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Willie Henderson 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Minister Willie J. Henderson. I have written 6 inspirations to help struggling addicts understand the reasons according to God’s word for their struggle, but most importantly to show them how to follow Christ’s example in Lk.4:1-13 and apply the promises of God to strengthen and deliver them when temptations present themselves.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is entitled, “Crack Cocaine Let My People Go; Appropriate Prayer Results In Deliverance”.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I love to sit by the river or ocean and listen to the sound of the wind and rushing water when l write because the Bible says that “the voice of God’s is upon the waters…” (Ps. 29:3), and when l listen quietly l hear what His Holy Spirit tells me to write.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
When l was young l read a book entitled, “Run Baby Run”, by Nicki Cruz and from then on l knew that l wanted to become a author.

What are you working on now?
I currently working on a book entitled, “The Person You Use To Be Verses The New You; Letting God Of The Old Self”

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am currently using Facebook and Twitter.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
The more you read, the better your writing skills will become.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never allow writer’s block to cause you to give up.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently read a book by Joyce Meyers entitled, “Me And My Big Mouth”.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I would like to write a true life story about my life and struggles and achievements.

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 Bible.
2. Become A Better You.
3. Let It Go.

Author Websites and Profiles
Willie Henderson Amazon Profile

Jakob Zaaiman 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written about 10 books, 3 of which are currently in print; the rest will need considerable revision if they are to see the light of day. I work ‘full time’ – as it were – on my artworks, videos, music and on my writings, swopping from one form to another as the ideas come to me, or if I hit a brick wall with one particular thing. I live in London, which is a great place to live as I can get by on nothing while being part of a massive gathering of people from all over the world. I live in a leafy part of town, yet it’s only 20 minutes away from Piccadilly and Soho by tube. So I’m never far from degenerate action, if need be. Perfect. I’ve worked in all kinds of fields, from music to retail to teaching to counselling to plastering and wrecking. Other than English I speak a few languages, though not particularly well. Mandarin is my favourite, but it doesn’t seem to like me, and keeps pushing its impossible and impenetrable characters out of my memory. I’ve also travelled all over the place – Europe, America, Asia, Africa.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is ‘Ghost Queen’, consisting of extremist short stories inspired by my various travels and various observations of human imbecility, including my own. I like to think of the stories as a bit like a deranged Bukowski very slightly filtered through an aspirant Naipaul.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really – I try to work on my various projects during the day and part of the evening (Monday to Thursday), as I save the weekends for recovery. Sometimes the ideas just won’t come, and so I have to wait patiently, and do other things. I used to write at night while drinking, but this was a misjudgement and straightaway led to a catastrophic loss of quality control.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
No one influences me directly, although there are a number of authors I admire to the point of worship: Beckett and Naipaul are at the top of my list. I once tried ‘imitating’ Naipaul’s style, but it ended in total defeat. I love Bukowski for his contrarian persona, and his alcoholic nihilism, and his writing is always fun to read, though it can be a bit ragged in places. Loads of good women: Flannery & Shirley; Clarice Lispector, Fleur Jaeggy, Regina Ullmann. I detest the classics – Joyce, Shakespeare, Austen, and the like – and other than Dostoevsky regard them as completely uninteresting.

