Katheryn Lane's Blog, page 9

Great Women, Great Authors: Meet Dawn Torrens!

I have always admired people who have shown great
personal strength and today it’s great to welcome one amazing woman who has,
Dawn Torrens.

 


Dawn, could
you tell us about your first two books?



My first two books were a very personal project. They were
about my true life story and one I felt compelled to share with everyone. I am
a firm believer that dreams can come true no matter what anyone tells you. No
matter how tough life gets or how far away your hopes and dreams seem to be,
there is always a way to make them happen if you are determined enough. I had a
very challenging childhood one that chipped away at your confidence little by
little each day and one where there was no place for dreams, as simply existing
daily was a hard enough task. I wrote my life story over two books, Amelia’s Story and Amelia’s Destiny.  Amelia’s story starts at the
very beginning of my life and takes you on a very heart wrenching journey
throughout my childhood and right up to my late teens. Amelia’s Destiny
continues the journey with Amelia into her adult life. These books are about
determination, strength of will and never giving up hope even when all the odds
are stacked against you and then some. I hope my story will be an inspiration
for others who have given up on their own dreams and will hopefully encourage
them to follow them regardless.



Did you find it difficult to write such
as personal story?



There were times I found myself on the most incredible emotional
rollercoaster. I had to re-visit some of the children’s homes I had lived in
for research purposes. That was a very tough decision to follow through. I had
to seek legal permissions from all the relevant governing bodies that played an
important role in my childhood, such as the NSPCC and Social Services, as I
needed access to all my care reports from them both to be able to write my
story.  I was reminded of old ghosts,
that brought much sadness to the forefront of my mind. I was also writing my story
for my daughter, as I wanted her to understand the very hard road I had to
travel to reach this point in my life. One day she will be asking many
questions and ones I have often wondered how on earth I would answer. That’s
why the first book starts with a little note to my daughter.



I believe you have also recently
published written a book of poems
called Heart and Mind. What inspired them?



Heart and Mind is a collection of poetry I have been writing
for many years. I started writing poetry at around twelve years old as a form
of escape. The collection was inspired from much of my own experience and also
from the “University of Life.” There are many categories and something for
everybody no matter what walk of life you come from…











What are you working on at the moment?



I am currently working on two projects, one is a novel
called, “Broken Wings ” a tragic love story, and also another poetry
book called, “Heart and Soul”.



What are you currently reading?



I am currently re-reading an old favourite called Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I love this book and never tire of reading it.



Me too! I love Wuthering Heights! What do you like to do in your free time
when you're not reading and writing?



I love to spend as much time with my daughter as possible I
just love being a mother! I also love to jog and power walk when ever I get the
chance and spend quality time with my family dining out and just catching up
with them…




Do you have any final comments?


Quote: Throughout our life’s journey there will
always be obstacles placed in our path, it’s how we deal with those obstacles
that shape the person we become. By D.G. Torrens…




Also, I would like
to take this opportunity to thank you Katheryn for inviting me here today. I
was both humbled and honoured...



Thank you Dawn for taking the time to be
here and answer all my questions! Just one last question, where can readers
find out more about you?





Website: http://dawnsdaily.com



FB Author page: http://www.facebook.com/dgtorrens



Twitter: @Torrenstp



 

Romance in The Wild West: Meet Cynthia Woolf

Today,
it’s great to have Cynthia Woolf here to tell us about her wonderful western
romances and give us a sneak peak at her best selling book, Tame A Wild Bride.




Thank
you Katheryn for having me today.  I’m
going to talk about where the ideas for some of my books came from.



I
have a western series of books, set in Creede, Colorado.  This is a real town and has been around since
the late 1800’s.  I set my books here on
a ranch that is still in existence today, though it is a dude ranch now not a working
ranch.  My parents met on this ranch in
the early 1940’s.  It was still a real
working ranch then as well as a ‘dude’ ranch. 




My
mother came up from Texas with a young boy she was caring for.  She was called a nursemaid.  Now we would call her a nanny.  He had asthma and could breathe better at the
higher altitudes.  Probably because the
air was drier and cleaner.  Less
dust.  Anyway, she and the boy stayed for
the summer.



During
that time, Mom met Dad.  When she went
back to Texas, they corresponded by mail for about six months before my dad
finally got up the nerve to ask her to marry him.  When he did, she immediately said yes and
took the next bus up to Alamosa, Colorado. 
This was the closet town with bus service.  My uncle and my dad went and picked her
up.  She stayed overnight with another
uncle and his wife, then the next day Mom and Dad drove to Taos, New Mexico and
got married.  They didn’t need a blood
test in New Mexico like they did in Colorado, so there was no waiting
time.  I guess they were anxious to get
married.



My
first book Tame A Wild Heart was inspired by my parents' love story.  I decided I had to place my book on that
ranch.  That’s the only similarity to
their love story.



My
third book in the series, Tame A Wild Bride, is a mail order bride story and
was inspired by the correspondence that they did before they were married.  In a way, Mom was a mail order bride.  But unlike real mail order brides of the
1800’s she and Dad did know each other before they started corresponding.



My
readers seem to enjoy my western stories. 
I hope your readers do too.



Buy Links



Tame A Wild Heart - http://amzn.to/vu62X7



Tame A Wild Wind - http://amzn.to/HiChCB



Tame A Wild Bride - http://tinyurl.com/cauchyv
 




About the author



Cynthia Woolf was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in the
mountains west of Golden.  She spent her early years running wild around
the mountain side with her friends.



Their closest neighbor was one quarter of a mile away, so her little brother
was her playmate and her best friend.  That fierce friendship lasted until
his death in 2006.



Cynthia was and is an avid reader.  Her mother was a librarian and brought
new books home each week.  This is where young Cynthia first got the
storytelling bug.  She wrote her first story at the age of ten.  A
romance about a little boy she liked at the time.



She worked her way through college and went to work full time straight after
graduation and there was little time to write.  Then in 1990 she and two
friends started a round robin writing a story about pirates.  She found
that she missed the writing and kept on with other stories.  In 1992 she
joined Colorado Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America. 
Unfortunately, the loss of her job demanded the she not renew her memberships
and her writing stagnated for many years.



In 2001, she saw an ad in the paper for a writers conference being put on by
CRW and decided she'd attend.  One of her favorite authors, Catherine Coulter, was the keynote speaker.  Cynthia was lucky enough to have a seat
at Ms. Coulter's table at the luncheon and after talking with her, decided she
needed to get back to her writing.  She rejoined both CRW and RWA that day
and hasn't looked back.



Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and the great friends
she's made at CRW for saving her sanity and allowing her to explore her
creativity.



 



Excerpt from Tame A Wild Bride



Rosemary Stanton stood patiently on the
train platform, sweat rolling down her back and between her ample breasts.  Waiting. 
Sweating because it was an unusually hot day in late April.  Waiting for her husband.  A husband she wouldn’t recognize if he were
standing right next to her. 



She’d been desperate when she answered
the advertisement for a mail order bride. 
Wanted: Single woman to cook,
clean, and care for children on a cattle ranch in southwestern Colorado.  Will marry upon arrival.



Well, she was twenty-six with no
prospects.  Her brother just got married
and his new wife, Beatrice, didn’t want Rosie around.  She could answer the advertisement or become
a governess.  Help someone else’s
children grow up into adults.  Live in
someone else’s house.  For the rest of
her life, she’d have nothing she could call her own.



Rosie wanted a home.  Her own home. 
She wanted a husband and children. 
All the things she’d never have if she stayed in Philadelphia.  When she’d seen the ad in the morning paper,
she’d nearly shouted with glee.  However,
she managed to restrain herself until she retired to her room before she
giggled with delight as she pressed her back against the door.  The advertisement was tailor-made for her
needs.  It got her away from Beatrice and
got her own home all in one fell swoop.



Her brother, Robert, though was not happy
with the idea of his baby sister traveling across the country to marry a
stranger.  He grudgingly agreed to give
her her dowry to take with her.  Five
thousand dollars.  She’d take the draft
to the bank as soon as she arrived in Creede, Colorado, and married Mr. Thomas
Harris.  Cattle rancher.  It was her “in case it doesn’t work out”
money.  Though she supposed it would
belong to her husband once she married. 
Perhaps she just wouldn’t tell him about it. 



Her conscience spoke up.  That’s
no way to start a marriage.  With lies
and secrets. Oh, all right.  She’d
tell him and have him take her to the bank. 
But not until after she’d taken his measure.  She could tell by how he treated his animals
what kind of man he was.  A man who was
cruel to his horses would also be cruel to his wife. If he was a cruel man, she
would leave and she sure as heck wouldn’t tell him about her money.



Even the substantial size of her dowry
couldn’t seem to provide marriage prospects for Rosie back in
Philadelphia.  She wasn’t pretty in the
conventional sense.  She thought her face
with its big brown eyes and full lips was pleasing enough, but men apparently
hadn’t.  Her one beau told her that her
eyes were the color of warm brandy.  That
was before he left her to marry another more suitable woman.  More
suitable, hah!  Richer was more like it.



He’d had expensive tastes and had married
a rabbit-faced girl, heir to a substantial fortune to which he’d have
access.  Well, good luck and good
riddance.



She hoped her new husband wouldn’t be as
snootish as Paul had been.  As a cattle
rancher she didn’t know what to expect but the idea of a more earthy, less
frivoless man appealed to her.



Rosie did have one extraordinary
feature.  Her hair.  Waist length, wavy and a clear, golden
blonde.  Right now, standing on the train
platform in Creede it was bound up in a loose bun on top of her head under her
hat.  It, like the rest of her, was
covered in white dirt and a nasty grayish soot from the train.  Her suit would never be the same again. 



She’d discovered on the second day of her
trip, she could minimize the grime by sitting in the front of the car with the
window closed.  But sooner or later the
heat and mugginess of the car would force her to open the window.  The air came rushing in, cooling her, but
bringing with it the dirt and ash from the train’s boilers and whatever the
wind picked up along the way.



On the long trip, she’d told herself
again and again she’d made the right decision. 
She was right to make the difficult trip.  This was her life and she had to take her
future into her own hands.



“Excuse me.  Miss Stanton?”



Rosie shaded her eyes from the late
afternoon sun and looked up at a tall man with dark hair.  His hat was pulled low, hiding his eyes.  He had a strong jaw covered with a shadow of
whiskers.



“Yes. 
I’m Rosemary Stanton.”



He took off his hat and held out his
hand.  “I’m Tom Harris.”



Rosie took his hand.  It engulfed hers with a shock of warmth.  Her pale skin stood in stark contrast to his
tanned one.  Calluses rubbed against her
soft palm though the touch was not unpleasant. 
She looked from their clasped hands up into the bluest eyes she’d ever
seen.



“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Harris.”



“Tom. 
Call me, Tom.”



“And I’m Rosie.”



“Where are your trunks, Rosie?”



“Oh, I don’t have any trunks.  I only brought what I thought I would need
out here.”



He picked up the two valises at her
feet.  “Doesn’t seem like much for an
Eastern woman.  I’m glad to see you’re
practical.”



Rosie felt the heat in her cheeks and
knew she blushed at his praise, undeserving as it was.  “Well, I didn’t think you’d have any balls.”



He cocked an eyebrow.



 

Book Reviews: The Good, The Bad and The Silly

Today I received a wonderful message
from a reader saying how much she enjoyed reading The Royal Sheikh and earlier
this week I received this great 5-star review for Her Latin Lover:



“Her Latin Lover was an exciting
read. I love a good instant attraction, and this author gave me that with Mary
and Paulo. Mary is a considerate and trusting woman who is taken advantage of
by her boyfriend. Paulo swoops in and saves the day, as any sexy, honorable man
would. Their attraction blossoms, until the unexpected happens. I was on the
edge of my seat, the whole time. I wished the romance would have happened
sooner, but all in all, it was great. I will definitely read more from this
author. Pick this up, you will love it.”



This is the eighth 5-star review
that the book has had so far on Amazon and I’m extremely grateful to the
readers that have taken the time to write and post them. I think for any
author there’s nothing better than hearing how much people enjoy your books!
However, reviews are not always positive.



Unfortunately, sooner or later
someone will read a book and decide that they don’t like it. This
is almost inevitable as everyone has different tastes and opinions about
things. If I get one of these reviews, I go and read the one and two-star reviews
for my favourite books on Amazon and remember that not everyone has to love
every book that is published.



Here are a few of my favourite
1-star reviews from Amazon that I thought I would share:



“I think I got about a quarter of
the way through it and hoped it would get better. The story is hard to follow,
too detailed about mundane things. The story line is so slow I just gave up. I
enjoy historical romances and I figured a classic, right? Should be good. Nope,
it was a waste of my time.” - Pride and Prejudice



“Boring, pointless story of a
pathetic imbecile whose life seems to be not much more than a bizarre journey
through an insane asylum.” - Great Expectations



“I just read this book. everybody
like always talks about how great it is and everything. but I don't think so.
like, it's been done before, right?? soooo cliched. omg.” - Romeo and Juliet



“I don't know what people see in
this book. I found it irritating from the start -- all the characters are
thoroughly unlikeable. After slogging my way through a quarter of the book, I
found I still couldn't care less what happened to these people. The writing is
also painfully verbose and florid. For a better story, I would have been
willing to cope with it, but here it was just another reason to put the book down
and never pick it up again.” - Wuthering Heights



“I really felt let down by this
book. For once in my life i believe the movie adaptation was better than the
book. I felt it was dull and boring. Thankfully I didn’t waste any money as it
is free.” - Alice in Wonderland



“Sleepy. Not much plot. Bad use of
vocabulary” - Harry Potter



Reading these bad reviews made me
giggle. I hope they made you smile too!

Bertha-Size Your Life with Jane Carroll!

Jane Carroll




Today it is
great to welcome Jane Carroll, author of Bertha-Size Your Life. First, could
you tell us what your book is about?



Bertha, as I
usually refer to the book, is a series of life lessons disguised as fun and
sometimes zany short stories. Bertha has moved in with the narrator who is
experiencing an empty nest and immediately begins to turn her life upside down
while making it right side up. The fun in the book comes with Bertha’s
outlandish antics and wardrobe but her wisdom is always paramount to her
quirkiness. I laugh and say that Bertha is who you would get if you could cross
Lucy, Oprah and dress her like Peg Bundy.



The stories
incorporate a lot of Law of Attraction principles along with other wisdom
gleaned from traditional self-help teachings. But don’t let that fool you… Bertha
adds her own flare to it and you’ll hardly recognize it! One of my favourite
stories is Pink Flamingos. You may read it here. http://janecarrollauthor.com/pink-flamingos/
 




What inspired
you to write it?



I’ve always been
interested in personal growth and had recently become a certified Life Coach.
Writing a book just seemed like the next thing to do. My youngest daughter had
just gotten married and the time seemed perfect to do something for women who
were experiencing empty nest. The book started as a series of exercises
designed to help the middle aged…don’t
you hate that term…woman really get to know herself again. Then she could
figure out how she wanted to fill her time. It made perfect sense to me.



The only problem
was…it was boring. I know, I hate to say it but it’s the truth. Anyway, one
day the Life Coach that I was working with left me a message that her daughter
had moved out and asked what she should do. When I couldn’t reach her by phone
I shot her a flip email about naming her nest and I jokingly named Bertha.



I thought that was
that but Bertha had other ideas. Before I knew it all the chapters in the book
were starring Bertha wearing lime green spandex and stilettos and fighting with
the cat. The rest as they say…is history.
 




Your book listed
as being part of the ‘Bertha Series’. Does that mean we can expect more Bertha
books?



Yes. The sequel
which I’m calling Becoming Bertha for
the time being is almost completed but will then go through the editing
process. In the meantime, Bertha has a guided journal, Where the Joys Are, that is already in the editing process.
 




If
your book was made into a movie, who would you want to play Bertha?



Debra
Messing, without a doubt! I think she would be a delightful Bertha. Now, who
would we get to play me…hmmm.
 




What
are you reading at the moment?



Don’t
laugh! I’m reading Lionel’s Grand Adventure (Lionel and the Golden Rule) by Paul R. Hewlett. I know it’s a
book for adolescent boys…but I am a school nurse in my day job so I’m always
looking for good things to share with my kids at school. It’s kind of funny
that Lionel’s mom is named Bertha…but I don’t think there’s any resemblance to
my Bertha.
 










What do you like
to do in your free time when you're not reading or writing?



Lately, there
hasn’t been much of that. When I can get away I love to visit my daughters and
granddaughters. I’m a porch gardener at best but do enjoy spending time in
nature. Cycling has been a passion of mine for a few years that has gone by the
wayside lately so I hope to get back into that. But…shopping for shoes…now
that’s fun!
 




Do you have any
parting comments?



I just want to
thank you for having me and Bertha as your guests. It has been great fun! And as
Bertha says, “When life hands you an ostrich…make a boa!”
 




Where can we buy
your book?



Bertha is available
primarily on Amazon in both Kindle and Paperback.



Kindle versions: (US)
http://tiny.cc/zgaafw
(UK) http://tiny.cc/4r1nhw



Paperback versions:
(US) http://tiny.cc/lz3glw (UK) http://tiny.cc/iu3glw
 




Where can
readers find out more about you?



I would love for
your readers to visit my website and blog. http://www.janecarrollauthor.com
 




Thank you so
much Jane for taking the time to chat with me and tell me about your great
book!
 




About Jane
Carroll



Jane Carroll, author of Amazon bestselling
Bertha-Size Your Life , is a Life Coach, Registered Nurse, Reiki Master,
Mother, Grandmother, and long-time student of life. She has seen the focus of
her over 30 year nursing career change from illness to wellness to wholeness, a
philosophy that permeates everything she does. While she enjoys all aspects of
her life, writing is her passion and she is currently working on Bertha’s
latest adventures.

Find out about The Ups and Downs of Being Dead and win a bestselling book!

M. R. Cornelius






Today it’s great to welcome back Marsha Cornelius, the author
of H10N1 and The Ups and Downs of Being Dead (see below, to find out how you
can win a FREE signed copy of this bestselling book).




Marsha, since your last interview in January, your novel H10N1 has been
very successful. Could you tell us a bit about this?



I owe most of the book’s success to Amazon’s Kindle Direct
Publishing. KDP has a Select program that lets you post the book for free. And
when all those free downloads start pouring in, your standing on Amazon goes
way up. I’ve been in the Top Ten paid books in drama at Amazon a couple times,
and the sales really pick up. But there’s always another book hot on your heels
to knock you down a step or two. (Or ten)



I’m grateful that both my books are currently on Amazon’s Top 100 paid in drama. Of course, that could change in the next hour!



You have written a second book called The Ups and Downs of Being Dead. Could you tell us what it's about?



The
Ups and Downs of Being Dead is about 57 year-old Robert who finds out he is
dying, but can’t accept his fate. He has heard about cryonics, so he decides to
take the gamble and have his body frozen, in the hopes that he will be revived
sometime in the future. He thinks he’ll go to sleep, like during surgery, and
just wake up in the future.



That
doesn’t happen. He discovers that he’s a ghost, able to come and go as he
pleases, along with the others who were frozen before him. But what’s a
workaholic like Robert supposed to do with his time for the next 100 years?
There’s no eating or drinking. He can’t hold a golf club. He doesn’t even need
to sleep. And he certainly can’t communicate with the living.



What inspired it?



I read about Ted Williams being cryonically-preserved a few
years ago. And that got me thinking about those people waiting to come back
from the dead, so to speak. They aren’t really dead. When they’re revived,
their soul will go back into the body, presumably.



So what do they do while they’re waiting?



What was the best and the worst thing about
writing it?



The best part of writing this book, or any book, is letting
your imagination run wild. Lots of ‘what-ifs’ to explore. And because no one
has yet come back from the dead to tell us what’s on the other side, no one can
tell me I’m wrong. They might disagree with my premise, but they can’t actually
prove anything.



The worst part, or hardest part, was trying to give the
reader a taste of the future as Robert waits, without having to get into the
whole world of flying cars, or human/robots. I didn’t want to guess at what the
future would be like. There are way too many tech-savvy people out there who
could point out the flaws. I really just wanted to deal with my characters and
how they interact with each other.



If you were in Robert Malone's situation and
could go anywhere, where would you go and why?



I’d definitely catch a ride on a space shuttle, hopefully
headed for the International Space Station. I could see earth from outer space,
and see what life is like on the space station.



It would be interesting to hang out with the living, too.
Think about attending a Rolling Stones concert for free. I could hang out in
the band’s dressing room before the show, and dance right up on stage with Mick
Jagger without feeling self-conscious. (Or getting thrown out!)



I could sit in on top-secret meetings in the oval office,
walk right next to Bubba Watson while he played in the Masters, or hang out on
the set with Meryl Streep.



What are you planning to work on next?







My next book is with my editor right now. Once she’s done
with it, I’ll be rewriting this winter. I hope to have the book ready this
spring, but as of this moment, I don’t have a title I like.



The story is about a homeless man who helps a woman and her
two small children get off the streets of Atlanta. It’s set in 1984 because Frank, my 34 year-old protagonist,
has been drifting ever since he came back from Vietnam in 1972. I needed a
character who felt pretty hopeless and bewildered about his life, and I think a
lot of men came back from Vietnam that way.



Don’t
get me wrong, this is NOT a book about the Vietnam War; it’s about two lost
souls who meet and help one another get their lives turned around.



Could you give us a sneak look at The Ups and Downs of Being Dead?



Sure!



At
first, he’d done what any intelligent man would do when the doctor folded his
hands on his desk and quietly said, ‘You have cancer.’ Robert got a second
opinion.



That
noted oncologist laid it out in a way Robert could not deny. Like an
advertising campaign, the doctor presented images from an MRI and pointed out
the large mass in Robert’s liver. Then he produced colorful brochures on the
finest cancer treatment centers, pamphlets touting the latest pharmaceuticals,
and of course, the bar graphs and pie charts that estimated how long Robert had
to live.



For
the first time in almost thirty years, Robert took the rest of the day off. He
struggled to get through the telephone conversation with his secretary
canceling appointments, rearranging meetings. By the time he ended the call,
Robert felt so weak he’d braced his arm on the roof of his car and rested his
forehead on the sleeve of his hand-tailored suit. Struggling for breath, he was
unable to even stop the drool that oozed out of his gaping mouth and dribbled
down the window of his Mercedes.



Stale
exhaust fumes in the parking garage choked Robert, the low clearance closed in
on him. He was practically running when he came out onto the open top level.
The heat of the day washed over Robert, and his body sagged. He lurched to the
edge of the roof, and looked out over Atlanta,
the classic query drumming in his head. ‘Why me?’



When
Amanda heard he was dying, she rushed home from her shopping trip in New York. Robert was in his office, on the
phone, when she burst in, her cheeks flushed, her eyes aglow. If he had to
describe her expression in one word, it would have been exuberant.



Almost
overnight, she transformed into a loving, sacrificing wife who put everything
on hold for him. She drove him to his chemo appointments. She waited patiently
outside the bathroom while he puked his guts out, then helped him back to bed,
tucking brand-new sheets under his chin. Death sheets, he’d called them. He was
certain she’d agonized over just the right shade and design to go with cancer.



She
volunteered for the American Cancer Society, masquerading as a pillar of
strength in front of other spouses of dying partners. She even participated in
one of those walks – Amanda, who probably hadn’t worn a pair of sneakers since
she was ten. And she never went anywhere without that goofy pink ribbon pinned
to her clothing.



Robert
was sure the only reason she got so involved with the cancer organization was
to get first-hand information on how soon he could be expected to croak. She
couldn’t wait to get her hands on his millions.


Wouldn’t she be surprised?



Where can people buy your book?




Both my books are available on my website at http://www.mrcornelius.com.



And of course, on Amazon: http://amzn.to/P52iqQ



Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/SdlbfO



Alternatively, you can win a FREE signed
copy of The Ups and Downs of Being Dead. All you need to do is leave a comment
below with your contact details, or if you prefer, you can email me at
KatherynLane1 (at) hotmail.com. (This offer is available to USA residents only)

Love and Life in the American South: Meet Author Alle Wells

Last year I hosted a great guest post by
Alle Wells and today I’m lucky enough to interview her and find out more about
this amazing author.




First of all, thank you so much Alle for taking the time to chat with me. Since you wrote your guest post about your
first book, Lame Excuses, you have done so much including publishing two more books,
Railroad Man and Leaving Serenity. Could you tell us a bit about them?

 




Thank you, Katheryn, for your generous hospitality! My stories are fictional, but they are based on the lives of people I have known throughout my life. Each life has its successes and its failures. The strengths and weaknesses in my characters are consequences of the times they lived in, and their economic and environmental settings.



Railroad Man begins in the South at the onset of the Great Depression. Twenty-year-old Mickey is one of the lucky ones. He comes from a good home, lands a good job with the railroad, and has found the love of his life. Mickey’s problems start when he realizes that his true love is forbidden. A cold, lonely night leads Mickey to the back alleyways of Atlanta that will change his life forever. This is the story of Mickey’s life, his love, his success, and his sorrow. His strengths and weaknesses cross the boundaries of time and reach into the readers’ hearts.





Leaving Serenity is a fictional story based on the life of Annette Bevels. In 1996, Nikky Harris is the image of perfection—her hair, her toned body, her chiseled face, and her big bucks. What we see on the outside isn’t what counts, or is it? Nicky is an example of what people want to see. People rarely take the time to look beneath the superficial layer of what made Nikky, Nikky. Leaving Serenity shares the story of this young woman’s struggle to find herself at a time in American history when women struggled to be seen in the world.







As well as writing, you have set up a great website, Alle’s Five Star Reviews. Could you tell us about the site?  





Yes,Katheryn! Recently, my lifelong love of reading has gravitated toward reading work from indie authors. Indie books are so refreshing! I love the original content and new voices I hear from indie authors. My blog is dedicated to
sharing the work of indie authors. I only post five star reviews because I
don’t want to jeopardize any author’s reputation by posting a bad review. If I
can’t post a five star review, then I don’t post a review at all.





What are you reading at the moment?





Several works of Historical Short Fiction
from Katrina Parker Williams, The Spruce Gum Box by Elizabeth Wilder, and
Atomic Summer by Elaine Walsh.





I believe you also have a blog (or
two?). Could you tell us about it?





Interestingly,
I join Bette Lee Crosby Books: Words, Wit and Wisdom each Sunday to present
“Southern Sunday”, a blog about living organically, reading, writing, and the
beauty of southern life. Bette and I thought it would be nice to combine our
efforts to reach a larger audience of southern fiction lovers. Alle’s Southern
Sunday is also available on Goodreads.





http://betteleecrosby.com/southern-sunday/





http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5030886.Alle_Wells/blog





What are you working on at the moment?





Oh, Katheryn, I love working on my WIP! It is called “Mill People”. It’s the story of the lost society of cotton mill workers and their communities that once thrived as the middle class in the American South. The story of the lost mill
communities is touching, heart-warming, and an unfortunate loss to our region.





What you’re not writing, reading or blogging, what do you like to do in your free time?





I spend a lot of time in the kitchen! Maintaining a complete, organic vegetarian lifestyle is quite time consuming. In the summer months, I freeze or dehydrate enough food and herbs to supply my household for the remainder of the
year. 





Where can people buy your books and find out more about you?





My books are available on Amazon. Here is the link
to my Amazon page:



http://www.amazon.com/Alle-Wells/e/B005AU5KQE





Do you have any final parting comments
or advice?





Just to thank you for allowing me to join you, and to say that I love your wonderful romances that take me to exotic places! If anyone is interested, I’d love to connect on Facebook, Goodreads and Twitter!





Thank you Alle! I’m so glad you like my romance novels, and thank you for taking the time to tell me about your wonderful books.

Do Amazon Rankings Matter?

I was recently on holiday in the USA, during which time I grabbed the chance to do some rather shameless
promotion of my books (I also drank quite a few frozen margaritas during the holiday, but
that’s another story that probably doesn’t bear telling). As everyone nowadays has
some form of portable electronic device, it was fast and easy for them to whip
out their iPhone, tablet, BlackBerry etc, look up my romance novels on Amazon.





When they checked out my books, what did they look
at? Almost without fail, it was the book cover and then the reviews. No one, absolutely
no one, looked at my rankings and when I pointed them out (during a nice spike
one weekend), the other people had no idea what they meant and didn’t care! So,
do rankings matter?

In terms of readers, ‘No’. What matters is a great
book cover and lots of good reviews (if anyone would like a review copy of
either or both of my books, please send me an email). However, in terms of Amazon,
‘Yes’, rankings do matter. This is because the better the ranking, the more
Amazon will push the book as they see it as a potential bestseller. Amazon
will push it by making sure the book comes up in search results and recommendations.
This gives your book more visibility, which in turn sells more books, which in
turn improves rankings. Should you be lucky enough to get into Amazon’s
bestseller lists and its top 100, Amazon will do much of the promotion for you.
As Catherine Bybee said in an interview with me about her bestseller Wife By Wednesday, “Once I made it in the top 100 books on Kindle the book sold
itself.”
Therefore, while rankings
mean nothing to readers, they are important to authors, so I’m off
now to check mine!

Summer Holidays!

The summer holidays are finally here and this weekend I'm off to the USA for a month for some serious R & R and a few frozen margaritas! As a result, things might be a bit quite on this blog for while, though I'll be back recharged (I hope!) and at full speed by the end of August with lots more great author interviews, giveaways and blog hops.



In the meantime, why don't you have a look around the site and see what's been going on over the last year. Visit the Author Interviews page and read about some of the wonderful writers that I've been lucky enough to talk to. You might see one of your favourite authors on my list, or perhaps you'll discover a new one and find your next great read.




I hope all my readers have a great summer!

Art, Love and Writing: Meet Uvi Poznansky

Today it is great to welcome Uvi Poznansky, author of Apart From Love.
First, could you tell us what your book is about?



My novel, Apart From Love, is an
intimate peek into the life of a uniquely strange family: Natasha, the
accomplished pianist, has been stricken with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Her
ex-husband Lenny has never told their son Ben, who left home ten years ago, about
her situation. At the same time he, Lenny, has been carrying on a love affair
with a young redhead, who bears a striking physical resemblance to his
wife--but unlike her, is uneducated, direct and unrefined. This is how things
stand at this moment, the moment of Ben’s return to his childhood home, and to
a contentious relationship with his father.



The story is told from two points of
view, Ben’s and Anita’s, which gives me an opportunity to illustrate how the
same events, seen from different angles and through difference experiences in
life, are interpreted in an entirely different way.




What inspired you to write it?



Over a year ago I wrote a short story
about a twelve years old boy coming face to face, for the first time in his
life, with the sad spectacle of death in the family. In it, Ben watches his
father trying to revive his frail grandma, and later he attempts the same
technique on the fish tilting upside down in his new aquarium.



I set the story aside, thinking I was
done with it. But the character of the boy, Ben, came back to me and started
chatting, chatting, chatting in my head. It became the seed of my novel, Apart From Love.



In writing it I asked myself, what if
I ‘aged’ him by fifteen years? Where would he be then? Would he still admire
his father as a hero, or will he be disillusioned at that point? What secrets
would come to light in the life of this family? How would it feel for Ben to come
back to his childhood home, and have his memories play tricks on him? What if I
introduce a girl, Anita, a redhead who looks as beautiful as his mother used to
be, but is extremely different from her in all other respects? And what if this
girl were married to his father? What if the father were an author, attempting
to capture the thoughts, the voices of Ben and Anita, in order to write his
book?

So the process of writing became, for
me, simply listening to the characters and trying, as fast as I could, to
capture their thoughts.





I believe you have published some other books, as well as Apart FromLove. Could you tell us about them?



I have published a poetry book, and two children books (available from lulu.com). Now I Am Paper is a children's
book based on a poem I wrote, and the illustrations are based on watercolor
paintings of trees in my neighborhood. Jess and Wiggle, also a children book,
is based on a whimsical poem about a girl who would never laugh, and the
illustrations are based on multi-media art. After the books were published, I
created animations for both of them.




What are you reading at the moment?



I’ve just finished reading Embracing You, Embracing Me by Michelle
Bellon, an excellent read.




What do you like to do in your free time when you're not reading or
writing?




I draw in pencil and charcoal, sculpt in clay, cast in bronze, sculpt in
paper, paint in oil and watercolor, create animations, write poems and stories,
and I love baking.



My
animations can be seen on my author page on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Uvi-Poznansky/e/B006WW4ZFG
and on my author page on Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5758946.Uvi_Poznansky





Do you have any parting comments?



In addition to reaching out to my readers through my blog, I am leading
a Q&A group on Goodreads, aimed at both readers and writers who would love
to engage in conversation about the creative process. If you would like to step
inside, or even join, here it is: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/67670-q-a-with-uvi-poznansky




Where can we buy your book?



You can
get the paperback edition on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Apart-Love-Uvi-Poznansky/dp/0984993207
or on Barnes & Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/apart-from-love-uvi-poznansky/1108228346




Also, you
can get the ebook for Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Apart-From-Love-ebook/dp/B006WPITP0/
for Nook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/apart-from-love-uvi-poznansky/1108228346
and for iPad http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/apart-from-love/id496889329?mt=11







Where can readers find out more about you?



You can find more about me in my blog, http://uviart.blogspot.com/
my website http://uviart.com/
and my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/uviart




Thank you so much Uvi for taking the time to chat with me and tell me
about your great book!



Thank you, Katheryn, for having me, it has been such a pleasure!

Meet Bestselling Author, Melissa Foster!

Melissa Foster




Thank you for sharing
your blog space with me today! I want your readers to know that I’m giving away
books all summer long. Find details here:





http://melissafoster.com/blog/melissas-summer-blog-tour



[image error] It is great to
welcome the amazing Melissa Foster, author of the bestselling novels, Chasing Amanda , Megan’s Way and Come Back To Me ! 
I know this is a tricky question, but can I ask which book is your
favourite out of the three?










Oh my goodness, is that a fair question to
ask? Yikes! How can I choose? That would be like choosing between my children.
I just can’t do it J





What do you think are
the biggest factors in the success of your books?


[image error] That’s a great question. I think there’s are
combination of factors that lead to a book selling well. The right readers
finding the book and sharing it with friends, a wide breadth of marketing, and
as with any successful book, I’m sure luck was on my side.











I believe your novel
Megan’s Way is being made into a movie. Could you give us any more details
about this?


I’m so excited about this! I don’t have many
details yet, but I do know that it will be filmed in Cape Cod, where the book
takes place. The script should be done this summer, and then they’ll move
forward with hiring the talent.










What are you
currently working on at the moment?


I’ve just wrapped up my manuscript, TRACES OF
KARA, a psychological thriller about a deranged twin, separated from his
sister. He believes that the only way they can be together forever is to kill
them both at the hour of their birth.



Now I’m working on PETALS IN THE WIND, a
story about a woman whose repressed memories of her childhood best friend’s
disappearance come back to haunt her.



As well as writing,
you have also founded the fantastic group, World Literary Cafe (WLC), which I’m
proud to be a member of. For people who don’t know about it, could you tell us
about this group and why you started it?




Yes, I love WLC! The World Literary Café is a
literary community that unites readers and authors, and provides many avenues
for promotion. We have insightful blogs, and many author forums geared toward
advice and sharing of information (literary chats) and cross promotions
(reviews, beta readers, critique groups), as well as reader forums where
readers can review books, chat with authors, find book deals and freebies, etc.
We’re a pay-it-forward community and believe in giving more than you receive.
www.worldliterarycafe.com



In addition, I’ve just launched an
educational arm for authors called Fostering Success. Fostering education for
writers in the areas of social media, creating effective platforms and a
branded online presence, self-publishing simplified, and effective book
marketing. Those who have taken the courses have found them to be very
valuable, and I’m sure they’ll help many. www.fostering-success.com


I am not sure if you realize this, but I also
founded and run the Women’s Nest, a social and support site for women (only –
sorry guys). It’s a great place for escaping your chaos, making friends, and
sharing advice. www.womensnest.com



What have been the
best and the worst things about the massive success of your books?



Oh gosh, the best is obvious. My books got
into the hands of many readers. The worse, I guess the worst would be the
pressure to continue to do well.



When you are not
writing books and working on sitres such as  WLC , what do you like doing in your free
time? 



Free time? Is there such a thing? Lol. I try
to spend time outside and with my family. That’s really about all I do. I read,
play whiffle ball, throw the football (boys!), and, of course, all of the
normal mom things, cooking, cleaning, hugging.



What advice do you
have for other authors out there?  



Write, write, write. Be covetous of your
writing time. Don’t rush to the finish line. Hire a great editor, even if it
costs you one month’s salary. Readers deserve quality books, so produce books
that you are proud of. Then join a community that fosters cross promotions and find
support – you’ll need it. Marketing is not easy.



Finally, do you have
any parting comments that you would like to share with us?



I am so thankful for the kindness for people
like you, who share their virtual space with me, and for my readers, who find
joy in my books. Without you, I would not have the drive to always strive to be
a better writer. Thank you.



Where can readers
find out more about you and your books?



Award-winning,
bestselling author Melissa Foster is a touchstone for the indie publishing
community and a tireless advocate for women. She is the founder of the World
Literary Café, Fostering Success, and The Women’s Nest. Melissa writes
emotionally-driven contemporary fiction and suspense with passionate characters
that remain with the reader long after they’ve read the last words. Melissa is
a friend, mentor, brownie connoisseur, and book fiend.






Melissa’s site links:



Website: http://www.MelissaFoster.com



Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MelissaFosterAuthor



Twitter: @Melissa_Foster



My social network for women: http://www.TheWomensNest.com



World Literary Café: http://www.worldliterarycafe.com



Fostering Success:
http://www.fostering-success.com



Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3023973.Melissa_Foster







Find Melissa’s Books on Amazon and Barnes &
Noble



MEGAN'S WAY 



http://www.amazon.com/Megans-Festival-Generation-Finalist-ebook/dp/B002LISR7C/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1317083196&sr=1-1





CHASING AMANDA 



http://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Amanda-ebook/dp/B004WF5202/ref=pd_sim_kinc1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2





COME BACK TO ME



http://www.amazon.com/Come-Back-To-Me-ebook/dp/B005V2MWM6/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324353899&sr=1-1