Top Selling Authors: Get To Know Them Better

Featured Interview With Jelena Hrvoj

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born, raised and am still living in Croatia (Europe). As for the pets, I am a huge animal lover and often say that if I ever had the opportunity to own a zoo. that would be a dream come true. For now, I only have four cats and an old, grumpy, acting-like-a-real-senior dog. Most of my life is dedicated to art in all its forms, so I also write columns, blogs, draw and attend art shows.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
As long as I can remember. My family collected books so I was surrounded by them since I was a kid. One of the first memories I have is my father reading E.A.Poe to me before bedtime (Don’t worry, it was my request) and me fantasizing about becoming a writer one day. And here we are now; almost thirty-two, with four published books in Croatian and one in English. So, I can say that sometimes childhood dreams do come true if you work hard enough.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Some of my favorite authors are S.King, E.A.Sund, G.R.R.Martin, J.R.R. Tolkien etc. My favorite genres are psychological thrillers, horror, and fantasy. But I won’t run away from any genre as long as the book is recommended by someone whose opinion I value. Who inspires me you ask? Well, probably every writer I ever had the privilege to read and life in general.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is called Shtora. It is a psychological thriller that was first published in Croatia four years ago and was sold out in two paperback editions. The main thread through the book is the story of Era Torin, a young woman suffering from schizophrenia. The voice in her head calls itself Shtorka and after a tragedy in which Era almost lost her life, Shtorka appears as a voice influencing her to go on a killing spree, making her murder everyone who has done wrong. Two remaining main characters are Viktor Supnia, a wealthy young man with a dark secret and Marcela Savojski, a doctor who lived through a gruesome tragedy and still trying to revenge the death of her son and husband. All three stories, which are told separately through the book, merge together in the end. So, how are these three lives connected? I guess you will have to look into the book to find out. So, if you are interested, look it up on Amazon.

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Featured Interview With J.S. Strange

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
My name is Jack, but I write under the pen name J.S. Strange. I’m Welsh, and I’ve always lived in Wales. I write fiction, currently murder mystery, which I have based in Wales. It’s called Murder on the Rocks, and is the first in a planned series. When I’m not writing, my full time job is as an editor for a leading television channel. I have two pets, Miley and Dolly, two cute black cats.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was always reading books. I grew up reading Roald Dahl and got into reading Harry Potter as they came out. I then started on the Point Horror novels, which shaped my horror writing and greatly influenced my love of horror today. I started writing seriously at the age of seventeen, but I was always writing when I was a kid. They would either be scripts or comic books. I used to really enjoy writing for English classes.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favourite genre to read is probably crime and thriller, and I love a good horror. Basically, anything that has a dark edge to it, I’ll read it. I sometimes read YA, but I always remember why I read little of it when I’m going through it. I like something gritty and dramatic and dark. My favourite authors are J.K. Rowling, Robert Galbraith, C.L. Taylor, and a couple of others.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Murder on the Rocks is the first in the Jordan Jenner Mysteries series. It’s a murder mystery novel based in Cardiff, Wales. Jordan Jenner is the leading gay male private investigator. He has returned to work following the death of his mother, and his first case is that of a murdered writer. As he investigates, he learns his mother’s death is related to the case at hand. It took me about a year to write, and the road to publication was a long one. Eventually, after seven different publishers requested the manuscript, I signed a deal with Panther Publishing.

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Featured Interview With Richard Ferguson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I live in Michoacan, Mexico with Hamish and Poochie, four-legged friends I saved from the streets one way or another. My novels include Blue’s Point, a hard-hitting thriller set in a racist town, and Oiorpata, a cold-war spy thriller. Spirit Runner, my latest novel, is the closest thing to an autobiography I’ve ever written. Many of the things that happen to Ron Campbell in the story actually happened to me. I can’t really say too much about that without giving things away, but Curly the bull was real and just like in the story. You could probably still find your way around on my grandfather’s ranch from the descriptions of it. I ran for the University of Texas and still compete in fun runs now. I was injured in the Army and it took six years to get back to running again.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I still have the first short story I wrote when I was five. In it, a boy finds an injured prairie dog. He takes it home and nurses it back to health. Either I appreciated surprise endings at an early age or I had a short attention span because he then takes it to the ocean and throws it in where it lives happily ever after.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I don’t enjoy genres as much as I do great writers. Ken Kesey, who I once met and got to know some, wrote a wonderful book in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. When people ask what books I liked most, I have to include The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry, Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck, Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay (which was somewhat of an inspiration for Spirit Runner), and many others. Those just came to mind first.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Spirit Runner won an award from the Reader’s Favorite International Novel Contest as one of the best books of 2018.

When he is seven, Ron Campbell loses everything: his family, his home, even his ability to walk. As he grows from seven to twenty, the only things that sustain him are his indomitable spirit and his friends. His dream is to be an Olympic marathoner like his father was.

The odds against him are enormous. The relatives he must live with would rather see him dead. First, he must crawl. Next, he must walk. Then, he must run and train, all the while matching wits with deadly foes.

Ron, Emil, and Dovey become the three musketeers of the Mogollon in a tale of grit, fun, love, and suspense.

I couldn’t zip through this book as quickly as I have spy thrillers that I’ve written in the past. I wanted to get all the details exactly right and, because I’d actually lived a great deal of it, I proceeded carefully. It took about a year and a half.

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Featured Interview With Jason Mather

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Jason Mather is a resident of Greeley, Colorado, and a graduate of University of Northern Colorado, where he majored in music. He is a free-lance musician, part time welder, and part time kennel worker. He lives with his wife Heather, and his three dogs: Gizmo, Kaori, and Ellie Mae.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
As an adult I became a huge fan of James Bond. I like the movies, even the ones I know are not very good. But I like the books even better. Ian Fleming’s Bond character is a more romantic and tragic character then is normally portrayed in the films, though the recent films with Daniel Craig have gotten closer. Fleming’s original Bond is not the carefree ladies’ man that is portrayed in the movies. He’s a thug with enough intelligence to hate what it is that he excels at. He wants a normal life, and a loving relationship, but he rejects these because he doesn’t think he can have them, so he plays the rogue as a protective measure.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
William Gibson, Raymond Chandler, and Philip K. Dick I love Noir fiction. My favorite book is Catch 22. I have read it more than a dozen times. I read it every year around December. The more I read that book the more I start to think it’s not really satire, or, if it is, it’s just very slightly over the line from normal. It’s such a deceptive book. I read it and laugh all the way through, but so little of what is happening is actually funny.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The state of the world in Shadowlife is my take on where our current society could arrive in the near future. There is no intention for it to be either dystopian or utopian. It has simply continued to move on, and bring both the good and the bad with it. There have been some upheavals. The federal government has been reduced to a kind of transit authority between city-states. The city-states are where the power lies, and each city is a power unto itself. They are expected to govern and provide for their populace with only the resources within their own border, or through trade with other city-states. It is not a perfect system. Corruption is still evident, and no city-state can provide for its population perfectly. All citizens are given tracking chips while still in the womb, a situation that has both positive and negative repercussions.

The primary thing that the world of Shadowlife retains is continued human error and imperfection. The world is intended to be a believable evolution of where humanity is today. Technology continues to develop, to both solve and create new issues, and people remain people, completely recognizable to us in this age, but dealing with developments and technologies that have yet to arrive in our time.

Obviously, no one could know where we will actually be in the near future, so any attempt to predict is merely a flight of fantasy on the creator’s part. Any technology presented is simply to further the story and nothing else. The world will move on.

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Featured Interview With Mark Le Dain

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I live in Calgary, Alberta and have a Bachelor of Commerce (Honors) from Queen’s University and I completed an exchange at the Rouen School of Business in France. I currently work as Director, Strategy at an AI company and I previously worked as an investment banker.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve always written. It is a form of relaxation for me. A way to get things off my mind. Hopefully I write stories that are interesting to others.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Recently I’ve been focused on biographies as well as a number of books on how to approach your craft, whatever it may be. While these types of books do not impact your particular writing style they certainly impact how you approach your craft and how you make yourself more effective in all aspects of your life, which flows through to your writing.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Dreamtime (First Fantastic Collection of Completely Fractured Fiction)

Each of the stories presents an entirely new idea about the future or takes a unique look at a theme that is already occurring. Think about some of the following questions and the stories that could be created around each of them.

What would an autonomous car be willing to do when it’s primary directive is to save your life over everything else?

What if students were taught to exercise their response to fear the same way they are taught to train any other muscle or skill? What would those classes look like?

What if governments made you live in an environment that reflected your carbon footprint?

Much of the progress in the last decade has been creating new markets where historically there weren’t any (housing, car sharing etc.). What if that idea, of the power of the market over everything, gets pushed to its logical conclusion.

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Featured Interview With Desolyn L Hicks

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Texas, which I still reside!
I am an author, speaker, spiritual leader, author/writer coach, mentor, and the Founder/President of Faithcures, LLC, a publishing company focused on compelling believers to seek a deeper relationship with Christ.
I enjoy listening to jazz, healthy living, great food, teaching God’s word, traveling, running, and spending quality time with family and friends.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Very early in life, I developed the desire for reading books and it transpired into my adulthood.
I started writing in 2012 and the total process from start to completion of my book has been an amazing experience with a vast learning curve.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite author is Dr. Charles Stanley. His style of teaching draws listeners to his spiritual wisdom and guidance. Also, Joyce Meyers and Cindy Trimm are dear to me as well.
I have developed a passion for reading spiritual books because they are excellent self-help tools for growth especially when facing daily challenges. God is the sole inspiration for all of my writings.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Inside my book, you will be empowered with step-by-step spiritual guidance, and discover how to move forward from brokenness, control of your negative emotions, have a forgiving heart, and balance your life, trust God by changing your mindset with key Bible verses and prayers that will encourage you.
God loves you, and wants you to be healed from disappointments, unmet expectations, and betrayal from individuals that you trusted wholeheartedly; and start experiencing His abundance. God has the perfect plan for your life you are destined for a divine purpose!
A Few Steps Away From Victory helps in jumpstarting your healing process, and places you in a perfect position to experience God’s promises, and ignite His power to walk with absolute confidence.

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Featured Interview With DonniaMarie

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m a big fan of reading and writing. I didn’t publish my first book until last year. I found much success in writing about goals and motivation and then decided to publish in a different genre, that happens to be my favorite; Romantic Fiction. I want my readers to be able to live in the characters moment. Each reader should have their own perspective and experience of my book.

“What good is a book if you can’t picture yourself in it or feel the emotions? Every read should take you somewhere, whether it’s to feel or learn.”

Apart from being an author, I’m an entrepreneur with many businesses under my belt, starting my own coaching business at the early age of 22. Coaching people way above my age which has given me much insight and through my own personal struggles, I’ve managed to be trusted by many.

I’m also a mother, an actress, a travel fanatic and enjoy anything that is new and exciting. Meeting and talking to my readers have become a part of me too, so make sure to subscribe to my site.

Oh, and how did I forget to answer the question above? I was raised in Atlanta and the only pet in my home are fishes. Yeah, I know that’s no fun but truth be told, my schedule is too hectic for a dog or anything of such.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started reading a lot in middle school but recently started writing in my twenties.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I absolutely enjoy reading Alexandria House, Stephanie Norris, Love Belvin, Christina C. Jones and a lot of others. The authors mentioned above write in my genre, however, I enjoy reading non-fiction stories and anything that can teach me things.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Unjust Love is book 2 in the series: A Bennett Affair. When I wrote book 1 named Fearless Love, it was all about Sean falling for his best friend Chelsea. That book allowed me to develop many things that would follow through book 2. One of the characters/brothers Benji was a huge hit from the beginning for my readers. He seemed to steal a lot of attention and the girl that catches his eye Riana became a big supporting character as well. I kept penning things about Sean and Chelsea and then bam, Riana and Benji show up someway and I quickly learned they had big personalities and they were so different than the hero and heroine. I personally fell in love with them which caused me to immediately jump into their story after Fearless Love. Also because of their big personality, I wanted to challenge them both too difficult situations in book 2. The challenges and how they overcome the issues really highlight them as individuals. I’m very happy my readers loved book 2 as much as book 1. I personally feel I gave them more in book 2 as far as background but I find most of my reviews loved that. Also, I didn’t shy away from love and intimacy between the two but they were a young couple, which led them to do a few things differently than someone else that may have been older. Overall, I enjoyed writing Unjust Love and was emotional through a lot of the chapters. I didn’t agree with some of the decisions each character made but yet I understood the importance of letting the characters flow fluidly through me. You should read the book for yourself!

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Featured Interview With Francesca Salerno

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am an 18-year veteran of the travel industry, where I worked as a travel consultant and advisor in three European capitals and Los Angeles. Before my marriage, I managed a major worldwide tour guide operation based in London. After the birth of my first child in the mid-1990s, I realized that planning vacations for my friends and incentive travel opportunities for my husband’s colleagues was more fun than work, and I quickly resumed my career. I was born in Rome and now divide my time between Italy and the United States. I also try to spend some time every few years on the island of Curaçao. I have some of my best ideas pop into my head there.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My father read to me at bedtime. I have cherished books all my life. The only thing I dislike about books is how much they weigh. I wonder if there will be paper books fifty years from now.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite write is Nora Roberts. I don’t know how she can be so prolific. If I strain myself I am able to produce a book a year. Nuts Roberts seems to do 2 or 3.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Another spy story, this one involving ISIS. You have to keep current with the bad guys. The modern ones seem vastly more evil than Al Qaeda. My first book was, The Pakistan Conspiracy, A Novel of Espionage, is a suspenseful Al Qaeda terror thriller that charts a conspiracy against the human race in the months following Osama Bin Laden’s capture and death in 2011. The Pakistan Conspiracy currently has 140 book review. My latest is called The Con Man of Lagos.

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Featured Interview With Ukpeme Akpan Okon

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
My name is Ukpeme Akpan Okon. I am the creative author of The Values String, lawyer, leader, arbitrator, adjudicator, mediator, speaker, trainer, peace life coach, and Ambassador for Peace.

I was born and raised in Nigeria, and the fourth out of five children of my dear parents. I believe that the complexities of the world, and challenges encountered by individuals can be surmounted.

I am an awardee and desirous of leaving a legacy of peace, time consciousness, organizational excellence, team work and meritorious leadership. These are qualities I exhibited from ten years of age. I have held leadership positions since my teenage years, until now.

After successfully acting as a mediator in a protracted difficult situation, I was referred to as “Peace Maker.” This, and other related circumstances led to my determination to help people lead peaceful, transformational, fulfilled lives.

I am a Rotarian, and take pleasure in peacebuilding, good music, healthy lifestyle, culinary art, life coaching, nature, dancing, traveling and volunteering. I love birds but don’t have any pet. I am married with children, and live in the United States of America.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have been writing from my childhood days. I recall writing instructional notes as a child ( I still have the notes). I don’t remember the exact age but I was a brownie at the time. The Values String is my first book. I have written many articles and made presentations.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I enjoy reading motivational books, biographies, autobiographies, and humour themed books. I doff my hat for the great authors of the books I have read. I don’t have any favorite author.

My writing style is self-inspired. I advocate originality in writing.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Values String is a unique, creative, motivational book on Transitional Life, Compelling Fulfillment, and Profound Peace.

This book establishes the nexus among transformation, resilience, fulfillment, and peace. It also highlights mental health issues, refraining from stigmatization of persons, and encouraging persons to seek help.

The author’s creativity is showcased through self—composed songs, which align with some sections in the book. This book introduces a self—mastery and betterment method created by the author, known as The Values String.

Readers of The Values String are certain to understand how mindfulness can foster transformation, fulfillment, and peace.

Through the author’s composed songs, one can experience the ability to sing to, through, and out of any circumstance. One value is a gemstone. Envisage owning several values and stringing them…

The Values String took me about 6 months to write.

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Featured Interview With Wesley Britton

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hi, hello, how are ya, thanks for stopping by!

I’m Dr. Wesley Britton, a 65 year old retired college professor. I was raised in Mechanicsburg, PA where I returned in 1998 after living in and near Dallas, Texas for some twenty years or so. When I came back to Central Pennsylvania, I got married for the first time at the age of 45–to a lady who knew me all the way back in the fifth grade and high school. Ah, but I didn’t remember her from those long ago years. We were married for 19 years until she passed in April 2018.

I have a little 7 pound or so Yorkie named Clipper and a cat with the overlong name of Molly Marie Malone Britton. Right now, Clipper is pestering me for a walk out in our cold winter weather. Sigh.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I don’t recall when I started reading, I just always had my nose in a book. I remember one event in fifth grade when I told a teacher I had read all the fiction books in the library “except for those romance books for girls.” That teacher changed my life by introducing me to non-fiction. So it surprised no one when I got my Masters and Doctorate in American literature at the University of North Texas.
I began writing seriously, after many failed attempts with fiction, during grad school when I started pumping out scholarly articles, essays, and reviews in the mid-80s. I have no idea how many of those I churned out, especially as I still publish three or four book reviews a month for BookPleasures.com.
Then in the early years of the 21st Century, I started cranking out articles and then four books on espionage in the media. You can find out about those years of my career at www.spywise.net.
Then, come 2015, everything changed when I started publishing my Beta-Earth Chronicles sci-fi series which is still going.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Asking a Ph.D. in literature who his favorite authors are opens up a serious floodgate. Not only do I admire classic writers like Hawthorne, Twain, so many, add in spy writers like Fleming and Clancy and sci-fi folks like Herbert, Farmer, Heinlein, on and on. Genres I like? Biographies, sci-fi, thrillers, popular culture, rock music . . . always have a ton of titles in my pile.
Who influences me? Who or or what doesn’t? My eyes and ears are always open to images, characters, settings, dialogue from what I read, see on television or the movies, or experience in just day-to-day things in life. Several friends are major influences on directions I take. Or not.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Alpha Tales 2044 is book seven in the Beta-Earth Chronicles, but it really is a stand-alone volume very different from the six novels that preceded it. For one thing, it’s a collection of short stories using characters introduced in book six, Return to Alpha. It’s a mix of genres, sci-fi, mystery, horror.

The stories are set on our planet decades in the future after climate change and waves of weaponized plagues have reduced earth’s population. A group of aliens from two other earths arrive to tell us about the multi-verse, but a religiously orthodox planet doesn’t want to hear about very different cultures, other kinds of humanity, and especially other deities. So most of the stories have the aliens, and two of their Alpha-Earth spouses, on the run as fugitives on a fearful and angry planet.

I thought Alpha Tales 2044 turned out so well that I’m working on new short stories for a possible future collection. Stay tuned–

And, again, thanks for stopping by!

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Featured Interview With J. A. Jackson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hi, my pseudonym is J.A. Jackson, my real name is Jerreece Ann Jackson.
Here’s a little about me.
I was born in born in Arkansas and comes from a family rich in storytellers. My family (my mother and father) moved our family to Chicago and pretty much I grew up in Chicago and spent many summers visiting my grandmother in Arkansas. Some relatives, from my family, moved west to California, and I lived one year of my childhood in Redwood City California, after which I returned to Chicago until I made California my home in 1981. Because I grew up in Chicago and have a lot of my family there, I have a fierce love-hate love affair with this fabulous city.
Regarding my writing, all of my book’s settings have taken place in California.
I have one completed but not yet published book that takes place in Chicago. I hope to release this book in 2019.
I was married for a very long time to my editor, and three years ago my husband passed away.
Add to that almost one year ago, I also endured the passing of my Big Sally. She was an American Hound Dog, of the Germain Scent dog family. She was beautiful with a white coat, floppy ears with huge dark brown spots.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing at a very young age. When I was a child I had very vivid dreams, I would tell my parents and grandmother when I woke up.  My first recollection is of being given a tablet to write my dreams on. After that, I wrote, everything from dreams to poems, etc.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have many favorite authors and their books have influenced me. First on my list is Jane Austen, Pride, and Prejudice. Next, I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou.
Third Goddess of Vengeance by Jackie Collins. These are followed by many other great books and authors that I love. A few are Harold Robbins, Cathy Yardley, Nora Roberts, Madelyn Alt, Cecily von Ziegesar, Jude Deveraux, Beverly Jenkin, Stuart Wood, Omar Tyree, Tony Dunbar, Roxanne St. Claire, Kristi Gold, Eileen Wilks, Nalini Singh, Harold Bloom, Juli Alexander, Juliet Marillier, Diana Gabaldon, Nora Roberts, Laurell K. Hamilton, Jane Austen, Jackie Collins, Sidney Sheldon, Zora Neale Hurston, Tina McElroy-Ansa Sharyn McCrumb, Mia Caldwell, and of course Maya Angelou and many, many others.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I am working on Book III of Lovers’ Players and The Seducer. I haven’t really set the title in stone yet. But it will be like the Prodigal Son returning home.
It’s inspired by Book I and Book II,
Lovers, Players The Seducer Book I
Lovers, Players Seducer ~ The Revenge! Book II

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Featured Interview With J. Arlene Culiner

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in New York and raised in Canada, but I left North America a long time ago, determined to have a life of adventure and discovery, not one of security and comfort – although those things can be appealing during life’s more uncomfortable moments.
I’ve since crossed much of Europe on foot, traveled, by bus, train, car, or truck throughout North and Central America, Europe, and the Sahara. I’ve lived in unique places — in a Hungarian mud house, a Bavarian castle, a Turkish cave dwelling, on a Dutch canal, and in a lonely, very haunted stone house on the English moors. Presently, my French partner and I live in a 400-year-old former inn in a small French village.
My sort of lifestyle means staying flexible and taking up any sort of work that presents itself: belly dancer, fortune teller, translator, fashion model, storyteller, b-girl, radio broadcaster, actress, social critical artist, photographer, and writer.
I’ve discovered forgotten communities, met strange characters, had some very odd conversations, and I incorporate all the information into my books. So far, I’ve had five romances published and, as Jill Culiner, two mysteries and two narrative non-fiction works. I also narrate audiobooks, and I have a podcast — Life in a Small French village — that can be heard here: https://soundcloud.com/j-arlene-culiner

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
From elementary school, and all the way through high school, instead of doing homework, paying attention to the teacher, and participating in class, I passed the time dreaming, drawing, and writing stories. Needless to say, I was always the class dud — perhaps even the worst student in the entire school. I once received an astonishing minus 4 out of 100 on a report card. To this day, I wonder how the (math) teacher arrived at that number.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Any genre is fine with me. I love many authors; many have influenced me; and it’s impossible to name them all. I suppose I could just say (to be brief) that at the moment I particularly enjoy Linda Grant, W.G. Sebald, Alan Hollinghurst, Robert D. Kaplan, Charles King. I love the way they use language and images; I love the worlds they take me to.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
In my book, All About Charming Alice. My hero, Jace, and my heroine, Alice, both lead interesting lives. Alice, an original but rather prickly character, loves the Nevada desert, rescues dogs, and protects snakes; Jace, an intellectual, a writer, is from Chicago, and he’s not too crazy about deserts, dogs, or snakes. Neither Alice nor Jace are particularly young; both have had relationships that either fell apart, grew dusty, or lacked long-term zing. Neither expects love when it does come galumphing over the horizon. But here it is, along with its doubts, hesitations, misgivings… and bliss.
And, while Alice and Jace are taking those first tentative steps, the entire nosy, cranky population of Blake’s Folly is watching, goggle-eyed, from the sidelines.

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Featured Interview With Becky Lower

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Ohio, but being a restless soul, I moved around a lot in adulthood, living in seven different states (Ohio, Michigan, Washington, DC, Virginia, West Virginia, Arizona, Texas) before finally settling in North Carolina on the edge of a golf course. I have a little rescue dog, Mary, and we love to hike on the golf cart paths in the evening. All my moving about did give me a deep love for our country and its history, which I use in my writing.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I don’t remember what my first book was, but I used to read aloud to my little sister when she was too little to even understand the story. I loved Laura Ingalls Wilder and all her books about the western expansion (she moved around a lot, too), and I adored Trixie Belden and her circle of friends as they solved mysteries. My first attempt at writing that I showed anyone was a screenplay for the TV show, Bonanza, when I was twelve. I was tired of Little Joe getting all the girls when dark, mysterious Adam was the true heartthrob. Fortunately, the screenwriters were kind in their rejection, probably after laughing uncontrollably for a half hour!

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I loved Jude Deveraux’s Knight In Shining Armor. It was the first time travel book I’d read and it fascinated me. Of course, Nora Roberts is the gold standard for me, as is Julia Quinn. Her Bridgerton series is wonderful.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
As you can probably deduce from my Little Joe/Adam story, I write romances. My Cotillion Ball Series is about a family with nine children who find their soul mates in the decades leading up to and into the Civil War. Blinded By Grace, the fifth book in the series, focuses on the eldest son, Halwyn, who realizes his true love has been part of his life for years, but he could never see her until he got a new pair of glasses. Each book can be read as a stand-alone, but the same characters pop up in each story line to some extent. The mother of the family, Charlotte, plays a meddling mother in this one. Well, she does so in all the stories, but she actually succeeds in her matchmaking efforts this time.

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Featured Interview With Samantha Anne

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Suffern, NY and raised in The Bronx. I am a proud Hufflepuff, my heart is wrapped in Yankee Pinstripes and I’m pretty sure my blood type is hot chocolate. After spending decades in the city, I moved to the DFW area of Texas to spend time with my amazing nephew. It was in Texas that I found my two rescue cats, Alfie and Claire. They keep the house safe and also keep busy knocking over family photos and Funko dolls while I write novels, screenplays, paint, or play bass. We all like Hulu and especially dig The Golden Girls and The Dick Van Dyke show.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My mother and grandmother will tell you that, when I was three, I would sit with the TV Guide and pick out words. I feel like this is the perfect jumping off point into describing who I am today. I’m into books, television, movies, and obsessed with the creation of all of them. I started writing as a teenager; I’d write epic romance stories about my friends and their favorite boy band members (they were called ‘Daydreams’ back then) falling in love and then sit with them and read aloud the story of my friends’ happily ever afters. This continued well into my 20’s, but I wouldn’t publish my first book until 2013 – nearly 20 years after writing my first daydream.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
It’s worth it to say that it all started with Beverly Clearly and Judy Blume; I owe my obsession with books to these two women, who truly introduced me to reading in the form of Ramona The Pest, Henry Huggins, Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing, and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

I tend to gravitate toward romance, and have been very much into reading indie authors in this genre – Serena Clarke, Becky Flade, Nancy Weeks, and Peggy Bird (RIP) to name a few. I am a huge Harry Potter fan (as evidenced by my declaration of fealty to the House of Hufflepuff above), and have fallen in love with a couple of YA series – The Divergent Series, The Hunger Games books, and The Twilight Series.

Other authors that fascinate me are JD Robb, Janet Evanovich, Danielle Steel, and Nora Ephron – to name a few. This could easily go on forever, so I’ll just shout “Sweet Valley High!” and move on.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I was once an author in the Crimson Romance galaxy of stars, but after they closed their doors almost a year ago, I sort of became a Gal With No Country. So I’ve re-released both Kirby (pubbed in 2013) and Company Ink (pubbed in 2015) so that I can feel better about having them out in the world again, because I’ve felt *lost* without them.

I’m currently working on a follow-up to Kirby, which wasn’t supposed to happen (it was originally a standalone!), and another romance tentatively titled “The Other Shoe”:

The Kirby follow up is going to be released by way of my personal imprint, ‘Cookies & Queens Publishing’, and catches back up with Rachel a few years after her HEA with Joe Pavon, aka Hottie McCoffeehouse. Her best friend is getting married, and everyone drives out to the bride’s hometown for her big day. Rachel is once again juggling her life, dividing her time between being the best Maid of Honor in the world and a brand new author. She’s also considering a job offer that would change her life in a big way! The wedding takes Rachel out to the country and out of her element, and she struggles to stay sane and keep what she believes is her best life on track. As you can imagine, calamity ensues.

“The Other Shoe” is about a freshly-turned 30 year old Annie who, in the interest of turning her life around and going after her dreams, packs her bass and moves to Boston to work for a prominent recording studio as a session bassist. She ends up joining a band and making unexpected friends, including Drew Morrison, Hollywood’s new Golden Boy, who happens to have returned to Boston to find his footing after receiving a lucrative movie-making offer that would change his life forever, should be choose to accept it. Together, they figure out what it means to leap and how sometimes, when you’re afraid, it can mean that you’re exactly where you need to be.

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Featured Interview With Josh Soule

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Wyoming, where I still reside. I have worked in management, law enforcement, security, and now education – which is definitely my passion.
I currently have no pets except my fish, however my fiancee has a dog so I will have one in the house shortly.
I have an MBA, from University of Phoenix, and am currently working on a second degree in Education.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I tried on many occasions to write when I was as young as 10. I did not have the drive or linguistic skills to do so, but now with my family and friends supporting me – I can finally finish what I have started.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I am a fan of so many books and authors. To name a few: John Grisham, Stephen King, Agatha Christie, Tom Clancy, Jack Higgins.
I like books that keep me engaged and guessing what will happen next, which is why I opted to write suspense.
As a reader, I love when I finish a chapter for the night and have to force myself to put the book down.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
“The Monster” follows a college student who lives with a strained relationship with his mother, ex-girlfriend, and best friend. When he sees his ex and best friend together at a Halloween mixer, he becomes enraged. However, when the couple is attacked by a puppet-themed assailant, the protagonist is seemingly to blame. Then things get worse.
He finds himself framed for murder at the hands of the Puppet Man, and goes on the run. He hopes he can clear his name before he winds up in jail, or worse.

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Featured Interview With Alexis Lantgen

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised all over the United States. I’ve lived in Alaska, Virginia, Oklahoma, Florida, New York, and Texas! I live in Texas now, and I have two fluffy cats and a lovely little beta fish.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve always loved books, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stayed up all night reading. My mother told me that when I had friends came to the door I’d tell them I was too busy reading to go out and play!
I’ve been writing for a long time as well–I actually won a writing contest my senior year in high school. But I didn’t start to write seriously until about six or seven years ago. I was going through a difficult transition and stuck in a job that I hated. Writing became an escape, and honestly, one of the only things that made my job bearable. I’ve gone through dry periods where I was too tired or stress to write much, but I’ve always come back to writing when I could.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love science fiction and fantasy. I’m still in love with the Harry Potter books, and I’ve read all the Game of Thrones books. My favorite fantasy book right now is Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor, which I’ve read at least four times because I loved it so much.
I think I’m inspired by science, folklore, fairy-tales, and history. It’s amazing how much history reads like an unbelievably true novel. Right now, I’m listening to Ian Mortimer’s Edward III: The Perfect King on audible. It’s amazing how much Edward III’s life is like a fairy-tale, but a very dark, Hamlet-influenced one. Incidentally, I love dark, strange fairy stories, and another one of my favorite books is Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I hope that Clarke writes more novels!

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book, Sapience, is a collection of science fiction short stories. After I wrote my first (unpublished) novel, I had a baby. I was too exhausted to try to write another novel; I just didn’t have the energy to write something that long and intense. Writing a novel can feel a bit like running a marathon in your brain!
Instead, I decided to try writing short stories, since I could write those in short bursts. I really like short stories, in part because they force you to cut away so much fat from your writing and focus on what’s most important to the story. I’ve written tons of them, so decided to collect my favorite ones into a book. The stories in Sapience were written over the past five years or so.

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Featured Interview With A.D Valeraine

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m a musician and photographer by profession. Growing up I was your standard bookworm kid.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was six years old when I was deeply enamoured by a book. The title of the book was Days and Deeds.
A masterpiece authored by William S. Gray and May Hill Arbuthnot.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Ernest Miller Hemingway, A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. The Fall by Albert Camus. To name a few authors and their works that had greatly influenced me.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Standing at 4 feet and six inches. Elegant, handsome and charismatic, England’s most illustrious spy. Agent Henry King may be small in height, but he is big where it counts. Women can’t get enough of him, his enemies fear him. Join Henry and his team as they face a threat so dangerous, it will plunge the world in a devastating deluge. A madman who has nothing to lose, and a beautiful mysterious woman who will guide him to a blissful and lustful oblivion. An ancient evil has awakened, and one man will discover his past in order to save the woman he loves. An epic tale filled with nonstop action from start to finish. A culmination of dramatic exegesis, plunging the reader into a world of vivid unbridled imagery. Depicting a spy’s pursuit to exorcise his own demons, in a world in the brink of chaos. A curious epic tale you will regret missing

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Featured Interview With Sebastian Schug

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was both born and raised in Burbank, California, and have since lived in the hustle and bustle of it for upwards of twenty years. Currently, I own a series of small cats, along with one doxon.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My fascination with books surprisingly did not begin with writing, but instead illustration, a feat that which I ironically despised given that I couldn’t mimic what was portrayed in the standard “How to Draw” books one would typically see in your standard supermarket kiosk. This was at the young age of around six or seven. Once adapting my own artistic style, as well as being signed on to illustrate my first children’s book series “The Adventures of Daniel,” I began to also develop my sense of storytelling through different means and perspectives, such as fiction, short stories, and most favorable, satire.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Favorite authors of mine range from the fictional works of Aldous Huxley to satire akin to Mark Twain. Satire and dark humor respectively also happen to be my favorite genres to read, and the aforementioned Mark Twain is among one of my few primary inspirations to dabble within my own satirical perspective.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book, “Dear Ravers,” is a twenty-four page satirically humorous bashing of your everyday college/young adult concert dwellers and partygoers, with each page giving further insight on aspects of perceived stupidity, negligence, and bafflement of those mentioned. While initially intended as a parodical observation of a subset of people, use of strong language and adult situations are portrayed to further drive the point home. “Dear Ravers” is a simple book, and is intended more in fact for the standard coffee table than it is for your everyday bookshelf, and is available on most major online retailers and distribution services. The estimated time spent fully drafting, writing, and illustrating the project took upwards of one month, with the majority of time devolving into developing witty statements for specific festival-esque situations.

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Featured Interview With Fallacious Rose

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in Sydney, Australia, and now live in the country. I’ve come to realise that cities are not for me: I like to wake up to the sound of kangaroos nibbling on the grass and bush birds warbling. So the place I now call home is a 52 acre property on the south-eastern seaboard, with views to rugged mountains and a clear-running creek at the bottom of the hill. Mind you, any time I go for a walk out of the house I have to struggle back uphill – but it’s good for me.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing at around five ‘My mum is very boring’. I always read voraciously and well beyond my age group – I was devouring Regency Romance at eight. But then I had few friends, an unhappy school life and four very much older siblings, so I guess it was inevitable. I always felt I had something to say, some important insights to pass on to people – and this conceit made me write. It’s always been a way of expressing what I can’t necessarily express through any other means – my feelings about people, life and myself. And of course I also write for the sheer fun of it, the crazier the plot the better.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I grew up on Georgette Heyer (a Regency Romance classic author) and Ursula le Guin (science fiction fantasy). Now, a lot depends on my mood. On holidays I might read Liane Moriarty, at home, Nick Hornby. I’m one of the few actual fans of Tolstoy’s War and Peace, and my love of Tolkien will never die. If I could write something with the universal and timeless meaning of one of the classic writers – F Scott Fitzgerald, Conrad, Dostoevsky – I’d die happy. But failing that, it really gives me a kick when people enjoy my work.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book – the one I’m working on now – is a combination of recipes for food and recipes for life. I’m no great cook, but I can generally rustle something up out of anything – thus the title ‘How to Make Something out of Anything’. I’m also famous among my family and friends for replying, when asked ‘what are you cooking?’ ‘an experiment’. I like to think that some of these approaches to cooking can be applied to life. After all, with cooking, as with life, if you can’t eat it, you can always move on and order a takeaway.

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Featured Interview With Andrew Williams

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m English but the politically correct would say I’m British. I was born in Warrington, England but I have moved around quite a bit. I spent my pre-teen years in Droylsden near Manchester. My father and grandfather had a small building contracting company and when they started developing a site in Frodsham (at the time a small Cheshire Village) my father decided to design his own house on part of the site. Once the house was built, we moved to Frodsham and I spent most of my teenage years there.
Once I married Geraldine, for logistical reasons we moved to Rainhill, near St Helens. (For the geographically challenged that’s not far from Liverpool)
We have lived in Rainhill for more years than we care to remember.
Historical Note – Rainhill is famous because of the 1829 Rainhill rail trials where rival locomotives were tested out on the partially completed Liverpool and Manchester railway. The Rainhill trials are notable because they mark the start of the steam railway era.
The trials are also notable because it had the first railway accident.
William Huskisson MP attended the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Huskisson stepped onto the railway line greet the Duke of Wellington. Unfortunately, the locomotive Rocket came up on on the parallel track. Huskisson was unable to get out of the engine’s way in time and his left leg was crushed by it.
The badly injured Huskisson died a few hours later. The monument where his remains are buried is the centrepiece of St James Cemetery, Liverpool.
The local library has a railway coach parked behind it with an exhibition of the Trials.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
For me writing is a bit of a compulsion. It’s something you have to do. Some people what to ruin a good walk by chasing golf balls. I like to create. If I’m lucky people what to read what I have created.
The serious writing started when I decided to write: Domestic Building Surveys. Published by Spon. As a surveyor I had read a number of technical books on surveying. As most of them only supplied an outline of home surveys, I wrote a book that gave more detail. I have been led to believe that several British Universities are recommending the book to their students. I think that’s a win!
My next project was A Practical Guide to Alterations and extensions also published by Spon which also had good reviews.
With two books under my belt, I decided I wanted to write sci-fi.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
In my childhood, W E Johns;
in later life Dennis Wheatley, H G Wells and John Wyndham.
Vladimir Peniakoff’s war time account Popski’s Private Army certainly had an influence. One of my characters has a shortened version of his name; I hope Vladimir’s relatives won’t be offended. Vlad Pen is one of the good guys who finds himself ensnared by the evil Samantha.
Although cowboy novels aren’t my thing, I enjoyed reading True Grit by Charles Portis. I’m sure my reading must have influenced what I now write and must have helped me.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Once I had completed my two technical books I became infected by the writing bug. As indicated above, I particularly wanted to write Science Fiction.
Arcadia’s Children: Samantha’s Revenge is not the sort of book written over night. It evolved over time. The sequel took less time because I had developed the framework of places and characters.

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