Awesome Author Interviews

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My pen name is Biohacked Trader (what I go by on social media). I have been writing ebooks for almost a year. I write part-time and also trade foreign exchange. I have been blessed with being able to work-from-home. I mostly write within the self-help genre, but have also written books on life hacking and wealth hacking. I live in Columbus, Ohio and I am 29 years old!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Let’s Get Smashed” – It is a recipe book full of avocado toast recipes. I was inspired by my love for avocado and low-carbohydrate recipes! As a self-proclaimed “biohacker”, I try to increase my focus and motivation by eating a high fat diet.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My only habit would be – coffee – lots and lots of coffee.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Tim Ferris

What are you working on now?
I haven’t decided on my next ebook yet. At the moment, i’m just trying to learn more about the Amazon algorithms. 🙂

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
fiverr has worked pretty well for me in the past; this is my first time using this site!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Coffee >.<

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t listen to anybody and mistakes aren’t always a negative.

What are you reading now?
Nothing at the moment

What’s next for you as a writer?
Not sure!

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 of my books, of course. 🙂

Author Websites and Profiles
Matt Gearinger Amazon Profile

Matt Gearinger’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am first and foremost a loving (and sometimes nagging) wife and a mom of a beautiful little boy, but when I’m not wrangling my toddler or covered in messes, I write and try to manage a career as an indie author.

Quitting my job and leaving the world of adults was a life-changing decision for our family, and although it came with its own difficulties, I would make the decision again in a heartbeat. Being home with my son was precious, but being the person that I am, I still felt like I needed something more. Writing became the “more” I was looking for and I was pleased to discover that I had at least one book in me. About six months after I set out to write my first book, Mended was completed and I’d discovered a whole new part of myself I didn’t know was there.

For me, writing is a way to escape the everyday stresses of life and it creates a welcome challenge on a daily basis. I hope to make a career out of it, but even if I don’t succeed, I can be grateful that I’ve pushed myself to achieve my dream to publish my first book.

I’m currently working on the second book in my Sweet Home Dixie Series, Survivor, and it’s scheduled to be released later this year. My Sweet Home Dixie series is made up of standalone contemporary romance novels set in a small, charming town in southern Alabama. All of my books have deep-rooted emotions, realistic and relatable characters full of flaws and personal struggles, and happy endings. I want to show readers that it’s okay not to be perfect and that everyone falls down at some point in their lives. But with love and personal reflection, we can become far better people than we ever thought possible and can often achieve the unimaginable.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My debut novel is called Mended. It’s a contemporary romance set in a small southern Alabama town and is part of a bigger series of three or more standalone novels (I haven’t quite decided yet.) When our son was born, we made a life-altering decision for me to quit my job and stay home with him. It was a huge change for us, but in the end it turned out to be the right move. Raising my son was like a dream come true, but I found myself feeling closed off from the world and needing something more. Long story short, I started writing and I soon discovered it to be the piece of my life that was missing.

For most of my adult life, I worked with troubled youth and their families. It was heartbreaking to watch them struggle and make mistake after mistake that would set the course of their life forever. Most of these youth came from a troubled upbringing, abuse, neglect, missing parents, and it affected them deeply. But sometimes, in rare circumstances, all that was needed was one authentic role-model who made the extra effort for them to help inspire change. I had the honor of witnessing this miraculous change a handful of times during my career and I wanted to create a story that showcased the beauty of it and the importance of love and stability in people’s lives.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write whenever I get a spare minute, which usually means only during my son’s nap time, bed time, or when I can distract him with some kind of activity long enough to get a few words on the page or jot down some notes. I know it’s not the best set up to encourage creativity, and is not a permanent solution (kids don’t continue taking naps forever!) but for now it’s what I have to work with and I’ll take every opportunity I can.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There are a great many talented authors out there who I love to read and who have inspired me to write my own book series: Nora Roberts, Nicholas Sparks, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Gena Showalter, to name a few, But the book series that truly inspired my own was the Fool’s Gold Series by Susan Mallory. I love her witty and fun writing and the sweetness and sizzle of her romances. I loved the idea of creating a series within the same small town, where each book focuses on a new set of characters, but your favorites from other books come in and out of the story as well. Each story has its own conclusive ending, but all of the books intermingle, so readers can enjoy them all in any order.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on my second book in my Sweet Home Dixie Series. This standalone novel features Reid from the first book, along with some new intriguing characters. Our favorites are still hanging out as well, so we’ll get to see what they’re all up to in Book 2 and readers will get some of their questions answered from Book 1.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I don’t have a lot of time for book promotion, so I like to set things up ahead of time that can do the work for me later. Countless posts on social media is time-consuming, and frankly the results I’ve seen don’t equal the effort put in.

I’m still learning a lot every day, but from what I’ve found, building a mailing list of eager and enthusiastic readers is a great method in getting the word out to your fans. Getting those fans is a bit more work, but you can often find them by taking the time to talk with people, open yourself up to questions, collaborate with other authors, and be willing to give away your work for free (or at least samples!)

I also like using book promotion sites because they are an inexpensive, time-friendly, and effective method of finding potential readers and telling the world about your book. So far, I’ve only used these sites when I have a sale promotion for my book, and they have been very effective. To name a few: Bookbub is the most expensive and the most effective of these sites with the biggest readership and following, but it also has the strictest guidelines and they reject up to 90% of the submissions they receive. I’ve also tried Reading Deals with some success and in my next campaign I’m using Many Books, Read Cheaply, Buck Books, and of course Awesomegang. Some other great sites are E Reader News Today, and Kindle Nation Daily. There are tons of affordable promotion options out there today. With a little research, you can find the right methods for you.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Research. Learn about the inner-working of the business before you publish and never stop learning. Things change quickly in this business and you have to be willing to adapt. That means continuing to learn and try new things and move on from the things that don’t work.

Define what success means for you and be willing to work for it. Success will not just fall into your lap. It takes a huge amount of effort, patience, AND A TON OF MISTAKES to get there.

Above all, don’t be afraid to fail. Finding out what doesn’t work is an important part of finding out what does. Becoming a self-sustaining and even money-making author is a marathon, with many pot holes along the way. If you want something, be willing to work your booty off for it, and if you’re not willing to do that, it is OK to quit (as long as you’re okay with it!)

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Hire a professional editor. I know the cost of hiring a good editor can be daunting, but don’t skimp out. Getting your book professionally edited is a game changer and a necessity. Beta readers are great, but they can’t replace a good editor. It is the best investment you can make for your book and for yourself as an author. (A great cover designer is also important!).

What are you reading now?
I’ve been on a Susan Elizabeth Phillips kick lately and I recently went down to the library and cleared out the shelf. I just read Call Me Irresistible and I’m finishing up Just Imagine.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’d like to finish writing my Sweet Home Dixie Series (even if it takes me years) and then, I don’t know. Maybe a new book series. I’ve always hoped to co-author a book with my husband and I hope we get the chance to do that some 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?
I can never answer questions like this. If there was a fire and I was only allowed to choose 3 things to take with me (people and pets not included) I would burn to death.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kayla Marie Website
Kayla Marie Amazon Profile

Kayla Marie’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have co-written one book and written many unpublished poems.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Fifty Shades Deeper is my book! And the books and movies written by and inspired by EL James, which are Fifty Shades of Grey, Darker, Freed, and Grey. I fell in love with the characters and their journey together. The books changed my life for the better! I stand firmly behind my belief that reading Fifty Shades of Grey can enhance married life for curious and/or stagnated couples. I am adamant that reading FSOG changed my life and marriage for the better because of the message contained therein of unconditional love and feeling free to fully express love without reservations. I wanted to share my love and appreciation for the deeper messages in the Fifty Shades of Grey series, so I co-authored this insightful book with Brownell Landrum, Jewell Hennessey, and the contributions of over 150 fans of the FSOG series.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Well, this being my first book, the 3 of us authors worked only over facebook and email. We never spoke to each other over the phone one time. And we never texted during this adventure. It was really a labor of love built on trust and respect that made this book possible.
When I’m writing poetry, I usually write when I’m unhappy or very happy. And the poems just come to me and I have to get them out of my head, and heart, as quickly as possible.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
EL James was really the biggest influence I have had in writing this book. Also I relied heavily on the support and guidance of fellow author, Brownell Landrum, who is herself a published author.

What are you working on now?
Marketing for the Fifty Shades Deeper book.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Twitter and Facebook for now. And the 50shadesdeeper.com website. I’ve not found any “author” website that has given me much in the terms of exposure.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write about what you love! And don’t feel shy about asking for help. Make sure you have someone else read your work. You’ll be surprised what you will miss by being the only one reading the work.
Also, I had no idea how much marketing would be put on my shoulders by being a self-published author. I had no idea! It can be very overwhelming.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Do what you love!
When you know better, you do better.

What are you reading now?
I’m still reading Fifty Shades of Grey series. I’ve never stopped reading them since I picked them up in March of 2015. I love them so much!!
I also am reading the Twilight series while I’m reading FSOG. I also have started reading Carrie Fisher’s The Princess Diarist.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I hope to publish some of my poems.
I also have two ideas for kid’s books. I just have the ideas. Nothing down on paper yet. I had one of the ideas since I was a child myself.

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, no doubt they would be Fifty Shades of Grey, Darker and Grey. Then I’d probably add the Narnia series.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kaydee Fergus Website
Kaydee Fergus Amazon Profile

Kaydee Fergus’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m 36 years old and I have a background in acting. My degree is in theatre performance and in addition to acting in plays I’ve gotten some work as an extra and as a stand in for some films and tv shows. Currently my full time job is working as a marketing and social media assistant at a blood bank. I have a lot of hobbies. I enjoy weightlifting, running, tennis, comic books, video games, television, movies, reading, and writing. Currently I have only written one book but am working on my second, a sequel.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The title of my first book is The Lost Kingdom of Moora, and the title is taken from one of the locations explored in the book. The first protagonist in the story deals with this lost kingdom.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not that I am aware of. I am new to writing a novel, and so I may notice some as I progress. Before I began writing this book I hadn’t written a story since I was assigned to write one in high school (though I did have to write a script in college for a script writing class).

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My greatest influence as an author is Edgar Rice Burroughs. I love his Tarzan, Pellucidar and Barsoom series, and all his other books I have read. The Outlaw of Torn is my favorite standalone book he wrote. I love many other authors and books: Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time Series, Piers Anthony’s Xanth, David Eddings’ Belgariad, Fred Saberhagen’s Swords books, and of course Tolkien’s Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, just to name a few. However, my writing isn’t high fantasy like Tolkien. I prefer the way Burroughs wrote, and feel that my storytelling reflects a similar style to some of his works.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on my sequel to The Lost Kingdom of Moora. The epilogue of TLKofM leads into events that will take place in the second book. I’m also putting ideas down for the third book I plan to write, which isn’t a sequel to these books, and is actually going to be a Science Fiction story. However, I definitely will be returning to the world of my first two books with new characters and returning characters after that.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve just started promoting my book, so I am learning. So far, word of mouth through my facebook friends and at work is helping me to promote it. I’ve also been working to promote the book on twitter.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
As a new author myself, I’d say my biggest piece of advice is to write in a genre you love. Get friends and relatives to read the book as you are writing it and give you feedback on characters, the world, and the story. Be willing to take criticism and change if necessary. If you feel strongly about certain things in your book, don’t compromise on them, but be willing to bend if possible.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I’ve been given is to not let rejection letters get you down. If you are turned down by an agent or a publisher, then move on to the next. And you can always self-publish if nothing else!

What are you reading now?
I’ve been focused on writing but I have several books I need to crack open around the house. I do need to read something soon.

What’s next for you as a writer?
The sequel to The Lost Kingdom of Moora!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’d definitely bring my Bible, because my faith is important to me. I’d also bring The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (I do have it collected in one book), and the Pellucidar Series Complete Collection by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I know that may be cheating. If I could only choose one of the LotR books, I’d choose Return of the King, and if I could only choose one Pellucidar book, I’d choose At the Earth’s Core.

Author Websites and Profiles
Robert Cruce Website

Robert Cruce’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I wrote my first book at the age of 17. It was a long and complicated stream-of-consciousness rant on the interior conflicts of a teenager, and I count on getting out a new edition of that some day. I studied Literature and Philosophy at the Third University of Rome, so my graduation theses are actual books that are currently published in Italian. Julia Dream is my first sci-fi novel.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Julia Dream is my latest novel and it was inspired by an actual dream I had (hence the title, although I do love Pink Floyd too). It was very vivid and I tried to mirror with my writing style the extremely visual mental image I have of the story, the setting and the overall mood of the book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write best late at night, in bed before going to sleep, by hand in a journal. I then review and copy my work by hand one more time, because I feel it improves my writing. All subsequent editing is done at the computer.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love The Lord of the Rings with a passion. Not only for the imagery of Middle Earth, which set the groundwork for all fantasy from there on, but for Tolkien’s specific sensibility. His characters are epic in the real sense of the term.
Another book that influenced be enormously was George Orwell’s 1984 – so much that my own novel is set in a dystopian future.

What are you working on now?
Right now I am working on the second book of the Julia Dream series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m very happy to have my blog as a platform to deliver content to my audience.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I would tell them not lo let fear of judgement stop them and keep them away from their dreams.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
There’s no bigger failure than not trying at all.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading Le Mort d’Arthur.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I think it’s very exciting to see how the self-publishing community is developing. I look forward to participating in the community and engaging with my readers as much as possible.

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 (J. R. R. Tolkien)
– The Wizard of Earthsea (Ursula LeGuin)
– The Mysterious Island (Jules Verne) because it might come in handy
– Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe) as a manual for stranded survivors

Author Websites and Profiles
Fabia Scali-Warner Website
Fabia Scali-Warner Amazon Profile

Fabia Scali-Warner’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m Nikki. I’m 24 and I recently graduated from university with a degree in biochemistry. Although science has always been a passion of mine, so has writing. I have written and published one book so far but I have many more to come.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my newest, and first ever release is called Monster. The book is about a sixth form student called Tessa Brooks who inflicts torment onto the lives of many people who attend her school. It was inspired mostly by the neighborhood that I grew up in and the secondary school that I attended- not a very nice place!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure that it would be unusual as such but it is something that I always do. Before I even know what I’m going to write, I always make playlists that make me feel the characters I’m going to be writing about.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Sharon Bolton has been a big influence on me. I have loved all of her books and I admire the way she interacts with her fans. I suppose another big influence on my writing has been the Pretty Little Liars series of books by Sara Shepard. I love the suspense and mystery that is generated each book in the series and I would love to be able to emulate that in my own writing some day.

What are you working on now?
I’ve got two other projects that I am currently working on. One is another book that fits well into the mystery category but the other is completely different style and I suppose that would be a supernatural/action/adventure book.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m not really sure yet, I’ll let you know when I figure out the best way.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
As a new author I suppose I’m not really in the place to give much advice at the moment. However, I guess I would say don’t give up. Have the courage to put yourself out there. Someone wants to read what you have to say.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Just breathe.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading Calamity; the last installment in the Reckoners series by Brandon Sanderson.

What’s next for you as a writer?
A bit of promotion and then carrying on working on my other two projects.

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?
Reasons to stay alive, SAS Survival Guide and The Hobbit.

Author Websites and Profiles
N.L. Bosworth Amazon Profile

N.L. Bosworth’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My Words Your soul : Collection of soulful Poems from my heart for people to share and be happy.

I write..

I write because something inside me forces me to pen down my thoughts. It’s like an adrenaline rush that makes me restless until I do something to calm down, so I write.

Most of the times it may not make sense to those who read my poems or articles but remember, that is who I am without your acceptance or rejection that is who I will be and it won’t change. I write because something inside me screams every single day that’s it’s just once we live, so I write

I am not here forever but my words and deeds will be so that’s my focus in life. Most struggle to find their purpose and I have found it so let me be true and faithful to it because my mind goes crazy if I don’t, so I write

I feel the feeling what others go through even if I personally haven’t experienced it. I feel the pain, I feel the joy, I feel the excitement of things I haven’t been through and may be I am an old soul, so I write

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My Words Your Soul : Collection of soulful Poems

Life and all the events good or bad inspired me.
There is beauty in happiness as well as sadness and I have tried to capture through my poems

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write at night

 

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
All the online sites which can promote my book and spread it to the world and readers

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be real
Be natural
Believe in your self
Enjoy the Journey

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Love yourself and believe in Karma

What’s next for you as a writer?
More Poems on the way…

Author Websites and Profiles
Darshan Joshi Amazon Profile

Darshan Joshi’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a writer: five novels, one non-fiction self-help (tongue-in-cheek), and a book of poetry.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I never thought that I would write a horror novel, but my son kept saying, “Write just one horror novel, Dad, and after it sells then you can write anything you want.” O the irony! Thus, I actually wrote The Vampire for my son, and he loved it. He’d take off upstairs with every next chapter hot off the printer. He said, “Dad, I laughed, I cried, and you scared the _____ out of me.” With a review like that… he was my audience and I knocked it out of the park.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Coffee and peanuts. I start every day with these, add some Janis (Joplin) to the background, and start to write. The best days have rain drizzling down, and I hold the steaming mug of coffee against my chest whenever my fingers aren’t playing over the keyboard.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I grew up a Dickensian, read my first Dickens, Oliver Twist, when I was in fourth-grade, and I was gone. I entered Dickens’s world, more macabre and madcap than the worlds of the most far-flung science fiction and fantasy, and to this day I still live there as much as possible. Not long afterwards, I came across Hugo’s Les Miserables and am to this day a Francophile. I still consider Hugo’s tome to be the greatest novel ever written. And then there’s Kinky Friedman, Tom Robbins, the wonderfully defiant A Confederacy of Dunces which mixed in and mingled with Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, along with all the other foregoing, pretty much constitute my worldview–which is probably why I wear glasses–and my sense of life, which is still one of wonder, though the wonder’s become a bit dogeared and bleary around the edges much of the time.

What are you working on now?
My next work follows in the footschleps of my first novel, a genre bender still unpublished, a dystopian comedy that is an equal opportunity offender, and this present work I hope will prove worthy of the first.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m a writer. The self-promotion makes me feel like a huckster or a carnival barker. I write the books. I do the work. Now, read me, world!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
No.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Sing “Happy Birthday” twice to know how long to wash your hands.

What are you reading now?
William T. Vollman’s The Ice-Shirt, Stephen Kotkin’s biography of Stalin, Ezra Pound’s Early Poems and Translations, Jose Ruben Romero’s La vida inutil de Pito Perez, and Liu Cixin’s The Dark Forest. I keep several books going at once, usually this kind of mix: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, non-English, and something just fun.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Another word. The novel I’m now writing will take years, as did my first novel, its literary predecessor, so I will probably pull off from time to time and finish or carry through on other books I’ve got going or have projected, as a pressure valve release. That first one almost killed 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?
Der Bibel (Martin Luther’s translation) and the KJV; these need to be interlinear so I can count them as one. The complete works of the Bard. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. And the one-volume microprint edition of the OED (Oxford English Dictionary).

 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing since I was 12! And acting since I was 5. I’ve written 2 novels–Priest Kid and You Can’t Get There from Here (under consideration). I’ve also written two screenplays…Saint John the Divine in Iowa, which won the 2015 Meryl Streep Lab, Run from Fire, which was a finalist for the 2016 Half the World Literati Award and a 3rd undisclosed project as a writer for hire. I also write plays. My full length play They Named Us Mary won me a scholarship to Brandeis University, and then was produced in Boston. Murder by Psychotherapy was produced at Sarah Lawrence College, My Mother and the Nun won the Eleanor and Stanley Lipkin Prize in Playwriting, the play version of Saint John the Divine in Iowa got great reviews in Boston. I’ve also competed as a slam poet, been nominated for a Pushcart in fiction…I find that certain stories won’t let me go, and I trawl around until I find the right genre for the characters.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Priest Kid. I was originally inspired by an actual priest kid–the son of an Episcopal priest who was my colleague and the director of photography on a short film I directed. But then I started interviewing Episcopal priests and their families and I fell in love…with the beauty of their struggles toward goodness, with the exceptional burdens of their lives, with the search for meaning which is all too evident in their lives…and with how their families put up with their higher calling.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I laugh at my own jokes. I can’t help it. Sometimes I sit at the computer, write a line, laugh, then write another, then practically fall out of my chair. I have also been known to sit there crying while I write the tragic scenes. It’s the actor in me…

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My greatest influence by far is James Baldwin. I think he writes about three layers deeper than anyone else, and the poetry in his books sings you awake. I also love Jane Smiley…both her big comic novels like Horse Heaven and A Thousand Acres. I love that she borrowed the plot from King Lear and turned it on its head.

What are you working on now?
I’m writing a web series called 100 Ways to Write Your Own Eulogy Dot Com. It’s about a suicidal eulogy writer, her porn-obsessed stock broker husband who’s lost his mojo, and their transgendered teenage child. It’s a comedy. I swear. It really is funn!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Outside of this one? Facebook, Twitter and IndieAuthor. But Kirkus will release a review in May…let’s see what that does.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write to find your own voice, to give the world what only you can give. The work comes first, and the joy we find in it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t push the river.

What are you reading now?
Sharon Shinn. I’m a sucker for fantasy.

What’s next for you as a writer?
A one woman show about my 30 year relationship!

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?
Another Country by James Baldwin
Horse Heaven by Jane Smiley
Fire and Hemlock by Dianna Wynne Jones
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip

Author Websites and Profiles
Lyralen Kaye Website
Lyralen Kaye Amazon Profile

Lyralen Kaye’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been writing avidly since I was three years old. There is hardly ever a time when I am not working on a new novel, and when I am not writing, I feel lost! All in all, I have written five books, and two have been published so far: Portrait of a Sunset (a romantic suspense novel) and Chase and Charlie, a thriller.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Portrait of a Sunset, and it was partially inspired by a dream I had. It was also inspired by some of my own personal struggles with anxiety, which manifest themselves in my main character, Clara, in an undiagnosed form of PTSD. Although my own personal experiences are nowhere near as traumatic as Clara’s, writing this character really helped me to vent some of the pent-up emotions I was feeling, and to learn that what I perceived as a weakness could actually be a strength.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Perhaps at one time this habit wasn’t unusual, but in this day in age, I’m sure people will find it very strange that I write out the first draft of all of my novels completely by hand! I find that this helps me to take my time, and to pick up the book whenever I feel the urge to write (without having to boot up the computer). It also makes it easy to see all my work in one place, and reading it as I type the next draft really helps with the editing process.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many authors have influenced me that I have lost count! But I would have to say that the three who have influenced me most are Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and J.K. Rowling. Stephen King in particular really influenced me with his memoir/writing manual, On Writing.

What are you working on now?
I just finished writing the first draft of a new novel in the romantic suspense genre. Unfortunately, though, I have a policy of never telling anyone what my books are about until they are in the final stages of production (I don’t want to jinx anything!). Sorry! 🙂

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have found the most success promoting my book on my Facebook author page, or in Facebook groups, as well as on my author website, www.jessicascottauthor.com.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
NEVER GIVE UP!!! Writing is a tough, lonely job full of obstacles like writer’s block and time constraints and people not “getting” you. But you are stronger than all of these things, and you will overcome them. Never stop believing in yourself and your writing, no matter what!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“You will face many defeats in your life, but never let yourself be defeated.” – Maya Angelou

What are you reading now?
Right now I am actually exercising my Italian skills by reading an Italian-language novel called “Volevo essere Audrey Hepburn” (“I Wanted to Be Audrey Hepburn”) by Vanessa Valentinuzzi. I bought it in a bookstore near Milan last year when I went to visit my pen pal of seven years.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Next up for me is one of my favorite parts of being a writer: the first read-through of the novel I just completed. I love getting to see the characters again, and seeing the whole story come together. I can’t wait!

After that comes publishing, and then, 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?
Hmm… This is a tough question. I think I would take Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger (a book of some of his best short stories, including my favorite, “For Esme – With Love and Squalor”), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Stephen King’s memoir, On Writing. If I can take a fourth book, I would also bring one I hadn’t read before, because I always enjoy reading something new and different.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jessica A. Scott Website
Jessica A. Scott Amazon Profile

Jessica A. Scott’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Matthew Drzymala, I’m an indie author from Manchester, but now live in Liverpool, UK.

I write a series of stories called The Bumpkinton Tales, there are four single stories released in total and one collection. The collection has the 4 stories plus a bonus, unreleased story.

the titles of the released stories are: Last Christmas, Bittersweet, The Bachelor & Albert’s Christmas.

The bonus story in the collection is called The Family Jewels.

I’ve also written one non-Bumpkinton story. This is called Brainstorm and is about a clinical psychologist and his fight with depression. It’s quite a personal story and one that means a lot to me.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called The Bumpkinton Tales: Volume One, it is a collection of my Bumpkinton stories, plus a bonus unreleased tale.

The stories are inspired for my love of writingt comedy. Each story is different. One is about a newcomer to the village, opening a shop that they are keeping secret.

Another is about a singles night with a womanising idiot while others are about Christmas, protests and flirty florists with a fixation for one of the village priests.

I just love coming up with situations.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, no. I have my writing pattern, I write on certain days and times (due to work etc).

So I wouldn’t say I do anything unusual.

I’m probably a bit boring like that!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Terry Pratchett, massively. Especially his Discworld series.

He was a master storyteller but he wrote with a lot of humour. That’s why I write comedy and if I could get 1% of is comedy genius into my stories, I’ll be a happy man.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on the first Bumpkinton novel. My previous stories have been short stories and novellas. I’ve been writing it for 2 years and it’s almost read for my editor and proof readers to look it.

It’s called: The Fantastical Gregory Shortbread

It’s about a theatre extraordinaire who turns up in the village after a speight of vandalism and helps Bumpkinton raise money.

Naturally not everything goes to plan, there are hooded hoodlums running amok, the village busybody has had a change of personality and there are secrets everywhere.

Will Gregory have the energy to finish the job?

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I try to promote everywhere. I promote a lot on social media, do interviews on websites as well as try Goodreads.

I do a lot on my own website too, it’s hard being an indie, especially when you write humour. It’s a tough cookie and not a massively popular genre. I love it though.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write!

That’s all you have to do. Write. If you want to be a writer you’ll do it. You’ll love the highs, you’ll love the lows. You’ll just love it!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write.

Honestly.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading Phantom by Jo Nesbo, one of my favourite authors.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Getting my novel completed and published, then I am going to work on a story for younger readers. Between the ages of 8-12.

I have a character I want to get stuck into,, but all of my energies are aimed at my novel right now. Once that’s off being read and edited, I will start that story.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Green Mile by Stephen King
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien (it’s thick enough, it’ll keep me going for some time!)
I, Partridge: We Need To Talk About Alan by Alan Partridge

Author Websites and Profiles
Matthew Drzymala Website
Matthew Drzymala Amazon Profile
Matthew Drzymala Author Profile on Smashwords

Matthew Drzymala’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have written one novel — so far. Time opened up for writing when I went into what I thought was semi-retirement a few years ago. But with two part-time jobs and working on another novel, retirement has been postponed.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My novel is Red Dot. I didn’t actually have a burning inspiration for the book. Basically I wanted to write a novel and I thought it would be interesting to portray space aliens as other than murderous monsters.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Occasionally I will get an idea while I’m jogging or just daydreaming for a bit of dialogue or a scene that I like. When I get to the point in the story for that dialogue or scene, I’ll make stuff up to go with it. With Red Dot I had bits ready for different parts of the novel, including the middle and the end, but I didn’t plan out the whole book. I must say that having two good editors to work on the draft was a huge help.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am definitely old school. In the last couple years I read, or re-read, novels by Dickens and Dostoevksy. I really like the short stories of Chekhov . The last two books I read certainly provided a look at different writing styles: The Aneid by Virgil and Frankenstein by Mary Shelly.

What are you working on now?
Now I’m working on a sequel to Red Dot, looking at life after the massive social and political upheavals caused by the first alien visit.

 

Author Websites and Profiles
Eugene Linn Website

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a recent graduate, artist and graphic designer. Big Bad Beautiful is my first book I have shared with the public, but I have one more being edited and there are several others that I have written in the past to help me better craft my style.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Big Bad Beautiful, a post apocalyptic, science fiction adventure. The story is a nightmarish combination of dystopian fiction and the classic Red Riding Hood fairytale.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
It takes me months to come up with an idea and figure out how to write it, but once I put pen to paper, or finger to keyboard, I can usually push out an initial draft in a few months.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King, Dave Eggers, Jonathan Stroud, JK Rowling, Dean Koontz.

What are you working on now?
A coming of age, horror novel called California Dark. The two houses featured are the ones I grew up in.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook allows you to connect with friends and contacts super easy.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just start writing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Just start writing 🙂

What are you reading now?
A novel a friend wrote.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Combine my latest text with my photography and move on to a kickstarted campaign.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
HARRY POTTER 4-7

Author Websites and Profiles
Daniel Garvin Website
Daniel Garvin Author Profile on Smashwords

Daniel Garvin’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I started artistically late in life since my parents cautioned me to stay away from art related careers; and instead, pursue a serious occupation that would lead to a “real job and a stable career.” So I became a metrologist (No it’s not misspelled, nor can I forecast the weather. Metrology is the art and science of measurement.)

Thirty years later, when I was one of many caught in the economic downturn, I decided to turn my hand to writing. I published “The Science of Loving” in 2014, followed by the novella written under the psuedonym E.V. Iverson, “Dead Dwight: a dark comedy.”

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I started writing “The Science of Loving” shortly after the economy had tanked. A lot of folks were experiencing dark times, and I was one of them; just another face in a jobless mob. Every evening, network T.V. piled on more bad news. Employment was down and home foreclosure was at an all time high. We’d gone to war over a pack of lies, and there were mass shootings in our elementary schools.

The media’s daily bombardment of real-life murder and mayhem was exhausting and I needed a vacation. But book vacations were all I could afford, and after the nightly rehash of Capital Hill’s daily torture debates (seriously? Water-boarding’s torture, what’s there to debate?) I didn’t need to ingest any more dark crap.

Figuring I wasn’t unique, and having an abundance of time (jobless,) I thought just maybe my special brand of geeky humor could make the world lighter one smile at a time. So here we are and I hope you’re smiling.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Is wearing men’s boxers while I write considered unusual? Hey, don’t judge me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There are so many… both good and bad. I wish I could say something profound and impressive, but I’m much better being profane and silly.

Stephen King is great when it comes to setting up a scene and creating mood. He’s great a master at crafting symbolism using every day objects.

Ray Bradbury, when it comes to descriptive writing… “Dark they were and golden eyed.” Six words was all he needed; the way their ordered is almost melodic. It’s a beautiful example of linguistic rhythm that makes the words stick in your mind (I read those words almost 40 years ago in middle school, and I’ve never forgotten them.)

Kalil Gibran’s “The Prophet” is a great example of using juxtaposition to enhance a point.

I learned just as much from authors and books I hated, but rather than naming names… I’ll just point out the lessons learned:

When you run out of new things to say you’re done, stop writing.

There will always be typos, if you can afford a copy-editor use one (God, I wish I could afford one.) If you are fortunate enough to have one, learn from them. They are specialized professional readers (and no matter how good you think you are, you cannot do their job as well as they can.)

What are you working on now?
I’m about midway through the first draft tentively titled, “It Only Takes Two.” It picks up where “The Science of Loving” ended; following a different pair of characters from the previous book.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Probably GoodReads. Although, I’ve pulled back on my marketing and social media efforts in order to find time to write.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read all your reviews, listen to your readers, learn from your mistakes. Good or bad, be grateful they took the time to read.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Friends lie!!!! Just because they told you your book was great, doesn’t mean it’s ready for publication. Find a stranger who won’t shy away from pointing out your mistakes.” Max Branscomb, journalism professor and playwright at Southwestern Community College– Chula Vista, Ca.

What are you reading now?
Darynda Jones “Charlie Davidson” series, New York Times, The Washington Post and anything else I can get my hands on.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Probably Hell if I don’t change my ways.

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?
Survival Manuel, The Complete Foxfire Collection Set, Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe and Mark Twain

Author Websites and Profiles
Candace Vianna Website
Candace Vianna Amazon Profile

Candace Vianna’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I program computers for a living, and a few years ago I got involved in the One Laptop Per Child project, which aimed to put inexpensive laptops in the hands of the world’s children and give them educational software unlike anything else that came before. The idea was that the children would go on to develop their own software for that platform and share it with the world. Before they could do this, they needed a good manual on how to write programs for these laptops, and I ended up writing a manual that is still used: Make Your Own Sugar Activities!

Another goal of the project was to get free e-books into the hands of these children, and I sensed the need for a book that would explain how to get these books, how to create them, how to convert printed books that were in the public domain into e-books, how to know what was in the public domain, how to photograph book pages, and lots of other stuff. My research into these topics led me to write E-Book Enlightenment: Reading And Leading With One Laptop Per Child.

After this I took out a manuscript I had written thirty years before and used my book scanning knowledge to make a publishable book about it. Since this was a memoir of my wasted youth, I published it under a pseudonym to avoid embarrassing my family. I have since used that same pseudonym to publish a novel and I’m working on a second one.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Format Your Own Damned Book is my latest title under my own name. It was inspired by corresponding with a science fiction author in Canada who was spending a fortune getting her manuscripts formatted as e-books. I pointed out that she could save a lot of money by doing that kind of work herself, as I had been doing all along. She didn’t know how, so I attempted to teach her. That led to writing the book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
If you don’t count leaving a typewritten manuscript on a shelf for thirty years and then revising it for publication, no.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve been going back to reread books that I’ve loved to see what it is about them that works. I like how Raymond Chandler describes things, Ron Goulart’s sense of humor, ditto for Mark Twain, Neal Stephenson’s ability to make exposition interesting, and many others. I’ve described my first novel as a Hermann Hesse novel written by Edward Elmer Smith.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a second novel in the world I set up for my first novel. It features minor characters from the first book and tells their story.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have a Google+ branding page for my memoir and my first novel. I put a lot of effort into them but it hasn’t helped.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read the books by Jack Woodford if you want to learn how to write a novel.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write drunk, edit sober. That was by Hemingway.

Write a short story every week for a year. That was by Ray Bradbury. He claimed that nobody could write 52 bad short stories.

Avoid using adverbs. Not sure who said it, but it seems to be true.

What are you reading now?
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I hope to quit my day job in a few years.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Ganguli translation of The Mahabharata is fascinating and long enough to read until I either got rescued or died from malnutrition. Donald Westlake’s Dortmunder novels and anything by Clive Cussler are good for reading on airplanes, so should work on a desert island too. I have a big collection of Ray Bradbury short stories that would be welcome.

Author Websites and Profiles
James Simmons Amazon Profile

 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Stuart Larner is a chartered psychologist. As Mental Health Expert, he ran an advice column for XL for Men Magazine. He has published international articles and poems in magazines and newspapers, as well as in scientific journals. He has been involved in scriptwriting and directing productions at the Edinburgh Fringe. Stuart published Scarborough Modern Sea Songs; an ebook in verse “Jack Daw and the Cat”; and an enovel about cricket entitled “Guile and Spin”. With Rosie Larner he co-wrote : “Hope: Stories from a Women’s Refuge.”

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Car: a sonnet sequence with illustrations Kindle Edition
this is a reworking of my original sonnet sequence first published in Envoi Magazine twenty years ago. This time with illustrations

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I sometimes like to write standing up.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Philip Larkin, William Shakespeare

What are you working on now?
A radio play based on a piece of music By Mussorgsky.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
i am examining digital marketing.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
get as much feedback as you can.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
cut the first page

What are you reading now?
i am working along the shelves in my local public library, reading books written in the first voice in order A to Z .

What’s next for you as a writer?
to master digital marketing.

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?
chamber’s dictionary, walker’s rhyming dictionary, and roget’s thesaurus.

Author Websites and Profiles
Stuart Larner Website
Stuart Larner Amazon Profile

Stuart Larner’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an Author, a reader, a music lover, and a movie enthusiast. Halfway is my debut novel.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Halfway, my latest novel, is book one of ‘Aspiration for Deliverance’ series.

Since my early childhood, I was somewhat different from my friends. There weren’t many readers in the city where I was born and raised. Almost all my friends were crazy about Cricket. I, on the other hand, was partial to reading comic books. I read my first novel when I was in fifth standard. By the time I was in tenth, I had read so many books that my mind had developed a habit of imagining things even when I wasn’t alone. My friends sometimes made fun of me when they caught me talking to myself.

In 2012, when people started talking about the impending “End of the World,” instead of being worried or scared, I was fascinated by the thought of it. I wanted to know what afterlife would be like. I mean, if there really is a place where we have to answer for our wrongdoings after death, it’s only fair to imagine that that place must be way more advanced in terms of technology than ours.

By the time I decided to write my debut novel, I had spent so many hours, days, years in that imaginary realm called Enigma that it was like I grew up there. The image of afterlife was so clear in my mind that I didn’t even have to jot the details down on a piece of paper.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
None that I know of. I guess that’s the only thing that makes me feel like a normal person.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King, George RR Martin, Joe Abercrombie, Brandon Sanderson.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on the sequel of Halfway. I also have a couple more ideas in mind, but I haven’t started working on them yet.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I just started promoting my debut novel, and this is the first place where I decided to promote it. I am glad that I am now a part of this Awesome Gang!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You can’t control what others think of you, so stop worrying about it.

What are you reading now?
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

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 read almost all genres, fiction or nonfiction, and I have more than one favourite author in each genre. So it would be hard to say which books I would bring with me. But I would definitely bring the manuscript of whichever book I am working on at the time, because I’d hate to leave my manuscript unfinished in case I died there.

Author Websites and Profiles
Lokesh Sharma Amazon Profile

Lokesh Sharma’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My debut novel, ‘Lily’s Fire’, came out on the 12th of March. It was super exciting to see my first story in paperback and e-format on Amazon, B&N and Kobo. Soon it will be for sale as ibook too.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
‘Lily’s Fire’, was inspired by my own coming out story. Just like Lily, the main character, i found out in my late twenties that I was attracted to women. I wanted to create characters with great chemistry in a tropical setting. I love travelling so to me, there’s nothing better than to write about my favourite places in the world. I’s a great book to take with you on holiday and relax with.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to drink wine when I’m writing in the evening. Not too much, just enough to for my writing to flow more natural. And I like to have candles. I’m a true romantic at heart.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The first lesbian fiction I read was by Melissa Brayden. They were relaxing and entertaining.
My favourite author is David Sedaris though. he makes me laugh out loud.

What are you working on now?
I’m just starting on my second novel now. I don’t have a title yet but it will be set in Hong Kong. It’s a love story between two female colleagues.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
For me, it’s Facebook. The community of readers have been incredibly supportive and helpful. it’s always hard when you write your first book so it’s great when you have people around you that are willing to give you advise.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t think your book is ready until you’ve checked and edited it so many times that you’re completely sick of it. Never attempt to do your own initial editing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Show, don’t tell.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently not reading anything as I’m super busy with the launch of my new book but I have a whole list to start with next month. ‘Alice and Jean’ by Lily Hammond first.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My second novel! I can’t wait to start writing again.

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?
David Sedaris – Me talk pretty one day, Bill Bryson – The lost continent, Dorothy parker – Collected poems.

Author Websites and Profiles
Lise Gold Website
Lise Gold Amazon Profile

Lise Gold’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

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

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
‘Bittersweet’ is my newly released novel, and I wrote it because I had something to say about this male attitude towards rape that so many young men seem to have. Back in 1872 there were indeed very hushed up reports of officers on leave who raped girls and only last year we h ad in our area a similar story of young men raping girls.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I love writing the basic plots and ideas in beautiful notebooks with a fountain pen. Looks os much prettier than cold black type on the computer.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
This is so difficult to answer because every writer I read influences me. Every book I read teaches me about writing, particularly dialogue, character building and marketing. Even books I do not enjoy teach me.

Perhaps the lovely language of the King James Bible and the original Anglican prayer book, Shakespeare and the Elizabethan writers, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and other poets are an influence too.

What are you working on now?
Trying to find the story behind a young woman and her mother who are nagging at my creative mind. Judging by costume they are 17thC but that could change!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
There are too many to name.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Please read, read, read before you write. And then please edit and pay an editor to copy edit and proof read before publishing anything. This digital age means work is available forever and it is hard to remove writing which makes you squirm with embarrassment because you did not edit well!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write for yourself then edit for the market.

What are you reading now?
The Foriegner series by C.J. Cherryh and some 17th century diaries and a hefty set of research notes on silver making.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully another few novels, several short stories, and getting my Tizzie filmed by Yorkshire TV. (Aren’t I hopeful?)

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, a complete Shakespeare, the Oxford Book of English Poetry, The Complete Elizabeth David cookbook and my favourite Terry Pratchett, ‘The Nightwatch’

Author Websites and Profiles
p.d.r lindsay-salmon Website
p.d.r lindsay-salmon Amazon Profile
p.d.r lindsay-salmon Author Profile on Smashwords

p.d.r lindsay-salmon’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I always loved English at school, and whilst I was studying the subject at university I thought I’d give novel writing a go – I’ve completed several books as well as some poetry and stage plays over the last twenty years or so, but it’s only now I’ve felt brave enough to offer them to potential readers.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Champagne Jealousy – A Detective Investigates: A comedy community and its workplace romance. I suppose the gargantuan title speaks for itself, but in a nutshell it’s inspired by my many years working in the retail industry.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Great question! I don’t believe in inspiration, is that good enough!!? I reckon you’ve just got to write, and get on with it too, especially when you have a family and work full-time into the bargain! (Please see my Goodreads profile for more)

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Mary Shelley (Frankenstein), Charles Maturin (Melmoth the Wanderer), Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker’s Guide), Arthur C. Clarke (Rama)

Please see my Goodreads list for more

What are you working on now?
I’m writing a 10,000 page poem! I started in 2007, I’m at 6,600 at the moment!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I hope this one will be the best yet

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write for yourself, not for anyone else

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
What you put into life, you get out of life

What are you reading now?
This question!! Only joking, I’m reading a book about religions of the world

What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to write a thriller

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?
Those above who have influenced me – at this point, I apologise for my brevity in responses, but please do see my Goodreads profile for more.

Author Websites and Profiles
Christopher Griffith Amazon Profile

Christopher Griffith’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile