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1) what’s your name and bio I am Luke Benjamen Kuhns the author of The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes And The Case of the Crystal Blue Bottle, and Fragile Words: A Collection of Verses and Short Stories. I am also a contributing author for two novels. Sherlock’s Home: The Empty House and The Art of Deduction.
Biography
I was born in Indiana, USA, where I grew up in a standard All-American town. You know the type, two main roads, everyone knows each other. A flock old people at the local donut shop who then jump over to the local dinner for lunch. The high school dream that everyone still tries to live, even way after they graduate! Actually, if you’ve seen the show Parks and Recreation mix that will Smallville and that was my town. Good ole fashion place. Growing up I was taught piano by a man, who is sadly no longer with us, who literally powered his house with car batteries. I kid you not. He was a legend! I went on several musical excursion in my time, fronted a band for a while and played Bass Guitar/piano for a few others. In 2008 I left Indiana and her cornfields behind as I ventured off to England where I studied Theology at the University of Manchester. That was by far one of the craziest things I had ever done. Not studying, but dropping my life in America and moving across the globe. Manchester was a great city to be apart of but after I finished my degree I decided to make another crazy move. I wanted to try my way in London! I am currently living in London now where I continue to write all sorts of pieces. I am an author for MX Publishing who specialises in Sherlock Holmes and NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming). Through MX I published my first short novel, The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes then to be followed by Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Crystal Blue Bottle. I am also a contributor for two other novels on MX. Sherlock’s Home: The Empty House & A Guide to Deduction.
I love reading, I love story telling. I love to share in stories. There is something magical about story telling. From a young age I was always engrossed in a story. Life was never ordinary, but always extraordinary. My imagination still runs just as wild today as it did when I was kid and now I fuel it by putting ‘pen to paper’ as they use to say before computers came along and we just put flesh to plastic which produced letters on a screen via some very clever circuitry!
Find me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/lukebenjamenkuhns) and Twitter! (www.twitter.com/lukeaviator) or Wordpress lukebenjamenkuhns.wordpress.com
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is available in paperback and ebook from all good bookstores including in the USA Barnes and Noble, Amazon & Itunes. In the UK Amazon, Waterstones, Itunes UK. For fans outside US and UK can get free delivery from Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!
In the Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Doctor Watson recalls seven adventures that he accompanied his friend Mr Sherlock Holmes on. In this book Holmes and Watson are caught in the middle of Governement Scandals, Cold Blooded Murders, Threats From Beyond Our Realm, and in a story that works through over a decade of Holmes’s cases we learn a little bit more about the mystery that surrounds Watson’s wife, Mary and what became of her sudden disappearance from Watson’s life.
amazon.co.uk http://www.amazon.co.uk/Untold-Advent...
amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Untold-Adventur...
Coming December 10th: Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Crystal Blue Bottle – A Graphic Novel. Pre-order on Amazon.com , Amazon.co.uk and The Book Depository now! Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!
A young woman named Deseray Underwood has been found dead, in her London lodgings, by her finance Samuel Mortimer. The body itself shows no signs of a struggle. Lestrade, baffled by the cause of death, summons the aid of Sherlock Holmes and his great powers of deduction. Holmes stumbles upon one single clue, a crystal blue bottle, which sends him and Watson on a wild chase through the streets of London in pursuit of answers to this young woman’s sudden demise. A death that would make any benefactor very wealthy.
Featuring 11 outstanding illustrators from across the globe, the story comes to life through the efforts of Rebecca Burns, Marcie Klinger, and Sarah Ruprecht & Dan Albers. Along with contributions from high profile illustrators Steven E. Gordon (The Great Mouse Detective, X-Men Evolution, Ultimate Avengers), Matthew Ferguson (Marvel’s The Avengers, Star Wars & Chronicle) & Wayne Miller (Sherlock Holmes Revenant illustrator). This is the Sherlock Holmes comic book event of 2012.
amazon.co.uk http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sherlock-Holm...
amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes...
Fragile Words: A Collection of Verses and Short Stories OUT NOW exclusive through Amazon! Go to amazon.com & amazon.co.uk
Fragile Words is a collection 29 verses and short stories written by author, Luke Benjamen Kuhns. Know for his two previous works: The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Crystal Blue Bottle, Luke steps outside the world of Sherlock Holmes and presents these 29 original pieces that delve into friendship and love, pain and loss, and humour and horror. Each and every tale presented holds a special place for Luke and he is thrilled to release his “Fragile Words” to you.
amazon.co.uk http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fragile-Words...
amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Fragile-Words-C...
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
I was asked recently how I come up with my stories, where do I get inspiration, and the answer is everywhere. I get inspired through stuff I read or watch. I get inspired by walking out the door and observing the world. Interacting with people or watching people interact with others. Colours, shapes, and sounds. My inspirations comes from everywhere and from everything.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
C.S. Lewis, J.R.R Tolkien. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Douglas Adams, Rick Riordan, Loren D. Estleman, Robert Ludlum, J.M Barrie, H.G. Wells, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Stan Lee, and many many more!
5) What's your next writing project?
I am working on a second Sherlock Holmes book. I’m very excited about it and taking a slightly different approach then before. I love Doyle’s short stories and I like to imitate that style over the longer form he did with his novels. But this next project is a fusion between the two. Something no other Sherlock Holmes story has really done before. Yet, it will be 100% true to Doyle and the world he created!
1) What is your name and bio? My name is Rustin Petrae. I was born in San Antonio, TX but I actually grew up in Japan and Korea. Both countries have had a huge impact on my life and both have influenced my writing. I loved growing up immersed in other cultures. I feel like it was a rare opportunity to have and I am glad I got the chance to experience that. I now live in Ohio with my wife and kids. I work as a professional graphic designer and I write whenever I get the chance.2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it? I just released my first full-length novel Book One: Dragon. It's the first book in a four book series titled the Histories of Purga. It's about two races of people that mutual hate each other, the Rooks and the Terraqouis. While the Rooks embraced technology and use microscopic robots called nanos to create any machine they wish, the Terraqouis are their complete opposite. They hold a unique bond with nature that allows them to shift into the animal that is closest to their inner selves. When the Crown Prince of the Rooks, Rone Varlamagne, is shot out of the sky and left for dead a Terraqouis girl, Keiara, finds him and decides to save his life. It is one choice. One conscious act. But it has the power to change their entire world. Will it be for the better?
3) Where do you come up with your ideas? I draw inspiration from many different sources. Sometimes it's vague ideas. Sometimes it's a cat that shows up on my back porch and won't leave. Sometimes it's one line from a TV show or movie. It just goes off in my head like a bomb.
4) What books/authors do you like to read? I grew up loving to read Terry Brooks and Stephen King. Recently I've started reading The Dresden Files and the Codex Alera books by Jim Butcher and they are currently my favorites. I also like Christopher Paolini, J.K. Rowling, Suzanne Collins and so many more it makes my head hurt to try and think of them.
5) What's your next writing project? Currently, I am in the works to release the very first novel I ever wrote, Indestructible:PAST. But after that I'll be working on completing my Histories of Purga series and the rest of the Indestructible series. I can only hope that people like them.
1) What is your name and bio?My name is Matt Weaver, but I'm listed as M.L. Weaver on Goodreads. I was born and grew up in California and now live in the Pacific Northwest.
I earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Davis, and work as a formulator in the agricultural chemicals industry.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
The Lightness of Dustthreads a young woman’s search for belonging through the lives of three men:
Telamon, an ancient Anatolian fisherman who risks everything to take her from her cruel father; Samuel Freeman, caretaker of the Persephone Music Hall in 1940 Seattle, who finds his religion in the music of a beautiful violinist; and Jacob Morgan, a university professor in modern-day Northern California, whose life is thrown into chaos by an eager graduate student.
It is available in electronic format through Amazon, iTunes, and Barnes & Noble; the paperback is available through Amazon.
I have placed 5 paperback copies into a giveaway here at Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...
I am also offering a limited number of free iTunes editions in exchange for reviews.
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
Many of my ideas come from my everyday experience; others from what-if moments. In the case of Lightness, I tried to write it during grad school (a bad time to do so!)but had to postpone its completion for 5 years. Once I stopped trying to lead the story, it led me to the end.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
Other than textbooks (nerd here...), I enjoy Raymond E. Feist, Ed Greenwood, David Eddings, and ray Bradbury
5) What's your next writing project?
My next project is the next book in The Meronymy (Lightness is Book One); I am currently listening to the story and lining it out.
1) What is your name and bio?Hi, my name is Jenn Flynn-Shon and I’m the Author of Ripple the Twine, Trying for the Moon, Small but Scrappy: Volume One, and Randomness and Lunacy (a personal blog documenting all kinds of crazy debauchery that I’ve been involved in over the years).
I’ve been writing since age eleven, or thereabouts, and started exploring the world of fiction writing at age thirteen. My first publication was a poem written for a pop star; it was published under a pen name in Bop Magazine in 1989. Yeah, that's right.
I’m a two-time winning participant in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo, NaNo) (2009, 2010) and taking part again this year. I’m an active member of the Scottsdale Society of Women Writers, guest blog for Team EcoEtsy, and have been content editing colleague's fiction and memoir manuscripts for the past year.
When I make time to relax I love to hang out with my husband at our home in Phoenix, AZ, explore the country on road trips, watch my Boston sports teams, share laughs with friends and family, and read everything from blogs to novels. I make a point to write daily, and I’m a shameless self-promoter.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
Reckless Abandon is a Romantic Suspense novella, the first in the Shaw McLeary series.
SYNOPSIS
Young Adult fiction Author, Shaw McLeary, returns from Whole Foods to discover her husband, Danny, is gone. So is their stash of cash, his clothes, passport, and her wedding rings. He took off in a hurry and left her behind. While trying to piece it all together Shaw witnesses a cop’s murder in her home. Determined not to become the next victim, she flees. She fears dirty cops are involved in Danny’s disappearance. There's only one person she can trust to help her - JJ Anderson, Private Investigator. Also, her ex-fiancé.
A retired Phoenix cop turned PI, Shaw hopes JJ will be inclined to take her case. Despite his resentment for how their relationship ended, he agrees to help her track down leads on Danny. They chase the clues from Phoenix to Manhattan to upstate New York. In such close quarters Shaw finds it difficult to maintain a professional distance from her first real love. Then what happens if she finds Danny? Can she still love a man who abandoned her or is she too drawn to fixing her past mistake to let go of JJ again?
The title is available on Amazon as an eBook http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009YWT2RW, print version to come sometime this month. Please visit my website for more information http://www.jennflynnshon.com
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
Honestly? I have no clue. Characters just start yapping at me to write them and don’t shut up until I do.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
I’m a bit all over the map lately as I explore the fun world of Indie Authors but most often I’m drawn to descriptive psychological thrillers, like Poe, King or Ludlum, or the complete opposite end of the spectrum with Chick-Lit. How can I resist a sappy-pappy girl meets boy, fall in love, HEA? Marisa de los Santos, Marian Keyes, Caprice Crane, etc.
5) What's your next writing project?
I’m working on not killing anyone in real life as I complete NaNo this month. My goal is to get one big steaming pile of, um, ideas, dialogue, character description and the fixin’s piled onto my plate. In January I’ll start to scrape off the mold and uncover what’s hiding under there. If I can pull two distinct plot lines out for the next two novellas in the Shaw McLeary series I’ll be thrilled!
1) What is your name and bio?Hi, I'm Darlene Jones.
A long time ago, I lived in Mali. Every single day, I wished I could wave a magic wand to relieve the heart-wrenching poverty. The story line of my books reflects my desire to wave that wand and make the world a better place. If only wishes could come true. And of course, every novel needs its love story, so along with the sci-fi magic, I’ve added the requisite romance.
Initially, I intended to write “a” novel. The story and characters took over and the ending of the first demanded another. Two books became three and three became four.
I've always believed we can't be the only beings existing in the vastness of the universe. There must be others “out there somewhere” and I brought some of them along for the ride. The setting stays, for the most part, within the realities of our world, but I've found that I love the magic the sci-fi element of other beings can bring to the story.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
EMBRACED SYNOPSIS
When Principal, Abby Davies, shows Curtis a page of scribbles and asks him to try to figure it out, Curtis isn’t sure what to think. He likes Miss D and all. She isn’t too bad for a school teacher. You can talk to her and she doesn’t make fun. But, sheesh, a secret code from aliens? That’s just too sci fi for him. To keep her happy, he says he’ll help. Thing is, once he starts studying the scribbles, he can see messages.
Coder Guy, as Abby calls whoever is sending the messages, wants her to fix things. What things? Abby and Curtis find the answer when letters with Abby’s signature appear in newspaper offices. The things asked for come true. But, who’s writing the letters? Coder Guy? Or Abby?
Then the reporter shows up. What is a war correspondent doing in their little town? He says he loves Abby, but he sells her story to the world; her face splashed over every television and computer screen. The next day Miss D and Curtis are the only ones who remember the reports.
That’s when real fear sets in.
Meanwhile, Yves, who fell in love with Em, has loved her through her life as Jasmine, still loves her in this life as Abby. He fumes as one of the rookie gods fumbles communication with her. Once again, Yves breaks the rules to help Abby, but with deadly results.
Amazon: http://ow.ly/eafvb
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Website: www.emandyves.com
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
I started playing with the story line when I couldn't sleep. Didn't solve the insomnia problem, but there came a time when I had to write the story down and one book grew to four.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
I read anything that intrigues me.
5) What's your next writing project?
I'm working on book four which is the last for this series. I don't know what I'll do after that,
1) What is your name and bio? Robin Leigh Morgan here, from NY State. Retired. Married. No children.2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it? My soon be released debut novel is a YA Paranormal/Time Travel/First Kiss romance, entitled "I Kissed a Ghost"
SYNOPSIS: Mary gets a new classmate named Jonathan who’s a great baseball player and to get on the team, he needs Mary’s help to improve his grades. Six months later when she learns she’s moving, she decides to give him something special--a first kiss.
Moving into her new home she soon discovers it has a ghost named George, her age, who takes her on numerous trips to the past of a hundred years ago. As she meets children her own age, everyone teases her about her house being haunted, but no one will go inside.
Mary likes his help doing her math homework, writing her reports, and taking her back in time. George and Mary’s interaction grows and she eventually gives him a quick peck on his lips while they’re in the past, which is the only place George is a real boy, for having done something special for her.
Can Mary kiss George again at the special date and time he needs to be kissed? What happens afterwards if she does? The answers are all in the book!
3) Where do you come up with your ideas? I guess in reality the idea for my debut novel started with an iota of pure imagination, which kept on expanding as I wrote my manuscript, until the rest of the story line had developed in my mind. The same thing seems to be happening in my second novel.
4) What books/authors do you like to read? Unfortunately with my hectic schedule and desire to write, I've got no real time to read. :-(
5) What's your next writing project?
It's a yet still untitled adult contemporary romance with a paranormal element running through the storyline.
You can follow on
http://www.mypennameonly.webs.com [website/blog]
http://www.mypennameonly.blogspot.com [duplicate blog
site]
http://www.mypennameonly.wordpress.com [2nd duplicate
blog site
As well as on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/mypennameonly
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1)What is your name and bio?My name is Pauline Montagna Pauline Montagna and I write predominantly historical fiction but also contemporary stories. I love in Melbourne, Australia and I have worked in a wide variety of jobs including as a production accountant in the Australian film industry and a teacher of basic literacy and numeracy to adults. My website is http://paulinemontagna.net
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
My latest book is Not Wisely but Too Well. It is the first volume in the series, The Stuff of Dreams, about William Shakespeare and the relationships and experiences that made him the great writer he became. It's available from iBookstore and Lulu.com. 3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
Can I be cheeky and answer: In my head? Anything can trigger an idea - the news, a book, a documentary, a conversation, an observation. Getting the idea is the easy bit. Shaping the idea into a story and then getting it down on paper is another matter altogether.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
At the moment I have little spare energy for reading for pleasure, but when I can I like to read the English classics, and a few favourite 20th century authors such as Ursula le Guin, Mary Renault, John Mortimer and Robert Graves.
5) What's your next writing project?
As well as The Stuff of Dreams, I've also started work on The Founders of Rome, a series about the Etruscan kings of Rome. I left off writing The Rape of Lucretia to complete Not Wisely but Too Well. I hope to get back to it and complete it and thereafter produce a volume for each series alternatively.
I'm hoping to produce a volume of each alternatively.
1) What is your name and bio? My name is Matthew Weaver. I am a scientist writing in the Pacific Northwest, where I live with my wife and son; we are originally from California. I attended university and graduate school at UC Davis, where I earned my degrees in chemistry.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
The Lightness of Dust threads a young woman’s search for belonging through the lives of three men:
Telamon, an ancient Anatolian fisherman who risks everything to take her from her cruel father; Samuel Freeman, the caretaker of the Persephone Music Hall in 1940 Seattle and who finds his religion in the music of a beautiful violinist; and Jacob Morgan, a university professor in modern-day Northern California, whose life is thrown into chaos by an eager graduate student.
The Lightness of Dust is available in paperback and Kindle editions at:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Lightness-D...
The Lightness of Dust is available in Nook format at:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-l...
The Lightness of Dust is available through iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-...
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
Some details from my real life make it into the stories while a great many come from my Walter Mitty-esque daydream world. For the most part, though, I find that if I listen carefully the story tells me where to take it.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
My favorite authors are Ray Bradbury, Raymond E. Feist, David Eddings, and Ed Greenwood. I also enjoy Stephen King and textbooks.
5) What's your next writing project?
I am currently working on the next volume of The Meronymy, of which Lightness was the first.
1) What is your name and bio? My name is Dougie Brimson and I’m a professional author and screenwriter. I live just outside London, England and served 18 years as an engineer with the Royal Air Force before turning to writing.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
My latest novel is a comedy called Wings of a Sparrow and is best described as Brewster’s Millions with a sporting theme.
It tells the story of a fanatical soccer fan who inherits a fortune from an uncle he never knew he had but there are certain strings attached to his legacy!
It’s available from Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AFXLKRO/
I have 14 additional titles available from Amazon and iTunes across all kinds of genre including the most downloaded sports book of 2012 in the UK.
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
Mostly from real life. My thrillers are certainly inspired by personal experience as a soccer hooligan!
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
I tend to read observational humor more than anything although I am partial to non-fiction war stories. My latest read is Vulcan 607 by Rowland White which tells the tale of the Vulcan bomber raids on the Falklands during the 1982 war. It’s an amazing read made all the more special by the fact that I was involved in them.
5) What's your next writing project?
I’m working on a film adaptation of Wings of a Sparrow which is scheduled to film in 2013 and thanks to their success as eBooks, I’m also writing sequels to two novels. Billy’s Log which I can only describe as Bridget Jones Diary for guys, and Top Dog which is a dark and very violent thriller based around the gangs of London.
Dougie Brimson
Billy's Log: The Hilarious Diary of One Man's Struggle With Life, Lager and the Female Race
Top Dog
1) What is your name and bio?TROY JACKSON - aspiring author, husband, and father. I have a Bachelors Degree in History and a Masters in Teaching. I love all things science fiction, fantasy, and a host of other genres and sub-genres (reading and writing).
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
The Elementals
"Upon unifying the seven warring states under one banner, the First Emperor of China began solidifying power for what he envisioned as a thousand-year reign. Using those he conquered, the Emperor began a series of arduous projects, Including the first Great Wall, the Linqu Canal, and a national system of highways. Ignoring the physical and emotional toll exacted upon the people, his insatiable desire to further his own power has led to a growing, and secretive insurgency. One such organization is the Dragon's Spite who wishes to usurp control of the throne by nearly any means. But first they must marshal their forces strewn throughout the kingdom. More importantly they seek out three extraordinary girls who hold vast supernatural powers that can tip the balance in their favor. But do these unknowing heroines realize the talents that they possess? Will the Dragon's Spite reach them before the agents of the Emperor?"
It can be found in hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats (Kindle, Nook, i-books, etc.) on many websites, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
For example:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Elementals-...
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
Being a child of the 80's and 90's I had many influences in the fantasy and science fiction worlds. They taught me to think beyond the cozy confines of the Earth and reality as we know it.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
Many - Robert Jordan, C.S. Lewis, Dan Brown, David Eddings to name a few
5) What's your next writing project?
Book 2 of 'The Elementals' - about 1/3rd of the way through it. Hopefully it will be ready by the end of 2013, with the final and third book being ready by 2014 or 2015.
1) What is your name and bio?A lover of bizarre stories, twisted plots, deep questions and dark fantasy, I, Kathleen Gulo, am a girl who likes gothic styles, used bookstores, and writing. A native of the capitol of the good ole US of A, I am currently a student working on a Writing and Multimedia double major.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
Right now I am published in the anthology Continuum: Fables of the Fallen, which can be found on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Continuum-Fable...
"Fables of the Fallen is the first installment of the Continuum Series. Published by a college writer's group, these six Fantasy/ Sci-fi stories explore the depth of true fallen heroes. Join a Legend Slayer, Mind Reader, Ghostwalker, Mage, and a Medieval Soldier with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in these truly fantastical tales. One of our writers won an honorable mention for the Writers of the Future contest. There is no triumph without the fall."
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
I write down everything that I think about, all the most exciting daydreams and plot bunnies and threads, and keep them all in little notebooks. Sometimes I patrol the books for ideas, when I have nothing to go on.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
My favorite authors are Tolkien, Cornelia Funke, Ray Bradbury, Chesterton, and Neil Gaiman. I am currently reading Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card, and also Dracula.
5) What's your next writing project?
Currently I am preparing my novel, The Legend Slayer, for publication. It centers around Damien Vanator, the last in a line of men sworn to protect men from the monsters "Legends," who is on a desperate quest to cure his sister of her vampirism.
Check out my writing blog here! Post some feedback in the comments if you are an aspiring writer like me, and I'll check out you page. http://fictionbykathleengulo.blogspot...
1) What is your name and bio?My name is Andrew Fish and I was born in Chatham, Kent in 1972. I started writing humorous fiction in my teens, but was sidetracked by a career as a software engineer, pursuing which I graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1995.
I finally found time to develop my writing in 2001, when I was working full-time as a self-employed shareware developer. The shareware died in the end, but after various false starts I succeeded in getting a novel published through Harpercollins' Authonomy imprint. I now live in Sherwood Forest (in a house rather than a tree) where I divide my time between a full-time programming job, writing, songwriting, photography and various other pursuits. It keeps me out of mischief.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
My book is called Erasmus Hobart and the Golden Arrow. Here's the jacket blurb:
Robin Hood was a crook!
But was his "rob the rich and give to the poor" legend anything more than good PR? Schoolteacher Erasmus Hobart isn't a man content to speculate. Instead, with his home-made time-travelling privy, he journeys back to mediaeval Nottingham on a quest for knowledge. But with homicidal knights, amorous female outlaws and mischievous squirrels all providing obstacles to his progress can he really find the truth and still get back in time to mark 4A's history homework?
A comic fantasy in the tradition of Adams, Pratchett and Holt, Andrew Fish brings a new slant to the classic legend.
The book can be found through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo amongst other outlets (the publisher hasn't given me a complete list).
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
Sometimes I'm not quite sure where my ideas come from - they just turn up. I'll be watching a film or reading a book and think "yes, but what if..." or I'll see a phrase and an idea will flow from that. Sometimes one idea simply leads to another and a single novel becomes a canon. With each idea I allow it to percolate. Then, once it has developed enough to form the basis of a plot and I've come up with a silly name, I add it to my list. It's getting pretty long now.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
Over the years I've read a variety of fantasy (serious and comic), science fiction, classics, historical fiction and factual books. My hero is Douglas Adams, from whom I get my love of playing with language. I read mostly factual books these days, but still find time for the odd novel. I'm collecting the works of PG Wodehouse as they release them in Everyman. Once they finish it'll be the first time I'll have read all of them (I think there are about eighty).
5) What's your next writing project?
I'm currently finishing a sequel to one of my early novels, Bandwagon, which is just for personal pleasure. I then plan to do some editing on the second and third Erasmus Hobart novels before ploughing straight on with the fourth - set during the English Civil War.
Hi All! I'm hosting an Q&A group to celebrate my first novel, and I thought I'd introduce myself here, too. If you want to join the conversation, here's the group link:http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/8...
1) What is your name and bio?
My name is Diane Mulligan, and here is a little more about me:
Diane Vanaskie Mulligan began writing Watch Me Disappear during an after-school writing club she moderates for high school students. This is her first novel. She holds a BA in American Studies from Mount Holyoke College and a Master’s degree in teaching from Simmons College. When she isn’t teaching or writing, she’s the managing editor at The Worcester Review and the director of The Betty Curtis Worcester County Young Writers’ Conference You can also find her occasionally strumming her guitar and singing at various bars in central Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband. She can be found at www.dvmulligan.com.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
My book is WATCH ME DISAPPEAR.
Lizzie Richards isn’t excited to be starting over at a new school for her senior year, but she’s trying to take her mother’s advice and make the most of it—the only way she can: By disobeying her strict parents’ rules. Lizzie’s father has moved the family around every few years to advance his career, so she has never had a chance to develop the kind of “BFF” relationships she thinks most kids have. She’s bracing herself for another lonely year at her third high school when her neighbor Maura gets sick of watching her little brother when she could be partying. Thanks to Maura’s plotting, Lizzie becomes everyone’s new favorite babysitter. Seeing her opportunity, Lizzie decides to break her mother’s rules by using Maura’s computer to create a secret Email address and Facebook account. She is quickly friended by Missy, a fellow transfer student as eager for a friend as she is. Things are looking up for Lizzie until Maura’s ex-boyfriend Paul sets his eye on Missy. Caught between her new best friend and the neighbor whose friendship promises instant popularity, Lizzie doesn’t know what to do—because she’s fallen for Paul, too.
eBook ISBN: 9781301361113
print ISBN: 978-1478311287
http://www.dvmulligan.com
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
Most of my ideas start with a kernel of truth from my life and a "what if" question. I like the explore the roads not taken.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
I read a wide array. Some of my favorites are Russell Banks, Ann Patchett, Barbara Kingsolver, and Courtney Sullivan.
5) What's your next writing project?
I'm working on a novel. Contemporary fiction. I'll be blogging about my prgoress on my website.
1) What is your name and bio?My name is Graham Downs, and I'm from Germiston, Gauteng, South Africa. I'm a computer programmer in Rivonia (about 30kms away). I've loved writing for as long as I can remember, but December was the first time I had the guts to actually publish anything.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
My book's called A Petition to Magic. It's a fantasy short (around 5000 words), about a wizard in the royal court. The last time he did any wizarding, something went horribly wrong, and now he's wracked with guilt and doesn't want to do any wizarding anymore. But now he's called upon to cast a spell. Will he get over his fear and do it? If so, what will happen?
It's available currently on Amazon (for Kindle only) and Smashwords. It's in the Smashwords Premium Catalogue though, so they'll be syndicating it to a variety of other retailers in the coming weeks. You can get also get the free sample here on Goodreads, or at various torrent sites.
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
I know it might sound corny, or a bit of a cop-out, but my idea for A Petition to Magic, as well as the next story I'm writing (see below), came to me in dreams. Well, one scene, really. I wake up having the weirdest dream, write it down, and it becomes a central scene in my story! :)
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
I love fantasy of all kinds. Terry Pratchett's probably my favourite fantasy author (Lord of the Rings meets Monty Python indeed!) of the moment. I'm also really enjoying the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. Oh, and for a completely different genre, I've finally discovered Stephen King! ;-)
5) What's your next writing project?
It's another short story (hopefully a little longer, though), but in an entirely different genre. This one will be set in modern times, with an alternate history/timeline. That's all I'm prepared to say at the moment. ;)
1) What is your name and bio? My name is Loukia Borrell. I was born in Toledo, Ohio, and was raised in Virginia Beach. I live in the Norfolk, Va., metro area with my husband and three children. 2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it? My book's title is "Raping Aphrodite." It is historical fiction. The book is about a woman who owns an art gallery. When she agrees to exhibit items from Cyprus in her gallery, her life begins to unravel. Her husband, after doing research into Cyprus, realizes his wife may have secret ties to the island she doesn't know about. A second storyline in the book takes place during the 1974 invasion of Cyprus by Turkey. Both events come together toward the end of the book. It is available at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Raping-Aphrodit... for Kindle and in soft cover and at BN.com http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rapin... for Nook.
3) Where do you come up with your ideas? My parents were born in Cyprus and I was 11 when Turkey invaded the island. My maternal grandparents were killed during the invasion, and the rest of my relatives there were refugees. Much of what I heard from them and other relatives served as inspiration for this novel.
4) What books/authors do you like to read? I like a variety of authors, so I can't really name anyone specific. In recent years I have read some of Patricia Highsmith's work and really like her style. Tom Ripley is understated yet terrifying all the same.
5) What's your next writing project? I am working on another book featuring the same two main characters from "Raping Aphrodite." The next book chronicles the early years of their relationship.
1) What is your name and bio?I’m Heather James, a 21 year old British writer, who graduated from the University of Warwick with a degree in English & Latin literature last summer. While there, I got to write her dissertation on Harry Potter - which was almost as much fun as writing a novel! I love reading, writing and talking about YA fiction. ‘Fire’ is my debut novel and the first book in the ‘Elements of Power’ series.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
Fire
Is control over the elements a gift, or a curse?
Roxy thinks that she is in control of everything: with flames flaring at her fingertips and an equally fiery attitude, what more could she need? But then she meets Brae, a prince from a rival Realm, who turns her assumptions of superiority upside down.
Jasmine has none of Roxy’s confidence or intensity. But she does have a secret - and Brae - and she’s not going to give either up willingly.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fire-Elements...
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
I write the books that I want to read: I love fantasy; I like the idea of brightly coloured hair (you’ll have to read the book for this to make sense!); I wish I had amazing powers like the characters in my book.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
Cassandra Clare; JK Rowling; Lauren Oliver; Lauren Kate; Suzanne Collins; Chuck Palahniuk
5) What's your next writing project?
The next two books in the Elements of Power series, which have been written, but not properly edited.
Then a book based on the battle of Troy (since I love all things classical).
1) What is your name and bio?My name is Sarah Richards. I have lived from the Canadian border in Minnesota to the bayous of Louisiana and the rocky Atlantic coast of New England. I am a highly caffeinated home roasting coffee addict who attended the University of Minnesota to study graphic design. When I am not writing or designing I can be found roaming the woods near my house with my husband, son and siberian husky.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
My book title is Left on the Edge.
Here is the synopsis on the back cover:
Just after her seventeenth birthday during winter break, Autumn and her sister receive an announcement from their parents. They are moving back to the Midwest, to a Minnesota town not even large enough to earn a dot on the map. Woodmere is where people have grown up together for generations. It is a town full of gossips and busybodies making sure secrets don’t remain private for long. Memories from her stolen childhood are unlocked during what should have been a routine move. Autumn finds herself suddenly faced with a past she wishes could be forgotten again. A past filled with events she hasn’t told anyone. The man she fears is now only hours away. In an attempt to hide, Autumn becomes the person she didn’t know she could be. Finds the strength she didn’t know she had. In Woodmere, Autumn discovers she isn’t the only one with secrets.
Readers can use the book's website to find it(http://woodmeretrilogy.blogspot.com/). The eBook is available for the Kindle, Nook or iPad. (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes)
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
Life. Plain and simple. I write what I would like to find on the shelf and write it from what I know.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
The Chronicles of Narina by C.S.Lewis and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
5) What's your next writing project?
I'm currently working on the second book of the Woodmere trilogy, 'Taken in the Woods' where the past catches up to Autumn and Craig.
#1. What is your name and bio?My name is Shawn M McNamara, born in Anchorage, Alaska and now resides in Boca Raton, Florida with his wife and their two crazy dogs.
#2. What is your book title, synopsis and where can readers find it?
My book title is "Encourageman".
There's no denying how difficult life can be. The Christian life is a life spent constantly fending off pain, fear, loneliness, and despair. Faith in God that once seemed so rich and vibrant fades into a gray acceptance of our own powerlessness. Having lived that life, Shawn M. McNamara presents a devotional collection aimed at reminding us of who we are, whose we are, and what we can do with the blessings God has given us. This encouragement is just the sort of superpower we need to rise above the circumstances of life and take hold of a strong, thrilling faith.
#3. Where do you come up with your ideas?
The idea for this book was mainly driven by my faith, which has given me a new perspective on life.
As children we used to pretend to be our favorite superheroes. As adults, we realize the world we live in really needs one.
The world says that our paths define us, but I believe that our pasts design us. This book was an opportunity to shed a light to those stuck carrying their yesterdays, and hopefully help lighten the load and discover that they have value.
#4. What books/authors do you like to read?
Believe it or not, I'm not an avid reader. When reading, I normally find myself reading the Bible or something written by Max Lucado (currently 'Fearless').
#5. What's your next writing project?
I am currently brainstorming Encourageman's sequel, E2 Building Your Character. As the first book is designed to help one discover that they have the ability to be a hero for someone else, the sequel is designed to help develop this hero through a series of relatable, real life personal stories.
1) What is your name and bio?My name is Shane O’Neill and I am the writer of The Dracula Chronicles, a new and exciting series adding a new dimension to the Dracula myth. I have begun the series with Chronicle 3 to give my readers the vampire first. Chronicle 1 will follow to take you back to the beginning.
I developed a fascination with Dracula from an early age. Like many others I was quite taken by Christopher Lee’s portrayal of him on the big screen. It was in my late teens that I discovered Dracula the man and the love affair began from there. An avid historian, I studied the period in which the real historical Vlad Dracula lived, 15th Century Balkan, for many years. It followed from there then that with my love of writing I would always choose Dracula as my primary subject.
Away from writing, I have a wide range of interests. I have lived and travelled all over the world. I have a real love for all things historical, with a particular fascination for medieval Europe. Anywhere I travel I like to search out locations with an historical interest.
You can find out more about me and my books at my website www.draculachronicles.co.uk
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
I am writing a series called The Dracula Chronicles. Chronicle #3 is out now and is titled Bound By Blood. It is available in two volumes.
The Dracula Chronicles is the brilliant and terrifying new concept of Dracula. It is an epic journey through the ages where the forces of Light and Darkness struggle for supremacy until the Second Great War, as foretold in the Book of Revelations. This bitter feud began after the creation of mankind. Lucifer’s jealousy leads to the First Great War of the angels. Hundreds of thousands of years on the feud simmers beneath the surface. It plots the course of history as we know it today. Both sides manipulate the major players through the centuries to seek an advantage over the other. On a cold night in December 1431 in Sighisoara an old gypsy woman delivers a prophecy to the great Vlad Dracul. She tells him he is about to sire two sons, one an angel and the other a devil. He returns to his fortress just as his wife bears him a son, whom he names Vlad. In the very same moment across the country on the border between Transylvania and Hungary a gypsy girl gives birth to another son, Andrei. The die is cast. The twin souls are born. The young Vlad Dracula becomes the instrument of the forces of Darkness. To balance this, the baby Andrei is blessed by the angels and bestowed with awesome powers. These chronicles are their story.
As his moment of death looms Dracula suffers the ultimate betrayal. The champion of the Catholic faith in Eastern Europe realises it is Lucifer who is coming to claim him. However, Lucifer does not want his soul. Instead he bites into Dracula’s neck and then offers his own blood to drink. Dracula suffers his mortal death. But he re-awakens. Immortalised with Lucifer's blood coursing through his veins, the two are bound by blood for eternity. But Lucifer has groomed him for this day. He lays out the task before him. Dracula is to destroy the institution of that which he has championed for so long. By bringing down the Catholic Church he can undo the Crucifixion and turn man against God once more. If he succeeds then Lucifer will ascend again to Heaven and signal the end for all mankind.
The books are available on Amazon from my author page http://ow.ly/h6dfn
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
This project has been with me for much of my life and has evolved over time. I am not sure where my ideas come from as such. As I write and mull over what I am doing, they generally come to me then.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
I have read books in the horror genre for most of my life and had a strong bias for books by Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Shaun Hutson, James Herbert, Robert McCammon and Anne Rice. I have widened my scope as I’ve grown older and read a lot by James Patterson, John Grisham, Jeffrey Archer and Carlos Ruis Zafon. I also have read a lot of historical texts.
5) What’s your next writing project?
The Dracula Chronicles will be ongoing for many years. Later in 2013 Chronicle #1, The Gates Of Babylon, will be out – probably in two volumes again. I will also be releasing a series of horror shorts throughout the year.
1) What is your name and bio?My name is Debra Thompson. I've lived in several different places, including Japan for a couple years, because my husband was in the military. I have three children and live in central Florida. I've always had a passion for writing and finally decided to publish some of my work.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
My book is titled The Crumb Snatchers. It is the first in the series. The Crumb Snatchers is a humorous tale about Penny Lenske who finds herself in big trouble after attempting to reach a canister of chocolate chip cookies. She must find a way to get out of trouble and fix the mess she has made. Penny's two older sisters and her cat Heidi can't save her this time. She is on her own.
The Crumb Snatchers can be found on Amazon or my website www.authormixx.com
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
I am always thinking about a story to write. In addition, I am surrounded by children in my work and I have a very active little granddaughter in my life.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
I enjoy the writings of Jan Brett, Beverly Cleary, Eric Carle, and Donald Crews just to name a few. There are so many great children authors.
5) What's your next writing project?
I have a few books currently in the works.
The Crumb Snatchers in Championship Match-up: This is the second book using the Crumb Snatcher characters. The girls will be playing in a district championship baseball game against their west side rivals, the Thunderbolts. The two teams are similar in their style of play, but the Panthers will need some heavy hitting and strategies to win this game.
The Great I AM: A spiritual book inviting those who know and don't know that Jesus Christ is the Great I Am. The journal is filled with I Am verses designed to draw us closer to an eternal relationship with Christ
A Circle of Paths: This is a book based on trials and tribulations of five women that are struggling with drug addiction, emotional, physical, and mental abuse. Their struggles and challenges will form an everlasting bond of friendship, love, and support.
1.) What is your name and bio?My name is Rebekkah Ford. I grew up in a family that dealt with the paranormal. My parents’ Charles and Geri Wilhelm were the directors of the UFO Investigators League in Fairfield, Ohio, back in the 1970s. They also investigated ghost hauntings and Bigfoot sightings in addition to UFO’s. Growing up in this type of environment and having the passion for writing is what drove me at an early age to write stories dealing with the paranormal. At one point in my life, I thought I wanted to be a journalist, and although I enjoyed writing articles, I quickly discovered my real passion was writing fiction. My fascination with the paranormal is what led me to write the Beyond the Eyes series.
2.) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
My book title is BEYOND THE EYES. It's the first book in a YA paranormal series . . .
Paige knows evil exists in this world, but she never imagined it would want something from her.
After a ghostly voice whispers a haunting message to seventeen-year-old Paige Reed, Paige’s life takes a nightmarish turn. Unwilling to tell her friends about the supernatural occurrences happening in her life, Paige feels more alone than ever–until she meets Nathan Caswell.
Nathan is not only hot, but seems to peer into Paige’s soul, evoking a magnetic energy between them that cannot be denied. But he’s no ordinary guy. He tracks dark spirits, and becomes alarmed when they set their sights on Paige.
And then there are the two power-hungry dark spirits who believe Paige can find King Solomon’s magical ring for them, because when her father was alive, he was close to finding it. If Paige doesn’t comply with their demands, they’ll kill her.
Paige is forced to dig deep into her father’s past and unearths shocking secrets about him and his bloodline. With the past and present colliding, Paige is only sure about two things in her life: she needs to outwit the dark spirits to stay alive, and she’s completely and helplessly in love with Nathan.
BEYOND THE EYES is available here:
http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-the-Eyes...
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beyon...
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...
3.) Where did you come up with the idea?
One day, I told my husband I had a lot of stories stuffed inside my head, but I was having a hard time picking which one to write. He suggested I wrote something that scared the crap out of me. LOL. Well, the movie The Exorcist had always scared me. Also, I had always wondered if there were soulless people on this earth--people who did horrific things to others. So I took those ideas, my love for history, among other things, and created this series.
4.) What books/authors do you like to read?
I grew up reading Anne Rice. I love her stories and how she writes. I also love Stephen King, George Orwell, JK Rowling, The Hunger Games, and Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater.
5.) What's your next writing project?
I'm getting ready to launch DARK SPIRITS--the second book in my YA paranormal series. It'll be out sometime next month. I'm also halfway done writing the rough draft to my third book in this series--THE DEVIL'S THIRD. I'm hoping to have that book published by the end of this year. *fingers and piggies crossed*
http://themusingwriter.blogspot.com
http://www.Facebook.com/RebekkahFord2012
1) What is your name and bio?My Name is Hannah Harvey, I'm 21 years old and I'm a self published author of Young Adult Fiction. I live in the UK with my family.
I love to read and I own a lot of books. I also love to write and I've published one book so far to Kindle.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
My book is called 'How I Got Here'
Synopisis:
River has been in hospital for a long time, nobody can get through to her, nobody has taken the time to understand. Until Oliver, a young doctor who is dedicated to finding out what's really happening with this reserved girl.
Through a series of letters written by River to Oliver, she details the events leading up to her hospitalization, and slowly he starts to learn how she got to where she is now.
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-I-Got-Her...
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
A lot of different things inspire my writing, it could be a dream I have, a song I listen to, or a place I visit. I get ideas all the time, and sometimes nothing triggers them, it just sort of appears in my head and I try to develop it into a novel.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
I really love YA fiction at the moment, most notably John Green, Sarah Dessen, Lauren Oliver and Amy Kathleen Ryan.
I also really love classics, Jane Eyre is my favourite book of all time.
5) What's your next writing project?
I'm currently editing a book called 'After Summer' which will hopefully be published on Kindle sometime in the first half of this year.
It's a YA fiction novel, centred around Arianna, an 18 year old girl who is dealing with the death of her best friend Summer, and other issues.
It involves a road trip, and a lot of drama.
My Website: http://www.thebooktower.webs.com
1) What is your name and bio?I'm Stosh, which means I get to be like Bono, Pele and Cher and consider my last name surplus to requirements, but for the good of the order: Stosh D. Walsh. I'm an executive coach who writes non-fiction, mostly on the topic of leadership. I live in the Chicago area with my wife and two children, and I enjoy hiking and photography when I'm not reading or writing. My blog and more info exist at: http://stoshdwalsh.com/blog
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
My book is "Along the Way: Leadership Stories from Everyday Life."
Synopsis: The best leadership development program in the world is everyday life. Everyday encounters--rich in frustration, investment, humor, opportunity and reward--offer a refining crucible for leadership. Although executive leadership is the domain of a select few, opportunities to lead at local levels are virtually endless regardless of title or position in life. With the heart of a parent and the probing questions of an executive coach, author Stosh D. Walsh shares 50 stories from everyday life, and offers practical insights to inspire growth in leaders everywhere.
You can preview it here on Goodreads, and it is available in paperback and ebook formats at most of the popular outlets, including Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Along-Way-Leade...
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
My graduate degree is in leadership, and my first assignment in school was to read a Shakespearean history and write on the leadership lessons I gleaned from it. That confirmed a long-held suspicion for me. Leadership lessons are everywhere we look; we need only to pay attention.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
Anything by Frederick Buechner, Henri Nouwen, TS Eliot. Having taught English in the past, I do enjoy fiction, but rarely read it anymore.
5) What's your next writing project?
I'm currently 6000 words into my next leadership book--a study of leaders who stepped aside to let others lead even though they had the capacity to do so themselves.
1) What is your name and bio?I am Corinna Underwood., uprooted from the UK and transplanted in the US. I have been writing professionally for 13 years.
Here's my author website: http://ambiguousmedia.net
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
The title of my book is A Walk On The Darkside it is a collection of paranormal mysteries for adults.
Pearl Blackthorn is a novelist and investigative reporter for Darkside paranormal magazine. Armed with her digital recorder and accompanied by her friend and photographer Harry Raymond, Pearl is sent by her editor J.J Benson - affectionately known as Benny - to the four corners of Great Britain, (and sometimes further), to investigate stories of spirits and specters, demons and doppelgangers, prophecy and possession. The problem is, Pearl doesn’t believe in the supernatural; her creative imagination is tempered by a strong skepticism. She is immovable on her stand that there is always a simple, rational explanation behind every report of paranormal activity. But Pearl soon realizes that the intricacies of paranormal events are often far from simple and not always rational.
You can find my latest book A Walk On The Darkside here:
You can read the first chapter of my forth coming novel Elsewhere here:
3) Where do you get your ideas?
Everywhere. Reading other books, watching and listening to people, my dreams. I think it’s important to draw on all available resources.
4) What authors do you like to read?
Italo Calvino, Franz Kafka, Gabriel García Márquez, Laura Esquivel, Sarah Addison Allen
5) What's your next writing project?
I am currently working on 2 books. One is the sequel to A Walk On The Darkside, entitled Beyond The Darkside and the other is an adult magical realism novel entitled Elsewhere.
1)What is your name and bio?My name is Gabriel Alexander Vicioso Barrera. I live in the Dominican Republic, age 18 years old.
2)What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
The Dragon Knight Order
25 years ago, The Dragon Knights were the Empire's finest warriors, however qualified candidates ceased to exist. Now 25 years later, the Order has been diminish to a mere handful of Knights and stands on the break of extinction but not all hope is lost when a young boy is selected to join the ranks of the legendary Dragon Knights. Thrown into a world of politics, fighting and constant threats to his life, Alexander Kerm must learn the ways of the Dragon Knights in order to survive the challenges that wait him at the Central Academy and his future life as a Knight. But when an old enemy stirs in the east his life will become the focus of powers beyond his control.
You can get it here http://www.amazon.com/The-Dragon-Knig...
3)Where do you get your Ideas?
I wish I knew! They just sort of flow out.
4)What Authors do you like to read?
I cannot say I have authors I like to read. I like books it is not important to me who wrote. What I really look at is what is inside the book and its pages.
5) What's your next writing project?
Well, I have several started but more then likely it will be the second part of the Dragon Knight series.
1) What is your name and bio?Katharina Gerlach
I was born 1968 in Germany but spend a lot of time in Scotland. After a degree and a PhD in forestry, I turned writer. As a triple mom, I snatch whatever time I have to write. I'm still living in Germany, at least in Real Life™.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
YA historical romance
Ann Angel Waldmann's path to freedom from serfdom becomes the adventure of her life. Familiar tasks alleviate her initial fear but when the family is sold, her ordered family life changes drastically.
In 1848, as the German Revolution plunges the German countries into turmoil, naïve Rieke Waldmann is forced into a courtship with the man her mother intends her to marry while the man she loves strikes out to make his fortune, only to find himself involved in the uprising instead.YA Fantasy
For fourteen years, street-urchin Paul's miserable existence has kept him safe from an ancient law that sentences all second-born twins to death. When he learns he is the younger twin of the mentally handicapped Crown Prince who's in danger of being killed for his disability, he agrees to play the role of the miraculously healed royal heir. Paul struggles to learn how to act like a born ruler, but finds that his greatest skill, getting by unnoticed, is now his greatest liability. He knows if he is discovered, he will be executed like all second-born twins.
Amadi realizes how much she hates being a girl when her half-sister is unwillingly engaged to an elderly gold-smith. She manages to become apprenticed to a thief where she lives as a boy more often than not. But when her Helping Hand is murdered, her oath of revenge lands her smack dab in the path of an assassin hired to kill her and a jackal-headed god with the same purpose. Now, her only defense is the threadbare tunic of a young man and her training as a thief.
Since Bryanna grows up in Scotland, she is familiar with hobgoblins, selkies and kelpies from the tales of her mother country. But she is very surprised when she starts seeing these creatures one day. Is she hallucinating? Before she can ask her father's advice, he is kidnapped by a woman whose scent seems awfully familiar. Instead of calling the police, Bryanna follows the kidnapper and lands smack-dab in the middle of the adventure of her life. It's just as well she knows the old legends and myths well. The world she lands in is murderously dangerous. And even if she survives the journey, she is fated to kill her father.3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
Dear me, ideas are the easiest. I draw them form everyday life, things I read in the papers, stories my kids tell me, or dream them up in daydreams. The hard work beings when I sit down to writte them. ;-)
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
Diana Wynne Jones, Neil Gaiman, Emely Casey, J.A. Marlow, Astrid Lindgren, Michael Ende, Wolfgang Hohlbein, Cornelia Funke, Delle Jacobs and many, many more
5) What's your next writing project?
Juma's Rain: During a drought, apprentice witch Juma needs to wake the rain-goddess before her suitor is sacrificed to heat-daemon Mubuntu and with him her only chance to become the tribe's leader.
1) What is your name and bio?My name is Zanesh Catkin. I was horribly disfigured in a childhood accident; as a result I lived much of my life hidden in attics. I was taken in by a kind family from Minnesota, who offered a loving home and some plastic surgery. Later, we moved to Australia and the confusion really set in. More info can be found here: http://zaneshcatkin.com
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
My book title is Pangamonium.
Synopsis: Pangamonium is a comic novel that parodies travel adventure stories and satirises globalisation. It is a tongue-in-cheek adventure romp, a mock epic. Francis is a journalist looking for a big story in the tiny Asian kingdom of Panga. He finds himself attempting to liberate a bunch of child slaves making sex toys for the West. Toss in an African pilgrim named Easter on a quest to find his grandfather’s grave filled with pirate gold, a military regime oppressing the citizens of Panga, and a Bollywood romance — pandemonium ensues.
You can preview Chapter One on Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...
and it is available in paperback and ebook formats. See here for details: http://zaneshcatkin.com/how-to-buy/
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
Pangamonium got its start when I read a newspaper review of a travel book by Tahir Shah. Another project started with a ‘What if’ question. Another one was based on a conversation fragment I overhead at a party. Ideas come from everywhere.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
I love reading crime and thrillers for entertainment; Michael Connelly, James Lee Burke, Peter Temple, Michael Malone, Michael Gruber. I just finished Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel, brilliant.
5) What's your next writing project?
I'm writing a modern day Romeo and Juliet romance.
1) What is your name and bio?My name is Leonie Rogers. I grew up in Western Australia, and spent many years working and living in the remote Pilbara region. Ten years ago we moved to New South Wales. I've written on and off for years, mostly poetry and the odd short story, but a few years ago, I decided to write the novel I've had wandering around my brain for many years. It was picked up by Hague Publishing and published in October last year.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
My book's title is
Frontier Incursion.
"For Shanna, joining the Scout Corps had been a dream come true. The Scouts were charged with expanding their knowledge of Frontier, a hostile planet their ancestors had crashlanded on 300 years before. As the youngest in her class, Shanna struggles to find acceptance and respect amongst her older peers - a task made more difficult by the fact that she has not just one, but two of the colonists' huge feline companions, their starcats.
On a routine patrol, she and the other cadets are swept up in the greatest challenge yet to be faced by the settlers of Frontier. Now they find themselves on the very frontline of a war they knew nothing about, and possibly the Federation of Race's last chance against the hostile Garsal. Suddenly their world has changed, and in ways never dreamed of by Shanna and her fellow scouts."
It is available direct from the publisher http://haguepublishing.com/shop/index... in both Kindle and ePub formats, or from Amazon, Kobobooks, iBooks, Barnes and Noble, Dymocks, Angus and Robertson and Collins, all in appropriate eBook format.
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
I usually start with an image. It can come from something I've been doing, or involved in, or a comment that someone's made. All of a sudden there's a picture, and the picture has a story attached.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
I love reading books of all genres, but my particular favourites are usually found in either Fantasy or Sci-Fi. I read Terry Pratchett, John Scalzi, Brandon Sanderson, JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Janny Wurts, Dick Francis, Alexandre Dumas. The list seems to go on and on and on...
5) What's your next writing project?
I'm currently writing a sequel to
as Shanna's story has not yet finished. I've also got another book simmering in the back of my mind - a dystopian story based on a short story I wrote a year or two ago.
http://towriteawrong.blogspot.ca/2012...For my new twitter followers who asked to learn more about me : I did an interview with fellow sci-fi author Aaron Dennis a few months ago. Included are some excerpts from my adventure fantasy books.
1) What is your name and bio?My name is Anne Conley, and I grew up in Houston, Texas, but have since moved around to various parts of the state. I am a former teacher, customer service rep, retailer, amateur clown, and current goat farmer. I have been writing my whole life, but only with the intent of publishing about a year.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
I have three adult contemporary romance books currently out in the Stories of Serendipity series...
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_...
Neighborly Complications: The story of Max and Claire. Claire inherits a house from her uncle that is rumored to have hidden treasure. Max is the smitten next door neighbor, but is he really smitten or does he want the treasure? Novella
Dream On: Alyssa is a frustrated single mom, frantic teacher, and completely unfulfilled woman. Dalton is a man-whore, living life on the wild side. They get along just fine, until the start dreaming each other's lives. Then they realize there might just be more to life than the one they are living.
Chef's Delight: Jessie is a struggling goat farmer, desperate to make ends meet. Connor is a restauranteur, living in a haunted mansion. They try to have a relationship, but Connor's past, as well as his ghost get in the way...
3) Where do you get your ideas?
Some come from my husband, some come from the cosmic soup...
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
Anything with words, actually. Currently, I'm exploring indie authors. I just read a couple of Karina Halle books that I really liked, and Liliana Hart is always a favorite...
5) What's your next writing project?
I'm working on a series of romances about the archangels. Trying to make them steamy without being sacrilegious is a bit of a challenge. Not sure how it's going to work out for me...
1)What is your name and bio?My name is Alexandra Butcher and I was born in Amersham, in the South East of the UK but now reside in the South West and I work in an office.
2)What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
The Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles. It’s an adult dark fantasy/fantasy romance with elements of erotica. It is the first in the series and introduces the world and main characters in an exciting adventure.
The blurb is as follows:-
A beautiful young elven sorceress flees for her life in a dark world where magic is forbidden and elves live as slaves. Running from the house of her evil Keeper she must find a way to survive and to fulfil her destiny in a society where her very existence is illegal. Watching her are the Order of Witch-Hunters; the corrupt organisation that rule by fear and ignorance and a mysterious wealthy nobleman, lord of an idyllic valley who is not all he seems. As the slavers roll across the lands stealing elves from what remains of their ancestral home the Witch-Hunters turn a blind eye to the tragedy and a story of power, love and a terrible revenge unfolds.
Can the sorceress, her mysterious lord and their companions; a deadly and enigmatic half elven thief and a young innocent forest elf whose sister was taken by slavers succeed in rescuing the missing elves? Will love, magic and determination be enough to outwit the might of the Order and the deviousness and cruelty of the slaverlords?
*18+* age limit- this contains adult themes.
Currently is on Amazon only as an e-book and as I have just released the second edition the paperback should appear shortly. I am hoping to extend out to other e-book channels later in the year.
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
Many places such as inspiration from other stories and films, and often old RPG plots I have written in the past. I usually think of things at the most awkward moment when i am unable to write them down!
4) What books/authors do you like to read? Fantasy , sci-fi, historical romance, classics, gothic horror, history and true crime and mystery. Authors I like include Gaston Leroux,Alexandre Dumas,Terry Pratchett,Charlotte Brontë,Colin Wilson,Ellis Peters,tolkien,Jules Verne.
5) What's your next writing project?
I am currently working on Book 2 of the series, which I am hoping will be published this year, plus a collection of short stories which will be published...at some point.
1) What is your name and bio?My name is L.M. Sherwin and I'm a fantasy/science-fiction author. I currently have two books published within the same series: Night Bells and Silent Shades. My books fall within a fictional "universe" I've created called The Primoris System in which humans have colonized a distant solar system. Each planet will have its own series and sets of stories. The books currently out take place on the planet Niflheim.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
NIGHT BELLS
Lord Maslyn has been a prisoner in his own home for the last six years. When the twelve year old noble of New Kristiansand discovers a secret passageway in his tower, he delves into a world of adventure, intrigue, and secrecy. With the help of a mysterious stranger and his friend Arna, Lord Maslyn seeks to unravel the secrets of his past and to plot his escape from his castle prison. As his life changes drastically, he is drawn into the larger tale of his elder twin brothers. Can he unearth the secrets of his family’s past without endangering those he has come to hold dear?
You can find NIGHT BELLS on Amazon's website (Kindle and print) and at Barnes and Noble's website(Nook).
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
I adore characters and fantastical settings, so I tend to mull over interesting people that might end up in fantastical situations. I also love stories about families (I love reading those sorts of series). When I come up with my ideas, I typically start with a neat character. I then build a world, family, and plot around THEM.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
I absolutely adore the following authors (you'll notice they're all fantasy or science-fiction folks): Garth Nix, Lindsay Buroker,Juliet Marillier,Terry Pratchett,C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien.
5) What's your next writing project?
I'm currently working on the third book in my Tale from Niflheim series (of which Night Bells is the first and Silent Shades is the second). It will hopefully be available sometime this spring!
1. What is your name and bio?My name is Connie Johnson Hambley. I grew up on a dairy farm just north of New York City and the influences of small town USA and big city dynamics continue to ripple through me. I live on the North Shore of Massachusetts in an area that is chock full of history and hope.
2. What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
My suspense novel/legal thriller is called “The Charity”.
Jessica Wyeth was born with things she just couldn’t hide – beauty, cunning and innate skills in high-stakes horse training. When she is falsely accused of murder, she runs and tries to assume a new identity only to be discovered by the organization that ruined her family. In a race to prove her innocence, Jessica has to decide who she can trust.
EBook and paperback are available on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Charity-Girls-J...
and Barnes and Noble at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-c...
3. Where do you come up with your ideas?
I believe the best books are those written by authors who have a strong intuitive sense of their characters and infuse their world with true-to-life detail. I try to write thrillers which are as realistic as possible so my ideas develop as I question what a regular person would do in an extraordinary circumstance. Oh, I forgot to mention that I’m a (former) lawyer so the legal tensions are crisp and based upon what I know.
4. What books/authors do you like to read?
Stieg Larsson. John Grisham. I just finished “Escape From Camp 14” which really exposed the lingering psychological effects of deprivation. I also just finished Gerry Adams autobiography “Before the Dawn” and “Hope and History” to deepen my understanding of Sinn Fein and the IRA.
5. What is your next writing project.
I am currently working on a sequel to “The Charity” entitled “The Troubles”- which should explain including Gerry Adams on my reading list. I continue to do freelance work and write writing from both creative and business viewpoints on my blog at http://thecharitythriller.blogspot.com .
"The Charity"
1) What is your name and bio?My name is William Hrdina. I started writing in college in 1998, and have completed 16 novels and over 100 short stories and the list is growing all of the time. A midwestern kid from Chicago, I got a philosophy and religion degree from Indiana University after 8 years of college. I only left because they weren't going to give me any more tuition money. My highly practical pair of degrees in hand, I went into work in an ICU at the University of Chicago (where else?) and ended up as the technical specialist working with medical simulation robots. It was fun, but in October 2012, I quit to work on a writing career that is currently ongoing.
2) What is your book title? Synopsis Where can readers find it?
I have a bunch, but the one I'll mention here is Once a Dream Did Weave- it just came out as an Audible book and its already available via Amazon, Kindle and Smashwords. Amazon page is Here.
Synopsis: Samuel Burgess loves owning a second-hand bookstore. But when books from other universes start appearing on his shelves, his dream warps into an enigma. Obsessed, Samuel's pursuit of the mystery finds him smuggling psychedelic mushrooms, floating in sensory deprivation tanks and talking to the occasional hippopotamus- all en route to the most unexpected discovery of all: love. After only three months of dating, Julia Aimes didn't expect her fancy dinner with her boyfriend Benito would include a marriage proposal. But that's what she got. While Julia concerns herself with wedding plans, her fiancee and his family maneuver to regain control of DreamTime- the realm Julia rules without even knowing it. The first in a two-novel adventure chronicling the fate of DreamTime. Nothing less than EVERY POSSIBLE UNIVERSE hangs in the balance.
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
My ideas come to me. I say I like to write Simple Journeys to Odd Destinations.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
My favorites include Philip K Dick, Douglas Adams, Robert Anton Wilson, Terry Pratchett, Thomas Morrow, Kerouac, Grant Morrison, Hunter S Thompson and Stephen King.
5) What's your next writing project?
I am currently writing a novel called FreeDumb. It is an American retelling of the Siddhartha story. Currently at about 25,000 words.
1) What is your name and bio?Hi, I write fiction under two pen names--contemporary/fantasy/SF romance under the name of "Cynthianna" and SF/fantasy/paranormal erotic-romance under the name of Celine Chatillon.
My non-fiction articles and essays have appeared in over forty publications. I work as a freelance manuscript evaluator, book reviewer and copy editor. Her writer's guide, The Curse of the Manuscript Eating Slushpile Monster, was a finalist in the self-help/non-fiction category of the 2009 EPIC awards and is now available in print under the title, Defeating the Slushpile Monster. My non-fiction blog and info can be found at http://www.cindyamatthews.com
My fantasy romantic-comedy novel, Loving Who, is about an enthusiastic group of Doctor Who fans trying to make a fan film. I also write vampire erotic-romance as Celine Chatillon. You can read excerpts from my novels at my web sites: http://www.cynthianna.com and http://www.celinechatillon.com
Websites: http://www.celinechatillon.com and http://www.cynthianna.com
Celine's Dreams Blog: http://celinesdreams.blogspot.com
Confessions of a Blonde Writer Blog: http://www.cindyamatthews.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/cynthianna3
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Cynthianna.Ce...
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/cindyamatthews
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/celinechatil...
Celine's Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002CQY3BM
Cynthianna's Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002CQZYGK
2) What are your book titles?
Too numerous to list all of them here, check them out on the "books page" at my web sites (URLs listed above). I believe most of them are available from Amazon and in Kindle formats directly from my publishers Devine Destinies/eXtasy Books. My Cynthianna series include the fantasy romantic-comedy LOVING WHO (the sequel coming soon from Mojocastle Press!) and my Celine Chatillon series include The Kindred (Vampires) series and the humorous sci-fi erotic series Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures. (http://brandi-whyne.blogspot.com)
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
From all over! From the newspaper, the TV, from friends chatting about inane topics... Almost anything can trigger a story idea.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
I like to read a little bit of everything--I love hard science fiction (Bova, Clarke, Heinlein) and I enjoy historical fiction as well. National Geographic is my favorite magazine--the photography is first rate and I'd love to travel the world!
5) What's your next writing project?
I'm currently working on the third book in The Kindred vampires series, entitled "Blood in Berlin". The sequel to LOVING WHO is in the works to be released soon--LEAVING WHO. Yes, I'm a big Doctor Who fan if you can't tell from my Pinterest boards! ;)
Celine Chatillon
1. What is your name and bio? My name is Kasi, and I fell in love with books at such a young age I don't even remember how old I was at the time. After college I published a few books with Harlequin, but I wasn't satisfied. YA books have always been my favorites so I eventually turned to them. For about a year I had an agent with Trident Media Group. She tried to sell my vampire series. Unfortunately because of the explosion of vampires in the market place, I was told several times the publisher(s) would have taken on my work if I'd only gotten it to them sooner. Next, I went to work on a new series called Witch-Games. My agent suggested I publish them as ebooks. I think she had it in mind that I should go with a small publisher, but I decided to do it myself. Yes, I am a control freak. My books are primarily paranormal.
2. What are your book titles?
Vampires Rule, Werewolves Rule, and Shifters Rule make up the Rule Series.
Crushed and Witch Hunt are in the Witch-Game series.
And my newest series is about to take off with Bait and Hunter.
I also have a romantic suspense novel (Pandora's Box) that I decided to publish instead of selling it to Harlequin.
3. Where do you come up with your ideas?
The blue fairy floats down and plants them in my head while I'm asleep.
4. What books/authors do you read?
I love Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, Cassandra Clare just to name a few.
5. What is your next project?
I am revising Bait at the moment. It is about a young girl being trained as a hunter so she can seek revenge on the pack responsible for her mother's death. But first she has to deal with homicidal wraiths, a border monster on the loose, and a gorgeous boy who thinks he's seen everything. When I'm finished, it will be free at Smashwords and possibly Amazon.
1) What is your name and bio?I'm Dianne Gallagher. I live outside Chicago with my husband and kids. I've been a freelance editor and ghost for over a decade... then decided to write for myself.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
My book title is Too Dark to Sleep
Maggie Quinn was the top homicide detective in Chicago’s Area One before she suffered a devastating loss. Now struggling to face each day, Quinn becomes obsessed with solving her last case for the department that now bars her from wearing a badge. But is she targeting the right person or is Quinn’s tormented mind pushing her to ruin the life of an innocent man?
Avid readers of crime fiction, noir or psychological thrillers will find Too Dark to Sleep a fresh take on their favorite genre. This is the first book in a gripping new series and not to be missed.
It can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo and others listed on my website http://www.diannegallagher.net/index....
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
My brain just makes connections. No idea how or why... the best ones seem to happen when I'm walking or in the shower. Something I read might connect with something I saw or heard... then the story just starts sliding together.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
Oddly, I don't read in my genre when I read for fun. I love sci-fi. Ray Bradbury. William Gibson. Larry Niven. Orson Scott Card. I also am a fan of Christopher Moore.
5) What's your next writing project?
I'm working on the final rewrite of Indigo, the first book in a second series and then it's back to Maggie Quinn's world where I've got about 100 pages of the second book of that series.
1) What is your name and bio?My name is Tom Winton, Born in New York City, I have done everything from working on a railroad gang in the Colorado Rockies to driving a taxicab in Manhattan. I've been a mailman, a salesman, an entrepreneur and more. I now live in Florida with my wife Blanche and our ill-tempered but loveable Jack Russell terrier, Ginger.
My debut novel, Beyond Nostalgia, has been likened to such classics as Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird. Praised as "A 20th century Gone with the Wind," Beyond Nostalgia is a four-time Amazon Bestseller.
My second novel The Last American Martyr has been on six bestseller lists at the same time. And my third book, Four Days with Hemingway's Ghost, has been a repeat bestseller as well.
My brand newest work, Within a Man's Heart, came out in January 2013.
2) What is your book's title, synopsis, and where can we find it?
WITHIN A MAN'S HEART
Four years after burying his young wife, New York sales executive Christian Crews still can’t move forward with his life. Day after day, treasured memories of his beloved Elyse continue to drift through his spirit like an endless procession of mournful ghosts.
Chris wants to leave Manhattan—walk away from his job and the apartment he and Elyse once shared. He dreams of moving to New Hampshire, where he feels he just might have a chance of finding peace. But in his grieving mind, breaking away from those memories would be the same as abandoning Elyse—an unforgivable act of betrayal he could never live with.
Then, on the fourth anniversary of Elyse’s death, Chris makes two shocking discoveries, and a part of him begins to believe that she would want him to go on with his life.
Two weeks later he makes the move to New Hampshire, and minutes after arriving in the small rural village of Mountain Step, he meets a beautiful local woman with mesmerizing gray eyes and a heart as big as the surrounding mountains. Beginning another emotional relationship may be the last thing on Chris’s mind, but he soon finds himself falling for Gina Elkin, every bit as hard as she’s fallen for him.
Could there be a future for them? Will Elyse allow it? After all, she’s still deep within Chris’s heart—a place no one else has ever been.
http://www.amazon.com/Within-a-Mans-H...
1) What is your name and bio?Lisa Gordon.
My name is Lisa Jacqueline Gordon and I was born in Johannesburg. Growing up in Johannesburg was truly an amazing experience which I will always treasure. It is a city of bright colors, vibrant people, stark contrasts and extremes: extreme wealth, extreme poverty, extreme emotions, extreme thunderstorms, often extreme violence and yet every minute I lived there I felt alive. As I sit here in safe and picturesque England I long to leave this sterility and head for the chaos of Africa where somehow every minute means so much more. Perhaps my image of my homeland is very much my metaphor for life: that at the extremes of existence one is truly living and experiencing this thing we call life to the full. I am incurably inquisitive and if there is something going on on this planet, I want to know about it. At school I was a rebel – no not the sort of rebel who smokes in the loo and makes out behind the bike shed -. I was more of an ideas rebel, I wanted to think for myself and never just accept what I was told.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
A SEALED FATE
Available in paperback and kindle at amazon
The book is a unique blend of contemporary fiction and thriller in an unusual setting and with an unusual theme at the centre - the concept of sacrificial and compensatory karma.
The author revs up the tension with her main character, the singer and wannabe rock star, Valda, who speeds through life in a sequence of emotional car crashes until she washes up on Dubai's shores at the feet of the mysterious Sheikh, who, whilst pretending to be her patron, has his own needs to satisfy. And boy does Valda satisfy them until she realises, when in very deep, that she has predecessors with the same experience. The only problem is she can't consult them because they are all dead - in suspicious circumstances. Her clandestine relationship with the Sheikh, propels her further into a murky web of deceit, and she turns to Larissa for help. As an astrologer, Larissa predicts that Valda and the Sheikh's destinies were sealed from the moment of their first meeting; however she keeps the dire fate that she reads in the charts a secret. Together, Valda and Larissa take a gamble in a game of cosmic Russian Roulette where the stakes are their lives and their adversary, Fate itself.
Can they beat Fate? Can freewill triumph?
Take a leisurely tours of the City State's night spots and its haute cuisine; rub shoulders with the beautiful and rich, but never forget that nagging question of destiny and the price you have to pay to change it.
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
Often listening to Bon Jovi or Queen flat out full volume at 2am alone in a drak room.
I used to be an astrologer which got me thinking alot about fate and freewill.
How often do we put the events in our life down to fate; we were destined to meet, I was meant to get that job? How often do we read our horoscopes searching for the details of our future: today you will meet the man of your dreams; tomorrow you will finally make your fortune? But should fate be taking all the credit, or blame for everything in our lives or is it free will, our own choice, however influenced by our surroundings, which govern our actions? As an astrologer, my clients and their questions about their lives really got me thinking – astrology is all about freewill, encouraging clients to use the impetus the planets are giving them at any one time to make positive changes in their lives. However it seemed that most people almost wanted to believe that they had NO choice and that it was all written out for them and what they wanted me to do was just tell them how it would all work out, rather than what they needed to do to get the result they wanted. Astrology gives you the ingredients; you still have to 'make the cake yourself'. I hope that the storyline in A Sealed Fate will get people debating in their heads whether Lara's prediction became a self-fulfilling prophesy, whether Valda's choices alone determined her fate or if it all would have happened regardless of 'the reading.' A Sealed Fate will make readers think about how much we all put down to fate and how much we could change our lives by taking more control.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
Robert Ludlum, David Icke and anything I get as a gift as my friends have great literary taste.
5) What's your next writing project?
I am currently working on my 3rd book. My second thriller Next of Sin is all set to go and so watch this space.
1) What is your name and bio?
Erec Stebbins
I am a biomedical researcher in New York who writes political and international thrillers, as well as undertaking excursions into other genres. My stories often come from the raw emotional conflicts created by contemporary events around us. I strongly believe that the best stories challenge us, so I try to create art with a certain kind of relevant edge, at least as I experience it.
I was born in the Midwest. My mother worked as a clinical psychologist, and my father was a professor of romance languages at the University Nebraska in Lincoln. In fact, his specialty, old romance languages and their literature, is the source of the strange spelling of my middle name: "Erec". It is an Old French spelling, taken from an Arthurian romance by Chrétien de Troyes written around 1170: Érec et Énide. Had my brother been a girl, he would have been named Enide. Instead, he's Michael.
I have pursued diverse interests over the course of my life, including science, music, drama, and writing. My academic path focused on science, and I received a degree in physics from Oberlin College in 1992, and a PhD in biochemistry from Cornell University in 1999. I live and work in New York City as a scientist and professor in biomedical research at the Rockefeller University.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
My debut novel, The Ragnarök Conspiracy, was born of intense feelings and the conflicts engendered by the 9/11 attacks. It has been said that the novel "turns the traditional terrorist thriller on its head" (Allan Leverone) and is "epic, explosive, subversive, engaged and compassionate, like a Michael Bay movie written by Aaron Sorkin" (Chris Brookmyre). The Library Journal recommends that you "Fortify your shelf of Armageddon thrillers with this promising newcomer".
The story centers on two men who share a traumatic loss at the hands of Muslim extremists, and yet take two ultimately divergent paths afterwards. One man, John Savas, channels his pain to become one of the nation’s leading, if unorthodox, FBI counter-terrorism officers. The other uses his considerable wealth and power to become the equivalent of an American Osama bin Laden, and is the antagonist of the story who plans and sets in motion a global conflict with the Muslim world. Much like the final Armageddon of Norse mythology, these two are destined to face off in an ultimate battle over the soul of civilization and the fate of the world.
The book is available at brick and mortar stores (e.g., B&N) and online in both print and ebook formats. Don't forget the umlauts.
For those interested, a trailer for The Ragnarök Conspiracy, can be found here:
"The Ragnarök Conspiracy" Trailer
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
My stories force me to tell them. I'm constantly getting characters acting and speaking in my mind, plots carrying themselves out. Those that survive for months to years demand that their story be told.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
A wide range from Dan Simmons epic sci-fi to contemporary global thrillers. I used to read a lot more fantasy. The authors that have meant the most to me are J.R.R. Tolkien, Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Ludlum, George Orwell, Dan Simmons, Frank Herbert, and Olaf Stapledon. I'm sick to death of vampires. Zombies still have a few miles left on them.
5) What's your next writing project?
I am in the process of writing a series of novels that explore our uneasy bargain between security and liberty, as well as planning some techno/science thrillers.
Here is a teaser for my next thriller:
Extraordinary Retribution Teaser
Sounds brilliant Eric.Interested in a review swop?
1) What is your name and bio?I'm Nicolas Wilson. I live in the Portland, Oregon area, and have been writing novels for around five years. Prior to that, I wrote graphic novels, short stories, and was a published journalist.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
My debut novel, Whores: not intended to be a factual account of the gender war, is available on smashwords, for $.99.
Synopsis: In the near future, women’s rights are eroding, and those who buck the system are hunted as gender criminals by the authorities and rogue militias. This harrowing dystopia is seen through the eyes of a woman cast into a resistance group by circumstance, and a newly minted gender crimes detective tasked with bringing them to justice, as he grapples with whether or not that word still has meaning.
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
My fiance describes it as me "working through things in my head." I'm inspired by nearly everything around me. News, technology, politics, the feeling I got during a favorite film. I'm a little scattered.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
I don't get much opportunity to read nowadays. I read incredibly slowly, so starting a new novel is a huge undertaking that pulls me away from other tasks. Most of my favorites are graphic novels or short stories. I love Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis, Neil Gaiman, Amy Didion, and Stephen King.
5) What's your next writing project?
This will be a big year. I am currently finishing the first draft of one novel, but my focus will be on revising older projects for release. I should have five to seven novels released this year, depending on the revision schedule.
Lisa wrote: "Sounds brilliant Eric. Interested in a review swop?"Hi Lisa, I think swaps have been getting a lot of negativity recently, both from readers and how Amazon and other sites are cracking down on them. While I sure could use some more reviews (one hopes leaning positive!), I think I'll let the system grow "organically". But thanks for your offer and nice words!
Erec
If i get a chance I will review and read yours anyway, as it sounds up my street.
My debut novel is Spank: The Improbable Adventures of George Aloysius Brown. It's currently available through Amazon here: http://goo.gl/DMJWY and in fact, for the next three days, it's free! You can get more info on it at http://www.spankthenovel.comAnd here's what it's all about: When George Aloysius Brown, a retired civil servant, accepts a challenge from his creative writing teacher to 'step outside his comfort zone' and write erotica, his research leads him into a bizarre world of strange and fascinating characters.
He visits a S&M club where he befriends a trainee dominatrix who wants to be a ballet dancer. He auditions for an adult movie directed by a titled lady. He visits a librarian who entertains "assertive older gentlemen." George enjoys his new life as a researcher until he buys telephone sex from a B grade movie actress and it all goes horribly wrong.
The plot thickens when he forms a literary alliance with Catherine Mallory Jones, a beautiful Cambridge University graduate and aspiring romance writer, who has a dark sexual past. When her past catches up with her and she fears for her life, she turns to George for help. Their friendship deepens and there is one final improbable adventure.
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
I'm a huge observer, largely because of my professional background. But in all honestly, for this novel the thought just suddenly occurred to me one day, I can do this. So I did!
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
E. Annie Proulx, Monica Ali, Zadie Smith, Kurt Vonnegut
5) What's your next writing project?
Currently writing another novel, but not in the erotica genre. More news soon!
1. What is your name and bio? My name is Gary Goldstein, and I came into the world on October 18, 1961. John F. Kennedy was President of the United States. The film West Side Story was released, and would go on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Major League Baseball was celebrating Roger Maris of the New York Yankees, who hit a then-record 61 home runs that season.
I was an excellent student, although a bit of a class clown too. I spent a majority of my time playing sports, but fell in love with newspapers, which was how I was initially introduced into
writing and storytelling.
While attending Kingsborough Community College from 1979-1981, I served as editor-in-chief of
the school's paper, and then joined the staff at Long Island University's Seawanhaka for my junior and senior years. At L.I.U. where I earned my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism in 1983, I was also a selected member of Sigma Delta Chi, as well as Who's Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges.
My last year in college included an unpaid internship at WCBS-TV, Channel 2 in New York City, where I learned so much about the television business. Upon graduation, I landed a job at the network, starting as a news clerk for The CBS Morning News with Diane Sawyer, and also weekend shifts for The NFL Today with Brent Musburger.
After quickly rising in the ranks to producer, my life suddenly went on a downward spiral due to
addictions to alcohol, drugs and gambling, which ultimately led to nearly six years behind bars for robbery.
My time incarcerated gave birth to my first published book, Jew in Jail, which tells my true story
of how I finally decided to deal with my addictions and turn my life around, all the while under the toughest conditions imaginable of being a minority in the prison system, forced to fend for myself.
Writing Jew in Jail - as I was doing my time - allowed me to become very introspective, and realize that I could help others in similar situations of being an addict and/or living with low self-esteem.
Today, I still reside in my hometown of Brooklyn, New York, where I am working on my next book
project, continuing to promote Jew in Jail, and always helping other addicts through my motivational and inspirational speeches, and one-on-one consultations.
2. What are your book titles?
"Jew in Jail" http://www.jewinjail.com/
3. Where do you come up with your ideas?
"Jew in Jail" is a true crime/memoir/biography, and again, is targeted to anyone who is addicted to any life altering substance or behavior, or for someone living or working with such a person.
4. What books/authors do you read?
I enjoy any self-help books, and like reading Dr. Phil's works.
5. What is your next project?
Right now, I am happy to continue to promote "Jew in Jail," as well as deliver motivational & inspirational speeches to help other addicts in their recovery get and stay clean & sober http://youtu.be/dE4DFCbXRF4
Lisa wrote: "If i get a chance I will review and read yours anyway, as it sounds up my street."Thanks! I hope you enjoy it!
1) What is your name and bio? My name is J.C. Henderson, and I am the author of Halfway to Nowhere. Here is my bio that I usually include in all my work:
Jason Charles Henderson was born and raised in the small town of Rio Vista, California. Surrounded by fields, hills and a river, the environment was perfect to spark J.C.’s’ imagination from a very young age. Throughout his life he wrote stories, as a child he often stapling papers together himself so he could write in his own “book”. Though J.C. viewed his storytelling gift as a frequent hobby, he continued to write as he grew into an adult. After many years of soul searching, heavy studies in different majors in college and bouts of depression, he soon discovered that writing was what he wanted to do with his life, and decided to pursue his life-long gift to its fullest potential.
J.C. currently lives in California, studying Literature and Creative Writing.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
Halfway to Nowhere is available on Amazon and Createspace so far. You can purchase the novel on Createspace HERE and Amazon HERE
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
Anywhere and everywhere. my own psyche, or what I hear out in the street while i'm on one of my walks. They pop in there and i write those suckers down with a small pad and pen that i always carry with me in my jacket pocket. Either that or I write them down in my phone somewhere.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
Literature, mostly, 20th century. Hemingway, Vonnegut, King, Kerouac.
5) What's your next writing project?
Currently writing my 4th novel, other than that i don't know what about my next self-publishing plans. There's a novella I am currently shaping up for possible self-publication called Say It Ain't So
I am also planning on trying to send short stories to magazines this year, just to start creating some kind of a portfolio for my MFA degree.
That and it sounds like it might be a lot of fun :-)
1) What is your name and bio?Lance Charnes. As my GR bio says, I've been a lot of things, but am currently an emergency management specialist. I was once an Air Force intelligence officer and spent four years in an IT support role with the National Security Council. I travel, I'm a PADI rescue diver...and, oh, yeah, I write intrigue and thrillers.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
Doha 12
, an international thriller. It's available now for Kindle on Amazon US, Canada and UK, and in trade paperback online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Indiebound, Powell's, Vroman's, Book Depository (UK), and Booktopia and The Nile (Australia). It'll be available for Nook and Kobo in March.The story:
Jake Eldar’s and Miriam Schaffer’s names may kill them.
Jake manages a bookstore in Brooklyn. Miriam is a secretary at a Philadelphia law firm. Both grew up in Israel and emigrated to build new lives in America. Neither knows the other exists…until the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad uses their identities in an operation to assassinate a high-ranking Hezbollah commander in Doha, Qatar.
Now Hezbollah plans to kill them both.
Jake, Miriam and ten other innocents in five countries – the Doha 12 – awake to find their identities stolen and their lives caught between Mossad and Hezbollah in an international game of murder and reprisal. Jake stumbles upon Hezbollah’s plot but can't convince the police it exists. When his wife is murdered in a botched hit meant for him, Jake and Miriam try desperately to outrun and outfight their pursuers while shielding Jake's young daughter from the killers on their trail.
Hezbollah, however, has a fallback plan: hundreds of people will die if Jake and Miriam survive.
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
Doha 12 was, as they say, "ripped from the headlines" -- it's inspired by Mossad's 2010 assassination of Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai and the resulting fallout. The real story made the perfect setup for a thriller.
Otherwise, I get ideas from the news and current events. Often I'm inspired by a travel destination; the novel I wrote before Doha 12 came about after I visited Florence.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
For fiction: Daniel Silva, Michael Connelly, Elmore Leonard, John Burdett, Ken Follett, Carl Hiaasen, Alan Furst, Philip Kerr, T. Jefferson Parker, Sophie Littlefield (the Bad Day series), Tim Dorsey. I'm also making an effort to read some authors I haven't tried before.
For nonfiction: Stephen Ambrose, David McCullough, Edmund Morris, Rick Atkinson.
5) What's your next writing project?
South, a near-future thriller set in the American Southwest of 2032. It's about a "reverse coyote" who helps an American Muslim family cross into Mexico to avoid imprisonment in a detention camp, only to discover they're part of a much bigger political scheme.
Goodreads Authors/Readers
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S.G.Renee has written poetry/fiction for over ten years and has worked with Clash of Weapons (COW) for the last three. Equipped with a BSc degree in Professional Writing (with emphasis in Anthropology), AA in Studio Art and experience in creative writing, she can write in various mediums. Writing has always been a huge part of her life since she was small, writing stories for her younger siblings. Renee loves writing poetry, but will happily write literary fiction, horror, fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction. She works as a technical writer for an engineering incorporation and an event organizer for a local writing group while working on projects for COW.
2) What is your book title, synopsis, and where can readers find it?
Soul of a Warrior
Soul of a Warrior is a collection of war stories; whether it be describing a gruesome physical battle, or internal mental instabilities. Soul of a Warrior focuses on audience representation reflecting these subjects. The artwork digitally painted by Konaa, was completed prior to the writing. The poems written by S.G. Renee, were developed afterwards via interpretation of the artwork.
Found on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and CreateSpace
Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/9ylojcn
Oiche Shamhna
Oíche Shamhna shona daoibh! Clash of Weapons special Celtic end of the year mini poetry book, Oiche Shamhna. A homage to the Gaelic version of All Hollow’s Eve. Slainte!
Found on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and CreateSpace
Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/9j2djxf
Buried: 6ft
C.o.W best of S.G. 2004 - 2010 poetry book, Buried. S.G. solo years, (2012 version) illustrated by Konaa. Clash of Weapons 4th year anniversary edition. *Contains nudity, violence, and adult situations.
Found on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and CreateSpace
http://tinyurl.com/8hf5xq6
3) Where do you come up with your ideas?
The latest books are based on my illustrator's artworks. She sends me the images and I come up with the stories.
For anything else, small things will inspire ideas,whether its artwork, movies, or just something a friend said off hand.
4) What books/authors do you like to read?
Actually, my favorite books to read are nonfiction, usually about other cultures.
My favorite so far is Nothing to Envy.
5) What's your next writing project?
Well being a part of the Clash of Weapons group, we have decided to push into graphic novels. We also have a side project in children's stories.