Author Interview: Russell B. Peterson

1. What inspired you to write?
I’ve been interested in writing since childhood, but an early retirement from teaching prompted an interest in becoming a writer as a career.
2) Are you a reader? What are some of your favorites? Yes! For fiction, I love a mystery or crime book…such as Mary Higgins Clark, James Patterson or Janet Evanovich. For personal development I love Jim Kwik, Jim Rohn and Dale Carnegie.
3) What is your newest work, and what is going to happen in the future? My newest work is actually a book of my brother’s poetry I typed/compiled and self-published after his death. I also just submitted a chapter for a collaborative book effort on grief. I am currently working on a book on sibling grief.
4) Do you have advice or tips for Indie Authors?
Educate yourself on marketing, and start marketing well before your book is finished!
5) What influenced you as a writer? The desire to enlighten and empower people with my experiences, so their road may be easier.

Author Interview: Hoyt Hallford

1. What inspired you to write?
Like a lot of authors, I started telling stories to my kids.
2) Are you a reader? What are some of your favorites? Yes. Anything by Robert Heinlein.
3) What is your newest work, and what is going to happen in the future? I am in the editing stage of the second in my series, The Wanderlings.
4) Do you have advice or tips for Indie Authors? Just write. Use [brackets] on the stuff that has you stumped. Then keep writing.
5) What influenced you as a writer? Back to Heinlein again. Definitely him.

Author Interview: F.E Jacobs

What inspired you to write? One day when I woke up he realized that the only activity that will make it possible for him to use all knowledge about different subjects would be literature, which has always been by my side, in the form of a patient and silent companion that was awaiting my decision to take on the challenge of writing professionally.
2) Are you a reader? Yes!What are some of your favorites? I read everything one of my favorite is The Divine Comedy
3) What is your newest work, and what is going to happen in the future? My book was translated in four idioms and demanding a lots to promote ! I’m working to second book but only to next year 4) Do you have advice or tips for Indie Authors? Read a lot, make your audience, create something to surprise your readers 5) What influenced you as a writer? Jordan Peterson

Author Interview: Charlie Wood

1) I have always enjoyed a good story..i love telling stories, even if they are based on their events, I exaggerate and add details. It was my son who encouraged me to write. He had more confidence in me than I did.
2) When I was younger, I read a lot. An eclectic mix of drama and comedy. Spike Milligan, Tom Sharpe always made me laugh out loud. I loved classics like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. Too many to mention. Of course Stephen King and Lee Child.
My favourite books though would be 1984 and The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists
3) My latest book is the sequel to the Memorabilia Man. The Algarve Hotel, which I’m pleased to say is getting some great feedback. It is a stand-alone story. Although the first one introduced the main characters.
4) Just write, don’t worry about how good or bad you think you might be. The real work comes with the rewrites. Don’t think you can get out of it. Don’t knock yourself out trying to find better words, if it sounds right it probably is right.
Try not to repeat yourself.
5) It sounds a bit strange, but it was listening to Rock n Roll. I listened to Chuck Berry and there is a whole story in two minutes. I wrote an essay in school. The teacher stared at the inkblots, the scratching out, the spelling mistakes and tea stains on my textbook. I thought he was going to shout at me. Instead he stood me up and said, “read that to the class.” I stood shaking, I could feel my heart racing. Unable to look up from the page. When I finished, the class were on their feet, clapping. Fifty years later, I decided to try writing a novel.

Author Interview:Suleidy Merced

1. What inspired you to write? For me writing is something that has always been inside of me. I want to be that author that helps readers find a way to escape from the craziness of every day life.

2) Are you a reader? What are some of your favorites? I love to read. Last year alone I read over 150 books. It’s hard to pick a favorite book. I think it depends on the season I am in. As of late it has to be The Discovery of Witches. But I’m also a sucker for Colleen Hoover or Nicole Fox

3) What is your newest work, and what is going to happen in the future? I currently published Possession (Book 1 of The Manarch Clan series) I am working on finalizing book 2 and because I’m seriously crazy just started a project with the app Fictum.

4) Do you have advice or tips for Indie Authors? I’m a new author myself. So I’ll share what others have shared with me. Write, write and write some more. Don’t give up on your dream.

5) What influenced you as a writer? I have to say everyday life and people. Those small moments you capture or a line of a song.

Author Interview: Risha Chaurasia

1. Love for books and reading inspired me to write. 2. I have loved to read and am an avid reader. I love John Green novels. 3. TRUCE: Novis Initiis is my latest work. It’s a story of friendship, love and self discovery! I am currently working on a 3rd novel. 4. Dont give up! The path is not easy but its worth it! Believe in yourself and in your writing. 5. Books and writing styles

Author Interview: Susan Lavin

It’s always been a dream to be an author with my twin sister.
I love to read and also read aloud to children.
We are in the editing phase of a book- Whispers Under the Chestnut. It’s the last in our Tree-Hugger series .Marketing is next
Advice -don’t rush, edit, hire an editor, read again and again after you take a break from your writing
Ready great passages in books!

Author Interview: SP Dawes

1. What inspired you to write? Having no one to listen to me as a child, meant I wanted to be heard by my characters, I loved making up worlds and friendships that I suppose, I wished I’d had.
2) Are you a reader? What are some of your favorites? I love reading and getting lost in a good book. I love crime thrillers and romance. Helen fields, Katerina Diamond and Brittany sahin and Emilia finn are among my favourite authors.
3) What is your newest work, and what is going to happen in the future?
My newest work was actually re doing my first book. Having learnt so much, I wanted to go through it all again and get it up to spec. 4) Do you have advice or tips for Indie Authors?
Don’t give up, don’t take criticism personally but do take what you can from it to improve.
5) What influenced you as a writer? My life, my surroundings, media, my family and friends and also the good old TV.

Author Interview: T.B. Wayne

1. I was watching a show on Netflix about villains. It begged the question…”Do the villains know they are the bad guy?” Well certainly some do but what about Sauron? Would he see himself as the bad guy? Then I thought about the character I’d created so long ago…would Arawn see himself as the bad guy?” My answer was no. He would not have seen himself that way. Then how did he get that way? Boom. That was the question that started it. My character needed an origin story. I started the book the next day.
2. I am. I read my first (big) book at 15. It was The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks. I enjoy Mark Lawrence and Joe Abercrombie as well.
3. I am writing book 2, “A Confluence of Shadows” and have book one out on Audio. I plan 6 books in this series. My next 3 series are already in planning stages. I’m planning an urban dark fantasy about the Norse gods. A superhero series. I’m also planning a martial arts inspired fantasy.
4. Don’t let anything stop you. Not fear. Not finances. Not lack of knowledge. Write the damn book!
5. Reading. No question but it wasn’t just the reading. It was the absolute immersion a great book could provide. The escape into a different place. That’s the hook for me.

Author Interview: Arlene Lomazoff-Marron

1. About a week before I retired from a career in the healthcare field in December 2019, a coworker commented that I should do something from my bucket list. I immediately replied that I would write a novel. I wondered why I had replied so quickly and with such conviction, as I hadn’t thought about writing a book since my adolescence. I took a few writing courses in high school and considered college and a career in writing, but decided to go to nursing school instead. I didn’t realize writing a novel was on my bucket list. Since I was newly retired and had the time to explore writing, I decided to see what I could do.
“Beneath A Blanket Of Snow” was my first novel. I was overwhelmed by the wonderful response to the book, so I decided to keep writing. I released “If We Had Known” in April 2021.

2. My favorite book is “The Grapes of Wrath”. The book was great but the ending sealed my decision. But I generally like stories about families and their issues, so it’s no surprise that I have chosen to write books in the same genre

5. I was once asked to compare myself to a writer. I choose Anita Shreve. Her characters are well-developed, her writing is clear, and she doesn’t use fancy or difficult language. Of course, she writes books about families and their trials. So I aspire to be like her!

3. I released “If We Had Known” on April 28. While time often seemed to stand still, and tedious weeks stretched into months with no occurrence out of the ordinary, their life had irrevocably changed in an instant.
It was his eyes that told her. Those blue eyes. Like the water in the Caribbean.

A college student. A professor. A secret. A devastating medical diagnosis. A young woman looking for meaning in her life. A man searching for his beginnings. A couple who wanted it all.
Were their fates linked by circumstance? Or were other forces at work?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B093P4JTY3

I also contributed a short story about the lads bicycling, in “The Need for Speed” 4. My advice for indie authors is to present your work to your readers in the best light. I don’t yet have the sales I would like for my books, but I am proud of the books I have written. My first book has more than 60 reviews and a 4.7 rating on Amazon. I’m proud of that.