Interview with @KatYares

Kat Yares

 

When did you start writing and what inspired you to start?

I began writing as soon as I could form sentences on the page.  Writing stories for me was a form of escapism.  This also explains why I read so much as a child, often a book a day.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I think I always considered myself a writer, but only considered myself an author once I actually got paid for a story that was published.

Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

Many of my short stories are based on personal experiences or people I have met through life.  My books, not so much, they were just stories in my head that had to come out.

Who are some of the authors you particularly admire or who’ve had some influence on your own writing?

Influences would be John Steinbeck, Harper Lee, Michael McDowell, Robert McCammon and Edgar Allen Poe.  All can tell a great story without the use of flowery language and fluff.

Adding to the admire list would be Billie Sue Mosiman, Stephen King and even Dan Brown.  They all write stories that keep me entertained for hours on end.  That’s a good thing.

What is the best advice you could give an aspiring author

Never give up and never allow anyone to squash your dreams.

 What is the best advice you’ve received from other authors or anyone else?

Just write.  Don’t be afraid of the reactions to your words, just put them on the page and set them free into the world.

List your favorite quotation or words you live by.

Where mediocrity is allowed, competence sinks in the mire.

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

Favorite author of all time would be John Steinbeck.  His brevity of words that pack such an emotional response has kept me rereading his books over and over.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Thank you for allowing my words to entertain you, even if only for a short while.

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Interview With Dr. Eric Thomas Weber @erictweber

Dr Eric Thomas Weber

Where were you born?

I was born in Washington, D.C., at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where my father was serving. What brought my family to Mississippi was an exciting job in the department of Public Policy Leadership at the University of Mississippi.

When did you start writing and what inspired you to start?

For me, writing means mainly two things, but they’re connected on a spectrum. I practiced academic writing from high school through my doctoral studies in Philosophy. My writing for audiences beyond the academy really was motivated by my philosophical hero, John Dewey. Dewey was an able technical thinker, but he wrote a great deal for outlets like Harper’s, the Nation, Scribner’s Magazine, etc. He was the quintessential public philosopher and public intellectual of his time. The motivations for his writings beyond the academy were rooted in his democratic philosophy. I try to follow in his footsteps, which is why I began writing for newspapers and online publications. My public writing really got some speed in 2010.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I suppose I was an aspiring writer when I started work here in Oxford in 2007. My career is certainly the life of the university professor, but quite often that can mean thinking of yourself as a writer. I really thought of myself as a budding writer when I began writing articles for newspapers and pitching books to literary agents. In academia, you generally don’t go through an agent, submitting your work directly to publishers instead. So, when I began planning books for wider audiences, ones for which I would likely need an agent, I suppose that’s when I really started thinking of my future as a writer. I would say I’m still only in one of the early stages. My first books were primarily contributions to scholarly debates, though I’ve always worked to show how theory connects to real life and practical application. My first two books helped to prepare me for the next steps of my writing. My third and most recent book, Democracy and Leadership has attracted a good bit of attention beyond the academy. That’s starting to make me feel like “a writer.”

Do you see writing as a career?

If you use an expansive sense of the term “career,” sure. If one means something like the idea of writing as one’s primary or sole source of income, I would need to qualify my answer. If you think about it, getting tenure as a professor requires writings, in most fields anyway. So part of what can make or break your career is your scholarly writing. The life of the professor involves a lot of other kinds of work, much of which is teaching. All that said, in the big picture, yes, I do see writing as my career. After all, I teach courses on my area of specialty, on subjects connected to my research. So I teach about things that I write about. It’s an ideal arrangement for writing and for teaching, really, at least if you can get or make enough focused time to write.

What inspired you to write your first book?

My first book was based on a significant revision of my dissertation. I thought that the dissertation had something important to contribute to debates in my field, so I reworked it for a few years. It’s called Rawls, Dewey, and Constructivism. It sounds technical, and honestly, it is. Some of its central themes can be explained simply, though. Constructivism is a term for thinking about how people come to form concepts, to have ideas and knowledge. When a baby thinks peekaboo is fun and startling, it’s because the child has yet to develop a basic construction about objects and the fact that when they disappear they can come back – “object permanence.” Other concepts are much more complex, built upon numerous other constructions and concepts. The examples of greatest interest to me included what it means to be a “person” and also what “justice” means.

A great thinker on the subject, John Rawls, wrote an influential set of works on the topic, and he seemed to be on the fence about how to think about the origin of concepts like justice. The great educational and political philosopher John Dewey had a great deal to say about how people construct concepts. My first book connects the insights of these two thinkers to show a way to address the problems I saw in Rawls’s hesitations about constructivism.

Though these are technical and abstract issues, I was curious about them. There are so many things we don’t know about human experience. Studying constructivism seemed to push the envelope as far as I could push it in order to understand human experience and both how and why people’s understandings of the world can come out so differently. I wanted to arrive at my own understanding of the basics of human nature and psychology, to reach and feel for the limits and origins of what we can know. Studying constructivism has helped me situate my thinking in the history of philosophy, which has profoundly influenced all of my work since.

Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?

My experience may be unhelpful for some writers, because my first book was published by an academic press. Some of my challenges were the same for any first author. They say it’s hardest to land your first book. That’s absolutely right. My first publisher wanted to see the proposal for my second book and issued me a contract for it. So, it was clearly the first book that was hard to land.

For the first book, I made a list of 30 presses and submitted proposals to 10 at a time. In academia, publishers will generally tell you that it’s ok to submit your proposal simultaneously to other presses. If and when they invite you to submit the full manuscript, at that point many don’t want you sending it to other presses simultaneously.

I went down my list. The main challenge was to stay positive even when I heard no from many great places. A mentor and friend said, “You only need one.” He was right. In the end I had two publishers express serious interest and I went with the one I preferred.

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

I’ve written three books, or four if you count a manuscript that’s under review. Fingers crossed. My favorite book so far is Democracy and Leadership. It’s certainly generated the largest response, by which I mean invitations to travel and give talks about the book. That’s been exciting. People, so far mostly at colleges and universities, but not only, have wanted to hear about my theory of democratic leadership, something which people still today think is a contradiction. It was a very difficult book to write in a number of ways, but the enormous amount of work seems to have paid off.

 Talk about your most recent book. How did you come up with the title?

Democracy and Leadership: On Pragmatism and Virtue presents a theory of leadership drawing on insights from Plato’s Republic, while abandoning his authoritarianism in favor of John Dewey’s democratic thought. The book continues the democratic turn for the study of leadership beyond the incorporation of democratic values into old-fashioned views about leading. The completed democratic turn leaves behind the traditional focus on a class of special people. Instead, leadership is understood as a process of judicious yet courageous guidance, infused with democratic values and open to all people.

The title for the book pays homage to John Dewey. One of Dewey’s most influential works was titled Democracy and Education (scholarly edition, free online edition). He showed how invaluable each one was for the other, as well as how we needed to rethink education, letting go of outmoded views about it. My project took a similar approach, but for thinking about leadership. The aim is to let go of outdated ways of thinking about leadership. At the same time, one of the great philosophers, Plato, had so much of value to offer on the subject. The key was to follow Dewey’s guidance in updating Plato’s ideas about the virtues of the good society for the sake of democratic leadership.

How is this title published? (Self-Published or through a publisher)

It was published by Lexington Books, a division of the Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, in November of 2013. Its first release is marketed especially to scholars and academic libraries, which typically have significant book budgets. The press will come out with a more affordable paperback edition within roughly a year.

What drove your decision to publish this way?

Lexington Books has put out a lot of books that I admire. The do good work. They have huge distribution around the world. And, they were a second press to believe in my work, which I thought would be of value for my writing trajectory. It also didn’t hurt that I liked the design options for their books.

Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?

Yes. It’s a mistake to think that leadership is just for a select group of people. That’s a way of denying one’s own responsibility to speak up, participate, and help direct public efforts. The better way to think of leadership is to see it as a process of guidance, done best when following certain key virtues outlined in the book.

Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

It’s a work of non-fiction, but yes, I certainly draw on my own life experiences. Even more so, I drew on as much research as I could get my hands on and read. I found myself surprised over and over by what I found when checking my assumptions or looking for examples of things I was talking about. That’s part of the point of research. For me, it’s always a lot of fun – looking for information about things I’m interested in and care about.

What was the hardest part of writing your book?

This time around, I struggled with the introduction. I had written an introduction and then felt dissatisfied with it in a big way. It needed a lot of revisions for flow, removing repetition, etc. I’m one of those writers who needs to start somewhere, however rough, and then sometimes hack it to pieces. When I realize that I disagree with something I wrote, I learn a lot in the process of figuring out why. When I can answer that question well, it’s straightforward to figure out what I should have said.

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

Absolutely. The main thing I learned is that sometimes to take the time you need to focus on a big project, it’s ok to put other things on hold – even if some people get mad about it. I tend to juggle a ton of things and want to keep them all running smoothly. In this case, I had to be ok with either letting some things drop or with delegating. I also had to push myself hard to say no more often, or to see whether someone else could help me. It was a big effort for me to change that behavior, but it also gave me the time to focus and get the project done.

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

It was so much work. The idea of having to do it over again sounds like having lost all that work. I’d rather not imagine that scenario. Seriously. It’s too upsetting for a hypothetical…

Do you have a new book coming out soon? 

I am presently working on 5 book projects, with one main book on the front burner. None of these are scheduled for release yet. They’re not presently under contract. I’m taking my time on these books and hope to have one of them come out before the end of 2015 or not too long after. There’s a chance that one of them – the one that’s written and finished – might come out in 2014. We’ll see.

What is your favorite social media outlet for marketing/promotions?

I use a combination of LinkedIn, Twitter, and a Facebook author page. I can’t say that I have a favorite. They all reach a different audience, yet you can link your accounts in some ways. So far, I’ve had the smallest draw to my Facebook author page, but probably the deepest impact there. Twitter has tremendous power to spread messages, but I’ve not yet seen it take off for me. LinkedIn, believe it or not, has yielded the most connections for me, but I suspect that the connections I’ve made there have not been as deep, in general.

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Interview with @CarlPurdon , Author of ‘Blinders’

Interview with Carl Purdon

When did you start writing and what inspired you to start?

I knew I would someday write novels when I was about five, and though I’ve written poems for as long as I can remember, I didn’t make a serious stab at novels until somewhere around the age of forty (circa 2004). Something inside me kept telling me I wasn’t ready to write the kind of books I wanted to write, so I experimented with short stories and did an enormous amount of reading. Once I felt ready, I threw myself into it and haven’t looked back.

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

I have written three books, The Night Train, Norton Road, and Blinders. My favorite is the second one, Norton Road, because the characters were so much fun to create.

“Sell” your latest book in 120 characters – Tweet style

Sometimes, the line between right and wrong is clearly drawn, until you take off your blinders. BLINDERS, by Carl Purdon

The current trend in publishing is toward series novels as opposed to stand-alone books. Is your most recent release part of a series? If so, where do you see the story going (ie how many books in the series)? If not, do you have a series you’ve written or plan to write, and if so, what is it?

No, all of my books are stand-alone, though I am currently working on a sequel to my first book, The Night Train.
When your latest title is adapted to film, and the producers ask for your dream cast, what will you say?

I think The Rock would make an excellent Dale Criss. Kevin Costner would be perfect for Sheriff Trap Malone, and Tommy Lee Jones could be the chief deputy (Webster Carson). The character of Jill could be Pauley Perrette (Abby on NCIS).

Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?

A while back I saw a Facebook post that said something to the effect of, ‘every person you meet is struggling with something you can’t see’. If there is a message in my books, I think that would be it. I try to create characters who are realistic and mufti-dimensional, and let my readers get to know them gradually, throughout the course of the story, the same way we come to know people in real life.

Do you have a new book coming out soon?

I am currently working on a sequel to The Night Train, which will focus on Farley Milo, the surly hobo who took Jayrod and Arnold under his wing and guided them in directions they didn’t always want to go. My goal is to release it in spring of 2015.

Who are some of the authors you particularly admire or who’ve had some influence on your own writing?

“Growing up in Mississippi, I remember as a boy thinking (and sometimes hearing) my options were limited because a person had to live in places like New York or California to be successful, so naturally William Faulkner was a great source of inspiration to me. Later, John Grisham boosted that notion that a boy from the south could make it in the big world. I grew up (and still live) about thirty miles from Oxford, so I hoped there might be something in the water.

As far as writing itself, James Fenimore Cooper and John Steinbeck were authors I admired. Recently I discovered Elmore Leonard (how did I miss him?) and found a lot of similarities in our styles of writing as well as our attitudes toward the business.

At my first book signing (an open-house-style event at my local library in Pontotoc), my wife had her hands full trying to calm my nerves. Poet Patricia Neely-Dorsey had a table near mine, and I was immediately struck by how at home she appeared in that environment. She gave me a few pointers that day on public appearances. Since then we have communicated frequently on Facebook and appeared together at another event. I have sought her advice several times, and admire both her poetry and her positive attitude.”

List your favorite quotation or words you live by.

“There are two, actually. First, ‘This, too, shall pass.”” I have often found strength in knowing that whatever difficult situation I find myself in, it will not be permanent. On the flip side, it helps me remember to appreciate the good times because they, too, will pass.

The second quote is by Abraham Lincoln, and goes something like, “”Those not skinning can hold a leg.”” I think he directed it towards his generals during the Civil War. To me, it means to simply do what you can, when you can.”

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Thank you. I have received so much encouragement from my readers, and it never fails to brighten my day. It is a very humbling thing to have someone take the time to read your book, then send you a message, or write a review, or post something on Facebook to let you know they enjoyed it.

You can purchase ‘Blinders’ and Carl Purdon’s other books through our bookstore.

And connect with him on  Goodreads

Interview With @StaciTroilo

Staci Troilo

 

When did you start writing and what inspired you to start?

I’ve been a storyteller ever since I can remember. Before I could write, I’d tell stories to my stuffed animals. When I was in second grade, students who passed their spelling pretests on Mondays got to write stories while the others took the final spelling tests on Fridays. I so looked forward to that. As I got older, writing in English classes became my favorite, and my forte. So I majored in writing in college and earned a master’s degree before working as a writer in corporate America and then teaching writing in college. When we moved to Arkansas, my family suggested I start writing the books I’d been talking about for years. My kids were old enough that they didn’t need my constant attention, so I did.

 

Is there a message in Mystery, Ink: Mystery Heir that you want readers to grasp?

As much as the novel is a mystery, it is about relationships, particularly the relationship between a father and a child. Mystery, Ink: Mystery Heir explores healthy relationships, unhealthy relationships, non-existent relationships, and what happens when a good relationship suddenly goes away. If a reader walks away with anything, I hope it’s with an understanding of the importance a father plays in his child’s life, not just in the formative years, but always.


Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

With respect to the mystery itself, no. I’ve never had that kind of drama in my life (thank God). With respect to relationships, some of them were, some weren’t. I’m blessed to have been raised by the best father in the world, and I have the best father-in-law, too. There are strong male role models for my children on both sides of their family. But I have friends who have been on the other side of the spectrum, so while I don’t have direct experience, I know how my main character, Naomi, might feel seeing those failing relationships and reacting to them.

 

List your favorite quotation or words you live by.

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is … the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
—Mark Twain

 

What is your favorite book by another author?

Lover Unbound by J. R. Ward. She writes paranormal romance, in fact, many say she leads the field in PNR, and this is one of my favorites in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series. All of the leads are tormented and flawed in some manner, yet they’re all heroic and ultra-alpha males. She has the ability to create amazing storyworlds and larger than life characters who are still believable, all while crafting heart-stopping romances.
You can purchase Mystery, Ink: Mystery Heir through our bookstore.


And connect with Staci Troilo on Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Her Blog|Website | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Google +

Interview With @Lynda_Kaye Frazier

Lynda Kay Frazier

 

When did you start writing and what inspired you to start?

 I started writing October of 2011 and how I started is such a cliché, I had a dream. I know,  sounds  pretty corny but that’s how it started.

Talk about Rescued from the Dark

FBI undercover agent Jason Michaels remembers what Mercy can’t and those memories are breaking his heart. Forced to keep his distance from his lover and their unborn child, Jason risks his life to protect Mercy from a cell of international terrorists who have vowed to get the secrets locked in her memory, no matter the cost. Can Jason convince Mercy to trust him until she remembers their past, or will he lose her to a man who will trap her in a nightmare world of darkness from which there is no escape?

 

How did you come up with the title?

I dreamed it. Sounds kind of strange, but It was part of my initial dream. So I guess I can say my characters wrote the book in my dreams, and even picked out the book name.

Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?

Love conquers all.

List your favorite quotation or words you live by.

Writing is my passion, Reading is my Love.


Thinking outside the box, if you could do/be/accomplish anything in the world, what would it be?

I would love to be an accomplished artist. My first love, as a teenager, was painting. I would

Love to have a Gallery, half for my paintings, the other half for my books.

 

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

I love to read series. My favorites are Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters series and Cindy  Gerards Black OPS series.  When I first wanted to write I e-mailed Cindy Gerard. She has helped me by answering all my questions and pointing me towards websites when I needed more help than she could give.

 

 

What books have most influenced your life?

I’m going to date myself here, but I loved reading Bill Cosby as a young adult. He kept things funny, yet with a message.  Also Erma Bombeck. I read her stories as a teenager. She told stories about life, laced with a lot of humor. But I also loved to sneak my mother’s Harlequin romances into my room and dream about my future prince.
You can purchase Rescued from the Dark through our bookstore.

And connect with Lynda Kaye Frazier on Facebook| Twitter  | Goodreads | Website | Blog | Pinterest | LinkedIn

 

Interview With Hilary Martin Chaney @hilchaney

Hilary Martin Chaney

When did you start writing and what inspired you to start? 

I began writing a journal during a manic episode in 2007.  I wrote periodically in a blog thereafter and then finished my book in early 2013.

 

What inspired you to write your first book? 

My journey with Bipolar Disorder.

How did you come up with the title? 

I feel like when we are challenged in life there is an open door right in front of us that we often don’t see due to fear or guilt or a variety of other obstacles.  When I finally embraced my mental illness and walked through the open door, I found peace.  During manic episodes I walk in Heaven on Earth, so that is what I write about in the second half of my book. 

Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp? 

Heaven on Earth is real and coming soon for all of us, and we will walk there when religion ends.  Also, you can be anything you want in this life in spite of mental illness. 

 

 

What was the hardest part of writing your book? 

The courage it took to be so honest, which was a risk to my reputation as an attorney.

 

 

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

I learned that to be truthful will bring more reward than to hide who you are.

 

Who are some of the authors you particularly admire or who’ve had some influence on your own writing? 

I like historians like David McCullough.  And Lief Enger.

List your favorite quotation or words you live by. 

There are two types of people in the world: those who conform to fit the world around them and those who change the world to suit them.  Be the latter.

 

Thinking outside the box, if you could do/be/accomplish anything in the world, what would it be?

I’d like to be a mental health advocate, giving my talk around the world to shine a light on mental illness.


You can purchase Through the Open Door: A Bipolar Attorney Talks Mania, Recovery, and Heaven on Earth through our bookstore.

And connect with Hilary Martin Chaney on Facebook | Twitter | Google+