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Terence F. Moss 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have written four novels, three stage plays, one musical, staged at Portsmouth and the Edinburgh Fringe.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Be Happy with My Life
This book was inspired by a facebook posting I read a couple of years ago.
It is about a woman who notices another woman walking her four children to school, and realises that life is about people and not about things. She changes her whole life so that she too can be more like the woman she saw and less like the woman she used to be.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write from 4 am to 9 am every morning, while the rest of my world is at rest.
Days are so filled with noise.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stoner by John Edward Williams
Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig
Possibly two of the best books ever written (in this genre)
I have read these books over and over and they moved me to tears every time.

What are you working on now?
The story of four Jewish children being evacuated from German-occupied Slovenia to Switzerland.
What they don’t know is that they are actually destined for the gas chambers in Ravensbruck concentration camp.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Amazon (so far)

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I have had over five hundred rejections… but the odds have to be turning in my favour.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write every day
Read every day
And remember the old maxim about the thief sentenced to death by the king.
He told the king “Sire, I know you love horses and I could teach your horse to speak if you reprieve me for three months.”
When the man told his friend how he had escaped the death sentence, his friend replied
“But what will happen after three months have passed, surely you will die”
Not necessary said the condemned man, The king could die, the law could change, I may be pardoned, the horse might die or… who knows, the horse might learn to speak.
The moral of the story? to keep trying no matter what the odds.

What are you reading now?
The invisible life of addie larue

What’s next for you as a writer?
Write write 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?
The two mentioned above, the Bible and one of mine so I could edit it again.

Author Websites and Profiles
Terence F. Moss Amazon Profile

Christine K Fields 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a freelance writer and techie who grew-up in a small Midwestern town and now resides on the East Coast; that is when I’m not traveling and relaxing from the daily grind.

I love of animals, sports, and technology, and to read and write. In addition, I have a profound interest in personal growth and technology. Whether it is my own growth or helping others to reach their maximum potential, I strives to learn something new each day. My children’s book series was designed to help young readers learn valuable lessons, while being entertained by a young character going through many of the same things they are.

In addition to my passion for literature and helping others, I absolutely love to travel. I have traveled throughout the U.S. and Canada, and my world conquest includes Austria, Australia, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, U.K., and South Africa. One day I hope to see The Great Wall of China, Acropolis of Athens Greece, and Saint Petersburg Russia.

I’ve written a series of adult coloring journals and now I’m onto my Nuff Said Stuff Children’s book series. I have three of Nuff’s books published with many more to come!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The one I’m talking about now is Teamwork Makes The Dream Work. I’ve had a lot of help with my writing career from editing to illustrations to ideas and more and I thought that it’s important for kids to really understand how working together with a powerful, supportive team can really help you achieve all your dreams. As the saying goes, “No man is and island,” and this book shows kids what happens when you try to do everything yourself instead of working with a good team.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Nothing that comes to mind? I do get a lot of inspiration from nature, so I do like writing at the beach and outside when possible. Other than that, it’s really just writing down my ideas and organizing them into something that makes sense.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love the Dr. Seuss and Sandra Boynton book series. They’ve influenced thousands of kids worldwide and someday I hope I will too!

What are you working on now?
I’m really excited about building my Nuff Said Stuff author platform! There’s just so much to learn and do! Who knew that writing a book would be one of the easy things! Building an entire platform for my readers to follow is so important, so I’ve had to learn about making a website, building a Facebook page, getting on Twitter, Pinterest, and so many other things! It can be overwhelming if I let it and so far, it’s been really fun!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Well, I’d love some suggestions if you had any!!! And so far, Amazon KDP has been both great and frustrating! Seriously though, just having a huge market place to print/publish/promote your book like Amazon has been a blessing! I remember talking to an older friend of mine who started publishing before Amazon was around and he was telling me just how difficult it was to get published – either with a publisher or as a self-published author. His first self-published book cost him over $10,000!! Now, you can publish your own quality books for less than $1,000 on Amazon and it makes it so easy to manage!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Writing should be a passion, not a job, so write what you love and share it. You’ll discover that if you write and share enough, you’ll find lots of people who will love it too!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition!

What are you reading now?
Limitless by Matt Lloyd

What’s next for you as a writer?
Why more writing of course! And traveling 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?
Ask and It Is Given by Abraham-Hicks
Awaken The Giant Within by Tony Robbins
A New Earth – Awakening to Your Life’s Passion by Eckhart Tolle

Author Websites and Profiles
Christine K Fields Website
Christine K Fields Amazon Profile

Christine K Fields’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Yvette Carmon-Davis McMillan 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is my 2020 interview. I have now authored six volumes of the series Suddenly Free, novels about what the world might be like at the end of human time. I have written three volumes on the Biblical theme of sowing and reaping, one of which is a devotional on the topic.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book is still the Little Book of Harvests Devotional, organized so that it makes a good devotional or group Bible study.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
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. I also like artwork, even though I’m not as good as one of my siblings. I can’t use photoshop, but there are other applications that I use to add something visual to my writing. I haven’t published any, but it helps me visualize my characters and their environment.

