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AM Parker 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I Did Not Kill My Husband : But I Almost Killed Myself is my first published book. I have been writing patient advocate articles for a medical site for two years, but when my life took a turn for the worst, I knew I had to help people. So, I wrote a book!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my latest book is ‘I Did Not Kill My Husband : But I Almost Killed Myself’. I was inspired to write this book after my husband lost his decade long battle to the disease of alcoholism. He was the alcoholic and yet… I found myself standing next to the tracks of an oncoming train, seriously contemplating stepping in front of it. This disease is a silent kill. It infiltrates entire families and rips them apart – and people keep it secret. Not anymore. I’m here writing my story, the story I needed when I was on the front lines myself, for anyone going through this trauma as well.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I never write without my naked sphynx cat, Eli, on my lap. He’s a trained emotional support animal and he helps me make it through the hard chapters to write.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have been influenced by Daniel Handler, or Lemony Snicket, author of Series of Unfortunate Events. I know, I know, he’s a young adult author… But I’ve read this series to my classes for the last 15 years and have absolutely enjoyed watching them learn to love reading. That’s where it all begins.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently writing the second book in my ‘Healing Trauma’ series titled ‘Dear Macular Degeneration, You Can’t Have My Joy’. Besides all of the trauma I had going on with my husband’s alcoholism, I’m losing my central vision and going blind. More trauma, more to heal, more to write about.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Promotional ads and social media.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Research promotion before you publish. Also, just go all in. If you’re going to do this thing, then do it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If you fall ten times, get back up eleven.

What are you reading now?
Girl! Wash Your Face! Oh, and blended.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Continue to write with the purpose of helping others.

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 own (just because I’m so proud of it and I can’t believe I actually did this thing – Oh, and if I was stranded with others I assume someone would need to read it as well!), The Alchemist, How Al-Anon Works, and Sirens of Titan (for my boyfriend).

Author Websites and Profiles
AM Parker Amazon Profile

AM Parker’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Hugh Phoenix-Hulme 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a “visioneer” – I have a long career in software engineering and now I’m a senior Architect, which involves creating visions for the future state of technology. So it’s little surprise that I come to find myself envisioning future worlds! So far I’ve written only one novel, but I have grand designs. In my first story universe, I expect to write three trilogies with a variety of ancillary novels telling related tales.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The first novel is Rebellion’s Martyr, but it’s better to talk about the inspiration behind the series: Ascension. I can’t say too much without it being a spoiler alert, but what I would say is that I took inspiration from news in about 2016, I think, that a company called Nectome had devised a way to crystalise the brain with neurons intact, with the idea of uploading them into a computer. The snag is that it’s fatal – so once you’ve made the decision to Go Virtual, there’s no turning back. There’s no being uploaded into someone else’s brain. The “Ascension” title comes from the common vision that humanity may some day evolve into a state of pure energy – think Daniel’s story line in StarGate SG-1. Since computers run on energy, and all data is states of energy, then making a consciousness electronic or digital is to transcend the corporeality of humanity – and therefore to ascend into a state of pure energy. Other bits and pieces have inspired me along the way. In Rebellion’s Martyr, we discover Neurotrophic Electrodes and attribute them to Dr. Philip Kennedy. He’s a real person and Neurotrophic Electrodes are real things. I expect to bring them back in the last book of the first trilogy. We also explore quantum computing – there’s a quick explanation of how that works.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I thought I had Writers’ Block, but actually it’s probably the autism. That might be true for far more authors than realise it: I suspected I may be autistic but didn’t get a professional opinion until quite recently. However, this “block” has affected me all my life in different ways. And so I have developed a mechanism for coping with it. If I find myself “blocked” I just do something else, until that “block” moves and I feel inspired to write.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The whole HitchHikers guide series to begin with. I have a terrible dad-joke sense of humour, and I was very, very tempted to put some comedy into Rebellion’s Martyr. But it got a bit serious in the end, and I think I’m going to have to keep the humour out of the whole series now. Pratchett’s humour is also a huge influence. But even if I’m not using the humour directly, that “askew view” of the world leads to some interesting places.

What are you working on now?
I am plotting the second and third novels in Ascension Part One, which is Lex’s journey. The second will be Beyond Reality and the third, Viral Agent. I’m also working on a plot for a sort-of prequel which centres on a different character.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I don’t know how well my methods suit others. I like to start with a big picture, and refine it, but I don’t feel I need to refine it linearly. I could refine the ending, then the beginning, then write some actual paragraphs to go somewhere in the middle, then go back to the ending and fill in some more detail. It’s more like painting that way: You start out with a sketch in pencil, then paint the background with very broad strokes, and then start filling in detail. But it doesn’t matter what order you tackle things. Importantly in both cases, don’t be afraid of going over what you’ve already done: if a section is too tedious or just not right, paint over it and take it out completely, or just do it differently. Don’t get emotionally attached to the words you’ve already put down – they could end up holding back your bigger vision.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finishing up Lex’s trilogy and starting on the next trilogy, which at the moment I think will be Military Scifi.

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 know a lot of people would be thinking of what to read, but I’d have one on semaphore and at least one on survivalism. I would prefer to live and write more than die of hunger.

Bearing in mind this seems like it would be a planned event, I would do some more fine-grained research into the best books for survivalism and semaphore closer to the time.

 

Hugh Phoenix-Hulme’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Louis Zambrana 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I love to create and it’s only recently that I’ve found my niche in writing. I’m currently working on a 6th story, though I’ve only just released my first novel this May.
My novels are short, between 50 and 90 pages but they are engaging reads, I’m told that keep readers entertained and guessing til the end.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My first published book is called The Book of Miriam, though it is actually the second book I’ve ever written.
It began as an idea for what the world would eventually look at in the future from the perspective of a human captive in a world of machines, but inspired by the women in my life I created this character Miriam who embodies the struggles of women’s oppression over the centuries and with her own mind and will lives on her own terms in her search for true freedom.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know how unusual it is but most of my first draft writing happens on the subway. I buy grade school composition books and blow through countless pens. Once the first draft is all written out in pen, then I hit the computer for the second and then third and final draft.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am forever inspired by Cervantes’ Don Quixote. It taught me that writing has no boundaries and I’ve never seen anything like it since.
Other big inspirations: 1984 by Orwell. It’s just so true and stunning how prophetic and relevant the story gets with every passing year. It probably subconsciously helped bring about ‘Miriam’, a character people end up loving as much as I do.
Tolstoy’s writing also influence me to be descriptive, his attention to detail is unmatched and I wouldn’t try it myself but it certainly helped me see what is possible with a pen and a blank sheet of paper.
There are so many more, but let me just mention Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Very much like 1984, as years go by, these themes grow more and more relevant.

What are you working on now?
Right now, it’s the third and believe final story of The Book of Miriam. There is also a story I’m working on a first draft of on the train that is based on my experiences working in several radio newsrooms.
I have other finished stories but one at a time.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Right now, it’s you, Awesome Gang.
I have used social media and word of mouth otherwise.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you don’t love it, don’t bother. It’s much too difficult to expect magic to flow from your pen if you don’t put the work in. You have to sit there and love that moment of creating and when you think you’re blocked, write on. I say all talent comes from God, I trust God and He never fails me.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Keep at it. I heard someone who won an Academy Award for writing say it in a post ceremonial interview. I couldn’t tell you his name. I never forgot it, though.

What are you reading now?
Moby Dick. It’s taking forever because
1. it’s a lot to read.
2. I’m writing as much as I am.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Success I hope. It has been my dream to be able to write stories people can’t wait to read. I’ve finally figured out how to write a beginning, middle and end without giving up and I hope I can do it for the rest of my life.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
3 or 4 books I’ve never read before.
Classics hopefully.

Author Websites and Profiles
Louis Zambrana Amazon Profile