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An Exclusive Interview with K.J. Howe, Author of The Freedom Broker
Kimberley Howe lived internationally while growing up, including years spent in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Caribbean. Her father worked in tele-communications, so her family was always on the move. Adventure and travel—and books—figured prominently as she traipsed from place to place. Experiencing this eclectic education offered unique…
Interview with #1 New York Times Best-Selling Author Mark Sullivan
Mark Sullivan knew he wanted to be a writer at age seven when he got in a fight in parochial school that was broken up by a formidable, six-foot-plus nun named Sister Mary Joseph. She was vice-principal and holy discipline incarnate. Every kid in the school feared her. Mark was…
An Interview With Bestselling Author Mindy Mejia
Mindy Mejia is a fiction writer, finance manager, weekend jogger, wife, and mother of two. She writes what she likes to read––contemporary, plot-driven novels that deliver both entertainment and substance. Mindy Mejia was born and raised in a small-town-turned-suburb in the Twin Cities area. She received a BA from the…
An Exclusive Interview With Raymond Benson
Raymond Benson is the author of 35+ published books, the most recent being The Secrets on Chicory Lane. Among his several original suspense novels, he is the author of the acclaimed “Black Stiletto” saga that began with The Black Stiletto in 2011 and continued with The Black Stiletto: Black &…
An Exclusive Interview with USA Today and Award Winning Author Hank Phillippi Ryan
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN is a USA Today bestselling author of 12 thrillers, winning the most prestigious awards in the genre: five Agathas, three Anthonys, the Daphne, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. She is also the on-air investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH-TV, with 37 EMMYs and dozens more journalism…
An Exclusive Interview with Bestselling Author Jason LaVelle
First, Jason, congratulations on the release of your newest horror collection, A Flutter of Darkness. It’s been hailed as “…emotionally charged and thought-provoking.” (Indie Athenaeum), your writing touted as “… ability to lead the reader into the mind-boggling… and situations that are never as they originally appear.” (Reader’s Favorite). Tell…
An exclusive Interview With NY Times bestselling author, John Gilstrap
John Gilstrap is the New York Times bestselling and Thriller Award-winning author of Final Target, Friendly Fire, Nick of Time, Against All Enemies, End Game, Soft Targets, High Treason, Damage Control, Threat Warning, Hostage Zero, No Mercy, Nathan's Run, At All Costs, Even Steven, Scott Free and Six Minutes to…
An Exclusive Interview with Andrew Gross
Andrew Gross is the author of New York Times and international bestsellers The Blue Zone, Don't Look Twice, and The Dark Tide, which was nominated for the Best Thriller of the Year award by the International Thriller Writers, Reckless, and most recently, Eyes Wide Open. He is also coauthor of…
We Follow-Up With New York Times Bestselling Author, Tosca Lee
1. You’ve had some exciting things happen since Top Shelf interviewed you just four months ago in September last year. Tell us the news! Yes! The CW network bought The Progeny! CBS is producing. It’s been super exciting to watch the process unfold, and to watch our showrunner/writer go from…
An Exclusive Interview with NY Times Bestselling Author Tosca Lee
Please tell us a little about the real Tosca Lee, something you haven’t shared before. I’m a big geek-nerd—always have been. I grew up on the Isis/Shazam Power Hour, Justice League, Wonder Woman, and Thundarr the Barbarian. When I was a kid, I honestly believed Luke Skywalker was coming for…
An Exclusive Interview with Eileen Cook
Eileen Cook is a multi-published author with her novels appearing in eight languages. Her books have been optioned for film and TV. She spent most of her teen years wishing she were someone else or somewhere else, which is great training for a writer. Her newest book, THE HANGING GIRL,…
Exclusive Interview with Author and TopShelf PRO Insider, Daniel C. McWhorter
Author Bio Daniel C. McWhorter (“Dan” to everyone who knows him) is an avid reader and life-long science fiction and fantasy fan who has long dreamed about writing for a living. As is the case for many of us, the realities of life took him in a different direction and…
An Exclusive Interview with Sandra Brown
Sandra Brown is the author of sixty-nine New York Times bestsellers, including Seeing Red, Sting, Friction, Mean Streak, Deadline, Low Pressure, Lethal, and the critically acclaimed Rainwater. Brown began her writing career in 1981 and since then has published over seventy novels, bringing the number of copies of her books…
An Interview with International Bestseller, Jon Land
Jon Land is the USA Today bestselling author of 38 novels, including eight titles in the critically acclaimed Caitlin Strong series: Strong Enough to Die, Strong Justice, Strong at the Break, Strong Vengeance, Strong Rain Falling (winner of the 2014 International Book Award and 2013 USA Best Book Award for…
An Exclusive Interview with Steena Holmes
Your newest book, The Forgotten Ones, is a deeply suspenseful psychological thriller. What can you tell us about it? The main focus is about the secrets we tend to bury amongst families and the damage they often create, even to the point of death. It deals with mental illness and…
An Exclusive Interview with Author Cary Allen Stone
Talk to us about your science-fiction book, SEEDS – The Journey Begins. Let me first tell you what it is not. There are no aliens, worlds with bizarre names, or intergalactic wars. “SEEDS” takes place in current times, on Earth. Steven Hawking said we would have to leave the earth…
An Exclusive Interview with James Rollins
JAMES ROLLINS is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of international thrillers, translated into more than forty languages. His Sigma series has been lauded as one of the "top crowd pleasers" (New York Times) and one of the "hottest summer reads" (People Magazine). In each novel, acclaimed for its…
An Exclusive Interview with Preston & Child
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child are coauthors of the bestselling novels Relic, Mount Dragon, Reliquary, Riptide, Thunderhead, The Ice Limit, The Cabinet of Curiosities, Still Life with Crows, Brimstone, Dance of Death, The Book of the Dead, The Wheel of Darkness, Cemetery Dance, Fever Dream, Gideon's Sword, Cold Vengeance, Gideon's…
An Exclusive Interview with Brad Meltzer
Brad Meltzer is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Inner Circle, The Book of Fate, and nine other bestselling thrillers including The Tenth Justice, The First Counsel, The Millionaires, and The President’s Shadow. His newest book is The Escape Artist, out March 6. In addition to his…
An Exclusive Interview with Michael Anderle
Michael released his first book on Nov 3rd, 2015. Personally, he has published twenty-two books and two novellas. He has been published in three anthologies and has collaborated with over twenty other talented authors in both the Kurtherian Gambit and Oriceran universes together to complete over a hundred titles for…
Exclusive Interview with #1 NY Times Bestselling Author, BRAD THOR
Brad Thor is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Foreign Agent, Code of Conduct, Act of War, Hidden Order, Black List, Full Black, The Athena Project, Foreign Influence, The Apostle, The Last Patriot (nominated best thriller of the year by the International Thriller Writers Association and banned in…
Exclusive Interview with Author and TopShelf PRO Insider, Marie J.S. Phillips
Author Bio Born in 1957, in Huntington, on Long Island, I've been driven by an insatiable love of writing, art, and the sciences since very early childhood. My love of animal tales fueled my desire to write, always manifesting in stories from the non-human point of view. I invented my…
An Exclusive Interview with Mark Cheverton
New York Times bestselling author, Mark Cheverton grew up in Southern California, going through high school, and college. After college, Mark taught high school physics and math for many years. While teaching, he earned a Master's degree in Physics and conducted research on planetary atmospherics. His first book, The Algae…
An Exclusive Interview with Kathryn le Veque
1. So, tell us a little about the real Kathryn Le Veque, maybe something you haven’t shared in other interviews yet. I love this question – who is the ‘real me? Driven, generous to a fault, a lover of animals and my family. Oddly enough, I’m a bit of an…
An Exclusive Interview with Bestselling Author Kristina Rienzi
What inspired you to write Winter Road? It’s funny; I never planned to write Winter Road. It was one of those stories that came to me in a flash, and then the rest told itself. I wish all my stories did that! Winter Road started on a particularly long drive…
Our Interview with Author, Humphrey Hawksley
1. First, congratulations on your newest release, Man on Edge, A Rake Ozenna Thriller. You’ve already received some phenomenal reviews for this book, hailing it as “A multilayered tale with plenty of fast-paced action will hook thriller fans…” (Booklist) and “Reminiscent of the very best Cold War fiction, filled with…
Exclusive Interview with Matthew Betley, Author of Overwatch & Oath of Honor
Matthew Betley grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, which he considers home after his family moved there from New Jersey, where he was born and which also explains his affinity for the New York Yankees. He attended St. Xavier High School and then Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he graduated…
An Exclusive Interview with Laura Lovett
Please introduce yourself to our readers. My name is Laura Lovett, I write psychological thrillers, am a mother of three, and am a Doctor of Psychology. I run psychology practices in Canada focused on leadership/team development in organizations, and helping people choose and switch careers. For those who are just…
An Exclusive Interview with Daniel M. Warloch
Tell us a little about yourself and your background, maybe something not previously known. I started work in the printing industry at the tender age of 15, as an apprentice hot metal compositor. The apprenticeship lasted 6 years and from then on, I held many senior positions in the industry,…
An Interview with NY Times Bestseller, David Morrell
David Morrell is the author of First Blood, the acclaimed novel in which Rambo was created. He has a Ph. D. in literature from Penn State and was a professor in the English department at the University of Iowa. His numerous New York Times bestsellers include the classic spy novel,…
An Exclusive Interview with Mark Reutlinger
Please inform us a little about your latest book, Sister-in-Law and what makes it so different from your previous works. Sister-in-Law is, like Made in China, a political thriller, but they are quite different. Made in China conveys a serious message about our dependence on foreign-made goods. I hoped it…
An Exclusive Interview with Best Selling Author Craig DiLouie
First of all, we at TopShelf want to congratulate you on your upcoming release of The Children of Red Peak, available November 17, 2020 and currently available for pre-order in paperback and ebook formats. “The survivors of a doomsday cult’s horrific last days reunite to confront their past and the…
An Exclusive Interview with Bestselling Author Rachel Tamayo
First, congratulations on your release of Carnal Knowledge, the second stand-alone Thriller in your Deadly Sins series. How did this newest launch go for you? Were there any particular highlights? Thank you so much! Book releases are always stressful. Between spending months gathering reviews, editing, editing some more, praying that…
Our Interview with Author, Marika Lindholm
1. Please introduce yourself. I’m Marika Lindholm, the founder of ESME (Empowering Solo Moms Everywhere) and co-editor of the new book We Got This: Solo Moms Stories of Grit, Heart, and Humor. 2. Please tell us a little about We Got This. We Got This is a collection of essays…
An Exclusive Interview With America's #1 Best-Selling Author, R.L. Stine
In case you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t heard of the legendary R.L. Stine, I’ll give you a very brief rundown. Robert Lawrence Stine is one of, if not the most famous author of children’s literature in the entire world. Often called America’s #1 Bestselling Author, R.L. Stine…
An Exclusive Interview with Award Winning Author Liz Butcher
First and foremost, Liz, congratulations on the release of your second novel, LeRoux Manor, which launched this past September. What was the best part of releasing your newest book? Any low points? Did anything surprise you? Thank you so much! I think the best part is just seeing it out…
An Exclusive Interview with Sheri Levy
Tell us about your heartwarming coming-of-age story, ‘Starting Over.’ ‘Starting Over,’ is the second novel in my Trina Ryan series. After readers started sending in their reviews, I learned about the story’s impact. The easiest way for me to describe this story comes from a review submitted by Peggy Jo…
An Exclusive Interview with Anthony Franze
ANTHONY FRANZE is a lawyer in the Appellate and Supreme Court practice of a prominent Washington, D.C. law firm, and a critically acclaimed thriller writer with novels set in the nation’s highest court. Franze has been a commentator on legal and Supreme Court issues for The New Republic, Bloomberg, National…
An Exclusive Interview with Allan Leverone
Allan Leverone is an air traffic controller and the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of nearly twenty novels in the thriller and horror genres. He is a former Derringer Award winner for excellence in short mystery fiction, and his dark thriller, MR. MIDNIGHT, was featured in Suspense…
Exclusive Interview with Author and TopShelf PRO Insider, Graham Clayton
Author Bio As a youngster growing up in the cobbled streets of Stockport, UK, Clayton Graham read a lot of science fiction. He loved the ‘old-school’ masters such as HG Wells, Jules Verne, Isaac Asimov,and John Wyndham. As he left those formative years behind, he penned short stories when he…
An Exclusive Interview with Author Megan Collins
This is your debut novel—congratulations! What was the journey to getting your first novel published like? What was the most challenging part of the process? The most rewarding? It’s surely a cliché, but my journey has been one long, emotional, exhilarating roller coaster, with more highs and lows than I…
An Exclusive Interview with Sarah Noffke
Sarah Noffke, an Amazon Best Seller, writes YA and NA sci-fi fantasy, paranormal and urban fantasy. She is the author of the Lucidites, Reverians, Ren, Vagabond Circus and Olento Research series. Noffke holds a Masters of Management and teaches college business courses. Most of her students have no idea that…
Our Interview with the 2019 TopShelf Book Award Winner, Ramcy Diek
1. Congratulations on the success of your debut novel, Storm at Keizer Manor, which has also been a Reader’s Favorite Book Award Winner, a Best Book Awards Finalist, and a New Apple Medalist Winner. How has such an incredible reception to your book affected your goals for writing more novels…
An Exclusive Interview with Author Tom Combs
What would you like our readers to know about yourself? Tom Combs is an as an award-winning now retired emergency physician whose 25 years working in level one Trauma center ERs provided the foundation for his best-selling medical suspense-thriller series. A Minnesota kid from a big family, Tom was a…
Our Latest Interview With New York Times Bestselling Author, Tosca Lee
1. Congratulations on your recent release in September of A Single Light, the sequel to The Line Between. Did the release of this second part to your Medical Thriller series go as you expected? Did it bring any new surprises? Every book release has surprises of some kind or another!…
An exclusive Interview With NY Times bestselling author, Joseph Finder
Joseph Finder is the New York Times-bestselling author of fourteen suspense novels, including The Switch, Guilty Minds, and Suspicion; Buried Secrets, co-winner of the Strand Magazine Critics Award for Best Novel; Company Man, winner of the Barry Award for Best Thriller; The Moscow Club, named one of the ten best…
An Exclusive Interview with Best Selling Author MJ Preston
First, thank you so much for joining us here at TopShelf for this exclusive interview. In February this year, you celebrated the release of Four, the second novel in your acclaimed The Highwayman series. After readers devoured Book 1, Highwayman, in this blended Horror-Crime Thriller series in 2019, you didn't…
Our Interview with Author, Miranda Oh
1. First, congratulations on your new release, Just Breathe, Book 3 in the Chin Up, Tits Out series! Is this the final book of Hadley’s story, or will there be more? Thank you! I am thrilled to finally share the final episode of Hadley’s story with the world. The last…
An Interview with NY Times Bestseller, John Lescroart
John Lescroart is a New York Times bestselling author known for his series of legal and crime thriller novels featuring the characters Dismas Hardy, Abe Glitsky, and Wyatt Hunt. His novels have sold more than 10 million copies, have been translated into 22 languages in more than 75 countries, and…
Exclusive Interview with Author and TopShelf PRO Insider, Marc Rainer
Author Bio Marc Rainer is my pen name; my real name is Charles ("Chuck") Ambrose, Jr. My pen name is a tribute to my little brother Marc, and my mother, Betty Rainer Ambrose. We lost them both to cancer far too soon. I am a graduate of the United States…
An Interview with Bestselling Author, Paul Doiron
Paul Doiron is the author of the Mike Bowditch series of crime novels. The series—which Paul prefers to call a “saga” based on the importance he places on narrative continuity—tells the story a young Maine game warden who appears in the first book, THE POACHER’S SON, as the emotionally damaged…
An Exclusive Interview with J.N. Chaney
J.N. Chaney is the Amazon bestselling author of The Variant Saga (B01MRCAMW0), The Renegade Star series (B077RHM2QD), and more. Chaney has a Master’s of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and fancies himself quite the Super Mario Bros Fan. He migrates often and was last seen in Avon Park, FL. Any…
Interview With award winning, Bestselling Author, Steve Snyder
Born in Pasadena, California, Steve Snyder was raised in the neighboring community of San Marino. He graduated from UCLA and during the Vietnam War years served six years in the California Army National Guard. In 1972, he moved to Seal Beach, California, where he lives today. In 2009, he retired…
An Exclusive Interview with Bestselling Author Robert J Sawyer
Congratulations on your newest novel, The Oppenheimer Alternative, which released on June 2nd, 2020. This excellently crafted depiction of the “Birth of the Atomic Age” has been lauded as “ringing true” and the characters—all real historical figures—“accurately portrayed.” What inspired you to choose this topic for your 24th novel? Isaac…
An Interview with NY Times Bestselling Author, STEVE BERRY
Steve Berry was born and raised in Georgia and graduated from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University. He was a trial lawyer for 30 years and held elective office for 14 of those years. He is a founding member of International Thriller Writers—a group of nearly…