Top Selling Authors: Get To Know Them Better

Featured Interview With Scott Skipper

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and went to school in Akron, Ohio, which was then known as the Rubber Capital of the World. It was never my favorite place and I got out of there as soon as I could. Now I live in the foothills of Southern California with a wonderful wife, three foolish dogs and some rather amazing wildlife. There is a slideshow of the local fauna on my website and some of the pictures are astounding.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
In grade school I realized that I wanted to be a writer, but life swept me in other directions. After retiring from the metal fabrication industry I decided to get serious about my lifelong passion. To date I have five novels, a few short stories and I write a book review about once a week. I post the reviews, and occasional miscellaneous observations, on my blog which is at www.ScottSkipper.blogspot.com.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
History and historical fiction are my favorite genres, but I can’t resist a good spy story now and then. Recently I have been reading Churchill’s accounts of his experiences in the Sudanese and Boer wars. When I turn to fiction, I like to discover self-published authors. There are some remarkably good writers out there.

Who inspires me? Probably the two most diametrically opposite writers there have ever been: Hemingway and Tom Robbins. Not that I can write like either of them, or that I even try, but they inspire me to try to say something―anything―very well.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Golden State Blues took me less than four months to write. It practically wrote itself and I had a great deal of fun writing it. California has become what I like to call a socio-political train wreck, and Golden State Blues is the story of a man who decides to do something about it. He takes a right-minded conservative who he met in a bar, dresses him like a liberal and runs him as the Democratic candidate for governor. After he gets elected he reveals his true colors and starts chopping heads. Governor Jim is doing a great job of solving bureaucratic inefficiency, illegal immigration, the welfare state and radical Islam, among other things, when a surprise from his checkered past arrives and threatens to derail the plan. It’s a humorous story designed with a little something to offend everyone.

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Featured Interview With Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Pennsylvania, moved to Nevada elven years ago–currently live in Boulder City, NV. I am married, have five children, nine grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren, and one cat–Kiki.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing short stories at about age twelve. My first non-fiction book was published by Wiley & Sons in 2003. I have since authored, co-authored, co-edited, and contributed to more than a dozen books for the nonprofit sector. I self-published my first novel in 2012, and am working on another fiction book. I also serve as Acquisitions Editor for CharityChannel Press and For the GENIUS Press.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
On the non-fiction side I enjoy Simone Joyaux’s writing and Steven Meyers upcoming book, Personalized Philanthropy. On the fiction side I enjoy Dan Brown and John O’Hara.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Latest non-fiction books are the book and workbook–Raise More Money from Your Business Community. I have two new non-fiction coming out in early 2015–The New Donor, co-authored with Margaret Guellich, CFRE and Nonprofit Strategic Planning, co-authored with Lynne Dean, CFRE.

Latest fiction book is the Matriarch–Leslie Flynn, a widow, moves to rural Nevada after her husband dies, has a mystical experience through which she is given three mandates by God–setting into motion a series of events that plummet her into the world of the Native American casino industry, a hi-tech business magnate, and the Vatican hierarchy.

Leslie’s experience begins when her duties as a travel writer take her to Bishop, California, to visit the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Trees, the oldest living things on Earth. She is drawn to the Matriarch, the largest of the Bristlecones alive today. As she approaches the tree, she is aware that she is on holy ground. She is drawn into the tree where she traces her entire matriarchal lineage, witnesses the strength and power of her ancestors, and develops a great appreciation for the gifts she has received form each of them. Leslie is, in the end, instrumental in fulfilling all three of her mandates form God.

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Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE’s Website

Featured Interview With Peter G Mackie

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Perth, Scotland in 1957 and spent my early teenage years in the Adolescent Unit of a psychiatric institution. I ran away from home at 16 and suffered abuse on the streets of London. At the age of 20, I started travelling and working in Europe, which helped give me a different perspective on life.

I worked in The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Greece but eventually had to return to the UK due to lack of funds and ended up selling The Big Issue at the corner of George Street and Castle Street in Edinburgh, where I still live.

I am now taking part in various volunteer projects and am considering taking a course in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing poetry when I was in the hospital in my early teens. It wasn’t really until my mid-teens that I started reading more – everything from The Lord of the Rings to Kerouac, Kafka and later Hermann Hesse. At the age of 17, all the memories of my time in the hospital kept flooding back to me and I just felt that I had to write it all down, resulting in my first novel “The Madhouse of Love”.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have had a number of favourite authors, including Hermann Hesse, Knut Hamsun, Andre Gide and the Glasgow writer Alasdair Gray, who I consider to be possibly the greatest living writer. I would say that my favourite genre to read could be described as “psychological fiction”. As far as non-fiction is concerned, I have had a great interest in both C.G. Jung and R.D. Laing, who both recognised the importance of spiritual experience in modern times.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book “The Last Thing Before the Apocalypse” is a collection of somewhat mysterious writings, partly based on my travels in a young man, with some of the stories also going back to my childhood and teenage years. Some people may find this book disturbing in parts as I have deliberately not shied away from any subject, however contentious, as I wanted to make people aware of things that might not have occurred to them before and I strongly believe that my many unusual experiences have enabled me to do this. Some of the stories are set partly in cold-war Berlin, Greece, Scandinavia, The Netherlands Greece and in Yugoslavia during the ’70s and ’80s.

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Featured Interview With Elena Dorothy Bowman

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Elena Dorothy Bowman, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up in the town of Dorchester, Massachusetts a suburb of Boston. During their younger years, Elena and her four brothers, sat at their father’s feet as he read the classics to them each night before
sending them off to bed, with visions of the stories still in their heads and mesmerized by the works of Jules Verne.
Elena is an honors graduate of Fitchburg College and has earned a BS Degree in Engineering and Management.
She has held the offices of State President, Treasurer, and Letters Chairperson of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National League of American PenWomen and is currently President of the Merrimack Valley Branch.

Her credits include: By-line Magazine, regional newspapers, organizational newsletters and has co-written and co-produced a Musical Workshop Production. A software engineer turned author, she has completed eight full-length fiction novels, four non-fiction books,
thirty-three short stores, four novellas, and has presently completed work on a historical fiction novel.
Today, the mother of four, and grandmother of one, writes from her home in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, which she shares with her husband James, their children and their daughter’s three cats.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Elena began writing on her own during her school and college years opting for doing research papers in lieu of tests. When she didn’t like the ending to a movie she saw or a book she had read, she rewrote the endings. It was then that she really settled down into writing in earnest. She wrote the newsletters for several organizations and articles for a National Magazine in which she actually had a byline.
Encouraged by co-workers to branch out into novels, she began her first science fiction novel, Sarah’s Landing–I–Contact, which became the first in a series of four books.
Sarah’s Landing–I–Contact was the first of her novels to be published, which was released as an audio book, winning the APA award for being one of the best new audio books in 2001.
Sarah’s Landing–I–Contact is now under contract with Write Words, Inc., Cambridge Books as are all the books in the series.

Her first Romantic Suspense/Mystery/Thriller The House on the Bluff was published as an e-book with Write Words, Inc., ebooksonthe.net and as paperback edition with their affiliate Cambridge Books, Inc. Two other books in the series, Gatekeepers’ Realm and Adams Point are available in paperback. All Elena’s books are available from Write Words, Inc. ebooksonthe.net and all of her novels are now in paperback under Write Words Inc., affiliate Cambridge Books.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have so many authors that I like, I can’t really say who is a favorite. Two that comes to mind are David Baldacci and Nelson DeMille. Actually, there really isn’t one favorite genre, although my favorites are science fiction, historical, mystery and paranormal. I guess you could say my father inspired me to write. He used to read to all of us when we were younger and took us to worlds we didn’t know existed.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book Moonlit Bay…is a mystery, paranormal novel. A short blurb follows”
What is in an abandoned building on an uninhabited Island across Moonlit Bay that is surreptitiously invaded by armed, unidentified entities who are helmeted and dressed in black survival suits with breathing apparatus’s attached?
And why did they pick this peaceful unassuming small coastal town of Moonlit Bay, whose population didn’t exceed more than 575 permanent residents, for their clandestine operations?
These are questions that Elliot, Ryan, Penny and Stacie are determined to discover if it’s the last thing they do.
Four young people — Ryan and Elliot, two long time friends who had served together in the U.S. Navy, now members of the Moonlit Bay Police Force, and two young women, Stacie and Penny, who grew up as neighbors in a small mid-western town, soon became fast friends but were not quite ready to take it any further. However, from all outward appearances it seemed as if they had.
The four main characters watched out for one another, especially the men who took it upon themselves to be the women’s protectors. Whenever the women seemed to be in trouble, which was usually the case, they called on their male friends for help. The fact that their two friends were Police Officers only added to their feeling of safety and security in a world so far away from what they once knew as home. As their friendships deepened their love for one another became more than that of siblings…they were falling in love, but couldn’t make up their minds as to with whom.
Due to Penny’s empathy it didn’t take long for all four to become involved in a series of mishaps that became very dangerous and possibly life-threatening.
Thus began a strange, dangerous, and unnerving journey for the four young people. It would take them through a series of kidnappings, imprisonments, and the assistance of an unusual ally to escape from their cells and gain their freedom.
Determined to discover who their kidnappers were, they ran into more barriers than they expected. It was only when a more seasoned Detective, who had been on the Force longer than anyone else, heard their story and in spite of its seemingly impossible probability, caught his interest and decided not only to help them but to see their quest to the end.
All five set out on an unusual journey that would take them to the edge of reason and beyond. They became involved with a life form they couldn’t believe existed and a group of intruders that were never actually defined as to who they really were — whether human or alien.
Intruders whose disappearance under a catastrophic eruption without revealing their true identity left them in a quandary as to where they came from and what would happen next.

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Featured Interview With Russell H. Plante

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Rumford, Maine, a small paper mill town. I attended the University of Maine and graduated with a B.S. degree in Engineering Physics. Other portions of my academic background include Electrical Engineering and Business Administration. I’ve worked in several capacities as a project manager, systems engineer, and Branch Head for the Department of Defense in Control Engineering, Welding Engineering, and Quality Material Control Analysis. I settled in Kittery, Maine over 30 years ago. My wife and I have two grown sons, and we have 3 awesome cats who live with us. They’re always such a help when I write.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I don’t remember the first book I ever read. There were many science books which I still have in my ever expanding library. Writers like Paul French, Raymond Jones, A.E. van Vogt, Arthur C. Clark come to mind. My first non-fiction book was published by John Wiley & Sons over 25 years ago. With a growing family and engineering jobs I didn’t have time to continue that adventure. Once I realized my first book needed a successor to discuss Photovoltaics and the economic advantages in using alternative energies, I recently decided to write once again. My latest non-fiction release entitled: SOLAR ENERGY : Photovoltaics and Domestic Hot Water – A Technical and Economic Guide for Project Managers, Builders, and Property Owners was published by Academic Press and released this last May 2014. I’m currently completing a final draft of a middle-grade children’s novel entitled: JOURNEY HOME – A Vagabond’s Memoir and will be seeking a new agent for that shortly. I also am writing the first draft of another novel which is somewhat political with a story line that warns us about being apathetic and not paying attention to events happening around us. There’s even a little fact-based science fiction involved.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
One of my favorite author’s is Homer Hickam. Others have included Jean Giono, Yann Martel, Stephen King, Ann Hood – the list goes on. I read most genre’s both fiction and non-fiction. All authors inspire me to write whether they are traditionally published or self-published. It’s a self journey and there’s always so much more I want to relate to people. My style constantly improves as I read. There is so much talent out there and so little time to write and absorb other works.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book, as I mentioned previously is a non-fiction. I wrote it as a current followup with new information including photovoltaics. I wanted people to understand the economic justification considering solar alternatives as a long term investment, and I also wanted people to understand how such alternative energy systems operate. In other words, does a system save a person money? No one appears to address that question in any detail. I also didn’t want the solar industry to disappear like it did in the early 1980’s. I wanted people to have a more objective perspective regarding the energy conundrum we all face. In addition, I found that there’s a lot of confusing and incorrect information on the internet, and I wanted to provide a systematic approach to the knowledge that should be acquired before purchasing a system. I am hoping my new book increases awareness and helps provide the solar industry a chance to become an on-going solution to our energy costs.
There is more information about this book and others I’m working on available at my website.

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Featured Interview With Leslie Silton

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I suppose this starts, in part, with my mother who was a bit old-fashioned. She feared her daughter would never make it as an artist, so she had me go to secretarial school when I got out of high school and that is more or less the work I did fairly steadily for a very long time. But I was an artist so I managed to squeeze in a semester of art school in Paris, France, and carve out 3-1/2 years earning a BFA as a painter. Meanwhile, I was writing poetry (as well as doing a whole slew of other artistic endeavors) the whole time, including participating in many poetry readings over the years. I even arranged poetry readings for myself and my poet-friends and self-published about half a dozen chapbooks. The point is I never lost sight of my goal: to make my living as an artist. I managed to segue myself out of secretarial work by tutoring young children, doing telephone surveys and finally, at last, four years ago, got a call from my brother to proofread a novel because he was too busy with his day job to do it. I had already been doing proofreading and editing work off and on for about 3 years, but this job got me going in a more steady way because after that job, there was more work from the man who owned a writers’ services. A year after that I launched myself as a book editor and writing coach. Now I do all kinds of writing services work. I love it. And happily my writer-clients are very happy with me.
I was born and raised in Brookline, Massachusetts. Brookline is a small town right next door to Boston. A couple of things stand out: one is that when I was in second grade I got into a fight on the school playground because I was wearing an “I like Ike” button (given to me by my father). Of course I had no idea who Eisenhower was. It was a very short fight. My opponent was wearing an Adlai Stevenson button. Yikes. Neither of us had anything substantial to say so we pushed at each other a little, nah-nahed and that was the end of my heavy involvement in politics until 1969 when I got busy marching in the streets of Boston to get the United States to pull out our troops. I wasn’t against troops, I was against war. The other enduring image is a tiny TV screen inside a huge rectangular box watching some people question other people in a very nasty tone of voice … as I later learned, I had stumbled onto the McCarthy hearings. All I knew was it was very disturbing. I wasn’t the smartest kid on the block in those days but I knew what I was watching was making me very uncomfortable. I only watched for a few minutes and then turned it off and went out to play.
After I graduated from art college I moved to Los Angeles — about the 40th time I had moved (because I tended to move myself around a lot). I had gotten ‘slushied’ by a car which hit a pothole turning a corner in downtown Boston and I thought: that’s it. I’m moving somewhere else. I came as a visitor and ended up staying.
Me and animals: that’s an interesting thing. I’m a bit of a Dr. Doolittle. I can talk to animals — and they talk back. I have no idea why I have this ability; it’s not something I ever planned on or knew about until it happened. But it’s fine with me. I have some interesting stories to tell. The funny thing is I was a total failure as a dog owner when I was a child. Both dogs I got at the pound ran away. I didn’t mistreat them — I think I was just a bit clueless and they weren’t ‘Lassie’ material. But I did have a squirrel for a pet and when I lived in New York City I rescued an abandoned duckling. He was really cute. He lived in my bathtub during the day along and swam around one side of my double kitchen sink while I made dinner. People who called me would hear his ‘beeping’ sound and ask what was that. I would tell them it’s a duck but they didn’t believe me. I brought him to a zoo keeper in Central Park when he was all well and strong. The keeper told me he was a Long Island White and he would be given a good home up at the Bronx Zoo.
So, now I live in East Hollywood in a building put up in 1923. Old buildings do not bother me. Boston has many old buildings. And Paris, France — oh, well. I lived on the 7th floor of a little old hotel in the maid’s room. It measured about 8′ x 6′. Hey, it worked out fine since only one wall slanted.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was 6 years old when I went to summer camp for the first time. My mother took me to the library before we left and I checked out 8 books (the most you could check out at one time). When she came to see me two weeks later, I asked for 8 more. She spent part of her summer shuttling me 8 more books every time she came to visit. That might have been a clue. When I was 9 years old I found a huge book on my brother’s book shelf : the complete works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I read it. I did my book report on this 800-pg monstrosity but my teacher didn’t believe me. I had to bring my mother to school to say I had read the whole thing. That might have been another clue. And when I was in 6th grade I got the idea that what I should do is read THE ENTIRE SCHOOL LIBRARY. I went to the letter A and immediately got a little selective but I began to read, pretty much, the entire Letter A. When I got to “Cattle Dog” by Atwater, I had to admit to myself, this might not be the right way to go about doing a lot of reading. But it definitely set a precedent. I read about 125 books a year – just for entertainment. I am not thinking as an editor or even as a fiction writer. I’m just reading for pleasure. Later on, afterwards, that’s when all the analysis gets done.
I wrote my first poem at the age of 9. I still remember the first two lines. Forget it. It’s awful. But it was a start. When I was in secretarial school I started writing poems when I was supposed to be learning how to touch-type the top row of keys (numbers and symbols). At least when I got found out, they only confiscated the poems until I graduated at the end of the summer. Soon after that I was living in New York City and attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. On the weekends I was going down to Greenwich Village, sitting around writing poetry. One night I was yanked on stage by a fellow who thought it was about time I started sharing, So I did. My first time at an open mic. I got a couple of handclaps and someone who now reminds me of actor Viggo Mortenson as Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings movie slipped me the cover from a book of matches on which he had written, “I liked your poems.” That was my start.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My first favorite author was Conan Doyle. I read Nancy Drew Mysteries but very few of the Bobsey Twins stories. For me it’s not so much the genre as the quality of the writing as the amount of spirituality in the stories one way or another. Heroes with a very strong sense of ethics, reliability and care for others. So my favorite authors are Robert B. Parker’s Spenser stories and all of Dick Francis’ racing mysteries. I used to like science fiction – writers like Roger Zelasny (Wizard of Earth Sea), Anne McCaffrey. Definitely a fan of Robert Heinlein, some Issac Asimov, E.E. “Doc” Cummings. I like Georgette Heyer. Her heroines are spunky. I like Raymond Chandler – a masterful writer. A book I read several years ago sticks with me: “The Typist” by Michael Knight. It is a novella, it is beautifully written, the story line is terrific and it’s got a happy ending (sorry if that spoils it for anyone reading this). When I was in art college I read “None But The Lonely Heart” by Richard Llewellyn. It absolutely blew my socks off. What amazed me more is that after the book was originally published, he had it re-issued with more content at the end. I still remember how he describes the blood-red nail polish of the girl the hero is smitten with. He got so close in – he really moved inside the hero’s head. (The movie was also excellent – probably some of the best work Cary Grant ever did. Okay, I’ve seen A LOT of movies.) Each of these authors has had a particular effect on me, which I am in no way sorry about. I’m still my own person as a writer but ‘no man is an island.”

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My novel is entitled “The Gift Horse”. My heroine wants to make it big as an artist and when she can’t, she moves to Long Island, to a small artist colony with a whole slew of galleries where all kinds of artists are doing just fine. She seems to have chosen her gallery representation well because she hits the big time, too, in pretty short order. Well, things go south, but I don’t want to give away the secret in the story. (See page 16 in the paperback edition and you’ll begin to see what is going on.)
For me personally, I am concerned about artists being magnets for antisocial personalities because people in general are not educated regarding social and antisocial characteristics. So I wanted to include that in my story. Maggie is, in fact, being stalked; her life is being manipulated.
And there is Parker, her best friend, who is the daughter of very rich parents who all but ignore her. I wanted Maggie and Parker to be dyed-in-the-wool best friends. That would give the story something to lean on.
In my story, both girls manage to get their lives in gear even if they are late bloomers. (Okay, I’m what I call a late bloomer.) So, I wanted to show how it’s still possible for us (late bloomers) to have good lives. We haven’t been totally left out when all the good stuff is being handed around just because we are late in arriving at the Dinner Table of Life.

The story is definitely science fiction but it just so happens that most of the sci-fi I write, takes place in the present – because there’s no rule about when the future begins. I mean, really, the next instant, actually, is the future. I think there’s too much of a gap between life now and life when most sci-fi writers set their stories. I’m filling that gap my way.

The real work of writing the book took me about a year on and off. It was actually the opening page that I spent the most time on, and the last chapter — which I didn’t realize needed to be there until I realized I was in a holding pattern. So, I took a really long walk and bingo! The last chapter arrived.

I have some favorite scenes: it’s only about half a page but this is about as erotic as I can get. It’s still very tame by most people’s standards, I would guess, but I had the best time writing it. It’s also a bit humorous.

And there’s another scene fairly late in the story: Gus (who owns and run a donut shop) and Veronica, a 19-year old cutie who is also smart, is Gus’ cashier. This is the scene where they finally show their hands about liking each other. I think the dialog is first-rate and I’m very proud of it. I can’t help smiling each time I read it.

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Featured Interview With Pen

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am a native Georgian still living in Atlanta, Georgia. I was raised a true Southerner: “yes, ma’am” “no, sir” “Thank you” and “Please” are still part of my vocabulary. I am currently staff to one feline. Sadly, my black cat, Serena, recently passed away.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have been reading since about the age of four. I started writing around ten years old, sneaking poetry onto my English teacher’s desk for her to read and critique.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
James Rollins, Dean Koontz, Lindsay Buroker, Judy Mercer, Kathryn Harvey. James Rollins was a big influence for my current novel, Nero’s Fiddle. I like the action in his Sigma Force series along with the way he incorporates fictionalized historical events. But I also appreciate the detailed description with which Koontz writes.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Nero’s Fiddle is a fictional account of an Electromagnetic Pulse attack on the United States. Captain Beverly Mossberg is assigned the task of getting to Washington, DC to assassinate the terrorist before he strikes again.

I was fascinated by the idea of an EMP attack while listening to the audiobook One Second After by William Forschten. I began visualizing my own version of such an attack with women as the heroes. The two women in Nero’s Fiddle, Captain Beverly Mossberg and Sedona Armstrong, are strong but very realistic women.

I survived a heart attack in June 2013 after completing the Sword of Tilk Trilogy. I began writing Nero’s Fiddle in September 2013 after returning home from the hospital. About nine months later, on the anniversary date of my heart attack, I completed the rough draft.

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Featured Interview With Rae McGregor

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Auckland New Zealand and brought up on a farm in a small town north of Auckland called Helensville. I now live in a lovely suburb or Auckland . I attended the University of Auckland as a ‘mature student’ which just means you have a few wrinkles and some grey hair. My daughter always maintained she was ‘mature’ and I would agree. I completed an MA in English and had some marvellous years at University getting to know Shakespeare intimately.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I could read almost when I could walk so I was always mad about books. I tried writing but nothing seemed to be any good – I really wanted to write like Enid Blyton when I was young. At university I was encouraged to write some more and the first thing I ever sent out to a magazine was picked up. Not everything has been accepted since but I have had some success with my books. I love the whole process of writing and I think there is nothing more exciting than seeing the final work complete and in a book form.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
When I don’t know what else to read Jane Austen is the writer for me. She is so clever and her writing is so concise and often so mean. I love it. Many writers inspire me in my own writing. I read constantly and I also review books for the radio so I always have a book ‘on the go’. I like biography and non fiction but also I like a good crime novel and I think Louise Penney a Canadian writer is one of the best.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is called RadarMan and is set during the end of World War II. Young Bob Marshall joins the New Zealand Navy as a Signals rating and then is seconded to a British ship Nigeria and serves in the war around the Andaman Islands. All the ships in the story did exist but for Bob a young man of 19 it is a rite of passage. When the ship enters the theatre of war Bob finds it frightening, dangerous and boring. In the opening chapter Bob is an old man facing death. With only a few months to live he sorts his collection of memorabilia and begins to write a book of his experiences.

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Featured Interview With Jan Hurst-Nicholson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in the UK on the Wirral, across the Mersey from Liverpool where I went to college (so technically I could claim to be a Scouser). In 1972 I moved to Durban, South Africa and I used this experience (and those of fellow expats) in my first humorous novel – But Can You Drink The Water? I met and married my husband a year after my arrival and I am still living in Durban – the holiday city where the sun and fun never set.

I am doorman to two dogs that are forever on the wrong side of the door, and personal chef to an elderly picky cat who likes to stretch lazily over my work as I write. I also entertain a visiting troop of vervet monkeys with my fruitless efforts to try to outsmart them stealing my bananas and mangoes.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
As a child my favourite time of the year was Christmas Day when I was given Beatrix Potter books, an ‘annual’, and an over-abundance of sweets and chocolates. I would soon be curled up by the fire lost in a book while secretly munching on sweets, well out of the way of my mother and grandmother ricocheting round the small kitchen preparing the Christmas lunch.
One of my favourite games was ‘libraries’ and I would line up all the books on the windowsill and make cards for them and invite the family to ‘borrow’ them.
I enjoyed writing stories when I was at school and even had one published in a school magazine, sadly now lost.
My first published articles were the humorous type usually found in the back pages of magazines, and one of them was published in Cosmopolitan Magazine.
I then started writing short stories and gradually progressed to novels and children’s books.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favourite author is Monica Dickens, who takes after her ancestor with her wonderful characterisation. When I first began writing I was advised “If you want to learn about characterisation read Monica Dickens.” She is also my inspiration and I’ve been gratified that some of my reviewers have commented on the characterisation in my books.
I enjoy Jeffrey Archer for his page-turning appeal, and Catherine Cookson for her stories and characters. I also enjoy Jane Austen.
My favourite fiction genre would probably be family sagas, and non-fiction biographies, autobiographies and natural health.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
WITH THE HEADMASTER’S APPROVAL explores the changes in group dynamics that take place when a man is introduced into a community of women. Women seem to be more guarded in what they do or say when a man is around. I would class the book as either general fiction with a romance element, or women’s fiction. It took me about eight months to write and then another couple of months of beta reading before the final editing.

I find it useful to have pictures of the main characters pinned up close to my computer and I happened to be watching old re-runs of the original Hawaii 5-O series so I used Jack Lord as my inspiration for the main character, Adam Wild.

This is the blurb for the book.

Restoring discipline at a girls’ academy should have been easy for a former US Naval Officer. It wasn’t, nor was it easy dealing with an all-female staff.

Adam Wild, controversially appointed as Head of St Mary’s Academy in northern England, considers himself well equipped to bring order back to the school – and he’s not about to take No for an answer. Still in love with his late wife, he believes himself immune to the temptations of the female staff.
Fiercely independent Jenna Murray has learned that she does not need a man in her life; especially the arrogant Adam Wild who has stolen the headship she feels should have been hers. She undermines his authority at every turn, until even the girls recognise the underlying emotion in their constant sparring. Determined to bring him down, an allegation by a troubled girl is just the ammunition she needs – so why does she hesitate to use it?
But then Nicole, Adam’s late wife’s tearaway kid sister returns from Africa with a life-threatening condition and a startling request, one that Adam is unsure he can fulfil, forcing both Adam and Jenna to re-evaluate their feelings about love.

Lust shouts. Love whispers. Only the heart knows the difference.

Intrigue, scandal, suspense, and romance peppered with humour tell how one man’s influence on a school of wayward girls and their teachers changes their lives in ways none of them would imagine – and eventually his own.

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