Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
“Careful-ish” is my debut novel. I’ve been writing for most of my adult life, including standup comedy and screenplays, and I’ve co-authored a couple of business books that are more fun to read than what you’d expect.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Careful-ish: A Ridiculous Romp Through Covid Living As Seen Through The Eyes of Ridiculous People.” I was inspired by every ridiculous and wonderful thing I or someone else did during life in lockdown. It’s set in Manhattan because I used to live there when I was the age of my characters. It’s a great time of life to live in New York—until something like this happens and it’s not. It’s hard to believe some of the crazy stories friends are telling about pandemic Manhattan.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write like my chair is on fire. And I always wear a bra.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
So much Michener. And I fell in love with Budd Schulberg’s writing in “What Makes Sammy Run.” And in film, I believe one of the single best-written scenes of all time is the final kitchen scene in “Moonstruck,” written by John Patrick Shanley. It’s a movie, but it really brings a playwright’s sense of the theatrical stage.

What are you working on now?
The sequel to “Careful-ish,” called “Daughter of Careful-ish.” More of these ridiculous people (whom I now love), and more of their ridiculous parents, too.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
We have an open group for “Careful-ish” on Facebook. There’s a lot of engagement going on there. (Anyone reading this is welcome to join.) And it’s kinda crazy, but my readers have taken it upon themselves to start sharing selfies with the book. Readers are under hair dryers, doing yardwork, in the tub, with their pets, we even have a couple of goats. So far, nobody has posed nude, but there have been threats…

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Write. Write. Don’t worry about editing until you finish. (Yes, basic advice, I know. But so many writers try to edit before they’ve written.)

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Scared money never wins. (My father is a handicapper, and I grew up around horse racing.)

What are you reading now?
“Anna Karenina.” Check back with me in a month. I’ll likely still be reading it.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Well, “Careful-ish” is a five-book plan—two more books in the trilogy, a prequel, and a novella. Maybe more. So whatever’s next, it doesn’t include sleep.

What is your favorite book of all time?
“Goodnight Moon.” It’s impossible to separate that book from whoever reads it to you. It’s always about love.

Author Websites and Profiles
Honey Parker Website
Honey Parker Amazon Profile

Honey Parker’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Right now, I have one book published: Katie’s Kottage, Book One of Katie’s Journey. But there are five more and two spin-offs. These are already written and I am just editing them to polish them up for publication.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Katie’s Kottage is a six-book series with two spin-offs, and it was inspired by a short story and a friend’s insistence that it was more than a short story. Katie’s Kottage bloomed into more than what I originally had planned for it. It was exciting to write, and the words seemed to flow. This series is the fastest I’ve ever written, and I am proud of it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am a pantster, meaning I do not plan out my books. I just figure out where my characters need to end up and try to put them into chaos to figure out how to get out while growing personally in these challenges.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Well, of course, J.R.R. Tolkien. He’s the foremost authority in fantasy. However, I have a wide range of authors I like and way too many to list here. I do like to read mystery, thriller, fantasy, romance, westerns… I guess the list could go on.

What are you working on now?
I am currently editing the Katie’s Journey series and the two spin-offs. However, I did just write an apocalypse type of book that I think is interesting. I like strong female characters and tend to write women in more take-authority types of roles. They know what they want and work to achieve it.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
So, I currently use Twitter and Facebook. However, I’ve branched out into Pretty-Hot.com, Allauthor, Amazon, and I keep my eye out for more. Marketing is by far the most difficult part of this process.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write on! You have a story to tell. Only you can tell it. Don’t be afraid. Get your idea down and then work on polishing it up. There are so many avenues to get your book published and do your research before deciding. You have as much time as you need and don’t rush it. Get your Beta readers so they can critique your work so you can polish it up.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“You fail only if you stop writing.” -Ray Bradbury. If you are an author, or you are writing (not published) keep writing. You can do this.

What are you reading now?
Currently, I am not reading anything as I have been concentrating on editing. However, I have met so many wonderful authors on various author sites and have many books to choose from.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to get Katie’s Journey fully published with the two spin-offs and finish some other stories I have in the works.

What is your favorite book of all time?
Ugh! I cannot choose just one! But if I have to narrow it down – who didn’t like the Black Stallion series? As a horse lover, that was my dream horse.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve published eleven books in two mystery series, the Cat Caliban series and the Gilda Liberty series, as well as the indie mysteries SMOKE and BAYOU CITY BURNING and the comic sci-fi novel SECOND COMING.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, BAYOU CITY BURNING, is set in Houston in 1961 and draws on my childhood. I wondered what would happen to all of those hard-boiled detectives of the late forties a few years down the road, when they had ex-wives and orthodontist’s bills to pay. The book is narrated by a hard-boiled detective and his biggest fan and worst critic–his 12-year-old daughter. But I’m also preparing to reissue the Cat Caliban mystery series, originally published by Berkley in the 1990s and early 2000s, starting with ONE FOR THE MONEY. This series was inspired by my reaction to stereotypical older women detectives, and features a detective-in-training who is anything but stereotypical.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write from early in the morning until early afternoon, at which point I shut down the computer for the day. I doubt that this is unusual for writers of a certain age whose bodies will no longer tolerate long hours at the computer. Yoga helps.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have a Ph.D. in English and am retired from teaching literature at the college level, so I have too many literary influences to count. I’ve always resisted listing my favorite writers because there are too many of them.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a comic thriller about a librarian who inherits a fortune and a major book collection from a wealthy patron, along with a dangerous mission to return six library books.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Amazon and Goodreads, along with Facebook, remain my top promotional sites.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Apart from insuring that your presentation of your work is professional, what I used to emphasize to my writing students is that they needed to keep their ears open so that they could hear how real people talked, and they needed to have a wide-ranging curiosity. Students who just wanted to take writing courses and showed no interest in zoology or sociology or art history weren’t destined to be writers, in my book.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
This is a great question and I wish I could remember something. “Write what you know” is both terrible and excellent advice–terrible because most of us have limited experience, but excellent in that we need to trust our experience, and particularly our emotional experience, to allow us to imagine ourselves into characters who are different from ourselves and make them believable.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading a recent Lisa Scottoline Rosato & Associates mystery, a Liliana Hart mystery, an Ann Cleeves Vera Stanhope mystery, and a 19th-century dime novel that is part of my work on the history of girl detectives.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I need to finish the thriller about the librarian and then I’ll probably start a new novel in the Cat Caliban series.

