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CASTLES IN THE SAND-ANNIE DAYLON

Stephanie Hopkins
  Author Interview with Annie Daylon Annie Daylon Author of the B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree Castles in the Sand Get to know Annie! I live in Chilliwack, British Columbia, with my husband David and our dog CoCo.The best thing about my life right now is that I get to be a writer. I am a member of both the Federation of British Columbia Writers and the Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland & Labrador.Annie and David I love to get up at 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning and go to my computer where I spend numerous hours crafting characters who tell me their stories.Among the writers who have influenced me are: Louisa May Alcott, Wayne Johnston, Kate Morgan, Jonathan Franzen, Barbara Kingsolver, Stephen Leacock, and Maeve Binchy.CoCo SmilingSecond on my list of the things I enjoy most in life is reading. Among the best books I have read lately are: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, The Crimson Petal and The WHITE by Michel Faber, Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.Among my other many interests are: nature, tai chi, line dancing, walking, dogs, Mozart, and all things Newfoundland and Labrador... not necessarily in…

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Authors' Chat

GIMMEE SHELTER-LOUIS SPIRITO

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview with Louis Spirito Louis Spirito Author of the B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree Gimmee Shelter Louis Spirito is lifelong dog lover and recovering 'angry guy', Louis lives in Malibu, California with his wife, Eugenie, the love of his life, and their rescue Pit Bull, Tanner. Lou has written for magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, Good Housekeeping, Men's Fitness, Woof Magazine, Black Belt and Bride's Magazine. As a screenwriter, he's sold material to Alliance-Atlantis, Triumph Pictures and Universal Studios, and his work has been honored by WorldFest Houston, The Nuyorican Poets Café, Writer's Digest, and the Nicholl Fellowship Competition. His memoir, Gimme Shelter, was awarded a B.R.A.G. Medallion for Nonfiction.  Visit Louis on his Website    Get the entire interview with Lois Spirito at Layered Pages  

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Authors' Chat

IN THE CAMELEON’S SHADOW-MARK HUMMEL

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview With Mark Hummel Mark Hummel Author of the B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree In The Cameleon's Shadow   Mark Hummel's fiction, poetry, and essays have regularly appeared in a variety of literary journals for more than twenty years including such publications as The Bloomsbury Review, Dogwood, Fugue, Talking River Review, Weber: The Contemporary West, and Zone 3. A longtime former college professor and writing program director, he has also served as a teacher in an independent high school, directed a writers' conference, worked as a librarian, and taught on the faculty of several writers' conferences. He is the founding editor of the nonfiction magazine bioStories. A native of Wyoming, Hummel lives in Montana's beautiful Flathead Valley. Visit Mark at: Mark Hummel Books Find Mark's interview at Layered Pages  

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Authors' Chat

AFTER THE SUCKER PUNCH-LORRAINE DEVON WILKE

Stephanie Hopkins
Author interview with Lorraine Devon Wilke Lorraine Devon Wilker Author of the B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree After The Sucker Punch   Author, photographer, singer/songwriter, Lorraine Devon Wilke, started early as a creative hyphenate. First, there was music and theater, next came rock & roll, then a leap into film when a feature she co-wrote (To Cross the Rubicon) was produced by a Seattle film company, opening doors in a variety of creative directions. In the years following, she wrote for and performed on theater stages, developed her photography skills, and accrued a library of well-received feature screenplays (The Theory of Almost Everything was a top finalist in the 2012 Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Contest; A Minor Rebellion a Quarter Finalist in that same event in 2014). She kept her hand in music throughout – songwriting, recording, performing – leading to the fruition of a longtime goal to record an original album (Somewhere On the Way). Accomplished in collaboration with songwriting/producing partner, Rick M. Hirsch, the album garnered stellar reviews and can be found at CDBaby and iTunes (one tune from the collection is even featured in the epilogue of AFTER THE SUCKER PUNCH). She continues with music whenever she can (which,…

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Authors' Chat

indieBRAG 2014 SURVEY RESULTS

Geri Clouston
READER SURVEY: PART TWO In this Blog I will continue my summary of key findings from the indieBRAG 2014 Reader Survey. As was the case with Part One, these results reflect the views and preferences of the respondents as distinct from their role as members of the indieBRAG reader team. Important Considerations in Buying a Book Factors Used in Judging a Book Types of Reviews Read This concludes the Reader Survey: Part Two. Please look for the conclusion of my summary of the 2014 indieBRAG Reader Survey in Part Three in my next Blog.

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Words of Wisdom

READER SURVEY: PART THREE

Geri Clouston
READER SURVEY: PART THREE In this Blog I will conclude my summary of the key findings from the indieBRAG 2014 Reader Survey. The results presented here reflect the views and preferences of the respondents in their roles as members of the indieBRAG reader team. Based on their experiences reading self-published books for indieBRAG, 80% of our readers believe that the best indie books are as good as the best traditionally published books, while 20% say they are even better. This finding has not changed versus last year. Factors Affecting Attitude Characteristics of Self-Published Books Advice to Self-Published Authors As we did in the Author Survey, we asked our readers if there was one piece of advice that they could give to self-published authors what would it be? This concludes my review of the significant findings of the 2014 indieBRAG Reader Survey. I hope that you have found these results, along with those from the Author Survey, interesting and informative. However, as I said at the beginning of this series of Blogs, the level of participation in both the Author and Reader Surveys dropped markedly this year versus last year, and we are currently considering whether or not to discontinue the…

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Words of Wisdom

A GHOSTLY TAIL-NANCY LUCAS

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview with Nancy Lucas Author of the B.R.A.G.Medallion HonoreeA Ghostly Tail: A Springer Spaniel Mystery (#2). Nancy Lucas lives in Charleston, SC. Scout is her favorite Springer Spaniel and she insists on writing silly stories about his capers. Stay tuned for the third tail in the Springer Spaniel Mystery series, "The Missing Tulip Bulbs", in which Scout and his friends search for tulip bulbs that mysteriously disappear night by night. And Scout suspects one of his best friends is the culprit!Hello Nancy! Thank you for talking to me today and congrats on the B.R.A.G. Medallion for your book, A Ghostly Tail: A Springer Spaniel Mystery (#2). Read the interview with this wonderful author at Layered Pages

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Authors' Chat

THE THIN WALL-CYRIL WEST

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview with R. Cyril West     Author of the B.R.A.G.Medallion HonoreeThe Thin Wall Cyril West studied Arabic and International Relations at the University of Arizona, and grew up on Air Force bases ranging from Hickam A.F.B. to Lincoln A.F.B. He appreciates the work done by our veterans to keep America free and views the men and women who serve as the real heroes of our country. There is no freedom without the heroes who serve in our armed forces. He currently supports the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and the Wounded Warrior Project. If he is fortunate enough to be successful as an author, he plans to create a MIA Recovery Fund to help families of the missing find and bring loved ones home.Cyril West lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife and children. Read the interview with R. Cyril West on Layered Pages

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Authors' Chat

SAVANNA’S TREASURE-C.BEHRENS

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview with C. Behrens Author of B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree Savanna's Treasure C. Behrens grew up in Pearl River, N.Y. and graduated from Dominican College (Blauvelt, NY) in 2010. In his last semester at D.C., Chris wrote his debut short story, The Paladin, in a creative writing class that was taught by Author Stephanie Stiles. While The Paladin didn't earn any awards in the Lorian Hemingway Contest that same year, Lorian praised the story and said it was in her top 100. Chris followed that up with another top 100 story in 2011. Chris recently finished two more short stories: "Balls & Strikes-Learning to Hit" & "One More Day". And he had a poem accepted to be published in "Sunflowers and Seashells".
In June 2010, Chris was a guest-blogger for Kathy Temean, the head of the NJSCBWI. Chris loves spending time with his daughters, who were the biggest inspiration for his children's book. Chris continues to work for a small town government and coach H.S. basketball in his spare time. Read the full interview with C. Behrens at: Layered Pages

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Authors' Chat

THE WOLF AND THE RAVEN-STEVEN A. MCKAY

Stephanie Hopkins
Author Interview with Steven A. McKay Author of B.R.A.G.Medallion Honorees Wolf's Head The Wolf and the Raven Steven A. McKay was born in 1977, near Glasgow in Scotland. He lives in Old Kilpatrick with his wife and two young children.His second book, The Wolf and the Raven was released on April 7th, at the London Book Fair where he was part of the Amazon stand. His début novel, Wolf's Head, was also released the same day as an audiobook.Wolf's Head is a Kindle top 20 best-seller and The Wolf and the Raven was the "War" chart number 1.He plays lead guitar and sings in a heavy metal band when they can find the time to meet up. Read the full interview with Steven A. McKay at: Layered pages    

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Authors' Chat

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