Author M.A. Grant joined me on Skype to chat about her writing and books! Her New Book Lace & Lead just released. Enjoy and post some questions for her!
The best posted question will
win a book or two from MA!
JM: Are you enjoying the Whole Escape thing?
MA: I am. I really am. It was a total surprise to ever be
published. I found Escape actually as a fluke. Robyn Rychards, who’s another
Escape Artist, I met her through the Harlequin online forum. She’s the one who
suggested I look at Escape. When I did, I was pleasantly surprised that they
wanted my books. It’s been a very nice surprise then entire way.
JM: That’s kinda the same with me. I found Escape through a
critique partner.
MA: Yeah? That’s great.
JM: So, what’s the book you have coming out?
MA: My August release was Red Moon and my one that’s coming out in November is called Lace and Lead.
JM: It’s a great cover, but I wasn’t’ sure if it was Lace
and Lead (like a dog lead) and it was a BDSM kinda thing or… (Both laugh)
MA: No, it’s a Sci-Fi novella. (still laughing)
JM: So, what are you working on currently?
MA: It’s called Blood
Moon and it’s about the second brother in the Sinclair pack. His name is Connor
annnnd it is absolutely kicking my
butt. I’m sitting down and working through it, but I had to go back and delete
a bunch of it, but it’s back on track. And then, there’s another one that I’m
working on with a critique partner in England for a while. That’s just kind of
like the labor of love…I’m not doing much with at this point. It’s a New Adult,
so I’m all over the place right now. Technically I’m working on Blood Moon…but…
JM: And what genre and age is that?
MA: That would be Paranormal Romance and Adult.
JM: When you wrote Lace
and Lead, was there anything that happened in the story you didn’t expect?
MA: (eyebrows shoot up) Oh yes! A lot. I write for
characters and so I really had no idea where it was going. I was listening to a
song and I got, like the first paragraph of the book and the next thing I know
it’s just going. I think that
probably the most surprising thing that happened was that Taggart, the hero.
Usually my characters are pretty clear but he was so loud and obnoxious. This
crude man in my head, constantly yammering my ear off until I finished.
Normally I’ll get a break, but he didn’t give me one.
JM: So the surprise was the kind of character or how he kept
after you?
MA: Usually I can put a story aside for a little bit, but
for whatever reason I just could not
get him out of my head. It was horrible because I’d go to work and I’m trying
to do my job. The next thing I know I’m rushing home to write because I have to get these words out that were in
my head all day. I have notes that are on napkins and random scraps of paper.
It was just a disaster. I’d bring home this bundle of stuff every night and my
husband would be like, (nodding her head and smiling) “All right, I‘ll see you
later.” And I’d rush upstairs and start typing it up.
JM: Are you a quick writer?
MA: I usually don’t track words per day. My work week is so
chaotic that I may be able to get a thousand words a night. But the weekends,
they are when I usually hammer out. Lace
and Lead came together in two weeks. So thirty thousand words in that time,
it’s by far the fastest I’ve ever written anything.
JM: Where’s the strangest place you’ve ever written?
MA: (looks up and shakes her head) This is going to sound
horrible…but church.
JM: (laughs)
MA: I was in church and I always keep a notebook in my purse
because I know this happens all the time. So I was discreetly trying to pull it
out and write down part of a romance novel…in church. It makes me sound really
sacrilegious and I’m not. It was just that flash if inspiration for a scene and
it had to get written down. The cute little old lady next to me kinda of smiled
at me and waited for me to finish. (laughs)
JM: Where is your idea writing place?
MA: Here in my office. (gestures at the cedar paneled room)
Since we got the house, I’ve been building my dream office. My husband built me
bookshelves so all my “go to books” that I love and adore for inspiration are
right here. Then I have a wall of pictures, I’m a big picture person. I have a
little basket with touchstone items and perfumes and colognes and things that
I’ll use. It’s warm and comfortable with everything in arms reach. And I have M&M’s in the desk drawer,
so…
JM: So, the perfumes, colognes and touchstones, do you use
them to give you inspiration?
MA: (rubs the back of her neck and nods) I’m a really
fidgety writer, so having things like that really help. Scents really work with
me so I’ve got candles too. The perfumes and scents I relate to certain
characters. When it’s fall and the leaves dry out I’ll grab some of the leaves
and bring them in.
JM: Have you written anything that ever shocked you?
MA: Yeah I’m getting that a lot with Connor’s character in Blood Moon. He’s a lot darker character
than I’ve ever written before. There are times where I stop, think I don’t
think anyone will ever be able to read this and move past it, but hopefully it
works. (crosses fingers)
JM: In Lace and Lead, which
of your characters would you most like to have lunch with?
MA: Probably Taggert. He’s really fun and I like the fact
that he’s no nonsense and speaks the truth. I like honest people and it would
be good to talk with him and know that he’s going to give me his accurate
viewpoint.
JM: What tattoo would you get to celebrate the novel?
MA: Probably a raven and I’d get it here on my forearm in
the super sensitive area where I’d never actually
get a tattoo. I’d get it there, so I could see it all the time.
JM: What’s more enjoyable to write, Hero or Villain?
MA: Oooo. I think it depends on the story. Heroes are fun
but I really like writing villains because they are so twisted. I really like
writing villains where you really don’t know what their motivation is for a
long time. I find it fascinating to see the whole network of things that are
underneath what they are doing.
JM: Are any of your characters based on people you know?
MA: A little bit. I grew up in a family with all sisters and
when I married, my husband he’s in a family of all brothers. So seeing the
difference between sister interactions and brother interactions…it was a whole new world for me, I’d never
experienced anything like that. He and his brothers are…um…(widens her eyes and
looks at me sideways) emotionally constipated…I guess is the best word for it.
They’re great, but it took me years to realize that when
they’re talking about football or they’re grunting at each other while they sit
on the sofa, that there’s actual meaningful
emotion behind that. So it’s been really fun to include in my writing. I know
I’ve hit it on the head when my husband reads a scene and says, “Yeah, that’s
exactly what we’d say to each other.”
JM: Give us an item on your bucket list.
MA: Go to New Zealand and travel in the footsteps of the
Lord of the Rings cast. I’m gonna have elevenzies on top of the mountain,
wearing a little cloak and it will be fantastic.
JM: Have you ever written vicariously?
MA: Oh yeah. We live in a small town and there are sometimes
you really have to watch what you say to someone. So it’s really liberating to
write those scenes where there’s a fight and the character unleashes some type
of verbal evisceration. I get to live vicariously thinking this is what I would like to say to that person. (both laugh)
JM: What’s your favorite attribute in a person?
MA: Probably honesty, regardless whether it’s good or bad to
hear.
JM: What is your least favorite attribute in a person?
MA: Ooo (looks up) A lack of empathy. There is nothing that
drives me nuts quite as much as people who are so caught up in their own life,
that they don’t stop for half a second and to think about what else is going on
with another person.
JM: Did you use either of those in your current novel?
MA: Yes. I do use both of those.
JM: Interesting! I can't wait to read it. Thanks for hanging out with me, did you enjoy it?
MA: I had a blast! Thank you for having me!
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Author Biography:
Marion Audrey Grant is fortunate to live in the rugged beauty of Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. She's believed in happy endings and true love since she was very young, when her parents would read her Mercer Meyer's books Beauty and the Beast and East of the Sun, West of the Moon. At the time, she could only look at the pictures and pretend to understand the words. Later in life, the realization that she had stories of her own to tell would lead her to graduate college with majors in Creative Writing and English. Thanks to her husband’s unending support, she now works as a scribe to the intelligent women and wounded heroes who need their stories told.
Find her books & Contact M.A. at the links below
Official Lace & Lead Blurb:
Breathtaking
action, startling originality and polished story-telling combine in this
futuristic Sci-Fi novella about a rough mercenary, a pampered daughter, and the
lies they both believe.
Blue-blood
Emmaline Gregson survived one of the most brutal mining accidents ever recorded
in the Republic, but she's never been in a firefight. So when unknown
assailants circle the family estate, the only man she can rely on is Peirce
Taggart. A former Lawman turned mercenary, Peirce has a simple job: protect
Emmaline until her father can collect her and sell her to sex trafficker
Richard Stone to pay off his debts. But when Arthur Gregson tries to cheat his
way out of the contract, Emmaline seizes the opportunity to hire Peirce for
herself, regardless of how crude, dangerous, or appealing he may be. Given the
chance for redemption, he promises to help her escape both her father and
Stone. But Peirce soon realises that hiding her in his apartment until the
storm has passed may be more dangerous than looking down the barrel of a gun...
ISBN/APN: 9780857990945
Release
Date: November 1st, 2013
Category: Sci-Fi
Romance
Purchase Links:
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Official Red Moon Blurb:
Dark, moving and original, a story of
family, survival, and getting on with life...
Flynn
Sinclair understands pack loyalty — for years as his Alpha father’s enforcer,
he has done things in the name of duty that he can’t ever forget. But the vast
expanse of Alaska offers him a peace he’s never known. Alone, removed from pack
life, he can focus on his research and try to forget his life before.
But
duty has a way of inviting itself in, and Flynn finds himself doing two
reckless things in one week: leaving the safety of Alaska to save his brother
Connor’s life, and unwittingly falling in love with Evie Thompson, a woman who
doesn’t deserve to be drawn into his terrifying world.
Connor
carries news of their father’s descent into madness, and it looks like neither
geography nor Flynn’s attempts at disengagement will put off a confrontation.
Flynn had finally begun to believe that he might deserve something good in his
life — something like Evie — but to move forward in the light, he must first
reconcile with the dark.
ISBN/APN:
9780857990655
Release
Date: August 1st, 2013
Category:
Paranormal Romance
Purchase Links:
Social Media Links:
The Other Me
Treasa is worried she might spend
life as a social pariah when she meets Gabriel du Preez. Gabriel plays the
piano better than Beethoven, has a black belt in karate, and would look good
wearing a garbage bag. Treasa thinks he’s perfect. It might even be love, as
long as Gabriel doesn’t find out she’s a freak.
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