Awesome Author Interviews

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Susan Stoker and I currently live in the great state of Texas. I’ve also lived in Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, California and Colorado. I married a military man, who is now retired, and we made our way back to Texas because we loved it so much! We currently have three hound dogs who love to sleep all day!
As of November 2015, I have published 14 books.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
In November 2015 the second book in my Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes arrives. It’s based on an FBI agent going undercover in a Motorcycle Club…there’s drama, there’s drugs and sex…and of course there’s love with a woman who has no idea he’s undercover and who wants to get her sister OUT of the MC.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can sit and write an entire first draft of a book in a few days…then I don’t write again for another month. 🙂

What authors, or books have influenced you?
SO many. I’ve been reading romances since I was in middle school! I’ve read everything from historical and regency to erotica. As long as there is a happily ever after, I can read it.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on the first book in a new series about Firefighters!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, write…You can’t fix something that isn’t there…so first get the story down. And yes…you will need to “fix” it. We all need to update and tweak our stories after they are finished, so don’t let that hold you back as you’re writing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Being an author is a marathon not a sprint.

What are you reading now?

What’s next for you as a writer?
books books and more books!

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?
Anything of Kristen Ashley’s, a “survival” book, and Club Shadowlands by Cherise Sinclair

Author Websites and Profiles
Susan Stoker Website
Susan Stoker Amazon Profile

Susan Stoker’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 proud indie author. My first book, An Unsubstantiated Chamber, Book One of the Rail Legacy, is out now. Very classic steampunk/murder mystery. I also write a dieselpunk tale (Down Jersey Drive-shaft) on Wattpad.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
An Unsubstantiated Chamber, which came out in March of 2016. Twenty years or more ago, I ran a tabletop rpg of a Victorian era superhero/steam mashup before it was termed steampunk. The ideas for characters, history and stories has been bubbling ever since. I love history, and want to tell a progressive tale of people over time, who lives, dies, gets famous, forgotten, etc.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write in an unorganized, scrap paper fashion. Very little detailed filing goes on here! I let the characters speak out loud, which can change what I think my outline tells me should happen. Turns out better that way.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
H.G Wells! Did I yell? Oh, and Isaac Asimov, Stan Lee, Gardner Fox, Arthur C. Clarke, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allen Poe, Dashiell Hammett and more. It’s from hammett where I try to make detailed observations of clothing.

What are you working on now?
Book Two of the Rail Legacy, more of Drive-shaft, and for down the road, an atompunk novel of apocalyptic America, some cyberpunk short stories, and more Rail Legacy short stories to submit to magazines and anthologies. Gotta keep busy!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook helps, and my semi-regular blog. But the best help has been word of mouth thus far.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write better, strive to do better, and write to love it, not to love money. Money comes very slow if at all, so you have to be an artist, loving to wake up just to put down more words.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write more, and write better! -Jack Tyler

What are you reading now?
FERTS by Grace Hudson, Copperhead by Juliette Douglass, Orphan Moon by T.K Lukas, Beyond the Rails II:Soldier for the Crown by Jack Tyler.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To attempt to order my books and sell them in person. I rarely get out, and so haven’t tried it yet. We’ll see how it goes…

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible, the complete H.G Wells and one on survival lol!

Author Websites and Profiles
William J. Jackson Website
William J. Jackson Amazon Profile

William J. Jackson’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Sally Rigby comes from Northamptonshire, England and currently lives in the Sunshine Coast, Australia (via ten years in New Zealand). She has a Doctorate in Educational Management, and was head of Research and Development at the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), as well as being a lecturer in Human Resource Management at Massey University, New Zealand.

She co-edited and contributed to the popular texts Counselling Skills in Context, and the NVQ/SVQ Level 3 in Counselling. Sally has also written performance management training materials.

When not writing, Sally enjoys walking on the beach, doing jigsaws, hanging out with her family, and reading.

Sally writes fiction (both adult and young adult) under the pseudonym Sara Hantz and you can find out about her books at her website www.sarahantz.com

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book Beat The Stress was inspired by my daughter and her friends who are all in their twenties and under immense pressure at work and in their social lives. I wanted to find a way to help them. To write a book that they could read very quickly and get immediate benefits.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write non-fiction and fiction (as Sara Hantz) as well as working full-time. I find the only way to write is little and often. Sometimes I can write as little as 5 words without being interrupted.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Non-fiction – Nick Stephenson and Joanna Penn
Fiction – Elizabeth Scott

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a book on assertiveness, which will be the second book in the Start Here series. Again, this was at the request of my daughter.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think Author Marketing Club is great for promotion. I also have a read a lot of books on marketing, and especially recommend anything by Nick Stephenson, Joanna Penn and Chandler Bolt.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read in the area you want to write. Join a writing organisation and meet like minded people. Don’t think about writing, get on with it!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The secret of success is ‘do it now’.

What are you reading now?
John Grisham – Bleachers

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m writing a series of Young Adult novels (as Sara Hantz). The series is called Murder in Mind and the first is a novella called ‘Running Out Of Time’ and will be out at the end of the year.

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 Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest; The Girl who Played with Fire – Stieg Larsson.

Author Websites and Profiles
Sally Rigby Website
Sally Rigby Amazon Profile

Sally Rigby’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a paralegal by day, writer by night. My first book was Denim & Diamonds, a women’s fiction title with a romantic twist. My second book, Fatal Impulse, is a cozy mystery.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Fatal Impulse was inspired by a conversation I overheard when I was a child about a woman whose car plummeted off a mountain road. Her body wasn’t recovered immediately because of the terrain and weather. That story simmered for years, and got me to thinking about how easy it would be to cover up a murder that way.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I need action to write, so I tend to write in the living room with the television going and a dog or two on my lap.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King is my writing hero – the best writing book I’ve ever read was On Writing. When I was a tween, I started reading Stephen King’s books. I loved the way he wrote so that I, as the reader, was totally immersed in the characters. That is my goal every time I sit down to write.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on Diamond in the Rough, which is the second in the Diamond J series. It takes place in the same world as Denim & Diamonds, but focuses on Aidan, a ranch hand, and Gina, the owner of the local scrapbook store. It is a romantic suspense.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think personal connections help the reader get to know me, so I am active and engaged in social media.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read and write. A lot.

And live life to the fullest. You have to experience life and refill the well in order to write engaging stories.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You can’t edit a blank page.

What are you reading now?
Chasing the Night by Iris Johansen (print book)
Summer on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber (audio book)
Spying in High Heels by Gemma Halliday (Kindle)

What’s next for you as a writer?
The best seller list, I hope! 🙂 Seriously, I plan on continuing both series that I’ve started: the Diamond J series and the Widow’s Web series. I also hope to publish a how-to book for aspiring writers.

