Search Results for: E. A. Barker

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m just a boy standing in front of a bookstore hoping they’ll carry my books.

The number currently sits at two published with two others in the works.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The title of my latest book is You & I Erotic Tales: Trilogy. After my debut success with Ms. Creant: The Wrong Doers!, many people asked if I would write fiction next so I chose something fun to see if I could do it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Hunting and pecking.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I would imagine every book I’ve read has impacted me in some way, but I actively seek to have my own voice by not reading too much of any one author.

What are you working on now?
The next one is back to nonfiction with The $1.99 Author which humorously dives into the murky waters of the book publishing racket. It will be ideal for anyone considering publishing a book as well as indie authors, and small press publishers.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
It’s funny you should ask as I’m here on PRETTY-HOT.COM because I’m researching this topic for my own purposes as well as my next blog on: https://youandi.art.blog/blog-feed/

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Run away. It’s not too late for you. 😀

Read my next book, The $1.99 Author, out in the fall of 2020 unless the pandemic changes that.

If they wish to be traditionally published or are pitching agents, perfection is the minimum standard when querying.

If they wish to self-publish, understand that this industry is hellbent on emptying your pockets.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer. “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

Oddly, I’m not religious.

What are you reading now?
Dan Brown’s Origin.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Getting the next book out so I can get busy on a fictional work which nags at me daily.

What is your favorite book of all time?
Can anyone actually answer this? I can’t. Given time I might be able to compile a list of top picks in different genres but to pick just one is like asking a mother which of her children is her favourite. It just wrong. 🙂

Author Websites and Profiles
E. A. Barker Website

E. A. Barker’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I grew up on military bases, the daughter of a Canadian Armed Forces officer. Moving frequently made it difficult to make and keep friends. So, I read. A lot. My first adventure with writing was creating song lyrics for a band. Poetry and short stories followed, and finally full-length novels. Simon Says, Perdition Games was my debut novel and introduced returning protagonists, Samantha McNamara and Reece Hash. The second book, Skully, Perdition Games received positive editorial reviews from Kirkus Reviews, San Francisco Book Review, and Readers’ Favorite. Red Rover, Perdition Games will be available in June 2016. Each novel has a distinct plotline. The only commonality is the returning protagonists. It isn’t necessary to read them in order of publication.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Red Rover, Perdition Games. It edges closer to the psychological-thriller side and the ending may disturb some readers. It offers multiple suspects, shocking twists, and a surprising yet inevitable ending. What inspired it? Well, I have no idea. The premise came to me unexpectedly. As I nursed it along, the idea grew and developed almost on its own. Beta-readers and critique partners offered positive feedback, and I’m excited to see what my editor thinks.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My pugs have beds under my office desk. There’s very little legroom for their human pet, but I make do. The rescued girl barks. This is odd for pugs, who aren’t chronic barkers, but wee Porsche has many important things to say that she wasn’t able to share in her hideous first home. You’d think this would be a distraction but the opposite is true. If they’re off at the groomers for a ‘spa’ day or out for a walk with another member of the pack, I can’t concentrate. Some writers have a beautiful muse to inspire them… I have three adorable pugs.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love The Prince of Tides by Pat Conray. The descriptive narrative is brilliant yet well balanced. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt is also amazing, especially his characters. My favorite genre is mystery-thriller-suspense. I admire Elizabeth George, Jonathan Kellerman, James Patterson, and Stephen King. Years ago, I met Stephen and his wife, Tabitha, at a diner outside Bar Harbor. I was twenty-three and with a young man who enjoyed alcoholic beverages. I had a lovely chat with Tabitha about writing… while the young man made a drunken ass of himself in the bathroom.

What are you working on now?
Red Rover, Perdition Games (release date June 30, 2016)

Death is the prize in a twisted game.

