Back Porch Writer

From story dabbler in the 1980's, to published author as of July 2013, Angel M. is a multi-genre fictional author. To date, she has published The Keeper Book 1 and Underwater City Book 2 of an adventure/fantasy series and Pawper to Pedigree, a dog comedy. 

In between her day job, family, and writing, Angel M. uses her humor to help those wanting to pursue a writing career on the Lessons Learned page of her website where she posts the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of what comes after you've written your manuscript. 

With an almost non-existent attention span and selective memory, you can usually find her scribbling down yet another book idea, line of dialogue, scene, or even something as small as a name for use in future novels.

Entering into the realm of novel writer late in life, Tom Fallwell, at an age of more than sixty years, jumped into that world with both feet. Having always had a fascination with fantasy world-building, even from early in his life, Tom wanted to create his own world filled with rich history and lore. His Rangers of Laerean series does just that, painting a panoramic landscape that is both magical and deadly, in which to set the stories of his Rangers. 

Tom lives in the greater Oklahoma City area, in America's homeland, and spends much of his time with online gaming and watching movies, when not writing his latest work. You can find out more about Tom Fallwell, and his books, by visiting his website at http://tomfallwell.com.

Author Andy Peloquin explores the darker side of human nature through the filter of fantasy heroes, villains, and everything in between.  He's also a freelance writer, a book lover, and a guy who just loves to meet new people. 

About Child of the Night Guild

Viola, a child sold to pay her father's debts, has lost everything: her mother, her home, and her identity. Thrown into a life among criminals, she has no time for grief as she endures the brutal training of an apprentice thief. The Night Guild molds an innocent waif into a cunning, agile outlaw skilled in the thieves' trade. She has only one choice: steal enough to pay her debts. 

The cutthroat streets of Praamis will test her mettle, and she must learn to dodge the City Guards or swing from a hangman's rope. But a more dangerous foe lurks within the guild walls. A sadistic rival apprentice, threatened by her strength, is out for blood.

Back Porch Writer is a proud supporter of the annual Brain to Books Cyber Convention. From now until April 7, 2017, you'll meet exciting voices representing a variety of genres.

Joy Nwosu was born in Enugu, Anambra State of south-eastern Nigeria. Her parents were Charles Belonwu and Deborah Nwosu. She is the fifth in rank of the seven children of her parents. Joy was born into a music family.

Joy, now retired, was a music teacher, trained in Santa Cecilia, Rome, and obtained her Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Michigan, USA.

She has written and published extensively on national and international scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers. Her short story I Come from Utopia was published in African Voices, Spring/Summer, 2007, pg. 18, and her first English novel; Mirror of Our Lives: Voices of Four Igbo Women was published in 2011, and was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Contest in 2012. She has also two books published in the Italian language.

Joy is a trained musician, and taught music for 35 years.  She writes, performs, and record folk songs.

Her book: The Legend of the Walking Dead: Igbo Mythologies is a journey into the mysteries of life and death of the Igbos of Nigeria.  She loves reading romances and mystery stories.

Joy's most recent book, Pregnant Future: No One Knows What Tomorrow Will Bring is available on Amazon as a pre-order. This is the story of Justina. Although the future was not clear to her, she dreamt for herself, a future she wanted to live. Then, she jumped into her dream life with both legs, and without fear, she swam the troubled waters of life, scaling and dodging all obstacles, and in the end, she came out scarred but alive.

Monika Jephcott Thomas grew up in Dortmund Mengede, north-west Germany. She moved to the UK in 1966, enjoying a thirty year career in education before retraining as a therapist.

Two young doctors form a profound and loving bond in Nazi Germany; a bond that will stretch them to the very limits of human endurance. Catholic Max - whose religious and moral beliefs are in conflict, has been been conscripted to  join the war effort as a medic, despite his hatred of Hitler’s regime. His beloved Erika, a privileged young woman, is herself a product of the Hitler Youth. In spite of their stark differences, Max and Erika defy convention and marry. But when Max is stationed at the fortress city of Breslau, their worst nightmares are realised; his hospital is bombed, he is captured by the Soviet Army and taken to a POW camp in Siberia. Max experiences untold horrors, his one comfort the letters he is allowed to send home: messages that can only contain Fifteen Words. Back in Germany, Erika is struggling to survive and protect their young daughter, finding comfort in the arms of a local carpenter. Worlds apart and with only sparse words for comfort, will they ever find their way back to one another, and will Germany ever find peace?

?Fifteen Words is a vivid and intimate portrayal of human love and perseverance, one which illuminates the German experience of the war, which has often been overshadowed by history.

I'm declaring today "take a break from the rubbish" day. It's been years since I felt a need to take a mental health day, but after a disappointing, frustrating, and hatefilled election cycle, I know that I need one. How about you? Not one to wallow, I'm sharing what got me to this decision, and more importantly, what I'm doing about it!

Born in London, Tony Halker studied geology at Leeds University after which he worked as a geologist, travelling extensively overseas. Following an MBA at Cranfield School of Management, he became a manager in hi-tec business.

The introduction of new technology threatens to upend the way of life in a Celtic Druid society as conflicting loyalties pit tribes against one another in this lyrical historical fiction from debut author. The Learn is heavily inspired by nature.

www.tonyhalker.com

Things to remember:

Set up your Amazon author page at Author Central. You can do this for several countries. This also is where you can ensure that all of your books are available, add editorial reviews, your bio, and more. 

Write an intriguing book blurb. There are tons of resources available so that you can learn to do this. Don't pay someone to do it for you; you need to learn this skill in order to sell your books.

The time to begin writing your next book is yesterday.

A single book rarely gets you noticed.

Author Ali Parker writes under five pen names, including this one, and has published 88 books in roughly 2 years. How? That's what we're all here to find out. She primarily writes romance, but does so in a few subgenres: western, scifi, and borderline erotic (from what I could figure out from covers and a little sample reading, but I could be wrong.) She also writes MG, YA, and paranormal.

Adam Dreece kicked off his indie author career with his best-selling steampunk meets fairy tale series, The Yellow Hoods, which struck a chord with kids 9-15 and adults. After four books in the series, the former software architect put out two more young adult books, the post-apocalyptic fantasy book The Wizard Killer – Season One, and then his science fiction novel, The Man of Cloud 9. The first two novels in The Yellow Hoods series, as well as The Wizard Killer, have been finalists for Book of the Year awards from the Independent Author’s Network.

When he’s not working on his next book, Adam can be found giving talks at schools, libraries, associations, as well as comic-con type events like CalgaryExpo and FanExpoCanada on subjects from how to get one’s ideas out and stepping outside of one’s comfort zone, to how to give a successful book signing.

Along the way, Adam has faced many challenges, including working around his Dyslexia (reading and writing disorder), and needing to be ruthless with his time and energy in face of his severe asthma and chronic abdominal scar pain. He’s become an inspiration to some, and a symbol of tenacious hard work to others.

He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his wife and children. He is an active online mentor at adamdreece.com, and is a busy public speaker, panelist, and author in Canada and the Pacific Northwest.

According to Adam Grant's book, Originals, procrastinating can lead to increased creativity. What? Yeah, you read that right. My guest today is Glen Perkins. He's a fellow author and appeared on the show a few times during my first year. A few weeks ago, he mentioned that he'd stopped writing for a bit. That led to a discussion about why writers set things aside, but nothing too deep. Then I started listening to Originals. My "ah ha" moment had arrived. After years trying to justify my procrastination tendencies, science was finally backing me up!

When we stop working on a project, it leaves our working memory, but when we stop in the middle of a project, our mind ruminates, i.e., mulls it over in the background.

The next time you're feeling guilty about playing Minecraft or Candy Crush, relax! Chances are, your mind still is working out the next scene in your book. And when it does, that scene will propel you forward like a rocket!