Interview with Author Diana Rangaves

1.    When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

Ans. =>As a child in grammar school, we had to do book reports. I learned to enjoy reading and writing. This helped me in college, pharmacy school, then a professor teaching ethics at Santa Rosa Junior college, and as an author.  

2.How long does it take you to write this books?

Ans. =>  Words poured through my fingertips, as if someone else was writing. I love that feeling when you are in spirit!

3.What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

Ans. =>The mornings are for thinking and reflecting on key words and ideas. The afternoon and sometimes at 1 AM are for writing! Whenever inspiration hits!

4.What brought you to write this book series?

Ans. =>  The real Rosy Posy! I am a foster mom for Pap Haven Rescue and Rosy Posy came up for adoption. About one month after she arrived, she escaped into my field. I found her safe visiting with the pony, ram, and goats! Rosy Posy is strong, curious, and has courage.  She even has a club now RosyPosy.Club https://rosyposy.club/

5.How you become a published author? Any inspiration?

Ans. => Persistence. Never ever give up!  In anything in your life, if you feel you are being pulled, pushed and guided, follow the yellow brick road! For writing, just write one sentence at a time. One sentence a day if that is what it takes. After a few days you have a paragraph, then another, then a chapter.

6.Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?

Ans. =>  From real life and events. Mark Twain said, “Write what you know.” It never fails!

7.When did you write your first book and how old were you?

Ans. =>  My first published book through a legitimate publisher came as a third career! I was in my mid-50’s.

8.What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Ans. =>  Play with my dogs and care for my pasture pets!

9.How many books have you written? Which is your favourite?

Ans. =>  There are four. The children’s series, “The Adventures of Rosy Posy Papillion”,  and the growth educational books, Medicine Child’s Play, Escape into Excellence, and Embrace Your Excellence. They each serve a purpose, are unique, and have a special place in my heart.

10.What's next for you? What are you working on now?

Ans. =>  I am actively working on a series, the Ethical Hacker ~ Acidemia a political suspense thriller novel, involving the politics of power at a college campus. Foundation fraud, discrimination, cover-ups, and greed leading all the way up to the Chancellors’ and Governor’s office. Also, the Ethical Hacker ~ Verdict a criminal suspense thriller novel, wish we could say more! There is an except on the website; https://theethicalhackerblog.wordpress.com/

Link to buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=diana+rangaves

Interview with Author Becca Price

Hello everyone, it’s time to take an author interview and today Author Becca Price

is with us.

1. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
   

Ans. => I’ve always wanted to be a writer. As a child, I used to tell stories to my siblings before going to bed. I wrote some highly derivative fantasy in high school and college, as one does, but didn’t seriously consider making a living as a writer. Instead, I started work as a technical writer, and continued in that profession until ill health made me quit. I still took the occasional contract, however, and kept in the profession for a total of 30 years

2. How long does it take you to write these books?

Ans. =>
It varies so much. Sometimes, the words just roll out, and the story is close to it’s final form. Other stories, I struggle with. I have one story (Heart of Rock) that I worked on for 20 years, on and off, trying to come up with a satisfying ending.

3. What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

Ans. =>
Inspiration strikes at any time. One story, I worked n in my head while trying to go to sleep. I finally got up at 3:00 in the morning, and wrote down the first draft of the story almost completely.

Other times, it’s more like a “real” job, usually after I get my first pass edit back from the wonderful editor, Martha Hayes – she seems to know what I am trying to say better than I do sometimes, and will ask me questions. I’ll get up in the morning, start working on her edits, take a break for lunch, and finish writing around 4:00 pm, and then back to work on it the next day. I don’t seem to be able to write well after about 3 or 4 in the afternoon, unless it’s one of those things that keeps me up til 3 until I write it down.

4. What brought you to write this book series?

Ans. =>
The only real series I have is Fields, Forest, and Fairies. This consists of 3 books: Fairies and Fireflies, The Wood and the Wildfolk, and The Wizard and the Wood. They all take place in the same universe, and I just kept writing the stories as long as the Wide Wild Wood had stories to tell me. It may have other stories to tell, but right now, I’m feeling like it’s pretty complete.

5. How you become a published author? Any inspiration?

Ans. =>
After I wrote my first book, Dragons and Dreams, I looked carefully at publisher’s requirements for children’s books. \They tend to be very strict and formulaic, with no place for the kind of gentle fairy tales I write. I started doing research (I’m a research junkie anyway) and decided to self-publish through Amazon. In this effort I was helped immeasurably by the kind folks at kboards/writer’s café, which still provides me with help in my writing, and in my publishing efforts.

6. Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?

Ans. =>

When my children were very small, I looked about for good bedtime stories for them, It must have been a dry spell for children’s books, because other than the classics like Dr.Seus and the Grimm brothers, there wasn’t much – and I disliked the sexual stereotyping in the classical fairy tales. There was the peerless Paper Bag Princess, but other than that, not much. So I started to make up stories that addressed issues (like being afraid of the dark) that my kids were having, or silly stories like The Grumpy Dragon and A Princess for Tea.  When my children started correcting me on how the story was supposed to go, I wrote them down, so I’d remember them. That collection became Dragons and Dreams, and is still my daughter’s favourite of my books. Then I got a letter from a fan, wanting to know whether Butterfly Fairy ever got another kitten, and that set of stories became Fairies and Fireflies.

Most of my stories have a strong nature orientation. I’ve been known to call the local Extension Office at Michigan State University, to make sure I have my facts straight. The rest of it comes from my own knowledge of mythology, an exposure to Waldorf education, and that great source of all knowledge, Google.

7. When did you write your first book and how old were you?

Ans. =>
Other than childish attempts? Dragons and Dreams took form during my early 40s when my children were little. I didn’t start publishing until 2013, however.

8. What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Ans. => I read. I go on reading spurts, prompted by all sorts of things. I read biographies of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr after my daughter, who is a technical theatre major, introduced me to the musical Hamilton. I read books on ancient (pre-Greek) mythology while a future story, The Boy Who Loved The Moon started taking place. I still haven’t written that one down yet, because it’s going to be very challenging to write, and I want to get it right. What started out as a main character, an 8^th century Welsh bard, is now the villain.

But I read a lot for simple relaxation. I’m a fan of regency-ish romances, no matter how bad the research in them is, because usually the author has a good story to tell anyway, and it’s an era where I find the stock characters comforting to read. I read science fiction, and when I feel my writing style has become stale, I read Lois McMaster Bujold,’s fantasy series. I like her Vorkosigan series, as well, but her fantasy tends to be exquisite.

9. How many books have you written? Which is your favourite?

Ans. => I have 7 books: four collections of fairy tales, and 3 stories that stand alone. I have 8 books, if you count Child of Promise, which is also the last story in Dragons and Dreams. The non-collection books are Heart of Rock, Bridge of Seven Stones, and The Snarls. All of those were written for my children as they grew up, but I think have universal things to say to any child.

I have to admit, Dragons and Dreams is a sentimental favourite, being the ones I told my children over and over again.

10. What's next for you? What are you working on now?

Ans. =>

There’s The Boy Who Loved the Moon, which I’m still researching and working out the general plot overview. I’ve got several fairy tales, such as my own take on the Tam Linn story, that are sketched out, but on the back burner for now.

What I’m spending most of my time on, however, is Sirens’ Song. It’s a tough book to describe, because it’s still taking shape, but it’s a parable that deals with death and life. I ran a draft of it past a child psychologist, who says that it’s appropriate for 4^th and 5^th graders, so it’s one of my stories that’s aimed at older children.

And my daughter has been nagging me to write more stories about The Grumpy Dragon, so maybe after Sirens’ Song is finished, I’ll start working on that one. 

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Interview with Author Patrick M Cunningham

1. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

Ans. ->

I never realised I wanted to be a writer until I saw a movie called ‘Salem’s Lot when I was just eight years old and it got me hooked on the horror genre and the writing of Stephen King. I used to read a lot as a kid and Stephen’s books were an inspiration, but along with that I was also reading Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigator books which were a lot of fun to read. It was early one evening when I was around Ten years old that a switch got turned on and all these stories started going through my mind so I put pen to paper and began writing about these four characters that would eventually become the Awesome four. I would just lose myself for hours in my own little fantasy world just letting my imagination run wild. Sometimes I could start writing at six ‘O clock in the evening and get so lost in the stories that the hours seemed like minutes and when I’d finally stop and look at the clock on the kitchen wall it would be One ‘O clock in the morning. So that’s how it all began for me.

2. How long does it take you to write this book?
   

Ans. ->
It depends on how I feel. The thing about writing is some days you absolutely love it and the words just flow easily onto the page and there are times when you just absolutely hate it, when the words just don’t come too easily and the dreaded writers block kicks in, but having said that the first book of the Awesome four series took me just over Eight weeks to write where I was writing everyday and loving every minute of it, but then the second book took me almost a year due to health issues and now the third and final book is coming together nicely now just doing a few minutes every day. Then you have the Darkness of the Soul trilogy my series of dark poetry, those books were written in three days flat, one book a day which amazed even me. I woke up one morning and had these strange poems going through my mind and so I wrote them down I liked what I’d written and so I published them. So the writing process is like a roller coaster ride, one minute your word count is up the next it’s down so it’s very difficult to say how long it could take to complete a book it’s just an unpredictable process.

3. What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

Ans. ->
When I’m in full on writing mode, things can get a bit hectic. I can be a bit of a grouch when it comes to getting a story written. When I’m writing and the words a flowing the last thing I need is to be interrupted unless it’s a genuine emergency because once the flow is lost it can very difficult to get back into that mind frame. Before I begin writing I always make sure to have as many of my chores completed before hand just to free up the time. I’m what’s know as a seat of the pants writer, which means that I don’t plan or outline any of my stories I just start writing and let my imagination go where it wants to go and that’s the way I have always wrote, and it’s also an adventure for me because I don’t even know where my imagination will lead so I’m just along for the ride.

4. What brought you to write this book series?

Ans. ->
I originally planned to write just one book and that was it but when the first one was completed I had enough stories to do a second and now here I am going onto my third and I promised myself that this is the final of the Awesome Four adventures and I’m going to send them out in a blaze of glory. As I already said, when I re-discovered those stories and read them, they all just seemed to go together fairly well so when I got my first ever computer, I typed them up had them edited by Ms. Eliza Knight who is a very successful author herself, and she said that I was onto something good here and that helped bolster my confidence, when you get positive feedback from someone who has already made the break it really does help. So that’s why I wrote a second book of adventures.

5. How did you become a published author? Any inspiration?

Ans. ->

6. Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?

Ans. ->

All the stories in the Awesome Four books are inspired by people I encountered and places that gave me the creeps over the years. I’ll give you two examples: First there is a farm house not too far away from where I grew up and the place used to give me the chills. At night when the lights were on it reminded me of the house from the Amityville Horror and there was always an eerie mist around the place to make it even spookier. I always remember looking at it one night as my Dad drove by and wondered What if this house had a sinister past? What if there was something evil lurking inside?  I went home and wrote a story called the terror at devil’s mansion completely inspired by that old farm house. The second example is another story, well three stories with the same villainous character named Harry Gordon the chainsaw madman. Years ago when my friends and I used to hangout, we used to do so in a forest just down the road from where we lived. Well there were Lumberjack’s there cutting down trees making way for a new picnic area and a roadway etc. One day, my friends and I were walking along and laughing when this huge man comes lumbering towards us, I mean he was over six feet tall and built like Arnold Schwarzenegger carrying a chainsaw over his shoulder, he had a big white scar on his left cheek, he was quite menacing as we walked by each other he looked at us from the corner of his eye and kept moving. I watched him walking into the distance and my imagination fired up. What if this guy went crazy and started killing people with the chainsaw? Now it might sound like the Chainsaw Massacre but it’s nothing like it. As soon as I arrived home I began writing and came with the character of Harry Gordon. That’s the thing about writing, inspiration can come to you at any time in any place and thanks to Evernote I never have to worry about forgetting an idea.

7. When did you write your first book and how old were you?

Ans. ->

I began writing at the age of ten and by the time I was Seventeen I had amassed an incredible amount of stories almost seven hundred to be exact. They were all written long hand and of course as the years went by pages went missing or the stories were misplaced altogether. I lost interest in writing altogether at this point as my social life became quite hectic, hanging with friends, girl friends to meet up with etc. So the stories went into the attic and lay there gathering dust for years until I found them again and began reading over them. It actually put a smile on my face because some of them were just plain terrible, but the ones that I liked I kept and just re-wrote them. You see they were written by a teenager for teenagers so I wanted that to reflect in my writing, simple stories with straight forward language nothing fancy but it worked. So after re-writing the stories, I decided to get them published but first I needed a title for the book, and the Devil and the Awesome four was one that came to mind straight away so I ran with the idea, and the stories that I had to re-write became parts one and two. I think I was Thirty years old when I re-wrote the tales and around Thirty five when I published them. And here I am at Forty two finishing what I started all those years ago so it goes to show it’s never too late to start or finish something you feel passionate about.

8. What do you like to do when you're not writing?
   

Ans. ->  
I love reading and do so nearly every day, I read books on just about anything from marketing, to writing and self defense. I have practiced martial arts for years, 29 to be exact and I still keep up my training whenever I can though being part of a club does not appeal to me anymore, I continue to train at home and practice the skills I have learned just to keep active. I love watching documentaries especially crime and investigation or the history channel as I find both those TV channels quite inspiring when it comes to getting ideas for my writing.

9. How many books have you written? Which is your favourite?

Ans. ->

I have written seven books including dark poetry, but the Awesome four series are definitely my favourites because they’re fiction and it gives my imagination time to run wild coming up with stories and scenarios for these four characters that I created all those years ago.

10. What's next for you? What are you working on now?

Ans. ->

 I am currently working the last book in the Awesome Four series and I am hoping to have it finished and ready to publish in late October. A Halloween launch would be very cool if I can manage it but in the world of writing plans can go awry but a definite book due in October editing and re-writes permitting. After this series is completed I plan to write a full length novel which will be a change from the short story structure I have used for the Awesome four series. I have already started the new book and pretty much have it outlined it’s kind of like my version of JAWS, one of my all time favourite movies so I thought what the Hell why not write about your own killer from the deep and I really look forward to writing it.

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