Awesome Author Interviews

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m Lesley Tither and I write under a number of different pen-names for different genre. I’m a former journalist and freelance copywriter, a former court reporter, and a former case tracker with the Crown Prosecution Service.

I am now retired from full-time work, just concentrating on my writing. I live in rural France and hold dual British/French nationality.

For crime, I write as L M Krier, and have three books out so far in the DI Ted Darling series, with another scheduled for release later in 2015.

For travel memoirs, I use the name Tottie Limejuice, the origin of which is explained fully in the first book in the Sell the Pig series of four books.

I am just embarking on children’s books, using the pen-name L M Kay.

Also as Tottie Limejuice, I have written a little self-help book on writing Press Releases to get free publicity through the media. It comes with personal help and advice from me as part of the very reasonable cover price.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
When I’m Old and Grey (release date September 2015) is the third book in the DI Ted Darling series of crime mysteries. It was largely inspired by public demand. The readers have taken Ted to heart and keep wanting to read more about him, and especially more about his private life.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write in my head as I walk my dogs. Luckily they are always busy sniffing around so I can march along working out scenes mentally as we go along. Then as soon as we get back to the house, I bash them all out on the keyboard before I forget them.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m an avid reader of everything from Tolkien to Harlan Coben. I was very lucky to meet the children’s author Alan Garner on many occasions as a child.

What are you working on now?
My fourth detective novel, fourth travel memoir and second children’s novel, all at the same time. What could possibly go wrong?

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Anything which links to social media, which is very much where it’s at these days. This one is great, with its links on Twitter.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
For goodness sake get your work edited and proofread by someone who can actually spell! And make sure they can spell in your version of English, whether it be British, American, Australian, or whatever.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If you hear galloping hooves and you’re not on the plains of Africa, it’s more likely to be horses than zebra.

In other words sometimes the most obvious solution to a problem is actually the correct one.

What are you reading now?
It’s a French book, Completement Cramé by Gilles Legardinier

What’s next for you as a writer?
More crime, definitely! It’s the most fun I’ve had in ages, writing that.

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?
Definitely Lord of the Rings, I never tire of reading that. Also my Collins-Robert French dictionary to expand my French vocabulary for when I’m rescued and can get back to my beloved Auvergne. I think I’d probably have to take 50 Shades as I can’t see me choosing to read it otherwise, and it would be good for starting fires and other, er, practical purposes!

Author Websites and Profiles
Lesley Tither Website
Lesley Tither Amazon Profile

Lesley Tither’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My seventh book, Unintended, just came out on August 17th. I’m an author and a publisher of escapism fiction. I started out writing science fiction and fantasy YA and now I write mainly fantasy romance. You can learn more about me at my website: http://www.mirrorworldpublishing.com

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Unintended is a Shakespearian-style romantic comedy. I was inspired by the blend of comedy, romance and fantasy in The Princess Bride and also the mix of dramatic romance and light-hearted comedy found in Shakespeare. The setting is a fantasy version of medieval England, Scotland and France.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write with my sister and we like to argue, so the arguments in the book are real and the dialogue reads very naturally. We try to write every night while working on a book, which means locking ourselves in our office with a pot of tea and a couple of office cats.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My favorite author is Anne Bishop. I love her style of dark fantasy, but I also enjoy epic fantasies like those of Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson and more historically -based fantasies like Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander. I think my more recent work falls somewhere in the middle of those three genres.

What are you working on now?
A super secret project which may or may not be a sequel to an earlier work, but I won’t tell you which one yet. With regards to publishing, we’re nearing the end of our Summer of New Releases, so it’s been a hectic few months preparing for all the book launch events!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
We use Facebook a lot. Our facebook page is very active and we also host launch parties there and advertise for our local launch events through there. Second to that would be our blog which acts like a hub for everything we do, directing people to our website, facebook page, or store as needed.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Every. Day.
Stopping or taking long breaks makes it harder to keep your head in the game. Just keep going.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Create a fan base. It’s important to have an author platform, but more importantly you want to provide content that people want to read and interact with. If they like what you do, they’ll be more willing to invest in you as an author.

What are you reading now?
The Legend of Ghost Dog Island by Rita Monette. Her middle grade adventure book about life in the Bayou for 10-year-old Nikki Landry and her dog Snooper, launches September 1st through Mirror World Publishing.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Growing my publishing company as a brand and producing some really great books. I want to make Mirror World Publishing a known place to come for great books that take you away to other worlds.

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 Crimson Winter Trilogy. I wrote that set of novels for me to remember a great story told to me by someone else. I love to re-read it from time to time just to immerse myself in that world.

Author Websites and Profiles
Justine Dowsett Website
Justine Dowsett Amazon Profile

Justine Dowsett’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I grew up and still live in New England with my husband, three children, and two cats. I am a self-proclaimed history buff. While History wasn’t my major during college, I took many history electives just to feed by passion for it. I enjoy weaving tidbits of history into my fictional stories; it’s a fun way to explore the past through the eyes of your characters.

I began writing while working part-time with young children at home, scribbling down ideas and chapters in notebooks whenever I had a free moment. After the several years it took me to complete my first book, “Pompeii Days,” my husband suggested self-publishing on Kindle. It’s been a wonderful experience. The book received some good reviews in the US and the UK — it’s a great feeling to know someone enjoyed reading a novel that I so enjoyed writing. The children are getting older now and I am finding more time to write. I am happy to say I am putting the finishing touches on my second novel and have just begun composing my third novel.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, soon to be released on Kindle, is “Wentworth House.” It’s about the Wentworth family in England, who are trying to retain ownership of the mansion and property that has been in their family for four hundred years. The Wentworths are finding it more and more difficult to hold onto the property due to the spiraling costs of upkeep and taxes. A young American woman who had been living and studying in England is hired to create a revenue-generating museum within the mansion.

This novel was inspired by a visit to Blenheim Palace, one of the largest and grandest mansions in England. I had also read in British History magazine about a family in England who finally had to sell their estate after it had been in their family for nearly a thousand years. It made me reflect how would I feel if I were the one forced to sell this invaluable family possession after being in the family for so long. I began to research what some wealthy families were creatively doing to keep up with the rising cost of ownership.