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 organizing the stories I have written about the characters and their lives in the Suddenly Free series. I am thinking about serializing them and distributing them on the internet in some way. Each episode is long enough to be a total spiritual topic, but short enough so that it provides a succinct topic for contemplation or discussion.

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. My newer thoughts are usually distributed via email to those on my email list. All of my published 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 70 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 am always reading and re-reading what I write. I read the Bible everyday, and something about the Bible almost everyday.

What’s next for you as a writer?
The serialization of the Suddenly Free series of novels. Teachings, sermons and Bible studies, and essays on the themes evident in the Bible.

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 in as many versions in one volume that I can find. The Imitation of Life because I never finish reading it. If possible, one volume with all of the stories from Suddenly Free volumes 1 through 6 (I like them!).

Author Websites and Profiles
Yvette Carmon-Davis McMillan Amazon Profile

Yvette Carmon-Davis McMillan’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Philip Fairbanks 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a writer with over 20 years in print. I’ve covered entertainment media, news reporting, travel, herbal medicine, supplements and other topics. My work has appeared in the peer-reviewed journal of art Afterimage, CUNY’s graduate newspaper The Advocate, UK’s Morning Star newspaper, Australia’s New Dawn magazine, Ghettoblaster magazine, New Noise magazine, Paranoia magazine, The Goldwater and several other print and online publications.

I recently released my first book, Pedogate Primer: the politics of pedophilia. It deals with subjects such as the Jeffrey Epstein affair, MK-Ultra, the Finders cult, online child grooming, Jimmy Savile and UK’s grooming and institutional pedophilia epidemic and other topics I’ve been researching for years.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Pedogate Primer: the politics of pedophilia is a book several years in the works. I was writing about the Jeffrey Epstein affair years before he was the household name he is today. I also had been writing about real-time grooming and exploitation via YouTube years before the New York Times reported how the site was a “digital playground” for pedophiles. A great deal of inspiration and background material was culled from authors like Dave McGowan (Programmed to Kill: the politics of serial murder) and Nick Bryant (Franklin Scandal: a story of powerbrokers, child abuse & betrayal).

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I’m writing non-fiction I tend to use a word processor, but as far as outlining and brainstorming goes I need pen and paper to really put things together in a coherent and logical way.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m a big fan of authors like Douglas Valentine, Dave McGowan, David Livingstone, Frances Stonor Saunders, Antony Sutton and other writers who are able to dig through well worn histories and manage to resurface something new and revolutionary.

What are you working on now?
Currently researching a book related to the rise, fall and aftermath of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation and the controversies related to both Recovered Memory therapy and False Memory Syndrome as well as the ongoing debate surrounding dissociative disorders and child abuse.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Bit of a noob as far as marketing goes. So far have used Awesome Gang, BookBub and Amazon Ads and occasionally share videos to my personal YouTube channel and store some of those and other previous work at my portfolio site: http://www.philfairbanks.com/

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Some of the best advice I ever received related to writing: “Just fill up notebooks.” Yes, it sounds easy, but persistence is the key to improvement. Don’t worry about the quality as you write, just fill up notebooks and read constantly in the field you are hoping to write in. Also, no matter what your level of proficiency, reading books about the craft itself can be vital to improving. Use what you learn there to glean what is worth salvaging from the stack of notebooks growing in your corner.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Believe in yourself. Seems simple, trite even, but developing a belief in yourself is step one to self improvement.

What are you reading now?
The Templars: the dramatic story of the Knights Templar by Piers Paul Read; The Witch-Hunt Narrative by Prof. Ross E. Cheit; Sinister Forces, book III: The Manson Secret by Peter Levenda

What’s next for you as a writer?
Currently have a couple drafts to clean up and hopefully publish in 2021. Reaching out to some academics with expertise in the fields at hand and hopefully can get some questions answered for some soundbites to pepper in.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible, Complete works of Lovecraft (bonus if they include annotations by the great S.T. Joshi), Exegesis of Philip K. Dick, Transhumanism: history of a dangerous idea by David Livingstone

Author Websites and Profiles
Philip Fairbanks Website
Philip Fairbanks Amazon Profile

