Amy McGuire has been writing stories since she could pick up a pen. She developed a
love of English Literature at a young age and as the child of
missionary parents who worked in Africa, has gained a rich knowledge of
the world around her. When not writing, she enjoys spending sunny
afternoons on her deck with some chocolate and a good book. Amy lives
in Toronto with her husband and their daughter. The Heart’s Discovery is her first novel. And Amy is here at the Scribes today.
Welcome Amy! We are glad to have you.
Can you tell is if you have ever thought
about writing something that is completely different for you? Perhaps
writing in a new genre or just taking a story someplace that you haven’t
done before.
Absolutely. I actually already have a few different genres in mind. I
tell my friends and fans that I didn’t choose YA, it chose me. So of
course I write it now but I would love to write something else in the
future. I already have at least two sci-fi stand alone novels plotted
out in my head as well as a clean adult romance. My book about Damian
entitled Runaway: Damian’s Story , which I hope to release in
February 2013, is also going to be in a direction I’ve never taken
before. There will be a tiny bit of romance, but a lot of action,
tragedy…a much darker book than any I’ve written. It will be different
and a real challenge but I think I’m up to the task. When I was a
teenager I wrote a love story that had a lot more action and Runaway: Damian’s Story
will be an action book with a little bit of romance. I’m looking
forward to really getting into the plotting out of all my different
books in various genres.
What is the most surprising thing that has happened in your writing career?
I would say that the most surprising thing was the feedback. I know
I’m new to the scene and have a lot to learn in the writing field but so
many people, those who know me personally and those who don’t know me
at all, have said how impressed they are with my writing.
What would you do if you couldn’t be a writer any longer?
I would probably try for a fairly well paying job that would allow
for flexibility so I could travel. There are so many places on this
wonderful planet that I’m dying to see. I am a mom and so I would have
to make my travel include my daughter and her schedule, but I can
definitely see myself doing a lot of travelling during the holidays. A
place I have never been but would love to go is Jamaica. Ireland is a
definite close second. It’s a big dream, but I don’t think it’s
entirely undoable.
They say that every author has a
partially completed, quite-possibly-terrible half a story shoved in a
drawer somewhere. What is yours? What is it about? What makes it
terrible? Would you ever consider picking it up and finishing it?
Oh my. Where to begin. Yes, I actually have several. Sadly, I
threw out all but a sequel to one of my half written stories back when I
was too embarrassed to have anyone read them. I looked at them and
went, ‘what was I thinking?’ I had one story that was a romance,
thriller, crime, drama and the genres it filled were endless. I could
never come up with a decent ending and by the time I got to what I
considered ‘the end’ I thought it was absolute drivel. I probably
should have had someone else look at in hindsight, but that’s in the
past. I had another book I wrote that I liked so much I began to write
the sequel and then dropped it when life got too busy. I wrote it as a
sort of therapy for myself and to try my hand at drama.
Reading it a few times over though depressed me. I think possibly
because the two main male characters in the story reminded me too much
of two friends of mine and I had killed one off. I don’t like killing
characters in my book but do so if the story calls for it. Back when I
wrote the book entitled ‘The Bully Slayers’ I didn’t have the same
perspective on character killing as I do now. I also got way too close
to my characters. I would like to go back and dig up the book if I can
still find it. I would love to just have it to archive. I don’t know
if I would ever resurrect it fully, but I might include elements of it
in my other YA books.
Author Jane Haddam says that anyone who
seriously annoys her gets bumped off in her next book. How do you
incorporate your real-life experiences into your stories?
Very carefully [laughing]. It can be very easy to let my personal
life slip into my stories and then do damage to my characters. And if
I’m not very, very careful the people I base my characters off of can
pick up on that character being very similar to them and become
offended. Aside from bad days though, I do incorporate my life into my
stories a lot. The Heart’s Discovery is a good example. There are a
lot of scenes that are based off real experiences I had living in the
basis for HopeValley. Nearly all my characters are based on people I
actually knew at the time as well as elements of the location. I even
have a section in my ebook version that is strictly photographs taken of
‘the real HopeValley’ while I lived there. I find it brings some
realism to the story.
I also find that pretty much anything can inspire me if I’m in the
right mood. An example is my Wii. I try to work out on it for weight
loss and general health as often as possible and there is a section in
Wii Fit Plus that is rhythm boxing. I have a little note in my notebook
for one of my later novels, suggesting how I can incorporate boxing
into the story. A food I’ve never tried before or a place I’ve never
been but want to visit can also become inspiration. Quito, Ecuador is a
good example. In researching it for my novel I fell in love with the
city and country. I definitely want to travel there someday.
What is your junk food of choice?
Chocolate. It’s my kryptonite. There’s something just so calming
and like a mini vacation in even the smallest amount of chocolate. My
favourite desserts and drinks contain chocolate and I can’t imagine a
world without it. I like white chocolate and milk chocolate but of the
two, milk is my favourite. Sadly, since it’s super fattening, I have to
limit how much I have, but when I do get some, it’s a tiny slice of
heaven.
Tell us about your book!
The Heart’s Discovery is a love story based in British Columbia with a
brief foray into Quito. Anjaline is a native of Quito, Ecuador and
Gabriel is a native of Hope Valley, British Columbia. You couldn’t meet
two teenagers more different and yet they find a common ground in their
mutual attraction. Of course, being teenagers and having low self
esteem on both sides, they deny their feelings and further complicate
each other’s lives. Jealousy from friends and family threaten to
destroy any chance of friendship, let alone something deeper. A story
of growing up in the harsh mountain country of British Columbia, there
are moments of frustration, anger, joy, tenderness and tragedy. As the
book is a love story, the ending should be predictable yet it’s not.
The ultimate romance between the characters is inevitable, but all the
twists and turns it takes to get there is not. The ending will surprise
you.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Starting Something New…
Up until a few days ago I hadn’t written anything new for months. I
was stuck in edit land, learning new things about myself as a writer.
Getting edited by a professional editor is different that going through
the revision process by yourself. When you’re revising everything is
your call. Your decision. It’s only your book, but when you get a
revision letter from an editor it’s different… It’s hard to explain.
It’s like the book becomes bigger than itself, because getting that
letter reminds you that you’re one step closer to releasing your baby
into the world.
Every book has flaws, sometimes fatal flaws and as writers we know what the flaws are in our work, but having somebody else point them out is almost painful. Some writers love going through the editing process. They say it takes a mediocre book and makes it into a good one. But a lot of us don’t feel that way. A lot of us turn that book in and pray that our editor won’t see the flaws, that we’ll be able to skate by without having to fix things.
But that never happens. Those smarty pants editors always see the flaws and they send you a letter highlighting them. You read the letter and each point they make is like a little stab in the heart. Why? Because all the points are valid. They are never the little things that are easily fixed, like random spaces before punctuation. They are big things. Things that you knew were off when you sent the book in. They weren’t things you didn’t fix because you were lazy, they were things you didn’t fix because you didn’t know how.
So you read the letter and read the letter again and reread it twenty more times, hoping that magic will happen and you’ll suddenly know how to fix everything. But that rarely happens. It’s weeks of thinking and writing and rewriting and being stuck in your head. A lot of times it takes talking to another writer to make things clear, sometimes things will clear up by themselves.
And then one day you’re done. The book is as fixed as it’s going to get and you send it back to your editor. You feel free then, joyful almost. That weight has been lifted off your shoulders. But that feeling only lasts a few minutes because now that means that you have got to start something new.
Crap.
I was talking to fellow Scribe, Jennifer Fusco on Facebook the other night. We are both starting something new. And I had been feeling panicky/ anxious all week. I had a thousand thoughts running through my mind, a thousand scenes, a hundred lines of dialog that could go in my book but I had no direction. Where is this book going? What am I doing? What am I writing?
It may sound a little mean but I was glad to see that Jen was going through it too, because I realized that I was not alone in my pain. And if she felt that way and I felt that way, then there must be more of us out there who feel that panic when they are faced with something new.
And I think that’s why joining a writer’s group/ connecting with other writers is invaluable. If you get nothing else out of it, the feeling you are not alone in your pain is enough. :)
So… It’s your turn. How do you feel about starting something new? Is it all rainbow and sunshine? Or cloudy days and crying? How do you feel about the editing process? Can you relate? Any and all comments are welcome.
Every book has flaws, sometimes fatal flaws and as writers we know what the flaws are in our work, but having somebody else point them out is almost painful. Some writers love going through the editing process. They say it takes a mediocre book and makes it into a good one. But a lot of us don’t feel that way. A lot of us turn that book in and pray that our editor won’t see the flaws, that we’ll be able to skate by without having to fix things.
But that never happens. Those smarty pants editors always see the flaws and they send you a letter highlighting them. You read the letter and each point they make is like a little stab in the heart. Why? Because all the points are valid. They are never the little things that are easily fixed, like random spaces before punctuation. They are big things. Things that you knew were off when you sent the book in. They weren’t things you didn’t fix because you were lazy, they were things you didn’t fix because you didn’t know how.
So you read the letter and read the letter again and reread it twenty more times, hoping that magic will happen and you’ll suddenly know how to fix everything. But that rarely happens. It’s weeks of thinking and writing and rewriting and being stuck in your head. A lot of times it takes talking to another writer to make things clear, sometimes things will clear up by themselves.
And then one day you’re done. The book is as fixed as it’s going to get and you send it back to your editor. You feel free then, joyful almost. That weight has been lifted off your shoulders. But that feeling only lasts a few minutes because now that means that you have got to start something new.
Crap.
I was talking to fellow Scribe, Jennifer Fusco on Facebook the other night. We are both starting something new. And I had been feeling panicky/ anxious all week. I had a thousand thoughts running through my mind, a thousand scenes, a hundred lines of dialog that could go in my book but I had no direction. Where is this book going? What am I doing? What am I writing?
It may sound a little mean but I was glad to see that Jen was going through it too, because I realized that I was not alone in my pain. And if she felt that way and I felt that way, then there must be more of us out there who feel that panic when they are faced with something new.
And I think that’s why joining a writer’s group/ connecting with other writers is invaluable. If you get nothing else out of it, the feeling you are not alone in your pain is enough. :)
So… It’s your turn. How do you feel about starting something new? Is it all rainbow and sunshine? Or cloudy days and crying? How do you feel about the editing process? Can you relate? Any and all comments are welcome.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Anthologies Abound
PJ Sharon, here. Another
Tuesday has come upon us—much too quickly in my opinion. If you haven’t
noticed how time is flying by, you have either been in prison, or have
been living in a cave. Not to poke fun, but it really does seem like our
days are short a few hours. The energy is all but frantic around me,
and everyone is hustling to keep pace. With recreational time at a
premium, there has been a resurgence in the popularity of short stories,
and writers are jumping on board to meet the needs of readers to have a
quick story fix.
This is good news for writers. It not only offers us a chance to perhaps try something new, short stories are a great way to keep readers interested and entertained in the long months between full-length releases. Although I’ve never been one to write short stories, when the opportunity arose to collaborate with other authors, I happily accepted the challenge.
Since D.D. Scott began her “All for Indies” Anthologies last year, I’ve noticed lots of Indie-published authors following suit…and readers are loving it. What better way to get a taste of a new author’s style or to have several quick reads available in one, very affordable book. Here are a few treats you might like for Halloween.
I’m excited to be a part of this project with some very excellent storytellers. My short story prequel to WANING MOON is among these spooky shorts just in time for All Hallows Eve. SOUL REDEMPTION gives readers a peek inside the mind of Lily Carmichael’s thirteen-year-old brother Zephron, who has to deal not only with teenage hormones, but a dark power that threatens to take him over–a very creepy prospect indeed. This 15,000 word short story leaves you asking, “What would I do?” Read the first chapter on WATTPAD.
In honoring D.D. Scott’s “Great books at great prices” motto, this anthology is available for .99 cents at Amazon, and Smashwords.
If that isn’t enough to set off your fright meter, here are some more fabulously written short stories for your speed-reading pleasure.
Many of my friends from the WG2E Street team contributed to this one and I have to say, they did an amazing job scaring the heck out of me as I read by Kindle light all alone in my big old farmhouse in the woods while my husband was traveling. I know…crazy, right? But don’t we all love a bit of suspense and ghoulishness this time of year?
Tales from the Mist is available on Amazon for $4.99, a bargain for these ten creepy stories by ten fabulous authors! Check out the book’s Amazon page for details on contributing authors and their stories.
This is good news for writers. It not only offers us a chance to perhaps try something new, short stories are a great way to keep readers interested and entertained in the long months between full-length releases. Although I’ve never been one to write short stories, when the opportunity arose to collaborate with other authors, I happily accepted the challenge.
Since D.D. Scott began her “All for Indies” Anthologies last year, I’ve noticed lots of Indie-published authors following suit…and readers are loving it. What better way to get a taste of a new author’s style or to have several quick reads available in one, very affordable book. Here are a few treats you might like for Halloween.
I’m excited to be a part of this project with some very excellent storytellers. My short story prequel to WANING MOON is among these spooky shorts just in time for All Hallows Eve. SOUL REDEMPTION gives readers a peek inside the mind of Lily Carmichael’s thirteen-year-old brother Zephron, who has to deal not only with teenage hormones, but a dark power that threatens to take him over–a very creepy prospect indeed. This 15,000 word short story leaves you asking, “What would I do?” Read the first chapter on WATTPAD.
In honoring D.D. Scott’s “Great books at great prices” motto, this anthology is available for .99 cents at Amazon, and Smashwords.
If that isn’t enough to set off your fright meter, here are some more fabulously written short stories for your speed-reading pleasure.
Many of my friends from the WG2E Street team contributed to this one and I have to say, they did an amazing job scaring the heck out of me as I read by Kindle light all alone in my big old farmhouse in the woods while my husband was traveling. I know…crazy, right? But don’t we all love a bit of suspense and ghoulishness this time of year?
Tales from the Mist is available on Amazon for $4.99, a bargain for these ten creepy stories by ten fabulous authors! Check out the book’s Amazon page for details on contributing authors and their stories.
The Way We Were
Thea Devine here, basking in the glow from having attended my 50th
high school reunion. Honestly, I never thought I’d want to go to any
reunion. Had second thoughts about that for my 25th, but I was a week
too late. So I made certain people knew where to find me for this
momentous year.
50 years since high school. FIFTY YEARS!!! OMG!! That’s surreal. Can’t possibly be true. It feels like I just graduated. I’m still seventeen — aren’t I? In my heart, soul, and day-to-day life I am. High school is just that close to the grain of who I was, who I became
But thinking about attending the reunion was kind of scary. How would it all break out? Would there still be the same cliques, the same alliances, the same feelings, even? Would I still feel like I was at the prom without a date?
In the end, none of that happened. It turned out to be a lovely event. One classmate (male) called it “endearing.” It seemed as if my classmates picked up the conversation as if it were yesterday. There wasn’t a missed beat, once everyone identified themselves. And husbands and wives who’d attended were folded in like they were old friends. The conversation never ended; it just shifted from group to group as we performed a “let’s catch up” do-si-do.
You probably know how this all goes. Football game, cocktail party, talk talk talk; tour of the high school (greatly expanded since our day to the point where, given all the arts and music studios and shop choices, we all felt we wanted to go back ); lunch in the cafeteria (not greatly changed); a visit with two former teachers, now in their eighties; a disorienting tour of the town, wholly changed from when we lived there; cocktail party #2 and a banquet, and more talk talk talk.
We received a Then and Now memory book with contact info and self-written biographies, and a mug commemorating the reunion packed with a bar of goats’ milk soap made by a classmate. Pretty neat.
I wanted everyone to come home with me. I loved seeing them all, I connected with several old friends and I hope we keep in touch. A weekend seemed like too little time to bridge 50 years. I wished it had been a week. There was such a nice sense of cohesion and a recognition that we do have a shared history, and that neither time nor distance can take that away, whenever or wherever we might meet again.
You might wonder if I was even thinking novelistically about childhood, secrets, mean girl alliances, hot and heavy romances, vicious hates, undying teen loves, and long simmering vengeance.
I told people I was. I mean, really, why else was I there?
What do you think?
Have you gone to a class reunion? What did you think? Was it “endearing” or was it “enduring”? Did you connect with or disconnect from former classmates? Would you go to another (I would)?
Thea Devine is the author whose books defined erotic historical romance. She’s the author of 25 historical and contemporary erotic romances, including THE DARKEST HEART and the upcoming BEYOND THE NIGHT. The reissue of her erotic contemporary romance, HIS LITTLE BLACK BOOK, is available now.
50 years since high school. FIFTY YEARS!!! OMG!! That’s surreal. Can’t possibly be true. It feels like I just graduated. I’m still seventeen — aren’t I? In my heart, soul, and day-to-day life I am. High school is just that close to the grain of who I was, who I became
But thinking about attending the reunion was kind of scary. How would it all break out? Would there still be the same cliques, the same alliances, the same feelings, even? Would I still feel like I was at the prom without a date?
In the end, none of that happened. It turned out to be a lovely event. One classmate (male) called it “endearing.” It seemed as if my classmates picked up the conversation as if it were yesterday. There wasn’t a missed beat, once everyone identified themselves. And husbands and wives who’d attended were folded in like they were old friends. The conversation never ended; it just shifted from group to group as we performed a “let’s catch up” do-si-do.
You probably know how this all goes. Football game, cocktail party, talk talk talk; tour of the high school (greatly expanded since our day to the point where, given all the arts and music studios and shop choices, we all felt we wanted to go back ); lunch in the cafeteria (not greatly changed); a visit with two former teachers, now in their eighties; a disorienting tour of the town, wholly changed from when we lived there; cocktail party #2 and a banquet, and more talk talk talk.
We received a Then and Now memory book with contact info and self-written biographies, and a mug commemorating the reunion packed with a bar of goats’ milk soap made by a classmate. Pretty neat.
I wanted everyone to come home with me. I loved seeing them all, I connected with several old friends and I hope we keep in touch. A weekend seemed like too little time to bridge 50 years. I wished it had been a week. There was such a nice sense of cohesion and a recognition that we do have a shared history, and that neither time nor distance can take that away, whenever or wherever we might meet again.
You might wonder if I was even thinking novelistically about childhood, secrets, mean girl alliances, hot and heavy romances, vicious hates, undying teen loves, and long simmering vengeance.
I told people I was. I mean, really, why else was I there?
What do you think?
Have you gone to a class reunion? What did you think? Was it “endearing” or was it “enduring”? Did you connect with or disconnect from former classmates? Would you go to another (I would)?
Thea Devine is the author whose books defined erotic historical romance. She’s the author of 25 historical and contemporary erotic romances, including THE DARKEST HEART and the upcoming BEYOND THE NIGHT. The reissue of her erotic contemporary romance, HIS LITTLE BLACK BOOK, is available now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)