​Lisa Belcastro lives with her family on Martha’s Vineyard.  She loves time with her family and friends, running, gardening, outdoor activities, cooking, chocolate, reading, traveling, a healthy dose of adventure, and her cat, Ben, who keeps her company while she creates fictional lives for the numerous characters living inside her head.
 
Lisa runs as an ambassador for TEAM 413 (www.team413.org), and has completed a marathon (26.2 miles) in all fifty states.
 
Lisa’s stories are set on the Vineyard amidst the magnificence of the ocean, the beauty of sandy beaches, rolling hills, and ancient cliffs, as well as the people and events that make the Island so very unique.
 
When she’s not at her desk, Lisa is living in paradise, volunteering at her daughter’s school, serving in her church community, planting and weeding her numerous gardens, training to run the Walt Disney World Dopey Challenge in January 2016, walking the beach looking for sea glass, or enjoying a great meal while she pens the cuisine column for Vineyard Style Magazine.

1. How did you get started as an author?  What or whom inspired you?
My “professional” writings began as a journalist. After graduating with a degree in journalism and equine studies, I was hired by The Chronicle of the Horse, a weekly sport horse magazine. I LOVED my job! I traveled the States and overseas covering major equestrian competitions. I loved the travel, loved the friends I met and saw at the competitions, loved the horses. I never thought I’d give it up. Then, I got married and had a baby. I loved being a mom more than I loved travel, writing, and horses combined. I gave up the magazine job, and worked from home for years. As time went on, I got the itch to write again but knew traveling multiple weekends a month was out of the question. I went back to school, mostly online, for creative writing. A few more years passed, and I volunteered to organize and chaperone my daughter’s school trip aboard the schooner Shenandoah. Sailing across the Vineyard Sound, I imagined I was transported in time to colonial Boston. I wrote some notes, took a lot of pictures, and the Winds of Change series was born.  I often chuckle that becoming a mom shifted my focus away from writing, and then being a mom brought me back to writing.

2. What writing projects are you currently working on?  What can you tell us about these projects?
I have two novels and one novella coming out in 2016. Audition for Love is the second book in the Possible Dreams trilogy.

Audition is a contemporary romance set on Martha’s Vineyard. Broadway star Felicia Jenson is on Island for a two-week performance at the Vineyard Playhouse. Eric Young attended the Community Service Possible Dreams auction fundraiser, and purchased a walk-on appearance for his niece in Felicia’s show. Felicia has had one miserable relationship after another. Her director in NYC is hitting on her, and she’s ready to quit. Eric, a NYC attorney, is struggling to get over his brother’s death four years earlier, convinced that he should’ve died instead. Buried under the weight of guilt, Eric’s sole interest in women is to take care of his niece and his brother’s widow. Eric will soon discover that he can’t afford the stunning Felicia when her name appears on a list of witnesses for his newest case. Audition for Love releases next summer.

Shenandoah Song, the sixth story in the Winds of Change series, will focus on Jonah and Ava, who we meet in A Shenandoah Family Christmas. Ava’s beautiful voice, and Jonah’s love of music, bring them together. The Revolutionary War will tear them apart. One accident will throw them together, while a second tragic event will separate them physically and emotionally. My heart breaks for them as I’m typing this. 

​I’ll be writing another Christmas novella for release next November. I have until March to decide whether it will be a story with Ryan, Laurel, and Gracie from A Dream for Love, or whether I’ll focus on Tess and Hawk for the Winds of Change series.  Who knows, maybe I’ll write both!
 
3. What authors inspire your writing?
I am a book nerd, always have been. I grew up dreaming I was Laura Ingalls living in a little house on a prairie. C.S. Lewis took me away to worlds beyond my imagination, and I still read his books today.  I own dozens of Karen Kingsbury books. Her love stories, especially the Baxter series, have drawn me in and kept me turning pages as I sighed, cried, laughed, mourned, and rejoiced. I discovered Sandra Orchard’s romantic suspense books a couple of years ago, and have now read all of her novels. My bookshelves are filled with well-read books by Denise Hunter, Colleen Coble, Bodie and Brock Thoene, Cynthia Riggs, Jerry Jenkins, Robert Parker’s Spenser-for-Hire series, William Sirls, Janette Oke, and the list goes on and on.

4. What period of history interests you the most?  Does this influence your writing?
I love, love, love the American Revolutionary War period in history. Perhaps because I was born in Boston, and grew up surrounded by the history of that era. When I first dreamed up the idea of Shenandoah Nights, the first book in the Winds of Change series, I knew exactly where I wanted to the set the book. I love writing a series during the War, and also writing a second series, Possible Dreams, set on Martha’s Vineyard now.

5. What inspired the idea for A Shenandoah Family Christmas?
My characters in the Winds of Change series, the Roberts family and the Reed family, live on present-day Martha’s Vineyard or in colonial Boston. In 2014, I wrote A Shenandoah Christmas about the Roberts family, and set the story in present day on the Vineyard. This year I wanted to visit with the Reed family and see how they were doing during the Revolutionary War. The second smallpox outbreak in Boston added a nice bit of tension to the story, and I had fun researching the disease.

6. What other hobbies do you enjoy when you are not writing?
I am a passionate runner. I run for TEAM413, and have completed a full marathon in every state in America. I love gardening, growing flowers and vegetables. I’m an avid reader, and total Disney fan.  I’m also the person you can call and say, “Want to go to XYZ?” I’m always up for travel or adventure (as long as I can afford it!). 

Connect with the author:
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1. ​Why PJ Mouse and why books about travelling?
PJ Mouse is my daughter's stuffed animal that has gone everywhere with us. He is really cute and looks like he would have an adorable personality, so I chose to write about him. Travelling - because it is very educational and fun. It creates lasting memories and makes life so much more interesting than just working all the time. It also helps one to appreciate different people and places. Once you start, you will never want to stop.
 
2. What 5 things would you never want to live without?
My kids
Sunshine
Travel
Health
Coffee
 
3. What scares you the most?
The thought of anything bad happening to my kids.
 
4. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
An extrovert. I love meeting new people and trying new things. If there is a dinner or theme party happening, it is usually at my place. If you want to keep your party going, invite me, particularly if there is dancing. :)
 
5. What are some of your marketing strategies?
When you are self-published, marketing is a huge part of what you have to do. You can write the book, but if nobody ever hears about it then it is just going to sit there.
I started by visiting elementary schools, doing readings to the kids and then having Q and A time. It was lots of fun and the kids were very enthusiastic. I went to bookstores to see if they would carry the book and I sent it to libraries. I had to give away quite a few copies at first just to get the book into the hands of readers.
I also went into our local parades with a float. We made our own float and I even sewed a full size PJ Mouse costume from my own pattern. I do not normally sew. Again, it is lots of fun and parents can then see what the kids were talking about from the time at school.
I also sold the book at local markets. This gets you into the eye of the public. We have a cruise ship terminal, which has a market, so it also got the book into the hands of people from around the world. In the last year I have sold about 1500 books, which puts me onto the bestseller list in BC.
 
6. What is your next project?
My next book is on England 'The Travel Adventures of PJ Mouse - In a Small Corner of England'. It will be available in November. The next one is on New Zealand. The first draft of the manuscript is complete but Megan has not yet started the artwork for the book. I expect it will be published some time in the middle of 2016. The 5th book in the series will most likely be on Italy. I have just started writing the manuscript.

A.L. (Amanda) Davroe writes both YA and adult speculative fiction. She prefers revisionist tales in paranormal, romance, Steampunk, and fantasy. She is the author of Salvation Station (adult psych horror), The City Steam Collection (adult psych horror), For Your Heart (YA Paranormal Romance) and her YA Sci-Fi novel, Nexis, is coming out with Entangled Publishing  December 1, 2015!

By day, Amanda lives in Connecticut with her two feline hench-creatures and makes cheese.  She's a terrible blusher, has a weak spot for cuddly animals, loves Laffy Taffy and Cadbury MiniEggs, and she's a huge advocate of alternative healing methods.  Amanda also wears purple shoes and corsets...Though not always in the same ensemble.  She's a Capricorn, a Hufflepuff, a bit gothic, and a few nuggets short of a Happy Meal. 

1. How did you get started as an author?  What or whom inspired you?
I first got interested in writing when a friend of mine in high school asked me to co-write a fan-fiction of a mash-up between our favorite anime shows – Digimon and Dragon Ball Z.  That was the first time I’d tried writing a story and I enjoyed it so much.  It got harder and harder to wait my turn to for the manuscript to get handed back to me.  To pass the time I started reading a book by Tamora Pierce.  One day I was waiting outside the school waiting for my mom to come pick me up, I finished the book, closed it, then stared off into space for a minute – wishing I had the story to work on, wishing that I didn’t have to leave the world I had just been reading about.  It occurred to me then that I could keep the story going, do what I had done with the fan-fic…I could even make my own characters in a world like Pierce’s.  So, I took out one of my notebooks and started writing my first book.  That was freshman year of high school and it was just for fun, but it was the birth of a monster, LOL.
 
2. What writing projects are you currently working on?  What can you tell us about these projects?
Everything plus the kitchen sink.  No, seriously.  Now that Redux is finished, I’m focusing on pitching a YA horror-thriller that I wrote called Cutter’s Kids, so that’s going to get a few final edits before it gets sent out.  After that I’ll most likely work on another one of my Hill Dweller books or try to finish a Steampunk novel I’m writing called The Great White Light.
 
3. How did you come up with the idea for Nexis?
There is a fun story behind this.  The initial idea for Nexis came about when my agent, Louise Fury, was still part of the L. Perkins Agency.  She and Lori Perkins and I were eating dinner at a convention and they were talking about wanting a Steampunk Cinderella story.  I also write Steampunk, so the idea was intriguing to me.  On the spot, I came up with a Cinderella who loses her whole leg instead of just a shoe and ends up with some crazy Steampunk gadget for a leg instead.  I didn’t want to do another Steampunk story though, so I decided I’d try and do a futuristic Cinderella instead.  I’ve always been a huge fan of anime and, if you’re also a fan like me, you’ll probably be able to pick out some of my influences.  Anyway, I wrote this sort-of futuristic Cinderella story.  The initial set up in the original version was very Cinderella, but then, I flew off course with the whole virtual game idea and the ending.  The work and the character became so much bigger and better than its initial starting point.  After numerous edits and Cinder coming out in print (yes, I wrote Nexis that long ago), I decided to nix the Cinderella aspect all-together and really make Nexis its own story.  I really love what this story has become and the journey that the characters and I have taken.
  
4. If you could choose someone famous to star in one of your books made into a movie, who would you choose and for which character?
Maiara Walsh is my top actress to play Ellani Drexel.  I don’t have Hollywood picks for anyone else, though I have a few models I’d like:  Marlon Teixeira would be my choice for Guster and Benjamin Jarvis would be Quentin.

5.What other hobbies do you enjoy when you are not writing?
Oh, I love a lot of things!  I like to spend time with friends and family, going out to dinner, shopping, sitting in a coffee shop.  Obviously, I love to read, snuggle my cats, and drink lots of tea.  I love to visit gardens and art galleries, go to museums and fun events like fairs and concerts and conventions.  I cosplay, do a little art and song-writing on the side, and I’m very slowly learning how to belly-dance and fire spin.  I also love a good pizza and Netflix night watching sf/f shows or anime.

Check out my review for 
​NEXIS

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1. How did you get started as an author? What or whom inspires you?
I started writing when I was very young, and wrote my first novel when I was eleven (it was shockingly awful, but the characters wouldn’t leave me alone and for years I tried to re-write it). I always had some story on the go, which usually didn’t grow up to be anything special. I’m inspired by everything from poetry to music to other authors.

2. How many books have you written and in what genres?
Not counting my first novel and its various revisions, I’ve written three, with one more that’s not yet finished. Two of those were young adult; the others mainstream fiction.

3.  What writing projects are you currently working on? Can you tell us about these projects? 
Every November I take part in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. This year’s project is another young adult novel, Say Nothing. It is set during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, and it chronicles Catholic Moira Heaney’s transformation from blasé 15-year-old to political activist. The title comes from the Seamus Heaney poem, Whatever You Say, Say Nothing, as well as the general fear during The Troubles that political talk could cost lives. It’s my first historical work, and I’m enjoying it so far.

4. What does your writing process look like?
My novels usually begin with a sentence or image that comes to my mind. I scribble these down as soon as I get them, and characters form around them. I usually have characters fully formed before I even think about the plot. Then ideas for specific ‘scenes’ come to my head, and I put them together. I write the scenes on index cards and pin then to a ideas board at my desk, where I can shuffle them around to form a plot. I don’t write chronologically; I write whatever I feel like at time and piece it together,

5. Where is your favorite place to write?
I've established my own little ‘writing nook’ in my bedroom. It’s so-called because I only write there: anything else I do at my computer (sometimes homework, usually time-wasting) is done at the kitchen table. My nook is decorated with quotes to inspire me, and one of my favorite passages from scripture. It’s got my all-important ideas board. There is a little lamp to give me soft mood lighting and a few writing-themed decorations, such as my great-grandfather’s ink well and a vintage book called How To Write Correctly.

6. How important are the names in your novels? How do you choose names for your characters? Do you have any name resources you would suggest?
It depends on the novel, really. On very rare occasions, my characters are named after real people. Sherice in The Thread That Binds gets her name from a stranger who showed me incredible kindness. Other character names come to me when I brainstorm. Sometimes, heavy research is involved: in Say Nothing, for example, I’ve tried to give the characters authentic names that you would see in Northern Ireland in the 1960s and 70s. To research this I’ve looked at census records, marriage records, you name it. Those are great resources for authors to use.

7. What authors/novels that you enjoy would you recommend?
I love Toni Morrison. She has such a beautiful, poetic writing style. The Bluest Eye is not for the faint of heart, but it’s an incredible book.

8. Where is your favorite place to read and why?
My ridiculously comfy, squashy, oversized recliner; because my 65lb hound dog will climb up into my lap and snuggle me while I read.

9. What period of history interests you the most?
I’m a true history nerd. so it’s impossible for me to narrow it down to one period. I go through phases of interest. The current fascination is the history of Irish-British relations: hence Say Nothing. But recently I’ve gone through (healthy!) obsessions with the presidency of John F. Kennedy; the First World War; the Civil Rights movement; Native American history; and apartheid-era South Africa.

10. If you could choose someone famous to star in one of your books made to a movie, who would you choose and for what character?
Oooh. I’ve always wanted to meet Chris Hemsworth. I’d have to write a character especially for him. *Starts making character notes* Other than that, I’d love to have Liam Neeson as Mick Heaney, Moira’s father in Say Nothing.

11. What inspired the idea for The Thread That Binds?
I’m kicking myself that I didn’t think to put this in the dedication, but that quotation (attributed to Plato, Philo, John Watson, or Ian MacLaren, depending on who you ask) “be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle”. I thought about what people go through behind the scenes; the burdens that they carry that we would never know about if we met them on the street or in the doctor’s office. I thought, what would happen if we connected with a stranger one day, and found that they were really struggling? Just likethat, The Thread That Binds was born.

12. What other hobbies do you enjoy when you are not writing?
I run, terribly, for general fitness and health. I could be much better at it if my other hobbies didn’t include drinking beer and baking. I don’t have TV but I’m a huge rugby fan, so I watch a lot of that. I also love to cook and sew.

Check out my review for
A THREAD THAT BINDS

 Novelist Tanya Stowe has had eclectic career. Working as a freelance writer, her profiles have featured celebrities such as Fabio and New York Times Bestselling authors LaVyrle Spencer, Shirlee Busbee, and Heather Graham. Tanya wrote grants, participated in a collection of women’s survival stories and collaborated on a full length Christmas musical.  She also worked as a marketing assistant, and an event coordinator doing a stint with the American Cancer Society. 

1. How did you get started as an author?  What or whom inspired you?
 I started writing books when I was eleven years old. I was inspired to write because I didn’t like the ending of my favorite television show so I rewrote it to my satisfaction. Of course it would have been better if they redid the T.V. program with my happy ending!
 
2. How many books have you written and in what genres?
 Twelve of my books have been published. We won’t talk about the ones still sitting in a drawer! All are romances. Eleven of those are Inspirational romances…historicals, romantic suspense and contemporaries. One is a time-travel set in ancient Egypt. It’s currently out of print.
 
3. What writing projects are you currently working on?  What can you tell us about these projects?
 I’m currently writing another romantic suspense set in my own area. My husband recently retired from government work so I’m finally able to write about some things I wasn’t supposed to talk about before! It’s called Mojave Mission. I never thought I’d enjoy writing about the Mojave Desert since I’ve lived there so long but I’m actually enjoying the story very much.
 
4. What does your writing process look like?
Well…my stories usually start when I travel. New places, new things inspire me. Then I do a lot of research, reading, connecting the dots. Then I work on characters with a pretty extensive process and outline heavily. Then I start to write. I write early in the morning, finish about 10 or eleven and then exercise. Sitting at a computer does strange things to the body. If I don’t do yoga or exercise, I can’t move!
 
5. Where is your favorite place to write?
 LOL! Anywhere I can find a chair! Right not my husband and I are in transition. We’re traveling, preparing to sell our home and buy a motorhome to travel permanently. Since we’re on the go so much right now, I write where and when I can. At the moment, I’m on a lot in the Sierras, just outside of Yosemite National Park.
 
6. How important are the names in your novels? How do you choose names for your characters?  Do you have any name resources you would suggest?
 Honestly, names just come to me. I do have some online baby sites I run through but I just go down the list until one jumps out at me. I work with the character before I pick the name so by the time I’m ready to choose a name, I have the personality down and the name just fits!
 
7. What authors/novels that you enjoy would you recommend?
 I love historical mysteries. I love, love C.S. Harris’ St Cyr series. She’s an excellent writer. Her characters are so real. Also Anne Perry’s books. All of them. For romance I’ve just discovered Debra Holland and her Montana series. Very well written historicals.  She’s new to me and I’m loving her stories.
 
8. Where is your favorite place to read and why?
 My favorite, favorite place to read is by the pool or water. Of course I’ll read anywhere but I love to sit by the pool or on the beach and watch the waves. When I lived in the Middle East, I walked out my front door, sat under an umbrella and watched the Indian Ocean roll by. It was wonderful.
 
9. What period of history interests you the most?
 I used to love ancient time periods…duh…I did write a time travel set in ancient Egypt. But now I would have to say I love the Victorian time period. But it seems I write about the Wild West mostly. Maybe because I live there and know it best.
 
10 If you could choose someone famous to star in one of your books made to a movie, who would you choose and for which character?
Johnny Depp for Alexander Summers in Sedona Sunset. He’s just the dark, mysterious type!
 
11. What inspired the idea for The Evergreen Wreath?
 Darlene Franklin invited me to be a part of the Christmas Mail Order Angels. I wondered how desperate would a woman have to be to become a mail order bride? Virginia Pepper and her impossible situation was born.
 
12. What other hobbies do you enjoy when you are not writing?
Well…my husband and I have twenty grandchildren. They’re not a hobby but they do keep us BUSY. So when I’m not watching basketball, swim meets, football or baseball, I like to cycle, play tennis and hike with my husband, sit on the beach and watch the waves…just about anything outdoors.

Check out my reviews for:
Jacob's Christmas Dream (coming soon)
The Reliable Cowboy
The Evergreen Wreath