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 Fred Tippett, II

Featured Interview With Fred Tippett, II

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am Fred Tippett, II, the author of the recently released YA Mystery novel THE LETHAL LIST–-which is currently on sale now via Amazon. I was raised in Alabama and live there now, though I was away from my home state for quite a while because I attended college in Georgia and law school in Philadelphia. I am currently a Washington-DC-barred attorney. Sadly, I do not have any pets.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I first realized that I was fascinated with books during early childhood–-when I became nigh obsessed with Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew titles (both the originals and the later branch-off books). As I grew into my teen years, my tastes began to mature a bit, tending more towards YA novels written by traditionally published, big-name authors like James Patterson or Anthony Horowitz or James Frey. I also started reading more adult-oriented novels as well, some by James Patterson, some by Sue Grafton or Michael Connelly, some by other authors.

I first began writing during my freshman year of college, though this wasn’t writing books “in proper.” It was more like very detailed outlining. The laying out of books–outlining them–has always been rather easy for me, and I created very detailed outlines for MANY books beginning during my freshman year. Somehow, though, I never quite found the bravery to put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) in writing a proper book until one rainy Sunday during my second year of law school. I’m still a master outliner to this day–but since then, I ALSO have been writing books as quickly as the ideas will come to me.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite authors tend to change often–but I will say that as of right now, I heavily favor works by Michael Connelly, Mary Higgins Clark, and C.S. Lewis.

I have three favorite genres: Science Fiction, Mystery, and Fantasy, not necessarily in that order. Nevertheless, I do read quite a bit more Mystery than I do Sci Fi or Fantasy.

As an author, I have to say that I take inspiration from just about EVERYTHING. Real world events, day-to-day life, things that I read, even things that I write. Every book begins with one or more ideas, and ideas can come from anywhere–-at any time.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book–-THE LETHAL LIST–-is also my second published. It is a Young Adult Mystery novel whose primary character is Katelyn Elms.

Katelyn, a seventeen-year-old aspiring investigative reporter, is saddened and shocked by the sudden suicide of her friend Marnie Overton in her Santa Barbara home. Then, after the initial police investigation, Katelyn notices multiple inconsistencies that the cops overlooked—and begins to believe that Marnie was actually murdered by a clever and elusive killer.

Prompted by the insistence of Marnie’s young daughter, Katelyn launches her own investigation and quickly uncovers a disturbing number of buried secrets and lies surrounding Marnie’s final days, including mysterious relationships with a shady district attorney and a womanizing and temperamental boss. Stonewalled by a police force determined to look no deeper into Marnie’s case and unwilling to let a child relitigate the matter, Katelyn presses on with the covert assistance of the Police Chief’s son—who also happens to be the one boy whose affections she has silently pursued for the past three years.

But when her efforts turn up a second questionable suicide, a book of suspects, and a motive to kill with dark ties to a massive underground conspiracy, Katelyn finds that she herself is fast becoming a target for premature death.

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Fred Tippett, II’s Website

Fred Tippett, II Twitter Account

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Featured Author Mark Holloway

Featured Interview With Mark Holloway

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hi, I’m Mark Holloway, a 27-year-old debut fantasy indie author, based in England, UK.

Like most indie authors, I have a day job, where for me personally I work as a scientist. Creative writing, especially fantasy writing, is an outlet for me to break free of the highly technical work I do during my day job, letting me express myself in a way that is almost entirely alien to my professional career.

I live with my wife, and rescue hamster – a half-blind Syrian hamster called Apricot – whose lack of depth perception makes her a terror to handle, but doesn’t stop her from being outrageously cute.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve been reading fantasy since I was about seven or eight. As I child, I suffered quite a lot from insomnia so reading late at night was one of my getaways from the sheer boredom of lying awake for hours on end, waiting for sleep to take me.

I’ve always loved creative writing, but it was something I always shied away from or even felt self-conscious about as a child. It wasn’t truly until the past year that I really started giving myself the time to write properly, and I fell in love with writing once again.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I’ve always loved fantasy, and there are some fantasy authors that as a fan, you cannot escape from their gravitational pull. One of my all time favourite fantasy authors is of course Robin Hobb, who taught me stories didn’t need to have a happy ending, nor did they need to go the way you want them to. Her stories have always lasted with me far beyond what other authors have written.

Outside of fantasy, I also love some of the classics, particularly Dickens and Shakespeare (yes, I can feel the eye rolls from here, but honestly, Othello is one of my all-time favourite pieces of literature). Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is probably my favourite novel, which makes sense, because I’m also a huge Terry Pratchett fan, and the two are sides of the same coin.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
A healer forced to become a killer for an empire that would grind his country to dust.

Years ago, Aspectors protected the land, performing esoteric miracles both wondrous and terrifying. They used their magic connection to the realm of the Aspect to serve the people of their country, healing the sick, and guarding their borders.

Then the Vin Irudur Empire attacked.

Now as soon as Aspectors are discovered, they are ripped from their families and forced into academies run by the empire to be trained as the Vin Irudur see fit.

To Kehlem, Aspectors are a distant legend, of little importance to the town of Barrowheld where he works with his father as a physician. But when an enforcer of the empire is sent to town in search of an Aspector gone rogue, Kehlem finds himself at the very centre of the empire’s attention.

Kehlem must prove himself useful to the empire, but to do so would turn himself into a weapon so sharp, it would cut any that tried to hold him.

The Soul’s Aspect is a coming of age story, in a similar tradition to those presented by Hobb, Rothfuss and Kuang, but with a particular focus on making sure characters face real repercussions for the pigheaded actions that can often occur in these types of books. All in all, The Soul’s Aspect took around 6 months to write, and then a further 6 months to edit and refine.

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Mark Holloway’s Website

Featured Author Sven Nilsson

Featured Interview With Sven Nilsson

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m an urban planner currently living in Barcelona. I visited and worked in a dozen of countries, so I do really like to discover new places and cultures. All my living experience at last embodied in a book which I am glad to present now.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I liked to read as long as I remember myself but to write a book is different. It’s my first, but i hope not the last book. Follow me on the pages on my book Downfall and you will discover beautiful Barcelona that you have never heard!

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I like classics like Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky but good phylosophers are welcome too, like Nietzsche for example.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Downfall is an exciting novel about life, carreer ambitions, love, difficulties of adaptation in nice but complicated Barcelona. With the main hero you will discover fantastic hidden places on this sunny city, but its secrets and problems also. You will see by his eyes joyes and pain of the people around him, will sympathize him in his sufferings and rejoice his unexpected love and beautyful moments. The book is full of nice descriptions of places, food, events and reflections.

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Sven Nilsson Facebook Page

Featured Author Susan Beth Miller

Featured Interview With Susan Beth Miller

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Chicago and its northern suburbs. I have lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan since 1969 when I moved there for college, then stayed for graduate school in Clinical Psychology. I got a doctoral degree in psychology and have been a practicing psychologist for many years. At the moment I live in a house with my housemate Mahmoud and my dog, Sylvie, a rescue dog who hails from West Virginia.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I became fascinated with writing at the age of nine. My fourth grade teacher gave the class a creative writing exercise that fully engaged me. I didn’t even get a good grade on it, but I was hooked.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite books are in the literary fiction category though I also read non-fiction at times, especially nature-oriented writing. This last year, I loved reading The Overstory, which spoke to my love of great fiction and my love of nature. I thought it was a terrific book. I’ve also been reading Toni Morrison who is an amazing writer.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My novel, A Beautiful Land, comes out on October 8, 2021–probably past the date of publication for this interview. The novel that was inspired by my wish to try to understand more deeply some of the human dimensions of ethnic violence. It also explores guilt, including guilt in the context of motherhood, and it explores the appropriation of motherhood. The book has multiple settings, but one is a threatening but also protective forest.

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Susan Beth Miller’s Website

Susan Beth Miller Facebook Page

Susan Beth Miller Twitter Account

Featured Author C.M. Halstead

Featured Interview With C.M. Halstead

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
When people ask me where I was raised, I reply, “Everywhere!”. I was raised on Air Force bases, not one, multiple. The US Military likes to move their personnel around, that or my parents liked short term stays in various parts of the world and the government allowed them to move around at will. Not.
Who remembers Andy Griffith show and the town they lived in? I tell people that growing up on base was like Mayberry with war. SAC bases during the 1970’s and 80’s were all about paying attention to what USSR was doing and where their military was staging and being prepared for nuclear attack. Everyone knew that if it came to nuclear war both the United States of America and the United Soviet Socialist Republic could make the planet earth inhabitable for humans. The cold war was the epitome of “if you want peace, prepare for war.” It may have taken the movie “War Games” for common culture to realize what military personnel and governments already knew, yet the professional’s knew that all out nuclear war would end the human population. at the dinner table one night when the conversation came up (did nuclear war come up during your dinner table conversations?) that I should not worry, if nuclear war happens, living on SAC base like we do, we will not feel a thing. That is not to say we would survive, or be in a fallout shelter (yes, the base had those, and most base housing had basements), it meant that the nuclear bomb that was aimed at the base would destroy it and everything within 50 miles or so in every direction.
Now, with that knowledge, the threat of life ending war, and the “commies” attempting to infiltrate the base fears you still go about your day to day lives. The base schools were well funded, each base had movies theaters, fast food, commissary for food and other desired goods. Children were free to roam the unrestricted areas of the bases, playgrounds and ball fields were interspersed within the housing areas. Many bases were located near forests, rivers, and other areas to explore. We played with GI Joe action figures, pick up baseball, war with bb guns, and jumped bmx bikes off of wooden ramps and dirt mounds. We played with innocent abandon and the knowledge that we could die in an instant.

Where I live now is one of the few remaining frontiers of the lower 48, or the closest thing we have to it in 2021. It is a high desert area located on the fringes of the largest continuous stand of Ponderosa Pines the United States has. An area created by the push-up of tetonic plates forming a plateau of about 240,000 square miles. Although I live off-grid on acreage containing mostly moenkopi rock and juniper trees, within a couple hours drive I can be playing on mountains, sand dunes, millions of acres of national forests, national parks, blm land, and other unkept spaces. I can see sporting events in big cities and experience the culture of tourist areas and then drive home to the quietest place I’ve lived or worked. As an author I work from home, so home office is standard, not pandemic induced. When I wrote in town, I had to wear sound deadening headphones at all times! I found it hard to create other worlds and work the protagonist’s hero’s journeys whilst the garbage truck going by reminded me it is Tuesday, or all the dogs barking (I had to edit out of my writing, “and the dog barks” way to often.) or….. you get the drift. I know live out in the middle of “nowhere” so I can write and focus without the distracts of town and the humans contained therein. Out here I find uninterrupted thought common, human drama is kept at a distance, and the nights are quiet with only the sounds of our conversation, movie, or football game, not those of our 20 neighbors within a quarter mile. Plus when you maintain a minimalist lifestyle in 2020’s America, it is easy to keep the visitors at a minimum. Quiet and drama free are our visitation requirements. Keep the drama addictions elsewhere.

Pets you ask? Strange enough, even though my life has been highly mobile, pets were common. Every base had a newspaper where ads for “free to a good home” were common. Anything from dogs, cats, lizards, snakes, fish, you name it, could be obtained from a family moving overseas or anywhere that was inconvenient to takes pets with them. Besides, you knew you could get new pets at the new location anyway. Pets, even in stationary life, are one of life’s great lessons on the cycle of life, loyalty, adaptation, responsibility, and reciprocation. We currently have outdoor cats and a giant pound hound mutt of the loyalist kind who’s self imposed job it is to keep all visitors, two legged or four, off the property. Even though I enjoy seeing deer and the like, I am grateful he keeps most of the foxes, coyotes, and other predators at bay. It is one of the reasons he gets the best pet food and the occasional steak.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve always had a fascination with books. As a child it was nursery rhymes and golden books, at some point it morphed to Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, throughout I also got my hands on my dad’s Longarm books and other western themed stories. Then in 8th grade I discovered Stephen King, I mostly read him and repeat reads of the 100 or so Hardy Boys books I had in my possession. Honestly high school mostly found me reading the required readings of school, the classics all the way back to the Greek’s and the newer lessons of Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, and Huckleberry Finn. The list goes on and is surely more or less the same today. Common cultures (the masses) change slow and the lessons of stories stand the tests of time.

I wrote a few poems, that sort of thing in my teen years, one poem I wrote in my 20’s, between then and my early 40’s all writing was of the business kind. Either writing proposals, refusals, systems and procedures, or emails. I did not allow myself to do what I wanted to do since high school and that was to be a creative writer. Stephen King inspired me to write my stories, to write what I think, to write what comes, not what the judgers and critics of the world say we “should” write.
The biggest catalyst in getting me to start producing as an author was part of my goodnight ritual I had with my son. When he was younger and I tucked him into bed and turned out the lights, I would say, “I love you. You are awesome. You can be anything.” After years of saying this it became hard to deny I was not walking my talk here. I knew I wanted to write and would not allow myself to be the ONE thing I wanted to be. And my life is a history of being anything I wanted to be, and to honest, at times to do things that others thought that I couldn’t do to prove I could. It was time to put up or shut-up, time to walk my talk, time to learn how to be a writer and learn how to write the stories I needed to tell. I put in my notice at work and after a short unsuccessful attempt at the same job in another location, I focused on writing hero’s journeys. It is now seven years later and I am getting warmed up and comfortable in writing my style.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I tend to prefer storytellers or world builders. I do enjoy enough world building to take me out of mine and into what the writer wants me to know. The parts that move the story forwards. Post-apocalyptic sets a tone of “starting over”, being “on your own”, “no civilization”. Time travel sets the tone of lessons of the past or future to learn. Why are we going back in time? to save the world or myself…. Like myself, I enjoy other writers that write adventures, coming of age stories, and situational stories. Stories that put people out of their element to succeed or fail. To test their boundaries and belief systems. To go from walking dead to conscious human. I enjoy stories about the things the politically correct culture refuses to acknowledge. Our shadows, the parts of ourselves that we hide, repress, deny.

i do not have a favorite genre or genres, I enjoy the storytellers in their genre. I find genre searches a hard way to find authors that are story tellers vs world builders. I rely on other readers and their reviews to help me differentiate. Goodreads is becoming my favorite source of new reads. The library the best source. I still prefer print books over digital. Perhaps it is because I write on the computer and have always read on paper.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is a culmination of three November NaNoWriMo’s. I appreciate the support structure of their process, the desire to teach authors to crank out words, and the acknowledgement that flow is what writes novels, not conscious thought. HBD (Here Be Dragons) is a story about the fringes of the map, the areas of culture most deny. The things that many utilize but are unaware of the costs. HBD is a story of internal espionage, serial killers, and hero’s. A story for grown-ups, not just those that got bigger. A story for those that want to get lost in a world that could or could not be real. Male and female hero’s adorn the pages, same goes for the crazier side of things as well. Life is not black and white in the world of spy’s and serial killers, and betrayal is eminent. Who will thrive and who will endure?

Marty Roberts has an opportunity to save the world, not from itself, but from the humans that dominate it. He sits, thinking. Determined to find a solution, no idea how lost he is.
Agent Joanne Clay urgently moves forward in her career, hell-bent on making her reputation and moving on from her family’s. She, a new generation of FBI agent.
Enter a clandestine agency, a psycho or three and the race for power gets violent. A whodunit, full of power and personal struggles. Who will prevail, the young, FBI-backed agent or Marty Roberts, alone and on mission?

From an author perspective, this book is a release from my personal constraints and boundaries, all the protagonists in this book live outside of normal societal constraints. normal is a relative term and the characters here all thrive in their version of normal. the serial killer, the spy, the assassin, the FBI agent, all live by different rules and boundaries. Each believe theirs are the correct ones. Each living by their own ethos and confident in their knowledge that their way is the right way. No matter how much it clashes with another.

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C.M. Halstead’s Website

Featured Author Bruce Calhoun

Featured Interview With Bruce Calhoun

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Exploring the woods behind my house when I was growing up in rural Wisconsin, working passage on a tramp freighter, fending off White Tipped oceanic sharks on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, filming lowland gorillas in Africa, capsizing a sailboat in the Bermuda Triangle, mushing sled dogs in Alaska, teaching marine biology in Puerto Rico, visiting the Amazon and founding Save the Rainforest in 1988 are but a few of the highlights in my life. Other highlights include writing an award winning play, an autobiography and my latest novel, Ardennia. Currently I am serving as president of Save the Rainforest and living a rather sedate life in Southwestern Wisconsin with my beloved wife and my dog, Paco.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I fell in love with books in conjunction with falling in love with nature at the tender age of fourteen. Not only did I fall in love with nature, I became enamored of wilderness – especially after reading some Jack London novels. His books had such an influence on me that I went to college at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, where as I already mentioned, I did some dog mushing.

I started writing at sixteen, as I recollect. My first short story was about a hunter getting treed by an grizzly. Little did I dream that some day I would I would have my own encounter with a grizzly – in Glacier National Park. Life mirrors fiction?

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I read a lot of historical non-fiction, but I also love the literary fiction: Cervantes’s DON QUIXOTE is one of my all time favorites; such a favorite that my latest book draws inspiration from Cervantes. I must give honarble mention to the books of Victor Hugo, Leo Tolstoy, Oscar Wilde and John Steinbeck, as well.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
A Cinderella story like no other, my book, ARDENNIA: THE UNLIKELY STORY OF CINDERELL’S PRINCE, is a young adult historical fantasy that captures the magic, brutality and earthiness of the medieval age. It chronicles the many adventures of Cinderella’s prince as he experiences his first joust, undergoes his baptism of fire in the Battle of Paris, is charmed by Cinderella at a masquerade ball, and sets off on a quest to find her after she flees the ball at the midnight hour.

The quest takes him and his folksy mentor, Sir Guy, through strange lands supposedly inhabited by ogres, pixies, hobgoblins, man-eating plants and giants; and peopled by an extraordinary and motley cast of characters that include an epileptic bard, a bean counter who wagers his gold tooth in a dice game, a merchant who can never be too prosperous, a little girl who has a running feud with three bears, pilgrims that argue over who is the most pious and a beggar who has been cursed with leprosy for committing all the cardinal sins. Be on the look-out for a bit of Chaucer-like satire in this adapted fairy tale.

It only took me a couple months to come up with a rough draft of ARDENNIA. It has taken twice as much time to polish it, and get the word out about it. So, if you are reading this – that’s great: And let me just add there are at least seven great reasons for reading ARDENNIA. They are:

7. Robinette the Hood’s cameo
6. The buffoon’s gambit
5. The ironic ending
4. The love affair between Cinderella’s stepmother and the hunchback
3. Sir Guy’s story of the elf and the troll
2. Queen Bernadette’s sagacity
1. Prince Henry’s tete-a-tetes with the 14 ladies who attended

Links to reviews and to purchase the book are on my website.

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Bruce Calhoun Facebook Page

Featured Author Julian Demarco

Featured Interview With Julian Demarco

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in both Florida and Michigan, each having its extremes with the weather close to family members in both states. Most of my life was spent living in Florida near the ocean which became my calming tool if I needed to just think. I wanted more for my daughters for opportunities beyond our small town so, we moved to Tennessee. Living in a small town but having big dreams for them and myself was the push to have a better life.

I am a childhood trauma and domestic violence survivor. The abuse started before I was four years old by an uncle by marriage. Later in life, I experienced domestic violence so severe, I knew if I didn’t take the help of my daughter, that the next time would be the last. Leaving was one thing, but the memories of being beaten still looped in my head and diagnosed with Complex PTSD, anxiety disorder, and depression. An article that I read changed my life substantially. I used the techniques described in the article on myself with the second technique being successful. I couldn’t believe it. After suffering for over 40 years with traumas, I felt “normal. With NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming) being so valuable, I started helping my friends overcome their trauma. It led to the pursuit of education to be board certified. If it weren’t for this education later, I would’ve been stuck unable to move.

I had a bad car accident with injuries when an 18 wheel tractor-trailer sideswiped my car with my eldest daughter and three-year-old grandson in the back. My car spun us across three lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic, although none of them hit us. My car and my body were damaged. Knowing that I needed to get my mind straight, I started going through the techniques, If it weren’t for my training, I wouldn’t have been able to drive us the rest of the three to four hours home.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve always been interested in psychology, started after getting a college textbook when I was ten years old. I wanted to know why people do the things they do. Trying to understand why someone would abuse a little girl just before four years old fueled that interest.

I started writing at about the same time. My mother would read me poems from Longfellow, so I began writing poems first, then short stories after reading my mother’s Reader Digest. I was hooked! I wrote longer stories and even started writing a fictional love story writing three chapters. Obstacles in life got in the way, and my portfolio got lost in our move, so I never finished it

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I like to read various genres from non-fiction such as John Gray Ph.D., and Riso ad Hudson, to fiction like John Sanford and James Patterson with romance novels thrown in between. To choose a favorite, I may lean more towards Patterson, although Steven King’s books are superb.

After reading then re-reading one particular book that I’m sure everyone has read from John Gray, Ph.D. it made a lot of sense to me. I already knew there were differences, and the book delved deeper into the psychology of it all. It was very enlightening to assist in understanding the language and Sociology.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
This book just received the Reader’s Choice for four 5 Star editorial review awards. My book is for those who are suffering after a death, divorce, or a breakup. It is a gently guided step by step book to ease you away from suffering and how to move forward with forgiveness, healing and peace. You may feel broken, lost and falling into depression. Included in this book, are several self help therapies to help you to find yourself again after feeling broken.

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Julian Demarco Facebook Page

Featured Author Megan Speece

Featured Interview With Megan Speece

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in Southern Oregon, where my parents still live. My husband and I now live in Northern Washington on an island. It’s pretty much like living in a post card, and I’m always reminding myself how lucky were are to live some place so beautiful. We have two dogs: an 11 year old German Shepherd named Kasumi, and a 7 year old pit mix named Bishop. They are the joy of my days. I work from home, so I get to spend all my time with them and they are the best coworkers I’ve ever had. We also have a hamster named Hamilton. His full name is actually Tiny Rodent Hamilton, and I sing to him to the tune of “Alexander Hamilton” from the musical Hamilton. You’re welcome for the ear worm.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Pretty young. My parents are avid readers, and they read to me every night. I have a fond memory where I had memorized One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and “read” it to them, with the book upside down. By the time I could actually read, we were frequent patrons of the local library. I’m the youngest in my family by a decade, so I spent a lot of time alone. I got lost in the worlds of books. And I loved every minute of it.

I guess I’ve been writing in some form or fashion since elementary school. I spent some energy on fanfiction as a young adult. But I didn’t really start taking it seriously until very recently.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Chuck Palahniuk and Stephen King are my favorites to read. I will pick up a Palahniuk book as soon as I know it exists. I love thrillers and horror, if you couldn’t tell based on my author choices. I have a soft sport for ghosts. I’ve been very inspired by Simone St. James, who introduced me to the dual timelines ghost story. She has a real knack for spooky suspense that I’m trying really hard to emulate, in my own way.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Tranquil Heights is a mixture of Simone St. James’ The Broken Girls and Practical Magic. It’s a ghost story that takes place in an asylum turned boarding school in Washington State, and it takes you on this mystery tour of the past, which informs the ghost story of the present. There’s a lot of emotion built into it, from premature deaths of loved ones, to America’s history of unfair treatment of women. I put a lot of feelings into this work, and I based the main character and her husband off of me and my husband. Katie’s kind of an exaggerated version of my insecurities, the less exciting side of me. Her husband is very skeptical, but also supportive. He’s going to do his best to do what’s best for her, and that’s absolutely who my husband is for me.

I’m someone who hyper-focuses. So I spent all of my free time working on this book. And if I wasn’t actively writing, I was talking about it with my husband. Or I was thinking about what I wanted to write next when I was supposed to be watching TV. I purposefully took weekends off from writing to spend with my friends, and try to avoid burnout, but even then I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about it. Because of this hyper-focus it took me roughly a month and half to write start to finish. It’s on the short end of a novel, it barely makes the cutoff. And it certainly isn’t the epic monoliths that are popular in traditional publishing. But it is a whole and complete story. I’ve always been a succinct writer, and I’m embracing that as my style. I like to think I’ve created a spooky beach read.

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Megan Speece’s Website

Megan Speece Facebook Page

Megan Speece Twitter Account

Featured Author Salman Aziz

Featured Interview With Salman Aziz

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
First of all, many thanks to Book Reader Magazine for creating a wonderful platform to promote the literary works of authors. Honestly, I am feeling very honored to be here!
Many people have a curiosity about where I am from! Actually, I was born in Pabna, a small city in Bangladesh. It is my grandma’s hometown. And the most interesting fact is that it is also the birthplace of the legendary actress Suchitra Sen. Though I was born in Pabna, I mostly grew up in Dhaka city. Besides that, I was also raised in my father’s birthplace. But I was in there for few years till the end of my schooling. And the rest of the study, I have done in Dhaka.
Living in a big city like Dhaka is really very exhausting. Here, people are very busy in their life! They often become very mean to achieve their success. And it really annoys me sometimes. But nothing to do, because Dhaka is known as the city of dreams. Here, dreamers come to make their dreams come true.
While talking about my birthplace, I forgot to include that Pabna is a peaceful city. Though I have not been to Pabna too much, I find out peace there. There, people are very hospitable and everywhere is surrounded by the green. The simplicity and friendly mind of people and the fresh nature can attract anyone!

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Fascination with books started when I was in my early crawling days! At that time, I was quite curious about picture books. I got to know it from my mom and my only elder sister. They told me that I crawled over the book and saw the pictures with curious eyes for a long time. That’s why they kept buying new picture books with alphabets for me! As I grew up, my attraction to books developed stronger! And this strong bonding with books leads me to imagine any story in my mind. I can visualize and feel all the characters of any story! I think without this skill no one can be an author!
My writing journey started in my childhood days. I used to participate in any writing competition and took place in people’s hearts. It was really a blessing! My writes published in many local newspapers, magazines, and even in my school magazines. Most of the writes were in my native language Bengali. I could easily express my thought in my mother tongue. But my writing journey in the English language was quite different! Because English is my second language and expressing my thoughts was difficult! If I try to express anything in my way, people take it differently, and somehow, they cannot get my point of view! I am a forever learner! So, I am still learning how I can reach people globally with my thoughts in English well!

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Actually, I do not have any specific favorite authors by genre. I like and respect all the authors and their literary works all over the world. I love those authors especially, those who have their own authenticity. I have seen many authors who just copy the style of other authors which they should not do! I must say all should build up their own individual style when it is about writing.
It may sound awkward if I answer who or what inspires me in my writings! Because every single thing in this world inspires me to make creative works. I know, sounds funny! But it is true! When I walk around, I see the people, things, and circumstances that led me to write something different in an artistic way.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Well, from the title of my newest book “Bold and Bitter Statements: Volume 1” people can guess how the book can be! This book is full of life experiences that I have gathered from different situations. I have learned a lot from those circumstances and decided to share those harsh realities with everyone. When people will get to know my intensive bold words, they will find that those bitter truths are related to their life also. But it depends on people how much they can accept. The book is blended with symbolic pictures and my bitter statements. And the rest of the things hidden inside, people will get to know if they read the book. That’s all I can disclose right now about my book!

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Salman Aziz’s Website

Salman Aziz Facebook Page

Featured Author James Allocca

Featured Interview With James Allocca

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in Brooklyn, and now I live in Valley Stream, New York, where I live with my wife and daughter. I have been an Art Director for the last 35 years, designing all sorts of magazines, and having fun doing it!

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was fascinated with books at an early age. They took me to places that I had never been and opened my eyes to the world. I even wrote some books as a kid that my audience of two parents really enjoyed! But it wasn’t until later in life that I had a solid idea for a book. Something that I thought readers would enjoy.

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 science fact books. Always a big fan of Jules Verne, HG Wells, Clive Cussler, Kurt Vonnegut, James P Hogan and others. And I grew up reading comics, which influence me to this day. Science Fiction movies have also influenced me through the years.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is The Descendants Of Krag, which is the sequel to Black Saucer. Black Saucer is a standalone book, but my readers suggested that I write a sequel, and they were right! I think that it’s a solid, fun Sci Fi book that I hope everyone is enjoying.

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James Allocca Facebook Page

Featured Author Kristina Gallo

Featured Interview With Kristina Gallo

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am a multi-genre author from Croatia. I am a fan of cats, it fits together with writing.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing in my notebook when I was 16. I was often visiting the local library to read as many books as I can.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Agatha Christie. Francoise Sagan. I love thrillers and crime stories. My heroes are women who have strong attitudes.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My current WIP has a place of action in Brazil. I am writing thriller suspense about a dead girl who left a mess behind her. Her death affected the lives of others.

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Kristina Gallo Twitter Account

Featured Author Michael Paul

Featured Interview With Michael Paul

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hi, my name is Michael. I was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, and currently live in the Raleigh, North Carolina area. I moved to Raleigh after leaving the active-duty military. I have a 1.5-year-old golden retriever named Finley who was initially trained as a service dog. I plan to train him as a therapy dog and take him to hospitals and nursing homes post-COVID.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
That’s a good question. I don’t know. But there is a picture of me sitting with a leg crossed and reading a newspaper at a young age. Maybe I was copying my father, but I remember loving to read since my early grades. I was blessed to have excellent English and history teachers in grade school and high school that encouraged and challenged me. Journaling during an illness in the 4th-grade likely developed my love for writing.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis have been mentors for the Cornerstone series of books. Many spiritual, history and fiction authors fill my bookshelves. For fiction, I love to read historical fiction and fantasy.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Cornerstone The King is tagged as ‘Lord of the Rings Meets a Medieval Love Story.’ I attempted to mix historical fiction with epic fantasy at a pace that turns the page and where chapters build upon each other. The top layer of the book is a love story. The other layers include mystery, political intrigue, and spiritual matters.

A fiery bond.
Battles against demons.
Chased by relic hunters, Jeremiah and Jameela evade until confronted by a decision.
What is more important: love or freedom?

Lord of the Rings meets a medieval love story in an epic fantasy quest to return the legendary stone.

Uncover the mysteries behind the bishop’s murder and the queen’s secret.
Witness the climactic ending where Jeremiah makes a terrifying choice.

Will he kill his father to stop a war?

Cornerstone The King

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Michael Paul’s Website

Michael Paul Facebook Page

Featured Author Bianca Nemes

Featured Interview With Bianca Nemes

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
My name is Bianca Nemes. I was born in Cluj-Napoca, Romania and I am living here since then.
I am a computer science graduated and now I am also studying psychology at university.
Due to my organized and logical mind, I like to find the sense in everything that I do and I want to spread value to people and to encourage them to live.
My passions are reading, writing, painting and walking. I get inspired by emotions, human mind and experiences.
I wrote a book, ‘Collinearity solution. Counterpoint’ and I am currently writing for the next one.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
As I well remember, the book first book that I liked was ‘Singur pe lume’ by Hector Malot when I was on the third grade at school. Since then, I started to read a variety of books, from my parents’ home library and then from County Library from Cluj-Napoca. I was going every week with my best friend to borrow books. After reading dozens of books, I realized what are my favorite themes and genres.

Due to the fact that I was participating to literature contests since general school, I started to write a lot about existential themes and to provide better and better arguments to the requirements. I started to love thinking about life, about the subjects that the most famous authors have already written about and to create my own perspectives. Since highschool, I started to write in a notebook about feelings, about experiences that gave me intense emotions and then I developed those words in my first book, ‘Collinearity solution. Counterpoint’. It was written during many years and I did not know that what I started to read by then, will be in hands of many other people.

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 Irvin Yalom, Paulo Coelho, Emil Cioran.
My genres to read are psychology, philosophy, romance, thriller and creative psychology.

Human being in general inspires me to write. I get inspired by emotions, by experiences that are intense and hard to explain. I like to observe human behaviors and to try to see the motives behind the masks, I want to discover the true self of a person. When I get to know a person for real it is really astonishing. Moreover, whenever I feel down, I feel anxiety or something that is not right about myself, I start to put myself questions. Many times I discover patterns at myself and at other people.

Emotions, human mind, experiences observed or lived are my source of writing. Writing is a way of being vulnerable, a way of searching, with a cathartic effect, which creates bindings between ourselves.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Do you exist or do you just live?
Are you looking for the right questions or are you running for the correct answer, considered universal?

‘Collinearity solution. Counterpoint’ emphasizes the summary of cognitive and sensory processes extrapolated from inner feelings, emotions and experiences, highlighting the connection between universe and human being.

The constant search and flight of human being can be directed towards himself with the aim of reunification and self-creation, through the foundation of love, values and truth.
Chaotic questions, but maybe with meaning, appear incessantly second by second. Did you stop to listen to them? To feel their point of origin?
You sought to know how you feel to realize who you are or you think it is superfluous because you already know too much or the nothing is being replaced by sufficiency?

You are doomed to live, but free to exist.

It was writing for myself first, but then I feel the need to share emotion, value, courage of being.

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Bianca Nemes’s Website

Bianca Nemes Facebook Page

Featured Author A.I. Winters

Featured Interview With A.I. Winters

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m an award-winning horror and fantasy author. My newest book is called Summoner of Sleep, which was released in July 2021. By exploring the disturbing crossroads of genetic manipulation and lust for youth and control of the physical, Summoner of Sleep is a cautionary tale of the perversion of natural order and desire. This book is geared towards fans of H.P. Lovecraft, Clive Barker, and Stephen King. I’ve also written three YA fantasy novels in the vein of Alice of Wonderland meets The Neverending Story (Strange Luck, The Nightmare Birds, and A Darling Secret).

I currently live in Los Angeles, California. When not writing books, I enjoy breaking a sweat in Jiu-Jitsu class, baking desserts and traveling.

I continue to write stories about extraordinary people, weird and eerie happenings, and fantastical places. I just started working on a new novel, which I hope to publish next year.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Stories run in my blood. Writing was my favorite subject in school and I still have the dusty old notebook filled with silly stories about haunted houses, ice cream adventures, my dog, and mysterious caves. I loved the fact that anything could happen in these stories. They were safe, magical, strange…fun. I wrote my first novel while completing my BA in Anthropology and another three novels while completing my MA in Environmental Studies, but scraped all of them because life simply got in the way.

In 2015, I published my first young adult fantasy novel, Strange Luck. I went on to publish two more books in the Strange Luck Series – The Nightmare Birds and A Darling Secret. Most recently, I started working with an amazing publisher, Literary Wanderlust, and just released my latest novel, Summoner of Sleep, a psychological horror/thriller.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Arthur Machen. I love the worlds they create!

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Summoner of Sleep is about the isolated mountain town of Marble Woods. It’s here, away from the civilized world, that the townspeople can experiment with human genetics that have the power to alter your mind and body. When Ryder Ashling, a down-on-his-luck longtime sufferer of nightmares, discovers the town, he thinks he’s found a cure, but bears witness to their research and its terrifying, inevitable unraveling.

This book is a cautionary tale that explores the disturbing crossroads of genetic manipulation and lust for youth and control of the physical. It’s full of dark magic, occult symbolism, and monsters, but also focuses on dreams, family bonds, and human desire.

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A.I. Winters’s Website

A.I. Winters Facebook Page

Featured Author Sissy Barr

Featured Interview With Sissy Barr

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
“I’m a native Floridian, currently displaced in the mid-west, with plans to return to my home state in the near future. Mother Ocean calls me from afar, my daughter tells me I’m a ‘displaced mermaid’, and personally, I can’t get home fast enough.”

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
“Fun with Dick and Jane’… I was hooked! The first thing I remember writing, was a Halloween short for my younger sister. Excited about the upcoming holiday, I got creative and turned my bedroom into a makeshift haunted house. Then I wrote a scary little story to narrate as she interacted with the scenarios I had set up in room.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Favorite author? “J.R.R Tolkien” – *mic drop*
Favorite genre? “I love to get lost between the pages, to learn, explore, feel. If it teaches me, entertains me, or provokes intense emotion, it’s my favorite!”

Tell us a little about your latest book?
True short stories by real badass women.
Not every woman is born a badass, but every woman can become one. Discover how women around the globe have defied tradition and taken control in this collection of personal journeys.
Mature women, the majority in their fifties and sixties, graciously bare their souls sharing details of their individual, life-altering journeys towards peace, independence, and personal freedom. Holding nothing back, they show you what compelled them to listen to their inner-woman and ultimately gain what they instinctively knew was missing in their lives.

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Sissy Barr Facebook Page

Sissy Barr Twitter Account

Featured Author Tony Levy

Featured Interview With Tony Levy

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born 14 August 1951 in Tottenham, London, England. I spent most of my formative life in and around Tottenham and London. I love football and always wanted to be a professional footballer (soccer) but was not good enough. I have always loved cats and presently my wife and I have two cats that we rescued from some terrible storms two years ago. We help out with the local CNR group to capture street cats and get them neutered then return them to the wild.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always loved books and reading particularly historical non-fiction but have always loved reading about people and autobiographies.
I suppose I started really writing when I won a writing competition in my local newspaper. I had to write about my favourite football player from our local football team Tottenham Hotspur. I won the competition and my prize was a tour of the stadium and to meet all the players and staff this was back in 1967. I never really wrote much after that but in 1990 I entered a competition in a running magazine and again one the prize which was an entry into the London Marathon, which I completed in the time of 3hrs 42 mins not bad for a 40 year old.
But it was when I turned 60 that I started to write my first book and have now written three more since then.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favourite author is Sir Winston Churchill and his amazing book ‘The History of the English speaking people’. An incredible look at the English and England from the perspective of one of the 20th centuries great political leaders.
I love fiction too and read each Lee Childs books with relish whenever he releases a new Jack Reacher Story oh if only I could write fiction?
John Le Carre and his spy series are amongst my favourites along with Leon Uris, Len Deighton.
I am also fascinated with anything to do with the Battle of Britain and the stories of the fighter pilots of that period, the famous few. But any historical books on our world history is a particular interest for me.
I don’t have a favourite genre but like memoirs and humorous anecdotal books hence the way I try and write my books. Non-fiction spy stories and thrillers but am not really into horror

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Road to ‘L’ Do you remember your driving instructor? Well, they sure remember you.
My latest book is another biography but is a prequal to my other two books and my continued searched to find my own piece of El Dorado.
It is a humorous memoir. Set in Central London during the period 1981 to 1983 when I was a driving instructor in London working for The British School of Motoring. Pitched somewhere between the old English classic carry-on films and a series of sexy films called Confessions of… It is a humorous memoir of my time as a driving instructor; I reveal the stories of what can happen on a driving lesson, the offers of sexual favours and the actual driving routes I used all around the famous and historic landmarks of London. My books are all humorous memoirs hopefully in the style of Terry Pratchett They should appeal to anybody who likes anecdotal tales, I have tried to write in the style that would make you believe you are in a restaurant and I am with you just recounted episodes of my life or in a pub having a drink with friends, and I’m relating anecdotal stories about my life to you. The Road to ‘L’ is an eye-opening poignant and often hilarious romp through my years as a professional driving instructor in Central London back in the early 1980s.
I’ll tell you about people’s behaviour, conversations and downright dangerous things that happened to me during their lessons and their time learning to drive in my tuition car.
Read about the amazing things that really happened to me which could have come straight out of a Bond movie, the inappropriate offers of sex I received, and you will meet the amazing sister Mary Clara and her meeting with one of the famous Beatles back in the day.
Travel throughout London and all the amazing sites this city offers and all on a driving lesson, or be part of being bombed twice in one day on two separate lessons, by the IRA.
Learn about the Falkland Islands war, from the perspective of both sides.
My book is a journey through the eyes of a professional driving instructor that will amaze you and also amuse you. It gives you a chronological history of the world events that affected London during this period, and of course about learning to drive a car and what can happen on a driving lesson.
But in reality, the book is about people and how they can reveal so much about themselves whilst in the company of their driving instructor. With some amazing stories, and some scary situations, but above all humour.
This book is a prequel to my first two books and a further look into the story of my life and my search for my own piece of El Dorado.
My first book published back in 2011 is called A Turnkey or Not? It is a biography of my 25-year service working in Her Majesty’s Prisons and my second book El Dorado? No! Heathrow Airport is a follow on from the first book and continues my working career as a security officer working at one of the busiest airports in the world and people’s behaviour when confronted with modern-day air travel.

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Tony Levy Facebook Page

Tony Levy Twitter Account

Featured Author David Colin

Featured Interview With David Colin

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hello. I was born and raised in Concord Massachusetts, and I currently live in Melrose, Massachusetts. For most of my life, I’ve lived within a 20 mile or so radius of Boston, Massachusetts.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have been profoundly fascinated by books since my very early childhood era. When I was a student in the first grade, my teacher named Mrs. Young had me tutoring children in the kindergarten class in an adjoining room. These were children who wanted to learn how to read before their coursework prepared them to do so. At age six, I was creating primitive books in my own handwriting, courtesy of my own original stories. I would also draw accompanying illustrations, and staple the innocent creations together – before giving them to my father. This was many decades ago. I am still so very fascinated with books, that if I’m in a meeting with co-workers in a formal setting, and there is a bookshelf present with even just ten books or so, I stop participating in the work-related meeting, and it then beomes very difficult for me to focus upon anything other than taking notice to every book title before my view.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My very favorite (relatively modern) fiction authors are: Andrew Holleran and Truman Capote. My favorite (living) poets are: Carl Philips and Mark Doty. My interest in the works of these authors is very selfish, because these authors and I are like-minded.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Without exaggerating, I wrote my latest book over the course of two entire decades. I kept revising the work while toning its content down with each revision, because I worried that the completed work would offend people in general. I even changed some of the focal characters’ points of view altogether as well. My current book will not be popular in any way, as the themes that the book explores are quite heavy. The book analyzes complicated social issues, relating to gender identity, orientation differences, corruption which sometimes exists within public offices, et al. It is not an altogether pleasant read, instead it is a profound and informative one. I promise that there are some happy moments within the text.

Featured Author A. L. Hooke

Featured Interview With A. L. Hooke

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in Berks County, Pennsylvania (about an hour outside of Philadelphia). Living so close to the Poconos, I grew up with a deep love of the outdoors, which turned into an unquenchable wanderlust as I got older. I went to Pitt (H2P!) and lived in Pittsburgh for several years before escaping the gloom for the sunny south.

I now live in Raleigh, NC, with my very tolerant husband. By day I’m the COO of a small digital marketing agency downtown where I focus primarily on content marketing and consulting but still spend every spare moment I can outside. When Chris and I aren’t traveling, hiking, paddling, or otherwise exploring, I’m writing (or reading).

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have been a bookworm my entire life, and I spent years as a journalist and copywriter before lacing up my hiking boots and venturing into the dense jungle of fiction writing. I have always loved writing and have written in various capacities over the years. I developed my first character in the third grade and spent much of my young (and not so young) life in Pennsylvania dreaming of ancient civilizations and lost treasures.

My debut sci-fi action-adventure novel, Daughter of the Antediluvian World: An Atlantis Origin Story, is my first adventure in fiction, and I have to say, I’m hooked! There have been enough requests for a sequel to Daughter that I might just have to spend more time in Atlantis, but there are a lot of other mysteries out there that I’m itching to unravel!

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Oh, this question is always tricky. I’m a bit of an agnostic reader; I’ll dig into any from hard science fiction and technothrillers to fantasy, thrillers, and mysteries. Daughter of the Antediluvian World is a bit of a nod to my unwillingness to commit to one genre – it’s primarily an action-adventure sci-fi story, but there are elements of mystery, mythology, and yes, even a little romance weaved through.

Some of my favorite writers, who have inspired me over the years to pursue my love of fiction, all seem to live in this “in-between space” with me. Michael Crichton, A.G. Riddle, Dan Brown, and James Rollins are likely all partially responsible for my writing style. Still, I also love a good laugh with Christopher Moore, a little darkness and intrigue from Neil Gaiman, and stories to quench my wanderlust by travel writer J. Maartin Troost.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The concept for Daughter of the Antediluvian World originally came to me in college. I was taking an Introduction to Mythology course as part of a communications minor, and it reignited a long-time love I had for Greek Mythology growing up. So, this story started brewing and – of course – changed quite a bit over time. (Spoiler Alert: There are no Greek gods in DOAW.)

As I started writing I just couldn’t seem to get the fantasy aspects of the story to jive with what I knew about the world – I tend to be a very logical thinker – so magic became science. (Because really, aren’t they the same thing?) The concept of an action-adventure story really developed as I got a bit older and started doing more traveling. I’ve mentioned that U have a severe case of Wanderlust – I want to see the world. The places in the book are a few at the top of my list, so getting to research them and visit them through the process of writing the story was thrilling.

Because of the technical nature of the story, there was a ton of research to be done. So, the process was not a short one – this book is nearly two years in the making. Researching and outlining the story took nearly as wrong as writing it, and when it finally came time to put the story on paper I would sit for an hour or two every morning before work and just get as much of it out on paper as I could. It took so much of me to develop my characters and take them on this adventure and I wanted to do it right, but I think I could probably repeat the process in less time now. For the sake of the readers who are hoping for another glimpse into the lost city of Atlantis, I hope so!

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A. L. Hooke’s Website

A. L. Hooke Facebook Page

Featured Author Paz Ellis

Featured Interview With Paz Ellis

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am a shameless nerd! I am a mom of two boys, now 21 and 19. (But I don’t feel like I’m getting old!) I was born and raised in New Jersey, lived in a few states and am not back in New Jersey for a couple of years while my sons are in school. And I have a crazy, barking, parti Maltipoo that I adore! He is my hiding-under-my-desk, writing companion.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I may have well been born with a book in my hand! My parents were avid readers and reading came natural to me. I was able to read and write in both English and Spanish at an early age and took full advantage of that. My older sister kept journals and notebooks full of poetry and I, of course, mimicked her. I have kept journals since I was about eight, and this has helped me to always jot down ideas and write stories and poems. However, one of the worst events of my life is when I started publishing. My mother passed away and I worked through my grief by writing and publishing my first book, a memoir.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
The novel that made a huge impact on my writing was Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The characters are rich and well-developed and perfectly flawed. I love literary fiction, contemporary fiction, historical fiction, and memoirs. One of my favorite modern authors is Amy Harmon. She speaks to my soul.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Finn is very special to me! Although, Finn is a fictional character, he is an inspiration based on my brother who was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome at the age of 45. So, Finn is close to my heart for this reason.

More Than Just Finn, Book Two of the “Just Finn” series is my latest book about a young man with Asperger syndrome. Finn will make you laugh and cry! He is eighteen when he leaves the only place he has ever known as ‘home’ seeking a better life. Though he does not know it in the beginning, a diner, crazy geometric vests, a psychiatrist, and an Italian leather artist will pull him out of the lonely world he knows into one full of love, hope and acceptance. And you get to see Finn’s progress in the 2nd book of the series: More Than Just Finn which was released a few months ago!

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Paz Ellis’s Website

Paz Ellis Facebook Page

Paz Ellis Twitter Account

Featured Author Manjithe Senanayake

Featured Interview With Manjithe Senanayake

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m Manjithe Senanayake, a 14 year old Sri Lankan writer and a poet. I’m living in Galle, Sri Lanka. I have no special pets but I give food daily to the street dogs around. So, they can be taken as my pets too.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I realized my fascination with books when I was 6 years old. I started reading newspapers when I was 5 years old. Because of newspapers I started reading picture books and books with less than 50 pages at first. I started writing books when I was 8 years old. Many of the stories I wrote on that age was based on cartoon characters. Eventually I started writing picture books and now I’m writing middle grade books.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
David Walliams, Roald Dahl, Prashani Rambukwella and Tissa Abeysekara are some of my favorite authors. I don’t have a one favorite genre. I like to read books in variety of genres so they have different tastes. Above mentioned authors inspired me on writing. Specially Tissa Abeysekara’s books full of descriptions and David Walliams’s, Roald Dahl’s books full of imagination.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book, The Kite : Face Challenges Strongly is out now. It is a children’s short story written by me taking a real life instance I faced as a example. Also my next books will be published on late December or January (2022)

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Manjithe Senanayake Facebook Page

Manjithe Senanayake Twitter Account

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