Was there a significant event that prompted you to write fiction?

Rebecca: Thank you for interviewing me again. I had an idea for a novel when I was twenty-one-years old, but I never could find the time to write it. When I was thirty-seven-years old, my husband and I were reading a lot of books regarding paranormal activity in the United States. We wrote a screenplay. During final edit, a very similar movie hit the ‘big screen’. I then threw it away. My husband and I went through a t...

A guest post by Aimey Lewis

Writing is an activity that requires a quiet and secluded environment, free from disturbances and interruptions. Many artistic writers have their own places or rooms which they have specifically designed for writing purposes alone. A writer cannot get information to write about without travelling to different places across the world where they can get first-hand inspirational and historic stories to write about. Writing in the same place and a room all over throu...

Tell us about your novel, “In the Margins”

A modern love-hate story, “In the Margins” is written in alternating viewpoints, finding rhythm and complexity in the he-said-she-said decay of a relationship. As undergraduate students, Allie and Liam clashed in a careless and irreparable way. Years later, they come together again in an attempt to rehash their history. Their mutual truth then becomes clear: all stories need to be told, if only for the sake of emerging from between the lin...

We were excited when we discovered Twitter and learned how to use it to promote our material. We’ve “met” a lot of terrific friends there and connected with fellow authors and readers alike. Since we started, we’ve developed our own method for using this wonderful social tool. Here it is in a nutshell:

When we get a new follower, we read the profile and then scroll down through the timeline. If we see they regularly retweet others, we follow them back and add them to our private ...

~A guest post by Bridget Sandorford

Whether you write for pleasure or you write professionally, it's important to have a space in your home to call your own where you can write. Having your own writing space can help you to feel relaxed and inspired so you can produce your best work.

However, space may be at a premium in your home, and you may not be able to just claim a room and declare it your own. Here are a few tips for how you can make a writing space in your home regardless of ...

Spell check can't save you from yourself. You can't rely on those little squiggly red and blue lines (the blue ones for grammar issues) to save you from misusing words or even from misspelling them (since you could just end up spelling a new word from your misspelling). You have to learn proper usage to make sure you don't make gaffes that could derail your writing or make you seem like an amateur.

Don't worry though: The mistakes that you are likely making are the same ones that a lot o...

In the past, Brooklyn, you've written across genres (coming of age, women's fiction, supernatural thriller, nonfiction). How would you classify your upcoming release, Let It Go?

          Let It Go is a feel-good contemporary romance about two divorcées starting over. One divorcé and one divorcée, if you want to get gender-technical...lol. It's a laid-back, easy, breezy, fun spring/summer read. Perfect for the season. 

Two divorcées? That's probably something many readers can relate t...

Just looking around my house made me sad. Kitty was nowhere to be found, and the drab walls seemed to echo my loneliness. Long afternoon shadows stretched across the dusty floor. Messy piles of clutter squatted on every surface, and the air was chill. Neglect cast its sorrowful pall over my...

Women want the perfect man, so they can change him. But when university student Damian Serr discovers a rich, beautiful woman who’s voracious about sex, he doesn’t try to improve on perfection. It’s all that he can do to hold on for the ride.

Damian has always followed the rules, always tried to please others. At 20, he still dates the girl next door because his parents like her parents. When Nick, his university roommate, asks Damian to take over his pool-cleaning business so he can...

There is often more to a short story than meets the eye. For readers, a short story is a brief vacation from reality. For authors, it is so much more. A short story is a vehicle for introducing your writing to new readers, readers who might not commit to an entire novel but would certainly give a short story a chance. With so many books out there vying for attention, readers have more choice than ever before. Digital books, self-publishing, and expanded venues are all factors that combine t...

Tell us something about your novel.

Lily Steps Out is a middle-age coming-of-age about a woman who is sick of making beds and cooking meals and decides to “step out” of the comfortable life she knows and goes out and gets a job. 

Is the novel autobiographical?

        There is that one nugget of truth in the novel, in that before I became an author I was a wife and mother. But unlike Lily, who waits till she’s fifty five to make that life-altering change, I stepped out of that rol...

What was it that turned me and made me decide to give writing a try? Let me see if I can get this story started.

In the beginning…no...wait, that has already been done, start over.

Once upon a time…no, no, that is just crazy, what are you trying to do?

There once was a …*sigh* this is not working. Just try again.

*tapping chin with fingertip* Oh, okay, I think I have it.

Hey, welcome, come meet the voices in my head.  Yep that about sums it up.

I have always been hooked on...

We hadn’t originally planned to do a sequel to our novel, Zeke. However, the response we received from a number of readers indicated that a sequel was in order. And we, too, wondered how Sue would recover from the damage Zeke inflicted upon her, both physically and emotionally. So, we set to work writing the aftermath of her ordeal with Zeke. It was a good experience for us. When writing Zeke, we disliked his character so much, we often procrastinated working on the book. We did not have ...

1: Why did you join the social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook?

Rebecca: I obtained my very first computer two and a half years ago because I had handwritten a novel. I knew I needed help with it, but didn’t know where to turn. I knew how to work a computer a little bit at the time, but it’s been a struggle. I pestered many authors on Twitter and Facebook for help. I feel bad about this, but I love to read and figured if I read enough of their books, wrote reviews, and tweeted a...

Please welcome talented author, Tyr Kieran, to the hot seat of journalistic and interrogatory imprudence.

1. Of all the stories you’ve written, which one does Chuck Norris like the best?

None of them, because Chuck Norris doesn’t like stor...

BOOK TRAILERS are a relatively new concept, following the promotional success of the movie trailer. Without a movie trailer, advertised on national television, how else would we know of the latest blockbuster or quiet Indie film coming to a theater near us?

By virtue of movie trailers, we get an average of two and a half minutes to determine whether t...

Jack lugged their groceries to the parking lot, struggling against the familiar sick weakness. Knowing what he would find, he nonetheless gazed upward.

Lines of white stretched across the blue sky in a grid formation.

“My god, they’re at it again!” he mumbled, tossing sacks into the back seat of the car. “No one should have to put up with this, Pearl.”

“Oh, Jack,” she whispered softly, crestfallen. “Please don’t start that again.”

“Quit treating me like ...

Brooklyn James, author/singer/songwriter, releases OFFICIAL music video for 'Can't Get It Right,' track #4 from the original music soundtrack to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Quarter Finalist, The Boots My Mother Gave Me.

"Brooklyn James' soundtrack to her novel The Boots My Mother Gave Me does more than give a clever feminist twist to the title. Her songs serve as chapters themselves, underlining James' deft ability as a storyteller and songwriter." -Margaret Moser, The Austin Chr...

It seems authors often get asked the same questions from one interview to the next. Not always, but a lot. It was time, I decided, for a new approach. So, this interview is designed to break out of the mold. On each of these questions, there is simply no right answer. Let’s see just how creative these creative minds are! It’s all in fun, of course. -Karen

Today we welcome author, Vonda Norwood, to the inquisitor’s chamber.

1. Ten ninjas, a calculator, and a potted plant?
Aaah!  C...

Okay, so I’m not that bad…no really! I didn’t actually think it would be easier to self-publish. Because in fact I know it’s very, very hard. A few years ago I worked for Stag Editors in New York as a proof-reader and editor, and believe it or not, some of our clients were indie authors. So I not only got to see the plethora of talent available in indie books, but also saw a lot of the mistakes.

When I first wrote Conner, I was only eighteen. It was a great achievement for me, an...

Showcase your creative talent! How? By playing our fill-in-the-blanks game. Below are five sentences taken from our newest novel, Zeke. But...some of the words have been left out. This is so YOU can fill in the blanks, creating a new sentence.

How to play:
Choose one of the sentences. Put on your thinking cap and fill in the blanks with your own words. Be as creative or silly or serious as you want. It’s like Mad-Libs without the hints about nouns, verbs or adjectives, etc. Put your com...

It seems authors often get asked the same questions from one interview to the next. Not always, but a lot. It was time, I decided, for a new approach. So, this interview is designed to break out of the mold. On each of these questions, there is simply no right answer. Let’s see just how creative these creative minds are! It’s all in fun, of course. ~Karen

In this interview, I have subjected my co-author, PJ Hawkinson, to ludicrous but penetrating int...

It seems authors often get asked the same questions from one interview to the next. Not always, but a lot. It was time, I decided, for a new approach. So, this interview is designed to break out of the mold. On each of these questions, there is simply no right answer. Let’s see just how creative these creative minds are! It’s all in fun, of course. Our first victim...I mean, volunteer, is Tiffany Fulton. She tackles these ludicrous questions with style and spirit! -Karen

Tiffany Fulton, ...

I still have my favorite traditionally published authors, the ones with famous names and recognized publishers. But lately, I have been devoting my reading time mainly to indie authors, those of the self-published or small press variety. And here’s why:

1. Accessibility. Indie authors are usually very friendly and happy to exchange messages online with readers and fans. If you are an author as well as a fan, they are some of the most generous and supportive people you will ever meet, oft...

Do you prefer your crime fiction dark or light?

If you favor cozy mysteries, then your choice will be a lighter strain of crime fiction featuring puzzle-solving amateur sleuths with an interesting hobby or pastime, set in a quiet, charming community in which murders take place off-stage, away from the public eye. Murder She Wrote, the 1980s television series starring Angela Lansbury, always comes to mind as the quintessential cozy mystery.

However,...

As any author knows, rounding that last corner on final revisions is a major milestone in the life of a book. Even though we plan an additional read-through or two, the largest part of the job is done, and it feels great!

Up to this point, we have been quiet about the title of our upcoming book, but we are now ready to introduce our next release, available soon, entitled ZEKE.

Zeke is a dark novel of sexual obsession and escalating suspense. It begins with the first meeting between a nai...

Some time ago, I divorced music. It might be hard for my friends and family to understand this, especially in light of the fact that I used to play, write, and sing music. Music is such an integral part of life; it's woven into our days and our memories. And there was the problem. Music, like the sense of smell, has the power to transport us back in time to a particular moment and enable us to re-experience not just the memory of the time, but also the associated feelings. Music is very pow...

I’m going to tell you something I don’t often repeat. 

I love nightmares. 

Oh, a dream about swimming in a lagoon by a tropical island has its place, but rarely do those dreams stay with me. Like an orgasm, the moment is wonderful, yet fleeting. 

All my life, I’ve had nightmares. I’m sure you’ve had your share, too. The difference with me is, at a very young age, I made peace with those nighttime visions of terror. As soon as I learned to embrace them, to dissect the patterns of...

I may have unknowingly created a new literary genre. But don’t take my word for it. Read on and let me know if you think that is the case.

It all started when I saw a picture of a “sun zebra.” Unfortunately I can’t tell you what a “sun zebra” is without spoiling the title story of my book. Then, after I saw this animal, a little girl named Nell wandered out of my mind and went to tell her dad she had found a “zebra.” Since the story takes place in a farm in the middle of Pen...

by Brooklyn James (Author of The Boots My Mother Gave Me, An Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Quarter Finalist)

I enjoyed reading Robert French’s guest blog about depression and its correlation to writing. His blog got me thinking about my own relationship with writing.

The completion of my first novel, The Boots My Mother Gave Me, was a New Year’s resolution. I had no intentions of completing a book. The coming of age Dysfiction is about a young girl overcoming an abusive childhood. Growin...

Robert French

When Karen invited me to do this guest post, I was really pleased because I had a great subject in mind but as I was writing away, I got an overwhelming desire to embark upon an entirely different subject, one that is a little more personal and a lot more painful.

If one reads the biographies of writers through the ages, a common theme is that many writers, especially those who may deal with darker subjects, are victims of depression. According to health.com writers are #5 in ...

by Kirkus MacGowan

Kirkus:  Kirkus MacGowan here. I’m at an undisclosed location with John Reeves. He agreed to answer a few questions for the fans of The Fall of Billy Hitchings. Keep in mind, he’s a secretive individual. My goal is to give the reader some insight into just who John Reeves is. There may be questions he can’t answer, especially those relating to his involvement in Secret Ops.

Kirkus:  I’l...

 
Michael K. Rose, Author

Do you see alien landscapes in your dreams?

Dreams, no. Daydreams, you bet! I've done a fair bit of reading on what alien worlds would look like. Did you know that for different types of stars (blue stars, red stars, etc.) plant life, if it draws energy from the sun, would most likely be colors other than green? It has to do with the wavelengths of light those plants would absorb. Now, for the purposes of my science fictional universe, which I call the Myriad Sph...