Philip Fairbanks’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Steven Walker 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio served for two decades as an Infantry Officer and later as a high school teacher. If someone were to describe me they would say I have more in common with Micky Spillane, all kidding aside. I’m not a whiner nor do I have patience with those types of people. I found out a long time ago, every life has some tough spots, just put one foot in front of the other and move the hell out. I started to write in the Marine Corp and stopped for many years. Then it hit me…I needed to write about hard-boiled noir fiction about my favorite subject…private eyes of the 1940s and 1950s. Why? because I had more in common with Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler and I got tired of rereading their books. So I started writing about my favorite guy…Gunny Mac Private Detective.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book Gunny Mac Private Detective Trouble in Chinatown is my first book in a series.
Raymond Chandler, Charlie Chan, Michael Shayne and Sam Spade inspired the hell out of me. Also those wonderful black and white films of the 1940s and the1950s. Whenever I get depressed about the current state of affairs I watch a noir black and white film and I relax.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No I just write…I spend four or five hours writing. My first book took 55 edits, 1.4 million words written to get 89,672 words.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler…also Koontz and Stephen Hunter

What are you working on now?
Gunny Mac Private Detective Trouble in Cleveland

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
It takes three to four hours a day researching how to market my book…there are literally thousands of websites and companies to help an author market his or her book. On my website I have help for writers…on how to construct a Novel…Write a novel and publish a novel. When I have time I will list the scores of sites to help new authors.If someone needs help go to my website and ask…it is free help. gunnymac.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you don’t have a passion to write go do something else. If you have a passion to write…then write…no whining on the price you have to pay. Realize learning to write a novel is not brain surgery but takes dedication to learn how to write a novel. I laugh when people ask me how I felt about writing a book…I say I feel like I just mowed my five acres and the lines lines look real pretty…I feel tired but content…or how I felt after a twenty mile infamous US Marine Corps forced march with full combat gear, tired but thankful I didn’t quit. They look at me funny. I tell them writing a book is no big deal millions have done it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Napoleon Hill had a great quote from his famous book, “Think and grow Rich.” What the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve. We were meant to achieve and overcome.

What are you reading now?
Dean Koontz… “Devoted.”

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m writing a second of a series, Gunny Mac Private DetectiveTtrouble in Cleveland. I’m also writing short non-fiction book titled the “Blackboard Jungle.”

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 Maltese Falcon, Stephen Hunter, Pale horse coming, Dean Koontz, Odd Thomas, Childs and Prescott, a book on FBI agent Pendergast.

Author Websites and Profiles
Steven Walker Website
Steven Walker Amazon Profile

Steven Walker’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Sean Frazier 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a lifelong metal-head, musician & computer nerd. I’ve only written one book (so far) which I published in the year of COVID 2020. I mostly work with technology and sing in rock bands. This is my first writing experience.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
It’s Called “Rock and Roll Children: An 80’s Hair Metal Garage Band Story”. This is a fun book based on my high school heavy metal experiences. it was really inspired by my metalhead friends and the great experiences we had “back in the day”. My wife calls it a “heavy metal love story” to the music and to my friends who joined me on that journey.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
since this is my first go it all felt unusual. LOL

I guess the thing for me was that, since I had a day job, I ended up writing this on airplanes and in hotel rooms as much as I did work back in the home base. I had actually written it as a screenplay at first. I had it in my mind that it was a kind of a “Stand by Me” meets “Dazed and Confused” which is what the story kinda felt like. After meeting with a script consultant and her telling me I need to cut the story back (it was apparently long for a movie) I decided to go in the complete opposite direction. To me the stories needed more detail, not less and I had more to tell so there I went.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m a huge Stephen King fan. I love his writing. Not only the scariness of it but the attention to details and vivid descriptions really put you in the book. I tried to think of this as I wrote mine. I tried to bring people into my 80’s life and I hope I did a good job.

What are you working on now?
I dunno. This writing process was brutal for me, since I’m really not a writer and I think 2020 was kind of an outlier for me in the sense that I couldn’t go anywhere or do anything so could go play music or travel so that left me a little bored so writing the book filled that gap for me. Not sure what my writing career (if I even have a writing career) looks like from here.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is still a work in progress for me. Facebook (as much as I am not a fan) has been the best to get my book in front of the right people. Goodreads has been amazing and a great community of writers and readers so that’s really my top choice I think. Amazon ads have been a mystery to me. have no idea how those things work.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
hmm.. this is a good question. I guess two things. First thing, just write what ever story you want to tell. We have have stories inside of us (I’m living proof of that) so stay true to that vision. The second thing is just find the time to do it. On a plane, on a boat, in a car. You owe it to yourself to take the time to tell your story and life will happen and you’ll find all kinds of excuses to not do it (ask me how I know) so just put your head down and write. Once you get going you’ll find its hard to stop.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
be kind. no matter what situation you’re in, always find a way to be kind. The world needs more kindness.

What are you reading now?
I just finished “Ready Player One”. I know, I know.. I’m late to it. My sister bought me the book when it first came out and I put it on the shelf and put it off (life was happening and I just forgot) but what a good, fun read. Reminds me a little of some of the details in my book (the 80’s ruled!). Even the reference to “The Tomb of Horrors” Dungeons & Dragons module (in RPO and my book) which was one of my favorite Gary Gygax modules and the funniest part is that I wrote this in before I even knew it was in RPO! Next on my list to read is “Underground Railroad: A Novel”. It’s a sci-fi retelling of an important part of history so I’m really looking forward to it.

What’s next for you as a writer?
This is a really good question. The real answer? I don’t know. It’s not my “day job” so I still have to do that and I still spend a fair amount of time writing music too (also part of my DNA) so not sure about writing. We’ll see. If a story gets stuck in my head and I feel the need to get it out I will but I won’t push it.

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?
Stephen King’s “IT”
Joseph Menn’s “Cult of the Dead Cow”
The whole Harry Potter series
“Dr. Seuss goes to War” by Andre Schiffrin

Author Websites and Profiles
Sean Frazier Website
Sean Frazier Amazon Profile

Sean Frazier’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Raymond Parish 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
As reflected in my fiction work, I was a child of the Midwest, living in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa by the time I reached my 16th birthday. I continued my travels through the Heartland as a young man, living in Illinois, Iowa again, and finally settling in Missouri. Much of my life has been in rural communities, with the past years being urban. The contrast of rural and urban life was a central component of realism within fiction when I chose Iowa as the setting for my novel.

My journey from nonfiction to fiction writing is recent. In November I released the first in my Hank Anderson psychological thriller series, Overnight Delivery: A Hank Anderson Thriller, on Amazon, under my pen name, Raymond Parish. Previously I had two nonfiction books published including, Men at Work: An Action Guide to Masculine Healing, and I self-published two additional self help books including, I’m Sorry, It’s Cancer A Handbook of Help and Hope for Survivors and Caregivers. All were written from the perspective of my profession as a psychotherapist, and, in the case of my handbook, my own experiences as a cancer survivor.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
As a writer, Overnight Delivery rose from my desire to further challenge my writing chops, evolving from successful and widely appreciation nonfiction author into the uncertain world of fiction. OD was also cultivated in a lifetime of Midwestern life and the richness of the relationships that have moved through my life as a counseling professional.

As a reader, I have been an avid fan of mystery and thriller series for as long as I can remember, starting with the ultra light Hardy Boys, then being introduced to Christie, Chandler, Hammett, Conan Doyle, and MacDonald by my dad. I’m currently immersed in the books of C.J. Box. As the story that became Overnight Delivery began to germinate, it fit that the book was meant to be a thriller, narrated from a skilled and flawed insider’s view of the inner world of gold and darkness within each of us.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Today I did a bit of writing in one of my sweaters with elbow patches. There was a period in my life when I imagined I would become a liberal arts professor, tweed jackets with suede elbow patches and such. Although I ultimately chose a different path, I never lost my love for elbow patches, and they just seem to fit well with writing books.

I don’t write within a certain daily structure, as some authors do. Writing has always fit into the spaces between the other passions in my life: being a father, a husband, a therapist, a bicyclist, and a tremendously mediocre guitarist. As such, I write when the idea for a project strikes me. I write during the day. I write in the evening. I just make sure to write.

My go to music for writing used to be Dire Straits. Mark Knofler, an amazing story teller, inspires me. These days I’m drawn to instrumental music: Tangerine Dream, Pat Metheny, and his friend and collaborator, the late, great, Lyle Mays.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Mystery and thriller authors that have influenced me are those that combine tension, characters I want to know and understand, and humor: Robert Crais, David Housewright, Laurie R. King, Lisa Lutz, John Sanford. I am also influenced by writers that use geography as a key element of the story: Robert Parker’s Boston, the 1940s Hollywood of Stuart Kaminsky’s Toby Peters series, and, once again, Laurie R. King’s early 1900s London.

I continue to be highly influenced by writers who create nonfiction that matches the page turning energy of great novels: Mukherjee’s The Emperor of All Maladies, on the history of cancer care; Frank McCourt’s memoir Angela’s Ashes; Victor Frankl’s tragic and triumphant combination of memoir and his theory of psychotherapy. Man’s Search for Meaning.

What are you working on now?
I am moving right along on my second book in the Hank Anderson series, tentatively titled, Higher Education. I took a break when writing Overnight Delivery to complete I’m Sorry, It’s Cancer. Although I have an idea for another nonfiction book, I’ve made a commitment to myself to stay focused on Hank’s next story.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Over the years, I promoted my nonfiction through my website, seminars, and book signings. Publishing a fiction work has opened a whole new world and a whole new learning curve. Utilizing review sites like Awesome Gang has been very helpful to a new author reaching a new audience. Goodreads, Twitter, and Facebook are all on my computer speed dial these days. I’m just beginning to enjoy making connections with other independent fiction authors, appreciating the supportive community that I find myself joining.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
When reviewing my first manuscript, my first editor said, “You’re a pretty good writer for a social worker.” That was all the endorsement I required to keep writing, to keep getting better. Find whatever motivation you need to continue your adventure in writing, whether internal desire or external encouragement.

As many before have said, write what you would want to read. If you, like me, do not have much formal training in creative writing find websites (like this one), journals, magazines, and seminars that teach you the craft. And…learn to accept quality feedback from early readers and editors that, as challenging as it might be to hear, will improve your work.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My son and I once attended a seminar by Ridley Pearson, the prolific author of thrillers and Peter Pan adaptations. I’m paraphrasing his closing statement: ‘Thanks for coming to my workshop today. However, if you tell yourself you don’t have time to write, you could have stayed home a written for several hours. Keep writing.’

What are you reading now?
As mentioned I have C.J. Box open at this point, with more David Housewright, Laurie R. King, and President Obama’s new book sitting on the bench, ready to go. I’m always reading professional literature, with current interests including introversion, self care during the pandemic, and the ‘new retirement.’

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am finding the balance between working on my second thriller and investing energy in promoting Overnight Delivery. Who knows, I may yet dig into my next idea for nonfiction, which would be a multi-layered project of several years. Whatever the direction, I’ll 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?
Man’s Search for Meaning
To Kill a Mockingbird
A Sherlock Holmes anthology
Overnight Delivery (to remind myself of the good times before I was stranded on a desert island)

Author Websites and Profiles
Raymond Parish Amazon Profile

Raymond Parish’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

John Parham 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I received my Journalism degree around 50 years ago, and after retiring from my software company wondered what to do next. Oh, yeah, I have a degree in writing, so why not write a book?
I have two independently published , Cat Chronicles by Bastet short story collection and my full length novel The Binding Volume 1.
Currently working on The Binding Volume 2.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Binding Volume 1.
Walking on the beach, smoking a fine cigar with a scotch. I looked to the sunset and wondered “What if Juno (my cat) had telepathic powers and could levitate objects. And, what if he was 5,000 years old, sarcastic and extremely powerful?”
Bingo, The Binding Volume 1 was born!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I sip a scotch walking the beach with a cigar, going over in my mind “What if?” scenarios until I bring a thread together.
I then hit the keyboard and bang out a chapter.
I do not use outlines, only working it out in my mind.
Scotch and cigar seems to help!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Clive Cussler, Brad Thor, Lee Childs, David Goleman, Douglas Adams.

What are you working on now?
The second book in a planned trilogy, The Binding Volume 2.

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Writing a novel is like easting a huge marshmallow, write a word, then a sentence, a paragraph coalesces and before you know it becomes a chapter. Look at the smallest component to get going, a single word.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
A journey begins with the first step, for me the first word.

What are you reading now?
Married to Merlot by Martha Louise

What’s next for you as a writer?
Continue developing new stories, I have several threads running, and make sure humidor has cigars and the scotch is not empty.

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?
Lord of the Rings, Dune, Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe.

Author Websites and Profiles
John Parham Website
John Parham Amazon Profile

John Parham’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Rebecca Tucker 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in Tampa, FL, though I grew up on the outskirts of D.C. I earned a BA in English the first time around, and a BS in Operational Meteorology more recently. I now split my time between writing fiction and working as a global marketing director for a research and consulting firm. Prior to my current work, I also worked as a bookstore manager, a script ghost writer and reader for a film production company, a security guard, a baker, and a copywriter, to name just a few!

I live in Texas with my wife of 21 years, two dogs, and a few cats, the true number of which I will never reveal. SECRETS MY MOTHERS KEPT is my first novel.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My debut novel is called Secrets My Mothers Kept. It’s contemporary fiction in a similar vein to authors such as Marybeth Mayhew Whalen, S.D. Robertson, and Jodi Picoult. The story follows 21-year-old engineering student in the ten tumultuous weeks following her discovery of being adopted. In addition to dealing with the sense of betrayal and loss of trust with her parents, Austin also struggles with the impact this revelation has on her status within the Reform Jewish community, which has always been a source of strength for her. With the support of a new friend and romantic interest, Claire, and her rabbi and old family friend, Rivka, Austin searches for answers about her biological parents and her own origins.

I’m an adoptee and had been searching for my birthparents on and off for 20 years to no avail. There was a scant paper trail and it only led to dead ends. About six years ago, I had decided to take DNA tests to try and find my biological family. Many searchers recommend writing a letter to your birthmother so that your first contact is thoughtful and separate from the high emotions of the search and reunion. It’s also less intimidating for the person who has been found. I wrote a number of different drafts of this letter and, in doing so, spent a lot of time considering who my birth mother might have been and might be. I found myself wondering what kind of conversation we might have. I wrote out a scene, which eventually became the scene in the book with Austin and Elise speaking for the first time. The novel was still in editing when I found my birthmother’s family and discovered she had passed away. That scene became even more important to me, as it represented something that was no longer possible for me to have in my life, but that I would always have in the book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I really like to write by hand for my first drafts, rather than type into the computer. Sometimes, I just write the first paragraph of each chapter. Other times, I write the whole book in a notebook first. This means two things; one – I have a tremendous love of pens and pencils and am always on the look-out for a new one, and two – I really hate trying to read my handwriting when I’m typing it in for the second draft.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I pick The Idiot by Dostoyevsky as my favorite book for a number of reasons. I first read it in college, about 25 years ago. I’ve read it almost annually ever since, not always in its entirety, but elements and chunks of it. Its appeal, for me, is in the sheer essence of humanity in the story and the three-dimensional characters and range of emotions. Dostoevsky had epilepsy; he knew of what he wrote when he described Myshkin’s seizures and feelings of the dreamlike states that follow them, his disconnection from others while also expressing extraordinary empathy and insight. Ten years after I read this novel for the first time, I was diagnosed with epilepsy as well and was able to understand, on a more visceral level, some of what Dostoevsky was expressing. The pure humanity that Dostoevsky works to express through his characters, the freedom and flaws, captured me so completely that their actions never cease to surprise me, no matter how many times I read the book.

A key author who has influenced me is Adrienne Rich, a poet, essayist, and feminist. Her book, An Atlas of the Difficult World, Poems 1988-1991, had a powerful and profound impact on me, as well as my writing.

What are you working on now?
I have a couple of projects I’m working on presently. The first is the intended first book in a series following a forensic meteorologist and part-time PI living in Texas. It blends the mystery and western genres and has been a lot of fun.

The second project is about a homeless teen who livestreams her life living on the streets to raise money to go to college. It’s a difficult story, a bit grittier than Secrets My Mothers Kept, a bit darker, but not grim. I really believe in infusing my work with hope even when, maybe especially when, the stories are gritty and tough.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
First, I would say nothing beats word-of-mouth advertising. A few family members, friends, or colleagues like your book and they tell other people they know-people outside of your personal orbit-about the book and it grows from there. So, don’t be shy about self-promoting your book, especially to the people you know!

I’ve also had a good response from advertising with The Fussy Librarian and Books Bargain.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I would say it’s never too late to start writing. I self-published this debut novel at 47, and I’ve only just begun. I would also suggest that, as tempting as it is to rush through the editing process, don’t. Putting your work aside for a few weeks or months is invaluable. Time away helps you spot plot holes, dangling subplots, and general developmental edits that may have been overlooked after you finished your third or tenth draft.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write your own story, the one that demands to be told. If that happens to be a commercial story, great! But don’t get so hung up on the idea that you need to write a commercial story to be successful that you sacrifice what drives you to write in the first place.

What are you reading now?
Currently, I’m reading The Janus Stone, by Elly Griffiths, which is part of a forensic anthropology mystery series. On the non-fiction side of things, I’m reading Working Stiff: Two years, 262 bodies, and the making of a medical examiner, by Judy Melinek, M.D. and T.J. Mitchell.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I plan to continue working on my two works-in-progress. I love writing, so I don’t plan to stop any time soon. I also enjoy a lot of hobbies, including astronomy, rockhounding, fossil hunting, and disc golf, so I plan to go full tilt at those as well.

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?
Adrienne Rich’s An Atlas of the Difficult World,
Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot,
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and
Oxford Unabridged Dictionary.

Author Websites and Profiles
Rebecca Tucker Website
Rebecca Tucker Amazon Profile

Rebecca Tucker’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Nick Rowan 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Nick Rowan is editor-in-chief of the UK published magazine, Open Central Asia, and author of “Friendly Steppes: A Silk Road Journey” that recounts his travel adventures along the Silk Road, Nick Rowan has an insatiable appetite for all things to do with the Silk Road. An Oxford University graduate, recently back from five years living in Moscow, Nick spends much of his spare time exploring Central Asia, having travelled to all the countries on numerous occasions, on the look-out for new experiences and people to meet. His new book, The Silk Road Revisited, seeks to capture the powerful influence that the history of the Silk Road has left on the countries as you find them today. It follows the success of Friendly Steppes: A Silk Road Journey, that recalls his first encounters as a traveller of the Silk Road from East to West.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Silk Road Revisited

It’s a book I have been writing for almost 15 years, ever since I made my own journey along the Silk Road. I wanted to capture just some of the fascinating history and cultural magic that makes the countries along the Silk Road today such marvellous places to visit and full of wonderful people to meet. The history of the Silk Road is complex, but this book hopes to unravel that a bit and complement it with stunning photography to really bring the words to life and open this part of world history that is so often dismissed and forgotten.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not a historian, nor am I a writer by trade and yet I have written books on both, so you could say I am a bit of an accidental historian! When I returned from my Silk Road travels in 2006, I started to write Friendly Steppes to recount my journey. In that book I wanted to put some of the historical context around the various encounters I made with the local people I met on my travels. The problem was that the history of the Silk Road is so vast, there was plenty of it that I simply couldn’t add without turning my already lengthy tome into a thousand-page encyclopedia! This would have lost the real purpose of the book – to retell many of the wonderful characters’ stories as I found them. So, I started to collate my historical research and decided that some of it might be interesting to put together into a coffee table book where people could try and get a distillation of the vast history alongside photos of the region’s people and places. And this is where the book was born. After a couple of stop-starts with various publishers, finally, after 15 years, I found the opportunity with Hertfordshire Press to get it finalized and out in the market.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Silk Road Revisited also represents the breathtaking work of a great many photographers and photojournalists, many of whom are members of the Eurasian Creative Guild and who have kindly donated their work to bring the historical text alive. For me their exhaustive and in-depth work has resulted in some of the most compelling and historic images of streets, buildings and landscapes from the region. The book wouldn’t be the same without these images – even if you don’t want to read the text, you can’t help but be drawn by the colour, splendour and intrigue from the subjects captured.

What are you working on now?
I’m still staying in touch with the region. I edit a quarterly magazine, called Open Central Asia that covers the region’s news, politics and culture. Ultimately I’m always looking to return. For the one of the highlights of the region is the people. Most of the people I met (excluding border guards and taxi drivers) were simply charming and welcoming. Their inquisitive hospitality left me feeling embarrassed at the way we treat foreign visitors to Europe. People had so much time to help me when I was lost or speak with me when I was lonely and before long an invitation would follow for me to meet their whole family. Of course, the architecture of Samarkand’s glistening blue domes, the stature of Kyrgyzstan’s mountains, the mesmerizing colour of Turkey’s bazaars and the sheer expanse of the Turkmen desert, with its burning gas crater, are impressive sights already out of the ordinary. And then comes the history which The Silk Road Revisited tries to capture a few slices of – everywhere is dripping in it – empires, enlightenment and technology all emanate from it.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have to say my publisher of course! https://www.discovery-bookshop.com/

Do you have any advice for new authors?
It’s long and hard and often disappointing! But persevere and don’t think that once you’ve written the book that it is all plain sailing – in many ways that’s the easy part!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I always like a bit of humour that Tom Lehrer once provided and something I stick to. He said, “Life is like a sewer, what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!”.

What are you reading now?
Return of a King by William Dalrymple.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m going to turn my attention to writing a family history next but that may remain a personal one. In terms of publishing something I’m going to enjoy promoting The Silk Road Revisited first and then 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?
Well of course I’d have to bring my first book, “Friendly Steppes: A Silk Road Journey”. If nothing else I can recall all my adventures time and time again. After that I’d probably need a useful guide to actually living on a desert island! And the other two books would be blank journals so I can write about my adventures on the desert island itself! At worse they may help light a fire.

Author Websites and Profiles
Nick Rowan Website
Nick Rowan Amazon Profile

Nick Rowan’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Xavier Vega 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Since early life, Xavier Vega was interested in a healthy lifestyle. He believes that by changing their lifestyle, individuals can lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes, addiction, and other chronic diseases.
He got his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Nutrition and Food Science at California State University. He is a nutrition expert and holistic health coach. He is also a registered dietitian nutritionist. In his professional life, Xavier provides nutrition and health advices to his patients in his nutrition counseling clinic. Xavier Vega believes that the combination of science and practical experience helps people to live a long, happy, and fulfilling life. Xavier loves seeing his clients making progress and improvements in life. Occasionally, he gives speeches to community colleges and seminars on personal development, self-improvement, and a healthy lifestyle.
Xavier Vega’s latest book “Mind killer. How to stop drinking. Gain freedom and health, change your life” is focused on alcohol recovery and healthy living. Xavier Vega lives with his loving wife Natalia and two children in San Diego, California.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Mind killer
How to Stop Drinking. Gain Freedom and Health, Change Your Life
Alcohol addiction is a big problem. Statistics show one in eight American adults is an alcoholic, with six deaths per day. This alcohol addiction recovery guide provides a surefire strategy that helps people to quit drinking. This book comes with several dependable strategies without any scare tactics or gimmicks. Unique methods discussed in this book will not make you feel deprived when you stop drinking. This book helps you get rid of this wicked habit and sets you free to enjoy life to the full.
This no-nonsense guide will help you to quit drinking entirely on your own in the privacy of your home. This book will guide you each day with practical exercises that will allow you to make positive choices again and again. Changing your drinking habits can be hard, especially without the right tools. This guide presents tested strategies, wisdom, and thought-provoking information that will ensure a complete alcohol addiction recovery. It takes about ten days for alcohol to completely leave your system when you quit.
This is a crucial time because cravings can prevent your recovery attempt. This book provides a modern and scientific solution that helps you go through your personal sobriety goals. This alcohol addiction recovery book will give you freedom from alcohol. The strategies will remove your psychological dependence so that you will not crave alcohol. In this concise yet complete guide, you will learn how to move beyond alcohol and start the life you were born to live! This addiction recovery book will open the door to the life you have been waiting for.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Allen Carr

What are you working on now?
The Ideal Diet for Health
A Pesco – Mediterranean Diet with Intermittent Fasting.
Get Your Natural Weight for Life.

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

 

Author Websites and Profiles
Xavier Vega Amazon Profile

Xavier Vega’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tina Wittendorff Mortensen 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Tina Wittendorff Mortensen. I originally come from Denmark, but I’ve lived in four different countries. Currently, I’m living in France where I’m working as an English teacher and attending a lot of cultural activities to broaden my horizon.

I’ve written two books and three short stories – with three more books on the way in my Soulwanderer series. The first book is only published in Danish in Denmark.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, Soulwanderer, is the first book in my fantasy series by the same name. It’s inspired by strange things I’ve dreamt about at night. Yes, I dream a lot, and it often wakes me up! Every time I’d had a dream, I’d write it down, and suddenly, the idea for Soulwanderer was there.

I have also recently published three short stories which are free on Amazon on the 15th of each month:
The Amulet of the last Earth ghosts.
The Rings of the last Earth ghosts.
The Crystal of the last Earth ghosts.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like writing in bed. I’m not sure if that’s an unusual habit. I just find it cozy.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve mostly been influenced by the things I dream of and not so much by a specific book, but I do read a lot of fantasy books.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on the next three books in the Soulwanderer series. The second one is currently being edited. Also, I’m working with a narrator on the audiobook version of Soulwanderer.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think Goodreads is amazing. You can find everything in there!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Edit your work! No one likes slobby writing. Also, choose your reviewers carefully; find your target group. Not everyone will like your book but as authors, we’d really like some good reviews. Only your target group can give you that.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t force yourself to write – do it when it feels natural to you!

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading Saving an Earth Angel by N.L. McFarlane.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I will be pretty busy finishing the Soulwanderer series over the next couple of years.

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: Twilight Missing Pieces (fanfiction).
2: The Lord of the Rings.
3: The Earth Angel series.

Author Websites and Profiles
Tina Wittendorff Mortensen Website
Tina Wittendorff Mortensen Amazon Profile
Tina Wittendorff Mortensen Author Profile on Smashwords

Tina Wittendorff Mortensen’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

E.L. Ward 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am from Michigan. What more is there to say? I guess I could mention that I’m from the mitten part.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest and only book so far is called The Chocolate Prophecy. It was inspired by a lifetime of slowly accumulated storytelling ideas that finally just sort of congealed into a single, relatively cohesive blob one day. Anyone who reads it will see that I borrowed a lot from a wide range of sources, but the overall structure of the story is best compared with The Hobbit.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m sure there’s nothing unusual about being lazy most of the time, so no.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I did mention that I looked to The Hobbit as my pattern. That said, mine is a world that tries to marry the deep lore style of Tolkien with the dry wit of Patrick F. McManus. I also found reading Jurassic Park useful to my writing.

What are you working on now?
A court drama set in the same world as my epic fantasy. If you read it, you’ll understand.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have no good methods yet. Hopefully, I can list this site among some future list of promotions that actually help!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write better stories than most people are doing these days. Always pick tried and true over new and dumb. I say this not because I know it will bring you success, but just because I’d like for there to be more decent stories out there again, now that the mainstream has moved so far away from it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Brandon Sanderson: “Write the stories you want to read but no one else is writing.”

What are you reading now?
I just finished Elantris, ironically enough. So I’m in between books.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To make enough money to quit my day job, 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?
I would hope to find 3 or 4 books full of reliable strategies for getting off a desert island, I guess.

 

E.L. Ward’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile