Welcome to this week’s Coffee Chat!
On this first week of Fall in the Midwest, I’m chatting with historical suspense author MA Lee.
Good Morning, MA. How do you take your coffee?
MA: Every morning, I grind my organic French Roast beans then brew several cups in an old-fashioned percolator. When I’m feeling indulgent, I add a splash of cream and a dash of cocoa.
Ally: I think my magic pot can manage an indulgent version of your favorite. Meanwhile, please introduce yourself to readers.
On this first week of Fall in the Midwest, I’m chatting with historical suspense author MA Lee.
Good Morning, MA. How do you take your coffee?
MA: Every morning, I grind my organic French Roast beans then brew several cups in an old-fashioned percolator. When I’m feeling indulgent, I add a splash of cream and a dash of cocoa.
Ally: I think my magic pot can manage an indulgent version of your favorite. Meanwhile, please introduce yourself to readers.
BIO:
I’ve written stories since middle school. I can still remember when I realized that books were written by people who did that for a living. That was the life I wanted—and it’s the life I’m finally living, writing stories every day. For many years, a drudgery job paid the bills. I began publishing in 2015.
Something Unusual: “I’m afraid of heights, but I haven’t let it stop me. I’ve gone on zip lines and climbed mountains and stood on the edge of a rocky precipice.”
Contact information for M.A. Lee:
Email: winkbooks@aol.com
Website: http://writersinkbooks.com/m-a-lee/
My page on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/M.A.-Lee/e/B019PD3Z7W/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
I’ve written stories since middle school. I can still remember when I realized that books were written by people who did that for a living. That was the life I wanted—and it’s the life I’m finally living, writing stories every day. For many years, a drudgery job paid the bills. I began publishing in 2015.
Something Unusual: “I’m afraid of heights, but I haven’t let it stop me. I’ve gone on zip lines and climbed mountains and stood on the edge of a rocky precipice.”
Contact information for M.A. Lee:
Email: winkbooks@aol.com
Website: http://writersinkbooks.com/m-a-lee/
My page on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/M.A.-Lee/e/B019PD3Z7W/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
NTERVIEW:
Ally: Tell us what type of books you write?
MA: Historical mysteries with a dash of romance. That “dash of romance” means that some kissing occurs, and the off-stage heat is between wife and husband. My featured book today is set in the Regency period. It contains some dark descriptions of the murders that some readers may want to skip over.
Ally: What was your journey to publication?
MA: For years I tried the traditional publishing route. After I purchased my first Kindle reader in 2013, a year passed before I comprehended that many enjoyable books in the Kindle store were by indie writers. I slowly realized (I’m not the brightest bulb in the light socket) that I could publish my own stories. I investigated the indie publishing world. I thought formatting would be my cross-eyed bear, but it wasn’t—finding a cover designer with my aesthetic was. I published four books in 2015, and I’ve never looked back. I’m so happy.
Ally: This is probably the most-asked question of authors: where do you get your ideas?
MA: Getting story ideas? I wake up with them. Just a phrase or two, more like seeds than full-blown ideas. I dash down the idea then head for the shower. That’s where the real problem starts. The water’s streaming into my eyes, and ideas are pouring out with it. I usually remember most of the ideas long enough to record them on my phone, but a few ideas have swirled down the drain with the water.
Ally: Do your characters come to you fully formed with names and backgrounds?
MA: The story seeds come with a character flash. And it is a flash. I usually get a name and a situation or a dilemma. For example, one story came to with “a knight in tarnished armor” and “not a damsel in distress”. The Dangers of Secrets came as “Gordon needs a spark” and “Maddy is his fire” followed by “serial killer in the snowy countryside”. Nurturing those little seeds into a novel requires determination and persistence. I really love that novel.
As soon as I can, I write a quick sketch, about three to five pages. The quick sketch usually brings a setting and a conflict out of my subconscious. I mull over the quick sketch for a little bit then sit down for a longer sketch. If I generate 30 or more pages, then I know the idea is viable.
Both of these sketches are hand-written. I find a computer restrictive to my creative flow: waiting for the laptop to boot up, my security app to inform me it’s working, the program to load—none of it is instant, but ink and paper are.
Ally: Tell us about your reading habits. Any favorites?
MA: Have you heard “you are what you eat?” Well, I write what I read. If I’m reading fantasy by Tolkien or Robin McKinley or Lindsey Buroker, then my ideas flow along with elves & trolls or fairy tales or dragons & magic. If I’m reading Mary Stewart or M.M. Kaye, then my protagonist is in suspenseful situations. When I read my Bible, I think of devotional studies to write. Luckily, when I’m writing a novel, the ideas are always flowing around the story, whether it’s a mystery or suspense or fantasy.
Ally: Tell us what type of books you write?
MA: Historical mysteries with a dash of romance. That “dash of romance” means that some kissing occurs, and the off-stage heat is between wife and husband. My featured book today is set in the Regency period. It contains some dark descriptions of the murders that some readers may want to skip over.
Ally: What was your journey to publication?
MA: For years I tried the traditional publishing route. After I purchased my first Kindle reader in 2013, a year passed before I comprehended that many enjoyable books in the Kindle store were by indie writers. I slowly realized (I’m not the brightest bulb in the light socket) that I could publish my own stories. I investigated the indie publishing world. I thought formatting would be my cross-eyed bear, but it wasn’t—finding a cover designer with my aesthetic was. I published four books in 2015, and I’ve never looked back. I’m so happy.
Ally: This is probably the most-asked question of authors: where do you get your ideas?
MA: Getting story ideas? I wake up with them. Just a phrase or two, more like seeds than full-blown ideas. I dash down the idea then head for the shower. That’s where the real problem starts. The water’s streaming into my eyes, and ideas are pouring out with it. I usually remember most of the ideas long enough to record them on my phone, but a few ideas have swirled down the drain with the water.
Ally: Do your characters come to you fully formed with names and backgrounds?
MA: The story seeds come with a character flash. And it is a flash. I usually get a name and a situation or a dilemma. For example, one story came to with “a knight in tarnished armor” and “not a damsel in distress”. The Dangers of Secrets came as “Gordon needs a spark” and “Maddy is his fire” followed by “serial killer in the snowy countryside”. Nurturing those little seeds into a novel requires determination and persistence. I really love that novel.
As soon as I can, I write a quick sketch, about three to five pages. The quick sketch usually brings a setting and a conflict out of my subconscious. I mull over the quick sketch for a little bit then sit down for a longer sketch. If I generate 30 or more pages, then I know the idea is viable.
Both of these sketches are hand-written. I find a computer restrictive to my creative flow: waiting for the laptop to boot up, my security app to inform me it’s working, the program to load—none of it is instant, but ink and paper are.
Ally: Tell us about your reading habits. Any favorites?
MA: Have you heard “you are what you eat?” Well, I write what I read. If I’m reading fantasy by Tolkien or Robin McKinley or Lindsey Buroker, then my ideas flow along with elves & trolls or fairy tales or dragons & magic. If I’m reading Mary Stewart or M.M. Kaye, then my protagonist is in suspenseful situations. When I read my Bible, I think of devotional studies to write. Luckily, when I’m writing a novel, the ideas are always flowing around the story, whether it’s a mystery or suspense or fantasy.
Ally: What are you working on right now?
MA: My current project is the seventh book in my Hearts in Hazard series of Regency mysteries. This one is The Key for Spies. Although it has a mystery, it’s plotting more like a suspense—with a dash of romance, of course. I hope to publish K4S by the end of October. It may get delayed. Painting my new living space then moving in filled up my writing time in September and may fill up October.
MA: My current project is the seventh book in my Hearts in Hazard series of Regency mysteries. This one is The Key for Spies. Although it has a mystery, it’s plotting more like a suspense—with a dash of romance, of course. I hope to publish K4S by the end of October. It may get delayed. Painting my new living space then moving in filled up my writing time in September and may fill up October.
Ally: How would you respond to these five short answer questions?
- a) Favorite book: My Brother Michael by Mary Stewart. A close second is The Moonspinners, also by M.Stewart. I love the way Mary Stewart writes, and her characters are real, honorable, and just. That combination is hard to find.
- b) Current read: Mignon Eberhart’s Hasty Wedding. Eberhart used to be called America’s Agatha Christie. I like to see how Eberhart crafts her stories, building setting and character relationships and motivations. She structures her mysteries with twists and clues and red herrings.
- c) Favorite accessory: Earrings. And I don’t have pierced ears. I wanted pierced ears in middle school, but my daddy said “no.” By the time I had the gumption to go against his edict, I had realized that I didn’t really like needles. I wear clip-on or screwback earrings. My favorite clip-ons are from Greece and have volcanic rocks in them. I usually wear a blingy set of screwbacks with marquise-cut rubies and diamonds in tiny horseshoes around the rubies. Costume jewelry, of course.
- d) Love at first sight? I must believe in love at first sight. Most of my heroines meet guys and are instantly attracted, just like me. To me, love is based on both attraction and compatibility. Devotion makes two people into a couple.
- e) Favorite after-five drink: a cocktail called the Negroni: gin, Campari, sweet vermouth in equal parts, then a twist of orange peel, and finish the glass with ice and club soda. Coffee in the a.m. and a Negroni in the p.m., and I’ve indulged myself a little too much that day.
The Dangers of Secrets (Hearts in Hazard #4)
Genre: a Regency romantic suspense
Length: about 56,000 words
Rating: Romance: PG /violence: R
Secrets of family. Secrets of hearts. Secrets of blood and pain.
Secrets can kill.
Maddy Whittaker, on the shelf for years, never expects the man of her dreams will be the one she once called a stick in the mud.
Banished from a country party so she won’t ruin her sisters’ chances in snaring husbands, Maddy is sent to visit a cousin named Simon Jespers, who is hosting his own Valentine’s party. She expects three weeks of boredom.
Gordon, Lord Musgrove, expects he will propose to a biddable lady and live unhappily ever after.
He escapes his mother’s country party (where the dowager Musgrove expects her only son to snare a wife) for one last bid at freedom. He decides to retreat to his friend Simon Jespers. Gordon never expects his friend will be hosting a Valentine’s party. He does expect days and days of boredom.
On arrival at Jespers’ country manor, Maddy and Gordon meet for the first time. A quick flirtation finds them well matched in mind and soul, and the flirtation changes into romance.
Yet a secret from Maddy’s past threatens their future.
And a serial murderer threatens Maddy’s life.
Can Gordon overcome past secrets and present dangers to marry his perfect match?
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06X9137D9
The character of Gordon, Lord Musgrove, was first introduced in A Game of Spies, published in the fall of 2015.
Warning: While the romance is sweet, the murders have been described as sordid. Unwanted memories of abuse may be triggered. Please be cautious.
Genre: a Regency romantic suspense
Length: about 56,000 words
Rating: Romance: PG /violence: R
Secrets of family. Secrets of hearts. Secrets of blood and pain.
Secrets can kill.
Maddy Whittaker, on the shelf for years, never expects the man of her dreams will be the one she once called a stick in the mud.
Banished from a country party so she won’t ruin her sisters’ chances in snaring husbands, Maddy is sent to visit a cousin named Simon Jespers, who is hosting his own Valentine’s party. She expects three weeks of boredom.
Gordon, Lord Musgrove, expects he will propose to a biddable lady and live unhappily ever after.
He escapes his mother’s country party (where the dowager Musgrove expects her only son to snare a wife) for one last bid at freedom. He decides to retreat to his friend Simon Jespers. Gordon never expects his friend will be hosting a Valentine’s party. He does expect days and days of boredom.
On arrival at Jespers’ country manor, Maddy and Gordon meet for the first time. A quick flirtation finds them well matched in mind and soul, and the flirtation changes into romance.
Yet a secret from Maddy’s past threatens their future.
And a serial murderer threatens Maddy’s life.
Can Gordon overcome past secrets and present dangers to marry his perfect match?
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06X9137D9
The character of Gordon, Lord Musgrove, was first introduced in A Game of Spies, published in the fall of 2015.
Warning: While the romance is sweet, the murders have been described as sordid. Unwanted memories of abuse may be triggered. Please be cautious.
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