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Vonnie Winslow Crist 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in the Year of the Dragon. Maybe that’s why I write fantasy and science-fiction, and believe the world is still filled with magic, mystery, and miracles. I’ve had a life-long interest in reading, writing, art, science-fiction, myth, fairy tales, folklore, and legends. Following those interests led me to be an illustrator, writer, and teacher. I earned a BS in Art-Education, then returned to Towson University 30 years later to earn a MS in Professional Writing. I’m author of “Dragon Rain,” “Beneath Raven’s Wing,” “The Enchanted Dagger,” “Owl Light,” “The Greener Forest,” “Murder on Marawa Prime,” and other award-winning books.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is “Dragon Rain.” I’ve always loved dragons. A few years ago, I researched legends about Chinese dragons for a story I was writing for the anthology, “Dragon Lure.” The story made it into the book, and I was hooked on the fascinating mythology and folklore surrounding dragons in various societies from around the world. I’d find an interesting dragon (or wyrm, wyvern, or drake) legend, then re-imagine it and write a dragon-filled story. Eventually, I had 18 dragon stories in-print in anthologies and magazines. Then, 4 of the anthologies went out-of-print, 3 of the stories were published in Japan online only, and several of the remaining anthologies were published in Australia by a publisher which many readers in the USA don’t know about. So, I rewrote and expanded the 18 stories, sent the manuscript to Mocha Memoirs Press, and not long afterwards, signed a contract. The stories include dragons and folklore from Japan, China, the UK, Norway, Southern USA swamps, Appalachia, the Middle East, and more. There’s even a tale set in the future on a distant planet imbued with superstitions inspired by Native American and Filipino lore.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really. I’m a “gardener,” a term used by George R.R. Martin to describe a writer who plants an idea, then allows it to grow in a rather organic manner. I will say, I tend to think about an idea for quite some time before finally sitting down and writing a story. So even though it seems I’m writing spontaneously, I’ve worked out the plot before I begin. That said, if the characters demand the story go in a different direction, I listen!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Every writer I’ve read, from good to awful has influenced me! Even when I was young, I noticed when a story rang true and held my interest. From childhood on, when I read a poorly-written book, I think about what I would do to make it better. If I get specific, I suppose for quality world-building J.R.R. Tolkien influenced me. For writing solid short stories, Ray Bradbury would be one of the authors whose work influenced me. As far as finding the magical in the everyday, I think Neil Gaiman is a writer who influenced me. There are so many others I could mention. It’s tough to choose just a few.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on 2 more story collections, one about fantasy horses and the other is science fiction. Plus, I’m writing 2 more books in the world of my fantasy, coming-of-age novel, “The Enchanted Dagger.” I expect “Beyond the Sheercliffs” to see publication in 2022. I have a book on writing for anthologies due out in 2022 as well. Then, there are several non-fiction books based on soldiers’ letters and diaries from World War II and the American Civil War I keep scribbling away at.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is a tough question. An author needs a platform which includes a website, blog, Facebook author’s pages, Amazon page (when you start getting published), twitter, Goodreads, etc. After that, I think doing interviews is a great way to get your name and books out there. Also, participating in writing conferences, science-fiction/fantasy conventions, author events, library appearances, and other public events helps you interact with readers. Promotion is the hardest part of the writing journey for me.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Persist! It sounds so simple, but it’s hard to do. Keep writing, keep submitting your work, and while you wait for a story/poem/book to be accepted or rejected – write more!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Everyone receives rejection letters. The writers who are successful are the ones who keep writing and submitting work no matter how many times they’re rejected.

What are you reading now?
I just finished “Strange the Dreamer” by Laini Taylor, so I’m currently reading the follow-up novel, “The Muse of Nightmares.” The story is mythic, the prose is beautiful, and the character and locales are interesting. I must admit though, the book does take a bit of concentration to keep everyone and everything in order as the story progresses.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I imagine I’ll keep reading books, stumbling upon fascinating facts/folklore/beliefs, researching that information, and then, writing more fiction. I suspect I’ll write a few more poems and do a few more illustrations along the way as well. (Currently, in addition to stories and books, I have over 200 poems and 1,000 illustrations in print).

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?
Be warned, I’m going to cheat a bit, so I’ll have lots of reading material! I’d take “The Bible,” “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare,” “The Lord of the Rings” (the volume with all 3 books plus the Appendices), and “The Complete Works of Mark Twain.”

Author Websites and Profiles
Vonnie Winslow Crist Website
Vonnie Winslow Crist Amazon Profile

Vonnie Winslow Crist’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Saurav Ranjan Datta 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an internationally recognized writer and content creator. I have written numerous articles for several national & international publications like Hindustan Times, CNBCTV18, Timeless Travels Magazine UK, Outlook India, Times Journal, The Statesman Kolkata, Kitaab.org, Ancient Origins Magazine, Ancient History Encyclopaedia, Sulekha.com, Firedeye.com, Utkal Today, The Assam Tribune and The Indian Hour. I have also written short stories, poems etc. In addition, I have also contributed to two poetry anthologies by the name of Harmonious Symphonies and Fragrances of Life. The books are available on Amazon at this moment. I have also created content for several popular TV shows like KBC, NDTC Tech Grandmaster and others. By education, I am a postgraduate in Business Management. I have also worked in the corporate world for the last two decades in senior positions. My debut solo book ‘Maidens of Fate’ and my second book ‘Where Bravehearts Dwelt’ have drawn positive praises (available on Amazon & other leading platforms). You can reach me at authorsaurav@gmail.com. I stay in Kolkata, India with my family.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Goddesses of Fury: History’s Most Daring Queens. I have been inspired by certain events in world history. This book is yet to release.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not exactly.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Charles Dickens, all his books. John Man, John Keay, William Dalrymple, Satyajit Ray and Amitav Ghosh.

What are you working on now?
A book on the history of Buddhism.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Digital platforms mostly.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes, read and write, as much as you can.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never ever give up on your dreams.

What are you reading now?
The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To keep on writing till I die.

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?
Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens.
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse.

Author Websites and Profiles
Saurav Ranjan Datta Amazon Profile

Saurav Ranjan Datta’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Darcy Luoma 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello! My name is Darcy Luoma. I’m the founder and CEO of Darcy Luoma Coaching & Consulting. As a Master Certified Coach, I’ve worked in forty-eight industries with more than five hundred organizations to create high-performing people and teams by helping them solve their people problems, thoughtfully.

If you find me without my coaching hat on, odds are I’m training for my next triathlon. After twenty-three seasons competing, I’m having more fun than ever in the over 50 category.
I’m thrilled by the opportunity to collaborate with AwesomeGang because as of June 1st, 2021, I’m officially a published author (and the crowd goes wild!).

But my most challenging and rewarding role is being mom to two spirited teenage daughters who somehow convinced me to get a foster dog at the start of the pandemic lockdown in 2020. Since then, we’ve fostered eight. It’s been ruff…but fun! And I’m sure there’ll be more wagging tails and potty training in the future.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my latest book is Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success (check it out here! https://www.amazon.com/Thoughtfully-Fit-Training-Business-Success/dp/0785244824) which was published by Harper Horizon. It was inspired by my Thoughtfully Fit coaching model that I developed over years of extensive research and thousands of hours coaching individuals and teams.

If my two passions of physical fitness and life coaching had a baby, Thoughtfully Fit would be that love child.

If we train our minds the same way we train our bodies, we’ll be better fit to take on life’s challenges, big or small. That’s the spark behind Thoughtfully Fit.

The book shares my personal story of how I became ground zero to test drive Thoughtfully Fit to overcome Mount Crisis when my husband and stay-at-home father was arrested for sexual assault of a minor he’d met online.

I’m excited to share it with other leaders and individuals working on improving themselves or navigating their own Mount Crisis, through concrete strategies, tools, and case studies.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know how unusual it is, but I’ve been writing in a journal regularly since I was in fourth grade. I still have my very first red Hello Kitty diary from 1979. Writing free-flow in the moment helps me process tough situations, curb negative thoughts, and explore different perspectives—without worrying about grammar or punctuation or even if it makes sense. There’s something therapeutic about writing down all those thoughts in my head that keep spinning—thousands of pages of them.

When I started to work with Eliza Waters, co-author of Thoughtfully Fit, those journal pages were invaluable. I went back many times to re-read what I’d written the year following my husband’s arrest to get back to the emotional intensity of the moment. It made the stories in the book richer and more vulnerable.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There are so many brilliant writers out there. If I must pick a few, I’d start with Brené Brown and Angela Duckworth. Their books align with my work and philosophy, and I find so much inspiration in their writing.

Oh! And Viktor Frankl. His book, Man’s Search for Meaning, influenced me greatly when I first read it for a leadership class in college. I’ve re-read parts of it a hundred times over since then, and my thirteen-year-old daughter and I are currently listening to it together.

What are you working on now?
My team and I are working on a number of fun projects. Writing-wise, I’m working on a companion workbook to Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success.

My first book dives into how the practices of Thoughtfully Fit helped me tackle the hurdles in my life. The workbook will be all about the reader and how they can implement the Thoughtfully Fit practices to overcome the hurdles in their life.

We also have a new exclusive Facebook community, Thoughtfully Fit OnCore, for those who want more Thoughtfully Fit—right in their newsfeed.

We’re putting the final touches on The Intentional Team Player, an online training program with a series of asynchronous videos for employees to be more effective in the workplace. It provides a game-changing playbook to clear the hurdles—in and out of the office.

Last, we’re launching the Thoughtfully Fit Gym, where you can go to workout your thoughts—without breaking a sweat. These 45-minute virtual workouts will give you support and accountability to build your core confidence. A subscription to the gym gives you the opportunity to train with certified Thoughtfully Fit coaches and a community of like-minded leaders.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Quizzes! I know that may take some of us back to high school, but I promise there’s no studying involved.

I wanted to promote Thoughtfully Fit in a way that’s engaging and gives people a taste of what the book’s about—clearing the hurdles that get in the way of success.

So, I developed a Thoughtfully Fit quiz that’s fun, intuitive, and motivating. The quiz identifies which of the six hurdles is their personal biggest struggle, so they have the self-awareness to start to train to clear it. Take a look: http://thoughtfullyfit.com/

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Gosh, I’m still learning myself, so I don’t feel qualified to give advice! Okay, let me give it a shot. From one new author to another, if you’re writing non-fiction, I’d say to make sure you have a strong proposal. That will force you to think through the scope of the book, outline the flow and sequence of the chapters, research comparative titles, define your target audience, and create a compelling marketing plan.

We spent an inordinate amount of time on the front end of the process developing a solid proposal, and let me tell you, it paid off tremendously.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
When I first started my business, I had a lot of people giving me unsolicited advice. You need to have a podcast. You should hire a virtual assistant from overseas, they’re super cheap. Never work from home. But none of it seemed to sit quite right with me.

The best advice I ever heard was to check in with myself—whenever I hear advice—and see if it feels right for me. If not, graciously thank the person and continue on your own path.

What are you reading now?
Two books that I’ve recently read are Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear and Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking by Jon Acuff. As you can probably tell, I’m certainly drawn to books that encourage self-awareness and self-management.

I think Atomic Habits provides a stellar framework to building endurance and discipline into your life, and reading Soundtracks is valuable for when you’re learning how to better navigate your emotions and make conscious choices.

I highly recommend them both!

What’s next for you as a writer?
Outside of continuing to write in Hello Kitty journals, I’m working on my companion workbook to Thoughtfully Fit. And of course, I’m always writing in my blog: https://darcyluoma.com/blog/ I post new blogs every Tuesday. Naturally, each post ties into engaging our Thoughtfully Fit core and training to clear the hurdles in our way.

If you’re interested in getting the latest blog sent your way, I offer weekly Thoughtfully Fit Tips. Subscribe and get Thoughtfully Fit through personal stories, helpful tips, and one-minute workouts—minus the sweat: https://zc.vg/YtzXL

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?
This is a tough question. I’d say anything by Malcom Gladwell. The guy is a journalistic genius. His book Outliers: The Story of Success is incredible.

As far as other books that I wouldn’t mind reading to a volleyball named Wilson, I’d probably bring Becoming by Michelle Obama and Untamed by Glennon Doyle. Becoming is so beautifully written, some of its sentences read like poetry, and Untamed is simply an empowering read for women, especially mothers, and has some invaluable, vulnerable insights into the power of being true to yourself.

Author Websites and Profiles
Darcy Luoma Website
Darcy Luoma Amazon Profile

Darcy Luoma’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tony Dellamarco 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Tony Dellamarco is an engineer turned teacher turned author. His lifelong passion for writing led to the publication of professional articles throughout his engineering career. He has also written several stories for children, including The Great Race, on understanding the doubling of numbers, two others for a Great Pyrenees periodical, ODE to A Great PYR and Great Bear the Great PYR, and The Little Star and Tubby the Tugboat, that have been read in elementary school classrooms. He completed two additional yet to be published novels, The Raptors and The Cranberry Chalice, designed to capture the imaginations of teenagers and adults alike. A graduate of Arizona State University (ASU) with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, New York with a master’s degree in education, he has years of technological and educational training. His first job was with IBM where he started working in the Quality Control and Engineering departments. After 27 years he finished his IBM career as a senior engineer. He then taught 10th and 11th grade history and science at the Minisink Valley Central School District in upstate New York. Throughout his life he’s been an avid sportsman and has trained in power lifting and a variety of martial arts. At 19 he earned a scuba diving certification and piggybacked a pilot’s license at the same time. When he’s not writing or conjuring science fiction novels, he enjoys teaching his grandchildren how to drive his tractor while working the fields around his home in the Hudson Valley.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There are many, but, Isaac Asimov would be my choice. He wrote over 500 plus books and is one of the best Sci-fi writers of the last century.

What are you working on now?
The Sequel to Beneath The Dragon’s Triangle.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Perseverance… never give up… It took me over 15 years of research and being delayed due to life throwing curves that took time for me to regroup … Pick up the pieces and continue.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never ring the bell. Don’t give up.

 

Author Websites and Profiles
Tony Dellamarco Amazon Profile

Tony Dellamarco’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Lee Ann B. Marino 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an author, podcaster, blogger, preacher, Christian minister, and seminary professor. The past few years, I have been more or less reinventing what all those things mean to me, and how they fit together in my life and work.

Before I am any of those things, however, I was first – and will always be first – a writer. I have written close to forty books, with thirty-one of them published. Most of my published writing explores spiritual themes, including theological textbooks, devotional writing, instructional guides, and a children’s book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Waiting…Devotions for the Journey was written in the aftermath of my late husband’s death. We discovered that he had stage four metastatic liver cancer with advanced cirrhosis on January 4, 2019. They told us he had anywhere from two to eleven months to live, but in reality, he died exactly twenty-two days later, on January 26. Staying, sitting, watching and waiting was all we could do. One day, while sitting with him in the late stages of his life, I thought a lot about waiting: the pensiveness of spirituality in such periods, and how while we try to make waiting an optimistic experience, it’s a hard one to process. Waiting doesn’t feel optimistic; it feels bleak as we encounter the powerlessness of a situation. We don’t know where we are going or what exactly is going to happen. After he died, writing the book, Waiting…Devotions for the Journey helped me to process what I had experienced emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and the challenge of being a young widow (I was one month past my thirty-seventh birthday when he died) by getting in touch with its complicated process, often coined as the “dark night of the soul.”

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can’t easily explain the process by which I write. I used to say “I get words,” but sometimes I get ideas and words flow. I like to write in the middle of the night, but I’ll write whenever the mood strikes. I don’t know what I would do without the ability to write. I find that I am not always the best at verbalizing my thoughts or feelings, and writing often becomes an essential conduit for that needed release.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have been profoundly influenced by philosophical works. One of my college majors was philosophy; I love studying the history of thoughts and ideas. I was deeply influenced by the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Paulo Friere, Paul Tillich, and Albert Camus. On the more poetic side, I love Kahlil Gibran. His book, The Prophet, was a life-changing read as it was a softer side of spiritual insight.

What are you working on now?
I’ve spent a good part of this year working on a fiction novel. I was getting dressed in the bathroom one day, getting ready to go out, when I had this wild plot for a novel set in modern times, examining modern-day social issues. I’ve done a few short stories, but never attempted a novel from start to finish before. I’m getting close to the end (thankfully!). I am also working on a religious encyclopedia, which is a work I have wanted to do since I was around seventeen years old. I also throw a little poetry in there from time to time, ranging from expressions of emotion to erotica. It is interesting to write at this stage of my life because I am exploring writing that is expressive of me in a different way than just mere belief or doctrinal themes. I’ve often said that before my husband’s death, I had forgotten how to be a person. Through my writing, I am learning to reconnect to myself as an individual.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use a few different methods to promote my books. The first is, obviously my website: https://kingdompowernow.org. I also utilize Amazon’s author page, mine is https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Lee-Ann-B-Marino/e/B00J7X49YE/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1. It’s a great tool to share through social media as all my titles can be found in one place. I also use my podcast, Kingdom Now, for a few “author spotlights” every season by which I talk about the inspiration behind how those titles came to be. Kingdom Now can be found anywhere one listens and looks for great podcasts, so check it out!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Every true writer has an intense and conflicting love affair with writing. Sometimes it seems empty; sometimes it seems cruel; sometimes we are left searching for words; sometimes the depths of its intimacy pour from us. Sometimes we feel ultra connected to our writing; sometimes it feels cold and distant. New authors need to learn to embrace their own unique relationship with writing, its ups and downs, and discover just what it means for them to be a writer. They don’t have to be a writer like me or any other writer they might know and love. They just have to learn how to best express what they have to say using their unique gift of words.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To say I got the best advice ever from a meme sounds cliche, but I did! I saw a meme quoting Dita von Teese that said, “You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there is still going to be somebody who hates peaches.” After so many years of trying to be something that in some ways I wasn’t, coming to a point where I said I couldn’t be that person anymore, and now learning to live again after a huge life change (including interacting, dating, and well, surviving), I am feeling that reality. For some people, some things are never enough. For others, they are exactly what they want. Find those who know it’s just what they are looking for.

What are you reading now?
The Chosen by Chaim Potok. Even though I read this book when I was in sixth grade (I had a memory of asking my homeroom teacher what “dungarees” were), I said I would be interested to read it again and see what I missed. I also never read the other books in the series, The Promise and In the Beginning. I am moving soon and found all three books together, so I said I’d read them. I also know a fellow podcaster and blogger who was raised as an Orthodox Jew, and we’ve had a few conversations about his experiences growing up. I am interested to read the series of novels if for nothing else, a fresh set of eyes on the friendship forged between Reuven and Danny and the challenges they faced from their spiritual communities.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am aiming to complete my novel by December of this year. I said after that, I need to take some time and work on some “grown up” writing, including updates to some of my existing books and completing some older writing projects. I have started a devotional book, along the same lines as Waiting…Devotions for the Journey, only from a different angle in the experience of grief and loss. Eventually, when I am ready to expose my inner thoughts to the world, I will release my poetry collection. I am most excited, at current, to launch the Kingdom Moments Podcast soon, which features excerpts from some of my published books in short, devotional-style episodes.

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 definitely bring the Bible with me, because no matter how many times I go through it, I seem to always find something new about it, especially in things I never noticed before.

I’d probably also cheat and bring The Essential Tillich with me, simply because it is a compiling of the best of Tillich’s writings, so I could have just enough with me to remember the rest! My other accompaniments would be The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir and Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos for a fiction read impossible to ever find dull.

Author Websites and Profiles
Lee Ann B. Marino Website
Lee Ann B. Marino Amazon Profile

Lee Ann B. Marino’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Victoria Stevens 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written two books about travelling around Africa in my Land Rover Defender, the first set in South Africa and the second in Botswana. I lived in Cape Town for a few years researching earthquake hazard at the University which is how I came to love overlanding. I’ve since left and am moving to Singapore to continue studying earthquakes but I’m afraid there will be fewer wild, empty landscapes and not so many elephants.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called ‘No Footprints in the Night’. We often camped in our rooftop tent in the national parks of Botswana and these campsites have no fences so animals are free to wander right past your car. Twice during the night we had lions prowl right past us but when we came to look for their footprints the following morning we could never find them. I don’t think we are very good at tracking …

 

Author Websites and Profiles
Victoria Stevens Website
Victoria Stevens Amazon Profile

Victoria Stevens’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile