http://awesomegang.com

Where Awesome Book Readers Meet Awesome Writers

1. The Queen’s Blade Prequel I – Conash: Dead Son by TC Southwell - T. C. Southwell was born in Sri Lanka and moved to the Seychelles when she was a baby. She spent her formative years exploring the islands – mostly alone. Naturally, her imagination flourished and she developed a keen love of other worlds. The family travelled through Europe and Africa and, after the death of her father, settled in South Africa. T. C. Southwell has written over thirty novels, ranging from fantasy and science fiction to romance and adventure, as well as five screenplays. Her hobbies include motorcycling, horse riding and art, and she is now a full-time writer.
   
2. The Queen’s Blade Prequel II – God Touched by TC Southwell - T. C. Southwell was born in Sri Lanka and moved to the Seychelles when she was a baby. She spent her formative years exploring the islands – mostly alone. Naturally, her imagination flourished and she developed a keen love of other worlds. The family travelled through Europe and Africa and, after the death of her father, settled in South Africa. T. C. Southwell has written over thirty novels, ranging from fantasy and science fiction to romance and adventure, as well as five screenplays. Her hobbies include motorcycling, horse riding and art, and she is now a full-time writer.
   
3. Alex (a Psychological Mystery Thriller) by Sidney Knight - After growing too familiar with the pleasantries of the English countryside, Sidney Knight moved to the city. It was here that he completed his first novel, Alex, the product of a three year obsession. A lifelong admirer of literary and genre fiction, he enjoys creating a hybrid of both, writing plot-driven stories with characters who are revealed through uncompromising harsh realism. Knight can often be found miles away in his own world, occasionally being tapped on the shoulder by his wife who likes to remind him she will be waiting when he decides to return to the land of the living. When he manages to break away from writing his second book, Perfect Remains, he tries to unwind by attempting to cook a decent meal. Otherwise known as destroying the kitchen. To date - excluding those involved in the 'inbox deletion disaster' of last year - an email from a reader is yet to go unanswered. Knight loves discussing his work, self-publishing, and just about anything writing-related with his readers, and often publishes their questions and thoughts on his blog. His debut novel Alex is available exclusively on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and worldwide.
   
4. Magic of Impromptu Speaking: Create a Speech That Will Be Remembered for Years in Under 30 Seconds - Andrii Sedniev, MBA, is the founder and trainer of the Magic of Public Speaking system which has helped hundreds of speakers worldwide to unleash their potential in public speaking in a very short period of time. Andrii's students say that the Magic of Public Speaking system is the most complete and powerful public speaking training that they have ever experienced. At the age of 19, Andrii obtained his CCIE (Certified Cisco Internetwork Expert) certification, the most respected certification in the IT world and became the youngest person in Europe to hold it. At the age of 23, he joined an MBA program at one of the top 10 MBA schools in the USA. Being the youngest student on the program and at the age of 25 he joined Cisco Systems' Head Office as a Product Manager responsible for managing a router which brought in $1 billion in revenue every year. These experiences have taught Andrii that success in any endeavor doesn't as much depend on the amount of experience but rather on the processes that you are using. Having dedicated over 10 years to researching and practicing a variety of different techniques, Andrii has created the Magic of Public Speaking system. This system is a comprehensive step-by-step program that will enable you to achieve in 2 months what most speakers never achieve in 10 years.
   
5. Running To You - In Running to You, author DeLaine Roberts uses her more than 25 years working in the medical field to add a realistic sensibility to this steamy romance novel. Setting the book in her hometown of Dallas, TX, Roberts brings a refreshing sense of realism and detail to her writing. Funny, dramatic, and of course, sexy, Running to You is a perfect read for both die-hard fans of the romance genre and those just looking to spice up their library. “I want my stories to be more real, with relatable places and closer to real life events” says Roberts. “I have over 25 years experience in the medical field and want to blend medicine in with my fictional characters. I have experienced the real-life drama that goes on behind the scenes and I plan on bringing those stories to light with a fictional twist.” Though Running to You ends on a cliffhanger that is sure to stun readers, they won’t have to wait long for the sequel, The Heartbeat Has Two Sides, which will be released August 1, 2013 DeLaine loves to connect with her readers. Reach out to her at delaineroberts@rocketmail.com
   
6. An Untimely Romance - We are mother and daughter, Judith and Laura, and live in Staffordshire. We love the concept of fantasy, and writing together.
   
