Featured Interview With Sr. Robichaud

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am a born and raised Maine native who was raised on Disney movies and Harry Potter books, what more can I say? My mind likes creative things. I am currently still living in the great state of Maine. Writing, reading, painting, and cooking are some things I am passionate about. Putting bits of myself or people I love into the characters I create gives me a sense of thrill. I also greatly enjoy steaming hot herbal tea poured into mugs with encouraging sayings on them, or mermaid tales. Oh, and I am a mom! My children are fourteen and ten and neither of them cares that I write books. A dream of mine is that one day I’ll be considered a “cool mom.” I’m not there yet. My dogs, however, all three of them, think I am pretty awesome, so that is almost as good. Jada, Lando, and Zeke are their names, all rescue dogs and big snuggle bugs.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I wrote my first short story in 4th grade, I think. I was young and it was a Halloween story that I used to enter a writing contest. I won third place in the whole school and bought body glitter with my winnings. I read for enjoyment since then. My obsession started with the Goosebumps books before moving on the Harry Potter. And now, I have read plenty of different styles and genres.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
The Brothers Grimm and J.K Rowling are huge influences for me, but can I be honest? Television shows like Once Upon A Time, and comics like iZombie are HUGE in my life, too. I like to keep a wide variety of all things slightly geeky to keep my ideas coming. I love it all. Currently, I am reading “And the Mountains Echoed,” by Khaled Hosseini, and can I just say that I adore his writing. The way he tells his stories with such detail, it makes you wish that you could be there. I think it is inspiring, and enlightening.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
King Beckford’s fulfilling reign over the kingdom of Leward was disturbed by an unwanted intruder, who had upsetting news for the future. The prophecy of a child overthrowing his reign sent King Beckford into a murderous rage. Determined not to lose his kingdom, he enlisted the help of a strange psychic.
Bringing Gerica home to be raised in the castle was an odd choice for a man of power, but killing to get his way was not. In order to ensure the future of his kingdom, he took Gerica under his wing and raised her as his own. But she was much different than the King was lead to believe. Followed by devious shadows, and stalked by nightmares, Gerica was not what the King had in mind.
The King let danger into his castle the day Gerica came to stay, and before long death had a grip of the castle, forever changing the faith of Leward. Trapped between her life now and the life she should have had, Gerica has to find herself while in the middle of chaos.

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Featured Interview With P.I. Barrington

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am now an ex-Californian living in the Southern US! Raised in California, I always planned to die there (or in Maine). Well, I did just that. In 2015, I fell over dead from my desk with a cardiac arrest! I was dead for 25 minutes and woke up in a rehab facility. My sister insisted we move closer to the rest of the family in case it happened again. So far, I’ve been fine but that same sister passed away a year later from cancer. I’m still shell-shocked from her passing. So, if I’ve learned anything, it’s being careful what you wish for ’cause you just might get it.
I now have 2 dogs, my sister’s MaltiPoo, Whiskey Pete and his sister, my dog, CupCake. Yes, I know they sound like an old gold miner and a prostitute. We named Whiskey Pete after the casino, Whiskey Pete’s on the California/Nevada line. We love them both.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
It was more a fascination with reading and books themselves, especially when my little public grade school took us to its library. You could read books for free! (That was also when I began my lifelong obsession of keeping library books because I believed that no one else would love and care for them as I would–you could read them for free, but you could not keep them for free. My name was on that library list until I was about 43 and I insisted they expunge my name. True story.) Writing wasn’t something I ever really thought about until one day in 3rd grade when the principle of my school announced that we all had to write a story about how to care for and preserve the flag written in First Person point of view. “What a dumb thing to do!” I thought, but I wrote it. Guess what? Yes, you are correct. I won First place out of the entire school district! That was right around the time I mastered cursive. From then on, I spent all of my time fighting not to write but it chased me around like my shadow. I ended up a news reporter, a news director in radio before I gave in to writing at the perfect time for me. I’d never wanted to write because writing fiction wasn’t a “real job” and I wasn’t the dramatic artsy type. But but when I gave in to that artsy side, it was all over for me—I kept wondering why I didn’t focus on it before.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I’ve read everything from John Milton to MAD Magazine. Stephen King is still the one who influenced me the most. I love his writing, it’s dramatic and deep but still very accessible to people. I loved Mary Stewart, Tolkien, Colleen McCullough, James Michener, So many I can’t list them!
My favorite genre has to be near-future (I call it that because I never set my books further than 100 years from now) crime thrillers & sort of dystopian genres.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The latest, which will be released at the end of this month, May 30 to be exact, is The Brede Chronicles, Book Two. It picks up a year after where Book One ended on its cliffhanger. Book Two is more of a mystery, however, with all sort of goings on in that Brede family dynamic. I was writing this book while my sister was going through chemotherapy. It was difficult but I think it got me through that and through her death. It may sound cruel and uncaring, but I couldn’t have handled it without writing. I took about six or eight months to write it and my publisher was understanding. Normally, I can kick out a story in about 4 months and kick up the action too. Book Two has everyone scattered across the galaxy, and I even added more characters! I don’t know if readers will love or hate them, but they’re there. I hope everyone will enjoy this new book! (FYI, The Brede Chronicles, Book One is $0.99 at Smashwords): https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=The+Brede+Chronicles+Book+One

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Featured Interview With Candace J Carter

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m a South Carolina-based writer, but grew up in rural Ohio, near Kentucky. I joined the military and did a little traveling. Following military service, I received veterinary degree from Iowa State University. Private practice wasn’t my passion, so I took a job in Colorado with the US Department of Interior. I ended up spending most of my professional career with the National Park Service, where I’ve worked with several threatened and endangered species including the black-footed ferret, Florida scrub-jay, and four species of sea turtles. Muddy Waters is my first published mystery.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t reading books. I probably started writing in grade school but didn’t get serious until college. It still took a long time before I actually got serious about finishing and editing a book. So here I am, retired and finally published.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I grew up reading books about horses and westerns by Louis L’Amour and Max Brand. Of course, my favorite books are traditional mysteries. I enjoy British mysteries, too. Occasionally I will read a romance or a western.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
It’s about a Colorado range detective, Henry “Whispering” Smith, who goes home to North Carolina for his uncle’s wedding. He hasn’t been there in a long time, and of course there are issues to deal with while there. His uncle pushes him to reconcile with his father. He runs into an ex-girlfriend. It wouldn’t be a mystery without someone being murdered. The local police think cattle theft is involved. Henry has mastered some unique skills as a range detective, and he uses them to try and track a killer.

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Featured Interview With Ian Evian

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in North Philadelphia and I still reside in the city. I now reside in the upper part of Philadelphia. I graduated from Temple University in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in Film and Media Arts. Next I attended Temple University Japan in the study abroad program and studied Asian Studies: Japanese Popular Culture (Manga) & Comparative Studies in Japanese Anime. At the end of college, I became a freelance screenwriter, writing independent projects. Screenwriting was my first passion, but then I went back into writing short fictions.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I always had an active imagination. Creating stories as a kid, I would say, was the catalyst for my storytelling. I had watched movies a lot, some cases I would watch them over and over again. Video games were also a huge part of my life as well. It wasn’t until 7th grade where I wrote my very first short story. Ms. Kane, our teacher, introduced me and the class to reading novels. The first novel I read was S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. That led to writing my first story for class. I remember being so into it, it felt like the only thing that existed was the world that I was creating in word form, and nothing else. That’s how deep in thought I was in when writing. And when I reached high school, I took writing more serious, which led to my decision to be a screenwriter.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
George Orwell is one of my inspirations due to his idea of a future that depicted the troubles of society due to a higher form of authority, giving the thought that such totalitarianism could exist and reshape social grounds. It makes you think about how order is perceived through the eyes of men and women that appear to be molded into somebody affected by extreme change. Edgar Allen Poe is another inspiration. I really liked the dark tone he sets in his works. They were written so well, it came off as if he was a romantic writing tragedy and mystery. I’m also a huge fan of Rod Serling and the original Twilight Zone, along with Akira Kurosawa, Hayao Miyazaki and Takashi Miike who are great Japanese creators.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I wrote Children of Gods because it takes on the idea of a human’s relationship with technology. Every day we are introduced with a new form of technology or device that will make our lives better. But also within the shadows of our world, there is technology that is used for bad intentions like weaponry of war and destruction. That’s what the title of my manuscript represents. We live in a world where everyone takes on the role of God and create. In the story, the characters are made by these men and women, and shapes them into becoming something more than human. It was an interesting concept to take on as it deals with our reality in the future that we live in now. It took closely to a year to create a compelling story, and numerous edits, adding and deleting ideas written. It was fun to do. I liked how it came out.

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Featured Interview With Laolu Otiko

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m a pencil artist by day, and a poet, author, overall storyteller by night. I grew up in a sub-urban town; Akure, in Nigeria. With a mix of exposure to the urban/western lifestyle, through cable TV, and a reality of superstitious beliefs, through my immediate environment. I grew to see the world from differing perspectives and it helped groom my narrative skills. I live in Lagos; Nigeria, now. A fast paced city, with lots of people and lots of stories to tell. I enjoy the madness of the city, as an observer.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I can’t place the exact age I got fascinated with books, but I got into comic books really early. Archie comics and DC were my first points of contact, and at the age of 10, I created my first comic book. It was something about the capture of Osama bin Laden by the American army. Yes, I was 10 when I made that. Writing, for me, started about two or three years after that. I got into a lot of poetry and songwriting. It was mostly rap songs, so both mediums had a good convergence for my young brain, I think.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have a few favourite authors. From Wendelin Van Draanen, to Chimamanda, to Shakespeare, Wole Shoyinka, Robin Cook, and a host of others. I must not understand the meaning of the word; favourite.
My favourite genre to read is romance, don’t let the looks fool you. I get inspired by too many things and people, to think of just one thing or person. The inspiration for what I’m currently working on however, came from the shape of a character’s mustache, in a Spanish telenovela. Yeah, I watch them, and I love them.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book, “Roving Birds” (not out yet) is a romance short. It’s about love from the perspective of someone who is unworthy, or thinks so; of their self. It explores the thoughts we have when in love, those ones that remain thoughts, and how these thoughts are interpreted from different vantage points. I’m trying to be very vague but it’s quite hard, as I’m very excited about the book.
It is a short story infused with poems, so it only took two months to write it. That’s excluding the two months of re-drafts however. By re-draft I mean you write something really amazing before going to bed, you wake up the next morning, read it, and forget the night before; ever happened. Yes, two months of that.

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