Thank you to everyone who has followed this blog over the years. It’s been fun to post everything here too for people to see, even those who do not frequent the regular social media channels.
However, due to my life becoming increasingly busy (now with a house build and a small puppy added into the mix), I have been forced to cut down on certain areas of my author business. I would never let my writing suffer, so new books are in the works, but parts of my social media must unfortunately go. One of those things is the blog, meaning my author spotlights, too, have to go.
Thank you to everyone who has participated in my author interviews, and I am sorry to those who I have been unable to feature before this quite abrupt ending. I might start doing these again in the future, but at present, my best guess is that it will be gone indefinitely.
So, to clarify: I am not going anywhere. My books aren’t going anywhere. I will just not post about my writing here, on this blog, for the foreseeable future.
You can find all the information about my books here:
Also, my art isn’t going anywhere! I have so much more to show now than what I’ve had on this blog. Please, for anyone interested in a commission, be it book covers, logos, character art, promotional pics, etc, check out the dedicated page on my website!
Check out this spotlight for author Thomas J. Doscher!
You can find all his links furthest down the page, and don’t forget to check out his books!
1. Hi! Welcome to my humble blog of all things bookish! I would like for us to start by getting to know you. Give us a short bio, please!
I am a retired U.S. Air Force journalist living in Illinois with my wife and two sons. I started writing when I was 13 years old but never attempted to publish anything until a little over a year ago. I have a degree in History and that’s my biggest passion.
2. To get to know you just a little bit better, I’d like to ask you some this or that questions. Answer 5 of these and explain why you chose this or that, or maybe an entirely different alternative!
Winter, spring, summer or autumn? Autumn
Cat or dog? Dog. I have a goldendoodle named “Mimsy.”
Tea or coffee? Coffee.
Morning or evening? Evening.
Library or museums? I believe in the great power of the word “and.”
Hunter or gatherer? Hunter. Just got an eight-pointer last week.
Witches or wizards? Witches. One of my favorite books is “Hi, I’m a Witch, and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion.”
Ninjas or pirates? Ninjas.
Mountains or beaches? Beaches. I grew up in Florida.
Plotter or pantser? Plotter.
Pen and paper or computer/phone? Pen and paper.
Standalone or series? Both.
Book or ebook? Book for nonfiction, ebook for fiction.
Hero or anti-hero? Whoever can get the job done.
3. When you look for books to read, what trope or type of story will always catch your attention?
Sci-fi with a historical hook. Harry Turtledove’s “Guns of the South” has Robert E. Lee holding an AK-47 on the cover. Shut up and take my money.
4. What do you write? Tell us about your current projects and the latest happenings!
I am currently writing the fifth book of a six-part series called “The Vixen War Bride.” It is a military sci-fi story about a group of soldiers occupying an alien world following Earth’s first interstellar war. It’s part action, part romance, part comedy that focuses on things like cross-cultural communication, PTSD, what it takes to win a peace after winning a war and the overall nonsense of military life in a deployed area.
5. What is your most recent release? Give us a short presentation, cover, and a link for where to buy it!
My most recent release was the fourth book of “The Vixen War Bride,” “Repatriation.” You can find all my books on Amazon:
6. What real-life inspiration do you draw from, and what are your primary fictional sources of inspiration (books, authors, films, music, etc.)? Name a few!
A lot of my real-life inspiration comes from historical anecdotes. “The Vixen War Bride,” for instance, is based on a story I heard about a soldier in U.S. occupied Japan after World War II. In the story, a Japanese woman comes to him to turn herself in for her actions during the war. Turned out she ran an inn that catered to kamikaze pilots on their last night before their final suicide missions. He didn’t have a reason to arrest her, but it was plain she wouldn’t take no for an answer. So he put her in their jail for a few hours and then let her go. As far as fictional sources, I get inspired to write whenever I see or read a good movie or book. The kind that makes you go, “I wish I could write a story like that.” It really fires me up and end up in my basement working.
7. What is your writing routine? If you have one, give us the run-down!
I’m not sure it’s a routine, but I try to write at least a little every day. The way I figure it, even writing one word is still progress. It keeps the momentum going.
8. If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice as you started out on the path to becoming an author, what would it be?
Don’t stop writing. I gave up writing for a few years and now I look back and see it as time wasted.
9. Last but not least: where can we find you? Drop those links!
♡ For anyone interested in digital art (book covers, character illustrations, promo pics, etc.), I am now taking commissions! Check out my website for more information, and feel free to follow my Facebook page and Instagram!
You can find all his links furthest down the page, and don’t forget to check out his books!
1. Hi! Welcome to my humble blog of all things bookish! I would like for us to start by getting to know you. Give us a short bio, please!
