Vinny O'Hare

Interview With Author Elizabeth Harlan

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been a writer ever since I was very young. My mom was super strict about lights out at bedtime, so I kept a flashlight and a notebook and pencil under my pillow and would jot down ideas and bits and pieces of stories in the middle of the night. My first published book is my YA novel, FOOTFALLS, based loosely on my own experience growing up. It tells the story of a young girl coming of age as a high school varsity runner as her father is dying of cancer. WATERSHED, my YA novel about two brothers, one of whom causes a serious flood that lands him in juvenile detention, came next, and then I turned to nonfiction and published an adult biography of the 19th century French woman writer George Sand. What interests me now looking back on this change of genre is that rather than it representing a departure, it was only a fork in the road. My Young Adult fictions and my adult biography have in common the theme of facing adversity while coming of age and, in particular, the exploration of mother/daughter relationships. My third YA novel, BECOMING CARLY KLEIN, just out last September, takes a fresh approach to these tried and tested themes.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
BECOMING CARLY KLEIN was inspired by my experience with a therapist who worked out of her NYC apartment. She had a young daughter who would hang out in the hall by the elevator to catch glimpses of her mother’s patients, and this inspired the central plot twist of this recent novel in which Carly’s mom is a therapist working out of their apartment. Carly becomes obsessed with one of her patients, a blind junior at Columbia College, and fakes an identity to create a relationship with him, unbeknownst to her mom.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
To loosen up before I draft parts of a manuscript, I like to send emails to an imaginary reader. The tone is casual and confidential as I tell this person all about what I’m working on writing. It’s a little like giving a heads-up or preview of what’s coming next. By doing this in a conversational email, I’m relaxed rather than uptight about how to best say what I need to say. I find this makes it easy to then turn toward the chapter or section of the book I’m working on and to write freely and energetically and without inhibition.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I prefer to think of certain special books as having “inspired” rather than “influenced” me. Having lost my beloved father when I was eleven, I was inspired and consoled by the heartwarming story of grief and redemption in Frances Hodgson Burnett ‘s A LITTLE PRINCESS, which I read many times, an experience I recycle in fictional form in my first novel, FOOTFALLS. Thomas Hardy’s TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES, which presents the conundrum of sexual consent vs. coercion, finds its way into my new novel, BECOMING CARLY KLEIN.

What are you working on now?
An article on the process of reissuing my two earlier YA novels, FOOTFALLS and WATERSHED, which were published some forty years ago at the beginning of my career. Rereading these books as I prepared them for new editions has been a remarkable learning experience about my own trajectory as a writer. Clearly, my thematic predilection is for coming of age stories that feature young people in conflict as they struggle with adversity, gain self-awareness, and seek resolution.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Having come of age as a writer in the pre-electronic era, I’m a relative newcomer to the internet. I wrote FOOTFALLS on a typewriter and had to learn the use of a computer for WATERSHED. Now, with BECOMING CARLY KLEIN, I rely on my public relations and marketing specialists at Books Forward to guide me through the maze of media opportunities that are out there. I can’t say what’s the “best method” for promoting my books, but I know my favorite way is to write and talk about my journey and to engage with readers in as personal way as possible.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read, read, and keep on reading. Not just books and articles that are assigned in school, but anything and everything that attracts your interest. And write, write more, and keep on writing. Not just essays and term papers and chapters of prospective books, but notes and letters and emails. Describe to friends and confidants and imaginary readers what you’re doing, what you enjoy, what you dislike, what you think and feel. Don’t worry about spelling and grammar. Don’t force form and style. Just say what comes to mind and enjoy playing with words the way children play with clay and paint. Make a mess, and have fun doing it. Figure out what makes you want to come back and do it again. And then when you find something you love—a story, an idea, a character, something that grabs you and you can’t let go—sit down and get serious and disciplined about your project. For novel writing, the best, most helpful book I’ve read is Lisa Cron’s STORY GENIUS, a template of which I uploaded to the writing app Scrivener, and using this structural support system, I’m making fast and efficient progress with my next novel.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Just write the book,” said by my dear friend, the late memoirist Louise DeSalvo, when I was worrying about what critics and scholars would say about the biography I was writing of the 19th century French author George Sand. Louise told me to stop looking over my shoulder and obsessing about what others would think and say, and to concentrate on what I thought and wanted to say. Once I was able to go inside myself, I found the freedom to write the book I wrote, which tells the story I wanted to tell.

What are you reading now?
I’m immersed in writing my next novel, so mostly I’m reading research materials on my subject. I’m especially loving Madeleine Kamman’s memoir, SAVOIE: THE LAND, PEOPLE, AND FOOD OF THE FRENCH ALPS. Her personalized descriptions of people, places, and practices from her beloved homeland provide invaluable information and inspiration for my story.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My next project in an historical fiction set in the Alpine region of Haute-Savoie during the German Occupation of France in World War II. The novel’s lead character, Gabrielle, is a seventeen-year-old French girl whose family produces a traditional cheese called Reblochon. Unbeknownst to her father, who sympathizes with the collaborationist Vichy government, Gabrielle is provisioning her boyfriend’s troop of Maquis (Resistance fighters hiding out in the mountainous countryside), with wheels of Reblochon to sustain them as they organize attacks on the occupying Nazi forces. When her boyfriend’s camp is raided by the Nazis, the cheese is traced back to Gabrielle’s family farm. To avoid spoilers, I won’t say more, but I’m thrilled to be working in a format that draws on my skills as a YA novelist and my nonfiction experience writing historical biography. Not to mention my love of France and French cheese!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’d bring Jean Auel’s six-volume series of CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR, which imagines our anthropological origins in scrupulously researched detail and dramatically displays the richly layered process of human evolution. I love this story of a little girl named Ayla who’s found and raised by Neanderthals following the massive earthquake that destroys the Cro-Magnon tribe into which she was born. Ayla, who’s exiled from her adoptive tribe and finds ingenious ways to survive on her own, reminds me of Karana from Scott O’Dell’s ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS, which would also be on my must-bring list of books for my sojourn on a desert island. Oh, and I’d be sure to bring the novel I’m working on now, about Gabrielle and her exploits provisioning the Maquis during the German Occupation, so I could keep on writing. And if at all possible, I’d bring some wheels of Reblochon, which is my absolute favorite cheese in the world!

Author Websites and Profiles

Elizabeth Harlan Website

Author Interview Series

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Interview With Author Sarah Blum

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an 85 year old nurse Vietnam Veteran and retired nurse psychotherapist. I worked for 34 years healing trauma in others, once I felt healed myself. In 2006, I was called to write a book about the culture of abuse toward women in the military and I interviewed 58 women veterans from WWII up to Iraq and Afghanistan. My first book came out in 2013 and is called Women Under Fire: Abuse in the Military. There has been no justice for women sexually assaulted in our military. It continues. My second book is due out March 6, 2025 and is called Warrior Nurse: PTSD and Healing.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Warrior Nurse: PTSD and Healing is my new book. The first book about the culture of abuse toward women in our military was a spiritual mission to bring justice to those women in our military who were sexually assaulted and received only more trauma. I was actively seeking justice for them from 2012-2016. At some point I remembered my own story that I buried during that time. It seemed to be time to resurrect it and I did. I was not sure at that time what the focus would be other than my story. As I worked on it I would get bogged down and reached out for support. I found a community/group of veterans to be part of and found an organization called Path With Art in 2019 where I became part of the Red Badge Writing Project. With all that support I felt I could continue to write the book and then realized I was a wealth of information for healing PTSD so added that to the book, My deepest desire is for my book Warrior Nurse: PTSD and Healing to actually help my brother and sister veterans heal from their PTSD.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have no idea what is usual or unusual. One thing that might be unusual is that when I am writing I go deep into what I am focussed on and don’t hear the phone or someone at my door. I have to work to bring myself out of that state of consciousness back to worldly reality.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Clarissa Pincola Estes, Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey Caldwell Taylor, Kristin Hannah.

What are you working on now?
Getting my new book and having it reach people how loved The Women, and people who either have PTSD or are partnered or family members of someone with PTSD.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I don’t have a best method. I have been researching and trying to find what I can do to market my book. I just found your website. I am open to suggestions.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Have a lot of support and people who have successfully written and marketed their books.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Trust and Love yourself no matter what.

What are you reading now?
Pam Binder’s book The Immortals

What’s next for you as a writer?
In 2012 when I finished the first book, it had been such a long and difficult journey I wanted to write something different. I sat down to see what would come out and began a book called: Be Happy, Being You, Authentic, Bold and Conscious. I plan to go back to that once I feel complete with this new book due out next week.

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 Faithful Gardener (Estes), Camelot Remembered, A Lineage of Grace (Francine Rivers)

Author Websites and Profiles

Sarah Blum Website

Sarah Blum Amazon Profile

Sarah Blum’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!

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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Interview With Author Dudu Zimba

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a South African author who writes crime thrillers, and I’ve always been drawn to exploring the darker, more complex sides of human nature. So far, I’ve published two novels, and each one has been a part of my growth as a storyteller. It’s been such an exciting journey, and I’m constantly learning and evolving with every book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called The Monk Who Fell in Love: Forbidden. The idea came from my fascination with the tension between tradition and passion. I wanted to explore what happens when duty and desire clash—how forbidden love can shake up long-held beliefs and completely change lives. It’s a story that really challenged me to dig deep into those emotional and cultural conflicts.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Oh, definitely! I’m an early bird when it comes to writing—I’m most productive in the quiet hours of the morning when the world is still asleep. I also love switching up my writing environment. Sometimes I’ll work outdoors or in a cozy café because I find that new surroundings really help spark fresh ideas and keep my creativity flowing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve been shaped by so many incredible writers. Agatha Christie’s brilliant plotting got me hooked on crime thrillers, while authors like Chinua Achebe and Ngugi wa Thiong’o have deeply influenced how I think about cultural stories and societal issues. Their work has taught me to weave authenticity and depth into my own writing.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a new thriller that blends history, mythology, and modern-day intrigue. It’s been such a fun challenge because it’s pushing me to experiment with new narrative techniques and really stretch the boundaries of the genre. I’m really excited about where it’s headed!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve found that a balanced mix of social media and my dedicated author website works best. Platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook allow me to engage directly with readers, share behind-the-scenes glimpses of my writing process, and build a community around my stories. My Amazon author page and website also serve as important hubs for updates and promotions.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Absolutely—trust your unique voice and write consistently. Every writer faces rejection and criticism, but use those moments as opportunities to learn and grow. Remember, persistence is key, and it’s important to write the story only you can tell.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I’ve ever received is: “Write the story only you can tell.” It’s a powerful reminder to stay true to my vision and to honor the unique perspective that only I can bring to my work.

What are you reading now?
At the moment, I’m enjoying a mix of contemporary crime thrillers and classic literature. I also delve into non-fiction works that explore human behavior and cultural histories—these readings constantly enrich my writing and keep my creative juices flowing.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Looking ahead, I plan to continue exploring new themes and narrative structures that challenge both me and my readers. I’m excited about upcoming projects that will push the boundaries of the crime thriller genre while delving deeper into the complexities of society and the human condition.

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?
That’s a fun question! I’d choose:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee—for its timeless lessons on empathy and justice.

2. 1984 by George Orwell—its stark commentary on society and power always leaves me thoughtful.

3. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho—for its inspirational journey of self-discovery.

4. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas—an epic tale of adventure, resilience, and redemption.

Author Websites and Profiles

Dudu Zimba Website

Dudu Zimba Amazon Profile

Dudu Zimba’s Social Media Links

Goodreads 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.