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URL:
www.marypaine.com
Contact:
mary@marypaine.com
ABOUT MARY
Books and horses have
been among Mary’s great loves from an early age. As a child she
would arrive at the local library with grocery bags to haul home
all the books she wanted to read that week. She would then
balance her time between reading and hanging out at the local
barn with her similarly horse-crazy friends. Thus, it was only
natural that she chose the world of horse show jumping as the
setting for her books, including her upcoming release Never
Trust a Matchmaking Witch, which combines her love of horses
with the fascinating world of magic.
Mary is enthusiastically looking forward to the release
of Never Trust a Matchmaking Witch. She is currently
working on its sequel, Never Steal from a Leprechaun, as
well as a contemporary fantasy series, The Foreseers,
which is filled with magic, suspense, and of course, romance.
Mary earned a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from
Georgetown University and a Master’s degree in Epidemiology from
Yale University. She has held senior management positions in the
public health and medical communications industries. Her career
has spanned work in clinical trials research, medical writing,
editing, and informatics.
Mary lives in the Midwest with her husband and three
children. It’s a wild and crazy household full of love, laughter
and plenty of material for stories.
INTERVIEW
Q: Tell us how you came to combine fantasy, romance, and
an equestrian setting in Never
Trust a Matchmaking Witch.
A: I am a huge fan of fantasy romance and
I’ve been a horseperson most of my life. The writing really
comes alive when I write what I love. I particularly enjoy
writing fantasy in settings people encounter every day. It
makes it so much fun when you image the world of witchcraft
could exist right around you, especially when that fantasy
world is filled with love and laughter as it is in Never
Trust a Matchmaking Witch.
Q: What are you working on right now?
A: I’m currently working on a sequel to
Never Trust a Matchmaking Witch, titled Never Steal
from a Leprechaun. In the sequel, my fun-loving group of
witches are matchmaking again.
This time they’ve gathered at a castle in southwestern
England owned by one of the group and they have a plan.
Eamonn, a prankster who’s part leprechaun, asks his niece to
join them at the castle. Enter a reformed jewel thief (think
Indiana Jones) and our favorite matchmakers are off and
running. While he’s trying to steal a rare jewel and she’s
trying to keep him from finding out about magic, the group
keeps throwing the pair together in some hilarious, sizzling
adventures.
Q: What is your writing process like?
Where do you get most of your ideas from? What's the hardest
part of writing for you? A: I wrote
my first book without an extensive plan. The ideas just flowed.
As my setting was the Grand Prix horse show circuit, I didn’t
need to do extensive research. I rode in hunters and equitation
for years and one of my trainers rode on the Grand Prix circuit,
so I had lots of material from my own life experiences from
which to draw.
For Never Trust a Matchmaking Witch, I did much more
research and plotting before starting to write the manuscript.
It’s vital with a fantasy story that the magical world
underpinning the writing be thoroughly developed down to the
smallest detail. There is so much background that never finds
its way into the books, but it needs to be a complete world in
my mind to make it real for my readers.
Q: Have you always been a writer? Do
you have or have you had another career? If so, how did you
make the transition/how do you keep your careers separate?
A: My training is in public health, and I
did medical research when I first graduated from school, but
I always gravitated toward writing. I built a career in
medical communications and informatics, which is the use of
information systems in health care, but I always dreamed of
writing fiction.
My chance finally came when I was on bed rest with a twin
pregnancy and could type away all day long! Not long after
the twins were born I sold that first book and have been
creating stories and characters I love ever since.
Q: What's your writing schedule like?
A: I would love to say I have an organized
writing schedule, but with young children my writing works
around their schedules. I’ve learned to be very productive
at five in the morning!
Q: What keeps you writing your stories
every day?
A: Once I have a story brewing in my head I
can’t wait to get it on paper! Besides, much as I love my
wonderful, busy household, it’s very nice for Mommy to have
the balance of disappearing into the worlds I create in my
books.
Q: What would you like for readers to
know about you?
A: I am having such a wonderful time writing
fiction. I hope readers will have a fantastic time with my
characters and their stories.
I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me
and visit my website. Enter my monthly contest for books
from some of my favorite authors! |
