Pants on or off?

Sean Valiente is a debut fantasy author of the book, The Lightning Knight. He grew up in Maine and now lives north of Boston with his wife and their pets. By day, he works for a tech company as a finance professional, and by night he's dreaming up fantasy worlds.

Madilynn Dale is an Indie Author based out of Oklahoma City, OK. She writes a mix of paranormal, romance, and fantasy fiction. Reading has always been her passion, but writing has slowly crept in there to steal more focus. She always enjoyed writing when she was younger but never attempted to write a book. She is an easy-going person and enjoys spending time with her husband and son. She also has a group of rescued pets, cats, and dogs, of various sizes. She has a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology /Sports Medicine and an Associates of Science degree as a licensed Physical Therapy Assistant.

Cully Mack is a fantasy lover and student of myth, so it’s no wonder after completing her B.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing and her Masters in Creative Writing she combined the three into the Voice that Thunders epic fantasy series where monsters crept into the world, myth was born, and magic first breathed.

When Cully's characters aren't invading her mind with unresolved conflicts and plot twists, she brings herself back into the real world where she enjoys travelling, reading and walking her dog in the forest.  Cully is an advocate for following your dreams.

Leslie Conzatti is a blogger, author, and avid enthusiast of all things book-related. Residing in the Pacific Northwest, she currently works as an elementary school paraeducator--leading small groups, supervising children outside the classroom, and providing in-class support for teachers. 

Since 2013, she has been running a writing/review blog called "The Upstream Writer", where she posts original serials, excerpts from current and past projects, updates on her writing, and featured reviews of independently-published titles. 

In 2016, she released her first fairy-tale re-telling, Princess of Undersea, a stand-alone fantasy re-telling of "The Little Mermaid." Since then, she has published a handful of stories in various anthologies, and in 2020, Leslie re-released Princess of Undersea as the first in a series, effectively launching The Undersea Saga, a 4-book collection of fairy tale re-tellings. 

Books are Leslie's passion, and she endeavors to use her words to support and inspire children's imaginations, independent creatives, and quality literature wherever it happens.

Based in biodiversity-rich Ecuador, Alan wears several hats: he is an author-illustrator, an educator and a conservation biologist. Alan’s work is inspired by the majesty and fragility of nature and the need to do everything we can to protect it.

Alan combines his artistic creativity with his technical experience and knowledge to create scientifically accurate, educational children’s books full of quirky, comic humour and fun action, and usually bearing a message about how everyone can help preserve Nature.

Alan draws the artwork in his comic or picture books by hand and then edits it all digitally.

He is the author of five educational comic books for middle grade children, among which his main ongoing focus is the Captain Polo series about climate change.

Alan is also the author of 3 climate change-themed picture books for children within the 6-8 age range.

Today's guest is John B. Rosenman

John was an English professor at Norfolk State University where he designed and taught a course in how to write Science fiction and Fantasy. He is a former Chairman of the Board of the Horror Writers Association and has published 250 stories in places such as Weird Tales, Whitley Strieber’s Aliens, Fangoria, Galaxy, Endless Apocalypse, The Age of Wonders, and the Hot Blood erotic horror series. John has published two dozen books, including SF action-adventure novels such as Beyond Those Distant Stars, Speaker of the Shakk, A Senseless Act of Beauty, Alien Dreams, and the Inspector of the Cross series (Crossroad Press). He has also published a four-book box set, The Amazing Worlds of John B. Rosenman (MuseItUp Publishing). In addition, he has published two mainstream novels, The Best Laugh Last (McPherson & Company) and the Young Adult The Merry-Go-Round Man (Crossroad Press). Recently, he completed a science-fiction novel Dreamfarer which is the first in a new series.

Two of John’s major themes are the endless, mind-stretching wonders of the universe and the limitless possibilities of transformation—sexual, cosmic, and otherwise.

  Alex G. Zarate: Active writer, dedicated novelist, philosopher, positive advocate, eccentric artist and keeper to the secrets of the universe.

Today's guest is J.M. Lively, the author of The Last Soul, the first installment of the Oreniah Codex Series, a fantasy based epic trilogy.

Jonathon lives in Minnesota with his family and continues to explore the universe of Oreniah through writing novels.

MJ Vieira resides in Central Iowa with her husband, Alan, son, AJ, their dog, Poopah, and cat, Sir Fluffabut. MJ is very proud of her home state of Maine and as a child, she traveled around the state with her parents.

This allowed her to see the vast history the New England state had to offer. As a teenager, she toured the nation while showing her American Quarter Horse, Truly Vested.

While traveling, she read many of the great authors of the time including JRR Tolkien, Stephen King, CS Lewis and Ann Rice. It is these writers combined with power of music, mainly hard rock and folk, MJ draws her inspiration.

In between writing, MJ enjoys reading, collecting music and attending concerts. MJ writes paranormal thriller, high fantasy, and horror. The majority of her books contain adult content. Reader discretion is advised.

Today's guest is author Troy Young.

Troy has been many things in his career. Shoe salesman, waiter, newspaper owner, children's performer, actor, elected official, policy advisor, CEO and university lecturer. Now he wants to try his hand at writing.

His first attempt at writing is a novel called The (Extra)ordinary Life of Jimmie Mayfield. The genesis for The (Extra)ordinary Life of Jimmie Mayfield came while going for a walk in Placida, Florida where his parents have a winter home. While he navigates the waters of seeking a publisher for that series of books, he is writing short stories and working on a fantasy series, The Companions of the Stone; the first book "The Stone of Death" is out on September 1, 2020. Also published in September is a space western, "The Seeker of Solace".

Currently, if you are a fan of Lovecraftian Horror, you can delve into his series, The Other. The first compilation is now available, as are the individual stories of book 2. Book two should be available this October, with book 3 available in 2021.

Troy lives in Toronto with his wife, daughter and dog.

Born in Ontario, Canada in 1977, Daryl J Ball has spent many of his years with one feline pal or another.  He developed a love for reading at a young age especially in regards to Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Aaron Hodges was born in 1989 in the small town of Whakatane, New Zealand. He studied for five years at the University of Auckland, completing a Bachelors of Science in Biology and Geography, and a Masters of Environmental Engineering. After working as an environmental consultant for two years, he grew tired of office work and decided to quit his job in 2014 and see the world. 

One year later, he published his first novel - Stormwielder - while in Guatemala. Since then, he has honed his skills while travelling through parts of SE Asia, India, North and South America, Turkey and Europe, and now has over a dozen works to his name. Today, his adventures continue...

Poppy Kuroki is a professional ghostwriter and editor. She loves books, Dungeons & Dragons, and playing video games. She currently lives in Enoshima, Japan with her husband and dreams of owning a dog.

Nikki Nelson-Hicks was born in Nashville, TN but has lived in California, Budapest, Muscat and stopped in a half a dozen places in between; she doesn’t really call any place home.

She’s married to a former USMC Sniper who currently does Roman reenactments, so her garage looks like the set of Spartacus vomited in there. She has two adult children: One of them is a professional illustrator and the other one is doomed to be as weird as his mother. She shares her domicile with five cats and two dogs; two Roombas have choked to death on their fur.

She is a writer of a fistful of genres. She’s written horror, scifi, steampunk, mystery, and has one Sherlock Holmes story under her belt (but two others in the making). Much like her past, she doesn’t settle in one trope for very long. Imagination is a big place, why settle for one story?

Find her online at:

J.M.D. Reid has been a long-time fan of Fantasy ever since he read The Hobbit way back in the fourth grade. His head has always been filled with fantastical tales, and he is eager to share the worlds dwelling in his dreams with you.

Reid is long-time resident of the Pacific Northwest in and around the City of Tacoma. The rainy, gloomy atmosphere of Western Washington, combined with the natural beauty of the evergreen forests and the looming Mount Rainier, provides the perfect climate to brew creative worlds and exciting stories!

When he's not writing, Reid enjoys playing video games, playing D&D and listening to amazing music.

A steadfast and proud sci-fi and fantasy geek, A. F. Stewart was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada and still calls it home. The youngest in a family of seven children, she always had an overly creative mind and an active imagination. 

She favours the dark and deadly when writing—her genres of choice being fantasy and horror—but she has been known to venture into the light on occasion. As an indie author, she’s published novellas and story collections, with a few side trips into poetry.

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PD Alleva is a science fiction, horror, speculative fiction, and thriller writer who enjoys a great conspiracy theory, is an avid reader, and a fan of ancient aliens and alien lore. 

He has a new dystopian science fiction series set to launch on October 7th, The Rose Vol. 1. 

He lives in South Florida with his wife, four children, two dogs and two cats.

Connie B. Dowell is an author of cozy mysteries and nonfiction for writers, as well as an editor, and book coach. She hosts Book Echoes, a podcast about making and selling great books while building a workable creative life. When not working, Connie is busy raising two wiggly preschoolers and playing violin badly.

Find her at:

Today's Guest is Science Fiction Romance author Stephanie West.

Stephanie says:

Writing is my hobby. As a child, I had a hard time learning to read, so anything I took an interest in was deemed acceptable.

I have always enjoyed fairy tales, the older unsanitized versions, as well as the modern ones, mythology, science fiction, action and romance. As I read, my mind wanders, spinning its own tales. So, I figured I'd share my ramblings with you.

The books I write contain little snippets from my life. I leave it to you to decide which scenes are fact, fiction, or a bit of both. I am far braver and bolder than is likely sensible, so my heroines are just as gutsy.

I'd probably be categorized as an adrenaline junky. My life has been an adventure. I've done archaeology in the hot sun, am well versed with power tools, took Tae Kwon Do in college, have ridden on a Harley with a dark stranger, but never met an alien, vampire or shifter, that I know of.

It is my greatest hope you finish each story inspired to make your dreams come true no matter how impossible they may seem.  Thank you for going on this journey with me and here’s to the imagination and a little daydream.

Jade Waltz lives in Illinois with her husband, two sons, and her three crazy cats. She loves knitting, playing video games, and watching Esports. Jade’s passions include the arts, green tea and mints — all while writing and teaching marching band drill in the fall. Jade has always been an avid reader of the fantasy, paranormal and sci-fi genres and wanted to create worlds she always wanted to read.
She writes character driven romances within detailed universes, where happily-ever-afters happen for those who dare love the abnormal and the unknown. Their love may not be easy—but it is well worth it in the end.

Poppy is a writer of all the things. She has always enjoyed reading multiple genres with diverse couplings, so that's what she writes. Polyfic and Reverse Harem are her go to, but she also writes MF and FF. When Poppy isn't arguing with fictional characters, she can be found chasing her four year old around their Georgia home. On the off occasion that she isn't writing or momming, Poppy is usually reading.

If you catch a Poppy in the wild just remember: Cocktails and chocolate are a valid form of bribery.

Jessica Grayson loves to write stories about strong female heroines and the aliens that cannot help but fall in love with them. She lives with her husband, cat and dog in the San Antonio, TX area. In addition to reading and writing scifi romance, she loves swimming, chai and dark chocolate.

Lee Savino is an author, a mom and a chocoholic. She's written a bunch of books, all smart and sexy romance.

Lee has grandiose goals but most days can’t find her wallet or her keys so she just stays at home and writes. While she was studying creative writing at Hollins University, her first manuscript won the Hollins Fiction Prize.

She lives in the USA with her awesome family.

Stacy Jones is an award winning author with an obsession for all things science fiction, romance, and adventure. She adores creating strange, wondrous worlds and watching her characters come to life. She can usually be found typing frantically on her laptop, dancing like a crazy person with her son, or cuddling with her husband.

Kate Rudolph is a science fiction and paranormal romance author who lives in Indiana. She loves writing about kick butt heroines and the steamy heroes who love them. She’s been devouring romance novels since she was too young to be reading them and had to hide her books so no one would take them away. She couldn’t imagine a better job in this world than writing romances and sharing them with her fellow readers.

Nelson Yiap is a self-taught children's book illustrator. After many years of professional work and education, he rediscovered his passion for creating art and left his job to pursue it as a career. He continues to improve his craft while he builds his portfolio. He uses watercolor, ink and pencil to bring fantastic and imaginative stories on themes like living courageously and authentically to life.

Chris Redding lives in New Jersey. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. When she isn’t writing, she works for a local dance studio and also does ghostwriting. Her books are filled with romance, suspense and thrills.

Links:

Today's guest is Monique McDonell.  She says:

I am an Australian author who writes contemporary women's fiction including chick lit and romance.

I have written all my life especially as a child when I loved to write short stories and poetry. At University I studied Creative Writing as part of my Communication degree. Afterwards I was busy working in public relations I didn't write for pleasure for quite a few years although I wrote many media releases, brochures and newsletters. (And I still do in my day-job!)

When I began to write again I noticed a trend - writing dark unhappy stories made me unhappy. So I made a decision to write a novel with a happy ending and I have been writing happy stories ever since.

I am the author of five stand alone novels including Mr. Right and Other Mongrels and Hearts Afire and the Upper Crust, Courtside and Jewel Sisters Romance Series. Many of my novels focus on an Australian characters meeting and visiting US characters.

I like to think I write men you’ll fall in love with and women you’ll want to be friends with.

In 2015 had a piece on writing chicklit featured in the successful Australian non-fiction book Copyfight.

I live on Sydney's Northern Beaches with my husband and daughter.

Layla Stone is a Sci-Fi Romance author who is passionate about writing and reading romances. Her books are a blend of science fiction, romance and action adventure.

A business coordinator by training and a bookworm at heart, Layla makes her home in Southern California, where she lives with her two children and a trio of fur babies.

Leighton Greene has traveled the world, but still calls Australia home. She has been writing stories since she was old enough to hold a pencil. Her first book was a choose-your-own-adventure style book about deciding what to eat for breakfast. It didn’t shake the New York Times bestseller list, but she still has a copy of it.

After spending some time writing in academia, fanfiction and corporate reporting, Leighton decided she should probably do what she actually wanted to do, which was to write commercial fiction. So she did. She writes gay romance and, when the mood strikes, M/M erotica as LJ Greene. She’s also planning to launch a series of cozy mysteries in 2020.

Leighton has only been publishing since 2019, but she loves it so far and has never enjoyed a job more. She still works in her old job, but she’s lucky to be able to call her own hours. That means there’s lots of time to fish those stories out of the ether and put them onto the page (or computer screen, at least). She lives with her partner and her cockatiel on the east coast of Australia.

Jason has been writing since the mid-1700's when he was asked by the founding fathers to help with a little document called the Deceleration of F'ing Independence. He spends his free time reading to blind kittens and consulting with fallen African dictators on how to use art as therapy. He hopes that one day he can give all this awesomeness up and just write novels.

Carolyne Aarsen spends much of her days sitting in front of a computer immersed in other worlds with people so real to she keeps thinking some day they might call and come over for coffee. She grew up in the city but has spent more years in the country and now considers herself a full-fledged 'country girl’ living at the intersection of No and Where, making stuff up, or ‘lying for a living’ as her husband likes to call it.

She’s still searching for the perfect story to write. Hasn’t found it yet but long walks through the meandering trails around their farm and staring into space inspire her to keep trying.

She’s thankful she can do this job from home wearing whatever clothes she grabs in the morning to put on. She hopes to keep writing striving for that perfect story until her fingers give out or her brain does. As far as she knows neither has happened yet so she will keep going.

Learn more at her website:

Equal parts bookworm, flower child, and eclectic witch, Denise D. Young writes fantasy and paranormal romance featuring witches, magic, faeries, and the occasional shifter.

Whatever the flavor of the magic, it’s always served with a brisk cup of tea–and the promise of romance varying from sweet to sensual.

She lives with her husband and their animals in the mountains of Virginia, where small towns and tall trees inspire her stories. She reads tarot cards, collects crystals, gazes at stars, and believes magic is the answer (no matter what the question was).

If you’ve ever hoped to find a book of spells in a dusty attic, if you suspect every misty forest contains a hidden portal to another realm, or if you don’t mind a little darkness before your happily-ever-after, her books might be just the thing you’ve been waiting for.

Links

Alana says:

I’ve loved books since I could read, and often have five open on my e-reader at any given time. No matter what genre I try, I always come back to my first love—romance.

Perhaps it’s no accident that one of my first memories is watching the infamous scene in Spartacus where two slaves are thrown together in a cell and forced to mate. (Um yeah, you no longer have to wonder where the idea for Zar came from.) And don’t even ask how weird my parents were for having me watch that when I was in pre-school.

I started writing sci-fi abduction romances in my head before it was a “thing.” Now that I’m putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), my mind won’t turn off, throwing me more plot ideas than I could write in two lifetimes.

I write under a pen name because until last month I was a practicing psychotherapist and didn’t think my clients would want to be privy to the sexy stories I write for fun. I think my history as a therapist gives me unique insight into people’s thoughts, feelings and motivations and provides my writing the ring of truth and deep emotion.

I’ve specialized in working with trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder since the beginning of my career. Maybe this is why most of my characters have some…issues (don’t we all?). Even though many of my characters have been scarred and traumatized, I make them work hard to earn their happily ever after--which is guaranteed in every book--because they deserve it.

Life is hard and the path to true love is littered with potholes and poor choices. That’s why it’s easy to write books with real themes and real difficulties the characters have to overcome before finding their well-deserved bliss. I guarantee no “too stupid to live” heroines and no ridiculous misunderstandings.  My characters’ struggles are real and compelling —just like yours.

Links:

Kris Jayne is a devoted writer, reader, and traveler. After working for nearly two decades in telecommunications marketing, she made the terribly impractical decision to quit her corporate job and write full-time. Today, she’s traded her professional, “take me seriously” wardrobe for yoga pants, UGG slippers, and her laptop. She spends her days blissfully sweating out the writing process in the Dallas area with her dogs, Otis the Shih Tzu, Rocco the Terrier, and Red the Foxy Mutt.

Her passion for writing is only matched by her passion for the adventures of travel. In 2008, she let a friend talk her into sleeping outside for the first time in her life when she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.

P.S. If you're buying her a gift, she has a penchant for single-malt Scotch and scarves.

Just Call Me M  writes romantic mysteries about love, spies, and other questionable stuff.  Pull on your crazy slippers, steal the comfy chair from the dog or cat or SO, and get settled in.

You can find more about her, her upcoming releases, and other special events at

Today's guest is Tana Stone.

PE Kavanagh writes smart and steamy contemporary romances with a splash of suspense and a sprinkle of magic. She’s committed to the life-changing powers of true love and great orgasms.

Her past includes stints as an MIT-trained engineer, biotech executive, professional dancer, yoga teacher, and entrepreneur.

Nancey Cummings is an unapologetic nerd. Time travel, space opera, superheroes, tabletop games, fountain pens and video games where you beat up robots, she loves it all.

Nancey writes the type of books she wants to reads: fun, fast and flirty adventures featuring human women and the aliens who love them.

Professionally, Nancey was a social worker for a long time before deciding to chase her childhood dream and write full time. She still a bit freaked out about “doing art” for a living but it’s the best job she’s ever had.

Nancey lives outside Philadelphia in an old house with her husband and cats.

Miranda Bridges began sneaking romance novels as a teenager and did not confess to reading them until she became a legal adult.

After years and years as a voracious reader she woke up one day with a story in mind. She decided to write it down in order to silence her imaginary friends, but they've grown in number and have gotten louder.