Awesome Author Interviews

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I discovered a true love of mysteries as a girl reading Nancy Drew and The Happy Hollisters, and decided I wanted to write my own series. SKYLAR ROBBINS: THE MYSTERY OF SHADOW HILLS is my first book. It introduces Skylar Robbins, a 13-year-old sleuth, much like a modern Nancy Drew with a sense of humor. The sequel, SKYLAR ROBBINS: THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN JEWELS, comes out this August, and I have two more Skylar Robbins mysteries in the works.

In addition to writing Skylar Robbins mysteries and reading, I love to cook, hike at the beach, go boating, and travel.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
SKYLAR ROBBINS: THE MYSTERY OF SHADOW HILLS is my first book, and the inspiration came from an incident when I was six years old. I played hide-and-seek with the little girl who lived in a creepy two-story in Santa Monica Canyon. There were closets and secret hiding places with doors that opened into other rooms. Later I wondered, “What if there was a clue hidden in one of those closets? Or a message written on a wall in invisible ink?”

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’ll write anywhere the inspiration hits me, and if I’m without my laptop, I’ll improvise. I even have an airplane “barf bag” with a novel idea scribbled on it!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My influences include Judy Blume, Deb Caletti, Sarah Dessen, Robert Crais, Ayn Rand, and Lee Child.

What are you working on now?
The sequel, SKYLAR ROBBINS: THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN JEWELS. After solving the mystery of Shadow Hills, thirteen-year-old sleuth Skylar Robbins is ready for a new adventure. Sure enough, as soon as she decides to start her own detective agency, a thrilling case falls right into her hands.

A deserted mansion perches on a steep hillside, overlooking a rocky canyon. Tattered curtains hang behind broken windows, and a turret stretches toward the sky. Three years ago the owner disappeared suddenly, leaving behind a house full of secrets: A mysterious note, tantalizing clues, a hidden floor, a partial treasure map written in code, and a missing fortune in diamonds.

Armed with her detective kit, and with the support of her BFF Alexa and a team of secret agents, Skylar embarks on a new and dangerous mission. Can she outwit a gang of aggressive bikers and find the hidden jewels before they do? Or will the perils of middle school–like battling ruthless bully Emelyn Peters–get in her way?

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Facebook and Twitter to drive traffic to my website, www.carrie-cross.com. I also have a gang of kids who signed up to be Skylar Robbins Secret Agents after reading my first book, and they help me spread the word. My second book is interactive, and Skylar’s agents can post guesses on my website as to what the clues could mean.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Believe in yourself, and if you have trouble getting an agent, self-publish. These days authors have to do the majority of their own promotion anyway and publishing contracts are hard to come by, so don’t waste years trying to obtain representation.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My mother had Calvin Coolidge’s quote hanging over the desk where I used to do my homework, and “persistence and determination” became my motto. “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” So I guess the best piece of advice I’ve heard would be, “Never give up! ”

What are you reading now?
Lee Child’s Never Go Back and a non-fiction book about conjoined twins.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Continuing the Skylar Robbins mystery series. The Mystery of the Missing Heiress is next (2016), followed by The Curse of Koma Island.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
A how-to book on how to live on a deserted island! Plus anything new by Lee Chile, Sarah Dessen, or Deb Caletti, and my most recent Skylar Robbins draft so I could spent time revising it.

Author Websites and Profiles
Carrie Cross Website
Carrie Cross Amazon Profile

Carrie Cross’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve worked 20 years in the independent music business and for the last five years in the freedom of expression world for an NGO., both in London. This is my eight published book, four of which are novels and four are collections of flash fiction. I’ve also collaborated with designers on digital literary projects, such as kinetic typography videos

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
28 Far Cries – it’s a collection of flash fiction, one story written each week since the start of 2014 so absolutely anything can inspire them from everyday life. Songs, a phrase or word in a book, real life people in the street or on a train, slogan T-Shirts, living statues and the failings of the human body as it advances in age. In the back of the book I provide a complete set of where each story arose from.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My whole approach to writing is to find new ways of representing stories, other than the conventional beginning, middle, end. So two of these stories have no characters, another story sees language itself breakdown, while the last story consists of two columns of single words that resonate to tell a narrative.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I don’t really have literary influences as I look to forge my own explorations, but there are plenty of authors I admire, such as Ben Marcus, Jonathan Lethem, Don Delillo and Dubravka Ugresic. Having said that, one of the stories in the book is me engaging with the literary approach of French author Alain Robbe-Grillet, it’s one of the stories without character and tells its tale by changing physical markers in the environment around a railway viaduct.

What are you working on now?
I have a couple of novellas, but I’m keen to collaborate on my next kinetic typography video which is scripted and also a large digital book project which I need to find programmers and artists and physicists to collaborate on.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Bookj Viral, Squid Inc, Self-Publisher Showcase, twitter, Goodreads and of course Awesome Gang are all, well awesome!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
You will get plenty of advice from people, some of which is contradictory, so how do you know which to heed? That’s when you need to return to your original artistic vision, what got you into writing in the first place and stick with that. Trust to your own vision of what your art is.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t stand around watching a fight. You’ll get sucked into it! Not sure this is especially relevant to literature, but good advice all the same I feel

What are you reading now?
Jonathan Lethem’s latest novel “Dissident Gardens”

What’s next for you as a writer?
lots of live reading and these various digital projects

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Ben Marcus – “The Age Of Wire And String”
Haruki Murakami – “Hard Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World”
William Burroughs – “Cities Of The Red Night”
Don Delillo – “Cosmopolis”

Author Websites and Profiles
Marc Nash Website
Marc Nash Amazon Profile

Marc Nash’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
When I was younger I never stopped writing until I was nine, when one of the girls in my class had enough of me being praised and tore up my newest story. After that I didn’t write until I was eleven and what came out scared me. I never expected I would write about kidnappings and torture when I was that age. There was a few time’s throughout the years that I tried to write but the story was never there. Then just over three years ago I started to write a story that I was actually liking. After a couple of months working on it I decided it wouldn’t go anywhere because my dreams would never come true.

Thankfully the story would not leave my head in peace until I eventually sat down and wrote it almost two years later. I sent it away to a publishers and after four days I had a reply from them saying that they wanted my book. It has now been over a year since I had the email back from them and I also have two more books out in different genres, yet I am still in shock that I am actually living the dream that I had thought was impossible and I don’t know when it will truly sink in. Until then I am going to continue to write and grow in a way I never would have thought I could.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My newest book is called Anita: Falling and is about a young girl trying to deal with depression.

I have dealt with depression since I was young and overcame the worst of it years ago. Since I came out of my comfort zone at the beginning of last year, I have kept seeing and hearing things about people with depression that are untrue and completely misunderstanding of the illness. I want Anita: Falling to help people to understand that depression isn’t just a bad day and how much damage is done before people suffering from it will come out and say that they have a problem. There is no need for depression to completely ruin anyone’s lives if it is understood in its true nature. It’s something I will always be passionate about helping people to understand because the way in which most people deal with mental illnesses does not help anyone.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write at nights as I can’t concentrate during the day because there is too much going on. I usually scour you tube for music that I think will work with the story that I am writing. Then I bookmark them so that I can bring them all up before I start writing so when I need to change songs I can do it quickly. When I finish what I’m working on the main songs that helped me go on to my mp3 player so that I can listen to them while I’m sorting out the next book in my head. I also make sure that I have a stash of treats so that I can force myself to start writing when I’m not feeling it. Those times are usually when I get the most done once I manage to sit still.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Terry Pratchett has been my favourite writer for over a decade. The way he doesn’t go with the norm in his books has always inspired me to think outside the box. The story that made me write my first fantasy book however was a short story by Holly Black called Noble rot which I read in a book called Naked city. I think the two things put together gave me the idea that I could write the book that I wanted to and pointed me in the right direction to do it. Since then I can’t stop writing or spending my spare time thinking of what to write. Writing is very addictive.

What are you working on now?
I am working on the next part of Anita. It doesn’t have a name yet. It won’t be the same as the first short story as it wouldn’t fit with what I want to do with it. I have chosen to do a six short stories for Anita that will all be about her but written in different ways to show the different phases people go through within depression and while coming out the other side. Hopefully when they’re all finished I will be able to put them all together in a paperback version. It is going to take a while to complete it all but it’s something I really want to do because it will help people.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
To be honest promotion isn’t what I’m best at. My luck for finding ways to promote my books seems to be turning now but I have had months of getting no where fast. I think patience, a lot of research and definitely building a following even before your first book is out would be very worthwhile. I however, like always, went back to front. I have always been too stubborn to give up on what I’ve really wanted though, which tends to mean those things come through for me in the end.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Remember at all times that you are chasing a dream that will live on past you. It’s hard work but it’s worth it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
A teacher told me to remember that everything is biased. If he hadn’t told me that and I hadn’t taken note, I wouldn’t be able to write from any point view that I don’t have and have it be realistic.

What are you reading now?
I have been reading Flirts! 5 romantic short stories by Lisa Scott for the past few nights. They are very cute romantic stories that have been making me think that it might be nice to be in a relationship which is rare for me.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am now sorting/writing the next story for Anita. I have the basic outline fixed and a few characters in place so it’s time to start writing the basic story. I write in layers and there haven’t been less then three goes through before sending my stories off for reading yet. I already have everything in place for when I’m ready for the next stage.

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)The biggest book of stories that I haven’t read yet from any genre.

2)I have a book called Weird that is a collection of one hundred short stories that I need to read through again when I have a chance.

3)My book of ‘one thousand curious things you should know’ from the eighteen hundreds because there might be something in there that’s useful.

4)Some sort of survival book, I’m not into them personally but I think it would be a good idea as I’m mostly useless in outdoor survival situation and would probably end up eating something that would kill me otherwise.

Author Websites and Profiles
Leanne Waller Website
Leanne Waller Amazon Profile

Leanne Waller’s Social Media Links

Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I wrote two educational books in the 1990’s , but mostly I have been writing for radio and television for the last 30 odd years. Also advertising, mayoral reports, anything that needed writing, I wrote it!

Since I retired, I have self published my first book, a memoir, about growing up with a mother who had a personality disorder. Then I then married a Walter Mitty character who took me to live in a variety of different countries, and I had some funny and hair raising adventures.

I feel passionately about spreading the word about personality disorders. But this is a fun book to read, not all doom and gloom. It moves at breakneck speed – as we did, across Africa. Title “Walking over Eggshells.”

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book I hope to publish next month [July 2014] and it’s a novel about a young girl who moves to Africa and gets herself into all sorts of trouble. A quick, light and easy read I hope people will enjoy while learning lots more about life in Africa.
I was inspired as firstly I had got more into the genre of book writing, very different from the media and also many people have a totally weird idea about Africa from things they see on the TV. I wanted to give readers a different perspective.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I used to have a study, full of books, a proper desk and chair and I could write in comfort. Now we have retired to Spain, we only have a small place and so I work on a lap top on my knees which is not ideal! It’s finding the quiet and the ‘house to myself’ to write without interruption that’s the problem. but I manage, somehow, writing is a drug and i can’t wean myself off it.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The book that springs to mind is “Little Women,” by Louisa May Alcott. I read it as a child, and I was so impressed with Jo earning all that money by submitting stories and I wanted to do the same. I’ve always wanted to write, I sort of can’t help myself!!
I adore Jean Plaidy as she made her historical characters come alive and helped foster my love for history. Yet she has an extensive bibliography at the end of each book so I’m sure she did a great deal of research and made her books authentic.
Also an author called William Harrison Ainsworth. I was given “Old St Paul’s” when I was seven and ill in bed. He wrote historical novels over hundred years ago!

What are you working on now?
I’m writing my second book of memoirs, and this is more of a comedy – telling the stories of my days shooting [with a camera] in Africa, we went to all kinds of places and got into some ridiculous places. I sort of fell into the media and from broadcasting on radio as a continuity announcer, I ended up with my own video production company, and I never planned that at all!. It’s a fun project, and I am enjoying it.
But every month I have to take a morning off to write my satirical, political column for a local magazine.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think Facebook. You meet all kinds of people and you can promote your book. The Fussy Librarian will feature your books for a nominal fee. I also look for sites on the internet with special interest groups. Also book signings and offering sale or return on my books in local shops. It’s a numbers game.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write – no one can teach you how to write. They can help you tidy up what you have written, but don’t dither hoping to get it all right before you begin. I used to lecture video production students in scriptwriting, so I do know what I am talking about 🙂 When you have completed your story / book / poetry, then read the self help books and articles and see if you have incorporated all the rules / suggestions they make.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You can’t learn anything without making mistakes.

What are you reading now?
Just about to start “A Borgia Daughter Dies.” by Maryann Philip. I am giving a history lecture next week and want to refresh my memory. History is my second love.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I may continue with another book featuring Amie. After that I have an almost complete fairytale comedy for adults that I’ve had on the shelf for over twenty years!
At the back of my mind, I’d also like to try my hand at historical novels.

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?
“Old St Pauls,” “The Tower of London,” and “Windsor Castle,” all by William Harrison Ainsworth. They take quite a while to read so would keep me occupied for longer!
If I was cheeky, I could ask for a compendium of all Jean Plaidy’s works?

Author Websites and Profiles
Lucinda E Clarke Amazon Profile

Lucinda E Clarke’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am the mother of ten children and I live with my family in Texas. I have published a children’s picture book, Grasshopper Pie, a children’s chapter book, Gabby’s Secret, a writing resource guide, Hook Me: What to Include in Your First Chapter, five novels, Heaven Scent, Altared Plans, The Upside of Down, Aura, and Imperfect Love. I’m also the author of numerous stories and articles for children in both print and online magazines.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Imperfect Love was inspired by my youngest son, who has Down syndrome.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Since I’m used to so much noise from my kids, I find that I can’t write very well when there is silence. I prefer to have noise in the background.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Jerry Spinelli, Suzanne Collins, Rachael Anderson, Julie Coulter Bellon, Braden Bell, Regina Siriois.

What are you working on now?
A novel, Speak to My Heart, about a woman finding love when she helps her grandfather recover from his stroke. I’m also working a novella about a woman who reconnects with a man she knew in junior high.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Goodreads, Twitter, and Facebook to promote my books. I also sponsor blogs and contests.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing and experiment with different marketing methods, but make sure the book you are marketing has been critiqued and edited and is your best work.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Writing another book is the best marketing tool.

What are you reading now?
Wonder by R.J. Palacio

What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep writing more books. I’ll be working on my novella series as well as putting out two children’s picture 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?
The Bible, Stargirl, The Hunger Games, On little Wings.

Author Websites and Profiles
Rebecca Talley Website
Rebecca Talley Amazon Profile

Rebecca Talley’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am 35 years old and live in Nottinghamshire, England with my wife Jo and two boys Jacob and Isaac. Writing is just one of my passions as well as surfing which may seem bizarre for someone who is landlocked and couldn’t be further than the coast but I also enjoy travelling which is just as well. I have just finished my debut piece of fiction ‘Wizard Science’ which is being sold on Amazon.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
‘Wizard Science’ is my latest book. I was inspired to write it after reading an article on Dark Energy and Dark Matter. Many scientists believe these two phenomena make up the majority of what makes up the Universe and yet they can’t prove it and know so little about them. What can be more exciting to write about than something so mysterious!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Most of my ideas come to me when I have been exercising. I like to think that since I took up writing my running speeds have increased as I race home in order to write the ideas down before I forget them (my memory has never been up to much). Also if the wife wants me to do chores round the house it comes in useful as an excuse that I just need to write this down before I forget. Although that excuse will probably no longer wash after she has read this article.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love science fantasy books and ‘Lord of the Rings’ is my all time favourite book and made me fall in love with the world of magic. I have also been influenced by Mo Hayder who is a brilliant writer. Her stories leave you cursing the characters as you feel physically angry that they can get away with the crimes they have committed. It is rare that a book can draw you in and have such a physical effect on you.

What are you working on now?
I am working on promoting my ebook at the moment but will be working on the sequel to Wizard Science as my next project.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am new to this game so would appreciate any advice from any authors with more experience. So far this site seems a really good promotional tool for new authors.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep going. Who knows one day with a bit of luck and a lot of effort you will make it. At least that’s the hope I’m clinging too ha ha!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Gandhi said ‘Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. I just want to clarify I wasn’t actually there when Gandhi said these words!

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading ‘Hybrid’ by Justin Anderson. It is a good adrenalin fast paced read of a dystopian society in the future.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am hoping to get my book reviewed by some independent people so if there is any would be reviewers out there, please give my book ago and let me know what you think.

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 a book on surfboard construction because if I make it as a writer I am hoping to move to a desert island of my own anyway 😉 and maybe a survival book written by Ray Mears or Bear Grylls because I am a big fan of staying alive as well and of course Wizard Science by Alan Mackie (sorry had to get that in again ha ha)

Author Websites and Profiles
Alan Mackie Amazon Profile

 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an American-born, London-living author and journalist and have published two books to date. The first is a non-fiction book, LOST IN SPACE, that is part frustrated diatribe about withered Space Age dreams and part hopeful look forward in light of new entrepreneurial space ventures. The book was fun to write and research, and took me from inside the legendary SpaceShipOne (literally inside…I got to sit inside of it with its inventor, Burt Rutan) to the launchpads of Kazakhstan.

I also write feature journalism, mainly on space and science topics, and also write essays. Writing currently consumes about half of my working time; the other half is consumed by producing art and performance work here in London, where I live with my family. That’s exciting in a different way, and has very often fed my writing in unexpected ways…not least with the novel I’m currently working on!

When not writing and producing I’m often found playing tennis and guitar, though not at the same time.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
THE EMISSARY is my latest (and first) novel. It’s a dystopian adventure loosely based on The Odyssey – those familiar with that famous tale will recognize the critical references. I suppose it was inspired by my reading, when I was about 12, of a very odd time-traveling novel called BEHOLD THE MAN by Michael Moorcock. That novel was about many things – Jesus, science, history, religion, human nature – but what I took from it was that history, both collective and personal, is a much more fragile and unreliable thing than we’d like to believe.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can write anywhere, at any time of day. Buses, trains, cafes, home; noisy, quiet, etc. If I have my laptop and at least a half-hour clear, I’m right in it.

I also like to change my writing strategies and tactics pretty regularly. I find that what works with one novel doesn’t necessarily work with another, so I’m always open to changing it up.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve read almost everything by Arthur C. Clarke, David Foster Wallace, Ernest Hemingway, Jane Austen, Ryszard Kapuscinski, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Carson McCullers, Cormac McCarthy, Patrick O’Brian, James Salter, and Alan Holinghurst. No rhyme or reason there…though it’s a pretty blokey list save for Austen and McCullers, who I love. I read a lot, and I read broadly.

What are you working on now?
I’ve just finished the first, rough draft of a book that’s very different than either LOST IN SPACE or THE EMISSARY. It’s loosely in the historical fiction category, but it’d better fit a category called time-jumping historical fiction. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever attempted to do, but so far so good.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still learning, but e-book booster has served me well so far.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write write write and read read read. There’s no substitute. And about writing: remember that if it was easy, everyone would do it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
That came just this week when I heard AL Kennedy at a festival. About writing, she said, ‘It’s not complicated. It’s just that getting it right is very, very difficult.’ So true!

What are you reading now?
‘The Naked and the Dead’ by Norman Mailer. One of the most riveting, incisive war novels I’ve ever read. I try not to be too depressed by the fact that Mailer was only 24 when he wrote it.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Polishing the current novel and putting together a series of dystopian short stories with a climate change theme, something I’ve long wanted to do but never before tried.

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 Three Musketeers (Alexandre Dumas) – the characters, the intrigue, the camaraderie suck me in every time

The Hunters (James Salter) – perfect prose, and I defy anyone to put it down once you hit the final third of the book

Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain) – timeless

Author Websites and Profiles
Greg Klerkx Website
Greg Klerkx Amazon Profile

Greg Klerkx’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a SWM humor writer from Chicago, who loves moonlit walks along the Chicago Lake Front and all that jazz, who only recently figured out why his career hasn’t taken off in forty years. I never got married! If I had, I would have had an endless supply of comic material. So if you are single and will never be satisfied with my performance in bed, have friends and parents who will always think I’m the worst decision you’ve ever made, and have kids who will constantly drive me nuts, and live in Chicago, please, contact me.

I have written 3 books, but I’ve only epublished one.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The book is There’s an App for That book 1.0 and I feel that humor is a spiritual quest to see the world in a unique way. It’s about finding “comic perspectives,” and when you finally figure out how to do that, so many things you read or see on TV become material, that can be used to turn that perspective into a story.

And the new world of New Media, social networks and mobile devises gave me an opportunity to explore every aspect of life, that non-writers don’t get to explore. And because of that, I actually get to say something about the painful truths of life, love and the human condition, which is what humor is really based on.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Compared to all the humor writers I’m met and read about, I do one hell of a lot of “research.” For instance, for “Mr and Ms. Right,” I have a word processor database of 59,500 words. And when it’s time to write, the first thing I do is turn it into a brainstorming tool, and when it came time to structure it, it turned into “Mr. & Ms. Right Apps Stories,” back to back male and female stores, where apps are being pitched for every aspect of the dating process, from what to do if you’ve given up on love to how to make the first date perfect.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
This is an unusual answer: sketch writers. When done right – which is hard to do – sketch is the most concentrated form of writing. A whole story has to be told in 1500 words. The reader has to feel that the piece is something that sparks their imagination, as something worth sticking around for, to see how I explore that topic. The readers have to identify with the characters in the piece, or see themselves, in the characters. The conflict in the piece has to not only escalate and raise the stakes on the point-of-view character, it has to take the readers further and further into a comic world. And finally, it has to have a funny ending. And advanced sketch is like writing scenes you’d love to see in comic movies.

Soooo, the book that has influenced me the most is The Comic Toolbox, by John Vorhaus.

What are you working on now?
There’s an App for That book 2.0

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m just getting into this, so don’t have a good answer to that yet. But in the end, since I write humor, it’s all about “performing” my stuff. I can do about a third as solo sketch (storytelling stand up), all can be done as podcasts and marketed to radio stations, and acted out for a series suitable for Funny or Die and other sites.

The problem is that I have the perfect, introverted personality as a writer. Being an extrovert is hard, Hard, HARD. But in the last few years, I’ve produced 3 sketch revues in Chicago, wrote, directed and did the video for a webseries (http://skirmishes.us) and got my feet wet at solo sketch at the Chicago Sketchfest.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
No one likes to hear this, but you have to put in your 10,000 hours “practicing” the craft – not reading about it. The greatest tragedy in the world is that it takes that much work to get the human brain wired right, so that it’s capable to doing what we so desperately want it to do – NOW – to be happy and give our lives meaning. But it facts are that it’s taken me 20 years to finally become happy with what I’ve written.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Writing is rewriting. Just call the first draft a “rough out.” It’s a discovery draft.

What are you reading now?
Right now? Right now, I’m up to my ass in this great new world of book promotions that didn’t even exist five years ago.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Again, it’s on to performing my work, getting ready to do interviews concerning the humorous side of this new world of New Media, social networks and mobile devices.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
How to Become Irresistible to the Woman You’re Stranded on a Desert Island With.

Beside Sex, What Else Can You Do When You’re in a Relationship

What the Love of Your Life is saying when She Screams at You, “If You really Loved Me, You’d Know What I’m Mad about.”

Author Websites and Profiles
Ed Toolis Website
Ed Toolis Amazon Profile

Ed Toolis’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in Harlem, NY and raised in Westchester County, NY where still live. I’ve been writing since I was eight years old and wrote my first comic strip at that time. I love all things sports and traveling. Currently, I am wrapping up the final edits of my debut novel.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My debut novel is called Crossroads and it was inspired by several things. The first influences are the strong women in my life. They are amazing, generous and very intelligent. My next influence was William Shakespeare, his works remain timeless. Lastly, all of the action stories and movies I’ve seen. I love action!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I’m really into a story, or the creative juices are flowing, I often forget to shave. So, when I come up for air I usually look like a sleep deprived caveman.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The list of authors that influence reads like a laundry list but off the top of my head I can think of George RR Martin, James Patterson, John Green, J.K. Rowling, Veronica Roth, Suzanne Collins. I can go on & on.

What are you working on now?
I’m wrapping up the final edits for Crossroads and gearing up for its sequel. I’m also plotting out a new story that I’m very excited about. Sorry, it’s still hush-hush.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
There’s the official Crossroads website: www.crossroadsbookseries.com
You can also follow me on Twitter @dwils2
And Facebook at www.facebook.com/CrossRoadsSeries
I’ve recently join Goodreads too.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Stay encouraged. The writing process can be long and tiring, but if you have a story to tell write it down. Then (even though it’s not my favorite process) edit, edit, EDIT! There are many roads to travel in order to publish your book. Do your research and stay the course!

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

What are you reading now?
I just finished The Fault in Our Stars and I’m finishing up Insurgent. I can read multiple books at the same time.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Get Crossroads out there and begin writing the next books in the series. Then I will move on to several other stories that are in line to get out of my head.

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,the best survival guide ever written, Crossroads (shameless plug) and any book that could be used as a flotation device.

Author Websites and Profiles
Donald Wilson Website

 

Donald Wilson’s Social Media Links

Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am Annette Evans (nee Ludwig) and I am an indie author. I was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland.

I began writing poetry in my late teen years and two of my poems have been published in an anthology book. As much as I like to write poetry, my heart lies in creating stories, so I quickly turned to writing fiction. I wrote my first novella when I was 18. To date, I have written and published 4 books.

I live on the picturesque eastern shore of Virginia with my husband, our youngest daughter, and three very spoiled dogs. In my spare time (which there isn’t a whole lot of!), I enjoy reading (love romantic suspense, thrillers, and post-apocalyptic fiction), writing, playing cards & board games, and spending quiet moments with my husband on the enormous deck he build adjacent to our home.​​

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Seasons of Love. It is a collection of six romantic short stories.

Each story in the collection takes place during a specific season of the year and in different decades. One story even takes place in the Old West.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do most of my writing during the day. I usually write long hand in a spiral notebook and type up my notes when I get home from work. I know it seems like I am doing double the work, but this is what works best for me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
When I was a child, I read the Little House on the Prairie books, Judy Blume, and Nancy Drew Mysteries. When I was about 13, I read Forever by Judy Blume and I was hooked on the romance genre. I quickly discovered Danielle Steel, Judith McNaught, and Linda Lael Miller. I have to say that Judith McNaught’s book, Perfect, is probably my favorite romance novel of all time.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on a fictionalized account of my family which goes back three generations. The tentative title is Family Lies & Secrets.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I rely heavily on reviews on Amazon. I also promote my book on my author page on Facebook and on Twitter.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, write. Get yourself a good dictionary & thesaurus. Take a course on grammar and editing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never give up! And I haven’t. I have received my fair share of rejection letters from publishers, so I am now a self published author.

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading What She Saw by Sheila Lowe. I’m only about three chapters into the book, but it already has me hooked.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am currently working on a book about my family. I hope to have that finished by winter 2014. I have a list of other story ideas and I am always adding to that list. I write in the romance genre, but I’m thinking about adding a time travel element to my next book.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Holy Bible, Perfect by Judith McNaught, Women of Primrose Creek by Linda Lael Miller, and a fresh notebook with several pens so I could write my next book uninterrupted.

Author Websites and Profiles
Annette Evans Website
Annette Evans Amazon Profile

Annette Evans’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing for over twenty years and have written thirteen novels, a handful of novellas and novelettes, and several short stories. Six of my novels have been published under a different name, one of which was featured on the Home Shopping Network, and I have four other published novels. I’ve contributed to over a dozen anthologies. I currently live in the outskirts of Sin City with my husband and a very spoiled feline.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is the first novella in a series titled JANE THE HIPPIE VAMPIRE. The inspiration behind the series has been varied; the title popped into my head one day, and I knew right away I could have a lot of fun with the idea and take it in numerous directions. LOVE BEADS, the first installment, stems from the many energy vampires I’ve known throughout my life. I think it’s a fitting start to a dark but quirky series.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I prefer to have coffee within reach when I’m writing. Obviously, I can’t drink coffee all day, but I do drink my share.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My strongest influences are Kurt Vonnegut, H.G. Wells, George Orwell, Rod Serling, Olaf Stapledon, Mary Shelley, Shirley Jackson, Flannery O’Conner, Anne Rice, Stephen King, and Dean Koontz.

What are you working on now?
I’m editing and redrafting a couple of novels and the second JANE novella.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve got to be honest; I am thoroughly inept at promoting.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
1. If you’re doing this because you believe there’s money in fiction, you’re in this for the wrong reason. Write because you love to write, because you have a passion for the written word and want to share that passion with the rest of the world. Few people make a living through their fiction. You might someday be one of those few, but it’s not likely. I’m not saying this to discourage you, but simply to be realistic. Write what you love, send it out for the world to read, and leave it at that. The rest is up to the fates.

2. Be ready to develop a thick skin. No matter who you are or how great your work, bad reviews will come with the good, and they’ll sting every time. The sooner you accept that not everyone is going to love your work, the better off you’ll be.

3. Your first novel is most likely going to be pretty bad. It might not, but it probably will be. You’ll think it’s fantastic (I know I felt that way about my first) but you’ll look back on it in about five years or so and think, “Damn … I actually sent that to an agent/publisher/etc.? What was I thinking?!” You’ll cringe especially hard if you self-published that baby. Trust me on this one.

4. No matter how good of a writer you are or how great your grammar might be, you absolutely need an editor. While you’re at it, get a handful of beta readers to tear apart your first draft. You can’t do this alone.

5. Never give up. No matter what profession you hold, no matter who you are, you’ll always be a writer. Never let anyone take that away from you.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Read often and read a wide variety of genres. You cannot write well if you are not also an avid reader.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading SURVIVAL INSTINCT by Kay Glass.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully, I’ll have more installments of JANE available within the next few months. I plan on self-publishing AFTERMATH: BEYOND WORLD-MART, a sequel to my well-received dystopian thriller, WORLD-MART, as soon as it’s gone through a couple more editing passes. Beyond that, it’s hard to say; I leave it in the hands of the muses and the fates.

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 LAST REPORT ON THE MIRACLES AT LITTLE NO HORSE by Louise Erdrich
LAST AND FIRST MEN by Olaf Stapledon
THE SHINING by Stephen King
1984 by George Orwell

Author Websites and Profiles
Leigh M. Lane Website
Leigh M. Lane Amazon Profile

Leigh M. Lane’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Born in December of 1949, seems like an awfully long time ago and I guess 64 years is a long time. I grew up on the Mauney Mill Hill, in Kings Mountain, NC, learning to ride my bicycle and play baseball with the rest of the gang. Our family was not rich, by a long shot, but we had a wonderful life growing up. We didn’t have much, but on the same hand, we didn’t want for anything. We had family, friends, church and were happy, and in that day and time, that meant a lot. I started elementary school at West End Elementary School. I think now it is just called West Elementary. I attended Kings Mountain High School and after Graduation in 1968, returned only for a short while. I spent 5 years in Ft. Myers, Florida and returned to live in Shelby, NC. I spent the next forty years in the electrical trade, contracting, engineering and designing until Illness forced my retirement in December 2012. It was then I began to contemplate a desire I had held on to for my entire life. I had always thought of being a writer. I sat down at my computer and began to write a story I had written inside my head for the last fifty years. I had learned only a few years previously that I actually had ancestors who fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain. That bit of information intensified a fire that had been smouldering all these years.
Growing up in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and especially in Kings Mountain, enhanced an interest in the American Revolution that was birthed at an early age with a visit to the Kings Mountain National Military Park. Yearly family reunions at nearby Lake Crawford, in the South Carolina portion of the park, gave easy access to visits to the National Park Museum, walks along the trails, and never missing a close up view of the gravesite of Major Patrick Ferguson and an opportunity to throw another rock onto the rock pile signifying the grave and a climb to the top of the rock pile to declare, “I am King of this Mountain.” A lifelong dream of authoring a book became a reality. Living near the Kings Mountain National Park and also, a short distance from the Cowpens National Park only serves to fuel my imagination, and desire to share even more stories based on the history of the United States. My love of history has played a major role in the writing of all of my books.
My latest book uses my imagination to spin a story which someday may become a reality. The R.O.B.I.N, is an acronym for remotely operated broadband intelligent network device. The R.O.B.I.N. is the most sophisticated audio and visual intelligence gathering device ever created combined with assassination capability never before known. A “nano” drone the size of a common housefly, the R.O.B.I.N is stolen by terrorist and the lot falls to Agent Chris Lee of the National Security Intelligence Services to find the terrorist and save the United States and the world. The plot twists and turns to challenge the readers imagination and in some cases even challenged my imagination.
Other Books I have authored:
King of the Mountain A Revoluntionary War novel of the Battle of Kings Mountain.
High Cotton Rivetting tale of a twelve year old boy kidnapped in West Africa and sold to Dutch slave traders, his strength, and determination to be free.
A Season of Revenge Detective Mac O’Hara is challenged when the discovery of four bodies leads him on a path of murder, revenge and the occult in 1890’s St. Louis.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“The R.O.B.I.N.” is my first attempt at a futuristic style mystery. Reading on the internet and watching reports of “drones” being built, then seeing some of the possible uses discussed for drones simply got my imagination working overtime. So, I brgan to write down some of my ideas and discussed them with friends and relatives and ‘voila’..the R.O.B.I.N. was conceived.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I normally write early in the morning or late at night, sitting in my recliner with our poodle “Mindy Lou”, who is nicknamed “Minmin” sitting by my side. She usually has her head propped on the left corner of my laptop, making it appear as if she is reading what I type.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My favorite would have to be Mark Twain and his tales of the Mississippi River. I even used St. Louis as the setting for a portion of my book, “High Cotton” and the entire book “A Season of Revenge.” Edgar Alan Poe’s poetry and novels have also influenced the twisted way my mind sometimes works.

What are you working on now?
Having just completed and released “The R.O.B.I.N., I have been pretty busy with promotions, but my mind is already working on “The R.O.B.I.N. II”

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My personal website, http://pjdunn49.wix.com/pjdunnbooks, is a very productive promotion tool as well as “Twitter Blast” to spread the word. Of course, Facebook and other social networks are a “must” to spread the word about a new book.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Being relatively new my self, I can only advise other new authors to never give up. Have confidence in yourself, and just be “you”! Don’t try to be someone you aren’t, people are going to like you for who you are.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I was told when I became discouraged about rejection, to learn to handle rejection. Got a “not go good review?” So what? Many of the world’s greatest authors were rejected and received bad reviews. Keep writing. you may just be the next Herman Melville.

What are you reading now?
Not yet started but “Special Heart” by Brett Baier of Fox News

What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep on keeping on! Work on the sequel, “The R.O.B.I.N. II” and who knows where my imagination might take me.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Moby Dick, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Killing Jesus and Killing Lincoln.

Author Websites and Profiles
PJ Dunn Website

 

PJ Dunn’s Social Media Links

Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is my first book. Here is my bio:
Naomi L. Baum, is a psychologist and Director of the Resilience Unit at the Israel Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma, Jerusalem as well as Senior Consulting Psychologist for Chai Lifeline-Project Chai in New York. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, PA, and her B.A. from Bar-Ilan University, Israel. She was a fellow at the Mandel School for Educational Leadership in Jerusalem. She has been a consulting psychologist for schools, and taught courses in psychology at the university level both in the USA and Israel.

In the last decade Naomi has dedicated herself to creating and implementing resilience-building programs for those exposed to trauma, be it terrorism, war or natural disaster. Her unique BRI-Building Resilience Intervention model focusing on strengths and resources has been adopted by schools for teacher training and parent workshops, as well as with police, firefighters, paramedics rabbis, and nurses to help them deal with exposure to trauma. This program has been introduced throughout Israel, as well as Mexico, Spain, Haiti and the USA in the wake of trauma and disaster.

While Naomi has accrued many degrees and much work experience, her real understanding of kids and families comes from being married to the same man for almost forty years, and raising, with him, their seven children. She is the proud grandmother of twelve. Her hobbies include scuba diving, reading and biking. She lives with her husband in Efrat, Israel. Her book, Life Unexpected: A Trauma Psychologist Journeys through Breast Cancer, is her debut, and is based on her personal experience with breast cancer.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Life Unexpected: A Trauma Psychologist Journeys Through Breast Cancer

As you can tell from the title, my diagnosis of breast cancer in June, 2011 came as a total shot out of the blue. I decided to share what I learned from the process and wove my personal experiences with my professional ones. The fact that I have been a psychologist for well over 35 years, and specifically a trauma psychologist for the last twelve, added to my perspective.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have alot of unusual habits- most of them not related to writing. I habitually go scuba diving for example.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I belong to a book club, and have been a member for more years than I can count. This has exposed me to a wide range of authors. I love fiction, particularly women’s fiction, and books written by non- Americans, who widen my horizons. I have a particular fondness for Anne Lamott.

What are you working on now?
I am working on marketing my book. As an indie publisher I can’t let “sleeping dogs lie” and I am hard at work trying to get the word out. In between, I have begun to write travel articles, and a travel blog: www.slowtravelsblog.wordpress.com
Have a look!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I really like http://trainingauthors.com
They have loads of info and very helpful tips. They seem to be very professional. I also recently subscribed to a 30 day challenge with D’vorah Lansky that I found very helpful.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I am a newbie myself- any advice out there for me??

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Enjoy the journey.

What are you reading now?
Family Life: A Nove by Akhil Sharma

What’s next for you as a writer?
hopefully another book. not sure 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?
1. A Bible
2. A Talmud
3. A Prayerbook
4. War and Peace

Author Websites and Profiles
Naomi L. Baum Website
Naomi L. Baum Amazon Profile

Naomi L. Baum’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have always been fascinated with the “what-ifs”, sometimes to the point of distraction. I’m now well into adulthood and I still can’t stop asking that question. I was born and educated in the state of Nebraska and currently reside there where I’m employed at the university. My second book Corryn’s Stone is the long awaited sequel to The Crystal Key, my first book. I say long awaited, because those who read the first persistently emailed me asking when the next book was coming out. When not writing, which is seldom as demonstrated by my bad housekeeping, I enjoy needlework, walking, and a good movie.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Corryn’s Stone. Inspiration came from the usual place for me, I found myself asking ‘what-if’ a rather nasty book mentioned in my first book really existed and had a mind of its own. The next thing I knew, I’d written Corryn’s Stone.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes and no. I find I write best in the basement while eating a large bowl of buttered popcorn.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Being a fantasy writer, there is, of course, Tolkien. I am also in love with the books of David and Leigh Eddings, Terry Pratchett, Stephen King, Issac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, H. G. Wells, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, to name a few.

What are you working on now?
What will be book 3 in the series. That is, the characters from the first two are central in this one and it continues to build on their relationships.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Twitter, Facebook, Independent Author Network and sites like Awesomegang. For indie writers, these are invaluable resources especially when you’re on a very tight budget.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t expect fame and fortune. Write because that is what you love to do, not because your goal is to see your book on the New York Times Bestsellers list.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write every day, even if you end up deleting it the following day.

What are you reading now?
In between books at the moment. Searching the indie book sites for my next read. Always find the best books there.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To continue writing. Can’t stop actually. Afraid if I do, all those characters and voices in my head will revolt and take over.

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?
An excellent question and one I have asked myself a million times since first reading H.G. Wells, The Time Machine. I still don’t have a definitive answer.

Author Websites and Profiles
Toni Howard Website
Toni Howard Amazon Profile

Toni Howard’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I could easily be a hermit (with my husband) and never leave our sanctuary in the Ozarks. When I’m not busy writing, I’m trekking through the woods taking photographs of ginseng and other medicinal plants that are native here, or gardening. I love building rock walls and rocks are one thing we have plenty of around here! When the grandchildren visit, we spend a lot of time outside working in the garden together. I also love horseback riding and when we have time, we ride. In short, I’m much happier in the creative zone of shaping worlds, whether literally or on paper.

My finished books are all non-fiction, and all about ginseng and medicinal plants of the Ozarks. My novel (still editing) is sci-fantasy. I write short stories and flash fiction as well. A list of things I’ve written can be found at http://www.wildozark.com/publications/.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest is “DIY Ginseng Habitat & Site Assessment”, available at Amazon or as a PDF download from my online shop. I wrote it to help others find suitable places to grow their own ginseng. It’s chocked full of photos of ginseng’s companion plants, which are key to finding the best habitat.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not that I know of.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Early influences were Marion Zimmer-Bradley, Roger Zelazney, Stephen King, and Carlos Castenada. In more recent years I enjoy and am likely influenced by George R.R. Martin, Terry Goodkind and Brandon Sanderson.

What are you working on now?
Symbiosis, a sci-fantasy novel. It’s about Ki, the Tree of Life, and the son of Satan. Her mission to return balance to the earth’s energies by closing one of Hell’s gates and returning a measure of sacred to the profane of sex and death.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Aside from my blog and mailing list, I haven’t done a lot of promoting. Awesomegang is the first service I’m trying and it looks very promising!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing, even when the world conspires to stop you. But your greatest enemy will likely be yourself, so be on guard (see the answer below).

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My husband once lifted me from a funky sort of writerly paralysis by telling me to just write the book (Symbiosis) and quit worrying about whether anyone will like it or what people will think, or whether it’ll succeed or fail. He was right on target with that advice, and it helped tremendously to hear it spoken.

What are you reading now?
Book 11 of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have another novel waiting in the wings, so I need to finish Symbiosis and get on with it. There will always be non-fiction and short stories on the agenda, as well.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The I Ching, and three blank notebooks for drawing and writing.

Author Websites and Profiles
Madison Woods Website
Madison Woods Amazon Profile

Madison Woods’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am the author of the Teen Wytche Saga, a sweet Young Adult paranormal series. I write about magic, friendship, high school, secrets, and love in Spell Check, Spell Struck, and Spell Fire from Astraea Press. I am a Reiki Master and shaman, and bring my personal knowledge of energy work and magic to my books.

I spent my childhood searching for a magical wardrobe that would transport me to Narnia. Extreme math anxiety, and taller students who mistook me for a leaning post, marred my youth. Despite these horrors, I graduated summa cum laude from the University of California at Davis. I live a nearly normal life with my two shamelessly spoiled dogs and an enormous dragon. And I always look forward to visits from Brilliant Beautiful Daughter.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
For the third book in the Teen Wytche Saga, Spell Fire. I drew heavily upon my experiences as a board member at a metaphysical mystery school. I met all sorts of odd/interesting characters at the school, including witches, dragon shamans, psychics, and entity eaters. Spell Fire provided the perfect backdrop for incorporating fictional versions of the people I had met.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Since moving to the southern California desert, my writing habits have become dependent on the weather. In the summer, I walk my dogs a mile or two before sunrise, eat breakfast, then write until I start to nod off. Unfortunately, I never seem to get to bed before midnight, so staying awake at the computer during the warm afternoon is a real battle. In cooler months, I sleep in as late as my dogs allow, write during the day, then relax most evenings.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia sparked my love of ordinary teens being thrust into magical situations and my love for book series. Every time I read a good book I am influenced to try harder; dig deeper. There are so many great writers out there. Fabulous world building! And I love J.K. Rowling for proving children and teens love longer, more complex books.

What are you working on now?
Spell Fire ended with a big hook, so I am following up on that in the fourth book in the Teen Wytche Saga. The spell book that changes with each novel in the series, takes a dark turn in book 4. I had to research a system of magic outside my expertise – voodoo. I’m also revising the manuscript for the first book in a middle grade fantasy trilogy. And I have a top secret, super change of pace book in the works. Exciting times ahead for my readers!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My website is http://www.AriellaMoon.com. Book promotion is such a challenge, as it takes away from writing the next book. I am very active on Facebook and Pinterest. I need to pay more attention to my blog. I am in such gratitude for the readers who took the time to write and post reviews. They are the best promotion. I’ve also had some luck with the Romance Studio.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Study your craft and never give up. Join writing organizations like Romance Writers of America. Enter writing contests that have editors and agents as the final judges.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write every day. Eliminate as many adverbs and gerunds (-ing words) as possible. Don’t head hop!

What are you reading now?
I just finished Veronica Roth’s Allegiant, and wanted to follow that with something light and fun. So I’m reading Kathy McCullough’s Who Needs Magic, the sequel to Don’t Expect Magic. I love that McCullough provides a sweet, magical alternative to all the dark paranormal thrown at kids.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Aside from the next two books in the Teen Wytche Saga, I have a young teen fantasy trilogy and possibly a New Adult romance.

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’m only allowed 3 or 4 books, then I’d have to make sure at least one of them was from the Harry Potter series! Maybe something from Ellen Hopkins, Holly Black, and a Jasmine Haynes Max Starr novel.

Author Websites and Profiles
Ariella Moon Website
Ariella Moon Amazon Profile
Ariella Moon Author Profile on Smashwords

Ariella Moon’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am debut novelist Heather Manning. My first novel, Swept to Sea, an inspirational historical romance, was released by a traditional publisher late last year–while I was still 16 years old.

I adore writing and have been doing it since a young age. I am working hard on writing my next book right now and hope to get that one published in the near future.

When I am not writing, you can usually find me reading, acting in community theatre, or attending high school.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Swept to Sea.

I really wanted to write a trilogy about three best friends who end up in the Caribbean. Then, Eden’s story came to me and I was determined to tell her story. She is a young lady in England who stows away on a pirate ship in order to escape her abusive fiance.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Well, when I am writing, I like to type VERY fast. The noise of my fingernails hitting the keyboard at such a rapid pace tends to annoy my family! Hahaha. 🙂

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I must say that my three favorite authors have really influenced me: MaryLu Tyndall, Deeanne Gist, and Mary Connealy.

What are you working on now?
Right now, I am almost done with Swept to Sea’s sequel, Carried Home. This story follows Lady Ivy Shaw, who is determined to get back home and take care of her little brother.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think in person is actually best. It usually shocks people when they see me, a 17 year old, and I tell them that I traditionally published a book. They almost always go and look up the book and hopefully buy it.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I advice new authors to read, read, read, and write, write, write. Those are the only ways to improve your skills.

For authors yearning to get into the publishing industry, I advise attending writer’s conferences. These are valuable sources of information and connections in the publishing world.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Ahhhh….I have heard so much advice, I can’t just choose one piece!

What are you reading now?
I am reading “Caught in the Middle” by Regina Jennings. I am still on the first chapter, so I can’t tell you much about it!

What’s next for you as a writer?
Next? I am continuing on my trilogy! I hope for this to be one of the first steps in a long career of writing.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible, The Restitution by MaryLu Tyndall, and….Out of Control by Mary Connealy.

Author Websites and Profiles
Heather Manning Website
Heather Manning Amazon Profile
Heather Manning Author Profile on Smashwords

Heather Manning’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a film journalist by day and an author by night, so I’m sort of a loner superhero. Only less cool. As a film journalist, I write mostly for Total Film magazine, who’ve sent me off around the world to meet real-life ghost hunters, visit movie sets and chat with people like Tony Todd at Comic-Con. On the author side of things, I’m thrilled to have just had my first book published. It’s called Sentinel and it’s a dark YA fantasy. I also have a couple of YA horror books in the pipeline (or should that be the sewer?), but it’s a bit too early to say anything more than that.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Sentinel is the first book in The Sentinel Trilogy. It’s a moody, gritty YA fantasy set in Cambridge, England, where I grew up. I started writing it when I was 15, and it’s basically a weird, misshapen lovechild of all the amazing fantasy books, movies and TV shows I grew up watching. I don’t think there’s a one single thing that inspired Sentinel, beyond my love of thrill-a-minute storytelling and cool things like talking cats, but it’s definitely a very personal story. There are certain things in there that are very specific to my life – especially the demons, who I may or may not have based on real people. Revenge is sweet…

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I wish I could tell you that I can only write while wearing gravity boots and hanging upside down from a doorframe, but I’m probably like most people. I sit and stare in horror at a blank page for a while, then I figure I’d better put something on there to make it look a little more friendly. I drink a lot of coffee and herbal tea, which generally gets the synapses firing, and if things get really dire, I go and annoy the cat for a while! Her grumpy face soon persuades me to get back to work – no reason we should both suffer.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King was a huge inspiration for me as a kid, probably because I started reading his stuff before I really should have. (Didn’t we all?) His ability to write flawed, realistic characters is second to none. There was also a book called Grinny by Nicholas Fisk which terrified me so much that I still can’t go back and read it. And I devoured just about every Point Horror novel out there (it was the ’90s), so teen horror still has a big place in my literary heart.

What are you working on now?
I’ve almost finished writing Ruins, the second book in The Sentinel Trilogy. It’s taken me a little over a year, mostly because I originally self-published Sentinel, only to get lucky and have a publishing house sign me up to re-release it as a paperback. So the last few months have been a whirlwind of press and marketing. But it’s great to finally have the end in sight on Ruins. As the second book in the series, it’s a tricky one to pull off, and the story’s taken me on a few unexpected trips that I hadn’t planned for. But I’m really pleased with what I’ve got so far. It’s different to Sentinel, but in a good way!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Bloggers are where it’s at. They love books, and if they love yours, that’s the best thing that could ever happen to a start-out author. I love doing Q&As and discussing other YA fantasy fiction, which seems to be what most bloggers love, too! Really, a book’s best selling point is you, the author. If you can find a way to make your book stand out, great, and if you’re able to talk about the book in a way that makes people excited, even better. It’s a tricky juggling act. For years, I was too embarrassed about my writing to talk about it to anybody, and suddenly when Sentinel was published, I had to ‘big it up’ to all and sundry, hopefully without sounding like an idiot. (I probably sound like an idiot.)

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s easy to get beaten down and hate what you’re writing, but give yourself time to grow and improve with every new draft. It can be a frustrating, isolating process, but if you’re determined and willing to learn, great stuff can happen. Also, bananas and peanut butter on toast are great for energy boosts when you’re beginning to slump at the keyboard!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
This isn’t really advice per se, but I once interviewed an author called Markus Zusak (The Book Thief), and he said that he always tries to put “a little jam” on every page when he’s writing. Which is to say that he wants every page to contain something colourful and surprising. I definitely try to live (and write) by that rule.

What are you reading now?
I’ve got a couple of books on the go at the moment. First up, I’m reading Slip by David Estes, which is a fantastic dystopian thriller, sort of Hunger Games meets Blade Runner… only nothing like that. It was meant to be published this month, but then a publishing house became interested, so it’s delayed slightly. I’m thrilled for David, though. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. And I’m also reading Dreams And Shadows by C. Robert Cargill. It’s not the kind of thing I usually read, but I’m about 200 pages in and it’s interesting so far. I definitely can’t tell where the story’s going!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m just going to keep writing! I have a few horror manuscripts that I’m working on, and then at some point I’ll have to write the third book in The Sentinel Trilogy. That’s going to be tough, not only because there are a lot of things to tie up in book three, but also because I’ve lived with this trilogy for so long now I’m nervous about saying goodbye. I love the characters, so that’s going to be tough. Especially as some of them might not make it out alive…

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 Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller is a gorgeous historical drama and one of my favourites. Red Dust Road by Jackie Kay is a beautiful autobiographical novel, and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier is an absolute stonker of a gothic mystery. Wow, lots of ladies there! I’d also take anything by Robin Jarvis (The Deptford Mice, Tales From The Wyrd Museum) and probably a few Point Horrors for fun. Sorry, that’s more than four, but I’ll take a big bag to fit them all in.

Author Websites and Profiles
Joshua Winning Website
Joshua Winning Amazon Profile

Joshua Winning’s Social Media Links
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