Awesome Author Interviews

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Canadian born and raised, I moved to the United States when I was 21 and pursued a career there in recruiting, marketing and executive roles. I did a lot of travelling over a 30 year period, and while sitting in airports and hotels I read. One book, by my favorite author at the time, Richard Bach, entitled, The Bridge Across Forever, inspired my writing career. I finished that book, and penned my first short story. Over a period of 21 years, while working a full time career out of Hollywood, California, I wrote many novels and such, but it wasn’t until 2009 when I finally had the time to pen my first published work, The Buffalo Kid, a book inspired by real people I met while living in Los Angeles. LA, Tinsel Town or the City of Angels, as many call it, has a massive homeless population, easily 100,000 or more. I’d run into them constantly. Sometimes I’d talk to them, sometimes I’d give them money or food, but always, they left an indelible impression. The Buffalo Kid is a story inspired by them, a story about a successful business and family man who lost everything, including his wife and two newborns – and ended up on the streets penniless. After 31 years homeless, the man, now known as the Buffalo Kid, the oldest homeless man in Buffalo New York, gets a 2nd chance at life, a bizarre encounter which sends him down a thrilling road, a chance to change it all. It’s a very inspiring novel and readers have pretty much uniformly loved it.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is entitled L.I.N., the sequel to THE OTHER. L.I.N. is an acronym for Living-Intelligent-Network. In this two novel series, we follow Kaetlyn O’Sullivan, a young Irish woman living in the southwest of Ireland, who had repeated nightmares. A psychologist, using regressive therapy, helps her trace the nightly visions, and to their shock, they discover that the images are coming from her past life. One thing leads to another, and Kaetlyn soon discovers that she crashed landed and died 18-years before, and that she had a mission, a reason for coming to Earth – to intervene before global warming pushed humanity to an extinction event. The revelation sends her on a renewed mission. The story was inspired by many global warming activists, but in particular, Greta Thunberg, the 16 year-old Swedish girl who started a global movement to force governments and corporations to do something effective about global warming instead of just talking about it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Maybe, not sure how other writers go about it, but I could mention two things. First of all, I NEVER lay out my plot line. Once I have a concept of the story I want to write, I just write and I let it develop as I go. My main measuring stick for whether or not the story is good, is whether I am committed to reading it. If I get bored, lose interest, I go back and rewrite. The story has to be compelling for me, and it has to be something I WANT to read and see the end to.
The second factor in my writing is that I visualize everything. I write words, but in my head, I see a three dimensional world, and I feel what my characters are feeling and sensing. Sometimes it’s such an adrenaline rush that my fingers simply cannot keep up with the pace of the movie unfolding between my temples.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Many. Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull and The Bridge Across Forever; The Hobbit; Orwell’s 1984; Walter Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz; Louis L’Amour…

What are you working on now?
A new soft science fiction entitled, THE OBLIVIOUS GODS.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My site, www.reallaplaine.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you love writing, just keep writing. Don’t get dismayed if the sales aren’t astronomical. Just write, promote and keep selling.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write what YOU want to read – not what readers want.
It’s entirely a matter of perspective of course. If you want to write because YOU want to write, then write what YOU want. If you want to be a commercial success, then write what readers want, what is popular, whatever. It’s a gray zone, not black and white, but for me, my purpose for writing is to express myself and to help change the world in a positive sense by inspiring people.

What are you reading now?
Just about to start Andy Weir’s new book, Hail Mary.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am putting several of my books in audio format – that’s a winter project.

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?
A library card with internet service.

Author Websites and Profiles
Réal Laplaine Website
Réal Laplaine Amazon Profile
Réal Laplaine Author Profile on Smashwords

Réal Laplaine’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been the senior pastor of Woodland Christian church since 2010. My wife, Katie, and I grew up together in the small town of McArthur in the mountains of northern California. As of 2021 we have nine children.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I wrote Your Marriage God’s Way because I am passionate about this area of Scripture and life. God designed the family as the primary unit for every other segment in society, including the church. And marriage is the heart of the family. As a marriage disintegrates, the family disintegrates. As families disintegrate, churches disintegrate. As churches disintegrate, society disintegrates. When marriages are strong, however, families are strong. When families are strong, churches can be strong because strong churches are made up of strong families. As a pastor, I have seen many struggling marriages, but I have also seen couples find the solutions to their problems in Scripture. The truth of God’s Word has the power to heal and strengthen any marriage.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I became a writer when I started pastoring. Between emails, bulletins, announcements, and especially sermon notes, I spend more time writing than doing anything else in ministry.

I write out my entire sermon, which is usually about four thousand words. I go over the material with Katie on Thursday nights (a wonderful family in our church sends over two their kids to watch our kids), and then again on Saturday. On Sunday I wake up early to pray and read my notes again. Each time I go over my notes I’m refining and polishing them, which creates a nice sermon manuscript that translates well into a book.

Because my books come from sermon transcripts, which take twenty-to-thirty hours of work per week, each book contains hundreds of hours of study in God’s Word.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
At the beginning of Your Marriage God’s Way I write, First, and of greatest importance, I am not asking you to trust me. Rather, I am inviting you to trust what God says in the Bible. This book is not a collection of my thoughts about marriage. God is the author of marriage. He designed the roles and responsibilities for husbands and wives. He knows what couples need so they can experience healthy, joyful, Christ-centered relationships, and He provided the instructions in His Word. My desire is to present that guide clearly and biblically in Your Marriage God’s Way I believe this communicates that the Bible is my greatest influence. I also regularly use commentaries from John MacArthur and Warren Wiersbe. These wonderful godly men have also greatly influenced me.

What are you working on now?
My next book, Your Finances God’s Way. There is also an accompanying workbook: https://www.scottlapierre.org/book/your-finances-gods-way/

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Amazon. Here’s my author page: https://www.amazon.com/Scott-LaPierre/e/B01JT920EQ/

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up and don’t expect your first book (or even your second or third) to be a bestseller.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Continually pour over your writing. Each time you read it and refine it you will improve it.

