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Priyadarshini P 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Priyadarshini and I am an author from India. I am a person who dervies happiness from the smallest of things. I love to drink coffee every morning and think about absolutely nothing. I also enjoy observing the minute details around me. I believe that true happiness can never be achieved by major successes, but by small things such as a warm smile or a kind word.
I have written one children’s book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I wrote “The Postwoman and Other Stories”. It is a children’s book with a collection of eight stories. The book was inspired by my own childhood experiences and memories of living on a hill station.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think I have any unusual writing habits, but I wish I did!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I don’t think I can really say who I have been inspired by. I have been inspired by both fiction and non-fiction writers. I think my writing reflects a greater depth because of how many genres I have sought inspiration from.

What are you working on now?
At the moment I am not working on anything in particular.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I really think it’s important to promote your book by yourself. Only you know who you want to reach out to, and what type of readers you are looking for.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I would tell new authors not to be frustrated. It is hard to get recognition and acknowledgment, but not everyone can become famous. Despite this, be happy that you have a set of people who admire and love your work.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I have ever heard is to live in the moment. As much as we love to think about the future or even the next day, we all know life doesn’t work like that.

What are you reading now?
I am reading a book called “Forty Rules of Love”.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am not sure whether I will continue writing or not. I am also not sure what I would write if I were given an opportunity. I think it depends on what I feel at that moment.

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 Chicken Chronicles- Alice Walker
The Harry Potter Series
The White Book- Han Kang
Tuesday’s With Morrie- Mitch Albom

 

Priyadarshini P’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

David Grimes 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been a Medical Doctor for over 45 years. I am Board Certified in OB/GYN and Preventive Medicine. I wrote my first book “DON’T LET THE DR. WAKEFIELD’S OF THE WORLD CONVINCE YOU TO ENDANGER YOUR CHILD’S LIFE” that was published 7/1/21 on Amazon KDP as an e-book, paperback, and audio book on Findaway.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
DON’T LET THE DR. WAKEFIELD’S OF THE WORLD CONVINCE YOU TO ENDANGER YOUR CHILD’S LIFE was written because many of my new parents had questions about the risks and benefits of vaccines for their newborn and themselves. Dr Wakefield convinced many parents that the MMR vaccine was not safe and caused autism. It was later discovered that he was being paid by British lawyers to collect cases so they could sue the vaccine companies. His fake research was removed from medical literature and he lost his medical license. Multiple international research papers proved MMR was safe and did not cause autism. Many children got measles and some died because parents believed his fake news and did not get their children vaccinated. My book shows how over 10,000 lives are saved every year in the US with vaccines by preventing “usual childhood diseases”. The book is easy to read and written to help new parents understand that the benefits far outweigh a very small risk. Vaccines have eliminated smallpox and almost eliminated polio. Some people have died from mistakes in the early polio vaccine. This is discussed in my book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Based on my 45+ years of medical experience, I am currently writing non-fiction medical books. It is easy because I just pretend I am answering medical questions from my patients. My next book will be about the unnecessary and preventable deaths caused by hip fractures (osteoporosis).

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Medical articles have been most of my “spare time” reading. Dr. Thomas B Clarkson’s research done on monkeys back in the 70’s, should have received the Nobel Prize. When many groups were trying to ban birth control pills (BCPs), he was able to show that not only did BCPs not cause heart attacks, strokes, and cancer, they prevented some of these problems.
When reading for pleasure, I loved John D. McDonald (Travis McGee series). I grew up in Tampa Florida and remember driving on some of the roads in his books. Jack Reacher (by Lee Childs) is my current favorite. As a teen, I loved science fiction (Flowers for Algernon, 2001, 1984, The Time Machine,The Day of the Triffids).

