Sonya M. Black

This week’s #SPFBO Author Interview is with M.L. Spencer. M.L. Spencer grew up on the works of Steven R. Donaldson, Stephen King and Frank Herbert. She wrote her first novel-length manuscript at thirteen. Her debut novel Darkmage won the 2012 IndieReader Discovery Award for Fantasy. She was also awarded 1st Place Prose in in the San Bernardino County Writing Celebration. Ms. Spencer lives in Southern California. By day she works as a biology teacher; by night she sweats ove

We’ve all seen the advice. Avoid alliteration. Don’t use onomatopoeia (Don’t worry. If you don’t know what that is, I’ll explain later.) Don’t rhyme. Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. Just Don’t! I call BS on the list of do not that tell a writer to avoid using tools in their tool box. Any tool. The tools are there to be used when and where appropriate. Poets are encouraged to play with and use any and all of these devices. But, novelists are often told not to use them. Why? Can any and a

Ashley Capes kicks off our first #spfbo interviews this week. Welcome, Ashley! Ashley is a poet, novelist, and teacher living in Australia. He teaches English, Media and Music Production, has played in a metal band, worked in an art gallery and slaved away at music retail. Aside from reading and writing, Ashley loves volleyball and Studio Ghibli – and Magnum PI, easily one of the greatest television shows ever made. Visit www.ashleycapes.com to learn more about his poetry and

In May, I stumbled across a competition for indie authors hosted by grimdark fantasy guru, Mark Lawerence. The Self-Publishing Fantasy Blog Off has 300 authors competing for the coveted bragging rights of being the #spfbo champion. Ten bloggers judge the book entries, narrowing it down to the top ten, and then finally the ONE! On a whim, I decided to enter The Snow White Files. As an indie author, any exposure is good, and I planned on making new connections with the other en