Top Selling Authors: Get To Know Them Better

Featured Interview With Nick Piers

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’ve lived all over the Maritimes here in Canada: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Also lived in Toronto for a few years, which was my own time living outside of Atlantic Canada. That gave me a good feel for big-city living and a seeing wide range of people.

Now, I’m living back in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

As for pets, I have a cat – Diomedes – who I’m almost certain wants to conquer the world.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Oddly enough, I’ve been writing pretty much since I learned how to write. During the summer after Grade 2, I wrote and drew little stories in crayon. Usually, they featured Gizmo (from the film Gremlins) in various one-paragraph adventures. As I learned more writing tricks over the years, my writing improved and I eventually dumped Gizmo in favour of horror stories. I was relentlessly bullied in grade school and wound up using the names of my bullies as victims in those stories. It was strangely very cathartic.

By middle school, I’d learned the love that is comic books, superheroes, and pulp heroes.

As for reading, honestly, I didn’t spend as much reading as others. I probably spent more time watching cartoons, horror or action films, and playing video games. Comics were my big thing to read, which unquestionably influenced my writing style. In both of my novels, I actually employ comic book style sound effects. It’s gone over very well with my readership.

Though I did still read many books growing up. I fondly remember enjoying anything by Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume, for example. Later, it was Stephen King. And I was probably one of the few in my English class that actually enjoyed the material we were given to read.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Most of what I read is genre books. My favourite authors include Neil Gaiman, John Zakour, and especially Simon R Green. Though there are some non-genre books I’ve greatly enjoyed. Some of my favourite books include Frankenstein, To Kill a Mockingbird, What Dreams May Come, and Flowers for Algernon.

I’ve also recently discovered Mickey Spillane. It’s funny. I didn’t read any of his work until after my first novel – The City of Smoke & Mirrors – was published. Yet, the very first sentence I read of “The Big Bang,” I immediately thought to myself, “Oh my god, this is Dill!” (Dill being the main character in my own series).

My own writing’s biggest inspiration was Simon R Green’s Nightside series. I loved the mix of the fantasy and detective genres, as well as how each book was a fun, self-contained adventure. It harkened back to the old pulps like Doc Savage. Similarly, I loved John Zakour’s science fiction & detective series like The Platinum Blonde. I kept thinking, “Man, I’d love to create my own trench coat and fedora kinda guy.” And that’s when Dilbert Pinkerton was born.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
THE DAME WAS A TAD POLISH is the second Armadillo Mystery. Mixing the superhero and detective genres, I like to describe the series as “Mickey Spillane meets Ninja Turtles.” Its star, Dilbert Pinkerton (friends call him Dill) is a mutant armadillo private detective. He digs for the truth.

In DAME, Dill is hired to protect a mutant frog actress, Lily Pad. Someone wants her either dead or to confess to something she’s clammed up about. Dill has a feeling there’s more to the story than she’s willing to say, though. So he needs to dig into things before things come to a head. Or before she loses hers.

At 60,000 words, DAME took me roughly 8 months to write. My usual M.O. for writing is trying to bang out a chapter in one sitting. So with 30 chapters, that’s about 2,000 a session, which is usually my goal in a writing period. Obviously, it doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes I wrote more, sometimes I write less. Sometimes I finish a chapter, sometimes I don’t.

Funny enough, this wasn’t even meant to be the first sequel in the series. I’d actually been working on a different adventure for Dill. But at almost 30,000 words in, I hit a major case of writer’s block: I had no idea what to do with the villain for that adventure. Frustrated, I put the whole thing on the back burner and started fresh with this one. In the end, I’m really pleased how this one turned out.

If you’re considering reading DAME or The City of Smoke & Mirrors, I like to tell people: “Dill’s a right total bastard. You’ll love him.”

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Featured Interview With Kannan

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am an Indian with fluency in three Indian Languages. And I know a little bit of English.

I was born and brought up in the state of Andhra Pradesh, where Telugu is the spoken language. However, I was born into a migrant family that speaks Tamil. So, I used to speak Tamil at home and Telugu outside. My education was in Telugu and I grew learning that language well. When I was adolescent, I taught myself to write and read Tamil. When I moved to the state of Maharashtra for doing my Masters in Engineering, I learnt Hindi to manage my day-to-day affairs. I was forced to read newspaper in English, the Times of India, which in those pre-commercial days was good to read.

When I started working in a place near the then Bombay, I visit Bombay often to buy books and then was initiated into English literature, albeit I had few interactions earlier as well.

At present, I live in Mumbai – the same old Bombay, with a new name with my son, and of course my wife.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
It was during high school. Eversince I could read, I read – whatever I find and could. At that time, I used to read all that was written or printed in Telugu. Then, I wrote poems – in line with my young age – both romantic and revolutionary.

However, once my academics have turned to be serious, I forgot about the finer arts. When I was working and stayed alone in the factory’s colony, I painted a lot, apart from reading. When I moved to the interior India to work for the aluminium Industry for the first time, and quite a distance from both my native place and Mumbai, I started writing – and that was nearly nine years ago. However, none of the books I started then were completed, at least till now.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Robert Ludlum, Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie and Ayn Rand. I know, the combination is a bit weird, but I think it explains me. My favorite genre is mystery and thriller, the way Ludlum conceives. I enjoy reading Doyle and Chritie at any time like I enjoyed Dickens and Defoe.

With Ayn, it was those two novels that shaped my perception of the world.

Despite influenced by the writings of Ayn, I feel, it was Ludlum and Doyle who inspired me to write.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
It is a book about the insignificance of life in the eyes of politicians and businessmen. Yes, the plot deals about a purported nuclear attack on India, by non-state actors of Pakistan. But, in the story, the Pakistani characters are not villian, but heroes in their own way.

The story involves one Pakistani general who was disowned by his own Government, Army and finally his nation. As a patriotic officer of Pakistan, how he reacts – despite he was a part of one of the dastardly schemes.

The main protagonist of the book was however, a nuclear scientist, who belong to an Indian family that moved to Pakistan after partition. How, this person with exposure to both countries responds to the suggestion to nuke the country in which he was born, when pushed by his adopted nation- form the crux of the story.

I tried to discribe and discuss various background scenes that evolve when such attack is expected and how all major countries of the world respond, keeping only their interests in mind.

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Featured Interview With Jennifer Loring

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in western New York, not far from Buffalo. I’ve been in Pennsylvania for twenty years now, if you count college–Erie to Pittsburgh to Philly, where my husband and I have lived for almost ten years. We share our house with a turtle and two basset hounds.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I taught myself to read at age four, so books have always been one of my favorite things. I started writing when I was 12, about a year after I read my first Stephen King book (MISERY). My first serious attempts at writing didn’t come until after college. I was first published at 21 and had my first pro sale at 24. I’ve since had 33 short stories, a novelette, a novella, and two novels published.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Robin McKinley. Stephen King. Gillian Flynn. Chuck Palahniuk. Tanith Lee (RIP). Clive Barker. Cormac McCarthy. D. A. Stern. I love to read them all, and they’ve all influenced me. My favorite genre is dark fantasy and horror, but I’ll read anything that catches my interest. I’ve recently started reading paranormal romance.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is FIREBIRD, the first in The Firebird Trilogy, a contemporary erotic romance series from Limitless Publishing. I wrote the first draft in five weeks at the end of 2014, most of it during NaNoWriMo. Another eight months, three drafts, and 40,000 more words later, I signed a contract for it after generating a lot of interest on Twitter’s #Pit2Pub. It’s the story of a pro hockey player and a journalist and how they work through their various personal tragedies and emotional baggage before they can be together.

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Featured Interview With Rachel Carrington

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Though I was born in North Carolina, I was raised, for the most part, in Charleston, South Carolina which is where I still live. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

I have a part-Siamese part-tabby cat named Temperance who is temperamental, loving, and demanding, and adopting her was one of the best decisions I ever made. She sleeps right beside me as I’m writing every night.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve loved books for as long as I can remember. The Little House on the Prairie series was, and still is, one of my favorite series. I’ve read those books numerous times along with Little Women, Jane Eyre, Anne of Green Gable, and Pride and Prejudice.

As I’ve grown older, my reading habits have changed, and now I read a lot of young adult, romantic suspense, and paranormal romance, but I can still go back to my favorite childhood books.

I started seriously writing when I was sixteen after someone I cared for very much lost his life at fifteen. I wrote a poem detailing my emotions. And it helped me to express myself, and from that point on, I knew I wanted to continue writing.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have a long laundry list of favorite authors including Christine Feehan, Michelle Rowen, Lisa Renee Jones, Janette Oke, and Teri Blackstock. I don’t have one particular favorite genre to read because I do read a little bit of everything, including young adult, romantic suspense, paranormal romance, non-fiction, biographies, and thrillers.

The one author who inspires me the most is, and always will be, Lisa Renee Jones. Not only is she a phenomenal writer, she’s also one of the most determined women I’ve ever met. But one thing that really stands out with Lisa is that even though she has a successful writing career, she hasn’t let that change her. She’s still the same open, wonderful person she has been since the day I met her.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book, Meeting Zach, is a young adult romance which hasn’t been released yet. It’s my first full-length young adult book, and I’m really excited about it. I had a short young adult story published in the Still Hungry for Your Love anthology, and it got me interested in writing in this genre.

In Meeting Zach, Abby is determined to make it to Mega-Con to meet her celebrity hero. And she’s willing to break all the rules to do it. What she doesn’t realize is that bad decisions can have tragic repercussions, leaving her with guilt she can’t shake and a life forever changed.

I started writing this book about two months ago, and I’m about 3,000 words away from finishing it as I write this. I’m hoping I might wrap it up this evening!

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Featured Interview With Emma Alisyn

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in Wenatchee, WA. I dare you to say it fast 3 times. Right now I’m in Nebraska with hubby and 4 children.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing in first grade and have been writing my entire life, though I only began publishing a year ago. I write the kinds of stories I like to read- sweet, steamy with alpha protective guys and smart, feisty, curvy gals.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love Anne Bishop, N.K. Jemisin, Nalini Singh, Robin McKinley (The Hero and the Crown has a special place in my heart.) I read everything, but urban fantasy is my main go to for entertainment.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Liam’s Bride is a 200 page BBW Bear Shifter Romance about two people who have to make a relationship work despite dealing with trust and forgiveness issues- and family drama.

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Featured Interview With Sherilyn Powers

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in Canada, pretty much all across the country and settled in the frozen north. I have 1 1/2 dogs (one mine, one inherited from my daughter) and a large collection of magpies that live in the trees outside my house. The magpies wouldn’t really count as pets but they like to play with my dogs and they are quite entertaining so I have adopted them.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I believe it was just before the ark set sail. I was quite young then. I love words, and languages, and communicating. I started writing as long ago as I can remember. I have poetry, songs and short stories from my early teens, two fiction manuscripts (one fantasy and one romance) that may never see the light of day and to this day I write constantly. My writing got me through a lot… I passed Grade 9 English only by submitting to the teacher all of my previous writings. I told him I couldn’t just write whatever he asked for on demand and he bought it!

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Authors… oh man, Terry Pratchett is brilliant – Tolkien on hallucinogens. Anne McCaffrey, Robert Jordan, Geoffry Hodson, Christopher Knight & Robert Lomas, and so many more!

My inspiration comes from everyone and everything. I get my curiosity from my mother (as well as a million allergy genes).

Tell us a little about your latest book?
“I’m Not Crazy… I’m Allergic!” – a look at the relationship between allergies and depression, and a discovery that sometimes there are many more reactions to allergens or sensitivities than are commonly accepted by the medical profession.

What would you do if, after 50 years of antidepressants, you discovered the reason for your constant depression and suicidal tendencies, and not only that but you could control it with diet and desensitization?

This is the journey of a woman that had been dealing with “mental illness” all her life and how we stumbled on the fact that most of her depression, panic attacks and other strange inexplicable mental and emotional (and even some physical) symptoms could not only be explained by exposure to certain foods or environmental triggers but also consistently replicated by that exposure.

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Featured Interview With Lyneal Jenkins

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in England with my two brothers and sister. When I was
sixteen, I joined the Army as a paramedic. It gave me the opportunity to see the world, and even though I left after three years to start a family, I continued to travel for a few years and even lived in Spain for a while with my two eldest children.

I now live in the north of England with my fiance and our seven children – no, that is no a typo, we really do have seven children, and at this time, we all live in a tiny three bedroom house with our crazy Springer Spaniel who has an obsession with chinks of light – real or imagined. I write where I can, be it on my bed or in the lounge, and if I’m not writing, I am plotting or editing in my head.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My first memory of reading was the Famous Five by Enid Blyton. I loved the adventure in the series and couldn’t get enough. Pretty soon after, I drifted into horror fiction, reading every James Herbert and Stephen King book I could get my hands on. Throughout my life, I have read many different types of book, but I never took an interest in writing until 2011.

I love the vampire books, but after reading so many, I wanted something new, which left me wondering what the next ‘fad’ would be. As my imagination runs riot, I soon came up with a concept for a new race of beings, and with one sentence that refused to leave my mind, I sat down to write – not because I was writing a book, but because I couldn’t get the sentence out of my head. I had no idea that I was embarking on the greatest project of my life, or that I had hit on the one thing I had been searching for all my life.

Since then, I have had no option but to continue writing. The characters hound me and the plot lines invade my dreams. I love it!

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Stephen King is still my favourite author, though, I have just finished reading the Gone Series by Michael Grant, and I will definitely read more from him. I seemed to be heavily into the fantasy genre at the moment, but any book that has a decent plot and strong characterisation interests me, which is probably why my characters inspire me to write. In fact, they demand that I write and tend to bug me if I don’t get to work.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The fourth book in the Ana Martin Series – The Last Prophecy – was released this year, and I have to say, out of all four books in the series, this was the most fun to write. It only took a couple of months for the first draft to spill onto the laptop, even with seven kids and our Springer Spaniel to keep me occupied.

The direction the story has taken astounds me. What started out in book one – Night of the Fae – as a bit of a young adult fantasy novel, has become epic fantasy – far outside what I expected. In The Last Prophecy, so many new characters and races came into the storyline, and they had such an impact on the main plot, I was left reeling. Thankfully, I have an amazing partner who lets me talk for hours when I need to work out the variables about where the story is going.

I started the book a little concerned about Ana. She had already been through so much (being tortured by the British Government and her ex-husband turning up), and I could see that more grief was coming her way. I was pleasantly surprised when, instead of having a full out breakdown, she found humour as a way to cope with the horrors in her life. She has developed so much over the series, changing from an almost weak girl, with more issues than I can count, to someone who is fast becoming the leader of a rebellion against the Siis and even the human governments. I loved finding out more about the Fae culture, and enjoyed meeting their better side – the Damiq. I was pleasantly surprised when Bill came back into the storyline, introducing Ana to the Damiq, who Ana finds hard to trust as they are so much like the Fae. Even though I loved most of the plot, there were times I felt so sorry for Ana, especially when she was forced to put her family into hiding, leaving her very much alone.

The Last Prophecy left me desperate to find out what happened next, and I immediately started the next book in the series (due for release in 2016). As with The Last Prophecy, I find Ana’s story going in a completely different direction to where I thought it would, constantly leaving me with the question: what will happen next?

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Featured Interview With Kenneth Eade

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I live between the south of France and Russia, with my wife, Valentina, who is a professional photographer, and our dog, Misha.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My love affair with books began before I can even remember. I was reading the newspaper at the age of 3, and by the time I was in grade school, I had already started reading books.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have always adored the classics. My favorites are Dickens, Steinbeck and Bradbury. Right now however, I am reading my “competition.” I am absolutely enamored with the writing of Paul Levine, who writes in the legal thriller genre, as I do.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
For my latest book, “Killer.com,” I wanted to elaborate on the way the Internet is abused by people anonymously to hurt other people. Cyber bullying has turned into an epidemic, causing many more teen suicides than the old and more “personal” form of bullying. I thought it would be interesting to tell the story of a cyber bullying mob who hires a killer for hire over the Internet for an anonymous murder. When doing the research for the book, I learned that there actually are sites on the “dark web” which offer murder-for-hire. Killer.com is now available on Amazon at: http://amzn.com/B0117UFSCG

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Featured Interview With Lori A Moore

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hi, I’m Lori A. Moore and I was born, raised, and live in Louisville, KY with my husband and our adorable cat, Grady. I am a business professor with four graduate degrees. My favorite thing to do is travel and I have visited all 50 of our United States and somewhere between 55-58 other countries.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I can remember always wanting to go to the library starting around age 8, but I was hooked on Nancy Drew books around age 12 and have loved reading ever since.

I started writing 7 years ago when my former husband died unexpectedly three days before his 50th birthday and a friend suggested I journal as a way to deal with my grief.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
The things I like to read span so many genres. My first loves were Stephen King and Dean Koontz and I’ve read hundreds upon hundreds of horror books.

My big inspiration in writing was when I met Liz Curtis Higgs and I enjoy reading books like “The Shack” and “The Noticer.”

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is coming out in early December and it’s title is . . . are you ready . . . “Oh Ship! Tales of a Cruising Chick and Other Travel Adventures.” Seriously, there are parts that are so funny, you might actually LOL as you read it. Funny things happen on cruise ships and when you travel, and as I already said, I’ve traveled a lot, so this book has mini snap-shots of some of those wacky adventures.

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Featured Interview With Howard Kaplan

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Los Angeles and live equidistant between Sony Pictures and Fox Studios both about 5 minutes drive in opposite directions. I have not had much to do with the film industry until just now when my novel, The Damascus Cover, was filmed starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Sir John Hurt and Navid Negahban (Abu Nazir in Homeland.)

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was always a big reader and television watcher so as a child I escaped in stories. I began piddling with writing in college at Berkeley. I took no writing courses but I did pen a play and turned it into three classes for the paper assignment. I got two A’s and one professor said he couldn’t read it but would count it as the class requirement. I started keeping journals so the step up to trying a novel was not so high from there.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I’m a giant fan of John le Carre. He has a unique ability to tell a great story with remarkable nuanced characters and at the same time deal with difficult political issues.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Jerusalem Spy Series initially will be comprised of 3 novels that share a common theme: reconciliation and hope. Between Israel and the Arab countries in The Damascus Cover and between Israelis and Palestinians in Bullets of Palestine and the forthcoming To Destroy Jerusalem. Bullets is about an Israeli agent and Palestinian agent challenged to work together to hunt down and kill an extremist Arab terrorist, Abu Nidal, who is killing both Jews across Europe.
The Damascus Cover is less political and more plot driven, with a twist at the end that pulls it all together in a surprise. It is easy to write suspense and cliff hangers but very hard to make them come together and make sense. The book has been translated into 7 languages thus far.

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Featured Interview With Jay Brenham

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in the northeast. I have lived up and down both coasts of the United States and some places in between. I spent half a year living in a former Soviet satellite and I’ve traveled to more countries than I can count on two hands. Some of those travels were for work and others were for pleasure, but I enjoyed them all. I now reside in an undisclosed location in the Pacific Northwest.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I am a lifelong reader. When I was little my parents would read to me before I went to bed every night. Once I could read I continued the habit of reading for about ten minutes before I go to sleep.

I started writing when I was in elementary school, my first book was written in the fourth grade and was titled “My Trip to Uranus.” After the smashing success of my first novel I took a two decade break and began writing in earnest a few years ago.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Orson Scott Card is my favorite author. For one thing, he wrote my favorite book. The second reason I’m a huge fan of his, is that a number of years ago I wrote to him and asked for writing advice and he actually took the time to respond. I asked him what I should do about feeling self-conscious when I write. I said that even though I had ideas for books, I always had an overwhelming feeling of dread when it came to putting words on paper. OSC wrote back and essentially told me to get over myself because it doesn’t matter what other people think. I took his advice. Without Orson Scott Card there would be no Seven Cities saga.

Orson Scott Card has published more than fifty books, yet he took the time out of his busy day to reply to a person who was too self-conscious to write more than a few sentences before giving up.

A close second is Scott Lynch who wrote The Lies of Locke Lamora. The characters in this series are good at things because they work for it, not because they’re naturally gifted or lucky or because they’re somehow fated to be the best. No character has it all.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is Exodus from the Seven Cities. What inspired me was a love of all things action and horror. There are so many books out there that feature people who are miraculously prepared and have all the necessary skills when a problem presents itself. But that isn’t how life is. Most of us aren’t weapons experts, nor do we necessarily have all the skills required to easily survive a long term power outage, let alone the apocalypse. I want my writing to be a tip of the hat to the common man, an homage to the ordinary person who is required to do extraordinary things in a time of need.

Exodus from the Seven Cities follows Sam, a recently discharged undesignated Navy Seaman. With no gun to protect him and no special skills to show for his military service, Sam‘s ability to adapt and his will to survive are soon put to the test in a city that’s become a nightmare. I would describe it as 28 Days Later meets The Crazies.

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Featured Interview With Gary Bonn

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I live in the wilderness deep in Scotland, UK. Rush hour is my next door neighbour going shopping. A cat retains me as his principle butler.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
At the age of eight I read Comet in Moominland (Tove Jansson) and was stunned and inspired. Subsequently I read all her children’s novels. No book – or series of books has ever influenced my life and personality as much these.
Like most writers I’ve written on and off all my life – not that I would want people to see a lot of it. (It came as a profound shock that learning to write fiction requires three to four years to gain the necessary skills. Fortunately I had friends who were best-selling writers and they gave me a huge amount of support.)
Over the last ten years I’ve written eleven books. Two young adult novels were picked up and published by Firedance Books. They both received great reviews – though one picked up a rather surprising one – http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R708PC8BEDI8L/ref=cm_cr_pr_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00902Z1YO
Next came the Rude Awakening series (a collaboration with my son) Muffy College, Cambridge was well received with Cambridge students tracking me down and inviting me to one of the happiest events of my life – a mass book signing in the Paddock of Emmanuel College, sunshine, wine and cute moorhen chicks.
Following this came the science fiction series UFO:AI starting with Hive Mind – another collaboration. It grew from short stories (The Parallel Chapters) which are available free at: http://garybonn.com/scifi/ Quite how they gained such a huge female following is something of a mystery still as they were aimed at men. However as in the Rude Awakening series they have some awesome women. This may have something to do with it.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I work as a structural editor, copy editor and proofreader. I read and work on whatever is sent to me. It’s a great way to learn to love all genres – and have my breath taken away when someone develops a genre or even invents their own – for instance Jae Erwin’s ‘Stillness Dancing’.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The third in the UFOAI series: Subtle Strike. That whole series was a wonderful challenge. Five main characters in first person – it gave us a huge opportunity to look at the developing relationships of very different people having to rely on each other in extreme situations. It’s an action adventure but as in real life it’s all about people. A successful through daunting mechanism was the introduction of invisible threads or story lines. Each book is a complete story. Any two read consecutively are a complete story. The three read consecutively are yet another complete story. I’ve never worked with such a complicated structure before.

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Featured Interview With Craig Anderson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m a Brit that lives in Canada, and I moved here via Australia, so no matter where I go people hear my bizarre accent and ask me where I am from. I have a beautiful wife, an adorable 18 month old daughter, another baby on the way, two cats called Sydney & Mel and a rather stubborn Brittany Spaniel called Jasper. Basically our house is complete and utter chaos!

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing at an early age, around 11 or 12. I’ll never forget a substitute English teacher once accused me of copying my creative writing homework out of a book, which is still the strangest compliment I have ever received.

I took a long break from writing when I hit my teenage years. It was only in the last 6-7 years that I have really gotten back into it. When we first moved to Canada I didn’t have a job, and I needed something to pass the time, so I found myself writing a full length fiction novel. That particularly story still hasn’t seen the light of day, I keep telling myself one day I’ll finish it off and get it out there.

I write at least one flash fiction every week, typically on Friday’s, and post it to my blog. It’s been a great habit, it forces me to write no matter how busy life gets and I can always find 20-30 minutes to write a 100-300 word story about something. It’s also allowed me to try my hand at a variety of styles and genres. I’ve been doing that for over 2 years now.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Terry Pratchett is far and away my favourite author, I was so sad that he passed away this year. He had such an amazing talent for finding the most interesting and hilarious aspects of very dry topics such as banking or the postal service. I still find myself reading his back catalogue and laughing out loud at the fantastic characters and dialogue.

I’m a huge fan of humourous fiction, although as a genre it’s certainly not as popular as many of the others. I love a book that can make me laugh but also make me think. I try as hard as possible to write those types of stories.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My first novella is called Getting Lucky. When a homeless man rescues a young boy from a savage beating he is rewarded with a life changing discovery. Unfortunately he was perfectly happy with his life the way it was. Now he is up against forces that are conspiring to make him be something that he’s not, a decent human being.

Along the way he befriends a stray dog called Lucky, and between them they have to face off against the most unforgiving opponent of them all, karma.

The story is a comedy that questions everything we think we know about karma, fate and fortune. I wrote it by accident while taking a break from editing a longer novel. It’s a quick read, about half the length of a typical book, so it is the perfect companion for a day on the beach or a long commute.

I’ve totally fallen in love with these characters and have just finished the sequel – Lucky Shot, due out October 2015. I also recently recorded the audiobook for Getting Lucky in a local recording studio and have made that available for free. You can find out more on my website – http://www.todayschapter.com/books

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Featured Interview With Jeremy McLean

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hello, I’m Jeremy McLean. I’m Canadian and live in New Brunswick. I’m kind of a geek and I love to play video games when I have the spare time. The novels I like to read are fantasy and sci-fi.

I’ve currently written three novels, two in a series and one a companion novella about one of the side characters. They are Blackbeard’s Freedom, Blackbeard’s Revenge, and Bartholomew Roberts’ Faith.

The first two are a mix of historical fiction and light fantasy elements (one reviewer likened it to Indiana Jones, so think Indiana Jones meets Pirates of the Caribbean). The third novella is closer to historical fiction and doesn’t have any fantasy elements in it.

I have a pet cat named Thor. He’s a little crazy, but we love him.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I didn’t actually read that much as a child. My parents taught me well, so it wasn’t a matter of comprehension, just attention span. I loved video games more as they always grabbed my attention more than books did.

When I grew up and became a bit more mature, I started reading more and more. The reason I love video games is the same as why I love books, I love a good story. I initially wanted to go into video game design, but found out that story was never really the focus, and that was what I wanted to be doing so I didn’t take any courses in it.

I dabbled in writing since then, but it was when I found out about Kindle and self-publishing with Amazon that I really got into it. Rejection was commonplace in the writing world, and I wanted the freedom to write what I wanted, and not have someone tell me that it wouldn’t work.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love fantasy and sci-fi novels. When I was younger, the Pendragon series really inspired me to write. It had such an open ended world where it felt like anything could happen, and I really wanted to create something like that myself.

I’ve always love pirates, which is the reason I’m writing a pirate series right now, and there is a manga called One Piece which is about pirates in a fantasy world. The characters, locations, and plot are all stellar and I’m constantly inspired by the ingenuity of the author.

Currently, I’m loving the Song of Ice and Fire series and find those books enthralling. George RR Martin knows how to build a world and make you care for characters, only to take them away. It’s realistic and at the same time fantastic. I love how he’s able to maintain that balance.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is called Bartholomew Roberts’ Faith. It’s about the pirate, Bartholomew Roberts, and how he went from working on a slave ship to becoming a pirate. The main reason I wanted to write it is because I love pirates and I always found Bartholomew Roberts an interesting person.

According to history he was a man of God and regularly held bible studies with his crew. He also instituted his own “pirate commandments” aboard his ship, no doubt inspired by the biblical commandments.

I wanted to take what we knew about him from history and fill in the gaps as to why he might have become a pirate despite believing in the bible, as the act of piracy is condemned by the bible.

It took me about a month to write, and then another to edit, and I feel that it is my best work yet. (Or at least I hope so.)

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Featured Interview With Alex Athanassakos

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Greece, but now I live in Toronto, where I moved in 1979. I initially came to Toronto to visit my brother, but fell in love with economics and stayed to do a graduate degree on that subject.

I have no pets, but I do have two sons.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always loved reading. By grade 11 I had even compiled a list of “must” reads that included HG Wells’ World History, Marx’s Das Capital and Plato’s Republic.

This particular book (i.e., Our Travels with Alexander) I began writing 24 years ago when we returned to Canada from our year off.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Some of my favorite authors include: Graham Green (the title of my book is a play on one of his books “Travels with my Aunt”), Par Lagerkvist, Xenophon, and Harry Mulisch.

My favorite genre is history. However, I find that contemporary history books read more like fiction these days. So I began reading the “original” texts of ancient writers. I started with Herodotus and in 3 years I have reached Dios Cassius. I believe I will stop when I reach the 16th century authors since, owing to the invention of the printing press, a lifetime will not be enough to read everything that was published after that.

I also like science books, especially biographies, and went I go to bed I usually read fiction (books about saving the world from impending disaster).

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is called On Democracy: A Novel. Some of the ideas in this book come from my PhD dissertation, but others were developed over time. My basic premise in the book is that the present-day “democratic systems are badly designed an do not take into account human nature. All of them are not democratic, in the sense that a majority is behind every action of the state, but improvements could be made especially with the advance of the Internet. Copies of the book can be bought here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011ONQVUE

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Featured Interview With Monica H.Thomas

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
My name is Monica H.Thomas, I was born and raised up in Gainesville, Florida. I’m still currently living in Gainesville. I’m the book author of 5 published fiction books, “My Brother’s Keeper”, “What a crooked web we weave”, “A friend’s betrayal”, “I’ll never amount to nothing so you say” and “Nobody’s Child”. I have three new fiction books coming out this Fall two are novellas called “Strictly Business”, “Cursed on Hollowed Ground” and a short story called “Stick up Kid”. I’m the Inventor of the “Stimulating Pacifier” http://youtu.be/FR9LJE0AsK4 and a television pilot writer. I’m the CEO of the Thomas and Company online store https://inksy.co/thomas-and-company ! I have two pet Chihuahuas a male named Spunky and a female puppy named Belle.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing back in late 2013. My first book I’d written and published called “My Brother’s Keeper”. It was very exciting writing that book. I must say I truly learned a lot along the way. The book’s subject was a fascinating one to me. It’s about four brothers’ pact to stick together through thick and thin no matter whats the costs.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love reading fiction novels whether it’s adventurous or horror. Stephen King is one of my favorites. He’s also my big inspiration, I’ve admired his work every since I was a child growing up. I loved watching his movies as well, I made it my routine back then, when I came home from school. I’d put my backpack down, I would go put on one of his movies then I used to go into the kitchen and fix myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then I would go back into the living room and continue watching his movie. Daily routine back then.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My last book that I’ve published is called “Nobody’s Child”! It’s a fiction novella about a little girl growing up into womanhood by a determined mother (single parent) who sacrificed what little they had to survive in order to send her off to school. At nineteen the daughter goes off to college to try to make a better life for herself but she ends up getting pregnant by a man she knows means her no good. In the end she’s left making the hard decision alone on whether to keep this child and possibly follow in her mother’s footsteps or get rid of it and continue to pursue her career.

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Featured Interview With Bambi Lynn

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up on a farm in South Georgia and always dreamed of ‘escaping’ and seeing the world. When I met my husband, he was a soldier in the US Army. He received orders for Belgium right after we got married, and I was off to live my dream. We lived in Belgium for fifteen years where I developed my love for all things Medieval. While we lived there, we managed to visit Greece, Spain, Italy, Austria, France, Holland, England and Norway. When we left Belgium, we moved to Washington, DC, one of the most fascinating cities in the United States. We’ve come full circle and now live in Alabama.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started copying any piece of writing I could get my hands on as soon as I could hold a pencil. Hymnals, newspapers, my favorite children’s books. When I was in high school, I penned my first story after reading SWEET, SAVAGE LOVE, and I’ve been writing love stories ever since.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have always loved history, so it was no surprise that my favorite stories were set in the past, especially Medievals and Westerns. I got my first taste of time-travel with Jude Deveraux’s KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR and was instantly hooked. My favorite authors are Karen Marie Moning and Sherrilyn Kenyon. I’m expecially drawn to Moning’s Highlander series and Kenyon’s Dark Hunters.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I’ve just finished the 3rd book in my GODS OF THE HIGHLANDS series, TANIS. It is scheduled for release the last week in September. I’m almost done with the 4th and final book, LUCAN. I intend to take this series into the present day. TANIS combines Celtic Mythology with some of the most intriguing elements of Christianity, as the heroine is of Gods angels, a warrior angel fighting for the souls of humans to serve in His army against Satan and his demons.

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Featured Interview With Michael T. Best

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in New England, spent a few years in Germany as a kid and now live in California. I have a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies with a focus on American History.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing fiction and studying the craft after college. As a kid, I was a big reader of biography, history and the statistics on baseball cards. I remember staying up late reading Dave Dawson World War II adventures and dreaming of falling into the wardrobe that led to Narnia.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I read mostly non-fiction history and biographies now. The authors who entertain and inspire me are Lloyd Alexander, Kurt Vonnegut, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Robert Charles Wilson, and J.D. Salinger.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
ODYSSEY RISING, my first novel, is a fast paced science fiction adventure that is appropriate for readers age 8 and up. It is available as an e-book at Amazon, Smashwords, Apple, Barnes & Noble and a few other retail web sites.

Here is a little bit more about the characters and story.

When seventeen year old Theo Starling is accepted into a prestigious summer program aboard a deep space shuttle called Odyssey, he expects the best summer of his life. Too bad he’s stuck with the younger half-brother he can’t stand and the most defective air filters in the history of space. During a routine probe exercise, Theo discovers proof of life on an unexplored and uninhabited planet. Naturally, Theo becomes the most famous guy in the galaxy, since alien life has never been found anywhere. But Theo’s fame quickly turns to infamy when a microscopic danger called the Yin-Yang Twins threatens his life and the life of Odyssey’s crew. To survive, Theo and a small group journey to an uninhabited planet called New Acadia. There they hope to find survival. What this group of new world explorers finds on New Acadia will definitely change their lives forever, as long as the Yin-Yang Twins don’t kill them first.

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Featured Interview With Sandra J. Jackson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Montreal, Quebec and now reside with my husband, two young adult children, a cat and a dog in a rural setting in Eastern Ontario.

Being creative has always been my passion, whether it is landscape oil paintings or acrylic paintings on glass ornaments. However, in the last several years, writing has also become one of my creative outlets.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always loved reading. Judy Blume books were probably the first books to get me hooked. As for writing, I didn’t start that until I was much older. Once I had children of my own I began telling them stories that I made up, though I never wrote them down. In 2005 I began writing story ideas down until I finally decided to finish one of them.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I would have to say that Diana Gabaldon is one of my favourites along with J. K. Rowling, and Suzanne Collins, to name a few.

I enjoy many genres such as paranormal romance, fantasy, thriller, science fiction and even YA.

i have been inspired by authors like Diana Gabaldon and J. K. Rowling as they had other careers before becoming authors.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Promised Soul is my first novel. It was born from the idea of soulmates. The notion that you can meet someone and there’s this inexplicable feeling that you have known each other forever.

Promised Soul is the story of a young woman who just can’t seem to meet the right guy. While her close friends are getting married and having children, Krista suffers yet another failed relationship. She is determined to get her life in order and so she plans for a summer vacation to England. It is the one place she has dreamed of going to for as long as she can remember. As her plans come together, Krista begins to have strange dreams and intense feelings of déjà vu. After visiting two psychic mediums, she comes to the realization that her dreams aren’t just dreams but memories of a past life. Krista is determined to unravel the mystery and find out what it all means.

Promised Soul is the story of the past, the present and the future of two souls that have been bound together by eternal and transcending love.

I first started Promised Soul in 2010 when I finally made the decision to finish one of the many stories I had started. Sometimes days or even months would go by before I would sit down and write a chapter or two. Finally, in August 2012 the story was complete. It took another year of editing and then in 2014 I put it on Wattpad as a test. I received good results and decided to publish. Promised Soul was released in March of 2015.

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Featured Interview With Faye Hall

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Faye Hall is a published author of Historical Erotic Romance novels & e-books. Faye’s passion driven, mystery filled books are set in small townships of North Queensland, Australia during the late 1800’s.

Each of her novels bring something symbolically Australian to her readers, from Aboriginal herbal remedies, to certain gemstones naturally only found in this part of the world.

Each of her books tell of a passionate connection between the hero and heroine, surrounded and threatened by deceit, scandal, theft and sometimes even murder.

These romances swerve from the traditional romances as Faye aims to give her readers so much more intrigue, whilst also revealing the hidden histories of rural townships of North Queensland.

Faye finds her inspiration from the histories of not only the township she grew up in, but the many surrounding it. She also bases most of her characters on people she has met in her life.

Faye was able to live her own passion driven romance, marrying the love of her life after a whirlwind romance in 2013. Together they are raising their 9 children in a remote country town in northern Queensland, Australia.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing full time in high school but always had a passion for using words to tell a stary.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Favorite author would still have to be Amanda Quick and I love historical romances of most sub genres. As for who inspires me in my writing though is hard to answer as I find inspiration in many things and in many people.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I’m so very happy that Mistress of Purity will be published. I’m so excited to be able to introduce all my readers to a very head strong Prue, whose desperate to keep her family’s secrets hidden; to the brooding Gareth, a man who seems near desperate to uncover the truths of the past despite his initial intentions. Also to two sub characters, Rosie and Tommy, who kind of have their own story to tell and their own secrets to reveal. There’s romance, there’s mystery, there’s a bit of suspense…Hopefully you will all love this story as much as I do.

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