Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing fiction and nonfiction since I was in elementary school. My older sisters taught me to read before I started school and I’ve loved words and stories ever since! Most of my jobs even involved words in some form: clerk, secretary, word processing, columnist, and author of essays, articles, nonfiction, and fiction. I’ve published 13 novels and 7 nonfiction titles, and have several other novels with my agent and that haven’t release yet.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Haunting of Fury Falls Inn will release October 1, 2019, and was inspired by my desire to write a supernatural historical story set in a hotel of sorts. Adding in the ghosts and magical elements in the story and the rest of the series makes writing the historical more interesting for me and hopefully makes it more interesting to read, too!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not that I’m aware of, but then my habits probably wouldn’t seem unusual to me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I recently read a writing craft book by Donald Maass that helped me see storytelling from a different angle. Over the last few years, I’ve learned so much about the art of storytelling that it’s hard for me to pinpoint one author or book — it’s more a combination of all of the information. Then reading other fiction works and seeing how other authors have used those techniques or not.

What are you working on now?
I’m revising a WWII story set in Baltimore, MD, which was inspired by my parents’ correspondence during and after the war.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
All of my books are listed at my website: www.bettybolte.com with excerpts available to read so you can see if you like the storytelling before you buy a copy of your own.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write the story you want to tell. Keep honing your craft through reading, taking workshops, joining a writing organization. The quality of the story is more important than how quickly you get published. If you publish a shallow or shoddy story, people won’t want to read whatever you write next.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You are the best you can be at this moment. Meaning, that while change is constant and you might improve in some way, have the confidence to know you are the best in this moment that you can be. In other words, you can’t suddenly lose 10 pounds, or speak another language.

What are you reading now?
Whirligig by Richard Buxton, a Civil War historical novel.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Working on the remaining 5 books in the Fury Falls Inn series is uppermost on my mind. But I have several other historical stories I want to tell, too.

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 really hard question to answer! I don’t re-read many books except for writing craft ones, so I’d probably pull several of those by Donald Maass, Lisa Cron, and David Corbett.

Author Websites and Profiles
Betty Bolte Website
Betty Bolte Amazon Profile

Betty Bolte’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an engineer by profession, with an ever-growing LEGO collection, what many would [correctly] call an obsession with airplanes, and an interest in post apocalyptic and zombie stories.
Writing not being my day job or even my first hobby, I have only written one book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest and currently only book is “Of the Flesh”.

The thing that got me into the post apocalyptic genre was seeing people build “apocalego” themed models and vignettes. The engineer in me was intrigued by the problem of surviving and making do with limited resources and whatever else happened to be available. Moving past the tech side of things, there were the political and moral questions regarding the balance of doing what was best for yourself and doing what was right. Thus I began exploring and enjoying post-apocalyptic-and inevitably-zombie fiction. Fast forward a few years and somehow, during engineering school, I had enough time on my hands to become bored. So I began compiling ideas for my personal “ideal” zombie story. The concept of using the rapture as the cause of the zombie apocalypse developed when my church started studying the book of Revelation. This provided a simple, if not convenient, answer to several important questions like “Why aren’t there many good Christian characters in the zombie books I’ve been reading?” and “How could a zombie outbreak be triggered to create the world-wide societal upheaval featured in most stories?” At that point I was positive no one else was ever going to write such a story, meaning it was my responsibility to make it happen. Challenge accepted. I overcame my abhorrence of words and writing (I are an engineer after all), and began piecing this thing together.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Mira Grant’s Newsflesh series was the first zombie series I read. And it was also the first time I had seen a first person narrative perspective executed that way. I really enjoyed the format. The story was an interesting take on the zombie genre, and above the story was “smart”.

What are you working on now?
I have some ideas for sequels that didn’t fit into the first book. It’s not that they are the throw away ideas, they just didn’t fit. So I’m using those as my starting points. I also really enjoy time travel stories, so I have my own twist on time travel in the works as well.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Kindlepreneur is a hub of information that branches out to a lot of other places (such as Awesome Gang).

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write your story for your own fulfillment. Don’t go in with the intent of making it big or even making money. If you do that you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If you’re going to do something, might as well do what it takes to be good at it.

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading Fire Season by VH Folland. It’s about aerial fire fighting, which is an incredibly dangerous task.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Slowly work on sequels and time travel.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Bible
FEED by Mira Grant
Leviathon Wakes by James S. A. Corey
In Times Like These by Nathan Van Coops

Author Websites and Profiles
Thomas Lockwood Amazon Profile

Thomas Lockwood’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a semi-retired scientist, originally a chemist but I have branched out. I left my government salaried job to start my own research company to support a joint venture to make a precursor to polyimide plastics. In my private business, I have had far more than my fair share of bad luck relating to finance, but with persistence, I am reasonably comfortable in my retirement and have taken up writing and self-publishing. I have written five scientific ebooks (of only specialist interest) and thirteen novels, which range from thrillers with a technical edge through to hard science fiction. In the plots, I try to primarily entertain and offer surprises, while keeping the action moving (I have noticed my writing tends to have a higher fraction of verbs than many) but in the background I try to illustrate some aspect of how science works, and illustrate some of the economic principles I have had to pick up through my life.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest published book is “The Manganese Dilemma”. This is intended as a thriller with an ending that most won’t guess before they get to it. The inspiration was from current affairs: “the dastardly Russians did it.” Part of the plot revolves around trying to find out exactly what they did.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know, but I don’t think so. There are so many writers out there with different approaches I think it would be hard to be really unusual. My basic approach is to plot first, but like in a battle plan, the first version is very heavily modified by the time I get to the end. One approach that might be different from most is that when I start I try to visualise a small number of scenes that will take place, and then work out how to join them.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Again, hard to know how much influence they had. When younger, I was keen on writers like Tolstoy, and Tolkein. From the science fiction point of view, K S Robinson and Michael Crichton have been popular with me, but I think in terms of influence, Fred Hoyle has had as much as anyone.

What are you working on now?
I have one further work in progress, which currently has a provisional name, “The Board”. I shall probably modify that because it is hardly inspiring. The inspiration for this is the current claims for the huge fortunes to be made from asteroid mining. Most people don’t realise that these claims for the metal content of asteroids come from techniques that measure the frequency of the element, but not what form it is in. Thus I saw one claim for 20% iron. That actually suggests a low iron content basalt. You try making your fortune from getting metals out of the average basalt.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is a question I need to be answered by someone else because my efforts so far more fold into the “be persistent” category than I have found a magic bullet. Unfortunately, the technothriller or hard science fiction tends to be more a niche market, and it is not easy to locate a place that suitable readers frequent.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be persistent and don’t expect miracles. Just do your best and persist.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Same as above.

What are you reading now?
“Rocket Men”. Non-fiction, but the story of those who were on Apollo 8. With a bit of luck, I can add authenticity to my current work.

What’s next for you as a writer?
At my age, I don’t make long-term plans. I shall continue doing what I am doing.

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?
Probably survival guides, but I assume that isn’t what you mean. I am not a great one for re-reading books, so I would have to think about this.

Author Websites and Profiles
Ian Miller Website
Ian Miller Amazon Profile
Ian Miller Author Profile on Smashwords

Ian Miller’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I grew up on the oft-forgotten Eastern Shore of Virginia. If you’ve ever read the book “Misty of Chincoteague” by Marguerite Henry, I was born 45 minutes south of the island where that book is set. I am currently a practicing veterinarian on the Eastern Shore of Maryland (same peninsula, different state) who writes fantasy as a hobby. I wrote the majority of my first book while attending veterinary school at St. George’s University in Grenada, West Indies, and completed it recently. As of today, I only have my debut novel, “The Dragon’s Rising”, but I have two that I am working on which occur in the same universe.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My debut novel is called “The Dragon’s Rising.” The original inspiration for the book came from a doodle which I drew on the back of an outline for a writing assignment in seventh grade: a longsword with a hilt in the shape of a black dragon. From there, I developed the idea of gathering together weapons of power. The main character, Falkier, and a secondary character, Swagin, both originated from my VERY rough first attempt to write a novel in middle school. I had many false-starts through high school and college before I actually committed to writing the novel that is now “The Dragon’s Rising”.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure how unusual it is, but I tend to try to put Easter eggs in my writing in the form of references to other works of fiction, like short stories and musicals. It doesn’t affect the story and is, for the most part, just to amuse and challenge myself to slip in a reference that isn’t distracting to the reader.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
As should be no surprise, most of my influences are more well-known fantasy writers. Robert Jordan’s “Wheel of Time” series was a favorite of mine in middle school and high school, and the Aes Sedai from those books influenced the Planesweavers in my book, as well as events which will occur in upcoming books that I don’t want to spoil. Christopher Paolini’s release of “Eragon” at age 19 inspired me to try to write my novel young but considering I’m only just releasing my first novel at 28 (the age Paolini was when the LAST book of his Inheritance Cycle series was published) I clearly didn’t finish in as timely a manner.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on two books in the same series as “The Dragon’s Rising”. One is the sequel to the book, which I am tentatively calling “The Dragon’s Flight” and the other is a novella I haven’t named yet which will follow the events that lead up to the mercenaries Jofalk and Swagin meeting Falkier early in “The Dragon’s Rising”. The novella is planned to show how the two mercenaries work as a team and elaborate on how they came to possess a valuable piece of loot.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Considering I’m only just now promoting my first book, I cannot be certain yet. I am hoping that creating channels by which people who enjoy my writing can contact me on Facebook or Goodreads will allow me to reach a wider audience. I am also trying to promote myself through doing a few questionnaire interviews like this one, which is a weird feeling for me since I really try not to impose myself on others.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
A guy with one book under his belt probably isn’t going to give the most sage advice, but my recommendations for others would be to write the story that comes to you and share it with someone who you think will appreciate it. In the dedication of “The Dragon’s Rising”, I recognize Toot, who was a groomer at the veterinary clinic where I worked from high school through veterinary school. After I shared my writing with her, she would talk with me during breaks about my story and her enthusiasm about it really got my creative juices flowing and allowed me to write roughly the first third of the novel over a single summer. The other person in the dedication, Claire, is my current significant other and she served a similar purpose in encouraging me to finish.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best writing advice I ever received was from Melanie Jo Moore. She’s a veterinary technician at the same animal hospital as Toot as well as the indie author of the memoirs “Letters to Young Chong”, “Tomato Stakes”, and “Mosquito Fog”. Once I tried to pick her brain about writing, she told me that the hardest part is just starting to put words on paper.

What are you reading now?
At this second, I am reading Naomi Novik’s “Temeraire” series and waiting on the next volumes of Brandon Sanderson’s “Stormlight Archives”, Sebastien de Castell’s “Spellslinger”, and Brent Week’s “Lightbringer” series.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Right now, the only goal I have for my writing is to finish out the trilogy that I’ve decided to write and break-even financially. If people really enjoy my story, then that’ll be the icing on the cake for me.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
If someone was nice enough to give me a choice of reading material before marooning me, my first choice would be a military survival guide to teach me how to survive. After that, I would want to have “Remembrance of Things Past” by Marcel Proust since it’s the longest book in the world and so would provide me with either many hours of reading material or a large supply of kindling to start a fire. After that, for pleasure reading, I would want a short story anthology so that I can have a varied reading experience.

Author Websites and Profiles
Nathan Ayersman Amazon Profile

Nathan Ayersman’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been living a double life for years.

By day I was a conservative, conventional U.S. Army officer and public high school educator.

At night I wrote short stories and worked on a very adult horror novel. Admittedly, I also produced lots of non-fiction feature article for publications, like Country Living, Military History, Career World, Canada’s History, and National Guard.

Now I’m retired so I can write all the time from our home in rural New England or our little summer cottage on the Maine coast where creepy ideas often arrive on foggy nights.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Prayers for Evil: A Novel

My concept for “Prayers for Evil: A Novel” began as a nightmare that I just couldn’t forget. The antagonist was so vivid, that I had to get him down on paper. Then I played with the possibilities. A short story idea became a novella, which finally grew into a novel, although I lost it twice on computer crashes (creepy, huh?) I hope readers have as much fun reading it as I did writing it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’d like to tell you that I have a regular writing schedule, but I’m a binge writer. In fact, my first published short story was written in one sitting, from nine o’clock to four in the morning after we put our babies to bed. I fear I’m a very poor example for young writers.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I adore all things Stephen King. I also love Graham Greene because of the moral complexity of his characters. Eric Ambler and Alan Furst spy novels are great for the twists and turns of their plots.

What are you working on now?
I’m actually writing a memoir about my days in the Army. The stories range from the humor of old-time basic training to the tragedy of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Awesome Gang, of course!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, read, and write some more! Don’t let the evil critic in your head cause you to second guess your talents.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
When you face opponents and obstacles in life, the best response is to be better, be tougher, be stronger than them.

What are you reading now?
Cuba Libre by Elmore Leonard

What’s next for you as a writer?
A best seller, I hope!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
– Honorary Consul (Graham Greene)
– Apt Pupil (Stephen King)
– Ulysses (James Joyce – maybe I could actually finish it!)
– The Vampire Lestat (Anne Rice)

Author Websites and Profiles
P.G. Smith Website
P.G. Smith Amazon Profile

P.G. Smith’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a psychotherapist located in St. Louis Missouri. I enjoy traveling, art, and writing. I have written 3 books, with more on the way.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest story is an Interplanetary Psychodrama. It follows the unfortunate events of a homeless man in the next century, and his run in with a prison stationed on Mars. It is called Edgar Phirst, An Interplanetary Pscyhodrama.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write best at coffee shops, but that’s not very unusual.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Agatha Christie, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Hunger Games

What are you working on now?
“The People’s Children” a book on social enterprise and community responsibilities to the children that are raised in them.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Haven’t found it yet

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep failing, I write mostly to learn.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Seek wisdom, no matter what the cost.

What are you reading now?
“The boy who was raised as a dog”

What’s next for you as a writer?
Find pockets of inspiration.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible, a field guide to surviving a desert island, and The Count of Monte Cristo

Geries Shaheen’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am the author of Virgo’s Carousel. I grew up in Seychelles and graduated at the University of Greenwich, London. It was not until 2017 that I decided to write short fiction and poetry for publication. I love to read various genres and expanding my consciousness.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Virgo’s Carousel is inspired by my zodiac sign. It is my very first poetry book. I was sitting in my car at lunchtime and I started writing poems to clear my thoughts. I haven’t stopped since.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I love to study people and write my poems with a flavour of their personalities. I’m also in my head a lot and I tend to be inspired when I’m in the shower. In any case, I always stop what I’m doing to pen down my ideas.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Sandi Lynn and J.M Coetzee! This is quite a contrast, I know!
I remember the first time I read Sandi Lynn’s books and thought they were absolutely brilliant. The way she owned the contemporary romance theme and served it on a plate of confidence. It was then that I was inspired to write my first manuscript ‘Isabella’ which is not yet published, although It is a work in progress. J.M Coetzee, well, I studied his work in Uni and fell in love.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on my second poetry book ‘Mercury’s Retrograde Poems’ which is a sequel to ‘Virgo’s Carousel’. This book is honest and dark, pushing the boundaries of communication and emotions.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
At the moment I use Instagram to connect with the writing community and Bookbub.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing! Even if you think the draft is stupid or yucky. Regardless, there is a reader out there who will resonate with your voice and the message you convey.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
‘Remember one’s self’. When you know who you are, it’s easier to break walls and make magic happen.

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘Never Let Me Go’ again.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I continue to write and promote my work within the community.

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?
Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘Never Let me Go’
Sandi Lynn’s ‘One Night in London’
J.M Coetzee’s ‘Youth’
Toni Morrison’s ‘A Mercy’.

Author Websites and Profiles
Judith Mooney Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m Pat Esden, the author of the contemporary fantasy Dark Heart series from Kensington Books, plus the Northern Circle Coven series. Both series take place in New England, where I am from. I love to write stories that are a little bit sexy and a touch dark. Besides being an author, I was a florist for many years (I’ve done flowers for close to four hundred weddings). I’ve also been an antique dealer since my teens. When I’m not writing, I’m most likely with my husband and Golden Retriever at an auction, checking out yard sales or messing in my garden.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
THINGS SHE’S SEEN is the second novel in the Northern Circle Coven series. The main character is Em who was the world’s youngest psychic. When the novel starts, she’s now in her early twenties, six months sober, and a new member of the coven. The inspiration for the story was my desire to write a novel about a young woman overcoming horrible obstacles while successfully staying sober and becoming even strong–plus finding love and the right HEA for her.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Hmmmm . . .I have a Spotify playlist for each novel. I often listen to the playlist when I begin writing for the day. But once I get into the flow, I shut Spotify off and write in silence.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
That would be a huge list. I read across genre, commercial fiction and literary novels. I love poetry. The first series I ever took out of the library on my own (probably in 4th grade) was the Wizard of Oz. I also was a huge fan of Grimm Fairy Tales as a child. Now, I read lots of paranormal romance, contemporary fantasy, as well as mysteries.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a new series. Honestly, I can’t breath a word about it yet. But I’m terribly excited.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m not sure if there is a best website. I think the best method is being yourself, and enjoying chatting with fans and other writers.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep pushing to be better. Never settle for quick success over producing the very best writing and novel you possibly can.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t listen to the head monkeys. Just keep going.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading THE ART FORGER by B. A. Shapiro

What’s next for you as a writer?
Ha, ha… I’m still not telling. The secret project shall remain a secret for now.

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 current project (you didn’t say it couldn’t be a work in progress), The Last Unicorn (I could read that book a million times and never get sick of it), and any book by Nora Roberts.

Author Websites and Profiles
Pat Esden Website
Pat Esden Amazon Profile

Pat Esden’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a nineteen-year-old teenage boy who lives in a small town in East Africa. Born in a middle-class family, I was one of those few children whose parents managed to take them to school. Ever since I was ten, I have always been fascinated by the Personal Computer. This somewhat led to my love for tech-related stuff.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Network Hacking for Starters. It is the second book I’m writing and it is about creating awareness on how personal computer networks can be broken into by hackers. The book also helps people gain knowledge on how they can secure their computer networks in this digital age.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes, I do. I usually start by writing down the book using good-old pen and paper. After I finish writing the book on paper, I then type it on my laptop. I know that just typing it all at once will be faster, but I feel like my ideas flow freely when writing on paper. Plus it makes me feel like I’m some classical writer.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The books I have written are non-fiction and draw a lot of influence from the Dummies books. I liked those books because they could make topics like Economics and Finance seem interesting and fun. Just like the Dummies books, I also try to write non-fiction that does not make the reader fall asleep out of boredom.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a book on ethical hacking as a whole. Unlike the previous books, will cover the entire topic on ethical hacking and not just a small section. I’m still a school going person and also lazy as hell but the book should be done after a few months with the proper motivation.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Whenever I publish a new book, I offer it for free after a few days to gain some reviews and feedback on the Amazon page. I highly recommend any new author to combine social media marketing with free offers, let everyone know it free only for a limited period. You won’t gain any cash but you will increase your rankings as people read your book.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I’m kind of a new author myself really. So if I was to offer advice to new authors, I would probably tell them not to give up on their first try. Success only comes to those who keep on trying when others have stopped.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I have ever heard? hmmm…… There is always something new to be learned every day, so go on your day to day activities with an open mind.

What are you reading now?
I have been reading political books of late. Currently, I am reading The Prince by Machiavelli

What’s next for you as a writer?
I plan to experiment with fiction in the near future. Maybe give science fiction a try.

