Saturday, December 1, 2012

Meet Wild Rose Press author,. Mariah Lynne

Hello Mariah

Thank you for joining me. Tell us a little about your writing adventure.

What inspired you to write your first book?

 Writing has always been a part of my life whether it was the play I wrote in grammar school that my class performed, or being selected news editor of my high school paper. Many years later, I wrote weekly entertainment columns and reviews for both of our beach newspapers for over twelve years. I continued to write short stories for fun. Writing a book has always been a goal of mine. When the central character of the gypsy came to me one day, she inspired me to write THE LOVE GYPSY. Raya, the gypsy, is not only kind, but middle aged, beautiful and intelligent.  She does not profess to tell the future but is intuitive making her successful at helping her clients find a soul mate. Her talents do not stop there. She is a time traveler’s friend helping those from another time resolve a problem brought to the present. She does not consider herself a psychic but admits that she possesses the gift of her ancestors. Her primary goal is to find true love for those who don’t expect it. As a beautiful young police detective tricked into visiting her says, she’s “ not like anything I expected.”

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up? Writing, or something else?

 I always had a vivid imagination. Sometimes, I’m sure my mother thought too vivid. I held tea parties for my dolls and pets and acted out careers that captured my interest. The first was a ballerina. I danced at home struggling to stay on my toes but my chubby feet were too flat to get into proper toe shoes. I was upset when the dance instructor told my mother that I should settle for tap dancing which is wonderful in its own right but her statement just crushed me so I decided on piano lessons instead. Then I thought I’d become an astronaut. I would feign illness to stay home from school and watch the manned space launches on TV. I loved to pretend I was walking on another planet. As I got older I and learned about how our government worked, I was so impressed I thought I’d like to run for office. I would write speeches and practice them using a spoon for a mike but my favorite thing to do was to make up stories… not lies but stories about a doll, my dog and repeat the silly things to anyone who’d listen. I loved telling stories and those stories led me to writing just for fun. Now that I’m older and wiser I understand how difficult it is to tell that story in an interesting and fun way. As a writer, I understand that I must continually learn about the craft that is our passion and improve with each effort.

Do you belong to any non-writing organizations?

Yes. I am a member of a no-kill animal shelter. I had the privilege of serving on their board of directors for three years. I resigned when Hurricane Charley (a category four storm) hit our area. I felt that I had too much at home to take care of to do a good job for them. I am also a member of Ostego Bay Foundation, a marine science center that is a valued part of our island community. The foundation promotes the conservation of our fragile marine eco-system, instructs school-age children about our sea life, while maintaining a separate oil spill co-op for our section of the Gulf of Mexico. They provide tours of the docks central to our shrimping industry and operate an educational day camp for youngsters. I’m a licensed real estate broker so I belong to our local Board of Realtors. Of course I am a member of Romance Writers of America and the Southwest Florida Romance Writers. We have an active and wonderful chapter. Members encourage new writers and the chapter actively provides professional training.

Have you ever traveled to a place and come away with a story unexpectedly?

Yes, but it came to me years later. I am writing a sequel to The Love Gypsy involving an English Duchess from the 17th century who comes to the present. I visited some friends in Derbyshire, England several years ago. We visited Chatsworth, the lovely royal estate of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. Walking through the massive hallways filled with antiques and original books by Audubon, my imagination became captivated by this lavish yet elegant lifestyle. The rooms were filled with lovely period furniture and silver pieces. The manicured grounds and gardens cover 105 acres. Remembering that lovely estate while curious about its past residents definitely influenced my newest time travel romance.
 
If you could time travel back, or forward, for one day, where would it be and why?

I love the idea of time travel. How wonderful to be able to peek at our future, visit ancient civilizations or witness history in the making. If I had only one day to travel, I would visit ancient Egypt during the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza. Quite an amazing feat considering how they had to drag and cut the stones to fit as tightly as possible. I read that the Great Pyramid at Giza took 10-20 years to construct so I would visit when it was almost complete.

Share three fun facts about you that most people don’t know.

I’m going to preface my first fun fact, my interest in volcanoes, with the fact that I do not like to see any one harmed or any property destroyed. I live in Southwest Florida and am aware of the destruction a strong storm or natural disaster can cause. I am fascinated by how volcanoes work, what makes them erupt. I am not a scientist but enjoy reading about them as well as watching TV shows on the history channel or National Geographic. My husband attributes this quirky obsession to the fact that my family came to the US from Naples, Italy near Mt. Vesuvius. I’ve visited Naples and Pompei and was amazed by how the lava preserved history in the structures and wall paintings. We flew over Kilauea (Hawaii) in a helicopter while it was erupting. Wearing headphones, we listened to classical music as red hot lava flowed into the Pacific Ocean. My fifth grade geography project was a clay model of the Icelandic volcano that erupted a few year ago. We visited Iceland last summer, enjoying her beautiful scenery of contrasting black volcanic rocks, clear waterfalls and green fields.
The second fun fact, which you probably figured out by now, is that I love to travel. Of course I have to do it around our work schedules and within our budget. We try to visit a different place each year whether it’s our national parks or if time allows another country. Traveling teaches us about other cultures and history as well as having an opportunity to view incredible scenery. We hope to tour New Zealand some day.
 My talented dog is the third fun fact. A shelter adoptee named Max, he does a magic show in which he can decipher a brown cookie from a white one and a red one from a tan one besides other slight of hand. Remember, dogs are colorblind. Even at ten, he still loves to perform.

Bio
            Mariah Lynne always had writing on her radar but it took her a while to get there. Growing up in New Jersey, she graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in English education. After teaching junior high for two years, she went to work for a small daily paper as a copy- reader in the newsroom. She and her husband decided to move to a Florida Gulf coast island while they were still young enough to enjoy the outdoor lifestyle. Jobs were scarce on their island so they each went into business. Mariah opened a video and home entertainment center. She was active in her national trade association serving as a regional chapter president for six years. During that time, she wrote weekly entertainment columns and reviews for two of the island’s newspapers. She also freelanced, ghostwriting autobiographies of successful Realtors for a national yearbook.
She loves where she lives and enjoys watching the dolphin and manatees frolic in the lagoon behind the island home she shares with her husband and ten year old shelter adoptee Max. THE LOVE GYPSY published by The Wild Rose Press, a time travel romance, is her first book.

THE LOVE GYPSY

BLURB:  
Florida homicide detective Brianna Breeze can’t seem to catch a man unless she handcuffs him. So her best friend decides to take matters into her own hands and tricks Brianna into seeing the Love Gypsy, a time traveler’s friend noted for her extraordinary matchmaking skills.
When a tall, muscular man wearing jeans, a black leather jacket, and slicked-back 50s hair bursts in on her first visit, Brianna is bewitched. Despite the gypsy’s warning not to get involved with him, Brianna can’t get him out of her mind—even though she, more than anyone, knows the pitfalls of romancing a stranger.
A present-day murder, a mysterious vintage car registered in the distant past, and a smoking gun complicate the puzzle. Brianna doesn’t know if her lover from the past is a murderer, or a savior, but she’s willing to risk time travel to find out.


EXCERPT:
            “Hey lady,” he whispered. “You’re some kind of knockout. I heard you tell Raya that you’re a cop. Where would you hide a concealed weapon in that dress?”
  


WEBSITE: MARIAHLYNNE.COM





Thank you for sharing your adventure today, Mariah. Here's wishing you many sales.
Jean

2 comments:

  1. Wonderful interview. I would so love to travel.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This was such a beautiful interview!!! The book sounds so cute too, I love me a little love involvement!!!

    Great blog!

    ReplyDelete