Awesome Author Interviews

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been writing since I was in high school, but this is the first book i actually finished.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my book is ’25 questions from a confused mind’ and It was inspired by questions I was getting from reader of ‘Anabella’s corner: the open floor’. This is a segment in my blog where questions asked by readers via my email address are answered via different write-ups and articles. I realize that most of the questions being asked are questions that a lot of people ask themselves everyday and have once asked themselves at one point in their lives. These questions are life determinators, and the answers goes a long way to help people find their place in this chaotic world. And so I decided to write these book and based it on top 25 of those questions asked.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
It quite funny but when am writing I love to have a lively background. It’s either I am listening to music, podcast, radio or even the TV. It kind of transport me into book. I know a lot of authors prefer serene environment, but I prefer environment with a little bit of noise but good noise.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Definitely Francine rivers. You might laugh and say oh! she’s an oldie, but its just francine river’s books always comes with different angels to them. She is not just a writer, she is an inspiration.

What are you working on now?
I am presently not working on any book as I just finished this book not too long ago, but you can never know, something might just spring up

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I value social media marketing as it directly takes you to your target audience. I just discovered awesome gang and I am loving it so far

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep moving, It doesn’t matter how disappointed you are with the lack of interest or sales, keep going. every one can be an author but your determination and never give-up spirit is what makes you a best selling author.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Someone once told me that you have to do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do. This advice has worked wonders in my life.

What are you reading now?
Kulti by Mariana Zapata. Its not really a new book but it is a book definitely worth reading.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I would love to try writing a series. Writing a series takes a lot of effort as the amount of energy exerted is definitely more than writing a single book, but I would love to try. Maybe in the nearest future, you never know.

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?
Sycamore hills by Francine river, any of Tijan’s and Natasha Anders books

Author Websites and Profiles
Bella King Website
Bella King Amazon Profile
Bella King Author Profile on Smashwords

Bella King’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi !
My name is Mubarak Sandhu. I graduated as a Mechanical Engineer and worked in the same industry for more than 2 years before turning into an entrepreneur. I founded a music record label in the year 2015 and co-founded an event management company in the following year. I have always loved writing, and kept on working as a freelance content writer and at times, ghost writer as well, along with working on the growth of both my companies.

The pandemic stopped all the ongoing work, and hence gave all the time to complete the novel that I started writing in the year 2015. I completed my novel in 2020, and it was published worldwide in July 2021. Looking at a very positive response for the same, the novel was translated in Punjabi language and the Punjabi Edition was published in February 2022. The name of my fiction novel is ‘Boris – The Last Qahn Alive (Unearthing the Spear of Neutrality)’ and this makes me an author of two books, which are available globally via online platforms.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my latest book is ‘Boris – The Last Qahn Alive (Unearthing the Spear of Neutrality)’ which is a fictional work and is inspired by curiosity that everyone has for one thing or the other. It is the curiosity about something in which we are interested, that makes us do wonders. I am always inspired by those people, who do not like to have stagnation in their lives, and are always curious to do something new by utilizing their potential.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Well, I believe that none of my writing habits are unusual.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is one book that has influenced me far more than any other book till date. And I doubt there can be any other book in future that can influence me as much as The Alchemist did.

What are you working on now?
Currently, I am working on the second part of ‘Boris – The Last Qahn Alive’ as the first part was appreciated and loved by the readers and I am trying my best to provide them with its sequel at the earliest.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am blessed to have the best of the people around me in the form of my family, friends and relatives. The best method to promote my book has been to share the information about my book with everyone via messaging apps and social media, and everyone has always helped me by sharing and spreading the information further. I have not opted for any kind of sponsored advertisement on social media till now, and have not posted any advertisement on websites as well, but still my book has done considerably well.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
One advice that I always give to the new authors is to keep writing and not to quit at any step. The strength to write is innate and cannot be learnt from anyone else. If you have the strength and caliber to write, do not let it fade-off with time, rather just start writing on your thoughts and be consistent with the same and you will realize that as the days and weeks and months pass, you will have the first draft ready, which can then be checked and proofread again in order to create the final draft.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice that I have ever heard is the one given by my father, which is to be truthful to my own self. We often mould ourselves according to the society in which we live, even if it means losing on our genuity. We must not cheat with our own selves and must always remain genuine and truthful.

What are you reading now?
For now, I am focusing more on writing and am not reading anything for a while.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Recently, I became a verified Goodreads author with a Goodreads badge. Also, my books have been placed in the libraries of many universities. As a writer, this appreciation of work is huge. Next, as a writer, I plan to release the whole series of my novel in next 2 years, and then move on to a new story.

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?
One would be my own book for sure, as it reminds me of my hard work and patience and potential. Other than this, I would prefer carrying The Alchemist, I Too Had A Love Story and a Punjabi book ‘Raat Baaki Hai’.

Author Websites and Profiles
Mubarak Sandhu Website
Mubarak Sandhu Amazon Profile

Mubarak Sandhu’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have committed to writing and publishing one book per month in 2022. At the time of this comment, I have published four books, with another on the way in about 4 weeks and another in drafting stages.
I am writing 2 series at the same time: Wicked Wick Mysteries and Major Bummer Murders. Each book takes 2 months total, and I always have one book from each series in progress at all times.
My schedule is: write 1 month, revise 1 month, publish.
While I am writing a book in one series, I am revising a book in the other series.
It’s intense, but this is my “next chapter” (pun relished), so I’m going at it hard.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called KICKING THE BOUQUET. It will be released 4/5/22.
It is book 3 in my Wicked Wick Mysteries series, and involves a deluge of tourists and groupies descending on the small town of Fall Haven to attend a celebrity wedding.
All of the books in the Wicked Wick Mysteries series are inspired to an extent by the sense of smell. I am interested in how all of my own core memories are tethered to a scent memory, and how the sense of smell triggers ideas and understanding in a way the senses of sight and sound do not.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
It might be unusual to write a book per month?
It might be more unusual to get up at 5:00 every morning to get my writing done before I go off to my day job (not for long though).
I’m not sure… these things feel pretty usual to me at this point!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
A plethora of cozy mystery authors such as MC Beaton, Vivien Chien, Julie Mulhern.

What are you working on now?
I am working on finishing up the full draft of KICKING THE BOUQUET, along with starting the first draft of what will be book 3 in the Major Bummer Murders series.
I am also heavily into the planning stages for 2023, which will involve two new series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
GoodReads, BargainBooksy emails, and Instagram. Facebook groups to an extent. I’m just getting started, so still learning.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just write the book.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best marketing for the current book is to write the next book.

What are you reading now?
I am reading “Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life after Which Everything Was Different” by Chuck Palahniuk. Excellent guidance, anecdotes, and actionable tips for better writing.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My short-term goal is to retire from my day job in 1 year and make writing books my full-time income.
My long-term goal is to hit 100 books released.

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 #1.
Whatever the longest Outlander book is.
Something about coconut recipes.

Author Websites and Profiles
Melrose McFadden Website
Melrose McFadden Amazon Profile

Melrose McFadden’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a writer, parenting coach, and counsellor. ‘Crash Test Mummy’ is the first book I have written.

I initially trained to be a primary school teacher in South Africa before completing my postgraduate diploma in dyslexia and literacy in the UK. Soon after marrying, I moved with my husband to the United Arab Emirates, where we still live today with our two sons.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
‘Crash Test Mummy’ is all about how I went out of my comfort zone and realised that we don’t have to be so extreme in our parenting views or follow any one way to raise our children confidently. I sat in the centre of all the different parenting styles, tested their validity, and listened to my gut to determine that what worked was a balanced, communication-based approach to raising my children.

Following my successful twenty-year career in special needs teaching, working with vulnerable children and adults, including working with my challenging children and being one myself; in late 2019 I felt as if something was amiss.

My older son’s behaviour has always been challenging but, I believed, that by strictly enforcing behaviour modification techniques to control his conduct, he would find his teenage years easier. As the opposite began to quickly unfold, I was inspired by my son, who struggles with Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD), to question my traditional parenting style and make significant and positive changes.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am blessed to write each day while my children are at school. Understandably, lockdown and online schooling were detrimental to my writing process and mental health in general, but the stress and pressure of those months challenged my positive parenting to the extreme. Through that process, I am now parenting my challenging children with confidence!

After a conflict with my kids, I open the note application on my phone and jot down my thinking, feelings, and especially what I have learned. These experiences inspire my daily social media posts. Often, by questioning my traditional thinking, I research a new topic for a blog post and increase my understanding of how to better parent my kids.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
A book that stands out is, ‘Things Fall Apart’ by Chinua Achebe, which I read in secondary school. The book made a lasting impression on me as a young, white girl growing up in apartheid South Africa. The book was the beginning of my questioning the patriarchal and racist institution that I was born into and brainwashed by. Literature has the amazing capacity to challenge our traditional mindset while developing our empathy and our character.

What are you working on now?
I have just released ‘Crash Test Mummy’ as an audiobook. Being dyslexic and narrating the book was extremely challenging for me. It was excruciatingly hard but interesting to listen back to myself reading the text for editing purposes and identify that my fluency and errors were greatly influenced by how personal challenging the material was for me.

I am now shifting my focus to marketing the book and blogging.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Writing ‘Crash Test Mummy’ has inspired me to develop in so many unexpected ways. I have learned so much through editing, narrating, formatting, and now marketing my book!

Self-promotion does not come easily to me and makes me feel uncomfortable but through websites, such as awesomegang.com, I have found so much support in the publishing and promoting community. I am extremely grateful.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I wish that I had started with the title! However, I only came to the title through the process of writing and editing the book. I have such high expectations of perfection for myself and becoming a confident parent means working daily on being more kind, caring, and compassionate with myself. I delusionally believed that I should have sat down and written ‘Crash Test Mummy’ from start to finish in a perfectly edited format.

My advice to new authors is to be realistic about how difficult the writing process is and perhaps lower your expectations. We are humans, not robots.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
In a world where you can be anything, be kind.

We can choose to be anything in this world. The advice is not referring to one’s occupation but more to the state of being. We can choose to live in a negative state or a positive state, so let’s choose to be positive.

All hardship, and happiness for that matter, is temporary. Life is hard for all humans and the next challenge is guaranteed to be on the way. I’m not sure why we are so surprised when it happens. Our suffering is what connects us. When we have this choice, we must choose to engage our empathy, kindness, and compassion.

What are you reading now?
Living with a challenging teenager who is rarely happy, I am currently researching topics on happiness. It is so difficult to live with an individual who is prone to being oppositional, defiant, and negative, so my reading material is usually based on how to support him to rewire his thinking to be open, warm, vulnerable, appreciative, understanding, and empathic.

This, of course, begins with me being the guinea pig. Once I have internalised and demonstrated living in the teachings of happiness, I can inspire and role model the thinking, feelings, and behaviour to aid in his increased happiness. This process is as difficult as it sounds!

What’s next for you as a writer?
My ambition is to reach millions of parents and positively influence them to be confident parents. On a daily basis, I work with clients to increase their communication and proactive strategies to cope better. Whether that means encouraging cooperation with their kids or helping them as they’re struggling with anxiety, bereavement, and other mental health challenges.

The work I do informs my writing and I hope to consolidate my blog posts into my second book on surviving and thriving as a parent through the teen years.

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 Untethered Soul by Michael A Singer
The Road Less Travelled by Scott Peck
Keep Calm and Carry On by Everlyn Beilenson

Author Websites and Profiles
Sharon Eshmade Website
Sharon Eshmade Amazon Profile
Sharon Eshmade Author Profile on Smashwords

Sharon Eshmade’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been writing and editing, working both freelance and for book publishers, for decades. In the early 1990s, I founded Tamarack Books, Inc., and we traditionally published nonfiction Americana. After a huge number of requests, I also founded Towanda, Inc., a book production company for self-publishers. After selling my companies about 15 years ago, I retired, got bored, and started writing again, first blogs for my websites, next 2 books teaching self-editing to writers (for I have been going crazy reading self-published books that need editing!), and Training Your Puppy with Love along with a working journal to supplement it.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Editing Fiction, Detect and Correct

My first self-editing book dealt with nonfiction writing, but I had requests from fiction writers to do the same for them. It is a basic manual primarily for a beginning author (but experienced authors can benefit too) to teach him/her how to self-edit manuscripts before he/she publishes or sends it to a professional editor.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I am starting a project, I usually outline it first. Then I walk around for days, creating paragraphs in my head of what and how I want to explain things. I go back to the outline constantly, revising and filling in the blanks.

