G.E. Johnson is an indie author living just outside Atlanta, GA. She writes fiction novellas and inspirational non-fiction and is the author of the ‘Love & Wrath’ series, the first book of which is currently available as an e-book from Amazon and Smashwords. Here’s the blurb!

“This first novella of a three part series pulls back the curtain on the lives of three best friends to reveal love, friendship, and budding romance. Their stories are woven together against the backdrop of the midwestern art world of Kansas City, MO, but pretty pictures are the last thing that photographer Lily and her business partner Sheila are worried about after their mutual friend reveals an explosive secret that ends up threatening all of their lives. Readers will ride out with these divas and enjoy the joy & laughter of their posh lives. Beware though... before you know it you will be pulled into a roller coaster ride of suspense, intrigue, and a good old-fashioned throwdown! Captivated until the last page, you will be begging for part two as the friends execute their form of justice in LOVE & WRATH”.

‘Love & Wrath is getting some fantastic reviews on Amazon so let’s meet the lady herself!

What started you writing and is it something you always wanted to do?

Wonderful teachers in the schools that I attended as a child really got me writing. I remember being encouraged to write as early as elementary school, but I really fell in love with words in a high school Etymology class. Later, during my freshman year in college, I realized that I might want to try writing professionally one day.

Do you write full-time or do you have another career?

I currently write full-time, but before I became fully immersed in the indie author lifestyle, I had worked in Accounting for 10+ years. 

Describe your typical writing day.

Well, my typical writing day would actually be a writing night. For some reason I’m better able to slip away completely into my storyline in the wee hours of the morning. I start by putting on some music that matches the mood of whatever section I’m writing and then I type what I see as the scenes play out in my mind.

What inspired you to write ‘Love and Wrath: The Beginning’?

The storyline of “Love & Wrath” was one that I had been playing with in my mind since 2008. A co-worker of mine at the time had just finished a fiction manuscript and one day, during a conversation about her book, I mentioned my idea and she loved it! Three years later, during some downtime between jobs, I decided to go ahead and get the idea on “paper.” The rest is history!

What projects are you working on now?

I am currently editing book two of the “Love & Wrath” series. My hope is to have it available for readers during the first part of November.

How do you publicise your work?

Numerous ways! I use Facebook and Twitter to share the book and connect with awesome book bloggers. I connect with book clubs, both online and in person. I also work with other writers to cross promote each others work. As a matter of fact, “Love & Wrath: The Beginning” is being offered as a bonus buy during the November 1 launch of the third novel of best-selling author Melissa Foster. With a little time and internet savvy, the avenues are endless!

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

Go for it! No matter how long it takes, don’t give up on writing that first book. I know that there are times when you want to throw in the towel and you may even have to step away for a while to regroup, but please don’t give up! You will be so fulfilled when that first book is completed.

Other than your own, what’s your favourite work of fiction?

Wow… that’s a really hard question to answer. I’m not sure that I can choose just one favourite. I can say that I recently reread “Sense and Sensibility” and fell in love with the story again. I’m a huge fan of the classics.

Which author had the greatest influence on you as a child?

There were several, but one of the most memorable from my childhood was Shel Silverstein. I remember checking out “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and “A Light in the Attic” from the school library at least 10 times each. I could not get enough of his clever poetry.

Finally, and most importantly, you’ve lost your wallet, who do you enlist to help you find it, Poirot or Miss Marple?

I would choose Poirot. I can just imagine him, neat as a pin with his moustache neatly twirled upward, being utterly flustered with my American sensibilities and mannerisms. We would bicker about me being in the way, but he would eventually come to love me. All the while I would be incredibly smart and good looking. I think that would make a good book or even a great movie!

G. E Johnson can be found on Twitter: http://twitter.com/writermom2011and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gejohnsonfans

She also writes a blog: http://gejohnson.blogspot.com

‘Love & Wrath’ is available from Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/82927

and from Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Wrath-The-Beginning-ebook/dp/B005F4FNE4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1319960398&sr=8-3

I'm thrilled to be welcoming Gilli Allan, the author of 'Torn' to Bookworm Ink. Gilli writes contemorary romance and 'Torn', her third book, is available on Kindle.

What started you writing and is it something you always wanted to do?

I think I was always a writer.  I made up stories in my head from as far back as I can remember.  I hardly ever played formal games but was forever play-acting. I forced my friends to take the roles I gave them and we’d play out the scenarios I’d devised, about princes & princesses, fairies, or cowboys and red Indians. 

My older sister loved Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer.  Influenced by the latter’s Regency romances, she decided to write her own.  I was still at primary school, so she couldn’t have been more than 15 or 16.

I was an avid reader and it seemed to me a brilliant idea to write the book you wanted to read. It’s what I still do.

The story I then started, aged 10 or 11, was set in ‘the olden days’. It was about a group of ladies - one of them, my teenage heroine - who were visiting a lighthouse, set on a rocky islet. They had to get there by boat.  The weather deteriorated and while the women were temporarily trapped there, the lighthouse-keeper’s 16 year old son went out into the storm, for some unspecified reason and fell on the rocks, injuring himself. My young heroine nursed him. At this point, a few laboriously written pages in, my imagination failed

 I wrote copiously and continuously throughout secondary school, but never completed anything. My notebooks were massively illustrated and doodled on.  But I NEVER dreamed of becoming a writer.  After all, writers were clever, educated people who had always gone to Oxford or Cambridge. Though I’d got into grammar school I scraped along in the D stream.  The only subject I was demonstrably good at was art.  So art was the career I was aiming for. I left school at 16 with the minimum number of O levels necessary to get me to Art College.

Do you write full-time or do you have another career?

I’ve worked as a shop assistant, a beauty consultant, a bar maid ... and a job where a band of girls were deposited at various tourist hot spots, where we were supposed to approach couples we suspected were American tourists. We had to hook them with the promise of a free tour of London and a free lunch at the Hilton. The catch was that when they’d eaten their lunch, they were subjected to a high-power pitch, selling real estate in Florida.

I was a shy kid.  I found it hard to talk to strangers.  So why I thought I could do any of these jobs, let alone the last, is inexplicable. I was pretty poor at all of them and was very relieved when, by a fluke and a coincidence, I found my dream job as an illustrator in an advertising design studio.  I didn’t start writing again until after I’d had my son, Tom. 

I wasn’t desperate to get back into the advertising rat race and I fancied doing something that would allow me to stay at home with Tom, while he was little. That’s when I had the brainwave. ‘I could write a romance!’ I’m slightly ashamed to say I’ve not done a day’s paid work since then, other than some evening bar work in our local squash club.

Describe your typical writing day.

I’m glad you ask about a typical “writing day”.  There are too many days in my life when, typically, no creative writing gets done at all! But if I am in a writing phase, and it’s going well, I can start immediately after breakfast and work through till six, hardly leaving my desk.  And that can go on day after day after day.  Then I have to be disciplined about the other things in my life, like the need to do a bit of shopping, go to my art-class or even to have shower!  And I can edit endlessly.

What inspired you to write ‘Torn’?

Whenever I start the process of developing ideas for a new book I will always begin by reviewing my own life. I can honestly say that some real experience appears in every book I’ve written. This doesn’t mean that every book is autobiographical.  None of them are.  The autobiographical elements might be quite insignificant, used as a starting point or as a method to explore the emotions of the characters. An incident can never be slotted into a story exactly as it happened to me.  I always find I have to alter it, to shade and embroider. I went through this process with TORN.   But if anyone wants to know which bits in the book are real, I am afraid I have to answer, ‘That’s for me to know and you, the reader, to guess.’

The spark which started TORN, happened while travelling to Somerset by car.  I was a passenger on the nearside and was looking out at the passing scene.  We passed a turning on the left.  In the moment or two I had to take it in I saw the road led steeply down to the heart of a village.  The road we were on had obviously been widened and made into the A road, to by-pass the narrow village centre.  At that moment the random thought which went through my head was:  ‘I bet those villagers were pleased.’  But then I thought, ‘But I doubt the people who lived up here were so chuffed to have the main road re-routed past them.’  I went on to reflect that life is actually never that simple or black and white, and........    The whole story grew from there.

In TORN, Jess has taken her 3 yr old son and moved away from London intent on escaping her past.  She expects life in the country to be simple, peaceful and undemanding. Here she will be able to concentrate on being a good mother.  But there’s conflict over a proposed bypass, conflict between friends with very different agendas, conflict between her own nature and her good intentions. And she’s torn between the suitable man and the unsuitable boy. 

What projects are you working on now?

I have just been offered a contract by a new e-publisher, Lysandra Press, for my latest book Life Class. So there may be some more editing work I’ll need to get on with for them. But I’m planning that my next book will be set in and around the world of academia and archaeology.  I’m never sure of the plot, the underlying themes or where and how a story is going, until it’s finished. So it’s a bit too soon for the elevator pitch.  But maybe something like - ‘Educating Rita meets Time Team.’?  What do you think?

How do you publicise your work?

Ineffectively.  I am on Twitter and FaceBook, and several email loops for writers of women’s (romantic) fiction. And I have a blog.  I try to ‘big myself up’ when I have some good news.  But mostly I’m just trying to create a presence, to be friendly, and to mention my book from time to time, hoping people remember TORN by Gilli Allan when they come to make a book-buying choice.

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

When you are introduced as ‘a writer’ people often respond by saying that they’ve often thought about writing a book themselves.  My advice is always: If you’re really serious, don’t wait.  Start now. It’s what I did. 

The idea that I might actually try to write for publication came to me while I was ironing. I suddenly thought: ‘I used to write romances when I was a teenager, I’m sure I could knock off a Mills & Boon now.’  (Famous last words!  It’s not easy, and like so many writers who’ve tried, I was rejected very firmly.)

Recalling the advice from English teachers that I would write better if I confined myself to what I knew, I thought back over my life.   For me it was a no-brainer. The event chose itself.  It was something I had often considered writing about, but........

 I was an artist. How, where, why would I write about this experience?  Suddenly I had a vehicle. So, by the time I’d finished the ironing, I had my starting point ‘miscarriage’. Even though I suspected that the subject - and the way I planned to weave it into a romance - would probably disqualify the book from consideration by M & B, I knew I had to do it anyway. You have to be a bit obsessive to a writer!    As soon as the ironing was put away I found a notebook and a pen and started.  That book - Just Before Dawn - was the first I ever finished and was accepted by a publisher very quickly.

It is too easy to let yourself be put off from writing until you’ve got the time, until the children have gone to school, left home, until you’ve retired.  In my view the ‘start now’ principle is the best one.  You can always find time or make time. 

What is your favourite work of fiction?

I’m sorry, this is going to sound incredibly pretentious and I’ve no idea if, reading the book for the first time today, I’d feel the same. But cross my heart, my favourite novel is Dostoevsky’s Crime & Punishment.  When I claim this, I mean that it is the book which had the biggest impact on me.  I first read it when I was about 16 (before leaving school and going to Art College). I still have my school library copy somewhere, which I never returned, re-reading it five times before I was twenty.  The other novel(s) that had a similar effect on me was the Gormenghast trilogy, by Mervyn Peake.

Favourite authors recently are Kate Atkinson and C J Sansom.

Which author had the greatest influence on you as a child?

This is a hard one.  I was given all the A A Milne Christopher Robin stories and poems when I was young, but my enormous love for these developed more in my mid-teens.  Thinking back, the book which left the strongest impression when I first read it was probably Heidi, by Johanna Spyri. I was given it on my eighth birthday, around the time I suddenly ‘got the hang’ of reading.  (And once I’d started I never looked back.)  It’s special for me because it was one of the first books I read to myself after I became a fluent reader. I can even still recall the smell of it.

You recently appeared at the Cheltenham Literary Festival, was this the first festival you’ve spoken at? Is it something you’d like to do again?

I cannot, in all conscience, allow readers of this interview to think I am some kind of literary celebrity - I wish! The event I appeared at was on the Festival fringe. The Daffodil restaurant in Cheltenham was hosting writers to talk and read, every afternoon throughout the festival, while their audience took tea.

It was the first festival, the first anything, I’ve spoken at.  I was very nervous. But nowadays writers have to be able to get out there and talk to the public. So I prepared well and gave a short talk about myself, my writing ‘journey’ and an overview of the changes in publishing since I started.  I then did an introduction of TORN, giving the audience a bit of the back-story, and sketching in the first few chapters up to the passage I intended to read. 

In case you’re wondering, the reason I didn’t read from Chapter One is because it describes an aggressive drunken altercation outside a pub. I try to write honestly and don’t pull my punches.  So there was no way I was going to read this unexpurgated passage to ladies taking afternoon tea in Cheltenham!  

I was hugely relieved when it was all over and am now confident I could do a talk and / or a reading again. I am not saying I was particularly good at it, but I managed to get through it without hyper-ventilating, freezing, fainting or losing my place.  I’d still be nervous but it’s one of those things, once you’ve done it you know you could do again. So I would accept any feasible project that came my way. 

Finally, and most importantly, you’ve lost your wallet, who do you enlist to help you find it, Poirot or Miss Marple?

Definitely Miss Marple.  And not any old Miss Marple.  I want the Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple, from those classic old black & white films. Never bettered.


Gilli has a blog at: http://gilliallan.blogspot.com/2011/04/extract-from-torn-out-now-as-e-book-on.html

and can be found on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1182311866) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/gilliallan)

Christina Daley lives in America and is the author of ‘Seranfyll’, a young adult fantasy with a historical setting.  It sounds like a must for Harry Potter fans young and old!

“For the first time in her life, Rain has a choice to make. The thirteen-year-old slave girl lives in the country of Yoan, where slaves aren't allowed proper names, let alone anything else. After being sold by a gambler and bought by a thief, she's freed by an eccentric young noble, about whom many rumors abound. Some say his manor is haunted, his horse can fly, and that he's actually a devil.  Now that she's free, Rain must decide what she will do with that new freedom. Her choices will lead her to new friends and many adventures, none of which she could have possibly expected.

Fans of Harry Potter and Howl's MovingCastle will enjoy this magical tale about choices, consequences, and what it really means to be free.”

Let’s get down to business…

What started you writing and is it something you always wanted to do?

I've wanted to write a book since I was about 12 or 13 years old, when my English class read "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton. When I learned that she was only 16 when she published it, I figured I'd take a stab at writing. I'm 28 now, and Seranfyll is my first fiction work that I published. But I suppose it's better late than never!

Do you write full-time or do you have another career?

I do have a day job, so writing is part-time for me. I like what I do, though it does have its own set of challenges, and I'm thankful that I've been able to work and have a steady income through these hairy economic times we've been experiencing.

Describe your typical writing day.

I don't write everyday, but when I do, it's usually rather late. Sometimes I listen to music, sometimes I don't. I usually tune things out when I write, so I don't notice much around me. Except, say, when a fire alarm goes off. But I'd prefer to notice something like that.

What inspired you to start writing?


I didn't like reading much as a kid, but I enjoyed being read to. My mom used to read to me before bed every night, and I actually made my first book with some friends in our neighborhood when I was about four. We hadn't learned how to write letters or numbers yet, so we sort of squiggled something onto some dot matrix paper we took from my father's printer, drew some illustrations, cut up a cardboard box for the cover, and bound it with clear adhesive tape. It was quite fantastic, if I do say so myself.  

What projects are you working on now?

I'm working on a sequel to Seranfyll. It takes place about two years after the last events of the first book. Rain, Domrey, and Coal are all back, along with some new and colorful characters, and they go on a pretty big adventure across the sea to a place popularly known as The Untamed Continent. Naturally, there's a lot that can go wrong in a place like that.

I was hoping to have it ready to launch in time for Christmas, but it looks like it'll be about Spring of next year when that will happen. That may also give me time to get another book ready, but we'll see.

How do you publicise your work?

Not very well, lol! Or I should say, not as much as I probably should. I gave away review copies of the ebook to book bloggers and reviewers, and then I did several giveaways when the paperbacks became available. I've hung out on Goodreads and Twitter a lot, but I've sort of slowed a bit on those since I'm trying to concentrate on writing the next book. And, of course, I do guest posts and interviews with lovely people like you!

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

I'm still pretty new at this, so I'm not sure I have much to offer. But something that C.S. Lewis wrote once has stuck with me, and that's, "The proper rewards are not simply tacked on to the activity for which they are given, but are the activity itself in consummation.” I personally like to write because I like to tell stories. Sure, I'd like to be compensated for my efforts and I'd love to do this full-time, but that's not the primary reason I do this. If I personally don't feel rewarded in simply doing the craft, regardless if I'm being paid, then I would want to rethink my intentions and maybe find something else that does make me feel that way.

Other than your own, what’s your favourite work of fiction?


Oh, there are plenty of books that I prefer to read over my own (and I do like Seranfyll very much :]). Of them, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis is my favorite. It's such a charming story written simply by a brilliant man.

Which author had the greatest influence on you as a child?

I was really into the original Nancy Drew mysteries when I was younger. I know that Carolyn Keene wasn't a real person and that several ghostwriters wrote those books under that pen name. But those were the first books that I wanted to read on my own and that weren't for school. I also read a lot of comic strip compilation books, and my favorites were Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson and Garfield by Jim Davis.

Finally, and most importantly, you’ve lost your wallet, who do you enlist to help you find it, Poirot or Miss Marple?

Please don't flog me, but I have to admit that I've not read any of Agatha Christie's novels! I'm sure either of them would do the job perfectly, but Nancy Drew might do pretty well, too. Of course, I still wish she would get a boyfriend who had a better name. (Eternal apologies to anyone out there with the name Ned Nickerson. I truly am sorry for you on so many levels.)

 

Christina has a brilliant blog at: http://christinadaley.blogspot.com/ and can be found on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/CDaleyAuthor

Seranfyll is available on Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/60160

And Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/Seranfyll-Christina-Daley/dp/1463683022/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1