Awesome Author Interviews

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hey everybody, my name is Nick Vulich and I just completed my twenty-fourth book, Find A California Job Fast.

I started writing about two years ago and it’s been a real blast. Most of my books offer short, easy to read solutions to life’s everyday problems. My bestsellers focus on eCommerce – How to sell on eBay, Amazon, Fiverr, and Etsy. Recently I started writing a new series offering state specific job search advice. The first two titles – Find an Iowa Job Fast and Find a California Job Fast are available now. More offerings are on the way.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The most recent book in my eBay series is eBay 2014 Why You’re Not Selling Anything on eBay, and What You Can Do About It.

It was inspired by all of the changes occurring on eBay over the past year. For those of you unfamiliar with selling on eBay they have two major updates every year, the Spring Seller Update and the Fall Seller Update. Each time a new seller update is released there is a mad scramble by eBay sellers trying to update their listings and stay in compliance with eBay’s new policies.

The spring seller update this year was a real bear. Seller were forced to update all of their pictures to meet new size requirements.

Besides the new seller updates sellers have been face with several other challenges this year. Many sellers have seen their sales come to a dead stop when eBay hides them in search for one reason or another.

Mobile selling has also created new opportunities and challenges for sellers. It can put you in front of more sellers as buyers hop on their iPhones and tablets to make their purchases. It can also shut your listings out so mobile buyers can’t see them if your listings include HTML codes or embedded pictures, thus sellers are faced with a Catch-22 of sorts – Better looking listings, or more visibility in eBay search.

eBay 2014 is an attempt to help sellers keep up with the ever changing face of eBay.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I hate to admit it but I write best when I’m laid back in the recliner watching TV and sipping on a Diet Coke. Just to put it out their – Psych, Family Guy, American Dad, and the Simpson’s set the backdrop while I’m writing. Sometimes I’ll slip in an occasional episode of Monk or Two and a Half Men.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
When it comes to writing advice Steve Scott is probably one of my favorite authors. his books are easy to read and packed with advice.

My favorite books have to be the historical novels of Kenneth Roberts written back in the thirties and forties – Arundel, Northwest Passage, Boon Island, and Lydia Bailey. They’re great stories, historically accurate, and totally absorbing no matter how many times you read them.

I also have to thank my friend Mike Ross for introducing me to Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings way back in my early college days. i recommend them to everyone.

What are you working on now?
Right now I’m working on my Find a Job Fast Series. They are short easy to read guides focused on finding a job in any given state. Each book has a section to help job hunters sharpen their job search skills. They also include a look at the local job out look followed by links to the top companies in each state, the fastest growing companies, Chamber of Commerce contact info, and more.

Essentially each book is a one stop guide for finding a job in that state.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Most of my eBooks are exclusive to Kindle. I think it’s the best site for authors to get their writing in front of the most readers possible. I’ve recently made a switch from offering my books free sing the KDP program. Instead I am using the new Kindle Countdown Deals promo and it has been giving my sales and author rankings a big boost. i would recommend it to all authors.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read everything you can. Write as much as you can, and don’t limit yourself to just one subject or genre. More importantly, don’t be afraid to fail. Not all of your books are going to be successes, and some of them can sit there for six months or a year before they finally take off and start selling. It’s just the nature of the beast.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I hate to admit it but most of the advice I listen to I take from Family Guy, the Simpsons, and American Dad. Thank you Seth MacFarlane and Matt Groening.

What are you reading now?
Steve’s Scott passed out a great book tip this week and I’ve been underling passages as I read through it – Write. Publish. and Repeat. by Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant. It’s loaded with solid advice for Indie authors.

I just finished reading Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Asian. It’s a fascinating look at the life of Jesus, early Christianity, and the first century BC. Next on my list is Killing Jesus by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard.

What’s next for you as a writer?
By the middle of the year I’m planning on switching my focus to historical writing. Subjects I see in the offing are the Spanish American War, Theodore Roosevelt, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and more.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Easy choices –

Northwest Passage by Kenneth Roberts.

Candide by Voltaire.

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Jacques the Fatalist by Denis Diderot

Author Websites and Profiles
Nick Vulich Amazon Profile

Nick Vulich’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born and raised in Pennsylvania. After high school, I moved to New York City where I attended Pace University and studied drama. After ten years in New York, several of them working in the radio industry, I moved to Los Angeles, where I held various positions at Paramount Studios in Hollywood and CBS Studio Center in Studio City. Back on the East Coast, I worked for many years as a freelance writer, specializing in PR and the entertainment industry. To make a long story short, in 2010 I returned permanently to the Los Angeles area.

I have written four novels: Crooked Moon (general fiction), Squalor, New Mexico (young adult), Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! (women’s fiction), and my latest, which I’ll talk about in the next question.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My most recent book, Mystical High, was just published in October 2013. It’s the first book in my new YA paranormal trilogy, The Desert Series. I’ve always had an interest in the paranormal, and I wanted to write more YA. That’s what brought me to the genre. Because I live in southern California and have spent time in different parts of the desert, I was inspired to set the series in a locale that felt to me as if it could be the keeper of many secrets.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m asked this question so often in interviews that I’ve been tempted to make up something really silly, like “I hide under my desk and scribble in a notebook,” or “I write each chapter in a different color depending on my mood,” but I guess I’m pretty boring in that department. However, having learned that authors have very different writing processes, I may have unusual habits other people consider unusual.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
For many years, I mostly read the classics: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Sinclair Lewis and many more. I would say those authors inspired me and influenced me.

What are you working on now?
Right now, I’m writing Chapter 9 of Book 2 in The Desert Series. When I finish that, I’ll write Book 3.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think Twitter is by far the best way to make relationships with people all over the world. A lot of people have said to me, “I prefer Facebook to Twitter.” Well, they both do very different things. That is why I use Twitter and have a Facebook author page, too.

But I think it’s really important for authors to remember that it’s also what not to do that is every bit as important as what to do. We all want to sell our books, and judicious self-promotion is fine. But too many authors are presenting themselves in an all-about-me fashion that is regarded by many as being “all about spam.”

An example: sending a direct message to a new follower on Twitter with a link to your book is a very bad idea. You’re basically saying, “I don’t care about you; just buy my book.” Another example: joining an author’s group on Facebook or another site and posting nothing but links to your work. That’s a great way to get the wrong kind of attention.

For me, the most important thing is to build relationships on social media and take the time to appreciate what others are putting out there, too. I’m a big believer in cross-promotion.

As far as other promotional methods are concerned, you never know where that lucky break might come from. I think it’s important to reach new audiences and to try new things.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Remember that every published writer was once an unpublished. I know that most authors offer the same advice, “Write, write, write,” but it makes sense. Remember this: you can’t edit a blank page. Even if you don’t like what you’re writing, keep the words coming. Don’t ever forget that great ideas often evolve out of bad ones and that your skill will grow with experience. Just keep writing, and realize that you’re accomplishing something wonderful just by not giving up.

I also think that new authors should be very mindful of who they share their work in progress with. Showing their work to too many people often leads to too many opinions and a lot of confusion and self-doubt.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write what you have a passion to write.

What are you reading now?
These questions.

What’s next for you as a writer?
When The Desert Series is complete, I will go back to a novel I started last year. It’s in the general fiction genre and is a story that I started writing as a teenager. It has evolved over the years, just like I have.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Oh, probably some super-long books I never get time to read these days—maybe War and Peace, Bleak House, and … And Ladies of the Club. I do hope to read these books someday without being stranded on an island, though.

Author Websites and Profiles
Lisette Brodey Website
Lisette Brodey Amazon Profile

Lisette Brodey’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi! I’m Lorraine and I live in Melbourne, Australia, with my 14-year-old dog, Jed.

I am writing a six-part novel serial, “A Life Singular”, a story languishing inside me since I was a teenager. I have enjoyed a long career as an IT professional which has taken me to many countries and has set me up well for the world of e-books and digital publishing!

After a set of unfortunate circumstances, I have been a longstanding sufferer of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and all the symptoms that go with it, and decided to use my novel serial for two purposes: first, to inspire other sufferers of mental illness to work through and triumph over it, and second, to inform non-sufferers that it is possible to co-exist with us. We will all thrive with mutual respect, love and support.

I have recently finished Part Two of the six, and am about to embark on Part Three. It will be available by June 2014. I hope you enjoy the serial. Please visit my website (http://www.ALifeSingular.net) and leave a comment if you did, or a review on Amazon or Goodreads.

Thank you very much for supporting independent authors! Sales proceeds go to The Smith Family and the School Volunteer Program, two Australian non-profit organisations helping children in need to achieve their potential.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“A Life Singular – Part One” and “A Life Singular – Part Two” are both available now. Essentially a love story, the original idea for the story has been with me since I was a teenager, and is based on a fascination for celebrity and how many stars seem to struggle in their private lives, despite being wealthy and blessed with the adulation of their fans.

The serial is based around a successful man writing his autobiography after the tragic loss of his wife, at the hands of a rogue gunman. I wanted to reveal the humanity behind celebrity, and to help readers to explore the world of mental illnesses such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression through a love story.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t have any particularly unusual writing habits, except that my old hound is always beside me, either snoring or breaking wind, and sometimes both! I love coffee, so there is normally an empty coffee mug beside me, just waiting to be filled and emptied again.

Since I am an e-chick, my editing process may be somewhat unusual. When I’m ready with a draft of a few chapters, I create an e-book and download it onto my tablet. This allows me to pick up inconsistencies and typos much more easily and imagine I’m a reader rather than a writer!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My influences are wide-ranging. I love Victor Hugo, Eugene Ionescu and Honoré de Balzac from French literature, and am a freak for thoughtful song lyrics from Don Henley, Billy Joel and Bernie Taupin, among many others. Most of all, I’m influenced by real life and by heroic stories of personal triumph.

What are you working on now?
“A Life Singular – Part Three” is currently about 40% complete. I’m always working on all remaining parts, to make sure they all remain consistent. I hope to have Part Three available by June 2014.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am casting my net really wide to promote my serial. I prefer to use my own website (http://www.ALifeSingular.net) for sales, because I want to direct sales proceeds to my chosen charities, The Smith Family and the School Volunteer Program.

I also have a blog at http://ALifeSingular.com and use Goodreads, Shelfari and of course, AwesomeGang!!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I am still very much learning myself, but one piece of advice I wish I had in advance was to watch out for self-publishing companies’ policies on sexual content. Part Two of my serial was going to be so heavily censored that it would have negated the entire premise for that section of my story, therefore I lost my money and was left with a one-part serial!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Tweet, tweet, tweet! Twitter has become such a powerful tool. As an introvert Anglo-Australian, constant promotion is counter-culture, but I need to get over it!

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading the Rose Gardner Mysteries by Denise Grover Swank. This is a bit of light relief, as a reward for finishing Colm Toibin’s Testament of Mary and then the complete essays of Michel de Montaigne, which was extremely heavy going!

What’s next for you as a writer?
Having recently moved back to Melbourne after five years in Perth, I need to find a job. I wish I could write full-time, but I will need to sell a lot of books to be able to do this.

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 be lost without an Internet connection, so a very diverse selection it would have to be: something French and classic, a contemporary romance or two and probably a book on boat-building!

Author Websites and Profiles
Lorraine Pestell Website
Lorraine Pestell Amazon Profile

Lorraine Pestell’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a film and television writer/producer. I was born in Boston and currently live in South Pasadena, California with my husband and writing partner, James Bruner, and our family.

MISTER D: A Children’s Picture Book About Overcoming Doubts and Fears is my first book. It is an empowering, entertaining fable for 4-9 year olds about overcoming doubts and fears and has been approved for use in California public schools by the office of California’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

My husband, James, and I, had the opportunity to meet REE DRUMMOND, THE PIONEER WOMAN, at a recent book signing here in the Los Angeles area. Ree is one of the first people to have read MISTER D.

A romantic drama, “Ice Dreams”, written by my husband and I for The Hallmark Channel, was nominated for the $100,000 Epiphany Prize for Television by MovieGuide.org. It plays frequently on The Hallmark Channel and The Hallmark Movie Channel.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
MISTER D: A Children’s Picture Book About Overcoming Doubts and Fears, is my latest book.

MISTER D was inspired by my daughter.

Like so many other parents, I used to take my daughter, Jennifer, to her Karate lessons several times a week. It was a big part of our lives. She took Karate from one of Chuck Norris’ senior Black Belts. Chuck was active in his schools and we used to see him all the time at the belt tests.

One day before one of her advanced belt tests, Jennifer nervously said to me, “What if I make a mistake during the test?”

I felt for her. She looked so scared. I think she was nervous that she would let me down. I wouldn’t have been disappointed, of course, not if she had tried her best.

I asked her, “Do you know everything you need to know for the next belt?”

“Yes, I do.” she said.

I then asked, “Have you practiced?” Of course, I knew that she had practiced since I always watched her class, but I was trying to make a point.

She smiled and said, “Yes, Mom, I have practiced a lot.”

I told her that when you have doubts and fears then you can’t focus. And when you’re not focused, that’s when you can make mistakes. I suddenly thought of something. “Why don’t you think of your doubts as Mister D… During your test, if you feel scared, just say in your mind — Go away Mister D!”

Jennifer looked at me and nodded. I could tell that she liked the idea.

She tested and did really well. After it was over, she ran up to me, showed me her new belt, and said, “It worked!”

Jennifer was so excited. I was too. I was so happy that something I thought of to help her, had actually helped her.

I told my husband, James, about it later that evening. “You should write it as a children’s book,” he said.

I told him that I didn’t know if I could.

He then said to me, “You better tell Mister D to go away.”

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure if it is unusual, but I like to act out the different characters thoughts and dialogue at times. It probably comes from my acting background. I act it out in my mind, most of the time, but there are times when I actually get up and physically act it out.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
As far as children’s books – there are too many to list, or to remember.

I tend to read lots of different genres – self-help books, thrillers, cozy detective books, light paranormal and dramas are some of them. Some authors are: Vince Flynn, Brad Thor, Christiana Miller, Maddy Malhotra, M. Louisa Locke, John Michael Hileman, Tracey Garvis Graves, Peter Mayle, Claude M. Bristol, Sue Ann Jaffarian.

What are you working on now?
I am working on the first in a new series of children’s books with my husband.

James and I are also completing the final draft of our first fiction novel, a detective thriller.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m new at the marketing part of it, but some of the sites that I like are: authormarketing.com & awesomegang.com. My book is too short to use Bookbub.com (it must be at least 36 pages long, I think) but I have heard that that site is a good one for marketing.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
The most challenging part of writing is to make sure you set aside the time to keep writing. It can get overwhelming because there is so much information out there to learn and so many hours of research about marketing, etc. It’s a must to make sure you allocate time for writing and then stick to it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To write what you love because it translates onto the pages.

What are you reading now?
Love and Other Distractions (Short Story Anthology)

What’s next for you as a writer?
Once we get our first detective thriller novel completed, then we will start working on the sequel, right away.

Also, we will be working on other children’s books.

I am also involved in the entertainment business as a scriptwriter, so I hope to have some assignments.

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 does one answer this question? I have changed my mind about ten times already. 🙂

“Swiss Family Robinson” would probably be a smart book to take since I could learn how to survive from it.

I might want to catch up on some of the classics. It’s been awhile since I have read them.

Author Websites and Profiles
Elizabeth Stevens Website
Elizabeth Stevens Amazon Profile

Elizabeth Stevens’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I grew up in Maryland, studied Vodka in Russia, met my husband in Mexico, and now live in Idaho. I’m the author of THIS LITTLE PIGGY WENT TO THE LIQUOR STORE, MOMMY HAD A LITTLE FLASK, and HAIR OF THE CORN DOG (Jan 2014). I’ve also coauthored DRINKING WITH DEAD WOMEN WRITERS and DRINKING WITH DEAD DRUNKS with Elaine Ambrose. I’m a former Writer-in-Residence for the city of Boise and created the radio show “The Writers’ Block” on Radio Boise. My work has been published in Artocratic, Folio Literary Magazine, Cloudbank, Treasure Valley Family Magazine, Idaho Magazine, and traveler’s tales anthologies, among others.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My last book published was MOMMY HAD A LITTLE FLASK. It’s non-fiction humor and the second in a series called Tales of Imperfection. I was inspired to write about family life when I became a parent and was exposed to the horrific world of parents telling other parents how to raise their children, whether or not to breastfeed, home school, the list goes on and on. I found the amount of advice, often a masked way of saying “you’re doing it wrong” appalling. My philosophy is to do the best I can and laugh every day. My hope is that a frazzled mom reads one of my stories with a glass of wine at the end of the day and feels better about herself.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I’m writing a first draft, I write 5,000 words a day. I had to work up to that, now it seems normal, but other writers find that unusual. I don’t have an office, but write at my kitchen island or in bed.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Laurie Notaro, David Sedaris, Sloane Crosley. I’ve met (and embarrassed myself in front of) Notaro and Sedaris, but not Crosley.