The lead character possesses some attributes of my oldest daughter, who recently received her master’s degree in museum studies and now works in a museum. The idea of a museum within the estate adds a great element to the story with, of course, an added romantic angle…I couldn’t have my American heroine in England without some romance!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I usually find a reasonably quiet spot in my home where I can set up my laptop for a couple of hours. I love writing and, as I begin to write, can hear the characters voices in my head and experience what they see and feel. It’s a bit like being in an improvisational acting class– I become that character and say or do what he or she would do. By becoming the character in my mind, I feel they react more authentically.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Victoria Holt, a Gothic novelist, is certainly an influence, especially for my novel, “Wentworth House.” Her books always involve a strong, gutsy heroine, a family saga, a mysterious incident, a mansion in England, and a good romantic storyline. I have always admired Marc Twain and his ability to create strong characters, and also weave humor and interesting observations about human nature into his work.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on my third novel, “Angels in the Mist.” My heroine, Elena, is laid off from her well paying Accounting job in New York and returns to her parents house in a small town in Massachusetts. She has to deal with the emotions of losing her job and coming to live with her parents after being away for three years. Until she gets a better job, she decides to work as an assistant for Victoria, a wealthy, widowed woman who owns a beautiful home along a river. The townsfolk question whether the woman is sane because she insists she see angels over the water at night and they even talk to her. Elena becomes a defender of the woman and begins to believe that the woman is really seeing them. Elena also runs into Neil, someone she barely knew in high school who is now the owner of a successful garden and landscaping business. She sees his tall, tanned body working in Victoria’s gardens and will have to decide whether this handsome guy is someone she shouldn’t have overlooked in high school. Elena will also have to decide if home and family are where she wants be, or will another big city draw her away.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Awesomegang.com!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice for new authors is don’t be afraid to self-publish on Kindle, but make sure the work is the best it can be. Also, don’t be afraid to promote your novel in the avenues that are available. No one will ever know this great book is out there if you don’t promote it on great sites like Awesomegang. When you get a good Internet following and increasing sales, you never know what might happen next.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I ever heard was from my husband, who suggested that I put my book on Kindle.

What are you reading now?
I am reading the “Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume I,” a compilation of dictations that Twain did about his life from 1906, forward. It was published in 2010, one hundred years after his death, per his instructions. He felt he could speak and say whatever interested him because he would be long dead when it came out. It’s wonderful to hear about his life and how he wove that into his stories and characters.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ve begun work on my third novel and I’m aiming to have it be all that I believe the story can be. Also, I’m always thinking ahead, developing interesting story lines and characters that can form the basis of my next novel.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would bring “The Secret Woman” by Victoria Holt, “Clan of the Cave Bear” by Jean M. Auel, “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell, and “Farewell to Arms” by Ernest Hemingway.

Author Websites and Profiles
Gail Amaral Website
Gail Amaral Amazon Profile

Gail Amaral’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Patrick M Cunningham and I am 40 years old. I have written seven books, three poetry books the Darkness of the Soul trilogy, and two New Adult Fiction novels The Devil and the Awesome Four. I have been a full time writer since 2008 but my writing began at the young age of nine and it’s been a passion of mine ever since.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I am working on the final book in the Awesome Four trilogy, and the style I write in although original, seems to have little hints of Stephen King, Alfred Hitchcock, James Herbert and Shaun Hudson mixed in. When I first began writing, I did try to emulate my heroes in my earlier attempts and maybe it’s how my own style finally shone through, but to have people compare your writing to your heroes is amazing, and it did feel a little strange at first as I thought I was being completely original.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I’m writing, my day starts at three in the morning, as I feel at my most creative upon waking, but I will not strike a single key on my laptop until I have at least two cups of strong coffee to help get me in the zone I need to be in to reach my daily word quota which could range from one thousand to five or eight thousand words in a single sitting. Once I’m in the zone and the words are flowing I won’t quit until either my eyes pop out of their sockets from tiredness or the words dry up. Only then will I hit save and call it a day. Being a writer takes commitment and awful amount of patience and perseverance. Some days the words just seem to fly out, and other days you struggle to even write a single page or paragraph and believe me those days really suck and you feel like saying screw this I can’t do it. I always find when writers block sets in, I will either head to the gym and hit the weight room for a while, or get the gloves on and pummel the punch bag or I just go for a long walk. It usually works 🙂

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There’s no denying I absolutely love Stephen King, and Salem’s Lot was a major influence for me to begin writing all those years ago, and along with that was Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigator series that I read for much of my teenage years and that inspired me to create my own characters that would eventually become the Awesome Four. People are under the illusion that I wrote these books in my late thirties. Not true. All the stories that form the backbone of my series were written when I was between the ages of ten and sixteen, by that time I had accumulated close to seven hundred stories featuring these four characters and I wanted to keep that kind of teenage vibe when I decided to publish them 2011 and 2014. I was never really happy with the results so only a few weeks ago I decided to get the books re-edited and the book covers re-designed and I now believe that they are ready for the public at long last.

What are you working on now?
I am almost finished the final book of the Awesome Four trilogy which should be ready for print sometime in 2016.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
The best advice I ever got came from two books I received as gifts. John Kremer 1001 ways to market your books which is one I really recommend to all writers self published or traditionally there’s something in this mammoth book for everyone. Next to that The Complete Guide to Self Publishing by Tom and Marilyn Ross again a huge reference for me when I’m trying to figure out which direction I want to take my marketing efforts. Also I use VistaPrint for all my marketing materials such as business cards, flyers etcetera. One more book I want to mention is Guerrilla Marketing for writers by Jay Conrad Levinson which is again designed to help you the author do most of the marketing work yourself.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
As a fairly new author myself, I feel it would be hypocritical of me to try and offer advice to new authors when I am still learning the ropes myself. If I could give just one bit of encouragement it would be, never give up, just believe in yourself, because at the end of the day, most of the marketing for your books is going to come from you, so you really have to believe in what you write and most of all you definitely have to believe in yourself, because eventually you will have to become a salesman next to being an author and if you don’t believe in what you are selling then nobody else is going to believe in you either. So write the best books you can possibly write and make sure the book is something you are proud of because when you show pride in your work, when it comes to telling others about it, then that enthusiasm will shine through and then people will be interested in what you have to offer.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
People are always offering advice, be it good or bad. I have learned the hard way to keep doing what I love the way that I’m doing it and make my own luck and choices along the way. That way if things go wrong I can’t blame anyone but myself for making the wrong choice, as opposed to following the advice a friend or someone else, have it go wrong then turning around and saying “You told me to do it, I followed your advice its your fault,” so that’s why I choose not to listen to anyone but the pros that I listed earlier on.

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading part six of James Patterson’s The Women’s Murder Club. I got the first book of the series as a gift from my wife, and I was a little sceptical at first, but when I began reading, the story just hooked me right from the start and after that I just had to have the entire collection. I love James Patterson’s style, fast paced with twists and turns galore. N.Y.P.D. Red 3 I cant wait to read either, having read the previous two novels another brilliant collaboration with Marshall Karp.
I am looking forward to Stephen King’s latest offering Finders Keepers the second of the Mr. Mercedes trilogy.

What’s next for you as a writer?
When I have completed the final instalment of my Awesome Four series, I have another series of New Adult books that I can’t wait to start work on. At the moment I have a few ideas banging around and finding it hard to settle on just one, but I’m sure that by the time Awesome Four Vol. III comes out I should have settled upon a concept for the new series.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
They would definitely have to be, Kill me if you can by James Patterson, Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot and Dan Brown The Lost Symbol. These are the most gripping, addictive books I have ever read. Once you pick them up it’s impossible to put them back down. I love a great story where the pages just seem to turn themselves.

