Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been a professional writer since 2002, so I’ve produced a lot of books during that time. My first one was a traditionally published paperback book called Peace, complete with the advance and marketing/promotion team they provided. After that, I wanted to try self-publishing, so I wrote for Amazon and published a lot of my children’s and YA books there. I don’t know the exact number of title.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Starsky and Hutch Next Gen. What inspired it is the original TV characters, but the next generation belongs to their sons Davis and Kent, who are not only partners, but blood brothers, as their fathers had a relationship with the same woman. (Sounds like a Lifetime movie waiting to happen!)

The original TV characters of Starsky and Hutch were my heroes. They fought crime, helped victims, and stood for what was right. They were the biggest reason I wanted to be a social worker. So, since apples don’t fall far from the tree, Davis and Kent are like their dads in that respect, but they are not carbon copies. They are unique individuals with their own tastes, flaws, and strengths.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can think of two. When I sit down first thing in the morning to write, I like to do it with a cup of coffee and a Hershey’s chocolate bar with almonds. That combination really gets the creative juices flowing. The second unusual habit is that I normally don’t get up until I’ve finished my short story or article. With books, of course, I take a break after 10 or 12 hours of writing. You can get a lot of writing done in that length of time.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Peter Benchley was one of the first. It was Jaws I read.

What are you working on now?
Just promoting the works I have. I won’t be writing other books or stories, but I would like to be encouraging to new writers with my Facebook page, especially fanfic writers.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I like Amazon’s author page, and Facebook.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Sure, always. Don’t let rejection deter you. It happens to all writers. Use it to make you better, and inspire you to keep trying. Believe in yourself and your writing.

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

What are you reading now?
Nothing really. But the King James Bible tab is open on my browser.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Nothing I can think of. Just promoting and supporting other writers.

What is your favorite book of all time?
Has to be the Bible. My goodness. It is full of great situations and people.

Author Websites and Profiles
Tammy Ruggles Website
Tammy Ruggles Amazon Profile

Tammy Ruggles’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a California writer, coder and storyteller living and working in Silicon Valley. I’m the author of 12 novels, along with a number of non-fiction works, some plays and short fiction.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Reykjavik: A Novel and it took a lifetime, plus a few extra years to write. Writers and their work are the product of many lifetimes, like cats, I figure.

Passion always dictates form. My passion for this narrative took shape over a period of years. The seeds were planted a long time ago, drawing on my memories of Reykjavik back in the 1980s and the Summit in 1986, when Reagan and Gorbachev met to decide the fate of the world.

At the time, the world was teetering on the brink of Armageddon, a dangerous and perverse period in history, with nuclear missiles from the US and Soviet Union pointed at each other, within a time window of 30 minutes from launch. Can you really believe that kind of madness? It still boggles my mind. I mean, we had reached the point where mutually assured destruction (MAD) was the order of the day. Once launched, the missiles could not be stopped or return from their targets, the gravity’s rainbow of their paths impossible to change. Millions would be dead within minutes, the world literally blown to pieces. I’d been living with that for years as a young writer, and even now it stuns when I think about it. I knew something about Reagan, had followed his rise to power, and applauded his willingness to meet with Gorbachev and end this nuclear statement. As it happened, I had come to California in the 1960s for graduate school at Berkeley when Reagan was governor and lived through the Dr. Strangelove period depicted in Stanley Kubrick’s movie with Peter Sellers. I had grown up with The Bomb, but not by any means loving it.

Anything was possible, the world gone mad. And Reagan, to his credit, wanted to rid the planet of these weapons. He and Gorbachev met a number of times, culminating in the Reykjavik Summit, when they knocked heads to figure out a way to reduce, and ultimately eliminate these monstrous nuclear arsenals on both sides. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union was coming apart. Under the yoke of Soviet rule, people in Eastern Europe – in countries like Poland, the Baltics, East Germany – were growing more and more dissatisfied with the quality of their lives, restless now, hungry for freedom, resistant to the forces of oppression, all of that. Against this backdrop, the elements of my novel began to come together.

I drew on my personal experiences, travels, and memories. You try to dig deep into the wellsprings of feeling and imagination, and trust your instincts when you sit down to compose. As a young writer and journalist, I spent much of my time traveling, writing and reporting, stretching myself and learning my craft, and as it happened, my travels took me to various cities and countries depicted in the narrative. I tapped into those streams of memory and and drew on my experiences back in Berkeley, California during the 1980s, a turbulent time, much anxiety in the air, tensions between East and West, and in Reykjavik, which became the center of my novel, and in Europe before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall. I grew up speaking a half-dozen languages as a typical polyglot, like the central character in the novel, Nathalie Campbell, who teaches Russian in Berkeley and is enticed to work as a “translator,” if you will, at the Reykjavik Summit in 1986. How was she enticed? And by whom? And were their consequences? Yes, those are questions that novel attempts to answer, although the reader must ultimately decide for themselves.

The novel moves beyond the 1980s. Quite a bit further, as matter of fact. We as readers land in Berlin on the eve of the fall of the Wall, in November 1989 (as I did personally), then beyond to the 1990s when the Soviet Union collapses and a new class of oligarchs emerges to rule and take power and grab the wealth of the country, which was enormous and ripe for the pickings. In the story we return to Reykjavik in 1996 to hear David Bowie perform, then later in the 2000s to visit the gravesite of Bobby Fischer, the extraordinary chess master who is buried in Iceland, and who beat Boris Spassky in 1972 in the chess match of century, and finally, we taste the consequences of revenge all the way up to the present. The consequences, well, can be quite bad, as the younger generation, the youth of today, emerge and take power and control away from their elders, and set things right. That’s how we evolve, how history plays out.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Writing habits?

What happened during the composition of the novel? Well, before too long, the seeds broke through the fertile garden of memory and started to grow into what the novel was to become. And then, seemingly on their own, the characters in the narrative began to haunt my dreams.

One night Nathalie Campbell appeared, then Andrei Heilemann, both professionals in their respective fields, one a teacher of literature and the other a nuclear scientist, pulled together by the forces of nature, or history, or some combination, their lives intersecting at precisely the moment in time when it mattered the most, when each had to give up something of themselves and change direction in life.

Nathalie Campbell is the central character in the narrative, and as she came to me in my dreams, I began to see her as a kind of everywoman, an anima type, a woman you could not easily forget, a woman who kept you spellbound, a woman whom you could love yet not ever truly know, being somehow elusive, fleeting, magical, a woman with great depth and feeling, a woman of the world with many stories to tell. Does that make sense? Probably not. Even now, having written the book, I still can’t figure her out. Andrei Heilemann, the Soviet scientist who defects to the West, was my neighbor down the street, the colleague at work, the man whom I knew, not as a brilliant nuclear scientist, but simply a fellow I could depend on in a crisis, a good man, perhaps even a great man, yet a man with a past, a man with a vengeful brother, a man swept up in the torrents of history, caught in its dangerous cross-currents and multiplying dark forces.

For me, novels take on a life all their own if the characters won’t let go, and in this case, Nathalie and Andrei did just that. They wouldn’t let go. I began living and breathing the lives of these characters, writing about them as if they were part of my family, sharing their lives with my wife, who later worked hard and brilliantly to edit the book and understand these characters, what made them tick, what motivated their actions, what made them real in the best sense of the word.