I also spend a huge amount of time researching the topic and have pages of notes before I begin the actual writing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Over a lifetime, there have been so many. Alistair Cooke and Kenneth Clark with their mega-history volumes, Dorothy Gilman with her cozies, The Brontes, Mark Twain, Dickens, Harper Lee–there are so many. My tastes are eclectic so I read classics and mysteries, literary fiction and best sellers. I just like any well-written book that can hold my attention.

What are you working on now?
I have three projects going:
1. an online class for Training Your Puppy with Love (with a collaborator)
2. an online class for self-editing nonfiction
3. an online class for self-editing fiction
This is a bit of a change for me, doing online. I have always been in the classroom and on zoom before this. New challenges are good.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My best method of selling books is to constantly “be stirring the pot.” I do like using the newsletters for promoting my books, for that is also the way I discover new authors. I look forward to working with Awesome Gang on promotions.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t talk about your book/topic to everyone in the world. I know you are excited, but all of that energy spent talking is energy you are not going to put into writing your book. If an author talks constantly about their book, they tend not to get it written. Be judicious when talking about your book. Better yet, don’t talk. Write!

There is another facet to this: if you have a good idea, someone else probably has that same idea. So, get your work out there before they do!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The book is done! In other words, know when to stop writing.

What are you reading now?
The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie by Osborne

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have another four nonfiction books that I would like to write, but that is going to take me another couple of years–at least.

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?
Boy, that is hard. There are so many I would like to have, read, and reread.
Bible – because of all of the good stories and thoughts
Complete Collection of Shakespeare – that will keep me going for a while, plus I can memorize the sonnets and great lines.
Blank journal with pen – to write down my thoughts as I live on the island.
(Can’t I take a few more???)

Author Websites and Profiles
Kathy Gaudry Website
Kathy Gaudry Amazon Profile

Kathy Gaudry’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This month, my fourth book is coming out. I have written two in French, and two in English. I’m a Canadian snowbird, so when in Canada I write for that market. When in South Florida, I have a different persona. The books are not translations, they are all originals. Since I was raised in a bilingual environment, that’s the way I write also.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called BEHIND THE MASK. It’s the continuing life of my protagonist, Jason Tanner, a private investigator living on his small but comfortable yacht on the Intracoastal waterway.
The inspiration came from the last US election, during and after, where so many lies were told by politicians. It’s somewhat of a struggle between an honest county administration employee and a crooked politician.
Jason Tanner is dragged into the political world where he must discover the truth.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
It may not be unusual for writers, but I write every day between 9 am and noon. I’ll walk around the neighborhood in the afternoon. I’ll do a bit of editing between 5 and 6 pm with a cocktail. It doesn’t sound unusual to me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
As a youngster, I read a lot of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot stories. I’m pretty certain I read ALL of the Poirot stories. I still watch some stories on TV. Later in life, I liked the books of Louise Penny and her Inspector Gamache protagonist. You can probably see a theme now. I like smart people who often win over the crooks.
More recently, while a take my daily walks, I’ve fallen in love with Audiobooks and my favorite authors are Michael Connelly and John Grisham. I don’t mind listening to a story today that I may have read ten or twenty years ago.

What are you working on now?
I’ll be writing the third novel of inspector Vaillancourt in Montreal. This time, we’ll see him at the beginning of his detective career in the early 1980s. It will be a new challenge for me as I normally write in the present. Going back some forty years, I’ll have to make certain the names of streets, of buildings, are correct. Today, I detective opens his flip phone and speed dials his superior. Back then, he’ll have to stop the car, find a phone booth and dial the office. It will be fun.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve used Facebook, Bookbub, Amazon, and my own website to promote my books with varying success. Friends, family, former colleagues are quite supportive of my writing. It’s amazing how a free ebook can entice someone to get it, but not at $0.99

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I’ve worked in Information Technology most of my life so I appreciate the support writing applications can provide. I would recommend using a writing application instead of the more popular Word program. The writing app will allow new authors to centralize their material, document the characters and places found in the manuscript, and make automatic backups. You don’t want to write 1,000 words only to discover it disappeared.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You are never too old to learn something new.

What are you reading now?
I’ve just finished Bad Blood by John Carreyrou, a true story still in the news. I’ve started the latest book by Louise Penny. And I’m listening to a Michael Connelly story.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m just starting in this career, so there are lots of things I don’t know. But I want to learn, and I attend some presentations on tools and techniques of the craft. I need to get better at timing, building up the story to a satisfying climax.

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 large ones. Stephen King, Dan Brown, James Patterson, that kind of authors.

Author Websites and Profiles
RC Cameron Website

RC Cameron’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Now in my late seventies, I have come to self-publishing on Amazon rather late in life.
The flagship of my writing is a series of children’s MG/YA fantasy adventure stories and I am about to release the fourth in a series of stand-alone adventures of Jimmy Crikey.
In print are two short stories and another fantasy adventure. In addition, I have one finished memoir (Consorting with the Enemy) (needs editing) and another ‘in process’ is a YA fantasy in a medeaeval setting.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Adventures of Jimmy Crikey in Parallel Worlds is the last book published and Jimmy Crikey’s Adventures: The Emerald Lake is a few short weeks from publication.
The inspiration arose from necessity about fifty years ago while on a family seaside holiday. A series of short afternoon showers brought my five year old son and his four new friends, scurrying for shelter in our beach tent. The noise levels were almost unbearable. My wife insisted, ‘read them a story, or something’. I hadn’t brought any story books down to the beach so I had to make one up, on the spot. I had earlier noticed that in this group of children was a redhead who was also the smallest. He was being made to do the carrying and fetching for the bigger boys. Which he did willingly, to fit in. That boy became the hero of my story: a red headed boy who was bullied because he looked different. Jimmy Crikey has the disadvantage that he was born with large feet, but he overcomes the bullying and his true hero self shines through. He goes on to overcome every obstacle that arises in his path often saving his friends into the bargain. Any story for youngsters needs an element of magic, and so the four witch guardians were created along with Lord Oron. the Weatherman, who had a tendency to fall asleep at the controls