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?
Wow, that’s a tough one. How about an ebook? I’d go with Getting Dumped by Tawna Fenske (a choose your own adventure for grown ups!) because it’s like getting several books in one; Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert because, well, I love it and love the way it makes me think about what I want out of life; and . . . last, but not least, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron because I learn something new every time I read it and I love the exercises. So, my 4th book would be a huge never ending blank notebook so I could DO those exercises.

Author Websites and Profiles
Lori Robinett Website
Lori Robinett Amazon Profile
Lori Robinett Author Profile on Smashwords

Lori Robinett’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a first-time indie published author. I’ve spent a life-time dreaming about being a writer. I guess you could say I’ve spent a life-time dreaming about books. Books were my first friends. Thought that might sound a little sad it really isn’t. I had plenty of ‘human’ friends but none that could take me on adventures with them. Books took me around the world and back without me having to leave the comfort of the bottom bunk (my favorite reading spot). Books expanded my imagination and challenged me to think, to dream beyond my world. Now that’s a cool friend.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Heart’s Journey Home. I’ve got more than a little age on me so I never really thought I’d write a book about teens for teens. I was watching something on TV and the teen angst was so poignant, the friendships real, the characters full of depth and the book sort of started to evolve from there.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Laughing, I probably have a few. I do my best writing at Panera’s and LaQuinta Inn (as a matter of fact this interview is being conducted while I’m at LaQuinta). I researched the heck out of the book first. I probably spent close to a year just doing the research for The Heart’s Journey Home. It’s a book series so I did an outline of all the books up front, which was a mini-novel itself. I’m old school so I write long-hand first then type the manuscript from there. I’m trying to retrain myself to just sit down in front of the laptop and start typing. It’s a bit of a struggle though.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Oddly enough I think Steven King is just a great author. I say oddly enough because I am so not into scary movies so I haven’t read/viewed all of his works, but the stuff I’ve seen has been enviable. The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, The Storm of the Century, Stand By Me, Misery, and on and on and on. He’s written some great scary and non-scary stuff, novels and movies. If I could just have a 10th of his career my writing soul would be satisfied.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on book two of the series and it’s a lot of fun. I love my teen characters – Tori, AJ and Kalea. The more I hang out with them the more they’re growing on me. I’m hoping they grow on the reader.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I guess I’ve had a spaghetti-type attitude toward promoting my book. I’m just throwing everything at the wall and glad when any of it sticks. I think the toughest part of self-publishing is self-marketing. You can write the great American novel but if nobody knows it exists it’s just going to sit and collect dust. I’m grateful for sites like Awesomegang. I’m not just interested in publicity, I want to actually connect with readers. This site helps me to do just that.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Know you’re a writer. Respect the craft. Believe in what you write. Enjoy yourself. Never give up.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Easy reading is damn hard writing. But if it’s right, it’s easy. It’s the other way round too. If it’s slovenly written, then it’s hard to read. It doesn’t give the reader what the careful writer can give the reader.” Maya Angelou

What are you reading now?
Don’t laugh, but The Heart’s Journey Home. The best way for me to stay in touch with the characters and the story line for book two is to review the original often.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More books. The Nobel Peace Prize. Movies. An Oscar. More books. All a writer can do is write and dream.

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?
Easy – The Bible, To Kill a Mockingbird, Survival: A Beginner’s Guide to Help You Survive on a Deserted Island and The Heart’s Journey Home Series

Author Websites and Profiles
Nikki Jackson Website

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Born in a small town, I longed for adventure and travel. Age 20 I moved to Dublin, then to San Diego, Then Sydney and back to California where I did a brief stint working at Universal Studios being a minder to Sponge Bob. Once back in Britain I got married, had babies and decided to write about the adventure I was now missing out on. I work full time as a Media and Communications Manager, have three kids three kids and gave birth to a surrogate baby. I have skydived twice (and survived), climbed Kilimanjaro and hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I have also worked as a professional clown and banana picker amongst other jobs. Somehow I find time to write. My first novel, Endless Winter, is the first of the four part Guardians of The Light series

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The last book I published in my own name was the last of The Guardians of The Light series – Autumn Ever After. It wraps up the adventures of Aethelu and Anais. I have a prequel out shortly. I have however published a book under a pen name which is very different from the Guardians series

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write with my laptop in bed whilst munching on ginger biscuits. I’m laid here now, listening to Alanis Morrisette and singing along as I type – Thankfully my partner and my kids are out – no one wants to hear me sing!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m a total Harry Potter fan. I must have read a million books in my time but those are the ones I read over and over. I read Alice in Wonderland a lot as a child too. I guess I like fantastical themes. I love a good thriller too.

What are you working on now?
As I mentioned, I have a prequel to my Guardians of The Light books in the pipeline. I’m also writing a book about children but most certainly not for children. It’s very different so it’s quite refreshing to write two books at once – I’m flipping between the two. I’ll probably have to write a sequel to the pen name book too.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My book sales are very organic. They ebb and flow. I was doing amazingly well over the summer with no promotion at all. Sales then dipped in September but just a couple of days ago I had my highest ever page reads in a day so go figure

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just write. You might not sell many books but you won’t sell any if you don’t write them

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Probably the above. I’ve followed a lot of advice and strategies since publishing my first book. some have worked and some haven’t – I think it’s finding your own way and seeing what works for you.

What are you reading now?
I just read a Vampire book from an up and coming author. It was a novella so a short read which is just as well with my busy schedule. The most famous book I’ve read recently was Gone Girl.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully just to keep writing and publishing. One day I’d like to make a living from it so I can go and live on a desert island. which brings me to the next question

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 probably take a kindle full of books because I’m a very quick reader. If I can’t do that I’d bring
1: How to survive on a desert island by r.crusoe,
2: 20 recipes to make delicious meals out of sand by Sandy Cook
3: The ultimate boat building manual by C.Shore

Oh who am I kidding – I’d take the harry potter books

Author Websites and Profiles
J.A. Armitage Website
J.A. Armitage Amazon Profile

J.A. Armitage’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been madly in love with comic books and with romance novels since I was barely a teenager, and that led to writing comic book stories for DC Comics and then coloring many stories for Marvel Comics as well as attending to many editorial and business tasks in my staff stints at both companies. Yes, I really did work with Stan Lee.

But that’s just the beginning. I moved into the romance publishing world as a freelancer for Harlequin, Bantam, and Berkeley, to name a few publishers, and MyRomanceStory.com, where I also wrote romance graphic novellas. Was that enough romance for me? Nope.

