Author Spotlight - Regina Puckett on her award-winning book

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME A WRITER?

I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I don’t know that it was any one thing that made want to be one. I just knew that it had to be the most exciting thing in the world to be able to make people, laugh, cry or make someone want to be one of your characters for however long you had their attention.

WAS THERE A TEACHER OR OTHER MENTOR WHO INFLUENCED YOUR WRITING?

 I’m not certain if anyone in my life, parent, sibling or teacher ever thought I would ever make anything out of my life. I was raised during an era when most didn’t expect a woman to be more than a wife, mother or if you were lucky enough, a teacher.

HOW DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR YOUR AWARD WINNING BOOK?

I saw a wonderful photo I wanted to use as a book cover. I had never written a Steampunk book, so I had to do tons of research before I could begin writing, but I was determined to give this new genre my best shot.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LINE FROM YOUR AWARD WINNING BOOK AND WHY?

“I will breathe enough for you, if you will love enough for me.”

WHICH OF YOUR CHARACTERS FROM YOUR AWARD WINNING TITLE DO YOU BELIEVE ARE MOST LIKE YOU AND WHY?

There are many similarities between Liberty and me. We both are cranky and foul-mouthed but we are also good-hearted people.

WHAT MESSAGE DO YOU HOPE READERS WILL GLEAN FROM YOUR AWARD WINNING BOOK?

That love can change the world.

WHAT BOOK / PERSON / INCIDENT HAS HAD THE GREATEST IMPACT ON YOUR LIFE?

Gone With the Wind – it was the first book that drew me into the story so much that I never wanted it to end.

IF A CLOSE FRIEND OR LOVED ONE WANTED TO WRITE A BOOK, WHAT GREATEST PIECE OF ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE THEM?

Writing is hard work, but you must never give up.

CAN YOU OFFER ANY ADVICE FOR WRITERS ON HOW BEST TO PROMOTE THEIR BOOK?

I find Twitter to be a great way to connect with new readers and other writers.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR GREATEST LITERARY ACCOMPLISHMENT?

Finishing my first book and my last book. I have a hundred works published and I’m just as proud of the last one as I was the first. Writing takes patience and determination. You have to be willing to dream even when no one else believes in you.

WHAT ARE YOUR GREATEST LITERARY ASPIRATIONS?

My greatest aspiration was to become a writer and my next is to get better and better at my craft.

TELL US SOMETHING PEOPLE MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU THAT THEY MIGHT FIND INTERESTING:

My greatest joys are my daughters and four grandchildren.

DO YOU HAVE ANY NEW BOOKS IN THE WORKS?

I just finished writing my third regency romance. I planned six in this series and hope to have my Closed series completed by the end of 2018.

Enclosed in This Heart will be available to purchase on Amazon in late fall of 2017 on Amazon.

I have several books and short stories available on Amazon. Please stop by my author page and check them out. I write romance, horror, poetry, steampunk and I write and illustrate children’s picture books.

LITERARY CLASSICS Book Awards & Reviews International Book Awards • Top Honors Youth Book Awards • Seal of Approval http://www.clcawards.org

Dark Flowers, by Caytlyn Brooke, earns the Literary Classics Seal of Approval

Life at St. Agatha’s is no cake-walk and Eliza would know. After only five weeks residing there, she’s already broken the record for spending the most time in ‘the box’, a dark and cramped janitor’s closet transformed into a prison cell at the school for girls. As one who’s spent more time than ever believed possible inside this box of torture, she’s seen a hefty share of misery during her short time at St. Agatha’s. The box is meant to tame obstinate girls into submission, but Eliza would sooner spend all her time in the box than succumb to the sinister Matron Criggs. Eliza doesn’t hold much hope in being selected by a family on Adoption Day, and there would be no worse fate imaginable than if her new best friend Millie were to be adopted, leaving her behind in this miserable institution. But Eliza doesn’t plan on sticking around long enough to see that happen. She’s devised a plan to escape; now she’s waiting for the right opportunity and she hopes to persuade Millie to flee with her. But the horrors that lurk beyond St. Agatha’s may be far worse than anything Matron Criggs could ever dish out to the unwitting girls.

Author Caytlyn Brooke has crafted a work of paranormal fiction so utterly haunting and undeniably eerie it’s sure to tingle your spine. Horror fans and paranormal aficionados will relish this dark tale as they encounter the evil horrors that await Eliza and Millie in the land of the silver and black fairies. A well-written and skillfully layered plot with exquisite depth and dimension, this book will have readers on the edge of their seats as they encounter this deliciously dark fantasy novel. Recommended for home and school libraries, Dark Flowers, by Caytlyn Brooke, earns the Literary Classics Seal of Approval.

LITERARY CLASSICS Book Awards & Reviews International Book Awards • Top Honors Youth Book Awards • Seal of Approval http://www.clcawards.org

Author Brian Adams on his award winning book, KABOOM!

WHEN DID YOU FIRST KNOW YOU WANTED TO BE A WRITER AND WHY? The first book I ever had I ate, so my parents gave me paper and crayons and encouraged me to write a new one. That’s a little tough to do when you don’t know your alphabet, but hey, look where it got me.

​

AS A CHILD, WHAT DID YOU ASPIRE TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP? Is this a trick question? A writer! Duh! And, of course, to be winner of a Literary Classics Book Award.

​

HOW DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR YOUR AWARD WINNING TITLE? I strove for a title that conveyed the image of a mountain blasting apart (KABOOM!) as well as an acronym for the environmental activist group in the novel (Kids Against Blowing Off Our Mountains). Pretty witty, huh?

​

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LINE FROM YOUR AWARD WINNING BOOK AND WHY?

“Dad,” I interrupted. “I will be careful. I promise. About boys and about mountaintops. But I am going to do what I have to do.”

​

I love that my female protagonist is not be deterred from doing her best to come of age responsibly and to become active in the fight against the environmentally destructive method of coal extraction called mountain top removal.

​

WHICH CHARACTER FROM YOUR AWARD WINNING TITLE DO YOU BELIEVE IS MOST LIKE YOU AND WHY? My protagonists are two 15 year old girls from West Virginia and I’m a gray haired old dude from Massachusetts, but I’ll go out on a limb here and embrace my inner adolescent female self and identify with my heroine Cyndie. She’s trying to do the right thing and speak truth to power in the fight against coal extraction and climate change. Activism rocks!

​

WHAT MESSAGE DO YOU HOPE READERS WILL GLEAN FROM YOUR AWARD WINNING BOOK? My book is about two spirited and spunky teenage girls living in the heart of coal country West Virginia who discover that their beloved mountain is to be blown sky high by the coal company. I’m hoping the message is that environmental activism is essential to save the world and that it can also be exciting, fun and romantic. Blowing off the tops of mountains to get coal is evil. We can save the world and find true love. Kids can make a difference. The time to act to protect our environment is now!

​

WHAT OTHER BOOKS HAVE YOU PUBLISHED? Love in the Time of Climate Change

​

TELL US SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE AS A WRITER: I had a pretty polished draft of KABOOM! that I sent to three 15 year old girls to read and boy did they let me have it. In the margins of the manuscript they wrote things like “pathetic”, “pointless”, “what are you thinking?”, “people don’t talk this way” and “NO!!!!!!” After I recovered from my near fatal nervous breakdown I realized that in almost every instance they were right (or is it write?) on! I think my book is much better for their input. Thank goodness for truthful teen voices.

​

WHICH AUTHOR HAS MOST GREATLY INFLUENCED YOUR WRITING STYLE? I just re-read Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger for the 900th time and I am enthralled by his ability to capture teen angst in such a remarkable way. His anti-hero Holden Caulfield is such a fallible endearing character. The style of writing is something I just marvel at.

​

WHAT BOOK HAS HAD THE GREATEST IMPACT ON YOUR LIFE? Other than mine? Hmmmm…..How about The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. Talk about a book with a strong environmental message. I just love the line “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” So true!

​

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR GREATEST LITERARY ACCOMPLISHMENT? Is this another trick question? Receiving the Literary Classics book award. Double duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

​

DO YOU HAVE ANY WRITING RITUALS? Before writing: A quick prayer to the goddess of creativity that what comes out of my brain today is a good bit more than just mindless drivel. Then three quick games of solitaire on the computer and praying to the card god that I will win at least one of them. And then WRITE ON!

​

HOW DID YOU FIND AN AGENT / GET PUBLISHED? Fortune smiled as I found a small publisher in Vermont (Green Writers Press) with the same goal as mine – publish good literature that makes a difference. Their motto is “Giving voice to writers and artists who will make the world a better place.” Check them out. Greenwriterspress.com. They are AWESOME!

​

WHAT DID YOU DO TO CELEBRATE THE PUBLISH DATE OF YOUR AWARD WINNING BOOK? Bought a much more comfortable chair to write on. It replaced a broken down piece of crap that was about a thousand years old and had a crook in the back that stabbed me deep into my spinal column. Ouch!

​

CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE PROCESS OF BECOMING PUBLISHED AND ANY TIPS YOU MIGHT OFFER FOR OTHER ASPIRING AUTHORS? Tips for aspiring authors on getting published? Just the usual crap. Hang in there. Don’t be discouraged. Keep on sending in your manuscript. If they reject you it is NOT (I repeat NOT!) because your work isn’t the most brilliant in the history of the universe (it is!) it’s just because the fools who turned you down are misguided, ignorant morons who KNOW NOTHING and deserve to rot in hell!

​

CAN YOU OFFER ANY ADVICE FOR WRITERS ON HOW BEST TO PROMOTE THEIR BOOK? Go anywhere, do anything. Book store readings, library events, signings, book groups, reviews, awards, school classes – don’t be bashful. Seize any and every opportunity to self-promote. People want to hear what you have to say! I called every library in West Virginia (yup – every single damn one of them!) to encourage them to get my book. And some of them actually did.

​

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH OUR READERS? Read my damn book. Buy local whenever possible! Your local independent book store (ask them to order it if they don’t have it!) is the best place on earth to buy a book! If you absolutely have to go to Amazon.  Oh yeah, turn off your computer right now and go out and save the world.  

​

DO YOU HAVE ANY NEW BOOKS IN THE WORKS? What kind of silly question is that? Of course I do. Writing is an addiction. And once you’ve been published you’re even more hooked for life. And now that you’ve given me this award I’ve gone completely over the edge. Must write. Must write. Must write. Ahhhhh!!!!!!!!!

​

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR NEXT BOOK WHEN IT WILL BE AVAILABLE, WHERE IT CAN BE PURCHASED, ETC...

​Off Line (the working Title) is a romantic comedy about a young woman who has an on line relationship disorder and is a total netaholic. She moves in with her gay grandfathers and tries to wean herself off the net by joining a rag-tag groups of off-line misfits. I think it’s pretty funny and will hopefully encourage folks to think twice before devoting their entire lives to surfing the net and texting.

LITERARY CLASSICS Book Awards & Reviews International Book Awards • Top Honors Youth Book Awards • Seal of Approval http://www.clcawards.org

Author Spotlight - Author Eric Price on his award winning book, Unveling the Wizards' Shroud

WHEN DID YOU FIRST KNOW YOU WANTED TO BE A WRITER AND WHY? As a child, I didn’t like reading. That all changed in junior high when I picked up a second hand copy of Stephen King’s The Shining. The same year I had the first excellent literature teacher of my life. She turned me on to the likes of Poe and Irving. At some point, I realized these authors were just regular people too. I decided I could do it if I really wanted. Seventeen years later I sold my first story. 