What are you reading now?
Mostly commentaries for my sermons. I enjoy John MacArthur and Warren Wiersbe,

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m hoping that my literary agent will successfully pitch my proposal on types of Christ in the Old Testament to a publisher.

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 and Knowing God by JI Packer.

Author Websites and Profiles
Scott LaPierre Website
Scott LaPierre Amazon Profile

Scott LaPierre’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a clinical pharmacist and have practiced for over 40 years concentrating in solid organ transplant, oncology and pain management with the last 10 years being spent on the clinical IT side of healthcare. I have two published novels to date: Perfect Posture and Deep Waters. I write character-centric stories incorporating history while using both to drive plot twists and turns. Readers will always find characters who they will love to love or love to hate as well as a mix of levity and interesting history as the book spins to its exciting conclusion.

Deep Waters (historical fiction with an odyssey-like life arc storyline intertwined with a good vs evil thread that leads to a mystery-thriller ending): What is a man’s life? What does a man have control over as his life unfolds before and behind him? Life starts us out with endless possible paths, then narrows our choices from paths that are desired to those that are often forced upon us. Follow Jack as his life evolves from a high school football quarterback in Janesville, a small town in Wisconsin, to a crew member of the USS Indianapolis—the ship that delivered the nuclear bomb that helped end World War II and then suffered the worst open ocean disaster in U.S. naval history. Watch how his life is entangled in questions of a possible second bomb on the Indianapolis and whether it leads to the nuclear destruction of a beloved American city or helps to bring to light a 700-year secret known only to the descendants of a lone Knight Templar on a remote Japanese island. Follow the decisions Jack makes to survive and the paths he then has available to him as they narrow and lead him toward becoming a man he does not know. Find out if he will choose the right paths to survive a life not under his control. https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Waters-SCOTT-LOTHIAN/dp/B09BLRV5JR

Perfect Posture (a detective vs. serial killer crime thriller meant to create a palpable good versus evil tension in the reader much like that effected by Erik Larson’s classic Devil in the White City): A dead girl, clutching a stuffed toy elephant covered in political buttons, is found posed on a luggage carousel at O’Hare Airport. Chicago, oblivious to the evil that has gripped the city for the past two months, believes they have discovered the first victim of the errantly named “Patriotic Killer.” Only Lieutenant Jonathan Dearfield knows the truth: He must solve this case before the unimaginable happens. Perfect Posture takes readers inside the mind of a killer, while chronicling the lives of those committed to stopping the escalating carnage. This book is rich with Chicago area history, and filled with personalities and relationships—both dark and occasionally comical—that readers will grow to love or hate as they follow the non-stop action to a twisting catastrophic end. https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Posture-Scott-Lothian/dp/151861227X

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My second novel is Deep Waters, which was published on August 2nd—the 76th anniversary of the heroic rescue of the surviving crew members of the USS Indianapolis. This is a story of a man’s life—from farm town quarterback to a crew member of the Indianapolis and on— and how he deals with a life not totally under his control. Deep Waters is very much a historical slice-of-life mystery—a combination of historical fiction with a good karma versus evil karma storyline that threads throughout and leads to the mystery-thriller possibly “atomic” ending.

I was inspired to write this book by the story of the Indianapolis, amazed that this heroic story went mostly untold for decades. I thought about a “what if” scenario: what would the life of one of these men be like having survived this terrible tragedy and what if there was more to the story.

I pictured the life of a man who went through the tragedy of the sinking of the Indianapolis—four days in the water attacked by sharks and worn down by hunger, thirst and the elements. What was his life like? What if his life was filled with tragedy, hardship and disappointment? How would he handle these setbacks and how would it shape him as a man? What if there were evolving good and evil strands twisting around his life story that he had no control over, but could prove to be his ultimate undoing? I then built people around him to support his life paths and decisions.

In Deep Waters, you get to know Jack (or Butch), a high school sophomore who is the varsity football quarterback and dating the head cheerleader, Candy. Life is good if he can avoid pissing off his father or getting beat up by his older brother. Then something happens that changes his life and he is forced to make his first big decision. I am very much a writer who holds to the contract of promise resolution, so any of Jack’s life decisions that may be second-guessed by the reader could have a different reality in the end.

The book takes place from 1945 through 2007 for reasons the reader will understand as they follow the story. The prologue starts in 2007 with the torture of a shipmate and friend of Jack’s, Chester, in an effort to find the rumored second atomic bomb on the Indianapolis and ends as two Knights Templar ships sail in opposite directions in the early morning hours of October 13, 1307. These two threads are the karma stories that unknowingly are twisting around Jack’s odyssey and come together to create the dynamic ending.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Like most authors, I research prior to starting a book, but I only plan out the arc points—start, stops and finish—not the entire script. I feel writing is like planning a vacation, you can plan the destinations and the stops, but you never know who you will meet along the way, so I let the story flow from me to the page and lead me to research those new experiences. If I need to get over a hump, I leave it and let my mind (OCD-ish) work its magic to get the story over and on to the next chapter (this can happen in the shower, while watching TV and, unfortunately, even while in a meeting).

Also, I like to have fun with the names I use in my writing and you will find this true throughout this book. The Gardener, Marino Danielson, is named after my favorite quarterback (Dan Marino – sorry Peyton and Drew, but you are tied for #2). Chester “Gerbil” Best is named after a fraternity brother’s nickname (Gerbil) and my oldest son’s hamster (Chester). And there are many other names where the reader might catch some hidden meaning. Most every name in the book has a story, though it certainly may not be the same as the character experiences in the book.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My favorite author is Ken Follett and he did influence my second book, Deep Waters, which is in many ways a hybrid novel with a historical fiction odyssey-like life arc with a mystery-thriller ending. My first novel, Perfect Posture, aims to create a palpable good versus evil tension in the reader much like that effected by Erik Larson’s classic Devil in the White City and was also influenced by Stephen King.

What are you working on now?
Currently, I am working on a children’s book with a well-known midwestern etching artist and another novel-Daddy’s Girl.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I wish I knew. Indie artists are at the whim of bloggers and reviewers. Unless you can find a niche or get lucky with a review, you are basically on your own. Spending money on promotion sites is not always a win for authors. I respect those who write for life—I write as a hobby and for enjoyment, so I try not to get too tied up in the whole game. I know my readers have enjoyed my books and try to ignore those that blame the pants when they don’t fit—though I have been lucky with this thus far.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Follow your heart. Start with a story you would like to read and go from there. Enjoy the journey and be willing to take unexpected turns—if you are surprised, then so will your readers.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Dan Brown – always resolve main issues like a contract with your reader. Some aspects of the story are meant to mislead, but you cannot have a reader saying, “But what about the bloody wrench?” at the end of your book.

What are you reading now?
Column of Fire by Ken Follett (Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots era historical fiction)

What’s next for you as a writer?
Continue to grow to find styles and stories that are not just another version of the book before—the next monster of the week. My books may always have a connecting thread, but I would never list them as a series since they may be different genres and reading experiences.

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?
Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
The Source (James Michener)
Eye of the Needle (Ken Follett)
Perfect Posture (Scott Lothian)

Author Websites and Profiles
Scott Lothian Website
Scott Lothian Amazon Profile

Scott Lothian’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have served actively as a deacon and preacher/teacher of the Bible since being raised up to new life in Christ in 1994; have been married since 1978. I have collected and manage a digital library of mostly Baptist books that I give away to folks. I have written three books and published 13 other Christian books from our history, having edited them for the modern readers.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My most recent book is The Gospel in Romans; I was prompted to publish this after conversation with several brothers in Christ who wanted to know more about my view of this epistle from Paul. I have taught through Romans twice and this book is based on teaching I did in 2016-2017.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to have a movie on the TV while writing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Charles Leiter – The Law of Christ, Hal Brunson – The Rickety Bridge and the Broken Mirror, Terrance O’Hare – The Sabbath Complete.

What are you working on now?
Trying to gather my thoughts for a book about the hand of God on His people during the Dark Ages and another book about what I call White Space Theology – when people get their theology from what’s not found in the Bible.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is where I need help. I mostly promote on Facebook.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write what you know about and care about. Have someone else review it and edit it. Eliminate unnecessary adjectives and adverbs.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Act as if you believe God is watching.

What are you reading now?
The Resurrection Fact and The Sabbath Complete.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully diligence and a sound mind to get the history book together.

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, The Law of Christ, Who Is Israel? What Is a Jew? Where Is Jerusalem?: A Biblical Mandate for Prophetic Reformation in the Twenty-First Century, Pilgrim’s Progress

Author Websites and Profiles
Stuart Brogden Website
Stuart Brogden Amazon Profile

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Author Interview Series

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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi! My name is Amanda Dew, and I write young adult dystopian fiction. For now, anyway -wink wink-! I spent most of my life working in the statistics world, but after a creative reawakening 5 years ago, I’ve changed course to become a storyteller.

I am a stay at home mom to four adorably crazy kids: ages 10, 7, 5, and 1, and a wife to an amazing husband. I love the escape that writing gives me. I call it my therapy! Outside of writing and my family I also enjoy traveling, reading, eating, exercising, eating while traveling, eating while reading, exercising because of the eating, and well… you get the picture.

I have two novels that I self-published in September 2021: The Story Seer, and its sequel, The Truth Seer. These books are 2/3 of a dystopian trilogy set 20 years from now in a world where terrorists rule the weather, and a 21-year-old intuitive genius named Rory is the world’s best chance at stopping them.

Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, the final installment in the series will be released Summer 2022 -fingers crossed-!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I lump The Story Seer and The Truth Seer together since they came out only a week apart. The inspiration for the series came from my own life.

I love to read dystopian stories. In those stories, I feel like although the worlds and the circumstances are crazy, the relationships are real. I had the idea to take snippets from my own life, and my own relationships, and frame them in a dystopian world to see what happens. It’s been really fun to see my own real-life stories take center stage and shine.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I learned early on that with four kids and all the other crazy things life can throw at you, I was going to learn to write on the go. I would write in car pick up line picking up my kids from school. I would write on my phone with one hand while breastfeeding a baby in the middle of the night. I would write in a tiny twin-sized bed while my toddler napped next to me. Soccer practice, the park, dentists appointments–you name it, I’ve probably written part of my book there!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I had a teacher in high school really turn me off from reading and writing for a long time. He made it seem like if you don’t like -these certain books- then you don’t like literature. For over ten years, I believed him.

About five years ago, my oldest child was learning to read. To encourage him, I decided to start reading again. Overwhelmed was an understatement, but I went to the bookstore anyway. I chose The Selection by Keira Cass because it had a sparkly cover featuring a girl in a big poufy dress. I figured, if this book isn’t for me, no book will be.

I devoured that book, and anything else I could get my hands on by Keira Cass! That was the book that unleashed the flood gates on inspiration!

Other books that I read soon after that also inspired me: Under the Never Sky by Vernonia Rossi, Rush by Eve Silver, Cinder by Marissa Meyer, These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman, Inside Out by Maria Snyder, Legend by Marie Lu, Pivot Point by Kasie West, and Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier, among many many others.

And of course, can’t forget my favorite “classics:” Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Divergent by Veronica Roth.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working day and night on book three in The Seer Series. I am hoping it will be ready for the world sometime in the Summer of 2022.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
When I figure it out, I’ll let you know! haha

Right now I’m trying the “throw the pasta at the wall and see what sticks method.” I’ve tried Facebook ads, Instagram ads, and Amazon ads. I also love to promote my work and connect with readers and other authors on Goodreads and Instagram. Oh, I’m going to try Tik Tok soon- fingers crossed!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
The advice I always give is: Don’t be afraid to fail! Often times, the fear of “doing it wrong” or “what if x, y, z happens?” stops people before they even get started! I don’t think I’m the greatest writer in the world (far from it!) but I do believe my super power is that I dive headfirst into things with the attitude of “I’ll figure it out as I go along!” This means I fail A LOT, but I’m not scared of that! I know failure is inevitable, but I don’t let it stop me. Because sometimes I do succeed, and along the way, I’m always learning! Don’t let fear stop you from taking the first step!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My mom used to call me “the creative one.” That’s not necessarily advice, but I like to remember that when things feel hard. Lean into your creative side and it will never steer you in the wrong direction.

What are you reading now?
I just started The Cure by K.A. Riley. I’m really enjoying it so far!

What’s next for you as a writer?
After I finish up the final installment in my debut series, I have another really, really exciting series idea in mind that involves time travel and the early 2000s. I can’t wait to get started on it!

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?
1. Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson
2. Twilight by Stephenie Myer
3. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
4. The Story Seer and The Truth Seer (is saying my own books cheating? haha)

Author Websites and Profiles
Amanda Dew Website
Amanda Dew Amazon Profile

Amanda Dew’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

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Author Interview Series

To discover a new author, check out our Featured Authors page. We have some of the best authors around. They are just waiting for you to discover them. If you enjoyed this writer’s interview feel free to share it using the buttons below. Sharing is caring!

If you are an author and want to be interviewed just fill out out Author Interview page. After submitting we will send it out in our newsletters and social media channels that are filled with readers looking to discover new books to read.

If you are looking for a new book to read check out our Featured Books Page.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Greetings from the UK! I live in a rural county called Shropshire (about 200 miles from London), having escaped from Greater London in the late 1990s.

I began writing articles in my late teens, and have since had over 850 articles published in magazines all over the world. In 2003, I was fortunate to have my first book published by Hodder & Stoughton. It was called One Hundred Ways For A Dog To Train Its Human, and spent three weeks on the UK’s Top Ten Non-Fiction paperback bestseller lists. (Lifetime sales now exceed over a quarter of a million copies.) A dream come true!

Since then, I’ve written over a dozen non-fiction books.

Like many writers, I’ve worked for a variety of organisations, including a high street bank in southwest London, a government development agency, and a local authority somewhere on the Welsh Borders. When not writing, you’ll find me out walking and taking photographs.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is my first novel, Blooming Murder, which is the first in my Marquess of Mortiforde series. It tells the tale of Aldermaston, who has recently become the Eighth Marquess, battling to help his local community of Mortiforde win the Borders Most Blossoming Market Town competition.

Unfortunately, this is no ordinary flower competition, because while the hanging baskets might look beautiful, they’re being used to kill people!

I was inspired to write it when I heard a news story of a nearby underground salt mine being used by a criminal gang. When I realised they were growing ‘illegal’ plants underground, it made me wonder what else you might grow underground!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not that I’m aware of. Especially as every writer drinks gallons of tea when writing their books, don’t they?

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love MC Beaton’s books, particularly her Hamish McBeth and Agatha Raisin books, along with Richard Osman, Debbie Young and Robert Thorogood. I’m also partial to a thriller by Robert Goddard, and Robert Galbraith.

What are you working on now?
I’m just putting the finishing touches to book 2 in my Marquess of Mortiforde series. It’ll be called Foraging for Murder.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Websites like this are fantastic. Knowing that they’re read by readers looking for their next read is perfect.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Concentrate on your work, don’t worry about what anyone else is doing. They’re on their writing journey – you are on yours. They’re two different journeys. Just worry about yours.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Get it written, then get it right. Bash the first draft out. You can always sort it out afterwards. But until you’ve got a first draft, you’ve nothing to sort out!

What are you reading now?
A book! (Sorry, about that!) I’m currently reading a new book by a writer-friend of mine, called Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, by Eleanor Harriet Loxley. It’s set in France during the second world war and tells the tale of two families.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Dare I say it – Book 3 of the Marquess of Mortiforde series? I’m just fleshing out my ideas 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?
They’d need to be big books🤣 to keep me going! (Mind you, the latest Robert Galbraith is nearly 1,000 pages!)

Author Websites and Profiles
Simon Whaley Website
Simon Whaley Amazon Profile

Simon Whaley’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

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Author Interview Series

To discover a new author, check out our Featured Authors page. We have some of the best authors around. They are just waiting for you to discover them. If you enjoyed this writer’s interview feel free to share it using the buttons below. Sharing is caring!

If you are an author and want to be interviewed just fill out out Author Interview page. After submitting we will send it out in our newsletters and social media channels that are filled with readers looking to discover new books to read.

If you are looking for a new book to read check out our Featured Books Page.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I can still remember the first time I went over to my friends house and his older brother was playing D&D with some friends. I was blown away and completely engrossed with the game. Borrowing the first edition box set rules I read everything in the box and then I read it all again for good measure. My obsession for anything fantasy was born. I joined multiple groups in the area and began role playing with friends. In my senior year of high school I thought how cool it would be to write my own adventure so with encouragement from my soon to be wife I hand wrote spiral notebooks full of story. At that time there was no Amazon and the internet was going through its growing pains so I held onto my work as life quickly took center stage. Now twenty plus years later at the age of 45 I have finally published my first book Creatures of Creation. The book is one of three in a series.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest and first book is Creatures of Creation. This writing is inspired by the stories I wrote twenty plus years ago. It’s a story about two extraordinary humans born with the gift of creation, and how each one uses that power.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I try to write two pages a day before I go to sleep no matter what.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Lord of the rings, the hobbit, dragon lance saga’s and druids of shannara to name a few.

What are you working on now?
The second book in the creation series titled Monsters of Creation.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Draft 2 Digital, Amazon, Facebook, and of course the Awesome gang.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
It’s a monumental undertaking and there is a mountain of stuff to learn so take it all in small manageable chunks. Burnout is not your friend so take time to still do things you enjoy. Set aside time to write.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The world needs your story.

