Featured Interview With Joakim Lloyd Raboff

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m a Swedish-American writer and visual storyteller. I was raised in Los Angeles but have lived in Sweden for many years — currently based in Malmö, Sweden’s third largest city and close to Copenhagen. I’ve authored over 25 books, including documentary-style projects, travelogues, and humorous explorations like Phobias & Fears and The Aging Man’s Survival Guide.

While I don’t have any pets at the moment, I have had three dogs and one cat. I am a lifelong animal lover and spent a few years of my childhood on a farm in rural Sweden.

I’ve worked as a stand-in for Bruce Willis (Moonlighting) and on several other shows in the 1980s, which is in part why I became so inspired by storytelling.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Like most kids born in the 1960s, I started reading books series like Cat in the Hat. I wrote my first short story when I was 12 or 13 and after High School, I studied journalism. So, I’ve been writing for most of my life.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Here are some of my favorite authors. It’s a mixed bag, and I love switching genres.

Stephen King – I admire how King turns everyday situations into psychological minefields, making fear feel both intimate and inevitable.

Toni Morrison – Her language is like poetry wrapped in power — every sentence feels earned and unforgettable.

Frederick Forsyth – His precision and research-driven storytelling taught me the value of detail when crafting suspense and realism.

Isaac Asimov – Asimov’s ability to make vast, abstract ideas accessible continues to influence how I approach complex topics.

Douglas Adams – His mix of cosmic absurdity and razor-sharp satire reminds me to never take the universe — or myself — too seriously.

Haruki Murakami – Murakami’s surreal logic and emotional distance pull me into a world that feels like memory and dream at once.

Margaret Atwood – She balances dystopian terror with dry wit in a way that makes even the bleakest futures feel grippingly human.

George Orwell – Orwell’s clarity and moral urgency have shaped how I think about truth, power, and the weight of words.

Virginia Woolf – Woolf’s interior monologues taught me that introspection can be just as dramatic as action.

Agatha Christie – I love how she mastered misdirection — making you feel clever just before revealing you’ve missed everything.

Ernest Hemingway – His brutal simplicity and emotional restraint remind me how much power there is in what’s not said.

Gabriel García Márquez – His lush, layered prose feels like reading myth and history all at once — utterly transportive.

J.K. Rowling – She built a universe that’s both wildly imaginative and grounded in deeply relatable emotional truths.

Ray Bradbury – Bradbury’s nostalgic yet cautionary tone hits that rare nerve between wonder and warning.

Neil Gaiman – He seamlessly weaves myth, fantasy, and melancholy into stories that feel ancient and freshly imagined.

Salman Rushdie – Rushdie’s fearless language and mythological density always challenge me to think bigger and write bolder.

Kurt Vonnegut – His tragicomic tone is a reminder that absurdity and sorrow are often intertwined — and inseparable.

Leo Tolstoy – Reading Tolstoy feels like standing in front of a vast, emotional fresco of humanity at its most raw and complex.

Franz Kafka – Kafka’s bleak surrealism mirrors the anxiety of modern life in ways that still feel disturbingly accurate.

Joan Didion – Her cool detachment and incisive voice have influenced how I observe, distill, and dissect the world around me.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Phobias & Fears started as a curiosity — and maybe, if I’m honest, as a bit of self-therapy. I began noticing how many people close to me had very specific fears. Some were classic, like spiders or flying. Others were more unusual — elevators, holes, even birds. The more I talked to friends and family, the clearer it became: fear is everywhere, and it doesn’t always make sense. And strangely, a lot of these phobias seemed to grow stronger with age.

So I decided to dig into it.

This book is a mix of things: part research, part observation, part storytelling. I explore how phobias develop, what’s happening in the brain when fear kicks in, and why certain anxieties latch onto us and refuse to let go. I also look at how fears evolve over time, how culture and upbringing influence what we’re afraid of, and even how animals experience fear.

But it’s not a clinical guide, and it’s definitely not a self-help manual. It’s more like a conversation — the kind you might have with a friend over coffee (or maybe something stronger if you’ve just had a run-in with a clown or a long-haul flight).

I wrote Phobias & Fears because I think it’s important to understand why we feel the way we do, especially when those feelings seem irrational. I hope readers will come away feeling a little more informed, a little less alone, and maybe even a bit amused. Because once you realize how common (and often bizarre) our fears are, they start to feel a lot less scary.

And if nothing else, you’ll learn to keep an eye out for ducks. Just in case.

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Joakim Lloyd Raboff’s Website

Featured Interview With JOHN DONKEYPLONK

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I live in the UK. I was born and raised in the London area but now live further north, in Sheffield, and I love it there. I have done a whole variety of jobs in my time, but the main one was 25 years in the UK civil service. I retired last autumn, but did do a comeback gig as a Father Christmas in a shopping centre for a couple of months!
I have two sons who live in London, and a stepdaughter who is at University in Leicester, but no pets.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was always a keen reader, right from the age of about 7 or so, I used to like adventure stories, but as a teenager, moved on to SF.
As a civil servant, I did enormous amounts of writing – official reports, guidance, briefing for Ministers, the lot. At that stage I had a couple of ideas for books but I never got round to doing anything about it, because I had a ready outlet for my need to write. It was not until I stopped doing that job that I realised how important writing was to me. I was asked to edit a book about Ugandan politics and that whetted my appetite. I started to write in earnest two years ago.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Jasper Fforde. He does what I am trying to do – introduce the absurd into the everyday and see how the everyday copes with it. I like his quirkiness, but you can find quirkiness where you least expect it, it doesn’t have to be futuristic or surreal. I recently read “The Sisters Brothers” by Patrick de Witt, which I would describe as a quirky Western; and loved it! So I have more of a favourite feel than a favourite genre.
I have read widely and I like to think that all the good stuff has inspired me to a degree at least.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The book that I have just released on Amazon is called “Prepare for the Zargian Delegation!” It is a satirical romp through the public service mindset, in which I use the impending arrival of a delegation from the Planet Zarg to poke fun at the gimmickry, pretentiousness and back-biting of the diverse group of public servants who are asked to draw up preparation plans. Whilst set in the UK I think it will appeal to anyone with a quirky or irreverent sense of humour, but perhaps in particular to current or former public servants, or anyone who has experienced the “groupthink” of a large corporation, I ran an early version past some ex-colleagues of mine and they found it both hilarious and alarmingly accurate!
It was quite quick to write, because I didn’t really have to do any research – it all came from my memory or my imagination. I suppose it took me about six months to write and six months to edit and publish.

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JOHN DONKEYPLONK Facebook Page

Featured Interview With Jad Phillip

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in Beirut—so storytelling came naturally. I now live with two mischievous kittens who think they’re dragons. Luke and Lea, except they’re not twins.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was five when I started reading, but even at three, I’d scribble nonsense and pretend I was writing a book.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I’ve always loved fantasy. GRR Martin, Neil Gaiman (controversy aside), J.K. Rowling, Diana Gabaldon, Cassandra Clare, and Suzanne Collins are some of my favorites. GRRM probably inspires me the most—with the sheer scope of what he was building (until D&D butchered it). That’s actually why I wrote a fanfiction retelling of Season 7—it’s up on Wattpad under my name!

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is The Crimson Crown, the epic finale of The Chosen and the Cursed series. It’s where everything comes full circle—magic, prophecy, betrayal, and love. Clara must finally face the monster within… and the one she might love. If you’re new to the series, start with The Jade Necklace, the Amazon bestseller that began it all.

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Jad Phillip Facebook Page

Featured Interview With Leland P Gamson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Growing up three miles outside of Washington, DC, I had a Huck Finn childhood with access to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. community land preserves, state parks, and the Potomac River. I was also a bus ride away from the wonders of our nation’s capital. I made frequent use of the library, making friends with Winnie-the-Pooh, Homer Price, and Snuffy the Tugboat. I was an Eagle Scout and began writing at a young age.
After completing an MSW from Catholic University, I moved to Marion, Indiana, to work at the VA as a caseworker and therapist. I enjoyed the challenge of the variety of assignments, including working in substance abuse, psychiatric admissions, as a homeless veteran coordinator, and running the residential care program.
Receiving a direct commission with the USAR, I pursued a parallel career, working in both a combat stress unit and a medical hospital unit. I retired as a light colonel and later served as a battalion commander with the Indiana Guard Reserve.
I wrote for the Wesleyan Church’s Sunday School curriculum for several years. Since retiring, I have focused on writing stories for young folks. I also do Bible characters and am involved in jail ministry. My LOKAEL: THE DONKEY WHO CARRIED JESUS was an Amazon Best Seller.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I do not remember ever not being fascinated with books and loving to both hear and tell a good story.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
C.S. Lewis, George McDonald, Garrison Keeler, Isaac B Singer, Mark Twain, George Orwell, Gertrude Compton, Aesop, to name a few favorites. I enjoy reading children’s books as my inner child is very much alive. I also enjoy Christian apologetics and the Bible.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
MALGRIM JOINS A GANG
Living with his humans, Malgrim was always well fed, safe, and had a big yard to play in. All this changed when a pack of stray dogs asked him to join them. Ignoring his sister’s advice, he left to live on the streets.

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Leland P Gamson’s Website