7. NOW AND ALWAYS - Charity Pineiro is the sweet and sexy contemporary side of my NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author half which writes dark and edgy paranormal romance and action-packed romantic suspense. I wrote my first novel in the fifth grade when my teacher assigned a project - to write a book for a class lending library. Bitten by the writing bug, I continued with my passion for the written word and in 1999, my first novel was released. I am now the author of nearly 40 published novels and novellas. When not writing, I am a Jersey Girl, wife, and mother to an aspiring writer and fashionista.
   
8. Dark Wings - Skyla Madi was born in the small town of Port Maquarie, New South Wales in 1993. She spent half her life growing up in Wauchope, a thriving rural town at the heart of the Hastings River Valley before making the leap to the busy city of Brisbane. Whenever this young Australian writer isn't changing diapers, watching cartoons, cooking for her husband or doing other motherly-wife things, she is actively working on her writing and improving her writing skills. Skyla loves to read just as much as she loves to write and currently working on several books.
   
9. The Devine Legacy - Born and raised in New Zealand, Jennifer now lives in Melbourne, Australia. She left the software development world to take up Yoga Studies and devote more time to writing. These days she teaches Yoga/Meditation in the mornings and writes in the afternoons – a perfect balance. To date, Jennifer has five books published in various genres; Mystery/Suspense, Historical/Supernatural, Short Stories/Flash Fiction, Self-help/Health, and Romance/Family Relationships. Currently, she is writing the sequel to her best-seller, What Happened to Polly.
   
10. Hidden Diary: Volume 1 - Bestselling author Sandra Byrd has now published more than forty books. Her adult fiction debut, Let Them Eat Cake, was a Christy Award finalist, as was her first historical novel, To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn. To Die For was also named by Library Journal as a Best Books Pick for 2011 and The Secret Keeper: A Novel of Kateryn Parr, was named a Library Journal Best Books Pick for 2012. Roses Have Thorns: A Novel of Elizabeth I published in April, 2013. Sandra has also published dozens of books for tweens and teens.
    
11. Dragon Sim-13 - West Point Graduate, Former Green Beret and NY Times bestselling author Bob Mayer has had over 50 books published. He has sold over four million books, and is in demand as a team-building, life-changing, and leadership speaker and consultant for his Who Dares Wins: The Green Beret Way concept. He is founder of Cool Gus Publishing.
    
12. The Mystery of the Indian Carvings - Adventure, mystery, and wild creatures all play a part in Gloria Repp's many books for children. She grew up in the Hawaiian Islands and the Pacific Northwest, and it was there she learned a love for wilderness that pervades her stories. Over the years, her experiences gained from raising three children, teaching school, and editing have made useful contributions to her work. Gloria enjoys reading mystery stories, and as she remembered her summers spent on a beautiful island near Vancouver, BC, she couldn’t resist dreaming up the mystery that changed a young teen’s life: The Mystery of the Indian Carvings.
    
13. The Bank of the River - Michael Richan lives in Seattle, WA.
    
14. Whupped - Jim Stevens was born in the East, grew up in the West, schooled in the Northwest, and spent twenty-three winters in the Midwest. He has been an advertising copywriter, playwright, filmmaker, stand-up comedian, and television producer. Contact Jim at JimStevenswriter@gmail.com
    
15. My Dad Has Superpowers - I have a diverse background, and have found I'm happiest running my own business. I currently live in the Southern California area with my husband and our two cats.
    
