Awesome Author Interviews

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born and grew up in New Jersey. I joined the military right out of high school because there really were no other options for me at the time.
In the Army, I merged into the Information Technology career field and became a Network Engineer after I got out of the service in the mid-2000s. I have 4 children.
The oldest followed in my footsteps and joined the Army. The other three are still in high school.
So far I only have two published books. My anthology, Shadows of light, is a collection of stories and poems that I wrote from my childhood up to my late 20’s early 30’s, and my debut novel Clifford’s War, which was published end of May this year.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Clifford’s War: The Bluegrass Battleground.
My inspiration came from many sources so it’s hard to say one thing. I can tell you that the beginning of the book was inspired by the church that is printed on the back.
That is an actual church and I took (and edited) that picture. It is a little famous as it was on a TV show about haunted places. I actually found that out after I published it.
The church is located in Virginia and when I saw it, I just so happened to have my camera with me, so I turned around and snagged a picture of it. I had this fleeting thought: “What if someone was trapped inside?’
That gave me the idea of Clifford being trapped in an abandoned church.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
It’s hard to say. I think all authors have different habits. I still work full time, so my writing can be fleeting. I get ideas and take notes so when I do find time to write, I find myself reading over days or weeks worth of notes to refresh my memory.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love the fast pace of James Patterson’s work. I want to keep my writing fast-paced like his because I know that I have read some other work where I stopped to think “Where is this going?” and I would put it down.

What are you working on now?
Promoting Clifford’s War. I should start the sequel soon. 🙂

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
You have to put it everywhere. All the media’s including Goodreads. The more your book is out in the world, the better chance it will end up in someone’s hands.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing! I have started and stopped writing so many stories that could have been hits.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You really haven’t started writing your novel until your first edit after your first read-through.
I found that my “Rough draft” is crap. Just like any art, you have to add, remove, change, mold, tweak, and chip away until it’s perfect. Writing is no different.

What are you reading now?
Memory Man – David Baldacci

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have a lot of ideas still floating around. I plan on working on Clifford2 over the fall and winter and I might have another genre up my sleeve as well.

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?
How to purify water guide. How to build a boat guide. (kidding)
I think I would bring anthologies. Maybe Poe or Grimm. Different stories and writing types. It would let you mix it up.

Author Websites and Profiles
J Denison Reed Amazon Profile

J Denison Reed’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a new author and my first book was Indie published on Amazon in June 2021. I’ve written my second book in the series and it’s set to release in the fall of 2021. The series is called Alaskan Women of Caliber and it show cases fictional biographies of Alaskan Women.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Alaskan Calibration is the name of my latest book and it was inspired when I shot my first moose last fall! I was so excited and started to look around me and there are so many amazing women that I’m surrounded by who’ve led the most extraordinary lives here in my state! I thought wow, they have some amazing stories I’d like to share.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write in blasts and spurts I don’ have much of a schedule. Once I get an idea I run with it.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
That’s a great question. I’m not good at picking favorites. I love true stories so I’d say that I’ve been influenced by many authors and the people in my lives that aren’t authors but really amazing story tellers.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on my third book in the series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Not so much prompting but helping with character and plot arc; I use onestopforwriters.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep at it! Don’t give up! Find a group of others who are on this journey and meet regularly if you can.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Stick to the story that you have in your mind. No one can tell you what you should write. You’ll come against a lot of advice and you have to decide for yourself the direction you are going.

What are you reading now?
Surviving Savannah by Patti Henry.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To keep 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?
My Bible.

Author Websites and Profiles
Maryann Landers Website
Maryann Landers Amazon Profile

Maryann Landers’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Seized: The Life of an Epileptic is my first book, although I’ve written what feels like millions of books in college.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Seized was actually inspired when a friend told me that he wanted me to write a short memoir of my experiences with epilepsy. I did so, after he read it, he told me that it had too many sad moments. I wrote the truth, and didn’t feel comfortable changing it. So I decided to self publish.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I was trained in scholarly writing in college. I have a difficult time expounding on small details. I’m no Tolkien.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve read accounts by George Takei on his experiences in the internment camps during World War II. They are both heartbreaking and inspiring.

What are you working on now?
A comparative analysis about flood myths found around the world. It’s a subject I fell in love with during college and it continues to hold my interest.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m not very great at promotion, but I am webmaster for epilepticsanonymous.org and write a weekly blog there. There I have included a link to my book on Amazon under our support section.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write what you want. You’ll never put out your best work if you’re writing something you hate.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Get a job you like. If you hate your job, you’ll hate your life.

What are you reading now?
The Peoples of Middle Earth.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I plan on working with this website for a long time.

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 Lord of the Rings and its accompanying books, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion.

Author Websites and Profiles
James Colvin Website
James Colvin Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
my name is Nicole Pierman (not Nikki or Nicki, please) and I’m a writer under thirty that decided that self publishing was the best option. I tried online serial writing and I did well for three years, but the culture behind online serial writing turned out to not be my cup of tea, and I jumped into self publishing with very little knowledge. But after a few months, I have the hang of it. well, I think I do, but don’t quote me on that just yet!

I have written four completed chapbooks and three completed novels. I’m currently working on novel four!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Bloodsworth’s Symphony For The Undead. Surprisingly, I was in science class and the teacher was talking about a man named Bloodsworth and I thought that’d be an amazing name for a vampire.

From there, I created an alternative world where other beings exist, vampire private investigators are a thing, and there are some humans that are born with magical abilities.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think I do unless you count me being an extreme pantser that doesn’t have a set writing time as unusual.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I adore Morgan Llewelyn. She’s an Irish author that I stumbled upon as a teenager thanks to my grandmother. My grandmother owned many of her books, but they were off in one corner of the bookshelf that was hard to reach, so they looked brand new. I was a determined teenager, managed to climb the bookcase and grab the books from the hard to reach shelf, and I devoured all Morgan’s books within a year.

I’ve often been told that my descriptions of nature are wonderfully vivid, and I thank Morgan Llewelyn for that skill. Her description of Ireland in her novels still sends shivers down my spine.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on my fourth book, Bloodsworth’s Symphony For The Undead. I’m 99% sure the first book will come out in 2023.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m just starting out, so I don’t have the best method yet, but I think focusing on a couple of sites, instead of spreading yourself too thin by being on 10+ sites at once, is the best method. Social media burn out is real! Been there, done that one too many times.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read, write, and repeat! And don’t be too hard on yourself, especially if a first draft isn’t working out like you initially expected. Finish the first draft, then fix it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I’ve heard is to take writing seriously when it needs to be, but make it fun. If you’re not having fun, then what is the point?

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher so I can immerse myself in the Urban Fantasy and Contemporary Fantasy genres.

What’s next for you as a writer?
After I publish my chapbooks, I’ll be publishing my backlog full of novels! I’m excited to see where my novels take me because the journey with my chapbooks has been amazing and eye-opening.

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?
All the books I’d choose to take with me would be survival guide books. I don’t want to be stranded on a deserted island without them!

Author Websites and Profiles
Nicole Pierman Website
Nicole Pierman Amazon Profile

Nicole Pierman’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been an ardent reader for many years and had thought about writing fiction for a long time. After years in business and the opportunity to travel much of the world, I finally had time to write for fun. My two greatest interests are science and history. In particular I am fascinated by how people assume the present will just continue when there is evidence that it could be very different.

Will Normal Return is my first book. My second book will be out in August.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Will Normal Return is about ordinary people in a western community caught up in one of those cataclysmic events everyone assumes will never happen. It’s a story of a small group brought together by the disaster. It’s about their struggle to survive, and deal with a world suddenly lawless and very different. It’s about new relationships and finding out what happened. They only want their normal to return.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so. The fun part is how the story evolves bringing me along. I am often surprised by what happens and try to let each sequence contribute to the story line.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
That’s hard to say. I have read hundreds of books spanning many genres. Hemingway I have reread more than most. I enjoy Andy Weir’s science fiction books. Eric Larsen is another favorite. Michael Connelly and Ian Fleming are always entertaining.

The historical books are interesting because of the personalities and behavior of the principle actors. I like books that make me feel part of the scene and what it is like to be there. Recently I have been fascinated by how people interact with each other.

What are you working on now?
My latest book, Through the Raging Storm, takes place in a different part of the country. Again ordinary folks are the players. The event that gives rise to the story is very different and poses different challenges. This one includes a dash of science.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Reviews are the most important driver of interest in a book. I have fortunately had a few excellent reviews. I have used Facebook, BookViralReviews, Twitter, Reader’s Favorites and several others.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just do it!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Character’s make the story.

What are you reading now?
Ken Follett’s The Pillar’s of the Earth.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am exploring a couple of possibilities. It takes a little playing with an idea to see if it feels right.

Author Websites and Profiles
Ben Kilgore Amazon Profile

Ben Kilgore’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is my first book, but my fingers have been associated with plenty of social media posts over the years.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Legal Marketing Straight Talk Presents: Solving the Puzzle: Online Marketing for Attorneys. Inspiration came from seeing attorneys and law firms literally ripped off by marketing agencies for years.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I wouldn’t say my writing is a habit. Though headphones and music is a must. It allows my brain to function to where I can even write at all. The better they sound, the less distracting it can be, which is why I love my Apple AirPods Max Pros.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
With this subject matter, literally none. I didn’t want to be influenced in any way actually.

What are you working on now?
It’s the summer which I like to work a light schedule, so not much at the moment.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Word of mouth and gorilla marketing to your target demographic. There is no “best”. Best comes when you do as much of the aforementioned as possible.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just write and keep writing about something you care about.

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

What are you reading now?
Book wise, nothing. I know I am so boring.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Not too sure actually. This may be a one off. I might do a deeper dive into the world of family law marketing in specific next time.

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?
99 Stories of the game by Wayne Gretzky
The Mechanic
The Firm
Where the Red Fern Grows

Author Websites and Profiles
Steven Long Website
Steven Long Amazon Profile

Steven Long’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I love reading (duh) and playing video games.
I’ve technically written about 5 book series… But published so far is one

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
World Of Sync. Main inspiration is my love for writing, and my favorite book series Black Clover.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I might use flashback sequences as substitute for long-term characterization by accident

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Aside from Black Clover, Hajime Isayama’s Attack On Titan helped me figure out some aspects of my writing. Foreshadowing to be exact.

What are you working on now?
World Of Sync, I’ve been developing it since 2016 so you’re a fan of long stories, hop on!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Social media, like this website.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Make a plan with whatever you can manage

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never give up
It’s cheesy but important

What are you reading now?
Black Clover… Obviously

What’s next for you as a writer?
Just keeping a consistent release schedule

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?
2 volumes of Black Clover, & 2 volumes of Deadman Wonderland

 

Trenton Hall’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a young (16) British, self-published author. I usually write quite quickly, and I have some big plans for future releases. I love feedback and having the chance to improve from the 11 books which I’ve released so far (with a 12th on the way.)

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Last Hope. I’ve wanted to write something in which the world is affected by a phenomenon, something which puts everyone in danger. I’ve always thought that it would be fun to write, and so I went ahead and started a new series on that basis.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
The only unusual habit which I could say that I have is that I write fast, at least I think that I write faster than the average author. This year, I’ve tasked myself with releasing a book every month, and I’ve managed to be consistent with that. I never want to release something which I’m not proud of, either, so I always put an exponential amount of effort into what I’m writing, meaning that I’m fairly content with the 6 (nearly 7) books which I’ve released this year.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Michael Grant and James Dashner, I’d say, but only when it comes to small formatting and writing choices. For example, if I want to put emphasis on a word, I’ll write it in italics. I’m not sure where that originated, but I first saw it in James Dasher’s Maze Runner books, so that’s where I picked it up.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a small book with three, tiny stories in it to give myself some extra time to work on next month’s release which I’m hoping will be over 400 pages long.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I don’t have a method. In fact, I’m terrible when it comes to promoting my work. I’ve turned to Google recently in search of websites and reviewers, but I haven’t found a lot of success with this.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write what you want to write, and don’t be disheartened if you don’t like how it turns out in the beginning. I started by writing terribly, and, over time, with some guidance from a previous English teacher and the internet, I managed to improve my grammar. You get better with time and with effort, so don’t worry. As long as you’re having fun when you’re writing, you’re doing it right.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Put yourself first. Don’t over-work, stress-out or push yourself too much to get something done. If you’re not enjoying your work, you should take a step-back from it, have a day or two off, then come back to it with a fresh mindset. It’s good to be able to push-through writer’s block and to be able to force yourself to do things when you’re not in the mood, but it shows in the final product, so don’t ignore your needs.

What are you reading now?
Michael Grant’s Monster series, which is the sequel to his Gone series.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More work. I’ve just started a new series and I’m about to start a second one simultaneously. It may seem like a bad idea, but I’m going to plan everything important for both series’ before I begin working on the second one, so I don’t think that I’ll get confused when jumping from one series to another.

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?
Some of my books. Buy them 🙂 No, I’d bring the first 3 or 4 books of Michael Grant’s Gone series. I want to re-read it because the series is fairly long (somewhere between 3000 and 4000 pages) and, therefore, I’ve forgotten the majority of what happens in the first few books. Well, everything that isn’t incredibly important in relation to future books, so I think that it would be fun to re-visit them.

Author Websites and Profiles
James Butler Website
James Butler Amazon Profile

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

I’m a cat lady, Pepsi addict, and anime lover.

My turning point between “I want to write a book” and “wow, I can actually write a book” was an author’s talk in Calgary. I was 17 and my mom drove me to an authors Q & A event with Veronica Roth (Divergent series) and Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me series). They explained how they never had any formal training for professional writing, just a passion and commitment for it.

It took years of writing to get to this point and several agent rejections to decide to self-publish. There are books on my laptop that still haven’t seen the light of day; it just happens that ‘One Side of the Wall’ was my first published book!
​
Nobody wants to see the material from my first practice novel ‘Fishy Taste’… at least not until some thorough plot editing. I must say though, the male love interest in that story will fog up your glasses.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is titled ‘Painted on the Wall’ and is the second book in The Partner Assignment Trilogy.

I’m not very good at answering inspirational questions but technically, I was inspired by The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones while creating this series. Yes, I know we were all disappointed by the ending of season 8 and how Daenery’s story played out, but I still enjoyed everything up to that point. Jon Snow will forever be a heartthrob!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do most of my writing in my bed. I’m not sure if that’s weird but I’m pretty sure most people use a desk.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Tahereh Mafi has been such an inspiration to me through her instagram-live sessions! She has such a soothing voice and calm exterior. I hope I can be that relaxed about publishing one day.

The Shatter Me series was one of my favourites because she is so amazing at writing human emotions! Emotion is what keeps people hooked in a novel. Don’t get me wrong, the plot is very important too, but a strong emotional connection will trump anything else.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a sci-fi romance short story before starting the third and final book in my series!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Word of mouth will always be the strongest marketing tool. People will always trust a recommendation from their closest friend over anything else, myself included! To promote myself to the public (and hopefully gain word-of-mouth along the way), I usually use Good Reads and Instagram on a regular basis.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Your friends won’t read your books and that’s okay. They’re busy and they’re not invested in your series the way you are. Don’t take it personally.

Only ask for feedback if you actually want it. If you’re happy with your writing the way it is then don’t bother!

It’s normal not to have a giant social media following. Lots of authors on YouTube have such a huge following but most of them had that before writing their books.

The best way to promote yourself is to keep writing and publishing! One book won’t get you very far; you need to create your own author bookshelf.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Successful people and unsuccessful people both dislike doing the same things.

The difference is that successful people will do those unpleasant things… and they’ll do them over and over again.”

 

Author Websites and Profiles
Shaelyn Case Website
Shaelyn Case Amazon Profile

Shaelyn Case’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
It all started with a song . . .

I have been blessed. I have lived and traveled from Maine to California. I have had the opportunity to work many many jobs, from Actor to ZooKeeper. I never set out to write a book.

One job which truly gives my life purpose is being a mom to my two children. One morning as I sent my little ones off to elementary school, a song came on the radio; I hadn’t heard it in years. It had been one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite groups, and it brought back a flood of memories.

Honestly, most of my memories from Jr. High and High School are not that great. It was an anxiety-filled, uncomfortable, awkward time for me, as I now realize it is for most teens. So to combat the negative memories welling up in me, I started playing the “what if game.” What if things had been different? What if I had made different choices? Three things I got from that game were: one, I do not regret my choices. Two, I wish cell phones have been invented thirty years earlier (they might have eased my social awkwardness)—three, my story of Ruth and Tall Willows.

Tall Willows, Ruth, her family, and friends inundated my brain for weeks before I ever wrote a word. In my mind’s eye, I watched the characters move through their stories over and over again, like a movie that wouldn’t shut off. I made a bargain with myself to write ONE chapter. If that went well, I’d try another. Two hundred thousand words later, I had completed my first draft of Tall Willows. That first draft has gone through a lot of edits to get to where it is today. I still have five move books stuck in my brain, waiting to come out and complete the whole story.
In the meantime, I also help care for sport horses, show horses in dressage, and am a certified equine massage therapist at Feather Touch Equine Massage.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Tall Willows is my first book. It is also the first book in a six-book series. I think of the universe- the powers that be-the Muses as my inspiration; A spark of inspiration from an old song on the radio started my mind churning, and the stories began playing in my head like a movie.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My favorite place to write is in bed. I like to prop myself up on a ton of pillows and half sit, half recline. My three dogs usually join me; Gunny (Great Dane), Shamus (Wolfhound mix), & Dahaila (Plott hound mix).

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My first favorite books were JRR Tolkien’s (ALL of them). I also remember White’s Once and Future King. I also love the writings of Tony Hillerman, Michael McGarrity, and Janet Evanovich.
I also like what my father-in-law called potato chip books, ones that you can read quickly then go right for another one.

What are you working on now?
I’m trying to learn the ins and outs of promoting my first book – it’s quite a task! I’m also finishing my first draft of Deep Pines, the second book in my series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My websites are Tallwillows.com and PCFeather.com. Thus far, Facebook has been my go-to place for connecting with people and starting dialogues.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never underestimate the importance of a good editor.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be in it for the long haul.

What are you reading now?
Aside from anything and everything about promoting books? Michael McGarrity’s Head Wounds.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Working on my series, finishing book two, and starting book three. Learning how to step outside my comfort zone and ask people for help promoting.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’d have to take as many Tolkien books as I could (Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion – but is that 2 or 4). I’d also take a book on how to survive and get off a desert island.

Author Websites and Profiles
PC Feather Website
PC Feather Amazon Profile

PC Feather’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a lifelong compulsive reader, a lawyer, a mother of two grown daughters, a largely dormant photographer, and of course an author. My literary ambitions date from at least age eight, when I began a series of very short illustrated “books” about a black stallion named Collybird. (I deduce that I had, by this time, read Walter Farley’s The Black Stallion series.) My mother typed up at least some of them, with the title page listing me as author and illustrator and herself as “publisher.” I attempted my first novel at age ten, which amounted to 200 penciled pages of a very strange narrative involving a boy and a dragon. (The dragon’s role in the boy’s life went through several highly unlikely transformations.) My mother, praised be she, typed the whole 200 pages and bound several copies.

After a decades-long fallow period, I wrote the very rough draft of my first more conventional novel during National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo) in 2010 and published it in 2011. I’m now at eleven novels and counting, which range from science fiction to historical romance to (one) afterlife fantasy. I’ve also written and published short stories connected to two of those novels, as well as one nonfiction book about American law and legal practice and one picture book (described below).

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, coming out July 23, 2021, is my first picture book! Delightfully illustrated by Siski Kalla, You Can’t Kiss A Bubble uses a mix of fanciful and more realistic settings to explore what one can’t and can do with something so transitory as a bubble. I don’t remember where the idea for this particular book came from, but I started writing my first picture book in 1991, sitting on our front deck and enjoying the oak trees and their crop of acorns. I was pregnant with our older daughter at the time, and the book became “Mommy Calls Me Acorn.” That book and quite a few others await future publication.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure whether relying on NaNoWriMo for my novels’ rough drafts counts as unusual, given how many other authors and would-be authors take part in it every November, but it’s certainly far from a universal approach. During November, I run to and from my computer pretty much all day, every day, writing anything from a short snippet to a whole days’ quota of words.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Too many to remember! nor can I be sure how directly or indirectly various authors and books influenced me, but the authors include Mary Doria Russell (in particular her book The Sparrow and its sequel Children of God); Lois McMaster Bujold; Ursula K. LeGuin; C.S. Lewis; Jane Austen; Edward Eager; Grace Burrowes; George Eliot; Caroline Cooney (YA author); Naomi Novik; Dorothy Sayers.

What are you working on now?
I’m preoccupied with releasing three quite different books in one month: What Shows the Heart (historical romance), You Can’t Kiss A Bubble, and the updated and slightly retitled nonfiction book, Closest to the Fire: A Guide to American Law and Lawyers. I’m also at the exciting first-illustrations stage with my second picture book, When It’s Winter, and just beginning to think about what to write during NaNoWriMo 2021.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is a continual challenge. For each book, I seek out book bloggers who may be interested in reviewing or otherwise promoting that sort of book. I have a Facebook author page, an author Twitter account, a blog I tend to neglect between book releases (Looking Around, at http://looking-around.blogspot.com/), and a website whose special features (e.g. Reviews, Excerpts, Deleted Scenes) also could use more attention. I run Amazon Marketing ads for one or two books at a time.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t take anyone’s advice as gospel! 🙂 Seriously, advice is not one-size-fits-all. Many authors share the process that has worked for them, but it may not be the right one for you.

If you tend to start things without finishing them, particularly if what stops you is your own inner editor carping at you, I highly recommend NaNoWriMo (see above). Its pace requires you to brick up your inner editor in a handy closet and just WRITE. Many participants use “lousy first drafts” as a mantra.

If and when you get to the point of contemplating publication, don’t rule out self-publishing (aka indie authorship). It’s come a very long way from the days when buying a barn/garage full of often overpriced books for thousands of dollars and trying to peddle them was the only option. Follow sites/accounts like Writer Beware for info on scam publishers, aka vanity presses. Research and consider the pros and cons of traditional publishing, which are much different than they were decades ago. And have an actual lawyer, preferably one with intellectual property (IP) experience, go over any agency or publishing contract. An investment in an hour or two of legal fees (get an estimate first) can save you a great deal of money, heartburn, heartache, and control over your future career.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Some or all of what I just gave!

What are you reading now?
I’ve just started The Matrimonial Advertisement by Mimi Matthews. Before that, I gobbled down a wonderful fanfic for Lois McMaster Bujold’s Wide Green World series, Giving Ground: Another Step in the Wide Green World, by Bracketyjack (on Archive of Our Own). I also read and enjoyed Becky Chambers’ latest SF book, A Psalm for the Wild-Built.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Sooner or later, I’ll write another book in my Cowbird Creek historical romance series. I have an itch to return to science fiction, but probably not in any of my previous series or subgenres. And I’d like to bring more of my long-buried picture books into the light.

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?
NOOOOO! How about 3 or 4 boxes? . . .

The actual answer would vary from hour to hour, but at the moment, I’d bring Lois McMaster Bujold’s Miles in Love (three novels, but one big book!); My One and Only Duke by Grace Burrowes; Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers; and His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik.

Author Websites and Profiles
Karen A. Wyle Website
Karen A. Wyle Amazon Profile
Karen A. Wyle Author Profile on Smashwords

Karen A. Wyle’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve always been a writer. I loved it at primary school and would get a sense of huge pride if my stories were displayed on the wall. That enjoyment of people reading my words led me in to a career in journalism and PR; crafting something to make an impression or get someone’s story across was always interesting and I still enjoy it. It’s taken me all over the world and to some amazing places and events – I’ve been very lucky. I’ve always written creatively but only recently have I decided to devote more ‘proper’ time to it. With work and family life to deal with there’s never been enough time in the day – or night, if I couldn’t sleep! I’m really enjoying the space and time to learn more about writing – there’s always more – and honing my craft.

I’ve published two books: ‘Working Mothers: The Essential Guide’ and ‘Broken Wand’. The first was commissioned off the back of a website I edited called mother@work and is exactly as it sounds, a guidebook for working mothers spanning everything from running your own business to employment law to guilt for working and guilt for not working – the list goes on. I was drawing a lot on my own experiences, interviewing lots of normal everyday working mums and definitely not trying to tell women they can have it all – I don’t think any working mum would say it’s a walk in the park!

I’ll talk about ‘Broken Wand’ next …

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called ‘Broken Wand’.

Mike is about to give up on his lifelong dream of becoming a famous magician; he’s in a rut, he’s nearly 40 and he’s never really got over losing the love of his life 9 years ago. Angelique is a young, highly intelligent online marketing genius looking for a way to get herself noticed and advance her career. She sees Mike’s act one night and decides to try and help him- and herself – realise their ambitions. They form an unusual friendship, bonding over rough childhood bullying – Mike because of his dad’s position in the local car works and Angelique because of her dwarfism. Friends and family try to intervene and when Angelique starts to get ore than her share of the limelight, Mike starts to see his life unravelling. Has he given everything up for an illusion of success?

The book was inspired by wanting to tell a normal person’s story; a life of normal ups and downs but maybe someone who is looking for a break, has ambition but just doesn’t know how to realise it. Second to that was wanting to explore an unusual friendship and how family and friends would react to that; curiosity? jealousy? rivalry? All of them it turns out …

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure they’re unusual but I do find I do my best writing when I’m not writing! I take my dog for long walks and concentrate on where I am, who I’m with and what I’m seeing to have a proper break from life’s admin and sometimes then I find I have an idea or a solution to a problem just pop into my head. Sometimes the subconscious just needs the space to get your attention.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Too many to list here! I’ve always enjoyed books that have had strong female characters. Not in the kick-ass physical sense but in the mental resilience and intelligence sense. Whether that’s Moll Flanders or Lisbeth Salander and I think that’s what’s influenced my writing. Angelique in my book Broken Wand is incredibly strong and resilient and has had to come up with her own ways of dealing with harassment due to her dwarfism. As a result, she has used her intelligence to really make an impact on the world.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on another novel with the working title ‘All The King’s Horses.’ It’s also going to have a strong central female character and a more twisty-thriller plot than Broken wand with some flashbacks to the 70’s and 80’s. It’s going to explore eco-activism and how on persons childhood affected them deeply as they grew up with devastating consequences for people around her.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have an author page on Facebook – Denise Tyler, Author – which is the same name I use on Twitter and Instagram. These are the main outlets I use as they are well established with some great groups to take part in. It’s all about old fashioned networking in a sense – find the right groups with the right audiences and shake some hands! That said, I am booked on a blog tour in early September (my first) so looking forward to seeing how that pans out.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Seek early readers and have the humility to accept and examine feedback – for better or for worse. You don’t have to act on it but it will be extremely useful and you’ll come back to it on other projects.. More importantly, don’t let it put you off – you’ll never please all the people all the time – use it as fuel to get better.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I have this stuck to the wall next to my desk: ‘The beautiful thing about writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.’ Rober Cromier.

Wise words indeed.

What are you reading now?
I’ve just started New Grub Street by George Gissing. I’m slightly perplexed as to how I’ve never come across this book before as it is about the everlasting problem in a writer’s existence – to write commercially and make money or to write high literary art and stay poor. ‘New Grub Street was written at breakneck speed in the autumn of 1890 and is considered his best novel. Intensely autobiographical, it reflects the literary and cultural crisis in Britain at the end of the nineteenth century.’ Waterstones. The thing I love about it is that the book is over 130 years old and while we’ve moved on enormously in the literary and cultural worlds – especially in the last decade – I don’t think we’ve fully solved those problems yet …

What’s next for you as a writer?
Novel No. 2! Which I should be getting on with instead of filling in author interviews.

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?
Three or Four? That’s difficult! Most recently I’ve read ‘Pew’ by Catherine Lacey which I loved and would take to read and read again until I’ve worked out how she elicits the emotion and responses she does. It’s a masterclass. I’d also take the Hobbit because it’s one of the first ‘proper’ books I read as a child and loved the way it took me on a dangerous, exciting adventure. It really fired my imagination and I still have the same copy. I would also like to take a book about surviving on a desert island, what to eat and how not to die. I don’t have a specific title in mind so if anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

Author Websites and Profiles
Denise Tyler Website
Denise Tyler Amazon Profile

Denise Tyler’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a sci-fi writer living in Chicago and I’ve had five novels published and two more in the queue. In brief, I’m award winning, critically acclaimed, author of novels, graphic novels, comic book series, and have appeared in numerous anthologies. I began writing professionally in 1986 for the Chicago Rocker Magazine in conjunction with my radio show on Z-95 (ABC-FM) and went on to write for several other magazines and blogs. I currently write a twisted news & science blog at WorldNewsCenter.org. It provides source material for my weekly radio show on WBIG 1280 AM, FOX!.

I’m a big fan of vodka, music, and this purple haired goddess who keeps waking up in his bed.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
SPLICE: HIT BIT TECHNOLY. I kind of came at this one sideways. Tye Feimster, CEO of ©Watchdog Entertainment® LLC. asked me to review some comics his company had released. During the course of my reviews I kept circling back to one character who appeared in every issue, but was used as a Mcguffin. I wanted to know about him. The next thing I knew I’d been hired to tell his story.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really. I like listening to loud, upbeat, music of any genre. Yes, even dub step.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There have been tons but the two that stand out are A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller and The Voyage of the Space Beagle by A. E. van Voght. The former for its deep dive into how a religion forms and then how it influences society over the centuries. It is an amazing example of world building. The latter for its batshit crazy look at alien encounters. The book transcends paranoid in chapter one and doubles down in each ensuing chapter. Whenever I ask how far I can go, Space Beagle reminds I can always go further.

What are you working on now?
Right now Book 3 of the Goptri of the Mists series. This series is the prequel/sequel to The Brittle Riders, which I once, innocently, assumed might be worth a novella. Instead it tossed out at 300,000+ words which inspired readers to ask what happened to the rest of the world. So I’m answering that.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use my website and newsletter for promotions. My publisher handles the rest. This helps keep me sane.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Writing, like any craft, requires practice and study. As one author once told me, “You can’t break the rules until you know what they are.”

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
No matter what, there is always someone bigger, faster, stronger, and/or smarter than you. Pick your fights carefully.

What are you reading now?
Out of the House of Frache by Genevieve Kennedy. It’s the genealogy of my family. I know almost nothing about where I came from so this seemed a good way to learn.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish the Goptri series, and keep submitting shorts to anthologies.

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 Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller
The Dance of Time by David Drake and Eric Flint
Kindred by Octavia Butler

Author Websites and Profiles
Bill McCormick Website
Bill McCormick Amazon Profile

Bill McCormick’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 writer that is inspired by our beautiful earth and pretty much anything related to romance and love.
I have penned two books to date, one fiction romance for young adults and a poetry book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest work is a collection of poems titled, “A Long Midnight”. I was inspired by the many emotions of falling in, out, and back in love.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to be near the ocean or out in nature when I am writing. Being alone in nature’s birdsong and listening to the waves rolling in calms my heart, and I can easily escape to a place where anything is possible.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Kurt Vonnegut’s short stories have inspired me to write. I will read anything that I can learn from and also leaves me feeling inspired.

What are you working on now?
I am working on another poetry book. I found where my true heart wants to be for now-in love with nature.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I like to use Instagram to share my poetry and am still exploring new avenues to promote my work.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Find what works best for your writing style. I prefer “freestyle”. I just write, see where I land, then go back and edit.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Whenever you feel overwhelmed, take 3 deep breaths, and start again.

What are you reading now?
I am reading and studying the Anthology of U.S. Women Writers. I enjoy the variety of short stories and poems that this ginormous book offers.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I will continue writing poetry related to nature and whatever the days inspire me to.

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 3 for sure!
Anthology of U.S Women Writers by Lisa Maria Hogeland and Shay Brown
A Year of Positive Thinking by Cindie Spiegel
My Bible

Author Websites and Profiles
Rose Petalle Website
Rose Petalle Amazon Profile

Rose Petalle’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have written two books as my penname, A.D. Craig. Book 3 coming soon! Lovely Oblivion is a rockstar romance series about the members of a female rock band.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Lovely Oblivion: Bex. It is about a high school reunion second chance romance. I am attempting different tropes for each book of the series. Bex was inspired by one of my favorite female singers.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do most writing on my smartphone. My phone is always with me so it’s convenient.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love a good romance and read so many books on Kindle Unlimited. The Traveling series by Jane Harvey-Berrick and the Half-Moon books by Taryn Bradley are some of my favorite books and I absolutely love their style.

What are you working on now?
Lovely Oblivion: Polly – a friends to lovers rockstar romance. Book 3 of the Lovely Oblivion series, coming soon!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have a newsletter, facebook page, instagram, and twitter. Follow me on any of the above!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing! Even if you think draft one is garbage. You can’t edit it if it’s not on paper. Draft two will be much better.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Keep going. Impossible comes true.

What are you reading now?
I am beta reading for a new author.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Next is book 3 of Lovely Oblivion. The series will be five books. After those are done, who knows?

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?
Teagan Hunter – Let’s Get Textual
Taryn Bradley – Half Moon Hero
Jane Harvey-Berrick – The Traveling Man

Author Websites and Profiles
A.D. Craig Website
A.D. Craig Amazon Profile

A.D. Craig’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve always loved reading and writing, and from an early age I dreamed of becoming a writer one day. As I got older, exams, boys, art college and finally a career all got in the way, and I only started writing again when my ten year old daughter complained that she couldn’t find enough adventure stories to read. Then I remembered my ambition and decided it might be a good time to make it happen.
Over the next few years I wrote two children’s novels and a self-help book, as well as lots of articles about healthy eating and family history. I found a publisher for the self-help book, but it wasn’t until 2014 that I finally decided to self-publish the two novels. Eye Spy and Haunted are contemporary mystery stories for middle grade readers, set in a seaside town, about two teen sleuths and their detective service, Eye Spy Investigations. They were great fun to write, and Haunted was a finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards in 2017.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
In 2019 the last book in the Eye Spy series, Lady in Red, was published. The house at the centre of the story, Acacia Villa, was inspired by the house I lived in from the age of nine, a large Victorian villa which had been divided into three flats. We lived in the first floor flat, and I fell in love immediately with the garden behind the house, which was divided into three terraces. At the top was a patio, then there was a large lawn, and the bottom level was a neglected jungle. The best thing about the garden was that from there I had access through a hole in the fence to the totally overgrown garden of the house next door, which had been empty for years. It was my own secret garden, and it provided the perfect setting for the adventures that take place in Lady in Red. Writing about it was like returning to my childhood!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m very lucky – I have my own study. I need absolute quiet and no disturbances to write, or I lose concentration and give up.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am a great admirer of Jacqueline Wilson’s children’s books and also Sue Townsend’s Diary of Adrian Mole, which have both influenced my Eye Spy books. I also loved the Harry Potter books, which taught me that kids love a mystery story with scenes that take place at both home and school, and which also feature pets.

What are you working on now?
At the moment I’m trying my hand at writing a Young Adult book, and I would really like to find a publisher for this one, because self-publishing is Hard Work. It started out as a contemporary reworking of a Dickens novel, but after getting some advice from a literary agent about what publishers are looking for at present, I’m rethinking the plot. It’s the most challenging thing I’ve ever tried to write, but I’m determined to finish it and help my two protagonists to find their happy ending.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
With children’s books, the best way to reach your target audience is to get into schools, by offering to help with literacy programmes or offering creative writing sessions. I also do a lot of face to face promotion at book fairs. I am a member of a local writer’s network and we get together regularly to arrange literary events and promote each other’s books. Online, you can really only sell to the parents/grandparents rather than the children themselves.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Restraint! DON’T publish until you have worked out a marketing plan and started to implement it. You have to work out how to help people discover your book, and this takes time. Join ALLIA (Alliance of Independent Authors) to get advice from successful Indie authors. I wish someone had told me this before I published my first novel!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Read as much as possible in the genre you write in. Work out how the best authors do it, and learn from them.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading lots of YA novels, to get me into the zone for my work in progress. Some authors I’ve discovered that I really enjoy are Holly Jackson, Sheena Wilkinson, and Shirley Anne Macmillan. And when I tire of contemporary YA, I return to old favourites like Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have promised my family that when I have finished the current book, I will write up everything I have discovered about my mother’s family, the Clodes. They had an interesting past, running coach services in and out of London in the eighteenth century, as well as coaching inns in and around Windsor.

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?
On a desert island escapism would be the order of the day, so maybe two novels by my favourite author, Georgette Heyer: Venetia and These Old Shades; plus one of the Outlander novels by Diana Gabaldon – I’ve reached number 5 now, The Fiery Cross.

Author Websites and Profiles
Tessa Buckley Website

Tessa Buckley’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
As a teacher with a degree in Elementary Education who has taught in big cities and small towns, I homeschooled all of my children. I manage my rural homestead with my kids and our numerous critters. I write books and a Friday blog alternating between short stories and My Road Goes Ever On series.

My nonfiction work focuses on the intersection of motherhood, widowhood, practicing gratitude, and rediscovering joy.

My fiction novels expand from the OldEarth world to the Newearth universe—where deception rules but truth prevails.

I earned a Masters of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing for Entertainment from Full Sail University.
In my spare time, I serve as an election judge, a literacy tutor, and as secretary/treasurer of my small town’s cemetery.

I am currently finishing a new science fiction novel in the Newearth world and a historical fiction & science fiction blend in her OldEarth series.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I am working on a rewrite of my original historical fiction series, with the added bonus of the OldEarth world encountering the larger universe in what eventually becomes the Newearth Universe.
OldEarth Aram Encounter
OldEarth Ishtar Encounter
OldEarth Neb Encounter
OldEarth Georgios Encounter

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write pretty much all the time. But it’s only when I get to my computer that I can put the ideas into print.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The honesty of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the imagination of J. R. R. Tolkien, the zeal of Chesterton, and the uncompromising reflections of Samuel Clemens.

What are you working on now?
I am now working on OldEarth Melchior Encounter, book 5 in the series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My own blog site has been great for connecting interested readers with fresh stories, poems, and reflections.
akfrailey.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep learning and find your own voice.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Use more than one proofreader before you publish.

What are you reading now?
The Camerons by Crichton

What’s next for you as a writer?
I will work on my Newearth series and develop the universe with fresh characters and plots.

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 New Testament
The Lord of the Rings
Little House on the Prairie
How to Survive on a Desert island

Author Websites and Profiles
A. K. Frailey Website
A. K. Frailey Amazon Profile

A. K. Frailey’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Doctor by profession, author, artist, musician, and farmer by passion. I have written one book, and am in the process of writing the second.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Adventures of a countryside doctor. This book has been inspired by my experiences as a doctor while working in a remote village.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I carry a notebook and write in longhand whenever I get the time and motivation.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Charles Dickens, O. Henry, Gabriela Marcos, Paulo Coelo, Larry Collins, J. K. Rowling, A. J. Cronin, James Herriot, Arundathi Roy, Chetan Bhagat.

What are you working on now?
A fictional autobiography related to early student life.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Once you do an outline, write daily and finish the first draft. Do the editing and polishing afterward.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Even if imperfect, take consistent action.

What are you reading now?
This is going to hurt, by Adam Kay

What’s next for you as a writer?
Complete a series of five fictional biographies

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?
All the books by James Herriot yet to read

Author Websites and Profiles
Thomas Thomas Website
Thomas Thomas Amazon Profile

Thomas Thomas’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing short stories, books, and articles as a freelance writer for many years.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Verboten” is a sci-fi romance with a dark side, about forbidden love between an Earthly man and a lovely extraterrestrial woman: A man with nothing to lose, a woman with a kingdom to lose, and a love worth fighting for. Sort of “Avatar” meets “Game of Thrones” meets “O”.

What inspired it was that, while deleting files on my computer, I found a 2-page short story I’d forgotten about for 10 years and never published, and when I heard Amazon Kindle Vella launching, decided to develop it into a serial just for their platform. Each chapter (which they call episodes) ends in a cliffhanger. It was so much fun to write, since sci-fi romance has never been my go-to genre. I even named my main character Vella.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, but I do enjoy writing with chocolate and a good coffee.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Peter Benchley, Cormac McCarthy, William Peter Blatty, Edgar Allen Poe, Emily Dickinson, and a few others.

What are you working on now?
No other books in the works, just promoting “Verboten”. I keep saying each book is my last, but I think this one really is.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Social media, blogs, just about anything really.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes, keep trying, and be adventurous. Try writing in a genre that is different for you.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t give up.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading stories on Kindle Vella.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have no other books planned.

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 just need one, the King James Bible.

Author Websites and Profiles
Tammy Ruggles Website
Tammy Ruggles Amazon Profile

Tammy Ruggles’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile