So this is what happens when Stephen Zimmer and I do a mini interview. Almost 1000 word count later o_O hmmmm lol love it.

We did this because Stephen’s publisher Seventh Star Press is releasing multiple ebook short story tie ins to already published works. SSP and Stephen have asked that I host a giveaway for all of the short story ebooks that are available. That’s right a bunch of books up for grabs. Pretty awesome I’ll say. I myself have purchased all of Stephen’s shorts but aside from his 4 you will also get Steven Shrewsbury’s 2 short ebooks and the just announced short by Michael West. Details on getting entries are below the interview. 3 winners total Yep 3 winners will each get the lot of books. Giveaway ends Jan 20th. Edited to add an eighth book

Please say hi to my online BFF, facebook friend author extraordinaire Stephen Zimmer. Also when I ask him about the book he took on Christmas vacation at the end of the interview is because Stephen’s mom took him and his sister to Panama and the Caribbean. I need a vacation too Mrs. Zimmer

For those not familiar, please tell everyone a little about your work and that of the other authors at Seventh Star Press -

Seventh Star Press is a small press publisher that specializes in speculative fiction, all the fun stuff like fantasy, urban fantasy, horror, YA fantasy, science fiction, steampunk, etc. Currently, there are six authors.   All of us have different facets to offer readers.  For example, Jackie Gamber’s Leland Dragon Series is YA Fantasy, Steven Shrewsbury’s Thrall is Sword and Sorcery, Michael West’s Harmony, Indiana novels like Cinema of Shadows is horror, H. David Blalock’s Angelkiller is Urban Fantasy, and D.A. Adams’ The Fall of Dorkhun is action-driven Fantasy.

All of the novel releases also feature some killer interior artwork in addition to the cover art. Matthew Perry has done the art for my books, Steven Shrewsbury’s, Jackie Gamber’s, Michael West’s, and H. David Blalock’s.  We recently had another great artist come aboard, Bonnie Wasson, who is handing D.A. Adams’ Brotherhood of Dwarves series.

The editors working with SSP are wonderful folks, from Amanda DeBord, who has been there from the beginning, to Karen Leet, Josh Leet, and Louise Bohmer.

As far as my stuff goes, I have two series with Seventh Star Press. The Fires in Eden series is epic fantasy, while the Rising Dawn Saga is epic-scale urban fantasy.  Both have ensemble casts, and are the kind of books that have the kind of scope, layers, and depth that a reader can really sink into.  I also write the Harvey and Solomon Steampunk stories, which have been in two recent anthologies from the great Kerlak Publishing.  As a writer, my influences are authors like J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, George R.R. Martin, Glen Cook and Clive Barker.

Tell me about the new short stories being published. Free standing but tie-ins to already published books right? -

Yes, the stories work both ways.  For readers of the novels, the short stories are related in that they are set in the world of the author’s novel series(and in the case of Steven Shrewsbury’s short stories, they focus on the Gorias La Gaul character introduced in his novel Thrall).  They are also stand alone in that they require no previous reading of the novels to enjoy.

In my opinion, these short stories offer further content to fans of our various seriesm while also offering solid, self- adventures.  Hopefully, if a reader likes one of our short stories they will dig deeper into the series it is associated with.

I take it these short stories are a way for people to get a taste of your books, are more planned at Seventh Star? -

They are a great way to sample our authors.  And yes, there is a lot more ahead.  I have a many more planned, and even have a few whose first draft is nearly complete.  It looks like other SSP authors will be contributing stories to this series soon, in addition to myself and Steven Shrewsbury.  As of this interview, Michael West just came aboard with some short stories that have tie-ins to his Harmony Indiana novels.  His series will be called Tales from Harmony.  I have a hunch that more of my fellow SSP authors will be on board soon.

As a someone who blogs about books I’ve been wanting to ask this from an author. Do we have an impact? Does out blogging about and reviewing a book help spread the word, get sales and generate interest? -

I don’t think that the major presses would flood the blogging community with boxes full of new releases if they didn’t recognize the importance that bloggers have in the modern publishing climate.  Of course, the fact that they do makes life a little harder for the small press authors like myself, as some bloggers get too swamped with major press titles to spare much room for smaller presses (and I strongly think that’s part of the thinking of the major presses, as they certainly know a blogger is not going to read every title in that big box, but that’s an essay in itself! LOL )  Bloggers become more important every day as eBooks take up a larger and larger share of the market.  For authors such as myself, blog review sites are one of the biggest channels for raising awareness about new books.

I have seen many cases where a great number of bloggers have advocated a certain book, and it has propelled that book to very strong sales.  So yes, bloggers have a huge importance and impact, and this is only going to increase in the future.  Without the blogging community, it would be very hard to let readers know that we exist.

What else can we and other book lovers do? - 

Don’t be afraid to try out new presses, and tweet, post, and blog about the good books that you discover.  Word of mouth is far more powerful than expensive advertising campaigns, and advocacy of a book, author, or press by book lovers makes all the difference in the world.

What is the last book you purchased? -

The last book I purchased was Civil War Lexington, Kentucky: Bluegrass Breeding Ground of Power by Karen Leet and Joshua Leet.  A fantastic historical book focusing on the men and women of Lexington, Kentucky who had a part to play in the Civil War.

I sure did!  I took along George R.R. Martin’s A Dance With Dragons, and Eric Wilson’s Haunt of Jackals, Book Two of his Jerusalem Undead trilogy (which has a truly original, well-thought out approach to vampires. I wish more people would try his series out instead of reading yet another one of the thousand and three clones of Twilight! LOL)

You are most welcome, Jessica!    And thank you!  Always great to be on your blog!