INTERVIEW WITH DAVID PERLMUTTER David Perlmutter is a freelance writer based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is the author of America Toons In: A History of Television Animation (McFarland and Co.), The Singular Adventures Of Jefferson Ball (Chupa Cabra House), The Pups (Booklocker.com), Certain Private Conversations and Other Stories (Aurora Publishing) Orthicon; or, the History of a Bad Idea (Linkville Press, forthcoming), and The Encyclopedia of American Animated Cartoon Series (Rowman and Littlefield, forthcoming.) He can be reached on Facebook at David Perlmutter-Writer, Twitter at @DKPLJW1, and Tumblr at The Musings of David Perlmutter (yesdavidperlmutterfan). Welcome to Roxana’s blog! Q: Tell us a little about yourself and your background. I was born in 1980 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and have lived there my entire life. I have Bachelor’s and Masters degrees in History and a Library Technician certification. Q: Do you think that your school years have had an impact in your writing career? If so, what were you like at school? Yes, they did. I had my first exposure to writing in school, and enjoyed doing it. I also encountered many of the writers who first influenced me in school reading, on my own and for assignments. Since I was rather shy and retiring then, as now, I tended to do a lot more reading then most people on average, and I probably still do. Q: Were you good at English or like Einstein you excel now in a field that was a nightmare for you as a student? English was one of my better subjects, along with History. Q: What are your future ambitions for your writing career? To keep writing and publishing books in fiction and non-fiction forms on a regular basis, as long as I can find publishers willing to underwrite me in this endeavors. Q: So, would you mind telling us what you have written so far? Here are the highlights: America Toons In: A History of Television Animation (McFarland and Co., 2014) The Singular Adventures Of Jefferson Ball (Chupa Cabra House, 2014) The Pups (Booklocker.com, originally 2009), Certain Private Conversations and Other Stories (Aurora Publishing, 2013) Honey and Salt (Scarlet Leaf Publishing, 2017) Orthicon; or, the History of a Bad Idea (Linkville Press, forthcoming) The Encyclopedia of American Animated Cartoon Series (Rowman and Littlefield, forthcoming) Q: Where can we buy or see them? Amazon, Abebooks and the various publisher’s websites. Q: What genre are your books and what draws you to this genre? In fiction, I write in science fiction, fantasy and horror. I find that these forms are not bound to the same sorts of restrictions in terms of expectations that other genres have. Also, they allow me to write narratives and characters that are close in feel and style to the animated television programs that have been my primary cultural influence. Q: Which actor/actress would you like to see playing the lead character from your most recent book? I could name some names, but, because they are television animation voice actors, you’re not likely to have heard of any of them, so why bother? Q: How much research do you do for your books? A lot! Whatever it is, it has to be as accurate as possible, or else the people and things depicted in it will give you hell. Even for stuff that isn’t “real” in the first place. Q: When did you decide to become a writer and why? What was the principal reason for taking up a pen (metaphorical speaking) and write that first sentence? As soon as I realized that animated cartoons were made by actual people, and were not documentary depictions of real places I wanted to visit more than once every week. Q: Do you write full-time or part-time? Do you have a special time to write or do you write every day, 5 days a week or as and when? Part when I am at work at my library job, full otherwise. No particular time, just when I feel I can fit it in without being interrupted. Q: Where do your ideas come from? Or is it just the spur of the moment, a special feeling you experience or a specific conjuncture that offers you inspiration? Some sort of union between what I watch on television and read, and the desire to fix any and all of the “mistakes” I felt had been made by the writers in doing their work. Q: How do you think you’ve evolved creatively? I have a stronger sense of moral purpose about my work than I used to do, as well as a stronger sense of humor, and a stronger sense that I seem to know about things other people don’t know about at all, since I have to explain some of the more obscure references I put into my work sometimes. Q: Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you? For longer works I have an outline; for shorter things, I wing it as much as I can. Q: In your opinion, what is the hardest thing about writing? Not getting paid a regular and dependable weekly salary for doing it. Q: Now, what about the easiest thing about writing? Being the boss of everything and everybody I write about. Q: Do you ever get writer’s Block and if so do you have any tips on how to get through the dreaded writer’s block? Keep exposing yourself to new things culturally. The more you expose yourself to other people’s ideas, the more you’ll figure out how to do those same things yourself. Q: Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors? For your own reading, do you prefer eBooks or traditional paper/hard back books? I read considerably. I am a paper book person, and will be so forever. Particular favorite authors who have influenced me are many, but a small list would include: Robert Bloch, Jack London, Mark Twain, Philip Jose Farmer, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, Isaac Asimov, Sherwood Anderson, Lawrence Block, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, M.R. James, Joe Lansdale and Ring Lardner Sr. Q: What book/s are you reading at present? The collected stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer, in the three volume Library of America edition. Q: Do you proofread/edit all your own books or do you get someone to do that for you? I do much of my own proofreading and editing, with some assistance from my mother on non-fiction works. Q: Do you let the book stew – leave it for a month and then come back to it to edit? I let it stew when I first draft it. When it’s finished the way I want it like that, that’s when I type. Q: Who edited your last book and how did you select him/her? It was edited by an editor chosen by the publisher. Q: Tell us about the covers of your books. How did it/they come about? I try to tell the publisher what I want, and they try to find an artist who can make it work. Q: Do you think that the cover plays an important part in the buying process? Not terribly, but it can sway some people, so it can’t be glossed over. Q: What would you say are the main advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing against being published or the other way around? With self-publishing, you have to promote everything yourself, and that’s hard if you are, like me, an introverted, insecure person at heart. With mainstream publishing, they take care of promotion, and you just have to do what they tell you to do, and you let them, because it’s their business and not yours. Q: What are your thoughts on good/bad reviews? Good reviews help you get what you want as a writer. Bad reviews ruin entire careers. Q: Did you get interviewed by local press/radio for your book launch? No. I have been strongly ignored by the media in Winnipeg for most of my writing career so far, although I don’t think I did or said anything that caused that. Q: Why do you think that other well written books just don’t sell? Because the publisher didn’t help the author to promote their work enough in a positive way. Or, if they published it themselves, they didn’t do a good enough job promoting it. Q: How do you relax? Reading. Q: What is your favorite book and why? “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London. The book that truly turned me on to adult reading, and the author whose life and work I have admired the most, and whose commitment to sparse but vivid storytelling and social justice I have attempted to honor in my own work. Q: Where can you see yourself in 5 years-time? Doing what I am doing right now- reading, writing and working. Possibly I might get paid more, better and more often as well. Q: What advice would you give to your younger self? You will get through all of this. Do not be bewildered by any of it- it is all normal and commonplace. Q: Which famous person, living or dead would you like to meet and why? Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He seems to me to be the only person in the modern world who completely understood the true meaning of peace and racial brotherhood. We all could have learned a great deal more from him had he not been so tragically taken from us. Q: If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why? Any of Jack London’s. He wrote anything and everything he felt like doing, and he did it without being pretentious, because he was a man from low origins who nevertheless was more perceptive that most of his more learned contemporaries. Q: What advice would you give to aspiring writers? Keep doing it. You won’t get it the first time you do it, but eventually it’ll come, and you’ll be glad it did. Q: Where do you see publishing going in the future? Wherever it wants. I’ll have to keep up with it regardless. Q: How can readers discover more about you and you work? Blog: yesdavidperlmutterfan (Tumblr) Facebook: David Perlmutter- Writer Twitter: @DKPLJW1 LInkedin: David Perlmutter Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in this interview. NEW BOOK RELEASE  Bravery comes in all forms: fighting bullies and fighting your own demons. Honey and Salt is a superhero novella that will draw you in the just fight of a few super heroines. The story is packed with action and humor. Their quest against evil superheroes and against their own weaknesses is refreshing. You can identify with them and embrace their battles. Rousing fantasy action with amazing young girls ready to fight for justice and for the oppressed. If you enjoy a good action with an unusual plot, then this is the book for you. 
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INTERVIEW WITH MONA ILLINGWORTH & DANIEL ANDREWS  Both Mona Illingworth and Daniel Andrews underwent a medical doctor training. Nonetheless, they have managed to retain a strong and fulfilling relationship with the nature, connection which began in the country during early childhood. In order to hand over their knowledge, as well as the humankind thousands-years old in-formation about the nature, they created the Bees' Products Series. "Honey - The Nature's Gold Recipes for Health" represents the first volume. The second volume is already in the making. They hope this series will make a difference in people's life. Welcome to Roxana's Blog! Q: Tell us a little about yourself and your background. Mona: Hi! Thank you so much for having Daniel and me for an interview. We do appreciate it. Now, there are so many things to be said about myself. Let me see! First of all, I’m a young woman, full of energy and ideas. I love reading, cooking, travelling, but above all, I love nature in all its wonderful expressions. Together with Daniel, I enjoy taking long walks on fields, through forests, or beaches. These are long walks, for we often stop to admire a tiny insect, the fresh blossom of a flower or to follow the majestic flight of a bird. My professional field is a bit less poetic, for as a medical doctor, I deal daily with various ailments of the people. However, the relief we manage to bring to people many times represent a satisfaction in itself. Daniel: My background is pretty similar to Mona’s: we both spent lots of time at the countryside during our childhood, and we chose the same profession. As Mona has pointed out, we indulge in lengthy strolls, and we like to acknowledge everything around us. We share the same passion for reading, travelling and cooking, and I also enjoy a good old-fashioned fight on my computer. Q: So, would you mind telling us what you have written so far? Mona: We have started with a pretty interesting and fully packed with information book about honey. The name says it all: Honey The Nature’s Gold Recipes for Health. Anyway, putting together so many recipes for such a high number of ailments required a good deal of time and energy. It was sometimes a challenge to synthesize the information, but also a joy to write down so many captivating facts about these tiny insects, capable of such a complex and intricate social organization. Daniel: We are particularly satisfied of having included the precautions and adverse effects in the recipes, so that these can be safely used. That was an absent part in the naturist books I laid hand until now. And we found the inclusion of preparation time and difficulty, as well as the layout of the recipes as a whole quite helpful. Actually, this book is the first from a series regarding bees’ products Q: What are your future ambitions for your writing career? Mona: We are planning to continue the book series about bees. There are so many fascinating things to share about them and their products! Daniel: We are also playing with the idea of including practical and fashionable things in one of our future books, such as a fairly elaborated cosmetic book based on natural ingredients. Later on, there are so many other topics we are keen to tap into. Q: Where can we buy or see them? Mona: Well, you can find our book as a print in kindle format on Amazon. Daniel: And Ingram Spark is also a good place to start. Q: What are you working on at the minute? What’s it about? Mona: As promised in our book, Honey The Nature’s Gold, we have begun the next book in the series. Daniel: It is also about bees’ products, and for the time being we are in the research phase. Q: What genre are your books and what draws you to this genre? Mona: I’m afraid I’m a bit eclectic when it comes to books. I enjoy as much a Balzac’s book, as I savor an Agatha Christie’s book or one of Asimov’s books. I think I’m the inquiring type and I just like to have a finger in every pie. Daniel: I too enjoy lots of genres of books: crimes, science-fiction, fantasy, and classic books just to name a few. Like Mona I prefer to keep an open mind and gather as many information as possible. And to enjoy the things in the process! Q: When did you decide to become a writer and why? What was the principal reason for taking up a pen (metaphorical speaking) and write that first sentence? Mona: Daniel and I had often remarked how much had been lost or simply ignored from the ancient wisdom and connection with nature. Daniel: There are actually so many wonderful things in the nature to be known and used. Mona and I, as medical doctors and keepers of some of this knowledge, we decided to offer parts of these to other people so that hopefully a larger and larger number of people will benefit from it. Q: Tell us about the covers of your books. How did it come about? Mona: From the beginning, we agreed there had to be a bee on the cover, for the bees are, actually, the essential actors when it comes to honey. Daniel: And as we both love lavender, a field with lots of it seemed the best idea. We also find the poppies on the back cover a nice touch. Q: Do you think that the cover plays an important part in the buying process? Mona: Some would say it is fundamental. I like a good cover too, but this has never been the main incentive for buying a book. I’ m more interested in the title of the book. Daniel: I think for many it is quite important a good, catchy cover. Indeed, it is the very first thing one sees, before reading the title. So, accordingly, and also for the sake of our book’s beauty, we spent much time on deciding the right cover. And the right one we found! Q: What are your thoughts on good/bad reviews? Mona: Good reviews are the vital food for any writer. We hope we’ll enjoy lots of them. Now, regarding the bad ones, what can I say? People are very different. What’s pretty good for one is uninteresting for the next one, or even unpalatable for another one. Daniel: I totally agree with Mona. However, I’m pretty confident we’ll receive our fair share of good reviews. Q: Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included? Mona: We truly believe our series, and particularly our first book, Honey The Nature’s Gold Recipes for Health, will cover a missing segment in the natural medicine domain, specifically the bridge between it and the modern medicine. And I hope you’ll enjoy it and benefit from it. Daniel: Well, I have a single thing to add: Enjoy! Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in this interview.
  Honey and Health - they go hand in hand. The book brings in the foreground the multiple benefits of honey. The nature' s gold stands out because of its multiple therapeutic characteristics, in particular the anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial features. These properties play a significant role in preventing aging and averting and treating degenerative, as well as chronic conditions, such as cardio-vascular and pulmonary diseases. By regular consumption, honey also boosts the immune system, so that it helps in preventing and treating infections. Overall, honey consumption reduces fatigue and is one of the most effective energizers in nature. The book represents a guide with numerous recipes for many conditions, also briefly and simply depicted. The authors never tired to warn about the importance of precisely following the recipes, and kept advising that the treatment should be applied under medical supervision. We hope you will appreciate the information presented and will take advantage of the nature's gold benefits shortly.  INTERVIEW SERIES - THE POET PRANAB GHOSH & LAUNCH OF THE POETRY BOOK: SOUL SEARCHING AND OTHER POEMS7/23/2017 Hello Dear Readers, Before sharing the interview I had a chance to have with the poet Pranab Ghosh, let me share the launch of his new poetry book with you: SOUL SEARCHING AND OTHER POEMS.  If you enjoy poetry, then you will enjoy these poems that originate from deep meditation upon the world and people making up this world. These poems reveal deep thoughts and desires but they also point to the bleakness of reality. The poet raises his voice against oppression and terrorism and speaks against war, terrorism and violence, with the same easiness he finds in revealing the deepest desires of the heart. Contradictions depicts nuances that people usually don’t want to notice or try to hide. Ghosh’s darker poems touch on the erosion of the human values and point to the greed for power leading to destruction. In the poet’s words: “Man’s craving to stand up against all that is negative, all that is against human values – to stand up against oppression and injustice had been juxtaposed with man’s eternal wish to take refuge in the Eternal, the Divine. Side by side poems of great human values, there are lighter reads on love bordering on mischievous take on the fair sex.” Pranab Ghosh’s Soul Searching and Other Poems is a collection of several verses with varied flavor and source. While Ghosh, as I found him a loner, is engaged in exploring ‘self,’ his other poems are essentially derived from the material world. A must read book, especially whoever appreciates philosophy in verses. Kiriti Sengupta www.kiritisengupta.com TO BUY:   Pranab Ghosh is a journalist, writer, poet, translator and blogger. He writes a blog “Existential Problems”. His poems and prose pieces have been published and accepted by Tuck Magazine, Transendent Zero Press, Scarlet Leaf Review, Literature Studio Review, Leaves of Ink, Hans India, Dissident Voice etc. He has co-authored a book of poems, titled Air & Age. He has to his credit a translation of a book of Bengali short stories titled Shantiramer Cha, authored by Bitan Chakraborty. The title of the English translation is Bougainvillea and Other Stories. Welcome to my blog! Q: Tell us a little about yourself and your background. I did my graduation with honours in English literature from Scottish Church College in Kolkata and then went on to do my masters in Journalism from Calcutta University. While in school I extensively took part in various debate and recitation competitions and had won many prizes. This continued during the university years as well. I eat non-vegetarian dishes. I generally do not take alcoholic drinks. I am a law-abiding, God-fearing person. Q: Do you think that your school years have had an impact in your writing career? If so, what were you like at school? Yes, my school years have had an impact on my writing career. My first poem in English was published in my School magazine. I was in Class Six then, age 11 years. I was considered a good student. According to my teachers my English was above average compared to the peers I had. Q: Were you good at English or like Einstein you excel now in a field that was a nightmare for you as a student? Same as above. Q: What are your future ambitions for your writing career? I want to carry on with my writing. Write better stuff and excel with each publishing work. At the back of my mind I cherish a desire to bag literary awards based on the merit of my writing skills. Q: Which poets have inspired you and how? What was their impact on your work or your literary perspective? The Romantic poets of English literature, especially John Keats, have had an impact on me while I was in College. This apart, Rabindranath Tagore has been an influence. These poets have impacted my inner thoughts and that at times that get reflected in my writings. Q: So, would you mind telling us what you have written so far? I have been a journalist for years and have written several articles till date. While in Hindustan Times, Delhi, I wrote several stories related to education for young adults and that was an enriching experience. At present I write for Business India, a premier business magazine of India. These apart I have co-authored a book of poems – Air and Age and have translated a book of Bengali short stories into English. Apart from the recently published Soul Searching and Other Poems the above mentioned two books had been my published works. I have seriously taken to writing poetry and fiction for the past two years. Q: Where can we buy or see them? Those could be bought online. On Amazon and other sites. Q: What are you working on at the minute? What’s it about? t present I am working on a book of poems. It is more or less complete. I am fine tuning and rewriting. The name of this proposed book of poems is Karma-Cola. Q: What genre are your books and what draws you to this genre? I write poetry and short stories. I have not restricted myself to any genre. You as my publisher would be in a better position to say in which genre my poetry falls. Q: When did you decide to become a poet? What was the decisive factor or you just took a pen and starting writing poems? I was toying with the idea for years. But couple of years ago I met a student of mine who had formed a band by then and was the lead singer in it. He wanted me to write songs for them. The subsequent discussions with him did not take place, but I became a poet in the process. Q: What makes you write? What’s the force behind taking your pen (or your keyboard) and put verses down? My inner being. That I think as I live. That there is a living and responsive world around me that laughs, cries and bleeds. The power of life and everything surrounding it forces me to take up a pen and write. Q: Do you write full-time or part-time? Do you have a special time to write or do you write every day, 5 days a week or as and when? I have been a journalist. That’s my profession. And as a poet, short-story writer – that’s a part-time affair. It is very difficult to sustain as a full-time author, at least for me till now. But things might change. You never know. At times I write on all the days in a week and at times there is a lull for weeks together. I have to earn a living and life has been difficult. Let’s see. Q: Where do your ideas come from? Or is it just the spur of the moment, a special feeling you experience or a specific conjuncture that offers you inspiration? From life around and from my inner self. Q: How do you think you’ve evolved creatively? The process of evolving is continuing. Q: In your opinion, what is the hardest thing about writing? To take the decision that you will seriously take up writing as a profession. Q: Now, what about the easiest thing about writing? The scope that you are giving vent to your deepest thought process; that you are sharing with people most of whom, may be you will never meet. Q: Do you ever get writer’s Block and if so do you have any tips on how to get through the dreaded writer’s block? As of now there has been no writer’s block. But certainly there are times when you scratch your head and do not know what to write about. Of late, existential problems are keeping me away from writing. Life’s difficult as you are required to earn a living. The concept of a professional poet is yet to take root in India. We are all like part-time poets. Q: Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors? For your own reading, do you prefer eBooks or traditional paper/hard back books? Well the list is long. And at this moment I do not have the mind to go for a short list. I prefer traditional paper. Q: What book/s are you reading at present? An anthology of Indian poets and a book on brand journalism. Q: Do you proofread/edit all your own books or do you get someone to do that for you? I do it myself. Q: Do you let the book stew – leave it for a month and then come back to it to edit? No. I do it as I finish writing it, unless it is a compilation work like the current one. Q: Who edited your last book and how did you select him/her? I edited my last book and it was re-edited by the publisher himself. Q: Tell us about the covers of your books. How did it/they come about? No comments. Q: Do you think that the cover plays an important part in the buying process? Yes I do. Q: What would you say are the main advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing against being published or the other way around? No comments. Q: How do you market your books, if you do the marketing yourself? I do not do marketing myself and I do not have the right knowledge about books marketing. Q: Would you or do you use a PR agency? I have till date not used any PR agency. Given my current financial status I would not be in a position to afford one now. Maybe in future. Q: Do you have any advice for other authors on how to market their books? No comments. Q: What part of your writing time do you devote to marketing your book? None. Q: What do you do to get book reviews? Till date I have not done anything substantial apart from visiting one local English newspaper office and giving them the copies of my two published books. Q: How successful has your quest for reviews been so far? I have not had much of success. All the reviews and good ones, mind you that I have had till date had been my publisher’s work. Q: Do you have a strategy for finding reviewers? As of now I do not have a strategy. I would like to leave it to my publisher. Q: What are your thoughts on good/bad reviews? It should be taken in the stride. Q: Any amusing story about marketing books that happened to you? None. Q: What are your views on social media for marketing?Which social network worked best for you?Any tips on what to do and what not to do? Social media is very important. But I am not that social media savvy, especially from the point of exploiting it. I would need my publisher’s help. Q: Did you do a press release, Goodreads book launch or anything else to promote your work and did it work? My publisher did the press releases and the book launches. The response was good. Q: Did you get interviewed by local press/radio for your book launch? My Air and Age was launched in the Benaras University. Local press spoke to me and covered the launch as well. Q: Is there any marketing technique you used that had an immediate impact on your sales figures? None. Q: Why do you think that other well written books just don’t sell? Lack of proper marketing and ‘luck’. Q: What do you think of “trailers” for books? Not a bad idea. Q: Do you have a trailer or do you intend to create one for your own book/s? I did not think of this, I mean trailers till date. Your question has put in motion the concept. Q: Do you think that giving books away free works and why? No, it doesn’t work barring for the reviews. Q: How do you relax? I read or just lie down with my eyes closed. At times I watch movies as well. Meditation could be an option too. Q: What is your favorite motivational phrase? What is your favorite positive saying? Never say die. Do or die. Q: What is your favorite book and why? My favourite book is one written in Bengali called Pather Panchali (Song of the Road) written by Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay and famous Satyajit Ray movie later on. It was the movie that launched his illustrious career as a film director. Q: What is your favorite quote? To be or not to be that is the question. Q: Where can you see yourself in 5 years-time? You tell me. I would like to touch the stars. Q: What advice would you give to your younger self? Never say die. Quitters are cowards. Q: Which famous person, living or dead would you like to meet and why? Salman Rushdie. His Midnight’s Children made me envious of him. Q: If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why? Midnight’s Children. The subject has been so close to my heart. Q: What advice would you give to aspiring writers? Same as the one I would give to my younger self. Q: Where do you see publishing going in the future? Places. But I think the journey would be digital. Q: Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included? Nothing. It was exhaustive. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in this interview. INTERVIEW WITH ROBIN WYATT DUNN Bio: Robin Wyatt Dunn lives in a state of desperation engineered by late capitalism, within which his mind is a mere subset of a much larger hallucination wherein men are machines, machines are men, and the world and everything in it are mere dreams whose eddies and currents poets can channel briefly but cannot control. Perhaps it goes without saying that he lives in Los Angeles. Reading at Roar Shack in Los Angeles, my poem “Hollywood Men”, May 15, 2016 https://www.facebook.com/settdigger/videos/10156926897705174/ Hollywood men has been published here: https://cactifur.com/2016/07/17/poetry-hollywood-men-robin-wyatt-dunn/ Reading “Man and Woman” which was published in Garbanzo Literary Journal #3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T3m-7sTk-I http://www.garbanzoliteraryjournal.org/Home.html They also made a trailer for that book here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpKLJ3dtOro  Welcome to Roxana's Blog! Q: Tell us a little about yourself and your background. I was born in Wyoming in 1979, so I’m 37. I’ve had about one address for every year of my life. Favorite cities I’ve lived in include Los Angeles, California, Austin, Texas, Bronx, New York, and Oxford, England. Q: Do you think that your school years have had an impact in your writing career? If so, what were you like at school? I was fortunate to be a public school student in Texas as a kid when the state was still investing a lot of its oil money in public schools, so I actually had a PhD teach me third grade math. But I always liked learning so I didn’t need much encouragement. I got my BA from Fordham University where they had a great honors program with an old fashioned ‘great books’ curriculum: read tons of literature, history, philosophy and art of the ancient, medieval, early modern and modern worlds. Q: Were you good at English or like Einstein you excel now in a field that was a nightmare for you as a student? I was always good at English. Q: What are your future ambitions for your writing career? It would be great to make some money but the kind of things I most enjoy writing don’t seem to have enormous commercial appeal. Money aside, I’d like to develop my poetry so that it is more transformative; so that it can do things I don’t quite have the words for now. I’d like to improve my prose too; I don’t know quite how. Q: Which poets have inspired you and how? What was their impact on your work or your literary perspective? Walt Whitman is like a nuclear bomb; the blast sort of clears out your mind of vegetation so you can see the world like he does, immense. Emily Dickenson is like a spelunker; dragging you down into terrifying caves. E.E. Cummings I read very young and was always amazed at what he did; I didn’t know you could do that with poetry. Keats writes love better than anybody else. Ginsberg is like a good sergeant, showing you where to march, and not letting you stop. T.S. Eliot is a dreamer, like me. And I always liked his nightmarish landscapes, and how they intersected with the “normal” world. Q: So, would you mind telling us what you have written so far? I’ve written 16 books to date. 9 already published, 4 to be published this year, and 3 in 2017. They are listed below, some with links: Forthcoming, Wine Country, poetry. Forthcoming, 2DEE, a novel. Forthcoming, Sunsborne, poetry. Forthcoming, Black Dove, a novel. Forthcoming, November 4, 2016, City, Psychonaut. Forthcoming, September 10, 2016, Colonel Stierlitz, a novella. Forthcoming, August 25, 2016, White Man Book. December 30, 2015, Conquistador of the Night Lands. December 7, 2015, Poems from the War, narrative poetry. October 1, 2015, Julia, Skydaughter, a novella. June 5, 2015, Last Freedom, a collection of short plays. December 30, 2014, A Map of Kex's Face. June 5, 2014, Fighting Down into the Kingdom of Dreams. March 7, 2014, Line to Night Island, a novella. August 28, 2013, My Name is Dee. December 29, 2011, Los Angeles, or American Pharaohs. I’ve also written 7 chapbooks of poetry: April 24, 2016, Koreatown. Gypsy Daughter. April 22, 2016, Mary. Rinky Dink Press. December 30, 2015, Hanblečeya. White Knuckle Press. January 20, 2015, Be Closer for my Burn. Crisis Chronicles Press. October 21, 2014, Telegrams from X County. White Knuckle Press. August 31, 2014, A Picnic in England. Gypsy Daughter. November 13, 2013, Drive Thru Poems. White Knuckle Press. I’m also fortunate to have had published a few hundred short stories, poems and essays. They are listed with links here: http://robindunn.com/writing.html Q: What are you working on at the minute? What’s it about? I am working (slowly!) on a story about a man living in London who spends much of his time in a simulated version of his city. In the simulated version, war has destroyed the city and he lives in apartment he cannot leave, because of the fires and pollution. He is a scientist, trying to find out the connection between waking life and dreams. Q: What genre are your books and what draws you to this genre? They’re a mix of literary, science fiction, magical realism. But I just write whatever I find fun! Q: When did you decide to become a poet? What was the decisive factor or you just took a pen and starting writing poems? I’ve always written poetry. But I didn’t start writing books until after the Wall Street crash of 2008. Like many people I had a hard time of it, and books, for me, have been some of the best therapy. Q: What makes you write? What’s the force behind taking your pen (or your keyboard) and put verses down? Language infiltrates as well as reflects reality; we are always in a feedback loop with the world but language, and its precise control, gives us more influence over the world. Writing allows us to control our own destiny, as well as giving us a fuller understanding of all those areas of our lives over which we will never have any control at all. Q: Do you write full-time or part-time? Do you have a special time to write or do you write every day, 5 days a week or as and when? I teach much of the year and write most summers. I do manage to write at