Featured Interview With Ian Johnson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I’m currently writing from my parent’s house in Milwaukee, but I’ll be leaving for New York City in two weeks to begin work as an english language arts instructor for the fall semester. I do not have any of my own pets, but my mom has an absolutely adorable maltese.
I earned my bachor of arts degree in philosophy in 2023. I also studied political theory at Goethe University in 2022. I attended graduate school to study political philosophy and ethics at the University of Pardubice in the Czech Republic in 2023 and 2024, but I left the program before finishing.
I attended a German immersion school when I was in kindergarted and first grade. I still speak enough German to make small talk with natives. I also picked up French in 2022. My French is much better than my German.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My mother is a librarian, and I’ve always been highly interested in reading. I started writing short horror stories in middle school, after I discovered Stephen King.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I am heavily influenced by existentialist literature (Dostoevksy, Sartre, Camus, Cioran, Kafka, Richard Wright etc.). I really appreciate Plato’s dialogues as well. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green is also one of my favorite books.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My debut novel, Notes from After Dusk, is an epistolary exploration of depression, sadness, and relationships. The novel also explores Liberalism, Existentialism, Marxism, phenomenological ontology, Hegelianism, and a myriad of other thought provoking themes.

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Ian Johnson’s Website

Featured Interview With Stuart Stromin

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Stuart Stromin is an award-winning South African-American writer and filmmaker in Los Angeles. He was educated at Rhodes University, South Africa, the Alliance Francaise de Paris, and UCLA. His latest novel is Wild Cards (Close2theBone Publishing), and his latest poetry chapbook is Sea of Troubles (Bottlecap Press), and his latest collection of short stories is subspace (EMP Publishing).

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I love stories so much that I began writing as soon as I could write! I was published at an early age, and have made writing part of my life and career.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I am stuck in the classics: Shakespeare, Dickens, Dostoevsky, Camus, Twain, Steinbeck, but sometimes a contemporary crime fiction treat, like Elmore Leonard.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
subpace, a collection of kinky tales and stories, dares to explore the deepest, darkest desires of the human psyche.

from the power dynamics of dominance and submission to the tantalizing allure of kleptomania and the raw exposure of exhibitionism, each story is sensually crafted in a high literary style.

encounter characters who surrender to their most forbidden fantasies and fetishes, who pursue gratification at any expense, and who venture into uncharted realms of passion, yearning, and redemption.

sometimes playful, sometimes poetic, always provocative, subspace embarks on a journey where kink intertwines with romance in a rich tapestry of tales which defy convention, and keep you begging for more.

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Stuart Stromin’s Website

Featured Interview With Kristina Elyse Butke

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hi! I’m Kristina, a YA Fantasy author based out of Ohio. I’m originally from Flushing, Queens, but have called Ohio home for most of my life, with the exception of two adventures–I lived in Wales for six months on a study abroad program, and lived in Japan for six years teaching English. The places I’ve lived influence my writing quite a bit, inspiring settings and even magical creatures. As far as creatures go, sadly I do not have any pets, but I absolutely adore cats.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was very young, in elementary school, when I realized I loved reading. In third grade I started writing stories. My teacher sold blank white hardcover books that you could illustrate and write in, and so my very first book was “The Fantasy Club.” I put all of my friends into that story, including myself, but stole the plot from TV. I was like that with writing for a while, using a sort of fanfiction way about it–taking something already made, and making the story last longer or changing it to suit my needs!

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite authors to read are Margaret Rogerson, Alix E. Harrow, Juliet Marillier, T. Kingfisher, N.K. Jemisin, Holly Black, and more. But those authors specifically are auto-buys for me because what I’ve read of their writing, I’ve ended up loving. I read fiction but I also read manga, so I have two favorite genres: in fiction, YA Fantasy; in manga, BL. Authors of YA Fantasy influence my writing the most, but of all the ones I’ve mentioned, I’d probably choose Margaret Rogerson as my biggest influence. I’ve loved every story she’s written. Meanwhile, Juliet Marillier is the author who made me want to write fiction.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My debut novel, SON OF THE SIREN, was written while I lived in Japan, so my time there definitely ended up influencing the writing, from settings to creatures from folklore. It’s also inspired by fairy tales, namely three: Allerleirauh, The Wild Swans, and The Little Mermaid. I took motifs from each fairy tale and then gender swapped characters and mushed everything into a single story. If you know those fairy tales, you’ll definitely see pieces of them in the book, but if not, you’ll just get a tale you’ve never read before!

It’s about Lirien, a half-siren who calls on siren powers to bring his father, the King, back from the sea. But a siren song’s true strength is seduction, and Lirien ensnares his stepmother, the Queen, with its melody. The Queen uses magic to force Lirien’s love, but instead it steals Lirien’s voice and turns his siblings into animals. Lirien will risk everything to break the spells, but his own curse haunts him should he stray too long from the sea.

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Kristina Elyse Butke’s Website

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Featured Interview With Rachna Singh

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am Rachna Singh, author & Editor of The Wise Owl, an international literary & art e-magazine. I have authored 5 books in different genres, the latest being Phoenix in Flames, a collection of short stories about ordinary women who become extraordinary because of the resilience, fortitude and grit.

My father was in the Indian army and was posted to a different place every few years. My sister and I loved exploring new places and meeting new people. Our childhood was one big adventure. Dad was often posted to remote army stations, but I enjoyed the solitude because my dad had inculcated in me a love for books and I spent all my spare time reading anything and everything I could lay my hands on.

I now live in Chandigarh (India), which is a beautiful town at the foot of the Shivalik hills.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My father, before he joined the Army, had been a professor of English literature. He loved books and passed on his passion to me. As a child I would spend hours pouring over books and magazines, completely lost to the world around me.

I was probably twelve when I started writing. To begin with my writing was more in the nature of musings and scribblings about any subject that interested me. As I grew up, I began writing for the school magazine. In college I joined an Honours course in English literature and eventually enrolled in a masters program in english literature. I then began to write literary pieces for national dailies in India.

Then a whimsical fate beckoned and I joined the Indian Revenue Service. After several years as a Taxwoman, I decided to pursue my passion, quit the IRS and became a full-time writer.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love to read a well-crafted book, be it poetry or fiction or creative non-fiction. My favourite writers are Shakespeare (King Lear), TS Eliot (The Wasteland) and Jane Austen. Among the contemporary writers I love reading Paul Lynch (Prophet Song) and Audrey Magee (The Colony).

Life offers inspiration to write.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
‘Phoenix In Flames’ is a book dedicated to all ordinary women, who with their defiant resilience and fortitude become heroic and extraordinary. Sana, Sahar, Malini, Mrityunjai, Utkarsha and other female protagonists grapple with their personal demons and tragedies. Some arise rejuvenated and reborn like the Phoenix, others perish, consumed by their own torment. Although from different echelons of society, these women are soul sisters as they are united in their grief and their ability to face the adversities of life with a smile. The book also dwells on social evils like gender bias, under-age marriage and domes8c violence.

Will the irreparable loss of her son push Malini to the brink of a numbing emptiness, or will she be reborn as the nurturer of all? Will Sana break through the dark clouds of an impending tragedy or will she perish in the flames of her anguish, never to rise again? Will Sahar be able to fight the desire for self- annihilation triggered by an incestuous relationship? Will the scars left by Farhan on Kudrat’s psyche heal? The readers will find the answers to these questions as they traverse the dark landscape of emotional tales of tormented souls.

In weaving together the stories of these women, I also dwell upon the treatment of women in our society today (both in India and outside). Sahar is disregarded by her father as she is a girl and is forced into marriage with a man old enough to be her father. Safeena is given up by her parents for adoption as she is a girl. Kudrat becomes the vic8m of domes8c and psychological violence in an apparently progressive urban household.

My stories find an echo in the lives of all women. The stories at times elicit a smile as ordinary women scale extraordinary heights. At other times they leave you misty-eyed at the tragic turn of events.

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Rachna Singh’s Website

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Featured Interview With Tammy Aiken

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am a cookbook author I only bake gluten free desserts. I bake for people with celiac disease. My dream is to be on Food Network and really show people how to make and bake yummy gluten free dessert. And get my recipes out to the world to help so many more people! I was raised in South Deerfield Massachusetts. I live in Turners Falls Massachusetts. I have no pets at this time.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
When I was 41 years old and started writing cookbooks no one there to help me write a good cookbook. I have learned a lot through the years about being an author. Now I write cookbooks for adults and kids with celiac disease. I want to get my recipes out the world to help so many more people with this celiac disease.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Who is inspires me is Alex Guarnaschelli on Food Network she is just awesome my dream is to be on Food Network and meet her and get my recipes out to the world to help others with this disease. My genre to read is English. My husband and my mom when she was alive and friends have inspired me to write my cookbooks.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The last book I published was my Kid’s Gluten Free Dessert Cookbook. There is candy, cookies and cupcakes all gluten free. My passion is to bake for kids who have celiac disease. I have created this kids’ dessert cookbook in a way that kids can understand how to make the recipes.

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Tammy Aiken Facebook Page

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Featured Interview With Kim Carter Mystery Novelist

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised outside Atlanta, Georgia, and lived on the outskirts of town in Newnan for many years. When my husband passed a few years ago, I decided to move to Biloxi, Mississippi closer to many of my supportive friends. I have raised four beautiful grown children and enjoy time with my grandbabies. I enjoy walks on the beach with my dog Wally.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
There isn’t a time that I can remember that I didn’t love books.
My mother read to me incessantly as a child and I still have all the ‘well-worn’ childhood books to this day. I read them to my children as well as their favorites.

I didn’t start writing until 1999 when an illness left me homebound for a few years. So, I began to write different plots and stories, before I knew it my first mystery, not knowing I was good at it, and started writing my first book.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite genre is mystery/suspense which is also what I write.
I have so many favorites but to name a few….Sue Grafton, Iris Johansen, Karin Slaughter, and Mary Higgins Clark. My husband Jules was my #1 person who inspired me. Today my best friend, Lisa Mobley Putnam, Kelly Keylon my publisher, and of course my dear friend and expert marketer, Cat Lyon are my greatest supporters and inspiration. My sister, Pam, is my biggest fan and encourager!

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My newest novel, “The Root of All Evil” book three is part of the “A Clara and Iris Mystery Series” of novels and was released in February 2024. Book two is titled “Murder Among the Tombstones” and book one introduces the characters of Clara and Iris in “Sweet Dreams, Baby Belle.”
A little backstory of how Clara and Iris came to be while how other characters begin and my investment of the real “baby belle”…

‘Sweet Dreams Baby Belle’, was inspired by a child’s tombstone in a Biloxi Cemetery. It was broken and only had the name Baby Belle on it. There wasn’t a date of birth or death. My friend and I were so moved by it that we researched her for over two years and were eventually able to repair her broken monument while maintaining the integrity of the original base made by her family in the late 1800s.

Although the novel is completely fictional, ‘Baby Belle’ was the pure inspiration behind it. The book begins with Lizzie, who is a waitress in Atlanta but marries a cardiac surgeon who sweeps her off her feet and gives her a life of luxury.
However, Lizzie soon learns all that glitters is not gold when she discovers her husband’s drug development company is a Ponzi scheme. She realizes her life could be in danger if she doesn’t somehow escape the gated mansion on the hill. Her only hope is to go to Biloxi, Mississippi, and seek refuge with her sister, Maggie.
Maggie and her husband Leland quickly find a safe harbor for Lizzie in a house on the bayou. However, the house at the end of the street might not be the quiet retreat Lizzie was hoping for.

The confines of her hideaway soon get to Lizzie so she begins sneaking out in the middle of the night to walk in the historical cemetery next door. One night a damaged, carved lamb on top of the tombstone of a small child catches her eye, and the story of the baby/child captures her heart. But when Lizzie Chatsworth thinks her world can’t get any more complicated, she finds herself in the middle of a mystery from the 1800s pulling her in and demanding she seek justice.
As her husband’s empire begins to crumble, he’s more determined than ever to find Lizzie and kill her. But, will the mystery of Baby Belle’s death end Lizzie’s life first?

Books two and three share these two old retired private investigators opening their own PI business together and take readers off on both a gripping and some humorous mystery situations…

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Kim Carter Mystery Novelist’s Website

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Featured Interview With Dr Toula Gordillo

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am a practicing clinical and Jungian psychologist who specialises in helping people to ‘tap into’ their unconscious through stories and images. It is part of a teaching and counselling method I have developed over the past fourteen years called Story Image Therapy (SIT) and it’s practical application: SIT Shadow Work™. Every day, I do regular teaching and counselling in schools, medical centres, private organisations, businesses etc. What I love the most, though, is helping people to REALLY know and understand themselves better on an unconscious level. Uncovering the cause and effects of deep seated issues, understanding the responses in our daily life that we were not consciously aware of… for me, it’s like panning for gold. When you find a ‘nugget’ of truth or explanation, it really does feel like you’ve struck gold. It’s the most rewarding thing you can do, and I believe, the most important.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I know I’ve always been a writer because I have a diary that I started writing in when I was just nine years old… and I never really stopped. I’ve also always had a fascination with storytelling, I think, due to my father’s narratives as a child. He would tell me a story (about life, work or some other lesson) and then we’d discuss it. These vivid stories always contained a moral or message that I could relate to. He’d also read me stories as a child too, or we’d listen to audiobooks containing stories like The Hobbit. This was during a time when audiobooks weren’t really popular – certainly not like they are today. I loved the stories and particularly the bonding that happened between us due to the stories and accompanying images. It really is the best way to learn about life, ourselves, and the other person.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
JRR Tolkein of course was one of my early favourites, Enid Blyton too, as well as more contemporary works. What I really love reading though is ancient quotes, like from the Stoic and Taoist philosophers as well as Dr Carl Jung’s quotes, and then thinking about how they can be applied to every day life. It’s deep, but old metaphors can easily be remembered, yet their effects can last a lifetime.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Rise of Jung in Me resulted from journalling during my own Story Image Therapy healing journey. Ironically, I’d been creating SIT as a form of therapy, and using it to heal others’ deep-seated issues for years, but I’d never really thought about using it on myself. That is, until my unconscious adolescent feelings of powerless, rejection and abandonment (we call them complexes in a person’s shadow in Jungian psychology) became triggered – first in my job at age 38, and then ten years later in my private life. I couldn’t ignore these old familiar feelings any more, and found I HAD to work on them. Healing my own adolescent shadow, (that’s issues in my unconscious that I’d suppressed since my teen years) and the subsequent creation of SIT Shadow Work™ to help others heal their inner ‘wounded adolescent’, regardless of age, is what the book is about. I also include six case studies of how I’ve used a combination of ancient and modern Science, Spirit and Story to help six amazing young people whose lives were transformed through SIT Shadow Work™.

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Dr Toula Gordillo’s Website

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