Awesome Author Interviews

Stephanie Hanson Amazon Profile

Stephanie Hanson

Interview With Author Stephanie Hanson

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a lifelong foodie and bookworm. All of that combined with a passion for history and education, and I became a writer after I left teaching to be a work-at-home mom. I’ve written a cookbook, a history textbook, and five easy readers about history.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is G is for Genghis Khan, which will be out this spring. I’m fascinated with the idea that the same person can be regarded as a hero or a villain, which was something I tried to explore through an alphabet biography for young readers.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I love wearing writing gloves.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love any beautiful children’s books! My best inspiration is actually going to the library or bookstore and seeing which books draw me in. I love seeking out diverse writers and getting perspectives different than my own. I also love books with a sense of humor. The “You Wouldn’t Want To…” books are fantastic at drawing in kids through humor.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a book about the history of games and how to play them. It’s called Boards & Bones: A Playful Exploration of the World. My son loves playing board games, and I’ve always been fascinated at how games can connect us to the people of the past. I’m also working on a pick-a-choice adventure book about the Salem Witch Trials.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
When people pick up my cookbook in person, they almost always end up walking away with it. Books are so tactile and visual, even in a digital age.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Write some more. And just keep writing. The first things you write will be bad. You’ll cringe when you look back on it later. But the only way to get to the good stuff is to get all the bad stuff out first.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Treat writing like a business.

What are you reading now?
I am reading Love, Blood, and Cryptids by V.K. Fox as my ebook and The Witches by Stacy Shiff as my audiobook. I just finished Lavender House as my print book. I’m always reading multiple things at a time.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Continuing to learn more about both writing craft and book marketing.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Princess Bride because it’s so funny; Frankenstein for the beautiful writing and deep examination of human nature; Outlander because it’s long and one of my all time favorites.

Author Websites and Profiles

Stephanie Hanson Website

Christina Cewe

Interview With Author Christina Cewe

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
A little bit about me. I am an ex singer-songwriter who now has a fulltime career in technology. I am a mother of 3 children and 3 dogs, and a wife to my college sweetheart of 24 years. My passion has always been helping others. This is my first book. I originally wrote the story back in 2007 for my eldest son, to help build his narrative of belief in himself, and I ended up self-publishing my passion project 14 years later

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“I believe in me, do you believe in you?” My firstborn son inspired this book, I wanted to pass on the tools needed to build confidence in his own ability. My parents were instrumental in helping me to build confidence in myself.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My best writing is done in the middle of the night, or on airplanes. It’s the silence!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Eckhart Tolle- The power of now. Hands down the most influential book for me.

What are you working on now?
“Little Cub’s Happiness Quest.” A story that follows a baby cub on his quest to find out what happiness means to all of his friends in the forest. A story that provides the tools for parents to help their children understand that happiness is found within them.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
The best method is https://www.ibelieveinmedoyou.com.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just do it! Believe that you can, self publish if you must, but just finish.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To try and be a better version of yourself each and every day.

What are you reading now?
I am re-reading the meditations of Marcus Aurelius. A book I found when I was 22 in a used bookstore in London, many lessons on dealing with life.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More books for sure! But I would love to become a motivational speaker.

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 power of now
Celestine Prophecy
My book! I Believe in Me, do you Believe in You?
Any book on genetics! I love science 😉

Author Websites and Profiles

Christina Cewe Website

Christina Cewe Amazon Profile

Christina Cewe Author Profile on Smashwords

Christina Cewe’s Social Media Links

Bonnie Boyles

Interview With Author Bonnie Boyles

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Bonnie left home at the age of 17. Doing homework on the bus and sleeping on neighbor and friends couches, she graduated high school . . . just barely.

She writes from a biblical perspective in her books; Confounded by Immigration: Immigration From a Biblical Perspective and Lowly Me and Jesus ( a revised work originally published as Seek and You Can Find Jesus).

She revealed that Confounded . . . was done because the Holy Spirit wouldn’t stop nagging her. She said no, the Holy Spirit said yes! She spent over a year studying the topic, interviewing clients and researching the Holy Bible for answers to the immigration conundrum. Many of the first-hand immigrant accounts kept her up at night.

Lowly Me and Jesus, is a trip down memory lane. Who she was and who she is now are true accounts of when Jesus Christ showed up in her life to pull her through the tough times. And there were many.

She has led and attended 35 years of Bible Studies, served as a Presbyterian Deacon, held the position of President of Women’s Fellowship and published newsletters, devotion articles, magazine stories and facilitated and attended writer’s groups.

Bonnie has also been awarded Creative Writing and Novel Writing Diploma’s with Distinction from The Center Of Excellence.

Bonnie L. Boyles released her first novel, titled: At Home on Manny’s Acres: A Place of Inclusion. As with her first two books, this book is faith based writing but is mostly about love. Love for people . . .

She reads reviews on Amazon so please don’t forget to let her know how she’s doing!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
At Home on Manny’s Acres: A Place of Inclusion, is dedicated to Isaiah 117 House. Although the book was started before I ever heard of Isaiah 117 House, I was really inspired to write about the children on the fringes of society. Foster kids, immigrant children, and gay children. The God I serve, loves them all and Manny’s Acres is about love.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t stop revisions until there is nothing left to say.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love non-fiction stories of women and children that survive ordeals and live to tell about them. I am calling, At Home on Manny’s Acres: A Place of Inclusion, a novel but there is truth sprinkled in there.

What are you working on now?
Mulling through my mind is a second book about Manny. I’d like to know why his foster daddy told him to stop digging for the truth about his own parents…hmmm. Will Maria uncover the reason Manny’s parents were shot making moonshine in the mountains of Virginia?

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Amazon, for now.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Writing is the easy part. Self-publishing and marketing is a whole other story. Read everything you can about publishing and marketing before you hit enter.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Do what you love and you’ll never work another day of your life.

What are you reading now?
Captured by Grace by Dr. David Jeremiah

What’s next for you as a writer?
Sequel to At Home on Manny’s Acres: A Place of Inclusion

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Holy Bible, and whatever books are on my nightstand!

Author Websites and Profiles

Bonnie Boyles Amazon Profile

Estelle Van de Velde

Interview With Author Estelle Van de Velde

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a Belgian author with two self-published books. I love playing video games and hiking (mainly with my husband and my son). Other than that, I’m also making videos on YouTube, where I talk about writing, publishing and marketing books.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called “The Londoners”, simply because I lived in London (UK) for about five years and my granddad called me and my (now) husband that way so it stuck. I loved writing this book. It is something I’ll always cherish as it is the physical proof of us moving to the UK from Belgium.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I wouldn’t call it unusual, but I love sitting on my chair and listen to white noise while writing. I need complete silence so I can concentrate, and with an eight-month old baby it’s kind of difficult to find that, haha.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I adore Victoria Schwab and Neil Gaiman. They can bring worlds in such ways that I’m always inspired when I read their works. I’m particularly fan of the Shades of Magic series and The Graveyard Book.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on two projects: one is a memoir on pregnancy and motherhood that I intend on releasing around September 2023 (self-published). The other one is a middle-grade fantasy novel that I’m currently querying (traditional).

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Creating a reader community is the most important thing you’ll have to do as an author to promote your books. They then can talk about your books whether online or in real life, and believe me: word of mouth is still incredibly powerful.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
The best advice I can give is keep going. Keep being consistent. Write what you love and you’ll see that people will come back to your books. How you publish it isn’t important, the important thing is you keep going.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Sit down and write. You can’t promote a book that doesn’t exist, right?

What are you reading now?
I’m reading “Successful Hybrid Author” by Katlyn Duncan.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m releasing my next nonfiction memoir in September and am currently finishing up the first draft so there’s still a lot to be done.

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, great question! I’d say “Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab, “The Priory of the Orange Tree” by Samantha Shanon, “The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman and “Dreaming about the Boy Next Door” by Sarah Sutton.

Author Websites and Profiles

Estelle Van de Velde Website

Estelle Van de Velde Amazon Profile

Estelle Van de Velde’s Social Media Links

June Summers Amazon Profile

June Summers

Interview With Author June Summers

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Besides At Rope’s End, I am the author of five other published novels: Let Freedom Ring, Before We Fade Away (nominated for the Paranormal Romance Reviewer’s Choice Award in 2018), A Conflict of Time, Whatever It Takes, and There Was an Old Woman. I grew up in Ohio, graduating summa cum laude from Youngstown State University. I taught art before becoming a staff accountant for a CPA firm in Florida. In my younger years, my older daughter and I ran a forever home for neglected and abused animals. Now, an eighty-two-year-old woman, I spend my retirement writing and hanging out with what family I have left.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
At Rope’s End is the name of my latest book. I was actually inspired to write this book because of a TV movie I saw many years ago about a young man about to commit suicide.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Probably the most unusual thing about my writing is that I didn’t start writing novels until I was in my seventies. Another interesting point is that each locale of my books is set in the area in which I lived at that time.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Linwood Barclay, Harlan Coben, Karin Slaughter, Lisa Scottoline

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on a manuscript called The Boy on the Hill. It is a thriller involving a fire, a couple of corrupt attorneys, a homeless woman, and a young boy.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I try to make my books available on the online websites. I also plan book signings in my local community.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never give up. I started writing novels when I was in my seventies.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I’m still waiting for this. I hope it comes soon.

What are you reading now?
Karin Slaughters, Girl Forgotten

What’s next for you as a writer?
Well, at age eighty-two, I still have about a half dozen ideas for new novels. I hope I last long enough to write them.

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?
First of all, they would have to be large print copies. Second, I wouldn’t want any that are part of a series. Who knows if I’d ever be able to read the last one in that series. Therefore, it would probably be the most recent releases from Linwood Barclay, Harlan Coben, and Karin Slaughter (non-series, of course).

Author Websites and Profiles

June Summers Website

June Summers’s Social Media Links

Janine Valentine Amazon Profile

Janine Valentine

Interview With Author Janine Valentine

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an author, poet and entrepreneur (real estate transaction management). I have written one book, which released in Sept 2022. I live in Colorado with my two Havanese dogs and I love to travel. I am passionate about sharing our personal journeys with one another – not just the parts that are fit for public consumption, but the messy underbelly, in progress and failures too. When we can be vulnerable with ourselves and each other, we light a path inviting others to take chances, engage more deeply in our own lives and stop letting fear keep us small.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Both Things Are True: A Journey from Fearing Trust to Trusting Fear

The vacation of a lifetime ended abruptly with a positive test for COVID-19. Janine was whisked off her luxury dive boat in the Maldives, ordered into isolation, and left to fend for herself on a conservative Islamic island on the other side of the world, terrified and alone.
Though well into the pandemic, the Maldivian government had no clear plan to provide shelter, food, or medicine for tourists required to quarantine. Fighting for her own survival with a language barrier, only $38 cash, worsening symptoms, and a quickly diminishing sense of safety, Janine came face-to-face with her greatest fear: abandonment. She soon realized her many coping mechanisms, and the limiting beliefs behind them, were no longer sustainable.
Intimate conversations with the Sea while reflecting on the burka-draped women who swam in it led Janine to find her True Self and her Higher Power on that island, where she ultimately realized it’s impossible to ever really be alone.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write by hand before moving it onto my laptop for revisions.
And, when I write, it feels like I am almost channeling the words… they come when they come and I have to be ready. I keep notebooks and paper pads in every room of my home when I’m actively writing. I’ve learned the hard way that the perfect sentence that I thought of while doing something else will not, in fact, be something I can remember in a few minutes when I’m finished.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am a huge fan of Celeste Ng’s work lately. She writes so metaphorically, which resonates with me.
After publishing my book, I found Mosaic Heart by Donna Mazzitelli, which parallels the messages of my book so profoundly that I used about 30 sticky notes to note them and look forward to sitting down with the author soon to connect.
I also love the writings of Elizabeth Gilbert, Glennon Doyle, Suleika Jaouad, Susan Cain, Brene Brown, and Luvvie Ajayi Jones.