Author Websites and Profiles
Patrick M Cunningham Website
Patrick M Cunningham Amazon Profile

Patrick M Cunningham’s Social Media Links
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
MissBlackChurch is my pen name.

But I can say little bit about me:

I’M NO WRITER, JUST A STORY TELLER.
I love music, art, write, photograph and I love photoshop.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Dear Family” is a mini ebook about what I went through my childhood; it is a call of atenttion to parents that there actions can have an affect on their children. I wrote it as a thereapy, to let out the things I had inside.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
for soem reason I like writing in the dark.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love reading Anne Rice

What are you working on now?
Now I’m working on young adult ebooks, the rest is a secret.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
A friend of mine recommended me awesomegang.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I’m also a new author, does anyone has an advice for me?

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

What are you reading now?
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

What’s next for you as a writer?
Make my books a bestseller in Amazon.

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?
Lestat the Vampire by Anne Rice
Carrie by Stephen King
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Author Websites and Profiles
MissBlackChurch Loveless Website
MissBlackChurch Loveless Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am the author of at 5 books, 5 novellas and 16 short stories. I love exploring different aspects of life, so I write in many different genres. I’m a lover of animals and I adore reading.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Amanda’s Love. I was inspired by a scene in another book. It wasn’t a big scene, but it got me thinking, what if an AI fell in love with a biological person? How exactly would that work? And then, what would happen if the person already had someone in their life, romantically.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to bounce around genres. One book may be a fantasy, then the next one is a horror book. I never know what the next book will bring.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on a mystery in which the main character’s neighbor has disappeared. She is desperate to find him, but what she discovers instead is more than she ever could have imagined.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep trying. If you never try, you will never succeed.

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading Warhammer 40k books. They are so real, but emotional that I get attached to the characters very easily.

 

Author Websites and Profiles
Trisha M. Wilson Website
Trisha M. Wilson Amazon Profile
Trisha M. Wilson Author Profile on Smashwords

Trisha M. Wilson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in England but have lived a good portion of my life in Australia and North America. Now I call a small town south of Vancouver home. I love to travel, especially on cruise ships which is why eight of my books are in the Cruising to Love Series. I’ve started the Flavor of the Month Series, also contemporary romance, and being a contrarian, the first book in that series is HIS DECEMBER BLONDE and the second, THE JANUARY GIRL.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
THE JANUARY GIRL goes live tomorrow (August 20th, 2015) and it’s about a strong woman who gets dealt a low blow, how she deals with it, and the man she falls in love with. The central character was inspired by a friend of mine of the same name, Linda Wilson, who has had a very amazing life — she was one of the first female race drivers in North America and went on to create a very successful company promoting major corporations. That’s where the similarities end. The Linda Wilson in my book is pure fiction!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
These days, I seem to start in the evening and work through the wee small hours.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I admire so many writers, it’s hard to list them all. Robert Ruark had quite an impact on me when I was in my twenties and so did Robert Heinlein and Isaac Azimov, but more lately, such contemporary romance icons as Bella Andre, Melissa Foster and E L James have impressed me. It’s popular to put Ms James down but I think she’s an amazing storyteller, and obviously so do millions of other readers. Critics be damned! It’s the number of books you sell in the end that tell the world how much readers like you.

What are you working on now?
I’m writing the third book in the new series, FLAVOR OF THE MONTH. This is one is called Her February Fling, and like the first two books, features a strong, intelligent woman who isn’t dependent on a man for her success, although she certainly appreciates his support and love.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still finding my way, but sites like the Awesomegang.com and The Masquerade Crew are invaluable in book promotion. I also used Facebook groups, but that’s a fairly new thing and I’m not sure how effective it is. I’ve had a lot of success with Twitter.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
First word of advice: Write
Second word of advice: Edit, edit, edit
Third word of advice: get it out there on KDP

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be your own person. You can’t fail at being yourself.

What are you reading now?
Right now I’m too busy to be reading anything. I have a deadline to finish HER FEBRUARY FLING, but I will admit to sneaking a few pages of GREY by E L James every night before I go to sleep…it’s interesting to see the same plot from another character’s eyes. I hope she does that with the rest of the trilogy.

What’s next for you as a writer?

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
It would have to be four anthologies, the bigger the better, because I’m a very fast reader.

Author Websites and Profiles
EDWINA J. WHITE Website
EDWINA J. WHITE Amazon Profile

EDWINA J. WHITE’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a writer, speaker and consultant living in the Chicago area. I”m also a former stand-up comedian and corporate drone who now runs a successful consulting business and writes fiction to save his sanity. Needless to say, I’m a history geek, whose motto is “those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. Those who remember can’t do anything about it, but get to smile smugly and say ‘told you so’.”
In addition to my first novel, “The Count of the Sahara,” I’ve written 7 non-fiction books with riveting titles such as “6 Weeks to a Great Webinar,” and “Meet Like You Mean It- a Leader’s Guide to Painless and Productive Virtual Meetings,” and speak at conferences around the world.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My new novel is “The Count of the Sahara.” For years, I’ve been fascinated with the lead character, Count Byron de Prorok (google it, it’s worth the trip.) I’m sure a psychologist could tell you why I’m so fascinated with historical figures who have all the tools for greatness, and manage to screw everything up but I won’t dwell on it. I came across Byron’s books some years ago, and the story of his rise and fall has haunted me ever since.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to write in white hot sessions, cranking out a lot of pages at a time. My favorite thing is to write the chapter or scene in my head while doing something mundane like mowing the lawn or doing dishes, then when it’s all there dash to the computer to crank it out. I also do that by taking naps. Often my wife will find me laying down with my eyes closed, and I have to explain that I’m not napping… I’m getting Willy away from the Pinkertons. She looks at me like you just did.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The first book I was obsessed with was The Three Musketeers, then Kim and Treasure Island. When I read Hunter S Thompson in High School, though, it was all over.

What are you working on now?
Besides schlepping the new book, I’m working on an adventure story set during the second Crusade. If you know your history you can guess it doesn’t work out well for my characters.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
If I knew that, I’m sure I’d be doing it instead of talking to you! I have found Goodreads is a fine place to start, and Facebook allows me to cross-promote to my nonfiction audience.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just finish the first draft. Too many people have things half-started. I wrote The Count of the Sahara in 90 days or so…..well, the first draft anyway. Rewriting for me is way easier when you have a complete first draft to work from, otherwise you’re just reworking the same pages over and over again and not making progress.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My old man taught me that 3 rights make a left too. Sometimes the obvious way isn’t the only way to get where you’re going. That’s true of writing as well. Does that sound sage enough?

What are you reading now?
I’m reading Galloglass part 1 by Seamus O’Griffin. Is that the coolest author name ever or what?

What’s next for you as a writer?
Continuing to blog and write in the business arena on Management-Issues.com and other places, and trying to finish my next novel.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Wow…. The Three Musketeers by Dumas, Kim by Rudyard Kipling, The Great White Shark Hunt by Hunter Thompson, and Infinite Jest, in case I need to club something to eat.

Author Websites and Profiles
Wayne Turmel Website
Wayne Turmel Amazon Profile

Wayne Turmel’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an IT manager for my family business. I have been an avid reader since I was young and always wanted to try my hand at writing. I have spent years writing technical documents, but there isn’t much fun in that. So I sat down nearly seven years ago to see if I could do it, and several months later I had a complete manuscript in my hands. Life always got in the way of the final rewrites and editing, but that’s what makes writing better in the long run. Without a little pain and failure, an author is going to be cold and stale. Finally I published my novel, The Freezer, on Jan 1, 2015. Since then I have learned how much work it is to market your own product. I split my time between my family (3 kids, mostly grown up now), my hobbies (too many to name), my work, and writing. I currently have two books published, my novel The Freezer, and a short novella called Paradox Cycle.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Paradox Cycle is my latest book and it was an exercise in writing that turned out good enough to publish. I wrote it, edited and rewrote, and designed a cover for it, all in the span of a week. Like my first novel, I did it to see if I could. The inspiration came from being disappointed over and over with stories and movies about time travel and paradox. I woke up with an idea in my head and later that night had most of the story figured out. It’s a fun short read that could be the start to a full series.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
The only thing unusual about my writing is that I do it all in my head and all sequentially. I don’t take notes or draw up a timeline or an outline. I just start telling the story as if I were telling it to a group of friends. I also don’t verbalize while writing – it goes straight from my brain to my fingertips and I get to read it for the first time as it appears on the screen. This played against me this summer as I had a surgery that prevented me from typing for a couple months. I couldn’t use speech to text software as I just couldn’t put things into words without a keyboard in front of me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Pretty much every author I have read has influenced me in some way. Notably, Niven gave me a lot of ideas on futuristic technology (some I even borrowed for my own writing). Epic fantasy authors like Jordan, Martin, and Goodkind inspired me to want my stories to be epic, not just one event, but one major event with subplots and a believable world. Stuart Woods made me love a hero who everyone wants to like (and who always gets the girl). Finally, John Sandford showed me how much I like a well developed character, one you can believe exists, even if he killed them off right away. I don’t like when I need a body with a name, I prefer to develop some depth first, but you can’t always spend time on character development. Most feedback I get has to do with the character depth, which makes me happy.

What are you working on now?
I am about 75% finished with my second full novel, a second book in the Genesis Endeavor series. In “The Freezer”, I built the world and established some characters. In “Immortal” (the title of the next book), I get to explore that world, flesh out more characters, and develop the overall story further.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have found that promoting takes a combination of many factors to be successful. I don’t have a surefire method yet, but I have had some success with regular discount promotions that are advertised with several sites (preferably through newsletters) like Awesomegang.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My best advice is to write and then write some more. I didn’t do much for nearly five years with my first book, and when I finally got it finished and published, I realized I would be WAY ahead if I had written two or three novels in those years. If you are just getting started, don’t stop unless you don’t want to be an author. Once you publish and start to gain a following, you need to feed those readers as often as possible. The most surefire way to increase sales is to write more.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My physics teacher in high school had a son who wanted to be an artist. He told his son he had two choices: he could either go to an art school and spend his life choosing between buying a canvas and buying the paint to put on the canvas, or he could go to a business school and learn about business, get a good job, and afford all the paints, brushes, and canvases he could ever want.

What are you reading now?
I just finished reading “Memory Man” by David Baldacci. I am taking a break from reading because I find it difficult to work on my own book when reading someone else’s.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully my next book will be finished before Winter and I can start on the next one. I won’t ever quit my day job, but I enjoy writing, I enjoy knowing people are reading my work, and I enjoy a little extra income that might lead to an earlier retirement.

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?
When it comes to “top ten” type lists I always flounder. I can’t even point to my favorite of ANYTHING. That being said, Lucifer’s Hammer would be at the top of my list. I love that book and it inspired me to write in the Post-Apocalyptic genre. I’m not a religious man per se, but I would probably want a copy of the Bible. While there are dozens of books I regard as the best I have read, I would want to choose something really long because I would likely have a LOT of time on my hands.

Author Websites and Profiles
David Kersten Website
David Kersten Amazon Profile

David Kersten’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi, I started my career in television marketing, working on shows such as 24, American Idol, Friends, etc. and recently, for the past seven years, I’ve been ghostwriting nonfiction books for NBA players, business leaders and even a few interesting criminals. I’m currently based in New York City with my wife, who is also a writer. She sits right next to me everyday…
‘

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
DARK SKY is my first novel and something I never thought I’d have the time to write. I’ve been working for clients nonstop for the past few years and, to tell you the truth, I was actually feeling a little burnt out on all the nonstop typing. A few months ago, a friend introduced me to someone who was self-publishing his novels and this guy talked nonstop about how great the experience had been. My wife was enthralled – but I didn’t care. Then I got home and suddenly got the whole idea for a mystery-thriller right then and there – something based on the old Raymond Chandler books, but with a more contemporary, funny and human narrative. It was written and finished within three months, which is still shocking to me.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Frequently, when I had little to no idea of what I was going to write next in DARK SKY, I would wake up in the middle of the night with the concept for the next chapter. Then I would stay awake for a couple of hours working it out on my head. I lost a lot of sleep, but I’m not going to knock that kind of ongoing inspiration.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
As I noted, Raymond Chandler was a big influence on this book – as he is to so many mystery writers. Joseph Heller is another guy who really spoke to me, especially in CATCH-22 and SOMETHING HAPPENED, both of which are among my favorite books.

What are you working on now?
Right now, I’m back on a couple of client books, but then I hope to write the next entry in the series I started with DARK SKY, if I can carve out the time (and if sales of the book give me some hope). I really enjoyed the character of Max Bowman I created in DARK SKY and I have many more adventures in mind for him.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am new at this, so I’ve been following advice from friends in terms of giving away a whole lot of ebooks to generate interest and reviews. I’m using Kindle Select promotions and also some exterior service. I don’t want to recommend anything specific yet, because this is my first time and I want to make sure results are good before I pass any of them on here.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
WRITE EVERY DAY.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Go against the grain. If you’re doing a genre book, do it in a way that meets the expectations of the genre but does it in a completely unexpected way. In my case, my hero is far from the usual mystery-thriller norm. He’s a brain without the traditional physical skills we expect to see – he has to see what he’s capable of at the same time the reader does.

What are you reading now?
A lot of nonfiction – that’s mostly what I read. Specifically, KEEPERS by Richard Schickel, an overview of his most memorable movie experiences over his 50 years as a movie critic and a biography of Bob and Ray, a legendary comedy team.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Right now, I have to pay the bills with some more ghostwriting , my wife and I are waiting for notes on the first draft of a Hallmark romance movie we’re writing for that channel, and there is another screenplay opportunity on the horizon. Also, again, hopefully will be writing a DARK SKY sequel, maybe around 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?
Well, they would have to be books I’d like to read over and over…so probably SINATRA: THE SONG IS YOU, Chandler’s THE LONG GOODBYE, Heller’s CATCH-22 and maybe DARK SKY, so I can catch any remaining typos that are lurking in there.

Author Websites and Profiles
Joel Canfield Website
Joel Canfield Amazon Profile

Joel Canfield’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been freelance writing for over two decades. I started out as a columnist for my hometown newspaper and, in between raising a family, continue to write how-to articles for Hubpages. My first book, Nicholas’ Story was published in 2011 and is currently in revision for a 2nd edition due to be re-published in 2015. I am currently working on a book series, Progenitor’s Curse, with Book One, Vera’s Revenge, set to be released October 19, 2015 by Amazon.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, How to Become a Freelance Writer – The Newbie Guide to Freelance Writing was inspired by twenty-something years of struggling to become a freelance writer. I wanted to help other aspiring writers start their career without the pitfalls and mistakes that I made. If I can help just one writer become successful and happy than I will feel this book accomplished something great.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m pretty basic with my writing habits. When I feel the muse I write until I drop. I can begin my writing at 5am and keep going until early evening. If the muse has left me for the day, I concentrate on other areas in my life.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I would say that Stephen King and Nicholas Sparks – although completely different genres – have influenced me the most. Whenever I’m stuck on wording or a storyline I pick up one of their books and read until my creativity is sparked.

What are you working on now?
I’m finishing up the final touches on Vera’s Revenge for an October 2015 release. I am also revising Nicholas’ Story with the anticipation it will be republished in September. I am also working on a new book, Blind Blessings, about God’s love and how we don’t always see His blessings. The expected publication date for this inspirational book is December 2015 in time for Christmas.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Social media, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Linkedin have always been great places to promote my books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never give up is my first and foremost piece of advice for new writers. Expect rejection. It just comes with the job. Keep pushing what you have and you will make it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The same advice I give – Don’t Give Up!

What are you reading now?
Always the Bible. I also just downloaded a bunch of Kindle books that I’m getting ready to read. Deadly Offerings by Alexa Grace is one of the books I will be reading in the next day or two. The Bell Tower Suite by James Field is another.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Once the above books are completed and published, I will be working on “Obituaries” which is the second book in the Progenitor’s Curse series.

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 Notebook” by Nicholas Sparks, and Stephen Kings, “It”.

Author Websites and Profiles
Michelle Bentley Website
Michelle Bentley Amazon Profile

Michelle Bentley’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author and I’m known for my big family romance series, The Friessens, The Outsider and The Wilde Brothers.

I have written over 40 titles, in multiple genres, such as romance, western, military, and mystery/suspense and in multiple series, including The Outsider, Walk the Right Road, The Wilde Brothers, Saved, The Friessens, and my two newest additions, Married in Montana and my high-stakes suspense and sizzling, red-hot romance series Kate and Walker: Deadly, Dangerous, and Desired.

I write the type of books I want to read and I am a big fan of the happily ever after, for now. But you know that disaster and doom is pending on the horizon.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My new release, UNFORGIVEN, is the final book in The Wilde Brothers series. A series about five very alpha male men, their struggles, what they overcame as children and their journey to find the right women for them. UNFORGIVEN is about the last brother, Samuel, a young lawyer and the woman that divided his family.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My writing schedule consistently is, I write in the mornings, I start early and unless I am on a deadline I shut it down around lunchtime. I never schedule appointments early in the day and keep that time in the mornings as my time to write. Although as of late promotion and social media has been cutting into by writing time.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There are so many authors out there that have influenced me and helped guide my career to being a successful author, and far too many to list.

One of the things that I have learned from some of the best authors out there, other Authors are not the competition, because there is more than enough to go around.

What are you working on now?
Currently I am working on a project I’ve wanted to write all year. He Came Back, it is a military suspense about one woman’s journey when her husband returns, but everything she knew about their relationship and him, has changed.

He Came Back will also bring back a character many fans have asked for who was introduced in Walk the Right Road series, Zac. He was introduced in Bounty as the ex military forensic specialist and married Diane in Blown Away. He has a dark past a lot of secrets, a lot of which you will learn about in He Came Back.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Promoting is a full time job. And if you want to promote successfully you have to embrace social media. It isn’t just one website or one method that works but a combination of many promotional sites, from utilizing facebook, facebook ads, twitter, google plus, purchasing multiple ads on promotion sites, running giveaways, blogging, and utilizing my newsletter list. And always be willing to ty something new.

One of the things I’ve learned is the industry is always changing. So what may have worked yesterday, may not tomorrow.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up! What separates a successful author from those barely making a living, is the successful ones never give up!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If something isn’t working in the way your coming at it take a step back, re-evaluate, and come at in a different direction. Words that I live by. Advice that has given me the successful career as a bestselling author.

What are you reading now?
Several books by some bestselling Indie Authors.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Write, write, write. I have a christmas romance, Loving Christine which will be out in late November 2015. And I’ve slated six books to write for next 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?
That’s not fair. I would take my kindle that is loaded with hundreds of books.

Author Websites and Profiles
Lorhainne Eckhart Website
Lorhainne Eckhart Amazon Profile
Lorhainne Eckhart Author Profile on Smashwords

Lorhainne Eckhart’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I started my writing career as a humor columnist in the vein of Erma Bombeck, and it was great fun to write about the foibles of my family. That evolved into other journalism work for regional and national publications until I started having some books published. My first nine were nonfiction for teens, dealing with life issues they face, and Coping With Weapons and Violence In School and on Your Streets, was chosen as a Best Book for Teens by the New York Library System.

My first fiction publications in order are: Friends Forever, Play it Again, Sam, The Wisdom of Ages, One Small Victory, Boxes For Beds, Open Season, Stalking Season, and Doubletake.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Doubletake, my most recent release, was chosen as the Best Mystery for 2015 by the Texas Association of Authors, and I wrote it with Margaret Sutton. Collaborating was an interesting experience, and I was really pleased with how seamlessly our writing styles meshed.

When we started to develop the story idea, we wanted to showcase a really strong woman and came up with Detective Barbara Hopkins, who has to prove herself to the all-male department. She is pitted against a particularly sadistic killer and is then almost the victim of Doubletake.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t have any unusual writing habits, unless you count procrastination. (smile) After reading a biography of Jack London and learning that he set himself a goal of writing at least 1000 words a day, and then allowing himself the freedom to do something else, I thought I would try that. Unfortunately, other than writing my blog and taking care of business items, I don’t always get the words in first. I check mail and find a message I have to respond to. Then I check to see if my blog posted. While I’m there I should go ahead and promote it just a bit. Then I’m on Facebook and see a post from one of my friends. Then I see a new promotional opportunity, and I hop over to that website. LOL

That said, I do make myself stop all that and spend at least two hours writing, maybe more. I have two books I want to finish this year and time is getting away from me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Oh, my, this is always such a hard question to answer. So many authors have inspired me. Anne Lamott and her wonderful Bird by Bird that gives writers permission to just write and worry about fixing things later. Dennis Lehane, Craig Johnson, Raymond Atkins, Laura Lippman, PD James, and so many other fine writers who challenge me to write better. And my all-time favorite, John Steinbeck who was a master at characterization and made me want to write about memorable people

What are you working on now?
My current WIP is a mainstream novel based on true life. It is my mother’s story, which I have always wanted to write, as she is the strongest woman I have ever known. I think after she died last year, she started channeling her story, so I put aside the third Seasons story and started working on Evelyn Evolving.

I’ve discovered that this type of book, fiction based on true life, is very popular. I am reading Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls, which is the story of her grandmother’s life, and in the book description it says that she was encouraged to fill in some missing blanks with fiction. That is what I have had to do with Evelyn Evolving, as so many things in my mother’s life were mysteries, which is why I had never written the story before. I thought I had to ferret out all those things.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Some advertising is effective, and Awesomegang does a great job with the ads and all the other opportunities for authors to share about their books. I have found that the social media sites are effective, too, but that takes time and dedication. It is best not to just be posting about the books, so we need to find other things of interest to post about.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, write. Read, read, read. Then write, write, write. Seriously, the best way to hone the craft is by practice. Then when you get your first book published, don’t hawk it like a carnival barker. Be professional in every thing you do.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
One of the best pieces of advice was from Liz Carpenter who told me to never say no to an opportunity. So often if we have no experience with something we want to step away, but she encouraged stepping toward. That worked well for me when I was asked to do PR work for a large Foundation in Dallas. I knew nothing about PR work, but I went for the interview, accepted the job, and called a friend who had experience. “Help!” And she did.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading Half Broke Horses.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My plan is to finish Evelyn Evolving and the third book in the Seasons Series, Desperate Season. Then I will work on two other “based on real life” stories that my editor suggested I try.

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?
Can I cheat and bring my Kindle that has 200 books loaded in it? LOL Seriously, with nothing else to do, I can read three books in three days. Would I be stuck there longer than that? The first book I’d take is one of the latest from Dennis Lehane, World Gone By, which is on my nightstand waiting for me to read. Then I’d dig out my old copy of Of Mice and Men. And the others would be Laura Lippman’s latest two, After I’m Gone and Hush Hush.

Author Websites and Profiles
Maryann Miller Website
Maryann Miller Amazon Profile

Maryann Miller’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a die hard fan of all things 90’s pop culture. So much so that it fills all the useful space in my head, pushing out important things like people’s birthdays and why I walked into a room. Apocalypse Wow is my second self-published book. The first is titled The Many Lives of Zane Montgomery.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Apocalypse Wow is my latest book. The idea came to me well over ten years ago, so the inspiration was lost long ago to the unrelenting constant that is time and the failing of human memory.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have to start every writing escapade with Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m hugely influenced by A Lee Martinez and Terry Pratchett

What are you working on now?
Right now I’m working on the follow up to Apocalypse Wow entitled Apocalypse Wow 2: Apocalypse Wower.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Goodread and Twitter have been hugely helpful in getting the word out for me.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t let rejection get you down. If you believe in what you’ve written, just keep pushing it out there. It will catch on eventually.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t mess with a hungry pregnant woman.

What are you reading now?
A Nameless Witch by A Lee Martinez

What’s next for you as a writer?
Obviously promoting the current book as well as working on the follow up title.

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 Harry Potter series

Author Websites and Profiles
Ben Mariner Website

Ben Mariner’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an Atlanta, Georgia, native who currently resides in Gwinnett County, Georgia, with my wife and daughter. I attended Roosevelt High School in Atlanta and continued my formal education at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia for two years. I met my future wife in Atlanta after my second year at Mercer University. My junior year I transferred to Georgia State University in downtown Atlanta.

In 1973, with new responsibilities, I became an Atlanta Police Officer while attending college full time. I attained a BA degree in English Literature from Georgia State University in 1974, and retired from the Atlanta Police Department in 1996 after a very fulfilling and personally, satisfying career.

I’m alos the author of SEVEN FISH TREE, THE YELLOW BUS BOYS, TRANSMUTATION THE LIFE OF A TWISTED COP, RED, the CRAMPED QUARTERS series consisting of MARY’S TRUNK, MARY’S JOURNEY BEGINS, MARY’S JOURNEY CONTINUES, PAUL’S STORY, and my short story THE DEAD and the DYING appears in Annie Acorn’s 2015 DARK TALES.

You can follow me at @rongizmo on Twitter and friend him on Facebook. He is the author of the blog at ronshawmedia.com.

You can interact directly with me each Monday night at 8:00 p.m. as I host the Ron Shaw Show on ArtistFirst Radio Network at artistfirst.com/ronshaw.htm.

Since October 2013, I’ve written nine books. One of these, DARK TALES, is a horror anthology that I’m in. Within the next few months, I’ll have two more books, novels, coming out. One of these is a collaborative work with Texas author D.A. Grady. The other one is the second novel in THE YELLOW BUS BOYS books. It’s entitled THE YELLOW BUS BOYS GO BLUE CANADA BOUND.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
DARK TALES FROM GENS’ PENS is the latest book that I have a horror short story in. It was published and edited by Annie Acorn’s AA Publications. The book is out now at all venues in eBook as well as paperback formats.
This book became a reality after my daughter recommended that I write a horror or ghost book with some of the brilliant authors who have been guests on my weekly radio show. This was an excellent idea. Immediately, I began the process of picking the best young and old authors around the world to be represented in this anthology. The authors I chose, Steve Cartwright of Georgia, D.A. Grady of Texas, Joe Eliseon of Massachusetts, K. Edwin Fritz of New Jersey, William D. ‘Billy Crash’ Prystauk of Pennsylvania, and me are prepresented in DARK TALES. I had picked from a fine list of female authors for it as well, but they will be represented in SPIRITED TALES with Annie Acorn that’ll be out next month. In this book will be Annie Acorn of Maryland, Peggy Teel of Alabama, Juliette Hill of Virginia, Angel Nichols of Florida, Christina Paul of New Jersey, and Susan Jean Ricci of New Jersey.
Both books DARK TALES and SPIRITED TALES are filled with a wide variety of short stories. There something in each for every reader.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No. Not really. I write when the urge strikes me, and often, I’ll do so regardless of what is going on around me at the moment when the words or characters appear.
Sometimes, I’ll write while listening to music for the soul by Laura Sullivan of California or killer music by Bethany Borg of Nordik Fire of Alabama. Every other blue moon, I’ll partake of rock music when the story is popping off.
There’s nothing very mysterious about my writing process. The one thing that is a shock to me but not unusual is when a character wakes me between 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. demanding that I peck their stories out immediately. Thank goodness, of late, they’ve allowed me to sleep a little longer.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There have been far too many to list here. I majored in English Literature and thus, have read a few authors.
My favorites at this time are Dan Brown, Hunter S. Thompson, and any number of the classics like Shakespeare, Dickens, Swift and such.

What are you working on now?
I have about four or five writing projects in various stages now. I am continuing the CRAMPED QUARTERS MARY the ghost series, RED is cooking again after my first dabbling in erotica that is getting a lot of attention from readers around the globe, and a non-fiction piece entitled MY FROZEN HEART – THE BECKY DAVIS STORY.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
There are a few excellent ones out there like ReadersGazette.com, Authorsdb.com, SneekPeak.com, iAuthor.uk.com, beezeebooks.com, Awesomegang.com, Inspired Writers by Merrie Housdon and others.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
The first and possibly the best advice that I’d give new authors is to be bold and allow your voice to be heard. Realize that writing the book is the easiest and maybe, the greatest fun or aspect of being an author. The hard work begins after the book(s) is published.
Never give up regardless of the criticisms that are sure to come when you put yourself out there in print. Remember or learn that everyone is a critic, even you and me. Our housecat Percy is a tough critic of my work in words.
Write what you know, and if you don’t know it already do tons of research. Writing is a learning, growing, and tedious process.
Embrace every aspect of it.
In short, be bold.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Ron, do like me, just make some shit up!” stated an internationally acclaimed, best-selling author.

What are you reading now?
Every author who comes on my radio show provides me with a book or twelve and I try my damnedest to read them. So, with that in mind, I’m reading about eight authors now…like, Corrina Holyoake of the UK, Robbie Cox of Florida, Christina Paul of New Jersey, Vany Vetto of Australia, Jake Needham of parts unknown, Annie Acorn of Maryland, Joe Elsieon of Boston, Angel Nichols of Florida, Dorothy May Mercer of Michigan, Susan Jean Ricci of New Jersey, Suzanne L. Holko of Connecticut. Currently, I have at least twelve authors in line with around twenty of their books to read.
To answer the question specifically, I’m now reading CONFESSIONS of a TRAVEL JUNKIE by Vanya Vetto of Perth, Australia.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully, I’ll continue to write and publish books despite the fact books aren’t selling well at the moment. If it ever becomes purely about money, I’ll never write another word for print.
It’s the fun of writing, of putting a book in the hands of a reader and them enjoying what I’ve created that keeps me going as an author. Good, bad, or indifferent, I always appreciate those who read my works. Their comments, support, and constructive criticisms are always appreciated.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
HOW THE HELL TO ESCAPE FROM A DESERTED ISLAND would be my first choice. My second pick is the Bible. The third choices would be the collective works of William Shakespear, Sherlock Homes, and any of the huge, hernia-inducing English Anthology books out there. I’d have plenty to read for the remainder of my days in solitude.
Can I pick 3 or 4 ladies to bring with?

Author Websites and Profiles
Ron Shaw Website
Ron Shaw Amazon Profile

Ron Shaw’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have an M.A. in modern European history and I enjoy teaching world history as well as writing. Like most writers, I’m also an avid reader, and I enjoy a variety of genres such as paranormal, urban fantasy, science fiction, dystopian, and young adult. My novels are infused with the same humorous sarcasm that I frequently use in the classroom – or just in life, really.

As a native of Louisiana, I set many of my scenes here, and like Dietrich in Resurrected, I am also convinced Louisiana has been cursed with mosquitoes much like Biblical Egypt with its locusts.

I’ve written many books over the years, but the Resurrected trilogy are my first published books.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Resurrected Series (Resurrected, Insurrection and Final Sacrifice) focuses on the resurrection of one young woman, Lottie, by an extra-terrestrial life force. In some respects, it builds on familiar tropes of space travel using wormholes, but these aliens can only survive on Earth by reviving dead human bodies. But for Lottie, something went wrong. She isn’t supposed to have her human memories or personality, and yet, she is resurrected. Her resurrection begins her struggle for survival against the men who run the company transporting people from their planet to Earth, because who wants to wake up as both yourself and someone else? Seriously, that’s just not good for business.

The inspiration for the trilogy was this idea I had of what it must be like to wake up as both myself and someone else. I then had to develop a mechanism for how that would occur, and Lottie’s resurrection and all of the drama and intrigue that come along with it stem from this original idea.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t have any unusual writing habits. I do all of my writing at home, so I just try to find the quietest room in the house!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My writing idol is Ernest Hemingway, as I’ve always admired his fluid, beautiful prose. But I take inspiration from every good book I read. Every author who writes well and tells a good story has something to offer me as I grow and develop as an author myself.

What are you working on now?
I’ve started writing a new urban fantasy series, The Immortals. This series provides a twist on the supernatural trope of Heaven v. Hell.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
There are a lot of great promotional sites out there for indie authors. It can take a long time to build up a following on social media, so taking advantage of all of those promotional sites is important for new writers.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. If possible, find a local writing group to get feedback on your work in progress. You should enjoy what you’re writing. If not, set it aside for a while. It may not be the story you want to tell, or you may just need some time and a fresh perspective on it, but if you try to force the prose, it will read that way. Love the process.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Pay attention to the market and what’s selling well. If you want to be a successful author, knowing trends in the genre you write is essential.

What are you reading now?
The Sleepwalkers: How Europe went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark and Expendable by James Alan Gardner.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish the Immortals series!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would have to bring those rare books that I could read over and over again and never tire of. My top picks would be Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith, and The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien.

Author Websites and Profiles
S. M. Schmitz Website
S. M. Schmitz Amazon Profile

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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Five if you count the one I’ve just finished, I say ‘finally’ because I actually started it before writing my fourth book. Let’s face it, in some ways that first book is easier that way because you do not have the distraction of promoting existing books and doing rounds of edits on recently contracted books. As for me I’m from Scotland where I had this brilliant idea of trying to write romance. Without so much as a Romance Chapter here, it’s been interesting.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is The Viking and The Courtesan. You might think there were no courtesans in Viking times, and you would be right. That’s because Malice, the heroine, is a time traveller from Regency London. As for what inspired it? In a nutshell? The need to get another book written. Beyond that I wanted to write about the absolute need to find true love, or be doomed forever.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
You mean like pat the cat five times and stir the spoon anti-clockwise in the coffee? Right? Oh, you don’t. And wait, I don’t have a cat. Probably I don’t have any odd habits.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m a huge fan of the hard boiled school. Cain, McCoy etc really knew how to keep that prose tight but flowing, giving you a world in a few lines, or words. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote gorgeous prose. I always loved the history authors, like Anya Seton, Du Maurier. A huge early influence was F. Tennyson Jesse. I loved the funny way she wrote about the daily lives of characters, and effortlessly constructed their whole world. I thought….I want to write like that. it was kind of intelligent, literary but very down to earth too.
In recent years I’ve adored Kate Furnivall’s books because she’s writing in a genre I love. I also like the way Kate Aitkinson constructs her books.

What are you working on now?
Well, I’m editing and formatting my fifth book which is the second in a series about the lives of ex jewel thieves gang members, the Starkadder Sisterhood. They’ve all been cast to the four winds kind of thing. This book is about their skivvy though.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
That’s a difficult one to answer. The market place is changing as we speak. I use my own blog affair bit, have sold books through int4eracting on facebook and also with book trailers. Launch parties are good–just don’t hard sell. I think being prepared to try various outlets, interacting with other authors and readers and yeah, spending small amounts on advertising has been best for me.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
There’s a lot of books out there. Success doesn’t happen overnight. Above all else you need tenacity. Hang on in there. Promote yourself–you are your biggest selling tool–but also promote others, network, engage.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Get knocked down six times, get up seven.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading The Pendle Curse by Catherine Cavendish. Horror may seem a little removed from romance but I will pretty well read anything if it is well written. Catherine’s books give more than a nod to the finest horror writers. She picks up on the past too.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m hoping to sub my present WIP soon and start work on a prequel to The Viking and The Courtesan. I never planned on that being a series but she does belong to time travelling dynasty so,… I’d also like to branch more into historical fiction. I have quite a lot of ideas there. So we’ll see.

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?
(Lol…anthologies with ten books in each !)

They would have to be ones I reread!
A Pin to See the Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse
Mildred Pierce -James M Cain
Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell….it’s nice and long
Les Miserable Victor Hugo.. It’s epic.
Goldwyn – A Scotty Berg

Author Websites and Profiles
Shehanne Moore Website
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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am from Waitomo Caves, New Zealand, world famous for caves lit by sparkling glowworms.
I started my writing career as a playwright. I’ve written five plays and had four performed. I have written stripteases, tender break up scenes, poker games and blown up the world. It was the blowing up the world play that didn’t get performed – I wonder why?
One day I sat down to write a new play and the characters became too big for the script. They had an awful lot of backstory and demanded more to say. The play become my first young adult book, The Secret of Sinbad’s Cave, Book I in The Natnat Adventures.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called The Ship of Sight and The Hand of Shadow, Book II in The Natnat Adventures. There are many old shipwreck stories in New Zealand. One story involves an old wreck near Raglan that has been buried by the sand. People say it was last seen during the Great War. The idea of that was enough to spin my imagination.
I’d been doing a lot of reading of alternative history ideas to do with who discovered New Zealand first. The official story states that the Maori arrived in about 1350, but there are many scraps of evidence pointing to another story – Arabian explorers, Celts, the Chinese, and shipwrecked Spaniards.
I spun the tales into an epic adventure in which Nat and her friends have two weeks to return a talisman of the Ancient Celts to the top of the country – but there’s a ruthless villain on their tail who is determined to stop them from reaching their goal.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I developed one when I worked as an adventure cave guide for The Legendary Black Water Rafting Company. I would scribble down my ideas underground, leaning on cold rocks, with the glowworms above and the roar of the subterranean river beside me. I guess that’s unusual. The other guides learned that any carefully folded up pieces of paper that I’d stashed in multiple plastic bags were to be treated like gold until I could get them out of the cave safely.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
A huge part of my childhood was reading Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew and Trixie Beldon books. As a teenager I read anything I could get my hands on, but a book that stands out is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I re-read that while writing The Secret of Sinbad’s Cave and it kicked my story to a whole new level.
I love the ideas and delivery of Ray Bradbury, they’re so very clever. Every time I sit down with Louis de Bernieres I am swept away into beautiful worlds of words. Have you ever heard of a book called The Strange Death of Liberal England? Incredible. Knocked my socks off. What about In Cold Blood – I remember holding that book when I finished it wondering how something so awful could be so delicate. Have I been influenced by a myraid of authors and books? Absolutely. Could I go on and on? Yes.

What are you working on now?
I am working on the third book in The Natnat Adventures, The Lost River. The characters are stranded in Fiordland National Park, a huge swathe of wilderness in the South Island of New Zealand. It’s an incredibly beautiful place, but you have to have your wits about you as the weather can change so quickly.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still figuring that out. Check back with me in a few weeks.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Have adventures! Travel the world! Go do things you never expected to do and chat with people you never imagined you might meet. Then you’ll have something fantastic to write about.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I was often busy ignoring all the wonderful advice I received while I charged full steam ahead… apologies to all those who have tried to pass on their gems over the years. One that has nestled in my brain is a comment from my old and fabulous friend Chris. He said, ‘Don’t force anything with yourself.’

What are you reading now?
I’ve just finished Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz, and I’m about to pick up Confederacy of Dunces.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish book III in my series. I also have a number of author talks coming up, so I need to craft something awesome for those too.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would cheat. I would bring Shakespeare’s Complete Works, and a the biggest collection of Faulkner I could get my hands on. Add in Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries… and Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet. One of them has to be a small book!

Author Websites and Profiles
Brydie Walker Bain Amazon Profile
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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m the author of Pieces of Me, a young adult contemporary romance, and the Elemental Enchanters Series, a young adult paranormal romance (a four book series). I was born in Cullman, Alabama, but grew up in Birmingham, and moved to Atlanta at 18. I earned my BA in English at Kennesaw State University.

When I’m not writing (which is rare), I’m spending time with my fiancé, family, and friends, listening to music, playing with my three furbabies, or cheering on my Atlanta Braves.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My upcoming book, January Dreams, was inspired by my love of gothic fiction and dark romance. Music also inspired the story.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write notes in the shower and all over the house. I also let the characters tell me the story and I just write it down.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Nicholas Sparks. Harry Potter Series. Becca Fitzgerald’s Hush, Hush series.

What are you working on now?
Currently, I’m writing the sequel to January Dreams.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My personal assistant helps promote my books in groups on Facebook and also I do Amazon ads. Facebook events help as well and my blog.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up and don’t be afraid to write whatever you want.

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

What are you reading now?
The Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To continue growing each day as a writer.

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, The Order of the Phoenix. Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook. White Oleander, Janet Finch.

Author Websites and Profiles
Carrigan Richards Website
Carrigan Richards Amazon Profile

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