other times too. I wrote a great deal when I was an MFA student but all good things come to an end! Q: Where do your ideas come from? Or is it just the spur of the moment, a special feeling you experience or a specific conjuncture that offers you inspiration? Like many writers, especially with poems and short stories, I am trying to capture a specific feeling, often one I experience when listening to music. Novels are about feelings too, but more about ideas, for me, and trying to work them out on a large scale. Q: How do you think you’ve evolved creatively? I really have no idea; I think I’ve gotten better and others seem to agree with that. So cheers to me! Q: In your opinion, what is the hardest thing about writing? Beginning. Q: Now, what about the easiest thing about writing? Finishing! Q: Do you ever get writer’s Block and if so do you have any tips on how to get through the dreaded writer’s block? I’ve never had a serious case of it but minor cases I’ve had I’ve often managed to beat simply through self-discipline, like going to work even when it’s the last thing you want to do. Q: Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors? For your own reading, do you prefer eBooks or traditional paper/hard back books? I do prefer physical books. Reading many pages on a screen makes me tired, and I like turning pages. Some of my favorite writers are Gene Wolfe, Peter Hoeg, Sheri S Tepper, James Joyce, William Faulkner, China Mieville, Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, Nicole Krauss, Michael Chabon. I am very fond of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, whoever its medieval author may have been, as well as The Epic of Gilgamesh. Q: What book/s are you reading at present? I am reading The Elephant Keeper’s Children, by Peter Hoeg. Q: Do you proofread/edit all your own books or do you get someone to do that for you? I do proofread all of them myself. Getting someone else to help is great, which I have done with books I have published in the small press. A good editor is worth twice their weight in salt! Q: Do you let the book stew – leave it for a month and then come back to it to edit? Sometimes I will let the book stew mid-writing. But once I finish it I tend to try to edit it quickly. Q: Tell us about the covers of your books. How did it/they come about? I am very fortunate to work with Barbara Sobczyńska, who I met through the web site Deviant Art. She is a very talented artist living in Krakow. Q: Do you think that the cover plays an important part in the buying process? Absolutely. We all judge books by their covers! Q: How do you market your books, if you do the marketing yourself? Sites/ companies I have found helpful: Publishers Weekly, LibraryThing, Foreword Reviews, Goodreads, as well as our old friend Google, for hunting down reviewers. Q: Would you or do you use a PR agency? I would if I could afford it! Q: Do you have any advice for other authors on how to market their books? Never tell a reviewer to kill themselves, even if they deserve it! J Q: What part of your writing time do you devote to marketing your book? Very little! Submitting already takes a fair amount of time. Q: How successful has your quest for reviews been so far? Some reviews I’ve enjoyed of my writing (both good and bad): https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/my-name-is-dee/ http://www.amazon.com/review/R333YB4P22RIJG/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R333YB4P22RIJG www.shimmerzine.com/2013/09/12/trampoline-novels/ www.thegeekgirlproject.com/2014/02/01/fighting-down-in-the-kingdom-of-dreams/ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1093357914?book_show_action=true (best negative review ever!) http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-940830-10-0 http://maroonedoffvesta.blogspot.com/2015/08/dreamboat-by-robin-wyatt-dunn.html Q: What are your thoughts on good/bad reviews? Try to ignore both! Q: Do you think that giving books away free works and why? Yes, especially when you’re an unknown. People don’t often buy books by people they’ve never heard of, and if you have no reviews on the web. Q: How do you relax? Hiking. And sleeping! Q: What is your favorite motivational phrase? What is your favorite positive saying? I like the quote often attributed to Goethe, though I it might not be his words: “Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.” Q: What is your favorite book and why? The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe (a series of 5 books) In addition to describing a beautiful near-apocalypse landscape (the sun is dying), these books pose powerful moral questions about the nature of violence and our understanding of heroism in relation to violence. Q: What advice would you give to aspiring writers? Keep writing! Q: Where do you see publishing going in the future? Lots of it will become stupider and more garish. At the same time, I believe an opposing movement will gain steam, of intelligent books for intelligent people, with improved distribution. Q: How can readers discover more about you and you work? Website: robindunn.com Facebook: fb.com/settdigger Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Robin-Wyatt-Dunn/e/B006RL8CPG Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/settdigger Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in this interview. INTERVIEW WITH ALLISON GRAYHURSTBIO: Allison Grayhurst is a member of the League of Canadian Poets. Three times nominated for Sundress Publications “Best of the Net” 2015, she has over 850 poems published in over 380 international journals. She lives in Toronto with her husband, two children, a dog, two cats, two rats and a bird. She is a vegan for the animals. She also sculpts, working with clay;www.allisongrayhurst.com Link to an old TV interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJtJd7VaS-0 Link to reading a poem and accompanying video by Ava Harness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqqX7e7OlBg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqqX7e7OlBg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJtJd7VaS-0  Welcome to Roxana's blog! Q: Tell us a little about yourself and your background. I grew up mostly in Montreal by the St. Lawrence River. My parents were both journalists, and my father and mother moved my brother and I to Spain when we were young so my father could write a mystery novel. My father read often, his favorite was Shakespeare, who he would read to us over the dinner table. My mother and I would write short stories together. She was the first person I shared my poems with. Q: So, would you mind telling us what you have written so far? In 1995 my book Somewhere Falling was published by Beach Holme Publishers, a Porcepic Book, in Vancouver in 1995. Since then I have published twelve other books of poetry and seven collections with Edge Unlimited Publishing. Before the publication of Somewhere Falling I had a poetry book published, Common Dream, and four chapbooks published by The Plowman. My poetry chapbook The River is Blind was published by Ottawa publisher above/ground press December 2012. In 2014 my chapbook Surrogate Dharma was published by Kind of a Hurricane Press, Barometric Pressures Author Series. Then in 2015, my book No Raft – No Ocean was published by Scars Publications. More recently, my book Make the Wind was published in 2016 by Scars Publications. As well, my book Trial and Witness – selected poems, was published in 2016 by Creative Talents Unleashed (CTU Publishing Group). Q: Where can we buy or see them? Most of my books are available to buy in paperback and kindle on amazon: US Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst UK Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B001KIWQUS Amazon.ca: http://www.amazon.ca/s?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Allison%20Grayhurst&search-alias=books-ca People can also read most of them for free on Issuu at: https://issuu.com/allisongrayhurst Q: What are you working on at the minute? What’s it about? I am not working on anything right now. I am in a bit of a stasis right now. I am just writing poems or pieces of poems. I write longhand with a pen and tuck the paper in a drawer. I have about six months of writing, which I will eventually type in, and most of it I will throw out. I am not sure if any of it will amount to anything at this point. Q: When did you decide to become a writer and why? What was the principal reason for taking up a pen (metaphorical speaking) and write that first sentence? I never decided to be a writer/poet. It was actually one of the last things I wanted to be. For me, it wasn’t a choice, but an acceptance, which at almost 50 years old, I have mostly come to terms with. Q: Do you write full-time or part-time? Do you have a special time to write or do you write every day, 5 days a week or as and when? When and how I write has changed over the years. I use to write in donut shops, then when walking. The early mornings have always been the most sacred and creative times for me. I am a full-time poet, because for me being a poet isn’t a career or job, it is just part of who I am, something I carry with me always. Q: Where do your ideas come from? Or is it just the spur of the moment, a special feeling you experience or a specific conjuncture that offers you inspiration? My inspiration comes from animals, children, people, trees, love, inner dread, spiritual longing – all of it ultimately, if it is worth anything, comes from God. Q: How do you think you’ve evolved creatively? I don’t know, because it seems to always be evolving or changing. There are times when I feel very confident with creating and other times I feel like an amateur with no ability whatsoever. Writing poetry for me is not an intellectual endeavor and it is not purely emotional either. Those aspects are involved, but only secondary. It has always been for me an act of surrender - clearing myself to receive, trusting what I receive, and then recording it. Q: Do you proofread/edit all your own books or do you get someone to do that for you? I proof read and edit all of my writing many times over. When I feel done, my husband Kyp Harness, singer/songwriter, author, and cartoonist reads it over, whose artist opinion I trust implicitly. Q: Tell us about the covers of your books. How did it/they come about? The first nine books I put out in 2012 were very clear visions I had for fifteen years before putting them out. I knew I wanted my sculptures on the covers and I knew which one I wanted on which book. The books I self-published since then were the same. They have all of my work in them that I want to share. I wouldn’t do it any other way. Q: What would you say are the main advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing against being published or the other way around? I like self-publishing books with createspace as it gives me absolutely control over the look and content, as well as any changes I want to make at a later date. I also love that I can do it at my own pace, which is usually very quick. I have been published by publishers and often (not always) I have been at the mercy of their time-frame. The first book I got published took two years from when I started sending it out – a year to be accepted and another year before it was in print. The main drawback with self-publishing is that a larger publisher has the machinery in place to promote the book, get reviews and interviews which is lacking when self-publishing. As well, having a book published by an established publisher gives the author respect and credibility. Q: Which famous persons, living or dead would you like to meet and why? Jesus, first, although he is alive now and I have met him. Dostoyevsky, second, because he is my mentor. Jane Goodall, third, because she is my hero. Q: How can readers discover more about you and you work? Website: www.allisongrayhurst.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allison.grayhurst Twitter: https://twitter.com/agrayhurst Lnkedin: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/allison-grayhurst-39b1b67b Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Allison-Grayhurst/e/B001KIWQUS/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1343255960&sr=8-1 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1937690.Allison_Grayhurst Issuu: https://issuu.com/allisongrayhurst https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9WZmOvTHbw Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in this interview. INTERVIEW WITH TED GARVINBIO: Ted Garvin, a middle-aged, disabled writer of mixed Native American/European descent, lives in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, with his wife and menagerie. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor's degree, but that and $2.00 (adjusted for inflation) will buy you a coffee. His favorite authors, in no particular order, are Patrick O'Brian, J.R.R. Tolkien, Roger Zelazny, and Homer.
Welcome to Scarlet Leaf Review!
Q: Tell us a little about yourself and your background. I am a jack of all trades, but master of none. I have done (almost) every job under the sun—remodeling in its various aspects, debt collection, customer service, tech support, and parenting a special needs child. I have a psychiatric disability, which probably is actually of help in my writing, as obsessive/compulsive behaviors are useful in the arts and may be part of the artistic temperament. I live in the benighted state of Oklahoma. I vote Democratic in elections, but Oklahoma is a “red” state—always Republicans get elected to Congress, etc. Q: Do you think that your school years have had an impact in your writing career? If so, what were you like at school? That's where I learned to write, although I have perfected/improved upon my craft in the ensuing years. Unfortunately, I talk like I write. Q: Were you good at English or like Einstein you excel now in a field that was a nightmare for you as a student? Better at English than Engineering. Q: What are your future ambitions for your writing career? I'd like to be published, make lots of money, and be famous. In my dreams, perhaps. Actually, I'd prefer critical success to commercial. It's always after your death that you're famous, after all. I really want what everyone else wants, to be read and appreciated. Q: Which poets have inspired you and how? What was their impact on your work or your literary perspective? The anonymous author of Beowulf, the Pearl Poet (who wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, among others), and the author of the Cloud of Unknowing. As you can see, I'm big on medieval literature. Q: So, would you mind telling us what you have written so far? Doggerland—a novelette Q: Where can we buy or see them? https://www.amazon.com/Doggerland-novelette-Ted-Garvin-ebook/dp/B01AMOZ9DQ Q: What are you working on at the minute? What’s it about? I'm working on a sequel to Doggerland, tentatively titled the Futility of Vengeance (I'm trying for sexier titles). Q: What genre are your books and what draws you to this genre? Young Adult Historical Fiction (aimed at the older teen—perhaps even the post-teen). My favorite authors are YA authors, like Rosemary Sutcliff and Robert Heinlein's juvenals. Q: What was the name of your last book? Give us an insight into your main character. What does he/she do that is so special? What’s it about? See above. Deccan (the main character of Doggerland), is your typical late Stone Age teen, who wants everything every other teen has ever wanted, but he has a few special concerns—given that he grew up without a father. He wants to know the circumstances surrounding his death? The novel is about what happens when he finds out and then the down-stream consequences (life goes on, you know?). Q: Which actor/actress would you like to see playing the lead character from your most recent book? I've never really thought about it. Someone unknown, probably. Q: How much research do you do for your books? I am fairly well-read. I check out books on my time period from the library and use them as background, but the gist of the novel really comes out of thin air. Fiction is about making things up and too much data put in the book makes it seem a textbook and not a novel. Q: Have you written any other novels/novellas in collaboration with other writers? Why did you do decide to collaborate and did that affect your sales? No. Q: When did you decide to become a writer and why? What was the principal reason for taking up a pen (metaphorical speaking) and write that first sentence? When I was sixteen, but never really pursued it because of parental influence. I took courses on writing in college and have always practiced developing my writing skills. It wasn't until I was in my mid-fifties that I decided I wasn't getting any younger. Q: Do you write full-time or part-time? Do you have a special time to write or do you write every day, 5 days a week or as and when? Depends on what you mean by full time. I don't spend eight hours a day at it, but it's always percolating in my subconscious because I write every day, even Sunday's and holidays. It's an addiction. I spend about an hour or two in the mornings, and then at spare moments, but I have a life. Currently, that involves mowing my yard, tending the garden, and otherwise keeping house. Q: Where do your ideas come from? Or is it just the spur of the moment, a special feeling you experience or a specific conjuncture that offers you inspiration? Out of thin air. I make it up. Q: How do you think you’ve evolved creatively? There is a fine line between creativity and madness—one I cross regularly. Q: Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you? I have a hybrid approach. I like to think a few chapters ahead, but I'm pretty much a pantser, then I edit the hell out of it. Q: In your opinion, what is the hardest thing about writing? Thinking stuff up. Q: Now, what about the easiest thing about writing? Editing. Q: Do you ever get writer’s Block and if so do you have any tips on how to get through the dreaded writer’s block? Writer's block, in my view, is a phobia. As we say in this part of the world, you have to get back up on the horse that threw you. There are times when no words will come. I suppose “writer's fatigue” might be a good term, a better term, perhaps, for writer's block. A problem I have is the “this is shit” voice of the critic. The only way to deal with him/her/it is to ignore it. Be kind to yourself. I also don't worry about what kind of weird things come out onto the page. I can always edit it out, after all. Q: Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors? For your own reading, do you prefer eBooks or traditional paper/hard back books? I read all the time. One author I am hysterical about is Nicola Griffith, who wrote (most recently) a historical fiction work called Hild, about St Hilda of Whitby. Our source for this historical personage is the Venerable Bede, who didn't have much to say about her, leaving quite a bit of room for speculation. Another author I like is Steven Pressfield, most famous for Gates of Fire, which is about the Battle of Thermopylae. I find I get more reading done if it's on my Kindle, because I can read a little at a time, thus filling in those little empty spaces in the day. Q: What book/s are you reading at present? On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner, Last of the Amazons by Steven Pressfield, the Poetics by Aristotle, and Gotham Writers Workshop: Writing Fiction. Q: Do you proofread/edit all your own books or do you get someone to do that for you? Yes. I'm too poor to hire someone, but I'm somewhat anal retentive, so it's a little easier for me than it might be for some “normal” person. Q: Do you let the book stew – leave it for a month and then come back to it to edit? I know I should. Q: Who edited your last book and how did you select him/her? Me. See the paragraph above about money. Q: Tell us about the covers of your books. How did it/they come about? The cover for the last one, I took a picture I had taken and incorporated it into Amazon's cover designer. Q: Do you think that the cover plays an important part in the buying process? Yes. Q: What would you say are the main advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing against being published or the other way around? With self-publishing, you have to do it all. With doing it the traditional way, you have some professional help. Q: How do you market your books, if you do the marketing yourself? Word of mouth and Amazon's keyword search feature. Q: Would you or do you use a PR agency? Can't afford it. Q: Do you have any advice for other authors on how to market their books? There is a lot of competition out there. My best advice, such as it is, is to write the best damn book you can and let the book sell itself, but you still need to get the word out. Q: What part of your writing time do you devote to marketing your book? Not very much, alas. Q: What do you do to get book reviews? I'm not sure they are all that important. I tried everything I knew to get reviews—give away copies, etc. Q: How successful has your quest for reviews been so far? I have two reviews which just showed up out of the blue. Q: Do you have a strategy for finding reviewers? No. Q: What are your thoughts on good/bad reviews? Paying for reviews is a bad idea. I try not to cry too much over a bad review, but I really don't worry about them. Q: Any amusing story about marketing books that happened to you? No. Q: What are your views on social media for marketing? Which social network worked best for you? Any tips on what to do and what not to do? I'm on Facebook and Twitter, but I don't do much marketing. Q: Did you do a press release, Goodreads book launch or anything else to promote your work and did it work? No. I'm really shy about blowing my own horn. Q: Did you get interviewed by local press/radio for your book launch? No, but I haven't solicited it. . Q: Is there any marketing technique you used that had an immediate impact on your sales figures? Not that I know of. Q: Did you make any marketing mistakes or is there anything you would avoid in future? Talking about my book overmuch to friends and family, other than to mention that it's out there. Q: Why do you think that other well written books just don’t sell? There is a lot of competition. I blame the education system in this country for it, assuming that they don't. Q: What do you think of “trailers” for books? Whiggish innovation. Q: Do you have a trailer or do you intend to create one for your own book/s? No. Q: Do you think that giving books away free works and why? No. Although we live online in a “culture of free”, I think people associate the price with the value of what they're getting. If they're getting it for free, they don't appreciate it. Q: How do you relax? I write. This is effectively a hobby for me, which takes a lot of pressure off. Q: What is your favorite motivational phrase? What is your favorite positive saying? “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”This shall pass. Q: What is your favorite book and why? I don't really have a favorite book, but I like the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. Q: What is your favorite quote? “Badgers? We don't need no stinking badgers!” (movie VHS with Weird Al Yankovich, in case you missed the literary reference) Q: Where can you see yourself in 5 years-time? Hopefully with more published books under my belt. More money would be OK too, but your expenses rise to meet your income, but my income is pretty marginal—tight, not comfortable, but my needs are simple. In a way, the more money you get, the more you want. Q: What advice would you give to your younger self? Don't sweat the small stuff. Q: Which famous person, living or dead would you like to meet and why? Socrates, but I don't speak classical Greek, so we'd have a short conversation. Q: If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why? I don't envy others. Q: What advice would you give to aspiring writers? Keep at it and damn the critics. Q: Where do you see publishing going in the future? My crystal ball has gotten a little fuzzy, but I'd say that the changes that happened in '07 (or so) when Amazon came out with the Kindle will only accelerate. It's a gold rush. I will say that the people who made the money in the California gold rush of '89 were NOT the miners, but the people who sold stuff to them, like Levi-Strauss. Q: Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included? No, this was pretty comprehensive. Q: How can readers discover more about you and you work? Website: http://tedgarvin.com (until it goes down because I can't see that it is anything other than a time sink) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ted.garvin.3 Twitter: https://twitter.com/for_all_love Amazon Author Page: https://amazon.com/author/tedgarvin Smashwords: Book Links: https://www.amazon.com/Doggerland-novelette-Ted-Garvin-ebook/dp/B01AMOZ9DQ Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14807753.Ted_Garvin?from_search=true Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in this interview. INTERVIEW WITH ALEXA WHITEWOLF Author name: Alexa Whitewolf Author bio: I was born in Romania (yep, Dracula's country!) in 1992. As a curious kid, I devoured every book I could on Greek, Roman, Ancient Egyptian mythology. I studied university in political science and languages. I speak five of them: French, English, Romanian, Italian, Spanish (feel free to correspond to me in whichever language!). My current hobbies outside of writing are Starbucks, training dogs, running and reading.  Book title: Avalon Dreams Book blurb: It was impossible they had met before – of that she was certain. Yet his hold on her was undisputable, an irrational pull to the utmost recesses of her soul. Vivienne du Lac has everything she could wish for – a normal, peaceful life, a good job, cushy nest egg, and a semi-social nightlife. The only problem? She’s clueless to being the reincarnation of the Lady of the Lake, mythical sorceress from King Arthur's time, and Merlin's apprentice. Sébastien Dubois is the guy you wouldn’t take home to mom and dad. He’s the one you jump off on a motorcycle with, to ride into the sunset. He’s also Vivienne’s guardian, and only hope at survival when a magical past tumbles into her orderly reality. Caught between darkness and light, a battle she has no intention to fight – let alone the knowledge to win – Vivienne quickly finds out not even closest allies can be trusted. Can she look within and access powers from long past, become the enchantress Merlin meant her to be… Or will she lose it all over love, to save Sébastien’s soul? This is a battle between good and evil you don’t want to miss. AUTHOR CHARACTER INTERVIEW 1. Tell me a bit about your character. Who are they, how old are they? What do they look like? Vivienne du Lac is 23 years old. She has long, raven black hair that goes past her waist, a toned body, and emerald eyes. She has lived her entire life not remembering she is, in fact, the reincarnation of the Lady of the Lake. 2. Do they have any strange or unique physical traits? 3. Does the character have any quirks? It’s debatable if you can call it a quirk J but Vivienne gets deja-vus, and very often. A sight, smell, or phrase can trigger them, and she falls into a sleep/trance/vision for the duration, usually a few minutes. 4. Where do they live? What’s it like there? Vivienne lives in Avignon, France, the city of Popes. Avignon is a beautify city, located in the southeastern Provence region of France, on the Rhone River. It has retained some of its medieval roots. Cobblestone paths and ruins of monasteries fit in well with tourist cafes and romantic restaurants. You can still find there the Palace of the Popes (Palais des Papes) and the ruins of the Saint-Bénezet bridge, or the Pont d’Avignon. Rich in history, this city was perfect for the setting of the book.  5. What is their role in the story? Are they the protagonist/antagonist, a supporting character? Vivienne is the protagonist of the story, the centre around which everything revolves. Her romance, history, struggles with darkness and light, and friendships are at the core of the plot. 6. What do they do for a living? Vivienne is a historical researcher. She takes contracts from different people – teachers, authors, etc. – who need research done, and travels and does it for them. Though she does not have to work – her parents ensured she has inheritance aside – she loved being able to do something. 7. What do they do for fun? Vivienne loves spending time with Alistair, her Caucasian Shepherd dog. Whenever she’s not working, her idea of fun is long walks in the city, with him by her side. 8. What is their greatest weakness, their greatest strength? Vivienne’s greatest weakness is Sébastien. She will do anything for him, even though at times it is detrimental to her. Her love for him is his ultimate salvation. Her greatest strength is her ability to pull through and adapt through any situation, without losing her cool. Be it warlocks attacking, Sébastien being hurt, or memories assailing memories, she ultimately survives and becomes stronger. 9. What is the best that ever happened to them? The worst? Sébastien is the best thing that happened to Vivienne, despite their struggles. The worst thing was becoming Lady of the Lake – because of the events that led to it, and the pain she endured. 10. What do they want from life? What are their goals? At the beginning of the novel, Vivienne does not want a lot from life – she already has it all. By the end, once she is aware of her history and memories, she wants to protect the world from evil, in her role as guardian of good. Of course, a much-needed vacation with Sébastien is also in the works! 11. And to wrap things up, does this character of a “theme” song (or several)? Roar – by Katy Perry – because Vivienne embodies the lion, strong and protective at once AUTHOR'S INTERVIEW Welcome to Roxana’s blog! Q: Tell us a little about yourself and your background. I was born in Romania (yep, Dracula's country!) in 1992. As a curious kid, I devoured every book I could on Greek, Roman, Ancient Egyptian mythology. I studied university in political science and languages. I speak five of them: French, English, Romanian, Italian, Spanish (feel free to correspond to me in whichever language!). My current hobbies outside of writing are Starbucks, training dogs, running and reading. Q: Do you think that your school years have had an impact in your writing career? If so, what were you like at school? Definitely! When I moved to Canada at 11, the school system was very different, and I had a lot of free time on my hands. As a result, I devoured everything in the school library – and my city library! Reading all those books so young and falling in love with the characters, has contributed to my own love for writing. I wanted to be able to give young readers what I had: a story you could get sucked into, an escape from reality, and likable though imperfect characters. As for what I was like in school… a terror! No, I’m kidding, I was a model student, for better or worse. My parents never had anything to complain, though I did! High school was not quite what I expected, maybe on account of being too mature for my own age, and I breezed through it, eager for the end. Q: Were you good at English or like Einstein you excel now in a field that was a nightmare for you as a student? English and History were my favorite subjects! I drove my history teachers up the wall with my questions, and much too long presentations. As for English, my issue was always sticking to a word count. They’d ask for a 500 word essay, and I’d write 1000 words. A 4 line poem, turned into 12. And a short story, became the beginning of my novel. Q: What are your future ambitions for your writing career? I would love to get my book for sale in Chapters/Indigo. Also, I would like to have my name on Chapters’ wall of Canadian authors, I feel it would be an important milestone. More closer to now, I’m working on a few other books, and I would like to get those up and ready by next summer. Q: So, would you mind telling us what you have written so far? I’ve written quite a few short stories while in high school, one notably for my final exam in French called My Ghost Love – Mon amour fantome. My first book was The Sage’s Legacy – book 1. I wrote book 2 but never published it, soon to come though! And now, Avalon Dreams is my pride and joy – the first in a trilogy. Q: Where can we buy or see them? Until Sept 1, Avalon Dreams can be purchased at ½ price through Smashwords using coupon code PP83P https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/656960 It is also available via Amazon https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01JTLWT2W or https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JTLWT2W Q: What are you working on at the minute? What’s it about? I’m currently editing The Sage’s Legacy – Book 1. It’s a young adult novel, about a young girl, Delia, who has to fight the supernatural in order to save the world. Book 2 of the trilogy is also in the editing process, soon to be released. I’m also currently writing Avalon Wishes – the second book in the Avalon trilogy. It’s the prequel to Vivienne and Sebastien’s story, where their entire history (as well as Merlin’s, Alistair’s, Arthur’s) are covered. Q: What genre are your books and what draws you to this genre? Mainly fantasy with a healthy dose of romance. I’ve always loved fantasy, the supernatural, I find a fantastic world makes it easier to escape reality. If I read a book about the modern world, it doesn’t always grab my imagination – though some do. With magic/fae/warlocks/etc, it’s a given conclusion. As for the romance, I love sizzling chemistry between well-developed characters, and I’ve tried to give some of the same with mine. Q: How much research do you do for your books? A few weeks, usually. For Avalon Dreams, I spent weeks getting immersed in Camelot folklore, reading on Merlin’s background, Nimue’s, as well as watching movies with Avignon. I usually try to have a good idea of my setting and characters before I dig into writing. Q: Do you write full-time or part-time? Do you have a special time to write or do you write every day, 5 days a week or as and when? I write part-time; unfortunately I have to maintain a regularly boring 9-5 job. I usually write in the evening, sometimes staying up until the wee hours of the morning, unable to detach from the story. It’s a very bad habit, but not one I’m looking to get out of J I would say when I’m into a story, I write 7 days a week. I try to take time off it, but that usually happens after I have a rough draft of the story. Then I take time off, and go back after a week or two to re-read and finish. I also write while at work (though I’m really not supposed to – but what can you do.. when the need strikes!) Q: How do you think you’ve evolved creatively? When I look back at the stories that I used to write, I’m always amazed they came from me! I do find I evolved a lot with my writing style. Not just grammar-wise, but with descriptions, the settings, the relationships. They all have more substance now than when I was writing at 14. Q: Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you? I hate plans, personally. I always write for a bit with the idea, to see where it takes me. At some point, I’ll take a break and think things through, and come up with an outline namely in terms of how many chapters I want, and how long they should be. Then I divide the story over the chapters, so I have a rough idea of where it’s going. Mind you, by the time this is all written, I’ve already completed the first rough of the story. Q: In your opinion, what is the hardest thing about writing? Disengaging from the story. For myself, I find when I write and it’s a really good story, the characters are with me 24/7. When I’m at work, at home, walking my dogs. When I’m in the mood to write, anything and everything inspires me, and it’s hard to disengage until the story is written. Q: Now, what about the easiest thing about writing? Getting past writer’s block! All I need to do is find a new song playlist, and I’m back in business J Q: Do you ever get writer’s Block and if so do you have any tips on how to get through the dreaded writer’s block? It’s happened a few times. When I write, I usually create a playlist of songs to match the mood of the actions. If it’s romantic, I’ll have some romance songs; for action, I’ll have some rap; for nostalgic, I’ll have some sad songs. Etc. When I get writer’s block, and the music doesn’t do it, I usually take a few hours away from writing. I’d normally recommend taking 24hrs, but I simply can’t – I’m stubborn when it comes to finishing something. So I walk/run with the dogs, then come back and switch my playlist. And I’ll listen to some songs, all the while thinking of my characters, and eventually something gives. A lot of times, I go through 30+ songs by the time this happens… but it happens! Q: Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors? For your own reading, do you prefer eBooks or traditional paper/hard back books? I read a LOT. Some of my favorite authors are Christian Jacq – his Ancient Egypt series; J.K.Rowling – Harry Potter; Kristen Ashley – Rock Chick series; James Patterson – everything. I’m not a big fan of eBooks, I usually got for paper/hard books. Nothing quite compares with the smell of old/new paper when you open the book. Q: Do you proofread/edit all your own books or do you get someone to do that for you? It’s a mix. For Avalon Dreams, I had a friend of mine, who’s incredibly good at editing, have a look. He pointed out some plot holes and things that would do with changing. Then I took the reins and did the editing – two months’ work! Q: Do you let the book stew – leave it for a month and then come back to it to edit? Yes, definitely. I find it gives a new, fresh perspective on the story and characters. And things you liked before, you might like or not like quite as much. Q: Tell us about the covers of your books. How did it/they come about? Rocking Book Covers can be credited for that. I ran into Adrijus Guscia’s covers on a website, and fell in love. When I contacted him for questions, he was quick to answer, and I appreciated the professionalism. The cover I’d seen originally, I couldn’t get out of my mind. So the minute I could, I purchased it. Adrijus further helped me with some suggestions on tweaking, created a full wrap-around cover, and I was blown away at the full result! Q: Do you think that the cover plays an important part in the buying process? Yes, definitely. The way I see it, covers are what attract the reader. The back blurbs clinch the deal. Q: What would you say are the main advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing against being published or the other way around? Doing everything myself. The editing, marketing, formatting… It’s hard, I won’t deny it, but the euphoric feeling when you’re all done and it’s launched, can’t be bested by anything! Q: How do you market your books, if you do the marketing yourself? Social media, Goodreads ads and Facebook ads. I’m still learning, that part is a work in progress. Q: Did you make any marketing mistakes or is there anything you would avoid in future? I’m very wary with putting money down for “we can promote you” scams. I feel a lot of those, are things the author can do themselves. Yes, it’s a lot harder, but in the end, you get to keep your hard-earned money. For myself, I’ve held back on major promotions (such as through ENT) until I get a few reviews for my book. I feel like with no reviews, any promo I pay for, won’t have the impact I would like it to. Q: Why do you think that other well written books just don’t sell? Could be a lot of reasons, but I think what turns off readers a lot are: bad covers, bad blurbs, bad grammar. Q: What do you think of “trailers” for books? I’m not a fan. I feel trailers are for movies, and I don’t see Youtube as being a good place to market a book. I’ve been reading since I was super young, and not once did I check a trailer for a book. I’ve asked a few friends, and they say the same. It might work for some authors, but I personally am not a fan. Q: Do you think that giving books away free works and why? I think it does, to some extent. It can garner reviews, and raise talk of your book. Word of mouth is important to us indie authors, and free books does tend to get a lot of downloads, from what research I’ve done online. Q: How do you relax? I read, walk with my dogs, listen to music. I love being away from big cities, in rural areas, and breathing in fresh air. Q: How can readers discover more about you and you work? Website: www.alexawhitewolf.com Blog: www.alexawhitewolf.wordpress.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/alexawhitewolf Twitter: www.twitter.com/alexa_whitewolf Lnkedin: Pinterest: Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Alexa-Whitewolf/e/B01JZH0HK6 Smashwords author: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/alexaw92 Smashwords book: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/656960 Book Links: (* American, UK, etc.) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JTLWT2W https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01JTLWT2W https://www.createspace.com/6481791 http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781370416967 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/660987.Alexa_Whitewolf Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in this interview.  Mini Author Bio: Annie doesn’t like long walks on the beach, getting dolled up, or HEA endings with a boringly perfect hero. She’d much rather be rock climbing, shooting guns, or ending on cliffhangers with a deliciously imperfect hero. And hugs. She likes hugs. HART BROKEN EXCERPT  An Excerpt from Hart Broken (The Hart Series, Book One): Cale grinned crookedly as she swung a leg over and straddled his hips. “Hello, beautiful.” “Hello, handsome,” Mickey purred seductively and let her eyes roam leisurely across his entire upper body. Her hands followed suit soon after, examining every inch of solid muscle on this gorgeous man until… She noticed something of particular interest and paused with a tiny frown. “Cale?” “Yeah?” Mickey glanced up to see that his eyes were closed. She traced a finger delicately over the scar that ran along the entire length of Cale’s left clavicle. “What’s this from?” “Broke my collarbone. They had to put a metal plate and seven screws in there.” He chuckled slightly before adding, “And a few loose wires, I think.” Don’t ask… “What happened?” Instantly, she felt Cale stiffen as he muttered tersely, “I fell.” Oh. Must have happened in the same accident… Mickey drew her finger down the center of his chest and slowly down the length of his washboard abs. Don’t… She paused to draw a line across his navel and whispered, “Can you feel this?” “Yeah.” Continuing along his tiger line, Mickey heard Cale draw in a sharp breath as she approached the invisible partition. It was halfway between his navel and the waistband of his pants. It was where she could see his taut muscles suddenly vanish. Don’t do it… She traced her finger from hipbone to hipbone, right along the unseen line. “How about this?” He swallowed hard. “Yeah…” Hesitantly, Mickey trailed her finger even lower, crossing over to the other side of that fence, feeling the lax muscles yield under her timid touch. She’d seen enough to know that Cale couldn’t move his legs voluntarily. But can he feel them? She dragged a horizontal line across his skin, breathing, “And this?” Cale immediately seized her wrist and in a blur, Mickey found herself flipped onto her back, staring into the sparkling emerald abyss only inches away. The weight of his chest pressed her into the mattress. “We have better things to do,” he murmured huskily, a provocative smile tugging at his lips, “than talk.” ♥♥♥ This girl… With a soft gasp, she grabbed a fistful of my hair as I tilted my head and burrowed kisses into her neck. I couldn’t believe it. How she responded to my touch. Eagerly. Impatiently. As if she wanted nothing else. It blew my mind. How her tight little body arched up to meet mine. Instinctively. Desperately. As if she couldn’t possibly get close enough. It blew my fucking mind. How her ankles locked together at the base of my spine. Securely. Possessively. As if she would never let me go. “Mickey,” I breathed urgently, attempting to pry one of her perfectly toned limbs from around my waist. She made a disapproving sound and brushed my efforts away. Chuckling slightly, I gave her thigh a gentle pat. “I need some room to work here.” As she reluctantly loosened her hold, I slipped a hand between her legs and nearly unraveled on the fucking spot. “Jesus Christ, Mickey,” I growled hoarsely, the words barely managing to scrape past my throat. She was so damn wet that I muttered another curse aloud before pulling back to look down at her. Shit. Obsidian eyes stared back at me. Glowing with unmistakable desire. Burning with nothing but lust. Holy shit. “I want you…” I was in trouble. “I want you so bad…” Okay, I wasn’t really in trouble. “Cale…” Because when she whispered my name in that low, sexy purr… Something inside of me broke. Hell, it didn’t even break. It crumbled. Into dust. As she trembled beneath me, fingernails clawing painfully into my back, I groaned and captured her mouth with mine. I was fucking doomed. You can find Annie at: Website: https://www.anniearcane.com/book/hart-broken Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/anniearcane Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/anniearcane Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/annietheauthor Purchase Links for Hart Broken. Amazon: http://viewBook.at/HartBroken Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/ebook/hart-broken Direct: https://www.anniearcane.com/book/hart-broken INTERVIEW WITH DONAL MAHONEY BIO: Donal Mahoney, a native of Chicago, lives in St. Louis, Missouri. He has worked as an editor for The Chicago Sun-Times, Loyola University Press and Washington University in St. Louis. His fiction and poetry have appeared in various publications, including The Wisconsin Review, The Kansas Quarterly, The South Carolina Review, The Christian Science Monitor, Commonweal, Guwahatian Magazine (India), The Galway Review (Ireland), Public Republic (Bulgaria), The Osprey Review (Wales), The Istanbul Literary Review (Turkey) and other magazines. Some of his work can be found at http://eyeonlifemag.com/the-poetry-locksmith/donal-mahoney-poet.html#sthash.OSYzpgmQ.dpbs (Photo: Carol Bales)  Welcome to my blog, Mr. Maloney! I am extremely delighted to have you as a guest. Q: Tell us a little about yourself and your background. I was born to Irish immigrant parents in Chicago many years ago. My mother had been raised with eight other siblings on an English landlord’s farm in a house with no heat, only a fireplace. Her family planted and harvested cabbage, rutabaga and potatoes for the Englishman. She left because of poverty and no future, My father, reared on a dairy farm in Ireland, was expelled from the country by his English captors for running guns for the Irish Republican Army shortly after the Rebellion of 1916. He had been imprisoned for a couple of years. He was a teenager when caught and in his twenties when put on a boat for America. My father came here as a grave-digger, boxer and singer in Irish nightclubs till he caught on with the Edison Company in Chicago and learned his trade, He did not live long enough to see his grandson, my son, win a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University in England. He would not have been happy having a grandson of his studying in detested England. My mother may have had a fourth grade education and my father a sixth grade education but he was able to help me with algebra in high school. A sober Irishman, he saved enough money to send me to college when there were no loans. He was not happy to see me major in English, not go to law school, and then go on for a master’s in English. In a house like that I grew up not too fond of the English. And now many decades later I cannot say that I am any fonder of them although I thank them for their contribution to literature in the English language. Q: Do you think that your school years have had an impact in your writing career? If so, what were you like at school? I was a nitwit in grammar school, always involved in mischief, not much good in math but I could spell and write. I had nuns, God bless them, who took the sons of immigrants and educated them in spite of themselves. They never penalized my academic grades because of the commotion I caused in the classroom. I remember my father telling me once that I was lucky that he and my mother came to America speaking English, albeit with a thick brogue. The other kids in my classes often came from other European countries and spoke Polish, Lithuanian, German and other languages at home so for them English was almost a second language. For me, English was the only language I knew, fraught as it was with hyperbole and often still is Q: Were you good at English or like Einstein you excel now in a field that was a nightmare for you as a student? I was always good in English but had to study in math and science, neither of which did I care for. But if I studied, I did fairly well. Q: What are your future ambitions for your writing career? I can’t say that I have any future ambitions as a writer, only to write up until the day that I die. I quit writing for 35 years or so because of jobs as a print editor that took most of my energy. My five kids always got hungry. And I wanted them to go to school as I had gone to school. They did and now have families of their own. In the Sixties, when the jobs were easy, I had about 100 poems or so published in what were called “little magazines” as well as university magazines and at least one commercial magazine. Then I got my first job as the editor of a small national magazine. I was the staff, no one else. So I quit writing my own stuff and got the magazine out every month. I returned to writing in 2008 following retirement when my wife bought me a computer as a gift and showed me where cardboard boxes of poems and drafts of poems had been gathering dust in the basement. In addition to poems, I began writing fiction and nonfiction as well. At last count, I have had the good fortune to appear, counting reprints, more than 6,000 times in print and online with poems, stories and essays. But all I do now is write all day. Q: Which poets have inspired you and how? What was their impact on your work or your literary perspective? When I was young, T.S. Eliot and Wallace Stevens impressed me greatly. As an adult it was the Irish poet Seamus Heaney, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature, who grabbed my attention because his diction mirrored the diction of the Irish immigrants with whom I was raised. Q: So, would you mind telling us what you have written so far? Although I have the quantity and some say the quality to have produced books of poems and maybe a book of short stories, I have not tried to put a book together because I like writing but not editing and compiling a book would remind me too much of work that I did for so many years. I also lack the patience to try to sell the book to a publisher and the idea of going to a vanity press does not appeal to me personally. Q: What are you working on at the minute? What’s it about? I write up to nine hours a day in perhaps three hour shifts on poems, stories and essays. I might have as many as four poems in work at once and send each out only when I give up on making them any better. If I’m working on a story or essay I try to stick with it because that seems to occupy some other part of my brain. I “hear” poems. Prose I have to write. Q: When did you decide to become a poet? What was the decisive factor or you just took a pen and starting writing poems? I never decided to become a poet. My father spoke a musical English and that affected me, I’m certain. Perhaps the first “verse” I ever wrote was in third grade simply because I liked the sound of it. Q: What makes you write? What’s the force behind taking your pen (or your keyboard) and put verses down? I have no idea what makes me write except that it is one of three obsessions I have had in life. The other two might have gotten me arrested, if caught, or made me sick had I not managed to quit both of them. Q: Do you write full-time or part-time? Do you have a special time to write or do you write every day, 5 days a week or as and when? Because I am retired I write 7 days a week usually in three three-hour shifts a day unless doctor appointments or something else tears me away from the computer. Q: Where do your ideas come from? Or is it just the spur of the moment, a special feeling you experience or a specific conjuncture that offers you inspiration? I have no idea where my ideas come from except to say that a phrase that sounds good will pop into my mind. For example, the other day I remembered how when I was small my father, when he was upset, would go around the house chanting “the bog above Bob Gordon’s bog,” which I always assumed was something from his childhood in Ireland. I never found out what it meant but I finally tried to get it out of my mind by using it in a poem that I had no idea at the start what it might be about. It turned out to be a ditty. I write ditties to get rid of phrases that won’t go away but sometimes good poems start the same way. I never know where a poem is going until it is written. This link will take you to the ditty that resulted: http://www.thepoetcommunity.com/8539/above-bob-gordons-bog-a-poem-by-donal-mahoney Q: How do you think you’ve evolved creatively? I have no idea except that I always loved words, the sound of them bumping into each other, as the immigrant Irish spoke them in Chicago. They were the only discipline that I was attracted to because until graduate school I really did not have to work too hard and that was fine with me because I loved basketball and general mischief and commotion. Q: In your opinion, what is the hardest thing about writing? Not knowing when a poem is “done,” But even when a poem is done, it really isn’t because as some famous poet once said, “A poem is never done. It is simply abandoned.” For me the main problem is running on. Not quitting when I should. Not editing myself the way I edited others to make a living. Although I quit drinking on 11-23-61, verbally I am always drunk. Q: Now, what about the easiest thing about writing? The computer that replaced the typewriter that I was weaned on. The delete key beats an eraser. Q: Do you ever get writer’s Block and if so do you have any tips on how to get through the dreaded writer’s block? I have never had Writer’s Block. I suffer from dysentery of the mind. Q: Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors? For your own reading, do you prefer eBooks or traditional paper/hard back books? I read many books in grammar school, high school, college and graduate school. In grammar school, I would go to the library and bring home bags of books. I then read for pleasure. Majoring in English made me read because I had to. I now read periodicals in print and sites online. No books in a long time. But the book that changed my life in 1958 was J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye.” It probably cost me a law degree because I was headed to law school till I read that book. Q: What book/s are you reading at present? No books but a ton of magazines. Q: Do you proofread/edit all your own books or do you get someone to do that for you? I have dry macular degeneration, which is why I type in bold so as to catch as many typos as I can. My wife proofs everything for me now. Her comments on my poems are also helpful because she is a journalist and reporter by trade and approaches poetry from a different angle. Q: Do you let the book stew – leave it for a month and then come back to it to edit? If I can manage to do so, I leave a poem draft marinate overnight after revising it probably 10 or 12 times during the original writing. The older I get the less I like to let anything hang around. I like to say enough. And that is not a wise thing to do. Prose is different because I write prose. I hear poems and type them out if that makes any sense. Q: Who edited your last book and how did you select him/her? The only “editor” I have is my wife who comments on poems, stories and essays while proofing them. Q: Do you think that the cover plays an important part in the buying process? Absolutely but often for the wrong reasons. Q: What would you say are the main advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing against being published or the other way around? I would only self-publish if I wanted to leave hard copies of my stuff for my kids. But that would involve a lot of work that does not interest me. Q: How do you market your books, if you do the marketing yourself? I have never thought about my writing as a way to make money so many but not all of the following questions are not for me to answer although I understand their importance. Q: Would you or do you use a PR agency? If I were a commercial writer, I certainly would. Q: Why do you think that other well written books just don’t sell? I fear books, magazines, newspapers and most print material are in a terminal state and will reside only in libraries. Q: How do you relax? I seldom relax and when I do I’m likely asleep Q: What is your favorite book and why? The Bible Q: What is your favorite quote? “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” ----Jesus Christ Q: Where can you see yourself in 5 years-time? Still alive, I hope, and writing Q: What advice would you give to your younger self? Don’t be so full of yourself. Q: Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included? I think one of the most important aspects of my life that I have failed to discuss is attending Roman Catholic schools for 19 consecutive years without ever thinking about being a priest. I then did not practice Catholicism for 40 years, only to return to the Church eight years ago. One either has faith or does not. I have always believed even when I was not practicing my faith. Believing for me is like breathing and writing, They come naturally and I thank God for them. Q: How can readers discover more about you and you work? Website: http://eyeonlifemag.com/the-poetry-locksmith/donal-mahoney-poet.html#sthash.OSYzpgmQ.dpbs= and http://booksonblog12.blogspot.com Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in this interview. Dear Readers, I will start with a series of interviews to introduce the authors that have had a great impact on the success of the literary magazine Scarlet Leaf Review by putting it on the map of the literary world. I am pleased that these gifted authors have accepted my request for an interview. Let's welcome the first author today: ADAM LEVON BROWN! INTERVIEW WITH ADAM LEVON BROWN  BIO: Adam Levon Brown is a poet, student, and activist residing in Eugene, Oregon. He enjoys the outdoors, playing with cats, and meeting new people. He has been published in a few dozen places including Burningword Literary Journal and Yellow Chair Review. He can be contacted via his website at www.AdamLevonBrown.org, where he offers free resources for poets. Welcome, Adam Levon Brown!
Q: Tell us a little about yourself and your background. I grew up in Eugene, Oregon in the United States. I dabbled in writing and wrote short stories when I was 7 years old. I have a great family who is always supportive of my endeavors. I have 2 cats that I adore to death. Q: Do you think that your school years have had an impact in your writing career? If so, what were you like at school? I didn’t like school until I got to college, where I was free to explore subjects that interested me. I studied mostly science until recently. Q: Were you good at English or like Einstein you excel now in a field that was a nightmare for you as a student? I think I’ve always had a knack for writing and reading. My reading comprehension was at a college level from age 12, or so I was told. I loved reading and did so a lot when I was younger. I only started writing close to 2 years now, and I can’t get enough of it. Q: What are your future ambitions for your writing career? I want to spread my words to as many people as possible. I also want to win some kind of award eventually. Q: Which poets have inspired you and how? What was their impact on your work or your literary perspective? Honestly, I haven’t read much poetry; but my favorites are Poe, Plath, and Ginsberg. Their darkness is really relatable to me, and their work has shaped the different words and images that I try to convey in my work. Q: So, would you mind telling us what you have written so far? I have two full collections of poetry out with Creative Talents Unleashed; “Musings of a Madman” and “Cadence of Cupid”. I also just released my first chapbook under my imprint, “Madness Muse Press” The title of the chapbook is, “These Streets Don’t Cry For Us” and is currently ranked #14 in Bestselling Death/Grief/Loss Poetry. Q: Where can we buy or see them? These Streets Don’t Cry For Us Links: https://www.amazon.com/These-Streets-Dont-Cry-Us/dp/0997859911 Musings of a Madman Links: https://www.amazon.com/Musings-Madman-Adam-Levon-Brown/dp/0996147667 Q: What are you working on at the minute? What’s it about? I’m working on my next poetry chapbook which I’m planning to release in Mid-December around Christmas. It’s tentative title is, “Emotional Explosives” and is full of raw, hard-hitting free/experimental verse. Q: What genre are your books and what draws you to this genre? If I had to classify my work in a genre, it would have to be, “Dark”. I have a lot of personal demons and I’ve spent a lot of time alone. I’ve always been drawn to darker works because I can feel them more than lighter pieces. Q: When did you decide to become a poet? What was the decisive factor or you just took a pen and starting writing poems? I really got into poetry a year and a half ago. I started doing writing prompts from Creative Talents Unleashed and just fell in love because I was able to express myself. I really didn’t decide to keep it going until I published my first book, “Musings of a Madman.” The moment that book was released, I decided, I’m going all the way with this poetry thing. Q: What makes you write? What’s the force behind taking your pen (or your keyboard) and put verses down? The need to express complex emotions which may be lost if not analyzed and expressed. Q: Do you write full-time or part-time? Do you have a special time to write or do you write every day, 5 days a week or as and when? I’m a student and I write part-time. I don’t have a particular time I write, though most of it happens between 12 am-3 am. Q: Where do your ideas come from? Or is it just the spur of the moment, a special feeling you experience or a specific conjuncture that offers you inspiration? Spur of the moment, I love to twist and play with language. It’s fun for me. Q: Do you ever get writer’s Block and if so do you have any tips on how to get through the dreaded writer’s block? If you want to get rid of writer’s block, READ. Get ideas swirling around in your head by reading or conversing about deep subjects like philosophy. Q: Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors? For your own reading, do you prefer eBooks or traditional paper/hard back books? I prefer paperback. I like a lot of Gothic fiction. My favorite authors are J.K Rowling, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Anne Rice. Q: What book are you reading at present? Right now, I’m reading through, “The Essential Ginsberg.” Q: Do you proofread/edit all your own books or do you get someone to do that for you? I do all of my editing. Q: Do you let the book stew – leave it for a month and then come back to it to edit? Yes. Q: Who edited your last book and how did you select him/her? I edited it. Q: How can readers discover more about you and you work? Website: www.AdamLevonBrown.org Facebook: www.Facebook.com/AuthorAdamLevonBrown Twitter: @AdamLevonBrown Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/author/adamlevonbrown Book Links: https://www.amazon.com/These-Streets-Dont-Cry-Us/dp/0997859911 Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in this interview. Recording: Dearly Departed https://soundcloud.com/poet-adam-brown/dearly-departed |
ROXANA NASTASEBorn sometime in the past century, living in the 21st century. 
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