It’s time for our weekly Coffee Chat!
I hope you’re all staying safe and healthy. From her "shelter" in the Ozarks, this week's guest author, Mary Caelsto, is joining us for book talk and a peek at her featured fantasy book, The Pegasus Project.
Good Morning, Mary. How do you take your coffee?
MC: Thanks so much for having me. I am probably more of a coffee snob than someone who lives in the Ozarks, 100 miles from the nearest Starbucks (or any good coffee shop, really) should be. I drink my coffee with a splash of milk (almond or whole milk, whatever I have on hand) or if I’m feeling fancy, half and half. I treated myself to Keurig-Duo on a Black Friday special this past holiday season, so I have refillable coffee cups, and use coffee blends that I’ve purchased. My favorite is Verena Street’s Cow Tipping Blend. It’s delicious!
Ally: My magic pot can do that, so while I’m brewing and pouring, please tell readers something about your background.
I hope you’re all staying safe and healthy. From her "shelter" in the Ozarks, this week's guest author, Mary Caelsto, is joining us for book talk and a peek at her featured fantasy book, The Pegasus Project.
Good Morning, Mary. How do you take your coffee?
MC: Thanks so much for having me. I am probably more of a coffee snob than someone who lives in the Ozarks, 100 miles from the nearest Starbucks (or any good coffee shop, really) should be. I drink my coffee with a splash of milk (almond or whole milk, whatever I have on hand) or if I’m feeling fancy, half and half. I treated myself to Keurig-Duo on a Black Friday special this past holiday season, so I have refillable coffee cups, and use coffee blends that I’ve purchased. My favorite is Verena Street’s Cow Tipping Blend. It’s delicious!
Ally: My magic pot can do that, so while I’m brewing and pouring, please tell readers something about your background.
Mary and "Super Duck" 3/2019 BIO:
Mary Kit Caelsto never grew out of the phase of being a "horse crazy girl". Though she's now over 40, she's finally fulfilling her dream of writing equestrian books for others who haven't grown out of being "horse crazy". She lives in the Ozarks with her four very spoiled and very opinionated horses, as well as a large flock of poultry and enough cats to qualify her as a crazy cat lady. Her husband, though not an equestrian himself, understands and supports all her equestrian dreams.
She's convinced three of the best things in the world are the smell of a sun warmed horse, the smell of leather tack, and making sure to hug her horses every single day.
MC: “You asked about something unique that isn’t in my regular bio. Well, I’m sure it’s not unique, but I’m a D&D geek and would love to make a table top RPG (roll playing game) of my Musimagium world. That’s been on my mind since I initially conceived of the world about ten years ago.”
Author Contacts:
Website: http://marykitcaelsto.com (Visit and sign up for free stories!)
Patreon: https://patreon.com/marykitcaelsto (Patreons receive free stories. Support starts at $1/month.)
Twitter: http://twitter.com/charmedozarks
Facebook: http://facebook.com/marykitcaelsto
Instagram: http://instagram.com/marykitcaelsto
GoodReads:https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/98579871-mary-caelsto
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/mary-kit-caelsto
Mary Kit Caelsto never grew out of the phase of being a "horse crazy girl". Though she's now over 40, she's finally fulfilling her dream of writing equestrian books for others who haven't grown out of being "horse crazy". She lives in the Ozarks with her four very spoiled and very opinionated horses, as well as a large flock of poultry and enough cats to qualify her as a crazy cat lady. Her husband, though not an equestrian himself, understands and supports all her equestrian dreams.
She's convinced three of the best things in the world are the smell of a sun warmed horse, the smell of leather tack, and making sure to hug her horses every single day.
MC: “You asked about something unique that isn’t in my regular bio. Well, I’m sure it’s not unique, but I’m a D&D geek and would love to make a table top RPG (roll playing game) of my Musimagium world. That’s been on my mind since I initially conceived of the world about ten years ago.”
Author Contacts:
Website: http://marykitcaelsto.com (Visit and sign up for free stories!)
Patreon: https://patreon.com/marykitcaelsto (Patreons receive free stories. Support starts at $1/month.)
Twitter: http://twitter.com/charmedozarks
Facebook: http://facebook.com/marykitcaelsto
Instagram: http://instagram.com/marykitcaelsto
GoodReads:https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/98579871-mary-caelsto
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/mary-kit-caelsto
INTERVIEW:
Ally: Why did you write your featured book?
MC: As someone who is open about my chronic illness and advocates for chronic pain/chronic illness patients like myself, my writing as of late has turned to marginalized characters, whether by disability or other factors, and Sonia came to mind very easily as a mature adult with RA who had her career taken from her. I wanted to bring her, and honestly people like her who are living their daily lives, a bit of magic. So I set her in The Land of Enchantment (New Mexico) and brought her a couple of Pegasus and some unicorns.
Ally: Do the people in your real life show up in your writing? In what way?
MC: Sometimes. *Evil writer’s grin* Under another pen name, I’m not ashamed to say that I had a couple of bad bosses killed off by an alien invasion. It’s a writer’s prerogative, right? Recently, I placed one of my longtime best friends in a book doing a job she’d love to do and being a strong supporting character for my goddess-main character. She was thrilled, and I can’t wait to show her the finished work.
Ally: Describe what you would consider the perfect get-away weekend.
MC: Since I live on several acres in the Ozarks, my perfect get-away weekend would be one where I don’t have any mundane duties (grocery store runs, homestead chores, etc.) and could just spend the time as I wish, with my horses or perhaps working on beautifying our land, or even in the garden. So instead of getting away from my location, I’d be getting away from the mundane demands of life.
Ally: Do you write on a desktop, laptop or on paper? Why? Does it make a difference whether it’s a first or last draft?
MC: This is a rather funny question since the tech gods have been unhappy with me as of late. (I don’t know what I did to peeve them off. I work in IT for a day job, and tech normally loves me.) In the span of about two months, I’ve had two laptops, my old standby and then the replacement one, die. So as of this, I’m on a desktop that I’d been using just for a file server, and am finding I like the idea of turning off the computer and going to relax for the evenings, rather than taking a laptop to the bedroom with me to work and watch television.
I type all of my drafts, but then when I edit, I print it out on paper and do a markup, which I then transfer back to the digital file. I think it helps me to see errors better.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
MC: I recently finished a string of novellas for boxed sets in this world, and I was about to finish book 11 in my women’s equestrian lit series when the laptop died. So I need to get the files off that one and look at my April planner and see what I have up my sleeve. I tend to write short and am pretty prolific, so I encourage readers to sign up for my newsletter or follow me on Amazon to see what I’m releasing next.
Ally: Show me which of the short answer questions you selected.
MC:
MC: Thank you so much for having me. It’s been great! Take care, and everyone stay safe.
Ally: You too. We’ve one last thing to do... please show us your featured book, The Pegasus Project.
Ally: Why did you write your featured book?
MC: As someone who is open about my chronic illness and advocates for chronic pain/chronic illness patients like myself, my writing as of late has turned to marginalized characters, whether by disability or other factors, and Sonia came to mind very easily as a mature adult with RA who had her career taken from her. I wanted to bring her, and honestly people like her who are living their daily lives, a bit of magic. So I set her in The Land of Enchantment (New Mexico) and brought her a couple of Pegasus and some unicorns.
Ally: Do the people in your real life show up in your writing? In what way?
MC: Sometimes. *Evil writer’s grin* Under another pen name, I’m not ashamed to say that I had a couple of bad bosses killed off by an alien invasion. It’s a writer’s prerogative, right? Recently, I placed one of my longtime best friends in a book doing a job she’d love to do and being a strong supporting character for my goddess-main character. She was thrilled, and I can’t wait to show her the finished work.
Ally: Describe what you would consider the perfect get-away weekend.
MC: Since I live on several acres in the Ozarks, my perfect get-away weekend would be one where I don’t have any mundane duties (grocery store runs, homestead chores, etc.) and could just spend the time as I wish, with my horses or perhaps working on beautifying our land, or even in the garden. So instead of getting away from my location, I’d be getting away from the mundane demands of life.
Ally: Do you write on a desktop, laptop or on paper? Why? Does it make a difference whether it’s a first or last draft?
MC: This is a rather funny question since the tech gods have been unhappy with me as of late. (I don’t know what I did to peeve them off. I work in IT for a day job, and tech normally loves me.) In the span of about two months, I’ve had two laptops, my old standby and then the replacement one, die. So as of this, I’m on a desktop that I’d been using just for a file server, and am finding I like the idea of turning off the computer and going to relax for the evenings, rather than taking a laptop to the bedroom with me to work and watch television.
I type all of my drafts, but then when I edit, I print it out on paper and do a markup, which I then transfer back to the digital file. I think it helps me to see errors better.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
MC: I recently finished a string of novellas for boxed sets in this world, and I was about to finish book 11 in my women’s equestrian lit series when the laptop died. So I need to get the files off that one and look at my April planner and see what I have up my sleeve. I tend to write short and am pretty prolific, so I encourage readers to sign up for my newsletter or follow me on Amazon to see what I’m releasing next.
Ally: Show me which of the short answer questions you selected.
MC:
- a. An author (living or dead) you'd love to take to lunch: Mercedes Lackey. It was her book (I’ll talk about that later) which got me into the fantasy genre. She’s a fellow bird person, as am I, so I suspect we could talk parrot stories (or raptors or chicken) for a good long time before turning our talk toward writing.
- b. An item on your bucket list: I’d love to see parrots in the “wild”. Whether that’s the Telegraph Hill parrots in California, or the Monk Parakeets in Hyde Park in Chicago. I don’t fly, so I doubt I’d get to South America or Australia, but to see them in a wild habitat would be lovely.
- c. The supernatural character that got you hooked on the genre: The first fantasy book I read was Mercedes Lackey’s Magic’s Pawn. Vanyel has stolen the heart of many a reader, and when you combined the equine companion with a brooding, handsome young man on the cover, well my pre-teen heart was lost—both to the character as well as the genre. And I’d say that Kerowyn (By The Sword) was the character that sold it for me. She’s a stubborn, hard-headed warrior who happens to find herself on adventure, as well as becoming a Herald of Valdemar. Ride, warrior, ride indeed…
- d. A little known fact about you: I could probably be MacGyver in another life. Whether it was growing up and spending time with my dad, who was a mechanic and did a lot of DIY Projects, or hanging out with my grandpa, or just some kind of natural, knack, if something is broken in our house or we need to do something, I can come up with a solution that while not pretty or elegant, quite often works to fix the problem. Whether it’s computer surgery, homestead issues (fencing, etc.), or something related to our livestock or pets, I can take care of it.
MC: Thank you so much for having me. It’s been great! Take care, and everyone stay safe.
Ally: You too. We’ve one last thing to do... please show us your featured book, The Pegasus Project.
The Pegasus Project
Genre: Clean Contemporary Fantasy/Magic Realism
Novella
Once a celebrated concert pianist, Sonia Morales retired to the New Mexico countryside after her RA made it impossible to continue her career. She cared for her special plot of land and some magical equines as best as she could. She never imagined getting close to them or forming a bond until the night a storm knocks down their shelter and the fate of their filly is revealed.
If she doesn’t bond with a human and fly, she’ll die.
Sonia fears her body isn’t up to the task, though her magic and spirit are willing. Discovering the reason for the filly’s fears of humans makes her more determined than ever to protect them. She’s offered the chance of a lifetime and an opportunity to help not just her filly, but all pegasus. Is she strong enough to take it? And can a disabled woman and a pegasus with PTSD bond enough to fly?
Buy for 2.99 or Amazon KU: https://amzn.to/3asoYkt
The Pegasus Project
Genre: Clean Contemporary Fantasy/Magic Realism
Novella
Once a celebrated concert pianist, Sonia Morales retired to the New Mexico countryside after her RA made it impossible to continue her career. She cared for her special plot of land and some magical equines as best as she could. She never imagined getting close to them or forming a bond until the night a storm knocks down their shelter and the fate of their filly is revealed.
If she doesn’t bond with a human and fly, she’ll die.
Sonia fears her body isn’t up to the task, though her magic and spirit are willing. Discovering the reason for the filly’s fears of humans makes her more determined than ever to protect them. She’s offered the chance of a lifetime and an opportunity to help not just her filly, but all pegasus. Is she strong enough to take it? And can a disabled woman and a pegasus with PTSD bond enough to fly?
Buy for 2.99 or Amazon KU: https://amzn.to/3asoYkt
RSS Feed
