Category: Member Profile

Name: Bob Allen
Genre: Christian non-fiction

What has been your most rewarding moment as an author?

I write Christian literature. My first book was about Biblical scripture. One of my fellow church members approached me after having read my first book. He had tears in his eyes and said that this book was exactly what he had been seeking for many years. He said it changed his life. That made all the work worth it.

What have been some of the biggest helps for developing your writing skills? Written resources, classes or conferences, fellow writers you’ve learned from or have mentored you, other?

A number of years ago, I was in a writer’s group at my church. We had about 35 or 40 authors in that group. We would be given writing assignments to complete between meetings. At the meetings, we would break into small groups, read our work and receive critiques about style, etc. That was a valuable experience for me. Later we published an anthology of stories by the authors.

What’s the best piece of writing-related advice that you’ve received?

Know pretty much where you are going before you start. Otherwise, your story/work will have gaps and won’t present a smooth flow. This applies both to fiction and to non-fiction.

How do you find your ideas for a book?

Since my books are Christian non-fiction, ideas have come from Bible Studies, both in groups and on my own. The themes of my books answer questions that many people have about what Scripture means and how to use it.

What kind of books do you enjoy reading and how often do you read?

I don’t read as much as I used to, but when I do, I like to read a novel or something light. This gives me a break from the non-fiction world.

Do you have your books edited, critiqued, and/or beta-reviewed? If so, what is your usual procedure?

My books were published by companies that do all the editing, proofreading, etc. There was no critique or beta review.

BIOGRAPHY: Bob Allen, writing as RG Allen, lives with his wife Barbara in Sun City, Texas. Bob started writing short stories a number of years ago and had several of them published online. He also put out a book about his motorcycle adventures from the 1970’s. His main focus in the last few years has been the church he and Barbara attend in Austin. They have both been very active, working on mission projects as well as singing in the choir. In Sun City, Bob enjoys golf several times a week as well as a number of the many other activities available.

Website: www.rgallenauthor.com

Facebook: rgallenauthor

Instagram: @rgallenauthor

Twitter: @rgallenauthor

Genres: Non-fiction: Practical, Financial, Christian

What has been your most rewarding moment as an author?

After several drafts and edits, seeing my book “The Key” in print and the positive feedback I received from parents and grandparents who have been engaged in conversations about money and wise choices with their own children.

If you could offer one piece of writing advice to a novice author, what would it be?

Everyone has a story to tell or something to share. If you have an idea you would like to share, write it down, join a writing group, take a writing class, and go from there. I was not born or trained as a writer. My background is in banking and finance, but I had something I wanted to share and I found a way to impart my message.

What have been some of the biggest helps for developing your writing skills? Written resources, classes or conferences, fellow writers you’ve learned from or have mentored you, other?

Simply perusing other related books on the topic and attending a few writing classes and workshops given by San Gabriel Writers’ League and Georgetown’s Senior University.

What’s the best piece of writing-related advice that you’ve received?

“Write, write and keep writing!” Get the information down on paper or on your computer. Initially, don’t try to organize your thoughts; that can be done as the writing process unfolds.

How do you find your ideas for a book?

From my life experiences, career training and trends in our society and the economy. The publication of “The Key” was created as an inheritance for my grandchildren. As I shared my ideas with other parents, they said they could also use such a resource for their own teens, so I made the book available to the public.

What kind of books do you enjoy reading and how often do you read?

I read a bit of everything, but mostly I enjoy reading Christian Biblical-based books that motivate and inspire me. This is how the idea for “The Key” came about. Proverbs 13:22 of the Bible says ‘A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children.” “The Key” is the inheritance I leave for my grandchildren.

AWARDS:

Reader Views Reviewers Choice Award

BIOGRAPHY:

Marjorie L. Anderson, a retired banker and award-winning author, resides in Liberty Hill, Texas. Originally from the Virgin Islands, educated in Baltimore and trained in banking and finance in Pennsylvania, she came to Central Texas to be near her family. Fortunately, God gave her a heart for educating, which is why, aside from publishing “The Key” as an inheritance for her grandchildren, she has also translated the information to Spanish in “La Clave.” She finds time to share her financial knowledge and wisdom with schools, churches, youth groups and the community. Both her nonfiction books are available in print and e-book and may be purchased via Amazon and local retail bookstores.

Website: www.challenge4teens.com

Genre: Mystery Adventure Novels

What has been your most rewarding moment as an author?

Being asked to speak at writer’s conferences and at quilt guilds, prompted by my series The Virginia Davis Quilt Mysteries.

What kind of research goes into writing your novels and how much time does it take?

A lot. You have to know a subject pretty well to use it in a story. Also, it helps to write

about places you have actually been in order to capture the feelings, sights, smells and character of it.

