Top Selling Authors: Get To Know Them Better

This is a list of our featured author interviews. These authors take a few minutes out of their busy schedule to sit down and answer a few questions. Get to know what they are working on next and what types of books they like to read.

Featured Author Nancy Viera

Featured Interview With Nancy Viera

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in California and I was raised in Chihuahua, Mexico for half of my childhood. My family relocated to Denver, Colorado when I was eleven years old and I have lived in Denver since. I am a parent to a dynamic son and an energetic blue heeler dog.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was about eight years old when I found a book in my grandparents house and immediately loved the escape it brought me from reality. I’d visit the town library often looking for new books. My love for writing began when I wrote a few poems inspired by a boy. Later my love for writing would show up differently and eventually evolved to the story telling methods I use every day.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite genre to read is fiction and magical realism. I love time traveling through stories told by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende. I love the story telling and representation Kali Fajardo-Anstine weaves in her short stories. I enjoy getting to know the many different characters from the many novels by Taylor Jenkins Reid. And, I also enjoy solving dark mystery crimes with Gillian Flynn.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Silhouette is a collection of poetry that takes you on a self-love journey. I embody many people in the poems and some of them are about me. Curly is the journey of loving my hair, while Whiskey is a dark poem about grief. I wrote a few poems about people I’ve met on the street or some that I never even talked to. I let my imagination flow in to poems. My hope is that readers find a bit of their selves in one or two of my poems.

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Nancy Viera’s Website

Nancy Viera Facebook Page

Featured Author C. J. Jones

Featured Interview With C. J. Jones

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised and live near Sydney in Australia, I was raised with a love of books and read anything and everything from fiction to non-fiction, including reading the full set of ADULT Encyclopaedia Brittanica before I was ten, by taking a book to bed every night and reading until I fell asleep. Our family went to the library every week to exhange books, and I was annoyed that the maximum borrowing amount was FOUR books only!
I’m an artist, drawing & painting, and a classically trained pianist (that loves boogie most of all), I love animals, especially cats (that I call real live teddy bears), but dont have any pets at this time after my beautiful Buffy is now gone due to kidney failure and I cant bear replacing her.
My favourite things to do are drawings of childrens faces (portraiture), playing piano, playing with cats, riding horses and probably eating cheesecake while reading a good book, or falling asleep reading.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I had a hard time writing stories when I was young. The first time I wrote a story was at school and the teacher told me to “make something up”, and I couldn’t believe it when she explained to me what I had to do. “But that’s LYING!” I protested, “you’re not allowed to do that! You have to write REAL things and not lie!” And I was pretty darned sure my mother would have something to say about that. So, in the end, the teacher compromised and told me I could write a TRUE story, and that I could be a journalist when I grew up.
So, I stuck to that until I was a bit older, and then started writing stories based on “improving” the story I’d just read, or rather, by making things go the way I wanted them to go.
I haven’t published any of my stories, I just like writing them, and reading them, though I have had friends read them and gave me wow points.
I think I could write for soap operas because my stories literally never end, theres always another day…

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love history, so fiction or non fiction, and biographies, and science facts, and historical fiction novels, especially if they’re set in ancient egypt.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is a childrens Christmas Coloring book full of designs that were requested by our kids, and nieces and nephews that I draw for them to color in. They told me what they wanted to color in, and I drew it for them.
From all the designs I made, the kids choose the designs to add to the book and are quite excited that other kids will be able to color them too!
I’m a natural born artist, I draw portraiture and paint in oils.

Featured Author Neha Sonney

Featured Interview With Neha Sonney

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Now that I’m living in the concrete jungles of Hong Kong, I cherish my childhood memories. I feel blessed to have grown up on a town like island of Bahrain. I went to an Indian school and I picked up the values passed down by my teachers that I still live by.

I don’t have any pets, but if I ever decide to have one it’ll be a Yorkshire terrier.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing (blogging) in 2016. My fascination for reading started with my personal development journey in 2008. I was a mom of a toddler at the time.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Favorite Genre: Self-help, non fiction, spirituality
Favorite Authors: Deepak Chopra, Paulo Coelho, Osho, Michael A Singer

I think insights and Aha moments inspire me to share my story and wisdom.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I wrote WIRED FOR SELF-LOVE in under a year. It began mid 2020 and I was done writing, rewriting and editing by May 2021. I didn’t think I’d be an author 10 years earlier than I expected. But I’m someone that says Yes to the opportunities that excite me. Looking back now, I realize It couldn’t have been a better time for it. I had been practicing meditation and pursuing my passions so I thought I knew everything there is to know about self-love. That’s where my ego was being challenged. In the book, I talk about how I overcame the initial procrastination through the research phase of the book. I had to implement first what I was about to tell the world to do through the processes in my book. I had to practice self-compassion to understand myself and overcome procrastination. Writing this book was a step in the process of loving myself. Self-love is a journey, and everyone that embarks on this journey goes through their own challenges in their own way. So every journey is unique. It takes courage to love yourself, know yourself, understand yourself and face your inner critics. It takes patience to be kinder to oneself. These are some of the steps in your journey of self-love. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it. I promise! I hope you learn more about yourself through reading the book and implementing self-love in all areas of your life.

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Neha Sonney Facebook Page

Neha Sonney Twitter Account

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Featured Author James Han

Featured Interview With James Han

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Seoul, Korea until I graduated from university. I brought my family (wife and two sons) to San Francisco in 2009. I now live in Pacifica, CA. I love playing golf, watching movies, and walking along the beach with my wife. I have no pet.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Frankly, I was not a book reader when I was in school. I used to read the books mandatory for students to read in class. I started reading books when I became a team leader in one of the largest companies in Korea.

As a typical Asian man, I was very very strict, authoritative, and patriarchal. I always forced my wife and sons to listen to me and pushed them to do the things I ordered them. I did the same at work to my team members.

One day, I read a coaching book and loved it, so kept reading any book related coaching theory and practices. I applied the knowledge and tools learned not only to my family but also to my team members, colleagues, and bosses. It WORKED GREAT! It changed me.

I wanted to record the practices, experiment, cases, results, lessons, and so on. It was the time that I started writing. That’s how I ended up publishing two books on business coaching in Korea.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite authors are gurus in leadership and self-help, including Napoleon Hill, Jack Canfield, Stephen Covey, Brian Tracy, John Maxwell, Anthony Robbins, Kenneth Blanchard, David Bach, and great Asian philosophers, such as Confucius, Mencius, Lao-tzu, and Han Fei Tzu.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The name of my latest book is Action Guide for US Immigrants.
After just a few months we arrived in the US, the company I worked for filed for bankruptcy. I went looking for another job. But for a foreigner who needs the H-1B (Work) visa sponsorship, that’s a hard thing to get. Times couldn’t get any harder. But in the darkest hours, the best lessons are learned and hope is always on the horizon. I found that out when I met an investor and pitched an idea that couldn’t be refused.

Living, working, and raising children in another country was a big challenge. I believe most immigrants probably feel the same way I did because everything is different from their culture—language, laws, customs, styles, systems, and so on.

Whenever I had problems, I asked to the people around me, but each person gave me different ideas, and I found later that much of the advice I received didn’t work for me.

So I googled, conducted research, and read lots of books, but almost all I found were about local sight-seeing for international travelers. It was not practical information that we immigrants could use immediately to settle in our new environment and ultimately, succeed in realizing the American Dream.

I have achieved almost all of my 10-year goals I brought with me to the US in 2009. I had to learn everything from scratch, by trial and error, paying a high cost for the lessons I learned. This book contains the knowledge and insights I’ve acquired from past experience, because I really want to help my fellow immigrants adjust to their communities, achieve goals, and live their best lives much faster by applying the lessons to work, family, and life. It took 12 years for me to write this book!

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James Han’s Website

James Han Facebook Page

Featured Author LUIZA TITU

Featured Interview With LUIZA TITU

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born on January 15, 1986 in Teleorman, a county in Romania. I started with the novel “Irecuperabil” in 2019, written and published in my native country. I currently lives in Germany,where I published the English version of the novel, Irretrievable. My next novel is in progress at the publishing house.
Pets…no!

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing poetry around the age of 9, my grandfather encouraged me then, he was a teacher. He even sent one of the poems to a local newspaper. I wrote prose much later.
I remember going to the local library as soon as I learned to read. I was fascinated to discover interesting things told in books. Of course, I started with short, simple, illustrated books for children.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Hemingway.
As a genre, I don’t have a favorite, I read any book that falls into my hands. The people around me, known or unknown, are an inexhaustible source of inspiration.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The last book written is in the works, at the publishing house, it is the story of a woman who travels in the past. But my debut novel is a fascinating love story between a Romanian woman and a Korean man. A sublime, pure love, but with a tragic ending.

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LUIZA TITU Facebook Page

Featured Author Rachel Griffin

Featured Interview With Rachel Griffin

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Born and raised in Cleveland, OH. Currently living in Cincinnati where my career genuinely kicked off. I had a cat named Yoshi who was a grumpy divo! My husband has been an amazing adventure guide (helped me experience things I never have). The earliest I began taking writing seriously was when I was thirteen in seventh grade. Coincidentally enough, the first poems I’ve written were about trauma I was experiencing growing up. I just hadn’t fully realized it until adulthood. Photography became something I incorporated into my career when I was a senior in high school. Photography was what I chose to go to school for afterwards. Currently working on four more books. Three of them debut in 2022. The final is TBA.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I noticed I like to occasionally read when I was a child in elementary school. I always had amazing grades in all of my writing classes, but never wrote anything for myself instead of school until I was in seventh grade turning thirteen.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite poet is Maya Angelou. I love reading her poetry whenever I have a moment to relax.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
This book is a collection of poems I had written from my late teens to early adulthood. They are about the traumas the resulted after my previous relationships not going/ending so well. Home life didn’t generate much love, so I looked in the incorrect places for it. I soon realize I make an incorrect turn, but the journey was still rough. Hated the journey. Appreciate it more because of the victory.

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Rachel Griffin’s Website

Rachel Griffin Facebook Page

Rachel Griffin Twitter Account

Featured Author Dan McGrath

Featured Interview With Dan McGrath

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota and every winter, I swear I’m moving to Miami, but 50 years in, I’m still there. I’m learning to fly airplanes, getting into music and video production while working on my next book.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My mom influenced me to read from a young age and I’ve devoured books all these years. They’ve all influenced me in some way or another. I started writing creatively at an early age, too, but mostly used the skills I developed for boring work-related papers until I recently started writing books for myself and now I’m hooked on that.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I’ve tended towards science fiction and fantasy novels, but I read everything. I just finished reading a book called Drunk Talk. It’s a cynical, semi-satirical sort-of philosophy book based on drunken conversations. My favorite authors to read are in the fantasy and sci-fi genres, though. George RR Martin, Michael Moorcock, Brandon Sanderson, Terry Goodkind and Douglas Adams, as examples.

My inspiration for writing actually comes more from real life experiences, though.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Adventures of Dan and Tina – Enduring and Recovering from Narcissistic Abuse began as a therapeutic outlet after ending a long and tortured on-again-off-again relationship with a dangerous, personality-disordered woman. It took years to see through the maze of lies and covert abuse.

Even in the face of deepening mysteries and mistreatment, my devotion to Tina was unshakable. It’s a phenomenon called a trauma bond that’s like an addiction but can be even harder to kick than heroin. That led to a destructive on-again-off again relationship that withered everything it touched.

The book weaves insights and answers are through a riveting true story of love, infidelity, betrayal, secrecy, gaslighting, crazy-making and ultimately escape and the road to recovery.

I realized it’s a pretty compelling tale and one that I thought could be of value to others who may have found themselves in similarly abusive relationships, so I published it and since then, it’s been incredibly gratifying and humbling to hear from people who’ve been helped by my book.

Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles

Dan McGrath’s Website

Dan McGrath Facebook Page

Dan McGrath Twitter Account

Featured Author Boshra Rasti

Featured Interview With Boshra Rasti

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Boshra Rasti was raised in British Columbia, Canada and works as an expatriate teacher in Qatar. She received a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership at Royal Roads University, which proved a fateful blow to her belief in anything hierarchical. However, it did spark her desire to flee from the real world and start writing about other ones. When she is not working to earn a living, she enjoys the escape that reading and writing lend her. She also enjoys physical running, even if it is of the sadistic variety in Qatar.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was slow to read. I was a super awkward, anxious, and as my second grade teacher said, “had my head in the clouds”. I started my addiction to reading in grade 5, I found the Lion the Witch in the Wardrobe and was hooked!

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I really don’t have a favorite author, but I love the concise and eloquent work of Jhumpa Lahiri. I read a wide variety of literature.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Surrogate Colony is a dystopian, post pandemic novel that is really a cautionary tale about the dangers of technology. I just read this morning that Bill Gates believes that by 2024 we’ll be having interviews and meetings in the “metaverse” . To me this is deeply disturbing, and quite cerebral to the point of nausea. We have a body. We should breathe. We should touch. We are organic and do have an expiry date. I am not quite sure why some people overly involved in technology have a hard time with that.

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Boshra Rasti’s Website

Boshra Rasti Facebook Page

Boshra Rasti Twitter Account

Featured Author James David Rich

Featured Interview With James David Rich

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
David Rich grew up on a ranch in Colorado. His dad introduced him to tractors and cattle, and his mother to music and travel. He toured the country with an amazing group of fellow misfits in the fighting 529th Air Force Band, attended the University of Colorado in Boulder and the University of Chicago Law School, and by some fluke began practicing law in Phoenix with Lewis and Roca, the firm that handled the Miranda case (which he had nothing to do with). David tried private practice but found the cushy job of assistant attorney general more to his liking. (His appointment as judge pro tem by the Maricopa County Superior Court was a resounding success because attorneys immediately settled any case to which he was assigned.)
He and his third wife decided they’d rather travel than work, so they saved every penny on a ten-year plan that took eleven years. Since retiring in his forties to become a full-time traveler, David has lived in almost every country on the planet. He has written dozens of travel stories for publications ranging from International Living to GoNOMAD.com, and his website, David and Mary Around the World, at MyTripJournal.com has been featured on LonelyPlanet.com. In his first book, Myths of the Tribe (1993), he examined the influence of organized religion on ethics, government, and economics, second edition August 2019. RV the World, now in its second edition, combines his seventeen-year tour of 170 countries with lots of practical advice. David also wrote The ISIS Affair, putting the fun back in fundamentalism, a satire on religion and nationalism in Syria. In 2019 he published Myths of the Tribe, when religion and ethics diverge, 2nd ed, and Scribes of the Tribe, our greatest thinkers on religion and ethics. All books are available on Amazon and wherever books are sold online. Antelopes, a modern-day Gulliver’s Travels, was published in Nov. 2020, and his latest book, Sail the World?, an absurdly true story and prequel to RV the World, was published in October 2021.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Read set of Funk and Wagnalls encyclopedias at age 6 and never stopped reading. Started writing about age 13.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite authors are all physicists, such as Richard Feynman and Stephen Hawking. For fun I read mysteries and detective stories, and what I’d call absurdist entrées in these genres, such as Stephanie Plum and M.C. Beaton.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is Sail the World?. Have you wondered how it’d be like to dump the rat race to sail around the world?
Here’s how that worked out for the author, a gripping, constantly on-the-edge-of-disaster sailing adventure punctuated by the unique and wacky characters from the worldwide cruising community, all with the same wild and crazy dream.
“My 35-foot Erickson sloop Grendel was sinking in the Pacific Ocean. I’d bragged about sailing around the world, but two hours after I began, it was a disaster. I was slip-sliding around Grendel, searching for leaks, enveloped in an eerie blanket of fog with zero visibility, surrounded by invisible hazards. Glub, glub.”

So, it didn’t go exactly as planned, a reality like nothing you could envision, a comedy of errors on land and at sea. An absurdly true story and prequel to RV the World.

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James David Rich’s Website

James David Rich Facebook Page

Featured Author Kaelyn Buzzo

Featured Interview With Kaelyn Buzzo

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
A born and raised Floridian, I’ve been an avid bookworm since childhood. I love the power of words and the stories that draw you in so powerfully, it feels as if you are experiencing every touch, taste, and emotion yourself. I wanted to give readers that visceral experience with In the Dark, my debut novel which I wrote mostly from my local coffee shop. I’m also a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach who writes about veganism, mental health, and body image, all themes that feature prominently in my book along with my love and faith in God as a Christian.

When I’m not reading, writing, or coaching, I’m playing volleyball or hanging out with my two smaller furbabies (my three-footed cat named Raja and my half-blind dog named Milo) or on my family’s farm with my much larger furbabies, two Quarter horse Paints named Titan (aka Grumpy) and Winston.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve been an avid reader since childhood. I specifically remember being hooked on The Little House On The Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder and reading it in my neighbor’s tree during the Fall season. I started writing in college my junior year for classes but only started writing my book, In The Dark, when I was 24.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Sarah J Maas
Colleen Houck
Stephenie Meyer

They were all some of my favorites when I was a teenager. Currently, I do not have any favorites as I like to skip around with books and authors. I usually enjoy reading fantasy, paranormal fiction with adventure, some romance, and hints of psychological/trauma notes. I also love to read books set in dystopian societies/worlds!

Tell us a little about your latest book?
“There are monsters in this world. Ones that cause trouble, ones that will not show themselves, ones that tell lies, and ones that stalk your nightmares. Mine has come to meet me in person.”

Kalea lived a simple, carefree life, on the threshold of entering college. That is, until one of the monsters found her. And kidnapped her. Taking her away from her home and throwing her into a place of darkness and screams. Of pain and torture.

On the cusp of giving up all hope, she finds a chance to escape and stumbles onto a secluded mountain property in Colorado. There are strange men here, kind, but they have secrets they’re not telling her. Meanwhile, her Monster is searching for her, and unexplainable things are happening.

In this thrilling supernatural adventure, readers will follow Kalea as she finds her place in a world full of monsters, magic, and madness. They’ll grab hold of the dark secrets that surround her, the fierce friendships in her new community, and the strength of her fortitude as she barrels through tragedy to learn who she is, what she can do, and who she is meant to become.

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Kaelyn Buzzo’s Website

Kaelyn Buzzo Facebook Page

Featured Author E. A. Barker

Featured Interview With E. A. Barker

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am an author with three published works from Toronto, Canada.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I imagine I was about seven when I became a voracious reader of anything to do with space science. Although my books are recent, I started writing professionally in the late 1990’s.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
If I had to pick favourite authors, they would be in the nonfiction genre—especially those who are much smarter than me. Immanuel Velikovsky comes to mind.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The $1.99 Author is an informative and fun book for those who write books and people who think they might want to.

It offers a pragmatic look at today’s publishing options for both budding and previously published authors. Almost every conceivable publishing path is touched upon with the pros and cons of each laid bare. This book is free of sugar-coated empty promises of success. Instead, readers will be made to understand there is a ladder awaiting them, and The 1.99 Author shows us how to climb it safely without going broke, without getting taken, and without too many heartbreaks.

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E. A. Barker’s Website

E. A. Barker Twitter Account

Featured Author Max Bridges

Featured Interview With Max Bridges

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Lucerne, Switzerland. After studies in London and New York, opportunity brought me to the West Coast, where I now live in beautiful Orange County, CA, with my wife Susan, two daughters and a dog. Next to writing, I have been creative in the fields of architecture, design, and photography.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing three years ago after reading a thriller so terrible, I knew I could do better. ‘The Second List’ started as a project to prove myself right.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
As a visually driven person, I am more influenced by movies and directors than authors and books: Godard, Fellini, Lang, Leone, Bergman, Kurosawa, Kubrick, Hitchcock, to name a few. This may be the reason why so many reviewers state that ‘The Second List’ would make a great movie.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
‘The Second List’ is my debut novel, and it took a bit more over two years to write it. I started with only the prologue in mind, not knowing where the journey would take me. Gradually, the story began to emerge, page after page, not only taking the characters, but also myself on a ride that I would not miss for anything. Setting only highest standards for myself, ‘The Second List’ is a book I am truly proud of, and the readers seem to enjoy the thriller as much as I had writing it.

Patrick Rooper, an investigative journalist and ex-Navy SEAL, is looking forward to his upcoming wedding when a rich socialite walks into his office and offers a lucrative assignment. To retrieve a document from the Swiss Alps seems easy enough for someone with Patrick’s accolades, but unbeknownst to him, the undertaking poses an existential threat to someone
powerful—someone desperate to stop him at any cost.

The socialite’s granddaughter, Susan, gets pulled into the unfolding events and narrowly escapes a deadly assassin. When chance unites her with Patrick, the duo must solve the mystery around the document if they want to survive. But with every revelation, the seemingly impossible effort to save their lives draws them even deeper into danger. After a chase halfway around the world, the pair makes a fateful discovery.

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Max Bridges’s Website

Max Bridges Facebook Page

Max Bridges Twitter Account

Featured Author Tracie Ingersoll Loy

Featured Interview With Tracie Ingersoll Loy

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in the suburbs of Seattle, Washington and spent an occasional summer in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. Some of my favorite memories were trying to master the art of geoduck (pronounced goo-e-duck) digging during the low tides on Samish Island. Once you have mastered geoduck digging, you can master anything! Get ready to be covered in mud laughing the entire time.
Later times, my friends and I had the joy of sailing in the San Juan Islands and occasionally into the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, which gave me the idea of the Hartz Island mysteries. The area is known for a rich history of mysteries, smuggling and lawlessness.
Currently I live in Northern Illinois with my family, where I volunteer at our local state park picking up litter as we walk the dogs. The dogs are happy and so are the future campers.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My mother was avid reader and from our youngest years we went to the library every Saturday and picked out our books for the week. We lived in a very small town and the library was the center of our town. In my teenage years I worked as a page at our local library shelving books. I loved the stand that had the paperback romance novels and especially those featuring Australia and the outback. I was hooked on HEA. To this day I still believe in Happily Ever After with worts and all.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I enjoy a series where the characters are developed and stories center around the characters and their lives along with a plot. I do enjoy a good mystery with suspense and romance.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
PEER INTO the NIGHT is the 3rd book of my Hartz Island series, featuring Montana Worthington, who is introduced as a new island resident in book #1, SLIP INTO the NIGHT. She and Jeannie Rogers, owner of the Ferry Dock Cafe become fast friends.

Montana Worthington, Hartz’s Island’s mystical, magical savior of souls and the occasional amateur sleuth, is shaken to her core when the biker father she never knew shows up on Hartz Island searching for her. He claims it is a matter of life and death, but whose life? And why now?
Undercover DEA Agent Ray Carlson is determined to keep his life simple and uncomplicated while assigned to Hartz Island, but the harder he tries to keep a distance from Montana Worthington, the more he is swept into her world.

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Tracie Ingersoll Loy Twitter Account

Featured Author Adriana Tenora

Featured Interview With Adriana Tenora

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Adriana TENORA is the pen name of an author who is dedicating her life to personal development. As a lifelong learner, she constantly reinvents herself through self-discovery work. She can usually be found reading or listening to anything related to mastering the best version of yourself; personal development, wellness, nutrition, health, success and fulfillment. Over the years, she made intermittent fasting a lifestyle, taught herself three foreign languages, lived in different countries, ran businesses and also had different careers in various industries. And she continues to discover new ways to push and improve herself.

Adriana is a non-fiction author, engineer, and entrepreneur. As a trained engineer she writes in a structured, accurate, and candid way, all while keeping it friendly and playful. Her inspiration comes from a combination of science-backed research and personal experience. Following her obsession with certain topics, she devours all the content available and finds ways to adapt and improve it.

When not absorbed in the latest books and podcasts, Adriana loves traveling, boxing, her partner’s cooking, mostly loses when playing Rummikub with her family, and has a weird superpower – the super smell. She currently lives in Paris, enjoying the famous French croissant between writing sessions.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Pretty late in life, at 33 years old and I started writing as soon as I got the calling. 🙂

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I read anything related to self-development, wellness, finance, whatever I find that will help me become the best version of myself.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Ready to finally understand your inner self and discover what has been holding you back from your ideal life? Then keep reading…
Do you often find yourself questioning why you act the way you do? Are you tired of making the same mistakes and falling into the same patterns, over and over again?

If you’ve been living your life without clarity on who you truly are, then you’ve been letting your subconscious mind run the show.

And instead of taking control of the situations in your life, you’re merely reacting to the world around you.

But what if you could transform the way you live your life and exist in the world, just by reflecting on your personal traits and motivations?

This is where the Enneagram comes in.

Unlike other personality tests that limit and force you to conform to rigid types, the Enneagram will help you delve into the inner workings of your personality and develop a more nuanced approach to yourself and your life.

With the Enneagram, you will identify the areas of life that are serving you, as well as the surprising traits that are actively affecting your relationships and experiences.

And as you’re about to find out first-hand, once you develop this deeper level of awareness, you’ll also find it easier to understand the people around you and the motivation behind their actions.

In Naked With the Enneagram, you will discover:

● Comprehensive explorations of all 9 Enneagram types — and advice on how to use the Enneagram as the powerful self-discovery tool that it is
● Exactly how to use the Enneagram to boost your emotional intelligence and gain practical and spiritual knowledge of your unique life path
● A detailed six-part self-test to help you identify the type that most suits you, along with specific wings, subtypes, and more…
● How to gain a deeper understanding of your unique personality and unlock your full potential by applying the Enneagram to your life in a practical way
● Common mistakes people make when identifying their Enneagram type, and how to avoid them and get an accurate result
● Detailed explanations of the challenges for each type and how you can overcome these struggles to find happiness and success.
● Answers to the most frequently asked questions and definitions of the most crucial Enneagram concepts

And much more.

Maybe you’ve taken other personality tests in the past but never felt satisfied with the results.

Often, these tests can feel strict, tedious, or inaccurate, and they can even leave you with more questions than when you started.

The Enneagram is different… if you use it right.

With this easy-to-understand guide, you’ll gain the ability to tap into your potential and learn all there is to know about your specific personality type.

So get ready to free yourself from your old ways, take back control, and stop living your life on autopilot.

To take the first step on the path to self-knowledge read the book “Naked with the Enneagram: A Powerfully Accurate, no-BS Journey into Your Unique Personality Type”.

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Featured Author Steve Wilmot

Featured Interview With Steve Wilmot

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
My passion is to encourage and inspire Christians on their long and sometimes treacherous spiritual journey Home. Over the years, I’ve learned valuable lessons from my own journey of faith and developed indispensable relationships that kept me from giving up when discouragement and lack of hope told me to. My purpose in life is to pay it forward whenever I can — first as a pastor for 40 years and now as a writer and mentor.

I was born and raised in Garrett, a small town in northeast Indiana. I was shy and insecure, so I spent much of school years in relative privacy. I had my church youth group and my interests — baseball, reading, and writing — to keep me cover. Things began to change once I left my town environment and had a chance to meet new people at college.
I attended Great Lakes Bible College and between my Jr. and Sr. married college sweetheart, Becki, in 1974. She supplied great support to me — and many times was my anchor and cheerleader — during our years leading churches from 1976 – 2016. We pastored in Payne, Ohio, Napoleon, Ohio, Edinburg, Indiana, and finally Edgerton, Ohio. We served and settled down there for the past 35 years.
We have four grown children and eight grandchildren ranging in age from a senior in high school to a three-year-old not ready for school yet. I retired from my bi-vocational jobs as a pastor and a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service. Along with devotionals, spiritual growth books, and novels, I write a weekly column, “Pastor’s Ponderings,” for two local newspapers. Writing has become my primary avenue to encourage, inspire, and help believers grow in their relationship with God.
In my spare time, I enjoy engaging with my grandkids, reading, gardening, and landscaping around the house. I remain connected with my small group of guys, the Band of Brothers, as we travel side-by-side toward Christlike character and Home. We’ve discovered the Christian life is not Jesus and me — It’s Jesus and we. So, we’ve committed to encourage, support, love, and unconditionally accept each other along our spiritual journey.
I also like to share stories and lessons from my spiritual journey and teach from God’s Word at churches and conferences.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I loved to read books starting in childhood. They took me into worlds that inspired me to take more risks and instructed me in who Jesus was and that he loved me. I started writing in high school. Our school had a newspaper, and as a Jr. I signed up. I covered mostly sports but enjoyed this extra-curricular activity. In my Sr. year, I was promoted to editor, and was awarded the Quill & Scroll award — the highest journalistic award for high school student. It was quite an honor. I’ve been writing ever since, from sermons and Bible lessons to newspaper stories (I owned the local newspaper for 3 years) to books. I love it.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite author is John Eldredge. His books changed my life in many ways and still do.
I also read a lot of Ted Dekker and Andy Stanley.
My most recent favorite authors are John Lynch, Bruce McNichol, and Bill Thrall. Their books, “Bo’s Cafe” and “The Cure” have made a powerful impact on me.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Joseph is an amazing believer who can teach Christians lots about how to deal with harsh and unfair treatment in a godly way. The book, “30 Days with Joseph: Insights from Joseph’s Spiritual Adventure for Yours.” It’s the second in a series of devotionals drawing helpful insights from Bible characters so we can learn from their stories. The first book looked at Joshua.

For 13 years the circumstances of his life went from bad to worse. Slave. Alleged rapist. Prison convict. He did nothing to deserve such treatment. Yet Joseph never whined or complained. He didn’t get angry or depressed. In fact, when he had the chance to take revenge, he chose mercy, grace, and generosity instead.

Christians today have their ups and downs that challenge their faith and make them wonder why bad things happen to them when they’re following Jesus.

How did Joseph do it?

You’ll find answers in 30 Days with Joseph, the second in an expanding series of devotionals written to examine how Bible characters navigated the challenges of their spiritual journey. Each day of the month, you’ll accompany Joseph and be inspired by a faith firmly rooted in the God who is in total control of everything, is always on time (though it doesn’t seem like it to us), and always keeps his word.

From Joseph’s story, you’ll learn how to overcome the challenges you encounter along the way… even when God doesn’t ride to your rescue right away.

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Steve Wilmot’s Website

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Featured Author Mélissa Délalie Houinsou

Featured Interview With Mélissa Délalie Houinsou

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
My name is Mélissa Délalie Houinsou, I am 20 years old. I was born in Cotonou, Benin. Currently, I live in Ottawa, Canada and I am studying health sciences. I love music, writing, reading and comic shows. I currently don’t own any pets but I had a dog named snipper back in my home country. Unfortunately, she died a few years ago.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I realized that I loved books at a very young age, around 7 or so. I actually even started writing in primary school. Of course, it was more of drawing and writing.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Many authors inspired me through out my journey. First, the legend, J.K Rowlings; she inspired me with her imagination and the way she created her own world with her words. I also really like John Green, Meg Cabot! I actually rode princess diary during my high school years and it made me really like books. I love christian books, romance, thrillers and new adult books. I also have a “crush” on science fiction books.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
You made me smile is my latest published book. I wrote it because I battled with depression, and I know many people also do, even though they don’t talk about it. I wanted to create the story of someone who went through it and met another person ready to help them get through it.

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Mélissa Délalie Houinsou’s Website

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Featured Author Ivan Obolensky

Featured Interview With Ivan Obolensky

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in New York. I summered occasionally in my early years in Rhinebeck, NY, at our family estate Marienruh (https://ivanobolensky.com/the-rhinebeck-house-eotm/), which is the model for the “Rhinebeck” in my “Eye of the Moon” series novels. I now live in Uruguay with my wife, Mary Jo.

I have had pets, from dogs to horses. I do not have any now. Their lifespans are shorter than our own, and there is always a loss when a pet passes. Robert the Bruce (https://ivanobolensky.com/the-real-robert-the-bruce/) was modeled after my bull terrier, Lisa.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was fascinated early with books, and I still am. I read all the time. If someone asked what I would like to do all day, reading would be my answer. Of course, there is never enough time. I carry a Kindle wherever I go that is waterproof and almost bulletproof. I open it whenever I have to wait for something. My Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17347655.Ivan_Obolensky) Currently Reading list is constantly updated with books such as “Dead Man’s Debt” and “The Body: A Guide for Occupants”.

I wrote in school but, even with the occasional praise and publication, I did not consider it something to pursue. Mary Jo inspired me to start writing as an adult when she asked me to write nonfiction articles (https://dynamicdoingness.com/our-articles/articles-2011-2017/) she could translate into Spanish for her full-service translations boutique website.

Around the same time, I had also started writing fiction through a Long Ridge Writers Course, “Breaking into Print”, which resulted in the short stories about Johnny and Percy, who got into all sorts of hijinks. These characters became the heart of my “Eye of the Moon” series (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096L9TS5G?binding=kindle_edition&qid=1637780110&sr=8-1&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tukn) and the third novel, which I am writing now. It is even tentatively titled “Johnny and Percy”. People who sign up for my newsletter can read the first two chapters of the third novel, but they would need to have read the previous novels in the series to get the full effect.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have many genres I enjoy reading, but if I had to pick four it would be literary fiction, classics, mystery, and science fiction.

There are several books and authors who inspire me, but a sample of six books that changed my world are on my blog (https://ivanobolensky.com/six-books/): “Great Expectations”, “Man’s Search for Meaning”, “The Lord of the Rings”, “The Tao Te Ching”, “Ethan Frome”, and “Emma”.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
“Shadow of the Son” is Book Two in the “Eye of the Moon” series. It starts shortly after the end of the first book, “Eye of the Moon”. “Shadow of the Son” would be difficult to describe without describing the first in the series. It wasn’t supposed to be a series at all but there was a clamor for more, and I decided to write a follow-up to “Eye of the Moon”. The sequel was an interesting exercise. I took all the points that I had left somewhat hanging (not many), or which could use more detail, from “Eye of the Moon” and fashioned a story out of them that is wonderfully complex.

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Ivan Obolensky’s Website

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Featured Author Curtis Abrams Jr.

Featured Interview With Curtis Abrams Jr.

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I’ve enlisted in the military for 8 years, graduated from the University of Alabama with a BS in Communications. In addition to studying social and behavioral psychology, I have conducted interviews and research for various projects. I own and operate a business in the Florida panhandle doing home inspections and insurance claims adjusting. My education includes 7 years of private tutoring. I’m also a contributor to the hunger relief organization Feeding America whose mission is to feed anyone who is facing hunger with food banks and meal programs. I’m studying to become a life-coach. I have a son and a daughter, who’s currently in college. I love pets and I love children. I frequently write short stories to hone my skills and I often travel cross country and internationally to explore different aspects of cultures and people. I am learning to play the acoustic guitar and keyboard.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My fascination with books started at 12 years old, I started writing at age 28 in 2001.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite authors to read are Napoleon Hill, Rhonda Byrne, Stephen King, Agatha Christie, John Grisham Earl Nightingale, Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, George R.R. Martin.

My favorite genre to read are Self help, mystery novels, fiction and non-fiction.

These writers inspire me, James Baldwin, Rhonda Byrne, August Wilson, Michael Eric Dyson.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The book examines a person’s mental, physical, social and spiritual, or emotional, aspect of being a loner and having introverted characteristics from a complex world of society. It chronicles the individual’s journey in becoming a loner and studying his/her journey in solitude. The book explores how people interact and how solitude impacts their daily lives, and what one can do to endure the onset of separation when living a rat race life. The book is expressed through 4 different animal-instinct types of environmental, innate way of life in solitude and freedom. It’s refined for all ages to read, from the teenager, to adult and to the elderly. “Curtstride” expounded the author’s understanding of what it takes to define and evolve in your purpose as a person who, in this case, engages in positive self-isolation.

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Featured Author D. G. D. Davidson

Featured Interview With D. G. D. Davidson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up on the east side, the dry side, of Oregon. Because of where I lived, I got used to always having mountains on the horizon, and it’s a little challenging to live without them. For a long time, I worked as an archaeologist and roved around the Midwest. I “retired” from that work by getting a master’s degree in library science and settling down as an academic librarian at a small university. I have no pets at the moment, but that’s probably for the best since my wife and I just had a daughter. Pets should come after children, or they’re liable to get jealous.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
In kindergarten, I dictated a swashbuckling pirate story to my teacher, who gamely wrote it down. My mother still has it and cherishes it. That was my first effort.

In elementary school, I grew disenchanted with books. Most of the children’s works that were popular at the time were “realistic” stories. Beverly Cleary, in particular, was widely read, but I didn’t like her work because I wanted something more imaginative. What fired up my love for reading was CITY BEYOND THE CLOUDS, one of the volumes in Great Marvel, an old-school boys’ adventure series from the first half of the twentieth century. Until I read that, I didn’t know books could be so fantastical and action-oriented.

I attempted writing throughout my childhood. I loved Ray Bradbury in middle and high school, so my writing at that time was extremely purple in a poor attempt to imitate his style. It’s a truism of the craft that you have to produce a lot of bad work before finally creating something good.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Ray Bradbury remains one of my all-time favorites, though I prefer his older works. The greatest influence on my new novel is Talbot Mundy, who wrote pulp adventures set in the British Raj. I have reached a point in my reading in which I am, admittedly, almost wholly uninterested in contemporary fiction writers because I still have so many classics and nonfiction works to get under my belt. That may change again soon.

Recently, I dived into H. Rider Haggard, one of the all-time great adventure writers. And at the moment, I am starting Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. I just finished H. G. Wells’s SHORT HISTORY OF THE WORLD, which is still one of the best short treatments of the subject. Alexander Pope’s translation of the Iliad so enthralled me that reading it felt like an out-of-body experience, and it remains one of my favorite works.

In addition to already-famous novels and nonfiction, I consume quite a lot of Japanese manga. It’s usually easy to read on the side while I’m also reading more demanding works. Witch Hat Atelier and One Punch Man currently have my interest, but I also have a weakness for silly bubblegum love stories. I like magical girls quite a bit, but that genre has been going through its emo phase ever since 2011 and has become less appealing as a result.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My new novel, RAGS AND MUFFIN, is in a sense my first novel. They say the first novel is the one that takes the longest to produce, and I had been working on this one for quite a while, even before I wrote the other books I have published.

RAGS AND MUFFIN is an urban fantasy with elements of horror. Its setting draws heavily on the kaleidoscopic culture of India and on adventure stories of the Raj, particularly Talbot Mundy’s works and Rudyard Kipling’s KIM. I spent time in India before writing it; that helped me with some of the descriptions of the megalopolis temple city in which the story takes place.

The basic concept draws heavily on the Nepalese worship of kumaris, or young girls who serve as living goddesses. I combined elements of this fascinating practice with some of the magical-girl tropes from Japanese pop culture to create the character of Rags, a living goddess who is also a dangerous vigilante.

Although I don’t like the term, the book is a “deconstruction” of the trope of the child hero who goes to school during the day and saves the world at night. Although almost invulnerable both physically and emotionally, Rags has surrounded herself with other children who aid her crime-fighting efforts. Unlike Rags, those children get the full brunt of their enemies’ brutality. In most stories of child heroes, the villains are buffoons, foolish adults who are so silly that even children can beat them. I wanted to change that formula by pitting kids against genuinely evil and ruthless adults who are perfectly willing to do the most atrocious things to children. For that reason, RAGS AND MUFFIN is not only a story with a lot of action and excitement but also a tale of horrifying abuse. Balancing those elements, being careful about what is shown and what is not, and being tasteful, was extremely difficult. The reader will decide if I succeeded.

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Featured Author Hazel Mattice

Featured Interview With Hazel Mattice

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in an isolated community in rural North Dakota. I live in LaMoure, North Dakota with my Labrador retriever, Murphy and cat Boris.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I remember the first chapter books being the Mandie series by Lois Gladys Leppard when I was 9. At the age of 12, my dad removed the TV from our house, and that’s where my devotion was solidified. I wrote stories growing up in school (home school) and wrote my first novel in 2010.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Stephen King (of course) John Saul, Sandra Brown, C.S. Lewis, Ted Dekker. The creepy parts are inspired by Stephen King and John Saul, Ted Dekker inspires my devotion to real stories about God, and romance and kissing parts I thank Sandra Brown, with whom I got to tweet with, and won a signed copy of Friction, and Julie Garwood who knows how to sweep a reader away with one kiss.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Thirsty Ground is the third book in my series The Chosen Five where 5 children are born in Mercy Hospital in Valley City, North Dakota, on the same day. Thirsty Ground is about reserved Simon Anderson who has numerous enemies, and must take a stand to win the woman of his dreams.

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Hazel Mattice’s Website

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