The Guilded Hour; The Whistling Season: News of the World; The Hunger Games trilogy; early Harry Potter books – later ones got a little dark for my taste.

What are you working on now?
A sequel to Scooter and Friends Take a Vacation

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Since this is my first go at it – I can’t yet say. But I’m taking a marketing class, and as a result of this class, I’m trying to get involved in a few social media sites – Facebook and Instagram – and Goodreads and PNWA are at the top of the list to get more active on/with, but waiting until I have my first finished product in my hands before pushing these too much

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Follow your heart. And don’t get discouraged. There are so many resources out there now that new, and aspiring, authors can take advantage of. Whether it’s needing help with editing or copywriting, or appraisals, or marketing, or a myriad of other types of assistance, there are experts out there who can help. When I found ALLi – the Alliance of Independent Authors – I realized that I wasn’t alone. There is a lot of help to be had, and I tell people about the ALLi site whenever I can.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Work hard – no one else is going to do it for you.

What are you reading now?
I barely have time for my book club books – our current book is Defending Jacob by William Landay. It’s not a great book, not by a longshot, but it raises an interesting question about the role genetics plays in crimes.

What’s next for you as a writer?
as above, the sequel to Scooter and Friends Take a Vacation

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?
Pride and Prejudice (like in Fahrenheit 451 – this is the book that I would want to be)
The Wind in the Willows (ditto Fahrenheit 451 – can you be 2 books?)
since I would have the time to memorize both of the above, can that count as 4?
I have loved books like The Art of Racing in the Rain – but more because I loved Enzo than because I loved the book
This question to too hard

Author Websites and Profiles
nancy strom Website

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello!
My name is Gem Solity, I am a writer, photographer and art college lecturer who lives in a tiny town between Exmoor and Dartmoor in Devon, England.
I have two young children, two ginger cats and a partner who puts up with my crazy imagination!
When I’m not writing or teaching, I love to watch films or binge a good TV series- Stranger Things is my current favourite- I enjoy stories that are fast-paced! I’m also a bit of a whizz with the hula hoop, it’s the best way to exercise!!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Who is Ida Thorne? is my debut novel. I started writing it four years ago, but as a working mother it can be tricky to find the time to fit everything in.
I was first inspired to write Ida during a workshop I taught up on the High Moors in Dartmoor. It contains the largest concentration of Bronze Age remains in the UK which sent my imagination into overdrive. What would happen if a teenage girl discovered she was an integral part of an ancient order that hid beneath the cragged tors, and what if she didn’t believe or conform to this new world? What if she thought she was actually going crazy…?

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write around my children and work, so very early starts is when I do the most. There’s something about the time when you just wake up, have only just left the realm of dreams and you feel as the rest of the world is still asleep. It’s a magical time of day.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I read a variety of genres, but Stephen King and Dean Koontz are great for the imagination and suspense and I devoured all of their books as a young adult. Iain Banks for breaking the mould with his protagonists. Agatha Christie- she was a genius!

What are you working on now?
I am currently writing the 2nd book in The Ida Thorne Trilogy- things really start to heat up!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Who is Ida Thorne is my debut, so I am quite new to the promotional side of writing. I’ll let you know!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just write! And when you start, just free-flow, don’t interrupt your creativity with trying to get it right first time, you’ll have plenty of time in your editing to correct mistakes you make. Foreshadowing is also really important.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice was something I read in Stephen King’s On Writing. Two words to always hold in your mind as you write: what if….?

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading Patrick Rothfuss’ The Wise Man’s Fear, straight after The Name of the Wind. Epic story-telling and the most addictive characters. I love how he’s not afraid to go off on tangents and really let the characters lead the narrative.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish the Ida trilogy and start a new one. I have a new protagonist who keeps talking in my head and I constantly have to shush her- her time will come!

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?
Watchers- Dean Koontz
The Name of the Wind- Patrick Rothfuss
The Magic Faraway Tree- Enid Blyton (rediscovered my love for this book whilst reading it to my kids)
And Then There Were None- Agatha Christie

Author Websites and Profiles
Gem Solity Website
Gem Solity Amazon Profile

Gem Solity’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
John has traveled extensively, with more than 80 countries’ stamps in his passport. His avocation is adventure. He has sailed to Hawaii several times as well as across the Atlantic and throughout the Mediterranean and Caribbean. He has trekked the Andes, the Sahara, the Taklamakan, the Serengeti, and the Namib.

In his previous career, John was a chef.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Death By Design
I have always wondered about the various solutions to the ‘overpopulation crisis’, the ‘climate change crisis’.
Do these intelligentsia actually want to destroy humanity?
Here is a thriller about how their ‘final solution’ might work.
Let’s hope they are wrong – Tracker is too powerful for any of them!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
i write 7-10pm each evening and most of Sunday.
oddly, the story emerged from within, entirely of its own accord. No storyboards, planning…

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Michael Crichton, Shakespeare, Alan Furst, Asimov. Benford, Niven.

What are you working on now?
The sequel.
Life By Chance

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Writitng is the easy part.
Marketing is the real challenge.
You have to view it as a game. Learn the rules and play well.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Persistence is the master stroke of success.

What are you reading now?
Time Song. The Dinosaur Heresies. Spineless. Cold Times. Mouthfeel. Life (R. Fortey).

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

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Complete Works of Shakespeare.
Complete Works of Alan Furst.
Norton Anthology of Literature.
How to Read Water.

Author Websites and Profiles
JOHN GRAVES Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a dreamer and I love to write. I write about anything that excites me and if I get to know that my reader likes certain kind of books, then I work more on those areas. I have written about 18 books so far.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Poetry on Inspiring Women -Book Two

I like to genuinely know people from whom I can take an inspiration!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Nothing unusual , although I like to exercise in between my writing and I write early in the mornings.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I like to read fiction. No specific author as such. But I read books where the story line excites me.

What are you working on now?
Currently working on Poetry on Inspiring Women – Book Three.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am a creative person and spend more time towards writing. I promote on facebook.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
No

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Keep writing.

What are you reading now?
The Girl in the Tower

What’s next for you as a writer?
Just take a step at a time and keep writing.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I will take some of my writing work and internet. I will take one unfinished novel to read in between.

Author Websites and Profiles
D.S. Pais Website
D.S. Pais Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a momma in a blended family of seven, Literacy Coach, English teacher, podcaster, business owner, and homeschool mom. I’ve published eleven books and have a list of upcoming new titles that I’m currently working on. I write clean books for all ages.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Raptor Revolution is my latest MG Historical Fiction novel, inspired by the American Revolution. I love that time period in our nation’s history and have always dreamed of writing a book with animals. The Raptor Revolution (Red-tailed hawks) are led by a crazy king to take over the territories of Christmas Mountain. The O.R.E.O. militia, led by Samuel Adams Squirrelly, must change the course of history.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My summer months are filled to the max with writing days. I don’t have a lot of time to write during the school year due to my full-time literacy coach job and homeschooling, so I’m pretty much a summer writer. I wouldn’t necessarily call that unusual. I will say that Mountain Dew and Hershey’s chocolate bars often accompany me on my writing evenings.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Bradbury, Tolkien, Meyers, King, and Sparks are my authors that have influenced me the most. I started writing in 8th grade, so the Sweet Valley High series started off my love of writing. I never shared any of my work. I will never forget reading A Walk to Remember as an adult and thinking to myself – I need to do this. I need to write again. My author journey began.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on my second book of illustrated poetry called, Heartbeats, have to write my first adult sweet romance before the end of September to meet a deadline, and am compiling an anthology of 20 authors called, Everyday God Things, where all proceeds will go to support the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Awesome Gang has been my first book promotion site that I’ve discovered. I’m so thankful for this opportunity and have shared it out with all of my author friends. I’m now learning how to promote my eleven books, so I’m learning each day something new.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never stop writing. Have the courage to push through any self-doubt and continue to improve your craft each day. Set daily goals. Don’t compare yourself to others. Be you. Honor your blank page. Write your story.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Stay true to who you are and let your authentic voice be heard.

What are you reading now?
The Fellowship of the Ring by Tolkien

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have a fall book tour scheduled, so I’ll be on the road connecting with readers!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Pride and Prejudice (I read it every year); The Hobbit, Fahrenheit 451, The Bible

Author Websites and Profiles
Jen Lowry Website
Jen Lowry Amazon Profile

Jen Lowry’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account