Good Morning, Booklovers!
Please welcome this week’s guest, Mary McFarland, an author of fantasy, SF, thriller, and suspense, featuring her new Romantic Paranormal Suspense, Lila’s Ghostly Obsession.
Welcome, Mary. What can I get you to drink?
MM: I’m a coffee maniac, so I have at least two pots a day and five or six cups, many whose contents have turned to sludge, setting around for quick access during the day. I’m also a slurper and a sniffer, so even smelling coffee brewing gets my lips to smacking and my nose pointed in the direction of those delicious beans.
Ally: While I fill our mugs, please introduce yourself to readers.
Please welcome this week’s guest, Mary McFarland, an author of fantasy, SF, thriller, and suspense, featuring her new Romantic Paranormal Suspense, Lila’s Ghostly Obsession.
Welcome, Mary. What can I get you to drink?
MM: I’m a coffee maniac, so I have at least two pots a day and five or six cups, many whose contents have turned to sludge, setting around for quick access during the day. I’m also a slurper and a sniffer, so even smelling coffee brewing gets my lips to smacking and my nose pointed in the direction of those delicious beans.
Ally: While I fill our mugs, please introduce yourself to readers.
Bio:
A thriller author and techpreneur, I live insanely—by choice—in both worlds. I started writing as a girl, when Mom shooed me outside with some sidewalk chalk and said, “Go do something!” I did. A Romance Writers of America Golden Pen award winner (romantic suspense), I’m published in both the novel and short story form. I write fulltime at my beloved Mucky Manor, an organic herb farm in southern Ohio, and I also serve as CEO of Red Girl Digital Media LLC, a tech startup designing apps and educational media serving authors. A recent honor, of which I’m proud, includes presenting a master class on book marketing at Killer Nashville, where I’m on the faculty and also write articles for the Killer Nashville Magazine.
I’m a member of Ohio Writer’s Association, West Virginia Writers, and River Valley Writers (RVW).
Something Unique/Unusual Not in My Bio: “I’m a wine vintner specializing in making tomato wine, and I collect antique wine recipes from all over the world. Yes, I like a glass or two now and then.”
You can find me at:
www.marymcfarlandbooks.com
www.redgirldigitalmedia.com
www.facebook.com/authormarymcfarland.author
A thriller author and techpreneur, I live insanely—by choice—in both worlds. I started writing as a girl, when Mom shooed me outside with some sidewalk chalk and said, “Go do something!” I did. A Romance Writers of America Golden Pen award winner (romantic suspense), I’m published in both the novel and short story form. I write fulltime at my beloved Mucky Manor, an organic herb farm in southern Ohio, and I also serve as CEO of Red Girl Digital Media LLC, a tech startup designing apps and educational media serving authors. A recent honor, of which I’m proud, includes presenting a master class on book marketing at Killer Nashville, where I’m on the faculty and also write articles for the Killer Nashville Magazine.
I’m a member of Ohio Writer’s Association, West Virginia Writers, and River Valley Writers (RVW).
Something Unique/Unusual Not in My Bio: “I’m a wine vintner specializing in making tomato wine, and I collect antique wine recipes from all over the world. Yes, I like a glass or two now and then.”
You can find me at:
www.marymcfarlandbooks.com
www.redgirldigitalmedia.com
www.facebook.com/authormarymcfarland.author
INTERVIEW:
Ally: Why did you choose to become a writer?
MM: I’m a former technical writer and associate professor of writing, so all I know is . . . yup, writing. When asked, I always say, “Writing chose me.” As a co-ed, I’d have an idea, inspired often by the authors I was studying as an English major. Then I’d run off and write a short story or start a novel. I’ve got hundreds, it seems, stashed away.
Ally: What inspired your featured book?
MM: This question has an easy answer, but it hurts me to share. In 2005, my beloved nephew committed suicide. I was numb and sat in my bathrobe for days watching the sun rise—and set. One afternoon, I heard Richard speaking to me. I know! It sounds totally crazy! But he told me to write Lila’s story, not just for me—or not for me at all—but for all teens and families who’ve experienced such a horrific loss, or contemplating suicide. In a week, I had Lila’s Ghostly Obsession finished. Reading it through, I still can’t believe I wrote it, but I know for sure Richard inspired it.
Ally: Do you write from an outline?
MM: I’m a plotter, for sure, and my outline gets expanded initially to include tropes, characters, and finally, the scenes, all set up and fleshed out before I begin to write. I’m a multi-genre author, so I don’t have time to go back and do tons of revision work; thus, I work from an outline that’s very detailed. However, if I’m deep into the plot and a new idea comes up, I do go back and weave it in if it fits. My process might sound rigid, but it’s quite organic in some ways.
Ally: How important are writing and reading are in today’s world?
MM: As a former English associate professor and a graduate Teaching Assistant, I taught an endless stream of students who’d made it to college, but were struggling because they lacked sufficient reading and writing skills. I believe the Humanities have been forsaken in favor of the more technical disciplines, and that has been one of our biggest disservices today, since reading and writing correspond directly to learning critical thinking skills. I’m also a firm believer that removing cursive from curricula has been devastating, since many students are tactile learners, and feeling a pen or Crayola or whatever connecting to paper is a boon to their learning.
Ally: Which of the short answer trivia questions did you choose?
Ally: Why did you choose to become a writer?
MM: I’m a former technical writer and associate professor of writing, so all I know is . . . yup, writing. When asked, I always say, “Writing chose me.” As a co-ed, I’d have an idea, inspired often by the authors I was studying as an English major. Then I’d run off and write a short story or start a novel. I’ve got hundreds, it seems, stashed away.
Ally: What inspired your featured book?
MM: This question has an easy answer, but it hurts me to share. In 2005, my beloved nephew committed suicide. I was numb and sat in my bathrobe for days watching the sun rise—and set. One afternoon, I heard Richard speaking to me. I know! It sounds totally crazy! But he told me to write Lila’s story, not just for me—or not for me at all—but for all teens and families who’ve experienced such a horrific loss, or contemplating suicide. In a week, I had Lila’s Ghostly Obsession finished. Reading it through, I still can’t believe I wrote it, but I know for sure Richard inspired it.
Ally: Do you write from an outline?
MM: I’m a plotter, for sure, and my outline gets expanded initially to include tropes, characters, and finally, the scenes, all set up and fleshed out before I begin to write. I’m a multi-genre author, so I don’t have time to go back and do tons of revision work; thus, I work from an outline that’s very detailed. However, if I’m deep into the plot and a new idea comes up, I do go back and weave it in if it fits. My process might sound rigid, but it’s quite organic in some ways.
Ally: How important are writing and reading are in today’s world?
MM: As a former English associate professor and a graduate Teaching Assistant, I taught an endless stream of students who’d made it to college, but were struggling because they lacked sufficient reading and writing skills. I believe the Humanities have been forsaken in favor of the more technical disciplines, and that has been one of our biggest disservices today, since reading and writing correspond directly to learning critical thinking skills. I’m also a firm believer that removing cursive from curricula has been devastating, since many students are tactile learners, and feeling a pen or Crayola or whatever connecting to paper is a boon to their learning.
Ally: Which of the short answer trivia questions did you choose?
- Item on My Bucket List - I am completing a historical romance set for release in 2024. It’s called The Confessor’s Burden, and it’s a dual timeline set partially in the Medieval era of Edward the Confessor, in the last days before the Norman invasion of England. I used a castle built by William the Bastard, in Corfe, England. It’s called, interestingly, Corfe Castle. I’m hoping to set my book launch of The Confessor’s Burden in Corfe Castle.
- Most Watched TV Show - I can’t get enough of Bates Motel. I love Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore, and simply rewatch reruns every chance I get.
- Color of Nail Polish I Have On – Oh! That’s a thing with me! I have on a color called “Wicked,” by Essie. It’s deeply plum and black, and it’s soooo Halloween.
- Favorite Comfort Food – Pie. Pie. Pie. I’m the queen of pie making, with my secret recipe handed down from generations of women on my mother’s side. It came over on the Mayflower, she swore, and I’m pretty sure I believe her. My favorite is blackberry chocolate with loads of French cream and, you guessed it, a pot of coffee.
- A Beer at the Bar of a Book on the Deck - Oh! Beer at the bar! I’ve got a collection of stories (on bar napkins!!!) that goes way back. I love meeting new people and getting to know their stories, and for some reason—perhaps the river of free-flowing booze—people at bars love to talk!
Lila’s Ghostly Obsession
Genre: Romantic Suspense/Paranormal
PG-13
Even in death, I feel Link’s love. Achingly sweet and intense. “It’s for keeps,” I used to tell him, my lips as close to his—as my soul was to eternity, although I’d no idea just how close. “It’s forever.”
So when I awaken dead, I’ve no choice: I must haunt him. That, or watch from my grave while Marin Vegas steals Link.
But first, acceptance: I’m a ghost. While my murder seems cruel, I’m no longer that young girl in love and running toward my fate—but from it. Yet fading into black eternity spurs me to a level of courage I never dreamed I had while alive. So, in this foreboding world I now inhabit, my fight to hold on to the love that Link and I promised each other and now leads me straight to the thugs who put me here—and to a truth we’d planned to share. It’s a truth I hold onto tight: Love never dies.
Can my plan to keep Link’s love succeed from the grave? Can we hook up one last bittersweet time?
Maybe. But only if the dead can speak to the living.
So: how do I do that?
If Edgar Allan Poe were to rewrite Annabel Lee as a novel, it would read like Lila’s Ghostly Obsession. It’s darkly poignant, a perfect read for fans of ghost thrillers and paranormal romance novels like Wendy Webb’s The Haunting of Brynn Wilder, Julia Ash’s Mystified, and Stacy McKitrick’s Ghostly Liaison.
Amazon buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Lilas-Ghostly-Obsession-Never-Thriller/dp/B0CKPHPCWS/
Genre: Romantic Suspense/Paranormal
PG-13
Even in death, I feel Link’s love. Achingly sweet and intense. “It’s for keeps,” I used to tell him, my lips as close to his—as my soul was to eternity, although I’d no idea just how close. “It’s forever.”
So when I awaken dead, I’ve no choice: I must haunt him. That, or watch from my grave while Marin Vegas steals Link.
But first, acceptance: I’m a ghost. While my murder seems cruel, I’m no longer that young girl in love and running toward my fate—but from it. Yet fading into black eternity spurs me to a level of courage I never dreamed I had while alive. So, in this foreboding world I now inhabit, my fight to hold on to the love that Link and I promised each other and now leads me straight to the thugs who put me here—and to a truth we’d planned to share. It’s a truth I hold onto tight: Love never dies.
Can my plan to keep Link’s love succeed from the grave? Can we hook up one last bittersweet time?
Maybe. But only if the dead can speak to the living.
So: how do I do that?
If Edgar Allan Poe were to rewrite Annabel Lee as a novel, it would read like Lila’s Ghostly Obsession. It’s darkly poignant, a perfect read for fans of ghost thrillers and paranormal romance novels like Wendy Webb’s The Haunting of Brynn Wilder, Julia Ash’s Mystified, and Stacy McKitrick’s Ghostly Liaison.
Amazon buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Lilas-Ghostly-Obsession-Never-Thriller/dp/B0CKPHPCWS/
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