I started writing novels in earnest thanks to the wonderful online writing site, NaNoWriMo, which gives novelists companionship and encouragement as we challenge ourselves to write fifty thousand words in the month of November every year. I have written a dozen novels so far.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Crisis at Comicon is the sequel to Temporary Superheroine. Chloe learns a lot about her amazing powers and her mysterious father in the first book. In the sequel she’s coping with bumps in her career and her love life while trying to stop the mayhem at the Chicago comicon. With the mysterious Mistress Miraculous causing one problem after another in the crowded convention center, Chloe must be a superheroine again and use the superpowers of the Dimensional Diamond–powers that only she can access, but that she knows little about. Chloe is a superheroine who fights outsize villains while at the same time attempting to find herself as an adult. Each story ends with a satisfactory conclusion but Chloe herself still has more growing and learning to do. I think back to how confused I was in my early twenties, like Chloe, for the inspiration of where to take her next. And of course as a comics fan, I want her adventures to be what comics fans are interested in. What’s more fannish than a supervillain who menaces a comicon?

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Early authors who influenced me: Mary Stewart, Mignon G. Eberhart, Virginia Coffman, Emilie Loring. More recently: Diana Palmer, Elizabeth Lowell, Jackie Merritt, Jennifer Crusie. Love their stories.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on the sequel to Captive of the Cattle Baron. Baron’s younger brother, JD, has come home from Iraq a wounded warrior with a bleak attitude. The Selkirk family ranch needs him desperately but he won’t get on with his life. Paula, the independently wealthy young woman who appeared in the first book, is unabashedly in love with JD and commits a daring act of abduction to keep the vast Wyoming ranch from being sold.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I always advise new authors to respect themselves. That means not selling off rights to their precious creative work in bad deals, and also making the effort to travel the road to writing improvement. Don’t settle.

 

What’s next for you as a writer?
It’s hard to predict what I’ll want to write years from now. Right now, I want to finish the arcs of the series I’ve started, perfect and publish the stories I’ve already written, and then go on to complete some cycles of stories I’ve got in mind but haven’t written yet.

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 desert island books would be a mixture of Superman and Lois Lane comics and romance novels by Diana Palmer, with some mysteries by Mignon G. Eberhart or Charlotte MacLeod thrown in. But it would be far more practical to have a copy of Mysterious Island by Jules Verne, which is a how-to that would allow me to build modern conveniences and live comfortably on that island–or escape!

Author Websites and Profiles
Irene Vartanoff Website
Irene Vartanoff Amazon Profile

Irene Vartanoff’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been writing fiction for twenty years, mostly Supernatural thrillers, but also some YA, science fiction, middle-grade fantasy and slipstream. My true love is the supernatural. No matter what project I find myself working on I always make my way back to the unknown darkness frequently. It is my true muse, my otherworldly calling…

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Dead Yet Dying is my latest novel. It is the story of a broken, alcoholic man and his struggle for redemption in the wake of horrific events. He lost the love of his life fifteen years ago in a tragic accident and he’s now discovering that he was supposed to die with her. Love, sadness, sacrifice and death ensue.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write longhand in a spiral notebook and then read my work into word using dragon speech software. Also, I drink coffee from a cup named Dorothy.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
1984 by George Orwell. Flowers for Algernon. Any and all books by Christopher Moore. And Stephen King. The fantastical nature of the christian bible influences me. Crazy people I have met and tried to avoid influence me. Real triumphs and tragedy in the newspaper motivates my creativity. And all the awful books I have read. (There are many) They make me feel better about myself and my writing. “I don’t suck as bad as them! Yay for me!”

What are you working on now?
Promotion for Dead Yet Dying. If I survive that, emotionally and financially, I will get back to Dead Yet Dying II.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
So far, just chatting with others, online or in person. Being honest and real is important. Fans do not show up in droves. They come one at a time and you must appreciate each and every one of them. When a single reader says they love the words I’ve written, that is the best feeling in the world. And yes, I know I’m a cheesy goofball.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write the book you want to read. Never give up. Don’t listen to haters. If you want to write, do it. Sitting around and dreaming about being a writer is for pussies. (pardon my French) After you’ve done it long enough, you’ll find people who love you for it. And for God’s sake, get yourself a coffee cup named Dorothy. It works for me.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t step on a pregnant alligator. Those are words to live by, my friend. But seriously, I’ve heard lots of great advice over the years and it all seems to come down to this: Readers are emotional beings. They read to feel something, whether it be laughter, pain, fear or love. If you feel it when you’re writing it others will too. Write without fear. Write with confidence. Voice is all about confidence.

What are you reading now?
I just read Dr. Sleep by Stephen King. I also just finished The Martian by Andy Weir. Both great books. I am now reading The Scarlet Gospels by Clive Barker.
So much great fiction, so little time.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Read. Write. Repeat. Until the worms take my lifeless body away from my computer.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
#1: 1984.
#2: The Stupidest Angel.
#3: Good Omens.
#4: A spiral notebook, so I could write my own story. And hopefully, a pen.

Author Websites and Profiles
B. K. Brain Website
B. K. Brain Amazon Profile

B. K. Brain’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
The first book I completed was a reverse green card story. My heroine needed french citizenship and the hero needed a wife to protect him from a scandal. That was 2002. Wow, I can’t believe it was that long ago. My first published piece came out in 2009. Altogether I’ve published 1 novel, 3 novellas, and a short story since. This year I have two more novels coming out. Maybe that first tome, which would need serious software upgrades to bring it back to life, will get a chance one day.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Bravery Not Included has a unique journey. My mother was battling breast cancer when I came across a reference that stated the word Amazon meant ‘without breast.’ If that was true my Mom, a fierce fighter of cancer, was already an Amazon. As I researched further — ideas for stories percolating — I read scientific studies on Amazon burials, modern day accounts of adrenaline fueled strength. All through history, these amazing women, have stood up and said ‘enough.’ What if they banded together? How fiercely would they fight to protect those they loved? Who would threaten their new community?

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write out of order. Which isn’t totally unique, I’m sure. But often I don’t see the story until it’s on paper. I might even write whole chapters just exploring the origin of a character that I later viciously cut out. I also feel like my habits are still developing. I’ve been writing over fifteen years and spent the whole time learning as much as I can about the process.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Suzanne Brockmann and her Troubleshooter Series, Mary Calmes, Marie Sexton, and J.K. Rowling. I don’t particularly write like any of them. I think everyone you read, in the same or different genre, good or bad, should influence your own writing. But those four are some of my favorite authors. I also like Val Roberts, Stephanie Berget, and Judy Kiem.

What are you working on now?
I am working on the next book in the Amazon series as well as the second is a series for Dreamspinner Press. Waking Jamal, the first in a Sci-fi Romance, is about a military program that activates super soldiers. Based on Norse Mythology, when these Hamask go Berserk, they are forced into hibernation. Rum Walker refuses to let Jamal Zumati decay and die so he sets out to wake Jamal. It’s sequel is in a very early state but going well.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am developing my presence on GoodReads. I also think AwesomeGang and Facebook are excellent places to promote books. I made a list of places I find new authors and new books and I figure my readers will come from the same places.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Find a writers group. Yes, you should read a lot and write a lot but I think it is important to surround yourself with people who are on a similar journey and who are just as passionate about books and writing as you are. Then, when you get discouraged, as we all do, they can bolster you up.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Always ask questions. It’s how we engage in life, how we learn, and often where I get my best ideas.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading several books at the same time. Dwight V. Swain’s Techniques of the Selling Writer, a John Scalzi book, The Duchess War by Courtney Milan, and the Romance Writers Report (magazine).

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’d love to hear from readers on what they’d like to see from me next. I have the third Amazon book, a stand alone contemporary novella, and maybe a third book in my Hamra series. So many things, it can be hard to decide what’s next, so feel free to send input!

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 and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Hot Target by Brockmann, Change of Heart by Mary Calmes and a very thick, empty notebook. I’m sure I can find something on the island I can write with, once the pencil is used up.

Author Websites and Profiles
Amberly Smith Website
Amberly Smith Amazon Profile

Amberly Smith’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi! I’m Alexis Radcliff: Author, gamer, unashamed geek, and history junkie. I spent years working in the tech industry (Amazon, Expedia) and dreaming about a writing career before finally deciding to go for it and finish my first book (with many, many drafts in between, of course).

I live and work in the Portland area with my adorable (if surly) cat and my equally adorable husband. When not writing, I spend all my time reading, running, playing way too many videogames, and thinking too much about everything.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
A VANISHING GLOW is the is the opening book in my MYSTECH ARCANUM series, a blend of steampunk and flintlock fantasy with mature themes. I’ve been thinking about it for the better part of a decade and building the world out in my head.

I like low fantasy and steampunk a lot, and since I grew up reading high fantasy I was hungry for something really different. The world of Ghavarim I created is just that: a little different from both the fantasy and steampunk you’ve read before (in what I hope is a really fascinating blend), set against an extensively researched backdrop that draws heavily on real-world history during the industrial revolution.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I use just two fingers to do the vast majority of my typing, but still manage an above average words per minute speed. People ALWAYS comment on it.

I do it because I never learned how to type properly, but I played a lot of EverQuest with my brother growing up, and believe me, you NEED to be able to type fast when you’re announcing impending death from your train to the zone line.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many I can’t even begin to say. Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin are the two biggest, probably. Then Anne Rice and Michael Crichton, too. Aldous Huxley, Virginia Woolf, Orwell, Fitzgerald. Modern influences are just as varied. I’m a sucker for John Green novels. I still read as much as I can in a wide variety of genres.

What are you working on now?
The next volume in my Mystech Arcanum series, of course! I also have an exciting not-so-secret Superhero series set to come out in 2016 that I think people are really going to like. It tells some stories you don’t usually see in the superhero space, while maintaining everything about the genre that makes it fun and awesome.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Twitter, almost certainly. I’m VERY active on Twitter, and I have great relationships with friends and fans there.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
That seems presumptuous at this point since I still am one! But my best piece of advice is to keep going. Just. Do. It. Don’t stop, whatever happens. Your dreams won’t get any closer to you if you sit around and wait for them.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
That what other people think of me is none of my business. It’s hard to not internalize criticism (and praise too), but if you let either one get its hooks into you, it can destroy you. We all have value, and we all have more to learn.

What are you reading now?
I read a few books at a time (slowly). I’m currently reading Annie Bellet’s 20-Sided Sorceress series, Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, and I’m just beginning to dip into Scott Lynch’s second Gentlemen Bastards novel.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep going! I’m serious about going the indie route and making this business work for me, so my next goal is to get as many books as I can written in 2016.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Well, obviously a desert island survival guide would be top priority. Then something REALLY heavy and leather-bound so I could make a weapon out of it if needed. After that I’d probably request an omnibus of Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen. Studying that sucker could keep me busy for years.

Author Websites and Profiles
Alexis Radcliff Website
Alexis Radcliff Amazon Profile

Alexis Radcliff’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am the epitome of a nerd except that I’m at the age where I no longer care about that. I grew up playing AD&D and reading fantasy books like “The Lord of the Rings” and “Dragonlance.” I studied philosophy and mathematics on my first run through college, and computer science on my second. I have a cat named “Confucius” and I have a black belt in the martial arts. I’ve written five books so far: one, a non-fiction account of mental illness; two, a collection of short stories; and the remaining three, the first three books in my series, “From the Ashes of Ruin.” Of those books, both “Drasmyr” and “The Children of Lubrochius” have been released and the third, “The Sceptre of Morgulan,” is due out November 10th.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is entitled “The Sceptre of Morgulan.” It continues the story that began in “Drasmyr,” continues through “The Children of Lubrochius,” and is projected to continue for two more books. Yes, I’m writing a series. It was inspired largely by my love of fantasy. As I said above, I’ve been reading fantasy novels and playing fantasy role-playing games (mostly pen and paper, but occasionally computer, as well) for most of my life. I think I started when I was about ten and just got sucked in. In fact, looking back, I think I was literally addicted to that particular outlet; as an adult I can say that it really did interfere with other aspects of my life–oh, well. You live and learn. I had great fun growing up.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, unless wading through clutter counts. You should see the desk that I write at. It has basically three and a half tiers and its overflowing with papers, notes, checkbooks, bookmarks, business cards, pins, paperclips … you name the office item–it’s probably on my desk somewhere. Other than that, I think my writing habits are pretty normal. Sometimes I write in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, and sometimes at night. When I’m really rocking, I write at all three times. Yesterday, for example, I wrote in the morning, the afternoon, and the evening. By the end I was really in the flow state and pumped out somewhere around two thousand words or so.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Hands down, probably the most influential author was J.R.R. Tolkien. But that’s probably true of every fantasy writer out there. I mean, “The Lord of the Rings” is a monolith in the fantasy genre. It changed everything. Everything that followed it was influenced by it in some fashion or other. Even if the authors in question aren’t even aware of the influence. Tolkien’s reach went just that far. I mean, what alternate world really compares to Middle Earth? It was the work of his entire lifetime. I loved the way he used language; all the places and creatures had these almost ‘old English’ sounding names: Dale, Laketown, Smaug … there’s just something really special about them. I grew up trying to echo that in the worlds I made … sometimes successfully; sometimes not so much.
Author authors I like include Brandon Sanderson (he’s my current favorite), Robert Jordan, Mark Lawrence, and Tad Williams. There are others, of course, but I think a full litany would be overdoing it.

What are you working on now?
Right now I’m working on a novella entitled “Prism.” I’m not going to share the details of the story, because that would give it all away. Anyway, in addition to writing that story, I’m in the middle of releasing the second (or third, if you count “Drasmyr,” the prequel) novel in my series. It’s due out November 10th. I’m self-publishing so that means I have to do all the leg-work. It keeps me busy, but it is fun.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m not sure I want to say. Maybe Twitter. It’s just that marketing is not my cup of tea. I’m not that good at it. I would prefer to spend my time writing and editing, but that’s not a realistic wish. I have to learn marketing, if I want to be successful. And to that end, I am making slow but steady progress.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write about those things that interest you. Keep writing. Keep editing. Keep trying. Persistence pays off. And, my most valuable piece of advice to you is: Be prepared to “Murder your darlings.” That is, we all write really good single lines of prose that are graceful and elegant and true gems of English expression. The problem is that sometimes the needs of the story demand the removal of such gems. You must be prepared to do this. No matter how much you might like a certain line. The needs of the story come first.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I just gave it above: “Murder your darlings.” I have used that mantra on many occasion and I believe my work has benefitted from that.

What are you reading now?
Actually, I’m kind of in between fantasy books. I am reading John Henry Newman’s “Apologia Pro Vita Sua” and I’m also trying to get in the habit of reading the Bible. Just a little bit each night. I’m waiting for the next Brandon Sanderson book … which reminds me; I have to check Amazon or B&N to see when his next book is due.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m planning to complete my series, “From the Ashes of Ruin.” I also intend to write a few standalone novellas. Might even collect them in a small book of their own. I’m about twelve pages into the first such novella, that I mentioned above (Prism).

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 Eye of the World,” by Robert Jordan, “The Way of Kings” and “Words of Radiance” by Brandon Sanderson, and “War and Peace.” I’m stranded, right? I picked the longest books I could think of to kill as much time as possible. I’ve never even read “War and Peace,” but I’d give it a serious go if I was stranded on a desert island with nothing to do. Errrr.

Author Websites and Profiles
Matthew D. Ryan Website
Matthew D. Ryan Amazon Profile
Matthew D. Ryan Author Profile on Smashwords

Matthew D. Ryan’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a Louisiana girl with a heart for Texas, hence my (first and only) book, The Trust Charm: A Texas Romance Novella. I live on a farm and couldn’t love it more. My dream is to one day call myself a Texan. But not like the football team. No, I’m a Cheesehead through and through. Call me crazy but the Packers are my team and I’m with Rodgers until the day he retires. In my free time I like to read, draw, daydream about unrealistic scenarios–some of which find their way into my books.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Trust Charm: A Texas Romance Novella. It all started with a song I heard in 2011 by Aaron Shust called My Hope is in You. I listened to the words and felt the notes resonate deep within me and the images of a breathtaking and emotional novella flowed through my creative vortex. It took me four years before I started writing it all down on paper and within seven months my novella took it’s first breaths on Amazon.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Probably procrastination. I procrastinate a lot for a writer. Then again, there are a lot of writers who claim procrastination is their weakness. Besides that, I’m pretty much your typical writer.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The first novel I read was Lassie. I was about nine or ten and I didn’t want to put it down. But when I hit my teen years I read Bittersweet by Cathy Marie Hake and not only did I get hooked on reading Christian Romance, but I knew I wanted to write it, too. If there’s any writer I would sit down and have a cup of coffee with and pick their brain it would be Karen Witemeyer. She’s an amazing historical romance writer, not only in her ideas but in her wording. She’s simply genius.

What are you working on now?
A sequel to The Trust Charm called The Road to Austin. It’s a dramatic comedy that focuses on a supporting character from The Trust Charm and his cross country adventure with his enemy’s daughter.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook. Simply put. You’ve got friends, family, and groups.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
You’re going to run into doubt and start to question your talent. Just don’t. I can’t remember who said it, but someone said (paraphrasing of course,) if you can stop writing then stop. If you can’t, then you’re a writer. That was my journey in a nutshell. Every time I doubted myself, I would stop writing for months at a time, but I always found myself eager to start a new story. If you want to write, then write. Not matter what. Not matter who says what. No matter what the rules are. Just write.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Robert Frost said, “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” You have to write with emotion. If you can write a 100,000 page novel with a straight face then you may want to readjust your writing goals. You need to write things that make you laugh, cry, fear, worry, think. That’s the bottom line to being a writer.

What are you reading now?
Stealing Jake by Pam Hillman.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Writing. For many, many years to come.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Never the Bride by Rene Gutteridge and Cheryl McKay.
Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer.
A Match Made in Texas: A Novella Collection.
To Win Her Heart by Karen Witemeyer.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jessica Alyse Website
Jessica Alyse Amazon Profile

Jessica Alyse’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Andrew Murray and I am an author and illustrator, which goes without saying really. I have written two picture books so far, which are part of a wider series. I am planning ten, depending on how popular the initial few are of course.
I started my career as a professional animator, so going into the field of illustrated picture books is both natural and fun for me.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called, “Pupsy`s Birthday.” I also have a second one out now called, “Pupsy`s Favourite Things.”
Pupsy is the worlds tiniest dog, although that is yet to be confirmed by the Guinness book of world records! But what Pupsy lacks for in size, he more than makes up for with heart and character. The books are gentle stories that have a theme running through all of them, that of family, joy, and living each day to the full.
One of my biggest influences if the Miffy picture books. I like them for their gentle and sweet stories, and also for their graphical quality in illustration.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to work through the night. I enjoy the peace of knowing that the world is asleep while I write, although it`s not the best habit to adopt I must admit. Sleep is important! I also get my best ideas while out walking.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Miffy by Dick Bruna. Anything by Roald Dahl of course. Maisy by Lucy Cousins. And the Spot the dog books. I`m a big kid really!

What are you working on now?
I am finishing the third book in the Pupsy series. I am also finishing a brand new book featuring a very cute Elephant. That one is different in art style to the Pupsy books. I want each new character to have it`s own style and flavour.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Write, publish, and repeat! Truth is, I`m very new to the whole process of self-publishing. That`s why I have come to Awesomegang…one, if not THE best websites out there!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Follow your dreams but adapt and know who you write for. Write from the heart but see what is popular. For children’s books you must entertain. Try not preach, instead, make any message a part of the story itself. I`d also say that quality is very important. Make sure the books are solid, proof-read, and attractive as a package. You are competing with the very best, the masters, so take your time.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don`t quit!

What are you reading now?
The answers I`ve provided above! No, I am reading “The Twits” again by Roald Dahl…can always re-read his books! I have just finished a great comedy book called “A Man Called Ove” by Fredrik Backman. I love books that are very character driven and Ove is one awesome character.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More Pupsy books. Then I am planning a book for older children, with illustrations as part of the story but not a picture book as such.

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?
Biggles
James and the giant peach
The Illusion of life
50 ways to get off a desert island alive (I made that last one up!)

Author Websites and Profiles
Andrew Murray Website
Andrew Murray Amazon Profile

Andrew Murray’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
For me Kindle publication satisfied a life long dream. At four-years-old, while playing ‘South Sea McGee’ with my sister, I promised to become a writer. But my youth was spent chasing adventures in many countries, hitch hiking Europe, traveling Africa. I was building a store house of memories to shape into fiction. I now have five books published on Kindle and in hard copy form.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My new book is an action/suspense novel. Touching Spirits is set in a Mayan village where I lived, and in the abandoned house I reclaimed from nature. On the Yucatan there is a legend of magical black creatures that live in the jungle, called Alux. Even today locals build small houses for them. Around the legend I created an exciting story about a cop who comes to the village to rebuild his life and to fight the men stalking him.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Well, for the three years I wrote the book my 18 year-old cat sat beside me, often reaching a paw up to let me know when it was time for petting.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Durrell, Faulkner, LeQuin, Karen Blixen (Isak Denisen), Tolstoy, Hemingway.

What are you working on now?
An exciting, knock-your-socks-off tale set in Cologne, Germany, where I had the pleasure of teaching English. It was quite amusing to be sleeping in a tent beside the Rhine, and wake up each morning and put on my clip on tie, and take the streetcar into the city center, and teach conservative German business men.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
It all comes down to the quality of the writing. If it is good and the writer rocks the reader’s world, then the reader will tell his/her friends. That is what I am after.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Butt glue, use lots of it to keep the backside in the chair and writing. Read as much as possible and take courses and join support groups. And get a couple of beta readers to go over your work prior to publication.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Writing is rewriting.

What are you reading now?
Don’t Leave Me, James Scott Bell

What’s next for you as a writer?
I want my writing to touch people, to make them laugh and cry. If I can make a reader not want to finish one of my books, to think of it as an old friend, then I have obtained my goals. What could be better?

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Oh boy! The Avignon Quintet, The Sound and the Fury, and when I finished those I’d have to start swimming to find more reading material.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kevin R. Hill Website
Kevin R. Hill Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a minister serving as a Deacon on the Pastoral staff of my church. I grew up as a poor kid, the firstborn of parents who migrated from the south looking for a better life. My parents were both illiterate, with not much formal education. They insisted that I would have a better chance than was given them. Very early on, reading became my past time and the public library my favorite hangout. After studying and working hard, I managed to reach a fair amount of success… then the bottom fell out of my life. I was reduced to a meager existence of poverty and homelessness. I found myself Bankrupt, my wife and kids were gone, and every friend I thought I had proved to be non-existent. Everything I tried flew back in my face. For the next 20 yrs I drifted in a state of despair. Anger, bitterness, and depression became my way of life, and suffering was the price I paid. Left to my own devices I would probably still be lost, but the grace of God said otherwise. I write to bring a message of hope to the hopeless, comfort to suffering, and guidance to those still lost. Trust me when I say… “Change Is Possible.”

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book: The Jesus Command is a serious look at Christ’s charge to the eleven men who would go on to establish the Christian Church. Using Jesus’ own words found in John’s Gospel…

John 13:34-35
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Love is not an option… Jesus Commanded It!

We are not only instructed to love, but to duplicate His love. It’s an action that seems to stand as the pivotal starting point of Discipleship and Christ Following. I think that if it were something that we were already doing, there would be no need for it to be made a command.

Love is a hard nut to crack. It has knocked the wind out of a many sail, been chosen as the subject of countless books, and is lurking in the background of many moments chronicled in history. More often than not, our idea of love is exchanged for selfish desire and individual lust. Both being far from what Jesus’ intended for our understanding. Watching people from my place in the street I’ve had a chance to observe many examples over the years, of what people confuse as love. This book attempts to look at it from Jesus’ point of view and that of those closest to Him in an effort to define Christ’s intentions and the understanding received by those who interacted with Him personally.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When it comes to writing I’m not so sure any habit can be described as usual. What I try to do is form a question that addresses life. Whether it’s from a political, social, or common everyday perspective, my first consideration is Biblical and I approach it from the standpoint of scripture.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There have been many over the course of time and they are not restricted to any one discipline or genera. Early in life I found Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, to be inspiring. There is also The Screwtape Letters, by C. S. Lewis which challenged my thinking. In resent times I can also cite John Perkins’ Let Justice Roll Down. He gives a compelling portrait of struggle and the cost necessary to overcome it. Of course there’s always my stand by, The Holy Bible.

What are you working on now?
Amid my duties as a minister, I spend time working on two projects that I’d like to complete. One is a semi auto biography that gives snapshots of points in my life and God’s hand in shaping my journey. I hope to provide the reader with insight as to my fall from as well as my return to faith. The second is a work of Spiritual Poetry that I hope will encourage and inspire.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still learning. As a newly published author, this whole theater is new to me. I’m even at a bigger loss when it comes to marketing and promotion. I’m trying everything, social media, advertising, and whatever resource I can tap. On these points I’m open to suggestion and can use all the help I can get.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
For those thinking about it… Stop!
Stop thinking and start doing. Get your thoughts out of your head and into print. The more you do so, the more material you will have to draw from. It can always be edited, revised, re-worked, or discarded. However, if you don’t produce it, you can’t do anything with it. Start writing and keep writing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Trust In God!
I know there are many that have a problem with this bit of advice. You can’t trust in that which you don’t believe. While you might not believe in my idea of God, on some level there exists something in which you do believe. Whatever that is, for you, that’s your god. So for now, just trust in that.

What are you reading now?
Besides The Holy Bible, I’m trying to get through Entertaining Angels by Emerald Barnes. The book is well written and entertaining, and that’s the problem. With my workload and scheduled it’s hard to take the time reading purely for entertainment. A good majority of my reading time is spent in reference and researching material for presentations and teaching. Still I promised, and I will find the time to finish it.

What’s next for you as a writer?
As I said, I’m already engaged in a couple of projects. Beyond that I’ll trust God and His Holy Spirit to point the direction.

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 Holy Bible – For comfort and hope.
A Dictionary – For knowledge and understanding.
Think and Grow Rich – For inspiration and motivation.
The Boy Scout Handbook – For survival.

Author Websites and Profiles
Matthew Milam II Website
Matthew Milam II Amazon Profile

Matthew Milam II’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am the author and independent publisher of multiple fantasy books in all age brackets. My stories span the spectrum of Romantic Fiction from paranormal, romantic suspense to Christian fantasy including the best-selling Covenant Series.

Though educated as a teacher I never lost my love for literature and began writing at an early age. Poetry, short stories and fiction. I can be found in the car rider line at my children’s school writing on receipts, napkins or whatever scraps are in the bottom of my purse. A Virginia girl at heart, I live with my husband and three children in South Carolina where I am currently studying Dragon Script with my eight year old daughter.

If you like fantasy, fairytales, temptation, and adventure be sure to check my blog for upcoming titles.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Dust and Dreams. I was inspired by a dream about a girl riding away from an explosion. The questions began who is she, why is she running and from who? I knew I wanted a strong female character who had been through unspeakable tragedy, yet survived. It is set in 1869 in California, just after the gold rush. I love this time period in history. There is such an explosion of technology in San Francisco and the people had to love hard and be strong to survive. It is a rich environment to write in and i thoroughly enjoyed writing it.

My next book is title Summer’s Dream, it is also set in 1869 and we follow a character who is coming to America with her family on a ship and the battles she must face to survive and find her path.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write when my kids are at school. I do my marketing and promotion while they do homework and research at night. So i guess you could say i write all the time! I include them in the research, we visit museums and are headed to the train museum this weekend so I can see, touch and experience what my characters would. They love the process and I love sharing it with them.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love Julie Garwood, Nora Roberts, Christine Feehan, and Dean Koontz. I love the mix of paranormal with action adventure.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on multiple projects but Summer’s Dream is the one getting most of my attention. I write usually two books at a time. When I get stuck on one, I move to the other.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I believe in layering my promotion, free days, with a mix of websites. I have found excellent results from Awesomegang, Ereadernewstoday, Digital book today but always when i mix the promotions.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I would say to be patient. It takes time to build your brand and you have to fight for every sale. Celebrate every success and be proud of your accomplishments.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I have heard is the advice i now give, be patient! It takes time and with the thousands of books being released every day this is an uphill battle. Every sale, borrow or gifted book is a success. It is a ripple in a pond.

What are you reading now?
Halloween is coming so i am reading Deborah Geary’s witch series. They are awesome!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am working on a sequel to my children’s book Arctic Moon. I loved the characters and they are demanding my attention.

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, cause I would need the extra backup. Hmm…Ransom, by Julie Garwood, and Watchers by Dean Koontz. I can read them over and over again.

Author Websites and Profiles
Lynn Landes Website
Lynn Landes Amazon Profile

Lynn Landes’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in NWI with my two daughters. I enjoy hiking, The Walking Dead, and late night t.v. In addition to young adult fiction, I write poetry and blog. This is my first full-length book. I have published many poetry pieces in various anthologies over the years and often publish new poems and articles at my website: www.hereswhatitis.com.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The title of my book is Quest: The Journey, the first in the Quest trilogy. It was inspired by the same thing as many of my short stories – a dream. I dreamt the moment when Keira and her cousin, Caryn, finally meet. It was such a powerful moment in the dream that when I woke up, the first thing I did was write that scene down, and it’s actually one of the last scenes in the book. The rest of the story built off of that dreamt portion. Early on, I realized that the ending was also a beginning, that there was much more to the story, and so I knew it was a trilogy in the making.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I love to write in public. I go to coffee shops, but especially bars. Hole-in-the wall bars, everybody knows your name bars, piano man and blues band bars. The kind that you can sit at the end of the bar or at a table in the corner and observe without being intrusive, write without being interrupted or really noticed. I think having to actively push aside the noise of the place helps me focus on the writing and the world I’m creating. But writing in public also helps me stay connected to people, helps me keep my characters real.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Hunter S. Thompson, Edgar Allen Poe, Hemmingway, Dickinson, Stephen King, and Anne Rice.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on the second book in the Quest trilogy, which will (hopefully) be ready for publication the end of December. I can’t wait for this story to unfold. Our group of warriors is about to have their lives turned upside down. I have also been working on a compilation of poetry and short stories, a sort of partial memoir.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
So far, word of mouth, social media, and forums such as this one have been working well for me.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Have people read your work. Have your work reviewed by people not directly involved in the writing and publishing world. Your best friends, but also more distant acquaintances. Real readers. And listen to what they say. If they are confused by something in the book or don’t understand the way something is written, change it. Because no matter how much you may like the way you wrote it, if the general reader doesn’t understand it, it’s a no go.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I ever heard was to just write. Don’t worry about grammar or theme; just get the story out and on the paper, and sort out the details later. That’s what the second draft is for. If you are obsessed with getting everything perfect on the first draft, it’s going to take forever to get a first draft. It’s makes for a much quicker overall process if you complete a first draft, no matter how rough it is. Because then you have a full, completed work to fine tune and move forward to that final goal with.

What are you reading now?
Right now, I’m reading the Harry Potter series. I know, I know, but I never read them when I was younger so I’m enjoying them now. I just started ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Well, I plan to finish the Quest trilogy, of course, and from there, who knows? With writing, not even the sky is the limit.

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?
If I could take 3 or 4 books with me to a deserted island I would bring…Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings’ or some other collection of Poe’s short stories and poems. Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’ and a survival guide of some kind. My 4th book would be a blank journal – is that allowed?

Author Websites and Profiles
Rachelle McCaulley Website
Rachelle McCaulley Amazon Profile

Rachelle McCaulley’s Social Media Links
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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
The interplay between spirituality and sexuality turns me on. My lifelong dream has been to raise consciousness about the assumptions we make of the world, each other, and ourselves. I’ve recently decided to branch out with novellas of varying sizes to introduce new characters, places, and experiences, but my heart mostly lies in my series, The Search For Intelligent Life on Earth.

The first one, The Search For Intelligent Life on Earth: A Story of Love (a 2014 USA Best Books finalist), will be part of a trilogy (the next two are in editing), plus there are novella off-shoots about some of the less prominent characters. I write cross-genre for the most part. In my “free time,” I also write a blog about healthy relationships at www.gerrypirani.blogspot.com.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Desperate In Sheridan was inspired by a 1600 mile road trip through Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Colorado – in 4 days! The characters imposed themselves on me when I couldn’t sleep one night.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Notes everywhere, several notepads, loose pieces of paper, various rooms, some electronic. I write more then one book at the same time.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love literary fiction, and its prose inspires me whenever I feel my world has become too mundane. I’ve placed some of my favorites on my goodreads profile.

