Modern Pirates and Thieves

 In the world of books, there is one ever present scourge, book pirates. No, not people running around with a parrot on one shoulder, yelling "Argh" or "Ahoy Matey" every time they come ashore from their wooden ships, but people who think it is okay and acceptable to steal a book from an author and give it away for free. All too often you see them justifying this theft by saying 'people on a fixed income can't afford to buy books and they should be available to everyone.'  Well, yeah, books should be available to everyone, and in fact are. They are located at this place called a PUBLIC LIBRARY, a concept that has managed somehow to permeate the entire world.

Theft is wrong, people. You know it, I know it. It doesn't matter if it's a stick of gum or the Hope Diamond. Theft is wrong. And while some think that stealing a book and giving copies of it away is okay, let me ask you this: do you have a job you clock in for? Do you work for free? Then why do you think authors should? In many cases, authors aren't even making $2000 a year off royalties, most of the time even less, and largely because we have to fight people who seem to think the weeks we spend writing should have zero reward for us. Heck, even my own family has members who have straight up told me that I should give them FREE PAPERBACK COPIES of my books because they are family. 

People, I have to pay for edits, I have to pay for the covers, I have to pay for the physical copies you hold in your hand. I had to pay for the computer I used to write them on, the software I used to compose the 45k or more words I strung together, for the electricity used to run the computer and yes, the access to the internet to research the book so that I could create a believable world for you to enjoy. On average, it costs about $1200-1500 to write and publish ONE book. And yet there are those among us who think that I am made of money and can afford to do all this for FREE. Got news for you, I can't afford to do that. I have health conditions that eat up all the money I get every month in disability. So, yeah, I do need to be paid for each and every copy of my books that go out, be they ebooks or physical ones. I don't ask the people at the restaurants I frequent to work for free, I don't ask the cashiers at the grocery or general stores to work for free, and I for damn sure don't ask my medical team to work for free. So why do people think it's okay to ask authors to work for free?

On Publishing and Getting the Word Out

 Publishing is a strange world. You really have 3 sections: tradition, self, and vanity. 

Traditional publishing is where you have one of the old school publishers, like Random, and a contract that says you will write books X length and due by X date and you get paid Y amount for the books. Traditionally published books are considered 'upper class' for lack of a better term, and are the standard that everyone supposedly strives to attain. But here's the thing, you don't get as much in royalties, you have less control, and honestly, you usually end up with simple editing errors that are not tolerated in other methods of publishing. Traditionally published authors are actually held to a lower standard of quality, because the authors are given grace about edits etc, because the publisher is supposed to handle that, not the author.

Self publishing is a fickle thing. The author is responsible for EVERYTHING, content, copyrights, covers, edits, printing, advertising, sales, taxes, the whole shebang. Because of this, self-published authors are actually held to a higher standard than traditionally published authors. I have seen books put out by DelRey for one of my favorite authors, that has over 10 errors in it (missing words, wrong word used, misspelled words) that if I, as a self-published author, were to leave those errors in the book, I would be crucified by critics for the errors and scathingly told that is why self publishing shouldn't happen, that it brings down the industry. Um, ok Mr. Double-Standard.

Vanity Press is loathed by everyone. They are the publishers that are out to make a buck, and don't care about what they are putting out there. These are the publishers that charge you up front (spoiler alert: real publishers don't do this) to publish your books (usually well over $1000). It's left up to you to make arrangements for advertising and try to recoup your money from sales. While there really isn't anything technically wrong with going this route, I don't know many indie authors who can afford the vanity press route.

Interestingly enough, while you have a team working with you in a Traditional situation, in all 3, you as the author are responsible for getting the word out about your books. It's just the manner in which your books get to the public that differs.

The Saga Continues

 So, on August 12, I submitted the paperback and ebook versions of Out For Delivery to Amazon for publication. In less than 12 hours, the ebook was live. Here we are, 11 days, and 2 calls later, and I'm STILL waiting for the paperback to go live. I am at my wits end here. I can't resubmit it, I can't publish it as a new publication because it kicks it out  And they tell me that since it is in "Publishing" status, they can't cancel the publishing of it so that I can take it down and fix the few errors that the 7th person to edit it found, or put the correct cover on it. So, I get to keep a watch out for it and take it down as soon as it goes live, then fix the few issues, then reupload it and wait another who knows how long for it to go live again. UGH Oh the joys of being an author lol

Let's play catchup

 So, over the last year or so, I've had a lot happen, just like everyone else in the world. Some of it good, some of it bad, most of it mediocre. The good: I've lost about 30 lbs, and had a new book release (see previous post). The bad, my oldest nephew is on the lam, last known whereabouts was Ft. Worth, TX in a stolen car. I actually kinda hope he gets caught before he gets to Mexico, because he has no one there to support him when he winds up in a Mexican jail. Yes, I said when, not if. And more bad, my sister in law, who lives next door, took it upon herself to steal from me, because she wanted to know what my #3 nephew had been up to while he was over at my house staying the night. Now, while I can understand wanting to know what he was up to, the way to do this is NOT by going into someone else's house while they aren't home, knowing they aren't home, without asking if you can go in the house, and taking something that does NOT belong to you or to your stepchild. But now, somehow, I owe HER an apology because when she called and informed me that she had my tablet that I let my nephew use and she demanded the password to said tablet, I hung up on her out of shock that she had stolen from me and had zero remorse about it. In fact, I'm being branded as immature and badly mannered, for doing so. Wow, and she is somehow on the moral, ethical, and manner high-ground considering that it was her action that sparked this reaction? What did she expect? For me to bow down and kiss her feet and grovel and immediately jump to her command? Sorry, I missed the ceremony that granted her ownership of me. So now, I have the dilemma of do I press charges against her, as the detective I spoke to said I have every legal right to do, or do I bow down and kiss her feet and act like I am okay with her blatant disrespect of me and mine? Personally, I'm for pressing charges and having her hauled in, booked, jailed, and imprisoned for the next two years just to teach her the lesson that she is NOT above the law as she seems to think. I have until next June 15 to decide.

New release!

