​Today I'm interviewing Christy Mann, author of Fogoyle, some seriously scary stories. Here's a bit about her in her own words. 

I’m Christy. I’m old enough to know better about most things but still young enough to do them anyway. I’m single as well, so I actually get to do them. I have 3 adult children, and I’m from Phoenix, Arizona originally. I currently reside in West Monroe, Louisiana with my daughter, her girlfriend, 2 dogs, 3 cats, a guinea pig, and about 20 fish.

I spend my days clickety-clacking on a keyboard, writing full-time. When I’m not writing, I spend my time meeting people and getting to know what they are about, working on my Life On Your Terms project, and hanging out with my family and friends. 

​DR: Coffee or tea?
CM: Coffee, and lot’s of it! 

DR: Darts or billiards?
CM: Billiards.

DR: Cake or pie?
CM: Cake.

DR: What is your favorite song and why?
CM: The Sound of Silence – Disturbed cover because it speaks volumes about how I feel as a writer and my life in general. 

​DR: Where'd you get the idea for your stories?
CM: Journals, fears ,and phobias of my own and other people’s, mental illness.
 
DR: What genres do you like best?
CM: Horror, psychological thriller, sci-fi, erotica, urban fantasy.

DR: Where can we find your books on the Internet? 
CM: On my website. I'm also on Patreon, Facebook, and Twitter.

Don't forget to have a look at Christy's books on Amazon by clicking on the cover of Death of a Secret below!

Today, I'm interviewing Richard H. Stephens. He's from Canada and is the author of the Fantasy Series The Soul Forge Saga. Here's a bit about him in his own words.

I began writing circa 1974, a bored child looking for something to do. ​As my reading horizons broadened, so did my writing. 

A trip to a local bookstore saw the proprietor introduce me to Stephen R. Donaldson and Terry Brooks. My writing life was forever changed.

I worked in a warehouse for 22 years, supporting my family, before I reattended school to complete my education. Graduating with honours, I joined our local Police Service.
In 2017, I resigned from the Police Service to pursue writing full-time. With the support of my family, I have finally realized my boyhood dream. 

He's even got book trailers! Check this one out: ​​

DR: How did you decide to write in your genre? 
RS: I began writing Hardy Boys type stories when I was 9. In ’77, Star Wars came out, inspiring me to write a 600-page sci-fi. In my 17th year, I had recently finished reading The Sword of Shannara, by Terry Brooks, and Lord Foul’s Bane, by Stephen R. Donaldson, and was listening to the heavy metal song, Run to the Hills, by Iron Maiden. A switch flipped inside my head and I sat down to write the opening scene of, The River Styx. As time went by, The River Styx sat on a shelf until a few years ago. Transposing the original text into my computer, the story underwent several name changes as I worked on completing the manuscript. In early 2016, The River Styx became Soul Forge, and the saga was born.

​DR:  ​What does a typical writing day look like for you?
RS: I’m usually in my home office before 8 am checking social media, researching writing engagements, engaging fans, and looking into different ways to market my books. This typically requires a couple hours. I then open up my WIP and edit everything I wrote the day before which generally consists of 2,000 to 3,500 words. This takes me until lunchtime. After eating and taking a walk with my better half, I spend a few minutes remaining current on social media before I sink my teeth into my story. I frequently come up for air to recharge my thinking process, but I keep writing until suppertime. After supper, I may go for another walk, or jump back into writing if I have nothing else going on. I follow this routine Monday to Friday. On the weekends I may or may not write, but I endeavour to edit Friday’s writing session before Monday morning in order to be more productive.

​DR: What do you do when you're stuck on a scene?
RS: There are many days writing doesn’t come easily. Some scenes, though necessary to carry the story forward, are tough to write. On those days I force myself to write one word, and then the next word, and then the next word until the struggle eases and I slip back into the groove. Sometimes that take 100’s or words but that’s how I handle what many writers refer to a writer’s block. Just write something. If it’s crap, who cares? That’s what editing is all about. That’s where you can polish it, rewrite it, or cut it out and move on, but if you don’t write it, nothing else matters.

DR: ​Where can we find your books? Which one should a new reader start with?
RS: My books are listed on Amazon and are in the Kindle Unlimited program. Hardcover editions are listed with Lulu. I use a local printer for my paperback stock on hand that I take to Cons and other writing events. I also offer signed copies through the following link.

With regard to which book a new reader should start with, I would recommend Soul Forge, the first book in the Soul Forge Saga. I released two stand alone prequels almost a year before Soul Forge, namely: Of Trolls and Evil Things and The Royal Tournament. That being said, the prequels are loosely written accounts. I wrote them to help me better understand my characters. They weren’t meant to be published, but I realized that self publishing was going to be a huge learning curve, so I decided to learn to dos and don’ts with the prequels, hopefully ensuring a smooth transition for when Soul Forge released in August of 2018. To better appreciate vague references in the Soul Forge Saga, by reading Of Trolls and Evil Things, the final words of Into the Madness, the third book in the trilogy, will resonate with the reader.

I'm so glad I had the chance to introduce Richard to you. Click here to follow him on Facebook and visit his website right here.

I'm here today interviewing another author writing some romantic speculative fiction. Here's a bit about her.

​Just a laid-back chick with eccentric tastes who loves writing, reading, graphic design, music, horror flicks, and unusual things. Melony lives in South Carolina with her wonderful husband and their lazy cat Gyzmo.  She writes science fiction romance and paranormal fantasy that’s dark, steamy, and a little bit snarky. 

DP: How did you decide to write in your genre?
MP: I’m a big fan of urban fantasy, and when I began writing seriously, I knew that was the genre for me, but that wasn’t the genre I first published in. My first novel, Broken, was actually science fiction romance. After many years of not writing, I woke up one day after a strange dream that felt like I might need to write down. Two days of thinking about that dream and putting all the pieces into something I could outline led to me finally fulfilling my lifelong dream of publishing a novel.

DP: What's the easiest or hardest thing about writing for you?
MP: The hardest thing about writing for me is sticking to a routine. I’m not very good at getting my words in every day. Usually, I write sporadically and in big chunks of time. This year I am trying to keep to a schedule.

DP: Tell us about something in real life that inspired a character, setting, or plot in one of your books.
MP: My sci-fi romance series, Discordant Earth, reflects a lot of the current state of our society, but with aliens. I didn’t intend for it to be that way, but that’s just how inspiration happens sometimes. My paranormal fantasy series, Vamp Tales, is inspired by all my favorite paranormal and urban fantasy books. I like to have fun with this series, and name many of my characters after family and friends. I enjoy creating a world where anything can happen.

DP: What do you do when you're stuck on a scene?
MP: When I get stuck, I refer to my outline, take a break, or go back and re-read what I have written so far. Usually, if I’m stuck, it’s because a scene got away from me and I need to reorient myself with where I initially wanted the story to go.

DP: What does a typical writing day look like for you?
MP: When I write, I need zero distractions. I put my headphones on, turn on a rain storm video on Youtube for white noise, and shut the world out to write until I’m too tired to think straight. It’s exhausting, hence the goal of establishing a routine. It’s an ongoing process.

DP: Is there a common theme or element in your work?
MP: I like to write intelligent women who grow with the story. I have one main character who is a bit naïve in the beginning, and another who is a lot like me, introverted with issues that reflect her not so pleasant past. Throughout both series, these women come out of their shells to view their worlds with open eyes and assert themselves in ways they never would have imagined.

DP: Where can we find your books? Which one should a new reader start with?
MP: All of my books are available at Amazon, and most can be found in Kindle Unlimited as well. Vamp Tales should be started with book one, Along for the Ride.  This is a short story series with six books available in season one. Season two will be coming in the second half of 2019.
Discordant Earth should be started with Broken, then Unchained, but there are two freebie prequels, The Interview and New Enemies, that can be read anytime. Book three in the Discordant Earth series will be releasing at the end of January. For updates and new release notifications, readers can sign up for my newsletter at MelonyParadise.com

​Today we have an interview with Deborah Wilde! Here's a bit about her:

A global wanderer, hopeless romantic, and total cynic with a broken edit button, Deborah writes urban fantasy to satisfy her love of smexy romances and tales of chicks who kick ass. This award-winning author is all about the happily-ever-after, with a huge dose of hilarity along the way. 

Deborah writes the Nava Katz series, starting with The Unlikeable Demon Hunter. Naturally, I asked her a whole bunch of questions. Here's what she has to say.

DR: How did you decide to write in your genre? 
DW: I write funny, sexy, urban fantasy which combines my love of magic, action-adventure, and romcom. Before becoming a novelist, I was a screenwriter for 12 years and I was fortunate enough to write for everything from demon hunting shows to takes on the Guinevere story in modern day times. I love putting magic and monsters in the everyday world, especially when I can reflect what the monsters represent in the turmoil and growth issues faced by my characters.

DR: Tell us about something in real life that inspired a character, setting, or plot in one of your books. 
DW: I’m currently finishing up my first UF series, The Unlikeable Demon Hunter. At the time, I’d been reading a lot of articles about how female characters had to be “likeable” and thinking a lot about the double standard that even fictional women face when it comes to owning their sexuality. I wanted to write a complex, messy, “real” woman, who may not have been “likeable” according to some outdated archetype, but was definitely sympathetic and relatable. Things fell into place from there.

DR: What do you do when you’re stuck on a scene? 
DW: Ha! I’m the worst person to ask this question to because my honest answer is “panic!” I am completely unable to write scenes out of order so if I’m stuck, that’s it, I’m not going any further. To be fair, there are degrees of stuck. Most of the time, I just need to walk away and either talk it through with someone or watch or read something else. It’s amazing how often a different form of storytelling with completely unrelated content sparks the answer to my scene. 
However, there are those times when I’m just blank. That’s when I stare at my screen, my panic mounting, and my headphones with my playlist of choice on, until my brain snaps under the pressure and something comes to me. From there I can generally spitball ideas until I find the one that works. But yeah, panic is a great motivator. :P

DR: Is there a common theme or element in your work? 
DW: I’m very interested in people who have sidelined themselves for some reason. So instead of being the hero of their own life when the story begins, they’re barely a supporting player. Then they get magic and go from a position of being powerless to having an extreme power. The interesting question for me becomes how they are going to use that power to find balance and ultimately happiness in their lives?
​
DR: Is there a sub-genre in Sci-Fi or Fantasy that you don’t like? Why? 
DW: Short answer: nope. I love the depth of world-building that the various sub-genres allow for, not to mention how each one, whether its space opera or high fantasy provides a unique lens into the exploration of social, political, cultural, and gender issues facing us here in the real world.

DR: Where can we find your books? Which one should a new reader start with? 
DW: My books are exclusive to Amazon and also available in Kindle Unlimited. The series should be read in order so start with The Unlikeable Demon Hunter. It’s a six-book series, and the final book is up for pre-order right now. There will also be a standalone adventure from the POV of the best friend coming out next year.

You can find Deborah Wilde's website here. You can get her first book, The Unlikeable Demon Hunter, here.

​Check back next week to discover another awesome author.