​

AS A CHILD, WHAT DID YOU ASPIRE TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP? As a child, I always figured I’d become a veterinarian. I changed my mind when I saw how much school it took and how little it paid when finished. 

​

HOW DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR YOUR AWARD WINNING TITLE? I took a writing course and I had to submit three possible story ideas. One of them turned into Unveiling the Wizards’ Shroud. 

​

TELL US SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE AS A WRITER: My book is aimed at young adults, especially males. So far, most of my readers, at least the ones who’ve made contact with me, have been 30+ year old women. 

​

WHICH AUTHOR HAS MOST GREATLY INFLUENCED YOUR WRITING STYLE? 

I love how well Stephen King develops his characters. I strive to have characters interesting enough people will want to read about them regardless of what they’re doing. 

​

WHAT BOOK HAS HAD THE GREATEST IMPACT ON YOUR LIFE? To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s so simple, yet such an amazing story. I never had to read this as an assignment for school, and I’m glad. Had I been forced to read it, I’d have never enjoyed it as much as I did by ‘discovering’ it on my own. 

​

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR GREATEST LITERARY ACCOMPLISHMENT? Having a publisher accept my first novel has to be my greatest achievement. The Literary Classics award for best first novel means a lot, but it, and any future novels I publish may not have happened without that first acceptance letter. 

​

CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE PROCESS OF BECOMING PUBLISHED AND ANY TIPS YOU MIGHT OFFER FOR OTHER ASPIRING AUTHORS? I wrote Unveiling the Wizards’ Shroud with the one-on-one instruction of a published author and editor. When I finished it, I eventually submitted it to publishers. After a handful of rejections, Muse It Up Publishing showed interest in it. They sent me a list of changes I’d need to make before they would send me a contract. I also had some ideas for changes of my own, most notably the addition of another character who would play a bigger role in a potential sequel.

​

I rewrote the complete manuscript. I intended on introducing this character at the beginning and showing her again at the end, but as characters often do, she had a mind of her own, and she stuck around for the whole book.

​

Muse It Up Publishing accepted the new version. There it went through six rounds of edits with three different editors, and the book could have never been anywhere near as good without each of them.

​

My advice to aspiring authors is don’t fear/get discouraged by rejection letters. They don’t necessarily mean your work isn’t good. Many publishers are so busy, they don’t do much more than glace at your cover-letter and synopsis. After you’ve written the best story you can, make sure your cover-letter and synopsis are held to the same high standard. If you still get rejected, make sure there’s nothing you can improve and send it somewhere else. 

​

CAN YOU OFFER ANY ADVICE FOR WRITERS ON HOW BEST TO PROMOTE THEIR BOOK? Promoting is the hardest part. I’ve tried a lot with mixed results. My current angle is to make connections with teachers and try to get them to have their classes read it. It helps if you make yourself available to speak to the classes as well. 

​

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH OUR READERS? You can’t self-edit. Even if you decide self-publishing is the way you want to go, hire a freelance editor.

​

WHAT OTHER BOOKS HAVE YOU PUBLISHED? The first sequel to Unveiling the Wizards’ Shroud, The Squire and the Slave Master, is scheduled for an August 4 release.

​

DO YOU HAVE ANY NEW BOOKS IN THE WORKS? Yes. I've started the third and final book in The Saga of the Wizards series called, A Wizard Reborn. I’m also searching for an agent for a middle-grade sports/adventure book called Catching a Break. 

WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE BEING A RECIPIENT OF THE LITERARY CLASSICS BOOK AWARDS? After winning my award for Best First Novel, I received a contract for a paperback printing of my book. This likely would have happened anyway, but I think my publisher was extra excited to have a gold seal printed on the cover.

LITERARY CLASSICS Book Awards & Reviews International Book Awards • Top Honors Youth Book Awards • Seal of Approval http://www.clcawards.org