AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

SHANNON McROBERTS

I’d like to thank  Shannon for stopping by and sitting down with us for a few minutes.  

. Can you tell us a little about yourself?  I am a 6 foot tall goddess with magical powers to kill immortals.  Oh wait.  Sorry.  That isn’t me!  That’s my main character, Athine.  Shannon is just a regular old mother and wife with a day job.  I enjoy MMORPGs, card games, comic books, playing with my daughter, and making fantasy art.   

. Who or what inspires you?  A lot of things inspire me.  Mostly fantasy and sci-fi art or video games.  Comic books were always big with me too!   

. Who’s you favorite author?  Anne Rice

. Do you have a favorite time or place to write?  Anywhere I can and whenever I can.  I have a day job and a 5 year old.  If I can write a few words somewhere on any given day that is pretty awesome LOL.  

. Do you have a favorite food or drink while you write?  No, I actually don’t like to eat while writing if I can help it.  I do like to listen to music!

.What do you do to relax?  R-E-L-A-X...I’ve never heard of that word.  I have no idea how to answer this question.  I always seem to be working at my day job or on my books!

. As writers, we all have to deal with writer’s block, what do you do when that happens?  Make fantasy art, veg out in front of the TV, and read great books!  

. If you could ask one question of any writer, who would it be and what would you ask?  You know I don’t know if there is any one question I would really ask any one writer in particular.  Maybe I would ask a favorite author of mine to read my book :)    

Now that we’ve got the easy stuff out of the way, let’s talk about your book.

. Would you like to share something from you latest project with us?  My latest project is Cursed Bloods, a continuation of Verses of Athine:  The Daughter of Ares Chronicles and also a few side stories for “background” books on characters.  I don’t have anything that is excerpt ready yet, but you can see some ideas on my books and character concept art at www.myepiclore.com :)

. What genre is it?  I write mythological fantasy for adults.  Pretty much it touches on all kinds of stuff from paranormal, to sci-fi, to fantasy.  I primarily say my books are in the fantasy genre.  Or if Xena met Buffy and they fell into the Lord of the Rings…..  

. Where do you draw your artistic inspiration from?  Usually from fantasy art and comics/video games.  Magic cards.  Random strange dreams.  Remote historical facts.  I have a very vivid imagination!   

. Of all your characters, who is your favorite?  Athine, she is the main character in my Daughter of Ares Chronicles.  I think she is the one that is most like me, but really I love all my characters.  I try not to kill too many of them.  No “Red Wedding” for this author!     

. What authors have had the strongest influence on you as a writer.  I’m not really sure that anyone has had an influence on me in the sense of writing.  For the longest time if you were not Anne Rice, I didn’t know who you were and I didn’t care.  It wasn’t until I got a reading app on my phone and then a table that I really began to expand what I read.  By that time, I had already written all of my books!  I believe that is somewhat better b/c I worry about outside influences so much.  When I was writing the second book in the DOAC, I refused to watch Percy Jackson.  I owned it on DVD for a whole year before I sat down to watch it just to make sure I didn’t get influenced by the movie.  I read a lot of books and watch a lot of movies/tv, but no one author has influenced my writing style per say.  I try to do my own thing.   Now, poetry wise, that is a different story.  I was immediately attracted to Emily Dickinson.  I learned about her not long after I started writing my own deep, dark poetry.  I loved her poems and wanted to write more than she did.  I don’t know if I have met that goal or not, but I definitely have the dark poetry down!

. Do you use an outline or do you let the story emerge as it goes along.  It depends.  Cursed Bloods required me to do a lot of research from my currently published books about what I previously wrote.  I had to do a big outline to make sure there were no inaccuracies or problems with the thinking.  I am one of those readers that hates to find loop holes or problems that are not easily explained.  I don’t want to look like I forgot what I said in the other books!  My working title “Miranda’s Tale”, is more of a mish mosh that I started in Scrivener.  I always start with an idea and how I am going to connect it all together.  Usually it’s a flurry of notebook pages, phone notes, and computer writing!  

. Are you traditionally or self-published?  I’m independently published.  I prefer that term to anything else.  

. What made you pick that route?  I am a control freak.  Seriously.  I had no intent of shopping any of my works around.  It just didn’t interest me.  My works.  My rules.  :)

. What has been your biggest challenge?  Finding time to write!   Also, learning how to market properly.  It’s a little draining at times.   

. What has been your greatest reward?  Finding fans that really GET my story.  Selling books is cool, but also seeing people check it out at the library is awesome!

. If you had one professional wish, what would it be?  That I could devote the time I needed to my books and marketing and could support my family off those proceeds.  If I could ditch the day job I would have a LOT more time to write ROFL. Unfortunately, mortgage holders want cash and not ebooks for that pesky house payment!  

That wasn’t so bad was it?  But before we go, do you have any last words of wisdom to offer those reading this?  Even the smallest light can illuminate the darkness and bring hope to others.  

You can find  Shannon at www.shannonmcroberts.com, www.theobsidianpoet.com,  and www.myepiclore.com (twitter, facebook, pintrest buttons, etc are readily available at those sites!)

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

POET JOHN GARTH RAUBENHEIMER

I'd like to take a moment thank John Garth Raubenheimer for taking time to talk with us about his writing.

Q Can you tell us a little about yourself?

A I'm a South African poet a long way from home – I live in Settle, Yorkshire... I've just self- published this book, The Voyage From Me To You: A Life In Poetry.

Q That's a beautiful shell on the cover. I've never seen anything quite like it.

A It's an Argonaut shell, also known as as a Paper Nautilus, very very rare. An octopus lays her eggs in it. I suffer from schizophrenia and this shell was at the start, the centre, of what turned out to be a fantastic delusion of grandeur.

Q Can you tell us about that?

A It might be best if you read my poem, The Beauty And Comedy Of Madness. It's in the book.

Q I know you've struggled with mental illness. You've made no secret about it and some people will know you give readings on behalf of a charity, SANE. Do you want to say something about what might be close to your heart.

A Perhaps let's keep it till later.

Q You've said that you're a poet by default. That you wanted to write novels.

A Yes, I did. And I did try to write one. I showed the great bog it turned into to a writer friend. He said I was trying to do something even an experienced creative author would balk at. Far too ambitious.

Q Who's your favourite author?

A Patrick O'Brian. I picked up the whole set of his Master And Commander series, set in the Napoleonic era, when the British Navy ruled the seas Wonderful, wonderful stories, full of wisdom – particularly about the relations between men and women - and humour and the need for courage, physical and moral.

Q What else inspires you?

A Small town life. I work Saturday mornings in a charity shop. Everyone and everything passes through here.

Q Do you write every day?

A I hardly write at all. When I do write It's usually because something has upset me. I write to regain my balance. But that's only if prayer isn't enough. There's enough poetry in the world.

Q You're joking, right?

A I'm not a regular writer. Jesus Christ fills me with joy and self-forgetfulness and purpose.

Q And yet, here's this book.

A Sadly yes.

Q I have to record, John Garth Raubenheimer is smiling... John... do you have any advice for other writers or poets, particularly for young writers, just starting off.

A The hardest thing we have to deal with - as potentially devastatingly good writers - is our own perception of how far we are from what we would like to be writing. And there's just no antidote to that perpetual disappointment. No one can hurt our feelings more than we do ourselves.

The only way forward is to write. To write. To write. And to read. To read. To READ what others have written. In the hope that we'll eventually start speaking with our own spare, natural tongue.

Q Writer's block?

A Years have gone by, when I couldn't write. When I just had to suffer the silence, the frustration. But I felt like a writer. No matter what else I was doing. Only a writer can have writer's block.

Q We're getting near the end of this interview and I feel we've hardly touched the mainspring of what motivates you.

A LIFE motivates me. I was there when my son was born. I took him in my arms and said, “Little John”. That shocked me. Something primal had invaded me. I saw black people being carted off in police vans in South Africa, only their fingers visible twined round iron bars. I never forgot that. It got into a poem. I went mad and suffered all the consequences. I lived and wrote myself out of that deep dark well. I did it for myself and for others. I started off life as an unbeliever, an atheist. I became a willing Christian. It's all a big mystery to me. I know less and less. A little bit of self-understanding. That's what I've achieved. And I have this smart little book of poems.

Q If you could ask one question of any writer, who would it be and what would you ask?

A I'd ask Joyce Cary to sign my copy of The Horse's Mouth, his wonderful novel about incorrigible artist Gulley Jimson.

Q Now that we've got the easy stuff out of the way, let's talk about your book.

A Yes, thanks. It contains all the poems from the last forty-odd years that I want to share. I've arranged them in life event order. So they tell the story of a boy born, a breech birth, just after the Bomb was dropped, who grew up under apartheid, a privileged white person, travelled, spent time down and out in Europe, married, divorced, participated in our country becoming a democracy, married again. Came to live in England with his British wife. Alone now, but among friends since she passed away.

.

The central theme, though very little is said, is my experience of schizophrenia. Mental illness has dominated my life and my work for SANE, reading to others from this book in aid of mental health, is what I count most special in the life I am trying to live for God's glory.

Your readers can look my SANE website up and make donations to SANE via this link http://www.justgiving.com/John-Raubenheimer They can order my book from me at settlejohn60@gmail.com I'm hoping to set up a website for The Voyage From Me To You: A Life In Poetry... Might sell it through eBay too soon

Q Thank you John. It's been a pleasure talking to you.

A Thank you, so much.frt8ud

ARTIST/AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT:

REBBEKAH WHITE

Meet Rebbekah White! Many of you may not know her because she hides behind her wizard geek glasses, but she is the genius who does all of the websites for Master Koda Select Publishing ( http://www.masterkodaselectpublishing.com)  and heads up our graphics team. 

  

Rebbekah has been around the internet for eleven years. When she first came online she didn’t even know how to send an attachment in emails – yeah I know, it’s hard to believe because now she is seriously one amazing webmaster and virtual assistant. You can find out more about all the wonderful stuff she does here at this link. ( http://www.advantagemarketingforyou.com) 

  

Just to tease you a bit I will tell you this lady can customize and design wordpress websites, create marketing strategies for product launches, set up newsletters and format books all while dancing an Irish jig on a pool table. Her nifty graphics win awards, and her work ethic is beyond reproach. Does it sound like I love this woman? Yeah, well that’s because I do! Oh and if that’s not enough, she is a radio personality and owns Heal Yourself Talk Radio. ( http://www.healyourselftalk.com) 

  

She started the radio show about 9 years ago as a way to heal her own body, mind and spirit when she was hit with several life altering events that happened one right after the other. 

  

Here is what Rebbekah has to say about her journey of the last decade: “Over the years I have grown in many ways both professionally and personally. I met Kim Mutch Emerson a few years ago, while networking on a popular website called Ryze. Over the years we have worked together on many projects. Last year Kim and I were talking and we both wanted to be able to help authors realize their dreams and become published. Yet we didn’t want our company to be a company without a heart. Both Kim and I love giving, and we love helping. Yet we both had different talents. We are a perfect fit! Kim loves to engage in people and be the mother hen. Kim’s talents in the marketing arena far outweigh mine as far as party planning, and making what seems to be so boring and hard, exciting and fun! I love being creative. I love doing graphics and bringing an author’s vision for their book cover to life. A cover they can be proud of. I also love helping those same authors learn how to brand their websites, and how to take over their websites with confidence.” 

  

So there you have it – the quiet (yet marvelous) half of the small publisher with the big heart (Master Koda Select Publishing, LLC) and owner of Advantage Marketing For You, Rebbekah White. 

  

As a special gift for all my readers, Rebbekah has offered to give you a special ebook! 365 Social Media Tips. It’s filled with ideas and easy ways to market yourself in a fun and exciting way. Easy to follow! Just go to http://advantagemarketingforyou.com/gifts/365-social-media-tips/

  

Once you grab your 365 Social Media Tips eBook, be sure to go to the page and sign up for the Advantage Marketing For You Newsletter where you will receive MORE FREE Gifts, to include a video that will walk you through how to use Pinterest in your business! http://www.advantagemarketingforyou.com/newsletter

 

Testimonial from Marni Spencer Devlin on the work Rebbekah White did for her author website: 

Bekah makes it possible – it’s as simple as that. Before Bekah I had all these ideas about how to grow my business but no way to apply them. I kissed a lot of frogs before I found my Bekah. 

Now I just dream it up and sometimes seconds later I can view it on my site. She knows everything about everything, and there’s something she doesn’t know immediately she learns it and can apply it be the next day. 

She is the most responsive VA I have ever worked with. Even if she is buried under other work she responds immediately and let’s me know why she cannot do it right now and when she can do it. Then she completes it ahead of her own schedule. 

I often ask myself – is this heaven? No – it’s Bekah! 

Marni Spencer-Devlin 

#1 Bestselling Author & Mentor

www.marnispencerdevlin.com

Testimonial from Nadia Kilrick and the Cover created by Rebbekah White for her book Escape: Rough Hewn Book II 

ESCAPE-FINAL

Rebbekah White created the cover for my latest novel, ( Escape (Rough Hewn II). Without reading the book, and with very few words from me about the story, she interpreted it as if she’d written Escape herself. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the reaction from readers. They love the cover, and agree that it captures the evil of the nefarious Jim. [Nadia Kilrick] 

  

More about Rebbekah White: 

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Rebbekah White of Advantage Marketing for You prides herself at staying on the cutting edge of technology and marketing that works in today’s fast changing world. Some of her specialties include podcasting, audio and video marketing, customized WordPress websites, compelling graphics for eBook covers, social media integration, mobile website integration and applications. 

She continually tests and studies new techniques in order to propel her clients to a greater level of success on the internet. 

Rebbekah takes great pride in every project she undertakes and knows what works! She will never suggest a product or marketing technique that she has not used with success herself. 

Let Rebbekah White help you make your dreams come true today! Visit her website at http://www.advantagemarketingforyou.com or come chat with her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/advantagemarketingforyou or follow her on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/rebbekahwhite