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am sure I am not the only author who just picks up his pen, figuratively, and just writes. Mostly the words flow and on the rare occasion of writers’ block, I try not to ‘get in a sweat’.
I give up for an hour or so, or even a day or so, and turn to some other activity. Usually a session on my Hammond Organ. I enjoy the noise and don’t worry too much about what other people think.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Without a doubt the originators of the Bible, Old and New Testaments.
Thereafter Enid Blighton in particular The Magic Faraway Tree.
Latterly I have devoured Wilbur Smith’s almost everything he wrote from When the Lion Feeds. Baldacci is in the same class. And then a plethora which includes J Patterson for light holiday reads. I read around a book per week or two. My wife Pat sometimes hits a book a day but more usually a book every two days,

What are you working on now?
Completion of the fourth Jimmy Crikey adventure: editing and rewriting where my Editor has made suggestions.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Face Book is my primary promotion site, followed by Book Goodies, Book Bub, All Author

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Develop a thick skin for the inevitable rejects and negative vibes.
If you have story to tell keep writing until it’s down on paper, then edit and rewrite and start again.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Your family and friends are not your best critics,

What are you reading now?
J Patterson – 21st Birthday

What’s next for you as a writer?
Complete one of two projects: my memoir or a YA fantasy adventure. All subject to God being willing.
My first JimmyCrikey is available as a complete audio version but there are minor technical issues to be resolved before ACX will accpet the files. Unfortunately the original producer is unable to tidy up because of health issues. Further audio specialist assistance is too expensive at this stage.

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, Gibbon Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, Lord of the Rings

Author Websites and Profiles
Wallace Briggs Website
Wallace Briggs Amazon Profile

Wallace Briggs’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
As a lifelong reader, I always dreamed of writing my own book. I would start story after story and never finish it, but in 2021, something clicked and I became more intentional about finishing the stories that came to me. In the past year, I’ve written ten novellas.

I’m a homeschooling mom who travels the country with my husband and two daughters. We have three guinea pigs and a dog–our life is a constant web of laughter, tears, confusion, and immeasurable beauty.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my latest book is Something Blue, from the Seaside Point series. It was inspired by a longing for warmer weather and the sound of ocean waves while I sat inside, weathering out one of the coldest winters we’ve had in a long time.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to blast music that I feel like listening to, even if it’s starkly different from the mood of the scene I’m writing. If I’m in a high-vibe state, jamming out, my writing productivity goes up exponentially, as compared to listening to something only for the sake of getting myself in a certain frame of mind.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
While my writing differs greatly from these two, Deborah Harkness and Brian Jacques were the two primary authors that influenced me to write. Their command of language and captivating styles really made stories come alive for me.

What are you working on now?
At the moment, I’m working on a novel about a girl named Georgia Pines, inspired by the sweet, frank nature found in Anne of Green Gables.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still pretty new to the game and have been relying on keyword research and word of mouth to promote my books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My favorite rhythm is “write and read”. I write a book and then read a book. This helps me hone my craft and allows me to get out of my own head for a bit before starting a new project.

Another piece of advice would be to finish one project before undertaking another one. When the inevitable shiny new ideas come to you, jot them down in a place you’ll easily find them later (my favorite is Google Docs so I can write from my phone). Any ideas that comes to you for that project keep in that one singular place, but don’t let the ideas form into a full project until you’ve finished the one you’re currently working on.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write! It’s easy for authors to get caught up in all the little aspects of things – the double-edged sword of having such an active imagination! Put pen to paper, or fingers to keys, and let the words flow out of you.

What are you reading now?
Right now, I’m reading When Breath Becomes Air and Atomic Habits.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m working on writing novels instead of novellas and building up the confidence to get my name, and my books, out in the world on a larger scale.

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 would definitely bring the All Souls Trilogy. They’re the only books I can read repeatedly and never tire of. In the last few years, I’ve started a tradition of re-reading them every autumn and I always find something new within their pages.

Author Websites and Profiles
Taylor Claremont Website
Taylor Claremont Amazon Profile

Taylor Claremont’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Greetings!

I am what they call middle-aged (lol) with more than 30 years’ experience helping people with their personal development and support them on their spiritual path. I specialize in transmitting techniques and practices to deal with stress, and clear subconscious mental programming that is in the way of success.

I previously wrote three self-help books that reflect the aforementioned and just wrote my first novel, book I of a trilogy.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
It is: Ekstasis – The Return of the Sovereign Heart, an epic metaphysical & visionary tale, and a time travel / suspense romance.

My original inspiration was to write a kind of love story where people are spiritually connected to each other, where sex is sacred, hence the sovereign heart part of the title. But much more than that worked its way into the story as it is inspired by my own guides.

What the editorial and reader reviews mostly convey is that Ekstasis provides healing and transformation through the medium of storytelling, so I am delighted!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not sure if it is unusual, but I get up at 6 am and write in bed with a coffee every day until 10.30am. Then later again if I have time.

For my previous books, I took to writing absolutely anywhere, on planes, trains and yes, even automobiles while waiting for the kids to finish school or their activities. I found out that I don’t need bags of time as I use to think (which was more of an excuse) or a special place to do some good work.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Aside of all things spiritual (David Deida, Marianne Williamson, Paulo Coelho, etc) I love the Time Traveller’s Wife as a time travel love story, Margaret Attwood The Handmaids Tale (she writes so eloquently) and Stephen King.

I love all books from Marc Levy and Guillaume Musso who are mostly known in France, where I am originally from.

What are you working on now?
Ekstasis book II! 🙂

I love it as I have come to love the characters in this epic story. I’m completely involved with them, and feel hugely responsible for their fates! How exciting.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
There is a video trailer for Ekstasis – The Return of the Sovereign Heart: https://youtu.be/DIh4yBhBOXk
Or direct to my Amazon author page:

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Spot the negative self talk, and get a coach if you need one, I did for my first book, just to keep my writing pace going, and help turn it into a habit.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Read lots! Quote from Stephen King: “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have time to write.”

What are you reading now?
The City by Dean Koontz – absolutely brilliantly written with goodness oozing out of it, made me cry several times.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Write, read, write, read … 🙂 And start a discussion group for my novel.

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?
Maybe the Celestine Prophecy (series of 10) and several blank books I can write into!

Author Websites and Profiles
Mahayana I. Dugast Website
Mahayana I. Dugast Amazon Profile

Mahayana I. Dugast’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I started writing as a teenager and fell in love with crafting stories that are exciting and unexpected and really dig into emotions. I’ve published four novellas and my first full length novel comes out tomorrow, March 3rd 2022. But I’ve actually written closer to eight novels with many other projects on the burners, just waiting for the right time to introduce them to the world. I have so many ideas knocking around my head, but I can only write one book at a time.
I live in the midwest with three cats, three backyard chickens, and two dogs.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My newest book is called Her Least Favorite Husband. It’s the second book in Her Favorite series, which I suppose can be catergorised and erotic thrillers, but each book actually takes on a slightly different tone so it never gets boring. This book is an arranged marriage to the mafia and follows Mia Thorton as she navigates her way in a marriage she doesn’t want to a man who doesn’t want her. It plays around with role reversals and power dynamics.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to dunk oreos into coffee. Sometimes its the only thing that will keep me in my seat when I don’t know how to write the next line. It works miracles.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I read a lot when I was younger, so I suppose I was very influenced by Janet Evanovich and the Stephanie Plum novels with an off beat female lead getting into sticky situations that are a little too dangerous for her skill level. I also may have misinterpreted Dan Wells “I am not a serial killer” series as romance novels, so that may be repsonsible for my confusion on sticking to genre expectations.

What are you working on now?
I am working a novel that may be titled “Kill me, not”. It’s like a masked slasher movie meets a John Green novel. That’s all I’m going to say about it for now.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m on tiktok all the time. Username @Fruitypancakegirl because sometimes I post non book related stuff as well. You can also find me on Instagram @magdalinlain and that’s very focused on all my books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep writing. Focus on one task at a time. Don’t get ahead of yourself. It’s a long game.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Listen more than you talk.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading Deceived by the Gargoyles by Lillian Lark.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m just going to keep writing. One book at a time. I promise I’m working as fast as I can.

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 hate this question. I’m going to leave now.

Author Websites and Profiles
Magdalin Laine Amazon Profile

Magdalin Laine’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Now in my late seventies it would seem that I have come to writing stories for children rather late in life. Until the mid 1970’s I had not written a complete story and it was not so much inspiration as it was a necessity. During one our many seaside family holidays in Great Yarmouth my five year old son made four or five new friends while playing on the beach. A sudden downpour drove the kids to take shelter in our beach tent. My wife was trying to read and was disturbed by the noisy kids. I was ‘instructed’ to keep them quiet. “How?” I asked. “Read them a story or something!” I hadn’t brought any children’s books down to the beach. “Well make one up then.”
I had noticed that the smallest child in the group was being picked upon. “Do this” or “Do that,” or “bring that” or “take this.” It amounted to bullying behaviour. My heart bled. My own boy was involved. So the hero of my story had to be a small boy with bright red hair. He looked different and unknown to the children he was different for a very good reason. He had been orphaned when his alien parents were stricken by Earth’s coughs and colds. The red haired guy who was different overcame every obstacle in his path and a strong inner strength shone through. Jimmy excelled at every turn and became s hero with friends on both sides of the stars. He numbered among his friends the four witch guardians of Earth and Lord Oron, The Weatherman, joined Jimmy in many an adventure.
The only problem was that during the next shower Jimmy had to become involved in more and more adventures. And so Jimmy’ Crikey’s adventures began.
I am in process of completing the fourth adventure and have also published another three children’s stories all tending towards fantasy.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The forthcoming Jimmy Crikey story might be titled:
“Jimmy Crikey’s Adventures: The Emerald Lake.”
Where did the inspiration come from? I don’t know! I pick up my pen (figuratively) and began composing. The words either flow or they don’t, which is a rarity. Some authors plan out a plot chapter by chapter. I am not that clever. But from somewhere in the ether comes inspiration.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Other than relying on an unknown source of inspiration I don’t consider I have any unusual habits.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
In children’s writings I enjoyed reading Enid Blighton to both my boys, with a dash of Rupert the Bear.
Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter are long term adult favourites as is almost everything written by Wilbur Smith, starting with When the Lion Feeds. Latterly Baldacci has provided several excellent adventure storie. When I want a light holiday read I turn to Jim Pattinson and his never ending string of co-writers.

What are you working on now?
The launch of the fourth Jimmy Crikey story. Thereafter I have a dream that I can make my ‘life story’ and interesting read: Consorting with the Enemy

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
FB groups, Book Goodies and All Author primarily of choice.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Develop a thick skin tgo prepare you for the inevitable knock backs BUT never give up. Keep writing, whatever.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be true to yourself but don’t dismiss advice from outside your world.

What are you reading now?
J Pattinson

What’s next for you as a writer?
After considering forgoing I may write a sequel to Romney Hole,

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, Gibbon’s Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, Lord of the Rings,

Author Websites and Profiles
Wallace Briggs Website
Wallace Briggs Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Kami Adams is a crafty young woman who loves to write, paint, dance and run her small business in her free time! (You can find all of her links here > https://linktr.ee/witchybeanbean ) She’s been writing since a little girl, recently moved to Seattle (by herself), and is apart of the LGBTQ. She also loves to roller-skate!

I have published 1 book so far, and I am currently working on it’s sequel.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called ‘Elemental’, and I started it when I was 14. I wrote most of it, but the website I was using crashed and I lost all of it. Right before my 20th birthday, I started to re-write it. I finished and published it in less than 6 months.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have ADHD, so I tend to hyper focus on things. I’ll go days without writing a thing, but then there are days where I don’t sleep for a while and I am constantly writing. I call it Author-Mode.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I grew up reading all sorts of books, so I don’t have particular ones that stand out to me.

What are you working on now?
I am working on the sequel to Elemental, which is called ‘Queen’. I have even started on the third book as well.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I promote mostly on my Instagram and Facebook.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t ever give up, and always re-read and re-edit.

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 would bring my own to remind myself that I can do great things, my treasured Sherlock book, and the prompted book my Mother wrote for me.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kami Adams Website
Kami Adams Amazon Profile

Kami Adams’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a debut author, although I have been writing for over ten years. The genres I like to write in are science fiction, paranormal and mystical with a huge does of action-adventure tossed in

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Passage is the title of the work.
It comes from a love of Native American cultures combining this with the many cultures I have met during my travels. I thought I would blend these many stories I have heard as a child into one work. Bringing the rich heritage of the native peoples in a novel that already has several five-star ratings on amazon was both an honor and my pleasure.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
SEveral, I binge-write, then don’t write for days on end? I also have a unique problem with my writing every few words I capitalize both letters of a certain SEntence? < like that!
Inspiration, from everywhere, I see an ad on tv I write, I see a coyote in my field, It sparks something in me. Science fiction junkie, yup me? Everything leads to something else in writing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Issac Asimov, Stephen King, Brahm Stoker, and of course Clive Cussler. However, the one thing that most influenced me was as a boy growing into manhood. The stories my Grandfather would tell night after night over the fire in the woods. He’s been gone now these many years, but that above all else influences me to this day.

What are you working on now?
Several works all at the same time, I write funny like that?
A.I. – A work on what if it’s not what you think it is?
Ancient – An age-old city rises from its grave, if it’s not stopped we all?
Tempest – A work on The dark plans of the Nazi empire and its reach into modern governments to this day.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Twitter/ unable to get account info error code working on it
Linked in
Amazon, currently published there, many 5 star ratings
Redit
Goodreads

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never give, up keep at it
Refine your work get better use poor ratings of 1 or 2 stars as motivation to write more and better.
Find your niche and blow it up!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Funny as is seems a man that bought one of my books said,
” The book was so bad I just had to put it down.” That lit a fire under me never give up!

What are you reading now?
simply everything I can get my hands on, voracious, Hemmingway is always a favorite. Then there’s the classics sherlock holmes, HOund of the Baskerville. The early works of Tolstoy were an interesting read. Mostly at this moment Iam reading A friend’s novel Isabella Steeles work Skedamuch witch on amazon.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Continue to get better, I hope to at some point reach out into screenwriting as well as continue into audiobooks.

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?
Tough one?
Shakessshere’s collected works, Much Ado About Nothing (c. 1598–99) I’ve got time?
Hemmingway, The Old Man, and the Sea Great for desert Islands!
Sherlock Holmes as well

Author Websites and Profiles
Ogburn Charles Website

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Kingsley Osajie, I am the author of the book Cindy and Her Beautiful Bird. It is my first published book; and I have other ones coming later. I am an astounding, talented, prolific and Heart-based Writer. I write in many categories as inspired or led by the Universe. I write on: Spirituality, LGBT, Inspiration, Personal Development, Life, Culture, Feminism, Humour, Black Lives Matter, Religion, Relationship and others.

Kingsley believes that he can use his writings to inspire, heal, empower, liberate, teach and enlighten Humanity into embracing Higher Consciousness. Kingsley’s vision for the society is one where truth, justice, love, compassion and unity dwells. He strongly believes that people should be treated fairly and equally no matter their skin colour, gender, culture and sexual orientation.

Here are some cool features of Kingsley: quirky, maverick, genial, humble, compassion, adventure/travelling and spending time in Nature

Hobbies: swimming, ping-pong, watching documentaries of wildlife, dolphins, whales and the aquatic world on YouTube and listening to Mantras on YouTube, WWE, gymnastics, music/singing and reading

To learn more about Kingsley, visit his beautiful website where he blogs with passion and compassion (www.kingsley-osajie.com)

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book is Cindy and Her Beautiful Bird. It was inspired by my love for children and the song by Mary McKee titled My Songbird.

I can be crazy some times (LOL); I often joke to people that Cindy is my child. I will say, “I have two children Cindy and Quimby…” (Quimby is the brother to Cindy in this story). In turn they will ask me, “how come you have two children when you are not yet married yet”?

Anyway, I still consider Cindy and Quimby my children (do not worry about their mother. She is fine…hahahaha!!). The reason I call Cindy and Quimby my children is because they are my brainchildren and such I consider them my children in way—kind of…(winks, smiles and kisses).

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes. I infuse my quirkiness and maverickness into my writing. As one who does not really follow the consensus; my writing reflects some kind of eccentricity! Plus, I do not follow routine when writing. I write when I am aroused to write. That could mean any time of the day or place. Sometimes it could even be in the bush! (Lol)

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My favorite authors are: Buchi Emecheta, Cyprian Ekwensi, SMO Aka, Charles Dickens, Tea Obreht, Chinua Achebe, John Grisham, Robert Kiyosaki, Danielle Steele and host of others.

What are you working on now?
I am working on a Young Adult Nonfiction about a South African boy. It is a must read because even my editor made a very heartwarming and remarkable comment about my story and style of writing. It should be ought subsequently.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use variety of ways; sharing my book on Authors groups and other online book platforms

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes. Hang in there. On my journey to becoming a published author I was rejected by 13 publishers before I finally found a publisher that agreed to publish my book. It required faith, focus and positive thinking. Plus believing that I am worthy of being a published author and knowing my worth.

Just know that your book has its own audience. Everyone has their own audience and the Universe has more than enough space for everyone to express their passions and shine their lights. Do not let anyone talk you down!!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
As an author, the best advice I have ever heard is keep writing.

What are you reading now?
I am reading a book about Dragons.

What’s next for you as a writer?
What I am hoping to achieve as a Writer is to have my books turned into a movie. For example, I have had the intention of having my book (Cindy and Her Beautiful Bird) turned into a children’s cartoon movie such as Snow White, Cinderella, etc

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 will take An Awakening, Mapping Your Dream by Suzanne Hosang, Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht, Second Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta, Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill

Author Websites and Profiles
Kingsley Osajie Website
Kingsley Osajie Amazon Profile

Kingsley Osajie’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
How are you defining “books” and “written?” I’ve published five, and my sixth book will be out March 14th. But I’ve also got half-written books, books that I’ve written that aren’t ripe yet, books in other genres than the ones I’ve written in so far. It gets complicated, when I have an unpublished erotica series, AND there are children’s books that I need an illustrator for.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“My Dearest Miss Fairfax.” I have two other books that are Jane Austen-inspired, so I belong to a lot of Jane Austen chat groups. I wrote a comment in defense of Emma (the character, not the book). For all her faults, she has a generous heart. But in the course of the conversation, I ended up intrigued by the end of writing a novel from the point of view of her…well, I’ll call her rival, for lack of a better term. Or maybe frenemy? Anyway, I reread Emma, then went to the used bookstore and bought a beat up used copy that I could take a highlighter to, and I read it again – and this book is the result of hours of carefully extracting every bit of Jane Fairfax’s life that is buried in Emma.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know how unusual it is, but I love to write in pretty places. Hotel lobbies while my husband is at a conference. An Air BnB by the beach, or in the woods. I’ve rented cabins in Allegheny National Forest, and stayed in a friend’s cabin in Canada, looking at Lake Erie from the opposite shore than I usually see. I love traveling and writing. Wineries are fabulous places to write. So is the library where I currently live in Champaign, Urbana.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Well, Jane Austen, obviously. I grew up adoring Gone With the Wind (and its author Margaret Mitchell), so my first book is historical fiction set in Pittsburgh in the Gilded Age, heavily influenced by Margaret Mitchell. She was a journalist, so she knew how to do her homework. There are some very subtle historical details buried in Gone With the Wind. I wonder how many people have noticed the references to abortion? There are quite a few.

Another writer who has strongly inspired my writing is Edith Wharton. I have tried in my first two books to make Pittsburgh society come to life as clearly as she did with New York society.

What are you working on now?
Well, once “My Dearest Miss Fairfax” is well and truly launched, my husband is finishing new cover art for my romantic comedy, “Jane Austen Lied to Me.” Once I get that relaunched, I was in the middle of writing a textbook series on historical dancing when I got distracted by the Jane Fairfax project. I really do want to finish the dance books. They are for small historical museums all over the country who have school programs, and festivals, and no one employed there knows anything about dancing in the eras they teach about.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I love going to book festivals all over the country! I don’t know if it’s my “best” method. But it is my favorite. It is so much fun to get to spend a weekend talking with a festival full of voracious readers. I’ve met so many amazing people there. Inspiring people.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t start writing because you think you are going to make money at this, unless you realize the first thing you have to do is spend a lot of money. It’s like most other business ventures: if you are going to open a store, you have to buy a building, buy the merchandise, hire people to stock the shelves and help customers. Same with writing. You aren’t writing a book. You are starting a business. You are going to spend several thousand dollars getting a product worth selling AND getting it into readers’ hands.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
From the artistic side: my college professor talked with us about the writing process, and said do NOT censor yourself as you write. You’ll never get anywhere. Just write it all down, spit it all out on paper, then go back and edit. If your censor monkey is really preventing you from getting anything down on paper to start with, give it a shot and a beer and tell it to go to sleep for a while. Only in Wisconsin would you have a college professor advocating drinking…I am old enough that I started college when the drinking age was 18, not 21. But I have never had writer’s block. How much can I blame all the wineries that I write at? I don’t know. My coffee shop around the corner from my house is a good place to write, too. It has a pretty patio in the summer.

From the marketing side: network. You can’t just ask your friends to buy your book when it comes out. If they put up a review on Amazon for you, Amazon will see that you are friends on Facebook, and they will remove that review. You need acquaintances through a network of connections that have to do with what you write about, and help each other getting the word out.

What are you reading now?
I just finished “A Visitors Guide to Jane Austen’s England, and after I get through my Smithsonian Magazine and the latest National Geographic History Magazine, I haven’t decided if I’m going to tackle Mary Chestnut’s diaries from the Civil War, Mark Twain’s autobiography, of David McCullough’s book on Theodore Roosevelt. Funny thing, I write historical fiction, but I don’t read much historical fiction. I love biographies and history books. It means that when you read my historical fiction, you can trust any historical fact in it. I do my homework. I don’t even stop doing homework after the book is published… nice thing about the publishing industry as it is, I can always go in and fix a mistake.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Besides the dance instructional books for historical museums, I have so many more projects to tackle! One book that I had started writing was about Belle daCosta Greene, JP Morgan’s librarian. Some of the research I needed to do was in Florence Italy, and then Covid put a stop to any trips to see materials that weren’t digitized yet. Now, someone else has just released a novel on that very topic! As soon as I get caught up on those other 3 books I mentioned, I need to go buy that book.

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?
Shelby Foote’s The Civil War. My copy is broken into 3 volumes, does that mean that’s all I get to bring? If I’m allowed the books, I’ll take the complete works of Edith Wharton, and an anthology of all Jane Austen’s letters – because, I’m sorry to say, I still haven’t read her letters! Which is a disgraceful state of affairs.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jeanette Watts Website
Jeanette Watts Amazon Profile
Jeanette Watts Author Profile on Smashwords

Jeanette Watts’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a 24 year old Admin Assistant living in the UK with my family. I’ve written one book which is my debut novel, which took three years to write.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Two Worlds Collide is my debut novel. The idea came about on one of our family holidays to Cornwall which we take every year. With my headphones in I remember we were driving along a road which overlooked a beach and I saw a lifeguard riding on a quad bike which sparked an idea in my head. For the rest of the trip I was scribbling down all my thoughts which gradually became a plot for a story – this became a three year project and my first ever book to be published.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I wouldn’t say unusual but I love to put my earphones in with a coffee shop ambiance and soft jazz music playing in the background. If I can’t get to a coffee shop, there’s a specific YouTube video which is set in a cafe, it plays for about 4 hours and it’s so great. I think I actually prefer it to listening to music as it eases my mind and there aren’t any distracting lyrics so I can enter my creative headspace.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Jodi Ellen Malpas is an author who really got me into reading again, I remember my mum raving about her ‘This Man’ series so I gave them a go and fell in love.

Another author is Estelle Maskame – she is 24 years old and an international best selling author. I think the fact that she’s the same age as me, having achieved what she has, is a real inspiration and motivation for me.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on the second book to my Two Worlds series – hopefully this one won’t be three years in the making.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Influencers, influencers, influencers. I think Instagram is a great place to find book reviewers and influencers with a decent amount of followers who are willing to help promote your book. Youtube is also a good method of finding people with a following who review books. Approaching them and offering to gift them your book is always a good way of getting your name out there.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up. It’s possibly one of the most amazing things to have written and finished a novel, now you’re an author and want people to read your hard work – approach as many people as you can, research as many promotional websites/companies as you can and don’t give up!
Oh, and write your second book! Once people get a piece of your writing they’re going to want more and that’s a huuuuge compliment… give them what they want!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
There’s no such word as ‘can’t’.

What are you reading now?
My Policeman by Bethan Roberts – it’s eye opening.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Write more! I’m currently working on my second novel so that’s the priority at the minute, but I have so many ideas which I’m itching to get started on.

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?
Never Give Up: A Life of Adventure by Bear Grylls
Scavengers by Darren Simpson
The Forbidden by Jodi Ellen Malpas

Alexandra Bradley’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Well, I am Eunice, a budding author from Mangalore. This is my first book. I mostly write books based on my Catholic Faith.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my latest book is Come Have Some Mutton Soup based on the reflections I had in this lockdown 🙂

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes, I tend to jot down things as soon as they come into my mind.

What are you working on now?
I am working on my next book. It’s called Come Down the Aisle. It is a Christian books to help young couples today.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes. I would always say, believe in yourself and follow your heart. Listen to that voice inside you and not the many loud ones outside.What are you reading now?

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?
Well, I would take the Bible.

 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I love reading as much as I love writing psychological suspense thrillers. Harlan Coben, Taylor Adams, Theresa Driscoll, Riley Sager, C.J. Tudor, and J.D. Barker are just a few of my favorite authors. I fell in love with books at an early age, but I was drawn in by the internet and subsequently achieved bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer information systems. When I’m not reading, writing, or programming, I’m on the road, running or cycling. I am fortunate to live next to the great Colorado Rockies where I have road cycled hundreds of miles and can fly anywhere in the USA in less than four hours. This is important because it decreases the travel needed to achieve my goal of running a marathon in each of the fifty states. As of 2022, I have eighteen more to go. Wish me luck. Also, as of 2022, I have written three novels, all set for publication this year. My wife, two children, and a Boston Terrier Ogre mix named Fiona tolerate my excessive behavior, and I love them for it.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
In the mid-2000s, my family and I lived in a cult on the edge of a protected forest for roughly three years. My latest novel, The Teaching, is a thriller mystery based on my experience there.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do much of my writing without a computer or a pen. I write in my head and type it up later. Inspiration often comes in the moments immediately after waking up or on long runs through my neighborhood.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
A.J. Finn’s “Woman in a Window,” Theresa Driscoll’s “I am Watching You,” Alex Michaelides “The Silent Patient,” and Rachel Caine’s “Stillhouse Lake” immediately come to mind. Less contemporary influences include Alfred Hitchcock, Shirley Jackson, and Edgar Allan Poe.

What are you working on now?
I’m finishing my third novel, The Excursion. In this “Rainman meets The Most Dangerous Game” thriller, a neurodivergent twenty-something disappears in the mountains of Colorado, and a madman goes on a hunting trip.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My newsletter goes directly to the people I care about most. There is no better promotion than honest, word-of-mouth exchanges between those who have enjoyed my writing.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Authors who truly love to write don’t need advice. They need time, persistence, humility, and encouragement. With that, everything will fall into place.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
When you get knocked down, get back up again.

What are you reading now?
Every Last Secret by Alessandra Torre.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ll be publishing three psychological thriller novels this year, and I plan to keep this cadence for the foreseeable future. Each of my novels explore mental concerns ranging from brainwashing to addiction to autism to narcissism to . . . stay tuned for more.

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?
Different Seasons by Stephen King, Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, and Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk.

Author Websites and Profiles
T.O. Paine Website
T.O. Paine Amazon Profile

T.O. Paine’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi! I’m Sonya Lawson and I like to write stories about magic with a bit of mayhem, struggle, and sass thrown in for good measure. I’ve written a lot in my life, both as an academic for many years and as a fantasy author. As of today I have two novels completed. They are a contemporary fae fantasy duology.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My first novel, Sabrina and The Lady, was released in February 2022. It was inspired by (and also references) an old John Milton play from 1634 titled Comus. Hence the name of the duology – The Comus Duology. It follows the struggles of two women who are best friends. Sabrina is a human academic thrown into the fighting of the Fae court while Nin is a Fae princess doing her best to survive in and outside of that court.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really. I think my writing habits are pretty average. Other habits, however…

What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many! Milton, of course, was a big influence on this duology in particular. I also love the classics in general. In terms of contemporary fantasy, Pratchett, Moning, Gaiman, Maas, and Hamilton are big influences on my writing. I also read widely in lots of genres, so I like to take inspiration and influence from all over, not only in fantasy.

What are you working on now?
The Comus Duology will be completed with the publication of The Queen and The Scholar in May of 2022. I’m also currently finishing up a long (30k+word) high fantasy novella featuring dragons and magic.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m new to book promotion, so I’m doing so much to get the word out to readers it all feels a bit of a blur.
Anywhere authors can directly relate/speak to readers (like here, social media, interview sites or podcasts) really seems like the best way forward for promotion.
My author website, sonyalawson.com, is also really useful because it has the best, most up-to-date info about me and what I’m working on at the moment. To get freebies and additional tidbits to my readers, my monthly newsletter is a huge help (and you can sign up for that on my website).

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, read, and share/talk about both. That’s the best advice. The more you talk writing (your own or others) the more you learn about craft. The more you share your writing, and read what others have written, the better you become at recognizing what works for you as a writer and a reader.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
A direct quote from an old grad school professor: “Sometimes good is good enough.” We try for perfection too much and realistically can never reach it. But we can get good results even if they are not perfect. I try to tell myself this often and keep it in mind, especially when I’m writing. Getting a good story out is the end goal for me. I don’t need perfection. Good is good enough.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado and All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody & Christine Lynn Herman

What’s next for you as a writer?
My next series project is a urban fantasy quartet based in Columbus, OH that pulls on the Lovecraft mythos.

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?
Such a hard question, so I’m going to cheat just a little bit!
1. Terry Prachett – Lords and Ladies (one of the all time best books about evil elves)
2. Angela Carter – Burning Your Boats (collected short stories)
3. Laurell K Hamilton – Club Vampyre (collection of the first 3 Anita Blake novels)
4. Mary Shelley – Frankenstein (because it’s my absolute favorite novel of all time)

Author Websites and Profiles
Sonya Lawson Website
Sonya Lawson Amazon Profile

Sonya Lawson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account