Author Interview: Karen Telling, author of two memoirs about living in Portugal

1. Please introduce yourself (who are you, what genre/s do you write in, what books do you have out) 

I have written two memoirs of our move to, and life in Portugal.

2. What are your favourite books? 

As a child I loved Ballet Shoes, as an adult The Book Thief, The Historian, and Labyrinth

3. When did you know you wanted to be an author? 

I have always loved books and writing stories, I didn’t think I would actually achieve publication though.

4. What is your favourite part of the writing process? 

When it flows easily and you see the word count growing. Editing and marketing

5. What is your writing routine? 

I write in short bursts, usually no more than an hour at a time. I am disabled and write flat on my back, on my phone, with two thumbs.

6. How do you balance writing (and everything else to do with it) with the rest of your life?

 I am disabled and retired so can write whenever I feel like it.

7. What inspires you? How do you beat writers block? 

So far I’ve been inspired by memories and the kindness of strangers. If I get stuck I move to another part of the story and then go back to it later.

8. How do you keep consistent/write a lot? 

I write 30-60 minutes, 2-3 times a day.

9. Does anyone read or edit your work before publication? If so, how did you find them? 

I have several beta readers, one of whom proofreads, then I employ a professional editor.

10. Can we have a sneaky look at your future plans? 

I’m considering fiction, I have several ideas vying for space, and maybe even childrens books.

11. Finally, what advice would you give to other writers (inspiring, those publishing and those published)? 

Just write, you can’t edit a blank page.

Links:

Facebook - KarenTellingWriter
Twitter - KarenTelling4
Instagram karen_j_telling

Books to Read and Learn More About Other People's Experiences

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Do you like to read about other people's experiences of things like mental health, race and chronic illness? Then check out these books!

Thirteen Words volume 1

From funny and uplifting to reflective and sometimes downright depressing this poetic and colorful picture book offers quick glimpses into the author's life and mind. While not always a pretty sight, each illustrated 13-word poem is highly relatable and thought-provoking.

Not taking himself too seriously, in the first of 72 fully illustrated poems the author promises:
"If your looking for meaning behind these words, you'll find a blank page."

Personal and revealing, in one poem the author explains that:
"Secrecy is too tiring so I tell everyone everything; especially the most embarrassing."

A couple pages later he confesses:
"Twisted and tortured in mind, body, and soul, I heroically begin another day."

An adult poetry and picture book.

Free on Kindle Unlimited

Volumes 2 and 3:

   

Books to Scare You

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Do you like reading scary books? Well here are a bunch of horror, thriller and suspense books that you might want to read.

Beth Mac: Part One (GRIM Book 1)

Whether it's the battlefield or the football field, Beth Mac is relentless.

Adored as much as she's feared, Corporal Elizabeth Mackenzie is nothing short of a full-blown enigma. Once awarded the Medal of Honour for her bold and arguably reckless efforts as a soldier, she eventually finds herself inching toward a different type of pedestal — one at Saint Judah's College.

With her eyes on the prize, she's on a mission to take the captaincy, whatever the cost. And one by one her competition violently fall.

Luckily, for Beth Mac, a doting boyfriend and a band of followers are far too easily manipulated for her to have to get her hands dirty. The school has its bets on the Grim Reaper being responsible. After all, that's who carried out the murderous rampage at the school just the year before.

Full of all your classic sorority debauchery, Part One will take you on a journey of mysterious happenings with a down-under twist and a whole lot of slaughter. Bloody, witty and outrageously mad, it's Macbeth like you've never seen it before.

Who knew football could be this deadly?

Free on Kindle Unlimited

Beth Mac: Part Two (GRIM Book 2)

As the newly crowned captain of the college football team, Elizabeth Mackenzie is hell-bent on holding power no matter who or what stands in her way. The biggest challenge of all is keeping her cards close to her chest as suspicions arise around her role in the carnage.

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Shadowmarch

150 micro-tales of a young man who cannot speak, and his day to day interactions with the Supernatural.

Featuring monsters, creatures, and cryptids, from global mythology, a nameless, mystery man lives a life frequently interrupted by the Supernatural.
On dates, at work, at home, on vacation, even while gathering groceries or just using the bathroom.
He navigates the world on the precipice between the mundane and beyond, sometimes aided and sometimes not. However, beneath it all lies questions.
What is real and what is not? What is dangerous and what is misunderstood? Who stalks him through the veils of reality and wishes to remove him from existence?
And how can he protect himself when it all seems to loop back on him and the ones he loves?

