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THE HOUSE OF CLOSED DOORS-JANE STEEN

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview with Jane Steen Jane Steen was born in England and, despite having spent more years out of the British Isles than in, still has a British Accent according to just about every American she meets. Her long and undistinguished career has included a three-year stint as the English version of a Belgian aerospace magazine, an interesting interlude as an editor in a very large law firm, and several hectic years in real estate marketing at the height of the property boom. This tendency to switch directions every few years did nothing for her resume but gave her ample opportunity to sharpen her writing skills and develop an entrepreneurial spirit. Around the edges of her professional occupation and raising children, she struck her nose in a book at every available opportunity and at one time seemed on course to become the proverbial eternal student. Common sense prevailed, though, and eventually she has the bright idea of putting her passion for books together with her love of business and writing to become a self-published author. She has lived in three countries and is currently to be found in the Chicago suburbs with her long-suffering husband and two adult daughters. Stephanie:…

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Authors' Chat

JANE ACTUALLY-JENNIFER PETKUS

Stephanie Hopkins
  Author Interview with Jennifer Petkus With the invention of the AfterNet, death isn't quite the end to a literary career it once was, and Jane Austen, the grande dame of English literature, is poised for a comeback with the publication of Sanditon, the book she was writing upon her death in 1817. But how does a disembodied author sign autographs and appear on talk shows? With the aid of Mary Crawford, a struggling acting student who plays the role of the Regency author who wrote Pride and Prejudice and Emma and Sense and Sensibility. But Austen discovers her second chance at a literary career also gives her a second chance at happiness and possibly even ... love. Stephanie: Hello Jennifer! Thank you for chatting with me today and congrats on receiving the B.R.A.G. Medallion for your book, "Jane, Actually." What an interesting premise for your story? First off please tell me what the "AfterNet" is exactly. Jennifer: Thanks very much, Stephanie, for the opportunity to be interviewed at Layered Pages. It's very much appreciated, as was the BRAG medallion. As an indie author, I rely on the kindness of many people on the Internet I've never met. The AfterNet…

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Authors' Chat

MOIN COIN-RICHARD DUE

Stephanie Hopkins
Author interview with Richard Due Richard Due is mystified by the suggestion that he bears more than passing resemblance to Ebb Autumn. Additionally, he wishes to put to rest the rumors about his necklace he has been wearing of late, the one with the coin that spins in the brooch. It is not THE moon coin. It is a Moonbeam Children's Book Award. Just google it if you don't believe him! The author would also like to take this time to dispel the absurd notion that the three long-furred cats who live with him and his family are pocket Rinn, or that they can speak as well as you or I. Lastly, he would like me to assure you that these silly rumors an stories are nothing more than tales. (The taller the Better.) Stephanie: Now to our delightful interview. Hello Richard! Thank you for chatting with me today and congrats on winning the B.R.A.G. Medallion. First off, tell me how you discovered indieBRAG and how you feel about the self-publishing industry. Richard: I discovered indieBRAG while attending the 2012 Self-publishing Book Expo in Manhattan. And as to the self-publishing industry, I have mixed feeling. On the one hand, I'm…

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Authors' Chat

MISSING EMILY -JODIE TOOHEY

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview with Jodie Toohey     Stephanie: Hello, Jodie! Thank you for chatting with me today and congrats on the B.R.A.G. Medallion. How did you discover indieBRAG? Jodie: I was searching for some outlets for promoting my book that were self-published friendly and found bragmedallion.com through a Google search. Once I was there, I decided to submit my book for consideration. Stephanie: Please tell me a little about your story. Missing Emily. Jodie: The story is really the answer to the question, "What if?" What if my friend from Croatia and I could have had some sort of contact with each other when we were teens. Stephanie: It looks like Ami is going through a difficult time. Is there a particular issue she is dealing with that you found a challenge to write? Jodie: Ami is going through a difficult time. Her father suddenly decided to move in with his surgical nurse, her baby cousin dies, and her boyfriend returns home and doesn't write to her as he promised. I had been through all of these experiences, though not exactly as happened in the story, so it wasn't terribly difficult. It was just a matter of writing it down.…

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Authors' Chat

THE HARVESTING-MELANIE KARSAK

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview with Melanie Karsak The Harvesting "The world, it seemed, had gone silent. It was something we knew but did not talk about. We were alone." While Layla Petrovich returns home to rural Hamletville after a desperate call from her psychic grandmother, she never could have anticipated the horror of what Grandma Petrovich has foreseen. The residents of Hamletville will need Layla's cool head, fast blade and itchy trigger finger to survive the undead apocalypse that's upon them. But even that may not be enough. With mankind silenced, it soon becomes apparent that we were never alone. As the beings living on the fringe seek power, Layla must find a way to protect the ones she loves or all humanity may be lost. This exciting new dark fantasy/horror hybrid blends the best of the zombie genre with all the elements a fantasy reader loves! It's all fun and games until someone ends up undead! Stephanie: Hello, Melanie! Thank you for chatting with me today and congrats on the B.R.A.G. Medallion. You have written a story in a genre that is seems to be all the rage right now. What sets your book apart from others? Melanie: Thank you so…

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WAITING ON THE SIDELINES-GINGER SCOTT

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview with  Ginger Scott Ginger Scott is a writer and journalist from Peoria, Arizona. Her debut novel, "Waiting on the Sidelines," is a coming-of-age love story that explores the real heartbreak we all feel as we become adults throughout our high school years. The story follows two characters, Nolan (a Tomboy with a boy's name) and Reed (the quarterback she wishes would notice her) as they struggle with peer-pressure, underage drinking, bullying and finding a balance between what your heart wants and what society says you should want — even if you aren't ready. The sequel, "Going Long," follows these characters through their college years. You can buy both now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple iBooks, Kobo, Sony, Smashwords and more. Her newest novel, "Blindness,"is a new-adult romance that follows two broken souls who are barely living and dealing with tragedies of their own, until they meet and their hearts come alive. "Blindness" is also available on all platforms. Scott has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than 15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors, scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. When she's not writing, the odds are high that…

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Authors' Chat

LOVING IT ALL- MARSHA CORNELIUS

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview with Marsha Cornelius Frank Barnes is content living on the streets of Atlanta. A soup kitchen and a makeshift shanty sure beat his days as a POW in Vietnam. But Chloe Roberts can't handle the eviction that sends her into the hell of homelessness. With no family or friends to turn to, Chloe and her children are sucked into the traumatic world of night shelters, and dangerous predators. When they bump into each other at the soup kitchen, Frank offers Chloe a glimmer of hope that she can pull her life back together. She rekindles his lost sense of self-worth by taking his mind off his own problems. But they will not meet again until Frank is riding high as a working man, and Chloe has hit rock bottom. By helping Chloe rebuild her broken life, Frank banishes the demons from his own past. Unfortunately, the past comes strolling back into their lives, threatening to destroy the happiness they have finally found. Stephanie: Hello Marsha! Thank you for chatting with me today and congrats on the B.R.A.G. Medallion. Your book, "Losing it all", sounds fabulous and can you believe, I live in the Atlanta area! So I'm even…

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BROKEN PROMISES-JOE PERRONE JR.

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview with Joe Perrone Jr. When the body of Maggie McFarland, an 86-year old widow, is found among the rubble of the once-famous, landmark Artemis Hotel, leveled by fire nearly seventy years ago, residents of Roscoe are shocked. However, it is not the location where Maggie is found, but rather the manner of her demise that has everyone puzzled. For it isn't a heart attack that has felled her; nor has she suffered a stroke, or taken a fatal fall from a porch. Her life has not ended so uneventfully. Maggie has been killed by a bullet to the heart, fired from a pistol at close range. Who would possibly want to kill this kind, gentle woman, known throughout the area as one of the best trout fly tiers within a hundred miles of the famed Beaverkill River? That is the mystery that confronts Matt Davis in Broken Promises, one of the most baffling cases of his career. Stephanie: Hello, Joe! Thank you for chatting with me today and welcome. I'm am so delighted to hear that you have won the B.R.A.G. Medallion for a second time. Your story, Broken Promises sounds thrilling and I do love a good…

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Authors' Chat

THE YEAR GOD’S DAUGHTER-REBECCA LOCHLANN

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview with Rebecca Lochlann Rebecca Lochlann began envisioning the epic tale that has become The Child of the Erinyes series at a very early age. Getting it into the world has become her life's work, although she didn't exactly intend it to be that way. Her goal for the series is to create a new myth: one that offers the same flavor and unique magic as the Greek classics, yet which will interest modern readers. She has always believed that deities will sometimes speak to us through dreams and visions, gently prompting us to tell their lost stories. Stephanie: Hello, Rebecca! Thank you for chatting with me today and congrats on the B.R.A.G. Medallion. Please tell me a little about your book, The Year-God's Daughter. Rebecca: Gladly, Stephanie, and let me thank you for this opportunity. I was over the moon to be awarded the B.R.A.G. Medallion. What an honor! The Year-god's Daughter kicks off my Child of the Erinyes series, a story that begins in the Bronze Age, on Crete and the Greek mainland, and ends in the near future. It follows the lives of the three main protagonists, along with their supporting characters, through time, as they…

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DAISY: BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE- JANIS KEARNEY

Stephanie Hopkins
Author interview with Janis Kearney Janis F. Kearney, publisher, author, oral historian and literacy advocate, is one of 19 children born to Arkansas Delta sharecroppers, and cotton farmers. She graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with a B.A. in Journalism, and completed 30 graduate level hours at UA Fayetteville, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, in public administration, and Journalism. Kearney went to work for Civil Rights legend Daisy Gatson Bates' award-winning Arkansas State Press in 1987, as Managing Editor. In 1988, she became Publisher/Owner of the Newspaper. In 1993, she took a sabbatical from the newspaper to work with the Clinton Administration in Washington, DC, where she served in the roles of: White House Media Specialist, the White House; Communications Director, US Small Business Administration, and Personal Diarist to President William Jefferson Clinton, the White House Oval Office Staff. She was selected in 2001, for a two-year W.E.B. Du Bois Fellowship at Harvard University's Center for African and African American Studies; in 2003, for a two-year appointment as Chancellor's Lecturer at Chicago City Colleges; In 2005, for a two-year appointment as Humanities Fellow at Chicago's DePaul University Center for the Humanities; and in 2007, a…

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