Day 1
1. What were you before you became an author? Did this influence your choices as a writer?
I have been a teacher since I was in second grade, and Mrs. Byers asked me to help her teach the other kids to read. I'd been reading since before I started kindergarten, so it was easy for me. I got an English degree because reading and writing were the only 2 homework assignments I looked forward to doing. And when a professor said the teaching of writing was teaching students how to think, I was sold! I raised 3 sons and a daughter to be educated thinkers. One son has two little boys, and they have many more books than they have toys, so he must agree with his mama. And my daughter teaches Language Arts in a middle school. But I've always been fascinated by how people relate to each other. Men to women, men to men, women to women--and adults to kids and kids to adults. I've read everything that Desmond Morris, the cultural anthropologist has written about why as humans we do the things we do. People-watching is also a favorite hobby of mine when in a large crowd--not lately, of course! But I focus in my writing on how the characters relate to one another. There is usually a flaw in either the heroine or the hero, and that person has to grow and change over the story arc, to deserve their HEA.
2. Are you genre specific or general? I don’t mean major genres but subdivisions or romance, mystery or paranormal.
I always write romance stories. I've tried to write sci-fi, since that's my favorite genre to read. But even when I don't try to, a romance always creeps into the story. I only write contemporary romance because there will always be sex scenes in my books, because that's a large part of how people relate to each other when they're falling in love. But the idea of having sex without birth control is a scary one indeed. So my stories are always set in the present. I swore I'd never write a vampire romance. Then when I was having writer's block a few years ago, I put the story aside to see if it passed. Then I had a dream in which a tall, white-haired pale man told me that I was having writer's block because I was giving the heroine the wrong hero. It had to be him. Then he smiled, showing vampire fangs. I told him I don't write vampires--too overdone. He shrugged and told me to research the Mayans, since they were a part of the story. When I woke up the next morning, I looked up Mayan culture, only to find that every religious and public appearance of any type revolved around blood-letting. Why so much blood everywhere? Well, if your gods were vampires...the rest of the story flowed--as well as a sequel. Now I've combined those two into a long saga called Prophecy of the Mayan Undead. .I thought I was done with paranormal romance. Then I had a dream involving werewolves--and the Northwest Maine Academy series was born. The first book is When a Wolf Howls.
3. What is your latest release?
Worth the Wait, the second in my Northwest Maine Academy series, about a private high school run by and for werewolves. It continues the two romances from the first book, and introduces two more romantic couples. I've created a different take on werewolves that I hope readers enjoy.
4. What are you working on now?
I had another dream recently that introduced me to two characters who are in the process of telling me the story of their lives. And I have a series of books about the various members of a large Hispanic family called, The Reyes Family Romances. I've got a new book about 1/3 written for that series, and another one with only the first chapter done. And I have a series of 4 books set up in Grand Marais, MN, my family's favorite area to head to when we get a week off to go camping. I love being up there so much that I was tearing up one year as we left to return home. To stop myself from crying, I thought about how wonderful it would be to fall in love with a local person, and have a reason to move up there. The first of my Minnesota Romances, For the Love of His Life, was the result. I just self-published the 4th book over the summer, and thought I was done with those characters. But like old friends, they won't leave my head, and they're whispering to me that there's at least one more story I have to tell about them.
5. Do your reading choices influence your choice of a writing career?
Not directly, because I prefer to read sci-fi and fantasy, but I write contemporary romances, with the occasional paranormal romance thrown in. I have written a couple of suspenseful romances, but they were influenced not by my reading, but by spy movies and TV shows. I've always enjoyed things like the James Bond movies, Mission Impossible series, Bourne movies, and others, but I get irritated when the only females are either eye candy, or rewards for a job well-done. I loved Melissa McCarthy's spy movie because all of the main roles were female, including the villain--and the men were the eye candy or the comedy relief. So I wrote two female spy novels so I can imagine that I'm the one with the crazy-mad spy skills!
6. Where can we find you?
My website's first page is my blog, and there are excerpts and buy links on pages for all of my books. www.fionamcgier.com
