Top Selling Authors: Get To Know Them Better

Featured Interview With Kim Hornsby

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I now live in the Seattle area in Microsoft country, in a house overlooking a lake. I’m originally from a small town near Toronto, Canada, but in the last 40 years since I left, I lived in Vancouver, B.C., Maui, Whistler, Taiwan and now Seattle.
I have a college-aged boy who plays Division 2 soccer, a 13 year old daughter who loves all things Japanese and two very disobedient bully-breed dogs. My husband is a real estate agent, a cancer survivor and the funniest guy I’ve ever met. Life is disorganized and messy but fun!

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’m a big reader and it wasn’t until I went to Taiwan to adopt a baby girl and started to write weekly (newsy) emails at the age of 45, that I thought of writing a novel. Originally, it was supposed to be a book about our adoption experience but I turned it into fiction and realized that is what I love to write. Twelve years later, I write fiction with Romantic and Supernatural Suspenseful elements and will be releasing the novel about a woman who adopts a baby from Taiwan in 2016.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love to read Elin Hilderbrand for her Nantucket rambling stories about real women who have real problems. Also, I’ve devoured Liane Moriarty lately, love the writing of Carol Cassella, Lolly Winston, Elizabeth Banks, Audrey Niffenegger, Marian Keyes, Anita Shreve, Phillipa Gregory, Jodi Piccoult and loads of up and coming authors like Alexa Grace, Toby Neal, Ann Charles, and many romance authors. I switch up my reads and it usually looks like this: Romance, Women’s Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Suspense, Historical Romance, Women’s Fiction, Romantic Suspense. Repeat

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I recently published my Dream Jumper Series as a set of three books for only $4.99. They are all full-length novels of 90,000 words and by the time you finish the third, I’m told, you want to invite everyone in the book for the weekend.
The series follows a man who can enter dreams and finds himself back in the life of his true love to solve the mysterious disappearance of her husband. Bonus-the first book is set on Maui with palm trees, sharks, hula and loads of twists and surprises. This book won best paranormal mystery/thriller with Chanticleer Reviews and has over 250 reviews on Amazon at 4.6 stars.
Do you dream at night? Believe in intuition? How about true love? You’ll like this series. I ended up loving Tina and Jamey like extended family at the end of the third book.

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Kim Hornsby’s Website

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Featured Interview With Rachelle Chartrand

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, but now live in the most beautiful city in the world – Vancouver, British Columbia. This city was a huge part of my healing journey and is an actual character in my book… Being able to go to the ocean everyday, helps me put anything into perspective.

I have an eclectic teaching background having taught high school physics in Edmonton, ESL in India and South Korea, as well as math and science to at-risk youth, young offenders and autistic children at home in Vancouver.

Now, I am very blessed to be living my dream as a professional screenwriter with many projects at different stages of development.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I actually didn’t come to writing until later in life and most of the reading I did was for research or academic based. My experience with reading and writing in school were not the most positive, I failed almost every essay I wrote and for some reason had an aversion to the literature we were asked to study. I think the only book I actually finished in school was ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. I was much more interested in math and science, eventually becoming a high school physics teacher.

It was actually after a few years of trying to become an actress that I began writing. I was frustrated with the way females were portrayed in film, and specifically the roles I was going out for, so decided to write a film that had well-rounded female protagonists. I was hooked and haven’t looked back!

‘CHRYSALIS: A Dark and Delicious Diary of Emergence’ is my one year diary of healing, but also chronicles my evolution and emergence as a writer. One of the things I think is interesting is how my writing changes over the course of the book. In the final few months, it actually becomes quite poetic.

Writing ignited my love of reading. Although, it started as research for whatever screenplay I was writing, it has expanded into a major part of my life’s journey.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I read a lot of non-fiction, anything from Eckhart Tolle to Napolean Hill. I love memoirs, as long as they are honest. I can tell within the first few pages whether the author is being authentic. With fiction, I like the story to be rich in theme, with bold characters. I love Paulo Coelho novels.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
~~ Described as ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ meets ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ if either woman was a bulimic, alcoholic divorced twice by age thirty-nine, CHRYSALIS chronicles Rachelle’s heart-wrenching, heart-healing metamorphic year. It is a profound and provocative memoir of forgiveness, acceptance and self-love.~~

I am a screenwriter, but the inspiration to write my memoir came in three strikes:

1. A week before my 39th birthday, I had the idea I should write a book about this threshold age. Most of the women in my life were dreading turning 40, but I couldn’t wait. I had just come out of two incredibly hard years filled with divorce, depression and death and was desperate for change. I was home for Christmas and completely unable to connect with any of my loved ones.

2. On the morning of my 39th birthday (December 23, 2011), while doing yoga, I had a vision that when I turned 40 I would turn into a butterfly. Feeling like I was stuck in my ‘caterpillar’ past, which was filled with shame and guilt, I dedicated the year to my emergence. The year I would become a woman.

3. A week later, on New Year’s Day, I declared to the Universe that I was going to make 2012 the Best Year of My Life and promised to follow any guidance it provided me. It whispered back two words: Inspired Ideas. Any idea that came to me through the year, I had to follow… as long as it didn’t hurt anyone else, of course! This commitment is the source of a lot of comedy throughout the year.

‘CHRYSALIS: A Dark and Delicious Diary of Emergence’ is my actual diary of my 39th year.

At the outset, I make an oath to be 100% honest. No matter what came up through the year, it would go in there. No sugar-coating. I was done being a fraud and saw this as an opportunity to free myself. I kept the promise, but to be honest at the time I had no idea the secrets that I would have to reveal and the demons I would need to face.

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Rachelle Chartrand’s Website

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Featured Interview With Kathy Coman

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. I went away to go to college in Toledo at the University of Toledo. Now, I’m back home in Columbus, Ohio. I currently, have no pets. I am looking to a dog.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve had a fascination with books since childhood. I started writing in elementary school. My very first poem that I wrote was titled, “Alone”. I wrote that poem in a response to the child in me reacting to my parent’s discipline.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Currently, I’ve been into thrillers and non-fiction reads. However, throughout the years, I have been inspired by writers such as Langston Hughes, Terri McMillian, Toni Morrison, Nikki Giovanni. I’m a huge fan of African American fiction writer, Eric Jerome Dickey. I remember reading him since middle school.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Kris Chanelle desires more than life to be a part of the music industry. After connecting with keyboardist Phresh as a teenager, they begin to play at local Toledo venues where she meets the determined producer Skillz, who promises her the world and to take her career to the next level. Trusting his promises, Kris connects with him to start working on a demo, but much to Phresh’s dismay, he believes that Skillz wants more than just her unique voice…..

Now that Kris is becoming well known in the music industry, she realizes that she has signed up for more than just a record deal, and will soon find out that there’s always a price for fame!

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Featured Interview With Mary Ogle

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
After attending the Rhode Island School of Design and Art Center College of Design, Mary Ogle emerged with a solid grounding in the traditional techniques of oil painting. Not satisfied with the inherent limitations of brush and canvas, she stumbled upon the fascinating world of computer graphics. Working as a professional artist in the digital medium, Mary’s commissions have included everything from fine art to fan art, book layout and cover design, event posters and magazine illustration. Mary’s love for writing is more recent but no less heart-felt. She is the author of “Orangeroof Zoo” a story based in fantasy / magical realism combined with intricately drawn coloring book pages. Her tv show reviews and articles on geek culture can be found at esopodcast.com and whataculture.com. Mary currently finds inspiration in the Ojai Valley, residing in a snug little cottage with a recalcitrant cat.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I can’t remember a time that books weren’t a huge part of my life. My parents and grandparents were all avid readers and our houses were filled with books, magazines and newspapers of all kinds. Both my sister and I were reading well before we went to school. I had vision problems and my parents made sure I had large print books.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Octavia Butler and Alice Walker are two of my heroines. I know that my love of complicated characters comes from the many hours I spent mesmerized by their novels. Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five introduced me to non-linear story telling. Lewis Carroll gave me my love for the absurd. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale showed me how important world building is. I adore science fiction, fantasy and speculative fiction. Anything that makes me think is good.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Orangeroof Zoo is a hybrid fantasy. That’s my made-up term for an adult coloring book that is also a fantasy story. I was looking for information about self publishing and read an article about how popular adult coloring books were. Which surprised me but when I thought about it for a while it made sense. Coloring is the best part of making art at least for me. It’s soothing and liberating and puts you into a whole other headspace. I liked the collaborative aspect of other people taking my drawings and creating something else from them. I did the illustrations first but the story was born as I worked on the pictures. These two characters came to life and started talking to each other. So I wrote down what they said.

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Mary Ogle’s Website

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Featured Interview With Mary Elizabeth Fricke

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m a country girl who grew up next door to a dairy farm and married the current landlord of a five generation family farm. I have lived my entire life within five miles of the Missouri River. We’ve had many pets over they years, dogs, cats and even a couple guinea pigs. However I never became partial to cattle or hogs, even though I’ve fed and cared for many of them. I am a wife, mother and grandmother who has ‘worn many caps’ over the years. I continue in partnership with my husband as co-owner/operators of our family farm. However, in the past, I have worked in factories, department stores, offices and as a teacher-aid. I was a 4H Leader and coordinator/teacher of our parish PSR program. I am a certified catechist. And, I was a 4H Leader. I became published more than 20 years ago with a non-fiction article titled, Unpublished Does Not Mean Unwritten’. Today, a framed copy of that article sets on a shelf in my office along with a copy of the check (a grand total of $3.63) that I received when it was published. My autobiography (Dino, Godzilla and the Pigs, Life on our Missouri Hog Farm) was published by SoHo Press in 1993. Since, I’ve published numerous articles through national magazines and on-line publications. I joined the Heartland Writers Guild in 1992 and in 2002 began to edit their newsletter, continuing to do so today. I finally reached my lifelong dream of publishing fiction in May of 2014 with ‘Pigeon in a Snare’ published by AKW ebooks. Number 2 “Roses for the Sparrow’ in this ‘Birds in Peril’ series was published in October, 2014. Now I have ventured into the world of an Indi-publisher with the publication of #3 Plight of the Wren on Aug 15, 2015. ‘Wren’ is currently available for pre-order from Amazon Kindle Books.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My mother taught me to be an avid reader like she was and I have passed that timeless hobby on to my sons. Mom was a published poet but I’m not sure if that ‘urge to write’ was inherited or learned. It’s always been there. In school, I excelled in classes where I could read and/or write. I’ve kept journals since childhood. The urge to tell creative stories developed, I think, before I knew how to write those stories on paper. Writing is as much a part of me as the color of my eyes, the nose on my face. Life does not exist without writing any more than it does without breathing

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Favorite Authors? Like the books I’ve read, they are numerous. I tend to read more in the romance genre but truthfully, my preference in books is down right fickle. I like Nora Roberts, Sandra Brown, Kerrilynn Kenyon, Heather Graham and Kim Harrison as female fiction writers. Erma Bombeck and Maya Angelou were favorites. As male writers, I like James Patterson, Dan Brown and John Bowers for fiction/science-fiction. But I also read Newt Gingrich’s Revolutionary War series, along with historicals by Robert Vaughan and current non-fiction by Col. Alan West, Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly. My favorite of all books is ‘Ashes in the Wind’ by Kathleen Woodiwiss. I also find great comfort in reading poems by Robert Frost….and oftentimes the Bible.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
“Plight of the Wren’ is #3 in my ‘Birds in Peril’ series. When I wrote the first story in the series ‘Pigeon in a Snare’ it was just story. Never did I dream one little story would develop into an entire series! The characters just will not let me rest until their stories are told. All characters in the ‘Bird Books’ are friends and/or relatives of the business owners of Hunt Real Estate and Construction, Harvester Law and Cromwell, Inc. based in Mid-Missouri. The stories are linked by the mutual desire of everyone to bring Sheldon Humsler to justice after his numerous crimes, including attempted murder, kidnapping, extorsion, theft, drug manufacturing and selling, have disrupted their quiet mid-west country and small town lives. Sheldon Humsler is one mean, cold-hearted dude. The primary ‘birds’ in the stories are women who marry men instrumental in putting Humsler in prison. Ultimately, all will be recipients of his wrath. ‘Plight of the Wren’ is Susie’s story. Susie Wrener marries Ted Harvester, the attorney who guided the path Humsler’s arrest. Here is the blurb for ‘Plight of the Wren’…

Susie Wrener’s life became front page news when her abusive husband put her in the hospital and sent himself to jail. Three years later, life has returned to mundane, while Susie struggles to maintain a peaceful loving home for her two children as a single mom. Then she meets Ted Harvester and wins the lottery in the same week…
Ted Harvester leaps at the chance to become Hunt R&C’s in-house attorney; thus, rebuilding the business and relationships Sheldon Humsler destroyed. Ted is on a mission to see Humsler incarcerated for life, but his priorities change when he falls in love with Susie Wrener and her children. They embark on life together in a house with an intriguing past all its own.

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Mary Elizabeth Fricke’s Website

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Featured Interview With Quincy Carroll

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Massachusetts. After graduating from Yale, I took a job in banking but soon quit and moved to China when I realized that it wasn’t what I wanted to do. A few months later, the recession hit. I taught English for two years in a small town in southern Hunan, then moved back to Boston to enroll in the Creative Writing M.F.A. program at Emerson College. After four semesters, I quit and moved to China (again). I worked as a copywriter for a growing consumer tech company in Changsha while working on my first novel. I didn’t quit this time. (Well, OK, I quit the company, but not the novel.) I currently teach Mandarin at a charter school in downtown Oakland and am writing my second book.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve always been an avid reader. After quitting my first job out of college, I started working at a local bar, where I was assigned the lunch shift. There weren’t a lot of customers. I’d spend a good deal of time every day sitting at the end of the bar, reading. This was when I discovered Cormac McCarthy. By the time I moved to China, I was filled with so much inspiration that I couldn’t help but write my own stories. I think that, as a child, I’d always known I wanted to be a writer – I was simply terrified of the possibility of failure.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
As I just mentioned, Cormac McCarthy is my favorite writer. I can go back to him time and again. In terms of genre, I’m into anything literary with a sense of adventure.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
“Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside” tells the story of two foreigners teaching in an isolated part of China. One is an old, entitled deadbeat, while the other is a young, idealistic college graduate. Over the course of a year, as they fight to establish primacy in the town of Ningyuan, one of their more overzealous students, Bella, gets caught up in between. Ultimately, they discover that the country is too small for both of them.

I think that this book will appeal to anyone who has worked abroad before – especially as a teacher, and especially in China. Moreover, given that the novel addresses certain issues like white privilege and America’s global positioning, I see it as very time-relevant. During the three years I spent living in China, I met a lot of really wonderful folks, but I also encountered many Westerners who seemed to have this very off-putting, almost laughably anachronistic, colonial mindset. This was an attitude that I noticed in myself as well (from time to time), if I’m being totally honest. “Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside” attempts to highlight these attitudes and discredit their legitimacy.

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Featured Interview With Stephen Andrew Salamon

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised on the Southside of Chicago and presently live on the Northside… of Chicago. I live with my soulmate and we have one perfect dog. My blood thrives with Chicago passion, and though I was asked to move to a place like LA, or for some reason, a farm, my feet are so deep in the Chicago soil, that I don’t think I can ever leave. “Frequent flyer miles.”

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My fascination with books began when I was probably 8 or 9 years old. I was in a Walden Books store with my Mom and I saw a thick novel called “Swan Song”. I opened it and saw all these words and just thought how amazing and impossible it was to create such a thick book with only words. Then I closed it and saw the book cover; it painted a picture for me. Then I opened it again. Closed and opened, closed and opened; it was mind-boggling to think that all these words came out of one person. To me, it was impossible. We left the store and I forgot about it; it was just a passing thought. Then when I was around 12, we were given an assignment in school to write a short story. And I LOVED IT. It didn’t seem like homework to me, and my teacher gave me an A. I still have that book. But… even though I didn’t connect the dots that the Universe was trying to point me in the ‘writers’ direction, at about 13 I had my first seizure. After that, I had 20 seizures a day till it was controlled by medicine. It… opened up something in me. A floodgate. I turned 14, and I just started writing, writing and writing. I kept it a secret though. This, to me, was just a passion, a hobby, a way of pleasing my mind. 100 pages later I wrote my first short story at 14. I wrote another book after that, right away, till each story’s page number grew larger and larger to the point where a thousand pages seemed like nothing to me, because I loved it! It’s funny, because I was taught, subliminally of course, to never speak about my seizures. But through it all, even though they are horrible, paralyzed my life in so many ways, it was a gift.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I enjoy reading spiritual non-fiction, new age, anything that has curious writers with the bravery to express their brilliant ideas on life. I really have no favorite author. It’s amazing, even though I enjoy reading, I fear sometimes that when I read a fiction story, it will somehow interfere with my writing style, get infused with it.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Wrath of Jeremy, a religious conspiracy, is about ‘hope’ and ‘forgiveness’. It reaches into the depth of the human and spiritual realm and begs to answer the question, “Can God forgive just anyone?” I was inspired to write this book, actually, when I questioned my childhood priest about a subject matter that was bothering me back in grade school. “Will God forgive a killer?” All he said was if the person deeply wants forgiveness, then ‘yes.’ So I took the worst of the worst and tapped into this question; the Devil. And, tied it into just exactly ‘What the heck happened before Lucifer fell?’ What did he do? All we were told was he defied Him, and used his powers against him. But how? And why? What triggered it? Where did this evil suddenly come from? So, my subconscious answered it. And what a wild ride that was.

The most difficult part of writing this book, after months of research, was actually writing down the name ‘Lucifer’. It is a name that I never say, and never write down. But I got through it.

Forgiveness is always in the air, but what I’ve learned from writing this, is no matter how much you want forgiveness, your feet must be cleaned for heaven. Insane as it may sound, if you truly seek forgiveness, it is a start, but in order to clean your feet, you must make things right.

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Stephen Andrew Salamon’s Website

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Featured Interview With Michaek P Amram

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
No pets. a monkey would be nice We live in a condominium in St Louis Park. I grew up in Richfield.
I began writing funny little poems and rhymes in high school .and then really got into it on a prolific level in college. I wrote and wrote….and wrote. In 1989 I was using Wordperfect and filling 3.5 floppies with poetry, prose, and journals.

I first published a story in an obscure literary journal in 1998. I’ve had wavering successes through the years. In 2013, after shopping my first novel manuscript around to traditional publishers, I went the indie route. I signed with one and published two novels of historical fiction and three poetry collections between 2013 and 2015.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always read, from a young age. I began to write seriously, entertaining hopes of publication, at about twenty

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love Bukowski and Kerouac, Steinbeck and some of Hawthorne. I read both books by Laura Hilenbrandt. She inspires me with her determination and attention to detail, the way she paints the door for the reader to enter. I love sensory detail.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
A manuscript I have complete and am trying to publish through traditional means, imbues a memoir. It tells the story of my parents, my family growing up in the 1970s and their efforts to end the Vietnam War. Both were extremely active in the DFL (Democratic Farmer-Labor) McCarthy anti-war movement

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Michaek P Amram’s Website

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Featured Interview With J. Edward Ritchie

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hello, readers! My name is J. (Jeff) Edward Ritchie, author/screenwriter extraordinaire and lifelong fan of all things genre. Fantasy, sci-fi, horror, superheroes…I love it all.

I was raised in Connecticut, went to school at Boston College, and then moved to Los Angeles where I practiced screenwriting for a decade. I found some success (I’m a proud member of the WGA) and got an inside look at a challenging, unique industry. Screenwriting helped me hone a unique style of economical writing that taught me to say the most with the least amount of words. Eventually, however, I decided that I wanted to explore new depths of my writing that only the novel format could provide. I moved to Cape Cod, MA with my loving wife and have been creating an author brand for myself ever since.

My Golden Retriever, Castiel, is my daily muse. Writing can be a very lonely process and his company keeps me sane. Walking him at lunch time gets me out of the house and into the sunlight––a nice, rejuvenating mid-day break.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve always loved the written word from as far back as I can remember, whether it was classical literature or superhero comics––I devoured any medium where a good story could be told. I escaped the trials and tribulations of childhood through fantastical stories that expanded my mind and creativity. Jumping from authors like Tolkien to Dostoevsky helped fuel my eclectic tastes and recognize thematic patterns about the human condition that flowed through all works.

Writing has also been in my blood from the moment I could pick up a pencil. Whether I was jotting down poems about my drooling dog or crafting tales about the video games I enjoyed playing, I always found a story to tell. There was an unfortunate time in college when I abandoned my dream and began to pursue a career in law. Thankfully, my screenwriting mentor brought back my passion for storytelling, showed me a new direction, and I’ve never looked back.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Tolkien is the obvious answer, isn’t it? His mastery of language is nothing short of mind-boggling. Nothing like reading the work of a true linguist to humble your ego. I was also into the Russian classics for quite a while, especially Nabokov. But I don’t have a single favorite author. My tastes are constantly shifting. I was on a Thomas Harris kick for quite a while, unable to get enough Hannibal Lecter. Currently, I’m devouring the works of Clive Barker. I’ve never been so impressed and disturbed at the same time.

On the comics front, I’m a huge fan of Brian K. Vaughan, Chris Claremont, Grant Morrison, Rick Remender…really, the list could be obscenely long. The Wonder Woman and X-Men series’ are my core inspirations from the medium. Oh, and if you’ve never read Y: The Last Man, stop reading this interview and go pick it up. Seriously. That was literally the one comic that got me back into the medium after nearly a decade away.

One name rises above the rest as my biggest inspiration: Joss Whedon. Buffy the Vampire Slayer showed me just how deep, hilarious, witty, and emotional a television show could be when in the right hands. Though my style isn’t necessarily similar to Joss’, pretty much everything he has ever done ignites my creativity.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Fall From Grace is a high concept, grand tale of the first war in Creation as told from the contrasting perspectives of brothers Michael and Satanail. I researched the concept of angels across multiple religions and mythologies to craft a unique story that could appeal to any reader regardless of his or her religious beliefs. It is a tribute to my love for epics, fantasy worlds, and superhero action all wrapped up in a feathery package.

The novel was a passion project, the first real one of my life. I researched, outlined, and crafted a world from the ground up. I knew that I had to make Heaven and the angels relatable. This wasn’t going to be some random universe removed from reality. The angels and their war were connected to humanity, so I approached the story as a part of our history. It was a daunting task, but the characters seemed to speak to me. I felt like I was observing and documenting their struggle, not creating it.

I chose a dual perspective point of view for the narrative, each chapter showing Michael and Satan’s opposing perspectives on the first war in Creation. The backdrop was a bloody, bold, and uncompromising look at warfare corrupting the unity of a civilization, but it was really a story about family­­­­­­––two brothers on the opposite sides of a civil war. These two voices were battling in my head, each believing that they were the heroes of their own story. That’s what storytelling is all about, isn’t it? Even in Heaven, life can be a muddy, screwed up mess with no clear division between good and evil. Heroes can make dire mistakes. Villains can have moments of benevolence. My characters had become caught up in the same maelstrom of ambiguous morality that guided my pen.

Please be aware that because the story is set during a time of war, it contains harrowing moments of violence and is geared towards adult readers. But beneath the brutality of warfare is a universal message of family and brotherhood.

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J. Edward Ritchie’s Website

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Featured Interview With Kathleen Driver

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am an entrepreneur, consultant and business coach also pursuing my dream as a novelist. My passion is reaching the human being inside of the busy women in power whether they are a business owner, executive or stay-at-home mom. I write “fiction with a message”, featuring characters and real life situations that every woman can relate to.

I write fiction under my real name and also under a penname (Elle Nora). I’m often questioned about why I write my novels using a penname. Initially, I did it because readers thought my novel “Better Choices” was an autobiography although it is totally fiction. So, I felt like I should separate my real persona as a technology/business consultant from my author persona. As I created that persona, I discovered that I actually do become a different person when I’m writing fiction and it’s a persona that I enjoy! I actually have the opportunity to escape into my own stories that I’m writing!

I was raised in a small town in rural Virginia. I attended Virginia State University in Petersburg, Virginia and currently live in Prince George’s County, Maryland. I am a committed and active volunteer in my community.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started my love for reading before I could even read. At age 5, I would memorize the Sunday School lesson read to us by our teacher and ‘read’ it back to my grandmother when I returned home. From elementary school through college, English and Writing were my favorite subjects. I had a passion for writing poetry and short stories. A storyteller by nature, I love creating stories and characters that are relatable, that readers will love (and sometimes not love!).

My recent books are designed to entertain but to also convey a message. The characters will remind you of components of yourself and/or others that you know. Reading my books are like having a conversation with your best girlfriend!

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite authors are Alice Walker, James Patterson, John Grisham, Iyanla Vanzant, Terri McMillan, Mary Higgans Clark, Dan McMillan, William Paul Young. I enjoy suspense, self-help, inspiration, intrigue and just plain old good writing that allows me to escape my world.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
“Stepping Stones” is a parable of two successful corporate executives, Kitt and April who share candid exchanges of feelings, desires and aspirations along their personal and professional journeys. They reveal the internal and external dialogue that can culminate into self-doubt, allowing the delay of dreams, growth, expression and progression. This tale symbolically portrays the very real conversations that we have with ourselves, but don’t always share with others for concern of being judged. Kitt and April draw upon those conversations to navigate the triumph of faith, trust and surrender above and beyond the obstacles of fear, doubt and failure.

“Stepping Stones” is an excellent read for anyone with a DREAM, anyone who has ever DOUBTED THEMSELVES and EVERYONE who can appreciate how our internal dialogue can CAUSE A DELAY or SPRINGBOARD US TO ACTION!

Readers will find the dialogue relatable, appreciate the message of each phase of the journey and will be encouraged!

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Kathleen Driver’s Website

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Featured Interview With Sarah Levis

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I spent the bulk of my childhood and teen years in a very small Ontario town. I left to go to Queen’s University, and I spent some time on the West Coast. However, a small stroke during a job interview alerted me to the fact that I had a congenital vascular disorder in my brain called an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) that was going to require treatment. It was possible to get the AVM treated in Vancouver, but I wanted to be close to family, so I flew back to my childhood town in Ontario and lived with my father until my surgery date in Toronto.

After open brain surgery to treat the AVM, I had a second, much more severe stroke, and spent six months in stroke rehabilitation. Once I left rehab, I again had to live with my father as I continued my recovery, But today, fifteen years after my stroke, I live on my own in an apartment with my two cats, and do just about everything for myself. I’ve been very lucky to recover to the extent that I have.

I’ve worked part-time in the community off and on since 2005, but I also run my own freelance writing company. I started that project in 2011, when I started getting offers for freelance work from work from my disability advocacy blog at http://girlwiththecane.com. My blog started out as a place for me get down some thoughts about disability issues, but it’s made me an internationally known disability advocate and highly respected disability blogger.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve loved to read from the moment that I started to learn in school. I remember being very excited about finally being able to read one of my favourite story books, and running to show my mother. I was a voracious reader as a child, reading even when the class got a five minute break between lessons at school. When my teachers started to give silent reading time each day to the class, I was in heaven.

I started writing my own stories when I was eight years old. I wrote them in a notebook, which I carried around with me even after my parents got me a typewriter and eventually a computer. I wrote stories about all sorts of things, heavily influenced by whatever I was reading at the time. I used to send copies of my stories to famous authors, hoping that they’d read them and want to publish them. I remember that Judy Blume even sent me a letter encouraging me to keep writing when I sent a story to her.

I wrote fiction for fun all through high school and university, but after my second stroke I started writing personal essays to help me make sense of what had happened to me. I published a small book of these (now out of print). Now most of my writing is blogging and opinion pieces, with an indulgent month-long marathon of fiction writing when when I do NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) each Novemver.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I enjoy suspense and thrillers, sometimes with a paranormal component depending on the author and my mood. Stephen King’s books and his philosophy on writing have been a big influence. I also enjoy Geneen Roth’s writing, and I’ve read practically everything that Lucy Maud Montgomery has written.

My friend Jeff, also a stroke survivor, inspired me to write one of my most popular personal essays. I dedicated my first book to him.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
“So You’re Going to Rehab: Stroke Rehab, That Is” is the first in a a series of guides for stroke survivors and their families about living life post-stroke, based on the knowledge that I’ve acquired from 15 years of being in recovery. A guide to inpatient stroke rehabilitation, it addresses both practical issues like what to pack and (for women) putting on a bra one-handed and philosophical ones like dealing with bad days and the importance of making friends while in rehabilitation. I’m very excited about this project, and hope that I can help many people!

“So You’re Going Into Rehab: Stroke Rehab, That Is” is quite short and took me just over a week to write. I’m working on the second guide now, and it’s taking longer. I should be releasing it before September, though.

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Featured Interview With Lindsey Stuffel

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised, and still reside, in Hagerstown, Indiana. I currently own the house in which I spent a great deal of my formative years babysitting my cousins, which was my summer job until I started working at the local grocery store my Senior year of high school.

I have a dog, she’s a basenji/shepherd mix I adopted from a local shelter last Christmas. I named her Ren (after one of my characters). When I adopted her, she was 3.5 years old and had never lived in a home. She had lived that long in shelters, and even the kill shelters could never bring themselves to euthanize her even though she was never adopted, so they would take her somewhere else. Meanwhile, I had lost my dog and cat (separately, of old age) the year before, and when I saw her, I fell in love with her instantly. We’re a good match. I think she was probably always meant to be mine.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I come from a long line of librarians, so my fascination with books likely started while I was still in the womb. I know I started writing around 10, but not on a serious level until I was a teenager. Still, it took me until I was in my thirties to finally write an entire book.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
At the moment, I’m kind of obsessed with anything and everything Chelsea Cain. I suppose I generally prefer the thriller genre to read, but I’ll read just about anything.

Aside from Cain, I adore Judy Blume and I feel that while I definitely have my own writing style, I’m most influenced by her as an artist.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Cheers Beers is a cautionary tale. I’ve seen (or heard stories from) many people I love of varying ages who have escaped abusive men. I don’t think many people realize what a victim goes through, especially in cases of verbal and emotional abuse. They think if you can’t see the marks, it’s not that bad, but often it is much worse. They are so beaten-down and broken they feel literally trapped in their hopeless situation.

I wrote this book in the hopes that at least one person would pick it up and be inspired by Birdie Beers; and finally break the cycle of abuse. This story is fictional, but it’s inspired by the most amazing and heroic people I’ve ever met. You can get out, and you will be a better you as a result.

Plus, it has a hot guy and witty dialogue.

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Featured Interview With Matt Converse

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in Ohio and live in San Francisco now. My only pets are my cage-free hummingbirds that come by the feeder outside my front window. I strive to bring diversity to publishing and in March became Comet Press/Sex Files first author with a gay category book, my erotic gay thriller novella eBook Behind the Velvet Curtain.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Reading was not one of my favorite subjects in school and I still read less than almost any author ever. But I love to write. I wrote my first short story in 4th grade and my teacher asked me if I copied it off a movie or TV show. I took that as quite the compliment. It was about a boy who kept sleep walking to a graveyard, only to find the grace with his tombstone. A bit dark for a nine-year-old I suppose.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Stephen King is my idol. I can’t believe how many books he’s written, it’s mind boggling. Another that inspires me is not a writer but a director, Alfred Hitchcock. His mastery of suspense and mystery is just what modern horror needs to go with the blood and guts.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I just finished my horror novel a few days ago, but my recently published work, the erotic gay thriller novella eBook Behind the Velvet Curtain was inspired by own life. The lead characters is, like me, and stripper turned author. It’s a peek into the life of what a stripper is really like, a real look, unlike the fun but unrealistic Magic Mike movies. Matt is a scrawny boy from Ohio who transforms into a sexy stripper in San Francisco who has a red hot boyfriend with off the charts hot sex. Right when he seems to have it all, a stalker with a twisted obsession threatens to take it all way. It’s a quick read and honestly didn’t take long to write compared to my novel.

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Featured Interview With Anson Welsh

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in a South Wales mining valley. At the age of ten, after reading a book about the fictional aviation hero, Biggles, I decided I was going to be a pilot, and never once changed my mind.

I started flying at the age of nineteen and went on to have a modest but very enjoyable career. Among other things I spent two years working in Africa for a flying doctor service, and eight years in the Malaysian state of Sarawak flying for the oil industry. However, the bulk of my time was as a short-haul airline pilot operating turbo-prop and jet aircraft around the UK and Europe. I retired from commercial aviation when I hit the buffers at sixty-five, but I still continue flying, both as a part-time flying club instructor, and as a private pilot, flying an Aeronca Chief that I part own.

I live in a little market town on the fringes of Dartmoor, England. When not flying or writing I like to spend my time walking on the moor or along the coast of Cornwall. My other interests include reading, theatre, cinema, BBC radio4, photography and looking after my grandchildren.

I don’t have any pets because my wife and I go away quite a bit and intend to go away even more in future. We particularly like walking holidays and have hiked at various European locations, as well as in India, Ethiopia ( accompanied by a donkey ) and the United States.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My mother taught me to read before I went to Primary School and I never looked back. I am one of those people who is rarely without a book somewhere at hand, and on those occasions when I have time to kill without anything to read, I will look at whatever is on the wall, or on the back of a sauce bottle or a packet of cornflakes.

I have always scribbled down random ideas, and over the years I had a number of articles published in aviation magazines. However, I did not start really getting down to trying to produce a novel until I was in my late fifties. My job was requiring me to spend a lot of time in hotels, and in the hours before or after a flying duty I finally got on with writing ‘Marshall’s Family.’

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Graham Greene, Antoine de Saint Exupery, Ernest K. Gann, Cormac McCarthy are but a few.

I wouldn’t say I have a favourite genre. I like what I like. For example this year so far I have read: a story about the American civil war, ‘Enemy Women,’ by Paulette Jiles, ‘Sapens,’ by Yuval Harari, charting the development of the human race, ‘Arab Jazz,’ by Karim Miske, a thriller set in Paris, ‘Luck and a Lancaster,’ by Harry Yates, a wartime memoir. So you can see the range of my reading tends to be pretty far and wide.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Marshall’s Family, is about a pilot, who works for an international mining company, based in an unidentified African country. His marriage is slowly falling apart, and when his daughter comes home from boarding school with a boyfriend Marshall’s wife, Fiona, considers unsuitable, the stresses get even worse. Meanwhile, his lover, Donna, is quietly putting pressure on him to leave with her.

A military coup abruptly changes everything. Marshall finds himself involved in helping refugees from the new government’s wrath, under the very nose of Major Kinga, the head of the country’s security service.

As events spiral out of control Marshall comes into possession of information that makes him a target for torture and death. He must get away fast, but can he also save all the people for whom he has assumed responsibility, before Kinga finds them?

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Anson Welsh’s Website

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Featured Interview With Scott R. Kramer

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am a former investment advisor and now run a manufacturing company. I grew up in New Jersey and earned a Bachelors Degree and Masters Degree, both in finance. Currently, I live in Los Angeles with my wife and our three children.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing late in life and so far, I’ve only written the political thriller, however I’m currently writing a crime drama and I have a few others in that genre that I still want to write. I also have a non-fiction book that I’m interested in writing, and I hope to get to it soon.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I really like Vince Flynn, Daniel Silva, Brad Thor, and Lee Child. I’ve stayed up way too late reading all of their books. I’ve turned a number of other people on to them as well and they curse me for it.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
A stolen election. Domestic terrorism. Extortion. Once in power, and consumed by greed, Pete Reeves will stop at nothing to have more of both. It’s a non-stop race around the world to prevent the President from going to war to further his own ambitions.

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Featured Interview With Barbara Lohr

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Grew up in the Midwest of the USA. Currently live in the Midwest and the South with my husband. We have a rambunctious cat who believes he was Heathcliff in another life.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My parents were always after me to turn out my light at night. But I read anyway, under the covers with a flashlight. In grade school, I would take out five books each Monday and finish them by the end of the week. My school was across the street from the library. Lucky me!

Of course writing quickly became a favorite in grade school and high school. After college, I wrote for a newspaper while I was teaching writing and literature. Then I went into advertising, where I took up copy writing. All along, whether teaching or managing a department of communication staff, I wrote for New York magazines and had more than 200 of my stories published. That worked well for me because they were short and relatively easy to complete in the evenings and on weekends.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I enjoy so many– Kristan Higgins, Rad Bradbury, the Brontes, Liane Moriarity, Rachel Gibson, Fitzgerald, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Elizabeth Berg, Jane Porter. I read widely.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Coming Home to You is set in a beach town rich with characters. Gull Harbor actually exists (by another name of course) so I’m very familiar with the small community. I lived in a beach town for several years and return every summer. Sometimes you leave your high school love behind–think you’ve outgrown that early relationship–but life teaches you otherwise. How many of us flip through a scrapbook and wish we could go back? Kate Kennedy gets that chance.

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Featured Interview With Marie D. Jones

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in a small town in Rockland County, New York. I’ve been writing and telling stories since I could hold a crayon and open my yapper. I currently have a strange chihuahua that looks more like a fruit bat (we worry about interspecies mingling) and a diva cat who is my last of three named after famous dead people.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was reading by age two, and writing shortly after. I actually wrote a book at the age of five about living on Mars, which at the time I spelled “Marse.” Creative license…I have been an avid and voracious reader and writer ever since. As a kid, the library was my best friend, along with my sister! I would take out a dozen books at a time and read them five times before going back for more. I began selling my work in my teen years, writing movie and video reviews for a few magazines, and horror and science fiction short stories. I eventually began writing screenplays and non-fiction books, of which I now have 15 to my name. I just recently made the transition back to fiction and writing for film, but still plan to put out a non-fiction book perhaps once a year.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorites are Stephen King and Charles de Lint. In a cage fighting match, I am afraid I’d have to root for both. I just discovered an awesome writer named Sarah Lotz. Her novel “THE THREE” blew my mind. I love reading science fiction and horror, but also thrillers and supernatural mysteries. Both my reading and writing preferences tend to be more masculine. I write science fiction, horror, thriller, conspiracy thrillers…and my non-fiction focuses on paranormal, cutting edge science, UFOs, conspiracies, metaphysics, human consciousness…that kind of thing. Currently, I am watching a lot of long form TV series because that is the direction my writing is moving in. I also write screenplays and currently have a science fiction adventure optioned. I inspire myself, something every writer must do. But my kid also inspires me. I have to feed him. My agent, manager and TV agent inspire me, because they give me these awesome things called “deadlines.”

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest non-fiction book is about the history of mind control, social engineering and domestic surveillance in the United States, called “MIND WARS.” It was published by New Page Books about six months ago and documents the history of behavior modification and manipulation programs, cults, shooter syndrome, conspiracies vs. realities, MK Ultra, media manipulation, advertising, political and religious coercive persuasion, non-lethal weapons and drone/satellite/camera surveillance, as well as how your computers and cell phones allow your every action to be tracked. Nope, it’s not tin foil hat stuff. My books, eight of which are written with my co-author Larry Flaxman, are all very well researched and as objectively written as possible! My latest fiction is a novel called “EKHO – EVIL KID HUNTING ORGANIZATION,” a middle grade sci fi series that is actually written with my son, Max, and based in part on his real life spy group he formed in grade school to stop bullies. It was published last July by Open Road and book two is on the way! I have a number of novel series debuting in 2016, so that is going to be a crazy year!

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Featured Interview With Jennifer Shriver

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up just outside of Chicago with my mom and my sister. I enlisted for the Army when I was old enough and ended up stationed in Hawaii where I met my wonderful husband. We now reside just outside Denver with our two beautiful daughters and two giant lap dogs. I am a writer, an accountant and a volleyball coach right now. In my free time, I enjoy running and hiking.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve written pretty much all my life. When I was a kid, along with my school books, I would have a personal notebook that I carried around to write in. Dr. Seuss is where my real fascination with books and writing came from. For a long time, I hoped to be just like him. My words never flowed quite the way his did, though so I developed my own way of writing. Since then, I’ll write anything from letters to essays, short stories to books. It refreshes, recharges and releases me.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I will still pick up a Dr. Seuss book now and again. It’s enlightening every time. But, other than that, I love classics like Hemmingway, Dickens, Poe, Twain. I enjoy Shel Silverstein still quite a bit and James Patterson. I love to read those authors because they inspire me. As a young adult writer, I’ve grown quite fond of John Green in recent years as well. I think that comes with having growing children in my house so keeps me in tune with them more. As far as genre goes, it’s an all-for. My mood will dictate the genre I am interested in at the time.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
“the loss of A MOTHER’s loss” is a book based on my life, my relationship with my mother. We didn’t often see eye to eye. When I was old enough, I joined the Army and got away from what I felt was holding me down. When I received the phone call from my sister, whom I also did not have the best relationship with, that my mom had passed, I was at a complete loss.
The book takes the reader on my journey back home, to all the people that my mom and sister knew and were close to, that I had been estranged from for years. Each day brings back another memory of what happened between my mom and I to lead to our estrangement. All the events that brought us to where we ended up, all the trials and tribulations, the reconciliation attempts and, finally, the realization for myself that there is no more time to reconcile, there is no more one last good-bye.

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