What time is it? Time for another author interview! Please welcome sci-fi author Ronel van Tonder! And if you stick around for the Rafflecopter at the end, a $50 Amazon giftcard might be in your future.

Hello, Ronel!

Tell us about your book. 

It’s a dystopian science-fiction novel set in the not-too distant future. It takes place in South Africa, approximately the Johannesburg/Pretoria area. Sunny savannah, highveld. A hint of lions.

After a solar storm knocks out the world’s power grid, martial/military law takes over. Friendly SUN Corporation builds a few domes, shoves as many people in there as they can, and leave the rest to their fate. The people in the domes flourish with the absence of money and the influx of technology, while the people outside scrape an existence under a harsh military dictatorship.

It follows the story of two women from separate halves of this new world as they become inextricably tangled in a web of conspiracies and deceit.

But despite how I make it sound, it’s a really harrowing, roller-coaster kind of book. Continue reading →

It’s been a while, but it’s author interview time! Joining us today is Nathaniel Danes, author of The Last Hero. Welcome, Nathaniel!

Tell us about your book.

It’s a space opera/military sci-fi novel that takes place a couple hundred years in the future, not long after first contact with a race of pacifists conveniences mankind to disarm. After Earth’s first colony is destroyed by a third race humanity starts a crash remobilization, forcing my main character out of an uneventful, though, fulfilling civilian life.

The book is far more than just about the struggle of war. In addition to a healthy dose of combat, the book has a strong emotional core surrounding the main character’s detachment from his daughter because of the time effects of near the speed of light travel.

What’s the book’s opening line? Why did you start there?

It starts off with Trent Maxwell, the last Medal of Honor recipient, performing a boring task at work before slipping off into a day dream of when he was a war hero. He’s content with his family life but misses the thrill of combat and the glory his brought him.

I began there to start setting up the reader for the internal struggle Trent battles with throughout the book. His warrior’s soul desperately wants to get in the fight, but his father’s heart pushes back.  Continue reading →

It’s author interview time! Meet Samie Sands, author of the new zombie novel, Lockdown.

Welcome, Samie!

Tell us about your book.

Lockdown is based around a young news researcher, Leah, whose zombie video practical joke spirals out of her control. Suddenly everyone seems convinced that a deadly virus is spreading like wildfire and the only way to stop it is to quarantine everyone inside their own homes.

Her protests are largely ignored, which is a good thing because it turns out to be more real than anyone could have imagined. The plot then follows Leah as she learns to deal with this new horror filled environment.

What’s the book’s opening line? Why did you start there?

“Ok, it’s official. I’m dead. I’m actually going to be killed.”

I wanted the opening line to be full of dread, but the reader is completely unaware what’s going on at this point. Obviously there is an expectation considering it’s a zombie book, but it leads to something quite different. Continue reading →

Stopping by today, we have YA author Jacinda Buchmann! Welcome, Jacinda!

Tell us about your book.

Indigo Incite, my debut novel and Book #1 in the Indigo Trilogy, is a YA sci-fi romance. The story follows multiple viewpoints of several characters who all possess extra-sensory powers. While they are thrown together in an adventure of a lifetime and on the run from a covert government agency, they discover true friendship and unexpected love.

Why did you want to write a YA book?

I love to read YA books, so I wanted to write something that I would want to pick up and read. My grandmother introduced me to the concept of Indigo Children almost six years ago before my third child was born. She knew that I had always wanted to be a writer and suggested that the concept of Indigo Children, as a basis for a story, would be fascinating for the young adult audience. I mulled the idea around for a while, and then one day, while I was sitting at my desk at work eating lunch, the entire concept for the Indigo Trilogy hit me. I frantically began to scribble the idea down on a piece of scrap paper and by the time my lunch break was over, I had a rough outline of the story and characters. Continue reading →

Paranormal fantasy author Caitlin Hensley is releasing a new book right now. Might be a good time to learn about it, right? And be sure to enter the Rafflecopter at the end of the interview for a chance to win the first book in her series, Paranormal Legacy.

Welcome, Caitlin.

Tell us about your newest book, please.

Beast Within is the third book in The Inhuman Chronicles. It deals with a series of visions that the main character, Haily, has been seeing for weeks, ever since the last book ended. And while worrying about the meaning of her visions, Haily must work together with her friends to stop a bloodthirsty dragon from destroying the world.

Yes, more people should endeavor to thwart bloodthirsty dragons. World would be a better place. How did you come up with this idea?

To be honest, it’s been in my head for as long as l can remember. I first wrote the book when I was a tween, and I’ve been rewriting it for years, up until the present day. And now it’s finally ready to be read. Continue reading →

Please welcome fiction author Pete Wurdock for today’s interview. He’s here to discuss his short story collection, Bending Water and Stories Nearby.

Welcome, Pete!

Tell us about your book, please. 

My new book is titled Bending Water and Stories Nearby. It is a Northern Michigan short story collection.

Do you have a favorite story in this collection? Which one and why?

I am a little partial to a story called “Buckshot.” It takes place sometime in the 1970’s and tells the story of two hunters (brothers) who find themselves far off the beaten path while hunting in the UP. One of them accidentally shoots himself and while the other is able to summon help on the CB radio, his greatest challenge is keeping his brother alive until help comes. In true to life fashion, their whole life flashes in front of them quickly during their conversation which leads up to the final moments before help arrives. But does it arrive on time? Continue reading →

Please welcome fiction author T.M. Opperman, here to discuss her debut novel, writing, and other fun stuff. Welcome, TM!

Tell us about your book, please.

My debut novel, By Any Other Name, is a novel about a woman’s journey from religious closed-mindedness to a place of forgiveness and love. Set in a small town in the Rocky Mountains, my book explores the inevitable fall from grace that anyone trying to live a “salvation-by-works” life will encounter.

What appealed to you about writing faith-based fiction?

Honestly, I didn’t set out to write a faith based novel. I started with two characters and let their story unfold. Too often people are cruel to one another in the name of religion and I wanted to talk about that. I have begun a spiritual journey of my own, this book being the catalyst really. I knew that one of my minor characters used alternative spiritual practices such as meditation and yoga to express her devotion to God and from doing my “book research” I have adopted a more alternative approach to my own spirituality. Continue reading →

 Meet Drew Avera, author of the dystopian science-fiction novella Reich. Welcome, Drew!

Tell us about your latest book, please.

In the 158 years after Hitler’s death (AH158), Germany has become the utopian state that he had originally envisioned. The Aryan Dynasty has conquered the free world at the cost of billions of lives. Hitler has become the patriarch of a new religious fervor, one that even he did not see coming. The wastelands that surround Germany are the only threat awaiting the German citizens. That is at least what everyone is taught. This is a story of how misplaced power can lead to tyranny, but it could be Germany that falls victim to a new Reich.

How did you come up with this idea?

My novella Reich is a story about revolution. I wondered what it would be like to have two opposing sides and neither one of them be the ‘good guy’. I developed the story the way most writers do; I asked “What if?” In this case, what if World War 2 ended differently? It kind of snowballed from there. Continue reading →

If your name is Romeo, clearly you’re destined to write romance. Romeo Matshaba joins us for today’s “Get to Know…” Welcome, Romeo!

Okay, first of all, you write romance and your name is Romeo? Is this a pen name, or did you just feel obligated to do something romantic?

Indeed, well after countless encounters with people who referenced my name in conjunction with romance, the line between passion and obligation became somewhat fuzzy. Besides imagine someone named Romeo who wrote a horror book: that would make a stubborn cat to laugh out loud.

You should write horror just to mess with people’s minds. Tell us about your book, please.

“The Romantic Dreamer” is, I believe, the first of its kind. It combines various facets of literature into one epic romantic novel. It is primarily about the very last romantic in his journey to find the one who we live to find; to find his true source of happiness.  Continue reading →

“Get to Know…” has returned! And to re-kick things off, let’s chat with an author I already knew from real life! Real life? Yes, there is such a thing.

Meet Dana Fitzwater Cornell. She recently released her debut historical novel, My Mother’s Ring, and since we used to work at a newspaper together, I can genuinely assure you she’s an excellent writer.

Welcome, Dana!

Tell us about your book, please.

“My Mother’s Ring” is a novel detailing one man’s life before, during, and after the Holocaust.

Why did you want to write about the Holocaust?

I’ve always been interested in this time period because my great aunt’s family spent time in concentration and labor camps, including Auschwitz, because they were Jewish sympathizers (living in Poland). Also, I wanted to write a book that was deep, powerful, and educational – one that changes people’s perspective of their own life and teaches them about an important time in history. It’s a tribute to the millions of victims who were never able to tell their stories. Continue reading →