What are you reading now?
PC Gamer, no seriously at the moment I have all my time devoted to my book launch and a full time job.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Book two in the series and promote, promote, promote!

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?
D&D monsters compendium, The Stand, Druids of Shannara, and LOTR.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jason Gagne Amazon Profile

Jason Gagne’s Social Media Links
Pinterest Account

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Author Interview Series

To discover a new author, check out our Featured Authors page. We have some of the best authors around. They are just waiting for you to discover them. If you enjoyed this writer’s interview feel free to share it using the buttons below. Sharing is caring!

If you are an author and want to be interviewed just fill out out Author Interview page. After submitting we will send it out in our newsletters and social media channels that are filled with readers looking to discover new books to read.

If you are looking for a new book to read check out our Featured Books Page.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a young ambitious woman who believes in the indescribable power of the mind, and that nothing is unachievable once you are focused on it. I am a prolific writer who discovered that writing connects me with the world and not only that, it connects me with my mind, my subconscious, my thoughts. I could never fathom the huge database of information bottled up in my head until I put a pen to a pad. While this may sound interesting and easy for some, it may be super difficult for some. I have written two books on how writing skills can be fine-tuned for adequate delivery and I am currently on the third one. Summarily, my books center on how both young and old, experts and beginners can connect to their world via writing and hence make an impact.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
How to Launch your writing Business. The book was inspired by the fact that if writing is my hobby why not commercialize it. I mean I get to enjoy what I am doing and I get to be paid for it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Solomon Ternder

What are you working on now?
A book how to unleash the super power of your brain

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am new to promoting so I am trying out a few things

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read my books and just start regardless

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It can never be perfect, Just do it, then learn from it

What are you reading now?
Greater exploits

What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to read as much as I can so I will have more information to communicate with in my next 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?
World of no limits
Power of Possibility Thinking
Think and grow rich
The Intelligent Investor

Author Websites and Profiles
Titz Joshua Amazon Profile

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Author Interview Series

To discover a new author, check out our Featured Authors page. We have some of the best authors around. They are just waiting for you to discover them. If you enjoyed this writer’s interview feel free to share it using the buttons below. Sharing is caring!

If you are an author and want to be interviewed just fill out out Author Interview page. After submitting we will send it out in our newsletters and social media channels that are filled with readers looking to discover new books to read.

If you are looking for a new book to read check out our Featured Books Page.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born and raised in Italy and I’ve written three books in Italian, all about social causes, and my first YA novel in English, “Letters from Afghanistan”, who has been released on September 11th 2021. I’ve chosen to make the novel downloadable for free to encourage as many people as possible to read it due to the topics it tackles. I want to use my passion and talent to make the world a better place through my writing and to inspire other people to play their part in improving our world.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is a YA, coming-of-age story called “Letters from Afghanistan”. I am not sure what inspired me. I remember writing the first draft in Italian about 5 years ago when of course I didn’t have a clue about the situation Afghanistan is sadly facing right now. I’ve always written about social causes and I want my books to inspire and inform people and help them build a mindset which will allow them to work towards the goal of a global world and to join hands with others in the effort. We all know Afghanistan has been an harsh country, especially for girls, way before this last happenings so, when I wanted to tell this story, I decided to set it in Afghanistan but the country incorporates all the other countries where human rights are violated as well.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I don’t think I have been influenced by some particular authors or books. I can say I love reading classic novels, real life stories and books which talk about other countries and cultures.

What are you working on now?
I’m not working on any project right now because I am pretty busy but a new story is always on the back of my mind. What I want to do is to travel, now that the world is slowly re-opening, and to connect with people living in other countries. I want to talk with them, write their stories and make their voices heard so to encourage a mindset based on the celebration of diversity and on mutual respect instead than on division and individualism. I have a couple of stories in my mind but as I’ve recently come back from Morocco and I’m planning to travel to other countries, including a refugee camp with an Italian NGO, I’m pretty sure I’ll find inspiration for my next books travelling around the world.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Goodreads a lot and then I use Instagram to contact people who have profiles who somehow show an interest in books. I then kindly ask them if they’d like a free copy of the PDF in exchange of an honest review and many of them accept.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t assume that, once the book is done, the work is finished. That is when the work actually starts since today every person can publish a book, the tricky part is to get readers to know about it and to buy it. This is especially true if you are not known yet and you don’t have much money to invest in publicity. The most important thing, though, it’s to write something that comes from your heart. Find your own voice and don’t be afraid to put it out there.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I don’t know, I don’t think I’ve ever got any good advice yet. I’ve learned what I know about the publishing industry simply publishing my books and that goes for Italy. I’m still not sure how things work in other countries since I didn’t have to rely on that to make “Letters from Afghanistan” downloadable.

What are you reading now?
I just started the book “Ghosts: Despatch from Cambodia” by Tiziano Terzani. Cambodia is one of the most fascinating countries to me and I really look forward to its re-opening to international travellers. I also mentor two teenagers living in the capital and we talk with each other through email and Skype (not too different from the main characters of “Letters from Afghanistan”, which talk through email first and letters later). I plan to go there and spend quite a lot of time in the country and of course to meet these kids in person.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Who knows? As I’ve mentioned I’ve got quite a lot of ideas in my mind but I guess I’ll have to wait and see what I’ll write next. I really hope, though, I’ll be able to reach more and more people and I also hope my books will help them to step forward and make positive changes in their lives and in the lives of others. Some readers told me that, after reading “Letters from Afghanistan”, they got their eyes opened and will now do their best to help others. That is true success to me.

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 don’t know. I would bring a couple of classics, a true story and then one or two lighter books, just to relax and unwind.