If you could offer one piece of writing advice to a novice author, what would it be?

Get in a critique group.

How often do you write, and do you have a strict routine and writing plan?

When possible – daily.

Have you ever based characters on real people? Give us a couple of examples.

YES! Donna in the Virginia Davies series is a real woman and friend who lives in California. Camille, in the newest novel, is a friend here in Texas, and I used a real police captain in another series.

How do you find your ideas for a book?

The Internet, newspapers, friends, other books, experiences I’ve had.

AWARDS:

Sage Award 2008

Texas Mystery Book of the Summer award 2009-San Gabriel’s Secret

American Academy of Environmental Engineers 1998- Waste Minimization as a Strategic Weapon (non-fiction)

BIOGRAPHY:

Dr. David F. Ciambrone, ScD, FIOF, is a retired aerospace/defense company executive, scientist, professor of engineering, forensics consultant and best-selling, award-winning author. He lives in Georgetown, Texas with his wife Kathy. He has published twenty-five books (including the Virginia Davies Quilt Mysteries), both fiction and non-fiction, written two newspaper columns and numerous technical journal articles.

Dave speaks at writer’s groups, schools, colleges, libraries, quilt guilds, writer’s conferences, and international business/scientific conferences. He is a member of Sisters in Crime, San Gabriel Writer’s League, Writer’s League of Texas, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers.

President Clinton appointed him a U.S. Treasury Commissioner and to the management board of the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC). Dave is a Fellow of the International Oceanographic Foundation, has a Bronze Trowel Award from the Archaeological Institute of America, and is a member of the Order of Merlin of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

Website: https://davidciambrone.com

Genre: Non-fiction

What has been your most rewarding moment as an author?

I think it was seeing my first book in print, way back in 1964! But, it was equally rewarding to see a more recent book in an airport book store.

What’s the best piece of writing-related advice that you’ve received?

Just write. Get started. Don’t wait for the perfect moment or the best inspiration. If you want to be a writer…..WRITE!

If you could offer one piece of writing advice to a novice author, what would it be?

It would be the same as the best advice I have ever received. Just do it. Start. Put words together. WRITE! I firmly believe that everyone has at least one book inside them, desperately waiting to escape!

How often do you write, and do you have a strict routine and writing plan?

I don’t have a regular schedule. For one thing, I do so much more than writing! I love to start writing inside my head, often as I fall asleep, and then can’t wait to get to the computer and start putting those ideas into a tangible form. I am always working on a few writing projects.

How do you find your ideas for a book?

I find ideas everywhere, but especially from my experience in the world. When I speak to children about writing, I ask them what they should study in school if they want to be successful writers. They typically say “English” and/or “Writing.” I agree, but then point out that they also need to study geography, history, biology, and so much more…because they will need to know what to write about!

What kind of books do you enjoy reading and how often do you read?

Like my writing, most of my reading has been non-fiction. However, I have recently renewed my interest in fiction, particularly science fantasy, facilitated by the Talking Book Program.

AWARDS:

Award of Excellence for “Marketing Magic” column in The Linking Ring, the world’s largest circulation magazine for entrepreneurial entertainers.

BIOGRAPHY:

Kent Cummins has been writing all of his life, from stories and poems as a child to owning his own publishing company, Magic Words Press. His first book, Bungling Juggling, was published in 1964, while he was in college, and is now available as a Mini Book. He has written more than a dozen books for various markets and hundreds of magazine articles for publications from Clowning Around to Readers Digest.

Kent says his first “real” book- with an ISBN number, bar code, and dust jacket- was The Magic of Change, with co-author Tom Britton, published by Bullion Books in 2000. A revised and updated edition was released in 2017.

For more than six years, Kent has written the “Marketing Magic” column for The Linking Ring, the world’s largest circulation magazine for entrepreneurial entertainers. Although a prolific writer, Kent is best known as a professional magician!

Website: www.KentCummins.com, magichotline.com, magicwordspress.com

Social media: https://www.facebook.com/kentcumminsmagi

Genres: Memoir (humor), Children’s Stories, & Non-fiction

What has been your most rewarding moment as an author?

Captivating my daughters with nightly imagined brief stories with consistent setting, characters, and fun-themed plots with kids at centerpiece.

If you could offer one piece of writing advice to a novice author, what would it be?

Develop/clarify the inspiring or most-entertaining main point that serves as the readers’ most memorable take-away. Then plan structurally from outward-in: How to open. How to close. What steps to take from the opening toward the main take-away. It’s fundamental storyboarding, plus use of pre-amble and recap-phrasing,

Harper Lee did this remarkably in To Kill a Mockingbird per her opening preamble and her concluding reflection about how true understanding of someone else’s perspective requires experiencing walking in their shoes.