The story of Nathalie and Andrei’s personal lives seemed important and needed to be filled in. Another character appeared, much later. Dylan Rose, the probing, inquisitive journalist, appeared to tell their story, the story of a family caught in the crosswinds of huge geopolitical changes. And of course, there had to be the resentment of the younger brother in the old Soviet Union, whose anger at the fall of Empire could not be underestimated or denied, the embodiment of all that happened when the Soviet Union crumbled and fell apart, and a new class of oligarchs emerged. He would not rest. He would go after his older brother who defected to the West, and do it with a vengeance.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Coetzee, Bolano and Pamuk.

What are you working on now?
A sequel to an earlier work of fiction.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I wish I had a best method, truly I do.

Create a really good website of your work, do blogs. I’ve done this at

www.tommaremaa.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
The way a story is told has a major impact on how the reader experiences the narrative and whether it comes to life, whether it breathes and rings true. As a writer, you have a few choices, like third-person omniscient, second-person (the you narrative, I call it), and first-person, as you find in most novels these days. But to me, the first-person technique can get boring very fast, because you have a limited field of view, the story is told through the eyes of single person. It’s much more interesting to tell a story in the first-person as it’s told to that person, with multiple voices, and greater depth of character. In effect, there are many characters, as in real life, with first-person stories, all woven together in the narrative. It’s a technique that Sebald uses brilliantly in Austerlitz because it takes you inside the mind and experience of not just the narrator but the main character who tells his story to the narrator.

Experiment with different storytelling techniques in your novels. That’s what I do, although I don’t recommend it to other writers necessarily.

It just happens for me. In the course of writing many novels, I’ve experimented with different techniques. My novel Metal Heads was about the Iraq and vets who were suffering from traumatic brain injuries in a hospital that was like something out of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, with a bit of Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange thrown in for good measure. A kind of looney bit where soldiers were being used for medical testing and body repairs in hopes of creating some hybrid and more advanced kind of warrior. The technique I used was a combination of first and second person, but always focused on how the main character, in this case, Spoon, a Marine missing an eye and a limb from an explosion in Iraq during the war, would tell the story. His voice and language had to be all its own, unique to him, yet convincing to the reader. In other novels, like Of Gods, Royals and Superman, I’ve used the third-person, which was appropriate to the characters and story that I wanted to tell, a coming of age narrative like Fielding’s Tom Jones, with chapters headings, comic characters, the typical father-son conflict, episodic scenes, wild flight of language and voices.
So my work doesn’t fall into any particular genre. Is that a problem?
I don’t think it’s a problem, though. Maybe literary fiction is the best way to describe each novel. Literary fiction is almost a lost genre if you can all it a genre at all. Literary fiction is always about language, about its power and mystery to evoke emotion. You’ll see it in the works of Coetzee, Pamuk, Franzen: every word carefully chosen, loved and hated, played like musical notes. There are pluses to working without genres. Because I don’t produce genre fiction, it frees me up to focus on the inner and outer lives of my characters and allow the narrative to unfold over time in whatever style or technique works best for the storytelling. I’m not bound by formulas or conventions. I don’t have a publisher who demands that I product the same book over and over again because that is what my readers want and expect. I can write works that defy categories, that liberate the reader from manufactured formulas or predictable plots and cardboard characters. You know a form, like the novel, is really dead, as Gertrude Stein once said, when everything in it has to be made a certain way. Again, passion dictates form. And passion doesn’t always answer to its name. You can’t turn it on and off like a spigot. It comes when it’s ready to come, when you allow it to come, when it takes hold of you and won’t let go.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Listen to all advice given, then toss it out the window. You’ll feel much better after doing that. In fact, you’ll write much better, too.

What are you reading now?
A half dozen works of non-fiction, mostly travel books.

What’s next for you as a writer?
There is no next, as it were. I try to live in the present, write in the present, not think too much about tomorrow, whatever that may bring.

What is your favorite book of all time?
James Joyce’s Ulysses. There is no other work that can match Joyce from the 20th Century, is there? If so, tell me.

Author Websites and Profiles
Tom Maremaa Website
Tom Maremaa Amazon Profile

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in London, England, and have lived in Manchester for the last 20 years.
I am an ADHD success coach. I set up Focus with Faigy, the ADHD success centre. I live in Manchester UK. I work with professional mums who have children with ADHD. I wear the coach hat and the mum hat simultaneously. I am married with 5 children, on the ADHD spectrum. I get your challenges. I will show you how you can implement systems that will bring focus and success in your life, and how you can improve your relationship and bring out the best in your ADHD child.
I originally trained as a professional organiser. I set up an online professional organiser business called Organise Pro. Establish your professional organiser business in only 3 months without compromising your home and work commitments. (Organise with an “s” as I live in the UK.)
I wrote “Organise Your Home Like a Pro” which discusses the science behind your clutter and how to finally get up and banish your clutter from your life.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My Latest book “Own Your ADHD – Discover Your True Potential” I I am a certified ADHD success coach. I live in the UK. Here ADHD diagnosis/treatment and general understanding in schools and the workplace is beyond shockingly ignorant. There is so much work to be done to educate the public. I decided to write a book so that more people can understand about ADHD. This book, culmination of over a year’s hyper-focus and tenacity, is the result.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
During the day your brain has different focus powers. The secret to life success is to find out when your brain focuses best on different tasks. In the morning I work best on deep focused work. I get up at 5am, and write till 7am. I often sit outside in my back garden (even in freezing cold weather I wrap up and sit outside for a short while.) I find that working in nature really opens up my creative juices.
Then I do not write at all for the rest of the day.
People think they need to devote huge amounts of energy to projects. This is a lie. All you need to do is little by little move forward and be CONSISTENT!!
When I am stuck or I have a question I knock on as “many doors” as I need to until I find the answer.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Julie Morgenstern, USA’s top home organising consultant really inspired me to start my career as a professional organiser, which in turn led me to train as an ADHD coach. Her book “Organising from the Inside Out” is a must read for all aspiring self-organisers.
Marie Kondo’s books helped me formulate my unique 5 step organising system which I use for clients.
Dr Russell Barkley, the ADHD research expert, Judith Kohlberg who is an expert in ADHD friendly organising methods, and Marydee Sklar who taught me how executive functions influence actions, all influenced me and really inspired me to bravely get up and write my own book “Own Your ADHD – Discover Your True Potential.”

What are you working on now?
I am working on promoting my book “Own Your ADHD – Discover Your True Potential”
I am working on expanding my reach as an author.
I am working on actively focusing on spending more time with my family as my book got me really hyper-focused.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Word of mouth, and free book promos

Do you have any advice for new authors?
1. Every person has multiple books inside them, waiting to be written. Think about your life, the lives of your family members, your experiences and life lessons that you have learned. The topics are endless.
2. Be honest and open. People want to read about real people who have struggles.
3. Just write. Don’t think about chapters, and layout. That will come later when you have finished writing the book.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Success is in your actions. The results come from G-d”
So many times we are afraid to act, simply because we don’t know what the outcome will be.
Do your part, bravely push through your fears the results are not up to you.
You are a success, your actions are a success, simply because you have done what you need to do.

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading “Oil Painting for Dummies” I frequently paint in oils, and I want to upgrade my skills. I don’t read so many books. Since I have ADHD I find it difficult to focus on a book for a long time. I use the internet as my reading reference. I am currently writing an online productivity course for a legal company. I do my learning by looking up online resources and adding my two cents worth.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am currently working on expanding my first book “Organise Your Home Like a Pro” I will be creating a series of Life Productivity books. The series will be called “Banish your Overwhelm.” The first book will be titled, “Declutter Your Life” the second book, currently in the planning stages will be called “Systemise your Space”
The first one on clutter is well on the way.

What is your favorite book of all time?
I don’t have one! Each book moves me a little bit further along on my life journey!
However the books by Tony Attwood on Asperger Syndrome (which is very common in those with ADHD) was the inspiration to propel me further along on my path.

Author Websites and Profiles
Faigy Liebermann Website
Faigy Liebermann Amazon Profile

Faigy Liebermann’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Let’s see…
– Grew up as a midwestern farm kid. Learned the value of a strong work ethic as well as the value of having “chores”.
– Worked in Long-term care as a Therapy Tech where I met my wife (breaking a longstanding personal rule to never date a coworker).
– Entered the US Army and survived 20 years of very active duty
-Retired and bought 70 acres (keeping a promise made to my wife that after moving her all over the globe for 20 years, I’d retire and keep us close to family).
– Now, as a retired veteran, I find myself restless and began writing to keep what little remains of my sanity during the cold, wet months of winter. I have published 2 books, The Kinsman: Discovery of an Assassin, and The Kinsman: Journeyman Assassin. They are the first two books of a Fantasy Fiction series that follows the recruitment and subsequent development of a young boy into an accomplished assassin. In this world, magic does exist but it isn’t a central point. Magic can give someone an edge, or tip the balance in one’s favor, but there are no flamboyant displays.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book, as mentioned previously, is The Kinsman: Journeyman Assassin.
As for the inspiration, I think the story has been in my head for years but in order to get me to sit in one spot and write, it took my wife’s insistence that I needed a hobby to occupy my mind during the winter months.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I start a book, I have a beginning and rough idea of and ending in mind. I “more or less” know how I want the story to go, but I focus on developing interesting characters and place them in a world that a reader can visualize. Once that’s done, I simply trust the characters to take me through the story. It’s creative and spontaneous, but it also makes the editing process much more labor intensive.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Without hesitation – Alexandre Dumas and Mark Twain. Both are masters of painting a picture with words and unequaled in their chosen genres. Critics could argue that Voltaire was a more accomplished satirist than Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), but I’m not a good enough student of history to confirm/dispute that.

What are you working on now?
A few other Fantasy Fictions in my head are begging to be written, but I’ll stay focused on the next book in The Kinsman Series… Assassin Adept.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I haven’t really pursued marketing/promoting the books. Perhaps this interview will help spread the word.
The main character of the Kinsman Series, Cooper, has his own Facebook page, and Kindle Direct Publishing through Amazon does market new books for a short time. Both books are available on both Kindle and Paperback through Amazon.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. That sounds over-simplified, but it’s a simple truth. If you truly have a desire to write, then there’s already a story “in there” (in your head). Let it out, put it on a page and give it life. Write first for yourself, then edit for your readers. If you don’t love what you write, it’ll show.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If you don’t have time to do it right, do you have time to do it twice?

What are you reading now?
A non-fiction that pertains to my “real life” activities, The Holistic Orchard, by Micheal Phillips

What’s next for you as a writer?
The Kinsman Series still has quite a few books to go. Cooper, the main character, has already revealed much of the story for the fourth book. I had to scramble to get it jotted down, since he often only tells me something once. 😉

What is your favorite book of all time?
That would have to be The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, but I can’t help but mention Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo

Author Websites and Profiles
Brian Keller Amazon Profile

Brian Keller’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profil

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
About MaryAnn Clarke Scott

M. A. Clarke Scott set out to write engaging stories that walk a tight rope between intelligent Women’s Fiction and heart-warming Romance, and it’s caused her nothing but trouble since, beginning with what to call it. In truth, she writes Romantic Women’s Fiction about women healing from past wounds as they define and achieve their own personal happily ever afters.

M. A. Clarke Scott is Chatelaine Grand Prize winner for The Art of Enchantment, first in the Life is a Journey series about young women abroad who discover themselves and fall in love while getting embroiled in other people’s problems. Reconcilable Differences is first in the Having It All series about professional women in Vancouver struggling to balance the challenge and fulfillment of career with the search for identity, love, family and home.

The second book in the Having it All series in called Disruption by Design, and came out January, 2018. The third in this series is expected in the fall of 2019. Book two in the Life is a Journey series, entitled A Forged Affair, is due out in June, 2019.

Clarke Scott is also due to release a new romance novel exclusive to subscribers to her VIP readers group. This sweet & spicy romance is called Single Dad in Studio 7D.

Clarke Scott lives on beautiful Vancouver Island, Canada with her husband and two cats. Although she knows she lives in Paradise, she still loves traveling the world in search of romance, art, good food and new story ideas.

Get M. A.’s newsletter and never miss a new release! Receive FREE short stories and bonus reads by signing up at www.maryannclarkescott.com. Download today- Birdwatching, Interrupted, Reconcilable Differences Deleted Scenes and a sneak preview of her latest release Disruption by Design! Stay in touch to hear about special deals and her next release- A Forged Affair.
https://www.subscribepage.com/MAClarkeScottAuthor

Connect and follow on social media too!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
excerpted from blog APRIL 11, 2019 BY M A CLARKE SCOTT

Travel Inspiration for A Forged Affair by author M. A. Clarke Scott

My upcoming release, titled A Forged Affair, will be the third written, though only the second published, in my Life is a Journey series about young women travelling or studying abroad who fall in love while discovering their true selves and getting embroiled in someone else’s problems. Check out Book 1, The Art of Enchantment, set in beautiful Tuscany!

This particular story was born on a family holiday in the south of France – in the province of Aquitaine – exactly ten years ago.

A Dream Come True Vacation
This was a dream-come-true trip for me. I’d just finished training for and cycling the 260 km Ride to Conquer Cancer, and I was eager to cycle the country roads of France, though at that point I could ride circles around my husband and nine year old son.

I absorbed enough memories in that one month to write a dozen books!

Adventure and Culture To Spare

We rented a charming 500-year-old farm house just outside the 600-year-old Plus Beaux Villages (“most beautiful villages”) of Montflaquin. There for over a month, we took a little side trip to Provence and a jaunt north to Chartres and Vimy. The same ancient limestone geography is responsible for the deep caves, the delicious wine and the gorgeous stone architecture in this region of France. (I can seriously geek out over limestone!)

Highlights of the trip included seeing a bit of the Tour de France (south of Lyon), exploring prehistoric cave art near Lascaux, zip-lining in a tall pine forest, and kayaking down the Dordogne river. See if you can recognize some of these adventures in the upcoming book.

We also enjoyed wine-tastings in the Bergerac and Vignobles du Sud-Ouest, farmers’ and artisans’ weekly markets, ancient castles, visits to Carcassonne, Avignon, Bordeaux, Chartres, spending plenty of time sipping cafe-au-lait and eating croissants in outdoor cafés, eating gorgeous French food like Cassoulet, Paella and grilled Merguez sausages (If these sound like Spanish dishes – you’re correct! there’s a lot of cultural cross-fertilization across the Pyrenees mountains) , and stumbling into the most amazing midsummer Medieval Festival – which was really the kickoff for this book. Read a wee excerpt below.

A Perk of Being a Writer ~ More Travel to Inspire More Stories!
There will be several research trips in my future as I plan more books in this exciting series! I see Ireland, Spain and Belgium on the horizon.

What kind of traveller are you? Where have you been that set your imagination soaring?

Reply to this email with your favourite or funniest travel-inspired experience or the best far-flung story you’ve ever read and I’ll share it with the group. I’m always looking for exciting travel books to fill in those gaps when I’m stuck at home in my chair.

Niki Ballantyne loves a thrill. When not riding helicopters, climbing towers and rescuing stranded hikers, her idea of fun is Parcour~ leaping from buildings and flipping through the air. On a holiday in the south of France, away from her rope access job, she meets both sexy Luc and giant Didier at a Medieval festival in the village of Petit Bergeron.

On the cusp of a life-altering decision, Luc is drawn to daredevil Niki, though she upsets his carefully laid plans for the future. Off-the-charts chemistry with Luc doesn’t stop Niki from pushing him away. She’ll take any risk, as long as it doesn’t involve her heart.

Bullied and shy, Didier needs help to win the love of his beloved Amélie. Always willing to help someone else out of a jam, Niki decides to stay until she can sort out the star-crossed giant.

She never lets down her guard, so the friendly arrangement she shares with Didier is perfectly safe. The affair’s not real, so there’s no risk of getting emotionally involved.

But while Niki teaches Didier about romance, and even about intimacy, she gets more than she bargains for. When their forged affair inevitably ends, she learns that in teaching him how to make love, he teaches her a lesson in how to be loved. Will Niki discover that vulnerability is a big part of real relationships? True love requires risk.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really. I love plotting and planning new stories and series, so I use mind-mapping to help with that exercise as I find I don’t think in very linear ways. Lately I’ve been using meditation and binaural programs to help me keep my mind focussed on the task.

Also as the years have passed, I place more and more value on a tightly knit group of writer colleagues. We learn together, set goals and stay accountable, trouble shoot and navigate the challenges of book publishing and marketing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many I can never answer this question. Over the years I’ve acquired favourites in many different genres, some of which I don’t write in myself. Most recently I’m impressed with a fresh crop of romantic women’s fiction authors who are putting out wonderful stories. Authors such as Christina Lauren, Sally Thorne, Helen Hoang, Camille Pagan, Bethany Chase. I also enjoy Sophie Kinsella, Emily Giffin, Eliza Gordon, Susanna Kearsley, Mary Balogh, Jojo Moyes, Barbara O’Neal, Diana Gabaldon, Eleanor Brown, Freya North, and so many more. And that’s not even touching on my favourite classics or Science Fiction authors.

What are you working on now?
Other than last minute revisions and edits to A Forged Affair and Single Dad in Studio 7D, I have a partial manuscript for Before You Knew Me, book 3 in my Having it All series. There will be three more books in this series after that. I’ve also been outlining a brand new series of romance novels involving a diverse ensemble cast of eight or ten, set in the fictional Pacific Coast city of Port Camosun that will touch on all the favourite tropes in a fresh new way. I’ll be working on this next year. I also have several more Life is a Journey series books planned, set in Spain, Belgium, Ireland and Holland, for starters.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Other than my own website and mailing list, which allows me to connect the most personally with my readers and fans, I tend to hang out on Instagram. But I also drop in to my FB page, to Twitter and enjoy playing with images and ideas on Pinterest.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, write. Don’t get caught up trying to perfect your first manuscript. Write it fast, tuck it away and write another couple and keep going. Even once you decide or are given the opportunity to publish a book, the best strategy is to write more, more, more. Make sure you have a few under your belt, or under the bed, before distracting yourself with the challenges of publishing, marketing or your author platform.

Secondly, don’t do any of this in isolation. Find yourself a supportive and smart writers community and learn from them. Writers need friends and mentors.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Let yourself get a dirty, messy rough draft down on paper. It’s been said you can’t edit an empty page. Eventually you will not only accept but come to value revision as an important part of your creative process. Embrace it. But don’t let your internal editor in the room while you’re getting that dirty draft down.

What are you reading now?
I just finished The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. Before that One Paris Summer, a YA novel by Denise Grover Swank, Kulti by Mariana Zapata, Home Game by Odette Stone and before that, The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang, and Life and Other Near Death Experiences by Camille Pagan, as well as several Christina Lauren novels, including My Favorite Half-Night Stand which I loved. I haven’t read any historical in a while.

What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing. I’m working hard to get several new titles out in the next two years. Also right now I’m involved in a massive re-branding exercise, which will result in a new logo, pen name, web site, and new titles and covers on two of my books. This is all part of launching my next couple of books this year.

What is your favorite book of all time?
Pride and Prejudice.

Author Websites and Profiles
Mary Ann Clarke Scott Website
Mary Ann Clarke Scott Amazon Profile
Mary Ann Clarke Scott Author Profile Other Bookseller

Mary Ann Clarke Scott’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am Alicia F. Griffin, inspirational influencer and now author. Recently, I began my spiritual journey to acquire peace and a closer relationship to my God. The journey has been challenging and rewarding. I wanted to share my processes with people who may be spiritually lost or blinded and need to find their spiritual peace.

Our thoughts are powerful. Our thoughts are the largest spiritual battlefield. As a financial controller for many years, I recently realized that we can transform key financial processes and procedures into our spirituality. I walk you through the process of transformation and application on how to make spiritual investments in our daily lives to spiritually change our behavior and thinking.

Studies have shown that if we are able to resolve spiritual struggles over time, we would be able to grow, spiritual maturity. My goal is to again, walk you through the process of transformation and application to help you be spiritually peaceful and grow, spiritual maturity. I believe in my spiritual processes because I also apply the same processes in my life daily.

I am passionate about advocating for mental health. Our society has many distractions and corruptions, with the mentality of “to prey or to be preyed”. There are not enough resources or simple techniques offered or available. Inspired people, inspires people.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Makings of Our Spiritual Blueprint is my first and latest book. It is a short read, but impactful information about how to transform key financial processes and procedures into our spiritual portfolio.

As with finances, we have spiritual debts, revenues, and deferred revenue. Learn how the process of transformation and application in our daily lives to spiritually change our behavior and thinking to be spiritually healthy.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m a night owl and most of my brainstorming begins around midnight.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Joyce Meyers influenced me earlier in my life. I follow Joel Osteen, Pastor John Gray and most importantly The Bible (NKJV).

What are you working on now?
I save all my spiritual manuscripts. After I have quite a few saved, I’ll release my second book.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I feel websites such as this one is very attentive and supportive to self-published authors; truly appreciated.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Do not give up. Do not look back, only go forward.

What are you reading now?
The Bible

What’s next for you as a writer?
To touch and help as many people as possible find spiritual peace.

Author Websites and Profiles
Alicia F Griffin Website
Alicia F Griffin Amazon Profile
Alicia F Griffin Author Profile Other Bookseller

Alicia F Griffin’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hey y’all! I’m a Texas girl and a wife and a mom to a preteen boy and a pitbull. So far I’ve written 2 novellas and 5 novels.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called The Thing About Goodbye. It’s a YA/NA romance, and the first one in this genre of romance that I’ve written. I was actually sitting on my couch on Thanksgiving, after the food had been put away but before the shopping started, so full I could barely move and listening to my sisters talk, and in the way that it sometimes does, the muse struck and I had to write Camille’s story.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I’m in the thick of a manuscript and I really need to focus I play instrumental music and eat hard candy. I wrote The Thing About Goodbye playing Carter Burwell’s “Twilight” film score over and over while eating all the cinnamon disks.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Nora Roberts and Kristen Ashley. I started reading Nora when I was fourteen and I knew that I wanted to write then but it was Kristen Ashley who inspired me to quit making excuses and started publishing already.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on Nomad now. He will be book two in my Mischief Makers MC series. I’m so excited about his book because not only is he a member of the motorcycle club, he’s also a truck driver and I get to explore his travels some. I grew up on an eighteen-wheeler so I am stoked to write about it!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write the words down, even when you hate them. Keep going. Have a stranger read your book first. Pay for a professional editor, even though it can be expensive and always, always make sure you have a high quality cover.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Build your platform first. This will be so important to your future success.

What are you reading now?
Currently, I haven’t started my next book yet but my last book to read was Detour by Maren Lee (READ IT!!) and the book I am planning to start tonight is Praying for Rain by BB Easton.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Book, all the books.
Later this year I will be finishing the last book in my Texas Hearts series and adding adding two more to the Mischief Makers MC series and I am also working on a paranormal duet for late this year. I write what I’m passionate about and there is a whole lot there so next year it could be steam punk or time travel. The beauty in being an author is that I can do it all!

What is your favorite book of all time?
Wooooow. This is SUCH an unfair question. I’m breaking the rules and giving you more than one. 😉

The Windflower – Laura London
Montana Sky – Nora Roberts
Sweet Dreams – Kristen Ashley
Easy – Tammara Webber

Author Websites and Profiles
Flora Burgos Website
Flora Burgos Amazon Profile

Flora Burgos’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I write kissing books set in the small fictional town of Rivers End. I’ve currently got 11 published stories, and have many many more in progress! All are interwoven in the same story world. They are all contemporary romances (so far) some with intrigue/suspense and some with a touch of magic.

When I’m not writing I’m usually reading, cooking, walking along the water near my house in Vancouver, BC or hanging out with one of the many writers groups I belong to.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Dark & Stormy, and it was inspired by a wind storm induced blackout here that wiped out power to most of the province where I live for several days. Best estimate was about 750K people were without power, and it got me to thinking about what would happen if it was New Year’s Eve, and the power went out in the middle of a party at a building with an elevator…

I wanted to try something different and weave together 4 different characters who are friends, but neither of the couples have had the courage to act on their feelings. So you get two stories and two happily-ever-afters!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
A few LOL!

I like to do what I call “binge writing” where I will spend a lot of time preparing—getting to know the characters, figuring out basic plot points etc. and then I drop into the story and write as much as I can each day until it’s written. Then I spend a good deal of time on many rounds of revisions.

I also design the covers FIRST – before I write the book. I need to be able to “See” where the book is going, and set the tone and the feel and see that it’s real before I can really drop in deeply to the story and get it written. Then I can put the cover up as wallpaper on my laptop while I’m writing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
SO many authors that I love. Nora Roberts, Susan Wiggs, Kristan Higgins, Jill Shalvis… those are some of my favourites and they influenced the way I thought about stories.

Loads of writing books have made an impression, but I particularly love Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes. I found that one really helpful with breaking down the beats for a 2 POV story.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a book called MIDNIGHT. It’s a fun and different spin on a Cinderella story, but still woven into the Rivers End world. It’s book 2 in the O’Donnell family mini-series. It follows THE LIST which is available now.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My own mailing list is by far the best place I’ve ever found to promote my books. I have the best readers, and they’re super engaged so I have a lot of fun sending out little tidbits of behind the scenes stuff, and they are super supportive with buying the books/reading on KU and reviewing.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Write. Write. And then write some more! My only regret is that I didn’t have more finished books when I started releasing. And you’ll learn so much with each book that you write.

Also, start building your own mailing list at DAY 1 and then keep it up!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The most important thing you can do as an author is to put your energy into making sure you’re writing the best story you can.

Then it’s all about CONNECTING WITH YOUR READERS!

What are you reading now?
The Best Bride by Susan Mallery
Keep Going by Austin Kleon

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m going to keep on writing Rivers End romances! I have so many outlined, so many ideas, so many characters woven into existing books who want their own stories. So that’s my focus… to get them out of my head and my notes documents and into books where people can actually read them!

Oh, and my readers have been asking for longer books for ages. SO that’s next. A full length story as I’ve mostly written shorter stories and novellas until now.

What is your favorite book of all time?
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. No contest!

Author Websites and Profiles
CJ Hunt Website
CJ Hunt Amazon Profile
CJ Hunt Author Profile Other Bookseller

CJ Hunt’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Jolie Moore is a new pen name for a USA Today bestselling author of romance. Taming the Bad Boy will be Jolie’s first title.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My upcoming release is Taming the Bad Boy. As an author I’m continually captivated by those heroes and heroines who live life on the margins. In this case both have very non traditional careers.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so, although I once wrote an entire book in bed. I’d start writing on my laptop in the morning and not get out of bed until I was done for the day. My back didn’t like that.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The most influential authors have been Lynley series author Elizabeth George and the hundreds of Harlequin series authors whose books I devoured in my childhood.

What are you working on now?
Right now I’m working on book 2 of a romance trilogy following a single couple. The first book, What Was Perfect, releases in July. I’m writing What Was Lost now. It’s about a couple that meets and falls in love in their teens. They’re in love with each other for over twenty years, but never at the same time.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook, Instagram, and my own website are the best for reaching a broad group of new readers.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Rinse. Repeat.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
ABC. Apply butt to chair. You can’t edit what you haven’t written.

What are you reading now?
I’m immersed in non-fiction as I write. My current read is a book called The One Thing by Gary Keller. It builds upon the lessons learned from reading Essentialism by Greg McKeown. It all boils down to: life is short, do what matters.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My current goals are to reach as many new readers as possible with my crazy, beautiful, love stories.

What is your favorite book of all time?
Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Recently my nine year old son asked me this very same question. I answered with the title at which point he looks at me from across the kitchen counter and says, ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” I was so amazingly proud that he knew the first lines of my very favorite book.

