Welcome to the first issue of Noahan Author! My name is Noah Mullette-Gillman and I am the author of The White Hairs. Each week I will be conducting a series of interviews, mostly with authors. I will also be talking with publicists, cover artists, editors, anyone involved in the art with something interesting to say – but mostly authors!

I have read and enjoyed at least the free preview for every one of my guests’ books and my questions will be specific to their individual work, not generic ‘cookie-cutter’ questions. At the end of every interview I am also inviting each of my interviewees to ask ME one question: about my work, their work, or anything under the sun.

Now, I know that the majority of you have come here today because I am featuring an author which you already like and enjoy. It is my hope that, whichever one of the three featured writers you have come to read about, you will consider staying to read the other two interviews.

Yes, promoting everyone’s work is important, but it is my hope that the questions that I am asking will do more than simply promote. My aspiration is that the questions I ask will make every interview interesting and worth your time in and of itself. Enjoy!

Noahan Author interview – DANIEL ARENSON:

DANIEL ARENSON: Hi Noah, thank you for interviewing me. 

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Please tell us about Firefly Island.

DANIEL ARENSON: King Sinther, his flesh made of stone, tyrannizes the enchanted Firefly Island. Swords and arrows break against him. Armies crash before him. All of Firefly Island--a land of magic and mystery--suffers under his cruelty. 

But one girl, a simple slave girl, has magic that can stop him. Whatever Aeolia feels, she can make others feel: joy, sadness, hunger... even pain. If she hurt herself and shared the pain, she could hurt the mad stone king.

Can Aeolia escape King Sinther's assassins, defeat him, and save Firefly Island? 

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Tell us about Roen.

DANIEL ARENSON: Roen is an atypical fantasy hero.  He's not a warrior, he's not particularly muscular, and he doesn't own any weapons.  He's a humble young painter who's dragged into conflict that sweeps over Firefly Island.  Throughout the book, he needs to find his courage and fight for his family and friends.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Tell us about Aeolia.

DANIEL ARENSON: Aeolia too, is an atypical fantasy heroine.  She's not a warrior either, and is not particularly tough or brave.  She's young and innocent, and finds herself in horrible circumstances.  Her father sells her into slavery, and King Sinther, a tyrant with flesh of stone, has sent assassins after her.  Aeolia is lonely and confused, and has to find strength to escape those who wish her harm, and eventually face King Sinther.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Your book is written from multiple viewpoints, perhaps with multiple protagonists. Did you have a favorite?

DANIEL ARENSON: I enjoyed writing Aeolia's chapters a lot.  She's innocent, naive, a bit silly.  She was fun to write.  I also enjoyed writing Lale, who is King Sinther's son and primary assassin.  I love writing a good villain.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: What do you think about Ogres?

DANIEL ARENSON: I love ogres!  In the first draft of Firefly Island, there were no ogres.  There were centaurs.  But I changed them to ogres because I wanted more of a fairytale feel, less of a mythological feel.  This was quite a while ago; I wrote Firefly Island back in the late 1990s.  Then the movie "Shrek" came out, and I remember thinking, "Oh no...."

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: I love the map at the beginning of your book. This is, of course, an old fantasy novel device. What have been some of your favorite maps?

DANIEL ARENSON: When I was a child, we had a big, clunky, leather-bound atlas at home.  This was before the Internet and online maps.  I'd love pulling the tome off the shelf and studying all the maps.  The maps were embossed, so that mountains rose a bit from the page, rivers were lower, and you could trace the world with your fingers.  I spent countless hours going page by page, exploring each map.  I think Italy was my favorite because it was shaped like a boot.  I didn't know anything about Italy; I just loved the shape of the country!

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Can you talk about your journey as an author? What brought you to writing a book?

DANIEL ARENSON: Mostly for the fame, fortune, and fans.  Seriously, though, like all writers, I'm a reader. Grew up loving books, still do.  I think books are the best thing in the world.  So of course I want to write my own!

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Why self-publish?

DANIEL ARENSON: Well, I didn't self-publish Firefly Island, at least not originally.  Five Star Publishing (which is part of Gale) bought and published Firefly Island in 2007.

 DANIEL ARENSON: The novel was released in hardcover.  In 2010, Kindle finally came to Canada, my country.  I then uploaded Firefly Island into the Kindle store myself.  You don't really need a publisher for that.  By keeping the digital rights, I can sell the ebooks for cheap, and pocket 70% of the profits.  Pretty sweet deal.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: What have you done and what are you doing to promote the book?

DANIEL ARENSON: When Firefly Island was first released, the best promotional push came from reviews in large publications -- Booklist, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and others.  That sold about 600 hardcovers right off the bat. When Firefly Island became an ebook, I announced it on KindleBoards.com, facebook, and a few blogs.  That sold hundreds of copies pretty quickly.  I think there's some word-of-mouth that happens too.  Kindle Nation Daily will be featuring Firefly Island later this month, which I hope will sell a couple hundred copies.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: What’s up next?

DANIEL ARENSON: My dark fantasy novel Flaming Dove will be released in October.  It tells the story of Laila -- half angel, half demon, outcast in the years following Armageddon.  Keep an eye out for it.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: If you could leave your body and travel astrally, would you? Where would you go?

DANIEL ARENSON: Tahiti.  It seems like a beautiful place, and travelling astrally would be more comfortable than flying coach.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: What is your deepest, darkest secret?

DANIEL ARENSON: Anyone who tells you their deepest, darkest secret in these interviews is lying.  ;)  

Thanks for this interview, Noah!  It was fun.

DANIEL ARENSON:  I'd like to ask you this question:

Your novel is titled "The White Hairs." How many white hairs are on your head?

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Great question! :)

The answer is: none! (As far as I can tell!) But clearly quite a few growing from my soul….

Noahan Author interview – KIPP SPEICHER:

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Tell us about Closing My Eyes Helps Me To See Clearly.

KIPP SPEICHER: It all started with a dream, In 2002 I had a vision/dream of a toddler getting run over on a freeway, as she lay there, cars just passed around her avoiding her leaving me with the image and thought of a society so wrapped up in their own life and not caring of anyone else around them. Along with that image, I also mixed in other visions/dreams I have had such as the planets of our solar system collapsing upon us, such a tragic fatal end of the human race but beautiful at the same time, (I have seen the end and it is Beautiful)

I also added another short story as a bonus called Gas For Grass that I wrote in one sitting as one man’s distorted view on taking care of a problem, I do have to admit I was a bit embarrassed when I first wrote it, being very offensive and erotic, but I think it’s a fun story and by no means reflects my personality.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Can you talk a little about your path to publishing? What led you to release Closing My Eyes Helps Me To See Clearly independently?

KIPP SPEICHER: Since I can remember I have always wanted to be a writer, I have spent most of my life playing stories out in my head, writing plot outlines down in notebooks, but never did anything with them. I even went into the printing field hoping some day to make my own book. After 25 years in the business and seeing the cost to printing books go up - I was discouraged.

Then came along the concept of digital publishing and it was like an awakening a chance to finally tell my stories and maybe find an audience. We are at the beginning of a revolution, I know there are conflicting points of view on digital and the print world, but Gutenberg was considered the Devil when he first invented removable type and changed the world forever with mass production of literature.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: You included previews of two upcoming novels with the release of Closing My Eyes Helps Me To See Clearly. Will we see those two books released soon?

KIPP SPEICHER: Yes they are plotted completely out and mostly written just trying to find a good editor to help make them professional, “ I Thought You Tasted Like Rain” is three stories revolving around one tragic incident and how lives are affected if that tragedy dose not happen. “The Other Side” is the start of a two book series about beings who live among us that are in a sense guardian angels but some are not quite as pure, taking some of the vampire mythology and looking at it from a different perspective.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: You use a very poetic and dream-like style in Closing My Eyes Helps Me To See Clearly.

Will you use something similar in your upcoming books?

KIPP SPEICHER: Yes I would call “Closing My Eyes” experimental and yes I would like to return to that from time to time, it is a style that may not appeal to everyone’s taste. My two novels listed above and my other project “Listen” are more straight forward writing. I still see more of the experimental projects coming to life.

That is the beauty of independent publishing. You don’t need to sell thousands of books to be a success. If six people download it , and write me to say how much they liked it and I only make $1.80 that to me is a success! So yes I will be doing more pieces like that. It’s almost like a spiritual experience. It just flows from you; like music but with words.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: What motivates you, as an author?

KIPP SPEICHER: I am a very quiet solitary person with stories and characters filling my head every waking and dreaming moment. I may go a whole day without even a murmur of a word but to write is my main way to communicate.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: You have been doing a series of interviews on your own website. How have those gone and what advice would you have for someone starting their own interview series?

KIPP SPEICHER: It has been amazing! I just started by interviewing one of my favorite authors Tom Raimbault and then it just took off within two days with others wanting to be interviewed. It is so much fun talking to other authors and seeing how they work their craft.

I would like to give more personal questions to each author like you plan to do with your blog but it is a very time consuming project and working two jobs every week day, I have such limit time just keeping up with what I do accomplish. I would say; if you can find a way to connect with others and bring light to others art go for it anyway you can. We are artists and in my eyes it is not a competition. It’s a movement and we can all find our niche and audience.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: I understand that you’re also a filmmaker. Can you talk a little about your work in that field?

KIPP SPEICHER: For years, trying to find a way to tell my stories, I fell in love with the visual part of storytelling, and with the revolution of inexpensive home video cameras I dove head first into it with no schooling in the field and no computer training. I forged my way into doing things a bit different.

My friend John D. Leonard made some very micro budget movies that we had fun working on and built a fan base and a unique style. “Dreadful” was one of our biggest projects we started with that got a lot of great reviews. Even though it is very affordable it still takes some funding and times are rough right now.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: What are you doing to promote your work?

KIPP SPEICHER: I have been big on social networking. I started a Twitter account when it first came out and I have close to 2000 followers, and Facebook has been a nice way to start a kinship with other authors and readers. I take to the whole digital networking thing better than regular social events. I would like to start doing readings. I did one at the local museum a few weeks ago and had a lot of fun doing it.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: If you could leave your body and travel astrally, would you? Where would you go?

KIPP SPEICHER: Yes I would. I don’t know if it actually happened, but I think I did experience it once. I had no control of it. I was just an observer floating but it felt nothing like a dream.

 I have doing some studies on the subject along with another subject that finds it ways into my stories: the Theory of Water. Every drop of water that is on our planet has been here since the beginning of time. What if that each drop holds an echo of the past .

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: What is your deepest, darkest secret?

KIPP SPEICHER: Hmmm? Not too many dark secrets really other than unrequited loves that ignite the poet in my words and passion for expression. I also battle with dyslexia so the writing process is a bit long

 I will leave you with a strange fact about myself I had a twin that died in the womb months before our arrival. So in a morbid way the first contact with another human was spending it with my deceased twin it within in the womb

KIPP SPEICHER:  Question for you J

Do you believe in O.O.B.E. or any other alternative theories you would like to share with us? There are so many unharnessed abilities that I think we as humans need to explore. Shutting out the normal noise of the day and find a new way of looking at things. The title of my book and blog reflects these ideas. Closing My Eyes Help Me To See Clearly

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Is it possible to leave our bodies and travel astrally? I don’t know. Do we get to live multiple lives? I don’t know. Is it possible to levitate, travel in time, talk to the dead? I don’t really know the answer to any of these things. I’m not the sort of person who only feels comfortable with an active opinion. “I don’t know” is a perfectly honest place for me to rest. I know Astrology works, if you have that most elusive of things – a competent Astrologer. Numerology never seemed to make sense to me.

But my main concern isn’t truth in the world. It is truth in the psyche. My main concern is truth from an author’s perspective. I read a lot of speculative history. I think it’s filled with wonderful ideas! I recommend www.grahamhancock.com to all aspiring, well not just authors, but to anyone with an imagination! The most important thing is not what is true and what isn’t. The most important thing, from my perspective, is how fantastic the ideas are! I don’t live in the objective world, I live in the world of ideas!

KIPP SPEICHER:  Thanks so much for the opportunity and keep up the good fight.

 I think your book is amazing, we are part of the new revolution of words and thought!

Kipp Poe Speicher

http://www.facebook.com/Kipp.Poe

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3065547

http://kippoe.blogspot.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/kippoe

Read Kipp’s interview of Noah Mullette-Gillman HERE! And his review of The White Hairs HERE!

Noahan Author interview – JESSICA BILLINGS:

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Tell us a little about your background.

JESSICA BILLINGS: I’m a 24 year old who grew up running around outdoors in Oregon and reading fantasy books. Three years ago, I visited Chicago for my cousin’s wedding and met a geeky guy who showed me around the city. We kept in touch online and two years ago, I left Oregon to live in the same town as him. Now, we’re attending school together in Michigan, where I’m studying environmental engineering. Life is good!

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Would you please tell us about The Girl Born of Smoke?

JESSICA BILLINGS: I started writing The Girl Born of Smoke five years ago, while I was still an undergrad. I always loved writing, but had never written a full-fledged book. One day in Greek mythology, I began thinking about how I never read books with slightly insane main characters. I knew I wanted to write about magic, so I began brainstorming: What if there was a girl bringing magic back to the world, but was starting to go insane?

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Can you talk about the title a little?

JESSICA BILLINGS: The meaning of the title, The Girl Born of Smoke, actually becomes clear near the end of the book. Without spoiling anything, I will say that fire and smoke play huge roles in the book and “smoke” has a double meaning – the girl referred to in the title is given life after a fire, but she is also insubstantial, like smoke.  There is doubt as to whether she truly exists and what reality really means.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Tell us about Aurora.

JESSICA BILLINGS: Oh, Aurora…well, she’s troubled. She tries to hide it in the beginning, but it’s impossible to really hide something like that. Let me just say – she’s not who she says she is. She’s trying to make a new life for herself, but the world has other plans for her.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: In what ways are you personally alike and dissimilar from your protagonist?

JESSICA BILLINGS: You know, I had a sudden realization one day that Aurora is very similar to how I was when I was much younger. She pretends to be happy when she’s not, she puts other people’s needs before her own, and she is incredibly angry underneath it all. Like me, Aurora grows up throughout the book and changes a lot of those behaviors, but there are some good qualities that I identify with as well. She has a lot of empathy and she questions everything, even things that everyone else takes for granted. She loves science and she’s very curious about the world.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Much of the free preview of your book takes place in the woods. Can you talk a little bit about your relationship with the woods, or nature?

JESSICA BILLINGS: Well, I wrote most of the book outdoors, sitting in the forest. There is something about nature that calms me and makes it easier to think and write. Some of my most productive moments were sitting outside on the balcony in the middle of winter, huddled under a blanket.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Do you believe in magic? What can you tell me about it?

JESSICA BILLINGS: I believe if there was magic, it would occur in a very scientific process. In my book, I mix science and magic and explain it all using scientific concepts. I don’t believe any person in our world has these powers, but I like to keep an open mind!

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: You mention in your “about the author” section that you are going to school in Michigan, but will always consider yourself an Oregonian. What would you say is the difference between an Oregonian and a

Michigan-ian?

JESSICA BILLINGS: Did you know people from Michigan have 3 different possible names? Michiganians, Michiganders, or Michiganites. Weird, I know. Anyway, Michigan is great and all (except it is SO COLD during the winter), but I love how friendly people are in Oregon and all the different climates we have here. We have valleys, beaches, mountains, deserts, basically anything you could possibly want. People say I should be a tour guide for Oregon because I rave about it so much. There is just so much to do, especially outdoor activities.  Plus, all my family and friends are in Oregon, which is great. I hope to eventually move back to the Pacific Northwest. Of course, all I know of Michigan is the tiny, remote town where I go to school.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: If you could leave your body and travel astrally, would you? Where would you go?

JESSICA BILLINGS: Oh, definitely. I love to travel, and if I could do it without the time and expense, that would be perfect. I would explore the world (and eventually the universe), I think. Here on Earth, my first few stops would be the far north to see the Aurora Borealis (for which my main character is named), Japan, and New Zealand. I would love to see how the world looks in such different places and how the people live their everyday lives.

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: What is your deepest, darkest secret?

JESSICA BILLINGS: Yikes! Well, since I’m now thinking about the book, the first thing that comes to mind is that I was convinced that I was going crazy when I was a young teenager. That’s probably why I wanted Aurora to be worried about her own sanity. Being a teen is hard enough, but it’s even worse when you’re scared that you might be losing your mind because you’re hearing or seeing things.

JESSICA BILLINGS: My questions for YOU is: What inspired you to write The White Hairs?

NOAH K. MULLETTE-GILLMAN: A few years ago, one of my good friends decided to go on a trip to Los Angeles. He went to one of those pitch-fests. At the time he hadn’t written any movie scripts, but he had some ideas and he decided to bluff his way through. He came back and told me that he had to get to work writing because a number of Hollywood studios wanted to read these scripts he’d promised them!

Well, this was a bit of a shock to me. He’d been the guitar player in our band, and I hadn’t really thought of him primarily as a writer! I was the writer!!! A month later I’d written my own first movie script. It was a really funny and gory Cowboy Zombie movie! When the next pitch-fest came along he and I both went back.

When I got to Hollywood there was so much excitement, so much ambition all around me. The key was: how to sell. Somewhere in the middle of all this thunder and lightning I had an idea for a story that maybe wouldn’t make a good movie! Without a doubt, it was (and maybe still is) the worst pitch I’ve ever come up with: astrally projecting Abominable Snowmen!

But I was far more excited about it than the work I believed to be more commercial… When I got back, I sat down and I wrote The White Hairs.

(And upon reflection, I don’t think I’ve answered your question at all! Oh well! )

Thank you to Daniel, Kipp, and Jessica. I appreciate your taking part in our first issue! I’d also like to thank any and all readers who have read this issue all the way through. If you have enjoyed my questions today, allow me invite you to now read a free short sample of my novel:

                                                                                                 The White Hairs.