What are you working on now?
Poetry mostly… an interesting piece paralleling two words I love: apricity and aperture. It may be for two voices… we shall see what rises!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have a monthly newsletter that has become quite popular, and I promote that on my social media sites. You can sign up at www.janinevalentine.com.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be true to your own voice. Definitely seek out other authors for community wisdom, but don’t devalue your own instincts.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Ever? The best advise I have ever received was regarding visioning my perfect day/perfect life. Rather than trying to imagine everything it would hold and what it would look like, someone suggested I focus instead on what it would FEEL like. Once I was clear on that, I could start practicing adding little things day by day that felt that way. This way I am already living my ideal life, instead of pushing through trying to “get to” that life someday. This has been a game changer for me.

What are you reading now?
Home/Land: A Memoir of Departure and Return, by Rebecca Mead

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m not sure yet… I am trusting that my book will do whatever it came here to do, and my role is to cooperate with whatever arises next. So I stay open and grounded, curious and listening, and above all, heart-centered as I make decisions.

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 actually never re-read a book because there are so many new books to be read and I have a finite amount of reading I can get done in this lifetime. So, if I knew I were going to be stranded on an island and could pre-plan to bring some books, ugh… that would be hard. Of all the books I currently know I want to read, I would choose Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer, The Essential Rumi, expanded edition, and The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle. Knowing that as early as tomorrow, there could be new books that may change that list…

Author Websites and Profiles

Janine Valentine Website

Janine Valentine’s Social Media Links

Pat Powers Amazon Profile

Pinterest Account

Pat Powers

Interview With Author Pat Powers

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a writer and former editor. I’ve written a couple dozen full length books and even more novellas. At this point, counting them would be a chore and kind of meaningless. Almost all my stories are erotica of various sub-genres, mostly SF, though four or five non-erotic titles have slipped in there somehow.

In writing, my goal is to write a fun read, something readers will pick up and not be able to put down until the end at which point they say, “What a great ride that was!” I also hope to make millions and become a household name, or at least a household appliance, like everyone else.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Bound for Bebop City” was inspired by the fact that there are people who have a kink for 1950s style domestic lifestyles, in which the men are all powerful and the women are, if not outright submissives, close to it. I don’t fully understand the kink, but I love the Populuxe design sensibility of the 1950s and early rocknroll music. It was a weird time in American history, in which the surface anodyne culture had a lot of revolutionary elements churning beneath it: rocknroll music, feminism, and (not coincidentally) effective new birth control methods under development, and the civil rights moving was bending the arc of history toward justice.

I didn’t get into the political elements, however. What I did do was imagine an alternate Earth where things have developed as they have on our Earth except everyone is into sexual bondage and thinks it’s perfectly normal and natural for people to tie each other up during sex. And for husband and wife to be something like Master and slavegirl, although not exactly.

But of course that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to THOROUGHLY muck up the 1950s. And I decided to do that by having all teens in Bebop City’s world getting treated with a drug called “euthinertia” or “nersha” which kept recipient’s nervous systems from responding to the hormonal changes occurring during puberty. Their bodies develop sexually, but mentally they remain prepubescent and for all practical purposes, asexual.

The kicker is that once they go off nersha after they turn 18, all those hormones hit like a runaway freight train, all at once, leading to a frenzied orgy of sex as slavegirls go out in search of recently minted Masters to submit to. (The guys are just as horny as the girls, but it’s considered wrong for them to seek out the girls, since they’re so horny they’ll submit to ANYONE who asks. So they have to do the asking. And they are SO horny, they get out on their bikes or whatever and seek out Masters to have sex with.)

I also wanted to portray a society that deal with all this rampant sexuality in a sane and sensible and healthy manner, rather than with some weird thing like locking the kids in their bedrooms for a few months or years until they finally return to something like normalcy.

Mind you, all of this is background for the story, which is a straightforward account of what happens to the main characters, Mincy and Jarral, when their parents take them off nersha. That’s part of the fun, telling a story about a very different, very weird society from the viewpoint of people who view it all as normal. And hopefully, that will be part of the fun of reading it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No. As an erotica author I am perfectly usual. I write by tapping out one weird letter after another. I am a pantser, in that I wear pants while writing. I generally think a lot about the situations and the characters beforehand, but when I start writing I have NO idea what’s going to get written. My subconscious has taken me on some JOURNEYS, man.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I used to have a book-a-day reading habit when I was young, mostly whatever fantasy and SF I could find in the local library. So you could reasonably say the entirety of both genres.
I also read all the plays and prefaces of George Bernard Shaw, who died at age 94 from complications resulting from a broken leg after a bicycling accident. I hope to follow in his footsteps someday, except for the bicycling accident. I’m not crazy. Also, I’m not a playwright. I mean, why bother? There’s still stuff in “Pygmalion” that resonates to the present day. Like “the undeserving poor” who eat as much as the deserving poor, and drink quite a bit more.

What are you working on now?
My current WIP could be summed up as “Collar World meets The Handmaid’s Tale.” (I’ve been reading “Handmaid’s Tale” recently, I’d avoided it because I thought it was probably a superficial feminist tract in SF form. I was so wrong: Atwood can REALLY write! Handmaid’s Tale is topnotch SF.)

In my story, a world of technologically and socially advanced kinky types that can travel to alternate timelines discovers a timeline where something like the The Republic of Gilead is in power. And if you know anything about the Republic of Gilead, you know that women are dying and being treated horribly there.

The technological advantage of the Collar World is so great that they are never in any danger from Gilead, which is nowhere near having crosstime travel tech (they’re more at World War I level tech). The conflict and tension comes from the Collar Worlders’ determination to rescue the women in alt-Gilead. The faster they rescue the women, the more likely violent means will be necessary. A slower rescue would mean less violence, but would condemn more women in alt-Gilead to death and other horrors. The Collar Worlders, being socially advanced, are also very ethical, and they work hard at the issue.

All this will be background for the derring-do, because of course they’ll figure out a way to do it fast and violently while harming as few innocents as possible. Like my other books in this series, this won’t be erotica, though it will be chock full of fantasy fuel, you betcha.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
So far, Twitter has been pretty good to me, and the algorithms at Amazon and Smashwords have helped, as have my freebie works. I’m hoping Awesome Gang will outdo all the rest as I get started in using promotional sites.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
A flaming asteroid could sail out of outer space and kill you tomorrow. So write today.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Every step on the way to heaven, is heaven.” — St. Catherine of Sienna. Or to put it in Maslovian terms: “Every step on the road to self-actualization, is self-actualization.”

What are you reading now?
The Handmaid’s Tale.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have yet to win a Pulitzer Prize for Erotica. But you just wait!

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?
“Billion Year Spree” by Brian Aldiss. “A Distant Mirror” by Barbara Tuchman. “Little, Big” by John Crowley. Ask me tomorrow and it might well be three different books, but I’m satisfied with this lot today.

Author Websites and Profiles

Pat Powers Website

Pat Powers Author Profile on Smashwords

Pat Powers’s Social Media Links

D. Emily Hicks Amazon Profile

D. Emily Hicks

Interview With Author D. Emily Hicks

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a writer and an artist. I live in Southern California (San Diego). I have written three books: a) Border Writing, the Multidimensional Text; b) Ninety-five Languages: Multicultural Education in the Twentieth Century and c) An Introduction to Complexity Pedagogy: Using Critical Theory, Critical Pedagogy and Complexity in Performance & Literature (2023). I am writing a book now, Parables, that will be published in 2024.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, An Introduction to Complexity Pedagogy (2023), was inspired by my research with a geophysicist at Scripps/UC San Diego who works in the area of complexity science. We have collaborated since 2005. We view of the Mexico-US border as a complex system.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write with Blackwing matte pencils (inspired by Hemingway’s use of these pencils).

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have been influenced by the Chicana lesbian author Gloria Anzaldua, the Argentine authors Julio Cortazar and Luisa Valenzuela, the philosopher Gilles Deleuze and the Black Studies scholar Christina Sharpe.

What are you working on now?
I am writing a book, Parables, on African American (Octavia Butler), Afro-Latinx and mixed (Melungeon) authors.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have used Facebook to update my audience about my latest book, An Introduction to Complexity Pedagogy. This has allowed me to be in contact not only with readers (including my students and friends) but also with educators and artists who may want to teach my book.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Marketing is important, especially the Guerilla Marketing approach, but it is also important to do research and to be willing to work with editors (if you have a contract with an academic or commercial press). At the time of this writing, new authors working with some presses may have to use Track Changes. The publishing industry is changing very quickly. It is important to set aside one’s ego and learn to work quickly and under (sometimes unreasonable) deadlines. For self-published writers, ‘zine-makers and artists, it is important to have a network of other writers for support and inspiration.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The philosopher Herbert Marcuse told me to “stay home” (within the context of doing research and writing). This did not mean to avoid travel, but rather to focus and to be disciplined about writing. In others, if one is always socializing, there will be little time for writing.

What are you reading now?
I am reading Eli Clare’s Exile and Pride and Christina Sharpe’s In the Wake.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am interested in reaching a larger audience by doing book signings/readings. My work is on borders and higher education, and in order to bring about change in immigration policies and education in the United States, I need to reach outside of the academic world and to participate in international debates.

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?
Julio Cortazar’s Hopscotch, Saidya Hartman’s Scenes of Subjection and any book by Jodorowsky.

Author Websites and Profiles

Elayne Griffith

Interview With Author Elayne Griffith

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
At the moment, my husband and I travel the country in a converted sprinter van. He’s a professional juggler so we follow the county fair scene and corporate gigs. I received my BFA in drawing & painting from CSULB, and in true artistic fashion, I’ve lived a fairly unconventional life, doing everything from painting murals to working at an outdoor science school.

I grew up a country girl, riding horses and rock climbing. When I wasn’t running around like a nature nymph, I was in my room drawing, reading, or playing with Breyer horses. I’m also a total nerd who loves all things fantasy, sci-fi, and anime. Weird factoids: I can spin poi, kind of play didgeridoo, and met Carrie Fisher once (she was super nice).

I began writing my first novel after I was laid off during the 2009 recession. Economic hardship was the kicker. So, naturally, I decided to do something that didn’t make any money. But I wrote Sapphire (soon to be Shielded Realms) purely for escapism and the joy of it. Since then, I’ve written three full-length novels, countless short stories, a script, and a novella.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My debut sci-fi, Azimuth, was inspired by several things over time that eventually connected. My interest in science, quantum computing, nanotech, and consciousness grew into “what if the quantum fluctuations of consiousness could be stored as quantum information?” And, obviously, there had to be a mind-melding horse in the story.

The human experience has always fascinated me. Consciousness is a strange, ephemeral thing, indeed. As an atheist, I suppose I find my meaning and purpose in my creativity and the beautiful mystery of it all. I’m okay with the unknown, and identify with absurdist existentialism: that we arise (with probably very little free will if any at all) into an indifferent universe and must make our own meaning in order to combat the terrifying absurdism of it all, like our awareness of our own mortality.

Hence, I’m a writer.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Unusual? Well, I vanlife it, so having a habit is difficult. Sometimes we’re on the road for days, visiting people, or moving from place to place. I ‘usually’ tend to work on writing or marketing from noon to six, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. Sometimes I work ten days in a row, and sometimes I don’t do much for a week or two, depending on our schedule. Being at the mercy of a nomadic lifestyle has certainly been a challenge, but I think I’ve finally come to terms with being consistently inconsistent.

When I do have the time and a quiet place to work, I like to make coffee, watch or read things about writing (one must always be learning), then put on ambient youtube videos of coffee shops, nature, or something nerdy like Hogwarts, Lord of the Rings, or Witcher. While that plays on my iPad in the background, I go through my tasks in my Legend Planner for the day. On average, I write for about five and a half hours before my brain’s fried on creativity. Once I’m brain-dead, I make dinner, hang with my hubby, and either watch Netflix (for research purposes, of course) or play PS4.

Oh, and I try to get up every hour or two to move. Don’t forget to move and exercise, writers! I know it’s not in our nature.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Soooooo many. I started reading at a young age: Animorphs, Goosebumps, Boxcar Children, Harry Potter, Narnia, the Hobbit, etc. Now, I read everything from high fantasy and sci-fi to general or historical fiction. Crime, mystery, or romance aren’t really my jam. Even though I love creepy, ghastly, dead things, and enjoy zombie movies/shows, I don’t read much horror…besides some Stephen King.

What are you working on now?
Right now, I’m revamping and relaunching my fantasy series, The Shielded Realms, from a decade ago. It was my very first book, and it honestly did okay when I self-pubbed it ten years ago, but I knew nothing about the data science of Amazon or how to market, or really what I was doing at all. Thus, it vanished into the void. I still love the story and believe it has potential, so I’m editing and breathing life into it again.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Not quite sure yet, just starting this new path, so we’ll see. A lot of this information and these sites didn’t really exist ten+ years ago. I have a line-up of four promotional sites spaced a week apart: Awesome Gang, Fussy Librarian, E-reader News Today, and then Bookbub. After that, I’ll soften the marketing with booktok and Amazon ads while I work on my fantasy series.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Hoowee. There’s a lot one could say, but I’ll try to boil it down to something palatable.

If you really, truly want to be an author and have a writing career be prepared for a long, hard haul. You need passion, grit, self-motivation, some delusional thinking, and thick skin to ‘make it.’ It’s not a path or profession for a quick buck or ego-stroking. Lifestyle and luck definitely play into it as well. Trying to write and market while having a full-time job or kids will make it a hundred times longer and more difficult to achieve. I chose a childless nomadic lifestyle because my creativity and freedom were, and always have been, more important to me. If you can make it work with kids or another career that is admirable and amazing. I’m too lazy for that.

You must always be learning how to write and market. Always. Watch and read everything. Get a coach. Join writer’s groups. Go to conferences. Enter contests. Write short stories or novels that you never share. If you want to go down the traditional path then learn the industry inside and out, how to write a query and synopsis, polish your manuscript to an inch of its life, and be prepared to wait. It can take a year or more to find an agent, and if you do, a year or more before you might land a publisher and get published. If you’re a debut nobody, you still have to do a lot of marketing on your own. Also, not to be a killjoy but it’s the reality of it, if you don’t sell enough copies the publisher and/or agent could drop you and you’re back at square one.

If you want to self-pub, then learn the industry and marketing tactics inside and out. Research data science and algorithms until your eyes bleed. Use Publisher Rocket. Let go of perfectionism (ahem) and be prepared to write and publish at least two books a year if not more. The key to indie success is constantly publishing new work and constantly marketing. I recommend following Chris Fox, Abbie Emmons, and Kindlepreneur on YouTube.

Authorhood is not an easy, or sane, path. But if it’s your passion, it’s a rewarding one. Good luck!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Best? That’s hard to answer. Though I should tattoo “perfectionism kills progress” on my forehead. Backwards, so I can read it in the mirror.

I suppose Jim Rohn’s speech about risk resonated with me.

“It’s all risky…I’ll tell you how risky life is. You’re not gonna get out alive.”

What are you reading now?
I’m reading the sci-fi Bobiverse series by Dennis E. Taylor.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Only all my hopes and goals and a decade of learning amalgamating into a career as I turn forty. How does middle age catch up to you so quickly?

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?
Just books, not series? What if it’s three books in one? Like the Lord of the Rings trilogy but bound in one? I’m going to count that. So, long books then: LoTR, Shogun, and The Six Wives of King Henry VIII. That way I can either read them or have a lot of kindling.

Author Websites and Profiles

Elayne Griffith Website

Elayne Griffith Amazon Profile

Elayne Griffith’s Social Media Links

Heather Frederick Website

Matt Corvinus

Interview With Author Matt Corvinus

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi, I’m a part-time non-fiction writer, and I write about a wide range of topics and concepts (at least plan to, I just finished my first book).

I’m passionate about Business, Philosophy, History, Psychology, and Self Improvement.
I believe passionately in the strength of human beings. When our potential is unleashed, we change the face of the world – for good or ill. I often say that the reason we aren’t immortal gods is that we haven’t yet learned how – not because it’s impossible. A thousand years ago, the idea of humans flying would have been preposterous, but we learned how, and now humans can fly faster than the speed of sound.

Our species has more firepower at its command than the myths ascribe to Zeus and Odin, we can send and receive visions without the need for elaborate rituals (all we have to do is hit “send”), we can take damaged organs out of people and put in new ones. We’re already quite godlike if you really think about.

This keen awareness of Human Potential has led me to study human beings. I like to learn about how we work / function, the things we have done, the things we can do, how we can improve ourselves for the better, and take better care of ourselves and our world.

I hope to help people change and improve their lives with my writing. I hope to improve peoples’ mindsets and help them become more benevolent, competent, independent, and satisfied. I also hope to learn a lot and unleash my own potential. The most direct route to changing the world is to change people.

I’m a very private person and I’m determined to do my best to stay anonymous. I write under pen names and I have no official social media presence. I have no interest or desire for any of those things, I just want to ponder and write.

I hope that my readers will draw immense value from my efforts.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
It’s called 12 Rules for Mental Toughness: A Simple Guide To Becoming Your Most Heroic Self

I’ve had to endure my share of difficulty throughout my life. I won’t say I had the most difficult life, but it certainly wasn’t rosy. Being of a somewhat sensitive disposition, the things I saw and experienced had a deep effect on me and my mental health suffered as a result.

After a period of particularly intense depression followed by a long battle with anxiety, I came to the conclusion that life wasn’t going to get any easier, and so I had to get stronger in order to thrive. I knew that thriving was possible; I’d seen people do it. I desperately wanted to thrive and live life because, in spite of all the suffering that exists, life is beautiful – I don’t care what anyone says.

I decided that I had to get braver and tougher. In every single way.
I read books, watched videos and went out and did things all in an effort to “rebuild my psyche” bit by bit. The results were phenomenal. As I type this, I am completely self assured. There is absolutely nothing that I can’t handle, including the things that terrify me.

One of the most lasting effects of the things that I experienced is that strength has become a sacred thing to me. And of all the kinds of strength that exist, the most special kind, in my opinion, is the strength to endure and improve. That strength comes from your mind and is forged by your character. That’s the kind of strength that I cover in my book.

In writing this book, I pretty much preached what I practice.

Also, I lost my dad to cancer just a few days before I began writing this book. My family was thrown into a bit of turmoil. In my culture, burials are elaborate and require a lot of planning, ceremony and expenses, so it took a few months to bury him. I completed the final draft of my book less than a week after the burial.

In the time period between his death and burial, I was literally living the things I was writing about, as I was writing them. What I’m trying to communicate by saying all of this is that even though I don’t think I’m the best writer in the world, I’m a thousand percent sure that my book is effing legit.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so.
I drink a bunch of coffee and crank out a bunch of words like everyone else.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Chronicles, as well as bunch of other historical fiction books that I’ve read over the years. I love the Hero’s Journey, and nobody does it better than writers of Historical Fiction, in my opinion

Richard Branson’s Losing My Virginity

Bibi: My Story, by Benjamin Netanyahu

What are you working on now?
Currently trying to market my first book. This is all new to me.

My next book will be a collection of summaries of my favourite works by Aristotle. Aristotle was a remarkable man, he cannot be spoken of enough.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is literally the first one I’m trying, so maybe ask me again in a few months, lol.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
A quote by the Greek philosopher Epictetus:
“If you wish to be a writer, write”

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“You Will Find A Way To The Top If You Diligently Seek For It, For Nature Hath Placed Nothing So High That It Is Out Of The Reach Of Industry And Valour” – Alexander the Great

What are you reading now?
Clash of Empires by Ben Kane

What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep 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?
A bunch of guidebooks and manuals:

A wilderness survival manual
A manual on tool crafting
A book on crafting in general with a lot of attention on woodworking
A guide for making writing equipment out of natural resources (I’d much rather write than read. I can’t read four or five books forever, but I can write indefinitely as long as I don’t run out of paper and ink)
A bible

Heather Frederick

Interview With Author Heather Frederick

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a first-generation college student who graduated with a B.A. from San Diego State University and Ph.D. in Psychology from Brandeis University. An expert in doctoral education, I host the Happy Doc Student podcast and recently published The Happy Doc Student Handbook: 7 Steps to Graduating with your Sanity, Health, and Relationships Intact. When I’m not working on my mission to change the way doctoral education is delivered and experienced (by students, faculty, and administrators) you’ll find me walking outside barefoot, dancing to live music (usually 80’s tunes), dreaming about raising Nigerian dwarf goats, and making memories with her favorite people.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book, The Happy Doc Student Handbook: 7 Steps to Graduating with your Sanity, Health, and Relationships Intact, was inspired by a request from my podcast audience. Most people don’t know that 50% of those who start a doctoral program don’t finish! That was the catalyst for my podcast and when that launched in December 2020 people started asking for a book that would give them the info they need at their fingertips. Alas, the idea for the book was planted and it launched on February 22, 2022.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Unless writing before the world gets up and using a pen and paper counts as unusual, then no.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The authors who have influenced how I live my life: Maureen St. Germain, Paulo Coelho, Eckhart Tolle, Louis Hay…Those who entertain me: Isabelle Allende and Joyce Carol Oates.

What are you working on now?
Right now I am working on marketing my book and building my podcast while I explore possibly penning something about preparing for death (due to recent losses) and/or taking my doctoral student-specific book and writing it for the masses (by request).

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
So far – word of mouth.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
This is a marathon, not a sprint!
You will get lots of feedback – this podcast on how to feel GOOD about feedback might be useful: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1547113/8063165And to write well, you need to take care of yourself! If you struggle with putting your self-care needs FIRST check out this podcast on how to unleash your genius:https://www.buzzsprout.com/1547113/6988105

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Remember that energy goes where attention flows.

What are you reading now?
The Beginner’s Guide to the End.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Promoting my current book and thinking about future ones.

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 very thick journal and three highly recommended books that I haven’t read yet!

Author Websites and Profiles

Heather Frederick Amazon Profile

Heather Frederick’s Social Media Links

Jessica Sankala Amazon Profile

Jessica Sankala

Interview With Author Jessica Sankala

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m from Finland and I live in the south of France, from where I run my online company and home-school my son. We currently have 2 cats, aiming for 12. I love listening to the sounds of the sea and walking in nature, boxing and also reading while sipping on local rosé. I’ve written one book so far.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book is called Lotta and it was a sort of dare I made myself, because I wanted to tell the story, but I didn’t feel I was capable.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, I write when I can where I can whenever inspiration hits me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
• Undefeatable, by Mirav Tarkka
• Lady X, by Mirav Tarkka and 4 other beautiful women
• From the universe’s lips to my ears by Noopface (Anup Sohanta)
• The book series called Love Hope Give by Gates Mckibbin
• Toutes ces vies où nous nous sommes aimés, by Céline Collé
• Being You, Changing the World, by Dain Heer
• The Body Whisperer, by Dain Heer
• Relationship: are you sure you want one? By Simone Milasas and Brendon Watt
• Whatever the fuck it takes by Barbra Gilman
• La guérison des 5 blessures (in English Healing the 5 wounds) by Lise Bourbeau
• Foutez-vous la paix et commencez à vivre, by Fabrice Midal (in English “The French Art of Not Giving a Sh*t – Cut the Crap and Live your Life”)
• Suis-je Hypersensible? by Fabrice Midal (in English “Am I Hypersensitive”)
• The Hidden Messages in Water, by Masaru Emoto
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
• The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
• Oh! The places I will go, Dr. Seuss
• Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren
• The Moomin series, by Tove Jansson

What are you working on now?
I’m thinking of what to write my next book on.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I don’t know yet.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Go for it!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Go for it!

What are you reading now?
Too many books going on at the same time. Mainly about ADHD at the moment: Would you teach a fish how to climb a tree by Gary Douglas, Dain Heer and Anne Maxwell.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Another book, and hopefully more. Possibly translations into French too.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Embodiment and Body Whispering by Dain Heer, the book series called Love Hope Give by Gates Mckibbin and From the universe’s lips to my ears by Noopface

Author Websites and Profiles

Elie Castonguay

Interview With Author Elie Castonguay

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a sales/marketing coach for artists for about 7 years now and I wrote 1 book called “Living From Your Art” that contains all my tips and strategies I used to help many artists make a living from their art.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Living From Your Art” is the name and I was inspired to write this book to help more artists with my knowledge about sales and business. As my primary service is 1-on-1, I felt that I was not reaching enough artists fast enough. So I took the time to write everything I knew worked for artists that I helped and created this book to spread my knowledge to artists all over the world.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so. Except that I like to write very short chapters and go straight to the point.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
“Sell or Be sold” by Grant Cardone
“Dianetics” by L. Ron Hubbard
“Experts Secrets” by Russel Brunson

What are you working on now?
I am working on translating my book in french as my main language is french and I want to help more people from Montreal, Quebec where I come from and where people speak french. I am also working weekly on creating content for my free podcast called “Living From Your Art” available on any podcast platform.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I would say that so far it has been from reaching out to talented artists on social media by direct messages and through personal contact. There is nothing like building relationships with people that you genuinely want to help.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Well I am a new author as well but after selling hundreds of copies of my book, I can say that when you are unknown, it is hard! ha! ha! But building a network and a community by daily outreach to people is the best way I found so far. Also creating my podcast and promoting my book for every episode has helped me get the word out there.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Whatever the number of people you think you need to speak with to get 1 new customer, multiply that number by 100 and you will be closer to what it actually takes.

What are you reading now?
Re-reading “Sell or Be Sold” by Grant Cardone.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am looking at 3 things:
1-translating my book in french to reach my local province
2-creating a second version of my book with added chapters in 2 years
3-maybe creating a book with more examples of what I teach for each chapters of my book

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
1-“Self-Analysis” by L. Ron Hubbard
2-“10X Rule” by Grant Cardone
3-“How to survive on a desert island” lol

Author Websites and Profiles

Elie Castonguay Website

Elie Castonguay Amazon Profile

Elie Castonguay’s Social Media Links

Danielle Jackson Amazon Profile

Anita Job

Interview With Author Anita Job

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I started writing in 2020 because it was the year that many people in my network were changing careers. I had previously made a few transitions myself and felt I could share my knowledge with them to avoid common pitfalls and a variety of strategies that had worked for me in the past. My intent was to communicate positive, practical questions to guide them in whatever was next for them. As I journeyed with them, some rebounded quickly while others took a little longer, and they all landed on their feet eventually, happy with what they found. I hope from reading my book that’s your experience too!

In my free time, I enjoy volunteering, learning, and spending time with friends and family. I enjoy traveling and trying new things, especially new recipes! In the summer you’ll find me conquering the next mountain peak or paddling in my kayak. In the winter, a perfect day might involve watching hockey or curling up on the couch with a good book.

I’ve written one book, with a second on the way.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I Am Changing Careers: Career Questions to Consider With a Work Transition

A division at the company I was employed with was shut down, friends in the travel industry had their livelihoods disappear overnight from the pandemic and others had stopped growing at the company they worked for and were looking for a new challenge. I had already navigated a few transitions and wanted to help them all with one simple, encouraging, and practical book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
This book started as a bunch of blog posts, with the plan always being to make it into a book one day. Slow and steady is how I write.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The list is too long! The Bible, everyone referenced within the book, and many others!

What are you working on now?
The next volume of this book.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Read how others have done it and follow the strategies that work.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just start writing and don’t stop.

What are you reading now?
The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni

What’s next for you as a writer?
Live life to the full, I have an exciting year ahead of me!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible, a survival book, and a book I haven’t read yet.

Author Websites and Profiles

Anita Job Amazon Profile

Danielle Jackson

Interview With Author Danielle Jackson

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello, I am an avid book reader of just about any genre. Writing started out as a hobby when I started composing poems during my preteen years. I worked in the medical field as an adult for close to twenty years and realized I wasn’t doing what really made me happy. So, I started creating journals (four so far) and finally found the courage to write my first children’s book along with a matching parent/teacher companion guide.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Mommy’s New Green Car: A Stranger Danger Book is my latest book and was inspired by a true event that happened to my nephew when he was in elementary school. I wrote this book in the hopes that the topic of Stranger Danger will be added to elementary school curriculum once again.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No, I don’t think so. I believe every author has a process they use from beginning to end, but I don’t consider that unusual at all.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Children’s book author Crystal Swain-Bates has been a true inspiration throughout my transformation from medical assistant to author within this last year. I admire her dedication to her craft, her children’s books are awesomely written, and she is definitely a leader in the female African American author field.

What are you working on now?
I also assist new authors in becoming self-published, so I’m currently working with a client on her debut novel.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Right now, all of my books and journals are easily found through my Amazon author page, https://www.amazon.com/author/danielle.jackson.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Fear will likely be your biggest enemy. My advice is to move out of your own way and do it scared!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be on the right side of “if” – it’s the biggest word in the world.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading a book titled “Rock Paper Scissors” by Alice Feeney. It was highly recommended by my 17 year old daughter, who absolutely loved it. I’m only two chapters in and already hooked!!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m working on a children’s book series as well as my first full-length novel (no spoilers, lol).

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
1. Holy Bible (I will need all the help I can get stranded on a desert island)
2. Becoming by Michelle Obama (Very inspiring and I can read it over and over)
3. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen (I’m a huge Austen fan and this one is my favorite)
4. My Life in Poetry (Another book I’m working on that’s not quite finished)

Author Websites and Profiles

Danielle Jackson’s Social Media Links

David Torres Rodriguez Amazon Profile

David Torres Rodriguez

Interview With Author David Torres Rodriguez

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is my first book, but I wrote it in English and Spanish.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Back To Happiness. I went from being a person who complained about everything and put people down, to someone who sees the beauty in little details and doesn’t need things or attention to feel whole. So I decided to write a book for my brother and me. The book is written as a compass to go back to happiness. Not as though it is a final destination, but a road to be walked. In the book, me and my brother hike through the mountains of Colombia as we talk about what to do and not to do to be happy in very simple terms that include 35 poems.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes. I get into some sort of trance where I don’t even try not to try. Once I get out of my own way, words flow through me seamlessly. It’s tricky to explain but I can say that if we’re all brutally honest with ourselves, and are willing to open up and show our cracks, there seems to be a frequency that we’re able to channel where we’re all the same person. Thus, we can help each other return to the present moment joyfully or cope with difficult emotions and situations.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Be Here Now – Ram Dass
Tao Te Ching
Autobiography of a Yogi – Paramahansa Yogananda

What are you working on now?
I’ll promote this first book for a while and then I’m going to write a second one.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I don’t have one yet, this is my first time around.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Get out of your own way.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Tell the truth and do the right thing

What are you reading now?
The Yoga Of Jesus
The Tree of Yoga

What’s next for you as a writer?
Writing a second book!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Be Here Now – Ram Dass
How To Survive On A Desert Island For Dummies (not sure if this exists but would definitely come in handy)

Author Websites and Profiles

Kiva Waters

Interview With Author Kiva Waters

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am 100% love and seriousness. Lawyer by trade, yogi by choice. Born, raised and still residing in Brooklyn (NY) with my husband. I have been writing for fun since 4th grade. Officially, I have written two books thus far, MEDITATION MADNESS and NO.CELEBRITIES.ALLOWED. They are both non-fiction “tool-books” intended for all generations of readers. The former tool-book helps the reader get back in touch with his or her true Self; the latter, helps readers remember, and reclaim, true Self esteem.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
NO.CELEBRTIES.ALLOWED., my latest tool-book, was borne of a visceral need to secure the legacy of our youth.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
If writing at the wee hours of the morning is unusual, yes. But I don’t think so.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Assata, Judy Blume, Alice Walker, Edwidge Danticat, Iyanla Vanzant, Queen Afua, Jane Yolen, Sister Souljah, Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Nella Larsen, and Nikki Giovanni

What are you working on now?
next tool-book

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
not sure yet

Do you have any advice for new authors?
stick with it, go with the flow and try to enjoy the process, I mean journey 🙂

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be still. Getting centered is the way to get back to my purpose. Some call it meditation.

What are you reading now?
BUDGETING SUCKS by Garrett Gunderson

What’s next for you as a writer?
more tool-books and more healing events

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?
Krik!Krak! by Edwidge Danticat
MIDNGHT by Sista Souljah
The Art of Peace by Morihei Ueshiba

Author Websites and Profiles

Kiva Waters Website

Kiva Waters’s Social Media Links

Kate Lexie Amazon Profile

Kate Lexie

Interview With Author Kate Lexie

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in Florida because I hate cold weather, but I love theme parks. My husband and I have been married for sixteen years. We have two sons and an extremely large, but quite personable cat. I have written two complete books so far, but I have several others in progress and plans for many more.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book (also my first!) is called Somewhat Alive. It’s about a teenage girl, Zoey, who has anxiety and is trying to survive a zombie apocalypse while living in her favorite theme park. The idea came to me one day while I was at Disney World. I remember thinking that if you could get rid of all the people, it would be the perfect place to ride out the zombie apocalypse, because you’d have plenty of supplies and lots of places to hide. Then Zoey just sort of popped into my head and I knew I wanted to tell her story.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think I have any writing habits that are too unusual. I find it really hard to write in complete silence, so I always have some sort of music playing while I write. I also find writing comes more easily the more coffee I drink, but I have to believe that’s pretty common among writers. We’re a highly caffeinated bunch.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
When I was a kid, I was the biggest Baby-sitters Club fan, so Ann M. Martin will always have my gratitude. Growing up reading her books played a big role in my dream of becoming an author myself someday. I actually still have all my BSC books. And I mean all of them. It takes three giant shelves, but it’s worth it!

As an adult, I read a lot of Brandon Sanderson books. I love his writing and the way he sprinkles so many small details in to all his books that pay off later. His books often inspire me. I was recently rereading Oathbringer and at the time I hadn’t yet published Somewhat Alive, and I kept thinking what if everyone hates it. I read the line from Wit that says, “The only way to create something that nobody hates is to ensure that it can’t be loved either.” And then I knew that it’d okay if some people hate my book, because maybe, just maybe, someone will love it.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on Somewhat Unreal, which is the sequel to Somewhat Alive. There will be four books in the Bookland series once it’s done. I’m also writing a middle grade novel called Hawthorne Heights that is about a neighborhood cat who takes on the evil HOA. I’m also working on a YA fantasy book about mermaids.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ll have to get back to you on that! I’m still learning the best ways to promote my books since I have more of a background in writing than in marketing.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Get a degree in marketing! Just kidding, but seriously, the publishing industry can be really tough, and imposter syndrome comes for us all. Believe in yourself, and in your books, and take the next step, whatever that may be.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The first draft doesn’t have to be good; it just has to exist. You can fix anything once it exists. And don’t edit until the whole first draft is done. Otherwise you’ll keep rewriting the same chapter and it’ll never be done.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer and I’m loving it. I fell in love with the book as soon as I saw the cover. Love at first sight is totally real, if you’re talking about books.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My YA romcom, The Fiercest Chicken in the Bookstore will be released later this year. It’s a really fun book with fake dating, billionaires, and of course, chickens. Now, I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that in the Fiercest Chicken, no one gets eaten by zombies.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would bring a Nero Wolfe omnibus by Rex Stout and probably a couple of the Stormlight Archive books by Brandon Sanderson, and How to Survive on a Desert Island, because my wilderness skills are severely lacking. If my life depending on being able to catch a fish, I might just die.

Author Websites and Profiles

Kate Lexie Website

Kate Lexie’s Social Media Links