Author Websites and Profiles
Maricla Pannocchia Website

Maricla Pannocchia’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in Stoke-on-Trent, in the North of England, and grew up there. I am a former sportswriter and the author of nine books, including The Soul of Boxing, which was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year. I live on the Isle of Dogs in East London.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
A Body in the Freezer. It’s a short novel about a depressed guy called Boyd who gets himself into all kinds of trouble while trying to impresss his psychopathic and sexually depraved girlfriend. The story was inspired by a true life BBC documentary about a human body parts business.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not sure if it’s unusual or not, but I rarely have an ending worked out. I tend to go with the flow of the story.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Cormac McCarthy, Sam Shepherd…

What are you working on now?
The Rivers That Run Through Us – a collection of (joined up) surreal stories set in the Isle of Dogs.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Word of mouth.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes, finish! Just write it and finish it, and fine-tune later. Perfection = procrastination.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write it and finish it, and fine-tune later.

What are you reading now?
Estuary: Out from London to the Sea by Rachel Lichtenstein.

What’s next for you as a writer?
A short novel, Three Days in Thirty-Nine.
Based on a true story.
I co-wrote the screenplay for a US film production company, which optioned the original manuscript.

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?
Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea.
Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses.
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, The Wheel of Life

 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
As a tween, Lyndi walked miles to borrow books from the bookmobile and found quiet places to read them. Now she writes stories for young readers and helps other writers with their writing projects.

A retired high school teacher, mother of three adult children, and community youth volunteer, Lyndi moved with her husband to Panama where she hosts writing workshops, tours and retreats in nature and at Tranquilo Retreat. Often ideas come to her as she walks the beach and hikes in the mountains.

Lyndi has written a few books and published two, The Lines Between Our Stars and The Bridges Between Us. The Clashing Of Our Worlds, the third book in The Summer Triangle Trilogy releases November 15, 2021

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Clashing of Our Worlds, Book 3 in The Summer Triangle Trilogy releases November 15, 2021.
While stargazing around a campfire, many children and teens shared the grief they carried. Lyndi was struck by how challenging it is to help youth who grieve and was inspired to write the Summer Triangle Trilogy.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Even though I tell my muse I’d like to write at 3:00 pm, my muse tends to wake me at 3:00 am.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m a huge Madelaine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time, C.S. Lewis, Narnia, and Rae Knightly, Alien Skills Series fan. But these are just a few writer who I like to hang out with.

What are you working on now?
Now that I’ve complete The Summer Triangle Trilogy, I’ve begun researching and writing The Winter Triangle Series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Marketing is a whole new area for me so I am asking authors what has worked for them. You can find some of their answers on my blog at my Tranquilo Retreat website.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read and write all you can, listen to other author’s process and journey, and write using your own unique voice. No one can tell a story the way you can.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
For every author who gives advice saying not to write a certain way there is a published author who is writing that way.

What are you reading now?
I am reading young adult science fiction/fantasy authors and well, a little bit of everything.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I live and write adventurously pausing to share my writing passion with aspiring writers. This is me. This is now. This is ongoing.

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?
It’s rather cruel to limit me to 3-4 books but if I must say it would be:

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle
The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis
Ben Archer And The Cosmic Fall, by Rae Knightly
Contact, by Carl Sagan

Author Websites and Profiles
Lyndi Allison Website
Lyndi Allison Amazon Profile

Lyndi Allison’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been a hobby author and that has led to 6 books published so far–all nonfiction. Recently, I made the plunge into full time authoring.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Consent Is Not Enough: What Men Need to Know in a #MeToo World. IT was inspired by a lot of time in groups with men who were discussing, and in some cases struggling with, the #MeToo movement.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Pretty straightforward. I write during the day.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Most recently, Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. Other examples are Re-Visioning Psychology, by James Hillman, all the books by C.G. Jung, and The Origins of Totalitarianism, by Hannah Arendt.

What are you working on now?
A book outlining a proposed amendment to the US Constitution, as well a book titled What Is Postcapitalism?

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Still learning this. I’m a prolific writer, but not as good at promotion. So far, Medium is helpful.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Persistence matters more than anything.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
From a writing perspective, it has to be: Write every day no matter what. Stephen King is the most recent place I read that.

What are you reading now?
I am reading extensively on the history of dictatorship and fascism… trying to figure out if we might be going there as a nation.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing, and then more writing!

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 think if I could only have 3-4 books, I might leave them on the beach and swim as far as I could until I could not swim anymore. What’s the point of having only 3-4 books while stranded on the island?

Author Websites and Profiles
Anthony Signorelli Website
Anthony Signorelli Amazon Profile

Anthony Signorelli’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Jess Blenkarn and I am a 22-year-old author from Southern Ontario focused generally on science fiction and mystery. I wrote and self-published my first book at the age of 15 and haven’t stopped writing since. I wrote and self-published a total of 3 books, called “Irrefutable Annihilation”, “Soul Survivor”, and “West of Dawn”, but in 2021, World Castle Publishing professionally published my 4th book, called “The Sixth Book”.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called “The Sixth Book”. It was actually inspired by a dream I had about a series of books that predicted the future. I then cut all the dragons and three-headed dogs out of that dream to create the book that I know and love today.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not actually sure if this is unusual, but I sure find it unusual: my first draft is usually 95% the same as the published version. I do small grammatical errors, but even in my professionally published book, the final version is basically the same as the final version, at least plot and character-wise.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Agatha Christie is probably the biggest influence on me as a writer! Yes, she writes whodunit murder mysteries most of the time, which is different from what I write, but her tremendous success as a writer is what I aspire to achieve every single day.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently finishing my last two semesters at the University of Waterloo while working part-time, so apart from promoting my latest book and writing a short story in my Creative Writing class, I am not working on any new writing at the moment. I am, however, in the process of coming up with a new idea so I can write my 5th book in the summer of 2022 after I graduate!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Promotion is quite difficult. I use my own website regularly, and then try to promote my work and my blogs on my social media accounts. I really rely on my connections and my friends and family to help promote my work.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never give up. I know it is cliche but a million people will tell you to give up, and you have to tell them that you never will. No matter how long it takes you to write that first page, no matter how many rejection letters you receive, you can’t stop trying. Remind yourself how much you love writing and the rest will all fall into place. But that will never happen if you give up.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
In grade 11, my Writer’s Craft teacher taught us to write what we know. She said that when we can write from the heart, we can truly change our readers’ lives. And she was right. Some of my most inspired work has come from writing about what I know – whether it be a situation close to home, or about a character based on someone I know, or about a simple feeling I can express in 80,000 words.

