Please join me in welcoming Linda Frank, a resident of San Francisco, avid reader and author of After the Auction.

1. What inspired you to write your first book?  My novel, After the Auction, originated from a story my mother told me about a man she met during World War II. Someone like him is a character in the book, but the plot evolved from the mysterious silences I got when trying to research him for a nonfiction article or biography. 

2. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?  I hope the book informs readers about the historical context of the plot. As for message, it’s a story that ultimately tests whether a righteous end justifies less than righteous means.         

3. How much of the book is realistic?  The history encompasses realistic Holocaust experiences, including Nazi art looting, which remains a timely topic even now, 67 years after the end of World War II. References to illegal smuggling of arms and displaced persons to Palestine before Israel’s War of Independence are also a matter of record. A scholar on art looting has told me that the processes and difficulties I describe are very realistic.

4. What book are you reading now?  I’m in the midst of three books right now (this drives my husband crazy). One is a huge biography of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (the British Royal Family is sort of a hobby), one is a biography of Iris Origo, and I started The List, a historical novel by journalist Martin Fletcher, on my Kindle on a trip the other day.

 5. Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?  I recently read Restoration by Olaf Olaffson, who’s not a new author but new to me. It’s a novel based on a character something like Iris Origo. Olaffson is a top executive at Time Warner, which makes me wonder how he finds the time to write, especially since I’m not working full-time anymore and can’t seem to crank books out as regularly.

6. What are your current projects?  I am currently working on a sequel novel featuring many of the same characters and set mostly in Shanghai, China. I’m also working on a nonfiction book about affinities among Jews and Chinese told through family stories, including mine.

7. Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members. I worked with a developmental editor, Alan Rinzler, who is a veteran in the publishing business. I found Alan after a draft or two, and he helped me shape the story and characters, sometimes by eliminating whole sections, scenes and people. It was an intense (and not cheap) process, but invaluable.

 8. Do you have any advice for other writers?  Two things:  First, just do it!! Write it, and, if you experience rejection and/or long delays from the “conventional” publishing world of agents and editors, forget it and get your work out there.  Second, eBooks are a phenomenon not to be ignored!

For more information about Linda, or to purchase her book, go to http://www.lindafrankbooks.com/

Today, I’d like to welcome Tim Turner, author of Questions – Directions to Who You Are.

Where are you from?   Born and raised in North Dakota – Currently living in sunny San Diego.

What’s your latest news?  My book was #1 – Won the National Indie Excellence Award, 2011, for Inspirational Book of The Year.

When did you start writing?  When I was eight – the reason – had to let my feelings out and put them down on paper.

Is there a message in my book?  Yes!  Live your life according to You!  Get your priorities and values in the proper order and have a great day – everyday!!

What are your current projects?  Just completed a new dust cover and an audio book is in production.

 What was the hardest part of writing your book?  Not the writing for me – the inaccessibility of the book publishers, agents and distribution company’s as it relates to helping self published writers.  There’s the old way and the new way – neither seems to have much time for self published writers.

Self published writers need to band together – to get some power.  I’m working on that.

What was the most surprising thing you learned from creating your book?   I’m surprised by the number of people who really do need direction to find who they are and why.  The world seems to be changing so rapidly – most people say that they’re just fine with all the changes, but when you really get down to it – they’re really not – and are looking for a way to put the simple things back into some part of each day.

To find out more about Tim, read reviews or order the book go here.

Authors are constantly told they need a blog.  Setting one up is fairly easy, but then comes the paralyzing thought — what should I write about?  The first step is to decide what you want the focus to be (e.g. your writing journey, author interviews, book reviews, etc. ).  You don’t have to stick to this theme, but it will help you get started.   

The most popular blogs are how-tos or opinions or reactions to things the author has read or heard about.  For a writer it might be about an author event you attended or an article you read in Publishers Weekly.  Pick things that will make your readers think — better yet, ask them what they think.  Be honest with your writing and write about things that really interest you.  Post links to other pages that support or contradict your opinions.  Get involved in networks; LinkedIn has a variety of  groups to choose from.  

Remember, blogging is a commitment.  You can’t just drop in once in a while.  Create a regular schedule, one that’s realistic considering your time constraints.  It pays to plan ahead.  Keep a list of ideas or better yet, some draft posts ready to go for those times you can’t think of anything interesting to say.

Blogging is not only important in creating your platform, it’s an excellent way to make connections and learn from other people.  And we all know how important networking is.  Happy blogging!

How do you choose the best format?  Researching the various options can be very time consuming.  Luckily, Social Media Chimps has done the work for you.  Check out their comparison of the three most popular eBook formats, EPUB, PDF and Kindle.  You may be surprised at the outcome.

I’m pleased to introduce Nancy Curteman, author of three novels and two children’s musicals.  He latest book, Murder Down Under, is available now as an ebook and the print book will be released by Solstice Publishing shortly.

1.         Where are you from?

I’m a transplant from the beautiful state of Idaho and have lived most of my life on the majestic Pacific coast. After graduating from San Francisco State University with a major in history, I studied at the University of Nice in France and have a Masters in French Literature and in School Administration. I have had a career as school principal and taught college French. I currently live in California.

2.         Tell us your latest news? 

I’m excited to announce that Solstice Publishing has just released my third novel, Murder Down Under, set in Australia. The ebook is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The print version will be released soon.

3.         When and why did you begin writing?

I first started writing in seventh grade at St. Mary’s Cathedral School under the tutelage of Sister Delores Marie who told me I had talent. I believed her and have been writing ever since. I began writing my first mystery novel about fifteen years ago. I had so much fun creating my characters that I decided to write a series of mysteries that included some of those characters. The other thing that figures in my writing is travel. I love to travel and I love to read mysteries so I now set my mystery novels in the places I’ve visited.

4.         When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I believed I could be a writer at a young age when I received praise from my parents and friends for my efforts. I became more confident in my skills when I started writing nonfiction pieces as a young adult. I didn’t consider myself a real writer until I published my first novel.

5.         What inspired you to write your first book? 

That’s a good question. Inspiration can come from the strangest places. I decided to write my first mystery novel during my tenure as a school principal. A school environment consists of parents, kids, teachers, and district office personnel. All I had to do was observe the idiosyncrasies and intrigues that abound in a school environment, pick a couple of them, expand and embellish them then wrap a story around them. That’s how I came up with my first novel, Lethal Lesson.

6.       Can you share a little of your current work with us?

I’m writing a mystery novel set in South Africa. The story takes place in both Cape Town and a nearby Township I call Ikhaya. The novel continues the Lysis Weston mystery series and includes three of my best-loved characters from previous novels. The plot, while it revolves around a murder, allows me to share elements of South African Township life and Xhosa tribal culture.

7.       Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

I learned several things writing my first book. I learned that I enjoy rewriting as much as writing and that the real polishing of the novel occurs during rewriting. I discovered it’s true that your characters can sometimes influence the outcome of your novel. For example, in two of my novels I had decided who would commit the murder only to have my characters point me to a different villain with a different motive. I guess one of the most important things I learned is that you must be very careful about reviewing final proofs sent by a publisher. I’ve found several proofing errors that had to be corrected before the book went to press.

8.       Do you have any advice for other writers? 

Be patient. Agents and publishers receive thousands of query letters a year. Most agents will get to yours, but it may take more than six months.  Don’t feel rejected by rejections. There are hundreds of reasons your novel may be rejected. Realize that most of those reasons have little to do with the quality of your story.  Be persistent. If you are writing because you hope to be published one day, don’t give up. Keep sending queries out on a regular basis. I set a standard of sending out 5 queries every week. Send your queries to agents and small independent publishers. Mary Higgins Clark, the queen of mystery, was rejected 40 times before she was finally accepted for publication. These days writers should also consider self-publishing. Why not follow in the footsteps of authors like John Grisham and Tom Peters who self-published their first books.

9.       How many books/stories have you written?

I’ve published three novels and two children’s musicals. One of my musicals, A Musical Salute to America was presented on KQED Public Television. I’ve written several plays for school productions.

10.       Do you have any suggestions to help others become a better writer?

I have lots of practical suggestions for perfecting writing skills. In fact, I have a blog that is largely dedicated to strategies for improving writing. I address development of main and supporting characters, plot, voice, theme, editing, writing query letters and synopses, marketing—I could go on but it would be best for your readers to visit Global Mysteries.

Nancy’s ebook is available at Solstice Publishing, Smashwords, and Amazon.

Please join me in welcoming Karen Wyle, a sci-fi author with lots of excellent advice for writers.

1.         Where are you from? 

I was born a Connecticut Yankee, and moved to California when I was eight years old. (Three years later, we visited the mountains and I clambered up the first snowy slope, wild with nostalgia. I’d forgotten that snow was cold. My hands got cold very quickly….)

After bouncing back and forth between the east and west coasts for years, I landed in the Midwest and became a Hoosier (Indiana resident).

2.         When did you first consider yourself a writer? 

From early childhood, I considered myself a writer. At age eight, I had a poem (not a very good one) published in the local paper. At ten years old, it was my ambition to be the youngest published author ever, and I was somewhat crestfallen to learn that a nine-year-old girl had claimed that honor.

 3.         What inspired you to write your first book? 

I’ll answer this about two different books, as my first actual novel was written at age ten and will (I hope) never see the light of day. I wrote that book as a labor of love for my fifth grade teacher, churning out two penciled pages a day — each two pages a separate chapter — for 100 days.

 As for my more recent “first” novel, Twin-Bred: I read an article online about interactions between twins in utero — synchronized movement, touching, even kissing. Either this article or a comment on the article mentioned the long-term effect of losing a twin in utero. As an avid science fiction reader, I tend to see the sci-fi potential in any event or discovery.  I imagined a scientist seeking to overcome the comprehension gap between two intelligent species by way of the bond between twins. It would be natural for the scientist who conceived this idea to be a twin; it would be intriguing if she were a twin survivor, and if she had somehow kept her lost twin alive as a companion, who could be a character in the story.

 On a deeper level, I have always been fascinated by communication issues and the struggle to understand what is different.

 4.         Do you have a specific writing style? 

 My authorial “voice” is the product of many years of reading both literary and genre fiction. It is no doubt also influenced, although I hope not fatally tainted, by many years of writing appellate briefs.

I tend to emphasize dialogue and internal monologue more than description of people or places, although I’m trying to become less lopsided in this area.

5.         How much of the book is realistic? 

Mara’s situation vis-à-vis Levi is based on what I’ve read about lost twin syndrome and twin survivors — although I don’t have any specific information about a twin survivor maintaining a twin construct well into adulthood as Mara does. The depiction of government bureaucracy is, in my possibly jaundiced view, pretty realistic. The comprehension gap between human and Tofa is extrapolated from how different human cultures have misunderstood each other. The (vaguely described) genetic tinkering necessary for the Twin-Bred’s gestation seems plausible to me, given reasonable advances in biogenetics. As for the Tofa themselves — the jury’s still out on the likelihood and prevalence of intelligent life in the rest of the galaxy. If in fact we have plenty of company, I don’t think it’d be a huge surprise to find the Tofa out there somewhere.

6.       What book are you reading now? 

When I started answering these questions, I was reading Ursula K. LeGuin’s Cheek by Jowl — accurately described in its subtitle, “talks and essays on how and why fantasy matters.” As I finish, I’m reading The Quotable Hitchens, edited by Windsor Mann.

7.       If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

I would include a bit more description of the planet Tofarn and its various towns and cities. (As an indie author whose books are available primarily online, I could make this or other changes in a new edition — but I doubt I will.)

8.       Who designed the covers? 

My wildly creative elder daughter, Livali Wyle, an art student at Savannah College of Art and Design, helped me design the cover and did the cover art.

9.       Do you have any advice for other writers? 

Warning: long answer ahead. . . . The following are mostly suggestions that I have found in various books/essays/blog posts about the process of writing fiction, and then verified by experience.

• Read, read, read.  Read fiction, biography, history — whatever interests you.  Read authors whose voice appeals to you.
•  Don’t let anyone tell you whether you’re meant to be, or whether you are, a writer.  Even well-meaning folks may be poor critics, and not everyone who makes pronouncements on your potential will be well-meaning.
•  Keep pen and paper, or some other means of taking notes, with you at all times.  Don’t assume you’ll remember your great idea five minutes from now — write it down immediately!  Get or jury-rig a lighted note pad for your bedside table. (A clip-on book light attached to a cheap note pad will work.) If you get ideas in the shower, mutter them over and over to yourself until you reach dry land.
• Become compulsive about multiple backups of your idea notes, works in progress, rough drafts, subsequent drafts, etc.  Use “the cloud” (Web-based storage), e.g., Dropbox or Evernote. (I use Dropbox. Once it’s running on your computer, it will back up a document stored in your Dropbox folder every time you save. But check periodically to make sure it’s still running!) Email attachments to yourself (and then check whether your email host is periodically deleting them).  Put files on a separate hard drive and on flash drives.
• This one is YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary). That said, I and many other authors find it essential to keep the inner editor gagged and stuffed in a closet when we’re working on a rough draft.  Don’t be afraid to leave blanks or bracketed notes as you go.  (My second-to-latest rough draft had one that read “[insert appropriate South American country here].”)   National Novel Writing Month (www.nanowrimo.org), in which participants aim to write a novel of at least 50,000 words within the month of November, is a great way to accomplish this.  There’ll be time enough later for lots and lots of rewriting.
• A related point: find the process that works for you. Some authors outline in detail. Others find too specific an outline stifling, and work from less organized notes of possible scenes, or with no notes at all. Some have a fixed time of day for writing, and allow nothing to disrupt it; others flit back and forth all day between writing and other tasks. Some use computers; some still write longhand, and a few swear by typerwriters.
•  Think seriously about self-publishing.  There’s a wealth of info and support out there for indie authors.  Conversely, this is a risky time to sign a contract with an agent or publisher.  Because of the uncertain and fast-changing conditions in the publishing industry, many agents and publishers are inserting “rights grabs” and other clauses in their contracts that could cripple an author’s career.  Some of the worst language may be  hidden in unexpected places like “warranty” clauses. If you do sign with an agent or publisher, try to find a way to pay a good IP attorney to go through the contract with a microscope.  Don’t let the allure of “having an agent” or “being published” lead you to grab at an offer of representation or publication without vetting it thoroughly.

 10.       What has been the most surprising thing you learned from creating your books?

Probably the way a story occasionally decides to write itself! This can happen in various ways: a character reacts in an unexpected way to a situation I set up, or a detail I considered unimportant added color turns out to play a key role in the plot. My experience tends to confirm Stephen King’s observation that being a novelist is much like uncovering a fossil. I would add that, like a paleontologist, an author may have some difficulty figuring out how the various pieces are supposed to fit together. . . .

Twin Bred is available at:  Amazon (Kindle edition): http://amzn.to/u2OtVP    Amazon (paperback): http://www.amazon.com/Twin-Bred-Karen-Wyle/dp/1463578911/ref=tmm_pap_title_0   Barnes & Noble (paperback): http://bit.ly/xsyzwL

Find out more about Karen at www.KarenAWyle.net

My good friend, fellow author, and one of the first female motorcycle racers in the world, Birgit Soyka, has taken the next step in book promotion.  No simple book trailer for her.  Take a look at her innovative music video.  Hopefully, it will inspire you to read her fabulous memoir, To Drink the Wild Air.   Click on the book cover on the left for a link to read the reviews and to purchase it to Amazon. 

If you’re an author or business owner, Pinterest is a new way to help establish your brand.  The concept is fairly simple.  The site is a collection of boards, like virtual bulletin boards where you pin pictures and videos.   Once you sign up (there’s a waiting period now), you set up as many boards as you like which you name and add to your page.  They can be anything within Pinterest’s regulations and can describe your brand, your book, your message, your business.   For instance, I have a board entitled “My Writing Journey,” to support my book and another called “Fashion Over Fifty,” that relates to a regular column I write for the Clayton Pioneer.   

Where to start?  Once you get an account, poke around on the site and follow people in your business or with your hobby to see what they’re posting about.  You can also clink on the “popular” link to get ideas.  Think about what your audience would like to see.  You can create a how-to board or if you have a speaking event or book signing planned, you could put up a board in advance to market the event.

I’m new to Pinterest and am just learning about all the options.  But what I know is this is not just another social networking site.  It’s growth has been extraordinary and big brands such as Macy’s and Real Simple are onboard (excuse the pun!)  So this site seems to have staying power. 

I am pleased to welcome fellow She Writes author and blogger Jessica Vealitzek to my author spotlight.

1.         Where are you from? Arlington Heights, Illinois

2.         Tell us your latest news? I’m currently editing a final draft of my first novel, Straight Through. I also started a blog in February called True STORIES www.jessicavealitzek.com, which has been really fun to write. It gives me a break from the tediousness of editing.

3.         When and why did you begin writing? According to my parents, I wrote my first story (“The Easter Bunny”) to draw attention away from my brother, who had written a fantastic poem that everyone was raving about. The bug bit me and I haven’t stopped since. Luckily, I enjoy it for more than the attention now.

4.         What inspired you to write your first book? Having children made me realize that my “someday” plan was now.

5.         How did you come up with your title? At one point, one of my character says, “There’s no way around it. We’ll have to go straight through.” When I typed that sentence, I thought, “Huh. That pretty much sums up the whole thing.” The characters are just trying to weather some hard experiences, to find their way. And there’s no other way but head on.

6.         Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? The only way to live and live happily is to be true to yourself, and to welcome others into your life.   

7.       Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members. She Writes! It’s a fantastic site and the members, both newbies and established writers, are wonderfully supportive.

8.       Do you see writing as a career? I do, and I didn’t always. I’ve wanted to write a novel since I knew what a novel was, but I put it off and found writing jobs that paid me for hours worked. I’m finally giving myself permission to sit in a room and write for no money.

9.       What was the hardest part of writing your book? Organization. I wrote whatever parts I felt like writing on a given day, and revised as I went along. It was hard to then go back and organize for clarity and consistency.     

10.       Do you have any advice for other writers? Follow your instincts. Often, the first way I write a line is the best way. I was taught to write, cross out, and rewrite. Then repeat 10 times. That doesn’t always work for me. If I try too hard, it doesn’t sound right and honest.

Thanks, Jessica, and good luck with the book!

Please join me in welcoming Regina Swint, a member of the U.S. Armed Forces, a publisher and the author of The Other Side of 30.

1.         When did you first consider yourself a writer?
In the spring of my freshman year in college, I took my first creative writing course.  Many of my classmates had written and published books, won contests, been to conferences and workshops, and knew so many technical things about the craft, I felt clumsy and amateurish, but I knew that I loved writing, and the course title, “Creative Writing,” was all it took for me to be hooked.  After a critiquing session, when reading over my notes, I read a classmate’s comments.  “You’re the best writer in this class.”  She said that she enjoyed my voice and my sense of humor.  That small vote of confidence was like my first validation from a reader who wasn’t a close friend or family member.  That was all it took for me to see that writing loves me back.  Sometimes.

2.         How did you come up with the title?
Throughout my 20s, I was regularly indecently propositioned by married men, all of whose invitations I declined.  In my late 20s, one man called me uppity and picky for turning down his advances.  He said that I wouldn’t look good forever, and that I should realize how scarce men are; that the older I got, the scarcer men would be, so I might as well get off my high horse.  When I declined him again, his response were something like, “See how high and mighty you are on the other side of thirty.”

I wrote The Other Side of 30 in an attempt to consider the perspective of a woman who actually bought that load of hooey, and I built scenarios around what might happen as a result of some of her choices that were motivated by that line of thinking.

3.         Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
The Other Side of 30 is a story of one woman’s life inside of the glass house.  The message is that anyone can cross the line to the other side of right for any number of reasons, even when you ought to know better.  I tried to write the story from a perspective that I haven’t lived, and to write without judgement of a behavior of which many of us readily disapprove.  I attempted to make the main character, while behaving badly, as sympathetic and relatable as possible, hoping to provoke readers to thought without judgment.

4.       Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
In an attempt to make the characters credible, I based several of them on real people, real personalities, and some of the story on a few actual locations and events, but more than 95% of it comes straight out of my imagination.

5.       What are your current projects?
In addition to preparing for a 2nd Edition release of The Other Side of 30, my latest project is a collaborative effort of several writers and artists, which I hope to release this fall, under my own small publishing house, New Renaissance Ink, LLC.  It will be called Up from Here, and 100% of its proceeds will be donated to a Washington, DC-based organization, Teaching for Change (www.teachingforchange.org).

 I’m also working on an idea for a short work tentatively titled Monsters Under the Bed, which will share some of my experiences from my deployment to Afghanistan.  My plan is for ninety percent of the proceeds from this project to also go to charity, though I’m not sure which one  yet.  It may evolve into a work of fiction, depending on how many creative liberties I need to take.  Monsters Under the Bed will require a lot of extra care because I want to be sure to do justice to the story I’m trying to tell and the people who may be a part of it. 

I’m also working with two new writers, Stephanie Duke Miller and Michael Makins, on books that I hope to publish next spring.  My plan for these projects is to pay the authors 40% of the proceeds in royalties, donate 40% to selected charities, and take 20% to reinvest back into the publishing house and its expenses.

6.       Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
My fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Shawn Fish, was/is instrumental in developing and nurturing my creativity, staying motivated, and trying to make a positive impact on the lives of others through my writing.

7.       If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
I would have not continued to make changes AFTER my book had been edited.  I would also have taken less advice from family and friends about the book cover.  It probably would have made the designer’s job a little easier, and I would have had a cover that matched my initial concept.

8.       Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
I became interested in writing because of my uncle Harvey, who was a tremendous talent.  He wrote poems, and he made simple words tell the best stories.  His words moved people, and I wanted to do that.  After I retire from the Army in a few years, I may pursue writing and publishing as a full-time career.

9.       Do you have any advice for other writers?
Read as much as you can.  Reading helps develop better writing skills.  Remember that there’s a difference between taking your writing seriously and taking yourself too seriously.  Respect the craft completely, but be willing to laugh at yourself sometimes, especially in the face of criticism.  EVERYBODY needs editing.  If anyone ever tells you that you don’t need any editing, thank them for the compliment; but then get a professional editor.  Editors are a great investment.

10.       Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Thank you for reading.  Ninety percent of the proceeds from the sale of The Other Side of 30 is donated in equal parts to The Army Wounded Warrior Program, The Wounded Warrior Project, and The Armed Forces Retirement Home (formerly Old Soldier’s Home and U.S. Soldier’s and Airmen’s Home).

For more information, go to www.ryswint.com