What have been some of the biggest helps for developing your writing skills? Written resources, classes or conferences, fellow writers you’ve learned from or have mentored you, other?

Recognizing extraordinary writing—appreciating sentence structure and choice of words. Understanding and appreciating the writing style and consistency of accomplished great authors, particularly Pulitzer winners; noteworthy poets (e.g., Emily Dickinson’s “There Is No Frigate Like a Book”); and extraordinary lives, well expressed, such as Helen Keller’s self-description: “One can never creep when one feels an impulse to soar.”

Have you ever based characters on real people? Give us a couple of examples.

Not so much real characters, since my main character in the children’s book of pre-bedtime brief stories brought to life a balloon as a character based on the consistently-present balloon in the 1956 Oscar-winning (screenplay) French film, The Red Balloon.

What’s the best piece of writing-related advice that you’ve received?

An extraordinary college English professor advised: “Great authors write as a conversation with you. Consider experiencing them the way they anticipated you as they wrote: Read them out loud to yourself and experience the cadence and intention of their conversation. Then experience writing that way.”

AWARDS:

Recognized in 1974 by the scientific research society, Sigma Xi (publishers of Scientific American) as the most published undergraduate in the U.S. in major peer-reviewed scientific research publications.

Winner of a regional collegiate essay contest on 19th century nihilism philosophy title, “This Cul-De-Sec, Man’s Intellectual Quest”

Selected to author, direct, and narrate a series of classified video reports to the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1984–1986.

Selected to author a briefing for President Bill Clinton’s reference when discussing the future of major international engineering companies (and affiliation with or relevance to engineering companies in Mexico) with newly elected Mexican President, Vincente Fox, December 2000.

Awarded a shared First Prize in a short-story competition among members of the Georgetown-Texas-based San Gabriel’s Writers League, October 2021

BIOGRAPHY:

David Dupree’s 40+ year career included managing three age groups of 46 teams of girls’ softball in Warren County New Jersey for nine years, overlapping with writing reports from traveling the world with U.S. Special Forces. Followed by serving as lead author and bid manager for major energy, chemical, and pharmaceutical industry projects for one of the world’s largest engineering companies (Foster Wheeler Corporation). Concluded his career of seventeen years as lead author and global team manager for Royal Dutch Shell’s bidding documents and written negotiations for the commercialization of Shell energy industry technologies and the monetization of experienced-based knowhow. Continues today as part-time consultant advising the prior global team that he managed for Royal Dutch Shell plc. And now, as a retiree, getting more immersed in writing for entertaining and sharing learning with others.

Name: Dorothy Featherling
Genres: Fiction: Thrillers, Mysteries, End Times, Romantic Comedy, Romance, YA Time Travel
Non-Fiction: True Crime, How To, Self-Help, Inspirational

What has been your most rewarding moment as an author?

When a reader of one of my early books sent me a card telling me how my book had gotten her through a difficult time. It was a romantic comedy. Her daughter was dying of cancer and in a coma. The reader sat by the daughter’s bedside for many hours, often reading to pass the time. She said my book was the only thing that got her through that difficult time. I was so honored and continue to be when readers tell me stories about how my books have helped, entertained, or enlightened them.

If you could offer one piece of writing advice to a novice author, what would it be?

READ. Read everything you can get your hands on. Preferably in your genre, but in other genres as well. You’ll absorb what another author does well and be able to apply it to your own writing in the future, often unconsciously.

Have you ever based characters on real people? Give us a couple of examples.

I don’t consciously use real people in my novels, but I do take their personalities or habits, especially if they are unique, and give those to characters on occasion. I probably also put some of myself into my characters without realizing it. I think most authors do. I had a friend who was twenty-five years older than I and I used her peppy personality in one of my end times novels for a landlady character. Without mentioning any names, I’ve also used people whom I’ve worked or been acquainted with as both good and bad guys in my novels.

How do you find your ideas for a book?

They find me. Everything I see, hear, do, is fodder for a book. A writer can take the most mundane situation, see something a bit unusual in it, and it may well develop into a book. Observing human nature and situations that occur is all I need to have ideas strike. I take the nugget and start asking ‘what if?’ and go from there. Many times the idea isn’t sufficient to carry a whole book. Those I can use in a scene or chapter rather than as the theme.

What kind of books do you enjoy reading and how often do you read?

I most enjoy mysteries, suspense, and westerns especially. I read voraciously. On average at least one book a day (I read fast). I also tend to re-read books I really like, so there are a number of authors whose books I’ve read a dozen times, and still enjoy re-reading on occasion. Those are the ones you’ll find on my bookshelves.

Do you have your books edited, critiqued, and/or beta-reviewed? If so, what is your usual procedure?

The procedure I’ve developed over the years works for me. Once I’ve finished my first draft, I go back over and edit, re-write as needed, look for ‘weasel words,’ and listen to the computer read the book back to me while looking at the pages on the screen. Once I’ve made all my changes, I send the book to my critique partners and ask for their input. When that’s done, I send it to a group of beta readers and get their final comments. I then submit the book for publication (I independently publish) and order a paper proof copy. I re-read every word again, make any changes (including back cover copy) and re-submit for final publication.

AWARDS:

Daphne du Maurier Mystery and Suspense Award

BIOGRAPHY:

D. A. (Dorothy) Featherling is a multi-published, award-winning author of over thirty books, print and e-books. She writes fiction and non-fiction for both adults and young adults. A visit to her website details all of the books available and links directly to Amazon where the books may be purchased. Featherling is retired, writes full-time and always finds time for public speaking engagements for clubs, organizations, schools, and churches. She lives in Central Texas in a small town that often furnishes fodder for her novels, or, at least, provides entertainment while observing the foibles of human nature.

Website: www.dafeatherling.com

Genres: Cozy Mystery, Women Sleuths, International Mystery & Crime, Inspirational Religious Mystery

What has been your most rewarding moment as an author?

My proudest moment as an author was getting my first book contract. It was a non-fiction book about computers with a limited audience. The royalties were not enough to compensate me for the time spent writing the book, but it meant I was an author. My father was James Michener’s barber at the time. When Dad showed the famous novelist a brochure for my book, he signed it: “To Sidney, Good luck in your work. James A. Michener. 1984”. I still have that brochure.

If you could offer one piece of writing advice to a novice author, what would it be?

Identify your readers before writing your novel and make sure you know what a novel is. When I wrote my first novel based on my experiences driving a bookmobile, I had no idea what I was doing. I took an online writing class to learn how to write. When I submitted my first draft, the class instructor told me what I had written wasn’t a novel. She said it was a group of short episodes. With the help of the instructor and fellow students, I eventually converted it to a novel.

What have been some of the biggest helps for developing your writing skills? Written resources, classes or conferences, fellow writers you’ve learned from or have mentored you, other?

After my first book was published, I was partway through my second book when I learned about the “Save the Cat” method for writing novels. It is not easy to describe here, but there is a book you can read to get the details. Look for “Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need” by Jessica Brody.

How often do you write, and do you have a strict routine and writing plan?

The “Save the Cat” method provides a plan to follow. Rather than scheduling a time to write, I set a goal to write 2,500 words per week. That’s approximately the length of one of my scenes. If I put off writing until the last day, I have to write the whole scene then. The word goal count is a minimum. There are some weeks where I write twice that. It is easier to meet your writing goal if you work with a critique team. Peer pressure helps.

Have you ever based characters on real people? Give us a couple of examples.

Liz, the bookmobile librarian is the only character truly based on a real person. She was the librarian on the bookmobile I drove, and she was the same tough cookie in real life. She’s also the only character who has appeared in all six books. She was the main character in book five and she will be again in book seven because readers love her. I used her real last name in book one. I changed it later by getting her married. I didn’t have a name for the bookmobile driver, so I called him BD while writing. When it became time to name him, I remembered a longtime friend with the same initials. Brian Donelson. I even used some of his life.

What kind of books do you enjoy reading and how often do you read?

I’m a member of a neighborhood book club where we discuss one book a month. The books are fiction and non-fiction. I learned about Catherine Ryan Hyde through the book club and have now read all her books. I enjoy her novels because she pairs up older and younger characters and treats them as equals in the story. I’m a slow reader because I tend to study the structure and the characters as I read. I’ve read twenty-two books in the past ten months.

AWARDS:

First Place in the 2007 SouthWest Writers Contest for inspirational or spiritual novels.

First Place in the 2007 Writers’ League of Texas Novel Manuscript Contest in the Romantic category.

Third Place in the 2006 Lone Star Writing Competition.

BIOGRAPHY:

Sidney W. Frost grew up in Austin, Texas, served in the U.S. Marines in California, worked in the space industry in Los Angeles and Houston, and now lives in Georgetown, Texas.

He has a Master of Science degree from the University of Houston in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from the University of California at Long Beach. He worked in Information Technology for many years, and in May 2011, retired after thirty years as an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at Austin Community College. He received the adjunct teaching excellence award in 2005.

Since retiring, he has written and published six novels and edited twelve books for other writers.

Website: www.amazon.com/author/sidneyfrost

Social media: https://www.facebook.com/sid.frost1; https://www.facebook.com/groups/780736185840509