Tell us about yourself and your books.:
I was born in the Netherlands and raised in a small town called ‘Bussum’ situated only 20 minutes away from Amsterdam. Already in my youth I wrote short stories with my two year older sister, Marianne. We were given a selection of postcards displaying beautiful places across the globe, triggering our imagination. In later years I picked up writing again while working as managing director for the Benelux branch of a US based finance company. At the end of each day I summarized by email my everyday activities, including anecdotes about my interaction with businessmen. My PA always had a good laugh about it. She advised me to write down my experiences. Over a period of ten years I managed to finish my first semi-autobiographic fiction book, describing these encounters. I did this after working hours and I was quite relieved when the job was done. Unfortunately I decided not to publish that specific book (Nice Doing Business With You Ma’am) since it required a substantial rewrite due to some unexpected circumstances. At the time, I felt not very motivated to start re-writing it given the fact it already took me 10 years to produce the current version! The story of a psychic combined with the climate changes around the globe and some further investigation in both area’s put me back to writing; that was the beginning of the Jessie Golden Earth Series with 3 parts completed in the series, i.e., Quest to the Unknown (part 1), Darkness and Light (part 2) and The Prophecy: the seven disasters before the Apocalypse (part 3). Part 1 and 2 (18th July, 2019) are published. I still work full time by the way as a development and operations director for an international French IT Finance and Services company.
Apart from these fiction books I completed a non-fiction work which I am currently editing to make it more accessible to read (Learn To Understand Your Original Self).

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not that I am aware of. Usually the story is unfolding in my head and when I feel I am ready to start I sit down and begin to write. Sometimes I can’t finish and continue until the early morning. I think that I am very lucky I don’t need much sleep at night. This allows me to continue writing after my regular working hours.

What authors have influenced you?
The first book I really felt in love with was The Other Side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon. I was in my early teens when I was introduced to his work and have been a great fan ever since. The themes he used such as intrigues, betrayal, passionate love and hatred combined with female heroines influenced my writing a lot. Other authors that inspired me are Noel Barber (Tanamera), Danielle Steel (The Promise), David Baldachi (The Summer and other work), Jilly Cooper (Polo and other work), Jacky Collins (The Lucky Santiago saga) and Joy Fielding (the other woman)

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just write that book, get it edited and published! Today there are many ways to get your book in front of a large audience.

[Read more…] about Featured Author Interview: Annelies George

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Tell us about yourself and your books.:
I emigrated from Austria and became a U.S. citizen, I love living here. I just retired and have all this time to continue writing and reading. K-9 Cop is my first book and I have written a couple of feature screenplays. My book has won 1st place in the Good Read Competition from awomenswrite.com and my screenplays have won various awards.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I just have to push myself. Getting started is the most difficult part. Once I start there’s no stopping me.

What authors have influenced you?
I love John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway and the Israeli author Ephraim Kishon.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Do a lot of marketing. What’s the use if you have a great book and no one knows about it? Marketing is key. The internet is full of services and marketing tips. Beware of high-priced marketing services that bring you nothing. Check out the Writer Beware blog: https://accrispin.blogspot.com/

[Read more…] about Featured Author Interview: Erna Mueller

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Tell us about yourself and your books.:
Hi, My name is Rob Shackleford and I live on the Gold Coast in Australia with Deborah-Jane, my partner. We each have a son and a daughter and, because they are living away from home and have not yet decided to have kids, we are in that sweet spot in time when we can, and do, travel when we can.
I have written a few books but I have only one, Traveller Inceptio, that is published so far.
Traveller Inceptio is a blend of Science Fiction and Historical Fiction which examines what could really happen if we placed 21st Century researchers into 11th Century Saxon England. If you were placed there, would you survive? How do you think you would fare with the food, the clothes, the language or the superstitions? What about the lack of law and order and the threat of violence?
My inspiration came after I was ripped off by a dishonest business partner and I sat on the beach and was forced to look at my options. While there I looked at the buildings around me and imagined what the location would look like 100 years in the past, then 200 years when white explorers first arrived, then 1000 years ago. A story began to form, which became Traveller Inceptio. Inceptio means "Beginning" in Latin, the religious language spoken in the time. I had to add that part of the title because, have you seen how many books there are with the title, 'Traveller'? Dozens!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I generally write in the morning. If I have a flash of inspiration, that means I can get up as early as 4am. After a few hours we go for a walk and a coffee. By midday I gym and then sometimes play the Play Station while I think about my research or seek inspiration while I am killing zombies or whatever.

I do research a lot! With Traveller Inceptio I lacked the confidence to write so I thoroughly researched for about a year before I dared write anything. I live in terror of having wrong information, of a historian saying – "Oh, this is rubbish because xyz!" My local library banned me at one stage as I had a really good book on Saxon history out for 6 months.
The most unusual thing is how sometimes I can write and it doesn't feel like I am writing, where the story develops in ways I had not anticipated, where I go, "Wow! I didn't know that was going to happen!"

What authors have influenced you?
There are so many!
I admire the beautiful descriptive writing of 'The Life of Pi's Yann Martel, 'Shantaram's Gregory David Roberts, or Colleen McCullough's superb series of novels on Rome.
I love brilliant imagination and the ability to story-tell as shown in the warped imagination of Steven King, Tolkien and even the simplicity of 'The Martian's Andy Weir.
I am also astounded by the pure brilliance of the research undertaken by historian Simon Sebag Montfiore and his range of excellent novels, and of course Bernard Cornwell.
Last but not least I adore the Science Fiction greats – Arthur C Clarke, Frank Herbert, Robert Heinlein, Greg Bear and so many others who make our imaginations soar beyond the stars.
And these are but a few. I will post this and then say – "How could I have forgotten …?"

Do you have any advice for new authors?
1. Persist. I heard a cheesy saying from an author I can't recall, which goes: "The successful Author is the one who persisted." Take some hope in that most authors have had to scarper naked through the valley of death.

2. Being an author is about being commercially viable. Modern publishers want to make money off you, web sites want to make money off you, the various nebulous publishing services do too. Be judicious about where you spend your money and understand this is a business like the music industry. In the end you will have to watch out!

3. Be true to yourself. You work is your work, but also accept that sometimes a suggestion might be good for you. The first time I had Traveller Inceptio edited it was by a grumpy old bastard of an Englishman who tore off my arm and beat me over the head with it. Thanks to his bemoaning of my abilities I was compelled to relook at what was written, removed some chapters, cut the length of my manuscript, and essentially was forced to concede that I had a lot to learn. He also hated one of my characters as it reminded him of a kid who bullied him when he was at school, which was brilliant! It meant my character development touched a chord in him, even though it might have been negative.

4. Each literary masterpiece started with the first written word. Start your work and don't be too hard on yourself. Let the work emerge when it will, but write something! It is easier to edit than to make the first utterance. Good luck and have fun!!

[Read more…] about Featured Author Interview: Rob Shackleford

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Tell us about yourself and your books.:
When I was a child, People asked "What do you want to do when You grow up". I always said ,"A property tycoon or wealthy business man".

When I got to high school, I could not find them in the careers guide books, I could not even find a pathway to Rock star, Movie star, inventor/entrepreneur or even investor. What was going on that everything you can do in life to make serious wealth, has no defined pathway in a careers guide book for school kids. Priest was in there? So you can make a Career out of renouncing money but not make one out of making it?

You have to learn a job that pays you money instead of just learning how to make money in the first place. Why couldn't anyone tell me how to make money? That Just proved to me that I could not find my way to wealth doing anything that any of my class mates picked out of that book so I started my own eduction to be happy healthy and wealthy.

But i had a problem, you see I really could not read at school and by the time I was in year 10 of my state funded day care and brain washing, I still could not read a page out of a book aloud and have anyone understand what I said!! I was so illiterate at 15 that I remember asking my mate why their was computer parking at the train station! He laughed and it was years before I found out that it was Commuter parking. I actually failed year 10 english and no wonder because I really did not understand the written word at all. I knew that wealthy people write books and the information in these books could not be gotten from any business degree or higher education.

The first book out of school that i read was think and grow rich, I forced myself through one page every night for the year that it took me to read it. That was 30 minutes to read the page and 30 minutes to look up all the words in the dictionary. I still could not say most of the words but I read them in my head the same way and I knew what they meant.

Now I still can not read aloud very well but I am very good at remembering what I have read. When you spend so much time reading something, you make sure you remember it.

My first business was a little successful, I marketed Dominos Pizza stores, I increased sales 300% in 12 weeks at no cost to the 3 stores I promoted before another company stole my idea word for word from my printing company, they even used my artwork. I was young and did not know how to play the game but I trust karma to sort these things out. Sure enough they changed 3 words and one part of the offer which caused their promotion to fail at the other 20 odd stores they promoted. I learned then how important a few words can be to any offer.

I then decided to invest $200 a week of my turnover and spend it on my education. As it took so long to read a book I was careful which ones I started to read. I committed on faith to do at least one thing out of each book, like it or not, that is what I did. I also went to a lot of seminars, at least 2 free ones a week and some paid ones. If i did not have the money for the seminar I would sell something I owned or put it on my visa but I knew I had to get the information fast. Things were a bit slow when I was 23 and nothing big had happened yet. I had read the books but something was missing.

I decided to get some professional advice and I got one of the best financial planners in Brisbane to come a talk to me ($500 per hour, so I thought he would be good) and see if he could steer me in the right direction. Well the first thing he did was ask when I wanted to retire? and i very quickly replied, "At 25 Years old". As this had been my goal since 18 years old and it was still looking doubtful which is why i had called him. He asked how old i was now and then proceeded to tell me that he could not make that plan for me and why it could not be done in just 2 years!…. I did it anyway!. He never billed me for the lack of advise.

Then I chanced on a seminar that showed me how to borrow money and this was the last bit of the puzzle that was missing, I then proceeded to buy my first house. Then I brought my second house at 24 and my 3rd 6months later and my 4th house at 25 years old. Now a rising tide floats all boats and so my business was the largest contracting business in my industry by volume of work and my share portfolio was make cash on cash. Now I had just made 1000 000 dollars in real-estate in 2 years not to mention my other investments, so I retired.

I did not from life but from working for money. People say why didn’t you keep making money and I would have a lot more money if I had stayed in the game. However my parents were retiring and they had less money than me, so that’s what I did!

I was very used to being the youngest person in the room but when I retired I was the only person in the room. I went on a world trip and a cruise ship 1/2 way around the world and found out that no one my age does that! My wife and I were constantly being asked to get old people drinks and we were the only people in the night club after 10pm!!

So I decided that more young people need to know this stuff. Why wait till your old to enjoy your life?

Now of course life happens to everyone, Sometimes it just rains on your parade and now I don't have the same money that I used to have but I have far more wealth. The fact is I gladly swapped all my investments over the next ten years for time with my kids as they grow into fine young men. I was the only Dad in the room most of the time, I was there to take them to and from school and what price is that worth. I spent 10 years working on the happiness side of my life, for my efforts I think I have been rewarded with a great relationship with my kids and my ex wife. Unfortunately my wife and I had to part ways but I still love her and we are still functional parents in the children's life which is another thing that money can not buy.

Also If I had stayed at the table and kept my investments I could have been like so many people and lost it all in the GFC anyway. You just never know and after reading my book you might realise that you really just have enough money and you to should work more on one of the other pillars of life.

Now I am starting a new chapter in my life and a new business, you can find my on youtube at Pacific Trading Post. I am moving to live in Vietnam in 2020 and start a ethical importation business that is trying to put thought back into global trade.

I also have a economics thesis that i am working on but as yet I have not found anyone to supervise my thesis. In fact I sent my thesis question to QUT university and they kindly replied that they had nobody qualified to supervise my proposal. I actually started a masters degree with this sole thesis being the objective of my many hours of brain washing at UNI. I mean I stood up in a lecture when my economics professor said in all seriousness that, "the roll of a economist is to sustainable growth between 3 and 5 %" THATS per annum…. Now I never did do a undergrad degree and so I though maybe I had missed something being that I was accepted straight into a post graduate masters course with QUT. So I asked, "Excuses me sir, can you explain what is sustainable about a compound curve of 3 to 5% ?" ……………. He seamed not to understand the question and after class admitted that he did not understand the question. He then referred me to the head of the department. That is when I decided I had better put my thesis question forward because no economics graduate should ever put sustainable and compound growth in the same sentence on a planet of finite resources……..

Anyway 300 students in that class will now be out advising politicians and cooperation about financial principles with foundations in their understanding that are clearly wrong and fundamentally flawed. So after they rejected my proposal to research a subject that clearly nobody has much understanding of, I decided I was heading in the wrong direction. If you can help shoot me an email my address is in the book.

Well I really hope my book helps someone and if it helps you please leave a comment or review, track me down on facebook and youtube and lets build a better world for everyone.

Lastly People often ask me to just tell them how I made money or what I am investing in now but that is like trying to teach someone to swim by talking about it for 10 minutes in a airport lounge…. It can not be done and the person will probably drown if you convince them to jump in a pool without any help. So you should definitely get a mentor in life but almost all the business coaches out there have never been in a pool!!! So be careful who you trust to help steer your ship. I definitely would not rely on someone who is solely a talking head on youtube, it is so easy to rent a nice car, coat and house for a day to make yourself look like something you are not.

These are my basic rules to getting advice to be Happy healthy and wealthy (just by the way these three added together = wisdom)
– Don't get advice from anyone who has not done what you are trying to do
– If you want to be healthy you would not take health tips from a chain smoker and so don't trust your finances to someone who is not worth more than you.
– Interview your profesionals, ask your accountant how much money he actually has and how many properties he owns, ask him if he owns his nice car, how much its worth and what he owes on it. if he won't tell you then don't let him near your finances.
– Don't trust talking heads that are not prepared to do anything but elude to having money.
– If people you love are saying that you are going to loose your shirt, that just means they love you unless they have done exactly what you are trying to do and have been successful at it.
– Don't buy products from people who sell information, in other words don't buy investments that your accountant recommends or that the seminar you went to is selling at the back of the room, unless it is more information.
MOST IMPORTANTLY – Be a student and not a follower!! you will read 10 books on a subject before you find just 2 people who know what they are talking about. Out of those two you will actually just plain not like one of them and spend most of your time disagreeing with the way they talk to learn anything. So if one out of ten books will teach you something good about a subject you need to read ten books before you will have any idea about that subject. I have never had anyone ask me what ten books I recommend but even if they did the same rules would still apply. So my reading list is in the back of my book if you want a guide.

Best Regards

Success is a choice, Make it yours today and read this book or read any book.

Peter Johnson

PS There is so many business seminars now days that tell people to write a book or start coaching people in business when they know nothing about business and often have never run one. They gain credibility by writing a book but I hate authors like that. I am not one of those authors, my ideas are written by me and I have the runs on the board in what I am talking about.

What authors have influenced you?
James Rohan

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Being an author at times is a thankless art and when you are finished all your friends will want a copy of your book for free, I find this odd because if I were a painter they would not ask for a free copy of my painting.

but it is all worth it when a stranger gets some value from your efforts and takes the time to write a public review. Appreciation unvocalised is worthless and so if you like my book please let me know with a public review.

[Read more…] about Featured Author Interview: Peter Johnson

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