16. Sarah’s Kine Justice, A Story of Modern Hawaii - A proud father of two young adults, Hermann explains, “Action and adventure novels do not need to be morally offensive. It is possible to write a good action novel from a Christian world view.” Hermann chose to self-publish his first novel to keep costs down, to get the book out faster, and to maintain complete control over the content. He explains, “Amazon made it very easy. I recommend their Kindle Direct Publishing service to anyone who wants to try their hand at writing. Just take time to follow the instructions and work through the tutorial. It is not completely intuitive, and you will avoid rework that way.” Hermann and his wife are based in Jacksonville, Florida, but they travel widely.
    
17. Teacher’s Pet - "MATCHMAKERS COME IN ALL SIZES When five-year-old Whitney Sloane took a shine to her kindergarten teacher, Miss Greene, it spelled trouble for her handsome dad. Whitney thought Allison Greene would make a great mom. she had only one problem...getting her lonely dad and her lovely teacher together. Justin Sloane couldn't understand why his once perfect daughter had cut off another girl's braid or why she had put Mr. Wiggly Nose and Snow White, the classroom rabbits, into the same cage so that they made little bunnies while the whole class watched in fascination...until he met Whitney's idol at the PTA. Suddenly life became wonderfully frustrating for this single father. How could Justin make the grade with the delightful Miss Greene when she wouldn't dream of breaking the rules and dating a student's parent? TEACHER'S PET, originally titled GOOD MORNING, MISS GREENE appeared on the Waldenbooks Bestseller List."
    
18. Gaspar And The Fanastical Hats - Born and brought up in Dundee, Scotland, David A. Lindsay lives with his wife near St Andrews in Fife. After practising as a court lawyer for twenty years, mainly in criminal and family law, David now operates a successful web design agency. David's other interests include gardening, genealogy, history, reading, Rotary and travel.
    
19. Fabulous Me - My name is Ally (Ayelet) Nathaniel and I'm a mom of three young children . I'm a pastry chef, graduated with honors from Tadmor Culinary Institute, and baking & cooking instructor. I teach and give lectures about cooking and parenting at community centers, the school system and parents groups. I have more than 10 years of experience in the culinary world, as well as editing an on-line parenting magazine and managing parent oriented forums, supporting parents with child care and educational issues. I also wrote and published parenting articles in a parenting magazine. I currently lead parents support groups and teach Parenting by Connection. On my blog Playful Kitchen I share recipes and unique educational tips for parents.
    
20. Outview by Brandt Legg - Brandt Legg is a former child prodigy who turned an interest in stamp collecting into a multi-million dollar empire. At eight, Legg's father died suddenly, plunging his family into poverty. Two years later, while suffering from crippling migraines, he started in business. National media dubbed him the "Teen Tycoon," but by the time he reached his twenties, the high-flying Legg became ensnarled in the financial whirlwind of the junk bond eighties, lost his entire fortune... and ended up serving time in federal prison for financial improprieties. Legg emerged, chastened and wiser, one year later and began anew in retail and real estate. From there his life adventures have led him through magazine publishing, a newspaper column, photography, FM radio, CD production and concert promotion.
    
21. PEQUENA THE BURRO Hispanic Heritage by Jami Parkison - Jami Parkison, a native of Kentucky, now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she works as a writer and publisher. For more than twenty years, her essays and articles have appeared in journals and popular magazines in the United States and great Britain. Parkison is the author of several adult books, including one about the Santa Fe Trail. She is also president of Acorn Books, publishers of The Great Heartlanders Series of biographies for children. Her books published by JOAN’S eBOOKS LLC also include Inger’s Promise and Amazing Mallika. About the Illustrator Itoko Maeno is the illustrator of more than two dozen children’s books, including Papa Piccolo, Amazing Mallika, Molly’s Magic, Thank You, Meiling and Plato’s Journey. Born in Tokyo, Japan, she received a B.A. in graphic design from Tama Art University. Since her arrival in the United States in 1982, Maeno has focused on watercolor illustration. This award-winning illustrator is the subject of Meet the Artist: Itoko Maeno, produced by Marsh Film Enterprises, Inc.