What are you working on now?
I’m finishing up HAIR OF THE CORN DOG which should be out in January. It’s with beta readers now. This is the third and possibly last of the Tales of Imperfection series. After that I plan to continue in humor, but perhaps replace the drinking element with travel. The mommy/drinking humor market is saturated (in booze). I love to travel with my family. We spent three months in Mexico, even enrolled our small children in school there. This makes for great material and I’d like us to continue traveling, perhaps to places we haven’t yet visited.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Word-of-mouth and Amazon. Amazon is such a double-edged sword. As authors we’re supposed to champion the indie bookstores, and we do, but we’re also caught between a rock and a hard place in that Amazon is often the only means we have to actually earn a living from our writing. Word-of-mouth is huge. It doesn’t matter how many tweets you put out there. If someone likes your book enough to tell a friend about it, you’ve hit the jackpot.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be tenacious. Want it and work hard for it. Don’t read your reviews. Don’t engage in social media while drinking. Be kind. People respond to honesty much more than gimmicks. Learn to be selfish when it comes to your writing time.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You can’t edit a blank page. You’re only as good as your last book. In five years, you’ll be five years older. Do you want to be five years older with a book or without one? You choose.

What are you reading now?
Right now I’m reading Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl and Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game. I love Gone Girl. Ender’s Game, not so much. I also just finished The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter. It was a Gothic coming-of-age by a departed British writer. A completely different style and voice. I loved it, it was different (if you like Flannery O’Connor, give Carter a try).

What’s next for you as a writer?
Now that I’ve had some success as an indie author, I’d like to pitch my next series to traditional publishing. I’ve never ruled that out entirely and I’d like to have as many and as varied experiences as possible. It’s a wonderful time to be a writer. I also have a lot of conferences, book clubs, workshops and readings lined up. Show me a crowd and I’ll show you a microphone hog. I love live performances.

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 Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor

Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger

The Shell Collector by Anthony Doerr

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

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

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

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in Austria with my husband, a painter, and our two daughters. I studied Romance philology and English and American Studies in Salzburg, Venice, and London, culminating in my dissertation on ‘Machiavelli under the Perspective of Greek and Latin Historiography’. I worked at the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF, doing radio features and working on the ‘Prix Ars Electronica,’ an international competition in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music. Some years later I diversified into marketing and joined Sony DADC Austria. After the birth of my two daughters I founded a translation business. The 4 Arash books (2 are already released) are my first novels.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Raytara – Judgement of the Stars”. It’s the second volume of the four-book series “Arash”. I’m addicted to creating new worlds and settings, but with a particular fantasy story in mind I needed some special creatures to go along with it. Fairies? No. Vampires? Overdone. So I decided to introduce a new player in the world of fantasy creatures: the Arash, descendants of the stars whose name means ‘bright.’ More human than vampires, but powerful enough to be alluring, they are the “stars” of my four-book series.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Besides getting up in the middle of the night to jot down some ideas? No.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love all the books by Nicholas Christopher. Paul Auster is another favourite of mine as well as Douglas Coupland and Nick Hornby but I wouldn’t dare suggest that they influenced my work.

What are you working on now?
It’s another Arash novel, but not directly connected to the first four books. It features a new heroine, Ruth, who is the bad girl in the previous books.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I wish I knew! I’m rather new in this game so I’m relying mostly on Amazon and my website www.arashbooks.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never be discouraged by refusals from agents and publishing houses. It’s just part of the game.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
In the words of Henry Moore:

The secret of life is to have a task, something you devote your entire life to, something you bring everything to, every minute of the day for the rest of your life. And the most important thing is, it must be something you cannot possibly do.

What are you reading now?
Invisible by Paul Auster

What’s next for you as a writer?
Preparing the release of the next 2 Arash sequels: Tasagalt – Cross of the South and

Jhanmar – World Travellers. And of course trying to bring to paper all the stories which keep popping up.

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 trip to the Stars, Nicholas Christopher

The Story of Forgetting, Stefan Merrill Block

Loving Monsters, James Hamilton-Paterson

Author Websites and Profiles
Elke Schuster Website
Elke Schuster Amazon Profile

Elke Schuster’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

---

Author Interview Series

To discover a new author, check out our Featured Authors page. We have some of the best authors around. They are just waiting for you to discover them. If you enjoyed this writer’s interview feel free to share it using the buttons below. Sharing is caring!

If you are an author and want to be interviewed just fill out out Author Interview page. After submitting we will send it out in our newsletters and social media channels that are filled with readers looking to discover new books to read.

If you are looking for a new book to read check out our Featured Books Page.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a former operatic soprano, music critic and feature writer, voice teacher and performance coach. Now I’m doing some publicity writing. I have published one book “Sam (a pastoral), which is a tale about people missing each other almost entirely, and a horse, Sam, who interprets the meaning of life for them. I am almost through writing another one, which is a comic-farce murder mystery, starrring a very famous composer as the sleuth, and no I am not going to tell you who.

After some years of writing music reviews at 10:30 pm with an 11:00 deadline and an editor yelling at me across the newsroom, I became a very glib writer. Writing a long form novel was much more difficult. Considering the bazillions of books I had read, I thought making a big structure would be easy. Ha.

The second book is easier, mostly because things in a mystery have to happen at times. Like a murder. Then another murder. Suspects. Red herrings. Clues. A reveal. I needed a time line to keep stuff straight. Since it’s set in the late 18th century, the age of endless and witty conversation, it’s largely in dialogue form with some action scenes thrown in. Think Jane Austen, who wrote just a little later. No descriptions. Heroines never are caught eating anything. But in my book people drink endless coffees and eat Viennese pastries and try to solve the mystery at the same time.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Sam (a pastoral) is sort of an odd title I will admit. What the heck is a pastoral? Several things actually. A pastoral, in olden times, was a poem or story that had shepherds and shepherdesses in it. City people had the idea that the ideal life was a shepherd’s life. If you have spent time around sheep you know this is not true.

A pastoral can also mean pastures, or the rural scene, as in a pastoral retreat.

Pastoral also refers to the duties of a minister or rabbi or priest toward his flock. He is their shepherd, and guards them from whatever. The extended meaning of this is the way people care for one another. In my story the horse takes care of the kid, and she takes care of him. Out of this love bond grows her ability to take care of other people in her life. She is sort of a slow learner, but she does figure it out.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am a musician by trade. When I paint at my easel I listen to music. When I write I may turn on music but I never hear a note of it. Whatever part of my brain I use for processing music it’s the same part I use to write. Finally I gave up. I write in total silence, but I hear the words. I have a record of birdsongs that i can hear OK.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
When I was young I read ‘Bambi’ and ‘Black Beauty’ over and over. Also ‘Heidi,’ which has two worlds operating simultaneously: the child’s world and the adults’ world. When one re-reads it as an adult one reads an entirely different book. In both ‘Bambi’ and ‘Black Beauty’ the animals speak for themselves. The deer think that humans are gods, who kill animals at will but never die themselves. Bambi discovers this is not true, and that mankind is mortal and suffers as the animals suffer. The fact that we humans do not rule the natural world, nor own it, made a huge impression on me! This revelation is not in the Disney movie.

As a pre-teen I was devoted to Anne of Green Gables. L.M. Montgomery’s love of rustic humor and racy gossip has been an influence on my writing about country people. I loved ugly duckling stories, square-peg stories.. Anne and Heidi have a lot in common, since they both heal their adoptive parents. I read lots of animals stories too. As a teen I started the grownup classics. The Bronte sisters, Dickens, Mark Twain, Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Then Eliot, Austen, Fielding, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, the real Beef Trust authors. Middlemarch is a book I re-read every few years. Melville, Conrad, all that good stuff. Tolkien, right in the middle of all that. I still love it, because of its rich descriptions of nature, and the way he creates this ache of nostalgia for lost worlds, ruined cities, extinct peoples. It’s still a good read when one has a bad cold and wants to go far far away…

Dorothy Sayers made me love mysteries. Nowadays I read a lot of American history, anything by Bill Bryson, Jennifer Haight, Michael Gruber’s thrillers, Marianne Wiggins. Kate Atkinson. Best horse book? “Horse Heaven’ by Jane Smiley. the Kate Shugak mysteries. Rohinton Mistri breaks your heart. Hilary Mantel, OMG. Dona Leon; I read her with a map of Venice on the computer so I can follow the action around Venice. She has a nice cookbook out too. In Florida I like to read Carl Hiassen for the local color. John Wideman for poetic prose. I gotta stop….