What are you working on now?
Osteoporosis and how to prevent unnecessary deaths by preventing fractures. Twenty percent (20%) of hip fracture patients are dead within 6-12 months. Almost 50% of people living independently prior to the fracture will be in a nursing home the rest of their lives. The main risk is women over 60 and men over 70.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
KDP
Develop your own e-mail list on your website to promote your new books. Offer free “10 best reasons” related to your book to collect e-mails, or a free blog about subject of your book.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Take advantage of all the free YouTube advice. Use Fiver for cheap covers, editing, and website. Buy 10 ISBN from Bowker, or use free KDP if you plan to stay exclusive to KDP for 3-12 mon. You will need your own ISBN to go other routes. Faraway is best for audio books. Start with an e-book, paperback, and audiobook of the same book. Exclusive with KDP for 90 days gets you some free promotion.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
DO IT NOW

What are you reading now?
As I See Sex Through The Bible

What’s next for you as a writer?
Several more non-fiction medical books in easy to understand form, then try fiction.

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?
Basic Survival on an Island
Killing Floor: Jack Reacher
The Green Ripper: A Travis McGee Novel
Flowers for Algernon

Author Websites and Profiles
David Grimes Website

Alex Evans 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi,

I have traveled a lot in my life and I speak three languages fluently enough to write. I have been a published author since 2014, with novels both self published and with a mainstream publisher. I usually write in French, but with the multiple lockdowns, I had the idea to try my hand at English.

I have written an urban fantasy series (self published) with five books so far. I also wrote a steampunk series (traditionally published) called Witches and Associates which contains three books so far. Experimental Magics is part of this series.

In English, I had a couple of short stories published on american fantasy websites, especially for Sword and Sorcery Magazine (https://www.swordsandsorcerymagazine.com/red-cap.html).

Then, I decided to make a translation of my latest steampunk novel in English and see what happens! That’s how you got Experimental Magics.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Experimental Magics is inspired by the Industrial Revolution, but also the Cold War. If magic was a technology, countries would compete to get hold of it, right?
Therefore my mages are scientists and researchers, but not the dreamy ones who are usually rescued by some gallant hero. These scientists might be geeky, but they have teeth!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Nothing extravagant on that side.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have been influenced a lot by history books. In no particular order: Byzantium, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, India, China, Mali, the Ashanti, the Yoruba, the Aztecs.

For fantasy, My tastes veer towards plenty of action, a sense of wonder and dry humor. Again, in no particular order: Robert E. Howard, Djeli Clark, Joe Abercrombie, Chris Gooding.

What are you working on now?
The follow-up to Experimental Magics (working title: The Road to Cazal)

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am still researching.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read a lot and don’t follow any advice.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Read a lot!

What are you reading now?
Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have no idea. Too many projects and too little time.

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 Disturber of Peace by Leonid Solovyev, The name of the Rose by Umberto Eco and Dune by Franck Herbert.

Author Websites and Profiles
Alex Evans Website
Alex Evans Amazon Profile

Alex Evans’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

DAVID WOLF 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Long ago, I surprised myself by writing a large screenplay, including all the research, completing it in just 30 days. My first thought on that accomplishment: “If I can do this, I can write novels!!” So I embarked on my first: a light-hearted parallel universe tale. And just as I finished the first draft, I got huge idea for a Young Adult novel about an “enhanced,” genetically improved chimp and the trouble it gets into when it’s enrolled in the same Elementary School as his human brother. That book got me my first agent, but it failed to launch. I’ve since written three crime novels, a Tom-Clancy-ish political-military thriller, another YA novel, a Chapter Book about a wannabe police dog hired to track down a runaway cat, a Rom-Com about an advertising copywriter (like me) who falls for a rising young actress: she rises, he falls. My one published novel, Mindclone, a near-term sci-fi novel about mind uploading, is available on Amazon as a paperback, an eBook and an audiobook. It’s been translated into four languages so far, with a fifth (Portuguese,) almost completed. I’ve also written several short stories, three of which are also available on Amazon.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
One of my most recently-published works is a short story called A Disturbance in the Church, in which an Android seeks to join the congregation, confess its sins and receive communion. The senior priest at the church is outraged at the very idea, and drops F-bombs all over the younger priest who had the temerity to bring it up. This leads to a conference among the two priests, a bishop, a cardinal, a rabbi, the atheistic creator of the android program, the android itself, and even Pope Francis (via Skype.)

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I read widely, in fiction and non-fiction. In fiction, I’m attracted to literary, crime, sci-fi, the classics and the occasional best-seller. In non-fiction, I read biographies, histories, books on many kinds of science and technology–really, almost anything that catches my interest. One author in particular inspired me to write Mindclone: Ray Kurzweil. I’ve read several of his books that talk about “the Singularity,” that moment when computers become smarter than people.

What are you working on now?
Revising two novels at the same time. Hoping to make them good enough to sell. One is a crime novel, the other is another near-term science fiction novel involving Cryo-Preservation.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
There are many Twitter services out there that can be effective, but it’s important to look at their reader/purchaser-facing pages to see if they’re serious about marketing and selling your book. All too often, their main source of revenue seems to be taking money from authors hungry for success.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes! Join a critique group and get fresh eyes on your writing. It’s far too easy to fall in love with your own words and be blind to its flaws. It’s been crucial for me throughout my writing. Outside readers can also make you aware of your built-in biases and help you see the world from a more universal and balanced perspective.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Make sure you have a compelling book description! Here’s one that’s posted on my Facebook page for Mindclone:
TALKING TO THE DEAD
The April 5, 2020 60 Minutes included a segment featuring a company that makes it possible to talk to the dead. The technology they use is a special form of Artificial Intelligence. That concept is similar to the idea behind my science fiction novel, Mindclone. If the idea of talking with the dead appeals to you, you just might find my novel of interest! PS: The man behind the creation of his own digital twin also makes an appearance on 60 Minutes (Fictionally, of course.)

What are you reading now?
Greenwood, by Michael Christie, a marvelous book.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m in constant search for an agent that can get me noticed as an author and help me get all those novels I’ve written out there!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Time of our Singing, by Richard Powers; The Science Fiction Century, edited by David G. Hartwell; The Fourth Protocol, by Frederick Forsyth; The Passage of Power, by Robert A. Caro (It’s very hard to narrow my choices to just four!)

Author Websites and Profiles
DAVID WOLF Website
DAVID WOLF Amazon Profile

DAVID WOLF’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

John Woods 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been an author for multiple travel and sports books but just started a new venture with my wife. So far we have one parenting book, with plans for many more.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
It is called The Guilt Parents – Screen Time: A Reassuring Guide to Parenting Screen Time, Preventing Digital Addiction, and the Uses of Technology for Positive Child Development.

It was inspired by the feedback from other books in the screen time realm. Books seem to be very negative and make parents feel bad. Some are really dry and full of statistics. So we decided to try to flip the narrative and offer so reassuring information regarding this controversial issue.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, we try to write with humor on serious topics to lighten up the tone a bit and help parents feel better about things. In general, all parents are just trying their best and most parents are doing the same things, no need to bring negativity into it. We all want what is best for our kids.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My wife and I read a lot of different books. I can’t specifically say one author influenced our style more than any other. We both read a variety of styles depending on the time of year or activities we are doing. For example, I personally like to read espionage books while camping and my wife enjoys reading up on parenting books off and on while we travel.

What are you working on now?
We are working on growing our Guilty Parents brand with more books on topics parents want to learn about.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
We like to use our Facebook page and group because we can really get to know our audience and gain insights from them. We love to get feedback and ideas and really bond as we all go on this parenting journey!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Make sure you do your research and provide solutions to peoples problems. If you help your readers they will support you!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t worry about things you can’t change.

What are you reading now?
I am reading The Art of Racing in the Rain. I haven’t watched the movie yet and the book has been sitting on my shelf for about a year so I am hoping to read it, then check out the movie!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I do want to grow our parenting books, I really enjoy the thought of helping people and growing with them. My wife and I are just focused on this right now so hopefully we will have a few more books out within the year!

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?
Is there a “How to survive on a Desert Island” book!?
I enjoy biographies and espionage books. I don’t really read books more than once so I would likely take reference or textbooks!

Author Websites and Profiles
John Woods Website
John Woods Amazon Profile

John Woods’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

June Summers 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an eighty-one-year-old grandmother who has written her fifth suspense novel, There Was an Old Woman (paperback is 249 pages). I would sincerely appreciate it if you would review my book. It is scheduled for release by The Wild Rose Press, Inc. on August 30, 2021. I have had four other suspense/thrillers published, all currently available on Amazon—Let Freedom Ring (2016), Before We Fade Away (2018), A Conflict of Time (2018), and Whatever It Takes (2020). I keep busy for a retired, old lady.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
There Was an Old Woman is the name of my latest book to be released on August 30, 2021. The setting of all my other novels was a mythical town in Florida. However, since I have recently moved back to my hometown in northeast Ohio, the locale of this thriller takes place in this area.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
In my stories, I like to write about ordinary people caught in extraordinary situations. I want the readers to put themselves into the place of the characters and feel what they are feeling and see what they are seeing. I want them to be part of situations beyond their imaginations and to experience things vicariously that are too dangerous or absurd to experience in reality. It would be like living your everyday life, then, BAM, something totally out of your control forces you to take action that you never thought you were capable of doing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Linwood Barclay, Harlan Coben, Lisa Scottoline, Karen Slaughter

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a manuscript I call 1010 Colleda Avenue. It’s about a super of an eight-flat apartment building above a bar and a barber shop.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m planning a book release/signing in the small town where much of the book takes place. Hopefully, the local townspeople will want to read it. I also am trying different online websites to enhance the sales.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Perseverence and determination.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
When trying to get a book published, go directly to the publisher. Avoid the middle man (literary agents).

What are you reading now?
If She Wakes by Michael Koryta

What’s next for you as a writer?
I still have stories in my brain. If I last long enough, I’d like to release them.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’ve said it before. I’d take one or more of Linwood Barclay’s series so that I know I’d be able to read all of them in order.

Author Websites and Profiles
June Summers Website
June Summers Amazon Profile

June Summers’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Michael G 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
. I started in the banking industry right out of college in 2005. The financial crisis was traumatic for all that were a part of it, and even those who were innocent bystanders. I spent those early few years in the mortgage business where I saw first-hand fraudulent lending practices and “liar loans.” After the traumatic event passed, I always envisioned myself spending time in a small Italian village, sitting on the balcony writing a memoir about the crisis, such as the factors that precipitated it, what transpired, and the outcome. It turns out life has different plans, as I was working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic with way too much free time on my hands, I decided not to write a possibly boring memoir of my life during the financial crisis, but a fictionalized version of events that may or may not have occurred.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Good Banker is my first novel. During the pandemic, I started reading more books as we all had more free times on our hands. One of the books I purchased, was less than spectacular, and I believed I could write a better story. So after only a few days of thinking of a plotline (and without the ending decided upon), I started writing. The story took some interesting turns as I wrote, and three months later, the first draft was completed.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No, but I did write a good portion of this book on a foldable pocket keyboard while traveling through Europe.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
As a natural introvert and coming from a worrier family, the two books that have influenced me the most were Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.” I probably read these books 15-20 years ago, but I still sometimes stop and think about the important life lessons these books taught me.

What are you working on now?
Promoting “The Good Banker”

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Since this is my first novel, it’s a bit of an adventure and a learning curve, but everyone I’ve shared a few chapters of my book with say they love it… So I’m hoping word of mouth, and sites like yours will work together to get this book into the reader’s hands.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Stay determined. It is not easy to write a full-length novel. It’s even harder to market and sell the book. But if you are able to sit down, and write a novel that you, yourself can be proud of, that’s a success, no matter what the critics say.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.” The first few times I heard this during my teenage years, I absolutely despised this aphorism, but now I’ve learned to accept and embrace it.

