Top Selling Authors: Get To Know Them Better

Featured Interview With Roger Kenworthy (PhD)

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in a small town in Ontario, Canada but these days I am fortunate to live in northern Thailand. We never see snow there except on the weather report from America or Canada!

My wife and I have our home there which we share with our two cats. One of them, Cassie (Cassandra, a furry Persian breed), is included in Book IV of the Memoirs of Nathanial Kenworthy action/adventure series.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
It was later in life when I had the fire of writing surge through my soul. Although I was a reader when young, (I had my nose buried in the Russian authors when I attended high school), I never saw myself as a writer.

I do remember writing a few poems when my first love left me as a teenager, but that was it when it came to writing.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I enjoy reading books about spirituality and self-development. My favorite books are: Journey of Souls, Tao Te Ching, The Book of Mirdad, and The Law of One series. Not light reading for sure!

All of these books have influenced me when I write my spiritual.self-help books.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I’m working on two books at the moment, one is Book V in the Memoirs of Nathanial Kenworthy series (he goes back in time and faces the Mongol leader, Genghis Khan), and the other is a spiritual book that ties in with the information I learned when researching the Genghis Khan book.

The research was a long process, over many months, but now I’m getting down to work, here’s a brief synopsis of what the new book is about.

An archaeologist spends twenty years of his life looking for a lost text written around fourteen hundred years ago in ancient China. In a buried earthen jar, he finds the manuscript and it contains practical advice to live a spiritual life, to coexist as one with nature and humanity as well. These ancient ideas are what we could use in the modern world to help us live a fulfilled life.

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Roger Kenworthy (PhD)’s Website

Roger Kenworthy (PhD) Facebook Page

Featured Interview With Toni Allen

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m an English author, born in London and brought up under the sound of Jumbo jets near Heathrow. I now live on the Surrey/Hampshire border on the edge of Jane Austen country where I spend any free time indulging in my passion for photography. I enjoy photographing wildlife and the local landscape, and share my images on social media so that readers can get a feel for the locations around Farnham that I use in my novels.

I’ve had numerous non-fiction articles published, and won awards for short fiction and poetry, including a first prize awarded in a competition judged by noted mystery writer P D James. She was a total inspiration and personally encouraged me never to give up with my dream of becoming a published writer.

To date I’ve written many, many books, some published and some tucked away in secret files never to be seen again. My published work includes the Jake Talbot Investigates mystery series, which began with Visiting Lilly (2014) and continues with Saving Anna (2015). I’m currently working on the third book, Finding Louisa, due out in 2016. I’m also the author of two non-fiction books on how to read tarot, The System of Symbols: a New Way to Look at Tarot, which is now also published in Italian by Spazio Interiore; and Sex & Tarot.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
From a very early age I liked to make stories up in my head, but it wasn’t until I learnt to write that I began to set them down on paper. At school I was always the pupil gaining top marks for my short stories, and I found much more pleasure from writing than reading. To me reading was a very static pastime, and I’d much rather be walking along the river bank at the end of our garden making up stories: and probably looked quite mad as I usually said them out loud!

I was fortunate to attend a school in which the teacher read us the classics. At the end of each day she’d read us one chapter before we went home, so my head was quickly filled with fabulous characters such as Long John Silver and Mr Scrooge. We were encouraged to read the book for ourselves, and although I did read many, I developed a fascination for science fiction, Marvel comics and the works of Edgar Allan Poe.

I completed my first novel when I was about eighteen, a sweet story set in an imaginary land, in which an old man wandering through the countryside finds a young hare who sets him on a journey to discover the meaning of life. That particular manuscript is still safely tucked away in a drawer.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I’m a great fan of Dick Francis and Winston Graham (Don’t forget that he wrote terrific mysteries as well as the Poldark series), but Dick Francis has probably influenced me more than any other writer. He has a knack of hooking you into the story and taking you through to a nail biting end. To keep a reader turning the pages quickly, desperate to see if their hero survives, even when we know that they’re bound to survive, because they’re the hero, is a special art and hard to emulate.

Although I love mysteries and thrillers, I also enjoy romantic mysteries and a sprinkling of dystopian fantasy. If the book grabs me, I’ll read it.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Saving Anna is Book 2 in my Jake Talbot Investigates mystery series.
(Visiting Lilly is Book 1)

In Visiting Lilly we met Detective Inspector Jake Talbot, an English cop with sadness in his past. After both of his parents die within a few days of each at Christmas, his sister Anna goes into a catatonic state, becoming emotionally lost to him. Although Jake pays for the best treatment possible and a beautiful residential care home for his sister, he finds Anna’s nothingness impossible to deal with: a fact that he keeps to himself.

Jake hates working undercover, yet, when ordered to Dorset to observe a sinister cult for the Ministry of Defence, he accepts, because the group’s beliefs pose a direct threat to Anna. The MOD also need his friend Frankie’s exceptional computer skills, skills he’s prohibited from using except on the Ministry’s behalf. Bitter from previous dealings with them, Frankie refuses to work for the government, but is willing to assist Talbot.

Neither man knows what they’re meant to be looking for, but observation turns into investigation when they discover a woman’s body draped over the gravestone of one of Talbot’s ancestors. Soon after, a dangerous piece of evidence slips into Talbot’s hands, the plotters’ desperation to get it back becoming the catalyst for murder.

As they uncover a conspiracy that links psychic manipulation, drugs, and death, the two friends grow from master and apprentice to partners in detection, protecting each other from increasing hazards. The trail leads them into deeper shadows, where Talbot’s old enemy waits to wreak a revenge that is as shocking as it is painful.

It will take all of Talbot’s detective skills, and Frankie’s brilliance and imagination, working together, if they are to bring down the criminal conspiracy and defeat his enemy.

Set on the beautiful Dorset coast, this gritty psychological thriller races to a chilling conclusion in which Frankie and Talbot must face the cost of saving Anna.

Saving Anna is 380 pages and about 137,00, but even though it’s a long book, reeaders are loving it’s pace and giving it 5 star reviews.

It took me about a year to write, and then my editor and I spent five months going through every sentence and every aspect of plot structure with a fine tooth-comb. I’m incredibly proud of all the hard work she put in on my behalf, and how she helped me make what was a good book into an amazing book.

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Toni Allen’s Website

Toni Allen Facebook Page

Toni Allen Twitter Account

Featured Interview With Cage J Madison

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am an emerging author, poet, digital artist, photographer, tattoo designer, philosopher and all round nice guy.

I was born in the small country town of Cunderdin, Western Australia and learned from an early age that I could easily leave behind the pains and sufferings of life by entering into the world of my imagination. After many years of writing poetry and short stories for my own peace of mind, I took it on himself to begin showcasing his writing to the world.

I have been reviewed with both criticism and praise, receiving many reviews stating that “CJ Madison dwells into a dark part of the psyche many are afraid enter, only to return with a creation that is confronting and dark, yet exciting at the same time”.

My work (writing or artwork) are drawn from life experiences and each tells it’s own story of happiness and belief.

It’s never about what I can see when I write or create (art), what stirs inside my mind at the time of creation and what ends up flowing from the pen or paintbrush are small matters compared to what the reader feels when they read my writing, or the viewer when they are looking at my art…it is always about what stirs within them.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I had always been thrilled by the art of writing, but I guess it didn’t really take a full grip of me until I was 15 and I read Stephen King’s The Shining in one night. I was hooked after that. Reading anything I could get my hands on, studying the way famous author’s and poets structured their works, and writing at any chance I could.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
This is an easy answer. Stephen King. Horror. Stephen King.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Shades of Reflection Book 1: Faithless Twists is the first in a 3 part series of collected poems I wrote over the span of two years. Each piece focuses on the themes of lost love, heartbreak,depression, death and remorse.

The chapbook is a dark and wild ride through my mind between the years 2009 to 2011. To read Shades of Reflection Book 1: Faithless Twists is to discover a world where I wandered aimless for a time while trying to come to terms of the separation from my longtime partner and the loss of my mother.

A chapbook that is filled with poems of tremendous beauty, sadness, cruelty and, at times, tragedy, with a slight scent of love passing throughout. I’d like to think my words will leave the reader breathless, intrigued and gripped until the final poem.

It’s basically the readers portal into the unknown realm I refer to as “the streets of my mind”. Dark, haunting while also leaving you with a sense of hope.

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Cage J Madison’s Website

Cage J Madison Twitter Account

Featured Interview With Cary Allen Stone

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in South Florida, Boca Raton to be exact. Currently I live in Phoenix, Arizona. I do not have any pets.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was a reader of books from an early age. I started to write them when my children had grown.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Clive Cussler and Tim Dorsey are my favorites. Mr. Cussler’s action adventures always make for a great read. Tim Dorsey writes about Florida with charm and detail. I’ve walked the streets he writes about. His character Serge Storms is like no other on the written page.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book, “After the Kill” is the fourth in my Jake Roberts Novels. Ex-Atlanta homicide detective Jake Roberts never looks for trouble, but you can bet it’s looking for him in this psychological thriller. Jake broke every rule to capture serial killer Jared Hamilton. His superiors gave him a choice, retire, or face criminal charges. He relocated to Malibu with his Hollywood agent girlfriend Caitland and has become a successful crime fiction author.
Jake and Caitland are in Phoenix visiting Jake’s childhood best friend, Fred, an airline pilot. Jake’s in Sky Harbor Airport watching Caitland’s flight depart for her A-list client party in Malibu when all hell breaks out––a terrorist has entered the airport armed to the teeth. Jake assists the PPD in stopping the terrorist. Fred is shot.
In San Francisco, forensic psychologist Mackenzy specializes in serial killers. She wants to understand them beyond the textbooks. Will a DNA sample give her a clue? What will she do when she finds a match?
It looks like Oscar night at the house in Malibu. Caitland is caught by surprise when the party’s over. Will Jake get there in time?
“After the Kill” is riveting non-stop action.

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Cary Allen Stone’s Website

Cary Allen Stone Facebook Page

Cary Allen Stone Twitter Account

Featured Interview With Julienne Russell

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Raised on the east coast, found my home on the west coast, and now I live in Arizona with my husband, daughter, and a cat that takes his name extremely seriously. I’m a full time writer and take pleasure in the fact that I can stay home with my baby and still get paid.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have been interested in books for as long as I can remember. I started writing while quite young and was published half a dozen times before the end of high school. After a long sabbatical battling depression I found myself with pen in hand yet again; working through my inner pain while my pen vomited plot lines onto every scrap of available paper.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I am a big fan of reading romance and drama. Dan Brown, James Rollins, Jeaniene Frost, Mya Banks… They’re probably my favorites.

I also enjoy the classic authors we learn about as children: Fitzgerald, Burgess, Hawthorn, Austen, Dickens. Books just aren’t written like that anymore.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My most recent book being released (March 2016) is called I Am Lady Sasha: The Journey from Slave to Slave. I spent the last two years writing about Lady Sasha’s experience in a Tolkien-esque, post-apocalyptic world where she makes the journey of being sold as an insubordinate slave to becoming a public “slave” by choice. Remembering that her family once thought of the Ladies from the Temple of Libisha in high regard, Sasha made the decision to begin training when the opportunity arose.

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Julienne Russell’s Website

Julienne Russell Facebook Page

Julienne Russell Twitter Account

Featured Interview With Desiree Moodie

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I currently live in Brooklyn, New York and have been here for most of my life. My parents are originally from the Caribbean and as such, I visit the islands several times a year.

I do have a cat named Snarf, who functions a lot like a co-author of sorts.

When I’m not writing or reading comic books, I’m picking apart the storylines of my favorite TV dramas and movies.

And when I’m not doing that, I’m usually whipping up something scrumptious in the kitchen. I’m a rabid foodie who’s accustomed to receiving marriage proposals after having made someone, man or woman, a meal.

And when I’m not doing any of the above, I’m traveling.

Harrison Ford was my very first celebrity crush and I still love him to this day.

I’ve never met a whiskey I didn’t like.

I can recite the lines to the movie Annie, backward and forward.

I never back down from a Scrabble challenge and once scored 45 points with the word ‘neck’.

My prized possession is an official Star Wars replica lightsaber…in green, of course.

I’m a huge fan of professional wrestling and still watch WWE twice a week, religiously. I ask that you not judge me for this.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve been writing since before she could talk. Or at least, that’s how it seems. As a child, I’d spend my weekends making books. I’d scribble anything that came to mind on notebook paper and then staple all the pages together.

In junior high, I graduated to writing terribly melodramatic novels in tattered composition notebooks. These books were a hit with my classmates and we would spend more time passing around and reading the newest installments that we would spend actually paying attention in class.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I read everything (my Amazon wishlist is currently nearing 700 items). I honestly don’t have a favorite genre. There are so many good books and good authors out there. My favorites, though, are Agatha Christie, Ernest Hemmingway, and Robert Jordan.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My first novel, White Rabbit, is a noir thriller. This book took me years to finish and then a couple more years to get right once the draft was done.

It’s about a young man named Logan who ends up having to do the one thing he promised to never do again in order to save what’s left of his family.

At the beginning of the book, he’s in hiding. But then he receives a fateful phone call that changes everything for him.

He comes up against some incredible odds; a formidable foe, the very real threat of federal prison, a puzzling new love interest, strained family ties, and mostly his own guilt and self-loathing.

There are more than a few skeletons in his closet and he’s trying not to repeat history. But it seems that for every step he takes forward, he’s doomed to take a few steps back.

Finally, out of options, Logan plays his one final, desperate card. But even he’s not sure it will be enough in the end.

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Desiree Moodie’s Website

Desiree Moodie Facebook Page

Desiree Moodie Twitter Account

Featured Interview With Cynthia J Stone

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
A native Texan, but I believe Sting and I were twins separated at birth. We have the same last name and birthday. My mother won’t say for sure. I live in the Life Music Capital of the World. No pets (allergies), just pet peeves.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My mother took a photo of me at around 2 years of age. I had crawled up on my brother’s tricycle and spread the newspaper on the handlebars. She believes I was reading it. By age 5, I had written my first story. She typed it for me until my hands got big enough to do my own.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Barbara Kingsolver, David McCullough, Isabel Allende, Robert Massie, Elmore Leonard, many others. I like crazy family stories, history, and biography.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
MASON’S KEEPER is a prequel to MASON’S DAUGHTER, with many answered questions about the origins of Nate Wallace, Sally’s father. Two years of writing:
Nate Wallace has had to grow up too fast. Forced to watch his father, Roy, drink away their savings and stumble home drunk and violent, he’s the protector of not only his younger sisters but his mother, too. Nate’s anger at Roy escalates one night and comes to a fatal conclusion moments after Roy blurts out that Nate is not actually his son. After attacking Roy, Nate runs back home and learns that Roy has died; Nate must escape to South Carolina before the law catches up with him. While Nate’s temper lands him in trouble soon after fleeing home, his quick thinking and sharp reflexes land him a job that seems too good to be true. Told to merely survey the loading and unloading of goods at a warehouse, Nate is shocked when this mindless task leads to yet another violent encounter—another death by his own hand. On the run once more, Nate finds himself among shady characters as he learns to gamble and deceive to get by. But his luck changes when he finds shelter and kindness with the Cobb family, who not only take care of Nate but also teach him to read and write. As Nate tries to track down his family, his journey away and finally back to them helps him become a more civilized and savvy man who will not only save his family but meet the woman with whom he can start his own family.

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Cynthia J Stone’s Website

Cynthia J Stone Facebook Page

Featured Interview With Broderick S. Johnson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Broderick S. Johnson has profound interest in areas concerning personal growth and spiritual development. He is a philosopher and an artist at heart, aside from being a fitness fanatic and adventurer by choice. He is fascinated by nature and all things related to art.

Broderick’s daily rituals include practicing yoga and meditation. He aims to achieve deep inner peacefulness and maintain simplicity in life. Instilled within him is an unrelenting desire to learn and share strategies in life that would inspire everyone to aspire for greatness and realization of their dreams, visions and missions.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
21

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Daniel Steel

Tell us a little about your latest book?
MPORTANT – KINDLE edition of this book is an ART BOOK. It’s an e-book that is NOT intended for coloring within the device. Its main intent is to show the designs that are available in the physical copy of the book.
However, we’ve added a link at the end of the book which lets you download a high quality PDF VERSION with all 120 illustrations for PRINTING. This bonus download is optional, it is not the main functionality of this KINDLE ebook.

This book contains over 120 Beautiful, Creative, and Delightful Mandala designs to help improve your focus and relaxation.

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Broderick S. Johnson’s Website

Featured Interview With Broderick S. Johnson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Broderick S. Johnson has profound interest in areas concerning personal growth and spiritual development. He is a philosopher and an artist at heart, aside from being a fitness fanatic and adventurer by choice. He is fascinated by nature and all things related to art.

Broderick’s daily rituals include practicing yoga and meditation. He aims to achieve deep inner peacefulness and maintain simplicity in life. Instilled within him is an unrelenting desire to learn and share strategies in life that would inspire everyone to aspire for greatness and realization of their dreams, visions and missions.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
21

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Daniel Steel

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Everything you need to know about Meditation – What it really is, where it comes from, and how to do it.

The Complete Guide to MEDITATION contains all the information you need to get to know the fascinating world of meditation. Designed for a beginner, it guides you through all the important concepts, and contains simple, practical techniques For Mental Balance, Health and Vitality. These practices are perfectly safe and natural, and anyone can use them.

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Broderick S. Johnson’s Website

Featured Interview With Broderick S. Johnson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Broderick S. Johnson has profound interest in areas concerning personal growth and spiritual development. He is a philosopher and an artist at heart, aside from being a fitness fanatic and adventurer by choice. He is fascinated by nature and all things related to art.

Broderick’s daily rituals include practicing yoga and meditation. He aims to achieve deep inner peacefulness and maintain simplicity in life. Instilled within him is an unrelenting desire to learn and share strategies in life that would inspire everyone to aspire for greatness and realization of their dreams, visions and missions.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
21

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
daniel steel

Tell us a little about your latest book?
IMPORTANT – KINDLE edition of this book is an ART BOOK andt is NOT intended for coloring within the device.
It is a preview – its main intent is to show the designs that are available in the physical copy of the book.
However, we’ve added a BONUS link at the end of the book which lets you download a high quality PDF VERSION with all 50 illustrations for PRINTING. This bonus download is optional, it is not the main functionality of this KINDLE ebook.

This book contains over 50 Beautiful, Creative, Complex and Delightful Motivational Word Phrase designs requiring full immersion for the ultimate in calm and relaxation.

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Broderick S. Johnson’s Website

Featured Interview With Broderick S. Johnson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Broderick S. Johnson has profound interest in areas concerning personal growth and spiritual development. He is a philosopher and an artist at heart, aside from being a fitness fanatic and adventurer by choice. He is fascinated by nature and all things related to art.

Broderick’s daily rituals include practicing yoga and meditation. He aims to achieve deep inner peacefulness and maintain simplicity in life. Instilled within him is an unrelenting desire to learn and share strategies in life that would inspire everyone to aspire for greatness and realization of their dreams, visions and missions.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
21

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Daniel Steel

Tell us a little about your latest book?
IMPORTANT – KINDLE edition of this book is an ART BOOK. It’s an e-book that is NOT intended for coloring within the device. Its main intent is to show the designs that are available in the physical copy of the book.
However, we’ve added a link at the end of the book which lets you download a high quality PDF VERSION with all 120 illustrations for PRINTING. This bonus download is optional, it is not the main functionality of this KINDLE ebook.

This book contains inspirational designs to help improve your focus and relaxation.

Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles

Broderick S. Johnson’s Website

Featured Interview With Sam Siv

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Sam Siv has profound interest in areas concerning personal growth and spiritual development. He is a philosopher at heart, aside from being a fitness fanatic and adventurer by choice. He is fascinated by dreams; the dream world.

Sam’s daily rituals includes practicing yoga and meditation. He aims to achieve deep inner peacefulness and maintain simplicity in life. Instilled within him is an unrelenting desire to learn and share strategies in life that would inspire everyone to aspire for greatness and realization of their dreams, visions and missions.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
21

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Daniel Steel

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Find out all about mysterious Buddhism, its origins, its secrets and its answers to the challenges of modern life.

This book contains a basic overview of Buddhism, including the life of Buddha, and the various kinds of Buddhism that have developed. It takes a look at all the key concepts and most important teachings, methods and insights in a way that is easy to understand. Filled with a wealth of common-sense and other-worldly wisdom, the path to enlightenment is considered. Learn about meditation, mindfulness, happiness, Samadhi, Nirvana and all the other important concepts that have helped shape our understanding of reality. Find out about Zen Buddhism, and study all the basic elements that make the Buddha Dharma so compelling to people of all walks of life

Featured Interview With Lisa Orban

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Lisa Orban was born in Galesburg, IL in 1969. She was moved by her parents (without even asking!) to Quincy as a small child. Bouncing from parent to parent, and house to house until at 16 she was given a broader tour of the state courtesy of foster care.

At 18, she voluntarily left for Phoenix with a high school friend where she lived for three years. After returning to Quincy, she went to college and earned an Associates of Arts in Psychology, with a minor in Art. Over the years she has held many jobs, but never quite found the right one. She has written poetry and short stories on a variety of subjects from raising children to finance for online publication. Finally in 2013, after much urging from her friends for years, she sat down one day and started writing about her life.

She is the mother of five children, all grown and gone, except her youngest. Which she is sure is trying to drive her mad (as all teenagers do) and has plans to write another book in the future about their childhood, much to their anticipated dismay.

She currently lives in her hometown, in the house she loves, and at the center of the chaos she enjoys so much. Often surrounded by her children, her loves, friends and the strays (both two legged and four) she takes in. She continues to seek out new adventures, misadventures and new mistakes to fill the pages of her next book, laughing as she goes.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I did not learn to read until close to 4th grade. I have dyslexia, which back then was not something they tested for or understood well. When suddenly one day, all those jumble of letters fell into place, and I began to understand what they meant. In less than a year I went from unable to read to reading on a college level. It was like a whole new world suddenly had opened up to me and I couldn’t get enough of it.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have a love of books, so much so I remodeled my dining room and converted it into a library. I have over 5000 books in my home, ranging from SciFi to Science and quite a bit in between. I love Heinlein, Rice, King and Fiest, there’s just too many to count or list here.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Many years ago my friends and I would sit around and play what we called “Jerry Springer: the Home Game”. The object of the game was to see how many upcoming shows we qualified for, with the story to support our claim, and whoever had the most at the end of the program won. I was the reigning champion. This book started off as just a lighthearted collection of anecdotes, stories shared with friends over the years to both the horror and delight of my audience. But as I began to write I realized that the humor of my life comes not from the light moments, but the dark, and without those moments being included much of the humor would be lost without that context. This book is a bit darker than I initially intended, but I hope that while reading this I can make you smile, even on occasion laugh out loud at the ridiculousness of the situations I have found myself in over the years, and that you, like me, can find the humor in all the dark places. I do not believe I have any wisdom to share in this telling, nor is it even an inspirational tale of achievement by overcoming adversity, it is simply my life that I have survived. For better or worse, this is the mostly true, fairly accurate, and almost completely factual account of my life. Some liberties have been taken to protect the somewhat innocent and a few small embellishments were made for the sake of a good story.

This book was a labor of love, and insanity, that took around three years to write. It may have been the hardest, yet most satisfying thing I have ever done in my life.

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Lisa Orban Facebook Page

Featured Interview With Kimberly Michelle Scott

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am an author and educator born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama. I currently live there. I have all types of pets in the past, but currently, I do not.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have been writing since I was about four years old. In Kindergarten, when all the other kids were drawing pictures, I was creating books with words and pictures on my construction paper! I have always loved writing! My motto is, “If you want A good book, write it yourself.”

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love to read Toni Morrison, Ntozake Shange, and Judy Blume. I read and write all genres. Next to my faith and my mom, with whom I want both to be well-pleased, my readers and fan-base are my inspiration. I write for the entertainment of others. When I think how I want my readers to enjoy what I write, I am able to pour my heart and soul into what I write.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Collection: A Book of Short Stories is a compilation of short stories and flash fiction. The first story, “Ms. Addie’s Place” chronicles the story of Nora, a compelling character with a deep secret, who moves into a boarding house for African American women seeking to better themselves. There she meets Ms. Addie, who runs the house. With a turn of events, her secrets grow, but luckily she has Ms. Addie, who will help her protect her secret at all costs. Below are the premises for some of the other short stories in the book:

Set at a funeral, a young girl struggles to cope with the death of her mother, while contemplating where she will live and how to deal with family members in which she is unfamiliar all while coping with being the black sheep of the family as a striking similarity to her deceased mother.

In the story, “Wide Tooth Comb,” Maggie finds herself in a predicament when she goes to extreme measures to avoid getting her hair combed. The trouble Maggie faces for doing away with her hair comb brings about anxiety that can only be erased by “coming clean” and leaving herself at the mercy of her mother.

Living in the world of underground prostitution and balancing being a high school student is no easy task for the main character in “Kat House.” As she compare her life to her classmates, she draws from only the harsh lifestyle to which she is accustomed. Just when she thinks life could not get any better, she is faced with one last difficulty that just may break her.

Tania resents the fact that her brother basically threw his life away, choosing his girlfriend and a baby over the college and football career that he was destined to have in “Rest in Peace.” More than her brother’s choices, she resents his baby’s mother. While reminiscing about the past, the future of all the characters change one fateful night.

These stories and a host of others will keep you turning pages in The Collection: A Book of Short Stories.

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Kimberly Michelle Scott’s Website

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Featured Interview With Kimberly Michelle Scott

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am an author and educator born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama. I currently live there. I have all types of pets in the past, but currently, I do not.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have been writing since I was about four years old. In Kindergarten, when all the other kids were drawing pictures, I was creating books with words and pictures on my construction paper! I have always loved writing! My motto is, “If you want A good book, write it yourself.”

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love to read Toni Morrison, Ntozake Shange, and Judy Blume. I read and write all genres. Next to my faith and my mom, with whom I want both to be well-pleased, my readers and fan-base are my inspiration. I write for the entertainment of others. When I think how I want my readers to enjoy what I write, I am able to pour my heart and soul into what I write.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Collection: A Book of Short Stories is a compilation of short stories and flash fiction. The first story, “Ms. Addie’s Place” chronicles the story of Nora, a compelling character with a deep secret, who moves into a boarding house for African American women seeking to better themselves. There she meets Ms. Addie, who runs the house. With a turn of events, her secrets grow, but luckily she has Ms. Addie, who will help her protect her secret at all costs. Below are the premises for some of the other short stories in the book:

Set at a funeral, a young girl struggles to cope with the death of her mother, while contemplating where she will live and how to deal with family members in which she is unfamiliar all while coping with being the black sheep of the family as a striking similarity to her deceased mother.

In the story, “Wide Tooth Comb,” Maggie finds herself in a predicament when she goes to extreme measures to avoid getting her hair combed. The trouble Maggie faces for doing away with her hair comb brings about anxiety that can only be erased by “coming clean” and leaving herself at the mercy of her mother.

Living in the world of underground prostitution and balancing being a high school student is no easy task for the main character in “Kat House.” As she compare her life to her classmates, she draws from only the harsh lifestyle to which she is accustomed. Just when she thinks life could not get any better, she is faced with one last difficulty that just may break her.

Tania resents the fact that her brother basically threw his life away, choosing his girlfriend and a baby over the college and football career that he was destined to have in “Rest in Peace.” More than her brother’s choices, she resents his baby’s mother. While reminiscing about the past, the future of all the characters change one fateful night.

These stories and a host of others will keep you turning pages in The Collection: A Book of Short Stories.

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Kimberly Michelle Scott’s Website

Kimberly Michelle Scott Facebook Page

Kimberly Michelle Scott Twitter Account

Featured Interview With Keith D. Guernsey

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in Lexington, Mass. I am now retired and living on Lake Lanier with his lovely wife Susan and his four-footed son Harley (who really is the king of this castle!)

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
13 At 50 finished my first book, “Confessions of A Beantown Sports Junkie” when I retired last year.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
James Patterson/David Baldacci
Crime novels

Tell us a little about your latest book?
It is a fun, light-hearted trip down memory lane. My experiences as a player, coach and avid fan of all Boston sports. Confessions is a story of my recovery from two rounds of life-threatening brain surgeries to play on three championship softball teams in two states. It is also a story of love and devotion between a son and his father.

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Featured Interview With Theresa Sopko

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Originally from Pittsburgh, I did most of my growing up in Mesa, Arizona. I now live in Queen Creek with the family I nanny for. I don’t currently have any pets of my own, having had three birds in the recent past, but I live with two dogs and a cat.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I fell in love with books very early on in life. My mom used to read to me before bed almost every night, and I had several favorites. I moved on to the Junie B. Jones series and when Harry Potter hit, I was a goner. I’ve been devouring books ever since. I started writing young, too. I was the weirdo in school who looked forward to writing essays and socratic seminars based on assigned reading. In junior high, I wrote short stories and started a time travel novel entitled Werp that, at the time, I believed was literary gold. That story found its way into the trash years later when I found it buried under my bed. I experimented with poetry in high school, but it wasn’t until college that I began to write seriously and passionately.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I’m a lover of YA. I devour John Green, Sarah Dessen, Marie Rutkoski, Kiera Cass, and the like. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower is always my answer to “What is your favorite book?”. All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven and How To Build A Girl by Caitlin Moran are both books that affected me to my core. I’m also a huge sucker for dystopians. Obviously Harry Potter is a given; they were the beginning of my love affair with reading. The Great Gatsby is one of my all-time favorites, and I’ve got a quote from The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath tattooed on my arm. All in all, I’m looking for books that make me cry-tears of devastation, hope, laughter-and books that stay with me for years to follow.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Bewilderments of the Eyes is a New Adult novel about a girl who is fighting depression and anxiety. It depicts the loss of self that results from mental illness, and the impact it has on your relationships, ambitions, and general quality of life. My main character, Quinn, is twenty years old and just wants to feel again. She wants to love where she lives and what she does. She wants to go out with friends and fall in love. She wants to throw herself into life with abandon. But how can she when her brain is telling her that there is no point?
I feel deeply about the importance of self care. Self care is often seen as selfish, self-indulgent, or egocentric where self neglect tends to be romanticized. There is no beauty in losing sleep, or not eating right, or the lack of motivation to get out of bed in the morning. There is nothing beautiful about your own brain turning against you. But mental illness doesn’t mean you’re a lost cause, it doesn’t mean there’s no hope. With Bewilderments of the Eyes, I hope to convey the various forms depression can take and increase awareness and understanding.

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Theresa Sopko’s Website

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Featured Interview With J. S. Strange

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
My name is Jack Strange, and I write under the pen name J. S. Strange. I live in a small town in South Wales, and i have lived there for twenty one years. I have a pet cat. She’s fluffy, black and white, old and her name is Lara.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started reading at a young age, and when I was in my class I was always top when it came to reading level skills. So from a young age I enjoyed the written word. I used to always write scripts and stories when I was younger. When Harry Potter came out, I read them as a child, and have re-read them many times. I started properly writing at sixteen, but started writing the series I am publishing at seventeen.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
J.K. Rowling is my favourite author, both the Harry Potter series and the Robert Galbraith series. But I read a lot. Jackie Collins is another favourite. I love fiction, and thrillers.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest and debut book is ‘Winter Smith: London’s Burning’. It’s the first in a zombie apocalypse story, set in London. The main character is Winter Smith, who has had a rich lifestyle. But when the outbreak sweeps through her hometown of Watford, she loses everything, including her parents. She has to escape Watford and travel London to the Thames, where evacuation boats are leaving. Along the way she meets other survivors. Violet Black and Zach Delhaware are two people who join her. Violet has a past as a prostitute, but you find out why that is as the story continues.

I’ve been writing the Winter Smith series since I was seventeen. As I grew up, the plot and characters changed. They all started out as super humans, but I soon changed that idea because I wanted them to be normal and have a vulnerability. I’m glad I did that. Characters came and went, only to come back again. I wrote three, began to write the fourth, then scrapped them all and rewrote the first. Honestly, I went through so many drafts and changes. Finally, at twenty-one (in February), the first novel is being released in both ebook and paperback format.

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Featured Interview With A.J. Aalto

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m a horror writer from the Niagara region of Canada, living in the middle of the Ontario wine belt with my family, two cats, and a Yorkie who thinks she’s an attack dog. I’m the author of the Marnie Baranuik Files, a paranormal comedy series featuring a bumbling psychic detective.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was always a reader, but I didn’t start writing until I was 13; I was so enchanted by David Eddings’ the Belgariad that I tried to write myself into the series. My dad suggested I should try writing my own world. After years of failing at epic fantasy, I turned to something more ridiculous and found my voice, my comfort zone, and an audience.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love reading True Crime, and Ann Rule is my favourite. I also read mysteries (both Kellermans, Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwell), horror (King and Koontz and all the others), non-fic (mostly forensic bio, history of witchcraft and demonology, body language, entomology), and fantasy. When I sit down to write, though, I’m more inspired by human beings; I spend a lot of time watching and listening.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Wrath & Bones is the fourth book in the Marnie Baranuik Files, and has our heroine invited to the revenant seat of power, the vampire homeland, to face a shift in leadership and answer a challenge from a demon king. In typical Baranuik fashion, she slapchops her way from quest to quest, feeling the fear but sounding the war cry anyway. I won’t give you any spoilers, but there might be a yeti fight that ends in a pedicure. (Warning: recommended for mature audiences only. Swearing, steam, and mild gore within.)

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Featured Interview With Sorchia DuBois

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in southern Missouri, living waaaaaaay back in the woods near a little trickle of water named the Jacks Fork River. I’ve lived in the area for most of my life and now write from a place equally waaaaaay back in the woods.

While I love it here because of the beautiful scenery and opportunities for long, quiet walks or leisurely floats on clear, bubbling streams, the seclusion can be hard to deal with. The closest town of any size is an hour away and the closest airport is over 100 miles away. I worked for most of my life as a teacher in public schools, community colleges, and online. At the moment, I work part time as an online editor for professional development documents fora virtual education provider. Don’t tell them, but I write or think about writing nearly all the time.

I have nine cats, two fish, two kids (now grown and out in the world) and one husband.

I write paranormal and Gothic romance and adventure. My stories are often set in Scotland and they include legends and creatures from Celtic culture. Magic realism sneaks into nearly all of my stories–supernatural phenomena, alternate realities, fantastical settings and events–all taking place in a modern world. How we deal with the oddities of existence fascinates me and I try to infuse my work with that fascination. I don’t pretend to know how it works, but I do enjoy watching it unfold.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I grew up in the boonies, but my folks were readers. Shelves and shelves of books lined the walls of various rooms. I don’t ever remember my mom hesitating to give me money for books, though she did take exception to records (those things we used to listen to music before tapes, disks, or itunes), Barbie dolls, and Mad Magazine. She read to me until I could read to myself, an event which was greeted with much celebration and relief.

I started writing early and tapped out a monthly Interplanetary newspaper on the manual typewriter in elementary school. I made notepaper books and pasted them together and I wrote a teenage angst-filled novel in high school. Then I had to make a living and my college counselor, may he rot in a hot part of Hades, told me I would be wasting my time if I got a degree in writing. So I went into teaching instead. While teaching was enjoyable for the most part, writing kept eating away on the mushy part of my brain. Finally, I just jumped in and did it and wrote Just Like Gravity.

I feel like I have to make up for lost time, now, and write for hours each day at the expense of the day job. I love it and will never stop. So my advice to anyone who tells themselves, “I’ll write a book someday” is to get up and get cracking. The longer you wait, the more daylight you burn.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
There is no one like P.G. Wodehouse to cheer you up. Douglas Adams is a close second. I still read Shakespeare and other classics. Tolkein and Asimov are favorites as well. Among modern writers, I am fond of M.C. Beaton, Barbara Kingsolver, Nelson DeMille. I have been disappointed with many modern authors who don’t take the time to tell the story, but seem to be writing screenplays or dashing out books at a frantic rate.

I read a great many books that need just a little more time–one more revision–one more set of critical eyes. The plot is there. The characters are developed. But the author did not take the time to tell the story as it deserves to be told–and this takes time. Good storytelling is a thing of beauty like a fine wine, a classic painting, a single-malt whisky. Savor the experience and produce something you can be proud of. I am suspicious of an author who poops out 4 or 5 or more books in a year. It is easier than ever to get published, but the art of telling a story still takes time.

As for the craft of writing, Stephen King’s On Writing, William Zinsser’s On Writing Well, and Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style have been particularly helpful.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Ah–I’m glad you asked. Just Like Gravity was published in November of 2014 by Oghma Creative Media. It is about a reluctant fortuneteller who travels to Scotland seeking the source of bad dreams. The book peeks into three reincarnations and tells a story of love, betrayal, hidden treasure, murder, and Karma.

The ideas of reincarnation and divination fascinate me so when I decided to get real with the writing thing, those topics were the first I wanted to explore. While I don’t pretend to understand how the Cosmos works, putting together a book about three lifetimes allowed me to explore those ideas and my own beliefs about them. I wondered what would happen if you found yourself repeating the same thing over and over–always ending in death and blood. How could you work your way out of that and change the outcome? That is what the main character asks herself, but she’s flying blind–unaware of the past lives and unaware of the way those past events are manifesting themselves in her current life. I think we are all in the same boat as we try to make sense of the lessons we’ve learned and the challenges we face.

Anna, Mariel, and Beathag are three incarnations of the same woman. Mariel, a child in seventeenth century Scotland, is born with the curse of second-sight, but she can’t see her own danger until it’s too late. Beathag, the daughter of a ne’er do well in early twentieth century Scotland, heals her father and produces a son who bears the weight of past tragedies. Anna, a reluctant fortuneteller in modern America, is frightened by nightmares of murder and betrayal. The answer is in Scotland but until she meets Davy MacKintosh she knows nothing of fear–or of love.

It took me over a year to write the book and another year to get it edited and to revise it repeatedly. I could have done it more quickly, but I was feeling my way. I was fortunate to find some fantastic people to help and the book is so much better because of their efforts. I learned a mountain of information about writing and publishing–some by good experiences and some by bad.

Right now I am working on a three-book series about witches in Scotland. Zoraida Grey and the Family Stones should be out and about by the end of the year. I also blog about legends, creatures, and culture –mostly scary stuff, Scottish stuff, whisky stuff, witchy stuff.

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Sorchia DuBois’s Website

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