Top Selling Authors: Get To Know Them Better

Featured Interview With Paul D. Weaver

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am originally from Columbus, IN but presently live abroad (Hungary). I am the Director as well as a Professor of Bible and Theology at the Word of Life Bible Institute in Tóalmás, Hungary. I am a graduate of Appalachian Bible College (B.A., Theology), Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M., Bible Exposition) and am currently working on my doctorate at Baptist Bible Seminary (Ph.D., Biblical Studies). Prior to becoming the Director, I served 4 years as the Academic Dean. I have taught Bible and Theology for 13 years. I have contributed articles to the “Popular Encyclopedia of Church History” as well as “The Journal of Ministry and Theology.” He is the author of “Introducing the Old Testament Books,” “Introducing the New Testament Books,” and is presently editor for an upcoming book in the same series: “Surveying the New Testament Books,” which is to be released in 2016.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I became an avid reader, but really did not begin loving reading until I was in my early 20’s. I started writing about four years ago. My first writing assignment was a couple articles for the “Popular Encyclopedia of Church History.” After that I realized that I have a gift for writing and enjoy it thoroughly.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I primarily read christian books on theology or biblical studies. I have been greatly influenced by the writings of Charles Ryrie, Roy Zuck, Thomas Constable, D.A. Carson, Moses Silva, and Kevin Vanhoozer.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I just finished “Introducing the New Testament Books.” It was the product of my teaching and PhD studies. It will be a textbook used for our Old Testament Survey course.

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Paul D. Weaver’s Website

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Featured Interview With Kalisha Buckhanon

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Kalisha Buckhanon’s novels are Solemn, Conception and Upstate. Her short stories are widely published in many online and university print literary journals. Her articles and essays appear on several popular women’s blogs and cultural websites. Her writing awards include an American Library Association ALEX Award, Friends of American Writers Award, Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, and Terry McMillan Young Author Award. Kalisha’s work has received attention in major media outlets such as Essence, The Guardian, BBC-London, TV-One, People, Elle, Entertainment Weekly and Marie Claire. She has an M.F.A. from The New School in New York City, and her B.A. and M.A. in English from University of Chicago. She writes at her blog Negression.com.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was a kid when I first started making story books and kept on as I grew up, in various forms on typewriters back then. I first started creative writing seriously, and as I would have trained for any career, when I was an English major at University of Chicago. I took playwriting, screenwriting, and any book subjects I could. I helped bring in black authors. I edited the black student newspaper and wrote for other papers. I began showing my literature professors stories I cringe at now. I worked after graduation like I was supposed to, and had a lot going for myself. However, I sensed it was something else I was supposed to be doing. I moved to New York City when I was 24 to pursue my M.F.A. in Creative Writing at The New School.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
This fluctuates for me constantly. I read anything I can: cookbooks, dime-store and used paperbacks, children’s picture books, literary journals. So I have no “type” I am fanatic about. I read a lot of plays, classic and modern. I have tendencies to stick with classic novels and authors because of my schooling, training and general respect for them. But I keep with the times, including new authors and books I hear about. Some of my favorite new authors are Sapphire, Bernice McFadden, Dani Shapiro, Jesmyn Ward, Junot Diaz and Edwidge Danticat. My standards are Toni Morrison, Edgar Allan Poe, Anne Rule, James Baldwin, Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King, Joan Didion, Maya Angelou and Alice Walker. I can read any of their books at any time cover to cover, even if I have read them before.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Solemn Redvine is a precocious Mississippi girl who senses a nearby baby may be her half-sibling: the outcome of her father’s mistakes with a married woman who lives in their mobile home community. After Solemn witnesses a man throw the baby down a community well, she struggles to understand the event, leaving her forever changed.

As Solemn finds refuge in fantasies of stardom as well as friendships with her brother’s wife and a nearby girl, the ill-fated baby’s doomed mother disappears without a trace. Solemn remains trapped by connections to the missing other woman and an honest cop who suspects more to the story than others on the small local police force want to see. When her father’s next mistake – a robbery – lands Solemn in a group home for troubled girls, she meets a Chicago delinquent who wants to escape. There, Solemn must face the truth of who she really is and what she is really made of.

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Kalisha Buckhanon’s Website

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Featured Interview With Kalisha Buckhanon

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Kalisha Buckhanon’s novels are Solemn, Conception and Upstate. Her short stories are widely published in many online and university print literary journals. Her articles and essays appear on several popular women’s blogs and cultural websites. Her writing awards include an American Library Association ALEX Award, Friends of American Writers Award, Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, and Terry McMillan Young Author Award. Kalisha’s work has received attention in major media outlets such as Essence, The Guardian, BBC-London, TV-One, People, Elle, Entertainment Weekly and Marie Claire. She has an M.F.A. from The New School in New York City, and her B.A. and M.A. in English from University of Chicago. She writes at her blog Negression.com.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was a kid when I first started making story books and kept on as I grew up, in various forms on typewriters back then. I first started creative writing seriously, and as I would have trained for any career, when I was an English major at University of Chicago. I took playwriting, screenwriting, and any book subjects I could. I helped bring in black authors. I edited the black student newspaper and wrote for other papers. I began showing my literature professors stories I cringe at now. I worked after graduation like I was supposed to, and had a lot going for myself. However, I sensed it was something else I was supposed to be doing. I moved to New York City when I was 24 to pursue my M.F.A. in Creative Writing at The New School.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
This fluctuates for me constantly. I read anything I can: cookbooks, dime-store and used paperbacks, children’s picture books, literary journals. So I have no “type” I am fanatic about. I read a lot of plays, classic and modern. I have tendencies to stick with classic novels and authors because of my schooling, training and general respect for them. But I keep with the times, including new authors and books I hear about. Some of my favorite new authors are Sapphire, Bernice McFadden, Dani Shapiro, Jesmyn Ward, Junot Diaz and Edwidge Danticat. My standards are Toni Morrison, Edgar Allan Poe, Anne Rule, James Baldwin, Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King, Joan Didion, Maya Angelou and Alice Walker. I can read any of their books at any time cover to cover, even if I have read them before.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Solemn Redvine is a precocious Mississippi girl who senses a nearby baby may be her half-sibling: the outcome of her father’s mistakes with a married woman who lives in their mobile home community. After Solemn witnesses a man throw the baby down a community well, she struggles to understand the event, leaving her forever changed.

As Solemn finds refuge in fantasies of stardom as well as friendships with her brother’s wife and a nearby girl, the ill-fated baby’s doomed mother disappears without a trace. Solemn remains trapped by connections to the missing other woman and an honest cop who suspects more to the story than others on the small local police force want to see. When her father’s next mistake – a robbery – lands Solemn in a group home for troubled girls, she meets a Chicago delinquent who wants to escape. There, Solemn must face the truth of who she really is and what she is really made of.

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Kalisha Buckhanon’s Website

Kalisha Buckhanon Facebook Page

Kalisha Buckhanon Twitter Account

Featured Interview With Claire Fullerton

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am proud to say that I grew up in Memphis, TN. I now live in Malibu, CA, with my husband, two German shepherds and one black cat. I also once lived in Galway, Ireland, which is where I set my second novel, “Dancing to an Irish Reel.” I am a full-time writer, an ex-music disk jockey in Memphis, a ballet dancer, and a lover of animals and the great outdoors.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I consider the consistent keeping of a journal around the age of eighteen as the beginning of my writing career because it taught me how to write clearly and concisely with attention to detail. I began submitting poetry to magazines, and was encouraged when I was published. From here, I had a short story published, and a handful of readers wrote in to say they wanted to read more, so I wrote a novel. I also wrote a weekly column in first person for the local newspaper in Malibu, CA. From the time my first novel was published by Vinspire Publishing, I’ve been writing every day since.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I am a fan of contemporary fiction, especially when it is written in the first person voice. I adore the author Pat Conroy because of his lyrical way of writing and his ability to transport readers to a certain sense of place. I admire the author, Donna Tartt, and also the author Ann Rivers Siddons. All three authors I have mentioned inspire me and are considered Southern writers; all have mastery of the English language and all are masters of craft. When I read, I learn from the great writers, and it is my favorite past time.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Dancing to an Irish Reel is contemporary fiction set on the western coast of Ireland. Hailey Crossan is a twenty five year old American who leaves the Los Angeles record business and takes a trip to Ireland, where she is unexpectedly offered a job too good to turn down, so she stays. A handful of Irish friends help her acclimate to the breathtaking, beautiful area with its particular social and cultural nuances, and, when she meets a local musician, it is her friends who help her decipher why this young man won’t come closer, or completely go away. This book was taken from the journals I kept when I lived in Galway, Ireland, and is very true to life, although it is fiction. If a reader is interested in Ireland, has Irish roots, and really wants to know what it feels like to be living in Ireland, this is the book to read! But it is also a story about the uncertainty and ambiguity of new love, which always has hope and excitement, but also doubt and confusion as two people try to understand each other.

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Claire Fullerton’s Website

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Featured Interview With Julie Nicholls

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am English although currently reside in Bulgaria with my husband and our two dogs. My love of art inspired me to paint/produce my own book covers, and I also offer this service to other authors. My writing career is relatively young. Swapping between writing and creating digital art, I rarely suffer wiht writers block.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
At primary school I was the top reader for my class and quickly pushed my way through all the availble books. I confess these days reading isn’t something I have time for, because I’m either writing or creating book covers. However, sometimes I do lock myself away to read a ‘mustread’.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I prefer fantasy and paranormal. One of my favorite authors is Sylvia Day, also Karen Marie Moning to name but a few.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is titled Blood Ties and is a New Adult, Paranorma Shifter Romance. It’s the first in a trilogy and is quite different from my previous Fallen Angels Series.
Blood Ties is a fast-paced urban novel, dealing with genetic enineering. My characters are K 3 4 G E N, a genetically enhanced human and Gabriel, a lycan. These two are brought together courtesy of Solgen Laboratories and when they meet, it’s murder.

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Featured Interview With Cynthia Yoder

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up as the daughter of a Mennonite minister in Levittown, Pennsylvania, where my parents led a local church. We moved to Doylestown, Pennsylvania, when I was in high school. After some time in Manhattan, I married and moved to the Princeton, New Jersey, area with my husband and young son. Although we moved here to be closer to family, it is an ideal spot to be situated between the Delaware River and the Jersey Shore, both of which hold special memories from my childhood and teenage years.

Our household pets grew progressively larger as our son grew older. We started with fish and then a hermit crab. Around the time our son was in third grade, there were several hamsters. When Gabe was in in junior high, we rescued an elderly cat. When the cat died, my son was in high school, and we rescued a young Maltese-Poodle named Maggie, who is now part of our family. Gabe is now in college. Because of this up-scaling of animals by size, I would say that a pony is next, though we have no plans for it, nor does our yard have room for it. Maybe we’ll have to move.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My earliest memory of books is going to the local library, where picture books displayed on a well-lit bottom shelf took my fancy. That I could take them home with me for a while was a blissful realization. I loved the smell of the books and the library itself–a memory that I would later revisit while working in the stacks at Columbia University Library. At age eight, I was typing poems of great silliness onto my father’s Smith Corona typewriter. I only know this because my grandparents actually saved one of those poems, dated it, and sent it to me when I was living in New York. I was surprised to know of this early writing–the rhymed poem had something to do with our cat’s vomit, and our dog eating said vomit. I was even more astounded that my grandparents had been so thoughtful as to keep this poem for some fifteen years. I was one of seventeen grandchildren and great-grandchildren, so they had not just a few of us to keep track of. My early scratchings led to story-poems, and then stories, which I never stopped writing.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love to get lost in the alternative universes of literary fiction. Some favorites that I devoured as a teen and in college: Tolstoy (esp. Anna Karenina); John Steinbeck (esp. Travels with Charley); J.R.R. Tolkien, Zora Neale Hurston. Along the way, some favorites have included: Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Tom Robbins. Inspiring my current writing: Sue Monk Kidd, Paul Coelho, Kent Haruf (Plainsong), Liane Moriarty, and these memoirists: Rhoda Janzen, Cheryl Strayed, Elizabeth Gilbert. So many more that I love and have been inspired by. This is a thumbnail at least.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
This book started as a revision to my memoir, Crazy Quilt: Pieces of a Mennonite Life, but it began to take on a life of its own. So I went with it and wrote the novel, Mennonite on the Edge: An Unlikely Romance.

Though a country-girl at heart, MaryJo wants to ditch her identity as a Mennonite in marrying Adam and living a life of adventure in Manhattan. But news from home kicks up memories she’d tried to bury. While she begins to question her choices, Adam lands a high-profile job, making a move seem impossible. MaryJo must make peace with her past and her current situation so that she can live the life of her dreams with Adam. But can she reconcile her craving for serenity in the City that Never Sleeps?

Set in both New York City and the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country, the book reveals a young woman’s struggles to define life on her own terms. The more she attempts to redefine herself apart from her past, the more the past seems to pull her in.

This novel took me a little under a year to write. I’m still surprised by that. My memoir took much longer. But the characters do take on a life of their own. It was easier to write their fictional stories than it was for me to write about my own life.

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Cynthia Yoder’s Website

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Featured Interview With Sergey P. Mavrodi

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Moscow, Russia on the 11th day of August, 1955, and have been a resident of Russia all my life, and where I attended what most countries call high school and university. I was also the winner of school’s most prestigious Olympiads in physics and mathematics. Rather active physically as well, I was the winner in combat Sambo, which is a form of unarmed self-defense much akin do Judo.
I still reside in Moscow, working with agents in the UK and USA to publish my new series, The Temptation Chronicle.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
An avid reader and student of humanity from childhood, I really became seriously interested in writing when I was arrested in 2003 and held in jail until April, 2007 on the bogus charge of fraud. I – along with a couple of others – had created a multi-level marketing plan which was – and still is = completely legal in Russia and most of the world. It was only after I accumulated a serious amount of money that the Russian government felt threatened, as the money continued to pour in as more and more people – in Russia and abroad – joined our program. Sensing a threat ( in Russia, the laws are different as to citizen’s rights) because my program threatened to wreak havoc on the Russian ruble, the government forced a shutdown and impounded some seventeen truckloads of cash.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Being in prison and seeing the dregs of humanity, I could feel horror and disgust at what human beings were capable of doing, and as time went buy, that disgust continued to build, leading to the creation of The Temptation Chronicles, which is basically a series of vignettes linked by the presence of the Devil himself. Not as gifted, perhaps as Stephen King or Dean Koontz, or even Bram Stoker, still I felt that I had the ability to create a documentation of what transpires when a human is allowed to enjoy his darkest desires – without restrictions.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My current book is titled “Lucifer’s Son”, (The Temptation Chronicles, Book 1). As stated, it is a series of short stories, each story exploring the depths of a human who realizes his darkest desires. Lucifer is teaching his son just how depraved a human can be if allowed to entertain the reality of those evil thoughts.
498 pages in length and priced at $17.99 on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, as well as in eBook form on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Smashwords and other eBook resellers for $4.99, the book is readily available and affordable. Not only that, it is highly entertaining and you will well wind up asking yourself, “How can a decent human being do that?”
Raw, perhaps, but not crude. Shocking and alarming to realize that perhaps those same vile thoughts are present in your neighbor’s mind. Or in yours!

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Sergey P. Mavrodi’s Website

Featured Interview With Duffy Brown

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
While others girls dreamed of dating Brad Pitt I wanted to take Sherlock Holmes to the prom.
I live in Cincinnati, have four kids, two grandkids and two spoiled rotten cats, Dr. Watson and Spooky. I love flower gardens and hiking and watching good fun movies. I am a National Bestselling author and conjure up who-done-it stories for Berkley Prime Crime. I have two series, the Consignment Shop mysteries set in Savannah and the Cycle Path Mysteries on Mackinac Island.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve always been telling stories to my kids or just making them up in my head for fun but I came to writing a lot later. I just love mysteries and when I saw a particularly stupid one on TV I sat down and rewrote the ending and that just started the writing thing for me.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
What inspires me most to write are the readers who want to know when then next book is coming out, characters who run around in my head yelling…Hey, you, I got a story tell here so quite messing around and get to work, places I visit and think Gee this would be a great place to hid a body. Even restaurants inspire me…What could be in this soup that could kill me. Or maybe it’s someone at the consignment shop I work in for real and I think…You are a total pain, guess who’s getting killed off in my next book. YOU!

Janet Evanovich is my hero. I simply love her Stephanie Plum books. I think she’s up to 21 in her series now and all are good but the first three…One for the Money, Two for the Dough and Three to Get Deadly are magic. They are funny and exciting and the characters are a hoot and unusual with tons of personality that make them real. After reading a S. Plum book you will want to become a bounty hunter and live in Jersey just for the fun of it all.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
No one knows why Peephole Perry came all the way to Mackinac from LA, but when he winds up dead things are looking bad for Evie’s BFF who once worked for the jerk. Now Evie has to gear up and get a grip on the truth if she wants to clear her friend and find a killer.

It’s murder and a mystery weekend on Mackinac Island for the rag reporter, his mistress and the wife who wants them both dead.

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Duffy Brown’s Website

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Featured Interview With Joy Mutter

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Jersey in the Channel Islands too many decades ago to mention. I went by the almost impossible to pronounce name of Joy Houiellebecq until my marriage in 1984. My profession was graphic designer for twenty years after gaining a Graphic Design Degree in Coventry. I then lived briefly in London before becoming a wife, mother and divorcee in Kent.

After an illness in 2012, not wishing to claim benefits I took the bold, some might say foolhardy action of selling my house in Kent and moving to the North of England in order to help fund my long-held ambition of becoming a full-time, published author. I now spend most of my days writing books.

I have written six books since 2007 and decided to publish them all on Amazon in Kindle editions in July 2015. By November 2015 I had also published them all in paperback editions. The first three of my books are mainly autobiographical and form the Mug Trilogy. Potholes and Magic Carpets and Random Bullets are contemporary erotic fiction. I have also published a non-fiction book called Living with Postcards which can also be found on Amazon. My latest published book, Random Bullets is an erotic thriller with a fantasy twist.

I am now working on a collection of short stories in different genres, plus another erotic thriller with a fantasy twist. My intention is to publish both books in 2016. I also intend making audio book editions of at least a couple of my fiction books in 2016. It appears that 2016 will be a busy year for me. However, as writing and publishing is a profession that I am passionate about, it won’t feel at all like work.

I would love to hear what you think of all of my books.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have been a voracious reader from very early childhood and also spent much of my time writing. English was always my favourite school subject and I gained my highest grades whenever I was free to use my imagination. Writing poetry was a pleasure and my close relatives would often receive a handmade, handwritten book of verse from me as gifts from when I was about ten until my early teens. Books have always been my lifelong sanctuary and inspiration. It is perfectly fitting that I now spend roughly seven hours each day writing them.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have read so many varied authors from every genre throughout my long life that it is hard to single out any authors in particular. The style of every author that I have ever read must have influenced my own writing in some way to a greater or lesser degree. Alan Bennett, Iain Banks, Fay Weldon, Tom Sharpe, Ben Elton, Ray Bradbury, Aldous Huxley, Agatha Christie, Dahl, Asimov are just a few that spring to mind. They are all so different but each have their own particular influence on my writing.

Having never consciously tried to write in the style of any other author that I have read, I only hear my own voice when I write, nobody else’s.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My sixth book is called Random Bullets. I published it on Amazon in July 2015 as a Kindle edition and in paperback in November the same year. Although I have been writing books since 2007 and full-time since 2011, I waited until 2015 to self-publish all six of my books on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle editions.

After shooting and killing his nephew, a gunman runs wild in a London park. What drives Edward to commit such a heinous act? Who will survive yet another of his moments of madness? Set in 2015 in London, Jersey and Manchester, Random Bullets is an erotic thriller with a fantasy twist.

Several people that have read it said in their reviews that they could not put it down. It is my favourite book of the six thus far, although my non-fiction Living with Postcards book has sold more copies. Random Bullets was certainly the most fun of the six to write. Part of the book has to do with being disinherited, a subject that I know something about. You will know to what I am alluding if you read my autobiographical Mug Trilogy.

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Joy Mutter’s Website

Joy Mutter Facebook Page

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Featured Interview With Clarissa Johal

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Clarissa Johal is the author of paranormal novels, THE ISLAND, VOICES, STRUCK, and BETWEEN. When she’s not listening to the ghosts in her head, she’s swinging from a trapeze, or taking pictures of gargoyles. She shares her life with her husband, two daughters, and every stray animal that darkens their doorstep.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Writing has been a journey! Ever since I was old enough to hold a pencil, I’ve always loved reading and writing stories. In high school, I studied acting and dance, and won a scholarship for a play I wrote, directed and acted in. With that scholarship, I pursued a degree in English Literature with no plans how to utilize it. I took so many classes in anthropology “for fun” I ended up with a minor in anthropology! With the anthropology minor, I took on a job working in the kennels of a veterinary hospital. That turned into veterinary assistant job, and eventually, into a career as a veterinary technician and volunteer zookeeper aide. Once my daughter was born, I quit the veterinary hospital, and started writing full-time. I guess you could say everything came full-circle! My writing career took off and I couldn’t be happier.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I really like Neil Gaiman, Robert Holdstock, Gerald Brom, Graham Joyce, Amanda Stevens, Simone St. James, Keith Donohue, and Melissa Marr.
In addition to these authors, I read a LOT of world mythology and folktales. They offer quite a bit of inspiration!

Tell us a little about your latest book?
A book will generally take me about a year to write. My latest release THE ISLAND is #1 Best Seller in supernatural horror on Amazon UK and Amazon Canada, which is really exciting! I’ll leave you with the blurb for that one, and a sneak peek at my upcoming re-release (STRUCK) and spin-off book (POPPY). Enjoy!

THE ISLAND
Exploring a remote island can get you into trouble.
Especially when you stumble upon a cave and awaken two demons.

Rumors and superstition.
That’s what Emma thinks about local gossip concerning her grandmother’s “cursed” private island. Emma journeys to the island to ready it for sale. While out exploring, she unearths a hidden cave–a cave which holds answers to the island’s dark past.
There may be more to the rumors than she thought.

STRUCK
Struck by lightning…claimed by shadows.

Caught in a terrible storm, Gwynneth is struck by lightning. She wakes in the hospital with a vague memory of a mysterious stranger. Following her release, the stranger visits her at will and offers Gwynneth a gift—one that will stay the hands of death. Gwynneth is uncertain whether Julian is a savior or something sinister… for as he shares more and more of this gift, his price becomes more and more deadly.

POPPY
A red-headed, pink-loving mortician who speaks to the dead.
A socially awkward funeral director.
Poppy and Dante from STRUCK are back.

Something is lingering around Skyview Funeral Home–and it’s stealing souls of the departed. With Dante in tow, Poppy is determined to put a stop to it. Will she be able to protect those who are trying to cross over? Or will her soul be next?

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Clarissa Johal’s Website

Clarissa Johal Facebook Page

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Featured Interview With Cathey Graham Nickell

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am a writer, mother, and wife living in Houston, Texas. I’m best known as the seeing-eye-person for my little blind dog named Cricket. Cricket is a Havanese, and I love her, especially since she does not shed! I was born in New Orleans, raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, and I’ve lived in Houston since 1998. I moved to Houston to marry my wonderful husband, Kevin, and together we have a blended family of four children. Three are grown, and one son is still in high school. I self-publish under my business, Twenty-Eight Creative, and I launched my first children’s picture book, “Arthur Zarr’s Amazing Art Car,” in November 2015. After taking a few years off to raise four children, I started freelance writing again in 2012 when I was hired by the Institute for Spirituality and Health to research the history of this Houston non-profit organization. “Uniting Faith, Medicine and Healthcare: A 60-Year History of the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center” was published in 2015. The book is used as a marketing and communications tool, and all financial proceeds benefit the Institute (not me). Now I’m spending my days marketing and publicizing my children’s book about art cars! I graduated from Baylor University with a BA in Journalism in 1985; I earned a Master of Arts from Louisiana State University-Shreveport in 2013.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing when I was about 5 or 6 years old. I was the type of kid who was always stapling papers together to make “a book” or punching holes in the left margin to tie a ribbon that would hold it together. I made so many books, and I still have them all. They’re silly, such as the one called, “Susan and the Snail” or “Sherlock Hemloc.” I love that I kept them all, and I still have fun going back and reading them. Perhaps I’ll update a few and self-publish them next!

My first professional writing job was while working at Baylor University for “The Lariat” — the daily campus newspaper. They actually paid me money to write, and I had a blast working there during college. My first REAL job was as a reporter/journalist for “The Shreveport Times,” a daily newspaper in my hometown. From there I moved into the field of Public Relations. I took a few years off to raise my children, but now I’m back in the writing biz.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I recently read Stephen King’s book, “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft,” and it was one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. I’m also reading Liz Gilbert’s “Big Magic” right now, and I am crazy about it. Memoirs are some of my favorites, such as: Jeannette Walls’ “The Glass Castle,” and Carole Radziwill’s “What Remains.” I’m a sucker for a great page-turner novel such as those by Gillian Flynn, Maria Semple, Paula Hawkins, Kathryn Stockett, etc. I’m also a huge Young Adult fan! I have read every book that John Green has written (“Looking For Alaska” is a favorite); I recently discovered Robyn Schneider (“The Beginning of Everything” and “Extraordinary Means”); and Rainbow Rowell (“Carry On”) was a fun read as well. Finally, you cannot replace the beautiful classics by Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Louisa May Alcott, L.M. Montgomery, and all those amazing writers, and I re-read those books over and over.

My writing is inspired by my own life experiences. Friends, family and children I come across often inspire my writing by something funny they might say. I jot down funny quotes and dialogue in a small journal that I always keep in my purse.

The books I do not read are self-help and poetry — I just cannot get into those genres and probably never will.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is a children’s picture book called, “Arthur Zarr’s Amazing Art Car.” Like many of you, I’m inspired by experiences that have happened in my life. For instance, when I moved to Houston 18 years ago, I had never heard of an art car, but I began to learn about this creative form of artistic expression. Now, I love art cars, and I enjoy snapping photos of them around Houston. One day while carpooling my son to school, I thought of the idea for “Arthur Zarr’s Amazing Art Car.” I couldn’t waste a minute, and I rushed home to write that story. Over the next few months I explored my options and chose to self-publish. That took me on a two-year journey that, when I hold my beautiful book in hand, I don’t regret. I just launched the book in November 2015, and in the first two months I have already sold 490 books! I think I made the right choice to self-publish and self-market/sell my book. It’s been so much fun. Houston is home of the first and largest Art Car Parade, and we also boast the country’s first Art Car Museum. It’s exciting that I’ve written and produced the FIRST book for kids that explains about an art car!

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Featured Interview With Robin Gregory

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
ROBIN GREGORY is a devoted wife and mother, writer, and amateur mapmaker. Born in Pensacola, Florida, she grew up in California, accompanied by seven siblings, and surrounded by horses, real cowboys, and the occasional rattlesnake. She has always been drawn to helping others, a trait that began, to her mother’s horror, with bringing home swallow chicks stricken from their nests. She has worked as a journalist, lay minister, and infant massage instructor for mothers and babies at risk. Her favorite things: silence, foggy days, chai, and ladybugs. She lives with her husband and son in a Carmel cottage old enough to make you sneeze. “The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman” is her debut novel.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I came to writing sideways, really. I always thought I’d be an artist. First, I told stories through paintings. I had a hard time learning to read, so that came later, in high school, when I discovered Franz Kafka. Soon afterward, I began keeping journals. It wasn’t until college that I tried writing short stories, and then a novel and screenplay. Writing became a means for me to explore my unknown “self,” to discover realities, truths, ideas, that run under the surface of things.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have read and re-read the works of Gabriel García Marquez, Franz Kafka, Rudyard Kipling, J.P. Donleavy, Salman Rushdie, and some of Virginia Woolf and Anaïs Nin. My favorite genre is Magical Realism, or Visionary literature, books that render coherent multiple levels of experience.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
THE IMPROBABLE WONDERS OF MOOJIE LITTLEMAN took 13 years to write. I guess it will probably by magnum opus. It began as a memoir. I spent years writing it from a personal point of view, and in the end, didn’t like the narrator at all. Ha! She sounded like a cross between Dostoevsky and Dorothy in THE WIZARD OF OZ.

Actually, I’ve had a pretty interesting life, beginning with being one of eight children in a pretty messed up family. This led to a lot of heartache, loneliness, and feelings of “not belonging.” I spent twenty years searching for spiritual answers, but the healing of these wounds really began when my husband and I adopted a baby with special needs. In spite of his difficulties, our son was the most kindhearted, courageous, and bright boy I have ever known. He has been teaching me so much. Especially, he is teaching me not to judge people by appearances, and to forgive others for hurting me. I wanted to put some of his life lessons together with mine to make a story that would inspire anybody who is dealing with difficulties and challenges.
I had gone through some devastating life events, and the lingering effects were anxiety, powerlessness, and low self-esteem. After turning to spiritual practice, I began to question my constant self-talk and subliminal thought patterns.

I wanted to put MOOJIE, the main character of my novel, a fourteen year-old, disabled boy, into the existential mess of human life, with all of the so-called goods and bads, to watch him grow, struggle, kick, and scream, until he found, through life experience, his own inner truth. Orphaned twice, bound to crutches, unable to grasp simple math and reading, he is pretty angry, and entrenched in feelings of isolation and unworthiness.

I started over with a rough idea of telling the story from his point of view, based on my experience with a son who doesn’t walk, talk, or think like most of us. In “his” hands, it started to be fun. For a while, I had no idea how it would go, only that the characters would either transcend limitations or remain locked into unconscious life choices. A funny thing happened, as the characters took on flesh and bone, they literally did as they pleased. They were unruly and rude and careless and didn’t do what I had planned! Not very decent of them, was it? This led to wonderful surprises and to having cutting some characters out altogether. All a necessary part of their disciplining.

A good book is a “home” for the reader, a home like the one that Moojie Littleman wants to find. It’s a rock he can rub against, a place to shed outworn ideas, values, and beliefs—a safe place to grow out of. Moojie’s story is about transcending limitations, but it’s also about finding his true self, finding peace while enduring difficult circumstances, surrendering to the inner pattern of peace and grace. There’s nothing wrong with “plane reads,” but I don’t read them and I didn’t want to write one. Anyway, if the plane were hijacked, I wouldn’t want a zombie romance to be the last thing I remember of this life. Ha!

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Featured Interview With Lisa Moulden

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, but we moved to Maryland when I was two weeks old and Maryland has been my home ever since. I’ve traveled all over the world, but nothing beats home. I love animals and I’ve had a variety of pets my entire life. Currently, I have two dogs and a pond with frogs, fish, turtles, snails and a snake. I’m not happy about the snake, but we tolerate each other. I also talk to those on the Other Side. My family has always communicated with Spirits, Guides and Angels. Talking to those on the Other Side is a normal way of life for me.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always loved reading and I continue to read as much as possible. I never imagined myself as a writer, but I was directed to do so by my father, from the Other Side. I have been given messages that contain urgent warnings to us in these troubled times. My message is timely and I will be publishing Presidential Souls in January 2016.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have too many favorite authors to list, but two have had a great influence on my life: J.R.R. Tolkien and Edgar Cayce. I love fantasy and adventure, but I also read a great deal of non-fiction. My father told me to read Edgar Cayce. My father was a minister and before he died he learned about Edgar Cayce and suggested I read about him. It literally changed my life. I thought I was going insane from all that I was seeing and feeling, but when I read about Edgar Cayce, everything made sense. No one knew what I had been experiencing, so my father couldn’t have known at the time how he was helping me.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
As a Reiki Master, I work with Energy, Auras and now, Celestial Hats. I use this unique tool, Celestial Hats, to perform a Paranormal Psychological Analysis. As graduate of the University of Maryland, I’ve been close to the Nation’s Capitol my entire life. Perhaps my familiarity with the haunts of the former United States presidents and my ability to listen to them is what drew them to me. I was given messages to deliver from these former world leaders. Most of the messages are urgent, dire, and they terrify me. We must listen, or our country is doomed. I channeled forty men and it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

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Featured Interview With Charlotte Henley Babb

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I began to write fantasy and science fiction because The Real World was so mundane, working as an English teacher for most of my life. I crave magic, fairies, dragons, steampunks and other outliers and aliens to offset the everyday normality.

I was raised near a small mill town in North Carolina until I was twelve, and then my family moved to Charlotte (yes, Charlotte from Charlotte). I now live in the not-very-wilds of Upstate South Carolina with no pets, no spouse, and no kids. Ah the freedom of single-hood, which I have mostly enjoyed for the last 20 years.

I’ve had cats as pets in the past, but the distaste for emptying a litterbox has overpowered my desire to be owned by a cat for the last several years.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I discovered reading early, and once I was allowed to read fiction in elementary school–third grade or so–I never really left the fictional world. I started writing for myself in elementary school, but did not really take up writing seriously until several years ago.

My word of advice to aspiring writers is to just do it. Don’t let anyone keep you from writing as soon and as ofter as you can. It’s a fact that you can’t make a living writing if you don’t write. And no, I’m not making a living at it… yet.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love fantasy, steampunk and science fiction. Aliens always seem like the kind of people I’d like to get to know, even if they don’t particularly like humans. I’m not sure I do either.

I take inspiration from Terry Pratchett, Gail Carriger, Shelly Adina, Robert Heinlein, Spider Robinson, Jane Austen, and anyone else’s books I read, even if I don’t like them.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
In the Still Midwinter is a collection of Christmas stories released at the end of November 2015. The stories are not religous or romantic, but are about the feelings that overtake people at the end of the year when the darkness overtakes the light. Everyone needs to know that someone loves them, even if it is not the kind of romantic love that is so popular, and finding that redemption can be the most important thing in a character’s life.

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Featured Interview With BJ Knapp

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
My name is BJ Knapp. I’ve written a book called Beside the Music. I was raised in East Windsor, Connecticut, the same town as my main character. Right now I live in Rhode Island, which is the smallest state in the US, just to the east of Connecticut. And yes, I do have pets. I have a beagle named Nemo, and a Chesapeake Bay Retriever named Potter. Nemo was the inspiration for Vito, the beagle in Beside the Music.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I used to write stories when I was very small. I didn’t know how to write words yet, but I knew how to make letters. So my stories consisted of a string of letters the corresponded, basically, to the first letter of each word. When I’d try to recount the story, I’d forget what the letters represented–which necessitated my learning the rest of the letters in the words I wanted to use.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My ultimate favorite is Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain. I am a huge dog lover, and this story just made me wonder what my dogs are thinking at all times and whether they understand what I am talking about.

My favorite genre is women’s fiction, but I am also a sucker for memoirs written by women who have escaped cults and rock star memoirs.

The person who inspires me the most is my husband Todd. He makes me want to write better; he’s the one I bounce my ideas off of, he’s the one who sat with me at a fancy restaurant on Shelter Island many summers ago and plotted out Beside the Music with me.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Can the act of mailing a fan letter change a life? Brenda Dunkirk didn’t think so. She also didn’t think 80s metal star Keith Kutter would have actually read her letter. Watching him stand in the rain on her patio and compose a new song is something she never imagined.

Brenda thinks she’s the luckiest woman in the world when Keith’s band, Hydra, and their entourage declares her home as their base camp while recording their comeback album. She fantasizes about late night lyric writing sessions at her kitchen table and being the first one to hear all the new songs. She is confident that with her help the band will get back on top where they belong. Swept up in the glamour of being the rock and roll muse, Brenda risks her already faltering marriage. Tim, her husband, walks out on her and Hydra’s chaos, and to make matters worse her boss is threatening to fire her if she doesn’t her act together at work. The band will not leave until the album is done–it could be another month or it could be another year.

Ultimately Brenda must choose between the secure contentment of her marriage or the allure of rock and roll. She must decide: is it possible to be one man’s wife and another man’s muse?

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Featured Interview With Angel Leya

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Angel Leya’s a quirky girl who enjoys strange facts and putting love and magical fantastical things in all her fiction, no matter the genre. On the serious side of things, she loves helping others.

Leya is also a wife, and mother of two beautiful children. She’s a transplant from rural New York, currently living in sunny South Carolina. Feel free to drop her a line anytime!

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I don’t know when I began reading, but once I got started, I had a voracious appetite for stories. My family would only go to the library once a month or so (whatever the lending limit was – we were so rural, it was quite the outing to go to the library). I would come home with piles of books, some over 500 pages, and would have them all read by the next library visit. I used to “sneak read” after bedtime by the light of my nightlight or the light from the hallway. My mom laughs to this day about being baffled at how to punish me for it. She eventually just told me if I needed a little more time on a book before bed, just let her know and I would get another hour.

I tried my hand at writing a couple of stories as a kid, but didn’t realize my affinity for writing until about 10 years ago. I never thought I could do it, but with encouragement from a friend, I tried, and I fell in love with telling stories. The editing process is killer, and I’ve thought about quitting based on that a couple of times, but for some reason I keep coming back. 🙂

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I read so many books as a youth, I don’t even know my favorites anymore. The authors that stand out in my mind the most are C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, and more recently Stephenie Myer and J.K. Rowling.

I’ve also had the pleasure of connecting with some incredible authors who have helped me out, and who have inspired me to go further – Olivia Folmar Ard, Laine Cunningham, Rebecca Enzor, and Chrys Cymri, to name a few.

I love stories with magic, but I have to say that my favorite genres are fantasy and sci-fi based with a strong love interest in there, and that’s what I want to write too.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Skye’s Lure is the latest available book. I was inspired when I watched the Mermaid: The Body Found on the Discovery channel. I totally believed it was true for about a day, but my mind kept spinning ideas. How did humans become mermaids? Why didn’t they connect with humans? What happened if one was caught in this day and age?

From there I started posting segments on my blog – the legend of the mermaid, the first encounter. I got some really great response from it, so I kept going. Overall, it took about a year to go from idea to posts to published book, but it’s only a novella. Full novels seem to run about 3 years for me. Did I mention editing is a long, hard process?

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Featured Interview With Grace Lowrie

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in the suburban outskirts of London where I was lucky enough to experience the vibrant art and culture of the city, and spent my student years in the eclectic seaside town of Brighton. I’ve always been creative at heart, and have worked as a collage-artist, sculptor, prop-maker and garden designer over the years. But I am an introvert and writing has always been my first love.
In March 2015, to my delight, Accent Press published my debut romance novel, Kindred Hearts. Spurred on by this success and a lifelong passion for reading, I continue to pour my creativity into writing novels, surrounded by my amazing, inspiring and supportive family.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My parents started reading to me as soon as I was born and I have loved books ever since. I was encouraged to write poems and short stories as a very young child, but it was years before I summoned up enough courage to attempt a novel. I finally sat down and wrote the outline for Kindred Hearts one New Year’s Day, because I had the twins, Sebastian and Celeste, living in my head and it was a choice between going mad or putting pen to paper. I honestly felt compelled to write their story. And now I can’t stop writing!

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Despite the fact that I’m mainly writing romance at the moment, the authors and genre’s I read are varied, and constantly inspiring. Some of my favourite books include: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda, If Nobody Speaks Of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor, Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, Ghostwritten by David Mitchell, Not the End of the World by Kate Atkinson, Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Atonement by Ian McEwan, to name just a few.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Kindred Hearts is a sexy, contemporary romance in which a young woman, Tasha Graham, is seduced by the enigmatic twins from her childhood; Sebastian and Celeste Walker. It is set in glamorous and exciting parts of London but deals with love, loss and loneliness as much as lust.
Here is a brief excerpt:
“For as long as I’d known Sebastian, there had always been a part of him that was content to watch from the shadows while his twin danced in the limelight. And as mysterious and sexy as it was, I couldn’t help worrying that there was something wrong – that he might be unhappy underneath it all”.

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Featured Interview With Jill Mattson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Born & raised in New Jersey, although I have spent my adult life in the woods of Northwestern PA. My loves of my life are four legged creatures. I have passions for healing, music, reading and loving!

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Not until my 30s did I discover how many wonderful worlds could be found inside a book.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
David Tame – The secret Power of Music
Cyril Scoltt The Power of Music

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Lost Waves of Time
The Lost Waves of Time (TLWOT) is one of those truly unique books that can alter your world-view. Unlike anything you have read before, TLWOT reveals an amazing history of Ancient Cultures, where Music was wielded as a secret weapon. You will find a wealth of specific information – detailing how Masters and Leaders across the ages – utilized Sound Energy in the form of exquisitely precise Music. The ultimate achievement of this secret was the Ancients ability to shape their people – their emotional, intellectual and value decisions and as a result – control the entire culture – all via their Culture’s signature music.
We see this power – the manipulation of the Sound Vibrational environment of a civilization – used to remarkable effect again and again… From Ancient Sumeria and China to Egypt and India. We travel through all ages and even discuss the role of Music in modern times.
This book is tremendous in scope. It presents a clear account of how spirit first involved into the material world. There is a constant theme explaining how subtle energy connects the realms of body, mind and spirit. The volume is well researched and lists an impressive of references for further investigation.
The book can be enjoyed as a history of Ancient Civilizations with unique facts and theories. It is also a course in the history of music and probably most importantly an attempt to connect many religious and spiritual traditions; in the process a wonderful new paradigm for our spiritual heritage and ultimate destiny is presented.
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From peers and ordinary readers of Mattson’s TLWOT we hear resounding praise: … The Lost Waves of Time is the mind-blowing story of how music – (the sound vibrational matrix of infinite variety) – literally shaped human history. For the first time, ancient secrets of using subtle energy – music – as a tool to mold the world around us – are revealed. This work will forever enlighten your perceptions and understanding of music and ancient people!

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Featured Interview With Molly Larkin

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Molly Larkin has been a spiritual seeker and student of human potential since the age of seven, when her teacher said human beings only use 10% of their brain capacity. She decided then and there to learn to use 100% of hers, a decision which led her on a life-long spiritual quest.

She is the co-author, with Muskogee Creek elder Marcellus “Bear Heart” Williams, of the international best-seller The Wind Is My Mother; the Life and Teachings of a Native American Shaman.

She has studied with indigenous elders from around the world for over 30 years. Her passion for health and healing led her to become a certified healing practitioner and Licensed Trainer for Healing in America.

In her private healing practice, Molly works with people, pets and horses, helping them achieve emotional, spiritual and physical balance.

You can receive ongoing teachings and inspiration by subscribing to her blog, “Ancient Wisdom for Balanced Living,” at www.MollyLarkin.com.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve been an avid collector of books since childhood. My biggest weakness is buying books I might never get to read. My “to be read” stack is quite high!

And I can’t fall asleep at night without a bit of reading in bed!

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love mysteries, historical fiction and nonfiction relating to human potential. Favorite authors include Bruce Lipton, Ph.D., Philippa Gregory and Louise Penny.

As a blogger, I am inspired by the top blogger who have mastered getting a powerful point across with as few excess words as possible. Leo Baubauta of Zen Habits is one of my favorites.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I teach classes in holistic health and am passionate about sharing health tips. I have studied the power of breath work for about 15 years and have a dealing practice of 10-15 minutes of breathing exercises each morning. Best-selling author Andrew Weil, M.D. says, “If I had to limit my advice on healthier living to just one tip, it would be to learn how to breathe correctly.” My book is designed to teach healthy breathing, presents research on why it’s important and is a short, easy read getting rave reviews on Amazon

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Featured Interview With Howard Robinson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am a full time marketer, who co-owns a small public relations consultancy in London. In my writing, I always try to take ordinary people and place them in extraordinary situations and then play around with the way they would respond. I think it brings out the megalomaniac in me. My first novel, The Bitterest Pill, was published in 2003, my second, ‘Micah, Seven Five’ in June 2014 and my most recent one, ‘The Sixth Republic’, was published in November 2015. I am currently at work on a fourth, tentatively entitled “Know Your Own Darkness”. I live in North East London with my wife; two children; Tilly, the chocolate Labrador, and a giant black rabbit called Mumford.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing almost as soon as I was able to….at first they tended to be dodgy poems at primary school and then short stories that seemed to win the approval of my teachers. It went hand in hand with my love of reading especially the magical worlds created by the likes of Roald Dahl. Charlie & The Chocolate Factory is still one of my favourite reads. I did a Modern History degree, which taught me the importance of structure in writing and of exploring language, although it ruined my ability to read for pleasure for quite some time. Over the years, my career in PR has given me the opportunity to write on the broadest possible range of subjects. All of this has been essential in being able to develop and adapt different styles for different audiences.

First and foremost I try to create stories that I would enjoy reading, to explore situations and emotions safely within the confines of the page. I want to create worlds and characters with whom I can identify and sympathise. And if I can, then I figure that the chances are that other people might do too.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I don’t really have a particular favourite genre; I really enjoy good writing, interesting concepts and stories that hold my attention. I tend to stray off the best seller lists and look for interesting pieces that other people may not find. I really like John Boyne’s books – everyone should read The Absolutionist. I enjoyed Look Who’s Back by Timur Vermes and The Obituary Writer by Lauren St John. But equally, I enjoy Hardy and Dickens as much as I do Ken Follett, JG Ballard and Jeffery Archer.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Given the fluidity of politics in Europe at the moment, I wanted to explore what happens when the country you have always called home decides you’re not welcome anymore. The Sixth Republic imagines what life might be like in France under a future Far Right President – as told through the stories of a series of different families.

It begins with France having elected her first Far Right President, Marianne Mercier, who wastes no time in moving to create a nation only for those she deems to be “authentically French”. This includes the closing of France’s borders, the imposition of bans on ethnic minorities and the creation of guarded communes in remote parts of the country to which all members of ethnic communities must be sent.

The novel explores the implications of such moves for those labelled the enemy within – people like young Muslim woman Inura Badour, her parents and her partner or Jewish teacher Andre Saloman and his family, including his grandmother Mathilde, who had been a member of the French Resistance during World War Two.

The plot continues in the United Kingdom, where admirers of the new French President are poised to engineer a similar scenario. The rise of the National Independence Party and its leader Hugo Sherriden threatens anyone deemed undesirable by virtue of colour, religion or sexuality. But amid the darkness, there is always hope that tolerance can win out over extremism.

I wanted to imagine what it would feel like to be living in and close to one of Europe’s largest and greatest nations at a time when neighbour is turned against neighbour, friend against friend and racism becomes the law.

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