Now I read

What are you working on now?
Operatic Murder Mystery. I can say no more. Backstage backbiting, secret societies, modern versus conservative, quite a lot of sex, lots of suspects at the scene of the crime, people denouncing each other and incriminating themselves, the secret police arrest the wrong man twice….I can say no more. It’s almost done. Be patient.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am on Author’s Den and Goodreads, and I have a blog on WordPress, very unblogged lately. The Kindle Freebie five-day giveaway has been good to do. After I run this one I am trying taking out a Goodreads ad to see if I can sell some, for, you know, money. I have no expectations of wealth or even profit from this book-writing thing, I just would like somebody else to read it. It’s a desire I acquired working on the newspaper. I write something, and BOOM, it’s published the next day and everyone is reading it and sending me angry letters or sometimes even nice letters.

I want to share my writing with lots of people and not end up living on the street, that’s all I ask…

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Do not write while asleep or riding a horse.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Five hundred words, exactly, not one more or less.” “Take out ALL the adverbs and most of the adjectives,” then throw out fifty percent of what’s left.”

What are you reading now?
“One Summer,” by Bill Bryson

“The Sand Child” by Tahar ben Jelloun

What’s next for you as a writer?
more writing. And after that…reading. writing. reading. 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?
Middlemarch, War and Peace, Paradise Lost, The Iliad. Can I please bring some more?

Author Websites and Profiles
Susan Larson Website

Susan Larson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I like to be challenged, whether it’s mentally or physically. I race myself in a mile, tutor people in my weakest subjects, and read books philosophy. Writing fiction is maybe my biggest challenge. I was trained as an historian, which is an entirely different way of approaching a subject. Plots, descriptions, characters, and details in general have allowed me to develop a much fuller view of the time periods I write about. I’m enjoying the ride.

I’m just starting out, writing short stories. I’ve published five of those. Three have have been about the “Arthurian Era” and two take place at the end of the last ice age.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The last story I published was “Kediak and the Children of Nelvaa”. I drew from a lot of sources for that. The character itself reminds me of Robert Howard’s immortal Conan character, as does the period. But I drew 10,000 B.C.E. from an historical point of view – cold and miserable. The culture he runs into and the people he meets I found inspiration for in Marijas Gimbutas’ work on prehistoric civilizations. She described small, mainly mobile communities that were cooperative rather than structured. Men and women had equal social power, as opposed to them being focused on men. Of course my “hero” thinks and acts like a patriarchal character. That contrast alone makes for interesting stories.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I get my best ideas when I’m doing something completely different – running, practicing karate, working. I write best when my one-eyed cat is sleeping on my lap.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am all over with influences. George Lucas because of his ties to Joseph Campbell and his melding of martial arts with science fiction. Joseph Campbell because of his understanding of mythology. Arthur C. Clarke with his brilliant ideas always based solidly in science. Stan Lee and his development of interesting characters and their real personalities and relationships. Frank Herbert because of how he saw humans potentially evolving in the Dune books and other works. Herman’s Hesse and his philosophical thoughts. Isaac Asimov’s thoughts on robots and his take on our future. Ayn Rand’s interesting and common sense approach to life. I enjoy the hopeful subtext in Gene Roddenberry’s stuff, the wonder in J.R.R. Tolkien, and the dry sarcasm of Buffy. I guess a lot of people have contributed to how I write my world, each adding pieces to my puzzle.

What are you working on now?
I am going through the final stages of editing an Arthur novel while tinkering with another Kediak short story involving blood witches and a hyena. The former begins in the early stages of his career and takes him through his first big test as a king. I hope people will like that it is gritty and real while at the same time it has interesting characters that like to act like kids.

The story is going to introduce some aspects of ice age cultures that I think people don’t know about. With any luck the reader will catch on faster than Kediak about what he is seeing. I like the stories on their own, but I think when people read how closely the two eras are related in my writings it will be that much more fun.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I honestly don’t know, I’m very new to this. I have my blog, I post articles for Moviepilot.com, and otherwise I’m still trying to branch out.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t get old. Always try to see the world and your subjects as though you were a child.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Drink plenty of water.

What are you reading now?
‘Breaking Strain’ by Paul Preuss based on Arthur C. Clarke. I am enjoying the science, the writing is not as good. Clarke had this brilliant mind that was capable of understanding and keeping up with the advances and the curiosity to see some of the minutiae and problems that would come with them. I love learning from him.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I plan to write a series of short stories about Kediak, of novels about Arthur. I enjoyed the character portrayals I have done in the Arthurian period (as short stories) and I may go to them. After that I hope to write on other eras – 4000, 1500, something modern, but all part of the same universe.

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?
Friedrich Nietzsche, Ayn Rand, Hermann Hesse, and ‘Bhagavad Gita’. It would be entertaining to learn how much each philosophy is opposed to each of the others. I could imagine endless debates and occasional fisticuffs between them.

Author Websites and Profiles
Cian Beirdd Website
Cian Beirdd Amazon Profile
Cian Beirdd Author Profile on Smashwords

Cian Beirdd’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
The monster I married is a United States Soldier and I have two school ages monsters as well. 😉 When I’m not playing with my imaginary friends, I love to camp and fish (I grew up in Texas). In college, I studied Cultural Anthropology and history of religion. That was the beginning of the entire EARTH’S MAGICK series.

I’m also a very proud Pagan. That completed the idea of my stories and after I outlined my ideas, I had five books to write! After I completed the first book in the series, I also wrote a horror short story. Just for fun. It got great reviews and was even on Amazon’s Bestseller’s list! Shortly after that, Earth’s Magick was released through Solstice Publishing. I’m currently writing the next book in the series and a companion short story to go with it.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my first book is EARTH’S MAGICK. Each of my books are written with a certain element of the Earth in mind. The second one will be WATER. So much inspired it, it hard to put it down into simple words. One idea grew into another and then another. Before long, I was pulling out old books from college to complete the lose ends I had.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Sort of…I have to run before I write. I run almost two miles a day and, if I don’t, I feel flustered and can’t concentrate. That and marshmallows…I need to eat lots of marshmallows.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Head and shoulders above anyone is Anne Rice. She’s wonderful and not just as an author. She engages with her fans and there are so many! She’s a lady in every sense of the word and I adore her. I might want to be just like her when I grow up. 😉

Another author I read constantly is H. R. Haggard. I could seriously read SHE over and over again. His writing, and extremely long sentences, have kept me sane.

What are you working on now?
Currently, I have two projects going on at once. (Yikes!) I’m writing the second book in the series and a short story that’ll be a companion to the series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Twitter a lot. however, Facebook is where I get to talk to people. I love sharing ideas, talking about life and writing and in general, running amuck!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice would be to simply write. Write that first draft and just get it out of your head. Don’t worry about details or cleaning it up, just get it out. Once you get it written, then you can fuss over details and all the “rules” everyone talks about. But you have to write to be a writer. 😉

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
From Anne Rice, she said, “Go where the pain is and write that.” I wrote that down and kept it next to me as I wrote the last two books. I’ll probably keep it there.

What are you reading now?
Mark of the Successor by Kate Collins. Very good book and a great lady.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m going to write the series I set out to write and then…we’ll see what the Muse brings me. Who know?

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 that’s just unfair. 😀 I would take SHE, The Hobbit, and The Stand.

Mel Massey’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Nicole Gulla was born and raised in the village of Yorkville just outside of Utica, New York. In 2002 she met the man who is now her husband and not long after she graduated from Whitesboro Senior High School, together they moved to Georgia and lived there for almost ten years. Just shortly after she had received a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Troy University and while co-writing The Dance of the Ocean, Nicole and her family moved to Sacramento, California. In addition to being a writer, Nicole is an environmental and consumer rights activist who enjoys traveling, yoga, reading, drinking various blends of tea, dousing everything with Tabasco and spending time with her family and friends.​

Little known facts: “I put Tabasco sauce on pretty much everything I eat, my alarming hiccup pitch could give a person a heart-attack and If my skin touches cheap/uncoated metal it breaks out in hives on the spot.”

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Dance of the Ocean (The Scripter Trilogy,#2). My cousin-in-law and I began the series after being inspired by Twilight. We have many literary and musical artists that influenced the events in both books.

Backstory of how Melinda and I met as well as what inspired the Series:

The authors, Melinda and Nicole, met in 2005 when the two learned that Nicole’s husband and Melinda were actually long lost cousins. Without knowing it, the cousins had been born and raised not far from each other in upstate New York and had moved to the state of Georgia at approximately the same time. On August 1, 2009, after having just finished reading the Twilight saga and with their level of creativity at an all time high, Melinda and Nicole began sharing ideas about what the ultimate romance novel might be like and by the end of the night, on a piece of purple construction paper, they had created a character list and the basic outline of the plot for this book. What began on that simple piece of purple construction paper became The Lure of The Moon, an Amazon best seller. A large part of The Dance of the Ocean was completed in Georgia then was written simultaneously in two time zones with Melinda living in Georgia and Nicole now living in California.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Co-writing a book is definitely unusual especially for a trilogy. Melinda Clark is on EST and I’m on PST so arranging a time to FaceTime and write scenes takes great planning!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Jane Austen, Nicholas Sparks, Stephanie Meyer to name a few

What are you working on now?
Book #3 of The Scripter Trilogy.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Website: http://www.thescriptertrilogy.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t let anyone stand in your way. You will face many obstacles, surround yourself with supportive friends and family.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Ignore internet trolls.

What are you reading now?
I started reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green a couple days ago.

What’s next for you as a writer?
After The Scripter Trilogy is complete, I plan to begin a sci-fi series and stand alone 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?
Pride and Prejudice, New Moon, and two Nicholas Sparks books…that might take a while to decide:-)

Author Websites and Profiles
Nicole Gulla Website
Nicole Gulla Amazon Profile
Nicole Gulla Author Profile on Smashwords

Nicole Gulla’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in Nashville (which is a very hip town, by the way) with my husband and my two (very small) kids. I have a music education degree. I’ve taught American Lit and World History. I’ve written music and poetry. I have lots of food allergies. I’m a little bit obsessed with Sherlock and Downton Abbey. Trying to hold out on Dr. Who, but I think I’ll be sucked in eventually. I adore all things C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, but Ursula LeGuin, Jane Austen, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Megan Whalen Turner, and Robin McKinley are also favorites.

I just published my first novel, Shiloh, this spring. It took me two years, four drafts, and a truckload of self-doubt, but I’m quite proud of the finished product.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, Seeker, is a prequel to Shiloh. Amos, the main character in Shiloh, follows in the steps of a legendary hero named Evander. I wanted to explore Evander’s story a little more, to discover what would drive a man to lead his entire clan in search of something they had never seen, something that may not even exist. I’m working on the final draft now, and I’m having a ball.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write when my kids sleep, which translates to very few hours in the day. Also, I listen to music while I write (I listened to one song, just one, during the entire first two drafts of Seeker), and I like to eat chocolate chips with salt on them while I work.

I don’t have an office, so I sit at the dining room table in front of one of those three-sided science fair display board thingies. It’s covered in pictures that are related to the story I’m working on…images that inspire me and remind me what I’m really writing about.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My biggest influences, without question, are C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. You can’t read my books without seeing their ideas, their turns of phrase. I’ve also been heavily impacted by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Twice-Told Tales. I think the haunting way he uses allegory is extremely powerful.

What are you working on now?
Finishing up Seeker. I’m compiling feedback from Beta readers and diving into the final draft.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think Goodreads and Facebook have been the most effective.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you’re ever going to get anywhere, you have to silence all the voices, and they are many, that tell you you’re kidding yourself, that you’ll never finish, that you’re not good enough, that no one will want to publish your story, that no one will want to read your story, that you will embarrass yourself and your family, that you are a failure, etc.

It takes a determined sort of madness to finish a novel and share it with the world. You have to decide that, if every person alive laughs you to scorn, you’re going to write anyway, dammit!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write your first draft at breakneck speed. It’s great advice because it forces you to ignore your inner editor and actually get something on paper. Your inner editor will paralyze you. But speed, in the first draft at least, gives you something to work with.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading Queen’s Own Fool, by Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Once I finish Seeker, I need to write the final book in the Shiloh series. I’m overwhelmed by the number of unanswered questions presented in the first two books, so there’s lots of work to do. 🙂

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Lord of the Rings (I’d bring one big volume containing all of them.)

The Chronicles of Narnia (another big collection)

The Earthsea Cycle (Wow, I’m cheating very much on this question.)

The Harry Potter series (See how I just turned 3 or 4 books into 23? Magic!)

Author Websites and Profiles
Helena Sorensen Website
Helena Sorensen Amazon Profile

Helena Sorensen’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a native Floridian, married to a firefighter and mom of two. I write speculative fiction for young adults and new adults, and just debuted my first novel in November. I’ve written about 6 novels to date, but my latest is my first publication.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc. was inspired by a strong desire to write a time travel story and since I work for an airline, the concept of a time travel agency just sorta hit me and fell right into place.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not unusual per se, but i definitely have to plot out my story bibles before plunging into the first draft. I have to know where I’m going instead of just pantsing it.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Johanna Lyndsey, JK Rowling, Orson Scott Card, Bram Stoker

What are you working on now?
The sequel to Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still learning how to effectively promote. But I’ve found just being active in and on various social media platforms without spamming your book can glean interest.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write the book you want to read. Have fun with it. Pour your heart and soul into it. Even if it doesn’t turn into anything great, it’s still a necessary step on the way to making you a great author. Every work counts, even if it never gets published.

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

What are you reading now?
Beta reading for another writer.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have a trilogy planned for the Butterman Travel series. I also have a memoir to write for a local rape victim–something I’ve never done before.

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 Far Side comics

Gone with the Wind

Outdoor Survival Guide

Author Websites and Profiles
PK Hrezo Website
PK Hrezo Amazon Profile
PK Hrezo Author Profile on Smashwords

PK Hrezo’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have four books published that are available on Amazon. In Valerie’s Retreat the forty-one-year-old protagonist meets a wonderful man sixteen years her junior. Even though they seem to have nothing in common since she is a Head Teller at a bank and he’s studying for a doctorate in Archaeology, the pair clicks. A Spy Home is a memoir of a former spy who, near the end of his career, comes to the realization that his life’s work of promoting rebellion in third-world countries for American interests was a waste. Out of bitterness, he steals over nine million dollars on his last mission. The money was meant for a pro-American rebel group in an impoverished country. His retirement is spent learning what he missed at home with his family and wondering if the CIA will figure out that he has their money. Hazardous Choices describes the difficulty a young man has trying to fit in during his first year of college. In Chicago he served as a gangbanger for the vicious Neptune Knights, and in a small Kentucky town where he received a scholarship to play division two football, he tries to fit in with the other students. His understanding of the world doesn’t make much sense in this environment. A Mormon Massacre tells about a young man in his early twenties who had been raised hating the Mormon church. To fight what he believes is a cult, Jeremiah goes undercover as a convert to rescue women from abusive plural marriages.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest novel, Valerie’s Retreat, follows the life of a forty-one year-old woman who happens to fall in love with a man sixteen years younger. My wife is sixteen year older than I am, so that might have helped foster this idea for a book. The jokes Valerie must endure, such as, “Do you have to cut his meat for him?” are actual barbs my wife received during our dating process. Like Valerie, I also worked in a bank. Unlike Valerie, I never considered robbing the bank where I worked.

Valerie doesn’t consider herself a “Cougar”. Franco, her boyfriend, happened to attend the same church singles dance on the same night. They talked, talked some more, went on a date, and presto- they’re boyfriend/girlfriend. That’s how it happened with my wife and me. “Cougar” makes the women dating younger men seem somewhat predatory. That isn’t the case at all with Valerie or my wife. For the record, my wife never considered robbing a bank either. Well, maybe considered, but never planned it out.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I really just sit down and write. In fact, people that have rituals or only write in certain places leave me confused. Do they really enjoy writing, or are they more interested in doing the rituals and saying they’re a writer?

What authors, or books have influenced you?
This question is not: Who does your writing style mirror? But people often read the answer and hear, “He likes Dan Brown, so that’s what his books are like.” I read a book by Bob Woodward about the CIA during the Reagan years. Shortly after that I wrote A Spy At Home. Garrison, a CIA operative in A Spy At Home, sees his professional life as a wasted career. The idea germinated while reading Mr. Woodward’s book, however, none of the factual account from his work made it into my novel.

What are you working on now?
I have three books rolling around in my head. I never share what I’m working on. My fear is that someone might write the book faster and better than I do. Let me say that I hope to have the time and the resources to write full-time someday.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Somehow you have to get people talking about your book. The best way I’ve learned is to tell people about it. Tell them through Facebook, blogs, blog interviews, and verbally face-to-face when you meet another book lover. I’m also willing to attend book club discussions when they review one of my books. Simply contact me via Facebook or through my website, www.josephmrinaldo.com.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Have someone who will read your book and tell you if it stinks. That’s harder than it sounds, because most people won’t want to hurt your feelings. Also, this person needs to be an avid reader. Find out if your manuscript is mentioned in the same sentence with big-name writers. If not, you need to get some honest critique before going forward with its promotion.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If you say I can – you can; if you say I can’t – you can’t. Either way you’re right. The biggest obstacle we have to success is ourselves.

What are you reading now?
I just finished a book about how major college football and the NFL encourage players to destroy their bodies without helping them succeed after football. My book Hazardous Choices dealt with small-time college football which avoided the issue of players hoping to get paid for playing professionally. Hazardous Choices focused on a former gang member from Chicago trying to fit in with the other students in a small Kentucky town where no one would understand what he went through growing up.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I plan to keep presenting my novels to the public. Whether good or bad, I enjoy hearing people’s comments on my books. I understand people are hesitant to give independent authors a chance. All I ask is for the reader to try the “Click to Look Inside” on Amazon. See if my books grab you in the first few pages.

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 first book would be Edible Plants and Animals on Desert Islands. Seriously, I’d bring Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn because the main character is so troubled. I hope people enjoy Valerie’s Retreat for the same reason. Count of Monte Cristo would be another I’d bring. This book reminds you not to give up hope no matter how bad your situation seems. Those would be the ones to keep me going until I found a way off the island.

Author Websites and Profiles
Joseph Rinaldo Website
Joseph Rinaldo Amazon Profile
Joseph Rinaldo Author Profile on Smashwords

Joseph Rinaldo’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; but left home in 1961 to study at St. Mark Seminary in Erie, Pennslvania from which I graduated in 1965.

In 1966, I enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and am a Vietnam veteran. Upon being released from active duty, I was hired by the H.J. Heinz Company as a shipping clerk. Five promotions and thirty-three years later, I retired as the manager of the company’s food processing facility in Pittsburgh.

From 1968 through 1976, I was a member of a Country/Western band in which I played the electric bass, rhythm guitar, and sang.

My late wife and I were married in 1970. We had five children and shared a wonderful life together for thirty-five and a half years. Today, I am the proud father of four adult children and have four granchildren.

I enjoy reading, writing, and travelling – determined to eventually visit all fifty states. Only seven more to go!

On August 9, 2011, my first and, so far, only book was published.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The title of my book is ‘Levels’. It is a science fiction (post-apocalyptic) novel and is available in paperback, e-Book download, audio book on CD, and audio book download – 8 hours listening time, narrated by Stephen Rozzell.

My personal life experiences gradually convinced me that most of mankind’s problems, suffering, and pain were self-inflicted. Years of being placed in situations that required me to evaluate, analyze, and resolve problems brought me to the realization that there had to be a way to make the world a better place. Over the years, ideas began to ferment inside my head that would one day manifest themselves in the form of my novel depicting the world of ‘Levels’.

‘Levels’ is a story about a unique social experiment that rises out of the ashes of a world that has nearly self-destructed due to numerous wars, environmental disasters, and social upheaval.

The reader joins the story approximately three centuries after this ambitious effort is initiated by a small group of dedicated men and women determined to eliminate all of the bad behavior, institutions, and philosophies which they believe contributed to the downfall of previous societies.

War, crime poverty, hunger, greed, vanity, prejudice, and inequality no longer exist. But these are not the only things that have been eliminated. The Institution of marriage, the family unit, long-term, intimate relationships, and religion have also disappeared.

The story is told in the first-person through the eyes and mind of the main character, Jonathan; so the reader witnesses only those events and situations which Jonathan himself personally experiences. The reader’s interpretation of those events and situations may often differ quite a bit from Jonathan’s.

From infancy, the inhabitants of the world of ‘Levels’ are mentored and closely monitored by authority figures known as the Revered Ones.

Everyone, regardless of their position within the social structure, has access to the exact same quantity and quality of food, housing, clothing, education, and advancement opportunities.

Even though everyone is treated exactly the same, everybody is not the same. Diversity is not merely tolerated; it is accepted as natural and beneficial to the society as a whole. Inhabitants are constantly reminded that being different does not automatically make a person good or bad, right or wrong – just different.

Formal education is mandatory beginning at the age of five and, for most, does not end until the student turns twenty. Besides the traditional academic subjects, everyone must also learn basic artistic and carpentry skills.

Social advancement cannot be achieved through wealth, influence peddling, physical attractiveness, or deceit. At each level, everyone is subjected to a series of orchestrated physical and mental challenges specifically designed to determine if and when the candidate has matured sufficiently to function effectively within and contribute positively to the next higher social level. Advancement is strictly voluntary and may be declined by the candidate at any time for any reason.

Each social level is a physical place that is accessed via machines called transporter units and only an elite few within the ranks of the Revered Ones know how to operate them.

The ultimate goal of each inhabitant is to eventually attain the highest level within their society. Only then will closely guarded secrets pertaining to the creation and maintenance of their social order be revealed to them.

As they advance from one level to another, Jonathan and his companions are exposed to surprisingly diverse groups of people whose lifestyles and customs are totally alien to anything the travelers have experienced. They gradually learn that honor, courage, maturity, humility, and accountability are more than just abstract concepts.

It is my sincerest wish that readers will find ‘Levels’ to be entertaining and hopefully, as they share the characters’ life experiences from childhood through adulthood, form such a personal bond with them that they may sometimes find themselves laughing, crying, becoming angry, frustrated, or being frightened along with them. But most of all, I hope that every reader will leave my imaginary world of the future determined to help make our real, present-day world a better place – a world in which being different is okay and what one thinks of oneself is the only opinion that really matters.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?

I am not sure that you would consider them unusual, but I do some things differently than many witers about whom I have read or met personally.

While writing ‘Levels’, I did not create an outline or have a firm idea of who the main characters would be, what their names were, what they looked like, their personalities, what situations they woud find themsleve in or how they would react.

This may sound crazy; but the characters took on a life of their own and I pretty much just recorded events as they took place in my imagination.

Several activities and situations were reflections of actual events going on in my life at the time. For example: the death of a friend, my daughter informing me that my oldest grandson had begun to experience puberty, a relative revealing that she was gay, and so on.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Authors and their books that have had the greatest influence on me are ‘Aztec’ by Gary Jennings, ‘The Stand’ and ‘The Dark Tower’ series by Stephen King, the ‘Earth’s Children’ series by Jean M. Auel, the ‘Hunger Games’ series by Suzanne Collins, ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ series by J.R.R. Tolkein, and last, but not least, the ‘Harry Potter’ series by J. K. Rawling.

What are you working on now?
I am sixteen pages into the sequel to ‘Levels’ and do intend to eventually finish it.

However, I will submit it to my publisher for evaluation only if and when ‘Levels’ is deemed to be a commercial success – at least 5,000 copies sold.

Only then will I truly consider myself a professional author.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
A marketing representative and publicist are privided by my publisher.

During the two years and three months since my book was released, I have been more than satisfied with the results of their efforts.

My publisher also created and supports the primary website promoting my book http://jimvuksic.tateauthor.com

Recently, I joined the Goodreads author program and, so far, have been very satisfied with their support.

Goodreads is presently hosting a Giveaway contest for my book as well as my blog.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
A writer, like any artist, must have thick skin; for not all of those who read your book will like it.

Accept each criticism – positive, negative, or just plain nasty – for exactly what it is; an opinion. Learn from each criticism and use it as a tool to become better at whatever you do.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Good enough is never good enough. Anything worth doing is worth doing well. Shorcuts won’t hack it. If you are not going to do it right, then don’t do it at all.

What are you reading now?
Actually nothing. Whatever free time I have, I plan on spending it working on the sequel to ‘Levels’ until it is finished. Then, I intend to read and read, and then, read some more.

What’s next for you as a writer?
The sequel that I have already mentioned.

I also intend to do other things as well; after all, I am a father, grandfather, and traveler who just happens to be 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?
My two-volume set of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare.

‘The Century’ – A chronicle of the 20th. century by Peter Jennings and Todd Brewster.

1,000 Years, 1,000 People – Ranking the men and women who shaped the millennium by Agnes Hooper Gottlieb, Henry Gottlieb, Barbara Bowers, and Brent Bowers.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jim Vuksic Website

Jim Vuksic’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a part-time writing/media professor in Florida with a number of unfinished manuscripts and finally a published novel! Not that those theses and multiple ad campaigns from my previous career weren’t fabulous!

Feeling Lucky is my 1st published novel, so of course, it’s special to me. But I think it’s pretty special because it’s a love story about leprechauns and ambition and what happens when you don’t quite achieve everything you think you’re supposed to. Turns out compensating by getting drunk and pinching cute strangers has consequences.

Feeling Lucky includes Shakespeare and romance and the struggle to keep enough diet cola on hand when your house is invaded by fairies. There might also be some satire in there about banking and politics as well, but I plead the 5th on that.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Feeling Lucky was inspired by Kathy Love’s Fangs, But No Fangs. She wrote a funny scene about a vampire getting his butt pinched by an older lady, a “she-clown.” I laughed, but then I thought “that’s a little unfair. Older ladies can appreciate a good-looking man too!” Then I thought vampires might be sexy, but what you really need to capture is a leprechaun because they have money!

My grandmother just laughed when I told her that I channeled her advice for my 1st book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have a bad back, so I move from bed to bed. I have futons and pillows in every room of the house but the kitchen. Makes for really comfortable sleepovers though when friends get too tipsy to drive home.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Oh, that’s an out-of-control list! I love books. The ones I cannot get rid of though are:

Terry Pratchett – any of the Disc World series

Robert Asprin – all of the Myth books

James P. Blaylock – The Disappearing Dwarf

Kenneth Grahame – The Wind in the Willows

Shakespeare – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, and of course, Taming of the Shrew, not that I identify with Kate or anything.

What are you working on now?
I just finished the sequel to Feeling Lucky. Restless Spirits takes up where Feeling Lucky left off with Marilee Harper job-hunting after she accidentally set fire to her best friend’s house.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Since I teach media as well as writing, I play on the internet all the time! The secret to any advertising is finding the unique combination of message, medium, and audience for you. You find it through careful trial and error.

Here’s where you can find me:

kathybryson.wordpress.com

twitter.com/kathybryson2

facebook.com/kathybryson22

plus.google.com/118438646025517720984

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Proofread! And no, that wasn’t just me channeling my inner teacher! There are some wonderful stories out there that are so poorly presented, the author might as well have not bothered. Even if they make some sales, they’ve just packaged themselves as amateurs.

It’s difficult anyway to read your work as the reader, so find someone you can work with, give yourself time to come back to your story with fresh ideas, and then don’t be afraid to revise. Plan on it in fact! Save your 1st draft and work n a revision file so you can always go back to your original, but make changes. Try new things and see what happens.

The review and revise step is what will set you above the crowd and make your voice distinct.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My best advice comes from friends and family who tell me to calm down. I always expect immediate, fabulous success even though I know that’s a complete fantasy. Comes from all those years in advertising! So the occasional reminder that writing success is a long, slow process that doesn’t always manifest as money is a helpful reminder – more’s the pity!

What are you reading now?
I just finished Heather Blakes’ series launch, A Potion to Die For. I’m waiting for Dakota Cassidy’s The Accidental Werewolf: Something About Harry and Gerry Bartlett’s Real Vampires Know Size Matters to show up in the mail, and I’m hoping someone gets me Stephen King’s Dr. Sleep for Christmas. That’s just the top of my list!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m starting on the 3rd book in the series. I have in mind 5 books. Then I think I’d like to explore the younger generation of the Fayetteville Fairies! Then again, I might work on that house cats as alien explorers cozy mystery I’ve been mulling.

The really wonderful part about writing is that it never ends. There’s always another story to read and tell. Getting published is just a really nice confidence boost!

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’ll only go if I can load up my Kindle to capacity 1st, and oh, I’ll need an extra battery pack or two. And some sunscreen. Maybe some water.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kathy Bryson Website
Kathy Bryson Amazon Profile

Kathy Bryson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Sheila Busteed, and I’m a 28-year-old writer originally from the small Canadian town of Tecumseh. I have a background in journalism, photography, editing and design. I worked in the capital of Ottawa for several years but eventually got bored. My wanderlust kicked into high gear, so I packed up my life and moved to South Korea in February 2012. I now live in Busan and work as an English teacher.

I recently celebrated the release of my debut novel, “Sunsets in Oia.” A contemporary adventure romance story, it was published by FriesenPress on November 5, 2013.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Sunsets in Oia” was inspired by many things. Writing and publishing this book was my way to fulfill a goal I’d set for myself when I was eight years old. Back then, I thought 30 was a pretty old age and figured I could accomplish something significant, like becoming a published author, by that point. On New Year’s Day 2012, however, I realized I was running out of time to follow through on that goal. So, I turned it into a resolution for the year, and spent several months researching and planning the story.

Then, in May, I travelled to the Greek island of Santorini to immerse myself in the real-life setting of my book and include my observations and experiences in the plot. That island oozes inspiration, and it turned out to be the best and most peaceful 10 days of my life. It was also extremely productive — I wrote two-thirds of the first draft while staying in the village of Oia.

I also wrote this book the way I did because I wanted to contribute something realistic to the romance genre, a story with characters that are actually relatable. And I wanted to share with the world my view of the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. It’s so unfortunate that Greece has suffered greatly during the economic crisis, and I wanted to root its national experience in the story. Even though the Greek people are suffering, they still have such high spirits and are so welcoming, friendly and beautiful. I wanted to share that with the world.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I used to type everything right off the bat, but found I became so focused on making it perfect the first time through that I never completing a project. So, for this novel, I wrote the entire first draft by hand. The strategy worked really well for me and forced me to stay focused on just pounding out the pages.

While I was on the island, I sat out on a veranda every day, listening to Greek folk music, sipping local wine and writing for six to eight hours at a time. I fell into a funk after returning to Ottawa. I had lost my muse, and didn’t write anything for nearly two weeks. I feared the possibility that the book would turn into yet another incomplete project. Then, it was as if lightning struck me: I had to recreate my writing environment at home as best as I could. I started playing Greek music at home all the time and stocking my cupboards with wine. Over the next few weekends, I sat in a comfy La-Z-Boy recliner with the sun on my face and my notebook in my lap, sipping away on a glass of wine while the music filled the air in my apartment. The plan worked! I managed to finish the novel shortly thereafter.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve really gotten into Edward Rutherfurd’s historical fiction novels in recent years, and even brought one of them with me when I went to Santorini. His dedication to detail and the inclusion of vast amounts of research to bring forgotten cultures, customs and places back to life really amaze me.

What are you working on now?
Right now, my free time is consumed with spreading the word about “Sunsets in Oia.” I’m also slowly starting to collect ideas for a sequel, but haven’t decided if I’ll write that book next or tackle something completely different. Time will tell.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My old journalism contacts and experience have certainly proven useful for me as a self-published author, but I’ve learned I can’t rely solely on traditional media to help promote the book. I have to spread it around. I used to shy away from social media but now I’m almost constantly on it, posting to Facebook, Twitter and GoodReads. I’ve tried to make my own website as fan-friendly as possible, too, to encourage interaction with readers. The internet, of course, is a wonderful resource for a self-published author because it opens up so many avenues to independent media.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice is this: don’t delude yourself into thinking you’ll become the next J.K. Rowling or E.L. James. Pulling that off is almost impossible. Don’t waste your energy on writing to make money. Instead, stay true to who you are as an author and write something that you can be proud of now and in the future. If you dedicate yourself to quality writing instead of quantitative gains, the readers will flock to you. It’s better to be known as a good writer than a rich one who isn’t respected.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t be afraid to be who you really are. It’s better to be unique and stand alone than get lost in a crowd.

What are you reading now?
Every once in a while, I crack open a poetry anthology I brought with me from home, called “The Greek Poets: Homer to the Present.” It was a great research tool for me while writing “Sunsets in Oia,” but it’s also a very enjoyable read.

I also read a lot of tourism and historical information these days, trying to learn more about my adopted home. South Korea has a fascinating history.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I can’t say what’s going to be the next step, but I have an idea of what I’d like to have happen. I want to keep writing novels, and I’d love to have one of them picked up by a studio and adapted for the big screen.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’d bring “Round Ireland With a Fridge” by Tony Hawks, since that book had me laughing constantly. I’d certainly include “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare” for the challenge, beauty and artistry of it. And the fact that it would keep me busy for quite a while. I’d also likely be practical and bring some sort of how-to guide to surviving on a desert island. After all, I doubt the survival training I received in Air Cadets would suffice.

Author Websites and Profiles
Sheila Busteed Website
Sheila Busteed Amazon Profile

Sheila Busteed’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

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

I’m a million-copy New York Times and Amazon bestselling author and a Romantic Times award winner for “best contemporary.” My “emotional,” “entertaining” books have sold millions of copies in hard cover, paperback and ebook editions, been translated into 19 languages, sold in 30 countries, and were prominent selections of leading book clubs including the Literary Guild and the Book Of The Month Club. The titles are DECADES, HUSBANDS AND LOVERS (a million-copy NYT bestseller), LOVE AND MONEY, MODERN WOMEN (also a million-copy NYT bestseller) and THE LAST ROMANTICS. I’ve written a love story called ZURI which is set in an African animal orphanage and a romantic comedy/thriller called THE CHANEL CAPER which answers two of the most important questions of our time: 1) Is sixty the new forty? 2) Is there sex after marriage?

I write about strong, savvy, witty women who struggle to succeed and, when sometimes they don’t get what they want, find something even better along the way. Professional critics have compared me to Nora Ephron and Joan Didion and called my books  “brilliant,” “steamy,” “stylishly written,” “richly plotted,” “first-class entertainment” and “a sure thing.”

With my husband, Michael, I indulge my wild side and write bestselling thrillers (Hooked and Brainwashed) with vivid characters, international backgrounds and compelling plots. Publisher’s Weekly called our thrillers “Slick and sexy with all the sure elements of a big seller written by pros who know how to tell a story.” Readers have raved, calling our thrillers “awesome,” “gripping,” “chilling,” “a must-read,” and “a real page-turner.”

My Mom was an RN who had a trove of big-city hospital stories–some funny, some sad, some touching–and told them with great style. My Dad loved words, word play and language and he is remembered by those who knew him as “always reading.” As a girl, I wanted to be a professional ice skater. In my teens, I wanted to be a lawyer–a summer job in a law office cured me! After college, I got a beginner’s job in publishing and my career path–first as an editor and then as a writer–was set.

Call Me Maybe but reach me definitely at harris.ruth.c@gmail.com. I love hearing from my readers!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
For a long time I’ve wanted to write about a long-term relationship and about the way romance can wax and wane, evolve and transform over time. In THE CHANEL CAPER, Blake Weston and her DH, Brooklyn boy and ex-NYPD cop Ralph Marino, have been through it all–the break ups and makeups, the squabbles, the spats and the stand-offs. Even so, after twenty-six years of living together (and sometimes driving each other crazy), they are still holding hands in the movies. And they still have the hots for each other!

A second element that went into creating THE CHANEL CAPER was that as my friends and I approached sixty, I realized that 60 isn’t what it used to be (and maybe never was). Maybe 60 is–or isn’t–the new 40 but attitudes toward age and aging have been transformed by medical advances, new discoveries about the importance of nutrition and exercise and Baby Boomers’ determination to stay on top of their game.

Throw into the mix the fact that I’m a news junkie and love to write about the social and cultural atmosphere of the time in which a book is set. THE CHANEL CAPER takes place in the fall of 2008 when the global financial system faced collapse. From Ponzi-schemer Bernie Madoff to bankers in five thousand dollar suits flying their private jets to Washington to scrounge for money, the financial crisis of 2008 was a richly ironic background for my story of murder and suspense.

Other characters in the story were inspired by headlines, news stories & current events:

* a washed-up Martha Stewart wannabe trying to make a come back with the help of a red balconette bra

* a one-eyed, one-legged Afghan warlord who doesn’t speak a word of English

* an über neurotic, germ-ophobic billionaire freaking out as the stock market plummets and his net worth goes down–and down

* a flack-jacket-wearing gung-ho war zone reporter with a humongo pair of 36 DoubleD’s

* NYC’s ubiquitous sidewalk vendors of faux designer label bags, sunglasses and scarves

* the city’s vast selection of ethnic restaurants and foods.

* news reports about the deadly consequences of counterfeit drugs

* the rise of the Chinese economy and the glam and glittering city of Shanghai

* trendy gurus and hot self-help fads

Add in Bollywood movies, the world’s best shade of red lipstick and one drop-dead fantastic way to deal with a cheating husband (+ a dick joke) and you have an idea of some of the ingredients that went into THE CHANEL CAPER. I had lots of fun writing it. I hope you have lots of fun reading it!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Absolutely none! I worked in NY publishing for decades and knew lots and lots of professional writers and lots and lots about their working habits and routines. The bottom line is that there is really only ONE way to write a book. Specifically, butt to chair, hands on keyboard. So that’s how I work. Just like everyone else. 🙂

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I cover the waterfront: Everything from Mickey Spillane to Isaak Dinesen.

What are you working on now?
I’m writing a comic novel called HUSBAND TRAINING SCHOOL. It’s about three hopeless husbands who need to be shaped up and whose fed-up wives send them to HTS for a week’s training.

The HTS concept originated with Robin Aguirre, forty-something, five-six, 145 pounds of power-packed muscle, current marital status negative. She is brown-eyed, olive-complectioned and wears her auburn hair in a flat-top buzz cut.

An embittered survivor of two divorces, Robin thrived in the US Marine Corps where she learned—the Marine way—how to train men, how to break them down and how to build them back up.

Robin’s sister, Melodie, also twice-divorced and an accountant by profession, runs the business side of HTS.

HTS is famous for its ads: Ladies, is your husband driving you crazy? Give us two weeks and we’ll give you a husband you can live with.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
BookBub and Ereader News Today have very successfully promoted my work.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
As I said before: butt to chair, hands on keyboard.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Think Different.

What are you reading now?
A Michael Connolly book called The Scarecrow.

What’s next for you as a writer?
A trilogy. Women’s fiction. Maybe a bit retro.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’d take an e-reader absolutely loaded with books of all kinds, in all sorts of genres. Then, when I’m rescued, the first thing I’ll do is reload.

Author Websites and Profiles
Ruth Harris Website
Ruth Harris Amazon Profile

Ruth Harris’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Pamela is an author and public speaker with rare courage and transparency who captivates audiences with her personal stories of overcoming extreme childhood neglect and trauma. She is the author of JoyRide: Life, Death and Forgiveness, her deeply moving memoir. Joyride is filled with the kind of action that keeps readers at the edge of their seats.

All of us in one way or another have experienced unfortunate, painful situations. As a child, Pamela suffered extreme neglect and abandonment by her alcohol addicted mother. Through remarkable circumstances, she fled a series of attacks against her life. Through resilience and faith, she recovered from deep emotional pain and escaped generational alcoholism. For the past decade, Pamela has traveled the nation, inspiring audiences with a powerful message of hope. Pamela’s story brings healing to hurting hearts and instills in all of us a fresh and freeing perspective on some of the toughest challenges facing society today.

Pamela is the mother of three grown children and lives in rural Oregon with her husband of more than 25 years where she’s a Christian speaker and the director of the local Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) agency.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“JoyRide: Life, Death and Forgiveness” follows two little girls, Pamela and her sister Robin, who are on the ride of a lifetime with their alcohol-addicted, Auntie-Mame-wannabe mother. They survive near death experiences, encounter the father they never knew existed, and are given the sole care of their newborn brother during their mother’s abandonment.

“JoyRide” is my personal story. I’m a mama and a new grandma. It was that mother’s heart that inspired me to share my story in order to help others to have hope for their own situations and to have faith and hold onto love.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write with instrumental music softly playing in the room and often with a delicious hot beverage, such as a coffee alternative, since I don’t tolerate caffeine well.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Jeannette Walls, “The Glass Castle” and Nicholas Sparks, “Three Weeks with My Brother.”

Nicholas and I grew up in Fair Oaks, California. I’m interested in what he writes and in his success because we grew up in the same suburb of Sacramento and went to the same junior high school. I seldom ever read fiction. However, because he is from Fair Oaks and because of our school affiliation, I’ve read a couple of his fiction books and enjoyed them.

I’ve also been inspired by Helen Fremont, :After a Long Silence.” Her story involves the revealing of a great family secret. I share in common with Helen the fact that my great grandmother was Jewish (not a practicing Jew, however), and for most of my life I’ve had an interest in Holocaust survivor stories.

What are you working on now?
“JoyRide” was released at the end of July. Currently, I’m preparing to write the sequel. Readers want to know what happened next and they want to know how my sister and I recovered from our crazy childhood. I hope to satisfy these questions in a sequel.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Public speaking and book signing events have provided the greatest sales of “JoyRide.” Facebook has been a successful social media platform for distributing the latest information concerning my author journey and has resulted in sales.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write your passion and focus on helping others. Even in fiction writing, when the author’s heart is to help readers in some way, that heart comes through in her writing. Excellent story is just one aspect of what sales books, touching readers’ hearts is another.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice on any topic? Forgive those who hurt you or else you can become sick.

The best advice as a writer – Write something everyday.

What are you reading now?
An immense book of newspaper articles concerning a female evangelist from the late 1800’s who traveled throughout the U.S.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My husband and I are involved in the adventure of helping readers discover “JoyRide.” We’re working on the plans for speaking events and book signings in Sacramento during April which is Child Abuse Awareness month and also my birth month.

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?
Being deserted on an island with books sounds like a wonderful plan, how do I arrange this?

Author Websites and Profiles
Pamela Koefoed Website

Pamela Koefoed’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account