Once again, I’m ultra-apologetic about the lack of usual intro video today. Video-related internet woes continue…and even if I had time to fight with my sloooow internet, I’m having a bad hair day, so…really, it’s better this way.
Okay, how excited am I to welcome Mary Connealy to Tag(g)lines today? Over-the-top, that’s how. I love Mary’s books, her sense of humor…her cowboy heroes. 🙂
And Mary has generously offered to give away a copy of her new release, Swept Away! Just leave a comment below to enter. You’ve got ’til next Tuesday at 5 p.m. CST. Enjoy the Q&A and comment away!
How did you know you wanted to be a writer, have you always had the desire or did it come later?
The strange pastime of sitting behind a computer makin’ stuff up … well, who knows where that comes from. And who knows why I started it, really. What was I thinking???I wrote my first story, a romance novel I can barely remember, when I was about twelve. I have no idea what happened to it.
When I was a young wife I wrote a lot of odd short ‘slice of life’ stories that I still have and should always keep just to remind me that I have improved. My girls’ baby books are just covered with writing, I preferred writing to pictures. It’s just so natural to me to express myself with the written word.
Also if you were not a writer what would you like to be?
Well, I loved being a stay-at-home mom. Of course the kids are gone and my husband’s pretty self-sufficient so I suppose I’d be at home dusting (yeesh). I’m a GED Instructor for my day job.
When I was a kid I remember (we lived way, WAY out in the country) the first time I ever saw overpasses on highways in the big city (Omaha) I loved those roads. I remember thinking there was so much that went into them, the structure being strong enough, the slope of the road on curves, the on and off ramps going left to get right sometimes but not other times. I remember thinking, “If I build roads like this, it would last. If the civilization collapses, someday my roads would be the only thing left.” It made me think of Ancient Rome and the Appian Way and the Coliseum. I would have liked that.
What is your favorite thing about books? The escape, the meeting of new characters, or maybe the fact that your imagination gets to stretch a little?
I guess you mean writing here, not reading. I really don’t think of writing as something I do. Instead, I think of being a writer as something I AM. Does that make sense?
To be a writer, yes you need to work hard learning the craft. I’ve studied, I’ve taken classes, I’ve sent my work out to contests to get critiqued and I’ve held up through rejection after rejection. But all of that is something anyone can do.
What not everyone can do is stand to sit by yourself for hour after hour, day after day, for years….makin’ stuff up. Having imaginary conversations. Typing, alone, with minimal interaction with REAL people. I think that’s a temperament you’re either born with or not. And anyone who isn’t born with it, shouldn’t feel bad. It’s not a very normal way to conduct your life, really. But I seem to have it and I can’t seem to stop even if I wanted to. So I’m a writer. And there’s NO WAY OUT!
Is there a certain theme or genre that you have yet to write in that you would like to use someday?
I wrote for ten years before I got my first book published. And I wasn’t just writing for fun. I was submitting manuscripts. Getting rejected. Revising and searching for publishers and agents. In those years there came a time when I just thought, “If no one’s going to publish my books I’m just going to write to entertain myself.”
And I did. I wrote almost every genre you can imagine. Mostly romances but I wrote historical and contemporary, cop dramas, westerns, action/adventure, thrillers and even a gothic. And I just had so much fun doing that. The book that finally hit was a western and it sold well and they wanted more and I had more, plenty more all written. I had twenty finished books on my computer at the end of those ten years and I’ve now sold eleven of them and hope to someday sell them all. But the western romances are really popular and I love writing them and will keep writing them as long as someone wants to read them.
I love reading Regency romance and have never written one of those. But it’s a really complex era with so many rules and such knowledgeable readers that notice if you flaunt the rules. So I’ve never tackled one of those. But I’d like to someday.
What was your motivation for writing Swept Away?
I got the idea for writing Swept Away while researching Andersonville Prison, a terrible prison camp during the Civil War. I just found the place so awful and there were these men, Union Soldiers, who were given the job of keeping peace inside the prison, so they were watching over the other Union Soldiers, some of whom were grateful but others considered them traitors working for the Confederacy.
So I got to wondering what kind of bond that would create between those men, and then I moved it out of the war and had one of them had his ranch stolen and his father killed and all his Andersonville Prison buddies come running to help. That’s the background of the story and the seed I needed to start Swept Away growing.
*****
Mary Connealy writes romantic comedy with cowboys. She is a Carol Award winner, and a Rita, Christy and Inspirational Reader’s Choice finalist. She is the author of Swept Away, book #1 of the Trouble in Texas series, also the bestselling Kincaid Brides Series: Out of Control, In Too Deep, Over the Edge, and Lassoed in Texas Trilogy, Montana Marriages Trilogy and Sophie’s Daughters Trilogy. Mary is married to a Nebraska rancher and has four grown daughters and two spectacular grandchildren.
Keep in touch with Mary:
Leave a comment to get your name in the drawing for a signed copy of Swept Away.
And right now, this very instant, Out of Control, the first book of The Kincaid Brides series, is FREE as an ebook. Buy it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Christianbook.com or where ever fine free ebooks are sold.
Comments 31
Sorry you are having internet woes and a bad hair day, Melissa!
So enjoyed the interview with Mary — and love the premise of her book! I kept reading and thinking, “Now that’s intriguing … and that is too … and that is too!”
I know, it sounds like such a great read. Can’t wait to read it myself. I always love Mary’s storylines.
As for my internet woes, let’s just say me and my local ISP aren’t all that friend-ish right now. But sadly, my options are pretty limited. So alas, I will continue to suffer in silence…er, okay, maybe loudly…
Great interview, ladies! I’m in a rush this morning so don’t have anything brilliant to say, but Mary, your book sounds awesome! 🙂
“Great interview” is plenty brilliant for me. 🙂
Loved getting to know Mary and the way her mind works. Swept Away has such a great concept. Hope I win it!
Who knows, maybe you will!
“I really don’t think of writing as something I do. Instead, I think of being a writer as something I AM.” I loved this line! I feel the same way.
I enjoyed reading this interview, ladies! 🙂
I loved that line, too, Jess.
Good morning, ladies. Thanks for having me on Melissa. Getting to know how my mind works….now there’s a challenge. If you figure it out, let me know, okay? And I’ll let My Cowboy husband know because he’s really been wondering!!!
🙂
And thank YOU so much for being here today, Mary. Such a fun interview!
Internet/computer issues rank right up there with toilet bowl cleaning. Probably worse. LOL! (And boo on bad hair days! But I bet you’re just being overly dramatic. ;))
I loved this interview with Mary. I found her story so inspiring, especially the part of how she began to write “just for herself” until publication. Look at her now!
I know, it’s ridiculous how dependent we are on the internet, isn’t it?!
I was inspired by Mary’s story, too. I want to have that same kind of work ethic coupled with the joy of writing for the sheer fun of it.
I really remember that moment, Cynthia, when I just thought, “I’m doing whatever entertains me.”
I don’t know what book came out of that, but I did have about the best time in the world writing a gothic romance. I still wish that book would be published someday because it was so fun.
There’s a ghost in it…..eerie! So not sure how that will ever line up with Christian fiction. But I suppose I could cut the ghost. But oh boy was she fun!!!! And she saved the day in the end for a reason that had kept her spirit bound to a spooky remote old house for 300 years. And then, when she’d saved the day, she could move on to the next life.
It is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very nice to see these delightful glimpses into your journey, Mary. Glad you were destined from earliest inclinations to be a writer, and that you obeyed!
Thanks bunches for stopping by, Dee!
I’m so excited to see Mary here today, Melissa! Mary has been one of my favorite authors (and contest judges!) for some time. 🙂 It was fun getting to know her a little better. And I’m sorry you’re having internet (and hair) trouble – it’s always so fun to see your smiling face on Wednesdays.
I’m crossing my fingers that I win Swept Away!!
Ohhh the suspense…did you see that one of her other books is free as an ebook? So even if you don’t win Swept Away, there’s always that. 🙂
Hi Gabrielle, I shudder to think of my contest judging. I hope I was nice!!!!!!!!!!
Great interview! I am currently reading Swept Away and I’m really enjoying it! It’s not my absolute favorite Mary Connealy book (and I’ve read all her novels) but it is still really really good! I can’t wait to finish it! I’m entering the giveaway for my sis who is almost as much of a Mary Connealy fanatic as I am!
gatorade635(at)gmail(dot)com
Thanks a bunch for stopping by, Abbi. I’ve got you in the drawing. Woohoo!
Hi Abbi, thank you so much for all that nice talk, girl. I really appreciate it.
Honestly, I love all things Mary Connealy! This interview was so fun! I especially loved her description of being a writer…
“It’s not a very normal way to conduct your life, really. But I seem to have it and I can’t seem to stop even if I wanted to. So I’m a writer. And there’s NO WAY OUT!”
I feel the same way! So glad to see Mary here. Must be fun to be Bethany House buds 😉
Haha, I so agree with Mary, too–the life of a writer is sooo not normal. 🙂 And yes, getting to be in the company of authors like Mary is fun and such an honor and honestly pretty humbling too. 🙂
Hi Amy if someone is trying to get published and just being TORMENTED by it and hating all the rejection and letting it really hurt them I tell them, QUIT if you can. Because I know they probably can’t and somehow if they try to quit and can’t, I think that makes them a bit more resigned to the struggle.
I enjoyed the interview with Mary. No matter how many interviews with her I read, I always learn a little something new. I like the way she described being a writer. I’m thankful there are people like Mary who can write the wonderful books I so enjoy reading. I’m a reader who just can’t stop! I’ve read many of Mary’s books and would love to win a copy of this new book, Swept Away. Thanks.
pmk56[at]sbcglobal[dot]net
Thanks bunches for stopping by. Always fun to meet another Mary Connealy fan. 🙂 You’re in the drawing!
Hi, Pam K. YAY FOR READERS!!!!!
Loved your answers, Mary! Especially what you said about typing alone with minimal interaction with real people. Guess that’s my temperament too! 🙂
At least we have our imaginary friends to keep us company, Stacy!!!
I loved the post! Thanks for stopping by!
I always enjoy her books! Can’t wait to read this one! Thanks for sharing the interview- she’s so down-to-earth.
Heidi
colorvibrant at gmail dot com