What is your favorite book of all time?
I don’t like to pick favorites because there are so many of them. But JANE EYRE and HUCKLEBERRY FINN would be in the top ten for certain.

Author Websites and Profiles
D. B. Borton Website
D. B. Borton Amazon Profile

D. B. Borton’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Charles grew up in a small seaside town in Suffolk, England. He is a divorced, devoted father of two. He started writing short stories at the age of ten and since has expanded his genre to World War Two. He has family connections in both the Allies and Axis during the war. This is the reason for his extended interest in this era. He has grown to have great respect for resistance groups who, without any military experience, took up arms for their country.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Rise of the Maquis. It was inspired by a dream, which became the prologue of my book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write on a daily basis and as long as i have had breakfast i can write for hours.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I would say the author and historian James Holland has inspired me the most with my writing.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on my sixth book. I pan to publish one a year

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I promote mostly on Facebook, Goodreads. I also advertise on other smaller pages.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I am asked by many aspiring new authors ‘I want to write, how do I start’ and I always answer the same “Put pen to paper and keep going”

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
When i got my first rejection letter I was a bit disheartened, but a fellow author said, “keep trying, every no gets you one step closer to a yes”

What are you reading now?
‘The Art of Resistance’ by Justus Rosenberg

What’s next for you as a writer?
To continue writing a book on an annual basis

What is your favorite book of all time?
‘Greed’ by Chris Ryan

Author Websites and Profiles
Charles Fournel Amazon Profile
Charles Fournel Author Profile Other Bookseller

Charles Fournel’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an expat South African living in Brisbane Australia with my Hubster and Triplet teenage boys. I’m a staunch advocate for dyslexics (As I am dyslexic and an award wining best selling author and owner of boutique publishing house). I have self published five books and 2 novellas and am traditionally published under the pen name of MC D’Alton as a co author to a steampunk romance series of which book one is called Iron Heart.
I nurse in the mornings, play glorified concierge and taxi driver in the afternoons, and write, market and work on other authors books at night. I have a passion for horses, my men, the ocean and kindness. I also love Wonder Woman, believe my mother is an angel straight of out of heaven and want to create the most amazing online community for emerging writers (Heart & Craft) that ever existed.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Road to Redemption – Book 3 in the Lost & Found Series.
I literally start the book with, “To those who deserve a second chance – and those who don’t.” This in it self should speak volumes. The very naughty almost villain in book one (Lost and Found series) wouldn’t keep quiet and kept on bugging me until i sat down and listened to him. He had his own story to tell. One of pain, loss, fear and paying the ultimate price.
I believe we all have both good and bad in us and that it is our choice, not life, circumstances or anything else. Nothing hard won ever comes easy and if it does – is it worth having?

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
What you mean like dancing to a special play list (depending on what I’m writing), first?

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Juliet Marillier
EL James (I don’t write erotica)
Diane Gabaldon
TM CLark
Amy Tan
Dalene Matthee

What are you working on now?
A novella which is sort of linked to my Highlands series – Mivia and the third book in my Highlands series – Carna and finishing the first draft of Iron Will, book 2 in My and co author Melanie Page’s Iron Universe Series.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook and IG

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I’ll pass on the same advice i was once given and hold close to may heart everyday – it’s a quote from Galaxy Quest.
“Never give in – Never Surrender.”

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
What I said above and – always read your final pre editor (as in the draft you will send to the editor) out loud to yourself. It’s amazing what you pick up.

What are you reading now?
Hmmm, a lot. Unravelling by Kiera Jayne.
Always and only by Gabrielle G
Caught out Leesa Bow
writing killer blurbs and hooks – Adam Croft

What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish my current project and plan a writers retreat for emerging writers in March 2021 then start on my next trilogy.

What is your favorite book of all time?
As I mentioned before, I am dyslexic (My super power btw) As a small girl I spent every holiday with my Nan & Oupa (Grandfather). Nan decided i should practice my reading and gave me Anna Karenina to read. Yup, my first taste of romance, darkness and Russian lit. I’ll always love my Nan and this book!

Author Websites and Profiles
Michelle Dalton Website
Michelle Dalton Amazon Profile
Michelle Dalton Author Profile Other Bookseller

Michelle Dalton’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I currently reside in sunny Arizona with my husband, 3 children, and rescued Goldendoodle. I volunteer my time as an Autism Advocate for Raising Special Kids to help parents navigate resources and provide them with emotional support. This journey has provided me comfort in giving back to this community since my own son was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in 2013. My first self-published book, “Until There Was You” was inspired by my own son. Parents that raise children with special needs have extraordinary abilities to give their kids a life with opportunity and inclusivity.

My newly released book “Do Not Wish For A Pet Ostrich!” was written to encourage emergent readers and promote early literacy one smile at a time.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Do Not Wish For A Pet Ostrich!” is the name of my latest picture book.

With all the life lessons children learn each day, I wanted to create
a silly book to bring laughter to children. This is how my latest title was born. Silly – rhyming stories engage my own children and writing in rhyme builds phonemic awareness that encourages emergent readers.

As a child, with a mother who immigrated to the United States, my love of reading was inspired by the humor and rhyme of Dr. Seuss books.

These books encouraged and helped me with the English language and foster a love of writing poetry. My love of children and children’s books is how my journey as an author began.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My three children are a free source of entertainment. Their hilarious, creative, and imaginative play has me jotting down notes for new ideas to include in my upcoming stories.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve read so many children’s books over time and have many favorites! The beloved books of Dr. Seuss have always been cherished in our home. Currently, Stuart Biggs, the “Fun Jungle” Series has been a new favorite for my 9-year-old daughter.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on the next 2 books in my Silly Books for Kids Series. The sequel to “Do Not Wish For A Pet Ostrich!” will be released in 2021.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735199613 and my website: https://www.sarinasiebenaler.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write every day to enhance your craft. Find a great team that will bring your ideas and writing to life. I have had the most amazing experience with editors, illustrators, and Graphic Design teams. It takes a village and lots of patience, love, and detail to self-publish a children’s book.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I have been so lucky that it would be difficult to name one. If I had to choose, it would be to keep networking and believing.

What are you reading now?
“Year of Yes” by Shonda Rhimes

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’d love to put our 5 total books in my Silly Books For Kids Series.

What is your favorite book of all time?
That would be too hard to choose. Too many different genres of books with so many fantastic writers. 🙂

Author Websites and Profiles
Sarina Siebenaler Website
Sarina Siebenaler Amazon Profile
Sarina Siebenaler Author Profile Other Bookseller

Sarina Siebenaler’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have published two books, the stories in Christmas Grace and Light and another about music and life, called The Tuning Slide.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The current book, the Christmas stories were inspired by wanting to write a contemporary story for a Christmas Eve sermon. It was very well received and continued on for many years. There are fourteen stories in this book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Other than trying to keep focused on what I’m writing and staying away from surfing, scanning, and falling down research rabbit holes, no.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Many storytellers have got me to where I am today, some were faith-based and others just wrote great stories. Walter Wangerin, Annie Dillard, Anne Lamott, and Loren Eisely are a few. Fred Craddock was a story-telling preacher, and Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through it are at the top of the list.

What are you working on now?
I am in the finishing stages of writing a memoir on finding my Dad in World War II. He died when I was sixteen (a long time ago!) and I never got to really know him. It has been amazing using his mother’s diaries of the war years to follow him and the family from 1940- 1945. I hope to get that published this spring.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Personal connections, email to podcasters, researching websites that promote books, and of course, Amazon.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just write! The first draft will be awful- and that’s okay! Just write it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Show it, don’t tell it!

What are you reading now?
I have been reading a lot of mystery and murder fiction. Matt Goldman’s series on Nils Shapiro is incredible as is Julia Spencer-Fleming’s series on Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne.

What’s next for you as a writer?
The book on my Dad, as I said, but then I’m in the early stages of a book about maintaining long-term recovery from addiction.

Author Websites and Profiles
Barry Lehman Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a romance author and I primarily write historical at the moment. I love the Victorian era because they were so proper on the surface, but just below that they were a seething cauldron of naughtiness. I currently have 3 full length titles out with a 4th releasing January 26th, the Lustful Lords. I also have a novella series, The Market, with 3 books in it and a slew of short contemporary stories.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
His Not-So-Sweet Marchioness releases January 26, 2021. This is the fourth book in the Lustful Lords series which focuses on a group of lords in Victorian London who get up to lots of naughty shenanigans at The Market, a private brothel. Book 4 focuses on Flint and his fake fiancé who doesn’t want to let him go. He has a taste for pain and doesn’t want to sully his sweet faux bride-to-be with his darker sexual needs. Needless to say, she is down to fight for the man she loves.

This series is a spinoff from my original novella series, The Market. That series got started when I was wondering how two people could have sex but then not recognize each other in a public setting such as a ball. So I had to get creative!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so. LOL! Of course, others might say differently. I am trying out dictation which is very strange vs putting my fingers on the keyboard. It can be weird to speak the words first.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Well, Judith McNaught, Johanna Lindsey, and of course Thea Devine! That was when I figured out that historical romance could really bring the sexy.

What are you working on now?
I’m about to start writing Book 5 in the Lustful Lords series. And I am really excited about this one because it is the book of what was a secondary character who just got really bossy and demanded his own story.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m just starting to actively promote my books, so I don’t know yet.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
1. BICHOK. Butt in chair, hands on keyboard. If you aren’t writing you aren’t learning and you aren’t creating books for readers.

2. More books are your best marketing tools.

3. Romance isn’t a competition. There is room for everyone at the table so don’t be shy and don’t forget to help those coming behind you.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Lack of confidence kills more dreams than lack of ability.
Talent matters—especially at elite levels—but people talk themselves out of giving their best effort long before talent becomes the limiting factor.
You’re capable of more than you know. Don’t be your own bottleneck.”
-James Clear

What are you reading now?
The Troubleshooter (Norcross #2) by Anna Hackett. She really writes a great adventure romance!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m trying to decide if I want to stay historical after the Lustful Lords series or move into contemporary romance. So, I’m not sure!

What is your favorite book of all time?
How do you pick just one? Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsey is definitely a favorite. But then I loved Exodus by Leon Uris, Thurston House by Danielle Steel, and the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Don’t make me choose!

Author Websites and Profiles
Sorcha Mowbray Website
Sorcha Mowbray Amazon Profile

Sorcha Mowbray’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Sienna, and this is my first book!
I am very excited to finally launch this book, first of my series “A Quokka’s Adventures”.
I am a world traveller with a wanderlust spirit.
After travelling the world for a few years, I decided to combine my love for kids and my knowledge about the world to teach children about today’s important values.
I am enthusiastic about educating kids on less known places in the world and all the different animals in it.

When I am not writing, you can find me exploring new places around the world and living new experiences to inspire me for my new books!
I also enjoy doing sports and cooking! Or let’s be honest, I enjoy eating and try new cuisines! 😉

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Beauty of Diversity!
It is the first book of the series “A Quokka’s adventures”.
My travels and the situation we are in right now inspired this book and the all series!
I want our little ones to grow up knowing more about the world that surrounds us. I would like for them to have the knowledge of different species of animals and less known corners of the world.
But what matters the most, are the values I want to transmit with my books. Diversity, equality, confidence, inclusion, acceptance….
They all are crucial topics in our lives nowadays and I hope my books will help children get familiar with these values in a fun and easy way.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so. Just sitting down at my desk with a nice cup of tea. But I need to be in a room alone, with no noises or distractions.

What authors, or books have influenced you?

What are you working on now?
I am currently writing the second book of my series. I am very excited for this one! Ally will be in a different place this time and she will meet many new interesting friends. The book will talk about confidence and how we all need to believe in ourselves and help who is in need.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Freebooksy has been working great for me. And of course, Pretty-Hot.com 😉

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just start! If you have an idea, just start writing about it! Don’t overthink it!
The pig picture might seem scary at first, but if you break it into smaller pieces everything will be easier and manageable.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
one day or day one – you decide

What are you reading now?
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am going to keep writing about Ally’s adventures and educate kids about the world that surrounds us and its important values!

What is your favorite book of all time?
“And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie. It was given to me as a summer homework during middle school. It is the first book I have ever read on my own and it is the one that started my passion for reading and writing.

Author Websites and Profiles
Sienna Poe Amazon Profile

Sienna Poe’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Whitney Metz, and I live in West Virginia, with two pigs I adopted after interning with Farm Sanctuary. I am currently writing a series of magical realism books, called Black Magick. The first two books are available now, from Amazon, and I am working on the third, which I hope to release in the fall of 2021. I also wrote a book of poetry, but I don’t necessarily count that one, because it was a long time ago, and I was young and a bit melodramatic.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My most recent book is, Myths & Music: Black Magick Book 2. This series was inspired by my fascination with the supernatural, and my desire to explore all the possibilities that emerge, when you embrace the idea that there is much more to our world than that which we experience every day.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not entirely sure what is usual, or unusual, but a habit I have developed, that kind of surprised me, is building scenes around pieces of dialogue. When I first began writing this series, I found the idea of writing dialogue very daunting. I had predominantly written nonfiction, in the form of articles and blog posts, and poetry, before this, and I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to write conversations in a way that felt honest and realistic. Then I started to have these bits of dialogue pop into my head, and I would feel compelled to write scenes around them. Several times, I have even developed a whole character around a particular line. I ask myself, who would say this? What is this person like? What is their mindset? I have found that one interesting statement can lead into a deep understanding of someone’s personality.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I like to think that every book I have ever read has influenced me, in one way or another. I don’t think I have ever read a book that didn’t have some impact on me, either personally or as a writer. The books that have had the greatest effect on my work though, are Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, Stephen King’s Dark Tower Series, and the Hellblazer comics. I also read a lot of nonfiction books, on mythology, magick, and various spiritual belief systems, which (I hope) helps my stories to have a more solid foundation beneath them.

What are you working on now?
I am currently editing the third book in the Black Magick Series, and recording what will hopefully turn into an audio version of the second book. I also write a weekly blog on my website.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Promotion has, thus far, been the most difficult part of the entire process for me. I still haven’t quite gotten a handle on it. At this point, I am just trying to share quotes from my books, and information about my work, on as many social media sites as possible, as well as running regular Facebook ads.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
This may sound kind of silly, but use the read aloud feature on your word processor for editing. I have an incredibly hard time catching typos in my own work, and I’ve heard other writers say the same. I can honestly read the same paragraph ten times and still overlook some really obvious mistakes, because my brain just registers what I meant, rather than what is actually on the page. I didn’t think to try the read aloud feature until my second book, and it made the whole editing process so much quicker, easier, and more reliable.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The entirety of Neil Gaiman’s “Make Good Art” speech. I first heard it when I was just starting to try to get into writing fiction. At the time, I was attempting to write short stories, and I don’t know that I ever would have had the courage or motivation to write a whole novel, let alone a series, if I hadn’t listened to it.

What are you reading now?
I am almost always reading two books at once, one for enjoyment and one for research. Currently, I’m reading volume twenty-three of the Hellblazer collection, and Craft of the Wild Witch, by Poppy Palin.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Right now, I just want to keep going with my Black Magick series. I’m planning for, at least, two more books. After that, I’m not sure. I’ve grown pretty attached to my current characters, so I may continue to follow them, after this particular story is finished.

What is your favorite book of all time?
I’ve read many books that resonated deeply with me, but American Gods would have to be my favorite. It captures everything I love about reading, and writing. The way Gaiman blends this supernatural world into our own world, so smoothly and believably, is incredibly enjoyable to read, and something that I aspire to, as a writer.

Author Websites and Profiles
Whitney Metz Website
Whitney Metz Amazon Profile

Whitney Metz’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
There are a lot of constructs that I believe are attributed to me, but I personally do not identify myself with any of them. I believe that I simply am. A being that seeks to create, and to share in the beauty of the world. Thought Made Kingdom is my first novel, and I am currently working on my next one 🙂

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Thought Made Kingdom was inspired by the realisation of certain truths about myself and the world. I overcame hurdles that impeded by growth as a person, and this book is that experience entwined in a story. I thought it would be a lot more interesting to read a symbolic interpretation of my experiences.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I suppose one could say that I do not rely on “cognition” to write. I prefer to nurture a bond between myself and the creative forces that allow me to write, by putting my “self” aside and allowing whatever this force is to flow through me without placing any obstacles before it.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Ralph Waldo Trine – In Tune With The Infinite
Ralph Waldo Emerson – Nature
Florence Scovel Shinn – Your Word Is Your Wand
James Allen – As A Man Thinketh

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on another story. The placeholder name for it is “Faux Hearts”. It is set in a sci-fi/victorian setting and will follow the journey of a young girl who arrives at a small village on the outskirts of a city. I am looking to write something a little more down to earth this time, with more “human” characters.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
So far I am trying many things. Following my intuition, I have been using Instagram, and just spreading my work wherever possible, on sites like these for example.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Honestly, the only advice I would give to people is follow your heart, and let your brain take the back seat for a while. 😉

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write, write, write, and eventually, you will get it right!

What are you reading now?
Thomas Troward – Edinburgh Lectures. It’s interesting, to say the least.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My next novel, of course!

What is your favorite book of all time?
Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Author Websites and Profiles
Tomasz Bell Website

Tomasz Bell’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a first time author and whenever I’m asked the dreaded ‘tell us about yourself’ question, I’m completely stumped and never know what to say, so moving swiftly on……….

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Little World of The Lindens. It was inspired by my dolls’ hosue, a 1976 Lundby Stockholm, by my own childhood and by my years working as a primary school teacher- that’s elementary school for our transatlanic cousins. So, I suppose you could say, it’s a kind of summing up of the thing that is me!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure if it’s unusual, but chunks of dialgoue and random scenes come into my head while I’m doing things like washing up or hanging the laundry and I can hold them somewhere in my mind for days at a time or equally, rush off to the computer and take ten minutes here and there to write them down, in between chopping carrots for dinner or doing the vacuuming. As you can see, housework looms large in my life!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Almost too many to mention. I love all the classics of English literature. I love memoirs, biographies and social history, satire and humour. Some of my favourite authors are E.F. Benson, E.M Delafield, Miss Read, Robert Surtees and Saki. I’m also a huge fan of children’s books from the first sixty years or so of the twentieth century. Favourite authors there would be Elinor M Brent-Dyer, Jane Shaw, Sheila Stuart, Frank Richcards and Anthony Buckridge.

What are you working on now?
The second book in the Lindens series, Visitors at The Lindens. The first chapter is already posted on my website, if anybody wants a taster.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
To be honest, I haven’t really been writing long enough to answer that question fairly. Hopefully, it will be PRETTY-HOT.COM.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you’re writing your first book and you get discouraged, just keep going. You can do it – and remember that you should write first and foremost for yourself, it should be something that you get enjoyment and fulfilment from, so don’t worry about whether people will like it or whether it fits into x, y or z genre. Just write what feels right to you – excuse the pun 🙂

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Winston Churchill’s words: “We must just KBO.” (keep buggering on).

What are you reading now?
My own books mostly as proof-reading is a never-ending task!

What’s next for you as a writer?
To keep going with the Lindens chronicles. The characters still have plenty of stories to share.

What is your favorite book of all time?
The Children’s Treasury of Literature in Colour published by Hamlyn in 1967. I received it as a Christmas present when I was five. It introduced me to Hans Christian Andersen, the Grimm brothers, J.M.Barrie, J.R.R Tolkein, Rudyard Kipling, Kenneth Grahame and Oscar Wilde among others. It still sits on my bookshelf.

Author Websites and Profiles
Angela Frewen Website
Angela Frewen Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am the author of HOUSING HUMANS. I have been a public housing policy change agent for over 35 years with executive leadership experience in advocating for affordable housing in major cities across the United States and even Toronto, Canada. My vision is to build communities where people can live with dignity in partnership with both private and public sectors and with Housing Urban Development Government Affairs.
My book is an urgent call-to-action for national housing policy reform. I begin by telling readers about my early life and specifically of experiences that led me to find my career and passion in housing development. I try and give readers a ‘lesson in leadership’ and some great applicable advice from my time in the United States Air Force.

Later I describe the absolute dire need to bring awareness to this plight in America. Homelessness and the the increasing shortage of affordable homes for low-income household families who are at or below the poverty guidelines is a crisis and pandemic that any American could face in the foreseeable future, if policy does not drastically change.

I have worked in community outreach with numerous organizations in varied roles throughout my life. There is one in particular that I has a deep connection with–Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBS). I have been a Big Brother to a Little Brother for over 40 years. Because of this deep, personal relationship with the BBBS organization, I decided to donate 10% of all book proceeds to the BBBS program. I see the BBBS as a preventative and proactive organization that changes the lives and trajectories of children and their families, giving them the opportunities to reach their full potential.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
In my latest book, Housing Humans, I discuss several different elements of my life and all experience that led me to ultimately pursue a career and dedicate my life to helping find better solutions for homelessness, veterans and other disenfranchised human beings in our great country.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No, no I try to write when I am able to and as a leader of one of the major housing authorities in the US, it’s very hard to find time. I enjoy it though, so I make time!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America and Redevelopment and Race: Planning a Finer City in Postwar Detroit

What are you working on now?
I am working on trying to bring more awareness to how broken our national housing policy is and also available solutions. I am working with housing development affairs, local housing authorities and also some private tech businesses on some out-of-the-box solutions.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Oh, I love the website that was created for me! It’s www.eugenejonesjr.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be patient with yourself and only write when you feel passionate about it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“You are a light. You are the light. Never let anyone — any person or any force — dampen, dim or diminish your light … Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge. Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won.” – John Lewis

What are you reading now?
Think Big, Act Small by Jason Jennings

What’s next for you as a writer?
I think I will write about the broken system of customer service in our country, what it’s become in my opinion and suggest some solutions there- some human solutions.

What is your favorite book of all time?
To Kill a Mockingbird

Author Websites and Profiles
Eugene E. Jones, Jr. Website
Eugene E. Jones, Jr. Amazon Profile

Eugene E. Jones, Jr.’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am Fred Tippett, II, author of THE WOMEN IN WHITE, which is my debut novel. I grew up in Alabama and live there currently, though I was away extensively while I attended college in Georgia and law school in Pennsylvania. I am a Washington-DC-barred attorney, and I primarily use my legal education to bolster the credibility of police procedural elements for my novels.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest novel is also my debut. It’s called THE WOMEN IN WHITE, and it was largely inspired by my childhood fantasy of writing titles for my then-favorite mystery series: The Hardy Boys. Approaching it with the perspective of adulthood, however, I decided that I wanted to write a mystery series that would appeal to Young Adults. I also wanted the approach to crimes and the detecting procedures used to solve them to be a bit more realistic. And I ultimately chose to use ONE male protagonist–in this case, a sixteen-year-old boy named Greg Chase–because I saw it as the easiest path forward for the purposes of character development and story plotting. This was, after all, my first novel. I wanted things to be as uncomplicated as possible for me while I was writing.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so–but then again, I also understand that “unusual” is a relative word.

For me, it always starts with an idea for what I think could be a book.

From there, I tend to outline the whole of the book before committing to writing any of it. (I will say that I tend to have more ideas than time to write them into books, which usually makes for my spending more of my time outlining books than actually drafting them.) I want to be sure that my idea is strong enough to sustain an entire book as opposed to, say, just a short story. If I’m unable to outline what I know will fill up a book, then I’ll just leave it alone. If not, then I’ll usually finish up with the outline then edit it once or twice, just to ensure that it’s tight enough. I want the book’s plot, character development, etc. to be believable and entertaining enough to sustain reader interest throughout the whole of the story.

Once I’m satisfied with my outline, I’ll write my book to fit that outline.

And once that’s done and I have a good first draft, I’ll put the draft away for a while (anywhere from one month to three), then I’ll come back to it and begin the REAL work of properly editing it for grammar, story beats, etc. The time away helps me to not be too close to the story–and, accordingly, strong enough to edit it WELL when I come back to it, even if that means killing some of my darlings along the way.

After I’ve edited the book a first time, I’ll edit it again, generally with a partner. After that edit, I’ll begin to think about shopping it around for representation by an agent or even just direct indie publication.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Way, Way, WAY too many to name. I have read a TON of books, and I’ve been INSPIRED by two tons more. Even so, a few names do stick out. During childhood, I read plenty of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys titles (both the original stories and the brach-off books). During young adulthood, I got into James Patterson’s Maximum Ride Series, Sue Grafton’s Alphabet Mysteries, Mary Higgins Clark’s thrillers, James Frey’s I Am Number Four Series, and almost all YA works produced by Anthony Horowitz. As of right now, I think that my writing has been influenced quite a bit by Michael Connelly’s works.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently doing final edits for my next novel–which will also be a YA Mystery story, though one featuring a primarily female leading cast.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve really taken more of a scattershot approach to marketing my book than relying on any one “best” website or method. I make use of Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads, my own Author Website, and my Author Promotion Page on Amazon. I also do my rounds on the book blog interview circuit–and regularly ask popular book bloggers to review my work. That being said, I do think that my Twitter posts regarding my debut novel have gotten the most attention of late.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
You cannot honestly expect to improve your craft unless you’re both reading and writing MANY books, preferably in the genre(s) in which you want to be known as a writer. Reading in the genre(s) will give you an idea of what other readers (and thus agents and publishers) enjoy and what they will read consistently. Writing in the genre(s) will give you much-needed practice in producing art in your chosen area(s). Even if you’re writing stories that you have no intention of actually publishing, by virtue of the fact that you are indeed getting in that practice of writing them, YOU’RE STILL LEARNING from every last one.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Best? Ever? It’s actually a passage that I read quite a while ago in the Bible. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… and love your neighbor as yourself.”

What are you reading now?
I’m currently enjoying plenty of Michael Connelly and Mary Higgins Clark, though I’m also reading some works by C.S. Lewis and Karen McManus. Plus, I hope to soon read Barack Obama’s newly released memoir A PROMISED LAND

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am actually already in the process of applying final edits to the next novel that I intend to publish. This one is also going to be a YA Mystery novel, though it will have a strong female lead–as opposed to THE WOMEN IN WHITE’s Greg Chase. This upcoming book was loosely inspired by the Nancy Drew Mysteries, in the same way that WOMEN IN WHITE was inspired by Hardy Boys Mysteries.

What is your favorite book of all time?
Favorite? Of ALL time? The Bible.

Author Websites and Profiles
Fred Tippett Website
Fred Tippett Amazon Profile

Fred Tippett’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Danial Donai and I consider myself to be a talented writer, film director, second unit director, stunt co-ordinator and producer – with more than thirty years’ experience in the global motion picture industry.
I have enjoyed many years of success in Hollywood working with some of world’s biggest stars including my friend Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Born in Brisbane Australia, I started my film career as an action actor in Sydney in 1984 on the set of Mad Max – Beyond Thunderdome. After four successful years in the Australian film industry, I made the life and career changing move to Los Angeles, where I continued my movie careers upward spiral both in front and behind the camera.
Following my successes with many Hollywood blockbusters, I retired from the action entertainment industry and returned to my home, Australia – where in 2001 I made the natural transition to full time Screen & Novel writing and Directing.

In 2011 I wrote, directed and produced my first Australian feature film titled ‘Bat Outta Hell.’ In 2016 I released the novel ‘The Night Flyers’.
In 2019 I shot and directed my new feature film thriller Trailer ‘Chiroptera’ with the intention to sell the thrilling screenplay.
I continue writing and directing to this very day – and now with over a dozen feature film screenplays completed, I am very busy converting my exciting screenplays into thrilling page turning novels.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I decided to write this small book about these high-profile Hollywood people and how they took a wrong turn in their lives, focusing on how I persevered to achieve success in the Hollywood Film Industry. It was written with the hope that this book may help our young people make better life decisions to work towards achieving their own dreams and goals. I called it, “Fork in the Road.”

In case you didn’t know, your generation is known as Generation Z. You are around the ages of twelve to twenty years. This book was written specifically for you, as you are the youth of today. There have never been more opportunities available for any generation than there are available to you right now. With every opportunity there comes choice. Even though you will have many choices to make during your lifetime, so that you can get full use of this book, we will make it simple and call these choices – “Fork in the Road”. This is an old expression that implies your road branches off in two directions. It is a great moment for you to stop and think about which road you will take.

What are you working on now?
I am working on the sequel to my novel, The Night Flyers developing the sreenplay for my next feature film titled, Chiroptera.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing is proving to be successful with my first sale being through this website. Facebook is proving to be a positive influence on getting my book known by target audiences as well.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Dare to dream and challenge yourself to go further than you are thinking. With six thrillers on my slate of films that I have written, and two more which are sequels to my film released earlier this year, Chiroptera, I’m the type of storyteller who loves the thrill of films that can entertain as well as scare.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
As a filmmaker, I believe you need to know everyone’s job on and off set and what it is that they do exactly. That way, when it’s your turn to make a film you’ll know that it takes a collaboration of talented people to tell a story. Now, as a director I’m able to relate my thoughts and vision to my cast and crew and they will be able to relate theirs to mine; and doing all this has helped me better understand how to tell a story and thrill an audience, either through reading one of my screenplays or a novel or movie I’m making or have made.

I remember in detail every set I ever worked on over my career in Hollywood, and whenever I had the chance to watch and learn from the director, or any of the heads of departments or even the cast & crew, I would watch intently to what they all did to make the story of the movie come to life. If they didn’t look busy, I would ask questions about what it was they were doing, and why? I even remember getting the courage to ask Clint Eastwood a question on his movie The Rookie and he politely gave me the answers, which I’ve carried with me to this day.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m currently working on an ocean thriller (think Jaws meets The Shallows) called Scarface, based on true, gruesome events that took place on our Australian shores.

Author Websites and Profiles
Danial Donai Website
Danial Donai Amazon Profile
Danial Donai Author Profile Other Bookseller

Danial Donai’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello! I live in Ohio, near the shores of beautiful Lake Erie.
I’m kind of a geek-of-all-trades, a fan of comic books since I can remember – reading The Phantom and Spider-Man in the daily paper and comic books. I simply adore cartoons, anime, movies, and TV shows of all genres – but I’m a sucker for classic science fiction, horror, kaiju and tokusatsu. I especially love films from the 30s, with all of that art deco gorgeousness. I’m an ardent fan of music, appreciating wild genre swings, but I really love complex and passionate music, bands like Iron Maiden, Rush, Yes, Dream Theater, Opeth, and Jinjer.
I have degrees in Creative Writing and Popular Culture and did my Master’s Thesis on Godzilla as ideological expression in Japanese culture.
I taught English and Popular culture for quite a while and decided it was time for a change, so here I am.
I started writing long fiction in 2018 and have published three books since. My first, a cozy mystery, ‘Twas the Week After Christmas, my second, a grim and violent pulp western, Gauge Black: Hell’s Revenge, and Toxic, my non-fiction. It’s funny – I never had read a cozy mystery until I got the notion to write one. I was also cognizant that I did not want to be pegged into some kind of genre stagnation – no hobbling by super-fans for me! – which is why I quickly followed my cozy with its antithesis, coined a “splatter western” by one beta reader. I wanted to let everyone know that I was going to the be the kind of writer who wrote what made me happy. Fortunately, a decent portion of my readers have told me that they’re willing to read what I write, no matter the genre, so it’s exciting to have readers who are as adventurous as I plan to be as a writer.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Toxic. It’s a non-fiction book which examines my decades-long struggle with the Christian faith I grew up being taught to believe. I carefully and academically examine the Bible, focusing mainly on portions of scripture that the Toxic Christian Church tends to ignore or gloss over. I engage these troublesome passages in order to show a much more complete picture of the Christian God.
Through Toxic, I invite anyone who has ever struggled with their faith, whether current believer, former believer, agnostic, or believer-turned-atheist, to examine their faith closely, carefully, and honestly. Ultimately, I want anyone who’s ever struggled with their faith to know they’re not the only ones who’ve done so. I want them to feel heard, understood, and validated.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure if it’s unusual, but I have to have some kind of music playing while I write. That music can’t be too engaging or something that’s one of my favorites because that would get too distracting. I tend to put on atmospheric movie soundtracks, like Ravenous or Alien, which is beautifully eerie and hollow, almost like a soundscape. Musical tracks like these allow me to have something going on to occupy some needy part of my brain and allows other parts to give full attention to what I’m trying to do, creatively.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love Frank Herbert, especially his Dune series, which may contain two of my favorite books of all time: Dune and God Emperor of Dune.
I am a huge Robert E. Howard fan and consumed his heroic pulp in my teens and twenties. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Ray Bradbury, H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, Mary Shelley, Angela Carter, Lee Falk, and Stan Lee.
As far as non-fiction goes, I really do enjoy Stephen King’s book about writing. They’re every bit as inspiring as they are practical.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on the next book in my cozy mystery series as well as gearing up for the first book in a new pulp series – my homage to The Phantom. I also have a Gothic horror pulp in the works, two more stories in my grim western pulp series, and a gut-puncher of a horror novel which is still a few years out.
Looks like I’ll be busy for the next eight years or so!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Facebook and Goodreads for the most part, with a little overlap on Instagram and LinkedIn, but as I don’t have the patience to take pictures every time I want to say something, I don’t utilize Instagram that much. I am not a Twitter guy. I don’t feel the need to make quippy observations every ten minutes. That’s too exhausting. Facebook and Goodreads are more my speed. I can interact when I want in a format that’s comfortable for me to do so.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t let fear stop you from writing what you want to write. I spent too many years avoiding long fiction out of fear that I could not write realistic dialogue. I’d spent years writing poetry, which is what my BFA thesis is, and I a handful wrote minor short stories, nothing of note. Fear kept me from really tearing into fiction like I had always envisioned myself doing, though. Years of writing poetry had honed my use of imagery and concise phrasing, but sadly, I let fear dictate what I wrote for too long.
It wasn’t until 2012, when I started a no-budget movie-making company, Cyclops Movies, that I overcame that fear through writing scripts. I realized I could tell an entire story with nothing but dialogue, so after my third movie, I moved to writing long fiction.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write for yourself, not for anyone else. Not for a potential audience. Not for a potential agent or publisher. Write for you. If you are happy with what you write, that’s all that matters. If someone else likes it, so much the better, but if you write seeking approval from others, you’ll cheat yourself of all who you can be as a potent force.
Piggybacking on that, I take to heart advice that Stephen King offers in his audio commentary in The Perfect Storm. He says to let the Id out, and let it run wherever it goes, nothing held back, no inner censor, no concerns. Just write whatever is in that noggin of yours, and get it out, no matter what it is.

What are you reading now?
I am reading H. P. Lovecraft: the Complete Works, The Crusades: The Authoritative History, by Thomas Asbridge, Herodotus’s The Histories, and Heretics of Dune.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Boy, if I get through everything I have on the docket for the next eight years or so, I have no idea what I’ll do! Actually, I was thinking of some kind of epic fantasy series – something that is way too vast for me to tackle now, but I’m planning it as bits and pieces come. I have the rough picture of the story, but there are going to be layers upon layers to this beast, so it’s going to take years of planning, like how Frank Herbert approached Dune, with nearly a decade of research.

What is your favorite book of all time?
Speaking of, I have a small list of books I absolutely love, but my two favorites are Dune and God Emperor of Dune. They represent the pinnacle of Herbert’s master vision, something that I have envied and wanted to emulate since I read them at age sixteen.

Mark Justice’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile