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Amanda Adam 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Merewif, the Mermaid Witch, is book one of the Saelfen Trilogy and is my debut novel! I’m a true adventurer at heart. I’ve lived abroad a few times, lived on a sailboat (my own boat I named Earendel), drove a motorcycle for a time (which I kept a secret from my parents and siblings); and I’m an outdoor and nature enthusiast. I’m never too scared to chase my dreams, as daunting as the task may be. My ultimate dream is to be a published author.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Merewif, the Mermaid Witch. I wrote the story my heart craved.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
If my hair isn’t pulled back, I will tear at the ends (unknowingly as I’m lost in my writing) and end up with split ends and bits of hair all over my keyboard and shirt. Yuck.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, JK Rowling, Sarah J Maas, Robin McKinley, to name a few.

What are you working on now?
The sequel to Merewif, and I have a YA dark fantasy/ horror burning.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Haphazard, get it out there. I don’t have a method. Just lots of research and coffee.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
EDIT. If it’s your debut novel and you are self-publishing, especially. Talent is essential, but editing is indispensable and even the best writers absolutely need it. I am not talking about grammar or proofing – I am talking developmental and commercial viability. And do your homework and find a great editor!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
We all are bombarded with “advice” and “self-help” these days. But one piece of advice still stands out, because it was relevant at the time and something that still plays in my mind: “if anyone can do it, you can.” So simple, yet so profound. It was a NYT bestselling author telling me to chase my dreams.

What are you reading now?
Sarah J Maas and Cassandra Clare.

What’s next for you as a writer?
The next two books for my trilogy and the dark fantasy / horror I have in mind and can’t wait to 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 Bible. Throne of Glass. The Hobbit. The Anthology of British Literature (cheating, I know!).

Author Websites and Profiles
Amanda Adam Website
Amanda Adam Amazon Profile

Amanda Adam’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Menelaos Gkikas 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a writer, digital marketeer and transformational leader who recently completed a circle of lessons around artificial intelligence. My first book back in 2004 was entitled “Mathematical Models”. I have been thinking of literature since I existed in the army. I still remember the first script I wrote back then and I would feel delightful to bring it to life at its original dimensions, perhaps it can work as a screenplay! I am passionate with books and my library, reading all sorts of things. I have self-published 2 projects, a romantic drama entitled ‘The Words of Emily Logan’ and a fairytale fantasy entitled ‘When Magic Truly Happens’. The Words of Emily Logan is a screenplay. I have also completed the first draft of a second screenplay entitled ‘Krista’s Instinct’. Though I believe I can have lots of alter egos in art, I also believe in homogenizing all these multiple identities including my education in one, that is the belief in the world of letters.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
As I have said above my second self-published project is a fairytale fantasy, a short story entitled ‘When Magic Truly Happens’ where it mingles Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. What inspired it. First of all, I wanted to create a title that bangs! Secondly, I was obsessed with another fairytale which has initiated a series of trailers in YouTube, dealing with bears at Christmas. The initial story with bears entitled ‘When Magic Really Happens’ has dominated the web and it has been my motivation, in terms of just altering the title even though the story is original and unique.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Things that you own end up owning you… As a web creator dealing with time management, I should focus on being less intellectual and more kinesthetic, meaning to deal with the entire, social, organic sense of being a writer, acting or even better predicting and not just trying to understand everything before by studying it…

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Antoine de Saint-Exupery, having written The Little Prince has been a major influence. As a writer, he has proved how can an aviator, not being primarily a writer, managed to write a fairytale that has influenced the entire world. A small story, easily digested, with plenty of messages, proves that life can create the best stories ever… Also, one of my major influences in fiction literature has been Philip Pullman, having written the trilogy ‘His Dark Materials’. It’s amazing in there how scientific and pseudo-scientific elements have been unified with epic fantasy, storytelling and entertainment plus performing acrobatics between religion and philosophy.

What are you working on now?
Although the first draft of Krista’s Instinct has been completed and I will come to that in the future, I decided to quest my cinematic dreams by submitting The Words of Emily Logan for screenplay coverage evaluations at WeScreenplay, Hollywood’s #1 script coverage business. So, evaluations, my thought laboratory and rewriting have been my recent thoughts. I am also looking forward for my next project.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Being an omni-channel campaign builder has been my creative initiative so far, including using tools and websites targeting digital marketing efforts. Some will say that writing the next project is the best marketing method, even though I’m fond of creating a balance of lots of things.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I can drill this advice from what I am doing this period. The case, my artistic debut, my first project in other words, has been submitted to the best Hollywood office, to provide script coverage and foresee its movie potential… The advice, if you writers believe that creative success comes without hard work, without torturous advices and plenty of sweat, pressure, notes, tones and lots of transformations, you are completely mistaken, even if we’re talking about the first or your sixth work. Writing is all about rewriting!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be yourself! All other roles are taken…

What are you reading now?
I am not actually reading but planning to read the book of a Greek writer, Helen Galinou, ‘On a black background’.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Having dealt with three projects and being entangled with the thoughts of five, I believe reorganization is where I should focus after. Meaning, to think of the future, of how I’d like to proceed and what it means to be a writer is important.

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 Little Prince of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Beeseason of Myla Goldberg, Grammar of Fantasy by Gianni Rodari and Hobbit by Tolkien.

Author Websites and Profiles
Menelaos Gkikas Website
Menelaos Gkikas Amazon Profile

Menelaos Gkikas’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Sheryl Steines 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been an author since I was seven years old. I’ve always wanted to be an author and made that happen in 2009 when I wrote my first book, The Day of First Sun. I currently have the entire five-book Wizard Hall Chronicles series on Amazon.com.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Rise of the Black Market is the final book in the Wizard Hall Chronicles series. It was the culmination of Annie Pearce’s journey to discovering the truth about her family and how she chose to save the future of magic throughout the world. I was inspired by my own life journey and used that to create Annie’s journey.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m more productive when I work on the sofa in front of the television. When I work in my guest room/office, I tend to procrastinate and work on other things.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Judy Blume inspired me to create characters we care about. Stephen King inspired me to write outside the box and JK Rowling reminded me what genre I loved.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a new series called the Nikki Page Mysteries. I’m changing genres and exploring the cozy mystery. With the advice of my daughter, I’m writing a book about a woman in her fifties and the life she has vs. the life she thought she’d have, wrapped around a mystery.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Bargainbooksy.com has always been a good source for me for selling books. I also do well at comic cons.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write every day. The practice will help.

What are you reading now?
I just finished the Temperance Brennan series that the Bones Television series was based on.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m hoping to use the first book in my Nikki Page Mystery series to find an agent.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’d take one book from the JD Robb In Death series, one book from the Stephanie Plum series, one book from the Women’s Murder Club series and one book from the Temperance Brennan series.

Author Websites and Profiles
Sheryl Steines Website
Sheryl Steines Amazon Profile

Sheryl Steines’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Marilyn Carroll 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a college business professor, a training and development professional, a researcher, writer, mother of a college student, grandmother of a child in elementary school, and a college student myself. I am the picture of the individual in search and need of education that speaks to me and my needs and goals. This is my seventh book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Diary of an Online Professor In a World of Fuzzy Logic – At the start of the Pandemic, March 2020, I was involved in three events, (a) Teaching Online, (b) Completing Research on the use of technology in education and (c) Working on a proposal for Dallas Independent School District on Diversity. There was a lot of what I call Fuzzy Logic happening surrounding all three. In order to put some controls in place, I took a page from research and decided to write a daily diary that shares my life, experiences, and outcomes of the magic formula that kept my students engaged and striving for success even through a pandemic, racial unrest, working from home, school from home with limited access to the world as we once knew it. So we were all experiencing moments of fuzzy logic. Writing became my therapy for coping with the daily grind of living in a world of Masks On/Masks Off. With so many competing priorities in our daily life as we witness during the pandemic and the need to acquire relevant knowledge and skills during times of uncertainty continuously, many people were in need of additional education and educators who could meet them me where they were in helping them to achieve their educational and training goals in this new day. A new day and new times call for new models and methods. This book provides the secret sauce for achieving that.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like writing about different things and in different genres which speak to my experiences and knowledge.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am most intrigued by Adam Grant, Malcolm Gladwell, Dr. Tony Evans, John Kotter, and Creativity, Inc by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on my book called, “Spiritual Bootcamp and 365 Inspirations.”

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
You can learn more about my book at the link below.

Diary of an Online Professor "In a World of Fuzzy Logic"

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Writing for me has always been about sharing information that will hopefully help others who read its content. That writing helps others to see the possibilities.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Never count your chickens before they hatch. “Life is a bed of changes, be prepared for opportunities.”

What are you reading now?
Chatter by Ethan Kross and The Lonely Century by Noreena Hertz.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am constantly finding ways to improve my art of storytelling. I am probably my worst critic. I work on my writing daily. It has become a habit.

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, My 365 Inspirations by Marilyn Carroll, Spiritual Bootcamp “Life and the Holy Spirit, by Marilyn Carroll, Think Again by Adam Grant, and My Inner Sky by Mari Andrews.

Author Websites and Profiles
Marilyn Carroll Website
Marilyn Carroll Amazon Profile
Marilyn Carroll Author Profile on Smashwords

Marilyn Carroll’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Emily Gallo 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I grew up in New York City and lived in several places across the country before settling in northern California thirty years ago to raise my children and teach elementary school. I married my second husband and started writing screenplays. I turned to novel writing and published my first book in 2015 to be followed by six more. I am presently working on my eighth novel.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
DREAMer is the story of a twelve-year-old girl who escaped over the border from Mexico. I taught in a low economic neighborhood and many of my students were immigrants, both documented and undocumented. I based my book on my students’ stories and to make a statement about the present border situation.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write in a cafe although I have a lovely studio and office at home where I could work. But I am not a solitary person like many writers and I enjoy the bustle and camaraderie. I also get many ideas from the people I meet and talk to there. Although I have a basic idea of what I want to write, I do not outline or make a structured plan. I just sit and write and everything falls into place.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Frank McCourt and Carson McCullers are my biggest influencers.

What are you working on now?
I am unsure about the title but I am working with “In Limbo” now. It follows Luther, a character from my book “The Last Resort,” who was in prison for twenty years for a crime he did not commit. I have Luther accused of another crime and running to New York City where he hooks up with another of my old characters, Finn, the protagonist in “Venice Beach.”

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think it’s a culmination of things. I’ve been using almost every way possible for an independent author to promote their books. My website, social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and YouTube), pitching book reviewers, and pitching media outlets.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write often and from your heart – you can edit later.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

What are you reading now?
James Patterson “1st Case”

What’s next for you as a writer?
To keep writing novels.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Probably mine would be the ones I’d take.

Author Websites and Profiles
Emily Gallo Website
Emily Gallo Amazon Profile

Emily Gallo’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account