What are you reading now?
I am currently finishing up “The Tattooist of Auschwitz”. It is truly a great book and I highly recommend checking it out!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I don’t quite know what’s next for me. I know for the next five or six months my focus is on finishing my degree while promoting my existing books, and then after that, it will certainly shift to focusing on writing my next book. In the long term, I hope to continue writing before and after work every single day as I try to make a career out of my writing one day!

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?
1. “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie. This is my all time favourite book and I could re-read it a million times over without being bored.
2. “Animal Farm” by George Orwell. Another classic. I don’t even know why I love this book so much, but it is just such an easy read with so much depth to it!
3. “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” by Heather Morris. This is a great book, but it only makes the list because I’m like 3/4 through it, and it would kill me not to know how it ends!

Author Websites and Profiles
Jess Blenkarn Website
Jess Blenkarn Amazon Profile
Jess Blenkarn Author Profile on Smashwords

Jess Blenkarn’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I've been writing since 2013, and have self-published 21 books — 15 novels and 6 short stories/novels. I write mainly in the thriller genre, although I have published 1 novel in the YA Fantasy genre, just to be different!

I have three main series — Adrian Hell (a deadly assassin with a dark sense of humour… think Die Hard meets Deadpool), GlobaTech (about an elite unit of operatives working for a private security firm), and Roach (a man trying to outrun his deadly past).

While the series stand on their own merits, they collectively form the "Thrillerverse", an interconnected story world in which all the series are set. Along with their own stories, there is an underlying story that links them.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest novel is Critical Strike, which is due for release December 21, 2021. It's actually my first crossover event — a large-scale story featuring all the characters from my thriller series. It's basically my version of the Avengers! It's been the biggest book I've ever written, in terms of word count and the sheer scope of the story itself.

It's the culmination of three years of storytelling across all my series — something I've been planning and building toward for a long time.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to listen to a specific type of music called Binaural Beats. This is typically instrumental meditation music that is designed to trigger certain brainwaves. For example, I listen to one that triggers theta waves to help me sleep, as they are the frequency your brain functions at when you're sleeping. I listen to tracks that trigger alpha waves while I'm working, as that's the frequency for heightened concentration and productivity. I think they help…

That, and coffee!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Lee Child is the king of my genre, and it's hard not to look to him as the benchmark. I've also met him a couple of times and spoken with him, and he's a lovely guy. Definitely an inspiration.

The book that made me want to start writing was "Lethal People" by John Locke. It was unlike any typical thriller I'd ever read up until that point, and it showed me I didn't have to follow convention to tell the stories I felt I needed to tell.

What are you working on now?
Having just finished writing Critical Strike, I'm taking a couple of weeks off! However, I am storyboarding the next six thrillers I intend writing, across all my series and including another crossover. That way, I can hit the ground running when I'm ready for a new project.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As a long term strategy, self-publishing authors must embrace Facebook and Amazon (AMS) ads. I'm far from a master of them, but I've been doing them for a number of years now, and I sell enough books to replace the need for a full-time job, so I'll consider that a victory.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Set up a mailing list and promote it in your books. Your own list of readers should be your first port of call when promoting yours books.

Also, join writing groups on Facebook and get to know your fellow authors. Whatever question you might have, I can guarantee someone will have already experienced the same problem and found the answer.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It's not necessarily related to writing, but probably the best piece of advice I was ever given was to invest in myself and prioritise your own future. In doing so, I picked up the following anecdotes:

– Set your own goals and plan to achieve them. One at a time. Life isn't a race. your only competition is yourself.
– Having money makes you rich, but having time makes you wealthy. You work to live, you don't live to work. Working for yourself should mean you work hard, but also that you should take some of the freedom it affords you to enjoy your life.

What are you reading now?
I don't actually read all that much. As I'm quite a visual storyteller, my novels tend to focus on dialogue and action, rather than narrative. As such, I find movies and TV shows tend to give me more as a writer than reading books does. A well-written show tells a compelling story through dialogue, which is what I take more inspiration from.

That said, when I do read, it's typically comics or graphic novels — for the same reason.

What’s next for you as a writer?
"Phase 1" of my Thrillerverse stories will be complete when Critical Strike is released, so the storyboarding I'm doing now is setting up "Phase 2". I need to plan out the direction each individual series needs to go in next, while also build toward them coming together again.

A writer's work is never done!

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?
"Killing Floor" by Lee Child (one of the best thrillers I've ever read)
"Punisher MAX" by Garth Ennis (a graphic novel)
"True Conviction" by me! (to remind me of everything I've achieved)

Author Websites and Profiles
James P. Sumner Website
James P. Sumner Amazon Profile
James P. Sumner Author Profile on Smashwords

James P. Sumner’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Mercy Onyeyirichi is a Nigerian author who enthralls, empowers, and entertains. She has written two amazing novella with a fusion of gothic and modern psychological thrillers to deliver a one-of-a-kind experience to the readers.
Mercy is a successful filmmaker whose creative works never fail to amaze, and her movie has also won an award in the African Student Film Festival. In her free time, she loves to read and explore the beauty of the outdoors. On Sundays, you will find Mercy mingling with her beloved twin sister in the local pub discussing politics and arts.
Mercy Onyeyirichi also holds a Creative Arts Degree from the University of Lagos State, Nigeria, and is a storyteller who relishes the beauty of simple things.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
1st birthday gift is the first in a series. What inspired this peculiar story was my sister’s wedding. I and my sister are quite close and I was wondering how I would cope without her by my side. So that night, I had a strange dream that terrified me. At first I thought it was some kind of premonition or something. On a second thought, I realized how a awesome story it could be in a book. Voila! That was how 1st birthday gift came about, and I am super excited about it

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen king, JK Rowling, Nick Stephenson, Joanna Penn,

What are you working on now?
On the book two

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I believe in running some Amazon ads

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yep!
Writing and marketing your work is one tough journey, which can be overwhelming. You have to take one step at a time so you don’t burn out. It’s just like a baby who is just starting to walk. You have to enjoy every moment along the way.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never stop believing in your dreams.

