Top Selling Authors: Get To Know Them Better

Featured Interview With Arlene F. Marks

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, and am now enjoying the empty-nester life with my husband on the shore of Nottawasaga Bay, just outside of Collingwood, Ontario. There’s a wonderful variety of wildlife in the neighborhood, including swans, chipmunks, hares and deer. And I have an ever-growing collection of owls, my favorite winged creature in the world.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was an avid reader by the age of 4, and began writing stories of my own when I was 6. My mother still has the first one, a fantasy about a very small boy who rode around on a dragonfly and did everything backwards. We lived walking distance from the Toronto Public Library, and I still remember my mother taking me there every Saturday to get a fresh supply of books for the week. I thought it was unfair that I could only borrow five at a time.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
When I was eleven years old, I discovered science fiction, and speculative fiction has been my favorite reading ever since. I grew up reading authors now considered “the masters” of science fiction: James Blish, Arthur C. Clarke, Harry Harrison, Anne McCaffrey, Robert Silverberg, and Clifford D. Simak, to name just a few. But the four whose work I really admired and have always tried to emulate are these: Ray Bradbury, for the lyrical flow of his prose; Robert A. Heinlein, for the sheer scope of his vision; Isaac Asimov, for combining writing and teaching and doing them both so well; and Sir Terry Pratchett, for his shrewd use of humor to convey The Truth About Things.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Genius Asylum is the first in a series of science fiction novels for adults set in a universe I’ve named Sic Transit Terra (loosely translated, this is Latin for “There goes the planet…”) It was inspired by a question that popped into my head while I was watching the news on TV one day: Why does it take us humans so long to grow up and understand what’s really important? Just as we’re getting a handle on how things are supposed to work, we die. It doesn’t seem right.

Because I’m a writer, my imagination supplied an answer: What if it’s because…? And because I love working cryptic crosswords, it seemed only natural to develop this story as a mystery that unfolds over several books, with each one containing a puzzle, the solution to which provides a clue to solving the greater mystery about our ancient past. The Genius Asylum is 1 Across:

It’s the turn of the 25th century. Everyone on Earth has been classified as either Eligible (to go off-world) or Ineligible. Only the best and brightest get to go into space, so the Eligibles are an elite class. But it’s a trade-off. They’re at the beck and call of the Relocation Authority, and when an off-world posting comes available, they’re expected to drop everything and go, even if that means leaving dependent children and spouses behind. Eligibles who rebel are packed off to Daisy Hub, an orbiting gulag for dissidents and boatrockers at the edge of Earth space.

When Drew Townsend is sent there undercover by the Earth Intelligence Service, that’s when the fun begins. Townsend soon finds himself managing a crew of wild cards, making friends with the most feared warriors in the galaxy, and feeling more at home in the controlled insanity of Daisy Hub than he ever did back on Earth. Then he discovers the truth about his mission and it’s time to decide where his loyalties lie. In the coming interstellar conflict, which side will Daisy Hub be on?

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Featured Interview With Kathy and Karen Sills

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Kathy and Karen are identical twin sisters. They were born in Holland Michigan, but raised in Mississippi as good old Southern gals. They live with their Mother and their pet Molly. They have an older brother who lives in North Carolina. Kathy and Karen are very close and do everything together.
The twins have always enjoyed putting their imagination into writing. They wrote for the school paper, and basically just for fun. Once out of school they did go to college. They both majored in Child Development, but writing was never far from their mind. After college they worked with kids, and found out that it only fueled their imagination. They had the perfect audience to share their stories with.
Kathy and Karen loves to cook and create their own recipes too. One of their dreams is to own their own bakery or food truck. People think they are crazy because they love to grocery shop. They say the grocery store is like a candy or toy store to them. Their favorite movie is Julie and Julia because it is about writing and cooking, their two most passions.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
We started reading the moment we learned how. We started writing stories once we learned how to put words and sentences together. Our imagination were always vivid. We loved to write short stories, and even plays. Reading and writing was something the twins considered part of them. They knew it would lead them to become authors one day.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Fern Michaels, Debbie Macomber, V.C. Andrews, Emily March, Lisa Jackson, Karen Kingsbury
Romance, Mystery and Suspense

We both enjoy reading, and we believe all the excellent authors that we read inspires us. Also, since we write together we inspire each other. We are our on cheer leading team.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Our latest children’s book teaches shapes and basic math and counting. Wiggle Worm Shape Adventure. Wiggle Worm has to find six shapes for school, but Wiggle Worm is insecure, and doesn’t know where to start looking. Will he be able to find his shapes? Yes, he will! With your help and his friends help too!
Black Crow loves flying around, but he loves helping his friends most of all. He flies in just in time to help Wiggle Worm find his first shape.
Tiny Ant is tiny in size, but has a big heart when it comes to helping Wiggle Worm find his second shape.
Flounder Fish splashes around in the river. He loves to play with his friends. Flounder Fish uses his musical voice to help his friend find his next shape.
Chester Squirrel lives in an Oak Tree. He loves eating acorns and talking, but when it comes to helping his friend find his next shape Chester Squirrel his all ears.
Shaggy Dog is a lazy, but fun to be around. When Wiggle Worm needs help in finding a shape Shaggy Dog was ready to help.
Wiggle Worm’s Mommy loves her little Worm, and was happy to help him get his last shape.

Kathy and Karen needed a story for their class on shapes. They decided to write Wiggle Worm Shape Adventure, which only took a few hours. Karen wrote about the first three shapes, and Kathy the last three shapes. They read the story to their class, and the kids loved it even though there was no illustrations. Kathy and Karen decided to send it in to PDMI Publishing, LLC, and the story was excepted. Wiggle Worm was born.

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Featured Interview With Maya Tripathi

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Maya Tripathi is a twenty-year-old novelist living in the Pacific Northwest. Having moved to the United States from Ukraine at the age of seven, she developed a love for traveling and literature. Her experience in a lasting relationship has given her the taste of love and adventure that inspired her to begin writing her first novel. On April 7th, 2016, she published Fallacies, a start to a series that she hopes will impact her readers in the same ways that her relationship has impacted her.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I began enthusiastically reading books around the age of eight, but apart from short stories for my own entertainment, I did not begin writing until I was nineteen years old.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite authors are Veronica Roth, J.K. Rowling, and Bram Stoker. My favorite genre to read is Young Adult fiction. While all of the authors I like to read have their own writing styles that have an impact on my writing, the most important person to inspire my writing is my boyfriend.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Fallacies is written from the perspective of a teenage girl named Natalie Matthews. Frightened by changes taking place in a country that separated from the United States in 2019, she becomes involved in preventing an inevitable threat to national freedom. As she takes the step to change the governing system from within, she finds herself fighting secrets that lead to its collapse. While searching for answers to the inconsistencies embedded into a broken system, she begins to question the secrets of the person she loves the most.

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Maya Tripathi’s Website

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Featured Interview With Ann Marie Thomas

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
The eldest of four children, I’ve been writing poetry and making up stories since I was a child, in London. My work brought me to Swansea in 1972, where I married a Welshman and never went home. I settled and had four children of my own, who are now all married with children of their own. But I only began to write for publication when my children left home.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always been a voracious reader, especially science fiction. My ambition was to write science fiction, but over many years nothing came to fruition. I have several novels at various stages of completion in a series called Flight of the Kestrel.

However, one day I looked up at the ruins of Swansea Castle and wondered what it was like when it was lived in. I Googled it and became fascinated by Gower medieval history. My research led me to the story of Alina de Breos, but in the middle of assembling Alina’s story from multiple sources I had a major stroke.

When I came home from hospital, I occupied my time completing Alina’s story and learning to self-publish in print and ebook. My husband contacted the local Art College and they found a talented student, Carrie Francis, who drew the illustrations for the book. Alina, The White Lady of Oystermouth was published at Easter 2012, and is the only book about her.

Early retirement from work gave me more time to concentrate on my writing. The sales of over 300 copies of Alina in local shops and museums, and at speaking engagements, led to a second local history book, Broken Reed: The Lords of Gower and King John in September 2013. To coincide with the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta I published the The Magna Carta Story at Easter 2015.

When I was in hospital I wrote a flood of poetry, about my stroke, my therapy, my faith, and random things like the rain outside the window. I published them as an ebook, My Stroke of Inspiration in August 2015. 22 poems in all: verse, doggerel, and blank verse. The poems talk about suffering and patience, therapy and faith. If you are a stroke survivor or know someone who is, these poems will comfort, encourage and inspire you.

I continue to work on my recovery from the stroke, and although I am disabled, I lead a very busy life. I am very involved in my church and active on social media, including two blogs. I am still writing science fiction and the first book, Intruders, is being published in April 2016.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favourite genre is science fiction, and I like the classic authors like Azimov, Heinlein and Frank Herbert. But I also enjoy modern authors like Patty Jansen and the team of Sean Platt and Johnny B Truant. I read a wide range of books and a lot of them – 56 last year according to GoodReads. I try to learn from every book I read, but it is hard to take note of style and craft when I get totally immersed in a good story.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I am a great fan of science fiction, particularly the classics, like Azimov. I am also a fan of the older TV science fiction. Star Trek of course, Blake’s 7, and Babylon 5, for example. During my teens, when I was trying to get to sleep at night, I used to make up stories about my favourite shows.

I would imagine myself on the Enterprise with Captain Kirk, for example. How would an ordinary person like me end up on the Enterprise? Was I from a less developed society, so I wasn’t familiar with the technology (saved me from having to make it up)? Was I, perhaps, from a different time all together – got there through some sort of time warp? Was I hiding from someone? Was I a victim of some ‘bad guy’?

As I tossed ideas around in my head, my cares would fade away, and I would relax, and at some point I would fall asleep. The following night I would try to remember where I had got to, and elaborate on it. Sometimes I would work out some more details, sometimes take the story further on. Some nights, I would be inspired to take the story in a completely new direction. Night after night I would go over the story again and again, until eventually I would tire of it and start a new one.

Many years later, when my children were grown, I decided I enjoyed these stories so much that I would write them down. I soon realised that having myself in every story was not a good idea – there are only so many damsels in distress you can take! My first story had a damsel in distress, which I thought was an acceptable place to start, but later stories managed to have other key characters.

Also, it was a huge cheat to use other people’s settings and characters. I didn’t want to write fan fiction, so I invented my own ship and crew. It took me ages – ready-made scenarios are so much easier. Enter the Kestrel, a fast-response ship with a crew of 11, working for PACT (the Planetary Alliance for Cooperation and Trade), a sort of interplanetary United Nations force.

There are already the beginnings of several novels about the Flight of the Kestrel, and my first one, Intruders, is published on 17 April 2016. Here is what it’s about:

Tabitha Enns is given work experience on board the Kestrel, on the adventure of her life, that will push her to the limit. Tabitha gets to meet her first aliens, but it doesn’t go smoothly, and being out in space isn’t what she expected. When a hostile alien species are discovered, the Kestrel is sent to make contact, leading the crew – and Tabitha – into danger, and the crew have problems with their friends as well as their enemies. Why did a dying man say, ‘butterfly’? Who exactly is the mysterious injured woman, and what is her connection to the hostile aliens threatening not only the Kestrel’s crew but the entire galaxy?

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Featured Interview With Chrys Fey

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Chrys Fey is the woman I become when I am writing. In other words, she’s my alter ego. I step into her shoes whenever I sit down at my desk or pick up a pen.

When I was six years old, I became interested in writing thanks to my mom, an aspiring writer. At the age of twelve, I started writing my first book. By seventeen I had written three books in a series and was working on the fourth when something unthinkable happened . . . writer’s block! I thought my muse was gone for good until I discovered the problem and, with an abundance of determination, I set about rewriting my entire series. I worked on that series for eleven years.

I published Hurricane Crimes in 2013 with The Wild Rose Press. The sequel, Seismic Crimes, is coming out April 22, 2016. I am an administrator for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group and head their newsletter. I live in Florida and am always on the lookout for hurricanes. I have four adopted cats who keep me entertained with their antics, and three nephews who keep me entertained with their antics.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
One day, when I was twelve years old, I sat down on a small grassy hill next to my house after a lone game of basketball. I was playing with the sharp blades of grass when my fingers brushed something stuck deep in the roots. I thought it could’ve been a lucky penny or a key to a secret place.

Curious, I dug it out and looked at my find. Unfortunately, it was not a penny or a key but a screw. The tip was crooked and it was crusted with orange rust. For the strangest reason, while holding that pathetic screw, a story came to me about an extraordinary girl in an alternate world.
I rushed inside my house, grabbed an old notebook and a black pen, and then ran back to that little mound of grass to write the beginning of that story. I wrote fiercely, trying to catch all the words stumbling around in my head.

I’ve written ever since.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love to read romance in all of it’s sub-genres and anything supernatural/paranormal, but no genre is ever out of the question. I enjoy reading J.D. Robb, Stephanie Evanovich, J.K. Rowling, Laurie Halse Anderson, Gillian Flynn, and Sandra Brown.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Seismic Crimes is a romantic-suspense novel set in Florida following a hurricane and California during an earthquake. Seismic Crimes follows the novella Hurricane Crimes and is book 2 in the Disaster Crimes series, a unique series that centers around disasters and the crimes, as well as the love, that transpires from devastating events.

BLURB:

An Internal Affairs Investigator was murdered and his brother, Donovan Goldwyn, was framed. Now Donovan is desperate to prove his innocence. And the one person who can do that is the woman who saved him from a deadly hurricane—Beth Kennedy. From the moment their fates intertwined, passion consumed him. He wants her in his arms. More, he wants her by his side in his darkest moments.

Beth Kennedy may not know everything about Donovan, but she can’t deny what she feels for him. It’s her love for him that pushes her to do whatever she has to do to help him get justice, including putting herself in a criminal’s crosshairs.

When a tip reveals the killer’s location, they travel to California, but then an earthquake of catastrophic proportions separates them. As aftershocks roll the land, Beth and Donovan have to endure dangerous conditions while trying to find their way back to one another. Will they reunite and find the killer, or will they lose everything?

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Featured Interview With Canaa Lee

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in the small town of Brinkley, Arkansas that had a population of roughly 5,000 people. (There are approximately 2,800 currently living there) I have been a teacher since I was 12 years old. I started playing the piano at the age of 6. My skills advanced rather quickly so my parents allowed me to give piano lessons to earn some money in addition to the allowance I was receiving. As a junior in high school, I was a first grade tutor in reading and mathematics. In college I tutored students in math, biology, English and study skills. I have been a high school teacher for ten years now. I have taught middle school, high school, college and on the university level.

My forte in high school was mathematics. Mathematics came easy to me, and I helped my friends with their homework. My first passion was music, but I soon realized that by majoring in mathematics would make me be more marketable with a degree in mathematics verses a degree in music. While completing my undergraduate work at Arkansas State University, I had a job as a Student Support Services tutor. I was able to make my own schedule and set my own hours. I loved teaching college students! That is when I knew I wanted to be a college instructor. However, instead of continuing with my education, I decided to get a job as a high school teacher so I could acquire some work experience.

My first teaching job was in Fort Worth, Texas, at South Hills High School. I went to back to school for a master’s degree to be to teach in college. I started graduate school at the University of Texas at Arlington in the summer of 2002. I resumed my course of study in a masters of arts program in mathematics education in January 2004. I completed my graduate work at the University of Central Arkansas in August 2005. Now that I had my Master’s Degree, I could teach in a college. I continued to teach high school full time and be an adjunct faculty member at the college. In 2006, I took a position as an instructional specialist at Carter-Riverside High School in Fort Worth, TX. In 2008, I took a position as a lead content teacher at Leonard Middle School in Fort Worth, TX.

I taught at Little Rock Central High School from 2003 to 2006. While I was a teacher at Little Rock Central High School, I enrolled in an on-line multicultural education class. The class changed my views about at risk students in public schools. I was fortunate to grow up in a home with two educated parents who understood and valued a good education; my parents were role models for me; I was academically competitive so I could get scholarships to go to college. After taking the class, I was more conscious of and sympathetic to the struggles and circumstances among minority students; inequity between girls and boys, inequity among minority students and white students. I have a broader understanding of the students that I teach and design innovative strategies and/or methods to make them more successful in high school. In turn, they are able to compete in the world; become well-adapted adults in our society; possess the communication skills to be productive on the job.

In 2004, our campus improvement plan, Central High School wanted to promote literacy across all content and subject areas. Every content area teacher needed to utilize reading strategies. The question that most math teachers ask themselves is “How do I teach reading in my math class? Why do I have to teach reading in math class?”

It was challenging enough teaching the concepts, and now we were expected to teach reading too. Often times I found myself reading and explaining everything in the book. This was very time-consuming, as well as exhausting. Unfortunately, this did not help students comprehend the material. In addition, my efforts in encouraging students to do homework fell on deaf ears. Usually, from the time students left class until they got ready to do their homework, they forgot almost everything we talked about in class. What is a teacher to do?

The most effective way for me to incorporate reading in algebra was to select the topics that have a common theme and infuse them into story. The vocabulary in the textbook was advanced for my students; as a result, they find the concepts difficult, and are easily frustrated. For example, there is a unit called “Family of Equations and Inequalities.” Now, my students would learn the main algebra topics and learn the math skills at the same time!

As an expert algebra teacher, I understand that algebra is based on the concept of a line.
However, there are many skills students must master in order to master the concept. Through the use of culturally relevant stories and utilizing the graphing calculator daily, my students were finally able to make the connection between skills and the concepts. The stories helped students follow along throughout the whole unit. There were questions asked along the way so the student is able to “demonstrate your understanding”. The assessments were directly related to the unit so students have the opportunity to incorporate the graphing calculator in almost every unit.

Writing units and creating real world performance assessments required a lot of hours outside of the normal work day. However, when I put my creative hat on, there was no stopping me.
It was imperative for me to show my students that algebra is more than just a “bunch of letters and numbers with no meaning.” For example, relating parabolas to a hill or a valley is an idea every student can relate; illustrating the relationship between linear equations and inequalities helps students understand that everything in algebra is related and is not really that hard at all!

In the summer of 2008, I moved to Garland to teach at Garland High School. I have been blessed with the opportunity to be Program Administrator for Project Educating and Diversifying to Grow Exponentially (EDGE). Helping students become more competent and confident in mathematics has been a passion of mine for several years now. My vision for educating children in mathematics is that “every child is capable to mastering mathematics. In order for mastery to be achieved, students must be provided with meaningful learning experiences; an opportunity to conceptualize and internalize the mathematics, and to experience a progression through mathematics that is related to their prior knowledge” ~ Canaa Lee

In 2010, I orchestrated the establishment of Project E.D.G.E. (Educating and Diversifying to Grow Exponentially). In order to provide the African American students with the best possible learning experience, I partnered with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) – Garland Branch partnered with Garland Independent School District (GISD), the City of Garland, Lakeview Centennial and South Garland High School to launch this program: The purpose of this program is to address the needs of African American students, to help them succeed academically and to provide African American students with an opportunity for a promising, prosperous future quality of life in venues other than sports and entertainment.

My first book, “Algebra for the Urban Student” was inspired by students that I taught. So many times students do so well in class, but when they leave my classroom they have forgotten everything or are confused as to how to do their homework. My students would say to me, “I wish I could stick you in pocket and take you home with me.” Because I heard this so frequently from them, I started writing stories for my students. The activities are guided practice exercises so they would a “navigation system” for them throughout the assignment. It is closest thing to having me right there with them as they were doing their homework. My stories became a hit with the students and parents alike. I have written enough stories to compile them all into a book.

My book, “Algebra for the Urban Student”, takes into the consideration the challenges minority students in the math classroom and use cultural relevance to help them wrap their minds around abstract concepts so they are able to experience in their math class. It started off as a collection of units for my students, so I could ensure that were exposed to and mastered all the topics for the assessments. Parents commented on homework assignments because they could now help their children with their homework because it was easy to understand and follow without even stepping foot in my class! My students liked coming to class because they wanted to know the next story I had written. For the first time, many students understood their homework and could complete their assignments. Also, students were improving their reading and comprehension skills in both English and algebra! I had written enough units and assessments to write a book. Textbooks are designed for math teachers and professors: “Algebra for the Urban Student” is intended for the common student.

Shortly after my crisis of belief in August 2013, I gave up my career and sold my house to move back to home town of Brinkley, Arkansas. In August 2014, the second book I wrote is called, “Algebra Easy as Pi.” Everything, from the writing, editing, printing and assembly had been done by my own hands. No one was able tell the story and take the time to give the attention and message like I am able to do. I was very excited about this book. It contained more than 600 pages of activities that were custom-written and tailored to the needs of students. Each activity was all-inclusive, with a tour guide that told a story, explained vocabulary and concepts, asked questions to help you make sense of it, and also multiple choice questions to help with test preparation. And if you still had trouble, I have included a page by page answer key to each and every activity! There are seven chapters, including assessments and project guide. Each book is print on demand, printed right at my home.

Yes, it was a lot of work but it is well worth it because each of these activities has been tried and tested by students and worked because I took the time to ask: What did you learn today? What did you like about the activity? Did the activity help you understand the concept? If not, what can be done to make it better?

The purpose of the activity to take some of the pressure off the teacher from having to think of every question they need to ask students to lead them to the correct answer. In addition, the questions help students think and learn how to think logically. These skills help students become better test takers. There are practice test questions included in the lesson. In addition, there is a key included with this activity. If you enjoy these kinds of lessons and activities for your students, you will love the book, “Algebra Easy as Pi” because it contains over 600 pages of activities just like this one!

In the fall of 2015, I sat down to share with a friend a mine my life story. Many times we do not take the time to get to know our friends and want to fit them into our own thoughts, feelings and way of life. Trying to fit into a box is very uncomfortable for me and takes away from whom God has created me to be. A box with the standards of the world made my life miserable and lonely; this is not how we are to live! By no means am I perfect, but I do take my faith seriously and am not willing to compromise it for anyone. I can say that I have not always been convicted in my faith as a Christian, but behind every believer is a supernatural story of grace, love and redemption.

I have shared a snapshot of my story on Facebook, and I have also shared my testimony in church. For those listening, it said to be “compelling, inspirational, moving and motivational.” The Lord put it on my heart to dig into my past and to share my failures, heartache, mistakes, feelings, and experiences that helped shape the person I was BEFORE Christ and what led to my supernatural encounter with Jesus that transformed my mind and my heart into the godly woman I am today.

I do not to try to deny whom Christ has molded me into. When I decided to surrender my life to Him, at was at the mercy of the Almighty God. He gave me grace when I deserved judgment. From that day forward, I know because I am forgiven much, that I do love much. It is my love for Christ that drives and compels me every day to want to be live like, talk like, love, like, give like, be bold like Christ every day.

So I got it all together and published it on Amazon: “What Does a Christian Look Like? Epistles of a Repentant Heart” is a heartfelt collection of poetry and letters that expresses the brokenness of my sinful heart to the renewed heart and mind through the “amazing grace” of Jesus Christ. One of the greatest miracles is when one sinner repents; this is a living testament to the validity of the Bible! We oftentimes think we are the only ones that feel, think, hurt, and believe the way we do. I am here to tell you, we are not as different as we may think. It is ONLY by the power of Jesus Christ that we were once lost but now found, and now given the light of life; never to walk in darkness again, but to have the Jesus to be the lamp unto our feet and to be light unto our paths.

I spend most of my time writing and making Facebook videos. I do not have any children nor any pets.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
As a child, I excelled in all subjects. Needless to say, I was a straight A student. Although I did not read a lot of leisure books, I always had my nose in a school book. My earliest influences were my high school English/World History teacher, Miss Mitchell. Most students avoided her class because of the level of rigor she required. I, however, embraced the challenge because I was confident that Miss Mitchell would without a doubt prepare for college and beyond. I applied for several summer enrichment programs and often got denied. It was not that I was not qualified, but my essay writing was inadequate. She taught me how to write for an audience. I thought I was a good writer until Miss Mitchell critiqued my applications. At the time, it seemed harsh, but her criticisms helped to become a more focused writer. She taught me how to write for all audiences. From that point forward, each application I submitted henceforth was acceptable. As a result, this experience positively impacted my written communication forever.

After teaching high school mathematics for five years, I developed the art of story-telling in order to make algebra fun and easy. Not only was algebra fun, but it was also entertaining. I created all authentic learning tasks and assessments. Telling stories in algebra had a dual purpose: students were able to improve their reading and comprehension skills. Furthermore, students understood the algebra concepts that were introduced. Parents were excited because they understood what was being taught in my class and were able to help their child with their homework.

My goal is to make algebra as meaningful and relevant to students as possible. I also created two projects that have students apply algebra concepts using a newspaper. You will be amazed as to how much algebra is in a newspaper! The second is using geometry in the real world. Math really is everywhere. If I do not expose students to the real life in the world, then they will have no idea it exists. After 7 years of creating, writing and utilizing algebra concepts in my teaching pedagogy, I decided to write the book, “Algebra for the Urban Student.” Math does not have to be that hard. Telling a story and relating algebra to experiences we are already familiar with, people can understand and grasp any math concept: plain and simple.

In contrast of my professional life as a teacher, writing was very therapeutic for me. When no one wanted to listen to me or was able to understand my struggles of dating, and my lack of communication with my Daddy, I began to journal my thoughts and feelings. From about the age of 25 to 28, poetic words flowed out of my heart like a fountain. Oddly enough, the season of poetry ceased after 3 years. My world came crashing down on October 5, 2011. My mom called to tell me my Dad died! What do you mean Daddy died? I was in denial and soon thereafter the emotions came. This was the first time in my career I put everything on hold and had to STOP! In 2012, I met the woman who soon became my best friend and introduced me to the Christian lifestyle. My life slowly started to pick up. I decided to make some changes in my life. I was a published author and a public speaker; I had a new best friend. I even started to go to church. A new circle of friends was a breath of fresh air. Instead of just going to work and going home, I was actually enjoying my life and the people that I was around.

In 2013, I decided I wanted to do something special for my 34th birthday and went on a singles cruise. It sounded like a great, relaxing and enjoying vacation. I met the nicest guy ever. The events that happened after this changed my life forever!

In that very same year, I became a Bible-believing Christian. Now I turn my affections to what the Lord puts on my heart. All of the letters that I wrote that are my book are messages God put on my heart. Each person that I encountered was either family members or men that I dated or attempted to pursue a relationship with me. I must admit that writing these letters were hardest messages to deliver. I feared the backlash. To my surprise, I did not receive any negative feedback! This was confirmation these messages were inspired by God! So I write about real life situations that impact people every day. I use the gift God has given me to help people understand and deal with issues that plague our lives: relationships, faith, sex, prayer, death, and the list goes on. It is a blessing to be able to use the gift of writing and words to help people see their need for Jesus in a way that customized just for them.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Unless it was a school book, I was never much of a reader. Shortly after becoming a Christian, I wanted to know what a Christian lifestyle was supposed to look like. I began watching Christian movies and documentaries. They helped mold my thinking as to what it really means to walk with the Lord. In 2014, I graduated to reading Christian-based postings and blogs. I took a special interest in faith-based issues that people are faced with every day: relationships, marriage, death of a loved one, depression, praying, forgiving, just to name a few. I have been very selective in the speakers and pastors that I watch on television. My most influential writers are Ray Comfort, Greg Laurie, Robert Morris, and Max Lucado. Not only are they writers, but they are also pastors and preachers. I was drawn to their style and heart-felt messages and writings – which included storytelling- that drew me into the story from the context of the Bible. It became so real and applicable to my life, that I have been able to share my faith more effectively, both non-offensive and truthful. Furthermore, it has been a model for my writing that speaks to the conscience and the heart.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My broken relationship with my Dad was the barrier that hindered my relationship with God. From the time I was 3 until 25, my relationship with my Dad with a constant battle. I never felt loved or appreciated. I always felt like the butt of every joke and nothing that I did was ever good enough. As a child, I was overly sensitive, but as a young adult I became arrogant, sarcastic, conceited, a “hot head” to over compensate, and to mask the brokenness I felt in my heart.
When my Dad died, the Lord exposed the secrets, the hurts, the lies, the things that had kept our family in bondage. Daddy was a victim of a broken heart, and in my life I experienced the same kind of brokenness. It is said my Dad made peace with God, and two days later he died. Our lives have never been the same. I witnessed the supernatural change of heart of my Dad is a constant reminder of the ultimate loving sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the cross for me and for all mankind. In God’s perfect timing, the Lord restored him, forgave him, and took him to Heaven, so Daddy could have the love he desperately needed and wanted.

My freedom of Christ compels me to share my pain, my heartache, and to share my Daddy’s brokenness. The Lord put it on my heart to dig into my past and to share my failures, heartache, mistakes, feelings, and experiences that helped shape the person I was BEFORE Christ and what led to my supernatural encounter with Jesus that transformed my mind and my heart into the godly woman I am today. What Does a Christian Look Like? Epistles of a Repentant Heart is a heartfelt collection of poetry and letters that expresses the brokenness of my sinful heart to the renewed heart and mind through the “amazing grace” of Jesus Christ. One of the greatest miracles is when one sinner repents; this is a living testament to the validity of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

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Featured Interview With Daniel M. Robinson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Well, I was born in Sydney, I spent the start of my childhood there before moving to Grafton for a brief time. I then moved to Tweed Heads, just on the New South Wales/Queensland border. So the majority of my childhood was in Tweed Heads. I currently live in Bundamba, (which is on the outskirts of Ipswich, about forty minutes from Brisbane) with my wife and our five children. We have four pets: Freya and Bentley, who are rescue dogs; and two cats Fillmore and Max. Fillmore seems to rule the house, or at least thinks he does.

For me I’m not a one genre type author. I’ve written Australiana, which was my first book. This new book is science fiction, being a science fiction fan myself it was always a genre I knew I’d write and get published. Lately I’ve been wanting to write horror too, once again because I’m a horror fan myself.

I’m a normal person, I have kids and a wife who puts up with me. I’m a private person but I’m also friendly; I don’t hide away or get snappy when people approach me.

Some of my interests, apart from writing, are music and movies. I love music and I listen to it and I write to it. I definitely can’t sing or play an instrument, but love all music. I’m a big fan of Metallica, Bonnie Tyler, Two Steps from Hell (I write Fatal Conflicts to their music), The Beatles, and Kiss. I’m a movie lover of all different styles especially science fiction and horror.

Now one thing that I’ve been asked, in regards to Fatal Conflicts, is where do I sit on the Star Wars vs Star Trek argument. Well, I’m a huge Darth Vader fan but I love Star Trek as a whole. Both have been major influences on Fatal Conflict and they both have their charms to me. So to be fair I’m a fence sitter.

As you can see, I’m a normal everyday person.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was a late starter; I was 12-13 when I really became interested in reading books but I’ve always loved creative writing! If I wasn’t drawing a picture about some space battle, I was writing movie scripts and short stories. I think I was 6 or 7 years old, when I started, and now that I’m 36 years old, I still love to sit down and just write down stories, some of which I tell to my youngest son, and some I just write and keep on my computer.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Richard Layman, Stephen King, Jim Roberts are the three authors that I love to read. My favorite genre to read has got to be Horror! I seem to read more horror than anything else. Which is yeah, strange. My biggest inspiration in my writing would have to be my grandmother on my mother’ side, Winsome Smith. You may have heard of her, she managed to gain some attention with a couple of her books, Rachel’s Weeping being her most popular.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is the first part of a series of books; Fatal Conflicts takes place in the later part of the 30th century. Earth is now part of a democratic group of systems know as the Union of Planets. The series starts off at the start of the second great war between the Union and the Barican Empire.

The Baricans are not a peaceful people, they are a warrior race. Which doesn’t make them evil, but due to their mindset and way of life the Empire and Union do clash and this, as I said, is their second armed conflict.

The series isn’t all war and action. The characters we follow over a period of thirty years, so we have the chance to see them grow and how their world changes around them. I’m sure that anyone who reads them will also find that they are able to relate to the human characters.

So you’ll have action, you’ll get some fun and adventure, you’ll have a plot, and you’ll see characters grow, change, and die. And you’ll see that even in the future, we humans will still be learning and growing. Basically readers will get to see all that and elements from science fiction that all fans of the genre love.

This series started out as drawings I created as a kid which I then made into a little comic book. Eventually I rewrote it into book form. I truly hope the readers enjoy the books.

To those who read and enjoy the first book, Fatal Conflicts: Battle for Kendoc Three, I promise you won’t be waiting too long for the second and third installments. It took two years to really smooth out the first book. The second book and third books are written and in editing. I’m currently working on the fourth book, which I hope to finish by the end of the year so I can get started on the fifth book by the start of next year.

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Featured Interview With Lewena Bayer

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Wide open spaces, friendly faces, and social graces…that about sums up how I grew up. My name is Lew Bayer. I didn’t fully appreciate it when I was younger, but I was blessed to grow up in a loving home in Saskatchewan, Canada with three siblings and parents who taught me the value of respect and restraint. I now live in , Manitoba, Canada with an amazing husband and a 14 year old daughter who teaches me something every day. An entrepreneur for the past 20 years, I have the privilege of traveling and teaching and speaking to anyone and everyone who has an interest in civility.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve always loved books, but it was on my twelfth birthday when my family gave me the Little House on the Prairie series of 8 books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, that I knew I was going to write a book some day. I took an English class at University of McGill in my second year and we had to write a children’s book. Mine was called Lew’s New Shoes. I got an A+ and I was hooked. Now I write every day- blogs, articles for magazines, training materials, speeches. etc. And this new book, The 30% Solution will be the tenth book I’ve been lucky enough to have published.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I recently read Left to Tell by Imaculee Ilibagiza, it was gut-wrenching and made me cry but I couldn’t put it down. Trying to make my way through The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho now and I’ve been on a personal development/motivational kick and so following Brendan Bouchard closely and reading all his books including The Motivation Manifesto. I also read a lot of psychology and science books related to my work. As examples, Karl Albrecht, Benet Davetian, and Peter Senge books line my bookshelves. When I need inspiration for my own writing, I’m inclined to read Henry David Thoreau, and when I need courage I always come back to my all time favorite – poems by Mary Oliver

Tell us a little about your latest book?
What would you do with 30% more revenue? Hard to imagine a business owner who wouldn’t jump at more profit, right? And what about more engagement? And more retention? In this ground-breaking, practical and interesting book, I share insights from the field, statistics, facts, and tips including details about how research shows that organizations who actively support civil communications and a culture of civility see – measurable increases in revenue, retention, and engagement. And these are just a few of the favorable outcomes resulting from civility in the workplace. Many people understand civility to mean manners and so they dismiss it as something soft or nice to have. The fact is, there are four specific, tangible, competencies that organizations can build to help their teams exhibit civility and build a better workplace.

You might be shocked to know that 8/10 adults report being unhappy in their jobs- and this unhappiness is largely due to incivility. It might be a bully at work, a terrible boss, uncomfortable working conditions, a co-worker with poor communication- or poor hygiene, rude customers, and the list goes on an on.

The 30% Solution offers a toolkit for business owners, workplace trainers, business consultants, and human resource professionals to support them in building better workplaces. Better workplaces are civil workplaces and civility benefits the individual, the employer, our families, the community, etc.

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Featured Interview With Nickii Fowler

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in Sun Valley, a suburb in Southern California’s San Fernando Valley. It was a wonderful childhood. 20years ago I bought a home in Simi Valley, 30 miles or so away from my childhood home.
My parents and I were always close, living together for most of the time. I became their full time caregiver when Mom was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer, and Dad suffered a massive stroke.
We always had animals in our home, dogs galore, birds, fish, rabbits, ducks, an a very funny tortoise named snapper.
Now my only pet is a neurotic named Syndi. She is my constant companion, and likes to lay between me and my computer. A pain? Absolutely, but she’s my pain. A “Vintage Woman”, and her crazy cat.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
All of my life I have loved 5 things, animals, reading books, writing stories, history, and genealogy. I would write stories in elementary school and had quite a following of little girls, and a few teachers waiting for the next installment. My teachers encouraged me to continue writing, and I did until the worst case of writers block arrived and hung around for 35 long, painful years.
It took its leave rather suddenly one day when I was recovering from by-pass surgery on both legs.
I had been unable to sit at my computer for longer than 5 minutes, and on that wonderful morning I sat down to write an email, and before I knew it I had completed the first 50 pages of what would be my first published novel, Love’s Tie That Binds.
I have been writing furiously since then.
My family history can be found in the de Clare Chronicles: Love’s Tie That Binds, Love’s Sweet Home, Love’s Valiant Struggle, and The Golden Thread.
Glorious Surrender, and Quarter Given as well.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love reading and writing historical romance. I fell in love with the genre while reading The Wolf and the Dove by the late Kathleen Woodiwiss.
With my love of history and genealogy it was the perfect match. Having researched my family tree extensively, I have been inspired by my own ancestors. Each of my books contain some of my ancestors and the part they played at that time. Fortunately I come from a long line of emperors, kings, queens, and nobility. William the Conqueror is my 35th Great Grandfather, and appears in many of my books. It is my tribute to those who made me what I am.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest published book is Quarter Given, set in 1067 England.
England 1067
Braemont Manor
As the carriage rolled to a stop, the door flew open and an elegantly dressed woman jumped down and ran into his arms.
“Sybil! What are you doing here, has something happened?” he asked with concern.
“Tienne, I couldn’t bear the thought of you spending another Christmas alone,” she cried out, hugging him tightly.
“You traveled all this way alone?” he exclaimed.
“Nay, I’m not quite that foolish. I came with my dearest friend, Lady Nicole du Severn.” Sybil turned and held out her hand to a vision wrapped in an ermine mantel. Her face glowed with a gentle paleness in the dim light of the torches. He couldn’t make out the color of her hair but it appeared to be dark. “Nicki, this is my brother, Etienne, and this dear brother is Lady Nicole.”
Etienne heard Serge let out a low whistle behind him as he bowed over her gloved hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Lady Nicole. Welcome to Braemont,” he greeted, and then presenting an arm to each of them led them into the great hall. Once inside, the ladies went to stand by the fireplace before removing their mantels.
Without realizing it, the beautiful woman who had just walked through his door was about to change his life in ways he couldn’t imagine.

And, no, I didn’t use my own name for Lady Nicole. My actual name is Nickiilynn.

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Nickii Fowler’s Website

Featured Interview With Thomas Jerome Baker

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am originaly from Luxora, Arkansas, which has a population of approximately 1000 people located in Northeast Arkansas. I was born and raised there. After graduation from high school, I joined the military and have been traveling ever since. I’ve settled down now. For the past 15 years I have been living in Santiago, Chile, which is where I call home now. As you might expect, my writing is eclectic, taking in a wide variety of genres and settings. My latest book, however, took me back to my roots. An old classmate and I found ourselves on different sides of a debate on whether Black History Month should be eliminated. When we finished, I produced a transcript of our gentlemanly debate. It’s called, Black History Is American History.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Very early. When I was in 8th grade I wrote a short story which got published in a magazine, and although I never saw it, my English teacher told me it had been selected from a large number of submissions. So, I’ve always had the talent, and when self-publishing became technologically feasible, I began to write.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Robert Louis Stevenson, Ray Bradbury, and Stephen King. These are all masters of the art and craft of writing, and their work has been very valuable to me as a reference to aspire to.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I just did. Also, I have a WIP about a romance about a girl who meets a boy while she is out running alone. She doesn’t like him at first, but then he protects her from an attacker and she falls in love with him only to discover that there is a good reason for the two of them not to let things go any further…

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Featured Interview With Leigh M. Lane

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
In addition to writing dark speculative fiction for over twenty-five years, I’ve sung lead and backup vocals for bands ranging from classic rock to the blues, performed the National Anthem for the opening of a Dodgers game, dabbled in fine arts, worked in retail management, earned my black belt in karate, and accrued a moderate level of expertise in animal care and behavior. I have a BA in English and graduated from UNLV Magna Cum Laude. I currently live in the dusty outskirts of Sin City with my husband, an editor and educator, and one very spoiled cat.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was eight or nine when I became an avid reader, and I also started writing somewhere around that age. My very favorite author back then was Roald Dahl. Imagine my delight when, years later, I learned he also wrote dark speculative fiction for adults!

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite authors are Vonnegut, Poe, Orwell, Wells, Serling, King, Koontz, Stapledon, Zelazny (guess which one), and Louise Erdritch. I prefer to read dark speculative fiction, primarily horror, but I find inspiration in all different types of genres and writers.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is a dystopian novel titled THE PRIVATE SECTOR. It takes place in the near future, when government has been dissolved into nothing and the US president has been replaced by the National CEO. Everything is corporatized, privatized. If your house catches fire, you’d better have good fire insurance (and the money to pay the deductible). If someone robs your house, hopefully you’ve picked the right police coverage provider. Unfortunately, when business gets slow, those you pay to keep your world safe tend to resort to crime to pick things back up (or to convince people other insurance carriers are inferior). It’s a scary world with no checks and balances.

The story revolves around the Irwin family: Dianne, a painter (although art is slowly becoming obsolete due to anti-waste movements); John, a building inspector who’s overseeing a new, underground development project designed to combat climate change; and their son, Junior. Dianne’s sister, Jenny, is a junkie who makes life pretty miserable for her family, her father is a hard-working doormat, and her mother is an entitled, judgmental b***h. With society devolving, the bottom line ruling all, antibiotic-resistant disease plaguing the nation, and various special interest groups turning the streets into a battleground, the Irwins are just doing what they can to hold together.

THE PRIVATE SECTOR prequels WORLD-MART and AFTERMATH.

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Featured Interview With Lila Silvern

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
My early childhood was spent in Chicago. From teen-age years until now, I’ve enjoyed life in Los Angeles.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started my love of books with “Dick and Jane” and moved on from there.

I started my writing with poems for Mothers Day and patriotic holidays, school curriculum, short stories,a screenplay and now, “Confessions of a Geriatric Prom Queen”.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Philip Roth, Penelope Lively, and Willa Cather

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My book is a confession of romantic and hilarious experiences I’ve had dating after sixty. It is intended to encourage seniors to have more fun in their sex lives and to give younger readers something to look forward to.

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Featured Interview With Ben Westerham

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in London, in an ambulance, too impatient to get out in to the world to wait long enough to get to the hospital. When I was four, my parents moved us to Kent, in the South East corner of England. These days, I live in a small village in the Northamptonshire countryside, in the middle of England. It is beautiful, though I do miss being closer to the sea.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve always been a big reader, right back to when I was a small child. And similarly, I can remember writing stories with a great deal of enthusiasm when I was as young as 10 and 11 years old. I was more conscious of the need to write when I went off to university and I spent something like twenty years writing in bits and pieces. I pretty much just wrote whatever came to me, never really focusing on any one thing, nor developing any discipline. Things changed when I decided one lunchtime at work that I would write a novel in its entirety, from beginning to end. It didn’t matter what it was about nor how bad it might be; I just needed to show myself that I could do it. Once I’d done it that first time, I never looked back and certainly never again questioned my ability to complete a novel. That was a key moment for me.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I’ve always read very widely, and normally as much non-fiction as fiction. Looking back over the last six months, I’ve read sci-fi, fantasy, literary, thriller and, of course, crime. My favourite fiction authors include R.L. Stevenson, Salman Rushdie, Thomas Hardy and Nick Hornby. I love master story-tellers, who can weave a great plot, and if they can deliver one or two fabulous characters in to the bargain then so much the better. I wouldn’t say any particular author inspires my writing, although I do like to lean towards the economy of words and punchy style you typically get with hard boiled.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I have a new book out in the middle of April. ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ features my private investigator David Good, in a story set in his own part of South London. Good almost always has what you might call a challenging relationship with women, few of whom get to take up very much time in his life. But on this occasion he is in for something of a shock, as he finds the latest recipient of his attentions is not at all the wholly good girl he initially believes her to be. As with all my David Good books, this one is very much a story about relationships, rather than a plain vanilla crime yarn. It initially started out as a simple idea I thought might be interesting to knock around, but once I started writing, the words just flowed through my fingers and I found I had an initial draft of a complete story in next-to-no-time. I’m not someone who starts out with a structured story-line and instead just start writing, so it’s always fascinating to see where the characters lead me and that was certainly the case with this book. I think it is fair to say that Good has the kind of experience that leaves an indelible mark on a person.

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Featured Interview With Kae Cheatham

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m not a product of my environment—at least not the one I grew up in. Born in Ohio, I lived there through college (Ohio State). After marriage, I lived in Michigan, North Carolina and raised my two children to adulthood in Tennessee. But my abiding passion has always been the American West. When my husband passed on I finally “got the body where the spirit has always been” (as a close friend toasted when I left Tennessee). That spirit place is Montana.

My animal friends have diminished over the years, from three horses, a dog, three cats, and, in Montana, a trusting snowshoe rabbit and pronghorn buck. I still have one horse who has been with me since he was four (he’s now thirty).

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was reading at an early age (3 or 4) and books were usual gifts from relatives. I got my first library card when I was seven. That was around the time I first started writing—four sentence stories in first-grade print that my mother kept. The stories got longer as I got older. I started writing poetry in 7th grade and have been published in several national journals. Blood and Bond is my 13th published title. I’ve written historical fiction, science fiction and even non-fiction for young readers.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I enjoy so many different styles and subjects, I ccannot make a true list of favorite authors. I appreciate detective and police procedural mysteries, and “literary” novels that don’t take place in urban settings.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My newest print release, Blood and Bond, is the second printing, revised of a title that since 2009 has only been available for eBooks. I corrected glitches from the first printing, and updated a few things.

A brief overview: It’s the 21st Century, but one rancher in Lamp Creek Valley is being harassed by the dark specter of a dead relative, and ancient beliefs that seem to be threatening the environment. He is compelled to face his past in order to quell the mystical chaos that is affecting three families–including his own.

Blood and Bond contains a good dose of the mystical and some romance, too.
Although the first edition received good reviews, I feel it’s stronger now. In all, it’s taken more than fifteen years for me to be satisfied with this story.

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Featured Interview With Burbuqe Raufi

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Burbuqe Raufi was born and lives in Tetovë, Macedonia, a small country beneath the Balkans, Europe. She lives with her two beautiful sons Kron and Peon and her husband. She was raised in a family where books were their greatest treasure, and often woke up during the night to listen to her father’s new baked poetry.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My fascination of books goes as far as I can remember, my favorite spot was my grandfather’s library where I spent most of my time and got lost within those imaginary stories and afterwards discuss it with my bibliophile grandfather.
I started to write when I was in primary school, I got some awards from children’s magazine, my favorite one was a poetry I wrote about Mother Teresa.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I graduated English Literature and it is hard for me to get my list started. I’ll begin with Homer and Shakespeare, the classics Bronte Sisters, Jane Austin, Virginia Wolf, Franc Kafka, Leo Tolstoy, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, William Blake and the list goes on and on up to Bukowski and John Fante. Lately I prefer the modern literature of positive thinking and my favorites are Louise Hay, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Jack Canfield, Nick Ortner…and the Master Rumi, which verses allow me to swim deep within my soul.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Well, life gave me the hardest challenge, to beat the unbeatable, an incurable disease, and on its way I discovered the Power within me, the Power that brings Miracles into your life. But it wasn’t an easy battle, in order to succeed you need to change, and changing old habits is very hard. You have to start from changing your thoughts, your words, and your habits and up to your dieting. I believed that sharing my story with the world will bring positive impact into other people’s life. If I did it, everyone can!
So, I decided to publish my life changing story, “Dr. Mind” and spread the message across.

May all beings be blessed with love. Thank you for reading!

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Featured Interview With Michael Sprankle

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in a small town in Pennsylvania called Bellefonte. From there I moved to New York City, and I currently live in Phoenix, Arizona. My wife and I have two cats.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have been writing for over thirty years. One of my favorite memories is reading Sherlock Holmes and Journey To The Center Of The Earth during the summers as a child.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I really enjoy mystery books and crime books. The type of books that have many twists and a lot of suspense really keep me interested. This inspires me to incorporate these elements into my writing because I want my reader to be entertained, and yet I want them to not necessarily expect what is coming.
My favorite authors are Ernest Hemingway, Jack Kerouac, Hunter Thompson, H.G. Wells, and Dan Brown…just to name a few. There are just so many talented writers out there…

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My novel Love & Theft is about a man searching for redemption and has been entered into the Pulitzer competition. After a series of encounters with the law, a young man yearns for a better life and escapes his past as he heads to New York City where his pursuit of happiness and success sends him on a series of well-intentioned misadventures that lead him into the dark side of the criminal underworld and revenge. A marriage of real events and fiction, Love and Theft pulls from the author’s personal experience to create a man whose life path is no more his own fault than the color of his hair.
I also have a new novel The Killing Spring coming out later this year (2016), and my latest project The Ghost of Tom Mix should be released in 2017. Also, I am currently working on a screenplay called Ratland.

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Featured Interview With Vali Tsironi

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Greece and also that is the country that I live now.
But I travel all over in the world!
I am a pathological reader and writer and a very analytic person in all phases of life.
I had the habit to be exhausting in my conversations with other people even the people that I love. Oh, I am really trying to analyse all the things so much that not anyone can handling me! But that is a state of my mind and I really enjoy it, so it is a hard thing for others to manage their nerves and understanding me, but that’s me in the end…
Sometimes I can write a book in 3 days and I disappear then for all over the world! But steal is the book that matters!
I like cats! But those who are quit when I am writing!

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
For the time I understand myself! The books was a magical things for me! And I had that feeling and now..

I start writing about the age of 7-8 years old.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I like poetry. I couldn’t hide! For that reason I read fanatical all the poetry books that I can!
William Balter Yeats, Oscar Wilde, Nikos Karouzos, Nikos Kavvadias, Philip Dick, Arthur Clark, Mario Vargas Liosa (Oh! this is my favorite addiction, I can spent hours to hear his speeches in the web, to read his books, to thought about his books!)

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book “Those, which was spent on a dolphin” LULU-USA PUBLICATIONS of BOOKS, is a poetry book with 72 pages.

In a variety of poems the reader can feel all the love, the depression, the laugh, the hopes, the loneliness, the action of two people that sometime into the time met in the half. The half of feelings, the half of actions, the half of true, the half of the words.. And all of the half of others that are into in that feelings. Because the love aren’t always a case between two hearts and minds. The common ideas, the common actions, the common view in the life is a property of strong peoples and a gift of the universe in those hearts that are beyond the others in a world of their feelings and minds. Are they collapses into the unknown? Are they turn that love into a true matter? Or they abandon their heart half?

All the answers are beyond the verse of the book!

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Featured Interview With Mel RJ Smith

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Wallingford, Berkshire in 1964 and was the youngest of seven siblings. At the tender age of five, our family moved to Basingstoke and started life dwelling in a Nissen hut, before spending several months living with relations in a Split-level, end Terraced house, becoming a household of approximately sixteen. Seeing sense, the council allocated the Smith’s their very own house on a newly built housing estate, often referred to as part of the ‘London overspill.’
Sadly after two divorces, I now live in Warboys a little village in Cambridgeshire with my girlfriend Rosa, her children a Billy (Billy Bad Breath) who play a part in my forthcoming children’s picture book “Hoppie Lottie”

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always loved to read. My first was in Junior school, “Stig of the Dump” and then, if I remember correctly after all these years, was “Watership Down” by Richard Adams. Mainly because I went to the cinema to see the film of the same name and also because it was set not far from where I grew up.
I started writing full time in 2012 where I continued to write my Memoirs after writing the first paragraph in the 80’s.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
John Le Carre, Jack Higgins, James Herbet. my favorite Genres are varied but I do have a fondness of Horror and thriller also if I like a film, I intend to read the book.
I feel that I inspire myself with my own words of encouragement but also all of the above.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My Self Published story is “Memoirs of an Ordinary Guy” and I must mention the sub-title (Not Rich, Not Famous, Just Truths) because that’s what I am just an ordinary guy. I actually started to write this in the 80’s (just the first paragraph) but put it to one side, only to pick up where I left off in 2012, after a near death experience with septicemia. I wanted to tell the word my story and maybe, just maybe become that Rich and Famous guy.

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Featured Interview With Ed Protzel

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
The unique perspective of a mixed-heritage Jew-Cherokee, who lived for a time in an orphanage and later as a teen runaway, gives me special insights into characters that are outsiders, men and women on lonely quests seeking justice, love, and fulfillment against society’s blindness.

The Lies That Bind, a darkly ironic antebellum South multiple-mystery/drama, is the first book in my DarkHorse Trilogy. I have also written five original screenplays for feature film and developed scripts/projects for 20th Century Fox.

I earned a master’s degree in English literature/creative writing from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a bachelor’s in English from the University of Hawaii-West Oahu.

The final two books in the DarkHorse Trilogy will include many of the same major characters as the original: Honor Among Outcasts, set in Missouri during the Civil War, and Something in Madness, set in California.

My other novel-in-progress is The Antiquities Dealer, a genre-stretching, ostensible mystery/thriller about a Jewish gallery owner drawn by his former lover into a scheme to clone the great minds of history—having begun with Jesus Christ. Millennial religion, futuristic biotechnology, and human evolution collide in a cauldron peopled by a TV evangelist, a former NFL tackle, Middle East conspiracies, and radicals of major religions.

I am married and live in St. Louis, Missouri, where I write full time and teach college English.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I can’t remember not being fascinated with books – maybe that’s why I majored in English. I started writing seriously in high school, but it’s taken a lifetime of learning to get to this point.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My expertise as a novelist and screenwriter was influenced by the American tragicomedy movement (Faulkner, Twain, Tennessee Williams, Flannery O’Connor), science fiction, Shakespeare, and a variety of historical periods, including World War II, the American Civil War, and Fourteenth Century Europe.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Lies That Bind – DarkHorse Trilogy, Book 1 is a twisted tale of intrigue in the antebellum South.

1859, Mississippi. Visionary charlatan Durksen Hurst encounters a dozen hungry slaves stranded in the wilds. Desperate, they scheme to build an egalitarian plantation, with Hurst acting as figurehead master and his partners, led by Big Josh, pretending to be slaves. Nearby live the Frenches: the reclusive widow who manipulates the region’s bankers and cotton brokers, and her frail, rebellious heir-apparent, Devereau. They “legally” adopt a child from New Orleans to carry on their legacy. Now, Antoinette, the mother, has come for her son and gets much more than she expected.

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Featured Interview With Brenda kay Winters

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Native Texan. Graduate of Texas Tech University. Lives out side of Austin Texas and Willie Nelson is my neighbor.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Started writing at age 14. Term paper in junior high svhool.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Ann Rule. Mignon Morgan and Gwen Potter are my favorite authors.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Mister Facebook is my latest book about Mark Zuckerberg.