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?
Twelve Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson
Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick
The River and the Source by Margaret Ogola

Author Websites and Profiles
Marcus Kyle Website

Marcus Kyle’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written about eight, but only three are published: The Eclipse Theater, Eternity, and Duality.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I’m writing a period piece called The Redhead Murders, which is based off true events. My latest published book is titled Duality, which is based off a bus accident where two college students Laura Van Ryn and Whitney Cerak had their identities mixed up. Everyone thought the dead one was Whitney and that Laura was alive, but it was the other way around.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Maybe it’s not a habit, but even if I write 5,000 words a day I still feel guilty that I haven’t written enough.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King, Ira Levin, William Peter Blatty.

What are you working on now?
The Redhead Murders, and I think next will be 100 Days Til Halloween.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
YouTube by far.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Practice not using dialogue tags, it helps you convey who’s who and helps give your characters their own voice, as well as helps you focus on the other stuff going on. Such as: Nick looked up from his desk. “What’s bangin?”

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t plot.

What are you reading now?
Misery, Lord of The Flies.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Hoping to do this full time, but baby steps. I’m on pace to make $300-350 for the year total between three books. That’s the sad reality for most of us self publishing, but it doesn’t have to be. My next goal is to make $1000 a year, then hopefully get to the place where I make $1000-2000 a month.

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?
Rosemary’s Baby, which is my favorite novel, then I’d probably bring with me 3 novels I’ve never read, just so I’m entertained. I don’t typically like to reread, but I’d bring along my favorite just so I know I’d have at least one good book.

Author Websites and Profiles
Nasser Rabadi Amazon Profile

Nasser Rabadi’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is my debut mystery novel. I have completed the second novel in draft form. My granddaughter is preparing a cover for me and I am proofreading the book before sending it for editing.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Mystique Adoption Agency. I saw either a writing contest or a writing prompt with this as a suggested topic. I saw it and couldn’t get it out of my mind so I started trying to write a short story and it sort of morphed into something bigger. My second book Mystique Baseball Tournament should be available by October 1st, 2019.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I use a laptop while sitting in front of my TV and write, usually later in the evenings. If I’m having a bit of writer’s block or struggling with the wording of something, I often add in knitting since it calms me.

This attempt at writing a novel started during a time when I was extremely stressed. Mystique Adoption Agency results from that stress.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have been most influenced by the writing of Iris Johansen, Kathy Reichs, and Nora Roberts fantasy series. Frankly, I will read almost anything that has even a bit of mystery to it. I’m not a romance reader.

What are you working on now?
A sequel, Mystique Baseball Tournament. I have also started on another book, it’s non-fiction and I’m planning to call it ‘Don’t trample on my Christianity’. I have a friend who believes that I’m not a Christian because I attend a traditional church.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Today is the first day of my marketing attempts. I have posted my mystery novel with Amazon and Inkitt.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
None at this time.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Have not received any advice to date.

What are you reading now?
Right now I’m reading several books. Book four of the Outlander series, a book by Susan McBride called the ‘Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, and finally Objection by Nancy Grace. Some books I am reading have come from Friends of the Library in my community.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Completing my next mystery novel. I was hesitant to work on another novel, a friend advised she wants to know what happens to my characters going forward.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The bible, the book I’m reading from the Outlander series, a Kathy Reichs novel, the final book by Evanovich or a Stephanie Plum book.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello,
My name is Sierra. Im a brain tumor survivor, of a rare brain tumor, known as Hypothalamic Hamartoma. It was removed at age 8. Anyways, I wrote my first book, which has been published and it talks about my experiences and hardships I faced with the tumor. It’s called Weird Girl With a Tumor and is available on Amazon. Please check it out! It’s my only book I wrote.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Weird Girl With a Tumor. It was written to talk about my past struggles and experiences with my brain tumor and after effects. Also, I wrote it to help others not feel alone if they experiences similar things like I have.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Not any that I know of.

What are you working on now?
Marketing my book and getting the word out.

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Have any thoughts? Good? Bad? Start writing!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To never give up.

What are you reading now?
Advice books.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To write another 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?
I’m not sure.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m Irish, have lived in Japan most my adult life, work as a wedding celebrant, teach English, and do NLP and hypnotherapy. This book is my first.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
‘Fukushima and the coming Tokyo earthquake: and what it will mean for fragile world economy’. I had already been working on a book called Bubble to Quake which detailed the period from 1980 to a future Tokyo Quake. That latter idea is consistent!

When the 2011 tsunami and meltdown happened I thought to add this to what I had already written, but soon realised a new book was necessary. Nonetheless the first two chapters and the description of Tokyo come from that earlier script.

What inspired the book? Well I lived through that period, know Fukushima well (my wife is from there), I know Japanese culture well, have access to information that isnt well known abroad, and thought I had a good book theme.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have no point of comparison. As my work is non-fiction, I like to gather lots of information, precis it down to the essence, put this ‘essence’ in folders on my desktop, whiz through it until I have the main ideas in my head , then start writing, preferably on a day when I have slept well and will be un-interrupted, as concentration is vital. Its a bit like juggling and keeping 20-30 balls up in the air. Later its cut and paste, thesaurus diving, reviewing, and then vicious cuts of anything that doesn’t add to the story. I also prioritise FLOW – making sure the text draws the reader along. Finally near the end its hunt the typos.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
well I’m generally a reader of non-fiction, though my reading these days is on the state of the world, in preparation for my next and final book. Robert Anton Wilson has been a big influence on my life, as has some of the attitudes and insights in NLP.

What are you working on now?
Preparation for my next book to be called ‘Inverting the Pyramid’ (subtitle will come to me as I write it). My focus for the last 12 years or so has been “what is the big picture?” and most of my reading revolves around that so: climate change, resource depletion, the end of cheap oil, neo-liberal capitalism, massive inequality, soil and water degradation ..lots more. The book will basically argue that we cannot continue with exponential growth and the pursuit of profit regardless of the damage we are doing to the planet. I believe the current economic paradigm does not fit 21st century reality. We need a new, sustainable paradigm. The pyramid of values at the moment places, nature, soil, water at the bottom, manufactured goods in the middle, and abstract ‘money’ such as CDOS, derivatives, fiat currency at the top of the pyramid. This needs to be inverted, in my opinion. Hence the books title . Theres lots more to it, but that’s a brief synopsis.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Good question. I don’t know. Though I’ll be doing a Goodreads giveaway soon. I find marketing much harder than writing.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Your book will take you far far longer to write than you can imagine (if you want it ultra-professional). Therefore you must have good theme and be prepared to do whatever it takes to get it as good as is humanly possible. Thats my motto: Whatever it takes.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Cant think of any now.

What are you reading now?
Societies beyond Oil by John Urry, and non-fiction ( rare for me) The Singapore Grip by J G Farrell

What’s next for you as a writer?
Try and finish this next book, maybe before I retire but if not when I moved from Tokyo to Europe. I’d like to then do presentations about the need for change, away from the very dangerous trajectory we are presently on.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Shakespeare, Robert Anton Wilson and Finnegans Wake ( I might have enough time for the latter!!)

Author Websites and Profiles
tony smyth Website
tony smyth Amazon Profile

tony smyth’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello from Texas!
I just released the third book in my Vital Secrets series (mystery/suspense), and also a tribute book of my father’s short stories and poems, called One Last Gift.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
List of Secrets is book three in the Vital Secrets series, and it basically is a scenario where there are several deaths, all looking natural or accidental, that are anything but.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I know a lot of authors tend to plot out arcs or beats. I tend to just sit down and get going for the most part. Because my first book had historical elements in it, I did research the location and time frame quite a bit prior to writing. But the others have pretty much ‘start typing and see where it goes’.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Ken Follett, JD Robb, and Frederick Forsyth are among my favorites. And of course, for classic, expertly woven tales of both psychological and mortal danger, Agatha Christie remains a huge inspiration.

What are you working on now?
I am juggling the main plot idea for book four of the existing series, but also fleshing out the first of at least three in a ‘second chance romance’ series that’s about to begin.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve only recently ‘gone wide’ with my works, so there’s a lot of testing left to do. But so far, I’ve found that Facebook along with strategic items such as Booksweeps and Bookfunnel are doing rather well.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
First, don’t be afraid to fail. I don’t believe I’ve yet met or talked with one single author that’s ever said they 100% did everything right, right off the bat. There’s a learning curve involved, to be sure, particularly for the self-published. You might not do everything correct, or in the right order, at first. Learn from those times, allow yourself some grace and keep trying.

Second, follow your passion and believe in yourself, always. There may be days you’re not motivated to write, or research, or edit, or some of the other tasks that are part-and-parcel of being an author. Do them anyway. Keep moving. You’ll thank yourself later. BUT – With that, also practice good self-care. Maintain a healthy balance.

Lastly – Get on some of the review sites out there (Bookbub, Hidden Gems, NetGalley) and use them – As a READER. Two reasons why:
1) It gets you very familiar with their processes, so that when the time comes to list YOUR books, you have an excellent feel of what to expect.
2) It just might, as it did for me, open your horizon to other genres you aren’t aware of or fluent in, that you might want to read or to create works in.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Stay true to your path up the mountain. You’ll be bombarded with advice and suggestions; some of it might sting, and you’ll have to decide if what they suggest makes the most sense for you and your journey. Network with others.

What are you reading now?
There’s one book I got just a bit into, then had to set aside. I fully intend to pick it back up again once I have time to devote my full attention to it as it deserves. It is “Pride’s Children”, by Alicia Ehrhardt.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Well, hopefully at least three more books in the Vital Secrets series as well as some success with the new romance series! We’ll have to see.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
WOW – That’s a hard one. Only 3 or 4? Hmm..
“And Then There Were None” – Agatha Christie
“Death on the Nile” – Agatha Christie
“Eye of the Needle” – Ken Follett
“Day of the Jackal” – Frederick Forsyth

Author Websites and Profiles
D.F. Hart Website
D.F. Hart Amazon Profile

D.F. Hart’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a 65-year-old (b 1953) retired Stanford trained physician, urologist, author, and speaker on physician burnout. My first novel is Pirates, Scoundrels and Kings, a fantasy/adventure work of fiction. Subsequent medical genre fiction works include Luger Rounds, 606 University, Sweet Amber, The Plumber and Huntsville. My most recent work is A Surgeon’s Knot, with a release date of 4/23/2020 by Black Rose Writing. I am the father of three grown sons and live with my wife Patrice in Temecula California. http://lynesonline.com

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
A Surgeon’s Knot byWilliam Lynes MD. I am inspired by memories, faces, and patients from my post-graduate urologic training at Stanford University Medical center.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am a hypomanic writer who has block for long times and then spits out the manuscript.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
John Grisham, Atul Gawande, Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, and Charles Dicken’s A Tale of Two cities.

What are you working on now?
A Surgeon’s Knot, pre-release activities

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
http://lynesonline.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Persistence, confidence, write about inspiring characters from your life.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Attention to details, Thomas A Stamey, MD

What are you reading now?
Atul Gawande’s Mortal

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am considering re-writing my first novel, Pirates, Scoundrels and Kings, in a serialized version.

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?
Tale of Two Cities, War and Peace, Grisham’s newest book, and The Making of a Surgeon by William Nolan

Author Websites and Profiles
William Lynes Website
William Lynes Amazon Profile
William Lynes Author Profile on Smashwords

William Lynes’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Well, I am a quiet girl who lives in the beautiful mountains of California. To date, I have written out the first draft for about eleven books, though only one have I ever self published. Two others I am hoping to get published traditionally, one of which is the first of a series. I have also written a handful of short stories, though those I consider more as fun experiments in my free time.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Shadow City, and it’s sequel, A Lonely Wind. Shadow city was inspired by a few things, including a dream I had about some of my earlier book characters becoming pirates.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, as far as I can tell.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Many, many authors have inspired me. Some of my favorites? Mark Twain, Christopher Paolini, Charles Dickens, Megan Turner…I could go on for a long time.

What are you working on now?
A third book in the Shadow City series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
None have work well for me so far, so I can’t really answer this question.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
It’s a hard world…keep trying.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
This is not an exact quote, but the best form of advice I have heard is to really get in to writing your characters. They can become alive, and they are what makes it all worthwhile.

What are you reading now?
Two years before the mast, by Dana. I got it looking for inspiration for the book I am working on now, as the series is about pirates and sailing ships.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Getting traditionally published.

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 first and foremost, then maybe a few books on edible plants and survival would be useful, if you were going to be there for a while. Heh, as to fiction, that’s a harder question.

Rachael Lucas’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in the wonderful town of Lawrence Kansas to two very supportive and creative parents. My childhood was spent going on fantastic adventures with my father, and it was he who helped nurture my imagination into what it is today. Some of the best years of my life I spent thinking up new worlds with my father, driving around with him going over ideas and new characters. All that I want is for my stories to be read by the world, so that they might inspire others to write their own stories and to realize that inside of us all are infinite universes filled with infinite possibilities.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Ineffable, and I was inspired to write it by my father who has always been my inspiration. We sit and talk about ideas, characters, and imagine all kinds of appended worlds together.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not too unusual, though I do often struggle with writers block and am easily distracted.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Douglas Adams, Asimov, Bradbury

What are you working on now?
Right now I am working on a post apocalyptic novel that follows a young man through a changed world full of danger, as he seeks to lead his people to a portal that will take them to paradise.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am still very new to the author world so I wouldn’t know where to start answering that question!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up. You will want to, and you will want to cry, and close your laptop or throw down your pen, but please don’t. Just take a deep breath and keep trying your hardest.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My father told me long ago to never let anyone convince me I was less than the person I know I am inside.

What are you reading now?
My favorite book, Thanks for all the fish, my Douglas Adams.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully getting my story promoted and known, money was never important. However getting my story read was always my goal.

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?
Douglas Adam’s Hitchhikers guise to the galaxy, Ishmael, One flew over the cuckoo’s nest, and The great gatsby!

Author Websites and Profiles
Raven Harris-Keim Amazon Profile

Raven Harris-Keim’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Born in Bremerton, raised in Port Orchard. Ian has aspired to be a writer from a young age. He currently resides in Eastern Washington with his family (not far from his original roots). His previous writing experience stems from a technical business writing background. His past projects include poetry, corporate processes, and ghostwriting. He has traveled all over the country and has lived in several states. None more beautiful than the State of Washington (according to Ian). He plans on spending the rest of his days in Washington. He enjoys spending time with his family and riding his Harley Davidson. Trips to Seattle and his original hometown occur once a year. “Hometown” is his first book with plans to author many more.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Hometown” – The Puget Sound Kids of the 1990s. Honestly, music inspired me to write literature. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest during the grunge era. I’ve always been fascinated by wit and emotional intelligence.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes, I do. Most authors organize or start with a plot. I prefer to put on the earbuds and go to town on my Google Chromebook. I also have a terrible habit of creating my book covers and titles before starting a book.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m a fan of William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway. They both have unique writing styles that have captivated me.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on my newest book entitled “Hang Em’ High” – Mass Shootings in America. This book is my latest attempt to call upon the empathy of our great Nation to stop Mass Shootings and acts of domestic terrorism. My heart bleeds for the victims and families recovering from such horrifying events.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m currently using Facebook, Twitter, Amazon.com, GoodReads, Google books, and LinkedIn.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes, use the Hemingway App and Novelist if you can. Further, when you get writer’s block, use this time to work on your cover, chapter names (TOC), etc. Don’t stop writing and don’t give up. If someone tells you that you can’t write a book, or calls you a dreamer, keep going, and if someone makes fun of you for trying to do something with your life, go even harder and accomplish your dreams.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You only have one life. Live as if there is no tomorrow.

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading “The Heroin Diaries” by Nikki Sixx.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My goal is to reach a larger audience and to keep writing and get better every single day.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
“As I lay dying” – William Faulkner, “For whom the bell tolls” – Ernest Hemingway, “The catcher in the Rye” – J.D. Salinger, and “The Great Gatsby” – F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Author Websites and Profiles
Ian Primmer Amazon Profile

Ian Primmer’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing since the age of six, but I’ve always had stories in my head. As long as I can remember, I’ve been a storyteller and a story finder. As a child, I almost never finished stories because I had too many ideas, and as soon as I fixated on one long enough to write the first few chapters, I would run out of plot or get distracted by the next one. My first book to reach completion was a short mess called “Talking Car Town”, which is exactly what it sounds like. It involved a dramatic plot to rescue the lost King of Cars, and I had five more highly formulaic books planned. However, I didn’t finish anything else until almost seven years later, when I developed some self-discipline and my writing really took off.

To date, I’ve completed four full-length novels, two shorter works, and the first two volumes of a four-volume epic fantasy. Weird fact about me: I love historical fiction but write fantasy.

Aside from writing, I’m a pianist and composer, and one of my favorite hobbies is to compose music for fellow author friends’ books (and mine, of course). I work at a dairy farm currently but have aspirations towards a library job.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My upcoming release is titled “The Journey”, or “The Journey”, Ceristen Series #1 when I want to sound original. Except for a few months in its early draft where it went nameless, The Journey has always been its name. It’s about journeys, inner and outer, more than anything else.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really. I stay up late, demand peace and quiet, play lots of music, and check my social media when I should be writing. I’d say I’m fairly standard.

Then again, I don’t drink coffee. That puts me off the charts.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
J.R.R. Tolkien’s thematic use of language and his world-building depth have left an abiding influence on me since I read Lord of the Rings at age 10. The first thing I did for my world was to (very inexpertly) craft a unique language for it. Nine years and several years of Latin and casual linguistic study later, it’s become seventeen languages, twenty countries, and innumerable cultural quirks that I could talk about for hours.

Rosemary Sutcliff, a lesser-known historical fiction author, is my true inspiration for writing style and character depth. If you haven’t heard of her, go look her up now. Her command of the English language is delightful, and her art of character portrayal phenomenal. More than any one author, she has shaped my writing to what it is today.

What are you working on now?
Lots and lots!

The epic fantasy mentioned above is just over halfway complete, with the third volume in progress. “Sorrow and Song” is a prototypical fantasy on many counts, with the big baddie in a tower, a quest (several!), and Artifacts of Great Power; but it also includes unusual elements such as mostly adult/middle-aged protagonists, and strong themes of personal growth that tend to outshine the main conflict.

I’m also writing a middle-grade fantasy on the side. Set in a country based off Phoenician/Arab culture, it explores the concepts of choices, misguided loyalties, and cross-cultural relationships.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I focus on networking. I love to connect with people, and I find that when I genuinely interest myself in their lives and aspirations, they are in turn eager to reciprocate the friendship, and often wind up checking out my book. I make sure that my name is out there for people to find when they need it, and I do a degree of outright promotion, but I prefer making things personal.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Stories take time to develop. Be cautious seeking criticism in the early stages; your story doesn’t know fully what it is yet, so how can your critics? Write your draft, go over it, let it alone for a little, come back, and see how your vision has altered and solidified. It’s your duty to know your own story best, so know it before you let the beta-readers and editors in.

(Of course, there are some editors who deal specifically with story development — developmental editors. If you’re having trouble actually developing your own story ideas, then by all means, get some concept help! I know a few amazing developmental editors who can send a story soaring.)

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Creative brains gotta create, even when it’s not convenient. Don’t annihilate your creativity; arrange and build around it. Some people will say if you’re really disciplined, you can just fight it… life is too short to tell your creative brain to sit in a corner.”

As an author new to the publishing and marketing life, these words from author Janeen Ippolito’s recent social media webinar mean the WORLD to me.

What are you reading now?
I don’t have any current reads. I just finished a fantastic book, “Oath of the Outcast” by C.M. Banschbach. If you like brotherhood stories, loyalty amidst false accusations, and good ol’fashioned adventure, do yourself a favor and check it out.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Completing some edits on Ceristen Series #2 and submitting it to my publisher. I’m excited to continue sharing my words with the world.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
For starters, the Bible. After that, well, I’d obviously have to take some Sutcliff… and once I was done picking from those, I don’t think I’d have any books left. I might be able to make an exception for Eloise Jarvis McGraw’s “Mara, Daughter of the Nile”, though.

Author Websites and Profiles
Verity A. Buchanan Website
Verity A. Buchanan Amazon Profile

Verity A. Buchanan’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 person who loves being creative and creating world, be it on paper, in games or via notepad++,
I’ve written (But not completed) a few free web-novels but ‘Back to Another World’ is the only book i really published, and I’m working on volume 2 as we speak!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
‘Back to Another World’
The book is inspired by generic stories about the hero who dies and appears in a fantasy world, while recently we have seen more deconstruction of this concept often to comedic effect, I wanted to explored the fact that surely this could evoke an existential crisis in a character, some may find comfort in potentially seeing loved ones again even after death, some may fear that their next world will be worse than the current one.
The the book the ability to remember that you are from another world is rare but exists, some remember multiple lives, others just one. This changes how one perceives the cycle of birth, death and reincarnation!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
We all know the line “Show don’t tell,” well as much as I stick to it, sometimes I’ll forgo the opportunity for comedic effect, for example.
“Yeah, I’ve played monopoly alone before, don’t worry about it.” He replied.
That was the single saddest thing Jerry ever heard.

Whereas in theory i should write it in a fancier way.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
All of J. R. R. Tolkien works, every isekai thing ever.

What are you working on now?
Volume two of the book!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Hoping for he best! *Crosses fingers*

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Start writing early, so you don’t have to worry about being homeless by the time you’re starting to write.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
FINISH A F*CKING BOOK

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading Kimetsu no yaiba, Dr. stone, the devil is a part timer and various typos in my book.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Volume 2!

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?
Four empty books so I’d have something to do on the island.
(And a pen, never mind, i’ll use charcoal.)

Bartosz Labuc’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is S.J. Maddock and I’m a first time author with a passion for witty prose and high-paced plots. I’ve written extensively but haven’t published any other work yet. If my first book is successful, I intend to make a 6-book series out of it, the detailed outline of which is already drafted.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest and first novel is called “The Cosmic Misfortunes of the Furious Ginger”, a book I had in me since childhood and essentially my take at the humorous science fiction adventure novel.

I’ve drawn inspiration from a variety of classic sci-fi sources. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is my favorite book as it combines elements of science fiction and sheer grotesque. I wanted to emulate what made the book a success while sprinkling some of the more classic science fiction tropes found in other sci-fi works (such as my other all-time favorites, Dune and Hyperion).

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My writing schedule is fairly standard for an indie author. I typically get back home from my day job at 7 in the evening, which allows me to put in two solid hours of writing. Over the weekends, I’d usually write double that amount.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
As I hinted at previously, Douglas Adams, Frank Herbert and Dan Simmons have been huge influence. Outside of the science fiction realm, I find Cormac McCarthy’s novels real masterpieces of style (especially Blood Meridian). I enjoy reading Dan Brown as well for his mastery of pace and cliffhangers.

What are you working on now?
The sequel to “The Cosmic Misfortunes of the Furious Ginger”!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As cliche as it sounds, building a newsletter is the most viable option when it comes to book promotion. At an indie author, that’s certainly where I’m aiming at!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read a lot. Identify a handful of novels that really strike a chord in you, and then read them many times, figuring out what you like about them and how to emulate them. And remember, stealing is ok, copying isn’t.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write as if nobody’s watching. Cauz nobody’s watching. Or in other words, let your imagination run wild.

What are you reading now?
Children of Ruin, from Adrian Tchaikovsky. I thoroughly enjoyed the first opus, Children of Time, winner of the Hugo Award and look forward to discovering where the author takes us on this original take of inter-species space travel tale.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Right now I’m fairly busy with the promotion of “The Cosmic Misfortunes of the Furious Ginger”, but I intend to begin writing the sequel soon thereafter, and then perhaps begin a new soft science fiction series.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Blood Meridian (for its re-readability), the Dune trilogy and the Bible.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a dedicated wife and mother who has devoted my life to Christ and has a passion for helping others gain a closer relationship with Abba. I’m a licensed Minister two times over and an ordained Elder. I have written six Christian books and have a non-profit for youth.
I have been writing since I was 8 years old, mainly poetry and short stories. I was born and raised in New Orleans.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
RUTH READY
I believe that God desires marriages to be healthy so I was led to write a book to women inspiring them to strive for healthy marriages where God is at the center of the relationship. That way we can have less heartbreaks and more stable homes.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Sometimes I have to sit in a quiet room before starting. I usually write with pen first before typing it up. Strangely, it has to be a gel pen.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My number one book would be the Bible, but I also love books by Priscilla Shirer, Lisa Harper, T. D. Jakes and John Maxwell.

What are you working on now?
Once RUTH READY is published and available, I’m going to re-print my other books that are out of print. I have learned a lot through self-publishing and need to keep my other books alive.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Social media has been a great outlet. I’m still learning about the promoting side.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t think to hard about it. Research as much as you can about publishing and marketing. Make sure you put yourself before the people and be creative, very creative!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Simply put, “Don’t Quit”

What are you reading now?
Believe it or not I’m reading a book titled, President of the whole 7th grade class by Sherri Winston

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have been contemplating a novel so that will probably be my next project.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
1. Bible (I will need to stay sane)
2. Any Time, Any Place (That’s my first book of prayers)
3. Survival Hacks
4. I would need something funny, but I’m not sure what book I would choose for that

Author Websites and Profiles
Kitty Arceneaux Website
Kitty Arceneaux Author Profile on Smashwords

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I love to write. It’s always been that way. And, I love spending time in nature. I followed my passion early on, gaining my degree in journalism. After working professionally in the corporate world as a writer for about 15 years, I moved on to freelancing. Seven years ago, I turned my passion for writing and nature into a website.
The site is filled with beautiful photos by my nature photographer partner, a variety of articles, personal stories, and suggestions about how to tap into the healing power of nature. My writing philosophy is to inform, persuade, and involve my readers.
I live near Seattle, favor writing in coffee houses, hanging out with loved ones, road-tripping, and savoring a glass of wine while enjoying the gorgeous view of the Cascade Mountains from my deck.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
How to Make Every Day a Walk in the Park is my first book. It evolved naturally as my next step after the creation of my Nature Me website. I was passionate about helping people cultivate their own powerful connection with nature. The book offers readers practical and simple ways to incorporate nature into their daly lives, ultimately, having a positive effect on their well-being.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I often write when I’m out in nature. It’s when I get my greatest inspiration. I always keep a journal with me and many times the story is written before I get home.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve always been an avid fiction reader, but for the last 10 years, I’ve focused on the personal growth genre. Deepak Chopra, Caroline Myss, Wayne Dyer, and Elizabeth Lesser are among the many that have influenced my journey.

What are you working on now?
My next book–another list of empowering ways to connect with nature. Only this one is for kids. My working title is: Growing Green Roots: 101 ways Empowering Ways for kids to connect with nature. (It’s targeted for parents and grandparents)

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My website is Natureme.net and offers all of the details about my work and my books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Since I’m a new author myself, my best advice is simple. Keep on writing by developing a daily or weekly writing habit. Start small and build upon it. Five minutes per day or five hours per week can add up very fast.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
There is a great quote by Mark Twain that is an amazing productivity tip. Paraphrased he said that if you eat a live frog first thing in the morning, you can have the satisfaction of knowing that it was most likely the worse thing that would happen that day. Productivity coaches tell you to schedule your “eat the frog” first thing in the morning. These are usually your biggest, most important tasks that you often procrastinate about. When I actually schedule a task in my planner as “Eat the frog,” it works every time.

What’s next for you as a writer?
For the last five years I have led urban nature walks in the Seattle area with my daughter. From that experience, I’m compiling a walking guide for approximately 25 neighborhoods in Seattle. It’s full of interesting routes, urban nature, things to see, and distinct neighborhood vibes.

Author Websites and Profiles
Rebecca Bailey Website
Rebecca Bailey Amazon Profile

Rebecca Bailey’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I like cats.
And rain.

I started writing in 2005 when my exhusband started living with someone else. I was drunk and slamming Twilight one evening and a friend challenged me to write something better.
So, fueled up on loathing, BTVS, and whiskey Dylan Hart was created. The series spanned 6 books, 2 dimensions, and hit a few bestsellers lists. Dylan Hart herself even topped a Bustle list for Badass Female Characters.
Since, I’ve started the Prudence Penderhaus series, written for anthologies, remarried, bought a house, and started an art and design company focusing on publishing.
It’s been a hurricane but I’m not done yet.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
19 Marigold Lane, which was inspired by 17 Marigold Lane, the first book in the Prudence Penderhaus series.
Way back in 2015, I had an idea to write a Rear Window-esque type story about a teenage girl who didn’t fit in and would otherwise go unnoticed.
It didn’t end up a Rear Window-esque type story, but one about a teenage outcast nonetheless.
I wanted to represent teens that I thought were previously underrepresented or poorly represented. Not just the outcasts, but the shunned, the bullied, the freaks. Then I put them in a typical murder mystery type story because why the hell not?

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I complain a lot. Mostly to myself.
Is that unusual?

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
Oh, the Places You’ll Go.
Pete the Cat.

What are you working on now?
Prudence Penderhaus book 3, aptly named 21 Marigold Lane.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
There isn’t just one. It’s definitely a village. I think the best way to get your book into the hands of readers is someone they trust telling them to read it. Word of mouth is your best friend.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be a d*ck. Readers don’t like it. Other authors don’t like it. You will be burned at the proverbial stake.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Loose is fast and on the edge of out of control. – Harry Hogge

What are you reading now?
I have a few books started but not completed. I can’t read more than one at a time, yet here I am with 5 books open.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have a few projects always open and never finished. I hope I’m not the only one.
Prudence Penderhaus is still two books from complete, so I suppose I should finish that series.
Books have never really been the end game. The goals have always been screen. I’ll get there, but for now, looks like I’ll be spending my foreseeable future in Flintlock.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The first that came to mind was Bloody Bones (Anita Blake). I think that’s the one book I’ve read more than twice. I’m not one for reading a book more than a few times. I’ve memorized the words, and unlike movies and music, I’m the only saying them in my head. Maybe it’s not the books I don’t want to hear more than once, it’s my own head-voice.
What was the question?

Author Websites and Profiles
R.M. Gilmore Website
R.M. Gilmore Amazon Profile

R.M. Gilmore’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve always loved writing, and I’d completed three novels but had never felt compelled to share any of them. This last year, I started on “Veneration of the Hunter”, and upon its completion, I knew it was time to share my work – to finally take the step.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Veneration of the Hunter” is my first published novel. It was inspired by the brutality of nature and by Colorado. I was driving between Castle Rock and Colorado Springs, and while I was admiring the scenery, I began to characterize Mother Nature – I did not picture her as a loving deity.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I mimic my characters and it does not matter if I am in the privacy of my home or in public. I will act out scenes, make faces in the mirror, imitate specific sensations or actions – it doesn’t stop, and I am sure I’ve worried my family and my neighbors.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My greatest influences are Andrzej Sapkowski, Neil Gaiman, Harper Lee, and Edgar Allan Poe.

What are you working on now?
I am working on the second novel in the Veneration trilogy – I can’t wait to share it!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am using a multitude of websites to promote, but I feel the best method of promotion is through word of mouth – gotta get the book in the hands of loyal readers who will openly share their experience with others!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Finish the book. Don’t rely too heavily on how – just do you. Expel that word vomit on the first draft and then paint with it until you have a masterpiece. You can do it!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t worry about word count and don’t force it. The story will know where it needs to end.

What are you reading now?
I just finished “Whispers in the Depths” by C.W Briar – loved it.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Writing. A lot of writing. It will never end, and I am just fine with 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?
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, The complete works of Edgar Allan Poe, one of the Witcher books by Andrzej Sapkowski, and a sketchbook.

Author Websites and Profiles
Ren Behan Website
Ren Behan Amazon Profile

Ren Behan’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an avid reader and writer of all things romance. I’ve published ten books, written a total of twelve with four more outlined and waiting patiently for their stories to come to life. I’m currently writing a seasoned romance series and another series set in a winery in the Finger Lakes Region of New York.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Blue is my most recent release it was the third book in an antique wedding dress trilogy. The old saying, something Old New, Borrowed and Blue all fit the story line so the book titles were launched.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have a great memory so I write in my head a lot and then jot it down as soon as I have the means. I think my brain is always in creative mode.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Carolyn Keene from the Nancy Drew books- Nancy was such as fearless girl. I still own the entire series. I also love Nora Roberts and her J.D. Robb series. I read so many authors and in one way or another they all influence me.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently editing a seasoned romance about a matchmaker and I’m writing book 2 in my Crystal Lake Series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I try to blanket social media as best I can but I’m a social media basket case. I’m not very good at it. I’m still learning. I love to go to book events and meet and talk to readers. That is a lot of fun.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep writing and find a great editor they are worth their weight in platinum. I have finally found an editor who I love and work well with, she challenges me. Also the other tip, great a tough critique partner. Mine is tough and we’ve become great friends. She has definitely helped push me to better books.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
At some point you have to stop editing or you’ll edit the heart out of the book. Your next books is always better than your last.

What are you reading now?
Judith Hudson, Fortune Bay book 1

What’s next for you as a writer?
Publish my next series

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Nora Roberts- The Three Sisters Trilogy
Agatha Christie- Ten Little Indians

Author Websites and Profiles
Lucinda Race Website
Lucinda Race Amazon Profile
Lucinda Race Author Profile on Smashwords

Lucinda Race’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is joshua alvins and i live in Kenya. I mainly sell public doman books that were hits back then but I have written one book. Dr SKETCH: The last rainmaker.When i am not writing I am either reading a book, travelling, attending boot camps and make up stuff from electronics.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book was Dr Sketch and it was inspired by a trip down memory lane. I remembered the first time that i drew something presentable when i was eight years old. It was a sci-fi jet. I remember wishing that it could come to life and imagining what i could do with it. When i remembered this drawing, I got the inspiration for the book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Rick Riordan, James Patterson, H.G Wells and David Baldacci

What are you working on now?
A dr sketch remake and its second book.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
awesome gang .com and reviewers.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I am still new in the field and I dont think i am that experienced to give advice.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“the problem with us is that we want others to be perfect but ourselves to be understood with our flaws”

What are you reading now?
Kane chronicles

What’s next for you as a writer?
May be script writing for shows

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,diary of a wimpy kid, the whole truth.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a free spirit, psychic, introvert, gypsy-at-heart and love talking about myself in third-person. Most of all, I believe our stories have the power to heal. My desire is to heal the world one woman, one book at a time. I am The Write Your First Book Coach for aspiring female non-fiction authors, a healer, international bestselling author, and founder of Awaken Inner Goddess. I am on a mission to help unconventional women coaches get their first book out of their soul and into the world in 3-6 months. My story was featured in the book by New York Times bestselling author Mark Anastasi, about how inspiring women escaped the 9 to 5 grind and became successful entrepreneurs. I am the co-author of an international bestseller Rising Above and a bestselling author of “Leap Afraid”. My spiritual home is in Edinburgh.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My most recent soul baby titled “Leap Afraid” is the quest of a single woman who beat all odds and survived the unimaginable. A few years ago I contracted a potentially life-threatening illness, lost my job and found myself homeless. To top it all off, this is when the love of my love abandoned me and unceremoniously walked out of my life at the time when I needed him the most. I was under a quarantine for a month. Worst yet, none of my family members visited me during that time. I was in so much physical and emotional pain I was numb from suffering. This is when I decided that there’s a reason for all this suffering. I completely transformed my life inside out and went from being unemployed to making $7k within a few short months, I went from being told my English wasn’t “good enough” to publishing two bestselling books within a space of little over a year and have since started my own coaching business teaching unconventional, spiritual women coaches to write and publish their first non-fiction book in 3-6 months.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I usually don’t get out of bed to… write. I’m a self-confessed lazy bum. I have a long-winded morning routine as I meditate, journal and do pilates before I sit down to write. I then top it off with a shot of espresso downed with dark chocolate as the two get my creative juices flowing. I have written some of my best content while on the road, in a tiny, cosy cafe in suburban Tunisia, in a smoky seafood restaurant conveniently tucked away between the sea and high-rise mountains of Montenegro. I always have a little notebook of BIG ideas by my bedside along with a pen for when my “spiritual team” attacks me with the lines for my next bestselling book. I often catch myself scribbling ideas on my mobile and then save it either as a text, or a memo and then send as an email to myself to copy and paste into my book. I am 83% introverted but dictated and recorded parts of my book as even though I’m an impressive typist, my fingers can’t always catch up with my thoughts. I write at least 100 words a day (most days a lot more) at the same time every day but do it with religious devotion.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Mike Dooley, the author of “Leveraging The Universe” has an uncanny ability of presenting universal principles in a very practical and down to earth way. He weaves wit, wisdom and mischief into his teachings in a way that most authors can’t. From the time I could read and write, and especially after I got a copy of Anne of Green Gables in my little hands, I knew I wanted to become an author. The character I use a combination of good, old fashioned reviews and built a book launch team consisting of 60+ people ready and willing to share their honest review. I then use book promotion sites, such as this one and run paid ads on platforms, such as Amazon. I find that while running free promotions helps with rankings it does very little to boost sales. I teach my clients to not rely solely on the sales from the books alone but to have systems and structures in place that bring in consistent leads and clients. Anne Shirley was a personal hero of mine. She was an out-of-the-box thinker. An outsider. A dreamer. She was an orphan. She was highly imaginative and eager to please. Besides, nobody wanted her. I thought we could be friends.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on a part of the series, “Leave Afraid” (as a continuation of “Leap Afraid”) on resolving relationship indecision once and for all and walking away from anything or anyone that no longer grows us, serves us or makes us happy. It is based on my own experience of being stuck in relationship indecision with the constant on-again, off-again and calling off my engagement after being in a committed relationship for 7 years.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use a combination of good, old fashioned reviews and build a book launch team consisting of 60+ people ready and willing to share their honest review. I then use book promotion sites, such as this one and run paid ads on platforms, such as Amazon. I find that while running free promotions helps with rankings it does very little to boost sales. I teach my clients to not rely solely on the sales from the books alone but to have systems and structures in place that bring in consistent leads and clients so they can then re-invest back into ads to promote their books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Consistency is key. Singers sing. Actors act. Writers write. You can’t become a published author unless you write daily and consistently. As a first-time author, the very first negative feedback you receive will hurt the most, after a while you develop a thick skin. Some readers will leave a one star review just because your religious or spiritual beliefs don’t align with theirs, yet others simply because your book didn’t resonate with them. You are not everyone’s cup of tea and can’t please everyone. It’s a good thing. If you are not polarising people you don’t have an opinion. Most importantly, don’t give up and keep mastering your craft. I learnt how to write by posting daily on Facebook.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t make the same mistake twice. Make a new, better one. Or, my all time favourite: “”Do one thing every day that scares you” by Eleanor Roosevelt.

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading a fiction book “The Seven Lives Of Grace” by Elena Shelest that I have been asked to review. Grace Ainsworth leads sufficiently fairy-tale-free existence as a legal file clerk in rainy Seattle. But her orderly life is about to change when a mysterious package arrives from her eccentric Aunt Louise. Named the next “carrier of the gifts”, she has only one week to sort through her supernatural inheritance or lose it all. It’s finally her chance to get her dream job and maybe even her prince – if she doesn’t screw things up. But that “Happily-Ever-After” plan soon turns as ill-fitting as the pair of disagreeable high heels she’s forced to wear. As she blunders through unpredictable magic, it challenges her beliefs, uncovers the wounds of her past and throws unexpected foes her way. A perfect mixture of feel-good vibes, intrigue, clean romance, and a pinch of magic. Empowering book for all ages.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am planning on writing and publishing many more books. I’m an avid reader and can’t believe I actually get paid to read and write. It is my passion and mission in life to teach first-time female authors and coaches how to write and publish transformational books in 3-6 months so they can get fully booked with soul, high-end clients, exponentially grow their empire and embark on a round-the-world, never-ending adventure. The more I learn the better I can serve them. I believe our stories have the power to heal and transform the world. I live and breathe books and it is my calling to help other women make their dream of one day writing a book a reality.

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 Science Of Getting Rich” by Wallace Wattles on those scorching summer days, “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill while having a bubble bath, “Emergence” by Derek Rydall before bed and “Leap Afraid” my very own book as I don’t take myself seriously.

Author Websites and Profiles
Sandra Stachowicz Website
Sandra Stachowicz Amazon Profile

Sandra Stachowicz’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I come from Poland, a country where people from ages struggle and fight for freedom. The pursuit for liberty is deeply in our blood. Presently, freedom means more: not only being an independent nation but also happiness, wealth and health. Especially among young people there exists “American Dream”, however, they often forget about other important aspects of life like family, relations and health in general. So was my case…

Today I can say that I’m a happy guy profiting from living a calm and happy family life, growing kids. I love spending time with my family, pets and enjoying small things.
I am able to find a healthy balance between my private and professional life. I have been working for multinational as a marketing manager in the retail industry.
As a 43-year old man, I have experience not only in business but in self-help and personal transformation area as well — life balance.

So I become an author
So far, I have written two books:
“7 effective skills to boost your life energy: Guide to relieve stress, clear your mind, and recharge.” And “Your First 5K Run: A complete beginner’s guide from the couch to the first 5K run.”

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Your First 5K Run: A complete beginner’s guide from the couch to the first 5K run”.

About 5 years ago, I was feeling really bad. I was totally overwhelmed in my professional life and almost ruined my family relations. So I knew I had to change many things starting from myself, so I began to run. Running gave me the confidence to change my life. The book is based on my story and is addressed at guys like me, but not only who want to change.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I prefer writing early during my morning routine. I got inspired by Hal Elrod and his “The miracle morning”. It really works…

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Hal Elrod “the Miracle Morning”
Pat Flynn “Will it Fly”
Yuval Noah Harari “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow”
Daniel Kahneman “Thinking Fast and Slow”

What are you working on now?
I am accompanying audio and video materials for my two books.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Awesome Gang hopefully I’ve just started and looking for good recommendations and potential coops with Authors

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Starting with a good plan and working step by step, ex. Book, cover, blurb, website, etc.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Live your life just now!

What are you reading now?
TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking by Chris Anderson
And starting “Superfans” new book by Pat Flynn.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Put my professional experience into new books in the category of marketing.

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?
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Dafoe
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography by Walter Isaacson

Author Websites and Profiles
Tomasz Tomaszewski Website
Tomasz Tomaszewski Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a poet from central Pennsylvania. I’m a 27 year old mother of three, studying Psychology and English literature. I’ve been writing for a great deal of my life but published my first collection in 2016. Since then, I’ve written and published four poetry collections, two chapbooks, and one nonfiction book on time management.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book that I’ve published is “of honey & heartbreak” which is a poetic collection focusing on the balance between healing and hurting. It’s a collection that I’ve been compiling for a while. Writing has always been my way of dealing with any sort of trauma, so I think that you can see some of those instances in this collection.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know that I have any unusual writing habits, per se. When I have the urge to write, I usually write a lot, but I go months sometimes where I really don’t write anything.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Anne Sexton, Julia Mallory, Richard Siken, Margaret Atwood, Silvia Plath, Charles Bukowski, and e.e. Cummings.

What are you working on now?
I’m juggling a couple different projects right now: two children’s books, a poetry chapbook, and a collection of essays on motherhood.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
So far, I’ve found a lot of success utilizing Facebook for promoting my books. I’ve made a lot of connections with some influential people in my local communities and that helps, I think.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, even after you receive that first rejection notice. Continue writing, even after the one hundredth rejection notice. Keep writing and keep consuming new work. Read, write, repeat.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Do not edit as you write.

What are you reading now?
I am reading a few different things right now, Alex Cross’s Trial by James Patterson & Richard Dilallo, The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon, and carys by Mariah Johnson.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m actually preparing to embark on writing a novel. I have never written one but have been narrating stories in my head since I was a little girl.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
This is always so difficult. I think I’d have to take Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling, Crush by Richard Siken, Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kelsi Rose Website
Kelsi Rose Amazon Profile

Kelsi Rose’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a public librarian living near NYC, with two books (“Where Do the Children Play?” and “In Elysian Fields”) published between October 2018 and July 2019.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“In Elysian Fields,” a love story between a famous American ball player and a brilliant female poet, was inspired by Malamud’s “The Natural,” Leigh Montville’s bio of Ted Williams, Millier’s bio of Elizabeth Bishop, and John R. Tunis’ “The Kid from Tomkinsville”

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, I try to write every day and work on more than 1 project at a time

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Thoreau / Walden
Gaddis / The Recognitions
Samuel Beckett’s Collected Works
Flannery O’Connor’s Collected Works
Thomas Bernhard / Gathering Evidence
Robert Coover / Universal Baseball Association

What are you working on now?
I’m on the second draft of a sequel to my first novel, am working on a longer novel, and a book length poem about 60s music

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Word Press author website www.thome2040.com
Facebook author page Tom’s Books
Instagram account

Do you have any advice for new authors?
read read read write write write

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t write until you can’t not write (William Faulkner)

What are you reading now?
Theft, a novel by BK Loren
The Recognitions by William Gaddis
Pierre by Herman Melville

What’s next for you as a writer?
I hope to begin a collaboration with a fellow writer on a screenplay for my first novel

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Walden
Complete Poems of Thomas Hardy
I Can’t Go on I’ll Go on, an anthology of Beckett’s writings
The Bible (KJV Red Letter Edition)
Leaves of Grass

Author Websites and Profiles
Tom Evans Website
Tom Evans Amazon Profile

Tom Evans’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing stories way before I knew how to write. I think we all as children try to make sense of the world around us – to understand ourselves and others, their situations and perspectives – to see the world through their eyes. Life took me in a different direction as I went on to study business. But after I completed my graduate degree, I went back to my passion for writing and decided to make it my life (as it already was anyway). And so I became a writer, making tiny attempts to shape feelings and moments into words. A few months ago I published my first book, a poetry collection.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Moonhold” is the name of my debut poetry collection. The name refers to how the waning is always held by the waxing (even if we can’t see it). The story is about holding space for love and life through all of its changing phases; holding heartbreak with hope. Spirituality is a big part of my life and poetry is in many ways the verse of mysticism because of its introspective, unnamable feeling nature. This inspired my interest in poetry. It’s always been challenging to express myself in shorter sentences as I usually philosophize everything – and so I wanted to experience myself in a new way as poetry; in the moving stillness, in the intimacy of silence, and the mysticism of the poetic art. The book is about life and perspective. Life expands and withdraws in its chest like breathing, like the ebb and flow, like love and like us. I wanted to portray that in the book’s story.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I usually imagine everything as movie scenes. And I always have a pen and paper near the bed because I’ve always had lucid and vivid dreams.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My biggest inspiration and influence have always been folklore and tales. I’ve lived across three continents and have always loved storytelling from around the world – there is so much wisdom we can gain from the ancestors. My influences in school were Shakespeare, Hemingway and Fitzgerald. Few years ago I read poems by Ocean Vuong and he was my greatest inspiration and influence for poetry. Nowadays I mainly read spiritual and esoteric texts.

What are you working on now?
I am working on starting my blog and on my second book!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I post poetry and prose on my Instagram account @lubomirakourteva and on my Official Author Website https://lubomirakourteva.com where I will start my blog. I am using various websites for promotion and I am writing articles sporadically for different publications just to get my name out there. Basically I am focused on expanding my reach and network – so that I give people the opportunity to just know my book is out there if they’d want to read it. Promotion is hard because it requires a lot of time and work. It can also feel a bit draining because sometimes I feel like it takes away from my creative process; the focus on the promotion versus me just writing and being inspired – but I do the best that I can. And I trust that my book will reach the hands of those it’s meant to.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and embrace not knowing. It’s hard to trust ourselves and share openly – some people will like it and others will not. Vulnerability requires great depths of courage. But just start – and trust that those who resonate with your voice with offer you kindness and support. Even if it touches the heart of one person – that’s all that matters. We all have stories to tell and all of us have something valuable to contribute. Nothing is ever too small. There is a famous quote, “For the true creative, there is no poverty.” There is beauty in the ordinary – so don’t feel you need to go through something specific to “write”. All in life has meaning and depth if we look closely enough. And sleep! Sleeping is a very important creative aphrodisiac! Daydream, get bored, procrastinate – do it all. It all has its purpose so never be too hard on yourself.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Not to be too hard on myself. I too am human and make mistakes – so what? As a Buddhist monk told me, “We are all dependent on the same Emptiness.”

What are you reading now?
Actually nothing. I am focused on writing my second book and need to keep my mind clear.

What’s next for you as a writer?
A lot of writing ahead – both my blog, website, freelance and my second 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?
The Great Gatsby
Selected Stories by O’Henry
The Little Prince

Author Websites and Profiles
Lubomira Kourteva Website
Lubomira Kourteva Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Lafayette A. Johnson Jr., Ph.D.
In Creative Writing, Literature, and English
I’m Liberty Dendron
I’m L. A. Johnson Jr.
I write as I see it, with comments, suggestions, and helpful examples where needed. Creative Writing is my specialty. I evaluate my thoughts and use them to find my voice, and a way to make my story shine. Even a Ph.D. author needs a fresh point of view after reworking their chapters several times. Sometimes I am too close to the action on the pages, and a fresh view of my plot and characters makes everything fall into place.
I’ve written over ninety books.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Tell Me A Story Papa

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I improve my ideas, sometimes with words; and sometimes with pictures.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
none

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
https://www.mambabooks.com

Author Websites and Profiles
L. A Johnson Jr. Website
L. A Johnson Jr. Author Profile on Smashwords

L. A Johnson Jr.’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a teacher and have been working with children for many years. I’m also a graphic designer and like creating bright and cheerful pictures for children’s design. Recently I’ve written and illustrated my first book “Woodland hide and seek”. I enjoed every minute of the process just because it was the way to combine both my passions together.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Woodland hide and seek” is my first book. I was inspired by nature, diverse and sometimes mystical woodland life that is always of great interest to children.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I just can’t write my poems at home. I always go anywhere (cafe, park, etc.) to write them.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Julia Donaldson, Eric Carle, Dr. Seuss and many others

What are you working on now?
Currently I’m working on the “Woodland activity book”

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Unfortunatelly, I don’t have a lot of experience in book promotion

Do you have any advice for new authors?
As a new author myself, I would like to get a piece of advice from someone experienced)))

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never give up (as simple as it may sound)

What are you reading now?
I’m rereading “The Moomins” by Tove Jansson (to my mind it’s the best book ever written)

What’s next for you as a writer?
I would like to write and illustrate the whole series of “Hide and Seek” books

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would take “The Moomins”

Author Websites and Profiles
Sasha Bozhbova Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a Johannesburg born author who has currently (up until August 31st) published 13 works including three anthologies. I live in Johannesburg with my best friends, our six dogs and our two cats.

Growing up I have always loved writing and have always wanted to be a published author but only published my first book, Ensnared, in 2017.

Since then I have been persevering in becoming a well-known horror author in the indie community.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I have two books about to come out that I am proud of. The first is Belladonna which is set to release on September 15th and it was inspired by a cover I saw on Facebook. Initially, I wanted to write a government conspiracy type of story but my characters had a plan all their own.

Buried was also inspired by a cover I bought, however, I didn’t feel like it was going to be any good when I first plotted it out. The more I wrote it, though, the more excited I got and I soon realised it was going to be the best work of horror fiction I have written to date.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know what you would count as unusual but sometimes I argue with my characters, I’m prone to yelling at my computer screen while my best friend stares at me curiously. (Not in horror because she is also an author)

I also cannot write without my write foot tucked between my left calf and the chair. It’s just really comfortable for me and it’s how I prefer to sit when I write. When I’m not writing I don’t sit like that at all, in fact I generally sit with both legs tucked under the chair when I’m not writing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I would definitely say that the two authors that had the biggest influence over me are Stephen King and Anne Rice. Both authors I have loved from a young age. My sister first introduced me to Stephen King when I was learning to read and I have been a fan ever since with my favourite book being Bag of Bones. Anne Rice was something I asked my sister to buy in the spur of the moment and The Witching Hour has been my favourite book by her since.

What are you working on now?
Right at this moment, I’m working on a book called Hex. It follows the story of a woman who helped kidnap a baby and years later has to return to town because her mother has passed. She doesn’t think she’ll be caught but strange things start to happen and she wonders if someone knows the truth, or if something otherworldly is after her.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Lots of hard work and a lot of websites. I don’t believe in just going to one site and being like BOOM I’m done. I post on average in 150 facebook groups, 15 at a time hourly, on a daily basis. And that is just facebook. That’s not including all the other websites I use to market my books, for free.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Absolutely. I would like to quote JK Rowling for this one.

“You cannot live life without a measure of failure unless you live so carefully that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you fail by default.”

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My favourite advice that I have heard is from Ashleigh Giannacarro who loves to say: Reviews are for readers, not authors.
Write, just write. Don’t go back and edit. You can do that once you’ve got down all the words.

What are you reading now?
I just finished a collection of Short Stories by John Wordsmith and am deciding what to read next.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Next, I have Comic-Con Africa coming up in September which is huge for me! It’s the biggest event in my country for authors and I’m proudly part of it, and part of a panel spotlighting my work so I hope to see a lot of South African fans there.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
To Kill a Mockingbird
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
The Book Thief

Author Websites and Profiles
Sian B. Claven Website
Sian B. Claven Amazon Profile

Sian B. Claven’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Dina Rae lives with her husband, two daughters, and three dogs outside of Dallas. She is a Christian, avid tennis player, movie buff, teacher, and self-proclaimed expert on several conspiracy theories. She has been interviewed numerous times on blogs, newspapers, and syndicated radio programs. She enjoys reading about religion, UFOs, New World Order, government conspiracies, political intrigue, and other cultures. Crowns and Cabals is her eighth novel.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Crowns and Cabals was inspired by today’s politics and Biblical prophecy. The story is a fictional account of how some Americans might react to a global takeover.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to write in notebooks by hand. There is something about it that keeps the writer’s block away.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I LOVE George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Graham Hancock, Stephen King, and Joel Rosenberg. Suzanne Collins and Brad Thor are also favorites.

What are you working on now?
I wrote one nonfiction book back in 2014 called Big Pharma, Big Agri, Big Conspiracy. I am writing a follow-up. It will be about the healthcare scam in the U.S.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Awesome Gang of course! I have had great luck with Goodreads too!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice to new writers is simple. Keep on writing! Also, READ! A well-read author begins to analyze why they like certain books and really pays attention to the craft of it all.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Hands down no contest-“On Writing” by Stephen King! Also, watch your POV! It’s easy to get tripped up on who tells the story.

What are you reading now?
I just finished Stephen King’s Dr. Sleep, and just started The Spider and the Stone by Glen Craney.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to try writing some YA and a mystery.

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 would do it, but I always wanted to read War and Peace. Maybe I would take the dictionary and a herb/root/healing book for reference.

Author Websites and Profiles
Dina Tosto Website
Dina Tosto Amazon Profile

Dina Tosto’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

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

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Kertamen. I had noticed that quite a few people were alleging via social media that there may have been a conspiracy in the Scottish Independence Referendum, so I think that inspired me to starting thinking about Kertamen.

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

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I think that George MacDonald Fraser was my main reading influence as a young man whilst Puzo, LeCarre and Colleen McCullough were all favourites of mine later on. With regards to Kertamen, the Bible as well as Josephus, were exceptionally helpful.

What are you working on now?
The follow up to Kertamen – The Orcadian File.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I was fortunate in that my agents, radio and newspaper pieces were helpful in that respect.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write about something you love or are seriously interested in, because it akin to doing a degree, in that if you are interested in a subject, it will never become a chore.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Sometimes you need to put your overalls on and do shift, regardless how good you are” The late Celtic and Scotland Manager Jock Stein.

What are you reading now?
Violence in Republican Rome, by A.W. Lintott.

What’s next for you as a writer?
The Orcadian File and then a fictional book on the Roman emperor Gaius Caligua perhaps. Though I have been asked to write two Tartan Noir projects and a screen play, so we shall see.

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, anything by Bear Grylls, Homer’s Odyssey and Papillion by Henri Charrière. What I would not take however is Lord of the Flies

Author Websites and Profiles
Mauro Martone Amazon Profile

Mauro Martone’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am Ryan Carriere and Firestone is my debut novel. Before my recent plunge into writing I toiled away in the corporate world as a Parks Planning Manager for my local municipality. One day I thought to myself, ‘what am I doing here? And do I really want to do this the rest of my life?’ I quickly answered those questions, found my passion and here I am about to publish my first novel.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Firestone is set in prehistory, 12,000 years ago when the world as we know it was not always so tame. The land was filled with mystic creatures, an advanced civilization, ancient clans and magical eternal stones that connected it all.Two very different groups race for a hidden eternal stone, one led by a mystic vision and the other by blood magic. Unaware of the others existence: when will their stories intertwine?

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do. I try to write everyday, which is pretty standard. And I try to write around 2000 words a day… which again, is fairly standard for ‘productive’ authors… but what I do that is unusual, is sometimes I can write for a very long period of time, without breaks, without eating or drinking. After a session like that I look up from the screen and realize it is dark and I have been writing all day. I am thirsty, hungry, and in need of a very good stretch! LOL. I try not to do this anymore, as it is not the healthiest of habits, but sometimes it is hard to stop it when the words flow.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Whatever I read influences my writing. I can’t pinpoint one author over the other but for me I believe I have a unique style that is my own. When I write I become the characters and see through their eyes—they influence me more than other authors.

What are you working on now?
I just finished of the first draft of Book 2 of the Eternal Stones series: Bloodstone!!! So whoo hoo!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
my website www.ryancarriere.ca has all the links and updates to keep you fresh on what I am up to.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, write, then write some more. Don’t get attached to your words, and don’t be afraid to rewrite chapters. What you first write is usually a jumbled mess of ideas waiting to be sorted and organized. There are usually several gems in the heap of garbage and it is your job to focus and select those gems for your story.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Follow your dreams. I never, ever, ever thought i would be a writer. Ever. Not until last year when i left my ‘very stable’ job to write a novel. One day I got an idea and plotted out the whole four book series in one afternoon. Mind you, that outline was very drafty and high level, but to this day, i use it as my focus.

What are you reading now?
The hunger games, again.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Once I finish the four book (A Tale of the Eternal Stones series), i have already begun to plan out a spin-off series called ‘Storyfire Tales’ that focuses on Unn Truthsay’r telling stories of how the Great Spirit Clan came to be. It is set ten years before the first book, Firestone takes place.

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?
One would definitely be a survival book… LOL. I would take two of my favorite ‘nostalgia’ books that I could read over and over, ‘the crysalids’ and ‘catcher in the rye’. The other would be some ‘new sci-fi / fantasy book’ that i would randomly grab off the shelf whose cover caught my eye the most that day.

Author Websites and Profiles
Ryan Carriere Website
Ryan Carriere Amazon Profile

Ryan Carriere’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I created comic books and webcomics before I started writing novels. I have been married to his wife, Angel, since 1995 and we have two sons and a daughter. When I’m not writing stories or working a day job in Information Technology, my wife and I are singers, songwriters and musicians. We have been in a Christian band together since 1997. We live in Central Texas.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Jordan’s World is my latest book, published July 1st by Ambassador International. I write Christian fiction and wanted to delve into fantasy. But it ended up becoming a science-fantasy, the first book in a trilogy. This was a “from scratch” book, all new setting, characters and premise. It was challenging at first but in the end, very rewarding and original.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I only write on my laptop and I start on Google Docs. Once I am ready to submit the manuscript to my publisher, I transfer everything to a Word document and reformat the whole thing. I also get up quite early to write, I find it refreshing. As a Christian author, I also pray and study in my Bible before I start writing. I find that it sets me in a good channel for my creativity.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
A lot of Star Trek authors. I used to only read Star Trek, until a few years ago. David Mack, Dayton Ward and Kevin Dillon, Kirsten Beyer, Keith DeCandido, James Swallow and Chris Bennett are just a few. Ironically, the book that first interested me in reading books was not a Star Trek book or Christian fiction. It was Bram Stoker’s Dracula back in my teen years. I had to read it for an English class in high school and the author’s style impressed and fascinated me.

What are you working on now?
Since finishing the Jordan of Algoran series, I am now beginning a Christian steampunk trilogy. It was a new challenge to study the steampunk genre and see how to create a unique interpretation of it, make it my own in a way. And I think I’ve succeeded, which I hope readers will enjoy.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use a combination of social media: my personal Facebook for family and friends, my Facebook author page, Twitter, Instagram and my professional website (https://allensteadham.com)

I find the best method is to post something regularly, even if it’s not a big announcement. People want to know what’s going on with you as an author, so find a way to let them know,

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Make a basic plan of where you want to go as an author. Are you self-publishing? Define the method you want to use (CreateSpace from Amazon or some other method). Do you want to do print and ebook or just ebook. Find a good editor before you self-publish, even if you have pay for one. There’s a lot of them out there, check their reviews and compare; get the most for your money. Are you already with a publisher? Awesome! Decide on your image and brand, then start promoting through website and social media. You do not have to pay for most of this — except for the website; consider that an investment and get your own domain name as soon as you can). Make business cards. Find author groups you like, whether on Facebook or Goodreads or other locations. Get to know other authors and see if you can network and promote each other. Make friends, lots of friends. Accept right now that you’re a public person, even if you don’t feel like one. You are and that’s okay. You are an author, even if you haven’t published yet. Believe in yourself and your writing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“The first draft will stink. Keep writing anyway.”

It’s true. It’s always true, just get used to it. That’s what editing is for.

What are you reading now?
I just finished “The Journey” by Verity Buchanan. Excellent and clean YA fiction by a very promising and clever author. I have also been reading “Grace & Lavender” by Heather Norman Smith and “The Winter Queen” by Erica Marie Hogan.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Completing the Christian steampunk trilogy, then I’m on to possibly a Christian dystopian science fiction series or perhaps another genre.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The King James Bible, Star Trek: Titan “Over A Torrent Sea,” and Star Trek: Vanguard “Reap The Whirlwind”

Author Websites and Profiles
Allen Steadham Website
Allen Steadham Amazon Profile

Allen Steadham’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a student in Japan and just published my first novel in July 2019. The reviews have been fantastic, and I am working on my second book now.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Watanabe Name was inspired by my belief that we all have a juicy secret we’re hiding.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My favorite places to write are on trains or in the mountains – always on paper first.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Natsume Soseki, Haruki Murakami, Steinbeck, Dickens, Hemingway, Twain, and Faulkner in no particular order.

What are you working on now?
Another murder mystery in the 1970’s when a Japanese family visits the US.

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

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

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
There are four things you can do to get better – practice, practice, practice, practice.

What are you reading now?
The Sound and The Fury.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was the mother of four when I adopted two children from Ukraine, including my daughter Ani who has Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) and my son Sergey with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. I pioneered therapeutic parenting methods to help both children grow and recover. My first book, Small, is written in prose and brings readers into the life of a child and family struggling to survive the unimaginable stress of living with RAD.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I often wished I had a short book I could hand teachers, doctors, friends and family to help them better understand Ani, Attachment Disorder, and our family’s struggles. I wrote Small to be that book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I actually wrote Small in one very long sitting! Of course, I edited it significantly later, but the ideas were there, and the need to express them was overwhelming.
I’m now working on a sequel and am collaborating with therapists and other adoptive parents to create a guide to parenting children with RAD.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Nancy Thomas’ book, When Love is Not Enough, played a huge role in parenting Ani. My writing was influenced greatly by Sharon Creech’s books Love That Dog and Heartbeat. <3

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a sequel to Small about how to parent children with Reactive Attachment Disorder.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Amazon AMS ads are awesome! Facebook ads work well, too!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes! For writing non-fiction, choose a subject you get asked questions about regularly. If you have been asked about it at least 3 times, you have a book.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Just do it.

What are you reading now?
Harry Potter, and Save the Cat Writes a Novel.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible, the Book of Mormon, Harry Potter, and a caveman seafood cookbook.

Author Websites and Profiles
Eva Napier Amazon Profile

Eva Napier’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Michael Jack Webb is the author of six novels and one non -fiction book. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida with a BA degree in History and American and received his Juris Doctor from the same university. Over the past forty years he has travelled the world in search of adventure.
He’s always been fascinated by the intersection of the supernatural, the historical, the scientific, and the Judeo-Christian worldviews. He writes stories that ignite imaginations and stir souls, edge-of-your-seat thrillers that combine those elements with fascinating characters and suspenseful plots. If you’re intrigued by such things as traditional and forbidden history, the origins of demons and their influence on mankind throughout the ages, quantum physics, and the unseen war in the heavenlies between angelic forces and agents of darkness, you’ll enjoy reading all of his supernatural thrillers.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Infernal Gates. I was driving to an appointment out of town and started thinking about what would happen if my wife and I were on a plane that crashed shortly after take-off. However, in the instant before the crash we blacked out and awakened the next morning dressed in the same clothes we were wearing for the flight. We were the only survivors. How would we explain what happened? Who would believe us? Why were we spared? Those questions and others rattled around in my head as I drove and became the core of Infernal Gates. I wrote the opening chapter and the story unfolded itself as my characters came alive and took over.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m a perfectionist. I write, write, and rewrite, sometimes laboring over a single word or sentence until I feel I have it just the way I want it.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Victor Hugo, Ernest Hemingway, James Michener, Tolkien, Philip K. Dick, Michael Crichton, Daniel Silva, Tom Clancy, James Rubart, James Byron Huggins, Frank Peretti, To Kill a Mockingbird,

What are you working on now?
Finishing Sequel to Infernal Gates — The Devil’s Cauldron (hope to release late fall 2019 or early winter 2020)
First Chapters of my 7th Thriller, working title — Ghost Hunter

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Just starting out with marketing. So I’m doing the shotgun approach. Trying a variety of mediums to see which works best.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, write and never, never give up.
Write for yourself.
Hone your craft and strive for excellence.
Tell great stories that have lasting impact.
Help others along the way, especially once you’re successful.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
From my mother: Life is 10% what you make it, 90% how you take it.
From Scripture: Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your paths and He will bless the work of your hands.

What are you reading now?
Within the Circle of the Throne by Terry Bennet
The Witnesses by Robert Whitlow

What’s next for you as a writer?
Have 2 nonfiction works I’m researching to complete the trilogy started with In the Cleft of the Rock

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Bible, Wilderness/Desert Island Survival Guide, Les Miserables, The Lord of the Rings trilogy

Author Websites and Profiles
Michael Jack Webb Website
Michael Jack Webb Amazon Profile

Michael Jack Webb’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am the daughter to Veronica Boland (deceased) and Ken Boland. I am from Trinidad, a beautiful island in the Caribbean. I am the second child of three siblings and a proud mother of an eight year old daughter by the name of Noelle. I love being with family and friends spending time outdoors. I enjoy nature trails and swimming in the beautiful beaches of my homeland.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The children’s picture book entitled ‘The Adventures Of Paulina The Tiny Fairy’ is my first and only release thus far. My daughter was the sole inspiration behind writing this story; I wanted to show her that everyone, although different, is important in their own special way.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can’t say that I have any particular writing habits. I basically have a concept in mind, and from there it’s just a matter of formatting it properly to appeal to my audience. I enjoy that aspect of it. Some people would put pen to paper, I prefer using my memo pad on my phone and most times it flows.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
As a child, I grew up reading Enid Blyton books and to this day, I still find her writings to be so captivating and timeless, with beautiful illustrations.

Another author I enjoyed reading books from was Stephen King. Although his genre and style are polar opposites to what I produce, his stories were always gripping, leaving you wanting more. As an author, I admire that skill and desire that my readers will react to my writing style in the same way.

What are you working on now?
Currently, I’m working on getting my second story published which is entitled ‘My Grampa’. This is a story about a grandfather who enjoys keeping himself busy and is always on the go. His little granddaughter lovingly refers to him as “Grampa”. My father was the inspiration behind this story.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Goodreads has proven to be very effective when it comes to promotion and marketing and very supportive for Indie Authors like myself. As well as the online #writingcommunity has continued to be a pillar of support

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice for any new author is to push through with it! I was once told that it’s a lot of hard work and could get very costly but I’ve realised that once you incorporate the right team of people, it makes the process much easier. This was my first book and I must say it was fun. Expect that there will be set backs, but don’t give up! I was fortunate enough to come across a great publisher through a friend, and my cousin who lives all the way in Germany did my illustrations. Thanks to them it all came through.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t procrastinate …
Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today!

What are you reading now?
I am not reading anything at the moment, mainly because it’s hard to find the time, but the most recent book I read was a kids story book entitled Love You Forever by Sheila McGraw. Very inspiring.

Author Websites and Profiles
Ayanna Boland Amazon Profile
Ayanna Boland Author Profile on Smashwords

Ayanna Boland’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My coauthor, Delleon Weins and I have written three science fiction novels. “The Hanna Krusher Series.”

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Hanna’s Resistance” It is the final novel of our “Hanna Krusher Series.” It was inspired by ufology conspiracy stories, and then evolved into a sci-fi action-adventure, romance and mystery saga. We infused the series with positive messages, intended to inspire hope for all generations.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not exactly certain what the norm is, but everything that I write is handwritten, and then entered into the computer later. I have my notes with me at all times.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love Tolkien and JK Rowling. They are always my go-to for inspiration.

What are you working on now?
We are outlining a prequel for the series, which we are calling the Nireen War. It is about a very interesting race in our series, and how they evolved, and then were destroyed.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m really still trying to figure this out. I’m trying lots if different things right now. Just did a press release.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Make sure you love what you do, and you are happy with your work. Your love will shine through.

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

What are you reading now?
I haven’t started it yet, but want to jump into the “Game of Thrones.”

What’s next for you as a writer?
Lots of marketing and the prequel.

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 Hanna Krusher Series”
“The Hobbit,” and “Lord of the Rings Trilogy”
“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”
“Dungeons and Dragons” Books

Author Websites and Profiles
Deborah Phipps Website
Deborah Phipps Amazon Profile

Deborah Phipps’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I started in the tax business when I was just 8 years old. My mom handed me a stack of receipts and promised me ice cream money if I did a good job. When I got older, my dad taught me what auditors look for and how to maximize a client’s tax situation, legally. I helped prepare tax returns, do bookkeeping and even prepare IRS tax negotiation packages.

I specialize in helping small business owners, real estate pros, and taxpayers, get the IRS off their backs through proactive tax strategies. I guarantee to help you get your tax situation handled. How can I be so sure? Because I’ve done it! And keep helping others do so.

I’ve written four books.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Dealing with the IRS.

The people who I work with inspired it. They told me their stories and I knew that there were more people out there who could benefit from my advice.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I use a combination of digital and print resources. As in, I write and type my material before publishing it. Not sure why, but it work for me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Dan Kennedy, Tim Ferriss, Rick Warren, Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn.

What are you working on now?
Marketing my book and services. I do a combination of both. They feed into each other.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Word of mouth via social media feeds. Email also works pretty well.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Stick to it. Don’t worry about getting it perfect. I still tweak material in my books. Just get the thing done. Like Robert Kiyosaki said to a would-be author: “I’m not the best writing author. I’m a bestselling author.” Focus on putting something together that people will read and benefit from. If it’s 100 pages, so be it. If it’s 400 pages, so be it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Winners do it tired. Even if you don’t feel like giving it your all, still give it your all. Top performers don’t always feel like giving 100%. But, they do it anyway. That’s why they’re top performers.

What are you reading now?
Present shock

What’s next for you as a writer?
Put into words the ideas that have been percolating in me. Ideas are like the wind: they blow your way when you least expect them.

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?
Antifragile
Bigger, leaner, stronger
Purpose driven life
Bible

Author Websites and Profiles
Mike Ornelas Website
Mike Ornelas Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is my first book and I am trying to generate some interest. Currently it has gone unloved and unread and I would like to change that. I am a Chicago Public School teacher and transitioning into my next stage of life retirement. I am trying to promote this book while working on a second one about teaching in Chicago.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Growing Up In America: A Million Years Ago.
Though the book is fiction many of the characters are based on people I knew while I was growing during the 1950-1960′ in the Midwest.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I usual just write it once. Reread it then publish this.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
All

What are you working on now?
memories from working in the Chicago Public School System.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I don’t have any. I am very new at this.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just write

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Relax don’t get excited.

What are you reading now?
Nothing currently

What’s next for you as a writer?
Promoting this book and finishing a second 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?
Faulkner, short stories by Hemingway and Mystery novel

Author Websites and Profiles
Victor Konopka Amazon Profile

Victor Konopka’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is my first novel. Kind of a stab in the dark, creatively, but it processes a lot of the dread and anxiety about Mexico and Latin countries — much of it unwarranted, I would add — that clients have shared with me on the tours my wife and I lead into Mexico and other Latin destinations. The excitement generated by “We Have Taken Your Husband” has encouraged me to start another thriller, set this time in New York, where we have been living for several years.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“We Have Taken Your Husband” was inspired by the exposure to the community of American expats living in some of Mexico’s more beautiful cities and villages. From a starting point traditional to kidnap thrillers, it builds into a portrait of the troubled but fascinating marriage of a couple of New Yorkers who came to Mexico in search of freedom, both the political and the erotic kind.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Because I write first drafts in long-hand, I am able to do a lot of it in cathedrals. (I step outside when Mass is being said.) These are environments, both in New York and Mexico in which it’s possible to regain a sense of history’s epic sweep and see your characters whole against that backdrop.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I strive for a stripped-down style of writing, inspired by Hemingway, I suppose (aren’t we all) but even more directly by Raymond Chandler. Chandler may have been a creator of pulp fiction, but I rank him among the great literary stylists of the 20th century. I also admire the work of Roberto Bolaño, the Chilean writer who lived for a time in Mexico and died young in Spain. If Chandler is a constant reminder that ornamentation is unnecessary in good writing, Bolaño shows ways to break the linear rigidity of the narrative and instead capture the desultory, unpredictable nature of reality as we actually live it.

What are you working on now?
Beyond calling it a thriller set in New York, I’d rather not say. I’m superstitious; premature chit chat might jinx the project.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Null & Void Publishing convinced me to try going directly to Kindle and then working social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Call Kindle a vanity press or call it the future of publishing, I’ve found the experience deeply dynamic. The commercial press should not forget that Fifty Shades of Gray started as an e-book before they wised up to its astonishing market potential.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes, keep writing. You can always go back over it later on, but if you constantly rework yesterday’s scribblings, you’ll never finish.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Trust your imagination and that of your readers. The human mind has a power to connect the dots in ways that allow for accident and inspiration. I think it was Richard Price, a terrific storyteller, who once remarked that he never knows how a book will end until he gets there.

What are you reading now?
I’m enjoying Laurent Binet’s “The Seventh Function of Language.” Sorry that I have to read the French in translation, but the book’s a kind of unique mix of philosophy and mystery set in motion by the death (in traffic) of real-world philosopher, Roland Barthes.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Working on another thriller set in NYC, but I’m superstitious: saying more than that might jinx the project!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’d bring everything by Robertson Davies, the Canadian master, plus Austrian genius Robert Musil’s “Man without Qualities,” all three volumes of the uncompleted novel, plus his earlier quickie, “Young Torless.” If the desert island library doesn’t have Musil (in English, please!) I’d take anything by Thomas Mann, especially Felix Krull, which I read so long ago I remember only that it was great and want to rediscover why.

Author Websites and Profiles
Angel Sanchez Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I could say that I am an artist, author and poet.

But they come second to the point that I’m a person moved by music, sky and landscapes and colour.

Colour really hits me.

I like using it.

It gets me going.

Especially combinations of it and that devastating – almost electrifying – pale blue on distant horizons.

In terms of books written there are six currently published and a seventh that I am sorting the text out before publishing (taking longer than expected).

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
It’s called The Overtesian Bird. It’s the sequel to a book called Prince of the Apple Towns, only it has shifted from the early afternoon to an evening setting (good idea to read that one first so that you get an idea of what’s going on).

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not sure if I’m the only one who has this but for the latest book it was like each scene had it’s own piece of music that fitted into the situation. It could very well stem from the point that I like writing to music – whether classical, drum and bass, gregorian chanting or progressive house.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
C.S. Lewis and Tolkien; Alison Utterly and Ursula Le Guin. I have probably missed one or two, but the above four were the main set that made me want to write.

What are you working on now?
The third book in the series that contains Prince of the Apple Towns and The Overtesian Bird. Only, the editing and sorting the text out for another book has taken over, so I may have to go back to the third book when the editing has been completed.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m quite new to this so I’m still finding out myself. Ask me again in a year or two and I’ll have a better answer.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up when you hit the wall when writing: Take a step away from it for a bit and the breakthrough will come.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It changes by the month, but the most recent one is by an author who said ‘small is big and slow is fast’. It got me thinking that some things start small and slowly and slow and steady growth could be a good thing.

What are you reading now?
The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawn (saw the TV programme and loved it).

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish editing the latest book then publish it. When that is done it will complete one huge circle that started years ago (when I started writing that one) and also be the start of another.

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 four that I haven’t finished yet (have been reading two on-and-off for a year or so).

Author Websites and Profiles
Del Elle Website
Del Elle Amazon Profile

Del Elle’s Social Media Links
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi everyone, my name is C.S. Coy and I am a science-fiction writer who resides in New York. I currently have two books published. My first book “The Unexpected” which was published by Austin Macauley Publishing USA in 2018 and the sequel to it “The Unexplained” which is set to be released soon on October 1st, 2019 as a self-published eBook.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Unexplained is a direct sequel to my first book The Unexpected. A lot of the inspiration really came from the basis that made the first book which was the idea of having these alien creatures known as Instinctive Outside Beings (IOBs) mirror the idea of bullying and the effects that bullying can have on a person. And with that, I wanted to focus more on the effects that people go through when being bullied and what it can really do to you over time. By doing that, this story really developed on it’s own mixing sci-fi and real life issues together.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I feel like I have a lot of unusual writing habits. A lot of the times, I like to only write in the morning because I feel like I can’t focus enough later on in the day. Sometimes I like to draw out a scene before writing to get good idea for a setting or character design. When i’m really focused into a scene, I like to sometimes stare at a blank TV screen to picture how the scene would look like as a movie or TV show.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Marc Cerasini and C.S. Lewis.

What are you working on now?
I actually have a few projects going on right now. I have about two other books that I’m currently working on. One is a fantasy novel and the other is a science-fiction novel that I hope to see ready by late 2020. I am also working on a short horror story and a prequel novel for “The Unexpected”.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I like to use a combination of sites like WordPress, Twitter, and Instagram to help promote my books. Especially Instagram.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write the story that you want to read even if nobody reads it. Do it for yourself and have fun with it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Anything is possible if you try.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Attending more events and signings. I would love to meet my readers out there and do what I can to give back for all their support.

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 Road by Cormac McCarthy.
Godzilla at World’s End by Marc Cerasini
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Author Websites and Profiles
C.S. Coy Coy Website
C.S. Coy Coy Amazon Profile

C.S. Coy Coy’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I write all sorts of things including short stories, easy readers, teen novels, and romantic comedies! I have one book out – My Very Own Hitman – and an east reader series coming out next month! I have a bachelor’s degree in English from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in library and information science from Valdosta State University. I quit my job to write full-time (and play with my cat) and am loving every minute of it! For fun, I likes to listen to audio books while decorating gluten-free cakes, making tissue paper flowers, and pretending I am a mermaid.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My debut novel is My Very Own Hitman, a romantic comedy. I watch a lot of Hallmark Christmas movies with my sisters during the holidays, and a lot of action adventure movies with my mom year round. I thought it would be funny to combine the two! What if the unlikely couple were thrown together because one of them is a hitman and has to take the girl out? What if they had to pretend they were dating? I devised a scenario to make it work, and voila! It is pretty hilarious if I do say so myself.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My favorite authors are Shannon Hale, Gail Carson Levine, Brandon Sanderson, and Maggie Stiefvater. Shannon Hale’s romantic comedies are hilarious!

What are you working on now?
I have several books in the works, so we’ll see what gets done first. I’m working on a teen ghost story, some more easy readers (mermaids this time!), and have a superhero book simmering in the back of my mind.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just write. Just sit your butt in the chair and type. Everyday. It can be hard, but that’s how you get to be a writer. Just write.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t die.

What are you reading now?
Mistborn book three by Brandon Sanderson – great series if you like fantasy!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Harry Potter. As many as they would let me take!

Author Websites and Profiles
Izi Miller Website
Izi Miller Amazon Profile

Izi Miller’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is my first book. I am graduate of the University of Minnesota.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Old friends and people that I knew inspired the true story.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes I am clutter bug. I write to much so it has to be narrowed down. Writing is not easy, and is something that takes much work for clarity.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Author David Berlinski is an incredible writer and speaker. I enjoy his work.

I like reading history and about social change in the world.

What are you working on now?
Mainly on promoting my book. I lost my job after 28 years, and I always wanted to write a book. The topic is one many people find interesting.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am not a person who speaks much, but if people want to listen I suppose I will twitter. The book was written with a mindful that people face information overload, so clarity and quality writing was an objective.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes work work and work. Remember, people will read this stuff.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Probably from my mother, who said when things were tough, “What difference does it make? Tomorrow it will just be something else.”

What are you reading now?
Some stuff from David Berlinski.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I had another book I preferred writing about good times, but I didn’t think it would sell. Plus, it’s really hard to write about good times without music, and its really hard to get musicians to allow themselves to be quoted.

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 lot of them.

Author Websites and Profiles
Paul Davidson Amazon Profile

Paul Davidson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I grew up in Chicago and always wanted to write psychological thrillers. I have written a few of those but I found the writing of them unsatisfying so I pivoted to erotica. I have written 12 erotica stories so far, all of which are on Amazon. I started with what arouses me personally and even use some of my own personal experiences, and then I started talking to people about what turns them on, and branched out into other types of erotica.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called After School Special. Everyone has that teacher that is charismatic, quirky, and fuels adolescent fantasies about the taboo prospect of “getting closer” to that teacher, even if it means getting punished for doing something bad. I am a brat, so I added the punishment aspect to the story as well as the thrill the female protagonist experiences during and after her punishment by the object of her passion.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I wouldn’t call them unusual, just quirky. There is a playlist I have on Itunes that i listen to when writing my naughty adventures that includes the soundtracks of both Flashdance and 9 1/2 weeks, and I always listen to songs from both when writing my stories, to get me in the right mood.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I got the idea to write “Smut” when I discovered that Penthouse Letters no longer offers new issues. The hot stories that people used to write in and share in those magazines drove me crazy for a long, long time, and I was driven to recreate the heat myself by writing about my own experiences. Most of my stories are fiction, or rather, mostly fiction.

What are you working on now?
I serialized two of of my book series. The Libby Daniels stories feature a young woman who is now in college and choosing to explore her sexuality her way, becoming ever more daring in her pursuit of pleasure.

There are currently three in that series. In the Arms of a Stranger is book 1, Bosom Buddies is book 2, and Behind the Red Door is book 3. The 4th, Teaching Amy is about her lover Amy who decides she does not want to be submissive to anyone even Libby, and she finds a sexy way to take charge that surprises everyone.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Right now I have my work featured on several websites, but Twitter has been the most effective, largely because of my engagement level. I am on Twitter 3-5 hours a day and I stay away from religion, politics, and any hot button issues while staying firmly in Fun, Snarky Twitter, which is where I have given myself the title of Pied Piper of Masturbation. Only the readers can decide of that is true.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Enjoy the journey. Becoming a self-published author is freeing in a lot of ways, but you will have to spend a lot of time, and a little bit of money to market your books. Engage with your followers, don’t just tweet a hundred book covers, people mostly scroll past them unless they know and like you.

Do a beta switch with another author or two for fair honest reviews and beware of promotion services that promise too much. If you decide to write erotica like myself, DM me and I will help guide you through the waters of self-publication. Above all, keep your expectations reasonable about sales the first year and don’t feel discouraged if 100 people don’t buy your books the second they come out…it doesn’t work like that.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Most of the advice I received has to do with smart marketing. Try to track what you’re doing that works and what doesn’t. You don’t have to be an excel wizard to do this, but it is time-consuming so be prepared for that. Also, keep your book prices comensurate with the length of the books.

What are you reading now?
Right now I am reading The Midnight Line by Lee Child because I love the Jack Reacher series!

What’s next for you as a writer?
The short stories are fun and I will have many more of those, but in the next year, look for tawdry smut-filled novel length adventures. My beach read novel, The Gift Horse is nearly done and ready for editing, and I will have that released by March 15th 2020.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would bring Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas, 61 Hours by Lee Child, Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay, and Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

JA Martin’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I first wrote my book in French (Du masculin au féminin, mon parcours singulier). As it had great success, I decided to translate it with the support of some native English speakers.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Dad, you’re so beautiful is the story of my journey transitionning from man to woman. I did it overnight which is quite singular and being General Director of a factory

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m now writting in both French and English, third book already in process

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Mainly some French authors

What are you working on now?
What’s happening in my new life is quite incredible, many interviews, TV’s, I’m not doing the promotion of my book but the promotion of my ideas.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My book is available on Amazon, I’m doing promotion here and here

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Need to find a real editor who’s taking the risk to print your book, don’t pay anything to be published

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Take you time

What are you reading now?
Steve Berry , the third secret

What’s next for you as a writer?
To continue to provide support and change the image of transgender people

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?
Dan Brown
Steve Berry

Author Websites and Profiles
CÉLINE AUDEBEAU Amazon Profile

CÉLINE AUDEBEAU’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Alan Florine is a Dutch writer based in Amsterdam. She likes to read and write dark (and I mean DARK) M/M/F (bisexual) romances with tormented male protagonists and is a hopeless romantic, although her “love” stories might scare some people. She is obsessed with her lovely partner, her tiny garden that apparently supports half the population of cunning European woodmice, and the big red Acer tree she can see from her window. She has just self-published her first book in an ancient Rome erotic romantic fantasy series called the Empress and the Vagabond. The first book, Vagabond: A tale of a slave’s survival in ancient Rome, is freely available on Kindle Unlimited, and available for purchase in ebook and paperback format on Amazon.
The second book in the series is called Dominus: A tale of a slave’s revenge in ancient Rome. It was published by 30 August on Amazon.
Currently, she is working on the 3rd book in the series, which is scheduled for release in November

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Vagabond is inspired by all the strange and wonderful erotic “slave fiction” that I have read in my life. I love the tales of intrigue and madness of the old Roman emperors, and I love tormented protagonists who are clever, who perhaps lack physical strength but use their wits and determination to get what they want. Pliny, the protagonist in Vagabond, is exactly like that. He has been dealt a rough hand by the Gods for just a minor offense. He lost his entire family. He was sold to a brothel and was forced to serve as a pleasure slave. He had to endure the most horrific tortures and humiliations, and yet he doesn’t give up. He never stops fighting back in his own way. He grows in the dirt they left him in, and eventually may even succeed to find the things he longs for the most, love and revenge.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Shall I say utterly chaotic? Yes, that’s the best description. Utterly, utterly chaotic.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Misery by Stephen King, loved that paperback book to bits and I still have it from when I was a teenager. It’s falling apart but I will never part with it. They have to stick it in my grave.

1984 by George Orwell, was forced to read it for my English exams, ended up loving it. That scene with the rat was…very memorable.

Lucifer series by Mike Carey, not a book but a comic, also not the watered-down cookie-cutter version that was on Fox, but the real deal, amazing frighteningly good stories.

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) by Georgy…Loved all of his grey characters, and absolutely adored Littlefinger aka Petyr Bealish. Would prefer George NOT to slaughter him like some helpless stupid lovestruck idiot as the showrunners did in the HBO series. If he has to go, and I am sure he does, do it with style please without completely murdering his character arc.

What are you working on now?
I am writing the 3rd installment of The Empress and the Vagabond.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am new in this. So no bloody idea. I just stumbled on this site. So go figure.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write because you enjoy it. Write because you want to know how your story will end. Write because you love your characters and want them to complete their journeys. If you write because you want to become rich quick, you either have to abandon that joy of writing to please the market OR you have to do something else, like, I don’t know, sell a kidney or something, or invest in bitcoin and hope that the US president tweets something interesting.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Keep writing. Keep publishing. Don’t eat the yellow snow.

What are you reading now?
Loooooaaads of fanfiction. There are very talented writers out there putting in the hours to entertain legions of dedicated fans. They deserve our love and kudos.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Kick the third book out. Entertain a few people who love Pliny as much as I do, and start with the fourth book to make sure Pliny gets what he deserves.

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: A survival book, something like: “How to survive and not starve on a desert island” will do…
2: Another survival book, in case the first one gets wet or is eaten by sharks. The preferred book will have a similar title as the first, with 5K (paid) reviews on Amazon to ensure that I am not buying a book ghostwritten by a sockpuppet for cash.
3-4: Some very very long books, like the mammoth omnibus version of Georgy’s A song of Ice and Fire, which I am sure will come out one day when he finishes it….ahem…
As I am assuming that it is a desert island and therefore an empty rock splattered with bird shit and nothing else, I will need it to start a fire to keep me warm and cook my food. I won’t mourn their passing in case of Georgy’s work. I have read all them anyway. Also, my biceps aren’t what they used to be.
5: A cookbook, preferred title: So you can’t make a fire? 1000 recipes for sushi.

Author Websites and Profiles
Alan Florine Website
Alan Florine Amazon Profile

Alan Florine’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written three different books in three different languages

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Flucht. Actually, I was inspired by a dream.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Nope, I don’t think so.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Blake pierce, J.K. Rowlling, and Musso

What are you working on now?
A fantasy book

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Don’t have a best method, I guess sometimes it’s just something comes out of nowhere

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep going and don’t give up whatever happened

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Whatever happened in your journey, don’t give up, cause one day you are gonna make it.

What are you reading now?
P.s I love you

What’s next for you as a writer?
That’s a secret;)

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?
Paper girl
Cause to kill
Harry potter

Author Websites and Profiles
Yousif Fathi Amazon Profile

Yousif Fathi’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I trained as dental surgeon and practised as such in Africa for about a decade.
I am a public speaker and I write self help book helping individuals to maximize capacities in personal pursuits and achieving success and having fulfilment.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
POSITIVE ENERGY

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write as if am speaking to audience.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The richest man in Babylon

What are you working on now?
A book on career drive.

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Follow your passion with well researched knowledge.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be persistent and consistent.

What are you reading now?
Finding my virginity- Richard Branson

What’s next for you as a writer?
Pushing Positive Energy as far as I can.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Bible, Positive Energy, Making of a Champion, His Pain my Gain

Author Websites and Profiles
Yinka Akintunde Website
Yinka Akintunde Amazon Profile

Yinka Akintunde’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
A Canadian by birth, a high school dropout, and a mother at 17, in my early years, I supported myself as a stock girl in the Hudson’s Bay Company, as a long-distance operator for the former Alberta Government Telephones, and as a secretary (Bechtel Corp sponsored me into the States). I also was a cocktail waitress at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco; briefly broke into the male-dominated world of the docks as a longshoreman (I was the first woman to work on the SF docks and almost got my legs broken); founded and managed a homeless shelter in Marin County, CA; co-created The Story Shoppe, a weekly radio program for children that aired on KTIM in Marin County; and eventually earned two Master’s degrees (one in creative writing and one in the humanities). I have published reviews, interviews, short fiction, poetry, travel pieces, essays, and memoir in over 160 American and Canadian venues. My novel Fling! was published in 2015. Curva Peligrosa came out in 2017. Freefall: A Divine Comedy was released in 2019. My poetry collection All This was published in 2011, and a poetry chapbook NO MORE KINGS will be released this fall. I taught rhetoric at the University of San Francisco for over 30 years and currently teach creative writing at USF’s Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning. I also blog at http://lilyionamackenzie.com.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Freefall: A Divine Comedy is the title of my latest book. The seeds for Freefall came from a two-day visit I had back in 1998 with two of the three friends I’d travelled from Calgary to Toronto with in my late teens. I wondered what would happen if these four women had a reunion. Would the old bonds still be there and what would they discover about themselves and each other from spending time together? Freefall is a result of trying to answer those questions, but, of course, much more entered the narrative as I watched the story unfold. While the surface narrative is about these four females, the sub-narrative focuses on art’s role in our lives (the main character, Tillie Bloom, is an installation artist), female power, death, religion, and sex. Freefall zeroes in on a fundamental truth: We’re all in freefall, and that’s the real divine comedy. No matter how old we are, we’re still trying to “find ourselves” and discover what we want out of life.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think it’s unusual, but I can’t write while sitting at a desk. I need to move around with my laptop to different locations in our house.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Certain novels had a profound effect on me at different stages of my life for various reasons. When I was working on my BA in English, I took a Modern American Novel class that did exactly what Lionel Trilling said such books should do: they read me as much as I read them. Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury and his Light in August. Dreiser’s Sister Carrie. Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. And many more. Each book made me aware of elements of myself that were also manifested in the characters inhabiting the books.
Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude found me at a time when I needed a model for the magical realism approach that seems natural to me and inhabits much of my work. I LOVE that book and return to it often for inspiration.

In another mode, Roberto Bolano, a Chilean writer, has also inspired me. He diverges from the more familiar magical realist vein and creates his own genre. I’ve read most of his books now, and they create a world that seems like a parallel universe to ours. He also steps beyond the usual fiction boundaries, violating our expectations of how a novel should unfold or end. I’m always entranced by his work.

And I haven’t mentioned W.G. Sebald yet, another writer who died far too young. He also invented a new genre, a hybrid novel form. Again, I’ve read all of his work, and I’m stunned by it.

I’m sorry that all of these authors are men when there are so many female authors I love as well, including Anne Enright. I’ll read anything she writes because of her sharp wit and illuminations of contemporary life. And of course fellow Canadian authors Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood.

What are you working on now?
Since Freefall’s publication, I’ve been working on a second novel that features a much younger version of Freefall’s main character, Tillie, an aging installation artist. The title of the new novel is Tillie: Portraits of a Canadian Girl in Training, a work that will probably be released late in 2020 or early 2021 by the same publisher of Freefall. Like her older self, the young Tillie is quirky, precocious, and loves to wander.

And why do I have “a Canadian Girl in Training” in the title? This passage from the novel should explain its irony:

Tillie not only didn’t succeed in school, but she also wasn’t flourishing as a Canadian Girl in Training—CGIT. She didn’t do good deeds or take care of the elderly. She didn’t salute the flag or memorize the national anthem or like the Queen that much. All those evenings attending CGIT sessions in the basements of churches—wearing a white middy and navy pleated skirt—did little to improve her. She didn’t give a hoot about Jesus or his wasted life. Nor did making Christmas candles and tree decorations enthuse her.

She did occasionally think about what CGIT was supposed to teach her—being more godly and pure. But she wasn’t interested in its lessons. Being a Canadian Girl in Training had a different meaning to her. It gave Tillie and her friends a chance to be out on the streets at night before and after meetings. All of them girls in training, the uniform was a cover for the more exciting things lurking in their hearts.

Of course, as this passage shows, attending CGIT meetings was an excuse to get out of the house at night. But the real training happened on her way to and from the church where the girls gathered. They smoked all the way there and back. They played white rabbit, a “game” that involved ringing doorbells over and over and then disappearing. They raided gardens. And they also visited the local park where the boys were hanging out. Tillie learns many useful things during those excursions.

And I’ve learned a lot from writing this novel. It can take years for a character and a story to emerge. It’s not unlike raising a child: there are developmental stages, and each one is important. So though at times I despaired that the work would never cohere, it did. And it was worth waiting for.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think Facebook has been valuable as a promotional tool. I keep my name in front of my followers by mentioning my weekly blog post and also by submitting famous authors’ inspiration quotes regularly. I also am active in several writing related FB groups.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Revise, revise, revise. Then leave your manuscript for a period of time and revise, revise, revise again. Revision is the heart of writing well.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
John Cheever’s quote: “I write to make sense of my life.” That’s my main motivation for writing!

What are you reading now?
A collection of short stories, We So Seldom Look on Love, by Canadian author Barbara Gowdy.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To 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?
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Marquez
Any of Alice Munro’s collections
Jung’s Memories, Dreams, Reflections

Author Websites and Profiles
Lily Iona MacKenzie Website
Lily Iona MacKenzie Amazon Profile

Lily Iona MacKenzie’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have written and published a total of seven books.
Yvette Carmon Davis – BIO for publications

Born in 1950, I was carried to church as an infant, and continued at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio through my twenties. I was involved in many segments of youth ministry such as youth choir, and Sunday school. I was among the youth regularly called upon to participate on youth Sunday, to read scripture, read announcements, and whatever else the Pastor decided.

I sat under the religious and spiritual preaching and teaching of Reverend Dr. H. Beecher Hicks, Sr. at Mt. Olivet. He encouraged me to pursue a master’s degree in religious education. Nevertheless, I pursued neither religion nor education, and attended law school instead.

I was first licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and obtained my license to practice law in the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1983, and in the State of Ohio in 1985. I practiced in and around Columbus, Ohio, from 1985 to 2014.

During law school, I attended Allen Temple A.M.E. Church. Immediately after graduation in 1982, I was appointed Sunday School Superintendent. I kept that position until I returned to Columbus in 1985.

I attended a Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) from the passing of my adoptive mother in 1994, until sometime in 1997. At Rosehill Road Church of God (now a campus of Pottershouse COG), I sang in the choir and taught adult Sunday school. I co-hosted a radio ministry program with the senior Pastor Bill King, once a week, at one of Central Ohio’s Christian radio stations, now called The River.

I left that church to attend Victory Temple, aka, Light of the World Worship and Celebration Center. I had begun reading, writing and teaching about the things of God in earnest. By 2003, Pastor Walker decided to ordain me as an evangelist. Much of what I have written on various Scriptural topics has never been published. I have turned many topics into teaching and preaching material.

I attended Light of the World for 15 years, serving on the Elder Board and Board of Trustees, teaching adult Bible study classes, and a specialty class on Christian leadership. About once each year, I was asked to deliver a sermon. During that time, I also preached at the Ohio Women’s Prison at Marysville, Ohio, and did some presenting at various gatherings, including women’s retreats and worship conferences.

I became the statewide coordinator of Ohio National Day of Prayer sometime before I began attending Light of the World. As coordinator, I organized and conducted prayer conferences two or three times each year for 5 years. I organized the annual 4-day, 24-hour per day Bible Reading Marathon at the Franklin County Courthouse (Columbus, Ohio) for several years. And, I organized the state’s observance of the Day of Prayer on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse, each year for 4 years.

In 2012, in an effort to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, I began attending Potter’s House Church of God in Columbus, at its main campus. Potter’s House is a diverse church with a congregation of about 2,500. It sponsors many outreach programs including a chaplaincy program, youth sports teams and cheerleading, and an orphanage in Haiti known as Destiny Village. I joined the choir right away, and was given the opportunity to participate during my attendance there.

I has also been involved in various phases of broadcast ministry. At WRFD in Worthington, Ohio, I worked as a part-time board operator and announcer, and produced live talk, call-in radio programs. At that same station, I hosted a pre-recorded talk program for a local ministry, and co-hosted a live talk show called “Purpose for Life.”

I published my first book on the internet in 2009: REAPING, Recession Proof Approach to Gathering Bountiful Harvests. I published it in print in 2010.

I published the first volume of my Endtimes series, Suddenly Free, in 2014, entitled Rise of Evil. I published the second volume in the series, Purpose of Joy, in June of 2015. The third volume is Suddenly Free, Triumph, published in 2016. I published the fourth volume in the series, entitled Remergence, in 2019. I continue to write about the characters in the chronicle, because they continue to live and breathe for me. I believe God has more to say through the stories that He inspires.

I also published another volume of the concept of sowing and reaping entitled REAPING-Harvest Card Edition, sigh a surprise ending. A new volume, Little Book of Harvests Devotional, was published in 2019. It is an effort to publish the harvest card promises that I have discovered, and present them in a format that encourages praise, prayer, worship and hope.

I moved to San Diego, California, in December of 2014. I continue to publish books with Christian themes.

In July of 2019 I was licensed to preach at Bethel AME Church in San Diego, California. I am enjoying my work as clergy-in-training!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is entitled “Little Book of Harvests Devotional.” It’s the first devotional I have written. The devotional is a format that allows for classroom study or individual contemplation on the topic. The book is inspired by my interest in the Biblical ideas of sowing and reaping. It’s not all about money.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Ummm. I don’t think it’s unusual to write a while, then play a computer game while thinking, then going back to writing, then choosing a different game, then write, then consult my daily “to do” list…. I guess you’d say I’m an interval writer.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Science fiction has influenced me the most: Frank Herbert, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison. Each of them has written a story or two (novel, novella, short story) that raises questions about the existence of gods: the Christian God, the middle eastern panoply of gods, alien gods.

What are you working on now?
I am editing volume 5 of Suddenly Free, working with a novella based on the characters in the Suddenly Free universe, and drafting and editing studies on particular topics in the Bible. It is interval writing on steroids.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My best method is really having a book in my possession. My pic is on the back cover of all but one of my books, so some people buy just because they now know an author. All of my books are sold on Amazon.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t stop! I am inspired by my personal relationship with God, and an insatiable desire to know everything I can find out about Him and Creation before my demise. Whatever inspires a writer should drive them to keep writing. If you have the drive, you won’t stop. You might get discouraged, slow down or take a break. But don’t stop.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
There were different ideas at different times in my life. “Be good,” was good for my life until I was two digits old. “Finish what you start,” became the best advice for me in my teens. After that, “Do good.” Now, in the last portion of my life (I am 68 years old), “Do your best,” is the best advice I can follow. What’s better than one’s best?

What are you reading now?
I write so much, that I don’t read a lot. But the theme of my reading is the Bible in the original languages.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Next is, to write the next volume, teaching, or devotional.

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. Bible commentaries.

Author Websites and Profiles
Yvette Carmon Davis Website
Yvette Carmon Davis Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in a small town in Adams County, PA. I have written 2 books and outlining my new projects. I have three children and a beagle. I’m also a realtor.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Love or Lust. My inspiration for the book came from personal experience. The people in the book are based on real people and all the experiences are fiction. It’s the back and forth question of whether it’s love or lust.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write when the mood strikes. I always have my computer or a notepad handy. I recently downloaded a writer app so if I think of something, I can record it for later. There’s also options for pictures if I see something that could make a great cover photo. Most of my outlines for books come from dreams. I have a hard time sleeping because I’m developing characters in my head and thinking of what to write next.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum series), Sophie Kinsella and Emily Giffin. All 3 women have different styles of writing and I can get engulfed in their books.

What are you working on now?
I’m re-writing my 1st book, Deceived, that I started in high school. It’s my baby and I want to do it justice. I’m also writing DownFire, which is a rock band erotica.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I mostly use Facebook, Instagram, my blog and my website.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Write whatever comes to mind, even if it doesn’t make sense. If you can write an outline for your book before you start writing, it may help guide you when you get writer’s block.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Follow your passion. If it’s writing, keep at it. I had a company fire me for writing an erotica novel but found out from others that praised me for sticking to my passion.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently not reading anything right now. I’m listing to podcasts about personal development that will help keep my writing on my radar.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My plan is to write 4 books a year, 1 every quarter. I want to make this a full-time job and the only way to do it is 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?
I would pick a survival book, campfire eating, some steamy romance,

Author Websites and Profiles
Samantha Fair Website
Samantha Fair Amazon Profile
Samantha Fair Author Profile on Smashwords

Samantha Fair’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 former entertainment journalist. I’ve interviewed a lot of celebrities including Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins, Dane Cook, and even had the opportunity to cover President Obama. I have written about a dozen novels, a couple that have not been published.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The newest book, “Vampires of Portlandia” (Fall 2020 by Parliament House Press) is about a family of Filipino vampires (aswangs) that immigrates to the weird city of Portland, Oregon. I’d always wanted to write about Filipino lore (my parents are from the Philippines), and when I moved to Portland, I discovered this entirely different world downtown. It all made sense to have the family relocate.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I work a full-time job so I find myself waking up each day between 3:45 to 4:00 AM in order to get words in. I find that the early morning is my “window” for creativity.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I fell in love with the humor of Dave Barry, and was pulled in by the directness of Chuck Palahniuk. Since then, I have diversified and follow a laundry list of authors that includes Gillian Flynn, Christopher Buckley, John Berendt, Clive Barker, and Nick Hornby.

What are you working on now?
I am pitching a couple of #ownvoices books – one about a Filipino teenager who hides his love of Filipino dances from essentially the world, the other about two lovebirds who escape the Philippines during the hostile Martial Law era of President Marcos. Both are based on true stories.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I find that Twitter is the most intimate means of connecting with other authors and readers. Facebook seems very distant, and Instagram is a means to show off images. Otherwise, I find word of mouth and doing physical events such as book signings, festivals, and appearances to be the best method.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My favorite quote is a lyric by Sheryl Crow. It’s off “Globe Sessions.”

“Making miracles is hard work; most people give up before they happen.”

Publishing is a tedious and slow process. In an era where everyone wants things done ASAP, beginning writers really just need to understand that publishing isn’t a fast process. A lot of people get frustrated or plain just give up.

Don’t.

If you can learn to write for yourself and because you love it, you’ll eventually see a reward.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It’s a bizarre analogy but another author told me this when I was at a crossroads with my writing.

I had left my full-time job to focus on writing, but found myself taking jobs to make money, jobs that I would never accept, like technical writing, or writing descriptions for pillows. I needed to make money so I could concentrate on the type of writing that I wanted to. I contemplated on going back into the workforce.

He said, “Treat your full-time job like a wife and your writing like a mistress. Find a way to manage both, until it’s time to leave your ‘wife’ for your ‘mistress.'”

He was write. I still work full-time, but I’m able to write the types of things that I truly want to, and not that I have to.

What are you reading now?
Nothing at the moment… sadly.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My goal is to find homes for the aforementioned books. Am hoping to get another sold by the end of 2019.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
This is a trick question. With my Kindle, I can store as many as I want. But if I were to have a bookshelf with only room for three books, I would have “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” by John Berendt; “Fight Club” by Chuck Palahniuk; and “Big Trouble” by Dave Barry. Those three books have been the most influential to me.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jason Tanamor Website
Jason Tanamor Amazon Profile

Jason Tanamor’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an independent writer, I am a beginner (as a writer), I published only one book

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
the title of the book is:
Improve memory quickly

I have studied the behavior of the human brain for years, I thought of making a guide to increase memory capacity

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
no

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Freud

What are you working on now?
for the moment nothing

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

What are you reading now?
Studies On Hysteria (Freud)

What’s next for you as a writer?
I do not know

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 Interpretation of Dreams(Freud)
The Psychopathology of Everyday Life(Freud)
Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality(Freud)

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am indie writer who loves fantasy. In the Stardust Destinies series, I have five completed books, the first of which I have just published. I am currently writing the sequel quintology and am currently writing my first and rough draft of book 8. Outside of Stardust Destinies, I write fan-fiction, from the Star Wars Old Republic universe, which can be found on my website. I am also a YouTuber. On my main channel I dive into the lore of my favourite video game, Dragon Age. It inspires me and motivates me for my own projects.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest published book is Stardust Destinies I: Variate Facing. The inspiration for the story, the characters and the world came to me in a dream. I actually dreamt of Chapter Nine, so I wrote that first, ad then developed my lore and characters. Then I wrote from the start up to that chapter, and then continued writing it, and then just kept writing. I had no idea Stardust Destinies would end up being a series at that time, let alone one that would contain ten books (at least).

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if they’re unusual, but they’re definitely particular. While some things I write I write directly in Word, when it comes to Stardust Destinies, I must write by hand first. Then I proof read before typing it up. I have a process where I proof read and correct the typed version before doing a self-editing pass. Only then do I feel it is ready for my editor.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have three favourite franchises that have inspired me a great deal throughout the years. Star Wars and its original expanded universe is the first one. I was four years old when I saw A New Hope for the first time, so it’s been a great inspiration. Lord of the Rings and other books by J.R.R. Tolkien is another inspiration for me. The way Tolkien includes songs and other languages inspired me to put in some songs and invented languages into my stories as well. And of cour, I can’t forget my favourite video game franchise, Dragon Age. All those franchises have rich characters of various types, with various arcs. Analysing certain character arcs and Carl Jung’s archetypes has helped me develop some of my own characters.

What are you working on now?
Lots of things. I’m always writing some fanfic and/or some Stardust Destinies. At different weeks I dedicate my days to a specific project. When I’m not focusing on my writing, I’m filming videos for both my channel (the gaming one and the alternative healing one). I am in the process of working on Stardust Destinies VIII for that series specifically.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am completely new to promotion and marketing. So far I’ve used social media platforms and have reached out to other content creators I know on those platforms. I am discovering and learning when it comes to promotion. What I’ve discovered is that it’s good for me to keep a list of places I’ve submitted to, people I’ve reached out to, bookstores I’ve called. It’s easy to get caught up in how overwhelming it can be, being organised has definitely helped.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I would say don’t listen to your inner critic. That voice that puts us down sometimes when we are unsure of ourselves can be detrimental at times. While it’s good to gain feedback and to improve what we write throughout the entire process, simply doing is a step towards achieving one’s goals. So, also, go for it, write, and write. There are online courses and tutorials that you can find for free for self-editing, which help improve your writing skills. I’d also advise investing in a grammar book. I consult mine regularly, even when I know the rule, sometimes it’s best to make sure and double check. It can only improve the writing skill.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice came from my mentor shortly after I had graduated from CEGEP and he told me to just do it, to go for it. I had shown him a portion of my manuscript and he told me to keep writing the book and to publish. It took many years before I was actually ready to publish, but I kept writing, and I went for it. It brings me so much joy to create, I’m going to be creating for the rest of my life.

What are you reading now?
I’ve been trying to read the Silmarillion. It’s a handful, to say the least. The language is very rich and the story lore complex. I set it aside for a time, but I might pick it up again soon and try to get through it once and for all.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ve been in contact with my editor to begin the process for Stardust Destinies II, so there’s that. I also have some bookstores to contact for book 1. Of course, I’m writing the sequel quintology. So my focus is shifting towards that, all the while continuing my on-going fanfic stories, which are great practice and a fun escape when I need a change of scenery.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’d have to take the Lord of the Rings trilogy with me. It’s so inspirational and descriptive, and great epic adventure to go through a good number of times before I can get tired of it. I think I’d also take the Light Side vs Dark Side book about the Force and the Jedi and SIth history and chronology (all the same book). If I’m going to be stranded, I might as well practice my Force abilities, right?

Author Websites and Profiles
Celinka Serre Website

Celinka Serre’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m originally from Quebec, Canada, but I’ve been living in Paris, France for most of my adult life. So far, I’ve published two of my books on Amazon. The most recent one is a thriller that takes place in the city’s catacombs. Drawing on that urban mythology, I challenge the reader to dare to imagine what would happen if that world below our feet were taken over by terrorists

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“City of Dark” is inspired by the Zeitgeist of political irresponsibility and impunity that I see all around me at the moment (both in Europe and North America). I suppose the story is supposed to offer a sort of twisted adventure through contemporary politics and fake news. It’s very noir. But I hope it will also take readers on a stroll through Paris’ less well-known spaces. I love Paris and the chapters of my books are packed with anecdotes and legends that will give you a new take on the city.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I wish I did.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m a very eclectic reader. I guess, top of my list would be Robert Harris. I love how his books explore history while at the same time telling a great story. But I wouldn’t say he has influenced me. Likeswise, I wish I could write with the humour and clarity of Chandler. But, again, he’s not really an influence, just an author I love. I suppose, I should add Ruth Rendell, too. When I was younger I read a lot of her stuff and really enjoyed the psychological profiles.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on the follow up to “City of Dark”. I hope to have it finished and available by the end of 2020.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m new to self-publishing and I really don’t know the sites. I’m a nobody and so reviewers and websites aren’t interested in me. I’m also not willing to pay for online media promotion. So, I guess I’ll have to answer goodreads. It’s a community that is authentically interested in books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I am a new author, so no.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write, as if it were a command from God. (Not that I’m religious, I just like the quote.)

What are you reading now?
A Very Normal Family, by Edvarsson

What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully to find some 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?
I would rather have a pile of paper and a pen and be allowed to write. That way I could make up my own stories and friends and never feel alone.

Author Websites and Profiles
Claire Dickinson Website
Claire Dickinson Amazon Profile

Claire Dickinson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello! I am Katie and though I have written what feels like hundreds of books, Conflict of Interest is my first published work. It’s so exciting!
I have been writing since I was a kid but only in the last ten years or so did I realize this is what I wanted my life’s work to be. Life has an awesome and kind of sexy way about it when you realize you’re doing what you were meant to do.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Conflict of Interest is my lastest book, my debut book, and the first book in a four-part series called Taking Chances. The inspiration has been a long time coming. But I wanted a book that highlighted the importance of friendship and family, and also, very successful women and men. It’s modern and contemporary in a way that forces people to choose between success and love.
Let’s get back to the friendships for just a minute because it’s a huge piece of this book and it wouldn’t be the same without this aspect. These four girls; Grace, Aimee, Casey, and Rachel are dynamic and individuals, but they wouldn’t be who they are without the influence of one another. It’s the true definition of unconditional love. I think you’ll be attracted to their friendship and a little sad when you set the book down because of it – in a good way!
And there is LOVE. Love makes this world go ’round. The inspiration between Grace and Luke came from my husband and my romance. We immediately felt a connection and we seemed to know “this was it.” When we knew this was what we wanted out of life, we wanted the rest of our lives to start right away. It was the perfect companion to Grace and Luke as they entered their own whirlwind romance.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Nothing unusual about the writing itself. But the location is another story. I set up our office to be (what I thought) was the perfect writing cave. I painted the walls a sophisticated black, it had regal pictures of stags and antlers. Very den. Very “old” classy. I go in there just to sit and look around because I love it so much.
And after all that work, I write at the old, crappy kithen table. I have no idea why. And I’m sure it drives my husband crazy having papers and cords and my laptop fighting for space while we are eating meals. I just try to pretend it isn’t there in hopes he’ll forget it’s bothering him!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Nora Roberts and Debbit Macomber are the bit two for romance and the inspiration behind the friendships I like to write about.
From a speed and story-telling perspective, James Patterson, John Grisham, and Sanford. I can speed-read any one of their books in a single night if I decide I don’t care about my progress for the next day.

What are you working on now?
Right now I’m putting the finishing touches on a Christmas novel that will be released in November. I’m also completing a manuscript draft for a book that’s a little more risque and errotic than I’m used to but it’s been so fun to write. Then comes the final bit of outline for the second book in the Taking Chances series – this time featuring Casey.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I would say friends and family for spreading the word is big as far as initial reach and getting people (locally) to talk about it. Then comes Facebook and Instagram from a social media perspective. Finally, sites like Awesome Gang, that can spread the word to people who are just like me – dying to read the next great book that makes the FEEL – whether it’s fun, happy, love, pain, etc.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Finish the book! The rest will come.

…and when I say “finish the book” I mean all the way. Go through it, and over it, and add to it, and remove what doesn’t work, and don’t be afraid to have major changes. Be willing to put in the work to make it the best it can be. And focus on enjoying the process. You are perfecting your work of art! Your name is going to be on this book.

For example, I rush through my first draft. Some parts are great, some aren’t. When I go through it that first time I realize there are dates that don’t make sense, names that I’ve changed in the middle of the book, tenses that are all wrong, and that I’ve used different versions of the SAME WORD. I Love the book anyway.
Then, I take a yellow legal pad, and as I read through for my first round of edits, I’ll make changes in-line as I read, but I’ll also write new paragraphs or chapters in bulk on the yellow pad. So by the time I’m finished with the frist major edit of the book I’ll have nearly doubled the book in size by adding hand-written pages.
Then I go through and re-type all of my edits and as I type I’ll continue to make improvements.
Once retyped I’ll go through it once more and put it into grammerly.
After grammerly I’ll do another round of edits myself. After I do that, I’ll send it to a friend who does the first round of major edits and proof-reading for me. I’ll think the book is good at this point – but she will kindly remind me that it still needs tons of work by making between 20-50 suggestions per chapter! (You can laugh here if you want – I usually do to keep from crying).
Then I go through all of her recommendations, make the changes I like, ignore the ones I don’t, and type it all up. At this point the book is pretty good. I go through it again to check names and timelines. As I do this I’ll continually check for grammer and punctuation and tense.
I’ll actually sit down with my editor once more and we’ll do a huge critique on the book all in one weekend. We’ll STILL find things to correct. After this weekend though, we are nearly there.
Then I’ll send the book to a professional editor and I’ll pick and choose which of those changes to make.
Then we are close. Like, close to the point where I’ll reread it and maybe find five or ten things in the whole book that could potentially change.
Then another re-read. If I find nothing, THEN I’m ready to start everything else.
Everything else is: formatting for the ebook, paperback, and hardcover books. Marketing, laying down some heavy promotion (this is not including the promotion I’ve done throughout the writing process to get people interested). Show snipets of the work. Finalize the cover design. And start promoting it on sites like Awesome Gang! Ordering proofs for one final re-read in the form of an actual book. Update any final changes. Then promote the heck out of it straight through the launch of the book.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Finish the book.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading “Juror Number Nine” by James Patterson. “What I Know For Sure” by Oprah Winfrey. And “Savor the Moment” by Nora Roberts (again).

What’s next for you as a writer?
A Christmas novel, an errotic novel, the second and third books in the Taking Chances series, and finally – another Christmas 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?
1. The Firm, by John Grisham
2. The Witness, by Nora Roberts
3. Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte
4. Sherlock Holmes, the complete volume, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Author Websites and Profiles
Katie Bachand Website
Katie Bachand Amazon Profile

Katie Bachand’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have always loved school and spent my working career in universities. My first book, “The Politics of the Feminist Novel,” won an Outstanding Academic Book award; and I have published literary criticism as well as book reviews and occasional poems and a short story. I earned my B.A. cum laude at Bowling Green State University, and my doctorate came from the University of Michigan, even though I am a home-grown Ohio State Buckeye, which became a fun challenge while I was teaching Freshman English during my graduate work at Michigan. Now retired from university administration I have had more time for breeding and showing collies and Irish wolfhounds, garnering AKC championships and several group placements along the way. I have also enjoyed judging multiple AKC matches and will receive my AKC judge’s license shortly. I also have more time now for golf, travel, gardening and reading, all of which are part of my so-called “retired” life.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My most recent writing is “His Name was Brownie: Close Encounters with Dogs, People, and Other Ridiculous Animals.” I have always loved reading and started with animal stories and books before elementary school. My favorites were Albert Payson Terhune’s collie stories and Walter Farley’s Black Stallion and Island Stallion books, all of which I read many times. I thought it would be wonderful to be able to write like that and give people so much enjoyment. So I decided to try it with “Brownie” after an English professor said I should write up the funny animal stories I often told at parties. “Brownie” is a mixed-breed offspring of “Marley and Me” and “All Creatures Great and Small,” and is just for fun. Peopled with multiple Marley dogs (and Marla’s as well), nearly all readers will recognize their dog or cat, son or daughter, spouse–maybe even themselves– as the featured characters barrel their way through their laughable adventures. Collies and Irish wolfhounds bound through the pages; but they have many companions, including a tuxedo cat, a mastiff, a demented border collie, two Siamese cats, two twenty-five pound attack cats, the monkey from Hell, a Labrador retriever nicknamed “Blockhead” because of his habit of getting his head stuck in plastic milk cartons, black witch moths, and a bufo. Their escapades take them through beautiful areas of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Hawaii, before the clan finally lands in Wisconsin near the Wisconsin River.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I only write when I feel like it. I put my head back, shut my eyes, and picture the general story I want to write; and when it comes, I write it. Sometimes it happens when I’m driving somewhere, and I rip a piece of paper out of somewhere and jot down notes when stopped at red lights.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Too many to count–as a child Terhune and Farley. There are many hundreds as an adult; I just can’t list them all.

What are you working on now?
This fall, I’ll be starting on a fiction book. The title will be “Pitch to Light,” and it will be totally different from “Brownie,” probably somewhat grimly serious.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
So far it’s been Kindle countdown deals, but I need to find something else.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write what you care about, and don’t stop. Do not write for the marketplace. Read thousands and thousands of good books; read about how to write; and then do what you want.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
People are like trees; they grow or die.

What are you reading now?
The Winds of War

What’s next for you as a writer?
“Pitch to Light.”

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 God of Small Things, The Poisonwood Bible, Winterdance, and The Awakening

Author Websites and Profiles
Judi Roller Website
Judi Roller Amazon Profile

Judi Roller’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m 42 and have 2 beautiful kids. One of which is in the USAF! (Proud Mom) I’ve written two books thus far and am working on book 3 of the series!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Finding “N” and it’s inspired by my debut novel. Jacob who is the main character in this book is the brother of the main character of the first book. This book explains a lot about how he ended up at his childhood home for Christmas and why he was acting a certain way in the first book!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I try to write on the weekends because I work a full time job throughout the week but sometimes I’m just beat and can’t. Sometimes I wake up with a scene playing and have to get it down on paper!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My favorite book of all times is “Where the Red Fern Grows” by Wilson Rawls. Portia Moore and J.R. Ward are two women authors that have influenced me also.

What are you working on now?
My current WIP is called “Finally Home”. This will be Jamie’s book who is the sister of the men in books 1 and 2.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m constantly on Twitter and Instagram!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice for new authors would be…
Keep going! No matter how hard it seems, somewhere, someone needs your story!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I’ve gotten is:
Pay for editing! You need your story to be read with little to no mistakes so that it doesn’t take away from your story!

What are you reading now?
Unfortunately I can’t read while I’m working on a book! I always feel that I don’t want to take someone else’s ideas subconsciously and they end up in my story!

What’s next for you as a writer?
My next step is to finish book 3 and hopefully start book 4!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
This is a hard question! I think that I would take the first 4 books from the Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward!

Author Websites and Profiles
Tamara Whitlow Website
Tamara Whitlow Amazon Profile

Tamara Whitlow’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a filmmaker based in Mumbai. Although, I have several credits for the script. A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO BEAUTY PAGEANT is my first book. I am nearly completing my second book which will be out in October.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
As I filmmaker I worked closely with the Miss World contestants. This was a good opportunity to know the industry closely and goes into making a winner. Therefore, I wrote this book to give the contestants the right knowledge that they need.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Every writer has a queer way of writing. I like to take a break at unknown destinations while working on my book. Also, I like to consume a lot of dark chocolate while writing. Somehow, I think it acts as a mood booster. Though I do not know the real science behind it.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am an avid writer. I can read anything and everything that I can lay my hand on. I have read all the classics, Jane Austen is my favourite.
If you talk about the contemporary writers, Orhan Pamuk writing has impressed me a lot.

What are you working on now?
I am working on a fiction which acts a prequel to this book. The author travels with the beauty queens and falls in love with one of them. This is how he could write a book about beauty pageants.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am not an expert at promotions. I am just learning as this is my first book.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice to new writers is to write and be consistent. Only writing will help you get your book published. Please do not think about anything else when you are writing. Everything will fall in place.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice that I heard from someone was to keep your ears closed to negative criticism.

What are you reading now?
I am reading THE RICHEST MAN IN BABYLON by George S Clason.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am completing my next book. I am also working on a new movie script.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
If I am left on a desert island, I would take the Harry Potter series as that would keep me amused and make a good read.

Author Websites and Profiles
mukarram khan Website
mukarram khan Amazon Profile

mukarram khan’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have four books on Amazon and I am working on a fifth novel.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Behind the Fan; the back story takes place in the ’30s and in a burlesque club called The Honey Bee. The character is a woman who has dementia when her family comes to her aid and begin to move her into a nursing home. When they discover a box of aged photos, the family unearth Dottie’s secret. Burlesque dancers, mobsters, and blues singers; Dottie falls back into her memories, taking her loved ones along as she unravels her past. The title also hints that there is much more to Dottie and her dancer friends behind those lovely feathered fans.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My summers are generally hectic. I live in the country and have a horse I show in Quarter Horse shows; in short, I seldom get to sit down! I write more in the winter to produce a book every two years. I love writing; however, I need quiet and solitude for focus.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The stories that inspire me are tales like Gone With the Wind. I loved Scarlett O’Hara; I applauded her tenacity and spunk. Margaret Mitchell was a trailblazer when you consider when she published this book.

What are you working on now?
My short story; In Hiding won in a writing competition in 2017. The feedback I received was overwhelming; this encouraged me to consider expanding on the story. I am now working on the first edits of the book. I hope the fans of the short story like the development.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I seek out sites like Awesome Gang; I love connecting with readers. Success to me is hearing that a reader understood my character, and felt the connection with their plight. This is what storytelling is all about!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
New writers endeavor to do it all; create the book cover, edit your own work, do your own promotion. Most cannot carry the full weight of all these activities, cover artists are easy to find, and are affordable. No one can edit their work; it’s is akin to trying to find a flaw in your child. As far as promotion goes; there are only so many hours in a day, and you have to eat and sleep sometime!

In short, hire what you can; cover art and editing are your best investments. For promo work, there are sites out there that offer affordable campaigns. In short; invest in your dream, free your time up for writing.

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

Get the idea in motion; you can always tweak it, improve it, or shorten it, and keep it as a novella.

Someone will love it too.

What are you reading now?
I just finished The Fine Owl Solution by C. Ryan Carlson. It was fantastic!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I will be finishing In Hiding this year with the goal of publishing it in 2020. I also enter short story competitions and have a few of these that will be concluding this year. In general, I will continue to let my imagination take me where it pleases.

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 faves, Gone with the Wind, Black Beauty, and Christine.

I know, I think it is an odd mix too but what can I say?

Author Websites and Profiles
Caroline Walken Website
Caroline Walken Amazon Profile

Caroline Walken’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have five novels published on Amazon. I put up the first one in 2012 after becoming a widow. Writing has since filled my life.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Blame the Care Ride. it was inspired by a drive in the mountains of Montana.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write when inspired to do so. I can not force the words to come if they are not there.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many. Fannie Flagg, Sue Monk Kid, Tana French. These authors write such clear descriptions you can just see what is happening. I try to do that.

What are you working on now?
A novel place in Kansas City in the late 1940s. Working title is Where’s Joe. It is a triller.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Book Bub if I get them to accept one of my books for promotion. if not Awesome Gang, ENT and Kindle books and tips

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write because you want to, when you want to and for yourself

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Make something happen on every page

What are you reading now?
The Likeness by Tana French

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish the novel I am working on

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Bible, and three John Grisham books

Author Websites and Profiles
Marie F Martin Website
Marie F Martin Amazon Profile

Marie F Martin’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 passionate writer of fiction books and I’m working with a team of talented editors and top-notch illustrators, our main concern is publishing great children’s books with strong characters and stories with a sense of joy and always something to learn.

Our books will not only entertain your child but engage them and set them up to enjoy reading for the rest of their life.

Our books allow kids to explore other worlds and experiment other lives and feel familiar enough with the characters of the stories.

Both parents and children will enjoy reading our books and will feel involved in our stories and interactive books as well.

We are offering a free bonus and surprises in each book, so stay tuned!

You can check our website https://www.littlegemsbooks.com

Cheers for kids!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Writing only if I’m happy and peaceful.

Author Websites and Profiles
Lily Mai Website
Lily Mai Amazon Profile

Lily Mai’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a mom and small business owner. I have written 2 books for my children. The first one [MBA Before College] was to teach them MBA (Master of Business Management) principles I learned at business school, and I encourage them to start their own business and manage their own fate as early as possible and when they are ready. I think the word “job” as we know it will be outdated for their generation. The second book [Habits for Better Vision] is based on our 5-year journey to help my son to reverse his nearsightedness and improve eyesight without glasses naturally and holistically.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
5 years ago, when my son was 9 years old, the ophthalmologist told him he needed prescription glasses for his nearsightedness (myopia). My son was sad, he thought he’d be teased by others and his “tennis career” would be over. I had faced career challenges in 2012-2013, I was guilty of neglecting my son. With my biomedical engineering education and my husband’s ophthalmologist background, we were determined to heal my son’s eyesight. I read medical books and published scientific studies, collected many anecdotal stories, bought programs by natural vision coaches. Together, we tried new habits and routines in managing stress, doing eye exercises, improving nutrition, involving outdoor and indoor changes, the right way using electronic devices… I started to have other parents asking me these questions. I also see the alarming statistics in my research: 5 billion world population will be myopia in 2050; America: 42% of myopic people; in some developed Asian countries: youth myopia is 80-96.5%. So I decided to write this book to empower more and more people to take care of their eyes and vision.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I writes whenever I have a slot of 20 minutes or more, I usually don’t have the luxury to write several hours at a time, so I use the tomato-timer-way to write. I found when I have a bigger mission than just myself, I am motivated to write.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am so grateful for so many authors, they all influenced me very much in mind, body and spirit. I love reading, I read a couple of books a week. I love Dr. Wayne Dyer and Louise Hay. But recently, the book stuck in my mind was Anne Lamott’s book “Bird by Bird” which was published in 1995. When I feel overwhelmed in my work, writing, family obligations, and book marketing, I just tell myself, “bird by bird, Aileen, bird by bird.” – Which means even facing the tightest deadline, I just need to start doing one thing at a time. And being present. The same is for book writing, it start with writing one word at a time.)

What are you working on now?
I want to share my parenting journey. I had high profile career before having children in my mid-30s. When career and family conflict, I went through pain, loss and transformation. It is a journey of self-discovery, self-improvement, as now I see raising children is also raising myself. A journey I started with confusion, but now with peace, joy and appreciation. I am very grateful that my children gave me the patience and love to allow me to grow into my better self.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Speaking is the most effective way to connect and sell, because the audience can hear your story that comes from your heart. I spoke at 3 events last week, a mom from the audience told me I was the messenger to bring answers to her prayers. Her 9-year-old son was also told to wear glasses for the rest of his life, she didn’t know what to do. She said, “I didn’t know why I came to this meeting, now I know you are the reason. You brought the answer to my prayers” There are many lifelong myopic adults told me how liberating my message was, and I answered their questions on myopic headache, contact lens problems, surgery dilemma, nutrition etc. Although time consuming, it is very rewarding. I hope I have a bigger stage to speak to more people.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Readers want two things: entertainment or problem solving. If you write from those two motivations, it’s just a matter of time that you see the reward.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Forget about fame; write what’s worth writing”.

What are you reading now?
I read old and new and different ones for different mood:
1. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
2. Capital in the Twenty-First Century
3. The life-changing magic of tidying up: the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing
4. Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease

What’s next for you as a writer?
I love writing, I will continue to write every day. I also want to be a speaker to make a difference in the world.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
1. Tao Te Ching
2. Power vs. Force
3. The Lord of the Rings / Harry Potter series (for entertainment)

Author Websites and Profiles
Aileen Yi Fan Website
Aileen Yi Fan Amazon Profile

Aileen Yi Fan’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
If you count all the books “in the drawer,” I’ve written ten. Most are memoir, but there’s a few really awful novels and a promising daily meditation book. Stay tuned! I’m always writing, always looking for a good story to share.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My running and mental health memoir, Depression Hates a Moving Target: How Running with My Dog Brought Me Back from the Brink, was released by Mango Publishing in 2019. It was my first published book.

At 49, as a chronically depressed, grief-stricken “couch potato” I was as surprised as anyone when the social media post of a friend inspired me to leash up the dog, pick up a digital kitchen timer, and walk down to a secluded ravine to attempt sixty-seconds of jogging. I was even more surprised when it not only helped me slim down, but improved my mood so much I was able to reduce my mental health meds. My friends, family, and health care providers saw the change before I did.

I was already writing about my new, “middle-age” habit. It took a year of writing the story before I realized it wasn’t about running. The real story was about saving my own life through exercise.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write in a grocery store. I’ve always loved writing in coffeeshops. I used to say I “collected” coffeeshop experiences. I still have a favorite coffeeshop I frequent, but there is a large, chain grocer in our suburb that has a large community room with free wifi and a coffeeshop. I’m there several times a week.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
From the day I first listened to Ziska read the cassette audiobook of Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, to the present when I keep Bones on my desk at all times, that book has been my bible. I would not still be writing so many years later. Without her “writing practice” technique and the philosophy behind it, I would have given up long ago.

Other memoirists are also guides for me: Mary Karr, Cheryl Strayed, and Vivian Gornick.

What are you working on now?
I’m hard at work on the book proposal for a book of daily meditation practices to help people live in the moment.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is an online service free to “sources.” Once you’ve written a book, you’re automatically an “expert” in whatever topic your book covers. Journalists are hungry for new voices to quote and new books to include on their “best of” lists. It’s been invaluable.

The other tool is Smarterqueue for scheduling social media posts. It makes it look as if I am on social media 24-hours a day. I am not!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you’re new to writing, patience is your friend. I hated hearing that, but it was true. Take a long view. And do not give up.

If you’re newly published, hang on! The ride is amazing and sometimes rocky. I actually wrote an entire blog post for the Women’s National Book Association of San Francisco about how to stay sane when your book comes out. The number one thing I need to remember daily is that thousands of other authors would love to be where I am. Complaining about the “problems” of success does not look good on anyone.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“On to the next.” ~ Brenda Ueland
Also, “Keep your hand moving.” ~ Natalie Goldberg

What are you reading now?
I just finished The Swan Thieves. I cannot imagine the time spent on the research alone. That kind of intricate fiction amazes me. I’m not sure my mind works that way, but it inspires me to do my best.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I hope to further develop what has so far been an amazing relationship with the professionals at Mango Publishing. I cannot praise Associate Publisher Brenda Knight often enough. She has the vision, passion, and experience to make things happen. She has treated me with and my book with the utmost respect and kindness and is someone I hope I will always have on my side.

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?
Writing Down the Bones, of course. Also, Natalie Goldberg’s Long Quiet Highway. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Nothing Special: Living Zen by Joko Beck.

Author Websites and Profiles
Nita Sweeney Website
Nita Sweeney Amazon Profile

Nita Sweeney’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello. My name is Dr. LaRonda Starling, and I have a private practice in Texas providing psychological services. Be Still: Spiritual Self-Care for Mental Health Professionals is the first book that I have written and published.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The book is titled Be Still: Spiritual Self-Care for Mental Health Professionals. Years ago, I started seeing these signs from God about being still. I started making notes here and there as I thought about what it meant. Those notes where the start of the book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do not have any that I am aware of , but now I’ll be sure to pay more attention. I’ll keep you posted.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have many favorite authors, but at the top are Maya Angelou and Janet Evanovich.

What are you working on now?
I’m not writing anything else at the time. I’m going back to my day job.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have not found out which method is the best yet, since this is my first book. However, I am using social media accounts (Instagram, Pinterest, and Linkedin) to advertise as well as some ebook promotion sites and book sites such as Goodreads.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I would say write what you know…what you are passionate about. Have fun and enjoy every part of the writing and publishing process, and then celebrate.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best writing advise I have heard is from a quote by Jean Paul. It is “Never write on a subject until you have read yourself full of it.”

What are you reading now?
I am not reading a book right now because I am working on my book launch. But I do want to get caught up on my Stephanie Plum reading, so the next book I’ll be reading in October is Janet Evanovich’s Turbo Twenty-Three.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I enjoyed writing Be Still so much that I had not really thought of anything to write next. However, I can definitely see more book writing in my future.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I think I would bring four books since I’m not sure how long I’ll be stranded. I would bring:
Gideon: Your Weakness. God’s Strength by Priscilla Shirer
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

The only one on the list I have never read is War and Peace, but I have heard good reviews.

Author Websites and Profiles
LaRonda Starling Website
LaRonda Starling Amazon Profile

LaRonda Starling’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Several in my previous life, in a language other than English. Six I think.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Jung’s Demon: A serial-killer’s tale of love and madness” inspired by an endless struggle against madness of my own.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Usual suspects. Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Franz Kafka. Malcolm Lowry. Albert Camus. Mikhail Bulgakov.

What are you working on now?
A new book, wrapped in mystery.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
No clue about promotion.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you can live without writing, don’t write.

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

What are you reading now?
“Demons,” or “The Possessed” by Dostoyevsky.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Likely a suicide.

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 Gulag Archipelago” by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. “Under the Volcano” by Malcom Lowry. “Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov. “Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)” by Jerome K. Jerome

Author Websites and Profiles
Trygve E. Wighdal Website
Trygve E. Wighdal Amazon Profile

Trygve E. Wighdal’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account