Interview with Marie Feather, Author of PEACE

Hello,

Today’s interview is with Marie Feather, author of PEACE.

Please enjoy!

Best,

-Vincent Lowry

 

Interview:

1) What is your author’s name and in what state do you live (or country if not in the US)?

Hello Vincent! Thank you for giving me the chance to get featured on your blog. I write under pen-name Marie Feather and currently live in Toronto, Canada. I am a student at the University of Toronto.

2) What is the title of your newest book and what is the genre?

The title of my book is P.E.A.C.E. and it is a self-help book.

3) What is the book about?

This book would be useful to anyone who has gone/currently going through a rough time or just trying to find ways to achieve inner peace and gain confidence. It takes you on a journey from realizing that you have a problem to finding ways to heal yourself, learning how to love yourself and accept yourself for who you truly are, and finally towards setting brave goals without being afraid to follow your dreams no matter what. This book has 5 chapters and 50 quotes and each chapter is a step forward towards finding peace within yourself.

4) Where did you come up with the idea?

Inspiration came from many different directions. It came from movies I’ve seen, books I’ve read, songs I’ve heard and people I’ve met, but most importantly it came from my own story. I started studying abroad, away from home, when I was 15. It was something that I felt I needed to do, and my parents supported me in this decision as they have throughout my whole life. They are the people who I can always count on and who always got my back no matter what.

When you study abroad you spend most of your time away from your family and this grown-up life teaches you lessons that you can never learn by staying in your comfort zone. I never thought how hard it could be for me and I made this decision anyway. I had depression for 4 years since the year I left home, some of it was the result of people I met during that time but mostly it was the loss of confidence, fear that I won’t manage studying and homesickness. 1 year ago, I realized that this is not something that has the right to continue and I locked myself at home for a month trying to figure out who I am, why am I hurting still and what can I do about it. My parents have supported me always but it was me who had to gain back belief in myself and love myself again in order to feel better. It worked when I realized the most important thing: never ever ignore your pain no matter how busy you are, face it instead, spend time dealing with it letting all your emotions out, then you will feel better. I ignored my feeling for far too long, tried to keep myself busy all the time instead, and that was the biggest mistake I’ve made. One-on-one time with my pain worked and I finally felt at peace. I overcame depression, got my old- (but better and stronger)-self back and wrote this book to help everyone out there to feel better, by sharing my thoughts and my story.

5) How long did it take you to write it?

I’ve spent about two months writing it and another month editing it.

6) Did you learn anything from the project?

Of course, I did. As I said I used other sources of inspiration throughout the process as well as looked for quotes, that could fit within the topic of my project and communicate the message well. I found a lot of motivational speakers, psychologists, and writers who shared the same point of view that I had.

7) Do you have an author website and/or blog? How about a book video?

I do have an Instagram blog (https://www.instagram.com/marie__feat…), where I try to write inspirational/motivational posts whenever I get time, studying it can be challenging sometimes. I also use it as a platform to connect with readers and promote my book. My DM is always open to anyone who wants to talk especially if it’s someone who is struggling as I did not so long ago.

8) Do you have any success tips to pass on to fellow authors? How about any great editors/cover artists?

I worked and still am working with Pageturner, press, and media and so far, they have been more than helpful and supportive. They took my sketch for the cover to a whole new level and my literary agent is always there to support me with my book and marketing. One of the things they did was also getting my book featured in the magazine. The advertisement for it should soon be published in “Publishers Weekly” magazine.

9) What genres do you like to read? Are you open to reading new authors and reviewing their work?

I love reading self-help/ psychology-related books, I also enjoy reading detective novels and my favorite author is Agatha Christie. Although I’m always in search of something new and always ready to explore new genres and authors.

10) What is your favorite book of all time and why?

It’s always hard to distinguish one book from every other book you’ve ever read but I would say that simply because of how much this book impacted me and touched me as well as helped me to get out of depression – it’s “Inward” by Yung Pueblo.

11) Fun Question: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind?

I always wanted to have but never gotten an opportunity, maybe in the future.

12) Fun Question 2: Do you own an electronic reading device? If so, what kind and how do you like it?

I am old-fashioned when it comes to reading and I love paper more than anything else.

Thank you for the interview and for this opportunity.

My heart goes out to everyone who is struggling right now. I hope that my book helps you at least a little because if it does then one of my most important goals in life will be achieved which is using the pain I had to help others avoid it.

*As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

Interview with 100 Lick, Author of TEDESKIMMA

Hello,

I’m pleased to bring you this interview with 100 Lick, Author of TEDESKIMMA.

Please enjoy!

Best,

-Vincent Lowry

 

Interview:

1) What is your author name and in what state do you live (or country if not in the US)?

Hi Vincent. First of all, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. I really appreciate it. I write under the pseudonym 100Lick and I am currently based in Washington D.C, USA.

2) What is the title of your first book and what is the genre?

My first book is called TEDESKIMMA. This book is primarily literary fiction.

3) What is the book about? 

I like to think of TEDESKIMMA as a collection of 11 stories that are interconnected, with each story belonging to a different genre. A couple of these stories are tense, action packed adventures, while others are centered around important conversations that form the characters within them. A few of the parts are focused on the long, harrowing journeys that their protagonists undertake, while others are coming of age stories.

I love the way Indiereader.com described the book in their review:

“If Lord Of The Flies, The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants, and beloved children’s classic Knuffle Bunny were tossed in a literary blender, the result might read like TEDESKIMMA by 100 LICK.” – IndieReader

4) Where did you come up with the idea?

The book was mainly inspired by an idea that occurred to me one day – multiple characters connected by a single object. This idea is what forms the basic premise of TEDESKIMMA. To this day, I’m not sure what gave birth to it.

As I began working on this idea, I began thinking of what the stories of these multiple characters will be. At the time, there were multiple events I witnessed happening around me that shocked me. Many of them made me feel helpless, and this book was my way of processing them. I felt like there was nothing I could do about the atrocities I was witnessing, except write about them, hoping that what I wrote would move others enough to rise up and do what I could not on my own. These events helped me find the emotional core of this work.

5) How long did it take you to write it?

It took me close to a year to write this story. I then spent two to three months reading through the story a few times and doing my own edits, after which I sent it out for editing.

6) Did you learn anything from the project?

Yes, I did. The research for TEDESKIMMA gave me a lot of insight into the many social ills that our planet faces. It also helped me understand the history and underlying causes of many of the atrocities I saw in the news at that point in time, which I had been struggling with, in addition to helping me process them. Working on this book also made me realize that writing helps me organize my thoughts better, and allows me to work past the various conflicting ideas and viewpoints in my head and arrive at a conclusion.

7) Do you have an author website and/or blog? How about a book video?

I haven’t taken a dive into book videos yet. I’m hoping to get to those in the coming months. I do have a website (www.100lick.com). I don’t blog frequently but I have started to use Medium for blogging (https://medium.com/100lick) and I will be adding a blog to my website in the coming months. Currently, I am using my Medium blog as a serialized fiction blog where I post sample chapters of the various books I put out. My goal is to start publishing articles about various topics in the coming months as well, while continuing to post book chapters.

8) Do you have any success tips to pass on to fellow authors? How about any great editors/cover artists? 

At present, I’m still new to self-publishing, and I’m still trying to figure things out myself. So I have no success tips to share when it comes to selling books. I have no editors or cover artists to recommend at this point either (but I will be sure to recommend any I come across on my website and my blog). However, in terms of writing and putting your work out there, I will say this. Be truthful with yourself about why you are writing. If you write for the love of it, and because you have an urge to create stories, then write what you want and publish it how you want. But if you’re writing to create a business, then make sure you treat it like one. Approach writing just like you would approach any other business idea you were trying to implement.

9) What genres do you like to read? Are you open to reading new authors and reviewing their work?

I read all genres, though, when given a choice, I tend to lean towards science fiction more than others. And yes, I’m open to reading new authors and reviewing their work.

10) What is your favorite book of all time and why? 

I have no clear favorite because there are just so many books to choose from. However, if I had to make a choice, I would pick “The Gormenghast Trilogy” by Mervyn Peake. I read it when I was a teenager, and no other book has come close to the vivid images this particular work created in my head. Diary by Chuck Palahniuk would be a close second. I can still recollect how both these works made me feel when I read them, even though I cannot recollect a lot of details about the content of these works themselves. And that, to me, is exactly what great art does. It always stays with you, and you can never completely forget the way it made you feel when you first experienced it.

11) Fun Question: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind?

Unfortunately, I have no pets right now. I do plan on getting a cat, followed a dog, in a year or two. Someday, many years from now, when I am an experienced enough pet owner, and I have much more free time and a large backyard, I would like to get a couple of wolves.

12) Fun Question 2: Do you own an electronic reading device? If so, what kind and how do you like it?

I own a Kindle currently. I also read using a few apps on my phone and on my tablet. I like electronic reading devices for their convenience and because they have a minimal footprint. However, for me personally, they still have a long way to go before they even come close to the feel and experience of a physical copy.

 

Thank you once more for giving me this opportunity. And thank you to all who took the time to read this. I hope you all have a great day, no matter where you are, especially in these difficult times.

Stay Safe,

100Lick.

 

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

Interview with Margaret Walker, Author of His Most Italian City

Hello,

I’m please to bring you this interview today with Margaret Walker, author of His Most Italian City!

Please enjoy!

Best,

Vincent Lowry

Interview:

1)    What is your author name and in what state do you live (or country if not in the US)?

Margaret Walker. I live in Sydney, Australia.

 

2)    What is the title of your newest book and what is the genre?

His Most Italian City. (Through Forests and Mountains, about a girl who wants to be a partisan, will come out next year.)

 

3)    What is the book about?

His Most Italian City is about revenge. The protagonist is in love with the wife of my favourite character (he’s not the protagonist, sorry). When she is killed in the inter-ethnic violence of Mussolini’s Italy, the husband stalks him as a traitor and an adulterer.

 

4)    Where did you come up with the idea?

The story world is based on my family history. I started the novel because I wanted to record my history, then I went on a submarine tour and became so obsessed with submarines that I decided to have one in the book. The rest developed because I enjoy writing about relationships.

 

5)    How long did it take you to write it?

A year to write it and a further half year for revisions after it returned from the manuscript assessor.

 

6)    Did you learn anything from the project?

Yes, I needed all the professional help I could get! I recommend a manuscript assessor and a professional editor.

 

7)    Do you have an author website and/or blog? How about a book video?

Author website: https://www.mwalkeristra.com/

 

Here’s the blog about the submarine tour:

https://mwalkeristra.blogspot.com/2020/01/terror-on-high-seas-tour-of-hmas-ovens.html

 

And the promotional video:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rWADTMj2_3rbJb5j3rZRRBjDyQ03CMKM/view

 

 

8)    Do you have any success tips to pass on to fellow authors? How about any great editors/cover artists?

Most important: patience, patience, patience. Read books that are well written to help with your own prose. I’m a huge fan of Dickens. I read him whenever I’m stuck and he always gets me going again. I love his style.

My editor from Penmore Press was Lauren McElroy and the cover design is by Christine Horner, Book Cover Whisperer. Both were wonderful.

 

9) What genres do you like to read? Are you open to reading new authors and reviewing their work?

I read history non-stop, also modern languages. I enjoy historical fiction, thrillers and crime fiction. A huge draw card within these genres is romance, relationships and magic realism. FInally, if you can get inside your characters’ heads, you’ve really grabbed me.

 

I review independent books for a London reviewer. (Unpaid, but I enjoy it. I’m a teacher so I try to be encouraging and objective.) Some of the books are very good indeed, and deserve to be published and marketed by mainstream publishing houses.

 

9)    What is your favorite book of all time and why?

Either Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

 

10) Fun Question: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind?

I have a big boofy dog called Vladi (think Dracula).

 

11) Fun Question 2: Do you own an electronic reading device? If so, what kind and how do you like it?

I have a Kobo e-reader that I won in a library raffle. It is brilliant for rare books. Sometimes a book I want has only three copies in the world yet you can get it in an electronic form. Do I like it? Um, yes, but I prefer hardcopy.

 

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.