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Rightly Wrong or Wrongly Right

Adara doesn't like parties, but as the daughter of the city's local newspaper and new station manager, Dania, she is expected to make social appearances. Her only friend is the family chauffeur and butler, Marshall. Dania shelters Adara and controls every aspect of her life. One day Adara travels to her cousin's house for a celebration. She follows her regular behavior pattern and isolates herself in a corner, talking to no one.

She is interrupted by Dean. She likes the man and agrees to leave the party with him to get fast food. Adara receives a blow to her head from armed robbers and realizes she doesn't want to go home. She spends the night with Dean and returns home the following day to her mother's mansion only to find she can't remember a thing from the night before. Her family thinks Dean assaulted her, but she Slowly remembers differently.

The next day Marshall tells her a story about her birth mother that changes everything. Determined to return to Dean, Adara runs away from her family. Dean realizes a plot within the family to frame him for Adara's amnesia. Adara later recollects the last time she saw her father, and now she wonders what happened to her father that night years before?

Science Fiction Books to Check Out!

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Do you like reading science fiction books? Well here are a bunch of sci-fi books written by indie authors that you need to check out!

Dust & Lightning

In the near future, humans have gone beyond simple space travel. By the year 4054, multiple solar systems are inhabited, and taking a spaceship is as commonplace as taking an aeroplane.

Unfortunately, not everything about the future is so advanced. The central planets, led by Earth, have risen high at the expense of cheap labour on distant worlds. Dissent is widespread and arrests are common. Sometimes prisoners are released; sometimes they disappear without a trace, sent to labour camps in other solar systems.

When Ames Emerys receives a letter telling him that his brother Callum has died en route to the remote planet of Kilnin, he takes the first ship he can off Earth, desperate for answers. But the secrets Ames uncovers prove far more dangerous than he could have imagined.

And trouble isn’t far behind.

Free on Kindle Unlimited

These Violent Nights

Once upon a time, inhabitants of another world tore a hole through the universe and came to Earth. They called themselves Suriias, and rivalled humans in knowledge and skill with one great exception: they had magic.

War followed. Humanity lost. And three hundred years later, humans are on the brink of extinction.

Orphans Thorn and Thistle live in hiding. They are the last of their families, the last of their friends. They scrape by, stealing to survive and living on the streets or hiding in sheds. But even under the brutal regime of the Suriias, there are places where humans can mingle in secret with magical sympathisers, and one night Thistle gets an unexpected offer of marriage from a Suriia with high standing and friends in all the right places. For Thistle, it’s a chance at safety and comfort; for Thorn, it’s a chance to find the ones who killed her parents.

And so the pair move into the capital city of Courtenz. An urban monstrosity of magic and might, false friends and flying cars, drones and death tolls, the new city promises a fresh start – and new love – for both.

But if there’s one thing Thorn knows for certain, it’s that dreams can swiftly turn into nightmares.

Free on Kindle Unlimited

Ground Zero

The world is under invasion from the skycendelvins. The interdimensional beings are building gates, assimilating individuals, and preparing for a takeover. No one realizes this except specific individuals in the government.

The agency hasn't informed Ana of the planned invasion. She is a homeland security agent sent to Mr. And Mrs. Leonard Turner's house to investigate Mrs. Turner. Julianne Turner is a national security threat. Leo falls in love with Ana. His wife hasn't allowed him to touch her for two years and indecently visits other individuals. Leo Turner initiates a divorce and tells Ana he wants to be friends and eventually marry her.

Ana has a dream and later sees a vision of San Francisco exploding. She tells Leo she is an agent sent to watch Mrs turner. The next day they explore Mrs. Turner's quarters only to discover many strange objects and several dates marked in a calendar for September 20th "financial breakdown" and 28th "skyfel."

Two weeks later, Ana and Leo go to Williams to purchase Ana's childhood home. They come home to the letter stating Mrs. Turner is not human. It advises her to disengage immediately. Leo and Ana leave.

They visit the field office the next day, and Mr. Abbott discloses information about the skycendelvins and the plan to destroy the gates to save humanity from the takeover. The self-destruct mechanism is more potent than any bomb humanity has developed. Soon Leo and Ana are in a race against time to escape ground zero before the bomb flattens the San Francisco Bay Area.