Author Interview

The author under the spotlight this month is Maggie Walsh. Over to you, Maggie…

My name is Maggie Walsh. I am a 46 year old mother of four. I have been married to my husband for 17 years, but we have been together almost 24 years. My oldest is actually my step-daughter, but she’s my baby just as much as the other three. She is in her late twenties and she has two children. So I am a grandmother. Her oldest is 7 and my youngest is 7 so my youngest daughter has a niece who is 5 months older than her. And these two are best friends. I have had a few jobs in my life that may be interesting. I have a degree in photography. I also went to art school, so I am an artist. I worked for a manufacturing company that did contracts for the defense dept. I actually use to make tanks, helicopters, F-16 fighter jets, and I did work on the patriot missile. As well as others. I went to cosmetology school and worked in salons for a few years. I also have a commercial driver’s license. I drove a school bus in New York for a while. I was raised on Long Island by a very large Irish catholic family. Of which I am the baby. I have 12 brothers and sisters. I moved to Pennsylvania 12 years ago. When I was around 10, I started writing. I have a trunk full of these stories I created through all these years. I finally got the nerve up to finish one of my stories and submit it to a publisher and it was accepted. So now I am finally doing what I always wanted to do and I am an author.

About You

What’s the strangest (bravest, funniest etc) thing you’ve ever done?

I was driving home from vacation with my husband and kids a few years ago and we were on I-84 cutting through upstate New York when a car sped past us and swerved off the road and ran into a ditch. We pulled over and I jumped out of my car and ran for the other car. When I got there the car was laying on its side. But it was being held up by two thin trees that were stopping it from falling down about 100 yards below into a ravine. The driver was unconscious and the trees were starting to make small snapping noises. My husband came up next to me and tried to open the door, but it was locked. I climbed on top of this door on kicked the window in. Then reached inside with my husband’s pocket knife and cut the seatbelt. Once that was done my husband pulled me off the car and he climbed up and pulled the driver from the car. Just as we dragged him off to a safe spot the police showed up. As we were telling them what happened, the trees snapped and the car plummeted down into the ravine. The driver had fallen asleep at the wheel. He banged his head when he crashed but he was okay otherwise. After it was over I thought, why did I do that? I could have been killed and my children were right there watching. In the moment I didn’t think, I just reacted.

(WOW! A real life heroine!)

What’s your guiltiest pleasure? I love Adam Lambert. I love everything about the man. I listen to his music every day. He and his lyrics inspire me. Not only in my writing, but in my personal life. I love how he lives his life out and proud and makes no excuses or apologies for who he is. His song Aftermath actually gave me the courage to finally believe in me and my work and submit my work to a publisher. I consider this as my guilty pleasure because people who know me would probably look at me and go ‘Really?’ If they knew how big of an Adam Lambert fan I am.

Who was the first boy/girl you kissed? I was a late bloomer and my first kiss was actually on a blind date. I was 19 and a friend set me up with her boyfriend’s friend. The whole night was a disaster and he was really creepy. I just wanted to get the hell out of there. After dinner I feigned a stomach ache and had him drive me home. He insisted on walking me to my door. I tried to bolt inside but he grabbed my arm and dove at me. He kissed me. Then his eyes went wide as he pulled away and noticed 5 of my brothers, plus some of their friends standing there with pissed off expressions on their faces. He took off like he had seen a ghost. Never heard from him again. I don’t even remember his name. It’s good to have a lot of big brothers.

(Haha! Love that story)

Your Writing

Tell us about your latest book.

I just completed book 4 of the Angel Pack and sent it off to the publisher. I am in the middle of writing book 1 of a spin-off of the Angel Pack. I get asked a lot of questions from readers who want to know more about my character Dante. So the spin-off is Dante’s Coven. The first book is of course about Dante. But because it is about the vampires, I separated the two. I am also working on book 5 of the Angel Pack. The books will start to intertwine because of the events that happen to this band of wolves and vampires. In book three we learn about a secret plan to take over the paranormal world they live in. In book four new allies are introduced and new information about what is to come is discovered. The war of the paranormals begins. Some of these characters will discover things about themselves that may just tear everything apart or bring them closer together. Some of my readers favorite happily mated characters will go through some hard times coming up that may be the end of their happily ever after.

How do you come up with inspiration for your books?

My inspiration comes mostly from music. I love music of all genres, from the 1920’s to current. I also listen to classical music. If you really listen to the words of a song you can figure out the story behind it. It can match a certain event that happened in your life, or a mood that you’re in. So I take it a step further by trying to make up my own story for the song.  Sometimes inspiration will come from a book I read, or a movie I watched. I may say, ‘Wow, I wish this had happened, or I wish it went there instead. Or if I was that character I would have handled it this way.’ So then I create the world I wish the book or movie was.

(That is the problem – I find myself saying after watching something, “I would have written it differently….”)

What’s the hardest part of writing?

In a series like I’m working on, it’s continuation facts. There are a lot of characters and a lot of details. It gets hard and confusing sometimes keeping track of even the smallest details, like the color of one of the characters eyes. I have to keep a separate file where I keep all this info in so I can go back for quick reference. I know the readers will pick up on these details if I mess them up. I know I do when I read. Another hard part about writing is finding originality. There are so many amazing writers out there, telling all kinds of stories, that sometimes an idea closely matches someone else’s story. I try to find a way to put a fresh spin on my stories.

Quick Fire round

Tall skinny or short but muscular? Tall and muscular. (My husband is 6’ 2” and is very strong)

Hawaii or Norway? Hawaii

Turquoise or mauve? Mauve

A juicy grilled steak with garlic butter or vanilla & raspberry cheesecake with white chocolate? Grilled steak, hands down. I am a huge steak lover.

Historical or sci-fi movie? Sci-fi

George Clooney or Brad Pitt? Neither. (Gerard Butler)

Flogging or paddling? HA, HA, HA. (Neither- I am so not submissive)

Bouquet of roses of bunch of wild flowers? Wild flowers.

Finally

Links of how fans can find you on the internet/buy your books?

You can find Betrayal at www.bookstrand.com/betrayla

Also on amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Betrayal-Angel-Publishing-Allure-ManLove-ebook/dp/B00N9HDBIY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412774908&sr=8-1&keywords=betrayal+by+maggie+walsh                         

Barnes and Noble at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/betrayal-the-angel-pack-maggie-walsh/1120271576?ean=9781632581433

Kobo at http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/betrayal-100

Secrets can be found at www.bookstrand.com/secrets-walsh

And should be coming out on amazon soon.

Truth - the third book in the series will be out on bookstrand in November.

And you can find me on my website at http://maggiewalshauthor.weebly.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/maggiewalsh68

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/maggiewalsh68/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005597088186

Or E-mail me at: maggiewalsh68@yahoo.com

Here is an excerpt from TRUTH, book 3 of The Angel Pack

            “What types of paranormals did they have? I know we can just go to them now and find out, but there are two that I can’t tell,” Micah asked.

 “There was me, then Noah is fae, there is another Omega, a lion shifter, two wolves, a witch, a phoenix, and two demons,” Raffy counted out and Noah nodded in agreement.

“Son-of-a-bitch, what the hell were they doing with all these paranormals?” Storm huffed.

 “The witch mixed our blood to create the serum to change the vampire’s and the humans,” again Raffy said it all matter-of-factly.

“I don’t understand why they want to make so many rogues vampires. What’s the end game?” Bastian asked in confusion.

 “Taylor,” Noah said and Taylor looked at him. Then Taylor smiled and nodded his head.

 “Noah doesn’t know about the witch, but the doctor that kept taking his blood, also injected him with some kind of red water. Whenever he did, Noah couldn’t use his fae magic for three weeks. He overheard Master speaking with the doctor a few weeks ago about finally getting his hands on his ultimate goal. Holy shit!” Taylor’s eyes went wide, his face full of shock.

 “What, sweet baby? What is it?” Gabriel asked and wrapped an arm around Taylor’s shoulders.

 “I can’t...I...wow...okay...um,” Taylor swallowed and looked at Micah. “A dragon?” He said it as a question.

All the air escaped from Micah’s lungs at Taylor’s words. A dragon. If they got their hands on a dragon, then the world was at risk of full annihilation. What was going on?

 “Holy fuck, Micah. If they get their hands on a dragon…” Storm said, just as shocked as Micah.

Micah nodded absently. “I know. I was just thinking the same thing.”

 “Wait a minute,” Bastian said and looked between the two leaders. “A dragon? Like a real live dragon? But I thought they were extinct?”

“The animal form is. The shifter version, not so much. They’re very rare. When the animal form was hunted down and destroyed, the shifters went into hiding. The hunters at the time, killed all the female and child dragon shifters. Only a few male ones remain, and no one has seen one in hundreds of years. It is said that a dragons blood is powerful. It can be used to kill anything. Just one drop and any living thing will die instantly. But a dragons tears...can wipe out a city,” Micah whispered the last part, his face a mask of dread.

 “Holy fuck,” Bastian whispered.

 “Where would they find a dragon anyway? You said they were rare,” Gabriel asked.

 “I don’t have any idea. But Noah said that this Master was close to finding one. And if he does...and with these experiments their doing already...what are they trying to do?” Micah asked.

“We need to go back to that vineyard. We went just to rescue the captives, but we need to find anything we can about these experiments,” Storm said.

Micah nodded. “But first we need reinforcements. We need help in case the others came back. I’ll call Dante and let him know what we found out. We need to find this Master. He seems to be in charge. Then we need to find this doctor and this witch.”

 “The witch is the doctor,” Raffy whispered.

“A witchdoctor? Well, well, isn’t that a little cliché?” Taylor smirked.

“Taylor,” Jesse said in exasperation.

 “What? I’m just saying,” Taylor huffed.

 “So if this witch is also the doctor, then who is the Master?” Bastian asked.

Thanks for being interrogated. Next month is the turn of Alex Carreras.