A beautiful ballerina commits suicide and a football player is the victim of a heinous murder. The only connection is PI Samantha McNamara’s close friend, a famous psychiatrist and self-help author. But when a psychopath targets Sam, ex-OPP Inspector Reece Harsh must set aside his personal feelings to prevent her from becoming the next fatality in a deadly game of cat and mouse.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Pretty-Hot.com is wonderful as it allows readers to get to know the author. Book promotion is difficult in a saturated market, and any opportunity to reach out to readers on a personal level is a valuable asset. There is a limit to what you can do on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. “Social” means a two-way street, and there’s nothing more irritating than a Twitter feed filled with self-promotion. I recommend to all authors to develop a website with a blog that focuses on interesting content and other authors. Read in your genre and tell your readers about those hidden gems. As a reader, I love to hear about emerging Indie authors.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read, read, read. Start writing reviews. Even if you keep your review to yourself. Then, read and review some more. Write your first draft and pop it in a drawer. Take it out six months later. If you cringe, figure out why, and write another. Keep doing it. When you’re thrilled with yourself and believe you have the next best seller, hire a qualified editor in your genre. Never submit anything without an editor. When it’s perfect, hire a qualified copy proofer. Respect your readers and don’t make them suffer typos.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Put together a book team of freelancers.

Writers are too close to their work to make an accurate assessment. You need an editor. It’s the best money you’ll spend. Never publish or submit anything with hiring a qualified copy proofer. I worked for years as a corporate proof-reader. I can easily pick up typos, dropped words, and grammar errors in other people’s work. My own? Not so much.

What are you reading now?
A Fraction Of The Whole by Steve Toltz.

I interviewed an author on my website who recommend it.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep on keeping on. If we lived in a world where I had to pay to write, I would. That simple fact makes the future easy. This industry requires tenacity, patience, and a serious passion for writing. It is not for the faint of heart or the arrogant. You must learn something every day and never give up.

As Margaret Atwood said, “Writing is work. It’s also gambling. You don’t get a pension plan. Other people can help you a bit, but ¬essentially you’re on your own. ¬Nobody is making you do this: you chose it, so don’t whine.”

What is your favorite book of all time?
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Author Websites and Profiles
L.E. Fraser Website
L.E. Fraser Amazon Profile

L.E. Fraser’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a giant sci-fi and fantasy nerd, especially with an element of horror, and you can see that in my writing. I have two books under my belt now—an anthology of poetry and short stories, and the first book in a paranormal contemporary fantasy series for new adults. Beyond that, I also love to draw, sing, compose music, write lyrics, play the bass (and I’m learning violin!), do a bit of photography and graphic design…I wear way too many hats, but I’m OK with that.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
INTO THE FORGOTTEN FOREST is a book I’d been working on for a long time. I think what originally inspired it was the fact that some of my favorite series (both books and TV) have both vampires and werewolves, but the main focus is usually the former. I wanted to write something where the main character isn’t just a human girl falling in love with a vampire. I wanted a story where the main character has to navigate turning into a monster, herself, while also maintaining her life in the “real world.” I also wanted romance to play a smaller part, so the first book in the series is more focused on family and friends, and the duality of the main character’s own nature.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I absolutely have to be listening to music to write. It fuels me. If I’m sitting in front of a blank page, and there aren’t tunes blasting into my skull, I’ll just be staring at it, gathering cobwebs.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Oh, the list is long! Susan Cooper, for sure. Her series, THE DARK IS RISING SEQUENCE, is my favorite of all time. I also turn to Ray Bradbury’s THE HALLOWEEN TREE and Clive Barker’s THE THIEF OF ALWAYS and his ABARAT SERIES when I have writer’s block. Terry Brooks and the entire SHANNARAverse is also a huge influence. And I reread Holly Black and Melissa Marr a lot! On top of all of that, I’ve always loved mythology, lore, and legends from all over. Stephen King, Anne Rice, C.S. Lewis, Lewis Carroll, L. Frank Baum, and Orson Scott Card are a few more that grace my bookshelves.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently eleven chapters into outlining book two of THE OUTCROSSED SERIES—UNDER THE WOLF MOON, and about half that much into outlining the first book in another series about a college for magic.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m on Twitter a lot, so that seems to be where I promote things the most! But I’m working on branching out. And I’m always open to suggestions!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Absolutely! Keep on going. You got this. Whether you plan to go Indie or Traditional is completely up to you, and don’t let naysayers discourage you from either. Your first draft will always be horrible, but that’s where the magic of revising and editing comes in. It’s hard work, but it’s so worth it!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
That kindness should never be mistaken for weakness.

What are you reading now?
I just finally started in on Holly Black’s THE CRUEL PRINCE. No idea why it took me this long to pick it up!

What’s next for you as a writer?
So much! Hahaha. I’m hoping to get UNDER THE WOLF MOON out by January. After that, the first book in my magic series—WYLDE & STRANGE. I have another…8 series’ in the works, I think? There are so many, I often lose track. But, without spoilers, there’ll be an Arthurian retelling, a secret society, a dystopian underground society, space travel, time travel, some fairy tale retellings, and a prequel series to THE OUTCROSSED that takes place in the 1990s.

What is your favorite book of all time?
Can I just choose all five books in Susan Cooper’s THE DARK IS RISING SEQUENCE?

Author Websites and Profiles
River J. Hopkins Website
River J. Hopkins Amazon Profile

River J. Hopkins’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
While writing for magazines and websites, I’ve been working on my story, Unknown Stone, for years. No matter what I worked on, I kept coming back to this story. Now, after hard work and long nights, I have finally published it.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Unknown Stone is the name of the book and readers will find out that the stone is the key to the story. The fast paced action adventure set on a slow dull farm was inspired by my childhood growing up in a small forestry town. Going outdoors and using my imagination to create fantastic fantasy worlds.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Staring at my cat Angus. As I write, he is besides the laptop keeping me coming. Sitting like a Buda and purring like a tiger.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Dark fantasy and horror authors like Stephen King, Clive Barker and Neil Gaiman, but I also love classic children stories like Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and Charlie in the Chocolate Factory.

What are you working on now?
The follow up to Unknown Stone. Bet and her pet horse Lightning are set to go on many more adventures.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Using the advertising programs through Amazon or promoting on social media.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read and write as much as you can. Don’t just dream up stories, work hard and make those dreams reality. It doesn’t matter if you use a pen and paper or computer, just write. Set a word count for yourself and work on reaching it every day.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It’s corny, but never give up. There are always naysayers, negative people who don’t want anyone to succeed. Ignore them. Ignore those voices. Focus on what you want to do. Focus on accomplishing your goals. Believe in yourself and you can do it. No matter what anybody says.

What are you reading now?
Janet Evanovich – One For The Money

What’s next for you as a writer?
Continuing to write about Bet and improving my craft.

What is your favorite book of all time?
America Gods.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jamie Blower Website
Jamie Blower Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I make my living as an artist and (trying) to make it as a writer. I have always been passionate about reading and writing from a very young age. I have been writing sci-fi and fantasy genre stories from the age of twelve and have continued for a few decades! I finally decided to publish my first novel in 2014, the Guardians of the Crystals saga which is a mixture of several genres (science fiction, fantasy with a touch of romance). I have written several short articles that are online on different subjects, but the Guardians of the Crystals is a work in progress. I just released in 2018, my third novel in the series, Amun-Ra which continues the saga from book two (Herculobus). I have started writing a novelette which is a preface to the three novels and deals with the three male characters that become involved with the main character during the series. More or less a backstory on E’jah, Enkarath and Amun-Ra. This should be published within a few weeks, then I am starting the fifth full-length novel that continues the story from Amun-Ra.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Guardians of the Crystals: Amun-Ra (Book Three)

Being a lifetime student of ancient civilisations, with all the study and research I have done over the past thirty+ years, I wanted to give a vision of our world as seen through the eyes of the ancients that once inhabited our beautiful planet.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I always write with music playing in the background, genres like Globus.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Anne Rice, Stephen King, Graham Hancock, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Edgar Allan Poe, Greg Bear, Michael Crichton, H.P. Lovecraft, Bram Stroker, Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, Mary Shelley, Peter Straub, Philip K. Dick, Joyce Carol Oates, Tanith Lee, George Orwell, Issac Asimov, Orson Scott Card, Anne McCaffrey, Erick Von Daniken, Hank Wesselman, James Redfield, Michael Tellinger, Sonja Grace, Cecilia Holland , to name a few..

What are you working on now?
Fourth novelette that is a preface to the GOTC saga, a backstory on the three male characters that are in the first three novels of the series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Twitter and instagram.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, write then edit over and over and over until you are satisified!!!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write every day.

What are you reading now?
War God: Return of the Plumed Serpent by Graham Hancock

What’s next for you as a writer?
Getting picked up by a major publishing house

What is your favorite book of all time?
Earthblood by Keith Laumer and Rosel George Brown ( I found a copy in 1999, 1991 edition at a second-hand online bookstore). I read this book in the late ’70’s. Loved it.

Author Websites and Profiles
K.D. Martel Website
K.D. Martel Amazon Profile
K.D. Martel Author Profile Other Bookseller

K.D. Martel’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a science fiction author living in Leicester city, UK. I’ve written two books that are or will be published, one that I hope will get published and a first try that I keep in a drawer. Trust me, it’s better that way. Really.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
‘The Scalpel’: Book One of Feral Space. In terms of character my big inspiration was the case of the Gibbons twins. Seriously, Google it. Eerie as heck but oddly moving. The two girls couldn’t function apart but knew they were consuming each other’s identities as time progressed. They announced one of them would die and, hey presto, one of them did that very day, just collapsed in her sister’s arms. Feral Space doesn’t go that way, but I wanted to take the twins’ predicament to an extreme: two sisters sharing a single body and presenting themselves as one to the rest of the world. The idea of showing that in a novel set my keyboard alight.

As for the far future universe it takes place in, that’s a reboot of a war-game me and my pals created at university. I couldn’t let the ideas in it die quietly. A universe where vast powers war over how humanity should be, an aesthetic conflict rather than a resource war. I thought that idea had legs.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I look after a hotel at night, all alone, and I’m required to do an hourly patrol around the corridors and stairs (I’m sure you’re picturing The Shining right now!). If I’ve got an idea for a character I’ll wait to the wee early hours when the world is asleep and physically do a corridor patrol as the character, like a method actor would. How would the character perform the task? What would they think while doing it? Letting them inhabit my bones and sinews for five minutes tends to bring them to life later when I come to write them. Bizarre, admittedly, but I’d recommend it to any writer. That said, it’s probably not a good idea if you work in a busy office or air traffic control.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Iain M Banks. I’d be a fraud if I missed him out. Anyone writing wisecracking, sexy kinda space opera is following in his superluminal wake. And he’s in Ursula LeGuin’s of course.

George Orwell for prose. He said it should be transparent like a window, so the reader can best see the ideas you’re trying to convey. That’s doubly true if the ideas and world you’re trying to convey are really weird.

Can I pick David Bowie? That allowed? His lyrical imagery and general mood on albums like Diamond Dogs have inspired me immensely. He may be the greatest science fiction writer of the late 20th century.

What are you working on now?
‘The Dragonfly Girls’. That’s the working title at least. A military SF set in the Feral Space universe and thus quite psychedelic. The setting is a planetary war half inspired by the Spanish civil war (a conflict that attracted many passionate foreign volunteers) and half by the current, continuous war we call social media. Well, sort of, but also not really. Anyway, it’s got fairy-winged power armour. What’s not to love?

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m learning as I go along. I seem to be getting a good reaction on Twitter. I can broadcast whatever daft thought occurs to me at any moment, long before my better judgement can stop me. People seem to like that. Plus I can link to the occasional blog post.

Facebook and Goodreads are good too. But I’m beginning to suspect that, in the long term, the best way to promote books is to write books people simply have to talk about. It’s as simple and as soul-crushingly difficult as that.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t do it. Turn back.

(If you ignore the above advice, congratulations. You may just be bloody-minded enough to achieve your dreams)

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I was in a class taught by the awesome Elizabeth Bear. She said “If you want a reader to care about a character have the character care about someone else”. Great advice when you’re starting a story. We’ve all cared for someone else’s welfare: a lover; a child; a parent; a stranger in trouble even. So we’ll root for a character who does likewise, even if they’re awful in every other way.

What are you reading now?
Age Of Assassins by RJ Barker. It’s a sort of whodunnit in a fantasy world that’s, well, rotting, I suppose. It has that hallmark of a good genre novel: a colour palette. It’s all yellows and browns, blacks and greys, like a Turner painting. If you’re giving a reader a new world to visualise then never be afraid to choose and emphasise certain shades. Great genre authors know this, if only subconsciously. Barker certainly does. It’s a quality novel. I recommend it.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Well there’s a lot more in the Feral Space universe, absolute lumps of it. I’ve also a louche and irresponsible fantasy novel I’m shopping around. On top of all that there’s film. I’ve co-written a couple of short films, one award winning, and there’s a script for a feature length. But, as a writer, that kind of thing is largely out of one’s hands. See how it goes…

What is your favorite book of all time?
Nineteen Eighty-Four. I took it out the school library when I was twelve and it capsized my little mind. I’m older now and can see the book’s occasional faults but I only love it the more. It changes every time I read it, or I do. Probably the latter. By the seventh read-through it’s almost a comedy. Almost.

Author Websites and Profiles
James Worrad Website
James Worrad Amazon Profile

James Worrad’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was in sales for 21 years. I spanned from a telemarketer to a product trainer. My product knowledge was vast. It spanned from replacement windows to home maintenance equipment, with automobiles, and many electronics thrown in. I could tell you the difference between a veractor, and detant tuner, and even what they were. I went into military Intelligence when I graduated from high school and had to know all NATO, and Warsaw Pact vehicles. I had many stories from the military, and many he made up.

I also drew comics in high school and made up intriguing characters. Once I lost most of my sight to Diabetic Retinopathy, I continued my stories in book form. You can check out my ever-evolving writing journey on my Amazon web page. I have fifteen fiction tales in my library with another on the way.
https://www.robertson_fiction

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My most recent book is The Millennium Malevolence: All Four Complete Parts. The eBook and paperback are anthology pieces. The sci-fi/fantasy story was fueled when I read a Wicca book. The inspiration was my fiance’s mother. I figured it was way better than a Mother’s Day card. I know writing a book about her was nice, but I had to make her look good. it wasn’t tough. With Mrs. Aruna, I was just shining the Venus de Milo.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if they’re unusual, but this is my method.
I begin with an idea. An idea would make an intriguing sentence, but an author has to craft an entire story from that one idea.
I brainstorm with a rough draft outline with whatever comes to me. When that process is over, I have to edit my outline.
Before you write your book you have to prepare yourself to write. A hack just does it willy-nilly. Do your research. I write fiction, but my stories are peppered with fact. Fiction authors, well good ones just embellish fact. We just need to know how to allow our audience the privilege of suspension of disbelief. They know your story isn’t real, but sometimes they want to escape those real bills and work harbingers of stress. Make your fiction as factual as possible. I didn’t know what Zyprexa Zydis was until I had to look up schizophrenia prescriptions for one of my stories.
I also write with my own soundtrack. I’m eclectic, so I go from Cibo Matto to Gustav Holst. When I write an intense scene, I have Trent Reznor playing. When I do a love scene, Sade or Imogen Heap is playing. Music sets the tone.
Outline your story, research, and feel like writing. Those tips kill writer’s block.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m a big Stephen King fan. Phillip Kindred Dick, Clive Barker, Dean Koontz, Michael Crichton, Matt Wagner, Marv Wolfman, Frank Miller, and Stan Lee play a part as well. I admit it. I’m a former comic book… how do you pronounce enthusiast? Oh yeah, nut.

What are you working on now?
My next book is based on bullying. It has a real topic with a hard science fiction motif to it. Hard means as factual as theoretically possible. The story houses a deep subject with deep science in the fiction. It’s called I’m Not Him: The Alien Abduction Case of Mistaken Identity. It should be ready by Thanksgiving. It’s almost finished now, but I have to market it in order to create buzz. Peop;e line up for this year’s iPhone for a reason.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My Blog: http://pimiebooks.com/
My Amazon page: ttps://www.amazon.com/author/kylerobertson_fiction
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/191419724391038/
Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/drakx42/
Ask david Page: http://askdavid.com/books/10751
I use more, but those are just services.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Learn your craft, have thick skin, and know you can do it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I ever heard was do not quit. You will fail many times. That’s where you gain experience. With tenacity, you can’t hep but to get better.

What are you reading now?
That’s another aspect of my process. When I write I don’t read. You can inadvertently plagiarize. It’s not your fault. I just eliminate the trigger.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To master marketing in this environment. I
used to sell, but my methods are old school. I have to learn this new way. I’m getting there.

What is your favorite book of all time?
The Stand. I read it in high school for me. I think Stephen King is a master at paranoia.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kyle Robertson Website
Kyle Robertson Amazon Profile

Kyle Robertson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born and raised in Sharon, PA, and moved to LA to try and do the whole get found and get noticed thing, which ironically, doesn’t really happen to anyone who moves to LA. It’s more like in LA, the people who are famous there already were famous before moving there, so the rest of us who want to get noticed that live in LA are just in the shadows of the famous people, working for them, and trying to be them. Thankfully, I didn’t really move to LA for that reason. It was more for family reasons.
I have a pet cat named Gachapin who hates everyone, literally. I have a young daughter who is my everything and the only person in this world I really feel like I want to get up everyday to see and be around. I hope she wants to be creative when she grows up, but it’s okay if she wants to be a janitor too. I will love her no matter what she decides to do in her life. Also, I’ve been reading books since I could read letters of the alphabet, but I’ve only written one book so far. I have ideas for about four more books, and currently I’m working on a massive trilogy about cryptids, the Pan Gu myth, and the end of the world which isn’t really the end of the world. It’s my Game of Thrones, as it has like 80 characters in it. So far, it’s going good.
My first book I’ll talk about in a second, but other than this, I should say I was in a famous band called From a Second Story Window, and I graduated from Penn State with a degree in counseling, which I never, ever want to do again in my life. Oh, and I code websites for fun.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my latest (and only, so far) book is KAI. I was working as a counselor in Chicago and had a discussion with my supervisor, who is one of the smartest men I have ever met, and he told me this idea about theta waves and how you are the most creative when you’re brain enters into a state of theta waves, particularly at the 7 megahertz level. All great ideas in this world can attribute themselves to somebody out there reaching this theta wave level.
So anyway, I thought to myself… what is you could create something to replace something you’ve lost?
KAI came from this kind of idea. It’s the story about a Japanese girl from Hiroshima who wants to destroy the world because of something terrible that happened to her. In order to write about her experience in a realistic way, I lived in Hiroshima for awhile and really inserted myself into the culture and what it’s like to be somebody living in Hiroshima on a day to day basis. I also drew upon my counseling experiences in Chicago to write about the second character in the book, a Korean woman who is a counselor in Evanston, Illinois, right outside of Chicago. The story I draw between them both is equal parts Haruki Murakami and Stephen King, and that’s all I’ll say about that.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m terrible with procrastinating, which is probably something not that unusual with writers, but with me, I write in massive blocks of intense writing, and then I’ll go a month and not touch what I’ve written. I hate writing this way, but that’s how I write the best things, it would seem.
Also, I’m a method writer, I guess you could say? When I write about something, even if it’s just one sentence about that particular something, I have to live it, breathe it, know it, and feel it. So for example, in the latest book I’m working on, there is a part that involves an ancient writing system that isn’t used anymore by anyone. I have not only researched every inch of this writing system, but I’m becoming fluent in it, so that I can accurately write a few parts in my book that talk about it. I do this for every inch of the books I’m writing, which takes an extraordinary amount of time to do, but I feel it’s worth it in the end, because my writing rings true to my ears when I do this. I hate when I read something and it’s obvious the person who wrote that something didn’t do their homework. It’s not fair to readers out there who want to experience something and not be lied to about that experience, which is what authors do when they don’t take the time to either research something they’re writing about, or find an imaginative solution to filling in the blanks about stuff they want to write about.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
So, so many authors have influenced me, as well as books, but a few that stand out include Haruki Murakami and his book, 1Q84, which is my all time favorite book by anyone, Ryu Murakami, Natsuo Kirino, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Asa Nonami, Banana Yoshimoto, and Brett Easton Ellis. These are just a few, and I don’t want to go too much into this simply because I could fill page after page of books and authors that have moved my soul.

What are you working on now?
Right now, I have about four books in the works, but they are only ideas on paper at the moment. The biggest book I’m working on is actually a trilogy about cryptids, the Pan Gu myth, and how the end of the world could really be the beginning of the world. It’s my Game of Thrones, as it has around 80 major characters in it. I’m about 200 pages into it.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use my own website to do alot of promotion, and also Facebook and Twitter and Goodreads. Beyond that, I’ve been trying to find and connect with a lot of bloggers out there who love books, I like to do giveaways with my books, and just overall, talk to anyone out there who wants to talk about books and my book, especially. I think being humble is the best way to promote anything, and also being persistent too. I’ve probably sent out over 1,000 requests for book reviews from bloggers and have got about 11 people who said they would do a review for me. 11…out of 1,000. So yeah, persistence is key.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Persistence, as I just mentioned, is important, both in when you’re writing your books, and when you get them out into the world for everyone to read. Also, you have to get the idea out of your head that you’re going to be the next J.K. Rowling. She won the book lottery, as did most of the authors you hear about on TV or who get their books made into movies or TV Shows or whatever. Forget all that. Write a great story, believe in it, and share it with whoever is willing to read it, and be humble about it all. And you’ve probably heard this before… KEEP WRITING. Don’t stop. If you want to have a career as an author, you can’t stop writing. Think about it like this…. if you write 3,000 books, and each one of those books sells 1 copy as an ebook on Amazon a month, you’ve made around 3,000 dollars. That’s good enough for a 1 bedroom apartment and most of your bills, right? 3,000 books might seem like more than anyone can ever write, and I would agree, so even if you do a quarter of this, you might get a winner out of all those books you’ve written that sells 1,000 copies a month, so you don’t need to write THAT many. But if you got stories to tell, TELL THEM. That’s the best advice I can give new writers.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never expect anything from anyone, and this way you’ll never get hurt. My one boss at a video store I worked at for ten years told me this. It’s still to this day the best advice anyone has ever personally told me.

What are you reading now?
I tend to read about three or four different books at the same time. Since Star Wars has everyone talking, I got a little inspired and started reading the ULTIMATE Star Wars guidebook. Also, I’m reading Quick Draw, People Who Eat Darkness, and Vibrator by Mari Akasaka.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m going to keep working on my trilogy and try to finish this, and also I’m doing research for my next three books as well.

What is your favorite book of all time?
1Q84, by Haruki Murakami. It’s a great love story that is embedded in Japanese flavored magical realism. It’s the size of a Bible too, which makes it a satisfying read when you finish it. And it’s weird. So, so weird, and in the best possible kind of way.

Author Websites and Profiles
Derek Vasconi Website
Derek Vasconi Amazon Profile

Derek Vasconi’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Mark Allan Gunnells. I’m a 41 year old “southern boy” who lives in Greer, South Carolina, with my fiance Craig Metcalf. I work as a security guard to pay the bills while pursuing my writing. Storytelling has been my passion since I was very young, and I’m very proud to be getting my stuff out there.

I have thus far published 18 books with a variety of small press publishers.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is a short story collection called FLOWERS IN A DUMPSTER, released from Crystal Lake Publishing. While I like writing novels and novellas, short fiction has always been my first and truest love and I wanted to release a collection that really displayed my range. Tales that encompassed a variety of subjects, tones, themes. I also wanted to include pieces that dated as far back as my college years to ones I wrote just last year. And that’s how FLOWERS IN A DUMPSTER was born.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m very lucky in that I get to do the majority of my writing at my day job during my downtime. The thing is, I never know when I may have downtime or how long it will last, so I may just get to write for five minutes and have to stop for an hour then get back to it for fifteen minutes more. Some may find that sort of stop-and-start method hard to do, but I’ve sort of trained myself to write in the sporadic pockets of time that pop up.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Cliche as it sounds, King is a big influence on me. He has such a love of storytelling, and I adore his use of small towns and small town people. I also admire Joe Lansdale greatly, someone who writes what he wants and doesn’t worry about crossing genre because he is his own genre. Clive Barker also was a big inspiration for me coming up, both as someone who initially made his name in the short form and as a gay man working in the horror genre.

What are you working on now?
I just completed a collaboration with Australian horror writer Aaron Dries, a very different kind of zombie tale called WHERE THE DEAD GO TO DIE. And I’ve just started on my next solo project, a novella called BOOK HAVEN.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I do a lot of promoting on my Facebook page and my blog. However, I realize that with those I’m basically reaching the same people over and over so I like to do what I call “blog swaps”, where I let other writers do guest blogs on my page and I do guest blogs on theirs. That way maybe we can each reach some of the other’s readers and get them interested in our own work.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Have fun. Yes, you have to learn the business in, you have to self-promote especially in the small press, and you want to work to always improve your craft and get better–but none of that matters if you aren’t actually enjoying what you do. So pursue the stories that excite you, and just have a great time.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write what you love.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently finishing up Clive Barker’s masterpiece Imajica. I’m ashamed it took me this long to read it, but what he has accomplished here is quite amazing. When I’m done with that I’ll dive right into King’s new collection. I’m very excited as I think the man can still do amazing short fiction.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m just going to keep writing stories that excite me. Once I’m done with BOOK HAVEN, I’m going on to a new novel 432 ABERCORN.

What is your favorite book of all time?
That is so hard to say. I have a fondness for coming-of-age type tales like King’s THE BODY, Lansdale’s THE BOTTOMS, and McCammon’s BOY’S LIFE. Margaret Atwood’s THE HANDMAID’S TALE is an extraordinary piece of dystopian fiction. Neil Gaiman’s NEVERWHERE is a fantasy novel that truly illuminates so much about the human condition. So I guess the answer is, I can’t pick just one.

Author Websites and Profiles
Mark Gunnells Website
Mark Gunnells Amazon Profile
Mark Gunnells Author Profile Other Bookseller

Mark Gunnells’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been an entertainment writer and interviewer for more than 10 years, talking to personalities such as Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins, Dane Cook, Taylor Momsen from The Pretty Reckless, Chuck Palahniuk, and baseball legend Pete Rose. I have also covered everyone from Jerry Seinfeld to President Obama.

I’m the author of DRAMA DOLLS, ANONYMOUS (which was starred reviewed by Publishers Weekly), HELLO FABULOUS!, and HELLO LESBIAN!

In fiction, I enjoy everything from psychological horror, fast-paced thrillers, dark suspense, stories with lots of action, transgressive fiction, and unexpected plot twists. My favorite authors are Chuck Palahniuk, Bret Easton Ellis, Gillian Flynn, Christopher Buckley, Clive Barker, Craig Clevenger, and Charles Bukowski.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
DRAMA DOLLS is the new novel. I saw a documentary about grown men who dressed up as dolls. They ventured out in public, running their errands, basking in the attention given to them. The dolls thought they were beautiful. The perception by the bystanders was the opposite. The dichotomy was amazing to see. I thought, “How disturbing!”

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Other than writing about grown men who dress up as cheerleaders, not really. My writing process is simple – I think (or read) of an interesting idea and expand on it. Before I write anything down I work the storyline(s) in my head until there is enough material. I always have the ending in mind before writing; it’s easier to write to an ending.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My two favorite authors are Chuck Palahniuk and Dave Barry (Big Trouble). These two specifically got me excited to read novels again. I also enjoy what Gillian Flynn is doing with her books. There’s something about people doing crazy things.

What are you working on now?
I just finished DRAMA DOLLS (launched October 1st) so now I’m in between novels.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have about 5,000 Twitter followers and I generally write my own press releases and blitz them out across the web. But the best promotion is word of mouth. If I’m selling paperbacks, I do most of my promotions via Comic Conventions where I can physically talk/sell to the reader.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t worry about trends. Write what you want because you love to write.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Chuck Palahniuk, author of FIGHT CLUB, once told me writing is like a mistress with your full-time job being your wife. Keep working until you make enough to write for a living. In Chuck’s words, however, it was keep seeing your mistress while keeping your wife full-time; until it’s time to leave your wife for your mistress.

What are you reading now?
GIRLFRIEND IN A COMA by Douglas Coupland.

What’s next for you as a writer?
have an idea for another novel. But I can’t say. Not because I’m secretive, but by the time I start writing it, it may be a different idea.

What is your favorite book of all time?
This is unanswerable. Too difficult.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jason Tanamor Website
Jason Tanamor Amazon Profile

Jason Tanamor’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a Southern California-based writer of horror, SF, thrillers and bizarro fiction. My bibliography includes The Phantom Cabinet, The Fetus and Other Stories, and Into the Darkness: Volume One’s closing tale.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is The Phantom Cabinet. It was inspired by recurring childhood nightmares, growing up in Southern California, and poltergeist fiction ranging from the Victorian era to the present.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Scribbling illegible prose while drinking, and then attempting to make sense of it the next morning.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
H.P. Lovecraft, Grant Morrison, Stephen King, Alan Moore, Thomas Ligotti, Bentley Little, Peter Straub, J.D. Salinger, Peter David, Chris Claremont, Clive Barker, Warren Ellis, Jonathan Hickman, Michael Marshall Smith, Robert McCammon, Ray Bradbury, Neil Gaiman and Richard Matheson.

What are you working on now?
I am writing Let’s Destroy Investutech, a science fiction novel, and Toby Chalmers Commits “Career” Suicide, a bizarro novella.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Contacting reviewers is helpful.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If your story’s been rejected by a few publishers, it may be time for another edit.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I forgot it.

What are you reading now?
Robert McCammon’s The Night Boat.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Long hours of editing.

What is your favorite book of all time?
H.P. Lovecraft: Tales

Author Websites and Profiles
Jeremy Thompson Amazon Profile

Jeremy Thompson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile