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Q1. Hello Ma’am, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.

I love to write but haven’t always been a writer. In the past, I’ve had some pretty wacky jobs like lampshade maker, cigarette girl, and vocalist. I’ve also done some wacky things. I once spent a week in a Swiss castle with the Hugh Jackman of Cuba. I’ve climbed inside the Great Pyramid in Egypt. I’ve written and produced feature films. And I’ve been arrested for possession of a prohibited substance.
Most importantly though, I’m fascinated by myriad topics and like to use both beautiful words and broken characters to explore the human condition as well as to challenge the status quo on some of society’s most widely held perceptions.
I teach creative writing at higher education institutions in Melbourne. However, this year I’ll be launching my own online creative writing trainings called Your Writing Mentor, so watch out for that!

Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘This Is Not A Lie’ book?

I really only had one challenge and that was time. I was juggling writing with work, study, and running a household, so it took me a long time to finish the book—around five years. Sometimes I’d get up early and write for an hour or so before work, then I’d try and write some after work.
When I was studying, I wasn’t able to write much at all. During those years, most of my time was spent writing academic content. However, I tried to write something every day even if it was just one line or one small paragraph. I figured writing something was better that writing nothing.
Hopefully, it won’t take me as long to write the next one!

Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?

Oh, goodness, this is a tough question. However, I’d have to say that Emily Bronte, Mary Shelly, Franz Kafka, William Burroughs, Toni Morrison, Tim Winton, Helen Garner, and Thomas Keneally have probably influenced me the most. These writers are amongst my favourites.

Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?

The beach. Any beach. Whether it’s the beach around the bay where I live, or somewhere else along Australia’s massive coastline. I love the water.

Q5. Is there lots to do before you drive in and start writing a book?

It’s really easy to lose focus or direction when you’re working on a manuscript that’s over eighty-thousand words. However, I’m a planner so I like spending time drafting an outline that will keep me focused as I worked. However, I also enjoy working organically and a lot of This is Not a Lie’s threads developed organically. The challenge is integrating those threads into the outline. It takes a bit of juggling, but it can be done!
The other thing I spend a lot of time on is research. Even though a significant part of This is Not a Lie is inspired by real people and events, I still had to do quite a bit of research. Most times I was able to find the answers I was looking for but when I couldn’t I had to get a little creative in order to fill the gaps.
Right now, I’m in the very early stages of a new book and it’s about the research. Good research really is the key to creating authentic characters and settings.

Q6. How long did it take you to write ‘Open Wounds’ book?

Open Wounds is a collection of short stories that I’ve written over the last twenty years. There’s no real thread or common theme to the collection other than the stories are all about characters who are desperately lost or damaged.
The first edition was published by Dixi Books in 2019. It’s my fondest hope that at some point in the future there will be a new edition that features several new stories.

Q7. On what all platforms readers can find your books to buy?

As far as I know it’s currently available from Amazon UK, IT, and IN. It will be available in the US and Australia around April, I think. However, it’s also available to order from Book Depository, Waterstones, and a few other places. A quick search in your Internet browser will help you to find it.

Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the cover and the title of your books?

The title was fairly easy because it comes from a line in the book that is significant to the main character. However, the process of coming up with a cover image was a little more challenging. The publisher had their graphic designer come up with a few ideas but none of them truly captured the essence of the book.
In the end, I sent the publisher an image that I had as an example and that’s the one they chose to use for the final version.

Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?

Oh, that’s a great question. I like to experiment with structure, from the small stuff like sentence structure all the way up to the big stuff like the structure of the plot. For example, This is Not a Lie is about a rock band, so I wanted the text to be rhythmic like a song. The main characters life is also fractured, so I wanted the chapter lengths to be uneven and fractured as well. I wanted them to mirror his internal struggle.
I’ll most likely take a similar approach with my next novel.

Q10. Are there any secrets from the book (that aren’t in the blurb), you can share with your readers?

Hmm… I can’t think of any secrets per se as the blurb really says it all. However, if you read carefully you might pick up on some of the symbology that’s embedded in the text.

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Book Are Available On Amazon

This Is Not A Lie

Open Wounds

Book: Edward The Egg: Coloring Tales Of Adventure

Q1. Hello Ma’am, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.

Hello everyone. My name is Julia Fagundus and I am the author of Edward the Egg, Coloring Tales of Adventure. (Bilingual English-Spanish version also available). I am a North Carolina native who loves enjoying both the mountains, river, and beach whenever I get time away from teaching at our local community college or attending soccer, baseball or golf events with my three kids.

Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘Edward The Egg: Coloring Tales Of Adventure’ book?

The main challenge were the many years between telling Edward the Egg stories to my kids and actually writing the stories down on paper. Jogging my memory back to all the details of each story took some time. The tales in the book were first told to my oldest son when he was four. He’s now 17. I wish I had written them all down as I told them, I have so many I couldn’t possibly remember them all.

Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?

My love for reading started later in life. It wasn’t until my 30s that I really started to enjoy sitting down with a book. One children’s book that influenced, or I would say confirmed to me that it was ok to include a drawing that you could color as my illustrations, would be Shel Silverstein’s books. My educational background in technical writing influenced the format and writing style I chose for the book.

Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?

My very favourite place to visit is the river right by my hometown. Wonderful memories of my family swimming, boating, tubing, wakeboarding flood my mind. It’s a place we all go and get away from the cares of the world for a couple hours and get to enjoy the breeze and sunshine on the water. The family time, that’s hard to find sometimes these days, makes it pretty special too.

Q5. Is there lots to do before you drive in and start writing a book?

When you are self-publishing I would say yes. I did SO MUCH research. I spent several hours watching videos to make sure I didn’t miss any steps I needed to take in order to successfully self-publish (and I’m still hoping I didn’t miss any!). Writing the first draft of the book ended up being one of the easiest steps. It was a little challenging but I eventually learned, through lots of googling and videos, how to: start my own publishing company, apply for copyright, write a copyright page, get ISBN’s, design and create my own cover, learn correct formatting to successfully upload my book to different platforms, and the list goes on.

Q6. How long did it take you to write ‘Edward The Egg: Coloring Tales Of Adventure’ book?

Writing the first draft of the book took around one month. However, the entire process starting from typing the first story, to the day it went live on Amazon and Barnes and Noble was two and a half years. It took around one month to write the first draft of the book which contains five short stories. The editing process along with the other items listed above in question 5 attributed to the overall length of the process along with only being able to work on the book part-time.

Q7. On what platforms can readers find ‘Edward The Egg: Coloring Tales Of Adventure’ book to buy?

My author website, RoyalKIND.org; Amazon; Barnes and Noble; Itunes; Walmart

Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘Edward The Egg: Coloring Tales Of Adventure’?

My illustrator, Madi Mirra, is one of my daughter’s best friends. She spent many nights at my house and heard many Edward the Egg stories. When I told her I was going to put the stories in a book she asked if she could illustrate them. She illustrated the pictures inside the book and the title artwork. I took the title artwork along with the Edward the Egg graphic and used cover software to create the background they would be on. When I saw the window with the sky and clouds background option I knew it was perfect. The stories had always been bedtime stories for my kids. I wanted the cover to look like Edward was climbing out his bedroom window to go on an adventure, hoping that kids as they read the stories would feel that they were going on an adventure too.

Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?

Writing Edward the Egg sparked the creation of RoyalKIND, my publishing company. I had no idea that once I chose the name RoyalKIND, an even bigger vision would be birthed. RoyalKIND became not only a publishing company, but a lifestyle brand as well.
In order to keep things “fresh” I wanted RoyalKIND books to go beyond the book. This lead to an Instagram page where readers can connect (@royalkind.edwardtheegg) with coloring contests along with encouragement for readers to write and share their own stories. Just like in the Edward the Egg stories, we can tape people up too! I wanted RoyalKIND to inspire others to encourage those around them.
RoyalKIND.org was created to help make this happen. I knew I needed a website to help spread the message that we are all RoyalKIND: chosen, loved, approved and powerfully equipped to positively change our world in an instant. Merchandise and stickers can be purchased at RoyalKIND.org to help spread the message! I am also working on a contest to post soon at @royalkind.take.the.time to win a RoyalKIND sweatshirt and stickers. My goal is for everyone to know they are Royal. I believe once when you know you are RoyalKIND you will be inspired to “Take the Time” to share the message.

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Book Is Available On Amazon

Edward The Egg: Coloring Tales Of Adventure

Book: Points Of Origin

Q1. Hello Sir, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.

My name is E. S. Fein. I think of myself predominantly as a psychonaut and perpetual student of reality, but most people know me as a writer and academic consultant. I graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Creative Writing. While bartending and working numerous odd jobs after graduating, my partner and I decided to travel to South Korea to teach English for a year. After operating a business for multiple years in Korea while teaching at a private school, we backpacked for a year across more than 150 cities throughout Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Since returning to the US, I have authored a full length novel called Points of Origin, along with a collection of short stories called The Process is Love. I am now hard at work trying my best to stop putting off the completion of my second novel. I am also putting the finishing touches on a short story that will complete my second collection of short stories, which will be entitled Ascendescension. You can check out several of my short stories in writing and audio for free at OfficialESFein.com.

Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘Points Of Origin’ book?

The single biggest challenge was convincing myself that completing a novel was even possible for me. I have written many short stories, some of them bordering on novela length, but a novel always seemed so daunting, sometimes even impossible. This feeling of it being impossible continued throughout the writing process, even when I was near the end. It was very much like climbing and summiting a mountain. It was all a mental game, but I suppose most everything is!

Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?

I currently read multiple books per week and have read over 1000 full length novels and thousands of stories over the past decade, so there are too many to recount in full. I will just name some that come to my mind first in this moment:
● Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke
● The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Leguin
● Anything by Philip K. Dick
● Eon by Greg Bear
● Diaspora by Greg Egan
● Anything by Stephen Baxter
● Anything by Ted Chiang
● House of Suns, by Alastair Reynolds
● City, by Clifford D. Cimak
● Solaris, by Stanislaw Lem
I’ll stop there!

Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?

Anywhere with an abundance of nature. Cities terrify me. Getting lost in the wilderness is a relaxing cake walk for me relative to even a short visit to a big city. I’ve travelled all over the world and lived outside my country for many years, but one thing appears to never change; no matter where I go, I really don’t like cities!

Q5. Is there lots to do before you drive in and start writing a book?

Before I dive in, I have to lay down or go for a walk and let the story play out in my head like it’s a movie–usually I see my stories as anime in my head. I never get the whole movie planned out in one go, but that’s part of the fun. For all of my stories, when I start writing, I don’t know exactly where my characters or plot will end up. At the onset of writing, I have only the vaguest sense of the story’s total terrain, so the details, even some of the major ones, are a delightful surprise for me too!

Q6. How long did it take you to write ‘Points Of Origin’ book?

It took me just under 2 years to write the book, and just over a year to go through the full editing process. So, from inception to publishing, it took 3 years total.

Q7. On what all platforms readers can find ‘Points Of Origin’ book to buy?

Points of Origin is available from all online retailers, but most people get it from Amazon. You can also get it from me directly at OfficialESFein.com. It is available in both paperback and ebook, and it is also currently being turned into an audiobook by an incredibly talented voice actress named Betty Bat!

Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘Points Of Origin’?

The title of the book was suggested by one of my beta readers, and though the title has been used before by other authors, I really do think it perfectly encompasses precisely what the story is attempting to convey and describe, both literally and figuratively. The title was too good to pass up!
As for the cover, I created it with the intention of it looking like a cosmic mandala. Each subsequent square is spaced at precisely the golden ratio. Each square is also made using an actual image of a nebula taken by NASA (they are completely public domain, but I did clear their usage with NASA just in case!). I really wanted a cover that wasn’t a run-of-the-mill scifi cover but that would still catch a person’s eye, and I think I achieved that.

Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?

By allowing a large part of the characterization and plot to remain unknown even to me! As I stated before, I often allow my mind to go through numerous different scenes, like numerous potential plotlines of a movie, to see which will work best, and which my characters respond most interestingly to. I try to allow the process to be as organic and naturally grown as possible, rather than putting too much of my own conscious devisings into the creation process! It is a very paradoxical process — creating something that I want as little to consciously do with as possible so as to keep it as natural as possible — but it somehow works for me and many other authors as well, I’m sure.

Q10. Are there any secrets from the book (that aren’t in the blurb), you can share with your readers?

Without getting into any spoilers, I will say, in the words of one of the characters in the story, “do not confuse linearity with causality.” The chronological order of the chapters might not imply a linear causal relationship, yet on the other hand, maybe it does. It depends on the perspective you view the order from, and it also depends on your view of order in general.
Also, chapter 4, short and strange as it is, is more important than you might realize — even after finishing the book! It exists as an easter egg for only the most astute readers!
Thank you for this opportunity!

Author’ Profile

Book Is Available On Amazon

Points Of Origin

Q1. Hello Sir, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.

Shreyan Laha. 27 years old railway employee. I’m also one of India’s few science fiction authors. I have a masters in rural management as well.

Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘A Year Without Summer’ book?

Nothing at all. I wanted to write such a novel ever since I wrote my first-sci fi, “Not Worth Living For”, a novel which included a volcanic winter scenario with the twist of science fiction. On a personal front however, my father was admitted in a hospital. I had to face many disruptions while even writing a few paragraphs.

Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?

Lee Child, Arthur C Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Eoin Colfer – there are lots I have been influenced by. Every author influences me in some way or another but these four, I feel have the most impact on my writing style.

Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?

Sindhudurg and Gaganbawada in Maharashtra. Daringbadi in Odisha. These are one of the hidden gems in India, if you ever find going to Himachal and Uttarakhand expensive. My mind is on steroids every time I visit there. I love everything about mountainous places: the scenery, the hills and the forests. Being such close to nature, you feel like being one with these places. I would be lying if I say every time though because I have only visited these places twice. Talking about similar spots which I visit often, it’s the Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh.

Q5. Is there lots to do before you drive in and start writing a book?

Chapter Outlines are important. Chapter outlines are one of the most accurate things to do while plotting a book. It keeps you anchored about what to write in each of the stories. Also, research. The book shouldn’t look out of place.

Q6. How long did it take you to write ‘A Year Without Summer’ book?

I don’t remember. I apologise for my inability to answer this question.

Q7. On what all platforms readers can find ‘A Year Without Summer’ book to buy?

Amazon only. It’s Kindle version too.

Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘A Year Without Summer’?

I was determined that I would write a story which is a long read and contains certain elements which we can all relate to, but however- a plot which many may consider complex enough for the average audience. This is the challenge of every author. The first idea was “volcanic winter”. This was followed by the ideas of different worlds. I imagined how would the world be like if there was no summer for a year. What would be the effect on people’s minds? And how would people behave? Would escapism play a role? Or will they cling on to certain aspects? If they cling on, will they be affected by Stockholm syndrome and old methods? Or will they choose a new life? A lot of thoughts came up while crafting the initial chapter outlines. Coincidentally, this whole “coronavirus” happened in India days after I published my novel.
Since this story is set in Kolkata, I told my publisher to have a cover page related to the 1800s Kolkata. The environment should also look cool at the same time (cool as in, temperature).

Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?

Bring in new concepts which people relate to. For example, in this book I have introduced the concept of Stockholm syndrome, apart from the usual science fictional elements. A person suffers from Stockholm syndrome when he or she believes that his captor (or abusive lover or kidnapper) is his saviour. People in a toxic relationship especially face this. They believe that the man or woman who has left them may have actually loved them or they still do, somewhere.

Q10. Are there any secrets from the book (that aren’t in the blurb), you can share with your readers?

This is a tricky question which may compel me to give away the spoilers. The book has a lot of internal messages. In this book, most characters have a backstory and Stockholm syndrome. This is what, I believe, makes this book unique. Even a few reviewers did not get this. They believed that a certain character is acting illogical. However, that was the very point of the story they missed. In Stockholm syndrome, a particular character is meant to act illogical.

About Author:

Shreyan Laha is a science fiction author who started experimenting with various novels before finding his niche through his novel, “Not Worth Living For”. He has hence, written its sequel “A Tiny Reason to Live” and another novel, “A Year Without Summer”.

Along with this, he has half a dozen published short stories and acrostic poems. He has been the winner of Rajiv Gandhi Youth Literary Award, 2014 and apart from writing, Shreyan loves watching football and learning foreign languages.

He can be contacted here:
http://www.facebook.com/laha.scifi
twitter.com/Laha_Outbreaks

Instagram: @shreyanlaha

shreyanlaha@gmail.com

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Books Are Available On Amazon

A Year Without Summer

A Tiny Reason to Live