Who’s That Indie Author? Biff Mitchell

August 12, 2019August 12, 2019 ~ Book Club Mom ~ 11 Comments

Author name: Biff Mitchell

Genre: Speculative Fiction

Books: Fiction: Heavy Load (a laundromance), Team Player, The War Bug, Boston Jonson in Murder by Burger, Boston Jonson in Murder by Art, Boston Jonson in Murder by Coffee, The Reality Wars, The Weekly Man

Non-fiction: eMarketing Tools for Writers, Writing Hurts Like Hell: How to Write a Novel When You Don’t Have Time to Write a Short Story.

What’s your story and how did you become a writer? I’m a writer and a photographer. Writing is my obsession. Photography is my passion. If I don’t write, I go crazy, whether or not the writing is driving me crazy. This is why I call my writing workshop Writing Hurts Like Hell.

How do you balance your work with other demands? I schedule my writing just as though it’s work that I have to do, or I’ll be fired. It means sitting in front of a laptop when my friends are all out partying and it means saying no to people who think that writing is just a hobby when you have a fulltime job doing something else.

Name one of the happiest moments in your life: As a parent, I’d have to say the moment my daughter was born; as a writer I’d have to say the day my first novel was accepted for publication by Jacobyte Books in Australia.

What’s your approach to writing? Are you a “pantser” or a planner? I start off with a story dump…a hardback notebook that I can carry everywhere. I jot down the idea and then, over a period of several months, I develop the idea until I’m ready to build a story board from the first to the last scene. Generally, about 40 or 50 pages in, the characters take over the story and the story board goes out the window. I do it anyway because the story board structures my writing so that, even when the characters take over, I have a good idea where the story is going.

Could you write in a café with people around? Since my first novel, every one of my novels has been written in a coffee shop. There’s something about the hustle and bustle of a coffee shop that inspires me to get the work done.

Have you ever written dialogue in a second language? If so, how did you do it? Nope.

What’s your favorite book and what are you reading now? My favorite book is In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan. It’s a hippie novel, so I’ll leave it at that. I’m currently reading a Tim Dorsey novel on my Kindle and a Carl Hiaasen novel in print format. I read print books an hour or so before bed because the blue light from screens suppresses melatonin production and inhibits sleep.

What’s your favorite way to read a book: hardcover, paperback, eReader? Paperback and eReader, with my Kindle being the preferred between the two. I like the portability of paperbacks and eReaders over hardcover books because I’m on the move a lot. However, if I want to read something and it’s available only in hardcover format, I’ll get the hardcover. No matter what the format, it’s the content that matters.

Do you think print books will always be around? Dynamics such as quick access, production and distribution costs and availability of materials will eventually drive print books out of production, especially as new technologies take literature into new directions (such as books that allow reader participation in the story.) I’m not sure how this will eventually play but, but I’m guessing it will happen as books and video games are merged into a single medium.

Would you ever read a book on your phone? No, but I’m working on three short stories on my iPhone. I work on them when I’m sitting in waiting rooms or otherwise have a few spare moments.

What’s your go-to device? iPhone, Android or something else? I use my iPhone for writing and photography…maybe not as much as I should, but I’m learning.

How long could you go without checking your phone? I only pay attention to it when I need it or someone calls me. I call myself a lot and leave messages for ideas on my home phone. I never take my phone with me when I travel.

Do you listen to audiobooks? If you do, what do you do while you’re listening? Never. Well…once. I almost drove into a police car. When I get into a good story, it gets all my concentration.

Do you like using social media to promote yourself and your book? If so, what’s your favorite platform? Starting September 8, I’m going to serialize a novel (The Weekly Man) as a daily coffee break novel for two and a half months. I’m well into a social media campaign to promote it. I just set up a Pinterest business account for it because I think this particular novel will attract more female readers than male. I’ve used Facebook in the past, but I’ve never been impressed with the results.

Website and social media links:
Website and photography: biffmitchell.com
Facebook writer’s page: @BiffMitchellWriter
Weekly Man blog: theweeklyman.com
Weekly Man Facebook page: The Weekly Man – a free serialized novel
Personal blog: biffmitchell.wordpress.com

Awards/special recognition: New Brunswick Artist of the Week (NB Film Coop). I’ve had over a dozen short stories published in the award-winning Twisted Tails anthologies. Atlantic Canada Radio Awards (ACRA) first place award in PSA division.

Are you an indie author? Do you want to build your indie author network? Get your name out on Who’s That Indie Author!

Email bvitelli2009@gmail.com for a bio template and other details.

Who’s That Indie Author? Jennifer S. Alderson

July 16, 2019July 16, 2019 ~ Book Club Mom ~ 14 Comments

Author name: Jennifer S. Alderson

Genres: Mystery / Thriller / Historical Fiction / Travel

Books: Marked for Revenge, Rituals of the Dead, The Lover’s Portrait, Down and Out in Kathmandu, Holiday Gone Wrong, and Notes of a Naive Traveler

What’s your story and how did you become a writer? Thanks for inviting me to your blog, Book Club Mom!

I am an American currently residing in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. My passion for travel, history, and art inspires my novels. I have been writing for as long as I can remember, but until my late twenties, it was all non-fiction for newspapers and magazines. After an incredible trip to Nepal, I wrote a fictionalized version of my adventures but didn’t know what to do with it. The sudden death of a close relative was the catalyst to get it published.

How do you balance your work with other demands? Balancing my roles as writer, business owner, wife, and mother is an enormous challenge! My focus shifts weekly, depending on the current needs of my family and business. However, my writing time is well-guarded!

Name one of the happiest moments in your life: Aside from meeting my husband or the birth of my child, I think it was receiving my Dutch passport. It has been a long and sometimes difficult transition into expat life, but I am so glad to be in the Netherlands. It feels like I’ve come home.

What’s your approach to writing? Are you a “pantser” or a planner? Planner all the way. Without a concise outline, I am completely lost! However, once I start writing, I allow myself to listen to the story and follow the path it takes me on, even if that means deviating from the outline.

Could you write in a café with people around? I love writing in busy cafes! Silence reminds me too much of my former corporate life. I write faster and better when surrounded by fairly loud music that turns surrounding conversations into white noise. Otherwise, I would be eavesdropping instead of writing. J

Have you ever written dialogue in a second language? If so, how did you do it? I have included Dutch, German, and Italian phrases in my novels. Honestly, I am quite nervous about getting it wrong every time I do. One great advantage of living in such an international city is that I know native speakers who I could double check my translations with.

What’s your favorite book and what are you reading now? There are so many great books to choose from! I am a huge fan of Donna Leon and just finished rereading By Its Cover. I admire her ability to bring Venice to life in each and every novel.

What’s your favorite way to read a book: hardcover, paperback, eReader? I used to read exclusively paperbacks but in the last few years I have transitioned to eBooks. I read so many, it makes it a whole lot cheaper to stock up and take them with me!

Do you think print books will always be around? I hope so. There is nothing more wonderful than holding a paperback in your hand. I do still buy paperbacks of my favorite reads, as well as give them as gifts.

Would you ever read a book on your phone? I have not. I am not a fan of smart phones and try to use mine as little as possible.

What’s your go-to device? iPhone, android or something else? I do read eBooks on my iPad and have reading apps installed for iBooks, Kindle, Bol, Kobo, and my local library.

How long could you go without checking your phone? Days, possibly weeks! I am not good about checking messages or calling people back straight away. Since becoming an author, I check my email and social media much more often than I used to, but it is still a challenge to stay on top of all of the messages I receive!

Do you listen to audiobooks? If you do, what do you do while you’re listening? I have recently discovered audiobooks and enjoy listening to them when working on marketing and social media.

Do you like using social media to promote yourself and your book? If so, what’s your favorite platform? Connecting with readers is one of the most enjoyable things about this job! When you write a book, you have no idea if anyone will be able to relate to the characters, setting, or plot. Publishing a book really is a leap of faith. Chatting with readers who enjoy my work or share the same interests I do, really makes it fun. Facebook is my favorite platform, though I am also often on Twitter and Instagram.

Website and social media links:
Website: jennifersalderson.com
Twitter: @JSAauthor
Facebook: @JenniferSAldersonauthor
Goodreads Author Page: Jennifer S. Alderson
Amazon Author Page: Jennifer S. Alderson

Awards/special recognition: My novels have won several readers awards, including 5 star medals from Readers’ Favorite, Chill with a Book, and indieBRAG. They have also been included on several Recommended Reads lists on websites such as The Displaced Nation, TripFiction, and Women Writers, Women’s Books.

About the Author: Jennifer S. Alderson was born in San Francisco, raised in Seattle, and currently lives in Amsterdam. After traveling extensively around Asia, Oceania, and Central America, she moved to Darwin, Australia, before finally settling in the Netherlands. Jennifer’s love of travel, art, and culture inspires her award-winning, internationally oriented mystery series—the Zelda Richardson Mystery Series—and standalone stories. Her background in journalism, multimedia development, and art history enriches her novels. When not writing, she can be found in a museum, biking around Amsterdam, or enjoying a coffee along the canal while planning her next research trip.

Are you an indie author? Do you want to build your indie author network? Get your name out on Who’s That Indie Author!

Email bvitelli2009@gmail.com for a bio template and other details.

Who’s That Indie Author? D. Wallace Peach

June 5, 2019June 5, 2019 ~ Book Club Mom ~ 56 Comments

Author name: D. Wallace Peach

Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction

Books:

The Shattered Sea duology – Soul Swallowers and Legacy of Souls; The Rose Shield series – Catling’s Bane, Oathbreakers’ Guild, Farlanders’ Law, and Kari’s Reckoning; The Dragon Soul Saga – Myths of the Mirror, Eye of Fire, Eye of Blind, and Eye of Sun; Stand-alones – The Sorcerer’s Garden, Sunwielder, The Bone Wall, The Melding of Aeris; Anthology – The Five Elements; Children’s Book – Grumpy Ana and the Grouchy Monsters

What’s your story and how did you become a writer? Totally by accident! I’d dabbled in writing for years but never considered it a real possibility. Then a temporary move for my husband’s work left me jobless with some rare free time to fill. The dear man suggested that I write a book. Well, the rest is history.

How do you balance your work with other demands? Balance is one of those things I don’t negotiate well. It’s one reason I never considered writing while raising kids or working outside the home. Now, I’m attempting to balance aging parents and grandchildren, and it’s not easy to make time for the laptop. When things get busy, what do I let slide? Housework!

Name one of the happiest moments in your life: That’s an easy one. The birth of my daughter. It was true love at first sight, and that’s never changed.

What’s your approach to writing? Are you a “pantser” or a planner? I started writing as a pantser and loved following my characters on the most circuitous tangents. My first book was a 190,000-word masterpiece – a horrible one, needless to say. I had to cut 63,000 words to entice a publisher to even glance at it. After two torturous years of flaying my manuscript, I became an enthusiastic planner.

Could you write in a café with people around? Maybe. I like the romantic writerly idea of it. But I live a long, long way from a café, so I haven’t had the chance to try it. I write in big chunks of time and might feel awkward capitalizing a cafe table for seven hours.

Have you ever written dialogue in a second language? If so, how did you do it? For Sunwielder, I wrote dialog in a made-up language! That was super fun, but very limited since other characters had to translate and I didn’t want to bog down the prose. I made up words and structural rules and learned to speak it. I would definitely do it again if a book called for it.

What’s your favorite book and what are you reading now? I love the book Anam Cara by John O’Donohue. My mom gave it to me years ago, and the beauty of the reflections spoke to me then and still do. Right now, I’m on an indie binge and just finished Survival of the Fittest by Jacqui Murray. Prehistoric fiction!

What’s your favorite way to read a book: hardcover, paperback, eReader? I love paperback books, but switched to Kindle about 5 years ago. That far, far away café is next door to the far, far away bookstore. And honestly, when I finish a book, I want to start the next one that moment! And ebooks are less costly so I can buy more of them!

Do you think print books will always be around? Yes, they’re treasures. If I love a kindle book, I’ll buy the print version so I can hug it.

Would you ever read a book on your phone? I have! Mostly when traveling, and it’s not as bad as I thought it would be.

What’s your go-to device? iPhone, Android or something else? A giant laptop at home, and an old cracked iPhone on the road. I used to rely on an old cracked iPad, but it’s so slow now that I can’t bear it. (I tend to drop my electronics).

How long could you go without checking your phone? Could I go? Months. I’m a hermit and can survive without human contact for decades. But that would be rude, so I check email once every couple of hours on my laptop.

Do you listen to audiobooks? If you do, what do you do while you’re listening? I don’t, but I want to! I just have to figure out all the new-fangled technology and cough up the bucks for Audible. What would I do while listening? Drive, exercise, garden, housework, you name it.

Do you like using social media to promote yourself and your book? If so, what’s your favorite platform? I love WordPress, and it’s my go-to platform. I cherish the community, the kindness, the laughter and tears, all the fun that I share with this talented bunch of people. The rest of social media I could take or leave and don’t make much time for. Blogging takes a lot of time away from writing, but it’s worth it to this old hermit.

Website and social media links:
Blog: mythsofthemirror.com
Website: dwallacepeachbooks.com
Twitter: @Dwallacepeach

Awards/special recognition: Stay tuned.

Are you an indie author? Do you want to build your indie author network? Get your name out on Who’s That Indie Author!

Email bvitelli2009@gmail.com for a bio template and other details.

Thanks for visiting – come back soon!

Book Club Mom’s May recap – books, birthdays and a graduation

May 31, 2019May 31, 2019 ~ Book Club Mom ~ 14 Comments

I don’t know what happened to May, but here we are at the finish. It’s a big month for birthdays in my family and we squeezed in a college graduation too! It’s always nice to settle into a comfy chair during the down times and relax with a book, a show or a puzzle.

I’ve become a bit crazy with a word game I have on my ancient Kindle called Every Word: Crossings, and I have been playing it obsessively. I never look at that as a waste of time, though. Things like that always help me sort out my day.

And I went a little overboard with my Barbie doll posts (see below), but it’s been fun (for me, at least!) sharing something that I loved as a girl.

This month, I read and reviewed three regular books:

A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd – if you like mystery series, this is the first of the Bess Crawford stories, set in England during World War I. I enjoyed both the characters and the historical setting. The author, Charles Todd, is actually a mother-son writing team.

More and more, it seems, fiction books are being co-authored and this month I wrote a post about this very thing!

Author teams and pen names – if the story’s good, does it matter? Not to me!

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren – in this memoir about becoming a female scientist, Jahren writes a compelling personal story about family, love, friendship, mental health and the difficulties of earning a living as a scientist. (Jahren made it big, after a long road, and has won many awards.)

The Beneficiary – Fortune, Misfortune, and the Story of my Father by Janny Scott – a biography of Robert Montgomery Scott, written by his daughter. A tale of four generations of a wealthy Main Line, Pennsylvania family and their 800-acre estate and the complicated relationships among family members.

As I mentioned above, I also started a series that celebrates books about the Barbie doll’s 60^th birthday. Here are the first two posts, indulging my obsession. I’ll share my final Barbie post next week.

Dressing Barbie: A Celebration of the Clothes That Made America’s Favorite Doll and the Incredible Woman Behind Them – Carol Spencer

Look what Barbie’s wearing! Barbie Fashion 1959-1967 by Sarah Sink Eames

May was a busier indie author month. I introduced three hard-working writers:

Richard Doiron
Lucia N. Davis
Frank Prem

If you are an indie or self-published author and would like to be featured on Who’s That Indie Author, please email me at bvitelli2009@gmail.com. To shake things up, I’ve updated my interview with a new set of questions!

Next week, we’re starting a Summer Reading program at the library where I work, so I’ll be signing up for that. I plan to work these two books onto my list:

June book previews: Lot – Stories by Bryan Washington and Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

And last, I was sorry to see that American author Herman Wouk died on May 17, at age 103. I’ve enjoyed many of his books and think I will go back to some of them this summer. I had a fun time looking at these book covers – did you notice that the last two, The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, fit together to make a bigger picture?

Remembering American author Herman Wouk, 1915 – 2019

I hope you had a good month, out in the world and between the pages. I’m looking forward to a good summer!

Thanks for visiting – come back soon!

Who’s That Indie Author? Frank Prem

May 29, 2019May 29, 2019 ~ Book Club Mom ~ 26 Comments

Author name: Frank Prem

Genre: Free Verse Poetry/Memoir

Books: Devil In The Wind (2019); Small Town Kid (2018)

What’s your story and how did you become a writer? I’ve been a prolific free verse poet for over 40 years now. Mainly keeping my work low key and developing skills and a kind of back catalogue of completed work. I’ve started to draw on that work now as I move in to presenting myself to the public in book form.

My professional career has been as a Psychiatric Nurse, which I’ve also been doing for 40 odd years, now. In that role, I have spanned the days of the old mental asylum, which I grew up with in my town, through student nursing for three years and a range of clinical experiences at different facilities around my state (Victoria, Australia). My current plan is to have a third memoir style collection of poems focusing on my experience of psychiatry in book form by the end of 2019, or early in 2020.

I started writing way back, when I was in high school. I discovered then that my teacher was so impressed that a student had attempted poetry that I was given credit even though my essay submission was a few hundred words short of requirements. I figured there was something very ‘right’ about that, and I’ve been a poet ever since.

How do you balance your work with other demands? I’m not entirely sure that I do achieve balance in this respect. In my professional career I was always charging at my next objective as though NOW was the only possible moment in universal history to achieve it.

I am like that with my writing as well. I chase my fads with a singlemindedness that leaves other routine or mundane considerations behind.

It’s not necessarily a great trait to have and I need to constantly remind myself (or have others do it for me) to give attention to the other important things in my life that aren’t the passion of the moment.

Name one of the happiest moments in your life: There are a few big moments across a life such as I’ve had, but the memory that comes to mind is from about 15 years ago. At the time I was courting a lady considerably younger than myself and had all the doubts that you might expect an old-ster (as I saw myself) having.

The memory is of the lady in question – a talented singer/songwriter – turning up to one of our earliest get togethers bearing a cassette tape, on which she had taped herself playing and singing a song that she’d created from one of my poems.

That was a very big moment.

What’s your approach to writing? Are you a “pantser” or a planner? I am a ‘pantser,’ in every respect.

Why plan, when you can write? Why trouble to create a story arc and plot, when the next thing you write is the next thing in the sequence?

Creatively delightful, but tricky as I’ve had to transmogrify myself from simple writer into author, editor, publisher and self-publicist.

Very tricky.

Can or could you write in a café with people around? Yes I can.

The likelihood is that the people in the café will become the subjects that I write about.

In all seriousness, I find I can tune out most distractions when I have something to write, and on occasion, at least, the atmosphere in a busy café is positively stimulating.

Have you ever written dialogue in a second language? If so, how did you do it? I have indeed, and have even had the privilege of being published in another country (that being the USA) with a poem using that ‘voice.’

My family was originally from Croatia in what was then Yugoslavia. I grew up with the Croatian language all around me and for a period in my writing evolution I wrote in pidgin language that is half Australian English and half Croatian.

This may sound a little arty-odd, but when I’m writing I have made it my practice to allow the idea I’m pursuing or the image I am contemplating to find its own voice and tell its own story. My job is to steer it so that it remains coherent and meaningful for a reader. In the case of the Croatian voice, I had enough familiarity with the idiom and vernacular and with the way this particular migrant population was likely to think to be able to shape poems in a reasonably accurate representation.

Quite a task, and not always successful, but completely unique when it worked.

What’s your favorite book and what are you reading now? For a favorite book, I draw on my ‘go to’ library here at home, which includes Tolkien, Le Guin, Robin Hobb, and Mathew Reilly, to name a few.

I’m currently re-reading a Mather Reilly book – Ice Station, but I’d probably have to nominate Tolkien and Lord of the Rings as my favorite because of the inspiration and pleasure they have given me over the journey.

What’s your favorite way to read a book: hardcover, paperback, eReader? Paperback, for me. Hard cover is fine, too, but I really struggle with the electronic book forms. I think it may be because I sweat over the keyboard for as much as 12 hours a day, and the idea of reading for pleasure electronically just doesn’t feel right.

Do you think print books will always be around? I’m a print book guy who is only now discovering electronic forms with any purpose, so I say yes.

If you ask me in a few years’ time, when I’m perhaps scratching a living out an e-book readership, I may give a different response.

Would you ever read a book on your phone? Yes. I do that now, when I need to, and reluctantly. I don’t own an e-reader.

What’s your go-to device? iPhone, Android or something else? I have an Android device. The first I have owned and I fell in love with its picture taking capacities long before I began using it as a phone.

I have begun to make something of an art out of writing to the image and letting the image communicate its own story without too much control from myself. The Android device has been quite material in allowing me to develop a new capacity within my writing skillset.

How long could you go without checking your phone? I check it frequently. Not for the phone, but for the email and the social media that I might be working with. Looking for responses to my latest posting of a poem on my blog.

I’ve become a bit of a junkie in that respect.

Do you listen to audiobooks? If you do, what do you do while you’re listening? I have listened to audio books when traveling. Usually something from The Great Course range of educational materials, rather than novels.

I am very interested in perhaps creating my own audio books in future and have done a number of amateur audio recordings and podcasts and radio interviews, all of which are accessible from my Author page on the web.

I enjoy reading to live audiences very much.

Do you like using social media to promote yourself and your book? If so, what’s your favorite platform? The only reason I use Social media is to pursue connections regarding writing and publishing and promotion of my work. It is a critical element in the pursuit of free publicity and promotion of new works.

The tricky bit is how to make contact with an audience that isn’t myself in disguise i.e. another author, pursuing the same goals and objectives that I am (only maybe better and smarter than me).

What I enjoy most is contact with genuine readers who might be curious about what I’ve done, why and how and so on.

That, I enjoy very much.

Website and social media links:
Website: frankprem.com
Daily Poetry Blog: frankprem.wordpress.com
Facebook: FrankPrem11 and @frankprem2
Twitter: @frank_prem

Awards/special recognition: No Awards for a number of years – I stopped seeking them a long time back. Book reviews at Goodreads are worth a look, though. Try these: Small Town Kid and Devil In The Wind.

Are you an indie author? Do you want to build your indie author network? Get your name out on Who’s That Indie Author!

Email bvitelli2009@gmail.com for a bio template and other details.

Thanks for visiting – come back soon!

Who’s That Indie Author? Lucia N. Davis

May 20, 2019May 19, 2019 ~ Book Club Mom ~ 15 Comments

Author name: Lucia N. Davis

Mini bio: I live in Michigan with my husband and our three children. I love to travel and explore the world, whether it is hiking in desolate places with beautiful nature, or sniffing up culture in old (and newer) cities. Having young children makes all of this a bit harder to accomplish, but it’s never too early to expose them.

Genre: Mystery/Suspense

Books: The Dunnhill Mysteries: The Baby on the Back Porch (#1), The Charm of Lost Chances (#2) and The Secrets of Sinclair Lodge (#3). The main character, Sara Eriksson, moves from San Francisco to a small mountain town in the Northern Cascades, to find some peace and quiet. The old village has been a silent witness to mysterious events long forgotten. But sometimes the past has a way of resurfacing…

Each book can be read as a stand-alone mystery, but some character threads run throughout the series. All books have a paranormal component and a hint of romance.

When did you begin your writing career? I was always making up stories, and at some point I started writing them down. I published my first story in 2016.

What’s your approach to writing? Are you a “pantser” or a planner? A bit of both, more like a plantser. I usually start with an outline, just so I have something to focus on when I write, but many things just happen as I go. I like having the freedom of exploring random ideas as they pop up.

What’s your working style – morning or late-night writer? I write whenever I have a chunk of time available. I have three young children, so free time is not something I have an abundance of. I prefer mornings, since my brain is just more awake, but I’ll write in the evenings as well if I need to.

Do you work at a computer or write long-hand? Laptop. Writing would give me serious hand cramps!

What gets those words flowing, coffee or tea? Coffee. No competition.

Favorite book: Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen was so talented in describing her contemporaries. It’s surprising how many of her observations would still work today.

Favorite movie: That’s a hard one. I don’t have one I’m afraid. There are so many excellent movies to choose from. I don’t get to go to the movies very often, so I always run behind. Nowadays, most of what I watch has to qualify for a kids’ movie night. I just watched the first Harry Potter with my eldest, which was great. And the other day I watched Coco with my seven-year old, and towards the end we were both crying. Also a very good one!

Favorite musician: I don’t have one of those either! It depends on what I do and how I feel. I love so many different kinds of music, ranging from Mozart to Imagine Dragons. I have playlists for different moods, or activities like driving my car and working out.

Links: Website: luciadavis.com
Facebook: @LuciaN.DavisAuthor
Twitter: @LNDavisAuthor
Goodreads: LuciaNDavis

Are you an indie author? Do you want to build your indie author network? Get your name out on Who’s That Indie Author!

Email bvitelli2009@gmail.com for a bio template and other details.

Thanks for visiting – come back soon!

Who’s That Indie Author? Richard Doiron

May 7, 2019May 7, 2019 ~ Book Club Mom ~ 14 Comments

Author name: Richard Doiron

Genre: Poetry

Books: Let There Be Peace; In The Spirit Of Gibran; Ancestors Dance (222 Sonnets)

What’s your story and how did you become a writer? Mozart was born to music; I was born to write.

How do you balance your work with other demands? Retired now, but even when holding two full-time jobs simultaneously, I still wrote two hours daily.

Name one of the happiest moments in your life: When my daughter was born, eyes open, fully alert.

What’s your approach to writing? Are you a “pantser” or a planner? I see myself as a channel, so some things would not apply; once a project is started, however, it would be seen to completion.

Could you write in a café with people around? I have written in every imaginable situation; once in a very loud bar, music blaring, I wrote a poem that will always stand out. Silence is good also.

Have you ever written dialogue in a second language? If so, how did you do it? I was taught in French, originally, and I have written some poems and song lyrics in French; not as easy nor as spontaneously, however.

What’s your favorite book and what are you reading now? I am not a reader of books, something that has always been a struggle for me and a puzzle for others. However, Kahlil Gibran I related to, and his The Prophet will always hold a special place in my being.

What’s your favorite way to read a book: hardcover, paperback, eReader? Because reading books has always been such a monumental task, I have no preferences in this regard. But what I have read has been hardcover.

Do you think print books will always be around? I do believe that print books will always have a special place in our world, though they may eventually be relegated to history; I would hope not. The thrill of holding your own book for the very first time is a feeling like few others.

Would you ever read a book on your phone? Frankly, I am very much inept technologically-speaking and using a cell phone to call in and receive calls is about as much as I can successfully do.

What’s your go-to device? iPhone, android or something else? I don’t want to sound out of touch with modern-day realities, but my old computer is my link to the outer world. I cannot relate to any of those things mentioned.

How long could you go without checking your phone? I rarely use my phone, using it only for necessary tasks, the simpler the better.

Do you listen to audiobooks? If you do, what do you do while you’re listening? I have never listened to an audiobook.

Do you like using social media to promote yourself and your book? If so, what’s your favorite platform? To be honest, I have never been much of a self-promoting salesman. That would be unfortunate, I believe. While sharing a website with a friend for over a decade, it would be fair to say that we have not promoted our books, or even the website, very effectively. Online 18 years, I have shared poems online daily through that time frame, obviously thousands at this time.

Website and social media links: spiritsinpeace.com

Awards/special recognition: World Poetry Lifetime Achievement Award (2012); Pentasi B World Friendship Poetry Lifetime Achievement Award (2017); nominated for World Poet Laureate 2019.

Are you an indie author? Do you want to build your indie author network? Get your name out on Who’s That Indie Author!

Email bvitelli2009@gmail.com for a bio template and other details.

Thanks for visiting – come back soon!

Introduce yourself and make connections on Who’s That Indie Author!

April 29, 2019April 29, 2019 ~ Book Club Mom ~ 24 Comments

I posted my first Who’s That Indie Author profile nearly four years ago. That’s over 100 authors! I’m always impressed by the energy and focus exhibited by this hardworking group of writers. Many indie authors work full-time jobs, juggle family and other commitments, and then they write on nights and weekends.

You don’t have to motivate indie authors. Telling their stories is a passion. And their work comes in all forms: short fiction, historical fiction, women’s fiction, science fiction, young adult, mysteries, thrillers, suspense, romance, children’s books, memoirs, poetry—and many other subgenres. It’s an endless supply of creativity!

Most indie authors don’t have enough time to work, write and promote their books on social media. There are lots of ways to get your name out there, but it’s a big job.

Who’s That Indie Author is a great way to introduce yourself to readers. It’s also an opportunity to connect with bloggers and expand your network through connections on WordPress, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and many other social media and business platforms.

And, it’s free! So why not take advantage of a chance to show your talents? Submit an author profile and see your name travel from blog to blog and tweet to tweet!

Take a look at some of these recent author profiles:

H. W. Bryce
Gina Briganti
Giselle Roeder
Kathleen Jowitt
Pamela S. Wight
HL Carpenter
Diana Stevan
Anne Marie Andrus
Amie Irene Winters
Kristin Ward

Email Book Club Mom at bvitelli2009@gmail.com to request an author profile template. Open to all self-published and indie authors.

Thanks for visiting – come back soon!

Who’s That Indie Author? H. W. Bryce

April 19, 2019May 7, 2019 ~ Book Club Mom ~ 19 Comments

Author Name: H. W. Bryce

Genre: Poetry

Book: Chasing a Butterfly: A journey in poems of love and loss to acceptance

What’s your story and how did you become a writer? I wrote a Roy Rogers story in Grade 7, and I have been writing off and on since then. While at university, I wrote lyrics and posted them to song magazines. Over the years I entered poetry and story contests.

But the impetus for my current writing was when my wife contracted Alzheimer’s, and I was sinking deep into depression. It was poetry that saved me.

How do you balance your work with other demands? I reserve my mornings for my writing. The afternoon is often taken up with business; sometimes appointments, etc. For the most part, this works very well.

What’s your approach to writing? Are you a “pantser” or a planner? Both. Often, once I get started, I just forge on. Sometimes a poem will practically form itself and come fairly easily.

Sometimes the poem fights me, and I have to “resort” to planning. Occasionally I try to plan it out first – especially when doing formal poetry with a set rhyme and line scheme.

What’s your working style – morning or late-night writer? As noted, morning person.

Do you work at a computer or write long-hand? Mostly I work on my laptop, but I keep a notebook and pen in my pocket at all times. Many, many of my notes become poems.

What gets those words flowing, coffee or tea? The coffee and tea often serve as thinking time as I write.

What’s your favorite book and what are you reading now? A top fave is still any Philip Marlowe book. The Little Sister movie WAS the book, it followed it so closely. Humphrey Bogart, top of my fave actors. Storytelling at its best.

I have been reviewing Keats and Tennyson lately, and reading a whole lot of local area poets, many of whom are really good – two of them are laureates, one of them retired.

What shows do you watch? I watch a lot of British and American mysteries; some nature programs, travel documentaries. I love human interest movies.

Favorite movie: Probably Casablanca. It has everything, including love lost and found and lost and accepted.

Favorite musician: Dave Brubeck; also, the Gershwins

Links:
Website: hwbrycewrites.com
Facebook: herb.w.bryce and @ChasingaButterflywithAnn

Awards/special recognition: I have several certificates of honour for my poetry, a number of poetry competition wins, etc., such as invitations from abroad to appear in their anthologies.

Are you an indie author? Do you want to build your indie author network? Get your name out on Who’s That Indie Author!

Email bvitelli2009@gmail.com for a bio template and other details.

Thanks for visiting – come back soon!

Book Club Mom’s March recap – a month of blog posts

March 31, 2019March 31, 2019 ~ Book Club Mom ~ 17 Comments

March powered through like a freight train on greased wheels and I’m happy to say I didn’t derail!

Spring has finally arrived and, for the first time since I planted bulbs, the bunnies haven’t chomped my flowers down to the nubs. That must be a sign of good things to come!

I had a busy blogging month. I read some good books, profiled two indie authors, brushed up on my vocabulary and grammar, wrote and shared some special posts and made a few YouTube videos.

Here’s a quick “ICYMI” summary of what went down in March at Book Club Mom. Click on the links to visit each post.

Book Reviews

Mar 3: The Widow by Fiona Barton
Mar 11: Transcription by Kate Atkinson
Mar 22: Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke
Mar 24: What If? by Randall Munroe
Mar 30: How to Be a Good Creature by Sy Montgomery

Mar 6: Giselle Roeder
Mar 19: Gina Briganti

I love meeting indie authors and I’m always looking for new profiles to post. If you are interested in being featured, please email bvitelli2009@gmail for more information.

Grammar and Vocabulary

(Images: Pixabay)

I may have majored in English, but I make plenty of mistakes. These grammar and vocabulary posts are my way of staying fresh with the rules:

Mar 5: On vocabulary, words both big and small…
Mar 21: “Into” and “in to” – are you into it?
Mar 28: Using ellipses – are you doing it right?

Special Posts

I shared two posts written by my son, Austin Vitelli. The first is a book review and the second is a feature article that appeared in The Morning Call on March 26.

Mar 6: Sweetness by Jeff Pearlman – thoughts on NFL legend Walter Payton
Mar 26: How 3 former Lehigh football players and their friends started a record label

Guest Post on author Jill Weatherholt’s blog

I was excited to be featured on Jill’s blog, where I talk about my blogging experiences (and mistakes!) and tackle the tricky question of what to do when I don’t like a book.