What are you reading now?
Nothing- too busy.

What’s next for you as a writer?
The sequel to “The Good Banker”

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 usually gravitate to self-help books, but if I’m on a remote island, I’d have to go with a few fictional suspense books, maybe “The Good Banker.”

Author Websites and Profiles
Michael G Website
Michael G Amazon Profile

Michael G’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Harry Duffin 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an award-winning British screenwriter, who won the Writers’ Guild Award for Best TV serial for Coronation Street. I was Head of Development at Cloud 9 Screen Entertainment Group, producing seven major television series, including ‘Swiss Family Robinson’ starring Richard ‘John Boy’ Thomas, and ‘Twist in the Tale’, featuring William Shatner. I was co-creator of the UK Channel Five teen-cult drama series ‘The Tribe’, which ran for five series.
I have written two novels, CHICAGO MAY and BIRTH OF THE MALL RATS [an intro to the TV series THE TRIBE].
CHICAGO MAY is the first book of a two-part series.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I have just finished the first draft of my latest novel called ISLAND OF DREAMS. It is a family saga set against the revolution in Cuba, when Fidel Castro deposed the dictator Batista. We follow the lives of a brother and sister as they go their separate ways in an increasingly violent society.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Hemingway, Raymond Chandler, Margaret Attwood, Jodi Picoult.

What are you working on now?
The sequel to my first novel Chicago May.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am just learning that process. The internet is full of useful sites to help promote your work.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. It took me twenty years before I became a professional TV writer.

What are you reading now?
The Handmaid’s Tale [again].

 

Author Websites and Profiles
Harry Duffin Website

Dulee Paranavitana 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Dulee Paranavitana is the author of several books. Dulee’s first book, My Musings, was published in 2019 and is available on Amazon, while paperback copies are available in stores in Sri Lanka. Dulee has gone on to write and self-publish several works via the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing platform. Some of her works include Ripples and Echoes, Jungle Jaunts and Laugh-Out- Lyrics. Jungle Jaunts is a work of fiction based on stories told by my grandfather. My Musings, Ripples and Echoes and Laugh-Out-Lyrics are all works of poetry.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Midwood Magic, I was inspired by Harry potter

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Nope

What authors, or books have influenced you?
J.K Rowling

What are you working on now?
Editing Midwood Magic

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am not sure

Do you have any advice for new authors?
keep writing and don’t forget to read!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Read as much as you can!

What are you reading now?
The Hobbit

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am working on new story ideas

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Harry Potter
The Hobbit
The Complete Works of Shakespeare

Author Websites and Profiles
Dulee Paranavitana Website
Dulee Paranavitana Amazon Profile

Tammy Ruggles 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing short stories, books, and articles as a freelance writer for many years.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Verboten” is a sci-fi romance with a dark side, about forbidden love between an Earthly man and a lovely extraterrestrial woman: A man with nothing to lose, a woman with a kingdom to lose, and a love worth fighting for. Sort of “Avatar” meets “Game of Thrones” meets “O”.

What inspired it was that, while deleting files on my computer, I found a 2-page short story I’d forgotten about for 10 years and never published, and when I heard Amazon Kindle Vella launching, decided to develop it into a serial just for their platform. Each chapter (which they call episodes) ends in a cliffhanger. It was so much fun to write, since sci-fi romance has never been my go-to genre. I even named my main character Vella.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, but I do enjoy writing with chocolate and a good coffee.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Peter Benchley, Cormac McCarthy, William Peter Blatty, Edgar Allen Poe, Emily Dickinson, and a few others.

What are you working on now?
No other books in the works, just promoting “Verboten”. I keep saying each book is my last, but I think this one really is.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Social media, blogs, just about anything really.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes, keep trying, and be adventurous. Try writing in a genre that is different for you.