What are you working on now?
Editing the next 2 novels of my series, The Search For Intelligent Life on Earth. I’m also working on 2 other MM romance novellas to join Desperate In Sheridan.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Word of mouth so far! Looking for other strategies.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Join a writers’ group, read a lot (especially well-written material), and keep on day-dreaming.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Astrological charts are there for you to transcend.

What are you reading now?
Lots of books (I never read one at a time), magazines, and newsletters. I keep studying French, maybe to no avail.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish the series, plus some more short novellas I’ve started, then finish the companion novel to the trilogy I started before I decided to write the sequels. I also wrote a BDSM spoof I’d like to get out there.

Author Websites and Profiles
Gerry Pirani Website
Gerry Pirani Amazon Profile
Gerry Pirani Author Profile on Smashwords

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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a Masters of Arts (Writing) student with Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia. I live with my husband in the rural wine region of Stanthorpe in Queensland. I write novels, short stories, poetry and articles, and have dabbled in script writing, journalism, and online writing in my studies. My short story ‘Hi, I’m Here’ was published in the literary journal Bukker Tillibul, Issue 08. The story is about three women who feel isolated by society, but a chance meeting changes their lives.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest and first published book is “Intention”, the first of an ecotopian literary fantasy series called “The Farthing Hero’s Journey”. It is about a world where the elements, creatures and plants all have equal ability to reason and communicate, and the purpose of life is to enhance the natural order. A sixteen-year-old girl from Earth arrives on the planet and has trouble conforming to the different way of life and thinking. It is inspired by what I see happening in this world. While not a militant environmentalist, I believe Earth is at risk because nature is being recklessly misused and destroyed.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have a dedicated office space for writing, that I do not clutter with other activities, but I do not think that is unusual. When I am trying to figure out a scenario, character trait, or plot point, I literally sleep on it. I get a lot of inspiration as I wake up in the morning. Perhaps that is a bit unusual. The morning is the best time of day for me to write, so I set aside that time each day (at least two hours). Everything else is done in the afternoon. My best writing for a first draft is done without lots of planning and editing as I go.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
When I started creative writing, I was an avid reader of fantasy books, and Raymond E Feist inspired me. Since then, I have read a lot of classics, both literary and genre books. I notice my language is influenced by my recent reads, and I tend to use a mix of older and contemporary words. Another authors who influenced me is Ernest Hemmingway. I would love to master his ability to bring the reader right into the story. A contemporary author whose influence helps with writing for younger readers is J K Rowling.

What are you working on now?
I find it impossible to work on just one thing at a time, as I use my intuition to guide my creativity each day. At the moment, I am editing the second book in “The Farthing Hero’s Journey”. At the same time, I am involved in an online writing project, which is a member website for would-be sleuths to work in teams to solve crime and mystery scenarios. This is a new and exciting endeavor for me. Waiting to be edited, is my magical realism story for middle grade readers, which I wrote it for NaNoWriMo last year. Finally, I have a feature film script to finish about a group of pensioners who hire an assassin to not kill a man.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As I am new to book marketing, I do not yet know what is the best method or website for promoting my books. It is a huge learning curve that I am still climbing as I experiment with and assess the various options.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Being a new author myself, it feels presumptuous to offer advice. However, I cannot deny the tremendous help study of writing has given me. If nothing more, I think it is imperative for new writers to read books about the craft. A good starting point is Stephen King’ s “On Writing”.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I hope the recent advice I received about ebook marketing is the best advice I have ever heard. To be serious, the advice that keeps me going is ‘never give up’. Writing is a profession that needs persistence and self-belief, with an open mind that can distinguish between constructive critiques and destructive criticism.

What are you reading now?
I am reading “Gulliver’s Travels”. Years ago, I started and hated the style. Now my perspective when reading has matured, I can see a lot of merits in the book and find it quite entertaining. As it is a story about imagined lands, I find a comparison with my imagined world and observe the techniques used by Jonathan Swift to portray the differences.

What’s next for you as a writer?
The full series for “The Farthing Hero’s Journey” will take several years to complete. I anticipate eight or nine books in all. These are my priority, but I will continue to simultaneously write other works.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Well, they could not be ebooks, as my ereader could not be charged. I would take “Magician” by Raymond E Feist, “When the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway, “Whispering in the Wind” by Carmen Bostick St Clair and John Grinder, and (provided I am allowed pencil and paper) “The Screenwriter’s Bible” by David Trottier.

Author Websites and Profiles
Helen F Miller Website
Helen F Miller Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew writes, loves, teaches, and urban homesteads in South Minneapolis. When she’s not chasing her gregarious daughter around the neighborhood or dancing with her partner, she’s doing her best to support the spiritual life of writers. Her books are Swinging on the Garden Gate: A Spiritual Memoir (Skinner House Books), Writing the Sacred Journey: The Art and Practice of Spiritual Memoir (Skinner House Books), On the Threshold: Home, Hardwood, and Holiness (Westview Press), and the novel, Hannah, Delivered (Koehler Books). You can connect with Elizabeth at www.spiritualmemoir.com and www.elizabethjarrettandrew.com.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Hannah, Delivered is a novel inspired by my sister and other fabulous midwives who appreciate the wisdom inherent in women’s bodies. I wanted to honor them and explore what gifts midwives’ spiritual wisdom might bring to our contemporary experiences around birth, death, and faith.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I drink lots of tea while writing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The living writer I most admire is Marilynne Robinson for her novels Gilead, Home, and Lila. I’ve also been very influenced by Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, all the novels of Jane Austin and the Bronte sisters, Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Thomas Merton’s Seven Storey Mountain, James Baldwin’s essays, and I could go on and on…

What are you working on now?
I’m wrapping up a writing book called Living Revision: Opening the Writer’s Art that’s for people who want to take their writing and their engagement in life to the next level.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write a lot. Read a lot. Find a strong community of fellow writers.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I love this quote from Ann Belford Ulanov: Aliveness springs from our making something of what we experience and receiving what experience makes of us.

What are you reading now?
Finding Livelihood: A Progress of Work and Leisure by Nancy Nordenson

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m writing a collection of essays that translate the teachings of St. John of the Cross into contemporary stories about motherhood, urban homesteading, and life as a bisexual woman.

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. St. John of the Cross’s Dark Night of the Soul. Rilke’s collected works.

Author Websites and Profiles
Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew Website
Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew Amazon Profile
Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew Author Profile on Smashwords

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