What are you working on now?
New poems, short stories and novels. Once written I have to distance myself from them – ie forget about them for a few months at least – to see if they are any good. I’ve been working on a long novel for many years but it’s very demanding and I may never finish it. So I have plenty of publishable material but I don’t know which pieces will make the cut.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I very much doubt if I will ever have a ‘bestseller’, so I have to be content with something like a cult following. I just try to contact people I think will enjoy what I’ve done. And there are some out there ! So I’m always on the alert for the right opportunity. It’s hard work. Kindlepreneur.com is a good place to start, and then you just have to work systematically through the options, one at a time.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes: if you are a serious writer and striving to achieve literary excellence, then ‘try to have something worthwhile to say’. This means you need to have a wealth of all kinds of experiences to draw on, and most of them will not be very pleasant. This means living life – as an ordinary person – in all its grim facticity, while you find out how life works, and what it amounts to. Keep the day job, if you have one. Get a day job, if you don’t. Truth is, you are unlikely to have anything interesting to say before the age of 40. This doesn’t mean you can’t practice your craft in the meantime, but most of what you produce is likely to be vapid and aspirational only. 98% of all writing – including most of the classics – is about nothing at all – just endless words on a page – writing by the yard – by people who’ve never done anything, and have only ever experienced things in their imagination. Imagination and real life are not the same thing. Imagining a fight is quite different from getting punched in the face, though writers and poets don’t want to have to admit it. I don’t want to have to either.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
‘Life is shit, and always will be’ (paraphrasing the Buddha somewhat, but maintaining the unimpeachable meaning of the First Noble Truth) which means that we just have to make the best of a fairly nasty process, while striving for ‘The Answer’. Of course there are moments of pleasure, but anyone who thinks they ever have got life ‘nicely under control’ are deluded, and will be disabused of their mistaken view sooner rather than later. You try your best, but that doesn’t guarantee anything. You keep going amidst the chaos and defeat. Never be surprised by a complete turnaround: reversals are a feature of life.

What are you reading now?
I always read about 5 or 6 books at a time, a few chapters from each ‘per session’, fiction and non-fiction. Martin Amis, Céline, Elena Ferrante, Anselm Kiefer, Frank Bidart. I occasionally even read thrillers – Christie, Rendell, Simenon – to study technique.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Just to keep it going to the bitter end, while trying to find just the right stories to capture the right ideas to capture the right reader. I write non-fiction as well as poetry. And there’s always alcohol to look forward to when Friday arrives: absinthe; vodka; mescal; alternating with 10% strength beer. Thank god it’s not all doom and gloom.

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?
‘Molloy’ by Beckett; ‘The Birthday Party’ & ‘The Caretaker’ by Pinter; ‘Erections Ejaculations and Tales of Ordinary Madness’ by Bukowski; ‘Guerrillas’ & ‘Beyond Belief’ & ‘A Writer’s People’ by Naipaul; ‘SS Proleterka’ by Jaeggy. That should do the trick.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jakob Zaaiman Website
Jakob Zaaiman Amazon Profile

Jakob Zaaiman’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Pinterest Account

Barakah Smith 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is my first book! I’m truly excited to put it out there and see what happens! I hope you all will enjoy this unique story.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Stranger in a Familiar Place came about as a way to describe what was happening to the main character. Its a title that won’t make sense until you get to the end of the book. It’s a title I cherish because my father was the one who thought of it for me!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Maybe not unusual, but I do tend to write run-on sentences. That’s also something I inherited from my dad lol.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I would say Sara Douglass and C.S. Lewis had most impact on me. These books really inspired my imagination and made me think outside the box for norms.

What are you working on now?
Currently I am working on an indirect sequel to my first book. I loved the character Malakh so much I had to do one more story with him in it.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am very active on social media. I also try talking with people in bookstores that I frequent. It’s a lot of hard work to get yourself known.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be unique. Everyone wants to be the next big hit. We sometimes try to copy (out of admiration) the stories we fell in love with. More and more I am finding that people want to read something new, different, out there. They wanna explore and see things they might not have known they wanted to see.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If you wish you could read a particular story but it hasn’t been written, write it yourself.

What are you reading now?
Currently I am reading The Beast Warrior by Naoko Uehashi. I have a sudden craving for things with a Japanese influence or setting to them.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To get my next book published and then possibly start my first ever book 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?
Wayfarers Redemption, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and A Court of Thorns and Roses.

 

Barakah Smith’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Utkarsh Pandey 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an aspiring engineer, entrepreneur, and a passionate content writer. ‘The Mindful Blunders’ is my first novel and I am really motivated to work on more. A creator and learner in the day, a writer in the night. I also write non-fiction on subjects ranging from personal development to psychology to technology. Bibliophile, learner and initiator. Right Now, I am already working on my second book. I hope this journey goes long.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my latest book is “the mindful blunders”, and since it is the story of a boy who really made a blunders into his mind. After the completion of my book, I ran a poll between two names, one was the deceptive existence and other one was the mindful blunders. It was a hard choice as both the names were depeciting the story of the book. Then after some market analysis we found that the mindful blunders was a easy to understand name so we chose later.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I prefer to write in the darkness of the night. That time, the world is sleeping but my mind do the race. Since it is the most silent part of the day, it helps me write good piece of writing. Also I prefer to write in little dark environment which helps me in focus on my work.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
In last two years, I have read around 60 novels ranging from love story to self help. I loved most of them but if I have to put some names out as my favorite it would be surely, Amish Tripathi for the trilogy and Khaled Hosseini for the kite runner and the thousand splendid suns.

What are you working on now?
Right Now, I am working on a plot which is based of a real life story and the genre is the same as my first book. It is going to be thriller as well as self help.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Since it is my first book so I don’t have much idea about all these but still I am trying my best on social media platforms and also conducting webinars to engage people in story of the book.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Observing mind and understanding nature, I advice authors to understand their environment and observe things happening around them. For great ideas, we don’t have dig into some well of ideas but to observe the events around us. Once you observed the event, now understand it, make your own thesis, add some of your imagination and innovation and you will be having a great outline for your book.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
About finding the joy in writing. Some one told me that the writers they speak to seem committed to finding the joy within their work, even if that means looking in the most unexpected places. “One of the things that aids me, and which he helped teach me, is this: fundamentally, they do not believe in despair as a real aspect of the human condition,” says Ayana Mathis. “There is great confusion, there is great pain, there is suffering, all of those things, yes. But despair? I don’t believe in despair, and I don’t write from despair. I write from difficulty, absolutely. I write about people who are in great pain, who are desperate and sometimes even miserable. But despair, to me, means an absolute absence of hope. It is a nothing. There is always hope for betterment.”

But it’s not just leaving room for hope and levity on the page. It’s about retaining one’s own capacity to find joy within the process, making sure the work’s difficulty never fully squeezes out delight.

What are you reading now?
Right now I am reading “Inner Engineering by Sadhguru”. Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy is a spiritual book by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. The book is intended to be a spiritual guide with practices for personal growth, and also a look at the author’s own spiritual journey.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My first book goes under the self publishing category but I want my books under the traditional publishing houses. So My next mission is to being published by some renowned traditional publisher.

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 going to be stranded on a desert island, I would like to take Desert Survival , Inner Engineering and for some laugh, three men in a boat.

Author Websites and Profiles
Utkarsh Pandey Website
Utkarsh Pandey Amazon Profile

Utkarsh Pandey’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Christian Wright 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
You know we write novels, don’t you? You’re very brave to give us an open invitation to talk about ourselves. What’s the word count limit? Okay, fine, I’ll stick to the basics. I’ve always been a writer – pretty much all writers will say that. But I’ve been a LOT of other things, too.

In college, I studied music and earned degree in music production, tried my hand at being a singer/songwriter (it didn’t stick). I play tested a video game that three people have heard of, for a company that most people have heard of. I spent years as an event producer and scenic designer, became a CG rendering artist, motion designer and graphic artist, ended up an art director. Then I decided commercial art was oppressive and got another degree, this time in electrical engineering… It gets boring after this.

But the whole time I was doing those things, I was writing!

My first three novels were abandon halfway through. My fourth was the first I finished – it’s a vampire novel that will never see the light of day. I keep it on my hard drive as a reminder never to be too impressed with myself. For my fifth novel, I found a mentor that helped me understand why I was terrible, and it’s been upshot from there.

I have six (presentable) novels, one-point-five novellas, and twenty-six (yes, that number is accurate, I counted) concepts sitting at around four-chapters until I decide to run with one. I’ve published two novels so far, and I’m preparing to release the primary novel in my Nexus Series – Contemporary Spellcraft.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book – that would be the most recently published one – is called Before Autumn Fades. I’ve always been in love with the notion of soulmates. Aaaand I was going through some things at the time, so tragedy was really on my mind. (I was reading a lot of John Green’s sadder work). Wouldn’t it be sad if soulmates only found each other after one of them died? Yeah. It’s that kind of book. But I hope the mystery and levity round that out.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
You mean other than scheduling a meeting that I can blow off so that I can write instead of doing my day job? Is that unusual?

For real though, it might be a bit unusual that I write three books at a time. I tend to rotate from one series to the next, just to exercise my creative muscles and keep things fresh. My readers may find my work a bit ‘blendy’, and I definitely borrow tropes.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
HA! Literally all of the ones that I’ve read. Even the bad ones help me figure out what NOT to do. Short list.

Erin Morgenstern, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Becca Podos, Scott Lynch, Neil Gaiman, Arthur C. Clarke, and a dash of Isaac Asimov.

What are you working on now?
I’ve got three irons in the fire. One is a polish fairytale book set in Pittsburgh, PA across the last century. One is a novella about a side character in my soon-to-launch Contemporary Spellcraft novel. And the last is the next spell craft book (Nexus Series), working title: Classical Love Magic.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Well, this one is climbing the charts

Do you have any advice for new authors?
FIND A MENTOR, and MANY MANY ALPHA READERS. And don’t ask friends. Friends are nice. They will lie to you. Strangers will help you build a better product.

That and the Internet can teach you the marketing part, if you keep looking around.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Going back to the alpha readers. You need people to read your book before you publish.

What are you reading now?
That would be Spirit Legacy (E.E. Holmes)

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m going to start knocking down my Nexus Series, hoping to release two or more each year for the next (counts on fingers) seven years. How’s that for a plan?

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?
Against the Fall of Night (Arthur C. Clarke), Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card), The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern), and the entire Dragonlance Chronicles (Weiss and Hickman)

Author Websites and Profiles
Christian Wright Website
Christian Wright Amazon Profile

Christian Wright’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Mary LeClair 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a 38-year-old freelance writer and author. I have a book out for pre-order right now on Amazon called, ‘Concrete Jungle’ and it will be available September 4th, 2021. This is my first book but I do plan to write more. I’ve been writing since 8-years-old. I love animals, especially cats! I live in Hamilton, Ontario and I’m engaged without kids.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
It’s called, ‘Concrete Jungle’. The world around me, the people I know, have known and have met and my experiences are what have inspired this book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Caffeine, nicotine, marijuana and a room with a view.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King and Susanna Kaysen.

What are you working on now?
Concrete Jungle. My first book.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I mainly use my official author website, which is www.rwavp.com.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up! Write every day! Persistence over Perfection, perfection will follow!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.“ – Muhammad Ali

I just replace training with writing and editing. Editing is a bitch.

What are you reading now?
“I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer.” by Michelle McNamara. Rest in peace to her.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I would like to start working on 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?
“Girl, Interrupted” by Susanna Kaysen
“Misery” by Stephen King
“Beautiful Lies” by Lisa Unger
“All Dark, No Stars.” by Stephen King

Author Websites and Profiles
Mary LeClair Website
Mary LeClair Amazon Profile

Mary LeClair’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

M K Devidasan 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
M K Devidasan is an engineer who had served the Indian Air Force for thirty-two years and retired as a wing commander. His first published creative work (Distressed Lady) was a collection of poems in 1976. His first novel ‘Her Miseries’ was published in 1993 and the same was digitalized by Michigan University in 2008. Subsequently he published thirteen novels. — 1. War Hero, 2. Blazing Desires, 3. Ultimate Decision, 4. Her Miseries, 5. Enemies Within, 6. Slum to Castle,.7. Dad & Daughter – 1, 8. Veterans Party, 9. Dad & Daughter – 2, 10.Dad & Daughter 3, 11. Those 48 Hours. 12. Dad & Daughter 4 , 13. Rags to uniform

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Killed Wife for Treason”
Creative work

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
workholic

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Arundhathi Roy, Kushwanth singh,

What are you working on now?
Rising Sun, story of exservicemen forming a new party named Exservice men Democratic Party

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing, don’t wait for recognition

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be honest and help others

What are you reading now?
currently no reading

What’s next for you as a writer?
Get recognition and get in the group of best selling author

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?
Vikram Seth

Two Lives, The Golden Gate, A Suitable Boy,

Author Websites and Profiles
M K Devidasan Website

M K Devidasan 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
M K Devidasan is an engineer who had served the Indian Air Force for thirty-two years and retired as a wing commander. His first published creative work (Distressed Lady) was a collection of poems in 1976. His first novel ‘Her Miseries’ was published in 1993 and the same was digitalized by Michigan University in 2008. Subsequently he published thirteen novels. — 1. War Hero, 2. Blazing Desires, 3. Ultimate Decision, 4. Her Miseries, 5. Enemies Within, 6. Slum to Castle,.7. Dad & Daughter – 1, 8. Veterans Party, 9. Dad & Daughter – 2, 10.Dad & Daughter 3, 11. Those 48 Hours. 12. Dad & Daughter 4 , 13. Rags to uniform

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Killed Wife for Treason”
Creative work

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
workholic

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Arundhathi Roy, Kushwanth singh,

What are you working on now?
Rising Sun, story of exservicemen forming a new party named Exservice men Democratic Party

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing, don’t wait for recognition

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be honest and help others

What are you reading now?
currently no reading

What’s next for you as a writer?
Get recognition and get in the group of best selling author

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?
Vikram Seth

Two Lives, The Golden Gate, A Suitable Boy,

Author Websites and Profiles
M K Devidasan Website

Eleanor Wint 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I spent a lot of time being a professor of social work learning about how families and children live in a real world. Now I am retired and writing about what I have learnt and any thing that I can offer to help make life go more smoothly. I have published 5 great parenting books and I intend to get many more out in the next few months starting this October 2020

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Adventures of Tweet Tweet was inspired by my granddaughter wanting to write a book about her favourite plush toy. We did it together form day #1 and now she has left me to do the heavy lifting (smile). We have a series starting in October 2020 called Tweet Tweet & Friends where Tweet Tweet teaches as she learns how to manage, control, calm her many feelings and emotions. Growing up ain’t easy.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really. I just like quiet.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I read all the standard books as a child by Emily Bronte. To catch a mockingbird, The color Purple, Winnie the pooh, Niki Giovanni, Bell Hooks but recently have been reading Olivia Li, and lots from Book Bairn

What are you working on now?
This series Tweet Tweet & Friends as we go into the intermediate readers 7-9 years of age.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I do the work my self using Kindle Cash Flow2.0

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you wanna do it, do it! Lots of hard work but do it!!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Like May Angelou said “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” You are a child of God.

What are you reading now?
Studying a lot right now

What’s next for you as a writer?
To publish a book for middle school readers on identity

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 have no idea truthfully

Author Websites and Profiles
Eleanor Wint Website

Eleanor Wint’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Maria Mazur 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
“Remote employees: the ultimate guide” is the first book I have written. Even though I was working as content creator and copywriter, my dream was always to write books.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
As mentioned before, it is: “Remote employees: the ultimate guide”. When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, the whole world started to change to remote work. For me, not many things have changed, hence I was working in this format for the last 5 years. But many people, including managers, CEOs, and team leaders, faced either severe challenges in the transition to a distributed work style or jumped on the wave of change. I wanted to create a guide for the new leaders in the times of the “new reality” by giving credit to companies who fully or partially embraced the new working culture and mix it with my own experience.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I always start with the introduction. Back in my university time, it helped me to write the introduction first to structure my thoughts and create a red line for the writing. I think I kept this habit until today.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
When I was an exchange student in the United States, we had to read “The Great Gatsby” as part of the American Literature course. I fell in love with the storyline and the way Fitzgerald was choosing his words to describe things, buildings, feelings. Sometimes without even using the word and giving just metaphors was enough for the reader to understand what was meant. However, some comparisons and depictions were so complex that I was sitting after school with my German-English dictionary trying to understand it. Later in the university, I enrolled in a class on Jane Austen and movie adaptions of her literature. I have never heard of her before (shame on me), but the female-empowering subject caught my interest. It was the best class in my life, I mean I had to read “Pride and Prejudice” and “Emma” and watch “Bridget Jones” as homework. Elizabeth Bennet made me dream, motivated me when I had no power anymore, and she made me believe in myself. I liked how Jane Austen stood up in her literature to her critical perspective on the society she was living in. At the same time, her writing style created a sense of suspicion that you just could not stop to read anymore, it became addictive, kind of binge-worthy Netflix-series. J.K. Rowling also learned from Jane Austen’s setting creating techniques when she was writing her first Harry Potter book. With the Harry Potter books, I had the same addiction and was reading until late in the night.

What are you working on now?
I am taking a break now, but the next book will be a female-empowering guide for teenage girls.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am quite new in the promoting and book marketing business, I am just focusing on the writing process. So after my first introduction to this topic, I would say topic related forums such as awesomegang and Facebook.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
1. Choose a topic that personally matters to you, something that has value.
2. Start writing
3. Find a skilled proofreader, or better 2 or 3

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It is ok to deliver something that is perfect to 80%, the most important thing is not to wait forever until you reach 100%. The other 20% can and should be delegated to professionals.

What are you reading now?
I am trying to finish “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac.

What’s next for you as a writer?
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?
1. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
2. In search of the Castaways (Les Enfants du capitaine Grant) by Jules Verne
3. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
4. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Author Websites and Profiles
Maria Mazur Website
Maria Mazur Amazon Profile

Maria Mazur’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Brian Sherlock 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have lived in Melbourne my entire life, hold diplomas in Writing and Tourism and have been published both professionally and independently in Australia and England.

My first paid publication was with The New Accelerator in London – the piece I had published, V1C10US, has been expanded upon and will be published as ICARUS FALLING this coming December on Amazon.

Adding to this, I have self published my dystopian fantasy CHAOS SURGING on Amazon, as well as a short horror fiction titled THE VOICE OF MY FATHER.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
CHAOS SURGING is what happens when ‘some Brokeback Mountain X-Men choose to fight back Malcolm X style.’

I’ve been working on this read since I was 14 (I’m now 31) and it has taken many different forms over the years, but it wasn’t until I watched Sense8 on Netflix that I decided what form it should truly take.

What was once a very Mad Max-esque setting has been changed to one that very easily resembles the setting we live in now (minus Trump and the virus) but features superpowered humans and how ordinary ones react to them.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Thinking off the top of my head… I would say no.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve definitely been inspired to complete CHAOS SURGING in the form of a trilogy but author Jay Kristoff and the writer/directors Lana and Lilly Wachowski.

I’ve also taken from Bram Stoker’s DRACULA, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO and GHOSTWRITTEN by David Mitchell.

What are you working on now?
ICARUS FALLING – I’ve reworked it as a thriller novella which has been received quite well by beta readers. It will be released in early December.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve found Instagram to be the best means of getting the reads out to potential readers (hashtags are my friends) and if I’m really honest, I’ve been attempting to get a few plugs from established authors.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
The first draft will always be terrible.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Finish your ****ing book!

– Jay Kristoff

What are you reading now?
TRUEL1F3 by Jay Kristoff

What’s next for you as a writer?
After ICARUS FALLING I’m planning to publish the sequel to CHAOS SURGING and a short prose.

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?
Now that is a hard question to answer…

I would take CLOUD ATLAS by David Mitchell, THE PIPER’S SON by Melina Marchetta and a massive writing book so I can get something new down.

Author Websites and Profiles
Brian Sherlock Amazon Profile

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