Awesome Author Interviews

Interview With Author Jonathan Culverhouse

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I retired from IT a few years ago and during the pandemic, I had another go at a book I had previously published (Doomsday for the Disco Goblin). Two further books were added to complete the trilogy.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Underkingdom trilogy is completed by Plopbottle Legacy. The hapless, happy-go-lucky goblin introduced in the first book is now into yodelling country music and will meet his ultimate nemesis. A bunch of other stuff happens as well.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don't have a set routine for writing. I often scribble words down whilst out walking, then type them up the next day.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
All sorts really: CS Forester (Hornblower), John Wagner (Judge Dredd), Brian Blessed biographies, Susanna Clarke, Dav Pilkey . . .

What are you working on now?
Taking a break. Putting more energy into promotional work, but as an indie author I have to admit I don't really know what I'm doing — promotion-wise, creating a buzz and so forth.

What are you reading now?
Babylon Five novels — love the series and the books.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Books have all sorts of uses in survival situations: starting fires, beating off vicious animals etc . . . so the thicker the better, I suppose.

Author Websites and Profiles

Jonathan Culverhouse Amazon Profile

Jonathan Culverhouse Author Profile on Smashwords

Jonathan Culverhouse’s Social Media Links

Facebook Profile

Author Interview Series

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

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Interview With Author Barbara Sontheimer

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Victors Blessing is my debut novel

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
A revolutionary way story of how general Washington would let his troops leave in the spring to put the crops in, otherwise their families would starve. Novel plays on this idea but it during the civil war and it is not a man that returns.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I literally write in a closet

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Daphne du Maurier

What are you working on now?
A three book series in a group of young women that sailed from France in 1721 and became the founding families that still live there today

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Not sure, hopefully all exposure helps

Do you have any advice for new authors?
The writing was the easy part! It’s the promotional aspects that are daunting

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Nothing good happens after midnight

What are you reading now?
Mutinous women about the founding of Louisiana

What’s next for you as a writer?
I hope to 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?
My cousin Rachel
Wuthering heights
Green mansions

Author Websites and Profiles

Barbara Sontheimer Website

Barbara Sontheimer Amazon Profile

Author Interview Series

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

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

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

Interview With Author Isioma Jemimah Okonicha

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name Isioma Jemimah Okonicha, I am the founder of Dovelyisi company which focuses on media, art production, health, and consultancy management, and also a writer with works including poetry, fiction, and fiction. I'm also the author of 1001 stories of greatness, six eBooks, and three poetry books. Most of my works have been featured online and in prints, in anthologies, magazines, and journals. My recent book is a collection of poems for thinkers which I titled SOLE and it will soon be available on online bookshops including Amazon.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
SOLE
Sole is a collection of poems for thinkers.
The inspiration came from my visionary personality. I am a thinker and a doer. And the poems sites these attributes, linking them to the society at large and the impact which is possible to produce.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My writings can come from unique experiences which could be unusual.

What are you working on now?
1001 stories of greatness series 2

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
isiomajemimahokonicha.home.blog

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be consistent and open to learning.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Always write

What are you reading now?
TD Jakes Soar

What’s next for you as a writer?
Break boundaries

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?
Isioma Jemimah Okonicha 1001 Stories of Greatness, TD Jakes Soar, John Obidi Choose Yourself

Author Websites and Profiles

Isioma Jemimah Okonicha Website

Isioma Jemimah Okonicha Amazon Profile

Isioma Jemimah Okonicha’s Social Media Links

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.

Interview With Author Tristan Mowrey

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am soft at heart and like to think I am intellectual. I took a personality test and it said I was a thinker and that is very true when it came to writing books. I have now written three books and they are published on Amazon.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called About Alcohol: How the H3LL do I drink responsibly? It was inspired by my own struggles with judgment from others when drinking. This is a very forgiving and non condemning look into drinking that I believe everyone could benefit from, in order to live a more fulfilled life.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Well all my bad habits I mentioned to my editor but my good habits would be my attention to detail and being completely honest in my books.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I can think of two, the first one being the Left Behind series, I tend to be a future global thinker so it was very interesting to me. The other one was the Passion translation of the bible. I was just amazed at how the use of different words can help us understand the bible. I have been striving for this because I want everyone to be able to understand my writing and be moved by the words.

What are you working on now?
Currently working on a book called Monochromatic Mind: Immerse into your imagination! The plan is to have black and white photoshopped images of photography I took coupled with short stories to activate you imagination.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is probably where I have not done so great. I am starting with AWESOME GANG but would like to expand from that.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Hmmmm, Use KDP before getting on Ingram Spark.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be careful that what you read does not become what you write.

What are you reading now?
It is kinda funny but my wife and I are hopping to get a house soon so I have been reading home improvement books because it is looking like we are going to have to buy a fixer upper.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am looking more into marketing and hoping to be able to promote my books more.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
You might think this is shameless promoting but honestly I would want to bring Blessed with Ducks which I wrote because it brings me so much joy and would make me feel not alone. I would also bring my book Spiritual Journey because it would give me hope for the future since I am stranded on a desert island and not sure if I will be saved. 🙂 🙂

Author Websites and Profiles

Tristan Mowrey Website

Tristan Mowrey Amazon Profile

Interview With Author Sally Alter

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am from London, currently living in South Texas. When I worked, I was a nurse, but I have been retired for some years now. It is amazing, but I began my writing career at age 73 and have since published three books in one year with another one waiting to be launched in four weeks time.

My books are called:
How to Live with Bipolar
Bipolar 1 Disorder Rescue Plan
A Practical Guide to Overcoming Loneliness
We Never Did Mornings (poetry)

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called We Never Did Mornings and it is a collection of the poetry I have written over the years. I have always wanted to publish my poetry and seeing as it is easy to publish work on Amazon, I am taking this opportunity.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write all my books on my laptop in my recliner. Seeing as I am retired, I can write all day if I want to.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Rumi
Julie Broad
Anita Shreeve

What are you working on now?
We Never Did Mornings

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is my first promotion on a new book

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Make a writing schedule of not less than fifteen hours a week

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Watch You Tube videos for information

What are you reading now?
Self-Publish and Succeed by Julie Broad

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am going to write a self-help book on finding your confidence

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 Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve
The Rumi Collection by Kabir Helminski
In the Company of Other by Jan Karon

Author Websites and Profiles

Sally Alter Website

Sally Alter Amazon Profile

Sally Alter’s Social Media Links

Goodreads Profile

Facebook Profile

Pinterest Account

Interview With Author Zeec Rustom

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a debut author from India and have just published my very first Contemporary Romance named “A Sense of Betrayal” which is available on Amazon.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My first book is “A Sense of Betrayal” and it’s a sweet love story. I have always believed in the theory of Childhood Sweethearts, first loves and love developing between friends. Plus I do love the concept of an unruly tomboy. All of the above combined together to form my first book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am not sure if it can be considered unusual but I don’t generally need to sit secluded and focused to write…rather I keep getting up in between my writing to get other things done as well.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am an avid reader, so it’s difficult for me to answer this one appropriately. I love reading everything from Harry Potter, Twilight Series, Pride & Prejudice, and The Count of Monte Christo to Romances in a lot of categories like Historical, Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary, Erotic & Dark Romances. All of them have touched me in many ways.

What are you working on now?
I am presently working on the first book of a Fantasy Series…..which is a mix of Fantasy & Hindu Mythology. Something a bit different from the Vampire, Werewolves, Witches & Demons we usually come across in such books, as Hindu mythology has a variety of other magical & mystical beings that haven’t been much explored in the book world.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Being a debut author…I am just trying out various avenues myself and am not yet qualified to answer this one.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you love to write ….don’t let anything or anyone stop you from writing your stories. Like I have captioned on my website….I truly believe “Books have to be read & stories have to be told.”

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Believe in yourself & anything is possible.

What are you reading now?
Presently listening to the audiobook “Kings of Linwood Academy” by Callie Rose

What’s next for you as a writer?
Write many more books.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Poison Study, Bridge Kingdom, In the Unlikely Event, Unrequited

Author Websites and Profiles

Zeec Rustom Website

Zeec Rustom’s Social Media Links

Goodreads Profile

Facebook Profile

Twitter Account

Interview With Author Anndy Lian

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Anndy Lian. I have provided advisory across a variety of industries for local, international, public listed companies and governments. I am an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur, book author, investor, board member and keynote speaker. I have written two books. The first was “Blockchain Revolution 2030”. The second is “NFT: From Zero to Hero”.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
NFT: From Zero to Hero is my latest book. Zero to Hero is a call to anyone and everyone excited about the prospect of the world of NFT. Bound by imagination only, the NFT space is still in its early days, and early adopters can be a “heroes” in their search for new possibilities.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to walk around during the brainstorming periods. And usually lying on the bed when writing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Books about Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore, influenced me the most. For example, “The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew” is a book about his personal and political life and provides a blow-by-blow chronicle of his dealings with political groups and leaders, both Malaysian and international, on the road to independence.

What are you working on now?
Currently, I am appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. I am still working on good investments on the side. I still hope to contribute my knowledge and expertise to a good crypto company in the near future.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I do believe being active on social media will help. Of course, having a community that believes in you helps much too. Community-driven, word-of-mouth promotion works the best.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
New authors should look at publishing their books in new formats like NFT or on Web3 platforms too. Trying something new can bring you surprises too.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Focus more on the present — Don’t regret the past and don’t be anxious about the future. Appreciate what is happening right now.

What are you reading now?
I am reading “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson right now.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am working on a picture book and another on cryptocurrency trading strategies.

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 Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality by Dalai Lama would be the book. I always wanted to complete this book but did not find the time to finish it.

Adding to the stranded island list would be Proof Of Stake: The Making of Ethereum and the Philosophy of Blockchains Paperback by Vitalik Buterin and The Mamba Mentality: How I Play Hardcover by Kobe Bryant.

Author Websites and Profiles

Anndy Lian Website

Anndy Lian Amazon Profile

Anndy Lian’s Social Media Links

Goodreads Profile

Facebook Profile

Twitter Account

Interview With Author Sara Reynolds

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a 26 year old from Kentucky, and I’ve only written 1 book so far, but I have more coming out soon.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Silencing The Siren” was inspired by a dream I had when I fell asleep watching a fantasy show.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to write from the comfort of my bed.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I really liked the “House of Night” series by PC Cast and Kristin Cast.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a sequel to “Silencing The Siren” and a separate book about the Fae.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Twitter, Facebook, basically any social media site works really well.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up. You can fix a bad book, but you can’t fix something you haven’t written.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Keep writing.

What are you reading now?
Oh, so many at once, but “Voodoo Academy”by Theophilus Monroe comes to mind.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Probably just many more books.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Oh, that one is so hard. There’s so many that I like!

Author Websites and Profiles

Sara Reynolds Website

Sara Reynolds Amazon Profile

Sara Reynolds’s Social Media Links

Goodreads Profile

Facebook Profile

Twitter Account

Interview With Author Susan Reinhardt

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written six books, including two novels and would love to be featured. Below is a bio.
Susan Reinhardt is a best-selling author known for her gift of taking serious topics and infusing them with humor and heart. She is especially praised for creating casts of unforgettable, quirky characters who stay in readers’ minds long after the final page.
Her debut novel, CHIMES FROM A CRACKED SOUTHERN BELLE, won “Best Regional Fiction” in the Independent Publishers Book Awards international contest, and was a No. 1 Amazon bestseller. The novel was a top summer reading pick and a book-club favorite.
Her second novel, THE BEAUTIFUL MISFITS, publishes from Regal House in March 2023 and is perfect for fans of Jennifer Weiner, Joshilyn Jackson, Mary Kay Andrews, and Kristin Hannah.
Reinhardt’s books vary from book-club women’s fiction to romantic comedies for the over 35 crowd.
Her non-fiction humor titles include NOT TONIGHT HONEY: WAIT ’TIL I’M A SIZE 6, praised by Publishers Weekly as filled with “lyrical prose” that’s “fun and fresh,” and by Booklist who lauded her work as “ranging from side-splitting to achingly poignant. She’s like a modern-day, southern-fried Erma Bombeck or Dave Barry, and her tales of the ordinary will resonate with women everywhere.”
She is a former syndicated columnist with Gannett Newspapers and has written for national publications, winning multiple awards.
She lives in the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, N.C., and is on her second husband. She has two grown children, three steps, and a granddaughter.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
THE BEAUTIFUL MISFITS is book-club fiction in the women’s fiction genre. I worked for years as a Lancome makeup artist, and have a son who struggled and nearly died from addiction. He is the inspiration and is now clean and sober. Instead of a depressing novel, THE BEAUTIFUL MISFITS is an emotional yet uplifting ride through a world of fierce love, store-bought beauty, and wonder.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have to do the Wordle first, and drink coffee if I’m doing morning writing. I also must have snacks available, especially microwave popcorn. Unlike a lot of writers, I can’t listen to music as I write. I need a quiet place, which is usually my home office. I have a large window that highlights the gorgeous mountain region. My rescue cat often sleeps right next to my keyboard.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Billie Letts, Anne Tyler, Kelly Harms, and all the best Sophies: Sophie Kinsella, Sophie Ranald, and Sophie Cousens.
There isn’t much I won’t read except fantasy and erotica.
The first book I fell in love with was THE BOXCAR CHILDREN in sixth grade.

What are you working on now?
I’ve just begun querying THE HALF WIFE, a rom/com. Here’s the premise:

Jupiter Bexley, a disgraced flight attendant who loves ironing for stress relief, jeggings for comfort, and helping those with disabilities for a career⸺made a staggering mistake. And it’s now returned to bite her in the Spanx-squeezed arse. That vile prenup. She shouldn’t have signed it, but Lord, her big-shot politician husband presented it hours before she said ‘I do’ in a dress that cost more than a Kia.

On the eve of her thirty-ninth birthday, Jupiter returns from her volunteer job and discovers her life has been a lie. And that the current prenup is completely different from what she originally signed. Yet there it was, her signature.

When the new clauses upend her life, leaving her temporarily broke and semi-homeless, feisty Jupiter yanks up her big-girl jeggings and creates two quirky new businesses. One is respectable enough. The other? A Fake Dating service that, God forbid, could send her down the aisle again.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Not being shy or cheap. I hired a publicist for some things, like media placement, but do a lot myself. It takes a lot of work, devotion, and a decent credit card balance to pull this off. Most authors end up in the hole for a while.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
READ and READ some more in the genre in which you want to write.
Take classes online. There are many free sites, but I love the courses on Writer’s Digest and Jericho Writers which cost very little with a nominal membership fee. Also, join writers’ groups, get critique partners and beta readers. And remember it takes multiple revisions – and rejections – for most of us to break through. So throw on that armadillo shell and go forth bravely.

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

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading a rom/com called ROOM-MAID. It’s cute.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m doing National Novel Writing Month – NaNo – in November.
I don’t plan to stop writing a novel a year until I’m incapable. The more novels I write, the better I get. And so will any other would-be writer.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Where the Crawdads Sing
The Poisonwood Bible
Gone With the Wind
Pride and Prejudice

Author Websites and Profiles

Susan Reinhardt Website

Susan Reinhardt Amazon Profile

Susan Reinhardt’s Social Media Links

Goodreads Profile

Facebook Profile

Twitter Account

Interview With Author Gary Jaron

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a mystic, a philosopher, and a dreamer, and I am addicted to reading and writing.
An example of that addiction was demonstrated when I was buried under an overwhelming amount of material required to be read and studied during my first years at law school; I still had to feed my habit. I read the two Alice in Wonderland tales as well as the complete John Le Carre’s George Smiley series.
The books I have self-published include the following:
Find Your Way: A Mystic Philosopher’s Pragmatic Orienting System
The Qabalah Gates of Light: The Story of How and Why the Masters of the Occult Misunderstood the Jewish Kabbalah
The Qabalah Paths of Light: The Occult Qabalah Reclaimed
The Shattered Dreamers Urban Fantasy Series:
Through the Gate of Dreams
All My Days Are Trances

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I am currently working on Beleive That Love Will Never Fail, the third fantasy novel in the Lamont Corazon and Basha Edelman Urban Fantasy series. It continues their attempts to make right what went wrong after they opened the Gate of Dreams. It tells how they rescued their friends, redeemed a once-dead God named Tezcatlipoca, and transform him into Smoking Mirror, the goddess of Dreaming.
It continues my love of exploring Lucid Dreaming and the effects that dreams can have on your waking world life. In my series, the two teen lovers live two lives, one in 1980 San Francisco and the other in the Lovecraft realm of Dreamland.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
The way I wrote my first fantasy novel and the nonfiction books was to get up at 5 am every weekend morning, sit in front of my computer and write till noon. Now that I am retired, I still get up every day and begin working on my writing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
In fiction, the writing style of Ray Bradbury and the Dreamland cycle of tales by Howard Philip Lovecraft. In nonfiction, the writing of Viktor Frankl, Robert Pirsig, William James, and the work on the Jewish Kabbalah by Gershom Scholem.

What are you working on now?
The third Urban Fantasy novel of my two teenage lovers, in my Dreamland/San Francisco series, Believe that Love Will Never Fail.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Always a challenge. I have posted on Goodreads, my Facebook page, my blog site, and now here.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write and do not be afraid of re-writing and even throwing away, metaphorically speaking, your first hundred or so pages. I spent writing about 200 pages in the early drafting of my first fiction and nonfiction books. They are just stored on my computer. Non of those pages ever really got used in the final versions. But the willingness to write and toss away earlier versions helped get me going. That and don’t expect things to go as planned. Listen to your unconscious – it knows more than your conscious mind. Your characters will take you places that you did not plan and expect. Just try and keep up as best you can.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Find a time when you can repeatedly be writing. You need to commit yourself to being in the same place and at the same time to do this. The conscious decision and conscious act of commitment will enable you to unlock your unconscious mind into cooperating with your conscious mind and recognize that you are serious. Then the words will begin to flow…

What are you reading now?
Stephen Greenblatt’s The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve. Brian Stableford’s Young Blood. Daniel Matt’s translation of The Zohar. Carolina Montague’s Forever Green.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Continue writing my Urban Fantasy series with my teen lovers Lamont and Basha, and work on a long-term project exploring the ideas of William James in the project with the current title of The Varieties of Human Experience.

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 Essential William James by James Campbell, Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, The Annotated Sherlock Holmes by William Barring-Gould, and a thick blank book.

Author Websites and Profiles

Gary Jaron Website

Gary Jaron Amazon Profile

Gary Jaron’s Social Media Links

Goodreads Profile

Facebook Profile

Interview With Author Emma Bakker

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a self-publishing author from Brisbane, Australia. Currently, I have published one book within the fantasy romance genre which is the first book of a three-book series I hope to be published in full by July 2023.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Queen Amongst Alphas is the first of The Queen Series and it was inspired by reading so many stories within the genre that I just wanted to contribute the stories I felt I had inside me. The Queen Series certainly won’t be the last series of novels I write.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think the term “unusual” perhaps, is more like newbie writer habits, where everything is like a steam roller and you want the end to be written already, but you are only three chapters in. Possibly the idea of handwriting all 80k + words prior to even looking at putting them into a computer, I guess that could be considered unusual in some circles with the way technology is these days.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Emilia Rose’s trilogy most definitely influenced me. Her books: Submitting to the Alpha, Defying the Alpha and Protecting the Alpha in particular.

What are you working on now?
Currently, I am working away on the second novel of The Queen Series, following my main character Nyx along her exceptionally muddy pathway.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As a new author, I am still trying to navigate my way around a lot of the promotional methods with new books. I have recently created my social media page through Facebook: Emma Bakker Author and seek to grow into a website for updates and promotional reasons.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just give it a go. Everyone has a story to share, even if it takes 5 years of working through your commitments, it is such a relief and when you hold the book in your hand or download your very first copy, the feeling is amazing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Exactly what I just gave, just give it a go. When I said I wanted to try and deliver some of these genre books, that was the advice I received, and I am very glad I followed it.

What are you reading now?
I am a bit behind the time, right now I am reading A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

What’s next for you as a writer?
To deliver the rest of The Queen Series and continue on to a few other ideas and thoughts I have for a few other series afterwards.

Emma Bakker’s Social Media Links

Facebook Profile

Interview With Author Pat Halford

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in Finland and am British. I have lived and worked in the Nordic region for over 22 years and I always wanted to write Nordic thrillers but in a staccato, fast-paced tone. I have written two books and self-published both of them. Tilda & Lærke, is a chase across the Danish islands, and it’s available in Kindle and paperback. The second, North to Akureyri, is an Icelandic techno-thriller set in 2028.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book is Tilda & Lærke. I had just finished writing the Icelandic thriller, but was noodling on how to get it published. I was on a plane flying back from Denmark when I got the idea for a chase across Denmark involving a bunch of assassins who had settled down to suburban life after giving up their trade 25 years ago. The idea was that one of their former crew showed up and turned their lives upside down. I wanted to use the Danish phenomenon called “sort sol” where in the early evenings in Autumn, hundreds of thousands of starlings swarm over swamps in balletic patterns. I thought it would be interesting if a bunch of assassins suddenly converged and started swarming round each other.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m better at writing in a disciplined cadence, so I try to get up early, before work and just write. I don’t tend to plan much. I find I can get into a zone with my characters and situations, and then often the plot threads emerge out of that. I also try to read what I wrote in the evenings and then sometimes new ideas come to me in half-sleep. I wrote Tilda & Lærke in a 2.5 month sprint, but the Icelandic book took me a lot longer. I like to write about places I know. So I have worked in both Denmark and Iceland, so I try to bring some of that local knowledge into the story.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Over the years – Don Winslow, James Lee Burke, James Ellroy, Eric Van Lustbader, Robert Ludlum, Tim Dorsey, Cormac McCarthy, Stephen King, James Herbert.

What are you working on now?
I’m writing a sequel to Tilda & Lærke, also set in Denmark, and I started drafting a serial killer thriller set in the forests of Finland.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Well a friend of mine recently recommended Goodreads and it has been a revelation. There is so much inspiration there and good opportunities to develop a market for first-time authors. I just created a giveaway for Tilda & Lærke, for example.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I ran into this chicken and egg problem where I could not get any interest from a Publisher because I was a first time author. Many said I needed an Agent, then I couldn’t find an Agent for similar reasons. It was a bit like trying to set up a bank account and being told you first need a reference from a Bank Manager. So I took the plunge and went with self-publishing on Amazon. First with an ebook, then with a paperback. That was a big learning experience. i designed my own cover with Canva.
I would say two pieces of advice stick out. First, you have a story…get it out there! And secondly, get a professional Editor. The editing was the toughest part of the process. I’ll do things differently next time.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Get your story out there.
Get a professional Editor.
Don’t listen to naysayers.

What are you reading now?
James Ellroy’s Widespread Panic, and a non-fiction book called The World For Sale.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I would like to continue to develop my writing in the Nordic noir genre. I have a backlog of ideas. But I need to get this Danish sequel complete. I would like to publish through a traditional Publisher, but we’ll see how that goes.

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?
Probably a bunch of James Lee Burke Robicheaux or Billy Bob Holland books. Aside from being great crime novels, I find the themes and prose hypnotic.
And maybe a book that explains how to desalinate sea water!

Author Websites and Profiles

Pat Halford Website

Pat Halford Amazon Profile

Pat Halford’s Social Media Links

Goodreads Profile

Interview With Author Barbara Sontheimer

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Victor’s Blessing is my debut novel, and truly a labor of love. I spent years researching and writing and truly hope it is enjoyed.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Victor’s Blessing.
My mother was an invalid for a number of years, and I would sit with her and we would talk about fun things like mermaid, faeries and ghosts. And she had read that during the revolutionary war General Washington had to let the soliders of the Continental army go home in the spring to put in their plants, otherwise their families would starve while they were out soldiering. With her old rheumy eyes my mother turned to me and said, “What if they found out later that he had been killed earlier that year, and that it was his ghost that came home to save his family from starving?” I got chills.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I literally write in a closet! No windows, just four walls with a door. I share my space with an abandoned elliptical, Oreck vacuum, and card tables and chairs. But is works for me.
I just sit down and hope my clumsy fingers can keep up!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love so many, but here goes
Daphne Du Maurier
Emily Bronte
Charlotte Bronte
Rosamund Pilcher
Anita Shreve
Kahlid Houssani (I hope I did not mis spell his name)
Mave Binchy
Lavyrle Spencer

What are you working on now?
Oh! Thanks for asking! (I am so excited) a three-part series about brides that came from France in 1721 to the shores of modern day Biloxi Mississippi. These women founded the future creole and Indian families that built the are. I’ts going to be so fun.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I feel that reader reviews are the absolute best.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
It is a jungle out here! And we erroneously thought the WRITING was the hard part. No no no it is by far the promoting.
Best advice, watch as many podcasts as you can, read as many books, talk to as many people and it never hurts to just ask for help.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
This thing that we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down.

What are you reading now?
A book about Mississippi during 1690. I do research constantly but for FUN I recently finished Drowning Ruth and loved it.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I hope I can continue to write as long as I am able.

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?
Wuthering Heights
The Shell Seekers
Green Mansions

Interview With Author Joanna Baker

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I fell in love with Agatha Christie at the age of 12 and I’ve been a huge fan of the genre ever since. We lived a pretty quiet but comfortable life in Hobart Tasmania and there was a lot of reading. I have tried to write other things like short stories, but I keep finding stories don’t have any pull for me unless there is a mystery.
There are three Matt and Chess mysteries so far, and I like to think they have a lot of heart as well as great clue puzzles to keep the reader guessing. I hope you like them.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The third in the series is called Evermore. In it, Chess sets out to find out what happened to her own mother. And, of course, Matt gets drawn in.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I used to wish I was more organised.
I do remember telling my friends that I work best when I think I am doing something I am not supposed to be doing. I know. This doesn’t make any sense at all. But, for example, I write best if I think I should really be doing the laundry, and if I think I am supposed to be writing I find myself doing chores around the house.
But now that we have grandchildren I find I am scrambling to find the quiet hours, so as soon as I get a minute, I am fairly motivated.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have always loved P D James. Now I read a lot of Ann Cleeves, who wrote the Shetland series and the Vera series. I also love Jane Harper, the Australian author of The Dry.
Oh and I am thrilled to see murder mysteries in movies. Knives Out. How good is that!?

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on a series of murder mysteries set in my beloved Tasmania. Tasmania is rich in history and wonderful magnificent scenery. We have wild coasts and rainforests and unique mountain areas and miles and miles of wilderness. Perfect for murder.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Oh I’m just beginning to try to promote books. I’m definitely not the person to ask haha.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t try to make things perfect straight off. Write and write and write, in the knowledge that you can edit it all later. Let it flow.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Give me the courage to change what I can change and the patience to accept what I can’t. And give me the wisdom to know the difference.

What are you reading now?
Hidden Depths by Anne Cleeves and In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith (one of the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series.)

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am hoping to finish the first in my Tasmanian series soon. It is called Another Poison.

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 that’s really hard. Well I think I know most of Agatha Christie’s books pretty well, and they are not so good to read over and over again. So, off the top of my head: The Complete Works of Shakespeare, Rumpole of the Bailey Omnibus (is an omnibus cheating?) by John Mortimer, Last Orders by Graham Swift, The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry and everything by Alexander McCall Smith. No, I’m still cheating. But I can’t make the list any shorter. ; )

Author Websites and Profiles

Joanna Baker Website

Joanna Baker Amazon Profile

Joanna Baker’s Social Media Links

Goodreads Profile

Facebook Profile

Interview With Author Ann Watkins

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Ann and I live with my husband, 3 children, cat, dog and ten chickens in the Western United States. It is a 5 mile drive to the nearest grocery store and we love it! My office overlooks the valley with large windows. This is my first published book and I am very proud of it!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
This book is titled, Quit Being so Gosh Darn Nice. I had read an article about the differences between being nice and kind and it struck a chord with me. I went into a deep dive of research about the subject and learned so many interesting things about myself. It started out as an article but quickly turned into a book. It took me two years to write becuase I would write and then have experiences that led me to dive deeper and learn new things. The original title was going to be, Quit Being so Damn Nice! but I changed it as a kind of tongue-in-cheek irony.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love the classics but for a while, I have loved reading non-fiction as well. I go through phases and dove into C.S. Lewis for a while but also love James Patterson. I am quite eclectic and love a good book and don’t stick to one particular author.

What are you working on now?
We are working on publishing my daughter’s picture book. She is 10 and wrote it when she was 9. It is sure to be a best seller once we finish. I think she will outsell me by a long shot! I would like to work on some children’s book as well as that was my original goal.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am still a newbie! I hope to find out.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just start. Just take action and go through the process. Don’t be in a hurry, just take it one step at a time.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Stick to your task till it sticks to you,
Beginners are many but enders are few.

What are you reading now?
The Last Bookshop in London

What’s next for you as a writer?
Starting my next book.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Count of Monte Cristo
Shakespeare Anthology
blank notebook
I’m not a fan of favorite questions because the choices overwhelm me!

Ann Watkins’s Social Media Links

Goodreads Profile

Interview With Author Alexis Tolkkinen

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live way out in the country in Jamestown, Ohio with my seven younger siblings. Writing has always been a tremendous passion of mine and my family encouraged me on this journey. I started writing poetry when I was 11. I’ve recently been published in a few anthologies, journals and my new book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Healing Doves:Mental Health Poetry” is something extremely personal that I wrote when I was feeling really emotional. Writing has always been a release for me and I hope my writing touches someone’s heart.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I secretly get writers block

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Rupi Kaur.

What are you working on now?
Peace Tree Poetry which is also poetry

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My page “Peace Tree Poetry” on Facebook has a lot of followers so I like to promote on there.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing even when the world is negative

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“We are only going to live once”

What are you reading now?
“Love Is A Mad Dog From Hell” by Charles Bukowski.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Help people with my 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?
Oh that’s hard. I’d probably not know what to choose.

Author Websites and Profiles

Alexis Tolkkinen Website

Alexis Tolkkinen Author Profile on Smashwords

Interview With Author Jonathan Neville

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
So far I have written 3 books, The first of which is published (A Collection Of Pleasant Nonsense) a lovely collection of short stories that includes something for every age and reader. I am currently finishing two books for children, The Adventures of Schteve and Schtephanie Giraffe MD PHD Books 4-8.
I became an author during the pandemic after changing my life around 180 degrees, and finally began doing what I have always wanted to do. I’m 42, live in burnaby BC Canada with my beautiful wife, 2 amazing children and two magical tiny giraffes. (Yes, they’re real)

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Let’s see here is what I am working on:
Original Halo novel – Precursor Rising
The Adventures of Schteve and Schtephanie Giraffe MD PHD Book 4-8 (The first 3 are in A Collection of Pleasant Nonsense)
Humanities last stand: We lost
97 percent true Legends from my life

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I often write with music, and sometimes will play the same track on loop to be able to write the feeling of the music. One of my stories in A Collection Of Pleasant Nonsense is actually written from the feelings and tears of a song that i looped until i could write it.
I am horribly disorganized notes shotgunned over paper, 2 computers, 30 different notes files….

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Clive Cussler. I once spoke to the man before he passed on, and he was an absolute Legend. I thanked him for changing my life.
Sir Terry Pratchett – Loads of influence in a lot of my writing, Discworld was a huge thing in my life and I wish I could thank him in person. He was a wonderful man who created brilliance and hope. I aim to do the same.

What are you working on now?
Writing waaaay to many books at once, going to school to learn neat new stuff to write books about, working on overcoming social anxiety, focusing more on writing childrens books and then i plan on finishing the various space operas and sci fi epics i am working on bit by bit. I am also working on getting an audiobook version created for my first book.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Currently this website, and facebook postings since I refuse to learn what twitter is. Or tok tok. Mainly word of mouth and committing random acts of kindness. I need a wider marketing plan for free, always tricky for new authors

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Expect rejection from brick and mortar publishing houses. No matter how amazing your book is, people will reject it. *HERE IS THE IMPORTANT BIT* Frame it. Seriously, frame it and display it proudly, because when you get that letter? You are a real Author. Keep trying. Keep submitting! Then independently publish. Keep submitting after that, and all of a sudden you may find brick and mortar publishers are more interested…
Keep writing! No matter how down or rejected you may feel, keep on writing. you can edit later.
Latch on to any positive feedback and praise you get and focus on it. This is literal author fuel.
Keep. Writing. Don’t let slow sales, people around you saying you need a real job, your own doubts or any other nonsense slow you down. Just keep writing and submitting and learning and reading.
Authors are delicate people, focus on the positives and work to improve them. if there are negatives, learn to improve them and keep writing. But focus on the positives and live inside them. Thats how you get published.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Trust your reader

Its so hard to trust that the reader will have the same mental movie as the author when they write the thing, but truth is, no matter how much rich description you put in there, everyone has a different mental image/movie of what you’ve written, and especially with children’s books, trust your reader to do the heavy lifting

What are you reading now?
Halo Book series and Lore to prepare for my Halo novel, doing research and enjoying some amazing writing.
All the discworld books by Terry Pratchett
short stories in all genres
poetry, plays, classic science fiction

What’s next for you as a writer?
MORE BOOKS!
First I am going to publish 8 Adventures of Schteve and Schtephanie Giraffe MD PHD in picture and chapter book form then I will publish the space opera Halo novel and one or two other sci fi books I am working on at the moment and a collection of amazing real life things that have happened to me in 97 percent true legends of my life… phew! so many projects on the go.

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?
Bloody hell… ONLY 3-4 BOOKS???
1. How to survive and escape from a desert island – By Guy Whomadit
2. The Never-ending Story
3. My kindle ebook reader BWAHAHAHAAAA! WITH SO MANY BOOKS AHAHAHAHAA! and a solar panel…
4. 6000 blank pieces of paper bound together with a pen to write an awesome new book while I wait to get rescued or rescue myself. OR! Publish it in chapters via message in a bottle addressed to harper collins or penguin, depending on where I get stranded… many of our Canadian islands are cold.

Author Websites and Profiles

Jonathan Neville Amazon Profile

Jonathan Neville’s Social Media Links

Facebook Profile