Author Interviews — Real Stories from Real Authors
Our interview section brings you candid conversations with writers from every genre. Whether it’s about their latest release, their writing journey, or what inspires them — these interviews offer insight and connection straight from the source.
Inside the Mind - Brett Butler
-
What inspired you to start writing?
Ever since I was a kid growing up in the Hudson Valley, storytelling was how I made sense of the world. I was always drawn to the quiet moments—the hidden dramas playing out behind closed doors, the secrets teenagers carried in their backpacks, the complexity of growing up in a town that looked perfect from the outside but held so much tension underneath. What truly inspired me to start writing seriously was a combination of personal reflection and creative urgency. I had stories inside me—about identity, longing, faith, and defiance—that I didn't see represented in mainstream books. Writing gave me a voice, especially during moments when I felt voiceless. My background in digital cinematography helped me visualize scenes vividly, while my MFA in Creative Writing gave me the tools to shape them with depth and honesty. Catholic School Boys in Trouble grew from a desire to revisit those formative years with both raw truth and artistic beauty. I wanted to write something that felt real—messy, vulnerable, and unforgettable.
-
Can you tell us a little about your latest book?
Absolutely! My latest novel is Catholic School Boys in Trouble: The Book of Blair, and it's the most personal installment in the series yet. This book pulls back the curtain on Blair Cohen’s life before he ever stepped foot inside St. Ignatius. It's about a sensitive, artistic boy trying to survive the chaos of adolescence in a small Hudson Valley town—navigating identity, heartbreak, betrayal, and the weight of being different in a world that expects conformity. Blair was always a fan favorite in the series, and I knew he deserved more than just backstory—he deserved a whole book. We follow him through high school at Clarkstown North, where a painful betrayal leads to his transfer to the Catholic school that changes everything. What I love most is how raw, poetic, and painfully relatable his story is. It’s about growing up queer, misunderstood, and defiant. This book stands on its own, but also deepens the emotional stakes of the larger series. For anyone who's ever felt like an outsider or kept their true self hidden, The Book of Blair will speak directly to your soul.
View More
Inside the Mind - Rusty Blackwood
-
What inspired you to start writing?
I've always loved to write, but my employment path took me in a different direction until age 51, when I was able to put my passion for writing into play to see where it could possibly take me. I enjoy letting my imagination run wild, and it has served me well.
-
Can you tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is Return to Autumn Part 2, which is the concluding novel in my Autumn Trilogy consisting of The Perils of Autumn, Return to Autumn, and Return to Autumn Part 2. The story takes place in the early 70's in Kentucky in a posh, fictional area outside Lexington known as The Meadows, where you find the celebrated Landon Lawns Stables, winner of many equestrian awards including a Triple Crown winner. Young, newly graduated RN Autumn Leeves, is sent to Landon manor to care for the terminally-ill wife of English Horsemaster Cyril Landon. Duff Taylor, world renown jockey who is tops in his field, lives fulltime above the tack room at Landon Lawns and enjoys the many benefits it brings, but he also has a dark secret surrounding an unsolved racing incident from his past that he will go to any length to protect. Autumn arrives to Landon Manor in time to be thrown into the fray, and finds herself caught in the ongoing disruption that ensues.
View More
Inside the Mind - Ahmad Ardalan
-
What inspired you to start writing?
One night I was having dinner at a Brazilian restaurant and a couple walking down the stairs tripped and fell. I thought to myself if those, if those two would go back in time for a minute, and avoid what happened they would. Time Travel… Since I was a kid back in the eighties I was fascinated by that idea, and at that night I went back home and wrote my first novel The Clout of Gen. Despite it not gaining traction but to me it was the start to it all. An interesting time-travel mystery set in Japan.
-
Can you tell us a little about your latest book?
A tale of greed, art and an ongoing decades love story. The Art collector of Le Marais is a tale set in Paris, spans through decades, full of Art history and passion.
View More
Inside the Mind - James Lingard
-
What inspired you to start writing?
Leading law publishers invited me to write a textbook on Bank Security Documents - a subject in which I was an expert. This book is now in its 7th edition.
-
Can you tell us a little about your latest book?
The Girl Who Disappeared is closely based on what happened to my parents during World War 2. Chapters before I was born are based on family hearsay - hence the reason the book is fiction.
View More
From Pigs to Parables: Andrew Robert Abel on Writing for Kids and Families
-
What inspired you to start writing?
I’ve loved stories in rhyme since childhood, especially Thomas the Tank Engine, Winnie the Pooh and Dr Seuss. My grandad recited a humorous soccer poem to me as a boy, and now I enjoy sharing stories in rhyme with my grandchildren. Seeing their eyes light up when I read aloud inspired me to start writing my own books—some faith-based, some just plain fun—to capture those moments for other families too.
-
Can you tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is The Big Bad Wolf’s Birthday, a humorous sequel to the classic tale of The Three Little Pigs. This time, the pigs and the wolf are older, wiser, and celebrating a birthday rather than feuding. It’s a fun, rhyming story with a happy twist that makes kids (and adults) laugh—my grandkids love hearing it at bedtime. I illustrated this book myself using watercolors, many of them done in the airport or on the plane flying back to visit my mom in the last month of her life. My original images are signed with flight details and/or locations.
View More
Inside the Mind - Anhait
-
What inspired you to start writing?
My real name is Anahit but my pen name is Anhait (unknown). I am always inspired by life to write, but I also use my imagination to make my works attractive. As a poetess I write my prose poetically with metaphors, allegorical expressions and philosophical depth.
-
Can you tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is a memoir. It is based on my own and my ancestors' memories.
View More
Inside the Mind - Marina Koulouris
-
What inspired you to start writing?
I've been creating stories in my mind since I was a child, finding a rare kind of freedom in the ability to live other lives and feel things beyond my own. At fifteen, I started putting those worlds on paper, a private act of liberation that was, for a long time, enough. But as the stories grew, so did a new, more profound need: the desire to share them. To see if the worlds I built in my head could find a home in someone else’s. Now, decades later, I still write for that same sense of creative freedom, but also because I want to put those parts of myself to the test of being communicated, and even judged. First, it's a process that's purely mine. Then, it's about connecting and sharing that piece of me with others.
-
Are there any universal themes that you write about, an enduring human truth you hope to explore with your books?
I'm an incurable romantic, but not just for the heart-pounding kind of love. I'm searching for something enduring in a world constantly in turmoil. Whether it’s a global conflict or a personal crisis, I want to explore how we find our footing when the ground beneath us is shifting. I believe the truth of people and their choices is never black or white. It's found in the gray areas of identity, morality, and perception. It's here, in the moral ambiguity of life, that I explore how love—not just a love between two people, but a love and acceptance of ourselves and others—becomes a sustaining power. World War II is the perfect backdrop for this. It's close enough to resonate with our modern crises, but distant enough to be explored with a clearer vision. In that world of turmoil, I want to show how love, in its many forms, is the truest act of resilience.
View More
Inside the Mind - Manoranjan ghoshal
-
What inspired you to start writing?
The question of science first encouraged me to enter the world of study and writing. At that time, I used to think and write about science. After that, I gradually entered the world of literature. Although my father had a penchant for writing, I may have inherited it.
-
Can you tell us a little about your latest book?
I can't really judge anything by the latest book. For example, I have written many books on geometry, new ideas in physics, science fiction, mystery, or love, and it is not possible for me to single out one of them as good. However, in literature, I like science fiction a little more. in these, scientist BINI and Teaven Gurdemo is favorite.
View More
Inside the Mind - Anjali Paul
-
What inspired you to start writing?
I wanted to be a writer ever since I could remember. I think I chose this path as a young girl because I could not communicate clearly, and I wanted to be understood. Learning the art and craft of writing helped me to communicate with clarity.
-
Can you tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is non-fiction. It is called Quiet Power and Subtle Influence: The Art of Leading with Emotional Intelligence. I wrote it in a burst of inspiration. It delves deeply into how leaders communicate to establish and maintain their authority.
View More
Inside the Mind - Paul Fox
-
What inspired you to start writing?
Growing up as a gay man in the 1970’s and 80’s was a difficult experience. At that time it was still illegal and there was no gay marriage or even Pride. I felt isolated and thought there may be something wrong with me. The way I find to help myself was to write and draw my feelings in a book I kept hidden from others, a kind of diary I guess.
-
Can you tell us a little about your latest book?
My book is made up of lots of the things I wrote in my “diary” about being gay, my feelings, falling in and out of love and the struggle to come to terms with who I really am.
View More