What are you reading now?
Later by Stephen king

What’s next for you as a writer?
Growing a team of loyal readers.

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?
Bible
The 48 laws of power
Gifted hands

Author Websites and Profiles
Mercy Onyeyirichi Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written many things over the years, but I’ve self-published 5 books.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I Love You is an inspirational book written in the form of a letter. I had been working intensely on my mental health and wanted to give other people the support I was learning to give to myself.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not sure. I use the pantsing writing process, but that’s not really unusual.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Ray Bradbury, Tolkien, John Steinbeck, and Agatha Christie?

What are you working on now?
A medieval fantasy! I’ve never written in the fantasy genre before and I’m excited.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I mainly use Twitter so far. Looking to branch out.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Follow what inspires you, what you’re passionate about. When you find yourself getting concerned about writing rules or advice, consider what your individual story needs. Maybe the advice is best, or maybe you should artfully choose a different path. Whatever you do, do it deliberately for your story.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Writing advice – “All of the good, weird stories I’ve written are based on things I’ve dredged out of my subconscious. That’s the real stuff. Everything else is fake.” – Ray Bradbury

Life Advice – “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” – Socrates

What are you reading now?
The Silmarillion. I want to read fantasy to get myself in that groove for my WIP.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Wherever my inspiration takes me!

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?
LOTR, the Bible, and The Martian Chronicles?

Author Websites and Profiles
Lara Rouse Website
Lara Rouse Amazon Profile
Lara Rouse Author Profile on Smashwords

Lara Rouse’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Inger Brown I am an author but predominantly an illustrator. I specialise in children’s picture books. I have written 10 books now and plan to keep going, it feels the more I do the more ideas I get.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Bobbling’s Christmas Nutcracker.
This was inspired by the ballet The Nutcracker but the story is not really anything like the ballet. It is a wonderful adventure through the enchanted forest trying to find Santa who is lost on Christmas eve.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think my habits are unusual. I am dyslexic so I think I possibly come from things at a different angle. I draw ideas all the time whereas I only write when I have thought about a story and feel its vision ready to plot out in words.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
It is mostly picture books from when I was a child. I dyslexic as mentioned and I always picked up the books with the most amount of pictures hoping I wouldn’t have to actually read them haha…. So I take that with me and keep things heavily illustrated.

What are you working on now?
I have just finished The Bobbling’s Christmas Nutcracker and this was an epic tale for me as it is my first chapter book. However, I do already have my next Bobbling adventure written and I am just plotting out character ideas and colours etc.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I find promotion really hard. I’m not someone naturally to push myself forward so I find it a bit of a mind field. I am pretty active on Instagram and @the_bobbling gets updated with lots of little illustrations and it is a great way to interact with people.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep at it. There are days when it all feels too much or at a loss. There are other times when you have spent so long on a piece of work only to realise that it needs to be completely reworked. It’s frustrating but keep at it, its these hurdles that make you better and in the end the reward sweeter.

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

What are you reading now?
I’m reading a Judge Dredd comic lol.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am working on another Bobbling book. He is my guy, I have just moved the stories from picture books to chapter books. These chapter books are easy readers and extremely highly illustrated hopefully to help kids make that transition from a little writing to more writing in an enjoyable way.

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?
Oh my how do you answer this question ?!?
Umm…. I think On the road by Jack Kerouac – I read it as a teen, it affect me like most teens but would like to re-read as an adult.
Bob Dylan lyrics – does that count ? lol
Terry Pratchett Guards, Guards. – I loved the dragons in that.
Isaac Asimov robot series

Author Websites and Profiles
Inger Brown Website
Inger Brown Amazon Profile

Inger Brown’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Born and raised in Greenville, SC, I have been writing since a very young age. The love of words started with poetry and has evolved into a pure passion. At the age of 20 I moved to MN for some time where many of the poems in Drugs, Love, and Poetry was created. When I’m not writing I am spending time with my daughters and pursuing other hobbies and new business ventures. I am currently writing my 3rd and 4th books. One is another poetry book, an ode to my 20s and the other is another self discovery books with 500+ questions that dive so much deeper than the first. Although my first goes quite deep.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is ALL ABOUT ME & MYSELF: A Daily Journal With 500+ Questions and Journal Prompts for Self-Discovery. I literally wrote these questions in a span of one weekend. All the questions came to me literally out of nowhere. I had planned to start back blogging and I was trying to come up with post to help promote my poetry book and these self discovery questions were born.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write in spurts or we could also call them binges. I could go months without any type of inspiration and then it just hits me and I go into this tunnel vision and words are the only thing that matters.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Maya Angelou 1000% has been my role model since I was a child. She did so much I just hope to accomplish half of what she did.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on round 2 of my poetry compilation and another book of journal prompts.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
KDP ads are fairly effective. And amazing websites like this one:)

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Stay true to your voice. Write from a place of nonjudgement for yourself and your creativity. Your words are important and the world needs them.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Everyone else is already living their lives the way the want, and if they’re not, they’re not using the freedom. Be whoever you desire to be in this lifetime.

What are you reading now?
The Wealth Choice by Dennis Kimbro

What’s next for you as a writer?
What’s next is continuing to promote my books and put others out. The world needs inspiration to be better.

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 Wealth Choice, The Artist’s Way, Rich Dad Poor Dad

Author Websites and Profiles
Ta’Mesha Smith Amazon Profile