Pleasegive a warm welcome to author Matthew J. Stott
Tell us a bit about yourself…
My name is Matthew and I’m an author residing in Illinois with my wife, two children, and pug. I’m a huge geek when it comes to all things fantasy and sci-fi and belong to a number of fandoms like Marvel, Star Wars, and Harry Potter, which are all huge inspirations for my stories.
Have you always wanted to become an author?
Since about the 4th grade in elementary school, when I was first taught about creative writing, I’ve gravitated toward storytelling. This turned into a passion in my later youth to become an author one day. I wrote short stories for fun over the years until I felt ready to pursue my first novel. So yes, for as long as I can remember.
What was your inspiration for your current book/series?
Like I mentioned before, my favorite movies and shows are a big inspiration for my writing. Specifically for my current book/series, I fell in love with a video game franchise called Kingdom Hearts where a kid and his friends leave their simple island life and travel to all these amazing worlds. I was always fascinated with the idea of portals and different realms and knew I wanted to craft a story around that concept, hence how “The Portal to Aardon” was born.
What are you working on now?
Right now I’m gearing up for the release of my debut novel, which is very exciting, but at the same time I’m working on the sequel as this series is set currently to be three books. This second book is going to take all the magic, action, and emotion of the first book and amp it up fifty notches.
Do you have any quirks while working?
I’m not sure if you’d call it a quirk, but I like to listen to various scores while I write. That is, instrumental music without lyrics, which I feel strikes the perfect balance of stimulating the brain without being too distracting. I also find motivation for my writing in commissioning artwork of my characters so I can see them come to life, as well as creating “mood boards” which are basically pictures/artwork that showcase the aesthetics and themes of your story.
What are your hopes for the future?
My hopes for the future are to 1) have my debut novel sell well, so that my sequel books will have the audience they deserve and 2) complete my series in a satisfying manner while continuing to grow my author presence across social media so that I can eventually afford to quit my day job and write stories for a living.
Do you have any advice for new authors about the publishing world?
My main advice would be to start networking and building a social media presence as soon as they can. The publishing industry can be a frustrating and overwhelming place, and having writer friends and people there to support you who understand what you’re going through is crucial to your success as an author.
Do you have anything to say to your followers?
I hope you’ll check out my YA fantasy novel, “The Portal to Aardon,” when it releases on Sept 13 and leave an honest review. I’ve worked so hard on this story and feel it will resonate strongly with readers. I’m absolutely grateful for all the friends, family, and fellow readers/writers who have supported me in any way along my journey. Thank you!
Hello, I’m Tabitha Barret, a multi-genre Romance author who writes steamy fantasy, paranormal, academy and YA books. I live in New Jersey with my supportive husband, two opposite personality teens and four insane dogs. There’s never a dull moment.
My main focus is on reverse harem and #whychoose stories. Admittedly, when I read Twilight, I was annoyed that Bella had to choose between two different men who loved her. Yes, you can argue that either Edward or Jacob was the better choice, but it’s a fantasy book. If we can pretend that vampires are real and sparkle, why not indulge ourselves in the fantasy of having two very different kinds of men be part of our lives?
Have you always wanted to become an author?
When I was younger, I used to pretend that I was Wonder Woman or Batgirl and run around the house beating up bad guys. As I got older, the role-playing stayed inside my head, even if I didn’t act it out anymore. I always had some kind of pretend world where I created different kinds of characters or lived out the lives of people from TV or movies. I finally started writing down the story ideas in high school and actually finished a book. It was terrible, of course, and my mother thought I was crazy when she read some of it, so I put it away. When I took creative writing classes in college, I never dreamed that I would be a published author some day. So, even though I never really decided to become an author until I was in my late thirties, I realized that I had quietly been working towards that unrealized goal. It took 4 years to complete the 1st two books in my original series. Since then, I have been trying to hone my skills and improve my author business.
What was your inspiration for your current book/series?
I’m actually working a few different books at the moment.
One of the books is a sequel to a Magic Academy anthology that was published last year. I like doing anthologies sometimes because the theme is already set up. I just have to figure out how to write within the given perimeters. It’s good experience and keeps me busy.
When I write an anthology story or book, I focus on the genre and the type of story I want to tell. I play around with different scenarios and characters to figure out what will work. I’m only ready to write when I get a strong image and motivation for my character.
My Third Throne series started off with a dream about Lucifer calling to a young woman, who kills herself to be with him in Hell. It was a simple concept that spawned years of different scenarios in my head and ultimately led to a 12 book planned series rich with Fallen Angels, hot mortals and Hades, who is fan favorite. (I’ve published 5 books so far.)
Hallowed Woods Academy started off with a young woman running through an ally, trying to escape men in trench coats who corner her and pull out wands. She can sometimes do strange things, but never did she believe she was a witch.
Pearl: Jewels Café # 8 – I took my side character from Hallowed Woods and gave her a book of her own. Celeste is witch who can’t do magic and is bullied because of it. I sent her home to deal with her overbearing mother and the dark wizards who were planning to do terrible things to her family and friends.
My ideas don’t come from a scripted, planned out story. They come from moments or scenes that play out in my head. Once I feel that a character is strong enough, I write a story for them, or rather, her. My main characters have all been women, so far, so I take a woman, put her in a bad situation and watch her fight her way out of it.
What are you working on now?
I have multiple works in progress: The Third Throne: Angel of Illness book 6, Hallowed Woods Academy Semester 2, Dahlia: Spell Library # 5 and Bloodlust: House of Vampires (Wicked Reform School #5)
Dahlia is part of a world building series with other authors, as is Bloodlust. I find that when I have a deadline that’s part of series, I write faster and actually publish the book instead of procrastinating.
Dahlia is about a psychic who doesn’t want to see visions of death and mayhem, or her future breakups, but doesn’t know how to control the visions. Something is coming for her, something dark, but she can’t see who or what it is. When an unexpected love spell calls upon her soulmates, Dahlia finds that she doesn’t have to hide who she is anymore and can focus on fighting the darkness.
Bloodlust takes place in Wicked Reform School. The Mielcarek Coven is the prominent coven of the vampires after years of destroying any coven who opposed them. Marianela was chosen to lead the Mielcareks upon her father’s demise, until she woke up chained to the bottom of the ocean. She launched a campaign against her duplicitous brother in an effort to claim her throne. She’s captured by her brother’s army and sentenced to Wicked Reform, where her brother believes she can be brainwashed into loving him again and accepting a lesser role within the coven, if she survives the notorious reform school known to kill their student if they don’t redeem themselves. Let’s just say that Marianela is a fighter who has proven herself on the battlefield and wants revenge against her brother at any cost, or so she thinks.
As you can see, in my darker stories I really like to challenge my heroines and make them work for their happy ending.
Do you have any quirks while writing?
I like to write with headphones and music to cancel out the distractions. It helps me set the tone and mood of what I’m writing. I like epic mixes for mood and love songs or badass empowerment songs depending on what I’m writing.
I also tend to eat at my desk when I’m on a deadline, which leads to messy shirts when I drop things. Mad geniuses don’t really care if they spilled their soda down their shirts as long as it dries fast and they can keep working. LOL!
What are your hopes for the future?
I’m always trying to improve my technique and my editing skills. I take marketing and ads courses to sell more books. I’m always interested in collaborations with other authors. Though there are times when I want to quit, I have a team of people who push me to keep going and remind me why I’m doing this. So, my future goal is to keep writing stories that interest me and find readers who want to come along with me on this journey.
Do you have any advice for new authors about the publishing world?
Know your genre.
Be able to add something unique to your stories that makes you stand out.
NEVER self-edit your books, no matter how good you think you are.
Ask for help when you need it. There are so many nice authors who have helped me out over the years or believed in me enough to give me a chance.
Always have someone who will read your books and give you an honest opinion about your stories. If you want to punch them by then end, then they are your best resource to improve your book.
Finish your story. You don’t know how many people I’ve met who say they want to be an author but can’t find the time to write or they started a book, but it’s not finished yet. FINISH YOUR BOOK! Your first book will never be perfect. Accept it. You will always want to go back and reedit it, which you can as a self-published author. Almost every author I know has gone back to their first book to make changes. We learn new things every year of our lives. Being an author is no different. We need improve our sentence structure and storytelling abilities if we want to be successful. We learn from our mistakes and adapt. You will also find some flaw in your previous books because as human we are always growing and maturing.
Believe in yourself or no one else will.
Do you have anything to say to your readers?
I love my fans! I interact with them in my Facebook group and in anthology groups. My two biggest fans became my editor and my writing soulmate turned PA. Without her, most of my books would never get written on time and I would have quit six times by now.
Tell authors that you enjoy their work. Talk about your favorite books with other readers. That’s the best thing you can do to support the books that you love to read.
Every day I am grateful to the people who buy my books, whether or not they love them. I’m just happy that they gave me a chance to entertain them for a little while so that they could forget about their stressful day.
Helle Gade 