Please welcome Ellie Douglas to my blog this morning. Shall we get started Ellie? The book she is promoting in this post is Death O Death.

Please introduce yourself to those reading this blog post.

Hi everyone, I’m Ellie Douglas, from New Zealand and I’m a horror author 🙂

Has writing always been part of your life and when did you “know” that it was time to start writing your first book? 

Writing has been a huge part of my life but I did not recognize it as such, not in the beginning. I had a passion to write when I was very young, but did not pursue it until later in my life. The time then was right for me.

How difficult was it writing your first book?

I think I may have done things a little differently as I found my first book the easiest to write, then the second, third, and so on until around the fourth when it started to get a little harder and so far has continued that way.

Have you ever wanted to give up and what stopped you?

I have had a few moments where I thought to myself that I should move on and do something else, but I carried on, because I enjoy it so much, and I can’t see myself doing anything different.

Who is the most supportive of you and your dream to be a writer?

My husband and my brother Robert 🙂

What is the best advice given to you (book or otherwise), and by whom?

The best advice is to be yourself. To not change your style to suit that of others. I can’t remember who had told me that as it was such a long time ago.

What is your target audience and what aspect of your writing do you feel targets that audience?

My target audience is adults. Due to the graphic nature of the horror I write.

Did the cover evolve the same way, or did you work with someone to make it come together for you?

I am a cover artist by trade, which is what I was doing before I wrote my books. I still make pre-made covers for authors as well 🙂 So my covers are from my own designs and I have a tendency, when an idea strikes about a new story I want to write, I usually work on the cover before I even finish writing. Sometimes before I even start writing as I find it a great motivator and often something visual like that gets the mind ticking. (I love that idea! Using your cover as a muse!)

What are you working on now? Can we get a peek, an excerpt?

I’m not working on anything right now.

Any last words before we wrap things up?

If I was to give any advice to fellow writers starting out, be sure to have a professional editor, get beta readers, proof readers and do your research.

Links:

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Bio:

Born and raised in New Zealand, a mother and wife who donates what spare time she has in volunteer work with Autistic children.

Ellie Douglas is addicted to horror, everything about it she loves. She enjoys creating strong characters that rise to the top from ordinary lives.

Her love affair with horror has seen her produce several award winning horror books.

Ellie is constantly striving to do more. She also makes professional book covers for authors and has helped people with by creating websites, banners, and logos.

Ellie’s ultimate aim is to give back, paying it forward and to constantly better herself. To give the audience amazing entertaining stories that she herself would read.

She would love to scare you…

In the span of a few hours, this anthology is a Number 1 Hot New Release! 

A Spark of Hope: An Anthology of Poems for Saving Lives by many talented writers and poets. 

FREE on KOBO at the time of this post, and .99 cents on Amazon

Synopsis

Please welcome John Searancke to my blog. Thank you, John, for sharing with our readers today. 

Tell us a little about yourself, where you live, spouse, kids, work, etc and how you started writing?

I was born in 1943 at Derby Royal Infirmary, and thus a war baby. I lived my early life in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, a market town in Leicestershire, but was sent away to be educated at Kings Mead Preparatory School, Seaford and afterwards at Rugby School that bastion of English education. Later commissioned into the Territorial Army, I have been variously a hotel and restaurant owner, director and chairman of a marketing consortium, and latterly a partner with my wife in a commercial legal services company. I have enjoyed my working life in England and Switzerland and now live with my wife Sally in West Sussex and northern Tenerife, where for five years I occupied myself as restaurant critic for a Canarian newspaper.

I had long wanted to try my hand at writing a book, probably much as many others do. I decided to try to make that dream come true, and sketched out my first book, the manuscript of which was summarily rejected. I then learned of the requirement for a skilled editor, and was lucky to be put in touch with one such. She guided me through an almost complete re-write and the book was picked up and made it into print.

My first book, Dog Days in The Fortunate Islands, charts the stories of moving my family and dog to live on a small island in the Atlantic Ocean, and which received much acclaim.  It is available in paperback and e-book formats.

Prunes for Breakfast is my second book and records the life and times of my father throughout WW2, including a cache of unpublished personal letters with details of his landing in Normandy, fighting through the bocage and later capture and incarceration in a German POW Camp. It is available in paperback, e-book and audio formats.

The Reluctant Hotelkeeper is my third book, just released, and forms a prequel to Dog Days in The Fortunate Islands. It is available in paperback and e-book formats.

What are you currently working on?

My third book, The Reluctant Hotelkeeper, has just been published, so I am busy with my US publicist, Margaret Daly Designs, who is doing a tremendous job of steering me through the pitfalls that seem to exist to trap the unwary. My next job will be to complete my family tree, which so far goes back nearly 400 years.

Do you have a special author style of writing? Do you work with a outline or plot, or do you prefer to just see where an idea takes you?

My first book, Dog Days In The Fortunate Islands, was done in a very freestyle and unstructured way. I admit to knowing nothing. Fortunately, my editor managed to knock it into shape as a saleable manuscript. When I decided to tell the WW2 story about my father and his escapades through Normandy and prisoner of war camp in Prunes for Breakfast, I needed to be a lot more structured with much research, which took me to the battlefields of northern France to trace his footsteps. My third book, just out, The Reluctant Hotelkeeper took a lot of effort to manage stories into some sort of timeline over thirty-five years. It was hard work, particularly for my editor. 

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

There was no research for my first book. A huge amount of research went into my second one, including an extended visit to the battlefields of Normandy, where I finally tracked down the exact spot where my father had been captured back in 1944. As for my third, I drew on a plethora of happenings and events and brought them together over a period of months to form a story line.

Do you write in more than one genre? Describe your usual writing day please and thank you.

When I am writing, I need to concentrate as hard as possible, as it does not come easily sometimes. Interruptions are not very welcome, but they happen nevertheless, either with a steady supply of cups of tea by my long-suffering wife Sally, or the barking of dogs or a thousand other things. I do half a day writing, usually the morning, though sometimes it gets extended. I do not have a dedicated writing room.

What genres are your favorites to read?

I like legal/crime thrillers, almost anything by Bernard Cornwell, and stuff about the Dark Ages in Britain. Manda Scott comes to mind here – she is a captivating writer. 

What are you reading now?

I am just finishing the Boudica series by Manda Scott. Next will be her epic about Joan of Arc.

Tell us the authors who inspired you to write and how they inspired you.

I have almost a full set (missing just one) of original Alexandre Dumas – he can really spin a tale.

Any sage advice for a fledgling author?

No, I would not presume. I am a fledgling myself. But, if you want to write, then go for it. You will sink or swim – but get the best editor that you can afford.

If a movie was made of your book, who would lead the cast and be the best suited?   

I would choose Hugh Grant because he has a bit of a sense of humour and could bring some charm to the role. If he could be persuaded to bring along his ex, Elizabeth Hurley, then my delight would be complete.

Vanilla or chocolate?

I am a recovering chocoholic. (I’m not there yet but only sugar free chocolate now :). 

If you won the lottery, would you still write? What places would you go? Charity donations?

I suppose it depends on how much. Lottery wins nowadays are ridiculously vast. I would love to do a slow motoring tour around Europe. We do give to a dog charity and other charities featuring the UK. My wife is currently banning me from writing another book, but who knows?

Tell us everything you want your audience to know. What do you like to do when not writing?

We divide our time between West Sussex in England and Puerto de la Cruz in the Canary Islands. Switching between the two leaves us no time to get bored or jaded – life seems to be ever full. We are very lucky in that respect, and there is so much to do at both ends.

You find yourself on a desert island, which three people would you wish to be deserted with you and why?

Jack Reacher – he would have plenty of skills to look after me on the desert island, and perhaps even get us off it.

One real life person that is not a family member or friend.

Any competent boat builder would be very welcome to join us! 🙂

*****

Social media links for John Searancke :

Website          Facebook         Twitter          Pinterest 

Dog Days in The Fortunate Islands Pinterest board: https://tinyurl.com/y8efsmbv

Prunes for Breakfast Pinterest board: https://tinyurl.com/y7mdyk7r

The Reluctant Hotelkeeper Pinterest board: https://tinyurl.com/y7j64bnr