I was born in Alaska and grew up on a homestead at the very edge of the road grid. That gave me a bit of experience in everything from carpentry and automotive mechanics to swimming, boating, skiing, and more. I liked to read, which set me apart from my peers. Afterward came a bit of college and on-and-off stints at a range of jobs finishing with a dozen years as a USPS contractor. It was during this period that I took up writing.
2. To get to know you just a little bit better, I’d like to ask you some this or that questions. Answer 5 of these and explain why you chose this or that, or maybe an entirely different alternative!
Winter, spring, summer or autumn?
Summer. Winters here are long, cold, and dark, and I’m a bit old for the wintertime activities anymore. Spring is mud, and autumn can morph into winter on a whim.
Cat or dog?
Cat. They be self-reliant. Not anything against dogs, just don’t care to have one.
Tea or coffee?
I will drink either, but it is not a big deal.
Morning or evening?
I tend to stay up late (often writing) and sleep in late. While with USPS, I was often at work by 6:00 am, which…I did not care for.
Library or museums?
I have not been in an actual museum in over a decade. I do visit the local library a couple times a month. Currently, I attend the local Writers Group there – it came back to life after being dormant for years.
Hunter or gatherer?
More of a scavenger.
Witches or wizards?
Different sides of the same coin.
Ninjas or pirates?
Pirates.
Mountains or beaches?
Should be ‘mountains and beaches.’
Plotter or pantser? Used to ‘pants it.’ Wrote myself into multiple dead ends that way. Anymore, apart from ‘test pieces’ to see how a idea works, I don’t begin a tale without knowing the beginning, middle, and end. Shorter stories – under 20,000 words, I don’t usually have an outline; for novels I will have 2-3 page outline with a few short sentences for each chapter that depict key scenes.
Pen and paper or computer/phone?
Desktop computer. Way, way back, I sometimes used a typewriter.
Standalone or series?
Currently at two series (‘Empire’ and ‘Labyrinth’). ‘Empire’ has six books, four published. ‘Labyrinth’ has two finished books and a third I’ll have to write from scratch.
Apart from those, I have written literally dozens of stories ranging from 500 – 30,000 words, ranging from standalones to series of short stories.
Book or ebook?
Up until a few years ago, paper book. Local bookstore closings and issues with mail order made me switch to Kindle.
Hero or anti-hero?
Both. I take a more complex view. A hero struggling with past misdeeds or walking into darkness. An anti-hero who does the ‘right thing’ on a whim or who views the world very differently than others.
3. When you look for books to read, what trope or type of story will always catch your attention?
Ordinary people caught up in the grand sweep of events.
4. What do you write? Tell us about your current projects and the latest happenings!
Currently, I am wrapping up the so-called ‘rewrite lite’ of ‘Empire: Spiral,’ fifth book in the ‘Empire’ series. ‘So-called’ because the book doubled in size AFTER cutting 10,000 words and leaving out another 18,000. This was the second rewrite for this story – there was a timeline issue that didn’t work and some plot-holes that needed filled.
5. What is your most recent release? Give us a short presentation, cover, and a link for where to buy it!
That would be ‘EMPIRE: METROPOLIS,’ fourth book in the ‘Empire Series,’ which went on sale November 15th.
Corber Port – largest metropolis of the Solarian Empire – and a city in turmoil after an earthquake and fire turned a fifth of it into rubble.
Tia is held captive in this urban wasteland by demons masquerading as men. Tia’s former companions scour the city for her but hit one roadblock after another.
Worse, dark forces conspire to unleash yet another catastrophe on Corber Port – and Tia’s captors might be the only ones able to halt it – if they choose to do so.
6. What real-life inspiration do you draw from, and what are your primary fictional sources of inspiration (books, authors, films, music, etc.)? Name a few!
I got to (slightly) know quite a few people over the course of my life – coworkers, relatives, casual encounters. When writing, I will go – ‘okay I have this situation. How would I react in it? How would some of these other people react?’
I was a big fan of ‘Lord of the Rings,’ ‘Wizard of Earthsea,’ and similar works as a kid. Later, I got into Feists ‘Magician’ series and a whole slew of ‘pulpier’ fantasy/sf books.
7. What is your writing routine? If you have one, give us the run-down!
Usually late at night. I was working full time during the day, so I’d get home, eat, tackle a few chores, and write until I crashed. Now that I am semi-retired, I still find myself mostly writing at night.
8. If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice as you started out on the path to becoming an author, what would it be?
Write every day. There were long stretches where I didn’t even attempt to write.
9. Last but not least: where can we find you? Drop those links!
Not really into social media apart from Facebook. I did set out to create a website, but that didn’t go too well.
♡ The (nearly) full character portrait of the MMC of an upcoming project ♡
♡ I shared a part of this artwork before, but here’s more or less the full image (the original shows the entire sword, but still ). This is a main character of a series I’ve started writing, but I’m not very far into it yet. Only written a prequel and a few scenes here or there for the rest… so it might be a while still
♡ Regardless, inspiration hits when it wants to hit, and I hope to have some of the characters drawn BEFORE any releases this time Here’s to hoping
♡ For anyone interested in a commission, check out the art links in my Linktree and/or @subtle_touch_creations
You can find all her links furthest down the page, and don’t forget to check out her books!
1. Hi! Welcome to my humble blog of all things bookish! I would like for us to start by getting to know you. Give us a short bio, please!
I am author Colleen Tews. I love all things paranormal. So much so I write paranormal thrillers, paranormal romances, and urban fantasy. When I’m not writing or reading, I am hanging with my family, dogs and cat. I love going to conventions to meet new people, watching movies, and practicing witchcraft.
2. To get to know you just a little bit better, I’d like to ask you some this or that questions. Answer 5 of these and explain why you chose this or that, or maybe an entirely different alternative!
Winter, spring, summer or autumn? I love autumn the most. It is still warm. There is a crispness in the air.
Cat or dog? I love both. I have two dogs, River and Bettis, and a cat named Smokey.
Library or museums? I’ll pick a library every time. To be enveloped by hundreds of books beats a hundred paintings for me. There are so many stories that I haven’t read that I can’t wait to dive into soon.
Standalone or series? I’m all about a good series, to delve head over heels into a world that I don’t want to leave too early.
Hero or anti-hero? Give me a good anti-hero. There is a depth there that you don’t get from a simple hero.
3. When you look for books to read, what trope or type of story will always catch your attention?
I love to read what I write. Deep paranormal thrillers and urban fantasies that questions what it means to be human and out nature through the eyes of the monsters. Mind you, I read pretty much anything and everything happily.
4. What do you write? Tell us about your current projects and the latest happenings!
I write dark paranormal thrillers and romances; the darker the better. My current project is Onyx. It is a paranormal thriller about the witch Raven Sinclair. Her sister, Onyx, is murdered and her heart stolen. Raven returns to Briar Ridge, Ohio, from New York City for the funeral, but chooses to stay to catch the killer. It is available for pre-order on Kindle.
5. What is your most recent release? Give us a short presentation, cover, and a link for where to buy it!
My most recent publication is the first book in the Dream Prophet Trilogy, Awakening. The second book is due later in 2023.
Two millennia of civil war between witches and werewolves has taken a serious turn. The Alpha, leader to the world’s strongest lycanthropy pack, died, leaving a hole in the chain of command. A battle royale narrows down the list of those fit to take on the role. What the shifters don’t know is one of the wolves in the fight is also a witch.Rhianne Leto is that a witch. She’s also a werewolf and a werewolf hunter. Since the Alpha’s death Rhianne has been having odd dreams. She headed into the arena to gather information and came out with more questions. As the mystical puzzle pieces from her dreams come together so, too, does a forbidden romance between Rhianne and the new Alpha. Could these new feelings and insights lead to peace in her time or a hidden doom exacerbating the current state of affairs?
6. What real-life inspiration do you draw from, and what are your primary fictional sources of inspiration (books, authors, films, music, etc.)? Name a few!
I stop and think about all the things in life I have survived. My health has been atrocious over the past decade: sepsis, breast cancer, PTSD, and depression, etc. Learning to embrace every moment gives me hope and inspires me to write great protagonists.
I love reading work by Laurell K. Hamilton, especially the Anita Blake Series. I grew up on L.J. Smith and Christopher Pike’s works. Then there is watching Marvel movies and action-packed films with usually a humorous/dark edge like The Fifth Element and The Crow. I love musicals like Hamilton and Wicked (the book was just as good).
7. What is your writing routine? If you have one, give us the run-down!
I outline everything. Though I rarely stick to the original outline. Characters throw in monkey wrenches all the time.
My day goes like this: I wake up at 8:30am and exercise or meditate depending on the day. Then I write until lunch time. I survive on cherry coke. Hate to admit this, but I am not a big coffee drinker. In the afternoon, I either write more or edit what I have done. Usually adding a bit more to a scene to flesh it out. I do this until about five o’clock when I make dinner. I go to bed around eleven and start all over again the next morning.
8. If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice as you started out on the path to becoming an author, what would it be?
Be gentle with yourself. There will be days where you write a thousand-plus words and other days where all you can do is move from the bed to the couch. Both are okay.
9. Last but not least: where can we find you? Drop those links!
). This is a main character of a series I’ve started writing, but I’m not very far into it yet. Only written a prequel and a few scenes here or there for the rest… so it might be a while still 
Seen my latest release yet?! 
The last 3 books of my completed Light of Darkness series are now available as a box set! 
