Top Selling Authors: Get To Know Them Better

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.

Featured Interview With Savio Dawson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Thanks for having me here. I am Savio, the author of Spirit Raiders. I am a resident of Mumbai, India, and writing happens to be one of my hobbies. Being a hobby it comes rather naturally and something I have fun doing. My dad, wife, and daughter are the ones filling my home with lots of love, joy, and laughter. In fact, my wife was the only one who knew about my book, initially. Everyone else came to know about it a lot later. I also have a day job back in India, which brings forth its own set of fun and excitement. So, that’s about me.

I don’t have any pets; however, my grandfather had dogs like a German shepherd, Labrador, and other breeds, which I used to play a lot with during my childhood. That was fun.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was quite a passive reader early on and that meant that I would read only what was given to me for reading. However, I guess it was after the ninth grade where I started to have this fascination with books, especially, nature books and therefore, spent a good time in the school library. That sure was the beginning.

I started writing about a decade back, initially articles, company newsletters, later on, blogs and then the ultimate – novels (smiles).

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favourite authors to read are Esther and Jerry Hicks, Helen Schucman and likes. Although, I am a sci-fi author, people are usually baffled when I tell them that my author following is of a different genre. So, if you ask me the genre I read, it obviously is the self-help and spiritual ones.

There are a lot of episodes and author styles which inspire a person and I cannot deny that, however, by naming a few, I would be doing injustice to the many others whom I liked and followed. My style of writing is quite simple and easy sentence construct, in that sense, at least, I belong to a league of many other writers.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Spirit Raiders is my latest book and it took some time to put the story line together. Now, that it is up, I am quite happy with what has been created.

The book revolves around a series of abduction that Mark experiences at the hands of two different sets of extra-terrestrials. This apparent interest in Mark and the accidental discovery of some alien vessels around Earth’s periphery sets a number of government and private agencies in motion. The bone-chilling truth that is uncovered and the action thereafter is what the book is all about.

Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles

Savio Dawson’s Website

Savio Dawson Facebook Page

Savio Dawson Twitter Account

Featured Interview With D. U. Sivri

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and grew up in East London, and I have also lived and worked in many countries.

As a qualified psychotherapist and a renowned motivational expert, I am extremely intetested in helping people both through my work and through my books.

I am an advocate of raising greater mental health awareness and my mission is to help people on an emotional and psychological level.

I have written four powerful personal development and self-help books:

The Secrets of Confidence and Success

The Secrets of Calmness and Inner Peace

The Secrets of Existence and Fulfilment

The Secrets of Life and Beyond

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always loved books and have been reading and writing from a young age. I also studied English Literature at high school and college before focusing more on psychology…

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I work in the motivational and psychological sector so self-help is naturally an interesting genre for me. However I also read lots of other genres and authors.

I get a lot of Inspiration from many quarters not just through other writers.

Inspiration is all around… You just need to look for it!

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is The Secrets of Confidence and Success.

I wrote this book to help the reader become the best of who they are. There are many fantastic principles and techniques in this book to help the teader develop an optimal way of thinking.

Confidence and Self-esteem are important so its a must for everyone to develop these necessary character traits.

Once you have worked on yourself, then you can create an optimal way of thinking which enables you to build greater levels of success in your life…

With more successful relationships at work and in your private life, your future happiness will be guaranteed.

Take the first step and read something that will expand your mind…

Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles

D. U. Sivri’s Website

D. U. Sivri Facebook Page

D. U. Sivri Twitter Account

Featured Interview With Bruce Edlen

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in Southern California, where I still reside. After attending college, I began a long run in the business world, and then gravitated over to what became a 20-year career as an educator. Following my recent “retirement” (I don’t relate to that word – I still consider myself a teacher), I happened across a video about Jazz Jennings, the subject of the biography I came to write, and that has been the main focus of my attention for the last one and one-half years.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My mom receives much of the credit for getting me interested in books very early on in life. I still have a set of books she read out loud to me most nights. My family had a wonderful tradition of visiting the public library every two weeks, the older ones heading upstairs to the grownup book area, and younger ones downstairs to the children’s book room. I loved those library visits. I even remember one of the children’s book librarians, a school friend’s mother. But I was pleased and proud when I got the library card to access the upstairs grownup book section. Even today, I can still picture practically every square foot of that beautiful old Carnegie Library building, now sadly gone.

I’m not sure about the age when I first got into writing, but it was when very young. I still have one of the first stories I wrote, probably in third grade, with a comment from the teacher that I must have copied the story because it was way too good for a kid to compose. Fast-forward to high school. I recall volunteering articles for the school newspaper, and getting them back from the journalism instructor with lots of curious editing notations written in red pencil. (I wasn’t even in his class.) Several of my submissions actually did make it to print, and I have saved a stack of those old newspapers with my stories in them.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Although I have many favorite titles that I have read over the years, I can’t say I have any favorite authors that I follow. Having read such a wide variety of well-written books over many years certainly has affected my interests and my skills and writing style. The script writer Aaron Sorkin of TV’s West Wing and The Network has been a particular influence on my work. My home is filled with book cases overflowing with tons of the books I have chosen to keep, including a bunch from my younger days, and lots more titles acquired for my classroom library when I was teaching.

Definitely biographies. But I also enjoy nonfiction titles about modern history, politics, and education, and in the fiction realm, some mysteries catch my interest.

Who or what? I have been known to compose a response to some article, post, or situation that is fascinating, moving, uplifting, irritating, or anger-inspiring. But in terms of writing a book, so far that only applies to my one title, Jazz Mergirl. I was inspired to write this biography after coming across a video about the early life of Jazz Jennings. I found her story to embody those same qualities of being fascinating, moving, and uplifting, a story that I felt just had to be shared in book form. And I was inspired to support Jazz’s TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation, to which this book’s profits are given.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
To begin with, Jazz Mergirl is the first book I have written. This biography is the true story of Jazz Jennings, who is now well-known as a transgender teen activist and TV Star of the TLC docuseries I Am Jazz. My book tells how Jazz, a girl born in a boy’s body, and her family, navigated the challenging road to transition her into the bright, beautiful, lovely teen she is today.
It is also the story of Jazz’s courage and determination in speaking out to the world about being transgender. She urges those who are “less understanding” to become more accepting of “unique and special people,” and encourages kids who are different to accept and love themselves.
The target audience for Jazz Mergirl is teens 15+ to adults, but this biography will also be of interest to teachers, those in psychology and gender studies programs, therapists, and healthcare professionals. Included in the book’s back matter are links to online resources, an extensive, user-friendly glossary, and guides for those who wish to learn more about the transgender experience.
When I came across the story of Jazz Jennings, and began doing research for the book, Jazz was not so widely-recognized, nor was there a Caitlyn Jenner, along with all the awareness she has generated, and the two TV series I Am Jazz and I Am Cait, were not even planned. Over the past year, public interest about the transgender community has grown exponentially, so it turns out that Jazz Mergirl has been published at a most propitious time.

Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles

Bruce Edlen’s Website

Bruce Edlen Facebook Page

Featured Interview With Pablo Michaels

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am a gay, senior man married to my partner, best friend, lover, husband and soulmate for twenty years I am a native Californian born in a rural mountain town. My family moved to the suburbs of San Francisco when I was four. I studied at a number of universities, acquiring a diverse education and enjoyed many life-forming experiences. I started writing in the third grade through high school. But in college I discovered my true identity and acted on my sexual orientation as a gay man. I had many adventures working and living in San Francisco. In the 1980’s I wrote constantly while working. I inherited and now live in the house I grew up in the suburbs on a quiet country street, surrounded by a metropolis. I have one dog, Bailey, a miniature American Eskimo Husky. I write in the living room on my laptop or in our den on either my laptop or PC. I love to take breaks and go out on our upper deck, enjoying the garden surrounding me and the ranch behind us.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My mother was a primary school teacher, excelling in teaching reading and writing. So I was encouraged to perform well in school. My mother gave me good advise- people can take everything away from you but your education. I started reading when I was five and write my first book in the third grade. All through high school and college, I loved writing stories and poetry.
Pablo Michaels disguised himself as a shy, friendly heterosexual during his adolescence, fantasizing other males. Falling in love with another man his first year in college, he followed this man to another university to maintain their platonic love, while he continued in his in studies. When he had his first sexual encounter with another man, just before turning twenty-one, he exploded into gay life with lust and rage. He attempted to live his new life naturally, seeking love, ignoring the statistics of the books he read on homosexuality in high school, and proving what he had read was wrong.
Pablo Michaels is a gay man who writes gay romantic genre fiction from a gay man’s perspective. He is driven to educate and enlighten readers with the true beauty of love between men. He has published several books over the span of the last five years. He has found a new home to publish his stories with Yellow Silk Dreams, a publisher composed of a coop of authors. He grew up in a working class family that taught him the values of hard work, regardless of the profession, and helped him acquire a diverse education. The family motto is “People can take everything away from you. But they never can take away your education.” He is legally married to his soulmate, a man he has lived with for twenty years.
Pablo Michaels was born in the story, “Raging Silence”, which is included in the book, “This Beautiful Escape”. The silence raging in Pablo Michaels was his inherit sexual orientation, suppressed in his adolescent years. Through years of struggles he finds peace in his current life with his legal husband, a partnership of 20 years.
He wrote poetry and stories since third grade. When he turned twenty-one, he moved to San Francisco to work and write, experiencing more of gay life. In the 1980’s he wrote every chance he had, trying and failing miserably at publishing mainstream fiction. He published his first story, Reunion on the Trail, in 1986 in a literary magazine When the Mockingbird Sings.
After writing plays, short stories, poetry, and two novels, he began writing gay genre stories, feeling he had more knowledge and experience with gay lifestyle. Trying to publish, he went to a library seminar hosted by two published authors. Inspired by the gay writer, Scott Kemble he connected with him on the internet site for The San Francisco Bay Area Literary Arts Newsletter and Review, which published four of Pablo’s short stories.
Constantly, writing since 2004, he published his first e-book, Pagan Knights of Cambria, with Life of Riley Productions in London. Soon a mainstream story, When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again Hooray, published also. In 2012 Pablo self-published his first novel, Catnip, Rosemary, Rage and Time, combining mystery and humor in a gay, erotic romance. He continues to write more episodes in his next novel, The Deer in the Forest The plot spreads over several decades, about a man’s attempts to adapt to the world he lives, all with love, heartache, history and survival at no cost.
His latest article, Why Gay Men Retire to Palm Springs, was just published in the very popular SimplySxy.com online magazine. You can read the insightful article here. http://simplysxy.com/articles/2015/06/08/why-gay-men-retire-to-palm-springs/
Pablo retired from gardening and landscaping to devote his energy to write fiction. As a gay man he wishes to promote his writing gay genre fiction to help others understand the necessity for equal rights for LGBT people and comprehend that love between a man and a man, people of the same sex, is as natural as love between a man and a woman. Throughout his lifetime he has experienced the long battle of achieving acceptance. He has searched for a committed relationship with another man. He has loved his partner for twenty years. They were legally married in front of Harvey Milk’s bust in the rotunda of San Francisco City Hall by a judge, in 2008. Although their marriage remained legal after the passage of Proposition 8, they continued to work to repeal DOMA and Prop. 8. Throughout his life he has attempted to live and practice peace as a process for living.
His published books include the book, Blood, Sweat and Black Leather, a gay paranormal romance, published by Yellow Silk Dreams in January 2015. Affairs of Men’s Hearts, published in May 2015 by Yellow Silk Dreams is an anthology of four stories connected by the themes of gay men seeking love with another man, from wishful thinking male to male romance to gay marriage. His latest book, Jack and the Magical Beanstalk is an adult version with a gay twist of the fairy tale classic, Jack and the Beanstalk, published in December 2015 by Yellow Silk Dreams. He has rewritten his first novel, Catnip. Rosemary, Rage and Time, and its prequel, Learning to Love Again, both soon to be published. He is currently working on the sequel to Jack and the Magical Beanstalk. The working title is Climbing Another Magical Beanstalk.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love to read gay genre mysteries, especially Richard Stevenson’s, Donald Strachey detective series.. The characters are real and I relate to them as an older reader. I loved Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. I have always admire his skill and simplicity in creating a coming of age story. Both authors inspire me to create the simplicity in characters but who have depth as a real person.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Jack and the Magical Beanstalk is an adult fairy tale based on the classic with a gay twist in characters and plot. It retains the original concept and simplicity of the classic, written with erotica and romance with new characters. I loved fairy tales as a kid and wanted to create the same fun story from a gay perspective. I have added new characters. The strange old man wearing red bikini underwear trades Jack the magic beans for their prize cow Pearly White. But Jack must perform several sexual feats of acquiring the penile shaped magic bean seeds. The giant, Master, has a partner, a submissive giant, Slave. With the gold coins, Jack hires two gay farmhands, Zeke and Adam. Jack’s love interest is found with a naked man, Sam, who steals food for his ailing father. Through a number of trips up the flesh-like stem of the magical beanstalk, Jack falls in love with Sam and brings home a wealth of gold coins, a cackling hen that lays gold eggs and a harp that sings beautiful songs.

Jack, an awkward, young boy, grew up on a farm with his mother, Lorene. Fatherless from a young age, Jack and his mother sold milk from their prize winning cow, Pearly White, at the market. Jack idolized his handsome father, Bill, who sang beautiful melodies for his wife. Jack could not sing but had other talents like drawing and painting. When the farm started failing, without Jack’s father tending the crops, they had to sell Pearly White. Lorene scolded her son for selling their cow for five magical beans and sent him to bed without dinner. The next morning Jack woke up to a giant, magical beanstalk, growing up through the clouds in the sky. He knew the beanstalk was magical and so he climbed up the beanstalk, discovering a place where Giants ruled the land. Slave, the smaller giant served the larger giant, Master. After his long journey, Jack begged for food from Slave. But Master was hungry and smelled a young handsome wimp. Slave hid Jack to escape Master’s hunger. After Jack watched Master eat, he spied him counting a bag of golden coins. When Master fell asleep, Jack ran out the door with Master’s bag of golden coins, Master and Slave chased him to the giant, magical beanstalk. Before sliding down the beanstalk, Jack admired a handsome, naked man his size and age, from a distance. Jack pleased his mother with the bag of golden coins. He bought back Pearly White and hired two men, Zeke and Adam, to help on the farm. As Jack grew up, his appearance resembled that of his dad’s, attracting many men, including Zeke and Adam. The farm prospered with Jack working side by side with the two farmhands. Jack continued climbing the magical beanstalk to steal more treasures from Master and Slave. Jack met the handsome young, naked man, Sam, during the next plot to steal a golden treasure. Between saving each other from Master and Slave and finding food and treasures, Can Jack and Sam continue loving each other coming from different worlds while surviving the wrath of the giants?

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Pablo Michaels’s Website

Pablo Michaels Facebook Page

Pablo Michaels Twitter Account

Featured Interview With Sarina Rose

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hello. I was raised in New Jersey in the same house which my grandfather had built and where my father was raised. The house had four apartments. My grandparents lived in the downstairs apartment and had access to the backyard. They raised chickens and vegetables on a city lot. My parent lived upstairs until they passed away. My sister and I attended the school on the same block. My entire education and employment was in New Jersey. There is a lot of my history in New Jersey and it feeds my mind with ideas for characters and books.

Now I live in Florida with my husband and our two wonderful dogs. Cici is my blind 17 pound Shih Tzu and Andy is our 75 pound Labradoodle. Believe it or not, Andy wants to be the lap dog.Cici couldn’t care less.Andy lets me know that I have been sitting and writing too long every hour and half. He apparently know how to tell time. See his picture here?

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
As most authors are, I have always been a reader. I read many different genres: historical, noir, magical fiction, mysteries. My mother and her sisters were great readers. I can say that I am fascinated with the way words bring reader to another world or inside another person and that is what I love about reading and writing.
I started writing seriously about four years ago. To my amazement the story lines usually come easily. Last week when someone asked me where I get my ideas. I answered, “I don’t know.” That is not exactly the truth. Sometimes I hear a phrase, see a character in a dream, remember or wonder what is it I don’t know about her; then my imagination takes over.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have great difficulty choosing a favorite author or genre. I enjoy historical fiction. I loved the first book of Outlander, but have not been inspired to read the subsequent titles. I have read most of Phillipa Gregory’s books. I started with The Other Boleyn Girl. I adore Margret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin. I should tell you I listen to that one on cassettes on a drive from New Jersey to Florida.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I like writing romances set during Mid 20th Century- the late 1960’s when the sexual revolution and feminism was taking hold. The latest is an awesome romance, The Relentless Italian. It set between New Jersey/New York and Rome, Italy. Tony Andriosi is an Italian singer attending college in New Jersey. He falls in love with Sophie Carrieri. He has a career in Italy which he wants to continue. She has to attend Veterinary School before even beginning her career. He needs to find his birth mother and she is prevented from becoming a mother. He is positive she is the woman for him. She is dead set on waiting before deciding. They embark on a pretend romance until college graduation. What happens before and after graduation is a rocky road. The books is about female friendships, secrets, love, sex, family and careers. All the characters are relentless in one way or another.
Actually I wrote this book first, then set it aside while I wrote and published The Relentless Brit which took me about a year. When I returned to edit The Italian, I did a ton of rewriting, adding, and subtracting. I think The Relentless Italian is the best book I have written. I hope you take a chance on me and read it.

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Sarina Rose’s Website

Sarina Rose Facebook Page

Sarina Rose Twitter Account

Featured Interview With Jennifer Irwin

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in New York and live in Los Angeles with my boyfriend of six years. I have three sons ages 22, 20 and 17. I’m incredibly proud of my boys! My dog and two cats are all female so I’m not the only girl in the house. I have a BA in Cinema from Denison University. After college, I worked in advertising but when my third son was born I got certified in Pilates and have been teaching privates to a plethora of women ever since. Teaching Pilates has given me a lot of great material for my book!

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always enjoyed reading and now I spend my free time reading books in the genre that I write in, commercial fiction and women’s fiction. When my kids were little I read them every single Gold, Silver and Bronze Caldecott award winning book that was available in the library. I began writing my novel, A Dress the Color of the Sky about three years ago. Two years ago, I committed to writing every single day because I was so excited about my book and sharing it with the world. At Denison University, I wrote a screenplay that earned my acceptance into a semester long arts program in New York City.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I believe that a book can affect people differently depending on what’s happening in their lives. One of my favorite books is, Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt. I was going through a hard time when I read it and it really moved me. I have never read it again because I’m afraid it won’t have the same impact on me as it did the first time I read it. I read, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho about once a year just because it makes me think. I love book club reads! I’m not a fan of fantasy or science fiction but I did read the Harry Potter series to my boys. One summer, my oldest son and I read several classics then watched the movies based on them. Some books that I’ve really loved are, The Poisonwood Bible, House of Sand and Fog, The Goldfinch, Life of Pi and Running with Scissors. I also love the book, The Gold Coast, because it was based on the town I grew up in! Mostly, I want a book to make me think and feel.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
For the past three years I have been writing, A Dress the Color of the Sky and I can’t wait to share it with everyone. Although my novel is not yet published, the feature film rights have recently been sold. As I mentioned, I’ve been teaching private Pilates for 16 years to a variety of women and that has helped me understand how how women think and feel. My book touches on subjects that concern women: Why do we fall in love with the wrong men? How can I hate myself one day and love myself the next? Do I have supportive friends? Can I heal from my past and find self love? Can women be sex addicts?

Prudence Aldrich, wife and mother pulls up her jeans in the minuscule airplane bathroom after yet another random sexual encounter. Leading a double life is killing her. Prue’s tough childhood has left her with a thick protective skin. Carl and Prue fall in love, somewhere along the way the relationship takes a sad turn. With buried secrets from her past and a desperate feeling inside she seeks love in the arms of other men. When Prue and Carl separate, she unravels. After several dangerous liaisons, Prue’s therapist advises her to get serious help. Her diagnosis, sex addict.
Prudence checks herself into the Serenity Hills rehab center. Mike, her therapist and the cast of characters in the orange group see the person behind the pain. In rehab, Prudence searches for someone with a story like hers, finally that woman checks into the orange group. She’s not the only one! Mike says that Carl and his alcoholic behavior might be the catalyst to Prue’s sexual addiction.
With the positive reinforcement of Mike and the members of the orange group Prue’s self-hatred starts to lift. Her gut tells her to let go of Carl for good but, Prudence isn’t sure she can.

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Jennifer Irwin’s Website

Jennifer Irwin Facebook Page

Jennifer Irwin Twitter Account

Featured Interview With Charles H. Boxsley Jr.

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born April 15, 1973 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1996, I moved to Indianapolis, Indiana to go to construction school at Indiana Plan, a trades school funded by the federal government. Afterwards, I obtained a degree in Heating, Cooling and Refrigeration from ITT Technical Institute (1998) and later received an Associates Business Degree from Indiana Business College (2003). Moving to Tampa, Florida in late December 2007, I received a word from the Lord to start writing a book.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I grew up from a young age with a desire to draw. This was my first way of expressing my feelings and view of myself and the world. The stories in the Holy Bible grabbed my attention as a youth and I loved to hear ministers speak about the Bible, I feel in love with words in 2003 after discovering that they were controlling my physical existence. I either failed or succeeded based on the vocabulary of the sales industry.
After seeking employment for about 6 months in Tampa, I was led to start writing the book; Misinterpretation: Prosperity on Earth.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
The subject I naturally enjoy is business. My favorite authors are Robert Kiyosaki, Mary Buffett and David Clark. Robert Kiyosaki inspires me most because I feel like I can relate to him. His writing style is simple when it needs to be. When he must teach a complicated matter, he explains well with many relatable examples.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Misinterpretation: Prosperity on Earth is a Bible-based writing designed to bring light to the believer about financial systems which govern the world. It highlights misinterpretations in the body of Christ about money in terms of jobs and entrepreneurship; with a focus on the myriad mental misnomers and attitudes which plague Christ-followers.

Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles

Charles H. Boxsley Jr.’s Website

Charles H. Boxsley Jr. Facebook Page

Charles H. Boxsley Jr. Twitter Account

Featured Interview With L.K. Kuhl

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
L.K. Kuhl lives in Nebraska with her husband Gene of twenty-nine years, young son, Nathan, and Greg, their Black Lab dog. She has two older daughters, Morgan and Brittani and son-in-law, Trevor. L.K. has been writing for over twenty years. She first began writing children’s books and poetry, moved on to writing music, and is now writing Young Adult and Adult novels. She loves spending time with her family, vacationing, writing, reading, and taking long walks. It’s the characters who write their own stories in her novels, and she is just their messenger, sharing it with the world.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was around 21 when I first started to write. That was around twenty some years ago. I began writing children’s books then moved on to writing and poetry when I could never get any of the children’s books published. In 2013 we had a young child die from child abuse and this prompted me to write a novel and dedicate it to him and to all abused children. The name of this novel is Chasing Butterflies and I never did get it published. It is very dear to my heart and I would love to get it published one day. In this novel it tells what the parents did to this poor little boy and how the authorities were called but no one would ever do anything about it.
Writing this novel sparked a love for writing and today, I can’t let it rest. I’m obsessed with writing and I like to write stories that tug at your heart strings, and have a little truth to them from my own experiences in life.
The next one after Everlasting is called Chasm. Chasm is based upon a true story of a train engineer hitting and killing his wife and kids one day when he was driving a train. The wife drove on the tracks on purpose to get back at him. Chasm will be released on May 5th, 2016.
Everlasting is a trilogy and “The One” will soon follow.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite authors are Nicholas Sparks, Nora Roberts, Gillian Flynn, the late V.C. Andrews, Stephen King. I love all genres but my favorites are probably Young Adult, Women’s Fiction, and Thrillers. Nicolas Sparks inspires me to write. I love The Notebook and he came from Nebraska, just like me.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Everlasting is my latest book. It was just released on February 18th, 2016. It is a YA Paranormal Romance based on young Sophia Bandell and her summer on the beach. That summer she meets the boy of her dreams and also learns some pretty heavy stuff. Let’s just say by the end of the book she has some pretty major decisions to make.

A few months before I started writing Everlasting, my brother-in-law passed away. One night he came to me in a dream and stood right beside my bed. I was able to ask him questions about what life after death is like and things like what really happens when you die. His answers were direct and the dream was so vivid and real, that I had to incorporate his answers into Everlasting.

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L.K. Kuhl’s Website

L.K. Kuhl Twitter Account

Featured Interview With David Tindell

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was an only child, born in a big city to wealthy parents who were gunned down before my eyes when I was…Wait, that’s someone else. Actually, I was born in Germany, where my parents were living while Dad served in the Army. I grew up in small towns in southern Wisconsin, graduating high school in Potosi, a bucolic town on the banks of the Mississippi, and got my bachelor’s degree at nearby UW-Platteville, my parents’ alma mater. For the next twenty years I worked as a radio broadcaster, winding up in Rice Lake, a town in the northwest corner of the state, where I met my wife, Sue. I left radio in 1999 and now work for the US Government by day, and by night I train in the martial arts and write thriller novels, often with my Yorkie, Sophie, on my lap. We also have a Siamese cat, Indigo, and we’re blessed to live in a log home on a picturesque lake. You can see our view of the lake on the landing page of my blog, www.djtindellauthor.com. I have two great kids from my first marriage: my daughter Kim and her husband live in Boston, where she manages an upscale jewelry boutique, and son Jim lives in Milwaukee, where he works for the state and makes movies. He produced the book trailers for my first two books.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I learned to read in kindergarten and it just grew from there. In middle and high school I was fortunate to have great English teachers who opened up the world of literature to me. Thanks, Mrs. Millman and Mrs. Leonard. I also had a fine geography teacher, Mr. Peake, who showed me how fascinating other countries can be. In college I won some creative writing contests but never got serious about writing till I left radio. My first novel, “Revived,” was published in 2000. I put the keyboard aside for a few years to begin my martial arts training, then got back into the writing with “The White Vixen” and then “Quest for Honor.” My training has really opened up a world that is dedicated to discipline and honor, and since those are the kinds of stories I like to read, those are the ones I write. What does it mean to be a warrior in today’s world? And do we need them? As to the former question, I think it means being willing to stand up for others and defend those who can’t defend themselves, to be the sheepdog who isn’t afraid to take on the wolf. As to the second question, the answer is a definite, you’d-better-believe-it yes.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
The books that most influenced me in school were the Sherlock Holmes novels of Arthur Conan Doyle and the novel “Alas, Babylon,” by Pat Frank. Another one was “Costigan’s Needle,” by Jerry Stohl. These two books, written in the 1950s, were examples of what today we call dystopian fiction, putting ordinary people into extraordinary, world-shattering situations. Some people rise to the occasion and become leaders, others fail. Those situations really raise the question: What really makes someone a hero? Is it an inherent sense of discipline and self-sacrifice? Does it require intense training in something like martial arts or the military? Those books opened up those possibilities for me, to ask those questions and try to answer them. In the last couple decades I’ve discovered a lot of great thriller and mystery writers, and I’d have to list these as the most influential: Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn, Robert Ludlum, Stephen Hunter, David Poyer, Brad Thor and William Kent Krueger.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
“The Red Wolf” is the sequel to “The White Vixen.” The first book is set in 1981-82, and my protagonist is Jo Ann Geary, an Air Force Special Operations officer who is an expert martial artist and linguist. The book opens as she joins a platoon of UK Royal Marines in the rescue of a British agent held captive on a Chinese island. Later, she is once again tapped by MI6, this time to go undercover inside Argentina, to find the man behind the Argentines’ move to take the Falklands from Britain. She discovers a plot that is much more than a power grab for some sparsely-populated islands, and has to confront a terror thought long dead. In “The Red Wolf,” it is five years later, and Jo is helping to form up a new cover operations team. Their first mission comes from the president himself: Jo and her team are to go behind the Iron Curtain into communist Hungary, to prevent the assassination of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev by a rogue Spetsnaz operative, the Red Wolf. But there are influential men inside the US government who don’t want her to succeed, so Jo and her team have to stay one step ahead of their own people and stay out of the hands of Soviet and Hungarian security forces at the same time they are hunting the most dangerous man on the planet.
It takes about three years from the time I put the first thoughts about a book on paper until it’s ready to hit the bookshelves and e-readers. Fortunately, I belong to a very good critique group, composed of four ladies and myself. We exchange our latest chapters by email and meet biweekly to critique them. They’ve been extremely helpful and their suggestions have made the books a lot better than they would’ve been otherwise. So my thanks go out to Donna White Glaser, Marjorie Swift Doering, Jodie Swanson and Helen Block, all fine writers themselves.
Since I still have one of those day job things, I do my writing on evenings and weekends, occasionally early mornings. I work out a lot, and find that some of my best ideas come when I’m in the pool or on the rowing machine at the gym. Then I have to make sure I write them down or type a note into my phone. My wife owns and operates a travel agency, which is great for a writer because it allows me to do a lot of research in the field. This spring we are heading to China and will spend time in the foothills of the Himalayas. Next year we’re going to Africa to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, which by the wildest coincidence is what Jo Ann Geary will be doing in her next adventure, “The Bronze Leopard.”
“Quest for Honor” is unrelated to the Vixen series. My protagonist is Jim Hayes, a widower who lives in a small Wisconsin town. His wife was murdered in front of him several years before, so he has trained in the martial arts, because the next time someone needs his help, he is determined not to fail again. His younger brother Mark, an Army officer commanding a base in Afghanistan, is about to retire from the service and wonders if civilian life will bring him as much honor as he has found in the military. And in Somalia, a terrorist chieftain has decided to defect, bringing with him intelligence about an imminent, large-scale attack on the American heartland. But he will turn himself in only to the one American he has ever known who could be trusted, his old college friend Jim Hayes. Jim’s time has come.
The sequel, “Quest for Vengeance,” is my work in progress. It picks up the Hayes brothers’ story a year after the events in the first book, and they are newly married and vacationing in Italy with their brides. While the women are shopping in a city south of Rome, they are attacked and Mark’s wife is kidnapped. The man behind the attack is Darko Novak, head of a large security firm in Belgrade, Serbia. Back in 1999 in Kosovo, Novak’s Yugoslav Army unit engaged in a firefight with a force of US peacekeepers led by a young officer named Mark Hayes, and Novak’s younger brother was killed. Now, the Serb is going to get his revenge by using Mark’s wife as the bait.

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Featured Interview With Katie Mettner

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I started out life as the middle child and lived with my parents and brother and sister in a little house in Eau Claire Wisconsin. Growing up I loved going to the library with my dad and reading every Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew book I could get my hands on. At 13 I broke my leg skiing and that leg never really recovered from the injury. After many surgeries I was back to working as a baker and cake decorator. Eventually I moved north and worked as a cook until I met my soul mate, Dwayne, on Thanksgiving 1999. In fact, my birthday is June 14 and his is June 15! We got married in April 2000 and we had our first child in February 2001. I stayed at home with my three kids and eventually got my degree in medical transcription. I worked as a transcriptionist for a dozen years, having quit last year due to hand problems. While being a stay-at-home mom and a transcriptionist I started writing my first book, Sugar’s Dance. I now live in Northern Wisconsin, just a little south of Lake Superior, which happens to be my favorite backdrop for my stories!

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
As I said above, I’ve always been fascinated with books because reading was a big part of my life since I was a little girl. My parents loved to read and passed that down to me. I’ve never been overly picky about what I read, I just loved to see how words went together to make sentences and then a whole store. I started writing very early in life and would often write short stories just for the fun of it when I was bored in the summer. Journaling and writing was my favorite class in school because I could let my imagination run wild during that time. I didn’t write as much after graduation as I was busy with work and starting a family. In 2011 I wasn’t able to walk on my leg anymore and the doctors suggested we amputate my left leg below the knee. I agreed and after the surgery I finally found time to write that book that had been building in me for years. That was 17 books ago! I discovered that Sugar was only the tip of the iceberg of characters waiting for their story to be told.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love a good mystery, and pretty much read every Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and Boxcar Children when I was little. Then I moved on to Mary Higgins Clark, Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich style books. I’m an equal opportunity book reader, but always loved Harlequin Romance Suspense books. They were my guilty pleasure so to say, so I’m sure that is why I like to write romantic suspense now. I love indie authors and read everything from contemporary romance to romantic suspense to straight mystery/thrillers. I can’t say I have a lot of other writers who inspire me in my writing, I tend to do my own thing. My characters are unlike most you read about as each one has a physical difference to overcome as they search for love.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Winter’s Rain, which isn’t my latest book, but is the book being featured at this time, is a romantic suspense story. Winter’s story is about a woman who has suffered at the hands of a very brutal, abusive man for the majority of her life. She managed to break free of him, but when he turned back up in her life, unannounced, she knew it would come down to his life, or hers, and this time she chose hers. On the run, after leaving him dead on the floor of her home, she embarks on a life changing journey to live John 8:32, “then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (Let me insert here that this is in no way a Christian romance book. There are topics, situations and sins discussed and committed in this book that are not found in the Christian romance genre. MOVING ON) Winter isn’t a religious woman, but that verse has been on the bracelet she’s worn since high school. It’s taken her eight long years, and seeing the eyes of an old friend again, to see those words in a different light. She always saw them as literal, ‘telling someone about the abuse you suffered for so many years would set you free,’ but what she learned after killing her abuser (even though it was in self-defense), was a lesson far more expansive.

Winter grew up on a reservation the first nine years of her life with her best friend, Jedidiah Raintree. When he moved away her life began to spin out of control, but in the end her destiny led her back to him.

Winter’s Rain took me about four months from the time I started writing until the time I published it. Winter’s story flowed through me because this story HAD to be told. It’s called a gritty page-turner that draws raw emotion. As the writer I can tell you that was exactly how I felt about it then and now.

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Featured Interview With Gina Dickerson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m Gina Dickerson. I live by the Kent coast in the UK with my family and bouncy Siberian husky. I’m an avid shoe hoarder and enjoy shopping in vintage emporiums. My books include the Mortiswood Tales series, Always Golden, The Pennington Christmas Curse, and more!

Besides writing I also design under the name of RoseWolf Design and I am one of the founders of Authors Reach. Authors Reach is a co-operative between authors Sarah England, Richard Hardie, Catriona King, Shani Struthers and myself, formed with the aim of bringing a varied collection of our books directly to readers.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I can’t remember not being obsessed with stories! I first started writing my own tales when I was very young and I still have a book I made in primary school!

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favourite types of books to read are dark fairy tales, fantastical Gothic romance stories, anything with magical elements, occult influences, and mythical undertones.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest releases are new editions of the Mortiswood Tales series. The series is influenced by Norse myth and fairy tale. They are fantasy tales packed with action, adventure, evil magic, and thrills, with a sprinkling of romance. There’s a powerful, dark necromancer, a young woman who everyone wants, a secret society of evil magical beings, mythical realms, and magical wolves. Mortiswood is part set in the real world with cross-overs into realms of Norse myth and fantasy.

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Featured Interview With Michael Christopher Carter

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
An only child, I grew up in the leafy suburbs of Hertfordshire, South England. My childhood home was a large farmhouse on the site of a former WW2 U.S. Air base. Situated in a tiny hamlet of only a couple of hundred people, called Nuthampstead (readers of The HUM will be familiar), it was a wonderful place to grow up. One of those ‘leave your door unlocked’ neighbourhoods.
My wonderful wife originates from the beautiful Principality of Wales where we now live with our four children and two dogs, and I take inspiration from the wonderful landscape to set my books.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I loved books from as early as I can remember. Teachers, even at Infant School always said I had to become a writer one day. It took me thirty-five years to heed their advice.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I used to only read crime thrillers and whodunnits. Now, I’ll read anything, so long as it’s good. I find a lot of my favourite books from Indie authors, from sites just like Book Reader Magazine. There are some fantastic and original ideas out there waiting to be discovered.
Recent favourites I would recommend include Nick Pirog’s ‘3.00am’ series, ‘The Radio’ by M. Jonathan Lee, and Matt Haig’s ‘The Humans’.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest novel is a ghost story with a twist inspired by a recurring nightmare my wife has about her old student accommodation. I meant it to be intriguing. A real ‘Paranormal Tale of the Unexpected.” Feedback has been great with comments like, “It’s scary as hell!” and, “It really messes with your head.”

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Featured Interview With Donna Markiewicz

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am a writer, a blogger and an entrepreneur. I also like to design WordPress sites. I studied at the Art Institute at Pittsburgh Online for a degree in Interactive Media and then later at the International Academy of Design and Technology Online for a degree in Web Development. I am a computer geek who loves how to books and historical time travel novels that start in the past and wind up in the present.

I have now entered the exciting world of self-publishing by releasing my first book. It is a very personal story that was difficult for me to write. I have several more books planned for the near future. So be sure to watch for new listings.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have had a love of books every since I was a child. It was always my understanding that getting accepted by a publisher is difficult. But now with self-publishing it is possible to pursue my interest in writing.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love Nora Roberts books.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is the story of how an EF5 tornado struck the city of Joplin, Missouri on May 22, 2011 trapping my dog, Edie and I in our home to ride out the storm. We wound up on the street that day with nowhere to go eventually making it to a shelter. This is a personal account of what we experienced during that horrific event and the days that followed.
Book link: http://amzn.to/1nC1aSP

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Featured Interview With Gaetano Brown

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Utica, New York but raised primarily in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. I now live in Albuquerque, New Mexico with my wife Michelle, who is also one of my editors.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I never really had a fascination with books in general but I had a fascination with movies and writing. I began writing at the age of 10 and wrote short stories. They were mostly stories about my life. I got into fiction writing at 13 and wrote many short stories for middle and high school. I wrote my first published book in 2012, it was a short novella called Vulnerable. I was very inexperienced in writing publishable works, so the 96 pages took about four years to write. As my imagination began to unfold, writing became easier and I’m now on my sixth book.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I absolutely loved the works of Stephen King and J.K. Rowling. While two very different styles, I found that out of all of the published authors in the world, they had the broadest imaginations and their books really stood out. However, my biggest inspiration wasn’t even a published author, it was a video game writer, Sam Lake. I absolutely fell in love with his work on the games Max Payne, Max Payne 2, and Alan Wake. For some reason, those games were the ones that convinced me that I could pursue my dream as a writer.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My most recent published work was a novel, A Vulnerable Broken Mind. It released in December of 2014 and is the novel version of my first book Vulnerable. It is about a couple that is going on the vacation of their dreams and that dream turns into a nightmare in the most disturbing fashion. I wrote A Vulnerable Broken Mind with the intention of writing the most disturbing and sickening tale I could think of but still keep it addicting to the reader. It’s not a children’s book by any means. I am extremely proud of how the book turned out. It was my most professionally done book to date with two editors on the project. It’s been my best reviewed book thus far and I feel very fortunate and lucky to have gotten the response that I have gotten for that book.

The latest book that I’m working on now is in its editing stage and is due to release in May of 2016. For years I’ve wanted to write a vampire novel but generally lost interest with the release of Twilight. I felt the genre had taken a bit of a topple with Twilight. While I’ll never make fun of Stephenie Meyer and her success, I do feel that her books did give a lot of young readers a false impression of what the Vampire genre is and how versatile it can be. Every young reader in the world thought vampires were only what Twilight produced and I didn’t like it.

After writing A Vulnerable Broken Mind, I really wanted to do the Vampire novel again. I wanted a story that differed greatly from Twilight, but also sort of differed from most Vampire novels in general. I wanted a Vampire novel that was more reality based than anything else and wasn’t overly fantasy and gothic. I wanted a love story, but I didn’t want a lot of kissing, love making, and all the rest of the cliches that bog down the story. I wanted a tale of sympathy, pain, and misunderstanding. The story took nearly two years to write and it feels very rewarding to finally be in the editing phase and I truly can’t wait to publish it.

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Featured Interview With Linda Nelson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and still reside in the bustling city of Melbourne, Australia. Although I love to travel and sample the diversity that the world has to offer, Melbourne is home and a great source of inspiration. You can find me writing just down the road from my place on a spectacular white sandy beach or one of the great cafes. A short drive in the other direction and I can be at the National Park amongst beautiful forest and hiking tracks, or the city which is a multicultural hub. What more could a writer ask for? Combine that with my background in the romance industry and my big, loud, creative, wonderful, circle of family and friends, and I have mind full of stories that I can’t wait to share.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always been drawn to storytelling for as long as I can remember. Even as a child my favourite treat was picking out a new book at the supermarket every week when we did our big grocery shop. Back then the little Munch Bunch books were cherished treasures that sparked me to write my own versions for show and tell. Like many people out there, life happens and writing remained more of a hobby, though it was utilised in a more structured way throughout my career. I think that anything you are passionate about and enjoy finds a way to become a priority in your life. For myself writing is quite cathartic. I love taking some time to get lost in my imagination and spending time with my characters and the idea that I can provide the same escape into a world of fantasy that author’s provide me with.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I’m an eclectic person at heart and that is definitely reflected in my book collection. On my bookshelves are anyone from Stephen king, William Shakespeare, J.K. Rowling to Jane Austen. I just finished reading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and one of my all time favourites are The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. I think that in the erotica genre Fifty Shades of Grey has to be a source of inspiration. Whether you are a fan of the book or not, the initial buzz that E.L. James created and the phenomenon that followed was fascinating.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Bedgasm actually started off as an idea for a business I am involved with that wanted an erotica mini book for one of their romance gift boxes. I was overseeing the creative content and articles already but after writing the first four stories for the book, I realised how much I enjoyed writing again and wanted to take it further. In line with my original concept, Bedgasm was designed with peoples evolving busy lives in mind. We don’t always have time to commit to a full-length novel and if your anything like me, I find a book hard to put down once I start. So these are short stories, you can finish one in under 30 minutes, with a variety of plots and sub-genres of erotica. The fact that with 15 stories, if one was in a sub-genre that really wasn’t your taste, you still had many more to choose from, drew me into the concept. There is a story here for everyone with varying themes that include a masquerade ball, ménage a trios, paranormal themes, and BDSM stories, to stories that are just romantic and seductive. From start to finish the whole process took roughly eight months, I was more worried about taking the time to end up with a quality product and I am delighted with the end result.

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Featured Interview With Frances Hoelsema

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised a Michigander! My whole life I’ve spent within the vicinity of Zeeland/Holland, which is close to Lake Michigan and roughly 40 minutes to Grand Rapids. This is where I met my husband, and where we are now raising our two boys. We do have two fur babies (male cats) that we all love to pieces.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I began reading at a young age and was always considered an advanced reader. In third grade I was already at an eighth grade level. By the time I was 10/11 I was reading books by Danielle Steele and Mary Higgins Clark. I’ve always loved to read, and for the most part, any genre works for me. As far as writing, however, I started in my late twenties. I had nudges to start much sooner, but never went with my gut until much later. I wish I had started sooner though!

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
So genre doesn’t matter to me. I’ve read my fair share of mysteries, romances, thrillers, etc. One thing I’m not a fan of is sci-fi. Out of all these, romances are my favorite, and it’s mostly romances that I write about. I love Danielle Steele, Mary Higgins Clark, Nicholas Sparks, Stephen King; pretty much most of the big names. But the one author I just can’t stay away from for sure is Julie Lessman. My husband bought one of her novels for me one year, and I instantly fell in love with her writing. I love how she can intertwine passion and Christianity. I’d say she’s the biggest inspiration.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My newest book that will be coming out in a couple of weeks is the second in my Neighbors series. It’s called Next Door Neighbors, and revolves around two neighbors falling in love. There’s a lot of pain, passion and pursuit mixed in, making for an excellent read. It’s completely standalone from my first novel, Growing Up Neighbors.

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Featured Interview With Laura L. Comfort

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Alberta, Canada, and I’m still here. I would like to travel more, but so far I’ve been to most of the western states in the US and many of the Canadian Provinces including Nova Scotia which is on the far east coast. My biggest adventure was when I went to Belize in Central America and visited the Mayan Ruins and went scuba diving.
I moved lots when I was young. I started in a small town, moved into the big city and finished high school in a small northern city.
I love animals and I’ve pretty much always had a dog. Allergies prevented me from owning cats but I have had rabbits, birds, hamsters and fish. Then I became a parent so having a dog is quite enough.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always loved a good story, but reading was a chore. At school I found it too distracting. It wasn’t until I was in my early twenties that I really got into it – no one was telling me when and what to read, I wasn’t in a hurry and it was a pleasant escape from the every day.
I had insomnia as long as I can remember and as a kid I would spend those late hours writing poetry and making up stories to read to my friends at school. I didn’t sit down to write a novel when I first wrote Journey to Kokoroe. That process was something quite different.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Raymond E. Feist Magician series really brought out the love of reading in me. I was a very hesitant reader and after high school I just didn’t pick up the books. Once I read Magician that changed. I’ve read every book in that series (30 some books) and many other books since I read that first one. I read across the genre’s but fantasy is where my writing creativity takes me. When I discovered John Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice series I had already written my first two books. When I discovered his stories I found we had a similar writing style. His books are more about character and overcoming personal challenges than battles and wars (although there are a number of those in his books, but like mine, the action isn’t the driving force).

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Into the Valley is the third book in the Essence of Galenia series and came out in the fall of 2015. Even though it is book three it is one story – when I started writing I didn’t realize it would take three books to get it all down! I started with three different races with unique skills; when one of the Juro decided to try to combine the races in order to create a supreme one, things got out of hand. The experiments made him an outcast and resulted in much devastation before the eventual success of the Yaru, an elite group with ninja-like abilities. In book three, Hanna sets out to put an end to the latest threat these experiments pose.
My goals when writing this story was to create a believable antagonist, a protagonist who chose their path rather than it being prophesied, and I wanted to follow both their journey’s. The main theme behind all the books is choice.
It takes me a year to do a book from start to finish: 6 weeks to write the rough draft, many rounds of editing, creating the digital cover art, formatting and then publishing. I could do it faster but I typically only have the evenings to do it and I find a break between the writing and editing process is necessary to create a better work of art.

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Featured Interview With Jane Blythe

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia! I still live here, actually I now rent the house I grew up in! I like to keep myself busy, and have plenty on the go! Of course there is always writing (which takes up most of my time!), and there is always time for reading, particularly if lying on one of the many gorgeous, white sandy beaches here in Australia! I also enjoy going to the mountains to ski in the winter as we don’t get snow here in Melbourne, although I would love it if we did. I love to bake, I am working towards my black belt in Taekwondo (only a few months away!), then of course there is work (I currently substitute teach in preschools and schools), and my two Dalmatians, Ivory and Pearl also keep me plenty busy!

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I loved books practically from the moment I was old enough to listen to a story! And not just books I loved listening to my parents and grandparents make up stories for me, and as such quickly learned to love making up my own stories! This then became a love of writing, and my first attempts were little picture books that I would make my younger brothers act out with me. When I got my first laptop in the sixth grade my interest in writing really took off and I probably wrote twenty stories that year. As I grew older my love of both reading and writing continued to grow until I knew that I just had to become an author!

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favourite genres to read are crime, mystery and romantic suspense. Some of my favourite authors are Allison Brennan, Mary Burton, Kendra Elliot, Linda Fairstein, Brian Freeman, Richard Montanari, Kathy Reichs, Karen Rose, and Karen Robards. While I love all of these authors I try hard when I’m writing to make my work my own and not be influenced by the writing style of one of my favourite authors too much. As much as I love all these authors as a kid I absolutely adored the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, they totally made me want to go and live in a little log cabin in the woods or on the prairies until I got a little older and actually realised that they had no toilets or showers and had to work so hard to just survive! So I think Laura Ingalls Wilder would have to be my all time favourite author!

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I just published book one, titled One, in my new crime/mystery series, Count to Ten, in January of this year. The book was based on an idea I had had for a long time but just couldn’t seem to make work. I kept getting put off and would move on to something else, only to find my mind wandering back to it. So I sat down and made myself finish the book, and I am so glad I did! One is the story of Detective Xavier Montague who is struggling to move on from a horrific crime his ex-wife, now in prison, committed. He and his partner enter a house one night after a neighbour reports seeing someone with a knife. There he finds a dead family and one survivor, a woman with unusual eyes who gets to him in a way no one else has since his ex-wife. Unfortunately for Xavier she murdered her whole family and then attempted suicide. Or so he first believes. It turns out she didn’t, and as he works to find out who killed her family and several others, he realises that he just may be able to fall in love with this woman. The woman in question, Annabelle Englewood, has spent her entire life refusing to get close to anyone because she believes she is unworthy of being loved since she feels like her parents stopped loving her after a mysterious event she doesn’t really remember from her childhood. As this is book one in a ten book series the characters will start their journey of growth and continue to develop, both as individuals and as a couple, over the next nine stories.

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Jane Blythe’s Website

Featured Interview With Jenny Clift

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am British but my twin sister and I were born in France, as my parents were diplomats. We then lived in Malaysia, China, Canada, Northern Ireland and England.
While I was at boarding school in England I started to play the violin.
I now live in Madrid, Spain, with my Spanish husband and three daughters, and our two cats, Muffin and Pepper.
I am a professional freelance violinist and play in symphony orchestras and with my violin and guitar duo, the Laurus Freestyle Duo.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always been a voracious reader…first of novels and fiction, and more recently of non-fiction, especially personal development books.
As a somewhat frustrated performer, facing fears and insecurites, I was very drawn to books such as Susan Jeffer’s ‘Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway’ and Timothy Gallwey and Barry Green’s ‘The Inner Game of Music’.
As I progressed I read a lot of books about the Law of Attraction and then discovered the energy healing modality, EFT. That lead to working with a Life Coach, EFT expert Brad Yates, and making a LOT of changes in a relatively short space of time…. moving from mainly teaching to, now, mainly performing. I was then inspired to share what I have learnt, in the hope that it will inspire not only musicians, but other people who are fed up and frustrated, not ‘daring’ to follow the career that they truly love.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
When I was a child my favourite book was Enid Blyton’s ‘The Faraway Tree’!!
Then a mixture – classics (all of Jane Austen, Trollope etc) and novels by Lynne Reid Banks, Rosie Thomas, John Irving, Jeffrey Archer…anything with a great story and great characters.
I love authors like Michael Crichton (I read his ‘Travels’ 3 times!) and Bill Bryson. Starting on my personal development journey I read all of Scott Peck’s ‘The Road Less Travelled’ series as well as Alan Cohen’s books.
My writing is inspired by so many authors, coaches and thought leaders. I LOVE googling ‘inspirational quotes’ by Einstein, Gandhi, Benjamin Franklin and Churchill to name just a few.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My first book, ‘The Music Inside: Inner Techniques to Tap Into Your Potential, Change Your Beliefs and Create a Fulfilling Career ‘, was a direct result of all the inner and outer work that I have done, especially over the last 5 years, which changed my life totally.
After working with a life coach, using the energy healing modality EFT, as well as starting to meditate and taking courses in goalsetting and planning, I was inspired to share the techniques and tools that have helped me so much and have enabled me to move into performing and into pursuing a career that I love.
I knew I wanted to get this all down on paper…and when the time came the actual writing took me just 3 weeks!! I had thought so long and hard about it all that it just came spilling out.
After that came the hard work! Turning the draft into a real book, with beautiful book cover (IMHO!!), edited content, formating, and finally all the marketing and promoting required to self-publish a book. It has been a steep learning curve…and an immensely enjoyable experience.

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