Author Websites and Profiles
Jolie Moore Website
Jolie Moore Amazon Profile
Jolie Moore Author Profile Other Bookseller

Jolie Moore’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written ten books (wow! That’s the first time I put down that number, as I’m just finishing up two more books). I love to say I’m a high-flying, deep-diving, life-loving author — and what’s true in my life is true in my books.
When I’m not flying planes, scuba diving, climbing every mountain (on the back of my husband’s motorcycle) or riding the world’s fastest roller coasters, you can find me in my writing nest with a view of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains out the window. I’ve lived all over–from both oceans white with foam, to the prairie, and now to the mountain. Yes, a little backwards, but what the hey.
My bestselling and award-winning novels go as high and deep as I do—they’re profound yet funny; playful although poignant; heart-opening and heart-lifting; thought-provoking and inspiring; and edgy while universal. I’m also a screenwriter and award-winning filmmaker and humanitarian.
I know it’s all about genre these days, and mine is a little complicated. My novels could fall under women’s literature, powerhouse chick lit (hey! I heard that….Jane Austen’s books and The Help are considered chick lit, so I’m in very good company), romantic comedy, inspirational/metaphysical/visionary, and fantasy/science fiction—and for a couple of my books it’s all of these at the same time! The main thrust of my stories is taking an odd, convoluted situation (a starbeing ending up in Kansas, anyone?) and providing myriad deep insights with usually even more laughs.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Fresh off the Starship, about a starbeing who was supposed to end up in Washington, D.C., where she could be of service on a grand, geopolitical scale, but ended up in…Kansas!
I’ve wanted to write about something that takes place in Western Kansas ever since my husband – a former Kansas farmboy – took me there; I met his wonderfully charming relatives and fell in love with the land. I’m from the East Coast and lived on the West Coast for most of my adult life. When I tell people I lived in Kansas, their eyes glaze over…like I’m sure mine did at one point. I wanted to show these Kansas folks’ depth, sincerity, and wisdom – they’re definitely not the bunch of “hicks” so many may think.
I heard a line from the movie Starman many years ago – something along the lines of “You humans are at your best when you’re at your worst.” I’ve wanted to create my own starbeing for decades and have to look through her eyes to see how beautiful we humans can be and how amazing life on Earth is. It was really fun to have to imagine taking a sip

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I wouldn’t say I have any unusual writing habits, but I do have a few that work very well. First, I sit down at an uninterruptible, appointed time every workday. Second, I create a playlist for each book; after a while, as soon as I turn on the music, I’m right in mood and setting of the book – it’s Pavlovian. Even today, if I hear a song from the Angels on Overtime playlist from six or seven years ago, I’m back driving through the mountains of Idaho or down the LA freeway.

I guess my strangest habit is that I have a writing “nest” – a comfy sofa that faces out a window where I have a view of a grove of trees and a beautiful garden. I have a desk, too, but I never seem to write there. I put my laptop on a huge, thick cushion on my legs, and I’m more comfortable than at a desk plus my posture is better. I’ve written five books on that sofa. Oliver, our parrot, is right next to me enjoying the view, too, along with some neck scratches when I’m taking a break.

I generally write after breakfast and then spend the afternoons doing things like marketing work (which can be endless) and recording audiobooks. I’m converting a couple of my books into screenplays, and that sure takes a while.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love Dan Brown and Kathleen McGowan, with their twists on what’s been accepted as history as well as the current status quo. Jean Houston is one of my sheros. I had the opportunity to work with/edit for Barbara Marx Hubbard when I was much younger, and it was like she picked me up by the scruff of the neck and lifted me up to a whole new level, saying, “You’re going to live way up here now.” I’m so grateful.

What are you working on now?
I put out two books last year and I’m expecting the same for this year. One is called The Life of My Love, which is about finding the love of your life (something I’ve done very well!). The second book is about three generations of women: an aging hippie flower child, a middle-aged arch conservative, and a trans woman college student—all under one roof. What could go right?

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Websites that are dedicated to readers are the best. Goodreads, Discount Booksy, All Author, of course Awesome Gang and Pretty-Hot, and websites like that are better than Facebook and Twitter for ongoing marketing.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing! Show up to, as the adage goes, “put the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair” at a pre-arranged, uninterruptable time every workday, and the book will get written. Even if you have only fifteen minutes a day, little by little a book can get done.

Some writers are plotters, where they outline and pre-arrange the book before writing it. I’m definitely not one of them. I write whatever wants to be written that day and then tie those pieces together.

For me the most important thing is being open to the music from the muse and the changes it might bring. I once said to a screenwriting professor that my writing surprises me sometimes. “You mean you say, ‘I can’t believe I just wrote that?’” she asked. The class laughed, and so did I. But…well…yes, I do mean that, LOL.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Persistence, persistence, persistence.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading WHERE THE FOREST MEETS THE STARS, by Glendy Vanderah, which is about…a starbeing! I honestly didn’t know that when I bought it on Bookbub. I was captivated by the cover. What a small world, since my last book was about a starbeing.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m finishing up two books, as I mentioned, and I have a sequel to Fresh off the Starship in mind. One of my books is getting pitched to traditional publishers, so that’s exciting. And no matter what happens with that, I’ll keep on writing, putting them out, writing some more, putting them out, too, and…..

What is your favorite book of all time?
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. 🙂

Author Websites and Profiles
Ann Crawford Website
Ann Crawford Amazon Profile
Ann Crawford Author Profile Other Bookseller

Ann Crawford’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written over 40 books, and I’m a Nerdette – fan of DC comics and Star Trek and magic and used to draw cartoons to amuse my son and as a side job. I knew I wanted to be a writer the first time I walked into the Philadelphia library at 5 years old and my entire world opened up. Survived a diagnosis of terminal cancer 10 years ago and been making a point of reaching further and further ever since. Grateful for everything.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Peabrain’s Idea is the start of a brand new series – The Peabrain Adventures and a new universe. I came up with the start of this idea two years ago but other ideas, other projects intervened. Then last October my big sister, Diana died suddenly. She was the one who taught me about DC comics and Star Trek and how to make cherries jubilee and light it on fire. She also leaned into her dreams from a young age and taught me the universe is enormous – go get yours. So, it was time to start – and the sister in the story is based on her (same name). Gives me a chance to visit with her every day again, at least for a little longer.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I used to be a newspaper journalist (for anyone wondering -what’s a newspaper well, sigh…) and learned early to just keep writing. And I was a single mother from the jump and then there was that cancer diagnosis, and then the Great Recession. All of that adds up to my most unusual writing habit – no matter what, I just keep going and believe for better. Been really paying off lately.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Michael Chabon (Summerland), William Styron (Sophie’s Choice), The Grapes of Wrath, The Scarlet Letter, Lord of the Rings, Alice in Wonderland and The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

What are you working on now?
The Peabrain Adventures – Find the compass, save the world or save herself?

For Austin robbery detective Maggie Parker, dating is harder than running down a felon, even if the guy is worth it – just ask Jake. Now add in magic.

When she finds someone breaking into her garage, stealing a favorite wooden puzzle box everything changes. Did she just see a compass fly?

Can she learn how to use the magic of bubbles to chart a new course in time? The mechanics may hold the answer.

Her new quest: Rescue the passengers on an ancient ship – a big blue marble called Earth – and save herself.

Recover the compass, find the other Elementals and help decide Earth’s fate.

Simple? It’s a lot harder than it sounds. And there’s that fourth date…

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My best method has been to organically grow my newsletter and create a strong connection in my Facebook group through constant contact, talking about what’s going on in my life and giveaways/contests.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Work on your cover and your blurb and learn as much as you can. At the same time, start a Facebook page and a group and start to build an audience. Write a 3k word short and give it away to potential readers in exchange for signing up for your newsletter.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
No matter what, just keep going and listen as if your mind could be changed. It’s not a competition. There’s room for everyone to succeed.

What are you reading now?
Fairytales of a Trailer Park Queen by Kimbra Swain

What’s next for you as a writer?
Expand this new universe, work on an anthology with some other UF authors, write a non fiction about the spiritual side of writing and have some fun – have a lot of fun.

What is your favorite book of all time?
The Grapes of Wrath

Author Websites and Profiles
Martha Carr Website
Martha Carr Amazon Profile

Martha Carr’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a multi-genre author based in northwest Montana. Along the winding trail to becoming a novelist, I’ve been the queen of odd jobs! I’ve lived in far-flung corners of the United States and worked as a journalist, school bus driver, Good Humor ice cream girl, fishing boat mate, and race horse hot walker, among other things.

Bell-Bottom Gypsy: A Jessie Morgan Novel is my third published novel and a departure from my other novels, both of which are historical fiction set in the 1650s. Bell-Bottom Gypsy is a wild 1970s ride… an adventurous coming of age journey along America’s back roads. It is Book One of the Jessie Morgan Series.

My first novel, Spirited Away – A Novel of the Stolen Irish, paints an intimate portrait of 1650s Irish slavery in the Caribbean. It was a 2013 finalist in The Kindle Book Review’s Best Indie Book Awards as well as a quarter-finalist in the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards Competition. The book has 226 Amazon reviews.

Daring Passage, my second novel, tells the rest of the story begun in Spirited Away. Delighted readers call it “a stunning sequel.”

I’m already working on Book Two of the Jessie Morgan Series.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Bell-Bottom Gypsy: A Jessie Morgan Novel. I was inspired to write it because I wanted to capture the feeling of the early ’70s, a unique time in America — especially for young women. The novel is loosely based on my own experiences on the road during those years. (Loud emphasis on the word LOOSELY!) Again and again I have told some of my travel stories to friends. I kept thinking, “Shut up and write these stories down!” So, finally I have done that and I’m so glad I did it. Happy reading!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Is it unusual to write books in a recliner, on a laptop? If so, then yes, I do have unusual writing habits.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Toni Morrison, Barbara Kingsolver, Anna Quinlen, Anne Tyler

What are you working on now?
Book Two of the Jessie Morgan Series!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Honestly, I don’t have a favorite. I try to use as many as I can, and I appreciate all of them.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes. Go for it, and write what you want to write. Try to develop a very thick skin for the criticism that is bound to come with publication. We authors really put ourselves out there when we publish our books. Don’t let anything stop you!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I love this advice quote from Thoreau: “Our lives are frittered away by detail. Simplify! Simplify!”

What are you reading now?
I just finished Michelle Obama’s memoir, and it was great.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I am tackling this four-book Jessie Morgan Series, which will keep me plenty busy for a while. Beyond that, I have no idea.

What is your favorite book of all time?
To Kill a Mockingbird. I absolutely love this novel.

Author Websites and Profiles
Maggie Plummer Website
Maggie Plummer Amazon Profile

Maggie Plummer’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My husband kept hounding me to write my first book, The Garden of Souls. As it was based on my teachings, it wasn’t hard to write because all the references I used in my theology classes were already completed. My second novel, The Truth and Nothing but Lies, was based on my experience volunteering in a crisis pregnancy center. The next two books, The Night Shadow and The Touch of a Shadow, I used my growing up in LA during the sixties as the backdrop. They’re great mysteries based on a ballet (The Night Shadow) and photography (The Touch of Shadow).

Feeling a bit constrained by the small press, I’ve ventured out into short story writing, and have published shorts in two separate anthologies: The Day of the Dark: Stories of Eclipse, “Black Monday” is my story, and No Trace, “Sacred Harp” is my entry.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I haven’t a title yet for the third in the Shadow series. It ties up delving into the parentage of Esther Charlemagne, and how tied Aiden “Mac” McManus is to her, long before they met at the NYPD and became partners.

Connections between people has always fascinated me. It never ceases to amaze me how many people are connected to each other in ways we’ve never imagined.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I love Brazilian music. I can’t understand a word, but the music is so soothing and I can get lost in the soft beat and sound of the voices. If I’m feeling a bit uninspired, I put on a great noir film. That usually does the trick for me.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I read so much that those authors I absolutely love always give me the inspiration I need for plotting and characters. Graham Greene has certainly had a strong hand in inspiring my Shadow series. It’s not specifically his plots or characters, but the feel of Brighton Rock, or The Heart of the Matter. The characters feel claustrophobic, the darkness surrounding them. It’s the way I wanted my characters to feel as they tried to uncover the truth of the cases they worked.

What are you working on now?
I have a novella and a novel I’m working on. The novella is an adult fairytale and the novel is a new character Craig Johnson’s, Longmire series inspired. My hero is half Comanche and half French, and receives dreams and visions to help him solve crimes.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Short-stories are the best method I know of to find readers who want a taste of your writing style and subject matter. I keep submitting shorts when I can.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Prepare for rejection. It’s the best advice I can give. Also, read, read, read, read. You don’t have to write everyday, but you should read everyday.

When i say prepare for rejection, you must remember that all the gatekeepers love and hate stories subjectively. Just because you’re rejected doesn’t mean your story is bad. Also, conversely, it doesn’t mean it’s good. Look at rejection as a means to better yourself, or try again.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Prepare for rejection. It’s what happened to me, and what I’ve learned. I still get rejected even though I’m published. There are trends in writing, too. Sometimes the trend dies. When you realize that every agent, editor, and publisher is a year ahead of everyone, you’ll see that trends come and go. Your story today may not make it, but it might tomorrow, or a year from now.

What are you reading now?
Smiley’s People, by John Le Carre; I, Robot, by Issac Asimov; The Wrong Side of Goodbye, by Michael Connelly; Sanctuary, by William Faulkner; and Great American Detective Stories, editor Anthony Boucher.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have five more short stories I’m submitting to different magazines and contests, and a novella I’m self-publishing, unless a publisher picks it up. I also have a new detective I’m working on.

What is your favorite book of all time?
It’s hard to beat the Bible, but I have several other’s I love also: The Brother’s Karamazov, and poetry by Yeats. All of them make me weep for joy, with sadness, with devotion. Each time I read any of them, I learn something new.

Author Websites and Profiles
Cheri Vause Website
Cheri Vause Amazon Profile

Cheri Vause’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a former teacher who quit her day job to pursue her dream-writing. I’m using this time to focus on developing my writing and my platform. I’m so thankful to have this opportunity; I don’t want to waste a single minute of it.
I’ve written four books.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Captain Hook: Villain or Victim?
I really enjoy reading retold or fractured fairy tales. After reading The True Story of the Three Pigs, I thought it would be fun to write one about Captain Hook and it was a blast. I giggled my way through many of the scenes. The main character is so ridiculous at times.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I try to find a soundtrack for most of the stories I write.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
J.K. Rowling, Lloyd Alexander, Eric Carle, Kevin Henkes

What are you working on now?
I started another fractured fairy tale for the online publication I write for, Coffee House Writers. It’s titled The Enchanted Press. The main character is interviewing other fairy tale characters who’ve been victims of crimes (ex. 3 Bears had a home invasion).

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is a tough one for me to answer as I’m still figuring it out. But, I’d have to say your website it pretty awesome. Thanks so much for supporting authors.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes, read, write, repeat. Join a writer’s group and find a good editor. And, write for yourself; write the story you want to read. Keep at it. Anything that’s worth it is a lot of work.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Use an umbrella when it rains outside so you don’t get wet.

What are you reading now?
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It’s probably my hundreth time.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have a few manuscripts I’d like to develop more and then publish. I’ll also continue writing on my educational blog, Lemon Drop Literary, interviewing authors on my website and writing for Coffee House Writers.

What is your favorite book of all time?
The Harry Potter Series. It’s a package deal.

Author Websites and Profiles
Ellwyn Autumn Website
Ellwyn Autumn Amazon Profile

Ellwyn Autumn’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a New York born southern belle at heart. Now living in Nashville, TN I am working on my 4th novel. It continues to have the same message as the rest — strong, independent women paving their own path in life. I’m a dreamer. I believe that everything is possible. Travel is where I find inspiration and I take a trip every chance I get.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Behind the Strings was inspired by my love of country music and a little bit of behind the scenes life when I was in the midst of it.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am a night owl. I write best anytime between 10pm and 3am. There are many nights I wrap of writing as the sun is rising.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Emily Giffin has always been my greatest influence. I love her sass and her ability to challenge her reader’s thinking.

What are you working on now?
Behind the Strings is a 2 part novel. I’m currently working on the second half hoping to reveal the ending of the 1st book’s cliffhanger in 2019!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I love blogging! It continues to feed my passion for writing and allows me to expand my audience.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never stop writing and write what you love. Don’t write what you think others want to read. Stay true to yourself and you audience will find you.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney

What are you reading now?
I just finished the book “Girl, Wash Your Face,” by Rachel Hollis. It’s incredibly motivating!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I will continue to write novels as stories come to me. I’ve never put myself on a timeline because I want it to be natural. That’s why I travel so much. I am inspired by all around me and am always looking for my next story.

What is your favorite book of all time?
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Author Websites and Profiles
Courtney Giardina Website
Courtney Giardina Amazon Profile

Courtney Giardina’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was a flight attendant for a major international airline and have been writing for over fifteen years. I decided to write action adventure, and what fun it’s been. I love doing research, (who loves that?). The Royal Danish Egg is book 1 in the Lost Treasures series. It’s a historical fiction series about famous, still lost treasures. There will be five books in the series.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Royal Danish Egg, book 1 in the Lost Treasures series, was inspired by my interest in the seven, still lost, Faberge eggs. What would happened if someone found it today? What would they do if they were hunted down and ordered to turn over the egg to an unknown organization? The fact that one of Faberge’s eggs was found around 2014, the Third Imperial Easter Egg, shows that anything can happen.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I put my phone on Do Not Disturb. I get too distracted by texts and calls when I’m writing. But, I don’t think that’s an unusual habit.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
James Patterson, Dan Brown, Clive Cussler. I love John Flannagan’s young adult Ranger’s Apprentice series. Oh, and Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series.

What are you working on now?
I’m editing book 2 in the Lost Treasures series and writing the first draft of book 3. Each book is about a different, still lost treasure.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m looking for that now.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing, keep editing. When you’re ready to submit somewhere, reread the manuscript again for typos and punctuation errors, even if you’ve read it over and over again. Make it as clean a manuscript as possible for submission.
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What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Everyone gets rejected. Keep submitting. Don’t give up. Someone will love your story.

What are you reading now?
Not much, but I have two John Flanagan books, the first in his Brotherband series on my end table.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To continue working on the Lost Treasure series.

What is your favorite book of all time?
Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon. I’ve read it over and over.

Author Websites and Profiles
Barbara Goodwin Website
Barbara Goodwin Amazon Profile

Barbara Goodwin’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Roxanne San Jose, I am born in the Philippines but I now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. I graduated with a degree in Political Science in University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

I wrote two books so far: Annagram and Time Travel

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Time Travel. It will be released on April 15. Pre-order starts now at https://www.avid-publishing.com/product-page/time-travel

I love reading books so it inspired me to write one

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Laying down in bed with my laptop writing books while watching television.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Any books I read so far

What are you working on now?
Promoting my second book

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

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be creative and work hard

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Do whatever makes you happy

What are you reading now?
Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

What’s next for you as a writer?
For now, promoting my second book

What is your favorite book of all time?
Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

Author Websites and Profiles
Roxanne San Jose Website
Roxanne San Jose Author Profile Other Bookseller

Roxanne San Jose’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
After working for years as a personal trainer, it occurred to me that something was missing from my life, so one day I picked up a pad of paper and started writing the first draft of my first novel. Three months later, I wrote “the end” on the last page of my manuscript and put it away happier and more complete than I could remember feeling in a very long time. I didn’t start submitting my work until the beginning of last year. Since then, I’ve signed multiple book deals through different publishers. My best-selling post apocalyptic novel, After the Change, (published by MKM Bridge Press) has been introduced into the curriculum at the University of Washington. I’ve also authored Bronte’s Ride (also published by MKM Bridge Press), and the young adult series, Ninja Girl (which is being published this year by Rainier Publishing House. Book One has been adapted into a play and will be performed in Seattle this summer by Earthseed Seattle.)

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
A few years ago, I wrote a short story titled, “Highway Nine.” Though I liked the way it came out, the protagonists never got an explanation as to what the monsters were, and where they came from. I wanted closure on the matter. Even if my heroes never got answers, I needed them, so I wrote Highway Twenty to learn more. I just started shopping it around this week actually.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Writing is such a personal and intimate thing, that it’s hard to say where my process differed from others’. I do most of my first draft work in longhand, which I imagine is becoming less frequent these days. I don’t work from an outline. I know some authors do, but it has a negative effect on my creativity. I find the story’s able to play out more organically and less predictable if I don’t plot it too heavily.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
As soon as I learned to read, I tore through the Goosebumps series. Then, in the third grade, I found a box of dusty Stephen King and V.C. Andrew novels in a closet in my Mom’s bedroom. I read The Shining in three days when I was eight. I think I chose that one first because I liked the reflective cover. I used to read every Christopher Pike book I could get my hands on. The entire young adult and horror genres have been major influences on me from early on, and they’re what I still prefer to read. Mixing them in my own writing comes so naturally that I tend to do it without meaning to sometimes.

What are you working on now?
I’m actually working on Book Two of After the Change, a post apocalyptic YA series about three teens who set out to rebuild society inside of a prison.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I like Facebook. It works well for me.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Publish wherever you can. Focus more on getting your work out, than making money. Building a resume is so important in the beginning.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Instead of trying to be better than everybody around you, just strive everyday to be better than the guy in the mirror.” This advice was actually given to me by the guy in the mirror.

What are you reading now?
How to be Human, by Paula Cocozza.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’d like to see some of my short pieces appear in magazines. I have enough to fill a book, and I haven’t done much with them yet, so I plan to start shopping them around very soon.

What is your favorite book of all time?
My favourite book of all time is Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrew.

Author Websites and Profiles
Michael J Moore Website
Michael J Moore Amazon Profile

Michael J Moore’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account