Saturday, July 13, 2013

INTERVIEW WITH MEGAN S. JOHNSTON, AUTHOR OF TRANSITION: A CHIMERA HUNTERS NOVEL



Megan, welcome to Dream Weaver Novels on Blogspot. We look forward to learning more about you and your novel Transition. 

Thank you Su for having me, it’s a great pleasure to be here on your Dream Weaver Blog today. 

ABOUT MEGAN
First, tell us a little about yourself and your book. 

Well, I’ll make it short, because there is a lot to tell.  I am a wife and mother of three daughters and one son, and a grandmother of seven wonderful kids. I spend a lot of time with my family and see some of my children and grandchildren on a daily bases. We have a family owned and operated business, and my daughter run’s the daily operation of the office and brings her 2 ½ year old daughter every day. From my husband to my son, to brothers, son-in-laws and daughters, we all work together as a family. We are a busy family to say the least. Then there is my writing, this is done in my spare time and every day. Whether it’s writing or marketing, it is an everyday process.

It took me 2 ½ years to write and publish my first novel Transition, the first book in The Chimera Hunters Series. It is a young adult, paranormal romance. I have loved every moment and am blessed with a wonderful family that let’s my creativity run amuck.

DREAMIN' THE DREAM
If your book was made into a movie or TV series, what actors would make up your dream cast? 

This is a little harder, because all the Chimera men are over 6’ tall. But here is my pick based on how I see them:
Develon =   Victor Webster    http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005543/ 
Shelby    =  Keira Knightley    http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0461136/

Gavin     =   Joe Manganiello  6’5 http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0542133/ 
Leandro =   Jason Momoa 6’4  (looks great with long hair) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0597388/
Jen  =   Jessica Alba http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004695/ 
Stephen  =  Chris Hemsworth 6’4  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1165110/ 

MEGAN'S SUGGESTIONS 
What websites or resources have you found most helpful on your literary journey? 

Whenever I need information, I turn to my trusted Google pages; it is my top go to site. Another one you can go to for daily writing tips is: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/7-great-websites-for-writers/

TIPS 4 YOU 
Any advice you’d give to aspiring writers? 

This is my top advice, write… write… write… even if it’s a grocery list. This is a must do every day. And remember, never… ever… give up.

MEGAN'S FAVES 
Who are 3 of your favorite traditionally published authors? And tell us about their books. 

Oh goodness, I have so many. But these are some of my top fave’s: 
  • Twilight Saga – by Stephenie Meyer (I have been likened to her many times)
  • Gena Showalter  (Love every one of her novels) AND
  • Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. All my daughters and myself read her Vampire Academy Novels. Loved them all!
ME TOO! & A MOVIE TO BOOT 
I'm  so glad you mentioned Richelle Mead! I absolutely love her Vampire Academy books. I recently tried to re-read them, but the emotion was still too raw, even after over a year, that I couldn't read them. She signed a copy for me at last year's PNWA Conference and wrote back to me when I emailed her. She's very sweet. AND the books are at this very moment being made into a movie. (Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters) They're shooting over in England...even though the Academy is in Montana.
SHOUT OUT LOUD 
Any self-pubbed authors you’d like to give a shout out? 
There are many self-published authors whose novels are great!  Here are some of my recent favorites: 
Shattered Souls (Souls #1) by Mary Lindsey http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9366996-shattered-souls 

Ixeos (Ixeos Trilogy #1)by Jennings Wright 
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17315864-ixeos 

Returning Pride (The Pride Series) by Jill Sanders 
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18002288-returning-pride 

And of course:
Dream Weaver (Dream Weaver, #1) by Su Williams 
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17205213-dream-weaver

CONNECT WITH MEGAN
Megan's Website
Megan's Twitter username -twitter.com/megansjohnston1 
Megan on FaceBook - https://www.facebook.com/MeganSJohnston?fref=ts
And you'll find Megan's buy links to her book under the INDIE AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT tab at the top of the page.
THANKS! 
Megan, thank you so much for spending a little time with us. It's always fun to get to know authors a little better. 
Well, thank you, Su for having me here today, it was my pleasure.   

Do you have a favorite book you'd love to see made into a TV series or movie? Let us know about it in the comments section. 


Thank you everyone for visiting.
And as always...
Dare to Dream!
Su 

PICS OF THE WEEK

For my friend Kandy Kay who likes puffy clouds

Playing with the panorama tool on my camera


Original shot for new banner


Tuesday, July 2, 2013

More GREAT Author Sites!

Wordle: Dream Weaver by Su Williams ***Today's Shout Out! READERS! A mixed genre bag of featured best books & eBooks from our finest Indie authors. Take a quick peek: http://indieap.cucinavivace.com/currentlyfeatured/ #IndieAP***
 
Word Fun with Wordle                                       I discovered this fun site called Wordle that creates word clouds from your words. They're fun to put in your blog or on your website. Wordle was created by Jonathan Feinberg and you MUST have Java to make it work. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but my only complaint is that you can't make them bigger or they get blurry; and you can't make them small or you can't read the words. Guess I'll have to play with it bit.

  

Check out AuthorsDen 
At AuthorsDen you can Join free. It's a site for authors and readers, to post, review, message, interact, track, share and more.
All you have to do is Create Your Den! Discover and track authors, post comments, interact, read, save favorites and enjoy! AuthorsDen helps get books noticed by posting your book cover image where it can be seen better.
You can Post Your Titles with your bio, books, articles, stories, poems, blogs and more. Authors can find new readers and readers can discover their new favorite author. Just one more place to get your book in front of the eyes of the public.

Get hooked up on Book Daily
Book Daily is a great site that emails book samples to book lovers from various genres daily. They have daily features, Emerging Authors and Author resources. They offer a Book Shelf for readers to place the books they're interested in. As well, they post 'buy links' to your book(s) so readers don't have to search. Every day Book Daily sends out emails to subscribers that suggest books in the genres people have chosen. 

  

If you would like to be featured in The Indie Spotlight, then they want you! Just fill out their questionnaire, email it back, and they'll post it, promote it, and hopefully get you a little more exposure to the growing audience hungry for fresh, new content. This blog will be syndicated all over the Internet, and distributed through Amazon Kindle. Their goal is to make The Indie Spotlight the number one source for discovering the best and brightest in Indie Publishing. And by the way, if you don’t happen to be an Indie Author, but want to support the cause by submitting here, you’re welcome too!

Indie House Books - A Place for Readers & Writers to Call Home! Indie House Books, the home of Indie book lovers. They post the latest titles, community news, events and Indie resources. They feature a free Newsletter, a list of Free Books, and 100's of Books under $3.99. They provide free and low cost promo. I really like the layout and graphics on this site; it looks so professional and uncluttered.

So there you have it! Just a few more sites for both authors and readers to check out. Thanks for stopping by. And if you have a site suggestion, please leave it in the comments below.
I hope you all have a wonderful, daring week!
And as always...
Dare to Dream!
Su 

PS...Here's my favorite shots of the week!
It was such a beautiful sunset!
There's my girl!
Cool hole in the clouds!