Awesome Author Interviews

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been a published author since 1987. I went to college in my 40s and finally got my degree–though, yes, I’d published first.

My first book was published in 2002. Here’s the list:

A River of Stones, a young adult fiction novel dealing with divorce was published in 2002

Conquering your Goliaths—A Parable of the Five Stones, a Christian novel, was published in January of 2012.

Conquering your Goliaths—Guidebook, was published in February of 2012.

Scrambled, a cozy mystery, was published in September 2012.

Marketing Your Book on a Budget 2013 was enlarged and updated this year (2013).

I enjoy reading inspirational fiction and love taking walks.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Marketing Your Book on a Budget 2013

Hours and hours of time is needed to get your book marketing moving forward. I wanted to create a book that would assist the new and experienced writer with their own marketing and save them some time. We’re writers after all!

In the beginning, I had papers everywhere, with all of my ideas in a matted mess. Now they’re in a book that will be updated every year.

I hope this helps writers out. It’s sure helping me!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Unusual writing habits? I’m pretty common, though when I get writing fiction, my characters speak to me. Some people think that’s weird, other writers understand.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I LOVE C.S. Lewis. I love that he can write fiction and non-fiction was flair. It doesn’t take much to see that imagination runs thick in his veins, and that he is all about helping others find what really matters, whether it’s the lion in The Chronicles of Narnia or God.

I also enjoy reading the works of Max Lucado. He writes inspirational children’s books as well as non-fiction.

What are you working on now?
The book is called, The Feast: A Parable of the Ring. The story is a take off from the first book, Conquering Your Goliaths: A Parable of the Five Stones. The book should be out this summer.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I love the FREE 3 day promotion available at Amazon. I have also found that writing guest posts for other sites can get you higher on the search engines. Actually, the more you do online to promote, the more you will have on the front page of a Google search when you put in your name or the title of your book.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. It took me 8 years of daily writing before my first short article was published in a magazine. And then it took awhile after that to get a book published. The best thing you can do is to keep writing, keep taking classes, etc. Keep learning and practicing what you’ve learned and you will succeed.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I have two:

Never give up, never surrender.

You will get plenty of rejection slips through the years. Learn from them.

What are you reading now?
Boost Your eBook Sales to Success, by Marquita Herald

What’s next for you as a writer?
Other than publishing my next book, I want to grow my company, Idea Creations Press. It’s a great thing when you can help an author publish their first or even fifth book.

What is your favorite book of all time?
Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis. Quite an eye-opener!

Author Websites and Profiles
Kathryn Jones Website

Kathryn Jones’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

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Author Interview Series

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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in Italy, as Barbara Saulini where I lived until the age of 19, when I moved to London.

I was never a typical Italian, I never really fitted within the culture, definitely born at the wrong place at the wrong time. After I left, I started reading and writing exclusively in English and today – after spending most of my adult life in Britain – I would say this has definitely become my first language. I could not imagine writing the way I do in Italian anymore, it would be impossible.

I moved out of London a couple of years ago and I now live in Hove, East Sussex, with my husband, our two lovely kids and a boxful of characters at the back of my wardrobe.

I have written about six novels, all of them unfinished and fully formed at the same time, a boxful of ideas that refuse to go away. I will put them to sleep for a few years, then go back to open the box and find them all awake, demanding attention. One day in the near future they will all be out there, on someone’s shelf, or sombody’s kindle.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Innocent Monsters is my first novel and it was published last month on Amazon. The title is inspired by a personal interest in evil and how it manifests itself in people who consider themselves good. I believe the two natures are constantly at war within each of us, and we all have the power to choose which one will win. We ultimately become whatever we want to be the most.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am not sure it’s unusual, but I like to pick a soundtrack for each story I write. And it has to be instrumental. Listening to the right kind of music helps me to set the mood and get in the right frame of mind to write the particular events I am trying to create.

While writing Innocent Monsters I only listened to Zbigniew Preisner. For my second novel I have chosen Ludovico Einaudi

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There isn’t any one author or book which has influenced me. In different ways, they all have inspired me and driven me to write and continue to do so.

What are you working on now?
I am working on a short story called In a Dream, which explores the power of the subconscious… What we plant in the deepest, darkest corners of our mind, with nourish and belief can one day become reality.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have personally only just started, but I am finding Facebook a powerful tool. With a little ‘social media’ effort, anything and everything can be promoted.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If it’s their intention to try traditional publishing, I would recommend any new author to be very careful not to sign away their work for life and NOT to be put off by criticism. Personally, I believe self publishing has become a very real option, it is not the vanity trip that was once looked down upon. If you believe in what you have written, give it a shot!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Get on with it!

What are you reading now?
Grandmother’s footsteps: Journey in search of Penelope Betjeman, by Imogen Lycett Green. A poetic, inspiring and powerful journey through India.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I simply plan to keep writing what I enjoy writing, the way I enjoy writing it, bring some of those characters in my box to life. I hope there are enough people out there looking forward to hearing about them.

What is your favorite book of all time?
Really hard to decide. I think I have a favourite and then I read another incredible book and I have to reconsider. So I update my best book of all time regularly. At the moment, it’s The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls because it made me see my relationship with my own father and the rest of the family under a different light. I appreciated the courage it must have taken the author to write about her life in such devastating details.

Author Websites and Profiles
Barbara Doherty Amazon Profile

Barbara Doherty’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

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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.

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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m also a music journalist and have had over 300 articles printed in online and print guitar magazines over the past decade. So, although fiction is my favorite subject to write, much of my time has been devoted to the other area. I like meeting successful people, so interviewing famous and up-and-coming guitar players often puts my fiction writing on the back burner for a while. I’ve interviewed over 70 famous guitar players, from Warren Haynes, Joe Bonamassa, Joe Satriani, Gary Moore, Eric Johnson, John Patrucci, and Steve Lukather, to Ronnie Earl, Walter Trout, John Mayall, Steve Cropper, Robin Trower, and many more. But I’ve since changed burners and placed music journalism on the back one. I’ve also many published short stories, but my recently published first novel is the writing project of the moment.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My novel is titled “The Three Doors.” I’ve been a horror buff most of my life, so putting together a scary story of my own has been a goal for a while. Another goal was to write the scariest book ever written. I’m not sure if I’ll ever reach that one, but the novel seems to be scaring many people who read it.

Writers seem to generally agree on the idea that the best and easiest way to start a story is to first comprise a beginning, a middle, and an end. The rest is all about filling in the between areas with important information and situations that connect those three things. In doing this, I was inspired by many different stories and writers, but much of the inspiration for this story and its sections can be attributed to my love and adoration for these four stories especially: Dickens’ Christmas Carol, The Wizard of Oz, The Exorcist, and Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. I didn’t take anything literally from those stories, as mine is all original, but the fact that it contains a haunted castle holding unfortunate captives, a wicked cult Master, devilish manifestations and possessed individuals, and an ending that can’t be revealed here leads one to understand what I mean.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m retired from the railroad in Boston, Massachusetts, and my children are now grown up; so, unlike many writers, I’m lucky enough to have some flexible time for my writing. But with that said, I like to sit down at my desk and pc with the intention to enter my fantasy worlds between 8AM and 1PM. I usually write non-stop between those hours, though I often keep on going for the rest of the day, especially if I’m feeling inspired. But as many writers know, things always get in the way too. After all, life’s chores and errands need to be done, house cleaning, food shopping, etc.; so time has to be allotted carefully.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m also an avid reader, which is an essential pastime for any serious author. As I had mentioned, horror is my favorite genre, but I like to mix it up when reading. I like a bit of everything. And besides the books and movies already mentioned, I read a lot of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, John Saul, Anne Rice, Jack Ketchum, Edward Lee, Edgar Allan Poe, Lovecraft, Hemingway, Grisham, Frank Conroy, Tolkien, George RR Martin, Dan Brown, Vonnegut, Hesse, Diane Setterfield, Crichton, Robert Heinlein, Bradbury, Heller, Orson Scott Card, and more. I could go on and on. I like so many of them.

What are you working on now?
My novel “The Three Doors” is basically in the horror genre, but it contains so many other elements as well, like romance, occult, paranormal, fantasy, and religion. It seems to be my area, or areas, so the novel I’m writing now is going in that direction too, yet with maybe less of one or more of those elements and more of one or two. I’ll soon be releasing a book of short stories as well.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m beginning to discover a lot of good websites for book promotion lately. You certainly can’t knock Amazon for promotion and sales, and places like Smashwords and Barnes & Noble help greatly as well. But I’m finding many great sites for promotion alone, like Goodreads, Kindle Boards, Shelfari, and Writer’s Net. Awesome Gang appears to be soaring to the top of my list as well.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
The best advice I have for new authors is to keep writing. That’s the only way to become good at it. Plus, the modern age has opened doors for new authors to easily publish their work. But with that said, sometimes it’s too easy. What I mean is that although technology has made it easy to get published, the biggest mistake one can make is to jump right into publishing unprepared. Make sure your book looks professional, in all areas, formatting, grammar, and story flow. Take your writing seriously. I can’t stress how important good grammar is; sentence structure, spelling, using the correct word. Make sure the flow is interesting and readable. Rewrite and rewrite again.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Practice makes perfect. Write, write, and write some more.

What are you reading now?
Right now I’m midway through “The Cove,” by Ron Rash. It’s an endearing story about Carolina mountain folk in the World War One era. Rash is an expert at scene setting and making it appear as though the reader is in the room with his characters, or sitting upon a rocking chair on the front porch of the ranch house. I just finished reading “City Infernal” by Edward Lee. It’s Lee’s visual of a contemporary Hell. So, as you can see, I go from one extreme to the other.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ll continue writing for sure. I hope to publish a book of short stories soon, and finish my next novel as well. I have a couple of others in mind too. Plus, I’ll fit in some more music journalism when I can.

What is your favorite book of all time?
I have a few favorite books of all time. One is “Something Happened,” by Joseph Heller. Another is “Body & Soul,” by Frank Conroy. A recent favorite is Stephen King’s “11-22-63.” I love everything by Poe and Lovecraft.

Author Websites and Profiles
Brian D Holland Website
Brian D Holland Amazon Profile
Brian D Holland Author Profile Other Bookseller

Brian D Holland’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

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Author Interview Series

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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I went to film school and thought about being a director. I loved directing and making films but I found that it was very hard to get the movie out the way you wanted it. Too many hands and egos always got in the way of the muse. Ultimately, I ended up at a word processor writing scripts. The work was more fun and the food was much better. after twenty-five years of this nonsense, I decided to write novels instead. I have two books self published on Amazon and another on that’s under development.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is “The Beethoven Incident”. I have always had a love for great music and time travel stories, this book gave me the chance to work with both. I tend to sit on my stories for a long time, this one had been clanking in my noggin since 1991.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Same as above. I don’t plan my books, they usually just come to me in a big gush all at once and just pick up momentum in my head until I finally sit down and start writing. The process can take years in my head, but the writing generally comes out in quick spurts, usually just weeks or days sometimes. When I sit down to write, the book I already done and it’s just typing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I know this sounds like a cop-out, but just about every book I’ve ever read. I am very impressionable to such an extent that I tend to fall in love with whatever I’m reading at the time. When I’m reading Tolkien, he’s the best. When I’m reading Joyce, he’s the greatest, etc. I guess that is why my books have no particular common style. Each one has its own way of speaking.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on a new novel called “Spooks”. It involves a story set in the near future when a person can buy themselves more time after death from a company called “Phoenix Corporation”. For the price of a funeral, you can trade in your moral remains for 6 extra months among the living. Of course, this is a popular idea until something goes wrong. Like all books by me, it does.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am still working on that. I have tried coordinated free promotions with other sites with only marginal results, so far, my best results have been with free Amazon Promotion and a combination of Facebook and Twitter, I find I can actually tweet and generate sales just by tweeting: TWEET=sell TWEET=sell, etc. My books started out slowly, but I am doubling my sales every month as my reader base grows, I am finally selling books to people because my name is on them. That takes work.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be tenacious! This walks hand-in-hand with being realistic. Every good writer has had many doors slammed in their faces before they got something good to happen to them. Some of the greatest books and stories ever written or filmed were rejected by just about everybody before somebody gave it a try. This business was designed to break your heart and it will if you let it. Believe in your work and above all: believe in yourself. If you have talent there is always someone out there who will try to make you pay for it. Don’t expect to publish a bestseller right out of the box. You have to work hard to get to that.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Walt Disney would have people come to him ideas and he would say: “That excellent! Now, take it back and see if you can make it absolutely delightful!” When I was studying screenwriting we were told be heartlessly critical of our work. I can remember people running out of the groups in tears. But he was right, you have to be your own severest critic if you want to reach the next level in your writing. Always ask yourself, “Why would anybody want to read this?” and be honest with yourself. That’s how you get five-star reviews

What are you reading now?
I have a long list. At the moment I am Reading Sara Alexi’s newest one, “The Gypsy’s Dream” but there is a very long list, including a re-read of Gibbon in preparation for a sequel to “The Galley”.

What’s next for you as a writer?
What a question! I keep plugging away at my published works to increase sales, sooner or later I think they may click into big enough sales to leave them awhile and spend more time writing. I’ve got enough material for another twenty books already If I can just get more time to work on my writing.

What is your favorite book of all time?
That’s a tough one. It depends on what I am looking for. If I want to read about human beings almost anything by Shakespeare or Dostoyevsky is good. If I want science fiction, it’s toss-up between Bradbury or Ellison. But the one that owns my heart would have to be “The Lord of the Rings”, Tolkien’s prose reads like music.

Author Websites and Profiles
Paul Howard Website
Paul Howard Amazon Profile

Paul Howard’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

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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.
If you want to count the four that are still in developmental stage, let’s say, fifty-five. I started out about a zillion years ago writing sweet romance–the only kind of romance novels that sold in those by-gone days–and so the first one I wrote to the first publishing house that saw it. I didn’t know it wasn’t supposed to be that easy. From there, I’ve moved right along putting more description and a lot fewer … after the bedroom door closed on the loving couple. So, from sweet romance, to contemporary romance, often with a humorous twist, completely unintentional, but there anyway, to futuristic romance, fantasy romance and even futuristic erotica. Now that, believe me, didn’t have any closed bedroom doors . I often didn’t even have a bedroom or so much as a bed when the mood came upon the characters.

People often ask what’s my favorite of the books I’ve written, and the answer is “all of them.” I love my characters, am fascinated by the predicaments they get themselves into, and the intriguing ways they discover to get themselves out of those tight places. It has nothing to do with me. They get right in there and steer the story wherever they want it to go. All I am is fingers on keyboard guided by some strange alchemy I’ve never understood. If I understood it, I probably wouldn’t be able to write another book. It’s sort of like having someone tell you how to roll a bowling ball while you’re in the process of doing it. If you listen to that instructor, your ball goes into the gutter every time. Something similar happened when I was stepping into my kayak and my husband, who answers to many names, learned he had even more names that he thought he had, called out to me, “Don’t fall in!” Of course I fell in.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Joanna, Jinxed.

My “what if” gene t kicked into gear when talking with my older sister about when she and her best friend at the age of 14 were totally humiliated and horrified by their respective mothers’visible pregnancies. Okay, what if there was a pregnant single mom with a teenage daughter? How would the kid react? What would make it even worse? Oh, yeah, the mom had been divorced, like forever, had no boyfriend in evidence, and had lectured long and often on “safe sex” because her other daughter, now 20, had come home, single, bringing with her a 3 year old son? The idea in writing a story is to throw more and more monkey wrenches into the characters’ gears. So what if not only was the younger, horrified daughter diabetic and resentful of that, as well as her mother for simply existing, but being pregnant? But since the story isn’t about Joanna’s kids as much as it is about her, what if she has a difficult, pot-smoking mother herself? What if she has a job or jobs that require her to look like a pillar of the community? What else can jinx Joanna? Oh, yes. Let’s have the 20 year old decide to get married and want good old Mom, illicit pregnancy and all, to stage manage the wedding and, gulp, invite the long-divorced dad of the two daughters? And what if he turns out to be far, far worse than even Joanna has thought? Joanna, Jinxed, is available in electronic format through Open Road Media in about every format you can think of.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think I have any unusual writing habits. I love the commute, though, from the bed to the bathroom, to the coffee maker–where there may be a bit of congestion at times–to the computer where I’m often distracted by billboards like FaceBook, Goodreads, Twitter and my blog or website that may need immediate attention, if the big, huge flashing billboard labeled EMAIL doesn’t grab me first. Is is unusual to write all day in one’s nightshirt? Is it unusual to have leg-shackles attached to one’s office chair–shackles that lock on automatically when one sits down? Is it unusual to forget coffee until it gets cold? Is it unusual to take the whole shebang, shackles and all to the hammock when the back gets tired or one develops numb-rump? Nah, I don’t think I have any unusual writing habits. But then, there was the very hot week hen clothing of any description felt annoying and I dispensed with it entirely. But most writers I know would not consider that unusual, just maybe a little eccentric.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
To begin with, there isn’t room for a whole lot of names and/or titles here, so I’ll content myself with R.A. Heinlein, Janet Evanovitch, Kay Hooper, Anne McCaffrey, Nora Roberts and Joan Elliot Picard and a whole bunch of others who write the kinds of books I love to read.

What are you working on now?
Whatever title I decide to give the book that follows Refuge!

This is book one in the four book series, The Seasons of Storn. It was originally entitled “The Caverns of Winter” but there were so many people involved, each with his or her own reason for wanting to find a refuge from the horrendous, killing winter on the planet Storn, it took ninety percent of the manuscript to get them all there because so many mishaps befell them. The caverns are the refuge they sought, but their life in the caverns is another whole volume, so it needs a new title, too. Maybe it will become The Caverns of Winter, followed by the Meadows of Spring and the Forests of Summer, with the Rivers of Autumn pretty much finishing up the series. I’m having a lot of fun watching these people succeed or fail, survive or die, infuriate each other, learn lessons both difficult and easy, and deal with some very strange alien animals, that I don’t want to stop writing, so I have to ask myself why I’m writing this little article. The shameful fact is I love writing about my writing almost as much as I love doing it.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Word of mouth is the best method. I promote a little on social media, but not much. I have a website and a blog.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Success=ass in chair.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Success=ass in chair.

What are you reading now?
Exodus, by Leon Uris. I reread a lot of books because it’s like visiting old friends.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finishing the series I’ve started and going into publication myself, as an Indie.

What is your favorite book of all time?
Time Enough for Love, closely followed by Anne of Green Gables and Atlas Shrugged.

Author Websites and Profiles
Judy Griffith Gill Website
Judy Griffith Gill Amazon Profile

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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.
Right I started writing this earlier but the kids wanted me to get my old collection of Lego out and before you know it I’m down on the floor building the ultimate spaceship; I don’t get distracted easily but when there’s Lego about….now where was I? Oh yes, me and my books, I tell you the fire power of that spaceship rocked.

Anyway, I started out as a cartoonist, freelancing to other publications, lots of which were zines and self-published comics giving me the inspiration to embark on my own underground adventure back in 1995. I did this for a good 10 years, hand making my own comic, marketing it and distributing it. The main one was anthology based and therefore I had many contributions from other cartoonists. However I began to produce a spin-off series with my main characters which I enjoyed more as it was a whole story and allowed me to expand on the narrative. I guess this is where the writing began to take my favour as opposed to the art (never was the best draftsman.)

When I met my future wife and I settled down to have to some nippers it was becoming clear that the time consuming hobby would have to be axed. The crazy, psychedelic theme of the comic was something I was growing out of too. So for a few years I sat on my artistically void butt and did nothing save draw the odd Peppa Pig or Mickey Mouse for the kids. Just before this I had made one last comic in which I used a regular contributing cartoonist on my comic to produce the artwork, I purely just wrote it. It seemed I favoured the writing more and more.

When times got hard and I could no longer justify buying books I thought I’d invest in a kindle, one off payment and books for free or cheaply. I was hooked on the little thing and when I realised I could self-publish on it I was hit by the bug a second time.

I had been writing a book with no particular title, just a dream of writing a novel rather than a quick story for a comic for some time, needless to say with no outlet and the prospect of finding a publisher for my, shall we “unusual” style would be a daunting task, I never finished it. So before I began to rework it I thought it best to come up with a quick idea for a shorter book to test the amazon KDP waters with.

That was just over a year ago, I began thinking about all this amazing science going on at CERN, creating a new universe and so on. I figure that if the universe is everything how could one make another? And furthermore if they did how is it possible to have one universe inside the existing one? The night that thrust this hadron collider into action I genuinely worried over the possibility that the new universe would implode the existing one. Then I figure that perhaps it is this one, that someone in the future made this universe in much the same way. My mind boggled beyond boggling, I’m no Brian Cox. They were playing God here and what would become of it if it went wrong, would they hide it. That’s when I said to myself, sounds like something Dan Brown might write.

All I needed was an artist to replace Da Vinci and a parody formed. The obviously silly answer to that would be the Mr Men creator Roger Hargreaves. Eureka, The Hargreaves Code was born and my breakthrough in the world of ebooks had seen the light.

Then I went on with reworking the novel I put my mind to many years ago. What started out autobiographical I decided to change it to create a character much like me and gave the story a keen moral ending, twisting it from the general debauchery which holds most of the narrative. I called it “This Night That Night,” my second novel.

Keen to release more titles I put together a book of silly, nonsensical poems, many scatological and generally not my best work. My nest work I knew would have better that. I got the idea while reading Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley’s obvious classic horrors; I read when the family are watching some trash on TV. The trash on this particular occasion was the terrible, almost horrific, X-Factor. The musical TV talent show made me think of how corrupt the music industry can be, how the emotions of delicate teenage hopefuls were being exploited in the name of entertainment. They are like vampires, I figured, sucking the blood out of them, hence the next horror spoof book, “The Hex Factor.”

I encountered troubles with this one; it was a challenge to write. Using many characters as there would be in the show it was tricky to keep the continuity right. I liked it but I received a few bad reviews, the only ones I have had. They pointed out that it needed a rework, they liked the story but it became confusing. Had I bitten off more than I could chew? I can chew quite a bit y’know. However I took it off the virtual shelf shall we say and intend to rework it.

An all-out silly spoof was needed next; I took the simple word play of the Perminator, often used to mock the movie “The Terminator,” and decided for the desire to throw in lots of jokes about the 1980s I set the movie in that time in Essex instead of America and use a hairdressing theme. It was simpler than the Hex Factor, but has more scope for gags rather than character driven comedy of the Hex Factor.

Now, all this messing about may have reached a peak. I have had an idea for a very serious, dark sci-fi book but before I started it I wanted to test the water with writing something serious. This is when I put together Saffron. Unlike the others with varying styles of humour, this one has all the comedy drained out and quite the opposite it would seem when I write serious, I write very serious. Saffron is a dark, psychological thriller and even though it’s short it has had all good reviews and scared a few people along the way!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Oh, my latest, ermm, “work,” that has been just put out today as it happens. In my day job I am a delivery driver. Here in the UK the term, white van man, stereotypes us delivery drivers into being the cowboys of the road, erratic driving, excessive road rage and all them lies! And so, I am keen to put the stereotype to rights by taking the scenario out of context and placing in a sci-fi space setting. It began as just that, a short story. However I extended it, creating a real adventure story and life-changing plot for the characters. Now it is longest book I’ve written and I’m very excited about it, it’s called “White Space-Van Man,” give it a go, please…

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so, just trying to find the time what with three kids! I often record ideas on my phone while driving my work van, is that unusal enough? I find if i try and wait until my nest drop to write it down, more often than not, I forget them!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I think I have quite an eclectic taste, I like Douglas Adams, Spike Milligan, Ben Elton, but rarely do I read comedy. I like sci-fi like Philip K Dick, Arthur C Clarke. Tolkien and Pratchett, Stephan King. I like classics too, love Don Quixote, Kipling, Bram Stoker and Shelley; I might even go as far as Dickens. I loved Catch 22, Flowers for Algernon, Lord of the Flies, Papillion, Lolita and Clockwork Orange, even Anne Frank’s Diary. I also have many influences from comics, Alan Moore, Robert Crumb, Gilbert Shelton and Dudley Watkins. Then what about Hogarth, Gillray and artists like Goya, Beardsley, Hokusai? I could go on forever on this subject, Bob Marley, Walt Disney, stop me when you’ve had enough. Oh, Oh, I just nearly forgot, the king of comedy, Tex Avery!

What are you working on now?
Well don’t think for a second because of Saffron I have given up my crazy sense of humour, I have been working on a story about a small village which is held back from a zombie massacre by a ingenuous idea by the local butcher, it is quite bizarre even by my standards! And also an all-out nutty ride with a title made purely for cashing in purposes, I call it “50 Lampshades of Clay.”

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Tricky one, Awesome Gang is Awesome as it says on the tin but there are so many out there now, especially on Facebook. Although I find word of mouth and others recommending your book is the best method. However it is difficult to get people to use their time plugging you, I offer them cake but thankfully they’ve never really tasted my cooking.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t write comedy, it doesn’t suit you.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Artist David Lloyd of “V for Vendetta,” fame told me how much he loved my comics, “but don’t ever think that you will ever make any money or fame out of it,” he finished with. It is true, Self-Publishing is a labour of love. Do it only for the love of doing it. If you think you’ll be famous or rich you will be sadly disappointed. His words drummed it home. Oh, what a sour point to end with, sorry. If I shout “PASTY!” out it might make it slightly more amusing, you never know.

What are you reading now?
Research, books about vikings for my “Serious” book. I could tell you more but I might have to send you to Valhalla.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Bed.

What is your favorite book of all time?
Lord of the things, oh , I mean rings.

Author Websites and Profiles
Darren Worrow Website
Darren Worrow Amazon Profile
Darren Worrow Author Profile

Darren Worrow’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an historical fiction writer living in Essex, in the UK. I have over thirty books published since 2005. Twenty four traditionally published, six with an e-book only publisher and four indie-published. I writte Regency romantic adventures, WW2 fiction and Vicotrian fmaily sagas. I’ve also written on YA fantasy.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book -that’s a hard question. My most recent to be published on Kindle is ‘A House Party’, but this is form my extensive backlist. My latest paperbacks are Hannah’s War & Barbara’s War – they are also on KDP. These are both new books and had not been published before.
My inspiration for both the WW2 books was my father and step-father – to whom Hannah’s War is dedicated. My inspiration for writing historical fiction instead is my love of reading it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write with Dragon voice recognition – and tell myself the stories instead of planning on paper.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Georgette Heyer started me off in my early teens and then all the great classics followed such as Jane Austen, Bronte sisters, Dickens et al. Bernard Cornwall, Dorothy Dunnet & Sharon Penman are also favourites.

What are you working on now?
I’m writing ‘Eliza’s War’ which is set in Essex and based around my husband’s childhood there. The heroine, Eliza, is a war widow with a farm and two boys. Her in-laws try to take the farm from her when she becomes involved with an Italian POW. There will be plenty of drama as doodlebugs dropped in this area with frightening frequency.
I’m also editing another Regency from my back list – now entiteld ‘A Runaway Bride.’

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use facebook and my facebook author page. I also mention blogs/books etc on various writers/reader forums. KDP free promtions used to be wonderful but don’t seem to work as well nowadays so I’ve given them up for the moment.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write what you read.
Write for yourself but with your reader in mind.
Don’t jump on any bandwagons -they will have gone by the time your book is ready.
If indie-publishing get your book edited, proof read and have a great cover.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write what you read.
Don’t write for the money -but don’t write for nothing.

What are you reading now?
Lee Child thriller -re-reading it actually.
Wartime Britain by Juliet Gardiner.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ve the second part of Barbara’s War to write this year – also two more Regencies to put on KDP. I”ve also Victoria’s WAr -two parts -to give a final polish to.
My aim is to continue to grow my readership on Amazon – I love seeing my sales mvoing into the tens of thousands.

What is your favorite book of all time?
The Lymond series by Dorothy Dunnet.
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

Author Websites and Profiles
Fenella J Miller Website

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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been writing for about 25 years, but just published my first book this year. For the first time my writing was a great pleasure not work. It was as if the book was writing itself. Second-language teaching, traveling, sailing in the merchant marine, and working construction contributed greatly to settings and emotional experiences in the book. Getting away from autobiographical thinking freed my creative spirit. Writing an espionage thriller, my favourite genre, instead of a glorified daily journal really sparked my creative juices.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book is called Tsunami Connection. In 2004, the Boxing Day tsunami shocked me. It seemed odd to me that the oldest, most devout Moslem community, Aceh Province in Indonesia, suffered the greatest hit. Life makes the best stories. I imagined a scenario by asking which groups in society would profit. What had provoked the tsunami plagued me until one night I dreamed about a Russian Akula. I woke up and wrote what I believed was the first chapter. After five years of research while working full-time, it was a great feeling to know the book was becoming a reality.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tell myself I have to produce 2000 words every day. I make myself sit down and write even if I do not write my main project. To keep up my writing I have joined several non-reciprocal review exchange groups.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Any book in which the voice rings true to me. Len Deighton wrote a series of 12 spy books. I have read the series many times. The closing trilogy called Faith, Hope and Charity still gives me chills after having read them several times. Jean Le Carre’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy created a world seen through the idiosyncratic eyes of Smiley. Think it is hard to get readership today. Try Stalin’s Soviet Union. Mikhail Bulgakov wrote a biting satire of the Soviet Union that made me laugh aloud.

What are you working on now?
The Hordes is the second part of a dystopian trilogy. The book follows the enigmatic protagonist, Kefira, an intuitive ex-sleeper in her search for answers to timely geopolitical enigmas. In this novel, I intend to explore the characters more deeply on an emotional level. Introducing utility fog, a nanotech element, intrigues me. My goal is to create a cross-genre tale.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Perfect strangers have been remarkably kind to me. When I first understood that I had to learn how to market my work, I have to admit I felt overwhelmed. Then I made a sketchy plan. By amazing luck, I joined the Maryland Writer’s Association. Some people associated the association encouraged me and gave me the strength to take the next step. I made a Facebook page. On FB, I met dozens of amazingly helpful and supportive people. The most surprising event was someone, Christina Ow, all the way from South Africa, giving me my first book review. I could not believe my good fortune. A total stranger in South Africa reviewed my book and gave it five stars. I met her on Facebook. K.S. Brooks at Indies Unlimited has been very helpful. I ran across her on the Net when I first started making freebee promos. Sometimes when I do not know what to do next in my marketing plan, I look up her marketing guide and search through the site for information links. I could go on and on… Suffice to say that the people in the Indie publishing world are amazing.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Start thinking about marketing before you publish. Making a presence on the Net takes time and patience. My latest idea is to post every marketing effort in a blog called Indie Marketing Blues. It will be a cathartic look at the trials and tribulations of the marketing game. Ideally the blog will contain off-the-wall reactions and humour. I am trying to find a young cartoon artist to animate the dialogues.

Making contacts on the Net takes time. When you strike up a connection, keep in touch.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write 2000 words a day.

What are you reading now?
My contribution to The Reviews Initiative on Goodreads has opened up my reading horizons and given me the pleasure of developing a new skill. I have discovered I love writing book reviews. There is nothing more satisfying for me than getting an email from Amazon saying that another customer used my review to help them make a decision about buying a book. Since getting reviews for Indie published books remains difficult, writing non-reciprocal reviews has the added benefit of getting much needed reviews for my book too.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Soon I am going to retire and be able to write full time. I can’t wait.

What is your favorite book of all time?
The World According To Garp by John Irving just beats the first book I ever read. Leon Uris’ Battle Cry, lent to me by my older sister, remains very infuential.

Author Websites and Profiles
Michael James Gallagher Amazon Profile
Michael Gallagher

Michael James Gallagher’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I spent over two decades working in IT, most recently as the IT Director for an online university in New Brunswick, Canada. In my off hours, I satisfy my compulsive need need to create something new. It’s what keeps me going. In the past, that meant developing my own computer games, making web sites, designing computer graphics, or drawing web comics. These days, particularly with the increasing prominence of online publishing, it means writing, my first passion. Since 2010, I’ve written numerous screenplays and short stories spanning different genres, some published, most not. Looking back on it, I see the journey now as a means of discovering my voice as a writer. Recently, I published my first book on Amazon Kindle.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Reading The Dead – The Sarah Milton Chronicles” is an origin story for a new paranormal detective series on Amazon Kindle. The book follows the adventures of LAPD homicide detective/criminal profiler Sarah Milton, a bookish young woman with a sheltered past, whose only friend was an imaginary thirteen-year old she named Anna Nigma. Now thirty, she finds herself investigating a particularly baffling serial killer case as a member of the Violent Crimes Unit. After a fatal shooting, she is reunited with Anna after more than a decade, and soon discovers that both her “imaginary friend” and her investigation are steeped in the paranormal. She must come to terms with her ability to communicate with the dead, before it threatens to uproot the life she built for herself.

The story grew from a screenplay I completed in 2011. The fun characters that I read in the script inspired me to continue their tale in an ongoing series.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When tackling a novel, I tend to make my initial draft in the form of a screenplay. This lets me work on the plot and dialogue first, fixing anything that needs fixing before I begin the lengthy process of crafting the flesh onto its bones.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The characters scripted by Joss Whedon and Tim Minear probably had a greater impact upon me than any other writers in the development of this series. In crafting the main characters, Sarah Milton and Anna Nigma, I wanted strong, yet vulnerable female leads with sass and real depth.

What are you working on now?
I’m nearing the end of my first draft of “Reading The Dead” volume two now. All that remains is the big climax. I think fans of the first book will enjoy it. “Fidelis in Aeternum” offers more fun, suspense, and excitement than the original, with a third-person perspective that really fleshes out all the characters from volume one, as well as introducing others that you won’t soon forget.

Also, I recently finished a short story entitled “Hole” that I plan to submit to Neverland’s Library, an upcoming fantasy fiction anthology.

There’s a couple of other books that I also have on the fire, but the critic in me keeps insisting on major rewrites before they’re anywhere near presentable.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook and Twitter are good to some degree. I recently offered a four-day free book giveaway, so I know there are hundreds of Kindles out there with my book on them. With the huge volume of indie books being published these days, the best promotion a new author can hope for is probably just to stay public in social media circles and let word of mouth advertising build.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Edit. Edit. Edit. Edit some more. When you think you’re ready to publish, edit again. Be your own worst critic. Then, once your book is finally released, market it everywhere. Get it in as many hands as possible. Then go back to your word processor and repeat ad infinitum.

Never quit writing. Set yourself daily writing goals and stick to them. Never throw anything away. You may go back and reveal a gem with a little polishing later.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If you’re true to yourself, your work will never be as good as your ambitions. Keep fighting your way through until you close the gap.

What are you reading now?
“Under the Dome” by Stephen King and “Cannibal Corpse” by Tim Curran (during the five minutes a day I can afford for reading).

What’s next for you as a writer?
I still have a long way to go towards finishing the “Reading The Dead” series. Many stories to tell, with plenty of mysteries waiting in the wings. I hope that one day, I’ll garner enough of a fan base to sway a publisher to consider the series for print. I’d rather not go the independent publishing route for a print book. Marketing an ebook is tiresome enough.

What is your favorite book of all time?
“Pet Sematary” by Stephen King. To this day, it remains the only book that I couldn’t set down from start to finish.

Author Websites and Profiles
J.B. Cameron Amazon Profile

J.B. Cameron’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Pinterest Account

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.

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.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written several books but only published one. I have a childrens book that is almost done, needs a new beginning, a better hook. I started a cookbook in college for college students, simple foods, healthy, low cost and all servings for one or two.
I live in Michigan with my husband, son and our Schnauzer doggie daugher. I love to write, meet with people, converse, sell. I am an upbeat person, a positive person. I know the best is yet to come!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Welcome To My Para”Normal” Life if a paranormal memoir all written from the journals I have kept of my experiences over the last 42 years. I have been seeing, hearing, sensing and smelling spirits since I was 12 years old. It started suddenly in the middle of a dark and quiet night, what appeared to me was scary as hell. The book goes on in detail to tell how I learned to deal with this event and the hundreds of different events that followed.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write with a 24/7 weather channel on the television, the music is perfect for me. I have the volume on low, within 5 minutes of work I know longer hear it. I love that when I turn this on, my darling daughter doggie finds a place for a nap. She knows her mommie is working and won’t pay any attention to her until she surfaces!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I read so much, that there isn’t any one author or book. I think they all have influenced me, driven me to write.

What are you working on now?
I am putting together notes for a second book of Paranormal events of mine and others.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Today I don’t think there is one good method or website, at least not for my genera, paranormal, spiritual, hauntings, psychic’s… I market all the time across the board, you have so much choice. I don’t use the throw crap at the fan and see if it sticks, that doesn’t work. Know your market/buyers and hit it.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Edit, edit, edit…Before you send anything to anyone, look it all over several times. I had 2 editors for my book and still found 5 mistakes after it was published!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write every single day. Which since I published, self or not, the marketing of my book has taken over my life. I blog everyday on others sites, I think that helps. However since I think this is a craft and you only get better by using your craft, I have to take my own advice and get back to a schedule.

What are you reading now?
365 Ways to Raise your Frequency by Melissa Alvarez.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I do have a second book planned as a follow up to Welcome To My Para”Normal” Life. I have heard stories of experiences from so many people in my travels that I now ask permission to use it.
The company that I formed is Exie S Publications. With that in mind I would love to ghost write, help others market or help other people publish. The area is wide open for me and am excited to see what comes my way.

What is your favorite book of all time?
In the Garden of Good and Evil hit a great cord for me, loved the way it was written. However the book, that at 4 years old, made me want to write a book was: From Magic Mirrors to Mud Puddles by Elizabeth Laughton Claxton.

Author Websites and Profiles
Exie Smith Website
Exie Smith Amazon Profile
Exie Smith Author Profile Other Bookseller

Exie Smith’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Pinterest Account

 

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