Author Interview with Mary Merrell – author of Affinity

Please share a bit of your background.
I grew up in San Jose, California. I had three sisters and one brother. My mother passed away when I was 16, and then my father remarried and I gained 1 step sister (my littlest sister’s best friend) and two step brothers who were already grown. We did not like our step-mother and we gave her a pretty bad time as she tried to lay
down the lay to a bunch of kids who had practically been on their while their mother was sick. I moved to Ceres, CA with my second husband in 1989 and have lived in the Central Valley for 23 years now. It’s very hot in summer, but I like it. We have a long growing season.

What inspired you to begin writing?
I always liked to write but one day when we were watching Romancing the Stone, my husband said, “Why don’t you write a book.”
And I thought why don’t I. I had all kinds of stories in my head, and we had a computer, so I did.

When did you begin your writing journey? My husband made that wild statement about ten years ago. I started writing that novel in my head. Shortly after, I went into the real estate business. That inspired The Real Estate Paranormal Mystery Series. Ten years later, and I have two books in the series e-published and two more waiting
to be revised.

Please share about your latest book. I love my Paranormal Mystery series, but I wanted to try something really different. I decided to take a short story and turn it into a novel. The character is an 18 year old young man, and it’s in third person. Very different from my other books.

What is the best advice you have received about writing?
Sometimes you get the best advice from the least expected place. I went to a talk by a romance writer. A Harlequin romance writer, not expecting to glean much. But she said one important thing. If you give your character the proper motivation, they can get away with
anything. That stuck with me.

What is advise to beginning writers?
I always answer this question the same way. Learn the craft of writing through classes. Join a writing group. Listen to what
they have to say, but when it comes right down to it, you have to be true to yourself. It’s your story.

What was the biggest challenge in writing this book? I think the most challenging and the most fun thing, was writing in young peoples’ point of views. I really enjoyed it.

Most writers are readers. What books are on you “to-read” list? I am currently reading Guardians of Fate by L.J. Kentowski, a fellow indie autho r. I also am going to read Burning Alive in the Sentinal Series by Shannon Butcher. This is through a
Goodreads challenge.

Where can readers find out more about you and your book? www.maryemerrell.com, www.mary.merrell.5@facebook.com,

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10227711-mary-merrell

https://twitter.com/MaryMerrell7

Question for fun sake – what was your favorite childhood toy and why? I was a tomboy who loved dolls. Every Christmas I asked for a ball, soccer, basketball, or football or maybe a skateboard. And a doll, Barbie or Madame Alexander. But what I loved the best were my Breyer horses. Had a whole collection of them.