Máirín is going to tell us more about herself now. I had the chance to ask her a few questions.
- Where were you born and where did you grow up?
I was born in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. We moved a lot when I was younger so I spent time in lots of different small towns in BC. I'm not a city person. Cities are fine in small doses but I'm definitely a rural spirit.
- What did you like to do as a child?
I loved to play outside. I wasn't a 'girly' girl (Still not) . I was happiest making up imaginary friends and and having adventures with them. Any story I read or show I watched became fodder for my imagination. I was Thierry La Fronde, Red Hugh of Donegal even Eliza Doolittle for a while. And yes, those fictional characters will squeal about my age.
- Where do you live now?
I still live in British Columbia. We have a small farm in the Shuswap region. If I could live anywhere in the world I think I would live near an ocean. I remember stepping off the plane in New Zealand and thinking 'I've come home.' If you believe in past lives, I'm pretty sure that's an indicator.
- Who or what inspired you to begin writing?
I've always written. I just finally got up the nerve to try getting published. But if there was one person, I'd have to say it was my Dad. He read everything he could get his hands on and used to write poetry. He also wrote hilarious letters to me when he was away from the family.
- What are some of the other things you like to do besides writing?
I LOVE reading. I also dabble at gardening although to see the state of the beds at present, you'd never know it. I have a lot of hobbies, just no time to devote to them. It's funny, I actually had more time to do stuff when my kids were little. Now that they are more or less adults (they still live at home) I have little time for the things I would like to do. There is always so many demands on my time.
I can relate to that, because my kids are adults and live at home. It's funny how you wind up doing so much less than you did when they were little. We do a lot of stuff together, though.
- How did you get the idea for Dancing on the Dark Side?
I hope this doesn't sound trite but the concept came to me from a song. I see dancers when I listen to music; I picture steps and rhythms and the flow of movement. The Goo Goo Dolls' Iris was the seed. The line "I'd give up forever to touch you," mirrors Ciarán's feelings towards Bliss. And it just flows beautifully. The images I had in my head of the pair of them dancing together were pretty amazing. Not even sure I could put them into words.
Please let our readers know the path to publication for Dancing on the Dark Side.
My beta reader (and the other half of my brain) lives in Florida. We met through a (cringe) fan Fiction site. After a year or so of playing with other people's characters (in our case it was Tanya Huff's Blood Ties characters) we decided that it was time to unleash our own characters. Considering Dancing started out as a YA first person narrative and the first draft was 244,000 words, it was a rather long road. However, great experiences at the Surrey International Writers Conference led to where the gang (as I refer to the four main characters of Dancing) and I are today.
- What is a typical day of writing like for you?
I WISH I had a typical day for writing, but I work full time as a shipper/receiver so writing gets squeezed in between my full time job and my other full time job—running the farm, looking after a family and herding cats (there are 7 of them here)
- Do have any WIP’s that are ready for publication?
It's nowhere near ready for publication but my current WIP is a sequel that picks up right where Dancing On The Dark Side leaves off. That was always the plan.
- Where can we find Dancing on the Dark Side?
It's available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Kindle and iBooks to name a few. It's also available from the publisher MuseItUP Publishing.
- Finally, are you a pantser or a plotter?
I'm a little of both. I have a very vague outline of where the second book is going, or at least where I want it to end up. But I'm dealing with vampires, the Sidhe and other magical beings, so things take on a life of their own. So let's just say that I've sort of plotted it out but whether or not my characters will let me follow that plan remains to be seen.
Máirín I have enjoyed learning more about you and now I am sure my readers are interested in finding out more about Dancing on the Dark Side.
BLURB:
Spirited college
senior Bliss is preparing to make her mark in the world of contemporary dance.
She’s thrilled to be training at the prestigious Windhaven College of the Arts
in Salem, Massachusetts. But things get weird the moment she sets foot on the
campus.
Her new roommate,
Rowan, is a mind-reading, storm-calling descendent of the Sidhe, the Fae of
Ireland, with a secret agenda.
Ciarán, the
charming TA for her performance class, is the most brilliant dancer she’s ever
seen. Too bad he hides from the sun and has a taste for human blood.
Bliss should have
run screaming in terror, but Rowan’s magic has woken memories of a past life
she cannot deny. The more she learns of Ciarán’s tragic past and the family of Sidhe
he protects, the more she realizes she is a part of their world and her new
‘normal’ is anything but.
Enter the Order,
ancient enemy of everything supernatural. To protect Bliss and the Sidhe,
Ciarán draws her into the very heart of his magical world. Soon, instead of
dancing together, they are fighting a bitter battle to prevent disaster from
tearing them apart again. This time forever.
Oooh sounds like a book my readers would like. Let's read something from it:
EXCERPT:
“Bliss? Would you
like to start over?” he asked again, sounding patient in a strained way.
“Should I start
before or after I accused you of being a vampire?” She edged a little closer to
the end of the bench and set her feet firmly into the turf, ready to run.
“Since you raised
the issue, let’s go with that. I’m a vampire. Satisfied?”
She stared at him;
how was a person supposed to respond to a statement like that? An icy lump
formed in the pit of her stomach. His tone was suddenly much harder. And
entirely serious. Laughter edged with hysteria burst from her lips. He didn’t
move. There was no possible way it could actually be true. Just couldn’t! But even as she watched he changed. It was subtle, easy to overlook if someone wasn’t
completely focused on him, but it was real. The eyes darkened until even the
whites vanished, like the eyes of some rare and beautiful beast. And between
his slightly parted lips, the points of inhumanly sharp canines gleamed.
“Holy shit!” She
cringed and pulled away, promptly falling off the bench. Bliss scrambled back
to her feet. While Ciarán, the most beautiful dancer she had ever known,
watched an air of remote indifference.
* * * *
He watched her
struggle to her feet. Her heart fluttered like the wings of a trapped bird. Gradually
it slowed. Bliss looked at him intently for several very long minutes, while
she collected herself. “You seem to be managing your condition very well,” she
finally observed with clinical detachment.
“I don’t have a
disease, Bliss. I’m a vampire.”
“So you’ve said.”
She knew what he
was and he had no idea what she would do with the information. As usual, he
lost the ability to think clearly in her presence. So he got up and walked
away.
“You come back
here!” She lurched after him, grabbed his arm, and tried to pull him around to
face her. He rooted himself to the ground, and she trotted around to face him
instead. “It’s all right, Ciarán.” She sounded unbelievably rational and calm;
he was on the verge of losing it completely.
“Bliss, do you
realize what I am?” Dear Goddess, he
didn’t want to hurt her, but he would protect himself…protect the family…
“Yes I do. But now
I need some answers.” She held out her hand to him. Very slowly he reached out
and took it, allowing her to lead him back to the bench.
“So…you’re
actually a vampire? You’re not a spy or in witness protection or something less
exotic?”
“No, definitely a
vampire—since sixteen-sixty-four.” He waited a moment for her to fully
comprehend his statement.
“You’re over three
hundred years old?”
“I suppose.
Physically, I’m twenty-three—”
“Oh, my God! Is
your entire family—er—coven—is that what you even call a group of vampires?”
Bliss grasped his arm, excitement erasing any traces of fear. “I thought that
only applied to witches. Are they vampires too? I saw them eat—they ate
food—Niamh is an awesome cook—was that just an act for me?’’
“Slow down Bliss.
They aren’t vampires, but they aren’t human, either.”
She froze, more
shocked by that admission than by his earlier revelation. “They’re space aliens, aren’t they?”
Ciarán laughed in
spite of himself. “No, but it feels that way sometimes. They’re Sidhe.”
“Say what?”
“Sidhe. The Tuatha
de Danaan? The Fair Folk?”
“They’re just a
legend.”
He raised his
eyebrows. ”You’ll accept that I’m a vampire but deny the existence of the Fae?
We are descended from them.”
“Vampires are
actually Fae? Or Shee?” She didn’t
quite get the pronunciation but it didn’t matter.
“I
was Sidhe before I became vampire. It’s kind of complicated…”
She looked lost. “Everything
about you is complicated.”
“It’s just easier
to explain my place in their family. Niamh is a descendent of my brother,
Aidan.”
“So he’s a vampire.”
“No, he’s been
dead for two centuries.”
She looked at him
from beneath a furrowed brow, the breeze drifting her hair over her face. She
shoved it back impatiently. He could almost hear the wheels turning.
“I’ll try to
explain everything but it could take a while. Could we go someplace a little
more private?” He took her hand, and she stared at her hand in his for a moment
but didn’t try to pull away. “You’ve obviously been thinking about this for a
while now.”
“After I overheard you guys talking, I did
some research, but none of it added up. You still seem perfectly normal.”
“Thank you.” There
was no attempt to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
“You’re not what I
ever imagined a vampire to be. You work in a coffee house, for God’s sake.”
“Would I be more
acceptable if I lived in a castle, wore evening dress, and spoke with a thick
Eastern European accent?” He leaned a little closer. “I vant to baht your
neck.”
The accent was too
much. She giggled.
“I have to blend
in to survive. And up until now, I have.”
She sobered
briefly. “Do you have a coffin full of dirt?”
“No.”
“That’s a relief.”
* * * *
Resolve shrieked
that she should get the hell out of there now! But Bliss wasn’t getting any
nasty vibe from him, which was a little weird. He was three hundred years old.
No! He was—immortal. Not to mention that his favourite meal was probably A
positive.
Wikipedia needed
to be updated. Vampires didn’t smell like rotting meat. Ciarán smelled like a
Chicago winter when it was so cold the snow squeaked underfoot. Crisp, cold.
Most guys had a sort of musky, sweaty smell…but Ciarán—God, it was
intoxicating!
After reading this I am very interested in seeing more of it. Where can our readers find your work?
BIO:
Although born and raised in British Columbia, Máirín takes
pride in her Scots/Irish roots and in her family tradition of oral story
telling. Her love of reading and writing
came at an early age, a gift inherited from her Dad. Her taste in books is eclectic but there is
nothing more satisfying than a well-spun tale full of intriguing characters.
A former teacher of Theatre, Dance,
Creative Writing and Journalism, she lives and works on the family farm in the
Okanagan Valley, where she is slave to several feline overlords. In addition to writing, Máirín is
passionate about travel, especially to any place with an ocean beach. If she
can’t have sand between her toes, Nordic skiing, riding her motorcycle and
camping will suffice.
LINKS:
Thank you so much for hosting me on your blog. Readers are welcome to stop by my Facebook page and ask questions (my website is still under construction—yet another project on my list)
Máirín thank you for being my guest. I hope you will be back when the sequel to Dancing on the Dark Side is published.
Until the next time I went to see Jason Isbell last night at the refurbished Capitol Theater in Portchester, NY. Fantastic concert and if you have never listened to his music I suggest you do. He writes with truth and emotion and his voice is beautiful.
I am on J.Q. Rose's blog Girls Succeed talking about After. Why I wrote it, and how you can use your own life experiences in writing your novel. I am giving away a free book of After for anyone who knows the name of one of Carolyn Samuels's best friends in If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor. So far no one has answered. Just leave your answer in the comments on her blog.
My radio show, Red River Radio Tales from the Pages is filling up with guests. My May show will feature Whit McClendon, who writes sci fi fantasy. He will be talking about his new book, Mage's Burden. Whit is also a black belt instructor in karate and other martial arts. Here is another show that I know you will want to hear. It will be on Thursday, May 28, 2015 at 4PM EST - 6PM EST.
June show is going to have a return guest, Joseph Aquilino and a new poet friend of mine, Phillip Quotient. It should be a very interesting and lively show so you won't want to miss it. Tune into Blog Talk Radio on Thursday, June 25, 2015.
I met Phillip Quotient on the chat room at World Poetry Open Mic along with a lot of other delightful people who also write poetry. We read our poems every Friday night. For anyone who has ever wanted to share their poetry this is the place. There is absolutely no judgement and you meet other poets.
