Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
Books about dogs when I was a child, and books about spiders and sloth-people in adulthood. It was an easy decision to begin writing in the series overseen by my husband (Julian Fernandes), Earth’s Final Chapter, first. The world is rich in sci-fi and dystopian elements, the vast universe offered many ways to contribute to the series while also getting creative freedom, and each EFC book is illustrated, which made it even more enticing. I wrote Book 16 for the series and felt encouraged to write more.
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What inspired you to write your book?
We (Endless Ink Publishing House) needed a dark fantasy short story for the collection, Dark Tales of Whimsy. After spending a morning thinking about what I’d write, I remembered Anansi the Spider. I only learned of his character during the pandemic, when my daughter and I stopped going to the library and read some ebooks on my laptop. This children’s book featured a naughty spider who tricked animals, only to be outwitted by a quiet little bush deer. My daughter and I loved his character and I looked for more of his stories just out of my own curiosity. The list of tales of this arachnid god abound, and I decided it was time to write my own out of an admiration of his character. Little Miss Muffet seemed a good starting point. The original limerick was short, and needed that same eight-legged foil.
What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
The theme of Little Miss Muffet Meets Anansi the Spider is to protect those who are weak, to rebuke evil-doers, and have fun doing it. Although some Anansi stories depict him doing despicable things, others show him to be a storyteller, and a friend of those disenfranchised. The other function of this short story is to introduce this complex character of Jamaican folklore to more readers.
What drew you into this particular genre?
This was my first time writing in the fantasy genre, but I was excited for the challenge.
If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
If I could sit down with Anansi, I would ask him if I’ve been pronouncing his name wrong all this time.
What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
Twitter/X seems the most receptive platform for self-promotion for the time being.
What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
Just start. Read your stuff out loud to yourself. Don’t get down on yourself for making mistakes. You’re human, and your story would be less interesting if you were (always) perfect.
What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
I am working on a story for an EFC short story collection about an inventor whose use of her shrinking invention comes at a price. I am eager to finish and see the art that will accompany it!
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About the Author
Remy Fernandes lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, daughter, four turtles, two dogs, and one killer cat. Her published works include the sci-fi western, Earth’s Final Chapter: Book 16: Blink With A Capital O, and the short story, Little Miss Muffet Meets Anansi the Spider, featured in Dark Tales of Whimsy. Although she has earned an Associates Degree in Elementary Education, Remy works in the home health industry while also editing and contributing for Endless Ink Publishing House.
Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
I was born and raised in Russia (former Soviet Union) and moved to the United States over two decades ago. My decision to relocate was driven by love, as I followed the one and only person who held my heart.
Now I live in Dallas, Texas, with my husband, my teenage son, a dog and a cat.
I actually work in IT industry in the company that produces accounting software. So, I’ve never really planned or studied to become a writer.
But being an avid reader and inspired by hundreds of books by my favorite authors, my mind was always crowded with stories of my own imagination. Only may and many years later, I found the courage to transition those stories from my thoughts onto paper.
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What inspired you to write your book?
This is something a bit embarrassing to say, but it was a midlife crisis that suddenly hit me. At some point I started thinking that I’ve lived most of my life and had always been doing something that I had to do, and not as much what I wanted to do. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, I’m an IT and I like what I’m doing, but it felt like a large part of me wasn’t there.
I always came up with the stories in my head, the adventures of the characters I’d created. And suddenly I felt an urge to write it down. It started as a “writing into the desk” kind of activity, but eventually I went ahead and made my stories into books.
What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
My stories predominantly featured a courageous female protagonist whom I associated myself with. And those women had to go through a lot. Sure, I give them super skills and magic abilities, but at the end, those are strong women with their hopes, dreams and feelings. I want readers to see how no number of obstacles could throw my heroines off their path.
What drew you into this particular genre?
During my childhood I developed a strong passion for literature, particularly science fiction, fantasy, and related genres. The local public library became my second home, where I would lose myself for countless hours in the captivating stories written by Asimov and Bradbury, King and Tolkien, Verne and Stephenson, or any other Si-Fi book I could get my hands on.
Fiction, and particularly science fiction, just has so many incredible opportunities for new worlds and settings and adventures. It’s a gift that keeps on giving.
If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
Oh, I would ask my girls, if they are mad a me to throwing so much at them. All those troubles and obstacles they had to overcome, all these heartbreaks and difficult choices to make. But in the end, I’m sure they would say that everything they had to endure only made them stronger.
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What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
Being a newbie in the publishing industry, I’m still testing the grounds. All social media, as exciting and inviting as they are, have a lot of disappointment and troubles.
Facebook promotions attracted all kinds of strange characters sending me very inappropriate content. Instagram seems to be filled with “Book promotion” channels, that promise you great sales, but in reality, I’ve yet to see any results (except my expenses of course)
I found pubby.co website very helpful with increasing the number of reviews for my books. It’s a good approach that makes you read other author’s books and review those, and get points that you then can use to get your book reviewed.
What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
Don’t give up and keep working. Keep reading and listening to the books and build your vocabulary. The English language is so rich and generous that a writer needs to explore any opportunities to improve one’s writing skills, and what could be better than using examples of fellow authors?
What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
I thought I’ve completed my “Warriors of Mirral” series, and the third book, “The Princess from Earth” would be a conclusion of this storyline. But I’ve already heard from a couple of my loyal readers that they want to see more of this multiverse I’ve build.
So, I’ve already started putting my thoughts on the next installment which would be an expansion of the “Warriors of Mirral” world.
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About the Author
Katrina Zari, an author born and raised in Russia, spent a significant time of her life immersed in its rich culture before transitioning on a life-changing journey to the United States two decades ago. Her decision to relocate was driven by love, as she followed the one and only person who held her heart. Throughout her upbringing, Katrina developed a strong passion for literature, particularly science fiction, fantasy, and related genres. The local public library became her second home, where she would lose herself for countless hours in the captivating stories written by Asimov and Bradbury, King and Tolkien, Verne and Stephenson, or any other Si-Fi book she could access.
Inspired by these literary giants, Katrina’s creative mind was crowded with stories of her own imagination. She always wrote stories in her head, inspired by those great books. She was adding her own characters and coming up with their new adventures. It was no surprise that her stories predominantly featured a courageous female protagonist, a reflection of her deep understanding of these inspiring heroines whom she gladly associated herself with.
Years later, she found the courage to transition those stories from her thoughts onto paper.
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
My fourth grade teacher, Roger, loved to give his students creative writing assignments. Every few weeks or so, we’d write new stories and take turns reading them aloud to the class. The day I decided I would get into writing, I had just finished reading my latest story. As we were dismissed for recess, Roger took me aside. I don’t remember everything he said to me, but I do remember one sentence: “If you don’t grow up to be a writer, I’m gonna kick your ass.”
It was exactly the sort of blunt, irreverent, vaguely threatening advice my younger self needed. I was a bright kid—reading and numbers came easily to me—but those assignments were abstract tasks, always given within the context of school. I did them because they were given to me to do. With Roger’s words, writing assignments took on new importance. If I did them well enough, and got better, maybe it could be my job. I could write books just like the ones I read, making people fall in love, as I had, with characters from distant, fantastical lands. I took writing more seriously after that.
Roger’s expectations stayed with me all the way through college; I left school with degrees in literary arts and writing for performance, as well as a contract to complete six young adult novels. That was the start of my writing career, and I’m determined to keep at it! Not only is it fun and freeing, I also get to stave off my perpetual fear of Roger showing up and kicking my ass if I give up.
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2) What inspired you to write your book?
I’ll be honest—my coauthor Paul and I are big Star Wars fans. When we first decided to write a book together, the Star Wars sequel trilogy was coming out, and a lot of our conversations ended up revolving around Star Wars as a result. All of those discussions generated a lot of ideas: characters and worlds it might have been fun to see, alternate ways that plot points could have played out, themes that went under-explored, etc. After a certain point, we realized we had enough original ideas to write our own book.
By virtue of this, Weapons of the Mind shares a lot of DNA with Star Wars. In some places, we haven’t even been that subtle about it. But the story, characters, and world of Weapons are all us, and it’s going somewhere truly special. There are some scenes that haven’t been written yet that I am vibrating with excitement to talk about.
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
Weapons of the Mind is the first book in a planned trilogy, which was conceived as a single connected story. Therefore, it’s difficult to answer this question without revealing too much about what the next two books have in store for Tala and her crew.
I can say that symbolic death and rebirth are at the heart of Weapons of the Mind. When you lose everything, how do you move forward? What do you build to occupy the space left by your former life? Every major character in Weapons of the Mind has at some point been confronted with these questions, and their answers are key to who they have (or will) become. For any reader going through hard times, unsure what lies ahead, I hope they come away with this: No matter how far or hard you fall, you can always get back up.
4) What drew you into this particular genre?
I grew up on science fiction and fantasy, and those genres remain my favorites to this day. When you read a genre enough, you get a feel for the narrative conventions, a sort of instinct that helps the plot unfold in front of you. Ideas tied to science fiction and fantasy come more readily, and in brighter colors. My first series, The Big Bet, was far more grounded in the real world than I’m generally comfortable with, and so I was ready for my next project to explore new, uncharted horizons.
5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
I would ask Tala to Enhance me*! Perhaps this is a copout of an answer, but I’m so curious as to how it would feel. Paul and I wrote Enhancement as a rush: a heady, exuberant feeling that I would love to try. I’d also like to try eating a meal with Enhanced tastebuds, et cetera. It would be a once-in-a-lifetime, unforgettable experience.
*For those unfamiliar: Enhancers like Tala can channel energy into themselves or others, increasing specific targeted attributes.
For a less selfish answer, I’d love to pick Arcus’s brain about the largest problems facing our society. I likely wouldn’t have the stomach for his solutions—he’s ruthless, even cruel, in pursuit of his goals. But he’s very good at comprehending problems in their totality, and seeing him work through issues like climate change, artificial intelligence, and microplastic contamination would be fascinating in and of itself. And maybe I’d get lucky and he’d give me answers that didn’t involve any murder!
…Maybe I’d just ask Quarack how to play krukki.
6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
I have not engaged much with social media. I find it tiresome. Yet, these days, it’s more important than ever to reach your audience. I’m almost certainly handicapping my book by not being more active on social media sites, but I’m hoping a combination of advertising, community engagement (local and online), and positive word of mouth will be enough to overcome that disadvantage.
On the other hand, social media platforms are increasingly overrun with bots and ads, and AI seems poised to exacerbate this trend. Combine that with new studies on the detrimental effects of social media, and it seems possible that they will play less of a centralizing role in a book’s success. If that happens, I hope their replacement is something I find more pleasant.
7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
Write!
It seems simple, but that really is the most important step, and it’s a step that a lot of hopeful writers never take. There is no substitute for putting words on a page. They don’t have to be good words. In fact, it’s almost guaranteed they won’t be. But the worst case scenario is, you toss them out and try again. More likely, you have a foundation that you can revise. It is so much easier to start from something than to start from nothing, so give yourself that something. The more you write, the more you’ll develop your voice, and the easier it will be to write more.
If you don’t have time, get inventive. Write on your lunch break. Dictate sentences on your commute. Don’t worry about being profound or changing the world. Just write, and the rest will take care of itself.
8) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
Fans of Shakespeare will want to check out Midsummer Night, available soon on my website! A new spin on an age-old story, Midsummer Night seamlessly melds William Shakespeare’s timeless writing with original, Elizabethan-style prose. In this reimagining of the Bard’s most beloved comedy, responsibility, agency, and trust take center stage—and mortals and fairies alike must earn their happy endings.
Fans of Fire Emblem should look up Anna’s Roundtable, a board game true to the beloved video game series. This love letter to the Fire Emblem franchise plays brilliantly (and is absolutely gorgeous). I was asked to lead design for the expansion, and preorders open soon!
Paul and I are hard at work on the Weapons of the Mind sequel. While we can’t share many details about it yet, it’s shaping up to be an amazing second installment that will push Tala further than ever before, introduce some memorable new characters, and answer some of the burning questions left over from book 1. Also in the Weapons-verse, we’re planning to release a novella that gives readers a look at a very different part of the galaxy. How does it tie in with the Weapons storyline? You’ll have to wait and see…
In my spare time between projects, I try to make progress on a very long fantasy epic that draws a lot of inspiration from stories of King Arthur while exploring a rough approximation of the current political landscape. It’s meant to be a look at how kingdoms fall, not through invasion or any external force, but by the efforts of bad actors, the friction of petty grievances, and the failures of a system beyond the power of any lone individual to change. This one will take a very long time, but I’m very pleased with it so far and I think it will be worth the wait.
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About the Author
Owen B Greenwald is the award-winning author of the Big Bet series and of Weapons Of The Mind, set for release in November 2023 from Will Dreamly Arts Publishing. He is also the lead designer for the board game Anna’s Roundtable. He lives in Santa Clara, CA with his wife Jenna and his dog Kubo. He is an ardent believer in the power of stories to enrich and transform lives.
Despite the incoming glut of AI-generated entertainment, Owen plans to keep writing.
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
I fell into writing as one falls into a lake, when they are stumbling drunk down a wooden dock looking at the stars. At first, I didn’t consider myself an author even though I have a #1 Amazon Best Selling Novel, but then I learned that writing is not what you do, but who you are.
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2) What inspired you to write your book?
I wrote this book in San Quentin when I was there for something I didn’t do, so I was very inspired. It’s a novel made of blood, sweat, and too many tears.
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
I want the readers to realize the justice system has now become latent with corruption. It purposefully hurts people and pretends like it is rehabilitating. But most importantly, I want people to see the power of the human spirit.
4) What drew you into this particular genre?
I had no idea narrative non-fiction was even a thing until I wrote it. Oh well.
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5) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
I don’t do social media, but my book, Infectious Injustice, in just one month, became the #1 Amazon Best Seller in 3 languages across eight categories!
-Law Ethics & Professional Responsibility
-Society & Social Sciences in Spanish
-Criminal Procedure
-Law Procedure & Litigation
-Law in Spanish
-Law in French
-eBooks in Other Languages
-Alternative Dispute Resolution
I’m so grateful for the response from the community and reviewers.
6) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
Do not write for anyone other than yourself, or your art turns into a floppy mush puddle of mutated words and sentences. Also, write something you would like to read.
7) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
I’m writing a new book, Abyss of Tyranny, the second part which will come out next year
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About the Author
Justin Cook was born in Nevada. He’s a technical architect who has worked at the most prestigious companies and holds over fifty technical certifications, including top-tier status among the technical community worldwide. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish literature, a master’s in information systems, and is pursuing a PhD in information systems. He also taught at a college in Nevada and was a faculty member in the information technology department. He is a marathon runner who has also stupidly run with the bulls in Pamplona, twice. He speaks four languages, which he developed while living abroad in Spain, France, and Germany. He has traveled to over thirty countries, which translates to he doesn’t know how to save money. He enjoys teaching Kenpo, where he holds a black belt, playing piano, snowboarding, and hiking. He is much better at being divorced than he was at being married. He is a father of rambunctious kids who enjoy reminding him that he is no longer cool and is gaining weight. He now lives in a house free of bars that is made for naps, reading books, and drinking too much coffee. Most days, you will find him lounging in his Kirkland sweats from Costco, writing, where he transports readers to a place where bold heroes have endearing flaws, as he broadly addresses the human experience. The swashbuckling action-adventure Infectious Injustice is his first novel.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
A man continues his journey of discovering his identity in author Matt Duggan’s “In Extremis”, the second book in The Rosy Dream series.
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The Synopsis
In Extremis is the second novel in Matt Duggan’s The Rosy Dream trilogy and takes readers on an immersive journey through the contrasting landscapes of 1990s and 2008 Los Angeles. Jack, the protagonist, navigates a series of misadventures and encounters with peculiar characters, uncovering a web of secrets and revelations that challenge his understanding of life and his own identity. The novel skillfully weaves together the two timelines, immersing readers in the vibrant energy of Los Angeles and its gritty underbelly. With suspense, introspection, and dark humor, In Extremis explores the depths of human nature, the search for meaning, and the unexpected paths one may take.
The Review
This was a compelling sequel to the author’s first book in this series. The changing perspective in timelines and the rich setting of California allowed the personal story of Jack to evolve and grow naturally, and the balance of witty absurdism with mounting permitted tension the narrative to feel alive on the page. The way Jack’s story mirrors the life of so many people who seek to make their dreams come true in Los Angeles is very engaging, and the wealth of different characters he encounters during his adventures will leave the reader eager for more.
The heart of this narrative rests in the continuing evolution of Jack, the story’s protagonist. His growth and changing perspective on life between the ’90s and 2008 were fantastic to read about. His growing desire to educate and gain knowledge of anything involving the abstract and his laid-back, almost carefree outlook on life that he took on when undertaking any situation made him such a relatable character, as readers either identify with or know someone like Jack intimately.
The Verdict
Though thought-provoking, entertaining, and deeply heartfelt, author Matt Duggan’s “In Extremis” is a must-read novel. The sense of adventure and exploration of 90s era Los Angeles will stay with readers long after they finish this book, and the humor that the author pierces the tension within the book with makes this feel like such a well-rounded journey for the protagonist, leaving readers eager to get their hands on the final book in the trilogy. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
Rating: 10/10
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About the Author
Matt Duggan, an award-winning writer based in Los Angeles, California, boasts a rich and diverse creative background. After graduating from Boston College with degrees in English and Communications, Matt immediately jumped into the world of filmmaking. As one of the first members of the renowned Annex Film Group, Matt contributed to the production of their critically acclaimed short films, recognized with numerous awards and global screenings.
Duggan’s directorial debut, Inverse, a feature film which he produced, wrote, and directed, garnered widespread acclaim, winning multiple accolades throughout its yearlong festival tour. Notably, Inverse premiered at the prestigious Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival, captivating audiences with its innovative narrative. The film continued to impress, securing Best Sci-Fi Narrative Feature Film at the Philip K. Dick Film Festival and other esteemed awards.
In addition to his successes in film and literature, Matt has garnered acclaim for his web series, including Man Vs. and Not Suitable for Work, demonstrating his versatility across various mediums.
A career highlight for Matt was his involvement in Marlon Brando’s documentary on acting, Lying for a Living, where he had the honor of spending two weeks alongside luminaries such as Robin Williams and Sean Penn.
Matt’s creative endeavors extend beyond the realm of cinema, with his literary works showcased in publications such as The Menacing Hedge and The Literary Hatchet. His debut novel, Ostraca, marked the inception of his compelling The Rosy Dream series, captivating readers with its vivid storytelling and exploration of the human condition.
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
I was born and raised in a small town on the Hudson River, about an hour north of New York City. I went to school in Boston, then after graduation I drove to Los Angeles to be an actor. I studied acting for three years, but it was more like a graduate program in being an artist. Not long after, I turned my artistic focus onto writing. I became interested in writing back in high school. I took a class on Greek mythology which I loved. I made-up my own Greek mythologies and wrote really bad poems about my made-up gods. In college, I was an English major. I had a creative writing class with Pagan Kennedy, a terrific author and columnist. She gave me confidence in my writing. She highlighted where my strengths were. She was an excellent teacher. I’ve been writing ever since. I started writing plays, then wrote screenplays, and then wrote my first book Ostraca which I published in 2019.
2) What inspired you to write your book?
When I drove across the country in 1996, I camped out most of the way. The encounters and experiences that I had really affected me. I had a powerful desire to write it all down, so I filled a journal with the experiences. Flash forward to 2015. I had an urge to write a novel based on that journal from all those years ago. The result was Ostraca. My inspirations were connection and experience. The protagonist in the novel, Jack Darmody, references Leonardo Da Vinci, who called himself a “disscepolo della sperientia”, a disciple of experience. That resonated deeply with me. That was the driving force behind the novel. Specifically, the experience and connection we have with each other. I was inspired to translate my feelings about this into words.
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
I hope readers feel a connection when they read each novel in my trilogy, starting with Ostraca. The world today is especially dark, angry, and disconnected. It shouldn’t be. We should instead focus on human interaction; it draws out the best parts of ourselves. The undeniable truth about us is that we need to be loved, and also, we want to give love. We should live these truths.
4) What drew you into this particular genre?
When I was a kid, I hated reading. I wanted to live outside. My parents had to practically drag me into the house each night. I was like a wild animal. Reading was boring. But suddenly in young adulthood, I couldn’t read enough. I devoured books. But my interest was mostly in the literary fiction genre. That genre most appealed to me because, artistically, I’m fascinated with the artist’s voice. With 200,000 years of human existence, we aren’t going tell new stories. The themes, plots, tropes, structure…they’ve all been done. But what stands out is how each story is told. The voice it’s told in. I find that in the literary fiction genre.
5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
I’d sit down with Jack Darmody, my protagonist. I’d ask him, “Why are you running so hard from your past? Why don’t you stop and face the demons?” But of course, unpacking this is what makes the story so fun to write.
6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
I’m awful at social media. I’d rather wander around my backyard and watch the birds return after a long day, or admire the sun arching west. It’s the wild animal in me. I hate staring at a screen, scrolling vitriol. Also, I don’t think I have a good online personality. Too much is lost in translation. I have a very gallows sense of humor; that doesn’t always go over well in a tweet or post. With that said, I will be activating my Twitter/Facebook/Instagram accounts to promote the second installment of my trilogy in May. So, social media is an unavoidable reality, I guess.
7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
There are two keys to being an author. The first is to write. Write and write. Write and write and write. All that verb requires is elbow grease. Discipline is the second key. You have to be a dictator over your writing. You have to write regardless rain or shine. It is hard work. It is largely unrewarding, mostly without recognition, it requires a lot of sacrifice, and it is always lonely. But if you embrace all of that, and are not deterred by that, you will crack open whole new universes of possibility and joy. And the rest will come. You first have to discover, develop, and embrace your talent and voice. You do that through writing. I’ve written heaps of garbage. You have to sludge through it to find the gems. They’re there.
8) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
I’m releasing In Extremis, the second installment of my trilogy, at the end of May of this year. I’m also finishing a streaming series that has some industry interest, called Hell High. Starting in 2025, I’ll begin work on the third and final installment of my Rosy Dream trilogy. That prospect frightens me because I’ve spent nine years now with Jack and his menagerie of characters. It will be very hard to say goodbye.
About the Author
Matt Duggan is an award-winning writer and director based in Los Angeles, California. After graduating from Boston College with degrees in English and Communications, Matt jumped into filmmaking. He was one of the first members of the renowned Annex Film Group, a film co-op that produced sixteen critically acclaimed short films, recognized with numerous awards and global screenings. Duggan’s feature film, Inverse, which he produced, wrote, and directed, garnered widespread acclaim, winning multiple accolades throughout its yearlong festival tour. Notably, Inverse premiered at the prestigious Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival. The film also secured Best Sci-Fi Narrative Feature Film at the Philip K. Dick Film Festival and other esteemed awards.
Beyond film, Duggan’s literary works have been featured in publications like The Menacing Hedge, with his debut novel Ostraca initiating the captivating The Rosy Dream trilogy. He’s also known for his popular web series and his involvement in Marlon Brando’s documentary Lying for a Living.
Currently, Duggan is developing the series Hell High while eagerly anticipating the release of In Extremis, the second installment in The Rosy Dream series, showcasing his visionary storytelling and creative versatility. In Extremis will be published in May 2024.
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
I started writing songs at the age of 13. When I paralyzed a vocal cord in 2018, I turned to writing short stories to relieve my creative outlet. I also retired early, my husband and I bought a winter home. After a few weeks I knew I needed an outlet or one of us, was not getting through the winter alive.
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2) What inspired you to write your book?
An idea hit me regarding the Lord’s Prayer. What if I were to write a short horror story for each line of that prayer? Our Father Who Art, In Heaven became the first story in the book where a boy who loses his dad at a young age, thinks he’s been praying to his father, Art, in Heaven. He ends up with a distant stepfather
who is mean and not good for his mother and decides the man must go. From the first story, to Amen, the last, I loved writing this series.
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
The Lord’s Prayer Series is about the struggle between good and evil. Even though we were given this prayer to pray, we are inherently sinners. It’s about man’s fragility and how close we are to stepping off the wrong side of honor.
4) What drew you into this particular genre?
I have always been fascinated with horror. You take the scariest thing, you can manipulate it, control it to its end. I love the power in that.
5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
Each story in this book has some great characters. I’d like to find out why they did what they did. Why they went in the direction they did, and why they couldn’t conquer their shortcomings.
6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
Facebook has helped a lot. Author groups are a wonderful support system, we hold one another up.
7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
Don’t give up. If you don’t submit it’s a no. Read, read, read. You learn something new in every book. A phrase, a vision. Something that motivates you to write another story. It is hard to put yourself out there, naked, and exposed but when a publisher says “yes,” it’s so worth it.
8) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
The Lord’s Prayer Horror series is coming out in July 2024 from Myth Mart Publishing. I am currently working on a work I call, The Morgan Dollar Series. Morgan silver dollars, were minted from 1878 to 1904.
I have written a short story for each year about a person whose hands the money passed through. The silver coins either did good or brought out greed in people. I was inspired by my husband showing his coin collection to a neighbor telling her, “Just think, this coin could have been in a cowboy’s pocket.” That inspired me to write where the coins had been, by telling the stories of the owners. I have a handful of stories yet to complete.
Thank you, Anthony, for asking me to interview. Bread Pudding was a fun write. A vampire who is a bit of an agoraphobic germaphobe, was an interesting contradictive character fighting his fears, but enslaved by the creature he has become. I was proud to be the runner-up in that competition.
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About the Author
Dawn DeBraal lives in rural Wisconsin with her husband, a stray cat and a rescued dog. She has published over 600 short stories, drabbles, and poems in online ezines and anthologies. She tends to lean toward the horror genre because it makes her life seem so much better! Falling Star Magazine nominated Dawn for the 2019 Pushcart Award; she was Runner-up in the 2022 Horror Story Competition, two-time Author of the Month, nominated 2020,2022,2023 Author of the Year and received Contributor of the Year 2023 Spillwords Magazine, she was named Member of the Month in Issues 103 and 115 in The World of Myth Magazine and Finalist in the Owl Canyon Roost writing contest. Dawn also writes under the pen name Garrison McKnight.
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
When I went to university in Buenos Aires I first signed up to journalism. Mainly because my family tried to derail me from studying acting, and this was the only other thing I wanted to do. I felt I was going to write, not sure what. Maybe for the travel section of a paper one day, or as a correspondent going away around the world on assignments. I left after one year, to study Drama full-time. I still wrote stories for myself, and I minored in Creative Writing.
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2) What inspired you to write your book?
I began writing to try to understand what was going on with me at a certain moment. I was very uncomfortable with the expectations placed on me as a woman, being expected to want to get married, to want to change my name, I thought it was outrageous. I was hurting someone I loved with these feelings. At the same time I could not betray myself. I felt alone and wanted to speak to my teenage self, my child self, to figure out my situation, I wondered if there was something very wrong with me. So I wrote a story which now is chapter 5, a day at a wedding when I was a child.
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
Everyone who connects with the book enough to read it will take their own, I would like to stay out of that. That connection is enough, I just hope they take away something useful for their lives.
4) What drew you into this particular genre?
Maybe the introspection I needed. I didn’t mean to write a book or be in a genre. I just wanted to put down a story to make a short film, to talk about the expectations put on me, and then there were more stories that came out because I was in a writing class. After about a year I looked at everything I had written and the short film had been left behind, the book was there plus many more pages to get rid of.
5) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
Instagram is the only social media I have, and there are new independent publishers and independent book-shops that showcase writers, new ones and older ones. They make curious and want to get new books.
6) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
Joining a writing workshop to work on ideas was very useful to me. I will do it again. Apart from developing skills there, to feel like I am working with other people. Being an actor I am used to working with groups of people. Then there were times when I had to be writing on my own for a long time of course, but writing is such a lonely thing to do, and quite torturous to me, and this way I felt less alone in it for a while.
7) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
I am inspired to tell other people´s stories at the moment. I am working on one idea and researching now, I am not sure what shape it will take exactly, but it is already going in a certain direction.
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About the Author
Dolores Reynals was born in Mendoza, Argentina. She started out as a radio actress before moving to London to attain her BA (Hons) in Drama from the University of Surrey. Since then she has worked internationally and now lives nowhere in particular, often between Europe and Mexico.
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
I’ve been writing since I was a young kid. I had a cousin in England and had a regular correspondence with him. Then as a Sociology professor I was writing academic articles for 40 years.
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2) What inspired you to write your book?
I have been collecting notes about my own sessions as a patient and sessions I had with patients, for many years. The book has been in the works for more than 10 years.
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
I hope readers will empathize with Rose’s growth and also learn about what psychoanalysis is about. Many people think it means the analyst is predominantly silent and just makes interpretations.
4) What drew you into this particular genre?
I wrote academic articles until I published Doing the Right Thing: Taking Care of Your Elderly Parents Even if They Didn’t Take Care of You in 2005. That book was a combination of personal experience with my mother and interviews with 50 caretakers across the country. My next book was a novel Two Sisters of Coyoacan which was about the assassination Leon Trotsky. Our Time is Up is my second novel.
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5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
The main character is based on myself so I don’t have any questions to ask her.
6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
I have not had great success in promoting the book. I am trying Facebook ads now.
7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
Plan the publicity before the book is published. It takes a lot of time and some things require doing before pub date.
8) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
I am focussed on trying to promote Our Time is Up, but I am also thinking about a second book with the same protagonist later in her life.
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About the Author
Roberta Satow, Ph.D. is a practicing psychoanalyst in Washington, CT. She is a senior member of the faculty and control analyst at the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis. Dr. Satow is Professor Emerita of Sociology at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. In addition to her non-fiction book Doing the Right Thing: Taking Care of Your Elderly Parents Even if They Didn’t Take Care of You (Tarcher/Penguin 2006), she is the editor of Gender and Social Life (Allyn
and Bacon, 2000) and she has written a novel Two Sisters of Coyoacan (2017). Dr. Satow writes a blog for Psychology Today:
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
I was used to making up short and funny stories for my daughter, Rachel. When she was about ten she wanted a story about a really, really nasty witch. For the first time I put pen to paper and what started off as a tiny scrap of an idea got bigger. It became my middle-grade fantasy about magic and witches, The Doomspell, which was eventually published in 26 languages. I just wanted to stay in more contact with my daughter. I was separated from her at the time, and though she spent every other weekend with me it was not as much as I wanted. Discussing the story ideas gave me an opportunity to spend more time with her.
It was only during pandemic that I turned to adult horror writing.
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2) What inspired you to write your book?
I’d done a bit of online dating. The idea of a woman who just wants to creatively carve men up but they keep misinterpreting her meaning seemed like an amusing premise.
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
Read the online profile carefully.
4) What drew you into this particular genre?
I’ve always loved SF, fantasy and horror. Comedy horror is hard to pull off, and I was drawn to give it a go.
5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
I’d ask them why they like particular knives over a variety of other killing tools.
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6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
Facebook. Most of my readers know me form my children’s novels, and they are still mostly on Facebook.
7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
Write what you enjoy and don’t expect to make any money. If you adhere to that you won’t go too insane.
8) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
I have several projects ongoing – a film treatment for my ghost novel BREATHE, a new middle-grade ghost novel which should come out next year, and also several new horror and fantasy stories for adults.
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About the Author
I was born in Sunderland, a city in the north-east of England.
I don’t recall too much about my first 8 years of life other than I loved being outdoors especially in the woods near our house. I came home every night covered in scratches.
My first real book memory is being given C.S. Lewis’s The Magician’s Nephew by my English teacher, Mrs Baldwin. I loved that, and all the other Narnia books.
So how did I become an author?
As a parent I was used to making up short and funny stories for my daughter, Rachel. When she was about ten, however, she wanted a story about a really, really nasty witch. This time I put pen to paper and what started off as a tiny scrap of an idea got bigger and bigger and BIGGER. It became The Doomspell.
After I finished it, I continued my love affair with fantasy by creating The Silver Sequence which I still think is probably my best and definitely my most original work. Following that, I tried to scare everyone half to death with a couple of ghost novels – Breathe and The Hunting Ground.
I could tell you more about myself, but the truth is that perhaps the biggest gift we can give anyone is our imagination and everything important I have to offer you about that is in the novels.
