Finding That Right Balance: An Interview with DJ Hicks
One of my favorite types of people to showcase in this forum are the emerging authors, and DJ Hicks falls into that category. Though he’s just celebrated the one-year anniversary of his debut, First-Name Basis, the book was the “first (official) project” to make it from his head to the page thanks in part to…
Read MoreCreating Her Own Worlds: An Interview with Helen Garraway
Author Helen Garraway and I might write in different genres, but we certainly have (at least) two things in common: both of us inherited our love of reading from our mothers, and we started writing somewhat late in the game. Despite her delayed start, Helen is doing something exactly right: she’s an award-winning and USA…
Read MoreSixteen (Wild and Precious, Part III)
Dear Melina, I got back from a long run the other day and was standing in the shower when I realized that the end of June was upon us and I hadn’t started your birthday letter yet. So, like last year, it was another “Holy shit!” moment. (For real, my dear. I said it out…
Read MorePromoting Understanding and Awareness: An Interview with Lexi Andresen Lutz
Knowledge is power, and we can all learn something from experiences that differ from ours. Lexi Andresen Lutz hopes to help others with that learning process. She is the author of All Mixed Up: Discovering the Beauty in Racial Ambiguity, a memoir released in 2023. The book “delves into the complexities of navigating different cultural…
Read MoreWriting Prompt: World Social Media Day
Blogging used to be the first thing I did each day. Putting words on the page, many of them as a way to ease my soul or work through whatever was spinning inside my head. Now, I still write for those reasons, but most of my words end up in a book or essay. That’s…
Read MoreLife is an Adventure: An Interview with Ron Lamberson
What is it they say about word-of-mouth referrals? How important they are? I can attest. That’s how author Ron Lamberson and I “met.” Ron reached out in March 2023 regarding an interview, and he’s been waiting patiently ever since! During that time, he’s been busy writing (among other things) and will be releasing the third…
Read MoreLimitless Possibilities: An Interview with Dani Resh
Fantasy is a genre I don’t read a lot of, and I’m continually impressed by authors who take on the challenge. One such person is Michigan author Dani Resh, whose first and second books in her planned trilogy published in 2021 and 2023, respectively, by Warren Publishing. Readers loved the debut, Compass to Vinland, calling…
Read MoreBreaking the Stigma: An Interview with Tracey Yokas
Author Tracey Yokas reached out to me about an interview in late 2022, but soon thereafter, I thought about pulling back on the feature. I even told Tracey I might be putting a pin in the project. But when I looked at Tracey’s request again, I knew I needed to keep the series going because…
Read MoreConstantly Improving: An Interview with Annye Driscoll, aka Maker Fishmeal
Cosplayer and author Annye Driscoll and I met last year at the Dayton Metro Library Author Symposium. It was a wonderful event for readers and authors alike, and once we’d spoken, I invited them to be a part of this series because the concept of cosplay and writing a glue guide to help with it…
Read MoreFreedom to Express One’s Thoughts: An Interview with Kammeron Polverari
Kammeron Polverari (see below for the correct pronunciation of her name, something that is always important to this writer!) is the author of From the Fires Scattered There, a work of historical fiction based on true events. The book released last year, and readers appreciate Kammeron’s attention to detail and accuracy, among other things. One reader…
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