Carlos Middlebrooks Author Interview The Selfish Shellfish follows a shellfish with a bad attitude who chases off all his friends with his refusal to share. What was the inspiration for your story? I was inspired to write this story for my daughter Haylie to help teach her lessons of life in a fun constructive way. What were some educational aspects that were important for you to include in this children’s book? I wanted to include talking about friendship, bullying, dealing with bullying, and after a heartfelt apology forgiveness. The art in this book really brings the story to life. What was ..read more

Nancy Chadwick Author Interview The Wisdom of the Willow follows the lives of four sisters and their parents, who explore the direction of their lives and how their experiences all flow together. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story? The most outstanding response I received from my first book, Under the Birch Tree, a Memoir of Discovering Connections and Finding Home was that my story was relatable. I took these reader responses and used theme as a premise for writing The Wisdom of the Willow. Developing the characters using alternating first-person POVs who faced relatable lif ..read more

Alan Brenham Author Interview In No More Lies, a lawyer becomes the prime suspect in a crime she didn’t commit when her husband goes missing on a trip to Washington, DC. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story? The inspiration for this story came from a case I represented in court in which the husband went missing. The police found the husband dead and arrested the wife. What experience in your life has had the biggest impact on your writing? The one experience which had the biggest impact on my writing was the arrest of two police officers for false accounts of a felony-level cri ..read more

Shari Lane Author Interview Two Over Easy All Day Long follows the president of a toy company who is found guilty of negligence and sentenced to a year working for minimum wage in a remote diner in Oregon. What inspired the setup of your story? My personal history had a significant influence on the story. I practiced bankruptcy law for a year, and employment law for sixteen years, including a stint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries enforcing civil rights laws in the workplace; I was on the board of a Head Start organization serving primarily the children of migrant and seasonal ..read more

Richard Rieman Author Interview The Day the Clouds Went Away follows a bold and independent young princess with low vision who commands the clouds to disappear, only to face unintended consequences, leading her to learn an important lesson about the value of clouds and rain. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story? I founded a Nonprofit, Imagination Storybooks, to make illustrated books more accessible to all children, including those who are blind or low vision. My books include rich descriptions of the pictures in audio and video formats. There are very few books with blind main ..read more

Hamant Singh Author Interview CHAOS: Remnants of Ruptured Reflections is a collection of poetry that offers readers a reflective exploration of the omnipresent tug-of-war between order and chaos. What was the inspiration for this collection of poetry? Fundamentally, Chaos (and Chaosophy) was the inspiration for this collection. It began the creative process and this collection is in some ways a bit of a sequel to my first release The Sibyl. My debut collection had a slightly extended investigation of chaos amongst other topics but this collection is more succinct. I also intended to create cha ..read more

Peggy Joque Williams Author Interview Courting the Sun follows a sixteen-year-old village girl who is invited to attend the royal court of King Louis XIV and become the attendant of his mistress, empowering her into the inner circle of the court. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story? The inspiration for Courting the Sun came from genealogy research I was doing into my own family ancestry and a group of young women referred to as Les Filles du Roi, or Daughters of the King. They were not true daughters, but were recruited by King Louis XIV to travel to New France (Canada) and ma ..read more

Raven West Author Interview Vashti’s Daughter follows a 29-year-old book publisher who discovers a mysterious manuscript; she must find a way to break an ancient curse put on her and fulfill a vow she made centuries ago, before her 30th birthday in the present. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story? This will sound quite strange, but the inspiration for Vashti’s Daughter originated from a very unique relationship I was involved in with a former high school classmate several years ago. It was so intense, I felt as if we had known each other in a previous life. When I ended it, he ..read more

Alyssa Charpentier Author Interview A Maiden’s Wish: A Novella follows two sisters who are offered a glimpse of a better life from a powerful shaman. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story? Initially, I aimed to tell a much shorter morality tale about two friends: a vain and misguided young woman and her humbler companion who are both offered a wish-making proposition by a supernatural entity. The entity promises fame and fortune to the one but warns that this fate will be achingly empty. In contrast, to the other woman, it promises an eternally rewarding life laden with hardship ..read more

Along Came Spider: The Making of a Superhero is a children’s graphic novel that delivers a heartwarming message of inner courage. The story centers around Spider Monroe, a student at the local elementary school, and his best friend, Lacey Daniels, who has been blind from birth. Their close bond is tested when they encounter two relentless bullies, Chuck and Elroy, who wreak havoc on the school, terrorizing students and disrupting charity events. With the teachers unaware of the chaos, Spider must summon his inner hero to protect Lacey and their friends. Despite the title’s potential to be mi ..read more