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

What are you reading now?
I’m reading stories on Kindle Vella.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have no other books planned.

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 just need one, the King James Bible.

Author Websites and Profiles
Tammy Ruggles Website
Tammy Ruggles Amazon Profile

Tammy Ruggles’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Thomas Thomas 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Doctor by profession, author, artist, musician, and farmer by passion. I have written one book, and am in the process of writing the second.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Adventures of a countryside doctor. This book has been inspired by my experiences as a doctor while working in a remote village.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I carry a notebook and write in longhand whenever I get the time and motivation.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Charles Dickens, O. Henry, Gabriela Marcos, Paulo Coelo, Larry Collins, J. K. Rowling, A. J. Cronin, James Herriot, Arundathi Roy, Chetan Bhagat.

What are you working on now?
A fictional autobiography related to early student life.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Once you do an outline, write daily and finish the first draft. Do the editing and polishing afterward.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Even if imperfect, take consistent action.

What are you reading now?
This is going to hurt, by Adam Kay

What’s next for you as a writer?
Complete a series of five fictional biographies

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
All the books by James Herriot yet to read

Author Websites and Profiles
Thomas Thomas Website
Thomas Thomas Amazon Profile

Thomas Thomas’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

A. K. Frailey 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
As a teacher with a degree in Elementary Education who has taught in big cities and small towns, I homeschooled all of my children. I manage my rural homestead with my kids and our numerous critters. I write books and a Friday blog alternating between short stories and My Road Goes Ever On series.

My nonfiction work focuses on the intersection of motherhood, widowhood, practicing gratitude, and rediscovering joy.

My fiction novels expand from the OldEarth world to the Newearth universe—where deception rules but truth prevails.

I earned a Masters of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing for Entertainment from Full Sail University.
In my spare time, I serve as an election judge, a literacy tutor, and as secretary/treasurer of my small town’s cemetery.

I am currently finishing a new science fiction novel in the Newearth world and a historical fiction & science fiction blend in her OldEarth series.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I am working on a rewrite of my original historical fiction series, with the added bonus of the OldEarth world encountering the larger universe in what eventually becomes the Newearth Universe.
OldEarth Aram Encounter
OldEarth Ishtar Encounter
OldEarth Neb Encounter
OldEarth Georgios Encounter

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write pretty much all the time. But it’s only when I get to my computer that I can put the ideas into print.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The honesty of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the imagination of J. R. R. Tolkien, the zeal of Chesterton, and the uncompromising reflections of Samuel Clemens.

What are you working on now?
I am now working on OldEarth Melchior Encounter, book 5 in the series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My own blog site has been great for connecting interested readers with fresh stories, poems, and reflections.
akfrailey.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep learning and find your own voice.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Use more than one proofreader before you publish.

What are you reading now?
The Camerons by Crichton

What’s next for you as a writer?
I will work on my Newearth series and develop the universe with fresh characters and plots.

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 New Testament
The Lord of the Rings
Little House on the Prairie
How to Survive on a Desert island

Author Websites and Profiles
A. K. Frailey Website
A. K. Frailey Amazon Profile

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Tessa Buckley 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve always loved reading and writing, and from an early age I dreamed of becoming a writer one day. As I got older, exams, boys, art college and finally a career all got in the way, and I only started writing again when my ten year old daughter complained that she couldn’t find enough adventure stories to read. Then I remembered my ambition and decided it might be a good time to make it happen.
Over the next few years I wrote two children’s novels and a self-help book, as well as lots of articles about healthy eating and family history. I found a publisher for the self-help book, but it wasn’t until 2014 that I finally decided to self-publish the two novels. Eye Spy and Haunted are contemporary mystery stories for middle grade readers, set in a seaside town, about two teen sleuths and their detective service, Eye Spy Investigations. They were great fun to write, and Haunted was a finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards in 2017.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
In 2019 the last book in the Eye Spy series, Lady in Red, was published. The house at the centre of the story, Acacia Villa, was inspired by the house I lived in from the age of nine, a large Victorian villa which had been divided into three flats. We lived in the first floor flat, and I fell in love immediately with the garden behind the house, which was divided into three terraces. At the top was a patio, then there was a large lawn, and the bottom level was a neglected jungle. The best thing about the garden was that from there I had access through a hole in the fence to the totally overgrown garden of the house next door, which had been empty for years. It was my own secret garden, and it provided the perfect setting for the adventures that take place in Lady in Red. Writing about it was like returning to my childhood!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m very lucky – I have my own study. I need absolute quiet and no disturbances to write, or I lose concentration and give up.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am a great admirer of Jacqueline Wilson’s children’s books and also Sue Townsend’s Diary of Adrian Mole, which have both influenced my Eye Spy books. I also loved the Harry Potter books, which taught me that kids love a mystery story with scenes that take place at both home and school, and which also feature pets.

What are you working on now?
At the moment I’m trying my hand at writing a Young Adult book, and I would really like to find a publisher for this one, because self-publishing is Hard Work. It started out as a contemporary reworking of a Dickens novel, but after getting some advice from a literary agent about what publishers are looking for at present, I’m rethinking the plot. It’s the most challenging thing I’ve ever tried to write, but I’m determined to finish it and help my two protagonists to find their happy ending.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
With children’s books, the best way to reach your target audience is to get into schools, by offering to help with literacy programmes or offering creative writing sessions. I also do a lot of face to face promotion at book fairs. I am a member of a local writer’s network and we get together regularly to arrange literary events and promote each other’s books. Online, you can really only sell to the parents/grandparents rather than the children themselves.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Restraint! DON’T publish until you have worked out a marketing plan and started to implement it. You have to work out how to help people discover your book, and this takes time. Join ALLIA (Alliance of Independent Authors) to get advice from successful Indie authors. I wish someone had told me this before I published my first novel!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Read as much as possible in the genre you write in. Work out how the best authors do it, and learn from them.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading lots of YA novels, to get me into the zone for my work in progress. Some authors I’ve discovered that I really enjoy are Holly Jackson, Sheena Wilkinson, and Shirley Anne Macmillan. And when I tire of contemporary YA, I return to old favourites like Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have promised my family that when I have finished the current book, I will write up everything I have discovered about my mother’s family, the Clodes. They had an interesting past, running coach services in and out of London in the eighteenth century, as well as coaching inns in and around Windsor.

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?
On a desert island escapism would be the order of the day, so maybe two novels by my favourite author, Georgette Heyer: Venetia and These Old Shades; plus one of the Outlander novels by Diana Gabaldon – I’ve reached number 5 now, The Fiery Cross.

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A.D. Craig 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have written two books as my penname, A.D. Craig. Book 3 coming soon! Lovely Oblivion is a rockstar romance series about the members of a female rock band.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Lovely Oblivion: Bex. It is about a high school reunion second chance romance. I am attempting different tropes for each book of the series. Bex was inspired by one of my favorite female singers.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do most writing on my smartphone. My phone is always with me so it’s convenient.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love a good romance and read so many books on Kindle Unlimited. The Traveling series by Jane Harvey-Berrick and the Half-Moon books by Taryn Bradley are some of my favorite books and I absolutely love their style.

What are you working on now?
Lovely Oblivion: Polly – a friends to lovers rockstar romance. Book 3 of the Lovely Oblivion series, coming soon!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have a newsletter, facebook page, instagram, and twitter. Follow me on any of the above!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing! Even if you think draft one is garbage. You can’t edit it if it’s not on paper. Draft two will be much better.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Keep going. Impossible comes true.

What are you reading now?
I am beta reading for a new author.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Next is book 3 of Lovely Oblivion. The series will be five books. After those are done, who knows?

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?
Teagan Hunter – Let’s Get Textual
Taryn Bradley – Half Moon Hero
Jane Harvey-Berrick – The Traveling Man

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