 

~~~~*** New Release***~~~~

Delivering the mail was never supposed to endanger Caitlyn Rivers' life. When she noticed one of her customers hadn't picked up her mail in a few days, she called for a wellness check, and it took a turn she never expected.

After the police respond to the call, it is discovered who was behind the woman being found near death at the bottom of her stairs. And by being a good Samaritan, Cait’s life is put in jeopardy.

As Cait teams up with sexy detective Ryan Hill to put the perpetrator behind bars, tension builds between them. Will they break the case, or will the case break them apart?

Buy Links:

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CYD4TD6

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09CYD4TD6

CA: https://www.amazon.co.ca/dp/B09CYD4TD6

AU: https://www.amazon.co.au/dp/B09CYD4TD6

On Sale for 99 cents!

★‿¸.•*´´*•.¸(*•.¸¸.•*)¸.•*´´*•.¸‿★
⭐️⭐️ NOW ON SALE FOR 99c!! ⭐️⭐️ ★***•.¸.•*(¸.•*´`*•.¸)`*•.¸.•***★
Blindsided By Kami Larke

After helping her boss, Hugo Lawrence, win a high-profile murder case involving a Mafia hit man, Shelly Barnes thought her future was secure. But life had other plans for her. After being fired for no reason and callously dumped in the same week, too many shots led to her waking up in Jason Phillips bed the next morning.
Although they just met, Jason is completely captivated by this strong woman, who seems to take every blow life sends her way with a grace that few people he knows can manage. He steps in, helping her in his own way, not realizing just how much his interference will rub her the wrong way.
Life holds more surprises for Shelly. First her former boss disappears, and the focus shifts to her, not only from the police but also from the people they defeated in court. Will Shelly ever be safe again?
Buying Links
US ~ www.tinyurl.com/kami-larke-blindsided
AUS ~ https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B079L3DJYQ
UK ~ https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B079L3DJYQ
★‿¸.•*´´*•.¸(*•.¸¸.•*)¸.•*´´*•.¸‿★
Stalking Links
www.twitter.com/eykekathleen facebook.com/kathleen.eyke.southernfamilyties
www.Instagram.com/kathleeneykeauthor
www.alabamawordsmith.wixsite.com/home
https://www.facebook.com/groups/242293399633936
https://www.facebook.com/groups/katssporkarmy/

Now on Preorder~~

Now on Preorder!!

Driven to the brink of insanity by his cousin’s brutal murder, Robbie McGraw is determined to make someone pay. If he can’t get Gene Henderson, the man who pulled the trigger, he will settle for the people who helped Henderson go free, the legal team of Lawrence and Barnes.

Shelly Barnes’s life has taken her in new directions since helping Hugo Lawrence win the Henderson murder trial. While celebrating Labor Day with her boyfriend on the backwater, she falls off the dock, and is pulled out – and straight into a living nightmare. Now she must use her wits to outsmart a madman, and it’s not just her life that hangs in the balance should she fail…

Preorder your copy today!

US Preorder link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WS4R6CQ

UK preorder link https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WS4R6CQ

Canada preorder link https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07WS4R6CQ

Switching Gears

One of the most difficult things I have found about writing, aside from marketing because believe me, writing is easier than marketing, is getting my head out of the book I just finished writing and into the next one on the list to be written.

In this case, I'm having to pull my head out of Shelly Barnes's life and put it in her boss, Brooklyn Matthews's life. Not going to be easy, let me tell you. For one, Shelly was a cool character to write, resilient, resourceful, bright, but a bit of a mouse up til the end. Then she comes into her own in a big way. Brooklyn on the other hand, yeah. She's a lawyer, and a really good one at that. She's half of a power couple, her husband being the CFO of a Fortune 500 tech company. She's used to the good life. She's always been daddy's little girl. But now, she's done something he can't forgive her for. What is it? Guess you will have to read the book once it's finished to find out. Hehe

The Things We Do For Love

I hate politics. I really do. It's a money contest, and the ones with money, make more money because they have money. Politics, according to a trusted and dearly loved person close to me, is all about money. It's not about morals or integrity. It's not about rights and liberties. It's all about money. People get into politics to make money. I guess it disgusts me because I don't have money.

Reading about politicians and their antics is, to me, not very entertaining. It's like watching a bunch of ill mannered middle schoolers trying to out-shout each other on the playground, tripping and kicking each other when the coach isn't looking and crying foul if they are caught, because you know, it's not fair they got caught when the other person did the same thing and didn't get caught. It's all so juvenile. It really is. And leaves me with a feeling of disgust that we have elected these chronologically mature adults who have the mental and motional maturity of an amoeba. 

So why spend my precious time reading about politics?

Someone I love very much is very ill. This person LOVES politics. But has been insulated from it by just about everyone else, because most people find politics stressful, and right now, we will call this person A., needs to avoid stress. Thing is, not everyone is stressed by politics. A. thrives on politics. So, in order to give A what A thrives on, I have been reading up on politics, and telling A what this politician or that politician has been doing. It helps that A and I are pretty much on the same page when it comes to politics (other than my complete disgust of it), and I feel like A approves of my 'interest' in politics. I don't know if A realizes yet that the ONLY reason I am expressing an interest at all in politics is because A thrives on it and needs something to keep A's brain active and clicking, so A can recover from current maladies.

Ahh, the things we do for love...

We need more people like Danny Trejo

Just a bright thing to be celebrated today, Danny Trejo, hero. He witnessed a car wreck and immediately moved to help those involved. He rescued a small boy from the car and kept him, I won't say calm, but at least occupied and distracted while the fire department worked to rescue his grandmother from the car. We need people like Mr. Trejo and the unnamed people who helped in the rescue. People who see someone in need and spring to action to help, and ask for no reward in return. Well done, Mr. Trejo, I hope your and the unnamed people that helped actions serve as a beacon of hope for others that all is not lost in this mad world we live in.

Diabetes and Me

So, my doctor has given up on treating me for my diabetes, because apparently I'm too complex a case for him. I keep coming up allergic to medications they try putting me on, Metformin, Glimepiride, Actos. I'm to the point where I have to take Benadryl with my medicine so I don't have a severe reaction. I still have one, but it's not as severe.
I've gone out and tried to pull the ingredient lists for the medicines, to see if I could figure out what I'm reacting to. I've found 3 ingredients in common between Metformin and Glimepiride, but I have no way of checking on my own to see which I'm allergic to so we can find me something that doesn't have whichever one I'm allergic to. I'm frustrated and angry that I'm essentially being told I'm too complicated a case to be treated, and therefore I should just go off somewhere and die because the doctors only want easy cases to treat.
Guess it's a good thing I've let my balls drop and am willing to be my own advocate.

This Crazy Life

Hello all! Sorry I haven't been keeping this up like I should but if you follow me on Facebook or MeWe, you know some of what has been happening in my life lately. To catch up:

I went to England and had a FABULOUS time with my signing event in Blackpool! I consider it a success, even if I DID manage to slip getting out of the hotel pool and fall and skin my knee and sprain my ankle. Kinda put a damper on the whole trip, but it was all good until I got to the ATL airport on the way home and Delta decided I was faking my injury and tried to make me walk on a sprained ankle. Yea, that didn't happen. Took me almost THREE HOURS after landing to just get TO customs. My ride circled the airport at least once waiting on me to get to passenger pickup. It was a nightmare. I will NEVER fly Delta again! I will go back to American Airlines. They may have canceled my connector flight but at least they didn't disrespect me or treat me like a LIAR.

So, moving on. I am now working on book 5 in the #southernfamilyties series. Book 4, Family Secrets (Jerome) launched in April and I think he's doing rather well. Book 5 is about Lynda and her second chance at love. So swoon worthy! In addition, I'm working on the sequel to Blindsided, titled Misty River. I have the cover for it (shocking I know, considering the saga it normally is for me to get a cover I like!), and just today it grew by over 2000 words in the space of two hours! When they start talking, it's speed talking! Had to take a break and come do this so I could recover for the next marathon session I can feel coming on. I'm looking to have it finished and hopefully have it launched in September, just in time for back to school!

That about catches us up, but here are a few pictures from my trip! Enjoy!

On Education and Abortion

Not so long ago, Alabama joined the race to see which state could pass the dumbest anti-abortion law in the country. Thus far, we are the winners of that dubious distinction. In so doing, another disturbing fact came to light. Alabama is ranked LAST in the US in education.

Stop and consider what that means for our future.

• Less tech jobs, because companies will not locate here because they don’t think we have the smarts to do it.
• Less opportunities for our children outside the state, because again, no one will believe we have the smarts it takes.
• Less revenues with which to improve the state of our education, which basically perpetuates our last place standing.
• Lower revenues means more people having to turn to an ever increasingly debt stricken state government for support.
• More people will leave the state for ‘greener pastures’ where a better education can be obtained, which leads to better jobs and a better life for them and their families.

At the same time, I have to wonder about the people in this country. People are screaming about abortion, saying it’s no wonder Alabama doesn’t care about unborn kids, look at their education. But how many of those screaming about the education level in Alabama and its direct correlation to abortion/anti-abortion are actually willing to help us do something about it?

How many people screaming about illegal aliens and our need to take care of them are guilty of not wanting to help take care of our own first? Or at all?

I took some heat a couple years ago for weighing in about immigrants and their need to learn English when they move here. (There exists over 200 years of precedent set that says when you move to the US, you learn English. It is, after all, the ONLY language taught in ALL schools in the US.) I was told rather rudely that I should never travel abroad because my poor education (I hold my MBA) would reflect badly on the US. All because I, as a 17-year-old high school graduate, only took ONE foreign language in high school. Oh, wait, my poor, rural high school had exactly ONE foreign language teacher, and she taught Spanish (which I took for 3 years).

I have to ask, how was I, someone who upon graduation was still too young to vote, supposed to convince the local school board to hire another teacher to teach another foreign language? Can someone tell me that, please? Furthermore, even if I had convinced them, how were we going to pay for it? Because you see, in addition to being dead last in education, Alabama is also last in wealth.

So, I ask this. Who amongst you, those bashing Alabama for its low education status, low income status, and stand on abortion, are willing to come off the funds needed to improve the education in this state? Or are we, as actual citizens of the US, less deserving of an education than the illegals that come across the border, breaking the law as they do so? There are bills going through Congress to grant these illegals, these ‘Dreamers’ financial assistance in going to college. Meanwhile you have an entire state that is failing to meet a high school level education that you are turning a blind, uncaring eye to.

Book Signings

Went to the Capital City Author event today and had a BLAST! Met so many people, both on the reader and production side of writing. Ended up with some new boyfriends, what with my skills at massage and all. Even got invited to a more personal session by one, who was a HUGE flirt. I didn't take him seriously though. It was great, but now I'm exhausted and headed to bed!

Story-book life? No thanks!

I admit I'm not perfect. My life thus far has had more than it's share of downs, I'm still working on the ups. But someone asked me if I wanted a story-book life. And honestly I stopped and thought about it for a bit. No, I don't.

Seriously, have you seen what some authors put their characters though in their 'perfect story-book lives'? It's nothing short of hell! The drama, the intrigue, the angst, the ups the downs, good grief! I don't want that! I want something that is unattainable. Not an amplified, over-dramatized life, but rather one that is devoid of the majority of drama, at least most bad drama anyway. There are some things that are drama worthy, but in a good way. Like finding the love of your life. Settling down and living with that certain someone you want to grow old with and wake up and see first thing in the morning, every possible morning, for the rest of your life. That to me is the idyllic life, and to some may be 'story-book' in its idealism. But I don't want the angst that the characters have to go through to get there! I just want to skip to the end, cut to the chase! And frankly, if you really know me, and know what I have been through in the last 9 or 10 years, you would probably agree that I have had more than my share of trials and tribulations, and it's time, past time, for me to reap the rewards of surviving what I have.

No, I don't want the fairy tale ending, I don't want the story-book life. I want peace and happiness and love I want to be able to support myself doing what I love, and have people in my life who are likeminded and will help me attain that goal, while I help them attain it as well.

Random Thoughts

You know, being a writer is a crazy world of mistaken expectations, cruel hard truths, lots of drama (and lets face it, most, of us make drama, it is literally what we do for a living), and trying to just express yourself without offending everyone in the known world.

I've found that my expectations, like many others, were wildly off  base. I knew the writing part was going to be the easy part. Promotion and marketing is the hard part. You see so many people claiming to be 'experts' on the subject and promising you they can sell thousands of copies of your book. You see people whose work makes you cringe becoming best sellers, and others whose work is infinitely of higher quality languishing in the shadows. The world of books is ghastly unfair, and it is to an extent a popularity contest. The popular ones get read, get noticed, get movie deals, and become rich. The unpopular ones, not so much. In many cases, the 'overnight success' stories are about people who knew the right people before they ever picked up a pen or opened a word document to write the first line of the first book. They knew the people with the right connections, the right resources to get their finished work in front of the right audience to make the most profit in the shortest period of time. The majority of us, don't know those people.

So what do you do? The only thing you can do, network. You keep plugging away, hoping that someday, the right someone will see your work and that magic will happen that will launch you into the stars. Or at least high orbit.

Personally, I'm learning to eat humble pie. I know there isn't much market for clean writing, aka no sex, but I just can't seem to write a sex scene to save my life. And for that I apologize. I know sex sells, but I just can't seem to do it without it being completely awkward and laughable. So I will continue to write the clean books I write, hoping that people who don't really want to read about other people having sex will find and enjoy my books. And I will market as best I can to reach those people so they know there ARE books out there where you don't need a score sheet to keep track of who is in bed with whom, and you don't have to ponder if you should take up yoga to be able to get into the unbelievable positions the characters you are reading about are getting their bodies contorted into. I hope some of you will follow me on this journey.

Family Secrets, now LIVE!!

~☆♡~Now Available~☆♡~
Family Secrets by Kathleen Eyke

★‿¸.•*´´*•.¸(*•.¸¸.•*)¸.•*´´*•.¸‿★

Victoria Anne Chester, better known as Torianne to her dearest friends, has no illusions about herself; she is too tall, too redheaded, and too stubborn to ever make a good wife. So when her father calls her home from college to marry, she is in shock. He knows she wants to be a teacher, so why would he change his mind about allowing it mere months from her completing her education?

Hurt and saddened by this turn of events, Torianne is further shocked when she discovers her father is not the good Christian man she always assumed him to be. Caught between what is right and what is legal, Torianne sets out to make right what he has done wrong, no matter the cost to herself or her family.

Jerome Hatchett has never had what one would call a real family. Thrown out by his mother’s family when he was only a boy, he grew up hard and fast on the streets of Atlanta, Georgia. Now a successful businessman in his own right, he is drawn into a tangled web by the alluring Torianne. Will he be able to protect her, while seeking the truth behind the mysterious disappearances at her father’s plantation?

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q8XKPT1

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07Q8XKPT1

Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07Q8XKPT1

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07Q8XKPT1

★‿¸.•*´´*•.¸(*•.¸¸.•*)¸.•*´´*•.¸‿★
Stalking Links
www.twitter.com/eykekathleen facebook.com/kathleen.eyke.southernfamilyties
www.Instagram.com/kathleeneykeauthor
www.alabamawordsmith.wixsite.com/home
https://www.facebook.com/groups/242293399633936
https://www.facebook.com/groups/katssporkarmy/

Author Interview with Linnea Valle

Author Interview with Linnea Valle

Name/pen name: Linnea Valle (no pen name)

What genre(s) do you write? Contemporary Romance

What first inspired you to write? Reading! I wanted to become a published author when my children were little. Fast forward 30 years and I achieved my dream in June of 2018 with my first novel.

How do you come up with the ideas for your stories? Most stories just come to me with the characters and their stories.

What question do you hate the most about being a writer? People who ask if I have multiple personality disorder. LOL, non-authors have a hard time understanding that the characters are in my head and “talk” to me, but I’m not mentally ill. That’s just my creative process.

Are you indie or traditionally published? Indie.

Have you ever tried the other style of publishing? No, I’ve only got one book published to date. But I am proud to be Indie and the control over my own creative process and timelines that it affords me.

What are you working on now? I currently have three manuscripts as WIPs (works in progress). I am participating in two charitable anthologies, so writing short stories for those. First is Suicide Prevention and Awareness Anthology called Letting Hope Enter, releasing September 24, 2018. The second is a Cop Tales – An Anthology for a Cause. Finally, I am about 2/3 done with my second full length novel which will be the first in a series of interrelated stand-alone novels based in Chicago. The first in this series is called Ciao, Bella.

What is your most recent/upcoming release? The first will be the anthology Letting Hope Enter releasing on September 24, 2018

Links to stalk you online:

Personal Page: https://www.facebook.com/authorlinnea.valle

Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/LinneaValleAuthor/

Author Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1447749628686079/?source_id=153516151967326

InstaGram: https://www.instagram.com/authorlinneavalle/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/@LinneaAuthor

Website: https://authorlinneavalle.wixsite.com/mysite

Author Interview with Graham Sclater

Author Interview with Graham Sclater

Name/pen name: Graham Sclater (pronounced Slater)

What genre(s) do you write? Most genres which includes, historical fiction, music based and psychological thrillers.  

What first inspired you to write? I wrote a film script and television series which were optioned but what surprised me were the lengthy delays before anything progressed.  While I was waiting I decided to start on my first novel which was based on my time living and working as a professional musician in Hamburg Germany, during the sixties. It took me several years but at the same time I started on a second novel which meant I had two books published one year after the other.

How do you come up with the ideas for your stories? That is difficult but it has to be something I am interested in and really feel that I want to live with. Once I decide on the subject I spend a lot of time thinking about the basic outline and then do as much research as possible. This usually means me travelling to wherever the book is set. I need to walk the streets and feel the ambience, which opens up more ideas. Then I feel ready to make a start.
I try to spend time writing every day but if it isn’t flowing I reread  previous sections and work on them.
I don’t believe in writer’s block. I feel that anyone who believes they have it then it is due to them failing to research their subject plan their basic storyline. And to research each character’s background sufficiently and outlining the book before they start.
The outline can be broken down into chapters.  I always set up chapters (it doesn’t matter how many you have at that time) before I start and where possible have a heading with a sentence outlining the content of each one. I then print it out and place it on the wall in front of me.
I also set up a timeline for the book which will have quite a large impact on the detail of each chapter. Also you need to be sure that there are no errors on material things i.e. were mobile phones in use at the time of the book, model of car, newspapers etc. Check out names and spelling too and if you’re not sure, colour the word or highlight it before moving on.

What question do you hate the most about being a writer? I want to write a book but don’t know where to start. Can you tell me?

Are you indie or traditionally published? Tabitha Publishing is an indie UK company formed in 1975 and is linked to our music publishing company and record label. We still publish music and release great original music from our writers and bands that are based all over the world. All of my novels  are available in paperback  across Europe from www.tabithabooks.webs.com and Amazon worldwide in paperback or e-books.

Have you ever tried the other style of publishing? Yes, my first novel, Ticket to Ride” was published in 2006 by Flame Books.  But as I set up the promotion, radio interviews and book signings myself it was mutually agreed that I was released from the contract. We then republished “Ticket to Ride” by Tabitha Publishing with a brand new cover, additional content, interviews, reviews and photographs.

What are you working on now? My first sequel: a follow up to my fifth novel, “Love Shack” which was set in Amsterdam in 1999-2000.  “I will survive,” my eighth novel, follows on for the last chapter of the novel and I am very excited about working on this.
Can you give any advice to other writers? Date your work as soon as you sit at your PC or laptop. (I have spent hours working on a draft and then found out that there was a more recent draft.)  Always set your documents to auto save and back up at least one more copy onto a memory stick or the cloud.

What is your most recent/upcoming release? “Cowboys and Angels,” was my seventh novel which was set in Cyprus and England. It is selling really well and a television company has taken and option for a possible television series.

Links to stalk you online: http: //www.grahamsclater@webs.com  and http://www.tabithabooks.webs.com

Author Interview with Okpanachi Attah Emakoji

Author Interview with Okpanachi Attah Emakoji

Name: Okpanachi Attah Emakoji

Pen Name if different: ema koji and Eva Grinn

What first inspired you to write? The desire to be published.

How do you come up with the ideas for your stories? Just about anything can inspire me. Sights. Scenes. Imaginations.

What question do you hate the most about being a writer? Do your books sell at all?

Are you indie or traditionally published? I am traditionally published. I publish my books myself. I have a publications company.

Have you ever tried the other style of publishing? I tried online on Amazon though someone but I don't have anything to shoe for it. Recently I tried to upload my books on lulu.com but it won't go through.

What are you working on now? Several books concurrently, about four to six.

What is your most recent/upcoming release? The most recent ones are collections of poems: RAINBOWS AND SHADOWS, SOLEMNS SYMBOLS and SIGNS OF THE SEVENTH SEASON. The ones to follow are entirely prose fiction.

Links to stalk you online:

No online links for now, except my Facebook page.